Winter 2015
IN THIS ISSUE A Picture of Student Life Alumni Profile: Norm Jones G’88, ’92 Philanthropy Anatomy of a Classroom
By Alexandra S. Thurstone G ’80, ’84, Head of School
A Picture of Student Life
I want to share with you a picture of student life in each of our divisions from this first semester.
Each grade, beginning with JK, also chooses and plans its own service-learning project each year. As one example, the four-person JK class held a coat drive and these four mighty souls collected over 100 coats to donate to the Keystone Learning Academy in Louisville’s West End. Wyvern Report
At the High School, we have started a number of new activities over the last few years. On the sports front, we added a girls’ bowling team a few years ago and a boys’ team following that; we started boys’ golf last year and, with a single female golfer, a girls’ team this year; and we began offering swimming this year for students who already swim competitively and have their own coaches, so that they can compete for the Wyverns in meets this year. The Theatre program at the High School continues to thrive, as we just completed our fall play, Sarah Ruhl’s Dead Man’s Cell Phone, which has the hilarious premise of a woman who encounters a dead stranger in a cafe and takes his cell phone because she feels obligated to tie up loose ends for him. The long-standing Showcase of Student-Written and -Directed Plays will once again be produced the first weekend in March this year. The SFS improv troupe, Currently Out of Order, started its third season with a bang this fall and continues to perform at The Bard’s Town on weekends throughout the year (check the school’s website for dates, and make reservations with the Bard’s Town if interested, as the shows always sell out). The team specializes in short-form improv games such as freeze tag, historical interview, SportsCenter, and party quirks, and experiments with different styles of improv as well. One of our newer student groups is the QSA or Queer/Straight Alliance, which sponsored St. Francis’s first Transgender Week in November. They showed a movie (Tomboy, an award-winning French film with English subtitles), and brought in a panel from T*STAR (Trans and Sexuality Advocacy Teaching Research), a University of Louisville organization. This week was primarily studentplanned and included commemoration of the National Transgender Day of Remembrance, held in memory of those who have lost their lives due to prejudice and hatred. The week also included relevant poems read by students in Morning Meeting each day. The week was a wonderfully supportive act for our transgender students, as well as significant for the education and information of our student body on an important topic in this nation today. To wrap up the High School section, I’ll share some of the curricular electives we are offering this year: I Dream of Kurdistan (Dean of Faculty Ralph Marshall’s history course on the world’s largest ethnicity without a nation to call their own), Vertebrate Zoology and Anatomy and Physiology (David Word’s science electives), Visible Language and Babylon (Benjamin Studevent-Hickman’s courses on the origins of language and on ancient Babylon’s history and legacy; Benjamin primarily teaches Physics but has a Ph.D in Assyriology), Reading and
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Writing Poetry (taught by veteran English teacher Cia White), Constitutional Law (taught by history teacher and attorney Trent Apple ’92), Contemporary World (taught by the illustrious Tom Miron), Gender Studies (taught by new French teacher Ann Healy, continuing a longstanding SFS tradition), and Film Studies and Visual Narrative (both taught by Brett Paice). Interesting happenings on the Goshen Campus include the fact that there is an active Lower School Student Council consisting of elected representatives from 2nd, 3rd and 4th grades. The representatives lead the once-a-week Lower School Morning Meeting, which is just about as adorable as it gets. If you ever need cheering up, join us on a Tuesday morning at 8:10 a.m. In addition, the LS Student Council
also leads a service activity every year; this year, they chose to help the St. John Center for homeless men located in downtown Louisville. Each grade, beginning with JK, also chooses and plans its own service-learning project each year. As one example, the four-person JK class held a coat drive and these four mighty souls collected over 100 coats to donate to the Keystone Learning Academy in Louisville’s West End. Intrinsic to the Goshen Campus are our garden and critters, managed by Garden Coordinator Christine Brinkmann, who also works at Slow Food Bluegrass. One of the programs she runs is coordinating school families to care for our bunnies and chickens over the weekends and school breaks. We now have an automatic solar-paneled door for the chickens’ coop so they can go out in their yard when the sun is up.
