Alumni News

ST. ANDREW'S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL SPRING/SUMMER 2021

Martha Pincoffs

‘92 has been busy with her podcast, 3 Righteous Mamas, and recently featured two fellow SAS alums: Jenna Bush Hager ‘96 and Sarah Wilson ‘92.

Jenna Bush Hager ‘96 was featured on episode 25, in which she told her story about growing up in the spotlight, and talked about her St. Andrew’s experience while her father, George W. Bush, was Governor of Texas.

“We went to a lovely middle school that was also my mom’s idea,” Jenna said. “St. Andrew’s where...it just was really small and inviting, and it’s like, no matter who you were you felt comfortable.”

Jenna, who is the co-host of the fourth hour of the TODAY show, also recently interviewed St. Andrew’s own Gilbert Tuhabonye, pictured above, whose running club she joined while attending the University of Texas. Gilbert’s portrait was painted by George Bush as part of his new book, Out of Many, One: Portraits of America’s Immigrants.

The following episode of 3 Righteous Mamas featured Sarah Wilson ‘92, who was invited to speak on how art builds empathy. Sarah is a professional photographer, who has taken on assignments such as prom at the Texas School of the Blind and Visually Impared, the 2011 wildfire in Bastrop, TX, and the aftermath of the murder of James Byrd, Jr. in Jasper, TX.

Her most recent project, Essentials: Portraits of Austin’s Essential Women Workers, consists of 19-foot-tall portraits you can find on the sides of buildings in downtown Austin. (See story on pages 76-79.)

“I think it's about our shared humanity, but it’s also about everything that’s so different about all of us. How amazing it is that we’re so different, that somehow that brings us all together.”

Look up 3 Righteous Mamas anywhere you get your podcasts!

Flo Clemons ‘09 writes that she and fellow alum Adair Cummings Belisle ‘09 are embarking on an exciting new project together! “We are opening a Wine Bar and Bottle Shop - Pecos Provisions - in the heart of Tarrytown. We are so excited to share this news with the SAS community. Right now, we are in the crucial period of fundraising for and further developing this project and are looking forward to opening our doors to the neighborhood in December 2021!” Here they are in 2009, and more recently with Merritt Bury ‘09!

Tori Harrison ‘08 and her

wife Rebecca welcomed their first child, Elliot Ruth “Ellie” Harrison on February 17, 2021 during the historic snow storm in Austin. Here’s a photo of the happy family on their first Mothers’ Day!

Taylor Mezaraups

‘09 received her Ph.D. in PsychologyCognitive Science from the University of Texas at Austin. Her coauthored article, titled Allometric Scaling Laws for Temporal Proximity in Perceptual Organization, will be published in Psychological Review later this year.

to Saint Anselm College in Manchester, NH to be an Assistant Professor of Psychology.

Sydney Burrell ‘10 recently

moved back to Austin after 10+ years in California. Welcome back!

Mary Alice Sherman ‘12

writes, “On April 18, 2021 I got engaged to my long-term boyfriend, Sam Moon. We met on a blind date in London four years ago while I was living and working there. I'm now living in Austin, TX and working as an Account Manager for Archipelago Analytics.”

Emma Hine ‘09

launched her debut poetry collection, Stay Safe, in January 2021.

Her work received the

Kathryn A. Morton Prize and was published by Sarabande

Books.

Her book launch was celebrated by Greenlight Bookstore in Brooklyn.

Trace Turner ‘13 writes,

“I will be directing an outdoor production of Roger’s and Hammerstein’s, The Sound of Music, at the foot of Mt. Helena in Helena, MT as part of Grandstreet Theater’s Summer Season.”

will be attending American University in the Fall to pursue a MA in International Affairs with a concentration on Global Governance, Politics, and Security.

Daniel Buffington ‘16

writes, “My business partner & I are building, leasing, & selling teardrop trailers in Colorado.” Check out www.Terracraftoutdoors. com for more information!

Sarah Buffington ‘16

graduated from UT with a Master of Science in Marketing degree in May 2021.

Sophie Dolan ‘16 graduated

from Wellesley College in May of 2020 and began working at Bloomberg LP in NYC.

Caroline Graves ‘16 writes,

“I will be graduating from The University of Texas at Austin with a B.A. in Government and a B.S. in Public Relations. This summer, I will start working for Google as an Ads Support Strategist.”

Taylor Thompson ‘17

graduated from University of Virginia in May 2021. During the Valedictory Exercises, Taylor was awarded the Community Service Award as a fourthyear architecture student. In addition to this huge honor at UVA, Taylor was awarded the Outstanding Alumni Award at St. Andrew’s Day in 2019 for his devotion to service.

An article in UVA Today wrote, “Serving as the president of UVA’s Habitat for Humanity Club since 2018, Thompson has pushed for affordable housing units within the Charlottesville community and on a national scale by working at both the

U.S. and international branches of Habitat. He has also represented UVA on Capitol Hill and has lobbied senators for the implementation of affordable housing.”

