alumni newsletter spring 2006
TRANSCRIPT
• Spring 2006 �A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
La Grande Boissière • La Châtaigneraie • Campus des Nations
A l u m n iNewsletter
Dear Ecolinters,
Reunion in the Rockies: July 27 – 3�, 20062nd Ecolint Alumni Reunion in North AmericaIt is important to make reservations now ! We have negotiated rates but they are only in effect until May 27th, 2006. To register go to our new alu-mni web community at http://alumni.ecolint.ch or use the booking form in this ‘Newsletter’ The Rocky Mountain Ecolint Alumni Chapter is pleased to invite Alumni from around the world to the 2006 Ecolint Reunion . It will be the weekend of July 27-31 in the Colorado Rockies at Copper Mountain Resort. Copper is a small mountain re-sort 90 minutes west of Denver off I-70. Through local Ecolint contacts, we were able to get ex-cellent room/condo rates which will be available from July 24 to August 6 for those interested in pairing the reunion with a family vacation. Included in the room / condo prices are free
parking, spa, pool, and work-out room. Copper offers a multitude of activities; hiking, horse-back riding, white water rafting, golf, tennis, and shopping. A free shuttle is available to towns in Summit County most notably the historic town of Breckenridge perfect for an afternoon of quaint shops and restaurants and the factory outlet at Silverthorn, an excellent bargain for those powerful Euros. We encourage Ecolinters around the world to mark their calendars and make plans for a memo-rable reunion with old friends in the Colorado Rockies. For those interested in a virtual tour of Copper please go to: www.coppercolorado.com. If you know of Ecolinters not online or who do not read their emails, please share this information with them. Warmest regards to all,
Pennie Aldrich/65 [email protected]
Copper Mountain Resort is just that - a resort. There is no real town of Copper. It is very popular especially in the summertime, which is what makes it such a special destination reunion. However, it is imperative if you are considering coming to the reunion that you make reservations as soon as possible so that you have the option to attend. Not only is summer a popular time but our weekend is the weekend of a Guitar Music Festival making it an even more desirable destination. It will be great fun for those of us who are there because there will be guitar music everywhere. But again, it is important to make reservations now. We have negotiated rates but they are only in effect until May 27th, 2006. There is a real variety of accommodation at Copper and it is best to call, and explain what you want and ask them to explore all the options with you.Website: www.coppercolorado.com
DATES DES KERMESSESLa Grande Boissière : 20 mai 2006
La Châtaigneraie : 10 juin 2006
Campus des Nations : 17 juin 2006
ASSEMBLÉE GÉNÉRALE DE
L’ASSOCIATION DES ANCIENS
Venez nombreux nous rejoindre !La prochaine Assemblée générale de l’Association
des Anciens de l’Ecole Internationale de Genève
aura lieu à La Grande Boissière le
samedi 20 mai 2006 à 11 heures
– jour de la Kermesse –
dans l’ancienne bibliothèque devenue l’actuel
Salon des Professeurs dans l’Orangerie.
A l’issue de cette réunion, vous êtes tous attendus
au stand des Anciens pour le traditionnel ‘verre de
l’amitié’ offert par le Comité central.
Nouveau site web des anciens: http://alumni.ecolint.ch -> (voir p.2)
New alumni website: http://alumni.ecolint.ch -> (see p.3)
• Room & Condo Rates available at Copper Mountain Resort
Ecolint Alumni - 2nd North American ReunionJuly 27th – July 31st / Colorado Rockies
Spring/Printemps 2006
Remember the cross country ? We used the field for all sports in all weathers, but even so we had a great time! But look what we all have now …… ! Jack Garstang (Head of Sports until 1992)
Much to the delight of LGB students, teachers and parents, the new LGB football field was inaugurated on 30 November 2005. It includes a multi sport hard surface, a four lane sprint track and a ‘parcours vita’.
International School of GenevaEcole Internationale de Genève
Photos : 1970 LGB Yearbook Photo : Blaise DemierreLGB Football field 1970... and in 2006........
Spring 2006 • 2A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
The wait is over and our new improved web-site is now online at http://alumni.ecolint.ch. Despite the success of our previous site, there were certain limitations in our initial design. The new site is far more flexible and will allow us to give web space to those alumni groups who are interested in communicating their ac-tivities to a wider audience. That we can make this powerful communications tool available to alumni everywhere is thanks to the new spirit of collaboration between the Alumni Associa-tion and the Alumni & Development Office of the School.
Please register on the new site and explore the site. Have a look at the 1958-64 group notes to see what can be done. I would urge any of you who are web savvy or want to organize an event or post information about alumni activi-ties anywhere in the world to get in touch with [email protected] who will be only too glad to help.
In the two and a half years that I have been President of the Alumni Association I have been constantly amazed by the geographical spread of alumni activities. Aside from the world reunion in Geneva there have been Escalade celebrations in Denver, Geneva, London, Midwest USA, New York, Toronto & Washington DC, “premier août” celebrations in Sydney, a class reunion in Southampton and a whole new chapter formed in Detroit.
This year the Rocky Mountain Ecolint Alumni Chapter is organising the second North Ameri-can World get together at the Copper Mountain Resort in Colorado. The reunion will take place over the weekend of July 27th-31st. Pennie Al-
drich and her team have negotiated excellent rates with the resort so why not take the op-portunity to make it a real family vacation as well. The class of 65/66 are particularly urged to attend as Rami Khouri is helping to organize a special 40th anniversary get-together.
Boulder is not the only reunion planned this summer – the La Grande Boissière Class of 75 / 6 are planning a reunion on June 17th here in Geneva. La Châtaigneraie Alumni are holding a reunion buffet dinner after the La Chât Kermesse on June 10th. The La Chât class of 1996 are particularly urged to attend; Tory Curtain and Emma Smith will be organi-sing their own special event to commemorate their 10th anniversary. Please contact Tory at [email protected] for details.
Information on all these events can be found on the web site and these are only the ones we know about. If you know of any others please let us know – why not take the plunge and organize an event yourself, we will be glad to help.
Finally it is with some sadness that I realize this is the last newsletter that Sue Anthony will be editing for us as she is retiring this year to Burgundy in France. While no doubt we will be hearing from her for many years to come I would like to take this opportunity to thank her for all the magnificent work she has done for the Association over many years. Thank you Sue!
Sam Jarrell, President Ecolint Alumni Association
• Message from the PresidentGOVERNING BOARD
For the latest Governing Board news please visit the school web site : www.ecolint.ch
CONSEIL DE FONDATIONPour les dernières nouvelles du Conseil de Fondation, veuillez consulter le site web de l’école : www.ecolint.ch
• Elections au Conseil de Fondation – 2006
Les membres souhaitant voter par la poste
pour les élections 2006 du Conseil de Fonda-
tion doivent remplir et renvoyer un formulaire
d’inscription au Bureau des Anciens. Le ma-
tériel de vote vous sera envoyé afin que vous
puissiez le remplir.
L’Assemblée générale consultative du Conseil
de Fondation aura lieu le mardi 30 mai 2006 à
20h00 au Campus des Nations, 11 route des
Morillons, 1218 Grand-Saconnex.
• Elections to the Governing Board – 2006
Members wishing to vote by post in the 2006
Elections to the Governing Board should
complete and return the registration form to the
Alumni Office.
The voting documentation will then be forwar-
ded to you for your completion.
The Governing Board Consultative General
Assembly will be held on Tuesday, 30 May 2006
at 20h00 at the Campus des Nations, 11 route
des Morillons, 1218 Grand-Saconnex.
Une bonne nouvelle ! Le nouveau site web des anciens a été ouvert le 10 mars 2006! Allez lui rendre une petite visite! Faites connaissance avec ses éléments plus dynamiques et interactifs !
Très important: afin de pouvoir apprécier et utiliser l’ensemble des possibilités offertes, vous devez vous enregistrer sur le nouveau site web des anciens, que vous l’ayez fait ou non sur le site précédent. Suivez les instructions fournies en ligne.
Une fois enregistré, reçu la confirmation et entré (sign in) dans le site, vous pouvez vous inscrire à un groupe, à savoir un groupe régional - Chapter - ou un groupe spécial - Specialty Group (voir barre rouge-orange supérieure et cliquez sur l’indication ‘Join a Group’; vous accéderez à une nouvelle page intitulée ‘My Group Manager’ avec différentes possibilités d’inscription).
