Below are transcriptions of the remarks shared at Waterford’s final Parent Association meeting for the 2024-25 school year. The meeting celebrated the experiences and contributions made by the families of the Class of 2025.
Remarks by Class XII student, Emery Chamberlain:
Hello, good morning and happy almost to the end of the week! My name is Emery Chamberlain and I am one of the two seniors who have the pleasure of speaking with you all this morning. I recognize some of you through interactions at senior lunches, or from passing by in the foyer after an orchestra concert. However, many of you are unfamiliar to me — and I likely am to you too. This is because my time at Waterford hasn’t been long, but it has been long enough to leave its lasting impact on my life.
I transferred last year from St. Louis, MO and began anew as a junior. At the same time, I moved away from my home of 12 years, my sister left for an 18-month church mission in France. I felt extremely alone. Beginning in a new high school as a junior without one of my biggest supporters seemed like a daunting task. However, this “daunting task” was the exact push I needed to realize how much room I had to grow.
My sophomore year, my last year in St Louis, I did not stay very disciplined. I got too comfortable within my classes and blamed my lack of success on the fact that the material was just “too challenging”. I would often tell my parents that I am not the one to blame for my bad math grade, because it was the same as what my peers were getting. This mindset resulted in a dip in my grades, causing me to end my sophomore year with grades that, in retrospect, did not reflect my potential. When I first got my report card, I didn’t think anything of it. I truly believed that the letter grades were an accurate reflection of my true academic capabilities. My mindset didn’t shift until I was surrounded by self-driven and determined peers here at Waterford.
I remember hearing rumors about the academic rigor that Waterford impressed upon its students and getting anxious that I would be a few steps behind my future peers. It was with this anxiety that I stepped foot on Waterford’s campus.
I began more challenging courses to bolster my transcripts for college but my previous grades caused me to remain nervous that I would not succeed. But my teachers’ reassurance that their only desire was our success as students helped me gain motivation. I took advantage and began reaching out for support. I remember spending several lunch periods in a row doing test corrections with Ms. Poppen and knocking on Mr. Sayes’ door multiple times to see if he was available to help explain the homework. Once I leaned on the supportive faculty Waterford provides, I saw my success begin to grow.
I felt proud when I ended my junior year with my most successful grades yet, putting to rest the voices of doubt I started the year with. I can attest to the fact that the rigor is real, but also it is also necessary if you desire progress. If I hadn’t been challenged at Waterford, I would have settled for what I thought was my full potential. I would not have been able to recognize that my capabilities were so much more vast, just waiting to be discovered.
When we get uncomfortable, just as I was after I moved, it is natural to settle for what we know. We don’t feel ready to take the step beyond what is comfortable. Sometimes we need just a small nudge to help us recognize that great things lie beyond our line of familiarity. And that is why I will always cherish Waterford— this school pushed me to excel in ways I didn’t envision as a sophomore. I was provided opportunities here that have pushed me beyond my self-set boundaries. And it is through these experiences that I have been able to see my greatest growth— whether it be in academics, athletics or arts.
This lesson I learned here will continue to serve me beyond when I walk the stage at graduation. I will use this experience as I begin at BYU this fall, studying nursing. I know there are many challenging bumps ahead, but my time at Waterford has taught me that by rising to the challenges and not underestimating my potential, I will be able to find great success. Thank you.
Remarks by Class XII student, Jack Khachatryan:
Hi everyone, my name is Jack Khachatryan, and I’m a senior, class of 2025.
I want to start with a quick survey. Everyone, put your hand up. Now, put your hand down if this is your first year at Waterford—if you’ve been a parent, teacher, or student here for less than one year. Less than three years? Less than five? Ten? Thirteen? Fifteen?
I’ve been at Waterford for thirteen years. That’s more than three-quarters of my life.
And just in case you doubt my claims to the Waterford throne, I brought some proof: my kindergarten ID, because at Waterford, kindergartners have IDs.
But in all seriousness, for a long time, this school felt like the backdrop to everything else: classes, sports, friends, routines. But now, standing here, preparing to leave it, I’ve started to realize that Waterford wasn’t just a setting. It was a shaping force.
When you’re here for this long, it’s hard to explain how Waterford shaped you, not because it didn’t play a significant role, but because all the memories start to blur together. It’s like trying to describe your own handwriting. It’s familiar. It’s everywhere. But it’s hard to explain how it became that way.
One memory I’ll never forget though was Ms. Perkins’ Lower School science class, where she would bring in a baby lamb, wearing a diaper. As a kindergartener, I wasn’t exactly sure what science was, but I was fascinated, I had so many questions. Somehow though, that lamb-in-a-diaper moment was a spark that lit a fuse.