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Projects are a time-honored tradition at Goshen, but there’s a new addition to the offerings this year, from MS science teacher Jason Chlopek: Muggle Quidditch. As you can imagine, the kids love it, and a group was even featured in a recent Courier-Journal article (http://www.courier-journal.com/ story/news/local/oldham/2014/10/16/muggle-quidditchtakes-flight-st-francis/17378221/). Another special program in the Middle School is the Peace Education Program, coordinated by Counselor Julie Marks. Peace Education is a local organization that has been working since 1982 to help children learn to constructively resolve conflict. Our 6th graders learn to be “cooperative game leaders” and then work with our Lower School students during Lead/Advisee time after Holiday Break. By working with the younger students, the 6th graders improve their leadership skills and use fun games to help teach the Lower School students important skills such as communication, cooperation, and observation. 8th graders complete training in peer mediation and are ready in January to lead our Peer Mediation Program. This program provides younger students with the opportunity to have a team of 8th graders help them find solutions to their problems.
Wyvern Report
Over the course of the training, the 8th graders learn about conflict styles, communication skills, and conflict resolution. Finally, a continued highlight of the Middle School is the Outdoor Education Program. Our 5th graders travel to the Red River Gorge in the Daniel Boone National Forest to study the region’s geography. The 6th grade spends a week at the Pine Mountain Settlement School in eastern Kentucky where they study biology and explore Appalachia. 7th graders travel to Mammoth Cave National Park and camp and explore the caves. And the capstone outdoor experience for a St. Francis Middle Schooler is the 8th grade backpacking trip to the Big South Fork National River and Recreation Area. This “no-frills” trip involves carrying all one’s food and gear, cooking their own meals and purifying water - all while leaving “no trace!” However, it’s the bonding among classmates and lessons gained around the campfires at night that may be the true highlight of the trip. Finally, moving to the Preschool, our little ones benefit from one of the most enriching Preschool programs in the country. They get Music and Movement classes, which also give them
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the opportunity for public performances in monthly “Big Sings”. Preschoolers also get to experience regular time in the Goshen library, as well as time in our beautiful new Gym. They also have access to our 64 acres, including gardening projects. This year the 2s, 3s, 4s, Junior Kindergartners, and Kindergartners had fun picking pumpkins and touring the garden. They also helped build our compost with leaves! Finally, one of the most popular activities of the year is the beloved Transportation Day. For the first time, this was held on the Goshen Campus this year in the Gym parking lot, and children got to explore and investigate fabulous vehicles, including a boat, a TARC bus, a cement truck, a police car, a fire truck, and a Kroger truck, among others. A good time was had by all and we can’t wait til next year.
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By Síofra Rucker G’84, Director of Advancement
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The word philanthropy comes from the Greek philía + anthropos, meaning love + human being. Philanthropy is more than writing a check, it is also volunteering, community building, and helping move a project forward. Wyvern Report
With the completion of our Goshen Gymnasium, the first major phase of our Capital Campaign, we now turn our focus to our next project - on our Downtown Campus. As we continue to grow, our Board of Trustees is working to acquire the additional commercial space in the front of the 233 W Broadway Bldg. (some 17,000 square feet), which includes some of the most beautiful space in the building for our High School students. One of the best parts about potentially acquiring this space is that it would return to us the Main Entrance to our building on Broadway, and therefore have a big impact on the School’s visibility in Downtown Louisville. Part of our due diligence before acquiring this additional space was to ensure that it would indeed be a useful and impactful addition to the High School Campus. To that end, our students, faculty, staff, and Trustees met with Lake|Flato Architects in December to discuss how best to use the space. We began by dreaming big – really, really big, with no budget constraints. Then we came
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back to earth and began to prioritize needs and consider appropriate phasing that will help us take the next right step towards enhancing the student experience in high school. We believe that acquiring this space will allow us to accomplish many of the goals we had for the planned Multi-Purpose space, envisioned in the current parking lot, (except the Gym, of course) and that we will therefore be able to accomplish those goals much sooner. Lake|Flato will be coming back to us with their recommendations in the next few months and we hope to announce those specific plans this spring/summer. Following that project, we will turn our attention to the Goshen Campus Theater/Main Lobby Renovation and then back Downtown for our Gymnasium. Throughout our Campaign, we continue to support our Scholarship Endowment.
