| A Note from Alumni Council President, Chris Masotto '94 | | Dear Fellow Alumni,
I would like to thank you for the past years of continued support, and hope that you have been following along to see all the new changes the school has made and is currently undertaking.
Portledge and the Alumni Council have been working together to further develop opportunities for students and alumni. This year we are striving to solidify the Alumni Association's commitment to Portledge and are building a strong, unified alumni network. I encourage you to read regular updates from the school, check the site for updates and attend a Portledge function this year. The Professional Networking Portal planned to launch this summer is a great gift to the alumni. Our shared affinity for Portledge is a unifying strength that we can leverage for increased professional success in a tumultuous economic climate.
Portledge will be successful with increased alumni involvement. And if you or any Alum would like to become more involved, please reach out to us. No matter how much or how little time you have to offer, your involvement is both appreciated and necessary. The coming months offer plenty of opportunities--event work, calling friends, letter writing, attending an event--it's up to you. Contact Christina to get involved.
Through events, the development of our website, and stronger communication, Portledge is dedicating more resources to alumni development. We would love to hear more suggestions from you, and we ask that you keep in touch. We look forward to hearing from and seeing you at an upcoming Portledge event.
Chris Masotto ‘94 Alumni Association President |  |
| Class Notes | | Christian Guzzano '93
Chris and his family currently reside in Alexandria, VA, and he works as an Assistant Regional Counsel at the General Services Administration, National Capital Region (Construction Procurement and Contract Administration). He asks that anyone passing through the D.C. area drop him a line and arrange a visit.
Amanda Belt Alsheimer '98
Amanda writes ..."I had a baby in September and recently went back to teaching so life is pretty hectic. I hope to make a Portledge event soon. Actually, my school, Marymount School of New York, is playing lacrosse against Portledge this spring. I plan on coming to the game, so hopefully I can stop by and see you."
James Lenz '00
James writes...." Jillian Cavuoto, from Dix Hills, NY, and I were married in August in NY. Adam Strauss ‘00 was my best man. Jillian and I are living in Manhattan Beach, CA, and I am working for Griffin Capital, a real estate investment company based in El Segundo, CA."
Jordan Becker '00
Jordan says "hello" to the Portledge community from Tarrytown, where he works as a banker, runs, plays curling and still gets really worked up about English soccer.
Christian Ehrhardt '03
Christian writes...."I’m in my third year as a Special Agent with the U.S. Department of State. I finished a one year deployment to Iraq this Spring and now I am working at our Washington Field Office. This summer I spent two months on assignment to the U.S. Embassy in Santiago, Chile."
Alex Steinberg ‘05
“I am currently in my second year at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law in New York City. I graduated from the George Washington University School of Business in 2005 with a B.B.A in Business Administration and a concentration in International Business and Sports Management. For the past two years I have been working part-time as the Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator at James Grant Sports, a small soccer focused agency based in DC. Additionally this past summer I interned in the law department at Time Inc.”
Alexa DePasquale ‘07
Alexa is a junior at UPenn, and writes……”The NIAF initiative I have started is an incredible program meant to promote the Italian American culture and heritage to our youth. I studied abroad in Florence this summer and that experience really sparked the love for my heritage. I have been taking Italian since my freshman year and have been a youth member of NIAF a couple years. This summer I wrote a "playbook" which functions as a guide that can be sent to all other colleges and universities nationwide. We created a website, membership cards, flyers, presentation books, designed a logo, etc. To date, we have about 20 members and counting. We were recently written up in UPenn's newspaper and have been spoken about through Facebook and Twitter numerous times. In terms of singing and acting....yes I try to do as much as I can. During my year off I excelled and worked with two agencies through which I filmed a spec commercial for Addidas and an independent film called Batman: Hothouse. I performed at a few record label showcases and even now I try to perform around campus at my Tridelta philanthropy events. I auditioned to be an Eagles cheerleader last year and made it into semi-final round and competed in the Miss Italia 2010 pageant. I do my best to perform, but I am very focused on my academic endeavors at this time." | |
| | | Please note: The above information was gathered from emails or phone calls received by the Advancement Office. Each issue will have a Class Notes section, so please send us news about you. Tell us about your job, family, classmates you’ve seen recently, trips you’ve recently taken, whatever. This section will be as big as the news you supply. Please email your news to cvillecco@portledge.org, and we’ll publish it in the next issue. Thank you for your help! | |
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| | Welcome Alumni! | | Dear Portledge Alumni,
Welcome to the first Portledge Alumni eNewsletter. We want to stay connected with you and hope you want the same, so we created this as a means to pass news and information along to you in a quick and easy manner. Please check the Portledge website on a regular basis, as we are always adding new items and updating it.
We’d like to take this opportunity to introduce ourselves. First, you probably know Turk Lewis ’87, Director of Advancement, who returned to Portledge in 2002. He is responsible for oversight of all advancement functions including alumni affairs, fundraising, event planning, and the school store. Turk sits on the Senior Administrative Committee and is a non-voting member of various Board subcommittees. His work also includes collaboration on strategic planning, web and print publications and database coordination. Next, Christina (Eccleston) Villecco ’00, Advancement Associate, started at Portledge in August. Christina is responsible for event planning, alumni relations, the Parents Association support and other advancement functions. Peter Cox has been with Portledge for five years as the Database Manager. He is in charge of the student, faculty and alumni databases, and coordinates the annual fund. Finally, Stephanie Avidon is the Manager of Communications. Her main responsibilities include website maintenance, newsletter development, media relations, parent/community communications and new social media.
