Torchbearer Spring 2012 | Volume VIII | Issue 2

A P U B L I C AT I O N F O R PA R E N T S , A L U M N I , A N D F R I E N D S O F H O LY I N N O C E N T S ’ E P I S C O PA L S C H O O L

20 YEARS of UPPER SCHOOL

A look back at 1991-’92 and the people who completed HIES

An interview with Director of College Counseling Jean Jordan Also in this issue: Inaugural class inducted to Science National Honor Society SPRING 2012 | VOLUME VIII | ISSUE 2 A Heart For The Arts Doesn’t Miss A Beat

BUGSY MALONE, JR.

NHS INDUCTIONS

The HIES chapter of the National Honor Society welcomed 26 new members at a special chapel service.

The Fifth Grade Players were the cat’s meow this spring, as they sang, danced, and silly-stringed their way through a series of sold-out shows.

Clay Kelsh drapes an NHS stole over Tori Hovancik.

Guest speaker Eric Lauer ‘01 Ansley Williams Sam Cravey and Owen Malcolm

Jordan McBride, Katie Serafen, Gilly Levy, and Lindsey Klopfenstein Cat Scales Chase Collins and Izzy Newstead

Kinsley Thurber and Christopher Nieves

Anne Yanda sports a colorful cast at the ceremony.

VIEW FROM ABOVE

In January a beautiful, new, state-of-the-art synthetic playing field was installed on the South Campus.

HOLY INNOCENTS’ EPISCOPAL CONSTRUCTION The building of new church facilities has provided a year-long, up-close lesson in engineering for Lower and Middle-Schoolers.

Architectural rendering of the finished floorplan Melinda Joe, Jim Penn, Sarah Walton, Bruce Ford, Ruth Donahoo, and Gene Bratek at the groundbreaking.

View from the Middle School student lounge.

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contents TO R C H BE A RE R S P RI N G 2 012

Mission Statement

School Philosophy

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School develops in students a love of learning, respect for self and others, faith in God, and a sense of service to the world community.

Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School offers an educational program encompassing academics, arts, athletics and spiritual formation. Through opportunities to grow intellectually, spiritually, physically and emotionally, students develop their individual worth and dignity. The challenging academic program prepares students for higher education and emphasizes learning as a pathway toward ethical leadership and a

commitment to the common good.

The school provides a welcoming and supportive environment, embraces the differences inherent in a diverse community, and embodies the inclusive Episcopal tradition of respect for the beliefs of others. Holy Innocents’ is an active community of faith engaged in local, national and international service to others.

From the Editor

At this spring’s Upper School Honors and Awards ceremony, United States Navy Captain (ret.) Charles Broun officially delivers an offer of an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy to senior Clint Dolan.

EXECUTIVE EDITOR Nick Roberts CONTRIBUTING EDITORS Peggy J. Shaw Dunn Neugebauer June Arnold Michele Duncan Tamika Weaver-Hightower Mary Chris Williams GRAPHIC DESIGN Irby Heaton PHOTOGRAPHY Nick Roberts

Twenty years ago, about the same time the Board and administration of HIES instituted an Upper School, I was trying to get a new venture off the ground, myself – a web design agency that a friend and I opened called MediaStew. The primary emotion I remember from the time is fear: Had we gauged the market correctly? More importantly, what if we don’t pull this off?

So as I spoke with some of the people involved with opening the HIES Upper School in ‘91-’92, my first question – at least for my first six or seven interviews – hinted at my own experience: “What sort of fears and anxieties did you face during the planning stages?”

The responses I received were virtually identical – “We had no fear at all – we were excited.” Or, as the wonderful Alice Malcolm offered, “I’d say our biggest concern was probably to keep the skirts down at the knee.”

Eventually, I stopped asking the question.

The Upper School was not, I realized, a new venture for Holy Innocents’; it was simply an evolution of a vibrant, concordant community – an inevitable maturation, just like the ones we love to witness in our children.

And now, 20 years later, the child is grown. We marvel at its maturity, its confidence, and its productivity. But we’re also grateful that it has yet to outgrow its youthful idealism.

As always, the teachers and students at Holy Innocents’ act on the idea that respect, empathy, and hard work can improve the world.

The best part is that they accomplish it every day. And without fear.

And that’s what you call good parenting.

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Peggy J. Shaw Dunn Neugebauer Debbie Reams JW Barker Photography Jim Baker Alice Thompson LeAnne Weaver

V O L UM E V I I I | I S S U E 2

18 COVER STORY

Remembering The 1991-’92 School Year F E AT U R E S

27

28 30

South African Sister School

The Torchbearer Interview - Director Of College Counseling Jean Jordan

Inaugural class inducted to Science National Honor Society

A RT I C L E S

Letters to the Editor Please send to the attention of Nick Roberts, at nick.roberts@hies.org, or mail to: Nick Roberts Director of Communications Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School 805 Mt. Vernon Highway, NW Atlanta, GA 30327 TorchBearer is published by the Offices of Admissions, Communications and Development of Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. Special appreciation goes to the parents, faculty and staff whose contributions make this publication possible. Every attempt has been made to ensure accuracy within this magazine. Please notify the editor of any errors or omissions and accept our sincere apologies.

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13 14 16

From The Headmaster Alumni Catch-Ups Principal’s Corner

DEVELOPMENT

31 31 33 34 36

A Tribute To HIES Volunteers Alumni Hall Ribbing Cutting Distinguished Service And Distinguished Alumnus Awards A Heart For The Arts Class Notes

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AROUND CAMPUS

Fourth Grade Writers Target Target

Collectible Headmaster It may not fetch the same auction price as a 1909 Honus Wagner T206, but the 1996 baseball card of the Dodgers’ Gene “The Hitting Machine’ Bratek is just as rare. Only a few were made and they’re rarely seen outside the HIES headmaster’s desk drawer.

Growing up in New Jersey, Bratek shunned the favorite of most of his friends - “The hated Yankees,” Bratek calls them – choosing, instead, to root for one of New York’s National League teams, the Brooklyn Dodgers. His loyalty remained even after the team’s owner, Walter O’Malley, moved the franchise to Los Angeles.

Roughly 40 years later, Bratek took part in a “fantasy camp,” where adults can spend a couple of weeks playing the grand old game alongside their heroes at the Dodgers’ actual spring training complex in Vero Beach, FL. Official MLB statistics offer no clues to the batting average or fielding percentage of “The Hitting Machine” Bratek, and the HIES headmaster offers few details. “I did ok,” he says. “Mostly, I remember a bunch of really good guys having a really great time.”

Making Her Birthday A Blessing Second-grader Anna Thomas spent her birthday last October in the spirit of giving rather that getting. In lieu of birthday presents, the 8-yearold asked that canned goods be donated for a campus food drive.

“Anna did this because she knows that there are lots of children who don’t have food, and that she has plenty of food and toys and really didn’t need any more,” explained Anna’s proud mother, Marie Thomas. “This was her first time doing this, and she got the idea because some of her friends had done similar things, like donating food or donating items to the Humane Society.”

Anna, her Pre-K brother, Will, a friend and classmate Brewer Collinson, Brewer’s brothers, Porter and Cannon, and others formed an assembly line at the Lower School to receive the goods from donors, and foodstuffs filled up the entire back of the Thomas family SUV. “How wonderful to make her own birthday a blessing to others,” said Chaplain Beth Lynch.

Upper-Schoolers Hand-Craft Smiles It’s human nature to want to comfort sick children – but finding a way to do so in today’s fast-paced world can prove difficult.

HIES junior Cory Philipson not only found a way, but also brought it to campus and recruited fellow students to join her – with remarkable success.

Last year, Cory formed “Send-a-Smile,” a club composed of Upper School students who hand-craft greeting cards with personal, caring messages for hospitalized children.

“It’s a way to let them know that people are thinking about them and their well-being,” she 8 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

says. The club began last school year with around 40 members; it now includes over 70, whose cards are distributed to the kids at Children’s Health Care of Atlanta.

Cory got the idea with some help from her mother. “My mom was at an event where a woman received a scholarship from Emory for Send-a-Smile,” she says. “I thought it would make a great club for Holy Innocents’.”

Cory then pitched the idea to Activities Coordinator Terry Kelly, who realized it fit perfectly with our school’s mission. “He thought it was a great idea, so we went ahead with it,” she adds. This school year, students met to create cards for Halloween, Valentine’s Day, and Easter, generating about 2,500 wellwishes and just as many smiles.

The old Target store in Sandy Springs is a hot topic among residents, city council members, the mayor’s office, and the HIES fourth grade.

While adults debate what to do with the site, the youngsters are serving as advisors, thanks to a writing project in LS teacher Jim Barton’s class.

“Their project is to study the site, come up with ideas, and submit actual proposals for its use,” says Barton. “These include sketches, detailed descriptions, impact studies, and other components.”

The goal of the project – at least on the academic side – is what Barton calls “authentic writing,” which he describes as writing for the real world about things that matter and can be influenced. For the Target store, students were challenged with a “Project Mission,” that inJim Barton shows off one of the 80 site proposals delivered to the Sandy Springs city council cluded: defining a need the site could address; proposing a course of action; justifying their ideas; and describing their proposal’s impact.

In February, Sandy Springs City Councilman Chip Collins visited the fourth-graders and explained the issues and concerns of each constituency involved in the discussions. “We’ve also had some input from the Mayor,” says Barton. “Since there are a lot of strong views on what to do with this property, we wanted input from all sides.”

On May 15, the students had a chance to become actually, actively involved in the debate; Councilman Collins invited several of them to present their ideas in person to the City Council.

And afterwards, Barton delivered all 80 student proposals to the council for review. He believes that the finished project will include components of his students’ work.

“Absolutely,” says Barton. “The research, ideas, and designs are outstanding – completely solid – and some of them will undoubtedly make it into the actual project. It’s pretty neat that, in 20 or 30 years, a student might walk by the site, point up and say, ‘That was my idea.’”

City Councilman Chip Collins addresses the fourth grade.

Sixth-Grader Sends Warm Wishes

Bryn Foster is a cool kid who helps others stay warm. When the HIES sixth-grader, who serves on the UNICEF Youth Board, learned of the UNICEF program Blankets for Haiti, she saw an opportunity to put her own skills to good use.

“I had a sewing machine and I knew how to sew, and lots of extra fabric,” says Bryn. “And after hearing there were still lots of kids in Haiti without homes and blankets and stuff, I felt it would be a good idea.”

Her service learning teacher, Debby McCarty agreed. “Bryn has been doing Blankets for Haiti for quite awhile as her own, personal service project,” says McCarty. “So she shared that with the class, and they decided to take it on as one of their Bryn Foster class projects.”

As a result, students are learning more than how to make blankets. They’re also learning about Haiti and how large-scale relief projects are organized. “The UNICEF people transport them for us and distribute them to people still living in the tent cities,” says McCarty. “Even though people think of Haiti as hot, it cools down at night and they have nothing to sleep on.”

According to Bryn, the actual making of a blanket isn’t as difficult as it is timeconsuming. “I usually have one colorful,

pattern side and one solid color side that’s really soft,” she explains.

“Then you lay them out and cut them into big patterns. Then you sew them together inside-out, all around the edges. You leave like six inches open, then pull them out through that hole and sew them closed.

“If you’re just doing the sewing, it takes about 15 minutes,” says Bryn.

“But that’s just the sewing. My mom helps with cutting them for me.”

Her mom, Laura Foster, is understandably proud, as she’s watched her daughter expand the blanket project beyond the Haiti program in order to help as many people as she can. “Bryn will be taking blankets to the Rural Mission on Johns Island, SC, hopefully while on a mission trip with HIEC,” beams Laura. “Bryn is also planning to send another 30 blankets to the orphanage in Haiti she is connected with through UNICEF.” Maggie Watson, Eliot Brown, Ryan Feinberg, Sumner Santivanez, Camryn Landis

Ella Gorin, Hollis Brecher, Maggie Lewis

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Konichiwa, Again Two old friends paid a surprise visit to Holy Innocents’ last fall. Misaki Yasuda and Yurie Hashimoto returned to campus four years after they took part in a foreign exchange program through HIES sister school Asahigaoka high school in Sapporo, Japan.

Misaki and Yurie, both of whom are third-year students at Hokkaido University, held fond memories of their journey in January 2007. So when they had an opportunity to visit Carol Hahn, the woman who, as a teacher at HIES helped found the sister school program, but who now lives in Charlotte, NC, they had just one request: a road trip to Sandy Springs.

Arriving on campus early one morning, they were greeted by many of the same smiling, faces they remembered from four years ago. They also spent the evening with their student hosts from 2007 – Michael Vaughan and Norma Nyhoff, both class of 2008.

“They have continued this friendship for four years,” says Hahn. “It’s remarkable what an impact the exchange program can have on students.”

When asked what made the strongest impression during her visits to Holy Innocents’, Yurie is quick to answer. “I like to see the way of teaching. In Japan, only teachers talk and we just take notes,” she says. “When I came here four years ago, I was very surprised that the teachers and students communicate with each other.”

When asked which method may be more effective, Yurie doesn’t hesitate: “The American way.”

As they packed the car for the ride back to Charlotte, Yurie and Misaki were given an expression that probably hadn’t made it into their English books back in Sapporo: Y’all come back now, you hear?

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Walking The Walk Last fall, junior Robert Moore got more than a keen sense of accomplishment after sending some 500 donated pairs of children’s shoes to an Army combat support hospital in Afghanistan. In March, Robert received a package from the 352nd Combat Support Hospital thanking him for his contributions to kids in the war-torn country.

