2000 Edgehill, the alumni magazine of PDS and USN

The Alumni Magazine of Peabody Demonstration School & University School of Nashville Centennial Edition II

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2000 Edgehill is published by the Alumni and Development Office for the Peabody Demonstration School and University School of Nashville community.

Vincent W. Durnan, Jr. Director Anne Westfall Development Director Connie Culpepper Communications Director, Editor

Our Mission University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of greater Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.

Photo by Kimberly Manz

On the cover: the 100th birthday party was so big it required confetti cannons (with biodegradable confetti, of course).

The editor thanks the volunteers who worked on the Centennial events, photos of which fill the magazine; the volunteer writers who contributed to 2000 Edgehill; the Alexander family for helping us learn more about the inspiring man who started our school a century ago, for welcoming us to North Carolina, and for joining our big birthday celebration; the archives of Teachers College, Columbia University; USN archivist Jenny Winston; Juliet Douglas, Lorie Strong, and Anne Westfall for proofreading and editorial suggestions.

We would love to hear from you about anything you read in 2000 Edgehill, or, for that matter, whatever you have to say about your student days here.

Email cculpepper@usn.org or write Connie Culpepper University School of Nashville 2000 Edgehill Avenue Nashville, Tennessee 37212

University School of Nashville admits qualified students of any race, color, sexual orientation, religion, disability, national or ethnic origin to all the rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, sexual orientation, religion, disability, national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, financial aid policies, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

2000 EDGEHILL

The Alumni Magazine of Peabody Demonstration School & University School of Nashville Centennial Edition II

2 0 0 0 Letters to the Editor 4 Mystery Solved 6 Story Forum: What We Learned What a Visionary Did Next 8 Fourth Graders Discuss the Centennial

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Fifth Grade Mines the Archives 16 Telling Alumni Stories 18 In the Archives 20

Photo by Kimberly Manz

Photo courtesy of Ellen Duke Haber ’00

Photo by Kimberly Manz

Ways to Celebrate a Century 22 Reunion 30 Class Notes 42

We didn’t blow up all our balloons. A giant wooden birthday cake sits in the lobby. Stacks of 100 & One stationery still fill our desks. Was that confetti really biodegradable? Should I remove the centennial sticker on the back window of my Prius? What should we do with these leftover t-shirts?

Beyond trinkets, gimcracks, and innumerable photographs, what else have we acquired during this year-long celebration of our centennial? The students now know something of their school’s history.

The children who worked last year on the lower school’s book, The Story of Our School, are likely to remember that experience for a long time. So too everyone who visited the archives, put on white gloves, and gazed at yellowing newspaper clippings and black and white photographs, making notes and connections.

which occupies the space (where “Jose’s building” once stood, in 1915 a family home) at the end of the 19th Avenue parking lot. Unlike a silver punch bowl or any of the be-plaqued benches placed in shady spots for little rests and chats during the school day, it has no function other than memorial.

And carved on the stone is a quote from Thomas Alexander, the first director of Peabody Demonstration School. “If we succeed in giving the love of learning, the learning itself is sure to follow.”* Because of our centennial celebration, the senior class officers knew who he was, and they wanted him to be part of their gift to the school. The seniors also recognized that the philosophy behind the statement still lies behind what happens here every day, as it did in 1915.

This year, as is traditional, the senior class leaves behind a gift to the school. In our archives we have many such, including a silver punch bowl from the class of 1952 and a ladle from the class of 1995. We treasure both these gifts, and we used them to serve punch at Commencement, a special occasion if ever there was one, though the incongruity between these beautiful objects and a concoction made with Squirt is striking.

It seems appropriate that the senior gift this year is a metaphor for permanence—it is “carved in stone,” after all. Maybe it’s also appropriate that it looks a teeny bit like a tombstone, though an oddly shaped one. We call our marble plaques in the lobby bearing the names of our longest serving teachers “the tombstone.”

And yet we’re not in the educational boneyard—we’ve been here for a hundred years. n

But the Class of 2015 chose something with the centennial in mind. It’s a carved stone, placed in the verdant outdoor classroom

Connie Culpepper, Editor

*When Thomas Alexander said this, he was in fact quoting John Lubbock, a quick Google search reveals. Luckily the seniors didn’t attribute the quote to anyone. They were taking my word for it that Alexander said it.

New Alumni Director

Anna Myint ’04 joins USN as Alumni Director in July. Anna says, “I am beyond thrilled to officially re-join the USN family. More importantly, I can’t wait to connect with all of the alumni, near and far. I am looking forward to meeting everyone and being a contact for anything USN. My 13 years there from K-12 left a special place in my heart for all things garnet and blue. Go Tigers!”

Anna has a degree in Communication Studies from the University of Tennessee and a Certificate in Fashion Studies from The New School: Parsons. For the past five years, she has been working at Macy’s in New York City as an associate buyer. Her class of 2004 classmates rely on her to maintain their connections, getting everyone together during the holidays and keeping everyone up to date on weddings and other life changes.​

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2000 EDGEHILL

Time Capsules

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he big Centennial banners no longer wave out front between the columns. The fanfare recedes into memory, as the events and the awareness they raised now occupy a part of our past, having been something to anticipate but never to take for granted. This year we crafted a message to posterity, grateful for every story and artifact preserved by our long-ago founders.

Thinking about what record we’d leave behind made me wonder what might have been lovingly packed away for us over the decades but never subsequently found or remembered. Consider the 220-year-old box that turned up in the Massachusetts State House renovation just this year, complete with a Pine Tree Shilling from 1652, a bundle of ancient newspapers with indecipherable dates, and a silver plaque likely engraved by Paul Revere. Only digging into a water-damaged foundation wall revealed those treasures, leaving people wondering what else might still be hidden elsewhere.

We had those moments at USN, though admittedly on a more modest time scale. Learning that the papers of Dem School creator Thomas Alexander sit conserved in a North Carolina farmhouse was a breakthrough. Hearing (and recording) personal accounts of PDS during WWII and in the first days of desegregation provided other lasting gifts. And throughout our construction/restoration work last year, I always half expected a lead-lined case to appear in an excavation—but it never happened.

That left me musing about whether someday someone could still find a time capsule (or two) that eluded this generation, outside this round of reflection. Maybe a reader of this very column knows something we don’t—and may never—know. Such was almost the case with “BOB ’51” carved into the front steps, until the spicy origin story was generously shared with me just a few years ago. What we learned along the way this year as the archives gained shape only fueled our curiosity and deepened our determination to preserve our own trail of bread crumbs for those who may wonder about us a century hence.

If we didn’t meet the challenge of history this year, it sure wasn’t for lack of trying. Inspired by The Past Is Prologue, that little red book from 1970, we published The Same River Twice, a volume of reflections across different eras at PDS/USN, thanks to a dozen different and compelling voices. Our lower school and middle school students chimed in with books of their own, telling the story their way. If I had a magic wand, everyone in the great wide school community would read at least one of those books—find them at bookstore.usn.org.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

We brought great people to campus throughout the year, and we filmed them every time. The Same River Twice authors, my colleagues at other university-affiliated independent schools, the Nashville Public Library Puppet Theater artists, my USN director predecessors, a bevy of prior Distinguished Alumni, and our recent selection for that honor, Kimberly Steadman ’93, charter school innovator. You’ll read about them in this year-end volume of our magazine. In every case, we preserved what they said, to be deciphered on yet to be invented media in future generations, I’m sure.

What I’m wondering about is what people will hear and see in these artifacts. Consider our experience watching Masque, a student-produced silent film from 1928, on the big screen at the Belcourt Theatre. We knew the names Dillard Jacobs and Walter Sharp, but seeing their 42-minute feature, now a digitally restored copy of a copy of the original acetate film, showed us who they were as teenagers—imaginative, offbeat, pressed-for-time teenagers. What will people hear from us, from 2015?

First, they will know that we found this to be an important moment. They will know that we had a sense of our own history, that we knew our predecessors to be visionaries, and that we saw our time on this stage as part of something larger. Then, they will, I fervently hope, know that we thought school should be meaningful— even fun—in the doing, not just in hindsight. We had a blast this year. We laughed often and for good reason. And third, may they sense our aversion to complacency. Having seen what teachers and students did with their opportunity, we wanted to put an exclamation point on the sense of possibility here at University School.

Taking and making time to plan the big birthday party makes a statement of gratitude and a statement of purpose. The question of what comes next and how we can be leaders in our field is every bit as relevant for us as it was in 1915. We benefit from the best teachers and lessons possible as we turn our full attention to those defining next questions, we learn from their example, and we know this is ours to do. n Looking forward,

Vince Durnan, Director

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LETTERS to the EDITOR n Cathy Jones Gaskill ’44 sent us some recollections of her time at PDS, beginning with Miss Fenker’s kindergarten class. Highlights include dancing with her classmates in a circle with their arms over their heads, swaying from side to side like elephants; a special recess to play in the snow; singing “Over the Rainbow” with a classmate in assembly when the song was new; walking the “tightrope”on stage in the Circus; memorizing “Rime of the Ancient Mariner” for Miss McMullan. She remembers Mary Patricia Hopton, Sarah Frost, Carr Payne, and Elden Gatwood. She writes, “Bobby Henderson was always with a group in the library discussing the battles of the Civil War.”

“I have always believed that the greatest gift I got from Peabody was that we were constantly tested.” Cathy was never afraid of a test.

Barbara Cooper Wilkins ’67, a “faculty kid” who attended PDS K-12, wrote, “Mr. Rogers, along with Mr. George and Mrs. Hitchcock and Mr. Hofer and I could go on, were favorite teachers.”

“My closest friend all through school was Nancy McCharen, so I knew Dr. McCharen quite well in his role as father as well as principal.” Not long ago, “Nancy, Cassandra Teague-Walker and I got together

and talked about those years.” Barbara and Nancy realized “how little we had really known about the integration process.

Cassandra told us how Dr. McCharen had carefully chosen 4 students—2 boys and 2 girls—to be a part of that action. Cassandra explained how she had come to be one of those students.”

“I want to correct one point that Mr. Rogers has in his article (and yes, I think he will remember Nancy and me—we used to drop by his house, we took earth science together from him and labeled lots of his rock collection). The fourth student was actually Geri Lewis and not Kay Roberts. Kay did not come until the following year. Nancy and I both knew Kay quite well because we were all on the tennis team. If you check out the old yearbooks you will see that Geri was part of the first group along with Cassandra, Luther and Harold.”

