Alumni News – Clairbourn School News

September 27, 2021September 28, 2021

The Board of Trustees is pleased to welcome Clairbourn alumni parent Manuel G. Grace to the Board.

*New Clairbourn Board Member – Mr. Manny Grace, Alumni Parent and Trustee*

Manny and Casey’s two children, Alex and Zoe, attended Clairbourn from Pre-Kindergarten through 8th grade graduation, in 2013 and 2017. Given their 14 years of experience and engagement with the Clairbourn community, the Grace’s are a true Clairbourn family. Manny brings to the Board his knowledge and experience of private school education, particularly as it relates to issues of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). Manny is an enthusiastic supporter of Clairbourn. He credits the nurturing and rigorous education his children received at Clairbourn as providing the foundation for their subsequent successes in high school, college and beyond.

Manny’s oldest child, Alexander, was a stellar student and respected class comedian at Clairbourn. Alex developed strong writing skills at Clairbourn, culminating in a poignant and hilarious speech which he delivered at his 8th grade graduation. Alex went on to attend Flintridge Prep, where he performed in the Comedy Sportz Improv team for four years. Alex continued doing improv comedy, during an otherwise studious undergraduate career at Columbia University. In May 2021, Alex graduated from Columbia with a BA in American History, focusing on the post-Civil War Reconstruction era. He is currently living and working in New York City, working in documentary film production. Alex appreciates the unique privilege of his Clairbourn experience. He maintains close ties with many of his Pre-K pals from Clairbourn.

*Alex ’13 from Clairbourn on the left and ’21 from Columbia University on the right*

Zoe, four years younger than Alex, blossomed as a student at Clairbourn, particularly in Middle School, where she consistently made the Dean’s List. Zoe participated in a number of theatre productions (Winnie the Pooh and Midsummer Night’s Dream), and was active in almost every sport offered at Clairbourn, most notably, soccer, softball and volleyball. After Clairbourn, Zoe attended Flintridge Sacred Heart Academy, where she continued her athletic career on both school and club volleyball teams, and served as a member and leader of the Black Student Union. Zoe excelled academically at FSHA, and also won a number of honors for her creative efforts in ceramic arts. In August 2021, Zoe entered her freshman year at Washington University in St. Louis, with fellow Clairbourn classmate, Natalie Chen, whose mother, Debbie Chen also serves on the Clairbourn Board of Trustees.

*Zoe ’17. Winnie the Pooh play on the left and on Clairbourn Sports Team on the right.*

Manny attended the University of Notre Dame, where he graduated with a degree in Psychology. He then went on to obtain a law degree from the Columbia University Law School in 1982, and clerked for the Hon. Lawrence W. Pierce, in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. After practicing corporate environmental law for several years in New York City, Manny moved to California to work as in-house Environmental Health and Safety counsel for The Walt Disney Company in Burbank. During his 29-year tenure at Disney, Manny has covered issues ranging from consumer product liability, environmental compliance and occupational safety. He has also served on numerous committees addressing issues of diversity and inclusion within the workplace. In his current capacity as Associate General Counsel, Manny has had a key role in shaping Disney’s compliance strategies during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In addition to his professional accomplishments, Manny has always been civically engaged in the wider community. Manny is a former member of the Board of Directors of the Notre Dame University Alumni Association and a current board member of the California State Parks Foundation. He is currently on the Board of Directors of Earthshot, a nonprofit organization dedicated to inspiring climate action through video games and virtual and immersive experiences. He is also a former Chairman of the Board of the Society of Product Licensor’s Committed to Excellence (SPLiCE). Manny is also a member of the Environmental Law Committee of the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers.

At Clairbourn, Manny and his wife Casey (also an attorney) served as the Annual Fund chairs for their children’s classes for two years. Manny also served as Cub Scout Master when Alex was young, and participated in many carnivals and other event committees over the years. He is excited to be joining the Clairbourn Board of Trustees at this important time in the future development of the school.

July 15, 2021July 22, 2021

Clairbourn graduates have HEART, full of compassion, resilience, and gratitude. They are lifelong learners with a growth mindset.

Bennett was part of the Clairbourn class of 2017. He knew music was his passion and followed it at a young age. Over the years, Bennett has performed as an artist at the Whiskey A GoGo, the Troubadour, the Federal, and Universal Studios, as well as in Europe. He has also worked with many well known artists and producers.