“You are an amazing person,” wrote Sgt. Joana Zuniga. “It is rare for someone to care so much about the world and put as much effort as you have into making it better. It’s people like you that reminded us why it was worth being out there away from our families.”

Along with the two-page letter of thanks, Robert was given an Army “Enduring Freedom” backpack patch, several photos of children who received shoes, and a traditional Afghani beaded hat—sent by the father of one child. The father said he wanted to give something to “the blessed boy who sent us these gifts.”

The shoes Robert collected at Holy Innocents’—during a drive called Kicks for Kids—were donated to the Shoes for Salemo project in Afghanistan, and distributed to goodwill missions in local villages by an Indiana National Guard unit.

“Once again, thank you for your efforts and kindness. Don’t ever change,” Sgt. Zuniga wrote at the end of her letter. “You are so inspiring. I wish you all the best in life!”

Robert is planning another shoe drive this summer and fall, with donations going to the same combat support hospital, which is still open though “incredibly down-sized,” said Dr. Ken Wilson, an Atlanta doctor and lieutenant colonel who inspired the drive after speaking at Holy Innocents’.

“The reason I continue is simply for the satisfaction of helping others,” Robert said. “Having the privileges of a first-world education and lifestyle, I feel responsible to give back to those less fortunate than I am. It’s also gratifying to see the smiles on kids faces who’ve received, often times, their first pair of shoes.”

Last winter, Robert was named one of the “Top 20 Under 20” students in Atlanta INTown

magazine, and his drive was featured on an 11Alive’s Random Acts of Kindness segment, which reminds viewers to “pay it forward every day.” In that TV piece, education reporter Donna Lowry praised Robert, saying, “A lot of these kids would have no other ways to get these shoes, would have no other support in their own country. Just keep doing what you’re doing. You’re helping so many people!”

Robert has also donated his time and energy to metro homeless organizations like St. Francis’ Table and Our Common Ground. And he’s worked as an intern at Be The Match Foundation, where he assembles registry packets for potential bone marrow donors and conducts local, state, and national telephone interviews for the national bone marrow registry.

AROUND CAMPUS

LS Drama Teacher Has Life In The Spotlight This spring, Laura Floyd spent her time working as a Lower School teacher during the week and becoming a notorious gangster in her off-hours.

Floyd, the LS Drama Teacher, performed the role of Bonnie Parker in Tony Award-winner Hunter Foster’s new musical, Clyde ‘n Bonnie: A Folktale, at Aurora Theatre.

“I always knew I wanted to have a career in both performance and education,” said Floyd, who holds a BFA in Musical Theatre from the former Shorter College and a master’s in Voice Performance from Mercer’s Townsend School of Music. “For me, the two go hand-in-hand. I continue to perform because it makes me a better teacher, and as I teach, I believe I grow as an actor.”

Floyd began teaching acting, choreography, and dance in 2007. Her students have ranged from 5 years old to college-aged kids, but she has a particular fondness for the youngsters at Holy Innocents’, where she began teaching full-time in 2010.

“These kids inspire me every day with their spirits, their abilities, and their unabashed enthusiasm,” says Floyd, whose Lower Schoolers have shone in productions of HONK! and Bugsy Malone, Jr. “I hope that our drama classes will encourage them to feel confident in themselves, develop their sense of

camaraderie with each other, and instill in them a lifelong love for the arts.”

Floyd, herself, developed a fondness for the arts at an early age.

While at Shorter, Laura was awarded Most Outstanding Performer in the Nation 2005 by the Kennedy Center and the American College Theatre Festival. She won the honor for her portrayal of Maria in Shorter’s nationally acclaimed production of West Side Story.

This summer, when Floyd isn’t planning next year’s Fifth-Grade Play, she’ll be playing Hermia in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and acting in the world premiere of a new musical, The Time Between Us, both at Serenbe Playhouse.

Rumor has it that some HIES students, inspired by their teacher, will even earn their wings as Midsummer fairies!

Middle School Art Goes To The Dogs The homeless pets in Atlanta would like to sit, shake hands, roll over, and thank Josie Barton. The HIES eighth-grader recently helped brighten all their lives a bit through the Atlanta Humane Society’s “Be Kind to Animals” art contest.

“Each year, the contest is dedicated to a person who exemplifies what the Atlanta Humane Society stands for,” Middle School art teacher Maria LouiseCoil explains. “This year it was Jonathan Edward Ratner, a father of two young kids who recently passed away.”

Josie Barton in front of the “Wall of Awesomeness” According to Josie, she was babysitting for the Ratner kids when she became aware of the contest. “We were at the grandmother’s house and she gave me a flier,” she remembers. “So I brought it to Ms. Coil and asked her if we could do this, or at least do something about it.”

Josie definitely brought it to the right woman. “Her idea rippled through the entire grade,” says Coil. “The kids really got into it. Plus, eighth-graders don’t have money to donate, but they can certainly donate their talents – which are outstanding.”

Each student created a painting, that Coil displayed on a “Wall of Awesomeness” Miller Kaufmann and Maria Louise Coil in the art room in March. She then chose 30 paintings to submit to the contest.

Judges then selected from thousands of entries which pieces would be displayed at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center. Among those included were three by HIES students – Emily Ann Betts, Evelyn Gould, and Alexandra Duffy.

“That’s such an honor to have three chosen,” Coil says. “This is a state wide event!”

It’s also, apparently, an event in which Coil’s students will continue to participate. “Kids can really relate to animals,” she said. “Many of them have pets that have a big impact on their lives. We’re definitely going to run with Josie’s idea for years to come!”

Jack Sullivan

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FROM THE HEADMASTER

Science Olympians Enjoy Another Remarkable Year Hoyt Spearman, Benjamin Myer, Max Walton, and Robert Seymour

Old School High Tech Band director Robert Seymour has taken his Music Technology class to a new low – at least technologically.

Beginning a project on the physics of audio speakers, he felt his lesson getting a bit too complex. “I was explaining how the magnets and the magnetic wire work together, how one affects the other by pulling a signal that can be transformed into something audible...” he says. “But I was thinking, ‘This is really technical, all the words I’m using are just blowing over their heads.’”

So he tried another approach. “I saw a YouTube video about making your own speakers and I thought, ‘They’re probably five or six thousand dollars, there’s no way I can use that,’” he says. “But I clicked ‘play’ and it was paper plates, two business cards, two magnets, and about six feet of magnetic wire – about $2.50 for each kid.”

To explain, Seymour showed us one of the speakers – a simple contraption of glue, cardboard, and a few other items you can get at most hardware stores. He then went on to explain the scientific principles in play with a lot of technical jargon that blew right over our heads.

But the proof is in the pudding.

“It was the craziest thing when it worked,” says Seymour. “And some of them sounded amazing. I was totally blown away.”

The success of the speaker project gave the teacher another idea.

“Next year we’re going to create our own microphone, which is very similar to a speaker – you just reverse the polarity.”

Uh-huh. Sounds good.

Aaliyah Milord and Caroline Barber

After capturing second place in February’s regionals, the HIES Science Olympiad team put an exclamation point on their exceptional season with a fifth-place showing at the state competition Saturday, March 24, at Southern Polytechnic State University in Marietta.

“Congratulations to all our members,” coaches Janet Silvera and James Jackson said after the team’s fine showing. “For such a young team, they performed incredibly well, and were perfect representatives of our school.”

HIES was led with a first-place finish by Ananya Munjal and Reed Stewart in the “Crime Busters” category. Christine Catherman and Sean Hackett placed second in “Forestry”; and Sam Baskin and Zain Bashey finished third in “Compute This.”

“We also want to thank the non-students who played an important role in the team’s success,” said Jackson and Silvera. “We’d like to thank all the parents for their support and help throughout the year, as well as the support of Ms. Kathy Turner.”

This year’s success is a continuation of last year’s remarkable campaign, in which our young scientists earned a trip to the national championships in Madison, WI.

Reed Stewart

Johnny Maier and John Chapman

Peyton Hayes, Helaina Theos, Graysen Kelley

HIES Graduates:

Welcome To Alumni Hall

by Gene Bratek Headmaster Recently, we celebrated the ribbon cutting, blessing, and open house for a new facility on campus. Actually, the building is an older structure that has undergone a major renovation.

What was originally a residence has been transformed into a wonderful multi-purpose hall that will serve the school well for many years to come.

In his opening remarks Board Chairman, Bruce Ford, noted that it was in April 2004 that Facilities Chairman Dan Faulk, Headmaster Kirk Duncan, and Board Chair David Galloway signed an option agreement with the Jones family for the future purchase of this property. Later, Lever Stewart and Van Westmoreland took on the task of further negotiations with the Joneses in early 2009.

After the school purchased this property in 2009, it was referred to as the Jones House. Soon we began calling it the Stone House, in reference to its distinctive stone façade. But now it has been renamed Alumni Hall in recognition of the growing number of graduates from our Upper School. To some, it may seem only a short time ago that the first graduating class entered their freshman year in our new Upper School program. In fact, it was 1991, more than 20 years ago. The Class of 2012 will be the 17th class to receive diplomas attesting to their successful completion of a rigorous and thorough college preparatory program. This year we have begun a new tradition of having each year’s senior class sign the wall in the upstairs room of the Carriage House, which is on the grounds of Alumni Hall. As members of the other 16 classes of alumni return for events, they will be asked to sign under their class banner.

As you walk through the front entrance of Alumni Hall, you will find yourself in a warm and welcoming space we call the Atrium. It was designed to serve several functions. First, it is a pleasant place for visitors to our Development and Business offices to be greeted and to have a comfortable place to conduct business. Secondly, it is an attractive facility to host small and medium-sized receptions for alumni, students, and parent groups. Adjacent to the Atrium there is a Board Room for our trustee meetings, as well as several other meeting rooms for our various volunteer parent organizations, including the Parents’ Association, the Holy Innocents’ Athletic Association, and the Fine Arts Alliance. The building also houses valuable storage space for

these volunteer organizations, as well as the Fine Arts Department, and the Bear Wearhouse. Of particular importance is that on a day-to-day basis our Business Office and our Development Office staff members will be in facilities much better suited for the important work that they do.

Probably the most significant result of this project is that we will have more than 90 new parking spaces when all the site work is completed later this summer. As construction begins on a much-needed new classroom building for the Upper School, all the visitor and staff parking in front of the entrance to the Upper School will be removed, as this will be the location of the new building. This is the reason it was so important to complete the Alumni Hall project first. To me, Alumni Hall is a valuable addition to our campus and an important step toward building the first-rate campus that our students and teachers need and deserve.

Moments before Development Chair Missy Rathburn-Stewart cut the ceremonial ribbon symbolizing the opening of Alumni Hall, Holy Innocents’ Episcopal Church Rector Michael Sullivan offered this inspiring blessing.

Eternal God, we give you thanks for blessing this School and all who serve you here; set your spirit before us in all things that we may continue to grow in grace day by day; enlighten our minds and expand the boundaries of our hearts that we may ever raise up leaders and benefactors for the mission you have called us toward; that those who teach and those who learn may serve you and this great land in goodness, love, and mercy.

Now, we set apart this building to the glory of your name and to your service, naming it Alumni Hall, in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

I am grateful to the visionary trustees who years ago saw the value that this property would provide our school community. I am equally thankful to the generous donors who shared this vision and had the faith that it would come to fruition. In the coming weeks and months our trustees will complete a strategic planning process that will set in motion a campaign for our next significant building project. Once again, we will need the vision and faith of our generous supporters.

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 13

ALUMNI CATCH-UPS

Now Showing On CNN

ALUMNI CATCH-UPS

Alum With A Solid Foundation

by Laurie Segall Class of ‘04

It’s 2 a.m. early Sunday morning and the streets of who the lady behind the books was. I felt a need to tell New York are empty. Sheets of rain are pounding the her story.

CNN crew car. There are green lights but no cars on I wrote when I saw a life-sized blow-up Titanic slide the street. Everyone is inside, windows boarded, waitas part of the entertainment at a Sandy Springs festival. ing for Hurricane Irene to blow over, waiting to see Watching children slide down a blow-up Titanic ship what the damage will be when the wind stops hurling seemed wrong on so many levels. So I wrote about it (do and the rain stops beating the streets. they still do that?).

At this point, we weren’t sure how bad the damage It was having the freedom to discover my voice early would be. We weren’t sure whether we’d be able to on that helped shape what I would ultimately do. There broadcast our anchor, Poppy Harlow, live from the were classes like AP Government that helped me see the West Side near the water. The only thing I was sure world outside of Sandy Springs, helped build a curiosabout as I headed into the bureau that evening, the ity and a need to question. It was my school newspaper wind snapping my umbrella into a limp configuration that gave me an outlet. just in time to hear there was both a hurricane and When people ask me how I got into this business, I now a tornado warning, was there was no place I’d say it’s a culmination of curiosity and determination. It’s rather be but in the field. a tough job market, but perseverance is everything. I I call it journalist DNA and I’m sure many other folks always tell people who want to get into journalism that in my field can attest to it – that feeling that when there’s a disaster or their first assignment is getting in the door. As a journalist, you need a tragedy, you run towards it when most wouldn’t. Perhaps it’s part to work your sources, stay on top, and be persistent. When I was apobligation or part curiosity. It could definitely be part insanity. Maybe a plying for an internship at CNN, I found out the name of the head of combination of all three. human resources and called her (more than once) while I was studying I’m 26 years old and a tech reporter at CNNMoney. In the three in London. I interviewed for multiple internships and finally landed one years I’ve been at CNN, I’ve switched positions three times. I started at CNN International. Once in the door, the goal was to stay. I asked at the breaking news desk, switched to covering business news, and questions, spent my off hours watching editors piece together stories then turned my attention towards technology, as smartphones and that would appear on prime time shows. Gradually, I found mentors. web innovation made it possible for all types of entrepreneurs to build Three years later, I built a family. companies that would one day boast crazy valuations.

