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The TA Bonfire
December 30, 2011
It was a fitting end to a
Great Day to Be at TA!
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Alumni Snapshots January 2012 |
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ALUMNI SNAPSHOTS
In this issue we offer an update on the search for a new Head of School. See the message from the Thetford Academy Head Transition Task Force. Mia Brown '03 is the feature of this issue's Alumni Bio Column, with details of her work with the Selamta Family Project. TA's focus for Operation Day's Work in both 2010 and 2011 centered on raising money to support this invaluable project. We once again offer the column titled Alumni Faces to reconnect you with classmates, friends of old, and alumni to be. Panther Pairings continues with Panther Cubs as a sidebar to keep you abreast of the latest news of alumni weddings and births. Upcoming Events offers a look at exciting chances to experience life at TA. In Memoriam pays tribute to some of our departed alumni.
Read about our first ever Mr. TA, and find out what we're doing to help students in Rwanda. Catch up with folks in attendance at the Holiday Craft Bazaar in November. Of course it is never too early to think Reunion, so don't miss the sidebar to see if your class already has started planning. Included in this issue is a great shot of many of the Class of 2011 when they gathered in the TA Cafe for a half year reunion and an evening to remember their late classmate Marley Sirjane. As always, you can test your campus knowledge with TA Trivia. We're asking for your help, too. The Annual Fund request was mailed several weeks ago, and we hope you'll help us reach our goal. Thanks to you who have already sent a donation. We always are interested in hearing from alumni with stories to tell for our Alumni Bio column, and please share your wedding and baby news with us. If you would like more information about Thetford Academy activities or to be featured in Snapshots, please contact
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HEAD of SCHOOL SEARCH UPDATE |
In December the Thetford Academy Board of Trustees announced that the search for our next Head of School had been reopened, and applications for the position of Head of School for the school year 2012-2013 were accepted until January 15, 2012. The Board's Head Transition Task Force appointed a Screening Committee which began reviewing applications in late December.
The Screening Committee is charged with presenting to the Trustees up to three candidates who meet the criteria established by the Board of Trustees. The goal is to bring semi-finalists to the Academy in late January and to present the finalists to the school community and to the Board of Trustees by mid-February 2012.
Your questions and input are welcome. Any inquiries should be directed to: Gene Kadish Chair, Thetford Academy Head Transition Task Force gene.kadish@valley.net 802-356-7885
Members of the Thetford Academy Head of School Screening Committee are as follows: Gene Kadish-Trustee Sarah Clarke-Administrative Team
Karen Heinzman-Faculty Cameron Cudhea-Trustee
Therese Linehan-Trustee Jim Wilson-Trustee Charlie Buttrey-Thetford School Board
Annelise Orleck-Community Member
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ALUMNI BIO MIA BROWN '03 |

Maggie Perry '03 and Mia Brown '03
After graduation from Thetford Academy in June 2003, Mia Brown left Thetford for Portland, Oregon, and Lewis & Clark College, from which she graduated with a B.A. in psychology. Before her graduation, however, in 2005 she began volunteering with The Selamta Family Project; and she took a semester off from school to spend six months in Ethiopia in 2006. After receiving her degree in 2008 she completed a year of AmeriCorps service in Burlington, VT, at the Champlain Valley Agency on Aging, all the while maintaining her ties to Selamta. What follows is the story of her life with Selamta.
"My desire to be a part of The Selamta Family Project was born out of a feeling of helplessness. Six years ago I went on a volunteer trip to Ethiopia with Selamta's founder, Carol Foster, and met a nine-year-old girl named Samrawit. I found her in a dark two-room orphanage where thirty children shared three mattresses. Nothing had prepared me for the pain and desperation I saw when I looked in her eyes. I could tell she longed for someone to stand up and take responsibility for her life and wellbeing. Frail, and sick, Samrawit was covered in a rash and suffered from stomach parasites. I helped get her medical treatment, but felt wretchedly helpless to truly impact her life or the lives of the four million orphans in Ethiopia just like her."
"The memory of Samrawit stays with me, but I no longer feel helpless. I have been lucky to be able to volunteer and now work with the Selamta Family Project to help give children like her what they most long for, a family. Selamta offers a unique, simple approach: we create new, lifelong families for children who have lost their own through AIDS or other tragedies. Over the past six years, we have tested the power of a formula that takes children from the streets, reunites them with lost siblings, stabilizes them emotionally, and creates a new family around them. We have established eleven family homes to house a forever family made up of eight to nine children, a mom and an auntie."
"My responsibilities at Selamta include coordinating our Sponsorship Program, which connects individuals and families in the U.S. with a child at Selamta whom they support financially and get to know through letters and updates. I also manage our Volunteer Program and travel several times a year to Selamta with folks who are interested in a challenging and meaningful experience working to enrich the lives of children."
For more information or to find out how you can help, contact Mia by email: Mia@humancapitalfoundation.org or visit the
website: www.selamtafamilyproject.org
Joining Mia in the picture is another TA '03 alumna, Maggie Perry. Mia and Maggie were photographed at the Craft Bazaar at their joint table displaying goods from the Selamta Collection and works from "Maggie May." Visit Maggie's shop, Whiskey and Cotton, on Etsy.com. |
ALUMNI FACES |

