21 minute read
School News Briefs
Lower School News
Grade 5 Enters Martha Washington Speech Contest In January, Grade 5 traveled to the Jacksonville Public Library to present the results of their work for an annual essay contest sponsored by The National Society of the Colonial Dames of America (NSCDA) in the State of Florida. Students were given Martha Washington as the subject matter, and spent time during first semester researching Martha Washington and then following the writing process steps to finalize a typed, one-page essay.
Then in January, students and teachers went to the Main Jacksonville Public Library, where they saw a Martha Washington reenactor who spoke about the importance of Washington in our country’s founding as well as the importance of the writing process. Students participated in the re-enactment, and Bailey Conner ’27 was selected as the St. Johns Country Day School essay winner. Congratulations, Bailey!
World Read Aloud Day Earlier this year, the whole St. Johns community came together in celebration of World Read Aloud Day. Spartans in all divisions celebrated by reading aloud or having others come read to them.
Photos: L-R Chair of the History and Social Sciences Department Josh Stern reads to Grade 4; Director of Development Jordan Robbins Rechcigl ’10 reads to Grade 2; Grade 4 teacher Erin Bare Willingham ’98 reads to Pre-K4.
Middle School News
Vanishing Kindergartners This spring, fourteen Grade 7 students were recognized by the Duke Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP), one of four regional programs that works to identify and provide opportunities for gifted students.
Each year Duke TIP invites academically high-achieving students to participate in a testing experience usually targeted for high school juniors and seniors—taking the SAT or ACT college entrance exams. Based on results from these exams, students are then offered opportunities to engage in academic enrichment opportunities through Duke University, participate in online book groups, or access reduced-cost enrichment programs such as Rosetta Stone language learning courses.
This year, fourteen Grade 7 students were invited to join the Duke TIP program. These students include: On February 4, the entire Kindergarten mysteriously vanished from campus. In their place at flag raising stood a batch of what looked like the students’ centenarian great-grandparents! The puzzle could not be resolved, and it was sad as the class was celebrating the 100th Day of School that day. Fortunately, they returned to campus safe and sound
Fourteen Middle School Students Qualify for Duke TIP
the following day. ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Frances Bailey
Hadi Basil
Olivia Belland
Caroline Burson
Ainsley Costarakis
Kelsey Gregson
Brandon Keyes
Grayson Moody
Charles Morgan
Isabel Nix
Shane Reaves
Ava Joy Richards
Nathan Terry
Brynn White
Students who do exceptionally well qualify for state- or national-level recognition. This year, five St. Johns students achieved state-level honors. These include: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Caroline Burson
Ainsley Costarakis
Grayson Moody
Charles Morgan
Shane Reaves
Congratulations, Duke TIP students!
Targeted Gift Spurs Robotics Victory Thanks to a gift from Dr. Murren Hill Horne Center with 16 teams and her husband, John Nelson, St. competing. Johns’ Middle School kicked off a Rather than bestowing awards for new robotics team this year. Springfirst place, most improved, etc., roing from one of the new Middle botics leagues tend to go a different School electives (also about robotroute. In keeping with this tradition, ics), the team began in August with the competition also gave out atypijust a handful of students who stayed cal awards. after school a few times each week “I’m so proud of the robotics team to learn, work on robots, and prepare for winning the Core Values Award,” for competition. said team co-sponsor Mrs. Wagstaff.
Over time and with thanks to this “The robotics league’s core values are generous funding, the team evolved, innovation, impact, inclusion, discovery, gaining the tools and experience teamwork, and fun. Throughout the they needed to take their passion to season, these students have consisthe next level. St. Johns Robotics’ tently demonstrated these core values, first competition, Robo-Thrasher 1, and we are so happy that the judges at took place in January at the Thrasherthe competition saw the same thing.”
Additionally, while only three teams advanced to the next round, St. Johns Robotics earned an “alternate bid” to the regional tournament, a completely unexpected honor for this brandnew team. “It’s hard to believe that five months ago, not a single one of these kids could program a robot at all,” concluded Wagstaff.
Upper School News
Senior Sheila Hodges competed and took first place in the 2020 Rotary Youth Oratory Competition, presented by the Rotary Club of South Jacksonville. After winning the Orange Park competition in January, Sheila progressed to the Finals on Thursday, February 20, 2020.