I’m three years into what’s one of the most exciting times in our In 2010, I got what many people in tech called the startup itch. I was industry. Journalism as we know it is changing. Twitter created citizen covering business news and kept noticing innovative tech companies journalists and social networks gave us a new platform for researching gaining steam. I soon pitched a “multi-media” position to CNNMoney, and reporting. Coming in, you’re expected to have different skills. It who thankfully took me on as a tech reporter. I now write stories focushelps to know how to edit and it’s important to learn how to produce, ing on startups, many of which have become massive companies. I to write well. You can’t be an expert in everything, but you certainly use my background in television to report in videos online and on air, can’t ignore anything. interview tech founders, and cover the latest tech trends.

From Atlanta, to Michigan, and a brief stint in London, I finally landed Journalism has always surprised me. Had you asked me years ago in New York where I’m continuing to learn the industry. The hours can if I’d ever have covered technology, I would have laughed. Then again, be long, but you don’t get into the business for easy days. had you asked me if I would have ever covered business, I would have But if you’re a news junkie, the payoff is monumental. also shaken my head. I studied Politics and English at University of I’ll never forget sitting in the newsroom when news broke that Michigan, spent long hours and multiple cups of coffee in Ann Arbor Barack Obama was elected president of the United States. I rememcafes writing in journals, scribbling notes, and talking to strangers. ber standing outside a building on 53rd St. in Manhattan. I’d been Business wasn’t something on my radar. But as fate would have it, sent there to get information on what some were saying was a ponzi different jobs took me to different topics, pulling me out of my comfort scheme. Months later, I was outside the courthouse assisting with zone and helping me gain confidence as I delved farther and farther in. live shots as Bernie Madoff was convicted for running the largest I currently work in an environment Laurie gives a behind-the-scenes tour such scheme in history. One of my to HIES journalism students. first tech interviews was the Twitter where I’m constantly inspired and challenged by stories around me, the founder Biz Stone. We interviewed people I meet along the way, and the him in downtown New York. Years places I end up in the crazy media later his company would have milrealm. lions of users. People all around My interest in stories is deepthe world would use the service he rooted. I’ll never forget some of the co-created to institute change and interviews I did while a member of to connect. The well-mannered guy the Crimson & Gold at HIES. I sat with black-rimmed glasses and blue down with Coach Red, the track jeans would one day be worth huncoach at the time, and got lost in his dreds of millions of dollars. stories of love, struggle with illness, I enjoy this job because you witand tales of war. ness history, change, and you’re in I wrote about the librarian who the middle of possibility. Every day is passed away and tried to find out a different story.

14 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

by Meredith Seacrest Class of ‘99 Having spent years working in entertainment publicity and television creative and marketing for our existing slate of shows. I had started production in Los Angeles, my life took an unexpected turn at a family my career in entertainment PR and then segued into production at dinner in 2009 that led me to find my dream job in nonprofit work.

Reveille. It was a very exciting, yet nerve-racking thought to change Looking back, I don’t think anyone in my family could have imagined jobs at this point in my career. I had been working so hard to pave what we would end up creating around the kitchen table, and the the way for a career in TV development and production. However, impact we would help make on children’s lives. It all started when my I realized that life takes twists and turns and some opportunities brother Ryan brought up the idea of creating a foundation. My parents, come your way that you never could have anticipated. This decision brother, and I started to discuss what his ideal foundation could be. became one of those moments in life where you evaluate where you Pulling from Ryan’s past experiences, we liked the idea of having a are on your career path, where your passions lie and where you see live radio broadcast in children’s hospitals, but we wanted to expand yourself in years to come. I knew that the foundation was just getting the concept even more. It started and it wasn’t certain if it was very clear to Ryan that he would be successful, but I had wanted to create something that a gut feeling it was going to be was tangible and would provide something extremely special. I a lasting impact. After more also loved the idea that I could discussions, we all agreed that be part of building something we wanted to build broadcast (with my family) from the ground media centers, a combination up that I truly believed in and of a radio and TV studio, in could also make a difference. children’s hospitals, allowing for Needless to say, I left working in patients to explore the creative TV and started on a journey in realms of radio, television, and the world of philanthropy. new media. The centers would Once I was fully on board not only broadcast live, but the to devote all of my time to content would feed into the the mission of the foundation, TVs in each patient room via a we needed to figure out a The Seacrest family with foundation closed circuit network. Therefore, plan of action. My family ambassador Selena Gomez patients could come down to felt strongly about bringing the studio or could tune-in and our idea to fruition in our call-in from their rooms. hometown of Atlanta. After all, it is where Ryan’s career began and As we continued conversations, the idea began to grow more where we grew up. We also have always believed it is important to and more. We decided we wanted to build the centers and also help give back to your own community. We ended up meeting with the establish an entertainment program in the hospitals by bringing in CEO of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and she believed in what we celebrity guests and artists for the patients and their families to meet, wanted to accomplish and signed up to be the first recipient of our interview, and even watch perform. In addition to the entertainment broadcast media center, which launched in November 2010. Soon program, we felt it was important to bridge education into our mission. after, we opened our second media center at The Children’s Hospital We decided we should develop an internship program for students of Philadelphia in July 2011. Due to the success of the program, we from local journalism schools and provide them with the opportunity to now have secured plans to build at Children’s Medical Center Dallas, broadcast and operate a state-of-the-art multimedia center, while also Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Children’s Hospital Boston, getting a chance to make a difference and gain school credit. with even more to come! We also recently brought on Selena Gomez to We finally reached a point where we believed we had a true concept be our first ambassador. for a foundation and my father began to set up a 501c3 foundation. It Over the past few years, it has been amazing to watch an idea was an extremely important day for my family when months later, the generated over the dinner table become something meaningful and Ryan Seacrest Foundation was officially established and we realized real. I am so proud of what my family has created together to help our idea was becoming a reality. Now the question was…”who is going improve the lives of seriously ill and injured children and happy that to run it day-to-day?” That is when I went with my gut when life my brother asked me if I would presented me with an unexpected consider leaving my job to come opportunity. My hope is that run the foundation full-time. the foundation keeps up the When my brother asked me to momentum and we are able to run his foundation I was working impact even more children’s at a job I loved as a development lives by bringing our program to executive at the production children’s hospitals across the company Reveille (known for country (and even possibly the producing shows like “The Biggest world).

Loser” and “The Office”.) I was To learn more about our developing new shows to sell foundation, please visit: www. to networks and working on the ryanseacrestfoundation.org.

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 15

CHRIS DURST UPPER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL SECTION HEAD are firsts for the school. The HI athlete is well respected and has a reputation for grittiness and championship success. Our artists and performers have HIES on par with the finest performing arts schools in the city. HIES Upper School students are locally engaged, nationally recognized and globally responsible. In short, we expect HIES students to be leaders in the community, and they are making a difference.

And so, too, is Holy Innocents’ making a difference. The apologists who would lament that our school is “not quite there yet” are no longer are welcome in these parts.

I hope that we recognize that we have done well to arrive at this point, almost two decades from our inception. We take this moment at the end of our 20-year iteration to examine the various opportunities and possibilities for our students. Most of all, let’s thank all of our graduates for their outstanding contribution to the life and history of the school.

I recently read an emotional Facebook post from a former student who graduated more than 15 years ago. She had been reading the last issue of TorchBearer and expressed some dismay at the changes that have taken place here over the years, and some concern that HIES wasn’t the same school she had attended. In many ways, her assessment is correct: Holy Innocents’ is a much different school; but I think it is also largely the same, at least in terms of its core values. There are more buildings and fields, big changes in programs and in technology focus, but the core values – love of learning and care for the individual – that set the school apart back in the mid 1990s are just as present today.

Back in the day, soccer was the main fall sport: there was no football team or lacrosse program yet to vie for field space, which was limited to just the one field (not yet known as Baker).

Major socializing and community time was at home

basketball games in the fall and winter, when the “New gym” would fill with people come to cheer on their Golden Bears. Homecoming was in January, when the graduates (who were still just undergraduates at college and university) were home on semester break.

Baseball games were difficult to watch since there were no permanent spectator stands, just some erected next to a rather decrepit Scout Hut. One of the major goals of those early senior classes was to get off-campus lunch privileges. The school had never allowed it, but the seniors lobbied hard. There were concerns about the safety of the students (well-founded, I think, since I remember a sizeable number of bad driver stories in those early years), concerns that they would get into wrecks or make bad choices while they were away from the safety of the school. The seniors were eventually able to win the privilege of leaving campus, and it all worked out: with one exception when someone drove (inexplicably) into a mailbox, I think the off-campus lunch experience has been relatively trauma-free.

The early classes were small, with fewer than 100 students in the grade. As

the school did not have the same entry points for new students that we do now (increases in 6th and in 9th grades), most of the students had been together since they were very, very young, and they knew each other quite well. They were supportive and protective of one another, and formed a pretty tight community. Our grades are much larger now, but I see the same protective instincts and the same communal support: the students are just as caring and just as compassionate now as they were then – there are just more of them.

Were that former student to come onto campus today, she might need a tour to find her way around. She may get lost trying to get from Alumni Hall to the Fred Rowan Family Middle School building (neither of which existed back in her time). She may get overwhelmed by the echoes abounding in the tunnel connecting the LS parking lot with the South Campus (which she would remember as a row of houses). She may find all of those things different, but I do think she would feel right at home.

THERESA JESPERSEN

MIDDLE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

PRINCIPAL’S CORNER

Principal and created many of the school operating systems in place today. Several of our faculty—Dylan Deal, Sarah Townsend, Clay Kelsh, James Jackson, Prather Rehm, and Audra Thompson, to name a few—have made HIES their professional home after having attended school here. And the faculty members who have been here through the transition—Niki Simpson, Janet Silvera, Dr. Chris Swann, and Theresa Jespersen— could fill pages, I’m sure, on the evolution of the HI Upper School.

Secondly, our school community needs to recognize that we’ve reached a watershed moment, perhaps a tipping point in the school’s history, and the articulation of that growth and potential is in the accomplishment of our students. Platitudes are commonplace during this time of year, but could the accomplishments of the past few senior classes actually mean more to the institution than at first glance? Will we look back on the classes of 2009-2012 and say this is when the school began its remarkable ascent? During this time we have seen students who excel academically and have earned honors and awards that

16 16 | TORCHBEARER FALL 2008 2012 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 16 | TORCHBEARER FALL 2008

TERRI POTTER SECTION HEAD

LOWER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

I have spoken many times in mostly informal settings about the maturation of the Holy Innocents’ Upper School.

Hidden away in our 50-plus year history is the untidy tidbit that the Upper School is really just graduating itself. It was 20 years ago, give or take, that the HIES Board of Trustees rolled out HI’s first HS class. 20 years—the time mostly reserved for young people to emerge into adulthood—and, I suppose, it could be argued that the HIES Upper School is moving into adulthood.

As HIES enters into its second iteration as a school, it’s important to do two things: first, let’s pay homage to those who have worked so hard to move the school into its present form (rightful place in Atlanta as a school of the highest order). Former Headmaster Alice Malcolm had tremendous courage and vision to initiate and execute the plans for an Upper School. Edward England was the first

It is written that the essential skills for the 21st century include collaboration, critical thinking, problem solving, creativity, and innovation. How is it possible for a Lower School composed of children ranging from age 6 to 12 to achieve such skills? Aren’t these children too young even to understand their meaning? We know that our future is in the hands of our students. It is our responsibility to teach children how to make a difference in the world and make inspired choices by teaching them how to work together, analyze problems, and solve the problems with imagination, inspiration, and originality. We are foolish ever to underestimate the difference our children can make.

Our Lower School students make a difference with the Service Learning projects orchestrated by chaplin Beth Lynch. Beth engages the students to directly ease the strife of those in need.

Our students participate with “Meals on Wheels” and visit the elderly at the

Benson Senior Complex located in Sandy Springs. Lower School fourthgraders had the opportunity to make a major impact on the decisions made for the development of the old “Target” property. After Jim Barton, LS writing teacher, provided instruction on all aspects of persuasive writing, students wrote and sent their persuasive pieces to the City of Sandy Springs for consideration. Each day our exceptional faculty and staff include all of the 21st Century skills as they facilitate our children’s learning.

A few weeks ago, two fifth-graders approached me with a project to help raise money for Camp Hope, which provides a safe and loving environment for children of prisoners. The students wanted to have a type of “garage” sale during our last conference day. The two would enlist the help of others to collect items that they were not using. During the collaborative brainstorming, they decided to make items to sell, too. Two

days before the sale, five fifth-graders entered my office with the plan, described the project and included all of the necessary details. It was a perfect plan! The “garage” sale was a total success, yielding over one hundred and fifty dollars for Camp Hope.

While our students are being bombarded with advertisements offering “things” they need to make them happy, we know this mentality doesn’t increase happiness or fulfillment. Helping others improves one’s self esteem and pride in oneself. Plus, the 21st century essential skills might just happen to sneak into the learning process.

I’ve just come from the HIES Main Gym, where our seniors were beginning their first practice for Commencement.

Graduation is one of my favorite events of the year, because it offers a tangible reminder of the mission of our school: to produce students filled with a love of learning, respect for self and others, faith in God, and a sense of service to the world community. Watching the seniors as they take their first practice walks down the aisle, you can see the apprehension on their faces. Oh sure, they act cavalier and joke with each other. But behind that facade you can see the nervousness that they try so hard to hide. This is when it starts to become real. They will walk to that stage and Mr. Durst will hand them a diploma. A few handshakes with Mr. Bratek and Board Chairman Bruce Ford, a turn of the tassel by this year’s honoree, Jeff Walrich, and then a small step off the stage and into the great unknown.

