Alumni Association

List of 4 items.

• Aaron Silidker ‘99

  Aaron Silidker ‘99 credits the Country School with allowing him to “tinker” and explore his passion for mechanics, which he now does as the founder of RoamRig van upgrades.
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  I currently run a small business in North Branford called RoamRig. We make electrical parts/accessories for a very narrow niche of the camper van market, specifically for Sprinters and one model of Sprinter based van called the Winnebago Revel. The Country School always encouraged independence and finding your "thing" as a student. The spirit of independence and exploration at Country is certainly something I've carried with me through my education and career. The Country School 100000% encouraged me to explore and tinker. Tinkering has and will always be my "thing." It led me to my business. 

  
  

  There are LOTS of Country School teachers and experiences that center around independent thinking and exploration...for me, that was tinkering. 

  
  

  I will give you a specific one about Chris Wallack. At some point, Country School had a device for painting lines on the fields. As a kid who always, ALWAYS loved tinkering with machines, I thought this one was super cool. Put some paint in, start an engine, pull a handle, and paint comes shooting out. One day during gym class, Mr. Wallack let me play with the line striping machine. Clearly this was only barely adjacent to gym class and physical activity, but he allowed it. He trusted me.

  
  

  Another fun mechanical-related memory was The Country School auction in 1996 or so. As an 11 year old, I donated an oil change for someone's car. Former Head of School Ed Blatchford bought it, and I changed the oil in his Honda Accord. What other school would have a headmaster who lets an 11-year-old change their car's oil and filter? Mr. Blatchford’s wife, Claire, a hearing-impaired woman, let me, then a 5th Grader, call her on a TTY system because I was so interested in learning how it worked, which leads me to another fun story: my desk alarm. 

  
  

  The summer before 5th Grade, I took an electronics class at the Eli Whitney museum and built an electronic alarm with a very loud buzzer that would sound (and stay on until reset) when someone opened a door. When I arrived to school that fall, I learned that there were two 5th Grade homerooms, and we used to move from one room to another. The tops of our desks lifted up, allowing us to store all of our belongings. Kids from the other class used to go through my desk, which irritated me. Thankfully, my homeroom teacher, Mr. Krugman, indulged my passion for tinkering. He let me install the alarm I had made that summer on my desk so that no one could go in there.

  
  

  The Country School was a place that recognized that I liked to tinker and explore, and my teachers definitely nurtured that wherever possible. As an adult I marvel at how wild it was–in a good way–that Country School let me be me and let me explore and build.

• Sarah Bradford ‘07

  Sarah Bradford ‘07 credits her Country School teachers for encouraging her to think beyond our community, which she now does as an attorney helping recently-arrived migrants to New York find their footing in their new home.
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  I am an Associate Attorney in the New York office of the global immigration law firm Fragomen. I represent companies and individuals on a wide range of U.S. inbound immigration matters, including temporary work visas, employment-sponsored green cards, and marriage- and family-based green cards.  While my company clients cover various industries, including electric vehicles, foreign policy and exchange, museums, tech, banking and finance, and personal care, the direct human impact I feel on a daily basis is rewarding and meaningful. 

  
  

  At Fragomen, where immigration has been the sole focus for over 70 years, I am part of a group where people seek our expertise and guidance during their bravest and extremely personal life milestones: transitioning their lives to a new country, sometimes on their own and other times for family unity or falling in love.  In my pro bono practice, I assist immigrant survivors of domestic violence, Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) recipients, and recently arrived migrants through asylum seeker resource fairs and work authorization clinics across the five New York City boroughs.

  
  

  The tightly knit community of The Country School and the small student-teacher ratio established a strong foundation to nurture and attend to the details when serving client needs.

   

  The first teachers who come to mind are Mr. Wainio and Mr. Storms. Mr. Wainio was my Latin teacher and his teaching without a doubt served as a launchpad for my international curiosities and to continue studying language (Latin, Ancient Greek, and French) through high school and college. This instilled a global mindset which landed me in the field of immigration law out of undergrad and inspired me to pursue law school. Mr. Storms was my English teacher, and going to his classroom was always the highlight of my day. I attended Country School for a mere two years, but with Mr. Storms, I always felt included academically and in on the many jokes he was cracking.  I can say with certainty that his bibliophilic nature and love for learning were transferred to me, and now I am in a profession meant for people with a hunger for challenging their beliefs and knowledge base every day.

   

  Funnily enough, the Class of 2007 dedicated our yearbook to both Mr. Storms and Mr. Wainio. The words in the dedication still ring true and make me think fondly of them. 

