Academic

THE
Academic
FALL 2015 THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY
Academy
alum heads
to NYU to
study art
SPEAKER
ANNOUNCED FOR
2015 MCMILLAN
LECTURE
PARENTS TALK
ABOUT WHY
THEY SEND THEIR
CHILDREN TO
THE ACADEMY
2011 GRADS GO TO
COLLEGE WITH
$1.5 MILLION PLUS
IN SCHOLARSHIPS
Non Profit
U.S. Postage
PAID
Detroit, MI
Permit 2549
The Grosse Pointe Academy
171 Lake Shore Road
Grosse Pointe Farms, MI 48236
BRIDGING GAP BETWEEN THE
DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL WORLDS

THE ACADEMY FUND
Why give…
BECAUSE OF WHAT WE DO EVERY DAY!
The Academy Fund is our annual appeal to support The Grosse Pointe Academy. It is the most
important fundraising effort of the year in that it provides ongoing support to the operating budget,
allowing The Grosse Pointe Academy to offer competitive salaries, professional development and
unique educational experiences, while also keeping tuition as affordable as possible.
YOUR GIFT WILL SUPPORT:
• Continual enhancements to our Montessori
classroom materials
• Competitive athletic programs with travel
opportunities throughout metropolitan Detroit
• Middle School Real-World Experiences and Applied
Learning (R.E.A.L.) electives classes
• Dedicated reading and math specialist for all
students in grade 1 through 3
• Unique professional development opportunities
to foster faculty growth, including a dedicated
Technology and Learning Specialist on staff
• Full time school nurse to collaborate with school
staff members and parents, thereby keeping students
safe at school and healthy to learn
Securing
THE ADVANTAGE
Together
SUPPORT THE ACADEMY FUND WITH YOUR GIFT NOW!
SECURE ONLINE GIVING IS AVAILABLE AT
GPACADEMY.ORG.

Contents
Fall
2015
Volume 1
No.1
pg. 38
HEAD OF SCHOOL
Lars Kuelling
DEVELOPMENT DIRECTOR
Kristen Van Pelt
EDITOR
Mike Kelly
CONTRIBUTORS
Lars Kuelling
THE ACADEMIC
The Academic is a
magazine devoted to the
students, alumni, parents
and friends of The Grosse
Pointe Academy. It is
published twice a year, in
the spring and fall.
CONTACT US
The Grosse Pointe Academy
171 Lake Shore Rd.
Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.
48236
313-886-1221
mkelly@gpacademy.org
5
MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Brother and sister who attended the Academy
are making music and making the world a better place.
6 ARTS AND ACADEMICS
Foundation of academics from The Grosse Pointe Academy
helps alum with arts education at Interlochen and beyond.
10 TAKING AN ADVANTAGE TO HIGH SCHOOL
GPA’s 2015 graduating class heads to high school with an advantage.
12 2015 McMILLAN
LECTURE
Discussion to focus on balancing
the art of being both
responsive and demanding
to children.
28 SCHOLARSHIPS
2011 GPA grads head to college
with $1.5 million plus in scholarship
offers.
34 INTERNATIONAL ACUITY
Early School teacher brings international acuity
to her ‘peaceful’ classroom.
pg. 34
pg. 21
pg. 6

HEAD OF SCHOOLMESSAGE
This first issue of The Academic, a newly
combined student-alumni magazine unveiled
in these pages for the first time, tells the stories
of current and past students and the people—
their teachers and parents—who have shaped
them during their experiences at The Grosse
Pointe Academy.
From these stories, a common theme
arises, a theme of inspiration first sparked
at GPA, tended and stoked over a student’s
academic journey, and still ablaze today.
Notice how the stories about an
artist’s work, community service, a global
perspective, and the journey of a highaltitude
balloon all share the common
thread of having found their beginning
here at GPA.
Let your imagination run a bit,
and picture how today’s students will
be equally accomplished as any of the
alumni featured in the magazine.
As you leaf through the pages,
we hope you will get a fuller sense
of the continuous arc of a Grosse
Pointe Academy education and
of the many ways the education
students receive today shapes their
futures. Enjoy!
Lars Kuelling
4 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

ALUMPROFILE
FORMER
ACADEMY
STUDENTS
MAKING A
DIFFERENCE
Musicians, artists and other creative luminaries,
including Thom York, Patti Smith, Bill McKibben,
Flea, Rebecca Foon and Dhani Harrison,
are planning to gather in Paris, France, on Dec.
4 and 5 to perform as the culmination of “Pathway
to Paris,” a special year-plus long initiative
designed to raise awareness about climate change.
The event will coincide with the United Nations
Climate Change Conference, which is scheduled to
take place Nov. 30 through Dec. 11, also in Paris.
Among the artists performing in December
and one of the chief architects of the event is Jesse
Paris Smith, who is Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
inductee Patti Smith’s daughter and who also at
one time plied the hallways and classrooms as a
student of The Grosse Pointe Academy along with
her older brother, Jackson.
Jesse and Jackson Smith attended the Academy
while living in nearby St. Clair Shores with
their mother, Patti, and father, the late MC5
musician Fred “Sonic” Smith. A year or so after
Fred Smith’s untimely death in 1994 due to heart
failure, Patti and her family moved back to New
York City, where Patti still lives and where her two
kids split much of their time with Detroit.
According to Jesse Smith, the Pathway to Paris
initiative, which was founded in September of
2014, has been bringing together musicians/artists/poets/writers
with scientists/climate experts/
politicians/activists in a dialogue about climate
change leading up to the UN conference (Cop21)
in Paris.
“We want to highlight the opportunity the
conference brings to establish an ambitious,
legally binding global climate agreement,” Smith
said. “Our main partner is 350.org, which is a
leading climate-action organization founded by
Bill Mckibben, and all of our events serve as fundraisers
for 350. Our final events, which will serve
as fundraisers for 350, are in Paris on December 4
and 5, the first weekend of the UN
conference.”
Jesse’s brother, Jackson, a
versatile musician, lives in the
Detroit area and spends much of his
musical “chops” with the band, the
Orbitsuns, a honky-tonk, rock and
roll band based in southeast Michigan.
He started playing in Detroit
with Brit-pop band Fletcher Pratt,
and since then he’s played locally
with Back in Spades, The Paybacks,
jazz singer Linda Blanke and the Skeemin’ No
Goods on occasion.
Jackson notably accompanied his mother on
her goosebump-inducing rendition of the song
“Babe, I’m Gonna Leave You” at the “Another Day,
Another Time: Celebrating The Music Of ‘Inside
Llewyn Davis’” concert held a couple of years ago
at Manhattan’s Town Hall. He’s also toured with
Elton John, Leon Russell, Greg Allman and several
other artists.
Jackson has appeared on many records, which
range from local bands like the Dead Bodies and
the Farwells all the way to larger national acts like
the Electric Six and Wanda Jackson as well as a
Steve Earle record. In addition, Jackson appeared
a few years ago on a Jeff Bridges record.
Jesse Paris Smith is a composer and multi-instrumentalist
who has performed globally in
many configurations, collaborating with other
musicians and artists, including Soundwalk Collective,
Tenzin Choegyal, Tree Laboratory, Shyam
Nepali, along with her mother and brother. She
also performs in a band called Belle Ghoul, which
includes Smith and five other Detroit musicians,
and has performed with Esquire, Kenny Tudrick
and Skinny Wrists. Her compositions have been
commissioned for films, commercials, art installations,
audiobooks and live film score performances.
She is a graduate of the Sound and Music
Institute of New York City.
Now 28, Jesse is passionate about her work as
a musician, but it’s her work with climate change
and Pathway to Paris that really gets her energized.
That was made abundantly clear after she
agreed to be interviewed for this article by The
Grosse Pointe Academy, which, by the way, also
was clearly influential in her young life.
A transcript of the interview is at gpacademy.org.
Above, Jesse Smith on the
GPA campus. Below, from
left, former GPA students
Jesse Smith and Jackson
Smith are with Jackson’s
wife Lisa, and their mother,
Patti Smith, far right,
during a recent visit to the
Detroit area.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 5

ALUMPROFILE
Grosse Pointe
Academy graduate
George Spica
is working on
a sculpture at
Interlochen earlier
this year.
6 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

Arts and
academics
FOUNDATION OF ACADEMICS FROM
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY
HELPS ALUM WITH ARTS EDUCATION
AT INTERLOCHEN AND BEYOND
It’s not hard to see why George Spica has
done so well at the prestigious Interlochen
Arts Academy. He’s talented, well-spoken
and well-focused on a top-notch art
education and ultimately a career as a
professional artist. But, he says, it’s his
Grosse Pointe Academy experience that
gave him the well-rounded educational
foundation so critical to high school and
college success.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 7

ALUMPROFILE
Spica, right, still a
student at GPA, is
at his sister Helen’s
graduation from
Interlochen. Spica is
now attending NYU’s
renowned Steinhardt
School.
“I attended GPA from
preschool to grade eight
and what I now realize
is that the tradition and
rigor that characterizes
a GPA education is
in fact what enabled
me to engage in more
unorthodox means of
learning in my high
school years,” Spica said.
“In other words, I was so
comfortable and wellversed
in my academics
after graduating from
the Academy, I was far
more open to the idea
of alternative-learning
methods as I matured
in the context of an art
school.”
Spica graduated from
Interlochen this spring.
He says that in addition
to his years of education
at GPA, he also has benefited tremendously from
his four years at the highly touted art school
located in northern Michigan. He said most
Interlochen graduates leave with a better arts
education than many graduates of university
programs.
Which is why he was so careful in choosing a
college.
Even though Spica was accepted at the
acclaimed Bard College in New York’s Hudson
Valley and the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, where he was offered a substantial
scholarship, it was the reputation of New York
University’s Steinhardt School that will take him
to Greenwich Village this fall to study visual arts.
“Having seen many art colleges and their
appeals to Interlochen students, it became
clear that attending a typical art college would
be a repetition of the instruction I received at
Interlochen,” Spica said. “And, in many cases, with
lesser facilities and fewer resources.”
So it was his desire to combine a rigorous
academic program with a well-regarded arts
8 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

“I attended GPA
from preschool to grade eight
and what I now realize is that the tradition
and rigor that characterizes
a GPA education is in fact what enabled
me to engage in more unorthodox means of learning
in my high school years.”
education that drove him to apply to Steinhardt
at NYU. “It’s a small, artistically, academically, and
culturally motivated institution within a highly
resourceful and renowned university,” he said.
FAMILY AFFAIR
As Spica buttoned up his high-school
education at Interlochen, he looked back without
regret that he didn’t take a more local and
conventional secondary-school path. Many GPA
graduates go on to well-respected high schools
in the area. Schools like Detroit Country Day,
Cranbrook and University Liggett. But for Spica,
even though Interlochen was kind of pre-ordained
— his parents met there and his older siblings
also attended — it was much more than that.
“I realize Interlochen is a Spica family
tradition, but it became something far more
comprehensive for me,” he said. “I would not be
the student I am today if not for the genuinely
unique education I received at Interlochen. The
curriculum comprises two high school schedules,
one academic and one artistic, which eventually
led me to realize how integral academia is to the
creation of well-informed, thought-provoking art.
After four years, I can say that what upheld my
academic record and my interest in the liberal arts
was my parallel study of conceptual art within the
studio.”
AWARD-WINNING ART
Spica’s work in the studio also has led to a
number of national awards for him, including
a visual arts award by the National YoungArts
Foundation, a non-profit organization that
recognizes and nurtures some of the the nation’s
most talented young artists. The award also gave
Spica and other winners the opportunity to spend
a week in Miami for workshops with renowned
visual artists and to experience and witness
performances by artists practicing in other
disciplines.
According to the YoungArts Foundation,
previous YoungArts winners include actresses
Viola Davis and Kerry Washington, fourtime
Tony Award nominee Raúl Esparza,
recording artists Nicki Minaj and Chris Young,
musicians Terence Blanchard and Jennifer
Koh, choreographer Desmond Richardson, and
internationally acclaimed multimedia-artist Doug
Aitken.
Spica’s work at Interlochen also earned him a
national gold medal and two silver medals from
the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers, which
confers awards through its annual Scholastic Art
& Writing Awards competition.
“Entering the Scholastic competition was a
massive application process in which I submitted
over 20 works of sculpture, installation and video
for review,” he said. “The work then was evaluated
regionally by local cultural institutions — in
my case within Michigan — after which I was
awarded gold and silver ‘keys.’”
Spica’s gold key work was then evaluated by
Scholastic on the national level, which is how he
earned his gold and silver medals.
But awards and medals aside, Spica said his
career and life goals are a bit more concrete and
tangible.
“It is my hope that I can establish an
independent studio and practice as a professional
artist after receiving my degree from NYU and
during graduate school where I plan to pursue a
master’s degree in fine art.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 9

