CCDS The First Fifty Years by Charlotte Country Day School

Charlotte Country Day School The First Fifty Years

Charlotte Country Day School The First Fifty Years by Julia Moody Britt In Memory of

J. R. Williams

1991 The Charlotte Country Day School Archives Charlotte, North Carolina

Table of Contents

The History Foreword by Robert D. Johnston, Headmaster Preface Acknowledgments Introduction: The Thomas Burton Years Chapter 1. The First Year, 1941-1942 Chapter 2. The Second Year, 1942-1943 Chapter 3. Years of Grow and Change, 1943-1950 NarWarren Taylor, 1945-1948 Thomas Stapleton, 1948-1950 Chapter 4. The Robert Booker Years, 1950-1955 Chapter 5. The David Howe Years, 1955-1969 Chapter 6. The Emerson Johnson Years, 1969-1973 Chapter 7. The William Pfeifer Years, 1973-1977 Chapter 8. The Horton Reed Years, 1978-1986, and the Merger with Carmel Academy Chapter 9. Carmel Academy, 1971-1980 Chapter 10.The Robert Johnston Years, 1986to the Present Epilogue Appendix About the Author

Vll IX Xl Xlll

xv I 17 26

43 69 ll8 137 161 189 215 243 247 267

The History

In 1979, as Charlotte Country Day School was merging with Carmel Academy and looking ahead to its fortieth anniversary celebration, Headmaster Horton Reed appointed an archivist. Martha Haywood, a long-time employee of Country Day, began to organize the historical materials; she was joined by Doris Lavender, who had also been an employee of the school since 1960. By 1983, both women had retired, and the archive space was needed for a classroom to accommodate the large student body. The materials were sorted, boxed, and placed in a closet, where they remained until Headmaster Reed commissioned Mr. J. R. Williams to begin a history of the school in 1985-86. For several summers, Mr. Williams weeded through the existing materials and worked diligently on the history. When Headmaster Robert D. Johnston arrived in 1986, he and newly appointed Director of Alumni Affairs Nina Dooley set about in earnest to restore the archives. Meanwhile, Julia Britt, who had handled publications since 1982, had realized that that job was rapidly becoming full-time, but she wanted to continue teaching and was looking for a new assignment that would allow her to do so. Associate Head Margaret Gragg and Headmaster Johnston came up with the answer. Mr. Williams and Mrs. Britt, who had pioneered the Honors American Studies program and had taken the "J, R. and Julia Show" and its students to three consecutive wins in the Pfeiffer College American Studies Bowl, could continue to teach while collaborating on the history; Mrs. Britt could also take over the archives and try to pull the whole thing together for the fiftieth anniversary year. Two heads were to be better than one, and when the Board of Trustees formally set the project in motion in the spring of 1989, the schedule seemed to be in perfect order. Unfortunately, as Robert Burns taught us years ago, the best-laid plans of mice and men so often go astray. Mrs. Britt collapsed at school in May 1990 and underwent surgery for an aneurysm. Much time was lost, but with the overwhelming support of the school community, she was able to resume her duties for 1990-91. Meanwhile, Mr. Williams began to show evidence that his brain tumor, which had been in carefully controlled remission since surgery in 1977, was growing. In April 1991, he underwent surgery in Nashville, Tennessee, hoping to be able to return to Country Day in

time for graduation. He did come home to Charlotte by the June 7 commencement ceremonies, but his condition did not allow him to attend, and on the last day of school for faculty, June 13, he died. Memorial services were held at St. John's Episcopal Church on Father's Day, June 16, 1991. Mr. Williams was unable to write any of this volume, but his research, interviews, and positive support have been true collaboration and are deeply appreciated. He will be missed by all of the Country Day family as the school begins its next fifty years, but he will be especially missed by the author.

I can think of no greater honor nor more exciting prospect than to be headmaster of Charlotte Country Day School in its fiftieth anniversary year. As I near the end of my fifth year in this good place and look forward to September 22,1991, when we shall celebrate the founding of this remarkable institution and the dedicated people who have worked through the years to bring it to this moment, I am astonished at my good fortune. It is a joyous prospect, while poised at the threshold of the final decade of this century, to have the opportunity to continue to teach students to be civil, moral, and passionate in the uncertain times ahead. But it is impossible to chart the future without having, framed beside us, a picture of the past. Hence, we must pause, reflect, and marvel at what others have wrought. We pay tribute to every student who has passed through these doors; to all parents who have chosen the best education possible for their children; to all teachers and coaches who have dedicated themselves to that education; and to all board members, headmasters, and community leaders who have assured that these great expectations have been and will continue to be met. Over the years it has been my privilege to serve as a student, a teacher, a coach, and a headmaster at four independent schools, with combined ages totaling 351 years. Each school is unique, with its own spirit and character, and each has a role to play in the history of independent education in this country. Given the strength of its past, the potential of Charlotte Country Day School to play such a role is unlimited, and I am proud to be a part of it. I know you are, too, and I cordially invite you to celebrate with us throughout the anniversary year.

Robert D. Johnston Headmaster

Preface

Ralph Waldo Emerson said that an institution is but the lengthened shadow of one man. If that be true, Charlotte Country Day must acknowledge the dream of Dr. Thomas Burton to establish Charlotte's first independent school and nourish it through its early years. Six additional headmasters and a headmistress, however, have contributed significantly to the school's growth and have led the institution to successive heights of achievement with the help of a highly supportive community, generous and dedicated trustees and parents, a strong faculty and staff, and talented students who, in turn, have become loyal alumni. Enriched by the merger with Carmel Academy, under two headmasters and two headmistresses, the school has become a leading independent school in the Sun Belt and one of the largest in the nation. The Country Day story could be told in many ways, all of them imperfectly suited to the task. To mention every person who has made a contribution would produce a book of lists. To focus on curricular changes would result in a catalog. To record every occurrence would not only be impossible, but would render a yearbook of dates and facts. If this book is none of the above, then how shall we describe it? Perhaps it would be easier to say what it is not. Certainly, it is not a complete history, for it accentuates the positive, eliminates the negative, and leaves out much that comes between. Above all, it is less than perfect, with inevitable omissions, repetitions, and contradictions. What it hopes to capture is the spirit of how far the school has come and how the feat was accomplished. The school seal features an acorn to symbolize that giant oaks from little acorns grow. Call this little volume an acorn, a kernel, a beginning. Call it a vulnerable sapling that, properly nourished, pruned, cultivated, and watered, will continue to grow over the next fifty years into a giant oak. Suffice it to expect that having learned to tend the twig, someone will be able to make the 2041 edition everything that this one is not.

Acknowledgments

Sincere appreCiatIon is due the following people for their help and support in preparing this volume: Robert D. Johnston, headmaster Horton C. Reed, headmaster emeritus and English Department chairman William B. Pfeifer, former headmaster Dr. A. Emerson Johnson III, former headmaster David L. Howe, former headmaster Alice Litwinchuk, former headmistress of Carmel Academy, head of Middle School, and director of coordinate programs Betsy White, alumna, parent, former chairman of the Board of Trustees Margaret Gragg, former teacher, English Department chairman, director of college guidance, academic dean, head of Upper School, and current associate head Nina Dooley, alumna, former alumni director, and director of institutional advancement Richard C. Bryan, former history teacher, coach, and head of Upper School Edward Kelly, former History Department chairman and teacher at Carmel Academy and current Marjorie Bray Master Instructor of History Marcia Harmon, director of publications Paulette Beatty, director of public relations Appreciation is also expressed to faculty and staff members, coaches, parents, and alumni who have contributed valuable insights through interviews: Hannah Craighill, Mary Ann Troutman, Elliott Newcombe, Caroline Godfrey Werth, Tim Timson, Gisele Shumake, John Bristor, Carol Morris, Jackie Hunter, Ed Walton, Alan Lee, Becky Martin, Sammie Yopp, Susan Saunders, Frank Justice, Mary Todd, Louise Cobb, Sam Cook, Eric Law, Dolly Hickman, Mrs. John Fielder, Al Pearman, Mary Wilson, Sue Camp, Sarah Bumgarner, Sylvia Ashcraft, Suzie Pignetti, Prissy Satterfield, Judy Sutker, and numerous others who have answered questions and supplied information.

Many sincere and heartfelt thanks go to those parents, friends, alumni, students, faculty, and staff members who have written tributes or personal memories and taped group reunions. Every one of these reminiscences has been included, where possible, and credit given in the text. Finally, gratitude is expressed to The Charlotte Observer, The Charlotte News, the CCDS Postscript, The Monitor, and all other school and student publications from which information has been gleaned, as well as to contributing photographers whose pictures greatly enhance this volume. Sincere appreciation is also expressed to Lawrence and Barbara Nanney and Headmaster John Pidgeon of the Kiski School in Saltsburg, Pennsylvania, who gave advice, encouragement, and a wonderful model to follow.

The Thomas Burton Years 1941-1945

n May 16, 1941, The Charlotte News ran a two-line headline, complete with stars, proclaiming that a "Country Day School Is Being Organized in Charlotte." The masthead above it cleverly boasted that "In Charlotte, City of 100,899, Nearly Everybody Reads The News." The news of that day was that an organizational meeting had been held on the previous evening at the Mint Museum by Dr. Thomas Burton of Southern Pines, who had written his doctoral thesis at Harvard University on the organization and administration of Country Day schools, and who, for the past twenty years, had acquired experience as a faculty member, an assistant headmaster, and a headmaster in some of the nation's leading ones. Dr. Burton explained that Country Day schools had originated in Baltimore in 1897, when industrialization was changing the normal way of life for children. Parents who did not want to send their children away to boarding schools had formed a different kind of school, now successfullyoperating in three hundred cities across the United States. Dr. Burton went on: The growing popularity of the Country Day School comes from the fact that it combines the advantages of an excellent public school with those of the superior boarding school. Such schools are usually located outside the city area in a quiet setting, and yet are close enough for parents to cooperate with the school in close collaboration with the faculty and staff. The schools provide a wide and well-balanced program of study, recitations, athletics and miscellaneous activities. Space, cleanliness, quiet and safety are cardinal attributes. The schools have large recreation fields with play facilities for boys and girls of all ages. The long school day, until five o'clock or later, is also typical, with the children having

lunch at the school and doing all their studying there under the supervision of the faculty members. For a month or so, Dr. Burton had been quietly discussing plans for such a school with Charlotte's leaders, and he had found "a great deal of interest and enthusiasm." Over the next three months, Charlotte's first modern-day independent school would become a reality. On September 1, 1941, according to The Charlotte Observer, 1,250,150 people lived within sixty miles of Charlotte, North Carolina. As a new school year opened, a front-page article bemoaned the "estimated drop of 160,000 pupils in America," ascribing the decline in school enrollment to "the low birth rate during the depression years." Ambitious students could buy Shakespeare's complete works, plus an exquisite pair of bookends, for $1.98, while their parents could acquire a four-bedroom, two-bath home in Eastover, with servants' room and bath, for thirty thousand dollars. Although most theaters featured screen stars like Tyrone Power, James Cagney, Gene Autry, Robert Montgomery, Rosalind Russell, Dorothy Lamour, and Clark Gable, the Tryon Theater advertised an "adults only" movie called Juke Joint Girl, proclaiming, "It could happen to your own daughter!" Charlotte was becoming a big city in the days following the Great Depression, even though bargains still abounded. On Thursday nights, the Selwyn Hotel Dining Room, Gray's, featured a family dinner for twenty-five cents, with chicken short cake, sugar peas, potato salad, hot rolls, and butter. The A & P advertised Long Island duckling for twenty-one cents a pound, a one-pound package of bacon for twenty-seven cents, and a three-pound bag of Eight o'Clock coffee for fifty-three cents. The going price for a 1941 Buick super convertible was $1,395. An even better deal was a new Chevy special coupe for $725. One could buy a designer hat in Ivey's French Room for ten dollars. At Belk's, date-time and tea-dance dresses in velveteen, faille, wool, and crepe ranged from $14.95 to $22.75, while a good fur-trimmed coat could be purchased for $69.95. The funny papers featured Dick Tracy, Little Orphan Annie, Bringing Up Father, Moon Mullins, Mickey Finn, and the Gumps, models of morality and clean living. However, a front-page Observer story on September 1 admitted that "dry, church-going Charlotte still manages to foster a lot of drunkenness," with 387 persons arrested during August for public inebriation; 407 were arrested for traffic

violations. Still, no one was arrested for prostitution, and the one murder that was reported was later changed to a manslaughter charge. The holiday death toll for the Labor Day weekend was 550 for the nation, up from 514 in 1940. J. M. Broughton was governor of the state, and the United States Navy's newest ship, reputed to be the most powerful in the world, was the thirty-five-thousand-ton USS North Carolina. In world news during the month of September 1941, Ford Motor Company announced plans for "building a great bomber plant to defeat Hitler and reconstruct a new world." A headline proclaimed that a blockade would be the first step if America were to go to war with Japan. Bulgaria was nearing entry into the war as Germany's ally, while the RAP was conducting raids from Norway to France. A German blitz had paralyzed the Ukrainian capital, and the Russians claimed a "life and death" struggle was raging around Kiev. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had just signed an unprecedented tax bill, and Dr. Will Durant, philosopher and author, was in Charlotte to deliver a lecture on "The World Revolution" to the South Piedmont District Teachers' Association. As the month ended, the Nazis were claiming capture of 150,000 Red Army soldiers, and German troops were storming the suburbs of Leningrad. Hollywood star Jane Wyman, questioned about the career-versusmarriage issue, explained that "a career is nothing more or less than a business," while the article further noted that "she and her husband, Ronald Reagan, are considered among Hollywood's happily married couples." Charlotte's Randolph Scott had been recommended by a local sports writer as "one of thousands seeking the role of Lou Gehrig in a forthcoming movie." Charlotte writers eligible for the Mayflower Cup included LeGette Blythe, W. J. Cash, Bailey Graeme, and John Paul Lucas, Jr. Support for Harry Golden's fledgling newspaper, The Carolina Israelite, was coming from the actively expanding Jewish community, which now had two temples. Dr. H. D. Blakely, president of Queens College, was featured on September 7 in a Charlotte Observer article "To the Teachers of 1941." On that same Sunday, a small announcement from Headmaster Burton noted that Charlotte Country Day School was to begin its first session in the old Stuart Cramer home, 401 East Morehead Street, on Monday, September 22. On Wednesday, September 17, Mrs. Thomas Burton and Mrs. W. Irving Bullard gave a tea for the faculty of the new independent school, Charlotte's first. Mrs. John W. Labouisse, Mrs.

Elliott H. Newcombe, Mrs. Harry 1. Dalton, Mrs. Morgan Speir, Jr., Mrs. Frederic W. Howe, Ir., Mrs. Harry Wolf, and Mrs. L. G. Osborne assisted. Members of the faculty attending, in addition to Mrs. Edna Coble Burton, were Dr. Thomas Burton, Gordon J. Lange, Miss Caroline Mann, Mrs. Beulah Meyer Link, and Miss Elizabeth Taylor. On Sunday, September 21, an additional new teacher was introduced. Miss Ruth Gorton of Oneida, New York, holding an A.B. degree from Albany State, with specialized training in the FERA Nursery Schools of New York State, the Little Red Schoolhouse group in New York City, the Poughkeepsie Day School, and the Vassar School of Euthenics, had arrived to be ready for the first day. Thus, the history of Charlotte Country Day School began.

Chapter 1

The First Year 1941-1942

r. Thomas Burton, founding headmaster of Charlotte Country Day, was forty-six years old and had had a wide range of educational experience when he took on the task of organizing the area's first independent school. Educated at Columbia University (B.S. and M.A.), Harvard University (Ed.D.), the University of Vermont, Pennsylvania State College, and the Sorbonne, Paris, he had also taught at some of the best public and private schools in the nation and had done extensive work in the the field of independent education. Co-author of The American Country Day School, which explains the theory of this type of education, he proposed to bring to Charlotte "the proven application of modern teaching methods already in practice in a number of the nation's larger cities" and "individual guidance now available only in excellent boarding schools at two to five times the annual tuition cost." Dr. Burton would teach mathematics at the new school in addition to his duties as headmaster. Another faculty member was Gordon J. Lange, a graduate of the University of Wisconsin with advanced studies in education, who taught science. He was formerly teacher and principal of the Aredale, Iowa, high school and a staff member of the Mary Gwynn Camp at Brevard, North Carolina. Miss Caroline Mann taught the upper grades. She had studied at the Albemarle Normal School, Northfield Seminary, Columbia University, Asheville Normal, and the Woman's College at Greensboro. She was formerly a teacher in Salisbury and Gastonia, North Carolina, a director of European travel groups, and a Country Day school tutor in New York and Connecticut. Mrs. Beulah Meyer Link, middle grade teacher, studied at Midland College and pursued graduate studies at Columbia University. Formerly, she had been a teacher in Nebraska, an assistant at the Kansas State

Teacher's College, a critic and teacher at the Limestone College Demonstration School, and a teacher at the Leonard School for Girls in New York City. Miss Elizabeth Taylor supervised the preschool and primary grades. She was educated at the University of Chicago and at Smith College and had formerly taught at the Girls' Latin School of Chicago, Smith College, and the Greenvale Country Day School, Long Island, New York. Mrs. Edna Coble Burton, a native of Greensboro who held a degree from Guilford College, had charge of the lunch program and assisted in the work of the preschool department. Dr. J. R. Adams, Charlotte pediatrician, was the consulting school physician, and Dr. A. A. Barron was the consulting psychologist. Elliott H. Newcombe served as general chairman of the Organizing Committee-Board of Directors, and John D. Shaw was secretary. John W. Labouisse served as treasurer. Other founding members were Thomas Burton, Jesse W. Page, Jr., Dr. Paul W. Sanger, Harry C. Wolf, Jr., W. Irving Bullard, Morton L. Church, Stuart W. Cramer, Jr., Harry L. Dalton, and Frank Dowd, Jr. In addition to these men, early stockholders included Charles W. Connelly, Sidney Abernethy, W. Olin Nisbet, Jr., Samuel H. McDonald, Bill Williams, Dabney M. Coddington, James J. Harris, H. R. Biggers, Allison Pell, and Frank O. Sherrill. Preferred stockholders also included Eleanor Bullard, Pietro Crespi, Henry Dick, R. S. Dickson, James J. Harris, Frederic W. Howe, Jr., Curtis B. Johnson, Ruth S. Lucas, Dr. W. F. Medearis, R. Lewis Patton, Morgan Reynolds, Howard Snow, and William H. Williamson. Dr. Frank Smith and Mr. Caldwell McDonald were on the organizing committees, as were the wives of many of the above. On September 15, Mr. and Mrs. Bullard purchased ninety-eight acres of wooded, rolling land off Sharon Road from Judge Heriot Clarkson for ten thousand dollars. The Bullards made the purchase in a personal capacity in the interest of the new school, giving the school corporation the option to buy the land for ten thousand dollars before September 1942 and assume the title, thus assuring the new school a permanent site. Plans included developing the property immediately with an outdoor theater, an archery range, a field house and athletic fields, with a main classroom building scheduled to be built before the opening of school for the 1942-43 year. The tuition costs for the first year were reduced by one-tenth because the temporary site in the city could make only limited use of the permanent site for the school. Therefore, tuition for a preschooler was

$112.50, increasing by $25.00 increments for each grade thereafter, and culminating in a $360.00 annual tuition for a seventh grader. A further 10 percent reduction was given to families enrolling more than one child. During the first year, only the preschool and grades one through seven were to be open. Delays in deliveries of equipment because of defense priorities in the steel industry made it necessary to postpone the opening of grades eight and nine. Recess luncheon tickets could be purchased at ten for $1.00, while the noon dinner tickets cost $3.50 per ten. The itinerary for the first day of operation was simple: 1. Teachers would be on hand at a quarter past eight on Monday (September 22) to meet with parents and enroll pupils in their proper grades. (The grade indicated by parents was acceptable until Educational Record Bureau tests could be given and desirable adjustments could be made.) 2. Parents would pay one quarter's tuition bill before taking the pupil to the proper teacher and arranging with her any matters concerning work or program. 3. Parents were to make arrangements with Mrs. Burton about lunches, and to purchase luncheon tickets at the office, where any exceptional dismissals or problems could also be discussed. 4. The headmaster would maintain an office hour each day from eightthirty to nine-thirty exclusively for parents. Parents who wished to confer at a different time would have to make an appointment in advance. 5. The first day would begin with the full regular schedule, but parents were asked to understand and make allowances for a few unforeseen and unavoidable hitches during the first day or so. 6. The preschool and grades one and two would be dismissed at one o'clock (before dinner); grades three and four would dismiss at three o'clock and grades five, six, and seven at five o'clock. All study for the next day's classes would be done at the school under the direction of faculty members. 7. One of the outstanding features of the school was an elaborate afternoon program which in good weather was devoted to sports and science trips outdoors, and in bad weather to study in science labs or in the school handicraft shop. 8. All academic subjects, as well as art, music, dramatics, public speaking,

shop, and physical education, would be taught by expert teachers classes of not more than twelve pupils.

ill

Twelve students enrolled on that first day, and six more enrolled later, so that when Dr. Burton made his first report to the Board of Directors on October 19, 1941, eighteen students in preschool through sixth grade were officially enrolled: Preschool - David Dalton, Lewis Patton, Morgan Speir, Nancy Burton, Nancy Newcombe, Louise Crespi, and Duraline Johnson (for three weeks only) Grade 1 - Harry Wolf, Michael Page, and Elliott Newcombe Grade 2 - Richard Burton Grade 3 - Sally Bullard and Elizabeth Labouisse Grade 4 - Mary Ann Bullard Grade 5 - Scott Cramer, Peter Loftis, and Jesse Page Grade 6 - Joyce Simpkins The first weekly assembly on September 26 featured a scientific movie showing means of dispersing seeds. Designed to bring together all departments of the school and to invite closer interest on the part of the parents, another early program was devoted to a display of the butterfly collections of the fourth, fifth, and sixth grades. By the end of the first month, a regular program of athletic activity, including the keeping of achievement records, had been put into practice. Every month, every child in the school was to be scored at the various games and exercises with progress, or lack of it, noted. The record-keeping also included notations of height, weight, and posture. In the regimen were such exercises as the push-up, full bend, bar-chinning, knee-hang, headstand, cartwheel, twenty-five-yard dash, fifty-yard dash, high jump, standing and running broad jumps, and baseball distance throw. Dr. Burton had had experience with this type of athletic program, and felt that a great deal of progress in achievement always came from it. Dr. Burton also believed that grades were bad because they compared one child with another. Therefore, no grades were given at the new school. Instead, the school issued a report under three classifications: physical and emotional condition, personal traits and social rela-

tionships, and school subjects. Included were an analysis of the child's needs and shortcomings with plans for meeting and remedying them; a discussion of the child's potentialities and provisions for cultivating them; and notes on discipline, individual attention needed, cooperation, and educational progress. Another unique feature of the reporting system was the fact that parents were asked to return their own report card to the school, describing what they thought about the progress of the child, whether they were in agreement with the needs of the child as seen by the school, and how much they agreed with the other assessments mentioned above. Dr. Burton felt that the system of exchanging report cards promoted greater cooperation between parent and teacher, and, insisting that parents be "completely frank in constructive criticism of us and our work," he sent a blank return report card for that purpose. On September 26, 1941, Charlotte Country Day became the 360th institution to be admitted to the Educational Records Bureau, joining other well-known preparatory schools in the South such as McCallie, Woodberry Forest, Baylor, Asheville School for Boys, and the Aiken School for Boys. A testing program was set up for the following week to determine the relative standing of the Country Day students with respect to the preparatory school standards established by the bureau. Headmaster Burton stated, "Early indications are that the greatest shortcomings of our pupils lie in those areas of reading, writing, and arithmetic where learning is so highly individual that it always suffers in large public school classes." He had discussed "the shortcomings of our pupils with public school Superintendent Harding, who is very much interested in our school, and has been one of our first supporters." Since the findings would not reflect negatively on the public schools, but would merely reveal the natural consequences of over-large classes, Superintendent Harding was "entirely agreeable to their being made public." In his seventh-week report to the Board of Directors, Headmaster Burton outlined the bad news and the good news. In tests of school achievement, Country Day students had scored from average to superior when compared with normal public school achievement, but they scored very low when compared with normal achievement in boarding and preparatory schools. "From 63% to 82% of the pupils in corresponding grades in the private preparatory schools surpassed the scores of our pupils," Dr. Burton's report stated. In mathematical reasoning and basic understanding, it would be necessary to take fourth and fifth grade

students back to second, third, and fourth grade work to develop skills lost as the result of their having been in classes of thirty to forty pupils under a single teacher. The same lack of training was also strikingly evident in the matter of work habits and study methods, which Headmaster Burton described as "haphazard, uncertain, and inefficient," as well as in "individual initiative," which had been subjugated to the routine execution of tasks determined by the teacher. "This deficiency indicates not only the lack of individual attention which results when one teacher has too many pupils, but also the lack of modern methods of instruction which are specifically aimed at the development of individual initiative and persistence," Headmaster Burton noted. The good news was simply that much corrective work had already begun in Country Day's small classes, where large amounts of the needed individual attention could be given. In fact, the headmaster noted, "We have almost a superabundance of individual attention available now in our rather too small classes, which we would like to share with about a dozen more boys and girls." In his November newsletter to parents, Dr. Burton announced that the handicraft workshop would be open on Saturdays and Sundays "from now on" for fathers and mothers who would like to make or repair something with their sons and daughters. "We have no power tools yet, but there are enough benches, hand tools, and lumber for ordinary construction and repair work." He added, "Some day we hope we shall be able to offer studios, darkrooms, libraries, laboratories and playgrounds for weekend use by parents and their children in the same way. We ought all to go places and do things with our children much more than we do. We need it ourselves as much as they do." He also shortened the school day from five o'clock to four-thirty during the "dark, cold, winter months," proposed that the best method of transporting students to and from school was by the Yellow Cab Company with cost-sharing by parents, and requested the use of a piano to aid in singing, rhythms, and rhythm band instruction. Overall, he continued to reinforce his belief that "groups can be taught, but learning is individual." On December 7, 1941, a strong carrier-borne force of Japanese planes swooped down on the American naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, destroying most American aircraft, severely damaging the naval vessels in port, killing 2,355 American servicemen and 68 civilians, and wounding 1,178 others. The following day a shocked Congress voted to declare war on Japan. Already the new school in Charlotte had been affected by the war, which had delayed shipments of equipment, particu-

larly desks made from steel. Gasoline rationing would also affect transportation. However, students began almost immediately to support the war effort through collections of scrap metal and the purchase of war bonds and stamps. On December 19, Mr. and Mrs. W. Irving Bullard bought from James Victor Brown an additional three acres ofland adjoining the Judge Heriot Clarkson place on Sharon Road. The new property provided 175 feet of frontage, assuring a Sharon Road entrance for the proposed school site. On December 20, a sixteen-day Christmas vacation began, bringing to a successful conclusion the first four months of operation. When school reopened on January 5, 1942, it would be with renewed vigor, high hopes, and ambitious plans for Charlotte's first independent, college preparatory school, even as World War II raged in Europe and the Pacific. And what had been accomplished during its first months? Charlotte Country Day School had been granted a charter by the state of North Carolina, and from April 1 to September 1, Founding Headmaster Thomas Burton had successfully sold the Country Day plan to Charlotte, obtained moral support, distributed stock, and achieved an organization with a Board of Directors and officers. In his report to the Board of Directors on October 19, he says, "Thanks to the very full and hearty cooperation of several members of this Board, and their wives, during September, the Country Day School was able to open as scheduled .... So numerous were the problems we faced in preparing the Cramer House for our purposes, and in equipping and staffing the school, following the authorizations of the Board on August 31, that we could hardly have been ready on the date scheduled without this cooperation." On October 25, he outlined the cost of organizing and funding the school with approximately twenty-eight hundred dollars of his own money. He enumerated these expenditures and outlined the following refund proposal: "Of this $2,800, three hundred was returned to me in the form of 300 shares of common stock. The refund of the remaining $2,500 has been approved in principle by the board. If this is done, I will make a gift of $1,000 to the new school as a sort of 'Founder's Gift' to be spent for a purpose to be designated by me and approved by the Board." He also proposed an insurance policy on his life at not more than a five hundred dollar premium per year, "which is all we can afford," and a salary of forty-eight hundred dollars, based upon an enrollment of fifty pupils or fewer, with a bonus pro rata on the next hundred pupils to a maximum of ninety-six hundred dollars. However, he noted,

"This still leaves the question of any salary for me this year." Expenditures for the first month of operation included one hundred dollars to Major Cramer for rent, three hundred dollars to the Educational Equipment Company, and one hundred dollars for a fire extinguisher system. The eighteen students enrolled were far fewer than the sixty originally hoped for, as was income "to cover salaries for excellent teachers at rates above those now paid by the public schools for their best teachers." However, Dr. Burton believed that "financing would be adequate to provide from the start a school that is so obviously adequate as to plant, equipment and faculty that there will be no 'waiting to see what happens' before enrolling, and that older students will want to come to the school." Based upon considerable investigation, it was believed such a school would require a total investment of fifty thousand dollars, allocated as follows: Site-About a hundred acres, located somewhere near Providence Road just beyond the city limits, estimated at one hundred dollars per acre or ten thousand dollars. Campus Development-Construction of water supply, sewage disposal, roads, walks, athletic fields, tennis courts, etc., at four thousand dollars. Building-Construction of first unit of building shown on plans by Charles W. Connelly, architect, at thirty thousand dollars. Equipment-Furniture and other equipment for classrooms, library, laboratory, shop, studio, kitchen, dining room, office, athletics, and miscellaneous, at five thousand dollars. Reserve-One

thousand dollars.

In a report to the Board of Directors on November 22, however, the headmaster noted: We should take steps to assure ourselves of the availability of the Cramer house for another year in case we cannot build the new school on the Sharon site-a possibility that seems remote at this time in view of national conditions. Early last summer, I said that we could not let the campaign for the ultimate school we all want depend upon the success of an experimental period. I consented to start this year in a small way, not in order to try out the possibility of further support, but because I was convinced that the larger

support was at hand, but might be slow in coming unless we followed our early work with tangible evidence of progress. I believe now more than ever, that the future success of the school is assured; and that we should proceed with plans for the purchase of the land, the development of its campus facilities, and a raising of funds for eventual erection of buildings. Another point of interest during the early months is the amount of coverage the new school elicited in the newspapers, even to a Charlotte News account entitled "Modern Education: Students At Day School Really Turn 'Country' In Possum Hunt." It seems that a pet opossum, caught on a hunt by Miss Caroline Mann, escaped from its cage during the night. When a cursory examination of the premises failed to produce any trace of the animal, the children joined the search. "Shouting at the top of their lungs, they searched every nook and cranny in the huge old Cramer residence, looking under bookcases and in dark closets. But all to no avail." So the students went back to their books until a scream issued from the kitchen, bringing students and teachers running. They found the possum, which had crawled into the pantry, nibbled at an apple, and curled up for a nap atop a sack of potatoes. He reacted to being awakened from his nap "with blank stares, devoid of any interest or curiosity, exactly as he looked after he was in the cage again." School reopened on Monday, January 5, 1942, with plans to add sixth and seventh grades on February 2. These classes had not opened as planned because of the lack of equipment and students. On March 11, in a memo to the Board of Directors, Dr. Burton outlined plans for changing the structure of the school from that of a corporation run for profit to a nonprofit corporation. Such a move would bring additional financial support by way of gifts or endowment, it was believed, making the future of the school even more secure. At the same time, Dr. Burton announced plans for an Afternoon Outing Club for boys and girls in the eight- to twelve-year-old group, which would be open not only to Country Day students, but also to "a few boys and girls who are not at present enrolled in the school." (In an outline of plans for the club, Dr. Burton indicated that Mrs. Frank Dowd, Jr., had suggested that perhaps she and other parents of children not enrolled at the school would welcome an opportunity for their children to join the Country Day boys and girls in that part of the day's program from three to five o'clock.) To accommodate the program, playground facilities were to be expanded by fencing the large lot

adjacent to the Morehead Street site, also owned by Major Stuart Cramer, who had made the land available to the school. Planning for the fence and playground, including a small-sized baseball field, was "in the hands of the fifth grade arithmetic class," working under the direction of Dr. Burton and athletic teacher Mr. Lange. The actual work would be done by a professional crew, but the figuring of costs, planning of construction, and laying out of the field were to be the responsibility of the class members. Dr. Burton outlined his thoughts on the purpose of the club by saying, "The hours from after school until supper time should provide relaxation from the routine and formal discipline of school. But without some degree of planning and direction, many important social and educational values may be lost. For after-school hours are as important to the children, and for the children, as any other part of the day; and if the time is not spent constructively, it may be worse than wasted." Still, he

acknowledged that children would share in running the club and deciding what to do; otherwise "they may have reason to feel that they are being deprived of their last legitimate bit of free time. Children will be given as much latitude in making choices and running the affairs of the club as is consistent with the health and recreational objectives of the club." On March 20, 1942, according to Dr. Burton's minutes, parents and the Board of Directors decided to proceed immediately with "plans to open next September with all grades from one to nine, provided that a total of thirty-six pupils is enrolled early enough to allow for the engagement of teachers before the current school year ends." The present parents reenrolled their children, and several new parents enrolled theirs, so that the parent committee helping with recruitment felt certain that the projected enrollment would be met. Members of the committee were Mrs. Stuart Cramer, Jr., Mrs. Harry L. Dalton, and Mrs. Morgan B. Speir, Jr. "We believe," they said, "that the future of the school is secure and ... that it has already proven its worth." The March 20 Board of Directors meeting was certainly a productive one, as the following announcement in The Charlotte Observer on April 2 indicates: The Charlotte Country Day School will operate in the future as a nonprofit corporation with a self-perpetuating board of trustees instead of a stock corporation .... The stockholders voted unanimously to repeal the stock and profit provisions of the charter, establish a nonprofit corporation and to vest control in a selfperpetuating board of trustees consisting of from seven to twelve members. Under the new plan all common and preferred stock will be turned in and will be replaced by a new preferred stock of equal value. The new corporation will issue $100,000 in preferred stock represented by 1,000 shares of the par value of $100 each. This conversion . . . makes all gifts and donations to the school for scholarships, building fund or endowments deductible on Federal income tax reports. Plans for construction of a new school plant, however, were postponed until after the war. At that point, plans included continuing at the Morehead Street location, after making further improvements to the building and grounds to accommodate the additional grades. Following the stockholders meeting, the trustees met and elected R. Lewis Patton to membership. Members and officers of the new board were as follows:

Elliott H. Newcombe, president; John D. Shaw, secretary; John W. Labouisse, treasurer; Thomas Burton, headmaster; and Jesse W. Page, Jr., R. Lewis Patton, Paul W. Sanger, and Harry C. Wolf, Jr. On June 4, a meeting of stockholders and others interested in Country Day was called to discuss the "September outlook in view of the restricted use of cars by gas and tire rationing." Various transportation methods had been proposed, including splitting the activities of the school so that "children who cannot ride bicycles or buses may be accommodated near their homes in community schools during the emergency." On June 5, 1942, the first year of operation came to a close with ceremonies attended by students and parents. The program began at ten o'clock with a book fair by children of the primary grades in which they impersonated characters in their favorite books, part of the school's policy of familiarizing parents with the best in new books for children. Songs by the group were also interspersed at intervals throughout the program. Those taking part were Morgan Speir, Jr., Nancy Burton, Harry Wolf, David Dalton, Elliott Newcombe, Michael Page, Nancy Newcombe, Richard Burton, Charles Gwomney, and Carolyn Watkins. Samples of work done by the pupils, and exhibits representing various activities of the year, were on display in the classrooms. Miss Caroline Mann presented a prize to those whose Victory Garden was judged best by a parent committee. Headmaster Burton announced outstanding achievements and honors won by the pupils. Among these were personal citations of more than twenty cases in which individual pupils had accomplished the equivalent of more than two years of school work since October. A number of them accomplished the equivalent of "up to three years and seven months of ordinary school work," the headmaster noted. He presented attractive books as appropriate rewards, adding, "These achievements place them well on the road toward equality with pupils in leading boarding schools." To the press he said, "The first year of school has proved successful beyond all expectations, and enrollment for next fall already is double the enrollment for the past year." He emphasized the fact that there were no failures in the school. In an editorial in The Charlotte News) J. E. Dowd lauded the school as "an asset of decided potential value," adding further, "In the acquisition of Dr. Thomas Burton and his well-selected staff the sum total of the community's interest and equipment in teaching the young idea to shoot is enhanced. The enterprise deserves support for itself and for its distinct features."

While maintaining such optimism for the new school in town and the accomplishments of its first year, the same editorial page announced "Severe Defeat" on the war front: It may be that we are beating the tar out of the Jap Navy every time it sails in close enough for our planes to get at it, but elsewhere we are losing a battle ingloriously. Day by day the Nazis are sinking ships faster than we can build them, sinking them right in our own ponds. The battle against the U-boats has become a rout for the United States. Indeed, there is reason to say that the U-boats are doing greater damage to the U.S .... than the RAP is doing to Germany even with its 1,OOO-bomber raids .... The Battle of the Western Atlantic is being won handily by the undersea forces of Adolf Hitler. Fifty years later, one can only praise the prophecy regarding Charlotte Country Day while being happy and relieved that The News was wrong with regard to the outcome of World War II. On June 28, 1942, two announcements appeared in the local newspapers along with a full-page ad for the summer tutoring program and enrollment for the following year. The first announcement said that after July 1, the school would move to the Senator James A. Bell home at 2217 Selwyn Avenue, and that plans were being made to operate a bus for the children living at some distance from the school. The second stated that four new members had been added to the Board of Trustees: Allison H. Pell, Mrs. Morgan B. Speir, Jr., Mrs. Harry Dalton, and Mrs. V. P. Loftis. Mr. O. F. Johnson of the Stony Brook School on Long Island had been added to the tutoring faculty for geometry and math. The following teachers, in addition to Dr. Burton, would teach summer school: Dr. Lucille Delano of the Queens College faculty, French and Spanish; Miss Cornelia Nixon, foreign languages; Miss Myrtis Mackey and Miss Flora Mae Watson, mathematics; and Miss Alice Polk, English and Latin. The ad hit hard at the academic needs of Charlotte's young people, saying that the city sent more boys and girls to college, and more away to boarding school for adequate preparation for college, than any other city in the state, and yet "no other city in the country the size of Charlotte is without at least one preparatory school to supplement its public school facilities in preparing for college." It noted that Country Day had been established, not as an exclusive private school, but as an independent

supplement to the existing school system. It pointed out the advantages its students had enjoyed all winter-small classes, individual guidance and supervision, supervised study at school-and spelled out in detail the progress these students had made. It noted that twelve years in the Country Day School would cost less than three years away from home in a medium-priced boarding school. And it ended with quite a punch line: "NOW is the time for YOU to consider whether YOUR CHILD should enjoy these same advantages so that he can go to a high-standing college when the time comes, and not be one of the 30 percent who are dropped in their freshman year 'because of inadequate preparation' for the exacting work of college years. Don't wait until it is almost time for college exams. Don't let the little handicaps and deficiencies accumulate from early years to prejudice success in college."

Chapter 2

The Second Year 1942-1943

uch advertising paid off, for when the school opened for the second year in the new location at 2217 Selwyn Avenue, it had more than doubled enrollment to forty-five pupils, five teachers, and one parttime teacher. The preschool was directed by Miss Sharp, assisted by Mrs. Burton. Miss Agnew directed the primary group, while Miss Oberwortmann and Dr. Burton directed the junior group, which went through the seventh grade. Mrs. Clarkson was the nature teacher; Mrs. Whitsett drove the station wagon and typed the school paper. The school day started at nine o'clock and ended at twelve-thirty for the preschool and the first grade, while the other children ate lunch at school and remained until four o'clock. There were eighteen children in Miss Sharp's preschool class. During the first hour of school, her students had a free work period. At ten o'clock they rested and had their midmorning lunch. At a quarter till eleven they had a story and at eleven, music. They played outdoors from eleven-thirty until twelve-thirty, when they went home. Frequently, they made field trips to various places of interest, such as the railway station, where the railroad policeman took them through the day coach, Pullman, mail car, and freight car. The children also took turns getting into the cab of the engine and were given chocolate Mounds when they

left. Miss Agnew taught a combination grade in which Nancy Burton, David Dalton, Ernest Franklin, Nancy Newcombe, and Lewis Patton were the first graders, while Elliott Newcombe, Roger Workman, Michael Page, Skipper Solomon, and Harry Wolf made up the second grade. Someone had given the class two bantam hens and a rooster, for which they built a pen. They also had an aquarium with several kinds of fish and a terrarium with wild plants and a turtle, which they had found in the woods.

Five boys ruled the fourth and fifth grades. Richard Burton and Mickey Sherrill were fourth graders; fifth graders were Roddey Dowd, Spike Pierce, and Bob Mayer. The boys studied English, social studies, spelling, and literature in the mornings and math and science in the afternoons, but they did other kinds of work, too. They painted the tables bluish-green and the chairs red in their second-floor, "north-east" room. They focused on art-modeling banks, pin trays, baskets, bowls, and pencil holders out of clay, and painting them as the treasures dried. They also painted pictures, mainly of farm machinery, boats, trains, and army tanks. Each boy had a cubbyhole in which to keep his books and "things. " Nine children were in the combination sixth and seventh grade. John Scott Cramer, Jesse Page, Peter Loftis, Skipper Sherrill, and Alan Dickson were the boys. The girls were Patsy Ray, Hannah Jane Withers, Sidney Erwin, and Mary Ann Medearis. Dr. Burton taught them social studies, arithmetic, and science in the morning; Miss Oberwortmann taught oral and written English, spelling, and literature in the afternoons. On Mondays and Thursdays they went to Mrs. Clarkson's home, Wing Haven, for nature studies. Mr. E. C. Griffith allowed Country Day to use a field adjoining the school for athletics during the same time period on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Fridays and for a half-hour of organized games during morning recess. Favorite games were "capture the sticks," dodge ball, "dusting the rummer," volleyball, kickball, baseball, and football. They also had jumping standers and mattresses on which to do somersaults. Sometimes they got into the station wagon and rode out to Mr. Cameron Morrison's farm, Morrocroft. They hiked a half-mile to the camping grounds, gathered wood to build a fire, ate lunch, and played in the woods until it was time to go home. A teacher always accompanied the children to the playing field and stayed with them during their play period, for "Accidents Do Happen," as reported in the sports section of the school paper. "We were playing baseball and Skipper Sherrill was up to bat. He slugged a line drive down the center of the field toward second baseman Sidney Erwin. The ball came so fast that she missed and it went smack into her nose, making it bleed for a while. The next day she was all right." Much attention was directed to the war effort, and the tiny school won the first prize of two hundred dollars for the collection of scrap metal. The scrap averaged 1,678 pounds per pupil, and altogether the school collected 72,175 pounds. Community service emphasis began early at CCDS, and one hundred dollars of the prize money was donated

to the Community Chest. The rest was earmarked for the improvement of the school. On November 5, Mary Anne Medearis and Jesse Page delivered the money collected by Country Day students for the Community and War Chest Drive to the Hotel Charlotte, where two representatives from every school in the city were on the air. Station WAYS had students give their names, schools, and the amount of money each school had given to the War Chest. Charlotte Country Day came in second with a total of $117, and Mary Anne Medearis, editor-in-chief of The Clipper, dutifully reported the news in the first edition of the school newspaper, published in November 1942. The second grade class, under the direction of Miss Agnew, felt a duty to buy as many defense stamps as possible, so they made a booth and set it up in the doorway of their room. Every Tuesday morning they sold stamps to all the students and teachers, making enough money in the first month to buy a bombardier kit. Having raised $52.65 for January, they resolved to buy a $25.00 bond every month.

Mary Anne Medearis Troutman and Hannah Withers Craighill Dickson (standing) in the library at the Selwyn Avenue school.

with

Alan

In February Miss Oberwortmann left the school to join the WAACS. Her classes in the fourth, fifth, sixth, and seventh grades had just finished writing letters to the children at a school in Venezuela, where Miss Oberwortmann had previously taught. Mrs. Whitsett typed the letters on onionskin paper, and the class mailed them by air at twenty-five cents a half-ounce. While they waited for replies, they had a party for Miss Oberwortmann, presenting her with a gift, an identification dog tag, and a WAACS shoe shine kit. They also made plans for planting a Victory Garden on one of the playground areas. That year, Country Day students submitted a nomination to Miss Grace Anderson, chairman of the committee in charge of selecting North Carolina's state bird. They chose the wild turkey as the bird most representative of the state, but of course, the cardinal was ultimately the winner. Another item of note was that the seventh grade literature class had read Longfellow's "The Courtship of Miles Standish," and Hannah Jane Withers, associate editor of The Clipper, wrote about the part they all liked best: "Miles Standish has just decided that he wants to marry Priscilla, but he is afraid to ask her. He asks his friend, John Alden, to ask her for him. John Alden goes to Priscilla and tells her all about Miles Standish, how brave he is, all the battles he has fought and won, and then he told her that Miles Standish wanted to marry her. She smiled a little and said, 'Why don't you speak for yourself, John?'" Dr. Burton supported the idea of a school paper: "I believe that a paper may be a very good institution for a school like ours, if we don't just try to imitate other schools' papers, but really make it a school organ that reveals what we do and think here." He admonished the students to "be sure of your facts, use the right words to express them, spell them correctly, express your ideas in correct English so that your meaning is clear and punctuate your sentences correctly so that your reader may understand you the first time he reads it." The editorial page featured articles on "Fair Play" and "School Property," warning that "we must not pick on little boys and girls, should not take the biggest glassful of juice or the biggest cracker, and should not cry when we are not elected chairman," and that, above all, we should "take care of school property just like the property in our homes." Clearly the belief in scholarship, service, honor, and character existed at Country Day from the first. At the final exercises for the year on May 28, 1943, Lieutenant Mark Orr, public relations officer at Morris Field, and R. E. Kerr, chairman of the Mecklenburg County War Savings Committee, presented a Minuteman flag to the school for its record sale of stamps

Dr. Burton (center) poses with his faculty. From left to right: Miss Kate Agnew, Miss Agnes Oberwortmann, Edna Coble Burton, Dr. Burton, Miss Anne Kendrick Sharp, and Mrs. Edwin Clarkson of Wing Haven.

and bonds. The second grade, which handled the activity, sold $1,138 worth of stamps and $3,525 worth of bonds. Solcliers from Morris Field also blew bugle calls for the children and took them for rides in a jeep. The program opened with the presentation of a play, which the seventh grade had written, based on "The Courtship of Miles Standish." The children in the primary grades sang several numbers, while the upper grades presented vocal and instrumental selections. Dr. Burton told of the work, field trips, and projects of the school year and commended a number of students for having done two years' work in from one to five subjects. Following these exercises the trustees met to discuss plans for building new headquarters for the school. Allison Pell, V. P. Loftis, and H. C. Wolf, Jr., comprised the Building Committee. Plans had been drawn, and the trustees hoped to have an attractive building in a central location ready for use the following fall. However, no builcling site had been decided upon at the time of the meeting. Apparently the option had run out on the one hundred-plus acres of land purchased by the Bullards for a permanent school site on Sharon Road.

