The Podium, Magazine of Sayre School, Winter 2017

THE PODIUM

Magazine of Sayre School Winter 2017

The Art of Learning

A Message from Stephen Manella Head of School Greetings from Old Sayre!

What does it take to create something that’s never before been imagined? What does it take to inspire someone to strive for a goal or solve a problem? There is an art to this level of achievement and this issue of The Podium is dedicated to the artful manner that our students and alumni engage with their world.

The Art of Learning at Sayre is predicated on the value of experience through active participation, whether in the classroom, on stage, on the court, out in the community, or in a foreign land. It is through active engagement that our students learn, reflect and grow.

That engagement takes many forms - from being mentored by peers through our Buddies, Kids to Kids, and Future Spartans programs to being mentored by our alumni through our Don Jacobs, Sr. Seminars. The art of learning and the art of mentoring are intertwined.

Experience broadens one’s perspective and in the past year our students have benefitted by faculty-led, international trips to Spain and the Dominican Republic.

Perhaps there is no greater creative perspective than that of an artist. We are thrilled to feature three young alumni, all in their twenties, making their living through the creation of art.

The final article in The Podium is all about the future. This past September, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the construction of a new Lower School that is scheduled to begin this April. I am excited to share with you the art of our Lower School design and how it will impact our entire community.

Art is everywhere at Sayre, and it’s not just hanging on our walls!

Go Spartans!

The Podium is a magazine published by Sayre School. Contributors include: Linda Barnes ’75, Brad Becker, Amy Berryman, Julie Dunn, Cindy Eason, Rob Goodman ’89, Jennifer Hurst, Leslie Isaacs ’69, Susan Keegan, Dawn Klus, Richard Little, Bo List, Stephen Manella, Barb Milosch, Jason Nahra ’96, Michele O'Rourke, Timothy O’Rourke, Annie Papero, Kristin Seymour, and Woody Snowden.

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2016-2017 Sayre Facts

Students and Faculty 544 Students preschool through 12th grade 15 Average class size 7:1 Student-to-teacher ratio 66% Faculty holding advanced degrees 20% Students from diverse racial backgrounds 15 Central Kentucky counties represented 24% Students receive need-based tuition assistance totaling $1.2 million 36% Upper School students earned KHSAA Academic All-State Honors (cumulative GPA of 3.75 or higher) 2016 Advanced Placement Highlights 85% Seniors who took an AP class earned a score of 3 or higher 60% Seniors who took AP classes designated as AP Scholars; 13 AP Scholars with Distinction;

100% 77%

76%

2 National AP Scholars Students taking AP Biology, AP Spanish and AP French exams earned scores of 3 or higher Students taking AP Calculus BC, AP Physics, AP Statistics, AP English Literature, and AP US Government exams earned scores of 3 or higher Students earned AP scores of 3 or higher (47% higher than the Kentucky average)

Class of 2016 Results 67 Seniors enrolled in 43 different colleges in 25 different states, the District of Columbia and England 100% College placement 80% Seniors received merit scholarships totaling over $6 million $91,000 Average scholarship per student 4 Seniors participate in intercollegiate athletics, one at the Division I Level 48% Seniors scored 28 or above on the ACT; over 25% of the class scored 30 or above Legacies Over the past 162 years, students have followed in their parents’ footsteps graduating from Sayre. Among those in the Class of 2016 were Clay Barnett, Robert Dean, Wilson Miller, and Joseph Murphy. Alumni pictured left to right are Melissa Houston ’88 and David Dean ’88 with Robert, Gay Nuckols Barnett ’72 with Clay, Lisa Jacobs Miller ’74 with Wilson, and Jacquelin Whitaker ’88 and Joseph Murphy ’87 with Joseph.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Board Welcomes New Members We are pleased to welcome two new members to the Board of Trustees — Cheryl Johnston and Royce Pulliam.

Cheryl Johnston is the owner of CMI Property Management Corporation and has served on the Lower School Parents Advisory Council for the last two years. She is currently a member of the Advancement and Capital Campaign committees, as well as the Board liaison for Sayre Parents Association. She and her husband Ron have two children at Sayre - Jack in fourth grade and Thomas in Kindergarten.

Royce Pulliam and his wife Tomi Anne have been members of the Sayre community for the last three years. Their daughter, Mia, is in the Class of 2017, and they have a younger daughter, Maggie, at The Lexington School.

Royce is the current CEO of One23 Brands and the former CEO of Urban Active Fitness, a company he sold to LA Fitness in 2013. Royce is a member of the Board’s Construction Committee where his expertise as a successful developer will be a tremendous asset as we implement our campus master plan.

Board Awards The Miles Service Award is named in honor of Dorothy Moomaw Miles, Headmistress of Sayre from 1952-1961.

Awards are given to both a current parent and a patron (traditionally a past parent) who have been actively involved in the daily life of the school.

This year’s recipients are Bill Martin and Tom VanMeter, whose support for our lacrosse program spans a decade.

As parents, they were part of the group whose sons started playing lacrosse and competing at the recreational level.

Their support led to the introduction of lacrosse as an official sport in the Middle School in 2005 and the Upper School in 2006. Throughout the years, their support for the program has included the purchasing and donation of sticks to the PE department, allowing the introduction of lacrosse as a PE unit, the purchase of equipment to support youth camps, and most recently, the funding and construction of the rebound wall at the Sayre Athletic Complex to facilitate skill development. We cannot thank Bill and Tom enough for their ongoing commitment to our program!

The McClellan Award is named in honor of Henry McClellan, Sayre’s most distinguished and longest-tenured

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Headmaster who served Sayre from 1870-1904. The recipient of this award is a friend or organization of the school that has made significant contributions in the form of service to the student body. This year’s recipient is Carol Behr.

In 1994, David Youngblood (former Upper School English instructor) approached Carol because he was interested in establishing a writing contest for Upper School students.

Carol, the owner of Kennedy’s Wildcat Den, University of Kentucky’s official bookstore, loved the idea, and the rest is history! She has sponsored the Kennedy Book Awards since 1995 and has been a judge for the awards that are given out in four categories - Fiction, Analytical Essay, Personal Narrative and Poetry. We are so fortunate that Carol has supported quality writing and promoted the development of those skills to teenage writers for over two decades.

The Trustee Award is given to a current or past Trustee of the school who has been singled out by his fellow trustees as a leader in providing insightful guidance and direction to the school through his or her efforts. This year’s designee, Pope McLean, has served two terms (eight years) on the Board

while serving on and leading a wide range of committees from Enrollment, Buildings and Grounds, to Marketing and Advancement, chairing the latter two for several years. Pope’s leadership was instrumental in Sayre’s recent purchase of properties on Constitution and East 2nd Street that have expanded our downtown footprint. Since stepping off the Board, Pope has continued to volunteer his time to the school as a member of our Capital Campaign Committee. Pope and his wife Lisa are the parents of three Sayre students Katharine ’17, Mac ’19 and Shep ’28.

Pope McLean, Carol Behr, Tom VanMeter

Class of 2016 Recognitions Graduation Recognitions In presenting this year’s Headmaster’s Award at graduation, Stephen Manella said: “What does it take to serve one’s community in an exceptional manner? It starts with being a sincere and caring individual with an unwavering dependability.

Stephen Manella, Clay Barnett It requires the qualities that we admire in our most outstanding students - leadership, independent thinking, an openness to new ideas, and an ability to enact positive change. Thinking of others and assisting others in need comes naturally. Is our recipient self-assured while advocating for a cause? Yes, but that self-assuredness never crosses over into grandstanding or the seeking of accolades. It is my honor to present the Headmaster's Award to a gentleman and a scholar, a young man who is humble and whose heart is always in the right place, Clay Barnett.”

After receiving the award and reflecting on his years in the Upper School, Clay Barnett said, “I had many favorite teachers at Sayre; every single teacher is devoted to their subject and the well-being of their students. Personally, the teacher who had the most impact on me was Ms. Toni Bishop. It was through her freshmen history class, the global studies program and desk side chats that I was allowed to pursue interests such as The Work of Days, or Trade in Brazil that both inspired me and provided a sense of accomplishment in the pursuit of knowledge. History is a gateway to many social sciences, and Ms. Bishop encourages her students to be comprehensive and to re-think our preconceived thoughts of the past and future.”

The 2016 recipient of the Optima Award has been a force academically, athletically and as a school leader. A member of the Honor Council, co-founder of the Justice League in ninth

grade, winner of a Faculty Award, and a student body officer for two years, this young man is also an AP Scholar, and an Academic All-State recipient.

He has worked in a Chemistry lab at UK, and traveled to Dominica for environmental research. He is also an Stephen Manella, Rollie Mills accomplished athlete. As a four-year swimmer, he has been a regional finalist all four years, a state qualifier for four straight years, and holds two school records.

The 2016 Optima Award recipient is Rollie Mills.

While reflecting on his Upper School experience, Rollie said, “My education at Sayre has been an extremely fruitful experience and, if I could go back in time, I would not change one part of it. In a metaphorical sense, it did not open doors for me, but instead gave me the means and abilities to do so myself. Without a doubt, I believe that the schooling I have received from the Sayre faculty is the reason that I have been able to adapt so quickly and successfully to my collegiate life in UK’s Honors program.”

Asked about a favorite teacher, Rollie started by saying, “Well, choosing my favorite teacher at Sayre is equivalent to asking me to explain quantum physics. And for the record, I haven’t taken physics yet. But if I absolutely had to choose one Sayre teacher, I would have to say Mrs. Amy Dunn. Her teaching skills were superb, balancing out tough lessons with relaxing, yet useful games, like Calculus Bingo. Mrs. Dunn also emphasized to us students the need for balance in our lives (as did so many of my other teachers). Before a big test, she would say, ‘Don’t just study for countless hours, go for a run, get a good amount of sleep and eat a hearty breakfast, too!’ All good advice that I am still following!”

Diplomas of Distinction Distinction in Global Studies

Distinction in Sustainability

Sayre’s Global Studies Program encourages students to pursue their interest in world cultures and international relations by engaging in diverse academic, social, and cultural opportunities.

We challenge students to acquire a global perspective while developing their intellectual curiosity, critical thinking skills, proficiency in world languages, and ability to grapple meaningfully with international issues – cultural, historical, political, and ecological. Ultimately, we hope to inspire students to be responsive to the challenges and benefits of living in an interconnected world.

2016 recipients: Clay Barnett and Brigid Pittman.

Sayre’s Distinction in Sustainability provides a framework for students to gain an understanding of economic, social and environmental responsibility on a regional, national and global scale, and demonstrate that knowledge through practical means by getting involved in school and community organizations or through academic research. Course work and community involvement will integrate critical thinking and appropriate scientific techniques while providing opportunities to conduct research and implement projects that advance sustainability on campus and in the local community. Students involved in this program will demonstrate leadership in these principles in both our school and larger community.

2016 recipient: Preston Sabharwal 194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Meet Richard Little In July, Richard Little joined the Sayre community as our Director of Athletics. Rich brings over twenty years of experience working in independent schools such as the Millbrook School, Virginia Episcopal School and the Wakefield School, serving as Director of Athletics at the latter. From 2012 until moving to Sayre, he was the Athletic Director at the Grymes Memorial School in Orange, Virginia, where he also taught physical education. At Grymes, he was also the Head Coach of Boys’ Soccer and Lacrosse.

Rich earned his B.A. in History from West Virginia University and an M.Ed. in Social Foundations of Education from the University of Virginia. In addition, he completed the Independent School Leadership Fellowship Program at Vanderbilt University in 2015. Rich brings to Sayre a wealth of knowledge of athletics and program development along with a deep appreciation for independent schools and the value of the student-athlete.

An Interview with Richard You have extensive experience working for independent schools. What attracted you to this position at Sayre?

Sayre has a national reputation for academic success and is highly regarded by peer schools within the National Association of Independent Schools community. I was also impressed that Sayre has a clear strategic plan to educate 21st century students. The parents and students I met during the interview process spoke eloquently about their desire to compete at the highest level in Middle and Upper School athletics. The focus and drive to build state-of-the-art facilities, hire the best coaches possible and compete at the state level was clear. Sayre athletics is very important to the experience of our students, and their passion for being a Spartan was infectious.

What are the hallmarks of a dynamic athletic program?

The number one hallmark of a dynamic athletic program is student participation. From elementary to high school, independent day schools that value athletics develop wellrounded and confident students. Sayre provides excellent facilities, talented and "student-first coaches," and a competitive playing experience that is healthy and balanced.

Strong athletic programs mirror the values and philosophy taught within the classroom or on the field of competition. The best athletic programs have high expectations and model good sportsmanship, strong work ethic and humble character.

