Stay Connected
Alumni, we would love to hear what you’re up to!
Reconnect with Unquowa!
Our alumni are an integral part of the Unquowa community and we are eager to stay connected. Alums are welcome back anytime – stop by for a visit or join us for lunch! We also love hearing alumni news, so send us a photo and let us know what you’re up to and we will share your updates here.
Sharing Experiences and Culture
Posted by Debbie Leidlein
’08 graduate Conner O’Brien recently visited Unquowa to share with the 7th and 8th grade students his experiences in the Peace Corps, living in Ukraine for the past two years. Conner had the students’ rapt attention as he shared with them aspects of Ukraine’s culture and physical landscape. As Conner served as an English teacher in a Ukrainian school, he was able to help our students compare their educational experiences with their counterparts. Additionally, Conner shared pictures of Ukrainian food, housing and transportation. He also talked about cost of living and how it compared with the United States. Connor also spoke to the students about the Peace Corps, explaining what they do and how individuals volunteer for this unique international opportunity. After answering a barrage of questions, the students invited Conner to come back and have lunch with them, an invitation he promptly accepted. Who knows? Maybe one day another Unquowa student may decide that they would enjoy this same opportunity of sharing American culture with the world.
Winterfest Past: A Look Back
Posted by Lloyd Mitchell
Venture back through past Winter Festivals! What an awesome tradition!
Founders’ Day
Posted by Karen Williamson
We probably say this every year, but this year’s Founders’ Day felt like the best ever! Maybe it was because the weather cooperated at the last minute, or maybe because we were so happy to see so many alumni. Whatever the reason, it was a lovely day to bring the community together to celebrate the fall season and the founding of our school.
As always, our eighth graders kept younger students busy with activities, such as face painting and cupcake decorating and the ever-popular bounce house. They also made cotton candy and popcorn and sponsored a bake sale. The funds raised will be used for their spring trip to Woodloch in the poconos. Unquowa parent volunteers set up a display of Gator Goods that were available for purchase. Our chefs truly outdid themselves with the farm-to-fork barbeque and the band, Siren, kept the party rocking with great music all afternoon.
Will Hansen ’17
Posted by Lloyd Mitchell
Members of the Unquowa Soccer Team traveled to Fairfield Prep to watch Will Hansen ’17 and the Fairfield Prep Varsity soccer team battle West Haven High at Rafferty Stadium. It was great for our team players to see an alum continuing his soccer career in high school. Fairfield Prep came out on top and we even got to see Will make some great saves!
Alumni Gather to Celebrate the 100th!
Posted by Kate Haviland
They came from near and far to celebrate together!
Alumni from the 1940s up through the 2000s gathered at Unquowa the night before Founders’ Day to help us mark the school’s centennial. They poured over photos, yearbooks and other items from the school’s archives, reconnected with old friends, explored the school and entertained us with stories from their Unquowa years! Did you know that the Gator Goods closet in the gym used to be a door to a stairway?! That students sat on hard wooden benches at lunch to teach them good posture?! A few alums from the early ’50s even sang the old Unquowa fight song…
To the hills, to the slides
On jumpers and sleds and skis we glide
To the field, never yield,
We’re fighting for Unquowa’s victory!
Unquowa, Unquowa, Unquowa-wa-wa-wa-wa!
Unquowa School
Long may she rule
Over our hearts and lives
With everything that grows and thrives
Unquowa, Unquowa, Unquowa-wa-wa-wa-wa!
Our voices raise
To sing her praise
As we go marching forwards
Through all our days!
Unquowa, Unquowa, Unquowa-wa-wa-wa-wa!
Grace Haviland ’13 and Rebecca Ryan ’13
Posted by Kate Haviland
Fairfield Ludlowe High school senior Grace Haviland ’13 founded and leads a chapter of buildOn, a Stamford based non-profit, which raises funds to build schools in the developing world. In its first year the FLHS chapter exceeded their $45,000 goal and underwrote the entire cost of building a secondary school in the mountains of Nicaragua.
Fellow Unquowa alumna, Rebecca Ryan ‘13, joined Grace in these efforts and, together with other members of their FLHS buildOn team, they traveled to Nicaragua in June to help build the school’s foundation and to live in the community they are supporting. The school they funded is complete and will serve students who, until now, have not had the opportunity to go beyond 8th grade. All communities where buildOn’s program works must agree to send their daughters to school in equal number to their boys…a powerful motivator for these Unquowa alumnas and the FLHS chapter. They are now raising funds to build the another school!