Left: Bennett with The California Jet Club / Right: Bennett with El DeBarge

His most recent project was co-producing an album called “Union” with Tyler Brown for an up-and-coming teenage artist from New York named Matilda Marigolds. The album debuted this month and Bennett produced, edited, recorded, wrote, mixed and even played the main guitar part. He collaborated with artists Mike Garson (David Bowie’s pianist), Guy Erez (from Alan Parsons), and violinist Meena (from Smashing Pumpkins). Union was mastered by Howie Weinberg who also worked on albums for Madonna, Prince, Aerosmith, and Nirvana. It was an exciting experience! Here is a music video of one of the songs in the album called “Leroy.” (Bennett is one of the guitarists.)

Last month, Bennett worked with the legendary El DeBarge and prepared his entire set for his show in Atlanta. It was hard work but a huge success! He was also part of a team to work on a Dio cancer fundraiser which will live stream in July via Rolling Live Studios.

Bennett with Joey Belladonna from Anthrax

Bennett was hired by Rolling Live Studios as a head audio engineer. RLS is an art and entertainment production company run by the industry giants — Kerry Brown (music) and Stacey Sher (film). One of Bennett’s first jobs was to work on this year’s Oscars. He had the pleasure to work with amazing artists and producers such as Sheila E., Macy Gray, Guy Erez, Mike Garson, Howie Weinberg and others.

Currently, he’s working on a short film called “You’re Something Else” as the head sound and audio engineer. He will also assist on the the soundtrack production. Bennett looks forward to the exciting projects lined up for him for the rest of the year.

Bennett is grateful for the time at Clairbourn that provided many opportunities for chapel reading. It gave him a foundation for public speaking and the confidence needed to be on stage. He has fond memories of Mrs. Stahmer and Dr. Nafie, as well as Mrs. Wreede, Mrs. Corwin, Mr. Guyer, Mrs. Barker, and Coach Paciorek.

July 13, 2021July 13, 2021

Clairbourn graduates are SCHOLARS who are grounded in the values of honesty, respect, responsibility, spirituality, and citizenship.

Nicole Lam was a part of the Clairbourn Class of 2017. She recently graduated from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA) as valedictorian. This fall, she will be attending Yale University, majoring in applied mathematics while continuing her piano studies.

In her senior year at LACHSA, Nicole was named a California Scholarship Federation South Central Seymour Award recipient, Equitable Excellence Scholar, National Merit Scholar, USC Trustee Scholar with a full-tuition scholarship, and UC Berkeley’s Regent and Chancellor’s Scholar, totaling over $350,000 in merit-based scholarships.

Nicole is a concert pianist and a mezzo-soprano opera singer. She has performed at Walt Disney Concert Hall, Zipper Concert Hall, Luckman Fine Arts Complex, Dorothy Chandler Pavilion, Carnegie Hall, La Mirada Theatre, and concert halls in Vienna and Romania. She also won first prize at the Houston International Music Competition, Steinway Junior Piano Competition Regionals, Southwestern Youth Music Festival, MTAC VOCE Competition Senior Ensemble, Lansum International Music Competition, Dan Stover Music Competition, and was recently named a finalist in the Spotlight International Piano Competition.

During high school, Nicole took on several jobs: she was the apprentice and intermediate choir director for the San Gabriel Valley Children’s Chorus, the president of LACHSA’s California Scholarship Federation, a teacher at the Saturday Conservatory of Music, and also worked as a bilingual translator, interviewer, and host for US National TV. At the TV station, she has interviewed renowned figures on live television and has hosted several live shows broadcasted internationally to over 20,000 audience viewers.

Additionally, Nicole is the founder of her own 501(c)3 nonprofit organization, Love Through Music, which shares music with underserved communities. With six organization branches in the US, her nonprofit organization has hosted over 50 concerts with 500+ student performers at local retirement homes, veterans hospitals, and orphanages. The nonprofit has also donated musical instruments to several Title I schools to supplement their music programs. Remotely through Zoom, she has taught music fundamentals to over 100 Nepalese orphans, and has also traveled in person to Kathmandu, Nepal annually to donate school supplies and rebuild school buildings after the 2015 Gorkha Earthquake.

At Clairbourn, some of Nicole’s favorite memories were the 8th grade Shakespeare play Midsummer Night’s Dream, playing piano during chapel, and singing in the annual Christmas shows! She would like to thank all her teachers at Clairbourn for making her childhood experience so memorable and incredibly special.

