Under the Oak Fall Magazine

Under the Oak
FALL 2021
From Project to Protest
Kindergarten Bike Project sparks a
class-wide advocacy movement.
A Special Message from Lisa
Duke School’s Head of School reflects on
her first year at Duke School and looks
forward to a bright future.
2020-21 Dragon Fund Report
Celebrating and recognizing the
Honor Roll of Donors

Our Mission & Core Values
WHAT WE DO
Inspire learners to boldly and creatively shape
their future.
IDEAS WE LIVE BY
Learner-Centered
Learners are the center of a dynamic and
collaborative learning, inquiry and discovery
process.
Active Inquiry
Intellectual curiosity through project-based
learning propels learners to explore multiple
paths to creative solutions.
Bold Thinkers
A deep love of learning and respect for our
community forms bold, critical thinkers for life.
WHY WE DO IT
To prepare the next generation of problem
solvers for our complex world.
Under the Oak
WRITERS
DESIGNER
EDITOR
HEAD OF SCHOOL
DIRECTOR OF
ADVANCEMENT
Michaela Dwyer
Candy Thompson
Laura Thompson
Sarah Dwyer
Nancy Joyce
Lisa Nagel
Dr. Kenneth W. Chandler
Duke School publishes Under the Oak annually for
its alumni, parents, grandparents and friends. If
you would like to add someone to our mailing list,
please email communications@dukeschool.org.
We also welcome news about alumni for future
publications; please email alumni@dukeschool.org
with this information.
ON THE COVER: A Duke School kindergarten
class advocates for equity in the sport of professional
cycling during their Bike Project. More on page 8.

In this Issue
6
A MESSAGE FROM LISA NAGEL,
HEAD OF SCHOOL
Lisa Refelcts on her first year at Duke
School and looks forward to a bright
future.
38
40
STAYING CONNECTED: DUKE
SCHOOL ALUMNI NEWS
Marisa Rauwald ‘12 reflects on her
career in sports broadcast journalism
and the foundations she built at
Duke School.
CELEBRATING THE CLASS OF 2021
Congratulations and high school
destinations of Duke School’s Class
of 2021
8
CLASSROOM SPOTLIGHTS
Advocacy, collaboration and innovation
highlight classroom work in the 2020-21
school year.
40
A SPECIAL MESSAGE TO DUKE
SCHOOL GRADS
Rebecca Feinglos Planchard ’03
addresses Duke School’s Class of 2021.
31
THROUGH A COUNSELOR’S EYE:
WELLNESS AT DUKE SCHOOL
Duke School counselors respond to
changing student and curriculum needs.
43
ALWAYS A DRAGON
Celebrating the post-high school
destinations of Duke School’s Class
of 2017.
33
THE ART OF PROCESS, CREATIVITY,
AND INNOVATION
Faculty and staff showcase art in a local
exhibit at Hearth Studios in Durham.
45
DUKE SCHOOL’S 2020-21 ANNUAL
FUND REPORT
A closer look into Duke School’s
incomes and expenses
35
TWENTY-FIVE YEARS AND COUNTING
Teachers Marki Watson and Beth Harris
look back on their respective careers at
Duke School.
46
DUKE SCHOOL’S 2020-21 DRAGON
FUND REPORT
Celebration and recognition of the
Honor Roll of Donors.

Class Spotlights
8
11
15
18
20
21
24
27
29
FROM PROJECT TO PROTEST
Kindergarten Bike Project sparks a class-wide
advocacy movement.
RE-ENGINEERING ENGINEERING PROJECTS
Third and fourth grade teachers and students
problem solve and adapt their projects in real time.
TRAILS BY DESIGN
Sixth graders enhance their school and home
environments with innovative trails.
COVID-19 SURVEILLANCE STUDY
Curriculum and Educators Institute Director Kathy
Bartelmay reflects on eighth grade’s infectious
disease research collaboration with Duke University.
GUEST EXPERTS NEAR AND FAR
First grade finds Bird Project experts in new and
unexpected places.
PUTTING A STAMP ON SCIENCE
Seventh graders collaborate to advocate and
commemorate citizen science for a wider audience.
THE BUSINESS OF CREATIVITY: THE SHOW
MUST GO ON
Second grade’s Theater Business Project is a
“virtual” success.
NEW COLLABORATION LEADS TO INNOVATION
Preschool teachers implement a coordinated approach
to project work.
CURRICULUM CONNECTIONS AND
PROJECT WORK
Fifth grade teachers and students discover and
explore finer connections between projects.

10

A Special Message from Lisa Nagel
Lisa reflects on her first year as Duke School’s Head of School and looks forward to a bright future.
As the Duke School Dragons
volleyball team took to the
court for the first time in over
a year, excitement rippled
through the crowd. A parent,
sitting masked and three feet
from me, said, “I never thought
seeing the scoreboard light up
and taking a seat near a fellow DS parent could bring
such joy!” I thought about all that
was wrapped up in this instance of
the girls’ team practicing pre-game
drills. This seemingly simple moment
was the result—an example among
many—of a community working
bravely together, caring for one
another, and creatively addressing
the complex problem of conducting
school in a pandemic.
Arriving on campus last summer, I
met with faculty and staff on the art
patio, where we discussed together
the year ahead. Their courage,
compassion, and candor resounded
in these conversations. They made a
commitment to serve our students in
the face of innumerable unknowns,
offering creative solutions to worrisome problems.
They shared their concern for the well-being of their
students, their colleagues, and the school’s families,
providing ideas of ways to infuse hope and laughter
into daily life. They brought honesty and deep inquiry
to the quandaries we were facing.
The faculty and staff modeled Duke School’s core
values to their fullest, and our school was alive with
joy, curiosity, and engagement throughout the year.
6
“
Faculty and staff modeled
Duke School’s core values to
their fullest, and our school
was alive with joy, curiosity,
and engagement throughout
the year. In this environment,
our students persevered and
thrived, their work marked by
bold thinking and innovation.
In this environment, our students persevered and
thrived, their work marked by bold thinking and
innovation. Under tents outside, our eighth graders
shared projects focused on topics like gender equity
in the entertainment industry, music production
in the digital age, and hacking and cybersecurity.
Culminations throughout the school pivoted to
online modes, incorporating QR codes, videos, and
live online sharing. Our students, faculty, and staff
adapted, donning PPE and carefully
following the guidance that allowed
the school to remain open every
day, all year long.
Duke School’s participation in a
surveillance study designed to
assess the feasibility of a noninvasive
surveillance and detection
method of COVID-19 offered
a unique chance to live out our
mission to prepare students to be
upstanders in our community. After
a guest expert provided students
with an introduction to infectious
diseases, eighth-graders conducted
experiments to detect germs on
surfaces and ways handwashing can
eliminate them.
Then, student volunteers collected surface samples
in classrooms and sent them to Duke University
for analysis. The students were delighted to learn
that information gained from this study might help
influence other school’s decisions to open, as Duke
School did.
When I first became acquainted with Duke School,
families told me time and time again about the caring

nature of our community—many referred to Duke
School as their “second home!” While safety measures
prevented visitors on campus last year, our families’
understanding, empathy, and school spirit connected
and buoyed all in innumerable—and novel—ways.
LIFE committee events, including a book group
discussion on “The Color of Law” and a Zoom cooking
class with guest chef Zwelibanzi Williams, kept spirits
high. Maintaining flexibility with our school schedule,
the PSO’s appreciation gift baskets and supportive
notes to faculty and staff just skim the surface of the
ways our community held one another up.
What our community accomplished together was
remarkable. The common bond we formed in the
most extraordinary circumstances fortifies us as we
begin this year. It’s “game on,” and Duke School is
ready to tackle the year ahead!
7

Some of the class pictured with Lou Gibson.
From Project to Protest
Kindergarten Bike Project sparks advocacy.
“It’s Not Fair!”
When uttered by a 5- or 6-year-old, this refrain often
may be the result of some deeply felt personal
injustice, like a too-early bedtime or having to share a
precious toy with someone else. For students in Abby
and Dayna’s kindergarten class, the message was far
more global in scope.
During their spring bicycle project, the students
learned that there is no Tour de France— perhaps the
most famous bicycle race in the world—for women.
“There was just a huge reaction,” said Abby. “They
were really upset.”
The students had been learning about people
responding to injustices and making a difference
during Black History Month in February and Women’s
History Month in March.
“We talked a lot about making things right when you
see something that’s wrong and just talking about
how one person can make a difference,” said Abby.
Yet, the students still had a hard time comprehending
that this type of inequality exists today.
Dayna said, “They didn’t fully believe us because
they said, ‘Oh, like they can now, right?’ Every other
thing we had read about, like women voting, women
wearing pants, women riding bikes in the first place,
had been fixed. I think they thought all the work had
been done and that there was nothing left to do.”
As the project progressed, the students continued to
bring up the perceived injustice during discussions in
the classroom. Abby and Dayna felt that they needed
to help the students find an outlet for their passion
and energy.
“When you teach ‘when you see something wrong,
you should do something,’ we cannot say we’re not
going to do something,” said Abby. “We had to show
them that we were going to make a difference—or
else we’re hypocrites.”
8

Anger to Activism
But how could the students register their concerns with
a huge organization in a foreign land— particularly
during a pandemic?
They considered writing letters, but
the logistics of sending those to race
organizers in France seemed somewhat
impractical to the class.
Creating protest signs, as the students
had seen in books and videos, seemed
more doable. However, sending the
signs to France was not an option, and
COVID-19 restrictions on gatherings
would prevent large numbers of people
from seeing them at school and in the
wider community.
“
Just like the way
adults feel angry about
inequities and injustice,
[kindergarteners]
definitely care, too. And
they’re not too young to
talk about it.
messages in a video to share with the parents and the
larger Duke School community.
“We showed them signs from history and how they’re
short and how they’re to the point,” said Dayna. “We
had each kid come up with their own slogan. I think
they felt really empowered.”
The completed video was posted to the
Duke School Facebook page, where it
was extremely successful with thousands
of views.
Additionally, Sarah Dwyer, Duke
School’s marketing and communications
associate, suggested sharing the
video with several international
women’s cycling groups and advocacy
organizations.
“Normally, we may have just taken those posters, hung
them in a place (at school) and then we would have
had a culmination,” said Dayna. The parents could
then view the posters while the students explained
their messages.
Then, it occurred to Abby and Dayna that the students
could make the protest signs and record short
The InternationElles, a group of 10 women cyclists
from around the world, responded immediately,
posting the video on its own website. British team
member Lou Gibson even sent the students a thank
you video.
“She was really excited to see that someone else
cared,” said Abby. “Their whole organization …
The InternationElles shared a
video on their website featuring
a message from the class.

this is what they’re fighting for. For them to see that
kindergarteners in a totally different country cared, they
really loved it.”
Local television news channel ABC11 was next to pick
up the story and featured excerpts from the video on its
evening news broadcasts. The students were seeing that
their message had, indeed, made an impact.
Reflections
No one imagined that a bicycle project would lead to an
experience in social activism. Dayna and Abby are quick
to credit their students as the driving force.
“Listen to your kids. You might have a plan in mind, but
for us, it went in a totally different direction,” said Abby.
“And it just kept unfolding. It was magical to watch it.”
The flexibility of Duke School’s project approach was also
a key factor.
“Duke School allows you the freedom to take the learning
where it needs to go—where it organically is moving
towards,” said Dayna.
“I think people underestimate 5- and 6-year-olds and
what they are feeling and how big those feelings are,”
said Abby. “Just like the way adults feel angry about
inequities and injustice, they definitely care, too. And
they’re not too young to talk about it.”
Dayna added, “It wasn’t just that they realized it wasn’t
fair. There’s still work to be done. And I don’t think you’re
ever too young to realize that.”
*It was announced in June that there will be an eight-stage Tour de France for women, starting on July 24, 2022.
10

Re-Engineering Engineering Projects
Third- and fourth-grade teachers and students problem solve and adapt their projects in real time.
Fourth Grade
Engineering Project
Switches Gears
Engineering is problem solving. The Duke School
community collectively engineered many solutions
so that students could attend school both on campus
and virtually throughout the 2020-21 school year.
Modifications happened on a daily, if not hourly, basis.
Fourth grade, for example, re-engineered their
engineering project to make it more accessible to all
their students. In past years, students worked with
partners or small groups to design and construct
programmable robotic machines using LEGO®
Mindstorms kits. This year, COVID-19 safety protocols
restricted sharing these materials among groups of
students.
“At the beginning of the year, we found out we weren’t
going to be able to share [these particular] LEGO sets
and we knew for sure that we didn’t have enough kits
for everyone to be able to do it—at least not at the
same time,” said fourth-grade teacher Beth Harris.
Each student began by taking an engineering
personality test as well as writing about a past
experience where they engineered a solution to a
problem.
In the first construction challenge, each student
devised a tool for moving a ball from the floor to a
table. This was followed by an exercise in materials
engineering, where they dissected an unused
disposable diaper and repurposed the materials to
create something else.
Building a bridge with an 11-inch minimum span that
could pass three stability tests was the next challenge.
When compared to the LEGO bridges of previous
years, the results were surprising.
“Our bridges were super sturdy,” said teacher Geoff
Berry. “In the typical tests we did—which are a wind
test, an earthquake test and a weight test—we had
like a 90 percent pass rate, which never happens. That
was interesting.”
Those limited resources combined with the rollout of
new LEGO Mindstorms software led the fourth-grade
teachers to look for an alternative approach.
“In the past, we had done some things—little
challenges that didn’t involve LEGO sets. And we
thought, well, maybe we can just do the whole thing
without them,” said Beth.
Essentially, the only change was in the materials.
“We used the whole design process—all of that was
the same,” said Beth. “But we just didn’t use LEGO
(Mindstorms) or computers for it.”
Students ran earthquake simulations to test their bridges.
11

