Junior kindergarteners learning about the heart got to hear from a special visiting expert: cardiovascular and thoracic surgeon Dr. Ed Garrett, grandfather to June ’37 (pictured in inset below). During Dr. Garrett’s visit, our girls were excited to tell him about what they learned in class and ask him questions about his job.
We have been spending significant time examining the past, reflecting on the present, and turning our dreams for the future into an actionable vision. In this process, my admiration for Mary Grimes Hutchison has grown exponentially. At the turn of the century, Miss Hutchison didn’t simply want to educate girls; she wanted to ensure that young women had the knowledge, skills, and confidence to fully engage in a changing world. She was wise to recognize that bright girls deserve opportunity and voice. Much as our cherished traditions evolve over time, education advances and changes. But our mission has stayed steadfast, and for this I am sure Miss Hutchison would be proud.
This issue applauds accomplished alumnae who have dedicated their professional work to empowering other women to share their voices. Vanessa Ross ’91, a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP), is listening to women who are embarking on their midlife journeys and encouraging them to use their voices in speaking up about what’s happening to their bodies. Her goal is to change the negative cultural thoughts about menopause and empower women to make the second half of life as powerful as the first. Dr. Allida Black ’70 has spent decades chronicling the accomplishments of Eleanor Roosevelt, helping to make sure her voice isn’t lost to history. A fascinating connection to her work ties back to the Hutchison class of 1941. As fourth graders, this class wrote letters to First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to congratulate her and the newly inaugurated president and to wish them success. On March 27, 1933, only a few weeks after the inauguration, the secretary to Mrs. Roosevelt responded with a sweet note to Miss Hutchison and the students of that class expressing her appreciation. Wouldn’t that class love to know that a fellow alumna dedicated much of her career to illuminating the work of Mrs. Roosevelt?
Using one’s voice comes with responsibility. Our upper school students engage in comprehensive civil discourse seminars to gain the tools and understanding of how to effectively use their voices, listen to learn, and discriminate between facts and opinions. As we head into an election year, we remind our school community that the polarization of society is detrimental and a distraction from the important work of enlightening the mind, body, and spirit of each girl.
Warmly,
Kristen Ring, Ed.D. | President and Head of School
MISSION
Hutchison School is dedicated to academic excellence and to the parallel development of mind, body, and spirit as it educates young women for success in college and for lives of integrity and responsible citizenship.
HUTCHISON MAGAZINE
JULY 2024
PRESIDENT AND HEAD OF SCHOOL
Kristen D. Ring, Ed.D.
EDITOR
Max Maddock
Director of Communications
mmaddock@hutchisonschool.org
CONSULTING EDITOR
Lori Guy
Director of Strategy lguy@hutchisonschool.org
ALUMNAE DIRECTOR
Mary Aubrey Landrum Stafford ’10 mstafford@hutchisonschool.org
DESIGNER
Barbara Himber
PHOTOGRAPHY
Brandon Dill, Danielle Katz, Melanie Melugin, Gabrielle Prewitt, Kaveh Sardari, Danielle Tait, and various Hutchison constituents
Hutchison Magazine is published by the Hutchison Communications Office.
Please forward address changes to: HUTCHISON SCHOOL
1740 RIDGEWAY ROAD MEMPHIS, TN 38119 or khouston@hutchisonschool.org
Jordan Deupree ’24 and Bailey Wiener ’24 were recognized for their leadership through the MBJ Next Gen Program. As Next Gen honorees, Jordan and Bailey took part in a yearlong mentorship program with Mid-South business leaders that gave them a deeper understanding of our community’s economic landscape.
J’oules Williams ’24 received a Memphis Parent Magazine 10<20 Youth Impact Award. The award celebrates youth who strive to make a difference in their community and change the lives of others for the better. Memphis Parent said it chose J’oules because she is a member of the Bridge Builders Collaborate Leadership Council, serves as a student volunteer with the Memphis-Shelby County Juvenile Court Youth Court, and was president of the Facing History Club at Hutchison.
Avery Webb ’26 enjoyed the opportunity to shadow Tennessee House Rep. John Gillespie in Nashville. She attended a day and a half of the Tennessee legislative session, and she met with state officials including Gov. Bill Lee, Speaker of the House Cameron Sexton, Secretary of State Tre Hargett, State Treasurer David Lillard, Jr., and Comptroller of the Treasury Jason Mumpower.
Upper school social science teacher Will Askew was named the Daughters of the American Revolution Outstanding American History Teacher for the Memphis Watauga Chapter in March. This award recognizes teachers for their teaching excellence and extensive knowledge of American History. Mr. Askew earned the award because of his commitment to his students and their academic achievement, his remarkable ability to relate history to modern life, and the spirit of patriotism he fosters.
The Anthology of Poetry by Young Americans selected poems from 23 members of the Class of 2030 to be published in its publication, and Savannah Fatolahi ’29 will have her second poem published in this year’s edition.
Mayor Paul Young spoke to upper and middle school students for Black History Month by special invitation of our upper school Equity and Inclusion Council. Mayor Young encouraged our girls to be a part of positive change and focus on making an impact locally.
“In order for Memphis to overcome all of its challenges, it’s going to take the people from Memphis to change it. And, one of the most important things is keeping the talent that we have in our city—in our city. Many of you will leave and go off to college and do great things. You may even live in some other cities for a few years. But I want to make sure that at the end of all of it, you keep Memphis at the heart. New York is cool. Atlanta is
Fifteen Hutchison girls earned Scholastic Writing Awards in the recent Alliance for Young Artists & Writers competition. Congratulations to Catherine Bowie ’28, Mia Chelsoi ’28, Emma Doherty ’28, Shelby Faulkner ’28, Lois Hill ’28, Emma Iskiwitz ’28, Caroline Jefferies ’29, Katie Phan ’28, Holly Scheinblum ’25, Georgia Shelby ’28, Mimi Smith ’28, Elizabeth Soefker ’24, Sloane Vandergrift ’27, Ellie Willson ’29, and Sophia Wilson ’28. They submitted original works of fiction, poetry, and personal essays and competed against students across several states in the South region.
Hannah Pollard ’25 and Nailah Woods ’25 were selected for the Contemporary Arts Memphis summer fellowship program. The program provides young artists with three weeks of college-level instruction and participation in specialized workshops with industry progressions, studio time, and peerfocused group discussions. They also will spend a week in New York visiting cultural institutions, meeting working artists, and touring galleries.
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Dr. Alyssa Villarreal, Hutchison’s academic dean, and Robby Uhrman, middle school English teacher and department chair, presented at the International Coalition of Girls Schools’ Educating Girls Symposium in Los Angeles. They spoke about how they launched the R.E.A.L. Discussion technique in middle school to help girls learn fundamental skills for engaging in meaningful discussions. Additionally, sixth grade English teacher Sydney Freibaum and social science teacher Jennifer Cordero were interviewed about their experiences using the technique and featured on the R.E.A.L. Discussion website.
Early childhood girls raised more than $16,500 in their annual fundraiser for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, bringing our total to over $231,500 since we began the Trike-A-Thon at Hutchison in 2004. Parents, faculty, and students from all over the campus cheered on our Little Hive, pre-kindergarten, and junior kindergarten girls as they zoomed on tricycles, bicycles, and even scooters. Former early childhood teachers Jane Allen and Sandra Burt, as well as former early childhood and lower school head Ann Marie Crump, who had the original vision for this tradition, cheered our girls on this year.
