Issuu

Features

Science & Technology

Senior Predictions

Senior Map

Read sophomore Mailey Wang’s feature on Director of College Counseling Marvin Coote’s departure.

Explore senior Colin Ternus’ love for photography in an article by sophomore Ryan Chou.

Read the Class of 2024’s life predictions made by their classmates and friends.

See where Pinewood seniors will be matriculating and majoring in in the fall.

READ MORE ON PAGES 8&9

MAY 2, 2024

INSTAGRAM: @PINEWOODPERENNIAL

PINEWOOD SCHOOL, LOS ALTOS HILLS, CA

VOLUME VIII, ISSUE VI

THEPERENNIAL.ORG

Assistant Head Haley Hemm Departs After 4 Years KAITLYN MAIER Staff Writer

ty connected. “As soon as there were events, I After serving Upper Campus for was at every one and helping to orfour years, Assistant Head of Upper ganize,” Hemm said. “I was trying Campus Haley Hemm will leave to find ways to have the community Pinewood at the end of this school connected while six feet apart.” year. Hemm plans to join the nonHer efforts in promoting and emprofit Scott Center for Social Entrebodying WISCR values helped Pinepreneurship at the Hillbrook School. wood keep spirits up after the isoThe responsibilities of Hemm and lation quarantine. Partly due to her the current Director of Student Life guidance, Upper Campus returned Kyle Riches will be reassigned to the to in-person learning in October new Dean of Students position, held of 2020 and did not experience a by History Department Head JenniCOVID-19 case until March 2022. fer Bates, while Riches will become “She played a really critical part the Associate Head of School. in helping us navigate COVID so Because Hemm’s initial role at Pinesmoothly, as part of her responsibilwood focused on managing online ities was to focus on the safety and learning protocols and the transition wellbeing of the students,” Riches back to in-person classes during the said. “So I’m especially grateful for Photo by BILLY LLOYD COVID-19 outbreaks, her duties that, and I don’t think we could have STUDENT-CENTERED Hemm spends lunch with members of the Class of 2024. have evolved as the pandemic receddone it without her.” ed to include many other aspects of student support. Though her assistance during the pandemic was inHer new roles line up with the work a typical Dean improve the school in Hemm’s absence using the skills credibly vital, Hemm is excited to focus on promotof Students would do at other schools, so President of she taught them. ing equity through immersive learning at Hillbrook “Ms. Hemm has taught me a lot about resilience,” School. There, she will work as the community engageSchool Scott Riches created the position to continue to sophomore SSC member Dhruv Gupta said. “She ment and program lead to design experiential classes efficiently shape a positive community. “It was time now that we were out of COVID to re- taught me how to keep trying different things even for their Reach Beyond initiative where students can organize and get into a pretty traditional role that other when it’s tricky” travel both within their community and around the Hemm’s passions have always been in this sort of so- world. She will also cultivate partnerships with local independent schools have,” Riches said. “It was an opportunity to realign Kyle Riches’ role and Hemm’s role cial work, despite her beginning with COVID-19 guid- and international organizations that the students can ance. While she was finishing her degree at Stanford work with, a job which captures her interest in social together and make it primarily student centered.” Hemm currently runs the advisory program, academ- Graduate School of Education, Hemm was a Digital justice. ic counseling, disciplinary action and external learning Ambassador for her professors, helping them translate “The real impact of a person in a community is how their curriculums into digital format, when her partner partnerships at Upper Campus. She also supervises the it’s felt by the community and how it lasts after that Ocean Ambassadors Club and Students for Sustainable Sam Jezak was teaching his first year at Pinewood. He person leaves,” Hemm said. “My goal is always to leave Change, a team that improves campus culture by exam- heard about the opening for the Assistant Head and a place better than I found it and to leave it with sysining school policy with the administration to improve informed Hemm about the position. She was hired and tems in place so that they continue to do the work that the culture on campus. Because SSC is a self-sufficient began working at Pinewood in May 2020, informing they think is valuable.” group, the members will continue to work together to the teachers on how to run classes during hybrid learning and organizing social events to keep the communi-

Pinewood Welcomes New Head of Upper Campus Eve Kulbieda

ANNABELLE EATON Copy Editor

Photo courtesy of EVE KULBIEDA

With the start of the 2024-25 school year, Pinewood will welcome new Head of School Eve Kulbieda, who comes from nearby Castilleja School. Kulbieda will replace current Head of Upper Campus Gabriel Lemmon. At Castilleja, Kulbieda served as Dean of Students, handling student relationships and serving the Class of 2025 as an advisor. She also focused on implementing academic and social support systems for students in her

previous role. “At Castilleja, I have refined much clearer support structures for kids in crisis — academic, social and emotional things,” Kulbieda said. “Now we have really clear and robust processes.” Before teaching at Castilleja, Kulbieda worked as a dean of students and math teacher at Menlo School. Prior to this, she worked on the East Coast to build an athletics-focused school from the ground up. “I was working on almost, you know, a startup on the East Coast,” Kulbieda said. “The owner of the Philadelphia Union, the professional soccer team in Philadelphia, contacted me to open a school for elite soccer athletes.” In Philadelphia, Kulbieda curated the curriculum to fit typical academic standards as well as the NCAA recruiting standards required of an athletic school. “I think that it was a challenge to quickly learn a new culture and at the same time, implement the educational systems that were aligned to the new culture,” Kulbieda said. “It was a quick learning curve.” Before moving to Philadelphia, according to Kulbieda, she pursued teaching from a young age. She took her first teaching job as a physical education teacher at

a Title I school in Tasmania, Australia, where she grew up, and soon became a math teacher. “I always knew I was going to be a teacher,” Kulbieda said. “I used to teach my teddy bears when I was a little girl, and I was one of those people that just always knew what they wanted to do.” From Australia, Kulbieda moved to Germany for six years where she taught physical education at an international school in Frankfurt. She became Dean of Students and got her first taste of administrative work. “It was so much fun,” Kulbieda said. “I loved that school so much. I had the best time. The students were phenomenal. The student leaders were just so incredibly mature. They had so much agency and a great work ethic.” While she was in Germany, Kulbieda taught in an international school, but still made efforts to learn the language and culture. According to Kulbieda, this helped her understand the students and their values. “Students in Germany were really resilient in their approach to adjusting to change,” Kulbieda said. “They have a lot of change, resilience is what I would say. And so in that way, they were pretty robust.”