We are all here to answer your questions and hope you will keep us posted on what you’ve been up to and the whereabouts of your fellow alumni. We especially need your help for the Class Notes section. Please send us your news at any time. You can email it to cvillecco@portledge.org.
Have a very Happy Thanksgiving! We hope to see you at the Annual Alumni Holiday Party on December 3rd in NYC.
Best regards,
Stephanie Avidon
Peter Cox
Turk Lewis ‘87
Christina Villecco ‘00 | |
| Founders Day 2010 | | Portledge celebrated its 7th annual Founders Day on October 2, 2010, and it was a huge success. Many Alums visited the Alumni tent and chatted with Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Schuessler and Mrs. Glover, including Michael Vanderbilt '85, Haley Tynes '09, Keith Merkler '89, John Hambrook '10, Vanessa Diamataris '07, Adam Lanza '07, Alyssa Ruiz '07, Ashley Gilchrist '08, Sal Magliocco '10, Miyuki Miyagi '08, Jazmyne Garvin-Archer '09, Emily Lavelle '00, Daniel Karp '05, Alex Steinberg '05, and Michael McCloskey '09. The Alumni-Faculty Soccer Game was a highlight to the day with Phil Han ’98, Andrew Getting ’98, Julian Daniels ’00, Marc Perry ’00, Walter Roll ’77, Keith Merkler ’89, and Mark Dourmashkin ‘10 among the participants. The event wrapped up with some cold drinks and hot food at Brown's Tavern.
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| Class of 1990 20 Year Reunion | | Members of the class of 1990 reunited at Buckram Stables Saturday, November 13th to celebrate 20 years since their graduation from Portledge. Jack Brundige, Maisha Walker, Jen Wingate, Kirsten Osmundsen, Dave Ramirez, Josh Gottsegan, Eric Grossman, Michelle Meyer, Claude Bahnik, Peggy Hogan, Susan Stetz, Doug Famigletti, Darren Cohen, and Whitney Hanley were in attendance. Whitney commented that “It was like no time had passed!” The class looks forward to planning another gathering in 2015. | |
| Class of 2000 10 Year Reunion | | The Class of 2000 got together on Friday, November 5th, 2010 in NYC to celebrate 10 years since graduation. Those in attendance included Anouchka Bloom, Frank Celauro, Jordan Becker, Jason Becker, Ingrid Howell, Lucy Blumenfeld, Shannon Truitt, Adam Strauss, Emily Lavelle, Christina Villecco, and Matt Pascucci '99. | |
| Alums Give Back | | Last April, Claude Zdanow ‘06 and fellow high school pal, Ben Kaufman ’05, spoke to Upper School students during a Town Meeting about life after Portledge and how Portledge prepared them for the real world. He has been a mentor to many current students and recent alumni.
From a young age he channeled his enthusiasm for music in many different ways. By age 15, while he was attending Portledge, Claude built his own recording studio, RockIT Studios in his basement. He also found time to be involved in a wide variety of school activities including jazz band, tech crew, student council, lacrosse, ice hockey, soccer and cross country.
In his four years since leaving Portledge, Claude has been busy. After graduation Claude attended Marymount College in Manhattan to study music and business. In 2006, he had an opportunity to go on tour with the band, Patent Pending, as their bass player. He was living the dream of being a rock star. But after a 60-show national tour realized he wanted more of a “normal” life and turned down an offer to stay with the band. Claude went back to school to study political science and philosophy.
However, music was his calling. At age 19, he started a recording studio in Manhattan, Stadiumred. This was particularly risky, since during this time, recording studios were closing in massive numbers. Today, Stadiumred (www.stadiumredny.com) is one of the largest recording studios in New York with five studios. They have four Grammy’s and their client list includes Eminem, Drake, the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Yo Yo Ma, plus recording labels like Sony BMG and Capitol Records.
Claude thoroughly enjoyed his talk with Portledge students and still keeps in touch with many through Facebook. He enjoys giving guidance and dispelling misconceptions about being an entrepreneur and the music industry. His goal is to inspire teens so others can follow their dreams like he did. While at Portledge, Claude was friends with everyone since he had so many diverse interests. He was very close with a number of teachers, and he still keeps in touch with many.
Thank you, Claude, for giving back to the Portledge community through guiding and sharing your life experiences with our youth. | |
| Fall Season in Varsity Sports | | This fall was a very successful season for Portledge’s Varsity Athletic program. Both the Varsity Girls and Boys Soccer teams enjoyed winning campaigns with the Girls earning a PSAA play off spot with a record of 9 wins and 5 losses, and the Boys reaching the IPPSAL play offs after recording a mark of 9 wins, 7 losses and 2 ties. Considering this was to be a rebuilding year for both programs, the respective Head Coaches, Mike Coope and Kevin Coleman, were very happy with the progress of their teams. There will be plenty of returning letter winners on the Varsity Soccer teams next fall, so look for even more progress then.