This year’s speech topic was to “select a person in history (deceased and not related to you) who, by their achievements, would be an ideal person to improve life today, utilizing their talents, skills and today’s advancements to ‘connect the world.’ Support your decision by historic reports, opinions by cultural experts and documentation you can deliver verbally.”
Competing against five other contestants from other area schools at WJCT studios, Sheila was victorious with her speech about Fred Rogers, discussing how he is the best person to help better-connect the world as evidenced by his many years of encouraging all to be good neighbors on his hit television program, “Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.”
As the contest champion, Sheila is the winner of a $5,000 scholarship. Congratulations, Sheila!
Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership (HOBY) Foundation Sophomore Susannah Goodwin has been selected to be a member of the prestigious Hugh O’Brian Leadership (HOBY) Program. As a member of HOBY, Susannah will have the opportunity to participate with students from all over the country in summer seminars designed to enhance students’ leadership and teamwork skills. Susannah will also have the opportunity to meet and converse with community leaders in fields such as volunteerism, media education, philanthropy, and politics. Congratulations Susannah!
Poetry Out Loud
Poetry Out Loud is a national poetry recitation contest that encourages the study of poetry and helps students develop public speaking skills, build self-confidence, and learn about literary history. This year’s competition began in St. Johns’ English classrooms, where students competed class by class with winners advancing to the school competition in early February. These students included: ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆
Ally Desguin ’23
Mary Beth Garrison ’22
Shannon Hodges ’23
Ava Johnson ’23
Jona Kats ’21
Ben McCormick ’23
Abby Mencner ’22
Christian Sabbagh ’20
Jordan Sabo ’20
Josh Soffler ’20
Emma Stasiak ’22
Claire Trammell ’20
Nasua Williams ’20
Serenity Williams ’22
Each contestant memorized and presented two poems, with selections ranging from Emily Dickinson to contemporary Irish poet Roisan Kelly. Judges rated each presentation for physical presence, voice and articulation, dramatic appropriateness, evidence of understanding and overall performance, narrowing the competitors to ten, who made a third presentation. After a few minutes delay as judges tallied scores, they announced the runner up, Mary Beth Garrison ’22, and the winner, Claire Trammell ’20, who went on to represent St. Johns at the State competition at the University of South Florida later in the spring.
Mr. & Miss St. Johns In February, St. Johns was thrilled to elect a new Mr. and Miss St. Johns for 2020! First, at the Mr. St. Johns competition nine contestants put their hearts into it, and Sophomore John Cabrera was voted Mr. St. Johns. Senior Anthony Morris was voted Mr. Congeniality by the other contestants and James Wilson ’21 earned the People’s Choice Award by raising $275.00 in his voting box. In total, the Mr. St. Johns competition raised $2,178 for the American Cancer Society.
The following weekend brought the School community another fun and engaging event when Junior Julia Schildberg was voted Miss St. Johns 2020. Other awards included:
Miss Congeniality Gaby Loustau ’21 Crowd Favorite Gaby Loustau ’21 Miss Fashionista Kaitlyn Philips ’23 2nd Runner Up Bianca Horen ’21 1st Runner Up Susannah Goodwin ’22
Hearty congratulations and thanks also to the pageant directors, Juniors Brooke Ferris, Abbey Lantinberg, and Julia Nichols. These three ladies worked hard to bring the pageant to life. And special thanks to everyone who came out to cheer on all of our contestants and to support Best Buddies of Jacksonville. The event raised $1,700 in support of this amazing cause.
Youth Leadership Jacksonville Since 1989, Youth Leadership Jacksonville has worked to bring together a select and diverse group of Northeast Florida high school students with demonstrated leadership ability and to prepare them to become ethical leaders committed to active community involvement. Students are selected in their freshmen year for participation during their sophomore year. This year, three St. Johns students were selected: Freshmen Kennedy Brown, Shannon Hodges, and Patrick Walsh. Kennedy, Shannon, and Patrick will attend six program days with Youth Leadership Jacksonville, each emphasizing hands-on activities and focusing on specific facets of the community including government, criminal justice, human services, diversity, and business.
Kennedy Brown Shannon Hodges Patrick Walsh
Seniors Visit Nation’s Capital In January, St. Johns Country Day School’s Class of 2020 took the learnings from their fall Government class on the road with a four-day trip to Washington, DC. A whole-class trip is always a fantastic opportunity—for class bonding and much more—but for the senior class, it served as much more. It’s the starting gun for their last semester of high school, and the only whole-class trip they’ve taken since Grade 8.