GPANEWS
GPA’s 2015
graduating class
heads to high school
with an advantage
In school head Lars Kuelling’s letter to the
GPA community at the beginning of this school
year, he talked about how the Academy is an
“uncommon choice, the better-than-average option
for students.”
As families, faculty and school officials
bade farewell this evening to The Grosse Pointe
Academy’s Class of 2015, these soon-to-be high
schoolers are taking with them an elementaryschool
education that was anything but.
Kuelling said in his letter last September that
what makes GPA different from other schools is
not only its innovative curriculum and cuttingedge
classroom technology, it’s the complete and
utter focus on every student as an individual.
“Our aim is to inspire each student,” he said.
“To inspire them academically, to inspire them
in the arts, and to inspire them athletically. We
challenge them to learn and we nurture them
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY’S
CLASS OF 2015!
Kendall Adams, Daniel Arkison, Errington Belyue, Elise Buhl, Piero Cavataio,
Johnnae Curry, Tai Daniels, Adrian Doan, Henry Drettmann, Patrick
FitzSimons, Sydni Hall, Grace Jackson, Andrew Jamieson, William Kendrick,
Adam Kuplicki, Brandon Murphy, Samantha Savage, Blake Weaver, Henry
Whitaker, Imani White, Karmella Williams, Winston Wright and
Emma Wujek.
when they need a little extra care, and since we
know each student so well, we endeavor to bring
out the best in each student.”
It is without question that today’s talented
class of 23 students, who are heading to some of
the finest area high schools, including Cranbrook,
Roeper, Grosse Pointe South, U of D Jesuit, Detroit
Country Day and University Liggett, are leaving
171 Lake Shore Road with an advantage—an
advantage that comes from experiencing at least
eight years of the best “uncommon” education
available in southeast Michigan.
10 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

ISACS TEAM CONCLUDES IMPORTANT
RE-ACCREDITATION VISIT
NAIS, ISACS, AIMS, ERB. It’s a regular alphabet
soup of accreditation, authorization and academic
certification. It’s confusing to be sure for some in
the school community, but nonetheless vital to The
Grosse Pointe Academy’s continuing growth as a
beacon of excellence in early and primary education.
Among the many accreditations achieved by
GPA, perhaps one of the most vital is its ISACS
accreditation. The Independent Schools Association
of the Central States is a membership organization
of more than 230 independent schools from 13
states in the Midwest region of the United States.
GPA has been ISACS-accredited for years and shares
such accreditation with Cranbrook, Country Day and
The Roeper School.
VISITING TEAM COMMENDS
In mid-April, a team of 10 educators from other
ISACS-member schools concluded a four-day visit to
GPA as a part of the school’s re-accreditation process.
Prior to the visit, GPA faculty, staff, administrators
and Board members prepared a 130-page self-study
report describing all aspects of GPA’s program,
operations and school culture.
According to GPA officials, the ISACS team
observed school in session and met with faculty,
staff, students, administrators, alumni, Trustees
and parents. The team used those observations
and meetings to analyze GPA’s self-study report
and to develop a general overview along with
commendations and recommendations for the 31
report areas in the self-study.
“We received a copy of the ISACS full
report at mid-summer,” said Head of School Lars
Kuelling. “And we were happy to receive our full
accreditation at that time.”
Prior to departing the Academy in April,
the ISACS visiting team leader, Mike Vachow,
who is from the Forsyth School in St. Louis,
Missouri, shared his team’s overall observations
with GPA’s faculty and staff, and presented major
commendations and recommendations, some of
which are highlighted below:
• Dedicated, compassionate, flexible, loyal
faculty, staff and administration
• The family feel that characterizes school
community
• Leadership of the school at the governance
level is intensely focused on the long-term financial
sustainability of GPA
• Courage to explore emerging, distinguishing
programs like STEAM, 1-to-1 computing, R.E.A.L.,
the Garden Classroom
“We are all grateful to the visiting team
members who took time from their own schools
to so thoughtfully examine our program and
provide what we know will be helpful reflections
and suggestions,” Kuelling said. “I would like to
personally thank all of our faculty and staff — the
steering committee, and Janice Sturm, steering
committee chair — for their work and dedication to
our school and students over the past two years. A
job well done!”
SIXTEEN ACADEMY ALUMS FROM THE CLASS OF 2011 GRADUATED FROM HIGH SCHOOL THIS YEAR. THEY WERE ACCEPTED
TO THE FOLLOWING COLLEGES AND UNIVERSITIES. (See page 28 for more on the class.)
New York University
University of Dayton
Emerson College
Manhattan College
Unites States Military Academy, West Point
University of Michigan
Butler University
Davidson College
University of Detroit Mercy
Loyola University Chicago
Rhodes College
Johns Hopkins University
Case Western Reserve University
Central Michigan University
St. Louis University
Michigan State University
Purdue University
Ohio State University
Miami University (Ohio)
Indiana University
Marquette University
University of South Carolina
Bard College
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
Wake Forest University
Hope College
Xavier University
Howard University
Miami University Oxford
College of Wooster
University of Alabama
Rochester University
Rice University
Manhattan School of Music
Wayne State University
Oakland University
Illinois Wesleyan University
University of South Carolina
Carnegie Mellon University
Georgia Institute of Technology
Sewanee: The University of the South
Oberlin College
Furman University
Connecticut College
Albion College
Kalamazoo College
John Carroll University
University of Southern California
Bowling Green State University

GPANEWS
SPEAKER ANNOUNCED FOR 2015
McMILLAN LECTURE
Discussion to focus on balancing the art of
being both responsive and demanding to our
children.
Today, we not only have a new generation
of kids on our hands growing up in a world of
mobile devices, we have a new generation of
parents.
In our desire to protect kids or prevent
anything bad from happening to them, we often
end up preparing the path for the child instead of
the child for the path. The result? They leave our
homes unready for the world that awaits them as
adults.
The Grosse Pointe Academy announced in the
spring that its speaker for the 2015 edition of the
William Charles McMillan III Lecture Series, Dr.
Tim Elmore, will address those issues and more
on Tuesday, November 17, at the school’s Grosse
Pointe Farms campus.
In this unique event for parents of school-age
children, Elmore plans to share the research and
the solutions to avoid the most common mistakes
parents make, and offer a game plan to raise
healthy, productive, future adults.
“In our work with thousands of parents
around the nation, we’ve noticed a pattern,”
Elmore said. “Quite frequently, we risk too little,
rescue too quickly, rave too easily and reward too
frequently.”
He said his workshop
will cover precisely how
to balance the art of
being responsive and
demanding. He will
address how to provide
the love our children
need, while at the same
time, equip them to
make good decisions
on their own; and how
to build discipline and
ambition in their lives
and to develop strong
interpersonal skills.
Elmore said his
discussion will furnish both a helpful diagnosis
as well as an insightful prescription for raising
healthy, well-adjusted kids who are ready to be
leaders as they graduate from both school—“and
their parents.”
ABOUT DR. TIM ELMORE
Dr. Tim Elmore is a leading authority on how
to understand the next generation and prepare
tomorrow’s leaders today. He is a best-selling
author, international speaker, and president
of Growing Leaders (GrowingLeaders.com), a
nonprofit that helps develop emerging leaders
under the philosophy that each child is born with
leadership qualities.
Elmore and his team provide public schools,
universities, civic organizations, and corporations
with resources that foster the growth of young
leaders who can transform society. For over 30
years, he has taught leadership through the power
of images and stories that enables young adults to
influence others in a positive way.
ABOUT THE WILLIAM CHARLES MCMILLAN III
LECTURE SERIES
William Charles McMillan III was a student at
The Grosse Pointe Academy from 1973 until 1981
where, receiving love and encouragement, he
learned to reach beyond his limitations. Although
weak physically, McMillan was intellectually
gifted and his passion for life, his love and
concern for all living things, and his enthusiastic
use of verbal skills changed the lives of those who
were closest to him and left a lasting impression
on all with whom he came in contact.
Never at a loss for words, he was bursting with
impressions, questions and insights which came
pouring out in a dazzling, dizzying torrent. It was
rare to have a brief, superficial conversation with
McMillan.
A friend commented, “I sometimes felt like I
needed a seat belt when William was talking to
me, because he would take us into outer space,
back into primeval history, and then into a
universe of his own imagining.”
McMillan believed that anyone could make
a significant and lasting impact on the world no
matter what one’s age, size or circumstance.
The William Charles McMillan III Lecture
Series focuses on elementary education and is
dedicated to the proposition that every child can
reach beyond his or her own limitation, that each
child makes the world a better place. It is the goal
of these lectures to take your mind where it has
never been before.
12 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY
NETS BIG AUCTION SUCCESS
The evening of Saturday, May 9, marked the
date of The Grosse Pointe Academy’s signature
Fête des Amis Action Auction, and it was
another wildly successful fundraiser with guests
enjoying mobile bidding in a silent auction
followed by dinner and a live auction.
According to school officials, net proceeds
from the night exceeded $450,000, which
included a separate “paddle-raise” total in excess
of $125,000 in support of preservation of the
Academy’s historic buildings and grounds.
Academy Head of School Lars Kuelling said
the entire evening was very special.
“It was a fantastic auction,” he said. “The
evening had a tremendous festive feel to it, and
the sense of community was wonderful.”
Following the dinners and auction, guests
celebrated the rest of the night at Club Action
Auction, which featured one of the school’s
gymnasiums converted into a lounge set up for
conversation, dancing and music from D.J. Jared
Sykes.
Kuelling wanted to make sure all involved
knew how grateful he and the rest of the
Academy administration were for all of the hard
work. “I would like to thank everyone who had
a part in this tremendous event, especially our
co-chairs, Fay and Paul Savage and Lindsey and
Tom Buhl, who put in a great deal of voluntary
time in order to ensure the success of this year’s
auction.”
Kristen Van Pelt, GPA’s development director,
said proceeds from the auction—the school’s
48th—will go to enrich academic offerings,
raise scholarship and tuition assistance funds,
and support the preservation of the Academy’s
historic campus.
ACADEMY SCHOLARSHIPS FROM K TO 8
In late spring, The Grosse Pointe Academy announced the recipients of
special scholarships for the 2015-2016 academic year. Awardees included
Academy students moving from kindergarten into 1st grade and a number of
other students going from 7th to 8th grade.
Congratulations go to:
SHEKINAH AHO - Brett Bentley Crawford Creative Writing Award:
This award has been established to honor the memory of Brett Crawford,
a 1997 graduate of The Grosse Pointe Academy. It is given to an upcoming
eighth-grade girl who possesses the skills and passion for creative writing, and
who has exhibited the spirited personality necessary to qualify for this award.
ISABELLA TOMLINSON - Thelma Fox Murray Scholarship Award: The
Thelma Fox Murray Award is voted on annually by middle school faculty and
administration to honor an upcoming eighth-grade girl who exhibits “integrity,
humility, a sense of humor, athletic achievement and academic excellence.”
IAN SHOGREN - E. Maybelle Spicer, Clark Spicer and William I. Trader,
Jean K. Kurtz Trader Scholarship Award, A.K.A. Spicer/Trader Scholarship
Award: The Spicer/Trader Award is intended to honor an upcoming eighthgrade
boy who has demonstrated to his teachers and classmates “success in
academics and athletics with a strong desire to excel.” As such, the award is
reflective of the Academy’s core values and mission.
JOSH ROBERTS - Nowosielski-Lutz Scholarship Award: The Nowosielski
Scholarship Award is voted on by the middle school faculty and administration
to honor an upcoming eighth-grade boy who excels academically and
athletically and is an all-around good person.
NYIA NOVAK - Eleanor Wagner Brock Scholarship: Awarded to a
girl moving from our kindergarten to first grade and voted on by the early
school faculty. It honors an inquisitive, friendly girl who is well-liked by her
classmates and teachers.
PENNY MARTIN - Camille DeMario Academic Scholarship: Awarded to
a student moving from kindergarten to first grade. Any current kindergarten
student who is enrolled in the early school is eligible to apply. Selected by the
early school/lower school principal and first-grade teacher based on the highest
score of the first-grade entrance exam. In addition to academic promise, this
student should demonstrate a strong desire to excel.
BODE NEUMEISTER, CAROLYN PEABODY - Academy Scholars
WESTON BRUNDAGE - Alumni Scholarship
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 13

