Thornton Academy Postscripts Alumni Magazine Summer 2012 | Page 9

(L to R) Robbie Downing ’12, Lyla (Goodwin) Kyriazi ’81, and Jason
Kyriazi ’12 at the Kyriazi’s home overlooking the Saco River.

Saco, Maine and Phoenix, Arizona
don’t often rub together in the same
sentence, unless we’re talking about
Robbie Downing, one of the newest
graduates of Thornton Academy
and its Homestay Program. I asked
Robbie how he ended up so far
from home. “The real reason I’m
here? Mark Powers (Director of Admissions).“ On a trip to Maine, Robbie heard about Thornton Academy
and decided to take a tour. “That’s
when I met Mr. Powers. He made
me feel like ‘I can live here. I won’t
be out of place.’”
Beginning with his junior year,
Robbie decided to switch from
Centennial High School in Arizona.
Robbie’s mother, Nicol, remembers,
“When I left Robbie for the first time
in Maine, I cried the whole way
home and prayed that I had made
the right decision. We are a very
close family so one of us missing
has been difficult.”
Robbie joined the first cohort to live
in one of TA’s new dormitories,
Nelson Hall, and he quickly fell in
love with Maine. “The beach! We
don’t have that.”

This year, as a senior, Robbie participated in the Homestay Program,
boarding with a local family rather
than in a dorm. He lived with Lyla
(Goodwin) Kyriazi ‘81, her husband
Constantine, and their son,
Jason ’12. Lyla described how, one
day, “Jason came home and said,
‘Can Robbie come live with us?’ We

Arizona native
Robbie Downing ’12
wondered at first
“Can I do this?”

St u d en