“This was a curriculum-based trip with truly amazing on-site instructors,” said Government teacher and Senior Class Sponsor Mrs. Gayle Simpson Garrison ’94. “The trip instructors specialize in Washington, DC, and they really helped our students think about and discuss the deeper issues in what they experienced, instead of just sightseeing.”
Students focused on the three branches of government by visiting the Capitol, the White House, and the Supreme Court and having indepth conversations at and about each. They also discussed foreign policy and visited the Embassy of Finland and the United States Institute of Peace, which is a national, nonpartisan, organization established by Congress in 1984 as an independent institution dedicated to the nonviolent prevention and mitigation of deadly conflict abroad.
“I learned so much in the US Government class and thought I knew it all,” said Senior Jack Hodges. “But then I went on this trip and learned so much more and was able to really understand it seeing it put into practice.”
“This trip gave students the chance to have the things they learned in a textbook come alive,” added Mrs. Garrison. “They were able to ask tough questions directly to their Representative in the House as well as their Senator, and discuss the idea of war, peace, and memorializing. Students got a thoughtful, hands-on exploration of the three branches of government and their role as citizens and the trip brought much of what they’ve been studying into crisp focus as these students begin registering to vote and get ready to head out into the world on their own.”
Athletics
“This season the team had huge wins over big schools like Fletcher, Stanton, Ridgeview, and Yulee. The hard work and dedication of these ladies continues to move the program in the right direction. Great season, Spartans!” — Coach Yolanda
Girls Varsity Basketball Congratulations to Mary Kate Kent ’24 who was named Florida Athletic Coaches Association 2A District 6 Player of the Year, and Coach Yolanda Bronston, who was named Coach of the Year.
It’s a tremendous honor for an eighth grader to receive this award, said Coach Bronston. “I’m so happy for Mary Kate to receive this well-deserved recognition. She works so hard, is a great team player, and consistently performs on both sides of the court.”
Senior Athletes Charge Forward Congratulations to six Spartan senior athletes who will take their skills and determination to play at the next level:
Ryan Croft (Soccer) Carroll College
Kyla Hartwell (Basketball) St. Francis Xavier University
Lea Hartwell
(Basketball) St. Francis Xavier University
Jack Hodges
(Baseball) Flagler College
Joseph Shimko III
(Crew) Berry College
Elizabeth Stoeber
(Majorette) University of Florida
Nine is Fine for Girls Varsity Soccer by Julia Nichols ’21 Spec Martin Municipal Stadium lights in the pouring rain didn’t stop the St. Johns Country Day School Varsity Girls Soccer Team from clenching its ninth consecutive state championship trophy. “Nine is fine” was marked as the new soccer slogan after the game vs. Shorecrest Prep on February 26, in DeLand, FL, concluded with a 4-0 win. Goals were scored by Hannah Lemieux ’22, Paige Crews ’21, Mia Sadler ’21, and Lauryn Mateo ’23.
The back line, with Alexis Agramonte ’21 in the goal, finished the season continuing their shutout streak. St. Johns sent a pep bus putting a crowd of student supporters in the stands, while those who stayed on campus watched the livestream that showed the girls making history once again.
Mike Pickett ’83 has coached the female Spartans for the past 22 years, and in that time span, he has led 12 teams to win state championship titles. Their smiles say it all, as the clock hit zero, the joy on every Spartan’s face was almost as abundant as the raindrops that fell.
Jack with his parents, Amy and Dan Hodges, holding up his #9 jersey.
Belated Baseball “Senior Night” Honors Hodges Spring sports Senior Nights were canceled or belated, but Spartan Baseball was able to squeeze in some time to honor Senior Jack Hodges, who will go on to play baseball at Flagler College next year. “Jack was a 6 year starter and has done as much as anyone in transforming the Spartan baseball program into what it is today,” said Head Baseball Coach Tom Lucas. “Thank you Jack for all you’ve done!”
#BeTheLight Participating in the nationwide #BeTheLight movement, in April St. Johns held a socially distant drive-through celebration of our seniors, as we lit up the athletic fields in honor of the Class of 2020 and the seniors drove by to music and cheers.
