Table of Contents Around Campus
2 3 4 5 6 7 8 10 12 14 16 18 21 22 24 26 28 30 32 34 36
“The Winner” Statue / New Vertical Advisory System Inside Raps and Taps Lower School Auditorium
Exchange Student Alex Martín Mrs. Martha Abrew Ms. Veronica Mayer Mr. Alexander Adkins Mr. Hudson Bikes the Great Divide Mr. Lecky’s New Office Spirit Week Tish Taylor’s Halloween Costumes Baby Boom at STC Teacher Fun Facts Inside Ampersand Tornado Crisis Peter Hamby Visits STC Mr. Golladay: 50 Years Saints Serve Richmond Students Visit Costa Rica STC Women’s Blog Goes Live The Oak Needle
Editors-in-chief: Hunter Gardner ’19, Tabb Gardner ’19 Design Editor: Oliver Hale ’21 Senior: Chris McCormick
Volume CIII
Issue 1
The Pine Needle is the magazine of St. Christopher’s School. It is run, written, edited and designed by students in grades nine through twelve. Cover Art by Baylor Fuller ’19
Sophomores: Aubrey Bowles, Coley Lynch, Cameron Ofogh, Jayden Smith, Will Stevens, Collin Taylor, Harrison Tompkins, Spencer Villanueva, Henry Weatherford Freshmen: Phillip Thompson, Whitt Bowles, Luke Gresham, Nick Lowsley-Williams Faculty Advisor: Mrs. Kathleen Thomas
Around Campus The Winner If you have ever walked past the construction on your way to the Middle School or to catch a bus to St. Catherine’s, you may have noticed a new bronze statue depicting a joyful young boy. The statue, titled “The Winner,” was gifted to St. Christopher’s by Mr. and Mrs. Charles Luck III ‘51 to inspire Saints of all ages to achieve their dreams. “The Winner” was given to our school because it represented the excitement of St. Chris boys. Mrs. True Luck described the statue by saying, “I loved this piece because of the boy’s wonderful smile and his obvious joy — one foot higher than the other, thrilled with his accomplishment. He is clearly a winner, and that’s how I think of St. Christopher’s School and its students.” The statue was made by a talented female sculptor, Glenna Goodacre. Mrs. Goodacre, known as “America’s Sculptor,” is an influential figure, who has completed more than 500 works in her lifetime. Mrs. Goodacre is famous for making the Vietnam Women’s Memorial Statue in 1993, a statue of Ronald W. Reagan for the Library that bears his name in 1998, the Sacagawea coin in 1999 and countless other pieces of art. Recently, Mrs. Goodacre suffered a serious fall, and she became unable to sculpt anymore. Although this is her last piece, the St. Christopher’s community will cher-
New Advisory System Opinions are mixed about the new advisory system. Some students are excited and in favor, while others are less enthusiastic. In past years, the system was described as horizontal, meaning that advisories were comprised of students from the same grade. The new vertical structure includes one or two students from each grade in every advisory. Part of the new system also involves organizing advisories into houses. Each of the six houses includes about eight advisory groups. Some believe the new advisory system is awkward and that it does not foster interaction among students. Others believe it develops stronger relationships between
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By Spencer Villanueva ’21 ish the work of art gifted to us, while we try to envision ourselves in the mindset of “The Winner.”
By Harrison Tompkins ’21 advisees and advisors Upper School Head Tony Szymendera believes that the system is a “strong positive change.” In planning, Mr. Szymendera and other faculty performed research among parents, finding most were in favor of the new system because they wanted their sons to form stronger relationships with their advisors. Later on, advisors will know their advisees well and they will be able to write a meaningful recommendation for college, he said. “This system made more sense to try it this time so that we can have boys go three or four years and hopefully then the system has made a bigger impact on the guys.”
Inside Raps and Taps By Tabb Gardner ‘19 With a daunting year of deadlines and layouts ahead, seniors Hollis Cobb and Tyler Hutchison have their work cut out for them. Every year, production of the yearbook is quite chaotic and littered with stressful time crunches. This year, the Raps and Taps team hopes to restructure the creative process to make for a much less stressful year. Based on Cobb’s well orated chapel announcements about upcoming deadlines, staffers are already off to a proactive start. In addition, the Raps and Taps team hopes to pay attention to the finer details of their work to make it the best yearbook it can be. This will lead to much better photo quality and more intricate page layouts. Students end up working for Raps and Taps for a multitude of reasons; some for their interest in design, and some simply don’t have a sport to play. Cobb has worked for Raps and Taps for a collective three seasons and Hutchison a colossal nine. Each knew of the monotonous work involved and wanted to contribute their time to the undertaking. Hutchison and Cobb only have a few students working under them, so the lack of hands guarantees a demanding year. So why do students dedicate so much time to something as uninteresting as this particular sect of student publications? [Note: no bias here.] The fun part for Hollis isn’t the work itself. It’s the feeling of connection with his grade and the school as a whole. Working on the yearbook gives the most holistic view of our school with the goal to capture an entire year at St. Christopher’s across all grade levels. Long-time attendees of St. Christopher’s working with Raps and Taps look back with nostalgia at work accomplished during their years under the pines. Hutchison has come to realize that when working on each individual page one at a time, you can rarely get a feel for how the final product will look. Finally, seeing his work come to fruition is for him the most satisfying part.
Almost all of the work goes unappreciated until the spring as everyone is fleeing school for the summer, but we must remember that the Raps and Taps team is hard at work throughout the year to give us the best yearbook possible.
Chris Schroeder ’20
Mr. Britton and Hollis Cobb ’19
November 2018
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Lower School Auditorium Gets an Upgrade By Coley Lynch ’21 If you went to the Lower School here at St. Christopher’s, you’ll remember being crammed in the hard, uncomfortable seats of the Lower School auditorium. This is no longer the case for students today because renovations have brought many new improvements. Head of Development Delores Smith said,“It’s an old old building, built in the 1970s. It was just time to repair it.” The auditorium overall has a clean and more updated feel. The biggest change is the new chairs. After sitting in them myself, I could tell how much they would make a difference. The old-school originals were hard and plastic, with an unnecessary movable desk that was rarely used. The new ones seem more like chairs you would find in a theatre, with soft red cushions and nice armrests. Sitting through plays, literary society meetings and chapel will be much easier for the boys. Other changes include a new rug, drywall replacing the old cinder block walls, along with infrastructure to improve acoustics, and a new
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sound system. There will also be a new projector for chapel presentations and guest speakers that has not been added yet. The old one had been there for a number of years, so an upgrade will be a good improvement. With all these renovations, you would think that this auditorium might no longer have the feeling of home and closeness that the original brought, but this is not the case. Second Grade Teacher Glorietta Jones said, “It’s not so fancy that the boys can’t enjoy themselves. It still provides a sense of intimacy and belonging.”