Ainsi, vous pourrez directement et en une seule opération entrer en contact, d’une part, avec tous les membres enregistrés de votre volée (class year) et, d’autre part, avec ceux de votre groupe régional ou encore de votre groupe spécial. Les gestionnaires des pages web des volées, groupes régionaux ou groupes spéciaux ainsi que les organisateurs de manifestations diverses apprécieront aussi ces outils de communication rapides et aisés.
Alors, chers anciens, profitez des nouvelles possibilités d’information et des nouveaux outils de communication que vous offre ce nouveau site web! Jouez le jeu, même s’il n’a pas été possible pour l’heure de mettre sur pied un site entièrement bilingue, faute de moyens financiers et de ressources humaines. Soyons à la hauteur de notre réputation: la communauté des anciens la plus interconnectée et la plus vivante au plan international !
Donate Dobbernack / 62
Nouveau Site Web des Anciens http://alumni.ecolint.ch
• Spring 2006 3A l u m n i
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Campus des Nations tour
Good news! The new Alumni website has gone live on 10 March 2006! Have a look at it! Get to know its more dynamic and interactive features!
Most important: To be able to appreciate and make use of all its features, you need to register on this new alumni website, whether you have or have not registered on the previous site. Just follow the instructions provided online.
Once you have registered, received the confirmation and then signed in, you can join a group, i.e. a Chapter or a Specialty Group (see top red-orange field and click on ‘Join a Group’; you will then reach a new page called ‘My Group Manager’ with several registration possibilities).
You will thus be able to network directly and at once not only with all registered members of your class year, but also with those of your chapter or specialty group. Administrators of class year, chapter and specialty group pages as well as organizers of events will also greatly appreciate these quick and easy communication tools.
So, dear fellow alumni, take advantage of the new information possibilities and communication tools on this new website ! Let’s be up to our reputation: The most interconnected and lively alumni community at the international level !
Donate Dobbernack / 62
New Alumni Website http://alumni.ecolint.ch
At the Alumni Escalade dinner in December 2005, Dr Nicholas Tate, the Director General of the School, suggested a guided visit of the newly opened Campus des Nations. A date was set and a group of former teachers and alumni mem-bers met in the reception/entrance hall of the new School on Tuesday, January 31st 2006. The re-ception area was full of large plastic bags! No, not rubbish waiting to be collected, but a typical International School effort, a collection of clothes, ready to be sent to Pakistan. A good first impres-sion, the brand new part of the School carrying on our old School traditions!
There was a lot of chat, reminiscing and greeting of old friends and colleagues. We were curious and interested to see this latest addition of the Foundation and to meet some of the staff and stu-dents. Dr. Tate introduced us to Eva Noorduijn, then they both took us on a tour of the school. Eva spoke passionately about the excitement and challenge of opening a new school and of the joy and satisfaction they all felt. It was clear that a lot of effort and careful planning had gone into making the school a great place of learning. The scene was set, the school waited for its students and they arrived in September 2005.
The award-winning, five-story design of the Cam-pus des Nations provides many delights. Views of the Alps and the Jura abound, and every classroom is flooded with natural light thanks to the building’s glass walls. Each floor is identified with one of the world’s principal alphabets. State of the art labs and recreational facilities complement a fully com-puterized library and a spacious cafeteria.
The atmosphere was calm but busy and the staff and students welcomed us warmly. In conversation with them as we visited the classrooms they spoke positively about their exciting projects and plans for the future. We felt proud, the school was impressive and well equipped, exactly how one would expect a school to be as it moves into the 21st century.
When the tour was over we were invited by Rev. Theodore Gill/68 to lunch at the Ecumenical Cen-tre. We were well looked after and especially en-joyed Theo’s informative and moving stories as he guided us around the chapel. It was a perfect end to our time together.
Thank you Dr Tate for suggesting this tour which we all thoroughly enjoyed.
Hazel Kukorelly - former LGB primary teacher
EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
La Châtaigneraie reunion
To all La Chât Alumni,
You are invited to a buffet supper after the Kermesse
Saturday 10th of June 2006, from 6.00 p.m. at La Châtaigneraie
in the Salle Polyvalente and terrasse.
Buffet with some drinks provided,
supplementary drinks can be bought.
RSVP to the Alumni Office by 15th May 2006
at [email protected] or ++41 (0)79.449.50.43
For those of you arriving on Friday 9th, a dinner
has been arranged at the Relais de Chavannes.
The menu will be about CHF 49 per person, payable
on the evening – Aperitifs 7.30p.m. To register for
the dinner please go to the website at
http://alumni.ecolint.ch
A tous les Anciens de La Chât,
Vous êtes cordialement invités à un buffet froid
après la Kermesse le
samedi 10 juin 2006 à partir de 18h00à la Châtaigneraie, dans la
Salle Polyvalente et terrasse.
Le buffet et quelques boissons seront offerts,
plus de boissons pourront être achetées sur place.
RSVP au bureau des Anciens avant le 15 mai 2006
au [email protected] ou ++41 (0)79.449.5043
Pour tous ceux qui arriveront le vendredi 9, un
dîner est organisé au Relais de Chavannes.
Le prix par personne sera environ CHF 49 à payer
le soir même. Pour plus d’informations et pour
vous inscrire, merci d’aller sur le site web http://alumni.ecolint.ch
Photo
: T
hom
as J
ants
cher
Spring 2006 • �A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
Escalade 2005EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
Alumni from �965 & �966– come and join in the �0-year Alumni celebrations in Copper Mountain, Colorado
Rami Khouri / 66 will be attending the Copper
Mountain, Colorado, Alumni Reunion from Beirut
and encourages other 1965/66 graduates to come
along and celebrate a special 40-year get-to-
gether. ‘We hope to rock and roll as we did in the
60s... the Rolling Stones and Bob Dylan are still
producing good music and we’re still buying, dan-
cing and having a good time .... part of the Ecolint
heritage of enjoying life while you study....’
Thirty years oncalling all �975 and �976 Alumni to Geneva
A reunion is planned for
Saturday, 17 June 2006.
Aperitifs in the Greek Theatre, La Grande Bois-
sière, dinner at a restaurant or perhaps on a boat.
Details to be confirmed, but save the date!
Come and renew old friendships, catch up and
remember those old times!
Please pass this message on to others with whom
you are in contact !
Contact:
Meera Pathmarajah-Laurijssen meera
or
Nicola Croome-Manby
NEW YORK :
- Spring brunch
Date : Sunday, April 30, 2006Time : 12:30 p.m.
Place : La Mangeoire, 1008 Second Avenue
(between 53rd & 54th Streets), New York, NY,
(212) 759-708
Cost : $25 including tax and tip BRING CASH.
Dessert is extra. Additional cash bar available
RSVP : P. Troupin (212) 308-5510 or
[email protected] by April 26th.
- Alumni Art Trip - Russia!No we did not get it together to go to Russia, but
in January Jane Sharp, Professor of Russian Art
History at Rutgers, was kind enough to take a
group of alumni on an informal tour of the Russian
art exhibit at the Guggenheim--Russia! The exhibit
took up the whole museum and went from icons to
contemporary art, a dizzying visual feast. Jane’s
explanations were fantastic and gave us some
idea of what we were looking at, since much of it
was unfamiliar. Joining Jane on an early sunny
but cold Sunday morning were: Erik Beukenkamp
and his wife, Charles Potter, Ellen Schwartz, and
Peggy Troupin, along with some friends of Jane’s.
Denver
The Rocky Mountain Ecolint Alumni held their 6th Escalade dinner on December 10th 2005 at the Kent Village Clubhouse. The Barta brothers did a great job with the raclette dinner, and with 16 alumni, family and friends of Ecolint we had a total of 29. The food, conversation and company was as usual great.
Judy Ackerman / 70
Photos : Tony Fernandez / 70
Geneva
Approximately 80 former and present adminis-tration and teaching staff joined the Alumni for the traditional Escalade dinner held on 1st De-cember 2005.
