T U L LY T R A D I T I O N S
PHILOSOPHY OF TEACHING
LY N X H I G H L I G H T S
THE MAGAZINE OF LAUSANNE COLLEGIATE SCHOOL / spring 2012 Vol. 5 Issue 1
Portrait of a Lausanne Graduate Wendy Wurtzburger ‘76 Bita Esmaeli ‘80 Tyler Cotton ‘04 Andrea Dancy Auguiste ‘82 Paul Guibao ‘91
Fr om th e He a d m a s t e r
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There is something wonderfully unique about a Lausanne student and graduate. It’s as if they are mirror images of one another. Our process-based school produces global thinkers who are accomplished, confident, bright, energetic, comfortable and confident in who they are and above all else hugely appreciative of what Lausanne is doing for them, has done for them and what it continues to do. I see these fantastic qualities in students throughout each division of our school and in every Lausanne graduate that I meet. Over the last eighteen months, we have improved our efforts to connect and reconnect with Lausanne alumni. This year we have held alumni events in Boston, New York, San Francisco and Atlanta that have also coincided with professional development opportunities. These events have been a real treat for me and have provided true insight into individual Lausanne graduates and, through them, the history of our school. Watching our Lower School students’ level of engagement, dialogue, questioning, reflection and analysis as they’ve wrapped up their recent trimester-long projects has been fascinating. From studying robotics to opening restaurants to taking the stage in their first theatrical performance, our youngest students are empowered by their accomplishments both in and out of the classroom. I’ve watched our Middle School students tackle complicated world issues with an inquisitive and receptive nature. Not only do they approach problems from a wide variety of angles, they also apply an impressive level of discernment that affords them a broader understanding of global context. Upon returning recently from one alumni trip, I met with a group of Upper School students who were gathered to interview candidates to succeed our retiring Upper School Head, Dr. Thomas New. In listening to their thoughts, feelings, insights, opinions and intuitions, I envisioned where these students might be in 25 to 30 years and all that they will accomplish. I believe I already have some insight. I have seen our students’ futures in the faces and accomplishments of our alumni. They share so many common attributes. They are quietly confident without being egotistical; they are curious, humble and reflective; they are passionate and responsible; they resonate a service-leader attitude and are committed to continued learning. They are clear products of the Lausanne learning process, a process that is a lifelong journey.
M A GAZINE
spring
2012
DEPARTMENTS 1 2 4 22 28 36
From the Editor Looking Back Lausanne Today The Road Ahead Class Notes Lynx Highlights
FEATURES 11 Portrait of a Lausanne Graduate 29 Campaign for Lausanne Honor Roll of Donors
On the cover: (Photography by Ben Leuner) Wendy Wurtzberger ’76, Chief Merchandise and Design Officer for Anthropologie
Lausanne Magazine is a publication of Lausanne Collegiate School whose mission is to prepare each of its students for college and for life in a global environment. EDITOR
Laura S. Trott Director of Marketing and Communications ltrott@lausanneschool.com 901.474.1003 ART DIRECTOR
Alison Johnson Charles CLASS NOTES AND ALUMNI NEWS
Jennifer Saxton Director of Alumni Relations jsaxton@lausanneschool.com 901.474.1008 CAPITAL CAMPAIGN PAGES
Michael Christopher Assistant Headmaster, School Advancement mchristopher@lausanneschool.com 901.474.1045 Kate Shelton Director of Annual Giving & Special Events kshelton@lausanneschool.com 901.474.1029 Cissi Loftis Information Management Coordinator cloftis@lausanneschool.com 901.474.1026 PHOTOGRAPHY
Brian Johnson Laura S. Trott
Stuart McCathie Headmaster
L A U S A N N E
Lausanne Collegiate School 1381 W. Massey Rd., Memphis, TN 38120 901.474.1000 www.lausanneschool.com
spring 2012
From the Editor
Through the eyes of a Lausanne graduate Although as a student I loved creatively displaying assigned science experiments with colorful illustrations, graphs and somewhat elaborate descriptions, I often found the actual process of developing and proving a hypothesis challenging. So, it was with great glee and a sense of accomplishment that I realized an often discussed Lausanne theory was so easily confirmed via a few phone calls, e-mails and the written word.* Our theory: Lausanne alumni across the eras still connect with the school’s core values and students’ skills and attributes found in our Portrait of a Graduate. The feature article is a reflection of the Lausanne process and student strengths explained through the life stories of five different alumni: Wendy Wurtzburger ’76, Bita Esmaeli ’80, Tyler Cotton ’04, Andrea Dancy Auguiste ’82 and Paul Guibao ’91. The unique opportunities and benefits of a Lausanne education are beautifully expressed through their words and experiences. Our Lausanne Today feature is a description of the academic environment created by our faculty’s commitment to
our students. The distinctive experience and personality each teacher brings to the school community adds to the fantastic diversity and prospects available to our students. Spanning 85 years of history, Lausanne has seen a variety of changes to its student body, curriculum and programs. Technology advancements, cultural shifts, economic and political ramifications and personal circumstances have affected the individuals of our school community as well as driven the strategic efforts of our board. What has made Lausanne successful is its ability to maintain the core values that solidify its foundation and commitment to our students in spite of change. Lausanne’s core values have indeed stood the test of time as has the outstanding character and drive of our students. The buildings may look different; there are more students; but it is still your Lausanne. It is a place that creates a joyful and challenging learning process. It is a school in which students and teachers alike are encouraged to continually selfreflect. Individuals are empowered to seek their own journeys and are provided
opportunities to succeed. Global mindedness is embraced and character is built through service to others. The meaningful relationships forged between student and teacher and from peer to peer provide connections throughout a lifetime. It’s The Lausanne Way! I am grateful to our alumni for sharing how their lives have been shaped by those core values. It was a thrill to hear them relate to the Lausanne student of today and to look through their eyes into our current students’ futures. I feel quite sure that as you read this magazine, you too will be able to relate. Write to me or call me and let me know what you think.
Best regards,
Laura S. Trott *For more proof of our theory, look forward to the upcoming publication of the history of Lausanne as written by local historian and archivist John Harkins, Ph.D. Over the past two years, Dr. Harkins has conducted extensive research through Lausanne’s archival materials and interviews with members of the Lausanne community.
Many thanks to Lausanne’s student communications interns, Carly Stein ‘13, Jayla Sims ‘14 and Paulina Ke ‘14 and our college interns, Lee Travis ’08 and Erin Liddle, for brainstorming the concepts we would discuss during each interview for our feature article and for connecting the Lausanne experience of yesterday to today.