It always makes me smile to see the similarity between the looks on our graduates’ faces and those of our

Primary School students as they get out of the car on the first day of school. It is a look of excitement, fear, confusion, happiness… a hundred conflicting emotions. It is a look that says, “I think I know what I am getting into here, but I am not entirely sure. I know I want to take this ride, but I need to know that I’m not going out on my own.”

As you may know, one of my favorite activities is playing with the kids on the playground. This often includes riding around the track on a tricycle, climbing on the jungle gyms, and occasionally taking a ride down the slide. When I left my last school, the kids made me farewell cards, which were all very touching. But the one that has stayed with me the most read, “Goodbye, Mr. Kaiser. I’ll miss you at the top of the slide.”

I am hopeful that as the young men and women of the Class of 2012 receive their diplomas and take their first steps as high school graduates, they do so secure in the knowledge that they are prepared for what the world may bring.

Yes, there will be challenges. No, the

world will not always take it easy on them. There will be more than a few times when they feel all alone. But I hope they know that, just as it was in kindergarten or fourth grade, Middle School or freshmen year, as it has been for every step along the way in their Holy Innocents’ journeys, the love of their families and this school community, and most importantly the love of God, will be shining upon them. And this love means that, no matter how scary the ride may get, there will always be someone waiting to catch them at the bottom of the slide.

On behalf of the students and faculty of the Alan A. Lewis Primary School, Godspeed, Class of 2012.

GREG KAISER

PRIMARY SCHOOL PRINCIPAL TORCHBEARER FALL 2008 | 17

TORCHBEARER 2012 TORCHBEARER SPRING FALL 2008 | 17| 17

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL

THE YEAR HOLY INNOCENTS’ GREW UP: Remembering 1991-’92 And The Opening Of Upper School

Everybody knows the old saying, “If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” In education, it’s usually associated with a tough math problem, or maybe track athletes going after school records. At Holy Innocents’, though, it could also pertain to the establishment of an Upper School.

It was 1968 – the year McDonald’s introduced the Big Mac, Jackie Kennedy became Jackie Onassis, and the St. Louis Arch opened as America’s symbol of westward expansion. In Sandy Springs, GA, Mr. Elliott Galloway had his own designs on expansion. As Headmaster of HIES, Galloway added ninth grade that fall, and announced that, in four years, those freshmen would become Holy Innocents’ first graduating class.

After a few months, however, the Board of Trustees reversed course and decided that HIES simply wasn’t ready for an Upper School – that without the necessary facilities nor the prospects for acquiring them, the experiment would be abandoned after that first year. As a result, Galloway resigned his post and founded his own school a few miles down Powers Ferry Road – with his Pre-K through 12th-grade curriculum. Meanwhile Holy Innocents’ settled comfortably back into its Pre-K through Middle School niche.

It can’t be discounted how well HIES filled that niche, either.

For the next 20+ years, Holy Innocents’ maintained a position as the premiere feeder school for Atlanta’s premiere independent high schools. Our 8th grade “graduates” routinely moved on to Westminster, Lovett, Marist, and other top programs in Metro Atlanta. The consensus among educators and parents, alike, was that no school prepared students to succeed at the next level better than HIES, that our students had the tools and discipline – but more importantly, the character and mindset – those other schools wanted.

The only thing our students didn’t have, it seemed, was a way to continue their educations at the one school they’d grown to love.

LAND HO! The reason HIES had been unable to establish an upper school program during Galloway’s tenure – or anyone’s tenure, for that matter – was a simple matter of real estate. The campus sat on a few, landlocked acres, surrounded by residential neighborhoods and Fulton County’s Riley Elementary School.

18 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL For nearly three decades, HIES grew and prospered within limited Alice Malcolm boundaries, but ‘For Sale’ signs rarely appeared on any viable tract of neighboring land.

That finally changed in 1987.

“We’d given up trying to buy the Riley property,” says Edward England, assistant headmaster at the time. “We’d made one more inquiry to Fulton County Schools to see if they’d sell us the property and they said they weren’t interested. So the Board said, ‘Alright, let’s build a Fine Arts building.’ And it was about this tall,” he says with his hand at his knee, “when Fulton County called us up and said, ‘Do you want to buy Riley?’”

For years, members of the HIES community had looked longingly at their neighbor to the west – that big, public elementary school building with the large field and woods behind it. Suddenly, and quite unexpectedly, it became available.

Nobody could believe the news. “I remember Alice (Malcolm) calling a quick team leader meeting in the Lower School conference room,” says former LS Principal Dorothy Sullivan, “and she said the land next door has become available and we are placing a bid to buy that campus with the idea of having an upper school. That was the first time I’d ever heard it publicly, but there had been talk about it for several years.”

Alice Malcolm – parent of a Pre-K student on the day Holy Innocents’ opened in 1959 and a member of the HIES faculty and administration every day since, including headmaster from 1983-1996 – is more closely associated with HIES than any person in our history. She still remembers the excitement of the day Fulton County called with the news. “I desperately wanted the Upper School,” she says. “Everything had gone so nicely with what we had, so why not finish it up?”

Malcolm also remembers, though, that not everybody shared her enthusiasm.

“All along, there were people who wanted only the Pre-School. And then they wanted to stop after elementary. Then stop after Middle School,” she says. “I think they just did not want those big people. They were concerned that it would be just like Westminster or Lovett or the others, and wouldn’t be like Holy Innocents’ anymore. They wanted it like it was.”

Debates within the community aside, the purchase of the Riley property was anything but a foregone conclusion. After all, HIES wasn’t the only suitor.

“When Riley came into the picture, the office parks behind us wanted to get that land,” says MS French teacher Anne Jackson who, at the time, volunteered on the Parents’ Association after having retired from teaching at HIES (only for a few years, thankfully, before Malcolm convinced her to return). “I thought, we can’t get that because they can afford more than we can. But Alice was an amazing ambassador and she got it done. Alice said, ‘We’re going to raise money by making friends.’”

Making friends has rarely been cited as a factor in a real estate mogul’s success, but it worked for HIES. Parents, faculty, and administrators began hosting cocktail parties on Friday nights for the different communities served by the school. “We did so many of them,” remembers Jackson, “that my husband and I turned to Alice one week and said, ‘What in the world are we going to do on Friday nights when these parties have ended?’

“We also had a huge parent support group who desperately wanted an

Edward England

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 19

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL

NOW COMES THE HARD PART With the Riley property in hand, along with 11 acres of wonderfully liberating land, leadership could actually begin to put its plans in motion.

“We had in our minds an outline of a pre-K through 12th school, three sections per grade with a high school of about 300 students,” says England. “That’s part of the reason the Fine Arts Building seats 356, so we could fit each division of the school in there. Now, of course, you can’t even fit the Upper School in there.”

Not until the spring of 1991, though, after paying off the FAB construction, had sufficient funds been raised to remodel the Riley building. According to England, the administration focused solely on getting the building past inspection. “We just needed it up to code,” he recalls – especially since 38 freshmen would appear on the doorstep early that August.

Before that could happen, though, there was the issue of what, exactly, those 38 freshmen would do when they arrived. The division was, after all, a blank slate – no curriculum, no faculty, no materials, no extracurriculars, no athletics; the enormity of the undertaking would render most people immobile.

Such people, however, weren’t leading HIES. “We weren’t afraid at all,” Larry Ivens says England. “There was immense confidence – I’d say we were almost cocky.”

The first order of business was hiring an Upper School faculty. “Alice sought the best teachers anywhere,” says Jackson. “She knew that if you started with a really strong faculty, the parents would be interested in staying, would buy into that and become excited. So she brought in the best of the best.”

But there were prerequisites for the candidates. Says England, “Our rule was that we wouldn’t hire any teacher with less than five years’ experience teaching high school. So on day one, we had a very experienced Upper School faculty.”

“They were building a culture,” explains Larry Ivens, who joined HIES in 1991 as MS principal. “And in order to know what a high school culture should 20 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL

Anne Jackson

upper school because they didn’t want to leave HI,” Jackson continues. “Some parents even said, ‘If we can get this in place, we will mortgage our houses to help.’”

No records indicate that it ever came to that, but Malcolm and Missie (Raudabaugh) Pierce – who worked tirelessly as head of the Board’s development committee – explored every opportunity for raising money to purchase Riley. Long before they could hope to reach their goal, however, they’d need to present a number to Fulton County.

“I got this sick feeling,” says England, “because here we were building the FAB, that we hadn’t raised the money for yet, and suddenly we’re trying to buy the Riley building at the same time!” He shakes his head at the memory. “So we formed a committee. We went to Trust Company and came up with a strategy with the help of Vipin Patel, who was on our Board and worked with Cousins Properties. We weren’t really sure about the bid process and Vipin got that straightened out for us. We submitted a bid for $2,001,000, because Vipin said, ‘This is what I think the others will bid, so we need to bid a thousand dollars more.’ He said, ‘They won’t go over two million.’ We were all just staring at him. But Cousins Properties knows what they’re doing.”

As it turned out, Mr. Patel knew exactly what he was doing; HIES won the bid by $1,000.

be, you had to have experienced one – not just from going to high school, yourself, but from working in that culture.”

People still marvel at the quality of the teachers who signed on for the HIES Upper School in those first years – educators like Dave Heidel, Chris Swann, and Pam Fedas, who continue to receive accolades all these years later. When asked why such established and esteemed educators would take a flyer on an unknown entity, England doesn’t hesitate. “They came for the same reason,” he says.

“To be a part of something new and build it.

“That was one of the questions I got from the Middle School parents: ‘Where will you get the teachers?’ And I said, ‘That won’t be a problem. The teachers we want will be the teachers who are excited by it, who want to be part of building something. We had a lot of applications, so I got to choose from a lot of great people.”

Chris Swann

Dave Heidel

Edward England

WHAT ARE WE GOING TO DO WITH THESE KIDS? There were, of course, plenty of other issues to address before students arrived – things like curriculum, athletics, fine arts programs, and clubs and activities. “There was an expectation of a full-blown high school experience and that just wasn’t possible,” says England. “It wasn’t a question of resources; it was just a matter of critical mass.”

With a total of 38 students, in other words, it’s pretty difficult to offer orchestra, band, and drama, let alone football, track, chess club, and peer counseling.

“The Herndon family hosted a gathering at their house of the parents, who were really the ones driving the discussion on these clubs and activities,” remembers England. “I stood on the hearth in their living room and, for over two hours, I had three answers: ‘That’s a really good idea, we’ll do it’; ‘I don’t know but I’ll look into and will

Georgia Women of Achievement Honors Alice Malcolm Alice Malcolm, a much-beloved figure on the Holy Innocents’ campus, has been honored for being one of the most respected and highest-achieving women throughout the state of Georgia.

Malcolm, who served as Holy Innocents’ headmaster from 19831996, was named a 2012 Personal Woman of Achievement on March 8 at Macon’s Wesleyan College. The award was presented by the Georgia Women of Achievement group and honors “the countless women who make daily personal contributions to those around them and their communities.”

Malcolm, was nominated by former HIES board member and parent Missie Pierce.

“She has always been a mentor to me,” said Pierce. “I admired her courage to take on a monumental task of following her dream to make an Upper School at Holy Innocents’—

and her determination to never give up. from class to class, to Dean of Students in “And that’s what Georgia Women of 1969, to Interim Headmaster in 1974-75, and Achievement is all about.” finally Headmaster.

Each year during Women’s History Month, Middle School teacher Janet Silvera Georgia Women of Achievement inducts a recalled that Malcolm treated faculty few women, who have been deceased for members like trusted professionals and a decade or more, into the group’s Hall of encouraged them to always do their best.

Fame. Honorees are judged to have made “She treated the HIES faculty and students as important contributions in their fields, inspire one big family,” said Silvera. “And her legacy future generations to utilize their own talents, at Holy Innocents’ is the tradition of nurturing, and continue to shape and enrich society, which still endures today.” according to the group’s website.

For more about Georgia Women of During that time, several women still living Achievement, visit: www.georgiawomen.org. are recognized with Personal A number of current and former of HIES teachers made the Woman of Achievement awards. trip to Macon for the ceremony honoring Mrs. Malcolm.

These women are judged to have made “significant contributions in their fields of endeavor, impacted the lives of those around them, as well as inspired future generations to utilize their own talents.”

Alice Malcolm’s son Andrew was in the first group of students to attend HIES in 1959. She rose from being the art teacher who pushed a cart of paints and supplies around

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL report back to you in a month’; and, ‘We can’t do it, and this is why.’”

Establishing a curriculum proved easier. “I sat with a group of parents and Middle School teachers, on what a vision of the curriculum should look like in Upper School,” says Jackson. “We had guidance from the National Association of Independent Schools and SACS, so we had the building blocks of what was required. But we did form committees that talked about the vision and where we saw certain departments going. What was interesting is that we had to look ahead to university standards – for the University of Georgia, what their requirements were going to be…

“That was a fine balance,” she says, “being able to put that together, still offering very few electives because we were just trying to put the academic foundation in place. As we matured, all that expanded because of that foundation.”

Peer institutions also provided a great deal of counsel. “We had great support from the other independent schools,” remembers Malcolm.

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL

Janet Silvera

BUILD IT AND MAYBE THEY’LL COME For the first couple of years – but especially for the inaugural 1991-92 school year – not many HIES parents bought into the Upper School, despite the careful planning and new facilities.

