Alumni Join Students to Host Workshops for All-School Gathering
Groton School alumni joined the community in a Diversity and Inclusion gathering on April 24, hosting several of the thirty-six workshops offered to students.
The workshops covered a range of topics, including gender and identity, race and ethnicity, the pandemic, service, media, education, and politics.
“It is always interesting to see which workshops are most sought after,” said Director of Diversity and Inclusion Sravani Sen-Das. “It really shows what issues are most pressing to our students in a given year.” Most popular this spring were workshops related to gender.
The student-hosted workshops included “Not all Men: Expectations of Masculinity and its Effects,” “Farmer's Protests in India: A Look Into The Relationships between Equity, Sustainability, & Minimum Wage,” “Is It Time for a Climate Revolution?”, and “Homosexuality in Classics.”
While many workshops were held in person with Groton’s usual classroom protocols, pandemic-inspired fluency with Zoom enabled many alumni to offer workshops as well.
Mayra Cruz ’11, Theo Higginson Hanna ’05, and Steve Maturo ’93, P’23,’25 spoke about how they've carried forward Groton's commitment to service in their personal and professional lives. Mayra is the climate justice coordinator at Catalyst Miami, a nonprofit centered on economic mobility through community-driven change; Theo is co-CEO of Tech Goes Home, a non-profit that addresses digital inequities; and Steve is a pediatric ear, nose, and throat surgeon in Maine, also affiliated with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The panelists all stressed that most paths aren't straight and that it's okay for students to be without clear goals as they leave Groton.
Tom Bannard ’03, program coordinator for Rams in Recovery at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Classics teacher Preston Bannard ’01 hosted an all-faculty workshop on recovery allyship. Tom is a certified alcohol and drug counselor and spent the first part of his career working with the homeless through CARITAS in Richmond, Virginia.
In a discussion led by Isabel Cai ’21, Dr. David Cheever ’05, an emergency medicine physician at Gallup Indian Medical Hospital in Gallup, New Mexico, spoke to students and faculty about his path to the Indian Health Services and how the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered his work in one of the hardest hit areas in the country. David said he felt drawn to focus his efforts on an underserved population and called on skills honed at Groton—such as problem-solving, working as a team, and pulling all-nighters—during this challenging time.
Allen Feliz '99, founder of "One Nation Every Vote,” a bipartisan non-profit, and Aisling O’Connell '21 spoke about voting in the U.S. Allen credited his time at Groton for inspiring his career track and mentioned the influence of history teacher John Lyons, who, he said, had a keen ability to make students feel as if they were actually experiencing a historical event.
Kristen Carter ’02 hosted a workshop entitled “Bridging the Gap between Inclusion and Belonging.” She emphasized that students should be the change they want to see. Sharing her personal interests and making sure she represented them on campus was important, she said, encouraging students at Groton to do the same.
Nii-Ama Akuete ’96 interviewed formmate Tony Ducret '96 about his path to becoming a filmmaker and Universal Studios executive. Beyond sharing his light-bulb moment—when he saw the impact he could have as a visual storyteller while screening his own film during Sixth Form—Tony shared how he is advocating for representation of people of color in Hollywood, while ensuring that characters are inspirational and complex, and do not succumb to stereotypes.
Another alum inspired by the visual arts at Groton, Ade Osinubi '14, shared her upcoming documentary, Black Motherhood through the Lens, which explores the discrepancies in maternal medical care for Black women in the U.S. Hosted by Jane Park ’21, the discussion covered a variety of topics and, according to science teacher Stephen Belsky “centered on the adjectives ‘avoidable’ and ‘preventable’ to describe differences in health care delivery/availability.” He noted that Ade’s joint interest in reproductive medicine and filmmaking occurred during Fourth Form at Groton, supported by a school grant.
Students and faculty, who chose two sessions of one hour each, praised the workshops’ organization, the hosts’ deep knowledge of their subject area, the engaging conversation, and the welcome perspectives of alumni.—Allison MacBride
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The workshops covered a range of topics, including gender and identity, race and ethnicity, the pandemic, service, media, education, and politics.
