2000 Edgehill, Summer 2022

The Magazine of Peabody Demonstration School & University School of Nashville Summer 2022

We’d love to hear from you about anything you read in this edition of 2000 Edgehill and whatever you have to say about your family’s days here. Help PDS/USN, faculty, and classmates keep up with what is happening in your personal and professional lives by:

n Using #beyondEdgehill when sharing good news and PDS/USN memories on social media

n Sending a letter to the editor: Juanita I.C. Traughber, Communications Director, 2000 Edgehill Ave. Nashville, TN 37212 or emailing jtraughber@usn.org

n Emailing alumni updates for Class Notes to lhicks@usn.org with photos attached at the highest resolution available

Find 2000 Edgehill online at usn.org/publications.

On the Cover Artclectic 2021 included a Tibbott hallway gallery of students’ tributes to outgoing Director Vince Durnan. This quilted painting is by Art Teacher Andy King’s class: Jack Aaron ’26, Tom Buntin ’26, Theo Burgess ’27, Mack CohenPoole ’26, Shaw Fleming ’26, Celeste Green ’27, Lilly Lapidus ’27, Abigail Manoukian ’27, Porter Ratliff ’26, Josephine Scott-Barnes ’26, and Fair Wellons ’27. Students used watercolor and were moved to capture the essence of Durnan in his signature brown. The patchwork approach signifies his indi vidual relationships with students combining to form the bigger picture of his impact, King said. The art lesson focused on visual measuring, pairing technical skills with a larger idea to help students develop a personal connection to their assignment and raise their engagement in painting class.

This edition of 2000 Edgehill was published in June 2022 by the Communications Office and Alumni & Development Office for the Peabody Demonstration School and University School of Nashville community.

Director

Vincent W. Durnan Jr. Communications Director

Juanita I.C. Traughber Development Director Anne Westfall

Alumni Director Leigh Ivey Hicks ’05

Copy Editors

Juliet Douglas Leigh Ivey Hicks ’05 Lorie Strong Anne Westfall

Photographer Kimberly Manz

Contributing Photographers

Kelly Davidson

Rick Malkin

Pat Miletich

Steve Smail Sierra Smith

Kevin Stack

Juanita I.C. Traughber with additional photos submitted by alumni

University School of Nashville does not discriminate on the basis of color, creed, gender identity and expression, handicap, national origin, race, sex, sexual orientation, or transgender status in the administration of its educational, admissions, and financial aid policies, faculty and staff recruitment and hiring policies, athletics, or other programs or activities administered by the school.

University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of greater Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learn ing, and the pursuit of excellence.

2000 EDGEHILL

Senior Class President Krishin Parikh presents Director Vince Durnan with his diploma as he finally graduates from USN after 22 academic years.

Built to Last

Many 2000 Edgehill columns later, here comes the farewell edition. For starters, color me grateful that we still publish an actual document—part current events, part stories from years long past, part message to posterity—all in an effort to reach the far-flung PDS/USN community. In this moment of transition, so laden with connective potential, let me offer a few reasons that our hardworking school has stood the test of time and stands ready for what’s next.

For starters, a deep commitment, explicitly affirmed in our lowprofile but high aspiration mission statement, to look like our city. That means celebrating in real time the constantly changing de mographics, welcoming the next wave of new Nashvillians, along side those of us who’ve been here for a while. It’s not hard to find private schools that appear dedicated to turning back the clock, to embracing a picture of life a decade, or a generation, or several generations past—an effort guaranteed to miss opportunities to learn and think and grow and be relevant in this or any historic moment. USN benefits daily from a conscious and constant effort to reach out. And happily, we know it in our bones.

Next, look to our compact, high-energy, K-12 campus, all under one roof, figuratively and actually. We’re situated here contiguous to one of the nation’s great institutions of higher education, next to its college for teachers, and we’re fully autonomous for what in 2025 will be a half-century, with an origin story unlike any other. While other schools may construct monuments to affluence at a remove from their neighborhood, we sit here in Midtown, with so much to remind us to stay engaged—not to mention the River Campus resource and its possibilities in Bordeaux. And we get to watch the progression from kindergarten to college by just walk ing down the hall.

Then, turn to our financial model, rooted in the austerity that probably kept us around through times of challenge we’d struggle to understand today. Tuition now sits at levels our predecessors would similarly strain to imagine, but we still watch every penny, with a priority on making it possible for the people who work

here to stay here as the leaders that our profession needs. Yes, we benchmark with the best schools we can find nationwide, but we are not afraid to keep doing what we think is best on the opera tional side—to do more with less—as we build the longer-term endowment resources to relieve some of the burden of being so tuition-driven.

Most importantly for this list, look to our singular faculty, expe riencing its own form of generational shift. They’ve been drawn here by the chance to merge autonomy and collegiality in just the right measure, in a lasting pursuit of excellence. Watching the next generation of USN greats has been one of the treats of the last few years for me, through the crucible of the pandemic. There’s a mountain of talent to fuel our school’s next steps, some of recent vintage and others who’ve seen us through many seasons of change. May every action and statement and initiative in the years ahead reinforce the central importance of sustaining a great faculty here—including the chance, or maybe the responsibility, to play a visible role in preparing those aspirants who seek lives as teachers.

My aim from here forward is to cheer USN on from a respectful distance, to work on being a decent former Director, to express the depth of my gratitude for having been part of this beloved community for so darned long. It’s a testament to the school, actually, that it has even been possible to enjoy such a run. My predecessors, principally, so to speak, Harvey Sperling and Ed Costello, did the hard stuff that paved the way. And their pre decessors, from Thomas Alexander to Knox McCharen, set the metronome that still keeps our time.

Now it’s everyone’s turn to imagine anew what USN can be at its best, and to quote our Pulitzer-winning historian Bob Massie ’46, I can’t wait to see how it all turns out.

Here’s to you,

Dr. Durnan farewell

2000 . 2022

Theannual art show and sale at University School of Nashville brought more than 60 artists to a transformed Sperling Gym on October 21-23, 2021, but the work of a few dozen students in the hallway gallery of Christine Slayden Tibbott Center elicited the most heartfelt reactions. Six months earlier, the USN community learned this school year would be Director Vince Durnan’s last. And as a tribute to him, K-12 students created art in his likeness for Artclectic.

Passers-through could see that from students’ view: he picks up a lot of trash, enjoys spending time with young people, is into the color brown, is present in sunshine and rain, and has catch phrases like, “Begin with the end in mind” and “Do the job no one else wants to do.”

Add these artworks to the two-decade-old collection across campus with a centennial campaign puppet, sticker mosaic, and a few handcrafted ceramic head busts, and one can assume the school’s longest-serving Director is also a long-admired educational leader.

Durnan joined USN in 2000, bringing his young family from Connecticut to Tennessee. He grew up in Vermont and graduated from the high school where his father was principal before earning his Bachelor of Arts at Williams College and Master of Education at Harvard Univer sity. Durnan served in stints at independent schools from the Atlantic to the Pacific: HarvardWestlake School, Hawai’i Preparatory Academy, Suffield Academy, and Kingswood Oxford School. While at USN, he would walk across Edgehill Avenue to earn his Doctorate in Education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College. He has written a chapter for the “NAIS Heads Book” and visited more than 30 schools nationwide in what he called “an educational safari.”

Anyone driving down Edgehill Avenue on a schoolday morning saw Durnan standing on Edgehill Lawn, welcoming students off buses, and walking kindergartners to their classrooms. An academic at heart, he remained in the classroom. His Historical Methods class in the early 2000s researched and wrote stories of PDS/USN from 1970 forward. And sitting in desks arranged into a circle with High Schoolers, he challenged his Contemporary Civics class to think critically about current events and connected them with thought leaders, decision-makers, newsmakers, and politicians to ask questions about matters impacting the Nashville community and state of Tennessee. He also worked as a lecturer and consultant in Peabody College’s Independent School Leader ship master’s degree program and regularly chaired Leadership Nashville’s Education Day, emphasizing the possibilities of publicprivate educational partnerships for the city’s emerging leaders.

Circle back to any evening sporting event, concert, or theater pro duction, and those present saw Durnan there too. And in between those 12+ hour omnipresent school days, he did the work for the outreach, care, and enhancement of USN’s campuses, its people,

Bea Fuller and Director Vince Durnan walk through the Tibbott Center first floor gallery to view students’ artistic reflections of him in October 2021.

and the community in which they teach and learn.

One of his most passionate goals was to make a USN education accessible for Nashville’s brightest young people. And so, as part of the school’s centennial campaign, a small group of present and past families, Trustees, and USNA Presidents created the Vincent W. Durnan Jr. Endowed Scholarship Fund to benefit exceptional and vital students with financial need. It started with $1 million in 2017 and received $1.5 million in recent months as gifts of grati tude for his work at USN.

The longest-lasting tribute to Durnan during his final year was the renaming of the heart of the school in his honor, unveiled during an intimate reception on Sunday, May 15, 2022 with Durnan’s family, school administrators, and current and former USNA Presidents and Trustees, including 12 Board Presidents. The foremost caretaker for the school, Durnan has shepherded restorations and improvements to University School of Nashville’s

historic 1925 McKim, Mead & White building, including the orig inal Auditorium. Alumni and families from decades past remem ber performing in plays on the stage, registering for classes before the opening of the school year, and attending awards ceremonies, Proms, Convocations, and Commencements in the space. Those passing through the Edgehill Lobby find the Durnan Auditorium bustling on most days with musical and theater rehearsals, alumni or parent gatherings, and weekly assemblies.

Durnan spent quite a bit of time digging into the history of the school and was conscious about connecting Peabody Demon stration School and USN, invoking the name and works of PDS founder Thomas Alexander with such warmth that one could easily think they knew each other. He worked to make alumni of the past feel connected to the school today. In 2011, he created the National Alumni Board of Visitors to “bring welcome perspectives on issues here at school, and … share our news in communities around the country.”

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Director Vince Durnan hugs his daughters Avery Durnan Akkineni ’07, Nani Durnan ’09, and Julia Durnan ’11, who surprised him during a donor dinner announcing the establishment of a scholarship in his honor in 2017. Under his leadership, the school’s annual need-based financial aid budget has grown from $600,000 to $3.9 million.

During his tenure, USN grew exponen tially with $80 million raised for needbased scholarships, capital projects, and the everyday work of faculty to benefit students. The endowment matured from $600,000 to $37 million as he conferred 2,000 diplomas — including to his three daughters: Avery Durnan Akkineni ’07, Nani Durnan ’09, and Ju lia Durnan ’11. He oversaw the construction of more than 60,000 square feet of new and renovated facility space with the Hassen feld Library, Christine Slayden Tibbott Center, restoration of the Dem School’s original grand foyer — the stately and symbolic entrance on Edgehill Avenue, remodel of the city’s oldest active indoor pool, creation of the 19th Avenue main entrance with glass-walled classrooms and offices overlooking the Backfield, and expansion of athletic facilities at the River Campus.

Beyond the walls of 2000 Edgehill, Dur nan developed partnerships with Metro Nashville Public Schools, the Edgehill community, area colleges & universities, and local nonprofits. He served on the boards of diverse organizations, includ ing Oasis Center, Centerstone, Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association, Purpose Prep, Tennessee Association of Independent Schools, Malone Online Schools, Heads Collegiate Forum, Fort Negley Advisory Com mittee, and Independent School Association of Nashville.

In June, he closed out 22 academic years at USN with an impres sive legacy of transformational change. The school Durnan leaves behind he believes is unlike any other: sandwiched by a higher education institution with direct access to educational, medical, and thought leaders yet independent to govern itself and shape curiculum & campus life as its 200 faculty and staff see best for

Director Vince Durnan speaks from the lectern on the Auditorium stage in May 2022 just moments after the Board of Trustees announced it renamed the space for the 10th and longest-serving director of PDS/USN.

their 1,080 students in kindergarten through 12th grade. Durnan’s final days at USN were especially challenging as he saw the school through a pandemic and overcame a personal health challenge. Perhaps those go-to phrases he’s known for so frequently saying were coined to motivate himself through his days at PDS/USN.