GPANEWS
effective technology integration,” she said.
Black also noted that with “Buy One, Give
One,” new promotional program from Osmo,
parents can purchase a kit for home use and the
company will donate a second one free of charge
to the classroom of their choice.
NEW TECHNOLOGY AT GPA BRIDGES
GAP BETWEEN THE DIGITAL AND
PHYSICAL WORLDS
A relatively new application that shared space
on TIME Magazine’s “25 Best Inventions of 2014”
list with the Apple Watch and a high-beta fusion
reactor is now playing an increasingly more
important role in many classrooms at The Grosse
Pointe Academy.
Osmo, an app for children that its developers
say has phonetic roots with the word “awesome,”
takes a decidedly different approach to how
kids — or young students — interact with the
ubiquitous iPad. From TIME magazine: “Osmo’s
‘reflective AI’ attachment enables the iPad camera
to interpret physical objects — allowing kids to
mimic an onscreen pattern with colored tiles, for
example, and get rewarded for doing it correctly
(while also refining their motor skills).”
Megan Black, technology and learning
specialist for The Grosse Pointe Academy, says
Osmo was added to many classrooms in the Early
School through Grade 5 last school year.
“The students love ‘playing beyond the
screen,’” she said. “Osmo developed free apps
that work with their device to allow students to
use hands-on physical objects, such as letters,
tangrams, paper and many of the drawing tools
from the real world.”
Black said that by using the little add-on that
comes with the kit over the camera lens on an
iPad, the students’ creations are mirrored to the
tablet and vice versa so that they can physically
interact with the apps. “Osmo acts as as natural
bridge from Montessori-based learning to
ACADEMY STUDENTS BRING HOME HONORS IN
NATIONAL LANGUAGE EXAMINATION
Grosse Pointe Academy students in the 7th and 8th grades last spring
attained national recognition for performance on the 2015 National Spanish
Examinations.
According to Verónica Alatorre, the Spanish teacher for the Academy’s
4th through 8th graders, the test is over a two-day period, with the first day
testing student “achievement” (grammar and vocabulary), and the second
day testing student “proficiency” (listening and comprehension, plus reading
and comprehension). Alatorre noted that the GPA students were up against
primarily high-school students.
A bronze medal was awarded to 8th-grader Johnnae Curry, who scored
a 140/125 (student score/national average) on the first day and a 165/124 on
the second.
“The proficiency test, which is my favorite, is based in real-life situations,
such as articles from magazines, billboards, newspaper articles, etc.,” Alatorre
said. “The listening part of the proficiency test is interpreting regular-speed
conversations between native speakers, such as those on radio and TV
shows.”
In addition to Curry’s bronze medal, GPA 8th-grader Kendall Adams
and 7th-graders Shekinah Aho, Katherine Gray, Joshua Roberts, Christopher
Scupholm and Emma Smith earned “honor roll” medals as a result of their
performance on the test.
“Attaining a medal or honors for any student on the National Spanish
Examinations is very prestigious,” said Kevin Cessna-Buscemi, national
director of the exams.
About the National Spanish Examinations
The National Spanish Examinations are administered each year in grades
6 through 12, and are sponsored by the American Association of Teachers
of Spanish and Portuguese. They are the most widely used tests of Spanish
in the United States. In the spring of 2014, a total of 154,268 students
participated in the online version of the exam.
14 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

ACADEMY A BIG PART OF DETROIT
CHILDREN’S CHOIR SPRING CONCERT
When the Detroit Children’s Choir Annual
Spring Concert opened on a Saturday afternoon
in May at the Max M. Fisher Music Center in
Detroit, a certain school on Lake Shore Road
in Grosse Pointe Farms played more than an
outsized role in its production.
In addition to the 11 Grosse Pointe Academy
students performing with the choir, and former
GPA music teacher Lauri Hogle, who is DCC’s
artistic director and director of concert chorale,
serving as conductor for the concert, a special
essay co-authored by Academy 4th graders Selga
Jansons and Grace Rahaim was read aloud to the
large crowd at the beginning of the program.
The theme for the concert, the ninth annual
spring concert for the DCC, was “The Beauty
Around Us,” and the DCC’s nine combined
choirs from more than twenty different cities in
southeast Michigan performed for the first time
on the historic stage of Orchestra Hall.
Three professional musicians from the
Detroit Symphony Orchestra also were on hand to
accompany the choirs: Joshua Jones, percussion,
Samantha Tartamella, flute, and Geoffrey Johnson,
oboe. The DCC’s Concert Chorale and the newly
formed Music Across Detroit Choir for older teens
performed Saturday.
Academy students who participated in the
concert were: Haleigh Howard, Selga Jansons,
Isabella Tomlinson, Angelo Cracchiolo, Megan
Driver, Brooke Popadich, Sadie Kuelling, Julia
Hartnett, Courtney Mecke, Caya Craig and Evelyn
Doan.
GPA’s Hogle, who came to the Detroit area
in 2010, has been working with choirs of all ages
for over two decades. She has worked as a church
musician, directed children’s ministry, and served
as organist/pianist in a number of positions. She
is the former organist for the National Christian
Choir, based in Washington, D.C., and has served
as director of choruses at both high school and
middle school levels in various states, with her
students earning superior ratings and top awards,
including a Carnegie Hall performance. Hogle
also currently serves on the board of the Michigan
Kodály Educators Association and is completing
national Kodály certification in a Master of Music
Education program at Colorado State University.
Last spring, Hogle was honored in a special
ceremony as a “diversity champion” in the Detroit
area by the Race Relations & Diversity Task Force,
which is based in Birmingham, Mich.
SEVENTEEN FROM GPA INDUCTED
INTO THE NATIONAL JUNIOR HONOR SOCIETY
In a moving ceremony held last spring in The Grosse Academy Chapel, 17
middle-school students were inducted in the National Junior Honor Society.
Assistant Head of School for Instruction and Grades 1-8 Principal
Lawrence DeLuca said one of the highlights of the ceremony was when the
students presented thank you notes to their parents.
“The parents read them and then put the NJHS pin on their son or
daughter’s collar. Most of the parents were in tears after reading the notes,”
he said.
Membership in the NJHS is one of the highest honors that can be
awarded to a middle-school student. Chapters in more than 5,000 middle
schools across the U.S. strive to give practical meaning to the goals of
scholarship, leadership, service, citizenship and character.
The new NJHS members from The Grosse
Pointe Academy are Shekinah Aho, Weston
Brundage, Isabella Cubba, Maria Fields, Noah
Humphries, Tierney Janovsky, Ryan Murphy,
Brooke Popadich, Blake Pradko, Josh Roberts,
Nafi Sall, Christopher Scupholm, Sade Shaw, Ian
Shogren, Isabella Tomlinson, Matthew Valente
and Emma Wujek.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 15

GPANEWS
HOGLE HONORED AS A DIVERSITY CHAMPION
At a breakfast held May
7 and sponsored by the Race
Relations & Diversity Task
Force, based in Birmingham,
Mich., former Grosse Pointe
Academy music teacher
Lauri Hogle was honored as a
“diversity champion.”
The Race Relations &
Diversity Task Force recognizes individuals in the Detroit area whose
vision of diversity has created a significant impact on others and “make an
invaluable contribution by helping to ensure that all people feel included
and empowered in the shared endeavors of your organization and in our
larger community.”
According to Hogle, the greatest form of social justice is “to give the
highest quality education to every child.”
And she goes out of her way to ensure this belief permeates every
aspect of her life and work.
She began her career providing music therapy to children with special
needs and then moved on to direct award-winning church and school
choirs in Washington, DC, and Atlanta.
Hogle taught GPA’s middle-school music classes for four years. She
now works full time as the artistic director of the Detroit Children’s Choir
in partnership with the Detroit Symphony Orchestra. The DCC’s mission
is to use the power of choral music education as a cultural platform to
unite children of diverse backgrounds. Its nine choirs offer performance
opportunities that are life changing in scope.
CRITERIA
According to the Race Relations & Diversity Task Force, its goal is to
build awareness among area organizations in relation to issues of diversity
and inclusion, to stimulate the adoption and implementation of express
policies supportive of diversity and to promote the mission of the task
force.
Further, they say a diversity champion will “be the conscience of
an organization, not settle for the status quo, embody the ideals of an
organization, envision new ways of inclusion, be a doer whose actions
speak of respect for others, be someone whose “circle of influence”
represents many kinds of people, and be an advocate who speaks out
against insensitivity and prejudice.”
Also, consistent with the task force goals, a diversity champion may
be someone who has helped an organization adopt or implement a policy
supportive of diversity and the ideas of inclusion.
The Grosse Pointe Academy cannot think of anyone more deserving of
this honor than Lauri Hogle. Congratulations!
ACADEMY 7TH GRADER WINS
ESSAY/SPEECH CONTEST
SPONSORED BY TOWNSHIP
OPTIMIST CLUB
Grosse Pointe Academy seventh
grader Maria Fields learned last spring
that she had won the top prize in a
speech and essay contest sponsored by
the Clinton Township Area Optimist
Club.
Fields presented an essay she wrote
on the G.R.O.W. program, which she
started at GPA to provide extra help to
Academy first and second graders with
their reading, schoolwork and homework.
G.R.O.W. stands for Generating Real
Opportunities for Wonder. Fellow
G.R.O.W. tutors and GPA students Emma
Smith, Nafi Sall and Shekinah Aho also
help Fields when and where needed.
Technology and Learning Specialist
Megan Black says Fields pretty much
manages the G.R.O.W. program on her
own. “Maria runs everything and even
provides the snacks,” Black said. “But all
the students are truly remarkable.”
According to Head of School
Lars Kuelling, Fields is one of GPA’s
Academy Scholars and has been heavily
involved with many school initiatives.
“Maria helped host the Catch Night of
Champions event last October in front of
400 attendees,” he noted.
School officials were on hand May 13
at the Optimist Club in Clinton Township
when Fields accepted her award from
club members.
16 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