Chapter 3

Years of Growth and Change 1943-1950 The Sharon Road Campus, 1943-1945

published bulletin of information for the third school year stated that the opening date would be Monday, September 27, 1943, at the temporary address of 2217 Selwyn Avenue. Harry C. Wolf, Jr., was chairman of the Board of Trustees, Mrs. W. Frank Dowd was vice-chairman, John D. Shaw was secretary, and Allison H. Pell was treasurer. Other members included Thomas Burton, Mrs. Harry L. Dalton, John W. Labouisse, Mrs. V. P. Loftis, Mrs. William F. Medearis, and R. Lewis Patton. A steering committee of mothers had been appointed by the board during the previous year to formulate plans for a Parents' Council, consisting of representatives from each grade. The first Parents' Council was chaired by Mrs. W. Frank Dowd and consisted of Mrs. James W. Alexander, Mrs. Alan Chrisman, Mrs. Stuart W. Cramer, Jr., Mrs. Harry L. Dalton, Mrs. R. S. Dickson, Mrs. Elliott G. Ewell, Mrs. V. P. Loftis, Mrs. William F. Medearis, Mrs. Frank O. Sherrill, and Mrs. Benjamin Withers. The Selwyn Avenue location, just beyond Queens College at Westfield Road, was billed as easily accessible to children in the Myers Park and Eastover sections of the city. The Selwyn Avenue bus stop no. 3 was at the door, and a system of cars and station wagons was available to transport young children for a very moderate charge of $1.25 per week. Tuition ranged from one hundred dollars per year for preschool children to four hundred dollars per year for ninth graders, with a 10 percent reduction in the tuition of each pupil in cases of families with more than one pupil in school. Prices for lunches were ten cents and for the hot dinners, forty cents, billed monthly. The large, light classrooms, shop, studio, dining room, and library were well ventilated and heated, according to the above-mentioned

James G. Cannon became involved with the school as parent, board chairman, and benefactor.

brochure, and the grounds were well equipped with large building blocks, boxes, swing, ladders, sand pile, gardens, and yards for pets, providing ample playing space for the younger children. Through the generosity of Mr. E. C. Griffith, the school continued to have the use of the large athletic field as well as a school garden plot nearby for the older children. The brochure noted further that "during the coming year, the faculty will consist of ten teachers, including teachers for science, shop, art, music, and foreign languages." School would continue to begin at nine o'clock for all children, with the primary children going home at twelve-thirty, except during the spring, when second graders began to have dinner at school at one o'clock and remained for play and group

Roddey Dowd, shown here as a student in 1945, would continue an alumnus and, later, as a parent.

loyal service as

projects until four o'clock. Junior grades (three through seven) had dinner at one o'clock and remained at school until four for sports, supervised study, and group projects. The senior grades would remain at school from nine until five. During the winter months, the last study hour (a quarter past four to five o'clock) followed the sports period so that children could be out of doors in the sunshine for their sports, while during the early fall and late spring, the study period preceded the sports so that strenuous out-of-door activities would be avoided during the warmest part of the day. Luncheons of milk, fruit, or fruit juices were served to all children at midmorning and midafternoon. On Saturday, May 1, 1943, The Charlotte Observer reported that the second annual meeting of the Country Day Parents' Council would

be held on May 2 at Queens College at 2:30 p.m. Speaker for the event was Dr. W. Carson Ryan, head of the Department of Education and Training of Teachers at the University of North Carolina and editor of Progressive Education. Dr. Ryan had formerly served as president of the Progressive Education Association, as an associate of the Carnegie Foundation, and as professor of education at Swarthmore. Other speakers included Dr. H. P. Harding, superintendent of the Charlotte city schools, and Dr. James M. Godard, dean of education at Queens College. Both of these men had worked closely with Dr. Burton from the first and, along with Dr. Ryan and pediatrician Dr. J. Robert Adams, had supported the fledgling independent school as members of the Headmaster's Professional Council. Ever the optimist, Dr. Burton also reported that "at least ninety students were enrolled for the 1943--44 school year and that eleven teachers had been employed for grades 1-9." No sooner had commencement exercises been completed for the second year, however, than the board convened at high noon on Friday, May 28, 1943, to confront a crisis in the matter of suitable quarters for the next year. Chairman Wolf reported the failure of all negotiations for renewal of the lease of the Bell house on Selwyn Avenue, and he named the Elliott Springs house on Queens Road West as a possible location if all other prospects failed. Dr. Burton reported the refusal of the state fire marshal and the city fire chief to accept a frame house even after brick veneering and proposed plans for construction of a new building, single story, of block construction, for temporary use. Mr. Pell volunteered to secure or furnish most of the lumber required; Mr. Loftis had furnished an estimate of five thousand dollars for the construction, provided a heating plant and certain plumbing and lighting fixtures could be obtained; Mr. Frank Sherrill offered a practically new oil burner. After a lengthy discussion, it was decided to approve construction of a new building, if other suitable quarters could not be obtained and if reasonable bids could be had from a reliable contractor. Dr. Burton was authorized to proceed with the contracting of four teachers at fourteen hundred dollars per year and the purchasing of another station wagon. On August 4, 1943, the board met again, and Mr. Wolf reported that the possibilities of housing for the school during the coming year had been reduced to three: remaining at the Bell house with possible litigation; building on property to be purchased on Scotland Avenue; and occupying the property and buildings of the discontinued National Youth Administration project on Sardis Road. He also reported an offer from Frank Dowd to rent his old home in Dilworth. Records showed

These students playing rhythm instruments show that music was another important focus of Country Day from the earliest years.

sixty-four pupils enrolled for the year, which would leave an expenditure budget deficit of $7,850. Permission was granted to the treasurer to transfer $350 from the Special Fund to the Operating Fund to pay August rent and Dr. Burton's July salary. On September 3, a special meeting of the board was held in the office of James J. Harris and Company, at which time Mr. Pell reported "the endorsements of Messrs. Dowd, Sherrill, Wolf, Labouisse, and Pell and the pledge of Mrs. Medearis, Mr. Loftis, and Jesse Page to sign the guarantee of payment of a note in the amount of $20,000 for purchase of the H. W. Harkey property on Sharon Road, subject to mortgage held by the American Trust Company." According to the minutes of the meeting, Mr. Pell also reported that "he intended to get some of the parents to pay the year's tuition in advance in order to provide the

treasury with cash in order to carry on the maintenance and other costs incident to the opening of school until such time as contributions can be obtained to cover the purchase and improvements." On September 22, another special meeting was held at Charlotte Country Day School, 3141 Sharon Road, and while the minutes record no specifics concerning the opening of school at the new site, it can be assumed that the third year opened on September 27 as planned, but at the Sharon Road site. The front pages of both local newspapers were filled with war news and lists of local casualties of the European conflicts throughout the year and continuing to D day, June 6, 1944. With such concerns at hand, it is understandable that virtually nothing about the school or its activities appeared in the newspapers for the 1943--44 year. The bulletin of information for the fourth school year indicates that the school would remain at the 3141 Sharon Road address and that the year would begin on September 11, 1944. Harry C. Wolf, Jr., had been persuaded to stay on as chairman of the board because, according to the minutes of September 22, 1943, "the present members, having found permanent housing for the school and having brought it to the present point with numerous financial and other commitments in which they were personally involved, felt in many ways obligated to continue in control as the responsible officials for one more year." The bulletin notes that the school occupies its own property just outside the city limits on Sharon Road. The twelve-room brick house, remodeled to the needs of the school, provides ample classrooms, well lighted, heated and ventilated for all of the activities of the preschool and grades one to seven. An annex of almost equal size, to be constructed in the summer of 1944 as the first unit of the proposed preparatory school, will provide a large study hall, library, laboratory and recitation rooms for grades eight to ten during the coming year. A workshop will also be provided and equipped during the summer. The front and back covers of the bulletin show a jumping pit, hockey and soccer fields, a baseball diamond, a football field, an archery range, and a volleyball court, in addition to playgrounds with building blocks and boards, a sandbox, swings, see-saws, and a jungle gym for the preschool children. Space was given to gardens and an outdoor theater. At that point, it was projected that the current year would encompass grades preschool through ten; grade eleven would be added in

1945, grade twelve in 1946, and the first class would graduate in June of 1947. Dr. Burton's optimism, always accompanied by architectural drawings and concrete designs, was one of his greatest attributes. On July 28, 1944, The Charlotte News headline announced a "2000-Volume Library Bought By Country Day School" from the Fermata School in Aiken, South Carolina, along with stage equipment. The library would exceed by fifteen hundred volumes the five hundredvolume requirement of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and would allow all requirements for accreditation to be met by the time the first class was graduated. On July 29, it was reported that nature teacher Mrs. Clarkson had published a book listing all local birds, and that parents from Charlotte Country Day School had helped compile the information. Among The Charlotte News headlines of the summer of 1944 were "Yanks Invade Guam" and "Ring of Steel Closes On Hapless Foes In Germany." Another major foe was polio, with fourteen cases reported in

Nutrition and "hands-on" applesauce.

experiences were valued; these students are making

Charlotte in July. Polio canceled Boys' State in August and caused schools to postpone their openings until September 18, among them the remodeled and redecorated Charlotte Country Day School, located in the Harkey home at 3141 Sharon Road. On Friday, August 18, 1944, The Charlotte News announced the Day School faculty for 1944-45, including Mrs. Edgar Lee Masters, English, dramatics, journalism, and public speaking; Mr. Frank Eller, science; Reverend Robert Boyd, foreign languages; Mrs. Wallace Gilbertson, voice and instrumental music; Miss Margaret K. Harvey, math; and Mr. Robert N. Bliss, social studies. "Miss Harvey will direct girls' sports, while Mr. Eller and Mr. Bliss direct boys' sports, and Mr. Eller handles the shop, which, along with the laboratory and the library, is completely and newly equipped."

Mrs. Masters, wife of the well-known author of Spoon River Anthology, was educated at the University of Chicago and at Columbia University, where she received an M.A. degree. She had been engaged in camp directing, lecturing, theatrical work, and teaching English at the Lincoln School of Columbia University and serving as head of the English Department at the Bentley School of New York City before coming to Charlotte. The Reverend Mr. Boyd served as assistant pastor of St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in addition to his teaching duties. Mr. Eller was a graduate of Catawba College and Duke University and had attended graduate school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he conducted research on spiders and North Carolina legumes and classified and catalogued goldenrod. Mrs. Gilbertson was a graduate of the DeShaze College of Music in Memphis, Tennessee, where she had also taught. Miss Harvey, who had coached girls at Girard College in Philadelphia for twelve years, was a graduate of Friends Select School, Hood College, and Teachers College of Temple University. Another prize addition to the teaching faculty was Miss Margaret Coble of Greensboro, who would teach one of the middle grades and help develop a curriculum that would use the newer methods of individualizing education while meeting the requirements of the State Department of Public Instruction and the Secondary Education Board. She was a graduate of the Woman's College of the University of North Carolina, having received a B.S. from George Peabody College in Nashville, Tennessee, and an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University. She had served as assistant superintendent of the Parker District School in Greenville, South Carolina, as an assistant on the staff of New College, Columbia University, and as a curriculum advisor to Springdale School in western North Carolina before coming to Country Day. By the spring of 1945, Dr. Burton and the board of Charlotte Country Day had agreed to part company. The board minutes of that period, Mary Todd's interview with Mrs. Burton in a Perspectives article in 1979, and an interview with Mr. David Howe, who served as headmaster from 1955 to 1969, show the dedication of Dr. Burton and the profound influence he had in helping the fledgling school survive. Mrs. Burton said, "At times we literally lived at the school. Tom taught mathematics and some English to the higher grades, 'coached' coed baseball, such as it was, and I assisted with the kindergarten and supervised the lunch program." In addition, Dr. Burton worked with the board, parents, and community to promote the school, took and typed all of the minutes of the board, and supervised all of the early moves from one

house to another. His wife said, "He had vision. He had hoped to set up a boys' boarding school in the Southern Pines area, but money problems and the coming of the war caused him to look elsewhere." That "elsewhere" was, of course, Charlotte, where he was to establish the first independent school since the old private academies in antebellum days. Mrs. Burton also said of her husband something that is readily supported by board minutes: "Tom's philosophy was to let each child develop his potential to the fullest. He wanted a diverse student body. He felt that to be an educated person you have to have all kinds of experiences and meet all different kinds of people." Headmaster Howe calls Dr. Burton's ideas "original and progressive." He was "a John Dewey man, with theory and practice profoundly significant to and needed by American education. He had a casual sense of business, and built up a debt of about fifteen thousand dollars. His lack of communication with his board caused problems, and in the end, they peacefully and amicably parted ways." When Dr. Burton left Country Day, he taught at a Dale Carnegie school; invented "Quick Hand," an alternative to Gregg shorthand; and founded the Burton Institute, a school that taught basic skills to adults, mainly ex-G.I.'s, who used the school to obtain high school equivalency degrees. Dr. Burton died at age eighty-four on November 12, 1978, but his vision continues to live on in Charlotte Country Day School, whose philosophy and mission still reflect the ideas of the founder.

The Sardis Road Campus Miss Nar Warren Taylor, 1945-1948 Mr. Thomas Stapleton, 1948-1950 On Wednesday, May 23, 1945, the old Sardis School property, site of the National Youth Administration Training Center, was sold to the Board of Trustees of Charlotte Country Day School for twenty thousand dollars, according to newspaper reports. The opening of the fifth school year took place on the six-acre campus on Sardis Road on September 15, 1945, with fifty-six new students and Miss Nar Warren Taylor as headmistress. Almost immediately newspaper ads such as the one below began to appear in the local papers, attesting to the growing popularity and reputation of the city's first independent school: "Six and one-half wooded acres for sale on Old Sardis Road within easy walking distance of Charlotte Country Day. $2600."

Former Headmaster David Howe offers this information on Miss Taylor, who served as headmistress from 1945 to 1948 at the Sardis Road site: "She went on to Winthrop to a very distinguished career. She was a really professional educator." At some point, too, she apparently went to University School Milwaukee, where current Headmaster Robert Johnston later served, because her name appears among the early faculty there. School records give no information about Miss Taylor, which is unfortunate, since she is the only woman ever to have served as head of Country Day. Alumnus Elliott Newcombe remembers her as being "tough." He recalls the period as the time of corduroy knickers and brogans and says that "Miss Taylor used to thump me behind the ear." He best remembers playing on the first football team in a field behind the Sardis Road campus "in ragtag, makeshift uniforms" mainly comprised of sweat shirts with "Country Day" on the fronts. It was 1946, and they celebrated the

Country Day's first football banquet in 1946 with guest star Charlie "ChooChoo" Justice (center). Photo donated by Elliott Newcombe, Jr.

end of the season with the first football banquet, at which they received gold footballs on watch chains. Charlie "Choo-Choo" Justice came from Chapel Hill to be the speaker and brought along two other members of the famous University of North Carolina team. A photographer recorded the grand occasion for posterity, and the picture shows a proud team, which includes Henry Wright, Edgar Price, Clarkson Jones, Eddie Pell, Dick Schenck, Bill Pender, Jimmy Harris, Jr., Martin Lucas, Lewis Patton, Michael Paige, David Barnhardt, Dick Crutchfield, Lawrence Wright, Brem Meyer, Jimmy Moss, and Elliott Newcombe, who gave the picture to the school archives in 1989. Other recollections from Mr. Newcombe's student days include a fond memory of teacher Ann Howerton as "the nicest lady I ever knew. I gave her a cat for Christmas and she named it Elliott." He was also a member of the boys' softball team, who went to playa game with Piedmont Junior High School and learned when they arrived that they were going to play "hardball." He says, "I remember pitching overhand, and they called the game after three innings." (Elliott's father, a Woodberry Forest and Carolina graduate who helped form Country Day and provided leadership as the first chairman of the board for the school, died in 1976. Elliott left Country Day in 1948 or 1949 for Woodberry Forest; he went on to Duke University, where he majored in business administration. Elliott III also attended Country Day on the Carmel campus for three or four years before going to Woodberry Forest, and

daughter Beth attended for a couple of years before going to St. Catherine's. ) Miss Taylor was followed by Mr. Thomas Stapleton, 1948-1950, who had been associated with the administration of Country Day schools in Rochester, New York, and Greenwich, Connecticut, "and whose main contribution," according to Headmaster Howe, "was that he brought in excellent faculty like Robert Booker and Emlyn Evans." A school yearbook also credits him with establishing one of the most popular and enduring traditions of the school, the Lower School Halloween Parade, which was first held, according to the yearbook, in 1948. The ninth school year, for kindergarten through ninth grade, began under Mr. Stapleton's leadership on September 12, 1949. Members of the Board of Trustees were Wylie H. Arnold, W. H. Barnhardt, George W. Baxter, Mrs. R. A. Bigger, Howard Biggers, Dabney M. Coddington, E. P. Davidson, E. B. Dillard, Mrs. Henry Gaede, Darden Hampton, James J. Harris, Lucian Harris, Mrs. Rube Hatcher, J. A. Malcolm, Elliott Newcombe, R. Lewis Patton, Allison H. Pell, Dr. Paul W. Sanger, Mrs. Kenneth R. Shupp, Dallas H. Smith, Mrs. Howard Snow, Worth Stewart, and J. Laurens Wright-many new names among the number of old ones still committed to involvement in the growing school. The purposes of the school continued to be thorough academic training, knowledge of how to work independently, uncrowded classes,

religious training, democratic atmosphere, and a full sports program. Headmaster Stapleton left in the middle of the year, and Robert Booker, one of the teachers Mr. Stapleton had hired, took over as headmaster, serving from 1950 to 1955 and providing the school with one of its most colorful and memorable periods.

Chapter 4

The Robert Bool(er Years 1950-1955

n 1950-51 R. E. E. Booker served his first full year as headmaster of Charlotte Country Day School. Headmaster Booker held an M.A. from Oxford University and was a member of the Royal Society of Teachers and a fellow of the Royal Society of Arts. His chief of staff, Emlyn Evans, held degrees from St. Marks and St. Johns of London University, and the two of them profoundly influenced the school in ways it had not encountered before and would not encounter again in its first fifty years. The two had been recruited by Thomas Stapleton from a school in Bermuda, where Booker had served as headmaster, and "they tried to make Country Day into an English pre-prep school," according to David Howe, who further notes that "in Booker's and Evans' eyes, if it were not English, then it must be slightly wrong." During Headmaster Booker's first full year, Mr. Edwin S. Dillard was chairman of the Board of Trustees; Mr. Herbert M. Woodward was business manager. Mr. Woodward also served as editor for the school's first official yearbook-not the student-compiled Postscript, which was two years away, but rather an unostentatious, sixteen-page "account of many aspects of the daily life of this small but active school." While noting that this slim volume was very different from "the usual stereotyped school yearbook," Mr. Woodward added the hope "that the more interested reader may find some color concealed within our articles and may capture some of the atmosphere of the school and the interest and enthusiasm of those connected with it." True to Mr. Woodward's intent, the book today offers much insight into school life under Headmaster Booker's direction. Of particular interest is the house system initiated during the Booker years. In a yearbook article, Mr. William L. Stuckey, Harvard graduate and fifth grade teacher, explained that such systems are "ancient and traditional elements of most private schools in America, and for that matter, throughout the world. The house system provides a school with a reasonable standard

The tradition of eating at tables continues at the Sardis campus with "Pass a courtesy of peas, please."

and with equal competition when it is too young and small to compete with other schools." Competition was measured by two basic units, the Optime and the Pessime: for example, "a final house match in a sport usually means ten Optimes for the winning house . . . while house members who collect too many Pessimes are investigated and castigated." Mr. Stuckey noted further that these activities were "producing students who are aware of their responsibility to a group as well as to themselves. " The student body was divided into two houses, Harris (in honor of James J. Harris) and Pell (in honor of Allison Pell), and the competition between them promoted "house spirit" rather than "school spirit." Each house had its officers: Dabney Coddington was Harris House captain, and Peter Temple was Pell House captain in 1950-51. In the best British boarding school tradition, Headmaster Booker also chose a "head boy" and a "head girl" who, along with the prefects, theoretically handled discipline. Interviews with former students and faculty of Country Day pro-

vide further description of the Booker years and of the headmaster himself. John Cole Hatcher, a student at the school from 1946 to 1953 (when he left to attend McCallie School in Tennessee), was interviewed for an article in Perspectives in 1979. There he remembered Mr. Booker's friendliness-"he knew everybody"-and called him "a grand, grand gentleman." Mr. Booker had a pet name for every child, and John (like many of his schoolmates) still remembers his: "The Fisherman," given because John liked to fish. In the interview, John also remembered teachers like the Agnew sisters, Mr. Evans, and Miss Hayes "as fine teachers who helped all of us," and he noted that his excellent preparation helped him go to McCallie "with no problems whatsoever." He recalled the rifle range in the gym, the riding class for students, the Junior Achievement program, and the fact that the two houses allowed students to compete in sports like soccer and baseball because there were few private schools for them to compete against, and the school was too small to compete with the public schools. He recalled how students were allowed to "work out their differences by using padded boxing gloves in the gym under the supervision of a faculty member." John also noted that he was a member of the group that produced the first studentcompiled yearbook in 1953, for which they chose the name Postscript. Marilyn Mills Johnson, who was to remain a teacher at Country Day for twenty-eight years, was hired by Headmaster Booker, and in the 1979 Perspectives, she, too, offered insights into Booker's "unusual style." He wore his academic robe to the daily assemblies, rapping at the door before he entered so that the students could rise. Then he gave his thoughts for the day. She explained that "Bobby was an Englishman, from Bermuda, and was old school in many of his educational ideas. He liked to be called H. M. (headmaster) by everyone!" She also told about one of her first grade students, who was causing disciplinary problems on the school bus, and about whom she finally sought advice from Mr. Booker. "He told me to send the offending student to his office and he'd have him write on the board a hundred times, 'I must not be a silly ass.' That's when I decided to handle my own disciplinary problems and have ever since." As for Emlyn "Lyn" Evans, Mr. Booker's chief of staff, Headmaster David Howe remembers him with affection but "as having little gentleness as a teacher and little method but drill." However, other teachers remember him with some awe as having been a member of the Royal Navy and arriving in North Carolina via a shipwreck off the coast. He remained with the school as a colorful teacher until 1971.

One element common to all recollections of Headmaster Booker and Mr. Evans is their desire to promote excellence at Charlotte Country Day School, a desire expressed by Headmaster Booker in the 1950-51 yearbook, when he reiterated the aim of Country Day "to provide a balanced school life-to inculcate into boys and girls the value of 'Good Manners, Good Morals, Good Learning, and Good Sportsmanship.'" That school life is described in articles written by students and faculty for the 1950-51 yearbook. For example, Lewis Patton, who was an eighth grader that year and had been a student at the school from its first day of existence, contributed an article entitled "Ten Years at Country Day School." He told about the warm, sunny morning in 1941 when he entered preschool "on Morehead Street, across from Alexander Graham School, in the old Cramer House. The house burnt down several years ago, and the Cardinal Restaurant is now where it used to be. The first person I met when I got out of the car was David Dalton, a good friend of mine. I went in with David, met my teacher, and sat down to my first day at school." Lewis remembers missing all but forty days of his first grade year because of an allergy and having to repeat first grade the next year, which made him the "smartest person" in his class during the second and third grades. He had attended the school at all four of its locations, and remembered that in the sixth grade, when the school bought a big bus, he and Michael Page were the first pupils ever to be picked up in it. "Some of the bus rides that year were quite exciting!" he adds. Seventh grader Sara Harris wrote an article entitled "Why I Value My United States Citizenship So HigWy," and Virginia Griffith contributed a piece called "I Love Dogs." Sara was secretary of Harris House, and Virginia was secretary of Pell House and the School Officers. Mr. William Stuckey reported on the shop classes, of which he was exceedingly proud because the "tradition will add much to the life of the school, and with such a beginning, there is no doubt offuture success." The fourth graders had painted their own room; shop classes had produced a bowling pin set, mural frame, and flagpole for the Primary Department; the House Ladder and odds and ends of bookshelves and bookends for the Upper School; indoor and outdoor backboards for basketball, two sets of goalposts for soccer, and a half-dozen bleachers for both atWetic fields; and some odd services for the school in general, "including the plugging of knotholes, the transportation of displaced stoves, and the illicit production of pocket-size artillery," according to Mr. Stuckey.

The indefatigable Mr. Stuckey also unveiled the success of the school's new Dramatic Club and its first production, EverythingJs Off, An Adolescent Farce, by Paul S. McCoy. Praising a cast that put together the production in only ten days, he noted that "all of the parts were skillfully played, all of the scenes moved quickly, and they succeeded in one of the stage's most difficult tasks: making an audience laugh." The plot concerned the trickery of Lewis Patton, who tried to keep his best friend, Dabney Coddington, away from a picnic to which their lady-love, Darlene Thomas, and her brother, Randy Bigger, had invited both of them. All of this skulduggery involved a maid, played by Carolyn Hugerly; Lewis's younger sister, played by Virginia Griffith; and a neighbor, played by Sara Harris. "With such a promising beginning the school can expect only greater successes in the future," Mr. Stuckey accurately prophesied. The school continued a tradition that had been initiated three years earlier, the annual Easter trip. In 1948 a group had gone to Virginia; in 1949, to Tennessee; in 1950, to the Bahamas. In 1951, the fourth annual journey during spring vacation was to Florida. Six boys from the sixth, seventh, and eighth grades, led by Mr. and Mrs. Hugh Watson, spent a week visiting St. Simons Island in Georgia, touring St. Augustine

in Florida, seeing the oceanarium at Marineland, enjoying Ross Allen's Reptile Institute and the glass-bottom boats at Silver Springs, and swimming at Daytona Beach. Thanking Mr. Snow, who offered the idea and helped organize the trip, and Miss Boyce of the Carolina Motor Club, who helped plan the day-by-day itinerary, Mr. Watson expressed his plans for "next year when we are looking forward to carrying on the tradition of an Easter Trip and hope to be able to include a greater number of students in the group." During the school's tenth year of existence, the 1950 football season would be a memorable one, when "each player covered himself with the glory of fighting nobly against odds .... The team was green in two senses: green is the CCDS color, and, equally obvious, most of the boys were completely new to the science of football," reported Mr. Richard Stetson. The first game, against Alexander Graham's team, consisting of many ninth graders thoroughly toughened in the sport, resulted in a 4914 shellacking. Then the team lost to Eastover, won a return engagement despite Eastover's insistence that the two biggest boys be withheld from the lineup, and then were humiliated 35-6 in the third engagement. The team also lost twice to St. Leo's Parochial School of Belmont. With the official season out of the way, wrote Mr. Stetson, "the fun really began, with Harris House narrowly defeating Pell House on two occasions. " In 1950 winners of the CCDS letter and gold football included eighth graders Coddington, Couch, Lowe, Patton, Sutcliffe, and Peter Temple; seventh graders Causey, Eaves, Hatcher, Wallace, and Welton; sixth graders Gaede, Hansell, Mostler, Sanger, Snider, and John Temple; and fifth graders Holden and David Snow. Junior varsity men winning only the gold football were fourth graders Baxter, Crandall, Dalton, Dillard, Duncan, and Pitts. Mr. Emlyn Evans reported on the earnest efforts to establish soccer in the South, not merely at Country Day. "Soccer should be played more in Southern schools," he wrote. "It is gaining popularity in the North, and it is probably more of an international game than any other sport. As far as schools are concerned, the game gives boys who are not particularly big or strong the opportunity to oppose heavier opponents and often beat them to the ball or run around them .... A good team should be able to combine plenty of individual play with team play and team spirit." Soccer letters were awarded to Coddington, Couch, Gaede, Patton, Sutcliffe, Temple, and Welton. "There is every reason to hope

Emlyn Evans, popular teacher and soccer coach, here advises another of his innovative activities, the Riflery Club.

that in future years we will have the necessary numbers to play other schools, grade for grade," noted Mr. Evans. During the winter months the construction of the rifle range was completed, also under the direction of Mr. Evans. Boys from the fourth through the eighth grades had the opportunity to shoot on Thursdays and Fridays. Plans for spring included competitions between Harris and Pell houses for a rifle shield, generously donated by Mr. Geoffrey Sutcliffe. In four basketball games with St. Leo's of Belmont, Country Day's record was one win to three losses. Co-captains Patton and Gaede, as well as players Couch, Lowe, Sutcliffe, and Welton, won letters.

Herbert Woodward, whose involvement with Country Day began during Booker years, addresses the 1988 Honorary Alumni Association.

the

Monday, September 10, 1951, marked the tenth anniversary of the school's founding, the start of the eleventh school year, and a new decade with the largest enrollment in the school's history: 126 students. Much had changed. The Stuart Cramer home, first site of the school, had become the busy crossroads of Morehead Street and Independence Boulevard; founding headmaster Dr. Thomas Burton was director of his Burton Institute; and the school was beginning its seventh year on the Sardis Road campus. Headmaster Booker prepared the second edition of the "little magazine" that served as a yearbook. In celebrating the tenth anniversary of the school, he noted: The faith of the founders is justified. The school is daily proving its worth to the community. We can't say that we have prosperedprivate schools seldom prosper financially. But we feel prosperous, indeed, when we remember the students whom we have helped to ready for higher education and for participation in the adult world. We are moving always closer to our ideal of building habits of co-

operation amongst a community consisting of home, church, school, and the world at large. This is a happy birthday year for Country Day-for all who have contributed to its birth and growth. In the Foreword to the "magazine," Headmaster Booker talked about the dedication required to keep up "a small and rather struggling school such as this." He told how faculty and staff supervised extracurricular and extramural activities after their teaching day was over; how they drove students home in the evening after spending eight hours continually in the presence of children; how the president of the Parents' Council and the many associated parents "organize and organize to the point where thanks become continually earned"; and how the trustees of the school "give up their valuable time both in the daytime and at night to attend meetings at which the welfare of the school is discussed and promoted." He added, "If the Chairman of Trustees were to be paid for the time and thought he daily spends on voluntary school business, the school would be indebted to him for years to come!" Mr. James G. Cannon was chairman of the board, with Mr. Wylie H. Arnold as vice-chairman, Mrs. Thomas G. Griffith as secretary, and Mr. Kay J. Jennell as treasurer. Mr. Herbert M. Woodward was business manager, and other board members included Mr. George W. Baxter, Mr. J. Chadbourn Bolles, Mr. Edwin S. Dillard, Mr. Howard T. Holden, Mrs. John W. Labouisse, and Mr. Grady G. Thomas. The list of faculty for 1952-53 clearly reveals the quality and the range of talents. Mrs. W. W. Huss, with an A.B. from Winthrop College, handled the preschool, while Misses Kate and Gladys Agnew, with B.A.s from Greenville Woman's College and Furman University, and M.A.s from Teachers College, Columbia University, handled first and second grades respectively. Miss Minnie Taylor, with an A.B. from Limestone College, taught third grade, while Mrs. James H. Gabriel, with an A.B. from Catawba College, had fourth, and Mr. Emlyn Evans, fifth. Sixth grade was taught by Mrs. Richard S. Stetson, holding an A.B. from Bates College, while Hugh McG. Watson, with an A.B. from Harvard University and an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, taught seventh. Eighth graders had Lt. Col. Robert N. Barrett, USMC (retired), holding an A.B. from Rice Institute. Richard S. Stetson, with an A.B. from Bates College and an M.A. from Teachers College, Columbia University, rounded out the faculty in ninth grade, the first year this grade level was offered at Country Day. The specialty teachers were equally impressive. Art teacher Mrs. Alice Tuttle Steadman held degrees from

Meredith College and the Grand Central School of Art and the Pennsylvania Academy of Fine Arts. F. T. Scruggs of Edwards Military College taught shop; Mrs. R. A. Spainhour, Jr., with a B.Mus. from Salem College, taught piano; Mrs. Paul E. Miller, with an A.B. from Erskine College, taught vocal music; and Mrs. George Holmes taught physical education. Secretary Mrs. F. T. Scrubbs, dietician Mrs. Myrl Bates, and janitor John Stroud completed the staff. It should be noted that outstanding faculty had been a must at Country Day from the first, and that art, music, shop, physical education, and field trips had been integral to the educational program throughout the previous ten years of the school's history. A review of the eleventh year, gleaned from the yearbook (which Mr. Booker called his "diary") and reports from the grade levels, show how the tradition of wellrounded education continued into the second decade. In preschool, "we listen to records while resting, sing with the harp, piano, or organ, or sing without an instrument. We create our own rhythm with percussion instruments, or play rhythms worked out by rhythm band experts in beautiful unity. We dance simple folk dances, or we dance with no motive except a spontaneous urge. Music is so much a part of our daily life at school that the children feel free to sing as they go about their work and play. They often create new suitable words to familiar tunes." The first graders went to the train station, bought tickets for Gastonia, checked their bags in the baggage car, studied the tracks and the signals, watched the train puff up, found seats in the day coach, and explored all of the cars, including the engine. When they returned home, they wrote stories and poetry and painted pictures about the experience. The first graders also joined the preschoolers in enjoying and taking care of pets. A canary lived with first graders all year, as did baby snails, a turtle, a salamander, and bunnies; cocoons, love birds, a hamster, a box turtle, fish, and snails could be found in preschool. Both grades had a bird feeder so that the children could observe little tufted titmice, cardinals, and other wild birds; one child had the responsibility to keep food and water on the feeding tray daily. Among the second grade activities was a social science study of "the story of milk." The class went to the dairy to see milk bottled, butter molded, and ice cream made. Then they churned cream and made their own pound of butter, which they ate on hot biscuits at lunch. They made chocolate milk, and looked in magazines, books, and newspapers for information about milk. They bound their creative stories and poems

into individual books, and wrote thank-you notes to parents, the dietician, and others who had helped them. In art, the primary grades painted at easels with large brushes; finger painted and spatter painted; modeled with clay; worked with crayons, chalk, and scissors; and made and dressed papier-mache puppet heads. As for the older students, displays of art from the fourth through ninth grades were featured weekly in the school dining hall and in an exhibit at the Mint Museum in the spring. In 1950 Mrs. Alice Tuttle Steadman, formerly an instructor at the University of North Carolina who had been associated with the Mint Museum since 1936, had joined the faculty to teach art. "Under her direction," Mr. Woodward wrote, "students have shown a remarkable degree of interest and ability." In shop, students made tie racks, picture frames, and table lamps; shop students painted and raised the flagpole, repaired dining room chairs and tables, and remodeled the rifle range. The choir presented Christmas and Easter assemblies. Physical training continued throughout the year, but more variety was called for in physical exercises "through the procurement of an agility mattress and a vaulting horse, much needed to improve coordination." Students Peter Snow and Lightsey Wallace organized a Cub Scout Den with Mrs. Snow as den mother. The Cubs constructed crystal radio sets, collected rocks and minerals, and manufactured arrowheads and other "Indian relics." Colonel Barrett organized a Stamp Club to which students brought their individual collections for discussion and evaluation. Guests gave talks on philately, and students learned the use of the catalog and the processes of identification. The school's Rifle Club took part in the Junior NRA postal competition. The team consisted of the ten best shooters under fourteen years of age, each firing ten shots. Four monthly matches were held with the targets being sent off for evaluation. John Cole Hatcher, David Snow, and Dainis Mayer were the best shooters in all four phases of the competition. The school's first Sports Day was held in May 1951. Competition between the two houses was keen, with Harris House taking an early lead, but Pell gradually drew ahead and won the meet by twenty points. Coaches, judges, and recorders did well to make the afternoon a success by eliminating delays between events, and everyone was looking forward to continuing the tradition in May of 1952. Boys' teams in soccer, softball, football, and basketball gained spirit and experience. The soccer team had no chance to prove its worth against outside competition, but Long, Welton, Causey, Gaede, Hansell,

The 1951-52 basketball team participated in the citywide Junior High Invitational Tournament.

and Sutcliffe, the captain, developed good soccer sense. In baseball, the 1951 team lost two games to St. Leo's but "came back to win two more against the Belmont team, reflecting keen play and good sportsmanship." Hugh Causey and Charles Couch were outstanding as pitchers, while captain George Sutcliffe and John Cole Hatcher performed well at batting. In football "the only victories were those of spirit and character," according to Booker's "little magazine." Sutcliffe, the fullback, was the offensive gun, while outstanding backfield men included Couch, Monahan, Welton, Wallace, and Holden. On the line were Peter Snow, Moeller, Causey, Walsh, Pitts, David Snow, Sanger, and Hansell. In basketball, the team opened its season by defeating St. Leo's of Belmont 40-15. Other victories included those over O'Donoghue and St. Michaels of Gastonia, but the team lost twice to Pineville Junior High School. The team was invited to participate in the City Junior High

Individual research by students began early to develop good study habits for prep school and college acceptance.

Invitational Tournament, but as luck would have it, the first-round opponent was Harding Junior High School, tournament runner-up, so the Country Day men were "soundly trounced." However, captain Nicky Gaede advanced to the quarterfinals of the free-throw contest. Mrs. George Holmes, meanwhile, served as director of girls' athletics, generating increased interest and enthusiasm among the girls. In addition to teaching soccer, basketball, softball, badminton, and volleyball, Mrs. Holmes took interested girls swimming and horseback riding. Highlights of the girls' athletic program included a physical training competition won by Harris House and a basketball game won by Pell House in double overtime. Student officers included George Sutcliffe, who was chairman of school officers, Pell House captain, and captain of football, soccer, and softball; and Peter Snow, who was vice-chairman of school officers, Harris House captain, and student librarian. Virginia Griffith was secretary of school officers and Pell House; Charles Couch was school reader; John Monahan was student fire chief; Hugh Causey was maintenance assistant; John Cole Hatcher served as rifle range assistant; Carolyn Huguley was Harris House secretary and art assistant; Lightsey Wallace was school electrician; Scott Welton was shop assistant; and Nicky Gaede was captain of the basketball team. Other activities throughout the year were varied and enriching. Mr. Sutcliffe showed a movie on Australia. Mr. Mattison presented a talk to open the Community Chest Drive. Mrs. Gladys Tillett was the speaker for United Nations Day. Mrs. Morgan Reynolds started a square dancing class on Friday afternoons. Parents' Council sponsored a most successful book fair, and Col. Barrett gave the Thanksgiving address. First and second graders gave a party for crippled children at Mercy Hospital; Mr. Beckley and Mr. Scriggs took the sixth grade group to the planetarium in Chapel Hill. Dr. Thomas Burton, founder of the school, was a luncheon guest, and the school sponsored a Hormel Revue at Armory Auditorium for the scholarship fund. Mr. Allison Pell presented shop machinery to the school, and the flagpole was raised and the flag hoisted for the first time at a school assembly in February. During spring vacation twenty students enjoyed the annual Easter trip, this time journeying to Washington, D.C., with Mr. and Mrs. Watson. On April Fools' Day, Hatcher had a blacksnake as a guest. Monahan and Snow were admitted to Andover; Sutcliffe, to McCallie. A jungle gym was presented to the first and second grades, and Dr. Lawrence Stell delivered an address over Easter assembly. A baby son was born to the headmaster and his wife in Octo-

Shop was an important part of the school day, and students made many campus improvements.

ber; Andrew James Booker weighed in at six pounds. Every month competition waged back and forth between Harris House and Pell House, and even though the athletic honors bounced back and forth, Harris House retained the Lorna Booker Shield. Another important entry in Headmaster Booker's yearbook for 1952 showed that many of Country Day's first students from 1941 were now off in boarding school and were sending back alumni news. Elliott Newcombe averaged in the upper third of his class at Darlington School in Rome, Georgia, while receiving letters in varsity football and track and serving on the editorial board of the school newspaper; Dick Schenck was averaging B in all of his subjects there, while playing football and basketball, and Henry Wright was on the varsity basketball team. Eddie Pell was graduating from Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Virginia, where he played varsity football and golf and was a monitor as well as a member of the Missionary Society and the Blackford Literary Society; in

the fall he would enter the University of North Carolina. Bill Pender was also at Episcopal, playing on the tennis team; he was elected "All Class Athlete" and received the Good Sportsmanship Award and Trophy. Randy Bigger was on the honor roll at Myers Park High School, as was Betsy Smith, while Sara Harris was a squad leader in the girls' gymnasium class there. Brem Mayer was in the upper quarter of his class at Woodberry Forest, treasurer of his class, a member of the Prefect Board and the varsity football and track teams. Dicky Davidson was at Porter Military Academy in Charleston, South Carolina, and Jack Lowe was on the "brat" football and basketball teams at Christ School in Arden, North Carolina. Peter Temple won a scholarship to Millbrook School in New York, where he was on the honor roll and had been elected to the Student Council. Finally, Pat and Carolyn Scholl had sent greetings from Japan, where their father remained on active duty as a lieutenant colonel in the United States Army. In 1953, the school reached another milestone. The students, led by Mr. Stuckey, were able to produce the first real student-compiled yearbook, with pictures and embossed green leather cover, which they named the Postscript 1953. Mary Cosby was editor-in-chief, with Rosalie Reynolds, Lin Mattison, and Virginia Griffith as co-editors and Jane Wright, Isabelle Labouisse, Carolyn Huguley, and Anne Newcombe as

members of the board. Lightsey Wallace was business manager, Nicky Gaede was assistant, and David Walsh, Scott Welton, and Paul Sanger served on the business board. Six ninth graders comprised the "Class of 1953." Virginia Griffith had attended the school for eleven years, Lightsey Wallace for ten, John Cole Hatcher for nine, David Scott Welton for five, Sam Elliott for four, and Carolyn Huguley for three. French and civics were new subjects for the year, and the class studied Macbeth in English, thereafter calling their classroom the "House of the Weird Sisters." The first May Day program was held on the first of May 1953, on the front lawn of the school. Mary Cosby was queen; Anne Newcombe and Jane Wright were maids of honor; Virginia Griffith, Isabelle Labouisse, Hansel Huss, and Rosalie Reynolds were attendants; Anne Mashburn and Carolyn Quinn were flower girls. Continuing a tradition begun, after a fashion, in the school's second year (with the seventh grade play based on "The Courtship of Miles Standish"), the program capitalized on the year's reading with a skit about three witches who were to kill the queen with a special witches' brew. She was saved by two heroic jesters who fought the witches and threw the terrible potion on them. Naturally, the queen and all her court thanked the jesters for saving her life. The Maypole dance was performed by the sixth and seventh grade girls. The Dramatic Club continued its tradition with another comedy, Alex the Great, concerning a group of eighth graders at a summer camp who try to change Alex, played by Paul Sanger, from a shy bookworm into a hero by making him believe that he is the reincarnation of Alexander the Great. Directed by Mr. Stuckey, the play brought "enthusiastic applause from the audience and a large amount of money to the club's treasury," according to the Postscript. In sports once again, the soccer team did not play any other schools, but did play the big house match on the day school stopped for the Christmas holidays. The girls played basketball competitively against outside schools for the first time, beating O'Donoghue three times. Eight girls in beanies, penny loafers, poodle skirts, and Country Day sweaters made up the cheerleading squad. The football team had its first winning season, four games to three, and held a banquet at the end of the season for the coaches, the players, and their fathers. The basketball team also had its first winning season, six games to three, under the coaching of Mr. Watson. The team won the Latta Park Basketball League, advanced to the semifinals in the citywide tournament, and beat

the alumni 37-18. The softball team had had a winning season the previous spring, winning five games and losing two, and was looking forward to another good year. Other items of historical note include the school trip to Memorial Stadium to hear General Dwight Eisenhower and the excursion to the Manor Theater to see Ivanhoe. The Alumni Association had been organized in the winter of 1952. James J. Harris, Jr., was chairman, with Brem Mayer as assistant, Sam Smith as treasurer, and Dorsey Cosby as secretary. Mr. and Mrs. Booker entertained with a tea in honor of alumni and alumnae during the Christmas vacation, and the 1953 yearbook included their news, noting, "We are sure that this organization will be a major addition to the school." The first Postscript was dedicated to "our headmaster Mr. Robert E. E. Booker, a man of strong character and an inspiration to all." The 1954 yearbook was dedicated to Mr. Bill Stuckey, Postscript advisor, who also taught eighth grade, served as admissions secretary, was advisor to Pell House and the student officers, and coached football. Melinda Page was editor-in-chief, with David Walsh as business manager. The Country Day Journal, which Headmaster Booker called "our fly-bynight newspaper," under the leadership of Ed Cook and Sally Guion Griffith, was also undergoing a revival. In January 1954 the school published a slick, four-page Bulletin for the school community, containing articles of interest about distinguished guests for assembly, including the "world's foremost explorer" Mr. Carveth Wells, and two outstanding educators from the Lawrenceville School in New Jersey, Headmaster Allen Heely and Mr. Fred Eichelberger. Headmaster Booker, who always signed his articles R.E.E.B., explained the Country Day House Ladders in the Bulletin. He wrote: Essentially, at CCDS the House System means that any boy or girl in the fifth through the ninth grades can and does at any moment earn an Optime (bad Latin for good work, behavior, et cetera) or a Pessime (for bad ditto), which is recorded on the House Board and eventually on the House Ladders. Thus each child aids or hinders the progress of his house. Competition between house athletic teams adds considerably to the totals. That the scheme is a success is reflected in the fact that nearly all pupils like it and that all take a keen interest in it .... It also eliminates a mass of trivial punishment for trifling matters, whilst providing a stream of rewards or recognitions for good contributions.

