Academic

called World Views and Civilizations—for which
he said he benefited from the great exposure to
world religions he received during GPA’s Christian
Life class—and his Chinese, math and physics
classes at Cranbrook.
“My freshman year at Cranbrook was relatively
easy for me since I was so far ahead academically,”
Cavataio said. “I’ve noticed that many other
students from The Grosse Pointe Academy also
end up in leadership positions at Cranbrook,
ranging from class president to editor of the
school newspaper.”
Cavataio isn’t the only one from his family
who is benefiting from an Academy education.
His brother, Piero, graduated GPA in the
spring and is now attending Cranbrook with a
scholarship, and his sister, Gabriela, is currently
at University Liggett’s upper school. Another
brother, Alessandro, is in the 7th grade at GPA.
One last followup question for Joseph
involved plans he might have after he finishes
his undergrad at U-M: “I will either go to medical
school or graduate school,” he said without any
hesitation.
And it is without any hesitation that we can
say that the world is already in a much better
place with Joseph Cavataio in it. It appears that its
future will be in a better place as well.
GPA alum wrapping up
Fulbright in Denmark
continued from pg. 25
After she gets to Greece in the fall, Ball
hopes also to spend more time in Germany
and Paris to learn more and to “make more
art.”
“I have some invitations to do different art
projects in Cologne, Hamburg, and Paris, she
said. “Eventually, I would like to come back to
the U.S. to work on water issues in California
and Detroit. I’ve made a few sculptures that
organically redesign kitchen and bathroom
sinks. I think these designs could be helpful
in areas where there are water shortages or
water shutoffs. The ‘sculptural sinks’ function
just like normal sinks except they use
rainwater collected from rooftops.”
And, she said, rather than connecting
to the sewer system, her sculptural sinks
use mushrooms to clean the wastewater
and plants to consume the wastewater and
transpire it into the air – “thereby returning it
to the hydrologic cycle.”
It all sounds extremely intriguing, and if
all goes according to Ball’s ideas and plans,
despite a sometimes bleak forecast, it looks
like there is much to be optimistic about for
the future of the planet.
Academy grad Joseph
Cavataio, left, is with
Cranbrook-Kingswood
varsity tennis teammates.
Cavataio is attending the
University of Michigan,
studying engineering
and physics.
Coming home, staying home
continued from pg. 27
Now heading into her 20th year at the
Academy, Varty says without question, the
most important part of her job is having a
safe, secure, and welcoming classroom for her
children.
“The Early School is the child’s first school
experience,” she said. “You want the child
to have a positive experience so they will
associate school with learning and fun, and
nurturing is such an important aspect of
working with small children. I actually relate
well to three, four, and five year olds. I love to
see the progress in their development from
the time I meet them until they graduate
from kindergarten. It is also fun to watch
them mature into young adults when they get
to the ‘big school.’”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 31