Clockwise from top-left: The Robbins family (Caroline Robbins ’13, Mrs. Ivonne Robbins, and Jordan Robbins Rechcigl ’10) in support of Parker Robbins ’20. June and Mike Stoeber (and friend) in support of Elizabeth Stoeber ’20.
Drew Petty ’13 and Jean Marie Maierhoffer Petty ’13. Larry and Barbara Sage, in support of their seniors, Courtney and Kendall Sage.
Middle School Spartan Earns Athlete of the Year Congratulations to weightlifter Addison Frisbee ’24, who was named ITG Next Female Youth Athlete of the Year, presented by Wolfson Children’s Hospital. While not offered as a sport at St. Johns, Frisbee has been lifting weights since she was ten-years-old, said mom Jennifer Frisbee. “Her older cousin was lifting at the time and encouraged her to give it a try after she stopped competitive gymnastics.”
Performing Arts News
Arts Students Get Innovative During Distance Learning St. Johns performing art students often had to get crefor the dance students, taught them some of the choreative during the coronavirus-related shutdown, so it’s a ography from Beetle Juice, her current show. good thing they are, almost by definition, creative. St. Johns’ dancers also had to get creative when it came
First, both Dance and Theatre students enjoyed meetto performances this spring, posting both individual and ing Broadway performer Morgan Harrison when she group performances by video (you can check out some of joined their classes by Zoom. She talked about her life as those at vimeo.com/sjcds). a professional performer, answered their questions, and,
State Solo & Ensemble Festival Fourteen musicians earned slots in the state Solo and Ensemble Festival in February and earned the following rankings:
MIDDLE SCHOOL:
◆Trumpet Solo
Superior Zach
Dimmick ’24
◆Alto Sax Solo- Superior;
Bari Sax Solo- Superior
Torrin Heinrichs ’24 ◆Trumpet Solo- Superior
Timmy Jackson ’24 ◆Clarinet Solo- Superior
Michela Mach ’26
◆Trumpet Solo- Superior
Ty Neal ’25
◆Clarinet Solo- Superior
Addison Wagstaff ’26
UPPER SCHOOL:
◆Flute Solo- Excellent
Isabella Ottey ’20 ◆Flute Duet- Excellent
Kaley Burnside ’21 &
Julia Andrawis ’21
◆French Horn
Solo- Superior
Sean Gregson ’22
◆Marimba Solo- Superior
Ariel Sauer ’22
◆Alto Sax Solo- Superior;
Advancing to State
Alex Dimmick ’21 ◆Tuba Solo- Superior;
Advancing to State
Josh Soffler ’20
◆Baton Solo- Superior;
Advancing to State
Elizabeth Stoeber ’20
Performances by Alex Dimmick, Josh Soffler, and Elizabeth Stoeber advanced them to the State competition, which, unfortunately, was cancelled due to the coronavirus.
Middle School Chorus
St. Johns Singers
Choral Groups Excel at State MPAs The St. Johns Singers and Middle School Chorus were able to squeeze their Music Performance Assessment (MPA) in just under the wire before area schools closed due to the coronavirus. The Florida Vocal Association District IV Music Performance Assessment took place on March 6 at Mandarin High School. The Middle School Chorus earned ratings of Excellent from all adjudicators, and the St. Johns Singers earned a Superior on stage and an overall Excellent rating. “I am very proud of all of these students and their progress this year,” said choral director Brenda Scott.
Technology
When they built out “SJ3D Labs” from St. Johns Country Day School’s 3D printing lab a couple of years ago, little did Jona Kats ’21 and Sahaj Patel ’20 know they’d be using it to make protective medical equipment. But when the coronavirus pandemic hit the First Coast, that’s exactly what has happened for the two Technology Fellows. Kats and Patel originally started SJ3D Labs to broaden their experience designing and printing materials in 3D, but when the coronavirus hit Jacksonville and medical providers and first responders were running low on personal protective equipment (PPE), they knew they had to act.
While campus was still open, they moved 3D printers and other equipment to one of their homes and began production of face shields for medical professionals and others in the community. “The lab has been our project for the last few years and with the coronavirus shutdowns, it and the equipment were going unused. We were sitting on the sidelines watching others with similar equipment make a difference in their communities, and we knew we had to act,” said Patel. “The idea became a reality when we migrated lab operations to my house,” Kats continues. “We made the first face shield prototypes based on a widely-used certified design, which we tweaked a little. It has been an honor to serve our community and use our resources to help those on the front lines.”