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Looking Ba c k
TNuINlG HlAyLL DI
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by Fred M. Blackmon, Assistant Head of Upper School & Young Alumni Coordinator
Lausanne’s Tully Dining Hall is one of the original buildings of our current campus. For decades, Lausanne students and teachers have gathered around its tables to share meals. After Lausanne moved from the Union Avenue campus to West Massey in 1959, the dining hall was used as both cafeteria and auditorium. Named for Bartlett Christopher Tully, husband of Louise Bozeman Tully ‘45, it was a multipurpose space and the center of activity and creativity where theatre performances and school assemblies alike took place. Assemblies featuring guest speakers and special divisional presentations have been a regular part of the school day and an extension of the curriculum at Lausanne throughout its history. Tully was host to the 1960s Distinguished Lecturer Series, rebranded as the Chair of Ideas in 1992, during which students heard from speakers such as Margaret Mead, an American cultural anthropologist somewhat controversial for her time; William F. Buckley, founder of the “National Review” political magazine and host to the “Firing Line,” which aired from 1966 until 1999; and B.F. Skinner, the renowned Harvard psychology professor. The latter-day Chair of Ideas speakers have included civil rights leader and NAACP president Benjamin Hooks, peace activist Arun Gandhi, filmmaker Jodie Markell ’77, actress Ginnifer Goodwin ’96, former senior U.S. diplomat Jessica LeCroy ’70 and most recently Kanya Balakrishna ’05, president and cofounder of The Future Project. Michele “Chi-Chi” Livaudais Dmytryk ‘68 says, “It was an honor to have Aldous Huxley as our Distinguished Lecturer” in 1963 and described how exciting it was to have the author of “Brave New World” visit their English class. Dr. George Elder, Headmaster from 1992-2004, remembers the powerful presentation The Rev. Billy Kyles delivered in Tully. Students and teachers were spellbound by his account of standing on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel with Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. on
the day he was shot. Dr. Elder also shares lightheartedly, “Margot Stern Strom, who started Facing History and Ourselves in Memphis, brought the house down when she came and spoke as Chair of Ideas. She said that she thought when she entered Lausanne she had to bring a horse and wear white gloves every day.” In addition to guest speakers, assemblies in Tully included celebrations of students’ achievements. From Student Council election speeches and the signing of the Honor Code Book to Honor Society inductions, letters of intent to play sports in college and National Merit recognitions, all were a regular part of the almost daily transformation of Tully from cafeteria to auditorium. The back-to-school assembly and end-of-year outservice meetings in Tully marked the beginning and end of every academic year. “Lausanne has been, and continues to be, a champion in the arts, especially the performing arts.” Recalling Tully, the theatre, and her own performances on the stage, Melanie Cook Clark ‘97, alumna and an Early Childhood Spanish teacher at Lausanne, continues, “Tully Dining Hall is filled with the richness that was Lausanne in the ‘90s to me. It was the place we ate of course, but it was the place where people came together to watch the incredible talent the students and faculty had, and the creativity they exuded given the tiny space.” Although Tully has gone through a number of facelifts and changes over the
years, the memories housed within its walls as well as our connections with each of the Lausanne campuses pull at our hearts and light a spark in our souls for the school we all love. In the late ‘80s, Lausanne began hanging flags on the ceiling to celebrate our school’s international student population. Clocks telling time in London, Paris, Tokyo and Memphis were added to remind students that the world is bigger than these walls. With the opening of the Elder Performing Arts Center to accommodate our thriving theatre program and to add more seating in Tully for a growing student population, the stage was removed in 2004. In the years since 2005, fresh paint, a new floor and the addition of round tables continue to make this space a significant part of the student experience. This summer, Tully faces another renovation as the walls are expanded to the west to provide an additional dining area suitable for noonday meals in addition to special meetings and social gatherings. Serving areas will be updated to provide more choices during the lunch hour. Facelifts and renovations, teardowns and building additions are a part of any physical plant. As we celebrate Tully’s longstanding place in our 85-year history, we are also reminded of what binds us together from generation to generation: it is not the buildings themselves but the memories we have and the relationships we cherish.
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Lausan n e To d a y
Teachers…They All Have an Impact The creativity, energy, passion and character of Lausanne’s faculty is second to none. Ask any student, parent or graduate, and they will share with you countless stories of their favorite teachers at Lausanne. When reflecting on their Lausanne experiences, alumni often first mention the positive influence of a particular teacher, students excitedly share how much they love their teachers and parents find comfort and take pride in the foundations being provided for their children by such an outstanding and dedicated group of professionals.
“They all have an impact. They create a sense of belonging and community. (Our teachers) generally care how we are and how we are doing in their classes.”—Jayla Sims ’14 “The student opinion really matters. What we have to say is heard. Our teachers give us that voice early on when others don’t usually have that type of freedom until college.”—Carly Stein ‘13
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“What I love most about the teacher-student relationships at Lausanne is that our teachers care. It’s authentic. They want to get to know each of us individually. They care to know and to ask what our interests are and personalities. It means a lot to us when they take notice of our interests, stopping us in the hallway to compliment us on a great game or the One Acts. Teachers I’ve never even had before will ask about us.” — Paulina Ke ‘14
In the following set of articles, you’ll have the opportunity to gain insight into the teaching philosophies of some of Lausanne’s 97 teachers. The core values we share in The Lausanne Way would not be realized without our teachers’ unique efforts to create a joyful and challenging learning process, to encourage continual self-reflection, to provide opportunities to succeed, to embrace global mindedness, to forge meaningful relationships, to build character through service to others and to empower individuals to seek their own journeys.
Kelly Susanne Geer, Upper School English For two years of my life, I lived in Turkey. There are many brilliant things I can say about my time there, but I fear that language fails this rare and unique experience. Turkey possesses some of the most astonishing wonders of the world: the Blue Mosque, the Aya Sofya, the Basilica Cistern (the Medusa Column), the Topkapi Palace (the most spectacular part of this palace is the harem) and the great Bosphorus strait, which runs from the Sea of Marmara all the way to the Black Sea in Northern Turkey (in Istanbul, it separates the Asian continent from the European continent). When I think of the Turkish people, whether an elderly man in a rural village with traditional values, or one of my most singular students that of course was well-traveled and versed in a modern perspective of his country, I am often struck by their humor, their sensitivity and their most infectious zest for life. I was never happier than when I was free in a land that was filled with so much mystery and history. I had come to Turkey to deepen my commitment to the field of education, and I must admit, I came back a student of life. I was raised in a diverse community and I spent most of my adult life living as an artist in some of the most multifarious cities in America: Los Angeles, San Francisco and New York. I had made a conscious commitment to refine my skills as an educator in and out of the classroom and my pursuit of teaching at an International Baccalaureate (IB) world school encouraged me to pack up my life in Los Angeles, resign from my current faculty position and relocate to a mysterious country. This move wasn’t just about the “mystery,” it was about possibility; being a student of life requires an openness to what is possible beyond the comfortable.
Upon my return, I was concerned whether I would be able to find that same warmth and humor that so imbued my life while overseas. Although I was back in America, I needed a home that embraced the international plurality that had become my element. At Lausanne, I found just that, a true internationalism that was warm, inclusive and engaging. My experience living in Turkey provided me with the cultured professional skills to relocate to a school that encourages difference, a school that takes education out of the classroom and into the globe. I moved to Turkey to broaden my experience as an educator in a global reality, and I returned to my native country to continue the spirit of my adventure. At Lausanne, pedagogy is put into tangible practice in the world. When people speak of travel, or living in another country, they tend to romanticize a rather daunting task. I often express, take your most difficult day in your native country; now imagine having to experience that day far away from your family, the friends you grew up with, your native language. I think that expresses the endurance that it takes to live and travel in a culture, country and world that dissents so poetically from the typical norms of your life. I hold no regrets. Imagine sitting in a cave dwelling that once hid Christians trying to escape religious persecution, just drinking tea and conversing with a villager that has lived his whole life amongst this history, or spending an evening at a whirling dervishes ceremony. These experiences can never eclipse some moments of discomfort on one’s journey. I often express to my students that some of the most magical moments will come to you when you least expect their magic; be open, be willing to explore, possess a curious mind and a curious heart and take risks. Beauty cannot necessarily be described, it must be experienced.
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I continue to be awed by the accomplishments of my colleagues‌
Learning is about discomfort. You have to be willing to traverse strange lands figuratively and literally. Taking risks is essential to growth, and I have come to know that the world is great, and universal themes are shared across countries, religions and political perspectives. The experience of a sunrise above the Black Sea is as precious and poetic as the experience of a sunrise above the Pacific on the beach in Malibu.
Lausanne is one of those magical places that most certainly must be experienced. I was recruited to Lausanne after fulfilling my faculty contract in Turkey. I continue to count my blessings for finding this jewel of a school in an authentic and genuine city in the South. In seeking a new faculty position and choosing to return to America, I kept writing down exactly what kind of learning community I wanted to join. It had to be a school that reflected an international mindset and encouraged students to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners; a school that understood that other people, in their differences, could also be right. I wanted a learning community that fostered the creative intelligence of a young mind as well as a rigorous course of study that provided students with options. I absolutely had to join a school community that took community leadership to an active and engaged level; students must learn and serve outside of the classroom as well. I had some pretty lofty expectations. Using my faith, as it has always served me, I kept my list close to me as I began a rather arduous and extensive interviewing process. I remember my first phone conversation with Mr. Fred Blackmon; the passion and sincerity in his voice for his beloved school community inspired me. Trusting my instincts, I accepted the faculty position offered to me and relocated to Memphis.