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Hutchison girls won 35 Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards this year, with five Gold Keys, nine Silver Keys, and 21 Honorable Mentions. Congratulations to Angela He ’25, Isabella Klimo ’25, Blair Mellone ’24, Yilin Pan ’28, and Maya Pentecost ’26 for winning Gold Keys. Their work was put on display at the Brooks Museum. Two students also earned national medals: Maya Pentecost ’26 won a Gold Medal, and Blair Mellone ’24 received a Silver Medal.
Seniors Caroline Gibert (above), Jayla Dorsey (above right), and Melanie Woodbury (right) signed National Letters of Intent to continue their athletic careers in college. Caroline will play soccer at Emory University; Jayla will play basketball at Huntington University; and Melanie will play tennis at Tufts University.
Three tennis players earned regional championships. Melanie Woodbury ’24 was the singles champion and the state runner-up. Elizabeth Dunavant ’27 and Anna-Caroline Domas ’25 earned the regional doubles championship. The Hutchison tennis team also won the regional title for the 18th year in a row.
The varsity basketball team took home the TSSAA D-II AA West Region Championship after an undefeated season in the region. They ended the season advancing to the state quarterfinals in front of a home crowd of more than 600 Sting fans in the Goodlett Gym.
Tyler Jones ’25 sustained a terrible injury on the basketball court in July 2022, but she didn’t quit. After 16 months on the sidelines, she was back on the court this season. Daily Memphian sports reporter John Varlas wrote an article about how Tyler overcame her injury to come back stronger.
These six words encompass a wide range of emotional and intellectual ideas. In the fall of 2020, when the Class of 2024 were freshman, they started attending sessions to learn about civil discourse. While the world was still navigating the pandemic, it was a great time to practice how to have constructive conversations about things we agree on… and things we disagree on.
Throughout the last four years, the Class of 2024 became very familiar with all six emotions and ideas. As seniors, they also got a chance to lead by example when they met with freshmen (the Class of 2027) to share what they had learned about civil discourse and start the younger girls on their journey.
In the beginning, some of the Class of 2024 students admitted they didn’t understand the purpose of the civil discourse sessions. They assumed they knew how to have conversations with their classmates. What was there to learn?
“When people hear ‘civil discourse,’ they think ‘This can only be used in a debate when you’re onstage arguing with somebody about politics or something controversial,’ but I use . “I use this if my mom and I are having a disagreement or I’m trying to work out some plans with a friend and there are miscommunication issues.
These skills are used when you’re debating between chocolate or vanilla ice cream or when you are having more of a political or religious conversation with differing opinions. conversation. That’s something that I learned freshman year.”
According to the organization Facing History and Ourselves, civil discourse is when we “listen respectfully to different opinions and experiences, try out ideas and positions, and give and get constructive feedback without fear or intimidation.”
To jumpstart the civil discourse sessions in 2020, Hutchison invited Sarah Wilson as a visiting scholar. Wilson, who serves as the executive director of the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools and previously directed Laurel’s Center for Research on Girls (LCRG) at Laurel School in Shaker Heights, Ohio, helped Hutchison adopt the civil discourse skills outlined by LCRG.
1. Extending Empathy – considering opinions or beliefs from another’s point of view
2. Accepting Discomfort – experiencing negative emotions and acknowledging and absorbing them
3. Braving Controversy – engaging and working through a complex conversation or conflict with someone you disagree with
4. Cultivating Curiosity – showing interest in new ideas and experiences, asking questions, discovering others’ stories, and understanding oneself
5. Taking Perspective – understanding and articulating a point of view that is different from your own
6. Engaging Effectively – listening in a way that is fair and asking questions to further a conversation in an authentic and nonjudgmental way
Tonya Faulkner, director of student culture and belonging, and Makayla Boswell, director of Hutchison Leads, have continued to promote these skills as guidelines when leading students in civil discourse sessions. “We tell them that civil discourse is not intended to change their opinions or beliefs, but to have productive conversations and grow from their interactions with people who have opposing views,” Faulkner said.
“ I learned early on that you don’t always know what’s going on in somebody else’s life.”
— Olivia Lester ’24
In the spirit of conversation, we asked four members of the Class of 2024 what they’ve experienced while practicing civil discourse over the last four years and how they’ve changed because of these sessions.
“The key is to take a step back and realize that every person has a different background and story,” said Ayrah Kashmiri ’24 “If someone has a difference in opinion and feels strongly about it, you should see why they think that way. You may say ‘I think what this person is saying is not right, but I can see what led them to think that way.’ Asking ‘Why do you believe that?’ and learning about their background can help the conversation be more civil,” Kashmiri added.
Olivia Lester said: “I learned early on that you don’t always know what’s going on in somebody else’s life. By extending empathy, you’re putting yourself in their shoes and trying to understand where they’re coming from, how they’re thinking, and how they’re feeling about a certain situation. This can change your perspective versus solely approaching the conversation from how you think and what you believe.”
J’oules Williams ’24 added that it’s important for her to make friends who are different from her. “We’re going to be able to find commonality, but also our differences make us shine the most. I want to be able to listen to them and hear them out first.” She added: “That does not mean being best friends with everyone; that means you’re able to have regular conversations and be civil about it.”
“When you’re having a discussion, go into it with an open mind and try to speak with facts versus with feelings,” Ayrah Kashmiri said. “When I don’t lead conversations based on my emotions, I am able to think clearer and more rationally.”
She added that it gets easier with time and experience. “It can be difficult, especially if you are a person who is very empathetic,” Kashmiri explained. “Before I enter a conversation, I remember that we all have differences and this might affect me deeply, but I’m going to try to set aside my feelings and think about the facts and the issues. It helps me deal with the issues and with a person who believes differently.”
Lester added: “Going into it with the mindset of ‘Okay, I know I’m stepping out of my comfort zone, I know I’m doing something different.’ It’s hard for people to be vulnerable in a
conversation.” She explained that managing discomfort might mean simply trying to explain your side of the story again, but that sometimes stepping away is the safest option and then returning to it later. “That’s completely acceptable, but it can be hard for people to do sometimes. It’s important to figure out an outlet that is healthy for you to deal with emotions in difficult times.”
“There have definitely been times for me where there’s been a disagreement or an argument, and I’ve had to remember these skills,” said Caroline Kim ’24. “Sometimes I can get passionate and emotional about a topic that I care about. I just take a step back and think about what my points should be. I use my words eloquently without making it seem personal or emotional. To make sure my point is understood, I usually ask ‘Do you have any questions for me?’ ”
She added: “I’ve also learned that it’s okay to agree to disagree. Though someone else might have a different point of view, at the end of the day, I don’t always have to agree with what this person says or vice versa. They can have a different opinion and we can move on.”
“In the past I was the first to jump up, talk, and defend myself,” said Williams. “As a senior I began to think more—sit back and be quiet, and hear the other side out first. Then I’d give a thoughtful response, which is important so that you are not coming on in a negative way that makes their opinion less than yours.” After she’s had a difficult conversation, Williams reminds herself: “What happened has happened, but you’re still who you are, you should trust who you are, and still be yourself.”
“A benefit of having a difficult conversation is that you gain a new perspective,” said Williams. “I love hearing a different side and thinking, ‘Hey, I didn’t think about it that way.’
I love learning about people and diversity and different
“My beliefs didn’t change as much as the way I perceived others’ beliefs ... through civil discourse, I was able to see shades of gray on different topics.”
— Ayrah Kashmiri ’24
“As a senior, I began to think more—sit back and be quiet, and hear the other side out first. Then I’d give a thoughtful response, which is important so that you are not coming on in a negative way that makes their opinion less than yours.”
