New Faculty Welcomed

Westminster School begins the 2010-2011 academic year by welcoming a number of new faculty, some returning faculty with new responsibilities and a new coach.

New Appointments

Lee J. Huguley

English

Form Dean

Football and Track

B.A., Washington and Jefferson College, 1996

M.A.L.S., Wesleyan University

Appointed 2010

Lee joins Westminster after serving 13 years in various academic, administrative, and coaching capacities at Avon Old Farms School, his alma mater. For seven years, he served as Assistant Dean of Students and member of the Administrative Council, and for 13 years, he taught English and served as a dormitory head and faculty duty crew head. His coaching responsibilities included varsity football, basketball, and track. In 2003, he received the Kenneth A. Fanning Faculty Award as teacher of the year. Lee has also been a board representative to SPHERE and a consultant to the Crossroads Cooperative Learning Program (CCLP). At Westminster, he serves as a Form Dean, teaches English, and coaches football and track.

Lee is a native of Bloomfield, Conn., where he attended high school for a year prior to transferring to Avon Old Farms School. While in high school, he enjoyed a number of activities, which included playing and coaching football. In the fall of 1992, Lee matriculated to Washington and Jefferson College, where he majored in philosophy, chaired the Black Student Union, and played football. After graduating from college, Lee returned to Avon Old Farms School in the fall of 1997. Shortly after returning to Avon, Lee married his wife, Taz, in the summer of 1999, and they now have an energetic two-year-old daughter named Anaya, who loves dancing and reading books. Lee is a committed educator and a strong believer in the opportunities that private education can provide.

Sandra P. Carlisle

Spanish

B.S., State University of New York, Old Westbury

Appointed 2010

Sandy has a passion for the Spanish language and her students. Following a career in finance as a lead staff accountant, senior staff accountant, and payroll administrator for various corporations, she became a Spanish teacher. She has taught at the Farmington Valley Academy Montessori, The Ethel Walker School and The Master’s School. She also has tutored students and trained teachers. She is a member of the Connecticut Council of Language Teachers.

In her free time, Sandy enjoys yoga, traveling, music, dancing, reading, and spending quality time with her family. She lives in Simsbury with her husband, Matt, and their two sons, Matthew and William.

Cara Tonelli Hugabonne

Chinese

B.A., Connecticut College, 1997

M.A., Harvard University

Appointed 2010

Cara discovered both her passion for Chinese studies and her deep appreciation of the independent school experience during her years as a student at Suffield Academy. Upon matriculating at Connecticut College, Cara began studying Chinese language. She was awarded a National Security Education Program Scholarship to spend an amazing junior year in China at Capital Normal University in Beijing and the Harbin Institute of Technology. After returning to the States, she graduated with honors in her major field of Chinese language and literature, and was the recipient of the Helen Carey Coudert Award for Excellence in Chinese. Cara then earned her master's degree from Harvard University in the Regional Studies: East Asia program with concentrations in Chinese history and language. After several years working toward a Ph.D., Cara realized her heart was much more in the classroom than the library stacks. She earned her teaching certificate and taught world history at her hometown high school in Agawam, Mass.

Most recently, Cara has served as adjunct professor of world history and Asian history at Elms College in Chicopee, Mass. She and her husband, Jeff, and their two small children, Mira and Luke, are very happy to be a part of the Westminster community. Cara's favorite activities are sharing meals with family and friends, singing, dance, travel, gardening, and making allergen-free treats for her son.

Lindsay C. O’Brien ’05

Spanish

Soccer, Lacrosse

B.A., University of Puget Sound, 2009

Appointed 2010

While at the University of Puget Sound majoring in Spanish Literary Studies with a minor in Latin American Studies, Lindsay studied abroad at the Universidad de Granada, Spain, where she volunteered for an Escuelita that helped local students with their schoolwork. While in college, she also served as an orientation and outdoor trip leader and was an attacker on the women’s lacrosse team. During the 2008-2009 academic year, she served as a Spanish teacher at Downing Elementary School in Tacoma, Wash.