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I continue to commend the leadership at Lausanne for recruiting teachers internationally. What Lausanne creates by such a thoughtful strategy is diversity in educators to complement the diversity in the student population; it also provides students with more than just a teacher, it provides them mentors in their empowered approach to their learning in a diverse world. There is no substitute for experience. Young people must learn to understand and accept difference in our increasingly global society. Providing a pre-IB and IB diploma is a profound commitment to global possibilities; students’ learning opportunities are now open and can cross oceans and continents. Students get to see where they rank in an international paradigm that supports their possibility. I continue to be awed by the accomplishments of my colleagues; these are educators with a shared philosophical commitment to our students. They have used experience to inform their knowledge and expertise; they have opened their lives to living and traveling abroad; they have taken an artistic approach of the life experience that imbues their core subject knowledge. Lausanne teachers are accomplished individuals who bring wisdom and perspective into their classrooms. Lausanne parents also inspire me with their enduring commitment to a progressive and thoughtful approach to academics, and our students captivate our attention with their sensitivity and acceptance of process. They open themselves to a method of instruction that is active, engaged, immersed and tangible, as well as a diversity of programs offered to them at this unique and formidable school: Lausanne Collegiate School, a 365-day commitment to process, to possibility, to each other.
Susan Bomar, Pre-Kindergarten
Ginger Reese, Middle School English
I have been an Early Childhood educator at Lausanne for almost twelve years. During this time, Lausanne has grown and changed favorably due to intentional, meaningful vision, and leadership. Being a member of this community has afforded me many wonderful opportunities. Most important of these opportunities have been experiences with sincere, diverse families and investment of myself in the lives of others through meaningful and challenging work.
I always say, “I teach life, not just literature and grammar.”
My students define, clarify and inspire my best teaching and continual learning. In my classroom, characterized by high expectations and nurture of independence and creative expression, very young students at various developmental stages gain confidence to take ownership and responsibility for learning. An environment and management plan supportive of teaching and learning integrates mutual respect, intellectual growth, social experience, emotional maturation, differentiation according to developmental and academic level, order, routine, appropriate rules and choices with consequences, fairness, consistency, optimism, value for what is morally right and unconditional acceptance. Educators at Lausanne demonstrate a vigorous work ethic and a high level of expertise encompassing the ability to teach one another professionally. As faculty, we are more than coworkers; we are colleagues insured by mutual respect. When I reflect on my years at Lausanne and thoughtfully consider who Lausanne is and what we experience and accomplish together, I am truly thankful to be here.
Taking a subject to where each student lives, works and plays is probably one of the more difficult tasks we have as teachers, but kids love to talk about themselves, and I love to listen; therefore, I’m always looking to challenge them to use their talents in today’s world and to “write what they know.” Proof? Seventeen years of students coming back as alumni to say how well they did in college English (if, indeed, they even had to take it) should be sufficient to prove that Lausanne students know how to write—writing books, writing for magazines, writing articles, writing prescriptions . . . Someone once asked me how I could teach for so many years, and I replied that I guessed it was because I really like kids— that, and they do go home each day. It is invigorating to show them something that they find fascinating enough to want to learn more—it’s the beginning of a lifelong love of learning.
“My teacher, Ms. McBride, helps me make deep connections to what I’m reading through creative ways. She’s helping me make better predictions and productions. It’s not about memorizing. It’s challenging and I get more out of what I’m learning. Plus, it’s fun!” —Gregory Guo ‘20
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Mark Page, Upper School Science Department Chair
Robin Pohlman, First Grade
I am currently in my 11th year here at Lausanne, and I know that my teaching skills have grown leaps and bounds since I started. This maturation process has many causes, but most notable is the education provided me by my fellow teachers. As high school faculty goes, Lausanne is second to none, and I have taken full advantage of this by incorporating many positive attributes of my peers into my own philosophy of teaching. On the surface, we are all very different, from what we teach, to how we test and grade, down to even how we arrange the classrooms. However, there are some common fundamental traits that bind us together as a well-functioning, single entity.
When Mrs. Hyland asked me to join the Lausanne Cottage Program, I never imagined I would be a part of the Lausanne family for twenty years. After settling into the same first grade classroom I still call home today, I have had the rare honor of watching this school grow and change. When my first class— the class of 2005—graduated, I couldn’t help but reflect on how much Lausanne had changed since they sat in their little desks eager to learn. At that time, only the original school building stood and the whole school could eat lunch at the same time in the cafeteria. However, the one thing that has never changed about Lausanne is the warm, family atmosphere. Lausanne is the unique learning environment I dreamed of teaching in as well as the school that provided my three children with the best opportunities to pursue their dreams.
The excellent teachers I have had the pleasure to work with over the years put the students first 100% of the time. This does not mean that whatever the students want goes; far from it. But everything that is done in the class is carefully thought out as to how it will affect the student. What is the purpose of the exercise? How will it help foster growth in each student? How will each student relate to the exercise? What are the short term and long term results for the students? The teachers do this by pushing the students academically, mentally and even athletically, but because they know their students so well, the limits of each student are always in the minds of the teachers. Being pushed with clear, attainable goals gives our students success and builds confidence. Our teachers love what they teach, love teaching and enjoy helping these young men and women grow. It is easy to refuel this passion because we have constant validation of our work by the alumni returning to share their success stories and appreciation.
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My teaching philosophy is simple. I believe every child deserves a warm, nurturing, fun and challenging learning environment that will promote his or her academic and emotional growth and celebrate who they are as individuals.
“Lausanne teachers are like parents at school for us. They are some of the best in the world and are all very supportive. They have different teaching styles and approaches but that diversity is what makes Lausanne better and heads us in the right direction.”—Armand Amini ‘16
Gary Stevens, Fifth Grade Science
Marcia Planchon, Upper School French
In 5th grade, every approach we take is as a team. Everything we do is focused on the best interest of the student. That studentcentered emphasis carries through in how we communicate with parents, with the school administration and with the students. It solidifies the trust that takes place between each of us.
“Whatever it takes” has always been my teaching mantra. When I first came to Lausanne, I was impressed with the teachers here who never seemed to complain, never seemed to mind working long hours and, no matter what, always tried to put the students’ academic needs first.
At Lausanne, we are allowed an incredible amount of flexibility and creativity as educators. Together, we’ve developed everything we teach. Without Lynn McGoff and Kathleen Plyler, I’d just be another science teacher on his own. What’s made us successful in the development of this program is communicating well with each other as well as with teachers in grades below us and above us.
Toward the end of each year, I always ask myself how I could be a better teacher next year. I always find things that could have been done better. Having taught for many years, I have seen every language teaching methodology come into fashion, go out of style, only to return years later to be called the “latest and newest” way to teach foreign language! Out of all the ways to teach, I feel that, as the teacher, I am responsible for the success of my students. They come wanting to learn and it is up to me to design a course which makes that possible.
We strive to light the fire in our students or to keep the lit fire going by showing how all subjects are relative and useful in life. Content is important, but it’s most important that our students learn how to be organized, to allocate time, to recognize that results aren’t all instantaneous and that the responsibility to succeed is theirs. We want our students to be happy and comfortable in their own skins and to readily accept challenges without fear of failure. If students step into a hole or trip along the way, we want them to be able to get themselves out. We don’t tiptoe around challenging subjects. We’ve never taken the approach of specific goal orientation. We encourage different skills in different times in a natural progression. In my experiences as a teacher, it’s about the child…the team… communication…and trust. These four things are critical in preparing our students for what they’ll face tomorrow, next year and for the rest of their lives.
In teaching language, it is easy to use the four learning skills: listening, reading, writing and speaking. But I find that each class comes to this experience with a personality which makes one of these skills seem more valuable to them. As the teacher, I have to introduce them to French through all of the skills. What I love about teaching at Lausanne is that I am not bound to a specific teaching formula but can experiment with different ways to achieve a successful result for a student. Not only do I want them to be successful in absorbing content, but I also want them to see language learning as an ongoing adventure. I want them to leave wanting to know more and to continue studying languages whether it is here at Lausanne or in a university or college. I want them to get the “whatever it takes” attitude, not only about French, but about all language learning.
