I was warned every benchmark in my sons lives was just another goodbye...

by Diana Keough

ver the summer, I said good-bye to my oldest son, Sean, his wife, Zee and their 2 year old daughter, Jali, waving hard and long as the cab pulled away from the curb, tears pooling in my eyes. I don’t know the next time I’ll see them. Sean and his family don’t get home much anymore, living in London as they do now. I suppose that’s the problem with children: they grow up, leave home and live their own lives.

As the mother of four boys, I’ve learned sons begin to leave their mothers very early on.

After my first son, Sean, was born, my oldest sister called to congratulate me and then said, “The trouble with having boys is that every significant benchmark in their life is just another goodbye.” I thought of her words as a hairline crack that made its way across my heart when I walked Sean into kindergarten, his first full day away from me, ever.

“Have a great day, bud,” I said as he ran in, giving me a brief wave without ever turning around. To this day, he doesn’t know that I sat in my car and cried for 30 minutes.

I recalled my sister’s words again when I dropped my second son, Bret at sleep away camp, helped my third son, Tom pack for a mission trip to Ecuador and watched my fourth son, Rob walk across the Whitefield stage to commemorate his graduation from fifth grade. Over the course of nine months, my sons’ lives were filled with significant milestones that took them further away from me.

I remembered her words again as my oldest graduated from college and moved to NYC, my second son left to study in Europe; my third son got his driver’s license and my youngest came downstairs one morning and was suddenly taller than me. Just like my youngest son’s jump in height, all of these benchmarks seemingly happened overnight.

As much as I want them to explore the world, learn to drive and yes, grow taller than me, I would be lying if I didn’t confess that a tiny part of me really missed snuggling with them every night or hearing them say, like Tommy did when he was three, “I want to marry you when I grow up, Mom.”

I also know, in order to maintain a relationship with my sons as they leave home, I have to let them go and be hands-off—no demands on their time, no expectations of visits home, no messages left on their cell phones or texts that hint, even slightly, that I miss them or —gasp—need them. Once they marry, it’s even more imperative that I duct tape my mouth shut.

Once, when I was having lunch with my friend, Kris, her phone kept ringing and she kept ignoring it.

“Do you need to get that?” I finally asked.

“Nah, it’s just the girls,” she said, referring to her two oldest daughters, sounding somewhat exasperated.

“They call. All. The. Time.”

As we continued our lunch, I realized she wasn’t exaggerating. Her two oldest daughters are grown and living on their own. But more often than not, her daughters’ numbers popped-up in Kris’ caller ID five or six times a day—just her girls wanting to discuss the minutiae of their day.

I can’t even imagine. But then again, if I’m honest, I’m not sure I want to.

Whenever I meet a man whose siblings are all brothers, I ask, “Do you still love your mother?” They always chuckle and answer, “Of course.” (Their wives usually corroborate their love for their moms).

When I ask, “How often do you call her?” most admit, “Not often enough.”

At this time, two of my four sons are married, which means I am well into the season of my life when my boys call every so often to just “check in,” their wives—bless them!—encouraging them to call me. I get it. And I understand it, having had to nudge their father to call his mother. It’s been that way since the beginning of time; it’s even mentioned in the Bible and at most marriage ceremonies: a husband will leave his mother and father and cleave to his wife. hitefield Academy’s fine arts program inspires students to develop artistic skills, to reach their full creative potential, and to build the confidence for self-expression. A wealth of visual art, theater, vocal, and instrumental music opportunities are offered both in and outside the classroom. Through all of Whitefield’s fine arts classes, biblical truths are at the core of the curriculum.

My boys will never know how often I look at the pictures of the four of them scattered around my house and long to have them back in my nest, dropping their laundry on the floor, wrestling, bickering, laughing and asking me what’s for dinner. The ghosts of their childhoods continuously haunt me, teasing a smile from my lips at every memory. It’s my little secret.

