Ryemarkable Sarah Smith
Updated: Oct 11
Name: Sarah Smith
Family info: My husband, Oliver, and I have four children and two dogs huge Bernedoodles named Waffles and Goose.
Tell me about yourself and the work that you do.
I am trained as an ENT physician but no longer practice. Over the last five years, I have shifted from research to writing fiction, specifically women's fiction and historicals.
Tell me a little about your family and your connection to Rye Country Day.
Our family has a long history with Rye Country Day. My husband and his two siblings, a brother and sister, attended RCDS from Pre-K through 12th grade. They all now live in Rye, as do my in-laws, and we also have several second cousins who attended RCDS. Including our four children, ten of the eleven first cousins have attended or graduated from RCDS over the past 15 years. So RCDS has really been woven into our extended family for generations, and it has been special to watch our children have their own experiences at a school that has meant so much to our family.
Your daughter Abigail was chosen for the Community Engagement Fellowship. What is the program, and how did she get involved?
(Abigail's response)
The Community Engagement Fellowship at Rye Country Day is a selective program that gives students the opportunity to develop a meaningful partnership with a local community organization. I went through a full application process, including identifying and reaching out to a community partner, developing a proposal for the work I hoped to do, submitting an application, and then being interviewed for the fellowship. I wanted to combine my love of science and working with others through community engagement, which led me to develop a partnership focused on bringing hands-on science experiences to individuals with developmental disabilities.
What did Abigail do through the fellowship, and what were some of her biggest takeaways or learnings?
(Abigail's response)
Through the fellowship, I worked with individuals with developmental disabilities and led fun, hands-on science experiments and activities. One of my goals was to make science approachable and engaging while also using the activities to build connections and break down communication barriers. One of my biggest takeaways was realizing how much can be communicated through a shared experience, even when people communicate differently. I also learned that teaching is not just about explaining something clearly; it is about being patient, adapting to the person in front of you, and finding different ways to help someone feel included and successful. This experience made a real impact on me and showed me how to incorporate something I already love and use it to connect with and serve other people.
I understand your older daughter, Lily, participated in the fellowship as well. What was her experience like?
Lily was awarded the fellowship four years ago. She partnered with Save the Sound to design and install a rain garden at the Rye Arts Center and then used what she learned through that experience to help create one at Rye Country Day School.
I think these fellowships are important because they go beyond simply completing a community service project. Students build relationships with nonprofit partners, learn from people already doing this work, and develop a much deeper understanding of issues affecting their own communities. The goal is not simply to address an immediate need, but to ask thoughtful questions about why that need exists in the first place and to consider how meaningful, lasting change can happen through collaboration.
How have you seen these experiences impact your daughters (their interests, future plans, or the way they see their community)?
(Abigail's response)
These experiences have made me much more aware of the different people and needs within my own community. This experience helped me see that science does not have to exist only in a classroom or laboratory; it can also be a tool for bringing people together. It has also made me more thoughtful about inclusion and aware of the importance of creating opportunities for people who may not always have access to the same experiences.
(Sarah's response)
For both of my daughters, I think one of the greatest benefits—and an important lifelong skill—has been learning to take initiative around something they genuinely care about. They have learned how to reach out to nonprofit organizations and community partners, listen to people with experience in the field, and work collaboratively to develop a project that is useful and meaningful to the community. To me, that process is every bit as important as the finished project.
I also love that their involvement has not ended when the fellowship did. Both have continued relationships with the organizations and communities they came to know through their projects. Lily has carried her interests in environmental studies and molecular biology with her to college in Colorado, where she continues to be involved in environmental and climate-related work while balancing the demands of Division I soccer. Abigail continues to spend time at ARC Westchester and is also developing a website aimed at making scientific topics understandable and engaging for people with a wide range of educational backgrounds.
How has the fellowship impacted your family as a whole?
I am incredibly proud of them. What means the most to me is that they have sought out these opportunities largely on their own, with very little direction from my husband or me. Their involvement has come from genuine curiosity and a desire to contribute to something they care about.
For our family, that has probably been the greatest impact: seeing them understand that being part of a community means paying attention, listening, forming relationships, and deciding that you have a responsibility to participate. It is not about building a résumé, parental pressure, or having something to post on social media. They do this because the work matters to them, and I hope that sense of responsibility and connection stays with them throughout their lives.
Other fun details about you:
I am very late to the game on this, but I absolutely love Modern Family. I binge-watch it at night, and my kids sometimes join me—or make fun of me for how much I love it! I see so many parallels between their family and ours that I can’t help but laugh.
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