Ninth Grade's Day of Engagement

Adria Sheth addresses the audience after receiving the Charles Alan Wright Excellence Award on behalf of her and her husband, Brian.

award, and we thank them for their philanthropic efforts and incredible outreach. Their sacrifice and service to so many are things to be admired.

The John and Jeannine Miller Volunteer Award shines a light on community volunteers who devote time and energy to St. Andrew’s. This year, the award was given to the parent medical experts on our COVID-19 Task Force: Dr. Elizabeth Jacobs, Dr. Vicky Gregg, and Dr. Ari Berman. These St. Andrew’s parents are incredible medical professionals who play a critical role in keeping our community safe during the pandemic. They have hosted informative webinars for our parents and faculty, calmly and thoughtfully navigated each change that the COVID crisis has brought, and kept our community informed and educated, all while working overtime at their own demanding jobs. Director of Health Services Amanda Boardman said, “The combination of their knowledge, time, dedication, and desire to help educate our entire community is the reason we have been able to do the things we have done in the last 20 months.” Matthew Lee ‘14 received the Outstanding Alumni Award for his service in the United States Air Force. One of Matthew’s larger recent missions was evacuating refugees and service members during the US withdrawal from Kabul, Afghanistan in late August. Matthew reflected on this experience by saying, “It was a tiring and exhausting couple of weeks for the crew, however, it was also the most rewarding. Watching the Afghans leave our plane, knowing they all would have a better chance at life, was incredibly humbling. After talking to some of the Afghanis, it furthered our beliefs that the women would finally be able to have freedom, the men would not have to worry about protecting themselves or their family from being killed by the Taliban, and the children would finally be able to have a childhood. Our crew was humbled and grateful to be part of this operation and it made us proud to be Americans.” It was with great joy that we recognized

The faculty and staff awards went to several extremely deserving faculty members. Doug Alford received the Lucy Collins Nazro Faculty Service Award, for his enormous contributions in coding, data, and tech support to the success of our school. He is truly always there to save the day. “Doug, you are an invaluable member of our faculty,” said Mrs. Grubb while presenting the award, “and while some may refer to you as the ‘man behind the curtain’ - pulling levers and keeping our engines running - we see you. And we recognize you today with enormous gratitude for your service to St. Andrew’s.”

Kimberly Horne received the Southwest Parkway Teaching Award for her amazing contributions to both the English department and the school as a whole. Mrs. Grubb said, “She makes us believe that we can be brave and bold because she is brave and bold. She reminds us of our core, of our true north, and she uses her energy and passion to bring us back when we stray. She is a master of good questions, causing us to reflect, reimagine, and reinvent when needed. Her wit is delightful, her enthusiasm contagious, and her capacity for compassion deep. You simply want her on your team because you can’t help but be better for it.” Graduates spoke of her ability to engage with students, her passion for her field, and her encouragement of each student.

The 31st Street Teaching Award went to Ashlye Battaglia, an exceptional educator and asset to our school. Mrs. Grubb said of Battaglia, “She has a gift for getting children excited to learn and always puts students first. She is eager to help students gain knowledge and become independent learners. She is always considering new ways to engage her students. She sets the bar high in her belief in every child, and she is always concerned with growth and development of each of her students. She is quick to share her gifts with the world, giving freely of her time to create more inclusive student experiences.” Her colleagues spoke of her desire to fearlessly try new things, her ability to make others around her better, and her talents for growth-oriented motion.

Each year at St. Andrew’s Day, we honor those faculty and staff members who have been at our school for 15 years as well as those who have been with us for 25 years. Since 2020’s service was a virtual one, we recognized two years of faithful servants.

Doug Alford received the Lucy Collins Nazro Faculty Service Award

2020:

25 Years: Veronica Putney 15 Years: Steven Garcia, Dan Latreille, Jason Kruger, Elizabeth Martens, Chris McCoy, Jennifer Tollefson, and Aimee Zivin

2021:

25 Years: Elizabeth Guice 15 Years: Evangelina Tonche, Gilbert Tuhabonye, Rommel Eclarinal, and Heather Latreille

Following the awards portion of the service, students, faculty and families came forward to receive communion or a blessing before everyone made their way to the Nazro Green for a community lunch and performances from the Upper School Jazz and Rock Bands.