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Our students range in age from 2 to 18. What will your role look like in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools?

Programs for our youngest students are a priority. Providing programs that introduce younger students to the sports and extracurricular activities that are offered in Middle and Upper School will give them the foundation and essential skills to develop correctly and become more invested as they get older. The Middle School years are vital to the success of Upper School programs in maintaining sustainable numbers and creating student athletes who will be ready to step on the court or field, or into the pool to compete at their highest level. At the Upper School level, the goal is to have the students physically and mentally ready to compete at the highest level, while managing a healthy academic course load. The best programs teach students to be resilient, focus on team-first attitudes and value a strong work ethic. With these core values, the sky is the limit. At this level, coaches need to help and guide students, as needed, to help them excel and be an integral part of each program. Being a member of a sports team is an honor and privilege. Representing one’s school through athletics demands a high level of commitment and attention to detail. Student-athletes thrive at Sayre because they are given a high degree of athletic instruction and preparation that aligns well with classroom expectations.

The athletic department's goal is to promote healthy physical activity to all students. I'm excited to be involved in providing a dynamic and broad athletic program in each division.

What are the qualities or characteristics of a highly effective coach?

The best coaches are those who communicate well and are able to convey to their players what's expected of them. They also have consistency in their demeanor and knowledge of their sport. When it comes to building a well-rounded program, good coaches are able to get the most out of each player, reach team goals, and foster a mindset that thinks beyond wins and losses. Teams that have players who come early and stay late tend to have coaches who value hard work and lead by example. Good coaches also know how to build chemistry among the players and mentor student leaders to be individuals who make those around them better.

How would you like Sayre athletics to be viewed both within our community and in Lexington?

My hope is that Sayre will be perceived as the Stanford of Lexington - a school that combines an outstanding athletic experience with a challenging academic program. Students and families that want the best independent school experience will seek admission to Sayre to become members of a rising athletic program that is supported at every level of the school.

Education M.Ed. University of Virginia May, 1999 B.A. West Virginia University May, 1993

Favorite Sports Lacrosse, Football, and Squash

Favorite College Sports Teams University of Virginia Cavaliers West Virginia University Mountaineers

Favorite Pro Teams Pittsburgh Steelers Pittsburgh Penguins Pittsburgh Pirates

Favorite Athlete Walter Payton (Sweetness), Chicago Bears

Coaching Accomplishments Virginia High School Lacrosse Coach of the Year 2010 Winning Virginia State Championships in Varsity Lacrosse 2008 Winning Virginia State Championship in Varsity Football 1998

Favorite Quote Ability is what you're capable of doing.

Motivation determines what you do.

Attitude determines how well you do it. ~ Lou Holtz Next summer, when you look back on your first year at Sayre, what do you hope to have accomplished?

When I look back on my first year, I hope that I will have established strong relationships with my colleagues, the student body, parents, peer schools and the greater community. Building trust and developing strong lines of communication are the foundational qualities of my vision for Sayre athletics. It's my hope that by the summer we will have a fresh level of motivation for even greater accomplishments next year and in the years to come.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Unique Learning Experiences The Sayre Difference While it’s usually hard to put a finger on the culture of a school until you’ve spent some time there, visitors to Sayre get a glimpse of ours from the moment they step out of their cars in the Front Circle - namely, that Sayre seniors applying to colleges share a campus with Preschool children learning to ride trikes. They eat in the same cafeteria, play in the same gym, and read in the same library.

Immediately apparent are the high-fives and hugs exchanged between them as they pass in the Vi Combs Garden or out on the Buttery brickway.

Yes, there are cousins and brothers and sisters and nieces and nephews, true kin, across school divisions who share family histories on this historic campus. But a kindred school spirit is also cultivated by design across divisions in an array of curricular and co-curricular community-building activities. In Sayre’s Kids to Kids program, freshmen through seniors meet with Lower and Middle schoolers to talk about salient life issues: peer pressure and study habits, navigating social media, and learning to lead. In a fall event called Meet the Arts!, students from Lower, Middle, and Upper School present an evening program of music and theater, showcasing the opportunities Sayre provides for students to develop as performing artists.

Jennifer Green, Middle School Music Director, often coordinates cross-divisional activities and performances.

“Young students who actually know their older schoolmates speaking at an assembly want to be student council leaders; when they have shared the stage with them, they dream to be in Spartones.”

Another program which provides Sayre’s young students with Upper School role models and mentors happens on the weekends, and for hundreds of students over more than two decades, this particular activity has proven far more popular than Saturday morning cartoons. The program is called Future Spartans.

For the past twenty-five years of Saturday mornings from November to February, Sayre’s young boys and girls have joined the school’s young men and women in the gym to play basketball together. Ask Upper School students and alums to talk about some of their fondest Sayre memories, and at or near the head of their lists will be Future Spartans.

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The Future Spartans program began in 1991 as an opportunity

for Upper School basketball players to help Lower School students learn how to play the game. The older students were asked to give up their Saturday mornings to coach or officiate Lower School kids playing games in the gym. Future Spartans, now open to grades 1-5, was, for many of our young kids, their first taste of playing in a school basketball program with their classmates.

Upper School Basketball players come early Saturday mornings to set up and be ready when the first athletes arrive.

As coaches, they cheer on and direct their young players from the benches, and as referees they help them understand the rules of the game, often stopping play to teach and clarify.

Juniors Jayden Blanton and Lainie Tew, both accomplished Varsity athletes, have been part of Future Spartans as little kids on teams and as young adults in coaching roles. Each of them could name a particular Upper School student who helped them along and ultimately sparked their dream to play the sport competitively - be on a school team.

“I remember as a third grader getting my parents to bring me to the gym early so I could watch the high schoolers shoot and run around on the court,” said Tew, who has played Girls Varsity for two years.

Blanton, star Varsity point guard, talks about how Cabot Haggin ’11 took him under his wing and taught him how to have fun playing the game. “Future Spartans was where I first imagined becoming a basketball player,” said Blanton.

Cindy Eason, chair of the Physical Education department, has been involved in Future Spartans from its beginning. “The beauty of the program,” she said, “is the relationships formed between the Upper School student coaches and their Lower School teams. It is exciting to see them so familiar with each other on campus, to see Lower School kids come to a Varsity Boys or Girls home basketball game to watch their coaches play.”

Jason Nahra ’96, Community Matters teacher and Middle School Basketball Coach, has also been instrumental in growing Future Spartans. Nahra asserts that the program was not so much designed to develop athletes as it was to build school spirit: “The focus of Future Spartans has always been teaching enjoyment of the game. Come and play with your classmates, learn the fundamentals, win and lose with class.”

Nahra pointed out that many schools host workshops and camps. “Rarely,” Nahra said, “do such basketball programs exist where the actual school coaches and Varsity players

spend quality time with young children, many of whom are just learning to dribble.”

“Some of these camps and leagues become super competitive,” said Nahra. “While we want to create a strong skill-based experience for budding athletes, we are also aware that many of our kids may choose other school activities in their later years.

For those kids, we’ll hope that Future Spartans is great fun, builds their confidence, and fosters positive school spirit.

“The adult staff does not view Future Spartans as an opportunity to identify talent or to start imagining future teams. We aren’t teaching plays and school offenses and defenses. Because the school has an open participation policy, any one of the kids who come out for Future Spartans (along with those who don’t) could end up playing for Sayre in Middle or Upper School. What makes Future Spartans special,” said Nahra, “is that it builds kids’ sense of belonging - it helps them establish relationships and fuels a culture of pride in school sports teams.”

As the Lexington community is learning, it is no accident that Sayre enrolls students from ages 2 to 18. Sayre is a Preschool through Grade 12 school by intention. Common spaces and cross-divisional programming provide younger students with older student mentors and role models over the course of their school careers.

Future Spartans and Meet the Arts! are but two ways we celebrate another kind of diversity at our school - differences which represent an important value of a Sayre education: that

our students are young and old, big and small. Nahra recalls a first grade Future Spartan who stood about knee high to one of his high school coaches. The boy said, “I love coming to this school! ” When Nahra asked him what he especially liked, the boy replied, “I get to see people of all different sizes every day!”

Randy Mills, Director of College Counseling, explained that Future Spartans is memorable not only for the young students who learn the sport, but also for the older ones who coach and teach.

“When writing their college essays, seniors often reference memories of Saturday mornings with their younger schoolmates, of helping children learn to play the sport they enjoy so much,” said Mills.

Megan Maines, a seventh grade basketball player, said that at Future Spartans she played her first actual game, and fell in love with the sport. “The sound of the buzzers and of my coaches and teammates cheering got me so excited my coach couldn’t get me off the court to use my inhaler.”

Maines said that some of her closest friends are kids she played with at Future Spartans. When we asked her whether she might like to help with the program as an Upper Schooler, her face lit up into a big grin. “Upper School girls were my coaches, and they really wanted us to win. But they also taught us to be good sports, and helped us understand that you can play really well and still lose.”

Future Spartans photos courtesy of Candace Sword ’88 194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Year in Review 2015-16 Spartans Make Their Mark Boys' Varsity Soccer In a year that saw much individual and team success, the 2015 soccer team stood out. The team finished with an 11-5-4 record. Among the highlights were winning the 11th Region All A tournament and advancing to the finals of the All A State before finishing as runners-up. The team also finished as runners-up in the District and advanced to the 11th Region post-season tournament.

All District Tournament Team - Alex Mitchell ’17, Will Newton ’17, Robert Dean ’16, Robbie Goodman ’17 All A State Tournament Team - Robert Dean, Willy Martin ’16, Will Newton, Robbie Goodman Photo courtesy of parent Bob Jones All Region Tournament Team - Robbie Goodman, Willy Martin All City Team - Will Newton (first team), Robbie Goodman (second team), Alex Mitchell (honorable mention) All State 2nd Team - Will Newton

Swimming and Diving Sayre’s swimming and diving history is full of outstanding accomplishments - familiar Sayre names like Graves, Ireland, Grunwald, and Hollingsworth appear in our Hall of Fame, as do All-Americans and state champions. 2015-16 was no exception - we had the biggest swimming and diving state team in Sayre history.

By the end of the season Calbi Brewer ’18, Lauren Dunn ’17, Maddie Hils ’16, and Lauren Shepherd ’18 had claimed all three Sayre women’s relay records. Not stopping there, Dunn grabbed another in 100 breaststroke and Shepherd two more in 50 freestyle and 100 butterfly. Shepherd was also named to the 2016 All Region Team.

The Sayre men saw Joseph Murphy ’16 wrap up his Sayre career with three individual school records (50 and 100 freestyle, 100 backstroke). Plus, Will Kimmerer ’16, Alex Mills ’19, Rollie Mills ’16, and Joseph Murphy ’16 swam away with Coach Courtland Leer’s ’04 2003 team record for the 200 freestyle relay.

In diving, team captain Naomi Clayton ’16 made the All Region Team, received All-American consideration, and placed 5th at the state meet, rounding out a stellar, school record-breaking tenure.

Track In the 2016 season three individual track qualifiers competed in the state meet: Brian Craven ’16 in the 100 meter dash, Lucie Cunningham ’16 in the 200 meter dash, and Egan McKinney ’16 in the 800 meter run. The girls’ 4x200 meter relay also qualified for the state meet. Running for the relay team were Lucie Cunningham ’16, Alison Henry ’19, Athena Frasca ’19, and Olivia Frasca ’21.

The track team also set four school records during the season. Brian Craven set two new records in the sprints. At the state meet, Lucie Cunningham broke the 200 meter dash record and the girls’ 4x200 meter relay team set the new school record.

Baseball Sayre baseball’s amazing 2016 run ended with a 4-3 loss to Henry Clay in the 42nd District Tournament.

The baseball team followed up on the success of the 2015 campaign (11th Region semi-finalist) by playing one of the toughest schedules in the state of Kentucky. They competed in the Florida Beach Bash in Ft. Walton, Florida, the McDonald’s Classic in Harrison County, and the Lexington Christian Academy Athletic photos by Phillips Mitchell Invitational. The team won the 11th Region All A Championship and competed in the All A Sectional Championship against Somerset to see who would advance to the All A State tournament. Unfortunately, and Mark Mahan they lost 7-4, but represented Sayre and the 11th Region with class and dignity in difficult circumstances.

The Spartans won the 2016 second annual Sayre Breast Cancer Awareness Tournament and the 2016 Bluegrass Conference Championship. The Spartans finished the 2016 regular season with a record of 22-13. Three baseball players made the Herald Leader First Team All-City honors: Aidan Elias ’16, Michael Flora ’16, and James Dupree ’17.

