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"Education is a journey
not a destination" |
State College Friends School
1900 University Drive State College, PA 16801 814-237-8386
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Our School's Board of Trustees 2008/2009 Meeting Appointees: "From its very first days, the excitement of a fledgling Friends School caught my attention and it has continued to hold me and my family through all stages of the school's growth." Polly has done everything at the school from painting walls in the basement of the Meetinghouse when the school opened more than 25 years ago to serving as the school's head administrator from 1985-89; her children John and Robin are Friends School graduates. Polly also helped raise funds for the capital campaign to build the current school and was formerly clerk of the board. "For 25 years, Friends School has been a place where students can learn to love learning, think for themselves, and inquire of the world around them." As Polly says, her career has "seesawed" between education and community development, including stints teaching elementary students and analyzing data for Penn State's Commonwealth Campus System. Currently, she volunteers as the Friendship Program coordinator and a board member with Global Connections. Polly has a B.A. from Smith College and an M.S. in community development from PSU.
A member of State College Friends Meeting, Mardi has been associated with Friends School since 1991. Her three sons, Paul, Ellis and Mitchell, were students here, and she was a teacher at Friends School for three years. Mardi served as a Meeting-appointed trustee for the 2005/06 year and returned to the board in 2007 in the same capacity. She was also a member of the 2006/07 Head of School Search Committee. Mardi started her career as a naturalist at Shaver's Creek Environmental Center at Penn State's Stone Valley Recreation Area. Currently, she is a teacher in the State College Area School District, where she has been a classroom and elementary learning enrichment teacher. At present, she is a teacher/librarian in the Houserville and Lemont elementary schools, having recently completed her master's in library science from Penn State.
Bruce's commitment to young people stretches back nearly 40 years as a co-founder and first chairman of the Board of Directors of the Centre County Youth Service Bureau. For the past several years, Bruce has tutored second through fifth grade students in math at the school. "Development of the whole child is essential to me. This is what State College Friends School is all about." In addition to youth-oriented community service, Bruce also volunteered as an Emergency Medical Technician with Centre Lifelink Ambulance Service and as a paramedic assistant at Centre Community Hospital. He served on the Board of Directors of Centre Lifelink after retiring from active ambulance service. Bruce and his wife Susan are residents of Foxdale Village where Bruce co-clerks the Board of Directors and is a member of the Finance and Property Committee and the Bylaws Committee. Bruce holds bachelor's and master's degrees in chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Syracuse University, respectively, and a Ph.D. in fuel technology from Penn State. Before retiring from Penn Sate in 1991, he was a faculty member in the Materials Science and Engineering Department and in the Science, Technology and Society Program. He also served as Assistant Director of the Materials Research Lab on campus and taught humanities. "I love using words that begin with the letter "c" to describe what I think kids learn at Friends School: confidence, caring, conscience, communication and community." Campbell and his wife, Yuri, are parents of Marissa, who attended Friends School from kindergarten through seventh grade and is now a freshman at Haverford College, and Luke, who's currently in seventh grade at Friends School. Professionally, Campbell has worked with various non-profit groups including Greenpeace, the Humane Society of the U.S, Amazon Watch and the Environmental Investigation Agency doing environmental advocacy and investigations concerning whales and tropical forests. Campbell is the founder and executive director of the Center for Amazon Community Ecology, a non-profit organization that promotes forest conservation and local sustainable development with traditional communities in the Amazon region. He is also active with State College Friends Meeting and helps lead conflict resolution workshops at the McKean federal prison through the Alternatives to Violence Project. He also sits on the board of the International Friendship House. Campbell earned a B.A. in biology from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in ecology from Penn State.
Beth is beginning her fourth year as a trustee and her connections to the school run deep. Her partner taught at the school when it was still in the basement of State College Friends Meeting, where Beth is a member. And she is the parent of two children currently enrolled in the school. "Watching my children just about trip over one another to get on the bus in order to be early to school and then seeing them in the evening still glowing from their school experiences, I know they are spending their school days not only surrounded by learning but also by love. I give thanks for all those who have made and are making Friends School-and my children's attendance there-possible." Beth is a licensed clinical social worker in practice in State College. Prior to that, she worked for Children and Youth Services of Allegheny County and as executive director of the Centre County Women's Resource Center. She has a B.A. in Psychology from Brandeis University and an M.S.W. from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Mardy’s first introduction to a Friends school was in 1930 when she joined the kindergarten class at Germantown Friends School. As Mardy says, “I don’t think I realized how lucky I was until years later when I had some dealings with much more ordinary schools.” Therefore, when a committee at State College Friends Meeting proposed starting a Friends school here, Mardy and her husband Mark joined right in and have been involved ever since. One of them has served on the board almost continually since the school was founded, and they have both been incredibly supportive of the school through the years. They helped turn the Meetinghouse basement into a school (which opened in 1980 with 7 students and two half-time teachers) and helped start the library when the school was partially housed in the University Baptist and Brethren Church. It was Mardy who insisted that our present building include a “tutoring room” where children who needed extra help would have a quiet place to work.
