CLASS OF 1997 | 2024 | SUMMER ISSUE

Happy summer, classmates! Here are the latest updates. . . .

First, Andrew Frishman shared some of his latest Wesconnections! “Leigh Needleman ’96, (who is the executive director of the Rowland Institute at Harvard University) and I continue to live in the Central Square/Cambridgeport area in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Our younger child will be in sixth grade, and our elder child is about to head to Cambridge Rindge and Latin High School in the fall, where she will join a child of Christian Housh. We enjoy getting together regularly with Laura Warren ’98 and her family, who live just down the street from us. A virtual [re]connection—I had an invigorating Zoom call with Ari Gerzon-Kessler ’99 who lives in Boulder, Colorado, and is engaged in some very cool parent/family engagement work with schools—check out his new book, On the Same Team  (https://www.solutiontree.com/on-the-same-team.html)! In early March, Arthur Baraf ’99, who is a principal at the Met High School in Providence, Rhode Island, brought up a few of his outstanding/inspiring students and we co-presented in an MIT class focused on educational innovation about the Big Picture Learning approach. Speaking of the power of the Wesleyan ’98 class, Jamie Pagliaro ’98 continues to do powerful work in the field of special education and I’ve been grateful for his support as an advisor to our ImBlaze initiative at Big Picture Learning focused on spreading/scaling high school career exploration and work-based learning including internships.”

Thank you for these wonderful updates, Andrew! We love that you are in touch with so many Wes alums! Thanks for reaching out to let us know how everyone is doing and their impact in education.

From Nashville, Michelle Conceison wrote: “In January I became chair of the Department of Recording Industry in the College of Media and Entertainment at Middle Tennessee State University. Any alums in music who find themselves in Nashville on business should come meet our students! I am continuing my work in artist management. My company Mmgt will be 20 years old in June. We represent Kyshona, Della Mae, Margo Cilker, Jeffrey Foucault, Laurel Lewis, Laura Cortese, Phoebe Hunt, RC1, the estate of Guy Clark, the estate of Scott Alarik, and many other artists and creators. Recently I presented research about fair pay for musicians that I worked on with Whippoorwill Arts at a Music and Entertainment Industry Educators Association conference in Atlanta (mmgt.co/research).” We appreciate your work to improve working conditions in the music industry and providing mentorship and leadership for students, Michelle!

Alek Lev is producing a new podcast called Arts Educators Save the World. The show brings together successful artists in conversation with their mentors, and it has Wesleyan alum all over the place. For the premiere episode back in season one, they spoke with Lin-Manuel Miranda ’02, along with his (and Alek’s) elementary school music teacher. Season two includes a talk with Craig Thomas the co-creator of How I Met Your Mother and a sit-down with Emmy-winner Bradley Whitford ’81. Check out all episodes at www.ArtsEducatorsPodcast.com. Alek was also invited by the film department, along with our new ASL teacher, to screen his film, WHAT? at Wes on April 4. He can report back to his Class of ’97 that Foss Hill and Low Rise are still there, though In-Town is either gone or he just couldn’t find it.

Matthew Way wrote from Germany: “In November I released my second music video, again under the name Yóbaby. This time, I didn’t shoot in Berlin, Germany, rather returned to my roots in Philly. The video has garnered over one million views and 10,000 likes. It’s all been in preparation for my next feature, The Pillow Snake, which can be read about at pillowsnake.com. We’re cooperating with the Greater Philadelphia Film Office and hope to shoot this feature in one year’s time.”

We are heartbroken to report the December 2023 passing of Juliet Port, E&ES major, member of the swim team, and a beloved ’97 class alumna. After graduation, Juliet joined the Peace Corps in Mongolia. She was a geologist and also a volunteer with school groups. She is survived by her husband, Christopher Reading, her parents, Diane and Bob Port, her brother Nicholas, her twin sister, Cynthia Florence Port, their family, and friends. To read memorial posts about Juliet, or to leave your own, please use this link. We all share our deepest condolences with Juliet’s family and friends. 

Thanks for your updates, everyone.

Sasha and Jess