• ParkBulletinCover - The Park School

P A R K S C H O O L C L A S S O F 1 9 8 5 2 5 T H R E U N I O N B I O G R A P H I E SDana Welshman-StudleyAt this point, I have spent 22 of my 39 years atPark… AMAZING! As always, Park feels likehome to me. My cousin Tracy runs Park’s After-School Program, my daughter, River, is in thethird grade this year (she will be performing theMay Day dances in two weeks), and my mom,Pat Zifcak, was here until two years ago, whenshe decided to retire to spend more time atchurch. She is a deacon in the Episcopal Dioceseof Massachusetts. This is my 15th year as ateacher in the Physical Education department atPark, I am the head advisor for the ninth grade(they just recently went to Europe and completedtheir work-study jobs), I am a faculty advisor tothe yearbook committee, I coach varsity fieldhockey (we were undefeated this year), sixthgrade girls’ basketball, and varsity lacrosse, and Iam the pool director in the summer. My husband,John, and I are about to celebrate our 18th weddinganniversary in July, and things are great! Weown 11 pets, including cats, dogs, a guinea pig,and two Vietnamese pot-bellied pigs. We live inBrockton, and we vacation in Maine as often aswe can —yes, the animals come, too. All is wellhere at Park. Many things are still the same, butwe are keeping up with the times and learning alot as we go.Row Hard No Excuses, which we took to severalfilm festivals, including one in Boston where wescreened at the Coolidge and Brattle Theatersand saw several old Park School friends andteachers. I still work on documentaries at night,but won’t likely start another feature-length projectuntil my daughter finishes pre-school.Speaking of which, after a lengthy kindergartensearch for Otis (made difficult by a lotterysystem in the city), we were assigned to a newChinese immersion school on Haight Street anddecided to go for it. It has been a remarkablefirst year, and we are consistently impressed bythe community’s enthusiasm. It’s exciting tohelp shape a school from the beginning.These days, I am still in close touch withJamie, Sam, Gretchen, and David Wiborg, alldear friends. I am sorry to miss the reunion andlook forward to hearing others’ news. I alwaysliked our class and truly enjoyed my experienceat Park.Luke WolbachIn typical fashion, I’m attempting tosqueeze something in just before thedeadline. If you’re reading this now, itmeans someone was kind enough toinclude it, despite the late hour. Nonetheless,Sam Potts’ e-mail to the class (titled“Attention Park School people whose e-mail Istole from an e-mail Jen Hershfang forwardedto me”) has inspired me to share a little newsfor our 25 th Reunion (or, as Sam put it, the“You’re Turning 40 Reunion”).I live in San Francisco with my wife, Alex,and two kids, Otis (6) and June (4). Alex grew upin the Bay Area and hasn’t developed a NewEnglander’s appreciation for bone-chilling coldweather, so for now, there is no imminent moveback to the East Coast. It’s been established thatthe kids can cheer for the Giants, except whenthey play the Red Sox. So far, so good. Mybrother, Ben, lived nearby in Sonoma County foreight years, but now manages a farm with hiswife in Cohasset. My sister, Anna, lives in Marinwith her husband and two young kids, so we gettogether often. It’s a real pleasure.I am a documentary filmmaker, though morerecently by day, I edit commercials for skin-careproducts. One of the larger endeavors of my 30swas to make a feature-length film with my father,Left: Luke Wolbach with wife, Alex,and two kids, Otis and June. Right:Mark Simmons and David Ball catchup with friends at the 25th classparty at Allandale Farm.42 The Park Bulletin | Fall 2010