Mardy and Mark are residents of Foxdale, and Mardy continues to give extra help in reading to Friends School children who need it. Her professional credentials include a Certificate in Remedial Reading and 10 years of related work in public schools.
At-Large Appointees: Mary Lou is a new at-large member of the board who looks forward to the challenges and excitement of being involved with State College Friends School Board of Trustees. Mary Lou is a co-owner of RE/MAX Centre Realty and has held numerous leadership positions in the Centre County Association of REALTORS, including serving as president on two different occasions. She is also a past president of the University Women’s Club and of the Interfaith Mission. Currently she is a co-sponsor of the Nittany Valley Symphony and a member of the Board of Directors of the Penn State Renaissance Fund.
Mary has been part of the Friends School community since her son Will, who is currently in a 7th grader at Penns Valley Area Middle School, enrolled in 2002. Mary says, "The school supports its children as individuals but can clearly be a strong, shaping influence. Will was born with a compassionate heart and the school nurtured that. I am grateful that he has grown to appreciate and accept differences among people and to see those differences without judgmental eyes." She feels strongly about being actively involved in the Friends School community precisely because it is a "community" and not simply a school. She has been a class parent and was a member of the 2006/2007 Head of School Search Advisory Committee. Mary is a member of State College Friends Meeting where she and her family enjoy being part of the Friends community. Mary is a clinical psychologist in private practice. She earned her bachelor's degree at Kenyon College in Ohio and her master's and Ph.D. at the University of Southern California. She enjoys gardening, traveling, hiking and biking and is an avid practitioner of Soto Zen Buddhism.
Joanne's son Michael attended Friends School from kindergarten through eighth grade, graduating in 2004. Joanne's first experience with the school was somewhat accidental. "I was drawn to the school by the radiance of the teachers and the children I saw each day in the park near the Meetinghouse (when some classes were still housed there) when Michael was little." Joanne completed a previous six-year stint as a trustee, and she served as clerk or co-clerk of the Fun Fair for several years. She also clerked the 2000/01, 2005/06 and 2006/07 Head of School Search Committees. A resident of State College since 1975, Joanne works with her husband, Mike, in Penn State's Department of Nutritional Sciences. She earned bachelor's and master's degrees in biochemistry and nutritional biochemistry at Cornell.
"I continue to be impressed with the warmth and confidence SCFS instills in its students, from the just-beginning kindergartner to the eighth grader ready to face the big high school." When Beth and her family moved to State College in 2000, her daughter Devin enrolled in SCFS's 4th grade. Devin is now an 12th grader at State High, while her brother Benjamin is in 5th grade at Friends School. Before joining the Friends School board, Beth had already been an active parent volunteer at SCFS. In addition, when Benjamin attended preschool at the Cooperative Playschool, Beth served on their board. Beth holds undergraduate degrees in Art History from Swarthmore College and Computer Science from the University of Maryland. She has worked in database and information system design and implementation.
Jeff Krantweiss is new to the Board of Trustees but has been a part of Friends School as a parent for four years. Jeff’s children Jacob (3rd grade) and twins Ben and Sam (2nd grade) enjoy a wonderful Friends School experience. “Our family was first drawn to the community atmosphere while attending Fun Fair when the boys were in preschool. We were looking for a school with a community feel, caring environment and smaller class sizes. We feel fortunate to have found Friends School which has exceeded what we were looking for in a school.” Jeff and his wife Becky help with Halloween festivities, fundraising, Fun Fair and the yard sale.
Jeff is the controller for Optical Image Technology, Inc. Jeff’s undergraduate degree is from Penn State in business logistics and he returned to Penn State to earn his master’s in accounting. In addition to being active at Friends School, Jeff is also a board member for the Centre Communities Chapter of the American Red Cross and for State College Area Meals on Wheels. Jeff enjoys playing sports with his sons, walking the dog, and going on family hikes.
Ralph and his wife, Kat, have had two sons at Friends School: Matthew graduated several years ago and is currently in 11th grade at State High, and Chris is currently an 8th grader at Park Forest Middle School. Along with Kat, Ralph has worked on many school fundraisers, including the Goods and Services Auction and Fun Fair. "Friends School is a warm place of peace, where children are invested with a combination of outstanding academics and the Quaker principles of equality, community, simplicity, and harmony. The school, its faculty and the students it educates and nurtures are treasures in this community and the world." Ralph is a Professor of Marketing and Executive Director of the Institute for the Study of Business Markets (ISBM) at Penn State. Before coming to Penn State, he was worldwide Brand Manager/Vice President of Market Communications for Texas Instruments, headquartered in Dallas. Ralph has a Ph.D. in Solid-State Physics from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. |