Neither house had profited much from the sports competition that fall, however. With a little tongue-in-cheek humor, the sports editor wrote in the yearbook, "The football season this year was nearly as bad as the national drought. The rains of victory came only once for the varsity and once for the juniors. We couldn't even beat ourselves: the house game ended in a scoreless tie!" Soccer had made its brief appearance in the two weeks before Christmas; again the house match ended in a scoreless tie. The basketball team had already lost its first game, although captain Eddie O'Herron's "clever team play and accurate shooting kept the game close and exciting," and the team was prepared to defend the previous year's Latta Park League title. The most encouraging development in athletics was in girls' basketball, according to the editor, who wryly noted the contrast between "the dagger-drawn tenseness of boys' sports" and "the competition a la gossip" that the girls employed, "chattering with their opponents during lulls in the action." At the end of the season Pell House won the girls' house game and Harris House won the boys', so that the two houses again were tied. In outside competition, both teams went all the way to the final championship games, but both lost. Almost one hundred people attended Headmaster and Mrs. Booker's tea for alumni and alumnae at their home on December 28, 1953. Mr. Stuckey also gave a holiday party for the eighth and ninth graders from the previous year's classes who had gone on to other schools. There was no ninth grade class at Country Day in 1954. Isabelle Labouisse and Rosalie Reynolds were at St. Timothy's; Paul Sanger was at Exeter; George Sutcliffe, John Cole Hatcher, Charles Couch, and Scott Welton were at McCallie; Lightsey Wallace, Carolyn Huguley, and Sammy Elliott were at Central High; Nicky Gaede was at Andover; Virginia Griffith was at St. Anne's; Lin Mattison was at Asheville School; Anne Newcombe was at Ashley Hall; Sara Harris was at Mt. Vernon Academy; Jimmy Harris, Sam Smith, Judy Townsend, and Buddy Long were attending Myers Park High; Hansel Huss was at Alexander Graham; Peter and John Temple were at Millbrook; Mary Cosby was at Madeira; and Dorsey Cosby was at Finch College. Country Day "graduates" were already enjoying tremendous success at higher levels, with many honor roll students, "firsts in the class" in various subjects, and a captain of a freshman football team. A first for 1954 was the subject of mechanical drawing, taught in shop classes by Mrs. Emil J. Kratt, whose son attended the school. Later (beginning in 1979), her daughter-in-law Cynthia Kratt would teach in

the Lower School, and her grandchildren would be graduates of the school. The shop and art classes made many trips to the Mint Museum and exhibited their work at meetings of the Parents' Council. New names among the faculty included Miss Maude Haywood, third grade teacher and assistant Brownie advisor, and Mrs. Nora Copses, both of whom were to figure prominently in the future of the school. There were also departures among the faculty: Mr. Hugh Watson, assistant headmaster, sixth grade teacher, Harris House advisor, and basketball and softball coach, accepted Harvard's invitation to pursue a Ph.D., and Mrs. Anne Proctor, seventh grade teacher, dramatics coach, and girls' riflery advisor, also left the school in 1954. The 1955 yearbook was dedicated to Mr. Lyn Evans "for his seniority and faithful service to us and to the school." Mr. Evans continued to teach sixth grade and serve as chief of staff. A look at the duties of many of the other faculty members shows what a talented and versatile group they continued to be. Mr. Bill Stuckey, for example, taught seventh grade, served as administrative assistant and secretary of enrollment, coached football and basketball, advised the Student Council, and directed transportation. Mr. Ken Stuckey taught ninth grade, headed the books, supplies, and maintenance areas, helped with transportation, coached football and softball, advised the Postscript staff and Pell House, and directed the choir. New teacher Bob Lincks taught fifth grade, coached football, basketball, and softball, and advised the Student Council and Harris House. Photography was a new class in 1954-55 under the direction of Mr. Ken Breen. The school purchased a camera and set up a darkroom. Al Bellows was listed as "an angel" by the yearbook staff for his contributions, while other interested students contributed pictures made with their own cameras. More girls showed an interest in girls' riflery than ever before, and competitions were initiated between girls and boys for the first time. It was also the first year in which the Student Council sponsored dances for Halloween, Valentine's Day, and May Day. The first two utilized a rented jukebox for music, but the Parents' Council hired Ziggy Hurwitz and his combo for the formal May Day dance. The May Day tradition continued. In 1954 Marjorie Coddington was queen, with Gretchen Marsh as maid of honor, Melinda Page, Ethel Gilmour, Camilla Shaw, Gail Jacobs, Caroline Thompson, and Betty Lou Couch as ladies in waiting, and Louise Steiger and Shelly Welton as flower girls. All the girls in the school-including preschoolers as sun-

Headmaster and Mrs. Booker serve at their annual Alumni Tea: Scott Welton, Sara Harris, Mrs. Booker, the Headmaster, George Sutcliffe, Mrs. Isabelle Reynolds.

beams and bunny chicks, first graders as flowers and butterflies, and second, third, and fourth graders as fairies-participated in the entertainment. In 1955 Gretchen Marsh was queen, with Sally Lambeth and Ethel Gilmore as maids of honor. Deedy Holden, Julie Arnold, Pam Larson, and Caroline Tate were the ladies in waiting, and flower girls were Elizabeth Booker, Sally Cannon, Phyllis Woodward, and Betsy Blythe. The year 1955 marked the end of Mr. Booker's tenure as headmaster and the end of an exciting period in the school's development, one that could aptly be called the "English Boarding School" era. Rosemary Bolles was in the sixth grade that year, along with David Arthurs, James Cannon, Susanne Denton, Ginny Eaves, Marshall Gilchrist, Sally

Griffith, Steve Hanes, Cammie Harris, Elaine Horton, Sarah Porter, Pat Stell, Grady Thomas, and Jim Van Ness. Rosemary Bolles and Sarah Porter distinguished themselves with outstanding results on the achievement tests given in October, while Pat Stell, Susanne Denton, and Jim Cannon shone on the March tests. & Rosemary Bolles Jonas looks back from the vantage point of 1991, she writes: When I think of CCDS, I think of Mr. Booker standing outside the Upper School building calling, "All in, all up." I remember looking out at the quadrangle to see if midmorning lunch was on its way. I remember May Day-the weeks of preparation, the costumes, the dances and songs, and, of course, the May queens: Mary Cosby (Rinehardt), Marjorie Coddington (Cannon), Gretchen Marsh (Johnston), Sara Porter (Boehmler). I remember Sports Day. Who got the most blue ribbons, Pell or Harris team? Then there was choir rehearsal with Mrs. Spainhour, which everyone had to attend, and the spring play, Hansel and Gretel, with Jim Cannon as the witch. Most of all, I remember Friday lunch: homemade cupcakes with butter icing. The ladies in the kitchen would give an extra spoonful of icing if you asked nicely! The lunches were wonderful with fried chicken, real mashed potatoes, gravy, and apple brown betty, and everyone had to stand at attention until Mr. Booker came in, rang the bell, and said the blessing. We sat at tables, used good manners, and each person had to take a bit of everything served-a courtesy. We had assembly every day with Mr. Booker in his black robe; we sang hymns and memorized Bible verses. Clipboards were posted by the doors with the Optimes in blue and the Pessimes in red, so everyone could see who had what. If one got either in class, immediately he or she was given a slip of paper to take to the office so it could be posted. We did well because there was such a spirit of competition within the small classes-girls trying to beat the boys. I remember working for hours on penmanship, trying to beat Jim Cannon, who was so good at it. Mr. Evans was wonderful. I can still hear him reading Edgar Allan Poe; it was enough to make goose bumps. My daughter couldn't believe it recently when she came home with "Annabel Lee," and I could recite the whole poem. I remember everything we memorized. Even though everything was very disciplined, formal, and proper, Rosemary notes that in later years the students still found ways to get

into trouble. They would sneak down to the store on Providence Road during recess to buy bubble gum, which was absolutely forbidden. They got into trouble on the school bus, which started at Charlotte Country Club and picked up students all along the way. One of the last stops was at Morrocroft for the Harris boys, and at the time, cows were everywhere in the pastures. All the students would lean out the windows and bang the sides of the bus, stampeding the cows. After about a month, Mr. Harris had to call the school to complain that the cows' milk was being soured because students were keeping the animals so upset. When Rosemary's class was in the eighth grade, the students were taken on an overnight science expedition to the mountains. The boys were housed on the second floor and the girls on the first. One of the boys had brought a rope ladder, which he dropped out the window, and Rosemary climbed up to the second floor, where she got caught hiding under a bed, giggling. She had to sleep on a couch under Mrs. Scappucci's watchful eye all night, and the next day, all the students involved in the incident were sent home to Charlotte. Somebody was getting suspended for something all the time, Rosemary says, usually just for testing the rules. Her memories are confirmed in the 1957 yearbook, which notes: The notorious class of 1957 was at peak numbers in 1955. There were nineteen devils attending Charlotte Country Devil School. Never a day went by that Tommy Gaede, Bill O'Herron, or Chad Bolles were not retired from the class. The red figures could be seen marching to the headmaster's office at intervals during the day. Oh-h to know what went on in those faculty meetings concerning us. They probably discussed the new scientific inventions for turning devils into angels. Lacking such "scientific inventions," of course, the faculty relied on Country Day's curriculum to shape young minds and characters. The curriculum during the Booker years placed strong emphasis on "routine, schedule, and continuous practice as the only sources of efficient study habits." The curriculum guide also noted an emphasis on "teaching the student to express himself in a maximum amount of written work as well as oral recitation. The workbook type of one-word answer drill is secondary to exercises which require more thought." Reading and writing started in the first grade with extensive grammar drill at all levels. Spelling was also emphasized at all levels, complete with word analysis and phonetics. Weekly written compositions were required in the six upper grades, and courses in literature, which included a study of selected

Shakespearean plays, began in the ninth grade. In mathematics, emphasis was placed on uniform and careful organization of written work and daily assignments in the six upper grades. History and geography were taught as separate subjects, with many short essays, extensive map work and workbook drill in geography. Upper grade history classes were taught to take reading notes in outline form. Reading assignments in science were supplemented by classroom demonstrations and discussions. Both Latin and French were studied in the eighth and ninth grade classes. A nondenominational, textual, detailed study of the great stories of the Old and New testaments was conducted by the headmaster in the fifth through the eighth grades. Subject examinations began early and became two-hour exams for the fifth through the ninth grades. Aptitude and achievement tests were given twice annually, while national standardized tests were administered in mathematics, English, Latin, and French through the Secondary Education Board. After serving for five years and leaving an indelible mark on a distinguished period of the school's history, Robert Booker left in the spring term of 1955, and David Howe succeeded him in June of that year. The wives of the two men, Lorna Booker and Nancy Howe, became very good friends, and the Howes maintained family friendship with the Bookers after they left Country Day. Mr. Booker later died on board a ship going to Russia. Mrs. Booker died of cancer.

Chapter 5

The David Howe Years 1955-1969

nthe spring of 1942, just as Country Day was winding up its first year of operation, a young man named David L. Howe came to Charlotte, North Carolina, for the first time. He rode a motorcycle through the city, leading a column of tanks from Fort Benning to Fort Bragg. Subsequently, he traveled to North Africa and was among the first Americans in Berlin. Although close to being a pacifist, or a conscientious objector, he had volunteered for the draft before Pearl Harbor, spending a year as enlisted before OCS. He was also a graduate of Harvard University and had been teaching in Massachusetts for three years prior to joining the war effort. At that time David Howe probably never dreamed that in 1955 he would return to Charlotte as headmaster of Country Day, serve the school longer than any other head in its first fifty years, lead it to its permanent campus, and continue to propel it toward greatness. In the years following the war, Howe switched his major from history to English and attended graduate school at the University of Chicago, which he found "disgustingly competitive," and at Northwestern, before completing his master's at Breadloaf School, Middlebury College, which he found "totally noncompetitive." He also married and had six sons and three daughters. After teaching at Lake Forest Academy and North Shore Country Day, he decided that he wanted to get out of suburbia where everybody operated in set patterns and to find a good place to nourish children-his own and others. He and wife Nancy came to Charlotte twice to talk with Jim Cannon and the Search Committee, and in June of 1955, Dave Howe assumed the headmaster's job at the Sardis Road campus. He would hold the position for fourteen years. The school was well established on the Sardis Road campus when Dave Howe arrived, but no source before him offers a better description. According to Mr. Howe, the building was a consolidated county school, taken over during the Great Depression by the National Youth Administra-

tion as a vocational training institution for young women in the textile industry. The trainees lived on campus in wooden buildings. Never intended for more than temporary use, by 1955 the structures were old and dilapidated; the termites and bees were beyond human control. When Country Day moved to the permanent Carmel Road campus in the fall of 1960 to begin the twentieth year of the school's history, the Sardis site was sold to Charlotte Christian School. "The gym burned within months of our leaving," says Howe. "Christian got all of the insurance money, but only paid half because the gym had burned." He also remembers that in the spring of 1960 before the move, the Sardis Road-Carmel Road areas were still so little populated that it was possible to take a fourth grade class and walk: "through the woods" from Sardis Road to Carmel Road to visit the new school site. Students remember the old school on Sardis fondly. Patty O'Herron Norman remembers getting into trouble because she slipped notes to the next classroom through holes in the walls where the radiator pipes went from room to room. Rosemary Bolles Jonas remembers heading down the stairs to assembly one day and having the ceiling fall on the students' heads. "Chunks of plaster were dropping everywhere, and dust was raining down." Some remember actual chicken coops on the campus, a recollection that Dave Howe confirms. Still, the grounds were spacious and surrounded by heavy woods, "offering the right environment for studying and giving full opportunity for the wholesome development of every child," according to the school catalog. The two-story main building housed the offices and Upper School. Another building housed the art and shop classes, another the Intermediate School and the dining hall, another the primary classes, and another the gym. Mr. Howe obviously made a quick impression on the students, for at the end of his first year as headmaster, they dedicated the 1956 yearbook to him for "his wonderful character and undying patience as a person, teacher, and headmaster." Nine students comprised the ninth and final grade that year: Paul Allen, Julie Arnold, Bucky Bright, Sally Griffith, Deedy Holden, Jean Montgomery, Reid Pitts, Will Seymour, and Melissa Shupp. Deedy Holden was May queen; Julie Arnold was editor of the yearbook; Reid Pitts was president of the Student Council; and all of the class members were active in sports, cheedeading, and school activities. In the 1955-56 school year approximately 162 students were enrolled in the school. Mr. Howe explains the situation when he arrived in Charlotte. "You must realize how extremely proud Charlotte was of its public schools in those days. Before desegregation it was hard to get people interested in

private schools. In selling Country Day, which I spent fourteen years doing, I found that Charlotteans felt a private school something of an affiont to public education. Eastover School under Daphne Long was just as exclusive as Country Day, and people were very loyal to that school." Among his greatest accomplishments he counts the building of enrollment at Country Day from about 150 students in 1955 to 550 in 1969. During the second year, tragedy struck the Howe family. In September 1956 the Howe's second son, David, Jr., was diagnosed as having lymph cancer. He was in and out of the hospital all fall and died in December 1956 at the age of seven. He was in the second grade at Country Day, and his classmates included Phyllis Woodward, Betsy Blythe, Sally Cannon, Melany Collingwood, Lynn Gamble, Dottie Smith, Ken o'Herron, Chip Lovell, Ben Trotter, Randy Borough, George Higgins, and Hall Arnold, taught by Mrs. Busbin. During those three traumatic months, the Howe family consisted of five other children under the age of nine. "Parents rallied around and gave us such support as we never knew existed. Organized by Bobby Cannon, parents brought food from September through December, and helped in so many ways that we could not count." Mr. Howe notes that it was this wonderful support from the Country Day family and from local churches that made Charlotte home to the Howes, and they have continued to live here ever since. Memorial gifts that poured in were used to build the greenhouse on the Carmel Road campus in memory of David Leavitt Howe, Jr. The "Devil Class of 1957," as they called themselves, had been reduced to twelve members by the time they finished the ninth grade: Marion Bohannon, Tad Brabson, Meredith Brenizer, Mat Brown, Winston Conner, Allen Josephs, Toni Kratt, Pam Larson, Campbell Maxwell, Susanne Ross, Buddy Stokely, and Caroline Tate, who was May queen. Among the younger children the Looby Loa was the favorite dance, while for older students, tether ball was the favorite game, taking up every recess and lunch period. Field trips, Sports Day, a science fair, and trips to the Nature Museum continued to be popular activities. Mr. Howe continued the traditional competition between Harris House and Pell House, but he smiles as he notes that he "reduced optimes and Pessimes to the minime." Physical education continued its strong tradition, with games of low organization for fun and physical activity and high organization to lay the groundwork for competitive sports. Most of the fourth grade boys, for example, were members of the junior football team. Football, basketball, and cheerieading continued in popularity, while riflery disappeared, and track and field events seemed to take precedence over soccer. The 1957 yearbook was dedicated to Mrs. Copses. "You have been

nurse, friend, guide and secretary; you have helped us in our trouble and success. We will always remember you," the students wrote. Headmaster Howe also praises Mrs. Copses highly. "In 1955," he says, "she and I were the only administrators of the school. She kept the books, put on the BandAids, and was the source of all information about the school. She was thorough, conscientious, and very circumspect in handling confidential information. No one ever even knew her age. She was everything that was needed at the time, and she only cracked once and had to take a month off; otherwise, she helped keep the school running smoothly and efficiently." Mrs. Copses remained at the school until the 1970s, when she died of cancer, and many students, teachers, and staff members remember her numerous contributions gratefully and fondly. The ninth grade "Class of 1958" was packed with talent: David Arthurs, Lee Atkins, Stuart Barksdale, Rosemary Bolles, Jim Cannon, Susanne Denton, Millard Gamble, Marshall Gilchrist, Steve Hanes, Cahtmie Harris, Elaine Horton, Bozena Maracek, Bud Palmer, Marshall Pickens, Sarah Porter, Nelson Reid, Lynda Ross, Jim Rowe, Grady Thomas, and Jim Van Ness. The Student Council, under the leadership of Steve Hanes, had continued the tradition of service by sponsoring two dances and filling Christmas baskets for the South Tryon Day Nursery. Sarah Porter, May queen, was also editor of Postscript. Rosemary Bolles served as editor of Oak Leaves, the latest incarnation of the school literary magazine. The title referred to the oak leaves in the new school seal, designed by Anne Hanes Hunt, loyal parent and board member. Pell House won the annual football game, but Harris House won Sports Day, continuing the traditional rivalry. Coached by Mr. Evans, soccer was once again a major sport, while baseball players fell prey to "heat and laziness," and did not qualifY as a successful team because all the "loafers" went out for track, according to the yearbook. Both boys' and girls' basketball continued to be strong, as did football. An important addition to the curriculum was French, taught by Mme. Karel Maracek, from preschool through ninth grade. All of the classes were singing in and speaking French. The study of science also continued to be strong, with students competing in and winning regional science competitions. In sixth grade, for example, students made instruments to test sound and vibration; made small-scale volcanoes, glaciers, and forests to show soil erosion; tested pennies, bobby pins, and fingers for bacteria; constructed models to study the theory of flight; and took a trip to Washington, D.C., with Mrs. Scappucci and Mr. Howe to see what the experts at the Smithsonian had done in science. The 1958 yearbook was dedicated to the Board of Trustees, under

the capable leadership of James G. Cannon, whom the students pr:lised for "continued loyalty and untiring devotion to the Charlotte Country Day School and its student body. These men have earned the admiration, affection, and friendship of students and teachers alike." With sincere gratitude for their care and interest, the yearbook staff recognized James G. Cannon, Dr. William R. Pitts, J. Chadbourn Bolles, Dr. Paul W. Sanger, James J. Harris, Allison H. Pell, and William H. Barnhardt. These men and their families, who remain prominent in service to the school to the present day, were to be influential in shaping the new direction of the school. By the end of 1959, as another decade came to an end, that direction was evident in publications and the school records. James J. and Angelia Harris had donated thirty acres on Carmel Road as the site of a new school plant, and A. G. Odell and Associates were completing the blueprints for the new buildings. A Postscript article described plans for the school: Classrooms will be light and airy with no inside corridors. . . . The cafeteria will be fifteen to twenty feet high with a raised roof to let in the sunshine. On one side an area equipped with comfortable, modern chairs and a fireplace will serve as a social area for the students .... The library, to be named for the Cannon family, will have three glass sides and will overlook a wooded area. The science building, a memorial to Martin L. Cannon, will have classrooms for physics and biology, a chemistry laboratory, and a greenhouse in memory of David L. Howe, Jr .... The new gymnasium will have a regulation high school basketball court and enough room to hold four hundred spectators. Adjoining the girls' locker room will be an activity room used for meetings and for dancing classes. As time nears when ground will be broken for the new school, excitement is rising among parents, trustees, and students. One of the first traditions slated to continue on the new campus was the ringing of the locomotive bell given to the school by Southern Railway in 1949. The bell, formerly used on a steam engine, regularly summoned students to morning chapel and other school functions. During Mr. Booker's administration, a Southern Railway foreman supplied the missing bolts for the bell shaft and handle to make it functional, and many a yearbook picture featured the bell and flagpole as the focal point of the Sardis Road campus. By 1959, as steam locomotive bells became scarce, several collectors had offered to buy Country Day's, but the plan was to take it to the new school "where it will continue to ring." One of the interesting, unanswered questions is, where is the bell? It does not occupy a place of prominence on the campus in 1991.

The Postscript, the only school publication to retain its original name throughout the years, was edited in 1959 by Molly Shaw and dedicated to Mrs. Scappucci for "her wisdom as a teacher and her warmth as a friend." The science program had flourished under her leadership since 1957 when she joined the faculty, directing the six-week Charlotte Country Day Summer Camp that included such activities as swimming, painting, camping, archery, Indian dancing, basketweaving, and tutoring in most subjects and at most grade levels. Remedial reading classes met with outstanding success from the first, and the summer program as a whole would enjoy continued success in the years to come. Mrs. Scappucci also carried on the tradition of science trips and participated enthusiastically in science fairs. In 1959, Country Day held its own science fair in the gymnasium, with thirty exhibits that were open to the public and judged by the head of the biology department at Queens College and head chemist at Celanese Corporation of America's Charlotte office. The eighth grade math exhibit and students Hal London, Steve Larson, Chip Hanes, Carol Cannon, Jimmy Strong, and Tommie Covington won first-place honors. Charlotte Country Day won more awards than any other school in the South Piedmont Fair with a first and third in the biological division, and a second and two honorable mentions in the physical division. Even Mrs. Gant, chief cook and supervisor of the cafeteria staff, was called upon to advance the cause of science by cooking snakes, opossums, birds, and wood shavings for Mrs. Scappucci. The greatest challenge was a request to cook a four-foot alligator when the largest pot in the kitchen was only two feet wide. The details of this successful mission were mercifully kept secret. Nonetheless, it is known that in addition to feeding 215 Country Day students during the year, Mrs. Gant also fed a rapidly increasing number of white mice, while supplying food for picnics, Christmas Breakfast, the science fair, and Sports Day. Most of the preceding information was gleaned from the pages of a publication, The Monitor, which first appeared on campus in May 1959. The magazine was to be issued three times a year for sale at twenty cents a copy, and it was to include school, class, and sports news, student writing from all grades, and alumni news gathered by class assistants. Chip Hanes was managing editor of the magazine, along with assistant editors Judy Horn, Tom Covington, Nan Heinbaugh, Tucker Laxton, Anne Mashburn, and Mary Jane Guion, and Jim Strong as business manager. The faculty advisor was a new teacher, Mr. Ernest B. Wright, who as dean and ninth grade teacher of English and history was to have a profound influence upon the school for many years to come. Another new teacher that year, who was to remain at Country Day until her retirement in 1991 and who was to lead the developing Foreign

"Bic" Wright, popular English teacher, English award is given annually.

in whose honor

the Ernest

B. Wright

Language Department to new heights in French, was Mrs. Shirley E. (Gisele) Shumake. Mr. Howe, Mr. Wright, and Mr. Evans were the only three men on the faculty that year. Another teacher who began service to the school in 1957-58 and who would remain as a fourth and fifth grade teacher throughout Mr. Howe's tenure was Mrs. Dorothy Sargent. (She still holds strong ties with the school today through the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International, to which many outstanding women educators at the school belong.) In curriculum, a strong emphasis on English, history, Latin, French, mathematics, science, and geography continued, along with music under Mrs. Bryce Hey and piano with Mrs. Ralph

Spainhour, but art was handled primarily by the classroom teachers. Since Mrs. Kratt left in 1957 there had been no shop or mechanical drawing classes and no faculty member specifically designated for art instruction. Drama also continued with an exciting psychological play, Murder in a

Shoebox. Mr. Howe coached the football team and assisted Jimmy Kiker in coaching basketball. The eighth and ninth grade football team scored no wins, while the seventh and eighth grade "senior" basketball team split two and two. The girls continued to concentrate on basketball and tennis, and Mr. Evans kept soccer alive by pitting fourth, fifth, and sixth graders against the seventh graders. Sports Day kept the house rivalries at a high pitch, but articles began to call for more school spirit as opposed to house spirit. Robin Wright became the first athlete to win the Victor Ludorurn Trophy for achievement on Sports Day. The ninth grade "Class of 1959" was to make history because its members were to be seniors for the next three years, comprising the first tenth grade class in 1960, the first eleventh grade class in 1961, and becoming the first graduating class from Charlotte Country Day in 1962. These history-makers included Madeline Anderson, Leigh Brenizer, Tommie Covington, Woody Efird, Bobby Gamble, Wilson Glasgow, Mary Jane Guion, Tommy Huey, Jackson Jennell, Edwin Jones, Lome Lassiter, Archie Lineberger, Anne Mashburn, Susan McCarty, Stroudie Monahan, Margaret Owen, Molly Shaw, Jane Utley, and Robin Wright. Lome Lassiter was president of the Student Council and May queen, while Susan McCarty served as head cheerleader, co-captain of the girls' basketball team, and secretary-treasurer of the Student Council. Under their leadership the council wrote a set of bylaws to control elections, set the numbers of representatives, and govern and direct the business of the council then and "in the years to come." They voted to accept as the council's responsibility "the raising of the flag, the supervision of school elections, the paper drives, the charitable drives, and such other organizations as will become necessary as the school grows." Two clubs were organized and directed by the Student Council in 1958-59. While Mr. Howe continued to teach Bible to the sixth and seventh grades two days a week, the students assumed the responsibility for the chapel programs each Tuesday and Friday through a Chapel Committee chaired by Jean Miller. With the assistance of Melanie Tull, Tommy Huey, Skipper Burns, Anne Mashburn, Hal London, John McGuire, Nan Heinbaugh, and Mary Jane Guion, the committee carried out the responsibilities of the regular chapel service, appointing students to read and choos-

ing the hymns. It also offered special programs such as Hal London's piano recital, a poetry reading by the seventh grade, the enactment of several scenes in French, and a music program by the third grade. The Booster Club, chaired by Robin Wright, had members Joe Renfroe, Kathy Blythe, Melanie Tull, Stuart Efird, Charles Connor, Tommy Huey, and Susan McCarty to sell Coca-Cola at Spons Day, operate stands at football games, organize pep rallies, usher for various events, and promote school spirit and a sense of unity. Twenty-one hours of volunteer service to the club were required before membership was granted. One of the first activities of the Booster Club the following year was to sponsor a contest to find a new school mascot. An article in The Monitor in the fall of 1959 notes, "Country Day has had the name 'Rebels' for many years but no symbol." Students submitted everything they could think of from armadillo to zebra and then waited patiently for the announcement of the winner, which did not come until Friday, November 13,1959. In an assembly, Mr. Howe unveiled "Johnny Reb," a model from St. John's School in Houston, Texas, while Tommy Huey read a letter from the headmaster of that school, officially presenting the model and inviting Country Day students to share the mascot. As The Monitor describes the scene, "There was a loud ring of applause as the statue was unveiled, and Johnny proved his worth immediately by leading CCDS to two victories over Spartanburg that afternoon. From now on he will appear as our school mascot." A group formed during the 1959-60 school year was the Country Day Y-Teen Club, part of a Y-Teen program in the city. The city program held a district meeting one Saturday a month, to which each club sent a representative. In turn, representatives from the district were chosen to attend the annual national meeting. Lome Lassiter, president of the first Country Day Y-Teen Club, was chosen as one of the district representatives to the nationals in New York City. The group made stuffed animals for the Charlotte Day Nursery and held regular meetings at the school. In the fall of 1959 the Y-Teens held the first successful bake sale and auction on the campus, raising $148. The school year had opened on September 1, 1959, with seventy new students, including those coming new to preschool and the tenth grade, for an overall increase of twenty-two to the student body. John Stroud had been keeping the school plant in the best physical shape possible for at least ten years, and this year he had worked with a new faculty member to improve the boys' locker room before school started. That faculty member was John Cook, a graduate of the University of Maryland, who had been hired to be in charge of boys' athletics and to teach seventh grade arithmetic

and science and eighth grade algebra. Another new teacher was William Moffett, a Davidson graduate who had just completed his master's degree in history at Duke, hired to coach the junior varsity football team and to teach eighth grade English and history and tenth grade history. The girls also had a full-time teacher for their games, Miss Carolyn Guthrie, who had served part-time in athletics for a number of years. A graduate of the University of North Carolina, she hoped to include archery, hockey, soccer, speedball, basketball, volleyball, softball, tumbling, track, dances for May Day, and even swimming, golf, and tennis if possible. Whether she accomplished everything on her agenda is not recorded, but the football teams made an immediate and visible change that was to make John Cook's name legendary at Country Day. The headlines in the sports section of The Monitor tell the success story: "Rebels Defeat Savannah on the First Road Trip," "Seventh and Eighth Grades 'Upset' Barium Springs 7-0," "Pups [Pop Warner league team coached by Mr. Howe and Wilson Glasgow] Down Lions 21-7," "Fourth and Fifth Grades Beat Spartanburg 13-0," "Country Day Again Smothers McClintock 19-0," and "Country Day Jolts Sedgefield 21-0." At

the annual father-son football banquet on December 3, Mr. Charles Willard, chairman of the Athletic Committee of the Board of Managers, talked about the importance of athletics in the curriculum, and Coach Cook, who was presented with a cardigan and three golf balls, talked about the athletic program of Country Day in the future. In that year the following boys received football letters and certificates: Nicky Jones, Sam Cook, John Tate, John Harris, Jimmy Cavalaris, David Lassiter, Bryan Pittman, Steve Larson, Charles Conner, Rodney Pitts, Coddy Coddington, Bill Yates, Tucker Laxton, Joe Renfroe, Chip Hanes, George Bagby, Jim Strong, Jim Highsmith, Vic Josephs, Mike Williams, Clayton Lineberger, Walter Brown, and manager Hal London. In an interview in 1990, former headmaster Dave Howe said ofJohn Cook, "He was the cleverest high school football coach I ever ran into. His football tricks won many a game. His strategy called for tricks, so creative, so triumphant .... I loved him dearly. He would never cry over a football game, but a hurt child bothered him." During that last year on the old campus Mr. Howe and Mrs. Copses still handled all the roles involved in running the school, even though a new face appeared in a temporary administrative role in the yearbook for that year: Mrs. Martha Haywood, whose sister-in-law, Maude Haywood, had taught at the school for several years, was to become a permanent figure as the school moved to the new campus. Mr. Howe spent many hours with A. G. Odell and Associates as they designed the new school. "Stan Leggett and I clung to the campus pattern," Mr. Howe recalls. "We'd separate children and cars. We plotted very carefully also for interaction between Lower and Upper School. In the cafeteria, everybody ate together. We said the blessing and served farnilystyle at tables of eight, mixing the age groups at each table, presided over by a teacher." Bidding for the new school took place on November 11, 1959, and the contract was signed the following day. Rea Construction Company had submitted the lowest bid and would build the school of concrete frame, with brick facing, and exposed wood roof-decks with wide overhangs for outside student circulation and shade for the classrooms. Of contemporary design, the school would consist of eighteen classrooms in six buildings, providing space for an additional 150 students. Upper School, Lower School, science (with two big laboratories) and library-administration buildings, a gym, and a dining room/social area/recreation room were planned for completion on August 15, 1960, to be ready for the opening of school on September 21,1960. Meanwhile, Mrs. Copses typed the letters; managed the payroll; answered

the phone; handled appointments; ordered supplies; posted the calendar; watered the plants; paid the bills; maintained the admissions files; rang the bells; kept the books for the school, the Patron's Association, and the Building Fund; put on Band-Aids; and handled the lost and found. Headmaster Howe taught and coached; conferred with parents, teachers, and students; showed prospective parents about the school; went over the report cards; made plans for coming school events; handled the tests and testing procedures; talked with trustees and architects; handled fundraising; met with salesmen for books, janitorial supplies, and photographic materials; and even did the troubleshooting for plumbing problems, blown fuses, or bees in the library. Even the students, writing in The Monitor, marveled that in spite of all, "our unruflled Mr. Howe always has time to see us." Not to be overlooked as the excitement for the new school grew is the work of the parents. Successful book fairs were held in 1959 and again in 1960, doubling the size of the library collection and raising $550 for the school "through the sacrificing efforts of Mrs. Van Allen, Mrs. Covington, Mrs. Hannock, and sixteen other ladies," according to The Monitor. Mrs. Hagen and Mrs. Mashburn worked to catalog the collection according to the Dewey Decimal System, to keep an accession book to register purchases and gifts, and to set up a card catalog. Parents published three thousand copies of a newsletter called The Bulletin Board to inform parents and the public about the new campus and school activities. Mrs. Ralph Jones typed addresses for the school's master list, and Mrs. Herbert Woodward, Mrs. Mashburn, and Mrs. Montgomery handled the addressing and mailing. Thirty-five prospective student members of the Booster Club volunteered to fold the inserts and stuff the envelopes. Bobby Cannon pioneered her Country Day Boutique on the old campus for several years before incorporating it into a larger event, first held on the new campus, called Big Saturday. The science program continued to promote strong interest in the science fairs and research. Dr. Thomas Turner, head of the Physics Department at Wake Forest University, came to the school to study the plans for the science building and to make helpful suggestions for the laboratories. He also recommended textbooks and equipment and spoke to the students about the importance of studying physics. Ten new microscopes arrived on the day of his visit as a special birthday surprise for Mrs. Scappucci. Twenty students were planning their exhibits for the science fair with the help of interested local scientists and physicians, and the addition of the tenth grade qualified the school for competition in the senior division of the Piedmont Science Fair. Scientific study also prompted trips to Indian mounds, the

ruby mines, Oak Ridge, the mountains, and the coast, while Lower Schoolers were regular visitors to the Nature Museum and its Planetarium. During the 1959-60 year a new emphasis was placed on music in an attempt to produce what a headline in The Monitor termed "A Singing Student Body." Mrs. Spainhour took on the responsibility of teaching music from first through tenth grade with choruses at every grade level as well as a girls' choir, a boys' choir, and a mixed chorus. Another innovation during the year was the placing of the seventh and eighth grade boys and girls into separate classes. Reaction was mixed, with boys generally finding classes dull and depressing without the girls, but girls finding that they could study better and learn more without the boys. The tenth grade stepped back as 1960 drew to a close and let the final ninth grade "graduating class" take its bows as it bade farewell to the old campus and turned its sights to the new. Tucker Laxton, Susan Carr, Jim Highsmith, Melanie Tull, John McGuire, George Bagby, Page Munroe, Beth Brown, Jim Strong, Bill Yates, Mike Williams, Gail Horton, Vie Josephs, Joe Renfroe, Judy Horn, Hal London, Johnsie Heywood, Allen DeCamp, and Chip Hanes would become the Class ofl963. As Mr. Howe looks back over those years at the Sardis campus, he remembers fondly many of the traditions that began there. One was Christmas Breakfast. "When I came in 1955, students were bringing presents to the teachers, and I thought it improper to be expected to bring presents. Christmas Breakfast came out of it. Mrs. Myrl Bates, who was dietician, opened the cafeteria early and served a full breakfast for everyone associated with Country Day. These gatherings were memorable, fun, and part of the community-wide participation." May Day was another event that evokes vivid memories. As Mr. Howe recalls, "Some adult female would burst into tears over something every year. The boys were not cooperative, and the girls were most interested in their clothes. One year, the faculty did the Maypole dance instead of students. The librarian broke her ankle in the middle of the dance." Headmaster Howe also remembers having to drive the school bus to take children home one day when it snowed, but he was unfamiliar with the route or where students lived. "A little girl stood behind me and gave directions all the way, telling me where to turn and stop and who lived where. Finally, she said, 'Next is the O'Herron girl,' and she got off." It was Patty O'Herron Norman, at the time a fourth or fifth grader. It had been a busy and productive five years under David Howe. Now, with the school entering its twentieth year of existence on a new campus, he would continue to put his stamp on the growth and develop-

ment of Charlotte Country Day School as it produced an even higher standard of excellence in the community, along with appreciation, respect, and pride. On September 21, 1960, friends and visitors gathered to tour the campus, visit the buildings, and dedicate the new Country Day. James G. Cannon, president of the Board of Trustees, presided over the ceremonies, and William K. Van Allen, chairman of the Board of Managers, accepted the formal presentation. Headmaster David L. Howe then dedicated the school. James J. Harris introduced Dr. D. Grier Martin, president of Davidson College, who gave the main address. Five buildings were completed and ready for occupancy on that fall day. Bray Hall would house grades one through six. The Barnhardt Administration Building would house the Cannon Library, which contained some thirty-four hundred volumes and was constantly expanding the collection to meet increasing demands for books. The Martin L. Cannon Science Building contained a laboratory for physical sciences and another for biological sciences and was connected to the Pell Upper School Building. The James J. and Angelia Harris Gymnasium would make possible an ever-expanding athletic program, but as alumnus Vic Josephs recalls, "We dressed for football in a tent until the dressing rooms were finished." Finally, there was the Sanger Cafeteria, with its modern dining hall and spacious student lounge, which Vic remembers best as his homeroom that first year. Vic Josephs and Bryan Crutcher were co-captains of the football team that began a noble tradition on the new campus with five wins and one loss. In the first game with Charlotte Catholic, the Rebels lost 7-0, but under Coach John Cook's direction, they came back to trounce Catholic 34-0 before the largest crowd of the year, thus establishing a football rivalry with Catholic that exists to the present day. The football banquet honoring Country Day's first varsity football team and the junior varsity was held on November 22 in the dining room. The junior and senior cheerleaders served steak and potatoes to the fathers and sons, while John Cook showed movies of the victory over Catholic and presented green and white varsity letters to all twenty-two members of the team. Mr. Wright served as toastmaster, and Mr. Vulgan, coach of the JVs, praised his team for its future promise as varsity members and its three-to-one record. In addition to strong programs in football, basketball, baseball, track, and wrestling for boys, the girls played basketball, volleyball, and soccer. They also played tennis at Freedom Park, and some of the eleventh grade girls formed a riding class which met every Tuesday at Mr. Hobbs' stables.

Bryan Crutcher became the first Student Council president to be elected by the student body under the new requirements for candidacy, which stated that the president must be a "senior" who had attended Country Day for two years and had an academic average of seventy-five or above. Lome Lassiter, who had served as president the previous year and worked to establish the bylaws for the council, was Bryan's opponent. Both were juniors who would officially become seniors the following year. The Postscript in 1961 continued to feature the ninth grade class as "seniors," while the tenth and eleventh grade classes patiently waited to make history as bona fide graduates. Lome Lassiter would continue her leadership role as editor of The Monitor and as president of a girls' honor club, Aquilifer, established during the summer prior to the 1960-61 school year by Mrs. Livingston and Mr. Howe, and advised during the first year by Mrs. Scappucci. Other founding members included Anne Mashburn, Page Munroe, Jane Utley, Beth Brown, and Judy Horn. An initiation dinner was held on Sunday, October 30, 1960, at the Ming Tree Restaurant. Aquilifer means "standard bearer," and the table was decorated with pale blue ribbon, the club's color. The group decided on the requirements for membership and the various service projects the club would undertake, and while the activities have varied through the years, the spirit of Country Day's oldest service club remains intact to the present. It was to be a year of many firsts: the first year on the Carmel Road campus, the first eleventh grade, the first year for Aquilifer for girls and the Monogram Club for boys, and the natal year for the Fine Arts Club, a Science Club, and the Community and World Service Organization. It was also to be remembered as the year for the first Big Saturday, under the leadership of Mrs. Toy, president of the Parents' Council, with Mrs. Cannon and Mrs. Woodward as co-chairmen. Dave Howe recalls that Big Saturday, or the idea for it, started at the old school with Bobby Cannon, Helen Woodward, Katherine Blythe, and Dosty O'Herron; but the first "official" Big Saturday occurred on the new campus during the 1960-61 school year. The fundraiser netted more than thirty-two hundred dollars for the school and featured an array of bargains, along with elementary sports meets and the fathers' baseball game. From the first it was a paradigm of school community spirit and camaraderie. Merchandise, ranging from homemade split-pea soup to books, cakes, toys, candy, plants, pies, jewelry, jams, sport shirts, and sandwiches, was donated by contributors and arranged on tables outdoors and indoors. One could buy chances on a dog,

too. The success of the first Big Saturday made possible the purchase of benches to be placed outside the dining room and the Lower School, water fountains for the playing field and the Lower School, a flagpole for the new campus, and one set of bleachers. It also began a Parents' Council project that has continued to provide funds for equipment and school enrichment projects to the present day. Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Woodward brought the idea for Big Saturday from a school in Virginia, and they remember counting the money from the first one on the Cannons' living room floor. Mrs. Cannon's name was to become synonymous with Big Saturday through her continuing leadership, her popular Country Day Boutique, and her many donations of art and other items from Big Saturday to the school. The new campus inspired a kind of cultural revolution, evidenced first by a recognized need for a Fine Arts Department at the school. Students wanting to take fuller advantage of the cultural opportunities in the Charlotte community participated in a wide variety of activities in art, music, and drama by forming a Fine Arts Club. One of its projects was a study of Rembrandt, including a visit to the Mint Museum to view a film of the Dutch painter's life and works. Through Mrs. Toy of the Parents' Council and Mr. ScWageter, director of the Mint Museum, four art exhibits were brought to the campus and displayed in the cafeteria. The first was a lesson in color around which copies of Impressionist painters, such as Renoir and Cezanne, were displayed. Mr. Wright received the second exhibit, on techniques in painting, from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C. The third was a collection of early German manuscripts of original line drawings, and the fourth was a collection of reproductions by Goya. Plans were made to continue the exhibits the following year. The Fine Arts Club also sponsored an opera study for ninth graders, incorporating class instruction, a trip to New York where they attended a performance of the Verdi opera Nabucco at the Metropolitan Opera House, and a study of Aida, followed by a local performance of the Charlotte Opera Association. The group also saw the musical West Side Story in New York, and visited the Museum of Natural History, the Hayden Planetarium, the United Nations, the Metropolitan Museum of Art, and the Cloisters. This was the first CCDS trip to New York, and it was led by Mrs. Scappucci, Mrs. Livingston, Mr. and Mrs. Moffett, and Mr. Coalson. Mrs. Scappucci also took the tenth graders to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, again. The ninth graders had quite a year. They went to Davidson College to hear a lecture by Arnold J. Toynbee, internationally famous British historian. Back at school they presented Julius Caesar, opening the door to a

clearer understanding and appreciation of Shakespeare and inspiring eloquent prose from Jerry Murtagh, who wrote in The Monitor, "Shakespeare cannot and will not die while there are men like Mr. Wright who can put life into the written word and encourage his students in more ways than one to understand the motivations of great men." Meanwhile, the tenth grade Latin class was in mourning during the Ides of March over Caesar's assassination, draping themselves in white sheets and crying, "Et tu, Brute!" Not to be outdone, the eighth graders read Great Expectations, and third graders memorized passages from "Hiawatha." Preschoolers heard the story of A Midsummer Night)s Dream and collected pictures of elves and fairies in preparation for their song and dance for May Day, when Daryl Of strom and Shields Sloan would serve as flower girls and Tim Belk as crown-bearer. Service projects abounded. Under Mrs. Livingston's direction, the Community and World Service Organization set the specific purpose of helping others as its goal. The group helped support the Alexander Home for the mentally ill and sponsored a ten-year-old Korean boy through the Foster Parents' Plan. President Steve Larson led students in the seventh through the eleventh grades who pledged a certain amount of money for the club's work to become members. The Student Council contributed to a United Appeal Campaign Drive, made a contribution to the Salvation Army, set up an Honor Council, and sponsored two paper drives to raise money for bleachers in the gym. President Bryan Crutcher and SecretaryTreasurer Tucker Laxton were reelected to serve another year. The Senior Y-Teens and Junior Y-Teens sponsored a student-faculty basketball game to raise money to send a girl to school in India. The Monogram Club initiated any boy who had lettered in a sport during the 1960-61 school year and set as its goal the raising of money through car washes and other activities to pay for letters, sweaters, jackets, and plaques for athletic successes. President Steve Larson announced that when a boy had lettered four times, the club would give him a letter jacket. For the first time Country Day sent representatives to Girls' and Boys' State. Only one boy and girl were traditionally chosen to represent a school, but because Country Day was a "new school," it was allowed to send two representatives to each. Anne Mashburn, Lome Lassiter, Bryan Pittman, and Tommy Covington were selected to attend. One activity that continued as strongly as ever was May Day, with Boycie Lineberger as queen and Mary Jane Cotter and Carol Cannon as maids of honor. For the first time, the celebration had to be held in the gym because of rain. An ivy chain to introduce the court was an innovation, as

The old fine arts building on the new campus, located in the middle of what is now Fairview Road.

were escorts for the members of the court. Sports Days and the Harris-Pell competitions also continued on the new campus, but the Lower School had its own Sports Day at Big Saturday for grades preschool through six, won by Harris House. The girls also had their own Sports Day, won by Harris House, and the varsity girls' basketball team held a mother-daughter sports banquet, preceded by a challenge game between mothers and daughters. The 1960-61 Postscript, with Carol Cannon as editor and M. L. Cannon as business manager, continued to list Pell House or Harris House under class credits, but where once that information was ranked first in importance, along with date of entry to Country Day, it was now listed last. The 1961 yearbook would be the last to mention the two houses, as the emphasis clearly switched from house spirit to school spirit on the new campus. Three cheerleading squads helped promote the "new" spirit. The Chapel Committee no longer appeared in publications as a working group, but under Lome Lassiter's leadership, The Monitor gave a good account of continuing alumni activities, book fair sales, Booster Club sports involvement, and Science Club and science fair enthusiasm. Fading away were class prophecies and "last wills and testaments," with a growing emphasis on Top Scholars, most improved students, science fair winners, clubs, sports, and community involvement. As the junior class looked ahead to graduation in 1962, the rudiments of a college guidance program emerged. College representatives were invited to the campus from Amherst, Lafayette College, and Harvard to talk about choices of college and career. The Monitor also published information about various colleges and universities and their costs. One could attend Harvard for approximately $2,650 per year, all-inclusive. Full costs at Davidson were approximately $1,675. Amherst costs ran $2,035 annually, but one could attend Duke for $1,850 per year. Times have indeed changed. The summer camp continued on the new campus under Mrs. Scappucci's leadership. During the summer of 1961, a fort was constructed in the woods behind the Lower School, complete with stockade, tent, and log cabin. Summer offerings included personal typing, sewing, cooking, archery, arts and crafts, swimming, and pioneering. In the academic area, reading, math, Latin, and French were possible selections. A swimming pool was constructed, primarily for the use of the camp. Fifty-five feet long, thirty-five feet wide, and approximately four feet deep, the pool had a twelve-foot apron of concrete on one side to permit teaching of lifesaving and a six-foot fence surrounding it for safety purposes. Mrs. Brown was hired to be swimming instructor.