Exchange Student Alejandro Martín Sabroso By Jayden Smith ’21 Meet Alejandro “Alex” Martín Sabroso ‘20, one of the two exchange students attending St. Christopher’s this year, living with me and my mother. Many are already familiar with Max Nabokow ‘19, an exchange student who was able to stay in America for an extra year. But many students might not know about Martín. He hails from Zaragoza, Spain, but he speaks fluent English and aspires to be a diplomat. Already, his life experiences have provided travel to France, Dublin, Ireland and Italy. He said, “I’m a person that doesn’t like to be in the same place a lot of times.. … I don’t like the routine of being in my city every day, going to school with the same people, going back home and doing my homework and just doing all that stuff everyday. I like to change the ambience.” Martín likes America for its diversity. “In any European country, you’ll find diversity like there is here in America,” he said. “You can find all kinds of people and meet people from all around the world.” He received a scholarship from ASSIST, a nonprofit that matches academically talented, multi-lingual international students with American independent secondary schools. He’s had to leave his parents and siblings behind for the school year, but maintains contact with them through FaceTime and is focusing on his work. Outside of school, Martín is a big soccer fan, playing on our varsity team this fall season and watching soccer games of his hometown team. He’s also a great fan of food here. Martín is a meat-lover, but America has introduced him to many different dishes and options. “I’m eating a lot of vegetables, which I don’t like, and I’m eating a lot of meat, and the meat here is really good.” Martín’s multitude of diverse experiences should serve him well. He hopes to try new things, get a taste of American culture, make some friends and try a lot more American food. “I prefer having no expectations so that way I can get surprised when things come,” he said. “If my expectations do not come true, I don’t get upset. I just want to be open to everything.”
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Teacher Spotlights:
Mrs. Martha Abrew
By Collin Taylor ‘21
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aised by a single mother in Peru and Miami, Math Teacher Martha Abrew excelled in her field all her life. Traversing an abundance of countries by her early 20s, Abrew’s background is an amalgamation of many different cultures. Much like her mother who worked three jobs to send her to a private school, Mrs. Abrew attributes her motivation to her children. She is a first-generation college student, with her two sons following her footsteps and attending Old Dominion University and Temple University. Mrs. Abrew finished high school at age 15, joined the military at 17 after scoring 100 percent on the math portion of the admissions test . She devoted a number of years to serving, went on from college to get two master’s degrees in math and business funded by scholarships, lived in five countries and six U.S. states and is now on her way to earning a doctorate online. Mrs. Abrew’s impressive educational history, along with her military background, helped form her teaching style, the likes of which many of her students have already grown fond. Student Jayden Smith ‘21 said, ”She is very flexible, and she is open to what the students have to say, even though she is new. For example, she explains problems in depth if students don’t understand.” Her teaching experience began 10 years ago at a German preschool that she discovered while working for the military. After her time at the preschool, she desired a more mature group of students. In search for that group, she transitioned to teaching at a community college until she moved from Germany. Her most recent teaching position was at St. Louis School in Hawaii for seven years, where she taught Marcus Mariota, quarterback for the Tennessee Titans. “I felt comfortable working with boys, given I have two boys myself.” she said. Many factors, including being an all boys school and our focus on religion, drew her to St. Christopher’s. When she stepped onto our campus on the first day of school, she said, “I was impressed at how well behaved
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all of the students were.” Mrs. Abrew is also fond of our class sizes, favoring them over larger classes. “The smaller classes allow me to teach students on a more personal level,” she said. Mrs. Abrew appreciates St. Christopher’s, saying ”It is a different culture. I like how students follow things here like the honor code.” All of the schools where Mrs. Abrew has worked have been diverse. “It is nice to work here and experience the culture, especially while living in Richmond for the first time.” She hopes by the end of the year she can change some of her students’ perspectives on math, as well as getting to know her students better. “I am learning new things about the school and my students every day.”
Ms. Veronica Mayer
By Henry Weatherford ‘21
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rom her origins in the Northeast to teaching at a bilingual school in Madrid, Upper School Spanish Teacher Veronica Mayer’s history is one of diversity. Her teaching style combines her love of the Spanish language and culture with her love of literature and culture. Ms. Mayer finds the culture here far different. Instead of hours, rock piles and time outs, students at IES (Instituto de Educación Secundaria) Laguna de Joatzel are forced to stand in the center or a corner of the room, facing the wall, so as to embarrass them into calmness. “And sometimes it would actually work,” Ms. Mayer said. “About half the time, it would not really work, but it was definitely different from how I have ever seen things run.” Another major difference between the two schools is the student-teacher dynamic. The Getafe teachers focused more on imparting information and lecturing than getting involved in their daily lives. Oftentimes, “[the students] don’t know the names of their teachers,” she said. The school also had limited funding, with barely any of the classrooms or hallways decorated or technology used, though some of the younger, more experimental teachers would use basic software such as PowerPoint. Not all students are expected to go to traditional high school in Spain, and many stop attending at age 16. Some switch to a special formation school, where they focus more on skills required for jobs such as a secretary or electrician. Students who follow the college route specialize in the humanities, social sciences such as psychology, or hard sciences, such as mathematics, biology and physics. Ms. Mayer attended an all-girls Catholic school, something she says has many positives, including how students find it easier to express their own identity without having to conform to the societal pressures brought on by trying to impress the other sex. When she started at the University of Chicago, she
was sure she would major in linguistics but also found literature to be her best subject. Through the Great Books Program, she combined both but found that it lacked in one specific area: Spanish books. “I wanted to understand better why the Great Books Program at University of Chicago, which is supposed to be about all the great works and traditions in the Western civilization, barely included anything Spanish-speaking,” she said. “I wanted to see where the Spanish-speaking world fit in the West, and I also wanted to match that up with my love of languages.” Ms. Mayer’s journey to getting a doctorate is long and arduous. “I would definitely say that it is a challenge to be in isolation with your research and your thoughts for your one huge essay,” Ms. Mayer said. But the journey did show teach her just how happy being around people made her. In her spare time, Ms. Mayer enjoys singing A cappella, listening to all types of music, writing, engaging with foreign cultures and friends, and reading up on philosophy and linguistics. She is happy to be here in the South with weather and attitudes she finds “warm.” Though the culture is slightly different than in Spain or the Northeast, she hopes that she can share some of her culture and language with her students.
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Alexander Adkins By Hunter Gardner ’19
“I am a firm believer that a coffee and a couch changes the entire atmosphere of a classroom. I want people to come into the classroom feeling invited. I want people to want to be in here.”
