One of the great traditions of the Rye Country Day community is the annual Festival Chorus concert, which brings together students, parents, faculty, alumni, parents of alumni, and friends to perform as a combined choir and orchestra.

Last weekend marked the 24th Annual Festival Chorus Concert, Calling All Dawns by Christopher Tin. This song cycle is 12 movements in 12 different languages and also features "Baba Yetu," made famous in the video game Civilization IV.

Thank you to the 175 members of the RCDS community who participated in this year's ensemble, to Mary Marcell for directing, and to everyone who came to support this wonderful tradition.

Rye Country Day welcomed nearly 200 students and jurors from across the globe to campus last weekend to participate in the United States Invitational Young Physicists Tournament (USIYPT). The annual event, hosted for the first time by Rye Country Day, is a physics research and debate tournament that provides high school students with the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and application of physics.

The 13 teams who competed for the title have been training for the tournament for a year, studying a series of challenges ranging from predicting extraterrestrial rainbows to testing transport via a pneumatic tube system. During the tournament, teams competed via "physics fights," or student-led debates over the quality of each team's solutions. Each round was judged by a panel of jurors comprising RCDS faculty, alumni, USIYPT board members, and physics professors.

Additional challenges throughout the weekend, including a poster showcase, provided additional opportunities for teams to exhibit their work. Participants also had the opportunity to hear from RCDS alumnus and USIYPT juror Dr. Al Rizzi '82, who serves as the chief scientist at Boston Dynamics. Dr. Rizzi wowed participants with a presentation on some of the "legged" robots he has developed.

Dr. Rizzi '82 addressing participants during his keynote featuring his work at Boston Dynamics.

Dr. Mary Krasovec, who coached the RCDS team and also serves on the board of the United States Invitational Young Physicists Tournament, discussed the philosophy of the tournament emphasizing the scientific "search for truth" over the end result of simply selecting a winner. She explained, "What I really love about YPT is that it isn't just a competition; it is a discussion between peers. It's like a science conference where you come away really understanding some interesting physics, and, as a bonus, have the chance to meet enthusiastic young physicists and their teachers from all over the world."

A special thank you to the alumni who returned to campus to participate in the event as jurors, Dr. Rizzi for his inspiring presentation, and Dr. Mary Krasovec for her countless hours organizing this year's event.

Overall Tournament Results

Members of the Phillips Exeter Academy team after receiving the USIYPT trophy.

Tournament Rankings:

• 1st Place Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire (82.39 pts)
• 2nd Place Phillips Andover Academy, Massachusetts (76.56 pts)
• 3rd Place Woodberry Forest School, Virginia (75.51 pts)*
• 3rd Place Shenzhen Middle School, China (74.79 pts)*
• 3rd Place The Nueva School, California (73.65 pts)*
• 4th Place Cary Academy, North Carolina (68.2 pts)

The tournament director Tengiz Bibilashvili groups together teams that have similar scores, which resulted in three teams placing third.

Awarded the Swartz Trophy for Best Physics Poster:

• Pioneer High School Menzah VIII, Ariana, Tunisia

Awarded The Tengiz Bibilashvili Award for Excellence in Physics:

• Phillips Exeter Academy, New Hampshire
• Phillips Andover Academy, Massachusetts
• Woodberry Forest School, Virginia
• Shenzhen Middle School, China
• The Nueva School, California
• Cary Academy, North Carolina
• The Harker School, California
• Rye Country Day School, New York