During the same summer, Mrs. Shumake visited Paris for two months with her two daughters, aged six and thirteen, while Lyn Evans and his wife sailed to England on the Queen Elizabeth. They spent time in London, Paris, Rome, Florence, Venice, and Milan before returning to Mr. Evans's old home territory in Wales and Scotland. Final notes on the historic twentieth year and the first on the new campus involve faculty, staff, and administration. For the first time, an administrative team was assembled. Mr. Larry Greenia was hired as business manager, and Mrs. Ernest Copses continued as business secretary. Mrs. Martha Haywood, who had been a volunteer on the Sardis campus, became a full-time employee as enrollment secretary. Mrs. Doris Lavender began as receptionist. This group of administrators would be well known to students, parents, trustees, and the school community for many years to come. There were five new members of the faculty: Mr. William Hurdle, who taught chemistry, physics, and general science, coached track, and was advisor to the Science Club and the Photography Club; Mr. Joseph Murphy, who taught seventh, eighth, and tenth grade English and was advisor to The Monitor; Mrs. Meredith Spangler, who taught English, United States history, and North Carolina history; Mrs. Alma Herb, who taught Latin and

French; and Mr. Ambrose Vulgan, who taught algebra, trigonometry, plane geometry, and eighth grade math. Continuing a long-standing tradition, all had outstanding credentials, including graduate school or master's degrees, and broad work and travel experience. John Fitzgerald Kennedy was elected president of the United States in November 1960, and the world was not at war as it had been back in 1941 when the school was founded. Indeed, it was an idyllic time that looked like Camelot. By the end of 1961, however, and the anniversary of the school's founding, John Palmer wrote an article for The Monitor in which he aptly summarized the state of the world: Sword-rattling Nikita Khrushchev has turned East Berlin into a prison with the construction of a fortified masonry wall blocking all entrances to the Russian sector, and completely halting the passage of East Berliners into West Berlin. The wall must be removed. If it is allowed to remain, the U.S. will be publicly showing her fear of Russia. Although President Kennedy has told Khrushchev that the U.S. will fight over Berlin if necessary, the wall still remains as an open violation of the Potsdam treaty. He continued with a discussion of the Soviet Union's resumption of nuclear testing, Charles de Gaulle's problems with Algerian independence, and Britain's problems with the Common Market. The Cold War had begun. The most troubling item in Palmer's article, however, was one which seemed insignificant in comparison with the Soviet threat. Palmer noted, "The communists have gained control of the northern half of IndoChina and are now able to try for the southern half and Laos. Laos is the key to South Asian domination . . . and Kennedy had better take off his white gloves and try to pull Laos out of the mud." But that is history in the making. Meanwhile, the 1961-62 school year at Country Day began the twentyfirst year and the start of a new decade, memorable for the first graduating class in the school's history. They had been "seniors" for four years. The names and nurnbers had changed since they were ninth graders in 1959; the fifteen staunch faithful were Madeline Anderson, Joan Brown, Tom Covington, Bryan Crutcher, George Howe, Edwin Jones, Lorne Lassiter, Mary Lowe, Anne Mashburn, Susan McCarty, John Palmer, Jim Steven, Jane Utley, Nancy Van Every, and Anne Whitlock. All had amassed formidable leadership, athletic, and service records, and all were headed for college: Madeline Anderson and Susan McCarty to Centenary Junior College in New York City; Anne Mashburn, Bryan Crutcher, Edwin Jones, and John Palmer to Duke

May Day 1963: Annabel Jones Link '64 escorted by Richard Hubbard '64; Patty O'Herron Norman '65 escorted by John Trotter '65; Mary Margaret Rice Morrison '65 escorted by Hank Heidenreich '65.

Mrs. Livingston's third grade is ready to dance the polka at May Day festivities in 1958. This photo is one of many donated to the school by Mrs. Bobby Cannon.

University; Joan Brown to Furman; Anne Whitlock to Sullins College; Jim Steven to Stetson; Lome Lassiter and Jane Utley to Sweet Briar; George Howe to UNC; and Tom Covington to the University of Pennsylvania. Highlights of the year included an undefeated football season; a new French Club advised by Mrs. Kaestner; an Art Club advised by Mrs. Leslie Tompkins; "the most successful May Day in fourteen years" with Lome Lassiter as queen; outstanding wins in the science fair by Skipper Burns, Buddy Shaia, and the fourth grade; athletic recognition for John Palmer, John Tate, Ben Trotter, Bill Coddington, Mary Ann Hardman, Ann Munroe, and Lome Lassiter; excellent published stories by Alan Lee, Nan Heinbaugh, Jerry Murtagh, John Palmer, and David Cook; and National Science Foundation summer scholarships for Vie Josephs to attend Colorado School of Mines and David Greenia to attend Clemson College. Edwin L. Jones, Jr., father of five CCDS graduates, has written his favorite memory of the first graduating class and the first varsity football team, of which his son, Edwin L. Jones III, was a member. The Country Day team, consisting of eighteen boys, played Baden High School, which had a large football team of strong, big boys, numbering approximately forty-five. It was Baden's homecoming. Football is a game of timing, and when a team can disrupt the other on offense, it makes it hard for the opponents to execute their plays. This is a true story of what happened on one football evening in Baden. We kicked off to Baden and on the first play, they fumbled. On the next play we scored a touchdown. We kicked off again, and on the second play they fumbled. In about two plays we scored another touchdown. We kicked off again, and after a few plays they either fumbled or had to kick. It was only a few plays before we scored another touchdown! At times the Baden team looked great, but the final score was about 32 to 7 in Country Day's favor. After the game, Mr. Jones gave Edwin III, Tom Huey, and Bryan Crutcher a ride back to Charlotte: I told them I knew they were good, but I did not know how they had managed to beat Baden so one-sidedly. They said that after the first CCDS touchdown, the Baden boys started cursing them, using language they had never heard at home or at the comer drugstore. I asked how that made a difference. They explained that they called a

time-out and told Coach Cook, who told them what to do. Over the next fifteen minutes or so, I finally learned from them what the coach had suggested. He told them when the other players said something off-color, just to smile and ask one question: "What's the score?" Two other special areas also deserve recognition for their work during

1961-62. Though much energy had gone into science for a number of years, little had been said about math. In the spring of 1961 the preschool class news reported that Mrs. Benoy had introduced the cuisinaire rods, aids to teaching arithmetic that would enable students to solve complicated problems far beyond their training. The third graders were playing a game called "Quizmo" in arithmetic, and as the Upper School expanded to include all grades, a new emphasis on math was clearly evident. In the fall of 1961, a math teacher named Mr. Griggs visited second, fourth, sixth, and seventh grade classes at Country Day; he "held the classes spellbound and left us, to say the least, astounded," noted the class reporters. In three days, he taught equations, explained base numbers with exponents, and used a number line to show new nicks with math. Clearly math was becoming an exciting subject! The second area was fine arts, and the year's work culminated with the first annual Fine Arts Festival on April 12, 1962. Mr. Joseph Murphy directed Ways and Means, a light comedy in two scenes by Noel Coward, starring Marsha Burroughs, Jerry Murtagh, Stasia McGriff, Steven Greenia, Tinka Toy, David Greenia, Bryan Pittman, Janie Cotter, and Walter Brown. Next, Mrs. John F. Roth directed the Upper School Chorus in a program of five numbers, including "Give Me Your Tired, Your Poor" and "Climb Every Mountain." After a ten-minute intermission, Mr. Robert Metz directed the Junior Dramatics Club in The Ugly Duckling, starring Buddy Shaia, Stephanie Hetter, Sally Wallace, Melissa Mayfield, Alice Folger, Tobi Tyler, and Ken O'Herron. The grande finale, presented by the Junior Choral Group, featured "Largo," "Do-Re-Mi," and "When You Wish Upon a Star." Accompanying the music and drama presentations was an interesting art exhibit, arranged by art director Mrs. Leslie Tompkins, featuring exercises and finished work in charcoal, pencil, pen and ink, crayon, tempera, watercolor, pastels, construction paper, and clay. Especially praiseworthy were the work of Barbara Mitchell and the photography of Tom Covington and Hal London. Mrs. Tompkins noted that the art program was both elective and selective-"elective because creativity cannot be forced, and selective because of limited space." Even so, the arts at Country Day were clearly on the move on the new campus.

The 1962-63 school year was notable for some new faces on the campus and a growing student body; 329 students were enrolled. The second graduating class had only ten students, but they were special to Mr. Howe because he had taught them in senior English. In the yearbook he noted, "You have done your difficult job ofleadership well, and each of you as a person has rewarded your school by growing in vision and by acknowledging that growth with grace. We send you off with confidence in your wisdom and aspiration toward service." Beth Brown Boyd has epitomized that prophecy, serving the school almost continuously as an alumna, a volunteer, a parent, a member of the Board of Trustees, a supporter, and a Booster, and many of her classmates continue to serve faithfully and loyally as well. The other nine 1963 graduates were Susan Carr, Betty Harkey, Johnsie Heyward, Vic Josephs, Tucker Laxton, Hal London, Nancy Main, Page Munroe, and Mike Williams. Each had a long list of service. Tucker Laxton had served as president of the Student Council, captain of the basketball team, and member of the football team, as well as on the Monitor and Postscript staffs; he had participated in two or three clubs and had been Top Scholar for three years. He won the Harvard Book Award in the junior year. Tom Covington had won the first Harvard Book Award in 1961. Vic Josephs had been on the football and wrestling teams for three years; he also served as president of the Monogram Club and editor of the Postscript, which was dedicated in 1962-63 to Coach John Cook. Page Munroe had been a cheerleader; an Aquilifer, Community and World Service, and Y-Teen member for three years; and May queen in 1963. Such examples show the students' training for future excellence: Beth Brown went to Duke, Page Munroe to Sweet Briar, Nancy Main to Goucher, Betty Harkey to Agnes Scott, Susan Carr to Bennington, and Johnsie Heyward to St. Mary's. Vic Josephs went to Lafayette, Tucker Laxton to Davidson, Hal London to UNC, and Mike Williams was, as he put it, "headed for the U.S. Air Force, one way or another." By 1962-63, the seventh through eleventh grade classes were large enough to be separated by boys and girls for homeroom, and the Middle Schoolers were separated by sex for classes. There were two sixth grades. The Lower School had a Student Council, a chorus, and a Drama Club. Aquilifer, the Monogram Club, the Booster Club, and the Dramatics Club were growing by leaps and bounds. So many students were writing for publication in The Monitor that the magazine held its first annual Short Story Contest, won by Alan Lee for his story "Sleep Not the Past." Tom Jelliffe won in the Lower School with "The Mysterious Theft."

By the time of the second annual Fine Arts Festival the school had a band-seven students willing to spend time on Saturday mornings to practice with Mr. Spencer Mims of the city schools. The band opened the festival, followed by a play directed by Mr. Joseph Murphy, J. M. Barrie's Shall WeJoin the Ladies? Mr. Ernest B. Wright's ninth grade class presented excerpts from Julius Caesar, and the Lower School chorus sang fourteen songs under the direction of Mrs. John F. Roth. The second Big Saturday had made a thirty-five-hundred-dollar profit, enough to purchase a tape recorder and playground equipment for the Lower School; the third one expanded to include booths and projects by the various grades and many more games. Ninth grade girls, for example, had pony rides, a ring toss, and a show called "Let Us Entertain You." The eleventh grade boys sponsored a water balloon toss at teachers. The French Club sold pastries. The bulk of the money, however, came from the parents' rummage and bake sales and a raIDe. Another first for the year was the Faculty Follies. Faculty created a skit about the Wild West, complete with square dancing. Money raised from the project was to be used for a faculty scholarship to be awarded to an academically deserving student each year. It was hoped that the Follies would become an annual event. The biggest news of the third year on the new campus, however, was that growth in enrollment allowed for the hiring of enough new teachers so that for the first time the faculty could be organized by departments. Fore-

most among the new faculty in 1962-63 was Mrs. Dolly Hickman, who was to remain at the school until she retired in 1986. Mrs. Hickman had received her B.S. and her A.B. from Winthrop College and had done graduate work at Winthrop, Woman's College, and the University of North Carolina. She had been in the teaching profession for fifteen years and had long been active in PTA, Cub Scouts, and Boy and Girl scouts. She was also on the Board of Trustees of the Nature Museum, where she taught workshops and led field trips. Science was her passion, and she enjoyed fossil hunting, rock-hounding, beachcombing, fishing, swimming, boating, and camping. Hired to chair the Science Department when Mrs. Scappucci left, she had already led a field trip out west in the summer of 1960 with Mrs. Scappucci (now Mayer) and another in 1961 to Niagara Falls. Some fifteen students had accompanied Mrs. Hickman and Mrs. Mayer on the western trip, covering sixty-five hundred miles in two Dodge Pioneer station wagons, through Kentucky, Missouri, and Nebraska, to the Badlands of South Dakota, Yellowstone National Park, the Grand Tetons, Salt Lake City, the Air Force Academy in Colorado, Dodge City, Kansas, and back home. Mrs. Hickman would oversee the greenhouse built in memory of David Howe, Jr., in addition to her teaching duties, and she would make summer expeditions and School-in-the-Woods, School-at-the-Beach, and School-in-theMountains famous at Country Day. One of the first things Mrs. Hickman did was to eliminate the competitive science fairs and encourage instead science projects by individuals and classes from first grade through the Upper School as a way of teaching and learning about science. All the projects were then displayed at a science open house for parents, faculty, and friends at which students explained their projects and "educated" their parents in scientific research. The addition of a bioscope to the science lab was so interesting that it even brought students to the campus for Saturday morning classes! Among the other new faculty were several teaching couples. Mr. and Mrs. Vulgan returned from Norfolk, where they had spent the previous year. Mr. Vulgan chaired the Math Department, aided by Mr. John Cook and Mrs. Robin Fuller. Mrs. Vulgan kept records for the school and assisted with girls' athletics. Garven Dalglish came to teach English, advise the Monitor and Postscript staffs, and edit the Country Day Commentary, joining English Department chairman Mr. Ernest B. Wright, Mr. Joseph L. Murphy, and Headmaster David Howe. Mrs. Dalglish was head of the Lower School and taught Bible and phonics. Mr. Robin Fuller taught sixth grade, while Mrs. Fuller taught math and advised the cheerleaders. Mr.

Varsity cheerleaders in 1963. From left to right: Kathy Blythe Southerland, Patty Q'Herron Norman, Bettie Henderson, Page Munroe Renger, Beth Brown Boyd, Annabel Jones Link, Johnsie Heyward Canny.

Scribner Jelliffe arrived as the new head of the History Department; the other member of the department was Mr. John Morris. Mr. James Hall and Dr. Paul Saman joined the Foreign Language Department, ostensibly to teach French, but Mr. Hall could also speak Spanish, Italian, Chinese, Russian, Portuguese, and German, while Dr. Saman, born in Turkey of Czechoslovakian parents, had taught French, Russian, and Oriental languages. His wife was German, so it is assumed that he was fluent in that language as well. In short, the two gentlemen could have taught almost any language the school wanted or needed. Other mainstays in the Foreign Language Department were Mrs. Lawrence Livingston, chairman, whose specialty was Latin, and Mrs. Gisele Shumake, whose native language was French. Another new member of the department was Mrs. B. D. Williamson, who could teach Latin, French, and math. Mr. Russell Wells joined Mrs. Hickman and Mr. William R. Hurdle in the Science Department. Miss Elizabeth Glover was the new girls' athletic director. The librarian was Mrs. J. D. Mashburn, assisted by Mrs. E. C. Green. Many of the Lower School teachers were veterans of the Sardis campus and were familiar names: Marilyn Mills in first grade, Dorothy Sargent in fourth grade, and Emlyn Evans in sixth grade. Second grade was taught by Miss Florence Dawson and third grade by Mrs. L. C. Seymour. In preschool, Mrs. George W. Jones had joined the staffin 1961-62. Better known as Mary C. Jones, this superb teacher would establish a teaching legacy at Country Day that no one could match: her daughter, Jackie Jones Hunter, would be another outstanding Country Day teacher, and her granddaughter, Kate Hunter Johnson, would be a Country Day graduate and another promising teacher at the school. Although Mrs. Jones died in 1980, Mrs. Hunter and Mrs. Johnson were still teaching as of the fiftieth anniversary year, 1991. A full account of this "famous family" is given later. In 1963-64 another teacher arrived at Country Day who was to remain at the school for many years. In fact, she and Dolly Hickman would retire together in June 1986. Mrs. G. R. Abernethy, better known as VIrginia, joined the Math Department. Another new face was that of Wilbert Alexander, who was at that time a member of the kitchen staff, but who in later years would perform various jobs in maintenance and become a mainstay at Country Day. Almost every department had a new face. For example, Dr. Saman had already moved to Charlotte College, later to become UNCC, to teach in the Foreign Language Department there, and Mrs. Gottfried Kaestner had taken his place at Country Day. The graduating class in 1964 had grown to twenty-two. A Spanish Club had been added, along with an Assembly Planning Committee; all

other clubs and sports teams were still going strong. Dr. Charles Nash, chairman of the English Department, was advisor to the Post Script staff, and Clarice Cato was editor. The yearbook had a new look in design, but it also got a "new name" with a space between Post and Script that was to remain until 1975. The 1964 book was dedicated to Mr. Ernest Bickford Wright, "a man for whom the honor is long overdue. By showing us the eloquence of Caesar, the beauty of Emerson, by infusing us with a respect for authority and discipline, he has instilled in us a respect for ourselves." The May queen was Anastasia Arnold McGriff, who had attended Country Day for her entire school career except for grades three, four, and five. In 1991, she is Stasia McGriff Leary, and she lives in Mocksville, North Carolina. Her memories of the school are eloquent and give insights that make history come alive: I entered when the school stood on the old Sardis Road campus and graduated three years after the move to the modern Carmel Road expansion. Perhaps its beginning in rather austere facilities was appropriate to the school's philosophy of self-discipline, self-reliance, and self-motivation. Early on, the Country Day doctrine was one of high emphasis on academic fundamentals combined with developing a student's ability to think and articulate in a logical, cohesive fashion.

Looking back over my Country Day years, there are several individuals who stand out as those who provided the leadership and inspiration that has extended into an adult lifetime: Marilyn Mills, my first grade teacher (and her first year in teaching, I think), I remember for her courage, strength, and gentleness. She taught through her own example that handicaps do not have to be limiting, that one is as able as one wishes to be through one's own will. Interestingly, I don't recall that as six-year-olds her students ever thought there was anything unusual about her being in a wheelchair, and I don't recall any discipline problems either! Mrs. Busbin made her second graders look up terms like "spontaneous combustion" and be able to define them in class if called upon. Mr. Booker, headmaster before Mr. Howe, was an erudite gentleman of the old school. As I recall he had a wonderful British accent. His military bearing was tempered by the twinkle in his eye. I remember his reviewing a Halloween Parade around the grounds of the old campus; a vast array of costumes and characters delighted his usually reserved countenance. Emlyn Evans is a difficult person to summarize in a few words. Today's sixth graders are often considered "misfits," a transitional group belonging neither to elementary nor junior high school. Mr. Evans was the perfect candidate to bridge this gap. His Welsh accent and marvelous sense of humor brought his lessons to life. He expected excellence from all of his sixth graders, and was quick to call parents if one's best effort wasn't forthcoming. He was also backed up by his "Board of Education," a short board about eighteen inches in length! Actually, I don't recall that contact was ever really made between it and a student. Its presence was reminder enough! He believed in reading to his students. The highlight of a day, if we had earned it, was his reading to us from Around the World in Eighty Days. It always seemed as though Jules Verne himself were telling the story. No mention of Country Day's "greats" would be complete without Charlotte Scappucci. She was mentor to many, and no student came out of her class without a greater understanding and appreciation of the world around. I remember sitting in her science class watching on live TV as John Glenn went into space. And the Class of '64 still

recalls her famous "Let me show you my organs" statement began explaining her new human torso model.

as she

Muriel Livingston, I learned after I graduated, was really a very lovely human being with a real sense of humor. Students who didn't memorize their Latin declensions and verb conjugations promptly denied themselves the opportunity to cultivate this side of her. Her unique opening message to her classes, "Having a seat and sitting down," will forever ring in my ears. E. B. Wright. If we didn't learn to use and appreciate the King's English, it was through no lack of energy on his part. If! had to name one teacher above all others in many years of schooling who taught students to think, the choice would emphatically be Mr. Wright. He used to say he would do whatever it took, including standing on his head if necessary, to get knowledge into us. As I recall, he actually attempted this on one occasion! From Shakespeare to short story composition to public "oratory," English students became English scholars under his tutelage. The Country Day that I knew was a school of high expectations, where only one's best was good enough, and the rewards of achievement were evident in what one gained the ability to do in the future. Looking back I realize that every aspect of my life has drawn heavily from the influence ofCCDS. As a fifteen-year career veteran in education and a current practicing school psychologist working with all types of handicapped children, I believe that my philosophy and my goals have been heavily shaped by the Country Day experience. Under "Odds and Ends," Stasia also lists many interesting details about the day-to-day life of the school: In the eighth through the eleventh grade we had segregated male and female homerooms with no crossing over the sidewalk boundary at the old campus. "Violators prosecuted!" Seniors had the privilege of "commingling. " "Midmorning." A snack of juice and cookies enjoyed during a break from classes and a chance to socialize with friends.

The enforced dress code, though not thought of in this way, was the norm. Girls wore dresses or skirts; the only thing else was permissible gym attire. One or two boys took the daring chance around the eleventh or twelfth grade of not wearing socks to school-just slacks (never jeans) and loafers. Needless to say, the offenders were promptly sent home! Maybe this was the forerunner of the later sixties resistance movements. Summer reading lists were used to keep young minds keen on academics over the long holiday. A minimum number of books were required reading. It didn't take long to find out that it was easier to do the reading than to try to slip by. Tests were given at the beginning of school. If satisfactory mastery wasn't evident, one had the opportunity to finish the job on as many Saturday mornings as it took; these were known as "Saturday study halls." We had boardinghouse-style lunches. Large steaming bowls of food were placed on the tables and passed around in genteel fashion for each to serve his portion. Adventuresome teachers herded us to Washington, D.C., Oak Ridge, Tennessee, and New York City. Introductions to the Smithsonian, the nuclear age, Broadway, and the old Metropolitan Opera House, among other things, were made on these field trips that were gateways to the world. I first remember trying the twist at a school dance on the commons area outside the cafeteria, probably the first year on the new campus. The dance brought mixed reviews from parents! The sought-after vintage cars of today were the clunkers we rode to school in during the early sixties. Few students had their own cars, and the loan of a family automobile was a privilege. Never mind the style; if it had wheels and ran, that was what mattered. No history is complete without its joys and sorrows. The Class of 1964 had untimely losses in three families, one of them mine. This came at a time of special accomplishments and made the year a bittersweet one.

It was about this time that E. B. Wright became ill and died. In talking with some class members recently, it has been reaffirmed to me that from adversity comes strength. This, too, is part of the Country Day message. During the summer of 1964 Cramer Hall was completed at a cost of $150,000 and was ready for the 1964-65 school year. Named for the late Stuart Cramer, one of the school's first benefactors whose residence was used for the first school in 1941, it was originally dubbed a "music and arts" building with five classrooms and a large lecture hall. Three members of the Cramer family attended the dedication ceremonies: Mrs. Maurice R. Smith, George B. Cramer, and J. Scott Cramer. Other far-reaching signs of progress included a new language lab, which was installed in February of 1964. Mr. Howe commented that the school had acquired "eight new foreign language teachers for less than four thousand dollars." When Mrs. C. W. Tillett, a member of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women, spoke at graduation on June 5, 1964, she urged graduates to "learn other languages" and to "take advantage of exchange programs for foreign travel," a process that had already begun. Meanwhile, John Cook, football coach, and John Morris, basketball coach, had been taking their teams "from the tent to the top" as the athletic program increased in stature. Twenty-three students comprised the class of 1965, among them the "little O'Herron girl" who had once directed Mr. Howe through the snow. Patty chose Emerson's "Nothing great was ever achieved without enthusiasm" as her motto and has followed it to the letter in continued enthusiastic service to the school. She and good friend Sally Cannon (Saussy) have teamed on many a project for Country Day, the latest as co-chairmen for the fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Another member of the class was Alan Lee, who would return to Country Day to teach English in the footsteps of Mr. Wright, to serve as director of development, to coach, and to head the John Cook Scholarship Committee after the coach's death, preserving the work of another great teacher and leader. The Top Scholar of the class was John Tate III; the May queen was Kathy Blythe, who was also president of Aquilifer; George Carr was Student Council president; Bryan Pittman was Monogram Club president; and Linda Main was editor of the Post Script, which was dedicated to Mr. Ambrose Vulgan. Faculty and students suffered a great loss when Ernest B. Wright died on August 6, 1965. He had served the school well as assistant headmaster, but it was as an outstanding English teacher that his students most remembered and mourned him. Millie Dalton Cox, Class of 1966, and now

director of international studies at Country Day, responded quickly when asked to write some of the things she remembered about her years at the school. "Only one thing I want to be sure gets included, and that is a tribute to Mr. Wright! He made such an impression on me that I shall never forget him, and Alan Lee will tell you to this day that Mr. Wright inspired him to become an English teacher." The school established the Ernest B. Wright English Award in memory of the Princeton graduate, who had also studied at Princeton Theological Seminary and at Yale. The award is given annually to the junior who best exemplifies the scholarship in and love of the subject that Mr. Wright inspired. The other teacher Millie Cox remembers fondly is Marilyn Mills. Millie had suffered from polio and, like Miss Mills, was confined to a wheelchair or crutches when she was in the first grade class. "I think she was harder on me than on anybody else. She would not let me get away with a thing or lean on my handicap. She understood, and helped teach me from the first to be strong." Some new members of the faculty in 1964-65 were to remain at the school for many years. Watson L. Burts, mathematics and science, left in 1986; John C. Bristor, history and science, and Mrs. Jackie Hunter, third grade, are among those with the longest and most distinguished service in the fiftieth anniversary year. James G. Cannon continued to serve as chairman of the Board of Trustees, assisted by stalwarts William H. Barnhardt, J. Chadbourn Bolles, James J. Harris, Allison Pell, Dr. William R. Pitts, and Dr. Paul Sanger. Chairman of the Board of Managers in 1965 was J. Scott Cramer, with members Mrs. Thomas M. Belk, Mrs. W. Franklin Brown, Mrs. William 1. Coddington, Mr. Robert 1. Dalton, Jr., Frank Horne, David L. Howe, Edwin L. Jones, Jr., Mrs. E. N. Leonard, Dr. Ross McElwee, James H. Martin, Jr., Allison Pell, Jr., Mrs. Walter Toy, Mrs. Charles Truesdell, R. Read Tull, J. Mason Wallace, Jr., William Wade Wood, Herbert M. Woodward, and Ernest B. Wright. In 1965 The Charlotte News named James G. Cannon its Man of the Year. The yearbook noted with pride: Mr. Cannon has been Country Day's Man of the Year far longer than just 1965. Mr. Cannon joined the Board of Trustees in 1949 when his three children were Lower School students. Soon made chairman, his work with and at the school was frequent; it was from his vision that plans were made toward high school, toward the new plant, toward the additions to that plant; it was with his leadership that

fUnds were raised over the years to accomplish the plan. Still chairman of the Board of Trustees, he sits ex-officio on the more active Board of Managers, always ready to support new plans for a better school. Mr. and Mrs. Cannon's continued work and interest have been immeasurably helpful in putting Country Day where it is. In 1965-66, the Board of Trustees remained the same. The board was composed of patrons who had already given long and distinguished service to the school, and their task was to administer the school as a corporate body, determining and carrying out programs, making decisions regarding the physical plant, and setting policies. The Board of Managers was composed of parents and friends of the school, who were charged by the Board of Trustees to meet monthly to decide budget, funding, and educational policy matters and to direct the actual business of the school. During 1965-66 William Wade Wood served as chairman of the Board of Managers with members Mrs. Bruce Ballenger, Mrs. Thomas Belk, Mrs. W. Franklin Brown, James G. Cannon, Mrs. William Coddington, J. Scott Cramer, Robert 1. Dalton, John T. Fielder, Frank Horne, Mrs. E. N. Leonard, Dr. Ross McElwee, James H. Martin, Jr., Mrs. Allison Pell, Jr., Mrs. Charles Truesdell, R. Read Tull, J. Mason Wallace, Jr., Herbert Woodward, David L. Howe, and Lawrence J. Greenia. The major task of the year was a drive to raise funds for a new Lower School building to relieve crowding and allow for expanded enrollment and programs; plans called for the building to be ready for occupancy by the fall of 1966. The headmaster was charged with the responsibility of carrying out the plans and policies of the Board of Managers. New faces among the faculty in 1965-66 were those of Louise Cobb in Latin and Sallye M. Tathwell (Richards) in science. Also new on the campus that year was the Charlotte A. Kelly Observatory, built by the Charlotte Amateur Astronomy Club. Equipped with a retractable roof which allowed for stargazing and provided safe storage space for the astronomers' equipment, this unique addition to the physical plant provided good public relations and great publicity for the school. Frequent radio spots announced the meetings of the club and the heavenly phenomena the astronomers would be viewing at Country Day, so that all of Charlotte considered the school the very seat of scientific research on the Solar System. Indeed, as the open houses in science revealed, the students in all grades were excellent scientists, and many conducted independent study projects in addition to the ones for the open house. The Howe greenhouse provided for botanical experience as well.

Meanwhile, artists like Oliver Rowe and David Thompson were producing Gold Key winners in Scholastic Art Awards, and students were exhibiting at Festival in the Park and on campus. Mr. James A. Birch introduced art appreciation into the curriculum for the first time. While ~1r. Oliver Cook's students were singing carols for Christmas Breakfast, practicing for a choir performance, listening to a chamber concert, or producing Pirates of Penzance, Mr. John Cook's Rebels continued to tear up their opponents on the football field or in wrestling. Coach Bristor's basketball team was winning points and games galore, while baseball was breaking even and track was flying. The girls' basketball team won all of its games under Mrs. Vulgan's leadership, and the cheerleaders did the most "Rebel Rousing" of all. Guests to the campus included a British bobbie, Harry Golden, and Kays Gary. It was a time of Weejuns, Gants, Villagers, Lady Bugs, and Honda motorcycles. The Class of 1966, too, was a senior class that would have poignant memories. Thirty-four seniors were in the graduating class, and the yearbook records their accomplishments. Ross McElwee was president of the Student Council and "a diligent enthusiast in football, basketball, and track." (Yet it was also a sad time, as his brother's seventh grade class carried a small box at the bottom of the page that read, "In Memoriam: Robert Winston McElwee.") Eddie Hipp, Thomas Wolpert, and John Howe were National Merit scholars; Adelaide Johnston was May queen; Carol Bowers and Millie Dalton were honor attendants; Alice Peery had been to Governor's School; Chad Smith had been Top Scholar for four years, but Shelley Welton was the Class Scholar and National Merit scholar, winning Top Scholar honors for nine years; Alice Folger had been "queen on the basketball court for three years"; Sam Cook, since his freshman year, had lettered in every varsity sport he had attempted-football, wrestling, basketball, and baseball-and had been all-county in football and basketball; Don Porter was a point leader in all varsity track meets; Chad Smith's "fast ball had bafiled many batters," while John Coggins had outmaneuvered his opponents on the basketball court and Wilton Connor his foes on the mat. However, Charles Randolph Willard, Jr., had mastered everything; he was a National Merit scholar who had "lettered constantly in football, basketball, baseball, and track, and even had artistic skill." In 1966, no one could foresee that Ross McElwee would win fame at filmmaking and become Country Day's Alumnus of the Year in 1987. Sam Cook could not foresee a bout with cancer, or the day when his father would no longer coach the Rebels. Millie Dalton never dreamed that she would return to Country Day as director of international studies. And no

Original Booster Club concession stand on the Carmel Road campus. Left to right from back row: Steve Larson, Hal London, Mike Williams, Stasi a McGriff Leary, Beth Brown Boyd; Elizabeth Montgomery Crenshaw, Jonsie Heyward Canny, Jean Farnell Bednarski, Page Munroe Renger.

one realized that Charles Willard, Jr., would give his life for his country in Vietnam in 1970 as a member of the elite Seventy-fifth Airbourne Ranger Battalion, and that the Alumni Association would establish an athletic room with a plaque in his honor. His mother pays tribute to Mr. Wright and Coach Cook as major influences in Charles's life at Country Day and notes that "he quarterbacked the first football team ever to beat Charlotte Catholic." Sam Cook was, according to the Post Script of that year, "an incorrigible clown, born with the gift of laughter and the sense that the world was mad." Having lived to see his father immortalized by memorials following Coach Cook's death in July 1986, and recognizing his own mortality, Sam in 1990 would pen serious and sincere prose in memory of his friend: Charles Willard was an extraordinary young man. He was extremely intelligent, artistic, and witty. He had a great sense of humor, and his love for mischief kept him constantly in trouble at Country Day. He was a fine athlete, participating in football, basketball, and track. He quarterbacked an 8-1 football team, and he held the school record for the one-quarter mile on the track team. But it was on the battlefield that Charles showed his mettle. He volunteered for a long-range reconnaissance patrol at Plei Mrong in

the central higWands of Vietnam. Unfortunately, Charles died in battle, but his love of life, bravery, and courage made such an impression on his classmates that twenty-five years later we can still see his face and remember. He is an American hero with a bronze star for valor, but to the Class of 1966, he is our hero. The Alumni Association plaque speaks truth when it says, "If life is measured not by the accumulation of years but by the intensity with which it is experienced, and wealth is computed not by the attainment of possessions but by the depth of friendships, then Charles lived both a rich and full life." Mr. and Mrs. Charles Willard established a scholarship in memory of their son to be awarded "to a young man entering grade seven or above, who has demonstrated excellence in his academic life, has earned the respect and affection of his friends, and participates in some phase of competitive athletics. This scholarship seeks to bring to the school a boy who would otherwise be unable to attend Country Day and who shows promise of making an important contribution to the school and maturing into a man concerned for the quality of life in the community." The Willards also established the Charles R. Willard, Jr., Lectures Series at First Presbyterian Church. Both of these memorials serve to keep alive the spirit of the fine young man who gave his life for his country and whose death so profoundly influenced his friends and classmates. A new face among the Upper School faculty in 1966-67 was that of Mrs. Mary Ann Clifford (now Huskey), but new faces were many in the Lower School because of the new building and expansion to two classes of each grade. Frances Hyatt in fifth grade, Anne Nash in second grade, Susan Saunders in sixth grade, and Sarah "Sammie" Yopp in second grade all came to Country Day to set new heights of excellence. While the new building was being completed, kindergarten and first grade classes had to be held at St. John's Episcopal Church across the street. Mary Ann Huskey remembers driving over to St. John's every day to teach Lower School language classes for fifteen minutes and then hurrying back to her Upper School classes on campus. The new building, named Katherine McKay Belk Hall, was completed in 1967. Other changes included the transformation of The Monitor from a magazine to a newspaper, edited by Betsy Blythe. The Country Day Literary Review was established to feature literary and artistic works by the students. Two issues were published during the year by a staff of juniors, who were pleased with the response. A Latin Club had joined the French and Spanish

clubs in the Foreign Language Department. The Y-Teens had dropped out of the picture, but Aquilifer, the Monogram and Booster clubs, and the Community and World Service Organization were still active. The missing locomotive bell from the Sardis campus shows up again in a Booster Club picture in the 1967 Post Script, edited by Mary Ruth Howe, but since the bell is not on the campus today, the search must continue. Oliver Rowe won a Hallmark Art Award. Many senior girls listed May Court among their tenth and eleventh grade activities, but there were no May Court pictures in the yearbook for the year. Twenty-one seniors were graduated in 1967. During the 1967-68 year Mrs. Jo Hassett joined the faculty to teach fifth grade; Mrs. Martha Woods, to teach third grade. Another new face was that of Carol Gerber, who taught English for that year only. (She would return to the school as a parent of two students, Carolyn and Bobby, who were graduates of the school in the classes of 1986 and 1987.) Many familiar faces continued to appear in the yearbook: Marilyn Mills in first grade, Dorothy Sargent in fourth grade, Emlyn Evans in sixth grade, and Mrs. Eleanor Mashburn as librarian and Wilbert Alexander as janitor. For two years WIlliam E. Nicholson had served as dean of the faculty and head of the English Department, Mrs. Harrison Raoul as dean of women and head of the Language Department, and Ambrose R. Vulgan as dean of men and head of the Math Department. Dolly Hickman was becoming a familiar face as head of the Science Department. Frank B. Light was head of the History Department, and William Magnan was head of the Lower School. Mr. Lawrence Greenia, Mrs. Nora Copses, Mrs. Martha Haywood, Mrs. Elizabeth Vulgan, and Mrs. Doris Lavender remained a faithful administrative support system for Headmaster Howe. In 1968, forty seniors comprised the largest graduating class thus far. The growth was also reflected in changes in the Board of Trustees, which had been consolidated from the former Board of Managers and Board of Trustees. The former trustees were elected to the office of honorary trustee for a life term. The former managers were elected to the Board of Trustees. The new trustees created a set of bylaws to provide for a set of officers and two ex-officio members, the headmaster and the president of the Parents' Council. Three-year terms were set for the board, and the members could succeed themselves only once without at least one year off the board. The following standing committees were instituted: Executive, Finance, Investment, Building, Nominating, Scholarship, and Planning. William W. Wood was chairman of the new board, James H. Martin was vice-chairman, J. Mason Wallace was secretary, and John T. Fielder was treasurer. Board members were Mrs. Bruce G. Ballenger, William H.

Barnhardt, Howard C. Bissell, J. Chadbourne Bolles, Mrs. Franklin Brown, James G. Cannon, Mrs. William 1. Coddington, Mrs. Thomas O. Coppedge, Robert J. Dalton, Mrs. C. Hardwicke Efird, William A. Masterman, J. Scott Cramer, Dr. Ross McElwee, Dr. William R. Pitts, Allison Pell, Mrs. Allison Pell, Jr., Russell Robinson, Frank Horne, James J. Harris, Dr. Paul Sanger, R. Read Tull, Herbert Woodward, and David L. Howe, headmaster. Changes in size and numbers were also reflected in new student organizations. The growing Lower School had a newly created Student Council that was learning about student government. During the year, the council published a literary magazine and elected representatives from grades two through six. These first representatives were Jim Fielder, Perry Dowd, AsWey Bradshaw, Ellen Cobb, Wes Bryan, Scott Gorelick, Eric Moore, and Scott Fox. A sixth grade committee functioned as the head of the Student Council, representing the Lower School at Christmas Breakfast and at teachers' conferences. Those students were Barbara Brittain, Meredith Hamrick, Susannah Hewson as president, Jeff Wright, and Wit McKay. Although the Lower School Halloween Parade had been a school tradition since the late forties, it had become more and more prominent in publications through the sixties, reflecting its growing popularity; it is another tradition that would continue through to 1991 and the fiftieth anniversary year. The Community and World Service Organization had become the

Youth and Community Council, still doing good works, but under a new name. Functioning as strongly as ever were the Student Council with Hunter Martin as president, the Honor Council, Aquilifer with Dede Dalton as president, the Monogram Club with Scott Hunter as president, and the Booster Club with Tom Fielder as president. Sharon Jones and Holly Sidford kept The Monitor going; Scott Hunter edited Post Script; Sarah Williams and Sam MacLaughlin published three editions of Country Day Literary Review. Barbi Church was leader of the newly organized Spirit Club, and Betsy Hayes led Country Day's new Film Society, which had brought film classics to the school for viewing and discussion by students, faculty, and friends. An Assembly Planning Committee served to bring outstanding Charlotte personalities to the school, and the group had sponsored a Senior Raft Debate which was "much acclaimed," according to the yearbook. One of the speakers at assembly was founding headmaster Dr. Thomas Burton, who "spoke to the students on the subject of instant peace in Vietnam." His interest in and love of the school continued. Under Mrs. Louise Cobb's leadership, the Latin Club (with Sarah Williams as president) had celebrated Virgil's birthday and had represented the school at the annual Junior Classical Conference in Chapel Hill. President Suzie Truesdale and the French Club had presented a puppet show in French to the student body, while Randy Boone led the Spanish Club to Davidson College to visit the Spanish Department there. Athletic teams continued to put forth an enthusiastic effort. Tom Fielder was one of the students who had accompanied Dolly Hickman on the field trips out west, and when he saw Colorado, he said, "This is where I want to live someday." Today, Tom Fielder is a nationally known photographer who lives and publishes in Colorado and who has donated copies of his exquisite books of photographs to the school archives. Some of the photographs are accompanied by his own poetry. Tom credits Mr. William Nicholson, his English teacher at Country Day, for the inspiration to write and Dolly Hickman for his discovery of the beauty of the American West. Tom's father, John Fielder, remains an active member of the Board of Visitors in 1991. It should be noted that during the period when the school was moving to the new campus, the Fielders' swimming pool was used for the summer camps, and long after the campus pool was completed, summer campers returned to the Fielder home and pool for parties. Betsy and John Fielder were also gracious hosts for faculty parties in those days. In 1969 there were thirty-four graduates and some noticeable differences in activities. May Day was no longer listed in the yearbook among the

activities, and the senior credits were turning into what would become the "senior streams." The Ernest B. Wright Award was in place, and Nicholas Greenia had won it. Freeman Jones, Jr., was the Harvard Book Award winner; Mildred Pittman was Top Scholar and a National Merit semifinalist. In general, however, the Post Script emphasis was away from academics and toward "nonconformity" and "freedom of expression." Where once, numbers of seniors would have listed with pride Top Scholar and Most Improved awards in a formal framework, the yearbook now reflected a more relaxed and informal style. It was dedicated "to Mr. David Howe, who as our headmaster for the past fourteen years has been the respected counselor and friend to all. Mr. Howe and his family leave behind them a void which shall be difficult to fill, but their impression on the school shall always be felt." It was true. Mr. Howe and his family were leaving Country Day to fulfill a long-held dream. They were going to Europe for a year to "see the world." Headmaster Howe had built the school from an enrollment of approximately 150 students in 1955 to a grand total of 557 in 1969. He had taken the school through to the twelfth grade and had been graduating ever-larger classes since 1962. He had led the major building program that had brought the school to the Carmel Road campus, with facilities that included thirty classrooms in Bray, Belk, Cramer, Pell, and the Cannon Science buildings. There were administrative offices in Barnhardt, then called the Cannon Library because it still contained the Upper School library. There was the Sanger Dining Hall, a student center, art studios, and science laboratories. The Harris Gymnasium was surrounded by five athletic fields, tennis courts, and an outdoor pool. Mr. Evans had led a campus landscaping program, planting azaleas in the gully between the Lower School and Barnhardt and along the sidewalk, teaching horticulture to students while beautifYing the campus. Mr. Howe had worked successfully with students; he had taught and coached; he had worked with parents and the Parents' Council, with the Board of Trustees, with architects and builders, with the community. He had hired good people and had led them to do good work. He had "sold" the school and its programs, and he had established some grand traditions. He had stood firm on some things: no intercom; no night games; no lights on the football field; no basketball before Christmas. In 1991 he smiles as he remembers: "John Cook fought many a battle over night games and lights!" His faculty had been strong, loyal, and hardworking. He remembers three Marys and a Marilyn: "Mary C. Jones, Mary Carter, Mary Thomas, and Marilyn Mills Johnson." Interestingly, he hired one more Mary as he went out the door for Europe: Mary Covington Todd, who started teaching

English in the fall of 1969 and who, in 1991, is still an outstanding senior English teacher and the resident authority on Shakespeare. It was Mary Todd who interviewed Martha Haywood and Marilyn Mills Johnson in 1979 for an article in Perspectives, in which they spoke of Mr. Howe. "David Howe," Martha Haywood said, "turned Country Day into a major school. He was compassionate and concerned and always available." Marilyn agreed, "Dave Howe was the ideal person for the job." She noted, "All of the Lower School was housed in Bray Hall for several years. With expansion, a new building was built: Belk Hall. During that year, the kindergarten and first grade were moved to St. John's Episcopal Church just across the road. At last the day came to move into Belk. Dave's goal was to move from St. John's to Belk on Wednesday and teach on the next day! After the howls and threats, Dave was persuaded to give us an extra day to set up shop." One of the headmaster's virtues was that he could also yield. In 1990, he talked about the changes that were occurring with the times and what he envisioned for the school. "I wanted the school to be at 550 students in grades kindergarten through twelve with as much interaction as possible. I worked for a conscious mix of ages in all celebrations. I thought it best not to isolate the junior high, but to integrate up and down. Colleges were hard to get into and do well, and I believed we could do the job better here than in boarding schools." He praises Mr. Booker as a "gentle, honest man with high standards" and Thomas Burton as "original and progressive, ahead of his time. "In 1968 trustees authorized the purchase of an additional thirty acres to continue expansion, making the campus a total of sixty acres. The concerns over integration had begun, and there was a pressing need to try to get black enrollment, but few were ready to give the necessary scholarships. It was a good time to go to Europe," Mr. Howe now says. The board gave Mr. Howe three-fourths of his full salary spread over a whole year, which made it possible for the family to stay in Europe for a second year if they were frugal and utilized the youth hostels and bed-andboard establishments. They went from Norway to Turkey and from Vienna to England. For three months they lived in a castle in the middle of Italy, owned by the cousin of a cousin. The following year they went back to Paris, and the children attended French neighborhood schools. Mr. Howe got a job working for the French Ministry of Education. While abroad, they stayed in contact with the school through letters, and students published accounts of the Howes' travels. The following summer they returned home,

and after two years away the Howe children went into the public schools as if they had not missed a day. "Their foundation was superb," their father says, "and the two who didn't finish high school moved straight into college." Colleges attended included Harvard, Connecticut College, Hampshire College, Beloit, UNCC, and Chapel Hill; two did not go to college. All are now married except the youngest boy, and five of the families have ten children among them. Mr. Howe continued his career as an administrator for CharlotteMecklenburg Schools and now enjoys retirement. A member of the Honorary Alumni Association, he returns to the school annually for the Honorary Alumni Dinner, follows sports and other articles in the newspapers, and remains proud of Country Day. And well he should; he certainly has helped make it what it is today. One of Mr. Howe's last acts before he left for Europe in the summer of 1969 was to hire another teacher, Frank Justice. Mr. Justice had taught in Fort Mill and was working during the summer at a tree farm. He had heard about Country Day and was interested in learning more about the school. One rainy day when he could not work with the trees, he drove to Charlotte. Martha Haywood was at the reception desk, and as he parked in front, she noticed that he had a missing taillight. "Young man," she said as he came through the door, "you had better get that taillight fixed before you bring that car back on this campus." He went in to see Mr. Howe and told the headmaster he was interested in applying to teach at the school. Mr. Howe rimed a large stack of papers on his desk with his thumb and said, "Do you know what these are? These are the applications of all the people who want to teach here." They talked on. Then Mr. Howe said, "By the time I go through all of these applications, evaluate them, and process them, I'd probably do just as well to hire somebody off the street." He asked Frank to come back another day to meet assistant headmaster and chairman of the English Department Robert Macdonald. In the end, they hired "the kid off the street," and after twenty-two years, he is still here. He has taught English, served as director of admissions and as assistant dean of the Upper School, and in 1990 he was inducted into the Honorary Alumni Association. His son Jonathan is a member of the Class of 1991, a National Merit commended student, and Country Day's latest recipient of the Morehead scholarship for study at UNC-Chapel Hill in the fall ofl991, In Lower School, Mrs. Lucille Spearman also joined the faculty in 1969, and in 1991 both she and Mr. Justice have amassed twenty-two years of continuous service. Mrs. Todd, who lived in Raleigh for several years, has

twenty years. Mrs. Gisele Shumake retired in 1990 after thirty-three years, and Mrs. Sammie Yopp after twenty-four years. Both continue volunteer service and are frequently seen on campus. Others hired by Mr. Howe who are still serving Country Day in 1991 are John Bristor, Jackie Hunter, Sallye Richards, Mary Ann Huskey, Susan Saunders, and Martha Woods. Those hired by Mr. Howe who retired with more than twenty years of service are Dolly Hickman, Virginia Abernethy, Louise Cobb, Frances Hyatt, and Anne Nash, while Dorothy Sargent had over fifteen years. Marilyn Mills Johnson, who was hired by Headmaster Booker but taught throughout Mr. Howe's tenure, had taught at Country Day twenty-eight years when she retired. When Mary C. Jones died in January of 1980, she had served for nineteen years, and when John Cook died in July of 1986, he had finished his twenty-seventh year. Among the many things of which he can be proud, David Howe can certainly count his expertise at hiring exceptional and dedicated teachers. The 1969 commencement program catalogs the rest of the story. The campus had grown from eight acres to sixty, and four obsolete buildings on the Sardis Road campus had been replaced on the new campus by eight modern ones. The operating budget had gone from $116,000 in 1955 to $650,000 in 1969, while the endowment had started at zero and had risen to $500,000. Net worth of the school had leaped from $58,000 to $2,100,000. Faculty size had grown from twelve to fifty-two, and adminis-

trative staff had gone from two to eight. One hundred ninety-eight students had been graduated to college, and Country Day had become well known in school and university circles all over the nation as a member of the College Entrance Examination Board, a Morehead Foundation School (with Freeman Randolph Jones, Jr., as the first Morehead Scholar in 1969), and a North Carolina State Board of Education-approved school. It is a record of which David Howe and Country Day remain proud.

