THE MA GA Z I NE O F PA CE A CA DE MY
KnightTimes SP R IN G 2013
Farewell to the Upper School
RUSSELL BRIDGES HALL THE BUILDING, THE PEOPLE AND A NEW BEGINNING
GLOBAL EDUCATION JUST KEEPS GROWING
SCIENCE OUTSIDE THE BOX FLUENCY STARTS EARLY
THANK YOU TO OUR SPONSORS! $25,000 SPONSOR
$20,000 SPONSOR
$10,000 SPONSORS
$5,000 SPONSORS
The Arnold Family, Catherine and Ted McMullan, Tintoria Piana U.S., Inc. $2,500 SPONSORS
Cathy and Tye Darland; John, Angie and Meghan Keller $1,500 SPONSORS
The Bell Family, The Boushka Family, The Cefalu Family, The Duncan Family, Laurie Ann and Jonathan Goldman, Bonnie and Jay Harris, Susan and Jim McCaffrey, Richard and Anna ParĂŠ, Jim and Dana Rawls, Elizabeth and Ken Richards
$500 SPONSORS The Alkire Family, The Bethel Family, Caroline and David Crawford, Daphne and Matt Gaudet, Neda Barqawi and Khalid Hamied, Kristin and Jim Howard, The Hurley Family, Erin and Paul Little, The Luetters Family, The Movsovitz-Edlin Family, The Nuckols Family, The Owens Family, Reta and Briggs Peery, Hope and Robert Sheft, Susanne and Mike Snyder, Holly and Grant Smith, Natasha and Christopher Swann, Julia Stainback and James Hess of Stainbeck Hess Studio Architecture, Steve Rayman Chevrolet, The Wanzer Family
Letter from the Editor Over the past weeks and months, we’ve talked a good deal about the next chapter in Pace Academy’s history, to be ushered in with the addition of The Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School. It’s been exciting to watch the school community come together to support this project and to hear from alumni about what the current Upper School has meant to them. Built in 1961, Bridges Hall has served our alumni well. In recent months, Pace graduates have shared memories of the outstanding teachers, young romances, demerit-worthy behavior, inspired pranks and life-changing experiences that have taken place in the building. While no one can argue that it’s time for a new facility, no one can discount the impact the building and the people inside have had on our school. So, in this issue of the KnightTimes, we stroll down memory lane, map out (to the best of our ability!) the evolution of Bridges Hall and highlight many of the outstanding educators who served the school so well. While the building will come down on May 25, I have no doubt that its stories and memories will live on. Please continue to share them with us, and we’ll continue to celebrate the past while looking forward to our school’s bright future.
Caitlin Goodrich ’00
Contents 6 NEWS What you need to know. 10 AROUND PACE A look at what’s happening at Pace. 16 SCIENCE MINIMESTERS These aren’t your usual science courses. 18 GLOBAL EDUCATION A look at the winter and spring study tours. 22 FAREWELL TO BRIDGES HALL A history of the Upper School building.
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36 FOREIGN LANGUAGE The Lower School revamps its foreignlanguage curriculum. 40 ALUMNI COUPLES Lifelong love starts at Pace. 44 ALUMNI UPDATES Where are they now?
DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS
26 Thank You to all of our 2013 PACE RACE Sponsors! Silver Sponsors The Arnold Family Jason A. Schneider, M.D.
Bronze Sponsors
Upper Extremity & Hand Surgery Shoulder & Elbow Surgery resurgens.com
www.steveraymanchevy.com
The Bethel Family, The Crawford Family, Jennifer and Tim Curtin, The Flint Family, The Litvak Family, The Loughran Family, The Silverboard Family, The Swann Family
Presenting Sponsor
Runner Sponsors
The Alkire Family, Blain and Ivan Allen, The Duncan Family, The Ferry Family, The Janki Family, The Levenson Family, The Mininberg Family, The Owens Family, The Pair Family, The Rogers Family, The Schuessler Family, Dr. and Mrs. Gerald Silverboard, The Jackie Swiecichowski Family, Stephanie and Patrick Warren
Walker Sponsors
Gold Sponsor
The Belinfante Family, Monique and Bland Byrne, The Caton Family, The Gaudet Family, The Lubin Family, The Maske Family, The McCullough Family, Peachtree Smile Center, The Stamoulis Family, The Wagreich/Vanoyan Family
In-Kind Sponsors
The Chastain Family DJCISCO.COM
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KnightTimes Fred Assaf H EA D OF SC H OOL
Division Heads Michael Gannon
2012-2013
H E A D OF U PP E R SC H OOL
John Anderson H EA D OF MID D LE SC H OOL
Anna Valerius H E A D OF LOWE R SC H OOL
Communications Department Caitlin Goodrich ’00 D IR EC TOR OF C OMMU N IC ATION S
Jessica Castleberry C R EATIVE SE RV IC ES MA N A GER ,
The Annual Fund is the most important yearly gift you can make to Pace. The Annual Fund ensures that Pace students will continue to start small in a warm and inclusive community and think big with endless opportunities. Each year, all members of the Pace community are asked to contribute to the Annual Fund. These tax-deductible gifts benefit every student and program at Pace Academy.
If you have not made your gift, please visit www.paceacademy.org/annualfund today.
2012-2013 Annual Fund Goal: $1 million
All contributions must be paid by May 15th and are tax deductible as allowed by current IRS regulations. For questions or to make a gift of stock, contact Kat Cooper, Manager of Annual Fund at 404-240-9106 or kcooper@paceacademy.org.
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GR A P H IC D E S IGN E R
Lela Wallace DIGITAL COMMUNICATIONS MANAGER
Our Mission To create prepared, confident citizens of the world who honor the values of Pace Academy and who will preserve the legacy of our school for future generations.
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.
966 W. Paces Ferry Road N.W. Atlanta, GA 30327 www.paceacademy.org To contribute ideas for the KnightTimes, please email Caitlin Goodrich at cgoodrich@paceacademy.org.
LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SC H OOL
Exciting Times Ahead Dear Pace Family, Spring on the Pace campus is one of my favorite times of the year! The activity never ceases, and you can feel the excitement as we gear up for our end-ofthe-year festivities. I’m happy to report that it’s been a great spring! A truly spirited Spirit Week set the tone for the semester, and the fun hasn’t stopped since. The members of the Class of 2013 (my son JACK included!) are finalizing college choices and preparing for the last exams of their Pace careers; our spring sports are in high gear; we recently celebrated a joyous Spring Arts Festival; our Parents Club pulled off another amazing Auction; and the Booster Club’s 31st annual Pace Race was a runaway success. And now … IT’S TIME! It’s really time! After years of planning and fundraising (Have you made your gift?), the time has come to tear down the Upper School building and make way for The Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School. The support for this project from the Pace community
has been overwhelming in every way. From the bottom of my heart, thank you! While I couldn’t be more excited about our new facility and what it will mean for Pace Academy, I’m also sad to say goodbye to the building that has served this school so well over the past 52 years. In this issue of the KnightTimes, we take a look back at the history of Bridges Hall and at the remarkable individuals who set Pace’s vision in its early days. I am incredibly grateful for their example and service to our school. We also highlight the recent accomplishments of students in all divisions, take an in-depth look at our new Lower School foreign language program, catch up with alumni and travel the world with students on our spring Global Education study tours. It’s an exciting time to be a Knight! Thank you for your continued support of Pace Academy.
Proud parents of JACK, our soon-to-be Pace graduate.
Sincerely,
Fred Assaf
HEAD OF SCHOOL
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Moncino, State Champion On Friday, Feb. 8 at Georgia Tech, sophomore diver HARRISON MONCINO won the GHSA 1-Meter Diving State Championship with a score of 554.35. Moncino has rewritten the Pace record books during his diving career and was the 2012 State 1-4A runner-up. The National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association named Moncino a Diving All-American for the 2011-12 season, making him one of 100 high school divers and one of nine freshmen nationwide to receive the honor. He was selected to Third-Team All-State for the 2011-12 season. Moncino’s brother, freshman OWEN MONCINO, placed sixth in the state meet. The brothers are coached by Pace diving coach JIM EBERT.
Middle School Coin Wars for Water On Jan. 17, Scott Harrison, founder of charity:water, visited Pace and spoke to Middle School students about his life-saving organization. Founded in 2006, charity:water provides clean and safe drinking water to people in developing nations. Harrison challenged the Middle School students to become involved and told them that for every $20 raised, they would help one of the 800 million people on the planet without clean water. The Middle School service club went to work and organized Coin Wars, a weeklong fundraising competition between classes. Students were asked to bring in spare change to count toward their grade’s total. Paper bills placed in other classes’ containers subtracted from the competing class’s total. All week long, the sixth and seventh graders collected coins. The eighth-grade students, however, contributed almost nothing all week, but on Friday, they flooded the office with coins and bills for a huge win. At the end of the week, the Middle School donated $964 to charity:water. Learn more about charity:water at www.charitywater.org.
Auction Raises Record Amount
Top left, ERIN LITTLE, Pace grandparent BARBARA ROOS of Bold American Catering, HOPE SHEFT,
HOLLY SMITH and Head of School FRED ASSAF.
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On March 23, hundreds of members of the Pace community gathered at the Ritz-Carlton in Buckhead for the Parents Club’s 2013 Auction. Attendees enjoyed good food, good company, and exciting live and silent auctions at “White Hot Knight.” Each year, proceeds from the event are used to fund faculty and staff requests that directly benefit Pace students. This year’s Auction raised $495,000! Many thanks to the ERIN LITTLE, HOPE SHEFT, HOLLY SMITH and the entire “White Hot Knight” team for the countless hours they spent planning the incredibly successful event.
Steinfeld Named STAR Student
Senior ZACH STEINFELD is Pace’s 2013 STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) Student. Sponsored by the Professional Association of Georgia Educations Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education, the STAR program requires nominees to have achieved the top SAT score on a single test date and to be in the top 10 percent of their class. STAR students choose teachers who inspired them to strive for academic excellence as STAR teachers. Steinfeld recognized DR. JOHN PEARSON, who teaches math and science.
Seniors Commit to College Athletics Two student-athletes in the Class of 2013 will continue to pursue their sports as they head to college in the fall. LINDSEY ZWECKER has committed to play softball for the Dickinson College Red Devils, and JEFFREY JONES will play football for the Bates College Bobcats.
N E WS Lee Nuckolls Joins College Counseling
The College Counseling office kicked off the New Year by welcoming LEE NUCKOLLS to its esteemed team as associate director of College Counseling. Nuckolls came to Pace from Salt Lake City, Utah, where she served for seven years as director of Financial Aid and associate director of College Counseling at Rowland Hall, an independent day school. Prior to working at Rowland Hall, she was associate director of Undergraduate Admission at Washington University in St. Louis for 11 years. Nuckolls is halfway through a term as Executive Board member, Finance Committee member and treasurer of Rocky Mountain Association for College Admission Counseling. She has been the University of Utah School of Business director of Undergraduate Admission, an ice cream truck driver, a NAIS Financial Aid webinar faculty member, a dude ranch cook and once taught a section of college geography. “I love getting to know students and helping them and their families understand and navigate the college-application process,” Nuckolls says. “My goal is to help students, families and the Pace community constructively manage the anxiety that often accompanies what is ultimately an exciting door-opener for all students.”
Sculpture by Josh Rogers; ceramics by Jason Malik; painting by Brianna Cochran.
Scholastic Art and Writing Awards Honor 23 The Scholastic Art & Writing Awards honored 23 Upper School students for achievement in writing and the visual arts. The prestigious competition gives awards in the Gold Key, Silver Key and Honorable Mention categories. Congratulations to the following students:
Writing Awards
Gold Key: NATALIE CAMRUD
(Flash Fiction), MOMO TRANG (Personal Essay) Silver Key: SALLIE HAYS (Personal Essay), CAROLINE HERMAN (Poetry) MORGAN KROHNGOLD (Dramatic Script), MARYSE LAPU (Personal Essay), CLAIRE WISKIND (Personal Essay) Honorable Mention: ALYSSA CALLOWAY
(Personal Essay), NATALIE CAMRUD (Poetry and Short Story), Sallie Hays (Short Story and Poetry, two awards), CAROLINE HERMAN (Humor and Short Story), SAJAT RABBANI (Poetry), LUCY WELLBORN (Poetry)
Visual Art Awards
Gold Key: JASON MALIK
(Ceramics), BRIANNA (Painting), SARAH SUKIN (Mixed Media), JOSH ROGERS (Sculpture), SARA MULLALLY (Photography), MADISON THORNE (Painting) Silver Key: JAKE SILVERSTEIN (Ceramics), ANNIE KATE POTTLE (Photography), LUCY WELLBORN (Photography), ASANTE CREWS (Drawing), KEVIN SILVERSTEIN (Ceramics) COCHRAN
Honorable Mention: ROBERT BROOKS
(Ceramics), KELLY BROWN (Photography), LYDIA JAMES (Drawing) KATIE DUVAL (Photography, two awards), BRIANNA COCHRAN (Painting), ASANTE CREWS (Drawing, two awards), SARAH SUKIN (Painting and Drawing), LUCY WELLBORN (Sculpture), SARA MULLALLY (Fashion, Painting, Photography and Drawing)
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PACESETTERS
Honoring Students Who Set the Pace Outside of School Sukin for City Council
It was junior SARAH SUKIN’s participation in Pace’s active Model United Nations program that motivated her to apply for the Model Atlanta Regional Commission (MARC). Sukin was one of 55 students from across the state selected for the six-month program, which gives teens interested in making a difference in the community an opportunity to share ideas and learn more about governance on a regional level. Sukin completed the intensive program in February. “My experience with MARC was like Model UN, but real,” says Sukin, who served as secretary of MARC’s central council. “Throughout the program, we debated topics like education, trafficking and environmental issues. We sat in on actual City Council meetings and served on committees to develop resolutions that we then presented to the City Council.” For Sukin, it was an eye-opening experience. “I learned a lot,” she says. “I would definitely recommend it to other Pace students.”
Sadaka Joins Olympic Development Program
Ninth-grader CIARA SADAKA is one of three female athletes from Georgia selected to the Southeastern Zone team of USA Water Polo’s (USAWP) Olympic Development Program, a feeder for USAWP National Teams. Sadaka trained with the Southeastern Zone team in Florida and played in the Regional Championships in Geneva, Ohio, March 15-17. She will represent the Georgia High School Water Polo Association in the Junior Olympics Zone Tournament in Boca Raton, Fla., in May.
