crossroads Issue 27
Spring/Summer 2014
A publication of The Steward School
Inside this issue:
READ. PLAY. LAUGH.
PLAYING GAMES WITH FACULTY AND STAFF PAGE 4
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also Inside THIS ISSUE: Gates Scholar Michael Cevallos
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Firs
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9. May n o , ? ader Dig It s per n You a C form , m ogra in the G randparents and Special Friends Day pr
crossroads Administration Dan Frank, Interim Head of School Lisa Dwelle, Associate Head of School for Finance and Operations Debbie Robson, Associate Head of School for Community Advancement Livia McCoy and Gardner Mundy, Interim Directors of Upper School Susan Atkinson, Director of Middle School Melanie Casper, Director of Lower School Nancy Negus, Director of Curriculum and Professional Development JK-12 Publication Staff Lori Jobe, Editor Sydney Smith, Managing Editor Stan Hulen, Designer Kristina Kerns, Interactive Features Editor Erin Ambrose ’16, Rachel Beanland, Susan Brown, Betty Enright, Dan Frank, Kurt Henegan, Lori Jobe, Kristina Kerns, Erica Riesbeck, Sydney Smith, Michelle Thomson, Jennifer Wilkerson, Contributing Writers Bridget Hazel Photography, Robin Dods, Henrico Citizen, Lori Jobe, Kristina Kerns, Chris Lundberg, John McAlister, Sherilyn Smail, Sydney Smith, Contributing Photographers Printing Worth Higgins & Associates, Inc. The Steward School admits students without regard to gender, race, color, religion, or national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the School. The editors have made every attempt to ensure the accuracy of information reported in this publication. We apologize for any inadvertent errors.
The Steward School’s Mission:
Prepare our students for college and for life in a community defined by robust academics, inspiration, engagement, and care.
highlights Play. Laugh. 4 Read. Playing games with faculty and staff
Vast 16 The and Endless Sea
A message from Interim Head of School Dan Frank
20 Steward’s Super Heroes
Faculty and staff honors
Green 34 Thinking Sophomore Erin Ambrose provides a student perspective
it Easy 40 Tech Steward integrates 1:1 technology
departments 16 20 42 48 54 56
headlines campusculture teamtalk spartanliving collegecounseling alumninews STEWARD WEBSITE www.stewardschool.org
SOCIAL MEDIA CHANNELS http://www.facebook.com/TheStewardSchool http://www.twitter.com/stewardschool http://www.pinterest.com/steward/RVA http://instagram.com/thestewardschool View this issue and past issues on Issuu.com: key search The Steward School or download the app for the ipad at the App Store.
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“WHO AM I?” is such a fun game. There’s a certain thrill in learning that your third-grade teacher or faculty advisor has led an interesting LIFE. Most people remember their MASTERMIND teachers forever, so we want you to be numero UNO in your knowledge about the marvelous Steward faculty and staff. There’s no need to compare APPLES TO APPLES because each and every Spartan is unique, but you might find a CLUE or two in these pages that helps you relate to someone on campus. Who likes the RISK of climbing to the top of a volcano? Who used her CRANIUM to come up with a way to help a friend? Who seems to have a MONOPOLY on speed reading books? Throughout the magazine, you’re invited on a treasure hunt OPERATION—we promise, no TROUBLE—to learn about Steward’s finest. We hope that you’ll hit PAY DAY in your discoveries!
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CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: His great-grandfather was at both the Battle of Manassas and the surrender at Appomattox during the Civil War.
You got an “A” on Mr. Serr’s exam!
Q: Who is Chris Lundberg?
2 SPACES
SKIP AHEAD
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: She sang “Beauty and the Beast” with Peabo Bryson at the Virginia State Fair.
Mad
Libs
WHAT Great excuses for being
late!
Dear Mrs. Healey, I’m so sorry I was late to ____________ today—I thought it was Saturday. My parents would PLACE
not ____________ up, so I went back to sleep. When ______________ sent me a text asking verb
PERSON IN ROOM
where I was, I realized I should have been in ____________ class. SCHOOL SUBJECT
Dear Mrs. Dunville, I was driving ______________ to school when the ______________ failed, and PLURAL NOUN
NAME OF GIRL IN ROOM
my car crashed into a/an ________________. By the time the tow _____________ arrived NOUN
NOUN
and the ___________ mechanic ______________ the _________________ and recharged the ADJECTIVE
VERB (PAST TENSE)
NOUN
_______________, we knew she would be late for the _______________ test. Please tell NOUN
SCHOOL SUBJECT
Q: Who is Sarah Newcomb?
Mrs. ________________ that I am so _______________ about this delay. TEACHER’S NAME
ADJECTIVE
Dear Mrs. Arrington, Please excuse __________________ for being late to ____________ class. It’s my fault. I feel
START
HERE
ADJECTIVE
NAME OF BOY IN ROOM
___________. He was awake until the _______________ hours of the morning completing ADJECTIVE
ADJECTIVE
his _____________ project. As he was getting ready for school this morning, I noticed that NOUN
his only clean pair of ___________ had a/an ____________ in them, so I had to do some emergency __________.
NOUN
NOUN
NOUN
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CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: When this teacher was a child, she saw Helen Keller speak and a performance by Elvis. Q: Who is Margaret Maclin?
All of the Steward faculty and staff members listed here were named “_________ of the Year” at some point in their lives. Can you figure out who’s who? Corbin Orgain: ____________ Teacher of the Year (Henrico County) Heather Jeter: _________ Counselor of the Year (Virginia)
Joanna Bialet: World _________ Novice Teacher of the Year (Chesterfield County Public Schools)
WORDS TO USE New, College, Volunteer, Field, Teacher, Umpire, Employee, Home, Administrator, Singer, Community, Network, Coach, Art, Language, Jaycee, Photographer
Stephanie Bowlin: Employee of the Year (_________ Associations Institute) Christen Fratter: Field Hockey _________ of the Year Drew Forlano: Teacher of the Year (Food Allergy and Anaphylaxis _________) Kristina Kerns: National _________ of the Year finalist
Cindy Grissom: __________ of the Year (Maybeury Elementary School) Mark Roberts: _________ of the Year (Sports Turf Managers Association) Lynn Zinder: Walmart _________of the Year
Leslie Kovach:____________ of the Year (this organization’s Richmond chapter)
Bob Stratton: 2009 Virginia AAA Athletic _________ of the Year
Rugene Paulette: _________ Teacher of the Year (three times)
Craig Smith: Best Male _________ (Livestock Players Musical Theatre’s fifth reunion)
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Bonny Hajek: Volleyball and Tennis _________ of the Year ANSWERS Corbin: New; Heather: College; Joanna: Language; Cindy: Volunteer; Mark: Field; Lynn: Teacher; Bob: Administrator; Afi: Employee; Craig: Singer; Leslie: Jaycee; Bev: Home; Christen: Coach; Drew: Network; Kristina: Photographer; Bonny: Umpire; Stephanie: Community; Rugene: Art
Afi Farjadi: _________ of the Year (Sibley Memorial Hospital in Washington, D.C.)
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Bev Fox: Volunteer of the Year for the Beth Sholom _________ (twice)
Uh-oh! You’re tardy for Mr. Funkhouser’s class.
LOSE A TURN
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: He is the descendant of the leader of the Gunpowder Plot, a group that planned to blow up Parliament and kill King James I in 1605. His family estate was taken by the British government, and the family was forbidden to vote in Parliamentary elections for 350 years (1605-1955).
Sweet steward
N
ot many people expect to find themselves with a close family friend in jail, but Lower School Enrichment Coordinator Suzanne Casey has been in that position for the last year. Her husband Joe’s best friend went through a bout with depression and “made some bad decisions” that landed him with a 15-year sentence in prison. As two of the few local friends he has, Mr. and Mrs. Casey have taken it upon themselves to help him through his time at the Richmond City Jail.
During her early visits to the jail, Mrs. Casey learned that the prisoners are given very little in the way of personal effects. They are given a minimal amount of toothpaste, a very rough bar of soap, and only one pair of underwear. She established contact with the chaplain of the jail because he facilitated getting donated items to the prisoners. She was only allowed to give her friend extra toiletries if she provided donations for the entire jail (between 1,100 and 1,300 prisoners at any one time). So, she organized a supply drive, and the chaplain delivered the donated items to the prisoners, while her friend received additional items from the Caseys. Unfortunately, the donation program was discontinued, leading Mrs. Casey to find a new way to contribute. Through her church, New Hanover Presbyterian, she conducted a deodorant and toothpaste drive in December 2013. She also organized a baking session because her friend had said how much he missed her chocolate chip cookies. During two weekends that month, she and numerous volunteers gathered at the church to bake 1,500 cookies from scratch. They froze the cookies in Ziploc bags, and then delivered the cookies, deodorant, and toothpaste to the inmates on Christmas morning. She is now known at the jail as “the Cookie Lady.” Mrs. Casey’s current project for the inmates is an underwear drive, and later in the year she hopes to gather soap and host more cookie-baking sessions. She says Facebook has been tremendously helpful in her campaigns because she is able to spread the word about what she’s collecting at any given time. She has even received anonymous donations on her doorstep and checks to purchase items for the drives. Unfortunately, her friend will be in jail for many years to come, but his time in the city jail should end when he is moved to another location, where she hopes to continue to support him as much as possible. Being a true steward, she is using her compassion to help others in a place that not many dare to go.
You help Mrs. Moehring set up for the play rehearsal.
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Q: Who is Catesby Jones?
Steward’s guiding lights
A
t Steward, we are fortunate to have both legal and spiritual leadership among the faculty. Fourth-grade teacher Katherine Goodpasture and Upper School history teacher Chip Chapman each earned unusual degrees—for teachers, that is—and both use the wisdom gained through their unusual paths to teaching to enrich their classrooms.
Ms. Goodpasture earned her juris doctor from the University of Richmond’s T.C. Williams School of Law. She pursued law because she wanted to work in the Welfare Department and realized that she would need a law degree in order to obtain a social work position. She worked for eight years as an attorney, five of them as the in-house counsel with SunTrust’s mortgage division. She says that she enjoyed the counselor at law part of the job because she liked working with people. During the course of her work, however, she decided that she wanted to work with children and in a more stimulating and creative environment. She wanted the challenge of “figuring out how kids think, why they think what they do, and how to help them figure things out.” In her 18 years at Steward, Ms. Goodpasture has taught the children of several of her law school classmates. She realizes that she pursued her career in reverse direction because many women started as teachers then became lawyers, but she is proud of her decisions. “Most people remember their elementary school teachers happily,” Ms. Goodpasture says. “It’s much better than lawyer jokes.”
Yikes! You threw up in the cafeteria.
GO SEE NURSE AFI.
DO NOT PASS GO.
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: He was complimented by Katie Couric for his dancing skills at a class reunion.
Mr. Chapman is a modest man with a larger-than-life soul. A short conversation with him takes listeners on a mental journey through Europe or New England with spiritual guidance from his idols, Dietrich Bonhoeffer and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., among others. As someone who has always followed his heart, he earned a master’s degree in theology from Andover Newton Theological School in Massachusetts. For a secular school like Steward, a former Fork Union Military Academy chaplain is not the obvious choice for a history teacher; however, because it’s Mr. Chapman, he merely folds his religion-oriented background into the many layers that make him an interesting man. As the youngest son in a military family, Mr. Chapman grew up all over the world: Texas, Oklahoma, Alabama, Florida, Turkey, Germany, and England. He says he had a strong British accent until the third or fourth grade, which he has since lost, giving no trace of his origins. He remembers a day in second grade when his teacher asked why he had stopped flying his kite, to which he responded, “We Englishmen need our rest when we play.” Mr. Chapman claims he found his way into theology because his family was made up of “reading fanatics—books were everywhere.” To this day, he says that there is an ever-present stack of 10-15 books on his bedside table, which he dismantles weekly, only to find them restacked by the next week’s end. He applies the Persian metaphor of a bee going from one flower to the next and back again to explain how he tends to jump from one interesting topic to the next so quickly. As a result, his classes remain interesting, and he hopes to broaden the Upper School humanities offerings in the coming years to present a more complete picture of world history for his students.
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: She was a classmate of Maria Shriver. Q: Who is Robin Ricketts? Crossroads
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Q: Who is Chris Tickle?
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You helped Ms. Haywood shelve books in the library.
SKIP AHEAD 2 SPACES
ass Out 1. Sold P ce Hot Sau C on QV
2. Played Liesl in an amateur production of Th e Sound of Music
3. Was editorin-chief for one of the top high school yearbooks in the nation
STUDY HALL
5. Can identi fy bacterial spec ie by their smel s ls
4. Graduated from Virginia Tech at age 19
7. Wrote and edited test questions and passages for eduTest 8. Played the main character in an ad for the Johnston County Council on Aging
9. Receiv ed a special appointment fro m Departm the ent of Justice a special a s a gent for the FBI
Trivial Pursuit
Can you match the Steward faculty member with the correct dose of trivia?
10. Was third runner-up to Miss Richmond and won Miss Majorette Richmond at the Tobacco Festival Twirlathon
ANSWERS
11. Participated in the Miss Maryland pageant twice
12. Won a grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to study Shakespeare
6. Has shaken hands with Presidents Reagan, Bush, Clinton, and Bush (her father worked in the White House)
14. Has tr to Nica avelled ragua three tim mission es on t an orga rips with nization called S tu for 60,0 dents 00
a as on loon W . 13 al air b hot- d team n grou
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1. Wallace Inge 2. Betty Enright 3. Christen Fratter 4. Natalia Frost 5. Eric Latourelle 6. Stephanie Bowlin 7. Jane Covington 8. James Stancil 9. Shahwar Qureshi 10. Bonnie Anderson 11. Kathy Karmolinski 12. Stephanie Arnold 13. Cindy Grissom 14. Christina D’Angelo
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: She gazed at Tom Cruise from afar at Studio 54 in New York City, when her father took their family in the early 1980s. Q: Who is Catherine Hathaway?
C A M P U S R O S S W O R D Across 3. This staff member serves on the VISAA Boys Lacrosse Voting Committee, which ranks the teams, picks the playoff teams, and sets the seeds. 4. As a child, this teacher and coach appeared in a commercial for Club Med. 5. With her husband’s military career, this staff member’s family has moved seven times in ten years. 12. This faculty member was born in Brooklyn, New York, and lived in Puerto Rico for 21 years.
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13. This Lower School teacher served as a student page at the Virginia General Assembly. 14. This staff member was her high school’s valedictorian and has been on safari in Africa.