A new challenge this year proved
to be more difficult than expected.
The task was to build a cardboard
shelter for a toy pet that had three
sides, a floor, and a roof with cuts
in the cardboard and one foot of
duct tape holding it all together.
As student frustrations grew,
the teachers found themselves
problem solving as well—
eventually allowing students to
use more tape and, in some cases,
even staples.
“When it was over, we were like,
‘OK, we really have to revamp
that because it was so hard,’” said
Geoff. “The kids said in the end,
‘Don’t ever ask anybody to do that again, please!’”
For their final projects, students looked around for
real problems that needed solving. Maintenance
supervisor Sean Wilmer provided some inspiration by
taking the students on a tour and pointing out some
problem areas around campus. Bridged Distance
Learning (BDL) students searched their homes and
neighborhoods and asked grownups for help as well.
“We wanted them to have a real problem that
impacted them,” said teacher Tori Morton.
“
Their projects this past
year were almost a
little more ‘out of the
box’ because they were
just freer with what
they could use to build.
I felt like that pushed
their imaginations
a bit more.
The project culmination featured
many digital elements—as has
become the norm during the
pandemic. Students used iMovie,
Google, and Padlet to create
videos and share photos and
journal entries with parents.
“Students kept a running journal
and digital video portfolio of all
of their work, chronicling all the
phases and all the work that they
did along the way,” said Beth.
“And then we had them set up the
share the week of the culmination.
It obviously wasn’t the same, but
it had a little bit of the same feel
of getting to see the process and
showcase what they did and the opportunity to see
other kids’ work as well.”
Some students even created “Shark Tank”–style
marketing videos to generate interest in their
inventions.
Solving drainage issues and cleaning up wildlife
droppings on playing fields inspired several invention
prototypes. Other inventions included a LEGO piece
organizer, a pet umbrella, a gravity-assisted cereal
dispenser, and a magnetic levitating hover scooter.
LEGO bricks, motors and sensors were replaced with
cardboard, paper tubes, popsicle sticks, wooden
dowels, string, rubber bands and tape. If someone
needed more specialized materials, they were
purchased by the teachers or even fabricated in the
Duke School shop by Sean.
Though much of the work was done individually, the
teachers continued to emphasize and encourage
collaboration with other students. Students completed
surveys and offered feedback and suggestions to their
classmates throughout the project.
12

Although LEGO Mindstorms will continue to be a
mainstay of the fourth-grade engineering project, the
2020-21 adaptation had its merits.
“Overall, I feel like LEGO (Mindstorms) are very
exciting and cool, but also limiting in a way,” said Tori.
“Their projects this past year were almost a little more
‘out of the box’ because they were just freer with what
they could use to build. I felt like that pushed their
imaginations a bit more.”
Third Graders
Design Solutions to
Real World Problems
While fourth graders at Duke School navigated building
with various materials due to safety protocols’ impact
on LEGO® Mindstorms kits usage, the re-engineering
of third grade LEGO inquiries created new space for
innovative and imaginative solutions.
“Usually we have them in partners and it’s a
communication exercise,” third grade teacher
Heather Greene said. However, to adapt to COVID-19
protocols, logistics had to be re-worked while still
maintaining key aspects of the activities.
At the beginning of each design challenge, the
students were presented with scenarios to solve or
construction prompts to respond to, all grounded in
potential real-life situations: What would you build to
move a large object into a house? How about when
constructing a safe and entertaining space for a baby
to sit in while dinner is being made?
Third graders used five steps of design thinking as a
framework for navigating solution building: empathize,
define, ideate, prototype, and test.
Students share represenations of their inventions.

Following this initial information gathering session,
third graders then synthesized this information to
understand and define what components needed to
be included in each design. From here, each designer
brainstormed imaginative solutions and built LEGO
prototypes to represent their ideas.
After hearing each challenge prompt, students had
the opportunity to interview their teachers to learn
more about their audience and what matters most to
them.
In response to the prompt of making something to
occupy a baby while dinner is prepared, students
asked what the baby likes to do and whether or not
the baby can crawl to see how high the structure
should be. Upon hearing that the baby likes to make
loud noises, one student asked if Heather minded the
sounds or if she prefers quiet while cooking.
On pitch day, Heather said “they recorded a video
on their iPad documenting what they had done and
how it was safe and entertaining because that was
the main objective.” Teachers and students alike
provided feedback on what worked and what didn’t
go as planned to provide guidance for a second
round of prototyping. Students on campus and those
participating in Bridged Distance Learning were able
to bridge safety protocol distance by watching each
other’s videos. Through this communication step, one
student discovered the possibility of adding a classical
music speaker to help calm the baby.
Heather noted that each challenged informed the
next: “from the first one, they learned that they need to
ask lots of questions, or more focused questions in the
empathize stage so that they have all the information
that they need” to help solve the problems. By
grounding each challenge in real-world scenarios,
third graders practiced and strengthened solution
finding skills that can translate well to environments
outside of LEGO building.
14

Trails by Design
Sixth graders enhance their school and home environments with innovative trails.
For their final project of the 2020-2021 school year,
Duke School sixth graders gave the school community
even more reason to go outside. Over several weeks,
they transformed parts of the campus into themed
trails guiding visitors through natural scenery, fantasy
adventures, inspiring art, and engaging exercises.
The spring trails project was new to the sixth-grade
curriculum, but it built on themes of environmental
awareness and project design that have been staples
in years past.
“I think our main goal was to get the kids outside,” said
sixth-grade teacher Becca Wooldridge. In addition to
limiting indoor class time during the pandemic, the
teachers wanted to help students “reinforce the design
process, to learn to work in groups cooperatively and
help the environment through design.”
The trails project kicked off during spring break, when
teachers asked students to explore trails around
their homes or vacation destinations. “We wanted
them to go out and see as many different kinds of
trails as possible so that when they came back, they
could brainstorm different trails that they might be
interested in designing,” said Becca.
Back at school, the students discussed and settled on
several trail types to design: a nature trail, a sound
and meditation trail, fitness and sensory trails, two
trails of miniatures depicting fairies and gnomes as
well as scenes from The Hobbit, an art trail, and chalk
trails with mazes and other sidewalk activities.
Becca and fellow teachers Ben Felton, Michelle Reich
and Dillon Ross advised the student teams, as did art
teacher Lucia Marcus and middle school counselor

Rachel Wertheimer. Media specialists, additional staff
members and outside experts also lent their time and
knowledge.
The students formed teams according to the trails
that interested them most. Each team considered
the tools that they would need, who they could ask
for expert advice, and who their trail’s primary users
would be. Maps in hand, they toured the campus to
find promising trail sites.
Before beginning their designs, the teams consulted
prospective stakeholders to learn how they might
use each type of trail. For the fairies and gnomes
miniatures trail, students asked for input from the
kindergarten, first-, and second-grade classes that
would use it. Other trail teams surveyed their peers,
school administrators, and other grade levels to glean
ideas and priorities. This feedback helped determine
each trail’s location, length, and features.
16
During the final, two-week design phase of the project,
the teams created maps or models of their trails as
prototypes. Many teams then built their trails along
sidewalks and wooded areas surrounding the campus.
Others presented their prototypes as potential future
campus projects. Sixth graders involved in distance
learning created trails in their own neighborhoods
and communities.
Students drew on a variety of skills, talents, and new
experiences to create their trails. The miniatures
teams modeled fantasy scenes and creatures from
clay, popsicle sticks and other found materials. For
the sound and meditation trail, students assembled
a playlist of music and nature sounds to complement
visits to the proposed space. Students designing
fitness trails considered exercises that could be
mapped in chalk as well as those requiring specialized
equipment. The art team built installations inspired by
artist Andy Goldsworthy into a wooded landscape.

For the nature trail, which is designed to be a
permanent feature at the edge of the Duke School
campus, students cleared paths, removed invasive
plants, and posted interpretive signs highlighting the
native vegetation and creatures that visitors might
encounter along the trail.
“It’s always nice to have one project a year where
you just try something new and see how it goes,”
Becca said. Launching the trail project at the end of a
pandemic-transformed school year seemed especially
appropriate.
“We knew they’d be excited about it. We knew they’d
come up with creative ideas,” she said. “I guess the
one surprise is that, at the end of a long, grueling
year, their energy was still super high. They were very
excited, and they worked really hard.”
Photos courtesy of the Sixth Grade Team Teachers

COVID-19 Surveillance Study
Reflections by Kathy Bartelmay, Duke School’s Curriculum and Educators Institute Director
At the beginning of the 2021-22 school year, I had a
wonderful session with new teachers as I introduced
them to project work at Duke School. I began by
asking them to brainstorm the skills they want
their kids to have when they send them off to high
school. “Problem-solving. Empathy. Collaboration.
Persistence. The ability to help others,” they offered.
“At Duke School,” I told them, “These are the skills
we intentionally cultivate as we strive to create the
next generation of Upstanders.”
And they’re the qualities that personify a group of 8th
graders that worked with me on a very special project
last year.
When we returned to campus in August 2020,
Infectious Disease physicians and Duke School
parents Micky Cohen-Wolkowiez and Susanna Naggie
saw a wonderful opportunity to involve Duke School
students in an important real-world project. Duke
University was about to conduct a Surveillance Study
to assess the feasibility of a non-invasive, low-cost
method of surveillance for COVID-19, and thus find
a way to detect the virus, minimize transmission, and
allow schools to stay open. Duke School could be
one of the test sites, and doctors could work with our
8th graders to help conduct the study.
We jumped at the opportunity and the study was
launched as part of the 8th grade unit on cell biology.
After introductory work in science class, Dr. Nick
Turner, the lead investigator on the Surveillance
Study, gave students an introduction to Infectious
Diseases. Science teacher Cara Karra followed up
by having students design and conduct experiments
for detecting and eliminating germs in their classes.
Finally, Dr. Nick taught Cara, the kids and me how
18
to safely don personal
protective equipment.
From that point forward,
Tuesdays and Thursdays
became the highlight of
my week. At morning
carline, little ones declared
they were learning to
“get more spit” as they
dropped saliva samples
into our collection box.
And at 2:45, 8th graders,
Cara, and I sanitized our hands, donned gloves and
face shields, prepared swabbing packets, and headed
to 12 randomly selected pods and bathrooms to test
surfaces for signs of the coronavirus.
Many 8th graders enjoyed the experience, but a few
dedicated researchers stuck with the project until
the end. As we walked past a group of boys playing
ball one afternoon, I thanked Genaro Hood for his
dedication. “It’s okay. I like doing this, Kathy. I think
it’s important.”
“I love doing this study,” Addie Snider added. “When
the permission letter came out, my mom told me that
I could decide if I should participate or not, but that
it would be a real missed opportunity if I didn’t. She
was really right.”
For years, I’ve spoken to educators across the country
about the importance of teaching students the skills
that matter most—noticing problems in the world,
designing ways to solve them, and persisting through
the hard parts and failures that lead to solutions. I
never imagined a world, however, in which middle
schoolers would spend their last year at Duke School

in masks and gloves, carefully swabbing surfaces to
send to a lab at Duke to test for a deadly virus.
Most of my young friends started high school this
school year. I’ve seen back-to-school photos of
them on Instagram, their smiling faces showing an
eagerness to start this new chapter. Their resilience,
humor, empathy, and steadfastness continue to inspire
me. And I have no doubt that these qualities will serve
them well as they go on to do great things as former
Duke School Upstanders.
With sincere gratitude to Dr. Ethan Bausch, Dr. Micky
Cohen-Wolkowiez, Dr. Sarah Lewis, Dr. Susanna
Naggie, and Dr. Bimal Shah for their guidance
throughout the pandemic and to Dr. Nick Turner for
all of his help and for teaching us how much fun it is
to be researchers.
*At the conclusion of the Surveillance Study, there
were no traces of COVID-19 detected on the surfaces
tested nor any transmissions on campus. Duke School’s
on-campus program remained open to students the
entire school year.
What We Learned: Reflections
from 8th Grade Researchers
“Covid has taught me that struggles
are hard to overcome. I hate to say it,
but it took a worldwide pandemic for
me to become empathic enough to truly
understand this.”
“Some people are really brave. And kind.
Both! Honestly, I think that kindness
is part of what keeps us swabbers
and frontline workers going. It’s nice
feeling appreciated, but it’s even nicer
knowing that you’re making an important
difference in people’s lives.”
19

