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PERSPECTIVES THE MAGAZINE OF ASHLEY HALL
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ASHLEY HALL BOARD of TRUSTEES 2014–2015
PERSPECTIVES T H E M A G A Z I N E of A S H L E Y H A L L SPRING 2015
OFFICERS Chairman | Wade Scott Parker Vice Chairman | Brett Hildebrand Secretary | Heidi Ward Ravenel ’74 Treasurer | Hugh C. Lane, Jr. MEMBERS-AT-LARGE Susanne Buck Cantey ’95 Emmie Aichele Dawson ’70 Ann W. Dibble ’70 Randolph J. Friedman Kenneth W. Harrell Philip L. Horn, Jr. Laurie A. Host ’73 Elizabeth Powers Lindh ’67 Janet Pearlstine Lipov Kevin W. Mooney Anne Tamsberg Pope Barton A. Proctor Dr. Jerry Reves (Immediate Past Chairman) John E. Thompson TRUSTEES EMERITI Mary Agnes Burnham Hood Martha Rivers Ingram ’53 Patricia T. Kirkland Elizabeth Rivers Lewine ’54 Karen Jenkins Phillips ’79 J. Conrad Zimmerman, Jr. HEAD OF SCHOOL Jill Swisher Muti
EDITOR: Paula Edwards Harrell GRAPHIC DESIGN: Stitch Design, Co. CONTRIBUTING EDITORS: Dr. Nick Bozanic, Stephanie Hunt PHOTOGRAPHY: Meredith Adkins, Anne Jervey Rhett Photography, Margot Shulman
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02 Headlines | Head of School, Jill Muti 04 The Learning Spiral Redux 16 Spiraling In and Out of the Lab 22 Alumnae Perspective: Leah Fisher ’05 26 The Social Scene 28 Student Perspective: Bailey Horn ’15 32 Class Notes
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J IL L MUTI Ashley Hall Head of School
Dear Ashley Hall Family, Spring is the season of new beginnings. With that in mind, we thought it was the perfect time to launch a fresh, new look for Perspectives magazine. With a polished, crisp design, Perspectives continues to offer all the in-depth articles and engaging profiles that you have come to expect. The exquisite cutaway of the interior of the chambered nautilus on the cover was beautifully rendered by artist and Ashley Hall faculty member, Jane Pelland. It is meant to remind us of the growth, maturity and progression that Ashley Hall students take each year. This journey can also be likened to the educational philosophy which we call The Learning Spiral. Released several years ago, The Learning Spiral is an effective and consistent way to articulate our curriculum.
The Learning Spiral positions our students for achievement. Two “12-year girls” are profiled in this issue. Young alumna, Leah Fisher ’05 has harnessed her passion for science and the environment into a public policy career in Washington, DC, for the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (page 22). Senior Bailey Horn shares her Ashley Hall experience and the importance of giving back to the community that has nurtured her for so long (page 28).
This spring it seemed an appropriate time to take a fresh look at how this living metaphor serves our school. Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs, Dr. Nick Bozanic’s article, The Learning Spiral Redux (page 4), offers an informative behind-the-scenes look on the Spiral philosophy, showcasing the programs and people that bring this innovative approach to life. Our integrated curriculum is unique and provides faculty the ability to creatively collaborate across disciplines, therefore extending an area of study across many different classrooms. In Spiraling In and Out of the Lab (page 16), you will see how integrated learning is working in our Lower School.
At Ashley Hall, we remain ever mindful of our commitment to serve the many diverse needs of each student in every phase of her development, and we do so in a way that is consistent with our founding mission: “to produce an educated woman who is independent, ethically responsible, and prepared to meet the challenges of society with confidence.” I hope you enjoy this fresh, new perspective. Happy spring! Kind regards,
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THE LEARNING SPIRAL REDUX
Several years ago, Ashley Hall, under the guidance of our Head of School, Jill Muti, articulated a comprehensive pedagogical philosophy to guide us in shaping coherent and consistent educational programs and practices. We call this philosophy “The Learning Spiral” in recognition of the fact that the processes of childhood development are not linear but recursive—children learn by incremental repetitions. Like the chambered nautilus of Oliver Wendell Holmes’ poem, “which as its spiral grew, …left the past year’s dwelling for the new, Stole with soft step its shining archway through, Built up its idle door, Stretched in his last-found home, and knew the old no more.” So, too, the student moves through a succession of “chambers” each more spacious than the last, each inseparable from one another. And like the nautilus, so the student’s growth is both continuous and organic, not a series of discrete and measured (or accurately measurable) steps. Nurturing that continuity of experience is one of the principle
intentions of purposeful curriculum development and instructional methodology. Ashley Hall is conscious of our commitment to serving the intellectual, emotional, physical, and spiritual needs of each student in every phase of her development and to do so in a manner consistent with our mission to “produce an educated woman who is independent, ethically responsible, and prepared to meet the challenges of society with confidence.” We have worked very deliberately to translate these philosophical principles into effective curricula methods and support programs from our Early Education Center all the way from kindergarten through twelfth grade.
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The Path to Literacy
“I don’t know how to draw tunes yet. I just drew some circles that are the tunes.”
ROSS EARLY EDUCATION CENTER Inspired by the practices of early education professionals in the Italian city of Reggio-Emilia, our own Ross Early Education Center has adopted similar approaches to create what is called emergent curriculum—that is, instructors collaborate with their students to design projects or investigations based on the students’ expressed interest. In this way, the children’s innate curiosity—their natural inquisitiveness and wonder—becomes the engine of their learning. Students exposed to this approach tend to become more confident, more independent, and more capable of championing their own education, rather than relying passively on the direct instruction provided by a teacher. Even in these early years, students prove themselves increasingly capable of caring for their learning environment as well as for the needs of others, thereby taking initial steps toward becoming “ethically responsible” citizens. The instructional strategies deriving from the Reggio-Emilia approach to early childhood education necessarily require continuous monitoring and documentation of the students’ activities and discoveries. Teachers become intimately aware of each student’s contribution to the collective enterprise, encouraging collaboration while respecting individual students’ pace and performance, rather than imposing a rigid standard of prescribed competencies. The practical skills and more academic understandings students will inevitably need to succeed as they continue upward on The Learning Spiral emerge organically out of the investigations themselves. In this way, learning becomes an experience of discovery, of invention, and of wonder.
Students exposed to this approach tend to become more confident, more independent, and more capable of championing their own education, rather than relying passively on the direct instruction provided by a teacher.