Dr Nicholas Tate presented the honorary diplo-mas to those members of staff who had retired in 2005 after over 20 years of service. Sam Jarrell welcomed all those present and Max Brandt / 44 gave a wonderful historical account of the events leading up to the 1602 Escalade. Thanks to Jo Jennings and Carole Sharpe we were able to keep in tune while singing the rousing Escalade songs.
Photo : Eric Anthony
London
On 30 November (rather before 12 December, but who’s counting) a number of Ecolint alumni – and a number of their children and husbands, wives or partners – gathered at the St. Moritz Restaurant in Wardour Street in London’s Soho (it is London’s oldest, and for all I know only, Swiss restaurant) for an authentic Swiss dinner to celebrate Escalade. Once again we thank Agnes de Guzman for organising the event.
Those present were: Agnes de Guzman / 90 and her husband Antonio Borges, and then by year of graduation Mohsen Dajani / 99, Bob Ekblom / 82, Caroline Brown Straessle / 79 and Tobias, Alexandra and Christopher Straessle, Tracy Reed Hain / 79 and Robert Hain, Na-dine Kveim-Huttman / 78, Joseph Rochlitz / 74 (who happened to be in London on the day: he lives in Rome), Elisabeth Tschyrkow / 71, Chris Pauling / 70, Robin Dormer / 69, Kim Perry / 68, Hormoz / 67 and Golnaz Naficy, and from Paris, Steven North / 60.
Much Swiss wine was drunk, and at the end the oldest and youngest present namely Steven North and Christopher Straessle, in accordance with time-honoured tradition, smashed the Mar-mite supplied by Sue Anthony on behalf of the Central Committee. “Qu’ainsi périssent les en-nemis de la République”! What the husbands, wives, partners and children thought of it all we cannot say: it must all have been very mysterious (as it clearly also was to some of the other diners in the St. Moritz restaurant, who looked upon our proceedings with quizzical interest). But those of us who had been inducted into the Escalade tradition at an early age understood, and we all had a very good time.
For those who are interested, the official Geneva website has a short account of the Mère Royau-me and her Marmite:
http://www.geneve.ch/fao/2002/20020911.asp
Robin Dormer/69 LGB
Retired members of staff : Alan Sharpe, Ghislaine Ehinger and Jacques Mandallaz.
• Spring 2006 5A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
Ecolint Midwest USA
Twelve of us gathered at Sergio Mazza’s house for drinks and to become better acquainted with each other. The oldest was from the class of 1962 and the youngest from the class of 1976. We then headed off to the Grosse Pointe Yacht Club, MI, for a long dinner of great food and even better conversation. Pio brought his year book and we all had fun remembering teachers, good times and the travails of adolescence, ours and those of our children. We ended our meal with the breaking of the marmite and a reminder that ‘ainsi périssent les ennemis de la République.’
Bob Brown offered to host next year’s dinner at his home in Kalamazoo, MI, where he will cook up a cheese fondue to rival that of Les Armures in Geneva. Sergio will find us some Fendant and Dôle to compliment the meal with wines from Vaud. We also hope the location, closer to Chica-
go, will encourage the many Alumni there to join the group.
The larger group picture included spouses and guests. The people in the picture are (*=Ecolint alumni), standing from left to right: Sergio Maz-za*, Willis Lillard, Christy Nelson*, Enzo Zeppa,
Pio Valenzuela*, Jill Carroll, Vince (aka Marc, aka Cooch) Scanio*, Kathy Scanio, Bob Brown*, and Anne Brown, Sitting in front, from left to right are June (Booker) Zeppa*, and Lora Mazza. The se-cond picture includes only the Ecolint alumni in the group.
Ecolint Northeast USA
About twenty alumni, family, and friends got to-gether on December 10th to celebrate Escalade 2005 at our favorite venue, the Tout Va Bien restaurant, in Manhattan. They included Rock Brynner, Karl, Lorena, and Gabriela Cerni, Don and Maggie Cook, Sven Dietrich, Riva Freifeld, Madeleine Howenstine, Mary James, Sandy Jarp, Philip Lapides and friend, Charlie and
Helene Potter, Ellen Schwartz, Jane Sharp, Judy Thomas, Steve Tobias, Peggy Troupin. Everyone felt the event had a cozy, family feeling about it. We each stood up and shared something illogical about ourselves. We sang off-key and the marmi-te was appropriately demolished and consumed. The hit of the evening was Karl and Lorena Cer-ni’s beautiful new baby, Gabriela, who was quite
happy to be passed around and made much of. Although many pictures were taken, we do not have any as we go to press.
Peggy Troupin / 60
Toronto
The Escalade dinner held last year in Toronto was our third and the best-attended so far. We had a Swiss meal in a Swiss restaurant. A flag of the Canton of Geneva and a large marmite decorated the table.
We were eleven: Laura Jarvis, Diana Pitour and her daughter Tuija, Gordon Albright, Jorgen Hansen, Ravi Kumar, Sarojini Kaul Israni, Jane Burns, Gulam and Azizeh Juma and Jock
Galloway. Quite a spread over the years with two who had been in the Internat: Jorgen Hansen and Gulam Juma. There was much reminiscing and a good time was had by all.
I hope this successful evening will encourage more to attend this year - no date has yet been set but it will be in late November or very early December, 2006. Please let me know of your interest as soon as possible, even now, so that
I will have you on the mailing list. You can reach me by email, telephone or snail mail.
Jock Galloway / [email protected].: ++1 416 767 9297Address : 50 Quebec Ave. – Apt. 1908Toronto M6P 4B4, Canada
Washington DC
The Ecolint Alumni in the Washington DC area got together on the 16th of December for a great meal at the Melting Pot. We had a wonderful time and swapped a lot of stories about ‘the old days’. We then crushed a marmite (thanks Sue!) and shared out the marzipan vegetables. Hope to see everyone there again next year!
Phil Scruggs/84
Photos : Sergio Mazza/76
Photos : Mike Richmond
Spring 2006 • 6A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
The feedback that we receive here in the Alumni Office leads us to believe that our Alumni frequently achieve dis-tinction and success in their future careers in a very wide range of areas. In this edition we take a look at three such alumni who are making their mark in science at that prestigious institution - Harvard University.We should of course be delighted to focus in future editions of this ‘Newsletter’ who are working together in other functions - not necessarily universities.
Harvard - the Ecolint Connection
Daniel A. Haber / 73, M.D., Ph.D. is the director of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center and the Laurel W. Schwartz Professor of Oncology at Harvard Me-dical School. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), the American Association of Physicians (AAP) and recipient of the American Associa-tion for Cancer Research-National Foundation for Can-cer Research (AACR-NFCR) Chair in Cancer Research (2000-2002) and the Doris Duke Distinguished Clinical Scientist Award (2002-2007). Dr. Haber serves on the Edi-torial Board of the journal Cell, and is Genetics Editor for the New England Journal of Medicine. His laboratory work is focused on human cancer genetics, with primary em-
phasis on the genetics of Wilms tumor and breast cancer, and the identification of molecular markers of response to targeted therapies in lung cancer.
Born in Paris, France, Dr. Haber received his B.S. and M.S. degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Techno-logy (M.I.T.) and his M.D. and Ph.D. from Stanford Univer-sity School of Medicine. He completed a residency in inter-nal medicine at Massachusetts General Hospital (M.G.H.), medical oncology fellowship at Dana Farber Cancer Insti-tute, and postdoctoral research at M.I.T., before joining the faculty at M.G.H. in 1991. He was appointed director of the M.G.H. Cancer Center in 2003.