Guest Experts
Near and Far
First grade finds guest experts in unexpected places.
Guest experts are a cornerstone of project work
at Duke School, visiting classrooms to offer realworld
perspectives that help students research a
topic. Parents, family, friends, and other community
members are typically recruited to provide this crucial
element. Last year’s COVID-19 protocols prohibited
most in-person appearances by
guest experts. Surprisingly, this
restriction resulted in opening a
few doors—or Zoom windows—
that otherwise might not have
been considered.
First-grade classes, for example,
were able to tap resources from
both near and far during their bird
project last spring. In May, they
had a Zoom visit with renowned
author and bird photographer
Ralph Fletcher. They also found
a great resource much closer to
home—first- grade student Jane
Boyer.
Based in Durham, New Hampshire,
Ralph Fletcher has written close to
50 books including picture books,
fiction, non-fiction, and poetry. He
has also authored numerous texts
for writing teachers.
“He is like a writing teacher guru,” said firstgrade
teacher Carolynn Klein. “Kathy Bartelmay
and I remembered when we heard him speak at
Teachers College that he had a hobby of doing bird
photography and writing poetry, as well. We reached
out to him in hopes that he would share some of his
bird photography.”
He accepted the invitation and shared some of his bird
photographs with the students as well as answering
their questions.
20
“The images are just striking,” said Carolynn. “And he
talked to the kids about the process and the patience
behind it, how he gets his shots, and where he travels
to get them.” Because the students were studying
poetry at the same time, Fletcher also spoke to them
about the beauty of poetry and how his photographs
also inspire his poetry writing.
“He was a really amazing guest expert,” said Carolynn.
“To have one of my heroes that I studied come in and
talk to the kids from educator, photographer and
writing perspectives was really cool.”
Photo courtesy of
Ralph Fletcher
Student Jane Boyer’s
presentation was the only
in-person guest expert
visit during the project.
Jane raises chickens and
brought a hen to show her
classmates.
“She shared how she cared
for the chicken—things
that the chicken ate, how
big they can get how long
they can live, how they lay
eggs, as well as how to
tell a male from a female,”
said Jane’s teacher Janeia
Knox. The students were
also able to touch and pet
the hen.
Having students as guest
experts has many benefits,
Janeia said. Often students
can connect and relay
information to each other
in interesting ways, and classmates respect seeing
their peers in that role.
It is also a great experience for the presenter. “It
involves planning, organizing, and also thinking
critically about what’s important to share,” said Janeia.
“She (Jane) had her note cards there … to refer to
things that she wanted to hit in case children didn’t
ask about it. She had her whole teacher voice going
on and was fully answering questions. She had the
class fully engaged.”

Putting A Stamp on Science
Seventh graders collaborate to advocate and commemorate citizen science for a wider audience.
Sometimes what is on the outside of an envelope may
be as important as the message inside. At least that’s
what a group of seventh graders hoped as they asked
the United States Postal Service (USPS) to produce a
postage stamp commemorating citizen science.
Never heard of citizen science? That’s the point!
Citizen science is essentially crowdsourcing for
scientific research—inviting the public to take part in
collecting data and observations for scientific studies.
Citizen scientists, primarily volunteers, can provide
more and broader scientific data without, for example,
having to increase project funding.
“How can citizen science, which is a form of open
science, prepare us to create a better world and
place to live in the future?” was the question posed
by seventh grade science and project teacher Juliana
Thomas. She then led the class in a study of shark
tooth forensics. The students found fossil shark teeth,
measured them, created graphs, analyzed data,
drew conclusions, and shared their results with North
Carolina State University paleontologist Dr. Terry
“Bucky” Gates.
Next, in typical Duke School fashion, Juliana challenged
the students to participate in citizen science projects
of their own. “I gave them the opportunity to either
choose a citizen science project that’s out there—here
in North Carolina, or in United States, or around the
world—to be part of, or to create their own citizen
science project,” said Juliana.
A number of varied and interesting project topics
emerged including:
• What animals appear in our local ecosystem?
• What do insects do in winter?
• How does flour type affect a sourdough bread
starter?
• What types of mosses can be found in the Durham
area?
• How has the use of personal protective equipment
during the pandemic affected the amount of waste
generated?
Another topic idea came from the Citizen Science
Association (CSA) itself, of which Juliana is a member.
The organization was requesting that someone
propose a postage stamp to the USPS that would
increase awareness of and promote participation in
citizen science. A similar project had recently been
successful in Australia, so Juliana suggested that as
an option for her students.
Enter Ananya, Erika, Gaby, Reegan, and Navya.
“I liked their enthusiasm,” said Juliana. “When I threw
the (stamp) project out to the whole class, they were
very eager to get started with it!”
The opportunity to creatively blend art and science in
the stamp project was very appealing to the girls. “It
combined a lot of things that I love, and it’s totally a
great way to get the word out about citizen science
and bring more attention to it,” said Gaby.
21

“We had to do a lot of research in the beginning to
figure out what was the process for submitting the
idea, what should be on a stamp, the artwork, and also
how to write a good proposal,” said Ananya. “We had
to write a strong proposal that would really convince
them to accept citizen science as a stamp idea.”
All that research led to a rather unforeseen challenge—
too much information!
“I was noticing how much evidence that we had, and
how it’s definitely hard to get it all into one proposal,”
said Navya. “It’s all strong evidence.”
They encountered another complication when they
learned that the USPS rarely uses the artwork that is
submitted with stamp proposals. “We found out that
they would choose an artist to design stamps for a
topic that was proposed … so you couldn’t actually
submit the stamp designs,” said Ananya. “So that was
one of the challenges … trying to figure out how to
work around it.”
Nevertheless, the girls found the experience to be
rewarding and worthwhile.
“(Citizen science) is a very useful thing for scientists
who want to gather a large amount of data from many
different places. It’s hard to do that when you don’t
have many people participating,” said Navya. “I
learned how under-appreciated it was and how not
many people knew about it.”
Gaby had another take on the project. “This is going
to sound very corny, but how amazing it is to be able
to work in a group with people that you know, you’re
on the same page … you want to do the same thing,
and then you just create this beautiful, amazing thing
out of just a few words and a drawing. It’s really great!”
The girls ultimately decided to create their own designs
and portfolios to further illustrate and represent the
project. After analyzing components of the Australian
citizen science stamps, the students created their own
artwork using both traditional and digital techniques.
Nature and wildlife combined with the human element
were recurring themes in their designs.
“For one of mine, I drew a bee in a flower with
someone holding it,” said Erika. “The bee and flower
represent the nature that we’re learning about. And
then for the citizen part, that’s where the hands come
in, so it can show how people can help save bees.”
Reegan added, “One (of mine) was a picture of a
chipmunk with a camera next to it like someone taking
a picture of it. That showed the process of collecting
data for it.”
The girls submitted a proposal and a proposal letter
to the Citizen Stamp Advisory Committee (CSAC) in
late February. A supporting letter from the Citizen
Science Association was also included in the package.
Unfortunately, the students learned in April that
their stamp proposal was not accepted by the USPS.
22

“This stamp is meant to get people
interested in citizen science [which] has
made a significant impact on the world of
science in the United States, and it will
continue to do so as more people recognize it.”
Duke School
Teacher Juliana
Presents on
Citizen Science
Because of her extensive work and promotion
of Citizen Science, Duke School teacher Juliana
Thomas was selected to speak at the National
Science Foundation’s Distinguished Lecture titled
“You Can be a Citizen Scientist Too: Celebrating
Earth Day with NSF” on April 22, 2021.
“I talked about the various citizens science
projects I have worked with or initiated, including
successes and challenges,” said Juliana. “I
enjoyed sharing information about citizen
science so that other educators get excited about
including it in their school lessons. Students can
be real scientists too.”

The Business of Creativity: The Show Must Go
Second grade’s Theater Business Project is a “virtual” success, attracting new audiences and creating room for innovation.
Before 2020, the chances of hearing the phrase “Zoom
play” over the course of an average conversation
were slim to none. But as COVID shut down live
onstage performance as we know it, artists and arts
organizations were tasked with thinking creatively —
and quickly — about how to sustain their craft and
livelihoods. For many, ranging from international
professional theater companies to regional
independent artists, video became the most useful,
and COVID-safe, tool.
Add to those ranks the second graders at Duke School,
who — split between four pods during the 2020-
21 school year — fully adapted their annual theater
business project to a video format, with multiple
theatrical productions made and filmed in-person and
one created for and performed entirely on Zoom, the
video conferencing platform that became a popular
communication vehicle early in the pandemic.
For the second-grade teaching team, made up of
Tery Gunter, Cynthia Coward, Dan Heuser, and Dawn
Amin-Arsala, adapting the project — which engages
the students in every aspect of play production, from
creating and naming a theater business to auditioning
and performing to budgeting and marketing —
required a combination of weighing which aspects
could remain the same as in previous years and which
would have to change.
As with all project work at Duke School, the theater
business project takes an interdisciplinary approach
to help students think through, as Tery said, “what it
takes to run a business.” The teachers led students
24

“
Students and teachers alike
came away from the experience
focused on the advantages of
virtual performance... non-local
friends and family members could
finally see, and share, the students’
efforts to create truly original
theatrical performances.
size to practice dramatic expression and read-aloud
techniques. Student favorites, year after year, include
The Three Little Pigs and Anansi and the Moss-
Covered Rock.
On
through exercises to “reawaken” their existing
knowledge about the topic: getting them to think
about “their world, their local community.” In previous
years, this would typically involve a field trip to the
Carolina Theatre to see a performance geared toward
younger audiences. Within the constraints of this
past year, students thought more creatively about
how performance and the concept of an audience
have shown up in their life. Of course, there’s seeing
a production of The Nutcracker — but what about
watching or playing in a baseball game? Gathering
with family for movie night?
Sharing these anecdotal experiences prepared
students to study existing plays, seeing how authors
from around the world spin everyday events into
fables and fairytales and trying the stories on for
One of Dan and Cynthia’s pods ended up choosing
The Lion and the Mouse, and thus began the task of
adapting a production entirely to Zoom — or, as Dan
described it, “the technological leap.” Puzzling through
this leap for the first time, students and teachers were
on the same level, so, as Cynthia said, “it wasn’t just
the teachers coming up with ideas.” What did this
look like when it came to the performance? Against a
virtual rainforest backdrop, the student-actors would
pass an object from one Zoom “window” to another;
in one scene, a student playing a hunter literally
throws the net down onto the computer camera lens,
creating an immersive effect. Students and teachers
alike came away from the experience focused on
the advantages of virtual performance. For Cynthia,
who began teaching at Duke School this past school
year, there was, advantageously, no preexisting idea
of what the play “should” look like. “I think that’s
probably a good thing,” she reflected, “because I was
like, ‘Okay, let’s try it!’ It really opened my mind to the
possibilities.”
On-campus, as teachers and students figured out
how to block onstage actions and rehearse while
abiding by COVID safety protocols, new in-person
partnerships bolstered the overall production
experience. Embedded in Tery’s pod, Duke School’s
25

Top left: Students
present their donation
to Book Harvest.
Lower School Art Teacher Marki Watson offered
expertise in set design. Collaborating with Marki,
Tery said, meant she could “integrate a lot of her art
lessons” into the theater business project in a more
authentic way than usual because Marki “was seeing
[in real-time, firsthand] what we were doing in all our
subjects, and we could ping-pong different ideas.”
While none of the plays were performed and seen
“live,” each was filmed — by retired Duke School
teacher Candy Thompson — and distributed widely
to students’ family members. Ticket fees collected
were donated to the local literacy nonprofit Book
Harvest. The video format also provided the benefit
of expanded accessibility beyond the performance.
Instead of having guest experts come to class inperson,
the second graders Zoomed with far-flung
theater workers living through the professional
realities students were studying and simulating.
Perhaps this has been the biggest benefit of performing
artists pivoting to video formats: increasing public
access to artwork that would previously have limited
audiences. For the Duke School second grade, nonlocal
friends and family members could finally see,
and share, the students’ efforts to create truly original
theatrical performances. After all, running a business
successfully takes a little creativity under constraint.
26