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Tennis The spring of 2016 was a successful year for both our girls’ and boys’ tennis teams. Our boys’ team had great senior leadership and young talent that helped get us to the Semi-finals of the Regional team competition. Our girls’ team was quite different; young talent got us to the finals of the Regional team competition. Individually, Grace Headley ’18 and Caroline Hager ’19 had a 12-0 regular season record and a 7-1 post season record. They were regional doubles champs, but sadly their season ended in the quarterfinals of the state tournament. Sayre has always had a great girls’ showing at state. Susan Slone ’89 won 3 state high school singles championships in the 80’s and just recently, Madeline Rolph ’15 won state singles in 2013 and was runner-up in 2015.

Science and Math Achievements Researching Parkinson's Disease On Saturday, February 6, 2016, Will Kimmerer ’16 was awarded High School Science Fair Champion at the District Science Fair for his project titled, "Tracking of Parkinson's Disease Progression by Voice Analytics." His research involved creating over 2000 pieces of computer programming code and coordinating with researchers at the University of Kentucky to analyze voice samples from Parkinson's patients.

The questions Will asked and worked on answering are relevant and of interest to the Parkinson's disease community. Will presented the results of his research at the Bluegrass Society for Neuroscience meeting in the spring of 2016 and won an award. He is a co-author on an abstract that was selected as a Hot Topic for the 2016 annual Society for Neuroscience meeting. He is also a co-author on a case report being drafted

by UK researchers Craig van Horne and George Quintero.

Math Contest Winners In the 2016 Cumberland College Math Competition, Hayden Adams ’17 placed second in Pre-Calculus, Payton Grill ’19 placed fifth in Pre-Calculus, Edward Morris ’18 placed fourth in Calculus, and the cooperative group team including Ellie Bernard ’16, Ramzi Hamdalla ’18, Rollie Mills ’16, and Chris Saad ’16 placed third. Ramzi Hamdalla placed first among our school’s participants in the American Scholastics Mathematics Association (ASMA) competition, achieving the highest cumulative score for six math contests taken during the 2015-16 school year.

Science Entrepreneurship

Daniela Zieba Honored for Coding Upper School student Daniela Zieba was selected by the NCWIT (National Center for Women & Information Technology) to receive a Kentucky Affiliate Award for Aspirations in Computing. The award reception was held at the Lexington Convention Center and followed by an award ceremony at Rupp Arena on Friday, April 22, 2016.

A quality unique to Sayre is that our Upper School students regularly have the opportunity to interact with students in the Lower School. In a project-based unit in the spring of 2016, Maggi O'Neill's Principles of Chemistry class made designer polymers as part of their states of matter unit. The students then created a marketing plan, focusing on the unique properties of their polymer, and performed a cost analysis for a scenario in which the polymer would be sold as a toy for profit.

A company name, logo and jingle were also part of the project which was modeled after the toy unit in third grade. Upon completion of their project the chemistry students visited the third grade to present their polymer toys and pitched their ideas to the discriminating audience.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Diversity Initiatives Cultural Competency Training Sayre School has a long standing institutional commitment to promoting diversity and inclusiveness, and has created a number of programs across campus designed to address the challenges inherent in promoting diversity at an independent school. This list is long, including Visiting Voices, the Upper School’s Justice League and Gay/Straight Alliance, the Middle School’s Multi-Cultural Middle Schoolers, and the inter-division Kids to Kids program. In the 2015-16 academic year, all Sayre programs got a closer look and a month's long process of reflection, introspection and brainstorming.

Throughout the year, a number of “stakeholders” gathered for day long workshops that helped identify concerns, goals, and affirmations of things Sayre is doing right. Included were teachers, all three Division Heads, parents, board members, staff, and even some students. The facilitator was Dr. Charles Corprew, an expert in the field - identified for this effort not by Sayre administration, but by one of its recent alumni.

“It was one of those serendipitous moments,” said Tim O’Rourke, Head of the Upper School, of Corprew. “I was talking with my son Phillip – who’s down at Loyola in New Orleans – about ‘How’s your day? How’s school?’ and we started talking about our plan for diversity training.” That’s when the younger O’Rourke (Sayre class of 2012) mentioned one of his professors, and the work he had done at Loyola, as a possible great fit for Sayre. Corprew was contacted, and it didn’t take long to realize that he had the knowledge and insight Sayre needed just as the national dialogue about race, gender, sexuality, and equality was boiling over.

“We live in an environment that presents numerous opportunities for us either to involve ourselves in the dialogue or to ignore the noise,” Corprew stated in his introduction to the stakeholders group. “When we choose to engage, it is pertinent that we illuminate our thoughts, beliefs, and behaviors in a manner that allows others to feel they are respected…as stakeholders, we must ensure we are preparing students to move into spaces where they can feel comfortable with who they are as well as with others who may be different.”

Corprew “got us both to reflect and strategize,” O’Rourke noted. “We can’t do one without the other. Reflecting is fine, but without strategy it isn’t helpful.” One of the strategies is a reconfigured, streamlined Diversity Committee that will maintain the vision of the stakeholders as new initiatives are conceived. Many of them will be brought to life in the Lower School in the forms of new and reimagined programs: “Windows” - an anti-bias program meeting once a month; “Connections” - formerly “Cultural Connections,” meeting during lunch; and “Top Floor Talks” - a regular conversational gathering for social and political conversations that promote kindness and empathy.

“I’m encouraged by the momentum this effort set into motion,” said stakeholder and fourth grade teacher Susan Keegan. “Sayre has come up with great new ideas based on Dr. Corprew’s expertise and the collaborative atmosphere he nurtured.”

Linda Chambers, stakeholder and French teacher/parent agrees, saying that these efforts “build a deeper understanding of how we identify ourselves, how we are perceived in our city and in our region, how we serve our students, families, faculty, and staff in more meaningful and purposeful ways.”

With these efforts and those demonstrated by years of commitment to diversity, Sayre’s search for meaning and purpose through self-improvement has begun an exciting new chapter.

Captivating Artist, Dongfeng Li Dongfeng Li, Sayre's most recent Visiting Voices guest, captivated students and art faculty members during his time at Sayre. Currently an Associate Professor of Art at Morehead State University in Morehead, Kentucky, Dongfeng Li has also held teaching posts at Webster University, Southern Illinois University-Edwardsville and the St. Louis Art Museum. Li is also a sought-after Ming Dynasty art scholar.

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"The children learned so much from him," said Georgia Henkel, Lower School art teacher who hosted Professor Li in her second and fourth grade classes. Dongfeng Li instructed the students in the traditional Chinese ink and watercolor painting style, showing them how to paint birds, fish, and grapes. Ms. Henkel recalled how Mr. Li inspected kids' brushes before a class to determine which ones were in decent shape. "Any brush with stray or bent bristles, or improperly cleaned, wouldn't make the cut. Professor Li did a great job of teaching us all to slow down. Li's introduction to his process was very serious, and the kids were attentive and receptive to that...he showed them many useful and traditional ways to use the brush, to honor it with good care and handling, and also to respect materials by conserving," she said.

Summer Immersion Trip to Seville, Spain Upper School Spanish teachers and students traveled to Madrid and Seville, Spain in June of 2016 for a two week homestay with families. The group toured Bernabeu Soccer Stadium in Madrid, took surfing lessons in Cadiz, and rowed the Guadalquivir River in Seville. A trip is also planned for July 2017; for more information contact Upper School Spanish Teacher Dr. Nance Everts.

Buddies for a Lifetime A three-year old carefully uses her trowel to move the earth and drop in the seeds as her fifth grade partner digs alongside of her, complementing her careful work. In another classroom, second graders wait for their kindergarten host to seat them at a table in the Kindergarten Café - a culminating event for their six week project on restaurants.

Ordering from a kindergarten generated menu, the second graders compliment the quality of the food and table service provided by their five-year old servers. In another classroom, nine-year old and four-year old buddies read stories together chosen by the preschoolers. It must be Buddies’ Friday in the Lower School! Once a month, the Lower School fills with anticipation and excitement as our students come together in multi-age pairings to spend time with their buddies. Each class, three-year old through fifth grade, is paired with another class for the school year to enjoy joint activities and to build relationships that help our school feel like family. Classroom teachers collaborate to plan for these mornings, generating cross-grade connections between faculty as well. The friendships cultivated between our students are long lasting - it isn’t unusual for a student to give a hug to their buddy from several years prior, or to bring a flower for a current or past buddy who has a performance that day. Our Buddies' Friday program is a critical part of how our warm Lower School family is built: one buddy at a time. Through this program, children gain buddies for a year, and friendship skills and confidence for a lifetime.

Middle School Students Qualify for State Recognition by TIP In the 2015-16 school year, 59% of Sayre Middle School’s seventh grade class qualified for Duke’s prestigious Talent Identification Program. In addition, ten members of the group qualified for State Recognition by the TIP program, five qualified for the Center for Summer Studies, and five qualified for the Academy for Summer Studies. Students qualifiying for State Recognition were William Conley, Coby Cummins, Levy Deckard, Allison Kimmerer, Julian Lundy, David Neal, Marissa Nicholson, Jasir Rahman, Claire Thayer, and Donald Woodruff.

Qualifying for the Academy for Summer Studies were William Conley, Coby Cummins, Jackson Grau, Julian Lundy, and Marissa Nicholson. Qualifying for the Center for Summer Studies were Levy Deckard, Allison Kimmerer, Jasir Rahman, Claire Thayer, and Donald Woodruff.

Congratulations are in order for these talented students!

KMEA District Solo and Ensemble Each year, Sayre music students participate in the KMEA (Kentucky Music Educator's Association) Solo and Ensemble Festival. Students prepare an instrumental or vocal piece from a required list and perform for a judge. Using various musical criteria, the performances are scored as follows: I (Superior), II (Excellent), III (Proficient), IV (Novice). Students who perform pieces listed under the difficult category, and receive a I or II, are eligible for the State Solo and Ensemble Festival. Sayre students consistently receive scores of I and II each year. Most recently, Missy Hill '19 scored a I for flute at the district and state levels.

Dongfeng Li visited a number of Anne Allen's Middle School art classes. She was really taken by the artist's attention to detail and especially quality. Students observed this when he ground and diluted a solid block of ink. "He took his time, speaking so thoughtfully to the kids while they watched," said Allen. "Kids had never seen ink prepared for painting in this way, and Li was very focused upon not only the color of the ink, but also the quality of its texture."

Ms. Allen explained that Dongfeng Li had the students painting images of fish from an aerial view, using Chinese brushes with long bristles and a rice paper surface. "Again, he really helped the students understand how technique - the grip and particular pressure applied with a brush - helped direct the quality of the shape they laid down on their paper."

“Li immersed himself in the school,” said Bill Berryman, Upper School art instructor. “He ate lunch with students and developed a great rapport. Kids, in turn, were really open to the instruction he offered.”

Dongfeng Li has artworks displayed at various public and private galleries, including a permanent collection at the Mobile Museum of Art in Mobile, Alabama. Sayre student works completed under Li's supervision are on display in Old Sayre.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Sayre Farm Trees In the fall of 2016, Kindergarten students, aided by student volunteers from the Upper School Green Council, planted the first seedlings for a native tree nursery at the Sayre Farm.

Thirty saplings of six different species native to Kentucky are now established. More recently, we planted 100 apple trees, likely to fruit within the next four years.

“This year, many of our apple trees already flowered,” said Dr. Klus, who sees endless connections to be made between the Sayre Farm tree projects and the science curriculum. “We are exploring opportunities to do more scientific work at the farm, such as wildflower planting and allowing certain areas to remain unmowed to encourage and study wildlife habitats.

Something else we’re excited about is a water regulation project, drawing from storm drainage that is routed from our parking lots and upper fields down the hill to the farm area. The piped waterflow from these sources has created a gulley on the hill, and we are planning to contour that land for a rain garden, a new ecosystem where water-loving plants and animals can thrive.” Dr. Klus continued, “I think a good addition to the farm would be a large shelter where classes could have lunch, go out and do their work, and then return for discussion - I can think of a thousand ways the school could use a space like that.”

Superior Middle School Chorus For the past several years the Middle School Chorus members have participated in the Music in the Parks Festival. This adjudicated festival is held in Cincinnati, Ohio. Schools from several states throughout the Midwest come to compete. The students sing for a panel of judges in the morning, and then enjoy the remainder of the day at Kings Island Amusement Park. At the end of the day, they attend an awards ceremony in the park. In May 2016, Sayre's Middle School chorus received a Superior Rating as well as First Place in their division, Middle School mixed chorus. Way to go, Middle School Chorus members!