Spring/Summer 2014
15. This PE teacher is a certified official for lacrosse, tennis, field hockey, and volleyball. 16. This foreign language teacher used to live in Cali, Colombia. 17. This staff member is in the process of renovating a
farmhouse in Oxford, North Carolina. 18. This Upper School teacher served in the Peace Corps in Nicaragua for two years. 19. This Lower School teacher has a lovely southern accent and plays the flute.
20. This Upper School staff member has climbed to the top of a volcano in Unzen, Japan. 21. This music teacher is the most recent Steward employee to have gotten married.
1. This staff member had a private practice as an educational consultant, functioning as a diagnostician and advocate for kids.
top of her head.
2. This staff member has lived in eight states and three countries and travelled to 11 states and 22 countries.
9. This retiring staff member served in the U.S. Army for 24 years during his pre-Steward career.
6. This staff member proposed to his fiancée, a Steward alumna, on the Steward campus. 7. This staff member always wears sunglasses on the
8. This staff member and Steward alumna has a crafting blog about up-cycling old furniture.
10. This science teacher adopted her daughter from China. 11. This Upper School English teacher’s first job was as a newspaper carrier.
You catch the chemistry lab on fire in Mrs. Kovach’s class.
GO BACK 2 SPACES
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: These two teachers taught singer Jason Mraz when he was a student in Mechanicsville.
a 1. Posed as l in a e d o m d han Pillsbury l commercia e th se u beca odel previous m p ee k t o could n ke ca f o ce a pie on her fork
D2 N U RO 3. Bicycled from Seattle to Boston in 75 days one summer during high school
2. Appeare d a Nickelo on deon game sho w called Th ink Fast as a midd le school stu dent
Trivial Pursuit Go again! Name the Steward faculty member for each correct dose of trivia.
4. Has a collection of more than 1,000 comic books
6. Co-teaches a conversational English class for Chinese post-doctoral students at VCU
7. Spent a me summer in Ro as a mother’s helper for e members of th l ya ro n ia al It ng family, teachi e on to h Englis o count and tw contessas
8. Was a chef at Lake Monticello Pub prior to working at Steward
5. Won t and ov he 14 er club champ io in sing nship les ten nis at Field Massa Club in chuset ts
e d th laye for a P . 9 htub d was -ranke e h stat ge was e l l d co d ban r boa
10. Went on a doub le date with one of th e Shah of Iran’s son s, who was a student at the Citad el
ANSWERS 1. Susan Latourelle 2. Jennifer Maitland 3. Chip Chapman 4. Mark Nugent 5. Dan Frank 6. Kate Strickland 7. Barbara Coates 8. Joe Dillow 9. Marsh Hayes 10. Sabra Willhite Crossroads Spring/Summer Spring/Summer2014 2014 Crossroads
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Q: Who are Donna Jackson and Chris Lundberg?
W
hat does it take to become an academic dean? These three fearless leaders are schooled in the facts.
Lower School Academic Dean Nancy Negus (below, left) is a Richmond native who took the long way to get back home. She grew up in Chesterfield County, graduated with a degree in history from the University of Virginia, worked for a year on Capitol Hill, then earned a master’s degree in special education from George Washington University. At that point, she and her family journeyed across the United States, living in New York, North Carolina, California, Michigan, and Massachusetts until her children, John and Ellen, graduated from high school. In 2008, Mrs. Negus returned to Richmond and joined Steward as the Upper School CAL coordinator; she has since become the academic dean for the Lower School and the JK-12 director of curriculum. In addition to the teaching roles she held prior to joining Steward, Mrs. Negus spent 13 years at the Glen Urquhart School in Beverly, Massachusetts, as the academic support coordinator. She combined her love of working with students and classroom teaching with curriculum development and assisting teachers. She worked on a five-year grant to develop the school’s math curriculum and helped fine tune the reading and writing programs, all of which prepared her for her role as Steward’s director of curriculum. She says that the three academic deans are the “boots on the ground, making the curricular pieces” work as desired by their division directors. “I rely heavily on Louise and Carrie to make sure everything happens in their divisions,” she adds.
Middle School Academic Dean Louise Robertson, (far right) began working as a tutor at Steward in 1992, just six years after she obtained her doctorate in education from the College of William & Mary. During the time she was commuting from Richmond to Williamsburg, she became a new mother as well, finishing her coursework around the time her son, Geoff, was born, and writing and defending her dissertation just before her daughter, Meg, arrived two years later. “I wouldn’t necessarily recommend it,” she said, “but do I love what I do now? Yes.” Dr. Rob grew up wanting to be a teacher but didn’t pursue education at Randolph-Macon Woman’s
You give a high-five to Mrs. Casper in carpool.
ROLL AGAIN. 12
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Dean angels These Steward deans are bright leaders College, where she triple majored in philosophy, sociology, and anthropology in just three years. After working in New York for a year, she moved to Richmond and got a job at the Medical College of Virginia in hospital administration and received a working scholarship to earn her master’s degree in humanities at the University
of Richmond. Her mentor, Dr. Tom Hall, chair of Virginia Commonwealth University’s Philosophy Department, convinced her to start teaching humanities classes in the evenings. She decided to pursue education because she enjoyed the processes of building curriculum and teaching teachers. William & Mary had just begun offering a doctoral program, and Dr. Rob received a research assistantship. Her dissertation focused on the structural and academic barriers to co-education at colleges and universities in the 1970s and what became of the first female students—“reluctant pioneers,” she called them—in those early classes. Upper School Academic Dean Carrie Vandervelde (below, middle) claims that she approached her own academic path in a backward way—she majored in Comparative Literature at the University of Virginia, then chose to pursue an academic career instead of the other way around. Selecting classical studies as her area of interest, she earned a master’s degree at the University of Texas-Austin, learning Greek and Latin in two years’ time. She decided to “keep going” to obtain her doctorate and took qualifying exams in eight sub-specialties. During this time, Dr. V moved to Virginia and began teaching at colleges and secondary schools, driving to Austin twice a year to take exams. She began her dissertation on “The Interpretation and Edification of Eusebius’s Life of Constantine” at a distance and admits that it was difficult to concentrate on it while working. She took a semester off from teaching to complete the dissertation and had a “room-of-one’s-own phenomenon”—she was able to get the entire project outlined in less than a week. From there, “the writing was easy once I found something that would be useful.” Dr. V began working at Steward a few days after defending her dissertation in Austin. She wears numerous hats—in addition to serving as the Upper School dean, she has taught Latin, history, and research writing. “I feel like I’m exactly where I need to be the rest of my career…it feels like the job I’d been meant to do,” Dr. V declares. She tries to give her students as much freedom as possible within the limits of each course so that they will gain more knowledge, adding “I really have a passion for empowering kids to want to ask questions.”
You serve as an admissions greeter for Mrs. Oliff.
MOVE AHEAD 1 SPACE.
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A. He worked on Julia Ormond’s computer when she was in Richmond to film a movie.
The chase is on!
A
ndy Mudd, technical theatre teacher and manager of the Lora M. Robins Theatre, is not your typical hobbyist. For the last several years, he has spent much of his free time involved with Ravenchase, a game company that’s like National Treasure meets The Amazing Race, with a bit of Harry Potter and DaVinci Code thrown in for good measure. He and his wife, Becky, first discovered the company through an ad in Style Weekly that included a clue for a location in downtown Richmond, given in riddle form. The Mudds successfully completed that first race and many more, and eventually went on to write races for the company. They are now part-owners of Ravenchase along with the other “originals” who participated in the first race.
Q: Who is Chris McKee?
“You have to like puzzles and challenges,” Mr. Mudd says. To decipher codes or solve clues, participants often have to do things like performing stunts, singing songs, or dipping paper in water to find encoded messages. In addition to public races, Ravenchase is often hired to conduct private events such as fundraisers or corporate team-building exercises. Mr. Mudd has conducted races throughout Virginia, in Washington, D.C., and in midtown Manhattan. At Steward, he organizes a scavenger hunt in Richmond for the senior class every September, and he piloted a code-deciphering session with third-grade students several years ago when he was considering branching out into summer camps. Having written so many clues for so many races, Mr. Mudd says the ultimate take-away is that he and his wife “know everything about everything in Richmond.” Examples of their local adventures have included leaving a clue inside a cigarette carton outside the Lucky Strike building, the Daughters of the Confederacy calling the police when they discovered a locked box (containing a clue) chained to a tree outside their building, and using the plaque on the Richmond “Bridge to Nowhere” to decipher a code. Every race has a theme, and as they are timed races, there are winners. Each race concludes at a bar (where families are welcome since children often participate with parents), and tacky prizes are given, such as a gold spray-painted garden gnome for first place.
To try your own hand at a Ravenchase-style game, complete this clue; the answer will lead you to a location on Steward’s campus. To continue the treasure hunt, solve each clue and claim a prize!
Tables float like islands Amid a sea of pavers Find the plaque of bronze Beneath the three tall wavers. Behold each line-word-letter There lies a special key! Crack the code below By counting carefully! 6-3-1 1-1-3 1-2-6 3-1-7 7-4-4 1-2-3 4-6-10 5-1-1 8-3-3 1-2-1 2-2-2 4-1-3 7-3-2 4-2-3 4-5-9 4-6-10 4-6-10 5-2-4
1-2-7 4-3-4 8-3-4 1-2-4 3-1-2 1-2-5
The true testament to the inventiveness of Ravenchase came when Mr. and Mrs. Mudd and the other owners received the Muse Award for creativity in business from the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts in 2008. With only two days’ notice, the museum asked them to create a race within a “mystery” exhibit that was scheduled to open. For 36 hours, the Mudds had access to the exhibit and created a one-page scavenger hunt that visitors would receive upon arriving at the VMFA, taking the chase to a new level. Clearly, Mr. Mudd’s unique hobby gives new meaning to the term “get a clue.”
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CELEBRITY JEOPARDY!
You use your study hall to read Dr. Seuss to Mrs. Taylor’s first graders.
A: Her brother went to high school with Jennifer Garner, who came to her house for prom pictures.
ROLL AGAIN.
Q: Who is Jenny Haar?
C O N N E C T MARCHING BAND IN COLLEGE OR BEYOND
Things happen in…fours? (sometimes fives!) Little did you know that these sets of fun factoids connect the names that follow.
Chris Tickle (in a parody) Sherilyn Smail Bonny Hajek Stephanie Bowlin
APPEARED IN A LOCAL TELEVISION COMMERCIAL
Kourtney Boughey (CP Dean)
Barbara Filler (St. Gertrude’s Catholic School)
ADMINISTRATIVE DIRECTORS AT PREVIOUS SCHOOLS
Bruce Secrest (Commonwealth Christian School)
Debbie Robson (Director of Admissions at Mayfield Senior School in California)
Susan Atkinson (The Langley School) Dan Frank (Cushing Academy) EARNED A DEGREE FROM DUKE UNIVERSITY Susan Atkinson Katy Koppanyi Debbie Robson Elizabeth Simpson
Livia McCoy (Director of Professional Development at New Community School) Lori Jobe (Director of Communications at Trinity Christian Academy in Texas) Bob Stratton (Director of Student Activities at Hanover County Public Schools)
Disclaimer: These fact lists may not include all faculty and staff members who fit the criteria.
Crossroads
Jay Parrish
Lorie Bartee (Henrico County Public Schools)
FORMER HEAD OF SCHOOL OR DIVISION DIRECTOR AT PREVIOUS SCHOOLS
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Spring/Summer 2014
Kathy Karmolinski (Ukrops) Jenny Haar (Birkdale Golf Community) Jay Parrish (Thalhimer’s) Livia McCoy (produced a segment on PBS for the commonwealth of Virginia about adaptive technology in the classroom)
VOLUNTEERS AT HOMELESS SHELTERS Cindy Grissom Jane Carter Stephanie Arnold Lynn Zinder
CLOTHING MODELS Pat Caron Kathy Karmolinski Susan Holt
DESTINATION IMAGINATION TEAM MANAGERS
Jay Parrish Charlotte Wallis
Chris Tickle Karen Hudson Donna Jackson Sydney Smith
BORN IN EUROPE Lyn Lunsford (Switzerland) Katherine Goodpasture (Scotland) Charlotte Wallis (England) Andrea Pieters (Germany)
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: As a locations assistant for the Virginia Film Office during summers in college, she met Christian Bale, Colin Farrell, Tom Hanks, and Damon Wayans, among others. Q: Who is Cary Jamieson? APPEARED AS AN “EXTRA” IN A MOVIE Suzanne Casey (Here Come the Tigers, 1978) Cindy Grissom (Kennedy mini-series, 1983)
TAUGHT AT VCU Laura Akesson Charlene Wilton Louise Robertson Doug Griffith Mary Greenlee
LIVED ON THREE OR MORE CONTINENTS Rebeca Heidbreder Kate Strickland Kim Linnell Jennifer Blanco Chip Chapman
John McAlister (The Day Lincoln Was Shot, 1998) Lynn Define (Miss Rose White, 1992) Erica Riesbeck (War of the Worlds, 2005)
WORKED AS A CHARACTER FOR PROMOTIONAL EVENTS Monica Moehring (Raggedy Ann at FAO Schwartz) Meredith McGuire (Snow Bear at Thalhimer’s) Catesby Jones (Scooby-Doo and Hong Kong Phooey for Kings Dominion) Bonnie Anderson (Santa’s Helper at Zales Jewelers)
GREAT 1980s YEARS FOR HIRING STEWARD EMPLOYEES 1982 Catesby Jones 1984 Bonnie Anderson 1986 Rugene Paulette 1989 Bev Fox, Jane Whitely, Margaret Maclin SPEED READERS (usually read 6-8 books per month)
CELEBRITY JEOPARDY! A: Along with the cast and crew, she sang “Happy Birthday” to Steven Spielberg on a movie set located on Willard Scott’s farm near Lexington, Virginia. Q: Who is Erica Riesbeck?
BORN IN ASIA OR AFRICA Suzanne Casey (Libya) Laura Akesson (South Korea) Kate Strickland (Lebanon) Afi Farjadi (Iran) Bev Fox (South Africa)
HAVING BABIES IN 2014 Elizabeth Gibson Gardner Mundy Erica Riesbeck Lisa Moore (twins!)
