Moorestown Friends School presented three awards at the Dinner Among Friends on Friday, May 2, as part of the school’s annual Alumni Weekend.
This year’s recipient of the Alumni Association Service Award is Grace Kennedy Blackburn.
One of the highest honors the school can bestow, the award is presented to individuals who have enhanced the quality of life in the MFS community through loyalty and personal commitment.
Blackburn’s career at MFS spanned nearly 40 years, beginning with her employment as a math teacher in 1964. While continuing her teaching, she also served as middle school director from 1970 to 1977, and as director of Studies for the middle and upper school from 1977 to 1978. After teaching in the Willingboro School District for several years, Blackburn rejoined the MFS faculty in 1985, and chaired the math department from 1985 to 1994.
She joined the MFS School Committee Board of Trustees in 2003, serving through 2013. Now residing at Medford Leas with her husband Dale, Blackburn has been a gracious liaison between MFS and alumni, parents of alumni, and former faculty members.
This year’s joint recipients of the Alice Stokes Paul Merit Award are Peter Reagan from the class of 1964, and Bonnie Greenfield Reagan from the class of 1964.
This award honors members of the MFS community who exemplify the qualities of honesty, integrity, fairness, and service, in addition to excellence in their chosen field.
Peter Reagan started at MFS in prekindergarten, and Bonnie Greenfield Reagan came to the school in sixth grade. They attended Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, respectively, and after their wedding, they both earned master’s degrees from Reed College.
After working in education for a number of years, they each eventually earned a doctor of medicine, and transitioned to helping others through medical work.
Peter helped establish Portland Family Practice in 1983, and Bonnie joined the practice after graduating from medical school. Bonnie also served as chair of the ethics committee at Adventist Medical Center in Portland for 12 years, and she helped develop standards for the Oregon Death with Dignity Act.
In 2010, Peter received the Lewis Carpenter Award from Oregon Health and Science University Family Medicine, and Bonnie was named Oregon Family Doctor of the Year.
The Reagans’ volunteer activities have ranged from coaching soccer and teaching to advocating for end-of-life care.
Now retired from their family practice in Portland, Bonnie focuses on her role as board president for Bravo Youth Orchestras, and Peter continues his work with end-of-life care in his role as a regional medical director for Compassion and Choices.
The Young Alumni Award, established in 2005, is awarded to recent MFS graduates who have distinguished themselves through meritorious achievement or exceptional service to the community.
Recipients of this award demonstrate commitment to the values and spirit of MFS after graduation, by pursuing challenges and upholding the Quaker values of simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and stewardship.
This year’s honoree is Palav Babaria of the 1999 MFS class.
Babaria’s passion for health has led her to work in South Africa, India, and Haiti.
She earned her undergraduate degree in Southeast Asian Studies at Harvard University, where she studied London’s immigrant populations and participated in researching the experiences of Islamic high school students in the Boston area.
At Yale Medical School, Babaria wrote a qualitative study of women’s “gendered encounters” in medical education, entitled “I’m Too Used to It.”