— J’oules Williams ’24
cultures. Taking in someone else’s perspective helps me to understand where they come from. It’s not that I need to agree; understanding and agreeing are two different things.”
Kashmiri said: “My beliefs didn’t change as much as the way I perceived others’ beliefs. I think that the conversations as a whole led me to become more open minded. I was able to see why people believe different things. Oftentimes we think one side is either right or wrong, but through civil discourse, I was able to see shades of gray on different topics.”
Kim said that these sessions helped build her confidence and will help her as she goes on to college. “I know that there will be more of these conversations. But for me, freshman year, I was almost scared to have uncomfortable conversations because I didn’t want any of my friends to disagree with me. In the end, we’re going to continue having these conversations, whether that be with family, friends, people that we work with, and it’s going to be okay. I accept it rather than feel uncomfortable by it, and I lead with confidence.”
Kashmiri agreed: “I’m definitely more confident, because I know how to carry on conversations without losing myself,” she explained. “I’ve learned to have conversations that are productive without getting too emotionally invested. That in itself has led me to become
This is a foundational step in how to interact with people in the real world.”
Lester admitted that it’s a skill that will require lifelong practice. “The program did a great job of helping us have these conversations, starting with something very simple and moving to something a little more controversial,” she said. “You’re always growing in these conversations and learning more and more about it. I don’t think anybody has ever mastered it, or probably ever will, because you’re constantly growing as a person and trying to understand yourself and other people.”
“I hope that the freshmen take these skills and use them. I understand that right now they might not see how they’re so beneficial in life,” Lester said. “Freshman year, I thought, ‘What am I going to use these skills for?’ But they genuinely are so beneficial. I hope that we did a good job of helping them learn these and understanding they will play a big part in their life.”
Williams added: “I can learn about someone’s past that I did not know about until we had a conversation in which we were vulnerable. I lay aside my prejudices, they lay aside theirs, and we’re able to find common ground and express ourselves.”
“ I know that there will be more of these conversations. … I accept it rather than feel uncomfortable by it, and I lead with confidence.”
— Caroline Kim ’24
In The University of Memphis lab, Izzy Ellis ’24 worked with one of her mentors to extract DNA and perform PCR tests in her search for two specific microbes.
myExperience is the flagship program within Hutchison’s Institute for Responsible Citizenship
This three-year immersive study allows a girl to select from one of four cohorts— STEM, Entrepreneurship, Art & Design, and Global Civic Engagement. Each girl then studies an area of interest in depth and develops a collegelevel research project related to that interest. The development of her project includes working with a professional mentor, completing a summer internship or other relevant experience, and planning a trip to a U.S. city where she may explore her project’s area of focus in detail.
EVEN THOUGH IT WAS MORE THAN SEVEN YEARS AGO, when she was in fifth grade, Izzy Ellis ’24 remembers a trip she took with her class to Pinecrest Camp and Retreat Center. To this day, she vividly recalls one of the activities they participated in at the retreat. It was about the Memphis Aquifer, a natural filtration system for Memphis’ groundwater that is made up of layers of sand and clay beneath the ground.
Fast forward to her senior year, and Ellis’ myExperience capstone project focused specifically on the Memphis Aquifer and the types of microbes that indicate whether it is healthy or not. “I never expected that I would be exploring the aquifer again as a senior,” she said. Indeed, there was no straight line from what she learned in fifth grade to her senior year. Like so many stories of scientific research projects, there was a circuitous route to defining what her project would focus on, with plenty of starts and stops and even some dead ends. At times it was so frustrating that Ellis admitted she didn’t think she would finish. In the end, though, she said that the process taught her a lot, not only about perseverance, but also what she might study in college.
The design of the myExperience program is to run for three and a half years, but when the Institute for Responsible Citizenship originally launched in 2022, the Class of 2024 was invited to take part in the inaugural class, with an accelerated two-year timeline. After applying to the myExperience program and being accepted, Ellis joined the STEM cohort, which allows students to explore how the principles of science, technology, engineering, and math impact daily lives. It was suggested that their culminating research projects might offer viable solutions to local and global challenges.
“When I started myExperience, I was thinking of doing something around biomedical engineering,” Ellis said. “As soon as I started trying to plan a project, I realized my interests were not geared towards biomedical engineering and being in the STEM realm, I was able to switch gears to microbiology.”
At first she considered studying vaccine research, but her ideas either repeated pre-existing projects or were not specific enough. When she attended the Tennessee Governor’s School for the Integration of Biological and Statistical Sciences in the summer of 2023, she became interested in genetic engineering. “One of the teachers in my class mentioned wanting to genetically modify a plant to detect specific pollutants in the river of her home city, and I attempted to apply that idea to Memphis,” she explained. She decided to research the possibility of genetically modifying a plant to detect pollutants in the Memphis Aquifer.
After Googling geneticists at The University of Memphis, she connected with a postdoctoral fellow and an assistant professor who became her mentors. Through many discussions with them, she came to the conclusion that genetically modifying a plant would require years of work, time Ellis didn’t have. Throughout this process, Ellis said she felt lost and unsure of what to do. She was also watching as classmates defined their projects and completed their research.
Ellis continued working with her mentors, one of whom proposed an idea about taking water samples and observing the microbial diversity of the water that feeds into the Memphis Aquifer. Unfortunately, they realized this would require a machine they didn’t have access to and possibly thousands of dollars. Ellis then proposed studying the presence of harmful bacteria in water sources near the Aquifer, which her mentors initially liked, but then informed her that their lab did not allow experimentation on infectious microbes. She considered other options, but her time to complete the project was quickly evaporating.
Eventually she landed on an idea to study two species of bacteria—one that indicated good soil quality and one that indicated poor soil quality—and how they relate to the health of the aquifer. Her mentors approved.
Her research took her into the field, where she immersed herself in the project. She visited both the Wolf River and Nonconnah Creek to collect sediment samples to determine if certain microbes were present. “It was very adventurous. I had to go off the trail a little bit and wear boots and wade throughout the Wolf River collecting sand and sediment. I never thought, ‘Oh, this is gross.’ Instead I was thinking, ‘This is so exciting. I’m doing science. I love this!’ ” She even remembers her dad asking her, “why are you doing this?”
After taking samples from areas near suspected breach sites
where parts of the aquifer’s upper protective clay layer were either missing or thinning, she worked with one of her mentors at The University of Memphis to extract DNA and perform PCR tests in her search for two specific microbes. The presence of those microbes would have provided insight into the soil and water quality of sources that feed into the aquifer. She was not able to detect them in the lab, but she still gained valuable experience through her project.
“I was so excited that I got to learn more about my interests, but I also got to do something I never would have expected myself doing in high school,” she said. “I discovered that trials and tribulations are necessary to lead you to your final idea, and while the research may not meet your ambitions, the experience you get is still informational and valuable. It took a lot of perseverance, but without this, I never would have solidified my interest in participating in research in college. I got a glimpse of the planning process, the roadblocks that come up, and the mental and physical challenges.”
As part of her documentation, Ellis created a website explaining the aquifer’s issues and her research. She intended the website to be a sort of public service announcement, providing the public with information about the aquifer and the quality of Memphis’ drinking water.
Ellis will attend the University of Georgia in the fall, where she plans to double major in microbiology and cellular biology on the pre-med track and minor in Spanish. An aspiring oncologist, she said she is most excited to participate in undergraduate research and continue researching in her future career.
“I want to try to come up with a groundbreaking discovery or publish a research article about what I’ve done. I hope to maybe even discover a new, innovative treatment where I could improve the lives of others, working toward the cure for cancer,” she said.