Sometimes an investigative project in the Ross Early Education Center begins with the teachers rather than the students. Pre-kindergarten teacher, Becky Grantham, and atelierista, Wendy Robbins, were intrigued by their recent observations of the children’s use of movement as a unique form of communication. Pulling from their respective graduate studies, Ms. Grantham and Ms. Robbins wondered together how this particular movement exercise might impact the development of the child’s literacy. This professional collaboration led to a project begun last year in the students’ primary year which unexpectedly resurfaced in a new and exciting way. A child’s drawing of music from this project sparked the interest of teachers. “I drew circles because I don’t know how to draw tunes yet,” explained the four-year-old girl, pointing to her sketch of a figure playing a horn. The teachers realized that students were in many ways creating their own system of symbols, that could easily be seen as a precursor to literacy. By presenting opportunities for children to engage thoughtfully with music and movement, the teachers then challenged them to translate sounds and gestures into written form. Much like the previous year, many of the students’ interpretations were concrete in nature—for example, hands represented clapping. In time, however, their drawings became more abstract and thoughtful. After collecting and sorting the children’s representational drawings, the teachers then chose several that depicted common sounds and movements. These drawings were duplicated and made into small cards. Teachers reviewed the symbol cards with the children, later asking the children to assemble the cards in some kind of pattern. Watching intently, the teachers noticed the children’s eyes followed the order of the cards, acting out each movement as they went along, much like they were reading written text. This process beautifully demonstrated the children’s ability to make connections between language and print and the development of other emergent literacy skills.
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When girls are encouraged at an early age to feel free to pursue an interest in science or math or any other challenging endeavor, they are more likely to retain their enthusiasm and curiosity into their adult careers.
PARDUE HALL Students in Ashley Hall’s Pre-kindergarten program begin the transition from Reggio-Emilia inspired instruction into a more modified approach, which will equip them for the type of environment they will encounter in kindergarten and throughout their years in Pardue Hall. Although students do receive more directed instruction in kindergarten through fourth grade, there remains a clear emphasis on other strategies consistent with emergent curriculum objectives. This is evident in our integration of academic standards into student-directed projects and more pronouncedly in our language arts instruction, which adapts techniques derived from the work of Columbia University’s Teachers College expert, Lucy Calkins. Stressing the importance of each student directing the development of her own writing project, the Calkins program guides but does not govern by formal instruction and peer review. The student thus becomes the author of her own work, achieving a distinctive personal voice through an authentic process of purposeful revision. While the academic demands of primary school do not readily admit of the adaptation of Reggio-Emilia strategies throughout the curricula, class projects—designed and developed by students in a manner similar to the investigations conducted in our EEC —do provide for a
wealth of collaboration. This allows students to realize their own discoveries and thereby continue to feel more fully engaged in their own education. Such confidence is, again, one of the crucial objectives of Ashley Hall’s mission, and we constantly seek to create opportunities for students to assume responsibility for their activities, both in and out of the classroom. Moreover, these collaborations encourage cross-curricular studies that reveal to the students how seemingly disparate ‘subjects’ are, in fact, mutually reinforcing intellectual disciplines. This creates an understanding which lays the foundation for their future course work in humanities and the interdisciplinary Oral Defense Projects and Senior Theses in Jenkins Hall. For an example, see The Spiral Capstone on page 15. There is another dimension of our interdisciplinary studies—the way in which academic studies designed to prepare students “to meet the challenges of society with confidence” also provide opportunities to develop ethical responsibility. For example, students in Ms. McCarty’s science class not only learn the biology of bees, they learn as well the role humans play in sustaining these creatures so vital to the life of plants—and, therefore, to sustainable agriculture. By harvesting their own bees’ honey and by promoting the sales of locally produced honey from other
beekeepers, Ashley Hall students raise funds that go directly to The Bee Cause Project, a not-for-profit undertaking that installs glass observation beehives (like the one in the Pardue lab) in schools throughout the country. These fundraising activities introduce Ashley Hall students to a culture of philanthropy and strengthen their awareness that what they learn in school reveals how they can— and should—conduct themselves as citizens of the world. The importance of work such as this, especially in the single-gender environment at Ashley Hall, cannot be overestimated. A recent article (February 6, 2015) by Claire Cain Miller in The New York Times entitled “How Elementary School Teachers’ Biases Can Discourage Girls From Math and Science” highlights a new study that “points to … how powerful a little encouragement can be. Early educational experiences have a quantifiable effect on the math and science courses the students choose later, and eventually, the jobs they get and the wages they earn. The pipeline for women to enter math and science occupations narrows at many points between kindergarten and a career choice, but elementary school seems to be a critical juncture. Reversing bias among teachers could increase the number of women who enter fields like computer science and engineering which are some of the fastest growing and highest paying.” While such pragmatic concerns should not be the sole criteria by which to gauge the value of any curricula, it is undeniably important that we provide our students both the knowledge and the encouragement needed to succeed in these increasingly vital areas of study and—as the only all-girls independent school in South Carolina— Ashley Hall is uniquely positioned to do just that—as the profile in this issue of alumna, Leah Fisher ’05, illustrates so well. When girls are encouraged at an early age to feel free to pursue an interest in science or math or any other challenging endeavor, they are more likely to retain their enthusiasm and curiosity into their adult careers.
Students explore The Bee Cause beehive in the Pardue Hall Science Lab.
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Lucy Calkins Writing Workshop Fourth grade student, Ailish Ward, was recently asked to compose a persuasive essay and chose to use her experience at Ashley Hall as the theme of her piece. Fostering lifelong writers is an essential part of the Pardue Hall curriculum which uses the innovative Lucy Calkin’s Writing Workshop method with its young students. The girls are pushed to tap into their own lives to generate ideas for writing, and then are taught strategies to create powerful pieces across a variety of genres: narrative, persuasive, informational, and research-based writing. We believe all girls can be writers and, with proper guidance, their work will take flight.
Missing Your Mom?
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BY AILIS H WARD ’2 3
Does your mom have special values that you miss at school? Well now you don’t have to miss her values here at Ashley Hall. Ashley Hall is like a second mom because they teach me new things, they care for me, and they push me to believe in myself.
One reason why Ashley Hall is like a second mom is they teach me new things.
A couple of years ago I was in Ms. Saunders room doing math. Out of the blue she shouted, “We are learning long division!” I was shocked—I was only eight! But she skidded right over and guided me how to learn long division.
Ashley Hall taught me how America got its name. Ashley Hall taught me that
people in our own town go hungry every night. Ashley Hall taught me that people walk miles in bare feet and get diseases.