The word philanthropy comes from the Greek philĂa + anthropos, meaning love + human being. Philanthropy is more than writing a check; it is also volunteering, community building, and helping move a project forward. We are lucky to have an incredible group of volunteers at St. Francis that helps us with everything, including covering the front desk, serving lunch, feeding the chickens, keeping score at basketball games, selling Wyvern gear, and much more. We have also had two Family Work Days this year, the first to help install our Preschool playground this summer and the second to work in the raised bed gardens this fall.
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Norm Jones G’88, ’92
Describe your career after leaving St. Francis: I attended Morehouse College, having made a conscious decision to attend an HBCU (Historically Black College or University) because I wanted to be in a learning environment and community where I was not “the only” or “one of few” people of color. That four-year experience provided a context which sparked my interest in diversity and inclusion. After completing a Master’s of Public Administration from Penn State University, while serving as Special Assistant to the Superintendent of Schools in Harrisburg, PA, I decided to break into higher education, having been pursued by Dickinson College to come and run its judicial affairs office in 2001. Doing student “discipline” in a college environment gave me a real appreciation for the learning process. The out-of-classroom experience qualifies as an educative process because it teaches us how to live civilly in community and understand democracy. I joined the Harvard community last year as its first Associate Chief Diversity Officer and Deputy Director with responsibilities to oversee the day-to-day operation of the Office of the Assistant to the President for Institutional Diversity and Equity.
Norm holds a Ph.D. in workforce education and development and an M.A in public administration from Penn State and a B.A. in English and linguistics from Morehouse College in Atlanta. He is currently the Associate Chief Diversity Officer and Deputy Director at Harvard. Wyvern Report
What stands out about your time at St. Francis? One of the most memorable aspects of my St. Francis experience was the extent to which I discovered my responsibility for learning. I’m not referring to just the level of rigor in the classroom, but to the very nature of what a collegeprep experience aspires to provide. I remember having to prioritize free periods, and make choices about lunch in or out (and the money management associated with that), and decide how I would approach particular conversations with teachers. These were “grown up” choices that many of my peers in other schools (for various reasons) were not having to make. I gained perspective as an independent thinker at St. Francis. I remember getting feedback in my English composition book that had everything to do with the importance of substantiating my perspective. Not questioning my perspective, but compelling me to be thoughtful about owning it. Can you name a specific teacher who particularly influenced you? I hate to start listing people of influence because the truth is that I gained a great deal from every single teacher at St. Francis – even those with whom I never took a class. But I would be remiss if I didn’t acknowledge the profound impact that Debbie Bottoni had on me. Ms. Bottoni held me to an uncharted standard. I was an average student with average grades. But the work I produced in her class was always above average. I didn’t understand
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Note to Alumni Parents: If you are receiving mail that is addressed to your son or daughter who no longer resides at home, please notify Callie Gray in the Alumni Office, CGray@StFrancisSchool.org, of his/her contact information, including mailing address, email address, and/or cell phone, so we can keep him/her in the loop on Wyvern happenings.