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f you walk into the classroom of new History Teacher Alexander Adkins, you will be greeted with a firm handshake and the aroma of fresh coffee. Mr. Adkins firmly believes that creating a good relationship between the student and teacher is key to students’ academic success. He has two key components to begin this relationship: coffee and couches. “I am a firm believer that a coffee and a couch changes the entire atmosphere of a classroom,” he said. “I want people to come into the classroom feeling invited. I want people to want to be in here. When you walk through that door I want that feeling to be warm, welcoming and inviting.” Many students have already taken advantage of the Adkins coffee station and are welcome to donate either cash or supplies to pay it forward. In addition, Mr. Adkins writes long, motivating emails to students and their families, capturing the class’s daily discussions and progress. He wrote the following in one this fall: “The week was capped off with a quick discussion about subsidies, tariffs, and fair vs. unfair trade policies. There was a lot of great argument, complexity, and depth for our discussions on Chinese international students on American campuses and the changing face of college admissions policies. Ultimately, there is no right answer. Our job in 9/11 to Today is to study, learn, debate, and deepen our moral/ethical framework of what is fair in the world we live in today, and the world we vote for in our elections as citizens.” Mr. Adkins was raised in Charlotte, North Carolina, and graduated from Virginia Tech. He was able to go to
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college through the military. “My dad made it very clear that he was not going to be able to pay for college, so the army was a way to do cool stuff and get college paid for,” he said. While a student at Virginia Tech he took part in the relief effort following Hurricane Sandy in New Jersey, volunteering at a community center. “It was exhausting but one of those moments when I realized nothing happens unless someone actual does it,” he said. “It’s up to us to take care of each other.” During what would have been his freshman spring and summer at Virginia Tech, he completed a tour of duty in Iraq, fighting under the Virginia flag as an Army Guardsman. Mr. Adkins continues to serve as a paratrooper sergeant in Civil Affairs, a branch of Army Special Operations, as an army reservist. After six years in the military, he pursued teaching, something he always wanted to do. In teaching history, his military background provides a different perspective. “It’s a lot of understanding the human element of war,” he said. “War today is a very personal and human conflict and no longer a will of nations but a will of ideas. My job is to make sure that ideas going around in people’s heads
are not poor ideas about the government and U.S. military.” To fulfill his reservist duties, Mr. Adkins spends one weekend a month “playing army” in Maryland. Following his tour of duty, Mr. Adkins graduated from the University of Edinburgh with a master’s degree in American history and from Columbia University, where he received a master’s in teaching social studies. Mr. Adkins previously taught at a co-ed school in Florida and an all-girls school in Hawaii. Teaching is one of Mr. Adkins’ greatest passions. “I love having a job where I am awarded for being excited about my job, and I get to make a connection with people,” he said. “I don’t think there is anything greater. I could care less how much I could get paid. I have had offers for jobs that make twice as much as this, but I would not give this away for anything in the world.” His greatest passions are his wife, whom he met at Virginia Tech, and his two children. He has a son who is almost 3 and a daughter who is 1. Mr. Adkins is also incredibly passionate about active participation in politics and exercising the right to vote. He has encouraged this year’s seniors who are eligible to register and exercise one of the most important parts of democracy. “The most wonderful part of democracy, in my opinion, is that your vote is equal to my vote,” he said. “Your voice is equal to my voice. Your opinion matters just as much as everyone else’s opinion, which is probably the first time in your life that is true. You have just as much authority in the political process as your teachers, administrators and parents.” He and his family are excited to settle down in Richmond after spending years of moving around. According to Mr. Adkins he is “livin’ the dream.”
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Coach Hudson Bikes The Great Divide By Whitt Bowles ‘22
“You’re a little bit out of your mind, sometimes you can push through it and it feels good, and sometimes it feels horrible.”
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nowstorms, heat waves, four days of fever and intestinal distress, wild animal threats, sleep deprivation and a shredded tire could not stop Coach Charlie Hudson from finishing the famous Tour Divide Race, a grueling 2,745-mile course that runs along the Great Divide, from Canada to a small town in New Mexico. Coach Hudson said that going out on the trail “felt epic, like some massive test every day,” and that it “rejuvenates your attitude on life.” Hudson wanted to challenge himself and the challenging ride had been one of his goals for quite a while. The Lower School physical education teacher averaged 102.7 miles a day for the entire 26-day journey in early summer. His longest day was 153 miles when he biked from 3 a.m. to 11 p.m. On the first night of the trek, his air mattress popped, and later on, his tent broke. He ended up sleeping on the side of the trail for the remainder of the trip. On the second night of the trek, Coach Hudson said that there were people blowing whistles because they were worried about bears. While Coach Hudson was in Montana, he needed some bike repairs. He got to a bike shop, where he met a man named Sandy who helped him out. Before Coach Hudson was out of Montana, his hands began to numb. He said it was carpal tunnel syndrome, which caused him difficulty in using his hands for the
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remainder of the trip. His pain continued once he finished the race and he had hand surgery in October. At a point during the trip when Coach Hudson was in Wyoming, he got sick and almost quit. While he was ill, the trail for the race got rerouted due to a forest fire, and Coach Hudson couldn’t find his way. Resourcefully, Hudson decided to follow other people’s trails and ended up getting back on the right track.
Photo: Bob Wick, BLM California
However, Coach Hudson wouldn’t let any of these challenges stop him from finishing the race. About 160 people signed up, but only around 70 were able to complete it. Coach Hudson was one of them, placing 53rd. “You’re a little bit out of your mind, sometimes you can push through it and it feels good, and sometimes it feels horrible.”
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Mr. Lecky’s New Office By Oliver Hale ’21
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ead of School Mason Lecky is pleased with his new perch in the Luck Leadership center. He likes to watch Lower School boys walk across St. Christopher’s Road to lunch there every day and listen to jazz band practices downstairs in the 2010 Café. The proximity to the Loud Library is also a perk. “I like being able just to step right outside and immediately have a group of students that I can interact with,” he said. In the past few months, the school has undergone multiple changes, Mr. Lecky’s new digs in the LLC, formerly home to the Upper School Writing Center, have large windows and balconies and include more meeting space. The LLC has multiple advantages, most obviously as the only school building used by boys from all three divisions. It is also geographically close to soon-to-be constructed recital hall, which will be another focal point on campus. The move required some renovation work. A wall was knocked down and moved forward, making the space smaller, and new ceilings and lights were installed. The school maintenance crew completed the work in-house. Finally, after a fresh coat of paint, the office was completed. The new space is much larger than Mr. Lecky’s old office, and the added square footage allows for larger meetings. “For example, this morning, I had a meeting with seven people around this table, and I could not have
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“The LLC, especially with the new recital hall being built nearby, is becoming the central student hub of the campus.” done that in my former space,” Mr. Lecky said. “We had a circular table that was about half the size of this one.” Meanwhile, the Writing Center relocation to Mr. Lecky’s old office in Chamberlayne Hall also brought some advantage in being closer to English and history classrooms. Mr. Lecky expects that the Writing Center will soon move to the building basement, and its current home will be converted into a classroom of some kind. Being in the lower level will offer less distractions and move it closer to the Center for the Study of Boys, Mr. Lecky said.