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Alumni Newsletter View this email in your browser Dear RCDS Alumni, In this historic 150th year, we hope you will take part in many of our key events, including our upcoming Networking Breakfast on Technology in NYC on February 5. This is just one initiative RCDS is focusing on to enhance our alumni career network. Do you know of a summer internship or employment opportunity that we can advertise to fellow alumni? Or perhaps you would consider a two-week senior term shadow project for current students. Please click on the button below and let us know. We truly appreciate your efforts to help strengthen our alumni network. SHARE A JOB OR INTERNSHIP Looking forward to seeing you throughout this exciting and momentous year! Sincerely, The Office of Alumni Affairs Campus News STATE OF THE SCHOOL: Please click here to read the latest information on the growth of Rye Country Day. FESTIVAL CHORUS: Last weekend marked the 24th Annual Festival Chorus Concert, Calling All Dawns by Christopher Tin. Thank you to the 175 members of the RCDS community who participated in this year's ensemble, to Mary Marcell for directing, and to everyone who came to support this wonderful tradition. View photos. RCDS HOSTS INTERNATIONAL PHYSICS TOURNAMENT: Rye Country Day welcomed nearly 200 students and jurors from across the globe to campus to participate in the United States Invitational Young Physicists Tournament (USIYPT). The annual event, hosted for the first time by Rye Country Day, is a physics research and debate tournament that provides high school students with the opportunity to showcase their knowledge and application of physics. The 13 teams that competed for the title had been training for the tournament for a year, studying a series of challenges ranging from predicting extraterrestrial rainbows to testing transport via a pneumatic tube system. A special thank you to the alumni who returned to campus to serve as jurors, including Al Rizzi '82, who also served as a keynote speaker during the weekend's activities. Read more and view photos. IT'S ALIVE: After reading Frankenstein, students in Grade 10 English were tasked with conceiving an idealized form and bringing it to life in the makerspace. Grade 10 English teacher Sarah Land explains the project and how working in the makerspace helps support collaboration, problem solving, innovation, and creativity. Watch video. DRAW THE CIRCLE WIDE: The Winter Choral Concert featured beautiful performances from the Middle and Upper School singing groups. The Upper School Concert Choir, directed by Mary Marcell, performed a particularly moving piece, "Draw the Circle Wide," which featured additional lyrics written by students in the choir. Read more and watch video here. RCDS | 150 3D PRINTING PROJECT: Recently, junior Miles Chun designed and printed a special memento featuring a mesmerizing intersection between the letters RCDS and the numbers 150. Watch the video to learn more about the project from inspiration to implementation. MINDFULNESS TOOL KITS: As part of the School's continued commitment to excellent and innovative approaches to education, as well as overall student balance and wellness, every Lower School classroom is equipped with a mindfulness toolkit. Lower School teachers Sandy Castagna and Monique Caterina developed the mindfulness tool kits and, for the last two years, have provided professional development training to faculty in all three divisions to facilitate teaching mindfulness to students. Learn more. ROBOTICS "KING OF THE HILL": RCDS competed against 28 teams in the first VEX Robotics competition of the 2018-19 season. At the end of the day-long competition, the RCDS teams finished in 2nd and 13th place with one RCDS team championing the "king of the hill" task, its robot finishing the two-minute round on top of the highest platform while blocking all other teams from toppling it. This was a difficult task that no other team was able to accomplish that day! View photos and video. SUPPORT THE BLUE & GOLD BALL: We invite you to visit the newly launched Blue & Gold Ball website to learn more about the event and how you can help support Rye Country Day School's historic 150th birthday celebration. Tickets for this all-community event go on sale February 7. Funds raised at the Ball will benefit the RCDS Parents Association, supporting its important work aiding each and every student at RCDS through professional development programs, equipment grants, scholarships, and more. Learn how you can support the ball through auction donations, tributes, and underwriting here. COMMEMORATIVE BOOK ON SALE: We are proud to introduce Rye Country Day School, a limited-edition commemorative book detailing the storied history of the School and its first 150 years. This visually stunning coffee table book will include the fascinating history of Rye Country Day School, archival photographs, and contemporary photography featuring the campus, students, and faculty as captured by award-winning photographers. Books will be available for pick up or delivery in April 2019. Purchase your copy today! From the Archives ATHLETICS AT RCDS: Athletics has been an