FINISH
Lynn Define Erica Riesbeck Heather Jeter Becky Groves
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headlines
a d va n c i n g t h e m i s s i o n
The Vast and Endless Sea If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea. — Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
When I look back at the year we’ve had, I can only marvel. We’ve had disciplined discussions and made important decisions about the master schedule, annual calendar, and technology. In terms of the latter, there is a great deal of energy and excitement surrounding our going 1:1 with iPads, laptops, and other devices, noting that we have the distinction of being the only independent school in the city to do so JK-12. The opportunities for each initiative are enormous, and the improvements to the life of the School and the educational experience of our students make each imperative. We have formed new partnerships across the region, and we have hosted a wide range of speakers in our classrooms and in the Bryan Innovation Lab who have worked directly with our students on projects and demonstrated to them just some of the possibilities awaiting them after college. David Berdish reviewed sustainability factors and systems thinking, working with groups of students to devise solutions to transportation issues ahead of Richmond’s UCI world road cycling championships in 2015. David Green presented a new model for compassionate entrepreneurship, proving that it’s possible to make money and do good at the same time. Doug Tallamy demonstrated the connections between native species, biodiversity, and energy and food. We hosted Tibetan monks, authors of children’s books, an industrial designer from Hamilton Beach, and a large group of technology educators for the Virginia Association of Independent Schools Technology Conference. This is just a sampling of the real-world activity this year; Steward has never been as active—this is what school life can and should be. The threads that tie our mission, our program, and the important messages conveyed by these partners are, I believe, our core values of engagement, inspiration, and care. Thus as we reflect on the year behind us and anticipate the one to come, as members of this community, let’s each ask ourselves three questions: With what am I engaged? Whom have I inspired? How do I show I care? To Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, the French writer, is attributed the following, “If you want to build a ship, don’t drum up the men to gather wood, divide the work, and give orders. Instead, teach them to yearn for the vast and endless sea.” The Steward School is the ship that sails upon those waters, and I look forward to continuing this voyage with you.
Dan Frank Interim Head of School
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Thank You to the Parents Association The Parents Association exists to assist in providing a richer, deeper experience for our children as they learn and prepare for success in the future. To fulfill this mission, the PA works to strengthen our community and help our School be a place where our children and our parents will flourish. President Jen Wilkerson said, “I’ve been so proud to lead this dynamic organization comprised of dedicated parent volunteers whose ‘friend-raising’ talents have surpassed my expectations. At an independent school, parents play a critical role in supporting the marvelous faculty in educating our children.” To assist in this effort, the PA has purchased 42 iPads for the Lower and Middle School faculty members who did not already have them, as the School advances toward a 1:1 technology policy next year. In addition, the PA has purchased a screen and projector system for the Lora M. Robins Theatre. Mrs. Wilkerson said, “We are proud to have invested $21,000 to support the faculty in this way and look forward to seeing the magic that they bring to School as a result!”
Maggie Hoak Named Director of Development Making Time Our Friend In February, the School conducted an indepth look at the master schedule with the help of Simon Jeynes, a consultant from Independent School Management (ISM). Mr. Jeynes had access to every aspect of Steward life, and he met with representatives from every constituency within our community. His resulting recommendations have given the School an opportunity to take a hard look at both the day-to-day schedule and the master calendar in an attempt to provide balance for students and families. Several event-related changes will be made for the coming school year, and the Middle and Upper School bell schedule will be altered for 2015-16, giving the faculty time to consider the patterns that are most beneficial for learning time.
Strategic Plan Update At the April meeting, the Board of Trustees adopted the following strategic goals: Goal 1
Define and implement 21st-century skills and learning across divisions to discover the talents and passions of our students.
Goal 2
Establish a multi-year financial plan to strengthen the School’s financial position and improve sustainability.
Goal 3
Communicate the Steward culture, brand, and ethos to build community pride and school-wide engagement internally and to establish the School’s value to the greater Richmond region.
Goal 4
Strengthen the relationship among athletics, the mission, and enrollment.
Goal 5
Develop and enhance the governing board with diverse skills and expertise required to fulfill the strategic plan vision, goals, and mission of the School.
Ongoing institutional priorities are also included in the new strategic plan. Goals from the previous plan, Vision 2011, were addressed and completed, but many of these goals should be part of any school’s best practices and continuing priorities. The following will be used as guidelines in decision making:
Priority 1
Create a truly diverse student body, faculty, and staff that will build intellectual, social, and cultural understanding.
Priority 2
Attract, develop, and retain the best faculty, staff, and coaches who are committed to the mission of the School.
Priority 3
Conduct institutional research and implement best practices based on data; develop and maintain a data dashboard for institutional advancement. To follow progress of the strategic plan, visit the School’s website at www.stewardschool.org/strategicplan for more information.
New Director of Development Maggie Hoak comes to Steward from The John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts where she was the manager of national advancement. In this role, she managed four advisory boards and generated energy and focus on The Kennedy Center’s national artistic and education mission while raising money from nearly 400 art philanthropists from across the nation. Ms. Hoak is a graduate of Wake Forest University, and having attended The Hockaday School in Dallas, Texas, from pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, she understands life in an independent school. “The Steward School is an exemplary School with strong values, a diverse culture, an open environment, and a wonderful place to foster each student’s passion and special talents. The School very much reminds me of my time at The Hockaday School, which I attended for fourteen years. To this day, I credit Hockaday as one of the most important chapters in my life and for shaping me to be the person I am today,” said Ms. Hoak. In her new role, Ms. Hoak will work with Interim Head of School Dan Frank and Associate Head of School for Community Advancement Debbie Robson to launch and lead a fundraising team in increasing major, corporate, and foundation gifts. She will also work with the Development Office staff to develop annual giving strategies and to generate general support for the School. Mrs. Robson said, “With her passion and talent for fundraising, Maggie will help our development programs blossom. Her desire to build relationships within our community both at Steward and in the community at large will be a tremendous asset in her new role.”
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a d va n c i n g t h e m i s s i o n
A Family’s Love of Learning $250,000 Naming Gift from Reynolds Foundation for The Bryan Innovation Lab The School is honored to announce the receipt of a $250,000 grant from the Richard S. Reynolds Foundation for the Bryan Innovation Lab. This generous gift is being recognized by naming the Bryan Lab’s dry and wet studios the Reynolds Family Studios. The Reynolds Foundation was created by Julia Louise Reynolds to honor her husband, the founder of Reynolds Metals Company. Mr. Reynolds was recognized as an industry leader in mining, manufacturing, and applied technology and aluminum products, including the invention of Reynolds aluminum foil, better known as Reynolds Wrap, the aluminum beverage can, aircraft and automotive components, and building and construction materials. The Reynolds family is actively engaged in the Steward community. Adam Caperton
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Reynolds is finishing his first-grade year, and his mother, Clay Caperton Reynolds, served as co-chair of the 2013 and 2014 Gala events and is vice president of the Parents Association. The signage for the naming of the studios was unveiled at a ceremony on April 9 for members of the Reynolds family and many Steward students. Following the dedication ceremony, the first-grade class participated in several hands-on learning activities in the newly named labs with Upper School science classes and Visiting Innovator Doug Tallamy.
Look Who’s Talking Carol Moore
Director of Upper School Tell us about yourself. I have two children, both married, who live in the area. My son is a Virginia Tech graduate, and he owns his own company, while my daughter is a West Virginia University graduate, and she teaches first grade. I taught middle school science (grades 6-8) before moving to the high school level as an assistant principal. Because my children were athletes and active in high school, I waited until they were at the end of their high school careers before pursuing an administrative position. I was a dean of students and assistant principal for five years, and I have served as the principal at Lee-Davis High School for the past four years. When you aren’t at school, what do you like to do? I am blessed that most of my extended family lives in the Richmond area, so we spend quite a bit of time together. Sunday lunch is a big deal and is rotated among five families with attendance ranging from 5-20 relatives. There is never a dull moment! I like to read, walk, and swim, and I love to be outdoors, especially at the beach. One of my favorite pastimes is having pajama parties and spending time with my four year-old grandson. As a science teacher at heart, it is natural that I love to take him to the Richmond Metro Zoo, the Children’s Museum, and the Science Museum of Virginia. What have you enjoyed most about working with students or in a high school setting? I love working with children. As a career middle school teacher, I appreciated the spontaneity and honesty of the students and the fact that they were always operating at 110 percent. However, it was when I made the transition to high school that I found my niche. High school students are distinct individuals who are trying to figure out who they are and who they want to become. It is inspiring to me to get to know students and their families and to work alongside them during their years in high school. It is a joy to help them through challenging times, to share in their successes, and to send them off into the world where they will make their marks. I cannot think of a better way to spend each day than with enthusiastic, passionate young adults who will be our leaders of tomorrow! What drew you to Steward? Educating today’s youth is about far more than just academics. It is about helping students to realize, develop, and celebrate their gifts and talents and teaching them to be self-advocates. As educators, we want to help students develop respect for themselves and for the community and the world around them, and the best way to do this is to get involved and give back. Steward is a place where I will get to know students as individuals and work alongside them as we serve the community. What is your vision for the Upper School? My mission and vision are naturally aligned with the mission and vision described in The Steward School’s strategic plan. The Upper School team will pay close attention to the strategies where we can have the greatest impact. I believe that it is important to recognize and celebrate our students. At the same time, we will take a look at how we can strengthen current programs and strategies to take the Upper School to an even higher level. As the director, I plan to work in collaboration with the administrative team to preserve the tradition of what is working well and to enhance areas where we can grow. I firmly believe that the sky is the limit and that we must continue to aim higher, so that all students can realize their potential as they graduate from Steward and take their places as contributing members of the community. Crossroads
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Steward’s Super Heroes Veteran Teacher Bev Fox Honored with Paul R. Cramer Award At the annual Board, Faculty, and Staff Dinner on March 24, several special awards were presented to members of the Steward family. The seventh annual Paul R. Cramer Award, given in memory of the former Steward headmaster to the faculty member who best embraces the characteristics of “balance, perspective, and humor” he celebrated, was given to fifth-grade teacher Bev Fox. Mrs. Fox has taught at Steward for 25 years, a position she accepted just four years after arriving in the United States from South Africa. A tenured teacher at the Sunridge Primary School in Port Elizabeth, she and her husband, Clive, decided to leave the country in search of a better life for their three children. Her father had passed away a few years prior, so Mrs. Fox’s mother joined her in Richmond and lived at the Beth Sholom Home for ten years. In presenting the Cramer Award to Mrs. Fox, Interim Head of School Dan Frank said, “She visited her mother every day after work. She didn’t have to, but that’s just the kind of person she is.” Mrs. Fox was named Beth Sholom’s Volunteer of the Year as a result of her efforts there. In addition to her talents in the classroom, Mrs. Fox is also an accomplished ballet dancer and teacher and once coached a championship chess team. Mrs. Fox’s family and special friends, including retired Steward teachers Kerry Blum and Estelle Grossman, hid in the back of the Lora M. Robins Theatre prior to the award presentation to celebrate her special night. The fifth-grade students threw an impromptu surprise party in Mrs. Fox’s honor the following day. The Cramer Award presentation followed a talk by John Martin, principal at Southeastern Institute of Research and father of Coldon Martin ’07, that centered on the importance of educating students within a generational context. At the dinner afterward, several new awards were presented to six faculty and staff members as a surprise.
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The Board of Trustees, as a result of an anonymous gift, presented three awards—one to a teacher in each division: The Lower School award is named for current trustee Debbie Hanger, a beloved member of our community who served as Lower School’s inspirational and gifted leader and who was present at the dinner. The first Deborah B. Hanger Outstanding Lower School Teacher Award was presented to art teacher Lynn Zinder. The Middle School award is named for Roger Coulombe, former director of the Middle School and headmaster, who was known for being compassionate, caring, and deeply committed to Steward’s mission and community. The first recipient of the Roger A. Coulombe Outstanding Middle School Teacher Award was presented to math teacher Corbin Orgain. The Upper School award is named for Carolyn Brandt, who spent 32 years at Steward and who was—and continues to be—an integral part of Steward’s growth and a champion of the School’s mission. The first recipient of the Carolyn R. Brandt Outstanding Upper School Teacher Award was presented to physics teacher and cross country coach Laura Akesson. The Parents Association presented a staff recognition award named for retiring Director of the Physical Plant Bob Sanders, who has spent the last two decades supervising the growth of Steward’s campus. The first Robert B. Sanders, Jr. Outstanding Staff Member Award was presented to Help Desk Coordinator Chris McKee. The Spartan Club presented two awards to coaches who have made a significant impact on their teams and at Steward, inspiring our players to be competitive athletes as well as respectful, engaged citizens. Baseball coach and math teacher Bruce Secrest received the Spartan Club Outstanding Boys Coach Award, and field hockey/ lacrosse coach and PE teacher Christen Fratter accepted the Spartan Club Outstanding Girls Coach Award.
In addition to these fantastic awards, it was recently announced that Upper School history teacher, Dean of Students, and Interim Co-Director Gardner Mundy, recipient of the 2013 Cramer Award, was named one of the top educators in Henrico County by Henrico Citizen.
Above: The winners of new awards presented at the annual Board, Faculty, and Staff Dinner display their super powers— (left to right) Chris McKee, Corbin Orgain, Christen Fratter, Lynn Zinder, Bruce Secrest, and Laura Akesson.
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Finally, congratulations to Athletic Turf and Field Manager Mark Roberts who accepted the award for Field of the Year from the Sports Turf Managers Association during a ceremony that preceded the varsity baseball game on March 22. This recognition is an incredibly unique honor for a school of Steward’s size, and we are proud of this great accomplishment.
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campus happenings
Good Works
GOING GREEN AGAIN For the third year in a row, The Steward School has won a Go Green Award in the Virginia Association of Independent Schools Go Green Virginia Challenge. The School won first place in the Day Schools with over 500 Students category.
The Voice Sophomore Ally Dods represented Steward in the District I SSAA Choir, under the direction of Dr. Lisa Billingham, professor of Choral Music at George Mason University. The February event took place at Glen Allen High School and included students from 26 public and private high schools within the district.
FRONT-PAGE NEWS Among thousands of entries from around the world, four Lower School students received honorable mention in the annual cover contest for the magazine published by the website MusicK8.com: fourthgrader George Tyler, and fifth-graders Madeleine Brooks, Grace Fass, and Zariah Quai.Â
HEAVY METAL The Upper School Spartabots team came home from the Eastern Regional FTC Robotics Competition in January with a trophy for the prestigious Rockwell Collins Innovate Award, which celebrates a team that not only thinks outside the box but also has the ingenuity and inventiveness to bring its designs to life. Overall, the team finished in eighth place out of 24 teams, winning four of seven matches with a very close loss in the final match. Freshmen Adam Kimbrough and Davis Mohar, sophomores Mary Madison Andrews, Kara Bright, Abigail Herring, and Cameron Simpson, and juniors Matt Gelber (team captain), Braeden Glancy, Henry Harrell, and Adam Mickle comprised the team coached by Chris Lundberg.