MS science teacher Janet Silvera remembers the discussions. “There were some parents who were a little insecure about what our high school would look like,” she says. “Some parents decided they wanted their kids to stay at HI, but in those first couple of years, we still had a lot of parents who applied out.”

Thumbing through the 1991-’92 yearbook, England counts only 10 of those first 38 Upper School students as coming from the previous eighth-grade class, which had numbered nearly 60. “We were disappointed, but we moved ahead,” he says.

The Forgotten Alma Mater Over the past few years, the HIES administration has occasionally brought up the idea of writing a new school song. The idea is not to replace the Malcolm Hymn, which is sung at chapel services, graduation, convocation, and other special events, but rather to include a less somber option for such things as pep rallies, athletic games, assemblies, and the like.

As it turns out, our school already has such a song – though few people remember when it was last sung.

Second-grade teacher Audra (Mullen) Thompson ‘95, a freshman during the first year of Upper School in 1991-92, remembers the song quite well, however.

“David Werk was in our class, and his mom hired this guy to come up with the song,” says Thompson. “So we had a big announcement of what our mascot would be – the Golden Bears. And this guy came in who had written a song – and anyone you talk to who was here those first years can sing it – ‘Holy Innocents’, home of the Golden Bears, arms that hold us close, hearts that truly care! Holy Innocents’, building body mind and soul, instilling confidence! Bidding us to grow…’”

“We sang it all the time,” says Thompson, “and when I came back here to teach, it was gone! I cannot believe that nobody knows that anymore.”

As it turns out, we found one person who knows it well. When asked for any information on the song, HIES archivist Mimi Strassner quickly presented a copy of the sheet music.

So now, in these pages, for the first time in… well, quite awhile… we present The Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School Song, music and lyrics by John Paul Walters, Judy Green Music, Hollywood, CA. 22 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

Dorothy Sullivan

And it wasn’t just the parents who had to be sold. “It was a tricky situation,” says Dorothy Sullivan. “The teachers’ mindset had always been to prepare these kids for a Westminster or Lovett, and to help the parents prepare that child for whichever school was the best match. And that was a hard thing to change because teachers continued to say, ‘This is a Westminster child.’ And we would say, ‘Listen, you’ve got to think in terms of Holy Innocents’,’ because we Dorothy Sullivan wanted the strong students to stay. We didn’t want to prepare them to go to another system. It’s a totally different mindset and it took awhile.”

The biggest issue, it appears, was the idea of a complete high school experience – those activities and sports teams the parents had enjoyed during their own school years, but which would take time to get off the ground.

“It was hard to be patient,” says Sullivan, “because you can’t have an athletic team right at the beginning when they’ve had no training. At other Buster Brown and Alice Malcolm schools, baseball coaches are watching recess and that kid who’s hitting the ball.”

“One of the big deals was not having a football program,” adds Silvera, “and parents pushed for that. By the third or fourth year, people started realizing that this was a strong academic community, our fine arts were developing nicely – and, yes, we didn’t have football, but we had basketball and soccer and other sports.”

Buster Brown and Willow Russell

SIGNING THE BIG FREE AGENT In the fall of 2008, the HIES Athletics Department established the Wall of Fame, honoring those athletes and individuals who have had the greatest impact on the now well-established success of our school’s athletics programs.

The very first inductee was Buster Brown. And for good reason.

Malcolm and England knew that for their Upper School to become a success, they’d need to become visible – quickly. “One of the things Alice and I talked about was that we had to get in the newspaper,” says England.

“So how do you get in the newspaper? Sports. And what is the sport we’ve got the best shot at? Alice decided it was basketball.”

England smiles before continuing, “So we hired the best basketball coach probably in the state of Georgia – Buster Brown.”

With so few students, it seemed an amazing stroke of luck that a man with Brown’s resume – he was a legend in girls’ AAU basketball in Georgia – would agree to join a high school with a total of 38 students, boys and girls combined.

But, according to England, “He came for the same reason everybody else came – to be a part of something new and build it.”

Brown served as our school’s first-ever Athletic Director and instituted a surprisingly strong program that first year. Teams included boys’ soccer and basketball, and girls’ volleyball, softball, and basketball, as well as cross-country.

“We only had JV teams, of course,” says England, but he also remembers how Brown established a culture of excellence right from the start, nurturing the program from within. “We won the basketball state championship in ’99 with little girls I remember putting into car seats,” he says. “That championship was won with girls who entered the school no later than third grade, with the exception of Winter Whitley, who came in seventh grade because of her work with Buster Brown on AAU teams.”

Coaches A&B, Randy Aton and Lucie Bornholm, with the first cross-country team.

Buster Brown

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 23

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL

Larry Ivens

ON YOUR MARK, GET SET… So the HIES administration had pieced together the necessary parts for its new Upper School – and had attracted some remarkable people to make it all work.

The time had come to open the doors.

“Those last few weeks, they were still finishing up the remodeling of the Riley Building and there was some question about whether or not it would actually be ready for the opening of school,” says Larry Ivens. “I remember going down the hallway on the morning of that first day and they were putting signs on the restrooms so they’d know which were boys’ and which were girls’.”

When Ivens says he was going down the hallway, he literally means “the” hallway. With so few students, both Upper and Middle schools used just one of the three corridors – the one now known as the 100 hall – which comprised the Riley building.

“We did just enough to meet code and pass inspection,” says England. “The hallways were actually boarded up with plywood, so that was the only hallway you could get into. The dining hall was boarded up – I’m not even sure how we did that.”

But smiles ruled the day. Teachers taught, students studied, and the excitement of the new building and new division was palpable.

Science teacher Bobby Fay

HIES 101 Some big lessons remained, however; it was time to teach the community how to be a Pre-K through high school school. The administration set out to define the new HIES dynamic.

“Alice was anxious that we not call it something like ‘east campus’ and ‘west campus,’” says Dorothy Sullivan. “She wanted it as one campus and to have it be a united situation. But we had two lunchrooms and separate facilities and there just wasn’t much opportunity for the two groups of people to see each other.

“I remember the first faculty meeting in the FAB,” continues Sullivan.

“We had these new high school teachers and they didn’t have a whole lot of students. So they didn’t have a whole lot of classes, while everybody Bishop Allan blesses else was still bombarded with work. And I’m not saying there was the new Upper School jealousy; it was just kind of, ‘Who are these people, and how is this going to go?’ So the meeting had just finished up and here come the children in their cars. And the teachers are used to 12- and 13-year-olds being the old kids, and here are these teenagers driving in and not being particularly quiet about it. And I remember someone saying, ‘Welcome to an Upper School.’”

There was no turning back, however – the Upper School was a reality. And people had to learn new ways of doing things. “I remember the first book sale down in the MAC,” says Sullivan. “That was quite an experience, because those books were very expensive and the parents, of course, went crazy when they learned those were in addition to tuition!

“But the possibility, the hope, the pure adrenaline of the time was a fantastic feeling,” she says. “There were no closed doors. We used to say that someday we’d look back and think, ‘Those were the good old days.’”

The students felt the same way, experienced the same rush of adrenaline.

HIES second-grade teacher Audra (Mullen) Thompson was one of those 38 freshmen in 1991. “We were seniors from eighth grade on, basically,” she says.

“We were all so close because we didn’t have those older grades to look up to, but we were always together because of that.”

24 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

Audra (Mullen) Thompson

As for her freshman year, Thompson recalls, “It was so small, Dylan Deal it was like we’d been together forever. Even our teachers, we became so close to them – it was just a great group of people.”

But with absolutely no history to fall back on, every single element of the high school experience – those things we all simply take for granted – had to be initiated during those first few years, created from scratch and then literally taught to the community.

Upper School religion teacher Dylan Deal was in seventh grade in 1991 and graduated in the third HIES senior class. He offers one example that seems both incredible and hilarious in hindsight.

“I remember them trying to build some tradition,” says Deal, “like the first pep rally to get us all excited about what was going to be varsity athletics. They were teaching us how to cheer, when to cheer, what to do when the other team’s at the free-throw line, what to do when we dunk.

So they had a player go out and dunk and we all practiced cheering.”

Upper School Latin teacher Clay Kelsh was an eighth-grader in 1991 Clay Kelsh and graduated in the second HIES senior class. He remembers the pros and cons of being a student pioneer – but mostly the pros. “On one hand, it would be so cool to have a football team; everybody wanted football,” he says. “But on the other hand, we would have had to have every single high school person on the team – not just every boy, but every single person – so it wasn’t possible. But I never wanted for lacrosse or chess club, because I got in on the very first of everything.

“They didn’t have a French club, so we started an Honors French Society,” remembers Kelsh. “Or NHS – I was the first president. It had started the year before me, but there were only two people. The next year they inducted eight, and I became president. We just kind of made it. We didn’t have it, so we made it. The only problem was that we really didn’t know what we were doing. So yes, we were NHS, but we were like, ‘Hey! NHS! So what do we do?’

“It was cool – we didn’t have all those things, so we just started them,” says Kelsh. “Same thing with student council. I was president of my junior class. I didn’t know what to do; I just knew that I got elected and now I need to go to these meetings.”

Kelsh remembers one time the pioneering spirit didn’t quite work out as planned. “I was captain of the tennis team senior year – we won state that year, 1996 – and we decided to do something like a hazing. You know, that’s what we thought we had to do. So we were chasing freshmen around campus with an electric razor; we were going to shave their heads. So we cornered this kid in the bathroom and shaved his head – we thought we’d maybe shave one eyebrow, stupid stuff like that. So we got in trouble and had to go see Edward (England).

But I was pretty straight-laced – I didn’t do anything too bad.”

Clay Augustus Kelsh

THE WILD, WILD WEST Not all was NHS and Honors French in the new HIES Upper School. Something the faculty and administration quickly learned was that Upper School students test boundaries more than younger children. “I think they were kind of learning as they were going,” says Thompson, “so we probably got away with more.”

Audra (Mullen) Thompson (red shirt) with some of her loud classmates TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 25

OPENING OF UPPER SCHOOL Kelsh remembers discipline, or the lack thereof, as an issue that cropped up fairly often, especially since so many of the new Upper School students hadn’t attended HIES during their Lower and Middle School years. “The teachers called it the Wild, Wild West,” he says. “They’d say kids were roaming everywhere and that was probably true. There were a couple of kids who lived in the neighborhood and yeah, kids would walk over to their houses during school or during lunch. It was wide open. People say we got away with a lot and we probably did.”

The administration’s soft touch is something that stands out in many people’s memories – and sometimes a slightly less-soft touch might have been advised.

Alice Malcolm But Holy Innocents’ reputation as an inclusive, caring community stems from the lessons that Alice Malcolm, Edward England, Dorothy Sullivan, and Front hallway of the Riley building, in front so many others taught. of what is now the Admissions office.

“The teachers loved you,” says Thompson. “And they really wanted to be here – you could tell.”

Edward England eventually left to serve as headmaster at the Grace School in Ocala, FL. But he still looks back at his time at HIES as being the most enjoyable and rewarding of his professional life. “I remember a wonderful bunch of kids that I thoroughly enjoyed. They were just great people to be around,” he says.

“Particularly for the new ones who had not experienced such a personal education, they didn’t know quite what to make of teachers and administrators being so involved in their lives and taking such a personal interest in them the way that we did.”

England goes on to tell a couple of stories that, for him, sum up the school at the time. Both stories involve Ellen Blake, who teaches fifth grade today, though she taught Upper School math at the time.

“I remember one young man who struggled something terrible,” says England. “I forget where the gym was that we’d rented for basketball practice, but this one boy couldn’t get it – he struggled with math. And Ellen Blake worked with him every day after school, right up until the last minute before he had to get to basketball. I remember him and Ellen running down the steps to the parking lot to get in Ellen’s car to run him over to basketball practice.

Because Ellen had this reputation for being this mean, hard-grading teacher – and to see Ellen running down the steps in her heels to get this boy to basketball practice…” England smiles at the memory as his voice trails off.

England’s final story takes place during the Class of ’95’s senior year. “Some members of the class stood up and spoke in chapel to talk about what they had learned here and what was important to them from this experience,” he says. “And one girl told of her struggles with Miss Blake’s class and how difficult math was for her, and how even after working so hard on her math, Miss Blake had given her an F for Ellen Blake the year. Then she concluded with what she’d learned from getting that F, and how much it meant to her in terms of her personal growth and learning responsibility. And she concluded her speech by saying, ‘Miss Blake, thank you for that F.’” “If at first you don’t succeed…” It’s a saying meant to spur people on, to encourage them not to give up in the face of a challenge. It might also serve as a sort of anthem, honoring the students, faculty, and administrators who’ve devoted so much of themselves to the Holy Innocents’ Upper School.

26 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

SISTER SCHOOL

New Sister School Relationship Now Official At the beginning of the 2011-2012 school year, Holy Innocents’ had Facebook during his visit. “I chatted with a high school rugby team three formal sister schools—in Sapporo, Japan, Briey, France, and from Buenos Aires and a group of retired people from my hometown in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This past winter, one more was added to that France!” list: Groote Schuur High School in Cape Town, South Africa.

Orangio believes South Africa to be an ideal country for an HIES Groote Schuur—situated in the “leafy surrounds of Newlands, sister school because it’s home to a wide variety of wildlife, numerous Cape Town,” according to the school website—was founded in 1959 languages, interesting, traditional customs, and large cities. And as an Afrikaans medium school (a school in which the language of students at Groote Schuur can also benefit from the sister-school instruction is Afrikaans). The school’s mission is to produce “wellrelationship, she said. rounded learners who “It’s very rare for Gerard Gatoux’s class holds a videoconference with strive for excellence in students of that age their South African counterparts their academic work, to be exposed to sporting and cultural American students, activities, through the and if they are, it is development of critical usually a one-sided thought and a good relationship. So, the self-image.” opportunity for South Gerard Gatoux, HIES Africans to get to travel Upper School French/ to America is exciting.