Alumnus Returns to Sayre to Speak to the Senior Class Aaron Lee returned to Lexington in the spring of 2016 and delighted a group of students and their parents at Sayre School where he was invited to speak for the annual Senior Breakfast.

Lee, a producer of Fox TV’s Family Guy, graduated from Sayre in 1988.

The Lexington native has been a television writer and producer for the past 15 years. He’s served as the Head Writer for the Comedy Central Roast series and as a writer-producer for The Cleveland Show and The New Normal.

He’s also done stand-up comedy and appeared as an actor in shows such as According to Jim.

Family Guy has been nominated for 12

Primetime Emmy Awards and 11 Annie Awards, and has won three of each. In 2009, the program was nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Comedy Series, the first time an animated series was nominated for the award since The Flintstones in 1961. Lee has fond recollections of Sayre, and credits his teachers there for the way they supported him and and urged him to express what he called his unique view of the world.

He likes to recall an assignment he had for his English class when they were reading Waiting for Godot, by Samuel Beckett: “We were asked to write about it, and I decided to imagine Samuel Beckett as a sit-com writer. I turned in a script for an episode of Gilligan’s Island as Samuel Beckett would have written it...to my amazement, my teacher not only liked it but gave me an A for it.”

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Lee offered numerous stories about how Sayre teachers allowed him to demonstrate his understanding of topics in unconventional ways. He remembered how amazed he was when the school let him borrow video cameras to create a short film about a cartoon dog who took over Cleveland.

“In Upper School, I actually had teachers who were interested in how I wanted to show them what I understood. At Sayre, I was given the opportunity to explore lots of interests,” said Lee. It was at Sayre that he discovered his knack both for performance and for satire and parody. Lee not only acted in several theater productions, but he also became known for what one faculty member called, the “always funny but occasionally irreverent and unmannerly monologues” he would do at Upper School assemblies. Lee allowed that more than once a faculty member or two had to school him through some important lessons regarding propriety and discretion, and alluded to this in the opening remarks of his talk to the Sayre seniors. “It’s a very unusual feeling for me to be at Sayre School and not be in trouble for something - to have not a single teacher mad Aaron with his classmates, left to right: at me...that I know of.”

Marti (Fee) Quintero, David and Melissa (Houston) Dean, Aaron Lee, Jacquelin (Whitaker) and Joseph Murphy

Geography Bee The National Geographic School Bee is a contest in which Sayre has competed for about two decades. This contest is conducted in schools across the United States. Initially, students compete in their social studies classroom against the other members of their class. Ultimately, a classroom winner will be declared and all classroom winners then go on to complete in a school-wide bee. Ten finalists compete against one another to win the honor of being school champion. Typically, at Sayre, the school champion winds up being an eighth grader, but we have had a few seventh grade winners, as we did in 2016, when seventh grader Levy Deckard won the school-wide bee. After the school-wide bee, the winner takes a written geography test which is prepared by National Geographic. Based on their scores on that written test, students may qualify to compete in the State Bee. Sayre has never had a school-wide winner who did not qualify for the state contest. The state bee is typically held at the end of March at Western Kentucky University. There, about 100 school-wide winners from across Kentucky gather to compete for a chance to go to the National Bee. At the state contest, students are divided into five groups of about 20 students each. During the contest, students answer eight questions orally. At the end of the round, the ten students with the best results in the preliminary round go on to the final round of ten. From those final ten, a state champion emerges.

If a student wins the state bee, he/she qualifies to compete in the national bee, which is held in May in Washington, D.C. About 55 finalists compete, one from each state as well as a few representing US possessions or the military. These finalists compete over two days to determine the National Bee champion. Sayre has had one state champion in the past two decades - Solly Mayer who went to the National Bee in 2007, his eighth grade year, and made it through to the final ten.

Court's in Session!

The third grade conducted an extensive project about the city of Lexington in the spring of 2016. As a follow-up to one of the essential questions posed during the Lexington Project, “What services does our community need in order to run safely and smoothly?” the teachers decided to implement Court’s In Session with the children.

This program was designed to educate and enlighten upper elementary students about the workings of the criminal justice system through participation in a mock trial. Program goals include promoting the positive aspects of the system, as well as acquainting children with the results of committing a crime.

Divided into several sessions that occurred roughly over a three-week period, students were given two age-appropriate scenarios to research. They began by discussing the three branches of government as outlined in the United States Constitution, and then focused on the judicial branch. An overview of the structure of the courts followed, with attention given to the distinction between criminal and civil law. Then various concepts inherent in criminal proceedings were

discussed: for example, felonies and misdemeanors, courtroom personnel, order of trial, and opening and closing statements.

The children were then assigned roles in a mock felony trial.

These roles included a judge, prosecutors, defense attorneys, a defendant, a bailiff, and witnesses. Work continued in the classroom as the students prepared for trial. The attorneys wrote either an opening or closing statement, and the witnesses learned their roles in detail, practicing direct examination questions with their attorney, as well as trying to anticipate what the opposing attorney might ask during crossexamination. Judges and bailiffs learned about the importance of their jobs, rehearsing their lines to be said during trial.

The final session was actually held in a courtroom at Fayette Circuit Court, where both cases were presented. The students who were not directly involved in each trial acted as the jury. After cases and evidence were presented, jurors met to deliberate, and a verdict was rendered. It was exciting to hold the culminating event in a real court of law!

Photos courtesy of parent and Board of Trustee member Justin Yandell 194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Fourth Graders Open an Interactive Museum In the spring of 2016, fourth graders embarked on an in-depth project, spanning two months of study, examining slavery and the Underground Railroad. Students began their project by reflecting on what they already knew about these topics and what they hoped to learn. Children read informational texts, took notes and shared findings through small and whole class group discussions. They conducted field work by taking several trips and hosting experts on campus who could support their research. These experiences encompassed everything from visiting the National Freedom Center to listening to guest experts. Yvonne Giles, a local historian and expert on the Underground Railroad, and La’Shell Williams, who taught children about spirituals and the importance of music during that time, visited the fourth grade classroom. Students learned from local historical markers downtown as well. Depending upon their research questions, some students visited the Upper School to seek out teacher experts for some of their personal choice projects.

Students were immersed in their learning and used many picture books for fact gathering, as well as websites in computer class. Children followed slaves and their paths to freedom as part of an online interactive activity which allowed them to choose their own path to freedom. In art, students created charcoal portraits based on the theme, "Faces of Freedom," along with an enormous mural of the Underground Railroad through the seasons.

From all of their findings, fourth graders further explored topics of interest for extended research and created a four-paragraph informational piece of writing. Student created projects focused on helpers of the Underground Railroad, abolitionists, safe houses, quilts, music, everyday life, and survival on the trail to freedom. They also explored multiple novels about Harriet Tubman, a national hero of that time. The overarching theme was the journey to “home,” and what is home?

As a culminating activity to the project on slavery and the Underground Railroad, the fourth graders opened up their very own interactive museum. The museum included a self-guided audio tour using QR codes. Each student created a project based on his/her interest, with a QR code attached to it. This QR code was linked to an audio recording of the student narrating their museum exhibit. Children also sang and performed spirituals in small groups which were videotaped, linked to a QR code and exhibited as a part of the museum. Art, science, computer, music, and library were all integrated into this area of study. Science was integrated into the project through individual circuit boards students made for visitors to learn necessary vocabulary of that time. When visitors to the museum placed the metal clip onto the correct definition of the vocabulary word, a light bulb would glow! The museum opened with a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and museum visitors, including all Lower School students, parents, and students from the Middle and Upper Schools, explored the museum with iPads and cell phones which narrated the displays. Student pride was high as the museum was entirely student created, including the display and set up!

Delia Pergande at the Brown University Leadership Institute: Global Refugees: Human Rights, Responsibilities, and Responses In the summer of 2016, Delia Pergande, Upper School history teacher, joined more than 20 other high school teachers from around the United States, plus Qatar and Australia, for the Brown Univeristy's Choices Program's annual Summer Leadership Institute. The 2016 institute focused on helping teachers develop the knowledge and skills needed to examine the global refugee crisis and its implications for international relations.

Delia shared her reflections about the summer institute: “It's always invigorating to be around other teachers and share resources, lesson plans and teaching strategies. But we also had

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the opportunity to receive the most up-to-date content on the refugee crisis from scholars, journalists and NGOs - the origins of refugee crises in Syria and Iraq, field reports from refugee camps in Lebanon and Jordan, revisions in "Right to Protect" and humanitarian law, and assessments of the impact of refugee influx on domestic and foreign policies in Europe and the United States. Although the content was a little overwhelming and still evolving, I have immediately applied what we learned to my World and US History courses as well as two Global Studies electives on Immigration and Migration and Human Rights and International Responsibilities. I'm also certified now as a Choices Teaching Fellow to conduct professional development outreach on teaching contested international issues with the Choices curriculum. Many thanks to Sayre for sponsoring this opportunity!”

Alumni Give Back to Sayre If you have been on campus lately, one thing you have noticed for sure…there are alumni around every corner!

In early September, the breakfast for the Don Jacobs, Sr. Seminar was held. This seminar series is required for seniors. It presents a curriculum that deals with personal finance and legal and civic responsibilities. Organized around the principles of Earning, Owing, Spending, Investing, Saving, and Giving, the seminars are enhanced by guest speakers from various professions.

One quick look around the room and there were alumni at every table. Those alumni participating in the Don Jacobs, Sr. Seminar as mentors this year are: Jay Atkins ’89, Michael Dawahare ’79, David Dean ’88, Geoffrey Dunn ’93, Michael Dunn ’87, Bush Gess ’06, Mary Ginocchio ’80, Mary Jane Goodman ’09, Clay Green, Allison Hancock Bishop ’10, Megan Christianson Huber ’02, Kav Milward ’98, Joe Palumbo ’94, Griggs Powell ’90, Heather Hacker Reilly ’94, Thomas Richards ’07, Walt Robertson ’97, Michael Russell ’05, Meg Grossman Sutton ’06, and Robbie Turner ’98. How about our alumni contributing to the future of our seniors? Perfectly suited!

I am so happy to be back at Sayre. As corny as it may sound, I truly believe in the ‘Sayre difference.’ I have had the opportunity to be in many different schools throughout Fayette and Madison County, but none compare to what I experienced during my time at Sayre. ~ Ann Eason ’11, Kindergarten Assistant Being a part of the faculty and staff after being a student here gives new meaning to being true blue or gold. Memories can oftentimes flood your mind as you walk across campus. A certain smell, a certain scene, laughter in the air and the memories rush back. We’ve come home, we’ve come home to Sayre. Alumni joining the faculty and staff this year are Libby Clay ’07, Martha Barr ’12, and Ann Eason ’11. Other alumni faculty and staff are Linda Talbott Barnes ’75, Andy Fitch ’85, Rob Goodman ’89, Eve Bates Greathouse ’72, Leslie Parrish Isaacs ’69, Courtland Leer ’04, Jason Nahra ’96, Beth Veal Pittman ’96, Marti Fee Quintero ’88, Sarah Rushing, member of the class of ’80, and Allie Redmon Walling ’11.

I chose to return to Sayre so I could give back a small portion of the outstanding life Sayre gave me! I have spent the better part of 62 years here on campus and I love it. ~ Eve Bates Greathouse ’72, Second Grade Teacher Once you’re a Spartan, you’re always a Spartan. Our coaching staff this year abounds with alumni. That roster includes:

Michael Dunn ’87, Rob Goodman, Jr. ’89, Kathryn Graves ’09, Courtland Leer ’04, Karly Mitchell ’09, Jason Nahra ’96, Jamie Palumbo, member of the class of ’96, Joe Porter ’01, and Annie Rardin ’01.

Sayre athletics is a place to learn so much more than just how to play a sport, but how to lead, how to compete, and how to overcome any obstacle to be successful. Never quitting and always working hard is vital to Sayre athletics, and something I try to instill in my team every day. ~ Joe Porter ’01, Varsity Boys Soccer Coach The Sayre Farm was established in the summer of 2015.

Joining John Backer ’83 and Courtland Leer ’04 on the Farm committee is Thomas Richards ’07.

I read an article in the Winter 2015 issue of "The Podium" describing the Sayre Farm, and I was struck by how good an idea it was. It is a fantastic use of otherwise unused land, and it can provide countless opportunities for students from Pre-K through Upper School to learn about and physically interact with nature.

~ Thomas Richards ’07

On October 10, 2016, Sayre hosted the annual Thomas A. Grunwald Alumni Golf Scramble at Spring Valley Golf Course.