those grades to necessarily represent my capability. I saw those grades as outliers, exceptions. She thought otherwise, and told me as much (more than once!). Taking French with Debbie Bottoni was probably my earliest memory of seeing myself as capable of producing high-quality work and understanding that the production of that work was tied to something greater than a grade. I was honored to be the recipient of a book scholarship in her daughter’s memory because it reminded me that hard work is really about positioning oneself to be of use and service to others. In what way was your time at St. Francis a determinant of your career path? As is the case with many (probably most) students, my educational and career trajectories have been anything but linear. I would say that St. Francis helped me learn more about the way I think and more about my curricular passions. I liked English. I was pretty good at English. I spoke English and… I majored in English. What I discovered retrospectively is that writing as an acquired skill will delineate you as a particular kind of scholar. I had several classes at St. Francis that exposed a critical gap between my ability to speak and my ability to write. Throughout my career, I have been hyper-focused on appreciating writing as its own medium not just a written version of the spoken word. The two are not mutually exclusive but stand on their own merits. Whether I’m writing persuasively, technically, in summary, or prose, I can recall opportunities to explore each of these “styles” across the high school curriculum. This continues to serve me well. I started my job at Harvard just 12 days after my mother passed away. I can say beyond a shadow of a doubt that in addition to Morehouse and Penn State, she would credit St. Francis School and St. Francis High School as engines that laid a very solid foundation for my viability in the workforce. My job at Harvard is about transforming organizational culture and helping communities examine their own juxtaposition to contemporary landscapes in the context of historical realities. My time and experience at St. Francis has allowed me to do this work.
What are you currently working on? While at Dickinson, I founded an organization called MANdatory. It is an academic enrichment and leadership development program for men of color. If you follow the discourse around engagement of men in college and men of color in particular, the commentary is often about deficits: financial deficits, engagement deficits, cognitive deficits, etc. With the exception of athletics and certain dimensions of the entertainment industry, the culture is full of negative messages about men of color and success. I founded MANdatory to provide a space wherein men of color negotiating a predominantly white learning and social environment could process their experience in the context of identity (be it racial, socio-economic, or whatever felt “exposed”). Over 50 men have matriculated through the program and it has transformed the way Dickinson frames notions of equity and access as it relates to men of color and their membership in the academic enterprise. I’m working on an article that tells this story and offers a model for colleges and universities to engage men of color in a different space, a space that is about success and rigor as opposed to survival and retention. Other than that, I am preparing to teach in Penn State’s first online Master’s in Organization Development and Change program. I’m passionate about all forms of education, from the Ivies to community colleges and virtual learning - so it’s important to me that I remain connected to various communities of practice in the field of education. How do you define success? I define success as the intersection of what makes one happy and what makes one a commodity. I have never defined success in the context of money but I do think there is an element of “return” that illustrates or measures the extent to which we are successful. To be a commodity is to be of value and to be valued. I think we know we are successful when we can establish our value outside of ourselves. To be seen or considered valuable by another is, at its very core, a pure definition of success.
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A Recap of the High School production of Dead Man’s Cell Phone By Rachael Dobring
Congratulations to the cast and crew of this year’s High School Fall Play, Dead Man’s Cell Phone! The play by Sarah Ruhl had a two-night run December 5th and 6th at the Downtown Campus. Dead Man’s Cell Phone is a surrealist play that examines how technology unites and isolates society. Ruhl takes the smallest and most trivial things in life and charges them with meaning. This is a play about discovery through remembering, and about how remembering changes us. The production was influenced greatly by the teachings of director and SITI company founder Anne Bogart. Students studied Bogart’s viewpoints, which teach actors to have greater awareness and enable them to express their impulses spontaneously through movement. Bogart directed the Broadway production of this play, so it felt right to incorporate her teachings into our rehearsal. As Bogart so eloquently states, “I want an artistic explosion. Our present high-technology lifestyle demands a theatre experience that cannot be satisfied by video and movie screens. I want acting that is poetic and personal, intimate and colossal. I want to encourage the kind of humanity on the stage that demands attention and that expresses who we are suggests that life is bigger.” This was our goal throughout this production and I enjoyed working on it with such dedicated students of theatre. Please mark your calendars for our Spring Showcase of New Plays (student-written, -acted, and -directed) on March 6th and 7th!