Spanish teacher and “The students have sister-school program so much energy and coordinator, worked excitement about hard to establish getting to know how the relationship with American students a school in South really live. Many of Africa, along with them even came back HIES alumna Chrissy to school after exams Orangio ‘05. Orangio just to Skype with their traveled to South Africa friends at HIES!” in January 2011 on a And what were the Rotary Ambassadorial South African teens Master teacher Linnell Holland and principal Marius Ehrenreich sign the formal agreement with Gerard Gatoux.

Scholarship to attend the University of most interested in?

Cape Town. She is currently earning her “They were extremely eager to hear master’s degree in Environmental and about football and even to learn a little Geographic Sciences, working primarily bit of Spanish,” Orangio said. “These with local government departments initial interactions have given me a lot to research the barriers to flood of hope about how the program might management in informal settlements evolve.” (slums).

So far, the relationship between “After I graduated from Holy Groote Schuur and Holy Innocents’ Innocents’, I kept in touch with Mr. has consisted of interaction through a Gatoux, and before I left last January for blog, a Facebook page, and the Skype Cape Town, he mentioned that his goal sessions, but organizers hope that a was to create a sister school in Africa,” short-term student exchange will take explained Orangio. “So, I made it my place this summer, with some GSHS goal to help him by finding a school learners visiting Atlanta for a few weeks here that would be interested in such a this fall. Holy Innocents’ students may relationship. get a chance to travel to South Africa “After six months of searching and next spring. speaking with principals at different And all of these possibilities are schools, I was lucky enough to get the due in large part to the diligence and contact information for the principal of enthusiasm of one HIES alumna.

Groote Schuur High School—Marius “I am extremely grateful for Chrissy’s Ehrenreich. After meeting with him and help,” said Gatoux. “There is no doubt proposing the idea, he was ecstatic Chrissy Orangio with her that if it were not for her diligence, students at Groote Schuur expertise in South African affairs, about this opportunity to connect students on opposite sides of the friendliness and persistence, we would world.” not have a sister school in Cape Town.”

Gatoux then traveled to Cape Town in March.

For information on Groote Schuur High School, visit: “Cape Town is without a doubt a cosmopolitan city,” he posted on www.grooteschuurhigh.co.za TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 27

TORCHBEARER INTERVIEW

TORCHBEARER INTERVIEW

Jean Jordan Last summer, Jean Jordan and Ronnie McKnight, Emory University’s Dean of Admissions and Senior Associate Dean of Admissions, respectively, joined Holly Raiford in the HIES College Counseling office. As she approaches the end of her first year on campus, we sat down with the new HIES Director of College Counseling to discuss the department’s role and the plans for its future.

Q: What exactly is college counseling and why is it necessary?

JJ: I guess the first part of my answer is that it should be something that’s integrated into the entire life of the Upper School. It is really a teaching moment about personal responsibility, motivation, planning for the future, writing well, and many other skills that are essential to any career. There are so many aspects of college counseling that fit into the academic world. But we’re also trying to get folks to understand that this really isn’t about the end-game, about what college you might get into. It’s kind of preparation for life, and college is just one step along the path. All these things we’re trying to help students learn – to apply and get into college – they are going to use down the road.

Q: I would think most people see college counseling as being exactly about the end-game – i.e. they want their child to get into an elite college and want to know how you’re going to help them do that. But you say it’s more than that?

JJ: I think it’s definitely more than that.

College is what you make of it once you are there. And the college that is the right one for you might not be one that the media ranks as elite, but it is the one that is the right fit. Parents have a role to play, but it is a supporting role. The college that is best suited for the student may not be the one that the parent likes best or feels that it best suits his or her goals. And it’s not about us, as college counseling, getting students into college; they either do that for themselves or they don’t, based on what they have done during their time in high school. We’ll try to help them put together the best application package possible, but ultimately, we don’t go to class for them or write their essays or figure out what activities they should be joining.

28 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

Q: So how do you facilitate that?

JJ: Well, this year we’ve been working with the processes that were already in place, while trying to add some new things along the way. For instance, we’ve been meeting with the ninth through eleventhgrade deans as they talk to families about course selection – not to make the process more stressful but to make sure that they are thinking in a forward way, so no student meets with us as a rising senior and feels like they should have challenged themselves more. We’ve also moved our Family Connection training to ninth and tenth grades, to give families more information and a familiarity with our process. We held a financial aid night and an information session on college athletic recruitment. We also brought in college admissions deans from across the country for our college admission forum. This year we had Tufts, Colby, USC, and Auburn and we’ve already invited next year’s participants from Kenyon, SMU, and UGA. And families should expect much more in the way of programming for the entire Upper School beginning next year.

Q: You left the position of Dean of Admissions at Emory University to join Holy Innocents’. What was it about moving to the high school level that you found attractive?

JJ: I think most people who are in a selective admissions office on the college level will tell you that, as the years have gone on, it’s gotten harder and harder to really get to know students individually and have any kind of relationship with them.

When I first started, we had kids who’d come back in and see us in Admissions all the time. Tour guides and work study students would plop down in my office and chat. But that happened less and less every year. And it’s kind of hard to get away from that; I think you lose some of your real love for the institution, because you get disconnected from the students who are at the core. But at the high school level, that interaction is everything.

Q: So when should the issue be addressed? At what point in a child’s education should the question of college come in to play?

Q: There is a perceived hierarchy between colleges – there’s Harvard, which is kind of the gold standard, and then Stanford, Princeton, Yale, Berkeley, etc., like you can rank them one through a thousand. From a school perspective – but also from a student perspective and a parent perspective – is that relevant? And secondly, is it real - do you get a better education at Yale than you do at, say, Tulane?

JJ: Well as I said, we don’t see college as the end game – and we preach that, whenever we have a chance to speak with parents and students. But when should you start planning for your future? Right now.

No matter what age your child is, yes, you should think about it – “I’ve chosen Holy Innocents’; here’s what Holy Innocents’ can offer me; here’s how I can make the most of my time while I’m here to make myself the best college candidate, the best grad school candidate, the best job candidate…” That’s what your goal should be, whether you’re thinking specifically about college or just life in general.

JJ: No. I totally disagree. Actually, sometimes the quality of an educational experience might be worse at a place like Harvard if you are someone who doesn’t work well in that environment. I mean, it’s great that you come out with a Harvard degree and, certainly, you’ll meet a lot of people who might be able help you along the way. But they also have a lot of professors who may not be available – that one-on-one is not going to be there with them. It may be fine for the select kid, but for the run-of-the-mill Joe, my guess is they’re not getting a lot of individual face time.

Q: I didn’t think Harvard had run-of-the-mill Joes…

JJ: No, of course not. But the middle-ofthe-pack Harvard student – somebody who was a big dog at their high school – won’t be a big dog there. You’re going to have to scratch and claw for every opportunity. If you want to do research, if you want to have great relationships with faculty, if you want a real chance at a great internship opportunity, and glowing recommendations for grad school or work – then at a smaller school like a Tulane you will be afforded many more opportunities to develop relationships with faculty and administrators and do some really interesting things you wouldn’t be able to do somewhere else.

I’m not big on the big-name colleges; I don’t believe they are the answer for every student. And I think as a school we need to celebrate students’ successes whatever those may be. I’ve heard of students who got into, I don’t know, let’s say Ole Miss, and someone said, “Why would you go there? Why aren’t you going someplace else?” And that’s not right. For that kid, Ole Miss may be exactly where they need to be and it may be a great choice for them.

Q: What about the perception of status, though? Does that play into our school’s agenda in any way?

JJ: I don’t believe it should. I think there are probably some people who believe that having the majority of our students attend elite colleges is what we should aspire to, but you have to look at what’s best for each kid. What’s going to be the best fit for them academically, socially, and personally.

Q: Well that begs the question, “What are colleges looking for?” I’m amazed at the resumes young people put together today. They’re packed, not only with AP classes, but all sorts of extracurricular activities, community activities, community service, charitable work, internships… it seems miles and miles beyond what was expected of my generation at that age. So at Emory, what were you looking for?

JJ: Well first, the academics have to be there. And curriculum is the main thing, so we’ve really tried to make sure that families have an understanding about the importance of course selection as early as possible. We know that this year’s top student has taken nine APs, but that sort of resume is fairly rare. Because our students are competing with students from other

high schools where very large numbers of APs are the norm for a large number of their students, it is important for College Counseling to showcase the HI curriculum in the best light and develop and maintain strong relationships with our colleagues on the college side. Beyond curriculum and GPA, test scores are important. In fact, at some schools test scores can make or break an admissions decision.

Extracurricular activities are very important, as well – colleges want to know what you will add to the student body. Demonstrated interest also plays a significant role in some college admission decisions.

Q: Again, looking back to my own high school years, it seems like the pressure on today’s kids is so much more intense than it was on us. Today’s kids need to be on top of their games in so many different areas and subjects and activities – and all the time – but still, they have a tough time getting in to a good school.

JJ: I would agree with that. I don’t think that HI is as much of a pressure cooker as some other private schools, but with more students applying to college and applying to more colleges than we all did way back when, they do face higher levels of stress and competition than ever before. Also, the media attention and the proliferation of college rankings has led to families looking at colleges like they would look at buying a car or a washing machine. It is tempting to focus on rankings and guidebooks to make a decision about which colleges to apply to, but it simply doesn’t work that way. Choosing a college is more about the individual, the fit, the personality and the people than it is about those things that can be quantified.

Q: So can a kid just be a kid anymore, and still get into a good school?

JJ: Do I think you can get into Harvard like that? No. But can you get into a Tulane or an Emory like that? Probably. But unless you have some other kind of hook – recruited athlete, top-flight musician, or your family name is on a campus building or soon will be, it will be tough for a student who doesn’t really stand out to get into the most selective places. Having said that, it is important to remember that there are over 3,000 colleges and universities in the U.S. and many more abroad – and that there is a great college for every student!

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 29

ACADEMICS

Inaugural Class Inducted Into The HIES Chapter Of The Science National Honor Society At Malcolm Library ceremony, 31 Upper School students receive the extraordinary honor

Wednesday, Feb. 29, was a momentous day for the HIES science department, as our school’s very first Science National Honor Society (SNHS) induction ceremony took place in Malcolm Library.

“This came about in a couple of ways,” said Upper School chemistry teacher and SNHS sponsor Stephanie Garner. “The Middle School has had some wonderful success with the Science Olympiad program, and a parent called to ask about forming a chapter of the Science National Honor Society for our Upper School kids. The SNHS has been around since 2000, so over the summer we applied for a charter and we received it earlier this year.”

Said Garner, “It’s nice to have a forum to recognize the academic achievements in science among the Upper School students.”

At the ceremony, guest speaker Dr. Joseph “Buzz” Prejean discussed the importance of scientific literacy. He explained to the students how emotion and social factors can improperly affect actions if the scientific process isn’t respected, citing examples from his own work with infectious diseases at the CDC. Following Dr. Prejean’s talk, the three officers of the newest SNHS chapter were inducted – President Kendall Jackson, Vice-President Katie Serafen and Secretary Robert Moore – followed by the rest of our school’s 31 SNHS students.

The inaugural members of our school’s SNHS chapter include: Sophomores Liz Aitkens, Annie Bennett, Sarah Borne, Sam Fallon, Clara Forrestal, Jack Hackett, Savannah Harris, Katie Jacobs, Natalie Kessler, Kennan Luther, Ashlyn Masters, Peter Myer, Mary Catherine Thomson, Tiernan VanDyke, Grant Wilmer and Alyson Wright; Juniors Devon Asbury, Andrew Ballantine, James Best, Austin Britton-Davis, Will Broms, Kendall Jackson, Lindsey Klopfenstein, Robert Moore, Jada Murray, William Rasmussen, Katie Serafen, Charles Spencer, Eboni Statham, Brantley Taylor and Senior Chris Warley.

30 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Mandarin Chinese Offered This Fall

Holy Innocents’ joins a growing number of U.S. schools offering students a chance to learn a popular language As China continues to boom, so does the study of Mandarin Chinese in U.S. schools. And that list now includes Holy Innocents’.

Gary Kan, a native-speaker who was educated in the United States and has taught high school here, will join the HIES Upper School faculty this fall to teach Mandarin. Mandarin Chinese is believed by many to be the next global language.

“Today the United States has the world’s largest economy and China the second largest,” explained Headmaster Gene Bratek.

“The Chinese-U.S. relationship has been described by some experts as the world’s most important bilateral relationship of the 21st century. Considering these two realities, it’s very important for educational institutions in the United States to teach students about the government, culture, and the language of China.”

Offering Mandarin as a language option will also combine nicely with HIES’ Program for Global Citizenship, a three-year program designed to help HIES students become conscientious citizens of the world, said Bratek. “We want our graduates to be prepared for leadership in the world because they understand how people in different parts of the world think and live. Crucial to this understanding is proficiency in languages other than English.”

Holy Innocents’ currently offers classes in French, Ancient Greek, Spanish, and Latin. Mandarin Chinese 1 will be taught first to rising freshman, sophomores, and seniors, and then gradually expand.

“Our vision is to enlarge the program so that we can offer Mandarin along with other languages in the Lower and Middle Schools and have the students be able to take any of our languages all the way through to graduation,” explained Christine Stafford, World Languages chair. “Ideally, we would like for students to take more than one foreign language.”