New Collaboration
Leads to Innovation
Preschool teachers implement a coordinated approach
to project work.
Whether learning in the classroom or online, all Duke
School preschoolers explored the world of trees,
clothes and wheels in 2020-2021.
The coordinated curriculum departed from the
preschool classes’ usual approach to projects, where
each class tackles different topics according to
teachers’ and students’ interests.
“That was so we could collaborate together and kind
of work smarter and not harder, since we were kind
of reinventing an entire school year and how we do
things,” said teacher Catherine Linford.
With all six on-campus preschool pods and two
distance learning groups focusing on the same subject
at once, teachers hoped to minimize disruptions for
students who had to move between in-person and
remote learning during the school year.
Teachers met weekly to share ideas and establish a
planning template to keep each unit on a common
track and timeline. Within that structure, the project
plan “gave us the leeway to do our own activities with
our pods that were specific to our kids’ abilities or
interests,” said Catherine.
While studying clothing, for example, Catherine’s pod
of eight students became fascinated with garment tags
and learning more about where their clothes came
from. Maureen Dwyer’s distance learning pod wanted
to learn more about how the logos and designs they
could see on their classmates’ shirts through Zoom
were printed.
“We know when we choose a project topic, it needs
to be something that kids can get their hands on,
something they can investigate in the classroom,”
Maureen said. With the addition of distance learning,
“we had to be really thoughtful about things that the
kids would be able to access in their homes.”
27

“
The project plan ‘gave us the leeway
to do our own activities with our pods
that were specific to our kids’ abilities or
interests.’ [This] adapted teaching plan
spurred innovations that will carry into
future school years...tight connections
among the preschool team and the grace
and cooperation of families helped make
the unusual year successful.
The coordinated curriculum caused some challenges,
such as sharing library books and resources across all
pods rather than a single classroom. But in other ways,
the adapted teaching plan spurred innovations that
will carry into future school years.
Unable to invite family members to in-person
culmination celebrations, Catherine printed photos
of her students’ project work in a keepsake book.
Maureen held culmination events on Zoom, where her
distance learning students talked through a website
of project photos and information with their family
members. Posting culmination materials and video
recordings of guest experts online helped broaden
the reach of preschool classes’ work in new ways.
“I think the key to making it work is building
relationships,” said Maureen. When her students had
a chance to meet in person for the first time in May,
visiting campus to see a parent’s Lamborghini as part
of the wheels project, “it took about a minute for these
kids arriving to just be so excited to see one another.”
Catherine agreed that tight connections among the
preschool team and the grace and cooperation of
families helped make the unusual year successful.
“As hard of a year as it was in many ways, it was also
this wonderful year when we each got to have a smaller
group and build those relationships in a different way
than we have before,” she said.
Photos courtesy of the Preschool Team Teachers.
28

Curriculum Connections and Project Work
Fifth grade teachers and students discover and explore finer connections between projects.
Naming and interrogating connections between
past, present, and possible futures have always been
central aims of the annual fifth-grade Work, Land, and
Power in Colonial America project. Guided by the
essential question, “Who built the United States?”,
the project delves into the period between 1607 and
1687, tasking students with synthesizing fieldwork
and deep reading to think through how power is
created and maintained in the United States through
systems and institutions, how work shapes the lives of
all people, and how community survival is dependent
upon access to land and material resources.
But this past 2020-2021 school year — the “COVID
year,” as fifth-grade Science and Project teacher
Meghan Morris termed it — put a finer point on the
project’s contemporary relevance. The pandemic
highlighted, and exacerbated, several overlapping
crises across the country that felt crucial to address
inside the classroom.
The summer of 2020 saw widespread protests in
response to George Floyd’s murder by police in
Minneapolis and the corresponding mainstreaming
of the Black Lives Matter movement. Instances of
hate and violence against Asian-Americans increased
in response to racist extrapolations of COVID’s
geographic origins. A presidential election and
violent pre-inauguration insurrection at the Capitol
further exposed the fractured state of the country’s
political infrastructure. On top of it all, COVID, as
fifth-grade Social Studies teacher Annie Gentithes
said, required us all to think about “who is essential”
— in other words, how the virus compounded public
health disparities, especially in terms of race and
socioeconomic status.
How, then, to draw the historical throughline, to
acknowledge the urgency of the present while
drawing connections to a specific period in the past?
The fifth-grade team — including Meghan, Annie, and
Language Arts teacher Claire Koerner — used that
particular year’s sequence of project work to lean in.
“There is no getting it right,” Annie said. “The only
way to get it wrong is to not give our kids space to
talk about it.”
In previous years, the fifth-grade project team would
begin the Work, Land, and Power Project with a twoday
field trip to Williamsburg and Jamestown, during
10
Photos courtesy of the Fifth Grade Team Teachers.

which students completed fieldwork noting how the
two sites present their respective roles in American
history. Barred from traveling due to pandemic
restrictions, Annie, Claire, and Meghan decided to try
something new by explicitly connecting the concept
of Work, Land, and Power to their preceding project,
Visible Values, which looked at the role of public art
and how it represents a community’s values.
During Visible Values, the teachers “asked the
students to take walking tours of downtown Durham,”
Claire recalled, “and because of the Black Lives Matter
movement [protests] that happened just a few months
prior, there was so much public art
around Black Lives Matter,” largely
created on boarded-up downtown
storefronts as part of Durham’s Pay
Black Artists initiative. “[It helped]
students connect to the idea that
art helps us express our feelings
and emotions. One of the things
that our community here in Durham
values is that Black lives matter and
that Black history matters.”
In transitioning from the Visible
Values Project to the Work, Land,
and Power Project, the teaching
team piggybacked on the present
moment, asking the students
to think about the cultural and
political circumstances that
necessitated the Black Lives Matter
movement. To move from there
back in time, they leaned into the reading repertoire
they’ve developed over the past several years: one
that selectively engages older historical writing
with, as Annie described, “newer, more balanced
perspectives and stories,” including The New York
Times’ “The 1619 Project,” which argues for placing
the consequences of slavery at the center of American
history, and Kwame Alexander Bell’s longform poem
“The Undefeated,” which details the struggles and
celebrates the triumphs of Black Americans across
history. (One important priority of the fifth-grade
teaching team, Claire shared, is to focus on the “the
joy, the strengths, the heroes, the resistance, and
perseverance” of Black history.)
“
These are
all conversations that
we have with our
students, modeling how
we have transformed
our own thinking...
the only way to get
it wrong is to not give
our kids space to talk
about it.
This past year, the students combined this “reading
frenzy,” as the teachers called it, with a simulated oncampus
“field trip” to Williamsburg and Jamestown
to exercise their critical reading and historical analysis
skills. They wrote letters to colonial history book
publishers, articulating ways to better balance the
historical narrative.
Having moved through these new, connective
curricular approaches with the fifth-grade students
during an unprecedented school year, Meghan,
Claire, and Annie continue to think through fresh ways
to draw the line between past and present. Is it most
productive, for instance, to begin
the Work, Land, and Power project
with Jamestown and Williamsburg,
or is starting with its contemporary
links more suited for underlining
the colonial period’s contemporary
resonance? How can they continue
to build thematic connections
between projects?
“These are all conversations that we
have with our students, modeling
how we have transformed our own
thinking,” Claire said, about race
and representation in historical and
cultural narratives in the United
States. This transparency helps
students “make strong connections
between the institutions that were
developed during the colonial
times and how those have an
impact on us still today.”
History, after all, is made in the right-now. The fifthgrade
project pedagogy, always responsive to the
times, prepares students to read history’s past with
an eye toward changing its present and future for the
better for all.
Students tune in to
a Zoom field trip.
30

Through A Counselor’s Eye: Wellness at Duke School
Counselors Victoria and Rachel reflect on how student needs and their curriculum changed over the last year.
As the Duke School community adapted to masking,
small class pods and distance learning for the 2020-
2021 school year, counselors Victoria Goatley and
Rachel Wertheimer also helped students manage the
emotional challenges of a year unlike any other.
“Every human on the planet was under an increased
level of stress over the last year,” said Rachel, the
middle school counselor. On top of worrying about
themselves or family members catching COVID-19,
she said students expressed “a real anger and
grief” around losing experiences like athletics and
extracurriculars.
For lower school students, concern about the virus
often came with feelings of frustration toward
those not following masking and social distancing
guidelines, said Victoria. Small classroom pods of
about 12 students also led to more interpersonal
irritations than usual. “I would see that start to happen
with some kids where, they were really good friends,
but there was something happening and they were
starting to kind of wear on each other,” she said.
To help navigate these challenges, both counselors
held regular virtual meetings on Zoom with classroom
pods in their respective divisions. On campus,
Victoria met with lower school students individually
in a makeshift outdoor office that offered privacy.
Rachel used Google Classroom to share resources
with middle school classes, including “Wellness
Wednesday” lessons on topics like getting adequate
31

sleep, managing wellness, and coping with sudden
spikes in fear or worry.
The unusual circumstances had a few unexpected
benefits. Rachel said she found that virtual meetings
sometimes “provided a little bit of a sense of safety”
for students to communicate more freely than at
school. Because Victoria’s lessons with kindergarten
pods met outdoors, “I could incorporate nature more
into our meditative practices,” she said. “What sounds
do you hear when we’re sitting out here? What do
you feel?”
Facing another school year shaped by pandemic
concerns, Victoria said she expects the counselors to
continue working with students to manage
anxiety proactively.
“Something I say a lot to the kids is, ‘You can do hard
things,’” she said. “Just because it’s hard doesn’t
mean that you can’t do it, or that you shouldn’t do it.”
Rachel’s Counselor Corner
Tips for handling stress and anxiety from Victoria and Rachel
Take a breath. Pause for a few moments to breathe deeply and recognize what you are feeling,
advises Victoria. Whether the feelings are good or bad, understand that they are valid and not
permanent. “Know that those feelings will come and go, and however you’re feeling right now is
fine for now.”
Lend an ear. When helping a child or loved one cope with anxiety, resist the urge to jump straight
to solving the problem. Reassurance and problem solving are helpful, said Rachel, but sometimes
simply validating someone else’s feelings is the most valuable way to help. “A phrase I encourage
folks to use with tweens and teens, in particular, is ‘Do you need me to help you figure this out, or
would it be better if I just listened right now?’”
32

The Art of Process, Creativity, and Innovation
Duke School faculty and staff Lucia, Katie, and Brian create and share work in a community virtual art show.
During the spring of 2021, three Duke School
community members had art accepted at Hearth
Studio’s virtual “Art of Process” show. Middle School
Art Teacher Lucia Marcus, Director of Innovation
Katie Ree, and Director of Technology Brian Horton
created work that reflected on and responded to the
prompt of “the process of process.” The show was
presented virtually, consisting of the work of over 50
artists. Working in various mediums and styles, Lucia,
Katie, and Brian are continuing to live out our values
of innovation and creativity both inside and outside of
Duke School. Reflections are by each artist.
Beneath Your Feet, Shale Song, & May You
Embrace the Unknown, by Katie Ree, Director
of Innovation
Upcycled paper, ink, thread, 26” x 21” x 2”; Sticks,
twine, yarn, upcycled fabric, 19” x 26” x 4.5”; Upcycled
paper, ink, thread, wood, 26.5” x 27.5” x 4”
My artwork has helped me process and understand these
times. It has also transformed. Two new bodies of work have
evolved - Tapestry and Interwoven | Interbeing. Both of these
are about connection; connection to ourselves, each other,
and nature. I felt the need to put down my paintbrush and
make, construct, and feel the materials going into the work.
As always, I hope my work inspires others to connect more
deeply and explore these connections we have.
33

Cedar Heart & Hickory Gem
by Brian Horton, Director
of Technology
Eastern Red Cedar, 115mm x
113mm x 35 mm - 117g, 2020 &
Hickory, 102mm x 82 mm x
41 mm - 203g, 2020
Weather Report by Lucia Marcus,
Middle School Art Teacher
Acrylic on Canvas, 2021, 30”x24”
These faceted wooden gems juxtapose
the angular beauty of crystal with the
warmth of wood. They are meant to be
held and provide a focal point for visual,
tactile and olfactory senses. When held,
they warm from your body heat and
provide a calm meditative focus on the
natural fragrance, complexity of the ring
structure, and the velvet smooth texture
of the micro lapped facets. They change
with use as friction and natural body oils
interact with the wood.
Katie Ree told me about this show, and I submitted two
pieces that I have worked on over past few months. This
was a good show for me since my art is so much about
process, about responding to what the materials are doing
and letting the painting evolve. These paintings are kind of
a dance between the organic nature of the materials, my
personal design motifs and the geometry of the whole.
Painting and designing is a cathartic game that involves
discovering and creating my voice through shapes, colors
and symbols. Through the process of personalizing and
creating design motifs I am developing a visual language
to record my experiences and emotions. This process
is also about responding. Not only am I responding to
outside stimulation, but I am also responding the evolving
geometry of the composition.
Making art is like a game because of the rules or limits that
influence the outcome. In this piece, I was responding to a
broader range of ideas but was limiting my design choices
by being influenced by the ink dripped grid that I initially
laid down. Confidence in the process of unfolding is key
to arriving at the end of the game with a painting that is a
harmonious whole.
34