July 5, 2021July 6, 2021

Clairbourn Connections: Class of 2017

It has been a long Clairbourn tradition to invite the alumni class graduating from high school back to campus for a reunion breakfast the morning of our graduation. It’s not only a celebration before sending them off to college, but it also gives the alumni a chance to make Clairbourn connections with current students and share their insights. This year is no exception!

We reached out to our class of 2017 and asked for their reflections! Let’s see what they have to say!

Class of 2017 are going to the following cities for colleges:
Boston, Chicago, Claremont, Columbia, Eugene, Los Angeles, Montreal, New Haven, New Orleans, New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, San Diego, Santa Cruz, Shanghai, St. Louis, Tucson, and Washington D.C.

January 14, 2021January 23, 2021

Exploring Mobile App Design: Clairbourn Alumnae Caroline Kwan & Nina Luo “Dishcover” a Great Idea

For elementary school students, early technology training, a growth mindset, and teamwork skills can help them make the most of opportunities that come later in life. Former Clairbourn School students Nina Luo and Caroline Kwan, from the Class of 2018, exemplify this perfectly. The following article describes their new app, “Dishcovery,” and how Clairbourn School provided early educational advantages that helped them to take on this later technology challenge.

Nina Luo and Caroline Kwan, creators of the Dishcovery app. Both young women are Clairbourn School alumnae.

Anytime an interactive tool or device is created, there is a lot to learn and accomplish. Having an ability to think conceptually as well analytically is key to generating the initial idea, the plan, and the steps for development and deployment. When busy high school students Nina Luo and Caroline Kwan set out to create an app for their summer computer class at Coding Minds Academy, they didn’t flinch when faced with the mountain of work involved. They chose to invest their precious free time, both in and outside of class, to make an app that had meaning and value for their everyday life.

As food enthusiasts who frequently eat out and enjoy discovering new dishes, Nina and Caroline realized they wanted a way to quickly identify the customers’ favorite items on restaurant menus. Both of them were aware of Yelp.com but felt that reading through multiple posts and clarifying what was worth ordering was too time consuming. So they decided to build an app that could determine the preferred items mentioned in user reviews and then list the top ten dishes at restaurants.

December 1, 2020December 16, 2020

Your Student Can Do Great Things: Giving Matters

Part six of this six-part series offers insights into Clairbourn’s educational philosophy and the elements of the program which have led to noteworthy accomplishments by its alums.

Clairbourn alumnae Christie and Kathryn Huang raising funds for Children’s Hospital through their foundation Madhatter Knits.

When people are inspired to give, it flows from their conviction that such acts will be worth their time, attention, and investment. Cultivating that kind of conviction in others is no easy task, and it is often determined by the quality of the messages imparted combined with the skills and influence of the messenger. Consequently, fundraisers or leaders of causes need to be fearless, passionate, articulate, and well informed. They need social awareness to adapt their message to a wide variety of audiences and they need to know how to offer fluid methods of giving, donating, or participating.

Although that skillset sounds complicated, it’s quite naturally acquired when it is a part of a student’s early educational experience. In developing the whole child, Clairbourn combines academic rigor with social skills, community activities, and public speaking. All of these necessary elements to rally a community can be seen in the work of Clairbourn alumnae Tiffany and Kimberly Chang, Christie and Kathryn Huang, and Sara Lowin who serve as executive directors of Madhatter Knits.

Sara Lowin and Tiffany Chang (center), shown here in third grade at Clairbourn School, went on to found the nonprofit foundation Madhatter Knits to benefit premature infants.

December 1, 2020December 16, 2020

Your Student Can Do Great Things: Public Speaking Matters

Part five of this six-part series offers insights into Clairbourn’s educational philosophy and the foundational elements of the program which have led to noteworthy accomplishments by its alums.

As many people soon find out, having a great point of view, idea, or service is only as good as one’s ability to effectively get the word out. There has to be consideration for compelling messaging combined with finding one’s audience and engaging them to respond with their time, attention, and money.

Kimberly Chang, Christie Huang, Tiffany Chang, and Kathryn Huang – Clairbourn alumae & founders of Madhatter Knits.

Those abilities are in evidence among the Clairbourn alumnae who started the Madhatter Knits foundation in 2014 when a fourth grade knitting lesson led them to create a nonprofit for making premature baby hats to donate to hospitals.