I graduated from Ecolint in 1996, after spending 9 years there in both the French and the English sections. Having lived most of my life in Switzerland, I decided it was time to live in a new country and discover a different culture, so I applied to universities in the UK. I did my undergra-duate course in Cambridge University, St John’s College. I very much enjoyed my Natural Sciences course and in my final year specialized in Biochemistry. I stayed on for another year in the Biochemistry Department to do a MSci. By then, I knew I wanted to pursue an academic career in molecular biology so did a PhD at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research (part of Imperial College) in London. Du-ring the course of my PhD I married Terry Heymann, who was at Cambridge University with me. In 2004, after com-pleting my PhD, Terry and I moved to Boston, US where
I am currently doing a post-doc at the Cancer Center of Massachusetts General Hospital, part of Harvard Medical School (for those of you not in academia, a “post-doc” is a job between studying for a PhD and running your own lab). My current research is based on studying drug resistance in lung cancer. Coincidentally, my boss is Daniel Haber, also an Ecolint alumnus from Geneva. Terry and I were very lucky to be able to coordinate our careers as he is cur-rently doing an MBA at Harvard University. I have very fond memories of l’Ecolint, and in particular remember affec-tionately my teachers in the middle school Max Frebourg, Maurice Laurent, Allen Rozelle and George Grandjean, as well as in the secondary school Mr Nussbaumer, Mr Anthony, Mme Bailly and Mme Vigneau-Ribal.
Nadia Godin / 96
After leaving Ecolint, I attended medical school at the Uni-versity of Geneva. During my residency training in Internal Medicine and Pathology, I became interested in understan-ding the mechanisms that underlie diseases as a means to develop more targeted and effective treatment. I therefore left Geneva to join a research laboratory in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, for what I believed would be a two to three year training period. However, it rapidly became clear to me that research was what I really wanted to do, and I joined the Faculty in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School where I pursued my research activities for 16 years. My research focuses on the molecular mechanisms of cancer development and dissemination and I maintain an active collaboration with another Ecolint alum, Dan Haber, having had the privilege of being a member of the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center Faculty that he now directs. I have recently returned to Switzerland for family reasons and am cur-rently a professor of Experimental Pathology with a joint appointment at the University of Lausanne and the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research.
To me, Harvard was in many ways an extension of Eco-lint, where interactions between faculty and students were almost entirely devoid of barriers imposed by hierarchy.
Moreover, the faculty and student body alike were flavou-red by an abundance of international, fun-loving, easy-going yet intellectually aggressive individuals, many of whom could well have been my Ecolint classmates. This was precisely the kind of environment that Ecolint prepa-red its students for - a place where seriousness and com-petitiveness did not render academic life less enjoyable and where the prevailing open mindedness could make an old Ecolintian deeply influenced by Ecolint values feel at home.
Looking back, there is no doubt that the Ecolint expe-rience played a very significant role in shaping my career path. Academic standards were high during the years I attended Ecolint and the overall quality of the teaching staff was outstanding. I have fond memories of Richard Vyvyan’s mathematics class, Roger Bray’s and Eric Anthony’s chemistry classes, Alan Sharpe’s physics lectures and Reginald Unitt’s lectures on the structure of DNA and the genetic code. These teachers, along with many of their colleagues, had a seemingly innate ability to make their subject exciting and fun. Although I chose to pursue a scientific career many years after leaving Ecolint, the seeds of my interest in biomedical research were planted in their classes.
Ivan Stamenkovic / 72
Nadia Godin
Daniel A. Haber
Ivan Stamenkovic
• Spring 2006 7A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
La Chât alumna into La Chât teacher
Analytical Alumna
Kerry Kelly Novick / 60 [email protected]
Upon hearing about their new book, we reques-ted Kerry and her husband, Jack, to give us more background information :Kerry and Jack Novick have recently published ‘Good Goodbyes - Knowing How to End in Psy-chotherapy and Psychoanalysis’ published by Aronson / Rowan Littlefield, Maryland. This third book follows their earlier publications ‘Fearful Symmetry - The Development and Treatment of Sadomasochism’ (1996) and ‘Working With Pa-rents Makes Therapy Work’ (2005).
Jack and Kerry Novick met while they were both students of Anna Freud’s at the Hampstead Cli-nic in London. After completing psychoanalytic training and living in London for 15 years, they made a big move with the first two of their three children to Ann Arbor, Michigan, where Jack
had been offered a post as Chief Psychologist at the University of Michigan Medical School and Kerry became Lecturer in Psychoanalysis in the Department of Psychiatry. Their children are now grownup, Rebecca with her husband Jeff in San Francisco, where she has directed an experimental theater troupe for ten years, Ben with his wife Charity and toddler William finishing Yale Law School before taking up a position at Herbert Smith in London, and Anna in New York, working as a grip on major movies and television shows.
In the meantime Kerry and Jack have been teach- ing, writing and developing a non-profit psycho-analytic preschool in Ann Arbor -- Allen Creek Preschool. They travel often to give lectures and courses and enjoy being on the faculties of nu-merous psychoanalytic institutes around the US. They each have full-time private practices for children, adolescents and adults.
My friends at school always said I’d become a primary teacher. I didn’t believe them, despite the CAS hours spent in the primary school and time spent with children in general. Who wanted to work mostly with women for mediocre pay? But with a BA degree, a PGCSE and a year in marketing under my belt, I ended up teaching all the same. Now I’m completing my first year of teaching at La Chât – in my old school, my old primary school. No one is more surprised than me about that!
I love teaching here and rarely a day goes by when a fleeting memory of my own time at La Chât doesn’t pass me by when I’m teaching, marking, doing playground duty, when working with my CAS student, walking the children to the
caff, listening to late homework excuses and the like. It gives teaching a rather unique edge. I sup-pose it had always been my aim to come to teach here, once I’d chosen my career. And though I had mixed expectations about how it would be, I can safely say that so far, it has been every-thing I hoped it would be and more. I feel I can appreciate all the changes and developments from both a student and staff point of view. So the pool has fallen into ruin, but if all goes to plan, we’ll have a new sports centre soon! Needless to say, I won’t be going anywhere in a hurry just yet. There’s too much to see and enjoy!
Sarah Osterbery / 94
ALUMNI NEWS
Tracy Strong / 33 LGB – Lacey, WA, USA
Tracy Strong, who attended Ecolint in the 1920’s is a
great tennis player. He writes of his chosen retirement
hobby : ‘In April 2005, I was invited to take part in an
international tournament in Palm Springs, CA, for
90-year-olds. There were ten of us from the U.S.,
Germany, Israel and Australia. I took part in the hard
court championship and won the doubles and my first
gold ball. Then in May, I played the indoor national
championship and won both the singles and doubles
and two more gold balls. It helps to be the youngest in
the 90’s group ! ’
Remembering his youth spent in Geneva, Tracy will
play for Switzerland at the next 90-year-olds interna-
tional tournament in Palm Springs on April 1st and 2nd
followed by the national hard court tournament from
April 2nd to 9th also in Palm Springs. We wish him
every success.
Tracy belongs to the ‘select’ group of Ecolint old timers
who competed in international tennis championships :
Takamasa Yoshisaka, Bep Mikeli and others.
Michèle Claudel / 58 LGB – Geneva
‘I remember being at Ecolint 1956 / 7 while we were
building the Greek amphitheatre with my sister, Marie,
2 years older. My teachers were Melle Darolle and
Melle Traveletti and of course Chef Schaller ! I have
the best memories of my 2 short years at Ecolint since
I went to many schools before and after and never
enjoyed them so much. I remember the Bashi sisters
all 5 of them, Francisco and Rosa Alvim, Beatrice
Crespo and the Ardjomande sisters of whom one died
very sadly not long ago. I married at 20 and went to live
in Sao Paulo, Brazil for 3 years where my son Lionel
was born. I loved that country very much. Then back
to Geneva and a daughter was born, Geraldine now
34 and married to a Turkish American husband. Their
eldest daughter Alexia (4 in May) will be joining Ecolint
this coming September, the circle is now closed.’
Jock Galloway / 58 LGB – Toronto, Canada
has now retired from the University of Toronto. He can
be reached at [email protected]
Riva Freifeld / 61 LGB – New York, USA
Riva recently produced and directed a one hour
documentary about Annie Oakley, for the US public
television series ‘American Experience’. The film will
air on the evening of May 8, 2006, wherever ‘PBS’ is
carried. Major funding for this film was provided by a
grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
The website for the film is at
http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/oakley.
A Home Video version on VHS and DVD will be
available shortly after the broadcast date.
Nathalie Albrow / 91 La Chât – Washington DC, USA
Nathalie and her husband Jonathan Kavalier, gave
birth to their first little girl, Laelia Emily. Nathalie and
family are currently living in Washington, D.C. and
would be delighted to hear from any former La Chât
classmates (especially if in the area).