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This year’s student-directed One Acts Show benefited the Mid-South Food Bank and included several comedy sketches written by renown playwrights Edward Albee and David Ives and a few of the writers on “Saturday Night Live.” Ben Woods ‘12, pictured above, won the school’s Shakespeare Monologue Competition and will represent Lausanne in the citywide competition. Lausanne’s students earned 3 gold keys, 1 silver key and 8 honorable mentions in the Scholastic Arts Awards. Eighth grader Joseph Besser’s painting, “Play Time,” a Gold Key winner, was additionally awarded a Junior Painting Award. Lisa Kang, an 11th grader, earned the role as concertmaster for the 2011-2012 West Tennessee School Band & Orchestra Association’s All West Orchestra. Twelve other Lausanne students earned seats in the West Tennessee All State Band & Orchestra. Lausanne’s Lower School filled the Elder Performing Arts Center with the “Sound of Music”-as well as “Seussical,” “Mary Poppins,” “Peter Pan” and “Les Miserables” on December 9 during their Broadway musical revue “Pure Imagination!”
Meet Dr. Nancy Graham: Director of the Arts at Lausanne Dr. Nancy Graham joined the Lausanne Collegiate School faculty in August 2010 as a teacher of 10th grade Modern World History and Living in a Global Society. When the new school year began, Dr. Graham took on a new role as the school’s Director of the Arts. In addition, Dr. Graham also became the school’s Coordinator of International Studies. Dr. Graham developed two very successful music programs in independent schools prior to her work at Lausanne. She says she’s qualified “because I’m old and I’ve been around,” with a laugh and continues, “my doctoral work was done at Oxford University. My immediate family is spread out all over the world so it is natural for me to look at life from a global perspective.” Her doctorate of sacred music is from The Graduate Theological Foundation in South Bend, Ind. and she
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is A.B.D. (all but dissertation) for a Ph.D. from the Foundation House, Oxford University. Her philosophy of the arts is in line with Lausanne’s process approach to education. As Dr. Graham says, “You cannot be Macbeth without an understanding of Scottish history. You cannot understand English-speaking or Western-based culture without understanding the effect of the Roman Catholic Church and the Reformation. “Back in the day, when Plato and Aristotle were dreaming up their academies, they knew that to be a fully educated human being one needed an understanding of aesthetics. Plato said in The Republic that a man could not become a statesman without first becoming a musician. This is why I stress the study of music, not just performance; it is also why the theory of music is one of the seven liberal arts.” In addition to a well-rounded education, Dr. Graham adds that the study of arts directly correlates with The Lausanne Way and the meaningful relationships and global mindedness it instills. Dr. Graham’s hope is that the expansion of the arts and the students’ experiences abroad will become life applications.
Portrait of a Graduate portrait of a graduate
A Lausanne graduate is‌ a seeker of knowledge who understands the importance of intellectual, physical and emotional balance to achieve personal well-being for themselves and others. a thinker able to recognize and approach complex problems, make ethical decisions and understand and capitalize on his or her strengths and limitations. a confident risk-taker with understanding of a broad and balanced range of disciplines. an open-minded global citizen with a strong sense of fairness, justice and respect for other individuals, communities and the environment. an effective communicator who seeks and evaluates a range of viewpoints. a caring and reflective person who respects the needs and feelings of others and acts to make a positive difference. an inquirer with a passion to continue a lifelong love of learning.
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portrait of a graduate
Wendy Wurtzburger ‘76 Finding inspiration in a Paris flea market; exploring the beaches of the Galapagos Islands; brainstorming summer, spring and winter fashion and entertaining friends and family are just a few of the many colorful, creative, and fun activities you might find in a typical week with Lausanne alumna Wendy Wurtzburger ‘76. Lausanne’s student communications interns were thrilled to interview Wendy, who is the chief merchandise and design officer for Anthropologie, a division of UrbanOutfitters. She has been with the company for 14 years, in which time it has grown from a less than 100 million dollar company to a billion dollar company in 2011. Charged with defining who they are as a company, Wendy and her teams of merchants and designers develop the essence of the products offered by Anthropologie to “inspire” customers and deliver the sales and profits. Always a passionate shopper, Wendy explains that she is not a designer but “an extremely creative merchant” who explored
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her love of design and art through art history at Brown University. She still connects strongly with the student experience and shares, “It’s a really important time in your life to get passionate about culture and beauty. I love hiring people and student interns who have a liberal arts education. We look through a different lens for our customer, tying in history, art and culture. We want things that are familiar but try to present them in different ways. Art is a huge part of my life now and it helps me every day.”
“I had a great experience at Lausanne,” continues Wendy. “I’m still friends with many of the people I grew up with there. They are some of the smartest people I know and the most clever and creative.” Her sentiments about the meaningful relationships and joyful atmosphere of Anthropologie are similar. “It’s not about me; it’s about a team,” says Wendy. “We’re a group of entrepreneurs with a shared vision. We have a brand that has a strong personality and a lot of unique things that we weave together.” Wendy explains that she is “a concept person who works with design to come up with great ideas and make magic.” For example, Wendy just returned from a trip to Paris where she and Anthropologie’s home team attended a trade show in which people promoted home design trends from around the
world. Now back in Philadelphia, Wendy and her team are putting the finishing touches on the fall collection and are starting work on the winter holidays 2012. They are also already thinking about next spring. “We have created a special environment at Anthropologie,” explains Wendy. “We love our customers and are passionate about it. It’s really a lot of fun. The strategic energy and the passion we’ve put into our work we hope comes out in our product…giving her (the customer) what she wants and listening to her…and always trying to make it better for her.” Anthropologie is an international company with its roots in Europe. Outside of the United States, some of Anthropologie’s most loyal customers live in Japan, The United Kingdom, Australia and Canada. “We are a very flat organization,” shares Wendy. “Expanding internationally is a big part of our growth and it’s been really fun to think about what it means to be a global company. For example, I’m very proud of the business we do in South Africa. We didn’t just go one time. Instead we’ve built relationships with our vendors. They may not be the most profitable, but it’s really important for me to continue those relationships. The artistry and craft is more important than finding the least expensive price.”
Wendy was in tow n for the March 201 0 grand opening of Anthropologie’s Sa ddle Creek locati on in Germantow She will return thi n. s May as Lausanne ’s Baccalaureate speaker.
Wendy explains, “I’ve had wonderful opportunities to travel, but it wasn’t just handed to me. I’ve had to go out and find it. You are the master of your own destiny. We have the opportunity to reinvent every day, to self-reflect on how to solve this problem and get over that hurdle.” Wendy’s senior quote in the 1976 Lausanne yearbook was “It don’t really matter what steps you choose to do. The only thing that matters is your attitude,” by Carly Simon. Wendy still takes these words to heart and her work with Anthropologie is joyfully and passionately interwoven into her everyday life. Lausanne junior Carly Stein ‘13 summed up Wendy best, “She is Anthropologie” and a product of Lausanne!
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portrait of a graduate
Bita Esmaeli ‘80
the time. It was t a e m e k li e n eo abulous for som learn as I faced o t ce “Lausanne was f la p t ea r g eltering and a an culture, pe o r u E a nurturing and sh in p u n nges. I had grow n Iran of today. io s vi en all of those cha t h ig m u t from how yo were learning is ph em which is differen M in g in iv enges upon arr an American d a h I The biggest chall e. m o h m o e being away fr e time I was don h t y b the language and s ce ie p in ry that was Heritage Dictiona ” with high school.
