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Joan Gambro '72

Dave Bohn '57

Gwyn Coogan '83, instructor in mathematics

John Snow '79

Josh Baxter '04 and Edouard Desrochers

Charly Simpson '04

Elizabeth Shope '05

Yoshi Yamamoto '04

Hayoung Kim '04

Ryan Wright '04

“I would like to see Exeter stay available to deserving kids…”

“...so I made a larger annual gift
through The 1781 Society.”

Joan Thurneyssen Gambro ’72 became one of the first girls to attend Exeter at the same time that her father, Phillipe Thurneyssen, joined the faculty. For Joan, the Exeter environment was a breath of fresh air. “Everybody was interested in academic excellence, but otherwise it was ‘anything goes,’” she says. “You had diversity in all its stripes.” Joan loved the fact that instead of lecturing, teachers instigated conversations that students were eager to take up and expand. “I had never before been encouraged to participate to that extent, or challenged to think so deeply,” she says.

Joan went on to study political science and work in textiles and marketing. After her twins were born, she decided to pursue a long-standing interest in art and design and recently launched her business, Bellevue Interiors. Joan stays connected to Exeter through multiple channels. “The more I see of Exeter the more I realize the school continues to flourish,” she says. Joan has long made unrestricted gifts to the Annual Giving Fund. “When I learned about The 1781 Society, I felt I should make a larger gift,” she says. “I’d like to see Exeter stay available to deserving kids.”

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Nearly fifty years after leaving Exeter, Dave Bohn ’57
is very much at home here.

When Dave Bohn graduated from Exeter in 1957, he did not feel singularly connected to the school. But in 1972, Dave had occasion to begin a new relationship with the Academy when he and his wife, Barbara ’57 (Hon.), moved to Exeter to raise their family while Dave was flying planes out of Boston for Eastern Airlines. Friendships with Dave’s former (and formerly feared) teachers ensued, as did new friendships with current teachers and with classmates who came through town.

Since then, Dave and Barbara have planned and hosted class reunions, helped get the Exeter Seacoast Association up and running, attended countless campus events and opened their home to a steady stream of Exonians, including the friends of their own three children, all of whom attended Exeter.

Over the years, Dave has watched Exeter evolve into a “kinder and gentler coeducational Academy” that remains committed to excellence. “Exeter clearly makes an effort to both stay on the cutting edge and maintain its history,” he says. Among the continuities he sees is the wealth of opportunity and freedom for students to follow their interests, whatever they may be. “Exeter has always been that way,” says Dave. “I think students graduating from Exeter are still the best prepared people in the world.”

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Gwyn Coogan '83 chose to be challenged at Exeter. Twice.

Gwyn Coogan ’83 has now clocked more time on Exeter’s campus as a math teacher than she did as a student, but she made her way to the Academy both times because Exeter offered the right kind of challenge. “In 1980, I was at a good school with intelligent, engaged friends and teachers, but I was looking for something more, something extraordinary enough to warrant leaving a good situation at home,” she says. “I came to Exeter because of its academic intensity and the high expectations it placed on its students.” Gwyn also played varsity field hockey, squash and lacrosse, and planned a future in art history.

At Smith College, she decided to chart a new course by majoring in math and running cross country. She took time out to focus on running before attending graduate school, represented the U.S. in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, won the Houston marathon in 1998 and completed her doctorate in mathematics in 1999. Two years later she was looking for the right teaching job at a school or small college. “A rigorous academic community still appealed to me,” says Gwyn. At her Exeter interview, Gwyn was impressed by the math classes she saw. Then she interviewed at Mount Holyoke and had dinner with an impressive math student who spoke extensively about her high-school experience. “I figured out pretty quickly that she had gone to Exeter,” says Gwyn, “and that helped me decide that Exeter was where I wanted to be.”

At Exeter, Gwyn teaches all levels of math, coaches the girls cross country team and lives in McConnell Hall with her husband, Mark, and their three children. “I am surrounded by colleagues who are interested in doing the job the best way they can, and in doing everything they do well,” she says. Doing everything is one of the challenges of teaching at Exeter, and also one of the rewards. “I enjoy the diffusion of experiences,” Gwyn says about interacting with students in multiple areas of their lives. Class is as much an opportunity to grow as to teach, and sports practice can be an extension of the academic experience. “You never know when a student will see a problem differently than you do. It’s fun to encounter the new,” she says. As for coaching those students who are interested in math, says Gwyn, “we can run and talk about math at the same time.”

The Annual Giving Fund helps Exeter attract both talented students who seek the extraordinary and accomplished teachers like Gwyn Coogan '83.

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“Working to improve education is the highest and best expression
of my appreciation for Exeter.”