integral part of an RCDS education since the start. Taken in the early to mid 1900s, these archival photos show RCDS athletes a century ago! Alumni News GOLDEN GLOBE CONGRATULATIONS: Congratulations to Andrew Wyatt Blakemore for winning the Golden Globe for Best Original Song. Click here to view the acceptance speech with Andrew and his fellow "Shallow" songwriters including Lady Gaga. Congratulations to David Holstein '01 as well, for his Golden Globe nomination for Best Television Series Musical or Comedy for his work on "Kidding." ELIZA McCURDY '13 ADDRESSES STUDENTS: Thank you to alumna Eliza McCurdy '13 for returning to campus to address students as part of the RCDS | 150 Alumni Speaker Series. Eliza is currently a senior re-entry specialist with The Osborne Association at Rikers Island, where she supervises a team of re-entry specialists who work directly with prisoners. In her address to students in grades 3-12, Eliza discussed many of the systemic flaws of the current criminal justice system, the disproportionate number of incarcerated individuals in the United States (particularly in terms of people of color), and shared different rehabilitation systems that have been proven to work in other countries. Read more. TECHNOLOGY NETWORKING EVENT IN NYC: There is still time to register to attend the RCDS Alumni Networking Breakfast for a roundtable conversation about technology and innovation in the 21st century. Hosted by Josh Cammaker '87 and facilitated by Katie O'Shaughnessey, chair of the RCDS Computer Science Department, the first networking breakfast will feature Jesse Redniss '94, Chief Innovation Officer at Turner Broadcasting. The event will be held Tuesday, February 5, from 7:30-9 a.m. in New York City. For more information and to register click here. ALUMNI MEET WITH PROSPECTIVE STUDENTS: Thank you to RCDS alumni Hugh Reynolds '16, Hanna Kopits '17, Charlotte Fleischman '16, CeCe Payne '17, Nicole Reindel '16, and Jarvy O'Neill '17 for returning to campus to meet with prospective families. It was wonderful to have these young alumni back on campus, to hear about the ways RCDS has left a lasting mark on their lives, and to see the many ways they are carrying what they learned at RCDS into their futures. Read more. ALUM PROMOTED TO BRIGADIER GENERAL: Brett T. Funck, a 1990 graduate of RCDS, was recently promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General in the United States Army. General Funck currently serves as the Deputy Chief of Staff in the United States Army Reserve Command with responsibility for all Army reserves worldwide. Read more. BROADWAY VISIT: Thank you to Jarvy O'Neill '17 for coordinating a visit for Upper School acting students to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child on Broadway. The students especially enjoyed the private tour and workshop with the actor who plays Harry Potter! SDLC CONNECTION: RCDS student leaders and faculty traveled to Nashville to attend the NAIS Student Diversity Leadership Conference (SDLC) and People of Color Conference (POCC). Ruiy Shah '16, currently a junior at Vanderbilt, met up with the group to reconnect, share stories about her time at SDLC in 2014, and talk about her interfaith/diversity work in college. THANKSGIVING GAMES: A record number of Wildcat athletes, spanning 34 years of RCDS graduates, returned to the ice rink and basketball court on Friday, November 23, for the Alumni Thanksgiving Games. Congratulations to basketball MVP Michael Pfeffer '84 and ice hockey MVPs Robert Grossberg '86 and Brendan Mooney '05. View photos. STUDENT BECOMES THE TEACHER: Thank you to Ben Turshen '99 for returning to campus to lead a professional development workshop on meditation. Faculty, staff, administrators, and coaches were guided in breath work and other tools to help relieve stress and improve health. Ben's company, Ben Turshen Meditation, provides individuals and organizations with instruction and tools to promote immediate, profound, and sustainable personal growth and development. ALUMNI IN THE NEWS Michael Karr '16 was recently interviewed for and quoted in this article in The Atlantic. Alumnae Jessica Fields '95 and Julia Turshen '03 are both featured in this NYTimes article in the real estate section! Congratulations to Rob Striar '90 on the launch of a new alumni networking program for the Professional Hockey Players' Association. Congratulations to Cindy Rosenwald '72 who was sworn in on December 5, 2018, as the newly elected New Hampshire State Senator representing District 13! Congratulations to Peter Shalek '03, co-founder and CEO at Joyable. Joyable's app has been named by Apple as one of the best apps of 2018! Read more here. COMING UP Tuesday, February 5 Alumni Networking Breakfast NYC Thursday, February 28 Los Angeles Alumni Reception Look out for your e-vite Saturday, April 13 150th Anniversary Blue & Gold Ball RCDS UPDATE US Are you or a classmate in the news? Please let us know. Submit a class note or email us at alumniaffairs@ryecountryday.org. In honor of our 150th year, we hope you will consider making a gift to Rye Country Day School. Thank you for your support! MAKE A GIFT OR PLEDGE Facebook Alumni Group LinkedIn Alumni Group