A Recap of the Goshen production of Fools By Reed Gabhart
In November, the SFS Drama Project wrapped up our fall play, a whimsical production of Neil Simon’s Russian fable, Fools. 27 Middle School students were involved in this over-the-top silly romp in which the 1890s village of Kulyenchikov has been cursed with monumental stupidity for over 200 years. An energetic schoolteacher arrives to educate the town doctor’s daughter, falls in love (what else?), and boldly tries to educate her and break the curse. This leads to an evening of zany malapropisms, puns, and verbal misdirection that had our audiences in stitches. Sprinkled in with the inanity was some actual wisdom – and some heartfelt romance. Our students loved working on this show. Lon Church and I double-cast all the roles but three, which reflects the SFS Drama Project philosophy of endeavoring to get more kids involved in theater, rather than trying to winnow the field down to the “best possible cast.” The students appreciate being challenged, hone their acting skills, grow as an ensemble learning to rely and trust one another – and who doesn’t love a Russian accent??
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Ed Gupton Saturday, October 25, 2014 was a bittersweet day for the St. Francis community as many past and present teachers, former students, and, of course, family members paid their respects to Ed Gupton at his memorial service in New Albany. Mr. Gupton was a true St. Francis legend who taught Ed Gupton French for over 30 years as part of his overall 42-year teaching career. He will forever be revered as the founder of the St. Francis Drama Project, which flourishes to this day. Many paid tribute to Ed’s demanding teaching style, the high standards he set, and the profound impact he had on so many students’ lives. It was a truly wonderful celebration of a life and vocation lived and carried out to the utmost. “I speak for myself, and I’m sure many others, when I say that Ed had to see what was in me first before I could ever fully realize it myself. There will never be anyone else like him; there will never be a teacher so profound with such an indelible legacy that both ignited the creative imagination in children and taught them to soar and aspire to seemingly impossible, but extraordinary, adult dreams. Even now, after productions of my work in New York, I will subconsciously look beyond the crowd in the lobby hoping to see him, looking for his sign of approval, wanting his confirmation that my work is meaningful, important, and, yes, made of the magic he introduced me to so many years ago.” Drew Larimore G’98 His years of service will be recognized on a brick in our Alumni Walkway. A framed picture of Ed, taken when he came to see his last St. Francis production just last spring, will be hung in the theater. And, as we continue in our Capital Campaign efforts to raise funds for the renovation of our main lobby and theater (backstage area, Ed!), his legacy will surely be remembered. Lastly, the Drama Project Award we have presented on Class Day since 1998 will be renamed The Edward G. Gupton Memorial Drama Award and it will be bestowed for the first time this May on Class Day. Bravo, Mr. Gupton.
Jared Casey
Nick Spaulding
Jared Casey Jared Casey ’02 passed away on Saturday, October 11, 2014. Jared is survived by his parents, Thomas Casey and Patricia Cleary, and his two brothers, Chandler and Sean. After graduating from St. Francis in 2002, Jared completed his undergraduate studies at Boston University, and received a master’s in psychology from West Chester University. A memorial was hosted in the Sacred Space at St. Francis by Jared’s former basketball coach, teacher, and mentor Mike Gandolfo, who still kept in touch with Jared. Mike is working to create a St. Francis scholarship fund in Jared’s honor and a plaque will be installed in the Sacred Space. Jared will be greatly missed by the St. Francis community. Nick Spaulding Nick Spaulding G ’06 passed away in December. He was a valued member of the St. Francis community – a fierce competitor on the soccer field and a gentle soul off the field. He was a graduate of Trinity High School and Transylvania University, where he earned a bachelor’s degree in accounting. Nick was taken from us far too soon. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.