Other year-end honors included proclamations from the USN Board of Trustees and Tennessee’s 12th General As sembly and faculty-led quips at his quirks — aloha shirts worn for picture day, socks with a caricature of him slipped on hundreds of feet, a lifesize cardboard cutout appeared behind the lectern at inservice. Students, families, alumni, and former faculty returned to the Backfield the day after classes and exams ended to say goodbye to Durnan. The fun-filled celebration included a cake walk with confections made in the image of the outgoing Director.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

He responded with humility, gratitude for the collective work of the USN community, and a charge for those he leaves behind to continue supporting the school and its leadership. nn

by Juanita I.C. Traughber, Communications Director

Written

Led by Administrative Assistant to the Director Susan Pearlman, faculty pulled a series of pranks on the outgoing Director. Among them were tiger-themed aloha shirts and socks with his name and caricature that read, “Lead by example.”

celebrating Vince Durnan

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Legendary eighth grade project carries USN’s culture of change

By Sierra Smith, Communications Specialist

Aseighth graders file out of classrooms and into the hallways of the third floor of the Gordon Wing, conversation buzzes around a new assignment. The excitement of pos sibility and potential permeate the air; students are eager to take action and make change.

“I knew about the big Eighth Grade Change Project already, and I knew it was going to be a fun project, but figuring out exactly what to focus on was tough,” shared Victoria White ’26.

Each year millions of possibilities cross the minds of Middle School students as Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher Jared La Croix introduces the legendary assignment — the annual Eighth Grade Change Project.

“The goal is to actu ally make it happen,” LaCroix explained. “This shouldn’t be a theoreti cal project, it should be a solution to a problem you see at school or in your community that you want to fix.”

The range of project ideas and solutions is as broad and unique as the identities of the students presenting them. In school years marked with the challenges of the novel coronavirus, many recent projects

—Jared LaCroix, Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher

have been inspired by the COVID-19 pandemic.

With LaCroix’s call for actionable change in mind, the problem Lexi Straus ’25 set out to solve passed right before her eyes. She watched as her friends and classmates crossed Edgehill Avenue en route to Vanderbilt University’s Magnolia Lawn where many Middle School and High School students spent their lunch and snack time daily to adhere to COVID-19 mitigation protocols.

“When I finally picked the subject of my project, it wasn’t even from my list,” Lexi shared. “One day on our way to lunch I was just struck by how chaotic and stressful it was not just for us stu dents but for our teachers and for everyone in the neighborhood. We looked like a herd of buffalo, and as safe as I know our teachers were trying to make it for us, I couldn’t help but wonder if there was a way to improve.”

Lexi launched into the research portion of the project. She studied street crossing safety measures, read reports on deaths caused by hazardous conditions for pedestrians, and looked up state and municipal regulations for cross walks. With existing crosswalks where Edge hill intersects 19th and

“The goal is to actually make it happen. This shouldn’t be a theoretical project, it should be a solution to a problem you see at school or in your community that you want to fix.”

21st Avenues, Lexi’s initial hopes of having a crosswalk installed directly in front of the entrance to the school was infeasible.

“Of course, I was disappointed when I learned that because of city regulations there couldn’t be another crosswalk installed on the street,” Lexi said. “But I also knew I couldn’t just quit; that’s kind of the nature of the project, that you have to keep working until you find the best way to fix something for everyone.”

Undeterred, Lexi continued to pursue potential solutions. After measuring the distance and average time it took students to walk to one of the existing crosswalks, she proposed a sensible change to Middle School and High School students’ routines — rather than stopping and directing traffic in front of the school entrance, faculty should remind students to walk down the sidewalk and cross at the existing 19th Avenue crosswalk. Lexi hoped faculty would enforce that rule by clearly communicating the expectation to students and making it the standard procedure for sports prac tices, Commencement, and other events held on Magnolia Lawn

even after administrators lifted pandemic-related restrictions. In September 2021, a vehicle struck a Vanderbilt Acorn School teacher and toddler while they were walking through a crosswalk at 19th Avenue South and Edgehill Avenue. Metro Nashville Pub lic Works responded in mid-January 2022 with a four-way stop sign at the intersection, making it easier for students and faculty to cross the street during lunch and breaks as well as increasing overall pedestrian safety in the neighborhood.

Lexi wasn’t the only student whose project idea came to them almost instantaneously, as an aha! moment.

“I was really struggling to decide on a specific project; I love nature, so I knew I wanted to do something with that, but noth ing really stood out to me,” Ellie Klein ’25 shared. “Finally, I was sitting at my desk at home one night, I was brainstorming ideas, and I had hit a wall, so I just started looking around at the things on my desk.”

Middle School Spanish Teacher Sibley Edwards Kelly ’91 and Eighth Grade Science Teacher Pamela Malinowski lead students through the crosswalk at the intersection of 19th and Edgehill Avenues as they head to eat lunch on Vanderbilt University’s Magnolia Lawn.

Her eyes landed on a potted plant her cousins had given her a few months earlier for her birthday.

“I started to think about the plant and how much it had grown since I got it, and I realized how rewarding and fun it was for

Changing USN through the Years

me to take care of it and how much more I liked my desk space because of it,” Ellie continued.

To share the joy her plant brought her with others she proposed Middle School have what she called “green classrooms” — add ing two or three potted plants to existing classroom spaces to improve them without diminishing the functionality of the room for students and teachers.

To support her idea, Ellie began a broad research campaign on the benefits of plants and quickly found a treasure trove of supporting evidence to back up her theory that greenery would do more than simply improve the aesthetics of a classroom.

“I pretty much knew that plants had positive effects on your wellbeing, but I was really pleasantly surprised by all the information I found on how plants can improve students’ performance in school and even raise test scores,” Ellie said, beaming with enthusiasm.

Change starts with learning process

The Change Project has been a mainstay of eighth grade educa tion at 2000 Edgehill since the 1980s when retired Middle School Social Studies Teacher Gil Chilton implemented it to challenge his students’ beliefs.

“Most of us, when we see something wrong, want to try to do something about it,” Chilton said. “In my classes, I always

A snapshot of the breadth, depth, and lasting impact of changemaking in eighth grade.

Ultimate Frisbee Team Brooks Daverman ’99 & Dan Hodges

’99

When Brooks Daverman ’99 and Dan Hodges ’99 returned from Talent Identification Program camps the sum mer before eighth grade, the stories from their time outside of Nashville had one thing in common: they’d discovered the same exciting, new game — Ultimate Frisbee. With the school year underway, they quickly rallied their friends and classmates to play pickup games at recess; as a re sult, proposing Ultimate Frisbee as a

school sport was a natural choice for their Eighth Grade Change Project. After pitching their idea in the spring, Daverman, Hodges, and several of their friends-turned-teammates continued playing pickup games while the boys made connections with the national Ultimate Players Association and subse quently a local chapter. The High School Ultimate Frisbee Team began its first season as an official USN club sport in 1997 when Daverman and Hodges were sophomores. Often competing against college and adult teams, the season ended with five wins and seven losses.

At the time, 14 boys were on the team, there was no girls team, and there were no team uniforms. The team remained dedicated throughout Daverman’s and Hodges’s time at USN. In 1999, the team won the national championship. Interest and support for the Ultimate Frisbee pro gram has continued, and now robust boys and girls teams can be seen practicing at the River Campus or loading up buses en route for an out-of-town tournament. The girls team brought home the state cham pionship title in 2021 and 2022.

Ellie Klein ’25 earned $500 to fill Middle School classrooms with p otted plants.

stressed how individuals throughout American history had made a difference — from the colonists to the abolitionists, and I wanted [my students] to see that they, even as young teens, could make lasting changes in their communities, too.”

The project doesn’t stop at simply identifying a problem and solution though; it’s multifaceted and comprehensive, spanning several weeks each year. Once students have developed airtight pitches complete with substantial evidence and faculty support, they’re required to create a document and presentation to help sell their idea to others. Students present to a classroom of their peers and teacher; from there, the life of the project can go in many directions.

“Right after we finished our presentations, I was out for a few days. I came back, and we were all headed outside for break. Ev eryone was walking down 19th [Avenue] instead of cutting across [Edgehill Avenue],” Lexi shared. “I asked my friends what was going on, and they were all like, ‘They’re doing your project,’ and I was so shocked. I knew it was a very simple solution, but it still felt good to know that the people in charge shared my concerns.”

Meanwhile, LaCroix selected Ellie as one of the top projects, meaning she would make her presentation once again, this time to a panel of school administrators for the chance to win a $500 grant from the Middle School to launch the project.

“Ideally students take away from the project a deeper understand

Smoking Ban at the Tennessee Capitol

George Brandes ’03 & Steven Venick ’03

As a seventh grader, Steven Ven ick ’03 visited the Tennessee State Capitol while considering volunteer ing as a page for the summer. He was quickly put off from the page program by the cloud of secondhand smoke that seemed to follow him. When the Change Project was as signed the following year, Venick and his best friend George Brandes ’03 got to work trying to change what had been such a nuisance for Venick during his visit to the Capitol. The pair met with state representatives in their offices in an attempt to gain support,

UNIVERSITY

ing of exactly what it means to create meaningful and lasting change — it doesn’t happen overnight,” said Head of Middle School Jeff Greenfield. “With the addition of the grant, we’re really requiring students to invest in the process and equipping

and then State Sen. Steve Cohen pro posed Senate Bill 3001 in the 100th General Assembly attempting to ban smoking in all state offices and meeting rooms, including Capitol, and legislative chambers, the War Memorial Building, Legislative Plaza, special schools, col leges, universities, prisons, and mental health institutions. While the bill did not pass at the time, it was re-proposed and passed shortly after.

Eighth Grade End-of-Year Party

TJ Ducklo ’07

Known in USN lore for his role in rein venting USN’s Prom, the penchant of TJ Ducklo ’07 for a class party began long

before his junior year. For his project, Ducklo proposed an eighth grade endof-year formal. Inspired by peers at other schools in town, Ducklo pitched his idea with much support from his friends and classmates. To pay for it, the eighth grade class conducted a schoolwide Tshirt sale giving students the opportunity to purchase a shirt with their class year on it — something often seen across cam pus today, but that Ducklo and his friends hadn’t seen done for those in lower grades at the time. Noteworthy in the memories of both Ducklo and school ad ministrators were the many conversations surrounding guests from other schools; though Middle School’s administration had initial concerns, Ducklo developed a consent form for students to sign, and as

SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Gil Chilton, Ph.D., founded the Eighth Grade Change Project while a Social Studies Teacher. He retired from USN in 2015.

them with the skills and confidence they need to be agents of change going forward, not just at school, but anytime they’re pas sionate about a problem or issue.”

With the stakes suddenly higher, Ellie made her pitch to much success. She was selected to receive the seed money to launch her green classroom initiative.

“I was definitely a lot more nervous the second time. After I was finished, even before I knew I’d won, I felt really proud of myself and satisfied with my work. Once I found out that I won, I couldn’t wait to tell my parents,” Ellie said with a grin.

After winning, Ellie presented an itemized expense budget ac counting for the use of the grant funds for final approval. From there, she coordinated with Middle School teachers to deliver plants to classrooms at the start of the 2021-2022 academic year along with a watering can and notecard with details on how to care for each plant.

Anyone can make change

At the close of the 2021-2022 academic year, LaCroix chose Addi King ’26 and Victoria’s plan to add American Sign Language to world language curriculum as the Class of 2026’s winning proj ect. In their presentation, the pair said the hand gestures used by people who are deaf constitute the third most used language in the United States and offering ASL to grades 7-12 would increase

a result, outside guests were permit ted. Since the Class of 2007 End of Eighth Grade Party, other classes have marked the end of Middle School in various iterations of school and parent planned celebrations. While no class has held an exact replication of Ducklo’s Change Project-inspired soiree, he did create and leave behind a manual for such purposes.

Bowling Team

As self-described, not-so-athletic eighth graders, Jamie Miller ’10 and friends sought a way to avoid PE in High School. Along with Dan Allen ’10

the school’s inclusivity and help students to be better listeners, communicators, and multitaskers.

Yet campus change isn’t limited to the faculty-selected project alone. And the impact of the Change Project permeates the halls

and former student Tyler Coburn, their Change Project proposed the High School Bowling Team. After getting buy-in from former PE Teacher Kevin Baynham and then Head of HS Steve Robins, the three met with a Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association representative to get the team approved. As Miller and his friends entered High School the following year, the Bowling Team began to practice and compete as a winter sport. In its first season, the team had 14 members and finished with a first round playoff match against rival Ensworth. Since 2007, the team has competed every season with the exception of 2021 due to the coronavirus pandemic. The boys team made the state tournament in 2012, 2013, and 2014, and overall theteam has grown to

sustain approximately 25 to 30 students per season. Lily Mozzi ’23 made school history as the first Tiger to qualify for the state individual tournament in 2022.