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Bita Esmaeli ’80 was fifteen when she came to the United States from Iran. Her parents, both physicians, worked to help each of their children escape the political turmoil in their homeland. Wanting Bita to be near family, her parents chose Memphis and Lausanne Collegiate School, which at the time was an all-girl, college preparatory, boarding school. It was her parents’ early influence that ultimately inspired her own medical career in ophthalmology, but it was her experience at Lausanne and the welcome she received from the Lausanne community that empowered her future. Bita was in culture shock when she moved to Memphis. “Lausanne was fabulous for someone like me at the time,” shared Bita. “It was nurturing and sheltering and a great place to learn as I faced all of those changes. I had grown up in a European culture, which is different from how you might envision Iran of today. The biggest challenges upon arriving in Memphis were learning the language and being away from home. I had an American Heritage Dictionary that was in pieces by the time I was done with high school.” “Some of the people that took care of all of us in the boarding school at Lausanne were key figures in my life at the time,” reflected Bita. “Martha Feldman was an American history teacher and was the assistant headmaster. She lived on campus in a house with her family, and we all had dinners and breakfasts together. These shared meals provided some semblance of family away from family.” Reflecting fondly on those shared meals as well as the diversity of her classmates, Bita continued, “Academically, Lausanne was top-notch but also socially, it had the reputation for being tolerant and progressive and empowering students to think outside the box. That is what I relate to as a student the most. There were several international students among the boarders with many different backgrounds. You pursued your own path and Lausanne prepared us to do it.” Bita graduated from Lausanne in 1980 and attended Southwestern, now Rhodes College. Bita explains, “My Lausanne and Rhodes experiences were very connected and were critically important to
my early training and development.” It was Bita’s close relationships with Alyce “Poohie” ‘59 & Harry Burr, with whom she stayed on weekends, that ultimately led to her acceptance to Rhodes College. Alyce’s father, Ed Jappe, for whom the Lausanne Lower School wing is named, was good friends with Dr. Peyton Rhodes, the former president of Southwestern, which would later be renamed in his honor. Knowing the certain turmoil Bita faced if she returned to Iran and recognizing her academic potential, Dr. Rhodes paved the way for her education at the small liberal arts college despite the visa challenges and political difficulties she faced as an Iranian student in the U.S. during those times. Grateful for the Jappe and Burr families and Dr. Rhodes’ kindness, Bita made the most of her education. After graduating from Rhodes College, she received her master’s degree in cell biology at the University of California in Santa Barbara. She completed her medical education at Chicago Medical School and her residency training in ophthalmology at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center. She completed her ASOPRS-sponsored oculoplastic surgery fellowship at the University of Toronto. Afterwards, Bita, a self-described calculated risk-taker, was instrumental in establishing the ophthalmology section as a comprehensive fulltime service at M. D. Anderson Cancer Center in 1998. She works weekly with fellows and residents as a professor of ophthalmology at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center and spends 70% of her professional time with patients in the orbital oncology and oncologic oculoplastic surgery practice she has built. At this writing, she is preparing for one of her many international lectures, the next of which will take place at the World Ophthalmology Congress meeting in Abu Dhabi, U.A.E., and she is beginning the college search with her 16-year-old son, who has Princeton and Colombia at the top of his list. International conferences and presentations; work with fellows and residents balanced by her own clinical, surgical and research work and dedication to her son is “a lot to juggle,” says Bita. “But, I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
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portrait of a grad
uate
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Tyler Cotton ‘04 Tyler Cotton ’04 developed an early fascination with Asian culture through childhood lessons in karate and time playing Asian video games. Although he considered the study of Italian when he arrived at Middlebury College, he says, “I thought I was up to the challenge of Mandarin and went ahead with my original intention.” That decision helped Tyler build his career as a freelance translator living in China. Although Lausanne’s student body was not as globally diverse when Tyler attended as it is now, he says he and his classmates gained “a heightened awareness in sync with the nation’s growing awareness of world news” after the attacks on September 11, 2001. Inspired by former Lausanne teacher Barry Gilmore, a Middlebury alum, and impressed by the school’s literature, Tyler found himself drawn to Middlebury for both its foreign language program and the family-type environment that reminded him of Lausanne.
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Middlebury has one of the highest enrollment numbers in Chinese for a school of its size, and whereas Tyler’s first-year class in Mandarin included 45 students, he was one of only four majors in the language. He described his experience as “being in the trenches with our professors. My Chinese professor took notice of the fact that I was always asking questions and remarked, ‘This is very good. Because if you don’t ask questions, you cannot learn. Keep them coming!’” Tyler attributes his confident sense of inquiry to the educational freedom he experienced at Lausanne. “I wasn’t afraid to ask questions or to state my opinion. Curiosity was encouraged (at Lausanne). The classroom environment was very open to discussion and contributions by students. In the honors and AP classes, everyone was interested in contributing and participating. For that reason, we were given more freedom.” After a nine-week full summer language immersion program in Vermont, Tyler traveled to China for the spring semester of his junior year. He said his time in China was difficult and he experienced culture shock. He found himself questioning whether or not he would ever return to China. “I was sick of the Chinese urban jungle,” shared Tyler. “I was sick of the headaches of the developing world and wanted to go back to the green of Vermont. But I got an internship. It was sort of a dream come true.” With a developing interest in environmentalism and his spring coursework complete, Tyler took a communications and
philanthropy internship at The Nature Conservancy in Kumming, China. During that time he assisted in the design of an exhibition highlighting the establishment of national parks in Diqing Prefecture of Yunnan Province, popularly known as “Shangri-La.” He also translated Mandarin text into English for exhibition pieces and edited and revised English documents.
So, when a friend and fellow graduate from Middlebury exploring jobs in Korea encouraged Tyler to look for jobs in China, he did. His first six months back in China were spent teaching. There were “great moments and terrible moments.” Afterward, he spent six weeks traveling the country by bus and train working on his next step.
Although he enjoyed his time connecting with nature in the southwest of China, he was ready to return to the United States when his internship ended. He graduated from Middlebury in 2008 and was awarded the Timothy Loring Prize in Chinese Language and Culture. Still wrestling with his ambivalent relationship with China, he found himself wanting to simplify and work at a local organic farm in Vermont.
In the fall of 2008, he enrolled at Bejing Normal University (teachers’ college) to brush up on his Chinese while he looked for a job. He moved near the Drum Tower into a “hutong,” which is a traditional meandering network of single story houses and courtyards in old Beijing. Tyler reflected on sharing facilities with his neighbors and listening to their carrier pigeon pets “whistle” by his windows.
“You have a lot of time to think and talk on a farm,” explained Tyler. “I couldn’t shut up about China, so I had to go back because no one wanted to listen to me. It’s something you can’t understand unless you’ve been there.”
In March 2010, Tyler got a breakthrough job at the company that runs the Chinese facebook, Renren. He worked in their games division as an English polisher for their online games. His mentor at Renren began translating freelance and encouraged Tyler to begin his own business. A year later, Tyler took his cue. Tyler returned to the United States last year and based his freelance work out of Philadelphia to be near friends from Lausanne and Middlebury. It wasn’t long though before he felt the now familiar call back to China and returned to Beijing to continue his work in translation. Fortunately, he arrived in time to participate in the 15-day celebration of the Chinese New Year of the Dragon!
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portrait of a graduate
Andrea Auguiste ‘82 The sanitation strikes, Martin Luther King, Jr. and school desegregation make Memphis an extraordinarily colorful chapter in the story of our nation’s civil rights movement and race relations of the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s. While many schools in the Mid-South fought to keep students segregated, Lausanne Collegiate School’s board, headmaster, and faculty were revolutionary in their determination to diversify the school’s student body and to increase the school community’s global mindedness. Andrea Dancy Auguiste ‘82 and her siblings attended Lausanne as a direct result of the school’s intentional recruitment of students of color from local public schools. Her cousins and brothers joined the Montessori program, and her sister, Amber Dancy Gooding ’81, preceded her joining the student body in the seventh grade. Although Andrea was much more interested in following her friends from Campus School to Bellevue Junior High and Central High, her parents were adamant about making sure she and her sister attended a school that would introduce them to “different types of cultures.” She explained, “Race was an issue for us.” Some of the students were confused by her sister’s and her light skin and often thought they were “anything but black.” In addition, several of the students had only encountered black people as servants in their families’ homes, not as peers. As the daughter of the first black pediatrician in Memphis and a niece of American civil rights leader Benjamin Hooks, Andrea said, “I spent a lot of time educating people.” “Although it was like we were being extracted from our culture, I gradually began to see the benefits. I still get goose bumps thinking about the protective veil that the teachers and (headmaster Thomas) Eppley placed over us. It was really very deliberate. We were constantly encouraged and reminded that we could do anything. It was really wonderful. I don’t think I would have learned the same leadership skills or initiative if I had attended public school.”