Chapter 6

The Emerson Johnson Years 1969-1973

hen the Class of 1970 held its twentieth reunion in 1990, some enterprising class members compiled a memory book in which they reconstructed the "state of the world" in their senior year, 1969-70. Among the events they noted were "the murder charges arising from the My Lai massacre in South Vietnam, the anti-war demonstration that resulted in four student deaths at Kent State, the SALT talks in Helsinki, the first postal strike in American history, the first draft lottery since 1942, and the deaths of Charles de Gaulle of France, Nassar of Egypt, and Ho Chi Minh of North Vietnam." It was the era of granny dresses, bell-bottom pants, tie-dye, women's lib, X-rated movies, Chappaquiddick, Woodstock, Charles Manson, and the Chicago Seven trial. Richard M. Nixon had been elected president in 1968, and Apollo 11 had landed on the moon in 1969. The first portable calculator had been sold, and the nuclearpowered heart pacemaker had been invented. Patton won the 1970 Academy Award for Best Movie, and the best-selling books were The Godfather by Mario Puzo, Love Story by Erich Segal, and Jonathan Livingston Seagull by Richard Bach. On the radio the students listened to "Come Saturday Morning," "Leaving on a Jet Plane," "We've Only Just Begun," "and "Bridge Over Troubled Water," and on television they watched "Laugh-In," "The Mod Squad," "Maybeny RFD," and "Marcus Welby." It was the Age of Aquarius, appropriately the theme for the Senior Prom. But they had seen and heard even more. When these students were in the sixth grade, President Kennedy was assassinated; the next year, the civil rights murders occurred in Mississippi, and LBJ committed United States ground troops to Vietnam; when they were in the ninth grade there were race riots and ghetto violence; as juniors they had watched the 118

funerals of Bobby Kennedy and Martin Luther King, Jr. It was a time when every news photograph seemed more incredible than the last; each one would be indelibly imprinted on the mind. The 1970 yearbook, edited by Babs Demeritt, reflects the times: great pictures, but few words. Paradoxically, languages were clearly "in," as reflected in the dedication to Mrs. Henrietta Raoul, chairman of the Foreign Language Department; the pictures of the French Club superimposed in front of the Arc de Triomphe, the Latin Club magically standing in the Forum, and the Spanish Club in the bull ring; and allusions to speaking French at the lunch table and adding Spanish V because of popular demand. The Drama Club produced Flowers for Algernon, and the football team had a winning season. In a fold-out section the entire senior class held hands as a symbol "that our times be different from the past. we must recoil from the hate and injustice which we see. we dedicate our education and our lives to the hope of PEACE ON EARTH." It was also evidently the beginning of the end for capital letters to begin sentences. But they were indeed a dedicated group. By the time they assembled for the twentieth reunion, their accomplishments were impressive. Kaola Allen was a Phi Beta Kappa graduate of Chapel Hill with a B.A. in studio art and English and graduate work in printmaking and graphics. Jean Hipp Bellow held a B.A. in French with a minor in political science from the University of Colorado; Frank Blythe held a B.S.B.A. from Chapel Hill; Muff Tull Davis got her B.A. in art history and her M.A. in Greek there; R. P. Steve Davis, Jr., had a B.A. in anthropology from Chapel Hill, an M.A. in archaeology from the University of Calgary, and a Ph.D. in anthropology from the University of Tennessee; Le Newell Erwin had a B.A. in English from Salem College; Nancy Tool Farnie received a B.A. in biology from the University of Colorado-Boulder; Patience Armstrong Fuchs held a B.A. in art history from Brown University and an M.B.A. from Columbia University; Craig A. Gillen was graduated from Chapel Hill and received his law degree at Emory; E. Phifer Helms got his B.S. at Washington and Lee University, an M.S. at Medical University of South Carolina, and an M.B.A. at Clemson; Sally Herndon Malek got an M.S. in public health from Chapel Hill; Bob Newell received his undergraduate and medical degrees from UNC-Chapel Hill, completed his residency at Children's Hospital in Washington, D.C., and had a fellowship at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia; Richard Quinn received a B.S. and M.S. in biology at UNC-Charlotte and a Ph.D. at the University of Maryland; Lloyd

Bobby Cannon (center) bids farewell to David Howe and welcomes A. Emerson Johnson III as they award gift bricks from the Sardis Road campus. Richter received a B.A. in history at Cornell and a J.D. at George Mason University School of Law; Martin Tilson, Jr., held a B.A. from the University of the South and a J.D. from the University of Alabama Law School; Libby Dowd Wood received a B.A. from UNC-Chapel Hill and an M.Ed. from North Carolina State. Libby noted that although Mr. Cannon, who taught the ninth grade biology class, had predicted that she would be the worst date in the class because she made 105 on a test on the reproductive system, she had successfully managed to get married and produce three children! The other members of the class had probably done equally well; they just failed to report their successes to the Alumni Association. The Class of 1970 Reunion Book was dedicated to the memory of Julie Rankin and George Shaw. But to return to 1969 as Country Day welcomed a new headmaster. Sammie Yopp tells the story of James, a member of the custodial staff, who was cleaning her room one day. He looked out of the window and said, "See that great big tall man? He's going to be the next head-

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master!" She asked him how in the world he knew that. He replied confidently, "I pushes the broom in the right place at the right time." And so he did. Dr. A. Emerson Johnson III came to Country Day in July 1969 from North Cross School in Roanoke, Virginia, where he had served as headmaster for eight years. Prior to that, he had been at Norfolk Academy for eight years, teaching math, coaching basketball, and serving for two years as assistant headmaster. Herbert Woodward, chairman of the Search Committee, had grown up in Norfolk, had known Dr. Johnson, and was, as Dr. Johnson put it, "as responsible as anyone" for bringing him to Charlotte. However, it was under the leadership of William Wade Wood, who had been chairman of the Board of Trustees for four years, that the search for Mr. Howe's successor had been successfully conducted. Dr. Johnson held a B.S. from Hampden-Sydney College, where he

had been president of the student body, an all-state basketball star, and a member of the science, leadership, and debate fraternities. He had an M.Ed. from UNC-Chapel Hill and had done further graduate work at Williams and Oxford. When he arrived at Country Day, he had just received a doctor of letters degree from Hampden-Sydney. As the faculty welcomed him, someone asked, "What shall we call you?" He replied, "Dr. Johnson will be fine." Sammie Yopp remembers him as "tall and reserved." John Bristor recalls "his formality; he never drank and never had a chair at his desk. He liked the diplomacy of the round table. He also started the tradition of wearing caps and gowns at graduation." Jackie Hunter and Louise Cobb praise him for encouraging and funding foreign travel. Jackie spent a year in England on the Fulbright-Hayes Teacher Exchange, and Louise was given five hundred dollars to go to Italy, experiences they both treasure to this day. Jackie Hunter also remembers his encouraging everyone to attend the NAIS conference in Atlanta in the early 1970s. By the time they got on the way it had started snowing, and somewhere down the interstate the roads became impassable. Martha Woods, Susan Goodman, and Mary C. Jones were in the same car, stalled helplessly, and without food. Susan Saunders remembers having to spend the night in a car under a bridge on 1-85, listening to an ACC basketball tournament and eating a loaf of homemade bread, the only food she had brought with her. It took fourteen hours to reach Atlanta. Sometime the next day the stalwarts made it to the conference, and the road trip remains forever imprinted on their memories. Jackie Hunter tells about Martha Woods walking around on the interstate, conversing with truck drivers and the occupants of other stranded cars. Dr. Johnson assumed the reins of leadership during interesting, exciting, and tumultuous times, and the school was to be influenced in many ways by the very temper and tempo of the era. Simultaneously, it was to go on confidently toward its destiny. In 1969-70, 325 students were enrolled in kindergarten through sixth grade and 250 students in seventh through twelfth grade, for a total of 575. To meet the projected growth requirements during the 1970s, a 1969 planning committee was appointed by the trustees to project needs in curriculum, buildings, and capital funds. Subsequently, the board launched a "Program for Progress" to provide for a three-phase expansion. Phase I was to include the addition of a Learning Center, freeing Barnhardt Hall of the Upper School library and providing more office space. Plans also included gym expansion, kitchen expansion in Sanger Hall, a student center, and two softball fields.

Board leaders John Fielder, Emerson Johnson, William Wade Wood, Russell Robinson, and Smoky Bissell pose in front of the Sanger Cafeteria.

Additionally, Stanton Leggett and Associates, educational consultants from Chicago, were employed to assess the curriculum, point to new directions and methods, and give suggestions for improvement. Members of the Board of Trustees involved on this Planning Committee were H. C. Bissell, J. G. Cannon, J. T. Fielder, Russell Robinson, W. W. Wood, Herbert Woodward, and Headmaster Emerson Johnson III. Steering Committee members included Mrs. B. S. Bondurant, Mr. Watson Burts, Mr. R. Cannon, Mr. John Cook, Mrs. Mary A. Covington, Mr. W. G. Crowell, Mr. J. S. Durston, Mrs. D. S. Ellis, Jr., Miss Caroline Godfrey, Mrs. Dolly Hickman, Mrs. C. H. Hunter, Mrs. A. A. Hyatt, Mrs. C. E. Johnson, Jr., Mrs. G. W. Jones, Jr., Mr. Frank Justice, Mr. W. Magnan, Miss Susan Saunders, Mrs. W. Shumake, Mr. A. R. Vulgan, and Mrs. I. T. Yopp. Sammie Yopp remembers the group's going to Black Mountain with the consultant to project plans, including open classrooms and a first and second combination grade, which she helped pilot for several years. She had learned the traditional approach at Smith College and had attended a seminar at Rollins, but she welcomed the opportunity to try a new approach. "Many people came to observe the pilot program," she says.

Dr. Johnson astutely recounts four things that transpired during his tenure at Country Day. The first involved a reading program: Dr. Charles Shedd had begun testing for the innovative APSL Dyslexia Reading Program and had generated tremendous support. He was a crusader ahead of his time, who had to take a few shortcuts, but was targeting learning disabilities. He believed that instead of waiting for a highly skilled professional, a lay person could learn to use the materials, and with the help and support of Billy Wade and Mimi Wood, he had initiated an innovative, but highly controversial, program tutored by parents. As many as 150 students in the summers and on Saturday were being reached. The faculty had incredible doubts about the whole program. Parents had invaded the turf of professional educators, and it made things difficult for the faculty and the school. Finally, it became apparent that no matter how able, the numbers were excessive, and there were disputes over such things as whether mothers could use the faculty lounge or the bathroom! Despite the tremendously positive good accruing to students through a kinesthetic, multi-sensory approach, the program brought out educational and philosophical differences. One of the things Dr. Shedd believed, for example, was that youngsters should be taught cursive writing from the first, which eliminated reversals, instead of manuscript, which was usually taught first. Sammie Yopp also remembers that practice, which reminds her of one of her favorite stories. She told her students that they would start cursive writing after the holidays. Immediately, she got a note from a parent that read, "I understand you are going to start cursing after the first of the year, and I want you to know that I don't approve." Headmaster Howe, in a 1990 interview, remembered Dr. Shedd as "an outrageous smoker who smoked in workshops and everywhere." Mr. Howe worried that the tutoring program Dr. Shedd initiated would "give the school a reputation as a haven for poor readers," but such does not seem to have been the case. Dr. Johnson notes the second thing that influenced the school was simply the fact that it had grown tremendously under David Howe's leadership, but the supporting infrastructure had not kept up the pace. We needed to tighten down regulations, discipline, dress codes-length of skirts, shirttails out or in, the length of boys' hair-at a time when

society was going in the opposite direction, questioning authority and rebelling against rules. The Vietnam War generated new questions: Should we permit students to hold a prayer vigil in Freedom Park? How should we educate about not burning the U.S. flag? Why should boys not wear a beard? One thing I learned from that experience was never to hold a point of view unless it could be supported with a logical argument. Think about it. Why should they not have a beard? The third thing of great import was the Swann vs. Mecklenburg Board of Education court case to insure that CharlotteMecklenburg desegregated its schools in accordance with Brown VS. Topeka in 1954 and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Judge James McMillan ruled in federal district court that busing was a legally justified way to achieve integration. The landmark decision fostered the growth of competitive schools. We were inundated with "white flight" applications. People who felt that Myers Park High School was the greatest public school of all time suddenly began to show up on our doorstep seeking admission. We did not want to be

known as a school only for whites, and we actively began looking for young black students. The board was very supportive; we knew we were "doing the right thing." Eric Law became the first black student to be graduated from the school. The fourth landmark decision was that of the board to proceed with the hiring of Stanton Leggett, one of the wisest consultants I know on the purpose of education and the wise use of space. He was a great thinker and a great educator, and our retreat at Montreat with him was a watershed experience. The physical structure was the Learning Center, where students could learn in many different ways and become the center of the school. Russell Robinson chaired the board committee that studied the situation and made the recommendation to move the Shedd program out of the Lower School and house it in the Reddig Room in the Lower Level of the Learning Center. Dr. Sally R. Schulze's futher, Ed Reddig, gave one hundred thousand dollars in honor of Mrs. Elizabeth Gay Reddig to help build the building, and the Lower Level bears the Reddig name. The Upper Level would house the Cannon Library for Upper Schoolers. While faculty and administration dealt with changes in educational philosophy, students were facing cultural changes, as reflected in the final issue of The Monitor for the 1969-1970 school year. "Two Thoughts and We Leave You," the headline read. The first thought had to do with the rising concern over the smoking of marijuana, which slum youngsters called "smoking weed," but which, with the rising use by middle and upper classes, had come to be known as "smoking grass." The second thought was this: "Remember 1969-70, the year that being a CCDS Rebel took on a different meaning!" A student-faculty basketball game which "raised a lot of money for the Arts Festival, was good competition, and a great deal of clean fun" was labeled a "Student-Faculty Confrontation." As the second annual independent study for seniors began, students charged the Independent Study Committee with "destroying a program that can be very exciting and beneficial to the students by petty and unnecessary qualifications." A "disenchanted young rebel" editor charged Country Day students with "apathy" and the administration with "occasional stupidity." As a move began to give eighteen- to twenty-year-olds the right to vote, adults were arguing that "the age group showed either radical behavior or a lack of interest in current affairs," according to Rosalyn Cobb, who wrote an

editorial encouraging Country Day students to prove the adults wrong by becoming politically involved as "peaceful, constructive, and moderate" students. Country Day's Bob Wilson had spent a day at East Mecklenburg High School and come back labeling CCDS students as "an anti-intellectual society." David Wright, editor, responded, "He is right. Students at Country Day realize they are set for life, so they do not worry about such trivia as learning. Instead, they file all their complaints, justified or not, at the administration." Most of the complaints seemed to center on "not stepping on the sacred grass" or "the unreasonable dress code." Today's teachers remember those days well: measuring dress lengths and sending young ladies home if their skirts were too short; sending boys home or giving unscheduled haircuts if hair came down over collars; literally cutting off shirttails if they were not tucked in. Dr. Johnson insisted that faculty have a dress code and set a good example for the students. Ladies were not to wear pantsuits, and men were to wear ties and jackets. Almost everyone remembers both Mrs. Raoul and Mrs. Hickman walking around with rulers to measure the length of the miniskirts and disciplining students for walking on the grass or wearing their shirttails out. It was indeed a time of protest and rebellion, but it should also be noted that positive student "activism" continued unabated in Aquilifer, Assembly Planning, Youth Council, Debate, the Film Society, the French, Latin, and Spanish clubs, Post Script) The Monitor) and the Literary Review) the Arts and Drama clubs, Student Council, the Booster-Spirit Club, the Monogram Club, and cheerleading. In 1970-71 Mary Covington (Todd) instituted and led the Sharon Tutorial program through which Country Day students tutored students bused to Sharon School. The club gave a Christmas party for the students, complete with "Santa Claus" and gifts. The National Honor Society was established as another way of rewarding academic achievement, and the athletic teams grew larger and the records better. In 1971 the boys fielded strong teams in varsity and junior varsity football, basketball, wrestling, cross-country, and track. The girls had field hockey, varsity and junior varsity volleyball, basketball, and cheerleading. The Honor Council continued, as did active student councils in Lower, Middle, and Upper schools. The 1971 Student Art Show was judged by Herb Cohen, director of exhibitions at the Mint Museum, who selected three purchase awards to be added to the school's permanent collection and fifteen honorable mentions in all three divisions. Under the direction of Mrs. Malli Davis,

Crowd cheers as Jim Clardy wins his wrestling match in the Harris Gymnasium; Penny Crowell captures the moment on film.

dancing groups from the fourth grade through Upper School formed the Arts Festival presentation of Blood Brothers) using slides and contemporary costumes. Mrs. Hickman led the annual School-in-the-Woods trip to Camp Sycamore, but an unauthorized fireworks display in a state park sent four boys home early to Country Day. The Booster Club was considering a Junior Club for Middle Schoolers, while the language clubs and Aquilifer held end-of-year banquets. Finally, Carson Dowd, Lou McAlister, and Ed Browning transformed Sanger Hall into a medieval castle, complete with dragon, moat, drawbridge, banners, and murals for the dance honoring the senior class. The dance was followed by an after-party at Paul White's farm and a Senior Breakfast at Patsy Coppedge's house. The Junior-Senior Prom had gained favor over the old May Day celebration as a way of ending the year. David Webb, a Morehead Scholar, was speaker for the Class of 1971 at graduation exercises, while Rabbi Richard Rocklin delivered the commencement address. Assistant Headmaster Robert Macdonald presented awards for the boy and the girl considered most improved students in grades seven through eleven and to the boy and girl who

were Top Scholars in grades seven through twelve. The Victora Ludorum and the Athlete's Cup were presented to the girl and the boy who had made the greatest contribution to athletics at Country Day, and the Mary Nicholson Goddard French Award had been established for the student who had demonstrated the greatest interest and achievement in French. The Morehead award (with David Newton Webb as the school's second winner), National Merit scholars, and the Senior of the Year continued as established traditions as the school ended its thirtieth year. New faces among the faculty in the 1970-71 year who became twenty-year veterans in 1990-91 were Norma Mackenzie in science, Carol Morris in Middle School, and Rob Williams in art. Also reaching the twenty-year mark was Sallye Richards, who first served from 1965 to 1968, but who spent a year in Switzerland and taught part-time at Charlotte Catholic, J. T. Williams, and Country Day before returning permanently in 1977. The poignant history of Norma Brown Mackenzie is perhaps most representative of the early 1970s, even as it reaches into the early 1990s. Norma came to Country Day in 1970-71 when her son, Dean Brown, Jr., was five years old. She had married Dean Brown in 1964, and he was shot down as a navy pilot in Vietnam on July 29, 1965. Dean, Jr., was born some three weeks later on August 25, 1965. Norma taught at Randolph Junior High for several years and went to school in Chapel Hill for a National Science Foundation academic year before coming to Country Day. Dean, Jr., attended Country Day and was an honors graduate; he attended Duke University on a navy scholarship and currently serves in the navy in Washington, D.C. He has spoken for the dedication of the Vietnam War Memorial in Charlotte, especially meaningful since his father is still officially listed as "missing in action." As Country Day approached its fiftieth year in 1991, war was again in the news as the United States and its allies bombed targets in Iraq and Kuwait, and Desert Storm raged in the Middle East. Other faculty members of note in 1970-71 were Chris Glasgow, who was to become an outstanding parent leader in the eighties when her own children came along; Dynva Reed, who was to serve the school both as an outstanding teacher and in several administrative capacities before accepting a job with a book publisher in the eighties; Jean Johnson, who was to become a successful writer of children's books and would return to the school to talk with Lower Schoolers about writing and publishing; and Mary Lou Halldorson, who was to remain a close friend of the school and many of the long-time teachers there.

In June 1971, Board Chairman Billy Wade Wood wrote to Walter Brown, Class of 1964, informing him that the Board of Trustees had unanimously elected him to be the first president of the Alumni Association, and praising him for the good work the alumni had done during Phase I of the Program for Progress. One of the interesting things to note is that Country Day has always had an active alumni group, going all the way back to the days of Mr. Booker, and many individuals in the early years had served as "president." Since 1971, however, the Alumni Association has been an active, organized, continuing group. The first Alumni Faculty Award was presented in 1973, and the first annual Pregraduation Breakfast to induct seniors into the Alumni Association would be held on May 29,1981. Among the new faces in the 1971-72 yearbook were those of alumnus Alan Lee, who had returned to teach English and coach with John Cook, and Jimmy Broadway, who began as a basketball coach but moved on as the director of buildings, maintenance, and grounds to establish a tradition of excellent cooperation with board, students, faculty, and parents before moving to Charlotte Latin in 1986. (Colleen Ramsey, who had been assistant director since 1979, took over without a hitch and continues as director of plant operations in 1991.) Also new in 1971-72 were Jean Williams, who was to be an outstanding sixth grade teacher until her "early retirement" in the eighties; Jo Hassett, who was to team with Charlene Whisnant to promote poetry at Country Day and to publish a book of student work called Word Magic; and Mary Wilson, director of libraries, who was to be instrumental in planning for the new Learning Center to be built during the year. Almost everyone recalls the "sea of mud" that surrounded the Learning Center construction site. Sammie Yopp remembers the day she and Mabel Ellis stood in the reading corner watching a little boy who had decided to cross through the mud instead of going around. "He lost his shoes and couldn't find them, so he just left them and came barefooted across the mud field." She also remembers the waterfall that during rainy days would cascade down from the parking lot, forming creeks through the playground. "Every time the children went out, we admonished, 'Stay out of the creek.'" Jackie Hunter remembers the snakes. Someone conducting an interview in the Belk Building looked over in the corner and asked, "What is that?" It was a copperhead. Another time a blacksnake pushed the top off the container in which it was housed and escaped. Everyone stood on top of desks and cabinets out of harm's way until the snake was found.

Dr. Johnson spent so much time raising funds and supervlsmg construction that one day he "became a student" again, going to Upper School classes, attending study hall, and chatting in the Senior Lounge. According to The Monitor) "he found the work both demanding and interesting," and "he was warmly received by students and faculty alike." The only problem he discovered was the "need for another telephone in the Senior Lounge." Dr. Johnson had the assistance in 1971-72 of Assistant Headmaster William Burt, replacing Mr. Macdonald, who left to become headmaster of the Everglades School for Girls. Mr. Burt was also the head of Upper School, the college counselor, a teacher in the Science Department, and a student advisor. Another notable event during the "year of the rains" was the first Big Saturday ever to be rained upon. However, neither spirits nor profits were dampened as Big Saturday produced record-breaking gross sales of nearly sixteen thousand dollars. Carolyn Stubbs and the modern dance troupe presented an outstanding dance concert on April 25, and the football team won the CAA championship. It was the era of the miniskirt, long hair, "first names only," and lowercase letters, all reflected in the yearbooks. Quotations from National Lampoon) Jimi Hendrix, Burt Bacharach, James Taylor, Elton John, and Paul Simon vied for yearbook space with those from Emerson, Shakespeare, Virgil, Bacon, Dickens,

Eliot, Twain, and Whitman. For the first time, the faculty contemplated the need for a drug policy. As the 1972-73 school year opened, the new Learning Center was completed, and a major higWight of the year was its dedication on Sunday, October 8, 1972. Designed by Odell Associates and built by Laxton Construction Company, it completed the buildings encircling the Lineberger Quadrangle and gave the campus a "finished" look. Board Chairman William Wade Wood presided over the ceremonies, which were opened and closed by Dr. John E. Smylie, president of Queens College. Trustee Harry L. Dalton introduced the dedication speaker, President Terry Sanford of Duke University, former governor of North Carolina (and, in 1991, a United States senator). Dr. Johnson dedicated

the Elizabeth Reddig Lower School Library, and William Wade Wood dedicated the Upper School Cannon Library. The building also contained reading and language laboratories and faculty office space, freeing Barnhardt Hall for administrative use. Thomas P. Lenzer, president of the Student Council, spoke on behalf of the students, saying, "Country Day is steadily moving away from the old-fashioned sit-and-listen-type classes; more and more emphasis is being taken from the teacher and put on the student. The Learning Center is the first test of this student learning process. . . . In the end it will be the student who makes the Learning Center a success or failure. We have been waiting a long time to show we understand that with freedom comes responsibility. It will succeed." Two new additions to the faculty in 1972 were Paulette Whisenant Beatty in foreign languages and Mary Richardson in Lower School. By 1972-73 languages were firmly established as a vital part of the curriculum, and graduation awards were given in Spanish, French, and Latin. Paulette would serve as chairman of the Foreign Language Department and become instrumental in promoting the internationalization of the school through her subsequent work as public relations director, helping with the establishment of the English-as-a-Second-Language program, the International Pavilion at Big Saturday, and foreign travel programs. Mary would team with instructors Yopp, Olinde, and Spearman to teach the multi-age grade during the "open classroom" era and later would devise with Sammie Yopp a handwriting program for use in the Lower School. Another important addition to the staff in 1972 was Becky Martin in the Business Office, who served as secretary to the business manager and assistant bookkeeper. All remain at Country Day in 1991. Others were leaving. Students dedicated the 1973 yearbook to the departing Robert 1. Barret, who for a number of years had taught in the History Department and served as guidance counselor. And Becky Martin sadly recalls a loss to the administrative staff at about the same time. Nora Copses, in August of that year, commented to her colleague, "I have this mole I have to see about." Becky Martin explains today that "the diagnosis was melanoma; she had to undergo radium treatments and lost her hair. She came back to school in July of 1973, but was not able to do much. She died in August of 1973." Before her death the school held a big reception for her in the Lower Level of the Learning Center. Bill Mitchell was in charge of the cafeteria, and Mabel Funderburk worked there; they prepared the food for the party. Doris Lavender held a prayer group in the headmaster's area. Thus continued the tradition of sharing, caring, and supporting in time of trouble for

•• Bill Burt presents Caroline Scott with an award during graduation.

which the school has become famous, a tradition everyone remembers and treasures as one of the great assets of employment at Country Day. The close of the 1972-73 school year also marked the end of the tenure of Dr. Johnson, who had been enticed away to head the Westminster Schools in Atlanta. He would hold that position for three years before moving to Pittsburgh to head Shady Side Academy. He would then serve as president of the Educational Records Bureau in Wellesley, Massachusetts, before moving in July 1991 to the headmastership of Montgomery Academy in Montgomery, Alabama. In a recent interview, Dr. Johnson listed some of the "incredible teachers" with whom he worked at Country Day:

Mrs. Mary C. Jones, who helped with admissions and who believed children should be developmentally ready for school; Frank Justice, who became the admissions officer; Sammie Yopp, who was a great teacher for the "open classroom"; Frances Hyatt; Dolly Hickman, who suffered but was "rock hard"; Sue Van Landingham (Bingaman); Mary Covington (Todd), who led the fight for better salaries for teachers; John Cook, who was an amazing guy with the ability to inspire young men, and who was totally committed to football, wrestling, and track; Mary Wilson, who helped plan the Learning Center. Dr. Johnson reserved his greatest praise, however, for Jimmy Cannon, a trustee who came to meetings and brought greilt wisdom to the board. He would also go down and bail a maintenance man out of jail. A Lawrenceville grad, he had resources and leadership, and I have used him as a model for board trustees throughout my career. He invited me to Linville, one time, to spend a weekend with him and Bobby, and at first I said, "No, I couldn't possibly go," but he insisted, saying, "I think you need R and R. Bring your golf clubs." It was the finest three days I ever spent, there at the base of Grandfather Mountain. He also hosted a dinner for the Executive Committee and tried to persuade me not to go to Atlanta. I appreciated that, too. As he left the Education Records Bureau for Montgomery and anticipated becoming a headmaster again, Emerson Johnson had a new perspective and an interesting dimension gleaned from working for the past three years with one hundred of the best public school districts in the country, which are superior to many independent schools. Ninety-five percent of their graduates go on to four-year colleges, and they have classes under twenty students. In Armonk, New York, for example, where there are many IBM engineers and executives, they want to know how they compare with other great suburban public schools. Independent schools, however, still make the greatest impact on students in the 107-116 I.Q. range. They are stretched academically, but have good advising, and can play sports, be leaders in their classes, and be elected class and club officers. Even more than in the past, the independent schools can be models for public schools-the utter humanity of the independent schools prevails.

Dr. Johnson also noted the current changes in curriculum "that are glacial," and he referred to John Chubb's book, Schools of Choice, which states that "independent schools continue to lead because they can eliminate bureaucracy and political agendas." He cited Peter Relic, the former Charlotte-Mecklenburg school superintendent who was named president of the National Association ofIndependent Schools in February 1991, as a representative of the new directions and leadership. In the 1973 yearbook, students said farewell to Dr. Johnson with two pages of pictures and a quote from Anton Chekhov: "he was a rationalist but he had to confess that he liked the ringing of church bells." Dr. Johnson would probably agree, and he still remembers fondly his four years as headmaster of Country Day.

Chapter 7

The William Pfeifer Years 1973-1977

hen Bill Pfeifer returned to Country Day at the invitation of Headmaster Robert Johnston in 1990, he was warmly greeted by old friends, and he experienced what he terms "immediate recall" after eleven years-details, incidents, and people. "Even with the addition of the gazebo and other buildings, it still feels like familiar territory." William B. Pfeifer had had a varied and interesting career before coming to Charlotte to serve as headmaster of Country Day from 1973 to 1977. Holding a B.A. from the College of William and Mary and an M.A. from Rutgers University, he had been a public school teacher of history and social studies in New Jersey and had spent a year in New York City with the National Broadcasting Company before becoming director of special education programs for Colonial Williamsburg in Virginia. When he agreed to take over the reins of the school when Dr. Emerson Johnson left, it was his first experience in independent schools and his first experience as a headmaster. In addition, it was a most interesting time in education and society. "I think," he said from the vantage point of 1990, "we look back on those years as times that were atrocious and awful, but they had a tremendous impact on what society has become. When I was here, this school was in the process of sorting all of that out." He, too, mentioned Stanton Leggett and his plan for the transition from traditional to open education: The school seemingly bought into the program, with modern facilities, programs, and approaches. But it polarized people-board, faculty, and parents-and it didn't work. We have since seen the passing of the open classroom, but still, I'd have to say that it

questioned what's human about human beings through "inquiry" and "process," catch words, perhaps, to examine moral issues. Another thing that was happening was that modern technology so quickly outdistanced the ability to deal morally with the major issues in society and caused fiascos. But still, it was a very important process to go through, and it had a positive effect. Part of the problem was not the fault of the process but our inability to deal with it. It was the only major movement in education to cause change since the 1850s with compulsory education. There have to be changes in American education, and we are going to see more in the next twenty years. We will be asking the same questions again, but with different answers. Bill Pfeifer is well remembered for the part he played while he was headmaster of Country Day. Sammie Yopp remembers, "Bill was the only head who came into every classroom at least once a week. He

taught a wonderful Williamsburg unit. He and Mark Hagerman were very supportive of teachers." Gisele Shumake also remembers those years with Bill Pfeifer and students like Eric Law, "who were more mature in thought, and when we were not constantly sent from meeting to meeting, when there was more time to spend with students and more time to talk, when the atmosphere was more relaxed and more concentrated." The Board of Visitors was one innovation made as William Pfeifer became headmaster in 1973. Nineteen charter members, with Richard V. Bray as the first chairman, comprised the first Board of Visitors, established on November 27,1973. James Martin and Herbert M. Woodward were subsequent chairmen during the Pfeifer years of the group that was to advise the headmaster and other administrative officials and to promote the school in the wider Charlotte community. Members of the Board of Visitors include prominent civic leaders and long-time supporters and leaders of the school. The Pfeifer years produced three Morehead Scholars: Willis Frank Dowd IV in 1974, Virginia Harrison Burns in 1975, and Louis Adams Bledsoe III in 1977. They were years that saw the completion of Phase II of the Program for Progress with the science addition and the completion of the Fine Arts Building in 1975, along with the firm establishment of the fine arts program that would propel the school to the forefront in art, music, drama, and modern dance. In 1973 Mayreese Koraly came to teach modern dance, Susie Pignetti came to work with physical education and athletics, and Tomi Miller began teaching in Lower School. In 1974 Win Robinson joined the Upper School faculty as a Spanish teacher, Chris Crawford as a guidance counselor, Rick Bryan as a history teacher, and Aleo Sica began a long career with the school teaching the stringed instruments, in addition to his teaching duties at Queens College and his leadership of the Queens Community Orchestra. In 197475 Loraine McDaniel, holding an M.A. from Notre Dame, became the school's first black faculty member, enjoying a highly successful year as an English teacher before her husband's transfer to New Orleans and their move to that city. In 1975 Margaret Gragg joined the English Department as chairman, and Sue Cook Wood began to teach in the Lower School. The formal dedication ceremonies for the Fine Arts Building and the Dalton Gallery, completed during Phase II of the Program for Progress, were accompanied by four days of celebration in the performing arts, beginning on November 6,1975, at 8:00 p.m. Two Flus Two, or two one-act plays and two ballets, started the celebration. Todd Kight

A. G. Odell, Russell Robinson, Headmaster Bill Pfeifer, and Erwin Laxton break ground for the construction of the Fine Arts Center and the Dalton Gallery.

The Fine Arts Center provides outstanding facilities for teaching art, music, and dance, with an auditorium for assemblies and performances of all kinds.

directed Riders to the Sea) and Rob Williams directed The Babies. Mayreese Koraly directed her original ballet The Hunt) and A Ballet by the Cross-Country Team was choreographed and directed by Susanna Hewson. These performances were repeated on Friday night. On Saturday, November 8, at 10:00 a.m., the new theater and the Cannon Science Building addition were opened for inspection and demonstration classes. At 2:00 p.m. the Lower, Middle, and Upper schools presented a choral concert, directed by Ursula Wall and Harold Lowry. Mrs. Wall presented Musical Fairy Tales) twelve stories created by Lower School children using props created by the teachers and costumes by the mothers. Mr. Lowry directed the sixth and seventh grade choir and the Upper School Mixed Chorus and Girls' Ensemble. At 8:00 p.m. the Carolina Kammertanz Theatre and Contemporary Dance Theatre presented a concert combining readings with dance. On Sunday, November 9, at 2:00 p.m., the Chamber Orchestra of the Charlotte Symphony, directed by Jacques Brourman, performed. At 3:15 a formal dedication ceremony and a reception brought the festivities to a close, but the ceremony actually marked a beginning-the start of an incredibly productive period in drama, music, dance, and studio art, including painting, drawing, textiles, ceramics, clay, printmaking, and design. In 1975 Marilyn Mills Johnson had been at Country Day for twenty-three years and held seniority among the faculty. Wilbert Alexander had been a member of the janitorial staff for fourteen years. He felt that the dress code had gone downhill and in an article in The Monitor noted that "students should not wear shirttails out and teachers should wear ties." The midmorning break for juice and cookies stopped in 1975, and lockers were added for each student. A 1975 Postscript cost three dollars; The Monitor was still in production under the editorship of James LeBow; the new literary magazine was called Golos. Fairview Road was being built in 1976, and the "art house," where art was taught before the Fine Arts Building was built, was moved or torn down. Technological advances were just beginning. Mrs. Ann Ayers had just received fifteen brand new IBM Selectric typewriters upon which to teach typing during the school year for the first time. (Earlier, typing had been taught in the summers on manual machines.) The school was especially grateful to the Lecil Henderson family for the thoughtful donation of the new equipment for the typing room and for bringing the school into the technological age. In 1975-76, the trend was term courses, and Country Day's curriculum included a rich tapestry of studies in English, history, math,

William Pfeifer with members of his Board of Visitors. Back, left to right: Headmaster Bill Pfeifer, Edwin L. Jones, Jr., Richard V. Bray, Mason Wallace, John Fielder. Front, left to right: Joseph Lineberger, Mrs. George Ivey, Sr., Herbert Woodward, Charles Willard. science, fine arts, and humanities. German was taught to seniors only that year, with advanced placement levels available to students of French, Spanish, and Latin. Advanced Placement courses were available in chemistry and biology. History courses included American, Eurqpean, Latin American, Asian, and Mrican, as well as comparative economics, urban studies, and values and decision making. Tuition in 1975-76 ranged from $1,075 for preschoolers to $1,866 for Upper School students, including lunch and all fees except bookstore charges, which were determined by course selection. Enrollment was at a record high of 917 students.

It was a great era for the football team, with back-to-back football championships in 1974 and 1975. John's son Sam was the 1975 head football coach at Carmel Academy, and when the two teams met on the field, Country Day won, 42-0. (It was Carmel Academy's first year of varsity football, the same year that the Cavaliers would win the soccer championship.) Coach Cook was also becoming legendary because of his bicycle, dubbed "Stove bolt" by Al Lizarazo of The Charlotte News, upon which the coach was trying to clock ten thousand miles before designing himself a new six-speed model. In an article in The Newson November 1, 1975, Lizarazo offered the following suggestion: "If you kids at Country

Day ever want to build a monument, you ought to bronze Stove bolt and put it at the entrance to the gym. It would serve as a nice symbol for a kind of independent guy we don't see much of anymore." The next day Country Day beat Catholic 14-12, as the Rebels rolled on toward the championship. Prominent members of the team were Dewey Dorsett, Brett Elder, Scott Bridgewater, Bobby Land, Sam Deal, Gaston Gage, Burt Philips, and Frank Lampke. Assistant coaches were Dave Wheeler and Alan Lee. The only two losses of the season were to public schools Harding and West Charlotte High. Meanwhile, the girls won the independent school volleyball championship in 1975, but lost to Charlotte Catholic in the first annual "Tidy Bowl" powder puff game between the Cougarettes and the Rebelettes. Basketball was under way with Jimmy Broadway as the varsity boys' coach and Vi Clark as the girls' coach. Suzi Pignetti was the JV girls' coach and John Bristor coached the TV boys. Wrestling was also under way, with teams competing against those in the public high schools; Eddie Hendricks and Dewey Dorsett were listed among the top seeds in the county. Country Day and Latin finished the season in a first-place tie, with Gregg Giblin, Craig Hill, Malcolm McClain, and Steve Deal winning press coverage as top scorers, but it was Country Day which won the CISAA championship by beating Gaston Day 80-38. Lee "Beanie" Ballenger, a defending Junior Olympics champion in the quarter-mile with a career-best 57.1 seconds, became the first Charlotte area girl ever to sign a grant-in-aid for track with a major university. Beanie signed with Colorado University after turning down an offer from Penn State. Providence Day captured the golf championship, but Nolan Mills and Robby Baynard recorded the top two scores in the state independent school golf tournament. Carmel Academy, defending state baseball champions, captured the CISAA title and the state baseball crown for the second straight year. Country Day boys won the track championship in 1975 and 1976, while the girls also captured the state championship in Durham. Beanie Ballenger won four events and was named the outstanding athlete of the meet. The athletic teams were clearly coming into their own against all opponents. Country Day parents were in the news during the 1975-76 school year. A. Grant Whitney, whose son Frank was in the tenth grade, was named Man of the Year by The Charlotte News. Luther Hodges, Jr., father of sophomore Anne and freshman Hart, received the 1975 Brotherhood Award of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Chapter of the National Conference of Christians and Jews. The Civitans honored Dr. Francis

Robicsek, father of sophomore Susanne, seventh grader John, and second grader Frances, with the Distinguished Citizenship Award. Anne Philips, mother of Burt, Jeffrey, Merrill, and Elizabeth, was featured several times in the newspapers for her volunteer work with the Mint Museum, the Charlotte Symphony, and the Friends of the Mint and UNC-Charlotte. Sarah Ingle, mother of senior Heather and sophomore David, was lauded for her work as head of the Literacy Council. Slug Claiborne, father of freshman Clay, presented photographs of the Gold Medal ceremonies at the Olympic Games in Montreal to Charlotte basketball star Walter Davis and his teammates, who brought home the gold in basketball that year. Former Chapel Hill basketball star Pete Brennan, who served on the Board of Trustees and whose children attended CCDS, was featured several times in the local media. Students were also making the news. Eric Law was Country Day's Morehead nominee, while Virginia Burns was interviewed during her freshman year at Chapel Hill as a member of the first Morehead class of girls in 1975. Eric Law was also congratulated as a semifinalist in the National Achievement Scholarship Program for Outstanding Negro Students. Louis Bledsoe won the Sewanee Award in 1976 (he would be a Morehead Scholar in 1977); Dick Ridenhour received the Harvard Book Award; Anne Josephs was the DAR Citizen; and Anne Gover won the Pan Hellenic Award. Martha Goelzer received the Ernest B. Wright English Award, and Eddie Green won the Chess Award. Tom Powers was chosen as an American Field Service International Scholarship participant for a school year in Germany. Mary Gage Davidson was first in her class of sixty-seven in 1976, Top Scholar, and winner of the Mary Nicholson Goddard French Award and the Emma Watts Pickens Latin Award (with Eric Law). Mary also was named Senior of the Year from Country Day in The Charlotte News. Lee Ballenger received the Victora Ludorum, and Tom Powers was the recipient of the Athlete's Cup in 1976, while Susan Miller received an award in art, Sarah Hewson in dance, Stephanie Roberts in music, Katherine Horn in Spanish, Kevin Barnett in history, and Robert Thompson in science. Country Day's fifteenth commencement exercises were held on June 4, 1976, at 7:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the new Fine Arts Building. The sixty-seven graduates comprised the "largest and most diverse class ever," according to Eric Williston Law, speaker for the class and the first black graduate of Charlotte Country Day. The girls wore white caps and gowns, and the boys wore green. The Reverend Robert L. Haden, Jr., delivered the invocation from a rostrum that had been

New trustees Jim Hynes, Louis Bledsoe, and Sheldon distinguished careers as benefactors of Country Day.