25
Twenty-Five Years and Counting
A Q&A with Marki Watson, Lower School Art Teacher, and Beth Harris, Fourth Grade Teacher
Marki
Q. Marki, congratulations on your 25 year milestone!
Can you tell us a little about the varied roles that
led you to your current position as lower school art
teacher?
A. It all began as a part-time job in the afterschool
program. At the time, I was actually enrolled in a
program to become a Montessori school teacher.
When I saw what was going on at Duke School, I quickly
realized that the project approach is such a natural
way for kids to learn. What I was seeing fit me better
because of the way kids learn through exploration and
documenting what they were learning. I withdrew from
the other program and looked for every opportunity
to be in the classroom so that I could learn more and
more about project work. That led me to a couple of
years of heavy-duty substitute teaching. By year three,
I was teaching full time in a fourth-grade classroom.
I enjoyed teaching fourth grade that one year, but
I realized that I didn’t enjoy the full spectrum in the
classroom as much as I enjoyed the art aspect. That’s
when I enrolled in North Carolina Central University’s
art education program. The middle school campus
on Erwin Road was also opening at that time, and I
worked in middle school afterschool and summer
camp. After finishing my art education work, Duke
School art teacher Lucia Marcus asked me to be
her assistant. She had been teaching art on both
campuses. We taught together for a couple of years
and then decided it might work better if we each
took a campus. That brought me to lower school art.
I continued to do afterschool at the lower school until
just a few years ago.
Q. You do an amazing job integrating art with
classroom projects. How are you able to do that work
so successfully?
A. Honestly, the real truth in all of this is
that Lucia is an amazing mentor. I wanted
to become an art teacher because that
was my favorite part of the curriculum.
I loved watching Lucia teach art, and I
loved seeing what the kids could make
that was integrated into the project
work in the classrooms. The time I spent
getting to work directly with Lucia built
the foundation for my knowledge and
understanding of project work and
how to include art in a—hopefully—
meaningful way.
Also, once you’ve been doing it long
enough, going to conferences, doing art
35

at home, and looking on the internet and seeing what
other people are doing, then you come up with new
ways to use materials and you see connections that
seem natural to do in project work. Over time, you
start seeing art everywhere and can then integrate it
into the curriculum.
Q. As a specialist, you teach all the students in
preschool through fourth grade. What are the
challenges and rewards of that position?
A. In my opinion, it’s a matter of keeping it age
appropriate and remembering the audience. Perhaps
the biggest challenge is switching gears. For example,
preschoolers are just starting to know materials. Often
the stuff that we show them, they’ve never put their
hands on, so remembering that for them it’s more
about exploration than it is about creating a product.
You also need to keep the kids challenged. Our kids
are incredible! Many already know a lot and have
already done a lot. To keep their attention and to
build their art skills, you really have to stay on top of
materials—new materials, ideas, and find new ways to
use old materials so that you’re keeping things fresh
in the classroom.
Q. There are many things that happen on and off
campus that exemplify the uniqueness of Duke
School and its community. Please tell us your favorite
#OnlyAtDukeSchool moments.
A. There are a trillion, billion, 240 million of them!
I always say my favorite event in the entire year is
Durham’s Pride Parade and Festival. It’s because Duke
School always has a huge contingency of people who
go out and have a good time and wear their rainbows
and support all people, which I love. It just makes me
proud that I am part of the Duke School community.
Another thing—I’m having dinner tonight with a
former student. We’re making pasta. That, to me, is
uniquely Duke School. Some of the people that I still
hang out with are students who have been gone for a
long time. I feel like because the school is small and
we’re allowed to be who we are and real with the kids,
we make the kind of connections and relationships
that last a lifetime. I love it.
Finally, we also have kids who are so proud of their
art. There are many students that leave here, and art
continues to sustain them—maybe not professionally,
but certainly sustains their souls in some way because
they keep wanting to do art and look at art and be a
part of art. I think that’s the best of Duke School—for
me, anyway.
Beth
Q. Beth, congratulations on your 25-year milestone!
You hold the distinction of having taught every grade
in Lower School! Would you tell us about your varied
roles and what led you to your current position?
A. When I was getting my teaching certificate I worked
with kids of different ages. I especially enjoyed 9- and
10-year-old kids so I wanted to teach fourth grade.
When I applied to Duke School, there was a secondgrade
position available, and I decided to take it. I
LOVED second grade and taught that for 10 years. My
very first group here was a bulge year so I looped up
with those kids and did third grade for a year.
36
Then I took some time off to stay home with my
kids. After that I worked in after school, mornings in
preschool, and afternoons in the office for a bit until
I came back full-time. When I came back, I worked in
kindergarten for several years and loved that.
My next move was to first grade where I spent four
years working with Carolynn. I also loved first grade.
I finally got word that a fourth-grade position was
opening up and I leapt at the chance. I have loved
all the positions I’ve held at Duke School for different
reasons. I have also loved teaching with so many
talented and wonderful partners, but fourth grade

feels like home for sure. It only took 20 years
to make it!
I’ve also worked before school and many
summer camps here. Working so many different
positions and grade levels and having two kids
that went all the way through eighth grade here
has allowed me to see Duke School through
multiple lenses. I love that.
Q. Duke School’s project approach relies
heavily on the creativity and collaboration of
its teachers. What would you say are the keys
to success for innovation and teamwork in the
classroom?
A. I would say keys to success are keeping an open
mind and allowing yourself to ask questions and
learn from your co-workers. I learned so much from
all the master teachers I worked with at every level.
Just knowing that I’m never done learning keeps me
interested, engaged, and growing. I am consistently
amazed with the level of skill, creativity, and motivation
that I am surrounded by in this place. This is an
outstanding group of people to work with every day. I
am very fortunate.
Q. As a mother of two Duke School graduates—
James (Class of 2016) and Ainsley (Class of 2018),
what have you appreciated most about the education
they received at Duke School?
A. I appreciate everything. They were so well prepared
academically in every area for high school which was
obviously wonderful. But I would say that even more
important to me was how well prepared they were
to meet the social demands of high school. They
went into their new environments poised, and ready
to meet all challenges. They were able to advocate
for themselves and saw teachers as partners in their
learning. They were comfortable with group projects
and presentations (they were always sought-after
partners!). They are also both very good friends and
willing to stand up for injustices they see.
Q. There are many things that happen on and off
campus that exemplify the uniqueness of Duke
School and its community. Please tell us your favorite
#OnlyAtDukeSchool moments?
A: I will start with a couple of things that happened
with my own kids.
One day when Ainsley was in middle school, we were
in the car, and I was getting frustrated in traffic. She
guided me through a mindfulness exercise that she
had been doing at school saying, “Mom, label your
feeling. How does it feel in your body?” It was just
funny and helpful, and definitely a very Duke School
moment.
One Saturday night when James David was in fifth or
sixth grade, he was in the office on the computer. I
hear him laughing and I’m trying to figure out what
he’s doing. It turns out he’s playing a game with friends
in his class where they’re asking each other questions
and they’re not allowed use certain words like “a” and
“the”— words that are difficult to have a conversation
without using. He spent a couple hours on a Saturday
night doing that kind of nerdy Duke School thing.
For me, I feel teaching at Duke School has made me
more aware of social justice issues. It helps me to be
mindful about things that are going on in the world
and question, “Is that okay? Why is this happening?
What can I do to make this better?” I would like to
think that those are things I would still think about,
but what I appreciate about teaching here is that it’s
always there. We’re always thinking about it for the
kids. We’re always thinking about it as faculty and
staff—how can we keep moving forward in a
good way.
37

STAYING CONNECTED: ALUMNI NEWS
Marisa (far right) alongside her
team of fellow researchers.
Pursuing Her Dreams
Marisa Rauwald ‘12 reflects on her career in sports broadcast jouralism and foundations built at Duke School
When legendary U.S. Olympic gymnast and gold
medal favorite Simone Biles made the unexpected
announcement that she would step back from the
team gymnastics finals during this past summer’s
Tokyo Olympics, Marisa Rauwald’s (Duke School
Class of 2012) research team at NBC Sports was on
the clock, working one of their typical 2AM-2PM days
from headquarters in Stamford, Connecticut.
“All these news sources were reporting that [Biles] was
pulling out for [physical] injury,” Marisa remembers.
“We had to be quick to jump on that, to fact-check
and correct,” she says, to clarify that Biles’s early
exit was instead borne from the athlete’s decision to
prioritize her mental health. Once the true narrative
began to circulate in the media, the moment became
monumental: another leap forward — following tennis
star Naomi Osaka’s similar decision to withdraw from
2021’s Wimbledon and French Open tournaments —
for mainstream awareness of and advocacy for athlete
mental health.
Course-correcting the story of Biles’s exit was just one
of the assignments Marisa’s team puzzled through
during her time working on the Olympics; other
duties included compiling anecdotal information
about athletes for primetime announcers to read on
live television during the Parade of Nations. Though
small kernels of a much larger puzzle, these forms of
research work are crucial for doing justice to the full
story of sport.
“My dream job is to tell the stories of athletes, in
whatever form,” Marisa says. She alludes to two
popular long-form documentary series, ESPN’s 30 for
30 and Netflix’s Untold, as examples of popular sports
38

media platforms that make space for the big picture,
delving into the full personal and political resonance
of moments in sports history.
While Marisa has come a long way from preschool
through eighth grade years at Duke School, her present
work and longer-term career goals make perfect sense
considering the ways she was able to flex her creative
muscles as a Dragon. (Marisa was also a prolific athlete
at Duke School, playing volleyball, basketball and
soccer, the latter she also pursued in competitive club
leagues.) Her first foray into documentary production
was in eighth grade, when for her culminating solo
project Marisa made a film about American parents
who had adopted children from China. She learned
professional film editing techniques and received
mentorship from videographer Rick Allen. Having the
ability to “hone in on visual learning” through project
work at Duke School was formative for Marisa’s
burgeoning interests in media.
After attending high school at Carolina Friends
School, Marisa pursued a degree in journalism and
mass communication at UNC-Chapel Hill. Knowing
she wanted to continue developing her documentary
media expertise, she found a home in Sports Xtra, an
ESPN-like sportscast specifically focused on athletics
stories at UNC. A standout project for her was,
fittingly, an examination of how athlete mental health
is affected by outsize performance expectations and
corresponding social media criticism.
Back on a regular work schedule, and having switched
out of Olympics-mode, Marisa is reintegrating into
the NBC Sports marketing team — coordinating
between editors, directors, and producers to make
sure promotional material runs smoothly — while
staying focused on her longer-term career goals in
sports storytelling. Right now she’s busy working on
the NFL season, preparing to return from her family’s
home in Chapel Hill to Stamford, and raising her two
foster kitttens. In other words: doing her best to stay
grounded in the present.
Asked what advice she’d give to current students,
particularly given the unconventional student life
necessitated by COVID, Marisa clearly speaks from
the sense of equilibrium she’s had to develop from
working in an always-changing field.
“Dream big, and try to enjoy the process. Everything’s
a process, and everything’s going to work itself out.”
As an undergraduate, Marisa leveraged her growing
production skills to earn internships at NBC Sports
Philadelphia, NBC Entertainment in Los Angeles, and
the Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon in New York
before coming to NBC Sports, where she landed after
graduating mid-pandemic.
She’s sensitive to how COVID has shifted the realities of
her field. As someone “interested in going on remote
shoots, being on set, and shooting with talent,”
Marisa has seen production companies cut budgets
and travel and eliminate roles along the way, instead
shipping camera packages to talent and arranging for
remote shoot instructions led by media professionals.
She has a hunch, though, that opportunities will shift
back to a more normal flow as the pandemic continues
to abate.
Photos courtesy of Marisa (center).
39

Class of 2021 High School Destinations: Cary Academy, Cedar Ridge, Carolina Friends School, Chapel Hill High School, Christ School, Durham
Academy, East Chapel Hill High School, Fuquay Varina, Jordan, Riverside, Research Triangle, Seaforth, Trinity School, Voyager Academy
Congratulations, Duke School Class of 2021!
A special (excerpted) message to the Duke School Class of 2021 by Rebecca Feinglos Planchard ‘03
It is such an honor to be
here today, back at Duke
School, though it looks a lot
different today than in 2003
when I graduated in the
middle school gym.
Duke School is so important
to me. I started here in Pre-K
when I was just three
years old.
One of my favorite Duke
School memories was being
the chief lyricist in writing our
4th grade class graduation
song that we performed for
the whole school. It was to the tune of the classic hit,
TLC’s “No Scrubs” – which was topping the charts at
the time in 1999. For those of you who might not be
familiar, imagine the equivalent of writing a graduation
song to the tune of the brilliant singer songwriter
Olivia Rodrigo’s hit “Driver’s License.” That’s how cool
we were.
Now, I know what you’re all wondering: Do I still
remember all of the lyrics to our 4th grade graduation
song? Of course I do.
I remember our China unit in 8th grade when I made
detailed models of silk worms and learned to play
mah jong. I remember secretly ducking out of sight
while running laps on the big field during PE when it
got really hot outside.
40
STAYING CONNECTED