GPA MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS
ATTEND DIVERSITY SYMPOSIUM
Eight middle school students from The Grosse Pointe Academy joined
students from nine other schools affiliated with AIMS (Association of
Independent Michigan Schools) on April 16 at a Middle School Diversity
Symposium titled “#identity.” The symposium was held at Emerson School
in Ann Arbor.
All eight students from GPA— Samantha Savage, William Kendrick,
Henry Whitaker, Tai Daniels, Isabella Tomlinson, Brooke Popadich, Christina
Thomas, and Lexi Belyue—were self-selected by completing an online form
and reflecting on identity.
Throughout the day at Emerson, they took part in group activities,
including brainstorming preconceptions of identity, discussing racial bias,
privilege and how assumptions are made about socio-economic status.
“Our students seemed to have a great time meeting and connecting
with the other students,” said Megan Black, GPA’s technology and learning
specialist. “They represented our school with empathy and made meaningful
contributions. Madame El-Hosni and I couldn’t have been prouder.”
About AIMS: The Association of Independent Michigan Schools
(AIMS) is a non-profit organization of primary, elementary, and secondary
schools whose purpose is to support and advance independent education
in Michigan. The AIMS Southeast Michigan Diversity Committee (SEMDC)
is a consortium of representatives from member schools whose focus
it to promote professional development and education for faculty, staff,
administrators and students in the area of equity, justice, multicultural
education and diversity. The SEMDC plans and offers workshops and
symposiums to faculty, staff and student constituents.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 17

GPANEWS
FORMER GPA TEACHER
INDUCTED INTO THE
MICHIGAN JOURNALISM
HALL OF FAME
At its annual Hall of Fame
banquet held Sunday, April 19, at the
Kellogg Hotel & Conference Center
in East Lansing, former Grosse Pointe
Academy creative writing teacher
Harvey Ovshinsky was inducted
into the Michigan Journalism Hall of
Fame.
A longtime broadcaster,
documentarian and Oscar nominee,
Ovshinsky was on staff at the
Academy from 1989 to 2003 and
taught creative writing to the school’s
4th through 8th Graders.
“‘Find your backyard,’ is one of
many Harvey-isms,” according to a
release by the Michigan Journalism
Hall of Fame. “It comes from his
favorite children’s poet, James
Stevenson: ‘Front yards are boring.
Backyards tell stories.’ With his
‘backyard’ stories, Harvey Ovshinsky
has been a pathfinder and guide during his five-decade career that straddles
print, broadcast, digital, the big screen and the classroom.”
Ovshinsky’s career in journalism began at the age of 17, when he
started The Fifth Estate, the oldest surviving “underground” newspaper
in the country. At 22, Ovshinsky became the first news director of Detroit
alternative radio station WABX-FM and a talk show host. Later, he moved
into television at WXYZ-TV and went on to produce documentaries for local
and national broadcasts on difficult subjects such as youth violence, politics
and race as well as the struggles some young people have with depression.
He continues to hold production workshops and storytelling seminars to
generations of budding journalists at several universities.
Ovshinsky, who currently is president of Ann Arbor-based HKO Media
Inc., has received many awards including 15 regional Emmys, a national
Emmy, a Peabody and a DuPont-Columbia University Award Silver Baton
and multiple film festival recognitions, in addition to being nominated for an
Oscar.
Current GPA teacher Sasha Murphy is Ovshinsky’s daughter. Ovshinsky’s
father was noted scientist and inventor Stanford Ovshinsky, who passed
away in 2012.
Also inducted to the Michigan Journalism Hall of Fame Sunday were the
late Charlie Cain, former member of the state capital press corps, and Betty
DeRamus, author and former Detroit Free Press and Detroit News journalist
and columnist.
MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS
AGAIN EXCEL IN ANNUAL FRENCH
COMPETITION
Middle school students from The Grosse
Pointe Academy learned in April that their
scores in Le Grand Concours, a highly
competitive French exam sponsored by the
American Association of Teachers of French
(AATF), were ranked very high compared with
national and local results.
This is the ninth straight year that GPA
students have participated in the national
competition and once again, many have done
exceedingly well. Of the nineteen students, 15
received medals, with six earning gold medals
by placing in the 95th percentile in the nation,
eight earning silver medals by placing in the
85th-90th percentile and one earning a bronze
medal by placing in the 75th-80th percentile.
Four students earned “mention d’honneur”
certificates, or honorable mentions, after
scoring in the 50th-70th percentile.
Then-seventh-grade gold medalist Maria
Fields scored a #4 national ranking and a #2
local Detroit-area chapter ranking on the test.
Eighth-grade gold medalists Samantha Savage
and Henry Whitaker each scored a #4 ranking
nationally and a #4 ranking for the local
chapter.
According to middle school French and
social studies teacher Amal El-Hosni, the
purpose of Le Grand Concours test is to help
stimulate further interest in the teaching and
learning of French as well as to help identify
and reward student achievement.
“This sixty-minute national examination is
a multiple-choice test of approximately 70 items
covering listening comprehension, vocabulary,
grammar and reading comprehension,” she
said. “Students take tests that are appropriate
for the French curriculum in which they are
enrolled and their scores are then ranked
against national and local students who are
enrolled in similar curricula.”
El-Hosni said the test is a very good
indication of how the Academy’s French
program is fairing compared to hundreds of
schools at the national level.
18 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

A summary of GPA student results are
shown below, with national percentile, followed
by national rank and Detroit chapter rank. Sixth
graders do not get a Detroit chapter rank.
6TH GRADERS (2014-15)
Julia Hartnett: 90th, 5 Silver Medal
Danielle Patterson: 85th, 7 Silver Medal
Christina Thomas: 85th, 7 Silver Medal
Lizzy Kendrick: 85th, 7 Silver Medal
Sadie Kuelling: 85th, 7 Silver Medal
Billy Vogel: 85th, 8 Silver Medal
Courtney Mecke: 80th, 9 Bronze Medal
Alex Kelly: 70th, 12 Honorable Mention
7TH GRADERS (2014-15)
Maria Fields: 95th, 4, 2 Gold Medal
Brooke Popadich: 95th, 5, 3 Gold Medal
Nafi Sall: 95th, 5, 3
Gold Medal
Blake Pradko: 95th, 6, 4 Gold Medal
Aiden Kuelling: 90th, 8, 6 Silver Medal
Molly Woods: 90th, 8, 6 Silver Medal
Sade Shaw: 60th, 19, 15 Honorable Mention
8TH GRADERS (2014-15)
Samantha Savage: 95th, 4, 4 Gold Medal
Henry Whitaker: 95th, 4, 4 Gold Medal
Imani White: 60th, 18, 18 Honorable Mention
Karmella Williams: 50th, 22, 22 Honorable Mention
UP, UP AND AWAY!
Middle School students in Robert Rochte’s R.E.A.L. class
embarked on a near-space journey on Thursday, January 29,
with the launching of the 30’ balloon they built. Although
the balloon was launched with helium due to the weather
conditions, it was designed to fly throughout the day as a “solar
Montgolfiere” or solar hot-air balloon.
The balloon was equipped with a payload box containing
a GPS tracker (which unfortunately malfunctioned) and a mini
digital camcorder that was running when it took off. The hope
was that the students would be able to witness its journey
if the balloon was ever found. A label on the box included
instructions for its safe return to GPA.
“All of our predictions suggested it would land sometime
on Wednesday night, probably around 8 p.m., in northwestern
Ohio,” said director of technology Rochte, who also teaches
mathematics and computer science in addition to the Near
Space Explorations elective. The elective is part of GPA’s
R.E.A.L. (Real-world Experiences and Applied Learning)
program, which provides opportunities for students to engage
in real-world tasks that extend classroom learning, employ
cross-disciplinary thinking, make connections to the world
outside of their classroom walls, and create innovative solutions
and products as a result of their hard work.
The balloon, having completed its descent in the middle
of a field, was found by a man from Foster Farms outside of
Roanoke, Virginia.
“We never dreamed it would somehow make it all the way
to Virginia!” Rochte said. “Mr. Foster’s call on Friday morning
was the talk of the school all day.”
One early speculation for the balloon’s unexpected voyage
is that the helium diffusion rate was not as high as expected;
with some left-over gas in the balloon, the descent was
extremely slow. According to Rochte, this would have allowed
the balloon to travel much farther with the jet stream. He
estimates the balloon traveled approximately 400 miles. “Our
farthest ever GPA balloon flight was 933 miles, back in March
of 2007. That one almost landed in the Atlantic!”
While the balloon will be returned, it enjoyed a brief detour
to Shawsville Middle School in Montgomery County. Before
shipping it back to GPA, Drema Foster, the wife of the man who
found the balloon, took it to the school for the students to see
how it was constructed. She also sent pictures of the area in
which it was found.
“You will get an idea of how many mountains surround
the area the balloon was found in,” Foster wrote to Rochte in
an email. “It’s really quite amazing it landed in the middle of a
field and not in the woods.”
Rochte processed the video from the balloon and it is
available in the Latest News section of GPA’s website.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 19

GPANEWS
PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
KEEPS GPA FACULTY ON CUTTING
EDGE
Professional engineers, designers and
architects routinely congregate in seminars
and workshops to share best practices, conduct
research, and study trends and issues as part
of their continuous career improvement. The
teaching vocation is no different. Those charged
with educating our children also get together
often for professional improvement, and schoolsanctioned
professional development (PD) days
are an important part of that activity.
As inherent learners themselves, teachers use
PD days to stay on top of trends and technology
that affect the work they do with students. That is
especially evident at The Grosse Pointe Academy,
where a combination of on-campus and off-site
PD days, seminars and classes contributes to
making its faculty one of the most well-qualified
and innovative teaching staffs in the state.
In fact, as GPA students enjoyed the last
day of their spring break on April 6, their
teachers were in the middle of another day-long
PD session, one of seven days of professional
development scheduled for the school during this
year.
“We have one main PD day in the fall and
one in the spring,” said Jennifer Kendall, the
Academy’s assistant head of school for early
school education and admissions. “We also use
three days for professional development before
the students return in the fall and two after they
leave at the end of the year.”
QUALITY OF INSTRUCTION
Research has proven again and again that the
quality of instruction is the most important factor
that parents look for when choosing a school for
their children.
According to Learning Forward, a Dallasbased
association advocating for educators, when
parents of students are asked what they want for
their children, there is overwhelming agreement
that they want the best teacher possible in
every classroom. “The most important factor
contributing to a student’s success in school is
the quality of teaching,” the organization said in
a report titled “Why Professional Development
Matters.” While parents may not be familiar with
this research, Learning Forward says they are
united in their desire to ensure great teaching for
every child every day.
Claudia Leslie, a French teacher and library
specialist at GPA, is the chair of the school’s
professional development committee. She said
the on-campus PD events for teachers on April
6 included “a teachers ed camp, tech/STEAM
presentations and a Mini-Maker Faire.”
INNOVATION GRANTS
Off-campus, there also is plenty of opportunity
for GPA teachers to gain additional knowledge and
skills.
“During the year, six of our teachers visited
schools across the country to gather and share ideas,”
Kendall said.
She said the Academy’s Innovation Grant
program, which was largely funded by the school’s
auction in May of 2014, is intended to provide
faculty and staff with the opportunity to visit
and learn from cutting-edge programs at other
independent schools across the country.
GPA Head of School Lars Kuelling said the
school’s teachers are always seeking innovative ideas
to make their classrooms more vibrant for their
students. “We were so fortunate to have had this
additional [Innovation Grant] funding to support
new ways to make The Grosse Pointe Academy the
best learning environment possible.”
20 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