Except for Tiffany Chang and Sara Lowin who were in the same grade together, the other executive directors of the foundation, including Kimberly Chang and Christie & Kathryn Huang, were in different grades ranging from first up to high school freshman. But all of them had early exposure in finding their voice as a result of Clairbourn’s public speaking program.

December 1, 2020December 16, 2020

Your Student Can Do Great Things: Leadership Opportunities Matter

Part four of this six-part series offer insights into Clairbourn’s educational philosophy and the elements of the program which have led to noteworthy accomplishments by its alums.

Clairbourn alumnae Kimberly Chang, Christie Huang, Tiffany Chang, and Kathryn Huang are the founders of Madhatter Knits which makes and donates preemie hats to the NICU departments of hospitals both locally and across the world.

Leadership opportunities need not wait for high school or college-level programs. Leadership lessons, such as the ones taught at Clairbourn, begin as early as preschool and extend through Grade 8—and exciting things can happen when children learn to lead at a young age. Take for example Madhatter Knits, an organization which makes and donates hats for premature babies in the NICU and also works to protect expectant mothers and infants from COVID-19.

This nonprofit was founded by Tiffany Chang in 2014 while still a student in the fourth grade at Clairbourn School. The organization is run by a large executive team which includes Clairbourn alumnae Kimberly Chang, Christie Huang, Kathryn Huang, and Sara Lowin. After only six years, they have expanded across the U.S. and have chapters in Germany, Italy, England, Uganda, Costa Rica, South Africa, Ireland, Canada, India, and Ecuador .

Sara Lowin, Kimberly Chang, and Tiffany Chang (shown above) all started at Clairbourn in preschool.

Madhatter Knits executive directors Tiffany, Christie, Kimberly, and Sara all started in Clairbourn’s preschool, with Kathryn starting in Kindergarten. And while there, they experienced age-appropriate exposure to leadership opportunities. They were taught ethical concepts combined with opportunities for social and emotional development, growth-mindset acquisition, and problem-solving skills.

December 1, 2020December 16, 2020

Your Student Can Do Great Things: Heart and Service Matter

Part three of this six-part series offers insights into Clairbourn’s educational philosophy and the elements of the program which have led to noteworthy accomplishments by its alums.

Confidence in one’s ability to make a difference in the world can be challenging for adults, let alone young people. But that confidence was naturally acquired in grade school at Clairbourn as explained by Madhatter Knits founder Tiffany Chang along with fellow alumna and executive director Christie Huang. When asked the question during a recent radio interview, “What was your first impression of philanthropy and how did it start?,” these young women were ready with compelling answers.

*Clairbourn alumnae Christie Huang and Tiffany Chang were interviewed on KAZN Radio about philanthropy.*

They both recounted an impactful experience they shared in second grade at Clairbourn School where the whole class held a Pocket Change Drive to benefit the Door of Hope homeless shelter serving families in Pasadena, California. Tiffany remembers their first collection seemed pretty insignificant, but after adding up the donations from several consecutive days, she realized their small efforts had the potential to make a real impact in the lives of others—especially children living at the shelter. Christie also recalled how nervous she was to ask grown-ups on campus to donate to their cause. But, she quickly realized that fear shouldn’t hold you back from approaching potential donors, because when people see you doing something positive they are often happy to listen and contribute.

December 1, 2020December 16, 2020

Your Student Can Do Great Things: Teaching Approach Matters

Part two of this six-part series offers insights into Clairbourn’s educational philosophy and the elements of the program which have led to noteworthy accomplishments by its alums.

Clairbourn alumnae *Christie Huang and Tiffany Chang as interview guests at KAZN* 1300 AM radio.

On a warm fall day at the KAZN AM 1300 broadcasting studios in Pasadena, California, Clairbourn alums, Tiffany Chang and her cousin Christie Huang, were the special guests of a radio program called, “Heart visitors: The Transmission of Love.” They were invited to talk about their philanthropic foundation Madhatter Knits. When asked how it all started, Tiffany explained that, in 2014 her Clairbourn School fourth grade teacher Mary-Kaye Halferty spent her break time meeting with Tiffany at recess to teach her how to knit. After gaining some of the skills involved, Tiffany produced a small little hat and excitedly demonstrated the process to her sister and two cousins the next day.

Noticing the size, warmth, and softness of the hat, her cousin Christie, from Clairbourn’s class of 2013, immediately connected it with being useful to the preemie babies she saw in the NICU at the San Gabriel Medical Center where she served as a volunteer.