Spring 2006 • �A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
On a recent visit to Geneva I took my seven-year-old son to the armor room in the Art and History Museum, my favorite when I was just about his age at Ecolint, and told him the story of the Escalade and the marzipan vegetables in chocolate marmites with which we used to cele-brate the freedom of the Genevois from the Du-kes of Savoy. It was a poignant moment. I ha-ven’t been back to Geneva much since leaving a lifetime ago, in 1961. I used to dream about the long walk from Ecolint down the route de Mala-gnou crossing over to the museum and the Old Town. I could never quite remember the middle part but now I find there is no missing middle part because it was not a long walk at all.
Perhaps inevitably for those of us who feel old now, the memories carry an aura of the neiges d’antan. Our friends from elementary school, most of whom are lost. Our friends re-found but for one reason or another, with sadness, friendships not rekindled. The teachers we loved, now mostly departed. Our lives in between, the middle part, which we remember very well because it has been a long walk indeed and that walk has taken us far from the route de Malagnou.
I can only speak for myself, but it seems that somehow in those middle years, I forgot. I was passionately caught up in my times and they were passionate times. First came the late ’60s in America. And then there was the long journey crawling out of the late ’60s that consumed so many of my friends in one way or another. There were lost years. And finally there was finding belated happiness in my work and family life. I have lived in Cairo for a long time now. I teach philosophy, which mostly means critical thinking in a part of the world that especially suffers from its lack. Would I have landed here without Eco-lint? Doubtful. What did Ecolint provide? Well, there’s the cosmopolitan environment, which was not inconsequential (one did not come out of Ecolint a xenophobe or racist). There was the
academic education itself, which for many of us was excellent. (And for some, who will not be telling us themselves, disastrous because they did not fit well; I have a particular old friend for whose sake this should be admitted.) There was the beauty and tasteful wealth of our surroun-dings, which had a positive effect on the soul that draws me back and, paradoxically, makes it easier now to live amidst pollution, overpopula-tion, grinding poverty and hugely evident human suffering. Perhaps philosophy helps with that balance, but Ecolint certainly helped with the disposition for philosophy.
So what was it that I forgot? This is not an enco-mium to my old school for a life of fantastic accom-plishment. I think of myself more as a survivor. But I do wish to thank Ecolint for my survival.
There is no more challenging environment than the Middle East today, just as there was nothing more challenging than beating Le Rosey for the cup (was there a cup?) in Form Three. That’s what I forgot, in the intensity of my engagement in the world: the intensity of my engagement with my school. The intensity not only of the football experience, but of the classroom experience and not only of the classroom experience, but of the friendships and of what we now call the “little” suc-cesses and failures. I don’t know if there was a cup, but I remember that final game. It was a big success for our team. The successes and failures were only “little” from our “big” perspective, from the outside, because we have forgotten how they felt. Ecolint was an intense school environment. We can forget the cup, but a way of being is not a matter of memory so cannot be forgotten. Ecolint had a genuine, if unarticulated, way of being, an ethos. For that ethos I am eternally grateful.
A special thank-you to Sue Anthony for helping me to remember.
Walter Lammi / 62
Remembering the unforgettable: an encomium to Ecolint
ALUMNI NEWS
Alphonso Crespo / 62 – Lausanne, Switzerland
Alphonso’s new book of short stories, ‘Une Sieste
à la Havane & autres récits obituaires’ (which he
signed with a pseudo-pseudonym : Luis Crespo) was
published by Thélès in Paris a few months ago. He
writes, ‘One of the stories (Iberique) is partly set at
La Grande Boissière and might be of some interest
to old Ecolinters. This is my second book, though
my first fiction’. My first piece ‘Esculape Foudroyé’
was published by Les Belles Lettres (Paris) in 1991’.
Alphonso est directeur de recherches à l’Institut
Constant de Rebecque à Lausanne.
Tim Culbert / 69 LGB
Tim will be the architect of a new Musée du Louvre in
Lens, North of France. You can find more information
on his website : http://www.imreyculbert.com
Bob Ackerman / 72 LGB
Remember Bob and Sally’s country music perfor-
mance at the 2004 worldwide Reunion in Geneva?
They will be on tour in Europe this summer and will
be playing at the Fête de Genève on Thursday, 10
August 2006. Find out more from their website :
http://teddyackermansinfo.blogspot.com
Reto Egger / 74 and former student teacher
Chris Haslam / 74 visited LGB in February to
‘reconnect’. Reto is currently operating McDonalds
restaurants in Geneva. Chris is living in Cheltenham,
UK, and has just published his first novel ‘In The Lost
Boyhood of Judas’ set in Australia and England. He
is currently Senior Tutor at Dean Close, UK – and
still teaching English, having learned the rudiments
at Ecolint.
Chris and Reto are keen to contact James Walker
III, who left Geneva for the US in 1974. He had a
brother, Robert, and a sister, Wendy.
Sue Silberman Resnick / 78 LGB - New York, USA
‘Well it’s been many years since my brief stay in the
1960’s at the Ecole Internationale at the age of 5 and
6. I returned to California where I later graduated as
a French major from the University of California at
Santa Barbara. I now live in New York where I spent
several years in marketing/advertising before starting
a family. I am married with three children, ages 13, 10
and 5, and volunteer in the area of helping children
with communication difficulties.’
Vladimir Douhovnikoff / 86 – Boston, MA, USA
Vlad has started a tenure track Assistant Professor
job (Biology) at Simmons College in Boston. Anyone
wishing to know more about Simmons College and
what it has to offer should contact Vlad by e-mail or
write to him at the Biology Department, Simmons
College, 300 The Fenway, Boston, MA 02115, USA.
As I grow older, I find myself contacting more people from the past. This was sparked off by the last alumni reunion in Geneva, which certain-ly gave me a great high. At the end of that fabu-lous weekend, I wanted to also contact some of those who couldn’t make it. I have been in touch with Rami Khouri, who has come to Geneva a few times. One day, we met at the airport, and sat upstairs on the rainy terrace with a makeshift lunch, watching the planes land and take off, the way he would when the airport and jets were young and fresh. Now I regularly receive Rami’s insightful weekly column on the Middle East, essential reading these days. Another day, I got on the internet, and found Chantaka Puranananda, alive and well in Thailand, doing amazing interior design, if the stuff on the internet is anything to go by.
He said he planned to come through here, and would like to get together with Manuel Araoz and I for a «crack-up» as he put it. Anyone else want to join us - whenever Chan comes through? I also managed to contact the Winets - David and Jonathon - and hope to see the latter this sum-mer when he comes to Europe. I then managed to telephone their mother Muriel, a lady who trea-ted me as an adult back in the mid-1960s, and introduced me to Barbara, Brassens and Brel. I would love to go to the USA reunion in Copper Mountain, to see all you 1960s crowd and others, but have other engagements. In this connection, it is great to see the paintings of Richard Bruland on the internet. What a super group of people who went to that School ....
Zafar Shaheed / 67
As I grow older
• Spring 2006 9A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
Le cinéma international à l’Ecolint de 1956 à 2006
C’est en 1956 que cette nouvelle activité a semble-t-il fait ses débuts sur l’initiative de M. Meyer et M. Scheurer. A l’époque l’approvi-sionnement en films était limité en Suisse mais de nombreux films muets, noir / blanc d’Alain Renais à Cocteau, à Sacha Guitry ont été présen-tés. Le flambeau a été repris à différentes épo-ques et c’est en 2005 qu’a été fondé, par Marshall Sapherson et moi-même, l’Ecolint International Film Club.