SOCCER-PLAYING ROBOTS AND
‘SQUISHY’ ELECTRICAL CIRCUITS
HIGHLIGHT MINI INVENTORS
FAIR AT GPA
Designers and engineers from kindergarten
to grade 8 got together in the spring at The Grosse
Pointe Academy to showcase their inventions in
the school’s own version of a Mini Maker Faire.
It’s the first time GPA has formally presented
this work in a Maker Faire format, but it won’t be
the last, according to the school’s technology and
learning specialist, Megan Black.
“Our students have been doing some amazing
things with technology over the past few years
as part of our vibrant STEAM program,” she said.
“It just made sense to tie some of it together in
a Maker Faire.” STEAM refers to GPA’s science,
technology, engineering, arts and math initiative.
One of the most interesting projects at the
Maker Faire was called “squishy circuits,” which
involved mixing up the right combination of
conductive and non-conductive play dough to
light up multi-colored diodes. Students as young
as five used the doughy material, batteries and
a few wires to explore electrical concepts like
resistance, conductivity, and parallel and series
circuits.
“The kids had to design the circuits and
make certain that the insulating play dough was
separated from the conducting play dough and
that the diodes were facing the correct way,”
Black said. “Our young electrical engineers were
amazing.”
Meanwhile, GPA seventh graders were in
the lower school gymnasium during the Maker
Faire to show off the robots they designed, built
and programmed to play soccer. Using iPads
for controllers, the students ran their “players”
through some pretty intricate maneuvers on the
gym floor.
Earlier in the school year, according to Black,
GPA eighth graders and their first-grade “buddies”
put on a robot parade of floats highlighting the
periodic table of elements.
“The student teams were each responsible for
designing and building a robot capable of pulling
at least two trailers,” she said. “These robotic
parade floats were a great way of showing just
how much they know about chemical elements,
their properties and ultimate uses.”
School officials said they also hosted a teacher
Maker Faire on its professional development
day in April. Black said this fall there also are
plans to have a family Maker Faire event at the
school “with lots of making, experimenting and
tinkering.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 21

ALUMPROFILE
Serving his country at
the State Department
Patrick Ball is with
U.S. Secretary of
State John Kerry on a
2013 visit to Amman,
Jordan.
A career with the Foreign Service in the U.S.
Department of State may look glamorous and
exotic to many. Worldwide travel. Governmentpaid
housing. Generous pay and benefits. But
in some instances, according to the department
itself, working as a foreign service officer can be
very challenging and sometimes even dangerous.
As a foreign service officer, “you can expect
to be assigned to hardship posts,” says the
State Department. “You may face an irregular
or extended work schedule. These posts can
be in remote locations, without many U.S.-
style amenities; there can be sporadic power
outages, unreliable Internet service, etc. Health
and sanitation standards can be far below
U.S. standards. And some assignments are
‘unaccompanied,’ which means family
members may not travel to the post
with you.”
But for Patrick Ball, an alumnus
of The Grosse Pointe Academy
and a foreign service officer in
the State Department, just like
all of his previous posts, he is
relishing his next one, which
begins in August in Iraq.
“I am very much looking
forward to my assignment in
Baghdad, and I expect that it
will be both a challenging and
rewarding experience,” he said.
Challenging and
rewarding. It appears that
Ball likely has never run from
the former and because of
that, he’s been able to enjoy a
career thus far characterized
by much of the latter, even
though he’s still a relatively
young man.
22 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

“My first assignment with State
was as an economic officer and consular
officer in Georgetown, Guyana,” he said.
“For my second assignment, I served as
an economic officer in Amman, Jordan,
where I specialized in energy issues.”
A NAVAL BEGINNING
After graduating from GPA in 1994 and then
Grosse Pointe South High School in 1998, Ball
attended Tulane University in New Orleans on
a U.S. Navy ROTC scholarship. After that, it was
law school at Wayne State University. But while
he was an undergrad at Tulane, Ball joined the
ROTC, which eventually led to a commission as a
surface warfare officer with the Navy.
“Serving in the military is part of my family’s
tradition,” Ball said. “As a young child, I have
always admired my relatives’ service to their
country. It was an honor to serve in the Navy
as a officer, especially in the challenging years
following 9/11.”
After finishing up four years of active duty
in the Navy, Ball still wanted to continue serving
his country, and since working for the federal
government seemed to be a genuine calling, he
signed up with the U.S. Department of State and
became a foreign service officer.
Foreign service officers work in U.S. embassies
and consulates, he said, and their primary mission
is to advance U.S. foreign policy interests and
provide help to American citizens abroad. He
liked that idea very much.
“My first assignment with State was as
an economic officer and consular officer in
Georgetown, Guyana,” he said. “For my second
assignment, I served as an economic officer
in Amman, Jordan, where I specialized in
energy issues.”
It wasn’t all work, however, according to
Ball.
“Even though we were always really
busy, it nonetheless was exciting to have
such rich cultural experiences available
when we could get out of the office,” he said.
“In Georgetown, where I developed an interest
in birdwatching, there are over 700 bird species
packed into a very small geographic territory. And
Jordan’s many historic sites, like the Dead Sea,
Petra and Wadi Rum, were fascinating to visit.”For
Ball’s upcoming year-long “visit” to Baghdad, he
will have someone very close to him as company
during his assignment. His wife, Emily, who is an
economics officer with the State Department, will
be serving with him there at the same time.
GPA MEMORIES
It perhaps goes without saying that Iraq is
a long way from Michigan and Grosse Pointe
Farms. But Ball believes his education as a
youngster, especially his time at the Academy, was
instrumental in getting him to where he is today.
“I really appreciate all the teachers and staff
who were so important in my schooling at the
Academy,” he said. “I began at GPA in pre-school
in 1982 and I still have fond memories of many
teachers and administrators—especially my
kindergarten teacher, Anne Carson, my 4thand
5th-Grade teacher, Bob Lapadot, and those
summer trips with our science teacher, Mike
Fultz.”
Patrick Ball is with
his wife, Emily Ball,
far left, and sister,
Katherine Ball, in
Jordan in 2013.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 23

ALUMPROFILE
GPA alum
wrapping up
Fulbright in
Denmark
Katherine Ball, who graduated from The
Grosse Pointe Academy in 1998, is finishing
up a year-long stint this August with the J.
William Fulbright Foreign Scholarship program
in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she has been
working with Danish authorities and community
activists on sustainability initiatives in water and
electricity.
Ball is one of only about 1,900 U.S. citizens
who travel abroad each academic year through
the Fulbright U.S. Student Program. Recipients
of Fulbright grants are selected on the basis
of academic and professional achievement as
well as demonstrated leadership potential. It’s a
prestigious honor to get a Fulbright and not just
anyone gets one. To date, 53 Fulbright alumni
from 12 countries have been awarded the Nobel
Prize, and 82 more have received Pulitzer Prizes.
For Ball, however, it’s not about the prestige.
She says she wants to take what she’s learned in
Denmark, add a next move to troubled Greece to
help out with its currently dire economy and then
eventually come back to the states to work on
water issues in California and Detroit.
“I’m going to Greece to work with a few
different community groups there,” Ball said.
“Since the economic situation is so bad due to
the troika’s financial coercion, a lot of people are
coming up with alternatives out of necessity –
different ways of making a living and working
together cooperatively. I want to go to Greece to
learn from people there, interview them and write
another short book about it.”
Coming back to the states to apply what she’s
learned in Europe will undoubtedly give Ball a
head start in tackling what conceivably could
be—and for many, it already is—the next great
crisis bearing down on America: climate change.
But she won’t be starting fresh in the U.S.
CYCLING FOR SOLUTIONS
In 2010, Ball and three cohorts bicycled across
the United State to learn more about the climate
crisis and its possible solutions.
“3,094 miles, 91 days, 13 states, 21
communities, four bicyclists, one support car
driver, and 45 solutions to the climate crisis,”
she wrote on a blog after completing the trip,
which was dubbed “the Solutions Revolution.”
Ball and friends biked from Portland, Oregon, to
Washington D.C., after which they took a train to
Florida and then sailed across the Gulf of Mexico
to attend a United Nations Climate Change
Conference that was held in Cancun, Mexico, that
year.
Her cycling trip included stops at Montana
State University, where she met with a mycologist
who talked about his discovery of gliocladium
roseum, an endophytic fungus that produces
biofuel, and with a local furniture maker in Idaho
who powers his hand-built, off-the-grid home
and workshop with a micro-hydropower system
propelled by a local creek.
But it was a stop in her hometown of Detroit
that opened Ball’s eyes to how creative some
people can be when it comes to sustainability
solutions and environmental consciousness.
“In downtown Detroit, we visited the
Catherine Ferguson Academy, a public school
for pregnant teens and preteens,” Ball said.
“When a science teacher there discovered that
formaldehyde in their dissection animals is
harmful to pregnant women, he realized he
24 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

“Since the economic situation is so bad due to the
troika’s financial coercion, a lot of people are coming
up with alternatives out of necessity – different ways
of making a living and working together cooperatively.
I want to go to Greece to learn from people there,
interview them and write another short book about it.”
needed to find another way for students to receive
an equal educational experience without the
toxins. So he and the students started a farm in
the lots behind the school—complete with a red
barn, chickens, geese, goats, orchards, vegetable
plots, bees, and even a horse.”
In addition to the students growing and selling
produce for Detroit residents, Ball said they use
the farm as a laboratory, so whenever an animal
dies, the whole school gathers to dissect it to
discover the cause of death.
Ball’s bicycle trip ended with a busy few days
in Washington, D.C., where she and her colleagues
met with 20 different legislative offices to talk
about their concerns.
said. “And I’ve been conducting lots of interviews
with people who help make the electricity,
clean the water, plan roads and bike paths, and
organize community centers. I’m transcribing
all the interviews into a short book and since my
Fulbright is associated with the Royal Danish
Academy of Fine Arts, I have access to their
printing equipment and can print the book there.
This spring, I had a book debut at the LA Art
Book Fair and in the fall, it will be at the New
York Book Fair. It’s a collection of oral histories
of people living in the Mojave Desert. Hopefully
the book I print in Copenhagen will take a similar
trajectory to that one.”
Continued on page 31
FROM GPA TO GREECE
Even though her educational journeys thus
far have been all over the country and in many
parts of the world, Ball credits The Grosse
Pointe Academy and its teachers and staff with
giving her a great academic beginning. After the
Academy, and after she graduated from Grosse
Pointe South High School, she matriculated at
the University of Wisconsin, where she received
a BS degree in art, and where she also used
a university greenhouse to experiment with
growing plants for live use in her sculptures. She
then attended the Royal Danish Academy of Fine
Arts in Copenhagen, and finally, to Portland State
University, where she earned an MFA in art and
social practice.
Ball will tell you, however, that it’s getting
out and talking to people and finding out about
their needs that is the most important part of her
ongoing education.
“My Fulbright research focused on the
infrastructure of the country of Denmark,” Ball
(Left) GPA alum
Katherine Ball (’98) is
in the halls of Congress
at the end of her 2010
bike tour
(Left) A mycoboom
placed by Ball as part
of a series of ecological
interventions aimed at
filtering E. coli out of a
lake in Indiana.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 25