Not only does Ashley Hall teach me new things but they also care for me. An
example of this is when I was in second grade, rolling around in a chair, and I shifted my weight backwards and tipped over. Kaboom! I was lying down on the cold hard ground. Everyone froze except Mrs. Flowers. She helped me into a chair and scanned me for bruises making me comfortable and better. She got me a cup of water. After that I felt great.
Ashley Hall cares for me when I am hurt, when I’m sad and when I am scared.
The most important reason Ashley Hall is like a second mom is Ashley Hall pushes
me to believe in myself.
One time, I had to speak in morning meeting in third grade. I was shaking from
head to toe and breathing rapidly. Mrs. Libaire came over and told me this, “Ailish you can dance on huge stages so I know you can speak on big stages.” With that I held my chin up high and pranced on that stage. I spoke like I did this all of my life.
Ashley Hall pushes me to believe in myself by doing a full split. Ashley Hall pushes
me to believe in myself to run two miles in a row. Ashley Hall pushes me to believe in myself that I could be little but make a huge difference.
What I’ve come to realize is Ashley Hall does this because they focus on every
student. They want every student to be mentally and physically strong. Now I know Ashley Hall can really support me like my mom does.
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LANE HALL Perhaps nowhere along The Learning Spiral is the challenge to help our students acquire the skills they will need “to meet the challenges of society with confidence” more acute than in Lane Hall. For girls, the ages between ten and fourteen are especially crucial to their physical, emotional, and intellectual development. Social concerns begin to occupy more of the students’ time and attention while
Lane Hall students journal during Wellness Class.
The Importance of Wellness Using The Learning Spiral as inspiration, Wellness Counselor Libby Gilbert begins her work with young Pardue Hall students on the transition from the Lower School’s nurturing environment, to the more independent atmosphere of Lane Hall. She is able to proactively respond to the emotional needs of each child and seeks to guide them along a path of increased self awareness and emotional maturity. At Ashley Hall, there is significant opportunity for impact in this area due to the all girls’ environment. “We instill in the girls that they have an impact on their life by their actions. Girls can become competitive at this age so it’s important to give them a positive, supportive environment,” explains Gilbert. “Conflict resolution and independent problem solving are key areas of focus. Our goal is to prepare the student for the transition and demands of the Upper School academic and social environment. In addition to a girls’ academic success, Ashley Hall is committed to her emotional well-being. Not all schools are able to do that.”
Because these years are so transformative for our girls, we have taken pains to build a dedicated team of teachers who work closely with one another to coordinate their respective course contents. their academic duties become more and more demanding. Physiological changes can add to the cognitive dissonance the girls are experiencing. Recognizing all of these factors, we have designed a two-year sequence of instruction for the fifth and sixth grades that emphasizes the Ashley Hall Hallmarks of compassion, discernment, collaboration, intelligence, creativity, purposefulness and worldliness. For example, when discussing discernment, a Wellness Class might focus on problem solving or how to become more empathetic. Because these years are so transformative for our girls, we have taken pains to build a dedicated team of teachers
who work closely with one another to coordinate their respective course contents. Each individual student is given the proper guidance she needs to make the transition from Intermediate School to the academic and social environment of Jenkins Hall (grades seven through twelve).
JENKINS HALL As students enter Upper School in Jenkins Hall, they experience a quickening pulse in every aspect of their lives. All of the preparation they have undergone in preceding years now begins to bear fruit in more sophisticated applications of their acquired skills and understandings. Humanities classes conducted as student-directed conversations around a Harkness table encourage each student to participate on equal terms with her classmates in a manner reminiscent of the investigations she enjoyed as a child in the Early Education Center. The Oral Proficiency Interview (OPI) used to assess her fluency in French or Spanish reinforces her understanding of these languages as instruments with which to unlock the doors to other cultures and other climates of opinion and, at the same time, gives her confidence to be a more fully contributing citizen of the world. With each succeeding year, students in Jenkins Hall discover more and more opportunities to exercise their critical thinking through interdisciplinary studies such as those required by the Oral Defense Project (ODP), the Senior Thesis, and the Senior Project. Each of these activities include a public presentation at which students demonstrate their command of multiple disciplines as they pertain to a single essential question, thereby demonstrating their acquired authority in those fields of study. As students in the Upper School prepare to venture out into the world beyond Ashley Hall’s physical boundaries, so too does that world come to our campus. The international boarding students who live in the Rutledge House for Global Studies enrich the intellectual and cultural life of our community in countless ways.
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The Spiral Capstone: Caitlyn Jennings ’15 Senior Project In only a few brief minutes of conversation, one can easily sense the maturity, depth and passion behind senior Caitlyn Jennings. Her drive seems to radiate from within. She has attended Ashley Hall since pre-kindergarten and is a shining example of The Learning Spiral at its best. Through the twists and turns of her time on campus, Caitlyn has always been encouraged to customize her educational experience both inside and outside the classroom. Now, in her final year as an Ashley Hall girl, the journey is fully being realized, particularly through her Senior Project work. This year-long, self-directed class has always been a synthesis of intense research, critical thinking, and targeted community service for its participants. In Caitlyn’s case it has morphed into something much larger with wonderful program implications within the school’s signature Global Studies Program.
Inspired by a recent trip to Bolivia and her experience at a single-gender school, Caitlyn’s
Senior Project, entitled Redefining the Rules, explores the dire need of educating young girls in developing countries and the barriers in place that compromise these efforts. “During my research,” says Caitlyn, “I started looking closely at child marriage and human trafficking, both of which are hugely prevalent in many third world countries. These unusual cultural norms are detrimental to the empowerment and success of young women in these countries. How does this happen, and what can I do to help change it?”
With the student featured prominently at its center, The Learning Spiral provides a lens through which our school purposefully considers our individual and collective contributions to the fulfillment of its founding mission.
Their presence is a daily reminder that Ashley Hall exists in a network—not virtual but an actual worldwide web—of social, political, economic, and cultural communities. And students exit this level of the life-long learning spiral mindful of their obligations to those communities. With the student featured prominently at its center, The Learning Spiral provides a lens through which our school purposefully considers our individual and collective contributions to the fulfillment of its founding mission. It shapes every aspect of our students’ matriculation and provides a solid foundation on which a personalized educational experience can be built. As a nautilus continues its chambered growth throughout its life, the proof of our mission’s fulfillment is realized each year through our senior class as they create their final “chamber” which we will be privileged to directly impact. At this point their chambers include all the experiences that have contributed to their becoming educated women who are independent, ethically responsible, and prepared to face their futures with confidence. As they begin their next journey—and new experiences in college and beyond shape the growth of their next chambers— they will always be able to reach inside and access the gifts that they have built through their time as students at Ashley Hall.