Swimming Locker Room Renovations

Justin Maffett ’12

A dedicated member of the Middle School Swim Team, Justin Maffett ’12 found himself spending a great deal of time in the swimming pool locker rooms. He experienced firsthand the need for updated facilities and as a result, Maf fett’s Change Project proposed renovat ing the locker rooms. Maffett took his argument beyond the classroom, pitching to USN’s Building & Grounds Committee

Jamie Miller ’10 & Dan Allen ’10

Victoria White ’26 (l.) and Addie King ’26, pictured during the eighth grade trip to Washington, D.C., plan to bring American Sign Language to USN.

well beyond the Gordon Wing. The assignment often inspires lead ership and decision making from others across campus.

Libin Abdulle ’26, Maeve Stevenson ’26, and Lin Zheng ’26 sparked a communitywide conversation with their proposal to install menstrual product dispensers in the girls restrooms on campus.

A post on the school’s Instagram account featuring their project’s opening slide prompted parents following the account to inquire further and tipped off High School student journalists to publish a story on the subject in The Peabody Press. As buzz around the project grew, it became a favorite topic in MS debate classes and gave groups like High School’s Feminism Club renewed energy on the subject.

As the school year closed, senior class officers worked with HS Dean of Students Nicole Jules to make the Class of 2022’s gift to the school the dispensers Libin, Maeve, and Lin included in their proposal. Just as Chilton intended at the project’s inception in the ’80s, the assignment made students feel empowered to lead and shape USN into a better school.

“It was cool to see how excited other students were about our project, and it felt really good to hear that the seniors thought this was so important too,” Maeve shared. “Going through High School, it will be nice to have the peace of mind that these dis pensers will be there.”

made up of Board of Trustees mem bers, Director of Operations Erik Mash ’93, Chief Financial Officer Teresa Standard, Director Vince Durnan, and select additional community members. While the locker room renovations did not immediately receive the greenlight following Maffett’s presentation, his proposal and supporting evidence were persuasive enough to catapult the locker room renovations upward in the queue of the Committee’s planned projects. In 2014, the renovations were completed as part of USN’s centennial celebration.

While Libin, Maeve, and Lin saw their proposal gain traction immediately, Jadyn Sheats ’22 can attest that, at times, executing the project is a much more significant time investment. In Middle School, Jadyn proposed a plan to ensure the curriculum high lighted African American contributions throughout history. As a result, she met with the school’s History Department, audited Middle School classes, and worked with teachers to update their lessons to reflect her goal. What’s more, Jadyn presented her proj ect at the National Association of Independent Schools People of Color Conference as a ninth grader and has continued to work with history department faculty as she takes their classes.

“When I started out, I just wanted to do something so I could learn about people who looked like me. Since the project was so ongoing, as I got older, I realized it wasn’t enough to make sure I was learning about people like me, I wanted to learn about all kinds of people; everyone deserves to see themselves in their studies,” Sheats shared. “I just realized there’s still so much work to be done.”

In recent years where students donned Black Lives Matter but tons, formed a Young Activist Club, organized to bring awareness to harassment, spearheaded an international feminist organiza tion, and launched Meatless Mondays in Sperling Cafeteria, the effect of the Eighth Grade Change Project has exceeded Chilton’s intentions and expectations. USN scholars know what doesn’t change at 2000 Edgehill is that change is constant, encouraged, and often led by students across all three divisions. nn

Curriculum Focused on Holocaust History

Ellie Hornick ’20

On the tail end of bar and bat mitzvah season, Ellie Hornick researched potential Change Projects and was struck by the low number of states that require cur riculum focused on Holocaust education. Since she is Jewish, she said she felt that her school needed to better educate stu dents about the Holocaust and anti-Sem itism. Ellie proposed an elective giving students the opportunity to dive into the history of the Holocaust and the global landscape at that time. Although no elective was offered, Ellie’s presentation proved persuasive nonetheless; Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Jared LaCroix added “Night” by Ellie Wiesel, an autobiographical account of the author’s survival as a teen in the Nazi death camps, to his curriculum thereby ensuring that every Middle School stu dent is exposed to Holocaust history.

Communications Director Juanita I.C. Traughber and Head of Middle School Jeff Greenfield contributed to this article.

Green roof grows sustainable change, school-wide curriculum

By Juanita I.C. Traughber, Communications Director

ultivated to promote environmental stewardship, foster experiential learning, and provide additional leisure out door space for students, University School of Nashville’s green roof was planted as the Eighth Grade Change Project of Oscar Fox ’21 and blossomed over five years with the help of Esha Karam ’21.

“I had always been interested in architecture. In a lot of the books that I had read, there were really cool pictures of a future where there were plants everywhere on roofs. And that’s what’s inspiring the idea of our urban campus having new facilities and new kinds of green spaces,” Fox said. “The way I pitched it was, ‘We have some prime Nashville real estate sitting on the roof and it’s not be ing used. We should use it. Let’s just make it another field.’”

With a sky-high playground, he recalled his 2017 proposal. “It was just kind of a lot. But I think our [final] version is more digestible and student-focused.”

The process of adding garden beds to the west roof of the main building on the Edgehill Campus took years of research and plan ning as well as the support of dozens of peers, parents, and faculty. Fox started with Director Vince Durnan, who gave him a blue print that included considering finances and working with an ar chitect. Then he and Karam, with whom he had been friends since fourth grade, began meeting with Director of Development Anne Westfall and Chief Financial Officer Teresa Standard during the

students’ free periods. Then in March 2019, they asked Director of Operations Erik Mash ’93 for time on the agenda of the Board of Trustees Building and Grounds Committee meeting.

“The way we pitched it to the Building and Grounds Committee initially was as a way to make good on the promise that USN is a place that listens to students and takes what they think seriously and also for USN to carry its weight in discourse about the envi ronment,” Fox said.

These conversations were taking place during the international climate change movement led by youth activists like Greta Thun berg, a Swedish teenager who founded School Strike for Climate, was named on the Forbes list of The World’s 100 Most Powerful Women, and earned multiple Nobel Peace Prize nominations. Young people were interrupting world leaders’ views on the

future of the planet, and Fox and Karam were doing the same to school administrators. They pushed to further the school’s green work by reincarnating the Environmental Club into the Sustainability Board with elected officers representing each High School grade level.

“These students started to say, ‘We want to actu ally effect change and make things happen around the school.’ And some of the initiatives they had started successfully around campus

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UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

“These students started to say, ‘We want to actually effect change and make things happen around the school.’ ” — Freya Sachs ’00, faculty sponsor of the Sustainability Board

— like to make composting more active, to make sure we’re recycling as effectively as we can, to host more clothing swaps, to bring speakers to campus — were really to think about the practical ways of addressing climate change and sustainability across the board,” said English Department Chair Freya Sachs ’00, faculty sponsor of the Sustainability Board.

“All of this is student-initiated with adult support. And that’s what’s made it work really well,” Sachs said. “It’s been really exciting to see that energy and the ways that students can inspire other students to make daily choices and actions that have bigger impacts than they sometimes think about.”

Scaling a big dream to reality

Tiffany Wilmot, a sustainability consultant with the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental De sign certification, was among those Fox and Karam cold called. She agreed to help them dig deep into building green and in 2020

spoke to 40 USN students over lunch about what sustainability is and why it matters not only for future generations but also today. Wilmot, a former USN parent, walked them through consid erations such as the weight of the soil on the near-century-old building and drainage systems to keep water from pooling on the concrete roof.

Their initial vision was to put multiple green roofs on Edgehill Campus buildings: above the senior loft in the Sperling Cafete ria, around the exterior of the High School Commons, and on the awnings of centennial campaign additions. They settled on the 1,400-square-foot west roof of the historic 1925 McKim, Mead & White building, accessible by climbing a few stairs from the fourth-floor math hallway. Scaling down, they centered the project on the educational opportunity a rooftop filled with na tive species could provide long after they graduated and planned shallow garden beds for accessibility to the youngest students.

Oscar Fox ’21 waters seedlings in newly constructed plant beds on the roof with the assistance of Esha Karam ’21 and Emilia Zenker ’22.

Funding the project was a collaborative effort with proceeds from USNA’s Music Night, in-kind donations of plants and soil from nurseries, and individual gifts from families. The Sustainability Board sold green reusable bags in the USN Bookstore to support composting pickup services and liners for compost bins from Compost Nashville, which collected food scraps from Sperling Cafeteria and delivered compost to mix into the soil. They spent about half of the $10,000 budgeted, Karam said.

She added that the experience taught them communication skills that they couldn’t learn in the classroom, like how to write a memo, speak with contractors, and negotiate around a confer ence table.

“It really became for both of us a chance to explore and to develop our skills and leadership. It taught us a lot about teamwork, how to work with each other, and how to keep each other motivated,” Karam said.

Tilling the project even further, Fox and Karam created an indepen dent study course focused on environmentalism with Eighth Grade Social Studies Teacher Jared LaCroix as their faculty advisor.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

“The Eighth Grade Change Project is also about equipping stu dents with the skills to become change-makers, not just to make a one-time project a reality,” LaCroix said. “In this way, even if a project doesn’t happen in eighth grade, it’s not a failure. Instead, it’s a ‘not yet’ or a ‘what about this?’ It’s an investment in the skills of research, question formulation, presenting, and public speaking that apply far beyond any social studies assignment and empower students as citizens belonging to a community.”

Fox and Karam branched into the Nashville community to visit green roofs at the Music City Center and Belmont University, spent time with a Belmont professor who specializes in environ mental science & botany, and began writing a curriculum for USN students to use the green roof. They created a worksheet to teach the engineering design process and led a 3D activity on the benefits of plants on roofs in the fifth grade class of Science Teacher Tobey Balzer ’02. And they visited High School Math Teacher Cindy Crenshaw’s Economic Sustainability seminar to present a cost-benefit analysis of a plant-covered roof.

An early landscape design students considered for the green roof, accessible from the main building’s fourth floor which housed the cafeteria when it opened in 1925.

“The goal was to have at different stages, students learning about different aspects of the greenery to complement what they’re learning already,” Fox said.

Building for future student leaders

The first green roof work day took place March 1, 2020 with two dozen High Schoolers constructing seven 8-by-4-foot planters under the direction of Technical Theater Director Jim Manning and Alexander Haynes ’21.

“This is a little exceptional in that it was an idea from three years ago that’s still very much active,” LaCroix said as the first beams of wood were laid in 2020. “The [change] project itself I inherited from my predecessor, who taught here for 42 years. It has a strong legacy. [In my time at USN since 2015] I think I’ve seen probably four things come to fruition and nothing at this scale. So there’s a strong legacy here that Oscar has tapped into. And for me, this is the biggest milestone in recent memory.”

The pandemic forced school doors to close less than two weeks later, and the project stalled. Yet a year later, Fox was working as USN Student Council President, serving as the youth representa tive on Nashville Mayor John Cooper’s Sustainability Advisory Committee, and speaking during the Vanderbilt University-host ed community discussion “Green Recovery, Climate Solutions, and a Just Transition,” and given USN’s Harry and Mary Zim merman Memorial Award. Karam earned the Middle Tennessee High School Sports Leadership Award for her work on the green roof as well as USN’s Bredesen Leadership Award. Both are Mc Mullan Scholars.

Shortly before graduating in 2021, Fox and Karam hosted a recep tion for classmates and faculty to experience the green roof. Since then, the student-created emulation of a Tennessee ecosystem has become a welcoming space for K-12 students and summer camp ers as the duo passed gardening tools to younger peers.

Last summer, Nell Cox ’22 and Emilia Zenker ’22 worked with first graders in Horizons at USN, a free academic enrichment

High School students and faculty enjoy lunch on the green roof in April 2022 as the space has become more accessible.

summer program for students attending Metro Nashville Public Schools. Campers trekked weekly up to the roof to taste veg etables from the food bed, plant marigold seeds to take home, and practice identifying the parts of plants with High Schoolers. Chalk drawings of plants and pollinators decorated the concrete with bees, butterflies, and flowers.

Students have focused on growing native species and wildflowers that attract hummingbirds, monarchs, and Gulf fritillary butterflies. They also have grown mint, peppers, rosemary, tomatoes, basil, arugula, kale, and potatoes. The roof is pesticide-free with students catching ladybugs and beetles and placing them in beds to eat aphids.

“Our biggest issue has been that the plants have done so success fully that sometimes they just overgrow. We have these beauti ful morning vines that took over not only one bed but then they reached out to beds next door,” Cox said. They replanted some in the Outdoor Classroom.

