SPRING SPORTS WRAP-UP
KnightTimes SUMMER 2010
A beautiful sunset for
Shine
CONGRATULATIONS class o f 2 010
KnightTimes Produced by Pace Academy Communications department
Fred Assaf
VOLUNTEER
with THE PARENTS CLUB
h ead OF SC H O O L
Mike Gannon h ead of upper sch ool
John Anderson H EAD OF MI DDLE S CH O O L
Anna Valerius H EA D OF LOWER SC H O O L
Linda Champion DIRECTOR OF COMMUN I C A T I O N S , ed itor
Jessica Tanner COMMUNICATIONS AS S O C I A T E , GRAP H IC DESIGN E R
OUR MISSION Our mission is to create prepared, confident citizens of the world who honor the values and legacy of Pace Academy.
Head of School Fred Assaf with 09-10 Fall Fair chairs Christy Payne and Caroline Crawford
Fill out the online volunteer form: Go to www.paceacademy.org keyword: parents club
PACE CARES Are you aware of a member of our community who is experiencing an illness or loss or is blessed with a new arrival? Pace Cares would love to help by delivering a home-cooked meal prepared by our dedicated volunteer cooks. Please call the Pace Cares hotline at 404-926-3727.
Collect Box Tops For Education this summer to earn money for PACE! Tell your Aunts, Uncles and Grandparents to look for and clip Box Tops to help you raise money for your school. Go to www.boxtopsforeducation.com to see all of the Box Tops Products.
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KnightTimes | Summer 2010
966 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W. Atlanta, GA 30327 www.paceacademy.org
LETTER FROM T HE HEAD OF S CHO O L
“Another great year” The Class of 2010’s graduation ceremony will be remembered for many things, and among those memories will be the commencement address by Ron Clark, who both energized and inspired the entire assembled crowd at Peachtree Presbyterian Church. Ron’s simple but powerful message was among the best commencement talks we’ve ever heard! In addition, the ecumenical message from Archbishop Wilton Gregory of the Archdiocese of Atlanta was inspiring and marked the first time Pace has been honored with a Catholic Bishop at our Baccalaureate ceremony. This class of 2010 leaves a tremendous legacy at Pace while they head out to the nation’s best colleges and universities. I ask you to review the college choices of our seniors (pg. 28) — I’m sure you will be impressed by what they have achieved! Gratitude for the good work that has been done this year is owed to our outstanding faculty, engaged students and amazing parent community. I want to offer special thanks to parent group leaders Alli and Mitch Allen from the Parents Club, Al and Desiree Hart from the Booster Club, and Bonnie Harris and Amy O’Brien from the Arts Alliance. The partnership of parents with Pace makes the difference in our school community. Thank you. We have celebrated the end of the SHINE Campaign, which raised $24 million in 24 months — a remarkable achievement in what has been a difficult economic environment. Thanks to the leadership of our Board of Trustees and the generous gifts from foundations, benefactors, parents, alumni, faculty and friends, we have made great steps forward through the SHINE initiatives. We cannot thank this community enough for giving us what we needed to make our dreams reality. And this year, our annual fund exceeded its $1 million goal. Not only that, Pace parents’ participation rocks! The Annual Fund enjoyed 100% participation in the Lower School, the Middle School and the senior class for the second year in a row. Furthermore, I want to thank those who took the time to participate in the Georgia Private School Tax Credit, which makes a Pace education a reality for those who cannot afford it. Thanks to you we raised more than $680,000 in additional financial support. When I look back over the year, the power of our community is what stands out and sets us apart. And we have you to thank for that. Have a wonderful, playful and restful summer filled with family time — we will be getting ready for another great year!
Fred Assaf Head of school
Contents 4 Announcements What you need to know 8 Around Pace A look into what is happening at Pace 12 spring sports wrap-up Coaches review the season 18 awards 20 shine comes to an end A successful campaign 24 Alumni Names in lights. Alumni Scholar Award. 30 Just For Fun What you don’t know about the class of 2010
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A N N O U N C E M ENTS
Palmerton Honored Named Class A AND Region Athletic Director of the Year Kris Palmerton was honored at the Georgia Athletic Directors Association (G.A.D.A.) Conference as the G.A.D.A. 2010 Classification-A Athletic Director of the Year as well as the 2010 Region 5-A Athletic Director of the Year. In his career, Palmerton has received four Georgia Athletic Coaches Association coach of the year awards in track and field, has been honored as the 2008 Region 5-A Softball Coach of the Year and has been named Region Athletic Director of the Year four times by the G.A.D.A. “This award is a reflection of our outstanding administrative staff at all three levels, our facilities personnel, coaches and our Head of School. I am extremely fortunate to be surrounded by people who make me and Pace Academy look good!” said Kris.
Georgia ceramics competition honors 13 Pace students
The 2010 Ceramic Arts Awards exhibit, held in Newnan, Caption included 15 works by 13 Pace Upper School students from among some 400 entries. The only statewide ceramic arts show for high school students, the Ceramics Symposium and Awards competition in April included cash prizes. Seniors Ben Ross took first place for pottery and Lex Alvarez took first place for sculpture. In addition juniors Adam Goren took the Avant Guard Award for Experimental Spirit and Billy Tutt took the Well-placed Dirt Award for Design. The Pace students’ work, along with some 90 other pieces, was included in the poster produced for the show. Judge Mark Burleson, a ceramics professor at Georgia State University, announced that seniors Lisa Ishii, Reade Alexander, Will Cox (who had two pieces chosen), Ben Ross, Lex Alvarez, juniors Kate Hornor (two pieces), Griffin Siegel, Adam Goren, Billy Tutt, sophomores Allison Rosenbaum, Kate Kolbinsky, Josh Baron and Jenna Mitchell “are among the very best in the state.” Lex Alvarez
Adam Goren
Billy Tutt
Ben Ross
Mother’s Day cards raise money for Mali The Sustainability Club, advised by honor and discipline dean Jonathan Day, raised $1,190 for the Mali Health Organizing Project. A school-wide art contest to create the cover art for a Mother’s Day card was won by seventh grader Sarah Lettes. The club sold 238 cards at $5 a piece to students in all schools. The Mali Health Organizing Project donates books and enrolls Malian women into literacy and health classes. According to Unicef, Mali has a 23% literacy rate and the average number of children per woman is 5.5.
They speak the language Nine Middle School language students earned titles of Superior or Excellent at the Foreign Language Association of Georgia’s (FLAG) Middle and High School Spoken Language Contest at Miller Grove High School in late March. At the event students from across the state used the target language in oral communication through short interviews in French or Spanish. Latin students presented a memorized passage in front of a judge. Teachers Edna-May King, Holly Jiménez and Kim Peterson attended with French students Josh Rogers, Alexandra McCorkle, Moriah Wilson, Sarah Lettes, Spanish students Aaron Wasserman, Katherine Merritt, Morgan Palmerton, Cooper Peery and Latin student Michael Sloman.
Reminder: All health and transportation information is due before Aug. 2. Go to the parent portal at www.paceacademy.org to find forms.
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ANNOUN C E M E N T S
National Merit honors six Pace finalists Eight percent of senior class earn national honors
Six seniors have been named finalists by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation for Caption outstanding performance in the 2009 Merit Scholarship Competition. By scoring in the top 1 percent of some 1.5 million high school juniors taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, (from left) Derek Leung, Isaac Sukin, Emily Kaplan, Sean Doherty, Andrew Longhi and Amy Schettino (not pictured) have been named finalists. In addition, John Calhoun joined the group as a semifinalist in the fall.
Senior named National Achievement semifinalist
Senior Jackie Maize has been named semifinalist by the 2009 National Achievement Scholarship Program. Jackie was in the top 1 percent of Black American high school students taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test in their junior year of high school. The 1,600 semifinalists nationwide will be judged to receive monetary awards based on academic performance, recommendation by school principal and SAT scores that confirm their PSAT/NMSQT performance.
Mathmagic brings fifth-straight state championship The Pace math team brought home top honors in the State A/AA/AAA Math Competition held in Macon in late April and took eightth place in the overall competition that included 4-A and 5-A schools. In fact, all of the year’s tournaments included all classifications, which did not stop Pace from placing second at both Mercer and Lassiter tournaments, third at both the Cobb County and Northview tournaments and fourth at the Georgia Tech Tournament. “Senior Oliver Huang had an outstanding year,” said math teacher and varsity math team coach Martha Kasilus. “He took first place at both Georgia Tech and the University of Georgia math tournaments, just two of his many honors.” This year Oliver, junior Michael Hopkins and senior John Calhoun were selected for the Georgia All-State Math Team competing in the annual From left, John Calhoun, Jack Harris, Michael American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) competition. “Given Pace’s Hopkins, Will Brewster and Oliver Huang very small size, having three students selected is a great accomplishment,” said math teacher Jason Smith. Oliver has been on the Georgia team for the past three years, and last year they took seventh place in the nation. Oliver, Michael, John, Jack Harris, and Will Brewster were invited to take the second round of testing in the American Invitational Mathematics Exam (AIME.) In addition, for the third consecutive year, Oliver participated in the United States of America Mathematical Olympiad (USAMO), a two-day, nine-hour, six-problem, proof-based test and the third round of the American Mathematics Competition. “No one from Pace has ever made it to the third round at all,” said Smith.
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A N N O U N C E M ENTS
Knightly News is excellent student-run campus newspaper gets honors from press association
The Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA) awarded a rating of “Excellent” in the General Excellence category of the 2009-2010 newspaper competition of the GSPA to the Knightly News. Newspaper staff members are: Laynie Becker, co-editor in chief; Susan Goldblatt, co-editor-inchief; Mark Schneider, copy editor; Daniel Weiner, sports editor; Sam Colt, news editor; Adam Chaikof, opinion editor; Amelia Baker, Mariam Dvalishvili, Elizabeth Garcia, Danielle Kerker, Harman Lindsey, Arthur Omilian, Jared Wasserman and Jonathan Webster.
Senior’s poetry shines nationally
Pace Academy senior Nicole Tay won a national Silver Medal for Poetry in the National Scholastic Art and Writing competition for her poem “Daddy PHD.” Nicole and her family were invited to the National Awards Ceremony on June 9 at Carnegie Hall in New York. The Scholastic Art Awards are open to grades seven-12 in the United States.
