ON LISTENING INTENTLY

Dear Collegiate School,

This fall, I heard that an Upper Schooler disagreed with a particular decision I had recently made. To his credit, he was willing to meet with me and share his specific concerns. He did so clearly and respectfully, and we have now had several conversations — wide-ranging conversations — about school issues, the current political climate and many other topics. As I learn and grow from these conversations, I am reminded that I must find ways to spend more time with our students. They live the Collegiate experience every day and have very thoughtful and helpful perspectives on how we might make their time with us even more meaningful and enriching.

These conversations also remind me of always striving to listen as intently as possible. There are few things more important or more difficult than listening fully and with purpose. I listen better some days than others, and I believe that real listening requires a great deal of discipline. When Abraham Lincoln addressed Congress on Dec. 1, 1862, about the Emancipation Proclamation to take effect on Jan. 1, 1862, he said this:

“As our case is new, so we must think anew and act anew. We must disenthrall ourselves, and then we shall save our country. In giving freedom to the slave we assure freedom to the free — honorable alike in what we give and what we preserve.”

I love the word “disenthrall,” though it is not used much today. It means to “liberate” or “to free from bondage.” In Lincoln’s 1862 message to Congress, he is telling his fellow citizens that they must disenthrall themselves from the then limiting and narrow conceptions of community and inclusion in order to save the nation and live into its transcendent founding principles. On a more personal level, to listen fully to one another — to put ourselves truly in the shoes of another — we must disenthrall ourselves, step outside ourselves, to grasp as fully as possible the true perspective of the person to whom we are listening.

Perhaps that ability to “disenthrall ourselves” is more important than ever! The student who maturely engaged me about his disappointment with one of my decisions helped me see how disenthralling one’s self as we listen is critical to establishing better understanding and more effective communication.