Fast forward a few years, and a few Aesop’s fables, and I landed in Middle School. Yes, I listened to the beats of Mrs DJ Fagan at middle school dances, I learned Latin… and forgot Latin. And now, five years later, here I am: a senior. They’re finally kicking me out.
In the time between, I played lacrosse, joined the Waterford rowing team, fell in love with photography, and learned how to integrate polar functions using radial and angular transformations. The list goes on. Of what’s happened. Of what’s changed.
But that early spark from a lamb in a diaper? It never really went out.
Since then I’ve loved science, not just as a subject, but as a way of thinking. In Middle School, I gravitated toward labs and science fair projects. In Upper School, it turned into a full schedule: chemistry with Dr. O, biology with Ms. Poppen, two years of physics, ecology, genetics, four years of Science Olympiad. I helped articulate a tortoise skeleton in the Nature Lab. I joined the robotics team, where I learned what it means to solve problems under pressure, and to fail and try again.
That love of science led me outside the classroom, too. I spent time volunteering at Shriners Children’s Hospital, building custom wheelchairs. That experience showed me how engineering could make a tangible, immediate difference in someone’s life. I followed that path into biomechanics research at the University of Utah. And soon, it will lead me to study biomedical engineering at Duke University.
But even as all those experiences shaped what I want to do, they aren’t the whole story.
What really shaped me, what I’ll remember most, are the people.
Ms. Callens donating her lunches until physics made sense. Mr. Sayes called us young grasshoppers, while also making my notes organized for the first time. Ms. Collins printing out the NYT crossword and handing me a jolly rancher every day for the past year. My teammates who encouraged me to keep going after a long practice freshman year. My classmates who made school something I actually looked forward to. These moments weren’t always dramatic or planned. Most of the time, they were simple, someone noticing, someone showing up. But they made all the difference.
I don’t have time to go over every teacher, every person that’s helped me in this journey, because over the years I’ve had over seventy teachers at Waterford. That number alone is crazy to think about, but it’s also a reminder of how many people have poured into my education. And that’s not even counting coaches, mentors, or classmates. Each person added something different, something uniquely theirs, to the version of me standing here now.
Whether it was a conversation, a challenge, or a quiet moment of support, those interactions are what I’ll carry with me.
We often talk about Waterford in terms of its curriculum, its college outcomes, its unique programs, its beautiful campus, its uniforms, and all of that matters. But what I’ve come to believe is that the real strength of this place isn’t found in its resources. It’s found in its relationships.
Waterford is truly a community. A place where connection is part of the learning process. Where students perform but also reflect. Where teachers don’t just deliver content but invest in the people in front of them.
Those relationships have shaped how I think, how I problem-solve, and how I treat the people around me. And I believe they’re the most lasting part of a Waterford education. Because no matter what we go on to do, we’ll take those habits with us.
That’s what makes Waterford different. It’s not just that it prepares you for the future. It’s that it reminds you, constantly, that the future is shaped by the people around us, and by the connections we build with them.
I’m grateful for what I’ve learned here, and even more grateful for the people who made that learning possible. Thank you to all of you.
Remarks by Class XII parent, Mike Johnson ’88 P. ’13, ’15, ’25:
Good morning, Parent Association. Thank you for inviting me to speak and interact with adults on a Wednesday morning, a bit out of the ordinary for me. Let me start by saying that deciding exactly what to share with you today was much more difficult than I anticipated. Should I talk about Hewson’s experience as a Waterford student or my experience as a Waterford parent? As I thought about Hewson’s time at Waterford, I realized I can only speak on my interpretation of it. His perspective might be just slightly different.
I have also worried about the emotions that would or, more likely, would not be evident. I am not one who typically gets visibly emotional in public settings, even in instances where it is considered appropriate or maybe even expected. So my concerns really are more about appearing indifferent or aloof. To combat that, I figured I could show a little emotion by channeling Don Quixote for just a moment . . . IYKYK.
For those of you who don’t know my story, I attended Waterford in Provo in 7th and 8th grade, during the first two years of the Middle School’s existence, 1982-1984. Twelve years later, I heeded Nancy Heuston’s call and returned to Waterford in the fall of 1996 as a Class V homeroom teacher. Two years after that, in September of 1998, my oldest child, Rilyn, joined the Pre-K program, which at the time we called Nursery 3, and I added a new title to my résumé: Waterford Parent. Now, fast forward to four weeks from tomorrow, where after 27 years as Waterford Parent, I will graduate to Waterford Parent Emeritus.
Hewson Evans Johnson is the third of my three biological children (I now have seven in all in our blended family). Soon, all three who grew up with me as their dad from the start will have graduated from Waterford, and all three attended the school beginning in PreK-3 and going all the way through. From my perspective, Waterford was and is an ideal environment for Hewson to flourish. Well before our Core Values were formalized, I saw them exemplified by people at the school in Hewson’s life. I want to talk about two examples, including three of those values in particular.
