HALLWAYS Cultivating Creativity

From the easel to personal essays and the stage to the STEM lab, Harpeth Hall alumnae, students, and faculty experience life through imagination and wonder.

Jack and Jane Berry Jacques ’72

The Jane Berry Jacques Scholarship Fund

Jane Berry Jacques ’72 served as the Harpeth Hall board chair from 2018 to 2022, drawing upon her experience as a long-time alumna leader, a Harpeth Hall college counselor from 1982 to 1985, a seasoned fundraiser, and a Next Step capital campaign co-chair. Her connection to Harpeth Hall runs deep as the Berry family lived across the street from the school for decades, and many family members attended the school, including Jane’s daughter Lindsay Jacques Irving ’06. With tremendous appreciation for her Harpeth Hall diploma and her Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science from Vanderbilt University, Jane places a high value on education. In recognition of her dedication and service to her alma mater, Jane’s husband, Jack Jacques, endowed The Jane Berry Jacques Scholarship Fund in 2022 to assist bright Harpeth Hall students who demonstrate financial need and value leadership and community service.

fundraising initiative, and they joined the school’s Founders Society — Jane in 2008 and Jack in 2022. It has been important to them to set an example for their children of giving to the causes they value most — faith, family, and education.

Jack Jacques recalls when Mary Schlater Stumb ’53, Peggy Smith Warner ’54, and Polly Jordan Nichols ’53 asked him to serve on the Harpeth Hall Board of Trustees in 1986. They wanted his business and financial acumen and his strategic thinking as the board grappled with high interest rates, a desire to increase enrollment, and the need to complete a fundraising campaign for a new athletic track. Jack was asked to chair a strategic planning committee to address these issues and to develop a long-range plan for the school. With tremendous dedication to Harpeth Hall, the board met the challenges successfully, the track became a reality, and a renewed vision for the school emerged.

In 2002, 10 years after Jack’s trustee term ended, Jack’s daughter Lindsay Jacques Irving ’06 enrolled in the 9th grade. The Campaign for Harpeth Hall was underway, and philanthropic investment in the school increased greatly. Jack’s wife and Harpeth Hall alumna, Jane Berry Jacques ’72, became deeply involved in fundraising and served on the board, ultimately chairing the board from 2018 to 2022. Together, Jane and Jack gave generously to the school in each

As Jane completed her term as board chair, Jack was moved to honor his wife and her devotion to Harpeth Hall with an endowed scholarship fund in her name. Of their family’s many gifts to the school, it is The Jane Berry Jacques Scholarship Fund of which Jack is the most proud. “This gift is two-dimensional. It honors my wife and her love of the school, and it helps a young woman come to Harpeth Hall who wouldn’t be able to enroll otherwise,” Jack explained. Jack added “the world has changed greatly since I was a trustee and the issues the school faces are different, but the fundamentals of the school are the same. The leadership is extraordinary, and the graduates are off the charts. As the school has changed and adapted, it has kept its mission.” It is Jane and Jack’s greatest hope that Harpeth Hall will continue to thrive and that Harpeth Hall girls will always strive to be leaders in their communities.

The Founders Society recognizes individuals who have included Harpeth Hall in their estate plans. If you are considering a planned gift to Harpeth Hall, please contact Director of Advancement

Susan Moll at 615-346-0087 or moll@harpethhall.org.

Contents

20

FEATURES

18 Cindy Crist exhibit honors alumnae artists

30 NYTimes bestselling author V.E. Schwab ’05 offers writing insights

34 Alumnae authors put life experience into words

35 Joe Croker reflects on writings by Tallu Schuyler Quinn ’98

36 ‘Bounce’ brings creative energy to dining hall

ACADEMICS & ACCOLADES

4 Introducing Frances Fondren-Bales

CORRECTION

6 Inside the Hall: Middle School

8 Inside the Hall: Upper School

10 Convocation inspires students to ‘brave the sea’

11 Honor Assembly elevates school values

12 Student Voices: Anushri Ray ’27

13 Student Voices: Olivia Majors ’23

14 Spanish immersion experiences expand global perspectives

15 National Merit Scholars honored

28 Carell visiting artist inspires leadership

We regret that the following donors were omitted or listed incorrectly in the 2021-22 Report on Philanthropy and express our sincere appreciation for their loyal support of Harpeth Hall: Anne and Bob Doolittle, Phillip and Mary Creagh Graf, Kirsten Hildebrand and Thomas Haroldson, Mr. Jason E. and Dr. Jennifer Braden Myers, and Betsy Shapiro Silverman.