Atlanta Celebrates Photography with Pace Competition
Julia Allen
Allison Rosenbaum
The 19th annual Pace/Atlanta Celebrates Photography (A.C.P.) Competition in the Pace Fine Arts Center included remarkable photos from students throughout the metro area. Junior Julia Allen earned first place and Allison Rosenbaum earned third place from among 239 entries. In addition Pace students Katie Kibler, Claire Dillon, Jordan Peery, McKenzie Berezin and Lauren Hart earned Exceptional Merit Awards. A major bridge to the Atlanta community, the Pace/A.C.P. competition is unique to Atlanta-area schools. Organized by teacher France Dorman, the April competition has been associated with Atlanta Celebrates Photography (the regional, month-long celebration of photography) for five years and is one of their “official” events. Pace and A.C.P. welcomed southeastern photographer Gary Gruby as judge this year for some 200 works by advanced art photography students from 25 public and private schools across Georgia. Gruby has been a successful commercial photographer for more than 25 years, working with regional and national companies such as Russell Athletic, CNN, Delta Airlines, Kellogg’s and Kroger. He judged portfolios of the first-place winners for a $500 scholarship award. Past judges include noted photography professionals Faye Gold, Jane Jackson, John McWilliams, Lucinda Bunnen, Elizabeth Turk, Jack Leigh and Craig Tanner.
Six years of domination As Elementary State Champions in 2005 and 2006, and Middle School State Champions in 2007, 2008 and 2009, the team swept their competition to claim Pace’s sixth K-8 state championship, and the fourth straight in the middle school division. No other school in the history of the chess team championships has shown such dominance as the team led by eighth graders Jay Kumar and Jeremy Paul followed by seventh graders Aadit Kumar and Davis Miller and supported by sixth graders Brad Rubin and Brendon Pace. The Upper School team of sophomore Michael Christianson, junior Sam Kallman, freshman Ryan Christianson, senior Isaac Sukin and sophomore Daniel Hughes took second place in the state. And at the U.S. Chess Federation’s National High School Championships in Ohio in April the Pace teams of Michael Christianson/Brian Klarman and Jeremy Paul/Ryan Christianson took fifth place in the Blitz Championship. 6
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Carol Abbott • Dean and Julie Adelman • Susan and Richard Allison • Jeff and Julie Armstrong • Jeff and Meg Arnold • Fred and Martha Assaf • Jeff and Crystal Baker • Peter and Anne Barratt • Sam and Cherie Batey • Michael and Lisa Berger • Matthew and Kim Berry • Tom and Jenny Bethel • Thank you • Rick Blumen and Elizabeth Price • David and Debi Bock • Pat and Michelle Boushka • John and Cory Boydston • Karen and Bill Brewster • Daniel and Lisa Brooks • Jack and Joanne Brown • for supporting • Charles and Kathryn Brown • Bland and Monique Byrne • Ken and Keri Caldwell • Scott and Gloria Calhoun • Marcus and Clea Calloway • Stephen and Elizabeth Carter • Forrest and Bob Caton • Trey and Danielle Cefalu • Chad and Kim Cochran • Chuck Colleta and Greta Ytterbo • Charles and Anne Cox • David and Caroline Crawford • Pace student athletes. • Scott and Paige Creasman • Jon and Susan Crisler • George and Louise Cunningham • Dominick and Tracey DeRosa • Without you • Jim and Lynn Dinkins • Gary and Lisa DiOrio • Jeff and Karen Dishongh • Kirk and Barbara Dominick • Rob and Donna Draughan • Derek and Julie Duval • Philip and Carole Ellender • Richard and Julie Everett • we could not have • Richard and Linda Eydt • Matthew and Lisa Frooman • Adam and Linda Fuller • Fred and Elizabeth Glass • Seth and Lisa Greenberg • Dan and Ginger Greene • Jeff and Elizabeth Hagood • Armand and Sara Harris • John and Bonnie Harris • built the concession stand, • Mark and Deanna Harris • Alex and Desiree Hart • Quill and Jennifer Healy • Kevin Hickey and Cris Visperas • Michael and Stacey Howe • Rhoda Johnson • Charles and Kathy Jones • Boland Caption and Andrea Jones • Doug and Donna Kallman • Peter and Alex Karamanolis • Greg and Anne Kelly • Jeff and Candace Kerker • Ron and Lori Kirschner • Mike and Donna Lamb • Omar and Lina Lattouf • hired a fantastic strength and conditioning coach, • Jim and Elaine Levine • Jonathan and Allison Levine • Brad and Linda Lipman • Paul and Erin Little • Saleem and Lisa Malik • Hampton and Laurie Mallis • Randy and Beth Maner • Jack and Juanita Markwalter • Joe and Carol Mathias • Bruce and Betsy McCall • Robert and Rachel McCullough • purchased weight-lifting equipment • David and Mary Merritt • Nick and Effie Moraitikas • Neil and Lucy Morrisroe • Ned and Vicki Morse • Todd and Lori Movsovitz • Todd and Ann Murphy • Paul and Tanya Murphy • Marshall and Cathy Nash • Larry and Ellen Nemeth • Kevin and Lynn Noland • Ed and Christie Novellas • Daron and Terrace Pair • Rom and Jeanette Papadopoulos • or given our athletes • Joel and Genni Pascaner • Chris and Christy Payne • Briggs and Reta Peery • Rich and Jill Perkey • Mark and Donna Pottorff • Alan and Lara Ratcliff • John Reece and Laura Bjorkholm • Kristen Riley • John and Kristy Robison • Frank and Tanya Rodriguez • every opportunity to succeed. • Ahmed and Zainab Rubaie • David and Kathy Rubenstein • Jeff and Amy Rubin • Clay and Jennifer Rucker • Richard and Jody Rushton • John and Ainsley Sadlo • Robert Schreiner • Patricia Simone • David and Jennifer Schuchmann • David and Jennifer Schultz • Barry and Francie Schwarz • Bucky and Claire Shamburger • Thank you! • Bill and Anna Shippen • Gary and Michelle Simon • Jay and Judith Sloman • Bill and Julie Smith • John and Beth Spencer • Kevin Sack and Dina Srochi • Patty Stafford • Ken and Cathy Stephens • Bruce and Martha Swain • Michael and Jennifer Tesler • Pat and Kim Thomson • Greg and Mary Bridget Thurman • Blain Upchurch • Robert and Gayla Van Zyverden • Jon and Mimi Wagreich • Timothy and Leigh Walsh • Robert and Susan Webster • Charles and Ruth Wellborn • Carolyn and Cody White • Miller and Carolyn Williams • Mark and Sally Williamson • Bob and Anne Wiskind • Buck and Ann Woodruff • James and Lu Worrell • Mark and Lori Zwecker
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A N N O U N C E M ENTS
Pace debate “closes out” at St. Mark’s Freshmen teams of Jordan Epstein and Brian Klarman and Paula Cheng and Victor Skenderi traveled to Texas in hopes of ending the year on a great note at the St. Mark’s School of Texas Novice Round-Up debate tournament. Epstein/ Klarman went undefeated winning first place, followed by Cheng/Skenderi taking second place, and each of the four earned top-10 speaker awards. The round-robin tournament of 32 teams in their first year of high school debate compete over a two-day period, and the teams with the best records advance to the semifinals. Both Pace teams finished with a 10-0 undefeated record, paired against local Dallas teams in the semifinals. In strong debates, both Pace teams were victorious! Klarman earned the second speaker award, Epstein took fifth, Skenderi was sixth and Cheng was eighth. Because teams from the same school cannot debate each other, there was no final round.
Pace Race
Third grade runners line up to run at this year’s Pace Race. Even though the original date was rescheduled due to weather, that didn’t stop the kids from having a great day. The overall winners were Parker Payne, Sophie Singletary, Jack Douglass, Julia Robison, Alex Ross and Holland Carlton.
Her letter said it all For the fourth year in a row, a Pace Middle Schooler has taken the state title in the Letters About Literature contest sponsored by the Georgia Center for the Book. Sixth grader Ciara Sadaka took first place in level one of the 2010 competition from among some 1,000 Georgia entries. Nationwide, a record-setting 69,000 entries were submitted.