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Spirit Week
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he tradition of Spirit Week continues to stay alive with several students celebrating and dressing up the week of Halloween. Monday called for students to don America-themed apparel, whether it just be red, white and blue socks or a full Uncle Sam outfit. The next day, a Hawaiian theme had students sporting stylish colorful flowered shirts. The next day’s Halloween Costume Contest is always a hit. This year’s highlights
By Jayden Smith ’21
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included Ned Mangum ’22 as Waterboy, Baylor Fuller ’19 as Bubbles and Hobby Ballou ’20 as Shaggy, making the top three spots, and many other students and faculty getting in the spiriti of the season. After much deliberation and applause, Ballou’s Shaggy won the contest. The final Spirit Week celebration had students dressing up in all black for the Pep Rally. Black apparel dominated the gym as the athletes rushed in.
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Tish Taylor’s Delightful Disguises By Collin Taylor ’21
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n Halloween, working behind her desk in Luck Hall, a pale-faced Queen Elizabeth I with a mustard yellow dress, pearls, ruffled collar and wide petticoat sat with her bright red wig atop her bejewelled head, confusing coworkers of her true identity. But not as much as some years when she has been totally unrecognizable, as a witch, cowboy, clown, the Spirit of Halloween and Cruella de Vil. Mrs. Tish Taylor, STC switchboard operator, has immoderately adorned the attire of numerous characters through the years. Her background in makeup and creativity take her costumes to the next level. She goes to such lengths as using oil-based clown makeup, white in the vein of Queen Elizabeth, as well as Elizabethan makeup techniques to apply her blush. Several years ago, she gave herself a cowboy beard by covering the appropriate area of her face in honey and sprinkling it with fresh coffee grounds. Mrs. Taylor learned some tricks of the trade working for Merle Norman, a cosmetic company, for 13 years. While there her first year, her boss encouraged her to dress up for Halloween. Her first costume was a witch, which enthralled customers so much that each year they would come back to see what she and other employees were wearing. Mrs. Taylor puts considerable amounts of effort into each costume every year. She said, “As I run across things in the summer that would suit, I start collecting them.”
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She relies on websites like Amazon and stores like Goodwill to find accessories needed to consummate the look. When Mrs. Taylor arrived at St. Christopher’s she did not dress up for Halloween. It was not until coworkers Laura Dick and Lisa Aaron convinced her to join them in the Halloween festivities. “She just knocked our socks off,” Mrs. Dick said. “She just has a knack for fashion and makeup. She’s an artist at best.” Meanwhile, Mrs. Aaron and Mrs. Dick also have demonstrated creativity and amazing attention to detail in all kinds of getups, as cheerleaders, Scooby-Doo characters Velma and Daphne as well as Olive Oyl and Popeye.
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STC Baby Boom: Q&A
Interviews by Henry Weatherford ’21, Hunter Gardner ’19, Harrison Tompkins ’21 and Nick Lowsley-Williams ’22
Mr. Gitomer on his son Theo Lee, born July 18 Do you have any interesting stories about your child?
“I never thought I would get peed on, pooped on and thrown up on all on the same day.”
Are you worried about raising a child?
“Yes, every second of my life. I thank God that my wife is here. Without her, who knows what would happen?”
Does your son look like you?
“He looks like me, but I hope that changes.”
Do you think your son will participate in wrestling?
“I don’t know. Do I think he will be around it? Yes. But if there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s try to create opportunities and hold kids accountable. Let them make mistakes and help them learn from their mistakes.”
What will you do on paternity leave?
“I’ll tell you everything very precisely, so take good notes. Change his diapers, clean, feed him, read him stories, tell jokes, and probably go for walks.”
Mr. Van Arsdale on his son, Scott Matthew Jr., born June 27 How do you feel about the baby?
“I was nervous, but now he is here I am just more excited than nervous. I am excited to see him every day.”
Do you have any interesting stories about your child?
“My wife went into labor in a Pho (Vietnamese) restaurant.”
Are you worried about raising a child?
“Obviously there is always a little concern, but my wife and I waited until we were older, and both of us being teachers means we have a lot of experience.”
Will you take paternity leave?
“It is something I considered, but not until after the new year.. … [My wife’s] leave had to be taken when he was born. We are given a whole year to take our leave, whenever it’s best for the family.”
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after a couple of months, they begin to develop into people.”
Are you worried about raising a child?
“Not really. It’s something that billions and billions of people have done throughout history. It’s something natural. I certainly worry about whether or not we’re making the right decisions in regards to how we care for her. But I also kind of feel as though she will be who she is so long as we do our best.”
Did you take paternity leave?
“Yes. I am. It’s federally mandated that you can take leave in order to care for a child, and there is no difference in the legislation whether it is the mother and the father, which is not common knowledge.”
Do you think your daughter will pursue mathematics as a career?
Mr. Britton on his daughter, Ann Woodson, born May 15 How do you feel about the baby? “I’m excited.”
Are you worried about raising a child? Why or why not?
“No idea. If it appeals to her. I wish that everyone was interested in mathematics. Of course I hope she has an understanding and appreciation of numbers, both from a practical and from an aesthetic [or philosophical] standpoint. Math has been a big part of my life, so I would love for it to be important in hers. At the very least, I hope she has an appreciation for those who do have an interest in mathematics, and I hope that she is good with numbers in a practical sense.”
“Yes, a little due to her being his first child, but ‘worried’ is not the right word. I am excited, yet nervous.”
Do you think your daughter will participate in Raps and Taps? “Maybe, but you never know.”
Mr. Carlson on his daughter, Jane “Temple,” born April 30 How do you feel about the baby?
“She is just recently beginning to develop awareness of other people, so there’s definitely much more familiarity with and recognition of me. She’s also beginning to become much more expressive-— smiling, laughing — and that has made the connection between us much deeper because she knows who I am. When the baby is first born, you love them unconditionally, but they’re really just a blob. They don’t have expressions and emotions and recognition of those around them. But
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Mrs. Livick on her daughter, Evie Ellen, born June 21 How is Evie doing?
“Good. She’s currently screaming in her room ... and she still wakes up a lot at night, so I’m tired. But she’s been a pretty calm baby, and [she’s] different from my son already.”
How is her brother, Cameron, handling it?
“I’m actually really surprised. He really, really likes her. He likes to try and help with her diaper, giving her a pacifier, and he always says ‘I love her.’ ”
How do you feel about the baby?
“I’m excited to have a girl because I feel like I’ll be able to have a different kind of relationship with her. We can have our nails painted and such.”
What values do you want to raise her with?
“I want her to know that she’s strong and capable to do anything that she wants to do.”
