Staples Educator Named Teacher of the Year by the American Lawyers Alliance
Press Release, Westport Public Schools2021 Teacher of the Year to Suzanne Kammerman
Suzanne Kammerman, a Staples High School civics teacher, has been awarded the prestigious 2021 Teacher of the Year Award from the American Lawyers Alliance. She was selected for the award from a competitive group of nominees from 16 states across the country.
Suzanne has been teaching social studies for 14 years and brought her expertise about government to the classroom from her previous career as a journalist in Washington D.C. In 2019, she was selected by The League of Women Voters to train in the Harvard Case Study Method. Most notably, she is the founder of the nationally-recognized We the People program at Staples High School.
In a time where teaching and learning has faced new challenges, Suzanne has consistently shown her dedication and creativity in her classroom for students in-person and online in order to promote civic engagement.
Westport Women’s Club Announces May Art Show
Piece by Kerry LongPress ReleaseThe Westport Woman’s Club will host its annual Art Show on Saturday, May 22 and Sunday, May 23 (2:00 pm - 6:00 pm both days, indoors at the clubhouse) at 44 Imperial Ave, Westport, CT. Admission to the Westport Woman’s Club Art Show is free and open to the public; masks will be required and attendance will be limited. This event will follow all protocols mandated by CT and the town of Westport.
Curated by Westport Artist Miggs Burroughs, this popular show features a variety of local artists and their works available for purchase. Event Co-Chairs Jo Fuchs Luscombe and Leah Scherzer share that participating artists are donating a portion of their art sales to fund the club’s community service grants, scholarships and programs.
The roster of WWC Art Show 2021 artists, whose works will be available for purchase, include: Nina Bentley, Amy Bock, Trace Burroughs, Susan Fehlinger, Judith Orseck Katz, Tom Kretsch, Susan Leggitt, Kerry Long, Michael Ledner, Carole McClintock, Bernard Perry, Jon Puzzuoli, Katherine Ross and Jo Titsworth. Cash, checks and credit cards will be accepted for Art Show purchases, as well as charitable donations to the Westport Woman’s Club.
The Westport Woman’s Club thanks its generous sponsors for the 2021 Art Show which include The Drew Friedman Community Art Center, as well as New York artist JoMarie Dilorio who is donating an original piece of art, “Sunflowers Basking”, that will be given via a drawing to an Art Show attendee.
For more information on the Westport Woman’s Club Community Service outreach, please visit “Community Services” on www.westportwomansclub.org.
Staples High School Valedictorian, Salutatorian Announced
Konur Nordberg, Staples High School Valedictorian for the Class of 2021Valedictorian: Konur Nordberg, Duke University
Salutatorian: Hannah Even, Princeton University
Konur Nordberg and Hannah Even call themselves “STEM students.” They’re intrigued by math and science courses like physics and calculus. But both also loved some of their humanities courses.
They did well in whatever they took – and they took some of Staples High School’s most rigorous courses. They earned the two highest grade point averages at the academically demanding school. Konur is valedictorian, and Hannah salutatorian. Both will deliver speeches during graduation ceremonies in June.
The pair are also products of the Westport Public Schools. Konur attended Saugatuck Elementary and Bedford Middle Schools. He was an avid soccer and basketball player while younger. At Staples he played soccer and ran track for three years, and raced on the ski team for two.
He was also a member of the school’s Service League of Boys. He participated in a variety of community projects, including clean-up efforts, soup kitchens and fundraising. “I met a lot of grateful people,” Konur says. “And doing it with friends made it special.”
STEM-oriented classes like Advanced Placement Chemistry taught by Dominick Messina, and Advanced Computer Science with Dr. Nick Morgan, were particularly enjoyable and challenging. “I’m a very logical person. Those are fields I may want to go into. It was fascinating to see how many applications there are for them.”
But United States History with Nell-Ayn Lynch also piqued his interest. In fact, he says, the entire Staples environment – which “shows you how to be academically rigorous, with so many amazing courses, but offers so many clubs and sports too” – played a role in his success.
Hannah Even, Salutatorian of Staples High School’s Class of 2021 COVID disrupted that environment, beginning last spring. Sports had always provided a balance to Konur’s school day, and helped him manage his time. Instead he ran on his own, and adjusted to distance learning. “I adapted,” he says simply. “Teachers were pretty helpful.”
Konur did not set out to become valedictorian. In fact, “as a freshman I didn’t even know what that was.” But from a young age his parents had instilled in him a desire to try hard in whatever he did.
“You can’t obsess about every grade and test,” he notes. “That can drive you crazy.” It’s much better to “live a balanced life, in and out of school. I was lucky to be able to figure out that balance.”
He recognizes that being Staples High School’s valedictorian is an enormous honor, and credits his teachers for their support and positive influence.