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New Wyverns Nat Grauman G’81,’85 and Marina Sinichenko had a baby boy, Roger Phillip Grauman, on September 5th Gaby Perez ’09 and Edwin O’Bannon had a baby boy, Zavier Alejandro O’Bannon, on August 8th Orlando Grimany Calas ’06 and Emily Grimany had a baby girl, Sofia Maria Grimany, on October 4th
Marriages & Engagements Laura Goldsmith ’01 married Wesley Burt on August 30th Alice Cutler ’95 married Vincent Toscano on July 26th Summer Wilkie ’99 married Sean Mahoney on November 1st. Rushka Tcholakova ’02 married Michael Bulzomi on October 11th Marianna Kiselev ’03 married Kevin Grenning on October 18th.
If you are not receiving emails from the school, update your contact information by emailing Callie Gray, Director of Alumni Relations, CGray@StFrancisSchool.org.
Wyvern Report
Adam Sachs G’84, ’88 former editorial director of popular culinary website Tasting Table, took over as Saveur magazine’s new editor-in-chief on October 6th. Brad Green G’02, ’06 is now electronics design engineer at GE Energy Management Griffin Cote G’08, ’12 is doing some incredible work in his sophomore year at Centre College. He is part of a team synthesizing ways to improve the ability to fight off bacterial infection and has synthesized two compounds now named after him. Alex Vouga G’05, ’09 was a part of a research study recently published in the British Journal of Pharmacology. Alex graduated from Dickinson College and is now a first-year biomedical sciences Ph.D. student at Temple University. Elizabeth Denny G’05, ’09 who was previously the Enrichment Director at the Goshen Campus, is now doing AmeriCorps NPRC at the American Red Cross, Southeastern Pennsylvania Chapter as a social worker. Lizzy is continuing her education in the Post-Baccalaureate Studies program at the University of Pennsylvania’s College of Liberal and Professional Studies. Napo Matsoso ’13 now a sophomore at the University of Kentucky, is making a name for himself after the UK soccer team’s impressive season. Though the season is over, Napo stood out when selected as an all-Conference USA First Team midfielder. Cole Jordan G’09, ’13 scored the game-winning goal eight minutes into overtime, giving Centre College a 2-1 win over Lynchburg College in the first round of the NCAA Division III Field Hockey Tournament. The win took Centre to the second round of the tournament. This fall Malissa Taylor G’89, ’93 guest-lectured during Tom Miron’s Contemporary World class, which examines a number of contemporary global, national, and local issues from a causes, practices, and effects perspective. Malissa graduated from Princeton University with an A.B. in Near Eastern Studies, from New York University with an M.A. in Near Eastern Studies, and later from the University of California, Berkeley with a PhD in Middle East History. Needless to say, the students were enthralled and inspired by Malissa’s lecture on the current situation in Syria. Malissa has been the recipient of many fellowships, grants, scholarships and awards, including fellowships from the Fulbright-Hays Commission and the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. Malissa joined the faculty at the University of Louisville in 2012 and she is kept busy by her infant twins.
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Wyverns in NYC:
On December 14th, over 40 Wyverns gathered at Von Bar in the East Village in New York City. This annual “Wyverns in New York” event is in its 9th year and was hosted by Kareem Bunton ’91, Devin Emke G’84,’88, Rob Kemp G’85,’89, Adam Sachs G’84,’88, Bill Schreiber G’84,’88, and Charley Miller ’96. A wide range of alumni turned out, from the Class of 1984 to the most recent Class of 2014, in addition to school attendees College Counselor Kit Llewellyn, Head of School Alexandra Thurstone G’80, ’84 and Director of Advancement Siofra Rucker G’84. We are glad that the strong sense of SFS community permeates its way all the way to the Big Apple and are happy the event exists to reconnect alumni and to continue the Wyvern network in the big city. Thank you to all who took time out of their Sundays to come; we look forward to next year! Keep in touch! Want to visit? We love to reintroduce alumni to the school. If you have any ideas that you think would appeal to alumni or are interested in checking out what we have going on, email Alumni Coordinator, Callie Gray at CGray@ StFrancisSchool.org.