She and Zenker credit USN parent Joanna Brichetto for the green roof’s growth. Brichetto, a certified Tennessee Naturalist who helped USN earn certification as a Tennessee Urban Forestry Council Level I Arboretum and volunteers often to maintain the Outdoor Classroom, helped plan which species to plant and continues to offer advice.

“So there are some specific plants — aster and mountain mints, and they look exactly the same except for this one difference in the leaves. And we had to weed one and not the other. And she was helping us notice the one difference in the leaves so we didn’t weed out the wrong thing,” said Zenker.

High School Science Teacher Wilson Hubbell’s Advanced Build ing and Design class built shelves on the staircase leading up to the roof to house gardening tools. Haynes built six wooden benches that Elise Brown ’22 then painted. High Schoolers head to the green roof for lunch with more sidewalk chalk, and it even served as the site of a spring concert.

Now studying sustainable development at Columbia University, Fox and Karam used Zoom to return to the Auditorium in April 2022 to speak to the Class of 2026 as the eighth graders began considering how they could change the school.

“If we learned anything from the process, it’s that change is really hard. And there are moments where you might alter the process or that might feel like a goose chase,” Fox said. “But fortunately, USN faculty are so willing to be your champion and guide you through the process. So find a project and dig into it, giving it your all.” nn

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Students jam during “Live on the Green,” a weekend concert in May 2022.

Change that can be seen:

By Juanita I.C. Traughber, Communications Director

A look at campus murals

Themost visible change project is the addition of a mural on the exterior back wall of Cheek Gym. Henry Stack ’23 presented the mural design as a competition using the prompt “entrances & exits” or “along the way” in 2020.

“We felt like it would present some thought-provoking and interest ing designs. We also wanted to play on the positioning of the mural being at an entrance and exit and in a space that so many students interact with,” said Henry of the wall built during USN’s centennial construction at the foot of the basketball blacktop, hiding mechani cal units and stairs from the Auditorium backstage.

About 150 students in grades K-12 shared designs, and a small group of faculty favored sketches by Asher Armstrong ’31, An nabelle Frank ’23, Boden Gulmi ’31, Seth Hauser ’28, James Keiper ’31, Emma Vogeli ’22, and Anna Wolf ’31. Henry worked with Norf Art Collective muralist and USN Art Teacher Joseph “doughjoe” Love to combine them into one design. They opened the process in May 2021 to anyone willing to pick up a brush or spray can.

“It was cool to see so many people, particularly from younger grades, contributing to this project,” Henry said. “I definitely feel like I’ve left some sort of mark on my school and so have so many other students.”

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

On the following pages is a look at other murals created by students, faculty, alumni, and Nashville artists at the Edgehill Campus. If you know of a previous PDS/USN mural that has faded into memory, we would love to hear from you and see pictures. Please email jtraugher@usn.org or write to Communications Director Juanita I.C. Traughber, 2000 Edgehill Ave. Nashville TN 37212.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Art Teacher Joseph “doughjoe” Love and Henry Stack ’23 work on the mural in May 2021.

During the 1986-1987 school year, Nashville artist Myles Maillie drew whimsical faces on a staircase that led to the photography lab and art classes. High School art students filled in his large sketches by painting bright colors. The stairwell now connects the first and second floors of Middle School, and Maillie returned in 2017 to expand the mural with students. The mural has become a USN icon and has been used on apparel, postcards, and the school directory. Mclaine Richardson ’04 created a limited edition jewelry collection inspired by the mural to benefit USN’s Artclectic Endowment Fund for Innovative Teaching in 2016.

The late Christine Slayden Tibbott — who taught art from 1942 to 1954, was known for designing and painting elaborate sets, and whose name is on the art building — returned to USN in 1988 to add several children’s book characters to the wall of the former

Payne Library. According to the PDS/USN Archive, her version replaced a previous mural painted by students Ruth Mitchell ’71 and Donnyss Dotton Rucker ’71 that was lost in a library renova tion. Tibbott’s lively, colorful world features people with creatures and characters. Since the original PDS library was subdivided, the mural is in what is now the Lower School Spanish classroom.

Adrien Saporiti ’06 painted “High Fidelity,” a mural of geometric shapes in a High School stairwell as a parting gift from the Class of 2017. “Very proud to have been asked and to contribute something to ye ole alma mater. Never won an award while I was there, but 11 years later I got to leave my mark,” he quipped. The design has been used on tote bags given to faculty. Saporiti has made a career as an artist, designer, and creative consultant whose iconic “I BELIEVE IN NASHVILLE” murals have united the city and become a destination for tourists.

The Class of 2025 and doughjoe connected USN with the city’s prominent Black communities in the 21st Avenue garage in 2018. Their project was the culmination of Fifth Grade Social Studies Teacher Connie Fink’s civil rights unit, which takes students out of the classroom and into Nashville neighborhoods to learn about their historic struggles. Using sketches from then-fifth graders, doughjoe pieced together a cohesive mural. High School students in Art Teacher Emily Holt’s Contemporary Practice class painted the base layers, and fifth graders painted wooden pieces affixed to the mural and flowers on the soccer field.

The 21st Avenue garage received its third round of school-approved graffiti in summer 2021 when Ryan Eck ’01 spray painted the school’s acronym on cinderblock. Director Vince Durnan fi nanced the first two versions Eck painted in school colors while a High Schooler. Professional painters accidentally covered what they thought was vandalism — twice in 2000 and 2001. During a pandemic-era class reunion on Zoom, Durnan asked Eck, who started the Public Art Club as a student and now works as a graphic designer in Tampa, Florida, to tag USN again. nn

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At least 97% of faculty & staff and 91% of K-12 students reached complete COVID-19 vaccination by January 2022, enabling the school to resume large indoor gatherings and become mask-optional by March.

USNA’s hallmark events returned to campus with Artclectic generating its fourth-best art sales in 25 years and Music Night raising some $25,000 for Backfield improvements, including refurbishing the wooden playground and adding a tree deck & a climbing structure. The virtual version of the art show in October 2020 grew Artclectic to reach buyers in at least 18 states.

The pandemic couldn’t close the curtain on performing arts, with High Schoolers presenting a live broadcast of the 1940s radio play “Twisted Tales of Poe” on the school’s YouTube channel in December 2020. Performances continued with rooftop and blacktop dances and musicals with limited seating in the Auditorium. Thespians were nominated for seven Tennessee Performing Arts Center Spotlight Awards for their February 2022 performance of “The Little Mermaid.”

Crews unearthed 50 years of PDS basketball lore while replacing the Joel O. Cheek Gymnasium floor in summer 2021. Many of the pieces are preserved in the PDS/USN Archive. After surviving a flood in spring 2022, Cheek Gym re opened in time to host the Book Frenzy benefiting Hassenfeld Library and generating a record donation of books to public school teachers and librarians.

Fifth Grade Science Teacher Tobey Beaver Balzer ’02 coached the girls Ultimate Frisbee team to win the state champi onship in spring 2021 and 2022. Patty Pangle Diehl ’71 coached the girls tennis team to win the region championship in spring 2021 and 2022 as well as to compete in the state semifinals in 2022.

River Campus now has a city sewer line and Tiger Station, complete with restrooms, concessions, storage, and team rooms. The existing comfort station also was expanded to add stalls and increase athletic storage. Work to put a new top coat on the track and to add a batting and pitching cage began at the close of their seasons.

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Lower and Middle Schoolers cheered on the 2022 DII-A District 3 Champions as the varsity boys basketball team head ed to Cookeville for the state championship semifinals, a feat USN has achieved only three times in the past 26 years.

The Gender and Sexuality Alliance helped bring novelist Kelly Quindlen to USN as the 2022 Visiting Author. Quindlen is known for exploring the intersection of queerness and faith in her Young Adult tales. In Middle and High School English classes, she discussed the writing process, the importance of diverse literature, and character development.

High School’s quiz bowl team brought home the school’s first tournament victory since 2014, and students’ average score of 21.91 points per bonus set a school record during their undefeated performance at the Cookeville Cavalier Invita tional in December 2021. Their win streak continued as the Tennessee History Bee & Bowl State Champions. The team capped its historic season in 17th place, tying USN’s best-ever finish at the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Small School National Championships in April 2022.

Boys cross country won the 2021 Tennessee Secondary School Athletic Association Division II, Class A state championship, and girls finished second. State Rep. John Ray Clemons visited USN in April 2022 to present the team with a resolution to recognize the harriers.

Retiring at the close of the 2021-2022 academic year were Graphic Designer Jeff Goold, HS History Teacher Pat Mi letich, Director of Technology Kathy Wieczerza, LS Learning Specialist Jean Hutchinson, Red Door Kindergarten Teacher Jan Honsberger, Administrative Assistant to the Director Susan Pearlman, Human Resources Director Genie Tanner, Library Director Mary Buxton, and LS Counselor Laurie Drummond.

High School added new traditions to give seniors a series of class bonding opportunities during their last year. The fun included a breakfast, movie night with a gingerbread house building contest, pizza day to share college plans, and bounce house & cake on the last day of classes. They also donned their finest on Edgehill Lawn for Prom.

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clockwise from top: 1971 classmates Nora Tillman-Summar, Don Weidemann, Michael Doochin, Ruth Mitchell, Lisa Hassenfeld Litchman, Diane Luton Blum, Jan Gessler Abstein, Lee Edwards, Barry Wilk er, Chris Heard, Martha Maggart Funke, Cathy Quillman Kelly, Ed Turnley, David Komisar, Paul LeQuire, and Patty Pangle Diehl celebrate their postponed 50th Reunion and Gold Circle induction luncheon with Director Vince Durnan.

of the Gold Circle: Top Row: Ruth Mitchell ’71 and Susie Schoggen Logan ’71; Bottom Row: Reunion Co-Chair Rosalyn Baxter-Jones ’72, David Noble ’72, Paula Underwood-Winters ’72, and Dede Dury Samford ’72.

Ollapally Wellington ’00 and Mclaine Richardson ‘04 visit with Director Vince Durnan at the All-Alumni Party.

33, clockwise from top: Paula Underwood-Winters ’72 hosts a Reunion party for the Classes of 1969-1973, their spouses, and neighbors at Mt. Airy Farm.

Quillman Kelly ’71 and Martha Maggart Funke ’71 catch up with Barry Wilker ’71 at the Gold Circle Luncheon.

Wade ’70 holds a framed print of his class’ High School photo.

classmates gathering for their 20th Reunion. Top Row: Bentley Manning, Cammie Staros, Desmond Campbell, BJ Stein, David Finney, Zac Cypress; Middle Row: Matthew Gillmor, Julie Eskind Galbierz, Andrea Wolf Bernstein, Katherine Barnes Merrill, Tobey Beaver Balzer, Meghan Hovey Kawecki, Natalie Forsythe, Lauren Martinez Riley, Jennie Shepard Zagnoev; Bottom Row: Hilson Merrill, Clay Capp, Jon Lee, Lindsey Kever Magner, Carolyn Hecklin Hyatt

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Clockwise from top: Jennifer Oertley LeDuc, Srijaya Reddy, Mollie Barksdale Gee, and Shannon Wright Melidis at the Class of 1997 party.

The Classes of 1969-1973 enjoy a Reunion party at the home of Sarah Keith DeMoss Maxcy ’70.

(Middle top) Jonathan Boddie and his guest chat with Joi Chatman during the Class of 1997 party.

(Middle bottom) Hilson Merrill ’02, Julie Eskind Galbierz ’02, and BJ Stein ’02 reminisce at their 20th Reunion.

David Roffwarg and Dennis Salisbury ’61 at the All-Alumni Party.

On January 3, 2022, then Alumni Director Patti Wexler welcomed more than two dozen graduates from the Classes of 2017 through 2021 back to the Edgehill Campus for the annual Young Alumni Party to reconnect with each other and some of their favorite faculty.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Ivanetta Davis Samuels ’86 named 2021 Distinguished Alumna

By Rick Ewing ’83

When Director Vince Durnan approached Ivanetta Davis Samuels ’86 in spring 2019 about assuming the position of chair of the USN Board of Trustees, no one knew the challenge that the school and the world would soon face. Ivanetta, already a member of the Board, was understandably busy in her day job as Senior Vice President, General Counsel & Corporate Secretary for Meharry Medical College. There she oversees all legal affairs and transactions for the 145-year-old historically Black institution where her father, Ivan Davis Sr., practiced medicine for decades. She also was committed to serving on the boards of the Nashville Ballet, YWCA, Metro Nashville Arts Commission, Metro Nashville Board of Parks and Recreation, Metro Nashville Employee Benefits Study & Formulation Committee, Nashville Parks Foundation Board of Directors, and Interdenominational Services of America. Anyone with that much on her plate could have easily declined the invitation.