It’s not as though I want to go back or even have them living in my basement. It’s just that the quickness with which they move from wanting to kiss you constantly and tell you everything to not even calling can give a mom whiplash. Just as nothing prepares you for being a mother in the first place, nothing prepares you for saying goodbye in tiny, spread-over-time, painful increments.

So, on those rare occasions when my sons do call, I will regale them with tales of the robust, active, empty-nester life I am enjoying with their father and my friends; I will give them updates on my various writing projects and share some of my challenges of running a small business. As far as they’re concerned I am happy, busy and content, learning new things, traveling and not missing them much at all.

Diana Keough is an award-winning journalist and lives in Greensboro with her high school sweetheart. She is mom to Sean (who attended high school in Ohio), Bret (‘08), Tommy (‘12), and Robby (‘15).

Whitefield Fine Arts Reflection

by Lynn Sumlin

“There is inherent beauty all around us, and we, as artists, get to create more beauty. We get to be intentional in showing our creativity and our love of the Lord in our artwork,” explained Middle School art teacher Kim Machnick. “We encourage our students to integrate the idea of Imago Dei into their work by reflecting on what that truly means and how we represent ourselves as God’s image bearers through our artwork.”

Beginning in the Lower School, all students have exposure to music and visual arts as part of the curriculum. In music class, students sing, move, and play instruments. PreK students begin working on simple rhythmic patterns and steady beats in PreK and by the end of fourth grade they have the ability to read music and write simple melodies. Each grade’s curriculum intentionally builds upon the previous grades’ skill set to give Lower School students a robust musical experience. Lower School students perform throughout the year in various programs including the school’s annual Christmas programs and the beloved Big Broadcast in the spring.

Middle School students created self-expressive pieces founded in their favorite Scripture passage. Students presented their finished pieces to the class, explaining their theme as it relates to their Bible verse and what elements of art and principles of design they incorporated into their overall composition.

As students move to Middle School, the exposure to fine arts expands with opportunities to participate in band, orchestra, chorus, and theater as well as continuing in visual arts. In Middle School visual arts classes, there is a purposeful progression of building upon the fundamentals of the elements of art and the principles of design. Students learn about the creative intention and process of their work as they dive deeper into these foundational principles with more challenging projects. As students progress, they gain a deeper understanding of how to purposefully and creatively incorporate the elements and principles into their pieces as well as the thoughtful process behind how and why they are putting together their compositions. In eighth grade, students create a digital slide portfolio for every large project. The digital portfolio provides an opportunity for students to show their mastery of the creative process, being intentional with their artwork as well as learning to create on a different platform.

In Upper School, students are able to focus more deeply on their area of passion or expand their learning through over 20 varied fine arts classes in music, theater, and visual arts. One of the Upper School offerings is advanced digital art & graphic design. In this class, students are exposed to the differences between digital art and graphic design and have the ability to focus on projects based on their personal interests such as architecture, video, game design, vehicle graphics, clothing and accessories, and others. Woven into this curriculum is exposure to marketing concepts, including new product concept, name, brand, affiliated design and description creation, product competitive research, branding philosophies and study (what makes brands successful) among others. Exposure to marketing concepts has proven beneficial to students being able to articulate their desired paths in college that may not include traditional fine arts.

At Whitefield Academy, we believe God has gifted all of His children with an ability to offer praise to their heavenly Father through artistic talents. It is our desire to help each Whitefield student discover, develop, and display these unique talents through fine arts and prepare them for further artistic study at the college level, in professional endeavors, and, most importantly, a life-long appreciation and enjoyment of the arts.

Edward Lee’s (‘20) passion fires his challenging and interesting life

by Jennifer Bryon Owen

eaving his home in Seoul, Korea, to attend high school in the United States, wasn’t an entirely new adventure for Edward Lee (‘20). Atlanta wasn’t a new town. Business trips had introduced his father, a former fighter jet pilot in the Korean Air Force, to the city. Christianity wasn’t an unknown religion. Edward and his family were Christians. Studying in America wasn’t new. He lived in Pennsylvania as a fifth grader to study English. Being goal-oriented and challenging himself wasn’t new to Edward either. “In Pennsylvania, I learned to be more independent and improved my English,” says Edward, who continued studying English with the goal of returning to the United States.