In 2001, my 7th grade year, the September 11th
attacks shocked the world. I remember my teachers,
Mary and Kate, gathering the class to tell us about
it. I remember it was a Tuesday because my Hebrew
school was cancelled later that afternoon. Everyone in
the US felt unsettled, fearful of the unknown threats of
more terrorism.
And, sadly, by the time I was sitting in your seats,
my mother had passed away after a long battle with
brain cancer. My mom died the summer between
my 7th and 8th grade years at Duke School, and she
had been sick since she was diagnosed when I was
in kindergarten. Her illness defined so much of my
childhood and I can’t think about or talk about Duke
School without thinking about my mom.
By 8th grade, I had already lived through a lifedefining
tragedy in losing my mom, and a national
tragedy – a worldwide tragedy – in September 11th.
And throughout all of it, Duke School was my escape
– a place where I knew I was safe.
I was recently looking through some of my old diaries
from elementary and middle school, and in between
page after page after page of details of which boys
I had crushes on and who liked me back, I found a
striking sentence: “It feels like I’m living a double life.”
I went on to describe how no one really knew how
hard things were at home with my mom so sick, my
father stressed with work and taking care of her…I just
came to school, and tried to look and do my best every
day. I didn’t want anyone to think I could possibly be
struggling at home.
Those were the very beginning days of what ultimately
developed into my very worst habits by high school,
college, and my professional career– unhealthy
obsessions over my weight and appearance, diving
deeply into work to the detriment of my physical and
mental wellbeing.
I truly hope none of you can relate directly to my Duke
School experience of having a sick loved one at home,
but maybe you can. Maybe, sadly, you can even relate
to having lost someone you love already by your 8th
grade year. There are things you have been through
that only you and your families know. Or maybe only
you know how hard things have been sometimes.
But each of you has persevered through this school
year. I know there were times you were scared because
we knew so little about COVID in 2020. We were all
scared. But here. You. Are.
You have survived unpredictability and instability.
As you move into high school, I want to let you in
on the secret to a happy life. Yes, I, Rebecca Feinglos
Planchard, have figured it out. The hard way.
The secret to this whole thing called life is BALANCE.
Balance. A balance between work and rest. Between
resisting and surrender. Between stretching yourself
and relaxing.
I want to tell you a story to illustrate my point. This is
a story of my 2020:
I had started to learn some of my worst habits by 8th
grade. By high school, they were like second nature
to me. My anxiety was as persistent as my heart beat,
and I didn’t even recognize it was a problem.
Quite the opposite, I got rewarded for it. In high
school, I got accolades and awards for all of my hard
work, and I even got into Duke.
So, I kept up this “productive Becki (I was known as
Becki Feinglos, then)” through college – Productive
Becki was working so well for me, it didn’t matter
that I felt awful all the time. Productive Becki pushed
me through Teach For America in Dallas-Fort Worth,
through graduate school at the University of Chicago,
through my first 5 years of marriage, through working
for the Mayor of Chicago, and through my first two
and a half years coming home to work for Secretary
Mandy Cohen at the North Carolina Department of
Health and Human Services.
Productive Becki was a rock star!
And then on March 14th, 2020, everything started to
change for me. Everything changed for all of us.
I was asked to come in to work that day, a Saturday, by
our state leaders.
The Governor was announcing that afternoon that we
were shutting down schools because of COVID.
41
ALUMNI NEWS

And on that very same day, while I was with my
colleagues coming up with our game plan, I got a
phone call that changed my life. My father had died
very suddenly, and completely unexpectedly.
I’m sure you can imagine that my father and I were
extremely close, since we had lost my mom. Honestly,
I felt like I didn’t know how to be me without him.
a mystery, but in short it can be triggered by severe
stress. My doctors said: “You HAVE to rest. You HAVE
to recover from this virus.” My boss said “You should
take time off.”
But all I heard in my head, was, “You’re not good
enough. You’re not strong enough. You couldn’t
do enough.”
This was the beginning of the end of the Productive
Becki I had been building up since 8th grade.
At the urging of my colleagues, I took the next month
off work. And I didn’t even want to do that! We were
in the middle of a crisis! I knew I could help!
No. Take this time to rest and heal, I
was told by literally everyone.
It was the first time in my life that I
wasn’t working, I wasn’t in school.
I didn’t have my father. I felt
absolutely worthless. I had always
defined myself by my achievements,
I had always been praised for my
incredible work ethic. Who was I if
I wasn’t doing....anything?
I fell back into my old habits by April
when I came back to work. I dove in
head first to Covid school projectseven
though my colleagues were
cautious at first to load me up with
things to do. But I was insistent that
I was ready to lead our school reopening efforts for
the state.
So I did. Every single person on our team at DHHS
was working around the clock. I slept for maybe 4 - 5
hours a night, in fits, from April through December
2020.
Somewhere along the way, my anxiety and stress
overcame me. All of that mixed together with my
grief for my father during quarantine...it all felt
unbearable. I was giving every ounce of energy I had
and I still didn’t feel like I was doing enough, like I was
productive enough.
I got the shingles virus in November—that shouldn’t
happen when you’re 31. The shingles virus is a bit of
42
STAYING CONNECTED
“
For every single
one of you...allow
yourself peace, and
stillness. Finding
balance isn’t a privilege
– it’s essential to being
human in this
crazy world.
So, feeling defeated, I took this past January off on
family medical leave. I spent that time doing two
things: (1) sleeping, and (2) in therapy. And I started
to realize that the way I was living my life wasn’t
sustainable for me. I can’t ignore my own wellness in
order to achieve outcomes.
In January, my therapist told me:
Your worth is not just what you
produce.
Let me say that again. Your worth is
not just what you produce.
Today, I am trying to remember that
every single day. The person you
see standing here is still struggling.
But I’m learning how to be
balanced. What it looks like, what it
feels like, to prioritize rest, stillness,
being grounded in my own worth,
and also being proud of the work
that I do. This is a whole new way
of being for someone who used to
drink three diet cokes a day.
So. I bring this all back full circle, to each of you,
graduating today from middle school.
You are going to continue to be challenged emotionally
just like you were this year – because of COVID, and
because of whatever else has been going on in
your life.
You are going to go to a different school where they
may not provide you with the same type of love and
support that you’ve had here at Duke School.
I want you to remember, in those moments where
you might be tempted just to put your head down
and keep working, to push feelings aside…you might

elieve that your happiness doesn’t matter, isn’t as
valuable as finishing a project, getting an A, getting a
job…I want you to remember in those moments that
you have value just for being you.
Graduating today has taken an incredible amount
of work and effort from you, your families, and your
educators at Duke School, this incredible community,
and each and everyone one of you should be
so proud.
And - I hope each of you can build the habits
now – today- of balance as you move into high school.
For every single one of you, beyond just our graduates,
I hope you can all be gentle with yourselves this
summer– you have survived so much this year. Allow
yourself peace, and stillness. Finding balance isn’t a
privilege – it’s essential to being human in this
crazy world.
As you go off to wherever is next for you, I want you to
remember that you matter, you are worthy, you have
value, you deserve balance, you deserve rest, and you
deserve to love yourself, no matter what.
Congratulations, Duke School Class of 2021.
Congratulations, Duke
School Class of 2017!
Class of 2021 Destinations: University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill (7), Wesleyan University (2), Scripps College, Duke University
(4), University of Michigan, University of Arizona, Dartmouth
College (2), Pepperdine University, University of Pennsylvania,
UNC Greensboro, Tulane University, University of Rochester,
Virginia Tech, Washington University, Elon University, Amherst
College, Appalachian State University (2)
STAY CONNECTED:
Join Duke School’s Alumni Facebook and LinkedIn
Group—forums for reconnection with former
classmates while keeping in touch with Duke School.
43
ALUMNI NEWS

44

Duke School 2020-21
Annual Report
Tuition/Fees
94.8%
INCOMES
Net Tuition & Fees
This income is derived from student tuition, The Learning
Center and certain fee charges.
Net Fund Raising
3.6%
Auxiliary Programs
1.5%
Other
0.1%
Auxiliary Programs
This is income from all camps, after school programs and
educator workshops.
Net Fund Raising
This category embraces our fund-raisers and Dragon fund net
figures.
Salaries/Benefits
79.0%
EXPENSES
Classroom Resources
and Other Admin Costs
14.2%
2020-21 Campaign Highlight:
$339,028 Total Giving
(including the Dragon Fund
and fundraising events)
Auxiliary Programs
1.4%
Facilities
4%
Debt
1.4%
*Data is based on a June 2021 year-end forecast.
Duke School’s distribution of income and expenses
were impacted due to COVID-19. If you have any
questions about this budgetary information, please
contact Russell Rabinowitz, director of finance and
operations, at russell.rabinowitz@dukeschool.org.
Salaries & Benefits and Classroom &
Administrative Costs
These categories include all expenses related to instructional
and academic activity, including faculty and staff salaries and
benefits, programmatic expenses, student support services,
classroom materials and supplies, media centers, professional
development, technology and laptops, and special programs.
All included are expenses related to Duke School Admissions,
Marketing and Communications, Human Resources, Business,
and Development Offices, etc.
Facilities
This category includes all costs related to operations and the
repair and maintenance of school-owned facilities and grounds.
It includes: utilities, waste removal, supplies, repair and
maintenance of campus buildings, grounds, streets, fields and
related machinery and equipment.
Debt Service
This category represents the payment of interest and principle
on outstanding tax-exempt revenue bonds. The bonds are used
to finance the costs of construction, improvement, renovation,
furnishing, and equipping the existing school.
Auxiliary Programs
This is income from all camps, after school programs, and The
Educators Institute at Duke School.
45

2020-21 Honor Roll of Donors
Ben Abram
Lawrence Baxter
Laurie Braun
Cathy Bryson
Garry Cutright
Sarah Doran
Christopher Gergen
Board of Trustees
Clint Harris
Trina Jones
Corey McIntyre
Florence Peacock
Gary Pellom
Monica Rivers
Bimal Shah
Julie Shermak
Craig Spitzer
Vicki Threlfall
Alex Tolstykh
Alison Windram
Yousuf Zafar
Advancement Committee
Patricia Ashley
Omar Bell
Robin Hardie-Hood
Bill Miller
Florence Peacock
Gary Pellom
Tisha Powell-Wayne
Vicki Threlfall
Alison Windram
20 Years+
Kathy Bartelmay and Roger Perilstein
Libby and Lee Buck
Duke University Medical Center
Elaine Cameron
Harris Teeter
Hui Li and Fan Yuan
Sue Kreissman and Philip Breitfeld
Bob Robinson and Marya McNeish
Jane Shears
Candy and John Thompson
Marki Watson
Becca and Julian Wooldridge
15 Years
Keith DaSilva and Kay Kohring-DaSilva
Jane and James Hales
Leslie Hamilton
Carolynn Klein
Chris Marshall and Moira Smullen
Dave and Claudia Michelman
Jenny and Craig Murray
Russell Rabinowitz
Emily and Lee Taft
10 Years
Geoff Berry
Elise Dunzo
Maureen Dwyer
Eman Elmahi and Husam Hasanin
46
1947 Society
Lori Etter and Jeff Welty
Katie Garman and Tom Becker
General Mills Box Tops for Education
Annie and George Gentithes
Lisa Kern Griffin and Richard Griffin
Robin Hardie-Hood and Thomas Hood
Beth and Jeff Harris
Clint and Kylie Harris
Jennifer Harris
Melanie Hatz-Levinson and
Howie Levinson
Elizabeth and David Hays
Mary Beth Hes and Honza Hes
Amy and Jamie Lau
Kerry Holbrook
Carla Horta and James Leo
Brian Horton
Tekla Jachimiak and Thomas Brothers
Nancy and Timothy Joyce
Joy Martin and Ben Philpot
Beth and Ed Murgitroyd
Miriam Ornstein and David Luks
Gary and Kirstin Pellom
M.C. Ragsdale and Karen Popp
Katie Ree
Michelle and Brian Reich
Connie and Truman Semans
Naz Siddiqui and Casey Jenkins
Renee and Joseph Francis Smith
Nicole Thompson
Mary Townsend and Jonathan Stiber
Alison and Soren Windram
5 Years
Natalie and Chris Aho
Amazon Smiles
Love and Ian Anderson
Meytal Barak and Micky
Cohen-Wolkowiez
Lawrence and Sharon Baxter
India and Ryan Bayley
Grace and Mattie Beason
Dr. and Mrs. Dan Blazer, II
Lucy and Tom Bradshaw
Laurie Braun and John Taylor
Dayna Brill
Joel and Beverly Brown
Leslie Bryan
Cathy Bryson and Kelly Bruce
Mara Buchbinder and Jesse Summers
Natalie Cappadona
Susan Cates and Scott Warren
Dr. Kenneth W. Chandler
Robyn and Jamie Claar
Heather Clarkson and Sean Wilmer
Heidi and Jason Cope
Jen Crawford Cook and Steve Cook
Linda Cronenwett and Shirley Tuller
Garry and Keisha Cutright
Kiersten and Clint Dart
Tracie DeLoatch
Mrs. Penny Dietz
Dan Divis