The first example is caring. When Hewson was in first grade, his mother, Meredith and I separated and divorced. Though Meredith was and is a great mother to our kids, and though our split was amicable and she and I remain friends, that kind of change is no small thing to a small child. But in a stressful time, Hewson’s first-grade teacher, Melinda Zabriskie, had his back, watched out for him, kept an extra close eye on him, and conferenced with us about how we could best meet his emotional needs. She cared enough to let us know when there were things we needed to address, and she celebrated his successes. I will forever be grateful for Melinda’s kind heart and thoughtful actions in making school a bit of a refuge in a turbulent time for Hewson. The truth is, I could say the same things about all of Hewson’s teachers in Lower School, but there are too many to name in the time I have to speak. As a parent, I never doubted that Hewson was cared for and valued in our Waterford community. What more could a parent want for their child?
The second example is a combination of curiosity and excellence. When Hewson was in Class IV, he decided to audition for the LS Play, Where the Wild Things Are. I had no idea that he was interested in theater, but something had sparked his curiosity. He ended up earning the role of Burner the Fish, where he was directed by Tara Tanner. I was stunned by his performance. In my biased opinion, he clearly had some talent in this arena. This was confirmed the next year when he received rave reviews for his performance as Antipholus of Syracuse in Shakespeare’s The Comedy of Errors, directed by Javen Tanner. Through the seven years that followed those first two experiences in Lower School, Hewson performed in many Waterford Middle School and Upper School theater productions, along with a few with the Sting & Honey Company as well. Curiosity became excellence. This is my shoutout to Javen and the theater department, and their standard of excellence. Thank you for what you have meant to my son. And while these remarks have been focused on theater, if I had the time, I would have similar things to say about his other teachers, counselors, and deans in Middle and Upper School as well.
I feel fortunate myself to be part of a community in an environment that implicitly and explicitly encourages caring, curiosity, and excellence. But I feel even more grateful that my children have had this opportunity. Rilyn, Alessia, and finally Hewson have all had the chance to explore their interests and grow as people. As I was contemplating what it would mean to no longer be a Waterford Parent, I realized that the idea wasn’t entirely accurate. Rilyn and Alessia have both made their way back to the school as a Middle and Upper School humanities tutor, and a PreK-3 homeroom teacher, respectively. So I still technically have offspring at Waterford. Even my wife, Allison, hopped on board the Waterford Express this year as a Dance Academy teacher. Who knows, maybe someday Hewson will make his way back here, too. It is a family tradition after all. But you can’t really blame us for it. Waterford is a great place to be. Thank you.
Remarks by Class XII parent, Kirsten Romer ’23, ’25:
What a gift to spend some time thinking about and now sharing what Waterford has meant to our family. Coming to this school was not only one of our best decisions, I believe that it is one of the greatest gifts we have given to our two boys, Ethan and Max.
We had made the decision to move to Park City in time for our boys to begin 6th and 8th grade in the fall of 2018. Finding a good school was part of the equation and Chantal Dolan, a friend since preschool days in Palo Alto, recommended that we take a look at Waterford. We scheduled time to meet with admissions and we will never forget our conversation with Todd Winters — he was so genuinely curious about our boys, their interests, their challenges, and our hopes for them in the years to come. Nicole Miranda then gave us a tour of the campus on that gorgeous fall day. As we all know, the view of the Wasatch mountains is extraordinary — but what impressed us the most, was seeing the students on the main quad – sitting in groups on the grass, playing frisbee, engaged in conversations, laughing. They seemed relaxed and happy.
I dug up my thank you email to Waterford admissions after the boys’ shadow day and noted that Max was amazed to see that Waterford had every musical instrument you could ever imagine, and he was particularly excited to visit a class that was coding individual websites and learning HTML in the process. Ethan loved the generous lunch period that allowed time for basketball and visiting with friends, the interaction between teachers and students. He was amazed not only that the math class had only 12 students, but that the teacher took the time to ensure that every student understood a concept before moving on to the next. When we picked them up, Ethan exclaimed, “I don’t care how long the bus ride is from Park City, I want to go to Waterford!”
We spoke with other parents and by the time we committed to Waterford, we believed that the liberal arts curriculum would be expanding and enriching for both boys. We also sensed that the true secret sauce at Waterford might be a shared value across the entire faculty and staff to truly see and nurture every student — their interests, their challenges, their unique possibilities.
I want to share a few anecdotes of how that has proven true for our boys.
