14 minute read
Introducing Our Newest Heads, Deans, & Directors
Introducing
OUR NEWEST HEADS, DEANS, AND DIRECTORS JOINING US THIS FALL!
Getting to Know Beth Creswell Wilson ’96
Head of Upper School
Alumna Beth Creswell Wilson ’96, who most recently served as the Upper School Assistant Principal at The Galloway School in Atlanta, Georgia, returns to GPS with a wealth of knowledge and experience in academic programming and curriculum development that focus on the whole child. Throughout her career, she has created and implemented signature programs to enhance the student experience in teaching and learning and offered increased student resources to help students thrive academically while emphasizing character education and social-emotional wellbeing. She brings to her new role as Head of Upper School a passion for team building and supporting teachers, partnering with them to create a culture of collaboration, innovation, and reflection.
After graduating from GPS, Wilson attended Davidson College, where she earned her bachelor’s degree in English. She holds a master’s in rhetoric and composition from UT Chattanooga, and a certificate in school management and leadership through a joint program from Harvard Graduate School of Education and Harvard Business School. She’s expected to complete her doctorate in discourse studies and pedagogy from Old Dominion University this year.
Wilson is a visionary leader who brings integrity, curiosity, and empathy to all she does and will bring to our school a depth and breadth of experience in curriculum development. As an alumna, she credits GPS for launching both of her careers— first as an urban designer and then as an educator. “During my formative years, the all-girls environment had taught me that my voice should be heard when I had something worth saying and, in later years, it never occurred to me to act otherwise,” she said. “The world needs girls’ voices, influence, solutions, and leadership, and GPS has a proud legacy of preparing her students for the demands of these contributions. I am excited to work with the students, faculty, and staff of the Upper School—a place marked by intellectual growth, curiosity, resilience, belonging, friendship, and laughter.”
Beth’s This & That
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
High engagement yields deep learning. Engagement comes in many forms: real-world relevance and personal connection, student voice and choice, collaboration, teaching through multiple modes, and, of course, fun!
FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE TO
GIVE YOUR STUDENTS: Neither life nor education follows a map. Let your curiosities and values be your compass and embrace your own journey.
PET PEEVE: Disrespect … and slow walkers right in front of me!
FAVORITE THING ABOUT
CHATTANOOGA: My favorite thing about Chattanooga is that we are a success story for inspired urban design and public/private partnerships.
FUN FACT: I have run over 25 halfmarathons. Once I ran a half marathon and a full marathon in one weekend!
FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND FREE
TIME: Reading, creating, or traveling with my husband and kids
FAVORITE BINGE-WORTHY SHOW:
Ted Lasso
GUILTY PLEASURE:
Making a Starbucks or boba tea run. Or going to Disney World!
Getting to Know Katye Adams Couch ’92
Dean of Teaching and Learning
For the 2022-23 school year, GPS alumna Katye Adams Couch ’92 will become the school’s first-ever Dean of Teaching and Learning. In this role, she will be responsible for creating and supporting a learner-centered environment for students and faculty, which includes providing leadership around effective and responsive teaching practices and fostering a culture of professional growth for faculty to examine pedagogical strategies in and out of the classroom. She will be instrumental in ensuring each girl’s strengths and selfconfidence are cultivated and nurtured.
Couch returned to GPS in 1998, where she has served as a Middle and Upper School science teacher, founding advisor to Tucker River Fellows, seventh-grade class dean, diving coach, and Science Olympiad advisor. Throughout her time here, she has assisted in the creation of the Chattanooga as Text program, served as a member of the Co.Lab Entrepreneurship mentor network, attended and presented at conferences around the country, and led multiple trips locally and abroad. As she moves into her new role, Couch says, “I am most excited about working with other passionate members of our community to welcome and engage students and teachers in the Teaching and Learning Center. I hope this space will become an even more vibrant hub where faculty, staff, and students are supported, involved, and celebrated in their learning adventures and where we can co-create and catalog GPS best-practices for teaching and learning. I hope this also leads to more student empowerment to make tangible differences in the GPS community and beyond. I am excited to be working with a great group of dedicated and creative faculty members as part of the GPS design team working toward learner-centered culture.”