The beauty of the Senior Project process is the organic development of ideas and
approaches similarly used in The Learning Spiral. Structure and specific objectives are in place, however there is no limit to the project’s final destination. For example, when meeting with her advisor, humanities faculty member, Jill Harper, to discuss the community service aspect of her project, the idea of organizing an Ashley Hall sponsored service abroad trip to a country with still developing areas was presented as a hopeful “what if” scenario by Caitlyn and eventually embraced by staff and Ashley Hall students. This biennial trip will feature a partnership with a US-based organization that promotes female education and job training through organized service trips. After much discussion, India was chosen as the program’s inaugural destination. The discrimination against women in many parts of India has long been documented and offers a valid and true face for Caitlyn’s project. “Because of the classical emphasis of Ashley Hall’s curriculum, most of the school’s travel abroad opportunities have been centered in Europe. This will be a great opportunity to expand our girls’ horizons with a service-centered travel experience,” explains Ms. Harper.
The trip itself is the end result of a year-long class that will fully prepare the students for
their journey. Selected students will attend—on top of their current course load—additional classes on the history and social justice issues of India, as well as cultural awareness. “I had no idea my project would come together like this, and that I would be spearheading a new program,” said Caitlyn. “But after all, that’s what Ashley Hall is all about!”
Both The Learning Spiral and Senior Project imply transformative learning through
personal experience—the life lessons gained from fully immersing yourself in your passions and interests are invaluable. Caitlyn Jennings, along with her fellow senior class members, are proof that the Spiral does indeed work.
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A day in the life of the Pardue Science Lab is a busy and usually messy day. Sleeves get rolled up and little hands get sticky or dirty or wet, or all of the above. Day to day and hour to hour, the activities and experiments shift depending on which grade level and which class is rotating through the lab. First graders might be studying birds, while fourth graders doing a space unit are on tap for an astronomy lab. Hands-on, active, experiential learning is the name of the game, and if Pardue Hall Science Lab teacher, Beth McCarty, didn’t keep things organized and rolling, life in the lab could easily spiral out of control. Instead, it spins and spirals and winds around in an elegant, if occasionally messy, coherence.
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In science lab terms, that spinning and spiraling might be like a double helix, if you will—a bit of Ashley Hall’s DNA that offers hands-on insight into what an integrated curriculum, or in the School’s vernacular—a learning spiral—really looks and acts like. This DNA is firmly embedded in faculty mindsets; it twirls around students’ expectations and weaves through a multi-dimensional learning approach—across academic subjects and between grade levels. It is hard-baked into Pardue Hall’s “responsive classroom” dynamic. “When I was getting my masters in education, integrated curriculum was the ‘new’ thing,” says McCarty, who joined the Ashley Hall faculty four years ago. According to McCarty, there was a lot of theoretical talk about cross-curricular learning, but “there weren’t many schools that were actually applying it successfully, or giving it more than lip service,” she notes. “When I interviewed (at Ashley Hall), I was thrilled to hear of the school’s level of commitment to this learning spiral. Based on my experiences at other schools, I’ve learned that you have to have all faculty members on board to make it work, and that’s the key to our success. The creative leeway that our teachers have to collaborate across
disciplines really distinguishes us,” McCarty says. To wit: when McCarty is doing a lab with kindergartners about insects, they incorporate music (and, one might argue, creative writing) by adapting the familiar “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” tune to a rousing version of “Head, Thorax, Abdomen,” complete with the hand-and-body motions that go along with it. And when the second grade girls do an insect lab unit, McCarty coordinates with the special area teachers, who hop on the bug bandwagon. In foreign language class, the girls will learn how to say various insect names and lifecycle vocabulary in French. In music, the students dress up as insects and perform an insect musical. During technology time, they learn to create a power point on insects, and in art class, they paint watercolor insect masterpieces to decorate the lab’s ecosystem walls. Even swimming lessons reinforce the unit, as students learn—you guessed it—butterfly stroke. Similarly, McCarty’s fourth grader space unit entails a veritable orbit through complementary disciplines. If they are studying solar or lunar eclipses, they also learn le soleil, la lune and l’éclipse, the corresponding French words. When the students have a lab about constellations, they use their imagination to create their own new one, then in math class, they take the coordinates of the stars in their imaginary constellation and plot them as points on a graph. In language arts, the girls write a story offering the narrative corresponding with their constellation, and in the technology lab, they use the constellation’s plotted points to write SCRATCH code. “By sitting down with my fellow faculty members to come up with creative ways to integrate science across the curriculum, we bring it to life,” says McCarty. “It’s fun for me as a teacher—we’re doing music, art, math and engineering in the lab all the time. But most importantly, science becomes more than something my students get in 45 minute bites a few times a week. It becomes integrated, either subtly or overtly, into their every day learning experiences across all subjects.” Just as our DNA interlaces the generations, Ashley Hall’s Learning Spiral also spirals through different grade levels. “Science becomes integrated not just throughout
BETH MCCARTY’S REFLECTION ON THE NAUTILUS:
The sections begin small in the center and then get increasingly larger as the spiral spreads out, similar to the way our kindergarten students begin with basic science concepts that continue to spiral throughout the curriculum as they get older, reaching deeper and more meaningful levels. You can also look at the center line in the nautilus as being the topic that a student is studying— like science—and each one of the sections off the center line as a different discipline (French, art, math, literacy) that is echoing that same science concept throughout the student’s day. The learning is now tied together in one single learning spiral which helps students make connections with the new information and creates a deeper understanding.
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Left: Big Sisters and Little Sisters collaborate on the Global Cardboard Challenge. Right: Artwork inspired by The Bee Cause Project.
the day, but between the Upper and Lower Schools,” explains McCarty. When her second graders are observing beehives, McCarty invites the Upper School AP Biology students to come in so the Lower School students can teach them about life in the hive and the importance of pollinators. “They love learning from the younger girls, and vice versa,” she says. When the school participated in the national Global Cardboard Challenge last fall, Big Sisters paired with their Little Sisters to create arcade games out of recycled boxes, incorporating science, engineering, technology, and art, “and doing it inter-generationally,” McCarty adds. “It was great to watch the younger girls give instructions to the older girls.” Ashley Hall’s integrated curricular approach is gaining momentum and spiraling too, McCarty notes. “Every year the cross-disciplinary reach expands and
gets stronger, because teachers now know what to expect. They know that third graders will be studying simple machines in the fall, for example, so they’re already thinking of new, creative ways to incorporate that with what they are teaching. It’s become a habit; we as a faculty are constantly challenging and asking ourselves and each other, ‘how can we connect this,’” McCarty says. And it’s not only the faculty with that mindset. The thing about a spiral, or about DNA, is that it is always evolving; it moves backward and forward, is both formative and responsive. “The students have come to expect this process, and believe me, they will call you on it.” says McCarty. “If the connection isn’t there, they miss an opportunity to learn and we’ve missed our mark. I’m proud to say that rarely happens.”