With the dearth of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) available for essential health workers, the students’ project has generated a lot of interest in the community. They set up a GoFundMe to fuel continued production and through the end of the school year had created and donated more than 500 face shields, fulfilling several requests from St. Johns alumni in the health care field, including Sjoukje Mooneyham ’90, Ramzi Shaykh ’09, and Michelle McCauley ’06.
“These remarkable students saw a need in our community and immediately set out to be part of the solution,” said St. Johns’ Director of Technology Anne Gorman, the students’ technology mentor. ‘They have worked tirelessly to create a prototype and perfect it, and have been printing and building face shields day and night.”
Visual Arts
36 Spartan Artists Lauded in Scholastic Awards 36 St. Johns student-artists earned 89 honors in the 2020 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards, which recognize the vision, ingenuity, and talent of our nation’s student-artists.
“It’s a significant achievement to earn any of these awards,” said Visual Arts Department Chair Anna Reynolds-Patterson. “Each award represents our students’ dedication to creative and technical artistic skill. We are proud of these artists for excelling at this level, especially considering many of the awards were received by students still in Middle School.” 2020 award recipients include:
Yashas Aprameya ’21 Olivia Belland ’25 Landon Brafford ’21 Kassie Burton ’22 Addison Ellis ’22 Brooke Ferris ’21 Kelsey Gregson ’25 Kinley Hall ’22 Kyla Hartwell ’20 Lea Hartwell ’20 Natalie Higingbotham ’21 Desiree Holmberg ’21 Haley Juskowski ’21 Anna Kemp ’23 Mary Kate Kent ’24 Abbey Lantinberg ’21 Khloe Lloyd ’24 Michael Maytin ’20 Tyce Moore ’22 Ava Morin ’24 Mia Morin ’22 Riley Myers ’22 Lulu Nowicki ’23 Delaney Payton ’20 Zoë Roberts ’20 Kylie Rodriguez ’20 Kendall Sage ’20 Noelle Sanford ’22 Emma Schultz ’23 Claire Trammell ’20 Laney Valdivia ’24 Reagan Wagstaff ’25 Laura Walden ’24 Ruihong Wang ’20 Sophia Woolard ’24 Sims Wulbern ’21
Michael Maytin ’20 Silver Key Drowning in Sorrow
Kyla Hartwell Silver Key Permission
Brooke Ferris ’21 Silver Key Analogous Self Portrait
Noelle Sanford ’22 National Silver Key Three Drunken Revelers
Zoë Roberts ’20 National Gold Key Vase
Three of these artists were honored with National Gold and Silver Medals: Kelsey Gregson ’25, Noelle Sanford ’22, and Zoë Roberts ’20. Were it not for the coronavirus pandemic, Zoë and Kelsey would have traveled to Carnegie Hall in June for the Awards Ceremony.
Kelsey Gregson ’25 National Gold Key and Best in Grade Self-Portrait
Found Color Wheels Lower School Art Teacher Mrs. Mary Beth Allgaier helped students find colorful inspiration during Spartan Distance Learning with a found color wheel project. Using objects found around their homes, students created wonderful wheels demonstrating their comprehension of the color wheel. From household cleaning products to favorite toys, students got creative in making up their wheels.
#GettyMuseumChallenge Students and faculty throughout the Upper School took on the Getty Museum Challenge this spring, recreating famous works of art from common household materials. From Madonna to Marat, history and art history students and teachers (among others) came up with some very creative replicas of famous works of art. St. Johns faculty led by example in this challenge, pulling together some truly amazing reproductions:
Lower School Art Teacher Mrs. Mary Beth Allgaier, in Johannes Vermeer’s Girl with a Pearl Earring. Middle School Art Teacher Mrs. Anna Reynolds-Patterson, with Spartans Sophia McClellan ’28 and Brice McClellan ’26, in Dorothea Lange’s Migrant Mother.
Upper School Art Teacher Mrs. Pam Ayres in Gustave Courbet’s The Desperate Man. AP Art History teacher Mrs. Heather Velasco in Portrait of Henry VIII, by Hans Holbein the Younger.
Upper School Explores Nontraditional Materials As the School moved into Spartan Distance Learning in March, Upper School visual art students took advantage of it as an opportunity to explore non-traditional materials. Inspired by the Tibetan sand paintings of Buddhist monks, St. Johns’ Upper School art students created works made from ground coffee beans.