Gorelick begin long and

given to the school by St. John's Episcopal Church in 1956. Assistant Headmaster William Burt presented senior awards, and Alumni Association President John B. Trotter presented the Alumni Faculty Award to Mary C. Jones. Michael Livingston, a member of the faculties of Jefferson Academy and the North Carolina Governor's School, delivered the commencement address, in which he exhorted the graduates to become "experts in survival" and quoted liberally from Robert Pirsig's Zen and the Art of MotorcycleMaintenance. Howard C. Bissell, chairman of the Board of Trustees, presented the diplomas, and a reception was held in Sanger Hall following the ceremonies. A number of faculty members who had been at the school for some time departed at the end of the 1975-76 school year. Dean of students

and history instructor Pete Fenninger had joined the faculty in 1969, serving in a number of ways, including chairman of the English Department, chairman of the Discipline Committee, and chairman of Minimester, which he developed and refined into another meaningful educational experience during the school year. He also ran the summer school for several years. William G. Crowell had arrived in 1970 to be chairman of the History Department and to coach cross-country and track. A runner and physical fitness enthusiast, he left Country Day in 1976 for Colorado, where he planned to expand his summer camping trips into a full-time business. The Class of 1974 had dedicated the yearbook to him. Alison Butterworth Phillips, Class of 1979, remembers the Crowells as a family who helped to shape her as a human being: Penny Crowell taught in Lower School and "Bill" or "Coach" taught history in Middle School. Their children all attended CCDS: Debbie, who was in my class and was my best friend; Clint, a few years younger; and David, the baby at that time. Bill Crowell had an uncanny impact on many of the youth. He was a man of great inner strength, and it seemed to rub off on us. He inspired many a youngster to engage in the sport of track and field, as well as cross-country. He began the first twenty-four-hour marathon at Minimester, a tradition which we carried on after his family moved to Colorado. He introduced us to the simple pleasures in life, and bestowed upon us a sense of self-discipline and goal-setting. He is still running and inspiring by teaching and coaching the sport he loves at a college in Ohio. Assistant Headmaster Bill Burt, who had been at the school since 1971 and who had been instrumental in coordinating the planning and design of the new buildings constructed during Phases I and II of the Program for Progress, left in 1976 to go abroad to teach with the Community School in Teheran, Iran. Mr. Burt had worked closely with department heads in revising the Upper and Middle school curricula and had taught in the Science Department. Everyone who taught at the school with Bill Burt remembers the Friday afternoon sessions at his home-the stimulating conversations, the camaraderie, the fun-and many faculty members kept up with the Burts after they left the school. Mr. Burt died on April 21, 1988, after a courageous battle with cancer. In a tribute in the 1988 Perspectives) Mary Todd wrote of "this gentle man," saying, "If we learn from what people do, more than from what

they say-and I think we do-then Bill Burt was a teacher whose life serves as a model for us all." Ann Alderks was leaving with her husband, Phil Alderks, headmaster at Carmel Academy, who would become headmaster at Bolingbroke School in Petersburg, Virginia. From the Lower School, Mrs. Day left to teach at Carmel Academy. On the 1976 all-star baseball team, Country Day had three players: Bobby Land, Gus Clark, and Wes Bryan. State champion Carmel Academy had six players on the team: John McVaney, Tim Brown, Todd Cook, Lane Ostrow, Joey Hilton, and Charles Cofer. Carmel had carried away the state baseball trophy for two consecutive years, fueling the intense athletic rivalry that was developing between the new school and Country Day. Coach of the Carmel Academy baseball team was Ed Walton; in 1977 he would move to Country Day as athletic director and baseball coach. It should be noted that while Charlie Cofer of Carmel was making headlines in the seventies with his pitching, in the eighties it would be his brother Mike in the headlines for Country Day, in baseball but especially in football. Mike would go on to play for North Carolina State and then for the San Francisco Forty-Niners, where his place kicking would help to win two Super Bowls. On May 24,1990, Country Day retired his No. 13 football jersey. His brother Charles and parents Jim and Gerry Cofer attended the assembly program-presented by faculty member Mary Todd; former parent, trustee, and NFL official Tom Dooley; and coach Ed Walton-together with many friends and former teammates. In January of 1991, Gerry Cofer died of cancer. The members of the Class of 1977 had to deal with the death of one of their classmates while they were still Country Day students. Killeen Marie Kirkwood died in a car accident on Providence Road when she was off campus for lunch. Nina Dooley, a member of the class and former director of development at Country Day, remembers the pain of dealing with the tragedy and notes that their class became close when she was killed. The Killeen Kirkwood Language Lab in the Upper School and the landscaping of the Senior Patio remain as memorials to her. Later the class lost two more of its members, Mary Lyndy Philips and Peter Kittridge. The Class of 1979 was also saddened by the death of Emily Mraz, and the Emily Mraz Dance Award stands today as a tribute to her. The Class of 1977 held the school's first baccalaureate service at St. John's Episcopal Church on June 5, 1977. The sermon was delivered by

Dr. Thomas E. Corts, president of Wingate College, following readings by Ellen Porter, Page Dickson, Beth Cunningham, and Maggie Burns. Ursula Wall sang "Friends" and "Lean On Me"; Harold Lowry played the organ; Nancy Levin introduced the program. Rick Bryan, then head of the Upper School, gives the credit to J. R. Williams for introducing Country Day to the baccalaureate and instigating a new tradition. "He was like a breath of fresh air on the campus, and he had so many good ideas. " Graduation exercises were held on the campus at 7:30 p.m. on June 9, 1977. Dr. Robert E. R. Huntley, president of Washington and Lee University, delivered the commencement address, and Louis Bledsoe III was the class speaker. Chairman of the Board Howard C. Bissell and Headmaster William B. Pfeifer presented the diplomas. Brad McIlvain was Top Scholar and winner of the Bausch and Lomb Science Award; Nancy Levin was Senior of the Year; Greg Giblin took the Athlete's Cup, and Jane Terry received the Victora Ludorum; Marian Hanes was the English Award recipient, while Lynn Poley received the DAR History Award; the Emma Watts Pickens Latin Award went to Dick Ridenhour, the Mary Nicholson Goddard French Award to David Horne, and the Spanish Award to Beth Cunningham; Lyndy Phillips received the Outstanding Cultural Contribution Award. Among the great student activities during Mr. Pfeifer's tenure was Minimester, which Sue Bingaman remembers fondly. "Minimester was a week of activities other than classes. Not having a skill or talent to share, I dreamed up 'Discover Charlotte.' The week ended with an all-night trip around Charlotte which was written up in The Charlotte Observer in March of 1974. The students were intensely interested all week as they explored the city, and the night trip was fascinating. The Observerphotographer and reporter rode with us all night and seemed to enjoy it as much as we did." Between 8:30 p.m. Friday and 6:00 a.m. Saturday the group visited a funeral parlor, learned about crisis counseling, appeared on a latenight talk show, munched doughnuts, heard ambulance calls, watched The Charlotte Observer presses roll, toured a slum district, monitored airline reservations calls, visited the jail, and devoured big breakfasts. In 1976, Minimester included trips to New York to see art, music, theater, and dance, led by Mr. Rob Williams; a seven-day Outward Bound activity that culminated with a twenty-four-hour controlled solo camping experience, led by Woody Woodward; a bike trip to Florida led by John and Jamie Chapin; a Physics II trip to California to visit Los Alamos Lab, Mt. Palomar Observatory, Cal Tech Propulsion Labs, Lick

One ofTomi Miller's class shows the beanie tradition that started during Minimester and has continued ever since. Observatory, and Livermore Radiation Lab, led by Mr. Cochrane; a museum tour through Raleigh, Durham, and Winston-Salem, led by Mrs. Cobb; the state independent school basketball tournament, restricted to team members and led by Coach Broadway; and the Lehigh invitational wrestling tournament, led by Coach Rick Bryan. Full-day activities included the popular Discover Charlotte experience described by Mrs. Bingaman, a medical tour, a local business tour, rock climbing and rappelling, a track clinic and twenty-four-hour marathon, a Student Council Booster Hut project, and a drama workshop. Morning activities included workshops at the Charlotte Nature Museum and the Mint Museum, and specialized instruction in photography, sewing, architecture, fly fishing, crafts, ice skating, first aid, cooking, sailing, crocheting and knitting, dance, chess, gymnastics, watercolor, animation, model building, silkscreening, bridge, yoga,

and gun safety and target shooting. Minimester continued as a popular annual and highly educational diversion until the eighties when the school began sponsoring the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Special Olympics. Tomi Miller also remembers Minimester fondly and cites it as the start of one of the traditions for her first grade classes, which she has taught since 1973: In 1976 I taught a class in "feltcraft" in the Lower School. Students could sign up for their choices, regardless of grade level, so I had a group ranging in age from six to twelve years .... One of our projects, "CCDS beanies," appealed to my first graders, so I stitched up basic beanies for each, and students assembled their own. When all were completed, Watson Burts volunteered to take a class photo. This was the start of Mrs. Miller's annual "CCDS beanie" tradition, which has continued every spring to date, or eighteen years. Mrs. Miller has all of these photographs posted in her classroom, thereby keeping track of all the classes she has taught. Her daughter Susan was graduated in 1976, while her other daughter, Jennifer, and Coach John Bristor's daughter Jackie were in the class of 1980. "When they were graduated, seniors wore rebel flags on their academic robes to symbolize their position as the last class of Country Day 'Rebels. ,,, Martha Haywood, Larry Greenia, and Doris Lavender were still mainstays in the administration building. Later, in Country Day's fortieth anniversary year, Doris Lavender would write a delightful history of the school for the 1982 Postscript. Of Bill Pfeifer she would write: His sensitivity to the problems of staff, faculty, and people in the parent body was uncanny. He was the first person on the scene in a crisis, and there are people still associated with the school who will say, "I could never have gotten through it without Bill Pfeifer." He worked personally with parents who wanted to do something special for the school. The results were the furnishing of the Board Room and the establishment of our typing program through the donation of the equipment in the typing room. He also realized the need for the faculty to get together now and then to let their hair down and relax. He and his charming wife, Sandy, would give periodic parties, enjoyed by all. ... Under Mr. Pfeifer we also established a real office of Development to handle fund raising and public relations for the school.

Doris Lavender, Helen Lofton, Nora Copses, and Martha Haywood served long and faithfully in a variety of roles in the business and administrative offices.

Doris Lavender would remain at the school until February 27, 1983, when she died of cancer. Even after having undergone chemotherapy, Doris insisted upon returning to Country Day, where she had been employed since 1960. She gave up her disability benefits by returning to the place that had meant so much for the previous twenty-three years. John Cook established the Lavender Award in her memory to be given to the player who had shown the most "true grit" in the spirit of Doris Lavender. Rick Bryan was the first person Bill Pfeifer added to the faculty in the fall of 1974. Hired to teach history and coach wrestling, Rick would replace Bill Magnon, legendary wrestling coach. "John Cook wasn't sure how he felt about that," Rick notes. "I had never coached wrestling, and it was another sport that was near to John's heart." In 1975, Bill Crowell, who had served as a mentor for Rick in the History Department, also left, so Rick became head of the department as well. J. R. Williams came in 1976 and brought the faculty together, assisting Bill Pfeifer, for whom Rick Bryan still has "tremendous respect. He began to look at the bigger picture, bringing teachers from outside. He was very personal and personable. He also started looking at budgets and development, using Alan Lee to get that area under way." Then Mark Hagerman succeeded Tim Bannon, who left for Nichols School, where Rick Bryan is today. After Rick and Judy Bryan were married, they lived with Phil Alderks across the street from Country Day, when Phil was headmaster of Carmel Academy. Judy taught French in the Lower School there, and Rick has nothing but praise for the dynamics of Carmel Academy's Lower School. He feels that having insight into those dynamics helped him promote and implement the merger as Upper School head. After Horton Reed came, Rick became admissions director for the entire school, an experience that was valuable, but "I really felt I had accomplished as much as I could here." In April of 1982 he accepted a position at Nichols School in Buffalo, New York, as assistant head and head of the Upper School. He, Judy, and their daughters have enjoyed their association with Nichols, which is approaching its one hundredth birthday as Country Day celebrates its fiftieth. Of his years at Country Day, Rick is proudest of writing the honor code with Molly Wilmer in the summer of 1978 and introducing it into the Upper School. Molly was Country Day's first female president of the student body since the school moved to the Carmel campus in 1960 and was also Senior of the Year. Following her graduation from college, she

would return to Country Day to teach in the Science Department. Rick's biggest regrets involve not knowing the extent of the drug and alcohol problems on the campus and not knowing exactly how to address those problems. "We were all pretty naive," he says in retrospect, and "we had no well-organized guidance system and no dean of students at that time. Chris Crawford did all she could, but nobody seemed to be listening. We lost some fine young people because of it." He remembers Margaret Gragg, "just a wonderful English Department head and college counselor"; Frank Justice, "who had the commitment to students that made him someone kids could always turn to for guidance"; John Cook, for whom he had "deep respect as a great ally and valued for his wisdom"; and also "Sallye Richards, Norma Mackenzie, Ed Kelly, Virginia Abernethy, and parents John and Doris Miller." Rick recalls a favorite wrestling moment: "As a 'rookie' coach against powerful South Mecklenburg High School we were losing 27-3. Richard Abernethy was 'getting killed,' and I yelled at him to do a roll I had tried to teach the team. He did it and pinned his opponent. Suddenly I had new respect, and we ended up winning the match 48-27. It was really fun." Rick coached wrestling for four years, and in the last year, right before Christmas, the team had a record of three wins and no losses en route to a thirteen-to-one season. But then they met Catholic High, coached by Rick Stack, and they lost by three points. (Rick Stack was to come to Country Day in 1980 and lead the wrestling team to new heights.) Rick Bryan continues, "My best team was the one with Clay Claiborne, David Diamond, Roger and Mike Stacks, Frank Whitney, Lance Stokes, and Tommy Miller in 1978. Another of the memories I treasure is announcing the football games on Friday nights when Mike Cofer was kicking." He also recalls fondly the growth of the arts under Harold Lowry and Rob Williams and the great production of Godspell under the direction of Brad Christie and Beth Barclay. Nina Dooley, Louis Bledsoe, Maggie Burns, Henrietta White, and several other members of the Class of 1977 recently got together one evening to reminisce about those days, and their insights support much of what Bill Pfeifer and Rick Bryan have already noted. They remember teachers especially: Mrs. Raoul, Bob Barret, Todd Kight, Mrs. Halldorson, Miss Gragg, and Mrs. Cobb. Louis Bledsoe recalls carrying Mrs. Cobb about the campus in a Roman chariot during one of their Latin celebrations, and notes that "she continues to stay in touch with her students, have parties for them, and attend their weddings." They remember Todd Kight as one who "made us do more than the average

in his seven years as an English teacher at Country Day. We had to take tests in Chaucerian English, and we learned that if we were ever in doubt, we should say 'Dante.'" All the alumni were saddened and shocked when Todd Kight died on July 3, 1987, while working on his doctorate in English literature at the University of Georgia. They agree that "We had such wonderful school spirit. We were smaller then, and the Rebels were something special. We'd go to the Red Baron and stock up on candy and then go watch the games or play ball in the end zone." They remember the blue, yellow, and red tables in Room T, and the old Postscript room. "The senior lounge is about half the size now that it was then. We played Othello and Hearts, read The Flame and the Flower) and watched programs like 'Green Acres' and 'The Beverly Hillbillies.' Still, we were caring and cohesive, and we've stayed close and stayed in touch. Our class became even closer when Killeen Kirkwood was killed." Yearbook dedications to teachers during those years included tributes to Pete Fenninger in 1976, Sue Van Landingham (Bingaman) in 1977, Dolly Hickman in 1978, Rick Bryan in 1979, and Todd Kight in 1980. Such teachers must have inspired many students to join them in their profession. In addition to Molly Wilmer, who returned to Country Day as a faculty member in 1985, Garry Sullivan from Country Day's Class of 1979 would also return to teach English in 1984 after graduating from Davidson College. He would take the place of Brad Christie, another Davidson graduate, who was leaving, after three years at Country Day, to obtain a doctorate at Duke University. (Brad had also attended the school in Jacksonville, Florida, that was founded by future headmaster Horton Reed.) Yet another Davidson graduate, Gardiner Roddey from the Class of 1981, would return to Country Day in 1985 to teach math for one year before going to Chapel Hill to study medicine. The "Davidson connection" almost seems to be a tradition. Molly Wilmer would marry history teacher and College Guidance Director Richard Terry, another Davidson graduate, while both were teaching at Country Day. Grace Nichols, who joined the Lower School faculty to teach third grade in 1988, is married to Eric Nichols, a Davidson graduate who taught at Country Day in 1967. A. J. Morgan, newly graduated from Davidson College, arrived on the Country Day campus in 1990 to teach English. Meanwhile, Richard and Molly Terry, having completed their master's degrees at UNC-Chapel Hill, returned to Davidson College to work! The "connection" also extends to fine students like Zan and Matthew

Penny Crowell has captured the spirit of Big Saturday, continuing tradition in 1975.

as a strong

McElway, David Withers, and Josh Gibson, to name only a few who have driven back and forth from Davidson to attend Country Day. And it cannot begin to name the countless Country Day alumni who have gone on to become graduates of Davidson. The Class of 1977 was the last to graduate under Bill Pfeifer's headmastership. When interviewed recently, Mr. Pfeifer spoke with candor of a "negative force" that ultimately led to a decision to resign his position that year. After that decision, in talks with Smoky Bissell, Jim Cannon, and Jim Hynes, he agreed that he would ride out the school year and make no announcement until the year was completed. The agreement also stated that Mr. Pfeifer would stay until July, and J. R. Williams, who had served as assistant head in 1976-77, would take over as interim headmaster in August. As it turned out, J. R. was diagnosed with a brain tumor eight days after he assumed the position, and Mark Hagerman served as interim headmaster during 1977-78 school year. Meanwhile, Bill Pfeifer worked for the Diocese of Charlotte and did

consulting work for the Athens Academy in Georgia. In January, the head of Derryfield in Manchester, New Hampshire, went into the hospital and Bill Pfeifer filled in for him, going back and forth between Georgia and New Hampshire. "It was a hectic year," he said. It might have been hectic for Country Day as well, if not for the excellent staff already in place who kept things running smoothly. Doris Lavender's forty-year history in the 1982 Postscript gives valuable insight into this period at CCDS: God is great; God is good; and we thank Him for Mark Hagerman! During the school year before Mr. Pfeifer resigned, it became necessary to hire both an Assistant Headmaster and a Head of Lower School. Mr. J. R. Williams, a young history instructor at Taft School, was hired as Assistant Head, and the Board decided he would be groomed and trained to take over the leadership of the school when next we needed a headmaster. Mr. Hagerman was former Headmaster at Forsyth Country Day in Winston-Salem and would become Head of our Lower School. When Mr. Pfeifer resigned and Mr. Williams could not serve as planned . . . we were lucky enough to have on our staff a man who had been a headmaster, and he became Interim Head. Mr. Hagerman took a very serious situation and guided the school through one of its smoothest years. Always an open door-willing to make a decision on the spot-tremendous respect for the competence of his colleagues-it seemed that everyone rose in esteem and everyone did a little something extra to get the school through this time of crisis. Former history teacher Rick Bryan also remembers that period and voices praise for those involved. When J. R. Williams collapsed on the way home from Iowa, Rick recalls meeting at the Pinehurst Apartments with Board Chairman Charlie Tompkins, Bill Pfeifer, Mark Hagerman, and John Bristor, and "spending the better part of the evening trying to get Bill Pfeifer to come back, and then deciding what to do. Mark Hagerman turned out to be the perfect person at that time," he says. "We had a positive year all around as we all worked for the kids." Bill Pfeifer moved on. In 1982 he became associate director of the Sleepy Hollow Restorations and director of museums in North Tarrytown, New York. The project involved working with the house John D. Rockefeller, Sr., built for John, Jr., in 1911. "By 1913 they had it as they wanted it: six stories and two basements. But the house hadn't been lived in since Nelson Rockefeller died," Mr. Pfeifer explained, "and

J. R. Williams, who served as headmaster ing emergency

for eight days in 1977 before undergo-

surgery for a brain tumor.

it was the first project to deal with the interpretation of that house and the surrounding thirty-five hundred acres in the Pleasantville area of Westchester County. "It was fascinating work, but again when the executive director retired and the situation changed, another negative force drove me away." Irresistibly drawn back to the world of education, Bill Pfeifer spent a year looking for just the right place in which to reenter it, and in January of 1988 accepted the headmastership of Webb School in Knoxville, Tennessee. "Teaching," he said, "is the dedicated profession. When you have a great teacher, you have all there is." He also believes there are serious implications when children can't be children. He foresaw the dramatic changes in education that technology would bring as he watched CCDS teacher Watson Burts and student Monroe Bridges and

their work with computers back in the mid-seventies. He believes that "ten years from now we will be educating very differently and will use time differently. Schools will be a twelve-month operation, and summers will be for more than summer school, providing credits and flexibility. Strong, human role models are to become even more important." Finally, Mr. Pfeifer explained his perception of the role of schools in today's society: In this onrush of what we are becoming, we have to keep in focus that education is a human, almost fragile, thing, and if it does not remain human, it has serious implications for what society will become. When we think of the way Thomas Jefferson was educated' with the blend between the mental process and good moral decisions, and the situation today with the nuclear family, the single-parent family, and the lessening of the influence of the church, school is where it has got to happen. Clearly, Bill Pfeifer is glad to be a part of that opportunity again.

Chapter 8

The Horton Reed Years 1978-1986

and the Merger with

Carmel Academy

moky Bissell chaired the search committee to find a replacement for Bill Pfeifer. J. R. Williams, who had been named headmaster in May of 1977, was slated to begin his duties on August 1. On August 8 he and his wife, Betty, returning from a visit to Iowa, stopped in Lexington, Kentucky, for a showing of the horses and a weekend in bluegrass country. That night he watched a Packers game on television and went to bed about midnight. At 3:00 a.m. on August 9 he suffered a seizure and was taken to a local hospital in an ambulance. He had a second seizure; doctors diagnosed a brain tumor and performed an operation. The handsome, talented Amherst graduate and athlete awoke to find that he could not talk but could still use his hands for sign language. He had to relearn spoken language from the beginning. "What is this?" "A spoon." Every day he picked up a new word or phrase, making a remarkable recovery. Eventually he would resume teaching duties and make significant contributions to Country Day, but he could not perform the duties of headmaster. Mark Hagerman, head of Lower School, holding degrees from Hamilton College and Duquesne University, served as interim head during the 1977-78 school year while Smoky Bissell and his committee began the search anew. They found their man in Jacksonville, Florida, where he had served for twelve years as founding headmaster and president of Jacksonville Episcopal High School. For the previous two years Horton C. Reed had pared his duties to president only and was ready for a change, having accomplished the task of which every administrator dreams-founding, building, and shaping the destiny of a new school. He had appreciated the school's leading donor, Mrs. Alfred 1. DuPont, and had had wonderful experiences with two very good but very different board leaders: Robert Ray Parks, dean of the cathedral, and Lucius A. Buck, a famous

161

Former Headmaster David Howe "talks school" with Horton Alumni Dinner as Mary Ellen Reed and Nancy Howe chat.

Reed at an Honorary

tax attorney who still returned occasionally to Wall Street. When Smoky Bissell came calling, however, the "old guard" had moved off, and the clergy and lay board had new and different ideas. It seemed to Horton Reed a good time to accept a new challenge. Bearing an A.B. degree from Harvard, and an M.A. from Tufts, with further graduate work at Boston University, Indiana State, the University of Virginia, and the University of Reading in England, Horton Reed had both the academic credentials and the experience to lead the school forward. He had started teaching at Southern Arizona School for Boys in Tucson, where he was offered "twenty-four hundred dollars a year, room and board, and all the rabbit you can eat." For that generous offer, he had six class preparations, three seasons of coaching, one night off a week, a bus trip to town on Saturday to transport students to the movies, chapel, and tutoring on Sundays. Next he spent what he calls a "disastrous" year at Fountain Valley School at Colorado Springs, where he was "forced to teach Latin," before going to Culver Military Academy for a ten-year period. After serving five years as the head of a company of eighty-five cadets, he felt ready to be an assistant headmaster. When that opportunity presented itself, he went to Lancaster Country Day in Pennsylvania, serving under another master administrator, Nat Saltonstall, before accepting the role of headmaster in Jacksonville. According to Mr. Reed, that search committee was looking for "a muscular young Episcopalian who had played football and knew Latin." They took Horton Reed because, among other things, he "had played Latin and knew football." Little did he realize, when he came to Country Day in 1978, that he was going to be playing a new kind of game called "merger." Upon his arrival at Country Day, Mr. Reed insisted on a longrange plan for the school. The trustees created a new Planning Committee to reassess the Program for Progress before beginning Phase III, and to take a fresh look at the needs of the school in the future. Country Day's study showed the need for further expansion of facilities, especially for the Middle School. Even under the competent leadership of John Bristor, says Reed, the "Middle School tail was being wagged by the dog of the Upper School." Other immediate needs that Reed detected were attention to the school plant and grounds, more leadership and service opportunities for the students, and more school community. (Whereas Country Day had always had a good reputation academically and athletically, the new headmaster felt that parents held a curious love-hate relationship with the school. Mr. Reed tells the story of attending a dinner

held by Board Chairman Charlie Tompkins for his law firm. Mr. Reed met the other guests and chatted amiably with them for a while; then one said, "I'm a parent of Country Day kids, so this will probably be the last pleasant talk I'll have with you.") Merger had been discussed casually as local trustees and headmasters had wondered whether Charlotte was big enough for the four independent schools it now supported. Logical pairings, should merger become necessary, had already been talked about: Country Day and Carmel Academy; Charlotte Latin and Providence Day. When Mr. Reed and the new Planning Committee began to assess Country Day's needs, the board, under the direction of Louis Bledsoe, Jr. (who had taken over the reins from Charlie Tompkins), decided to renew discussions with the Carmel Academy board, led by Chairman William H. Dougherty, Jr., about the possibility of a merger. Such a union would provide another complete campus, not only giving full facilities for a Middle School but also allowing for programs devoted completely to the needs of that age group. The Carmel Road campus could then house the Upper and Lower schools in well-defined areas. The board wanted out of the day-to-day running of the school. Mr. Reed wanted to be sure that the board was ready to back him and that there was a clear understanding between board and staff on decision making. If a merger were to be pulled off, it had to be initiated by a small group, and as long as the leadership--the staff and the boardsheld together, it would work. Smoky Bissell brought up the issue of merger, and the expert diplomatic skills of Louis Bledsoe, Billy Wade Wood, Jim Cannon, Bill Dougherty, Doug MacGregor, and Bruce Beery made the difference. Mr. Reed and Alice Litwinchuk, headmistress of Carmel Academy, worked with the board on details for a smooth transition, and on September 25, 1979, the following announcement was made: We are delighted to announce that on Monday, September 24, the Boards of Trustees of Carmel Academy and Charlotte Country Day School voted unanimously to merge our two institutions. While legally the merger is now taking place, both schools will maintain their academic separation until June. Thus there will be ample opportunity to complete properly all the necessary arrangements for the future combined operation .... Mr. Reed will continue to serve as Headmaster of Charlotte Country Day School. Under his direction Miss Litwinchuk will continue as Principal of the Carmel

campus and Mark Hagerman will be appointed Principal of the CCDS campus. The Country Day Board, joined by Trustees from the Carmel Board, will govern the School. Simultaneous announcements made to the student bodies of both schools in assembly fell like bombshells. In sports, the two schools had developed fierce rivalries. Amid the tears of shocked disbelief, all questioned how the Rebels could possibly become Cavaliers, or the Cavaliers could ever be Rebels, much less how they could ever be friends and classmates. The blow probably fell harder at Carmel Academy, for it meant the loss of the name of the beloved school and the loss of place; even though the campus would remain, nothing would ever be the same. Even so, the process of merger began immediately with the Student Councils of both institutions working to answer questions and concerns and to solve problems. Bill Bruton was president of the Carmel Academy student body, and Jeff Gorelick was president at Country Day. The Boards of Trustees also merged and helped the process by making some of the major decisions. For example, they decided that both schools must give up their mascots and choose a new one for the new school. Students submitted names ranging from Cobras to Tigers to Buccaneers. Hearts were not in the task, and it was probably the hardest thing they had to do, especially at Country Day where the mere mention of the word "Rebel" can still produce strong emotions; when the final vote was cast, however, Buccaneers won. The faculties also began going back and forth between the campuses, getting to know one another and making plans for the coming year. All were quickly committed to making it the smoothest and most successful school merger ever achieved, and the 1979-80 school year passed in a combined blur of tears and mounting excitement. Sarah Bumgarner had left Carmel Academy in 1978 to move with her family to Colorado. After a year, they decided to return to Charlotte, and in 1979, instead of going back to Carmel Academy, she accepted a position at Country Day. Within a month, all of her former colleagues were to join her there! All plans proceeded fairly peacefully as boards, departments, parent groups, coaches, faculty, and students worked throughout the year for a calm and orderly transition from two schools to one of the largest independent schools in the nation. "As we went down the list of administration and faculty, it was the most amazing fit in terms of strengths," Mr. Reed remembers. "It came out nicely and made the merger amazingly

smooth." The success of the merger remains one of the greatest accomplishments of the Horton Reed years. Much had to be done, however, to set up systems and structures for the successful operation of the merged schools. Tables of organization for the Lower School under Mark Hagerman, the Middle School under former Carmel Academy headmistress Alice Litwinchuk, the Upper School under Rick Bryan, admissions under Gil Webb, college admissions under Margaret Gragg, the business office under Joe Farrell, cafeteria under Angelo Kolivas, physical plant and maintenance under Jimmy Broadway, athletic programs under Carl Bolick, and curriculum integration, eventually, under Academic Deans Sallye Richards, Eddie Kelly, and David Offill were devised. The school community had been "undone" and had to be put back together. Speaking figuratively, as Horton Reed does so well, "needles had to be found in ever larger haystacks. People had to be stretched to bring out the best from within and make bigger persons," and the professional staff had to earn respect as something other than "hired help." School history, of course, had not stood still while the merger was in the making. Memorable events at the separate schools were continually being recorded. Linwood H. Clark, Jr., passes along an event of 1978 that he and his wife Donnetta "feel to be a very important part of CCDS sports history": The CISAA baseball tournament that year proved to be one of the most exciting sporting events that we know of during our twelve years as Country Day parents, and our son William probably fulfilled the greatest fantasy that a baseball player could ever have. On May 6, 1978, in the final, we were down by one run. In the last inning, the last pitch of the game, William hit a home run to win the game and advance our team to the state play-offs. It was William's third two-run homer of the day as Country Day beat Providence Day 7-1 to advance. In an earlier game with Northside, William had also had two two-run homers to advance the Rebels to the finals with Providence Day. In the play-offs Country Day beat Asheville School, Bishop McGuinness, and Wayne Country Day twice to become state champs with twenty-four wins and only seven losses. Another important sports development in 1978 was the formal organization of the Charlotte Country Day School Boosters Club, to promote all interscholastic athletic programs. The student Booster Club

was one of the oldest clubs at the school, with students gaining membership by selling soft drinks at ball games and serving the athletic teams in various ways. By 1977, however, the job was larger than the students could handle, and the needs for money and other resources were greater than ever as the athletic programs and their numbers grew. The students proudly turned over the service club to the parent group, and the new organization was open to all Country Day families and alumni. Membership dues, concession sales, and ticket sales provided an initial annual base budget of approximately twelve thousand dollars per year. The Boosters Club built a permanent concession stand, which it operates for all home games, and through the years has provided facilities improvements, playing fields, buses, banners, uniforms, sports banquets, bumper stickers, programs and schedules, awards and award jackets, unbudgeted capital needs, moral support, and tremendous spirit for the athletic program. Gains were also mixed with losses. In January of 1980, having just completed her traditional preschool Christmas pageant, Mary C. Jones suffered a tear in her esophagus, which is fatal nine out of ten times. The entire school prayed that the gifted director of Country Day's preschool program (since 1961) would be the miracle case, but after six weeks in the hospital, she died in February at the age of sixty-seven. Daughter

Jackie Hunter remembers her incredibly high energy level, as does "Doodle" Smith, who had just joined the school in 1978 as a parent and would herself become a kindergarten teacher in 1980. Mrs. Smith remembers Mrs. Jones doing the exercise record "Chicken Fat" with her kindergarten classes. "Mary could outlast and out jump everyone," she says. In 1976, Mary C. Jones had received the Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award, given for outstanding and unselfish contributions, and she was inducted into the first Honorary Alumni Association in 1980 during the school's fortieth anniversary celebration. A graduate of William and Mary, she had also taught at Collegiate School in Richmond, Virginia, before coming to Country Day. Her daughter, Jackie Jones Hunter, also a graduate of William and Mary, would join the faculty in 1964, and with the exception of one year, 1973-74, when she participated in a Fulbright Teacher Exchange in Birmingham, England, she has been at Country Day for twenty-six years. She received the Alumni Faculty Award in 1986, exactly ten years after her mother was so honored. Country Day parent Linwood Hardy Clark, Jr., credits Jackie Hunter "with providing one of the most interesting academic assignments at Country Day": Mrs. Hunter would explain to her third graders that most things that had ever been invented had come about because of a specific need, and then she would assign her students the task of inventing something. Our third grader, Gus Clark, Class of 1976, invented a "toe picker" which vaguely resembled a leg in traction. His mother, Donetta Clark, would always check his toes at bedtime to insure that he had bathed completely. His invention allowed him to pass this nightly inspection with flying colors, thus eliminating much of "this bathing nonsense." It would be interesting to know if Jackie Hunter might remember other notable inventions from those wonderful third grade assignments. In 1979, Jackie's daughter, Kate Hunter Johnson, was graduated from Country Day, receiving the English and Cultural Contribution awards. She broke family tradition by attending the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, but she, too, came to Country Day as a teacher of Middle School English and drama in 1987. Among Kate's most vivid memories of her student years at Country Day are her English classes with Todd Kight and the Aquilifer initiations of the late seventies, when

Ed Walton (right) and his 1980 state championship baseball team, one of many in his career at Carmel Academy and Country Day.

she was "awakened at 5:30 a.m., dressed in a bathrobe and curlers, and made to blacken my two front teeth before being taken to the Steak 'n Egg in Myers Park for breakfast before heading to school. The initiations lasted four long, but fun, days." (It should be noted that during the eighties the Aquilifer initiations were shortened and considerably refined even as the club's record of distinguished service continued.) Another 1979 graduate who has returned to teach at the school is Stacy Collins Lynch, who especially remembers Rick Bryan's history classes. Julie Appelbaum, who came to Country Day as a ninth grader from Carmel Academy during the first year the two schools were combined and was graduated in 1984, is now a first grade assistant. Kindergarten assistant Milly Kennedy was a 1973 graduate, and fourth grade assistant Peggy Patten Otey attended Carmel Academy. Doodle Smith remembers fondly the birthday parties for Mark Hagerman held at Frances Hyatt's home every Christmas. "We had such fun," she notes, "with Mark playing the piano and everyone singing." Frances G. Hyatt, a beloved teacher who "retired" a number of times before she truly retired becausl. the school kept calling her back, has the distinction of being the first winner of the Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award in 1973, followed by Wayne Murrah in 1974, Dolly Hickman in

Medieval ladies wait for their lords, jousting in the fields, at this Middle School Spring Extravaganza.

1975, Mary C. Jones in 1976, John Cook in 1977, Mark Hagerman in 1978, Virginia Abernethy in 1979, Norma Mackenzie in 1980, Gisele Shumake in 1981, Jo Hassett in 1982, Louise Cobb in 1983, Margaret Gragg in 1984, John Bristor in 1985, Jackie Hunter in 1986, Edward Kelly in 1987, Dynva Reed in 1988, Sarah Yopp in 1989, Horton Reed in 1990, and Gary Forbis in 1991. In 1980-81 Country Day suffered another loss to its faculty; Marilyn Mills Johnson resigned after twenty-eight years as a member of the Lower School faculty to take new employment near her home in Gastonia. But mostly 1980-81 was a year of gains as the combined student body jumped in numbers to 1,500 and the faculty numbered 135, making Charlotte Country Day one of the largest independent schools in the country. In the spring of 1980 the library on the Carmel Campus was named for former

The Rush S. Dickson family gathers for the dedication of the Dickson Kindergarten on the Lower School campus. Later, the Dickson Courtyard would be dedicated on the Middle School campus.

Carmel Academy Board Chairman William H. Dougherty, Jr., and as the school celebrated its fortieth anniversary year, the Carmel Road campus was named the Cannon Campus in honor of Life Trustee, former chairman of the Country Day Board of Trustees, and long-term benefactor James G. Cannon. Immediately, however, much attention to the combining of the physical facilities was required. One of the first tasks was to build a new preschool center or kindergarten building to house the larger Lower School. The new building was erected for the 1980-81 school year, but it was not until February 20, 1984, that the kindergarten building was dedicated to the Rush S. Dickson family, as was the Dickson Courtyard on the Middle School campus. In 1985, an identical preschool building was erected beside the first to accommodate the junior kindergarten. The student parking lot was also expanded, and a new maintenance building was constructed to house the vehicles required for busing students between the two campuses. A new cafeteria was outfitted on the lower level of the Carmel Campus gymnasium building, and the old Upper School building was converted to science labs. The old cafeteria

James Cannon, life chairman of the Board of Trustees and first host of the Honorary Alumni Dinner, congratulates Frances Hyatt, fourth grade teacher.

became a music building, and former Lower School classrooms were converted to art and music rooms. A new telephone system had to be installed to connect the campuses, and plans for transportation and food services had to be worked out. Even though the combined total replacement value of the two plants exceeded $11 million, much work remained to be done. The school embarked upon a Fortieth Anniversary Campaign for Greatness with William H. Dougherty, Jr., as general chairman, James G. Cannon as honorary chairman, James E. S. Hynes as board chairman, and Horton C. Reed as headmaster, yielding over a million dollars in pledges. Bruce A. Beery headed the new parents' capital funds program, which produced $225,800 in pledges. R. Downie Saussy, Jr., headed another phase of the program, which had yielded $73,950 in the early

James E. S. Hynes and Bobby Cannon at the Fortieth Anniversary Dinner, May 1981.

stages. The Annual Advancement Fund collected $80,000 under the chairmanship of Larry J. Dagenhart, and Development Director Ann Britt helped to coordinate all of the programs. On May 24,1981, forty of the most outstanding representatives of the history of Charlotte Country Day School and Carmel Academy and the school's life trustees were inducted as charter members of the Honorary Alumni Association at Quail Hollow Country Club. William Wade Wood and Dr. J. Sterling Hutcheson were in charge of selecting the charter members; James G. Cannon served as chairman and host of the dinner; while Martha Haywood served as the group's first secretary. Even the Postscript in 1981 was dedicated to "the memories of the old and the exciting vision of the new union" as the school completed the first year of merger and embarked on a new era. On September 23, 1981, the school celebrated its fortieth anniversary as the families of the two schools gathered to hear tributes from North Carolina governor

Platform party for the fortieth birthday celebration. From left to right: Jim Cannon, Pat Clayton, Horton Reed, Mark Hagerman, Alice Litwinchuk, and Gil Webb. The Carmel Road campus is designated the Cannon Campus at this Founders' Day.

James B. Hunt and Charlotte mayor Eddie Knox, and a speech by James G. Cannon. On November 11, 1981, Mr. Cannon hosted the first Honorary Alumni Dinner at Quail Hollow Country Club, at which three new members were inducted: Marion Cannon, wife of the late Martin L. Cannon, Jr., for whom the Science Building is named; Russell Robinson, a member of the Board of Trustees for eight years and former chairman of the board; and Frances Hyatt, who at that time had served on the Country Day faculty for fifteen years. Also honored at the dinner were W. Frank Dowd, Sr., and Harry L. Dalton, members of Country Day's first board in 1941. Finally, honors were also given to retiring board members and support group chairmen. On December 11, the Middle Schoolers buried a time capsule on the Cannon Campus to be opened on the school's eightieth anniversary in 2021. The capsule contains a letter from Mayor Knox to the future mayor of 2021; a Rubik's Cube; a school handbook; a list of student predictions and aspirations in the areas of family, energy, and government for that future year; and other school memorabilia. The second Country Day Christmas, a short-lived holiday event, brought 1981 to a close, but the fortieth anniversary celebration continued through Big Saturday, which netted over forty thousand dollars and provided new lockers throughout the Upper School, police coverage for school entrances and exits, audiovisual equipment, blinds for Bray Hall and the Learning Center, and some sports equipment and gym improvements. It was David Ball's first year as Upper School dean, and under his leadership one of the important contributions to the merger year was the weekly publication of a student newspaper, The Buccaneer Banner, to promote school unity. Led by junior editor Greg Gurski, with Ann McGregor as assistant, Ruth Pipkin as features editor, Scott Huelin as sports editor, and Scott Thompson as photographer, the staff turned out over thirty issues, mostly hand-typed and mimeographed. As Greg Gurski remembers it, "They weren't beautiful, but we had some moments, including interviews with Congressman Jim Martin and Lisa Birnbach, the infamous Preppy Handbook author. In the late spring of 1982, Headmaster Reed agreed to provide funds to have the paper printed professionally and for the staff to receive classwork credit." David Ball continues his supervision of The Banner to this day, in addition to his many duties as dean and as "Mr. Special Olympics."