L’année 2006, notre première saison, nous a permis de présenter divers films (sous-titrés) de neuf différents pays et d’époques très différentes, chacune à leur façon témoignant de l’histoire du cinéma. Du superbe film de propagande Brone-nostes Potyomkin réalisé en URSS en 1925 par Eisenstein, au très anglais A Room with a View réalisé par l’américain James Ivory et produit par l’indien Ismail Merchant. De l’excellent Good Morning, Babylon produit par les frères italiens Taviani à Hollywood en passant par l’authen-tiquement indien, mais pas très bollywoodien, Monsoon Wedding, au très sombre Los Olvida-dos réalisé en 1950 par l’espagnol Luis Buñuel, exilé au Mexique, à Central do Brasil du brésilien Walter Salles, formé à l’école de cinéma USC, l’antre du cinéma hollywoodien. Chacun de ces films d’une culture différente sont, dans certains cas, eux-mêmes déjà des exemples de la diver-sité culturelle que permet la création cinémato-graphique. Il nous reste encore à voir le très poé-tique Sayat Nova réalisé en Arménie sous l’ère soviétique, Once Were Warriors réalisé en 1994 en Nouvelle-Zélande sur le sujet encore très ac-tuel de la détresse des Maori, et enfin l’une des pierres de fondation de la nouvelle-vague qu’est Les Quatre Cent Coups de François Truffaut.
Chaque séance donne l’occasion d’une présen-tation par un professeur, un élève ou un membre de l’administration et d’un débat. C’est aussi l’op-portunité de créer un lien utile entre les élèves de toutes les filières, et quand le film est appro-prié de tous les âges, l’école moyenne étant la bienvenue aux projections. Le déroulement, tous les lundis et l’horaire de fin de journée, nous a également permis d’accueillir des parents, des professeurs et des collaborateurs de l’adminis-
tration. Le nombre moyen de spectateurs a os-cillé autour de la vingtaine par séance, avec une séance qui n’a réuni pas moins d’une quaran-taine de spectateurs ! Nous nous réjouissons, de par l’affirmation de ce ciné-club international, de voir l’audience augmenter l’an prochain !
Merci et bravo à notre professeur Marshall Sapherson et à toute l’équipe d’animateurs pour toute la préparation et un programme riche en couleurs !
Venez nombreux l’année prochaine, afin que ce ciné-club si représentatif de l’esprit de notre école s’inscrive dans les habitudes !
Julien Domercq / present C13 student at LGB – graduating in June 2006
• Ecolint Artists
At some point in the lives of most Ecolint Alumni we have discussed with each other the impact of our experience at Ecolint on who or what we do today. Several reunion organizers have invited prominent Alumni to speak at the reunions to expound upon this topic. The Ecolint Rocky Mountain chapter has invited artist Richard Bruland LGB 64 to show and talk about his work at the 2006 North American Reunion weekend, July 27-31 in the Colorado Rockies at Copper Mountain Resort. We are also very pleased that other artists have offered to provide us with images of their work for the PowerPoint pre-sentation. that will be shown at the opening reception. At this time Aya Tanimura, La Chât 99; Marina Chaves Preston, LGB 68; Billie Wayne Willsie, LGB 72; Donna Callighan, Laurie Noebels Munn, LGB 65 and Susan Sweetser Clifford, LGB 39 have arranged to be included. We look forward to hearing from other Ecolint artists who would like to share their work with the Ecolint community.
Patricia Hillis / 70 LGB
ALUMNI NEWS
Zakiyah Kadry / 78 LGB – PA, USA
‘I am presently Chief of the Division of Transplant
Surgery at the Penn State Milton S Hershey Medical
Center. I completed a degree in Medicine at the
Royal College of Surgeons in Dublin, Ireland in
1983, followed this by a residency training in general
surgery in the United States at the Penn State Milton
S Hershey Medical Center. This was followed by a
multiorgan abdominal transplant surgery fellowship
specialization at the University of Pittsburgh. I then
returned to Switzerland where I worked for approxi-
mately 10 years, my last post being at the Univer-
sity of Zurich where I was responsible for the liver
transplant program from May 2000 until end June
2003. I was then recruited back to the University of
Pittsburgh Thomas E Starzl Institute and while I was
there was approached to join the Penn State Milton
S Hershey Medical Center. I have been at the latter
institution since 1 June 2005.
My sister May Kadry is also a medical doctor who
has her own practice in Switzerland. I will bring the
website to her attention and ask her to contact you
with her news.’
Farah Fawaz / 98 LGB – Beirut, Lebanon
‘I got the alumni address from the Ecolint website.
I attended La Grande Boissière from 1986-1993 (from
2nd grade to 8th grade) when we left right before
high school and moved back to Beirut, Lebanon.
I’ve lost touch with many of my classmates and
was wondering how to get their contact info. I know
it’s been ages since Ecolint, but when I think back,
I have great memories, and would love to see the
faces of my childhood again.’
Tony Girolo / 00 – Philadelphia, USA
‘I am living in Philadelphia and I am graduating with
my masters degree from The Pennsylvania Academy
of the Fine Arts in May 2006. The time I spent in Ge-
neva was one of the happiest times of my life. I hope
things are going well with the school. Sabah Salman
and Janis Pozzi-Johnson were important people to
my development as an artist.’
Daniel Krass / 00 LGB – Los Altos Hills, USA
‘I am visiting LGB for the first time in 10 years and it
is a wonderful stroll down memory lane. I graduated
from Williams College in Massachussetts in June
2005 with a BA in Math. I’m still trying to figure out
what to do next with my life as I am currently em-
ployed part-time as a tutor and musician and I am still
taking some classes at Community College. I would
love to reconnect with any member of the 8th grade,
class of 1996, namely ; Jay, Annic, Doron, etc. ’
Dmitri Zinkine/96 - Moscow, Russia
‘10 years have passed by and I’m now back in Ge-
neva on a visit to Ecolint. Many things have changed
- I’ve changed too. I would like to find my classmates
- please reply via e-mail.’
Spring 2006 • �0A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
• Ghislaine Ehinger
J’ai rencontré Ghislaine il y a 20 ans à la réception de La Grande Bois-sière. Elle n’a cessé d’accueillir les nombreux visiteurs avec le sourire et sa manière calme d’affronter des situations parfois stressantes m’a toujours impressionnée. Ghislaine a beaucoup donné à l’école. Elle a toujours géré les affaires quotidiennes du bureau d’accueil avec beaucoup de discrétion, apportant son soutien aux nombreux élèves, membres du personnel et pa-rents sollicitant son aide par téléphone ou en personne.
J’ai beaucoup aimé nos conversations sur ses voyages en Afrique du Sud et sur ses nombreux centres d’intérêt extra-scolaires: la sophrologie, le tai chi, les randonnées, ses concerts de chorale, son ouverture d’esprit à tant d’acti-vités diverses.Ghislaine a maintenant pris sa retraite et elle pourra ainsi ren-dre visite à ses enfants et petits-enfants en Afrique du Sud et au Mexique. J’en suis heureuse pour elle. Elle me manquera beaucoup et je lui souhaite tout le bonheur possible pour cette nouvelle étape de sa vie. J’adresse un grand merci à Ghislaine pour sa gentillesse et sa compréhension.
Martine Terrell
• Mme Piera Bonada
Certaines personnes en marquent d’autres...
A l’heure où nous entamons la rédaction de ces quelques lignes, nous avouons nous sentir honorés quoiqu’un peu démunis. En effet, il s’agit pour nous de saluer par un hommage une personnalité de l’Ecole Internationale qui a dorénavant décidé de s’engager sur le chemin d’une retraite ample-ment méritée, et force est de constater que nous ne disposons pas des renseignements biographiques généralement divulgués à cette occasion, comme, par exemple, le cursus académique du personnage, le nombre d’années passées à enseigner ou encore les noms et lieux des différents établissements scolaires qui ont pu bénéficier de ses connaissances et méthodes à haute valeur ajoutée. Mais, après tout, est-ce là ce qui est à retenir en premier lieu ? Certainement pas quand on considère que la Signora en question porte le nom de Bonada.
Pas de curriculum vitae, donc…mais il y a bien mieux à raconter. En ef-fet, Madame Bonada représente pour nous et pour celles et ceux qui la connaissent l’irremplaçable Première Ambassadrice du pays dont elle nous a enseigné la langue et la culture avec tant d’enthousiasme et de passion. Car c’est à travers son amour pour sa langue maternelle et la culture de son pays que la connaissance nous a été transmise. Personnalité hors du commun, elle nous a emmenés bien au-delà du simple apprentissage de la grammaire et des principaux textes et auteurs. Madame Bonada nous a offert et fait partager son addiction à la culture italienne au travers d’un enseignement atypique et subtil, teinté de travail sérieux, de manières irrésistibles, d’une maîtrise absolue du sujet, de Commedia dell’Arte et de grandes colères…toujours à buts pédagogiques !