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FREQUENT FLYERS The sixth-grade Destination Imagination team placed second in the Middle School improv category at the regional tournament in March, qualifying them to compete at the state tournament in April. The team, known as the Mighty Inchworms, included Carolyn Aldredge, Nik Bright, Peyton Cioffi, Channing Haas, Matt Lane, and Dabney Leverty and was managed by parent Kris Leverty.
AWARD-WINNING LAB
BEATING OUT THE COMPETITION Sophomore Dan Eakin earned a position in the percussion section of the 2013 District One Symphonic Band. The Virginia Band and Orchestra Directors’ Association’s district is comprised of schools in the city of Richmond, Henrico County, and Hanover County. Dan competed against 60 other percussionists on snare drum, timpani, and xylophone to earn this distinction.
BARD TO THE BONE
In the last few months, the Bryan Innovation Lab has been recognized with two prestigious awards. First, the lab was awarded the Crystal Award at the Energy and Sustainability Conference in February. The award is given for sustainability best practices; a proven track record of highly efficient, environmentally friendly designs and planning; community involvement; strength/clarity/ publicity or program mission statement; local community environmental awareness; and quantification of environmental impact on local and global issues. Second, Trustee Larry French and Bryan Lab Director Cary Jamieson accepted the bronze medal from Governor Terry McAuliffe for the 2014 Governor’s Environmental Excellence Award in April. The award recognizes demonstrated commitment to the stewardship of Virginia’s natural resources.
Gates Scholar Senior Michael Cevallos was selected for a Gates Millennium Scholarship, which is funded by a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This program selects 1,000 talented students each year to receive a good-through-graduation scholarship at any college or university to which they are accepted. The program’s website says that its “goal is to promote academic excellence and to provide an opportunity for outstanding minority students with significant financial need to reach their highest potential.” Michael was selected from a pool of 58,000 applicants and is Steward’s first Gates Millennium Scholar.
At the end of March, six Upper School acting students performed Shakespeare’s Hamlet for CenterStage’s Bardathon. Students from local high schools and one school from Russia performed the entire play with each school taking different scenes. Participating students Joe Beauregard, Natalie Bendheim, Tucker Diveley, Conor Frydenborg, Mark Leopold, and Virginia Villani, all of whom had worked with Visiting Artist Jeffrey Cole from Henley Street Theatre in December, were selected for this honor. Crossroads
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The Dream Continues
While Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was a great day of service for the Steward community, we are especially proud of what has happened since that busy day in January. The MLK Day Committee’s plan was to introduce students to the ethic of care on four levels: global, national, local, and self. There was great productivity and increased awareness that day, and the care has continued throughout the school year, reaching those in need throughout Richmond, across the country, and on other continents. Global
Art teacher Cindy Grissom coordinated the efforts to make 300 cuddle buddies, lightweight fleece dolls that required minimal sewing, to be sent to orphanages in poor countries. On MLK Day, student partners helped each other make the dolls, taking turns tying fabric and sewing on faces, heads, and arms (which was a new skill for most of them). Because they were more labor intensive than they originally seemed, finishing the dolls became a campus-wide effort with many staff members and parents taking the incomplete pieces home to finish them. Mrs. Grissom worked on the dolls every weekend between January and March and was relieved in the spring to begin taking them to their next stops for delivery. MLK Day Committee Chair Lynn Zinder has family friends, Tom and Stephanie Apsey, in Atlanta who take frequent mission trips. She knew that Mr. Apsey had helped build hospitals on a previous trip to Honduras,
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and she asked him to take cuddle buddies there on his next mission. Though he had planned to visit Honduras again, unrest in the country prevented him from going; instead, he went to Ahuachapan, El Salvador, in April and donated 100 cuddle buddies to a local orphanage. The next batches of dolls will be delivered during the summer. The first delivery will be going to Haiti with freshman Andrea Lindgren’s cousin, Caitlin Lantz, and her husband, Jeremy, who are missionaries in the capital city of Madagascar. They run an orphanage with about 80 children ranging from newborn to age 18. Andrea’s mother,
Cheryl Lindgren, reports that the Lantzes have even rescued babies from a trash heap not far from the orphanage. The final batch of dolls was put in the hands of Mrs. Grissom’s daughter, Jaclyn Smith East ’04, who lives in Roanoke and went on a medical mission trip to Uganda in 2012. She worked in the orphanages and saw thousands of patients, and according to Mrs. Grissom, “The trip so impacted Jaclyn’s life…the orphans have nothing.” Mrs. East’s experience was the inspiration for the cuddle buddies project, so it is fitting that 150 dolls will arrive at an orphanage in Uganda through the organization World Reach in June. In addition to the cuddle buddies, Lower School Dean of Students Susan Holt worked with third-grade girls during the second semester to make a batch of fleece blankets, which will accompany the dolls to the orphanages, along with handwritten letters from the students.
National To help an organization that makes an impact across America, Steward students were put to a physical test on MLK Day. In support of Special Olympics, they participated in an obstacle course that simulated what life might be like for the handicapped, having to overcome barriers and impediments. As a follow-up to that experience, each division conducted break-thedress-code fundraisers and an online campaign, raising a total of $752. In addition, students like sophomore Meg Trepp volunteered for a local Special Olympics event in April.
Local Eight local agencies were involved in Steward’s MLK Day efforts, and students attended presentations to learn about various needs in our collective backyard. Here’s a sample of Steward’s interactions with some of the agencies since January. l Students who attended the United Network for Organ Sharing’s presentation painted canvas squares with a heart theme representing organ donors’ gifts of life. Mrs. Zinder turned the squares into a mural called “Working Together. Saving Lives.” which hangs in the Lower School as a reminder of the importance of organ donation.
mandalas, 130 coping hearts, and 90 magic wands for the program, all of which are used by the center’s counselors to help children process their emotions and develop positive coping skills.
l In the months leading up to MLK Day, Upper School advisory groups collected silverware, dishes, and handmade dish towels (made by Barbara Coates’s Knitting Club students) for CARITAS, an organization that helps approximately 20 families per week transition from homelessness into homes and apartments. On January 20, students wrapped 26 boxes, each consisting of a combination of the new items, in hand-decorated craft paper for the recipient families to enjoy in their new homes. l The Peter Paul Development Center (PPDC) is an after-school learning immersion program that supports 75-80 children in Richmond’s East End. The MLK Day activity for them included the creation of school supply packets for their students in grades 2-12, from whom Mrs. Holt received handmade thank you notes. The Lower School Student Council also did follow-up projects for the organization—the officers helped make gifts for 600 PPDC volunteers, and the SCA sold ice cream during recess to raise money for the “birthday books and cupcakes” program that celebrates PPDC students’ birthdays every month. l Throughout the year, the Middle School students elected to support HomeAgain, a charitable organization that assists homeless families and individuals in metro Richmond by providing emergency and transitional shelter.
to visit
MLK Day l FETCH a Cure’s Pen Pals program blog lowers the rate of euthanasia in Virginia’s city dog shelters and provides life skills to the prison inmates who train the dogs. On MLK Day, FETCH brought several “graduates” to show off their skills, and the students created handmade toy “pulls” for the organization to use in dog training.
They held several fundraisers, including a Creepy Cafe and holiday bake sale, and asked for donations of cleaning supplies as the entrance fee for the holiday dance. In all, a van load of cleaning supplies was delivered in January, and $1,723 was raised and used to buy 28 sets of new bedding and towels. On MLK Day, several Upper School visual arts students prepared paintings, murals, and photographs to be used as décor in the shelters, and teacher Chris Lundberg delivered hand-painted dining room tables, patio furniture, and a bookcase for the facility. l The Full Circle Grief Center provides grief counseling for children. On MLK Day, Steward students prepped materials for 120 heart
l The Partnership for Families Northside (PFFN) is a daycare/preschool non-profit organization that assists parents who are unable to make other childcare arrangements for their children. Teachers Marsh Hayes and Jennifer Blanco led Steward students in making 17 folder games, which PFFN uses in several ways—they are available to children whose families visit the center, to home visitors, and to teachers for literacy events. Though an emphasis on community service exists throughout the year at Steward, this special day brings attention to how our small community can help many others in need. In the end, was all of the effort that went into coordinating the day worth it? “Yes,” Mrs. Holt says, “but the beauty of the day is the reach we can have. It was great for the students to see the variety of ways they can help in the community,” which is, after all, the point of being a steward. Crossroads
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Star Power The annual Steward Gala was a glamorous “Night in Hollywood� this year, complete with movie stars and a red carpet. The live and silent auctions raised more than $47,000 for the School. Special thanks to Gala Co-Chairs Clay Reynolds and Ann Slyh and their committee for a fabulous night!
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campus happenings
By the Numbers Nearly 400 community members grabbed bingo cards and joined in the fun for Family Bingo Night. Fourth-grade teacher Chris Tickle served as the bingo caller, and fantastic prizes were given out all night long.
Social Grace Steward’s annual Spring Social was a festive night in conjunction with the ArtWalk and opening night of The Wiz. Crossroads
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fine arts
Steward’s Got Talent The annual Steward tradition of Talent Night brought two entertainment-filled evenings to campus during the winter. Lower School’s big night was held in February and was hosted by fourth-grade emcees Grace Compton, George Tyler, and Evan Dymon. In March, talented Middle and Upper School students took to the stage with hosting duties handled by sophomore Jack Fulton and senior Natalie Bendheim. Both audiences witnessed acts from dancers, comedians, musicians such as singers and instrumentalists, and many more!
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Carolyn R. Brandt Gallery: 2013-14 Artist Retrospective Besides being a school where students have regular opportunities for artistic expression, Steward is fortunate to have a fully functioning gallery where exhibits introduce the work of local artists to our community. During the 2013-14 school year, the gallery welcomed six Richmondbased masters of photography, painting, and drawing, in addition to showing off the work of 400 Steward art students, who are featured during the late spring and summer. Melissa Holly, whose colored pencil and acrylic work combines science and art, featured outdoor scenes. Jiaru Wang, father of Steward senior Frank Wang, is a renowned watercolorist in China. He served as the year’s first artist-in-residence, visiting Steward for several days in September and working with students of all ages to teach them watercolor techniques. Photographers Matt Cowan and Craig Rudlin have been featured in the gallery several times. Their work this year included stunning photographs from Cuba and breathtaking pictures from Iceland.
Strokes of Genius The Art Department’s second semester culminated in the annual Art Walk with the theme “Values and Dreams.” Each Upper School art student produced a piece that focused on a value and included an artist statement about that value’s importance to him or her. Middle and Lower School students defined their dreams using the Tibetan monks’ sand mandala as inspiration. The mandalas were displayed in the Art Walk exhibit along with verbal presentations of their dreams for the world, which were accessed by a QR reader app on smartphones. The exhibit contained additional auditory artwork, too—many students had worked with Artist-in-Residence Tasha McKelvy, a local ceramic artist, during the winter to create handmade clay whistles in animal shapes, which were entertaining for the eyes and ears.
Nancy Jacey’s phenomenal Prismacolor pencil illustrations became an inspiration to many students because her technique allows for the realistic recreation of the world in a vivid, colorful style. She specializes in marine, nature, and wildlife illustrations. The artwork of painter Andy Stuart took on a life of its own for senior Susan Mire as part of her senior project. Mr. Stuart has multiple sclerosis and taught himself how to paint by holding a brush in his mouth, assisted by volunteers like Susan. She was integral in bringing his exhibit to the gallery and assisted in selling his paintings.
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Curtain Calls The Lora M. Robins Theatre hosted two phenomenal Steward productions during the second semester, both of which drew record-setting crowds. In the spring, 58 students in grades K-12 comprised the cast of The Wiz, a musical extravaganza directed by Craig Smith. Starring sophomores Ally Dods as Dorothy and Dan Kovach as Lion and juniors Virginia Villani as Scarecrow and Ben Fox as Tin Man, this production was visually amazing! The winter play, Night of the Living Beauty Pageant, (photos on next page) was a hilarious take on a rigged beauty contest led by two hucksters, played by sophomore Jack Fulton Continued >>
Spring play, The Wiz
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and freshman Joe Beauregard. Filled with gangsters, undercover detectives, a controlling pageant mother, air-headed judges, and, of course, a range of multitalented contestants, this spoof directed by Monica Moehring kept audiences laughing.
Third Grade
The grade-level plays, all written and directed by Mrs. Moehring, highlighted different aspects of each grade’s curriculum during the spring semester. l The third graders performed Who Invented That? l The second-grade students performed The Life and Times of the Guy We Call Dr. Seuss l The kindergarten classes performed Folktakes of Fools l JK students performed Monkeys Wearing Hats l The final grade-level play of the year, first grade, took place in late May.
SECOND Grade
KINDERGARTEN
Winter play, Night of the Living Beauty Pageant
JUNIOR KINDERGARTEN
Bands of Gold Band Director John McAlister keeps his students busy with community performances during the school year. The Basketball Pep Band performed with the University of Richmond Pep Band during the UR vs. St. Joseph’s basketball game in January. In February, several of his music students put on a program about the history of jazz for the Friends of the Twin Hickory Library’s Dr. Bob Singer Senior Series. The Steward Jazz Band participated in the Titan Jazz and Art Festival at Trinity Episcopal School in April, performing songs like “Back to the Basement,” Stevie Wonder’s “Superstition,” and Dave Matthews Band’s “Ants Marching.”
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v i s i t i n g i n n ova t o r s
The Peace Makers Seven monks from the Drepung Gomang Monastery in Tibet spent a cold February week at Steward, bringing compassion, art, and peace to campus. They provided a cultural immersion that brought global perspective to our increasingly interconnected world. During the five days of their visit, the monks introduced every student, faculty and staff member, and many parents to their rituals, including daily chanting, cultural dancing and costumes, and the sand mandala, which took four men more than 40 hours to create. The Steward community was fascinated by the monks’ presence and gratefully absorbed the benefits of contemplative science they brought to our world.