Foley Dyson
Dan Epperson
Dr. Anabelle Estrera and Dr.
Clemente Estrera
Matthew and Cleo Etherington
Ben Felton
Meghan Fitzpatrick
Christopher Gergen and
Heather Graham
Victoria Goatley
Brian and Elizabeth Greene
Heather and Bret Greene
Tery and Michael Gunter
Dr. Vasudha Gupta and Dr.
Bhupender Gupta
Mary and Stephen Harward
Wendy and Paul Henderson
Daniel Heuser
Sunshine and Joel Hillygus
Lauren Hiner
Diane Hom and Chris Larson
Beatrice Hong and Ziad Gellad
Tonya Hunt
Sandra and Peter Jacobi
Lisa Kahan and Duncan Higgins
Cara and Ravi Karra
Claire and Matt Koerner
Jin Yi Kwon and Larry Moray
Jodie LaPoint and Chris Weymouth
Mr. and Mrs. Greg Lau
Charlotte Lee and David Siegel
Marin Levy and Joseph Blocher
Lucia Marcus
Mr. Steve Markey
Mollie and Chad Mather
Ms. Brenda Matthews
Tiffany Matthews
William K. Matthews
Colleen McLaughlin
Kristin and Corum McNealy
Beth and Tim Miller
Meghan Morris
Susanna Naggie and Chuck Gerardo
Anne and Phil Napoli
Ilana Osten and Jason Liss
Sari Palmroth and Ram Oren
Shital and Nilay Patel
Florence and James Peacock
Natalie and Emiliano Corral
Tina and Mitch Prinstein
Linda Raftery and Phil Spiro
Grechen and Jonas Sahratian
Richard Scher
Gita Schonfeld and Marvin Swartz
Julie Shermak and Steve Goodman
Lisa Simmons
Irecka Smith
Darryl Spancake
Craig and Rona Spitzer
Jinda and Kevin Stoll
Jessica and Albert Sun
Dr. and Mrs. Robert Sun
Alex Tolstykh and Rick Sanchez
Stephanie and Nathan Vandergrift
Linda Vargas
Jill and Ben Weinberger
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Weinberger
Rachel Wertheimer
Megan Whitted
Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Widmark
Kia Williams
Jen Wu and Shane McSwain
Yousuf Zafar and Fatima Rangwala
3 Years
Ben (‘99) and Sophia Abram
Amazon Smiles
Maribel Aristy
Patricia Ashley and Chris Newgard
Stacy Bailey and Matt Russell
Grace Bell
Omar Bell
Rachel Brewster and James Mulholland
Jeannine and Joseph Brown
Christine Caffarello
Meihua Chen and Denis Kalenja
Mrs. Gail Daves
Eddy Davis
Dan Divis
Jeremiah and Christina Dodson
Sarah Doran and Amanda Patten
Dr. and Mrs. Marc Dorio
Mr. and Mrs. David Easterling
Melissa and Josh Eggleston
Pam and Russell Goin
Emily Greene
Elizabeth and Taylor Greganti
Robyn Gunn and Will Dean
Dr. Timothy Harward and Dr.
Mary Harward
Leah and Joe Houde
Dana Howard
Elizabeth Howell
Ms. Diane Hundley
Trina Jones
Judith Landrigan
Catherine and Matt Luedke
Venetha Machock
Caroline Mage and Josh Schoedler
Maria Mar Martinez Pastor and Jorge
Marques Signes
Corey and Kelly McIntyre
Jennifer Moore
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Mulholland
Will Newman (‘07)
Mariana Olvera and Albert Whangbo
Molly O’Neill and Vicki Threlfall
Tisha Powell-Wayne and James Wayne
Monica and Prince Rivers
Moira Rynn and Al Caltabiano
Corey Savage
Paula Scatoloni and Andy Ovenden
Vanessa and Jacob Schroder
Theresa and Dave Scocca
Bimal and Rina Shah
Karen and Kevin Shaw
Trent Smith (‘14)
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Strader
Lipi and Sunil Suchindran
Christina and Clay Thomas
Fabi and Ron Unger
Dr. and Mrs. Prabhakar Vaidya
Dani Weiss and Jeff Weiss
Nikita and R.J. Wirth
Laura and Duncan Work
Stacy Young and David Brown
47

Giving Clubs
Founder’s Club
($10,000+)
Under the Oak Club
($5,000-$9,999)
Hull Avenue Club
($2,500-$4,999)
Erwin Road Club
($1,000-$2,499)
Dragon’s Club
($500-$999)
Maroon Club
($250-$499)
Donor’s Club
(Up to $249)

Giving Clubs
Founder's Club
Anonymous (2)
Duke University Medical Center
Christopher Gergen and
Heather Graham
Vanessa and Jacob Schroder
Sanchez-Tolstykh Family
Under the Oak Club
Anonymous
Ben (‘99) and Sophia Abram
Regi and Michael Bradley
Cathy Bryson and Kelly Bruce
Sarah Doran and Amanda Patten
The Happy Tooth Foundation
Elizabeth and David Hays
Josh Parker
M.C. Ragsdale and Karen Popp
Julie Shermak and Steve Goodman
Hull Avenue Club
Kathy Bartelmay and Roger Perilstein
Lawrence and Sharon Baxter
Laurie Braun and John Taylor
Joel and Beverly Brown
Karen and Chris Carmody
Susan Cates and Scott Warren
Lorinda Coombs and Brad Lewis
Robin Hardie-Hood and Thomas Hood
Diane Hom and Chris Larson
Jeanine and Bill Miller
Beth and Ed Murgitroyd
Lisa Nagel and Emily Garvin
Susanna Naggie and Chuck Gerardo
Mariana Olvera and Albert Whangbo
Kirstin and Gary Pellom
Fatima Rangwala and Yousuf Zafar
Bimal and Rina Shah
Martha and Blair Sheppard
Katie and JD Simpson
Craig and Rona Spitzer
Erwin Road Club
Anonymous (10)
Patricia Ashley and Chris Newgard
Stephanie and Vince Aurentz
Casey and Neil Bagchi
Mrs. Placide Barada
Omar Bell
Travis Brady and David Grose
Breitfeld Family
Chylack/Postal Family
Jenny and Jonathan Cude
Keisha and Garry Cutright
Mrs. Gail Daves
Elise Dunzo
Jackie Dzau
Dr. and Mrs. Victor Dzau
Julie Edell
Nita Farahany and Thede Loder
Katie Garman and Tom Becker
Joy Goodwin and Ethan Basch
Richard Griffin and Lisa Kern Griffin
Kylie and Clint Harris
Christine Herman and Angie Pridgen
Susan and Larry Herst
Hugh Hobbs, Jr., and Elaine Hobbs
The Houde Family
Mr. and Mrs. Joel Huber
Ms. Diane Hundley
Kristin E Ito and Charles K Gayer
Lindsey and Drew James
Cara and Ravi Karra
Judith Landrigan
Mollie and Chad Mather
Mr. and Mrs. John McClure
Dave and Claudia Michelman
Beth and Tim Miller
Gary and Carelyn Monroe
Molly O’Neill and Vicki Threlfall
Shital and Nilay Patel
Florence and James Peacock
Tina and Mitch Prinstein
Russell Rabinowitz
Moira Rynn and Al Caltabiano
Connie and Truman Semans
Naz Siddiqui and Casey Jenkins
Kathryn and Ramsey Smith
Candy and John Thompson
Triangle Ecycling
The Vandergrift Family
Widmark Family Fund of Triangle
Community Foundation
Nikita and R.J. Wirth
Dragon’s Club
Anonymous (10)
Emily and Brandon Anderson
Chuck and Judy Bausell
Rachel Brewster and James Mulholland
Libby and Lee Buck
Dr. Kenneth W. Chandler
Robyn and Jamie Claar
Leslie and Brad Clark
Dr. and Mrs. Jack Cronenwett
Tania and Justin Desrosiers
Gail Aronoff Granek
Brian and Elizabeth Greene
Abby and William Jeck (‘97)
Trina Jones
Lisa Kahan and Duncan Higgins
Denise Kassab and Rafael Dix Carneiro
Kash Family
Romina and Amir Khandani
Bridget and Jason Koontz
Dr. Russ Langdon and Dr. Gloria Lewis
Jodie LaPoint and Chris Weymouth
Goldis Malek and Boris Reidel
Shannon and Sam Mallery
Maxon Family Foundation
Levinson Family
Liss Family
Corey and Kelly McIntyre
Kristin and Corum McNealy
Hetal and Abhi Mehrotra
Jenny and Craig Murray
Cindy and Gregg Pacchiana
Penzer Family
John J. Pinto
Linda Raftery and Phil Spiro
Jinda and Kevin Stoll
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Strader
Lipi and Sunil Suchindran
Emily and Lee Taft
Janet Tcheung and David Ming
Linda Vargas
Dr. and Mrs. James Wayne
Ann Winter-Vann and Robin Vann
Christina and Shane Wyatt
Maroon Club
Anonymous (4)
Natalie and Chris Aho
Amazon Smiles
Karen and Tom Baker
Dr. and Mrs. Dan Blazer, II
Meihua Chen and Denis Kalenja
49

Heather Clarkson and Sean Wilmer
Kay Kohring-DaSilva and Keith DaSilva
Penelope Dempsey Dietz
Jeremiah and Christina Dodson
Elizabeth and Mark Donahue
Dr. Marc and Patricia Dorio
Durning Family
Dr. Anabelle Estrera and
Dr. Clemente Estrera
Jordan Etkin and Jonah Berger
Erin and Bill Faley
Meghan Fitzpatrick
Mrs. Renee Floyd
Elizabeth and Taylor Greganti
Sheila Smith Griffin
Erin, Paul and Genenieve Haley
Harris Teeter
Karen and Colleen Heller-McLaughlin
Benay Hicks and Leith Rankine
Beatrice Hong and Ziad Gellad
Mr. and Mrs. De D Hsu
Mr. and Mrs. G. F. Jonas
Kralic Family
Sarah and John Lewis
Emily and Arch McClure
Joyce Miller
Modest Family
Victoria and Chris Moody
Roger and Geraldine Moore
Mr. and Mrs. Hank Newman
Victoria Parente and Ben
Wildman-Tobriner
Josh and Julie Penzner
Mr. and Mrs. James Pridgen Sr.
Erin and Jerry Reiter
Monica and Prince Rivers
Gita Schonfeld and Marvin Swartz
Moira Smullen and Chris Marshall
Elizabeth Strauss
Fabi and Ron Unger
Dr. and Mrs. Prabhakar Vaidya
Kate and Hunter Walton
Ryanne and Samson Wu
Mel York and Lake Lloyd
Donor
Anonymous (23)
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Abrams
Hiroko Aikawa
Nicky Allen
Dawn Amin-Arsala
Anderson Family
David Antoine
Maribel Aristy
Mr. and Mrs. Biagio Azzarelli
Emily Bahna and Ram Neta
Grace and Mattie Beason
Grace Barada Bell
Ulysses Bell
Geoff Berry
Mr. Ed Blocher and Ms. Sandy Powers
Jennifer and Lee Bollinger
Mr. and Mrs. Val Boudreau
Lucy and Tom Bradshaw
Mr. and Mrs. Leo Bratland
Dayna Brill
Joseph Brown
Sonya and David Brown
Leslie Bryan
Mara Buchbinder, Jesse Summers,
and Siimon Summers
Bullock Family
Christine Caffarello
Elaine Cameron
Natalie Cappadona
Maryssa Cappelletti (‘99)
Maria Cassinelli-Bernstein and
Fernando Bernstein
Mr. and Mrs. Dick Claar
The Cope Family
Bob and Allyn Kay Cornwell
Creech Family
Emma Cromwell
Linda Cronenwett and Shirley Tuller
Molly Cronenwett
Mr. and Ms. Bill Culton
Kiersten and Clint Dart
Melissa Daubert and Rob Mathews
Eddy Davis
Tracie DeLoatch
Anna and Damjan Denoble
Damjan and Anna Denoble
Dan Divis
Julie and Tim Dodge
Crista and Neil Donewar
Mr. and Mrs. John Donewar
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Durning
Maureen Dwyer
Sarah Dwyer
Foley and Blake Dyson
Mr. and Mrs. David Easterling
Jamie and Ben Edell (‘95)
Eman Elmahi and Husam Hasanin
Dan Epperson
Matthew and Cleo Etherington
Ben Felton
Elizabeth and David Finley
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Flythe
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers Freedlund, Sr.
Lisa and Frederick Freeman
Dr. Judy Fritz and Dr. Richard Fritz
Kate and Marat Fudim
John Gaddy
Mr. and Mrs. Alan Gayer
General Mills Box Tops for Education
Annie and George Gentithes
Natalie and Derek Gominger
Cathy Gracey and Steve Smith
Emily Greene
Heather and Bret Greene
Sara and Daniel Greene
Sara Nour (‘03) and Holland Greer
Ms. Patricia Grose
Robyn Gunn and Will Dean
Tery and Michael Gunter
Vasudha and Bhupender Gupta
Mr. and Mrs. Tony Guzman
Jane and James Hales
Waka and Yohei Harada
Beth and Jeff Harris
Jennifer Harris
Laurie Ann and Scott Harvey
Mary and Stephen Harward
Mac Hays (‘16)
Wendy and Paul Henderson
Mary Beth Hes and Honza Hes
Daniel Heuser
Alison Hill and Tandy Jones
Sunshine and Joel Hillygus
Lauren Hiner
Kerry Holbrook
Carla Horta and James Leo
Dana Howard
Neva Howard and Shahar Link
Elizabeth Howell
Jenny and Cameron Howell
Tonya Hunt
Indulge Catering, LLC
Tekla Jachimiak and Thomas Brothers
Sandra and Peter Jacobi
Mr. and Mrs. Perry James
SangHee Jeong and Mattia Bonsignori
Heather and Jordan Karp
Donna King and Kevin McClain
Hélène and Alexander Kirshner
Carolynn Klein
50