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FIGHTING CLIMATE CHANGE TO HELP THE LOWCOUNTRY Leah Fisher ’05
Global warming—two words that, when used together, can stir strong emotional reactions and passionate discussion for many. However, these heated conversations seem to have now shifted away from whether the climate is indeed changing, to finding solutions to deal with and adapt to this ever-changing tumultuous landscape. The threat of situations such as rising sea levels is very real to many Ashley Hall families and who better than a girl raised on a barrier island to help the general public understand these environmental implications. Enter Ashley Hall alumna Leah Fisher ’05, a climate change policy specialist with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who now serves as the National Ocean Service’s Climate Change Policy Coordinator.
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Based in Washington, DC, Leah promotes the work and priorities of NOAA in coastal regions around the country and helps the National Ocean Service promote coastal resilience to the community at large. NOAA’s mission is to understand and predict changes in the environment, from the depths of the ocean to the surface of the sun, and to conserve and manage our coastal and marine resources—resources that are near and dear to all coastal dwellers and that seem to easily “seep into the veins” of those raised in the Lowcountry.
SCIENTIST TURNED POLICY MAKER
Shaping national public policy, while living in the fast-paced political world of Washington, DC, was quite possibly the farthest thing from Leah’s mind upon graduating from Ashley Hall ten years ago. A “12-year girl”, Leah went on to Duke University where she received a Bachelor of Science Degree in Biology. The call of the coast began to echo in her ear, and she returned to Charleston to pursue a Masters of Marine Biology at College of Charleston focusing on sea turtle research. “Performing research on and handling loggerhead hatchlings all day long seems like a dream job but, I assure you, it wasn’t,” laughs Leah. “I watched over 1,500 hours of video of the baby turtles swimming. My eyes have really never been the same since. When I began graduate school, my plan was to continue my education and work towards a PhD in sea turtle biology and conservation. However, during that time, I became more interested in the implications of research and actually using science to help change how we manage the environment. Climate change began to pique my interest during graduate school as well as ocean acidification—so, I decided to apply for NOAA’s Sea Grant Knauss Fellowship in Washington, DC and my career shifted tracks.” Leah was one of two South Carolina graduate students who were selected in 2013 for the prestigious John A. Knauss Marine Policy Fellowship. Nominated by the South Carolina Sea Grant Consortium, these impressive students were among the 49 chosen through a highly competitive selection process from a nationwide pool of more than 100 candidates. The Knauss Fellowship provides a unique educational
experience to these exceptional graduate students who have a very strong interest in ocean, coastal and Great Lakes resources and in the national policy decisions affecting those areas. Named after one of the Sea Grant’s founders, former NOAA Administrator, John A. Knauss, the fellowship matches these students with mentors in the legislative and executive branches of government in Washington, DC for a one year paid fellowship. “Academically, I’m trained as a marine scientist,” says Leah, “which allows me to bring a different perspective to my work in policy. Marrying science and national public policy is a unique task and one that is critical to developing innovative approaches to advancing climate change mitigation and adaptation.”
HITTING CLOSE TO HOME
When asked what hot-button topics she is following for NOAA, she immediately references an issue currently brewing in Charleston. The issue is “nuisance flooding”— flooding that happens during sunny days that is intense enough to close roads, overwhelm storm drains and compromises a community’s infrastructure. According to a recent NOAA technical report, nuisance flooding in Charleston has increased fourfold since the 1960s and will only increase as sea levels continue to rise. NOAA predicts that by 2020, Charleston itself may have up to 30 days of “sunny day” flooding per year. With this environmental intelligence in hand, NOAA can begin to help coastal communities like our beloved Charleston assess flooding risks and develop ways to mitigate and adapt to the effect of sea level rise, in turn improving coastal resiliency. Leah works with the scientists who are monitoring sea level rise as well as this type of flooding, to help bridge the gap between science and policy and to educate members of Congress and other important NOAA constituents. “The end goal for all of us at the Ocean Service is broader education and engagement building community involvement and cooperation along our coasts,” explains Leah.
FINDING HER NICHE
At an early age, Leah was quickly drawn to the complex and beautiful world of science and biology. “It’s weird, but I knew I wanted to become a marine biologist when I was 7 years old. That desire never really waivered for me.” She thanks Ashley Hall for encouraging and helping stoke her interest in science and the natural world. In fact, research shows girls’ school students are three times more likely to pursue careers in the fields of science and engineering than their co-ed peers. Ashley Hall’s growing STEAM (science, technology, engineering, arts, and math) program in Lane Hall engages the minds of young female scientists as they perform complex experiments and carefully observe the natural world around them. Leah is truly an exemplary model of the woman Ashley Hall strives to produce—a woman who is independent, ethically responsible and prepared to meet the challenges of society and the changing world around her with great confidence. And lucky for us, the siren of the Lowcountry still speaks to her!
LEAH’S REFLECTION ON THE NAUTILUS: “As someone who grew up combing the beach, shells have always held a wonderful fascination for me. The chambered nautilus is a rare beauty, a majestic shell that’s exquisite in color and features such detailed intricacies inside. I can easily see how it would inspire Ashley Hall and its Learning Spiral.”
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@ashleyhall_pqv
AT A S H L E Y H A L L KEEP UP-TO-DATE ON ALL THINGS ASHLEY HALL BY FOLLOWING ALONG ON SOCIAL MEDIA
WOMEN IN POLITICS: Great job Mary Tinkler
’98! This Ashley Hall graduate will soon be heading to the South Carolina House of Representatives as a new member! (November, 2014)
FA C E B O O K
Facebook.com/ashleyhall.pqv Facebook.com/AshleyHallAlumnae
AHA MOMENT:
I N S TA G R A M
instagram.com/ashleyhall_pqv ACCEPTANCE DAY: ashleyhall_pqv #PQV to
Caitlin on her acceptance to AH! #AHsaidyes #firstgradepanther #instagramtakeover
PANTHER PRIDE: PQV! to the Junior Varsity Tennis
Team for finishing their season 8-1! Way to go girls! #pantherpride #purpleandwhite
What makes Ashley Hall special to you? We would love to hear your special Ashley Hall stories— your “AHA moment”. Feel free to share on our social media outlets including Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram using the hash tag #ahamoment. Or email adkinsm@ashleyhall.org with a story or two! We can’t wait to hear from you!