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CREATING A SAND MANDALA Monday
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v i s i t i n g i n n ova t o r s
Thinking
By Erin Ambrose ’16
Green
David Green, a Michigan-bred Californian and renowned social entrepreneur, made quite the empathetic impression on The Steward School community during his February visit. It was just another mid-week morning in Richmond. The wind was bitter in climate but gentle in severity. Ribbons of sunshine streamed through the Bryan Innovation Lab windows, reflecting the morning glow on everyone’s faces and drenching the walls with light. Laura Akesson’s Biomed Design class had gathered together to dissect cow eyeballs with the assistance of Mr. Green, the Visiting Innovator. The eyeballs were brown and bulging, stuffed all together in a plastic bag. Students adorned themselves in battle gear—goggles and aprons—to shield themselves from the “juicy part” of the dissection. In walked Mr. Green in a crisp black sweater and glasses. He explained to the students that
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For me, it’s also about finding solutions to address human suffering because there is a lot of suffering. A lot of our pain—we create it ourselves, but we can escape our pain by helping others escape theirs. — DAVID GREEN
the “eyes help understand,” and continued to note that whether they are “pig, goat, or human [eyes], they are highly instructive.” The class began to dissect the cow eyes with different tools, and at one point the students use a scalpel to carve around the cornea. The juice spilled out, smelling foully of rubbing alcohol and citrus, and revealed dark blue
jelly covering the inside of the eye. Unlike the students who held their noses and made faces, Mr. Green went from table to table, observing the dissections and speaking with students about just how interesting the eye can be. After the lab, Mr. Green headed to the Wellness Studio to speak with seventh graders. They had all prepared questions and answers regarding social problems in today’s world. Teachers were scattered throughout the room, while the seventh graders and Mr. Green sat in a circle to discuss current issues and problem-solving techniques. Two girls presented the issue of forestation in Guatemala, adding that their solution was to make a reservation so that the trees cannot be cut down. The girls also suggested that field trips to the reservation would be a smart and innovative way to get kids involved with helping the environment. Mr. Green replied that he has been to Guatemala and has found that the causes of forestation lead to a lack of land for agriculture. “There are economical reasons for the forestation,” Mr. Green told the girls. “These days, bad people are running it and growing marijuana.” He went on to
say that his friend is the owner of a Mexican conservation (the largest in the world) called Sierra Gorda. The purpose of the conservation is to maintain forests but still provide livestock for those in need. When asked about his inspiration, Mr. Green seemed to have no doubt in his mind. He told the story of an eye doctor he worked with in 1983, a man who “put people before profit.” This question led Mr. Green to give advice to the seventh graders about how to lead a good and healthy life of serving others. “It’s better to maximize distribution and put service to others first,” he advised. “It’s all about serving others and still being profitable. For me, it’s also about finding solutions to address human suffering because there is a lot of suffering. A lot of our pain— we create it ourselves, but we can escape our pain by helping others escape theirs.” Mr. Green closed his session by complimenting the students, telling them that each has his or her “own special gift that they will find within” themselves. He finished the seventh-grade session with a lovely, heartwarming statement: “Mine is bringing people together. The whole journey of life is about finding your special gift that will help others.” Mr. Green wasted no time in meeting with the next class, Mary Greenlee’s Honors Biology. He explained to the students that a lot of the work he does has to do with price disparity, which is an ethical issue. “If the government wanted to march in and make it affordable, they could,” Mr. Green admits. “It just never has happened.” He then told the story of his encounter with Francis Collins, who runs NIH (National Institutes of Health), and his response to the situation. “I was in a session on ethics and science, and we were focusing on the issue of the government not exercising price control correctly. When I asked Collins about it, he replied that everyone would become upset, and that when you’re in the system, it’s hard to be disruptive. There’s a lot of focus on economical benefit. It’s just how the world works.” In Mrs. Greenlee’s AP Environmental Science class, senior Craig McLane inquired about how Mr. Green meets demands and regulations when he sells hearing aids for unbelievably low prices. Mr. Green answered that most of it has to do with where the hearing aids are sold. “We sell our products in Europe, but decided to focus on the United States. There is more corruption in the U.S. medical system than anywhere else
in the world,” he told Craig. “In the United States, you have to deal with lots of money companies that will do anything to crush you.” “I cry,” Mr. Green joked when asked about how he deals with failure and stepping on people’s toes. “I’ve had to deal with failure,” he shared with the AP Environmental students, but “I just have to keep going.” And that is what he has done. Mr. Green’s heart of gold and remarkable dedication shone
in the eyes of students and teachers alike during his visit at Steward. His policy to just keep going, his advice to focus life on serving others, and his utter willpower to demolish “perversion of capitalism”—gluttonously sucking out as much money as possible— inspired the campus. May David Green continue to rise above greediness to serve as a social entrepreneur for the less fortunate, because in the end, compassion is the most important entrepreneurship there can be. Crossroads
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Creature Teachers The Bryan Innovation Lab played host to many special educators during the second semester, many of them under the leadership of teacher Mary Greenlee, who has a passion for nature. Bryan Lab Director Cary Jamieson says, “Mary Greenlee’s scientific understanding and enthusiasm for ecology and systems is inspiring. The natural areas around the lab are laden with her quiet cultivation. Native plants, worm-composting systems, and a bluebird trail are just a few examples.” SLIPPERY CHARACTERS: Stream Ecologist Anne Wright, the coordinator of Life Services Outreach Education at the VCU Rice Center, visited Mrs. Greenlee’s AP Environmental Science class in the spring to survey the wetland woodland behind the lab for vernal pools. The class discovered several shallow pools with aquatic isopods, including fairy shrimp and several very busy toads, but no salamanders, which are a critical component of vernal pools. BIRD BRAINS: Virginia Bluebird Society President Christina Woodson trained the students in Mrs. Greenlee’s class on how to take care of the new bluebird trail on Steward’s campus. They will record data that will be shared in the society’s statewide database. The trail is the first of its kind at a school in Henrico County. FROGGER: Kate Quarles, manager of environmental education at Maymont Foundation, hosted a FrogWatch USA session in the lab to train citizen scientists how to monitor local frog and toad populations. The volunteers were taught to collect data that will be used nationally to support amphibian research through the Association of Zoos and Aquariums. Mrs. Greenlee’s students also help with this collection.
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Look Who’s Talking Dr. Doug Tallamy
Professor and Chair of Entomology and Wildlife Ecology at the University of Delaware and Author of Bringing Nature Home What interested you in entomology? Actually, there was a distinct event when I was in the third grade. We had moved to a new development, and the lot next door was undeveloped, and it had a pond. I used to visit that lot every day to see what was happening. It set me off on a path that I wasn’t aware of at the time, but I loved nature, and I wanted to study it. I was a biology major. I had no idea what you did as a bio major, but I knew I didn’t want to teach because I was too afraid of talking in front of people. I even went to dental school for two weeks! I did not follow my passion—I didn’t understand what I could do with it. When I tried entomology, I found out I could use my passion. With advice, I could have done a lot better. I’d recommend getting close to a role model and seeking advice. How did you discover your passion for nature? My love of the outdoors, quite simply. We spent every summer camping at a lake in northern New Jersey. My friends were playing volleyball, and I was playing in the woods. It’s not that I didn’t enjoy people, but I just loved nature. Doing something along those lines always made sense. It was a lifelong love right from the start—I was fascinated with things dead or alive. Do you think the affinity for the observation of nature is something that can be taught or is it innate? I do think people are born with it, but that doesn’t mean it can’t be taught (just not to my son). There are all types of plus patterns and intercepts there. Having raised my own kids, where I have one child who loves nature and one who doesn’t, I think a lot of it is innate. What do you think is one of the greatest challenges we face in the world today? Undoubtedly, the greatest challenge we face is that we’ve surpassed the planet’s ability to support us in the style to which we’ve become accustomed. We’re above the carrying capacity, which means nothing on the planet is sustainable until we get that under control. I do believe we can do this, and I don’t talk a lot about population issues because there are people out there working on it. Once we reach sustainable numbers, how do we pose this with the natural world so that it actually supports us? We’re not at the point where we recognize that a system based on perpetual growth is not going to be the answer. I would love to see us get there very quickly. It sounds like you want us to be supportive of nature, not just nature supporting us? I am trying to convince people that we must stop fighting nature and start supporting it so that it can support us. It’s the natural capital that keeps us alive. To this point in time, we’ve had an adversarial relationship with nature. That comes from when we were hunter-gatherers—it was nature that killed us, and the more that we pushed back, the better off we were, but now that there are seven billion of us, that doesn’t work anymore. We pushed back so much that we destroyed the support systems. So, we’ve got to come up with a new philosophy—the old one was appropriate in the old days, but it’s not appropriate now. But we’re spark plugs—we can do this. Crossroad Crossroads
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class acts BIG BANG THEORY The second grade celebrated the Chinese New Year with a special science lesson about fireworks and the invention of gunpowder. They examined “pop snaps” with stereomicroscopes and conducted an experiment using lab burners and samples of metal compounds to determine which ones produce the fireworks colors that we all enjoy.
CREATIVE LICENSE Several fourth-grade entrepreneurs won awards for their inventions at the annual Mini-Economy event at VCU: George Tyler created “Posh Piggies” (paper mâché piggy banks); Nico Stojadinovic and Jonah Barzel created a game customers played to win a prize; Zoe Macgill, Amy Mertz, and Walker Landry-Seward hosted a booth selling a variety of items, including “Mermaid Purses” and minidisco balls, and Anna Vogt and Alaina Jefferson were the proprietors of “We Nail It,” a manicure booth.
GRANd entrance On Lower School Grandparents and Special Friends Day, we welcomed hundreds of visitors to campus for the program “Can You Dig It?” and classroom receptions.
“t” time Tom Funkhouser’s eighth-grade history classes enjoyed an old-fashioned thrill during a lesson about how the Ford Motor Company revolutionized the auto industry and the American economy in the 1920s. Billy McGuire, husband of Middle School Dean of Students Meredith McGuire, brought his 1914 Model T to campus to take students for a spin around the parking lot and to explain that it was the first car to be produced on an assembly line, which reduced its costs and therefore made it affordable for most working Americans.
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BLOW BY BLOW
GOING GLOBAL The International Day theme this year was the World Cup. Students in grades JK-5 rotated through stations at which they learned the Brazilian-inspired Zumba style of dance, played geography games, drank tropical smoothies, and learned about the unifying spirit of fútbol (aka soccer) around the world. Steward’s Upper School international students from China, Moldova, Iceland, Norway, Germany, and Dubai shared their cultures, and there was a special presentation by the River City Taiko drumming group led by Steward parent Dr. Paul Yoon.
On a Saturday in April, more than 50 Lower School students and parents gathered for the first annual “Conundrum Day.” They were challenged to build a house from recycled materials that could survive a wind tunnel (simulating the Big Bad Wolf) for the “fourth little pig,” based on The Three Little Pigs. All of the student creations survived 60 mph winds in the tunnel, and most were still standing in nearhurricane force winds of 80 mph.
drawing on memory Spanish teacher Jenny Suarez and art teacher Cindy Grissom coordinated their curricula for the Memory Project, an international art program for neglected, orphaned, or disadvantaged children. The eighth-grade art students drew portraits of Mexican children, which they sent to those children with handwritten letters.
SOFT WARES In celebration of National Engineers Week, third- and fifthgrade students worked in pairs to build marshmallow and toothpick structures. They were given 49 small marshmallows and 100 toothpicks for their creations, and the tallest structure reached 13 inches. Crossroads
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Steward Integrates New 1:1 Technology in Classrooms By Rachel Beanland
Starting in the fall of 2014, The Steward School will embrace a new 1:1 technology policy that teachers and administrators say will broaden students’ access to information, encourage collaboration, and inspire good digital citizenship. The new policy will put a digital learning device in the hands of every student. Those in the Lower and Middle Schools will be issued iPads, and students in the Upper School will be required to “BYOD”—Bring Your Own Device.
It Easy
“We don’t intend for our children to be plugged in all day long,” says Robin Ricketts, Steward’s JK-12 academic technology coordinator. “We want digital devices to be treated like any other tool we use in education—paper, pencils, scissors, glue. All of those items are tools that should be in each Steward child’s toolbox.”
“We live in a digital world,” says Interim Head of School Dan Frank, “and we want to be sure we’re providing our students with the digital experiences they need to grow up and be competitive in a world where changing technology has become the one constant.”
The faculty and staff knew they wanted a seamless approach to integrating technology in the classroom, but they wanted to make sure they got it right. Before making any decisions, several groups of teachers and administrators visited and collaborated with other independent schools that had adopted a variety of different technology policies.
Currently, Steward has computer labs in Dixon Hall, Wilton Hall, Cosby/Taylor Hall, the Cramer Center, and the Middle and Upper
They found that some schools issued laptops or iPads to everyone but then turned around and charged a hefty technology fee to parents.
(See BYOD guidelines on next page.)
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School library. Laptop and iPad carts are also available for teachers to reserve for individual lessons. It gets tricky, however, when teachers want to implement technology-rich lesson plans and projects that run for multiple days or weeks. If a teacher is trying to orchestrate a five-day lesson, it’s highly likely that, on one of those days, the devices won’t be available because another classroom will be working with them. Life becomes much simpler when all teachers need do is ask students to open their devices.
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Others required even young children to bring a device from home. “What we found as we studied other schools is that every school has to approach the decision differently,” says Mrs. Ricketts. “You have to look at your own school, and figure out what will work best for your students and their families.” Before deciding on a policy, Steward had to take a careful look at its infrastructure. Wi-Fi is currently available in most locations on campus, but Director of Technology Shahwar Qureshi ’90 knew the network didn’t have the capacity to support 750 users, all of whom could potentially be online at the same time. “We’ve been upgrading our Wi-Fi network over the past few years. We’re phasing out our older Wi-Fi devices and replacing them with the latest technology,” she says. Ms. Qureshi also worked with the committee to determine how to procure the 400 tablets the School needs for the Lower and Middle School students. Ultimately, they decided to lease iPads since the arrangement allows Steward to distribute its investment over a longer time period instead of paying a onetime, up-front cost. The bigger benefit, says Ms. Qureshi, is that it forces the School to commit to an upgrade cycle, swapping out its devices at least every three years. Determining what the BYOD policy would look like for Upper School students took further consideration. Because the committee members understood that certain families are either all-Mac or all-PC on the home front, they were leery of endorsing one platform over another—forcing families to purchase a device that might not be compatible with others at home. They also had to consider cost. They wanted families to be able to make their own determination about what is and isn’t an acceptable price point for devices. If a student has a two-year-old laptop at home that meets the School’s technology criteria, the committee wanted him or her to be able to use it. “1:1 technology programs are equalizers,” says Ms. Qureshi. “They ensure that every student has access to a device during the school day. Successful teachers know when to use the technology in a lesson and when to rely on more traditional learning tools.” When schools implement 1:1 technology policies, parents often ask how teachers will manage a whole new set of classroom distractions. If students have devices in front of them, won’t they spend their time on social media sites, chatting, gaming, or otherwise disengaging from the material?
