Tag: 1997

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

Hi Everyone,

We have very sad news to share. Madeleine Perez wrote, “Our classmate Greg Pedersen passed away suddenly in July. He lived in Sonoma, California, and left behind his wife Rachel Kowal Pedersen ’98 and their two kids. This site has more info: https://www.gregpedersen.com/.” We send our deepest condolences to Greg’s family and friends.

Sara Kate Gillingham wrote, “I send love and peace to all from Brooklyn, where I just ran the NYC marathon for the second time. Both times I ran in support of the American Liver Foundation; in 2017 I gave half my liver to Dave Kane ’92—now that’s a story! After 20 years in food writing, I decided to make a huge career change; I’m about halfway through a master’s degree program to become a psychotherapist—here’s to graduating at 50!—and recently completed training to work in psychedelic assisted therapy. I have a 17-year-old daughter named Ursula, and we live with our black lab, Connie, in a brownstone in Bed-Stuy with a big disco ball over the door.” Congratulations Sara—just wow! And extra congratulations on your James Beard writing award! You join at least one other ’97er (Mei Chin) in that stellar category! Go ’97!

Lauren Porosoff wrote: “I wrote a new book called Teach for Authentic Engagement, about how teachers can design instruction so students connect with the content, their work, and each other. I think it’s the best book I’ve written and I’d love to hear what my Wes classmates in the education field think of it. When I’m not writing or giving workshops, I’m fielding phone calls from my kids’ schools, pretending to know how to grow vegetables, and watching every sci-fi/fantasy show I can find on the 84 streaming services we still subscribe to even though the pandemic is over.” Good luck, Lauren, with the book! We are sure it will be helpful to many educators and their students.

Tony Schloss wrote: “Our family punk rock band once again played a set to kick off the after party of the Barnacle Parade, a community event celebrating the community resilience that emerged after Hurricane Sandy in Red Hook, Brooklyn. AYUB will be releasing a two-song EP this spring, entitled Two Many Songs, featuring original compositions ‘Too Many Jerkos’ and ‘Too Many Tabs,’ the latter a treatise on web browsing and hallucinogenic drugs. The band features my sons, 14 and 11 years old, on bass and drums. Their six-year-old sister is currently in training to take over guitar duties. Michael Lenore ’97.5 was in attendance.” How amazing is that!

We send you all our best wishes and we look forward to hearing from you, so please reach out anytime with updates.

Sasha and Jess 

Hi Everyone,

We are heartbroken to report that we have lost another member of our class. Mike Mittelman wrote, “In sad news, Brandon Cook, who was class of ’97, lost his fight with leukemia on Easter Sunday of this year. There were many members of our class who had a chance to visit him and say goodbye in San Francisco this winter. Two of us, Adam Rodnitzky and I, spoke at his celebration of life. He was a huge personality and we all miss him terribly.”

Andrew Frishman reached out to share a few of his recent Wes-related connections. “Leigh Needleman ’96 and I are still loving living in Cambridge near Central Square—our kids (age 10 and 13) are attending the Cambridge Public Schools, where they are classmates with the daughter of Laura Warren ’98, who lives a few blocks from us. It’s been great to have our families hang out together. Leigh and I attended a Wesleyan event at an alum’s home who is a professor at MIT—they hosted an introduction to the proposed new design for the newest addition to the Wesleyan CFA . . . . Sounds like they are planning on converting (and expanding) an existing building into a new dance (and theater?) complex not far from Low Rise? . . . . It was interesting to see the ways in which they were seeking to create something new while also preserve some of the building’s original architecture . . . . Speaking of architecture, I recently had a phone call with Alex Jermyn in Berkeley, California, and his architecture firm/studio has been taking off and building all sorts of super-cool houses (particularly up in the mountains) that have been celebrated and featured in a number of prestigious architecture publications—check it out here: https://www.aj-a.co/. I had a phone call with the inimitable Sasha Cooke, (Wes alum and squash coach) who is currently in Tucson, Arizona, and anticipates relocating to Vermont sometime in the coming year(s).”