Thank you to all the Auction chairs and all the volunteers! Elizabeth Richards and Mary Roos - Auction co-chairs Anne LaMastra and Melissa Rovner - Acquisitions co-chairs Terri Janki - Operations Manager Stephanie Luetters - Auction Treasurer Kim Berry - Sponsorship Chair Mary Dillon and Shea Roberts - Publicity Chairs
Spring Auction
2010 Committees AND VOLUNTEERS Grade Basket
Inventory
Pace Community
Holly Mitchell
Veronica Golden Carla Courtney
Alli Allen
Check In
Photographers
Karen McCrea
Pbay images
Kathy Rubenstein
Class Art
Lori Movsovitz-Edlin Debi Bock
Table Closings
Susan Crisler Kathy Rubenstein
Invitations
Louise Cunningham Ellen Hirsch
Auction Chair Elects
Invitation Stuffing
Kim Helfgott Lori Movsovitz-Edlin
Data
Lara Radcliff Carolyn Wallace Julie Duval 8 KnightTimes | Summer 2010 Evia Golde
Kim Helfgott Acquisitions Team
Brooke Blasberg
Kathleen Haidet Kathy Rubenstein Susan Crisler Jill Cooper Jeannette Papadopoulos Lori Movsovitz Kim Helfgott Radhika Behl Alex Karamanolis Paige Creasman Holly Mitchell Rebecca Shepherd Wendy Klarman Caroline Crawford Alice Williams
Michelle Simon Kathleen Waldrop Vickie Schwartz Marissa Camrud Scarlett Ferguson Alli Allen Annika Eichenlaub Kim Berry Sam Johnson Sondra Stinson-Robinson Julie Appel Michelle Campbell Christiane Garton Katherine Tolliday
AROU ND P A C E
The Sharp Knife of Technology PARENTING CONNECTION OFFERS CURRENT TIPS When was the last time you heard a parent talk enthusiastically about giving their young child a sharp kitchen knife to keep them amused? The very idea seems ludicrous. Everyone knows that while such a knife is very useful it can also be dangerous if not handled in the right way. Just as importantly, everyone knows that a young child has neither the dexterity nor the understanding to be left alone with a sharp knife. And no parent would be swayed by a child’s claim that all their friends already have a sharp knife to play with. This is clearly straightforward but what if we applied the same thought process to giving our children the ability to text, email or have unsupervised and unlimited access to the Internet? Do we really understand all the downsides and dangers? Are we granting these “technological privileges” according to the developmental stage of our children? Recent events in our community and elsewhere suggest that technology has already left us far behind, for example: · Cyberbullying is on the rise. As we know, cyberbullying is any kind of harassment or humiliation that uses mobile, wireless or Internet-related technology to hurt another child. Even elementary school children are finding themselves harassed via text messaging, email and even videos loaded on the Web. Unlike being bullied on the playground, cyberbullying can occur at any time of the day or night, and its online messages and images can be distributed quickly and to a wide audience. Unlike more traditional bullying it is easy for a child to retaliate by becoming cyberbullies themselves. It is no surprise to learn that a recent Common Sense Media survey showed that most parents have a lot to learn about cyberbullying. · Sexting achieved notoriety on a national level earlier this year when a prosecutor sought, and eventually failed, to press child pornography charges against some teenage girls who had distributed nude photos of themselves. But there have also been a number of incidents more locally. These incidents have not caused national headlines, but they have had devastating effects on the lives of the children and families involved. · Technology continues to rob our children of time and sleep. What begins as an exciting means of keeping in touch can become behavioral addiction. When our students reach Upper School their time is at a premium. The compulsion to text or use social networking sites can result in undesirable, and even destructive use of precious time. But of course technology also brings many benefits so what can we do to help our students find the positives in their use of modern communications and media? Here are some ideas culled from a variety of authoritative sources: · Educate ourselves, especially on technology which is outside our personal experience. Becoming a user can be one of the best forms of education; for example developing our own Facebook page. · Consider the development stage of our children before we make a decision to provide access to any type of technology. Better still, develop a plan for when our children will be ready for cell phones, texting and social networking, and stick to it. The plan and schedule can be communicated so that expectations are set and understood — and obviously this process is easier the younger the child. · When granting access to technology think through the downsides, and put in place rules and guidelines designed to prevent problems before they occur. For example, if you do not want your Upper School student wasting the late evening hours texting, either limit access to the phone beyond a certain time or set and monitor clear constraints on when texting can take place. Again this approach is much easier to implement if it is agreed upon before the student is in Upper School. · Stay aware of how our children use technology, but do so in a way that develops a cooperative partnership as opposed to a confrontational relationship. Important family issues include understanding where our children should have their own privacy and how privileges can be lost if trust is broken. With summer upon us there will be ample time for our children to explore ways to expand their use of technology. Summer is also a good time to make sure that such use is consistent with our current and future expectations of our children’s behavior. We wish you and your family a fun and fulfilling summer! Your Parenting Connection co-chairs Kathy Herman, Elaine Levine, Glenda Moreland, Gail Phillips, Richard Rushton and Lori Zwecker
Senior Advanced Art Studio show Seniors taking Donice Bloodworth’s Advanced Art Studio got the chance to show off their work on April 19. Below are some examples. Andrew Longhi
Lindsey Peterson
Alex Seaman
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AROUND PACE
Ron Clark delivers inspirational speech at graduation
Noises Off! The small cast of the hilarious play, Noises Off!, shone at the Spring Upper School theatre performance that ran April 22-24.
Colin Barham and Lauren Gold
Disney’s American Teacher of the Year and New York Times-bestselling author Ron Clark advised 94 Pace seniors to avoid the influence of naysayers as the students set out to accomplish their goals. With graduates’ families, friends and the Pace faculty in attendance, Clark recounted some of the seniors’ memories of the meaningful relationships they shared with faculty. Clark’s book The Essential 55 has sold more than one million copies and has been published in 25 different countries. He has been featured on The Today Show, CNN and Oprah. Ms. Winfrey even named him as her first “Phenomenal Man.” He is also founder of The Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta. His classes have been honored at the White House on three separate occasions. His teaching experiences in New York City are the subject of the uplifting film, The Ron Clark Story, starring Matthew Perry, better known as Chandler from Friends.
Principal for a Day
George Creasman
These irresistible photos were taken by Debbie Pierce, the Lower School administrative assistant to Head of Lower School Anna Valerius. Mark Luetters, father to four Pace children: Ellie, Jenny, Daniel and Anna, won Principal for a Day at the Pace’s Spring Auction, while students took full advantage of the day of festivities. Madeline Janki
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Clockwise from top, Kitty Cook, Colin Barham, Benjamin Harris and Hannah Hoff
Harrison Husk
AROU ND P A C E
Spring Arts Laureates honored
2010 Lower School Arts Laureates
Spring Arts Laureates are nominated every year by their peers for their outstanding dedication to the Arts at Pace. This year’s honorees were seniors Will Cox, Claire Ellender, Jordan Gonzà lez and Victoria Wilson; juniors Carly Gaynes, Taylor Gordon, Randolph Goulding and Lauren Quin; sophomores Colin Barham and Kitty Cook; freshmen Sarah Mullaly and Jared Allen. From the Middle School: eighth graders Kal Golde, Eric Jacobs, Jones Kolbinsky and Alexandra McCorkle; seventh graders Brittany Allen and Caillin Cooke; sixth graders Isabela Hernandez, Hope Lennox and Sarah Werner. From the Lower School: fifth graders Maya Horesh and Miles Hsu; fourth graders Daniel Blumen and Melanie Crawford; third graders Harrison Husk and Nicole Petrosky; second graders Isabella DiMeglio and Daniel St. Amand; and first graders Annabeth Bradley and Rivers Graham.
Senior Prank
Prom photo-op
The seniors surprised faculty and students with the sounds of mariachi. Clad in sombreros and beads, the seniors followed a five-person mariachi band through the halls of Pace. They marched pass students studying for finals and danced among Prefirst students and their parents on the front lawn enjoying Pre-first Fun Day.
From left, seniors Nicole Tay, Susan Goldblatt, Amy Schettino and Jackie Maize ham it up at Prom.
Molly Buffenbarger, Allie Appel and Sydney Thomas
Lucy Smith, Madison Martin and Caroline Janki
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G Coach: Courtney Conron
wrap up
1. This was your first year having a varsity team. How did it go?
We had a very tough first year of varsity. In lacrosse you play in an area not a region. We played A-AAAA schools in our area and fought hard. We had one win on the season but we learned that this year was not about our win-loss record but more about learning and developing this program to improve. We were — and still are — a very young team, only having three seniors this year. 2. What improvements need to be made to stay competitive at the varsity level?
We need to keep working in the off season on lacrosse and lifting. The girls are attending camps this summer which will help them improve their skills for next year. We really just
need more experience. We need to keep taking the steps to improve. Improvements on the field that need to be made are: passing in transition, running a sound offense and shutting down the big shooters on the other teams. 3. Who do you think contributed the most and why?
There was not one person this year that stood out head over heals from the rest. The girls all knew their roles and stepped into them without questions. Our three seniors lead the team on the field by example and encouragement. Amelia Baker and Charmaine Mech were our middle field seniors who gave it their all this season. Amelia scored the first varsity goal of the season. Charmaine also had some outstanding games on offense scoring six goals
in one game. Senior Madeline England played defense. Without her this year we would have fallen apart on the defensive end. She played a huge role in slowing down the other teams’ offense. As a whole the entire team played hard this year, and hopefully [we’ll] see some young new faces eager to learn. 4. Any anecdotes from the season that you think are worth mentioning?
Our rookie of the year was Sydney Willis. She stepped in as a freshman and volunteered to try goalie and did an outstanding job. Our rising star was Emily Wilson. She did get injured during the season but shows so much potential in the sport. Most valuable player was Jessica DiOrio, an allaround great athlete who would do anything and play any position to help the team.
B Coach: TOM KATES
1. How many DID you lose this year?
We will lose co-captains Jack Harris, Will Cox and Matt Hickey. Other seniors were William Morse, Nicolas Nezhat, Chris Merritt and Andrew Riley.
2. How did your seniors do at leadership? Can you give examples?
Seniors organized an impromptu team cookout after practice on the hill one day this past spring. The team and coaches loved it. I hope that tradition will continues for future years.
We finished the season 9-8.
hard, listened to the coaches, and were a much better team by the end of the season.
4. Who stepped up to the plate and how?
6. What do you think has to be done
Defenseman William Morse was the overall most valuable player. Attackman Jack Harris was the offensive most valuable player and leading goal scorer this season. Our goalie, 10th-grader Cal Harris was the defensive most valuable player. We would not have won nine games without Cal. Will Cox and Matt Hickey were the vocal leaders during preseason conditioning, practices and the regular season.
in the future for these boys to be
3. What were your final stats?
5. What was challenging or rewarding about this year?
We were inexperienced at some positions at the beginning of the season, but the players worked 12
KnightTimes | Summer 2010
successful? What are your goals for next year?
Next year’s captains are David Harden, Cal Harris, James Abbott and Ben Hays. They will make sure the team is in the weightroom and improving their stick skills on the wall this offseason.
B
B G
Coach: BAILEY PLAYER, GEORGE SOKOLSKY
Coach: jolie cunningham
Fairly well. We perhaps did not finish as well as one might have hoped given our strong progress during the course of the season, but significant strides were made as a team.
1. Overall, how did it go this year? Numbers were up with a lot of young promising talent for the future, great leadership from Glen Harris, hurdler Megan Blasberg and all-around competitor Georgia Tse. Both boys and girls made it to region finals.
1. Overall, how did it go this year?
2. How many seniors did you lose last year? How did this affect your season?
We lost two: Cody White and Everett Nadal. Both were varsity players and Cody was the team captain. Evan Zeldin stepped in and filled Cody’s rather impressive shoes quite admirably though. Our team goal every season is to make the State tournament, an aspiration we failed to achieve this year, unfortunately.
3. What was your goal for the season? DId you meet it AND how?
4. What were things that were done well? What needs to be improved and
We had great team leadership and team chemistry this season, two positive aspects that I hope will carry over to next year. As a team though, we need to learn how to “close” matches in a more consistent manner.
how?
5. Who stepped up this year and how? Griffin Siegel improved
his game by about five strokes over the course of the season, and William Smith showed himself to be a solid varsity player. Evan Zeldin also stepped up in the role of team captain. 6. How many seniors did you lose this year to graduation?
