Alumni News

Durham Academy alumna Becca North '94 — an author, researcher and teacher in the field of psychology — will host a DA Alumni Book Club meeting on Dec. 3, with discussion centered on her book, Your Hidden Superpowers: How the Whole Truth of Failure Can Change Our Lives.

I graduated from DA in 1997, filling the next 23 years of my life with adventures that have a common theme — learning and having an open and agile mindset to take on new challenges. I attended Columbia University, where I played Division I field hockey, majored in political science and spent a semester in Beijing, all of which truly challenged me as I worked hard to find a balance between academics, sports and fun.

When the winds of COVID-19 touched down in North Carolina, the pandemic was met by Becki Feinglos Planchard, a 2007 Durham Academy graduate who has helped navigate the waters of how to safely reopen the state’s public schools.

Although there are many changes occurring, one thing that remains the same is our mission to keep our alumni informed, connected and proud to be part of the Durham Academy family.

While Cavaliers weren’t able to gather in person for what is typically a busy spring of Alumni Networking Socials, alumni enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with one another and faculty virtually!

In late April, Durham Academy alumna and University of Oxford classics professor Dr. Alison Rosenblitt ’95 reached out with a unique proposal: a trans-Atlantic Zoom master class on E. E. Cummings for Upper School English students and teachers.

The campus is quiet, as are the seven of us, bleached pale in the streetlights, revisiting every important building, every frequented study spot.

As a second year surgery resident at New York City’s Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Caitlin Finn ’10 knew she would spend a lot of time caring for patients in surgical intensive care units.

One of the most painful things to experience as a senior is losing your season prematurely. The irony of the situation is that my teammates and I received this news in the middle of practice.

I took for granted that it was all going to happen for me — the cap and gown, the sunny days, the pomp and circumstance of taking my first step into a seemingly bright future.

Whether through the arts, education, health care or food drives, Durham Academy alumni reached out to help others as COVID-19 drastically changed life around the world. Below is a roundup of the ways alumni put their varied talents to work. 

The Durham Academy Alumni Board has selected two accomplished alumni and a beloved faculty member to honor with distinguished awards.