Oakwood News

Alumna Clara Wilkinson '11 will present at Community Meeting on Friday May 25th about her work as a Peace Corps volunteer in Zambia. Clara has been serving with the LIFE project (Linking Income, Food, and Environment) since 2016. She has been working with communities in rural Zambia to implement conservation agriculture techniques, as well as to teach improved household nutrition and to work with people to set up income generating projects.

On Sunday May 20th Oakwood will host an Intergenerational Conference on Gender Equality from 9 am to noon.  This event, which has been coordinated by the school's Human Rights Interns, is cosponsored by: The FDR Library, Eleanor Rossevelt Center at Valkill, Dutchess County Comission on Human Rights, the United Nations Association of the Mid-Hudson Valley, as well as Oakwood's Gay Straight Alliance and Poughkeepsie Day School's Gender Studies Club.   

On Friday May 18^th ceramicist Jonathan Kaplan, class of 1968, will present the annual Arts Lecture, "So I asked Myself………How Did I Get Here?" on the occasion of his 50^th reunion. This event is the 5th Annual Arts Presentation launched and supported by Jonathan Talbot ’57 who initiated the program with his presentation, “Collage: Medium & Metaphor." The following year, Molly Lynn Watt ’56 presented “On the Wings of Song – a Journey into the Civil Rights Era”, followed in 2016 by Lakota performer, storyteller and activist Tiokasin Ghosthorse who visited campus for a 3 day celebration of Lakota Culture. Last year's presentation was by Professor John Willis of Marlboro College, a documentary photographer.

Starting at midnight on Wednesday May 16th, Oakwood will once again be taking part in a 24 hour online fundraiser through Hudson Valley Gives.  We'll be participating with hundreds of other non-profits in our region through this one-day online fundraising event to support charities and causes in 6 Hudson Valley counties. 

This year’s Herzog Lecture will be presented by physicist Paul Grant ’53 on Thursday May 17^th at 10:30 AM. His talk is entitled, “A Life Journey in Physics and Beyond”. Now in its 18^th year, the Herzog Lecture was established by Daniel Herzog ’70 in memory of his father, Dr. Hershel Herzog, a distinguished chemist and pharmaceutical executive who was instrumental in developing several popular antibiotic and anti-inflammatory drugs. In keeping with a science and technology theme, the series has brought speakers from many fields to speak to the Oakwood community, bringing science inquiry to life and  encouraging students to consider career paths in science. 

Oakwood is hosting a 5K race and 1 mile fun run/walk on Sunday May 6th on our beautiful cross-country loop course to benefit global education programs through the United Nations Adopt-a-Future Program. This is a family friendly, timed race with awards for 5K age groups. 

On Wednesday April 25th Oakwood hosted its Annual Ten Year Honor Roll Luncheon to acknowledge loyal donors who have contributed to the school for the past ten years and beyond.  There are over 200 donors who fall into this category and have committed to loyally supporting Oakwood. Though all of them cannot make it to campus each year, we appreciate their unwavering support.

Oakwood honored Earth Day through our annual Earthshare Day of service learning projects on Tuesday April 24th. Students and faculty volunteered at farms, parks and non-profits throughout the Hudson Valley clearing trails, planting seedlings, cooking food and readying farms for the spring. On campus students were busy with our annual tipi raising, baking for donation to local soup kitchens, cleaning up trash and beautifying the grounds.