Katye’s This & That
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
Education should be relevant, important, and should celebrate student voices. Good education is rooted in human connection and creates stronger, healthier, and more interesting communities.
GUILTY PLEASURE: Wordle and Mahjong
PET PEEVE: Blocked aisles in stores
FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND FREE
TIME: Hiking/exploring, mountain biking, kayaking, crafting, or reading
FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE TO
GIVE YOUR STUDENTS: Find a way to personalize your learning. Try out different things and keep an open mind to discover what you enjoy and what you are passionate about; tie that passion to other endeavors and classes.
FAVORITE BINGE-WORTHY SHOW:
The Good Place FUN FACT: Winter is my least favorite season, but I had a great time dog sledding and snowshoeing on a previous Winterim with students!
FAVORITE THING ABOUT
CHATTANOOGA: Outdoor opportunities, our vibrant and innovative community, local initiatives and people coming together for causes.
Getting to Know Beverly Blackwell
Dean of Health and Wellness
Beverly Blackwell will become the first GPS Dean of Health and Wellness. She will be responsible for creating and leading a learner-centered and developmentally appropriate health and wellness program, which includes physical, mental, social, and emotional health. In her role, she will oversee the health and wellness needs of the school plus design and implement courses and curricula across divisions to best meet the developing needs of Middle and Upper School girls, including equipping them with skills to mindfully navigate their social landscapes and make healthy decisions that positively impact their physical, emotional, and social selves.
Blackwell joined the GPS community in 2015 after leading the physical education program at Signal Mountain Middle/High School. During her time at GPS, Blackwell has served as a physical education teacher and PE Department Chair, NSCA-certified strength and conditioning coach, aquatics coordinator, and track & field, softball, and diving coach. Outside of GPS, Blackwell was instrumental in developing a fitness program with the national YMCA organization and is known as and has received numerous accolades as a state championship-winning coach.
Blackwell, is passionate about the allgirls environment, says about her new role, “I am excited about working with the PE department as well as our school counselors in developing a comprehensive health and wellness experience for not only our students, but also for our faculty.”
Beverly’s This & That
FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE TO
GIVE YOUR STUDENTS: Continue to strive for balance in all that you do.
FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND FREE
TIME: In the summer, my husband and I spend time boating on the lake.
FAVORITE THING ABOUT
CHATTANOOGA: This is my hometown, so I love everything about it—from the mountains to the rivers.
GUILTY PLEASURE: I love traveling as much as possible.
FUN FACT: I take a SCUBA trip 1-2 times a year. My most recent adventure was staying on a liveaboard for seven days from Miami to Exuma Bahamas this summer.
FAVORITE MOVIE REWATCH: I will watch The Proposal and Sweet Home Alabama every time they are on TV.
Getting to Know Andrew Reich
Director of College Counseling
Andrew Reich officially joined the GPS community as Director of College Counseling in July, though he has spent many months already getting to know the rising GPS seniors, who he will guide on their college search journeys. Reich has spent the last five years serving as an Associate Director of College Counseling at the Collegiate School, a coed JK-12 independent day school in Richmond, Virginia, and worked with families around the country as an independent admission consultant for one of the top independent college counseling firms in the nation. Prior to his five years at Collegiate School, he worked in domestic and international admission and enrollment for NYU and Gettysburg College, providing him a view from the other side of the desk of the college admission process.
Reich attended Worcester Academy, an independent school in Massachusetts, and holds a Master of Philosophy in comparative and international education from the University of Oslo (Norway) and a Bachelor of Arts in psychology from Beloit College (Wisconsin), where he was a standout on the football team and ran track, setting conference and school records.
When asked about joining the GPS community, Reich complimented GPS students on their conviction, selfidentity, and passion and reiterated that his primary responsibility is to help students find a post-GPS path that suits each unique individual. He said, “I am thrilled for the opportunity to reimagine what college counseling can mean in an independent school community. Those in the college counseling office who have been dedicated to GPS students and families for many years have laid an incredible foundation for the work that lies ahead. In my view, one of GPS’s greatest strengths relative to other national independent schools is the genuine care that alumnae and current students have for the spaces that make up their community, and I am over-themoon excited to enter an environment that is filled with enthusiasm, joy, agency, conviction, and pride.”
