A Winning Founder’s Day Celebration

Whether you were sporting blue, red or both, one thing was clear. Everyone reveled in the sunshine and school spirit of Founder’s Day on Friday, September 23.

An annual event for the entire community to come together, Founder’s Day honors the history and traditions of the School and its founder, Eliza Bailey Masters. Students, faculty and staff wear their team colors: Delta (blue) and Phi (red). When red and blue come together as one, they produce purple, the school color. 

Cheers reverberated on Graduation Terrace as Head of School Laura Danforth announced the faculty award recipients at the all-school meeting. Gilles Pugatch, upper school music teacher, received the Louise Harkness Lawrence Fund for Music Award in recognition of his commitment to teaching and to his dedication to the students and performing arts programs at Masters; Arlene Casey, upper school math teacher, received the Parvin Fund for Mathematics Award in recognition of her commitment to innovative, collaborative approaches in math; and Stephen Hildreth, middle school humanities teacher, received the Thatcher Fund for English Award in recognition of the range of skills and talents he brings to the Masters community.


Class representatives, including upper school co-chairs Alexis Estime ’23 and Zahali Vauclena ’23, Dobbs Athletic Association (DAA) co-presidents Ashleigh Woodruff ’23 and Noah Kassell-Yung ’23 and middle school co-chair SeRy Jarrett ’27, stepped up to the podium to share historical tidbits and address the crowd with humor and enthusiasm.

On Reunion Field, both teams competed in the traditional Delta vs. Phi tug-of-war with Delta winning 6 to 5 in a very close contest. “The environment and energy was amazing. It was especially thrilling to see Delta and Phi in a tiebreaker,” said Woodruff. “It added an extra layer of excitement to the day and showed how much everyone cared about Founder's Day.”

After the tug-of-war, middle school students headed to West Field to play Capture the Flag, Gaga, Tic Tac Toe and Bucket Ball before everyone cooled off with celebratory ice pops. 

For Meghan MacWilliams, DAA advisor and ethical leadership coordinator, the day “is always a great time for our school community to come together to recognize the accomplishments of our faculty members and to really dive into the beginning of the school year in a fun and competitive way.”

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