According to the current plan, freshman and sophomore Mandarin students would be able to meet their world language requirement of three years’ study in the same language by starting Mandarin next year. Level 2 will be added in 2013-2014 and level 3 the following year.

“We hope to add AP Mandarin after level 3, so students who are rising freshmen could begin Mandarin in the ninth grade and complete the AP level in their senior year,” noted Stafford.

Although Spanish is still the most popular language on the college level, enrollment in Chinese language classes is increasing. This rising popularity has been linked to China’s economic boom since it emerged from decades of isolation. Educators and parents increasingly see China’s emergence as something for which children should be prepared.

“Our world is becoming smaller and the need to know more than one language is becoming essential for those who want to advance their careers in many areas,” said Stafford. “Our students are going to be competing in a global marketplace, and mastering a second and perhaps a third language will enhance their resume for future employers.

“They need to be able to communicate with businesspeople from other lands, and to understand their culture. And learning a new language is a great opportunity for that.”

A Tribute to HIES Volunteers

HIES volunteers give of their time generously and there is no question we are a better school because of them. Without their unpaid and tireless efforts, we simply could not afford all the “extras” they provide for our students and community. They are daily fixtures at our school and their presence speaks volumes to their children and to staff.

Volunteers serve as Trustees on the HIES Board, the Alumni Board, and the parent organizations’ Boards. They organize and provide the labor for fundraising events… and we know how gargantuan these can be.

They solicit our community on behalf of the

Gene Bratek and Melisa Rathburn-Stewart

Annual Fund, the foundation of the School’s fundraising. They take prospective parents on tours and serve as charming ambassadors of the Holy Innocents’ community. Other volunteers serve in our libraries handling circulation, inventory control, and cataloging, or manning the Advanced Reading program in our Primary School.

If the School had to pay its volunteers for the work they do, well, it simply couldn’t.

Fortunately, they do not seem to mind. They see volunteering for what it truly is: a way to enrich the education of their children. To them, we send our heartfelt thanks.

Carter DeHaven, Margaret Kendrick, and Jan Serafen

Kimberly Earle and Tammy Arnold

Alumni Hall Ribbon-Cutting and Open House

The Business and Development Offices officially transitioned into the new Alumni Hall (formerly the Stone House) on April 30. On Monday April 30, donors were invited to a reception and private tour. After the reception, there was a short ribbon-cutting ceremony with remarks by Board Chair Bruce Ford

and Headmaster Gene Bratek, and a blessing by the Rev. Michael Sullivan. Then, the doors were opened to alumni and the school community to tour this beautiful, new space. Alumni Hall will be a place for HIES alumni to visit and celebrate their reunions, as well as other HIES events and meetings.

Jim Griffin, the Rev. Michael Sullivan, Bruce Ford, Melisa Rathburn-Stewart, and Gene Bratek help cut the ribbon

FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Annual Fund 101 You may know that only 87% of your child’s education is paid for with tuition dollars. The other 13% is paid with philanthropic dollars.

On average, there is a gap of $2,698 (after tuition and fees) for each Holy Innocents’ student.

The Annual Fund helps to cover this gap and is a shared responsibility of parents, grandparents, parents of alumni, alumni, trustees, faculty, and staff.

The Fund has two goals: r B EPMMBS HPBM PG r B QBSFOU QBSUJDJQBUJPO HPBM PG Already this year, 100% of trustees, faculty, and staff have supported the Annual Fund, and 75% of parents have done so. It is crucial that the remaining 25% of parents contribute at some level. Why? When we apply to foundations to ask for their help with capital campaigns and special programs, they ask what percentage of parents support HIES voluntarily. Annual Fund participation is the measure we report to them. Since foundations receive far more funding requests than they can possibly satisfy, they reason that if a school’s own constituents do not support it, why should they?

Participation in the Annual Fund reflects the HIES community’s commitment to the school. Gifts to the Annual Fund have a powerful multiplier effect, encouraging foundation giving to capital campaigns and special programs.

If you find yourself in difficult financial circumstances, a gift of $20 is still truly important to the school because it raises the percentage of participation, increasing our chances of receiving foundation support.

Additional Financial Aid Funds Help More Students Financial Aid for Holy Innocents’ has increased thanks to parents who participated in the Georgia Tax Credit program. This program, run by Apogee Student School Choice Scholarship Fund, allows Georgia taxpayers to redirect their tax dollars to an independent school of their choice.

Holy Innocents’ began participating in 2010 when 114 families contributed $249,000. In 2011, $347,000 was contributed from 173 families before funding from the state of Georgia ran out in November. This year we hope to top last year’s contribution – but we need to do it before this popular program runs out of funds as early as this summer.

The Georgia Tax Credit program allows our school to offer financial aid to students entering Holy Innocents’ from public schools. The first year we were able to award 11 partial scholarships using the Apogee funds. This freed up money in the financial aid budget for returning students who need financial support. This past year we awarded 17 partial scholarships. The Financial Aid committee uses only a portion of the available Apogee tax credit funds and keeps a pool of money to help those students for the additional years they are at the school.

Companies that are registered as C-Corps can also participate in this program and redirect up to 75% of their Georgia taxes. Taxable trusts can also join in. And many matching gift companies will match your personal contribution.

It is not too late to help support the school by redirecting your 2012 taxes to HIES financial aid. The sign up is simple – go to www.hies.org and look across the top for the drop down Support HIES menu, then click on Tax Credit Scholarship Program. You will be on your way to guiding the state on how YOU want your tax money to be spent.

FROM THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

Inaugural Year for HIES Distiguished Service Award and Distinguished Alumnus Award On April 23, at the State of the School luncheon at Cherokee Town Club, Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School presented the first Distinguished Service Award and the first Distinguished Alumnus Award. In attendance were former and current board members, parents of alumni, alumni, and current parents.

Alexander W. Patterson received the Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes a volunteer who has provided outstanding service and loyalty to Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School through leadership, recruitment, advocacy, fundraising, and/or faithful service to the school.

Alex is an HIES parent of alumni who served on the Board of Trustees for two three-year terms starting in 1994. He was on the feasibility study committee that brought forth our Upper School, and on the Headmaster Search Committee in 1995. He became Vice Chairman of the Board and, when the HIEC rector and Board Chair moved to Texas, stepped up and served two additional years as acting Board Chairman. During this time, he played a key role in purchasing the land which is now the south campus athletic fields, and led the negotiations to obtain the necessary zoning to build both the fields and the Fred Rowan Alex Patterson, Gene Bratek, and Bart Miller

Annual Fund Quiz - Test Your Knowledge!

Family Middle School Building and Duncan Gymnasium. He was also instrumental in working with neighborhood groups to formulate the neighborhood agreement we continue to use.

A retired partner of Alston & Bird, LLP, Alex is a native of Athens and a 1964 graduate of the University of Georgia. He received his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1967. He and his wife, Janet (Watkins), also of Athens, have three adult children.

Jennifer (Jenny) Graham Beeson, class of 1996, received the Holy Innocents’ Distinguished Alumnus Award, which recognizes an outstanding alumnus for his or her personal and professional accomplishments and significant contributions to the community.

While at HIES, Jenny was an Alice Malcolm Headmaster’s Award recipient, president of the student council, peer counselor, honor student, and basketball player.

Jenny attended the University of Georgia, graduating with honors in 2000 with a degree in Psychology. She then moved to Texas where she earned a Master of Science degree in Developmental Psychology from the University of Texas. At UT, she received a grant for her work with children with special needs and, upon graduation, began work in Early Interven-

tion, specializing in the treatment of children with disabilities, and becoming certified in two therapeutic approaches for children with autism: Floortime and Relationship Development Intervention.

In 2004, she married Bryan Beeson, who now works in the energy industry in the Dallas area. They have three daughters: 6-yearold Avery Grace, 3-year-old Kaylin Joy, and 1-year-old Presley Hope. Avery Grace has a life-threatening autoimmune disorder which resulted in encephalopathy (brain inflammation), and she suffers from severe autism. However, she has also inspired her mother to write and publish a blog, read by thousands, documenting the struggles and joys of raising a child with special needs. Jenny has also started a support group for mothers like her, and every year organizes a team called “Avery’s ARMY” to raise both awareness and funds for research on autism.

Currently, Jenny is studying at the University of North Texas for another certification to become a Board Certified Behavior Analyst.

She works at a private clinic serving children with autism, as well as being a full-time mom to three very busy girls. Her blog can be read at www.gracejoyandhope.com.

Matt Little ‘97, Jenny Graham Beeson ‘96, and Gene Bratek

What percentage of parents gave to the Fund last year? 85% What percentage of trustees, faculty, and staff gave last year? 100% How much do I give in order to join Leadership Circle? Leadership Circle gifts are the backbone of the Annual Fund and begin at $1,959.

Membership in the Circle gains you entrance to special events during the year.

Do grandparents give to the Annual Fund? Many grandparents do and their gifts are important! Grandparents typically supply 7% to 15% of all Annual Fund proceeds. Gifts from parents of alumni and alumni are vitally important, as well.

Do corporations give to the Annual Fund? Some do by matching the gifts their employees make to the school. HIES receives approximately $100,000 a year in corporate matching gifts. Check with your human resources department to see if your company has a matching gift program. All you have to do is fill out a very simple form and send it to us. We do the rest!

What is the difference between a pledge and a gift? A pledge is a promise to make a gift of a specific size in the future. A pledge made now may be paid at any time between now and June 30, 2012.

Bonus Round: Why is it especially important that parents with multiple children enrolled at HIES give to the Annual Fund? Participation is measured according to child. A gift from the parent of three children raises our participation level three times as much as a gift from the parent of one child. (Conversely, the parent of three who does not give pulls down participation three times as much as the parent of one who does not give).

32 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

Senior Class Signing Starts Tradition On Wednesday, May 2, the Class of 2012 started a new senior rite of passage in the new Alumni Hall by signing the alumni wall in the Carriage House. For all alumni visitors, there will be a place on the walls for them to sign their name according to their class year. There’s also a place to sit and chat about their Holy Innocents’ experiences.

Vanessa Birdwell and Nora and Darrell Borne

Nora Borne, Diane Rhea, the Rev. Rob Wright, and Dr. Beth-Sarah Wright

Louie Pittman and Dave Stockert

Mike Dolan, Jim Price, Bob Ward, and Lever Stewart

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 33

HEART FOR THE ARTS

A Heart For The Arts Doesn’t Miss A Beat

On Friday, Feb. 24, the HIES Fine Arts Alliance held its biggest and most important fundraiser – the biannual A Heart for the Arts Art and Fashion Show – in the Foundry at Puritan Mill. With the theme “Celebrating the Style of Giving,” this year’s event raised both funds and spirits, as over 250 supporters browsed a remarkable array of art and jewelry before cheering on the guest “models” in a fastpaced, fun-filled fashion show.

As special honoree, the FAA chose beloved Lower School art teacher Jo Thacker, who is retiring after 34 years at HIES. With a number of family members by her side, Jo was feted

throughout the day. Before the fashion show, Fine Arts department chair Heidi Domescik presented a heartwarming video montage thanking Jo for her many years of dedication and her remarkable ability to instill a love of art in even the youngest of students.

Following the fashion show, Jo gave a brief speech about her art, her family, and her years at HIES. ““I wouldn’t change one single thing,” she said. “This school is just like a family. And I’ve loved every minute of it.”

While the attendees certainly seemed to enjoy themselves, the people benefitting most from the event are the students in our fine

arts programs. The $48,000 raised through A Heart For The Arts goes directly toward facilities and improvements throughout the music, drama, visual arts, and media literacy programs. These HIES programs are now considered among the finest in the Southeast, with much of the credit for this achievement going directly to the tireless volunteers of the FAA. The money raised at A Heart For The Arts will help to continue this momentum.

The Heart for the Arts committee, chaired

by Becky Wallis and co-chaired by Tressa Bell, would like to thank everyone involved with this marvelous event.

SECTION HEAD

Jo Thacker and her family enjoy the fashion show

Male models Chris Durst, Mike Bryant, Greg Miller (of Miller Brothers, Ltd.), Clay Snellings and Tom FitzStephens

Anne King, Kimberly Earle, Krist Voyles, Lori Snellings, and Gail Jokerst

Becky Wallis, Michele Nelson, and Tressa Bell

34 | TORCHBEARER FALL 2011

Christina Price models the raffle grand prize from 3Jewels

Heidi Domescik, Katie Arnold, DeLancy Hutchinson, Judie Jacobs, and James Jackson

CLASS NOTES

CLASS NOTES

If you would like to submit class notes for the Fall issue of the Torchbearer, please contact Tamika Weaver-Hightower at tamika@ hies.org or 404.303.2150 ext 181.

If you are interested in serving as a class representative, please contact Heather Hahn ’91 at heather.hahn@hies.org.

CLASS OF 1995

CLASS OF 1998

CLASS OF 2001

Class Representatives:

Class Representatives:

Class Representatives:

Stephanie Little: sll1176@yahoo.com

Katie McGoogan Weeks: katie.weeks@hies.org

Cara Puckett: cara.puckett@gmail.com

Jill Herndon Littlefield: jilllittlefield@hotmail.com

Effie Swartwood Thompson: effiesthompson@gmail.com

Allender Laflamme Durden: allenderl@gmail.com

Audra Mullen Thompson: audra.thompson@hies.org

CLASS OF 1996 Class Representatives: Emily Brown Latone: emilylatone@gmail.com Raine Crumpler Hyde: raine.hyde@gmail.com

Raine Crumpler Hyde and her husband, Hunter, welcomed Tillan Jane Hyde on February 1, at 7 lbs. 6 oz. Evelyn Grace is a very good big sister!