ATHLETICS & THE ARTS

16 In the Spotlight: Performing Arts

20 Dugan Davis Complex celebrates 20 years

22 Signing Day secures athletes’ DI future

24 Athletics Highlights

26 Cross Country repeats as state champions

COMMUNITY

2 Observations from Jess Hill

3 Girls Symposium comes to Harpeth Hall

37 Grand Open House and Halloween Carnival

38 Sunday on Souby

CELEBRATIONS

42 Sweet Summer Send-off

43 Alumnae Holiday Party

44 College Age Brunch

ALUMNAE NEWS

40 Upper School Career Day opens world of opportunities

45 Award Nominations

46 Call for Summer Interns

47 Class Notes

53 Births

54 Marriages

55 In Memoriam: Trustees

56 In Memoriam: Donald Paxton McPherson III

58 In Memoriam: Former faculty and staff

59 In Memoriam: Alumnae

HALLWAYS STAFF

Jessica Bliss, Editor

Lauren Finney, Designer

Elizabeth Read ’09, Editorial Staff

Rory Fraser, Staff Photographer

Contributing Writers: Brianna Bjordahl ’15, MC Claverie ’20, Olivia Majors ’23, and Anushri Ray ’27

Contributing Photographers: Jessica Bliss, Peyton Hoge, Wade Payne, and Elizabeth Floyd Read ’09

Hallways is published twice a year by: The Harpeth Hall School

3801 Hobbs Road, Nashville, TN 37215 Follow us on: Facebook Instagram HHBears @Harpeth_Hall

Alittle over 20 years ago, educational experts predicted the skills needed to navigate the 21st century successfully. The skills specific to learning were known as the “four Cs” — critical thinking, communication, collaboration, and creativity.

In many ways, schools tend to spend their time concentrating on the first three “Cs” and give short shrift to the final “C” — creativity. At times, we have misguided assumptions about what represents true creativity. Original thought can take many forms. This issue of Hallways highlights creativity not only in art or music or writing, but also in problem solving, teaching, or any new and innovative approach to a project or professional challenge. Research shows that creative thinking is vital for problem solving in a person’s career, if not in the composition of the career itself.

Author Ann Patchett, when interviewed for a BBC podcast, admitted that she “scheduled time to think” in order to distract herself from the daily world that can often interrupt her flow of writing and creativity. Another author remarked that “Creative insight of any type requires cognitive space to emerge.” In these pages, you will see examples of students, alumnae, and faculty who have made a place for preserving and fostering creativity in their lives.

Each day on our campus, we strive to give students the time they need to think creatively, and we understand that creativity can be fostered in several ways. Giving students the opportunity to delve into an area of individual interest helps build the creative muscles and habits that can be transferred to other areas. A SEEK project or a Global Scholars capstone are examples of these passion projects, which help to cultivate creativity. Realizing certain constraints to a real-world issue or problem may make it more challenging, but it also can stimulate creative and original thinking. Sometimes we think of a lone genius composing a song or working in a lab, but in reality, collaboration and peer critique can encourage and promote originality.

Whether a student is writing a poem, creating a stop-motion video, planning a prom on a budget, designing a new Winterim internship, or performing her own choreographed dance, we are allowing space for original thinking. Our girls have access to all of the tools they need, and we are here to encourage their endeavors and provide examples and role models of creators and innovators who have come before them.

Jess Hill Head of School