Two: Jack Weber and
2. How many seniors did you lose last year? How did this affect your season?
Middle distance
four-year performer Alex Young. 3. What was your goal for the season? DId
First goal was to get the participation up and we did. Second was to score more points at Region Championships, and we did that!
you meet it AND how?
4. What needs to be improved and how? Continue
to focus on numbers and develop young student athletes. 5. Who stepped up this year and how? John
was a factor in many field and sprint events and middle-distance performer Zach Lindsey did a fine job as well!
Adelman
6. How many seniors did you lose this year to
Evan Zeldin. 7. Any memorable moment?
Beating Holy Innocents’ for the first time in five years.
graduation? Harman Lindsey, Camile Dishongh, Grace Alexander
and Jarrett Bowie will all be missed.
7. there were a lot of Personal records (pr)
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set this year. Who do you think was the most improved of all your athletes and how?
Coach: christy ellis
1. Overall, how did it go this year? I was very pleased that at the beginning of the season I had 17 ladies try out for the team. I kept 10 girls —five varsity and five junior varsity. This year I felt like they were much more focused on golf because I saw lots of improvement from each one of them. They were competitive, yet had fun while playing. We made it to regionals where we placed third, almost making it to state. Morgan Batey placed fourth in region overall!
We will lose two seniors this year: Their enthusiasm and positive attitudes will be greatly missed.
2. How many seniors did you lose this year? Daisy Kim and Julia Berger.
3. What was your goal for the season?
Maria Moritakis litererally PR’d in every event that she participated in at every meet! Freshman Anderw Schettino did as well in the throwing events. Georgia improved the most this year.
8. You reached the region finals, what was
fell a 10th of a second from setting the Pace school record in the 100 meters.
another accomplishment? Glen Harris
—Kris Palmerton, assistant coach and athletic director
My goal for the season was simply to
improve from where we ended up last year. 4. What were things that were done well? What needs to be improved and
I felt that this year the girls learned to troubleshoot their own swing when something went wrong. Last year we did not have the knowledge to do this, but after working with Oz and Chris at Accelerized Golf, I felt they equipped my ladies with the knowledge they needed. The one thing that we still need to work on is pace-of-play. However, I see this improving as each of the girls works on their swing.
how?
I felt that Margaret Worrell (captain), and Morgan Batey were definitely leaders on the team.
5. Who stepped up this year and how? Taylor Esler
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Coach: ricks carson
Coach: SARA SIEGEL
1. You lost six starters to graduation last
1. how did it go this year?
We had a strong season. We reached the quarter finals of state or the “elite 8.” And we won our region. The team we lost to in state ended up winning the state title, and the team we beat in region was the runner-up. So if the draw had been different, I definitely think we would have made it to the semi-finals. 2. How did your seniors do at leadership? Can you give examples?
We had four solid senior players- Katie Abrams, Callan Brownfield, Angela Seaman and Madison Gallant. Katie and Callan had both been on the team for all four years and Madison and Angela for three. Katie constantly faced the toughest competition from the other teams. Callan helped develop some of our younger players who were new to doubles. All of the seniors were especially supportive of the team whether they were playing or not, and that positive attitude really sets the tone for the team.
you do to bring out the leadership in the younger players?
We had to change our whole approach to tactics. With a group of young (and relatively small) kids, the coaches tried to help them learn to play collectively more than individually. It was a slow process, but in the last five games we played some very good soccer, and underclassmen won all the performance-based awards for the season. 2. How many seniors did you lose this year?
Five: Kevin McCall, Henry Hebebrand, Michael and Pat Christman
3. What were your final stats?
Kamor, Pat O’Brien
We were undefeated in region play.
3. What were your final stats?
4. Who stepped up to the plate and how?
5-10-1.
I think Zeena Lattouf stepped up in a number of matches when we really needed her and played well under pressure. The team voted for her to win the TEAM award which stands for teamwork, enthusiasm, attitude and motivation. 5. What was done well? What do you think has to be done to keep the momentum for next year?
I was really pleased with our doubles teams. I feel confident that our No. 2 doubles team of and Brintha Rengenathan was the best in the state. We need to keep our doubles teams strong to stay competitive in the future. That definitely separates us from the competition.
Mariam Dvalishvili
4. Who stepped up to the plate and how? Will Brewster was our leading scorer and top defender, Sajat Rabbani was the second-leading scorer as a freshman. John Hoffman, Billy Tutt, Michael Kamor, Kevin, Josh Williams and Henry helped us hold the defending together. Sophomores in general had several key roles and responded increasingly well.
5. What do you think has to be done in the
6. What are your goals for next year?
future for these boys to be successful?
I definitely want to reach the state tournament next year.
More off-season time in the weight room; for several, more playing on club teams to gain experience in competition; overall increase in maturity.
Katie Abrams
8. Can you give me some anecdote or any special memory of your season?
At the region championship, when Zeena pulled out the victory, our team rushed on the court and poured water over Zeena’s head. It was truly exhilirating. Senior night was also very special. Katie Abrams has been our No. 1 player since she was a freshman, so to have her graduate is definitely the end of an era for Pace girls tennis. The seniors have all been role models for many years, so it was very meaningful to honor them.
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year. How did your team cope? What did
KnightTimes | Summer 2010
6. Can you give me some anecdote or any special memory of your season?
Will got a referee in Augusta to pretend to give Sarah Patterson a red card after the girls’ game — it was actually a prom invitation! We pulled together and almost qualified for the state tournament despite a weak overall record. We also defeated two teams that went to the playoffs. Billy Tutt and Will Brewster were named to the Northside Neighbor and the Sandy Springs-Neighbor area allstar team.
the
End of an Era 32 years coaching soccer at Pace: Ricks Carson calls it quits
He may be throwing in the towel on soccer, but Ricks will continue teaching at Pace. He says the free time will allow for “more writing, more reading, more cooking and being the 2011 team’s biggest fan.” A career decision that started in his first year teaching at Pace, Ricks says his fondest coaching memories include coaching his two sons from 2001-2003 when the team went 36-4-1 over three years with two state championship wins; his friendship with current swim/dive coach and J.V. soccer coach, John Ague, “an unsung coaching genius;” creating new out-of-state rivalries in North Carolina and Florida that allowed for “wonderful road trips;” winning the GHSA state title in '06; and finally the camaraderie between himself and his athletes. Ricks record stands at 145-46-12. He averaged 13.18 wins, 4.18 losses and 1.45 ties per season. He coached 21 years on JV and 11 on varsity. Ricks was named the Southeast Region National Coach of the Year twice, in 2003 and 2006.
“Ricks has really been an inspiration to me with his passion for the sport and his loyalty to Pace and Pace soccer! He is a good friend and colleague, the coaches around the state of Georgia will miss him and will also be glad he isn’t leading a team to beat them!” —John Ague
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Coach: CHARLIE OWENS
Coach: liz tutt
1. OVERALL HOW DID IT GO THIS YEAR?
1. Did you lose any significant players to graduation last year? How did
Having lost seven seniors to graduation last year, so this year we had one of the youngest teams in Pace history. Our younger players got a lot of valuable experience, and they all looked up to our three leaders: Sam Wiskind, Brett Epstein and Reade Midyette.
your team cope?
Brett and Sam were our only seniors. Brett was our most valuable player and had a .382 batting average and a .545 SA. Sam was our first baseman and hit for power with a slugging average of .414. 2. How many seniors did you lose this year?
3. Who stepped up to the plate and how?
Our two juniors were Brad Kirschner and Reade Midyette. Brad was projected to be our best pitcher, but an injury slowed him. Reade played several positions and hit a team high .393. 4. What do you think has to be done in the future for these boys to be successful?
During most of our games we were starting five freshmen, and it is difficult to compete at the varsity level with so many young players. The good news is that these young players got a lot of experience. Again next year we will be young, so there is not just one or two areas in which we must improve. We must, and we will improve in all facets of the game. We are rebuilding.
We had one senior last year, Kathryn Hays, and we dealt with that by adding her sister, Sallie, to the team! 2. What were some goals that you set at the beginning of the season?
Did they meet them and how? Our No. 1 goal was to win more games (we went from eight to 12 wins) and to play much better as a team. We definitely accomplished this, and we were third in the area. Three seniors: Blair Winders, All three have been on varsity all
3. How many seniors did you lose this year? Hannah Coletta and Connor Harbin.
four years. 4. What were your final stats?
Our record was 12-5. Only three opponents beat us — Blessed Trinity, Fellowship Christian and Wesleyan. We were third in the area (top two go to State). Sarah Patterson, Blair and Mary Elizabeth Morse were appointed to the Northside All-area Team. Sarah, Haley Zwecker and Lauren Schaffer earned a spot on the Area 10 All-region team. 5. Who stepped up to the plate and how?
Lauren was high scorer on the team and kept us in tough competition. Sarah is a very versatile and experienced player. She was calm under pressure and lead by example. Haley was a play-maker and a Sarah Patterson tough and very experienced competitor. Blair, as team captain, was second scorer and a defensive stud. Mary was a great communicator, good decision maker, team leader and captain. 6. What do you think has to be done in the future for these girls to be successful?
We are totally on the right track — numbers are up, enthusiasm is great, girls are attuned to working hard. Community coach Ron Apollon has taught them great tactics, and they are beginning to believe in themselves. Once we do that - we will be awesome! The girls need more confidence in themselves and to work hard in the off season. 7. Can you give me some anecdote or any special memory of your season?
While there are many, Connor Harbin fell down every single day whether it be a practice or a game. This was not something she was trying to do to get attention or anything — she even tried very hard NOT to fall down, and it would never happen. The team gave her a first aid kit as a gag gift.
sibling rivalry the zeldins
Evan: captain and senior, Evan is the No.1 golfer at Pace. “His leadership and unparalleled professionalism with the game will be greatly missed next year,” said coach George Sokolsky. “We all wish him luck at UNC.”
Stephen: freshman, holds the No.1 spot on the tennis team. “Steven has been a pleasant surprise,” said coach Neil DeRosa. “To come in as a freshman and take over the No. 1 singles position is an accomplishment only a handful of players have ever done at Pace.”
the harrises-
Jack: co-captain and four-year member of varsity lacrosse. He was voted “offensive most valuable player” by the coaches. He led the team in scoring; 30 goals, 18 assists and only played in 14 of our 17 games. The team played their best when Jack was on the field leading the offensive.