Cameron Coleman, a senior defensive lineman who is committed to play at Columbia, earned the Anthony Sabella Memorial Scholarship. He had eight sacks and 63 tackles for the Wildcats, who finished the season 8-1 and won the first Metropolitan Independent Football League championship.

Read the full article here.

Jon Leef, Interim Upper School Principal

Yesterday at our Morning Meeting I tried to give a bit of a "pep talk." I acknowledged to the Upper School community that February and March tend to be the "dog days" of the school year. It is cold. It is overcast. Our noses are runny. Our energy reserves are taxed. When I served as an advisor, I told my advisees that if they could only maintain their effort that they had back in November, they would appear to be superhuman to their teachers and the rest of the community! I don't have an advisory this year, so I subjected the entire Upper School community to "my two cents."

I also pointed out that small things can mean so much at this time of year. Holding the door for someone in order to allow them to avoid one extra moment in the cold or turning in a lost cell phone to the Upper School Office so that a classmate can be reunited with it goes a long way to thriving in the dog days. (Even the same academic effort from November leads to thriving in the classroom!) The challenge: do you have the will and energy to be a positive catalyst at this time of year?

In my first year as a teacher, right out of college, I was struck by how the Upper School Director picked up any piece of trash he saw on the ground or floor. Even the smallest—if he saw it, he picked it up. Had he had a bad experience with trash as a child? He even picked up trash in the cold, dark months of the school year. I don't think he had a bad experience with trash as a child. I think he knew two things: He wanted the school to look like a tip-top place of learning where students could do their jobs; He also knew the students were watching. How could he expect them to actively contribute, even in the smallest ways, to the positive spirit of the community if he was not willing to do so?

I had a moment of embarrassment in my math class the other day. All year (and most of my career) I have told my students that true understanding in math only grows out of a willingness to wrestle with the material, even in the moments of confusion. "I don't get it" is not a question. Students should struggle to form a question using the math vocabulary that they have as well as their pre-existing understanding. If they can form a good question, the current misunderstanding will be more effectively addressed. I realized that over the last week, I wasn't very good at helping (or demanding that) my students formulate these types of questions. They picked up on this because they have been watching. The good news is that we are in the process of righting the ship.

One of the seminal numbers from the Broadway show, Into the Woods proclaims, "Careful the things you say, children will listen. Careful the things you do, children will see and learn. Children may not obey, but children will listen. Children will look to you for which way to turn." Recently in the Upper School we hosted an evening program focused on the dangers of vaping. At this event, attendance numbered in the low 30s. Quite frankly, we should do better.

The students—your children—are watching.

PS—The Upper School Director mentioned above in my letter is still picking up trash—even in the dog days.