Teams and/or Hole Sponsors included the following alumni: Carson Asbury ’73, Miller Asbury ’07, Allison Hancock Bishop ’10, Chris Darmand ’94, George Dickson ’94, Rob Goodman ’89, Phillip Hager, member of the class of ’06, Ben Haggin, member of the class of ’84, Walker Hancock ’08, Brentley Jones ’95, Travis Jones ’98, Ted Kessinger ’74, Jamie Lamonica ’90, Chris LeMaster ’00, Greg Leveridge ’98, David Miller ’06, Kav Milward ’98, Brad Nahra ’98, Jason Nahra ’95, Tyler Nahra ’91, Dylan Newton ’10, Joe Palumbo ’94, Hock Parrish ’02, Don Pisacano ’74, Annie Rardin ’01, Donnie Rardin, Sr., member of the class of ’73, Donnie Rardin. Jr. ’98, Heather Hacker Reilly ’94, Thomas Richards ’08, Ward Roberts ’10, Lizy Aulick Robertson ’95, Manny Robertson ’95, Scottie Robertson ’90, Tom Stephens ’94, Barry Stilz ’81, Peyton Tierney ’89, Robbie Turner ’98, and Devin Tweed ’02.

Sayre's Board of Trustees includes fellow alumni John Backer ’83, Ben Haggin, member of the class of ’84, Michael Dawahare ’79, Pope McLean Jr. ’83, James Miller ’85, Jacquelin Whitaker Murphy ’88, Knox Van Nagell Pfister ’97, and Justin Sautter ’91.

And last, but certainly not least, 52 of our current parents are Sayre alumni! We are Spartan strong!

David A. Sayre is an Astronaut Henry Martin ’10, son of Lolly and Bill Martin and brother of Bobby ’08 and Willy ’16, graduated from Davidson College in 2014 with a B.S. in Physics and a minor in Hispanic Studies. Henry currently works as an External Payloads Coordinator at NanoRacks, a commercial aerospace firm providing access to the International Space Station, in their Washington, DC office.

Drawing by Layth Rahman '24

In February of 2016, Sayre students decorated a picture of David A. Sayre in his astronaut space suit to be included in the launch of a cargo capsule to re-supply the International Space Station. The SpaceX CRS-10 is scheduled to launch to the Space Station in 2018. Once Astronaut David A. Sayre returns to Earth, we hope he will join us at school.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Dominican Republic Service An Amazing Summer Adventure Pictures of the Sayre Middle School service trip to the Dominican Republic feature coral and fuchsia-painted houses with bright wrought iron gates in front; hibiscus is planted along the road and draped along fences. Puffy cumulus clouds dot the blue sky as smiling pre-teens pose with the vista of a major city, Santiago, in the background.

It is true that the project to mold, fire, and deliver ceramic water filters to families who do not have access to clean water, opened our eyes to this hardship faced by billions of children and adults around the world. It fostered and deepened our collective appreciation of things we take for granted, and gave us an opportunity to encounter another culture in a close and meaningful way. It provided 65 families with water filters that will work for more than ten years, marking significant improvements in health and wellbeing. This heightened awareness and deepened appreciation, this desire to serve and to do good works, was our initial motivation for going; we wanted to help, and we were committed to serve.

But in fact, it hardly felt as if we were doing “service” at all because of the pure and unadulterated fun we were having.

From the moment seven Sayre Middle School students and four adult chaperones arrived in the Dominican Republic, the trip combined the best of all worlds: international travel with the goal of doing good in the world; a fun and hard-working group with a shared mission of making and distributing water filters; and a warm and welcoming host organization and “family” to show us this new place as only local residents could do. In fact, as often happens when one sets out to “help” others, the ones helped the most were ourselves.

Wine to Water is a non-profit organization

located in Boone, North Carolina, “committed to serving in community to provide clean water to those in need.” For years, Sayre Middle School had sought a service project that would meet the needs of our age group, but many projects are limited to kids thirteen years and older, and we wanted a trip that could encompass our Middle School community. When Chrissy Mesquita, Lower and Middle School Spanish teacher, discovered that Wine to Water offered service projects for Middle School-aged kids in her former home, the Dominican Republic, we knew we had discovered the project for us.

“If you want to get involved and make a difference in the world,

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do this trip,” says seventh grader Harry Clark. Each morning, we woke to a delicious Dominican breakfast – hot coffee or hot chocolate, cereal and milk, fluffy buttery rolls, and ripe local fruit. Fresh mango, papaya, and pineapple completed almost every meal; lunches and dinners featured rich and flavorful chicken with yummy rice and beans. We dined on a third-floor open veranda overlooking trees and agricultural fields with hills in the background; below us was the factory that produces the water filters. Our Sayre Middle School students set up a hammock village where, during down time, they could swing and talk. From this vantage point each afternoon we watched equatorial rain showers followed by a dramatic rainbow.

Our hosts, famed local ceramicist Radhames Carela and his family, have studied and refined the process of filtering water so that, over time, the filters have been improved and now meet the stringent requirements of global organizations that oversee water quality. Filters are made of clay, sawdust, and silver.

Our kids strained sawdust in the factory until it was so fine, and so completely integrated into the clay, that when fired it incinerated, leaving microscopic holes through which water may pass. The clay and silver serve as filtering agents. We drank water filtered this way all week; it had a mellow and delicious flavor.

On our first work day, Radhames, his family, and employees from the factory gave us a tour of the facility and showed us the process of making and firing filters. Kids and adults jumped right in, kneading clay until the ingredients were integrated, placing mounds of clay over molds, working the clay press, sealing the molded filters with water, and removing the molded clay filters and storing them on long wooden racks to dry. We pressed into the clay ID numbers and Wine to Water stamps; those ID numbers would be used for quality control and to track where filters were distributed. If a batch of filters were ever to fail water quality testing, the organization would track down and reclaim those filters. This has never happened.

Over the course of the week, our seven Sayre students – Ashton Bell, Harry Clark, Alexis Henry, Olivia Richardson, Roan Sanders, Claire Peters-Seymour, and Ian Thornberry – shaped, molded, fired, and distributed more than sixty-five water filters. They unloaded the kiln and carefully checked for imperfections. Then they prepared to distribute and teach. When the time came to distribute, we followed Wine to Water’s ingenious process for engaging families and ensuring

their commitment. The two-day process begins with a hygiene lesson. Families bring their school-age and preschool children to the lesson in which water safety is prominently featured.

Kids learn to brush teeth, wash hands, and do other basic hygiene jobs. It is only on day two that families – mothers, mostly – return to learn the procedures for washing and caring for the water filter that will, for the first time, bring safe, clean drinking water to their family. The ongoing commitment to education is part of Wine to Water’s method for engaging community members. They combine fun (bubbles, coloring, and face painting during hygiene lessons) with the serious work of learning to guarantee the health and safety of one’s family for a lifetime.

Asked what she learned from the trip, eighth grader Alexis Henry said, “What I most liked was the diversity. It was fun seeing people and the culture every day – how it differs from our perspective – how we think they live as compared to how they live. For example, in a documentary you might see how people live in the Dominican Republic, but you don’t know how it feels. It’s harder than it looks – working in the factory every day, living without technology, making food entirely from scratch without going to the store. Despite not having as many technological and material goods, the people are very happy with what they do and they have fun – they are not always dreading going to work. They wake up happy, they all know each other personally and help each other rather than hanging out in groups. They play outside. I had a wonderful time.”

For some it may have been the daily raucous games of soccer and Frisbee with a gaggle of kids, or shopping at the enormous La Sirena store for groceries, or the cows walking beside cars on the streets, or perhaps the day at the pristine Caribbean beach with sun and sand and a luxurious boating excursion. But for most of us, the best days of the trip were unloading the kiln, delivering the filters to families and homes, and visiting previous recipients of water filters to ask how the project had changed their lives. One mother blew a kiss: “Te amo. This is the best gift I have received in my life,” she said. Her children’s health problems had receded, and she no longer worried about whether water from the tap was making the babies sick. She could work more, and earn a stable income. She had made a change in the lives of her family, and Wine to Water had helped. In fact, our seven Sayre Middle School students had helped, too. They were just having so much fun that they hardly noticed the work.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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"Art teaches nothing except the Generation X Alumni Making an Impact in the "Real World" with Art as their Muse Sayre’s Head of School Stephen Manella has recently taken inspiration from a quote by Henry Miller: “Art teaches nothing except the significance of life.” The arts have been integral to Sayre since the mid 1960s. Generations of students have excelled in every form imaginable and gone on to incorporate art actively in their lives. The Podium is privileged to profile three Sayre alums, all representing Generation X. The first two, Natalie Baxter ’03 and Beckett Fogg ’06 make their home in New York; the third, Henry Wolf ’14 makes his home just down I-75 in Chattanooga. The Podium is pleased to share excerpts from recent conversations.

Natalie Baxter ’03 Following her graduation from Sayre, Natalie obtained a BA in Fine Arts at the University of the South, Sewanee. While at Sewanee, Natalie completed a semester abroad art history program in Florence, Italy sponsored by Syracuse University. Natalie went on to graduate from the University of Kentucky with a MFA in Digital Media. She currently works as an instructor at the Digital Film Academy and has won acclaim for her recent television documentary produced for CBS – Religion and Culture. Clearly her “day job” involves artistic expression, but that would represent only the tip of the iceberg. As her website states: “Through video, photography and sculpture, her work deals with issues of home and place identity. Her most recent body of work, Warm Gun, applies sewing skills she learned from her Appalachian grandmother to create soft sculpture guns, traditional symbols of masculinity and Americana, that challenge gender norms, gun culture and violence.” (nataliebaxter.com) Did you ever imagine when you were younger that you would be pursuing a career creating art?

I always knew that art would be a part of my life, but I didn’t understand what that would look like at a young age.

Pursuing art as a career is not a path you go down with a clear trajectory. The way I see it is that there are people who have this desire to create, and it’s almost a blessing and a curse because you have to figure out a way to fit it into your life. Sometimes that is through your job, but oftentimes when you make your passion your work, it loses the magic of being your passion. Sometimes it works out where the art you create sells, and that’s great, but also a little tricky because you don’t want the art market to dictate your initial intentions with the work because it’s selling, so it’s tricky, but really, really worth it.

Art was always my favorite activity and my parents recognized that and encouraged it at a very young age. I did a lot of after-school and summer programs at the Living Arts and Science Center and remember attending Clay Days classes after school at Sayre. I was a Studio Art major at The University of the South and went on to get my MFA at the University of Kentucky. It’s all I wanted to do as a child, and actually, it’s still all I want to do today.

What is your earliest memory of being impacted by a work of art?

I’m sure there is something earlier, but I remember coming to New York City when I was a teenager and seeing James Turrell’s Meeting at PS 1, that really expanded my definition of what art could be.

From whence does your inspiration come?

A lot of my work is based on our current political state, so I draw inspiration from the news cycles, from books, films, talk radio, and from conversations with friends and strangers.

How did Sayre nurture you and your creativity?

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When I was in sixth grade, I remember having to meet after school with my Social Studies teacher Ms. Seymour and my mom. I remember feeling like I was in trouble until she suggested that I should draw my notes rather than write them. She recognized that visual art was what excited me and, being a good teacher, knew that students learn best through that which excites them most. I still remember that in sixth grade we were learning about Ancient Greece because I can visualize the detailed Sparta warrior I drew in my notebook. I actually took that lesson through college, my geology notebook looked like a coloring book of rock formations and layers.

significance of life." Henry Miller How did Sayre contribute to your evolution as an artist?

In Upper School at Sayre, we were able to take independent studies which helped me evolve as an artist. I had to write a proposal to take independent study courses (always art classes for me) and then I learned to carry out my ideas with less instruction from a teacher. It helped prepare me for college art courses as well as having the confidence to be able to carry out my own artistic ideas as an adult. The senior year internship program also helped me. I worked at the Heritage Art Center on Short Street and was in charge of putting on a youth art show which taught me a lot about showing, hanging and selling work.

Aaron Lee ’88, a writer/producer of Family Guy returned to Sayre this past spring to share his experience with Middle and Upper School students. Do you ever see yourself doing something similar? What would your advice be?

Sure. My advice would be to pursue what excites you most and what makes you happy. I see a lot of friends who went the route that they thought their parents wanted them to go down or that they thought would make them the most money and they are not as happy as those who pursued their passion.

You have a “day job” which also draws on your creativity, but reflect a bit on what it means to pursue your passion in addition to that which you are paid to do.

