1997

1997

REUNION JUNE 15-17

In exciting education news, the College recently became the first institution of higher learning to partner with a program that connects volunteer travelers with a nationwide network of K-12 schools. Reach the World is a nonprofit founded by Heather Halstead and Marc Gustafson in 1998 to make the benefits of travel digitally accessible to classrooms and to inspire students to become curious, global citizens. After graduation Heather and five other young educators to ok a highly publicized two-year sailing trip around the world, using satellite communication to share their adventures with thousands of classrooms in underserved communities. “That’s where it all began, and Dartmouth was really helpful from the start with seed money and advice,” Heather told Dartmouth News. Reach the World identifies and trains volunteer travelers, manages web-based content posted weekly by the travelers and connects travelers and students through its interactive website. Students in the College’s foreign study programs now participate in the program. Debora Hyemin Han ’20 spent the fall studying philosophy at the University of Edinburgh in Scotland. She shared her experiencesthroughblog posts and Skype questionand-answer sessions with 20 second-graders from Dothan Brook School in Hartford, Vermont. Their teacher, Tara MacCallum, told Dartmouth News that her class made maps of Scotland and charts and graphs of the weather Debora described and compared it to local weather. She said the virtual exchange opened her students’ eyes to the possibility of travel far from home when they get older. “We take lots of field trips around the Upper Valley, and they see Debora’s time in Scotland as just a bigger field trip, well worth taking, at some point.” Debora said, “I hope students will see that there is a rich reserve of knowledge and understanding to be found in the world outside their own and feel a yearning to explore it forthemselves. And I hope it will be the first step in their journey to becoming active members ofthe global community.” To learn more, visit www.reachtheworld.org.

In entertainment news, Variety recently reported that MediaRes, a television and film production venture with Bron Studios launched in June by Michael Ellenberg, landed a two-season, 20-episode order for a new scripted Apple series starring Jennifer Aniston and Reese Witherspoon. Media Res, Aniston and Witherspoon are the principal owners of the show, which will draw background material from CNN correspondent Brian Stelter’s 2013 book Top of the Morning, a recounting of the recent rivalry between NBC’s Today and ABC’s Good Morning America. The show is described as an inside look at the lives of the people who help America wake up in the morning. Michael will also serve as executive producer. “This is a great moment for creatives with a lot of television being made for a lot of new distributors,” Michael told Variety. “We want to work with artists to push boundaries and help people realize their most provocative, daring vision.” Michael previously worked at HBO, where he developed such hits as Westworld, The Leftovers, Big Little Lies, True Detective and The Deuce. The company’s name, MediaRes, comes from the Latin phrase “in medias res,” describing a story that opens in the middle of the action, challenging its audience to figure out the context as the narrative unfolds. “It’s the kind of storytelling I really enjoy,” Michael said. “It’s about having a fundamental respect for an audience that wants to be challenged.”

Finally, here’s another plug for our 20th reunion June 15-17. Visit our all-new class website at 1997.dartmouth.org for more information. Hope to see everyone in Hanover in June!

—Jason Casell, 10106BalmforthLane,Houston, TX 77096; jhcasell@gmail.com