IN APRIL 2024, 28 HUTCHISON SENIORS celebrated finishing their myExperience projects by presenting them to family, mentors, faculty and staff, and friends. A few of the 28 projects included: choreographing and filming an original dance; analyzing chemicals in fish in the Little Red River in Arkansas; investigating the implications of language barriers on healthcare access and patient safety; writing and illustrating a children’s book about coral bleaching; curating a social media account that highlights different opportunities for service; and interviewing medical professionals about the impact of technology on the medical field. Six awards of distinction were given out to the following students: Adela Calzada, Jordan Deupree, Lara Eason, Izzy Ellis, Olivia Lester, and Elizabeth Soefker
“We want to inspire girls to become innovators who are doing new, exciting, and dynamic things. We want to encourage girls to find their leadership style, see themselves as members of a global community, and seek ways in which they can serve, augment, and improve the world around them.”
Nick Simpson, Director of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship
“ We want to inspire girls to become innovators who are doing new, exciting, and dynamic things. We want to encourage girls to find their leadership style, see themselves as members of a global community, and seek ways in which they can serve, augment, and improve the world around them.” — Nick Simpson, Director of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship
OUR UPPER SCHOOL SPRING BREAK TRIP to Singapore was an enriching and memorable experience for our girls. Singapore is a melting pot of Chinese, Malay, English, and Indian cultures. Our students gained insight into the country’s history and heritage by exploring landmarks such as Marina Bay Sands, venturing into neighborhoods such as Chinatown and Little India, and visiting various museums and temples including the Asian Civilization Museum and the Thian Hock Keng Temple. Their adventures included a Chinese calligraphy lesson, a cooking class, and a Batik workshop. Our girls who study Chinese also had the opportunity to test and sharpen their language skills.
“Hutchison’s global travel program is intended to connect our students with histories, cuisines, and languages that are different from their own. This truly was the trip of a lifetime,” said Nick Simpson, director of the Institute for Responsible Citizenship, who chaperoned the trip. “Whether exploring a water recycling plant, navigating Singapore’s MRT metro system, enjoying a tea ceremony, or dining on soup dumplings in a family owned hawker stall, our girls were curious and enthusiastic about this fascinating country and its diverse people,” Simpson added.
“This trip fostered cultural appreciation, broadened perspectives, and created lasting memories for everyone involved,” said upper school Chinese teacher Lynn Tian, who chaperoned the trip with Mr. Simpson.
This trip was organized by the Institute for Responsible Citizenship. The Institute’s goal is to help our girls grow and prepare for a world full of international opportunities by giving them a taste of what it’s like to traverse the world.
SPRING
IS A TIME OF TRADITIONS AT HUTCHISON. SOME, LIKE THE CELEBRATION OF MAY DAY, HAVE BEEN AROUND FOR A CENTURY OR MORE. AND SOME, LIKE THE NUMBER FIVE AWARD, ARE BRAND NEW.
by Peter Edmiston
The Number Five Award was created in 2023 with one purpose in mind: to honor the life, the light, and the legacy of Eliza Wellford Fletcher ’06. Her tragic passing in September 2022 was both shocking and devastating, and it left a school mourning and a city reeling. In the wake of this unspeakable darkness came an unmistakable light. Story after story of Liza’s kindness, her love, and her generosity of spirit began to emerge, painting the picture of a woman who embodied the ideals that Hutchison strives to create in each and every student.
It was with that in mind that the athletics department at Hutchison, with the approval and support of Liza’s family, created the Number Five Award. A fine athlete, Liza wore that number with distinction throughout her Hutchison career, and with the creation of the award, only one senior—across every sport in the entire school—would receive the honor of wearing that number and representing Liza in competition.
goes from track to lacrosse,’ I thought to myself, ‘Oh my gosh.’ I was so surprised.”
“I was wearing a spring outfit with lemons all over it, and when I had previously gotten the triathlete award at the ceremony, Liza’s mom told me afterward that when she saw me go up to get that award, she thought to herself, ‘That’s weird, that’s exactly something Liza would have worn.’ She didn’t know I was going to get the Number Five just a few minutes later.”
That wasn’t the only serendipitous thing about the award. Rowland said that although she didn’t know who Liza was at the time, she actually had met Liza prior to receiving her award.
Hutchison’s first Number Five is Meriel Rowland ’24.
“I had no idea they were giving me this award,” said Rowland. “I don’t think anyone did.” Indeed, the recipient of the award, and even the award itself, had been a closely guarded secret throughout the spring of 2023. She received the award at the firstannual Hutchison Sports Awards and Celebration event in April 2023. Rowland said, “When they were describing the person on stage, I was like ‘I wonder who that is,’ but when they said, ‘She
“A few years back, I was walking down the street with my friends, and we saw a man lying on the other side of the road, and he looked—well, it looked like he was dead on the street,” Rowland said. “We went up to him to try to help and he was acting strangely, he was talking crazy, he was in trouble. And as we were there, a car pulled up behind us and I heard a voice saying, ‘Stay in the car, boys.’ It was Liza with her kids. She told us that she would stay with him until help arrived and she told him that everything would be fine. When I got the award, I talked to Liza’s husband, Richie, and told him that story. He said that she would do that type of thing all the time.”
Being recognized as the Number Five has made for a busy senior year for Rowland. She has been featured in the
Daily Memphian, The Commercial Appeal, and on several local television stations. “I knew it would be special to represent something other than myself,” Rowland said. “It’s been so amazing, and I don’t feel deserving of it at all.”
Rowland competed in several sports during her senior year, including cross country in the fall, swimming in the winter, and both track and lacrosse in the spring. She is considered by her coaches and her teammates to be a natural leader, and those leadership qualities really stand out when she’s part of a larger group. Rowland said, “I can step in and say, ‘Hey, you’ve got this. We can do this together.’ When I’m running, I’m doing it for myself, for Liza, and for the Lord, but when you have a team, you’re doing it for everyone else. Everyone has your back. That’s really fun, and I’ve seen the difference going into lacrosse season.”
because the two families have been linked for a while. “I guess I knew she had so many friends, but it made me realize how many connections we had in common,” Rowland said. “Some of her best friends are our family’s dearest friends. One of Liza’s closest friends used to babysit me as a kid, and she came to my first cross country race this year.”
Rowland completed the circle by becoming a babysitter herself, this time for Liza’s two young boys. Even for an accomplished athlete, babysitting energetic boys is a challenge. Chuckling, Rowland said, “The kids are so fun, they’re so athletic, and whenever I go over there, I have to put on all my sports gear because they run me around so much!”
Beyond the fun and games of playing together, she said she learned a lot about life by watching how the kids—and their father—have dealt with an immense tragedy. “Both of Liza’s kids,
FOR ROWLAND, BEING GIVEN THE HONOR OF WEARING THE NUMBER FIVE ALLOWED HER TO LEARN MORE ABOUT LIFE THAN ABOUT SPORTS. THOSE LESSONS WILL STICK WITH HER AS SHE GOES TO COLLEGE AND BEYOND.
She continued, “I’m grateful I got to wear it. I would tell girls who get it in the future not to take it for granted. It’s something special. Wear it with pride and use it to push you that extra mile when things are hard.”
In the 2023-2024 academic year, Rowland was the only Hutchison athlete to compete in four separate varsity sports, and she did so at a very high level. In fact, she signed a scholarship offer in November to run for The University of Alabama. “I was told that the place you should go should really feel like home,” Rowland said. “And Alabama felt like that. It’s going to be a great community for me, and the coach is exactly like my dad.”