From the fall of 2009 to the spring of 2010, Lindsay volunteered with Habitat Para la Humanidad Guatemala. Working in the International Donor Relations and Fundraising Department, she enjoyed visiting and interviewing families in Guatemala who received homes from Habitat.

At Westminster, Lindsay lives in Milliken House, teaches Spanish and coaches soccer and lacrosse. In her free time, she enjoys spending time with her family, travelling, skiing, reading works by Julia Alvarez, and learning how to surf.

Arturo Daniel Solís

Spanish

Soccer, Basketball

B.A., Cornell University, 2004

Appointed 2010

A graduate of The Taft School and fluent in Spanish and Portuguese, Arturo joins Westminster following teaching and coaching positions at two other independent schools. For four years, he served as a Spanish teacher, dorm parent and coach of varsity soccer and junior varsity basketball at The Gunnery. While there, he developed the Foreign Language Student Tutoring Program and a Spanish Film Festival.Following this, he taught Spanish, served as a dorm parent, and coached varsity track and soccer at St. Paul’s School. An excellent soccer player and former captain of his Cornell University Division I varsity soccer team, Arturo has also served as the assistant coach of the New Hampshire U-14 Boys’ Olympic Development Soccer Team.

At Westminster, Arturo teaches Spanish and coaches soccer and basketball. His interests include world travel, soccer, running, basketball, weightlifting, hiking, backpacking and Latin dance.

Peter Reynolds Smith

Mathematics

Football, Hockey, Lacrosse

B.A., Middlebury College, 2010

Appointed 2010

At Westminster, Peter serves as an intern in the Mathematics Department, an assistant coach of Second Football, head coach of Second Girls’ Hockey, and assistant coach of Second Boys’ Lacrosse. He is familiar with independent schools, having attended Deerfield Academy for a postgraduate year, where he was an honors student and a member of the varsity lacrosse and ice hockey teams. At Middlebury College, Peter earned a Bachelor of Arts in economics, served as captain and an All-American and Scholar All-American player on the varsity lacrosse team, and was a residential advisor and a Student Athletic Academic Committee representative.

During recent summers, he was been a division head, leader, and staff member at Camp Dudley, a YMCA camp in Westport, N.Y., and a lacrosse coach and instructor at the Bruins Lacrosse Camp at Brunswick School in Greenwich, Conn. He also started and managed a landscaping service in Wilton, Conn.

Peter lives in Squibb House, and enjoys fly-fishing, hiking, golf, squash, intramural and professional sports, volunteering, and reading.

A-men Rasheed

Director of Theater

B.F.A., Central Connecticut State University, 1997

M.F.A, New York University

Appointed 2010

A-men held a variety of teaching and theater positions before becoming Director of Theater at Westminster. He served as a director and dramaturg at Fordham University; a master acting teacher at the Harlem School of the Arts, the Hedgerow Theater School and Neumann College Center Stage Productions; a literacy teacher at Harvey Milk School; a teaching assistant at The Center for Creative Youth at Wesleyan University; and an assistant teacher at P.S.125’s Theater Arts After School Program. Most recently, he worked as a sound designer and educational consultant for a program called Q-Up at the Queens Theater in the Park.

As a performing artist, A-men has worked at The American Conservatory Theater in San Francisco, the Hedgerow Theater in Wallingford, Pa., The Shakespeare Theater in Washington, D.C., and Off Broadway. He also wrote, directed, and sound designed “Crackhead” while at NYU. As a sound designer, he designed new plays with the Rising Circle Theater Collective in New York City. He has done a variety of voice-overs as well.

A-men is a candidate for a Master of Science in education with a major in educational theater from the City College of New York. He already holds a Master of Fine Arts in acting from New York University. He received the New York Innovative Theater Award for Best Ensemble, “Pulling the Lever,” in 2004 and was a cast member of the 2003 Obie-Award-winning production of “The Black: A Clown Show” by Jean Genet.