Helen Abbott Jonas and her husband Gabe relocated from Atlanta to Tampa, Florida in January of this year. Gabe is the Director of Acquisitions for McDonald’s for central Florida. They plan to be in Florida three years before the next move.

Helen continues to work for McKinsey & Company while raising her two boys, Landon (4) and Dylan (3).

Charisse Boyd McAuliffe and David Bowen welcomed a new baby!

Penelope Louise was born January 31. They now have three daughters.

Charisse also accepted a new position as the new Director of the Institute for Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Colorado State University.

CLASS OF 1997

Caroline Catts-Xie graduated in May with a Masters in School Counseling from Mercer University and will become a Nationally Certified Counselor sometime this summer.

Alley Pickren: alleypic@gmail.com

Effie Swartwood Thompson and her husband Ty recently had another baby! William “Wright” Thompson was born October 13, 2011 weighing 7 lbs 7 oz. Big sister Gracie, Ty, and Effie are in love with their new bundle!

Above is a picture of Wright and Gracie.

Zachary C. Bush recently presented a paper entitled “Faith and Fatherland: Bishop Edward Thomas O’Dwyer, the Irish Catholic Church, and a New Irish Nationalism Following the Easter Rising of 1916” at the 50th annual international meeting of the American Conference of Irish Studies (New Orleans, LA). In June, he will complete coursework for his doctorate in Ancient Greek Mythological Literature and Spiritual Studies at Drew University (Madison, NY). In September, while continuing to work on his doctoral dissertation, he will enter the Union Theological Seminary (Columbia University) for additional master’s studies in Early Church History and Christian Thought.

CLASS OF 1999 Class Representatives: Jennifer Cavanaugh Brown: jcb924@gmail.com Samia Hanafi: samhanafi@gmail.com Drew McDonald: tam1980@gmail.com

Eliza Suarez and her husband, Scott, are expecting a little baby girl this September.

She will be their first child.

CLASS OF 2000 Class Representatives:

36 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

Katie Kirtland: katie.kirtland@gmail.com

Zach Blend and his wife, Rachel, welcomed Norah Jean Blend to their family on December 28, 2011.

Norah was born at Northside Hospital at 6:51 p.m. She weighed 7lbs, 6oz and was 21 1/2 inches long. Zach and Rachel enjoy every day with their happy little girl!

Kristin Wolford Tiliakos: kristinjwolford@aol.com

Meg Parker Herbert and her husband welcomed Henry Thomas Herbert on June 12, 2011. Meg is loving every minute of being a stay-at-home mom.

Class Representatives:

Elizabeth Salter McMillan and Jesse McMillan welcomed Elyse Shepherd McMillan on March 18. A healthy seven pounds, 1.1 ounces and 20 inches long. She is the godchild of Elizabeth Dunham Thompson ‘98 and Heather Kovacs Moreira ‘98.

Ashton Thurmond Ragone: ashtonragone@gmail.com

Class Representatives:

CLASS OF 2002

Stephanie Brown: sbrown@georgiaaquarium.org

Lindsay Kittrell Morton, her husband Brian, and big brother Dominic welcomed Blake Christopher Morton on November 30, 2011. He was 8 lbs 10 oz and 22 inches. They couldn’t be happier!

CLASS OF 2003 Class Representative: Emily Weprich: emily.weprich@yahoo.com

Anthony Tarantino and his wife Melissa are expecting their second child, a boy, on June 7, 2012. Anthony now works at Lambert High School in Forsyth County where he teaches Engineering and also coaches basketball. This past season, his freshman boys team finished with a perfect 18-0 record.

CLASS OF 2004 Class Representatives: Amy Fore Kane: kaneamyf@gmail.com Collins Marshall: collins.marshall@ml.com

Johns ‘04, Amy Fore Kane ‘04, Morgan Kelly ‘04, Peter Kiley ‘04, Tessa Morris ‘05, and Kathy Ortstadt ‘04.

Gordon Silvera: gordon.silvera@gmail.com

Kelly Haddigan is currently living in Santa Monica, CA and is a commercial real estate mortgage banker. Kelly is engaged to marry Gary Chou on October 20 in Pacific Palisades, CA. The couple met while at UCLA. Gary works in commerical real estate brokerage in Los Angeles.

Susan Little Jones married Sawyer Jones of Atlanta on January 28.

The service was officiated by former HIES Chaplain, Fr. Ron Chrisner, in a candlelit ceremony outside of Athens, Georgia. The bridal party included two fellow HIES classmates, Hailey Lowe and Gina Hanafi serving as the Maid of Honor.

Also in attendance from the class of 2004 were Brittany Alders, Jackie Fryer, Lisa Scott Garrett, Collins Marshall, Jennifer Bickley Sewell, Gordon Silvera, Kathryn Stafford, Annie Van Beuningen and former teacher, Mrs. Janet Silvera. The couple is relocating from Cincinnati, Ohio to Atlanta, Georgia this summer.

Hailey Lowe writes, “I received my MFA from SCAD Atlanta in Sculpture last June 2011, graduating top of my class as the excelsus laureate (Masters Valedictorian).

I work in Atlanta, but following an artist residency in Assisi, Italy this summer I will have a show in Assisi in December 2012, showing internationally.”

Kate Stice married Peter Stewart on September 24, 2011 at The Farm at Old Edwards Inn of Highlands, NC. Peter graduated from Riverwood High School and Georgia Tech. He works for CBRE specializing in industrial real estate. Kate works in the Foundation at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. HIES alumni in attendance were: John Cook ‘04, Bennett Gottlieb ‘04, Amanda Fehr ‘04, Andy

CLASS OF 2005 Class Representatives: Tyler Rathburn: tprathburn@gmail.com Rachel Shunnarah: rshunnarah@gmail.com

opportunity could change the lives of South African students. As alumni we are responsible for contributing to the success of the school, and I believe having a long term relationship with South Africa can open doors to a more global education and create students who are more globally aware.”

Kate Sternstein: kasternstein@gmail.com Allyson Young: allysonyoung87@gmail.com

Clay Buckalew has accepted a position with the Georgia Senate Budget and Evaluation Office as a Program Analyst. Clay analyzes budgets for the Human Development Appropriations Subcommittee and the Insurance & Labor Appropriations Subcommittee in addition to evaluating various state agency programs and policies.

Catherine Bost Saxe married the Rev. Joshua Saxe on January 14 at St. Luke’s Episcopal Church, Atlanta, Ga. The couple met at the General Theological Seminary, New York City where Catherine received an M.A. in Religion.

They currently reside in Marietta, Ohio.

Chrissy Orangio has spent the last year in Cape Town, South Africa on a Rotary Scholarship.

During this time, she has worked with Gerard Gatoux to set up a Sister School in Cape Town. Chrissy has been working with the Interact Club (a local volunteer club sponsored by a local Rotary Club) at Groote Schuur High School. The students have been blogging with current Holy Innocents’ students. In November 2011, they had a Skype session where they were able to ask each other questions about different cultures, languages, and customs.

This has been a truly unique experience for students in South Africa and in Atlanta.

Chrissy plans to bring some of the students to Atlanta in November of this year and she is working on fundraising for the travel expenses. “I would like to open up the opportunity for alumni to donate to the cause, since this will benefit Holy Innocents’ by opening doors of communication to South Africa,” says Chrissy. “I also know that this

CLASS OF 2006 Class Representatives: Kaitlin Duffy: duffykc@auburn.edu Miller Edwards: edwardm@auburn.edu Anna Pickren: annapic@uga.edu Amy Schwartz: amy87@uga.edu

Justin Bower graduated from USAF pilot training, and received his wings, on April 27 at Vance AFB, OK. He has been assigned to Kadena AB in Okinawa Prefecture, Japan for the next 3-4 years where he will be flying aerial refueling and aero-medical evacuation missions throughout the Pacific and Southeast Asia in the KC-135 Stratotanker. Justin shows the cockpit of the T-1A (which he flew as his advanced trainer while at Vance AFB) to his younger brother, Ethan Bower ‘08.

Nicholas Carroll will be entering the Master’s School Counseling Cohort at the University of Georgia beginning June 1.

He also received his Professional Tennis certification in Junior Development and currently teaches and runs clinics at the Epic Center in Duluth, Ga. Arden Crumpler married Lee Bellah on September 10, 2011 at Peachtree Presbyterian Church, with a reception at Atlanta Botanical Garden. HIES alumni that attended the wedding included bridesmaids Sarah Cornwell ’06, Katie Hammond ’06, and Whitney Mitchell ’06, as well as: Kaitlin Duffy ’06, Blake Snodgrass ’06, and Hamilton Bailey ’10.

Lee graduated from Walton High School and Abraham Baldwin Agricultural College and owns PediGreen Lawn & Landscape. Arden attended Auburn University and graduated from J. Mack Robinson School of Business at Georgia State University and is in sales for 28:30, a television marketing firm. The couple resides in the Atlanta area.

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 37

CLASS NOTES CLASS OF 2007 Class Representatives: Charlotte Bissell: cmb123@comcast.net Sarah-Elizabeth Kirtland: sarahelizabeth.kirtland@gmail.com

NEW ORLEANS MISSION TRIP CLASS OF 2011

Alpha Omega Society Class of 2012

Class Representatives: Megan Ernst: megernst11@gmail.com Delaney McMullen: delaneymcm@gmail.com Andrew Parrish: m.andrewparrish@gmail.com

Taylor Pack: pack_t@bellsouth.net Emily Phillips: egphillips@crimson.ua.edu

MJ Jansky is currently the Vice President of Sigma Alpha Epsilon fraternity. He will graduate from Florida State University this spring and enter Florida State University Law School in the fall.

LOST ALUMNI Name

Nickname

Katherine L. Schultz

Kathy

1996

William P. Thomas

Will

1996

Kimberly A. Campuzano

Kim

Christopher B. Chappell

Chris

1997

Benjamin J. Gaudreault

Ben

1997

Kathryn N. Wegman

Kate

1997

Keith A. Cooper

Keith

1998

CLASS OF 2008

Mary M. Kyle

Mary

1998

George M. McCord

Michael

1998

Class Representatives:

Laura H. Bond

Laura

1999

Rachel Sullivan: res6w@virginia.edu

Lauren D. Friedrichs

Lauren

1999

Kerry Martin: kiwi667@bellsouth.net

John P. Gallagher

Jack

1999

Trevor Gillum:

Holly M. O’Keefe

Holly

1999

Kyoko F. Sadoshima

Kyoko

Robert A. Schiess

Tony

Amanda S. Brennan

Amanda

Katharine M. Duke

Kate

2000

Jasmine Nadja M. Smiri

Jasmine

2000

Danielle A. DeFoe

Danielle

2002

Noah K. Hauber

Noah

2002

Stephen A. Satterfield

Stephen

2002

Tracy L. Edmundson

Tracy

2003

Rachel M. Small

Rachel

2003

Robert W. Caperton

Bobby

2004

Mary V. Coleman

Ginny

2004

Shaquita N. McWilliams

Ke-Ke

2004

Thomas C. Dickinson

Coston

2007

Kate Decker: kated7523@gmail.com

Blair Barrows received the Watson Fellowship, which is a one-year grant for independent study outside of the United States. Her project, which is designed around the way that play is manifested through educational philosophies, will take her to South Africa, the UK, Germany, Italy, and India. Following the year, she will attend Peabody College at Vanderbilt for a Master’s in Special Education.

Class of 2009 Class Representatives:

Class of 2010 Class Representatives:

Kramer Deans is a rising junior at Belmont University.

He is majoring in social entrepreneurship. Kramer runs a non-profit called William Stery Inititiatives that raises money and awareness in hopes to find a cure for Multiple Myeloma, www. williamstery.org for more info. The first event was on April 16 at Belmont. Above is a photo from event. He would love for the HI community to take part in this effort.

Channing Stephens is teaching at two high schools in Rome, Italy: IPSIA Carlo Cattaneo and Liceo Classicale Statale Giulio Cesare. She teaches English, Art History, and Mechanics.

38 | TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012

Maiden Name

Perisino

Class

1997

The Office of Alumni Relations hosted a reception at the home of Marcia and Jim Decker for the parents and students from the Class of 2012 Alpha Omega Society on Wednesday, April 18. There are 35 Alpha Omegas. Each family tearfully walked away with a video created by parent Diane Rhea of memories from this special Alpha Omega class.

Bayou Bears

Melisa Rathburn-Stewart and Alexis Stewart

1999 1999 Wolfe

2000

We are missing contact information for the above alumni. If you are in contact with any of the above HIES graduates, please encourage them to get in touch with the HIES alumni office. You can also log on to the website at www.hies.org. Click on alumni. If you have never logged onto the site before: Your username is firstnamelastnamegraduationyear (i.e.

TamikaHightower97) Your password is your date of birth (i.e.MM/DD/YYYY) this includes the slashes.

Beth Robertson, Diane Rhea, and John Rhea

Save the Date for Alumni Reunion Weekend Classes of 1997, 2002, and 2007 Friday-Saturday, October 12-13, 2012 Friday, October 12 Varsity Football Game at Riverwood High School Saturday, October 13 Class Receptions (locations TBA)

Facebook and LinkedIn Join the Holy Innocents’ Alumni Association on Facebook and LinkedIn. This will keep you connected to the school with news and events.

For the sixth straight year, HIES students and their faculty chaperones spent Easter vacation helping with the ongoing recovery from Hurricane Katrina.

TORCHBEARER SPRING 2012 | 39

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If this magazine comes to your child who no longer lives at home, please send us their new address so they can keep up with their school.

Among other dignitaries, Thomas Edison, Annie Oakley, and Abraham Lincoln spent an April day telling their life stories to a steady stream of visitors.