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Honoring a Trailblazer

Betty Claire Dupree McKnight H’13, one of Fort Worth Country Day’s trailblazing Founding Trustees, passed away on August 12, 2020. She was 95 years old.

Head of School Eric Lombardi shared the news of Betty Claire’s passing sharing, “I met Betty Claire during my first year at Fort Worth Country Day, and our conversation was one of the highlights of that year. She attended last year’s Founder’s Day, in March 2019, and was as engaged and vibrant a personality as ever.”

Known for her leadership as a community volunteer, Betty Claire was active in the Van Cliburn Piano Competition, Cook Children’s Medical Center’s Jewel Charity, The Assembly and Fort Worth Garden Club. With her dear friend Priscilla Bradford Holland H’13, the two developed a plan to create Fort Worth Country Day nearly 60 years ago. Betty Claire phoned and invited all the Founding Board members and called the first three meetings in 1961. She also penned the February 1962 letter inviting Peter Schwartz H’98, who eventually became FWCD’s Founding Headmaster, to visit Fort Worth and learn more about the proposed new school.

Betty Claire led a remarkable life. A Fort Worthian, she graduated from Arlington Heights High School at the young age of 15 and later attended The University of Texas at Austin, graduating at 19. She went to work at the Fort Worth Star-Telegram before moving to New York to work as a reporter for Life and Mademoiselle magazines. She also served as a reporter in Europe and used her press pass to accompany a load of coal in a Skymaster C-54 in the Berlin Airlift. Among her noted articles was a personal interview with the Duke and Duchess of Windsor.

“All of us at Fort Worth Country Day, students, faculty, staff, alumni, parents, past parents, grandparents and friends, are grateful to Betty Claire and her fellow Founding Trustees for their vision, dedication and energies that resulted in the establishment of such an exceptional school,” Lombardi said. “Her legacy is and will continue to be the generations of FWCD students and alumni who will become community volunteers, civic and business leaders in Fort Worth, in the state of Texas and in the nation.”

The FWCD family extends deepest sympathies to Betty Claire’s children, Ellen Dupree Davis ’77 and Rob Dupree ’81; her stepdaughter, Ann McKnight Stevens; and stepson, David McKnight.

100 Days of School Celebration

To celebrate the 100th day of school, first-graders collected cans for the Tarrant Area Food Bank (TAFB). Each classroom’s goal? You guessed it, 100 cans. The grand total collected from the four classes was 491! Megan Smock, TAFB Director of Major Gifts, came to campus on February 11 to collect the cans, thank the students, and share a bit of information about the food bank. Smock shared that one can typically equals two or three meals depending on the size of the family. For the first-graders, this translated into providing 900 meals.

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Robotics Team Competes

“Bots, Bees, and Beyond” was the theme for this year’s TCEA (Texas Computer Educators Association) robotics competition. Ten FWCD students – Arjun Vasudevan ’24, Tucker Grubbs ’24, Jordan Jones ’25, Mac Staniford ’24, Richard Souchick ’24, Andrew Vallance ’24, Blake Brown ’24, Andrew Lobo ’26, Jake Hudman ’26 and Akshay Vasudevan ’26 – divided into three teams for the January 11 competition. Their focus: to complete five different tasks of varying difficulty, with only two minutes to accomplish as many of those tasks as possible. Tasks were bee-themed: place the “queen bee” with the “brood,” deliver “pollen” and “nectar” to the brood, etc. The robots then needed to pick something up and deposit it appropriately to complete the tasks. Teams earned points depending on which tasks they accomplished.

Ride-a-Thon Goes Virtual

Each spring, fifth-graders participate in their grade-level community service program: the Ride-A-Thon. For years, this event has benefited the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County. Students complete laps around campus, and family members make pledges toward those laps. “With several School traditions having to be postponed, canceled or revamped [because of COVID-19], the kids might be feeling the loss,” said Kathryn Sohne, Middle School Health and Wellness Counselor and Ride-A-Thon Advisor. “I wanted to find a way to make the event happen. The Boys and Girls Clubs need our help more than ever as they continue to provide services to their members.”

Desperate times called for creative measures, and the 2020 Virtual Ride-A-Thon was launched online with the help of Web Content Manager Tiffini Crum.

Drake Lightbound ’27 The official event occurred on May 14, when fifth-graders and their families completed laps (practicing appropriate social distancing) in their driveways, on sidewalks, in parks — you name it! Students also connected with family, friends and colleagues to sponsor their efforts by sharing the online donation page.

Students were encouraged to ride a bike, scooter, skateboard or even rollerblades! They were also welcome to walk, run, jog or skip! “All we wanted was for them to get out there and be active as they raised funds for a good cause,” Sohne said.