WORLDLY WOMEN: Jenkins Hall 7th graders have recently been
studying Hinduism in their English and World Geography and Religion classes. They capped off their study with a nod to the Indian Holi Festival, also known as the “Festival of Colors”, which celebrates good overcoming evil and the coming of spring. The day is marked with an abundance of color and energy as people smear colored powder all over their bodies. Needless to say our girls easily got into the spirit. Let’s hope everything washed off! #worldlywomen FROM THE ARCHIVE: It’s Throwback Thursday! Ashley Hall’s
annual Christmas Play will celebrate its 90th anniversary this year. We have a question for alums—what years was the Christmas Play performed in Galliard Auditorium? And was it indeed televised locally? #throwbackthursday #tbt #ahalumnae (December, 2014)
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Giving of Herself: Student Loyalty Fund Committee
The life of a Jenkins Hall student is nothing short of exhilarating. There are early morning rehearsals and study groups, college counseling meetings, sports practice and games, and community service projects on top of a full academic course load. It’s a wonder that the girls have time to sleep! However, a small group of students carve time out of their busy schedules each year to give back to the school that nurtures a strong community of philanthropy. The Student Loyalty Fund Committee, founded by Madeline Leadem ’14 and now in its second year, is comprised of 14 dedicated girls from grades 9-12 who support the school’s annual fund through on-campus awareness activities and participation in the Phonathons. They serve as Loyalty Fund ambassadors and offer a fresh face for the campaign. After all, it is all about the girls. We recently caught up with senior and Student Loyalty Fund Committee member, Bailey Horn, and spoke with her about the Ashley Hall advantage, her participation in the Loyalty Fund, and the challenges of fundraising.
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Tell us about your experience at Ashley Hall. I’ve attended Ashley Hall since I was two years old and I’ve never once thought about leaving. I feel surrounded by devoted teachers and fellow students that inspire and push me to excel. My self confidence has grown through experiences like our Harkness discussion groups. There’s never been peer pressure or judgment. I can just be myself.
An additional component to the project is working with Meeting Street Academy students in classes around water safety and nurturing their leadership skills through sailing activities. We’re teaching the kids to swim and playing games like capture the flag. It’s exhausting but so rewarding. I’ve learned so much from them—they’ve made me a better person.
Did you know anything about the function of the Loyalty Fund before joining the Student Committee? I knew the annual fund existed but didn’t really know what it was about and had no idea that students were involved. When I was asked to join the Student Loyalty Fund Committee last year, I just couldn’t say no. In fact, I think we’re the only independent school in Charleston to involve their students in fundraising efforts like this. I thought it was important to be a part of it and give back. What’s the hardest thing about asking people for money? The greatest challenge for me is the fear of being denied. There are those people who are unresponsive… you just have to forget about them and move on. This lesson applies to so much in life. The image in my mind when making Phonathon calls was asking someone to the dance. It’s intimidating but when the right one says yes, it’s all worth it. I try to be personable and connect with the person I am talking with no matter the answer. We only call alumnae—not parents—so we have a shared experience with them that we can fall back on. BAILEY’S REFLECTION ON THE NAUTILUS:
“I started attending Ashley Hall at a very young age so it’s easy for me to see how my experience might be like the nautilus, with everything building on itself and connecting. Dr. Bozanic has a theory he calls ARC which has always stuck with me: A stands for paying attention; R stands for retaining the information; C is connecting it to the world around you. The nautilus is a terrific example of this natural arc.”
How is your Senior Project going? My Senior Project explores leadership, resiliency and courage through the lens of a sailor and what virtues define a successful captain. I’m working on a short history of the Spirit of South Carolina, which I’m hoping will be published. It will focus on the development of the Spirit’s education programs, with emphasis on the partnership with Ashley Hall. Interviews are being conducted with current and former Roseway participants exploring what sailing has taught them about leadership.
What does it mean to be an Ashley Hall girl? I would immediately turn to PQV—girls with the will have the ability. That’s Ashley Hall. We’re all hard working students striving to be the best we can be. Thanks to the help of people like Bailey Horn and other generous donors, Ashley Hall is inching closer to our ambitious 2014–2015 Loyalty Fund goal of $1 million. To make a gift, please visit www.ashleyhall.org/online-giving.php or use the enclosed envelope. For more information on how you can help, please contact Sarah Evans, Director of the Loyalty Fund and Donor Relations, at evanss@ashleyhall.org or (843) 965-8547.
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Grand Ole Opry and actually attended the Country Music Awards! It was a great trip. Please send updates, announcements and news notes to leinheiserk@ashleyhall.org or online at www.ashleyhall.org/alumnae.php.
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Lynn Stoddard Roes and fellow classmate, Hannah Withers Craighill, visit one another at least twice a year.
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Libby Van Benschoten Buckley is no longer an avocado grower as she sold Buckley Avocado Ranch. Libby now volunteers for a number of causes which keeps her very busy and fulfilled.
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Brailsford Lacey Foster has a new business, Memories by Design in Edisto, South Carolina, which provides event planning for individuals or groups visiting the island.
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Kitty Bryan Forbes recently published her poetry collection, Wrong Bus. The poetry chapbook is available though Finishing Line Press.
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Diane Cooper Byers is the proud grandmother of 10 grandchildren and greatgrandmother of two! She finally got to Paris two years ago—France was worth the wait.
Duchess Fitch Crowley retired on August 30, 2014 after 27 years of service with the federal government, most recently as the Army’s Program Manager for Workers’ Compensation. She and her husband celebrated this milestone with a trip to Italy, Greece and Turkey. She is now a full-time grandmother. Sally McCrady Hubbard spent the month of April, 2014 in Uganda in a school for HIV orphans and other vulnerable children. She has recently published her journal containing the details of that month.
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Bettina H. Rounds started an organizational consulting practice, AR Global Consulting, with a former colleague.
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Stanley Smith Reahard and her husband, Bo, celebrated their 40th wedding anniversary with a cruise on the Queen Mary II. Stanley and Bo also both celebrated their 50th high school reunions— the Ashley Hall reunion in April, 2014 with over 30 fellow classmates in attendance was spectacular. Stanley also welcomed the latest addition to their family, a granddaughter, Hadley.