“I loved my Peabody years. When classmate Ricky Martin recently passed away, a number of us communicated on social media together and it is evident that we liked each other then and we still enjoy each other all these years later. It was a special time and one that helped make us into the people we are today.” n Lynn Cheryl Lewis ’71 wrote to us about the lack of information on what black

students other than the four entering ninth grade came to PDS in 1964 (in the excerpt from Heber Rogers’ chapter in The Same River Twice). She pointed out that her sister Geri entered ninth grade and she entered sixth grade that year. With her sister Geri’s help, Lynn was able to supply the name of another student who came in 1964: Tony Crippens, who entered seventh grade that year. As Lynn says, many other black students came the following year.

Lynn shared the story of how she came to be known at PDS by her middle name, Cheryl, because another girl in her grade wanted to be called “Lynn.” n Sandy Spitz (mother of Lauren Spitz ’97, Catherine Spitz Hale ’01, and Carrie Spitz ’05) wrote, “Getting to glimpse the history as a whole gives me even greater admiration for the courage and perseverance of the entire PDS/USN community. I think Kathy Woods [former lower school head] would have loved Thomas Alexander! Thanks to you all for a fabulous read! Job very very well done!”

Correction

The page 10 photo of the new Demonstration School building came to us from Ed Alexander, not Richard.

Thank You from Centennial Celebration Co-chairs n Dear USN Family, The big birthday celebration at USN on May 2 was a wonderful party for all ages, just as we had hoped. We are grateful to all who contributed to making the party a success, whether you filled one of the hundreds of volunteer slots or just brought your family and had a good time on a beautiful spring day.

Happy birthday, USN!

Suann Davis (Emily ’15) and Ann Fundis (Ben ’97, Allison ’99, and Emily ’07), co-chairs, Centennial birthday party

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2000 EDGEHILL

PDS/USN archives

Mystery Photo Not all the children in this photo appear to be in a dancing mood, but at least two are. Many of the others are singing. Do you recognize any of them? Do you recognize this room, with its no-doubt colorful curtains chosen to please childish tastes?

Who was the music teacher? When do you think this picture was taken? Please email Connie Culpepper at cculpepper@usn.org, call 615-321-8011, or write to her at 2000 Edgehill Avenue, Nashville, Tennessee 37212.

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n We got a call from Stuart Nicholson

’45, who was reminded by this photo of Peabody’s return to interscholastic sports in the fall of 1944 with a short (4 game) football season. They won three and lost one. He played three sports with Joe Naron: football, basketball, and baseball.

PDS/USN archives

MYSTERY SOLVED

and thus had left PDS about 5 months before this picture was taken.

Our photo of the 1945 football team inspired responses from several former PDS players.

Coach Bridges and Mr. Neil were both faculty members and are likely remembered by most of their students. The participants no doubt remember at least violent and/or triumphant moments in some of ‘those games.’

n “In the recent Edgehill, there is a mystery

photo of a football team. I think it is ’45 (school year ’45-46). I was there the following year and I recognize some players who were on my team when Charles Murphy was coach. I recognize Bobby Goodman (13), Jordan Litsey (28), Joe Hibbett (16), Slim Kuykendall (23), George Root (14), and Albert Ewing (21). Some of the other faces are familiar but I don’t remember names (8 is Frank somebody). Kim Massie is sitting in front as manager.

I think your magazine is great.”

Ross Hightower ’47 n As we had hoped, we heard from Kim

Massie ’47, the manager Ross mentions: “Bobby Goodman is #13 and Bill Tanksley is #11. Joe Naron was indeed a superlative athlete and a gifted violinist as well, but he was in the class of ’45,

What happened next was that a few years later PDS dropped football for the second—and likely final—time. The first was a decade earlier when the league dropped PDS for some very suspicious— albeit successful—recruiting. The team had been unscored on for 10 straight games.”

(This refers to the 1934 team.)

When they resumed interscholastic sports, Stuart said, “People didn’t think we could compete.”

With Dr. Windrow’s urging, Coach Bob Neil arranged a full schedule in basketball for PDS that winter. Their first game was against rival MBA, “the most important game” in school history. The boys told themselves, “Let’s get serious—let’s beat these guys.” Midway through the second half, the starting five vowed to each score 2 points, knowing they could win that way.

That was, he recalled, JB Marsh, captain; Everett Kelly, Joe Naron, Bill Tanksley, and Stuart Nicholson. “Bless Pat, we did.”

Joe Naron was the star of the game. “It just made a difference in our lives.”

n Carr Payne ’44 wrote too, agreeing

with these identifications and adding that Bob Neil “coached baseball in 1944 and I think taught math. Dr. Windrow bought new uniforms.” He says, “Bob is #10 (I think). Bill Tanksley was #11. #18 was Creason Clayton. #33 was Everett Kelley. #15 was James Martin and 16 was Hibbett (I think.)”

A Gift to the Archives

The mystery photo of the football team in the last 2000 Edgehill stirred memories for Ross Hightower ’47, who was inspired to send us pages from his football scrapbook for the archives.

He remembered Dr. Bridges as a coach and as the algebra teacher who “helped me pull my failing grade at Hillsboro up to a gentleman’s C at Peabody” after he transferred.

“We didn’t have two full teams, a total of seventeen players, if I remember correctly, so most of us played 60 minutes without substitutions.

I wasn’t even taken out when I broke my nose playing Duncan. Our record was not so good, only 5 wins and 3 losses,” he wrote.

You can see more of what Ross sent the archives at usnarchives.omeka.net.

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2000 EDGEHILL

In 1923 Thomas Alexander published an article in the Peabody Journal of Education on “Principles of Supervision of Teaching in Elementary Schools.” As the director of Peabody Demonstration School, he supervised elementary school teachers every day. But as a young iconoclast, he wondered if most instructional supervision achieved anything. “Carefully controlled experiments to prove the actual worth of supervision have been too few in number and too narrow in scope to be of much value in settling this question,” he wrote. Then he outlined the “fundamental theses” underlying good supervisory procedure.

Curious about these, we shared them with USN’s resident philosopher, Jeff Edmonds, our high school Academic Dean.

He holds two degrees in philosophy, a BA from Williams College and a PhD from Vanderbilt. You can find Alexander’s 1923 essay and Edmonds’ 2015 response at usn.org/publications, but read this introduction first:

Thoughts from USN’s Educational Philosopher

by Jeff Edmonds, High School Academic Dean

W

hen the Academic Dean position came to my attention about two years ago, it was the perfect time for me. I had become less satisfied with the academy’s way of doing philosophy and thought: ‘this is a chance to do institutional philosophy.’ As a pragmatist, I believe the value of ideas can only be determined in experience, and I was excited to explore a place that had so much right.

How did this institution work to produce the specific and unique educational culture that we know and love?

Just last weekend I was at the yearly Philosophy of Education conference presenting a paper on José Medina’s concept of “metaignorance” (the ignorance of one’s own ignorance) and how schools might work to undo this particular form of ignorance. I found the philosophers there discussing many of the things that are on my mind at USN. When the keynote speaker, Frank Margonis, outlined his educational ideal, I was proud to think of how it resonated with much of what we do: “the creation of convivial collectivities is not extraneous to education, but its very substance. Teachers hoping to foster joyful patterns of intersubjective play may find their work enabled if they think past the individualism of the principle of responsibility—thinking instead of chains of human connection and difference. … it might be liberating … to conceive of teaching as the initiation of multiple acts in succession, patterns of play that move immediately beyond the teacher’s ability to predict and control.”

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Others, however, rightfully challenged Margonis’ conception of education as play, noting that good education requires difficult, draining work, the development of a spirit of resistance and resilience. If education is a joyful dance, it is also an anxious terrain of potential failure and possible exclusion. The fragile and limited bonds of human hope and effort are the ties that bind together every educational community.

Critics also pointed out that the joyful dance of education depends on institutional support, and it is only possible when teachers are given the time and space to get to know students well. These critics reminded me that everything we do at USN has an educator at one end of the relationship, and that if they are not finding their work joyful, they cannot show the way for our students.

I came back from the conference excited to think more about how to balance the difficult tension between education as joyful play and education as hard work. We know that the one cannot exist without the other: in order for our young people to grow up happy and capable of joy, we need to expose them to difficult work and allow them to develop the resilience to carry it out.

Freud wrote over 100 years ago that human happiness depends on two simple things: work and joy. Any school that leads students towards happiness must be constantly renewing its capacity to link these ideas in a joyful and difficult dance. n

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In March, 2015, Vince Durnan, Connie Culpepper, and videographer (and USN teacher) Jim Manning drove to Waynesville, North Carolina to talk with Richard Thomas Alexander, Jr., whose father Thomas Alexander was the first director of Peabody Demonstration School. We were invited to pay that visit by Thomas Alexander’s grandsons Edward Alexander and Richard Thomas Alexander, III, both of whom attended the Centennial birthday party.

A Thistle Full of Seeds Thomas Alexander after Peabody

by Connie Culpepper, Editor

N

inety years ago, when Dick Alexander was a little boy, his father used to take him for Sunday afternoon walks all over Manhattan. Dr. Alex, as he had been known at the school he started back in Nashville, would see his family off to the Broadway Presbyterian Church on Sunday mornings.

Thomas Alexander devoted Sunday afternoons to his son’s education— and he had big ideas about education.

One summer afternoon, father and son were standing on the sidewalk at 116th and Broadway near the campus where Dr. Alex worked. “Would you like to go to a ball game?” he asked.

Each week it was a different route, once all the way down to the Bowery, a mighty long walk from their neighborhood by Columbia University.

Everywhere they looked were opportunities for learning. Dr. Alex asked his son to read signs as they walked, hoping to improve his reading. They played a version of “I Spy” on the streets of New York. Education was never to be confined within classroom walls.

As they stood there on the street corner with the time remaining to the first pitch dwindling, the boy felt the pressure. He knew his father meant what he said. And Dick knew that if they took the subway they would have to transfer, but he couldn’t remember how. Then, in the midst of his worry, an idea came to him.

The little boy really wanted to go see the Giants play. “We’ll go to the game if you can figure out how to get us there,” his father said.

“It’s up to you.”

Photo courtesy of Edward Alexander

This 1908 photo came to us from Ed Alexander, Thomas Alexander’s grandson. The men with Alexander (front right) are identified as James Tippett and Arthur Swanson. This was before he came to Nashville.