Barbara Shea, Lower School Principal

The Lower School has had a tremendous fall! Our students participated in many of the events to honor the School's 150^th Anniversary from the RCDS Opening Block party to the School's Opening Day festivities to Wildcat Weekend, and this set a tone of community and joyful celebration as we began the year. In the last few months, there have been a number of Lower School highlights, and below is a short description of each:

• In September, the Lower School welcomed a number of new faculty members who have seamlessly acclimated to RCDS, and we are a stronger school for all the experience they bring with them. At every grade level, there have been changes, and with those changes come opportunities to review the curriculum and bring new ideas to our program; for example: Lauren Behar, art teacher, has introduced a curriculum of artists around the world while still holding fast to the Choice Art Program that has been fundamental in instilling critical thinking skills in the developing Lower School artists.
• We started the year with a cross divisional event: third and fourth graders joined the Middle School students to hear Dennis Parker share stories of RCDS. After this assembly, these Lower School students were asked to share their own stories with the Middle/Upper Classmen in small groups across the campus. The Lower School students were well prepared for the program, took a lead role in many of the conversations, and participated in the activities with enthusiasm! This was such a successful community event, that the same format was repeated in our celebration of Dr. Martin Luther King after an assembly from alumna, Eliza McCurdy. It built community across the divisions and confidence in our students.
• Every year first graders learn about the community of RCDS, Susan Life's founding of RCDS, and the School's changes over the years. This year, the school's history resonated a little more deeply with them. Everyone seemed to be steeped in learning more details about our School's history!
• The Pre-K students have changed their venue for lunch! Instead of eating in their classrooms, with the help of pre-k families in the lunchroom, our youngest students are using the LS Dining Hall. It was a very smooth transition and a welcome opportunity in preparation for the expanded day/program that will take place next year. They seem to love being in this new space and seated at the LS tables!
• This year the first grade teachers have been piloting the Teachers College Phonics Program, and there has been a lot of student excitement as their "word study" has become a key focus of the day. At the end of the year, teachers will be looking to see the strengths of the program and our students' skills. The students' enthusiasm for learning their phonics skills will play an important role as we evaluate this new approach to phonics.
• Fourth graders have helped to welcome prospective students to the School in their role as the Lower School Ambassadors. The small gesture of introducing themselves, talking about their school experiences or answering questions has proven to have a positive impact on the touring families, but also on the fourth grade students. They see that they can play a role in the Admissions process just as our Upper School touring guides do.
• This fall, our Lower School Librarian, Kimberly Love instituted a Digital Citizenship workshop for students in grades three and four. The classes are dynamic and entertaining with a valuable lesson embedded in every lesson. The topics include: Copyright, Digital Footprint, Cyberbullying and Website Ads.
• This winter Dr. Pager expanded the Lower School health program in using the Great Body Workshop as a resource. Following a discussion in the classes on a particular topic, students in grades 1-4 receive a pamphlet highlighting the topic to reinforce the lessons that were covered in class and to share with their families.
• In January, the Lower School was fortunate to have Andrea Rackow join us as a Lower School math specialist to work in the same manner as our Learning Specialists. Ms. Rackow works two days a week with students who need the extra support. Last week, she began working with small groups of students, and she is as excited to work with them, as we are to have her!
• The third grade and fourth grade science, art, and computer teachers continue their work together to create STEAM projects in which student teams create and program robots while also creating an artistic environment for each. This year, the fourth graders were able to use the Makerspace in the Cohen Center for Creative Arts to spread out in working on their creations.
• Students in Grades 1-4 had a very special assembly of their own to celebrate Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and invited fourth grader Max Lazarowitz to come share his creative fund raising activities with us. Max had a very powerful impact on all our students and reinforced how children of all ages can do great things!
• This year we have been putting the final touches of a full day pre-k program for next year that will continue the excellent work Mrs. Festo does with the four year olds while also including new programs that will excite our students.

Submitted by Paul Wieman, Director of Academic Initiatives; Upper School Humanities Teacher

Each year, the Festival Chorus, directed by Mary Marcell, brings together students, parents, faculty, alumni, parents of alumni, and friends to perform as a combined choir and orchestra. This year, participants had the unique opportunity to visit virtually with the composer and hear more about his process and choices concerning this year's selection, "Calling All Dawns." Paul Wieman, Festival Chorus participant and RCDS faculty member, recaps this special educational experience:

A few days before the 24th Annual Festival Chorus Concert, the 150 member community choir met for one of its final rehearsals in Memorial Hall. Up until this point, the student and adult choirs had been separately rehearsing this year's piece, Calling All Dawns, a multi-dimensional song cycle featuring 12 different texts in 12 different languages, by Christopher Tin.