In college, I made a lot of work using video and photography, which led me down the documentary film path, which led me to my current job working on a documentary TV show for CBS. Around the time I started working on other people's films and in television, I stopped making my own work in film. I’m sure there are other factors at play, this was also when I moved to New York, so maybe that has something to do with it, but I also think that when you make a passion of yours your work, it loses something, for me at least. Since a lot of my “day job” work is in film, it led me to want to create something that did not involve technology at all, which is one of the reasons I ended up working in fiber arts and creating the work I’ve been doing for the last two years.

The theme for this section of The Podium is a quote by Henry Miller – “Art teaches nothing except the significance of life.” How have you found this to be true?

I like that! It is true that a degree in Studio Art, and even a Masters in Fine Arts does not guarantee a job, but if it’s what you love, it makes for a happy life. I think all of those who have that need or desire to make art figure out a way to make their work life allow for the space needed for art.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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"Art teaches nothing except the Beckett Fogg ’06 Charlottesville and the University of Virginia drew Beckett away from Lexington following her Sayre commencement. Beckett studied architecture at Virginia, which, given Thomas Jefferson’s penchant for the subject, provides some pleasing symmetry. Following her studies, she moved on to the MFA program at the Parsons School of Design in New York. While still a student at Parsons she was featured along with her classmates in the Style section of the New York Times. Since her debut appearance in the newspaper she has been no stranger to its pages. A recent article in the esteemed publication highlighted Beckett and her partner, Piotrek Panscczyk, as among the six new designers debuting their work at Fashion Week. Fashion Unfiltered has highlighted the pair’s new line, Area, in its PYT series, which as the publication states, “introduces today’s exciting up and comers.” The website goes on to call them “design darlings.”

What is your favorite work of art? Why? I think that it’s always changing, but I love the work of Judith Shea right now; her process is a really interesting hybrid of fashion and art.

Does listening to music play a part in your creative process? What do you listen to?

Always! My business partner Piotrek, and the rest of the office really, won’t let me listen to country (he says it all sounds like a commercial, haha) so we listen to stations like Soulection on Soundcloud. R&B has really started to grow on me.

Did you ever imagine when you were younger that you would be pursuing a career creating art?

Yes, I hoped so! I originally studied Architecture in college at UVA, and only switched to fashion during my MFA at Parsons.

What is your earliest memory of being impacted by a work of art?

I think I was really young and became really into the music by Air, which seemed pretty “artistic” to me at the time. I still love them and listen to them today.

Is what you are doing surprising to you, or have you always known you might end up in the Arts?

Fashion was always such an elusive concept to me growing up, I never really assumed or planned to work in the industry, mainly because I didn’t understand how it functioned and where you could break in. However, when I graduated from UVA in 2010 with a degree in Architecture during the height of the recession, fashion became a more realistic career move, and so I moved to New York right after graduation.

From whence does your inspiration come?

We do a lot of old school research at the library, and the FIT fashion library is an amazing resource in New York with editorials and lookbooks going back to the 1800s. However, we also do a lot of research on the internet, Tumblr and Instagram. I think it’s interesting when there is a dialog between the old and new.

How did Sayre nurture you and your creativity?

Sayre offered so many interesting art classes which you don’t typically see at a small school. I remember being exposed to or being allowed to explore so many mediums which was a really important part of my portfolio development.

Aaron Lee ’88, a writer/producer of Family Guy returned to Sayre this past spring to share his experience with Middle and Upper School students. Do you ever see yourself doing something similar? What would your advice be?

I would love to come back at some point. Growing up in Kentucky, it’s hard to comprehend how the fashion industry works, just because we are so removed geographically and culturally from traditional fashion capitals. However, Kentucky actually has a rich history in clothing and textiles, and it would be great to explain to anyone interested in fashion that you don’t need to grow up in New York. It’s more interesting to have a different background in the long run.

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significance of life." Henry Miller Fashion Design: business or art, or both?

I think it’s a creative business, obviously deeply rooted in the art world, but fashion exists as a commercial industry, which I respect.

I enjoy thinking about the business in a creative way.

The theme for this section of The Podium is a quote by Henry Miller – “Art teaches nothing except the significance of life.” How have you found this to be true?

I think the power of Art is in its ability to evoke different responses depending on who experiences it. For me personally, I would agree with this quote.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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"Art teaches nothing except the Henry Wolf ’14 In the words of his beloved high school basketball coach, Rob Goodman ’89, Henry has transitioned from being the “Man of Steel” to the “Artist Who Molds Steel.” Rob continues: “As a player, Henry Wolf was not flashy. He did not average 20+ points, fly around the rim for monstrous dunks, or grab soaring rebounds. All Henry did was control the paint as if he were an armored guard, or better yet, a man of steel. Henry established himself as one of the most reliable post players Sayre has seen. He was not afraid to get his hands dirty.” This certainly bodes well for the young post-player turned artist who now spends his days getting his hands dirty welding pieces of art. The once fierce hardwood competitor has now turned his attention from trying to intimidate opponents to pleasing the eye. Following his graduation from Sayre, Henry apprenticed himself to John Henry, one of the nation’s foremost sculptors of steel.

What is your favorite work of Art? Why? I think my favorite piece would have to be John Henry’s Tatlin’s Sentinel. It’s a somewhat biased opinion because it was my first major installation. The piece stands 104 feet tall and was an absolute bear to put together! Once we were finished assembling and painting the sculpture, it was impossible not to admire how incredible it looked. It is located in downtown Dallas, Texas.

Does listening to music play a part in your creative process? What do you listen to?

I always try to listen to music while I’m working on my pieces or John’s; it makes the time go by faster and is a great distraction when things go wrong. I listen to a bit of everything, but would have to say my favorites are some classic rock and a bit of Motown.

It’s the music with which I grew up. We used to listen to the “Elvis Hour” on Sunday afternoons while I helped my Dad repair something in the house. The right music really helps me get going on a project.

Did you ever imagine when you were younger that you would be pursuing a career creating art?

It never really entered my mind as a child that I would be building art. I always knew that I wanted to do something with my hands and I’ve worked in all manners of construction throughout my life. Working with my father, grandfather and uncle as a child drove my interest in construction, while my mother and Sayre School nurtured my artistic side.

What is your earliest memory of being impacted by a work of art?

On a family vacation to Chicago when I was 5, I saw a piece of sculpture by John Henry. It was right there in front of the Wrigley Building on Michigan Avenue. My parents told me that I was related to the artist. I didn’t give it much thought then, but now it’s pretty cool that I am working alongside that same family artist building sculpture all across the country.

Have you always known that you would pursue a career in the arts, or is what you are doing surprising to you?

It was surprising to me for a while…but looking back on it now I’m not surprised at all. I loved all of my art classes at Sayre and couldn’t wait to get working!

From whence does your inspiration come?

I draw my inspiration from John and other artists I have gotten to know. It has been a great experience to understand these artists’ works and their processes. This has helped me form my own stance. I would also have to say that expanding my fabrication and construction knowledge has been a big help and inspiration. John has told me that it's great to have ideas…and that I should have hundreds of them, but they're just ideas if I can't build them.

How did Sayre nurture you and your creativity?

From my first year at Sayre in seventh grade, my creativity was always encouraged…never stifled. My math class at the time was with Mrs. Blackey and she came up with a fantastic project to teach us about scale and blueprints. We were assigned famous skyscrapers from around the world and were tasked with building scale models. My group was given the Burj Khalifa, the tallest building in the world. I loved the assignment, and I wanted to do it perfectly. My other group members handled the writing, while all I had to do was build the model. It's all I thought about at school…and it turned out pretty well! I had tons of projects like that throughout my six years at Sayre. My teachers let me be creative as a vehicle to understand and present information.

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Although I worked at it, I was never the best student. Consequently, my senior year I didn't take very many classes and only had

significance of life." Henry Miller one class on Wednesdays. Sayre didn't want me to have such a sparse schedule, and let me be creative with a solution. Instead of forcing me to just take another class in which I wouldn’t be interested, they allowed me to find and complete an internship with a local business. For my internship, I worked with Paul's Foreign Auto every Wednesday afternoon. Paul and Sean taught me how to work on many makes of foreign cars, and were the first ones to teach me how to weld. This started me on my path of working with metal. I then took this knowledge straight to Ms. Foley and she allowed me to build larger metal pieces in the classroom. Ms. Foley always welcomed my ideas in the classroom. Even if I had no idea what I was doing, she would help me make it work. Even Steve Guynn let me have spare metal from around the Little Red School House to build art.

So, if this was a yes or no question, I most definitely would have answered YES. Sayre has always nurtured my creativity and pushed me to think outside of the norm.

How did Sayre contribute to your evolution as an artist?

Sayre gave me a very strong foundation toward being an artist. My art classes always pushed my artistic thinking down different paths. Ms. Foley taught me how to step away from a piece and see it from a different perspective, which is an incredibly valuable tool to have as an artist and as a person. The school trips to Toronto and Chicago gave me a great opportunity to see some great art collections and learn the history of varied regions. Part of my history class sophomore year was based around Renaissance art, which tied back into what I was seeing in Toronto. Sayre played a huge part in what and where I am today.

Aaron Lee ’88, a writer/producer of Family Guy returned to Sayre this past spring to share his experience with Middle and Upper School students. Do you ever see yourself doing something similar? What would your advice be?

I would love to come back and talk to students. I would tell students that doing the standard four-year college experience might not be for everyone. I would stress to them that no matter what direction they go, that it’s all about hard work. I’m a good example of what the alternative path after high school can do. I have to credit Sayre for helping me follow a more vocational path.

I would also stress to them the importance of giving back to your community. I’ve had the great pleasure to work for a non-profit organization that is building a sculpture park in downtown Chattanooga. It is privately funded as a cultural destination for Chattanooga and the region. Watching the community embrace and enjoy Sculpture Fields has been incredibly rewarding.

Many members of your family are artistic – your mother, your uncle with whom you are working - how do you assert your independence of artistic expression?

There is so much to learn from both of them. The chances I have to build John’s work really help me think about my own. I think about what I like, dislike, or what I might change about a piece. I do a similar thing with my mom, always trying to learn what she is going to do next.

Having just turned 21, I strive to learn all I can from the artists around me to help form my own artistic expression.

The overall lesson is hard work. I can only be comfortable sitting at the same table if I am bringing the same work ethic as them…and I do that. I have found that the artistic fabrication side isn’t hard; it’s the creative part where I really work to assert myself.

The theme for this section of The Podium is a quote by Henry Miller – “Art teaches nothing except the significance of life.” How have you found this to be true?

Art is a great representation of how far our creativity can reach. When reflecting on the history of art, you see a timeline of people learning from each other. Color, shape, line, space, it all rose from generations of artists before us. The new age of sculptors and painters are inspired by the old to create the new. Art has been around since the beginning of time; all that knowledge is out there waiting to be taken further. It’s exciting to be a part of that.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Alumni Gatherings Golf Scramble 2016 Thirty teams participated in the Thomas A. Grunwald Golf Scramble hosted on Monday, October 10, at Spring Valley Golf Club. The annual event provided alumni, current parents and friends with the chance to enjoy a great day of golf while raising funds to benefit Sayre School. A big thank you to Peyton Tierney ’89, the committee members, and sponsors!

The 2016 Thomas A . Grunwald Golf Scramble Winners: Steve Whitman, Bennett Clark, Becky Whitman, Matt Whitman

Allison Hancock Bishop ’10, Debbie Hancock, Linda Ball, Penny McCarthy

Tom Stevens ’94, George Dickson ’94, Chris Darman ’94, David Norman

Brian Wood, Matt Stockham, Joe Murphy ’88, Kelly Healy III

Robbie Turner ’98, Greg Leveridge ’98, Travis Jones ’98, Brentley Jones ’95

Ann Stilz, Mary Jane Meyer, Lori Wood, Kayla Monohan

Ben Haggin ’84, Stephen Manella, Richard Little, Tim Bator

Meet the Spartans Night 2016 Meet the Spartans was a fun-filled evening that included team introductions, basketball scrimmages, contests, giveaways, relay races, shooting competitions, and a chili supper sponsored by the Sayre Parents Association. We are so proud to have many alumni return to coaching at their alma mater.