Mr. Jones on his daughter, Serena “Rennie” Baker, born Aug. 7 How are you handling having a second daughter?
What are your concerns with raising her?
“Working at a boys school, I feel that I know how to deal with boys, but boys and girls tend to have different temperaments, especially in high school.”
“It is wonderful having two girls. It’s a little challenging because Rennie is not on a regular sleep schedule yet, but my wife is doing an incredible job and is a wonderful mother. It is fun and special to see Rennie and our older daughter, Ann Pinckney (AP for short), begin to develop their relationship.”
Do you wish to add anything else?
How did the pregnancy affect you?
“One thing I’ve been surprised about is how different they are from birth. You think whatever you have been doing has been shaping them, but you realize they are just very different people.”
“My wife and I were both very excited, but the pregnancy really did not impact me that much. Things sure changed when the baby arrived!”
What are your worries? What are you excited for? “My biggest worry is just making sure that we do a good job as parents and that we take good care of our girls. I want to help them grow up to be kind, honest, thoughtful, appreciative, hard-working and confident. I’m most excited to see what interests they develop while supporting them along the way. There are also some things that I’ve never done like watch ‘Frozen’ or read all the Harry Potter books, so I hope to do things like that as a family.”
Are you taking paternity leave? If not, why?
“My wife is taking maternity leave, and I started a new job in admissions this summer, so it made the most sense for me to work while my wife is home with our daughter. Fortunately, we live close to school so I can get home if needed to check on things and help out.”
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Teacher Fun Facts By Phillip Thompson ’22
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rom meeting Hall of Fame athletes to working as a white-water raft guide and snow maker, there's more to your teachers then you might guess. Earlier this fall, the freshman class has engaged on a teacher fun fact scavenger hunt directed by Mrs. Laura Lanois, Upper School resource teacher. I was the winner and received a private five-person pizza. I got help from my friend, Cameron Ofogh ‘21, and my journalism teacher, Mrs. Kathleen Thomas. I won largely due to the fact that few people were interested in the scavenger hunt to begin with or too lazy to find out answers. Mrs. Casey Torrence came up with the idea during an an academic support resource meeting as a way for freshman to get to know their teachers and other faculty members outside their classes. Mrs. Lanois sent out of a survey and 35 teachers submitted interesting, fun and funny facts. Mrs. Lanois plans on doing a similar activity next year for the class of 2023, despite the low participation rate this year. “Next time, if we do this again, which we probably will, we need to sell the idea more and have fewer stringent rules on the contest,” said Mrs. Lanois. Among many surprising and interesting facts, we learned that Ms. Sazshy Valentine went skydiving over the Alps for her 20th birthday, Mrs. Vickie Hurt was BooBoo Bear at Kings Dominion in college, Mr. Greg Tune collects ancient swords and coins and the Rev. Whitney
Edwards used to ride motorcycles. Personally, I have benefited from this activity and have gained a new respect for some of my teachers, in particular Dr. Austin Sutten, Upper School science teacher. I didn’t know she was an avid sailor, and I enjoy sailing myself. Although this activity was fairly straightforward, I learned a lot about my teachers and feel more comfortable in the Upper School. This activity would have benefited a lot of people if they decided to participate.
Abbott Bested by Bear By Phillip Thompson ’22 Perhaps the most interesting of these “teacher fun facts” was the instance of Mr. Billy Abbott wrestling a bear. In 1974 when Mr. Billy Abbott was a senior at Douglas Southall Freeman High School, he and some friends, who were also on the wrestling team, heard about a carnival coming to Parker Field that featured Victor the wrestling bear. At the time, Victor was a popular attraction and had even starred in an American Baseball Association halftime show. Victor was a reputable wrestler
and had only lost twice in his career, despite intense safety precautions like declawing, defanging and being loaded with drugs. Most of Victor’s matches lasted less than a minute and after every match he won, his owner, Tuffy Treusdell, gave him a fresh bottle of Coca-Cola. Despite Victor’s talent, Mr. Abbott posed a challenge for the 6-foot, 450-pound Alaskan grizzly by taking him down with a quick duck under. Unfortunately Victor reversed the move, pinned Mr. Abbott and won the match.
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Inside Ampersand By Jayden Smith ’21
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or the past 50 years, a group of boys and girls have come together to put on a show. Some students audition for a part in the fall musical, or the Winter One Acts, or the spring play. They practice their routines and dialogue every day after school. However, there’s a team of unsung heroes behind it all that help move the play along. They build the set, paint accessories and more to help make sure everything is in place for the production. Some people work in the woodshop cutting boards, while others work with the wiring. There’s always work to be done, and fun to be had. Maury Hancock, a staff
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member and the head of the tech crew, trusts his team and knows they can accomplish whatever is needed. Not only are they preparing for the play, but they are developing life skills. How to use a ratchet-strap and wood saw and change drill bits are a few of the valuable skills that participants learn from the program. The Ampersand crew is currently working on the fall musical, “Into the Woods” by Jay Lapine. With a new wave of freshmen coming in to help, the future of the Ampersand community looks bright. Upon walking into the actual theater, one will immediately see bright yellow scaffolding, ladders, paint and several people working all
“For every single production, there’s countless pieces, big and small, that we have to make and it’s tough to gauge who’s going to be working on it, how many people we need, and how long it takes.”
around the stage. Walking down a small walkway into the back portion of the theatre leads to a small junkyard with some metal beams, a metal workshop and woodshop. These places are almost always occupied during production hours because it takes a lot of time and effort to get things ready. Speaking of effort, stress is a factor into pushing crew members towards getting things done. George Freeman ’20 said that stress “depends on the show, but it’s typically a yes.” Henry Tate ‘19 added that being able to efficiently communicate with your project partners is critical. An example would be when Freeman was pulled from the audience to fix some technical difficulties before the problem was apparent on stage. Every tech member usually has a specific aspect of the play that they are assigned to. This year has been a bit more challenging as tech crew teaches a large number of new members the basics. Typically, the student body is mostly uninformed about news and progress regarding Ampersand productions. Programs are often obscured by other news regarding athletics, speakers and student events like dances, and the
tech crew, in particular, is often overlooked. Inside the theatre, everyone supports and respects each other. Almost everyone gets along and they all have the same level of devotion for a good performance. Tate describes it as a fairly tight-knit community, saying, “If one of us needs help with something, then we’ll have a lot of people to help out.” So far though, the new arts center being built adjacent to the Middle School looks promising and the school will focus more on the arts in the future. According to Head of School Terrie Scheckelhoff, St. Catherine’s is tearing down McVey Theater and fundraising to build a new one. The space will be used for 172 parking spaces, a turf field and HVAC infrastructure, scheduled for completion by Jan. 1, 2019. The destruction of the theater isn’t as inconvenient as one might presume since St. Christopher’s is building a new art center, even though it might take more than a year. The Ampersand crew will move to the boiler room. Many of them aren’t making too big of a deal about it. In fact, many of them think it’s time for the theater to go. Freeman said that sometimes parts of the wall just fall out. Tate said it’s probably for the best and that the new theater at St. Christopher’s will be a lot better. Regardless, Ampersand will continue to thrive and produce plays, but they will not be doing so in McVey. Ampersand is a completely different experience then what a typical STC student would undergo. It’s been a part of both St. Christopher’s and St. Catherine’s for quite a while now, and now it’s in the spotlight.