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Coach: STEVE CUNNINGHAM
Coach: neil derosA
1. overall how did it go this year?
1. Overall how did it go this year?
We had a really cohesive group of girls. They worked really hard—I pushed them, and they responded well. Our goal this year was to finish higher than last year — we finished 15 out of 30 area teams last year — and this year we made it to area and came in 12th. So I was really happy with that. 2. how many seniors will you lose this year and how will that effect the program?
We are losing Kelcie Schofield, Mary Hunter Cunningham and Kat Belinfante. We’ll take a big hit next year, probably our biggest hit in awhile. They all put up numbers.
Expectations were low this year as we only had one returning senior, Lex Alvarez. We started three freshmen, one sophomore, two juniors and one senior. So three players with no varsity experience and a third playing singles for the first time. Our main goal was to make it to the State tournament. We were able to accomplish that goal by qualifying third in region and making the Sweet Sixteen at State. We just missed the Quaterfinals at State by dropping a very close match at Wesleyan that came down to a third set at No. 2 Doubles. 2. How did your senior do at leadership? Can you give examples?
Lex Alvarez was the most effective captain we’ve had in a decade. He led with quiet dignified demeanor and was an admirable example for our young players. 3. What were your final stats?
3. who stepped up to the plate this year?
Kelcie placed the highest at area, coming in 16th out of 109. Twelfth would have gotten her to state. The most improved gymnast was junior Claire Quintrell. 4. how does the future look for pace gymnastics? Kelly McGonnigle and Madison Snyder
are both all-arounds (they compete in all four events) and have a lot of potential. 5. what were some highlights of this year?
We added Middle School drama teacher Joey Villamez midway in the season to help out, and I am thrilled with that addition. He wants to stay on for next year, so he will be my assistant coach — a definite plus for the program.
We finished third at Region. We finished seventh in the Class A Coaches Poll. Highlights included victories over HIES, Lovett, AIS and Darlington. We had a 9-10 overall record. 4. Who stepped up to the plate and how?
Our biggest surprise was the play of our new freshmen. Alexander Reckford and Joey Kimmel were a solid No. 2 Doubles pairing and filled the one of the biggest holes in our lineup. Steven Zeldin filled a huge opening at No.1 Singles, left behind by the graduation of Garrett Mertl. Sophomore Marshall Harbin solidified the lineup by securing the vacated No. 3 Singles position. Jeffrey Sureck moved up to No. 2 Singles and had significant wins against AIS and Lovett. Jaime Botsch and Patrick Corbett were the first Doubles alternates. There was virtually no drop off when they came into a match. And of course Jared Wasserman and Lex Alvarez at No. 1 doubles. They led with their performance and example on and off the court. 5. Can you give me some anecdote or any special memory of your season?
Humorous moments include: Jared Wasserman showing up to practice one afternoon shirtless, wanting to show off his “six-pack” for the girls varsity team. Patrick Corbett falling asleep in virtually any situation — on the way to practice or while waiting for his turn to play or in the middle of watching a match. Alexander Reckford introducing himself to any and every girl on opposing girls squads. Joey Kimmel constantly defending the behavior of [Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver] Chad Ochocinco. 6. any special recognition?
We give out team awards. Our Rising Star award went to Steven Zeldin; Career Contribution award and the Players Award went to Lex; and the 2011 captain will be Jared Wasserman.
Cal: elected captain as a junior for next season. He was voted “defensive most valuable player” by the coaches. He averaged over 10 saves a game and single-handedly won the Wheeler and East Coweta games to help the team to a 2-0 start to the season. A twoyear starter on the varsity team, he is a quiet leader and hardworker who became a more vocal leader during
this season. His play and leadership will be an important part of our success next season.
the zweckers:
the lindseys
Haley: one of Pace’s top female athletes, plays guard on the varsity basketball team and just made the Area 10 All-region Team for soccer.
Zack: junior, placed in regions for track and also runs cross country.
Lindsey: freshman, became a starter in three varsity sports this year: catcher in softball, goalie in soccer and post for basketball.
Harman: senior, he has run track all four years, as well as cross country.
And the
Award Valedictorian Amy Schettino
Seniors Career Contribution to the Arts
Foreign Language Department-Latin
James De La Fuente Award
Jon Allen Kat Belinfante Anna Bokman Daniel Dodson Sean Doherty Harman Lindsey Nikki Rinow Sophie Weiner
Connor Harbin
Jiayue Juan Nikki Rinow
The Atlanta JournalConstitution Cup
Jack Harris Oliver Huang
Amy Schettino
George G. Kirkpatrick Pace Knight Award
Career Contribution to Athletics Jack Harris Charmaine Mech
Pace Silver Knight Award William Morse
Daughters of the American Revolution Citizenship Award Emily Kaplan
English Department Award Isaac Sukin
Foreign Language DepartmentSpanish Shelby Palmerton
Frank D. Kaley Award
KnightTimes | Summer 2010
Madeline England Jack Harris
Kent C. Taylor, Jr. Award
Connor Harbin Chris Merritt
Laynie Becker Camille Dishongh Jordan GonzĂĄlez Jiayue Juan Harman Lindsey Grace Southworth
Gladys Johnson Award
Lance and Shield Award
Jackie Maize Daniel Weiner
Kevin McCall Mikki Mori
Headmaster’s Award
Letter Blanket Awards
Jon Allen Callan Brownfield William Morse Nikki Rinow
Katie Abrams Grace Alexander Amelia Baker Kat Belinfante Annie Bonnot Callan Brownfield Hannah Coletta Will Cox
History Department Award Adam Chaikof
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Jim and Lesley Wheeler Scholar Athlete Award
Mary Hunter Cunningham Paige Dawkins Camille Dishongh Madeline England Brett Epstein Connor Harbin Jack Harris Jordan Harris Matt Hickey Taylor Johnson Michael Kamor Emily Kaplan Derek Leung Harman Lindsey Kevin McCall Patrick McGonnigle Charmaine Mech Chris Merritt Chad Milich Mikki Mori William Morse Kelcie Schofield Isaac Sukin Blair Winders Evan Zeldin
Margery Russell Wilmot Spirit Award Katie Abrams Jarrett Bowie Jordan Harris Daisy Kim
Andrew Riley Sam Wiskind
Mike Murphy Courage to Strive for Excellence Award Amelia Baker Daniel Dodson
Pace Literary Prize Nicole Tay
Pace Senior Citizens Reade Alexander Amelia Baker Julia Berger Sarah Capelouto Ford Crane Daniel Dodson Brett Epstein Jack Harris Henry Hebebrand Ashton Lager Catherine Lee Kevin McCall Chad Milich Lindsey Peterson Andrew Riley Angela Seaman Grace Southworth Daniel Weiner Blair Winders Evan Zeldin
Salutatorian Jack Harris
Peter F. Hoffman Honor Scholarship Lex Alvarez Claire Ellender
Ralph Lee Newton Literary Award Sam Colt Melissa Dalis Derek Leung Daniel Weiner
Raymond Buckley Award Emily Kaplan William Morse
Robert E. Yellowlees Award Reade Alexander Kelcie Schofield
Science Department Award Derek Leung
Service Above Self Award Nicole LeClair
Sydney Rushin Mathematics Prize Oliver Huang
d goes to ... LS Kessler award winner, Jody Rushton (right) with Head of the Lower School Anna Valerius.
Josh Belinfante '95 presented the US Kessler award winner to Tom Kates (right).
Junior awards: Will Brewster, Anna Maria Callas, Abeba Cherinet, Hallie Cross, Eric Dancu, Kaitlyn Dinkins (2), Randolph Goulding (2), Nicole Hammons, David Harden, Elizabeth Hill, Michael Hopkins (2), Kate Hornor (2), Danielle Kerker (2), Greg Lambert, Stephen Merritt, Mary Elizabeth Morse, Caroline Nixon, Arthur Omilian, Tony Papadopoulos, Sarah Patterson, Lauren Quin, Allison Rosenbaum, Josh Swan, Jared Wasserman and Hurst Williamson (3)
Sophomore awards: Josh Baron, Christine Chang (2), Parker Draughon, Ricardo Goellnicht, Lauren Gold, Jakob Gorgens, Hayley Kahn (2), Brett Klugman, James Rushton, Alex Stephens, Caroline Violette, Cameron WInders, Margaret Worrell, Haley Zwecker
Freshman awards: Max Barab, Jack Bowen, Robert Brooks, Tiger Brown, Asante Crews (2), Amber Easley (2), Megan McCurry, Abbie Milich, Mitch Nemeth, Alex ParĂŠ, William Sadlo, Sam Schaffer, Reid Williams, Lindsey Zwecker
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real ty
From dream to
Baseball, football, softball, soccer and lacrosse teams are now playing on home fields and new families added to the rolls of the Lower School. With $24 million raised in two years, Pace announces the official completion of SHINE, The Pace Capital Campaign. The campaign has brought great success, not only with buildings and fields, but with the neighborhood as well. “Working with our neighborhood relations committee, we have created a dynamic master campus plan that allows more of our athletes to practice on campus while being sensitive to our commitments to our neighbors,” said Board of Trustees vice-chairman Paul Garcia. “Our Lower School addition has added much-needed space and our state-of-the-art athletic facility on Riverview Road has taken school spirit to a new high,” added Head of School Fred Assaf. Gifts and pledges from parents, students, alumni, faculty, foundations and friends enabled Pace to give its students a home-field advantage with the athletic complex that
KnightTimes | Summer 2010
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opened last year. The 23-acre complex six miles from the main campus includes a soccer/lacrosse/football field, a state-of-the-art baseball field, parking for 450 cars, and a field house that includes restrooms, locker rooms, and concession stands. A facility at Warren Road serves as home to Middle School sports and girls softball. It includes practice fields, equipment storage, lockers, coaching offices and an indoor batting cage. The campaign added 10,000 square feet to the east side of the existing Lower School building with four new classrooms. The building includes new teacher workspace in the classrooms, an art studio, an enlarged cafeteria, a new conference room and an elevator for handicap access. “We added 15 new faculty members,” said Lower School Head Anna Valerius, “giving us two teachers in every classroom Pre-first through fourth grades. We now have a new class in Pre-first through third grades, making a total of three classes at every grade level. This allows us to retain our intimate nurturing atmosphere yet meet the growing admissions needs.” The campaign was co-chaired by Board of Trustees chairman Jeff Seaman and Board member Jack Markwalter. “Thanks to the generosity of our volunteers, parents, alumni, trustees and supportive foundations, this has been the most successful campaign ever conducted at Pace Academy,” said Seaman. “Together we have raised more money in less time and spent less to do it, all in a challenging economic time.” “With all the new opportunity and space that has been created with SHINE, we are putting off the building of the track and stadium as we redirect our attention to the Upper School,” said Assaf. “Our Upper School students and faculty are among the best in the country, and our
Lower Schoolers at work in the new addition.
facility needs to support and reflect that quality.” “The success of this campaign and the generosity of so many allow us to look forward to new heights!” Seaman continued. “Our long-range campus plan calls for future fundraising efforts to be focused on replacing our Upper School building.”