While he was at Peabody, Thomas Alexander co-wrote a famous series of arithmetic books, The Alexander-Sarratt Arithmetics, with Madison Sarratt, math professor at Vanderbilt University. We have this one in our archives.

Dick Alexander in March, 2015.

Photos by Jim Manning

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2000 EDGEHILL

The Prussian elementary school is the best in the world from the point of view of the upper classes in Germany. From the point of view of the lower classes it is the worst system, for it takes from them all hope of improving their condition in life.

The child stepped to the curb and hailed a cab. The ride to the Polo Grounds cost a buck and a half.

We heard this story from Dick Alexander, now ninety-seven and living in Waynesville, North Carolina.

We traveled there to hear about his father Richard Thomas Alexander, who founded Peabody Demonstration School a century ago.

Though Dick was only seven when his family left Nashville for New York, he remembers the Demonstration School. At first the family lived near the entrance to Vanderbilt Hospital. He remembers watching the victory parade for the Great War pass by on 21st Avenue. He remembers kindergarten on the college campus and a teacher showing him the word “soon” to read. He remembers a few PDS teachers—Mr. Yarbrough and Miss Kelly and Miss McMurry. He remembers some of his father’s favorite students, such as John Wilkinson Taylor ’24.

Thomas Alexander on one of his countless trips to Germany between the wars Photo courtesy of Edward Alexander

When he started Peabody Demonstration School at the age of twentyseven, Alexander was thinking not just of the teachers who would learn their craft there and then go into the rural school systems across the South and transform education, the mission of Peabody College for Teachers— though he certainly was thinking of how best to educate those teachers and future principals. He was also thinking of how a school could form a child’s idea of himself and his place in society, thereby transforming society.

His idea was just the opposite of the Prussian one of molding students to fit into society as it is. Thomas Alexander was ambitious.

the possibilities of a new approach to the preparation of teachers

One day, after the family moved out to Belle Meade Boulevard (by the golf course, “three steps away from the fifth hole”), Mr. Yarbrough and Bruce Payne, president of Peabody, came to visit Tom Alexander. Dick was outside flying a kite, and it got away from him. The two men laughed at him. That memory has endured for nigh onto a century.

So have memories of the dog President Payne gave them, which they named Bruce. “He used to run away to Nashville,” said Dick, remembering the days when Nashville stopped miles before the town of Belle Meade began, and when a dog could trot along dirt roads to the Peabody campus.

An International Outlook

Thomas Alexander’s ideas about education were informed by his time in Europe before World War I, especially in Stettin, studying the Prussian system of public education, in many ways the model for the American one. His dissertation at Teachers College of Columbia University, The Prussian Elementary Schools, was published in 1918 by McMillan. Neither you nor I will take the time to read that book, but note this revealing passage in his preface:

So in 1924, with the Demonstration School off to a promising start, Alexander left Nashville and joined Columbia University’s new International Institute, established by a gift from John D. Rockefeller, Jr. Thus began a period of travel and school observation in Europe (often in Germany) and in the United States.

Schools in Germany had changed since the war, and Alexander grew more and more convinced that change was necessary at home.

As he wrote in The New York Times in 1931, our society could “no longer be satisfied with teachers who were narrowly and meagerly trained” in the nineteenth century model of Normal Schools.

We need “teachers who are trained for independent thought and action.” We need “education for social responsibility.”

A New Way to Learn

Since being a professor at Teachers College couldn’t offer enough scope for his ideas, New College was born. Its primary purpose when it opened in 1932, he later said, was “to demonstrate the possibilities of a new approach to the preparation of teachers for elementary and secondary schools.” It would depart “from many of the practices which have characterized the program of continued on next page

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Right: On the back of this photo is typed: “Group of students and faculty holding tall corn grown at New College Community: Henry Hasiwar, Student; Dr. Henry Hardt, faculty member in charge of farm program; Dr. William Camp, faculty member in charge of science instruction; Hubert Schulze, student, star end on the Columbia foot ball team.”

Below: From The New York Times, April 17, 1932

New College Community cider making.

Photos courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University

continued from page 9

state-supported and private teachers colleges” and indeed from many of the standard practices of education.

“The curriculum, regarded as the total experience of the student, is organized with reference to the persistent problems of living, inescapable problematic situations which confront all individuals in every day relationships” in contrast to the old curriculum of “logical or chronological divisions of subject-matter-set-out-to-be-learned.”

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“A politically subjugated body of teachers has ever been the chief instrument by which authoritative classes had enslaved the great masses of our population.”

Instead of books and classrooms, New College students would learn from “divergent cultural groups and social situations” from New York City to Europe to the mountains of western North Carolina. Grades would be abandoned in favor of “detailed cumulative records” with “no definite time limit for completion of the college course.” The curriculum was reimagined as well, “adapted to the interests and needs of individual students, with encouragement to independent study and personal initiative.”

In April, 1932, the hopeful dawn of New College, Alexander told The New York Times, “Teachers of the future must be active in the reconstruction of the modern world. Teachers must believe that freedom is as important for them as for children whom they teach and as for politicians who control the schools. A politically subjugated body of teachers has ever been the chief instrument by which authoritative classes had enslaved the great masses of our population.”

According to Dick Alexander, who attended New College, his fellow students there were “a very radical bunch, communists and socialists.” Most were from New York City; many were Jewish. Everyone had to spend six weeks working on the farm in North Carolina, growing and cooking their own food among countless other chores, learning to live in a community. It was not a standard curriculum for all.

Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University

Radical as these ideas were, they did not in themselves spell the doom of New College, which would last only seven years before Teachers College closed its doors.

The admissions brochure put it this way: “New College recognizes the strategic position of the teacher in the development of a better society. It therefore will aim to make the student increasingly conscious of fundamental social issues and sensitive to his responsibility for their solution….”

A Backward Step

If you worried about communist infiltration of American society and violent student demonstrations which you knew were happening in other parts of the world, such a statement of mission and purpose further disturbed your rest. If you were William Russell, the William Russell, Dean of Teachers College dean of Teachers College, you must have soon wondered why you had ever let your friend Tom Alexander talk you into this experiment.

It was anything but a machine for educating docile members of the existing society, and in the 1930s that idea was frightening And so New College closed its doors. Its radical vision had transto many Americans, including those at Columbia University. formed the lives of its students, many of whom carried its ideas Further bad luck for New College: the Great Depression and the into other teacher-training institutions, Dick Alexander and Ball political changes in Europe, particularly in Alexander’s favorState being one example. It was forced to abandon its New Colite country, Germany, where he spent much of his time, taking lege Community in North Carolina, the Hilltop School’s work groups of students along, during that decade. with children and families in the neighborhood of Columbia, and another educational community planned in Habersham County To conservatives, Alexander seemed to be fostering communism. in northeast Georgia.

To liberals, German connections looked just as bad. (Nazis didn’t like him either.)* *As for Thomas Alexander’s politics, he was neither a socialist nor a communist but what Dick Alexander called a “Roosevelt Republican”—Teddy Roosevelt. He used to charge Democrats more than Republicans for the hay he sold in North Carolina.

“I’ll be only too glad to balance the budget myself if necessary...” continued on next page

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Courtesy of Teach ers Colleg

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e, Columbia University

2000 EDGEHILL

“A good idea is never killed. It is a little like a thistle full of seeds.”

New College’s dwindling enrollment and growing budget deficit made its closing seem a reasonable decision on the part of Teachers College. Yet an avalanche of mail protesting the closing flowed to Teachers College. Columbia Board of Trustees president Cleveland Dodge got a letter from Eleanor Roosevelt. She asked, “I wonder if this budget deficiency is the real reason, or if there is some other reason for closing the college which has not been stated?” Another letter was signed by what seems to be every professor in every department of education in the country.

quoted the letter to someone from Teachers College who had called her to talk to her about New College. She had plenty to tell him—about how it changed her life, about how the students loved “Pop Alex” and “Mom Alex,” about the accomplishments of several of her fellow alumni, including becoming Dean of Teachers College or founding Fairleigh Dickinson University.

But in the letter that Mrs. Larson insisted on reading to her interviewer, Alexander said that he was “disappointed” but never “discouraged” by the closing of New College. He wrote that one night years later, Will Russell was having dinner at the Alexanders’ house.

Nonetheless, Dean Russell must have felt relieved. And Thomas Alexander must have been bitterly disappointed.

In 1937, after the decision had been handed down, he made one last effort to stave off disaster, sending a handwritten note to his friend the Dean.

“Teachers College, and you and I cannot take a backward step,” he wrote, “and I make this one last request of you as my friend and colleague, and I’ll be only too glad to balance the budget myself if necessary. I think I deserve that much of your confidence.”

The letter ends, “Regardless of your decision, be assured of my loyal support and hearty criticism.”

After World War II, Thomas Alexander returned to Germany, working with General Lucius Clay in the reconstruction of the country. Alexander’s role, of course, was rebuilding the German educational system. He spent five years on that project. Dick Alexander recalls that the German government later sent representatives to North Carolina to bestow an award on his father for his service.

In 1965, when he was 77, Thomas Alexander wrote a letter to New College alumni. Years later one of these alumni, Mildred Larson,

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He said, “‘Tom, the biggest mistake in my life was to close New College.’”

Courtesy of Teachers College, Columbia University

“‘It’s a hell of a time to find that out,’” Alexander quoted himself as saying.

“A good idea is never killed. It is a little like a thistle full of seeds.

Sometimes we know the result of a good idea, sometimes not,” the letter concludes, after filling in the alumni on what he and Mrs. Alexander have been doing lately (looking after the farm and sewing for the grandchildren, respectively).

Back in Nashville, we are grateful for another good idea that Thomas Alexander had, the one that led to this “school that shall surpass all others,” as he predicted. We like to think that he would be pleased with University School, which came into existence several years after his death.

“Peabody was his first love,” Dick Alexander told us. And Thomas Alexander, though he died near New College in North Carolina, is buried in the Peabody section of Mt. Olivet cemetery in Nashville. n

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What We’ve Learned Iris Aikin, Maya Giles, Simon Rosenblum, Gabby White, Ivy Cochran, Henry Stack, and Max Elliot

Fourth Graders Talk about Turning 100 Everyone here knows it’s our Centennial year, but the children who were in lower school at USN last year may be the resident experts on the history of our school. They learned it in order to contribute to the picture book The Story of Our School.