November 2018
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Tornado Crisis Brings Community Together By Chris McCormick ’19
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s rain, wind and alarm sounds raged outside, Mr. Van Arsdale was quiet. Every few moments, he jingled his keys or checked his phone. I asked him if the weather was making him nervous. It was, he said, but not for his own sake. It was his baby son he had on his mind. “That’s probably why I’m paying such close attention,” Mr. Van Arsdale explained to me. “He’s at daycare, [and] even though I know he’s safe, it’s still …” He paused, and checked his phone again, anxious for the Weather Channel or daycare to bring him some news. “This is real, people,” he insisted, “this is real.” Everyone responded to the looming threat of tornadoes differently. Some people paced back and forth throughout the room, their children and families on their minds. Some kept as calm as could be, even trying to find comedy in the situation. Ben Davis ‘19, for example, complained that waiting for the tornado that never came was anticlimactic. “I would’ve at least wanted to see some dust fly,” he said. Luke Scott ‘20, in a similar fashion, predicted that the St. Christopher’s community was “about to get womped” by the impending tornadoes. Some joined hands in prayer, as did a few students from St. Catherine’s. Some, like Mr. Jim Mayra, information technology manager, went along with their usual business. He wasn’t much disturbed by the tornado warnings, nor was he by the 20 high schoolers who invaded his Luck Hall office
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with just as little notice. “I don’t have any issue with it,” he said of the makeshift study hall formed beside his desk. “I’m glad we could help out.” The technology department was happy to accommodate us for a few hours while we braced for the storm. Rather than lament having to spend three hours with high schoolers, the technology department enjoyed the opportunity to get to know us, and therein lies the storm’s real impact on the community. The threat of tornadoes, as scary as it might have seemed, had one benefit: it forced everyone in the St. Christopher’s community to huddle together in close quarters for three hours. As cramped as the circumstances were, they brought everyone closer to each other. For students who had to relieve themselves in lab beakers in Dr. Fisher’s room because they weren’t allowed to use the bathroom, the tornado watch will be a moment to remember. For students who played rounds of “what food would you want to swim through?” with Mr. Ferguson, the tornado watch will be a moment to remember. For kids who slept in the Center for the Study of Boys as if at a sleepover, the moment probably won’t be so memorable, but for the rest of us, the community feels a little more tightly knit, having faced the worst of nature together.
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Peter Hamby Shares Perspective By Hunter Gardner ’21
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eter Hamby starts his day drinking coffee and scouring political news for the most interesting, salient topic he can cover in his Snapchat documentary-style show, “Good Luck America.” Hamby strives to provide news in fast paced fashion that appeals to a younger audience that has become increasingly harder to reach in a digital world. Hamby began his journalistic journey as a producer at CNN where he won multiple Emmy Awards, most notably for his coverage of the 2016 election. He has since moved to Snapchat as their head of news, running a podcast called “Good Luck America.” In his talk to students, Hamby emphasized the current political divide in the United States. In lieu of making a presentation, Mr. Hamby opted for a conversation, and the school tapped alum Will Bird ’18 to take a break from his studies at the University of Virginia to lead topics of discussion, with questions provided by the Center for the Study of Boys, which hosted the event as part of its Journeys to Manhood series. The format allowed for the discussion to cover a multitude of topics around politics, journalism and civility.
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“Politics today has rapidly moved to two poles where there is not a middle anymore,” Hamby said. “Politicians from both parties are responsible for their own base and because of that, each of those bases has gotten noisier to the point where you can’t disagree with someone in your own party. I worry a little bit about the trajectory of our discourse but am still hopeful.” In addition, Hamby spoke about the fading civility in America. He used the recent parading of State Senator Ted Cruz out of a restaurant as an example. “You know it when you see it and yelling at a U.S. senator in a restaurant because you don’t agree with his
political stance to me seems over the line,” he said. Hamby emphasized how the roles of the reader and the press need to adapt in a world where fake news threatens the credibility of truth itself. In a digital world people are curating their own news, and are many are not relying on typical television news. Hamby encouraged students to get to know 10 of the most credible news sources and to frequently fact check. The press also needs to do their part to help fix the divide. “It’s important for journalists and news organizations today to not live in their own self-righteous bubbles and not assume that everyone is tuning in to the evening news or today show or picking up the newspaper every day,” he said. “Most people are getting their news from social media and what’s in their hands.” Hamby wrapped up the discussion urging those who care about politics to get involved and take action. He said, “Don’t just hashtag and retweet stuff, go vote. There is a competitive house race in Richmond. Work on one of those teams. Go knock on doors. Go volunteer for the mayor’s office. Try to get out of your bubble.”
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Mr. Golladay: 50 Years “Throughout his tenure, Mr. Golladay has become synonymous with St. Christopher’s Middle School, so much so that the hall he has worked in since he first came here in 1969 has become known as the Golladay wing.”
By Henry Weatherford ’21
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r. Golladay is the quintessential St. Christopher’s teacher: caring, honest and practiced, with a personal pinch of “home-country charm” mixed in. During Mr. Golladay’s 50 years of guidance, three generations of students have walked into his classroom
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knowing who they will see, what they will be taught and how they will be taught. Throughout his tenure, Mr. Golladay has become synonymous with St. Christopher’s Middle School, so much so that the hall he has worked in since he first came in 1969 has become known as the Golladay wing.