“It is always interesting to see which workshops are most sought after,” said Director of Diversity and Inclusion Sravani Sen-Das. “It really shows what issues are most pressing to our students in a given year.” Most popular this spring were workshops related to gender.
The student-hosted workshops included “Not all Men: Expectations of Masculinity and its Effects,” “Farmer's Protests in India: A Look Into The Relationships between Equity, Sustainability, & Minimum Wage,” “Is It Time for a Climate Revolution?”, and “Homosexuality in Classics.”
While many workshops were held in person with Groton’s usual classroom protocols, pandemic-inspired fluency with Zoom enabled many alumni to offer workshops as well.
Mayra Cruz ’11, Theo Higginson Hanna ’05, and Steve Maturo ’93, P’23,’25 spoke about how they've carried forward Groton's commitment to service in their personal and professional lives. Mayra is the climate justice coordinator at Catalyst Miami, a nonprofit centered on economic mobility through community-driven change; Theo is co-CEO of Tech Goes Home, a non-profit that addresses digital inequities; and Steve is a pediatric ear, nose, and throat surgeon in Maine, also affiliated with the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The panelists all stressed that most paths aren't straight and that it's okay for students to be without clear goals as they leave Groton.
Tom Bannard ’03, program coordinator for Rams in Recovery at Virginia Commonwealth University, and Classics teacher Preston Bannard ’01 hosted an all-faculty workshop on recovery allyship. Tom is a certified alcohol and drug counselor and spent the first part of his career working with the homeless through CARITAS in Richmond, Virginia.
In a discussion led by Isabel Cai ’21, Dr. David Cheever ’05, an emergency medicine physician at Gallup Indian Medical Hospital in Gallup, New Mexico, spoke to students and faculty about his path to the Indian Health Services and how the COVID-19 pandemic drastically altered his work in one of the hardest hit areas in the country. David said he felt drawn to focus his efforts on an underserved population and called on skills honed at Groton—such as problem-solving, working as a team, and pulling all-nighters—during this challenging time.
Allen Feliz '99, founder of "One Nation Every Vote,” a bipartisan non-profit, and Aisling O’Connell '21 spoke about voting in the U.S. Allen credited his time at Groton for inspiring his career track and mentioned the influence of history teacher John Lyons, who, he said, had a keen ability to make students feel as if they were actually experiencing a historical event.
Kristen Carter ’02 hosted a workshop entitled “Bridging the Gap between Inclusion and Belonging.” She emphasized that students should be the change they want to see. Sharing her personal interests and making sure she represented them on campus was important, she said, encouraging students at Groton to do the same.
Nii-Ama Akuete ’96 interviewed formmate Tony Ducret '96 about his path to becoming a filmmaker and Universal Studios executive. Beyond sharing his light-bulb moment—when he saw the impact he could have as a visual storyteller while screening his own film during Sixth Form—Tony shared how he is advocating for representation of people of color in Hollywood, while ensuring that characters are inspirational and complex, and do not succumb to stereotypes.
Another alum inspired by the visual arts at Groton, Ade Osinubi '14, shared her upcoming documentary, Black Motherhood through the Lens, which explores the discrepancies in maternal medical care for Black women in the U.S. Hosted by Jane Park ’21, the discussion covered a variety of topics and, according to science teacher Stephen Belsky “centered on the adjectives ‘avoidable’ and ‘preventable’ to describe differences in health care delivery/availability.” He noted that Ade’s joint interest in reproductive medicine and filmmaking occurred during Fourth Form at Groton, supported by a school grant.
Students and faculty, who chose two sessions of one hour each, praised the workshops’ organization, the hosts’ deep knowledge of their subject area, the engaging conversation, and the welcome perspectives of alumni.—Allison MacBride
Groton School Mission: To inspire lives of character, scholarship, leadership, and service within a diverse, inclusive, and close-knit community.
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