Around AIS
including ours now as parents. Lana comes home wanting to know how to translate everything into French and German and plays make-believe games by going on a plane to India and China, meanwhile understanding why we have to pick up trash on the beach when people around us are not being principled! I have fond memories of AIS as a student, and as a teacher here, I enjoy striving to help open up the world around us for our students. But, I never could have imagined how much my own child could benefit from this warm place!” McDaniel, a teacher and coach at AIS, and husband Mark hope that younger son Mateo will be joining his sister at AIS in the coming years. Lana was not the only child of an alum in the inaugural ELC group this past fall. Asher Hawkins, son of Trace ’93 and Emily, joined Lana in the 3K Spanish track. And, Antonella Pervanas, daughter of Chiara Visconti di Modrone-Pervanas ’95, was in the first group of 3K students in the French track. Chiara and her husband, Angelos, moved with Antonella and younger daughter Verde back to Atlanta from Italy last summer. “Many years later, to be back at AIS as a parent is both a surreal and amazing experience. Although the school has changed significantly, the feel of the place as a nurturing and dynamic community is as present as ever,” says Visconti-Pervanas. “I am proud that my daughter has started
her scholastic life at the ELC, especially since it was founded on the vision of Mr. Horsley, a man who was also a very present and influential part of my academic life. I always marvel at how things seem to come full circle in our lives, and nothing is more telling of this then having Antonella happily thriving at AIS today!” Modrone-Pervanas is newly appointed to the AIS Board of Trustees as the alumni representative, a role that Trace Hawkins held for many years. Lana, Asher and Antonella were actually preceded as the first alum child at AIS by Patrick Parker, son of Martina Streidinger Parker ’94 and Mason Parker, who started at AIS as a 4K student in the German Trace Hawkins ‘93 and Asher Hawkins ‘27 track in the fall of 2011. “I think it’s wonderful that alums are now sending their children to AIS,” says Sandy Ferko, head of counseling. “It’s a real testimony to their teachers and the experiences they had at AIS as students. I hope someday my own grandchildren will come to AIS!” 7