Erik H. Knelson (‘99)
Janeia Knox
Koerner Family
Millie and Clark Lamb
Ms. Paula LaPoint
Amy and Jamie Lau
Mr. and Mrs. Greg Lau
Nicoleta Lazar
Charlotte Lee and David Siegel
Pat and Kathi Lee
Marin Levy and Joseph Blocher
Hui Li and Fan Yuan
Stacy Lubov and Jeffrey Bryan
The Luedkes
Abby Lyon
Venetha Machock
Caroline Mage and Josh Schoedler
Elizabeth and Michael Malinzak
Mr. and Mrs. David Malinzak
Lucia Marcus
Mr. Steve Markey
Mr. and Mrs. David Martak
Marques Martinez Family
Brenda G. Matthews
Tiffany Matthews
William K. Matthews
Margaret and Richard McCann
Mr. Don McKinney
Dr. Paula Mitchell and Dr. Ed Haynes
Mr. and Mrs. Luis Molina
Meghan Morris
Tori Morton and Zak Loring
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Mulholland
Will Newman (‘07)
James and Tobi Nguyen
Miriam Ornstein and David Luks
Judy Panitch and Andy Hart
Natalie and Emiliano Corral
Melody Peaks
Emily Perlman
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Phocas
Ms. Kathleen Przybycien
Robyn and Richard Putnam
Elisandra Rangel and Marcos Rangel
Alisha Rao (‘15)
Michelle and Brian Reich
Bill and Helen Reifenberger
Mr. and Mrs. Ron Ritschel
Davian Roberts
Bob Robinson and Marya McNeish
Kara and Andy Rudd
Mr. and Mrs. John Rushing
Grechen and Jonas Sahratian
Mike Strauss and Harmony Salzler
Laura and Chris Sample
Paula Scatoloni and Andy Ovenden
Richard Scher
Roxanne Schoedler and Kiel Person
Barb and Don Schoene
Theresa and Dave Scocca
Mr. and Mrs. Ramesh Shah
The Shaw Family
Jane Shears
Lisa Simmons
Ann Skye and Jami Norris
Irecka Smith
Renee and Joseph Francis Smith
Trent Smith (‘14)
Darryl Spancake
Karen Springer and Alex Herskowitz
Mr. Steve Stephenson and
Ms. Regina Hugo
Stiles Family
Maryellen and Bill Stone
Bernie and Justin Strader
Swinney Family
April Tate and Renee Knight-Tate
Taybron Family
Emily and John Templeton
Megan and Jason Theiling
Christina and Clay Thomas
Juliana Thomas
Patti and Holden Thorp
Michelle Torian
Mary Townsend and Jonathan Stiber
Tina Valdecanas and Doug Aitkin
Tori and Victor Velazquez
Judith and Richard Voorhees
Mr. and Mrs. Sigurd Wagner
Rebecca Walsh and Jim Shah
Sharia Warren
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Weinberger
Mr. and Mrs. David Weiss
Jeff Welty and Lori Etter
Rachel Wertheimer
Westlund Gustafson Family
Megan Whitted
Kia Williams
Kourtney and Jefferson Williams
Alison and Soren Windram
Becca and Julian Wooldridge
Laura and Duncan Work
Nancy Worsham
Yarbrough Family
Harriet Bogin Yogel
Gift In Kind
Linda and John Eads

Gifts were made in honor of Duke School Faculty, Staff, Students and the
Duke School Community by the following:
Anonymous
Mr. and Mrs. Richard Abrams
Natalie and Chris Aho
Love and Ian Anderson
Grace and Mattie Beason
Mr. and Mrs. Val Boudreau
Mr. and Mrs. David Bowers
Mr. and Mrs. Leo Bratland
Mara Buchbinder and Jesse Summers
CDM Foundation
Dr. Kenneth W. Chandler
Dr. Kenneth W. Chandler
Meihua Chen and Denis Kalenja
Mr. and Mrs. Dick Claar
Mr. and Mrs. Robert Cornwell
Dr. and Mrs. Jack Cronenwett
Linda Cronenwett and Shirley Tuller
Mr. and Ms. Bill Culton
Mrs. Gail Daves
Mrs. Penny Dietz
Mr. and Mrs. John Donewar
Ms. Brooking DuPriest
Mr. and Mrs. Peter Durning
Dr. and Mrs. Victor Dzau
Meghan Fitzpatrick
Mrs. Renee Floyd
Mr. and Mrs. Joe Flythe
Mr. and Mrs. Rogers Freedlund, Sr.
Dr. Judy Fritz and Dr. Richard Fritz
John Gaddy
Annie and George Gentithes
Christopher Gergen and Heather Graham
Mrs. Gail A. Granek
Elizabeth and Taylor Greganti
Sheila Smith Griffin
Ms. Patricia Grose
Dr. Vasudha Gupta and Dr. Bhupender Gupta
Katie Gustafson and Ron Westlund
Mr. and Mrs. Tony Guzman
Mary and Stephen Harward
Mary and Stephen Harward
Benay Hicks and Leith Rankine
Elizabeth Howell
Mr. and Mrs. De D Hsu
Lindsey and Drew James
Mr. and Mrs. Perry James
SangHee Jeong and Mattia Bonsignori
Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Jonas
Cara and Ravi Karra
Kay Kohring-DaSilva and Keith DaSilva
Leslie Hamilton
Alex and Zack Abrams-Garrett
Cam and Finn Aho
Ethan and Percy Anderson
Court and Than Beason
Jude and Lola Creech
Annie and Ruby Genthesis
Gemma Weinberger
Simon Summers
Archilbald McClure
Emma Heller and Colleen McLaughlin
Facilities and Housekeeping Staff
Dave Michelman
Max Claar
Ellie, Chase and Mollie Mather
Elena and Taylor Mills
Elena and Taylor Mills
DS teachers and staff
Jack Greganti
Alex and Tori Houde
Rory Donewar
Graham Campbell Leatherland
John Durning
Renee Smith and Dave Michelman
Kathy Bartlemay
Brayden and Cameron Ross
Emerson Flythe
Emily and Josh Rajerison
Josie Gratian
Jim Shorts Fitness Guru
8th Grade Teachers
DS Teachers and Staff
Yair and Nadav Granek
Jack Greganti
Richard Griffin’s birthday
Julia Grose
Neta and Amit Ariely
All the great DS teachers past and present
Owen Kirby
Beth Harris, Catherine Lindford, and Geoff Berry
Tim Adams & Team and Sean Wilmer & Team
Shariah Warren
Jenny and Elizabeth Howell
Ben and Everett Petersen
Carolynn Klein and Christine Caffarello
Ella James
Lia Bonsignori
Landen and Kaden Rudd
DS Faculty and Staff
All DS teachers past and present
52

Sue Kreissman and Philip Breitfeld
Judith Landrigan
Ms. Paula LaPoint
Marin Levy and Joseph Blocher
Stacy Lubov and Jeffrey Bryan
Catherine and Matt Luedke
Ms. Brenda Matthews
Tiffany Matthews
William K. Matthews
Beth and Tim Miller
Mr. and Mrs. R. Leonard Moore
Jennifer Moore
Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Mulholland
Beth and Ed Murgitroyd
Mr. and Mrs. Hank Newman
Ilana Osten and Jason Liss
Cindy and Gregg Pacchiana
Mr. and Mrs. Alexander Phocas
Mr. and Mrs. James Pridgen Sr.
Robyn and Richard Putnam
Linda Raftery and Phil Spiro
Bill and Helen Reifenberger
Mr. and Mrs. Ron Ritschel
Kara and Andy Rudd
Mr. and Mrs. John Rushing
Paula Scatoloni and Andy Ovenden
Roxanne Schoedler and Kiel Person
Mr. and Mrs. Donald Schoene
Gita Schonfeld and Marvin Swartz
Connie and Truman Semans
Mr. and Mrs. Ramesh Shah
Martha and Blair Sheppard
Ann Schoene Skye and\ Jami Norris
Trent Smith
Darryl Spancake
Mr. Steve Stephenson and Ms. Regina Hugo
Maryellen and Bill Stone
Mr. and Mrs. Ted Strader
Betsy Strauss
Lewanda and Pierre Taybron
Mr. and Mrs. John Templeton
Dr. and Mrs. Prabhakar Vaidya
Tina Valdecanas and Doug Aitkin
Mr. and Mrs. David Weiss
Nancy Worsham
Ryanne and Samson Wu
Harriet Bogin Yogel
All the wonderful DS teachers
Ilaria, Hero and Petra Bailey
Norah Weymouth
Debbie Marshall
Rudy Lubov
Samuel and Elise Luedke
Nia Stroud
Nia Antoinette Stroud
Nia Stroud
DS Amazing faculty and staff
Vaughn Moore
DS Faculty and their outstanding performance
Evie Brewster-Mulholland
DS Teachers and Staff
David Grose Family
DS Day of GIving
Dave Michelman
Alex and Josie Desrosiers
Esme Herman-Pridgen
Taft family
Adriane and Claire Spiro
Elizabeth Howell
Ellery and Leighton Sheppherd
Kaden and Landen Rudd
Lorelai Nguyen
Barry Harwood
Nora and Lucas Schroedler
Haley Skye
Jonas and Sam Swartz
Wilder, Annabel and Tucker Semans
Aarrna Shah
Ellery and Leighton
Grandma NeNe and Grandma Schoene
Renee Smith
Addie Snider and the amazing teachers at DS
Regina Hugo
Lucas Dodge
Ava and Aly Strader
Cam and Carly Strauss
Diane Bailey
Liam and Maura Templeton
Aksay Suchindrian
DS Teachers and DS Community
Serena and Gus Weiss
Lillian and Jane Boyer
William Horn
Tery Gunter
Kathy Bartelmay and Roger Perilstein
For their upstanders work on the Surveillance Project
Ruby Gentithes, Caroline Welty, Genaro Hood,
Addie Snider, Lucy Linh Murphy, Emerson Windram,
Elyse Gellad, Toby Rangel, Tucker Semans, Andrew
Schreiber, Nick Thomas
53

The following donations have been made in memory of
loved ones, special friends and former Dragons:
Grace Bell
Dr. and Mrs. Dan Blazer, II
Rachel Brewster and James Mulholland
Mara Buchbinder and Jesse Summers
Dr. Kenneth W. Chandler
Julie Edell
Elise Dunzo
Dan Epperson
Jenny Flythe and Robert Stankavish
Elizabeth Howell
Millie and Clark Lamb
Mr. Steve Markey
Ilana Osten and Jason Liss
Emily Perlman
Tisha Powell-Wayne and James Wayne
Paula Scatoloni and Andy Ovenden
Ann Schoene Skye and\ Jami Norris
Emily and Lee Taft
Juliana Thomas
Judith and Richard Voorhees
Laura and Duncan Work
Dr. Andy Barada
Karen (KC) Heller
Karen (KC) Heller
Karen (KC) Heller
Karen (KC) Heller
Alan Edell
Mark Dunzo
Tom Epperson
Karen (KC) Heller
Cameron Howell
Karen (KC) Heller
Claudia Markey
Karen (KC) Heller
Karen (KC) Heller
Brenda Reed Powell
Barry Harwood
Papa Jim and Papa Schoene
Mary Scott Hoyt
Fabio Arciniegas
Karen (KC) Heller
Karen (KC) Heller
54

100
90
2020-21 Class Parent Participation
80
70
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
PS K 1st 2nd 3rd 4th 5th 6th 7th 8th
The Dragon Fund is accepting international currency! Duke School’s Development Office encourages
families to donate unused foreign currency (paper) and apply it to the school’s Dragon Fund. Please contact
us at (919) 493-9968 for more information and to give!
We make every effort to ensure the accuracy of information contained in the annual Honor Roll of Donors. If you
have a question about a listing, please contact a member of the Development Office at (919) 493-9968.

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