During his eighth-grade year, Edward’s family decided it was time. “We’d been thinking about it a long time,” says Edward. “It was just a matter of the right time and the right school.”

His father found the right school by touring possibilities during those business trips. “He fell in love with Whitefield’s Christ-centered education, rigorous academics, and beautiful campus,” says Edward. “We only applied to Whitefield. If I got in, it was God’s plan for me to continue my academics in the U.S.”

Moving to another country alone wasn’t easy. “I was still young but had to learn to take care of myself,” says Edward. “The biggest obstacle was the language and the culture. Thankfully, the Whitefield community was welcoming and helped me a lot in adjusting, especially the Woods.”

The “Woods” was the family of Jen Woods, now Whitefield’s Upper School principal. Even as Whitefield prepared throughout the summer for Edward to enroll, emails circulated saying he needed a host home, a requirement for enrollment. Two weeks before his plane was to land, Woods knew he still needed a home. After getting a sense of responsibility involved from Whitefield’s admissions director, she consulted Edward and her husband, Josh. She and her husband volunteered.

“My family doesn’t do this ever,” says Woods, acknowledging their limited experience serving as a host family. “We felt the Lord nudging us to say yes to a one-year commitment.” One year turned into four and Edward became a family member. Woods hopes it is for life.

Edward fit in immediately, washing the dishes his first night. “He was good with my girls right away when he could have found them annoying. He was a super, special, unique kid,” explains Woods.

She saw him mature as teenagers do. While he was confident in social settings and new experiences, she saw that confidence grow. “He was a dedicated, social student who knew how to take breaks and have fun. He tried new things. He had played saxophone for years but didn’t know about marching bands because they don’t exist in Korea.”

Whitefield’s band camp was held before Edward arrived, but that didn’t stop him from joining the marching band. “He was not afraid to step out,” says Woods. “It was rough at first, but he was determined not to give up.”

As a peer tutor, Edward helped one younger student with math all four years. “Informally, he tutored tons of students,” says Woods, whose home became their study venue. “He didn’t keep his knowledge, skills, and passion to himself. He liked to see others learn.”

Edward’s move to the United States revealed to him his passion for learning. “I wanted to push myself outside my comfort zone. Whitefield was a great place to foster that passion,” explains Edward.

Reflecting on Edward’s passion for learning, Woods recalls “what made him a special student was that he was really curious. It wasn’t all about the grade. The grades resulted from his ability and hard work but also from him being curious and passionate about learning.”

Seeing Edward’s abilities and eagerness, Whitefield’s faculty were determined to foster his quest. Upper School teacher Christopher McDonald’s wakeup call most mornings in his AP Chemistry class was Edward’s hearty greeting, “Hey, Mr. McDonald!”

“Even before my coffee had kicked in, Edward was ready to engage,” says McDonald. “This was one of his defining traits—he was all in. In his classroom work, he was disciplined and meticulous. He asked questions that pushed our thinking a little deeper and made topics a little clearer.”

While Edward spoke and understood English, he was less confident writing it. He found supportive teachers. “I went to office hours multiple times to look over my essays. They were kind and gave me great advice.”

It wasn’t unusual for Edward to try new things. When chosen by his classmates to represent them in the Poetry Out Loud competition, Edward saw it as a way to gain confidence in public speaking.

Steve Hellier taught Edward’s AP Calculus BC class, which is similar to first-year college calculus. Edward started at Whitefield in the normal advanced trackGeometry as a freshman, Algebra 2 as a sophomore, Precalculus as a junior, and Calculus as a senior. When Edward was taking Algebra 2 as a sophomore, his teacher told Hellier that Edward was way beyond all the other students.

“What was unique about him was that Edward didn’t promote it,” says Hellier. “He just had a much better understanding and was just going through the class, solving problems. So instead of making him take Precalculus, we put him into Calculus BC, normally a senior subject, his junior year. He skipped an entire required class.”