This teacher has tried to create an ethos where students feel welcome, make mistakes and learn from those mistakes. But, inevitably, students decide to do stupid things. One time, Mr. Golladay had turned his back on the class, allowing one particular student to make his escape by climbing out the window. Years later, Mr. Golladay found out about the incident when another student told him the story. “That was what made it funny,” he said. “Otherwise, the student would have been in deep trouble.” Another time, Chaplain Durk Steed organized a “Middle School Idol,” where boys showed off their talents. One student shaved his head in Mr. Golladay’s style and got up on stage. “He imitated the expressions, my mannerisms, my motions, my goofy sayings,” Mr. Golladay said. “It was so funny.” At the end of last year, Mr. Steed replayed the video in chapel to celebrate the demotion of the historic building that was razed to make way for a new recital hall. Viewers found it just as hilarious then as they did years ago. Mr. Steed described Mr. Golladay’s habit of leaning his shoulders back, pulling on his belt and jingling his keys. “Nothing can throw Coach Golladay off of his power stance except when he drops his dry-erase marker, at which time he leans back and says ‘Oh mama,’ remembering the time his back seized up, and he laid on the floor until the ambulance took him away,” Mr. Steed said. “Once he has come up with his mathematical word problem, it’s sure to be full of anecdotal stories about duck hunting and snow-skiing escapades.” Another one of Mr. Golladay’s sayings is “‘What are you DOing?!” This single sentence is bound to bring shivers down even the toughest of men, Mr. Steed said, when the offender is obviously doing something wrong, and Mr. Golladay is about to redirect that person’s behaviour. According to Mr. Steed, “Life lesson: Conduct yourself in such a way that Mr. Golladay never has to stop you in the hall and ask, ‘What are you DOing.’” Not every story involving Mr. Golladay is funny, though. Both Middle School History Teacher Clifford Dickinson, and Mr. Baylor said that Mr. Golladay is a good man who not only cares for those that he taught but also his coworkers. “Mr. Golladay is a great human being,” Mr. Dickinson said. “He goes to church. He’s a good family man. He comes every day to school worried he won’t do a good job. He’s just a good guy.” Once, when Mr. Baylor was new, he bid on a VCR camcorder at the school auction. Mr. Baylor did not expect to win, but he did, and soon realized that he did not have the money to pay for the equipment, as he had recently married and bought a house. Mr. Golladay offered to pay
for Mr. Baylor. Though he did not take Mr. Golladay’s offer, Mr. Baylor said that it was symbolic of the man’s generous attitude to friends and colleagues during his many years. “Fifty years is a long time,” Mr. Golladay said. While at St. Christopher’s, Mr. Golladay saw the moon landing, the tech revolution, the end of the Vietnam War, 9/11 and the beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Throughout such drastic change in America and the world, Mr. Golladay has stayed the same man he was in 1969. When looking back on his long tenure, one can return to one of his old sayings, “Everything is copacetic.”
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Saints Serve Richmond By Will Stevens ’21
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he kids were scrubbing away diligently in the bathroom at Shepherd’s Way Relief center, listening to Richard, a wounded veteran and former homeless drug addict. Richard told his story about living in the craziness of the streets for five years before getting sober. Now a lead volunteer at Shepherd’s Way, he works there every day as a part of his own healing. Chaplain Joe Torrence was stunned by the students’ attentiveness and hard work that day. “When you hear somebody else’s story connects with your story, and those two stories meet, both people are changed for the better forever,” he said. The bathroom cleaning was part of Doing Something Good — RVA Mission Experience, a week-long program organized by the Lower School chaplain and his wife Casey Torrence, Upper School math and science teacher, as part of St. Christopher’s Summer Experiences. Doing Something Good - RVA Mission Experience was born out of a similar summer program the Torrences created 15 years ago called Impact Richmond, which focused on house repairs for the elderly and underprivileged. The Torrences amassed 500-plus volunteers by its third summer before stepping away to focus on family, but the program still goes on today. The Torrences experienced the power of story through this program as well. The group was repairing a Northside house when the Rev. Torrence found a window with an oddly shaped hole, and he checked with the homeowner, Ms. Brown, to see if it was okay to replace it. Ms. Brown told him that she wanted the window to stay the same forever because of an incident that occurred during
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the Richmond schools’ desegregation when her daughter was slated to enter a historically white school. She was sitting in her house before the school year started, when out of nowhere she heard a gunshot. Very quickly she realized that someone shot at her house and damaged the window. Through her story, students empathized with
Ms. Brown and created a lasting connection. Given these experiences, the Torrences were a great fit to for Mrs. Janine Davila’s plan to grow Summer Experiences to include community outreach. As director of STC auxiliary operations, she asked them to start a similar program for elementary and middle school aged kids. The result was Doing Something Good - RVA Mission Experience. During the week, kids worked and cleaned at Shepherd’s Way Relief Center, met with Mr. Reggie Gordon, director of the Office of Community Wealth Building and picked up trash around the city. In speaking with Mr. Gordon, the participants learned about what the city is trying to do to help reduce the 26 percent poverty rate. Essential steps of his plan are listening to the people’s stories, helping them go back to school and eventually finding jobs. After the week long experience, the Torrences saw that the students were “struck with the fact that they can make a difference.” Mrs. Davila was also shocked when her son, Zach ’25, came home after the program one day excited to help his friend at CARITAS, a program that provides food and shelter for the homeless. After seeing her son motivated to make Richmond a better place, Mrs. Davila sees the program as so well aligned with STC, mirroring the values that make this school so special.
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Saints Visit Costa Rica In the past year, current freshman traveled Costa Rica. There they acclimated to a culture far different than their own, learning about the country’s native cultures, languages and religions, all while helping and serving the local populace. By Luke Gresham ’22
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magine waking up on a hot and humid morning in a third-world country, clambering in a boat and rowing down the Yurkin river to a group of indigenous people you’ve never interacted with before. You stick around for a bit and help them with a variety of jobs and chores, then head back to your host family’s home, eat unfamiliar food and settle into a bunk bed covered by mosquito netting. This was how St. Christopher’s freshmen Nate Glerum, Topher Durette, Whitt Bowles, AJ Jones, Nikkos Kovanes, Griffin Moore, Phillip Thompson, George Thompson, Mac Mueller and Camden Cobb, as well as teachers Derek Porter and Kyle Burnette spent a week in June in Yurkin, Costa Rica. The responses I gathered about the trip are positive. Mr. Burnette described it as powerful saying, “I think it’s a trip that is necessary and a very positive
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experience for our guys.” Overall, the students seemed to enjoy it as well, even with the large amount of physical work required. For the service aspect of the trip, the boys helped the local indigenous people, the Bri Bri, however they could. This included planting cocoa beans, latching roofs and on the last day, carrying and planting a tree. They each committed four hours of service for each of the four days they worked with the Bri Bri. Fortunately, there was plenty of fun to go along with the service. They went to the beach a few times and swam in the river. On one of the last days, they went on a canopy tour by zipline and visited a local celebrity mask maker. A highlight was visiting an active volcano. In fact, they weren’t able to go to the original volcano
they planned to visit because it was erupting. When they went to another, they looked straight down into the volcano’s opening and core, an idea that is both terrifying and awesome and certainly a favorite moment of the trip. Cultural immersion was different for everyone since they were divided up by twos and hosted by different families. The food posed some challenges for many students. Homes without electricity, windows or air conditioning, required the students to do some adjusting. Students had to sleep under mosquito nets, which did not always work, causing them to have bites by morning. The students said the only bad thing about the trip was the sickness that seemed to hit many during and after their stay. The flu-like symptoms, which included vomiting and fever, were never formally diagnosed and could have resulted from several factors. According to Mr. Porter, it could have had something to do with eating nothing but junk food and missing out on nutrients. Mr. Burnette added that Costa Rica doesn’t have great sanitation and that the bacteria in students’ stomachs were not used to Costa Rica’s food. In addition, the water is not very clean and dehydration often occurs from the heat. To add to that, when students returned home, some immediately gorged themselves on junk food, where they should instead have reacclimated themselves to western food in a slower process. Mr. Porter is not returning next year, but Mr. Burnette is.“We’ll be going back to Costa Rica in 2019 and then traveling to South Africa in 2020,” he said. “A little stomach sickness is not going to prevent us from global engagement trips with our students.”