Instead, Ivanetta said “yes.”

None of this should be surprising to anyone who met a new fifth grader at USN back in 1977. The younger sister of Ivan Davis ’85, Ivanetta found her path, navigating a school in transition from its Peabody Demonstration School roots while still holding true to the teachings of her parents and her namesake grandmother, “Big” Iva netta Davis, the first Black woman to lead a Metro Nashville Public School as principal. Speaking of her experiences as a USN student, the younger Ivanetta said, “In what even then was a diverse and rich cultural environment, you really began to understand yourself better, and you appreciated differences, and I think that has served me well.”

Ivanetta went on to earn a B.A. from Northwestern University and returned to Nashville to earn a J.D. at Vanderbilt University Law School. Ivanetta then chose to focus her career on public service as an attorney for Metro Nashville Department of Law, and later for the Nashville Mayor’s Office as Director of Legislative & External Affairs and Senior Policy Advisor. In addition to being a member of the Tennessee and Nashville Bar Associations, she was recognized as a Tennessee Bar Foundation Fellow.

“If you could grow the perfect [USN Board Chair] in a lab, they still wouldn’t be as good as Ivanetta,” said Durnan. And because of the COVID-19 pandemic, what was described to her as “a little more work than a committee chair” turned out to be a period with the most board meetings that have been held since the mid-1970s when USN transitioned from PDS.

When the school faced a shared crisis, a special kind of leader was already in place. Under Ivanetta’s leadership, the Board swiftly made decisions to enhance student, faculty, and staff safety, including infrastructure upgrades, new policies on student in-person interaction, and an opportunity to participate in a COVID-19 research program with Vanderbilt.

“USN has become a calling and a gift genera tionally. And that’s very personal now since that involves my son [Adrian Samuels ’22],” she said. “With now an adult perspective on our city, it is increasingly important that everything that USN stands for remains to continue a strong legacy.”

When asked about the message she wanted to send to the graduat ing seniors and newest USN alumni, Ivanetta said, “It’s hard to talk about challenges when this year’s graduating class has been challenged by the pandemic. But challenge your ideals … the way you think, the way you do things. There are just going to be core principles that you have to live by. As my mother would say, your reputation is something you have to get right every time.”

With the COVID years a defining memory for the school, the final challenge she faced was leading the search for a new Director to replace Durnan. That task alone could be defining for a Board of Trustees and its President, but Ivanetta considered it to be the next step in the school’s legacy to current and future students.

“Doing work that matters, doing work that makes a difference, and knowing that with every position, I’ve given it my all,” she said.

Upon completion of her term as Board President in May 2022, Ivanetta sat on stage at Commencement to confer 99 diplomas and handed one to Adrian. nn

Ivanetta Davis Samuels ’86 and Rick Ewing ’83

Michael D. Shmerling ’73 named 2022 Distinguished Alumnus

Mike Shmerling knew from an early age that he wanted to be an accountant — a successful accountant, in his words. Following his graduation from Peabody Demonstra tion School, Shmerling chose the University of Oklahoma, became a Certi fied Public Accountant, and enjoyed nearly two decades of success and recognition in the Nashville office of Ernst & Young.

As he became involved with companies and nonprofits around Nashville, Shmerling began to feel that his work lacked a sense of challenge, and he pivoted to pursue entrepreneurship. He ultimately founded or cofounded 11 businesses and sold four of them to publicly traded companies.

“It took me decades to learn the distinction between success and purpose,” Shmerling told the Class of 2022 and families during Convocation. “While [entrepreneurship] allowed me to achieve success, I still had not satisfied my desire to find true purpose.”

Instead, his purpose found him when his father Abe Shmerling began to demonstrate symptoms of Alzheimer’s disease. Mike Shmerling’s three siblings, professionals in the fields of medicine and social work, had some sense of what to expect when it came time to find long-term care. As a businessman, Shmerling was disturbed to discover that poor facility conditions and chronic boredom were endemic to the system. He wanted a better option.

Shmerling found that his business background had prepared him well for the challenge of building a center of excellence in care for patients with Alzheimer’s disease. With the help of his wife Lisa, sister Judy Shmerling Given ’77, and a handpicked team of experts, he established Abe’s Garden, a senior community in Belle Meade with 42 residents and day care.

As Shmerling describes Abe’s Garden, like PDS it was established as a center of excellence committed to becoming a model of best

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

By Leigh Ivey Hicks ’05, Alumni Director

practices and lessons learned as resi dents perceived love.

Beginning with the simple guid ing framework to “make a great day for the people who call these places home,” Shmerling and his team vis ited world-renowned Alzheimer’s and memory care facilities to observe both their common and distinguishing op erational and programmatic features.

“[The importance of] an established relationship with a major medical academic institution informed our relationship with Vanderbilt Univer sity School of Medicine; storytelling programs where the storyteller was just as important as the story being told; groundbreaking pet therapy programs; these are places where people come to live, not to die,” Shmerling said. “We now happily share our playbook with anyone who wishes to see it.”

Through Abe’s Garden, he has established an internationally rec ognized, replicable model for senior life, supporting brain health, wellness, and purposeful living. The 2020 World Alzheimer’s Report called it a “paradigm-shifting environment.”

“It draws attention from all quarters — even American Institute of CPA’s 150,000 plus members recognized the difference he has made with their national Public Service Award,” noted Director Vince Durnan upon conferring the award. “If it were not so intimi dating, I’d make the comparison to USN at its best. We can’t fix education at scale or really even make that great a difference neces sarily, but we can do something with our moment, about some thing we see needs doing, and we could look to Mike Shmerling … as an example. Having done well, he chose to do good.”

Shmerling served the USN Board of Trustees from 1996 to 2008, including one term as President and as co-chair for the Campaign for Arts & Letters. Shmerling, an Emeritus Trustee, is parent of alumni Andy Shmerling ’99, Mollie Shmerling Perry ’03, and Katie Shmerling Wayne ’05 and has five grandchildren, including USN students David ’32, Jack ’33, and Abby ’35. nn

Katie Shmerling Wayne ’05, Mollie Shmerling Perry ’03, wife and parent of alumni Lisa, Mike Shmerling ’73, and Andy Shmerling ’99

CLASS NOTES

FORMER FACULTY

For her dedication to education and impact on education-based athletics, the Tennessee Sec ondary School Athletic Association named late Interim Director Jean Litterer as the TSSAA Title IX Trailblazer for the Week of April 5, 2022. She was the first woman to serve on either of TSSAA’s governing bodies, the Legis lative Council and Board of Control.

tape recorders that he owned. He worked for Ampex from 1962 to 2001 and received its highest award for patents. He is known in the electronic industry as “the head man” because he invented so many heads that were on Ampex’s tape recorders. Visit tnmuseum.org to read a story the Tennessee State Museum published about how in 1946, as a seventh grader, Peabody Demonstration School “ex posed him to the relatively new technology of audio recording with magnetic tape.”

Website Manager & Geology Teacher Steve Smail and Bob Miller ’49

1949

Bob Miller visited with Website Manager & Geology Teacher Steve Smail in summer 2021. Bob has been a professional geologist and publisher of geology manuscripts for over 50 years. He is a local legend in the fishing com munity and wrote several books about growing up fishing the Harpeth River and local hidden streams. He is also a landscape painter and stone and marble carver.

1951

Beverley Gooch recently donated to the Ten nessee State Museum a collection of Ampex

1952

Virginia Gooch Watson had the honor of cutting the ribbon for the new Tennessee State Library and Archives building in Nashville on April 12, 2021. She was on staff at the former TSLA building in June 1953 when it was opened.

1955

Streetfeet Press is pleased to announce the publication of “Metaphors are Not Enough,” an anthology of poems and prose by Elena Harap Dodd and friends. The writers offer wisdom, humor, and the perspective of a di verse company of writers and performers. Their poems, essays, and theater pieces describe the complex, sometimes heroic negotiations women

conduct with identity, culture, intimacy, love, and the alchemy of friendship.

Virginia Gooch Watson ’52 cutting the ribbon

Beverly Gooch ’51

The book cover of Elena Harap Dodd ’55

1956

Mary Lee McCharen Di Spirito received a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 30th An nual Fairfax County Volunteer Service Awards in recognition of her service to Annandale Christian Community for Action. The ACCA is a church-related volunteer organi zation providing rental assistance, childcare, food, and other servic es to low-income families in the Annandale, Vir ginia area, where Mary Lee has served in many capacities and leadership positions over the past 35 years.

1961

The Class of 1961 gathered at the home of Dennis Salisbury for a reunion. He is a scuba instructor and owner of Neptune Diving & Ski shop in Nashville and has authored several books, including “Return to the Sea,” “Exploring Neptune’s World,” “Diving Alone,” and “The Science of Diving with Nitrox.”

1964

The Class of 1964 met weekly on Zoom throughout the pandemic before resuming lunches at Noshville in summer 2021.

1965

Capt. Jim Horner reports he is happy to be back at sea again. He shared, “We spent over two weeks in the Islands of Cat Cay, Chub Cay, and Nassau at Atlantis Resort. Then we went to Exuma Bahamas, Staniel Cay, where we go in the small boat to feed the pigs. I have been there a lot of times to feed them, they swim to our boat to eat. Grew up in Whites Creek and didn’t know pigs could swim. They love water melon, and we always bring it for them.”

1967

Rosemary Zibart ’s most recent book, “Beatrice on Her Own,” won four awards: first place in the CIPA EVVY™ Book Awards Bronze Award, the 2020 Independent Publisher Book Award, a Silver Moonbeam, and the New Mexico-Arizo

na Book Award for Historical Fiction. Rosemary also spent time with students at USN last year.

1968

The Class of 1968 continues to meet every third Thursday of the month via Zoom. Luther Harrell shared a PowerPoint presentation with fun pho tos from their high school years in September 2021. Email theshannonpaty@gmail.com for the link to attend.

1969

The Tennessee Environmental Council named Alan Leiserson as Composter of the Season.

1970

Carol Norris Brown was in town from Great Falls, Virginia and stopped by USN for a visit with Director Vince Durnan .

1971

Peter Ansoff was featured in an article in The Washington Post about Flag Day. Peter is a vexillologist and has more than 100 flags from the United States and other countries.

1973

William Evans visited USN to pick up a piece of the Cheek Gym floor, which he played on while a PDS student.

Dennis Salisbury ’61

Perry Happell ’61, Hank Howerton ’61, Carroll Miller ’61, Dennis Salisbury ’61, and Bob Collier ’61

1964 classmates Steve Furman, Sandra Stone Merritt, Maureen Carr Appelbaum, Al Lowe, Susan Hammonds-White, and Beverly Nelson

Mary Lee McCharen Di Spirito ’56 (l.)

The accomplishments of the book of Rosemary Zibart ’67

1977

Matt Hills and Paymon Rouhanifard, brother of Nima Rouhanifard ’00, served together on the Massachusetts Board of Education.

1979

Lee Ann Harrod Merrick and her husband, former Lower School Technology Coordinator Scott Merrick , celebrated with their daughter, Miranda Merrick Buell ’08, her graduation from Lipscomb University.

1980

Nancy Ryder Schimkat is living happily in Germany with her German husband of 24 years and two children.

John Medwedeff, Owner of Medwedeff Forge & Design, installed a new sculpture at The Sound at Pennington Bend in Nashville. The 15-foot-tall piece is made of COR-TEN and will naturally develop a stable patina over the next year or two. Lincoln Property Company commissioned the work.

1983

David Brown was the Artistic Director for the Chicago Architecture Biennial in 2021. David is a designer, researcher, and educator based at the School of Architecture at the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Jennifer Gilbert lives in Boston and has used her years of experience as an attorney and a mem ber of many nonprofits to create a website for the city called “Housing Navigator.” It is a model that perhaps other cities can use that matches all the available housing to those in need.

1985

In spring 2022, David Ewing participated in the panel discussion in “By Design: The Shaping of Nashville’s Public Schools,” a documentary produced by the Nashville Public Education Foun dation examining historical moments of public schooling in Nashville dating back to the 1800s.