Dale Schaafsma '00 married Mallory Wilson Schaafsma on
Saturday, September 10, 2011, in Waterford, Maine.
Shown here with the happy groom is his family, including
sisters Anne '08 (far left) and Maria '03 (far right).

TA students sold over 330 ten and twenty pound boxes of oranges and grapefruits in the fall during the Student Council fundraiser to benefit student clubs, teams, and activities. Pictured here L-R are Elyse Lindahl '15, Naome Cummings '12, and Megan Thorp '12.

Sarah Stowell Agnoli '02 enjoyed the day at the
Holiday Craft Bazaar in November with her mother,
Janet Adams Stowell '76.

Maddison Wilhite '13 and Rozy Isquith '12 showed the Panther spirit when they dressed alike for the December Student Council Spirit Day "Twin Day."

Also enjoying the Craft Bazaar were members of the Wilmot Family: L-R Levi Wilmot, Martha Wilmot (wife of John '59), Esther Wilmot, and Carmen Martin Wilmot '93 (wife of Jonathan '91). |
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WE NEED YOU!
What are your priorities? Are you a supporter of Academics? Athletics? Performing Arts? Technology? Something else?
The TA Annual Fund mailing was sent out recently. Please
help us with your contribution.
We all thank you for your generous support!
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TA TRIVIA
The November 2011 Trivia Answer: Admiral Richard Byrd visited Thetford Academy in 1930.
The January 2012 Trivia question:
What year was the first TA basketball team organized?
1. 1901
2. 1927
3. 1954
Send us your answer with your US mail address. We will pick a winner to receive a special prize from the Alumni Office.
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UPCOMING EVENTS
68th FOUNDERS' DAY
Friday, February 10, 2012
"Biomes"
802-785-2600 for information
on how to attend
WINTER RECESS
February 20-24, 2012
Thetford Academy is closed
SEMI-FORMAL DANCE
Friday, March 2, 2012
TA Cafe
Grades 9-12 and Guests
ONE ACT PLAY
Sunday, March 4, 2012
4:00pm
Thursday, March 8, 2012
7:00pm
Martha Jane Rich Theater
in Anderson Hall
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IN MEMORIAM
'59 David Pushee DeGoosh
September 15, 2011
'42 Charles Orr
November 16, 2011
'40 E. Marten Jenkins November 17, 2011
'11 Marley May Sirjane November 20, 2011 '54 Franklin D. Ricker December 17, 2011
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PANTHER CUBS
Alexander Colon
born August 15, 2010
Stacey Bubolz Colon and Kevin Colon
Mikayla Rylee Koutsev
born September 15, 2011
Kellie Towle '02 and Roma Koutsev
Cecilia Jane King Huling
born October 4, 2011
Casey Huling '92 and Marianne St. Laurent
Dylan James Mathieu
born November 30, 2011
Billy Mathieu '92 and Angela Hudson Mathieu
John James Mullen
born November 30, 2011
Erica Ballou Mullen '98 and Jamie Mullen
Ariah Ariel Sleath-Wilmot
born December 14, 2011
Cassie Wilmot '09 and Isaiah Sleath
Barrett Robert Watson
born December 29, 2011
Jason Watson '05 and Myrrhanda Wentworth
Harper Jane Galanif
born January 16, 2012
Jesse Finley Galanif '05 and Kenny Galanif
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PANTHER PAIRINGS
George Davis '49 and
Mary Ann Hatchett Davis
wed May 15, 2011
Terri Higgins Levasser '74 and Rick Lavasser
wed July 17, 2010
Dale Schaafsma '00 and Mallory Wilson Schaafsma
wed September 10, 2011
Liana Hebb '00 and Niko Horster
wed October 1, 2011
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REUNION 2012
It's never to early to start thinking reunion, and the following classes have already begun to make plans:
The Class of 1962
Saturday, June 9, 2012
Alumni Room
Beckie Kendall Raymond
Beckie@myfairpoint.net
Melvin Coburn
802-765-4445
The Class of 1972
Nancy Bailey Manning
Nancy.Manning72@gmail.com
The Class of 1998
T'ien Banks
tien.banks@gmail.com
If you'd like to help with your class reunion, send me an email or call the Alumni Office
802-785-2600
wendy.cole@thet.net |
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MR. THETFORD ACADEMY |