So as the celebration began to draw to a close, we collected a group of fourth graders to talk about the Centennial and about USN. With longtime fourth grade teachers Nikki Hunt and Karen Marler, both retiring this year, we discussed USN, its history, its essence, and its future.

Why have we been celebrating our Centennial? What has this year of talking about our history taught us? As Nikki Hunt says, “People should be aware of their personal histories because those histories make up who we are.”

What would the children say?

The fourth graders were Max Elliot, Iris Aikin, Maya Giles, Ivy Cochran, Gabby White, Simon Rosenblum, and Henry Stack. We began by asking what they had learned about their school. Some answers took the hawk’s eye view (“Parents helped pay for the school” or “The school started small and grew”) and some focused on details at ground level (“We used to have a typewriting class”).

Several children thought of more than one thing they had learned about University School: The wall in the senior parking lot has been there since the beginning.

We used to have an iris garden where we have a building now.

Parents helped pay for the school.

The school used to be part of Peabody College.

Once we had a fire and the head of the school heard the sirens.

That was somebody different then.

We had tennis courts where a parking lot is now.

Girls had to play half-court basketball!

We had a football team and it had people on it who were too old to be allowed to play here.

The school started small and grew.

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One of the classrooms had a playground in it with a slide.

We have one of the oldest indoor swimming pools.

The parents helped build the playground.

When we asked them why it was important to mark their school’s 100th birthday, one student said, “We’re celebrating a milestone for our school, and the school has gone through so much.” Another added that it shows that we know we have been through a lot.

Someone said, “Because the people can learn our history.”

Another child pointed out, “Being around for 100 years shows that it’s a great school.”

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“USN is a real community.”

“It’s not just the building that changes when it is renovated, but the way everything happens also changes, usually for the better.”

Then they began to think about what has changed. “Celebrating the centennial shows what’s different now from 100 years ago,” said one, and another said, “Someone from 100 years ago would see a lot of differences.”

“It’s not just the building that changes when it is renovated, but the way everything happens also changes, usually for the better.”

They began to think of some of the ways the school has changed. We have to list all of those too.

Sports competition was different 100 years ago, especially for girls.

If it were 100 years ago, Gabby wouldn’t be sitting here with us.

The name has changed.

A hundred years ago, kids our age had more responsibilities.

The cafeteria was somewhere else.

We had fewer students.

We have a nicer campus now.

Teachers have adapted more to giving children what they like.

Then we asked them what they thought people should know about their school, and some of their answers surprised us. As you’d expect, they mentioned the “great teachers.” We could have foreseen

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some version of “USN is really diverse and has good academics.”

They said the school offers many and varied classes, “really good” art classes, and good technology.

“USN has a very beautiful building,” one child said, and another mentioned the River Campus, “an extended learning space and a place to play sports.”

But the fourth graders also talked about more abstract notions of their school. One wanted people to understand something about our history: “It wasn’t the teachers and the head of the school who kept it going but the parents.” Another said, “USN has grown by figuring out what’s good and not good for the school.”

And they got to the heart of what makes USN the school they love: “USN is a real community.”

“At USN there is always a place where you fit in.”

“USN doesn’t judge people by how they look but by what they know.”

“At USN they teach you things, and they also teach you how to learn.” n

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Historians at Work

Rachel Wise

by Connie Fink, fifth grade social studies teacher

I

n honor of our centennial year, I designed an inquiry based project that would explore our school’s history throughout the decades. My plan was to promote historical thinking as students analyzed primary sources and shared their findings in a digital story.

USN’s archivist Jenny Winston also helped me plan how to use primary sources from the PDS/USN archives. We decided to build “decade boxes” from the 1920’s to the 1970’s. With fifth graders in mind, Jenny selected an assortment of primary sources­—photographs, letters, newspaper clippings, textiles, graduation rings, and yearbooks. She also scanned some of the sources from each decade and shared decade folders on Google Drive, giving the students access to the digitized primary sources.

The children could also look through our school’s virtual, interactive timeline and digital archives website.

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On her first visit to our class, Jenny brought a few interesting primary sources—our oldest Volunteer (from 1920) and some photographs. She explained how to handle the items properly by wearing gloves to lay them flat and turn the pages gently at the edge. Once the students put on the white gloves, they seemed transformed from fifth graders to passionate archivists on a mission. It was as if the white gloves came with investigative superpowers!

Jenny explains, “I first wanted to demonstrate the practice of ‘close reading.’ With primary objects, this means approaching the item with three questions in mind: What do you see? What do you wonder? What can you guess? I realized that the term ‘investigative’ reading was more exciting to these students, and with their white cotton gloves on, they took on the task of investigating historical objects with eagerness.”

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“Every day, the boys wore suits and ties, and girls wore dresses. Imagine that!”

Asher Rice (l.) and Latham Hall making their presentations and Adrian Samuels and Emma Boysen doing research

Students worked in groups of three or four, with each selecting a decade. Each decade’s inquiry was anchored with the same essential question: “In what ways has USN preserved its traditions and evolved throughout the decade?” I gave the children suggestions for focal areas to investigate (academics, sports, club/social, and facilities), encouraging them to modify the topics as needed.

With such a variety of primary sources, it was easy for the students to explore and differentiate their projects. Each primary source naturally provided the students with a breadcrumb trail to another source. Students became totally immersed in the challenge of piecing the puzzle together. One student said he felt like Sherlock Holmes as he investigated. It was fun to see their excitement as they connected the dots of their discoveries.

In a 1950’s group, Zoë Kahn found a class ring in the decade box.

She found its year etched into it. She rightly assumed it was a girl’s ring because it was small and delicate in design. Soon Zoë discovered initials engraved inside the ring, and then she connected those initials to the name on a diploma in her decade box.

Armed with this new information about the ring’s ownership, she was off to her iPad to investigate further. Zoë eventually discovered who made the ring and when.

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Students were struck by the difference in the way kids used to dress: “Every day, the boys wore suits and ties, and girls wore dresses. Imagine that!”

They noticed other details in the old photos. Ellie Bowles says, “Today the teachers seem so much more happy from the teachers in the 1940’s. Most of the time the teachers weren’t smiling at all, and now they seem much more friendly, and they smile more.”

Looking at old Volunteers, Kyle Wolfson noticed something interesting. “Back then you could say what you really think of people in the yearbook, for example Bender says, ‘Alice likes having all the boys at her feet.’ Now if you said that you would be in a lot of trouble.”

But as 1920’s expert Piers Mason notes, “Don’t let the renovation fool you, we are still the same school, still USN, and even still PDS, and we have a lot of history for you.” n

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Stories Connect Freshmen and Alumni

By Betty White, High School English teacher

An assignment in freshman English asks students to interview PDS and USN alumni and write one of the stories they hear as a first person narrative: the Centennial Alumni Narrative Project.

Doctors, businessmen, athletes, musicians, and fashion designers—alumni captivated ninth graders with stories of their school days. “Interesting!” ninth graders said. “Fun and educational!”

Many students selected interviewees with careers matching their interests. “I decided to interview Steven Davis [’98],” said Clif Shayne, “after I saw his photograph with his Emmy in an old Edgehill magazine because he’s the writer of my favorite show, Bob’s Burgers.” Arvin Jansen interviewed Zach Bolian ’04 because of their common interest in competitive bike riding. Alex Freedman, who aspires to be a business owner, chose entrepreneur Ben Goldberg ’98.

Sue Choi ’16 interviewed Yuko Takeuchi (Nakamura) ’88. “I wanted to see how her experience compared to mine,” said Sue, who entered USN from Seoul. Fascinated with the Japanese culture, Katie Stallings ’16 interviewed Trey Dobson ’92, one of four students on the inaugural Japanese Exchange trip to Kwansei Gakuin, a program which recently celebrated our lasting relationship. During the 2013 trip to KGHS, Katie enjoyed meeting Trey, who has lived in Japan for the past 18 years.

Ninth grade English students also learned about the history and culture of PDS/USN. In the archives they put on white gloves and gingerly turned worn pages of programs and newspapers.

They flipped through old yearbooks, searching for just the right person to contact and absorbing history lessons in the process. Graciela Rayome ’16 and Antonia Ross Sanchez ’16 were shocked at the negative comments about Cuba in the Tiger’s Paw during the ’60’s.

Gabe Faulcon interviewed Cassandra Teague-Walker ’67, the first African-American graduate of PDS. Gabe said, “Ms. Walker told me about the violence right outside of PDS after the Stokely Carmichael speech at Vanderbilt. It has also been fun to discuss things that were different and things that were the same from her high school experience and mine.”

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Alumni enjoyed sharing their stories. David Spigel ’88 said, “A lot of memories came back as I did the interview with Jackson [Joffe]…specific teachers and classes, friends, and our trip to D.C. Like most, I have a great fondness for USN.” “This is pretty freakin’ cool!” Ted Noser wrote in an unsolicited email. “Mr. [Jonathan] Trebing [’95] answered my questions and sent me very well-written and thought out answers, and [he] provided some awesome advice along the way.” Ted’s interest in music led him to Trebing, a musician whose narrative tells the origins of Zeitgeist.

A number of students were attracted to professional writers. Shayna Beyer and Susannah Felts ’91 share an interest in creative writing. (Susannah is the founder and director of the Porch, which provides opportunities for aspiring writers.)

Roz Helderman ’97, a writer for the Washington Post, was interviewed by Hannah Moore because she, too, enjoys writing. “It was really a lot of fun to talk a walk down memory lane with Hannah,” Helderman wrote. “Hannah seemed pretty surprised to hear that we would go all day long, with no access to the Internet or a telephone (except the communal phones on the third floor and in the lobby).”

“The experiences I had at USN have shaped the way I have thought about things down the line,” said Carol Venable ’91, director of a medical clinic in Pueblo, Colorado, to Abigail Varney.

“I think being a part of the basketball team was such an important thing for me. That concept of putting a team goal above all else has been extremely helpful in every job I’ve ever had.”

Jonathan Hudson talked to Jeff Ray ’76, a meteorologist in Dallas-Ft. Worth. “What I remember the most about USN was

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Clif Shayne (foreground) and Deviyani Bajpal working in the archives

Leigh Fox with archivist Jenny Winston

the remarkable diversity in such a small class (I believe there were 54 of us in the graduating class). I was struck from day one by the intellectual depth of my peers. They were so well read!