Carol Norris Brown ’70 and Director Vince Durnan

Matt Hills ’77 and Paymon Rouhanifard

The Merrick family

Peter Ansoff ’71

William Evans ’73

The COR-TEN sculpture of John Medwedeff ’80

The Class of 1985 gathered via Zoom on Feb ruary 23, 2021, and Peter Hodes showed the virtual yearbook he created.

Virginie Goffaux lives in Belgium and started a business three years ago called AnimEd Solutions. “After an all-over-the-place career in vet med, the pharma industry, international education, and business development, I finally decided that it’s time to be my own boss and derive energy from what I do every day,” she wrote. “It’s the most amazing, challenging, scary, stressful, and wonderful experience. I am absolutely exhausted and temporarily poor but am prouder than I’ve ever been about what I do for a living. My company is dedicated to providing high-level education for pet owners in the form of virtual congresses and expos where we interview the top veterinary special ists in Europe to talk about pet health issues in plain language.”

1986

Distinguished Alumna Ivanetta Davis Samuels and Tory Sally Fitzgibbon celebrated at a reception for Ivanetta after the 2021 Com mencement.

Dora Schaefer Levin is a science writer work ing at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute with Benjamin Ebert ’88. “We overlapped at USN but did not realize this until months after he hired me,” she said. “Dr. Ebert runs an amazing research program and leads the Medical On

cology Department, and I enjoy making small contributions to both efforts. We both started life in the Boston area and returned here for professional/academic reasons. I was at USN for a very short time, but the education I re ceived there was formative and prepared me well for the next steps.”

1989

Jeffrey Jackson released his book “Paper Bul lets: Two Artists Who Risked their Lives to Defy the Nazis” in paperback in November 2021. It was longlisted for the prestigious Carnegie Medal for Excellence in Non-Fiction for 2021, named as an Honor Book for the Stonewall Book Awards-Israel Fishman Non-Fiction Award by the American Library Association, named by Booklist as an Editor’s Choice “Best of the Best” for biography and memoir, listed as one of the Best Books of 2020 by The Art Newspaper, placed among of the Best Biographies of 2020 by The Archive, and recognized as one of the five Best Books on Art and Culture in Occupied Paris by The Wall Street Journal.

1991

“Radiolab” founder Jad Abumrad has a new podcast miniseries called “The Vanishing of Harry Pace” and joined Vanderbilt University with a joint appointment as a Distinguished Research Professor of Cinema and Media Arts and of Communication of Science and Technology at the College of Arts and Science. As a faculty member, he leads and advises on several areas of work, including the launch of a new podcast institute designed to become a national center of excellence for the evolving profession of digital narratives.

The Radiological Society of North America named Richard E. Heller III , M.D., to serve on the organization’s Board of Directors. Richard is Associate Chief Medical Officer, Communica tions and Health Policy & National Subspecial ty Lead, and Director of Pediatric Radiology at Radiology Partners in Chicago.

1993

Clare Burson’s multidisciplinary art exhibit, “from some other time,” was on display April 28, 2022 through June 21, 2022 at The Shirley Project Space in Prospect Heights, Brooklyn. The show spanned her career as a singer-songwriter and musician and highlighted her recent investi gations as a ceramic sculptor and textile artist. Using a mix of clay, fabric, found objects, and photographs, the works in the exhibition are at once rough and refined, strange and exquisite. Burson forged a thoughtful tension between the past and the future while still radiating with the gravity of our time.

1994

In the Nashville Business Journal, Jim Ro drigues discussed his recently accepted position to lead the new office of international brokerage firm Lee & Associates and how he found his way into real estate. The weekly published “The Boss: ‘There’s no job too small’ for Jim Rodrigues” in September 2021.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Virginie Goffaux ’85

Ivanetta Davis Samuels ’86 and Tory Sally Fitzgibbon ’86

David Brown ’83

1995

Brice Behringer stopped by the Edgehill Cam pus for a visit with retired Director of College Counseling Janet Schneider. Brice shared a photo of himself on the bridge wing of a ship he was navigating through the Panama Canal.

Brook Gardiner started a new position as Se nior Vice President and General Counsel of MLS Next Pro, a new professional league affiliated with Major League Soccer. He and Nashville Soccer Club Marketing Director Caitlin Mello ’98 returned to USN for a lunch and learn with High Schoolers. They discussed their time as studentathletes, Nashville’s GEODIS Park, and the growth of soccer in the United States.

1997

Nina Interlandi Bell lives in Maine and is the Demand Generation Manager for Marketing Profs. Nina identifies as a farmer, forager, and wild foods enthusiast and is also pursuing a master’s degree in herbal medicine. Catch up with her at marjoriefarmandforage.com.

Hrant Arakelian was among the chefs compet ing in the Nashville Scene’s Iron Fork competi tion on April 28, 2022 at First Horizon Park in Nashville.

While serving as Deputy Director for Art and Interpretation and Curator of Photography for the Chrysler Museum of Art, Seth Feman organized an art exhibit focusing on the life and career of Alma Woodsey Thomas. Just as the traveling exhibition arrived at the Frist Art Museum in spring 2022, Seth returned to Nashville as the Frist Art Museum’s Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Shooter Jennings announced the digital premiere of an unheard track, “Gene’s Song,”

about former High School Art Teacher Gene Sizemore . Shooter said the song “really is a tribute to Gene Sizemore’s profound impact on my life and a celebration of his life and legacy. He provided a foundation and mentor ship to some degree that really helped me in hindsight, especially after losing my dad as a young man. He was a great man, a funny man, and a blues man. He loved music, art, and life and always brought a smile to my face.”

1999

Brooks Daverman joined McKinsey & Com pany as an expert in the Medicaid practice. He previously served as the Deputy Director of TennCare, Tennessee’s Medicaid agency.

The National Geographic Society named Allison Fundis an Emerging Explorer. She is among 15 global changemakers selected to comprise the 2021 cohort.

Holly Interlandi lives in Los Angeles and is Content Editor for MarketingProfs, a marketing education company. Holly also writes and edits comic books. See her work at hollyinterlandi.com.

Kat Trammell returned to USN this school year as the Archivist.

2000

Chris Bradshaw spoke to USN High Schoolers for Community Action Day about environmental justice. The founder of Dreaming Out Loud, a Washington D.C.-based nonprofit committed

Brice Behringer ’95 (left) with retired Director of College Counseling Janet Schneider and (above) on a ship in the Panama Canal

Caitlin Mello ’98 and Brook Gardiner ’95

Seth Feman ’97

to providing greater access to healthy food, equitable food systems, and economic empow erment in the local community, Chris launched a CSA that served some 1,200 families in 2020 and is committed to supporting Black-owned businesses. Beginning as a collection of com munity farmers’ markets, the organization has expanded into a food and economic sovereign ty apparatus for marginalized neighborhoods and has a farm in the middle of the city. For his visionary leadership, EatingWell named Chris topher Bradshaw one of its 2021 American Food Heroes for people who are changing the food world in innovative and meaningful ways.

Food & Wine magazine selected Dozen Bakery Owner Claire Meneely as having the best bread in Tennessee. In a list of best breads across the country, the magazine called Dozen “a staple not only of its fortunate neighborhood but of the city at large.”

2001

Genia Blaser wrote “Biden and Immigration: How to Push the Administration on Immigrant Rights,” an op-ed published in January in Teen Vogue.

Sara Chazin lives in Oakland, California, where she is a violinist and Violin/Piano Instructor at Reeder Music Academy and Musically Minded Academy.

Katie Dunham started a business called Katie Dunham Communications. She is a “communi cations consultant with more than 15 years of experience promoting arts and culture through Southern California and beyond,” she said.

The Nashville Business Journal named Annie Schleicher Brinn to its annual 40 Under 40 list in January 2022. She is Warner Music Group’s Senior Vice President of Publishing Licensing & Royalties Administration. “USN cultivated a space for me to grow as an individual and gave me the confidence to achieve my dreams through the support from lasting friendships that I developed there,” Brinn shared, reflecting on her time at 2000 Edgehill.

The Tennessee Oncology Practice Society announced its 2021-2022 Board of Directors

and the election of Stephen Schleicher, M.D., M.B.A., of Tennessee Oncology, as its President.

Julia Sullivan and Henrietta Red were fea tured on “CBS Saturday Morning” on Saturday, March 5, 2022. The chef and restaurateur joined Dana Jacobson for “The Dish.”

2002

Anne Wilson is a staff psychiatrist at the VA Puget Sound Health Care System and is part of a neuromodulation team providing transcranial magnetic stimulation, electroconvulsive therapy, and esketamine treatment for veterans.

2003

Crystal Churchwell Evans joined Built Tech nologies as the Assistant Director of Marketing.

2004

Since opening the new International Market, across the street from its original Belmont Bou levard location run by her late mother, former Alumni Director Anna Myint has received much press. She was featured in StyleBlueprint in Oc tober 2021. In January 2022, she was named to the Nashville Business Journal’s annual 40 Under 40 list, and The Nashville Scene published the article “Siblings Arnold and Anna Myint Continue Their Parents’ Legacy.” “At the time, the USN workload felt never-ending. But looking back, it helped me learn from a young age how to manage and balance my work and personal life,” Myint reflected on her time at USN.

2005

After clerking for two federal judges, Jesse Cuevas Stambaugh joined the law firm of Susman Godfrey in Los Angeles. She was named a 2021 Rising Star of the Plaintiffs’ Bar by the National Law Journal. Jesse is a member of the Steering Committee for Just the Beginning Foundation’s Los Angeles Summer Legal Institute, whose mission is to encour age students of color and other historically underrepresented groups to pursue career and leadership opportunities in law.

2006

The International Academy of Television awarded Nicholas Kraus two Emmys — Direc tor of Photography for Outstanding Direction: Documentary and Outstanding Cinema tography: Documentary for “The Trade” on Showtime.

Adrien Saporiti released the single “Hot Vax Summer,” a song about enjoying warmer weather after being vaccinated against COVID-19.

Katie Goldstein Jarrett and her family re cently moved to Denver.

Anna Myint ’04

Jesse Cuevas Stambaugh ’05

Adrien Saporiti ’06

BeyondEdgehill

Ashley Farmer ’02

a conversation with classmate Jamie Hirsch Brook ’02

“All of it was kismet, soon to be made history. … ” When Ashley and I were at USN, we used to talk about how much fun it would be to have a theme song playing through a boombox on our shoulders as we move through life. I asked her what her theme song would be today. Her answer, Teena Marie’s “Square Biz,” contains lyrics that embody her life experience to date. Kismet — destiny — led Ashley not to be too focused on what she expected but instead to follow the guidance of her Spelman College professor to become a historian.

After graduating from USN, Ashley attended Spelman as a French major and Spanish minor. She took one history class her senior year with Jelani Cobb, a professor and famous journalist, who guided her to see that she could have a career as a historian and talk about people rather than language. Ashley earned both a master’s degree in history and a Ph.D. in African American studies from Harvard Univer sity. She initially thought she would study Black women in the Caribbean, and as kismet would have it, an assignment to focus on a U.S.-centric topic led her to write about Black women organizers in America in the ’60s and ’70s. That sparked the whole trajectory that she is on now. This final paper became the last chapter of her first book. And the rest, in this case, is quite literally history.

Ashley lives in Austin, Texas with her husband, Adewole “Ade” Adamson. She is an Assistant Professor of African and African Diaspora Studies and History at the University of Texas at Austin and recently received tenure.

What is the most significant contribution your USN experience is making in your life today?

Encouraging intellectual curiosity. There were a lot of things we could do there, a lot of different classes you could take, and a lot of experiences you could have. It taught me to keep an open mind. For the kind of job I have, I definitely have to have an open mind.

What/who inspired you to write “Remaking Black Power: How Black Women Transformed an Era?”

The activists themselves. I actually interviewed them; most people I write about are still around — they are in their 70s and 80s. They encouraged me to keep writing about their experiences and tell a longer history about black women organizing in the Black Power Movement that started before the 1960s and 1970s. They felt that

my focus was too small, and I needed to tell a bigger story about how the movement evolved, how they shaped it, and why it’s important today. They really pushed me to keep going and convinced me that this was a viable book topic.

Do you still keep in touch with the activists you interview? Yes, I do. They love Facebook. It’s the only reason why I can’t quit Facebook. Some of them are still involved in movement organiz ing today, particularly those who live in the Bay Area, California, or New York. If you give your life to a movement or organizing, it’s hard to give that up. However, there are also downsides includ

photo by Kelly Davidson

ing the fact that you don’t really have a safety net. It’s a really big struggle as they get older for them to stay active and also take care of themselves.