Andrew wrote, “My work as co-executive director of ‘Big Picture Learning’ continues to be invigorating and inspiring. If there’s anyone out there interested in collaborating to create new forms of public education that focus more on interest-driven real-world learning situated in the community beyond the walls of the classroom/school, I’d be glad to [re]connect.”

Sadia Shepard wrote, “I just finished my third year as an assistant professor of Film Studies at Wesleyan, and I am loving the chance to engage with the Wesleyan community in a new way. If you are back on campus, please drop me a line! You can always find me at sshepard@wesleyan.edu.” Congratulations, Professor Shepard and good luck with your fourth year!

And for our latest update . . .  Ashvin Shah “still doesn’t have his shit together.” We get it, Ashvin—don’t most of us, if not ALL of us, feel the same way, despite all of the adulting? We wish everyone the best, always. Thank you for sharing.

Sending positive energy to you all as we continue to navigate 2023 together.

Sasha and Jess

Here are the latest updates. . . .

Alek Lev is directing the opera Orpheus & Erica (an adaptation of Gluck’s Orfeo ed Euridice), with a mixed cast of hearing opera singers and deaf actors with Victory Hall Opera in Charlottesville, Virginia. Alek notes that considering that he was a theater major at school with a focus on directing and began his acquisition of American Sign Language in ASL 1, it seems as though he is actually working in a job that leverages precisely what he studied at Wesleyan. As he says, “it’s a liberal arts miracle.” The performance will be available to stream after the end of the run on VictoryHallOpera.org. We saw the video trailer, and it looks phenomenal! We are looking forward to watching the performance online.

Madeleine Perez writes from LA, where she has been with her husband and son for 12 years now. She is a Realtor at Compass and was named as one of their top 25 agents in 2021 and 2022. Congratulations, Madeleine! She would love to hear from other Wes people out here so please reach out! And she says it really did snow in LA in February.

Sasha’s family got a puppy, who is very cute but wakes up sooooo early. But again, so cute, so all is forgiven.

We wish everyone here and all your people (and puppies and friends and nonhumans) the absolute best. And please email us your updates.

Best,

Jessica and Sasha

Here’s our latest round of updates!

Santi White (Santigold) released her new album, Spirituals, on September 9, 2022 (which is on repeat in our stream—truly, highly recommended!). To follow this release, she launched a new line of herbal teas, aptly called Spirituals. The first collection consists of three teas: Brand New Tea, I Heart Tea, and No Stress Zone Tea, available on Santigold.com.

Santigold also started her new seasonal podcast. Noble Champions is a modern-day salon, created and hosted by her and distributed by Talkhouse. In each weekly episode, she sits down with some of today’s leading artists, authors, activists, and progressive thinkers who stand up, stick up, and speak up for important causes.

Lauren Porosoff and her spouse and co-author Jonathan have a new book, published in December 2022:  EMPOWER Moves for Social-Emotional Learning: Tools and Strategies to Evoke Student Values. “It’s an identity-affirming, process-oriented approach to social-emotional learning that (as the name implies) empowers students to bring their own values to their actions and relationships. . . . I’m really excited for this book to be out in the world.” Congratulations, Lauren and Jonathan, and thank you for your contributions to the field of education!

Jess got to hang out with Amy Goorin Fogelman and Matt Fogelman in mid-October in Boston when she and her husband Greg (Middlebury ’95.5) and two of their kids (ages 10 and 16) traveled to New England for fall break. She says, “It was so much fun to catch up with Amy and Matt over dim sum in Chinatown, and I wish we could have all spent more time together! We spent a week in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New York, visiting friends and family and touring colleges. Our 11th grader really liked the vibe at Wesleyan . . . we were there on a Friday and he got to go hang out on campus all afternoon with a sophomore he knew from home after the official admissions tour and info session. Our fall break trip ended with a day in Manhattan, which included a lovely lunch with Sasha and our kids in the West Village.”

We are, as always, humbled and impressed and awed and inspired by our classmates. We wish you all a wonderful New Year, full of good health, good ideas, good people, and a chance to do good when you can. And we cannot wait for spring around the corner!

Please send your updates to us!