At Westminster, A-men lives in Memorial Hall with his wife, Jessica. In his free time, he enjoys cooking with Jessica, biking, running, seeing innovative theater, watching movies and spending time in New Hampshire. He and Jessica are glad to be back in New England.

Gregory B. Williams

Director of College Counseling

B.A., Colgate University 1995

Appointed 2010

Greg brings years of experience in college counseling and admissions to his responsibilities as Director of College Counseling at Westminster. Most recently, he served four years as Director of College Counseling at Garrison Forest School in Owings Mills, Md. While there, he provided college-related guidance and support for students and their parents, established professional relationships with college admission officers, held classes for students regarding the college search process and oversaw office staff. A member of the residential faculty, he also was an advisor for study halls and assisted with residential program duties.

Prior to his work at Garrison Forest School, Greg spent seven years at Colgate University, his alma mater, where he served as senior assistant dean of admission, coordinator of international recruitment, assistant coordinator of multicultural recruitment, faculty liaison coordinator, and athletic liaison for Division I softball, swimming, and volleyball. Greg also served two years as an admissions interviewer and student activities associate at another of his alma maters, Choate Rosemary Hall.

A graduate of Colgate University with a bachelor’s degree in psychology, Greg is active in numerous professional associations. He and his wife, Laura, and their two sons, Max and Gideon, live in Gitterman House.

Farrell Swain

Associate Director of Admissions

Soccer, Squash

B.S. University of New Hampshire, 2002

Appointed 2010

Farrell joined Westminster’s admissions’ team following three years serving as Associate Director of Admission, Director of Scholar Athlete Recruitment and Assistant Dean of Students at The Ethel Walker School in Simsbury. While there, she was responsible for handling applicant correspondence, interviewing upper and middle school prospective students and their parents, coordinating open houses, tours, and interview days, and representing the school at school fairs. She also advised students and tour guides.

Farrell is an excellent soccer player and experienced coach. As a student at the University of New Hampshire, she served as captain of her Division I soccer team, earned an All-Conference Honorable Mention, and played on the National Champion U-20 Women’s Premier Team World Class Soccer Club in Windsor, Conn. Her coaching responsibilities have included serving as head varsity girls’ soccer coach at The Ethel Walker School; head varsity boys’ soccer coach at Wood River High School in Hailey, Idaho; head premier girls’ and boys’ soccer coach at Sawtooth United Football Club in Ketchum, Idaho; and head junior varsity boys’ soccer coach at Wood River High School in Hailey, Idaho. At Westminster, she coaches soccer and squash.

In her free time, Farrell enjoys hiking, skiing, and spending time with family. She lives in Cushing Hall.

David T. Pringle ’05

Crossroads Cooperative Learning Program, Admissions

Football, Basketball

B.A., Stonehill College, 2009

Appointed 2010

David is no stranger to Westminster, where he completed a postgraduate year and played football, basketball and lacrosse. He currently works in Admissions and serves as an intern with the Crossroads Cooperative Learning Program (CCLP), a non-profit organization that assists students from Hartford. David is also an assistant coach of First Football and head coach of Third Boys’ Basketball.

A graduate of Stonehill College, where he majored in healthcare administration, David also attended Tennessee State University, where he played football on a full scholarship. He has worked as a supervisor at Skills Basketball Camp in New Haven, Conn., and an athletic instructor at Holiday Hill Day Camp in Cheshire, Conn. He also has volunteered at The Jewish Home for the Elderly in Fairfield, Conn.

In his free time, David likes to play basketball, write poetry, listen to different types of music, learn anything new, and spend time with his friends.

William Todd Zempsky, M.D., F.A.A.P.

Medical Director

A.B., Cornell University 1984

M.D., Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

Appointed 2010

After earning a Doctor of Medicine from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Dr. Zempsky completed a residency in pediatrics at Johns Hopkins Hospital and served as a fellow in pediatric emergency medicine at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh.

