Coffee Talk!
	The Coffee Talk Corner spotlights alumnae with a snapshot of a short conversation on various topics or just some simple chit-chat.  Visit this corner often, relax with a fresh cup of coffee, and learn more about your fellow alumnae!  Just another way for you to be engaged, get connected and stay involved!

	Chris Hart '71
	Chris Hart ‘71 It is not difficult to find Chris Hart in Brattleboro, Vermont. You can ask anyone in Café Lotus if they know Chris and you immediately hear, “Oh, of course I know Christine.” When she enters the café, she immediately says hello to everyone and then might exchange some important information about the next town council meeting or building project. With just a few short minutes over a foamy double latté, Chris brought me up to speed on her career and volunteer activities. Chris Hart is the Vice President of the Housing Authority in Vermont and works closely with the Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition (VAHC), a statewide organization dedicated to ensuring that all Vermonters have decent, safe and affordable housing. Her work opens up housing options for low income, disabled and elderly people. She is also involved in creating building projects in downtown Brattleboro that add to the life and vibrancy of the town. Chris credits Stoneleigh-Burnham School with developing her leadership capabilities and teaching her a foundation in ethical responsibility. “I strongly believe that we are all stewards of this earth, with a responsibility to take care of one another, and to improve the places where we live.” Though our conversation was brief, Chris Hart is efficient. She is filled with such an enthusiasm for what is possible, or any project that demands collaboration and hard work, that her inner clock reminds her of the next big item on her list and she is on her way.

	Sabrina Putnam '88
	Sabrina Putnam '88 A recent visit with Sabrina at the Emma Willard School in Troy, NY was a terrific example of “you can leave a boarding school by graduating, but the boarding school experience will never leave you!” Since 2000, Sabrina has been a Resident Faculty member and Instructor in Seminar at Emma Willard School for Girls. She received her B.S. from Green Mountain College after graduating from Stoneleigh-Burnham School and then went on to earn her Masters in Education from Harvard Graduate School of Education. During our visit it was a pleasant surprise when Sabrina was asked a question about her SBS experience that she could not readily answer, so she walked over to her bookcase in her living room and pulled out her SBS yearbook! Sabrina followed her sister Jennifer Putnam '84 to Stoneleigh-Burnham and in her Emma Willard faculty profile, Sabrina says that Stoneleigh-Burnham “changed my life!” Sabrina has made the boarding school experience a family affair with her husband, Todd Matthew, working as an English instructor at Emma Willard and her two young children, Calvin and Betsy, living on campus in a faculty apartment. The special experience of boarding school has been a major part of Sabrina's life.

	Miho Aoki '94
	Miho Aoki '94 Miho joined Stoneleigh-Burnham alumnae and Head of School Sally Mixsell '69 for the “Young and Young-at-Heart” gathering in New York City in October. Miho is a fashion designer based in New York City. United Bamboo, her company with business partner Thuy Pham, has received outstanding reviews by Vogue on the Style.com website. Just prior to the Stoneleigh-Burnham School cocktail party, Miho received a call from Christina Gil '94, who was visiting for a few months from Spain. Miho and Christina had not seen each other in years but the Stoneleigh-Burnham bond of friendship was evident as Miho and Christina already had wonderful tales of their recent time together in the city! From a review written by Laird Borrelli-Persson on Style.com regarding Miho's Spring 2010 Ready To Wear line: “If fashion is a circus, then its ringmasters this week are Miho Aoki and Thuy Pham of United Bamboo, and its bespectacled band conductor is Sean Lennon, who provided the music-box soundtrack for the label's most enchanting outing to date.”

	Sharon Lewis Gaffey '68S
	Sharon Lewis Gaffey ‘68S We met up with Sharon at Peaberry’s in Simsbury, Connecticut for a cup of coffee. Sharon talked about her years at Stoneleigh-Prospect Hill School.  She mentions a gathering of four other SPH School classmates and her last spring and fondly reflects on a wonderful time of catching up and laughing about the silly antics from their high school years. Sharon has stayed involved with Stoneleigh-Burnham School and serves as a member of the Alumnae Board. She shares a connection to the school with her sister Charlotte and her mother ‘Sis’. Together they have been wonderful supporters of the Art Department, photography in particular. One of Sharon’s fondest memories of her high school years was ‘Father’s Weekend.’ Sharon loved the father-daughter softball game followed by a father-daughter dance in the evening. “It was a costume ball of sorts and we would get all dressed up in silly costumes. At first my father and I thought it was a corny idea, but we actually ended up having a ball!”

	Kathy Seyffer Opdycke '70
	Kathy Seyffer Opdycke ‘70 Kathy is an avid swimmer. Self-admittedly she is not a competitive swimmer; just a daily workout of forty five minutes to one hour, where she sets personal goals and then tries to exceed those goals. Kathy is steadfast and loyal, not only to her workouts but with her friends and family. She has been friends with classmate Anne Quantrell Dennen ’70 for 44 years! “Nothing gives me more satisfaction than what I do for my family, my friends and the School." With the 40th Reunion for the class of 1970 quickly approaching June 11-13, 2010, as Class Agent, Kathy would like nothing more than a terrific turn out from the class of 1970. Kathy currently serves as vice chair of the Board of Trustees for Stoneleigh-Burnham School. As she looks back at her high school days she marvels at “sitting next to Sally Leach at house meetings unaware that some day she would be Head of School and I would be Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees and working together for the School.”