What do you enjoy most about being a professor at the University of Texas at Austin? It’s the students. They are adorable. There is nothing like working with 18- to 22-year-olds every day to make you not take yourself too seriously. They roast me all the time. But they are also a joy to teach. The whole point of writing all this stuff down is that you convey information, and, hopefully, people feel empowered by the information to live their lives differently. We can do all that writ ing, but unless we teach it and think about how people can adapt it

into their own lives, which is what we do in the classroom, then it’s kind of like, what’s the point? I also have Ph.D. students who are all writing what will be important books in the future, so it’s kind of cool to shape the next generation of scholarship on Black history.

What advice do you have for USN students today? Don’t worry if you don’t have it figured out. My path is not at all what I thought it was going to be. I am happy with it, but I could not have even imagined that this is where I was going to end up. You have to keep an open mind and not be so oriented about how to get from point A to point B that you don’t take in any other ideas about how life could be. nn

2007

Hunter

2008

Caitlin Del Casino was the choreographer for “Priscilla Queen of the Desert” performed at Looby Theatre in Nashville.

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Julia Garrison found an orange statue of Allison Fundis ’99 at the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.

Miranda Merrick Buell graduated from Lipscomb University on May 8, 2021 with a Master of Science in clinical mental health counseling, specializing in play therapy. She was a member of the Alpha Chi Omega and Chi Sigma Iota National Honor Societies.

Miranda is working as a Master’s Level Clinical Therapist at Mercy Community Healthcare.

2009

Henry Gottfried was back on Broadway in the musical “Waitress” in September 2021.

Sam March started a YouTube channel and showcased a magic wand he made that controls all the technology in his house. “Right

Nashville Mayor John Cooper appointed TJ Ducklo as his chief communications officer and senior adviser in spring 2022. TJ oversees the administration’s communications team and advises on political and strategic decisions.

Claire Rogers was featured in The Nashville Edit magazine about her work to open the Nashville location of Soho House, the highly selective social club.

Hunter Claire Rogers ’07

Julia Garrison ’08

Henry Gottfried ’09

Sam March ’09

This Minute” featured his invention on national television.

Cornelia Overton graduated with her Master of Landscape Architecture from Rhode Island School of Design as the RISD 2020 Frederick Law Olmstead Scholar. She is a landscape architect in Nashville.

William Scott has assumed the role of Fitness Center Director at USN and is pursuing a de gree in kinesiology at Maryville University.

2010

Nathan Brucker and his friend Rachel Shaw stopped by USN for a visit in July 2021.

2011

In honor of his 10th class reunion, David Kuhn put together a guitar arrangement of the USN Alma Mater, composed by Music Teacher Doni Princehorn .

Mikeie Honda Reiland is a writer and student in the University of Georgia’s Master of Fine Arts in Narrative Nonfiction program. Mikeie wrote the article “The Pride of Nashville” in the summer 2021 issue of Oxford American.

Jesse Shofner plays on the women’s pro fessional team Nashville NightShade. She returned to USN in March 2022 to practice Ultimate Frisbee drills with third and fourth graders. USA Ultimate selected Jesse as one

of 48 players to represent the United States at the 2022 World Flying Disc Federation World Beach Ultimate Championships in April in Hun tington Beach, California.

2012

The New York Times quoted Laura Berry in an article featuring her organization’s work for im proved climate change policies. She is the lead researcher for the Climate Clock, a countdown of the time remaining before the effects of global warming are irreversible.

Lindsey Khim recently hiked to the top of Mauna Kea in Hawaii. She said it was the most challenging hike she has ever done. She is at tending Loyola Law School, Los Angeles.

While in Nashville in October 2021 for his exhibit at The Red Arrow Gallery, Marcus Maddox visited a USN photography class to discuss his work. His photography also graced the cover of Nashville Scene’s September 2 issue “Fall Guide 2021: Artumnal.” Marcus is a music and fashion photographer.

2013

In May 2021, composer, producer, and contem porary jazz recording artist Bryard Huggins released his sixth studio album celebrating his decade in the recording industry. His 10thanniversary release consists of all nine original contemporary jazz songs and one cover song arrangement. Bryard self-produced the project, which features jazz heavyweights Jackiem Joyner, B. Thompson, and Ryan Casey. Bryard performed in December 2021 at 615 Main

Nathan Brucker ’10 and Rachel Shaw

Marcus Maddox ’12 with his former art, film, and photography teachers, Steve Smail and Trent Boysen

Bryard Huggins ’13 smiles with singer Gladys Knight.

Street in Nashville and made his Ryman Audi torium debut in April 2022. He joined Gladys Knight, the Empress of Soul, on the Florida leg of her tour and played as a featured guest in her sold-out concerts at the Walt Disney Theater and the Hard Rock Live Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino. He performed “The Way We Were” with Knight and her band, then did a solo performance of the Richard Smallwood hit “Total Praise.” While on tour, Bryard recorded an address to 2022 graduates recognized during the USN Black Parent Net work’s Senior Celebration. His music is available at bryardhuggins.com/shop and on Spotify.

Hank Powers recently taught a Math for Sustainability class at USN with math teacher Cindy Crenshaw.

Griffin Tanner is the audio engineer for The Wall Street Journal’s daily podcast “The Jour nal: The Facebook Files” series.

2014

WKRN aired a broadcast about Bob Minton’s escape from Ukraine. He worked as a Peace Corps volunteer until 2020 and remained in the Eastern European country when Russia invaded last month. Minton is now in Prague.

2015

Walter Hindman and his business partner enjoyed a moment in the sun on the third hour of “The Today Show” on February 24, 2021. They talked about their Nashville-based junk removal and donation logistics business Junk Drop. StyleBlueprint also published the article “This Nashville Junk Removal Team Helps Fur nish Homes and Shelters” in September 2021.

Hop Mathews recently moved to Brooklyn, New York. He works with Wells Fargo on the eco nomics team.

Katie Roth , who has been a USN Summer Camps Instructor and Teaching Assistant in kindergarten classrooms, moved into the role of PE Teacher in fall 2021.

Ashtan Towles , Senior Project Analyst, Behavioral Health, was the moderator for a panel discussion sponsored by The Council of State Governments Justice Center on “Collect ing and Utilizing Data in Community Responder Programs” in September 2021.

Kyle Turner returned to USN as the 19th Avenue Receptionist before transitioning to the Business Office.

2016

ESPN’s SportsCenter Top 10 featured as No. 8 a full layout executed by Mathieu Agee dur ing his Ultimate Frisbee game with Colorado Summit in May 2022.

In addition to writing and fact-checking for The Wall Street Journal, Margo Ghertner has been promoted to News Assistant for WSJ. Maga zine. Margo has now written several articles for The Wall Street Journal’s weekend features section, Off Duty.

In fall 2021, Hannah Malkofsky-Berger took on new roles at USN as the seventh and eighth grade Teaching Assistant and volleyball coach after serving as eighth grade’s remote learn

ing coordinator and an assistant track & field coach the previous year.

2017

Isaac Eskind was featured in the Nelson Institute for Environmen tal Studies newsletter in the article “Finding his passion and getting involved, ES major shares his undergradu ate experience.” He graduated in December 2021 from University of Wisconsin-Madison with a double major in finance and environmental studies.

Vanderbilt University recognized Hanan Fakhruddin in “The Faces of Vanderbilt’s Response to COVID-19” in March 2021. Hanan is President of the Muslim Students Association and majoring in medicine, health and society, and child development. She worked to ensure Muslims could practice their Friday prayers on campus while observing the university’s COVID-19 guidelines and coordinated care packages for dining services workers.

Lucy Kloeppel moved to Philadelphia and is “working for True Search, an executive search firm for high-growth tech startups,” she said.

“I am excited about their EdTech practice be cause of my experience with scholarly work in education policy, which was originally inspired by USN and Horizons.”

Andrew Thornton stopped by USN in June 2021 and visited Athletics Director Josh Scouten and Director of Admissions and Finan cial Aid Juliet Douglas .

2018

Madeline Baxter is working with the Center on Wrongful Convictions, one of the legal clinics in Northwestern University’s Pritzker Law School. In addition, she has been volunteering with the Chicago Department of Public Health, working to minimize the disparity in maternal mortality rates for Black people in the city. During sum mer 2021, she also worked with the American Civil Liberties Union. Madeline was featured

Math Teacher Cindy Crenshaw, French Teacher Richard Espenant, and Hank Powers ’13

Hanan Fakhruddin ’17

BeyondEdgehillEducation roots planted in Class of 2004

Twelve known members of the Class of 2004 have pursued teaching as their career, even returning to the halls they once walked as students to teach and reflect. Although they account for 14 percent of their class of 87 graduates, these USN alum ni are part of a dwindling demographic. The Center for American Progress surveys show the enrollment in teacher preparation programs nationwide declining, and the EdWeek Research Center reports the pandemic led to a record exodus from the profession. Classmates Matt Lukach and Molly Tanner Tomforde discuss how their time at USN influenced their decisions to enter the field of education. Matt began his teaching career with Metro Nashville Public Schools and returned to USN in 2010 as the Sixth Grade Social Studies Teacher. Molly Tanner Tomforde, a 13 Year Club member, is a High School Math Teacher at Marin Academy, an independent school in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Q: How did being at USN influence your decision to enter the field of education?

Molly: I learned from all of my USN teach ers that teaching is just the best profession. Their love for teaching was contagious, and I’m so grateful that their joy led me to become a teacher.

Matt: I’ve always been someone who looks up to other people. Maybe it’s because I’m the youngest of four kids. When I was at USN as a student, I saw my teachers as adults who had chosen a certain lifestyle that seemed appealing. I watched them enjoy being at their jobs. They were active, funny, cool people. They also seemed to have good balance in their lives. There’s just always been something about a school environment that vibes with me, especially at USN. I come from a family of teachers. My mom taught preschool for decades, and my older brother teaches in California. So, I guess part of it is genetic. But, yes, some USN faculty had a huge influence on my ca reer decision. And it’s very cool to call those people friends now: Robbie McKay, Steve Smail, George Flatau, and Ann Wheeler. All legends and top-notch people.

Q: How do you draw from your experiences to be innovative in your classroom?

Matt: Teaching is a moving target. Like ev erything, good teaching evolves and changes on the regular. A great idea a few years ago might not work anymore because kids change and how we communicate changes. In that sense, teaching requires a lot of cre ativity because you’re always creating some thing new. For example, I’ve been teaching World Religions for 12 years, and I’ve done it differently every single year. It’s important to be in sync with the world at large and pay attention to what’s happening out there to help kids prepare for what’s to come. Also, I place a huge emphasis on the emotional wellbeing of the kids. How’s everyone’s mental health? Are we touching base with how we feel? Are we learning to recognize emotion in ourselves and go through life truly know ing ourselves? These are questions that are just as important — maybe more important — than any that come from any academic curriculum that has ever existed.

Molly: There are countless ways my USN teachers have influenced my own teaching, but to name a few: starting in kindergarten, Mrs. McCullough showed me how impor tant it is to provide students with choice. She gave students an opportunity to choose which stations they wanted to work in every day, which helped build a sense of agency,

autonomy, control, and responsibility for their learning. Mrs. Dickinson and Mrs. Crenshaw taught me how important it is to bring music into the classroom. Not a day goes by that I don’t play music while my students are working in groups. Music brings joy and makes students talk to each other. It is harder to be brave and ask each other questions in a silent room. Ms. Tarleton and Mrs. Loftis taught explicit skills in relationship building with conflict resolutions showing me how to make students feel seen, heard, and valued which is so important in order for students to feel safe to learn and take meaningful risks. By letting me teach lessons in their classes and supporting me in doing an independent study

in curriculum design, Ms. Avington, Ms. Berry, Ms. Greer, and Dr. Klein all taught me the importance of being flexible and the power in letting students pursue their passions even when it doesn’t perfectly fit in the mold of your class. Madame Interlandi and Mrs. Yeaworth taught me how fun and joyful learning should be, and not a day goes by where I don’t laugh with my students like they did with us. Through essay revisions in Mr. McKay’s class and Coach McFall letting me rerun the mile for the fitness testing after I had been the slowest, I learned the value in offering opportunities for redemption in order for students to demon strate growth and learn of what they’re capable. nn

in the Northwestern Undergraduate Research Journal, discussing her passion for social justice research.mer 2021, she also worked with the American Civil Liberties Union. Madeline was featured in the Northwestern Undergraduate Research Journal, discussing her passion for social justice research.