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Alumni coaches with their families at the Meet the Spartans Night. Left to right: Robbie Turner ’98 with son Caleb ’25, daughter Abigail ’27, and son Daniel ’28; Jason Nahra ’96 with nephews Grady Johnson ’23 and Graham Johnson ’23; Jay Adkins ’89 with son Trey ’20; Robo Sutherland ’98 with son W.R. ’29 and Charlie Cowles ’29; Rob Goodman ’89 with daughters Emme ’21, Cate ’21 and son Robbie ’17; Michael Dunn ’87 with son Mason ’22; Bradley Nahra ’98 with son Brady ’29; Donnie Rardin ’98 with son Clark ’30; Annie Rardin ’01

Alumni Reunion On October 21, 2016, Sayre celebrated its alumni with anniversary lapel pins given to the Class of 2006 (White Anniversary), Class of 1991 (Blue Anniversary) and the Class of 1966 (Gold Anniversary). For those of you who were unable to come, please know that you were missed.

Jeromy Smith, Lyndy Franklin Smith ’87, Head of School Stephen Manella

Stacy Blair Forester ’06, Cameron Miller ’06, Meghan Brady Fedor ’06

Cathy Hancock Comley ’70, Bruce Isaacs ’70

Chris Darmand ’94, Amy Duncliffe ’94, Andrea Thomas ’91

Helen Parrish Beach ’66, Leslie Parrish Isaacs ’69

Class of ’91 - Michelle Crouch Goodman, Elizabeth McGee Lewis, Justin Sautter, Stephanie Nahra Johnson, Megan Haggerty Guy, Andrea Thomas, Erin Skaff Vandenweghe, Tyler Mainous

I think my fondest Sayre memories are of the friends I made at Sayre. Many of them I see all the time like my husband, Jason whom I met in first grade. Another dear friend, Erica who let me borrow crayons in Mrs. Ryan’s second grade. Katy, a close friend from high school that I don’t see very often, but when we do get together we pick up right where we left off! ~ Beth Veal Pitman ’96, Preschool Teacher

Megan Haggerty Guy ’91, Molly Haggerty Jones ’94

Larry ’76 and Debbie Myers

Darrilyn Jo and Tony Rose ’73

Chase Burgess ’06, Daniel Archer ’06

John Brooks ’05, Francisco DeCamargo ’06

Scottie Robertson ’90, Rob Goodman ’89, John Johnson ’90, George Dickson ’94, Joe Palumbo ’94 194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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Alumni Class Notes ’70 Lillian Webb Parr ’70 shared “All is good on our South Carolina home front. Our youngest graduated from Brown University this May and our oldest popped the big question to his wonderful girlfriend. 2016 has been a great year for us! Here’s a shout out to Lloyd and Alison and everyone else from the class of ’70!”

’75 Sally Wiley McConnell ’75 became a mother-in-law this year. Her daughter Hannah married Eric Lewis on October 8, 2016.

Congratulations!

Gail Knapp Morgan ’75 completed her BSN last spring, and is now working on her MSN/APRN. She continues on the Palliative Inpatient team at Baptist Health Lexington, and works part-time at Hospice of the Bluegrass. Her son, Don ’09, graduated from Wake Forest Law last May, Magna Cum Laude, within the top ten of his class. He now works at Frost Brown Todd in Lexington.

Her younger son Daniel ’11 is working at Baptist Health Lexington, and takes classes at the University of Kentucky in Mechanical Engineering; he is also engaged to another Sayre graduate, Mary Booth ’09. Gail has four great nieces, all compliments of her brother Keith’s family.

Marlene McCarty ’75 was featured as an influential voice in an article in The Wall Street Journal this past summer. The article focused on the art world’s response to the AIDS crisis. The link to the article follows: http://www.wsj.com/articles/how-the-artworld-responded-to-aids-1468198569. Congratulations, Marlene!

’95 Jessica Reis and Brad Arnold, member of the class of ’95, were married on April 23, 2016 at Saxony Farm. “It was truly the perfect day—the weather put on a performance for us, complementing the gorgeous flowers by Stems, unbelievably delicious catering from Dupree, our big band we flew in from New York City, The Sterling Band, and Lexington’s local Bluegrass Collective who entertained during cocktail hour. The clear tent was the finishing touch; the sunset pouring through the top as we danced our first dance to Bonnie Raitt’s You. It couldn’t have been more magical.”

’96 Ellen Rice ’96 lives in Lexington and devotes her time to the arts in the community. She serves as the Director of Operations for Thy Will Be Done: An Easter Oratorio, a piece of music that was composed by her mother Angela Rice. Ellen works on all aspects of the yearly performance that occurs during the Easter season. She enjoys the interactions that she has with the musicians and fellow supporters of the work. In addition, Ellen supports the arts through her service on the OperaLex board that supports the University of Kentucky Opera program. On both projects, she works with fellow classmate Jamie Palumbo, member of the class of ’96.

’97 Kelly Nelson Rowe ’97 traveled to Haiti during the summers of 2015 and 2016. Along with her “Love Haiti” mission team from Midway Baptist Church, Kelly worked to improve the living conditions of the boys living in the Grace International Boys’ Home. She works year-round to raise money for her summer mission trips and collects cereal boxes to send to the Apparent Project in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Once there, artisans use those boxes to create beautiful jewelry and ornaments. Currently, Kelly teaches fourth grade at Seton Catholic School in Lexington. She and her husband, Evan, have three children.

’00 Ellie Blackey Davis ’00 and her husband, Ian Davis, are the proud parents of Ann Bradford Blackey Davis (Bebe). Bebe was born August 2, 2016 and was 7 pounds, 5 ounces, and 19” long. Big sister, May, age 3, loves having a baby sister! Congratulations to the Davis family!

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Note to Alumni and Parents of Alumni - Be sure to submit your current email and mailing address so that we may keep you informed of future news and events! Thank you to all our alumni who have submitted notes for this magazine.

Please send news and photos to Leslie Parrish Isaacs ’69 and Rob Goodman ’89 at alumni@sayreschool.org.

’01 Katie Martin ’01 and Ben Baranek were married on Saturday, August 27, 2016. The marriage took place on Audubon Farm, home of Katie’s parents, Martha Buster Martin ’69 and Lynn Martin ’70. Katie’s sister Jessica Martin Gaultney ’03 served as the Matron of Honor. Other Sayre graduates in attendance were: Bethany Baxter ’01 and her husband Willie, Laura Heil ’01, Catherine Heil ’04, Jerry Martin ’09, uncle to the bride, Susan Wagers Weisenberger ’69, and Eve Bates Greathouse ’72. Bethany ’01 and Willie played music during the ceremony. Katie and Ben reside in Lexington.

’02 Dr. Cady Blackey Brown ’02 and her husband Ryan, are pleased to announce the birth of Chester (Chet) Lafayette Brown, born August 6, 2016. Big sister, Nettie, age 2 ½, is excited about having a baby brother. Congratulations to the Brown family!

Gunner laCour ’02 brings horse racing back to North Dakota! After a year hiatus, horse racing returned to the North Dakota Horse Park in July, courtesy of our own Gunner laCour ’02. Please see http://www. onforum.com/news/4074288-fargo-horse-park-track-success-racing-returns-weekend for a wonderful article giving you all the details. There’s a little bit of Kentucky in everyone. Congratulations, Gunner!

’04 Aaron Moody ’04 has recently relocated to Atlanta, Georgia to take a new position as an associate at Sutherland, Asbill & Brennan where he focuses on Mergers and Acquisitions and other corporate finance and securities matters.

’07 Thomas Richards ’07 is engaged to Claire Hager, member of the class of 2010.

’08 Dory Mayhew Blackey ’08 and Frank Dale were married October 1, 2016 at the home of her parents, Kim and Chet Blackey in Versailles, Kentucky. Her sisters, Ellie Blackey Davis ’00, Cady Blackey Brown ’02 and Beth Mayhew Blackey ’05 served as her attendants, as well as Samantha Bowie ’08 and Devon Cobb ’08. Other alumni in attendance were Shelby Hilliard ’08, Oggie Hilliard ’74, Allison Hollins ’08, Leslie ’69 and Bruce Isaacs ’70, Parrish Isaacs ’99, Stewart Isaacs ’01, Kiki Jameson ’08, Katie Lewis ’08, Kate MacNeil ’08, Elwood Miller ’08, John Stewart ’08, Betsy Wilson ’08, and Cynthia Rush Yeiser ’00. Dory and Frank reside in Houston, TX. From left to right, front row Bruce Isaacs ’70, Leslie Parrish Isaacs ’69, Allison Hollins ’08, Devon Cobb ’08, the bride Dory Blackey ’08, Beth Blackey ’05, Samantha Bowie ’08, and parents of the bride Kim and Chet Blackey, Top row: Shelby Hilliard ’08, Parrish Isaacs ’99, Cynthia Rush Yeiser ’00, Ellie Blackey Davis ’00, Kate MacNeil ’08, Katie Lewis ’08, John Stewart ’08, Betsy Wilson ’08, Stewart Isaacs ’01, and Head of School Stephen Manella.

’12 Hannah Turnbull ’12 and Ben Turnbull ’12 are pictured here on a cross country road trip they took to deliver Hannah to her new job with MEYERS+ Engineers in San Francisco. After graduating from Vanderbilt Engineering in May, 2016, Hannah was able to attend Ben’s graduation from UVA Engineering later that month before leaving home for her new job.

Ben has accepted entrance into General Electric Aviation’s Leadership Program to begin in 2017.

Acting on an offer to serve with a non-profit business with sponsorship from GE, Ben is currently working for Service Year Corporation in a position with the Massachusetts League of Community Health Centers in Boston. Congratulations, Hannah and Ben! 194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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In Memoriam Ambrose Witherspoon Givens died at his home July 20, 2016. Mr. Givens was a former board member of Sayre School, the Bank of Commerce, First Security Bank, and Planned Parenthood. He is survived by two daughters, Martha (Bruce) Nicol, Ellen ’72 (Bill) Chapman, and son, Ambrose W. “Bo” Givens. Eight grandchildren and fourteen great grandchildren also survive him. A memorial service was held on July 25, 2016.

Nancy Clay Hancock ’65 died unexpectedly on August 8, 2016 at her residence. Clay had many interests, which included Claiborne Farm, Hopewell Church and PAWS, Paris Animal Welfare Society. She is survived by her brothers, Arthur Boyd Hancock III, Seth Walker Hancock, her sister, Waddell Walker Hancock, and eight nieces and nephews.

Ryan Phillip Kleeman, member of the class of 2011, of Mt. Pleasant, South Carolina died August 30, 2016. Ryan was born and raised on a thoroughbred farm here in Lexington and attended Sayre through his junior year. His love for his Kentucky home was so great that his new friends referred to him as “Kentucky.” Ryan is survived by his mother, Kristin Marie Schnauthiel, and his brother, Jennings Kleeman, member of the class of 2013. His service was held September 3, 2016.

Jess Prewitt Mendes, member of the class of 2014, passed away in St. Paul, Minnesota, March 22, 2016. He was the beloved son of Mary Page Prewitt Mendes and Guy Marius Mendes, III, and brother of Louis Wilson Mendes ’12. In addition to his parents and brother, his grandmother and three uncles survive him. He attended Sayre School and Henry Clay High School, and was a sophomore at Macalester College. He was a vibrant young man who had a generous spirit and could light up any room. His service was held at Christ Church Cathedral, Lexington, Kentucky.

Cameron Meagan (Cammie) Reed ’98, died October 7, 2016. She is survived by the following people who will always love her dearly: her daughter, Samantha Scott ’22; her parents, Dr. James and Sharon Reed; her brothers: James Reed II (Elizabeth); Dr. Peter Reed (Dr. Jennifer Carson); and Brent Reed ’ 94 (Dr. Rebecca Redman). She is also survived by many aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews, and friends as well as her fiancé, Gabriel Garcia-Sanchez.

Michael Eugene Warren ’73 died May 23, 2016 in Fountain Hills, Arizona. Born in Cincinnati, Mike graduated from Sayre and the University of Kentucky. He is survived by his wife Celia, daughters Anne and Jessica, son-in-law Dylan and grandson Oliver.

Estate Planning There are many ways to support Sayre financially. Peyton Tierney, ’89, chose to give by purchasing a life insurance policy. “To show my appreciation for the education I received at Sayre, I made it the beneficiary of my policy. Doing so enabled me to create a permanently-endowed scholarship in my sister’s honor. It is very gratifying to know that I’ll be helping someone else attend Sayre.”

The use of life insurance to make charitable gifts can be an effective and cost-efficient means of fulfilling charitable intentions without making a sizable donation while alive. Depending on the type of insurance and the nature of the gift, charitable donations involving life insurance often can result in income tax deductions for the donor and future value to the charitable recipient. If you have more insurance coverage than you need, you may consider giving Sayre School a paid-up policy. By transferring the ownership of your policy to Sayre, you receive a charitable income tax deduction equal to the policy’s cash surrender value or cost basis, whichever is less.

