Six alumni returned to GFA for the second annual Young Alumni Panel.  Students from Pomona, Carnegie Mellon, UVA, Emerson, Pitzer and Elizabethtown spoke to the Upper School about their college experiences. Topics ranged from studying abroad, choosing a liberal arts college cover a conservatory, and taking advantage of the unexpected opportunities that college offers. Alumni relayed how well GFA prepared them for college and offered good advice to students, many of whom are in the midst of the college process.
 

At the Wyvern Invitational A Cappella Festival at the Kingswood-Oxford School in January, the Beachside Express won for Best Choreography and the Harbor Blues won awards for Best Arrangement (Elizabeth Woodson's arrangement of "I Don't Want You Now") and Best in Show!

Our Science Department faculty members have committed themselves to making the study of science
appealing to every student by connecting subject material to daily life. Now in its second year, the Energy
and the Environment (E&E) initiative is transforming how science is taught and learned at GFA by
highlighting the study of alternative energy in every division and in each science subject.

Director of Alumni Relations Susan Ball worked with members of the Science Department faculty to craft the winning proposal that will enable students in every science class to study the effects of solar energy. The twenty thousand dollars in grant money will be used to purchase cold frames and/or greenhouses for use by all divisions to complement the existing Lower School outside garden and Middle School greenhouse. The grant will also add cold frames to the large new organic garden enabling energy-based research at that site. The Dorr Foundation funds will purchase alternative energy devices such as a portable solar cell unit and associated gardening, monitoring, and laboratory equipment, including a digital binocular microscope with computer interface to allow classroom observation of plant organisms and soil constituents. All of the new equipment will be used in class labs as well as by students in the Independent Research class and those doing independent study projects.

The GFA Alumni Association is seeking nominations for the Distinguished Alumni Award. The specific purpose of this award is to recognize the extraordinary achievements of one of our own. The recipient of this honor embodies the adage Quisque Pro Omnibus or “Each for All.” The recipient should show strength, conviction and courage, and continue to be an inspiration to the entire GFA community through his or her role as friend, parent, sibling, volunteer, philanthropist and humanitarian. Last year’s honoree was Prasanth Akkapeddi '92.

To nominate a fellow alumna/us for this award, please answer the following questions, and including any additional information you wish:

Candidate's name, address, phone, email, class year
Brief bio of the candidate
His/her outstanding achievements
Candidate’s profession/career path
Candidate’s personal characteristics
Contributions to GFA/ Bolton/ Laycock
Contributions to the greater community
Why this candidate is being nominated for this award
Please list friends or references who know this candidate

Please send it via e-mail, mail or fax to:
Alumni Office, Greens Farms Academy
35 Beachside Ave, PO Box 998, Greens Farms, CT 06838
Email: alumni@gfacademy.org fax (203) 256-7540

All nominations must be received by April 19, 2010. If you have any questions, please contact the alumni office at 203-256-7523.

We are pleased to remind you of a new way for you to access alumni information on our website. As an alum, you will be able to go to a secure password-protected site called My Backpack to see the following important information: an alumni directory, class notes and personal giving history (not visible to anyone else).

You should have received a letter in the mail with your user id and a temporary password to enter the site. You may change your password once you have logged in. The My Backpack web address is: https://my.gfacademy.org/SeniorApps
(Note the "s" for "secure" in https, please bookmark this address in your web browser.)

Your home address, email address and phone number are currently available to the GFA Alumni Community if they were not previously tagged as "do not publish" by us at your request. Once you have logged into the site you will have the ability to change your security settings to limit that amount of information others may view.

We hope this access to our database will strengthen your connection to the GFA community, and make it easier for you to find information many alumni have requested from us. If you need help or did not receive your user id and password in the mail, please feel free to contact Rachel D'Agostino at rdagostino@gfacademy.org or (203) 256-7523.