Nous sommes certains qu’elle a marqué beaucoup d’entre nous et qu’elle continuera à marquer d’autres élèves de tous âges. Car cette retraite ne sonne sans doute pas la fin de son enseignement, ne serais-ce qu’au tra-vers du rôle qu’elle continue à jouer au sein de l’institution de la Società Dante Alighieri, sise rue du Perron, à Genève. Toujours au service de la culture italienne.
Camillo Gonseth et Filippo Christen
• Irene Echard
Irene Echard has been associated with the Châtaîgneraie campus of the Foundation for over thirty years, the first ten as a parent, the next twenty as a teacher. My first memory of her is as a parent standing outside Michel Chinal’s office , smiling. In fact, she always seemed to be smiling whenever I saw her. That’s one of the reasons why we hired her to teach Spanish all those years ago!
Irene was a vital member of team Spanish, not only because she could teach all levels from Beginners 7th grade to IB A1 Grade 13 with equal success, but also because of the role she played in the team itself: discussing, planning, innovating etc. She invested an immense amount of time and energy in her work, far more than what could normally be expected of a part-time teacher. Outside the Modern Languages Department she was a tireless supporter and planner of Fieldweek, to the extent that she actually organized and led the 10th Grade F-W trip to Barcelona in September 2005, after her retirement.
Equally, she was a key player in the pleasantly lunatic atmosphere that pre-vails down the Spanish end of our office on frequent occasions. When she and I had not collapsed on the floor in helpless mirth when Rosie Smith-Gillespie was making one of her legendary phone calls to order dental braces from her plumber or spare parts for her car from her hairdresser – Rosie has a bit of a problem at times…… – Irene was herself gyrating round the office with Isa Perez-Danis and Rosie to the rhythm of a samba being played at full volume, with the office door open and goggle-eyed students staring in.
One of the things I really regretted was that Irene left before our new lan-guage laboratory was fully functional, because one way and another she put a lot of time and effort into promoting computer assisted language learning in the department. We have made a serious attempt to hoist ourselves into the technological world of the 21st. C. in the Modern Languages Department. We are perhaps not absolutely convinced that computers offer all the answers to our problems, but few of us have so little faith in them as Irene who has been known to tipex out a typing error on the screen.
One of Irene’s major contributions over the years was the subtle role she played as a cohesive force between the two language sections in the school. She always taught students out of both sections. Her friendly, conciliatory and very positive nature allied to her language skills – she is trilingual in French, Spanish and English - made it possible for her to get along with everybody. To my knowledge she never once had a difference of a personal nature with anyone.
Irene has not really left the school at all. She is still in regular contact with the Modern Languages Department, still does the occasional stint of repla-cement teaching, still makes empanadas for her former colleagues’ classes. She was, is, fun to have around, fun to work with. To my mind, there are few more important things that one can ask from one’s colleagues.
John Monks
• Peter Giroux
Peter Giroux who taught Geography at La Châtaigneraie from 1978, reti-red in 2005 in order to travel and to pursue one of his great passions – carpentry.Former students of Peter will fondly remember him as a teacher who, wi-thout the aid of modern gadgets, could hold his classes spellbound with his knowledge, his infectious enthusiasm and his love of both Geography and current affairs. Apart from the superlative quality of his teaching, Peter led many La Chât field weeks (including expeditions to Morocco), showed endless patience as a ski instructor and displayed quiet good humour to all colleagues who had the pleasure of working with him.The La Chât community wishes Peter a well-deserved and busy retirement.
Retired members of staff
La Châtaigneraie
La Grande Boissière
• Spring 2006 ��A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
• Yvonne Pottinger - from Glen’s perspective
When I answered the knock at the door in the summer of 1974, I saw a young woman with long blond hair and a happy smile that started at her lips and reached right up to her eyes. This was my first glimpse of Yvonne Pottinger. Somehow, I knew that we would become friends and I was right. Here we are more than 30 years later, still enjoying a good glass of wine and a lot of shared laughter together. She speaks three languages fluently, “my loves” everyone, is adored by all her ex students and is one of that rare breed of teachers who parents can find no apparent fault with!When Yvonne moved to the Lycee des Nations, we all lived in Nyon in a small apartment block with an uninterrupted view of the Jura. No commer-cial centres, no Monday morning opening, Saturday ski outings and very few members of staff over the age of 30. She was determined to learn to drive and so bought a Mini. My poor husband, Mike, was the designated sacrificial lamb who accompanied her to school every morning. Yvonne changed gear because the manual told her to, not because she was at one with the car. “Watch out for that tractor”, he warned. “What tractor?” she says. ”The one right in front of the car.” He shouts!! And so it continued….. until her parents visited and proudly told all and sundry that she was doing well, really much better than in England where she had already failed her test, BUT, she had only had 100 lessons!! Her Swiss instructor gave her a hug and champagne when she took off the “L” plates. Everyone in the local community took her into their hearts and homes, she has friends all over the world and she still says “my love” to all and sundry. Is it any wonder that we all remember her with great fondness and wish her the most exciting and active retirement possible. (I know how old you are and you’ll always be a month older than me!!).
- from Michael’s perspective
I am reminded of Yvonne every time I see the well-trodden path between the fish tank in her class, and the toilets. Flush flush.“Another one, Yvonne?”“He had a good life, my love,”Yvonne Pottinger was not very good at keeping goldfish. I was fortunate enough to teach class 5 with Yvonne for the last four years and, like every-one else, was struck by the depth of her popularity with children, parents and colleagues- in fact, anyone who wasn’t a fish. Working with Yvonne was fantastic because she is always such fun. She can drive quite well, now. Glen takes over her class 5 and the one surviving fish.
- from Michelle’s perspective
Yvonne a été, dans notre école, un exemple parfait de bilinguisme mais, fait beaucoup plus rare, elle était aussi biculturelle.Et c’est lors de nos déjeuners ensemble à la cafétéria, là où l’on essayait de parler d’autre chose que de travail, que nous avons tissé des liens qui se sont révélés très bénéfiques à l’ambiance de notre équipe de travail en classe 5. Nous n’étions pas toujours d’accord sur tout, mais nous avions beaucoup de points communs et surtout, il y avait entre nous une estime mutuelle qui a été le ciment de notre coopération. Coopération qui s’est toujours passée dans la bonne humeur, clins d’œil, sourires et fous rires rendant certaines tâches fastidieuses beaucoup plus supportables. Je re-tiendrai avec tendresse le souvenir de son sens de l’humour très développé et de sa générosité.
By Glen Pasternak, Michael Noonan and Michelle Dagault
• Helen Inman
Helen and David Inman came to Geneva in 1979. Helen’s early days here were spent looking after her three children, Jennie, Kirsty and Alan, who enjoyed a local education including their secondary years at La Châtai-gneraie.
Helen returned to teaching when she joined the Science department in 1996; she taught Science for two years before transferring to the Mathema-tics department where she was a valued and conscientious colleague until June 2005. At that point she took early retirement, among other reasons to fully enjoy being a young grandmother.
Helen was a quiet, stabling influence in the department and was always willing to share her ideas and expertise. She was always a dedicated and caring teacher with a most professional attitude towards all aspects of her work. She was greatly appreciated by all her students and always found extra time to help them individually. Her organizational skills were the envy of most of us in the department and she is already being greatly missed.
She will now have more time to follow her favourite pursuits of walking and travelling and everyone in the Maths department wishes her a most enjoya-ble and rewarding retirement.
Alison Ryan
Tributes to other retired members of staff will be published in the next edition of the Alumni ‘Newsletter’.
NAISSANCES
Toutes nos félicitations à :
Ken / 86 and Anne Gulick would like to announce the safe arrival of their daughter,
Juliette Josephine Gulick, born on 28 February 2006 in Boston, Massachusetts,
USA.
Andrew / 87 and Yasmine Hunt, are pleased to announce the birth of their daugh-
ter, Inès, born on 29 December 2005 in Nyon, Vaud.
Ian / 88 and Hélène McClellan, are pleased to announce the birth of their son,
Simon, born on 30 November 2005 in Geneva.
