Dr. Eliza Byard ’86 spoke to students about biased bullying of GLBT (gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender) students and how her organization is working with schools to address and change the problem. She is the executive director of the GLSEN, the Gay, Lesbian and Straight Education Network, a national education organization working to ensure safe schools for all students, regardless of sexual orientation or gender identity/expression.

Eliza says schools have a curriculum, and also a “hidden” curriculum, “the set of unarticulated and often unacknowledged things that get communicated to the student through the everyday experience in the school, often as much by what isn’t said or how it’s said or the content of what is said.”

Eliza stressed that bullying is a “dynamic within a community that affects every participant”—the bully, the target and the bystanders. “Everyone in that dynamic needs help and support, and everyone needs some form of intervention.”

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Isabel Chun (III) has illustrated her first, published children’s book. Her childhood love of painting ultimately led her to this project. Isabel’s vivid and colorful illustrations appear in The Kwik Adventures of Baxter Brave and Tommy the Salami, the story of a young boy who sets off with his dog from the high-rise buildings of Hong Kong for an around-the-world adventure. Traversing four chapters—The Desert, The Ocean, The Jungle and The Mountains—the duo encounter storms, beautiful landscapes, and a variety of animals that help them along the way.

“My favorite chapter to work on was The Jungle, but my favorite illustration is the starry sky that appears in the desert chapter,” says Isabel.

The book contains nearly 100 illustrations, each artfully created by Isabel’s hand. Each illustration was formed in two parts: an ink drawing, which provided the outline, and a watercolor element that filled in the color and texture. Isabel scanned both portions into a computer and merged the two in Photoshop, creating vibrant images that reflect a child’s sense of whimsy.

“The part I most enjoyed was combining the watercolor and ink and seeing the result. The most challenging part of the process was learning how to tell a story through art. This was my first experience with this challenge, and I had to figure out what perspectives would appeal to children.”

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Over winter break, Russell Clarida (IV) traveled to the east coast of New Zealand for the Optimist World Championships, where he competed against over 200 sailors from around the world. An Optimist is an eight-foot, single-handed sailing dinghy intended for use by sailors ages 15 and under.

Russell arrived two weeks before the competition to acclimate himself to the conditions of the South Pacific Ocean. He and four other sailors comprised the United States national team, representing the top American sailors of their age group. Russell is the 2011 North American Champion, a title he claimed over the summer in California.

Racing days at the Worlds are intense; the sailors compete in three races every day, crowding at the start and then racing out and around the markers before heading to the finish. Each race lasts about an hour and 15 minutes.

“The racing was tough,” says Russell. “The sun was really strong and the wind came from a different direction every day.” Despite the challenging conditions, Russell placed 27th out of 210 sailors.

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