Scott Eisenberg: Social Entrepreneur
Baseball Players Nationally Ranked Perfect Game, the world’s largest amateur baseball scouting service, has named junior baseball players JARED DATOC, RAPHAEL RAMIREZ
and KAMERON UTER to its list of top 500 players in the Class of 2014. Ramirez received the highest national ranking of the three Knights at 138th From left, Jared Datoc, Raphael Ramirez overall and 29th and Kameron Uter among outfielders. Datoc’s national ranking landed him at 234th overall and 80th among right-handed pitchers, while Uter ranked 244th overall and 83rd among right-handed pitchers. Perfect Game also provides rankings by state, and the Knights fared even better among a highly talented pool of Georgia boys. Ramirez ranked 14th overall and sixth among outfielders; Datoc ranked 21st overall and fifth among fight-handed pitchers; and Uter ranked 24th overall and sixth among right-handed pitchers. In addition, the boys were named Perfect Game USA Pre-Season All-Americans. Datoc and Uter were selected as High Honorable Mentions, while Ramirez received the highest honor of the three in being named to the Second Team.
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In 2008, sophomore SCOTT EISENBERG participated in JamBowl, a small, day-long sporting event. The event, coordinated by two thenhigh school students, raised funds for the Boys & Girls Club. When the organizers left for college the following year, Eisenberg decided to take JamBowl on as a “good deed” project for his Bat Mitzvah. Since then, he’s been at the helm of JamBowl for five successful years. The sports festival now takes place at the Boys & Girls Club of Brookhaven and features friendly competition in basketball, beach volleyball, kickball, and track and field. In 2013, 60 boys participated, including 10 from the Boys & Girls Club. In addition to recruiting participants, Eisenberg spends hours soliciting local businesses for donations. His philosophy is that each participant should leave with a prize, so as participation has increased each year, so has the effort to procure items. Eisenberg raffles off amazing grand prizes—a Matt Ryan signed Falcons jersey and a Brian McCann signed baseball cap—and no participant goes home empty handed. Eisenberg charges $35 to participate in JamBowl—the cost of a year’s worth of after-school care at the Club—and asks friends and family to sponsor the event. Under his leadership, JamBowl 2013 raised $8,298, which will provide new athletic equipment and allow at least nine boys to attend summer camp.
N E WS Student Art on Display at the High This spring, self-portraits by freshman HOPE LENNOX and junior SARAH SUKIN were on display at the High Museum of Art as part of Autorretrato, an exhibition of selfportraits by teen artists. Teens from the metro Atlanta area and beyond were invited to submit self-portraits inspired by Frida Kahlo and Diego Rivera’s works on the occasion of the High Museum’s exhibition, Frida and Diego: Passion, Politics, and Painting. Pieces of art were selected for exhibition by High Museum staff, and selections were based on technique, skill and interpretation of Frida and Diego’s work. Top, by Hope Lennox. Bottom, by Sarah Sukin.
Walsh Fifth in State for Wrestling
Coach GUS WHYTE, Walsh and Coach MARK SOMMERVILLE
Freshman JACK WALSH wrapped up an outstanding wrestling season on Feb. 16 with a 27-9 record and a fifth-place finish at the GHSA state championships. Walsh’s 27 wins tie the Pace record for most wins by a freshman.
Pace Debate Wins National Championship Over the weekend of April 12, two Pace debate teams traveled to the National Debate Coaches Association (NDCA) National Championship tournament at Montgomery Bell Academy in Nashville, Tenn., the first of two annual season-ending national tournaments. While Pace qualified three teams to the national tournament, only two competed: seniors PAULA CHENG and BRIAN KLARMAN, and junior ANSHUMAN PARIKH and senior VICTOR SKENDERI. Both teams advanced to the elimination rounds on Monday, April 15. Cheng and Klarman finished the tournament tied for 12th place, while Parikh and Skenderi advanced to the finals to debate Stratford Academy of Macon, Ga., the current top team in the nation. Following a grueling debate, the Pace team emerged victorious, making Parikh and Skenderi the 2013 NDCA National Champions—a first in Pace Academy history! Skenderi received eighth-place speaker honors, and Klarman was the 19th-place speaker. Two Pace teams, Cheng and Klarman and Skenderi and senior JORDAN EPSTEIN, qualified for the 2013 Tournament of Champions, which took place April 27-29 at the University of Kentucky. Both teams advanced to the tournament’s elimination rounds, and Skenderi and Epstein made it to the quarterfinals.
Barrow-Titus Nominated for Shuler Hensley Award
Fine Arts Chair BETH BARROW-TITUS was nominated for a Shuler Hensley Award for her musical direction of this year’s Upper School Fall Musical, West Side Story. This is the second consecutive year that Barrow-Titus has been nominated. The awards recognize, promote and celebrate Georgia’s high school musical theatre programs. Pace’s production of West Side Story also received three Shuler Hensley honorable mentions: Ensemble, Direction (GEORGE MENGERT) and Technical Execution (SCOTT SARGENT and junior KENNY SELMON).
Middle School Linguists Win Awards On March 23, a group of French, Spanish and Latin students from the Middle School traveled to Shiloh High School for the annual Foreign Language of Georgia Oral Speaking Competition. The Pace students earned eight Superior ratings (the highest possible) and two Excellent ratings (second highest), competing against more than 600 students from around the state, most of them in high school. Participating students included seventhgraders DANIEL BLUMEN, AMY BUTLER, MARINA HASHIM and NICOLE ORTIZ, and eighth-graders BARRETT BAKER, WHIT FITZGERALD, PRASHANTH KUMAR, WILL MOVSOVITZ, ANNIE NOTTINGHAM and ROXIE STRICKER.
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A R O U N D PA C E
What’s Happening at the Academy 1. The Doctor Was In On Jan. 24 and 26, the Upper School performing arts department presented The Good Doctor in the Fine Arts Center. A comedy by Neil Simon, the play is set in 19th-century Russia and written in the style of Chekhovian comedy. It is composed of a series of scenes in which one character, the Writer, is the only connecting thread. Theatre Director GEORGE MENGERT and Director of Communications CAITLIN GOODRICH co-directed the production, which featured a talented cast of 15 Upper School students, led by senior BEN HIRSCH, right, as the Writer.
2. “Can-Do” Community Service On Feb. 15, the Middle School participated in “Canstruction,” its annual community-service tradition. Throughout the morning, teams of students and teachers assembled themed structures made of hundreds of donated non-perishable items that they later gave to the Bread Basket Food Pantry. With the students’ donation, the Bread Basket will be able to stock its pantry and provide meals for the families it serves.
3. Photo Op Each year, Pace and Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) collaborate to present the Georgia Photography Awards and Exhibition. The exhibit, now in its 22nd year, was on display April 3-17 in the Fine Arts Center. It included works by students from approximately 25 independent and public schools around Atlanta. Well-known Atlanta-based photographer Lucinda Weil Bunnen judged this year’s competition, and prizes were
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awarded at a reception on April 7. Junior LAUREN FLICK won one of five First-Place awards, while seniors KATJA MARTIN and LUCY WELLBORN, and juniors KATIE DUVAL and KYLE JOHNSON received Exceptional Merit awards.
4. Lower School Fathers and Special Friends On April 5, fathers and other special friends streamed into the Lower School to spend the morning with their favorite children. Their visit included time for coffee and catching up, a warm welcome from the entire Lower School and fun classroom activities.
5. Making Mark Twain Proud On Feb. 1, the fifth grade presented The Adventures of Tom Sawyer to a packed house and dedicated the production to the members of the Class of 2013, who also performed the play in fifth grade.
The Little Mermaid is a Splash Hit!
This spring’s Middle School production of The Little Mermaid was a boatload of fun for attendees of all ages. Performances took place Feb. 21-23 in front of capacity crowds that followed Ariel from when things were going swimmingly in her life to that fateful day when her proverbial ship ran aground. With great dramatic flair, all of the student actors delivered touching and hilarious accounts of life under the sea. The singing was beautiful, the dancing inspiring and even those of us near-sighted swabbies in the audience with receding shorelines could appreciate the clever stage design. The musical was directed by PATRICK CAMPBELL with musical direction by BETH BARROW-TITUS and choreography by MEG MORRISSEY. Pictured above, ELLIE DUNCAN as Ariel. - by Pace parent ROB CARTER
6. Budding Authors Over the course of the school year, Pre-First students have been learning story-telling techniques and writing their own books. They shared their creations with classmates and parents during the Pre-First Authors Tea Party on April 18. Pictured, ELLIE MILLER reads her story, Candy Wonderland.
7. Pace Race Turns 31 On April 20, the Pace community came out to support the Booster Club for its annual Pace Race. Overall winners for the boys in the one-mile fun run were JONATHAN BOSS and CONNOR LAMASTRA (a tie!), BEN CRAWFORD and JACKSON HAMEL. MADELINE SIMPSON, ERIN HOOD and GRACE FUNSTON led the girls. Overall 5K winners for the boys were JOSH ROGERS, followed by MAX IRVINE and BEN CRAWFORD. For the girls, HANNAH KELLY finished first, followed by LACEY O’SULLIVAN and ANNE LAMASTRA.
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AROUND PACE
Members of the Pace Upper School chorus in front of Epcot at the Magic Kingdom.
We’re Going to Disney World! This spring, the Upper School chorus took its annual tour to Disney World in Orlando, Fla. The group participated in Epcot’s Disney Sings workshop and learned songs and choreography from popular Disney movies. “It was terrific to watch the students pushed to produce their best work in a limited amount of time,” says director BETH BARROW-TITUS. The chorus also performed a concert at a local nursing home. “They should come back and sing at every lunch,” one resident declared. The students’ performance at Downtown Disney Marketplace was equally well-received. “One audience member chased me down afterwards to relate that she and her husband go there all of the time for the concerts, and that this was the best choral performance she had ever heard,” says Barrow-Titus. BETH BARROW-TITUS was honored at the Spring Arts Festival assembly on Barrow-Titus will retire at the end of the school year, March 30. She will retire this year. which made this tour particularly poignant. “I can’t remember a tour that was so energy-filled, joyous and delightful,” she says. “I took pictures with the students at every park, they posted the most lovely notes on my door each night, and I was treated to a fireworks cruise on our last evening in Orlando. This was an experience that made me so proud of all of my students!”
It Takes a Village There’s been much talk about the arrival of the “Academic Village,” a group of “learning cottages” that will serve as Upper School classroom space during construction of The Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School. Well, the village has arrived! Massive trailers began rolling on to campus in early February, and the Academic Village is taking shape on the back practice fields. Once complete, it will house nearly 40 classrooms, the Academic Resource Center, two computer labs, space for quiet study and a library classroom. Visit www.paceacademy.org/progress for construction updates.
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We’ve Got Spirit!
It’s hard to decide which Pace division has the most team spirit. While Upper School students certainly put in their time at Pace athletic events, Lower and Middle School students and their families brought the heat on their respective Spirit Nights. On Jan. 16, Middle Schoolers donned matching shirts to support the home team and, on Jan. 25, Lower Schoolers, led by the Junior Knights cheerleaders, packed the Inman Center as the varsity basketball teams took on Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School.
Winter Sports Highlights Boys Basketball Coached by Demetrius Smith The varsity boys basketball team played a hardscrabble season, advancing to the Sweet Sixteen in GHSA play. They ultimately fell to St. Francis High School 74-93. The team ended the season with a 15-12 record, and freshman JORDAN HARRIS was named to the Region 5A All-Region Team. The Knights will lose seniors DJ DIAKITE and ALEXANDER RECKFORD.
Girls Basketball Coached by Regina Tate With the loss of a strong senior class, the varsity girls basketball team looked at the 2012-13 season as a rebuilding year. It turned out to be much more. Throughout the season, Tate encouraged her young team to echo Eighth-grade boys basketball the Pace motto and “have the courage to strive for excellence.” The team did just that and advanced to the Elite Eight round of the state tournament. Junior EVELYN HOBBS and sophomore HANNAH FERRY ended the season with places on the 5A All-Region Team. The team finished the season with a 15-14 record and bids farewell to seniors LAUREN SCHAFFER, SYDNEY WILLIS and LINDSEY ZWECKER.
Swimming and Diving Coached by John Ague The varsity swimmers and divers capped off a successful season filled with personal and school records at the state meet on Feb. 8 and 9 at Georgia Tech. Sophomore diver HARRISON MONCINO is Pace’s first state diving champion (see pg. 6). His brother, OWEN MONCINO, placed sixth overall. The state team included JASON WIENER, JOHN MCCREA,
WILLIAM SADLO, KAL GOLDE, COOPER DROSE, DYLAN STEINFELD, WILSON ALEXANDER, MARK GRENADER,
Owen Moncino, Harrison Moncino, GRACE FERRY, MADISON GRAHAM, GYWNNIE LAMASTRA, BRENNER APPEL, CAMI GREATREX, ALEX PARÉ, RACHEL MERKEL and ANNA VAN ZYVERDEN. The varsity boys finished the state meet in 17th place overall, while the girls’ combined record led the Knights to an overall fifth-place finish in the state—out of 113 teams. Graham, LaMastra, Ferry and Appel set school records in 200-meter medley relay (a fourth-place finish) and in the 400-meter freestyle relay (fifth place). Ferry broke her own school records with fifth-place finishes in both the 200- and 500-meter freestyle. Graham achieved a school record in the 100-meter backstroke, finishing eighth in the state. LaMastra lowered her school record in the 100-meter breaststroke and placed fourth. Seniors Paré, Sadlo, McCrea and Wiener all had their best performances of the season at the state meet, and seniors Paré, ZACH STEINFELD, Wiener and SAM SCHAFFER met the requirements for Academic All-American.
Eighth-Grade Boys Basketball Wins Championship The eighth-grade boys basketball team, under the leadership of Head Coach PETE POPE and Assistant Coach CHRIS SLADE, won the Championship of Paideia over No. 1 seed W.D. Mohammed 34-27. MARK SOMMERVILLE led the team in scoring, shooting 6-9 from the field for 12 points. PARKER PAYNE plugged away for 10 points, and BARRETT BAKER quarterbacked the team while scoring seven points. Sommerville, Payne and Baker were named to the AllTournament Team. The team ended its season with a 12-4 record.
PACE CARES
When our families and staff are in need, Pace Cares. Contact us to deliver a meal: 404-926-3727 pacecares@paceacademy.org
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AROUND PACE
A Knight of Jazz Kicks Off a New Tradition
Top, Middle School Arts Laureates. Bottom, Upper School Arts Laureates
Celebrating the Arts
Pace’s annual Spring Arts Festival took place April 2-5. The school-wide celebration of the arts highlighted Pace’s outstanding visual and performing arts programs, recognized students who excel in specific mediums and encouraged artistic expression around campus. Students in each grade selected Arts Laureates who performed at assemblies throughout the week and were honored at assemblies on April 5. The week also included a school-wide art exhibit, open studio days and visiting artists such as photographer Dru Phillips. Arts Laureates honored during Spring Arts Festival were seniors MEREDITH BRADSHAW, BRIANNA COCHRAN, JAKE SILVERSTEIN and BILLY STONECIPHER; Lower School Arts Laureates juniors TOMMY BURRUSS, BAIZA CHERINET, KATIE DUVAL and SARAH SUKIN; sophomores REBECCA HUSK and FORREST SCHNEIDER; freshmen JARED GOLDMAN and HOPE LENNOX; eighth-graders MILES HSU, WHIT FITZGERALD and CARSON MYERS; seventh-graders COLE MCCORKLE and JACKSON FULLER; sixthgraders JOE HIRSCH and GRACE POTTORFF; fifth-graders ISABELLE BOUGHNER and AIDAN GANNON; fourth-graders SLOAN BAKER and ELI MAUTNER; third graders GIANA KARAMANOLIS and GRANT THOMPSON; second-graders LEAH FASER and JORDAN LOUGHRAN; and first-graders REED MILLNER and COLIN CURTAIN.