Taylor celebrated this prestigious award, and his graduation, with his family, including sister Kyla ‘20 (wrapping up her first year, also at UVA) and Katelyn ‘23.

After a successful collegiate baseball career at Liberty University, Andrew McInvale ‘15 has been called up to the minor league New Hampshire Fisher Cats.

Kendall Sealy ‘11 won District Teacher of the Year in the Lake Travis Independent School District.

Cameron Pepe ‘15

just completed his Masters in Computer Engineering at Georgia Tech, after completing his BS, making him a “Double Jacket” with a 4.0 in each! He is starting a job as a Product Manager for Apple in Austin.

Camille Pinkerton

‘17 will be continuing her education at Grand Central Atelier in Brooklyn, NY, where she’ll be studying drawing and oil painting.

At Rice University, Adrian Almy ‘19 directed and wrote for Hello Hamlet!, a prerecorded rendition available for streaming on the Weiss Tabletop Theater YouTube Channel. Teddy Gilman ’20 played Ophelia.

Elizabeth Ketner Winterroth ‘04 was named

on Austin Monthly’s Top Docs for Kids list in April of 2020, under the General Pediatrics category. The list is created from peer nominations from physicians in Travis, Hays and Williamson counties.

Ashley Voticky Langer

‘04 writes, “My husband Greg and I welcomed our baby girl, Dawson Marie, on February 23, 2021. Mom and dad are beyond thrilled with our new bundle of joy. Big brother Brice loves helping take care of his new sister and showering her with love.”

Jacob Marcus ‘20 is

attending Northwestern University.

Austin’s Radio Coffee and Beer, owned by Jack Wilson ‘02,

won Best Coffeeshop in the Austin Chronicle’s Best of Austin Readers Poll for the 5th year in a row!

Jackie T. McFadden ‘80

is working as the Communications Director for St. Stephen's Episcopal Church in Wimberley, TX.

Emily Dyer Simons ‘03

welcomed her 4th child, and first baby girl, Archer Evelyn Simons on December 15, 2020.

In May, Kate Zapalac ‘14

graduated from Duke University with her MBA and a Master of Management Studies. Lily Kincannon ‘17 and Emma Collins ‘18, pictured here in 2020,

met for a picnic in Forsyth Park, Savannah. Lily and Emma have been fortunate to share a few happy moments together during the pandemic as Lily continued her Carnegie Mellon courses remotely, and Emma has visited her sister Julia who's attending the Savannah College of Art and Design. Emma is studying abroad at the University of Edinburgh.

Bass-baritone Gabriel O’Shaughnessy ‘17 graduated from the Eastman School of Music with a degree in vocal performance in May 2021.

Kyle Quick ‘10 and his

fiance, Brittany, were married at Hotel Van Zandt on June 5th.

Michael Fitzpatrick ‘10 writes, “During late 2020, Alec Garza ‘10 started Evolution Private Investment Collective, and I was his first hire. Our firm makes private markets more accessible by providing institutional quality investment opportunities for financial advisors and their clients. Alec is the Managing Partner and I lead Business Development and Investor Relations. Prior to founding Evolution Private Investment Collective, Alec spent 6 years at a multi-family office in Denver, CO where he was Director of Investments, responsible for all due diligence and portfolio construction. Prior to relocating to Denver from Los Angeles - where I had lived for 10 years - I spent time as a management consultant at PwC and Lead Merchant Acquisition for Uber Technologies. At present, our firm manages just shy of $100m across two funds for 70 families, and this year we are keenly focused on developing new relationships with financial advisors in Colorado, Texas, and the western United States. If this isn't enough evidence of the strong SAS alumni network, then I would also highlight that one of our fund investments is managed by Pennybacker, an Austinbased real estate fund, where Brett Zimmerman ‘10 is Vice President of Investments. Also, while I was at Uber Technologies, I worked alongside Lindsey Lansky ‘10 for a little under 2 years.

Sophie Mesches

‘17 graduated in May from TCU with a BS in Early Childhood Education/ Special Education. This Fall, she will pursue a Master's in Special EducationLow Incidence/ Severe Disabilities on academic scholarship at Vanderbilt University's Peabody College of Education.

Walton Schmidt

‘17 graduated magna cum laude with a degree in Mechanical Engineering and an Aerospace concentration, as well as minors in Math and Italian Studies, from Hofstra University in May 2021. He’s also a member of Phi Beta Kappa and the Italian Honor Society.

Aileene Rosales ‘16

welcomed a baby boy, Andrew, on September 8th 2020!

Christian Erben

‘17 graduated Cum Laude with a Bachelor of Arts in Theatre from Southwestern University. Gabriel A. Kennedy ‘18 will be entering

his senior year at Southern Methodist University this Fall. As a triple major, he will earn degrees in finance, economics, and public policy. In addition to his academic work, Gabriel has been a Division I athlete, competing in SMU’s men’s swimming team and earning two academic allconference awards. His presence at the Hilltop has also included being the founder and executive chairman of the SMU chapter of the Sigma Nu fraternity and participating in a variety of service, fund-raising activities, and diversity-based organizations.