A shining example of gratitude Donors who gave $25,000 or more were honored at Neville and Pamela Isdell’s home on April 27. 1. Former Board chair Mark Pirring and current board members, Jim Howard, Sybil Hadley and Garry Schaefer 2. Fred Assaf, Jeff Seaman and Buck Woodruff 3. The group of some 100 guests enjoy comments from Neville Isdell.
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and Jonathan Goldman welcomed all Shine donors into their home on May 20 to celebrate the success of the campaign.
Laurie Ann
1. Suzanne Bond, Marguerite Wellborn and Merritt Bond 2. Guests gather to hear words of gratitude from Fred Assaf. 3. Head of the Lower School Anna Valerius with Jonathan Goldman.
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Top, the football field at Riverview Road; left, a gift was made by the Harris family to name the Upper School band room in honor of the Harris children: Jack, Cal and Keeley; middle, a gift was made by the Kendall family (pictured here with Fred Assaf and Upper School teacher France Dorman) to name the sculpture room in honor of their three children Perrin, Grayle and Porter; Right, softball players warm up before a game at the Warren Road athletic fields.
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ALUMNI
In the spotlight pace alumni who are in “the ‘biz”
Making it through Pace’s intense drama program, many former drama students go on to professional roles, such as Randy Harrison '96, who now works in theater, film and television. Other examples are: Jay Polstein ’77 who produced the Oscar-winning movies Frida and The Fighting Temptations; Caroline Bootle ’90, the understudy for the lead actress in Proof on Broadway; Ethan Smith ’96 with a recent appearance in the TV series CSI: Miami; and Cameron Smith ’05 who performs in theater and is currently singing on a Celebrity cruise ship. In addition Josh Grossberg ’92 is a filmmaker and a senior journalist for E! Online. He wrote and produced a multi-award-winning feature documentary, “A Bridge Life: Finding Our Way Home” (www.abridgelife.com). He also wrote and produced “Betrayed” www.betrayedshort. com. Josh lives in Astoria, New York.
With a B.A. in theater from Wake Forest University Cary returned to Atlanta theater for a few years. After being accepted to New York University’s graduate acting program Cary earned an MFA and has been in New York for the past four years. Cary is currently performing Shakespeare in the Park for The Public Theatre in productions of “The Merchant of Venice” with Al Pacino as Shylock, and “The Winter’s Tale.” Cary plans to stick with acting in New York, “to keep auditioning, and just work my way up the ladder until I’ve got a self-sustaining, respectable acting career that straddles classical theatre and edgy film/premium television or my own clothing line that I run with Jay-Z. Hopefully both.” Heather Allen (right) with Wayne Brady.
“I’ve been trying to keep busy.” KATIE ALANA CHESHIRE ’08
Cary Donaldson
“I love my job.” HEATHER ALLEN ’05
“My plans are to stick with it in New York.” CARY DONALDSON ’99
Once Cary Donaldson performed in a few junior high shows at Pace he was hooked. “The Fine Arts Center was kind of a sacred location — it was such a nice space, and the audiences were always so huge and supportive that you felt like you were part of something big and communal,” he said.
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and fact-check scripts for content and accuracy. I manage the transportation and delivery of prizes between our warehouse and our set, and I pitch creative prize packages.” The show was just picked up for a second season. “I love my job and enjoy tackling the stressful challenges of working in the television industry,” she said. “I work at least six days a week and often times 12 to 15 hours a day, but I have grown accustomed to this crazy schedule and have luckily managed to establish a nice life for myself out here in L.A. with a great group of friends.” She wants to keep an open mind and see where her career path takes her within the industry. “I would like to work on a feature film and a scripted television show at some point if the opportunity arises.”
Heather Allen interned at various television and radio stations including CNN, Fox5, and Star94 in Atlanta throughout college and graduated from the University of Virginia in May 2009. She moved to Los Angeles in search of jobs in the entertainment industry. “I moved to L.A. in August and just two days after being out here, I was selected to be one of the first hires on the remake of the original Let’s Make A Deal game show that was hosted by Monty Hall in the 70s,” Heather said. She has moved up to the associate producer of prizes on Let’s Make A Deal hosted by with Wayne Brady. “I write, edit,
Katie Cheshire, a sophomore at Indiana University, is keeping very busy. In the past year she has performed on the university’s mainstage as Ana in “The Clean House” and Charlotte in “Marat/Sade.” This past summer she was Angelica in the regional premiere of “Vote! A New Musical,” which made its official debut at the New York Fringe Festival. She has been in four additional student productions and sang with the Singing Hoosiers at the Indiana Inaugural Ball in Washington, D.C., where she attended President Obama’s inauguration. In the professional arena she was in “High School Musical: an Interactive Experience” at French Lick Resort Casino; “Welcome to College: the Musical” for the IU Department Katie Alana Cheshire
ALUMNI
current Pacesetter of Orientation Programs; “Hollywood Serenade” at Coachlight Musical Theatre; and this summer she will star as Sunny in “The Last Night of Ballyhoo” at the Brown County Playhouse, Indiana’s longest running professional theatre. She has also acted in film and TV since leaving Pace two years ago. She was a stepsister in “Cinderella: A No Fairy Fairytale” and London Marriot in “The Wright Report,” a TV pilot that aired on WTIU, the college’s TV channel. “I attended the Society of American Fight Directors March Madness Stage Combat Workshop in March,” she said. “This summer I will study for three weeks at Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre in London.”
Second grader lands Broadway role MARY STEWART SULLIVAN ’20
PHOTO CREDIT: SUSAN BEALLOR-SNYDER
Jon Allen rehearsing for Annie.
“It feels amazing!” JON ALLEN ’10
Having just graduated in May, Jon Allen didn’t waste any time. Jon auditioned and earned a role in the ensemble of the Tonyaward winning play, Hairspray, at the Strand Theatre in Marietta beginning July 24. Jon has seen Hairspray twice on Broadway, and it has always been his dream to perform in the musical. “I love the music, and the dancing is incredible,” he said. While at Pace, Jon performed in six musicals from Middle School to Upper School. Most recently, he played Monty in The It Girl and Rooster in last fall’s musical production of Annie. This will be Jon’s first paid role. “It’s the best summer job I could ask for,” he said. “It feels amazing!”
Mary Stewart Sullivan has acted since she was 5 years old. She has appeared in commercial and print advertisements, been a featured vocalist on a children’s CD, and played many roles in community theater around Atlanta. She recently left Atlanta in late April for New York City, where she played the role of Jeffrey Skilling’s daughter in ENRON. Skilling was played by Norbert Leo Butz, from the original cast of Wicked. After receiving great reviews in London, ENRON opened at the Broadhurst Theatre where Mary Stewart made her Broadway debut. After a brief run, ENRON closed, but Mary Stewart won’t soon forget the experience. “It was so exciting to be a part of the opening of a Broadway show. The directors and the cast were amazing. I’m so thankful for the opportunity and can’t wait for my next show!”
Governor appoints Clyde Reese ’73 as DCH Commissioner Clyde Reese ’73 has been appointed commissioner of the Department of Community Health (DCH) by Governor Sonny Perdue. “Clyde has demonstrated his talent and commitment to Georgia’s citizens during his career with the state,” said Governor Perdue. “I am confident Clyde will successfully guide the department as it administers critical health programs such as Medicaid, Peachcare and the State Health Benefit Plan.” Reese began his second tenure at DCH as General Counsel in March of 2008. Before that, he served as the Executive Director of the Division of Health Planning. In this role, Reese was in charge of the administration of the Georgia Certificate of Need program. Reese practiced health care regulatory law in the private sector from 2003 to 2007. He also has previous experience as an assistant attorney general for the State of Georgia. “I am honored to accept this position and finish the drill for Governor Perdue in this area of state service,” Reese said. Reese has an undergraduate degree in World History from Georgia State University and a Juris Doctor degree from the Walter F. George School of Law at Mercer University in Macon.
Alumnae wins poster contest for ING and Georgia Marathon sarah butler ’07, a graphic design and fashion double-major at Savannah College of Art and Design, won the fourth annual ING Georgia Marathon Poster Design Contest. Her design became the official poster of the marathon, which took place on March 21. According to a press release, “I wanted to play off how the ING Marathon was relative to Georgia, so I incorporated the footprint of a running show and a peach into my design,” Sarah said. Sarah took first-place honors and received $1,500 toward her tuition.
