Anne Strobridge returned to the classroom on Thursday, February 11, 2021, when she facilitated the Colorado Academy Alumni Association’s second Book Club discussion. Anne had two tenures at CA: one from 1981-1984 when she taught French and the second from 1988-2017 when she taught French and English for a couple of years and then went full-time to the English department. Anne taught American Literature and Junior/Senior English electives. She was the 1995-96 recipient of the Yoeman Fisher Award for Excellence in Teaching and was promoted to Master Teacher in 2004. Anne rowed in the gold medal-winning 8+ at the San Diego Crew Classic and she is an assistant coach of Mile High Rowing.
In a lively and far-ranging conversation, Anne’s former students joined her virtually to discuss 10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World by Turkish writer Elif Shafak. From the beautiful aspects of friendship to the descriptions of Istanbul, the novel was enjoyed by everyone. Alumni who joined the discussion were Lisa Berdie ’08, Lauren Kenney Berv ’06, Christina Bradley ’08, Trevor Bridge ’88, Katie Cordes ’03, Hilary Harrington Dunsmoor ’05, Philippa Gile ’05, Jacqueline Koehn ’08, Sheila Kumar ’06, Mande Moore Mischler ’82, Hillary Schoelzel ’07, Ginger Tallmadge ’06, Shannon Troy ’08, and Adam Wiener ’10.
The following morning Anne said to her former students, “I was thrilled to see you and so enjoyed the interesting, thoughtful, things you had to say about the book. I appreciate the time you gave to reading when I know how long your to do lists must be. And as always happened when we were in school together, you showed me things I hadn’t thought of, or made me clarify things that were fuzzy in my mind. You guys were my best teachers!”
One grateful participant, Christina Bradley ’08 said, “Woohoo! Loved this so much. Thank you Sue and Anne for organizing and everyone for contributing. I definitely want to continue and would welcome the opportunity to write as well, if that is of interest to anyone.”
“Anne — Thank you so much for leading Thursday’s book club. I loved the book selection and really enjoyed the fine company & conversation. I’d love to be included in a future session! My personal preference would be a book I’ve never read… but I’d also be thrilled about a Dante re-read if that is the group consensus. Thanks again for being generous with your time and energy! Best, Lauren Kenney Berv ’06.”
Anne will lead another Book Club discussion on Tuesday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m. MST. Learn more and RSVP.
Look also for the addition of a Writer’s Workshop!