Wyvern Pop Ups! What: Alum-hosted, small casual gathering of Wyverns somewhere outside of Louisville. How: When two or more Wyverns gather together, we will buy the first round. Simply sign up with the Wyvern Alumni office, we send some Wyvern swag to the event and once we receive a write-up and photos of this Wyvern Pop-Up, we will reimburse the host for the first round or two! Interested? Contact Callie Gray at CGray@StFrancisSchool.org. Wyverns from Class of ’83 to ’14 gathered at The Silver Dollar for our Holiday Party
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“our good earth” 2014-15
This elegant farm-to-table dinner and live auction, held on October 11, 2014, on the Goshen Campus connected food, farms and community to support the School’s athletics and extracurricular programming for students Preschool through High School. The event was moved at the last minute into the brand-new Gymnasium and play shelter area of the campus, due to the weather. However, the weather held off and the evening was an enormous success! We couldn’t have done it without the support of so many. Thank you! Chair: Kim Diamond Vice-Chair: Denise Ragland Honorary Chairs: Nina & Ned Bonnie Dace & King Stubbs Presenting Sponsors: Brown-Forman Corporation Buffalo Construction, Inc. Platinum Level Sponsors: Dace & King Stubbs Gold Level Sponsors: Commonwealth Bank Lancaster Built Homes Miller Family Foundation Safe Harbour Barns Steptoe & Johnson Silver Level Sponsors: Cassidy Turley ~ Harry K. Moore ECO-CELL (fer) studio Frazier-Hicks Family Ladybug Gifts Langsford Learning Acceleration Centers
Wyvern Report
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By Emily Carter-Essex, Director of Development
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Many of you already know how important the Annual Fund is to the School. The Annual Fund is a yearly fundraising effort (July 1 May 30) that provides immediate and direct funding into the operating budget of the School and helps make St. Francis School extraordinary. Tuition covers most, but not all, of the costs of running the School; we count on the Annual Fund to provide $325,000 towards the operating budget. Without the generous support of all in our community, including you, the hallmarks of a St. Francis education wouldn’t be possible: small class sizes, low student-teacher ratios, exemplary scholarship and financial aid programs, comprehensive learning resources, a diverse student body, and a truly outstanding faculty. We are thrilled to announce that we already have 100% faculty, staff, and Trustee participation to the campaign. As of December 2014 we have raised $200,000 for this year’s campaign, toward a goal of $325,000. Please take a moment to donate now if you have not yet given to the campaign. Please return the envelope enclosed or go online to www.StFrancisSchool.org/GivingBack and click the Donate Now button. Thank you!
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of a classroom Cia White High School English Teacher
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1 English teacher Cia White is regularly counted by alumni as one of the most influential teachers they’ve ever had, in fact, more than a few alumni have become English teachers themselves. She presides over sophomore English, AP English Literature, and the creative-writing program, dispensing to St. Francis students equal measures of advice about em-dashes, insight into great literary works, and general wisdom about Life and Things that she shares not only with them, but with her grateful colleagues, as well. 1 “Bibliomania up in here. This yard of titles,
though graphically pretty and colorful, is typical of an English teacher’s haphazard collection of the once-thrilling and the never-thrilling. Better these in the shot, though, than the other toppling stacks of vocabulary workbooks, SAT prep manuals, and outdated tomes on the dernier cri in education. I do also have a zillion books of poetry, on the windowsills, outside this shot. (I told the students in this year’s Poetry class that if I get hit by a bus, they should snag the books and disperse them thoughtfully in my name.) I also have, elsewhere on the classroom shelves, books with margin notes by emeriti bibliophiles Ron Mikulak, Dean Robertson, and even Caroline Mercer. That feels nice.”