GPATEACHING STAFF
Coming home,
staying home
Early School teacher with deep Grosse Pointe
Academy roots is right where she belongs, says the
most important part of her job is having a safe,
secure, and welcoming classroom for her children.
Growing up in the Pointes, GPA Early School
teacher Peggy Varty (below, with husband, John)
and her family were well aware of that big school
building on Lake Shore Road.
Varty attended the Academy of the Sacred
Heart through eighth grade when ASH occupied
the campus and buildings now operated by
GPA. Her two children attended GPA, a great
aunt graduated from ASH in 1909 and her sister
finished at ASH in 1967. But it was her brother,
Bob, whose experience at Sacred Heart in its stillnascent
Montessori program first convinced her
of the value of the innovative teaching program
founded in Europe in the early 1900s by Maria
Montessori.
When Varty was a freshman in high school at
St. Paul, her grandmother became quite ill and her
mother was spending a lot of time at the hospital.
Varty’s mother called Mother Bayo, who was the
principal of ASH at the time, to see if there was
an opening at ASH’s Montessori school for Varty’s
then four-year-old brother. Fortunately, Varty said,
he was able to get into the school’s afternoon
session, which helped the situation at home quite
a bit, but also made a profound impact on her
little brother.
“In our family of five children, we were
very impressed with what Bob was learning
at Montessori and what he could do at such a
young age,” Varty said. “None of us had gone to
preschool, so it was a new experience for our
family. When visitors would come over to the
house, we would have Bob do all of his ‘learning
tricks’ and he was more than happy to show off
his skills. He loved school and he loved learning.”
What was interesting, said Varty, was that
her brother’s first teacher at ASH was from the
Netherlands and did not even speak English.
“But in a Montessori classroom, especially for
the younger students, you really don’t need
many verbal instructions,” she said. “And most
Montessori teachers in the early ‘60s received
their training in Europe.”
From those early days on, her brother’s
Montessori experience was always in the back of
her mind, Varty said.
Varty recollects walking from St. Paul after
school to pick up her little brother from ASH.
“The boys wore gray wool short-alls, white shortsleeve
shirts with Peter Pan collars, gray knee
socks and red tie oxford shoes,” she said. “They
looked adorable.”
As an aside, Varty wants it known that her
brother has been extremely successful in his life.
“And I attribute that success directly to his
GPA Early School teacher Peggy Varty,
left, is with husband, John.
26 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

Varty is with daughter, Meg, who
attended The Grosse Pointe Academy.
later she became a certified AMS Montessori
teacher.
Varty pointed out, though, that Montessori
teachers are not really called teachers. “We are
Montessori directresses,” she said, with a smile.
early experience in a Montessori school,” she
said. “Bob has always been self-directed, focused,
and up for any challenge, which I attribute to his
Montessori beginnings.”
HUMANISTIC STUDIES ‘PERFECT MAJOR’
FOR MONTESSORI TEACHERS
When Varty went to college at St. Mary’s in
Notre Dame, Ind., she did not go to be a teacher.
She was a humanistic studies major, which
involves the study of literature, music, art and
cultural history—from feudalism to present time.
It’s an interdisciplinary program that encourages
students to think across traditional departmental
lines.
“It was a fascinating major because it
encompassed such a wide range of learning,” she
said. “We read the literature of that time, studied
the art during that time frame, and by studying
the history through the culture, it explained why
certain events happened. In hindsight, it was
the perfect major for a Montessori teacher since
a Montessori teacher tries to develop the whole
child and expose him or her to a wide, wide range
of learning.”
It was during her time in college that Varty
became more fascinated with Montessori and
even more so as she got closer to graduation. As
a senior, she managed to get into an independent
study program at a Montessori school in town
where she worked three afternoons a week.
“I loved it! I worked at the sound table and
taught the children their sounds. Children love
that one-on-one time and I loved helping the
children learn their sounds and then learn to
read.”
When she graduated from college, Varty
immediately took Montessori training and a year
FULL CIRCLE
Soon after graduation from St. Mary’s and
right after she completed Montessori training,
Varty got married. Her husband, John, worked in
advertising and marketing, and his job took the
couple across the country for a number of years.
But her Montessori training was never far
from wherever she called home. She taught at
schools in Cincinnati, Dayton and Kansas City,
and even started a new Montessori school when
she lived in Denver.
She took a break from teaching when her two
children were young, but Varty eventually got
back into education while living in Dove Canyon,
California.
“I taught art to grades K through six at four
different public schools in southern California,”
she said. “I would travel to a different school each
week. I did that for three years.”
When it looked like her family was moving
back to Grosse Pointe, Varty contacted the
principal of the Early School at GPA to find
out about possible openings. Fortunately there
were, she said, and in August of 1995, she came
back home and began to teach Montessori at the
Academy.
“Since ASH was part of my childhood I already
knew the layout of the campus and the buildings,”
she said. “I had fond memories of my time at
ASH, so getting to GPA was like my life had come
full circle. We were gone from Grosse Pointe for
23 years, so it was kind of ironic that when we
came back to town, I was teaching at a school
that I actually attended. And we bought a home
two doors down from the home in which I grew
up. My children went to GPA as well, so I got to
experience the school again through their eyes.”
Continue on page 31
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 27

ALUMNI SUCCESS
2011 GPA grads head to college with
$1.5 million plus in scholarship offers
When compared with other 8th-grade classes
at The Grosse Pointe Academy, the Class of 2011’s
stellar academic successes are not that unusual.
Many in the class, which headed to college in the
fall, have been accepted to prestigious universities
to study everything from engineering and visual
arts to biomedical research. Other GPA classes
likewise have found themselves with similar
opportunities in post-secondary institutions.
But for the 16 students who finished up at 171
Lake Shore Road in June of 2011, two things might
stand out. One, there were 15 boys and only one
girl in the class.
But it’s the second thing that might really make
one stop and stare.
According to school officials, well over $1.5
million in academic scholarships have been offered
to date to those 16 students. That works out to
about $100,000 average in scholarship offers for
each grad, an impressive number any way it’s
measured and more than any other GPA class in
recent memory.
Carmella Goree is one of those grads. She
recently learned that she’s been named a REBUILD
Detroit Scholar, which brought from the University
of Detroit Mercy a scholarship totaling more than
$140,000. She plans to matriculate at UDM in the
fall, but that decision wasn’t easy for her, especially
since she received significant offers from a number
of other prestigious universities.
Goree graduated this spring from Grosse
Pointe South High School, and she credits her GPA
education for getting her through a successful high
school career and for setting her up for college.
“Grosse Pointe Academy offered such a wide
variety within every class, we were able to explore
our interests in many ways,” she said. “Then, when
I got to South, I was able to choose the classes I
wanted based more on my interests. With the help
of the Academy, I was able to broaden my visions
beyond the norm and find my own niche.”
Goree’s fellow GPA alum, George Spica, also
appears to have benefitted from his time at GPA.
He’s been accepted at the acclaimed Bard College
in New York’s Hudson Valley and
the School of the Art Institute of
Chicago, where he was offered
a substantial scholarship. But
it was an offer from New York
University’s Steinhardt School that
will take him to Greenwich Village
this fall to study visual arts.
Spica, who just finished up at
the Interlochen Arts Academy,
said GPA also set him up for a
secondary and post-secondary
education in the arts.
“I attended GPA from preschool to grade eight
and what I now realize is that the tradition and
rigor that characterizes a GPA education is in fact
what enabled me to engage in more unorthodox
means of learning in my high school years,” Spica
said. “In other words, I was so comfortable and
well-versed in my academics after graduating from
the Academy, I was far more open to the idea of
alternative-learning methods as I matured in the
context of an art school.”
Spica and Goree’s classmates R.J. McCarren,
Jared Brush, Mac Carroll, Matthew Homsy, Joseph
Cavataio, Jack Weaver, Nikolas Minanov, Charles
Becker, Andrew Almasy, Jonathan Valente, James
Scott, Sam Williams, McCalla Mecke and Michael
Schaller fill out the rest of GPA’s Class of 2011. They
too received acceptances or many large scholarship
offers from a long list of universities that includes
Johns Hopkins, Michigan, Case Western, Carnegie
Mellon, Georgia Tech and USC.
See page 11 for a complete list of universities
and colleges to which the GPA Class of 2011 were
accepted.
(Above) GPA alum
Carmella Goree (’11) is
attending U-D Mercy
as a REBUILD Detroit
Scholar.
28 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

Academy alum earns big scholarship for
biomedical research, wants to help those in need
Some of Carmella Goree’s favorite
memories of The Grosse Pointe Academy
involve a 4th-grade special activity, a great
8th-grade trip to Ohio and graduation.
But it’s clear that from her first days on
campus as a three-year-old Montessori
student to finishing up as an 8th grader
in 2011, she was paying close attention
to everything else in the classroom and
beyond at this highly accredited private
school in Grosse Pointe Farms.
Goree learned shortly after her high
school graduation that she had been
named a REBUILD Detroit Scholar,
which brought from the University of
Detroit Mercy a scholarship totaling more
than $140,000. Funded by the National
Institutes of Health, a Rebuild Detroit scholarship
is designed to encourage more undergraduate
students to pursue careers in biomedical research.
It is a partnership between the University of
Detroit Mercy, Marygrove College, Wayne County
Community College District and Wayne State
University and is supported by a $21.2 million
grant from the NIH.
Goree, who graduated from Grosse Pointe South
High School in the spring, plans to eventually land
in medical school and work in urban America
afterward.
“I want to go into the more impoverished areas
of cities like Detroit and find out what is affecting
the health and well-being of the citizens,” she
said. “I’d like to find solutions for them, especially
focusing on the health of young people and young
athletes.”
SCHOLARLY SUCCESS
Goree says that getting to her final decision on
a university was difficult, but a “good difficult.”
Besides U-D Mercy, she was accepted at and
received scholarship offers from a number of other
prestigious universities, but she thought UDM
overall was the best fit.
“I feel that U of D will offer me the most
support,” she said. “And I think it will be the right
nurturing environment in order for me to succeed.”
Success is something Goree appears to know
very well. Among many accolades received during
her tenure at GPA, she was inducted into the
National Junior Honor Society as a 6th grader
and as a 7th grader was the recipient of the
Thelma Fox Murray Scholarship Award, which
is given each year to an upcoming 8th-grade girl
who demonstrates integrity, humility, a sense of
humor, athletic achievement and overall academic
excellence. She also was chosen to give the student
“state of the school” address earlier this year.
But the academic foundation Goree received
at the Academy was more than just awards and
society memberships. She said The Grosse Pointe
Academy was a big part of why she did so well in
high school.
FOND MEMORIES
Goree also said she has a lot of great memories
from her time at the Academy.
“One of my fondest memories is from Mrs.
Demartini’s 4th-grade ‘breakfast club Wednesdays’
when each week a student had a chance to bring
in and share with the class what they might have
for breakfast in their own home,” she said. “It was a
fun experience, especially when it was my turn and
my mother and I brought in chicken and waffles
for the class!”
It is also worth noting that Goree was the only
girl in her 8th-grade graduating class of 16 at GPA.
But she remembers it never being an issue at all.
“Even though I was the only girl in the grade,
the boys really took care of me throughout our
whole last year at GPA,” she said. “We had a great
8th-grade trip to Ohio, great times in classes and
they all bought me flowers at graduation. To this
day, they will always be my brothers.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 29