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ALUMNI
A look back at the Alumni Scholar Award How the winners have left their marks
The 2010 Alumni Scholar Award was presented to Hurst Williamson. Hurst came to Pace Academy in the third grade and has participated in Pace theatre, chorus and Junior Classical League. He also plays hockey, football and lacrosse. His fascination with history has inspired his interest in foreign relations. In the summer of 2009, he participated in the trip to South Africa with Pace’s diversity program, who partnered with the Ubuntu Institute. “It meant a lot to me because I was able to put faces with an organization and hang out with kids my own age,” he said. Hurst also went on a mission trip last December with his church to Nicaragua. “As a future alumnus, I know the faculty will be one of my strongest memories. Whether it’s Mr. Hornor’s AP history or Mrs. Durlin’s AP English, all my classes have had a real impact on my Pace experience because each one challenges you in a unique way,” said Hurst. Hurst joins a list of exceptional former students who have also received this award in their junior year. All have made a tremendous impact in their communities. We thank the past winners for the legacy that they have provided. Here is a brief account of what a few of the Alumni Scholars have been up to since Pace. Benjamin Wise ’97; Auburn University ’01, B.A.; Rice University ’04 M.A.; ’08 Ph.D. After studying for a year at the London School of Economics, Ben taught history at Harvard University for three years. For two years in North Carolina he revised his manuscript, “Cosmopolitan Southerner: The Life and World of William Alexander Percy,” which is a biography of a cosmopolitan, homosexual, Mississippi plantation owner who lived from 1885 to 1942. An assistant professor at the University of Florida, he is working on his next book, tentatively titled “Fixations: A Twentieth Century History of Drinkers, Dancers, Communists, Abortionists, and Queers,” a history of the culture wars in the twentieth century. Ben and his wife, Alston, have three children. His favorite Pace memory was having Ricks Carson and Stan Gillespie as teachers.
’98; Hamilton College ’02 B.A. In college David was a class officer, student body treasurer and a sports writer, sports editor and editor-in-chief of the student newspaper. Although he did not play, David worked in the Office of Sports Information and served as manager of the men’s basketball team. After graduating, David coordinated marketing for the USA Swimming team in Colorado Springs, Colo. For the last six years, David Zane
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he has been working in New York for ESPN and coordinates marketing for motorsports (NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA) as well as tennis. David remembers Pace assemblies, Spirit Week, graduation and Madame Kohn. “She always demanded the best academically from her students,” said David. “However, she cared so deeply about every student that walked into her class.” ’00; Davidson College ’04, B.A.; L’Institut d’Etudes Politiques, Strasbourg, France, 2004-2005; George Washington University ’06; M.Ed; Georgetown University ’08; Post-graduate certificate At Davidson, Adam studied abroad for three summers in Paris, Amsterdam and Greece. He was a Davidson Terry Scholar, earning a full scholarship for leadership and high honors for his Political Science honors thesis, “Aristotle and the Best Way of Life.” While in Strasbourg, France as a Rotary Ambassadorial Scholar, Adam participated in an internship at the Council of Europe and played point guard on the university basketball team. He was awarded the Graduate School of Education and Human Development Fellowship while earning his masters degree at George Washington University. Adam is an Executive Coach and Organization Development Consultant for Suntiva Executive Consulting, a Washington, D.C.-based firm. “I have come to greatly appreciate the lessons that came with this experience; the power, value and wisdom of investing in community and bringing the whole ‘family’ together.”
Adam Chalker
’01; Middlebury College ’05, B.A. Andy studied abroad at the University of New South Wales in Australia during college. He also interned for a law firm in Charleston, Andy Ridall
S.C., a primary school in Nassau, Bahamas and a technology venture capital firm in San Francisco. Andy is working for Templeton Global Advisors in Nassau as an international investment writer. He and wife Isabella have a son, Charlie. In Andy’s opinion, Pace teacher Stan Gillespie exposed a whole new generation to the works of William Faulkner. Andy was also part of the inaugural lacrosse team. “Mr. Gannon was a great, no-nonsense leader with a wonderful sense of humor,” says Andy. “He is a genuine individual, true to his beliefs, for which he is very much respected.” ’02; Washington & Lee University ’06, B.A. During his tenure at W&L, Chris studied abroad in England and Mexico. After graduation he worked for Pritchard Capital Partners in New Orleans. Chris is currently working as an analyst at Regions Business Capital in Atlanta and has plans to attend business school for a career in finance. Christopher loved all sporting events and the class of 2002’s great school spirit.
Christopher Godfrey
’03; Rhodes College ’07, B.A. At Rhodes, Pete was involved in History and Greek honor societies and Sigma Alpha Epsilon Fraternity where he received the Order of the Phoenix (most outstanding member). He volunteered as a big brother for two inner-city boys through Big Brothers, Big Sisters of Memphis; he was the secretary/ treasurer of STAND, a student Anti-Genocide Coalition; he tutored Sudanese and Afghani refugees and spent a semester in Samoa through the School of International Training. After college Pete worked with Childspring International, an Atlanta-based non-profit organization that facilitates medical operations
Peter Goodrich
ALUMNI for children from impoverished countries. He is serving in the United States Peace Corps, living in a small, rural village in Fiji. He assists with initiating health and environmental education projects and programs. His most vivid memories of his time at Pace always involve his relief and jubilation each semester when he made it through another math class, for which he struggled mightily. Peter Goodrich
Marguerite (Maggie) O’Haire ’04; Vassar College ’08, B.A. At Vassar Maggie was a counselor for Battered Women Services, a therapeutic riding instructor for Green Chimneys School, a student fellow for residential life, vice president of Psi Chi (National Honor Society in Psychology) and a hotline counselor for CARES (Counseling and Assistance in Response to Rape and Exploitive Sexual Activity). She received several awards, including research grants from Waltham Foundation Grant and Society for Companion Animal Studies Research and the Vassar Maguire Fellowship. Maggie is currently on a Fulbright scholarship in Maggie O’Haire Australia studying the benefits of classroom pets, particularly for children with autism spectrum disorder. She is hoping to continue the project as a student enrolled at the University of Queensland, Australia to earn a Ph.D. in psychology. Many of her fond memories of Pace involve the art department and her teachers: Mrs. Allen, Mr. Dorman and Mr. Berman. Mrs. Roark’s psychology class inspired her to pursue her interest in this area. Mr. Plaehn, her writing mentor, was very influential in helping her earn a Fulbright scholarship. “The leadership and volunteering opportunities in service learning shaped my years at Pace and have formed an integral part of my goals and motivations to this day,” Maggie said.
’05 Bailey is working on a B.S. at Georgia Institute of Technology. He led a creative design
Bailey Quintrell
team for a mechanical engineering competition and was a selected participant for the 2008 ACC Meeting of the Minds Undergraduate Research Conference. He studied abroad in Australia and New Zealand. Bailey is also a member of Sigma Chi Fraternity and was president for 2008. Bailey worked as an intern for Emprise Corporation, a consulting engineering firm in Kennesaw. He also co-conducted a yearlong research project for a Department of Defense sponsored Electromagnetic Rail Gun Lab. He developed methods for collecting post-firing gaseous, solid and radioactive emissions. Bailey distinctly remembers Helen Smith’s classes and many long afternoons that Jason Smith spent helping him with calculus. “Without this help, I would not be able to earn his engineering degree.” ’06; Whitman College ‘10 In her senior year at Whitman College, Lara participates in the Whitman Chorale, the Whitman Chamber Singers, the First Congregational Church Choir and Sirens of Swank: A Cappella. She also plays intramural football and has been a resident assistant and a senior resident. She spent the semester in Kampala, Uganda as part of the School for International Training’s Uganda: Development Studies program. She spent the summer of 2008 working on the Knight for Senate campaign and last summer interned for the Carter Center’s Democracy Program, both of which were in Atlanta. Many of her favorite Pace memories revolve around the theatre program. Rehearsals provided time with close friends and the shows were always full of surprises. Lara’s favorite classes were Mr. Gannon’s American History class and Ms. Stevens’ ethics class which inspired her to examine more fully her beliefs and worldview. Lara Goodrich
’07 Going into her senior year at Wesleyan, Simone is a member of Writers’ Bloc (campus writing and performance group), WeStep (school step team), WesCF (Wesleyan Christian Fellowship) and is president of Women of Color Collective. She serves as a tour guide for the Admissions office and works for Residential Life by coordinating events for Writing House. Simone earned the Shut Tokita English Prize. She aspires to be a screenwriter and is currently preparing her senior thesis, which will be a screenplay. She has worked as a production assistant on movie and television sets during the past few summers and as an intern for the Rainforest Production office reviewing scripts. Simone very much enjoyed her senior year courses at Pace, and she is realizing their impact Nina Simone Moore
on her college career. In Mr. Carson’s creative writing class, she came to understand the revision process of writing. Mr. Hornor’s Cold War and Film class ignited her excitement for writing for the big screen. Ms. Hand’s AP English course prepared her for “analyzing texts and making comparisons to life and previous authors has proven to be a great skill and gave me a bit of an edge going into the discussion-based literature courses at Wesleyan.” Nicholas Rhodes ’08
Nick just completed his second year at the University of Pennsylvania. He is on the lacrosse team and has joined Sigma Chi fraternity. He also volunteers as a big brother for the Big Brothers Big Sisters of Philadelphia. This past summer, Nick worked as an intern for MSouth Equity. Nick remembers fondly his senior Physics class with Mr. Asbornsen and Calculus class with Mr. Owens. ’09 Though Streeter is a rising sophomore at Vanderbilt University majoring in communications, she definitely left her mark at Pace through her multiple areas of involvement. She earned the Headmaster’s Award, the Raymond Buckley Award, the Charlie Owens Letter Blanket, and she was inducted into the Cum Laude Society and graduated as an Orkin Scholar. She was the Secretary of the National Honor Society and served as a Peer Leader for ninth graders. Softball has been a big part of Streeter’s life; she was an All-State softball player, four-time team Most Valuable Player, region pitcher and offensive player of the year. During Streeter’s senior year the team won the 5-A region championship, and she set the record for the 10th most career strikeouts in the state of Georgia. Her favorite teachers at Pace were Nancy Perry and Tim Hornor. “Without them, I may never have learned my multiplication tables or the KitKat dance, or the horrors of Rococo Art.” Streeter Nolan
’10 Having begun his tenure as a seventh grader, Chris was a member of the crosscountry, soccer, lacrosse, swimming and JV football teams. Chris understands the value of service learning projects at Pace. He volunteered to teach underprivileged children to swim and use computers at the Pace summer camp. He was active with the Boy Scouts, assisting other Pace scouts with their Eagle Scout projects. Chris was student body president as a senior. He will be a freshman at Wake Forest University this fall. Chris Merrritt
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C L A S S O F 2 0 10
Farewell Seniors!
Senior College Choices
Pace seniors become Pace alumni on May 15 Little sister and Pace freshman Kelly McGonnigle congratulates her brother Patrick.