Over the past year, Rowland and her family have become close with the Fletcher family. Well, closer is more accurate,
in everything they do, they never give up. They’re always smiling through everything. I don’t know, there’s a joy inside of them that’s just different,” she explained.
“I kind of feel like I’m the same way,” Rowland added. “It’s interesting that I clicked so well with their family. They always have something kind to say. They’re always polite, they’re always kind, and even though something this terrible has happened to them, they choose to be kind and loving towards everyone.”
For Rowland, being given the honor of wearing the Number Five allowed her to learn more about life than about sports. And those lessons will stick with her as she goes to college and beyond.
IT’S THE LAST DAY of a modern art exhibition at a museum. The featured artists are a painter and two sculptors. The entire exhibit is strangely painted white, and over the course of the day, some forty people walk through the show: art lovers, skeptics, foreigners, students, lost souls, fellow artists, and, of course, museum guards. Museums have a lot to offer, but sometimes, it can be more entertaining to observe the different types of people who visit. This fast-paced production included 13 cast members and multiple quick costume changes to bring the 40+ characters to the stage. Five students worked behind the scenes on the production crew.
by
Melanie Melugin
Adapted for the stage by
Isabella Russell-Ides
Based on the book by
Frances Hodgson Burnett
MARY LENNOX IS THIRTEEN and living in India when she is abruptly orphaned by a cholera epidemic. She is sent to Yorkshire, England, to live with her reclusive uncle on his forbidding estate. Bored and lonely, she searches for the source of the mysterious cries that echo through the house at night and the location of a secret garden. With the help of an enchanted robin and a colorful cast of characters, Mary and her friends work secretively to bring the forgotten garden back to life, unlocking a magical place filled with regeneration, renewal, and reconciliation. The cast and crew included 27 students.
By Max Maddock
There was a reason Dr. Allida Black ’70 gravitated toward studying history during her doctoral work at George Washington University, and the reason became clearer when she settled on her dissertation topic: Eleanor Roosevelt.
While most people agree that Roosevelt redefined the role of the First Lady during her time in the White House with President Franklin D. Roosevelt, Black didn’t intend to focus on that time. Instead, her goal was to bring to the surface much of what Eleanor accomplished between 1945, when Franklin died suddenly, and 1962, when Eleanor passed away.
At the time Black was working on her dissertation, in the late 1980s and early 1990s, Eleanor’s career after the White House had been either forgotten about, buried, or misrepresented by others. Black explained: “Eleanor believed that if her influence was known, it would make Franklin look weak, so she held her papers back for more than 20 years. For that period, Eleanor was totally defined by the male press corps. So, I focused on Eleanor as a political operative, which nobody had ever done. That took me to Hyde Park, where I camped out for four years in the FDR Presidential Library.”
In addition to writing her dissertation, Black worked as a teaching assistant and as part of a project called Documentary History of the First Federal Congress, 1789-1791, which gathered all the papers that George Washington used to create the first congress. During that work, she had an epiphany. “I decided that we had to have Eleanor’s writings preserved and studied, especially those that revolved around the creation of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.”
In December of 1945, just eight months after President Roosevelt died, President Harry S. Truman appointed Eleanor Roosevelt as a delegate to the United Nations General Assembly. As the first chairperson of the preliminary United Nations Commission on Human Rights, she played an instrumental role in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR).
“The Declaration is the single most important international document of the last 100 years,” Black said enthusiastically. “It was created in the shadow of the Second World War, the atomic bomb, the Holocaust, and extraordinary political and civil unrest across the globe. What Eleanor was able to do was to work with the then 51 member states of the United Nations to craft a vision for what we owed each other. The UDHR has been the model for more constitutions than our own constitution and our own bill of rights, and it would not have happened without Eleanor.”
Part of what appealed to Black about Roosevelt was that she knew how to bring people together. Black moved to Atlanta to attend Emory University to study political science. She also worked for Jimmy Carter on areas of legal aid and veterans’ affairs and helped the Atlanta police learn how to manage sexual assault cases. During that time, she found her place in the LGBTQ community.
When the AIDS epidemic hit, her friends “began to suffer in ways that are really hard to describe, much less remember,” she said emotionally. It was a formative time in her life, and her dear friends, Doug and Greg, said to her: “Allida, you’ve gone as far as you can. Do you want to go to law school, or do you want to get your Ph.D.?” Black said: “I did not want to go to law school, so I decided to get a Ph.D. in history to learn how people kept one another at the table, because I was really good at mediating.”
As she was leaving Atlanta to move to Washington, D.C., her friends threw her a surprise going away party. “There were all the guys that I was helping with their medicines, and they took up a collection and had $5,000 for me to go to graduate school with,” she said. “That was the only money I had to my name. I said, ‘Allida, you can’t screw this up. You’ve got too many people saying you’ve got to go do this.’” Their generosity and faith in her motivated her in profound ways.
To date, Black has collected and edited two volumes of Roosevelt’s writings titled The Eleanor Roosevelt Papers, and she has edited or written the introduction for a number of other books about Eleanor’s work as well as scholarly articles on the topic. As her expertise became known, she was often sought out for information about Roosevelt. During the Clinton presidency, from 1993 to 2001, the staff of First Lady Hillary Rodham Clinton often called on Black to provide them
with Roosevelt quotes, as well as background and context of her achievements.
As Black described it, there was a sort of trifecta happening to help bring Roosevelt’s accomplishments back to prominence. In 1993, the first of a three-volume biography of Eleanor by Blanche Wiesen Cook was published. “The combination of Hillary talking about Eleanor; Blanche’s book being published; and then my work with the Senate Judiciary Committee, the United Nations, and NGOs around the country, all brought Eleanor back. It took almost 40 years [after Eleanor’s death] for people to look at her in terms of what she did.”
When asked how such important work could go unrecognized for so long, Black was blunt: “We don’t teach what women did. We teach about ... Jackie Kennedy going to Paris and ignore their courage and skill.”
Recovering Eleanor Roosevelt’s legacy was not without complications. “There were a lot of holes in the paper trail,” Black admitted. “The United Nations archives had a flood, so they lost some things. We had to go to 263 archives in 50 states and nine nations to reconstruct the record.”
In 2003, Black led a training for fellows from Sub-Saharan Africa in the Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship Program at Boston College Law School. While there, she met some attendees from Liberia. As she heard about the civil war that was ongoing in Liberia, and a lack of books and supplies for Liberian students, she encouraged her students at George Washington to arrange a book drive. In the end, they gathered truckloads full of books, lab equipment, and computers to ship to Liberia.
In 2005, Black received an unexpected call at her office. The voice on the other end identified herself as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, who, at the time, was preparing to run for president of
“IT TOOK ALMOST 40 YEARS [AFTER ELEANOR’S DEATH] FOR PEOPLE TO LOOK AT HER IN TERMS OF WHAT SHE DID.” WHEN ASKED HOW SUCH IMPORTANT WORK COULD GO UNRECOGNIZED FOR SO LONG, BLACK WAS BLUNT: “WE DON’T TEACH WHAT WOMEN DID. WE TEACH ABOUT ... JACKIE KENNEDY GOING TO PARIS AND IGNORE THEIR COURAGE AND SKILL.”
I’M A HISTORIAN. I BELIEVE IN RECORDS. I ALSO BELIEVE IN RIGOROUS DOCUMENT-BASED ORAL HISTORIES.
Liberia. Sirleaf had heard about the book drive Black had organized and her relationship with Senator Clinton. She asked Black if she could make an introduction to Clinton. “The next day I took Ellen to meet Hillary,” Black said.