ALUMPROFILE
Academy grad heads
to the University of
Michigan to study
engineering and physics
This past spring, Grosse Pointe Academy alum
Joseph Cavataio finished a busy orientation at the
University of Michigan, but agreed to answer a
number of questions about the time he spent at
both GPA and Cranbrook-Kingswood as well as
his future at Michigan and beyond.
Cavataio, who is a 2011 graduate of the
Academy, also recently found out that he’s
already received eight college credits from U-M
for Chinese and four for calculus based on
his performance in high school. He gave a big
shout-out for GPA’s chemistry class, saying that
it definitely prepared him well for high school
chemistry, which led to him placing out of all
of his required U-M chemistry classes—even
though he only took one honors chemistry class at
Cranbrook.
Cavataio is proud of his accomplishments at
Cranbrook—and there are many—but he is most
proud of the nonprofit he founded at the school
to help children around the world. Called “Cranes
for Change,” Cavataio’s organization has provided
assistance to children from Brazil, Haiti and
Indonesia, among others.
“We also organized and conducted a mission
to Nicaragua during my junior year where we
donated a computer and books to a rural school,”
he said. “And during my senior year, we visited
Honduras and worked with another nonprofit
organization that aids needy children. Cranes for
Change also is planning to use much of its funds
to build a rural school in Honduras.”
Among Cavataio’s other accomplishments and
accolades received during his time at Cranbrook
were making the Dean’s list every semester he
was there, a Chinese award as a freshman, a high
finish in the Chinese Quiz Bowl, and scoring
superior ratings in both Bach and Schoolcraft
piano competitions. (Cavataio has studied and
played classical piano for 12 years.)
He also was captain of the C-K tennis team
during his senior year, nominated for a scholarathlete
award and received most valuable player
honors in varsity tennis for the Cranes. And if all
of that didn’t keep him busy enough, Cavataio was
a member of the school’s robotics team, soccer
club and Entrepreneur Club.
WELL PREPARED
At Michigan, Cavataio plans to study physics
and engineering. “I am interested in both
medicine and engineering and thought this would
be a great way to combine both fields of interest,”
he said. “Students who major in engineering and
physics typically score the highest on the MCATs
(Medical College Admission Test) so it’s a great
vehicle to medical school if I chose to go that
route.”
As far as what kind of engineering he will
study in college, he’s not 100% sure, “but I am
interested in both the mechanical and chemical
areas.”
“The Academy definitely
prepared me to be a
leader.”
It’s pretty obvious that Cavataio has a bright
future and that with the education he’s received
from his elementary and high schools, he is well
prepared for college and for a career. He said
he’s especially grateful for the time spent at The
Grosse Pointe Academy, which for him began in
the Early School.
“The Academy definitely prepared me to be
a leader,” he said. “Because of the small class
sizes at GPA, we had the opportunity to be in
the limelight quite often and that gave me the
confidence to pursue leadership opportunities in
high school.”
He stressed again how well prepared he was
for most of his high school classes, including one
30 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

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

GPANEWS
INVENTORS TAKE OVER
THE ACADEMY
More than 90 children who signed up for
The Grosse Pointe Academy’s 2015 edition of
Camp Invention were busy this past August
as one of the most popular camps of the
school’s summer program began in earnest
on GPA’s lakeside campus. According to Camp
Invention director and GPA science teacher
Michelle Roberts, the special “Invention”
course offered last year was called “M.O.V.E.:
Motion, Obstacles, Variety, Excitement.”
The camp is designed for students
entering grades one through six, and
immerses them in a weeklong experience
where they’ll discover creativity and
inventiveness through hands-on, creative
problem-solving activities.
Participants will use their imagination as
they reach for the stars and get in motion,
overcome obstacles, make variations to classic
games and build excitement during this
activity! During this high-energy and vibrant
series of physical activities that promote 21stcentury
thinking and moving, campers will
be encouraged to exercise their teamwork,
cooperation and collaboration skills. Students
will strategize and problem solve their way to
self-confidence through an activity that’s like
recess, only reinvented!
About Camp Invention: Camp Invention
is the only nationally recognized, non-profit
elementary enrichment program backed by
the National Inventors Hall of Fame. Over
the past 40 years, and in partnership with the
U.S. Patent and Trademark Office,
Camp Invention programs have encouraged
nearly two million children, teachers, parents,
college students and independent inventors to
explore science, technology and their own innate
creativity, inventiveness and entrepreneurial
spirit.
CAMPUS PRESERVATION PROJECTS
MAKE BIG PROGRESS OVER SUMMER
BREAK
A major component of this year’s “Fête des Amis” Action Auction, which
was held May 9 on GPA’s campus, was the special ‘paddle-raise’ appeal
dedicated to the preservation of campus buildings and grounds. According to
school officials, net proceeds from the paddle-raise, which totaled in excess
of $125,000, are being used in support of preservation of the Academy’s
historic buildings and grounds.
Over the past summer break, a number of the major initiatives included
in the preservation plan already have been completed. The phone system
school-wide has been significantly upgraded, driveways and parking lots
have been resealed, a new integrated camera/intercom door-entry security
system was installed at all main building entrances, and major tuckpointing
work on many of the brick and limestone joints was completed prior to
school opening in September.
Head of School Lars Kuelling said that these much-needed repairs
and maintenance efforts may not generate the same kind of excitement
as curriculum development or technology enhancements. “But they do
play an important role in sustaining and protecting the nurturing learning
environment inherent in a Grosse Pointe Academy education,” he said. “We
are especially thankful that our generous community came through once
again to help make these improvements happen.”
Kuelling also wanted to make sure all involved knew how grateful he
and the rest of the Academy administration were for all of the hard work
that went into not only the paddle-raise, but the entire auction weekend.
“I would like to thank everyone who had a part in this tremendous event,
especially our co-chairs, Fay and Paul Savage and Lindsey and
Tom Buhl, who put in a great deal of voluntary time in
order to ensure the success of this year’s auction.”
More than 90 children signed up
for The Grosse Pointe Academy’s
2015 edition of Camp Invention
this past August. It is one of
the most popular camps of the
school’s summer program.
32 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

Mad for
Montessori
What do you call a group of five dads who got
together five years ago because of a huge shared
passion for Montessori education? And what do you
call that same group who decided last April to fly a
large banner over Manhattan with a cryptic message
for the mayor: “Bill de Blasio, make it Montessori.”
And finally, what do you call these five guys who call
Montessori teachers not teachers, but “artists” and
“alchemists?”
You call them “Montessori Madmen,” of course.
Trevor Eissler, chief madman, who when he’s
not piloting corporate planes is tirelessly tooting the
Montessori horn for anybody who will listen, says
the innovative academic philosophy that has been
at GPA longer than any other school in Michigan is
“simply the best way to educate children, period.”
In an interview earlier this year with The Grosse
Pointe Academy, it is clear Eissler remains very
passionate about Montessori, even though he said
his own three kids have “aged out of their local
Montessori school in Texas.”
He talked about how the Madmen got started.
It began about five years ago, he said, with a group
of four other “Montessori men” he actually had never
met in person. These dads had read Eissler’s book,
“Montessori Madness,” and got in touch with him to
say how fired up they also were about Montessori.
“Each seemed surprised that they weren’t the only
crazy male out there in the seemingly 99%
female-dominated world of early childhood
education,” he said. “My book targeted
dads and explained Montessori education
from a dad’s point of view. These dads
were enthusiastic, and wanted to make a
difference. We’ve since added a few more
dads.” Plus, a few women have infiltrated
the fraternity, he said.
Eissler said his loosely assembled group
works in spurts, not talking for several
weeks or months and then all of a sudden
doing “some wacky Montessori ad project like
flying a banner plane over NYC or putting up road
billboards.”
It’s not all wackiness, though, for the 41-yearold
Eissler. He’s dead serious when asked about
Montessori and where he thinks it fits in the overall
spectrum of elementary education.
Is it progressive? Traditional? Somewhere in the
middle?
“It’s not really on that spectrum,” he said.
“Montessori has something revelatory for everyone
on the spectrum. And, it can appear contradictory
to all those folks. Independence AND community?
Structure AND freedom? Self-directed AND teacherguided?
Group work AND solitary work? Leader
AND follower?”
And where does he think Montessori works best?
Younger early school students? Middle school? All of
the above?
“Maria Montessori thought the first six years of
life were the most critical,” he said. “I don’t have any
information to contradict that.”
ACADEMY GRAD NAMED A TOP LAWYER
Megan Bonanni, a 1980 graduate of The
Grosse Pointe Academy, was named one of 30
members of the Class of 2015 “Women in the
Law” by Michigan Lawyers Weekly, a West
Bloomfield-based publication that reports on legal
news in Michigan.
The Women in the Law awards program
salutes high-achieving women lawyers in
Michigan and their accomplishments. These 30
women were honored at a special luncheon on
Sept. 10 at the Detroit Marriott in Troy.
Bonanni is a partner at Pitt McGehee Palmer
& Rivers, a Royal Oak law firm that specializes
in employment law, personal injury and criminal
defense.
Bonanni has been recognized by Best Lawyers
in America and rated by Crain’s Detroit Business
as one of the leaders in her field. And she was
recognized by The American Lawyer publication
as a “Top Lawyer for 2011.”
In addition to specializing in employment
law for Pitt McGehee, Bonanni volunteers as
an attorney and speaker with the Epilepsy
Foundation and a mentor with the Women
Lawyers Association of Michigan. She also helped
co-sponsor and build a home in Veracruz, Mexico,
as part of the Jimmy Carter work project through
Habitat for Humanity.
Bonanni obtained her B.A. in political science
and French literature from Kalamazoo College,
where she graduated with honors, and she
attended law school at Wayne State University.
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 33

GPATEACHING STAFF
Early School teacher brings international
acuity to her ‘peaceful’ classroom
“It became clear to me
from the beginning that
this was a special place,”
said Cindy Mayilukila,
an Early School teacher
at The Grosse Pointe
Academy
Over the course of the last few decades,
internationalism in education has been in
particular focus for institutions of learning in
America.
More than 15 years ago, Change magazine
published an article by Philip G. Altbach and
Patti McGill Peterson entitled “Internationalize
American higher education? Not exactly.”
The article discussed the fact that while
American colleges and universities “talked” of
giving students a more global approach in the
classroom, few actually “walked” it. And while
Altbach and Peterson were looking at higher
education in their study, it is clear that elementary
and secondary education in the United States also
has been giving students too few tools to compete
in a shrinking world—even considering the
major inroads made lately in this country by the
International Baccalaureate.
That is why it’s well worth noting that since
1969 when it was established as an independent
coeducational day school, The Grosse Pointe
Academy has emphasized a global approach to
classroom curricula and to its faculty.
Along with a rigorous core academic program
that includes mathematics, social studies, science
and technology, Academy students experience
three years of foreign-language study with choices
that include Chinese, Spanish and French. In
fact, GPA students regularly earn high marks
in an extremely competitive national French
exam sponsored by the American Association
of Teachers of French (AATF). Further, students
as young as 2-1/2 years old to those in grade 8
at GPA are regularly exposed to languages and
cultures from around the world.
Whether it’s the first grade’s “creative
movement” interpretation of European artist
Henri Matisse or the recent exploration of
Chinese dining culture by middle school students,
it is safe to say that students at The Grosse Pointe
Academy spend literally every day immersed in
some form of global learning or experience.
GROSSE POINTE BY WAY OF BELGIUM AND
IVORY COAST
The teaching staff at the Academy also earns
high marks when it comes to “internationalism.”
Witness Cindy Mayilukila of GPA’s Montessori
Early School.
Mayilukila is an American citizen by virtue
34 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

of her birth in New York City. But her early life
experience skews decidedly offshore.
When she was only a few months old, her
family moved from New York to Belgium where
they lived for several years, which probably
explains why French is her first language. But
then she and her family moved to Africa and lived
in Ivory Coast, South Africa and the Democratic
Republic of Congo for a number of years while
frequently traveling back and forth to Europe.
Mayilukila said that as she was growing up
and going through school, she always thought
that for a professional career, she’d love to be a
professional translator, which would allow her to
utilize her native cultural language of French and
African dialects. “But after becoming a mother,”
she said, “I realized that teaching was becoming
part of my heart and I knew that’s where I really
belonged.”
Mayilukila has been part of GPA’s academic
staff only since 2013. But her background in
progressive education goes back much further.
“Prior to coming to GPA, I worked as a lead
teacher for three years at the Schoolhouse
Montessori Academy in Troy,” she said. Before
that, she said she worked in two other schools,
Montessori Children’s Academy in Saint Clair,
Mich., and Montessori Stepping Stones in Mt.
Clemens, Mich., both well-regarded purveyors
of Maria Montessori’s innovative teaching
method. Mayilukila also completed an 18-month
Montessori teaching internship leading up to her
role as a full-time teacher.
addition to the Montessori Early School,” Kendall
said. “Her peaceful classroom is a joy to enter and
her students always have smiles on their faces as
they engage in their activities.”
It is obvious that Mayilukila is herself
engaged in her work. She appears to be the living
embodiment of the GPA mission and uses it as the
basis for everything she does on campus.
“My main goal every school day is to nurture
each student and instill the love of learning
through our Montessori-structured developmental
classrooms,” she said.
And even though she’s finishing up just her
second year at GPA, Mayilukila can already see the
profound transformations that children undergo
after just a short amount of time in the Early
School.
“I am privileged to be part of such beautiful
changes I see in my students even from the
beginning of one year to its end. These children
are among my most treasured blessings.”
A BIG FAN
When first arriving at The Grosse Pointe
Academy two years ago, Mayilukila was
immediately a big fan of the school. “It became
clear to me from the beginning that this was a
special place,” she said. “I recognized and truly
admired the ‘heart’ of the faculty here as well as of
the students and their families.”
Jennifer Kendall is assistant head of school
for early school education and admissions at
the Academy and an unabashed member of the
Mayilukila fan club. “Cindy has been a natural
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 35