This community service endeavor provides raised $2,500 to fund critical needs of the Boys and Girls Clubs of Greater Tarrant County during COVID-19, including meal distribution efforts and distancelearning support.

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Senior Named National Merit Scholar

The National Merit Scholarship Corporation named Lily Melcher ’20 a 2020 National Merit Scholar. In this case, Lily qualified for Scholar status through the university-sponsored avenue because her college choice (Vanderbilt University) awarded her its National Merit Scholarship.

More than 1.5 million juniors in 22,000 high schools entered the 2020 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2018 Preliminary SAT/ National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants.

The nationwide pool of Semifinalists, representing less than 1 percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest-scoring entrants in each state. The number of Texas Semifinalists is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors.

Three types of National Merit Scholarships were offered in spring 2020. Every Finalist competed for one of 2,500 National Merit $2,500 Scholarships awarded on a staterepresentational basis. Approximately 220 corporations and business organizations provided about 1,000

corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who met their specified criteria, such as children of the grantor’s employees or residents of communities where sponsor plants or offices are located. In addition, about 180 colleges and universities financed some 4,100 college-sponsored Merit Scholarship awards for Finalists who will attend the sponsor institution.

Wishes Granted by PFA

Many teachers’ dreams came true, as their “wish list” items were granted by many wonderful FWCD families. While the Parent Faculty Association (PFA) Party was canceled amid the COVID-19 “Stay Home, Work Safe” protocols, the PFA Board saw that the Teacher Wish List and tuition raffle still moved forward.

“We’re pleased that this year’s Teacher Wish List project was such a success despite these uncertain circumstances,” said 2019-20 PFA President Laura Rooker. “We appreciate the thought and care that went into the faculty requests and are grateful to the many generous parents who participated.”

This year’s wish list was the longest yet, and gifts totaled over $13,600, with 80% of the wishes granted.

Each division benefits from the PFA Wish List. Some of the granted items included a laminator, Stop the Bleed emergency kits, a Magnatile set, noise-canceling headphones, books, Spanish character finger puppets, culinary burners, robot mats, grass and wildflower seeds, a camera, a zoom lens, music stands, Giffin grips for ceramics and more.

2019-20 Scholarship Recipients

The following students held these Named Scholarships in the 2019-20 academic year.

Edward P. Bass Scholarship Sydney Airheart ’23, Sydney Becan ’20

Beverly Anne Robinson Faculty Endowed Scholarship Liberty Croutch ’20, Benjamin Hoppe ’24, Halle Huckaby ’27

Malone Scholars Program Seth Mayhue ’23, Mary Grace McGann ’22, Landen Walker ’22, Maya Witzel ’25

Peter A. Schwartz Scholarship Grace Cauble ’20

Captain David Herr ’80 Memorial Scholarship Ashlin McCormack ’20

Reilly Family Foundation/Breakthrough Fort Worth Scholarship Raúl Frías Pérez ’20

Alumni Endowed Scholarship Christopher Edwards ’20, Stephanie Morgan ’20, Joy Yun ’20

Ella C. McFadden Scholarship Rachel Lynch ’20, Eduardo Tovar ’20

Moritz Scholarship at FWCD Alex Orozco ’20

Betty Reese Memorial Scholarship Kelly Pham ’21

Gayle G. and Evan D. Peterson Scholarship Lorena Manrique ’28

Joey Pollard Memorial Scholarship Adele Wilson ’21

Jillian Chandler Thompson Scholarship Isabella Rugema ’27 AROUND CAMPUS

Jerry Pallotta Shares His Stories

Children’s Author Jerry Pallotta brought his whimsical books to Lower School students on February 4. Well-known for his alphabet and counting books and Who Would Win? Series, Pallotta shared that he began thinking about writing when he was reading to his four children who are now grown. He writes from experience, which means Pallotta writes what he knows, and he has an incredible curiosity. “I once saw a great white shark and a whale, so I wrote a book,” he quipped. “I once caught lobsters with chicken nuggets, a beef burrito and barbecue ribs as bait, so I wrote a book about a lobster.” Today, he has more than 100 books to his credit thanks to his sense of humor and wonder. The FWCD Libraries hosted this event for students.