Working with Sirleaf was particularly appealing to Black, whose interests had focused on human rights, women’s rights, and conflict resolution. In 2005, Sirleaf won the presidential campaign, becoming Africa’s first female democratically elected head of state. She won reelection in 2011, the same year she was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for “her nonviolent efforts to promote peace and her struggle for women’s rights.”
Sirleaf invited Black to attend her inauguration in January 2006, and while there, asked Black to help organize a foundation to rebuild Liberia’s public school system. “That was the start of my working relationship with Ellen, who I call ‘Madam.’ ”
Using what she had learned about bringing Eleanor Roosevelt’s voice to light, Black encouraged Sirleaf to ensure her legacy as president was documented and archived. “It took me at least six years to convince her that her papers were worthy of preservation,” Black explained. “It costs money and there’s no archive system in Liberia. Also, Ellen wants to feed people, find jobs for people, and elevate women throughout Africa. That’s her focus. That and trying to prevent Liberia from backsliding into another civil war.”
Black explained that if a Liberian president 20 years from now wanted to study how Sirleaf renegotiated Liberia’s debt, her presidential papers would be immensely helpful. “I had to convince her. I said, ‘Madam, your story is important, and it will inspire other women.’ ”
Just this past March, Black received word that Sirleaf’s prepresidential papers had finally arrived at Harvard to be archived.
Black continued to assist Hillary Clinton. After the 2016 presidential election, Black felt an urgency to safeguard Clinton’s record, particularly as Secretary of State, a role she served from 2009 to 2013 under President Barack Obama. Again, Black wanted to make sure Clinton’s voice and accomplishments were preserved accurately.
“I didn’t want Hillary’s diplomatic work, the work that I knew from my own experience she was doing with nongovernmental organizations around the world, and the courage that she displayed in all aspects of her professional life, to be defined by somebody else,” Black said. “The only way to do that is to have the record for people to examine for themselves.”
She made her case to Clinton. For the past seven years, Black has worked as a historian and adviser to Clinton, conceptualizing and organizing her archives, helping with exhibits and coursework, and compiling an oral history of her time as Secretary of State.
There’s one catch, Black said: Federal law requires that the professional records for a Secretary of State be closed for 30 years for national security reasons. “The challenge is to find whatever legally available, extant record exists on a topic, and then use all of the public records such as speeches, manuals, press releases, interviews, assessments of different policies by different policy groups, and documents from other nations to
[STUDENTS] HAVE TO BELIEVE IN THE POWER OF THEIR OWN VOICE. THEY HAVE TO HAVE THE SKILLS TO RESEARCH WHAT THEY WANT TO TALK ABOUT.
compile the most definitive compilation of records related to a specific decision,” Black explained.
Black’s goal is to find and preserve the original documents and not rely on others’ subjective interpretations. “I’m a historian. I believe in records. I also believe in rigorous document-based oral histories,” Black added. She said that while at Hutchison, she learned from Pat Newberry [Kelly] that she had to have evidence to support her point. “Pat Newberry was my history teacher. If you weren’t prepared for Pat, Pat was gonna let you know.”
Black recalled another influential Hutchison teacher who offered her unconditional support. The teacher was Jennie Crumbaugh. “She was my English teacher, my speech teacher, my true confidant, and became my lifelong friend,” Black explained. “She was a true force of nature. It’s hard to describe how much I owe her.”
Black has spent her life immersed in history and applying the lessons it has taught her. For her, active and responsible citizenship is ingrained in everything she does. As for the students of today, she said: “They have to believe in the power of their own voice. They have to have the skills to research what they want to talk about.”
She added: “When Eleanor taught civics, she said ‘We cannot blindly leave [world questions] to the government, we are the government.’ You have to figure out how to work in and out of government and also understand that rights cannot be separated from responsibilities. We have to have the stubbornness to persist when the media and other places tell us that the end is around the corner. We also have to see how other women led to let us know that there are many ways to lead.”
Over the past year, the Hutchison community mourned the loss of three esteemed retired trustees whose leadership and philanthropy have left an indelible mark on our school.
Inspired by a common belief in the life-changing work of education and educators, Lester Crain, John Hull Dobbs, and Dr. John Emmett generously supported and spearheaded initiatives that have shaped the experiences of Hutchison girls for more than 50 years. Whether through significant investments in faculty compensation and professional development, financial assistance for students, or new and improved campus facilities, the impact of their generosity and vision is undeniable.
Their most enduring commitment was to our teachers— the heart of our school. Having a deep appreciation for the difference a great teacher has on a student’s confidence, growth, achievement, and future aspirations, they never wavered in their support.
Everyone who holds Hutchison dear owes Mr. Crain, Mr. Dobbs, and Dr. Emmett a debt of gratitude. We stand upon their shoulders, enjoying the strength, stability, and success they helped build. Each dedicated incredible time and energy to work on the board of trustees, guiding our beloved school with compassion and an earnest desire to help the school thrive. With gratefulness, we remember and honor their legacies of generosity.
On February 8, 2024, we hosted our annual Giving Day to show support for our school and gratitude toward our students, teachers, coaches, and alumnae. The day was filled with excitement, joy, and smiles, both on campus and beyond. Your generous contributions enhance our school and help our girls thrive and grow! From security advancements to strengthening our science labs, your gifts empower us to cultivate an environment that promotes learning, creativity, and fun!
More than $198,000 raised!
We hosted our first mahjong event this spring that brought the Hutchison community together for an afternoon of fun! Proceeds from the event supported our school’s libraries, which give our students ample resources for independent and collaborative learning.
If you have ovaries, you can learn a lot from spending time with Vanessa Ross, CNM, MSCP, Class of 1991.
Let’s say hormones are wreaking havoc with your life and your doctor dismisses the symptoms with “it’s all in your head.” According to Ross, you should respond with: “Yes.
You’re
right. My brain is literally changing, and my body is reacting. My symptoms are real.”
by Conchita Ruiz-Topinka
Ross, a Certified Nurse-Midwife (CNM) and Menopause Society Certified Practitioner (MSCP), has made it her mission to arm women with facts and confidence to embark on their midlife journeys.
“When we flip the script on the negative cultural narrative about menopause and midlife, we empower ourselves to make the second half of our lives even better than the first,” she said. “We can’t change things until we feel empowered to speak up about what’s actually happening with us and have our experiences validated.”
Cognitive and mood changes are inevitable as the brain transitions from being focused on reproduction to the menopause life stage, explained Ross. “We have MRI imaging to actually see what that looks like in the brain and it’s similar in a lot of ways to what happens during puberty and pregnancy,” she added.
“I feel compelled to spread the word. I see so many people feeling like they’re just falling apart and there’s no solution, but there are solutions,” said Ross. “We unfortunately have a very youth-obsessed society, but I think that’s beginning to shift. I see my generation embracing and being very open about aging and staying healthy.”
Early in her career, as a freshly minted nurse midwife with a degree from the University of California San Francisco, she tackled pregnancy and childbirth with the same zeal.
“What I found in midwifery was a very female-centric, empowering model of listening to women and supporting them in their choices, seeing pregnancy and birth and all of our life cycles as normal unless proven to be otherwise,” said Ross, who has delivered over 1,000 babies and currently serves as a faculty advisor to midwifery students.