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On Feb.27, students, faculty, parents and grandparents were wowed by A Knight of Jazz, a beautiful performance featuring the Upper School band, chorus ensembles and soloists. The Arts Alliance’s inaugural winter concert included jazz selections from the 1940s until today. Pace musicians were joined by Atlantabased band Mango, a group of elite musicians specializing in jazz, funk, soul, pop, rock and blues. Mango band members spent three days working with the Pace band, sharing their expertise in the techniques of performing jazz compositions. The choral soloists received additional clinic work with Dr. Geoff Haydon from Georgia State University. Pace students dazzled the audience with such favorites as String of Pearls, Blue Moon and In the Mood. Fine Arts Chair and Choral Director BETH BARROW-TITUS sang a heartwarming rendition of I Remember You, and Mango treated the audience to a set of its own selections that had attendees dancing in the aisles and rocking in their seats. The concert was the first collaboration between the chorus and band and required a special, cooperative relationship between faculty leaders and students. Band Director DANNY DOYLE and Barrow-Titus worked hard to make the event a reality. Students soloists included: ALEXANDRA GARTON, CHARLIE BURRUSS, TOMMY BURRUSS, MICHELLE YANCICH, REBECCA HUSK, JOE CAPELOUTO, KAMERON UTER, MEGAN MCCURRY, MEREDITH BRADSHAW, LAUREN MELVILLE, CAILLIN COOKE, OWEN MONCINO and DYLAN STEINFELD. - by Pace parent KATHY SHEERIN
Pace alumni at Wake Forest University. From left to right, Stephen Merritt ’11, Emily Wilson ’12, Zach Lamb ’12 and Andrew Harton ’12.
Oh, the Places You’ll Go
2013 COLLEGE TRIP EXPLORES THE CAROLINAS AND REUNITES STUDENTS WITH ALUMNI
On Friday, Feb. 15, College Counselor LEE NUCKOLLS, and Class Deans TRISH ANDERSON and ALLISON RILEY and I led 36 juniors and sophomores on a four-day college trip through North and South Carolina. Departing by bus mid-morning, our first stop was Clemson University, where we attended a short information session and were given a tour of campus. We left Clemson and headed to Furman University, where we ate dinner in the dining hall and caught up with BILLY TUTT ’11. We woke the next morning to a winterweather forecast and, as we arrived at Duke University, the snow began to fall. Undeterred, we spent a short time with an admissions officer and Juniors PATE HARDISON, KATE MORRISROE and forged ahead into the SAM DOWNEY at Clemson University. white stuff on a tour led by MELISSA DALIS ’09, BLAIR WINDERS ’09, GRANT KELLY ’12 and CAMERON WINDERS ’12. Our damp cohort piled back onto the bus
for a short ride over to the University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. There, despite the ongoing snow, EVAN ZELDIN ’10 led us on a short tour of campus, and we stopped by the iconic Old Well for a photo. The sun returned to the sky on Sunday, and we packed off for a very chilly visit to Elon University, where CARLY GAYNES ’11, a member of the Elon Ambassadors program, arranged for a detailed tour of campus and lunch in the campus dining hall. While at Elon, we also caught up with Elon students MORGAN KIMBALL ’11 and BRINTHA RENGANATHAN ’12. From there it was just a short ride over to Winston-Salem and a stop at Wake Forest University. A host of former Knights welcomed us to campus, including STEPHEN MERRITT ’11, ANDREW HARTON ’12, EMILY WILSON ’12 and ZACH LAMB ’12. The day ended with a tour and dinner at High Point University. On Monday morning, our trip home included a stop in Columbia, where we took a tour and attended an information session at the University of South Carolina. The trip was an opportunity for Pace students to see a broad range of colleges, many of which are among our graduates’ most popular destinations. We were especially fortunate to be able to spend time with Pace alumni who shared very specific information and insights into their school and the college process. - by GAVIN BRADLEY, Director of College Counseling
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Students examine the physics of bridge design in John Pearson’s minimester course.
Not Your Usual Science Program
UPPER SCHOOL SCIENCE DEPARTMENT LAUNCHES EXPERIMENTAL “MINIMESTER” PROGRAM The idea of a “minimester” isn’t new. Colleges and universities around the country regularly offer the short, intensive classes to students wishing to delve deeper into a specific subject matter or earn course credit in a condensed period of time. However, for Pace, taking a chunk of time out of the Upper School’s rigorous academic curriculum to explore something a little more outside the box doesn’t happen every day. But Upper School Science Department Chair JONATHAN DAY, in his first year as department head, was convinced a minimester program could work. “I loved the idea and really wanted to push it,” he says. “I thought that the best way to implement minimesters was simply within our department. We could mix up our classes without interfering with anyone else’s.” Day approached his colleagues with the idea at the end of the 2011-12 school year and the response was overwhelmingly positive. “They all loved it,” Day says and, with the blessing of Head of Upper School MIKE GANNON, the planning commenced. The department chose Spirit Week 2013 to launch its pilot program. “It’s a week when kids are busy,” Days says. “They’re not particularly focused on school. Our thought was to take one of our [eight-day] rotations to implement the minimester program. That would give each faculty member six days to cover a given subject—enough for students to get their feet wet but not
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Becky Wheeler puts weights on students to show how it feels to be overweight as part of her Hot Topics of Healthcare minimester.
so much that the courses would be a burden to plan.” Day allowed each faculty member to choose his or her subject matter. Some teachers chose to share their areas of expertise, while others explored a more personal interest or passion, resulting in a diverse list of course offerings. Chemistry teacher REGINA TATE, who recently completed her master’s in sports psychology and performance enhancement, taught Sports Performance and Enhancement; JULIE HALL
explored The Chemistry of Food; and physics instructor JOHN PEARSON’s students learned and employed the principles of bridge design. MEGAN DICKHERBER, a former lead research specialist at the Emory Vaccine Center, offered The War Within: A Survey of Human Disease and the Body’s Defenses; Middle School robotics instructor JO RAY VAN VLIET ventured out of the Middle School to teach Introduction to Robotics; and BRIANNA KORB explored sea life in Flippers, Fins and Neoprene: An Introduction to the Marine World. BECKY WHEELER’s Hot Topics in Healthcare examined the legalization of marijuana, the right to die and the obesity epidemic. Students in bird enthusiast KEVIN BALLARD’s ornithology course got out into the field to identify Georgia’s winter birds. Day offered Wildlife Tracking and Monitoring, a hands-on, field-based course, and Fine Arts Center Technical Director SCOTT SARGENT examined innovative design strategies Chef Chris Hall speaks to students in the The Chemistry of Food course. and techniques in Sustainable Housing Design and Construction. Just as faculty members determined their areas of interest, students were “We teach skills. We develop interests and expose students to allowed to select the courses they different subjects and real-world issues. Whether they get every wanted to take—without the pressure of a single content issue is not as important. We’re willing to take that grade. (Students in Advanced Placement time off [from the curriculum] to let them learn in different ways Physics, Biology and Psychology did not about different subjects.” —Science Department Chair Jonathan Day participate due to the rigorous schedule of an AP curriculum.) play—parent, sibling, wife, child, friend, doctor, nurse, judge,” “What was important was that students got to engage in says Wheeler. “Every character received a twist during the role something they picked and enjoy it ‘just because,’” says Day. playing that might affect his or her decisions. I think students Students ranked their first, second and third choices based on were surprised by how hard it was to decide what to do.” their scheduled science period, and nearly every student received One unexpected positive result of the minimester experience— his or her first choice. for both teachers and students—was the multi-age classroom and With the logistics taken care of, learning got under way. consequent dynamic. “I thought being with students in other Students in several courses braved pouring rain, chilly grades was fun!” says Beck. “It was a tiny bit intimidating at temperatures and muddy conditions to track deer, birds and first being in classes with upperclassmen—and I’m not even a other wildlife in the “swamps” behind Pace’s Warren Road Fields. freshman—but it ended up being great!” Others climbed stairs or circled the track in weighted vests to Tate agrees. “It was more fun than teaching a single age understand what it might feel like to be significantly overweight. group,” she says. “I enjoyed the different levels of perspective Some learned and practiced visualization techniques to improve based on experiences.” their athletic performances, and others heard from Chef Chris So, was this experimental program successful and will it Hall of Atlanta hotspot Local Three about the science behind their happen again? favorite foods. “Absolutely,” says Day. “The biggest issue with [minimesters] is This hands-on, experiential approach and its real-life the loss of class time as far as the curriculum is concerned. And applications appealed to students. “I chose The Chemistry of Food while the curriculum is important, it’s not the most important. We because I’m very interested in eating healthy and why certain teach skills. We develop interests and expose students to different foods are good for you,” says senior SARA MULLALLY. “I loved subjects and real-world issues. Whether they get every single learning about how we taste things! I never knew how much content issue is not as important. We’re willing to take that time smell had to do with taste—it’s not just your taste buds!” off to let them learn in different ways about different subjects.” Sophomore JULIA BECK had a similar experience: “The topics Students also deemed the program a success. “Even though I [we explored in Hot Topics in Healthcare] were very interesting wasn’t going to be tested on the material, I took class notes,” says and very current,” she says. “They were applicable to my life, Mullally. “This is one of the things I liked about the minimesters, which made the class more interesting as a whole.” that I actually wanted to concentrate in class because I was For example, Wheeler, who holds a master’s in public health genuinely interested in the material and not just in getting a good and recently received her Ph.D. in nursing from Emory University, grade.” had students decide whether to remove an imaginary patient And sometimes, you just need a break. “I loved my minimester from life support. “Each student was assigned a different role to course!” says Beck. “It wasn’t stressful at all.”
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The
W rld
is
Our Classroom
Since the inception of the Global Education program in 2009, Pace Middle and Upper School students have traveled the world, participating in study tours that connect the Pace curriculum with international experiences that enliven and expand learning. The program has grown steadily and, during the spring semester of the 2012-13 school year, students traveled to Germany, Qatar, Italy, Baja, Big Bend and Bolivia. Here’s a look at Pace’s most recent Global Education trips.
Germany (January 2013) A staple of the Global Education program, the Germany trip, led by History Department Chair TIM HORNOR and math teacher JASON SMITH, highlighted central European politics and culture from World War II onwards, with specific attention to the impact of the rise of the Third Reich and its policies. Together with their guides, 10 students began the trip in Munich, exploring the city’s platzes and museums, sampling traditional German fare, taking in a performance of Madama Butterfly at the Bavarian State Opera, wandering the English Gardens and visiting the Hofbrauhaus, Munich’s historic beer hall (no alcoholic beverages were consumed).
A half-hour train ride from Munich took the group to Dachau, the notorious site of Germany’s first concentration camp. “Touring the grounds, including the extensive museum, the reconstructed barracks and the crematorium and gas chamber, on an especially cold and snowy day, was an experience no one will forget,” Smith wrote on the Student Travel Blog. The group later headed into the Bavarian Alps to visit the small town of Schwangau and the world-famous—and Disney-copied— Neuschwanstein Castle. Blanketed in snow, “the scenery was incredibly, almost unfairly, scenic,” Smith wrote. Following an overnight train ride through the German countryside, the group arrived in Berlin, where students navigated the exhaustive subway system, walked Potsdamer Platz and through the evocative Holocaust Memorial, and visited the Brandenburg Gate and Reichstag building. A trip to the famous Philharmonie, the “awe-inspiring” Pergamon Museum, Checkpoint Charlie, Potsdam, Frederick the Great’s Sanssouci Palace, and other historic landmarks and museums rounded out the study tour. Participating students were JARED ALLEN, PATE HARDISON, SALLIE HAYS, EMILY PAIR, ELIZABETH ROOS, LAUREN SCHAFFER, ADRIANNA URQUIETA, ELLIE WEBER, REID WILLIAMS and JULES ZAPPONE.
At the Berlin Wall: From left, Emily Pair, Elizabeth Roos, Adrianna Urquieta, Lauren Schaffer, Ellie Weber, Pate Hardison, Sallie Hays, Jules Zappone, Jared Allen and Reid Williams.
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Above, in Qatar: From left, Max Barab, Sam Schaffer, Zach Steinfeld, Claire Wiskind, Morgan Frazier and Jeff Handler.
Left, in Baja: Students and faculty advisors Jonathan Day and Courtney
Morrison gather around a sea turtle. Baja is home to five different species of sea turtle, and the region’s habitat provides nesting and feeding grounds.
Model UN in Qatar (February 2013) On Feb. 16, seniors MAX BARAB, MORGAN FRAZIER, JEFF HANDLER, SAM SCHAFFER, ZACH STEINFELD and CLAIRE WISKIND hopped a flight to Qatar accompanied by faculty members KEITH NEWMAN and HELEN SMITH. During their time in the Arab state, the group stayed in Doha, the country’s largest city, as student tourists and as delegates to Georgetown’s School of Foreign Service Model United Nations. They took in Qatari and Islamic culture, attended a camel race, lunched at a Bedouin camp, and visited the Inland Sea, the Islamic Cultural Center and Sheikh Faisal Bin Qassim Al Thani Museum. A highlight of the group’s time in Doha was a day at Parsons Corporation organized by Pace parent TALAL SADAKA. During the visit, executives at the engineering and construction firm shared insights on career choices and Middle East economic forces, and allowed students to visit Lusail City, a planned community designed to be the most sustainable city in the world. “After the 2022 World Cup, with venues in Lusail City, the world will know the name of what may well be ‘the next Manhattan,’” Smith says. The city features walkable avenues, water taxis, housing, businesses, hospitals, schools and more—all sustainable and environmentally conscious. Students donned hardhats and climbed more than 30 feet underground to tour the tunnels that will deliver electricity, water and other utilities to the city. “We were treated like royalty as we toured the guarded, private property and met high-ranking project administrators,” says Schaffer. “We even talked with the project CEO, a brilliant Palestinian man who answered our questions about the future of this public-private partnership, one of the development models we study in Model UN.” Not long after riding camels in the desert, students donned western business attire and assumed their roles as Libyan delegates and Hezbollah representatives at the Model UN. “The
other delegates made this conference truly unique,” says Wiskind. “Where else could I get on a bus and talk to a British girl who used to live in Uganda, goes to school in Brunei and is representing Mexico? Or where I could sit at a lunch table with people from Pakistan, China, Lebanon, Palestine and Romania discussing Taylor Swift and who we think will win at the Oscars?” It was a truly life-changing experience, one that took students through centuries of cultural, religious, economic and political change compressed into a week’s worth of images and memories.