Zoë Boysen will graduate from Mount Holyoke College this fall with degrees in Computer Science and Physics. Additionally, she was selected to participate in the Harvard-MIT 2022 Biomedical Optics Summer Institute at Massachusetts General Hospital.

Drew Dibble of the Davidson men’s basketball team was named to the 2020-2021 National Association of Basketball Coaches Honors

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Court, which recognizes student-athletes in all NCAA divisions and the NAIA who excelled in academics during the past season. He and Quinn Wheelock caught up during Drew’s senior game at Davidson College.

Samantha Olivares-Mejia will join the So noran Desert Network as a GIS Assistant next year, as part of the National Park Service’s Scientists in Parks Program.

The Harvard Alumni Association has named Courtney Rabb as one of two 2021 David and Mimi Aloian Memorial Scholars.

Sam Strang provided music for several special events for the school in 2021 and 2022.

Annlyn Zinke has accepted a position as a Business Technology Solutions Analyst at De loitte Consulting and works out of the Rosslyn office in Arlington, Virginia in the Government & Public Services practice.

2019

Max Kleiner represented Baylor University at the 2022 Challenger Sales Institute competi tion, sponsored by Love’s Travel Stops. As part of the Sales Management and Ethics Case competition, Max’s team was charged with re vamping the evaluation and training programs for the Love’s sales organization. The team pre sented a solution built on a competency-based approach to evaluation and development and won first place.

Andrew Thornton ’17 with Director of Admissions Juliet Douglas and Athletics Director Josh Scouten

Quinn Wheelock ’18 and Drew Dibble ’18

Sam Strang ’18

Sydney Stevenson visited USN friends, faculty, and staff while at the Edgehill Campus in May 2021 and even had a chance to talk with her kindergarten book buddy Gabriella Siew ’23.

2020

Nick Clancy published the commentary “Igno rance is bliss for those who can’t acknowledge roots of racism” in Tennessee Lookout in May 2022.

Kellen Hill was the screenwriter for the team that produced “Ronny Newman: The Quest for Greatness,” a short film for the 48 Hour Film Challenge. The film won the Comedy category in 2021.

Morgan Lewis played the role of Mrs. Phelps in Syracuse Stage’s regional production of “Matilda.” The show opened in November 2021 and ran for 55 performances.

Dabney Moore and her first-year soccer team mates from Trinity University won the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference regular season and tournament in 2021. Dabney got her first assist in the championship game. She is major ing in engineering.

Lewis Walker and Shai Rice stopped by USN for a visit.

Gordon Yancey is enjoying being a student at Belmont. He is majoring in entrepreneur ship and has started an online business selling gently used clothing, accessories, and other items. New items are posted daily in his shop, g2wears.com. Gordon shared that “USN pre pared me well for this chapter of my life.”

2021

In fall 2021, USN Yearbook Co-Editor Carly Harris stopped by USN to pick up her senior yearbook.

Rachel Westerfield started at New York University in January 2021. She previously worked at Butcher and Bee, on the line in the kitchen, rotating through positions. She catered for parties and weddings and was a guest vendor at the St. George Farmer’s Market, offering babka. Check out her website rachelwesterfield0.wixsite.com/food.

Lewis Walker ’20 and Shai Rice ’20

Dabney Moore ’20 and team

Sydney Stevenson ’19 and Gabriella Siew ’23

Rachel Westerfield ’21

Carly Harris ’21

Max Kleiner ’19 and team

Courtney Rabb ’18

Director’s Director’sAlohaTour

Featuring Vince Durnan

October 2021, Director Vince Durnan and then Alumni Direc tor Patti Wexler began his cross-country trip to say goodbye to dozens of PDS/USN alumni and friends with events in Bos ton, Washington, D.C., and Chicago. Unfortunately, the prevalence of the COVID-19 omicron variant pressed pause on the farewell tour, and he was unable to travel to California and Texas. Durnan resumed in February 2022 with dinners in Boca Raton, Philadel phia, New York City, Seattle, and Atlanta. Alumni Director Leigh Ivey Hicks ’05, Annual Fund Director Claudia Huskey, and Annual Fund Associate Meagan Hall joined him along the way.

The tour was named as a nod to Durnan’s past career as an administrator on the Big Island at Hawai’i Preparatory Academy and affinity for the aloha business clothing he is known to wear during hot summer months. In July, he flies to Kauai for an 11-month posi tion as Interim Head of School at Island School. Often used as a simple greeting or farewell, aloha is the Hawaiian word for love and affection. nn

Atlanta

New York

Boca Raton

Philadelphia

Seattle Chicago

Boston Washington, D.C.

Weddings

Lauren Simon ’14 wed Jacob Pinkston on September 20, 2020.

Marci Levy ’07 wed Jacob Kleinrock on August 29, 2020.

Molly Tanner ’04 wed Andrew Tomforde on November 25, 2020.

Frances Wright ’06 wed Pierce Trumbo on June 26, 2020.

Hayden Roche ‘13 wed Zaira Gasanova on May 29, 2021.

Claire Small ’98 wed Jason Hobbs on June 3, 2021.

Charlotte Owens ’11 wed Bobby Kuhn ’10 on December 20, 2020.

Jennifer Goldstein ’02 wed Mark Hoffman on August 14, 2021. USN alumni at the wedding were Laura Honsberger ’02, Katie Davidson ’02, Anna Petcu Sweeney ’02, Jennie Shepard Zagnoev ’02, Anne Wilson ’02, Kate Viebranz Thrash ’02, Jamie Hirsch Brook ’02, Katie Goldstein Jarrett ’05, and Jana Friedman ’03.

Not Pictured

o Sarah Sperling ’92 wed Kyle Young on October 3, 2021.

o Michelle Ross ’00 and Tim Stephens welcomed Eloise Isabel Stephens on October 8, 2020.

o George Brandes ’03 wed Teri Moffit on July 6, 2021. They welcomed Wilhelmina “Mina” Grace Brandes on April 3, 2022.

o Austen Venick ’07 wed Meghan Powers on August 28, 2021.

Births

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Camille Smith ‘97 and Alex Espinoza welcomed Nico Espinoza on June 5, 2021.

Anne Wilson ’02 and Sammy Shaw welcomed Teddy Shaw on September 27, 2020.

Michelle Ross ’00 and Tim Stephens welcomed Eloise Isabel Stephens on October 8, 2020.

Lauren Simon ’14 and Jacob Pinkston welcomed Ava Ryan Pinkston on January 21, 2021.

Kacey Fuldauer ’03 and Tony Millard welcomed Max Fuldauer on May 3, 2020. Pictured here with sister Lainey.

Polly Shepard ’07 and David Roffwarg welcomed Jamie Roffwarg on May 8, 2021.

Nick Buda ‘92 and Ashley Bosshart welcomed Oliver William Buda on August 20, 2021.

Jillian Berkman ‘08 and James Greer welcomed Jackson Kenneth Greer on July 31, 2021.

Molly Tanner Tomforde ’04 and Andrew Tomforde welcomed Evelyn Woods Tomforde on October 27, 2021.

Edward Gottfried ’07 and Kaye Verville welcomed George Henry Addington Gottfried on May 6, 2020.

Rosemarie

Phyllis

Lucretia

UNIVERSITY SCHOOL OF NASHVILLE

Alumni and former students

Glenn Hammonds ’69 May 2, 2021

Carolyn Powell Anderson ’61 August 13, 2021

Linda Glassman Beaty ’59 April 13, 2017

Lindsay Hammonds ’71 July 4, 2021

Paul Leeper ’00 January 18, 2021

Sally Zager Wolfe ’55 March 2, 2021

Robert “Bob” Smotherman

PDS Principal April 29, 2020

James Voorhies ’66 February 2, 2021

Mark Happell ’66 April 27, 2021

Kay Simmons Director of Development 1986-1992 Interim Director 1990-1991 November 12, 2021

Drew Alexander ’88 December 31, 2021

Todd Zeitlin ’83 September 26, 2021

Kathryn Rainey Leonard ’70 December 26, 2021

Lucas Heckers ’21 February 21, 2022

Zana Gentle ’68 December 4, 2021

Caroline Russell Marold ’66 August 2021

John Neil Hoskins ’62 December 24, 2021

We remember these deceased alumni, former students, and faculty for their contributions to PDS/USN and beyond Edgehill. Included on this page are those of whose deaths we have recently learned, even when some years have passed. To read their obituaries, visit usn.org/publications .

Linda Wallis Sauer Biology Teacher & HS Administrator 1982-2013 October 8, 2021

Debbie Davies Math Teacher 1977-2021 September 12, 2021

Henry Austin ’56 October 19, 2021

Beloved Math Teacher leaves final gift of opportunity IN

her notable absence from University School of Nashville classrooms, a distinguished faculty leader and legendary math teacher is remembered by hundreds of alumni & colleagues and has given a gift to benefit generations of students & teachers for years to come.

Debbie Davies died on September 12, 2021 after battling cancer. She is survived by sons Michael Davies ’88 and Trefor Davies ’91 and her grandchildren, yet touched the lives of more than 2,000 students.

She joined USN in 1977 to teach High School mathematics. Over the next three decades, she built USN’s powerhouse Math Depart ment and calculus program, wrote advanced textbooks, and graded Advanced Placement exams. Local news featured her discovery

of an error in the Nashville Electric Service billing algorithm that caused overcharging.

In 1989, Davies received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, and the honor came with $10,000 for USN to improve mathematics education.

Davies left behind a strong legacy at USN; thousands of students benefitted from her generous care and teaching skills, and genera tions of colleagues grew from her leadership and loyal friendship.

“If I were to be completely honest about Ms. Davies, outside of my mother and father no single person has made this much of an impact on my life. Nobody’s even close,” said Distinguished Alumnus

Gideon Yu ’89 during his 2011 Convocation speech before presenting a check to establish the Debbie Davies Endowed Chair for Excel lence in Teaching. It was a dramatic moment, and it answered the question posed by every teacher who has spent long after-school hours helping a student. Yes, such efforts make a dif ference. As she retired that year, Davies said she wanted “to stress how thankful I am for my time at USN. It is a wonderful place and has given me so many opportunities.”

For another decade, Davies continued to consult with USN faculty, lend a hand in math classes, and tutor High Schoolers, even working with a few students remotely during the 20202021 school year.

USN held a memorial for her on November 14, 2021. While pandemic restrictions limited capacity in the Auditorium, more than 400 of her students and colleagues of years past watched the live-streamed service.

Davies designated in her will that a percentage of her assets be left to University School of Nashville. As you reflect on the many positive experiences that have shaped you and your family, we hope your fond est memories include PDS/USN and educators like Davies. nn

Future gifts include: gifts in your will or living trust; beneficiaries of your retirement plan, bank or brokerage account, or life insurance policy. To learn more about supporting USN’s future in the manner of Math Teacher Debbie Davies, visit usn.org/plannedgiving to discover the giving option matching your charitable goals or contact Director of Development Anne Westfall at 615-277-7495 or awestfall@usn.org .

After leaving USN, Hicks studied corporate communications, public af fairs, and anthropology

Southern Methodist University and worked for the National Trust for Historic Preservation in Washington, D.C. She also gained experience in nonprofit fundraising, major gifts, and alumni relations at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and The Ensworth School. Hicks is married to 13 Year Club member Jack Hicks ’05, and they are parents of Frances, a black Lab.

If you or a classmate have recent achievements, a career transition, or other good news to share, then email updates to Hicks at lhicks@usn.org with photos attached at the highest resolution available for Class Notes.

Opposite page: Debbie Davies in the classroom; Left: Debbie with Gideon Yu ’89 at Convocation 2011

Leigh Ivey Hicks ’05 returned to 2000 Edgehill in March just in time for the Tiger Give Back Challenge, the school’s day to encourage Annual Fund participation, and to join Director Vince Durnan on his farewell tour.

at

“Our mom was fiercely devoted to USN and USN was equally devoted to her. It was very important to her that she acknowledge this special connection with USN in her will.”

— Michael ’88 and Trefor ’91 Davies

As this magazine lands in your mailbox, a transition is underway to introduce the 11th Director to the Peabody Demonstration School and University School of Nashville community.

To learn about the incoming Director, his connection to PDS founder Thomas Alexander, and for an opportunity to meet the new head of USN before the next school year begins, visit usn.org/director.

Thomas Alexander illustration from the Lower School centenial book, “The Story of Our School”