Last week, the Chapin community celebrated “Worlds Within Words,” a Book Fair theme that honored the art of stories and storytelling and the power of books.
This year, for the first time, the Book Fair kicked off with an Upper School-only shopping event on November 7. In the flower-adorned Assembly Room (AR), Class 8-12 students examined the expansive collection of titles, including recommendations from peers in each US grade, and enjoyed refreshments.
Later that evening, parents, alums and professional community members gathered in the same space for the annual cocktail reception. Attendees enjoyed spending time with one another, chatting with authors (Jared Cohen, Kate Greathead ’01 and Tracey Zaba), purchasing raffle tickets and, of course, perusing the fabulous selection of books.
The following day our K-12 students spent time at the Fair – many leaving with armfuls of books! They delighted in meeting guest authors including Jared Cohen, Randall de Sève, Lisa Greenwald, Janie Havemeyer ’77, Dan Gutman, Christopher Healy and Hui Lee.
Leading up to the Book Fair, students were also treated to special visits from authors. Lower School girls heard from Janie Havemeyer ’77 and Alliah Agostini; Middle School was joined by Lisa Greenwald and Marjan Kamali visited Upper School.
More than just books, Worlds Within Words celebrated our unwavering community. Special thanks go to our hardworking Book Fair Co-Chairs Jessie Beller, Vendor Management; Judy Choe Cummings, Marketing; Ting-Ting Chiu, Graphics, Design & Décor; Carrie Hughes, Author Acquisition & Hospitatlity; Emma Jin, Finance; Sarah Magier, Raffle; Pari Shah, Décor; Elizabeth Tyndell, Events; Helen Wong, Program Management, Budget, Volunteers & Technology for spearheading this year’s wonderful event. We so appreciate the dedication of their committee*, the Gator Gear team and all our parent volunteers.
Thanks, as well, to Chapin’s Food Services and Facilities teams, our librarians, and other PC members who helped make the event such a success. We are also grateful to Alana, Tivia and Richard Kramer for their generous sponsorship of the Book Fair. Happy reading to all!
*Committee members (in alphabetical order): Jayashree Balasubramanian, Jessie Beller, Lynn Bermont, Susanna Brock Deringer, Avni Desai, Ann Chaudhary, Ting-Ting Chiu, Isabel Cohen, Judy Choe Cummings, Violet Feng, Maribeth Gainard, Geeta Garg, Nyisha Hohn-Cox, Carrie Hughes, Emma Jin, Sharon Keh, Joyce Kwok, Caroline Laumann, Melody Li, Sarah Magier, Chika Maruta, Crystal Pugh, Lauren Davidson Sachs, Poorwa Singh, Pari Shah, Nicky Shatz, Kathleen Smith, Amy Sung, Elizabeth Tydell, Caroline Waxler, Helen Wong.