“There were two things about that,” says Hellier. “He didn’t try to force it. He was just doing what he was being asked to do, but his understanding and his desire to learn were so evident that it was just clear we needed to advance him faster than all the other students at the school. He took an online Multivariable Calculus class through Stanford University his senior year, making him one of the few Whitefield students who had Multivariable Calculus in high school.”

Edward’s ability to think through problems critically was the best Hellier had seen in his 27 plus years of teaching. “To be honest, I really couldn’t challenge him. I wish I could say I could. He was such a brilliant young man. But his greatest feature is his character. He’s such a humble, friendly, honest, all-around quality young man. He made good decisions about his life.”

Whitefield had numerous activities that aligned with Edward’s passion for math and science. He applied what he learned in class to projects on the Robotics Team, where he discovered he also enjoyed collaborating with others. “From this, I knew that I wanted to become an engineer,” says Edward.

Like thousands of students worldwide in 2020, Edward was disappointed that he did not get to participate in the fun and activities normally associated with senior year and graduation ceremonies. He did however graduate and return to Korea, where he began online classes with Georgia Tech.

His original plan had been to go into the military after his freshman year in college. Instead, he used his COVID-induced return to Korea to fulfill his military obligation. “It was the best decision to go into the military. I was there during the peak of COVID, and by the time I was discharged, things were back to normal.”

In typical Edward style, he viewed his 18 months of military service as a learning experience. Following five weeks of basic training, he was stationed at a General Outpost in Gangwon province, where his main duty was monitoring high-tech cameras for any abnormalities along the fence on the southern part of the DMZ.

“I take pride in myself for defending against our nation’s biggest enemy, North Korea,” says Edward.

The hardest part for Edward was being isolated with the same 80 people. “I am an extrovert who likes meeting people, so I missed the busy city life,” says Edward. “However, I made life-long friendships. We were close because we relied on each other for emotional support.”

Using his days of military leave at the end of his active duty, Edward took more online courses from Georgia Tech before returning to Atlanta to begin classes in person. He was drawn to Georgia Tech by the strong academics, where he is studying mechanical engineering.

“My plan after college is to get a job at Boeing or an aerospace industry. Korea launched a homegrown space rocket last year. I want to be part of that space program and continue to strengthen Korea’s space power,” says Edward. “I love both the US and Korea, and trust in the Lord that He will guide me in that decision.”

Edward is passionate about playing and watching sports. He played baseball and tennis as well as served as manager of the basketball team while at Whitefield. He loves watching football and baseball, and while in the military, avidly followed the Atlanta Braves during the World Series. “Watching sports is my way of relieving stress.”

“Edward had a full Whitefield experience - athletics, arts, student life, and academics,” says Woods. “He was invested in maturing in his faith as well. He was a great mission fit.”

Edward is proud of what he was able to accomplish during his four years at Whitefield. “Entering Whitefield, I was nervous and not confident I would succeed. I worked super hard to achieve my goals and get into the college I wanted. Whitefield was a steppingstone for me to become a strong Christian and a hard worker.”

The Lemasters family’s journey to GXG

by Jonathan McClellan

hen their father Craig Lemasters took over as CEO of the Atlanta-based consulting firm, GXG, in 2016, his four children never dreamed they would one day be working for their dad.

At the time, Steven Lemasters (‘13), the oldest of the four children, was studying Mechanical Engineering at Vanderbilt University. David (‘14) was in his sophomore year at the University of Michigan pursuing a degree in International Studies, while his twin sister, Kerry Anna, (‘14), was at Pepperdine University pursuing a degree in Integrated Marketing Communications. Last, but not least, Corrie (‘21) the youngest of the siblings, was gearing up for a season chasing her tennis and academic dreams at Smith Sterns Academy in Hilton Head Island, SC. Corrie later returned to graduate from Whitefield.

While each would share the common ground of being Whitefield Academy alumni, it appeared they were destined to be miles away from each other as they each pursued their individual callings.