"That’s why Exeter is among the causes that I support.”

When John Snow ’79 came to Exeter as a postgraduate student, he saw the year ahead as a stepping stone to college. “What I wasn’t prepared for,” he says, “was the amount of personal attention I received from my teachers and coaches, and the degree to which I became invested in the breadth and depth and pace of life at Exeter. Exeter awoke a kind of sleeping dragon within me.”

“My Exeter experience taught me the value of following a passion,” he says. “I believe I have done that in my work in finance and as a board member of the Winchester [MA] Foundation for Educational Excellence—I am still solving problems with bright people around a table.” The Foundation makes grants that enhance the Winchester public school curricula and has raised funds to lower classroom head counts to under 30. John knows first hand what a difference that can make. With respect to educational process and an egalitarian approach to working with people, says John, “Exeter is the gold standard for me. The school is entirely worthy of my support.”

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Josh Baxter '04 toured the library and found a mentor.

Soon after arriving at the campus he had only seen in pictures, Josh Baxter ’04, a scholarship student from Little Rock, AR, joined other new students for an orientation tour of the Academy’s library. Josh, whose nature it is to pursue his varied interests independently and with passion, was eager to explore the available resources; he didn’t expect to meet someone who would become an important part of his life at Exeter and beyond. Josh remembers that his tour guide, Assistant Librarian and Academy Archivist Edouard Desrochers, commented that coming to Exeter as a new upper wasn’t an easy thing to do. Ed remembers receiving his first thank-you note for a library tour in nearly 30 years at Exeter. The two met again when Josh was working on his History 333 paper in the spring, and they made a point of checking in with each other the following fall. Says Baxter, “It was nice to know that someone outside my family wanted to know about my life and have a direct, personal relationship.”

Desrochers became a friend and mentor to Josh during what turned out to be a challenging senior year. His concern made a difference to Josh when it mattered most. Like many Exonians, Josh considers this relationship with a faculty member an important part of his evolution as a person. “We get so many different messages from society, from family, from colleges and from peers,” says Josh, now a sophomore at the University of Chicago. “It’s easy to get lost with all those ideas in your head. Mr. Desrochers understood that even though I was 18, I was still a kid, and he encouraged me not to be too hard on myself when I made mistakes. He gives me the same advice today. I truly appreciate his interest and support.”

The Annual Giving Fund helps bring together talented students like Josh Baxter '04 and dedicated faculty and staff members like Ed Desrochers.

David Weber knew it was important to listen when Charly Simpson '04 was finding her voice.

Spring 2004--Charly Simpson ’04 says loving Exeter from the start was both a blessing and a curse. “I was the most homesick person on campus my prep year,” she says, “but I knew I could never leave because of all the opportunities and the learning here.” Charly pursued her longstanding passions by joining the DRAMAT board and People Interested in Poetry, and she reveled in the diversity of opinion at the Harkness table. She felt truly at home at Exeter by the fall of her upper year, the term she was in David Weber’s English class. “Mr. Weber would not only talk about my papers, but also about my life,” she says. “He listened, made himself available, was very aware and encouraging and easy to talk to. Once, he ordered a book on jazz for me knowing it was an interest of mine because of a paper I had written.” Charly says all her teachers have a good sense of who she is outside class, but her class with Mr. Weber was an important time in terms of understanding herself. “English 310 was very rewarding for both of us,” says David. “I tried to help Charly see ways to represent important experiences with complexity, but without becoming confused. Although we see each other incidentally since then, she knows I’m here for her if something comes up.” While writing Charly’s college recommendations, David re-read her papers and quoted from them at length and with pleasure. “I have a strong sense of Charly through her work, and a bedrock faith in her fairness and generosity of spirit,” he says. As she is poised to leave Exeter, Charly says, “I’ve had space away from home to learn about myself and dive into things. I love the friendships and opportunities I’ve found here, and I appreciate having had to take responsibility for managing my own time. I’m looking forward to going to college and coming back and realizing how much I miss Exeter.” Charly has been involved in all areas of the theater in main stage and student-directed plays, in Poetry Stage productions and in collaborations with Exeter High School via their joint organization, the Exeter Shakespeare Society. This year, Charly was head of DRAMAT. In the fall she will attend Brown University

David Weber, who has taught English at Exeter since 1970, remembers what his students wrote about years after they’ve left his class. “That testifies to how much meaning there is in the work,” he says. “The English department is committed to personal narrative writing, which involves interpreting personal experience with an objectively successful use of form and technique. The writing provides students an occasion for conversations with teachers about the human content of the story as well as about the formal and technical issues. I have always loved that, whether or not the connection is one that moves forward after the term is over.” Another aspect of his work at Exeter that David has particularly enjoyed is helping runners see what has to happen in training to get to a certain race. After 18 years of coaching varsity cross-country, David retired from coaching this year.