2 Upon Cia’s windowsill sits “a collection of
oddments, including gifts by students – the gray-haired Virginia Woolf doll and the Jane Austen action figure at the far left. The item in Jane’s hand is a quill pen, but always looks to me like a shiv. (I think that’s Austen-appropriate.)”
Wyvern Report
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3 “This little clay ‘black ram’ was made by Olivia
Cole ’07, a keepsake from our study of Othello. I like to fancy that this item is tied by a slender time-string running from Olivia’s sophomore year studying the play to her current vocation as a writer and blogger about issues of race.”
4 Cia’s walls are covered in posters, photographs, and postcards of “mostly favorite authors.”“This one is a keepsake of a costume contest at Advisee Games, a few years back. We went as the Free Peoples of Middle Earth. We arrived on the field in a pink Cadillac convertible, thanks to Beth Coyle ’05. Judges – lobbied by our arch-rivals, the Miron Advisee – disqualified us on the grounds that we were 2.5 minutes late. It rankles still. (The flag, I was assured by Lyman Creason ’04 – Aragorn in our skit – says, in Elvish, “Miron Advisee Sucks.”)”
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Sarah Wallace Middle School Math Teacher
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Sarah Wallace, Middle School Math Teacher for 19 years, is known for equal measures of her no-nonsense attitude and her huge heart. 1 Multiple and factor collages made by 4th graders. “It shows them that math really is everywhere. It’s a puzzle and if you look, it fits together.
2 “Puzzles allow me to see a different side of my
students, and they are great for students who learn spatially. When you are working on a puzzle, no one is watching; everyone is working together. With puzzles, you can correct your mistakes quickly.”
3 “Basketball is huge in my life.” 4 I grew up on the Purdue Campus. My Dad was a linguist and was fluent in six languages; he was horrified that I went into math.”
5 “I encourage my students to own their behavior: A mistake is a mistake.”
6 Sarah’s room is full of games, too. “Games make you think, have a plan, and have a solution.”
7 7th graders in Sarah’s class complete a major
project that refers to scale representation by creating a scale-model of their own bedrooms. The project takes three weeks and must be all handmade. Sarah kept this project by Tristan Krebs G’10, ’14. “This is an outstanding example that really raised the bar. She made every item by hand, even made the rug. The drawers open, too!”
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of a classroom Sukanya Chandramouli Lower School Math Teacher
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Sukanya Chandramouli, Lower School Math Teacher for 32 years and beloved by generations of St. Francis students — some of whom now have their own children in Sukanya’s class. 1 “1st and 2nd grade children are in the concrete stage of learning. We do a variety of hands-on activities such as mirror designs, marble games, and chip trading games.” Wyvern Report
2 “My students begin to love math, become highly motivated, and are often selfpropelled.” The ever-present manipulatives help them develop math sense.
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Mary Pat Mann Preschool 4s Teacher
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2 Mary Pat Mann, Preschool 4s teacher, famously known for the phrase “use your words and all your words” when helping preschoolers with problem solving. 1 “I attempt to play golf in the summer; that’s
4 Natural materials are a regular part of
how I relax and unwind at the end of the school year.”
St. Francis Preschool. These wooden blocks are a favorite to play with on the amphitheater stairs. “The best part of my new classroom on the Goshen Campus is the openness! I enjoy watching the children bringing different levels into their play. We are working on coordination each day and the steps in my room easily help us with this goal.”
2 “We have been putting these together each year for 20 years. Who doesn’t like a house made of candy?”
3 Children’s Books: “I select books based on the season and topics that children can relate to in their lives.”
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19 www.StFrancisSchool.org
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We THINK; therefore we are St. Francis. 233 West Broadway
Louisville, KY 40202
IN THIS ISSUE A Picture of Student Life Alumni Profile: Norm Jones G’88, ’92 Philanthropy Future Goshen Theater Renovation
Anatomy of a Colassroom www.StFrancisSchool.org