Ethan came to Waterford at the beginning of Class VIII and is now a sophomore in college. He loved Waterford from day one and it was an easy transition for him socially and academically. Ethan is the kind of kid that if he is interested in something, he is really interested and everyone around him knows it. Moving to Utah and meeting Mr. Watkins in the Outdoor program was life-changing. Ethan already loved mountain-biking and skiing, but Mr. Watkins introduced him to rock-climbing, back-country skiing, and inspired his interest in endurance running. Eventually Ethan discovered ski mountaineering as his high school team sport. It turns out that there are a lot of teachers and administrators at Waterford that are also passionate about mountain sports, and Ethan was able to engage with so many of them around those activities — whether he was their student or not. What a gift to have so many caring and interested adults in his young life.
And here is how Waterford teachers were able to take Ethan’s interests and connect them to his academic growth:
As Ethan matured, he no longer needed teachers to make the connections for him. He found hooks across disciplines in what his teachers presented to all students. A few examples:
These are only a few examples that Ethan shared and that I actually remembered! There were many, many more.
Fast forward to today… In a few weeks, Ethan will need to declare his major, and true to the interdisciplinary approach nurtured by Waterford, he will be a Math major but is still torn between English and History for his minor (maybe he will find a way to do both!).
Max is our graduating senior, who joined Waterford at the beginning of Class VI. He was and to some degree still is reserved, but beneath a quiet facade, there is a very active mind. In particular, he has had an insatiable curiosity for emerging technology since he was a preschooler, not exactly coding but more along the lines of a fascination for innovation. An early example, in 4th grade, when asked to write about a hero, Max focussed on the mythical creator of bitcoin, who used the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamura, and he included a description of how block-chain works – this was in 2017, Max strongly recommended then that we invest in Bitcoin, but unfortunately we did not!
Coming to Waterford was not an easy transition for him. In those early years at Waterford, school was difficult for him and math was particularly challenging. He started in the lowest math class for his grade. We worked closely with Mrs. Woller to support Max’s progress in math, both in the classroom and through Waterford tutoring. Over time, through his hard work, dedicated teachers, and through support from Ruth Harvey and Claudia Flores in tutoring, Max began to pull ahead. Mrs. Woller advised us that if he wanted to have a shot at Calculus, he would have to take an entire year of geometry over two months in the summer before starting upper school. She warned us that this would be quite a hurdle for any student. Max and his tutor both committed to the process and he made it through successfully. Max gradually attained not only the math skills but the confidence to work hard and ultimately see progress. This year, without hesitation, he chose the hardest of the four math classes available to him, AP Calc AB. Next year, his chosen major in college will push him further into advanced math and he looks forward to that challenge without trepidation.
One of our hopes for Max at Waterford was to explore and expand his interests, and so we were curious to see where this liberal arts curriculum might lead him. During his time here, he has experienced so many things and expressed himself in myriad ways:
Max has especially appreciated learning how to think critically and to articulate perspectives verbally and through writing, nurtured in large part by his English and History teachers, and through participating on the Ethics team, which further drew him toward philosophy and thinking about societal challenges through the lens of ethical frameworks.
Now, getting back to Max’s main interest that has been a throughline over most of his lifetime – keeping up on not only the trends and innovations in technology, but as his intellect grew he began reading and following economists, futurists, and philosophers who are mostly connected to tech in some way. His individual pursuits gradually began to meld more closely with his academic program at Waterford — as the things he cared most deeply about became increasingly relevant in his classes.
At the beginning of his junior year, AI was just beginning to hit the mainstream. Ms. O’Malley announced an AI working committee calling for student volunteers to work with faculty and staff. Max immediately signed up and he loved working with the committee on ideation around what was acceptable and what was not, as well as exploring possibilities for AI in the context of learning. This committee gave him an opportunity to really articulate what is unique about Max, and it gave him a deeper sense of connection and purpose at Waterford.
Mr. Grenoble saw this light in Max and challenged him to take this knowledge of AI and to actually make something that could potentially benefit others. Through an Independent Study with Mr. Grenoble over this entire school year, Max has been able to develop a chatbot and now a website utilizing AI tools to support college counseling at Waterford that will soon be available to all students everywhere for free, including open-sourcing his code to make it available for others to integrate into their own apps. And for fun, Max did an additional independent study this year guided by Dr. Davis on the Political Philosophies of AI, where he really appreciated discussing the societal impacts of AI with such a thoughtful teacher.
Waterford supported, expanded, and ultimately really saw what is unique about Max, and made it possible for him to shine. We are so grateful.
I would like to end with a few tips for parents, and a wish for Waterford going forward…
I hope that you continue to foster a world-class liberal arts education that remains focused on every student — their intellectual growth as well as their well-being, balancing rigor with space for exploration and discovery, and forever nurturing the joy of learning. Thank you.
December 5, 2023
May 11, 2023
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