Inside the Gates: Fall 2025

5 questions for Jonathan Geller ’87, psychologist in the Health and Wellness Center, who shares what might have become his profession if only he had the “drive” … and the short game.

What do you remember most about returning to the School?
I would like to say that I was less scared when I returned in my current role than when I arrived as a student, but I’m not totally sure that is true.

Do you think having been a student here makes you more relatable to today’s students?
I do not know if it makes me more relatable, but it does allow for me to have great understanding
for how hard our students work. I think I worked harder my freshman year at Lawrenceville than I did in college or graduate school.

If you could be part of a Harkness discussion with any three figures from history, who would you choose?
Sigmund Freud, Bruce Springsteen, and Larry David. I love the way all three capture what it means to be human, and I would like to hear them exchange their perspectives.

What never fails to make you laugh?
That’s easy: my 13-year-old daughter. I think she is hilarious!

If you hadn’t chosen psychology, what other career path might you have taken?
I would have become a professional golfer. I have the desire, just not the talent.

Introduction to Electrical Engineering | SC561

In Introduction to Electrical Engineering, if you aren’t failing, you aren’t succeeding. Projects rarely go right the first time, so science teacher Shinae Park challenges students to embrace failure as an essential part of learning.

“We’re really focused on the process,” Park explained. “How are you thinking through the engineering you’re doing?”

This unique course serves as both an introductory and an honors-level class, and levels of experience vary widely. “Wherever you begin,” Park says, “the goal is to keep learning and growing from there.” Park and Nicki Selan, assistant chair of science, guide students through the basics of electrical engineering before diving into hands-on group projects, such as building a robot. Along the way, students learn essential technical skills like soldering, coding, working with microcontroller boards, and building and testing circuits. But there’s more than that.

“A lot of the engineering process isn’t just mechanical or electrical,” Chris Bai ’25 said. “It’s about collaborating and providing feedback on each other’s projects.”

Always Room for One More

“The overloaded station wagon pulling away from a dormitory in June is a familiar sight in any boarding school. One enterprising mother of a boy in Raymond House went it one better last June, though. Knowing that her Third Form son had more than a station wagon load of gear to be taken home for the summer, she came prepared — with a delivery van rented from Hertz.”

From Echoes of the Campus in the summer 1965 Lawrentian. Sixty years later, large SUVs have inherited the heavy-hauler mantle around the Circle, Crescent, and Bowl.

From “On Social Media and the Human Interior: How False Realities Have Warped Our Focus” by Emily Zhang ’27, which appeared in the May 9, 2025, issue of The Lawrence.

A Girl for All Seasons
Lexie Koch ’25

Athletically speaking, Lexie enjoyed what anyone would consider a dream year. The fall saw her earn first-team All-Mid-Atlantic Prep League and All-New Jersey Independent Schools Athletic Association Prep A honors in field hockey, and she was just getting warmed up.

The chill of winter didn’t do anything to cool Lexie off. As a member of the girls’ indoor track
and field team, she bested her own individual school record in the in the 60 meters at the Penn Relays Winter Showcase, clocking in at 7.99 seconds, just days after setting another as part of the sprint medley relay team at the Tsai Relays at 4:08.59. Once again, her team captured the M.A.P.L. and N.J.I.S.A.A. titles.

And, as accomplished as she was in each, you could make the case that field hockey and track weren’t even Lexie’s “good” sports. The springtime saw the midfielder explode on the lacrosse field, eclipsing the ten-year-old all-time Big Red record for goals when she tallied her 245^th score against Kent Place on May 8. And, as has become her custom, she was named to the All-M.A.P.L. and N.J.I.S.A.A. first teams, as well as to the All-M.A.P.L. Academic team.

For Lexie, who earned twelve Major Ls, it was the culmination of a career that saw her total more than a hundred goals as a Second and Third Former, sustaining the sort of excellence that earned her a spot on the 2025 New Balance All-America Lacrosse Senior Game.

Lawrenceville Film Crew

Clubs as creative outlets have thrived for well over a century at Lawrenceville, and the evolving media landscape provides fresh opportunities for students to express themselves. The Lawrenceville Film Crew enables students to create up to five film projects per academic year with the intention of entering them into such national competitions as the All-American High School Film Festival, or AAHSFF. “It’s a way to engage with the student body and other people who are interested in the same things you are,” says Nico Romero-Durand ’27, adding that in the end, members have a chance to create work “that you’re really proud of.” AAHSFF submissions range across genres, including comedy, drama, experimental, and “micro movies” of a minute or less, and club members write, act, film, and edit every film, a whirlwind they fit in where they can. “We shot from 5 p.m. all the way to 3 a.m.,” says Alex Li ’27, “and then the next day I had to edit everything.”

Condensed from an L10 report

3 things we learned producing this issue of The Lawrentian

1. Per a report in the December 4, 1924, issue of The Lawrence, architectural plans for Pop Hall called for a “vestibule that will connect the building to Memorial Hall, so that it will not be necessary to go outside to go to and from these buildings.” It also noted that funds “have not been subscribed as yet.”
2. When Arthur Sze ’68, the new U.S. poet laureate, left Lawrenceville for M.I.T., it was with the intention of studying chemical engineering, not poetry. But he began writing before visiting poet Denise Levertov urged him to pursue the craft at UC-Berkeley.
3. Aldo Leopold Award winner Roger I. Glass ’63, who was honored for his work in the field of medical science, is also a longtime amateur radio enthusiast who also speaks six languages: French, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Bengali, and English.

Summer Catch

“Salmon being one of our most popular dishes, we’re always trying to develop new recipes to keep it current, and chipotle-rubbed roasted has proven to be a new campus favorite,” says Gary Giberson H’11 ’18 P’10, the founder and president of Sustainable Fare, which keeps Lawrenceville well fed. “The smoky, spicy, salty-sweet flavors go so well with salmon and the easy
preparation makes it a winner all around.” Giberson recommends this dish served over a fresh salad or bowl of rice for an easy summer meal

Chipotle-Rubbed Roasted Salmon

Yields four 6-ounce portions

Ingredients

• Four 6-ounce salmon fillets, preferably wild-caught or Marine Stewardship Council listed (msc.org/en-au)
• 2 tablespoons olive oil

Spice mix

• 1 tablespoon kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons light brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons chipotle morita chile powder
• 1 tablespoon ground cumin

Cilantro lime sauce

• 3 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• ½ teaspoon kosher salt
• ¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tablespoons of fresh lime juice (about 2 limes)
• 1 tablespoon sliced chives

Procedure

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a small mixing bowl add all dry ingredients and mix well.
• Place salmon fillets on baking sheet pan or ovenproof cooking pan in a single layer and coat all sides with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Then rub with spice mix, set aside.
• In a medium mixing bowl place cilantro, salt, and olive oil, and stir in lime juice.
• Place salmon in hot oven and roast for 10-14 minutes or until cooked to your preference. Serve with cilantro lime sauce.

What made you most proud of your House this past year? Why?

Heads of house and assistant heads of house responded to this issue’s end-of-year question.