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Five New Trustees Elected

FWCD’s Board of Trustees elected five new Trustees: Laura Bird, John Brookman ’80, Hugo Del Pozzo, Rob Semple ’95 and Blaine Smith ’80 were each elected for a three-year term, beginning May 19, 2020. David Minor was also elected to a first term after completing former Trustee Liza Lee’s unexpired term. Brian Crumley ’92, Michelle Marlow, Malathi Ravi and Rachel Werner were elected to a second term. The 2020-21 Board of Trustees Officers are Randy Eisenman ’93, Board President; Elyse Stoltz Dickerson ’93 and Chris Rooker, Vice Presidents; Russ Fleischer, Treasurer; and Mary Hallman Smith ’03, Secretary. Meet the new Trustees.

parents of two Falcon alumni. While her children were in school, she was a member of the Building and Grounds Committee (2000-15), served as FWCD PFA President (2002-03), and was a member of the Board of Trustees (2005-11). Laura Bird has more than 40 years of experience in the development and construction industry. In her early work, Bird gained hands-on field knowledge as she worked to complete her formal education. She earned a bachelor’s degree in Building Construction (Construction Science) from Texas A&M University. Her and risk management expertise on the settlement of other lawyers’ cases as a distinguished neutral in the alternative dispute resolution process of mediation. Brookman is a former Board Chair of Communities in Schools of Greater Tarrant County. He earned a JD from South Texas College of Law and a BA in Government from The University of Texas at Austin. Brookman has volunteered at FWCD since 1998 in all academic divisions and served in such roles as Alumni Council President and Falcon Club Co-President with his wife, Bari Buckner Brookman ’83. The Brookmans are the proud parents of four Falcon alumni and one current

student. primary career focus has been on creating interdisciplinary teams to plan and build aesthetically significant and purposeful environments that support the health, wellness and lifestyle of their occupants. Three of the projects she has been a part of are AIA award winners. Most recently, she completed Frost Tower Fort Worth, a 25-story building located in downtown Fort Worth. Bird and her husband, Greg, are the

John Brookman ’80 is an attorneymediator, specializing in the resolution of civil litigation disputes. In his role as outside General Counsel to multiple international corporations, Brookman has represented his clients on every continent around the globe—save Antarctica. He continues to represent select individual and corporate clients in the courtroom and the boardroom, but now deploys his trial experience

Hugo Del Pozzo is co-founder of Bravo Equity Partners, a private equity firm based in Fort Worth, where, since 2000, he has directed investments into companies that are impacted by the U.S. Hispanic demographic growth. Before Bravo, Del Pozzo worked at Ernst & Young’s Corporate Finance practice in Mexico City. He also is co-founder of Pinea, a winery in Ribera del Duero, Spain, and Savor Restaurant

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Group, a developer of Chicken Salad Chick restaurants in North Texas and Houston. Del Pozzo holds an MBA from Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México with studies at the Haas School of Business at the University of California at Berkeley and is a graduate of Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey with a BBA in Accounting and Finance. A member of FWCD’s Finance Committee since 2016, Del Pozzo has served on the board of The Women’s Center of Tarrant County and recently finished a six-year term on the Shady Oaks Country Club Board of Governors. Del Pozzo and his wife, Tanya, have one Falcon alumnus and two children enrolled at FWCD. Rob Semple ’95 is a Principal at Panther FW Investments, a real estate private equity firm, with 20+ years of experience managing public and private investments with a primary focus in the real estate and technology industries. He currently serves as President of Westside Little League, and he and his wife, Katie, were 2019-20 Chairs of the FWCD Fund. Semple has been a member of the FWCD Alumni Council since 2011, holding several positions, including Secretary, Nominations Chair and President (201719). He also has been a member of the FWCD Advancement Committee since 2017. Semple earned his BBA in Finance from The University of Texas at Austin in 1999 and his CFA designation in 2005. The Semples have two sons enrolled at

FWCD. Blaine Smith ’80 is an artist who works in various media. Her works draw upon nature and traditional ethnographic and non-Western cultures and are collected by individuals, hotels, and corporations in the U.S., Europe and Latin America. She earned her BA in Anthropology from Yale University. A former FWCD faculty member, Smith served as the AP Art History teacher from 1992-99. She gives back to her craft, serving on the Executive Committee of the Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth since 2006, in various roles with the Van Cliburn Foundation since 1990, and on the Houston Museum of Natural Science Anthropology Sub-Committee and Collections Committee since 2010. Blaine is the 2015 recipient of the FWCD Alumni Association’s Falcon Star award and has served as the FWCD Fund fifth-grade team leader and as a member of the School’s Advancement Committee (since 2017). Smith has a daughter attending FWCD.

Class of 2020 By the Numbers

100 Seniors in the Class of 2020

More than $13 million Awarded in merit-based scholarship and awards

81% of students received merit-based scholarships and awards

707 Applications submitted by the class

130 Different college and university acceptances

59% of graduates attending out-ofstate colleges and universities

13 Seniors recognized by the national Merit Scholarship Program and/or the National Hispanic Recognition Program