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Elizabeth Shope '05 thought she was practicing solo...
But Christine Fell knew she heard a duet.

Winter 2004--As Elizabeth finished her flute practice one evening last fall, a woman she had never met approached her to say, “You sound great! Are you interested in playing some duets?” Christine Fell, a professional clarinetist and a staff member in Exeter’s alumni/ae office, was also practicing in the music building that night. Impressed as she was by Elizabeth’s technical skill, Christine says she was struck most by the obvious love of music and instrument that she heard. The two began playing together regularly on Sundays and have since developed a musical partnership and a friendship. When Elizabeth complained about dirty tone holes on her flute, Christine left a homemade flute-cleaning kit in her mailbox. When Christine talked of cutting her long hair, Elizabeth mentioned an organization that provides wigs to cancer victims. (They both cut their hair and donated it.) When Christine was asked to accompany a meditation in Phillips Church, she invited Elizabeth to collaborate, and when Elizabeth inherited her grandfather’s clarinet, Christine arranged to restore the instrument and has been teaching Elizabeth to play. For Elizabeth, Christine offers welcome adult support and perspective on boarding school life. “It’s nice to have Christine looking out for me since my mom isn’t here,” she says. Christine appreciates the confidence and musicianship Elizabeth brings to practice and performances. “Elizabeth strives to excel, but her musical spirit is never compromised,” she says. “She’s focused and ambitious, but you can always hear the joy coming through when she plays.”

Elizabeth came to Exeter from Greenwich, CT, seeking academic challenge and opportunities to advance at her own pace, especially in math. “I’ve been able to take courses that are too hard,” she says with obvious pleasure, adding that she works best under pressure. She has tried new things such as crew, diving (not her sport) and bagpipes, and appreciates Harkness classroom discussions. “Students at Exeter have valuable things to say,” she says. “I learn a lot from them.” Elizabeth started playing the flute when she was 8, but wasn’t serious about it until her prep year. “At Exeter, I’ve been pushed to practice, challenged with major pieces and encouraged to audition,” she says. “I’ve seen a lot of improvement in my playing.” Elizabeth played the flute, clarinet, saxophone and other instruments in a student production of Stephen Sondheim’s Company this winter, and she is preparing a recital in the spring.

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Yoshi Yamamoto '04 came to Exeter in search of the unfamiliar. Evelyn Christoph helped him make Exeter home.

Winter 2003--Yoshi came to Exeter having become disillusioned with the exam-oriented curriculum at home in Tokyo. When Yoshi visited the Academy, he was impressed by the small classes and the attention paid to individual students. "It's very different from the Japanese system, where we are not encouraged to deviate from the accepted way of doing things," says Yoshi, who says he has learned at Exeter that disagreement is not the same thing as a personal attack. "At Exeter, no one is left out and the teachers show that they really care about their students." One such teacher is French instructor Evelyn Christoph, who taught Yoshi first-year French during his lower year. Like most students and teachers at Exeter, Yoshi and Evelyn have several points of contact upon which to build a relationship: French class; Phillips Church, where Evelyn and her family attend services and where Yoshi is the church organist; and the Translators' Club, which Yoshi founded and Evelyn advises. For both of them, personal experience and academic inquiry are intertwined at Exeter.

Yoshi chose to study French, his third language, precisely because it is completely different from the two languages he already speaks. Noting his facility for and love of the language, Evelyn encouraged Yoshi to take French courses that would challenge him, even if he hadn't met the prerequisites. Consequently, Yoshi progressed from first-year French to advanced placement literature in two years, sometimes auditing one class in a sequence while simultaneously taking another for credit. "Ms. Christoph is very enthusiastic about French and about teaching French," says Yoshi. "Her dedication to teaching encouraged me as a learner, as did her willingness to challenge me as much as she could." The opportunity to work with students like Yoshi is one of the things Evelyn values most about Exeter, where, she says, the even brightest student can find challenge.

Evelyn clearly likes a challenge herself. She came to Exeter in 1985, having begun work on a Ph.D. while teaching at New York University and also working as a director of communications in New York City. "I knew I didn't want to stay in business," she says, "and when I looked at Exeter, the connection was immediate. I loved what I saw in the classrooms; I knew this was the home for me." Evelyn and her family lived in dormitories (Bancroft and McConnell) for ten years, and currently live in a house on campus. Now that two of her three children are at the Academy, says Evelyn, her identity on campus is more complex. "I am a teacher, and also 'the mother of Aimee and Christoph.' I know more students, and have a different kind of ease with them at the Harkness table." Evelyn feels that being the mother of teenagers gives her a new sensibility to what students are really living at Exeter. "I truly love watching these kids grow in different contexts," she says. One such context has been France; Evelyn has led Exeter's program in Grenoble three times. Her belief in the value of experiencing French culture and language first hand informs her teaching, and in recent years she has put much of her energy into using technology to simulate that experience in the classroom. "Having a strong enough grasp of a foreign language to be able to really look at the literature, history, culture, philosophy and social fabric that it grows out of enriches our perspective and approach to that which is different," she says. "In essence, the more we learn about others, the more we learn about ourselves."