Even in their hobbies or side interests.�

Narratives tell whimsical stories about off-campus lunches and student pranks and serious lessons gained from teachers and coaches. The common element, though, is the affection and fond memories alumni hold of PDS/USN regardless of the era. 2000 Edgehill is a very special place to grow up. n Read a selection of these Centennial Alumni Narratives at usn.org/publications.

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Retrophilia

by Jenny Winston, USN Archivist Working in the PDS/USN archives over the last year, I’ve had the pleasure of immersing myself in a hundred year’s worth of photographs and documents. For the last decade, most have rested largely untouched in a room tucked away in the Hassenfeld Library. They tell a fascinating story, piece by piece.

Our archive collection is a retrophiliac’s dream; in it you’ll find photographs of students engaged in daily school activities, commencement programs, student government scrapbooks, class projects and artwork of decades past, personal letters, sports uniforms, committee meeting minutes, and countless photographs.

When people ask me to name my favorite item in our collection, I struggle to answer. In the archival profession, one often prizes most highly the item that is the oldest. For us, as far as I can tell, that item is a 1902 commencement program from the University of Nashville, predecessor of Peabody College for Teachers. Predating even the establishment of Peabody Demonstration School in 1915, this program has been remarkably well-maintained, with only a few minor creases to note. The ornate script, indicative of the time period, is still bold and clear with no visible fading. It’s incredible to me to imagine how many hands through which this thin piece of paper has been so carefully passed in its 113 years.

Clearly, our predecessors greatly valued our connection to Nashville’s oldest educational institution.

A few items in the archives date back to the days of the University of Nashville, predecessor of Peabody College; opposite page: Dr. Windrow kept a scrapbook of PDS-related newspaper clippings during World War II.

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Selecting a personal favorite item is no easy task when you have a deep affinity for history and ten decades’ worth of diverse materials to satisfy it. Just one of these beloved items, which I introduce to students who are studying topics from the 1940s, is a clothbound notebook-turned-scrapbook simply entitled “Armed Forces Summer 1939.” Its pages are filled (literally, spilling) with local newspaper clippings, loose papers, cards, and other miscellany from 1939 to 1951, all documenting the postgraduate lives of PDS alumni. The first half of the scrapbook, as the title suggests,

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focuses on those in the Peabody community serving in the armed forces. It holds local notices of rank promotions, cards listing the names of men killed in action, and even a letter written to Dr. Windrow from an unknown PDS alumnus serving in the Pacific in 1942. In it, the author recounts warm memories of his time at the Dem School.

The second half of the scrapbook, covering the post-war years, is predictably lighter in subject matter, with marriage announcements, commencement invitations, and playbills from PDS theater productions. In just this one scrapbook lives a treasure of photographs and biographical details, the historical significance of which cannot be fully captured. The compiler of this scrapbook, who I assume to be Dr. Windrow, must have had a deep

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investment in those who had once filled these halls to follow so closely their lives beyond PDS. As you might imagine, spending so much time poring through these materials gives me a rare, intimate look at our school’s rich history. What I’ve learned about PDS/USN is that the culture of commitment I observed on the day I first arrived, and continue to observe, is well-documented and deep-rooted.

You’ll see what I mean when you browse through our online archives at usnarchives.omeka.net or if you come to USN for a visit so you can put on white gloves and look at the real thing. Just email me at jwinston@usn.org or call me at 615/277-1121 if you’d like to visit in person. n

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24 Photo by Kimberly Manz

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MAY 2, 2015

Cupcakes, sunny skies, live music, games for everyone, gentle breezes, face painting, food trucks, puppets, Peabody the Tiger, Icees—it was a party with entertainment and refreshment for young and old. Indoors were the Centennial Speaker Series panels and the two short films on the history of the school, and outdoors were families, friends, teachers, students, and alumni all enjoying the day and celebrating a beloved school.

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This page: Chris Tibbott and Natasha Tibbott; Erin Drake, Avi Bregman, and William Green, all Class of 2010; Opposite page, clockwise from top: Peabody the Tiger with a friend; Ashton Wise and Bakari King; Samantha Rittenberg, Kiki Penson, and Olivia Jacobs, all class of 2023; dancers Jessica Hanks, Leah Hicks, Gal Crouvi, Rebecca Sossman, Anjali Mukherji, Sarah Young.

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Photo by Kimberly Manz

Photo by Kimberly Manz

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Music Night on Edgehill Music Night

lived up to its once-a-century billing. USN kindergarten dad Dierks Bentley headlined a memorable bluegrass show. Opening for Dierks and friends (bluegrass legends, including Sam Bush) was a band of USN alumni led

by Gabe Dixon ’96 on piano. Joining Gabe were Jonathan Trebing ’95 on guitar, Nick Buda ’92 on drums, and Joe Schneider ’03 on bass.

USN Movie Night at the Belcourt featured an astounding array of work by

alumni, with the 1928 feature film Masque by the Peabody Cinema Club taking top billing. Also on the program were short films done by USN alumni, some the product of their student days, others done in college or professionally. USN teacher Jim Manning’s short Centennial film “This Is That School” premiered.

See it at usn.org/docs.

Top row, l. to r.: Roxanne Haines ’16 and Leslie Haines; Natasha Deane and Esther Casstevens; Movie Night co-chair Ann Meador Shayne ’81; bottom row, center and right: Jon Shayne ’80 with Beverly Douglas ’44, father of Movie Night co-chair Frannie Corzine; Catherine Stober and Jim McAteer.

Music Night photos: Top: the alumni band with Gabe Dixon ’96, Jonathan Trebing ’95, Nick Buda ’92, and Joe Schneider ’03; Dierks Bentley.

Photos by Kimberly Manz

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L. to r.: Fred Humphries, Ginnie Myers, Wil Howard-Downs, Jenny Boucek Photo by Kimberly Manz

2,000 Point Club Holds First Meeting In December, all four of the PDS and USN basketball players who scored 2,000 points here returned to University School for a number-retiring ceremony at a home basketball game. In between the girls’ and boys’ games and in front of a crowd that included former teammates, Ginnie Meyers ’77, Fred Humphries ’79, Jenny Boucek ’92, and Wil Howard Downs ’99 took a bow.

Boys’ athletic director Josh Scouten became a reporter for the night, asking each high school standout to comment on the significance of being honored by USN. “It’s absolutely fabulous all the changes that have happened. The school and athletics have made so many improvements. The upgrades since my time here are really special. I want to come back here as a student. It’s truly a humbling experience to be honored.”—Ginnie Myers ’77 “It’s humbling to be part of this historic institution. It’s renowned all over the country and I am honored to have attended.”

—Jenny Boucek ’92 “Having the opportunity to play all over the country in college basketball, it’s my memories at USN that I cherish the most about my playing career.”—Wil Howard-Downs ’99 “I am so appreciative that the school has decided to recognize me for scoring 2000 points. It’s quite an honor to be recognized in this way, but I never would have had the opportunity to do this without my teammates. As I look back on my life journey, I remember fondly the memories made as a part of this great institution and the friendship I made during my time at USN.” —Fred Humphries Jr. ’79

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Centennial Symposium It was a historic occasion.

The heads of six independent schools that have relationships with universities came together in Nashville to talk about those relationships and the challenges and benefits the relationships bring.

This Centennial Symposium began with a casual remark made by Dan Cornfield, Professor of Sociology at Vanderbilt University, parent of Hannah ’08 and a member of Vince Durnan’s dissertation committee. “Why don’t you get these people together?” he asked, speaking of the school heads Vince had interviewed during the course of working on Cases in Partnership with Independent Schools and Universities. (Vince received his Ed. D. degree from Peabody College of Vanderbilt University in May, 2014.)

“It seemed like a long shot,” Vince said, “getting such busy people to agree to come to Nashville.”

Above: Vince Durnan with visiting school heads (l. to r.) Amani Reed, Barbara Riley, Jerome Chermak, James Berkman, Patrick Schuermann (Director of the Independent School Leadership Master’s Degree Program at Peabody Collge), and David Magill.

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But he invited them nonetheless: James Berkman, Boston University Academy Jerome Chermak, University School, Nova Southeastern University David Magill, University of Chicago Lab Schools (retired) Amani Reed, The School at Columbia University Barbara Riley, The Hopkins School (New Haven) And on “Super Sunday,” February 1, 2015, they all assembled at Buhl House, where Vince lives, for a dinner that became the first of many long conversations about their work, their schools, their challenges, their hopes for the future. The conversation continued through the next day at USN, through lunch with the school’s administrative team and some members of the Board of Trustees.

In the afternoon the six school heads convened in the auditorium before an audience for a discussion moderated by Patrick Schuermann of Peabody College. “The opportunity to explore connections between school and university can generate ideas of value far beyond our neighborhood,” said Vince Durnan. n

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2015

REU It began Friday evening with the All-Alumni Party reimagined in the Cheek Gym as a “Prom Re-do.” Reunion chairs Tory Sally Fitzgibbon ’86 and Chris Chamberlain ’85 transformed the renovated gym into a dance club, complete with cheesy prom photo backdrop.

At the brunch the next morning, the auditorium was filled with alumni, the biggest crowd ever, celebrating their connection with each other and with their school. They loved catching up with each other and watching Jim Manning’s short film, “This is That School.” Then it was on to the Centennial Birthday Party and more visiting.

32 Photos by Kimberly Manz

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NION

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p. 30, ’72 friends Paula Underwood Winters, Rosalyn Baxter-Jones, Sharon Cone Jones, Dede Dury-Samford, Cheryl Sutherland Richardson, and Rochelle Zelenka-Diatikar.; Class of 2010 alumni William Green, Emily Fish, and Kate Waide p. 31, clockwise from top: reunion co-chair Chris Chamberlain ’85 greeting guests at the brunch; ’85 classmates David Tanner, Mike Buhl, and Marc Maier; Jenelle Martin ’80; Vince Durnan with Steve Riven ’56, Audrey Riven Wolf ’54 in her letter sweater, and Stephanie Riven Goldman ’65; Gus Gillette and JoDee Hicks Prichard ’84; Mia Mihal Faxon and Courtney Fay McBride, both ’85. p. 32 The Class of ’65 after joining the Gold Circle; the Class of ’85; Jane and Sam Stumpf ’67 at the All-Alumni party/prom re-do;

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p. 33 clockwise from top: reunion co-chair Tory Sally Fitzgibbon ’86 rocking it with classmate Rob Laird at the prom re-do; Class of ’95 friends Sujana Reddy, Jennie Wolff, Ellie McCarley Keiper, Billy Hewlett, Zaz Harris, and Brook Gardiner; the Class of 1970; Josh Vann, Erin Drake, and Avi Bregman, all class of 2010, with John Clayton ’09 and Hunter Tulipan ’09; Mark Stumpf, Michael Zibart, and Jo Bernard, class of ’65.

