Featured Story
Dreams of Travel Come True
Dreams are coming true for Math teacher Nancy Walsh and English teacher Susan Doran thanks to the annual Faculty Enrichment Award generously donated by former St. Luke’s parents Steve and Liz Goldstone. The “Dream Grant” allows faculty to pursue a personal project or journey that will enrich their lives. Submitted proposals are reviewed and 2-3 winners are selected each year by a committee of faculty peers.
Nancy Walsh: Family Trip to Ireland
Nancy Walsh’s dream description was, “to spend 10 days in Ireland tracing family heritage with my sisters and to experience the people, places, and Irish culture of the maternal side of our family.”
Her proposal shared the following:
My mother was very proud of her 100% Irish heritage. St. Patrick’s Day was always a big celebration for me and my four siblings (older brothers and younger sisters). Sadly, my mom died of ovarian cancer when I was 23 before we had an opportunity to go with her to Ireland. My sisters and I have been a huge support system for each other throughout our lives. They were by my side as I battled breast cancer (ages 29 and 41) and now we are supporting my sister, Karen, as she undergoes surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation in her own battle with breast cancer. Winning the Dream Grant would allow my two sisters and I to go on a trip to Ireland together. Although cancer has had a huge impact on the females in my family, we refuse to let it define us, and try to live our lives to the fullest.
Susan Doran: Historical Trip to Great Britain
For those who know Susan Doran, it comes as no surprise her dream is to visit the haunts and resting places of famous English writers.
Her proposal was:
Though I surely would like to hit a longer ball off the tee or speak French without a New York accent, my abiding passion—past, present and in the looming future—is always those ‘realms of gold’ in books, books, and ever more books...And so my dream is to visit two places in Great Britain whose landscapes and byways are relatively untouched by time, and give life to the authors I so admire and have taught for 20 years: the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales. Wordsworth, Coleridge, Byron and John Ruskin and are represented in the former, while the Brontes, Elizabeth Gaskell, George Eliot and Sir Walter Scott either lived or spent long sojourns in the latter. My guide would be Margaret Drabble’s text, A Writer’s Britain, and the Oxford Book of Literary Britain.
Congratulations and bon voyage to our 2017 St. Luke’s Dream Grant winners.
Past winners include:
2016: MS Art Chair Nancy Sarno for re-learning the piano, Asst. Head of MS Mark Chuhta to rebuild a ‘68 Mustang engine with his son AJ and Director of College Counseling Sonia Bell for an Albany-to-Los Angeles train ride with her sister.
2015: Director of Educational Support Services Daphne Teittinen-Schreck for cooking classes with her husband and Physical Education Teacher Pat Raffaele for homemade craft brewing.
2014: Former Director of Technology and horse-enthusiast Elizabeth Preston for dressage riding sport lessons and Math Teacher Elaine Greene to take a treasured family trip to Ireland.
2013: Director of Character Education Kate Parker-Burgard to acquire bees and expand her family’s vegetable garden and Math Teacher Colin “Bucky” Buchanan to take a special cruise with his wife.
2012: Computer Science & Math Teacher as well as WSLX faculty advisor Jeff Kress to create his own home radio station and US Health & Wellness Coordinator Camille DeMarco-Havens to take an anniversary trip with her husband, MS Science Teacher David Havens.
St. Luke’s School is a secular (non-religious), private school in New Canaan, CT for grades 5 through 12 serving over 40 towns in Connecticut and New York. Our exceptional academics and diverse co-educational community foster students’ intellectual and ethical development and prepare them for top colleges. St. Luke’s Leading with Humanity curriculum builds the commitment to serve and the confidence to lead.