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New Women’s Blog at STC wearelisteningrva.com By Spencer Villanueva ’21
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very woman has a different story to tell. As an all-boys school, St. Christopher’s seldom spotlights women’s issues. On that front, Henry Barden ’19 and a team of journalism students are doing just that through a multimedia blog, “We Are Listening.” Emphasizing community outreach, the blog focuses on women in our community and plans to expand to include women across Richmond. Each story asks a common question: “What is important for boys to know or understand about women?” The blog uses both writing and videography to convey women’s stories. This format allows the viewer options: an article can be clear, concise and to the point, but cannot convey emotion quite like a video. “We are getting the word out in as many ways as possible for maximum impact,” said Barden. The name “We Are Listening” evolved with the blog. The original title, “RVAwomen,” changed after the interview between Mrs. Pohanka and Henry Weatherford ’21. Mrs. Pohanka said that instead of assuming knowledge, boys should simply listen to women. Other women interviewed expressed a similar sentiment. Barden and Faculty Advisor Kathleen Thomas are enthusiastic about the new project. Mrs. Thomas said, “I think it has huge potential for where it could go. For me, if it helps broaden one boy’s perspective, it has been successful.”
Original artwork by Baylor Fuller ’19
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The Oak Needle St. Christopher’s Finest News Source
New House System Brings Disappointment By Tabb Gardner ’19
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new advisory system is upon us, and students are sharply discouraged over some of the changes. As school started, rumors of a “house system” echoed through the halls. Fantastical visions of Harry Potter and magical whimsy danced in students’ heads. It was evidently clear that a whole array of magical and supernatural benefits had to come with the adoption of such a system. In many ways, it would make perfect sense. A Quidditch field could be constructed right over Knowles Field, and fall sports wouldn’t even be impacted. In addition, the ceilings of Ryan Dining Hall could be significantly raised with locally sourced stone to produce a proper Great Hall similar to Hogwarts. As the first few days of the new school year passed, the rumor of a house system excited the students and faculty of St. Christopher’s, and the hype for the magical changes was only growing. At first, the freshmen were the first to make significant financial endeavours in anticipation of magic being instituted at St. Christopher’s. A few “first years” bought expensive new robes and even a few owls in preparation for the changes brought on by a house system. “I don’t see the point in adopting a house system unless the magical elements of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter series come included. That being said, I know the school is going to do the right thing, and bring us the whimsical benefits of the wizarding world of Harry Potter,” claimed one student. As the first two weeks of the school passed, excitement
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turned to disappointment. The administration finally announced the reality of the new house system, and Upper School students of all ages let out a huff of discontent. Senior Henry Boehling claimed he was “at least to get a proper class on the dark arts.” Freshmen were crushed the most by the announcement due to all of their erratic and premature purchases before seeing proper proof of any kind of magic. Never-to-be-used mail owls were released into the surrounding community, and any excitement for the academic year ahead had faded away. Among faculty, a similar attitude of disappointment had followed the non-magical house announcement. English Teacher Sherman Horner was beyond ready to undertake the mantle of Severus Snape, if the school had really gotten magical abilities from the adaptation of a house system. Chemistry Teacher Bucka Watson had even planned to grow his beard to Dumbledore proportions to better keep the atmosphere of a magically inclined school. Plus, it would give Mr. Watson an ample opportunity to showcase the portion of hair on his head that could he could actually grow. In response to the overwhelming discontent, the administration promised we students would find “magic” in everyday real-world academics. The revelation of the new house system shattered all fantastical expectations of students and faculty alike and their magically high hopes for the year one might say, went up in smoke.
William Abbott, Funyun Knight By Tabb Gardner ’19
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ean of Students William Abbott was proclaimed the hero of the tornado lockdown on the St. Christopher’s campus after he was seen heroically handing out bags of Funyuns. As the crisis entered into its third hour, Mr. Abbott suddenly burst into the basement of Chamberlayne hall and began distributing the globally loved Funyuns. Mr. Abbott dashed through the hallway giving the hungry their feed. Bored students came back to life as they tasted that signature Funyun flavor. Henry Simril ’19 claimed that Mr. Abbott was the divine savior of the situation. “I was immediately rejuvenated with energy and hope after I consumed my bag of Funyuns,” exclaimed Simril. Mr. Abbott was the school’s light in a sea of darkness, and the image of such a willful man handing out Funyuns to the hungry has been ingrained into the minds of whoever saw the heroic act. Students have labeled Mr. Abbott as the valiant “Funyun Knight.” The school is forever in debt to his heroic deeds. In reflection on his actions, Mr. Abbot just claimed, “I was doing what needed to be done.”
Top Stories Following Tornado Incident, Toilets Replaced by Beakers Hornets Invade Senior Porch, Seniors Flee New House System Sparks Gang War Library Attendance Rates Plummet as Hawkins announces No-Breathing Library
“The Loser” By Tabb Gardner ’19
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ith the newly constructed “The Winner” statue, St. Christopher’s administration is looking to add some balance to their repertoire of statues. Head of School Mason Lecky is lobbying for the creation of a “Loser” statue, which will represent the crushing lows of a boy in an academically rigorous private school. The statue will depict a stoop shouldered student weighed down by his academic load and the physical weight of his backpack. As St. Christopher’s students have so many obligations and classes to attend to, a “Loser” statue would be another representation of the student population. Mr. Lecky cites St. Christopher’s goal of “educating the whole boy” and wants to show the whole picture of what
a student might look and feel in such a busy, demanding environment. Senior Wes Featherstone saw a sketch of the newly proposed “Loser” statue and claimed he was looking in a mirror, saying “The statue’s sleep deprived eyes and burdened nature really captured my mood.” The sculpture will be placed right next to “The Winner” statue so students and visitors alike can see both sides of life at St. Christopher’s. Some students have made the observation that “The Winner” looks quite similar to naive and innocent freshman, while its inverse, “Loser,” appears quite similar to an exhausted senior student. Most on campus are hoping the school approves the bold new piece of artwork. However, a significant minority believes such a statue would be much too realistic. Mr. Lecky echoes his original purpose of depicting all sides of life at St. Christopher’s.
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STC Baby Boom p. 18
Tornado Incident p. 24
Peter Hamby’s Visit p. 26
“The Winner” p. 2