It took only a couple of years to get facilitiesin order and systems in place before the merged school was ready to enter what Mr. Reed and many others still term "the Golden Years." In academics, it started with nine Morehead Scholars from 1979 through 1984: Wylie Donald Lowery, Jr., in 1979, Eva Dane Compton of Carmel Academy in 1980, Amy Aldridge Fonville in 1981, Carter Marshall Mills and Jennifer Sue Smith in 1982, Benjamin David Sutker and Terri Regina Martin in 1983 with Sara Sue Smith as first alternate, and Henry Neal Pharr III and Scott Gower Huelin in 1984. In 1980, Monroe Bridges won an Angier B. Duke Scholarship to Duke, and Sarah Katheryne Dagenhart was awarded a Stuart Scholarship to Davidson College. Gardiner Richards Roddey also won a Stuart Scholarship to Davidson in 1981, and many other students were winning academic and athletic scholarships. Each year the school seemed to produce more and more National Merit semifinalistsand commended students. During most of this period Margaret Gragg was serving as college guidance director, academic dean, or Upper School principal, all offices she held ably. It is to her that much of this success is due. As Horton Reed puts it: I guess the thing that has always impressed me most about Margaret is that she is simply the finest person I've ever met. She

lives out the finest values, sets the example. She is very human, but regardless of how much pressure she is under, or, conversely, if she has a chance to relax, she is the picture of integrity, altruism, compassion, patience, and cheerfulness. Regardless of how many times she was promoted, the Peter Principle never went into effect. She went from English Department chairman to college guidance director and academic dean to head of Upper School, vice president for academic affairs, and now associate head. She picks up the big picture and the tools with alacrity and grace for each position and puts in imagination, intelligence, common sense, and perspiration. I would say much the same thing for Gil Webb, whom I hired to head the Middle School, but then with the merger I needed him in admissions and Upper School first. Gil made each transition quickly and profitably and brought to each task qualities I admired: an incisive mind, good people skills, a sense of humor, and tenacity in dealing with ideas. He organized and personalized the Admissions Office, bringing real genius in decision making. He did research on the composition of the greater Charlotte community and helped us plan everything from enrollment to marketing. I probably fought with Gil verbally more than with any other employee before or since, but our best intentions were in serving the school, and we always came out as friends. He would always "stay on the mat" until I had made a decision; then he would follow it loyally, and the school and I always were better for the experience. My faith in and support of Gil have been more than vindicated in the miracle he has pulled off, with the help of many, at Carolina Day School. I truly think him one of the finest younger independent school administrators in the whole country, and if I were a board chairman looking for a headmaster in that age range, I would do everything possible to lure him away from Asheville. Margaret Gragg would also make an excellent head of school, and I would recommend her in a minute, as I already have. Meanwhile, under the leadership of Rhea Caldwell, the CCDS math team won first place at the most difficult and competitive contests available for eight years in a row, bringing home the UNCC trophy with increasingly competent and talented teams. As Marc Starnes puts it, "Mrs. Caldwell also helped greatly in amassing several hundred thousand dollars of scholarship money for CCDS students through the North

Carolina State Math Contest, including over $165,000 for the Class of 1989 alone." In 1991, Marc and David Kirsch, two of those scholarship winners, completed their sophomore year at Duke University. The Science and Computer departments also were winning contests, while the English and History departments brought home the Pfeiffer College American Studies trophy for three consecutive years. On May 13, 1983, the school began initiating scholars into Cum Laude; in 1985, the junior class set the school's finest record in PSAT scores, with thirty-three qualifying as National Merit finalists or commended students; and in 1986, Country Day scholars ranked in the top twenty in the National Academic Decathlon. Students won Scholastic Art awards and presented professional-quality musicals and dance performances. The chorus began garnering top honors in choral competitions, and the Foreign Language Department regularly took state honors in the various language competitions. In 1985 even the Postscript turned to gold, winning first place overall as the best yearbook in the state of North Carolina and the only yearbook in the state selected to remain in the UNC Scholastic Press Archives.In Mary Ann Huskey's first year of advising the staff, the yearbook also took first place for cover and design, third place for photography, and received "All-North Carolina" recognition, the top category of all yearbooks competing. The ten-year period following the merger, under both Horton Reed and Robert Johnston, has also been marked by outstanding involvement by Upper School classes in school and service projects of all kinds, including selling fruit and flowers to raise money for the JuniorSenior Prom; producing the prom; participating in holiday projects for needy families; working for soup kitchens, crisis assistance, battered women, and homeless shelters; and collecting paper and drink cans for recycling. Faculty/staff leaders of these grade-level activities, more often than not, deservedly received yearbook dedications for their leadership and commitment. These have been Margaret Gragg in 1982, Mary Karen Vellines in 1983, Nancy Cox in 1984, Frank Justice in 1985, Rhea Caldwell in 1986, Mary Karen Vellines again in 1987, Marsha NewtonGraham in 1988, Libby Dumbell in 1989, Ed Walton in 1990, and Julia Britt in 1991. Not to be outdone, the athletic department under the leadership of Athletic Director Carl Bolick amassed an unparalleled record in state championships, winning the Wachovia Cup in 1983, 1985, 1986, and 1987. In 1982, the first year the cup was awarded to the North Carolina Independent School Athletic Association (NCISAA) school with the

most outstanding state record in varsity sports, Country Day finished in second place; in 1984, the school finished in third place, only ten points behind the winner. John Cook placed the 1981-1985 teams among his best, with the 1982 team taking top honors. But it took state championships over the years in every area to earn the Wachovia Cup: Ed Walton and his baseball teams, Bob Plyler and the golf and boys' basketball teams, Suzie Pignetti and the volleyball teams, Rick Stack and the wrestling teams, Julie Shaw and the field hockey teams, Madeline Frosch and the girls' basketball teams, Bob Doherty and Larry Bosc and both girls' and boys' soccer teams, Win Robinson and Jerry Levine and their track and cross-country teams, plus coaches and players in tennis, softball, and swimming. On July 2, 1986, John Cook, legendary football coach at Country Day for twenty-six years, died while riding his bike on the Blue Ridge Parkway. As Sam Cook remembers his father, he talks of his love for the school and being with the players and students. "He had something here that he loved-pride, determination, and respect. More people still come up to me and say, 'John Cook made my son a man.''' Sam Cook also remembers helping his father coach in 1984 with Ed Walton and Bill Bowman. In the fall of 1985 Sam was diagnosed with cancer, and he credits the 1985-86 football team with saving his life. "That part-time job gave me a purpose, and I still feel it was as good a team as I've been around." Like everyone ever associated with John Cook, Sam remembers his father with pride, as does Mary Todd, who wrote to John's grandson and Sam's son Mickey, "Your granddad was like a giant tree to mestrong, solid, dependable. He provided shelter and comfort and didn't bend when others leaned on him. His roots were deep in integrity, and he didn't uproot himself to follow the fickle shifts of sentiment or fashion. When a giant tree falls, its crash shocks the forest and leaves a gigantic hole ... as has the death ofJohn Cook .... We all miss him as we cherish the difference he made." Beth Tyner, Spanish teacher since 1977 and director of coordinate programs, died in November 1986, adding another deep sense of loss to the Country Day family. Many classes and families have also known loss. Patricia Diane Culp of the Class of 1984 and Suzanne Pardee Hynes of the Class of 1985 have been deeply mourned by their families and classmates. Patty is remembered during Special Olympics with the Spanish Club Marathon, and Suzanne is honored each year at graduation when the Suzanne Pardee Hynes Spanish Award is given; a scholarship also bears her name.

Special Olympics becomes a valuable community tradition of pride.

service and a Country

Day

One of Rhea Caldwell's 1986 math teams that won championship after championship at Furman, at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, and at the state contest.

Nineteen eighty-four was the first year that Country Day hosted the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Special Olympics, under the direction of David Ball and Frank Justice. Special athletes, their families, and their teachers came to the campus for the three-day event, and every Upper School student was actively involved in the project as a buddy, a hugger, a helper, an entertainer, a decorator, or a greeter. In 1991, the Special Olympics is still one of Country Day's most significant community service projects. Every year during the Olympics the campus is transformed, and Lower and Middle school students also participate as the school hosts over nine hundred visitors to the campus. The Aquilifer and Monogram clubs have been joined by the Valor Club in additional service projects throughout the year, and classes continue the tradition of collecting food and toys for needy families at Christmas. The Class of 1984, with a little help from the Parents' Council, gave the school the gazebo as its class gift. This focal point of the campus was built during the summer of 1984 as renovations were also being made in Cramer Hall. Room T became a bona fide lecture hall as the building was air-conditioned and refurbished under the direction of Tom Dooley, contractor, benefactor, and father of Country Day graduates Nina and David Dooley. A "little house" on the lower edge of the campus near the maintenance buildings was also built to serve as a home for the offices of plant operations, once housed in Cramer. During Mr. Reed's tenure as headmaster, the Bray family established the first master instructorships at the school. Rob Williams was named the Marjorie Bray Master Instructor in the Fine Arts, a title that the talented artist has continued to hold, while Roger Coulombe became the first Richard Bray Master Instructor of History when he came to the school in 1984. When Mr. Coulombe became head of Upper School in 1986, J. R. Williams became Richard Bray Master Instructor of History. Eddie Kelly assumed the title and the honor in 1990. As Horton Reed notes in 1991: Everyone is appreciative of all the kindness and support this school generates. We have to have profound gratitude for all of those who have worked here over the past fifty years to carry on the tradition of leadership, scholarship, and service that has been perpetuated: Jim and Bobby Cannon, Harry and Mary Dalton, Dr. Bill and Betty Pitts, William Wade Wood, Herb Woodward, Dolly Hickman, Virginia Abernethy, Jean Ellis, Frances Hyatt, Becky Martin, Wilbert Alexander, to name a very few examples. They are

Platform speakers for 1984 commencement. From left to right: Jim Beatty, Howard Cosell, Chairman of the Board Patrick Clayton, Headmaster Horton Reed, and former headmistress of Carmel Academy Alice Litwinchuk.

an institution within an institution. Even though the board and head move the school forward, it is the people who give Country Day the spirit-the tradition. Horton Reed's greatest happiness remains "the joy of pleasant relationships with good people," experienced throughout his Country Day years. He praises the board chairmen without whose help his job could never have been done. "Each one," he says, "had different abilities that were right for his time, and I learned a great deal from each of them." Louis Bledsoe was a "master of diplomacy"; Pat Clayton knew how to arrive at and keep "perspective"; Jim Hynes knew "marketing and the Southern mind." Their wives, Martha Bledsoe, Leslie Clayton, and Peggy Hynes, were true helpmates in every sense of the word, as was Mary Ellen Reed. The list goes on: Jim and Bobby Cannon, Betsy and Bill White, Smoky and Sarah Bissell, John and Janice Ladley, Doug and Claire MacGregor.

"Trustees volunteer a lot of time outside of meetings," Mr. Reed says. "People don't have any idea how much time people like Beth Brown Boyd and Janet Bradshaw have spent." Then, when one thinks of parent volunteers, it is "a never-ending succession of fine people like Sue Smith, Joyce Hackney, Linda Love. And it's not just the leaders, but thousands and thousands of hours of volunteer time, the most productive volunteers year after year. If sometimes they develop proprietary feelings, they can certainly be forgiven because of the hours of involvement." The Horton Reed years produced much for the school community to be proud of. He launched the English -as-a-Second -Language program and foresaw the need for better international relations through the trip to Japan; he understood the need to unify and integrate learning through the American Studies program and expand service opportunities through Special Olympics; he established the junior kindergarten program and led the drives for junior kindergarten and kindergarten buildings; he brought development, public relations, alumni affairs, and publications into full-fledged operations. (When he came to Country Day all of those areas were handled by two people, Alan Lee and Sue Gulasky.) He established support groups like Honorary Alumni, Board of Advisors, Grandparents' Association, and Fathers' Breakfasts, and expanded the Board of Visitors. He brought in Jerry Levine to oversee alcohol and drug programs and to introduce some valuable old boarding school guidance in a day school, which helped make advisors spend more time with advisees, supporting youngsters while still giving them a chance to fail. In the eight years of his tenure as headmaster, he doubled faculty salaries, understanding that "when you are playing catch-up ball, it's cost plus inflation."· But even as one tries to pin Horton Reed down to accomplishments, he always comes back to people. He remembers Alice Litwinchuk and how Bill Dougherty had told her that the merger depended on her saying "yes" to it. She met him at the Reed home to talk and the first thing she said was, "I must tell you that I don't think much of Country Day." He recalls her "leaning on the same kind of problems I would want to lean on"; how she launched the Middle School with fairness and the highest forms of professional confidence and ideals, which some called an "iron hand"; and how later she served as director of coordinate programs, launching a number of projects and researching others. He talks of his belief that an independent school has to serve the community where it is not being served, keep the campus as busy as possible, and

The gazebo, given to the school by the Class of 1985 and the Parents' Council, is now a focal point of the campus, along with the Lower School flagpole.

have programs to offset the costs of maintaining a school, and of how well "Miss Lit" accomplished these goals. He tells how great it was to talk over anything with Alice and get fresh insight-how whether she agreed or disagreed, it was like having an "alter-ego," and how she had "her own very persuasive wrinkle." He notes that the only time the two of them were dangerous together was when they were in a car-neither had a very good sense of direction! He talks about J. R. Williams and how the two of them bounced professional problems and tennis balls back and forth. He praises J. R. for piloting the American Studies program and leading the history and literature classes to three Pfeiffer College American Studies championships. He talks about his beginning the Cum Laude Society, the most cherished kind of thing on an independent school campus, and serving as president during the early years.

He remembers Mark Hagerman and expresses his gratitude for Mark's keeping things in shape during the interim year. He praises Beth Tyner for chairing the last accreditation and being helpful as administrative assistant. He voices respect for the late John Cook and likens him to Bear Bryant in his skill preparing for games. He wonders if present students suffer from the enduring legend, but adds that "the only thing that counts is the kids and their experiences." He remembers Sue Gulasky, Jennie Arnold, and Jim Broadway and what they did for the school, along with Angelo Kolivas, "who changed us from institutional food to a profitable commercial cafeteria." He praises Carl Bolick not only for the Wachovia Cup era but also for "right thinking" in never forgetting "the educational value of athletics for the sake of a trophy." He talks about Mary Ellen, his wife, and how wonderfully supportive she has been of his work even as she accuses him of "bringing up everybody else's kids but my own." She tolerated "my carrying the job with me all the time, unable to get it off my back." He notes that at Jacksonville "she worked as much as I did, but at Country Day, she assumed a more supportive role from the outside." He praises her flexibility about playing whatever role needed to be played and says that "probably all success is due to her." Since the time when she typed and proofed his master's thesis, she has been his proofreader and his sounding board, and in recent years, quite literally his "eyes." He says that his most personally gratifying experience at Country Day was probably "when I kissed my daughter Sally and took off my hat to son David at graduation. " Horton Reed can also talk about disappointments as easily as he can successes. "I don't feel that I got as far with curriculum reform as I wanted to," he will say, or, "I knew the fund drive we slapped together so quickly to get us over the merger would fail, but it got us over the hump." Or, "If there is one shortcoming that sticks out now, it is that I made far more use of the Executive Committee than of the total board," and, "I never succeeded in teaching the community the meaning of an independent school and the way it operates"-but then again, "the independent school as we knew it may be gone." He admits, "My most frequent dealings with individual parents and students were when they appealed disciplinary actions." Then he will say, "I really worked through division heads and didn't get close to students. I was generally known as a 'distant headmaster.' Students know me better now than they did then."

That statement is certainly true. After spending a year in Switzerland and Florida after retiring, Horton Reed came back to Country Day as headmaster emeritus to teach. He feels it unusual to get to spend time with the new headmaster in a pleasant working relationship, and he has cheerfully tackled numerous tasks in development and publications, as well as chairing the English Department and teaching English classes. He fails to mention that in 1990 he won the Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award, but he readily admits, "in a way that won't sound hokey," that headmastering was rather like teaching a class-"you have to perform a little." Understanding the dynamics of groups and trying to gauge when morale needs boosting is part of the game. Gil Webb still reminds him of the time he came in and "spread-eagled the boardroom table," and many a teacher remembers vividly his whacking the lectern with a cane for emphasis. So when he says that his motto in class is "I don't give a damn whether you have a good day, but I do want you to have a great life," one can almost see the students' faces. He laughs as he tells about the students he overheard saying, "There goes the old bastard," and he turned the tide by answering, "You are right on both counts!" He believes that we cannot let our students become a "bail-out generation," in which "all their lives someone will bail them out," but freely admits that one of the hardest times as headmaster is the inevitable moment when one has to dismiss a faculty member or a student. Conversely, one of the happiest projects is grooming young administrators, and Mr. Reed is proud of good people like Margaret Gragg, associate headmaster of Country Day, and Gil Webb, now headmaster at Carolina Day School in Asheville, for whom he has served as mentor. He also remembers the days at NAIS when, as a new headmaster, he ran up to meet a venerable headmaster to ask questions. "Now," he says, "it is something of a shock to reach the stage when the young ones are running up to me." Therefore, he had planned to take an early retirement at the end of the 1990-91 school year, but he was "sidetracked again," and he will continue to serve as chairman of the English Department and as a member of the Development Office in 1991-92. Still, he wants to travel and write before his failing eyesight gives out completely. He'd like to go back to Great Britain, Europe, and Japan; to explore the Pacific Rim, particularly Australia and New Zealand; and to check out Kenya on safari. During the past two summers, he and Mary Ellen have toured Alaska and the Canadian Rockies, and they took a thirty-two-day bus tour of this country during the summer of '91. They can visit their

retirement condo at Ponte Vedra, Florida, in the winter, spend summers on the lake in New Hampshire, visit friends at Culver, or check out their business investment near Niagara Falls. The one thing he won't do, even though he is frequently contacted, is to go back to headmastering. Horton Reed is at his best when waxing philosophical. "Teaching is more fun than headmastering," he says, "but headmastering is the highest form of service, not because of power, but because of the total service you perform and the numbers of people you affect." One of the fun things has been "trying to advance education in a city that is looking to the future," but "Charlotte's Achilles' heel is that it wants quality, but only if it doesn't cost too much in time and money. This state's biggest mistake is doing well with post-secondary while not having uniform quality in the public schools. It's like worrying about the frosting instead of the cake. If communities command good education and are willing to pay for it, culture and education will become greater forces." As for Country Day, "Exeter's best are no better than ours; our lowest are no lower than Exeter's, but we do have more in the middle and toward the bottom. Students everywhere today generally do not have the reading and writing skills and are not really so verbal as the generation before. However, as people, ours would stack up with anybody's. What diverse talents and experiences!" His best perspective is on the meaning of Country Day's first fifty years. He tells the story of taking the architects of the Jacksonville school to the new campus of Germantown Academy in Philadelphia so that they could see the amount of space devoted to playing fields and the layout of a well-planned independent school. As the group toured the campus, one of them was curious about how the school colors came to be red, yellow, and black. "Well," Headmaster Donald Miller explained, "the school colors used to be red and yellow, but we added the black when Lincoln was shot." And how did he like the new campus? "Oh, I like it very much, but I hated to move my office from Washington's Revolutionary War headquarters." According to Horton Reed, "that's real tradition, and it shows that we still have a very long way to go. The first fifty years can be considered a fantastic start, however."

Chapter 9

Carmel Academy 1971-1980

he seal bears the date 1971 and the name Carmel Academy, surrounded by a circled chain of thirtY-four links to signifY the thirteen board members and twenty-one staff members who started the school, and 290 shading lines, to represent the 290 students in the original student body. Inside the circled chain, which shows that strength comes from working together, and an inner circle, which represents a well-rounded program, is a four-sided inner shield that represents integrity, growth, self-discipline, and spiritual well-being. Within the shield are a golden lamp of knowledge for educational achievement, a winged foot for athletic supremacy, and a key to signifY success in all endeavors. The motto, "Sequitur Ultima," means to strive for the ultimate, and the mascot, the Cavalier, represents patronage of the arts, responsible leadership, and enduring spirit. Modeled in the English cavalier tradition, the Carmel Cavalier was faithful to privilege and to duty, supported the advancement of the arts and sciences, and was highly accomplished and distinguished in many fields. Mr. John Pritchard was chairman of the Board of Trustees with founding members Harold Carten, William H. Dougherty, Jr., Dr. Breece Breland, A. J. Elam, Stanley A. Gertzman, Neal G. Helms, Charles C. Leonard, Douglas A. MacGregor, Mrs. Jimmie Pritchard, Darrell R. Setliff, G. Allen Skeens, and Paul Ostrow. The first headmaster was James E. Ragan, who held a B.S. and an M.A. from Middle Tennessee State University, while his wife, Mrs. Carole Ragan, served as the school's first registrar. Among the first faculty members at the school were Mrs. Sylvia C. Smith, Mrs. Sarah A. Bumgarner, and Mr. Charles A. "Tony" White, who continue to serve at Charlotte Country Day in 1991. Others who were to remain prominent during the early years were Mrs. Shirley Greene (secretary), Kay S. Bivens, Mrs. Peggy Griffin, and Mrs. Kay Earnhardt. An open house was held on Wednesday, September 8, 1971, from 6 to 9 p.m. Over two hundred parents, students, and visitors poured

189

down Green Rea Road to see the school, which consisted of Rea Hall. The first flag raising on September 10, 1971, was a very significant ceremony, with all of the students, staff, and a few visitors around the flagpole. The school symbol had just been created by Mr. Ragan, and Mrs. Gary L. Williams, wife of one of the faculty members, drew it as described above. The mission was to provide a well-rounded program that would bring success in all endeavors. Groups of parents formed two clubs: the Athletic Boosters and the Library Boosters. The soccer season was very good for a first-year team: six wins, five losses, and one tie. Nancy Murray was crowned the first soccer queen on November 12, 1971, at Mountainbrook Park. Debbie Dougherty and Henry Steinberg were co-editors of the Cavalier Gazette, the first school paper, and Mrs. Kay Earnhardt and Mrs. Linda Reeder were the advisors. A contest was held to elect Mr. and Miss Carmel Academy, in which each book contributed by the classes was a vote for their candidates. Debbie Craig and Tripp Lipinsky were the winners, and the school collected seven thousand volumes, which were housed in bookcases around the lunchroom. Lisa Atkins, Lynn Baughman, Eva Compton, Melissa Helms, Robert Houser, Scott MacGregor, Sissy Pappas, Polly Patten, Suzanne Sewell, Helen Winston, and Rebecca Rea were in the first fourth grade in 1971; in 1980 they would be members of the final graduating class. In those nine years remarkable things would be accomplished. Achievement and improvement awards were given in grades one through four, while academic awards were presented in fifth through

ninth grades in English, social studies, science, math, French, and art. The Lower School Faculty Award for the first year was presented to Kim Copses, and Faculty Gold Key awards in Upper School were won by Joanne Rea, Craig Hopkins, Alan Kronovet, Nancy Murray, and Tyson Brawley. Athletic awards were presented in soccer, boys' varsity and JV basketball, and girls' volleyball and basketball. Lew Madison made the All-State AAU swim team during the school's first year. Today it looks as if Carmel Academy arrived fully grown, so to speak, at the end of a quiet road that runs along the fairways of Carmel Country Club and past well-tended suburban homes to the cul-de-sac at 5936 Green Rea Road. The first yearbook matches in quality and substance the one for the same year at Charlotte Country Day; students published a newspaper as well. Sports teams were uniformed and started a full schedule, even though the soccer team had to borrow practice fields and arrange for places to play home games. The boys' and girls' basketball teams practiced outdoors on the present tennis courts, and home games were played in local church gymnasiums. Volleyball and golf were also undertaken in the first year, and even with limited facilities, attention was given to art, music, dramatics, and other forms of creative expression. One large room served as the library and the cafeteria, with the center tables providing food for both minds and bodies. At about the time David Howe of Country Day was leaving with his family for Europe, and Dr. Emerson Johnson was taking the reins of that school, other families in southeast Charlotte were wondering what to do about their school situation. Fifth and sixth graders were being bused all over the city, and the public schools were in a state of unrest. They, too, were experimenting with open classrooms-large classes with as many as 185 students grouped in open areas-and many parents who wanted a more traditional approach for their children were concerned. Groups of parents in the Montebello area of Carmel Road and the Lansdowne area of Providence Road had discussed the possibilities of founding schools. Lawyer Stan Gertzman had obtained a permit from the state under the name of Eastbourne School, Incorporated, but no action had been taken by either of the groups, even though the subject was discussed at parties and gatherings. One such gathering brought the first action. In 1969-70, a school operated as Montebello Day School in the home of Mr. and Mrs. John Pritchard. Claire MacGregor recalls that the Pritchards provided their home for a class of fifth and sixth graders, taught in one classroom by Irene "Wink" Kuebler. "The remarkable

thing about it," she says, "is that the Pritchards didn't have a child in either class," but they opened their home to approximately fifteen children for the year. She also recalls that one day she was giving a "guest lesson" in art appreciation, using slides she had obtained from the North Carolina Museum of Art in Raleigh, when Calvin Criner, state superintendent of the independent schools, arrived for an inspection. "There he was sitting in on my 'class' and John Pritchard was trying to show him around 'the school. ' Yet, we apparently passed the inspection, and the idea for a new school was pursued in earnest." In the fall of 1970, fifty families committed to support the construction of permanent facilities on a twenty-five acre tract given by the Zeb Milton Rea family. They would use the charter that had already been obtained under the name of Eastbourne School, Incorporated, but the school would operate as Carmel Academy. Doug MacGregor recalls how they decided important issues: Orb Elam, John Pritchard, Bill Dougherty, and I sat in a car one night and asked each other, "Should we do it?" and, "What grades are we going to include?" We had just about decided that we should just have grades one through eight so that we would not need as much athletic equipment and Upper School kinds of things when Bill Dougherty said, "Well, that lets me out because I have a ninth grader." That settled it. On the spot we agreed that the school would go through the ninth grade the first year. We were all businessmen, and we ran it like a small business corporation. We focused on what was important, kept things on an even keel, and did everything for the betterment of our children. It was a kind of package deal, including a group in Rock Hill, which is how we got Mr. Ragan. He got a tremendous amount done in the first year, and then he was gone. First came Rea Hall, three playing fields and two tennis courts, then the library, followed by the gymnasium, the Upper School, and the cafeteria. In 1972-73 they added the tenth grade; in 1973-74, the eleventh; and in 1974-75, the twelfth, so that in four years the campus was in place and the school was graduating its first class. In 1972-73 Kay S. Earnhardt served as interim headmaster with Helena Rea and Vicki Hart as secretaries. Richard Harris, Linda Jobe, and Linda Pelletier were new faculty. Activities included the Roundtable (yearbook) and Gazette staffs, a Drama Club, the Student Council, and varsity and JV cheerleaders. In 1972 Miss Chris Cashion was elected soccer queen.

Student pianist Brenda Bowers and teacher Eddie Kelly were leaders of Carmel Academy's musical program.

In 1973-74 Philip W. Alderks, with a B.A. from Carleton College and an M.F.A. from the University of Iowa, with specialties in modern art and drafting, became the new headmaster. A talented new group of faculty members included Jack Camp, who came from Western Reserve Academy in Ohio to head the Science Department, teach chemistry, coach baseball, and help with football; Rebecca Foster, whose talents in dramatic arts were to help propel the school to the forefront in drama productions and musicals; Norris Frederick in English; Edward E. Kelly, history teacher, choral director, and advisor to student government; and Tim Timson in math. John Murphy led his team to the 1973 CISAA championship in varsity soccer, while other teams included ]V and varsity volleyball, wrestling, baseball, and softball. There was also an active Monogram Club. Eddie Kelly and Tim Timson remember those early years well. Phil Alderks was low-key, and many of the faculty members were new. Tim remembers being interviewed by Interim Head Kay Earnhardt, Doug MacGregor, and Bill Dougherty in March or April of 1973. Phil Alderks had a good plan for structure of the school, and the students liked him. He was always able to get people to do things. Tim had been hired for Upper School math, and during the summer he spent a good bit of time

on the campus, getting organized, ordering books, and making plans for the opening of school. One day Phil Alderks asked him, "How would you like to be head of the Math Department?" Tim agreed to chair the department, and the summer wore on. In late July, Mr. Alderks had another request: Phil asked if! would help with the schedule. "It will be good fun," he said, "a piece of cake. I'll be there to help you with it." So I agreed to help with the schedule. We had little pieces of paper in pockets that we moved around. It was modular, in a way, but not as well put together as our schedules are now. We had to delay the opening of school a week because we had not finished it, and then it took teachers and students half the year to learn it! Then one day he asked me, "How would you like to be head of the Upper School? It will be good fun, a piece of cake. I'll be there to help you with it." And that's how I came to be head of Upper School. I always ended up doing more of his work than I should have been, but he always had great ideas! The gym building opened in 1973 and housed English, math, the science labs, and a large room eventually used for the chorus. One of the reasons Eddie Kelly was hired was to help with the chorus, and he asked a tall young man named John Bowers if he knew of anyone who could play for the group. John said that his sister could play. Eddie tells the story from there: As it turned out, Brenda "Bowers was an accomplished musician, but the only instrument we had was a Magnus chord organ. Even so we had twenty-five to thirty students in that chorus during the first year. In 1974, we started having musicals. Becky Foster and Amy Hatley helped with the first one, YouJre a Good Man, Charlie Brown. We had to hang a parachute from the ceiling in the gym so the sound would carry, so the board authorized ten thousand dollars for baffling and soundproofing. Our second production was Damn Yankees in 1975. I had played the part of Applegate in high school, so I knew the score and started teaching the music in chorus. Mary Beery started working with Becky and me. Becky directed and I did the music; Brenda played the piano, and the chorus sat offstage and sang the choral parts. Our third musical was LiJI Abner in 1976, the fourth Oklahoma, and the fifth Guys and Dolls. Then we repeated YouJre a Good Man, Charlie Brown, and the final one was Bye, Bye Birdie in 1980.

Peggy Patten Otey, now an assistant in the fourth grade at Country Day, was one of the stars of those early productions, as were Steve, Laurie, and Scott MacGregor, Richard Morris, Skipper Haire, Melanie Stultz, Eva Compton, Bill Bruton, Peter Pappas, Julie, Mark, and Greg Hoffman, Susannah Smith, and many more, like Dale Cuff, Scottie Gallamore, and Stuart Sherrill's mother, who helped. The productions got more elaborate every year and, says Eddie Kelly, "they have never been topped at Country Day. We spent from February to April working on them, and there was always a void when they were over. But none of it would ever have been possible without Brenda Bowers." It was Mary Beery, wife of board member Bruce Beery (the Beerys were one of the school's most dedicated and active families), who came up with the idea for Revels, the all-school affairs at Christmas. Mary suggested a medieval feast with the lord and lady of the manor, Father Christmas, minstrels, the boar's head, a Yule log, carols, jugglers, the works. These, too, were organized productions with costumes, pageantry, and great community spirit that always started the holiday season off with a warm feeling. In addition to talent shows and music programs, the Revels and musicals, over the years Carmel Academy students would participate in the usual field trips and in annual school trips to Washington, D.C., led by Eddie Kelly. Senior class trips would take them in 1976 to Bermuda and in 1980 to Nassau. Both Eddie Kelly and Tim Timson remember the first graduating class in 1975 and especially the commencement exercises, which were held outdoors with the podium erected in front of the tennis courts. Jim Martin, now governor of North Carolina, was the speaker. As the exercises began, a bad storm was approaching. The cows in the pastures were mooing, and everyone was nervous. Just as the storm was about to hit, it veered off and went in another direction. The first commencement proceeded as planned, without a hitch. Members of the faculty during the year of the first graduation included the following: John Murphy, Middle School history; varsity soccer and assistant baseball coach Jean Cannon, art; girl's volleyball coach Sylvia Smith, first grade; head of Lower School Norris Frederick, Upper School English; Drama Club advisor; Carmel Magazine advisor; tennis coach

Sarah Bumgarner, Middle School English Alice Miller, Upper School math Perry Vaughan, Middle School math and English Irene Kuebler, math; director of admissions Edward E. Kelly, Upper School history (chairman); head of Upper School chorus; Student Council advisor Marilyn Beer, Middle School English Rebecca Foster, second grade; Drama Club advisor Philip Maroney, Middle School English; public speaking; wrestling, JV baseball; Sports Club advisor Jack Camp, chemistry, physical science, chairman of Science Department; assistant baseball coach Kathleen Brumbach, Lower and Middle School French; French Club advisor Kathryn Starnes, music Cindy Butcher, second grade Gary Williams, biology, physiology; soccer, wrestling, golf coach; business manager Charles White, Middle School science; JV soccer; Photo Club advisor Ed Walton, director of physical education and athletics; assistant football, head basketball and baseball coach Katherine Hillman, third grade Patricia Fritze, first grade Cynthia Hollowell, French; Ski Club advisor; physical education staff Bennett Rudd; math, physics Frank Timson, Upper School math (chairman); head of Upper School Kay S. Earnhardt, Middle School English; assistant to the headmaster; head of Middle School; Middle School Puppet Club Donald Hult, Upper School history; football coach; JV basketball coach; track and field coach; library assistant Doris Huckabee, Middle School English and music Jane Houston, third grade Peggy Griffin, preschool Linda Pelletier, French; typing; chairman of Modern Language Department; physical education staff Claire Ritter, girls' field hockey, basketball, and softball coach Dana Nesbit, preschool Diane Meacham, Middle School social studies

colleges included Carleton, University of Iowa, Davidson, University of Tennessee, University of Georgia, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, North Carolina State, University of Florida, Amherst, Indiana, Loyola, Duke, Pfeiffer, Wesleyan, Haverford, Rutgers, Oberlin, University of South Carolina, Gustavus Adolphus, Colby, Hartford, Marymount, Upsala, and University of North Carolina at Charlotte. In 1974, when the school only went through the eleventh grade, Phil Alderks thought it would be nice to have a junior prom. Because Eddie Kelly had done proms in Elizabeth City, he was chosen to oversee the first one. They transformed the gym into the Land of Oz, complete with a yellow brick road, all done by the students. Later proms were held at hotels with a banquet before the dance, and they were always gala affairs. Carmel students were good dancers who took full advantage of the prom evenings. The 1977 prom was held at the Top of the Tower with a banquet and dancing to the music of the Catalinas. The 1979 prom was in the Carousel Room at the Radisson Hotel with the theme of "The Long and Winding Road"; the final prom was also held at the Radisson. In 1975 the varsity soccer and basketball teams were beginning their fifth season of play, the junior varsity soccer team was in its fourth

year, and a junior varsity team had just been added to the girls' basketball program. Girls' field hockey and boys' football were in their second seasons. The 1975 baseball team had won the first NCISAA state baseball championship with a record of twenty-four wins and no losses, and would take it again in 1976. The soccer team was tied for first place in the conference during the regular season. The girls' volleyball team won the Sportsmanship Award during the Country Day tournament and placed two members on the All-Conference team; in the final year of the school the volleyball team would win the NCISAA state championship. The wrestling team was in its third season with many new members joining the ranks. The athletic program had come into its own in five short years, and its teams, especially in soccer and baseball, were already among those to be reckoned with in NCISAA play. The National Honor Society was also established in 1975, and the student government was leading and promoting dances, cookouts, and fundraising activities. The dress code at Carmel Academy prohibited blue jeans, but one of the school's best fundraising activities was to have a Jeans Day, with students paying fifty cents apiece for the privilege of wearing jeans to school, usually on a Friday. Mr. Reid and Mr. Frederick not only offered the full range of courses in English, but also taught philosophy and logic, and Mr. Timson was teaching math concepts and calculus in math. The school had a prefect system to help in the library and cafeteria, and last but not least, there was a Senior Lounge. It featured deep pile carpet, donated by the Elwood J. Sebert family, and couches and chairs donated by other families. The most expensive item in the lounge, according to an article in the Carmel Cavalier, was "a forty-foot cola pop top chain valued at almost one hundred and twenty dollars." The most dubious item was a real fire hydrant "which students happened to find lying by the side of the road," but the best thing about the lounge was that "no teacher, parent, or non-senior could be allowed in without permission." New faculty members in 1975-76 included Elizabeth K. "Scottie" Gallamore, librarian; Horace Williams, art; William T. Reid, English; Gail Hamilton, music, Lower School aide; Susan Hough, third grade, assistant field hockey coach; Pat Tamer, preschool; Janet Myers, physical education, girls' basketball, volleyball, and tennis coach; Sam Cook, Middle School math, football, TV basketball, and track coach. The school was beginning the accreditation process and was hoping to become accredited by 1977. As Phil Alderks prepared to leave Carmel Academy for Bolingbrook

School in Petersburg, Virginia, faculty remembered him warmly. He had had good relationships with Bill Pfeifer and Rick Bryan at Country Day and had had many lovely parties for the faculty during his tenure. Ann Alderks had taught at Country Day, and Judy Bryan had taught French at Carmel Academy. These early signs of camaraderie between the schools seem now to have been almost prophetic. Among Phil Alderks's good ideas was one for senior projects, which he asked Eddie Kelly to coordinate in 1975 and to continue in 1976. Throughout the month of May, Carmel seniors went out into the community to serve in various capacities and to obtain a broader understanding of the outside business world. The projects took five hours a day, Monday through Friday, for the entire month and included working as teaching assistants; golf assistants; journalism interns at NCNB, WSOC- TV and WBTV; police department volunteers; Nature Museum and veterinarian assistants; nurses' and Red Cross aides; Presbyterian Hospital volunteers; Charlotte Fire Department volunteers; school volunteers at Carmel Junior High, Quail Hollow Junior High, Dilworth Day Care Center, UNCC, and Thompson's Children's Home; art and interior design assistants; and many other worthwhile experiences. In 1976-77, Alice Litwinchuk came to Carmel Academy as principal from Greenwich Academy in Greenwich, Connecticut, where she was head of Upper School. She had also served as dean and principal of Salem Academy in Winston-Salem from 1956 to 1973. She held B.A. and M.A. degrees from Temple University and had completed further graduate work at Bryn Mawr College. In 1967 she was the first woman president of the Southern Association of Independent Schools, serving on executive boards of national associations of private school heads and on numerous evaluation committees. She hoped for the establishment of a strong and effective student government organization, stronger and more effective discipline, and more sophisticated programs for Upper School, including advanced placement programs in all of the major disciplines. When Carmel Academy merged with Country Day in the fall of 1979, "Miss Lit" had gone far in accomplishing her goals. Sylvia Smith continued to serve as head of Lower School and taught first grade; Philip M. Maroney taught English and was head of Middle School; Frank Timson, Jr., taught mathematics and served as head of Upper School; George Topka taught social studies and served first as director of admissions and later as dean. Larry Bosc joined the faculty as soccer coach and history teacher, introducing advanced placement history for the first time into the curriculum. Ed Walton led the

Miss Alice Litwinchuk, headmistress merger with Country Day.

Alice Litwinchuk Courtyard.

during the school's accreditation

chats with Bill Dougherty

and the

at the reunion in the Dickson

baseball team to state championships in baseball in 1975, 1976, and 1977, before moving to Country Day as atWetic director and championship baseball coach. Ann Boyer Wright remembers her ninth grade history class with Eddie Kelly. "We would ask him what we needed to know for the upcoming test. His reply was always, 'You must master all of the material.' Then, we would ask, 'When will we get our tests back?' and he would always reply, 'In the fullness of time.'" (Mr. Kelly is noted for getting tests back by the next day.) Ann also recalls that "in human physiology, Gary Williams would frequently ask trivia questions about the Minnesota Vikings on pop quizzes! Somehow, the scores really counted toward our grade. Many of us began studying the sports section of the newspaper as diligently as we did our physiology book!" She continues: "Now I confess. In twelfth grade English with Dr. Norris Frederick, we read and discussed Catch-22. I only made it to page 64, but I listened well in class and took good notes. Another student, who had read the entire book but didn't pay any attention in class, made a C on the test and I made an A+. I still feel accomplished!" She believes that "those were great years with Linda Pelletier, Tim Timson, Tony White, Bill Reid, Rich Harris, Janet Myers, and Mindy Bond. They were the best teachers ever!" The first annual Senior So-Long was held at Park Road Park in honor of the Class of 1977. The brainchild of Gail Hamilton, the SoLong included skits and a cookout, and started a farewell spring tradition that was to continue until the merger. One year, students entered the classrooms, blindfolded and "kidnapped" all the faculty, and transported them to the park for the festivities. It was a time for reminiscing, enjoying "family fellowship," and promoting school unity, and while it was always a joyous and happy occasion, it usually ended in tears of sadness over the thoughts of leaving Carmel Academy. Kent W. Prindle says, "The years that I spent at Carmel Academy were quite memorable. I especially remember Eddie Kelly's history and his 'frame of reference' discussion. I still use it today. Also, I could never forget Linda Pelletier, my French teacher, who made a lasting impression on me, and Ed Walton, an excellent coach and advisor. Special remembrance should be made about Jack Camp, a great educator." John C. "Jack" Camp, popular chemistry teacher and coach, died on May 3, 1977, of a heart attack. Ed Walton had gone to the hospital to visit someone else and arrived to the shock and sadness of the death of his fellow coach and mentor. "Lead from behind" had been Jack Camp's

motto, and Ed Walton well remembers his wonderful style of making suggestions. "Have you ever considered doing this or that," he would say, or "I wonder what would happen if we did thus and so," but never direct advice, criticism, or instructions. Jack's wife, Sue Camp, considers it lucky that through Ann Alderks and Bill Pfeifer at Country Day, she had started working at the reception desk at Country Day in 1976. Following her husband's death she has remained at Country Day until the present working in the bookstore with Watson Burts, "who taught me the computer on the 'big monster' we used to have," and currently as one of the school's experts at data entry on the updated computer system. Daughter Widget moved to Country Day from Carmel Academy in 1979 before the merger, simply to be with her mother and to have a larger experience. "Everybody thought I had some kind of advance knowledge of the merger," Sue Camp remembers, "but I didn't. Widget had decided that was what she wanted to do, and she did it." She continues, "Everybody has been good to me, and I have always appreciated it." During the final year of Carmel Academy, many teachers made the decision to stay on with the merged school. Julia Britt, who replaced Bill Reid in 1977 when he returned to Vanderbilt to complete his doctorate, continues teaching English at Country Day in 1991. In 1978 Laura Shaw taught Latin and French; Laura would resurface as an active volunteer at Country Day during the nineties when her children came of school age and were enrolled in Lower School. Larry Bose taught history and coached soccer at Carmel Academy; after spending a number of years at Chapel Hill High School, he would return for several years to Country Day before accepting a position at East Mecklenburg High School. In 1978, Kin Mack taught chemistry at Carmel Academy; after a number of years at Providence Day and Myers Park High School, he would return to Country Day in 1988 to teach chemistry again. In 1978, Diane Hoffman and Marilyn Crawford joined the Carmel faculty to teach math; both would continue until an "early retirement" in 1990. In 1979, Marlene Heiman joined the Carmel Academy faculty to teach biology following the death of her husband, and moved to Country Day in the merger the following year. Now Mrs. Jay Jacoby, she is another Carmel Academy faculty member who remains on the staff at Country Day in 1991. Both Marlene Jacoby and Diane Hoffman have been recognized with Faculty Recognition Awards, given each term by the Parents' Association. Eddie Kelly has received the Alumni Distinguished Faculty Award. Linda Pelletier remained at Carmel Academy through the merger

year in 1980 and then took several years off to stay at home with her son and help with her husband's business. She returned to Country Day to teach French in 1987. Gerard Loiseau began teaching French at Carmel Academy in 1979 and remains at Country Day in 1991. Linda Wolf also began at Carmel Academy in 1979, but took a number of years off with her two daughters before returning to teach sixth grade at the Country Day Middle School in 1989. Betty Williams began teaching kindergarten at Carmel Academy in 1978 and remains in that position at Country Day in 1991. Anne Smith and Ann Blankenship, who began at Carmel in 1977 and 1978 respectively, continued at Country Day for ten years until they both married and stopped teaching when their first children were born. Rich Ulrich, who began at Country Day in 1974, and his wife Pam, who began at Carmel Academy in 1977, continue to teach at Country Day, as does Bob Doherty, who joined the Carmel faculty in 1979. George Topka, who joined the Carmel family in 1976, remained at the Country Day Middle School until 1990 when he accepted a position as headmaster in South Carolina. As Alice Litwinchuk would later put it, after guiding Carmel Academy from 1976 to 1980 through the merger with Country Day and serving as head of the Middle School on the Carmel Campus and as director of coordinate programs on the Cannon Campus until her retirement in 1986, "Nobody has ever been as proud of a faculty as I was of the Carmel Academy group during the merger. They rose to the occasion, put aside sorrow, and are still giving momentum to Country Day." Sylvia Smith Ashcraft and Tony White will have completed twenty years of service to the two schools in 1991; Sarah Bumgarner will have served for nineteen years; Ed Kelly and Tim Timson will have eighteen years of continuous service; Ed Walton will have served both schools for seventeen years; Pam Ulrich and Julia Britt will have fourteen years; and Betty Williams, Bob Doherty, Gerard Loiseau, and Marlene Jacoby will have served for thirteen years. Two of the most important people, however, with long, loyal, and distinguished records of service, are Helena Rea-who in 1991 is registrar and college guidance secretary, as well as a typing teacher and coach at Country Day, and who was either an employee, a parent, a volunteer, or a benefactor of Carmel Academy since it began-and Prissy Satterfield, who has served as assistant to Miss Lit, Gil Webb, and David Plank, and who has also been a Carmel Academy parent and a supporter of both schools for many years. Summarizing what was so special about Carmel Academy is difficult. As Eddie Kelly puts it, "For one thing, we had so many hats to

Board member Douglas MacGregor receivesappreciation for his serviceto Carmel Academy and Country Day at the 1987-88 Honorary Alumni Dinner. wear." He taught Upper School chorus, fifth grade chorus, ancient and medieval history, and modern European history; he also sponsored the student government, led the senior projects, chaired the History Department, and helped with the musicals, Revels, and graduation. Everybody was in the same boat, and all worked tirelessly for the school. The maintenance staff included the Board of Trustees. Tim Timson can remember getting calls on Saturday when "Lake Carmel" had overflowed and flooded the lower level of the gym, and someone would ask if he could come out to the school and help. "When I'd get there," he says, "there would be Doug MacGregor, Bill Dougherty, and any number of others mopping up." If students from other schools came out on the weekends or at night and littered the parking lot, as they sometimes did

Carmel Academy Board Chairman William Dougherty chats with Dr. Ross McElwee during the 1987-88 Honorary Alumni Dinner. The library on the Carmel Campus bears Mr. Dougherty's name. because the school's location made it a good gathering place, there the trustees would be in their business suits on Monday morning, helping to clean up the mess. It was not at all unusual to see Willie Rea on his mowing machine, keeping the grounds cut and trimmed. Doug MacGregor remembers their going out to knock down the wall between two rooms to make the library-cafeteria so they could save the cost of such renovation and use the money for something else. And he laughs when he says that Darrell Setliff and other board members laid the

Carolyn and Willie Rea, Jill Triggs, and Martha Anne Dixon share memories of both schools at the 1985 Honorary Alumni Dinner.

railroad ties around the first cafeteria by hand, and Carmel is probably the only school in the country that could make such a claim. It was truly a "working board" in every sense of the word. Once again, Eddie Kelly and Tim Timson put it best, on a tape recording they made as they drove to Winston-Salem to visit Miss Lit: "We always felt that the Board of Trustees at Carmel appreciated the work that we did, and the parties they treated us to on the Fortieth Floor of the NCNB Tower were lavish and warm. We felt truly honored and appreciated." Bill Dougherty, who took over as chairman from John Pritchard and served until the merger, did everything possible to be sure that Carmel's was a class act. Julia Britt remembers that faculty were included in everything. For years, Kevin Schwartz invited faculty members to the class New Year's Eve parties, and they were even included in prom after-parties and yearbook signing sessions. She recalls some wonderful evenings at the MacGregors', the Comptons', the Reas', or the Smiths' on such occasions. It was like a family. She also remembers Miss Lit coming around to check on classes, standing on her tiptoes to peek through the classroom windows, and then going on her way with a smile and a wave. And

she remembers well the final class as a great group that will forever have the distinction of culminating nine wonderful years of fantastic accomplishment, and leaving a legacy that will not fade. The yearbook dedications at Carmel Academy were never made to one person but rather to the people who made the school what it was. The 1972 dedication read, "This is the Carmel that was a dream, is a reality, and has a future. For Carmel and the opportunities it offers, we dedicate the first edition of the Roundtable to our parents." The 1980 Roundtable was dedicated to "all those students who will never know the feeling of graduating from Carmel Academy, the feeling of extreme pride and happiness that overcomes all seniors at the end of the year. Carmel Academy, in name, is no longer, but its spirit will survive through this book and through those who will remember going to Carmel Academy." The legacy continues. Students in the Class of 1991 at Country Day who were in the first grade during Carmel Academy's final year

include Timmy Barker, Ned Ford, Bobby Harrelson, Jamie Harrison, and Betsy Hutcheson. Carmel kindergartners who will be Country Day seniors during the fiftieth anniversary year include Leigh Bass, Amy Bernish, Shawn Gorman, Eddie McHenry, and Bill Wood. Richard Pacetti, a 1990 Country Day graduate and a Duke Power scholarship winner, was in the second grade at Carmel Academy in 1980. Debbie Pacetti, assistant kindergarten teacher at Country Day since 1984, well remembers taking her son to Carmel Academy to be interviewed for the second grade program in 1979: "As we drove up to the building, I was amazed at how beautiful the school was and how impressive the grounds and rolling hills were, and then I saw the golf carts. Golf carts? Oops! It was the Carmel Country Club!" Kristen Topka, daughter of George Topka, was also a member of the second grade class in 1980. Heather Heiman, daughter of Marlene Jacoby and winner in 1989 of an Angier B. Duke Scholarship at Country Day, was in the third grade at Carmel Academy in 1980, as were Beth Childers, Kim Settlemyre, Jason Singe, Jessica McAlister, and David Rea. Nancy Hutcheson has served since 1986 as Middle School assistant librarian at Country Day, but her involvement with the school goes back to the first days of Carmel Academy, when her husband, Dr. J. Sterling Hutcheson, was on the Board of Trustees, and both he and she worked zealously for the school as parents. She has many wonderful memories, some of which she listed as follows: Lower School plays-particularly Betty Williams's kindergarten musicals and plays. The Revels-especially the late Mary Beery, Becky Foster, and the cast of thousands. Carmel Academy bazaars and the many gatherings of mothers in preparation. Carnival, sometimes along with the bazaar. Middle School field days and creek "free for all"-loved by the kids, hated by the moms; mud allover clothes and cars; somehow the students were allowed to slip and slide in the creek as part of the end -of-the-year activities. Musicals like Li)l Abner and Oklahoma, and, especially, Brenda Bowers, accompanist. Selling CAPS (Carmel Academy Parents' Society) memberships and handbooks at the curb for carpool. Remember Esther Tillotson! The long carpool lines that went out to the street.

