American students are less proficient in American history than any other subject. According to the results of a nationwide test released last summer, most fourth-graders are unable to identify why Abraham Lincoln was an important figure, a majority of middle schoolers don’t know which side won the Revolutionary War and only a small percentage of high school seniors are able to identify China as the North Korean ally that fought American troops during the Korean War. Overall, just 20 percent of fourth-graders, 17 percent of eighth-graders and 12 percent of high school seniors demonstrated proficiency on the history exam.


Don’t blame me: I teach math, not history, and I’ve been doing it for less than three years. And certainly don’t blame Kathryn Flitner Wallop, who has been an outstanding English teacher at Sheridan High School in Sheridan, Wyoming, for the past 15 years. She entered Dartmouth with “slightly scuffed cowboy boots and rodeo queen belt” and after graduating followed a long and winding road that eventually led to the classroom after stints in advertising copywriting, public relations, guest ranch management, radio ad sales and voiceover, waitressing and various escapades in TV and print, including an infomercial that earned her some late-night notoriety as the “Bug Zapper Girl.” Whenever she feels the symptoms of teacher burn-out she reminds herself that there’s no better job than guiding young people through the world of big ideas. And then Kathryn tackles two other challenges in her insanely busy life: completing a second master’s degree, this one in fine arts, and raising her two young girls—ages 9 and 4—with restaurateur husband Oliver, perfect counterpoints to their 27-year-old big brother.


And don’t blame Al Noyes, who has been pioneering new and better approaches to education for more than 15 years. When Al was recently offered the opportunity to return to his native Maine to run an 80-year-old educational publisher, he jumped at the chance. Al has returned with his wife, Kathy, and two young children—ages 12 and 9—to Falmouth, Maine, the town where he grew up. Al’s family loves the lifestyle in Maine. At Walch Education Al is leading the transition of the company from a provider of supplemental educational books to a developer of mass-customized teacher and student resources, with the objective of enhancing the quality of interaction between teachers and students by eliminating many of the distractions teachers face and giving them the tools they need to be effective. If this gig doesn’t work out, Al is welcome to serve as a guest contributor to this column. Al has news to report on classmates Bill Goodspeed (“recently retired and sticking to a malt-centric diet”), Sue Green Spagnola (“who like me, doesn’t look a day older”), Harry Shulman (“still can’t play beer pong”), Mike Lynch (“good golfer but terrible singer”), Cathel Macleod (“braces are off”), Wade Herring (“I still can’t believe his accent and he still can’t believe mine”) and Mike Carothers (“losing his hair but unfortunately not the hair on his chest”).


I recently caught up with Peter Lubin, who is based in Chicagoland and works as a name partner in a law firm that specializes in commercial and class-action litigation. For the third straight President’s Day weekend Peter, daughter Tess and Tess’ godfather Guy Dietrich will take a ski vacation together, this time to Sun Valley, Idaho. Did Guy’s string of bad luck continue? Guy dislocated his shoulder on the trip two years ago, and again last year. Maybe it’s time to take up shuffleboard, boys.


—Frank Fesnak, 111 Arbor Place, Bryn Mawr, PA 19010; (610) 581-8889; ffesnak@yahoo.com; Rob Daisley, 3201 W. Knights Ave., Tampa, FL 33611; (813) 300-7954; robdaisley@mc.com