The Varsity Cross Country team at Portledge continues to grow as does the IPPSAL Cross Country League. There were well over a hundred runners at most of the IPPSAL meets, and of the seven schools that usually competed, the Portledge Panthers generally placed third in the team competition. Junior Isabella Muratore consistently ran in the top three spots in the Varsity Girls division, and Sophomore Marc Muccaccio was the first Portledge male to break into the top three spots in several years. Marc did this at the IPPSAL Championship meet held at Eisenhower Park.
Last, but certainly not least, was another IPPSAL Championship season for the Varsity Girls Tennis team. That’s three in a row and thirteen out of the last fifteen for the Portledge Lady Panther netters. The team’s overall mark of 11 wins and only 2 losses illustrates a real improvement in non league play.
Phil Hills
Director of Athletics | |
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| | The Alumni Fund | | Alumni giving is essential to every independent school. The strength of the Alumni Fund is the most visible sign of alumni involvement to the broader school community. Your gift has a tremendous impact on the present and future of Portledge.
A gift from an alum:
- Encourages others to give
- Reminds the community of the vital role alumni play
- Shows faculty, parents, trustees, foundations, and prospective families that we care
I hope you take a moment now to make an on-line gift of any size. Thank you.
Turk Lewis '87
Director of Advancement
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| Upcoming Alumni Events | | Friday, December 3rd - Annual Alumni Holiday Party, Banc Cafe (3rd Ave and 30th St) New York City. $30 open bar with food, 8:00-10:00 p.m. RSVP to Christina Villecco '00 cvillecco@portledge.org.
January 21st-23rd - Regional Alumni Event in Chicago! Contact us if you live, work or will be in the Chicago area and would like to attend or help us organize the event.
Thursday, February 10th- Alumni Council Meeting, 1400 Broadway, 1st floor (at 39th St), New York City, 7:00 p.m.
If you would like to plan a 5 or 10 year reunion for your class, contact Christina Villecco '00 cvillecco@portledge.org.
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| Professional Networking Portal | | Looking for a job? Searching for an upgrade? Need an internship? Portledge is working to create a password protected, searchable career database for students and alums. We have begin the buildout and will be beta testing this spring. We need business information to get started and volunteers to test it. If you’d like to be included in this effort, please contact Christina Villecco ’00 with your employment information (current or desired job, region, field) at cvillecco@portledge.org. | |
| Class of 2010 Matriculation | | Congrats again to the class of 2010! Below are the schools our recent graduates are currently attending:
Bryce Samson Behar: Kenyon College
Jonathan Brailsford: The University of Tampa
Chelsea Caracciolo: College of the Holy Cross
Sam Cohen: Hofstra University
Mara Davis: University of Miami
Bashir Desgrottes: St. John's University
Mark Dourmashkin: Franklin and Marshall College
Sarah Engstrand: University of St. Andrews (Scotland)
Chelsea Estevez: Dartmouth College
Philip Falino: New York University
Natalie Michelle Flammia: Wake Forest University
Hannah Fortgang: Bucknell University
Christopher J. Gerry: Amherst College
Elizabeth Girgenti: Fairfield University
Natalie Gray: Manhattanville College
John Hambrook: SUNY Maritime College
Stephanie Hegarty: Gettysburg College
Marian Juste: CUNY Queensborough
Monique Laura Kelly: Colby College
Lindsay Krause: Lynn University
Daniel Leask: La Salle University
John Litke: High Point University
Salvatore Magliocco: Choate Rosemary Hall
Sachee Nahata: Lehigh University
Vivek Nelanuthala: Stony Brook University
Antonia Patterson: Pratt Institute
Emily Prey: Williams College
Imani Punch: New York University
Adeline Reilly: Fairfield University
Craig Renjifo: The University of Tampa
Claudia Rogers: Muhlenberg College
Eo-Chin Rym: New York University
Christian Sbarro: Connecticut College
Samuel Ellis Scheinman: Cornell University
Benjamin Shapiro: Syracuse University
Minjae Shin: Carnegie Mellon University
Henry Stallings: American University
Delphine Alita Starr: Wesleyan University
Akanksha Trivedi: Boston University
David Wilson: University of Virginia
Miles Works: University of Colorado at Boulder
Robyn Worrall: University of Vermont | |
| School Store | | Dying for a new Portledge fleece? How about the classic Flap Hat? Check out the school store online, and contact Christina Villecco to place an order. Send us a picture of the newest addition to your family and we'll send you a Portledge Athletics one-piece for your little one.
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| What do you think? We want to know! | | Your feedback is always helpful. Please send us your thoughts via email to savidon@portledge.org. Here are some questions to consider answering: Do you like this eNewsletter? What stories would you like us to write? Do you have any suggestions for alumni events or programs? Would you like to host a regional event in your town with fellow alumni? What can the Advancement Office do to help you more? Thank you for taking the time to let us know your thoughts! We value your suggestions and input. | |
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