“The truth is that our students are going to have to deal with distractions their whole lives. All of these devices came on the scene in the last decade or so, and they didn’t come with guidebooks for how to live with them,” says Mrs. Ricketts. “24/7 access to devices has created problems that we have to learn how to address—where better to do it than in a controlled environment like school?” Mrs. Ricketts is referring to a new level of device etiquette that many students either don’t know or haven’t fully embraced. The guidelines are constantly evolving as new technology hits the market and as parents, teachers, and others scramble to adjust societal norms to fit the way we live. Nancy Negus, the Lower School academic dean and JK-12 director of curriculum, says teachers will have to set expectations and keep students engaged in what they’re doing, but as with many other management issues, the lessons extend far beyond the classroom. “It really just takes us back to our mission,” says Mrs. Negus. “We’re preparing children for college and for life. We want our students to be digitally competent, which includes how, what, when, and where they use technology.”
BYOD
Bring Your Own Device
Upper School students will need to provide a device that meets the following criteria for the 2014-15 school year: l Wireless Connectivity: must support 802.11 g and n (or more) l Diagonal Screen Size: at least 9 inches l Display: 1024x768 l RAM: 1024 MB l CPU: 1 GHz l Storage: 16 GB l Battery: 5 hours l Internet Browser: Internet Explorer, Chrome, or Safari l Preferred Features: camera and microphone l Protective Case: sturdy enough to handle a fall for our l Video Output: VGA or VGA technology board on adapter Pinterest l Charger
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State ChampS On Saturday, May 17, the varsity baseball team defeated Atlantic Shores Christian School 4-3 in the semi-finals of the VISAA DII state tournament. On Sunday, the team defeated the Miller School 2-0 to win the state championship. The Spartans finished with an outstanding 18-5 record and the first baseball state championship in the ten-year history of the program. “It’s a long time coming,” Coach Bruce Secrest said. “This has been in the making for years.” For more Baseball, see page 45.
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FOR MORE SPORTS PHOTOS
g
spartans!
Boys Basketball The Middle School produced three feisty boysOfficial basketball teams this winter. The white Seal Logo team consisted solely of sixth graders, and as a result, they faced off against older boys throughout the season. They were rewarded with victories and camaraderie that no other independent school sixth-grade team could have experienced. The highlights of the year were two big wins over Seven Hills and St. Benedict’s; the team outscored them by a combined score of 62-21. Throughout the season, everyone embraced the team’s motto of “all in,” and they were led by MVP Elliot French, Coaches Award winner Riley Highfill, and Most Improved Player Charlie Fowler. The gold team finished the season with a 4-3 record and ended with a three-game winning streak. The boys improved throughout the season because of their hard work in practice and their togetherness off the court. The first game started in exciting fashion as seventh-grader Tyler Watkins hit the game-winning three-pointer with 4.2 seconds left to beat St. Christopher’s. The team went undefeated 3-0 against Collegiate teams and scored a season-high 64 points toward the end of the season. Seventhgrader Alex Poling was named MVP, seventhgrader Cole Mier was named Most Improved, and Tyler was given the Coaches Award. The blue basketball team’s season was like a roller-coaster ride that was cut short. The team struggled to find its way early in the season, but kept working, improving, and focusing on the positive. The team finished its season with a heartbreaking two-point loss to a strong Collegiate team, a five-point win over a Collegiate eighth-grade team, and a snow cancellation just as the team was finding its groove. The team was led by eighth-grader Dean Chambers on offense, as he was the leading scorer in seven games. Eighth-grade point guard Gavin Booker took home the “hard hat award” with his gritty, workman-like pace, and his classmates Esteban MarmelejoSuarez and Parker Wright helped establish the team’s tough, hardworking style.
“Their success was built on the concept of strong team defense and belief of ‘all in.’ I am very proud of every player on the team.” – Coach Jamiel Allen ’02 The JV boys basketball season was one to remember, highlighted by the fact that five eighth-grade boys were chosen for the squad. These Middle School students were given the unique opportunity to compete at a high level with freshmen and sophomores from around the state. Finishing with a record of 8-6 was a great accomplishment for the team, including losses of three games by three points or less. Under the leadership of sophomores Nico Martinez and Dan McCarthy, the JV boys defeated teams from Norfolk Collegiate, Banner Christian, and Hargrave Military Academy, among others. The spectacular play and contribution of the eighth-grade players, led by Gray Hathaway, provided the necessary energy for this season to be a winning one. Congratulations to the varsity boys basketball
players—they qualified for the state playoffs for the first time since 2010! The boys were led by a new head coach, Jamiel Allen ’02, who was tasked with replacing four of Steward’s five starters from the previous year’s ten-win squad. Led by senior captains Khari Greene and Jackson Walker and junior Carl Williams, the team secured victories over Collegiate and STAB. These games were the highlight of the regular season and were integral in the team’s advancement to the state playoffs. Junior Chaise Johnson excelled on the court, averaging 18.4 points, 3 assists, 1.5 steals, and 3.2 rebounds per game, en route to being named team MVP. Sophomore Johnny Beigel earned the award for Most Improved Player, and senior Jimmy Phelan was given the Coaches Award. Crossroads
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Girls Basketball In addition to the five boys teams, Steward fielded three girls basketball teams this winter. On the Middle School girls gold team, first-year coaches Chris Brown and Emily Friend Brown ’09 stressed the fundamentals and focused on putting the girls in situations for success. They competed against a daunting schedule of older players and enjoyed a three-game mid-season winning streak, beating Orchard House, St. Mary’s, and Collegiate. Seventhgrader Julia Kabbani was given the Team Leadership Award, seventh-grader Morgan King was awarded Most Hustle, and sixth-grader Anna Kilduff was named Most Improved. The Middle School girls blue team had a very successful season in many ways. They finished the season with an impressive 7-1 record, only losing to a powerful St. Catherine’s team 22-15. The team scored an average of 20 points a game, and most importantly, every player scored. Throughout the season, the team was led by lightningquick guards, seventh-grade MVP Elizabeth Parris, and sixth-graders Danielle David, Brianna David, Nicole Harrison, and Julia Monroe, who
played tough defense, caused turnovers, and pulled down offensive rebounds. Seventh-grade forwards Bentley Mescall (honored as Best Offensive Player), Gabrielle Franta (honored as Best Defensive Player), and Abbie Campbell blocked shots, grabbed rebounds, and made outstanding moves to the hoop. Seventh-grader Kerrington Martin skillfully handled the official scorebook and clock for the games, assisted during practices, and created impressive videos to use as learning tools. The varsity girls basketball team has gotten continuously better under the leadership of head coach Adam Lonon ’06. The girls finished with an impressive 13-8 record, their first winning season in more than five years. Anchored by seniors Sigga Eiriksdottir and Morgan Schroder, the girls won Trinity Episcopal’s Travis Invitational and attained a playoff spot in the state tournament. Eighth-grader Madison O’Neil was the team’s Most Valuable Offensive Player, freshman Kellie Fonville was the team’s Most Valuable Defensive Player, and freshman Matea Magnano was named Most Improved.
Swimming
Cheerleading The varsity cheerleading squad did an exceptional job of energizing the Steward fans and continued to be an invaluable component of our winter athletic environment. Led by senior captains Holly Highfill and Ashley DeConti, the twelve-girl squad welcomed a number of new cheerers. Junior Braeden Glancy was bestowed the team’s Spirit Award, and sophomore Caroline Curry earned the Coaches Award.
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The boys swim team had a fantastic season, a highlight of which was the Division II Invitational at the Freedom Center in Manassas in February, where they placed sixth out of 15 teams. The 200 medley relay team of seniors GJ Apostle and Drew Barker, junior Turner Sikes, and eighth-grader Matthew Whelan qualified for the state championship meet, and the 200 freestyle relay team of GJ, Turner, Matthew, and senior Will Grattan finished second and also qualified for states. The team is extra proud of GJ, its captain and MVP, who will swim for Loyola University Maryland next year. The Newcomer Award went to Matthew, who was part of a relay team at a regional NOVA meet this year that set a new national record in the 800-yard freestyle for his age group. The 110% Award was presented to Will by Coach Eric Hopp. On the girls swim team, senior Mary-Kate Kelleher was named MVP, junior Anne Knecht was named Outstanding Newcomer, and senior Claire Kirchmier received the Heart and Soul Award.
Baseball Under the leadership of Coach Jeff Fratter, the Middle School boys baseball team achieved a 3-2 record with three games left to play. Offensively, the team averaged 12 runs a game with high scores of 17 and 22 runs in two different games. On defense, the team played well, executing all types of fundamental baseball plays. The team’s co-captains, seventh-grader Julian Amyx and sixth-grader Harrison Clifton, displayed leadership and character throughout the season. Sixth-grader Hunter Milligan was unable to play until April due to injury, and in his first game back, he made a huge impact by getting solid hits and playing great defense at short stop, including a beautiful double play. Halfway through its season, the JV baseball team had achieved a 4-1 record under Coach Chris Lundberg. The boys threw two shutouts against Central Virginia Homeschool and a Division II powerhouse, the Miller School. The biggest win of their first five games came from a tightly fought contest against crosstown rival, St. Christopher’s, with a score of 6-5. The boys also broke a 3-3 tie against Covenant in the seventh inning with eight runs en route to a 12-3 victory. As one of only two boys’ JV spring sports, the baseball team pulls players from a wide spectrum of ages, and older players like sophomore Johnny Beigel were able to teach leadership skills to the younger boys. A year after graduating five all-state players and making the Division II state semifinals, the 2014 team was right back to its usual
ways under Coach Bruce Secrest. With only four games left in the schedule, the team had a 12-5 record and was ranked second in the DII VISAA state rankings. Their win over previously second-ranked Miller School showed the boys’ character and exemplified the value of hard work, as Miller had beaten them 16-8 earlier in the year. With only two seniors, Coach Secrest credits the stability and culture of the
Scholarship Opportunity
Spartan Club The Spartan Club announced this spring that the Ray Tate Spartan Golf Classic will honor a different individual each year. At the 2014 Classic, the first honoree will be Upper School Division Assistant Lee Healey, who has been an active Spartan Club member and dedicated to the golf tournament for the last decade. Donors who make a gift in honor of Mrs. Healey will be invited to send her a personal message of appreciation to be displayed at the tournament and at School. The tournament will be held on October 6, 2014, at Hermitage Country Club. Sponsorship opportunities are available.
baseball program for shaping a consistently dominant team. Senior captain Drew Barker showed the maturity of a much older player, and fellow senior captain Craig McLane rehabilitated an injury to be able to play. Craig will be playing at William & Mary next year, while junior captain and pitching ace Nic Enright has committed to Virginia Tech for 2015.
Save the Date: RAY TATE SPARTAN GOLF CLASSIC
OCT. 6, 2014 HERMITAGE COUNTRY CLUB
More info: www.stewardschool.org/golf
To honor Mr. Tate’s love of sports and the role they play in developing wellrounded young women and men, a portion of the proceeds from the Ray Tate Spartan Golf Classic will be used for two scholarships awarded in his name. The scholarships will be awarded annually to recognize a currently enrolled, rising senior boy and girl who best exemplify the qualities of an exemplary student-athlete. For more information, please visit the website at www.stewardschool.org/spartanclub. Crossroads
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GIRLS SOCCER First-year coaches Jordan Clark and Beth Farmer ’09 stressed fundamentals and teamwork with their Middle School team, which featured many new soccer players. The girls’ home victory over Tandem Friends marked the highlight of the season with three games left on the schedule. The team suffered a number of one-goal losses, but showed improvement in their scores as the season continued. Coach Clark stressed how well this team represented Steward both on and off the field. With two games remaining in their regular season schedule, the varsity team had amassed a 3-7 record. As a member of the ultra-competitive LIS conference, the girls played a consistently challenging schedule against larger schools such as Collegiate, STAB, and St. Catherine’s. The girls beat rival Covenant twice during the season by a score of 3-2, and ranked opponent Nansemond-Suffolk Academy travelled to Steward in April and left with a 6-1 defeat. Coach EJ Watkins credits the senior class as being the strength of the team. The six seniors, Sarah Dickson, Sigga Eiriksdottir, Holly Highfill, Mary-Kate Kelleher, Cassandra Martinez, and Morgan Schroder, all served as captains.
Girls Lacrosse The Middle School girls lacrosse team has grown by leaps and bounds since naming Christen Fratter as head coach with 21 girls this spring. They faced a daunting schedule against strong teams like Collegiate, St. Catherine’s, STAB, and Norfolk Collegiate and even took on several JV teams. They took every game in stride, played with respect and class, and never got down on themselves. The victory over Anna Julia Cooper Episcopal School was the team’s best win, and they had narrow defeats against St. Catherine’s and Tandem. Becca Aldredge and Bailey Scott shone as the lone eighth graders on the team, and seventh-graders Carthen Smith and Elizabeth Parris excelled in the middle of the field and on offense. Congratulations to the varsity girls lacrosse team for reaching the state semifinals, playing a tough Norfolk Collegiate team, and finishing with a 6-10 record.
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The varsity girls lacrosse team eyed a very successful season under Head Coach Christina D’Angelo and Assistant Coach Amanda Florio. With three games left on the schedule, they had amassed a 6-5 record against some of the best competitors in the state. At press time, the team was ranked third in the VISAA state poll, its highest ranking in years. The girls had a number of great wins, including a 20-18 nail-biter against Virginia Episcopal School, a 17-11 victory over Nansemond Suffolk after trailing 5-1, and a 16-9 redemption over Covenant, who knocked Steward out
of the playoffs last year. A roster of 20 players comprised the young team, including four eighth graders, nine freshmen, and only three seniors. The girls averaged 11 goals per game behind strong offensive performances by senior Cabell Harper and junior Emily Parris, and senior Claire Kirchmier set the tone for how defenders should play.
The varsity golf team headed into its final four matches of the year ranked sixth in the VISAA state poll. The wet spring weather took its toll on the schedule, but the boys kept performing better and better with each match. The eightman roster consisted of five sophomores, two juniors (including team captain Cameron
Bachman), and one senior, Jackson Walker. The boys travelled to some of Virginia’s finest courses and played in a number of single and multi-team matches. Cameron, Jackson, and sophomore Owen Carter made Coach Catesby Jones proud, as each had some of the best rounds in the state.