Good Enough Not Good Enough
for Academy Teacher
Middle-school French
teacher Amal El-Hosni,
center, is with GPA
students on a trip to
Paris. El-Hosni’s students
routinely score very high
on the National French
Exam, or “Le Grand
Concours,” an annual
competition sponsored by
the American Association
of Teachers of French.
When Grosse Pointe Academy middle-school
French teacher Amal El-Hosni was growing up in
Lebanon, she never dreamed she would one day
be a teacher. Her aunt, with whom she was very
close, was a pediatrician.
“I wanted to be just like her,” said El-Hosni.
But when she started to tutor a much younger
student who was having problems with letters
and words, she thought teaching might be a
possibility for her, even though El-Hosni herself
was only 14 at time.
“I worked with this child every day for two
weeks,” she said. “But I was really only a child
myself, and I had no idea how to teach him. But
I could see that he wasn’t enjoying the process,
and that he was becoming very frustrated with
himself.”
So El-Hosni decided to make it fun.
She cut up pieces of colored paper in order
to make a long train with each piece having a
letter on it. The two of them then started playing
with the paper, making up different trains and
words—and then sentences.
“Something magical happened,” she said. “I
swear to this day I could practically hear that
boy’s brain racing though letters and words as
his little hands were grabbing and aligning the
colored paper to drive the train home.”
That was the clincher. She knew right then
that teaching was going to be her life’s calling as
she continued tutoring students throughout her
high school and early college years in Lebanon.
COMING TO THE U.S.
El-Hosni immigrated to the U.S. from Lebanon
27 years ago, first to Los Angeles where as a
grad student at California State University she
took on work as an assistant professor and
later as an adjunct professor. She remained
with the university for about seven years until
circumstances brought her to Michigan and to
Grosse Pointe specifically, where she and her
husband decided to settle and raise their family.
While her kids were young, El-Hosni taught
French part-time at Macomb Community College
in Warren. In 2000, she was hired as a French
teacher at Harper Woods Notre Dame, an all-boys
Catholic high school, which was closed by the
Archdiocese of Detroit in 2005. She then served
as a long-term substitute teacher at Grosse Pointe
North High School for one year and Parcells
Middle School for another year.
But, El-Hosni says, she’s learned through the
years that everything happens in your life for a
reason.
When a full-time middle-school French
teacher position opened up at The Grosse Pointe
Academy, a school she admits she knew very little
about at the time, El-Hosni nonetheless signed on.
“All three of my children had gone through
a Montessori program in Los Angeles, and I am
a great believer and advocate of Montessori, she
said. “I had heard some great things about GPA,
but I was not familiar with the school. However,
as I sat through my first Monday morning chapel
assembly, all I could think of was what a great
sense of belonging it gave me. I wanted to be part
of this community—this family. By the end of
my first year, I knew that I wanted to spend the
36 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

emainder of my teaching years at the Academy.”
WITNESS TO POSITIVE CHANGES AT GPA
El-Hosni says since joining the faculty at
the Academy, she’s seen many big changes and
improvements at the school.
“We are a leading school in our area in
technology and one-to-one tablet usage,” she
said. “And our STEM lab has allowed students to
experiment and explore like never before. And
let’s not forget the student’s garden, which has
become a real gathering space where students,
teachers, and sometimes even parents, work,
plant, play, eat, or just enjoy reading in the shade.”
El-Hosni also loves the fact that GPA is not
basking in its own glow or resting on its laurels.
“It seems we are constantly looking for ways to
improve the learning process for our students,”
she said. “In my own classes, for example, I try to
challenge my students and push them out of their
comfort zone. They learn by asking questions,
researching topics, coming to logical conclusions
through trial and error, even in French grammar
and writing. I believe you can’t reach your
potential unless you are challenged.”
But she’s also a big believer in the nurturing
part of the school’s central mission.
“I make sure my students always know they
are in a safe environment, and that it’s okay to
fall and make mistakes, as long as they are willing
to get up and try again. Some students might
be afraid or reticent with such an approach, but
in the end they usually rise up to the challenge
and realize why I was pushing them. After all,
this school is all about nurturing potential, and
allowing students to discover their own strengths.”
El-Hosni’s own three children, who are all
pretty much on their own now, were raised with
the same philosophy, she said, where good enough
is not good enough.
It appears that her kids definitely benefitted
from such an approach.
“My oldest studied engineering at U-M,
then finished an MBA at Maryland University,”
El-Hosni said. “Today she handles international
business development for a defense company
and lives in Washington, DC, with her husband.
My youngest went into engineering as well, and
lives in Chicago. He is working for Union Pacific,
and is living every little boy’s dream of working
with trains.” Her other daughter graduated in the
spring from medical school, where she specialized
in both internal medicine and pediatrics.
El-Hosni is glad her children are doing
well and on their own now. It gives her even
more time to concentrate on her charges at the
Academy.
It is apparent that she just flat out loves her
job and loves teaching. “Bearing witness to these
young people when they have their epiphanies
about who they can be and what they can achieve
is the greatest pleasure and honor in the world,”
she said. “I’m not going anywhere else anytime
soon!”
“Something magical happened,
I swear to this day I could practically
hear that boy’s brain racing though
letters and words as his little hands were
grabbing and aligning the colored
paper to drive the train home.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 37

PARENT PROFILE
Making the
Parents worry about many things—with
education being high on the list. These worries
cause lost sleep and spark countless discussions
wondering if their chosen school will prepare their
children to compete in a future world not yet fully
understood.
In many cases, parents find a way to calm their
worries about education by thinking: “We seem to
be doing enough.” “Our children are good kids.” “Our
school is fine.” “I like their teachers.” “We went to a
similar school and turned out okay; our children
will, too.” After all, the public schools in the Pointes
and in many of the surrounding communities have
great reputations and turn out many successful
young men and women.
But Fred and Pam Rollins wanted more certainty
that their children would develop a strong passion
for learning, have meaningful choices beyond
middle school learning and expand the skills they
will need to compete.
“As parents, we believe our role is to guide and
shape our children,” Fred Rollins said. “And you want
them to achieve their highest potential and have
choices when it comes to high schools and colleges.
You want your own actions to cumulatively add to
the development of your child and not make up for
what you feel is missing in their education.”
So when it came to making a decision on
schools for their two children, the Rollins did their
homework. They had heard about The Grosse Pointe
Academy and remembered vaguely seeing the
distinguished-looking building off of Lake Shore
Road after moving to Grosse Pointe in 1999 from
out of state.
At the time, we did not have any children,” Pam
Rollins said. “We moved to St. Clair, Michigan, lived
there for 14 years and then had two children, a girl
and a boy, who we enrolled in a school in our area.”
But when the Rollins kids were finishing up
second grade and kindergarten, Pam and Fred
decided they wanted more from their children’s
school.
Current Academy parents Pam and Fred Rollins, with their
children, Jack and Alexandra.
38 FALL 2015 / THE ACADEMIC

ight choice
CURRENT PARENTS DISCUSS DECISION TO ENROLL THEIR CHILDREN AT THE ACADEMY
LONG COMMUTE WORTH EVERY MILE
“We began to think about other options and
focused more on the type of school we wanted
rather than the location of the school,” Fred said.
They remembered the lakeside school from their
days in Grosse Pointe and decided to check out the
Academy’s website, which piqued their interest even
more.
But it wasn’t until they visited the dignifiedlooking
school building that Pam and Fred became
more than just interested.
“...knowing your children
are getting the right
foundation...”
“We met with the Academy’s then-admissions
director, Molly McDermott, and took a tour of the
school,” Pam said. “We absolutely loved what we
saw. Then our kids visited the school and went
through the admissions process, and we were all
introduced to some of the fabulous teachers in the
lower school.”
The Rollins said that through the years they
had done many thorough interviews with other
schools, so they had a good idea of what they were
looking for. Apparently they found it on 171 Lake
Shore Road because they enrolled their children for
the following school year. For awhile, Pam and her
husband commuted with their kids the 45 miles
each way from St. Clair to the Academy before
eventually moving back to the Pointes.
“It might be different than how these things
usually go, but we were drawn to the school first and
then decided we wanted to be in the community
full time,” she said. “We are very pleased with our
decision and happy to be part of the Academy
family.”
Rollins said her children—now fully
matriculated at the Academy: Alexandra is in the
sixth grade, Jack is in fourth—are doing extremely
well.
“We were impressed with the school when our
kids first started here,” Fred said. “But since then
we’ve really discovered what the true value of a
Grosse Pointe Academy education is.”
“It boils down to knowing that your children
are getting the right foundation to prepare them for
what the world has to offer,” she said. “That’s it in
a nutshell. We landed at the Academy to give our
children the right supportive environment for them
to take risks, push harder and try new things. We
wanted to give them this chance before high school
when it may not be as
easy to do so.”
THE FUTURE
Fred and Pam Rollins,
like all parents, don’t
really know what the
future holds for their
still-young children. But
they both are sure they’ve
given them a good start
by bringing them to the
Academy.
“We are extremely
confident that The Grosse
Pointe Academy—with
its nurturing environment, its great teachers,
curriculum, culture and resources—is preparing
them to achieve their fullest potential.”
While a school can’t eliminate every sleepless
night as a parent, Pam said, the right choice can offer
a peace of mind in your children’s education.
“We truly believe we have given Alex and Jack
the opportunity to go further in their young lives
than we thought was possible,” she said. “We know
that when they leave the Academy, they will take
with them the academics and life skills necessary to
succeed in high school and then ultimately to thrive
in a world that gets more complicated every day.”
THE GROSSE POINTE ACADEMY / FALL 2015 39

Where technology
meets tradition
Starting with its renowned
Innovation and Design Center,
which focuses on developing
student interest and excitement
in the fields of science,
technology, engineering and
math (STEM), The Grosse Pointe
Academy is exposing students in
Grades 1 through 8 to some of
the most advanced technology
found in an elementary school
environment. Combined with an
academic curriculum centered
on literature, language, social
studies, the arts and Christian life,
the Academy is providing a strong
foundation of learning, where
each child is nurtured, challenged
and inspired every day.
171 Lake Shore Road
Grosse Pointe Farms, Mich.
313.886.1221
gpacademy.org
to nurture • to challenge • to inspire