Andrew’s This & That
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
Patience is central to my work. For me, I lead approximately 40 seniors through the college search and application experience each year but, for each student, it is their first time. They will make mistakes, they will frustrate me, they will make assumptions, they will take shortcuts when it is not advisable, etc.—but for many of them it is their first time managing a process that ultimately leads to an important life choice, and for that I have endless patience and understanding.
FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE TO
GIVE YOUR STUDENTS: Where you go to college does not determine who you will become.
GUILTY PLEASURE: Two lunches instead of one
FUN FACT: My wife, daughter, and I stop at a bakery in any city we find ourselves traveling through. Big croissant, hand tart, and morning bun guy.
PET PEEVE: Lack of punctuality
WHAT EXCITES YOU ABOUT MOVING
TO CHATTANOOGA: We are so excited to watch Chattanooga continue to grow into the nationally recognized city that it is quickly becoming.
FAVORITE BINGE-WORTHY SHOW:
Eastbound & Down or Ted Lasso
FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND FREE TIME:
Long walks with my wife and daughter in different neighborhoods or on hiking trails with no particular destination in mind.
Getting to Know Lauren Lawrence Swanson ’09
Director of Belonging and Community Engagement
This fall, Lauren Lawrence Swanson ’09 will transition into the role of Director of Belonging and Community Engagement, but she’s no stranger to the work. Over the past few years, she has been instrumental in supporting GPS’s strategic focus on creating a culture in which every member, specifically students in underrepresented groups, has a voice at the table, feels respected and valued for who they are, and knows that they belong at GPS.
She has worked tirelessly to build strong relationships with girls, support positive identity development, founded and led BIPOC student forum, and served as a liaison to other GPS forums. Additionally, she and her colleagues have worked to create developmentally appropriate lessons for grades 6-12 as a part of our student belonging program and co-led faculty and staff professional development opportunities as a part of our strategic equity plan. As a member of the Advancement team, Swanson founded and leads the Black Alumnae Council, has worked with her fellow alumnae to raise over $130K for the Black Alumnae Endowed Scholarship Fund, and made myriad connections between GPS and our greater community. Before returning to her alma mater, Swanson worked in the public school system, where she says she began to see the inequities in America’s educational system. “I realized that not every school, student, or family was given the same opportunities. The curriculum that teachers were assigned to teach only told a single story.” She turned this knowledge into power, using it to write grants to overhaul her classroom library to reflect the demographics of her students and to take students on a field trip that would otherwise be unavailable to them. She even helped write the science, math, and literacy curriculum for her grade level across Hamilton County.
With regards to her new role at GPS, Swanson says, “I came back to help mentor and support our students of color at GPS. My motto in education has always been to be the person I needed when I was in school. Education coupled with diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging is one of the most challenging fields, but it is also rewarding. I love the challenge; it makes me better, and seeing students succeed is the icing on the cake.”
Lauren’s This & That
PERSONAL TEACHING PHILOSOPHY:
I am an educator who believes a student-centered method of teaching coupled with an interactive approach in and outside of the classroom can help create lifetime learners and global citizens. I believe that before learning can occur, relationships must be formed.
FAVORITE PIECE OF ADVICE TO GIVE
YOUR STUDENTS: I love encouraging all students. Things can get stressful on campus, and I make sure they know that everything in the end will be okay!
GUILTY PLEASURE: I’ll eat an entire bag of Starburst jelly beans.
PET PEEVE: Fake or soft hugs and handshakes
FAVORITE BINGE-WORTHY SHOW:
Breaking Bad
FAVORITE THING ABOUT
CHATTANOOGA: I love how Chattanooga has a little bit of everything. We have awesome outdoor spaces, fun restaurants, great small businesses, and I feel like there is something for everyone.
FUN FACT: Each week I help record a global television broadcast for my church.
FAVORITE WAY TO SPEND FREE
TIME: I love watching anything Marvel with my family.