Fast forward six years to the present day and all four children are GXG employees. Steven and David work in the GXG “core” management consulting business helping get their corporate clients unstuck on hard strategic and operational business challenges. Kerry Anna is the founder of a burgeoning cookie gifting startup called Tower Treats, which is one of the portfolio companies of GXG Ventures. Corrie harnesses the chaos across all of the Lemasters family businesses as Chief of Staff.

It’s a unique situation to have four siblings working for their father. Perhaps more intriguing though is the way it came about: naturally, without coercion or the need to fulfill expectations. As each sibling shared their story, one thing became clear – working for dad is a blessing and working for GXG a grace gift.

“I joined GXG in 2019 after a few years at Deloitte Consulting,” said Steven. “The career path there is very linear and I wanted to help architect the growth of a smaller firm. At the time I had no idea that dream could be fulfilled working side-by-side with my favorite people, but here we are! I’m certain God is using our family enterprise in ways we can’t even yet imagine.”

Kerry Anna joined the following year, after three years at global PR firm, Weber Shandwick, in their New York office. She joined for similar reasons, with an added layer of entrepreneurial desire. “I remember being told all the time that I cared too much,” said Kerry Anna. “I want to do something I care about with people I care about. GXG also gave me the incredible opportunity to start a company at 24 years old!”

After a season of seminary, David left his position managing a 14-person team at Accenture focused on cloud computing sales after being captivated by the transformational aspect of GXG’s business model. “Being actively involved in a business as they transform and go from one place to another is a passion of mine and something I didn’t want to pass up. I absolutely love helping businesses get unstuck.”

“I just wanted to get in on the action,” joked Corrie who is the youngest sibling and last to join GXG in the early part of 2022. Still navigating her life after collegiate tennis, an opportunity to interface with senior executives and get a glimpse under the hood of a real business seemed like an invaluable opportunity while she charts the course for her future.

Maybe that’s one of the most beautiful aspects of their story. Each of the Lemasters works for GXG because they want to. No doubt each had other options, each accomplished in their young careers. But one gets the sense God was nudging their hearts to something different, and Whitefield was there playing a small but influential role in the story.

“Whitefield was where I realized that faith in Christ doesn’t mean compromising on excellence. They go hand in hand,” said Steven. “The school encourages both. I will never forget Steve Hellier being one of the first people to open my eyes to the possibility that God could use me for something big. He believed in me when I didn’t believe in myself.”

Kerry Anna echoed the sentiment. “Mrs. Gilbert, my guidance counselor and basketball coach, gave me the confidence to apply to my dream school, Pepperdine, which I thought was way out of reach. I’ll never forget how encouraging she was to pursue my dreams without fear or hesitation.”

“I think my passion for transformation in business can be traced back to the transformation I experienced in my life and saw in the lives of others during my time at Whitefield. They are without a doubt connected,” says David. “I definitely appreciate our ‘others first’ approach to business here at GXG as it directly connects with Whitefield’s mission of putting others ahead of self.” Corrie gives a big smile. “Whitefield was instrumental in laying the foundation of my faith. I can look back and see the things I learned during my time at Whitefield really shaped the way I now see my faith. I learned the importance of leaning in. Engaging. It’s all worth it.”

The love each of the siblings have for one another is evident and perhaps the most beautiful aspect of this story. They may not see it, but it’s there ... the Gospel on full display. Their love is a tangible expression of Paul’s words to the Thessalonians to “encourage one another and build each other up.”

Maybe the siblings didn’t have plans of working directly with each other, but their heavenly Father in His infinite wisdom knew better. The story of the Lemasters’ family enterprise is an unfinished tale already ripe with Kingdom-sized lessons, perhaps the most powerful being that none of us should ever underestimate our Creator’s ability to guide our lives toward meaning and purpose. His plans are often a mystery to us, and the path is winding, but He does have a plan. These four siblings certainly buy that. Ask them what the future holds for their firm and you’ll see some sly smiles while the eldest brother speaks on their behalf, “Stay tuned. It just gets better from here.”