Tennis While rainy weather wreaked havoc throughout the spring season, the boys and girls tennis teams did whatever they could to improve every day. Sitting at 3-3 and unranked in the VISAA state polls, the boys team headed to Collegiate for a second match. The first meeting took place early in the season and was a 6-3 victory for the Cougars. In the April rematch, the Spartans used their hard work and turned the tide, emerging the victors at 6-3. Seniors Forrest Andrews and Tyler Miracle will be missed, as they helped lead the young team of 12 players that included five freshmen. The varsity girls came out of the gates firing, attaining an 8-1 record at press time, and with only one game remaining, the girls were poised for another dominant season. Other than a tightly contested 5-4 loss to Virginia Episcopal School, the Spartans won the rest of their matches by a combined score of 50-13. After not playing for the preceding two years, senior Anna Fuhr provided the number one presence that Coach Kurt Hammerschmidt had been anticipating. As the lone senior, Anna was the team’s leader, teacher, and rock, and she will play at Christopher Newport University next year.
Golf The co-ed JV golf team, coached by Stephen King, offered a unique opportunity for boys and girls this year. The team played only three matches against older teams, but with four sixth-grade boys and one seventh-grade girl, Julia Kabbani, this team was much more about gaining experience and fostering their passion for golf. The Andrews brothers, Christian and David, Michael Magnano, and Jack Grady each produced some amazing shots this spring. We look forward to seeing these young Spartans grow and mature into successful student-athletes in the next few years.
Boys Lacrosse The Middle School boys lacrosse team earned a respectable 5-5 record with four games remaining at press time. Head Coach Tom Funkhouser and Assistant Coach Matthew Blackwell faced a difficult challenge heading into the year with two eighth graders called up to varsity and a massive loss from last year’s 16-3 team that graduated 13 players. The team overcame a lack of experience and a number of cancellations to achieve some impressive performances. The boys’ highlight game came against Collegiate’s seventh-grade team, whom they defeated 9-6 after being down 3-0 at the end of the first quarter. The captains, eighth-graders Ryan Odibo and Carter Patterson and seventh-grader Sam Popp, showed exemplary leadership and modeled the competitive yet positive spirit that Steward hopes to imbue in its students. Ryan, Sam, eighth-grader Connor Wilkerson and seventhgrader Ryan Pope led the offense; seventhgrader Jack Slyh remained steady in the goal; and Carter, eighth-grader Lewis Tiller, and sixth-grader Jack Young manned the defense.
The varsity coaching staff, led by Kurt Henegan and assisted by Chip Chapman, Taylor Wilkens, Bobby Gary, and Chris Leavitt, had 18 new players on the team this year, taking their roster to 31 boys. The team played the most challenging schedule of any Division II team in the state, and with two games remaining had a 4-5 record and was seeded ninth. Their highlight win of the season came against crosstown rival Trinity Episcopal, in which the boys took a 6-0 lead en route to a 14-2 victory. The captains, seniors Jimmy Phelan and Will Grattan and junior Will Farmer, excelled on the field and were integral in creating a culture of hard work and accountability. The two Wills and eighth-grader Gray Hathaway led the offensive production with the help of junior Patrick Neale, senior DeMarco Nelson, and eighth-grader Hayden Smith. Senior Lewis Gray was a welcome addition at the face-off X, while Jimmy, juniors Chaise Johnson and Kevin Cameron, and freshman Will Harrison ran the defense in front of the goalie, sophomore Avery Maestrello.
Athletic information for the spring teams does not include the full season due to printing deadlines. Crossroads
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Find the Right Book Tips from our Steward experts help you zero in on the best choices for your child 48
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By Betty Enright, Lower School Librarian Do you stand in a bookstore or library, scratching your head and wondering what would be the best book for your child? When you want to purchase a book as a gift, do you wonder what he or she would like? Here are some websites that will introduce you to books that are chosen for their abilities to make kids’ mouths water…and make them eager to read more. You may know James Patterson as a bestselling author of books for adults, but he is also a parent with a young son who did not like to read. Mr. Patterson found himself asking the same questions I mentioned above, and he set up a website, ReadKiddoRead.com, to answer them. The site lists book selections in age-appropriate categories with thoughtful descriptions of each recommended book. There are also contributions from other authors and celebrities who believe in the importance of reading and links to most major booksellers. If your child is already a good reader, maybe he or she needs help deciding what to read after finishing a great book? Visit
http://yournextread.com/us/ and enter the name of a book your child enjoyed. The site will offer suggestions of similar books. As an added bonus, this site recommends books for adults, too! Just click on the age-appropriate tabs for children or adults. If you live in Henrico County and want to check out books from the public library, the catalog is available from your computer at all times on its website, http://catalog.henrico.lib.va.us. You can see which branch has the book available for checkout or place a hold on the book until it arrives. If you want to check out a book during the school year, visit Steward’s Lower School Library catalog online at http://destiny.stewardschool.org/. Click on “The Lower School Library” to start your search. Want to see if the book you purchased at a store or checked out from the public library is on the Accelerated Reader list? Visit the AR BookFinder site at www.arbookfind.com and conduct a quick search on any title or author. This site also gives you the book’s AR point value and “interest level” by clicking on the cover of the book. Above all, encourage your child to read anything that relates to his or her interests. To truly enjoy reading, adults and students should read what they enjoy most. Happy reading!
Need a good summer read? Steward faculty and staff members share thoughts on some of their favorites. Chris McKee: Watership Down by Richard Adams: “It is a fantasy fiction book about a group of rabbits that travel to find a new home. It is adventurous, exciting, and gripping.” Susan Holt: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle: “It transported me to other universes and encouraged me to be smart and the independent little girl I was, who usually marched to the beat of a different drummer.” Jane Carter: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: “I think if everyone had Atticus Finch’s nobility, kindness, and sense of justice, the world would be a better place.” Laura Akesson: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “Jane Austen characters are fantastic.” Sabra Willhite: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell and To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: “It’s a toss-up… Scarlett because of the way she grew from a dainty, ‘helpless’ girl into a strong, resilient woman who would do anything for her family, and Scout because of the way her world view was shaped and formed.” Kristen Householder: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee: “If more people ‘walked around in other people’s skins’ a bit more, this world would be a kinder place to live.” Katy Koppanyi: The Color of Water by James McBride: “Amazing story of mother and son, the chapters alternate voice. This woman was a Polish Jew living in U.S. and marries a black Baptist minister. Imagine
Our Favorite Summer Reads FROM STEWARD’S FACULTY & STAFF the diversity…she made sure all of her children got the best education that they could. She was fearless and loved her children fiercely. She would not let others break her down. An incredible story.” Sarah Newcomb: Where We Belong by Emily Griffin: “Story of a young teenager on the voyage of finding her mother. Couldn’t put it down—I stood in a pool last summer and finished the book in two days.” Elizabeth Gibson: I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith: “I was given this book by my grandmother and fell in love with the characters and the charming plot. It is a book that I pick up again and again, if only to turn to a random page just to get into the story immediately.” Karen Hudson: A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L’Engle: “Meg is a mixture of adventure, smarts, innocence, and curiosity. I still think of myself as facing life with each of those qualities.” Betty Enright: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen: “It has been copied in books and films so many times. Elizabeth Bennett was strong-willed long before it was popular.” Heather Jeter: A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway: “I
wrote my first research paper about this book when I was in tenth grade, and I was hooked on studying English intensively from that point forward.” Livia McCoy: Spring Came on Forever by Bess Streeter Aldrich: “It told the entire life story (fiction) of a German immigrant. It showed the strength of character and endurance of early immigrants who settled on the American prairies.” Donna Jackson: The Odyssey by Homer: “It is, among other things, about the journey of life, which contains great joy and adventure but also great adversity. Just when we think we’ve overcome an obstacle, we encounter another one, and we must face each challenge with strength, courage, intelligence, and devotion to the people we love. No work of literature speaks to me more than this great epic.” Marsh Hayes: Anne of Green Gables series by L.M. Montgomery: “I love the character Anne Shirley because she brings out the best in people through her humorous and quirky ways.” Rebeca Heidbreder: La Sombra del Viento (The Shadow of the Wind) by Carlos Ruiz Zafon: “This is among my favorites because his writing is
profound and rich— every word is a delicacy.” Andy Mudd: Time and Again by Jack Finney: “Time travel!” Leslie Kovach: Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling: “These books are great stories and show that good will always triumph over evil.” Catherine Hathaway: Books by Joyce Carol Oates: “She is a bit of a ‘dark’ author, but I love her books and her style of writing.” Elizabeth Coleman: Prodigal Summer by Barbara Kingsolver: “Beautiful language, beautiful setting, wonderful story.” Erica Riesbeck: Gone With the Wind by Margaret Mitchell: “I have been thoroughly raised in all things southern. Despite her many flaws, Scarlett O’Hara is my hero.” Beth Farmer: My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult: “It sparked my interest in organ donation.” Wallace Inge: Heaven is for Real by Todd Burpo: “It’s about a young boy who visits heaven and returns to tell his parents about it.” Terri Shelton: The Road by Cormac McCarthy: “Fantastic writing and thought-provoking.” Monica Moehring: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley: “So sad, it breaks my heart.” Robin Ricketts: Le Petit Prince by Antoine de Sating-Exupery: “I like the fox because he speaks the truth.” Lynn Zinder: The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt: “It was over 750 pages and had a very good storyline.” Crossroads
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Steward’s Supper Favorite recipeS by Meriwether Godsey Provided by Chef Anton Gaston
Flourless Chocolate Cupcakes Makes 12 cupcakes Ingredients: ¾ cup heavy whipping cream 6 Tbsp. unsalted butter 1½ Tbsp. cocoa powder 1¼ lb. high-quality semi-sweet chocolate, broken into small pieces 3 large eggs 7 Tbsp. granulated sugar, plus extra for dusting muffin tins For serving: 6 cups peppermint ice cream 2 cups hot fudge sauce, warmed
De-stress Tip
Cut back on ‘screen time’ By Susan M. Brown Hearing about the Buddhist monks’ visit to The Steward School got me thinking about the appeal of a contemplative life—a life so far removed from the rush and stress of what most of us experience day to day. While I don’t propose we encourage our children to embrace a monastic life, I think there are lessons to be learned. 1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Prepare one dozen muffin tins by coating heavily with baking spray; coat sprayed tins in sugar. 2. Melt cream, butter, cocoa powder, and chocolate in a double boiler on medium heat. Let cool. 3. In a medium bowl, combine eggs and sugar, beating until fluffy and lemon yellow in color, about 10 minutes. 4. Slowly drizzle melted chocolate into egg mixture, whisking briskly. 5. Fill cupcake tins with batter to just below the top. 6. Bake at 350 degrees for 12-15 minutes until tops just begin to crack. 7. Serve with peppermint ice cream and warmed hot fudge sauce.
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What I have come to believe is that the simplest and most effective way to enrich family life is to return quiet to our homes, to create pockets of refuge from the highly overstimulating and hyper-paced world in which we and our children spend most of our days. One of the best ways I know to do this is to cut down on “screen time.” When I work with families in consultation, I try to get a picture of the environment at home. One of the questions I ask is “How much time does your child spend in front of a screen?” Parents, without exception, look guilty and respond, “Too much time.” Upon digging a bit deeper, I find that families in our community follow national averages of approximately four hours of screen time a day when we add up TV, computer, iPads, etc. The good news is that when parents take back control of screens they find without exception that children listen better, talk to parents more, and find other creative and productive ways to spend their time. I invite you to make this simple change in your home. I promise you will find that the rewards are worth the initial battle with your kids. Parents always do! Susan Brown is a child development specialist and family educator who is in her 21st year with Commonwealth Parenting.
Look Who’s Talking Clay Reynolds
Parent of Adam ’25 and Incoming Parents Association President Where did you grow up and what was your family like? I grew up in a coal camp in Slab Fork, West Virginia. It was 15 minutes from the closest little town. My grandfather, father, and brothers all worked for the family business, Slab Fork Coal Company, and the “camp” provided everything we needed—housing, school, church, stores. There were 64 students in eight grades in a three-room school house, and we walked to school. I grew up playing football and making up games with my brothers and all the kids in town because we didn’t have enough for full teams. It was all just like a family—it was so cool to have that sense of being part of a whole. My siblings and I are all Hokies. I bleed maroon and orange. What brought you to Richmond? My dad retired from the coal business, but he didn’t want to retire for good, so my parents moved to Richmond when I was in college. He was a consultant for an energy company, and three weeks after moving here, he suffered a massive stroke at age 57. He lived for another eight years before dying suddenly. I moved to Richmond to help my mom take care of him because it was really a two-person job. I was the ticket manager for the Richmond Braves, and then I worked for a local sports agent in player relations and marketing. It sounds like you have always worked in athletics? I got into tournaments next—I was the executive director of the Senior Softball World Series for five or six years. I was based in Richmond, but our main office was in Michigan, and I travelled all over. The league included players 50 and older throughout the U.S. and Canada. During that time, I also started running the Crown Royal Golf Championship and then the PGA Tour Nationwide at the Dominion Club. The coordination of all these events was similar—the TV and radio, tents, hotels, trash, hospitality, volunteers, and, of course, the weather. I’m the only tournament director to have the PGA tour rained out—in May 2003, we played three holes in four days. More than anything, I learned you’ve got to be flexible and resourceful. That’s great advice for event management! Adam was born a few years later, right? Well, I wasn’t married when I was running the tournaments, so a friend set me up with Randy (Reynolds) the day before Thanksgiving in 2003. About nine days later, he asked me to marry him, and we got married the following September. He had three elementary school-aged sons at the time, so I became an instant mom. They all have dyslexia, and I’ve become somewhat of an expert on learning differences. I continued with the golf tournaments for a few years, but I really wanted to have a child of my own. I’m not the typical mom, so Adam is my miracle baby—he was born on my parents’ anniversary. What brought you to Steward? I was on the board at St. Mary’s Episcopal Preschool and loved it. When we were looking for schools for Adam, I had only one question—he can learn to read and write anywhere, but what else are you going to do for him? Debbie Robson said, “We believe in our name and try to be stewards to ourselves and our community,” and that did it for me. I liked coming here and having the feeling that they wanted to be a partner with me. It’s a great place for Adam, and I’ve found a home here, too. You’ll be president of the PA next year…what are your goals? Well, I figured if they were coming to a kindergarten mom (last year to be PA vice president), they must be scraping the bottom of the barrel if no one else wanted to do it! I think the goal of the PA is to be the bridge. Your children are here, you have faith in the School—we’re here, and we need them. I think the best way to learn is through connections with other people. It goes back to my beginnings in a town where I felt like I was surrounded by family. Crossroads
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By Jennifer Wilkerson, PA President
or its 2013-14 speaker series, the Parents Association focused on a topic that affects us all: the ever-present world of social media. Five sessions were held between December and March, and the various speakers covered the legal, emotional, technical, and physical aspects of this dimension in which our children are growing up. Across the board, they shared information that is critical for parents to consider in keeping their children safe.