Baja (Spring Break 2013) It’s not often that high school science students have the opportunity to explore shipwrecks, swim with sea lions, SCUBA dive and snack on fish tacos, but for the nine Upper Schoolers on the Baja trip, those activities were just the beginning of an amazing experience. The study tour, led by Science Department Chair JONATHAN DAY and faculty member COURTNEY MORRISON, took students to Espiritu Santo, a protected, uninhabited island outside of La Paz on the Baja Peninsula. There, students explored the plentiful and diverse marine life and learned about conservation efforts in the region. They snorkeled and dove to get a closer look at aquatic life in the Sea of Cortez, home to 39 percent of the world’s marine mammal species, and developed field-based research projects with the National Commission on Natural Protected Areas and the Interdisciplinary Marine Science Center. Students also met with scientists, researched sea turtles, went whale watching, and learned about
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Top, in Bolivia: The group finds
an icon from home painted on the wall in the streets of Bolivia.
Right, in Bolivia: Seniors ROBERT
BROOKS and ALEXANDER RECKFORD
at Salar de Uyuni salt flats.
Far right, in Bolivia: The students
take a break from work building three homes in Santa Cruz. The trip focused on service learning through Pace’s partnership with Habitat for Humanity International.
sustainability, water conservation and the delicate ecosystem in which these animals live. “I made some of the best memories of my life over the course of the 10-day trip,” says senior SYDNEY WILLIS, who plans to major in biology in college. “I swam with sea lions, monitored sea turtles, kissed a gray whale and conducted marine research all in one trip! The food was delicious, the experiences were life- changing and the memories will last a lifetime.” Participants were MEGAN MCCURRY, SYDNEY WILLIS, JOHN MCCREA, COOPER PEERY, COOPER DROSE, HARRY MORELAND, BEN MORELAND, TREVOR CEFALU and BRAYLIN ROBINSON.
Bolivia (Spring Break 2013) Last year, Pace’s Global Education program launched a partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, which took students on a spring-break trip to Jordan. This year’s study tour sent a group, led by faculty members TOMMY HATTORI and REBECCA RHODES, to Bolivia. The group spent four days on a Habitat build in the city of Santa Cruz. “We ended up building on a neighborhood street where we were assigned to three families,” says Rhodes. “After digging
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multiple holes for foundation work for those homes, the project found us two more. We ended up working on five houses because of the kids’ outstanding work ethic.” Construction days started bright and early; “[Before we knew it,] we were killing ants, leveling ground, bungling Spanish, moving bricks, burning trash, digging holes and meeting some of the nicest, most down-to-earth people on the planet,” junior SAM DOWNEY wrote on the Student Travel Blog. “The element of the trip that most sticks out in my mind was the communication between the families and the students,” Rhodes says. “The students threw themselves into getting to know the families by communicating in Spanish. I was so impressed with their ability and willingness to try it out.” Following their stay in Santa Cruz, the group explored La Paz, Bolivia’s capital, where they observed a parade for Hugo Chavez’s death and dined with members of senior ADRIANNA URQUIETA’s family from Bolivia. They also visited Lake Titicaca and the Salar de Uyuni, the world’s largest salt flats. Participants were Urquieta, LINDSEY ZWECKER, AMBER EASLEY, SAM DOWNEY, MORGAN FRAZIER, ROBERT BROOKS, SCARLETT CHANG, CALLIE CUNNINGHAM, LARINE HAMIED, ALEXANDER RECKFORD, WILLIAM RUSHTON, WILLIAM SADLO, MADISON THORNE
and KATIE WILLIAMSON.
Top, in Big Bend: From left,
MICHAEL O’BRIEN, Jackson Singleton, ASHLEY STAFFORD, ALEXANDRA MCCORKLE, KEVIN BALLARD, MADISON HOFF, JACOB ST. AMAND, NATHAN ENGLAND.
Far Left, in Big Bend: The horizon at Big Bend National Park.
Left, in Italy: Middle Schoolers pose for a picture in front of the Coliseum.
Big Bend (Spring Break 2013)
Italy (Spring Break 2013)
Upper School outdoor enthusiasts spent spring break with faculty advisors KEVIN BALLARD, BETH SINGLETON and ASHLEY STAFFORD exploring the mountains, deserts and canyons of Big Bend National Park. “The first night, we stayed in Seminole Canyon State Park,” says junior ALEXANDRA MCCORKLE. “[Junior] MADISON HOFF and I rolled our sleeping bags out and slept under the stars. The night sky was so clear. It looked like you could reach out and grab a star.” The group hiked the 14-mile South Rim of the Chisos Mountains: “It took us six hours or so, but was totally worth it because Mr. Ballard took us all to the park restaurant. We didn’t have to do dishes that night,” McCorkle says. Students also visited the Santa Elena Canyon on the Rio Grande, soaked in hot springs and took a night hike to the Grapevine Hills. Participants were McCorkle, Hoff, MICHAEL O’BRIEN, JACOB ST. AMAND and NATHAN ENGLAND.
Middle School teachers GRAHAM ANTHONY and KIM PETERSON just can’t stay away from Europe. The two, along with Assistant Head of Middle School KATHIE LARKIN, led another Italian study tour for Middle School students over spring break. The group flew in to Rome, explored the ancient city, and attended gladiator school and an Italian cooking class. A hike up Mt. Vesuvius and a visit to Pompeii were highlights for students. “I learned that Pompeii is the most preserved ancient Roman city because the explosion of Mt. Vesuvius covered the city in ashes, allowing us to admire an almost intact city,” says seventh-grader JONATHAN TENNIES. “It seems like we traveled back in time.” Sorrento and Paestum were other popular destinations. “I have always been very interested in seeing what is left of one of the greatest empires of the ancient world,” says Tennies. Participants were Tennies, JACK WALLACE, CLAY SULLIVAN, JULIA ROBISON, SAM SHAFFER, TAYLOR UPCHURCH, AMANDA HINSON, BEN THOMPSON, ERIC SCHANK, RICHARD ELLIS, HARRISON WOODRUFF, COLE MCCORKLE, SOFIA PANA, ALEC TOLLIDAY, EMILY MEARS, NICOLE ORTIZ, MITCHELL O’BERRY, TYLER HENDERSON, HOLLAND CARLTON
and EDEN KERKER.
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We are not building a big school. Pace is going to be a little gem.” —Mills B. Lane
PACE’S FOUNDING FATHERS Mills B. Lane President of C&S Bank and an Atlanta power player, Lane provided the financial backing to establish Pace Academy and was a “guiding light” in the school’s early days. Russell Bridges President of PiedmontSouthern Life Insurance Company, Lane served as chairman of the Pace Board of Trustees from 1960-70 and remained on the Board until his death in 1997. He was an involved Pace parent, school historian, guest lecturer and frequent campus visitor. Lane was honored with the titles of Chairman Emeritus and Life Trustee for his service to the school. The Castle boardroom is named in his honor. Frank Kaley Headmaster from 1959 to 1972, Kaley created the Pace motto and coat of arms, oversaw the school’s physical expansion and established a precedent for academic excellence. The Castle’s Kaley Room is named in his honor.
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A look back at the history of Pace Academy’s first classroom building.
The Evolution of
Russell Bridges Hall Pace Academy Upper School faculty and students will pack up their book bags and briefcases and exit the Upper School for the last time on May 24, 2013, immediately after the last exam. The following day, a demolition crew will raze the building generations of Pace students have called home. While the physical structure will be gone, replaced by a much needed, state-of-the-art facility, the legacy of those who walked its halls will live on. You see, Bridges Hall is inextricably linked to the history of Pace Academy. Its evolution over the years has mirrored the evolution and growth of the school, its colors and furnishings reflecting the cultures and events of each passing decade.
It has witnessed the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the Watergate scandal, the first American woman in space, the fall of the Berlin Wall, the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the advent of the cell phone, iPad and eReader. Students who attended Pace in the 1960s, 70s and 80s now have children who take history, English and math in the same classrooms in which they recited The Canterbury Tales or explored the history of ancient societies. Alumni, faculty and staff owe their
Pace memories to the foresight and vision of school leaders, but to tell the story of Bridges Hall, one must first tell the story of the three men who started it all, MILLS B. LANE, S. RUSSELL BRIDGES and FRANK KALEY.
Setting the Stage for an Era of Growth It was 1958, and Mills B. Lane, Jr., was the community-minded president of C&S Bank, an Atlanta institution now part of Bank of America. He was a man of
extraordinary influence, known for his charisma and personal magnetism. Just one year before, JANE TUGGLE, founder of two successful Atlanta schools, approached Georgia Tech psychology
professor T. BENJAMIN MASSEY about starting a private, co-educational school. They worked with WILLIAM R. PATTERSON, a well-known lawyer at Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan, to build interest and financial support within the community. Patterson, known as “Pat Patterson” to the Pace community, would go on to become one of the school’s most devoted and longstanding Trustees. It was a tumultuous time for education in Georgia. Throughout the 1950s, a significant number of Atlanta families had grown disillusioned with public education and began seeking private institutions for their children. One of the largest concentrations of the wealthy but frustrated elite was centered in the Paces Ferry Road District. Tuggle, Massey and Patterson searched for a location that would conveniently serve their target clientele and set their sites on the Ogden estate at 966 W. Paces Ferry Road. On January 22, 1958, Tuggle purchased a $500 option to buy
the property from Mrs. John Ogden. In order to convert that option into a mortgage contract, Tuggle needed to raise an additional $200,000. The terms of the deal, overseen by C&S Bank, stipulated that $20,000 was to be paid as earnest money upon converting the option into a contract, another $80,000 was to be paid at closing, and the remaining $100,000 was to be paid in monthly installments over the next 10 years. Despite some initial misgivings, on August 26, 1958, Lane and C&S Bank loaned
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THE PEOPLE MAKE THE PLACE Even from the beginning, the Pace experience has been characterized by outstanding educators who care deeply about the students they teach. While there is simply no way to highlight all of the exemplary individuals who have occupied Bridges Hall over the years, here’s a look back at some of those who have left an indelible mark on Pace Academy through the years.
1958
• JEAN FORD, one of Pace’s most dynamic and successful founding teachers, leaves her job as a publicschool principal to teach Pace’s first third-grade class. • SARAH PARKER, a veteran teacher with a profound love for children, is hired to teach first grade. She remains at Pace until 1976.
1959
• FRANK KALEY becomes headmaster. • JOAN HAUGABOOK, EDNA WALKER and MABEL HOLBROOK are among the school’s first faculty members. LILLIAN DAWES DE LA FUENTE and RALPH NEWTON join the Pace staff. >>> A retired writer for the Atlanta Journal, Ralph Newton came to Pace as assistant headmaster. He was a do-itall member of the staff, the school’s resident scholar and “Fig Newton” to students.
1960
• WYNN CREAL becomes Pace’s first French teacher. • OLIVE BELL ROSCOE is hired as the school’s first full-time music teacher. Roscoe begins a girls chorus and a small instrument program and produces West Side Story, Pace’s first musical. • Seasoned teacher SALLY PAFFORD begins a six-year stint in the Lower School. She was a dedicated member of the school community who loved Pace until the day she died.
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An early campaign brochure shows Pace’s first classroom building.
Pace Academy, Inc. $85,000 for a term of one year to get the school off the ground. In making the loan, Lane asked for personal guarantees, and his conviction that the school could be a success, manifested in his willingness to take a gamble, set an example for guarantors. Just three days later, 966 West Paces Ferry Road became the property of the new Pace Academy. The school opened on Sept. 15, 1958 in a temporary facility at 53 15th Street, the site of Tuggle’s Stratford Country Day School. Pace Academy offered grades Pre-First through seven and planned to add one grade per year until it included a graduating class. If all went according to plan, the students who entered Pace in the seventh grade in 1958 would be ready to graduate in 1964. Tuition during that first year was $300 for Pre-First students, $350 for first graders and $400 for students in grades two through seven. The school moved into the Ogden House on Oct. 2, 1958 and, although Pace’s early years were characterized by financial struggles, alumni fondly remember the sense of comfort and community that the home, later dubbed “The Castle,” provided. The energy on the Pace campus was such that all kinds of programs sprang up almost overnight—music, fitness and innovative academic courses. The leadership of the school, however, was floundering. Lane
saw a need for inspiration and stimulation from the outside, specifically from dynamic and successful professionals in the business sector. He and Trustees RICHARD L. MOORE and ROBERT S. REGENSTEIN, who would become chairman of the reorganized Board, began to actively recruit new Trustees from the Young President’s Organization, a group of local business leaders. S. Russell Bridges, president of PiedmontSouthern Life Insurance Company and a member of the Young President’s Organization, was among the nearly 10 new Board members during this period. He served as chairman of Pace’s Board of Trustees from 1960-70 after Regenstein stepped down. Like Regenstein, Bridges remained on the Board until his death in 1997, and during his almost four decades of service, he was honored with the titles of Chairman Emeritus and Life Trustee. It soon became clear to the reinvigorated Board that Tuggle was not a fit for the new school, and she was dismissed on April 22, 1959. The Board’s search for a new leader led them to Frank Kaley, then principal of DeKalb County’s new Kittridge Elementary School. It was Bridges who hired Kaley, the “father” of Pace Academy. His name was presented to the Board in the summer of 1959, and Bridges went to Kaley’s home to meet him. He found Kaley “greasy and dirty underneath an automobile of ancient vintage, working to put it
1961
• MARY ANN HAGEWOOD and JOHNIE BELL BRUMFIELD join the Pace faculty and teach science and Latin, respectively. • LENORA HOLLINGSWORTH, DORIS PRESLEY and RUBY DUDLEY run the school’s food service and prepare a wide variety of hot meals. They know every student by name. • FLOYD HAYES joins the facilities staff.
Clockwise from left, students celebrate the 1964 May Day ceremony. The 1963 May Day Queen, LYNN BALLOU, crowns MARTHA PAFFORD.
quite literally build the foundation for the school Pace Academy is today.