   

  Mr. Wainio, though some of us have only known you for a year, we all know you as a humorous, caring, Star Wars-loving, wise Latin teacher (and much more). You’ve believed in us through the years, even when we believed all hope was lost – from trying to make logic of Roman numerals to finding our secondary schools. Thank you for all of the values you’ve instilled in us and for all of the fun times we’ve had together, and ‘may the force be with you!’

  
  

  Stormy, you have always been there for us. At times we would like to decapitate ourselves because of your corny jokes, but when we walk into your class, we feel you are very avuncular toward us. You’re a wise pedagogue who is always ready to help us out. You are a true bibliophile whose amicable nature pacifies us all.

• Will Steiner ‘09

  Will Steiner ‘09 credits the Country School for giving him his competitive spirit and love of sports, which led him to become the first soccer player inducted into the Fairfield Prep Athletics Hall of Fame. He continues to use lessons from The Country School in his current work at Northwell Health in New York.
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  I have so many fond memories from The Country School and amongst the top are the daily recesses and gym classes during which we played like it was the World Cup Final, the Super Bowl, the NBA Championship, or whatever equivalent depending on the sport
  we were playing. I started playing travel soccer very young; the expectations were already high, and the environment was demanding. I’m fortunate that I was able to play other sports like lacrosse and basketball for Country. Playing basketball and lacrosse and having regular gym class was so important for me  because it allowed me to compete with my closest friends while still having fun playing multiple sports. My parents always told me that the most important thing for me as an athlete was to make sure I was still having fun – this lesson carried through my athletic career and was certainly reinforced at The Country School.

  
  Country School was such a tight-knit community and I was so close with my friends that taking the field with them was pure fun and camaraderie. It certainly did not hurt that my closest friends also loved sports and all we wanted to do was be out on a field or a
  court playing together. I learned about teamwork and sportsmanship at TCS, as we had wonderful coaches and mentors to teach us not only the skills we needed to improve athletically, but how to hold ourselves and how to play hard and with respect for others. I carried these key lessons with me throughout my soccer career at
  Fairfield Prep and Villanova, both of which share similar values to those of The Country School. The importance of treating others with respect, playing together, and giving it my all were critical to my success athletically.

  
  Finally, it is impossible for me to think about sports at Country School and not mention my gratitude for and fondness of Mr. Wallack who devoted so much of his time towards the betterment of his students both athletically and as people. Country School emphasized the importance of treating others with respect, compassion, and
  generosity, values that I continue to live with today. I am grateful to have been in an environment where they were fostered so early on.

  
  I currently work in Business Development at Northwell Health, which is the largest health system in New York State and is the largest private employer in NYS. My team focuses on the strategic development of our ambulatory network. I love the work that I do and am privileged to work for a company that is devoted to creating a better healthcare environment for our communities. The Country School taught me at a young age how to be organized, committed, and diligent in the work that I do. The Country School challenged me academically, socially, and physically to be the best version of myself. I was a very active child and was most successful in a structured and challenging environment. Country School provided this for me and my peers from a young age. I learned early that to succeed in a challenging academic environment, I needed to be organized and structured in my time and efforts. This is critical in my professional career.

• Colin Higginson ‘19

  Colin Higginson ‘19 credits the Country School for instilling in him resilience, strong work habits, and a love of history, which he uses now at Trinity College Dublin and hopes to use in achieving his goal of opening his own medical practice.
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  I am currently enrolled in the Business, Economics, and Social Studies (B.E.S.S.) program at Trinity College Dublin with a concentration in Business and Economics. I plan on applying to medical school upon completion of my undergraduate business degree and am considering taking a gap year to complete my prerequisite STEM courses. With my degrees in business and medicine, I hope to eventually open my own medical practice which will allow me greater control over my schedule and work environment in the short term, as well as provide opportunities for affordable and personalized healthcare to my community in the future.

   

  My academic experience at Trinity is far from what I expected it to be. Unlike many American institutions, Trinity places great emphasis on final exams and essays, with many accounting for as much as 70% of a student’s final course grade. It goes without saying that preparation for these exams is stressful, as there is little room for error and even less room to make up for a poor exam grade. When I encountered roadblocks while studying for these exams, I often found myself reflecting on my academic experience at The Country School. My teachers never gave up on me and impressed upon me the importance of resilience and attention to detail. Because of their dedication to my success, I have adapted to the many challenges that accompany studying abroad, and have grown to appreciate the time and effort my Country School teachers contributed to my academic and extracurricular success.

   

  While I admittedly had no plans to study abroad during my time at The Country School, my history teachers definitely influenced my decision during my college application process. I have many fond memories of studying history, especially with Mrs. Kelly and Mr. Wainio. I have truly appreciated learning about Trinity College Dublin’s extensive history, and I am reminded of my time studying the ancient Romans and Greeks at TCS every time I enter Trinity’s idyllic front gate.