“Your public image is shaped by what you share. You are your own PR agent,” Steward Technology Coordinator Robin Ricketts reminded parents in her presentation on March 26. She and Director of Technology Shahwar Qureshi ’90 told the parents in attendance that social media allows us to share our personal information, photos, preferences, purchases, likes, and dislikes to a worldwide audience. Often what we intend to share with our family and friends extends its reach to friends of friends, marketers, current and potential employers, and anyone else who may want to know you better. Oversharing has consequences for privacy, reputation, and safety. Despite belief to the contrary, anything shared online is “out there” forever. National expert Katie Koestner spoke on January 16 about the permanence of online postings. She explained that, even when deleted, there is a permanent record of your online life. Even apps that automatically delete photos after a period of time (set by the poster) don’t guarantee that the photos aren’t shared further. A screenshot taken by the recipient becomes a permanent record that can be shared at the recipient’s discretion. Mrs. Ricketts and Ms. Qureshi shared two websites that can pull historical records of a person’s online presence since the inception of the Internet. WayBackMachine.com and Archive.org allow anyone to access any information ever posted on social media or a personal website. The permanence of information is only one reason parents need to take an active role in their kids’ online activity. Every expert who spoke during this series agreed that kids are disconnected from what they do online. They feel anonymous and post thoughts and pictures that they might hesitate to share without the barrier of technology. This anonymity applies to social interactions on all types of technology, including video games, many of which are social. They allow kids to play together virtually with people they know, as well as people they “meet” within the game. Video games, chat rooms, and social media are perfect hiding places for predators. In December, Steward parent and Richmond City Police Major Mike Shamus brought two of his colleagues, City of Richmond Detective Kevin Hiner and Virginia State Police Special Agent John Houlberg, who are members of the Internet Crimes Against Children Taskforce and FBI Child Exploitation Task Force respectively, to speak about keeping kids safe online. Online predators work slowly, building a relationship over time to gain a child’s trust. While building this relationship, kids who have been taught “don’t talk to strangers” no longer identify the person on the other end of the computer conversation as a stranger. So, what do we do? At a session in February, Michelle Johnson and Kate Semp from Commonwealth Parenting Center
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stressed that it is a parent’s responsibility to know what their kids are doing online. Understanding the social media applications that their kids use is the first line of defense. Parents should not only understand the apps, but they should also create an account and actively follow their children’s activity at any age. Detective Hiner and Special Agent Houlberg reminded parents, “Use your gut.” If kids close their laptops or put down their phones when parents walk in the room, they are most likely doing something they shouldn’t. The experts strongly encourage parents to enforce a rule that all technology, including computers, phones, and video games, should only be used in public rooms and screens should always face away from the wall where anyone walking through the room can see them.
“Video games, chat rooms, and social media are perfect hiding places for predators... Kids who have been taught ‘don’t talk to strangers’ no longer identify the person on the other end of the computer conversation as a stranger.” — JENNIFER WILKERSON, PA PRESIDENT
By actively and regularly monitoring your child’s online life, you are not only protecting them from predators but also from negative information posted by them or about them. The sense of anonymity that kids feel increases the likelihood of online bullying. It is easy to blast thoughts, pictures, and information to hundreds of other kids at the same time and for those kids to respond back. Mrs. Ricketts and Ms. Qureshi are experts in effectively monitoring online presence, and they gave three important suggestions to guide parents:
1. Understand social media apps and set up accounts to follow your kids. 2. Set parental controls. 3. Understand and adjust privacy settings. Privacy settings change often, and parents should walk through each one on a regular basis to make sure they are set appropriately. Adults should do this with their own accounts as well. Parents unwittingly give away information about their kids that the children have been taught not to share. Mrs. Ricketts and Ms. Qureshi’s presentation in March included steps for setting parental controls, setting up accounts in the most common social media apps, and accessing privacy settings. The presentation includes valuable tools for parents and nonparents alike and can be accessed with the following link: http://tinyurl.com/lbhqcx5. Above all, don’t give up! Social media can be overwhelming, but it’s here to stay. The effort parents make in helping kids set good habits when their children are young (even teenagers) will help guide them as they navigate these waters for years to come.
MORE helpful links for social media information n commonsensemedia.org n www.connectsafely.org n internet-safety.yoursphere.com n www.sovaicac.org n www.missingkids.com/home n commonwealthparentingcenter.org
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spotlight
Freshmen Again As it happens every year for the newest batch of alumni, these former “top-of-the-heap” Class of 2013 graduates have started over at the bottom of the ladder. After leaving the Steward cocoon, these three young women are spreading their wings as freshmen in college, each in a different direction. What’s life been like after leaving the nest? What advice do they have for future young alumni?
Sarah Austen Holzgrefe College: Virginia Tech (Blacksburg, VA) Going from a small school like Steward to a very large college like Virginia Tech could have overwhelmed Sarah Austen Holzgrefe, but she quickly found her way to the right spots. In the fall, she participated in co-ed, intramural flag football and tennis, and she has played on the Virginia Tech Club Tennis Team this spring. She plans to study abroad next year, starting the trip in Lugano, Switzerland, and visiting different areas in Europe. Her trip will end with five weeks in sub-Sahara Africa teaching ESL. “I could not be more excited about this trip!” she says. Sarah Austen says she felt well-prepared for college, even though the transition to a college schedule wasn’t what she expected. Academically, she says one of the most important components of her preparation at Steward was learning how to write a paper. “Every day I think about all the times that Ms. Define drilled into our brains the importance of writing and citing sources,” she says. “I’m very thankful that Steward taught me to write because it is such a crucial skill to have.” It is often intimidating yet exciting to move from the comfort of home to the new world of college, and Sarah Austen says that her freshman year of college has been nothing like she imagined, but it has included experiences she would never trade. She gives separate advice to high school upperclassmen: “My advice to the juniors would be to work as hard as you can because junior year matters so much, and the hard work does pay off. My advice to the seniors would be to not get ‘senioritis’ because it will make your last semester more stressful than necessary.” In addition, she advises anyone at Steward “to embrace having such amazing teachers and friends and to cherish the relationships you have with them. There is no better feeling than coming home from college and visiting Steward and being welcomed back with such enthusiasm.”
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Michelle Napper
in that it is a smaller private college and is able to give the students small classroom sizes and the opportunity to form relationships between the professor and the student,” she reports. “My teachers at Steward taught me is how to write a well-written research paper. From the second you enter college you are expected to convey your thoughts and ideas in an eloquent and cohesive manner, and I think Steward really did give me the foundation to become a good writer.”
College: Pace University (downtown New York City) With a double major in marketing and business management and a minor in entrepreneurship, Michelle Napper is a busy young woman. She is involved in a club called Arts and Entertainment Management, which focuses on making connections within the industry. She says that Pace strongly encourages its freshmen to obtain internships. Because Michelle is interested in fashion, she served as a marketing intern for a high-end boutique in SoHo called LF. She worked with the marketing team to promote the brand, to set marketing strategy, and to research the next fashion trends. In February, she attended Mercedes Benz Fashion Week at Lincoln Center, where she interviewed major players in the fashion industry, including magazine editors, fashion bloggers, models, and designers. Michelle says she feels that Steward prepared her for the type of work that is expected of a college student. “Pace is very similar to Steward
With a year under her belt as a college student, Michelle advises high school juniors and seniors to put in the time, the effort, and the passion to receive great results in the long run. As she says, “I always say ‘dream big or go home’ because to me there really is no other way, but with that you also have to learn to exercise patience and humility. Just because something may not be happening right at this moment does not mean that great things aren’t on the way. Be patient and enjoy the moment that you are in.”
Morgan Penberthy College: Wake Forest University (Winston-Salem, NC) Morgan Penberthy has truly thrown herself into all that Wake Forest has to offer academically and in her extra-curricular activities. Through a psychology class during the first semester, she participated in a psychological study at a high-security prison, where she taught the inmates how to meditate. She played on an intramural flag football team, joined a sorority and served as the dance captain for a philanthropic competition, and sat on the promotions and design committee for an event called DESK (Discovering Education through Student Knowledge). In addition, Morgan has become involved in several awareness programs. She was chosen to participate in a two-week international service trip to Kigali, Rwanda this May through Wake Forest’s Volunteer Service Corps. She worked with organizations like the Nyanya Project and local schools to promote reconciliation, education, and cooperation in cities that have been greatly impacted by the genocide in 1994. She served as a facilitator for a program called PREPARE (Policy Group on Rape Education, Prevention, and Response) and will give presentations to incoming freshmen during orientation this August. To prepare for this experience, she took a one-hour credit course in facilitator training, through which she visited a local hospital and talked with a SANE (Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner) nurse. She has also applied to work with the Board of Investigators and Advisors and the Honor and Ethics Council during her sophomore year.
Morgan says that she was always hard on herself in a good way throughout high school, frequently meeting with her teachers for help. “I could talk about how amazing the faculty and staff at Steward are for hours, and I think that while they’re incredibly helpful when approached, students need to put forth effort in order to get what they want out of their classes/teachers,” she says. She claims that the scheduling at Steward was tremendously helpful to her because she got in the habit of doing her work for each class every night. Morgan says, “There are always going to be distractions, but just getting done whatever you had that day makes you feel that much more confident about your knowledge of the subject and gives you more time to do other things or meet with your teacher if you’re having difficulty.” She adds that Steward’s encouragement of extracurricular activities and athletics has been helpful in college because she learned how to balance the abundance of choices and the division of her time at Wake Forest. The advice she’d give current high school students is, “Don’t be afraid to take some risks. Honestly, Wake Forest was a reach for me.” She applied early decision knowing it was binding, but says she worked hard, showed interest, and took a risk. “Guess what—I’m at my dream school! You’ll never know unless you try.” She adds that students shouldn’t be afraid to ask questions and be consistent with the amount of questions they ask if they need help. She believes it shows teachers that you “a) care about your classes/ grades, b) genuinely want to do better, and c) show respect for the subject that they’ve dedicated their lives to teaching. You’ll have lots of people to hug when you come back and visit!” Crossroads
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class notes
’90s
John Stinson III ’01 received the William M. Usdane National Award. He is a production control clerk with Skookum Contract Services. www.vimeo.com/94407827 Lindsey Leach ’04 is currently the development, special events, and volunteer coordinator for the Legal Information Network for Cancer (LINC). She also sits on the programs committee for Young Nonprofit Professionals Network and will begin work on her master’s degree in nonprofit studies at University of Richmond this fall.
The children of two alumni were student partners on MLK Day: senior Khari Greene, son of Nicole Taylor ’90, and kindergartner Kamran Mohanty, son of Shahwar Qureshi ’90. Doug Hinckley ’91 owns Richmond-based Wendell Powell Photography. He will photograph events for The Steward School during the 2014-15 year. Celebrating its two year anniversary this August, Cabin Creek Interiors has expanded its services under the leadership of Michael Maszaros ’99. As a member of the International Design and Furnishings Association (IFDA), Cabin Creek Interiors in Midlothian now offers full-service interior design for both residential and small-scale commercial clients.
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’00s
Chad Healey ’00 moved to historic Charleston, South Carolina, where he serves as the chef at Bocci’s restaurant. Harry ’01 and Caitlin Rossmoore Baron ’01 returned to Richmond last year and welcomed daughter Madelyn Elizabeth on June 12, 2013.
James Schreiber ’05 ran the 2014 Monument 10K in March, when he spotted a large number of Steward alumni, students, faculty, and staff. Page Conway Ruhsam ’08 and her husband, Mark, were married on March 8, 2014, in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida. The wedding party included Kate Conway ’11 as maid of honor, Elizabeth Hickman ’08, and Chelsea Volz ’08. Also in attendance were 2008 classmates Kemis Noble, Elizabeth and Mary Martha Delaney. The happy couple resides in Orlando, where Page is pursuing a second degree in accounting at the University of Central Florida. Mimi Tanaka ’08 is opening an upscale consignment shop in West Broad Village called Alice McQueen. You can visit her store this summer.
Corrections The following alumni were listed with incorrect graduation years in the Fall/ Winter 2013 issue: Rusty Perkins ’99, Will Perkins ’01, and Beth Dixon ’08. Please accept our apologies for the errors.
Save the Date: Reunion Weekend
September 19-21, 2014 for the Classes of 1979, 1984, 1989, 1994, 1999, 2004, 2009
’10s
Ryan McKeown ’10 has graduated from Brown University and will be pursuing his Ph.D. at Harvard this fall. Blair Oliff ’10 has been accepted to the master’s program for speech pathology at James Madison University. She graduates this May from JMU as a communication sciences and disorders major with a minor in exceptional education. This summer, Kate Farmer ’11 will participate in a variety of externships for her accounting major at James Madison University. Her travels will take her to California, Texas, and Washington, D.C., where she will spend time at KPMG, Deloitte University, PricewaterhouseCoopers, McGladrey, and Veris Consulting. Henry Bassett ’13 was named swimming Rookie of the Year for the Capital Athletic Conference. He is finishing his freshman year at the University of Mary Washington.
lastword
SpARTY’s new look! Sparty has been given a makeover, and he wants to see the world! All students, faculty, and staff received a “Flat Sparty” at the end of the school year, and everyone is encouraged to include him on their summer travels and photograph their journeys with him. Using social media, please upload your Sparty travel photos to Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram with the hashtag #flatsparty. Want to join the fun? Visit www.stewardschool.org/ flatsparty to download your own “Flat Sparty.” Print it, cut it out, and take him on the trip of a lifetime. Get creative with your photos… the more interesting, the better! Sparty wants to go on rollercoasters, swim underwater, climb mountains, visit Grandma’s house, play dress up, and more. At the end of the summer, we’ll collect the photos, and prizes will be awarded for creativity. The photos will be shared on www.stewardsnaps.org during the summer and used to decorate for the Fall Social, when Sparty will make his Steward debut! Sparty is ready to see the world…we can’t wait to see what he discovers. #flatsparty
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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage PAID Richmond, VA permit No. 895 Our passion is helping students discover theirs. 11600 Gayton Road Richmond, Virginia 23238 www.stewardschool.org
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PLEASE GIVE TO THE 2013-2014 ANNUAL FUND.
IT’S FOR STEWARD STUDENTS! WWW.STEWARDSCHOOL.ORG/GIVE 60
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to give now!