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Convocation 2015 PDS/USN Distinguished Alumna Kimberly Steadman ’93,

co-director of the successful Brooke Schools in Boston, spoke at Convocation. She began the evening by exhorting the seniors to tell one of their teachers something specific that they are grateful for.

That request was part of her discussion of gratitude in general, of the importance of recognizing how lucky we are and of keeping in mind that not every child can go to a school like USN. (You can find a pdf of her prepared remarks at usn.org/publications.)

Kimberly Steadman ’93

The Brooke Charter School Network is “a free, open-enrollment K-8 public charter school network in Boston dedicated to getting under-served students to and through college.” Kimberly made it clear that having good teachers is the key to her schools’ success.

Introducing her, Vince Durnan said, “In this year of appreciating in greater depth than ever the educational pioneers who established the Demonstration School and nurtured its growth, we have here in our midst the next century successor to their efforts. To bring a K-12 educator home as our 2015 Distinguished Alum is to bring us full circle and to invite all the right questions here about what comes next for USN.” n Seniors Anwen Wilkerson, Elise Blackburn, and Jessie Baskauf on stage with Maggie Kidd at the piano; senior class president Maurice Chiang with Kimberly Steadman and Vince Durnan; Show Choir singing “The Wish.”

Photos by Kimberly Manz

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photo by Nicolette Seifert

Founding Families Attend Celebration Alex Parrott, grandson of Jo and Tom Alexander (standing, right), Ed Alexander (next to Alex). Also at the party were Carr Payne ’44 (seated), grandson of Bruce Payne, first president of Peabody College, and his daughter Allison Klausman.

Films Tell Centennial Story

Two short films were created this year to mark the centennial of PDS and USN. You can see both of them at usn.org/docs. The first, “This is That School,” was written and directed by USN technical theater teacher Jim Manning. It distills a century of school history into eight powerful minutes with student actors as well as interviews of alumni and former teachers.

“PDS and USN: A Century of Learning,” is a fifteen minute documentary created by the Jackson Foundation. It’s a more traditional and chronological look at our history, with interviews of current students as well as alumni and former teachers. It includes contemporary footage as well as archival photographs.

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2015

Commencement 38 Photos by Kimberly Manz

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Not the End

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Opposite page: musical entertainment by Francesca Eluhu backed by Jack Aylor, Josh Huang, (Sam May invisibly on drums), and Skye Cameron; program cover, designed by Robert Green ‘15; (l. to r.) Nicholas Dunigan, Metta Devine-Qin, Emily Davis, Jing Dai, and Connor Crenshaw; this page: Ashtan Towles accepting applause after her speech; Kela Hall-Weickert and Mae Rowland; Vince Durnan, Grace Melchiore, Gil Chilton, Steve Robins, and Dave Kloeppel; Aidan Watt and Rebecca Sossman before the ceremony.

welcome from Gil Chilton, retiring after 43 years of teaching at PDS and USN, opened our 96th Commencement, and a farewell from Grace Melchiore, also retiring after a long career, closed it. In between, Vince Durnan told the seniors, “Class of 2015, we love you and we love the way you are with one another, and we need you to bring some of that with you wherever you go.”

Ashtan Towles, chosen by her classmates to speak, told the story of coming to kindergarten as a shy child with difficulty speaking at all. “My class and I have discovered how to tap into our potential, how to turn our weaknesses into strengths and then . . . help others with those strengths.”

“We must remember who we are: hard workers, helpers of people, individuals capable of tapping into their potential. And I’m more than grateful to be a part of that. This is not the end,” she reminded her classmates.

“We didn’t just make it, but we did the thang!”

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Christine Slayden Tibbott: Teacher, Artist, Friend In April many of her friends came to see Chris Tibbott at the opening of her show in the USN gallery named for her. “Teacher, Artist, Friend” showed the remarkable range of work created in her long career. Several of her former students came to thank her for opening the world of art to them.

Clockwise from top: detail from a drawing by Chris Tibbott; Chris with Randy Tibbott and USN art teachers (l. to r.) Emily Holt, Peg Williams, and Delia Seigenthaler; Vince Durnan showing Chris some love (her former student Gen. Don Follis ’52 in the background); Chris with sculptor and former student John Medwedeff ’80.

Photos by Tren Boysen

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Master Teachers Pass the Baton

T

he annual year-end reception for teachers who are retiring gives colleagues, former students, and parents of those former students a chance to say thank you. This year’s group of teachers seemed particularly large and particularly distinguished, with more than 250 years of service at USN in the aggregate.

In lower school, fourth grade teachers Nikki Hunt and Karen Marler and Naturalist Cynthia Lee; in middle school, eighth grade’s social studies teacher Gil Chilton and science teacher Glyn Burton; in high school, Spanish teacher Grace Melchiore, science teacher Bill Rodriguez, and choral director Judy Yeaworth; Brenda Jowers, school nurse; Linda Schneider, library assistant.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Photo by Kimberly Manz

“In the careers of these legendary teachers, we find both the reason for USN’s strength of purpose and the inspiration to do something worthy of the example they set,” says Vince Durnan.

Pictured above, left to right: Grace Melchiore, Linda Schneider, Judy Yeaworth, Brenda Jowers, Bill Rodriguez, Karen Marler, Gil Chilton, Cynthia Lee, Nikki Hunt

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In honor of the Centennial and led by art teacher Peg Williams, middle school students illustrated a USN version of the children’s book The Philharmonic Gets Dressed. USN’s take on the idea is called Who Are They? You can see a pdf of the book at usn.org/publications. Students who contributed artwork to the book: Lizzie Agee Burke Allen Becca Ashworth Bella Barocas Ramey Baynham Alyssa Belliford Pelham Bergesen Moniaka Bonds Zoe Boysen

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Ian Brash Ford Cannon Charlie Condon Ben Dykens-Hodapp Basil Egli John Farr Jonathan Ghertner Ryan Ghertner Susan Godwin, teacher

Conall Gorman Ashleigh Grindon Rebecca Harwood Jude Hoekstra Moses Hummon Jessie Isherwood Annie Jacobs Max Kleiner Jessica Kuchtey

Olivia Leu D.J. Lewis Brian Li Daniel Lutes Isabella Lutes Sam Mabry Mia Pretorius Lane Prichard Tyler Schoenecker

Jordyn Sheats Conner Thompson Waverly Tibbott Joshua Twillie Brenner Womack Elias Woolsey Lillian Worley Eric Yalowitz Max Yazdian

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Gideon Yu ’89

Greg Downs ’89

Amy Kurland ’73

Jim Coddington ’70 Photos by Kimberly Manz

Panels Conclude Centennial Speaker Series

Many of those enjoying the sunshine, music and games on the field at the Centennial birthday celebration took the time to come inside to hear two panels. The first brought together four former Distinguished Alumni for a wide-ranging discussion. Jim Coddington ’70, Agnes Gund Chief Conservator, Metropolitan Museum of Modern Art; Amy Kurland ’73, founder of the Bluebird Cafe in Nashville; Greg Downs ’89, awardwinning fiction writer and historian; Gideon Yu ’89, former CFO of Facebook and YouTube, co-owner and former president of the San Francisco 49ers, co-founder and CEO of EVA Automation.

Former USN directors Harvey Sperling (1979-1990) and Ed Costello (1990-1999) joined Vince Durnan to discuss “The Challenges of Each Decade: USN Directors Past and Present.” It was the first time this group had been together. usn.org/publications

Michael Puett ’82, the Walter C. Klein Professor of Chinese History at Harvard University and the 2012 PDS/USN Distinguished Alumnus, began the Centennial birthday celebration weekend with a Thursday afternoon talk at University School. His lively discussion of “China’s Relevance for American Education” revealed why Harvard students flock to his classes.

Ed Costello

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Harvey Sperling

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CLASS NOTES 1940 Several years ago we had a story about Conrad Jamison, who died in World War II. Thorunn McCoy, eighth grade English teacher at USN, co-wrote an article about him called “The Brief Life of a Tennessee Naturalist” for the Tennessee Conservationist. Recently someone came upon his grave in the American Cemetery in Luxembourg, googled “Conrad Jamison,” found the article, and sent Thorunn and her husband this picture.

1944 Cathy Jones Gaskill is self-publishing a book “about my mother’s success with the Kempner Rice Diet in vastly lowering her high blood pressure.”

1952 Mary Virginia Gooch Watson: a professional genealogist, teaches and conducts genealogy classes and workshops; a past staff member of the Tennessee State Library & Archives, served as the first Chairman of the Tennessee State Museum Association, now TSM Foundation; past President of the Middle Tennessee Genealogical Society and is the current President of the Tennessee State Library & Archives Friends group.

trips to Austria and Italy for many years. This year two of his classmates joined in, Terry Cobb and Shaun “Mike” Bennett. “We skied in the Kaiser-Brixental region of Austria and everyone survived.” The attached picture, taken in an igloo bar on the slopes, shows from left to right, Dennis Salisbury, Shaun “Mike” Bennett, and Terry Cobb. Terry is a neurosurgeon in Sacramento and Shaun is a retired educator living in Philadelphia.

1964 The Class of ’64 held a mini-reunion in honor of the PDS/USN 100th anniversary. Sandra Stone Merritt, Melinda and Mike Nixon, George and Shirley Hopton Cudabac, Irene and Al Lowe, and Walter White and Susan Hammonds-White gathered at the home of Nan Eisenstein Speller for a lovely evening.

Susan Hammonds-White is completing her second term as president of the American Association of State Counseling Boards. “I continue in private practice, working with couples and with trauma resolution, at my offices

near Vanderbilt. I loved spending the 100th birthday at PDS/USN and especially enjoyed seeing Heber Rogers!”

1965 Kenneth Jost has published Trending Toward #Justice, collected columns on the Supreme Court and legal affairs, 2005-2014. He continues to write the annual series Supreme Court Yearbook and the one-volume encyclopedia Supreme Court A to Z. His blog is Jost on Justice. He and his partner James Chang celebrated their 10th anniversary while attending Ken’s 50th high school reunion May 1-2.