Sincerely,

Billy Peebles Interim Head of School

Collegiate School Administration

William S. Peebles IV, Interim Head of School

Courtney Martin, Associate Head of School

Sarah Abubaker, Director of Strategic Communications

Sara Boisvert, Director of Powell Institute for Responsible Citizenship

Mike Boyd, Director of the Arts

Erica Coffey, Director of Inclusion and Global Engagement

Louis Fierro II, Director of Information Technology

Patrick E. Loach, Head of Upper School

Deborah I. Miller, Head of Lower School

Phyllis Palmiero, Chief Financial and Chief Operating Officer

Scott Smith, Director of Admission and Enrollment Management

Andrew Stanley, Athletic Director

Tung Trinh, Head of Middle School

Kristen O. Williams, Chief Development Officer

BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2022-23

Carter M. Reid P ’16 ’18, Chair of the Board

W. Hildebrandt Surgner Jr. P ’11 ’14 ’17 ’19, Vice Chair of the Board

John W. Martin ’78 P ’10 ’11, Immediate Past Chair of the Board

William S. Peebles IV, Interim Head of School

Neelan A. Markel ’96 P ’27 ’30, Secretary

Karen Berson P ’23 ’25 ’29**

Ellen T. Bonbright ’86 P ’24 ’26

Callie Lacy Brackett ’95 P ’22 ’24

Mason T. Chapman ’84 P ’22

Mayme Donohue ’03

Eucharia N. Jackson P ’17 ’19

Peter E. Mahoney, Sr. P ’15 ’19 ’26 ’26

Malcolm S. McDonald P ’87 ’88

Morenike K. Miles P ’24 ’25

Meera Pahuja ’97 P ’30 ’32 ’34

* Trustee Emeriti

** Parents’ Association President

*** Alumni Association President

J. Cheairs Porter Jr. P ’27 ’29 ’32

John H. Rivers Jr. P ’25 ’28

Kenneth P. Ruscio P ’08

Danielle D. Scott P ’25 ’25

Julious P. Smith III ’86 P ’20 ’22 ’25

L. Mark Stepanian ’89 P ’16 ’18 ’21 ’23

Wallace Stettinius P ’77 ’79 ’84*

Jasmine Turner Perry ’11***

R. Gregory Williams ’69 P ’01 ’04*

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION BOARD 2022-23

Jasmine Turner Perry ’11, President

Peyton Jenkins ’00, VP/President Elect

Sarah Paxton ’84 P ’19, Past President

Ginny Hofheimer ’96 P ’27 ’29, Recording Secretary

Beth Watlington Marchant ’72 P ’98 ’03 GP ’35, Corresponding Secretary

Stuart Farrell ’03 and Elizabeth Dolan Wright ’01, Annual Fund Co-Chairs

Patricia Hobson Hunter ’80 P ’10 ’15 and Sagle Jones Purcell ’94 P ’26 ’28 ’30, Stewardship Chairs

Graham Mandl ’08, Amrik Sahni ’06 and Lauren Siff ’02 P ’32 ’34, Events Committee Chairs

Lauren Cricchi ’06 and Luke Walker ’12, Alumni/Student Connection Committee

First Term

Muffy Greenbaum ’04 P ’30 ’32

Devon Kelley ’05

Toby Long ’98 P ’33 ’35

Lee Moreau ’95

Rishi Pahjua ’04

Chris Pearson ’02

Tyler Negus Snidow ’80

Chas Thalhimer ’97

Bo Vaughan ’97 P ’31 ’32

Second Term

Ben Adamson ’98 P ’33 ’35

Brink Brinkley ’76 P ’11 ’13 ’17

Wortie Ferrell ’88 P ’24 ’27 ’31

Dominique Meeks Gombe ’09

Virginia Harris ’16

Helen Roddey ’16

Elizabeth Arnold Weiss ’86

Harry Wilson ’01

103 North Mooreland Road/Richmond, VA 23229

804.740.7077 / Fax: 804.741.9797

Collegiate School admits qualified students and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, gender, sexual orientation, mental or physical disability, or any other status protected by applicable law in the administration of its admissions, scholarships and loans, and its educational, athletic and other programs.

Sarah Abubaker

Director of Strategic Communications

Jack McCarthy

Writer/Editor

Anne Gray Siebert ’97

Director of Alumni Engagement

James Dickinson

Creative Manager

Weldon Bradshaw

Brandon Fox ’82

Louise Ingold

Ellie Lynch

Contributors

Maggie Bowman ’23

Keller Craig

Taylor Dabney

Ash Daniel

Jimmy Dickinson

Jay Paul

Bill Ruhl

Photography

Think (think804.com)

Design

Thanks to all parents, students, alums and friends who generously share their information, photographs and archives. Please note that Spark magazine is posted on the School’s website and may be available on other online platforms accessible through Internet search engines.

Spark is published by Collegiate School. We welcome letters from readers, though we may not have room to publish them all. Submissions may be edited for publication. Photographs deemed unsuitable in quality by Spark’s designers may not be included. We make every effort to return photographs shared with us – please send high-resolution (300dpi) digital images whenever possible (to: spark@collegiate-va.org).

Class Notes and Photographs

Please send your news and photographs, and we will use them in an upcoming issue. Digital images must be high resolution (min. 300dpi).

Address Spark Editor Collegiate School / Communications Office

103 North Mooreland Road, Richmond, VA 23229

Email spark@collegiate-va.org

Visit our website at www.collegiate-va.org

Phone

Spark: 804.754.0869 / Alumni Office: 804.741.9757

On Campus

Arts

Athletics

Features

As Collegiate students look toward the future, they reflect on the programs that have prepared them for what’s next.

A compass for the future, the 2022 Strategic Plan will envision a strategic direction for Collegiate.

Alumni News

Scott Crater ’87 Isn’t Giving Up On Sanibel . .

Mary Margaret Chappell ’86 Shares Her Meals .

Class Notes

A Teacher’s Take

We hear from Middle School French Teacher Monica Melton