Yoshi, too, has parlayed his experience and interests into intellectual pursuits at Exeter. Yoshi learned English at an international school while living in Kuala Lumpur during grade school. His idea for founding Exeter's multi-lingual Translators' Club grew out of his fascination with Japanese translations of English news articles and literature, and vice versa. "I'm interested in the modifications that get made, in how one language translates into another and how ideas get transformed in the process," he says, noting that he sometimes uses Japanese constructions to make sentences in English more expressive or distinctive. The club's popular annual translation competition has prompted many language teachers to include more translation exercises in their classes. "In forcing us to look at how different cultures express a single idea," says Evelyn, "translation leads us to an important awareness-especially for American English speakers, who tend to think every language exists in relationship to English-of individual languages as having their own identity. The rigor of translation requires us to come to terms with an exact knowledge of each language, but it is also an artistic exercise that requires us to be as eloquent as the original piece."

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Hayoung Kim '04 was good at math but she didn't enjoy it until Zuming Feng challenged her to challenge herself.

Fall 2003--Hayoung, a four-year senior from Seoul, Korea, admits she used to be content to get decent grades with little effort. “I was immature, and wasn’t invested in what Exeter is all about,” she says.

 But her prep-year math teacher, Zuming Feng, was not about to let Hayoung coast through Exeter. He encouraged her to attend math club, and didn’t let up until she did. “I resisted because it felt like a big commitment,” says Hayoung, who is in the orchestra and on the squash team. “Plus, it seemed a little geeky. But I started going, and before long it was something I had to do. I realized I couldn’t just put math away.” Her efforts in the club have paid off—she is among the top math students at the school, although she still questions herself at times. “Mr. Feng has encouraged me to be more competitive and aggressive about solving problems, and not to be intimidated by them,” she says. “Rather than say, ‘I can’t do this,’ I need to ask ‘Why shouldn’t I do this?’ It’s a better attitude.”

 Now a dorm proctor and an admissions tour guide, Hayoung, says her experience with math club changed her life in ways that led to deeper relationships with dorm mates and teachers, and with all her classes. “I got below the surface, to the heart of things at Exeter” she says. “I used to believe that a good solution had to be elegant, but I have learned that it is okay to have a not-so-brilliant solution, to keep going with a tedious approach—the time is well spent.”

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Three years ago, Ryan Wright ’04 wasn't sure he would succeed at Exeter but Rich Aaronian ’76 (Hon.) convinced him to keep trying.

Fall 2003--Ryan, a four-year day student from Exeter, NH, who had been a straight-A student at his previous school, came to Exeter knowing nothing of prep school. Half way through his prep year, he told his father he wanted to leave. “My grades were fine,” says Ryan, “but I was working so hard for them, I wasn’t sure I wanted to keep doing what I had to.” Then Ryan’s j.v. hockey coaches, including his science teacher, Rich Aaronian ’76 (Hon.), pulled Ryan aside after practice one day and convinced him to stay. Now a senior, Ryan remains an honors student and is looking at colleges with strong engineering and architecture programs. He plays varsity football (and was elected captain this fall) and hockey, attends a wide range of events on campus to support his friends—and their friends too—and sees Mr. Aaronian regularly at the gym. “Ryan is a hard worker who sets real goals and is dedicated to improving,” says Aaronian, who notes that Ryan always has a positive attitude and a friendly greeting to offer. “He is the kind of student you particularly like to work with on the playing field and in the classroom.”

In fact, Ryan is the kind of student that kept Aaronian at Exeter when he had an attractive offer from another boarding school. Aaronian, now the Harlan Page Amen Professor of Science, arrived at Exeter knowing nothing of prep schools nearly 34 years ago. He has lived in boys and girls dorms, coached j.v. hockey and baseball, and initiated the collaborative planning process for the Phelps Science Center and Exeter’s Harkness-centered curriculum when he was head of the science department. Of the completed facility and his life as a teacher at Exeter, Rich says, “What an opportunity—to come to work every day in a facility like that.” For his part, what Ryan values most about his time at Exeter is the level of independence he has achieved. “My teachers are here to support me,” he says, “but I have to make sure that what needs to be done gets done.”

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