1968 Charleen McMurray Dowling was sorry she missed seeing her cousins Tom and Ed Alexander at the school’s 100th birthday celebration.

The Alexanders were at the party because their grandfather Thomas Alexander was the school’s first director. As Charleen explains, Richard Thomas Alexander “started Peabody Demonstration School and he was married to my Grandmother’s sister. My Grandmother was Mildred Andrews McMurray and Richard Thomas Alexander’s wife was Grace Andrews Alexander.” Charleen’s father Matthew Charles McMurray graduated from PDS in 1936, and her brother Matt McMurray from USN in 1976. Her father’s brother George Howard McMurray also graduated from PDS.

1961 Dennis Salisbury, owner of Neptune Dive and Ski Shop in Nashville, has organized ski

(L. to R.) Dennis Salisbury, Shaun “Mike” Bennett, and Terry Cobb on an Austrian ski trip

Bob Rosenfeld has retired from his career as an ob/gyn in Mt. Vernon, Washington. He is “looking forward to travel (just got back from 3 weeks in Italy), golf (hope springs eternal for better scores), and fishing. My wife Becky continues to continued on page 44

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Remembering the 1940’s Inspired by the Centennial celebration, John Culley ’48 wrote down some of his memories of high school. Here are excerpts from his “thoughts on PDS during the middle and late 1940s”: Dances, few and far between, were big occasions. There was the Francis Craig orchestra and then the Owen Bradley orchestra.

portunity to go across the street to get a bowl of chili at the Krystal.

Dances started at 9 pm and were over at 1 am. Often they were held at the Belle Meade Country Club, less often at the Maxwell House or the Hermitage hotels. Some of the non-sorority girls formed an organization called the PLS. We never knew what it stood for but people joked about it meaning the Peabody Ladies Society.

Differences between then and now:

When I was in the 8th grade, I was in the art and shop class which was shepherded by Christine Slayden (Tibbott). I remember I broke a few of her bandsaw blades. In spite of that, she and I have been good friends for 70 years!

The big school dance each year was the prom. Each senior and date were presented on the stage and then would descend steps at center stage. After everyone had been presented, each couple would join another to make a foursome and process down the center of the room. The four would become eight in the “grand procession.” Christine Slayden (Tibbott) always came up with a creative theme. In 1947, it was an undersea motif. In 1948 it was a circus theme.

Sometimes there were autumn hayrides at the college’s Knapp Farm out on Elm Hill Pike.

Singing in the madrigal group was much fun. On a Saturday morning during Christmas season of 1945 we went downtown as carolers for the Fannie Battle Day Home. We sang in front of liquor stores and banks. We collected a lot of money for the day home, especially in front of the liquor stores.

In Miss Heath’s English class we had a great time acting out scenes from Julius Caesar.

Dr. Holden, our American history teacher, said, “Beware of the man with one book.”

The first time I ever had scallops was in the PDS cafeteria.

When the dismissal bell rang each day, some of us would go to the top of the hill to catch the bus in order to get on before the crowd.

On cold, snowy days, the buses were late. It was always an op-

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

First: All the people at the Dem School, students and faculty, were much alike. There were no “people of color” from Nashville or anywhere else in the world. There was no chance for give-and-take with people unlike ourselves.

Second: Most of the students were from what I would term “middle middle class” homes. Many students were children of VU, Peabody, and Scarritt College faculty and staff. I think the tuition at PDS was less than $150 per quarter.

Third: At the end of WWII large numbers of men and women had had their college education interrupted or delayed by the war.

During the summer sessions at the college there would be large tents set up on the mall between the Dem School and the SocialReligious Building. These were temporary class rooms filled with students who were older and maybe wiser than those from the usual just-out-of-high-school incoming class.

For a part of a year, my sophomore English class met with a college class. It was an experiment in creative writing that used magazine covers and other pictures for inspiration for stories.

One of the returned veterans offered his time to teach basic music theory to those who were interested enough to stay after school. I learned batches of music stuff I never knew existed.

One last memory of the connection with the college was at graduation.

The madrigal group was supposed to sing for the occasion, but only the seniors would be allowed to sing. The group was all seniors except for the two tenors. Mr. Charles Bryan, our music director, was an artist-in-residence at the college. He made a three-part arrangement of “Let My Song Fill Your Heart” for us to learn quickly. It was our final performance at PDS and quite meaningful for us.

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Class of ’70 Reunion party

quilt and runs the home with great efficiency.

Best to all of the great class of ’68.”

1970 Carol Norris Brown writes, “It was wonderful to see so many classmates and friends back for our class reunion and the big USN Birthday celebration.” At the party were Andy and Sherry Anderson, Valli Green Baldwin, Roselyn Baxter ’72, Cooper Beazley, Bob and Susan Brackin, Carl and Carol Norris Brown, Janet Clodfelter, Jim and Jan Coddington, Ellen Davis Dansky, Bruce Davis, Bill Freeman, Ben Fowler, Paul and Reisa George, Kathy Harrell, Fred Hinze, John Justice, Charlie Lutin, Clyde McCullough, Steve and Connie Meyer Newman, John Offutt, Julie Reichman and Mark Bergstrom, Daphne Smith—and a cameo visit from Vince Durnan.

“We missed those who could not make it this time—remember that our 50th is in the spring of 2020!”

Charlie Lutin has a new airplane, which he happily describes for those who understand

such things: “The aircraft is a single engine kitplane made of fiberglass, a Glasair Super II-FT manufactured as a kit by the GlasaiCompany in Arlington, WA. The engine and propeller are standard certified aircraft components: a 180 horsepower Lycoming engine and a Hartzell Constant Speed Propeller. The aircraft has over 75 flight hours on it now and has been released from its test flight program.

Cruise speed is 205 mph, useful load 900 pounds, fuel capacity 63 gallons, fuel burn 9.5 gph, range 1200 nautical miles. Aircraft is equipped for instrument flight. The aircraft has transatlantic range (with stops in Labrador, Greenland and Iceland) and I plan to fly it to Europe some time in the not too distant future.

Flight from Gainesville, Georgia (home base) to John C. Tune airport in Nashville took 1 hr + 9 minutes.”

1972 Yarrott Benz has written a “medical/family/ psychological memoir,” The Bone Bridge: A Brother’s Memoir, published by Dagmar Miura books. He says “the Dem School is described in great detail, and all positive, in the book.”

Helen Norris Baker writes that she “retired (for now, at least) in early April after 25 years of law practice, then promptly left for a month in Madrid with my husband, Roland, to study Spanish and enjoy the pleasures of Madrid.

We are now relocating from Chicago to Hilton Head, SC. Same email (helennbaker@yahoo. com). I would love to serve a drink on my deck to any USN folks in the area!”

1973 In April Jim McLaughlin married his partner of 28 years.

1974 Long-time Metro Councilman-at-large Ronnie Steine has been awarded Community Nashville’s prestigious 2015 Human Relations Award.

1975

Charlie Lutin with his new airplane

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Janet Huddleston was in town recently at the Donelson Farmer’s Market. She mentioned to a stallholder that she was jet lagged after the flight from New Zealand. He said there used to be a woman who spent half of her time in New Zealand and half of her time in Antarctica. She lifted her sunglasses and said “Would that be me?” and he said “Is your

The cover of Yarrott Benz’s book, The Bone Bridge, A Brother’s Memoir

name Janet?” It was Tom Bailey ’85, former USN alumni director, selling Professor Bailey’s spicy pimento cheese. Small world! Janet now spends part of the year working in Alaska at an eco lodge. www.campdenali.com

1977 Sarah Land White wrote and told us a romantic story: “In 1979 when I graduated from nursing school Steve Bagby’s mother was a nurse at Baptist on postpartum and she trained me. She introduced us and we dated for about four and half years. He was not ready for marriage so we split up. We were both married about 25 years and his wife passed away two years ago from breast cancer. My husband, David passed away suddenly mid-September.

We reconnected through Facebook and have fallen back in love. We are getting married on June 5! Sometimes when God closes a door he opens a window and this is the case.”

1979 Tinwings, the catering business started by Lee Ann Harrod Merrick, was featured in Style Blueprint recently.

1982 Betsy Lukens Mikes was sorry to miss reunion this year. She and her family, “big Ohio State fans,” are happy they live close to campus in Columbus. “I have a son graduating from Wittenberg University, a daughter who is a sophomore at Gettysburg College and playing on their nationally ranked lacrosse team, and a son finishing his 11th grade year (he also plays lacrosse). I volunteer at the Humane Society

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usn.org/alumni 1984 Mark Levine is “running for office again, this time for the Virginia State House.” He is running for Delegate for parts of Alexandria, Arlington, and Fairfax Counties. Information can be found at MarkforDelegate.com. “And I’d appreciate any support the USN alumni community can give,” he wrote before the June 9 election.

1985

Sarah Land White with her new husband Steve Bagby in a recent photo and one taken when they dated in high school

Arthur Tang and Paul Thompson

here where I usually walk dogs. With warm weather finally here I look forward to playing more outdoor tennis.”

Arthur Tang and Paul Thompson caught up with each other in Austin for a Tang family reunion. Arthur and Paul have been friends since first grade and reconnected at USN in their junior and senior year. Arthur lives in New York City and Paul in St. Augustine, Florida.

1983 Dana Levy now lives in Salt Lake City, Utah, after 15 years in Japan. Dana teaches alignment-based yoga locally at Avenues Yoga, while still managing FURLA yoga in Aoyama, Tokyo. She, her husband, Zach Smith, and son, Eli (11) are exploring Utah and loving the outdoor life.

Kim Collins has been working with pregnant, birthing and postpartum families for 14 years as DoulaMomma. Perhaps, because she is preparing to send her oldest son off to Ithaca College this fall, the timing seemed right to co-found a new, expanded business, MommaArts: Maternity by Design, in order to provide more comprehensive service and greater client continuity of care. MommaArts offers uniquely crafted services to meet individual needs for families from pre-conception through the first year and beyond, with education, birth doula support, lactation, postpartum support, perinatal mental health and more.

Kim is thrilled to now also be able to work with clients virtually. Visit her new baby, born on Mother’s Day, at MommaArts.com

1988 A children’s CD that Celeste Snow Shepherd and her brother Stirling Snow ’96 worked on won a 2015 Parents’ Choice Recommendation Award. Celeste sang background vocals on the album and her company, Celebelle, did all the graphic design work and marketing for the CD. Stirling drew the cover art illustration and is the drummer on the album.