Since arriving in Connecticut, Dr. Zempsky has held positions of Associate Director of the Division of Pediatric Emergency Medicine and attending physician in the Division of Hospitalist Care at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center. He is currently a Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Connecticut School of Medicine, and the Associate Director of the Pain Relief Program Center and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Unit at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center.

Dr. Zempsky is married to Janna Zempsky, the Director of Health Services at Westminster. They live on campus with their sons, Noah ’13 and Eli. In his free time, Dr. Zempsky likes to run, row, and ride bikes.

Returning New Responsibilities

Mark H. de Kanter ’91

Science

Cross Country, Swimming

Swayze Award, 2005

B.A., Williams College 1995

M.A.L.S., Wesleyan University

Appointed 1997

The balance of academics, athletics and service as part of the daily experience is what Mark likes best about the Westminster community, and he learned it himself as a Westminster student. At Williams, he continued to mix athletics and academics into his daily schedule, double majoring in English and biology, while competing on the varsity swim and crew teams. He also explored the Danish culture during a semester in Copenhagen and spent a summer studying conservation biology while volunteering for the Nature Conservancy in Key West, Fla. In the summer of 2001, he participated in a genetics conference under the auspices of the Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation. He is the recipient of the 2005 Swayze Award. Mark returned to the teaching faculty this year, following two years designing and building databases and Web sites for CORESystems, a company founded by former Westminster faculty member, David Walton.

Mark and his wife, Kathleen Devaney, a history teacher and Form Dean, live in McOrmond House with their son, Emmett Earl, daughter, Samantha Duke, and their dog, Lola.

Janna Collins Zempsky

Director of Health Services

B.S., Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing, 1988

M.S.N., University of Pittsburgh

Appointed 2008

Janna brings an extensive background in pediatric nursing to her position as Director of Health Services. Prior to assuming this position, she served two years as Director of Nursing at the center. Before that, she served as a staff nurse in the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at the Johns Hopkins Hospital Children’s Center, in the Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplant Unit and Pediatric Hematology-Oncology Unit of C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital, and in the Transitional Infant Care program at the Children’s Home of Pittsburgh. As a pediatric nurse practitioner, she worked at the Children’s Medical Group of Atlanta and at Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine of Simsbury. She also is the co-author of clinical research publications related to mechanically ventilated patients with severe head trauma.

Janna and her husband, Bill, who is Westminster’s Medical Director, and their two sons, Noah ’13 and Eli, live on campus. Janna enjoys Bikram yoga, knitting, and reading.

New Coach

Cheryl A. Stone

Field Hockey, Basketball

B.A., University of California, Berkeley, 1984

M.S., Purdue University

Appointed 2010

An experienced coach and an accomplished athlete, Cheryl serves as head coach of Second Girls’ Field Hockey and assistant coach of First Girls’ Basketball at Westminster. Previously, she worked at The Loomis Chaffee School as the coach of the varsity boys' tennis team, assistant varsity coach and head junior varsity coach for the girls' field hockey team, varsity coach for the girls' squash teams, a faculty advisor, and a dorm affiliate. She also has served as a camp co-director and coach at various field hockey camps and for the U.S. Futures program.

As an athlete, Cheryl was a member of U.C. Berkeley's Division I field hockey team for four years, the U.S. Under 21 Field Hockey Team in 1983 and a participant in the U.S. Olympic Festival in 1982 and 1983. In 1989, Cheryl and her husband, Drew, played field hockey for “A-1” grade club teams in Australia. Cheryl is a member of the United States Tennis Association (USTA) and an active USTA league player.

With a Master of Science in Management with an emphasis in marketing from the Krannert Graduate School of Management at Purdue University, Cheryl has worked in a number of public relations and marketing communications positions in Connecticut, Australia, and California. She lives in Canton with her husband and two sons, Jamie and Tucker.