Yu Ma '13, escorted here by Rowan Froehlich '13,
wears the crown!
Congratulations Yu, our first Mr. Thetford Academy! Yu charmed the crowd at the recent Mr. TA Pageant with his delightful personality and his newly acquired skill on the Chinese flute, and he sealed the deal when he broke into a rendition of Rebecca Black's inescapable song "Friday." Yu faced tough competition from some of TA's bravest and most talented young men: Gabe Freund, Matt Diamond, Joe Fields, Billy Ulz, Jared Sadoques, Tate Buttrey, Dominic Chatot, Henry Levine, Robert Fernandez, and Mason Doyle. Guest appearances included the Panther, Eric Rwabuhihi and Satchel Arnold, and our special host for the evening who kept the talent in line and the crowd entertained was Coach Mark Weigel.
This special event was planned and staged by this fall's 20th Century World History classes in an effort to address the enduring legacy of genocide and colonialism in Rwanda. Students chose to raise funds that will enable three young people in Rwanda to continue their high school education next year, and we have nearly reached our $1800 fundraising goal. Mr. TA Calendars and Pageant DVDs are on sale for a limited time, and those sales should push us to the $1800 mark! If you'd like to purchase a calendar or DVD or simply donate to the cause, contact Wendy Cole, PO Box 190, Thetford, VT 05074 or send an email: Wendy.Cole@Thet.Net
RWANDA PROJECT UPDATE: Great news! The Rwandan students for whom we've raised scholarship funds began school on Monday, January 9! Thanks to the generosity of the TA community, Aline, Marc and Clementine are now high school students; and we will cover the admission fees for eight middle school students too. Thanks again!
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CLASS OF 2011 REUNION |
It was a great evening to get together, catch up on the months since graduation, and remember their late classmate, Marley Sirjane. Pictured here are just some of the folks in attendance. On December 18 more than 40 alumni from the Class of 2011 and faculty and staff members Steve Niederhauser, Robin Pettingell, and Rich Young enjoyed a night of dancing and camaraderie and reconnection after saying goodbye in June. Class president Kara Ciambra organized the event, and the class agreed they won't wait five years to get together again! |
TAAA HOLIDAY CRAFT BAZAAR |
In November members of the Thetford Academy Alumni Association (TAAA) served up a wonderful luncheon for many of the attendees at the annual Holiday Craft Bazaar in Anderson Hall. L-R: Becky Beede Gray '59, Loretta Fifield Gray '80, Mckenzie Mann '10, Irene Benjamin Roberts '63, and Tracy Magoon Borst '86. The day included an amazing offering of hand crafted items, delicious treats, horse drawn wagon rides, and of course a visit from Santa Claus! This year the new gymnasium was full to the brim, and some crafters set up shop in the hall just outside the gym. Mark your calendars for next year's date, November 17; this is one craft bazaar not to miss!
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Wendy Cole
Alumni Liaison Thetford Academy
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