Beaver Reflections:
I attended Beaver for 6 years. At first, I was shy, but thanks to the
encouragement I received, I became far more confident and outgoing by
the time I graduated. I remember being painfully nervous the first time I
had to present to the whole student body, but afterwards realized that
public communication can have great rewards. Beaver taught me to be
comfortable speaking out, which served me well in the years to come.
Jane Baker was an influential teacher—an amazing educator who later
became a good friend. I was never in Camilla Titcomb’s math class or
Bea Kleppner’s anthropology class, yet Ms. Titcomb would stop me in
hallway and ask how my day was going in a genuine and caring way, and
Mrs. Kleppner can take credit for being a mentoring force in my life. The
three of us gathered regularly for years to celebrate our friendship.

What is #happeningnow in your life:
After Beaver, I attended Smith College and focused on biology, art, and
education, and then received my master’s in art education and
printmaking. While a practicing artist, I ended up, almost accidentally,
back at Beaver as a teacher. It was meant to be temporary, but I enjoyed
more than ten years teaching design in the same studio where I had
previously thrown pots and crafted silver jewelry. As the mother of two
girls, I became a Girl Scout leader and was later asked to coordinate the
program in my town. This helped to revive my passion for outdoor
exploration, nature, and science and inspired a career somersault when
I had the opportunity to join the New England Aquarium. Like my
situation at Beaver, I thought it would be short-term position. After 25
years, I was still there, focusing on environmental education, exhibit
development, and interpretation of complex topics such as climate
change. In my retirement, my climate work continues as a conservation
steward and member of the Lexington Climate Action Network.

“Returning to Beaver as a teacher and as an alum and seeing the same
hallways I used to walk every day, evoked profound and happy
memories. The brilliant faculty played a dynamic role in my development.
They were my teachers during school but became my friends after I
graduated.”
– Lisbeth Bornhofft ’70

Advice to Beaver students:
Even if you have specific career goal early on, try to grab opportunities
that arise and be open to new challenges. You may be surprised where
your passion and sense of mission lead you.