He is not sure what he’ll talk about when he delivers his address. However, Konur says, he remembers writing letters “to our future selves” on the last day of fifth and seventh grades. They are returned to seniors before graduation. As he and the Class of 2021 look forward, he may well use those letters as a way to reflect on how far he’s come.
This fall, Konur heads to Duke University.
Hannah, the salutatorian, applied her STEM skills in two types of competitions. At Long Lots Elementary School she participated in Math Olympiad; at Bedford Middle School she captained her Science Olympiad team to the national competition.
“That introduced me to engineering,” she recalls. “I saw how physics overlapped between science and math.” She also realized that math relates to “real life” – particularly when her team built a hovercraft (and won first place at the state meet).
Hannah continued Science Olympiad at Staples, and was again captain. She is vice president of the Science National Honor Society, and a member of its math counterpart. She is also on the math team (captain), works on the STEM Journal, and tutors with Top Hat.
“It all makes sense to me,” she says of science and math. “There are so many creative paths to get to a fundamental conclusion.”
Hannah’s favorite courses include Advanced Placement Chemistry with Mr. Messina, (Konur is a classmate), Advanced Placement Physics with David Scrofani, Pre-Calculus with Rasha Tarek, Advanced Placement Language with Mary Fulco – and Advanced Placement Government with Suzanne Kammerman
“That was not in my wheelhouse,” she admits. “But it became one my favorite classes. It was cool to take it in a year when there was so much going on politically.”
Distance learning during the pandemic took some of the stress off – with fewer extracurricular opportunities, she could spend more time on schoolwork and college applications – but Hannah missed debating ideas face-to-face with teachers and students.
Earning salutatorian honors “just happened,” Hannah says. “It was important to me that I took classes I liked. But of course I wanted to do well in them. This is really a great honor. There are so many good students at Staples. It’s nice to know I’ve made it through, and my work paid off.”
Her advice to younger students: “There’s a lot of pressure to take AP classes, just for the credit. But if you don’t like the subject, you won’t do well. Take classes you have a passion for. You’ll enjoy them more. You’ll even enjoy studying for the tests.”
Hannah plans to study engineering at Princeton University.
Venture North to Redding’s Daffodil Field: a Love Story for Everyone
Words and photos by Jaime Bairaktaris, Executive EditorPublished in 2021
Redding’s daffodil field on Cross Highway - a designated Scenic Route - shows the gentle remains of a love story from a bygone era.
Bud McQuade’s home, and the entrance to the daffodil fields, tucked into the hills of Cross Highway. This tradition began decades earlier with the property’s owners: Bud McQuade and his wife Florence. Bud was a veteran - both of the United States Army and of the classroom as a teacher at nearby Joel Barlow High School. He enjoyed working and learning, a point he made to me while speaking with him in 2018. He spoke strongly about his love for the world and how important he found learning - how it was through books and self-teaching that he was able to build his home for his wife and himself in the 1940s.
Bud also fiercely loved Florence and the life that they shared together. He began planting the daffodils each Spring in her honor - a tradition that has now lasted decades and touched the lives of thousands. Each year the field becomes larger and more colorful; his love for Florence continuing to blossom with every Spring. When he was nearly 100 years old, the community stepped forward to join him in continuing to plant the bulbs - splitting them and planting them in late Spring for the following year’s bloom - just as Bud taught them to.
Today there are nearly 50,000 throughout the property.
A love story continues each Spring. Bud McQuade passed away in August 2019 at the age of 103 years old. His home, and Florence's daffodils, were a part of an unknown future that plagues many older homes in Fairfield County in the midst of the active real estate market.
In the end: the home and its field were purchased by a neighbor who appreciated the tradition and love that the property holds. The tradition was saved. They plan to keep it as it is, and have added signs to make sure people know: you are welcome here.
What started as a love story between a man and his wife has now blossomed into a community treasure. Hundreds have visited the field this Spring, doing as Bud wanted: “Drive in, Walk Among.”
A view from the street of the daffodil blooms on Sunday. The blooms are currently in their peak, and will begin to die off in the next week or so. Walking paths and other blooming flowers and trees surround the property, which is popular for photos and to chat with other visitors.
One of nearly 50,000 blooms. Note from the Editor
I grew up in a house just up the road from Bud and his daffodils. Our school bus passed by the blooms every morning and every afternoon - each year the view became more expansive and more colorful.
In Spring of 2018, I saw Bud clearing his garden beds in front of his home in 80 degree heat; he was over 100 years old. I pulled into the driveway to offer my help - he pulled out his beach chair, told me how to delicately clear away the debris, and talked to me about his life from over 100 years of memories. He was proud of his stone wall that he built, the travels he went on, the Joel Barlow students who still visited him, and of his classic Ford Mustang parked in the garage.
If you have time this week - enjoy the drive along the reservoirs just 30 minutes north of Downtown Westport - and go visit Bud’s daffodil field.