1989 Greg Downs has a new book out, After Appomattox: Military Occupation and the Ends of War, published by Harvard University Press. A chapter from it appeared in The New York Times in April. He appeared on the Distinguished Alumni panel at the Centennial birthday party.

1991 Sibley Edwards Kelly is “excited and a little sad to see my dear friends and coworkers Gil Chilton and Grace Melchiore retire this month. Both were our teachers in 1985, my first year at USN in the 7th grade, and both have been mentors and friends to me these 16

Sibley Edwards Kelly with her honey

years I’ve been here teaching. They are such patient teachers who respect the differences in students and honor this profession. I think I’ve traveled for over 4 months in all with them on student trips over the years—to DC, Spain, Puerto Rico and Costa Rica. Congratulations to them!”

My husband and I have tried out beekeeping for a year, and this past weekend we had our first honey harvest. It’s a sticky mess and lots of fun to spin those frames of honey. We ended up with 14 quarts - about 40 pounds! Looking forward to summer!

1992 Jenny Boucek has been named head coach of the WNBA’s Seattle Storm.

1993 Annelise Werme writes that last year, “on the 21st anniversary of my graduation from USN, my sister (Ceacy Amanda Werme Hagler ’99) and I together graduated from Mind Body Institute and are now Licensed Massage Therapists. This is the first step in pursuing so much more that I am interested in in natural health and Eastern medicine. I’m loving the privilege of taking care of people. Currently I am working at a spa in Murfreesboro, Bombshells, while I gain experience and continue my studies. It was a delightful surprise to discover that my former classmates John Hickman ’94 and Rayna Mazer Hinson ’94 also graduated from MBI and are fellow therapists, too!” continued on next page

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usn.org/alumni n already very protective of her.

They are all growing so fast and are keeping mom and dad very busy!

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Though we included the announcement of Jessica Lingo’s ’03 wedding in May 2014, we left out the USN alumni photo. “From left to right: Emily McGrew (one of my bridesmaids), Mollie (Shmerling) Perry, Bobby Perry, Alex Bissell, me, Joe Schneider, Jana Friedman, and Carter Glasscock. Miranda Merrick [’08] was also in attendance (and is engaged to my cousin!).” The couple met in law school at Northwestern.

1995 Jeff Jenkins is moving to Austin with his wife Chrissy and two kids Avery & Beau. He’ll head up Global Digital Strategy and Marketing for Whole Foods.

1996 The Saturday Night Live documentary that Sarah Cowperthwaite helped produce, “Live From New York!” opened this year’s Tribeca Film Festival. It was released in theaters nationwide on June 12.

Sarah writes, “Go to livefromnewyorkmovie. com to see where it’s playing or request it in your hometown via TUGG! We were honored to be part of the Nashville Film Festival last month. My filmmaking team was so impressed by the turnout from my USN classmates, faculty and staff. ‘I just met your middle school drama teacher!’ - Our creator/producer about the one and only Gus Gillette.”

Zach Smith has lots of news. “Moved to Phoenix in 2013 for a job with American Express.

Working with their HPC Big Data group as Lead Technical Architect. Recently completed a Rim to Rim hike of the Grand Canyon—South Rim to North Rim, 26 miles in one day. Certified as a Wilderness First Responder in 2014, which allowed me to volunteer as a PSAR Ranger in the Grand Canyon. Recently found the love of my life, bought a house in Chandler, Arizona, and planning to get married.”

1997 Richard Bovender and his wife Sara are are proud to announce the birth of their third child, Amelia Sarah. Her big brothers, twins Hunter and Everett, love having a baby sister and are

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Claire Meneely’s new brick and mortar location of her popular Dozen Bakery was featured in The Tennessean and reviewed by the Nashville Scene.

2001

Katherine Spitz Hale writes that her baby, William Ford Hale, “is the first grandchild on the Spitz side of the family and has tons of love and support from all!”

USN alumni at Annie Schleicher’s wedding

2002 Whitney Kemper has moved to Nagoya, Japan and “would love to meet up with any other USN alumni or students who are also in the area.”

In May Anne Wilson was graduated from Vanderbilt Medical School.

A show of Cammie Staros’ sculpture was favorably reviewed in The Los Angeles Times in May. “Staros, based in L.A., earned her MFA from California Institute of the Arts in 2011. Crackling fresh, her work is yet deeply rooted in art history and material culture.”

Grant and Erin Garmezy with a friend at their wedding

2003 Grant Garmezy married his “best friend Erin Neff on Lydia Mountain in Stanardsville, Virginia. It was a beautiful wedding and my brother (Alex Garmezy ’06) was my best man and longtime USN friend Jeremy Griffey ’03 was one of my groomsmen. My sister Sara Garmezy ’13 was one of Erin’s bridesmaids.”

His career is going well: he was invited to show his glass art at the prestigious SOFA Expo (Sculpture Objects Functional Art and Design Fair) in Chicago; received the Rosenberg Residency from Salem State University in Glassblowing for four weeks in July; received the “10 under 10” award from Virginia Commonwealth University. “In late January I’ve been invited to teach an advanced glass class at the Corning Museum of Glass in Corning, New York,” and he will teach abroad next sum-

mer at the Glass Furnace in Istanbul and at the Cesty Skla Center in Prague Czech Republic.

2005 Becca Noel has finished her first year of vet school and is in Arizona completing an externship in radiation oncology. She says that Lynleigh ’07 graduated from law school and will start working this fall.

When Zach Wexler marries Perry Del Favero in October, Jason Eskind will be a groomsman.

2006 Sarah Carl finished her Ph.D. in Genetics from the University of Cambridge in December, “and I’ve moved to Basel, Switzerland to start

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Elisabeth Gillette

a new job as a computational biologist at the Friedrich Miescher Institute. I’m excited to explore a new country and city—my biggest challenge at the moment is learning German!”

2007 At Vanderbilt Medical School’s graduation this year, Shyam Deshpande received the Founder’s Medal for the top student of 2015.

According to the VU website, Shyam “received the Amos Christie Award (awarded to the graduating student who has ‘demonstrated the outstanding qualities of scholarship and humanity embodied by the ideal pediatrician’), and was recognized by his classmates with the Canby Robinson Society ‘Ideal Physician’ award.” He will complete his residency in pediatrics at Boston Children’s Hospital, planning to pursue a career in pediatric critical care medicine.”

Beth Green was recognized as one of 22 honors society recipients among the 2015 graduates of Vanderbilt Medical School, along with Shyam and Jana Bregman ’06.

T.J. Ducklo, who spent the past year working on the DC 2024 campaign, is moving over to Viacom as senior manager of corporate communications in New York City.

Henry Gottfried with his parents Roy Gottfried and Mary Stevens when he performed as Pippin at TPAC

2009 Ricky Coleman, who graduated this year from Cumberland College, signed a contract with the Washington Wild Things, a Frontier League baseball team in Pennsylvania.

Elisabeth Gillette ’06 and Olek Lorenc, May 16, 2015

Henry Gottfried was understudy for “Lewis” and “Pippin” in the national touring production of Pippin. In March he performed the lead role in Nashville at TPAC.

Rujan and Gabrien Symons ’93, a daughter, Raema, December 15, 2014

2011 In May three alumni from USN’s Brutal Grassburn/Ultimate Frisbee teams met at the USA Ultimate DIII College Championships in Rockford, Illinois. Maybe there were more, but these were the names sent to us by the mother of one of the boys: Andrew Bridgers ’13 (Middlebury, 12 Seed), Mikeie Reiland ’11 (Davidson, one of Senior Co-Captains, 13 Seed), Will Shaw ’11 (Lewis & Clark, Team Co-Captain, 4 Seed).

WEDDINGS

Sara and Richard Bovender ’97, a daughter, Amelia Sarah, January 27, 2015 Becca Prahl and Ben Fundis ’97, a son, Oscar Louis, January 28, 2015 William and Katherine Spitz Hale ’01, a son, William Ford, February 2, 2015 Eric ’97 and Rachel Buxkamper Appelt ’01, a daughter, Sophia Margret, and a son, Jacob Alexander, November 10, 2014 Matt and Tobey Beaver Balzer ’02, a son, Steven Matthew, June 5, 2015

Jim McLaughlin ’73 and Vincent Bechler, April, 2015 Sarah Land White ’77 and Steve Bagby, June 5, 2015

2008

Annie Schleicher ’01 and Jenn Brinn, June 6, 2015

Jared Stillman has returned to Nashville to co-host a sports talk show, The Game Nasville, on 94.9 FM2 weekday mornings from 6-9:00.

Grant Garmezy ’03 and Erin Neff, September 6, 2014

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BIRTHS

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usn.org/alumni IN MEMORIAM Dottie Lightman Mintz ’37 Jane Roberts McKay ’37 Jean Clark Luton Chitwood ’45 Walter Courtenay ’52 Carol Ann Hunt McElwain ’62 Jeff Redmile ’63 Randy Dozier ’65

Katherine Spitz Hale’s son William Ford Hale

Raema Symons, Gabe’s daughter

David Schweid ’66 William Neely McCrary ’67 (died in 2012) Teresa Miller Johnson ’70 (died in 2011) Hartwig Arenstorf ’77

To read obituaries of most of these alumni, visit usn.org/publications.

Eric and Rachel Buxkamper Appelt’s twins Jacob and Sophia

Oscar Fundis, Ben’s son

Please email cculpepper@usn.org or call Connie Culpepper at 615-321-8011 to share your thoughts on anything in this magazine.

Fan us at facebook.com/USN.PDS

Stevie Balzer, son of Tobey Beaver Balzer

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Follow us on Twitter: @USN_PDS and @USN_Sports

Amelia Bovender, Richard’s baby girl

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1,783 donors designated their Annual Fund gift to the areas where USN has made its most significant commitments:

USN’s highest priorities for the year n Faculty Development n Need-Based Financial Aid n Academic Programming n Visual and Performing Arts n Athletics and Lifelong Wellness n Campus and Environmental Wellness n

The Annual Fund helps us seize every opportunity for our students. It’s an important way for you to be a part of our commitment to academic excellence and putting our students and teachers first. Your gift contributes every day to our innovative programs and inspiring teachers.

For more information, contact Annual Fund Director Sam Jackson at sjackson@usn.org.

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MAKE PLANS TO JOIN US FOR APRIL 15-16, 2016 usn.org/reunion for more information

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