Beyond the Castle Walls Phase I: 1961
Pace Academy’s first graduating class in 1964: ALLYN DARE BALLOU, SHERILYN MARGARET BELL, DOUGLAS GRANT BILLSTEIN, DIANE CONWAY HERBERT, JAMES HUNTER HOGUE, JR., ERIC MCGAVOCK LEE, LINDA ANN MOORE, MARTHA WARD PAFFORD, JACK MASON RICE, JR., DAVID ALAN RUMRILL, HENRY LEON SINGER, II, WALLACE DAVID THOMPSON.
together.” Everything about Kaley spoke of authenticity and down-to-earth ingenuity. Bridges knew intuitively that this was the man he wanted as headmaster and made him an offer that afternoon. Kaley accepted the position on July 1, 1959. Together, Kaley and Bridges would
The decade of the 1960s at Pace belongs to Kaley. Under his wise and capable leadership, Pace took new and important strides toward the achievement of stability and excellence. A small-town boy from rural Georgia, Kaley loved to get his hands dirty. For him, physical pursuits were as important and as sacred as intellectual pursuits. He grew up believing in family unity, hard work, and in displaying strength and resilience in the face of challenge—the ideals that underlie Pace Academy’s identity today. Disenchanted with the public school system, Kaley longed to work in a school that would give him “the freedom to create something according to his ideals.” He believed Pace would be that place. Kaley didn’t waste any time in acting upon his vision for the school and quickly began to lay the groundwork for the organization he wanted Pace to become. He rolled up his sleeves and began to work on the physical grounds of the school. Together with his wife, HELLEN, Kaley spent long afternoons on the Pace campus cleaning and re-organizing the school building.
<<< Known to students and teachers simply as “Floyd,” Hayes performed the day-to-day tasks that kept the school up and running—carpentry, plumbing, electrical work and other kinds of maintenance. He went on to become director of Plant Operations and worked at Pace for decades.
1963
• Kaley hires BOB CHAMBERS and SHIRLEY MAST. <<< The school’s first full-time history teacher, Shirley Mast was a genuine intellectual who delighted in heated debate and made lively discussion a central feature of her classes. She was known as a challenging but gentle teacher who took academic rigor to a new level. She worked at Pace for 31 years and did more than just teach history—she accompanied student groups on international study tours, supervised a number of student publications, helped organize prom and sponsored the Student Council.
1966
• RUBYE MARLOWE comes to Pace. >>> Rubye Marlowe started at Pace in 1966 as a part-time librarian, but joined the administrative team in 1967. During her 18 years of service to Pace, she was a veritable presence on campus and a jack of all trades. She served as librarian, financial secretary, business manager, office manager, receptionist, dietitian and school hostess. Marlowe was known for her tremendous work ethic, positive energy and devotion to the school.
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1968
• CHARLIE OWENS begins his Pace career at the age of 21. <<< Charlie Owens served as a math teacher and baseball coach, eventually leading the Knights to region and state championships. Owens later served as Upper School principal and still teaches math in the Pace Upper School, 45 years later.
1969
• LYNNE BLUMBERG WOOD and NANCY ARMSTRONG begin teaching in the Lower School. • JEAN TREMEGE ROBERTSON is hired to teach French.
Above, the “Pace Academy of the Future,” according to a brochure outlining the long-range campus plan. Left, construction on the addition to Bridges Hall in 1974.
1971
• MAGER LEACH joins the plant operations department. • GEORGE MENGERT is hired to teach English and lead Pace’s drama and debate programs. >>> Since its inception, the debate program has gone on to achieve national prominence, and Pace’s performing arts department is second-tonone in the Southeast. Mengert served as director of Admissions under Kirkpatrick and Headmaster Mike Murphy, and continues to teach Upper School English and lead the theatre program.
1972
• GEORGE KIRKPATRICK becomes Pace Academy’s second headmaster. • Pace hires the Class of 1972, a group of influential teachers who would go on to shape the school. The group includes JOHN COGAN, B.J. HAYES, CONNIE HERNDON, PAULA MALLORY, DIANE MINICK, JANE MURPHY, RALPH NOLAN, HELEN SMITH and NEELY YOUNG. • ERMA GOLD becomes the first Lower School principal. She develops the Lower School Character Education and Pace Adventures programs.
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“He didn’t think anything about manual labor,” said SHERRY KALEY ROBERTS ’66 of her father. “It was second nature to him … he was very unconcerned about what people thought of him, especially when it came to being practical. He wanted things done right, and he knew that if he did them himself, they would be.” During his first year as headmaster, Kaley restored the school’s physical plant, designed its motto and coat of arms, and worked hard to improve Pace academically. He wanted Pace to become an extension of the home—a place where children would not only be taught but also would be nurtured and loved by their teachers. These changes brought about a renewed energy at Pace, which continued into the 1960-61 school year. That spring, the school held its first groundbreaking ceremony for a new addition to campus. Construction began shortly thereafter, and among the workmen erecting the new building was Kaley, who poured mortar and laid brick, an act that is now a cherished part of Pace history.
The building, the center section of the current Upper School, featured 14,500 square feet of floor space, spread out over two levels, which included six classrooms, a modern science lab equipped with multiple sinks and counters, a large dining hall with an adjoining kitchen and a fullfledged library. Although some alumni would later regret the loss of the Castle’s intimacy, no one could disagree that the facility lent a new sense of seriousness and legitimacy to Pace Academy. Fittingly, the building was named for Board Chair Russell Bridges, and the school flourished inside its walls.
A Growing School Phase II: 1968-1972 While Pace grew in size and stature, it continued to struggle financially and had incurred significant debt as a result of its building project. In August of 1968, Lane called a Board meeting to analyze the school’s fiscal situation. According to his calculations, Pace’s debt totaled nearly $360,000. Lane announced that he and C&S Bank would be willing to write off $300,000 as a gift to the school if the Trustees would undertake to match the gift. Lane was convinced that the school could raise the money through a wellorganized, large-scale fundraising
Bob Chambers
Frank Kaley hired BOB CHAMBERS, right, as a science teacher and the school’s first athletic director. The strides Pace Athletics made during his first year were remarkable, particularly given the school’s lack of facilities, and he continued to grow the program into one of the best in the city. He achieved indisputable greatness as a coach and earned a permanent spot on the list of the most outstanding Atlanta-area high school coaches of all time. Chambers would go on to give 21 years to Pace and shape the school as assistant headmaster and Upper School principal. The Inman Center basketball court is named in his honor.
campaign. He recommended that the funds raised be used to eliminate the school’s debt, create an endowment fund and build a small student center. In the absence of a full-fledged development department, much of the fundraising effort fell to the Parents Club. Throughout the 1968-1969 school year, its members worked around the clock, putting together leaflets and other printed materials and hosting a series of fundraisers. But by the time the 1970-71 school year began, the
funds to match Lane’s challenge grant still had not been raised. The fundraising team produced an impressive brochure for prospective donors, which was distributed in October of that year. The cover read “Opportunity at Pace,” and included a photograph of a young Pace student raising his hand. The six-page brochure opened with a letter from Board Chairman EVAN MATHIS: “Did you ever have a generous godfather hand you $300,000? It has happened to Pace Academy,” Mathis wrote. “One of the good friends of the school has given us $300,000 to pay off our building debt. There is one condition. We must raise $300,000 in the next three years to make the badly needed improvements to Pace.” The brochure went on to list each proposed improvement and its estimated cost: a new classroom/library/student activities building ($170,000); air conditioning and the expansion of the dining hall in the present classroom building ($12,000); an indoor swimming pool ($100,000); additional driveways, parking and landscaping ($16,000); and two new tennis courts ($20,000). At the time the brochure was distributed, Pace’s enrollment was approximately 320. However, from January through August of 1970, 526 prospective students had been tested “without regard to race, creed or national origin,” and 226 had been qualified. “These figures show two things,” the brochure argued. “One, that there is a backlog of students who want to come to Pace; and two, that we are not lowering our standards just to enroll them.” If additional classrooms and library space could be added, the committee argued, Pace would be able to accommodate 500 students and to operate on a “deficit-free basis.” The appeal was a compelling one. By February of 1971, the capital campaign had come far enough to finalize construction plans. Mathis called a special Board meeting to review the final blueprints for the new facilities and to
<<< For 41 years, B.J. Hayes has greeted Pace students each day with the joyful salutation, “Welcome, historians!” She is known for quite literally making history come to life as Abe Lincoln, a pilgrim woman and other historical figures. She will retire in 2013. Her students will forever remember the significance of 1588, “a date that’s really great!” >>> Upon joining the faculty, the “dauntless and daunting” Smith was immediately known for her rigorous classes, intellectual energy, and intolerance of narrowmindedness and ignorance. A beloved legend in the school community, Smith still teaches at Pace, where she continues to lead the Model United Nations program, travel with students around the globe and terrify freshmen. <<< Before he left Pace in 1987, Neely Young taught history, started the Pace service learning program, coached wrestling and served as Academic Dean.
1973
• ANNE LANE teaches second grade, and MYRA KNOWLES YOUNG begins teaching sixth grade • ROY IOANNIDES joins the math department. Students fondly recall his love for the Golden Triangle and his wife’s delicious baklava. • NEIL DEROSA teaches science. He goes on to be a computer science instructor and directs Pace’s technology program today—40 years later.
Left, the 1975 yearbook staff works in the room outside the current Headmaster’s office. The room was dedicated to Frank Kaley in 2011.
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• ANNE-MARIE BATAC joins the French department. >>> Anne-Marie Batac taught French and remained at Pace for decades. An avid gardener, Batac led the garden club for years, and a portion of the Pace Gardens is named in her honor. She continues to serve as a substitute teacher in the Upper School.
1974
• RAY BUCKLEY teaches physical education and coaches track and cross country. • SUZANNE KOHN is hired to teach French and goes on to become chair of the foreign language department. She teaches at Pace until 2004. <<< A true Renaissance man, Ray Buckley taught science and performed in Pace theatre productions in addition to his athletic duties. He led his cross country, track and basketball teams to state championships, was a five-time Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Coach of the Year and was the state nominee for national Coach of the Year. Buckley passed away in 1981, and the 1982 Pacesetter remembers him as a man who was “oftentimes quiet and thoughtful, always ready to help with a sincere response when someone had a problem. He taught people never to give in when things seemed insurmountable.”
1975
• The English department hires longtime teacher JIM WITHERS.
1976
• CAPPY LEWIS is hired to teach Spanish, and JOHN MAYER comes on board as a physical education teacher and coach. • MARY ELLEN BAUMIE joins the Pace family. During her tenure, she serves as registrar, secretary to the headmaster and an admissions representative. <<< Cappy Lewis began teaching at Pace right out of graduate school and has never left. Now chair of the
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approve construction contracts. But the year would bring more than just physical change to Pace Academy. In the summer of 1971, Kaley announced that he would leave Pace after the 1971-72 year. The school would have to move forward with its expansion plans without it fearless leader. On August 3, 1971, Kaley wrote ERNEST D. KEY, JR., the incoming Board chair and head of the search committee. In his letter, Kaley named six men he felt qualified to be Pace’s next headmaster. The list included GEORGE G. KIRKPATRICK, headmaster of Thornwood School in Rome, Ga. While the search was beginning for a headmaster, construction was underway on the new wing of Bridges Hall and other campus improvements. Construction continued throughout the summer and, when students returned to campus in the fall of 1971, they found a very different Pace Academy. The classroom facility constructed alongside the existing building provided much-needed academic space, a library and an art room. (The new wing included the current library, teachers’ lounge and history hall.) The final cost of the addition had been approximately $240,000, and it was clear that additional students would be needed to pay for the new facilities. Enrollment increased by approximately 100 students— quite a jump for the small school—and the size of the faculty grew to accommodate larger class sizes. After a thorough analysis of all Kaley’s recommended headmaster candidates, the Board chose George Kirkpatrick. A native of Nashville, Tenn., Kirkpatrick held multiple graduate degrees, had significant teaching experience and was a leader in Mid-South Association of Independent Schools (MAIS), the College Entrance Exam Board and the Southern Association of Independent Schools. But perhaps the most significant of Kirkpatrick’s professional affiliations was his active and high-profile participation in the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS), a role that appealed to the notyet-accredited Pace Academy. The Board knew that Kirkpatrick was a family man with a military background who would run a tight ship, all the while
George Kirkpatrick
Pace Academy’s second headmaster, GEORGE G. KIRKPATRICK ran the school from 1971-1994. Originally from Nashville, Tenn., his extensive teaching experience and leadership in accreditation organizations made him a great fit for the still-fledgling Pace. He spearheaded an addition to the Upper School in 1973, the acquisition of the Randall House in 1976, the construction of the Fine Arts Center in 1991 and the improvement of Pace’s athletic facilities. The Castle was named Kirkpatrick Hall in 1994.
ensuring that Pace retained its family atmosphere. They trusted that he would bring to Pace some key qualities that the school would need in its inevitable and rapidly approaching new era of growth and change. Pace’s enrollment shot from 380 in
foreign language department, her energetic approach to Spanish language and culture is contagious. She is truly passionate about teaching and helping students.
1977
• SALLY FORB begins the first of 35 years teaching fifth grade. She’s still going.
1978
• RICKS CARSON joins the English department. >>> Teacher, poet and coach, Ricks Carson has been at Pace for 34 years. He has coached varsity soccer teams to state championships, worked tirelessly with students to publish countless editions of Knight Gallery, participated in service learning trips and is one of Pace Athletics’ biggest fans. His quirky personality—and classroom—has made academic rigor lively and fun for generations of Pace students.
1979
• MARSHA DURLIN leaves Briarcliff High School in DeKalb County to teach English at Pace. She is currently chair of the Upper School English department and famous for her “Friday Dance.”
1980
• VICK ALLEN and LYN DRAUGHON join the foreign language department. • JO NOVY, “Mrs. Pace Spirit,” begins the first of 31 years teaching third grade at Pace.
1981 Clockwise from top, Students work on an art project in the Gardens in 1965; Students in class in 1981; Rick Canfield’s students model their looks after his notoriously wacky pants; An old computer lab in 1989; Anne Lane teaches second-grade students in 1982.
• JUDY BODY, DEB COOK, CHARLES SPURLOCK and LAURIE ELLIOTT accept teaching positions at Pace. • MARIA LIEVENS DEPOORTER becomes a familiar face in the library.
1982
• JOHNNIE DAVIS begins teaching in art and goes on to become department chair. She remains at Pace until 1993. • TIM STRAUSS joins the history department.
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1983
• JANE SIBLEY begins her tenure at Pace, teaching generations of students to love and appreciate art. Sibley is in her 29th year at Pace. • EDITH WOODLING is hired to teach English and assist with the service learning program. Woodling would remain at Pace until 1999, and during her tenure, the service program earned national recognition for outstanding achievement. • REV. CHARLES WASHAM is dean of Students and Family Counseling. • NEAL NEUENSCHWANDER joins the math department.
1984
• GRACE TATE PETERSON joins the math department and continues teaching at Pace until 2009. • GENE WILLIAMS becomes a member of the facilities team, and COLONEL JIM KIDWELL joins the staff. >>> Jim Kidwell, known by his students as “The Colonel,” wore numerous hats during his time at Pace. He started as “Captain Xerox,” overseeing the copy and mailroom, and went on to become a beloved history and geography teacher. Students fondly remember his infamous kilt.