Shortly into rehearsal, Conductor Mary Marcell went over to the podium, clicked a couple of clicks on her laptop, and within seconds a figure appeared on the screen, quickly recognized by all as Mr. Tin, casually sitting in a room in his house, greeting us all with a wave and a smile.

After a few words of greeting, he offered to the Festival Chorus his inspiration for the piece... "I was hoping to stretch the boundaries of traditional choral music, and I wanted to draw on the singing traditions of many different cultures." He explained how he had to study the different languages and work with tutors and specialists to help him determine appropriate texts for the piece. Then, with Mr. Tin listening, the group performed a couple sections, and Ms. Marcell asked for feedback. "Just sit back and enjoy it," he recommended. "The piece is supposed to be fun, and now that you have learned the notes and the words, be in the moment and have fun as a group."

The students (and the adults) asked Mr. Tin some specific questions about how he went about composing the piece and why he made the choices he made, and after about fifteen minutes, Mr. Tin wished us well as he signed off.

Thank you to Richard Brown who joined students and faculty for a lunch time discussion titled "The Forces Behind Migration from Central America". Rich's presentation draws on years of community work with groups in Guatemala to explore the motivations that compel people to migrate, the dangers they face, and the social, economic, and historical factors that have led to recent waves of migration. Rich has lived in Guatemala since 2013 and edits the website of EntreMundos Magazine, a bilingual human rights and development publication that focuses on grassroots activism. Thank you to the Global Studies initiative and the student clubs, Students for Refugees and Political Forum, for collaborating to bring this presentation to RCDS.

While it is still early in the process for the Class of 2019, most students have already received acceptances as a result of "early action", "restrictive early action," "rolling," and "early decision" applications. As a matter of practice, RCDS only posts matriculation decisions once they are final. Many students have received acceptances that are not reflected below, but are waiting to make a final decision because the acceptance they have received is non-binding. It is important to RCDS and to our students that we respect and preserve the privacy of the college decision-making process by only posting matriculation selections when they are final.

To date, 43 members of the Class of 2019 have committed to matriculate at:

Barnard College
Boston University
Brown University (3)
Bucknell University (2)
Columbia University
Cornell University (4)
Dartmouth College
Duke University (4)
Georgetown University
Johns Hopkins University
Lehigh University
New York University (2)
Northeastern University
Northwestern University (2)
Princeton University
Skidmore College
Stanford University
Tufts University
Tulane University
Union College
University of Richmond
University of Pennsylvania (6)
Vanderbilt University
Wake Forest University
Washington University
Williams College
Yale University

Sixteen RCDS students have been recognized by the 2019 Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. A jury of leaders in the visual and literary arts blindly judge student submissions on the basis of the Awards' core values: originality, technical skill, and the emergence of personal voice or vision. Student talent and skill are acknowledged by a Gold Key Award (top honor), Silver Key Award, or Honorable Mention. All works receiving Gold Keys will move on to national judging in New York City, and will be considered for national honors.

Congratulations to all honorees!

Emily Lazar '89 made history at the Grammy Awards on Sunday night as the first woman mastering engineer ever to take home the Grammy for Best Engineered Album for Beck's Colors. This was Ms. Lazar's fourth nomination.

Read more about this outstanding accomplishment on Refinery 29.

Junior Cullen Coleman, a running back and linebacker on the RCDS football team, is the most heavily recruited football player in Westchester County in decades! Since early January, recruiters from the top college football programs in the country have visited Cullen: Alabama, Notre Dame, Ohio State, Michigan, Nebraska, Purdue, Boston College and others.

Read the full article here.

RCDS students have a special message for their teachers...