Inside the Gates: Winter/Spring 2025

5 questions for Colette Burns, administrative assistant and private lesson coordinator now in her 37^th year in the Performing Arts Department, who didn’t just leave her wedding dress in a box in the attic.

You’ve seen so many stage productions at KAC. Do you have a favorite?
I think they are all great, but one of my favorites, which was performed here twice, is Lucky Stiff — so funny!

Has anything you wore ever become part of the Performing Arts wardrobe?
There were a few pieces here and there, but the most loved possession I donated was my wedding gown. It was worn by Emily Li ’18 in The Mystery of Edwin Drood. I told the costume department to alter it in any way needed, but when she tried it on, it fit her like a glove. Ah, remembering my youth!

If you could be part of a Harkness discussion with any three figures from history, who would you choose?
Emily Dickinson, Marie Curie, and Mahatma Gandhi.

What is your favorite book or movie?
Hard to narrow it down, but I’d say The Shawshank Redemption — great on several different levels.

What never fails to make you laugh?
Oh, that’s an easy one — my grandchildren. I became a “mom-mom” four times in five years! I have such a blast when we are all together. They bring me such joy and always make me laugh.

Honors Spanish: Muralists of Mexico | LA593

Honors Spanish: Muralists of Mexico explores Latin American art, from murals to multimedia works, with a focus on Latin American identity as reflected in art. Students concluded the fall term with presentations — en español, por supuesto — of an issues-based artwork they created, done in the spirit of one of the artists they studied during the term.

“Learning about the style and messages of Latin American artists made me think about who I am with more complexity,” Stephanie Schloss ’26 said.

Students study a range of artists, tracing the influence and legacy of muralism in today’s more contemporary art world, all informing their final projects.

“I hope that the students felt empowered by the art pieces they were able to produce,” language teacher Josefina Ayllón-Ayllón said. “The students took everything they had learned about identity and what defines a nation and concentrated on a specific social issue of particular importance for them and how it affected a specific community or the world.”

Essential Reading?

“What should librarians in secondary schools do to make readers of boys and girls, offer them what they want, or what their teachers and parents think they should want? In this library we have long insisted that attempting to force the young to read the classics will never make readers of them, will, in fact, tend to make them avoid reading for the rest of their lives. If you disagree, do a little checking up on the real readers you know and learn how each of them got that way.”

From “Volumes which no ‘Gentlemen’s Library’ Should be Without,” by librarian Oscar H. McPherson, Class of 1901, in the winter 1945 Lawrentian.

Hitting the Right Notes:
Anna Androulakis ’26

For the second consecutive year, Anna won the prestigious Grand Prix at the Music-Fest International Rising Talent Music Festival, earning the chance to perform in the Weill Recital Hall at Carnegie Hall. The Rising Talents Festival is open to performers from 5 to 25 years old, who are accepted after auditioning and assigned to the Grand Prix, Grand Prize, Gold, or Silver level prize of the Winner Circle Concert Series. Musicians must play by memorization.

A pianist, Anna performed Dance of the Elves op.21, no.3 by Génari Karganov, a year after playing Prelude in D flat major op.43, no.1 by Reinhold Glière.

“Music has become an inseparable part of who I am, something that I love and plan to carry with me for the rest of my life,” says the multifaceted Anna, who is eyeing a career in medicine. “I think it would be really rewarding to bring my love for music into my future career, even if it’s not the main focus.”

Although she calls playing at Music-Fest a terrific experience — “there is beauty in that style of music that is sadly overlooked by my generation” — Anna embraces a wide range of sounds, particularly the fun and energy of pop and R&B. “I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of musical theatre,” she says. “It is also a big part of who I am.”

True Crime Club | Founded 2022

When she has free time, Joelle Vermut ’25 fills it with true crime podcasts. “There’s something so compelling about piecing together fragments of evidence as you are hearing about a case and thinking through different perspectives,” says Vermut, who founded Lawrenceville’s True Crime Club in 2022. She’s not the only one who’s been drawn in: This year, the club had over 90 sign ups, and it draws about 15 members to each meeting. They rely on a mix of current events and classic cases that remain unresolved or controversial, such as that of the Menendez Brothers. But the True Crime Club goes deeper, too. Discussions challenge members to examine biases and inequities in the judicial system and question their own assumptions. “Understanding these complexities has taught me how narratives are often shaped by incomplete evidence or societal perceptions,” Vermut says. “It’s also reinforced the importance of critical thinking, empathy, and digging deeper into the facts.”

3 Things we learned producing this issue of The Lawrentian

1. Jared Goldenberg ’10, technical director in the Kirby Arts Center, moved into The Lodge last fall, the same House in which he lived as an infant with his mother and father, longtime athletics administrator and head trainer Mike “G” Goldenberg H’94 ’96 ’97 P’05 ’10.
2. Mathew Johnson ’13 is part of head coach Dan Hurley’s men’s basketball staff at the University of Connecticut. Mat’s father, Herman Johnson P’13, coached for Hurley’s father, Bob Hurley, at St. Anthony High School in Jersey City, N.J.
3. Although they were contemporaries and two of the leading conservationists of their time, Aldo Leopold L. 1905 and Ray P. Holland L. 1904 were sometimes adversaries per their public positions on wildlife and ecological issues.

Hoard this Gourd

Want to ward off winter’s chill? “I am thinking about how therapeutic a warm bowl of butternut squash and apple bisque can be for the soul,” says Gary Giberson H’11 ’18 P’10, the founder  and president of Sustainable Fare, which makes sure Lawrenceville eats well. Giberson adds that it stores well, freezes easily, and has a big fan on campus. “It is so popular that it was served at our head of school’s daughter’s wedding,” he proclaims.

Butternut Squash & Apple Bisque

Yields eight 6 oz. portions

• 2 cups butternut squash, peeled, seeded, diced, 1-inch cubes
• 1½ cups apples, peeled, seeded, diced, 1-inch cubes
• ⅓ cup onion, diced large
• ⅓ cup carrot, peeled, diced large
• 2 cups vegetable stock
• 1 dash ground cayenne pepper
• 2 dashes cinnamon
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• ⅓ cup heavy cream
• 8 teaspoons sour cream, for garnish
• 1 tablespoon sliced chives

Combine the squash, apples, onions, carrots, and stock in a heavy saucepan and bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat to medium low to simmer for about 20 minutes, or until the squash is very tender.

Remove the pot from the heat and let cool, then puree the mixture using a blender or blender immersion stick. (You may prepare the recipe in advance up to this point; refrigerate in a covered container up to three days.)

Return the puree to the saucepan and turn the heat to medium-low. Stir in the heavy cream, cayenne, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Taste and adjust seasoning if needed. Heat to a simmer, do not let soup boil, keep warm until ready to serve.

Ladle soup into warm bowls and garnish with sour cream dollop and sprinkle with chives.

What is the best tradition in your House? Why?