After lunch, students in all three divisions took part in a service activity of their choice. Activities ranged from 31st Street students making birdseed cakes and writing letters to soldiers at Ft. Hood to Upper School students packing lunches for the Ronald McDonald House or learning about ways to volunteer in the community with local nonprofits like Austin Pets Alive! After a wonderful service, celebration and meal it was the perfect way to round out a day of honoring Saint Andrew.

To look out onto the sea of students, teachers, faculty members, and parents on November 17 was to look out at a community who has thrived in the face of obstacles. A community who has leaned on one another. A community who has repeatedly shown their resilience, their generosity, and their servant’s hearts. It was an honor to share this special day with them all!

9th Grade Day of Engagement

Community Action, Personal Reflection, and Class Bonding

By Kendall Evans, Co-Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

October 13, 2021: St. Andrew’s inaugural Day of Engagement.

The idea for the event was conceived by Upper School Assistant Head, Mrs. Kate Jones. Kate

was part of a team that invested a great deal of mental labor into coming up with a plan that would meaningfully engage the freshmen class on PSAT Day: a day that typically offers picture-perfect weather for seniors to work on their college essays while sophomores and juniors take the high-stakes

Freshmen work together packaging meals.

The inaugural Day of Engagement for the freshman class worked with Mission of Hope to provide meals for Haitians in need after a natural disaster.

Freshmen learn to engage in Courageous Conversations during Day of Engagement

national exam. But it’s also a day that can make our 9th graders feel like lonely, forlorn leaves set adrift on an autumnal wind. Thankfully, due to the team’s thoughtful planning, such wasn’t the case last fall.

"It was inspirational to see our students working together so joyfully for the benefit of others. Their energy was palpable.”

The sentiments expressed by Head of School Melissa Grubb were echoed by many of the adults who were present to offer their support for the big event. But what, in fact, were the students doing with such verve, and why did it engender such an enthusiastic response from visitors? The answer to this question is directly related to the aforementioned mental labor, which not only led to the idea for the Day of Engagement but also to its twofold programmatic structure. The students kicked things off with an introduction to something called the Courageous Conversation protocol – a process for handling difficult conversations predicated on race but which can be applied to other aspects of identity as well, from gender to religion to neurodivergence. A more comprehensive training in Courageous Conversation was shared with the entire K-12 St. Andrew’s faculty and staff over the course of two days at the outset of the school year. But just because the student version was completed in one morning doesn’t mean that it was any less impactful. In fact, since their time was so focused, the freshmen were able to fully concentrate their efforts on learning the Courageous Conversation compass, a self-orienting tool that is foundational to the protocol.

Students spend the afternoon in the "doing" quadrant of the Courageous Conversations compass by completing the task of packaging meals.

believing, and doing. Students spent their afternoon in the ‘doing’ quadrant, helping to pack meals for people in Haiti who had recently been hit by yet another natural catastrophe. The way that they took to this effort, which was organized by English teacher and Service Learning Coordinator, Mr. Austin Davis, is what Mrs. Grubb found so inspirational. She added: “Their sense of purpose was evident, and our Episcopal identity was front and center!”

The ability to bring one’s entire self – the thinking, feeling, believing, and doing parts – to the act of encounter, be it with people or projects, speaks to the holistic approach to education which animates the Episcopal identity in such meaningful ways at St. Andrew’s. But one day does not an upper school career make. With this in mind, the freshmen have spent the past 10 weeks in their Habits of Mind classes pivoting to the thinking quadrant so they can learn how to inform their future actions to the best of their ability.

In context of the meal packing project, this pivot has allowed the freshmen to see how ‘learning’ is every bit as important as ‘service’ when it comes to service learning initiatives. As a result of this mindset shift, they can better appreciate the people they are helping, regarding them as equals who have as much to teach as they, the students, have to give. Furthermore, having been disabused of the savior complex which can beset even the best of service-related intentions, the freshmen are beginning to understand how they can maximize their efforts so the greatest good can be done for the greatest number of people.

However beautiful our capital city is in the fall, it is very encouraging to know that our students are being provided with skills that will not only last a season but a lifetime. Naturally, they will need intentional, ongoing, and wellorganized opportunities in order to practice these skills. But if the past is any indication, and so long as the St. Andrew’s family includes people like Mr. Davis and Mrs. Jones, such opportunities are certain to abound. And like Mrs. Grubb so proudly observed, with the energy that our students bring to everything that is shared with them, there’s no doubt that they will continue to inspire as they work joyfully on behalf of others.