1985
• KEN JAFFE joins the math department, and Faulkner scholar STAN GILLESPIE begins teaching English. • FRANCE DORMAN joins the Fine Arts department. Dorman serves as the school’s public relations manager in his early days at Pace. • RAY RIDGEWAY begins teaching history and serves briefly as director of Plant Operations and Summer School.
1986
• RICK CANFIELD, MARTHA KASILUS and PATTY SMITH are hired. • CRYSTAL “No seconds on pizza” GREER begins serving lunch in the cafeteria.
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Above, an early rendering shows Pace’s new classroom building. Right, Lower School students eat lunch in the cafeteria, located in what is now the Upper School math and science hall.
1971-72 to 517 in Kirkpatrick’s first year as headmaster—an increase of 38 percent. Despite the addition to the Bridges building, the school’s facilities were again taxed to the breaking point, and the Board and Parents Club redoubled their fundraising activities to raise money for further campus improvements.
Bursting at the Seams Phase III: 1973 In 1972, Pace announced plans to renovate the Gardens behind the Castle building. Lane and his wife provided funding for the project and enlisted the help of a prominent Atlanta architect. Lane felt that although beautiful, the space, with its sunken reflecting pool and natural vegetation, was largely wasted. The area was leveled and converted into a practical space that contained a breezeway, terrace, small playground and a concrete area that could be used for meetings, dances, outdoor study and performances. What Pace students didn’t know was that the renovation of the Gardens was the first step in a massive development project that had been on the drawing board for some time. With the exponential growth in the school’s enrollment, the Board of Trustees had determined that Pace would need to add a number of new facilities to its campus over the next several years. In November 1972, after the dedication of the Gardens, the Board’s campaign committee sent a brochure to prospective contributors detailing what they called “The Pace Academy Long Range Development Plan, Phase One.” The goal was to raise
$365,000. Part of those funds would be used to build a three-story, air-conditioned classroom building, with “seven flexible instructional spaces.” The plan also called for a 600-seat auditorium, a fine arts building, expanded athletic fields, a stadium, the retirement of Pace’s debt and the beginning of an endowment program. The back of the brochure read, “When these projects are completed, Atlanta will have another preparatory school second to none in the South … We intend to remain ‘small’ by Atlanta standards in order to maintain the close feeling and concern for the individual that are the hallmarks and genius of the school.” At the start of the 1973-74 school year, Lane’s challenge grant was still looming on the horizon, but until the school held up its end of the bargain, the $300,000 that C&S Bank had offered to bargain was unattainable. A great deal of money had been raised but the original goal of $365,000 had been “handsomely oversubscribed.” The $490,000 that had come from earlier campaigns had already been spent on immediate needs,
• ED WILKES and CAROL BALLANCE run the College Advising office. Wilkes remains in the position until 1993.
1987
• NEVA MORRISON is hired as an administrative aid, PETE POPE joins the junior high English department, JIM DIEZ starts teaching science and ERMI MCINTYRE is hired to teach Latin. • LISA BROWNE BARKSDALE becomes Upper School music teacher. • THOMAS MCINTYRE starts as assistant headmaster and Upper School head. He serves the school until 1991. >>> Jim Diez arrived at Pace from Georgia Tech excited about incorporating technology in the classroom. A true “Mr. Wizard,” he quickly transitioned from science teacher to computer science instructor and provided invaluable IT support for the school. A voracious learner himself, Diez was always on top of technology trends and shared his enthusiasm with his colleagues and students.
1989
• FRED BLACK joins the English faculty.
1990
Clockwise from top, A science lab in 1979; Students gather along the back of campus for a soccer game in 1982; The math department in 1975. From left, DR. DAVID MORGAN, Roy Ioannides, Charlie Owens, John Cogan and DAN BOLLARD; Upperclassmen dance in the Gardens in 1979.
Chris Wheatley in 1993.
• CINDY GAY JACOBY ’83 returns to her alma mater as director of Alumni Affairs and Summer Camp. • CHRIS WHEATLEY joins the history department and begins leading Pace’s debate team to state and national championships. • The science department gets an influx of new energy when DOUG ALFORD, MIKE BROWN, RICH ESPEY and KATHRYN PATTILLO join the team. • LARISSA BIGGERS joins the English department, and BETH UNGER begins teaching Latin.
1991 Marsha Durlin in 1982.
• DAVID WOOD becomes head of Upper School. • SUE WATSON teaches Spanish.
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1993
• The facilities team welcomes CHARLES SMITH, who recently celebrated his 20th year at Pace. • PAT MOTE joins the science faculty and teaches biology until 2000.
1994 • PETER COBB becomes Pace’s third headmaster.
1995
• The math department gains two Pace legends, JASON SMITH and KRISTA WILHELMSEN. >>> Jason Smith arrived at Pace with dual master’s degrees from Georgia Tech and has become one of the Upper School’s most beloved teachers. A brilliant mathematician and statistician, he also has been an involved member of the Pace community—keeping stats at varsity basketball games, coaching the math team and leading Global Education study tours. He is a founder of PAPUBA, Pace Academy Pick-Up Basketball Association, and his weekly emails about the club are a thing of legend among students.
1996
• MIKE MURPHY, previously head of Lower School, takes over as interim headmaster. He is officially named headmaster in February of 1997. • MIKE GANNON, LINDA TEAGUE and BECKY WHEELER accept positions at Pace. <<< A native New Yorker, Michael Gannon traded Wall Street for education and taught for several years in California before moving to Atlanta. He started his Pace career as a history teacher, launched the school’s lacrosse program, served for a brief period as a college counselor and was named head of Upper School in 2008. Gannon continues to teach AP American History.
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Pace’s cheerleaders perform for the whole school at the 2012 Homecoming Pep Rally in the Inman Center.
principally the construction of new campus facilities. If the school wanted to retire its debt and finally satisfy the terms of Lane’s challenge, it would need to raise more money. And so, the Board launched what it called a “Supplemental Campaign” aimed primarily at new parents. The goal of the campaign was $150,000. Under Kirkpatrick’s leadership, the school would go on to add a second addition to the Bridges building in 1973 and settle its debt. The new section fronted W. Paces Ferry Road and included a foreign language lab and additional classroom space (the current foreign language and English halls, and the Academic Resource Center). The addition completed the exterior of the building as it stands today.
Mike Murphy
Mike Murphy served as head of the Pace Lower School before becoming Pace Academy’s fourth headmaster in 1997. Under his leadership, the school embarked on a campaign to build a new athletic facility and Middle School building and, in early 2000, dedicated the multipurpose Inman Student Activities Center. The 57,000-square-foot Middle School was completed in August 2004. Murphy was beloved by Pace faculty and known for his gentle spirit and kind heart.
Bridges Hall in the New Millennium Phase IV: 1973-2004 In 1976, Pace purchased the Randall family property adjacent to the school. First used to house fine arts programs, the Randall House offered the possibility of providing separate classroom facilities for the Upper and Lower Schools. The Lower School classroom building was constructed as an addition to the
The Randall House, purchased in 1976.
1997
• BETH CULP and PAM MALONE take over Student Affairs.
1998
• The history department welcomes TIM HORNOR, who goes on to become department chair. • LOLLY HAND becomes Head of Upper School and serves in that position until 2008. • SALLY WILLIAMS joins the math department and later becomes dean of Discipline. • SARA ZEIGLER is at the helm of the service learning program.
Clockwise from top, the natatorium in the Middle School; The Inman Center, built in 2000, houses the cafeteria, faculty offices and the basketball court; The state-of-the-art Fine Arts Center, built in 1991; A view of the Middle School with the Inman Center in the background.
Randall House in 1983. Pace renovated the classrooms in Bridges Hall vacated by the Lower School program, creating improved science facilities, computer labs and an expanded library. For the first time, Lower (grades Pre-First through six) and Upper (grades seven through 12) School students attended classes in separate facilities. Additional campus improvements took place throughout the mid 1980s and early 1990s, including the addition of the Fine Arts Center in 1991 and updated athletic facilities. However, during that period, Bridges Hall remained largely unchanged. In 1994, the Castle was officially named Kirkpatrick Hall in honor of Headmaster Kirkpatrick, who had led Pace through its period of greatest growth. PETER COBB served briefly as headmaster from 1994 to 1996, when MICHAEL A. MURPHY, previously head of Lower School, took over as interim headmaster. Murphy was officially named headmaster in February of 1997. That same year, following a gift of $2 million by the Hugh M. Inman Foundation, the “Educating for Life – Pace 2000” capital campaign was
>>> A former U.S. Army Ranger with a master’s from Emory University, Tim Hornor evokes respect and admiration from his students in and out of the classroom. He is a dynamic history teacher, known for coaching students to 5s on the challenging AP exams. Hornor serves as advisor to the Upper School Student Council, a volleyball coach and a Global Education study tour leader.
1999
• JOHN ASBORNSEN and AMY WILLIAMS SECOR join the science department. Asbornsen remains at Pace until 2008, and Secor is currently assistant director of College Counseling and a member of the Upper School science team. • REBECCA ROARK is the Upper School guidance counselor.
2000
• A flurry of new faculty join the Pace family, including CLAIRE DRUMMOND STROWD, MARIE MEANEY, TIM PLAEHN and ALFONSO RUIZ.
2001
• CHRIS BEVEL joins the facilities team. • DON DUPREE, JULIE HALL, KRIS PALMERTON, EMILY STEVENS and AYISHA ABDUL-SALAAM are hired.
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>>> Julie Hall has become a pillar of the Upper School in her years at Pace. She is known for her exciting and demanding science classes, willingness to help students long after the school day has ended and use of technology in the classroom.
2002
• ELIZABETH MILLER joins the history department and remains at Pace until 2009.
2003
• SHUNTÁ JORDAN takes over the debate program. Its success continues under her leadership. • NIKKI MCCRARY is assistant to the head of Upper School. • GEORGE SOKOLSKY joins the faculty.
2004
• TRISH ANDERSON begins teaching history and leading the service learning program. She goes on to become director of Pace’s Global Education program. • The facilities team welcomes CALVIN COUCH and ROBERT WOOD. • The foreign language department expands to include DAVID MATANES and PAULA PONTES. • SANDRA DAVIDSON joins the science department.
2005
• FRED ASSAF becomes Pace Academy’s fifth headmaster. • JONATHAN DAY and ELIZABETH KANN are hired. <<< Science teacher extraordinaire, Jonathan Day has taught a multitude of classes since arriving at Pace. He was named dean of Students in 2007, and in 2012, changed leadership positions and became chair of the Upper School science department. He implemented an innovative “minimester” program in his first year as chair and is a co-founder of the Pace Academy sustainability committee.
launched with a goal of $16 million. This goal included $7.8 million for the Inman Center, a student activity center with stateof-the-art athletic facilities, a new cafeteria, faculty offices and additional parking. The Inman Center opened in January of 2000. The campaign also funded new athletic fields and tennis courts, renovated classroom space in the Upper School and established an endowment supplement of almost $4 million. The Inman Center relieved some of the space issues inherent in the Bridges building and, with the cafeteria now housed in the Inman Center, the former cafeteria on the ground floor of Bridges Hall was converted into space for additional science and math classrooms. The lockers that once lined the halls were moved to the Inman Center’s ground floor, freeing up space for foot traffic. The addition of the 57,000-square-foot Middle School (grades six through eight) in August of 2004 freed up additional classroom space in Bridges Hall and, for the first time, Pace enjoyed three discrete divisions: the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools.
The Upper School Today and Tomorrow Since 2004, Bridges Hall has housed Upper School classrooms and a library shared by Middle and Upper School students. The building has continued to evolve; walls have been torn down only to be erected again when a need arises; chalkboards have been replaced with SMART Boards; classroom décor changes from year to year; furniture comes and goes. In the fall of 2005, Pace Academy welcomed current Head of School FRED ASSAF, its fifth headmaster. Under
Fred Assaf
FRED ASSAF arrived at Pace in 2005 with his wife, MARTHA, and their five sons—all
Pace students. A feverish multitasker who always makes time for students, parents, faculty and school events, Assaf has led the school through two capital campaigns and a strategic planning process. He has been the motivating force behind the Global Education and Pace LEAD programs and oversaw the implementation of Pace’s first varsity football program. A hands-on administrator, Assaf also teaches an Upper School English class.
Assaf’s leadership, the Board of Trustees embarked on an ambitious long-range and master campus plan. As a part of this plan, Pace Academy realized its need for expanded athletic facilities, a LowerSchool expansion and a new Upper School. The SHINE campaign in 2007 fulfilled the first two goals, and in 2014, a new Upper School will be a reality. Despite its shortcomings, the current Upper School continues to evoke the same sense of family and community that it did in 1962. Many of the voices heard echoing through its halls years ago can still be heard today, and the stories of those who no longer there are often told. But the distinct personality that makes the Upper School such a special place will not be lost when it is destroyed. The essence and spirit of Pace—close teacher-student relationships, the unending pursuit of academic excellence and inclusivity—so valued by the school’s founders will remain and will undoubtedly permeate the classrooms and hidden corners of the new
Helen Smith’s classroom
2006
• TOM KATES and MATT HALL join the history department. Hall begins the first football team in Pace Academy’s history. Kates coaches lacrosse. • ALLISON RILEY and MEGAN DICKHERBER join the faculty.
2007
• LAURA AGRONT-HOBBS, MICHAEL CALLAHAN, KEITH NEWMAN, BAILEY PLAYER, REGINA TATE and MATT WALKER are hired. • GAVIN BRADLEY and SHANNON MEYRING complete the College Counseling team. • DAVE FORTIER is head of Facilities. >>> The consummate student-athlete, Regina Tate models intellectual achievement and physical fitness for her students and players. As varsity girls basketball coach, she led the 2010-11 team to the state finals and demands the same excellence in the classroom from her AP chemistry students.
2008
• The Upper School faculty welcomes JEWELL MARABLE, JOHN PEARSON, NANCY ROBINSON, SARA SIEGEL EDEN and LEE WILSON.
2009
• CHARLES BRUBAKER, TOMMY HATTORI and GUS WHYTE are hired.
Top, a courtyard view of The Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School, scheduled to open in the fall of 2014. Bottom, a view of the campus from West Paces Ferry Road. Right, the student commons in the Upper School.
building. So, as we say farewell, we are grateful for the foundation laid in the bricks and mortar of Bridges Hall, but we are even more grateful for its legacy.
It’s Time Scheduled to open in 2014, The Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School will complete Pace Academy’s Long-Range Plan; provide double the space of the current Upper School; include a new Academic Resource Center and the 21st century Woodruff Library; feature state-of-the-
2010
• KEVIN BALLARD and BROOKS FLEMING are the newest members of the Upper School faculty.