Katie Abrams - University of Georgia Grace Alexander - Rollins College Reade Alexander - Georgia Southern University Jon Allen - Emerson College Lex Alvarez - University of Virginia Amelia Baker - Georgia Institute of Technology Laynie Becker - Vassar College Kat Belinfante - University of Southern California Julia Berger - University of Mississippi Anna Bokman - Clemson University Annie Bonnot - University of Georgia Jarrett Bowie - Eckerd College Jake Boydston - University of Texas, Austin Callan Brownfield - University of Georgia James Burge - Tulane University John Calhoun - University of Georgia Sarah Capelouto - Vanderbilt University Adam Chaikof - University of Chicago Pat Christman - Northeastern University Hannah Coletta - University of South Carolina Sam Colt - Kenyon College Will Cox - University of Alabama Ford Crane - Auburn University Mary Hunter Cunningham -
University of Mississippi Melissa Dalis - Duke University Paige Dawkins - Parsons School of Design Camille Dishongh - University of Alabama Daniel Dodson - University of Miami Sean Doherty - Northwestern University Claire Ellender - Clemson University Madeline England - University of Virginia Brett Epstein - University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill Serena Finnerty - College of Charleston Madison Gallant - Wake Forest University Susan Goldblatt - Scripps College Jordan Gonzalez - Tulane University Connor Harbin - McGill University Jack Harris - Princeton University Jordan Harris - University of Georgia Alex Hart - Macalester College Henry Hebebrand - Georgia Institute of Technology Matthew Hickey - Georgetown University Oliver Huang - Massachusetts Institute
of Technology Lisa Ishii - University of Georgia Taylor Johnson - Savannah State University Michael Kamor - Georgia Institute of Technology Emily Kaplan - Princeton University
Daisy Kim - American University Karen Knight - Georgia State University Ashton Lager - University of Georgia Nicole LeClair - Trinity College Catherine Lee - Georgia Southern University Derek Leung - Dartmouth College Harman Lindsey - United States Military Academy Andrew Longhi - Dartmouth College Park MacDougald - University of Georgia Jacqueline Maize - Northwestern University Kevin McCall - University of Richmond Patrick McGonnigle - Colorado State University field McMillan - University of Georgia Charmaine Mech - University of Georgia Christopher Merritt - Wake Forest University Chad Milich - University of Alabama Mikki Mori - Georgetown University William Morse - Clemson University Nicolas Nezhat - Boston University Patrick O’Brien - University of Notre Dame Shelby Palmerton - Auburn University Lindsey Peterson - College of Charleston Stephen Peterzell - University of Alabama Amy Pleasance - Northeastern University Ashley Riddell - University of North Carolina,
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Chapel Hill
Kelcie Schofield - Syracuse University Alex Seaman - University of Pennsylvania Angela Seaman - University of Alabama Marshall Shingler - Georgia Institute
of Technology
Grace Southworth - Rhodes College Isaac Sukin - University of Pennsylvania Jude Sullivan - University of Pennsylvania Nicole Tay - Wellesley College Jack Weber - Auburn University WiLl Webster - University of Alabama Daniel Weiner - Washington University in St. Louis Sophie Weiner - University of Texas, Austin Victoria Wilson - Boston University Blair Winders - Duke University Sam Wiskind - Vanderbilt University Jiayue Yuan - Emory University Evan Zeldin - University of North Carolina,
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Chapel Hill
Andrew Riley - Elon University Nikki Rinow - Northwestern University Ben Ross - University of Washington Amy Schettino - Johns Hopkins University Mark Schneider - University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill
Derek Leung hugs a fellow classmate.
Kat Belinfante (foreground), Amelia Baker, Jon Allen and the rest of the graduates file out of Peachtree Presbyterian Church after the ceremony.
Lindsey Peterson gives a celebratory hug.
Good friends Sam Wiskind and WIlliam Morse
The senior class of 2010.
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CLA S S O F 2 0 10
Jordan González performing at Upper School Cabaret this year.
WHAT YOU DON’T KNOW
about the class of MUSI C MEN Jordan González and his band, The Solar Bears, finished their self-titled first album this month. He plays guitar and sings lead vocals for the band, made up of musicians Drew Hart on bass and Zack Falls on drums and vocals. The band has performed at many venues in the metro-Atlanta area. Jordan took independent guitar study with Upper School teacher Bailey Player and was a 2010 Spring Arts Laureate. He will attend Tulane University in the fall. Check them out on youtube.com playing their original song “Ain’t Gotta Worry” at Upper School Cabaret or visit their fan page on facebook. To purchase the album go to www. cdbaby.com/cd/SolarBears.
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2010
Jake Boydston’s the bass player for The Daddyagogo Band, a band comprised of his dad John on guitar and vocals, his brother Max on guitar and various friends on drums. The music is composed by John and the band has performed in Atlanta, Athens, and in Austin, Texas at the South By Southwest music festival three times and at The Austin City Limits Festival.
S O C IA L B U T TE RFLY Jon Allen started 4 Socialites 4 1 Cause his sophomore year at Pace. Each year there is a new cause, and the purpose is to raise awareness and funds for issues that do not receive adequate attention. He, along with two “socialite teams” from Lovett, Westminster,
Woodward, Marist and Wesleyan, raised more than $30,000 for the Sickle Cell Foundation and Myles-A-Part Autism Foundation. Next year’s cause has yet to be announced. A H ELP IN G H A ND
A little girl named Abby Smith has touched life in a special way. Abby is a 6-year-old battling cancer. A pastor at Mary Hunter’s church asked her to help Abby every week at Sunday school and choir. She has assisted Abby since the fall of 2007, and she is there for Abby every week. They have developed a special bond. Mary Hunter has also raised over $1,700 for CURE Childhood Cancer on Abby’s behalf. After such a rewarding experience with this special child, Mary Hunter Cunningham’s
Mary Hunter Cunningham with
invisible children
6-year-old Abby Smith.
Will Webster volunteers with Shake-A-Leg. Black belt Mark Schneider practices karate.
An example of Blair Winder’s work for her company, Simply Sketches.
Mary Hunter has decided to pursue a career in Pediatric Nursing at University of Mississippi beginning in the fall. SK E TCHe s and so c c er balls Blair Winders started
a drawing business the summer after her sophomore year called Simply Sketches. She sketches from a client’s photo. “It is really popular among realtors who are looking to give a gift to their clients,” she said. “I draw the house that they have just bought.” Blair also does other drawings such as pets or people for non-realtors. Blair also goes to Nicaragua every year with her church. Once while there, she realized that although Nicaragua is a country in love with soccer, the children did not own soccer balls. So Blair set up a project to raise money to buy soccer balls to take to the kids. She has raised around $400 which will buy 60-90 balls. Visit her website www. footballaboveall.com for more information. SAI L AWA Y Will Webster will be putting his 10 years of sailing to good use this summer. He has been hired by Shake-A-Leg charitable organization
Nicolas Nezhat with South African children during the Diversity trip last summer.
in Newport, Rhode Island. He will be assisting in their sailing program. Shake-A-Leg is an adaptive sailing program that takes physically and mentally disabled children and adults sailing so they can experience the freedom and independence that so many take for granted. Shake-A-Leg recently acquired the former America’s Cup yacht Easterner. It has been retro-fitted to accommodate quadriplegic, paraplegic and able-bodied sailors. karate ki d s Matt Hickey and Mark Schneider both have a black belt. Nicole Tay has a double black belt (also called second dan or second degree) in Taekwondo. She’s had her second degree for a year now, and she anticipates that going away for college will make it difficult to focus on getting her third degree black belt.
Nicolas Nezhat single-handedly raised more money than anyone else in the U..S. and Canada for the Schools for Schools program through the non-profit Invisible Children. He found the Invisible Children’s website while surfing the internet and was inspired to act, so Nicolas did continued his research on the organization that aims to gain awareness for the children in wartorn Northern Uganda. Nicolas found that Africa’s longest running war in Uganda and a battle of the government against a rebel militia had left almost two million reported cases of civilians displaced from their homes. In addition, the rebel army resorted to abducting children and placing them in the ranks to fight via brutal and forceful actions like kidnapping and raping. This caused the Ugandan children to “night commute,” or travel miles at night to escape the militia. The result is a generation of displaced and violent children that have nowhere to go and no education. Invisible Children has set up 11 partner schools to help the children become educated for a better life. Nicolas, on his own, but representing Pace Academy, raised $16,255 for the Schools for Schools program which will benefit the rebuilding of the 11 schools. Specifically, the money Nicolas raised will go to Awere Secondary School. In late May, President Obama signed legislation aimed at helping the Ugandan governement fight the Lord’s Resistance Army, according to Reuters. Nicolas will travel to Uganda in June to visit and volunteer with Invisible Children.
CLO T H I NG DES IG N ER
Nicolas’s mother, a former fashion model, heavily influenced his interest in fashion throughout the years. Around the time he began experimenting with graphic design, he wanted to see how his designs would look on apparel. “Luckily, Mr. Dorman and Mr. Bloodworth agreed to purchase a screen-printing press for me to experiment,” said Nicolas. He was soon charging a small fee to screenprint his designs on his classmates’ shirts. With growing demand Nicolas could no longer keep up with personally screening the designs onto each item. So he started Conspiracy Theory apparel, and now his screen printing is done professionally in Atlanta. Conspiracy Theory apparel ranges from $10-60. “I love walking into Neimans and seeing a graphic tee selling for $70 when my products are printed on the same material and sell for $30.” Currently, Nicolas’s clothing can be seen on his most well known client, Atlanta’s own Masta’ Mind, as well as upcoming rap artist Dow Jones, out of Charlotte, N.C. Visit his website at conspiracytheoryapparel.com. KnightTimes | Summer 2010
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966 W. Paces Ferry Road NW Atlanta, GA 30327 www.paceacademy.org
Thank you for your gift to the Annual Fund
We exceeded our goal of $1 million! Sources of 2009-2010 Giving Life trustees 1%
Current & New Families 69%
s, ion ns, t a r o rpo ati ors Co oundVend 0% 1 F
Our goals were reached only through the support and graciousness of the Pace community. Giving to the Annual Fund is the single most important yearly contribution you can make to Pace Academy.
Friends 1%
Alumni 7%
Your gift will go to Pace’s operating budget and will allow for more opportunities for the students and faculty.
Faculty/staff 2% Current trustees 4% Grandparents 4%
Parents of Alumni 2%
2009-2010 Parent Participation by grade 100%
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