At Lausanne, “I was more involved in areas that I wasn’t necessarily great at, but I gave it a try,” said Andrea. Lausanne students had a different attitude: “Even if you don’t think you can do this, you’re going to do it and give it your best. We took turns being leaders. We gave each other that space. It didn’t seem like we had problems with cliques like other students because we were focused on developing ourselves. Our teachers made us aware of this and told us to get over our personal problems.”
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Andrea related a specific memory of not winning a senior leadership position and feeling crushed. She still remembers her teacher Ms. Warfield saying, “This will not be your only disappointment. So you just need to cry about it and get over it. Frankly, I was a little nervous that you would win because I want you to be the yearbook editor. You would be excellent at this and it is an important role. Tomorrow let’s talk about how we go forward.” So Andrea cried, quickly got over it and came in the next day ready to work. Feeling empowered by the meaningful relationships and early independence and responsibility she had at Lausanne, Andrea went on to develop an expansive career in communications and later development after finding her own way. It was her Lausanne experience and the liberal arts education it provided that made her realize that Howard University was not the right fit for her. Although she loved living in Washington, D.C., and she found the school academically challenging, the traditionally all-black university did not fit her personal mindset. Returning to Memphis, she kicked off her career by switching from business to journalism and completing her degree at the University of Memphis while working full time at WMC-TV Channel 5. Over the years, Andrea continued to glean expertise and personal fortitude from the mentors surrounding her. Throughout her work with WMC-TV and later at Memphis advertising firm archer>malmo, Andrea started to realize her interest and passion for non-profits and how her gifts in communications could be applied to help others. She discovered how much she enjoyed “helping organizations grow from the ground up and building programs.” She was on the forefront of helping develop the Hope & Healing Center for the Church Health Center in Memphis as well as expanding Hope House’s services to children and families affected by HIV/AIDS from a day care to a social service agency providing housing for families. After recently applying her gifts to enrich the lives of past and present Lausanne students as the school’s Director of Alumni Relations and Annual Giving, Andrea and her family moved last year to Boulder, Colo., where her husband accepted a job as an assistant professor at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Andrea arrived to a new chapter in her life and a new opportunity as the director of development at Naropa University, which focuses on contemplative education. At Naropa, she is helping the school to reach its full potential for fundraising and growth both in the United States and internationally while continuing her own lifelong journey of learning.
were as like we w it gh u ho re, “Alt m our cultu o fr d e t c ra being ext the began to see I gradually bumps l get goose il st I s. t fi il bene rotective ve p he t t u bo ster thinking a and (headma rs he c a e t he that t us. placed over y le p p E s) a Thom te. We very delibera y ll a re s a w It ged and ntly encoura a st n o c re e w do t we could reminded tha derful. s really won a w t I g. n hi anyt have k I would n hi t ’t n o d ills I leadership sk e m sa he t d learned had attende I if , e iv t ia or init ” public school.
Andy Wohlfarth ’96, Ginnifer Goodwin ’96, Melanie Cook Clark ’97 and Andrea Dancy Auguiste ’82 during the event celebrating Ginnifer’s acceptance of Lausanne’s Chair of Ideas award on November 25, 2008.
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portrait of a graduate
Paul Guibao ‘91 When Paul Guibao ’91 visited Lausanne for the first time after graduating from Rhodes College and Emory University School of Law, he was curious about whether he would still connect with his alma mater that seemed to have changed so much since he attended. Although the school had grown significantly, he found Lausanne had maintained the character, liberal arts approach and small class sizes he so appreciated as a student. This was a relief to the man who as a teenager had sought out the school for its empowerment of the individual.
education programs in Memphis. This early introduction to the arts gave Paul a perspective that did not always coincide with traditional educational mindsets.
Paul had always been surrounded by the arts as a child. His family had a great appreciation for the theatre and Paul had grown up involved with The Arthur F. & Alice E. Adams Foundation, through which his family supported local arts and
Paul shares, “Everyone needs a little something out there to inspire them if they are going to achieve any sense of greatness.” His early introduction to the arts and the inspiration he found at Lausanne and Rhodes helped expose him “to the
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Prior to Lausanne, Paul had attended another local high school that he says was “trying to shove me into a niche that wasn’t me.” Unhappy with the lack of a theatre program, Paul did a little soul searching and, with the permission of his parents, applied to Lausanne Collegiate School of his own accord. Inspired by Lausanne’s reputation as a school where people could be themselves, Paul set out to discover what an education at Lausanne could offer him. Paul directly credits the rich humanities courses at Lausanne, the inspiration of his teachers and his experiences on the Lausanne stage for empowering his choice to attend Rhodes College and later law school at Emory, where he would go on to apply his global perspective and thrill of performance to the courtroom. “The study of humanities is what enabled me to see beyond myself,” says Paul. “In addition, I don’t think those things would have occurred without being involved in the theatre or without going beyond just getting a grade. There was something about the subject that created a desire to learn.”
things that have had a cultural impact over time.” It gave Paul the insight of “a global citizen as well as a more philosophical embrace of learning because of a love of learning.” This is a philosophy he and his wife hope their two young children will also embrace.
“There is still very little that I am involved in today,” says Paul, “that doesn’t have a direct reflection on my teachers’ shaping of me back then at Lausanne. They took a student who had always tested off the charts but had underperformed at previous schools. My grades improved dramatically. My involvement improved dramatically. (Lausanne humanities teacher) Brenda Robinette was a saving grace for me. I cannot thank her enough for the role she played in that level of my education.” Once Paul had the taste of success at Lausanne, he continued to build on it and is now an accomplished attorney and philanthropist with an established law office in Midtown Memphis. He tries to give back to his school and community as much as possible by working through his family’s foundation as well as serving on additional boards such as Opera Memphis and Playhouse on the Square.
Paul’s first visit back to campus as an alumnus has led to many others as he and The Adams Foundation have helped to support projects such as the one-to-one laptop program and the construction of the Elder Performing Arts Center. “I really do look back on Lausanne as being such a big part of everything I do,” says Paul. “I’ve always been grateful for the fact that it was there for me and I try to be there for it as much as I can.”
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T he Ro a d Ah e a d
Now, we have a choice. We can settle in, enjoy the fruits of our hard work and be about the business of educating our children, comforted by the fact that what we are doing is effective and meaningful. Or, we can look down the road ahead to the next set of challenges which will affect our students and our school.