2011 art science labs and technology; allow for common work and meeting spaces for students, faculty and staff; assist in the continued retention and recruitment of the highest-caliber faculty; boost learning, foster community and enhance the campus.
• JERE LINK and BRIANNA KORB join the Upper School team.
2012
• ERICA BARBAKOW and JENNI RIDALL COALE ’05 make up the last class of new faculty to teach in the Upper School building.
Large portions of this article were excerpted or adapted from an unfinished history of Pace Academy by Suzi Zadeh.
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First-grade Bananagrams: MICHAEL BELL, JD MASKE and ADGER ALLEN write that they want pears, grapes, kiwis, strawberries and bananas.
Todo el Mundo Habla Español
PROFICIENCY IS THE NEW LOWER SCHOOL FOREIGN LANGUAGE PROGRAM’S GOAL. In the spring of 2012, Lower School parents received a letter detailing changes to the division’s foreign-language program. For years, Pace offered students in Pre-First through fifth grade instruction in French and Spanish. Classes took place three or four days out of the eight-day academic cycle, and lasted between 20 and 30 minutes depending on the grade level. And while the program successfully introduced students to multiple languages, Lower Schoolers were not becoming proficient in one specific area of study. In 2011, a foreign language curriculum committee, including faculty from the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, assembled to assess the situation. Over the course of a A Pre-First student’s Spanish book. year, the committee researched best
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Third graders play Spanish bingo.
Left, Fifth graders present in Spanish in front of their peers. Right, fourth-grader HARLEY RYAN plays Spanish Wheel of Fortune.
“Students retain more and, because of the consistent instruction, can actually speak the language in their first year of study. They’re comfortable with it.”
practices, examined the feasibility of developing a proficiencybased program, and studied the impact such a program would have on foreign language in the Middle and Upper Schools. The committee also gathered parent feedback about the existing program and possible future options, and looked into staffing and logistics issues. The group agreed from the outset that its priority would be the development of a proficiency-based Lower School foreign language program. This would require a curriculum that allows students to spend as much time as possible, as regularly as possible, using the target language. Based on research and parent feedback, the committee concluded that students would be best served by implementing a single-language program, and a parent survey revealed that Spanish was by far the first choice for a target language. Students in Pre-First through fourth grade now spend 30 minutes a day, six days out of the eight-day rotation, in Spanish, while fifth graders have foreign language for three 45-minute periods and three 30-minute periods during the eight-day rotation. This time allocation places Pace well ahead of proficiency-based programs in similar schools. The result has been overwhelmingly positive. “I’ve seen major improvement with our students,” says LYNN BAZZEL, who teaches
Pre-First through second-grade Spanish. “Students retain more and, because of the consistent instruction, can actually speak the language in their first year of study. They’re comfortable with it.” The additional class time allows for increased activities in the target language. Bazzel incorporates songs, rhymes, acting and interactive games with an emphasis on realistic communication. Her classes frequently make trips outside to converse about the weather, season and days of the week in Spanish. The transition has been equally seamless in the upper grades, where more time with students allows POLI APARICIO, a native of Venezuela, to incorporate study of Spanish culture into her curriculum. To celebrate National Hispanic Heritage month in the fall, Aparicio coordinated a Spanish exhibition for all grade levels and asked students to contribute items from Spanish-speaking locations they have visited. She and Bazzel received maps, souvenirs, photos and flags from more than 20 countries, allowing students to compare and contrast the cultures of different Spanish-speaking countries. Fourth-grader Aparicio and Bazzel also worked with the Lower LAURA ROMIG displays her project School cafeteria staff to serve a traditional Spanish on professional lunch, complete with Spanish menus, papel picado golfer Nancy Lopez. decorations (traditional cut paper folk art) and churros. Day of the Dead, Navidad and Cinco de Mayo celebrations (including salsa dancing!) also have taken place. Earlier in the year, fourth graders researched Hispanic leaders and used various forms of technology to present their findings, and the fifth grade compiled reports on Spanishspeaking countries. The teachers even put together regular newsletters that give parents insight into what their children are learning and allow them to practice with their students, and they frequently post videos and photos of students’ progress
KnightTimes | Spring 2013 37
Clockwise from top, The Lower School cafeteria serves authentic Mexican fare in honor of National Hispanic Heritage Month; The cafeteria was decorated with traditional folk paper art; Students contributed items from Spanish-speaking countries to a division-wide exhibition.
“We want to be able to adapt to what works for the kids and make it real and meaningful for them.” on Lower School class blogs (knightlife.paceacademy.org). Both Aparicio and Bazzel teach without textbooks. “We want to teach to [students’] interests and needs,” Bazzel says. Aparicio agrees. “We want to be able to adapt to what works for the kids and make it real and meaningful for them,” she says. “That’s hard to plan, but we also try to make our curriculum reflect what they’re learning in their other classes. It’s all connected.” For example, students create Pillars of Character in Spanish, and teachers throughout the Lower School label classroom items in Spanish to help teach vocabulary. The teachers also have adopted a conversational approach to second-language acquisition. Students learn vocabulary in the
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context of different day-to-day conversations, which allows them to directly apply their new skills in their daily lives and at their own pace. “As a result, students are excited and motivated to speak Spanish and often converse outside of the foreign language classroom,” says Aparicio. For the Lower School Spanish teachers, Pace’s new approach to proficiency-based learning is inseparable from its mission to create prepared, confident citizens of the world, and from its growing Global Education program. “These are lessons they’ll carry with them throughout their time at Pace and into their adult lives,” they say. “We’re taking away stereotypes and changing students’ world view. It’s exciting!”
“We want to mix up our normal routine and expose kids to other cultures— not just the culture of the language they’re studying.”
Multicultural Collaboration in the Middle School While Lower School students got together in Knights are immersing themselves Hall to make traditional in Spanish language French and Spanish party and culture, an exciting foods—fondue and Mexican multicultural, multilingual holiday punch—and watched partnership has developed holiday movies in our target in the Middle School. In languages.” sixth grade, students choose And while food and to take French, Latin or games are always fun, Spanish and, for the most the partnership allows part, continue to study Jiménez and Hermosillo to their selected languages delve deeper into cultural throughout Middle and and political issues that Upper School with little affect native French and exposure to other language Spanish speakers around the courses. world. “The Middle School This year however, recently had a speaker on Spanish teacher HOLLY immigration,” Hermosillo JIMÉNEZ and French teach says. “We prepared for it in EDNA-MAY HERMOSILLO are French and Spanish, and we changing things up. They’ve put all the different groups joined forces to make Middle together in one classroom. School foreign language an [Jiménez] and I worked interactive, dynamic and together to make a onecross-cultural experience. period introduction to “We started off tagthe issue.” teaming with a blog,” The immigration Jiménez says. “I took a discussion continued in course this summer and advance of this year’s annual started my own blog and eighth-grade Civil Rights trip. then showed [Hermosillo] French and Spanish students how to do it. We’ve been explored how immigration French and Spanish blogging and civil rights impact ever since. We use the blog Spanish speakers in the U.S. to highlight class projects, and looked at the plight of post videos, pictures, songs Haitians in the Dominican of the week in Spanish … Republic, something Top, students converted Knights Hall into a traditional Spanish market. things like that.” Hermosillo experience Bottom, Middle School foreign language teachers prepare for a boumiesta. They advanced to firsthand during an extended From left, EDEN TRESIZE, KATHERINE NORTON, EDNA-MAY HERMOSILLO and HOLLY JIMÉNEZ. bilingual quiz games with service trip last summer. questions in French and “We want to mix up our Spanish, “to change it up and show how our languages are normal routine and expose kids to other cultures—not just the similar,” says Hermosillo. culture of the language they’re studying,” says Jiménez. A holiday boumiesta (“party” is “boum” in French, “fiesta” Hermosillo jumps in: “That’s our overall goal, to get kids to in Spanish) was next. “All the French and Spanish classes open up to the world. We’d love to do more.”
KnightTimes | Spring 2013 39
PHOTO BY ELLIE WEBER ’13
ALUMNI
Alumni
Love Stories As the Upper School’s last days come to an end, alumni have talked a good deal about their love for the building, the teachers who taught in its classrooms and the friends made in its halls. But some Pace graduates literally found love in the structure that they, well … loved. While there are many more Pace alumni couples than mentioned here, we thought we’d share a few of the love stories that began in science class, on the stage or after graduation.
Josh Belinfante ’95 + Karina Khouri Belinfante ’95
Josh and Karina’s fate as a couple may have been in the cards long before they met at Pace in 1993. Their fathers worked at the same hospital in the 1980s, and they went to elementary schools—Riley and Holy Innocents’— that were “separated by a playground fence.” Karina enrolled at Pace her sophomore year, and Josh was assigned
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to be her tour guide on the first day of school. “He was sweet and wanted to show me around, but I had an old friend with me and sort of sent him away,” says Karina. “We later became friends, and the rest is history.” They started dating after their junior Prom and married in 2003 at the Biltmore Ballroom in Atlanta. Their love has stood the test of time—and distance. They attended different undergraduate and graduate schools. Josh is currently a lawyer for Robbins Law Firm, and in 2012, he campaigned for a Senate seat in District 6. Karina is a physician at Emory Clinic and serves on the administration of Emory Adventist Hospital as a Board member and Hospitalist Program Director. They have two sons, Ian and COLE, a first grader at Pace.
Joel Cohen ’06 + Emily Hishta Cohen ’06
Joel’s first memory of Emily is from Spirit Week, an annual event that is still beloved by Pace Upper School students. “I remember wondering: how is someone who clearly hasn’t slept all week doing such a great job painting our Spirit Week banner?” They started dating their sophomore year at Emily’s 16th birthday party. A thousand miles apart, they maintained a fouryear long-distance relationship during college, but were able to study abroad in Italy during the same semester. Joel studied philosophy, art history and the history of the Italian language (all in Italian) at the University of Bologna, and Emily studied studio art, contemporary art and art history through Washington University’s Florence program. “We were able to travel to 23 Italian cities together,” Emily says. “We walked and ate a lot.” The Cohens married in April 2011 at the Atlanta Botanical Garden surrounded by Pace friends. They live in Cambridge, Mass., where Joel works in the investment office at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and manages its $10-billion endowment. Emily is pursuing a master’s in art conservation at the Harvard Extension School.
Neil Conrad ’84 + Ann Douthitt Conrad ’84
Neil and Ann first saw each other during soccer practice in the fall of 1984 and began dating that winter. More than 20 Pace friends attended their wedding in 1991 at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church in Atlanta. “Throughout college, marriages, births and today, we have been surrounded by Pace friends,” says Ann. “Now that our oldest child, TRIPP ’14, is a junior at Pace, we are in touch with even more Pace people.” Ann has been in technology marketing for 20+ years and currently works as director of Marketing at Damballa Inc., an Internet security company. Neil made a mid-life career change
Many Pace alumni attended the Douthitt/ Conrad wedding in 1991. Right, the Conrads today.
several years ago and now teaches middle school social studies at St. Martin’s Episcopal School.
Chris Kulinski ’96 + Caroline Clements Kulinski ’97
The chemistry between the Kulinskis was first evident on the Pace stage, but offstage and over the years, their love has weathered many tests. Through long-distance dating, marriage, and a diagnosis of multiple sclerosis and, later, cancer, their support and love for one another is truly inspirational. The couple met at auditions for the 1993 Pace fall musical, Carousel. Chris introduced himself, and Caroline was surprised that his voice was so deep for a sophomore. She remembers his audition song, an off-key rendition of Take Me Out to the Ball Game. Chris says he doesn’t recall what Caroline sang, only that she was wearing a white dress, was blonde and very tall (Caroline is just shy of 6 feet, and Chris is 5 feet 8 inches tall). They didn’t date at Pace but performed in many Pace shows together and shared their first kiss during the 1994 production of The Music Man. “[It was] onstage in front of 600 people! It was meant to be a comedic kiss, and we definitely hammed it up every night,” says Caroline. “We both have many fond memories of our time at Pace, and it certainly helped shape who we have become as adults,” says Caroline. “It’s awesome to be with someone who appreciates firsthand what a special place it is.” Chris went on to attend the University of Pennsylvania, and
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ALUMNI to finally start our family was what kept us going through the many years of medical drama, and we are so thrilled she’s finally here!” Caroline has gone back to her musical roots and teaches voice to children in middle and high school, many of whom are Pace students. “They always laugh when I tell them, ‘You never know, you might have already met your future husband or wife up there on the Pace stage!’”
Gary Marx ’77 + Shari Abrams Marx ’77
Shari’s first memory of Gary was his constant teasing in the eighth grade. They waited three years—until the summer before their senior year—to make their relationship official and married in Atlanta in 1982. The Marxes currently lives in Marietta and have strong ties to Pace. Their daughter, LAUREN ’05, and their son, JEFFREY ’07, are both Pace graduates. Shari’s brother, ERIC ABRAMS, graduated in 1979, and his wife, DEIRDRE, served as assistant to the Head of the Middle School from 2006 until this year. Eric and Deirdre’s children, KATIE ’09 and BRIAN ’07, are both alumni.
The Kulinskis in Pace’s 1994 production of The Music Man.
Caroline went to the University of Cincinnati, College-Conservatory of Music. They stayed in touch through college and often hung out on holiday breaks. They finally started dating in 2000 when Chris graduated from Penn. They married in 2004, and in 2007, Caroline was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis, a degenerative neurological disease. In 2010, she learned she had cancer (now in remission). “Chris has been the most supportive husband you could ever ask for, and he’s gone above and beyond for me time and time again,” she says. “We’ve been through more challenges than most couples our age.” Caroline’s stepfather, longtime Pace faculty member DR. GEORGE MENGERT, has reached out to the Pace community over the years to organize fundraisers to support Caroline and bring attention to her disease. “The fact that we come from the ‘Pace family’ has been a true blessing,” says Caroline. “The Pace community has been there for us every step of the way. It means more than we could ever say.” The Kulinskis live in Atlanta and welcomed their first child, a baby girl named Sabrina, on Dec. 20, 2012. “The hope of being able
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Tim Walsh ’81 + Leigh Draughon Walsh ’81
Leigh may have only attended Pace for one year, but Tim sure is glad she did. Leigh’s mother, LYN DRAUGHON, taught Spanish at Pace for 12 years, and her daughter transferred to the school her senior year. The couple started dating not long after graduation. “[Leigh] had a college boyfriend, so it took her a while to go out with me,” says Tim. They married in 1990 at Peachtree Presbyterian Church and have been married for 23 years. They have three children, JAMES ’12, who attends the University of Georgia, and JACK ’16 and MEGAN ’18. Tim is the president of Lanier Parking Solutions and the first alumnus to chair Pace Academy’s Board of Trustees. He has been tremendously involved in the planning of the new Upper School and the Aim High campaign. Leigh is an active Pace volunteer.