Ross is an instructor of obstetrics and gynecology at UMass Chan Medical School - Baystate in Springfield, Massachusetts. With a colleague, she also runs clinics specialized in chronic pelvic pain, sexual wellness, and menopause care at the Baystate Midwifery and Women’s Health Group. She teaches
midwifery students, nurse practitioners, OB-GYN medical residents, and practicing physicians in the community about menopause. According to Ross, provider education is important because there’s a 20-year gap of knowledge about menopause care due to the Women’s Health Initiative study from 2002 that questioned the safety of hormone replacement therapy. Many providers are not as well versed as they would like to be on the subsequent research indicating that the benefits outweigh the risks for the majority of women.
Studies indicate that on average, healthcare providers receive one hour of formal medical education on menopause. That’s one hour for a life stage that affects half the population and can last from 7 to 10 years.
Ross and other women’s health advocates point to these discrepancies as symptomatic—no pun intended—of a broader ailment.
“There has been a dearth of women’s health research. Most medical studies have either not included women or included very small numbers of women,” said Ross. “Historically, there’s been more emphasis on this idea that women’s hormonal changes would complicate the results of studies, rather than actually wanting to make sure that these medications work for women. That they’re safe for us.”
Her mother’s breast cancer diagnosis when Ross was 15 years old sparked Ross’ initial interest in healthcare. Through her mother, Ross saw the system at work, warts and all.
“Her experience was eye-opening for me. She shared a little bit with me about surgeons who weren’t really listening to her about symptoms and problems she was having after the surgery,” said Ross, who went to Rhodes College as a sociology and anthropology major soon after.
With her interest in equal opportunites for women and a desire to improve the Spanish-speaking skills she had developed at Hutchison, Ross jumped at the chance to
When we flip the script on the negative cultural narrative about menopause and midlife, we empower ourselves to make the second half of our lives even better than the first.
participate in a service learning trip to Honduras, sponsored by the anthropology and religious studies departments at Rhodes. She worked with women in rural areas as part of Heifer International’s program to provide women sustainable wages and independence through farming and livestock development. It was a transformative experience, leading to a Fulbright Scholarship and cementing Ross’ interest in midwifery and women’s health.
Following her graduation from Rhodes in 1995, she returned to Honduras for nine months as a Fulbright Scholar. She continues to serve many Spanish-speaking patients today in her clinics at Baystate Health.
Empowering women and giving them a voice have been the motivating factors throughout Ross’ life. As editor of the Signpost student publication at Hutchison, she used her voice to advocate for change and build awareness about “new” issues like recycling. An anti-May Day editorial did not gain traction, she recalled laughing, but she had success on other fronts.
In 1991, Martin Luther King Jr. Day had been an official national holiday for nine years, but Hutchison and other
private schools had the option to opt out of the observance. Ross penned a convincing editorial, and the school changed its policy.
“Yes, I would say I was always speaking my mind,” she said.
Apparently, her classmates were listening! Ross was selected by the Class of ’91 to represent them as the Meg Thomas Student Speaker at commencement.
“Vanessa always had a wise voice. She was elected to be our Meg Thomas speaker and did a brilliant job at that,” said Megan Wellford Grinder ’91. “I can still remember feeling that it was written in a way that all of us could relate to. It was a speech that appealed to the whole class.”
Grinder and other members of her graduating class once again turned to Ross when they recently responded to her invitation to a special webinar called Navigating the Menopause Transition.
“We experienced puberty together. I thought, ‘Why not share menopause?’ ” explained Ross.
We will live 40 to 50 percent of our lives after menopause, depending on our life expectancy … It’s a significant chunk of time … We want to be healthy and active … We have to learn how to take care of ourselves in a different way.
Comparisons between puberty and menopause are made because they are both rooted in hormonal shifts. In a recent presentation, Ross included a cartoon naming menopause “puberty’s evil older sister.”
In Ross’ life and health coaching practice for midlife women—the newest iteration of her quest for empowerment— the puberty reference fits because she challenges women to take stock in their lives and reevaluate choices, with the benefit of maturity and life experiences. It is a theme embraced by the classmates who attended Ross’ talk.
“When a woman reaches midlife, I believe she starts reflecting more on those experiences, and from those reflections she can then gain a clearer picture about who she was, who she actually is, and who she wants to become,” said Tiffani Hughes Gross ’91, a participant in Ross’ webinar. “So yes, in a way, midlife is the beginning of the rest of our lives.”
That’s Ross’s mantra, and of course, she has facts to back it up.
“We will live 40 to 50 percent of our lives after menopause, depending on our life expectancy. Someone who goes through menopause at 45 and lives to 90—that’s 50 percent of her life. If someone goes through menopause at 51 and lives to 90, it’s almost 40 percent of her life. That’s a significant chunk of time,” said Ross. “So instead of the older approach of ‘it’s all downhill from here,’ I think this generation doesn’t want it to go downhill. We want to be healthy and active … we have to learn how to take care of ourselves in a different way.”
For her part, Ross practices what she preaches to her coaching clients and patients. A lifelong yoga enthusiast and an instructor for more than 10 years, she also does strength training for bone health.
menopause and younger generations
Ross believes menopause awareness among younger women will destigmatize the process and be less emotionally burdensome in the long run. It also empowers (there’s that word again) younger women to advocate for their own health.
“If you are going to end up being menopausal at 45, you could easily start having symptoms at 35,” said Ross. “That’s super important for people to know, because they may come in and see a provider who’s not that well-educated about menopause and be told, ‘No, no, you’re too young.’ That’s not right.”
With so many ways to consume information today, young women have many more resources. Ross said she’s confident that future generations will be better equipped to ask the right questions.
“I think Hutchison girls today are definitely better equipped to advocate for themselves, certainly more than we were when graduating in 1991,” noted Grinder. “We’re teaching girls to hear and obey authority figures, but to speak up when something doesn’t ring true—to investigate further on their own. We’re teaching them to discern what’s coming from a valid source.”
Ross is glad to know that Hutchison encourages each girl to find her unique voice. In her personal growth journey and in her life coach practice, she sees how women have to unlearn self-imposed limitations and perceptions prescribed by society.
“We need to take charge of how we view ourselves,” said Marian Kelly ’91, who attended the webinar with her classmates and agrees midlife is a good time for introspection. “Many of the circumstances we have inflicted on ourselves by trying to adhere to the cultural narratives about women. One huge piece of that narrative, which Vanessa is doing a great job of disrupting, is the absurd idea that we shouldn’t talk about things like menopause. Vanessa not only talks about it, she normalizes it, and this is hugely important in helping women to view themselves in less limiting ways.”
“I want to support women at midlife because I think midlife women are what the world needs to make the world a better place—powerful, energized, midlife women. It’s just such a potent time in our lives. We have decades of experience to share. We need to leverage that for the benefit of the world,” said Ross.
“This is a very powerful time in our lives as women,” she said.
Leadership gifts to Hutchison allow our school to provide opportunities for each girl to discover her interests and develop into a strong leader. We showed our appreciation for our community who gave leadership gifts in the past year at the home of Colleen and Chris Canale, parents to Lela Anne ’34.
1 2 3 6 4 7 5 8
DURING TEACHER APPRECIATION WEEK, Hutchison celebrated and welcomed back some special guests: former faculty and staff. We showed gratitude for their influence on many Hutchison students, alumnae, and faculty. Current faculty and staff also stopped by to say hello to their friends.
The Distinguished Alumna Award recognizes and celebrates alumnae who are making a difference in the world through exceptional professional achievement and selfless and visionary service, and these characteristics are certainly true of this year’s honoree Amy Sebes ’84.
To read more about Amy Sebes ’84, scan the QR code to read a profile from our April 2019 Hutchison Magazine.