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Looking Ahead
I can go either way where risk is involved. If it looks like rain, I want to be sure I have my umbrella. I check my bank balances daily. I’m reticent to walk against the light. I’m a “low risk” investor with my retirement money. On the other hand, I don’t run to the doctor every time I feel a twitch or a pain. I tend to plan vacations on the spur of the moment. I sometimes wait until there are fumes left in my gas tank before filling it. And, I have children. It’s very difficult to be a parent and have a low tolerance for risk. Should he walk without holding my hand? Should she ride her bike in the neighborhood streets? Should he learn to drive? Can she go to college outside of town? Do I really want him to marry that woman? So, it makes sense to me to ‘manage’ the riskiness of child-rearing by planning ahead. There are just some things in this life that can’t be left to chance (except vacations, of course). Planning is all well and good if the results justify the plan. We can make a family budget, but if we ignore it, we might as well have not done anything at all. The dramatic transformation that has characterized the past several years at Lausanne is not a result of happenstance. Each bold step we have taken has been accomplished because of the shared vision of the board, faculty and administration:
UÊÊ7i½ÛiÊ Ài`Ê iÜÊv>VÕ ÌÞÊÜ Ì ÊÃÌÀ }Ê qualifications and international experience ready to prepare our students for college and life in a global society, joining the wonderful teachers who have been with us for years. UÊÊ ÞÊLiV }ÊÌ iÊ ÞÊ«À Û>ÌiÊÃV Ê Ê Tennessee to offer the International Baccalaureate, we are fulfilling our promise to our students to provide unique and rigorous preparation for the world in which they will be living. UÊÊ ÞÊ«À Û ` }Ê iÜÊv>V Ì iÃ]Ê V Õ` }Ê the soon to be completed renovations to Tully Dining Hall, we have created an atmosphere of personal responsibility and of collegiality, essential qualities for a mature member of our society. Careful planning got us to this point— careful planning and a tolerance for the risk that comes with making bold decisions affecting our school and our children’s futures. Now, we have a choice. We can settle in, enjoy the fruits of our hard work and be about the business of educating our children, comforted by the fact that what we are doing is effective and meaningful. Or, we can look down the road ahead to the next set of challenges which will affect our students and our school. We already know what some of those are:
creative arts and value their own physical and emotional well-being UÊÊÌ iÊiV VÊV > i }iÃÊ vÊëi ` }Ê money responsibly while transforming the aging parts of our campus to the kind of spaces that are both conducive to collaborative learning and demonstrate a sensitivity to our school’s impact on our environment UÊÊÌ iÊ ii`ÊÌ ÊV Ì Õ> ÞÊÃii Ê ÕÌÊÌ iÊ best teachers available to become part of the Lausanne family. These challenges and more are going to make it necessary for us to plan carefully to provide the resources for the school to take its next bold steps. In a subsequent issue of this magazine, look for a report on the planning that is already underway. We know there will be risk in what we do, but our success will mean that our children will thrive and be well prepared for the future. Now, isn’t that a risk worth taking?
Michael Christopher Assistant Headmaster—School Advancement
UÊÊÌ iÊiÛiÀ V > } }ÊÜ À `Ê vÊ v À >Ì Ê technology which is affecting not only the way we teach but the foundation of the way our children learn UÊÊÌ iÊ VÀi>Ã }Ê`i > `Êv ÀÊÃÌÕ`i ÌÃÊ who are academically proficient, have an appreciation for and skill in the
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Campaign for Lausanne Honor Roll of Donors Phase I â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Construction of Library and Sports Complexes
Phase One of the Campaign Lausanne was conducted among the members of the Lausanne Collegiate School community between January of 2008 and December of 2010. Gifts were sought from all parts of the Lausanne community to support the construction of our magnificent new library, gym and outdoor sports complex. To date, over $3.4 million has been committed for this purpose, for which we are grateful to those listed below. List available in print only.
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C lass N o t e s
Hints of warmer weather and longer days are in the air, signaling the approach of graduation. Whether you were excited to wear a white, flowing gown or don a blue cap and gown, that little flutter of excitement is hard to forget. Now as your director of alumni relations, I have the privilege of sharing those memories and many others with you. From Central to Union to Massey, one word tends to come to mind when alumni speak of Lausanne: family.
I feel so very fortunate to be broadening my experience with the Lausanne family and one of its greatest assets, the alumni. Before joining the alumni team, I held the position of assistant director of admission for Lausanne and witnessed the excitement that students showed when accepted to this prestigious institution. Like you, they recognized how special and unique Lausanne was and wanted to be a part of it. I’m thrilled to be working with Fred Blackmon, Lausanne’s assistant head of Upper School and young alumni coordinator, as we further strengthen our alumni family. We have continued the Lausanne alumni board’s efforts to reach out to alumni by offering Memphis and regional events throughout the year as well as meeting with alumni on an individual basis as often as possible. I’ve loved giving tours to alumni who visit our campus and had a wonderful experience meeting new alumni and reuniting with old friends at the young alumni panel and reception in January. Be on the lookout for information regarding upcoming class socials as well as our Alumni Weekend, to be held September 21–23, 2012, when we will be especially honoring the classes ending in “2” and “7.” I look forward to meeting many more of you during future events and I hope you’ll feel free to pop by for a visit or contact me via phone or e-mail.
Sincerely, Jennifer Saxton 901.474.1008 jsaxton@lausanneschool.com
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Class N o t e s
To prepare each of its students for COLLEGE and for life in a global environment… by Lee Travis ‘08 A young alumni gathering was hosted at Lausanne in conjunction with the College 101 assembly that Lausanne’s young alumni and the college advising office hosted for the Upper School students. Alumni came to a reception in the Blue Heron Café prior to attending the evening’s home basketball games. (top) Andy Wohlfarth ‘96 and Carlos Taylor ‘04 (bottom) Tayler Ulmer, George Eason ‘11, Troy Bryan ‘12 and Steven Jaslow ‘11
For his 2012 January term at Birmingham-Southern College, Lee Travis ’08 returned to his alma mater to expand his experience as a communications and marketing intern after spending his time at the Alabama liberal arts school honing his skills as a film and media major. During his internship at Lausanne, Lee took time to reflect on his own student experience and interviewed several other recent graduates about how their Lausanne educations prepared them for college. As I near graduation from Birmingham-Southern College in the spring of 2012, I’ve been reflecting on the many basic academic skills I took for granted when I entered the college four years ago. Lausanne prepared me for the college course load, allowing me to jump in headfirst, unlike some of my college friends who spent many hours in remedial math classes. The primary fundamental skill that Lausanne infused me with was the essential ability to form a cohesive sentence. I thought that my freshman writing class would be filled with similarly wellwritten students, but to my surprise and dismay, half of the class (six or so students) could not form a complete sentence. The idea that college level students were not able to form simple sentences, not to mention keep a verb tense for more than three words, opened my eyes to the reality that Lausanne really did instill the necessary ability to express my thoughts, both verbally and through the written word. During the Upper School Assembly at Lausanne on January 6, 2012, several other Lausanne graduates returned to share their college experiences with topics ranging from how Lausanne
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prepared them for college to how college classes differ from high school courses. Dorothy Jolly ‘11, a freshman at Cornell College, emphasized Lausanne’s devotion to strong writing skills. “My teachers (at Cornell) have said to me, ‘Wow, Dorothy, this is good college level writing; you’re ahead of the other people in the first year seminars.’” She continued her appreciation of the Lausanne foundation, saying, “Every class I’ve taken so far, I’ve felt ahead in that area.” Cole Blocker ‘11, a freshman at Southern Methodist University, felt the same way about the level of standard to which Lausanne holds its students to regarding work ethic. “I took relatively hard classes (at Lausanne), a lot of AP classes and a lot of honors classes.” Cole continued, “I’ve found the same work ethic applies to college, which really comes in handy.” Anjali Balakrishna ‘10, a sophomore at Yale University, felt empowered to explore a wider range of subjects due to her preparation at Lausanne. “Chemistry,” she shared, “was the one subject…where it was easier in college than it was in high school because Mr. Page pushed us in honors and AP
Michael Christopher, Assistant Headmaster for Advancement Carlos Taylor ‘04, Jennifer Saxton, Director of Alumni Relations, Alex Pruitt ‘04, Shun Trevillian ‘05, Marshall Wade ‘05, Stephen McCall, Fred Blackmon, Assistant Head of Upper School and Young Alumni Coordinator and Lee Travis ‘08 FAR BACK:
LEFT TO RIGHT:
Michael Christopher, Assistant Headmaster for Advancement, and Jack Sammons ‘11
chemistry.” This strong foundation in sciences gave Anjali the option of exploring her other interests in history while still pursuing her pre-med studies as well as her participation in extracurricular activities. Alex Scarbrough ‘05, a third year student at Vanderbilt Law School, had a difficult time naming just one thing Lausanne prepared her for the most. “Teaching you work ethic is one of the most important things along with writing skills. Work ethic, learning how to work really hard and balance that with being in student government and playing varsity sports, and being a good writer, will help you in any discipline in college and thereafter.” George Eason ‘11, a freshman at Morehouse College, shared that Lausanne helped him form a more holistic view of the world because of the diverse culture found here. “The diversity (of Lausanne) really helped me become open-minded, especially coming from Memphis, where the city has its own divisions...Lausanne more represented the world.” All of the alumni who returned to campus that day shared fond memories of their alma mater. Although many of the people who helped build their foundations have moved on, the walls still resonate with the powerful sense of nostalgia. Anjali Balakrishna delighted in relating to the “kids sitting in the hallway between classes just enjoying being at school.” She shared, “I think it is rare to have kids who just like being at school so much.”
