Lovett
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September 2015 Volume 34 Number 1
A news publication of The Lovett School
Academic Resource Center Presents Lovett Learning Institute The Academic Resource Center is honored to present the first Lovett Learning Institute on April 15–16, 2016. Our keynote presenter will be Dr. Daniel Willingham, professor in the department of psychology at the University of Virginia. Dr. Willingham’s research focuses on the connections between and application of cognitive psychology and neuroscience to K-12 education. He is the author of Why Don’t Kids Like School? and Raising Kids Who Read. Our conference is made possible by a grant from the E.E. Ford Foundation and generous supporters of the ARC within our Lovett community. Stay tuned!
Girl Scouts Receive Award Lovett Girl Scout Troop 28300 received the Silver Award. Congratulations!
Siempre Verde This year at Siempre Verde we redefined the summer school experience. Thirteen students from four K–12 independent schools participated in the inaugural year of the Cloudforest Classroom. Courses were offered in language and cultural immersion, tropical ecology, and a new course called art and the environment. Students in the art course worked on printmaking, drawing, painting, and photography, using the diversity found in the natural landscapes of Ecuador, as well as the local culture to inspire and inform their art. In addition, the unique location and surrounding
Our Defining Decade—Thank You! Lovett is excited to announce that we have successfully completed the $2 Million Community Challenge and exceeded our goals for Our Defining Decade: A Campaign for Lovett, which ended on June 30, 2015. Here are the preliminary numbers for this historic campaign: Gifts to Unrestricted/Facilities: $65,322,000 Gifts to Endowment: $28,642,000 Total raised: $93,964,000 (Goal was $90,000,000) Lovett Legacy Society goal: 300 members Actual Lovett Legacy Society: 307 members Estimated value of Legacy Society members’ planned gifts to Lovett (not in above totals): $17,000,000 Thank you to everyone who invested in the people, programs, and places that make us who we are! Please visit www.lovett.org/ourdefiningdecade for more information about Our Defining Decade.
environment permitted an exploration of themselves as
True Blue News
artists. Samantha Jones (class of 2018) remarked, “the
This year brings much opportunity and growth for Lovett’s True Blue Annual
beauty and culture of Ecuador has allowed me to learn
Fund. Two important changes have been approved by our board of trustees to help
more over the past two weeks than I ever could over a
strengthen and refine this most important community-wide fundraising effort.
semester.”
Beginning this year:
The language and cultural immersion students
Parent Annual Fund is condensed to 5 weeks.
spent the first week at the Siempre Verde lodge, studying
To better value your time and lessen Lovett resources spent on fundraising, our True Blue Annual Fund for parents
daily Spanish lessons and working on interdisciplinary
will begin October 19 and end November 20. True Blue volunteers will reach out to parents during this time period
projects with their art and ecology counterparts. Their
for their annual fund commitment. Pledges will still have until June 30 to be fulfilled.
itinerary also included three nights of homestays in the
1926 Society minimum is increased.
Intag area, which tested their ability to communicate
For the first time in 10 years, The 1926 Society’s minimum gift has been increased to $2,500. Recognizing the
with local families. The highlight of the trip though was
increased commitment this important change requires, an interim minimum of $2,000 is in place for 2015–16. As
giving back to the community through a service project
Lovett looks to its future, this increase will ensure that Lovett continues as an exceptional independent school ready
to install new playground equipment at the Santa Rosa
to rise to meet challenges and turn possibilities into reality.
school. After returning home, a student commented, “[I]t helped me become more fluent then I was before. I would recommend this course as a Spanish class [and] as a trip.” The tropical ecology students studied the cloudforest through lab activities that were designed
Please contact Kathleen Bryant, associate director of development for annual giving, with any questions about these changes at kathleen.bryant@lovett.org or (404) 262-3032, ext. 1240. In the coming weeks, you will hear more about our True Blue effort from our 2015–16 True Blue Annual Fund co-chairs Beverly ’92 and Bo Briggs. If you wish to make an early gift or pledge, you may do so at www.lovett.org/ givetrueblue. We are grateful for the loyalty, commitment, and generous spirit of our Lovett community. Thank you.
to keep them outside and interacting with their environment. They worked alongside researchers
Lovett International Alliance Welcome Party—September 27
collecting plants for future DNA analysis and monitored
The Lovett International Alliance (LIA) kicks off our
species diversity along an altitudinal transect. In
ninth year with a welcome party for Lovett parents.
addition, students chose individual research projects
This event will be held on Sunday, September 27, at the
on topics ranging from beetle and moth diversity to
Rogers & Westmoreland Activity Center (Scout Hut).
pollination to native uses of plants for medicines and
The theme is a “Taste of Germany.” Sample tasty treats
other products.
and meet fellow parents and members of the faculty.
Thanks to the great students who made all of these trips such a success!
Connecting Generations
Look for details on the Lovett website. LIA membership includes more than 230 Lovett families hailing from more than 20 countries, including Australia, China, Congo, Cuba, France, Hondu-
Connecting Generations is a creative program that Joni
ras, India, Ireland, Jamaica, Japan, Mexico, Portugal,
Janis will continue this year in collaboration with Lower,
Nigeria, South Africa, Switzerland, Turkey, United
Middle, and Upper School faculty. Activities, which
Kingdom, Vietnam, and, of course, the United States.
include love of family, history, and humor, offer a unique
Co-Presidents: Katrina Griessman Dinkle and Reetika Nijhawan Secretary: Patricia Geray Treasurer: Jay Varma Cultural/Education: Priti Lakha and Payal Kapoor Social: Patricia Ulrich and Sandy Hyman Membership: Paige Tully Book Fair: Corrie Johnson and Tonya Johnson Worldfest: Kevin Young, Audrey Summers, Lelanie Farris, and Andree Janis
Participating families include parents that were born outside of the U.S. or those with careers involving interna-
perspective to students and our Lovett community. This
tional business. We welcome all families that maintain an interest in global affairs, foreign languages, and interna-
program highlights the wisdom and experiences of
tional travel.
grandparents.
Save the date for Worldfest on Sunday, October 18!