As the founder of the first national anti-trafficking organization in Albania, Amy has spent the past 20 years helping sex trafficking survivors transition successfully to independent life by providing educational, emotional, and vocational support. Additionally, she drafted the first national antitrafficking curriculum used in selected Albanian middle and high schools. Her humanitarian efforts also include work with former political prisoners in Burma and orphans in India’s largest slum.
Amy has taught high school and college English and psychology for the past three decades in six U.S. states and six countries. She holds a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology from Stanford University and a Master of Arts in Teaching from Tufts University. Together with her Hutchison classmates, Amy has also helped establish a Class of 1984 financial assistance fund.
The Alumna Service to Hutchison Award recognizes the school’s appreciation for exceptional and longstanding service to and advocacy for Hutchison.
Megan Wellford Grinder ’91 has given of her time for more than 28 years through numerous volunteer roles. She has been a Hutchison Board of Trustees member since 2014 and served as our third female Board Chair from 2019 to 2023. Megan has been a member of the Alumnae Association Board and served as the president from 2011 to 2012. She is currently the class representative for the Class of 1991 and has served in that capacity for 28 years. In addition, Megan served on the Hutchison Parents Association. She has been a driving force for our institution through her leadership during the pandemic and campus master planning process as well as her service on the Head of School search committee that recruited Dr. Kristen Ring.
Created in recognition of Anne Marie’s passion for and service to her Alma Mater, the Anne Marie Newton Walker ’47 Philanthropy Award is presented to an alumna who advances philanthropy to Hutchison through personal giving and serves as an inspiration to the larger community to give.
A loyal and faithful donor, Connie Condon Abston ’57 continues to make Hutchison a philanthropic priority, having made an annual contribution to our school for almost 60 years. She and her late husband, Dunbar, also generously established the Abston Center for Early Childhood. Connie leads by example, and she and her family continue to be positive advocates throughout the Hutchison community, inspiring others to join them in supporting our school.
Above, left: Back, L to R: Lexi Van Riper ’17, Mary Aubrey Landrum Stafford ’10, Katye Houston, Elizabeth Baird Brown ’00, Blair Westbrook Fowler ’99, and Callie Oehmler ’20; front: Sarah Wright, Frances Cates ’21, Marion Hughes Ward ’99, Olivia Collins, and Kristen Farmer Davis ’99
Above, right: Sarah Wright, Olivia Collins, Katye Houston, Christy Elkin Green ’89, Liz Gotten Howard ’89, Hayden Miller ’22, Caroline Erb ’22, Mary Aubrey Landrum Stafford ’10, Kristen Farmer Davis ’99, and Emma Prather ’21
Back, L to R: Kristen Ring, Mary Aubrey Landrum Stafford ’10, Caroline O’Keefe Bork ’02, Daisye Rainer ’17, Julie Rim Huygen ’87, Brooke Wetherill Simpson ’94, Kristina Speros Hyde ’96, Kara Wetherill ’96, Shannon McDonnell Balmer ’92, and Curry Hyde Rosato ’91; middle: Jane Sayle Locke ’06, Meredith Matthews ‘15, Cillie Harrison Spartz ’14, Julia Harrison ’11, Ellie Steffner ’16, and Lucy Camuti ’15; front: Selden Early Popwell ’79, Sarah Jane Zanone ’09, Connie Popwell ’06, Ava Weiss ’22, Laura Rogers Wommack ’02, Jenna McEniry ’21, Leslie Randle ’95, Lillie Burrow Combs ’15, and Jenna Samelson Browning ’91
The work of Ebet Roberts ’63 was featured in the March issue of Memphis Magazine, with her photo of Bob Marley on the cover. “What sets Roberts’ work apart? It’s her eye for catching an artist’s inner spark, her sense of knowing when the moment is right, and her undiminished commitment to photography as an art,” the article said of Ebet’s legendary portfolio. Ebet and her work were featured in our December 2021 edition of Hutchison Magazine
Jessica Rainey McKnett ’92 has been promoted to Chief of Staff at Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals. In this position, Jessica plays a pivotal role in supporting the CEO, executive team, and her colleagues on the senior leadership team in the execution of strategic goals and day-to-day operations.
Dr. Kelly Rodney Arnold ’96 had the honor of serving as the commencement speaker for the University of Tennessee,
Ann Camp Lee ’79 bought a Rumble Boxing Gym franchise in 2021 and just celebrated the one year anniversary of her gym at Union and McLean. Rumble offers a really fun boxing and strength training workout in a dance club environment, and Ann has had the pleasure of hosting Hutchison freshmen for Career Day as well as having classmates of her daughter Maddie Lee ’24 work out on several occasions. Hutchison alumna Maeji Brown ’18 was one of Ann’s first and most loyal customers and is now one of her employees.
Knoxville’s College of Arts and Sciences ceremony. As a Class of 2000 UT alumna, she called it the “honor and invitation of a lifetime.” Dr. Arnold is the founder and medical director of Clínica Médicos, a medical clinic modeled after global mission hospitals, whose goal is to make quality healthcare accessible to Chattanooga’s Latino community. Heather Holcomb Stemmler ’96 and Hutchison athletics director Caroline Schaefer ’08, who was Kelly’s flower girl, traveled to Knoxville to see Kelly deliver her speech. Kelly was featured in our December 2015 issue of Hutchison Magazine
CeCe Dobbs Martindale ’99 served as Chair of “a la Carte,” the annual fundraiser for Arkansas Children’s Hospital in Little Rock, Arkansas, which took place in April. More than 500 guests attended. A silent auction, featuring artwork collaborations between local artists and Arkansas Children’s patients, raised more than $143,000.
Martha Kelly ’88 has an upcoming exhibition at Rowan Oak in Oxford, Mississippi, the home of author William Faulkner. Her collection of block prints called “Faulkner’s Trees” will be on display from July through December 2024. All the trees depicted in the show are on the grounds at Rowan Oak.
Martha and her work were featured in the April 2016 issue of Hutchison Magazine
Robin Benson Saidov ’99 is the owner and lead consultant of Your Energy Footprint, which provides homeowners with resources for residential solar investments. She also launched a podcast, Your Energy Footprint with Robin Saidov, that breaks down everything you need to know before making upgrades to your home.
Macy Kloville ’16 made her Broadway debut as substitute assistant sound person on Spamalot
Madison Morris ’20 released a graphic novel called Every Creeping Thing and presented it at a public event with a Q&A and reception. Every Creeping Thing, set during the 1950s polio epidemic, is the story of a girl who encounters a world run by human-natured insects. She completed the novel as a Duffy Fellow at Fordham University. The program aims to provide support to a select group of Fordham students to advance the study of issues arising at the intersection of religion and public life. Chapters can be read online. Go to issuu.com and search for mscottmorris-art.
LET US KNOW ABOUT YOUR WORK
Please share your latest professional achievements and news so your fellow classmates will know what you are doing. Send professional news and photos to alumnae@hutchisonschool.org. The deadline for the next magazine is October 18, 2024.
“I thought the eclipse was super cool; it was lifechanging. It got dark outside, which isn’t normal! I will remember this moment forever.”
— CAROLINE JEFFERIES ’29
Hutchison middle school girls had a “totality” amazing time traveling to Jonesboro, Arkansas, to witness the total solar eclipse in April. At Rolling Oaks Farm, they put on their special Hutchison eclipse glasses and made scientific observations until the eclipse reached totality. It was the trip of a lifetime!
“It
has been a dream of mine since I saw my first total eclipse in 2017. It was a wonderful experience—one of the highlights of my teaching career.”
— DONNA BUDYNAS, MIDDLE SCHOOL SCIENCE TEACHER
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