Dublin School

Our Dublin Lake is one of the cleanest spring fed lakes in NH. Water from as deep as 100 feet works its way up through New Hampshire’s granite base to replenish the lake in a reliable, invisible way, often only noticeable when you happen to swim through a “cold spot!” Our 450-acre campus and surrounding town are blessed with natural springs that bubble up freshwater to create our lakes, fill our wells, and nourish our forests. When we were considering the intent of this new Dublin alumni newsletter the concept of being “spring fed” seemed to fit.

Like spring water that exist beneath the surface, your memories and feeling for Dublin no doubt exist beneath the surface of your life. This newsletter is designed to help bring Dublin to the top of your busy life so that when you desire to take a sip, to refresh a memory or make a connection in your life today, it is reliably right there. And as in nature, there are seasonal patterns but no set schedules and no way of knowing exactly where the water will go. So we begin this new communication with an openness that allows it to become whatever feeds us best. We welcome any and all suggestions and hope Dublin School will always be a wellspring of joy and meaning in your life.

Alexandria Farrell ’08 was familiar with Dublin well before she arrived as a first-year student. A native of Brooklyn, her first introduction to Dublin was on MLK day over fifteen years ago when her middle school choir made a visit to campus as part of a multi-school visit to New England. Her older sister, Ashley, matriculated two years prior to her arrival at Dublin as a student. “I felt like I had a family within a family” at Dublin, “I already knew many of the faculty and students well before I was a student.”

This year, Dublin School held its first full-day conference to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s life and legacy. 

Last year, the Students of Color Alliance (SoCA) galvanized efforts around planning, hosting, and executing the school’s first Unconference, which they called “SoCA’s a Seat at the Table Unconference.” This event—which involved topics like stereotypes, representation in the media, and internalized racism—involved an evening of student-led workshops facilitated with questions generated by participants.

Cathie Runyon is a grandparent to two generations of two: her children L.P. (Laurance) and Grier Runyon attended Dublin in the 80s, and her grandchildren Nick and Liza currently attend Dublin; Nick is graduating in the spring. Cathie and her husband moved to Peterborough in 1974, and L.P. started at Dublin in 1984 with Grier close behind.

Who owns an airport? Who decides where an airport should be? Personally, I never gave these questions much thought until I met Dublin alumnus Brett Smith ’88. Brett is the founder of Propeller Airports, a wholly owned subsidiary of Propeller Investments, and for the last ten years has been working to privatize airports across the U.S. 

As explained on Propeller’s website, Propeller Airports takes a lesson from former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, by utilizing private enterprise to subsidize government airports. Thus, creating a more efficient and profitable venture for both the public and private sectors. With offices in New York, Seattle and Atlanta, Propeller identifies untapped potential for commercial air travel by working with local governments and communities to maximize airport assets. The untapped potential that Brett is currently pursuing is in Metro Seattle, at Paine Field; originally built in 1936 and now home to Boeing’s widebody assembly plant.

A lot is asked of Dublin students. The academic demands are high; participating in athletics can be intense and living away from home for the first time can be challenging. Now imagine those challenges when you are 14 years old, 7000 miles from home, speaking a second language and in a new culture.  That is the daily experience for many of our international students.

Jung Yun, Dublin's recently announced International Student Coordinator first came to Dublin in 1998 as a freshman from Seoul Korea.  Having faced the issues of cultural dislocation herself, she sees her job, working with the Dean of Students and the advisor system, as being the bridge for international students to finding an appropriate adult presence in their lives. "Everyone needs an adult. Often that is a students' advisor, but not always. Being so far from home, these students often don't have a natural advocate - the language and cultural barriers mean that their parents cannot be involved in ways that domestic parents can."  

Alex Lange ’13 knows a thing or two about politics. The New Hampshire native currently lives in Washington, D.C. working for the National Republican Congressional Committee (NRCC) in their digital department. He works alongside political campaigns to help grow their online fundraising and advertising, as well as educate them on the benefits of investing in digital politics. His interest in politics began while a student at the University of New Hampshire.

Vanessa Martinez ’07 is the Assistant Marketing Manager and leads the marketing of Assembly Row, a mixed-use shopping center in Somerville, MA right off the highway going into Boston. This neighborhood is a first of its kind with a mixture of outlet retail, entertainment, restaurants, residential, office, and public open space in a neighborhood setting with access Boston by T, bike, or car.

Max Clary ’10 has used the challenges and tragedies in his own life to motivate him to help others. By the age of 12, Clary had lost both of his parents; his father died of suicide when Max was very young, and his mother, who had struggled with drug addiction, was killed by her boyfriend. In adolescence, Clary’s own life started spiraling out of control. “I began using drugs, got into trouble, and started failing out of school”.  Max resolved to turn his life around, and won a scholarship to the Dublin School.

Matthew Real ’03 is the Vice President at Charles Schwab & Co., Inc. who runs their wealth management offices in Maine and New Hampshire.  He is focused on promoting innovation in financial services, and challenging the status quo on behalf of the individual investor.   Matt completed his undergraduate work at Southern New Hampshire University in International Business.  He also received an MBA in Management, and Masters in Financial Planning from Bentley University.

Be sure to thank James Kirk, class of ’08, the next time you select a playlist to work out to at the gym. “I help Spotify build systems that learn how people enjoy music” he says, and then “…use that knowledge to automatically create fun, satisfying listener experiences”. After graduating from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, James moved to Boston where he started working at Spotify as a machine learning engineer.

Cal Butler '07 is a Senior Consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton, Inc. in Washington, D.C. He works on the Air Force's Invisible Wounds Initiative, which seeks to improve perceptions of treatments for PTSD. He was recently interviewed by the Milla Hispanic Leadership forum for his immigration advocacy and counter-terrorism experience. He graduated from George Washington University with a degree in International Affairs in 2013.