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Bambi Dobbins Martin retired from Department of Social Services in 2001 but continues to work part-time at a children’s consignment shop and loves it! She headed to Cuba in November with some friends on an “educated” tour which was interesting and fun. Bambi stays very busy with her five grandchildren in Summerville, South Carolina.
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Karen Warder Annas recently celebrated the birth of her first grandchild, “Bo” Glenn Elwood Ketner IV, on August 6, 2014. Missy Roper Cashman welcomed a new grandson, George Cashman, born on June 18 in Spartanburg, South Carolina to Jeff, Molly and big sister, Emmylou. Linda Leonard Collins and her husband are now retired and have recently moved to the West Ashley area. They are enjoying a house on the Stono River with a deep water dock, which had always been a dream of theirs. Sissy Hope Hewitt and her bridge club, which includes three fellow alumnae, recently took a road trip to Memphis to see Graceland. They then traveled to Nashville to see the
Jennet Robinson Alterman started her own consulting business in 2013 after many years of rewarding work in the public and non-profit sectors. She works with non-profits that want to be more entrepreneurial in their management and operations. Her work also includes advising organizations that see the value of adding women’s leadership development to their programming. Jennet is the South Carolina delegate to Vision 2020, a national effort to bring about equity for women by 2020 and currently serves as the Vice Chair of the Charleston County Housing Authority and the Spaulding Paolozzi Foundation. Her other board service includes the Girl Scouts of Eastern South Carolina, Midtown Theater, the Charleston Metro Chamber of Commerce, and the New Morning Foundation. Julie Sanders Cliff has enjoyed her recent travels to Mexico, Ecuador, South Africa and Zimbabwe with her fellow classmates Cherry Payne, Adele Deas Tobin and Priscilla Wilcox Holtzclaw. Louisa Pritchard Hawkins recently celebrated the marriage of her son, David, on December 6. Dr. Priscilla Wilcox Holtzclaw was recently featured in Roper Hospital’s magazine, House Calls. The article focused on Dr. Holtzclaw’s decision
DR. PRISCILLA WILCOX HOLTZCLAW ’70
to pursue a medical career later in life. Lynne Mappus and her husband, Ephraim, were married on October 15, 2011, after dating for 10 years! Along with her wonderful husband, she inherited three great daughters. Geordie, a CPA with Price Waterhouse in Seattle, is having their first grandchild, a boy, in May. Jessie, the middle daughter, is in her second year of medical school in Columbia, and Kistler, the youngest, is in her second year of veterinary science at Tuskegee University in Alabama. Most of Lynne’s retirement is occupied with cleaning out the stuff she haphazardly put in closets and drawers over the past years and volunteering her time to write grants for Camp Discovery, a non-profit. Her ultimate intent is to pursue art which Mrs. Smith fostered in her 7th grade art classes at Ashley Hall. She is definitely not going to pursue flower arranging (for those of you who remember those competitions held in Middle School!) Frederica Mathewes-Green recently had her 10th book published in February, Welcome to the Orthodox
Church: An Introduction to Eastern Christianity. She is also the proud grandmother of 13 grandchildren! Marie Ferrara McGahan and her husband, Pat, are currently biking across the southern United States. They began their trek on March 4 in San Diego and hope to finish on the beaches of Jacksonville at the end of May. The arrival date depends on how fast they pedal and how many recovery days they will require along the road! Caroline H. Ragsdale recently won the Spartanburg Chamber of Commerce’s Small Business of the Year award.
CAROLINE H. RAGSDALE ’70
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Caroline James Williamson and her husband, Keith, recently celebrated their 37th wedding anniversary and love going to the North Carolina mountains in the summer. Her son, James, is working and living in Austin, Texas while Charles graduated from Warren Wilson College in June, 2014. Caroline continues to study watercolor and yoga and is enjoying the company of her youngest sister who has recently moved to Darlington.
Western Washington University in Bellingham, Washington. Thank heavens for direct flights and a wealth of wonderful meet-up places for their monthly get-togethers! Absence does make the heart grow fonder but she will be happiest when they are back to one shared home later in 2015.
Barbara Baker Pendergrast is currently serving as a chaplain at Atlanta Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
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LESE J. CORRIGAN’S ARTWORK ’77
Mary Gordon Baker was recently nominated to serve as a United States Magistrate Judge.
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Ginny Maguire Poole has been selling pharmaceuticals for over 30 years—currently with Boehringer Ingelheim—following 20 years and retirement from Abbott Labs. Her daughter, Jennifer, is an Internal Medicine Hospitalist at Vanderbilt and her son, Sam, is a CPA working in IT/accounting. Both children reside in Nashville and Sam is engaged and planning a fall 2015 wedding. Ginny is so proud!
Lese J. Corrigan was recently named the Coastal Community Foundation’s GriffithReyburn Artist of the Year. The Griffith-Reyburn Visual Artist Fund provides an annual Lowcountry Artist’s Award to support the creation of a visual art piece that represents an aspect of the unique life, culture or environment of the Lowcountry.
Sharon Pearce Wilson opened a residential real estate company, Wilson Associates, in July, 2014 and was recently featured in Upstate Business Journal this past July.
Cyndi Campsen Mosteller is proud of her daughter, Brooke, who was crowned “Miss South Carolina 2013” and Miss America’s “Miss Congeniality 2014.”
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Debbie J. Lee and her husband, Richard, have entered the ranks of the new bi-coastal married workers—he in New Jersey and she in
son, Bowers, age 4, and dogs are blessed to be with her. All is wonderful! Jacki Dixon Phillips and Thomas Ryan Phillips were married on October 12, 2014.
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Elizabeth M. Cole received her Master of Social Work degree from Simmons College in 2014. As a licensed social worker, she currently provides counseling to immigrant and refugee families in Boston.
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Robin Winfree-Andrew is happy to report that her life is full of joy with eight grandchildren and extended family all around!
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Is Always There, under contract and due out in January, 2015. She began her research while teaching science at Ashley Hall from 1992–1998, where she received amazing support from both parents and administrators for taking an arts-based approach to science education. Such field testing proved invaluable to her during her doctoral research.
Merrie Koester recently completed her doctorate in teaching and learning from the University of South Carolina and has a book, Science Teachers Who Draw: The Red
Helen Turner Hill is currently serving as secretary for the Charleston County Aviation Authority.
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Beth Watson Walker and her husband, Dan, are so proud of their son, Wyly, now 16, who is a homeschooled junior and an avid debater. Their business, Oexning Silversmiths, continues to grow and they are excited about the recent launch of their website, gryphonestatesilver.com, and were recently featured in Southern Living Magazine. Beth enjoys a successful booth at Terrace Oaks Antiques on James Island and looks forward to seeing everyone at the 30th reunion in April!