Daniel / 89 and Lucinda O’Hanlon, are happy to announce the birth of their son,
Morrison, born in Geneva on 17 December 2005.
Agnes de Guzman Borges / 90 and Antonio Borges are pleased to announce the
birth of their son, Alexandre Bayani, born on 19 January 2006 in London, UK.
Nathalie Albrow Kavalier / 91 and Jonathan Kavalier gave birth to Laelia Emily
on 28 September 2005 in Washington DC.
Alma de Guzman Hiatt / 00 and Tom Hiatt are happy to announce the birth of
their baby girl, Asia Malaya, on 7 October 2005 in Provo, Utah, USA.
MARIAGES
Toutes nos félicitations à :
Sujata Kelkar / 93 and Nitest Shetty who married on 24 March 2006 in Mumbai, India.
Robert Douglas / 95 and Karoline Klingspor who were married in Heidelberg,
Germany, on 4 June 2005.
Spring 2006 • �2A l u m n i
N e w s l e t t e r
IN MEMORIAM
• Léonard Cuénoud / 94 – le 3 août 2005
Léonard Cuénoud …. Qu’il est difficile d’écrire un article pour le journal des anciens en commen-çant par ‘Léonard Cuénoud’ quand on sait qu’il va falloir parler au passé, et finir par dire ce qu’on n’a pas envie de dire mais que le lecteur devine puisque les lignes sont dans cette rubrique, à cela destinée, celle des mauvaises nouvelles : ‘Léonard Cuénoud nous a quittés’. Euphémisme traditionnel et pusillanime, frôlant la vérité, mais frileusement, de loin, bien incapable de traduire le vide et la douleur qui désormais habitent ses proches et ceux qui l’ont connu, apprécié, aimé, dans son cas le premier verbe provoquant d’em-blée l’apparition des deux suivants. ‘Il a mis un terme à sa vie’, m’a dit son père, à sa belle vie si élégante, si lumineuse, si industrieuse, facé-tieuse, créative, intelligente et aimante…Nous avons eu la chance de l’abriter dans nos murs pendant deux ans, de 1992 à 1994, avec son chapeau noir, son manteau noir, son stylo Mont-Blanc noir à encre noire, et ses yeux si clairs, si clairvoyants, si souriants et bien-veillants, si ouverts sur le monde et surtout le monde de l’Art… C’est dans cette voie qu’il a continué, à Londres, au Sotheby’s Institute, puis à Manchester, couronnant tout cela d’un diplôme de gestion culturelle à Bâle. Dès lors, il a travaillé pour la Collection Hess d’Art contem-porain à Bâle, jusqu’à son décès, le 3 août 2005, à l’âge de 32 ans.
Et voilà… A peine commencés, cette vie et l’ar-ticle sont déjà finis, si peu de place pour tant de merveilles et de grâces raffinées, pour un spé-cialiste du land-art infini qui avait tant à dire et tant à faire…
Marie-Claire Vigneau
• Charles John Tottenham / 31– 31 January 2006
Charles John Tottenham / 31, Eighth Marquess of Ely, died in hospital in Port Hope, Ontario, on 31 January 2006 at the age of 92. His son, John also attended the International School. Charles Tottenham was a teacher and then principal of the Trinity College School in Port Hope, Ontario, for more than 40 years. Our heartfelt condolen-ces to his family.
• Jacqueline Darolle / 82 – le 21 décembre 2005
Jacky Darolle s’en est allée le 21 décembre 2005, à l’âge de 82 ans, après une lente et douloureuse agonie de 4 mois, atteinte de l’inexorable mala-die d’Alzheimer. Elle n’avait plus de goût à rien, malgré les excellents soins qu’elle recevait dans l’hôpital de Nouvelle-Zélande où elle était traitée.
Elle avait passé 34 années à Ecolint, de 1948 à 1982. Jusque-là elle résidait en France où elle avait connu en particulier la dureté des années de la 2è guerre mondiale. Après la guerre, elle enseigna dans une école Montessori et dans un orphelinat juif à Paris. Venue à Genève en 1948 pour rendre visite à un ami qui enseignait à l’Ecole Internationale - qui était encore à l’époque une école italienne dont le Château a toujours gardé les armoiries - elle eut l’occasion de rencontrer Manguère dont la personnalité l’avait immédiate-ment conquise. Comme elle semblait très attirée par un éventuel emploi à l’école, Manguère l’avait présentée à la directrice, Mme Maurette, autre for-te personnalité, qui confia à Jacky pour la rentrée scolaire suivante, à la fois un enseignement dans la section primaire et des charges à l’internat.
En 1952, elle s’était liée d’amitié avec Betty Bown qui enseignait dans la section anglaise. Aussi, quand elle abandonna ses fonctions à l’internat pour devenir externe, Betty et elle cherchèrent un appartement dont elles pourraient partager les frais. Elles y demeurèrent durant tout le reste de leur séjour à Genève. Comme Betty était néo-zélandaise, toutes deux partagèrent dès lors leur temps entre l’Europe et la Nouvelle-Zélande, en effectuant de nombreux voyages.
J’avais rencontré Jacky lorsque je suis arrivé à Ecolint en 1957. Bien que nos enseignements n’étaient pas dans les mêmes tranches d’âges, les circonstances ont fait que nous nous som-mes rencontrés, en découvrant de nombreux points d’affinité. Nous avions plaisir à nous ren-contrer et à bavarder, notamment au cours des repas qui étaient encore servis dans la grande salle à manger de Mme Paroisse.
La disparition de Jacky dans des conditions par-ticulièrement pénibles m’affecte profondément, comme elle doit affecter tous ceux et celles qui l’ont connue à l’époque. Elle a été une figure de l’Ecole qui a envers elle une dette de reconnais-sance pour les générations d’élèves qu’elle a remarquablement formés.
Gérard Renaud / 67
• Isabelle Frances Eastman McNeill / 41 – 3 November 2005
Isabelle sadly passed away on 3 November 2005 at her home in Palo Alto, USA. She recei-ved her BA and MA from the university of Toronto and her PhD from Stanford university in French Literature. She then taught French literature and language at Stanford from 1972 to the mid-80s. Isabelle had a deep appreciation for and unders-tanding of European and world history. She was delighted when her dear husband, Ian, retired from Palo Alto Medical Foundation in 1987 be-cause it gave them more time to travel together throughout Europe, play tennis and walk through Foothills Park. She was the daughter of Cana-dian diplomat and university professor of history, S.M. Eastman, who served in the League of Na-tions, and of accomplished French painter, Anto-nia Larribe Eastman. Isabelle is survived by her husband, their three sons and their daughter.
The Eastman Family
• Georges-André Fiechter / 48 – le 28 février 2006
Nous avons la grande tristesse de vous informer du décès de Georges-André Fiechter survenu brusquement le 28 février 2006 à la suite d’une longue maladie supportée avec courage. Nos sincères condoléances vont à la famille et à ses amis. Un texte de souvenir sera publié dans le prochain bulletin des Anciens.
Bureau des Anciens
• Jane Bell Davis / 68 – 31 December 2005
Jane Bell Davis died suddenly on December 31, 2005. A 1966 graduate of Ecolint, she at-tended Bennington College. After graduation she had been professionally active as an editor and reviewer for Art in America Magazine, as a freelance editor, and as a licensed professional social worker in New York City. She was also an active member of the congregation of Trinity Episcopal Church in Manhattan. She is survived by her husband, Douglas Davis and daughter, Charlotte Victoria Davis, both of New York City, by her father, Harry Bell, of Thonon-les-Bains, France, and by a circle of loving friends. She is remembered for her keen intellect, her ready wit, and her generous heart.
Heidi Koring
INTERNATIONAL SCHOOL ALUMNI ASSOCIATIONASSOCIATION DES ANCIENS DE L’ECOLE INTERNATIONALE
62, route de Chêne | CH - 1208 Genève
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[email protected] | http://alumni.ecolint.ch
A web edition of this ‘Newsletter’ is posted on the new Alumni website at http://alumni.ecolint.ch
Une version internet de cette ‘Newsletter’ peut être consultée sur le site des anciens : http://alumni.ecolint.ch