This summer, Gabriel will be heading up to New York City, where he will enter FTI Consulting's prestigious internship program within the Mergers & Acquisitions practice. He hopes to utilize this opportunity to guide and inform his plans for post-graduate studies and develop a career in the field of finance.

Mackenzie Henson ‘17

graduated from Purdue University with a degree in Civil Engineering and a concentration in Construction. She has accepted a position as Project Engineer with Saunders Construction in Denver.

After 20 years of service to St. Andrew’s, our alumni community celebrated the retirement of Marsha Russell. Alumni logged into a Zoom room full of Marsha’s former students, colleagues and friends, to hear and give toasts to “their Queen”. They were surprised with a lecture from Marsha herself on lessons she has learned from art. Thank you to our Toasters: Matt Kelly (US English Teacher, College Counselor), Elita Gao '18, Lily Kincannon '17, Chongchao “Robbie” Li '16, Annika Ostrom '16, Maria Alzaga '15, Will Beuerlein '14, Quinn McCall '10, Emily Dix ‘08, Daniel Cantilo '06, Lacy Alana '04, Lauren

Dill '04 (US Latin & History Teacher), Caroline Pinkston '04 (Former US Faculty Member), Veronica Putney (US Spanish Teacher) and Susan Kemner Reed (Former US Faculty Member).

Julia Barcenas ‘17

graduated from The University of Texas - Austin on May 22, 2021 receiving her Bachelor of Science Degree In Communication Studies.

Alumni Volunteer Day

On March 27, alumni gathered for the first time on campus in over a year for a volunteer day with Director of Outdoor Education, Greg Mele. The project? Building a new Alumni Wildflower Meadow, where future generations of alumni can plant wildflower seeds. This project laid the groundwork for our Class of 2021 to be the first to plant seeds in the meadow. A big thank you to Kyle Fadal ‘05, Kyle Quick ‘10, Nick Osella ‘13, Madeleine Mele ‘15, Laine Porter ‘15, Sara Buffington ‘16, Anna Jackson ‘20 and Will Snider ‘20

for coming out. There will be more chances to volunteer in Fall 2021, so make sure to keep alumni@sasaustin.org up to date with your contact info!

Ryan Bishop ‘08 writes, “I'm blessed to be finishing my chief resident year at the UTSW Pediatric Residency Program, and I've matched to Baylor School of Medicine for Pediatric Cardiology Fellowship. My brother, Travis Bishop ‘11, is a 1st year Med-Peds resident at Baylor as well, and my sister Rachel Bishop ‘11 is in her first year of physical therapy practice in San Antonio after finishing an orthopedic PT residency at Methodist Houston. We're thankful to have come through the SAS educational system!”

Dane Powell

‘03 and his wife Teresa welcomed their first child, Maya (5 lb 2 oz), on May 18, 2021.

Over $1,000,000 Raised For Financial Aid in Spring Fundraiser

In many ways, St. Andrew’s annual Gala for Financial Aid is our most important event of the year. It’s a night to gather for great food, music, and dancing, but more importantly, it’s a night to raise funds for our Financial Aid program, which directly supports our deserving students. Every year, the Gala raises hundreds of thousands of dollars for tuition assistance, and while we had hoped 2020 would be the only year we had to go without a traditional in-person gala, the decision was made to cancel the 2021 Gala based on conditions in Austin at the time. Though the gala itself was canceled, the need for tuition assistance was greater than ever, so the Fundraising Committee pivoted.

Instead of a traditional silent and live auction, the committee chose to raffle off not one, but twenty-five amazing items at affordable price points so that everyone could participate. The mega-popular Free Tuition Raffle from last year was brought back with great excitement, and items like a new XBox and a weeklong stay at a beautiful Cinnamon Shore beach house were also raffled off. After a few weeks of selling raffle tickets, the fundraiser would culminate with an outdoor concert for families by The Spazmatics, complete with food trucks and announcements of the raffle winners during the show.

Hearing the new plan for this year’s fundraiser and noticing the need for tuition assistance, St. Andrew’s families stepped up to the plate to give. With the generous support of Ryan and Anne Jacob, who gave a $250,000 gift, and Brian and Adria Sheth, who also gave a $250,000 gift, along with every single other contributor, our community was able to raise over $1,000,000 for financial aid this year, a staggering success.

Though weather prevented the concert from going on as planned, the incredible amount raised for Financial Aid was the best way to end a rollercoaster of a school year.

Save the date for our rescheduled Celebration Concert with The Spazmatics taking place on August 29, 2021. All previous RSVPs will be honored. We hope to see you there! Thank you to each and every person who donated to this cause, ensuring that bright, motivated, and talented students have access to a St. Andrew’s education, no matter their financial situation.

1112 West 31st Street Austin, Texas 78705