MARY GORDON BAKER ’77
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Cacky Rivers has been running her own business, Cacky’s Bride+Aid since June, 2009.
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Sarah Chanler Ryan is happily living in Charlotte, North Carolina with her husband, Kevin, and their three busy, growing children, Laughlin (13), Henry (12) and Maggie (9).
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Susanne Buck Cantey, Vice President of Jupiter Holdings and an agent with Disher, Hamrick & Myers, has been appointed to the Ashley Hall Board of Trustees.
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Eliza Hutto Cantwell and her husband, Josh, are both attorneys in Charleston, South Carolina and are currently living with their beloved “Mamee”, Rosemary Hutto. Their
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Julia Anderson Mowlajko and her husband, Andy, reside in Greenville, South Carolina. Julia is working at Greenville Hospital System as a Registered Nurse in the operating room.
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Sally H. Sheppard enjoyed a semester in Nantes, France with fellow Ashley Hall alumna, Donya Amer. The two traveled to France to complete their French majors at Wofford College. She is looking forward to graduating in May, 2015.
BIRTH ANNOUNCEMENTS:
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Lilla Lane Clark and her husband, Patrick, welcomed a baby boy, Julian Comer Clark, on December 18, 2014. Courtney Leigh Kennedy Taylor gave birth to a beautiful baby girl, Zoey Marie, on September 7, 2014. Cowles Gilchrist Whitley and her husband, Josh, welcomed twins, Evans Gilchrist and William Paul, on January 11, 2015.
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Jessie L. Brenner is a Private Equity Fund Manager at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in New York. Ellen F. Cole received her South Carolina Certified Public Accountant license and is a Senior Accountant at Baldwin and Associates.
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Jennie L. Engel is currently attending the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston and will graduate in July 2015 with a Master’s in Occupational Therapy.
IN MEMORIUM:
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Betty Middleton Parker passed away on October 12, 2014.
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Mary Maguire Storen passed away on July 3, 2013.
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Charlotte Small Bavier passed away on November 23, 2014.
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Nomina Cox Horton passed away on October 24, 2014.
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MAKING A DIFFERENCE Speak for just a minute with members of the Daughtridge family and you can’t help but become inspired hearing them discuss the things they feel passionately about. Lucky for Ashley Hall the school is one of them!
Belk Daughtridge, his wife Ann Bacot Igoe Daughtridge ‘80 and sister Harriett Daughtridge ‘70 recently sat down to talk about why Ashley Hall is a philanthropic priority for them, and why they hope their gifts perpetuate the school’s tradition of excellence and mission focused education. “I found my love of languages, history and travel there,” says Harriett as she begins to explain why she recently made a major commitment to Ashley Hall’s Global Studies Initiative. “I saw Europe with Mrs. Martha Morgan, and studied Latin and French with the greatest teachers in America. Ashley Hall has always created strong, independent women who can handle challenges. As the world gets smaller and smaller those challenges are changing, but it will always be critical that we are able to see the world through others’ eyes. The beautiful new building and the thoughtful global studies curricula continue to do this for Ashley Hall’s girls today and are worthy of our support.”
“My class was incredibly diverse,” says Ann Bacot, following up on Harriett’s thought. “We did learn to see the world through others’ eyes, and we also learned to compete with grace, and to support one another, as we only could in an all girls’ environment. The relationships we created with faculty and friends continue today. Several of us from the Class of 1980 still get together regularly. These long, deep friendships have enriched my life so much and are one of the hallmarks of Ashley Hall in my book. We learned we could be independent and strong in a male dominated world. But just as important, they taught us how to speak and write correctly, a skill that will always be critical.” “Yeah,” teases Belk, “they are always correcting my grammar!” With his wife’s encouragement, Belk recently made Ashley Hall the beneficiary of a charitable remainder trust, a gift that will support the school’s long-term goals and stability. “The price of excellence is not going down,” Belk says. “It is critical that we seed and fuel these rare centers of academic excellence that are making a difference for our community and world. We feel it is now our mission, our job, to perpetuate these institutions, and that is something that is reflected in many of Ashley Hall’s families like the Lanes, Rivers and Zimmermans. This is unique to the south I think, and even more so to Ashley Hall because of the single gender environment. We must ensure that this institution remains as vibrant as possible to continue to produce strong, independent, confident women like our sisters, our wives and our mothers.” Dedication to Ashley Hall has long been part of the Daughtridge family legacy, begun when their father, John C. Daughtridge, served on the Ashley Hall Board of Trustees in the 1960s and 1970s. In fact, Harriett received her Ashley Hall diploma from her father on her graduation day, a day when an open microphone captured her “I love you” and transmitted it out over the lawn, through Shell House, and up to McBee. And it feels as though that “I love you” is still ringing through the school today and perhaps is what inspires the Daughtridge family and so many others to nurture and sustain this magnificent place. For information on how you can make a difference for Ashley Hall, contact Catherine Newman at newmanc@ashleyhall.org or (843) 720-2886.
The beautiful nautilus illustrations that grace this issue of Perspectives are by Ashley Hall’s own Jane Pelland. A talented natural science illustrator, Jane’s medium is transparent watercolor and in her botanical, insect, and marine subjects, she strives to achieve finite detail to reveal the intricate—often overlooked—splendor of the natural world. She is a member of The Guild of Natural Science Illustrators, The American Society of Botanical Artists and The Society of Illustrators (New York) and has created a series of images for the Historic Charleston Foundation. During the week, Jane can be found at Ashley Hall where she serves as Writing Coordinator, providing personalized writing support in various capacities to students in Lower, Intermediate, and Upper School divisions. Lithographs and note cards featuring Jane’s chambered nautilus artwork are available for purchase. To learn more, call Ashley Hall at (843) 722-4088. JANE’S REFLECTION ON THE NAUTILUS:
JA NE PELL A ND Pardue Hall Faculty Member & Cover Illustrator
“The lure of the chambered nautilus has been a powerful one, lasting many decades. As a child I was captivated by the striking beauty of all shells but the nautilus had an absolutely mesmerizing effect. The cutaway exposes a great secret, a graceful spiral strengthened by chamber after chamber, each measurably larger than the previous. As the shell grows, it seals the old space and crafts another, the empty niches providing ballast and help with navigation. How like the nautilus we are, growing through our chambers, bringing with us the skills and thoughts worth keeping, and forging our futures. Our empty classrooms, to which we cannot return, will forever hold the past that has shaped us and the memories that sustain us.”