Please contact the Development Office at (859) 254-1361 for information on gift strategies that can help you support Sayre while providing significant benefits to you and your family.

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Upper School Dedications The Whitaker Atrium

Lucy Bryans VanMeter Upper School

On April 5, 2016, the Upper School student body gathered for a special ceremony to dedicate an integral community space— the Atrium—in honor of the Whitaker family’s exceptional commitment and service to our community for close to 40 years.

The profound impact that Lucy Bryans VanMeter ’79 had on the Sayre community was evident by the friends and family who gathered on the front steps of the Upper School on October 6, 2016, to participate in the dedication of the building in her memory.

We all know that the essence of the Upper School community extends well beyond the walls of our classrooms and the atrium is where so much of that happens—from weekly announcements, to presentations, guest speakers, student speeches, athletic signings, and even Mr. Mills’ celebration of college acceptances. The atrium is a place where the life of the school is shared, so it is fitting to dedicate it to the Whitaker Family, whose connections to our community span four generations.

The fourth generation of Whitakers was in the audience that day - Joseph Murphy ’16 and his siblings Jack and Mary Grace ’22.

Their great-grandfather Mr. Elmer Whitaker served on the Board of Trustees for two terms from 1980-87. He is also the recipient of the Sayre Medallion, the highest honor the school can bestow on an individual for service to the school. Jack Whitaker, his son, also served on the Board for two terms from 1988-1995. Jack’s daughter Mrs. Jacquelin Whitaker Murphy ’88 currently serves on our Board. In addition, Mrs. Murphy’s husband Joe ’87 also served on our Board from 2002-09, and during the first three of those years he dually served as the President of the Alumni Association.

A multi-generational commitment of this magnitude to our institution is truly extraordinary. Upon entering the atrium, you will see this quotation selected by Mr. Jack Whitaker:

"We make a living by what we get, but we make a life by what we give."

That phrase sums up the Whitaker family’s dedication to our community, but also serves as a reminder to all of us that the true value of our lives resides in the impact we have on others.

After graduating from Sayre, Lucy earned degrees from Smith College and the University of Kentucky College of Law. She returned to Sayre in 1992 along with her husband Laurance B. VanMeter and their children Browning ’08, John Thomas, Charles, and Jennie.

Head of School Stephen Manella shared, “Lucy VanMeter was among the first names I heard when visiting Sayre four years ago. I was speaking with Clayton Chambliss about the Sayre community and the support of parents in helping build a great school and our conversation inevitably veered to Lucy, about whom Clayton stated, ‘She was my hero’.”

Lucy’s extraordinary volunteer work on behalf of the school culminated with her serving four terms on the Board of Trustees, including six years as an officer and three as Chair. Her leadership was instrumental to the success of numerous campus improvements, from the construction of the Buttery and the Upper School to the remodeling of the Middle School and the renovation of the playground and library. In 2008, when she received the David A. Sayre Medallion, the school’s highest honor, it was the first given to an alumna.

At the dedication, Larry VanMeter spoke of Lucy’s commitment to Sayre, “She embarked on a scheme to make Sayre the best school it could possibly be, equal to any school, anywhere.” Her son Browning added, “I am very grateful that my mother strongly believed that Sayre School should be an institution where every student should receive a top-notch education. Sayre is truly a special place and it’s an honor to me and my entire family that this small part of it will be dedicated to her memory.” John Thomas echoed that sentiment, “This is a great way to honor her legacy. I know that Jennie and Charles couldn’t be here today, but they are with us in spirit.”

The ceremony concluded with the unveiling of a portrait of Lucy in the lobby of the Upper School followed by a reception.

Earlier, Larry VanMeter reminded the audience that all of us can make a difference in our community: “If Lucy Bryans VanMeter, an immensely private, reserved mother of four can be this dedicated to Sayre, then each of the current trustees and each of you can be that dedicated to Sayre.” We are forever grateful for Lucy’s resolve, her vision, and her determination to shape Sayre for the better.

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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The Gift of Giving The Sayre Fund The Sayre Annual Fund supports so many of the exceptional programs and activities we provide for our students. It would not be possible without the support of our generous parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty, staff and friends. We are so grateful to everyone who contributed to the 2015-16 campaign which provided a total of $342,290 in gifts and pledges.

These gifts have an enormous impact on our school, students and faculty.

Important components of the Sayre Annual Fund are our Giving Societies, comprised of five giving levels. Gifts made to the Sayre Annual Fund at any of those levels provide essential support and play a critical role in the financial health of the school. As a way of recognizing this generosity, members are listed in the Annual Report’s Honor Roll of Donors on our website and are invited to participate in special events throughout the year.

The Cupola Society includes those donors who have made a gift of $5,000 or above to the Sayre Annual Fund during the current fiscal year. To honor Cupola Society members, an invitation was extended to join Mr. and Mrs. Manella for dinner at 21c Museum Hotel this past spring.

Gifts to the Giving Societies ensure that our students receive the best possible education, our teachers have access to the best professional development opportunities and that financial aid is available for our talented students. The gifts make a powerful statement about the value of a Sayre education and they are so important to the philanthropic tradition of the school. We hope that either now or in the future you will give consideration to joining one of our five Giving Societies.

The 1854 Giving Society includes anyone who has made a gift of $1,854 or above to the Sayre Annual Fund during the current fiscal year, excluding in kind gifts or donations to an event. On April 16, 2016, a reception was held to honor the members at the home of Head of School Stephen Manella.

Faculty Awards Board Award 2016

Georgia Henkel is the 2016 Board Award winner and demonstrates the following qualities, according to her colleagues: "She honors her students’ vision of their pieces, yet pushes them to stretch into something new and different.

She cares deeply about communities outside of Sayre and uses her talent and art to bring people together and beautify spaces."

Georgia is currently writing a book geared

toward children and teens on Self Taught/Outsider Artists. To her knowledge, there are not any comprehensive books that successfully introduce Outsider artists to children in a meaningful way. The Lower School art curriculum at Sayre currently includes components of the imagery and processes of regional and international Outsider artists. With the professional development funds that accompany the Board Award, she will extend research for her book by traveling to England to visit galleries and collections of Outsider artists.

Short Awards 2016 Amy Sheehan won the 2016 Short Award for Excellence in Math or Science. Here’s how her students described her: "She cares about me as a person, she makes us want to learn, it's always hands-on, now I love science, she helped me overcome my fear of math."

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In twenty years of teaching, Amy always brought out the best in kids. She listened carefully to her students and got to know their fears and passions, she taught them to ask for help, to stretch their capacities, to see themselves as valuable, and never to give up. She communicated clearly to her Middle School students that she truly liked each of them all the time.

Although Amy and her family have moved elsewhere, she’ll always be one of us.

Delia Pergande won the 2016 Short Award in the General Category. Behind Delia’s gentle façade is a keenly sharp, incisive mind. She gives students the space to develop their own ideas and practice the skills needed to become good historians. Her teaching style is relaxed and conversational, but her presentation of material is precise and logical.

She encourages students to dig deeper, think more precisely, and make connections among historical concepts.

Delia is the founding sponsor of the Upper School’s robust KYA and KUNA programs. Thanks to her tireless efforts, her students develop skills in communication, persuasion, and leadership, and build a network of friends across the state, expanding their horizons beyond our local community.

Summer Sabbatical Celebrating the 100th Anniversary of the National Parks Because of generous gifts that endowed a summer professional development fund, Sayre School provides grants to one or more teachers each summer for unique professional development. With the 100th anniversary of the National Parks System occurring in 2016, it was fitting that last summer’s recipients were Rachel Holsinger and Debbie Wheeler, who designed a two week experience in three national parks: Yellowstone, Grand Teton, and Glacier. Rachel and Debbie teach biology and ecology in the Upper School, and this trip allowed them to experience directly many of the concepts they teach. In Yellowstone, they took a five day class with park naturalists, followed by backpacking in the Grand Tetons.

Thanks to their professional connections at the University of Kentucky, they participated in field research in Glacier National Park, with a University of Kentucky graduate student whose project explores the effect of global climate change on speciation of caddis fly larvae.

majestic reflected in this pool as the sun hits them. Suddenly, a mule deer walked across the river and looked up at us. It was as if someone had said, "Cue the deer!" Every hike we took was majestic. There were many times when we would stop on a trail and stand in awe at the valley below. We walked through a glacier and on top of glaciers. Crossing through from one side of Glacier National Park to the other to see Many Glacier, we got yelled at by ground squirrels and hoary marmots.

Having visited each of these famous areas, we can speak with so much more authority about the ecology of the areas.

This experience impacts my teaching all the time. In AP Environmental Science, we were talking about watersheds as we looked at a picture of the Mississippi watershed. I talked about standing on the Continental Divide with Rachel this summer and really understanding what that meant!”

They both expressed gratitude to the school for supporting science education through the summer sabbatical program.

When asked to share some memories of the trip and its impact on their teaching, they were happy to oblige.

Rachel: “I have read about the parks out west, but seeing them first hand allows me to internalize many of the scientific ideas that I have read about or heard from scientists. Seeing nature makes it easier to teach about nature. I love the Jurassic Park quote that "life will find a way" and out west it really does. We saw tiny fish in Iceberg Lake and I learned how scientists have isolated an "antifreeze" protein specific to preventing these fish from freezing. We saw pika living in rock shelters in the lateral moraine of a glacier and learned that they cannot survive above 78 degrees. Global climate change is already affecting their numbers. Because all of the organisms in an ecosystem are interrelated, reintroducing the wolves in Yellowstone might help save the aspen trees that are disappearing from the Lamar Valley. It never would have occurred to me that the wolves eat the elk and the elk eat the aspens; therefore, we might see the aspen make a comeback.”

Debbie: “We teach about tundra and alpine ecology but have never seen it firsthand. This trip allowed us to do that. Every day we got up early to hike to a new site. The researcher who helped us plan this trip suggested we get up early to see a spectacular and frequently photographed area of the Grand Tetons near Jackson Hole. We walked along the trail and found what he had to be referring to, a still pool formed by a large beaver dam across part of the Snake River. The Tetons are 194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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New Sayre Lower School September 2016 was a momentous month for the future of Sayre School. On September 8, the Board of Trustees unanimously approved the construction of a new 37,000 square foot Lower School. Three weeks later, on September 28, Lexington’s Board of Architectural Review approved our Lower School design, paving the way for us to begin construction in April 2017. 

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Our new Lower School facility will have a transformational impact on our campus and community. Ben Haggin, Sayre alumnus, parent, and current Board Chair states, “Sayre is on an extraordinary positive trajectory due to increased enrollment, outstanding faculty, increased philanthropy, and incredible college placement. The construction of a new Lower School will greatly assist our students and excellent faculty in realizing an even greater education of the highest order.”

Our design incorporates classroom space for Lower School, Extended Day, and arts programming. The two-story building will run along Pleasant Stone Street and extend over the current footprints of the Johnson-McCoy Extended Day building and the Mary Lou Whitney Lower School. Our site design also calls for the road that cuts through the middle of our campus behind Old Sayre to be eliminated and converted to green space and pedestrian space, establishing a clearly defined perimeter to our main campus.

The new building will provide a modern, childcentered and environmentally sound space to support and complement Sayre’s rich, integrated, project-based curriculum.

Here are some of the building’s features: • The sciences are rapidly expanding fields of study at every level of education. The new building will include a state-of-theart science room, designed and outfitted through the generosity of Alltech, that will open onto a rooftop patio and garden.

• An Innovation Room will provide handson, creative ways to encourage students to design, experiment, build, and invent as they engage in a range of curricular areas.

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Innovation Room

• A dedicated library will provide a wonderfilled space that supports our students' quest for knowledge.

• The landscaping and playscape around the building will serve as an extension of our classrooms, providing opportunities for physical activity, experimentation, play and creative expression.

• The Gross Motor Skills Room will be the hub for our youngest students to maximize their learning through physical activity. The room will also serve as a performing and gathering space for our students and faculty.

• In the afternoons, the Gross Motor Skills Room and two adjacent classrooms will serve as the home of our Extended Day Program.

Library What is remarkable is that all of this will take place on the same ground that we have called home for over 160 years. By enhancing every facet of the Lower School experience, our new facility will have a significant impact on our campus. Head of School Stephen Manella reminds us, “With your support, we will write the inspiring next chapter of Sayre’s history. This building is for all of us.”

Classroom First Floor

Classroom Second Floor

194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 ∙ www.sayreschool.org

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194 North Limestone Lexington, KY 40507 (859) 254-1361 www.sayreschool.org

Building Excellence Shaping Generations

The New Sayre Lower School