teachers. I have really good relationships with my professors in college, but these guys are awesome. Lausanne taught me how to build these relationships.” George Eason misses the lacrosse team, which he played on for four years while at Lausanne. George has taken his love of the sport and applied it to Morehouse College, where he and a few other students are in the process of creating a competitive lacrosse club. Alex Scarbrough misses one of the fundamental aspects of Lausanne, “a small school where you could be involved in every aspect.” As for me, Lausanne holds a special place in my heart, being the school where I spent my awkward teenage years, discovering who I am as a person. As much as it prepared me for college, I know it also prepared me for what the world has in store, and for that I cannot thank my teachers and the school community enough.
Aparecio Peggins ‘10, Beth Anne Kadien ‘10 , Shayna Giles ‘10¸ Hillary Weiss ‘10 and David Becker ‘10
Dorothy Jolly and Cole Blocker both commented on missing the friendships forged with many of their teachers at Lausanne and seeing them each day. Cole remarked, “I definitely miss the
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1 On October 21, 2011, Lausanne Collegiate School and the Memphis Belle Memorial Association formed a formal partnership for future archival preservation of the history of the Memphis Belle, a WWII B-17F bomber with strong ties to Memphis. George Barnes of the Memphis Belle Memorial Association (MBMA) and Lausanne Headmaster Stuart McCathie signed the partnership witnessed by Andy Pouncey (MBMA); www.memphisbelle.com coordinators Ashwin Nair ‘14, Caroline Danehy ‘14, and Jackson Sloan ‘14 (not pictured), and Dr. Scott Johnson, director of the Chapman-Woodbury Oral History Program, which has contributed over 200 student-produced videos of student-led interviews with veterans to the National Library of Congress. 2 The 2011 Veterans Day Concert was expanded to include two performances on Friday, November 11. One was given at Kirby Pines Retirement Village that morning and the latter was performed that evening in the school’s Elder Performing Arts Center. During the evening of music and oral history presentations, Dr. Cathy Chapman and Dr. George Woodbury, Jr. were honored for their many years of support to the program with the renaming of the Chapman-Woodbury Oral History Program. 3 The varsity boys cross country team won the Division 2-A West Region Cross Country Championships on Thursday, October 27. In addition, sophomore Jack Gallop was named one of the Best of the Preps in cross country by “The Commercial Appeal.”
NOVEMBER 4 Prior to fall break, Upper School students and parents organized an International Thanksgiving in Tully Dining Hall. Families gathered for dinner and enjoyed traditional Thanksgiving dishes as well as family favorites from the 48 different countries that Lausanne’s student body represents. 5 Students from all three divisions delighted in welcoming their grandparents and special friends to Lausanne for Grandparents & Special Friends Day, giving performances in the Elder Performing Arts Center and taking their special guests on tours of their classrooms.
6 Cameron Flaherty ‘22 presented Army Captain Maryjane Porter with items collected by Lausanne students. After completing an intensive semester-long study of the United States, including the United States’ role in the world, second graders incorporated an act of service into their project by organizing care packages and writing letters to soldiers thanking them for their efforts to bring peace to the world and to protect the innocent. The students were thrilled to learn that the care packages would be shared with the children of Afghanistan.
JANUARY 7 On January 19, the Lower School presented its first assembly completely in Spanish. Students delighted their parents with wonderful dances, speeches, poems, dialogues and songs performed in Spanish. The Mandarin assembly was presented in the fall. Lausanne’s Lower School students have daily Spanish and Mandarin classes throughout the school year.
FEBRUARY 8 Seniors Bogdan Kasich and Spencer Ware were recognized as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists and Sunil Gollamudi, Joseph Howard, Zachary Sherman and Lauren Van Alstine were named commended students in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program. In addition, Lausanne senior Olabode Faleye was one of 1,600 Black Americans named as a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program also sponsored by the National Merit Scholarship Program. All three of our semifinalists were named finalists in February. Six of the seven are members of the International Baccalaureate Programme. These IB students and their fellow IB classmates will be the first Lausanne graduates to have completed the two-year International Baccalaureate Programme. 9 Pictured in front of the Gateway to India are Stuart McCathie, headmaster; Stewart Crais, director of operations; Andrea Harris, second grade teacher; Catherine Hammons, seventh grade teacher and Stephen Campbell, director of international programs and English as an additional language, who traveled to India in February for a technology conference at the American School of Bombay. They took several courses and gave presentations at the conference, which was designed in collaboration with the Lausanne Laptop Institute, which this year celebrates its 10th anniversary (July 15-17, 2012).
10 Our Middle School Math Counts team won fourth place in the city. In addition, Tony Chen (far left with Math Counts coach and teacher Julie Cooper) was awarded 4th place (out of 95) in the individual competition and took 14th place in the state in March. 11 Lausanne’s varsity boys basketball team finished the regular season ranked #1 in the district and won the regional tournament. Damion Wooten ‘12 and Cameron Payne ‘11 (pictured) earned first team all-district honors. Damion Wooten and Denio Chirindja ‘11 were selected to the Division IIA West Region all-tournament team. Cameron Payne was also named tournament MVP and honored by district coaches as a Mr. Basketball 2012 Semifinalist. 12 Lausanne’s Wordsmith team walked away with 20 different 1st, 2nd, 3rd and honorable mention awards at the annual writing contest for 7th–12th grade students in public and private schools of the Mid-South.
MARCH 13 Kanya Balakrishna ‘05 received Lausanne’s highest honor when she was named the 2012 Chair of Ideas on March 19, 2012. Kanya, the youngest person to receive the award, is the president and co-founder of The Future Project, a new national education initiative that calls to action young Americans and challenges them to transform their passions into daring projects that change the world. Before launching The Future Project, Kanya worked as the chief speechwriter to Dr. Margaret Hamburg, Commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration. She spent more than ten years teaching and mentoring students of all ages at her family’s afterschool learning centers in Memphis, prior to attending Yale University, where she studied anthropology with a focus on communities and public health and oversaw a staff of 200 and a $2 million budget as managing editor of the “Yale Daily News.” Her picture will be displayed with other Chair of Ideas honorees in the school’s library along with the physical symbol of the Chair of Ideas, an antique schoolmaster’s chair, which will remain draped and empty until another speaker has been selected. 14 Thirty-seven Middle and Upper School students along with several Lausanne parents and teachers spent Spring Break 2012 exploring the history and cultures of Italy, France and Spain. Summer 2012 studies abroad include exploration of the Galapagos Islands and a humanities study in Italy. A trip to Ghana is planned for Spring Break 2013.
Read more about these and other awards and highlights at www.lausanneschool.com/news. Sign up for RSS feeds or follow us on Facebook or Twitter to keep up with current events.
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SUMMERS @ LAUSANNE May 29-July 27, 2012 Summer Camps – Athletic Camps – Academic Workshops Rising JK – 12th Grades Let your families, friends and neighbors know about the fantastic summer camp opportunities being offered at Lausanne this summer!
www.lausanneschool.com/summer
Around The World in 40 Days: eight weeks of specially designed camps full of world adventures and super summer fun Athletic Camps: basketball, tennis, soccer, cross country training, swimming lessons, lacrosse, general fitness, cheerleading, triathlon conditioning and dance Academic Camps: mathematics, English, Spanish, Mandarin, reading, typing, specific grade level coursework including an introduction to kindergarten and more