News

The gym was full of young and old Badger energy on November 25 as alumni former basketball players gathered to take on our varsity boys team. With Gordon Fields as their coach, and alum Gabe Perkinson '06 on the bench to add advice and encouragement, the alums met at 6pm to warm up and take on a younger  team that has been practicing and conditioning together all year. Alum players ranged in graduation year from '05 to '25, and included Alden Scott '24, Ford Scott '21, Matt Meriwether '05, JD Verniero '07, Peter Cathcart '13, Jacob Camarata '24, Jordan Anderson '23, Latrell Winkey '18, Amir Gregory '25, Matt Mahoney '11 and Scottie Chambers '15. The gym was filled with current and past students and parents, and current and past faculty. There were alumni children and the Student Senate sold snacks. The varsity, coached by Sam Dale, got off to a lead in the first quarter, but the score was almost tied at the half. There were referees on hand for the game, but there's always a little good-natured rule-bending fun in this friendly competition. The second half found the alums slowing down a bit and the deep varsity bench picking up points to win 74-62, the first varsity win in several years. As Gordon says, "We connected the old with the new - that's the goal. We're all Tandem so we all won!"

We had a great group at this year's John A. Davis Memorial Turkey Bowl, held the day after Thanksgiving on the soccer field. The Turkey Bowl unites Tandem community members of all types - past and present, young and old - in a fun few hours of referee-free, high-scoring soccer playing and camaraderie to work off some post-Thanksgiving lethargy. The event has been a Tandem tradition for years, but was renamed to memorialize former teacher and soccer coach John Davis after his death in 2016. Many thanks to the folks who turned out to play and connect, and to Tiffany Norman, Nemanja Cetic and Tracy Proctor, for running the gathering. It was a lovely day for Badger soccer.

We're so proud to share that Tandem alum Dean Lockley (TFS '20) is now in Thailand playing professional basketball in the TEBA Unsigned league on the Udon Thani Volcanoes team. Dean made his season premiere as a guard on October 24, scoring 22 points and getting 11 rebounds! Their next game is October 31 - some games stream on Ignite Sports TV. The league has a short season and players compete to earn a signed position on a TEBA league team. Dean played guard here at Tandem, then played for Longwood University and Bryant and Stratton College. Good luck, Dean!

The Tandem community enjoyed a recent visit to campus from Eli Lerdau, Class of 2025. Eli was co-editor of our Tandem Times student newspaper and author of several letters to the editor that were published in the Daily Progress over the past few years. As a first-year student at Vassar College, Eli continues to voice his concerns about the federal government's attempts to limit University independence with a recent piece that was published in the Vassar student newspaper, The Miscellany News. Keep sharing your powerful voice, Eli (wearing a nametag in the photo)!

The Class of 1975 celebrated their 50th Reunion on April 25 and 26, spending time together on campus and with current students, having dinner together at The Fitzroy, and a few returned on Saturday morning to complete a tour. Classmates Milo Velimirovic and Peter Haviland served as Upper School Speaker Series guests on Friday, sharing about things like: early electronics classes that led to careers in programming; rappelling down the Main Building; the "virtue of laziness;" having free periods and learning to manage your time; a newspaper class with Duncan Alling. They reminisced about the early days of Tandem, when clubs and activities weren't formalized, but would just spring up when there was interest. The Speaker Series was a nice give and take between students and alums. The Class of 1975 also welcomed friends from the Classes of 1973, 1974 and 1976 as well as co-founder John Howard to join them for a reception in the Blue Room on the first evening. They were also good sports about trying to recreate their class photo in front of the Main Building.

Saturday night's Alumni Arts Showcase was a tribute to Tandem's past, present, and future. It was a lovely and quintessentially Tandem event. We welcomed alumni from across the decades at Tandem, as well as several beloved retired and past faculty. Miller Oberman '97 & Charlotte Matthews (past faculty) read their writing "in Tandem," a tribute to the powerful relationships between students and faculty forged here. Between songs with his trio, Jay Pun '99 shared stories from the 90s and the unique musical education he received at Tandem. Angus Murdoch '86 performed music with his son Will, a current junior, and the cast of this year's spring musical, Mamma Mia!, shared a sneak preview. Ephraim Firdyiwek '04 played some lovely songs. Emma Johnson '19 shared her poetry and Middle School drama teacher Edwina Herring shared poetry and a song. Senior Sawyer Ruday '25 spent the last year learning about philanthropy to raise money to improve the Community Hall as a performance space. We celebrated what has endured at Tandem under the new lights and enjoyed the new sound system! Visit https://www.tandemfs.org/alumni/alumni-arts-showcase-2025 to learn more about how you can help with this ongoing Community Hall upgrade project.

We are always so thankful for the generosity of young Tandem alumni willing to share their time and wisdom with our current Upper Schoolers. The Young Alumni College Panel is an annual event of almost 20 years that brings current alumni college students in to share wisdom and answer questions about their college experience with Upper Schoolers. Sometimes they share what it's like to go to college far from home. Some talk about college-level sports. Some chose small schools and some are attending large universities. From what it's like to live in a dorm to how they made the leap from high school classes to college lectures, they have stories to tell about life after Tandem and plenty of great advice to give. Thanks to this year's wonderful alumni panel members, who shared their stories on January 13: Dylan Peifer (2022), Sophie Passino (2022), Devin Malhotra (2023), Anna Warren (2023), Jacob Camarata (2023), Talia Smith (2023). We love having them return to campus to tell their stories.

This year's Alumni Holiday Party, held December 21 at Kardinal Hall, brought together a great group of alums and current and former faculty/staff. The evening was lots of fun and full of conversation, laughter, catching up, and delicious snacks and beverages. It was a special treat to have former Head of School Paul Perkinson join us. Thanks to all who came out to enjoy some Badger AND holiday spirit! Check out photos from the evening by clicking on the headline.