Alumni Out and About CAHILL ’01
and daughters Mary Frances and Margaret stopped by the Inman Center to support the Knights in their final gymnastics meet of the season. The former gymnasts, their mothers and SALLY MERCER ’05 enjoyed catching up with Coach STEVE CUNNINGHAM and former Coach CINDY GAY JACOBY ’83. Jacoby’s daughter, MOLLY JACOBY ’17, is a current Pace gymnast. Submit photos of you and your Pace classmates at informal gatherings. Send photos to alumni@paceacademy.org.
Members of the Class of 2007, SARAH HOPE DEMAYO, GEORGIA EVERETT, SARAH BUTLER, LAUREN KRAVITZ, Courtney Schaefer, at the New York City Young Alumni Happy Hour.
Alumni Basketball Night Thanks to all the alumni who joined us for the Alumni Association’s annual Alumni Basketball Night on Feb. 1. Alumni enjoyed a pregame party in the Inman Center and cheered on the Knights as they took on Greenforest Christian School.
New York City Young Alumni Happy Hour On Feb. 28, more than 30 young alumni living in New York City attended a Pace alumni happy hour at Ainsworth Park. It was a wonderful evening of catching up hosted by SARAH BUTLER ’07, LAUREN KRAVITZ ’07, CHRISTINA MORRISON ’09 and COURTNEY SCHAEFER ’07. If you are interested in hosting your own regional alumni gathering, please let the Alumni Office know! Email alumni@ paceacademy.org.
COURTNEY LUNDEEN
MARY FRANCES
SNODGRASS CHRISTIANSEN
and daughter Mary Jane and KATY MERCER
at Alumni Basketball Night.
Courtney Lundeen Joins Alumni Office
Generations of Gymnasts
’99
ZACH GREENBERG ’03, JON BIRDSONG ’03 and CATHERINE WOODLING ’00
has joined the Pace Advancement Office as director of Alumni Relations. A graduate of Marist School and Rhodes College, Courtney served as assistant director of Alumni Relations at Woodward prior to her arrival at Pace. You can reach Courtney at alumni@ paceacademy.org.
HOMECOMING HOMECOMING 2013 HOMECOMING HOMECOMING HOMECOMING SAVE THE DATE
www.paceacademy.org/alumni
OCTOBER 4-5, 2013
mark your calendars
KnightTimes | Spring 2013 43
ALUMNI
Where Are They Now? ALUMNI UPDATES
BETH ALLGOOD BLALOCK ’96 has
been voted by lawyers in Georgia as one of “Georgia’s Legal Elite” in both the Environmental Law and Non-Profit/Pro-Bono Categories. The list was published in GeorgiaTrend magazine’s December 2012 issue. Beth serves as general counsel for the Georgia Conservancy, an Atlanta-based environmental nonprofit organization. LAUREN CARDON ’96 recently published The “White Other” in American Intermarriage Stories, 1945-2008. The book examines different intermarriage stories in American film and literature to see how the authors portray changing definitions of both American identity and ethnic identity. It explores popular examples such as Lucy and Ricky in I Love Lucy, Joanna and John in Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner, Toula and Ian in My Big Fat Greek Wedding that helped raise questions about national identity. The book, available at us.macmillan.com, shows how fictional depictions of intermarriage can illuminate perceptions of both “ethnicity” and “whiteness” at any given historical moment. Lauren is a senior postdoctoral teaching fellow in the department of English at Tulane University. Her articles on ethno-racial and cultural identity in American literature have appeared in MELUS and Southern Quarterly. COURTNEY RANCK MCMILLAN ’96 is proud to announce her recent invitation to join the Luxury Homes International division of Keller Williams Realty. Courtney has been selling residential real estate in Atlanta for eight years. She lives in North Buckhead with her husband, Garrison, and their two children, Davis, 7, and Paige, 3. JAY STEVENS ’98 recently joined the Board of Directors for the Buckhead Business Association and serves as president of the YoungBucks (Young Professionals of Buckhead). YoungBucks’ events consist of socials, fundraisers and collaborations with other young professionals organizations that are focused on the
Courtney Ranck McMillan and family
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Lia Moraitakis
community. If you would like to become involved with YoungBucks or learn more about the organization, please don’t hesitate to contact Jay. BRIAN BECKER ’02 has opened The Becker Law Firm, LLC in Atlanta. His practice focuses on estate planning, business law and mediation. Brian, also a Certified Financial Planner™ candidate, obtained his bachelor’s at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and his law degree from Georgia
State University College of Law. Jewelry designer LIA MORAITAKIS ’05 and her company, Copella Designs, were profiled in the March 2013 issue of Jezebel magazine. After graduating from the University of Georgia in 2009 with a bachelor’s in furnishings and interiors, Lia started Copella, a small jewelry business. (“Copella” is Greek for “sophisticated, beautiful girl.”) Copella jewelry—mostly earrings and bracelets—is made of brightly colored semi-precious stones and sold at local trunk shows, Acquisitions Interiors in Atlanta and Charleston, and Lia’s newly launched online store, copelladesigns.com. Lia lives in Atlanta’s Brookhaven neighborhood and works for Jerry Pair Leather. Her sister, MARIA MORAITAKIS ’13, will graduate from Pace this May. WILL GRAY BEACH ’07 will receive a Master of Music Performance from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro in May 2013. Will Gray is currently employed with the Chatham County School District in North Carolina. He serves on the faculty of both the elementary and middle schools as an instructor for their choral programs. He and his wife, Kate, reside in Apex, N.C. KATIE DAVIDSON ’07 graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2011 and has been living, traveling and working in New Zealand, Australia and the Far East since. In July, she plans to circumnavigate the globe by participating in the 2013 Clipper Round-the-World Sailing Race. The race begins in the United Kingdom and features 15 individual races competed over eight separate legs. Follow Kate’s journey at clipperkate.com. AILIE BIRCHFIELD ’08 graduated from the University of Southern California’s Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism in May of 2012. While in college, she interned with Paramount and Slate PR. She now works at Viewpoint Public Relations, a boutique firm, as an assistant to a publicist. Ailie’s college and career journey was recently featured on BurnYourResume.com, a blog focused on helping college students
Baby Knights
PAULINE PEREDERII DEVINGER ’95 with husband Garry and son Zachary; CHRIS KULINSKI ’96 and CAROLINE CLEMENTS KULINSKI ’96 with their daughter;
Hudson Morgan Covington with big brother Rhodes.
and college graduates maximize their career potential. BIRTHS JON ALLEN ’10 was recently featured in an Emerson College PAULINE PEREDERII DEVINGER ’95 and her husband, Garry, news article regarding College President Lee Pelton’s new take-awelcomed son Zachary Arlo on Dec. 11, 2012. Zachary was 7 professor-to-lunch program. Jon is president of the Phi Alpha Tau pounds, 3 ounces and 20 inches long. The family resides in fraternity at Emerson. Alexandria, Va., where Pauline works as a senior manager, Internal LAUREN TESLER ’11 and the Rhodes College Mock Trial Team Audit, at FHI360, a large international development organization. won the Downtown Invitational Classic in Brooklyn, New CAROLINE CLEMENTS KULINSKI ’97 and CHRIS KULINSKI ’96 York, the nation’s most selective and prestigious mock trial welcomed daughter Sabrina Marie on Dec. 10, 2012. She weighed tournament. Lauren won outstanding witness awards during 7 pounds, 3 ounces. The family lives in Atlanta, where Chris works the invitational. The team went on to finish the season as the for Autotrader.com, and Caroline enjoys teaching voice, especially national runner-up and will start the coming season ranked to her Pace students. second in the nation. Lauren Caroline was recently featured received an All-American witness on Good Day Atlanta for her work award in the national tournament. with Multiple Sclerosis. Since KARLY COVALL ’12 is pictured being diagnosed with the disease in front of Herstmonceux Castle in 2004, Caroline has worked to on East Sussex, United Kingdom. raise awareness of MS and funds The Castle is home to the Bader for a cure. Every year, she leads a International Study Center and part team of walkers at the Walk MS in of Queen’s University of Canada. Piedmont Park. Her team, Wearing Karly is a student at Queen’s. Red Shoes, has grown from 23 MORGAN BATEY ’12 and CONNOR participants to more than a 100 in PERKEY ’12 will not soon forget their six years. first seasons as college basketball Katie and WILSON COVINGTON players. Morgan and the Vanderbilt ’97 welcomed son Hudson Morgan Karly Covall at Herstmonceux Castle. Commodores advanced to the second on Jan. 24, 2013. He joins excited round of the NCAA Bridgeport big brother Rhodes, 2. The family Regional, while Connor and the Davidson Wildcats fell to Marquette lives in Atlanta, and both Katie and Wilson work in commercial in the second round of the NCAA East Regional Tournament. real estate. “I was definitely very blessed to get the opportunity to play as HEATHER HIPP BYRNES ’99 and her husband, Adam, welcomed much as I did,” Morgan told the Northside Neighbor regarding her daughter Bailey Elizabeth on Jan. 27, 2013. Bailey was 7 pounds, first season. “I just came in working hard to hopefully get some 3 inches and “healthy and happy.” playing time … Overall, I developed as a player. Not just talentEvritt Robert, son of TIFFIN PASTOR EISENBERG ’99 and Michael and skill-wise, but understanding the game more and becoming Eisenberg, arrived on Sept. 30, 2012 weighing 8 pounds, 1 ounce … a more complete player.” and measuring 20.5 inches long. Tiffin received her master’s in oat
Jeff Hathc
KnightTimes | Spring 2013 45
ALUMNI
Baby Knights
Clockwise from top left, Anne Smith Stephenson ’99 and her husband, Martin, welcome Gibson Martin Stephenson; Heather Hipp Byrnes ’99 and her husband, Adam, welcome a daughter, Bailey Elizabeth Byrnes; Elizabeth Ansley Jeffers ’00 and Nick Jeffers ’00 welcome Sarah Anne. Evritt Robert, son of Tiffin Pastor Eisenberg ’99 and her husband, Michael, was born in September. Philip Cranmer ’01 and his wife, Kristen, welcome twin boys, Brandon and Harrison. Alexis Schulze Grace ’01 and husband Lukus welcome Salem Rose. Sophie Elizabeth, daughter of J.D. Richey ’00 and his wife, Stephanie, was born in January.
Public Health several years ago and currently works as a project manager for the commissioner at the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene. Michael is a consultant for Alvarez and Marsal. They reside in Manhattan and are enjoying being new parents. ANNE SMITH STEPHENSON ’99 and her husband, Martin, welcomed son Gibson Martin on Nov. 12, 2012. ELIZABETH ANSLEY JEFFERS ’00 and NICK JEFFERS ’00 welcomed daughter Sarah Anne to the world on Jan. 3, 2013. She was 7 pounds, 11 ounces and 20 inches. The family lives in San Antonio where Nick is stationed at Lackland Air Force Base. J.D. RICHEY ’00 and his wife, Stephanie, welcomed Sophie Elizabeth on Jan. 31, at Atlanta’s Northside Hospital. Sophie was 8 pounds and 20 inches long. The family lives in Alpharetta, Ga., and J.D. manages Aja Restaurant & Bar in Buckhead. Kristen and PHILIP CRANMER ’01 welcomed twin boys, Brandon Hunter and Harrison James, on Jan. 2, 2013. Brandon weighed 5 pounds, 1 ounce; Harrison weighed 4 pounds, 13 ounces. Philip works for a commercial real estate developer, and the family lives in Sandy Springs. Ga.
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ALEXIS SCHULZE GRACE ’01 and her husband, Lukus, welcomed daughter Salem Rose on Nov. 15, 2012 in Chicago. The family recently moved to Singapore.
MARRIAGES
WHEELER BRYAN ’98
married Katy Ragans on Dec. 15, 2012. The wedding ceremony took place at First Presbyterian Church of Atlanta, and the reception was held at the Wimbish House. STEWART GRACE ’98 was a groomsman. Pace alumni attending were TRIP FOLEY ’99, ADAM ROSS ’98, WADE HOOPER ’89, JULIE PERRY COOK ’92, JOHN PERRY ’84, MORGAN HEALEY MOORE ’89, former Pace Board Chair MARK DUNAWAY and former Pace Athletic Director MARCUS PEREZ. The ceremony was officiated by former Pace parent REV. CRAIG GOODRICH. JACKI GLASS THOMAS ’06 married Bobby Thomas on March 9, 2013 in Bald Head Island, N.C. The couple met while attending law school at the University of Georgia and became engaged in March 2012. Pace alumni in attendance were JON GLASS ’03, MAGGIE REYNOLDS ’06, MARY HIPP ’06 and JULIANNA RUE CAGLE ’03. Jacki and Bobby live in Augusta, Ga.
1
A L U MN I
Have you liked, followed or joined us yet? Clockwise from top, Lindsay Stuart ’07 with her bridesmaids, including Caroline Violette ’12; Sam Rabin ’06 marries Laura Marie Hendrickson; Jacki Glass Thomas ’06 with her husband, Bobby.
The notice of LINDSAY STUART’S ’07 recent wedding in the winter issue of the KnightTimes failed to mention that CAROLINE VIOLETTE ’12, Lindsay’s cousin, served as a bridesmaid. Caroline is currently a freshman at Bucknell and is the first Pace student to attend this university. SAM RABIN ’06 married Laura Marie Hendrickson on Nov. 3, 2012 at the Biltmore Estate in Asheville, N.C. ZACK EZOR ’06 served as a groomsman, and JONATHAN RIX ’06, LARA GOODRICH EZOR ’06, BEN EWING ’06 and former Pace faculty member TIM PLAEHN were in attendance.
www.facebook.com/ paceacademyalumniassociation
www.linkedin.com/ paceacademyalumniassociation
IN MEMORIAM OLIVER LEE,
father of KRISTEN LEE BARNETT ’94, JASON LEE ’96 and passed away on Feb. 13, 2013, after a battle with an aggressive form of cancer. Oliver served on the Pace Board of Trustees from 2005-08 and was a past Parents Club President. DAVID OTT ’08 passed away on Friday, Feb. 15, 2013. He was a senior at Ole Miss and an avid outdoorsman. His family and friends will remember his loving and pure spirit. JONATHAN LEE ’06
www.twitter.com/ pacealumni
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RETURN SERVICE REQUESTED If you have received multiple copies of this publication, please contact the Advancement Office at 404-240-9101 or advancement@paceacademy.org to update your address.
Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t Miss 2013 Tax Credits! The Georgia Private School Tax Credit allows individuals, couples and corporations to redirect their Georgia tax liability to support need-based financial aid at Pace.
If you have not participated yet, please do so as credits may be depleted by May! Donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t wait. These crucial credits will be gone before you know it.
Participation is easy, simply visit
www.paceacademy.org/taxcredit. Questions? Contact Kat Cooper at kcooper@paceacademy.org or call 404-240-9106.