Sylvia Smith-First grade teacher for both of my girls; she would shed tears of emotion at the drop of a hat, and we just loved her all the more! Library mothers who would bring lots of books from the public library to supplement the classroom reading books in the youngest grades. For a number of years following the merger, the Middle School maintained a Carmel Academy Alumni Room, containing the furniture from the old Senior Lounge, even including the infamous fire hydrant. As time went on and the need for space became more pressing, the room was first used for a conference room and later disassembled. For returning alumni, though, the campus itself remains much the same and serves as a reminder of the Carmel Academy days. The rock is gone, but the memories linger on. In November 1987, alumna Nina Dooley, then director of alumni affairs at Country Day, joined with Peter Pappas and Greg Proctor of the Class of 1979 and Melanie Culp of the Class of 1980 to plan a Carmel Academy alumni weekend. Carmel athletic uniforms were displayed in

the library and a ceremony was held in the Dickson Courtyard. Many trustees, alumni, parents, and faculty attended the celebration. Every effort has been made to include Carmel alumni in all of the mailings and meetings of the Country Day Alumni Association so that there will always be a "home" where Carmel graduates can return and remember. The best kind of tradition, however, is exemplified by Mike Leonard, who was in the seventh grade at Carmel Academy during the merger year of 1980. Mike went on to Country Day in 1980-81 and was graduated in the Class of 1985. After finishing college at HampdenSidney, he returned to Country Day in 1989-90 to teach biology for Marlene Jacoby while she completed her master's at UNCC. At the end of the year, Mike received one of the Parents' Association's Faculty Recognition Awards as he left to begin graduate school himself. As Eddie Kelly puts it, "We worked hard to maintain a standard, and we gave a far better education than students thought they were getting or even than we realized at the time. We expected more of them and they did more. That, after all, is an important part of the legacy that endures."

Graduates of Carmel Academy The Class of 1975: Sarah Ellen Alderks Michael Gregory Allen Charles Thomas Alley, Jr. Lee Walter Beiersdorfer John Corbet Bowers Jack Tyson Brawley Breece Coleman Breland William Maurice Cox, Jr. Guy Paul DiCenzo (Soccer 3, 4; Coach's Award 3, MVP 4) Deborah Jean Dougherty Robert Turner Earnhardt Pamela Rose Edwards Susan Penny Elsom Henry Thomas Finely III Lawrence Futral Karen Anne Kinnaird (Homecoming Court 3, Queen 4)

Mark Henry Kreuzwieser William Borden Leonard Samual Lewis Madison III Kimberly Mercer J. Richard Morris Nancy Jo Nelson Susan Dale O'Shields David Allen Rea Tom Eubank Rea Doris Ellen Roach (President of Student Council 3 and 4) William Edwin Rorie Sherry Lynn Spivey Judy Tillotson Victoria Eugenia Vaughan Robert Edward Von Sprecken Richard Edson Wiley Richard Wiley Wood

Benjamin Vaughn Allen Kathy Sue Baker Jean Beery Earl Dean Berry, Jr. Cherry Boggs Martha Elizabeth Boyte Michael Timothy Brown Scott Robert Carr Joseph Griffith Cline Todd David Cook Robert Emmons Deese Thomas Taylor Duncan Rebecca Adele Edwards Margaret Rhifer Faires William Herbert Fiss Sharyn Marion Frank

Brett Howard Goodman Garette Edgar Haire Timothy Furman Hayes Joseph A. Hilton Alison Elizabeth Hiltz Edward Pierce Hyman Jan Marie Johnson Evelyn Maria Kinney Deborah Anne Lay Patricia Ann Lockwood Theopisti Kleanthous Loisidou "Toulla" (Carmel Academy's first AFS exchange student from the island of Cyprus lived with the Samuel G. Weir family) Steven Douglas MacGregor

Beth Ann McMullin John Crandle McVaney Julie Ann Meacham Laurey Mercer Carol Ann Morris Margaret Coleman Pritchard Rebecca Anne Riser Mary Beth Roach

Anne Louise Roberts Elwood M. Sebert Min Conrad Sebert Deborah Joan Springs Paula Maria Stathakis Robert Joseph Thompson Karen Rae Weir Joseph Samuel Whiteside

The Class of 1977: Lee Bellenger Brenda Bowers (Trustee Cup 2, 3; Sewanee Award) Ann Boyer Scott Buchanan Kim Copses John Dayvault Lisa Finley Susan Green Celeste Herndon Martha Hilton Mike Holladay Kenjiro Inui Kelly Jones Skip Knauff Bill Kouri

Alan Kronovet (Student Body President) Darren Morris Babette Munn Kent Prindle Carol Ricks (Top Scholar 3, Homecoming Queen 4) Sandee Setliff Sharon Stultz Joe Tart John Tart Diane Taylor Mark Tcherkezian Laura Tilley Cathey Tillotson Alan White

The Class of 1978: Beth Berryhill Bobby Breeyear Cyrette Bullard Charles Cofe Dale Cuff David Dougherty Kathy Duke Tammy Elam Pat Engle Bette Fiss Clarkie Hicks

Craig Hopkins Ginger Kenyon Lori MacGregor (President of Student Government) Sarah Whitner McCartha David Miller Jommy Murray Dottie Nelson Johnny Stathakis

The Class of 1979: Leigh Berryhill Karen Buchanon James Fillman Kit Foley Nese Gokok (AFS exchange student from Ankara, Turkey, who lived with the Willie Rea family) Colleen Hiltz Kurt McPherson Karen Morze Joe Pappamihiel Peter Pappas (President of Student Government )

Greg Proctor Juan Quesada (AFS exchange student from Costa Rica, hosted by the Michael Simpson family) Joanne Rea David Satterfield Kevin Schwartz Stuart Smith Susannah Smith David Talley Lee Ann Turner

Barbara Andrews Lisa Atkins Lynn Baughman Mike Brasche Bill Bruton (Last president of the student body) Eva Compton (Carmel Academy's first and last Morehead Scholar) Melanie Culp Randy Green David Hamrick Melissa Helms Bob Houser Marjy Jacobs (Final A.F.S. exchange student from Zaire, hosted by Kendy and Sarah Jane Smith)

Scott MacGregor Karen McPherson Gary Miller Richard Miller Abby Mulligan Sissy Pappas Polly Patten Rebecca Rea Kim Reynolds Rusty Schwartz Suzanne Sewell Kendy Smith Melanie Stultz Roger Tart Oliver Teichmann Helen Winston

Chapter 10

The Robert D. Johnston Years 1986-Present

hen Horton Reed decided to retire as headmaster at the end of the 1985-86 school year, he announced his plans more than a year in advance, giving the Board of Trustees plenty of time to find a successor. James E. S. Hynes was named chairman of the Search Committee with the able help of Larry J. Dagenhart, J. Patrick Clayton, Howard C. "Smoky" Bissell,and Betsy White. It did not take them long to find their man, even as far away as Wisconsin, and on February 19, 1985, the board unanimously approved the selection of Robert Dwight Johnston as headmaster-elect, to assume officein July 1986. Since 1977, Mr. Johnston had been headmaster of University School Milwaukee, an independent day school in that city since 1861, and over his eight-year tenure he had led the school through a higWy successful major capital campaign and building program, using skillsthat were to be needed at Country Day as the school looked to the next decade. Prior to that, he had served for eight years as headmaster of Durham Academy in Durham, North Carolina, during which time he also served for two years as president of the North Carolina Association ofIndependent Schools. When he went to Wisconsin, he became the founding president of the Wisconsin Association of Independent Schools and served as a director of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States and as secretary of the board. He was also a trustee and chairman of the long-range planning committee of the Mayflower Congregational Church, a director of the Schlitz Audubon Center, and a member of the Milwaukee Civil War Round Table. In 1979 he was elected to membership in the Country Day School Headmasters' Association, where he has served as secretary for three years, and in June of 1991 became president for 1991-92. In 1988, he was named to membership in the Headmasters Association, an elite group of seventy-fiveboarding and day school headmasters and twenty-five public school principals. Mr.

Johnston is the only headmaster in North Carolina who is a member of both organizations. His roots go back to Vandergrift, Pennsylvania, located roughly thirty miles west of Pittsburgh, where he was born and reared, playing baseball and working during the summers for U.S. Steel in the local mills. A teacher who recognized his potential arranged for him to attend Kiski, a boys' boarding school in Saltsburg. He would return to that school as a teacher and coach for ten years, eventually becoming assistant to the headmaster and summer school director before accepting the position in Durham. He was graduated from Allegheny College, where he met his wife Ruth, and where he developed an abiding interest in the Civil War. "Jay Luvaas was a new faculty member at Allegheny College, and Ruth was his first 'A' student," Mr. Johnston recalls. "Later he was chosen as the very first civilian to be a visiting professor at West Point. Now, he is professor of military history at the United States Army War College at Carlisle, Pennsylvania. A great Civil War historian, he introduced me both to that subject and to a beautiful, natural lake not far from Kingston, Ontario, in Canada." Both the Civil War and Loughborough Lake were destined to remain important to the Johnstons to this day. Every summer they go to Canada to a cabin on the lake to study, think, fish, and rest. "We camped for a long time," Headmaster Johnston recalls, "then we rented a cottage for a month every summer for four years. Six years ago we bought a small cabin on Loughborough Lake, about a thirty-minute drive north from Kingston. I frequently go by boat to get the mail." Already folks at Country Day have learned that the headmaster returns from these summer vacations in Canada filled with ideas, suggestions, and projects that he has dreamed up on the lake. A study of Stephen Vincent Benet's epic poem John Brown)s Body planted the interest in the Civil War, but it was at Kiski, where Mr. Johnston first returned in the summer of 1952 to be a counselor at an eight-week camp during a major steel strike in Pittsburgh, that the subject developed into a passion. The summer camp led to a teaching job, and for a long time, he taught five of the six periods a day, advised sixty-four boys in the largest dorm on the campus, and coached football and basketball and was head coach of baseball. He and Ruth were married, and their three children-Tim, Jennifer, and Dan-were born while they were at Kiski. There wasn't much time for the Civil War except in the history classes that he taught. But in 1965, trying to respond to student requests despite the lack of available time during the day, he suggested, "Let's study the Civil War on Wednesday nights from seven o'clock to nine-thirty." The six students

agreed, and the idea evolved that the final exam would be a trip they would put together to follow Stonewall Jackson's 1862 campaign in the Shenandoah Valley. "1 can still see a young boy from Pittsburgh sitting at the motel, talking about leadership, how to get from here to there," Bob Johnston says, "and from then on, the trips involved two simple rules: exposure to leadership and fellowship, underlined by scholarship." Over the years he has led many student groups from Kiski, Durham

Academy, and University School Milwaukee to Gettysburg, Antietam, Harper's Ferry, Chancellorsville, and other famous Civil War sites. When he came to Country Day after twenty years of trips, he not only sponsored and led a student trip to Gettysburg, but he organized the faculty into a group known as the "Disorganized Militia" and led them on a memorable excursion to Cedar Mountain, Virginia. He has also lectured to American Studies classes and faculty groups, all of whom have profited from his vast knowledge of the Civil War. In a boarding school, says Mr. Johnston, "love and respect have to fit together," and one has "to love kids" to teach, coach, and advise them, eat three meals a day with them, and be with them all day every day. After ten years of this atmosphere, Mr. Johnston accepted the challenge of a day school. Durham Academy was a co-ed school for grades kindergarten through ninth, and it was experiencing difficulties when he arrived in 1969. "I was too inexperienced to know better," he says; "I had been in a boys' boarding school and had never taught students lower than the tenth grade, except in summer school. I coached the football team, and even though we didn't win a single game, we never trailed at halftime. I got the girls involved in cheerleading, started a girls' softball team, and took them on a Civil War trip." In 1975, Durham Academy graduated its first class; two more commencements were held before the Johnstons left for Milwaukee, where he built an Upper School and enjoyed "good fun and good people in a great city." In the five years that he has been at Charlotte Country Day School, Headmaster Johnston has made great strides in achieving goals and instituting changes that will be necessary for education in the next decade and the new century. The Board of Trustees authorized the building of a Headmaster's Residence on the Country Day campus during the summer of 1986, and the Johnstons moved into the house in November of that year. The campus residence has become a focal point for entertainment of trustee, parent, faculty, and student groups, as well as visitors and prospective employees. Over the past five years the Board of Trustees has been restructured under the leadership of Board Chairmen Larry Dagenhart, Betsy White, and Erskine Bowles, with many more active committees and full involvement. On the 1990-91 board, chaired by Erskine Bowles, Mrs. Howard C. Bissell (Sara Harris) and Mrs. R. Downie Saussy, Jr. (Sally Cannon), serve as vicechairmen, William B. McGuire, Jr., as treasurer, A. Zachary Smith III as secretary, and Mrs. John M. (Claudia) Belk as assistant secretary. Life trustees are James G. Cannon, Dr. William R. Pitts, and William Wade Wood.

Members are L. Jack Blythe, Robert A. Boulware, Mrs. Robert C. Boyd (Beth Brown), Patrick Diamond, W. Frank Dowd IV, H. Wilson Glasgow, Jr., William Gorelick, Mrs. Glenn B. (Joyce) Hackney, James H. Hance, J. Riddick Hendrick III, David L. Hood, Jr., Stephen Hope, Mrs. Thomas Norman (Patty O'Herron), Nelson Schwab III, Ray Shaw, H. Keith Stoneman, Jr., James R. Tice, S. Lance Van Every, C. Rex Welton, and F. Abbott Whitney, Jr. Those who have read earlier chapters of this book will have little difficulty recognizing many familiar names, indicating the long and illustrious service and commitment of this dedicated group, including many alumni of the school. Patricia O'Herron Norman, for example, who once directed Headmaster Howe as he drove a school bus through the snow, became chairman of the Board of Trustees in 1991-92. The international studies program, designed to broaden students' perspective on the world, chiefly through interdisciplinary learning experiences, was launched in earnest in 1988. Two new languages, Japanese and German, were added that year. Maria Domoto was the first director of intern ational studies and a Japanese teacher; she accepted a position at UNCC in 1990. Millie Dalton Cox, Class of '66, now fills the director's chair and

works closely with the international community and International House to bring important foreign visitors to the campus. Among her accomplishments are negotiations with the German government to provide funding for a German teacher exchange in the future, and increased opportunities for student and teacher travel to other countries, including school exchanges with Charlotte's sister cities. Participation in the Satellite Communications for Learning (SCOLA) program through a satellite dish on the campus brings to foreign language classes news broadcasts and programs from all over the world. Students at Country Day can watch the news in many languages in the Learning Center foyer and view specific programs in their language classes. Plans are also being made to participate in the International Baccalaureate program, which would allow students successfully completing the program to matriculate into colleges and universities around the world. French instruction continues from kindergarten through Advanced Placement French in twelfth grade, while all grade levels engage in special geography and global studies that culminate in greater world awareness. Coordinate Programs participates by offering seminars on Japan and China, and activities like Korean akido. Over the years Country Day has expanded its affiliations with national councils, alliances, and associations so that in 1991, eighteen such memberships are listed in the current school catalog, in addition to accreditations by the North Carolina State Department of Public Instruction and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. Beginning with the Woodberry Forest in Britain program, the school has also established affiliations with the major study-abroad programs in leading independent and boarding schools in the nation. The latest of these is the Maine Coast program, established in 1989-90; Country Day was one of twelve schools in the nation invited to participate. Ned Ford became the first Country Day student participant, followed by Kate Cheney and Bill Pugh in 1990-91. Annually, Country Day students are chosen to represent the school in Boys' State and the North Carolina Governor's School, while many others have been drawn to the North Carolina School of Science and Math and the North Carolina School of the Arts. In 1990-91, Leah Bumgarner won a scholarship to the Idyllwild School of Music and the Arts in California for her senior year, and many students participate in special summer study programs from Harvard to Duke to Chapel Hill and elsewhere. French teacher Janine Thoma, who began teaching full-time at Country Day in 1984 and who returned to Europe (specifically to Paris) in 1990, spearheaded the School Year Abroad programs to France and Spain, the NACEL summer programs, the United States Congress-German Bundestag

Smoky and Sara Bissell (left) are shown here with Chairman of the Board Betsy White at the 1986-87 Honorary Alumni Dinner. At the 1991 graduation ceremonies it was announced that the Middle School campus was being renamed the Bissell Campus.

programs, and other exchanges to and from Country Day. Under the leadership of Spanish teacher Liz Smith, these exchanges continue not only to thrive, but to expand. Study grants to faculty have allowed summer participation in Russian institutes, study tours to Africa, and Shakespearean studies in England, while Earthwatch programs have provided for study in Alaska and Madagascar, and other programs have allowed teachers to study in Peru and Spain. The international focus extends from kindergarten through twelfth grade, and many Country Day faculty in all divisions have studied, worked, or lived abroad. An article in Perspectives, published in January 1989, noted that Country Day had 104 students from twenty-seven countries. In 1990-91, according to the new catalog, the number has increased to 130 students from twenty-five countries. Among the 158 faculty and assistants in 1989 were "ten natives of six foreign countries. Thirty-nine faculty members have lived in twenty-six different countries, nineteen have studied in sixteen different countries, and twenty-three have taught in nineteen different countries." The English-as-a-Second-Language program, begun under Mr. Reed, has continued strongly under Mr. Johnston as international families continue to choose Country Day for their children's education. Special tutoring and classes allow students not already proficient in English to move quickly into the mainstream, and because Country Day is the only independent school in Charlotte with such a program, it is the school of choice for international studies. Susan Lambert, who has directed the program from the first, has also established a network in independent schools across the nation for the exchange of ideas on teaching English as a second language and is a frequent workshop leader at state, regional, and international conferences. In 1990 Susan Holcomb joined the staff to teach ESL in the Lower School. The International Pavilion at Big Saturday, the brainchild of Mrs. Beatty and Mrs. Thoma, is not only one of the most popular features of the annual fundraiser, but also visible evidence of the involvement and support of international families. Over the past ten years, representation has grown from four to eighteen or more countries. Many people come to Big Saturday especially to enjoy the international delicacies prepared by native cooks. Minority enrollment has been another important focus of Mr. Johnston's goals for Country Day. Named in 1987 "A Better Chance" school by the Boston-based group which identifies and promotes scholarships for minority students, Country Day is the only school in Charlotte and one of few in the state so designated. ABC is a nonprofit organization, founded by independent school heads to identify talented minority students

for enrollment in outstanding public and independent schools such as Deerfield Academy, Phillips Exeter Academy, Woodberry Forest, and Charlotte Country Day. In April 1988 the school received a thirty-five thousand dollar matching grant from the E. E. Ford Foundation designated specifically for scholarships for black students in grades nine through twelve. Through the efforts of trustee Patrick Diamond and the support of trustees and friends, the matching funds have been raised. Nethea Rhinehart and Joan Tolbert became the first ABC graduates of Country Day in 1989, and in 1990-91 five students are attending the school through the ABC program. Dana Barksdale, the 1991 ABC graduate, has been awarded a scholarship to attend Wooster College in Ohio. Equally impressive is the fact that forty-six black students are currently enrolled, with representatives in every grade. Admissions Associate Ai Pearman has aided significantly in making stronger contact with Charlotte's black community and serving as a role model for minority students at the school through coaching, teaching, and advising. For students, Mr. Johnston has instituted the "open door" and "fullparticipation" policies. One of his first acts when he became headmaster was to have a door cut from the outside to his office in Barnhardt Hall so that students could have easy access to him. They were encouraged to visit his

Nethea Rinehart and Eric Law (front), pictured here with Mary Karen Vellines and Margaret Gragg (back), return to Country Day for Martin Luther King, Jr., assembly program.

Seventh grader Motohiro Onoda entertains the Middle School campus in 1991.

members of the Board of Visitors on

office to talk, and he frequently invited groups of students to his home for sharing sessions. Several years later, he moved his office to the front of Barnhardt, where he would be more visible and accessible not only to students and faculty but also to campus visitors, parents, friends, alumni, and trustees. He also instituted the full-participation athletic policy, which allows all students to participate in sports or cheerleading. Varsity basketball and tennis are the only sports that have had to maintain some kind of limit on participation; all others are open, and uniforms, coaches, and competition have been provided for the additional numbers. In cheerleading in particular, the full-participation policy has allowed for several teams, reducing the demands on students during the school week while providing cheering squads and increased spirit for the various teams. During the 1990-91 school year, the athletic department reported that 80 percent of the student body participated on over fifty different teams in fourteen different sports; there were eleven sports for boys and ten for girls. Lacrosse is a major sport that has been added during Mr. Johnston's administration, first under the leadership of Vice-President for Institutional Advancement Eugene Reilly, and later (when Mr. Reilly became headmaster of St. Andrews on the Marsh in Savannah, Georgia) under Brad Touma, one of Mr. Reilly's former star players in Michigan, who also teaches history at Charlotte Country Day School. Bob Johnston is as visible as his demanding schedule allows him to be, frequently visiting assemblies and leading programs in all three school divisions. In 1988, he, former trustee Herbert Woodward, head of Upper School Roger Coulombe, and math teacher Nancy Cox initiated the Distinguished Guest Series, designed to bring noteworthy speakers to the campus for assembly programs on political, international, and environmental issues as well as dramatic, musical, and dance productions. These regular assembly programs keep students and faculty well informed on a wide variety of topics. The Lower School hired talented Dr. Bonnie Duckworth to produce child-centered assembly programs for the Lower School, to give students a chance for creative stage expression, and to display their talents for parents and friends on a regular basis. Coupled with already well-established traditions, such as Martha Woods's first grade circus and Tammy Bucy's music programs, these assemblies have added yet another educational dimension to the school week for the benefit of all involved. Foremost among Mr. Johnston's plans is the $10.5 million capital campaign under the leadership ofJames E. S. Hynes, which acquired more than $6 million in pledges before it was formally announced in September 1990. If the campaign reaches its goal, a challenge gift could boost the

Field hockey with Coach Julie Shaw (not pictured) remains a popular sport for girls in 1991.

total to $12 million. These monies are slated for improving faculty salaries and providing student scholarships, renovating aging buildings and science laboratories, expanding and refurbishing the Sanger Cafeteria, and building a Middle School Fine Arts Center and a two-building complex that will include eight new classrooms, several group commons areas, and administrative services offices. Future plans include additional buildings for the Middle and Lower schools and landscaping for the entire campus. The campaign is slated for completion during the fiftieth anniversary year, with initial renovations of Pell Hall and the Cannon Science Building, as well as Dickson-Sanger Cafeteria, to be completed in the summer of 1991. Headmaster Johnston frequently joins the faculty at breakfast, another of his positive innovations, or at lunch in the cafeteria. He has gathered "a group of good people" around him and turned Barnhardt Hall into a place of active, upbeat harmony, added a touch of class to the surroundings with reception area and office renovations, and set a tone of tranquility on the entire campus. Assisting Mr. Johnston since 1986 as a strong nucleus of administrative staff are Associate Head Margaret Gragg, Lower School Head Janet White, Middle School Head David Plank, Upper School Head Roger Coulombe, Admissions Director Fanny Cracknell, Information Systems Manager John Burke, Business Manager Becky Martin, and, joining the team in 1988, Athletic Director Stan Coble. Colleen Ramsey has continued to keep plant operations running as smoothly as possible, and her staff always includes friendly, helpful, and caring people. Sallye Richards in Upper School, Carol Morris in Middle School, and Sylvia Ashcraft in Lower School serve as directors of studies, working with Margaret Gragg and the division heads to oversee academic and curricular affairs. Becky Martin serves as the anchor for the business office, giving it stability and continuity through the years. Since she began as secretary to the business manager and assistant bookkeeper in 1972, she has served as bookkeeper from 1973 to 1976, comptroller from 1976 to 1986, and business manager since 1986. Like Nora Copses in the early years, she has hindled multiple chores "from putting Band-Aids on scratched knees to investing whatever cash is available," and as she puts it, "I have grown as the school has grown." Her job description runs into four pages, and she enjoys every part of it. Under the direction of Mary Karen Vellines, who has headed the college guidance program since 1988 when Richard Terry left for graduate school at UNC-Chapel Hill, Country Day students continue to excel academicauy and to win scholarships to prestigious colleges and universities. In 1988 Elizabeth Sue Smith won a Morehead Scholarship for study at UNC-

Chapel Hill, and in 1991, Jonathan Justice also became a Morehead Scholar, with a second Country Day senior, Edward Marshall, going all the way to the finals. In 1989, Heather Heiman became the first student to win the Angier B. Duke Scholarship for study at Duke University since Monroe Bridges won in 1980, and in 1990 Valerie Wright also won an Angier B. Duke Scholarship but turned it down to attend Yale. Valerie was named Senior of the Year for all of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County, the first Country Day student to win this Charlotte Observer designation since Jennifer Smith won in 1982. As noted in the 1988-89 Annual Report, members of the Class of 1989 were offered more than six hundred thousand dollars worth of scholastic and athletic scholarships. An innovative program under the leadership of Lower School Head Janet White and science teacher Carolyn Leonard has been the Lower School science lab and its "hands-on" curriculum. The idea had its beginnings in the late seventies and early eighties, when Merrie Jane Pierce set about organizing all science materials and storing them in a closet in the Lower School teachers' lounge, visiting other schools that had science labs, and obtaining an anonymous endowment for a Lower School science lab. It was not until the summer of 1986 that the project became a reality. A large room on the lower level of Belk Hall was partitioned to make room for a small science lab, and Carolyn Leonard began taking inventory of all the equipment that had accumulated over the years and assembling it for a hands-on Lower School program. Tables specially ordered to match the size of the room had not arrived when school opened, and no model for such a program existed anywhere. In the first classes conducted in the lab, children sat and worked on the floor, and for the first year, participation was voluntary. "To get the children and teachers to notice us," Mrs. Leonard writes, "we had a program called 'Animal of the Month,' and that was all it took! Animal House in Matthews worked very closely with us and 'loaned' exotic animals like a baby Burmese python that we called Irma. Teachers would bring their classes to see and learn all about a particular animal; chinchillas, pythons, cockateels, and iguanas all came to visit, while fish, turtles, and guinea pigs had a permanent home in the lab. By midyear the program had become very popular." Carolyn Leonard has since written a curriculum guide, Sciencing: A Lower School Science Lab Curriculum, which has been implemented, modified, and expanded to include classroom visits as well as lab work; and another teacher has been added to the science program. The school has come a long way since the Victory Gardens of the 1940s, but Lower School children are again tending a plot, which they call Mr.

MacGregor's Garden, with its own resident Peter Rabbit. The science lab is one of the most popular visitation sites for parents and prospective students who tour the Lower School campus. Lower Schoolers also continue a wide program offield trips and excursions, including the fourth graders' annual trip to Raleigh to visit the museums and the buildings of the state capital. In 1986 Lower School teachers Sarah Yopp and Mary Richardson applied for a copyright for their Clear-Cut Cursive Writing Program and began pilot programs in ten public schools. Developed over the past eighteen years and used in the second grade sections at CCDS since 1972, the program is another example of the innovative teaching and learning styles employed by Country Day faculty. Mary Richardson is also the current editor of The Magic Pencil, a Lower School literary magazine begun by Libby Helms, which publishes twice annually the work of all Lower School students. The Middle School Crossroads and the Upper School Opus also continue the outstanding tradition of displaying the creative writing, art, and photography of talented Country Day students in literary magazines. Since 1983, when Sallye Richards spearheaded the move to Lower School computer literacy and John Burke installed twelve Apple lIe computers in a lab in Bray Hall, Country Day has remained at the forefront of the communications era. In 1987 the Lower School computer lab was expanded and relocated to the lower level of the Learning Center under the

Alex Davis, Eri Okuma, and Aki Seebohm practice their computing teacher Rita Shumaker polishes computer art.

skills as art

direction of Karen Sullivan, who has headed the program since 1983, teaching Logo programming language to all Lower School grade levels. A satellite computer lab with six Apple IIe computers was added in Belk Building, and by school year 1990, each first through fourth grade classroom had a computer, plus four computers for shared use by the five kindergarten classrooms. In 1989, a software collection with more than one hundred titles was started in the Learning Center for check-out and use by teachers in the classrooms, and the school joined the Minnesota Educational Computer Corporation (MECC) under the Association of Independent Schools, providing educational software for language arts, science, and math. In 1990 Country Day's Lower School Learning Center became the regional distribution center for MECC software. Computer lab instruction remains concentrated on programming, word processing, and database, and since 1989, when the school participated in its first National Geographic Kids Network telecommunications project as an after-school program for fourth graders, the third and fourth grades have included a Kids Network project each year. They have telecommunicated with classrooms all over the United States, including Hawaii and Alaska,plus Canada, Puerto Rico, Russia, and Africa.

Beginning with Middle School Head Gilbert Webb, who believed strongly in computer literacy, the Middle School computer center has also been enlarged and expanded, now networking with state university centers to enhance research projects in various disciplines. Gil Webb left Country Day in 1988 to become headmaster of Carolina Day School in Asheville, and David Plank has carried on the development of Country Day's Middle School so that today it is a model for programs and curriculum for that age child in all areas, including computer mastery, under the direction of Pam Ulrich, who writes: In the past few years, with the aid ofInfoTrac, an electronic periodical index, students are learning to access a database and are finding the support they need for research. Our ability to access the public and UNC-C library catalogs has proven to be a great convenience, and it is invaluable to both students and teachers. The satellite receiving station makes available at all times of the day news and features from around the world. Soon, teachers and students will be using video laser discs as a learning and teaching tool in classroom activities. And this is just the beginning. Led by Information Systems Manager John Burke, teacher Lynn Montgomery, and Learning Center Director Carol Pharr, the Upper School computer center and the Learning Center also have expanded technological resources and programs. In May 1991 a CCDS team was chosen in statewide competition for a research and development project called SuperQuest. Students Trina Ardrey, Frederick Gray, Alexander Kourakos, and Ema Yamakawa and teachers Lynn Montgomery and Charles Bodine spent June 12-28, 1991, at Duke University and the Research Triangle Park being trained by scientists in supercomputer techniques. Carol Pharr notes: With the opening of school in the fall, workstations, including five Macintosh computers, will be installed by the N.C. Supercomputing Center in the newly remodeled science building. Connected to the supercomputer at Research Triangle Park, these high-powered workstations will enable the SuperQuest team to track, calculate, and visualize satellite orbital patterns to develop a proper mathematical treatment of the trajectory of an orbiting body around a nonsymmetric body. The workstations will also be available to all Upper School disciplinesand independent study projects.

It should also be noted that in 1989 Country Day students won the International Computer Problem-Solving Contest. Some of the most spectacular successes in curriculum and programs have occurred in the Middle School since 1980-81, the first year that the Middle School moved to the Carmel Campus. Prior to that, the Middle Schools at Country Day and at Carmel Academy had been an integral part of the whole, but with its own campus, the Middle School began the process of becoming, as Director of Studies Carol Morris puts it, "a true Middle School, not just a school in the middle." As the first head, Alice Litwinchuk began by bringing the fifth grade into Middle School and establishing teaming at the fifth grade level. Grade coordinators and department heads were responsible for developing activities and curriculum in grades five through eight. Gil Webb, whose special interest and expertise was the Middle School area, began the real focus on Middle School curriculum and started the educational process for teachers to become aware of the special needs of the students in the fifth through eighth grade age groups. A focus on teaming and interdisciplinary teaching in grade six evolved and expanded, while the Middle School Council provided a vehicle for joint decision making. The Spring Extravaganza began with Gil Webb, with the purpose of higWighting Middle School students and the program. Patsy Ratterree, Linda Skinner, and Paula Davidson have been the chairmen of this higWy successful annual event since it began in 1984. Mr. Webb also began Parental Awareness Communication Education (PACE) for the continuing involvement and education of parents. When David Plank became head in 1988, he began to redress the balance of academic rigor, critical thinking, problem solving, and the social and emotional needs of the Middle School child. This balance was achieved, in part, by introducing electives, varying the course offerings for students, and expanding the cooperative efforts of faculty by involving them in the decision-making process. "For a middle school to be truly successful, all constituents should feel a sense of ownership," David Plank says. "During these past three years we have expanded the teaming of teachers and have emphasized the interconnectedness of learning across the disciplines. The needs of the children help determine the scope of the program." This evolutionary process has put the Bissell Campus at the forefront of the Middle School movement as it is growing nationwide. The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) has established a special Middle School area; there is now a National Middle School Association; and in the state, the North Carolina League of Middle Level Schools is attracting ever wider interest.

May Day is no longer celebrated as in the "old days," but the Maypole dance is a feature of the Middle School's Spring Extravaganza.

Because of the opportunity Country Day's Middle School has had over the past ten years to be a pioneer in the Middle School movement, faculty members are in demand as presenters at the various conferences of these groups, helping to educate others on the needs of and programs for the Middle School-age learner. Among the presentation subjects are the flexible schedule, the study skills package, the advisory system, community service projects, and the award-winning physical education program. "When the Carnegie Council issued its famed Report in June 1989, listing the advisories, the teacher-core academic program, and the education of faculty as the top three priorities for Middle Schools, we had already begun to put all of that in place," Mrs. Morris says, "and much of the credit goes to all three of the Middle School heads, above all for empowering teachers to learn, to experiment, and to implement programs especially designed for the age group." Marilyn Crawford initiated a strong Middle School guidance program, featuring peer counseling, and her Off to Be the Wizard guidebook for advising the middle age child is still a model in strong demand. Dorcas Zeeso, who first pioneered an outdoor education program for the school, is the

Lou Jones, Claudia Belk, and Emily Smith represent volunteer support at Charlotte Country Day School either as parents, trustees, or leaders of organizations like the Parents' Association and Boosters Club.

current Middle School guidance counselor. The advisories function like a small family group, with support for problems and a home base for service. The teacher-core academic program provides one teacher for fifth grade and a core for sixth and seventh, with an emphasis on how students learn best and how to make the material relevant and interesting. The eighth grade is departmentalized, coupled with teachers doing team planning. The service emphasis in each grade connects the school with the community. Fifth graders collect food for needy families; sixth graders participate in A Child's Place and prepare videos for the School for Homeless Children; seventh graders work for Care and Share; eighth graders work at Thompson's Children's Home. Twenty hours of volunteer service are required of National Junior Honor Society members, and one current student has amassed over seventy-two hours. Fifth graders participate in Megamath, with a focus on problem solving and critical thinking. Electives at the seventh and eighth grade levels offer forty-five minutes a day, two days a week, in such subjects as vocabulary, logic, "Book Club," American musical theatre, drama, "Be an

Author," and fiber arts. Study skills are taught at each level, and every child keeps a homework diary that is color-coded to the grade level and requires regular signatures of parents and advisors. Under the leadership of veteran teachers Marianne Burkhead and Dianne Lawing, test-taking skills and textbook-listening skills are also a part of the study skills package. Fifth and sixth graders participate in the Junior Great Books program, and independent reading time is scheduled for sixth though eighth grades in thirty- to forty-minute periods. David Plank adds oral reading time for each fifth grade class into his busy schedule, and all teachers convey a love of books by reading themselves during the sustained silent reading time. Even the fifth grade has moved away from basal readers and toward Newbery Award-winning novels of high interest and solid subject matter. Students are also writing their own books and participating in writing competitions sponsored by Wordmasters, the National Council of Teachers of English, and others. Approximately twelve Middle Schoolers per year become eligible for gifted programs through the Duke University Talent Identification program; others participate in science and technology fairs, student exchanges, fine arts, or the performing arts. Curriculum innovation has addressed relevancy to learning styles. Under Richard Ulrich's guidance, Middle School science has also become a "hands-on" experience with total child involvement. Sixth graders study the creek behind the school and are a part of the state Adopt-A-Creek program, which feeds environmental information to Raleigh. The fine arts are equally alive and well, with over two hundred students participating in band and others acting in the fall and spring dramas and musicals, which have included 1776, Our Town, The Wiz, and Bye, Bye Birdie. The offerings are as varied as the students. All students participate in School-in-the-Woods and School-at-theBeach for an out-of-school experience, and in Spring Extravaganza as a showcase experience for all of their talents. All study computer programming and word processing. Above all, everyone has physical education daily. The award-winning Middle School physical education program has received the Governor's Award in 1986-87 as well as being listed as one of the top ten fitness programs in North Carolina. In 1987-88 the Middle School was named one of six demonstration centers in North Carolina and again received the Governor's Award. In 1988-89, the program won first place in the State Champion awards; it took second place the previous two years and again in 1989-90. In 1989-90, the Middle School became a demonstration center for the Presidential Physical Fitness Awards, and in 1990-91 it again received the Governor's Award. Physical education teacher Kevin Daly has

, 1

Al Dickens presents the Distinguished Faculty Award to Sarah Yopp in 1989 as alumna Sarah Porter Boehmkr, the graduation speaker, applauds.

presented the program at numerous conferences and has been named to the Advisory Council of the National Middle School Association. The school is also a member of the American Alliance for Health, Physical Education, and Dance. David Plank is reluctant to single out individuals among the faculty because, as he says, "everyone is working hard for our students, working together, and helping to build our program. We have grade coordinators and academic department heads to coordinate the courses of study, and we work as a team to provide the best for our students." Upper School credit can be earned by Middle Schoolers in French, Spanish, or Latin, and in Algebra 1. Although the Middle School sometimes feels isolated from the Upper and Lower schools on the Cannon Campus, it is obviously a "splendid isolation" that is making it a special place, indeed, and the good work being done there is being reflected in the Upper School, across the state, and around the nation. Paula Davidson, who came to the Middle School in 1988 to teach

social studies, has written her favorite memory of that first year and her first School-at-the- Beach experience, which included a trip to the Cherry Point Marine Base: John Bristor and Tony White were also along, and because the students knew that Mr. Bristor was a former marine, he became our resident expert as we toured the base. At one point, while we waited for our escort to take us up to the control tower, John Bristor walked over to the reception desk where a young marine politely asked if he needed any help or directions. John pulled out his wallet, showed his lieutenant colonel LD. card, and asked, 'Where can I go on this base with this card?' The marine took one glance, shot to his feet, threw a very sharp salute, and replied, 'Anywhere you want, sir!' Needless to say, all the rest of us were mighty impressed. Since coming to Country Day in 1964, John Bristor has taught on all three campuses and served under seven headmasters. He has taught third and sixth grade science with Dolly Hickman and social studies in sixth through ninth grades; he was dean of students from 1968 to 1972 and head of Middle School from 1972 to 1978. As varsity basketball coach during the 1964-65 season, his team achieved a sixteen-and-one record, the best winning percentage for any season in Country Day's basketball history, and he also served as an assistant football coach under John Cook. Mter he "retired" from teaching history in the Middle School, he accepted another position teaching physical education in the Lower School, where he remains in 1991, epitomizing distinguished service and dedicated commitment to the school. As Country Day looks forward to the celebration of its fiftieth anniversary in September 1991, it has much of which to be proud. Each headmaster has contributed a different style, focus, and goal, within the framework of the mission and objectives of the Board of Trustees and the school itself. Each has garnered a support team of talented, dedicated professionals in each division to provide the leadership and inspiration for excellence. Each has worked for the best education possible for the students under the guidance of the finest faculty that could be found, and the school has moved inexorably toward greatness. The first year began with World War II in 1941, and the fiftieth year began with war in the Persian Gulf in January 1991. The first year began with five teachers and eighteen students; 1991 began with 163 teachers and assistants and 1,438 students. The first school was contained in a single house; in 1991 the school consists of two complete campuses and one hun-

Incoming 1991 Board of Trustees Chairman Patty Norman is shown with her father, Ed O'Herron, and the outgoing chairman, Erskine Bowles.

dred acres of land, making it tenth in size among independent schools in the country. The list of differences could go on and on. What is most important, however, is the list of what has remained the same and is at the heart of the school's success. Lynn Montgomery notes: My favorite memory is of the first commencement exercise in which I participated in June 1988 after my second year of teaching computer science at CCDS. I was so impressed by the procession of the faculty in their caps and gowns that it reminded me of my college graduation. Each faculty member looked so proud of his or her school colors and regalia, and it made me realize how important and vital education is for all people. What a sight! Our students are lucky to have such an experience to remember.

Students remember teachers and classmates, having made lifelong friendships to cherish. Todd Gorelick, Class ofl982, reminds us of some of them. I remember climbing to the treehouse near Mrs. Johnson's first grade classroom to share bag lunches with Tommy Price, Will Hardison, and Chipper Stanley, and being in awe of the quickness with which Rex Welton could assemble the pieces of Mrs. Hyatt's puzzle of the United States. I never once correctly answered the spotts trivia questions put by Coaches Broadway and Wheeler to determine who first left gym for lunch, but I did discover what a great lady Dolly Hickman was, and still is, at School-in-the-Woods. I'll never forget seeing Mrs. Britt's delight-or was it horror-at learning I was the son of one of her first students, my mother, and I still believe that the CCDS French Club production of Snow White, starring Brian Meltsner as the wicked queen, was one of the greatest school plays ever. Brian Bontempo, Class of 1990, recalls "Spirit Week in 1988 when I was a junior. I will never forget how my whole class pulled together to make Spirit Week a really fun, spirit-filled, and competitive week .... After bringing home that huge trophy, the whole class had begun to regain a pride that had been lacking during our freshman and sophomore years. Here's to all of those who retain that spirit and to those who, since the earliest days, have loved CCDS!" Above all, from its earliest days, Country Day has had the caring commitment of a dedicated group of parents who wanted and were willing to contribute to an outstanding education for their children. They were willing to serve on the Board of Directors (as it was called at first) and the Board of Trustees; they formed a Parents' Association to provide goods, services, and suppott. Later, they formed the Boosters Club to give support to athletics. Through the years there have been fathers' clubs, grandparents' clubs, former parent groups, and every possible kind of parental support and involvement. Such support has enabled the school to survive every crisis, overcome every obstacle, and weather every storm. These are the most enduring groups in the school's history; they, their children, and in many cases, their grandchildren, have made the school what it is today, and it is they who will assure its progress for the next fifty years. Perhaps best exemplifYing enduring service is Betsy White, who was a member of the Search Committee that brought Robert D. Johnston to Country Day, who served as the second chairman of the Board of Trustees

Nina Dooley '77, who went from CCDS student to alumni director and director of development at the school, is flanked by Honorary Alumni Award winners Carolyn and Gary Bechtel and Headmaster Roben D. Johnston (right) at the 1991 Honorary Alumni Dinner.

during his administration, and who is a vice-chairman for the Capital Campaign. She attended Country Day when she was the only girl in the seventh grade. Her three daughters, Elizabeth, Margaret, and Katie, have been graduated from Country Day, and Betsy and husband Bill White have continued to serve the school after their children moved on. In March 1991, their first grandchild was born to Elizabeth and AI Dickens, also a CCDS graduate, and little Bess, too, will undoubtedly continue the Country Day tradition, making history into the next century.

The new Cannon Campus entrance (top) and a new two- building complex are on the drawing board for 1991-92. Included in this complex are eight additional classrooms, several group commons areas, and the relocation of administrative services.

Epilogue

hen Headmaster Robert Johnston welcomed the faculty at the beginning of school year 1989-90, in the waning months of the decade, he compared the eighties to the forties in the matter of student discipline. Across the nation, the most students in the forties could be criticized for, he noted, was "talking in class, chewing gum, making noise, running in the halls, getting out of line, passing notes, and not putting paper in the trash can." In the eighties, schools have faced problems with "drug abuse, pregnancy, rape, robbery, murder, assault, extortion, gangs, venereal disease, abortion, and drop-out." As the national trend has continued and many schools have "lost the capacity to define their own expectations, intellectual and spiritual schisms have developed." But throughout this period the independent schools have held firm to moral education, high academic expectations, cultural awareness, leadership, and selVlce. That is not to say times have not changed. They have. Charlotte, for example, is no longer dry, though it remains churchgoing. The afternoon paper, The Charlotte News, no longer exists, having been merged with The Charlotte Observer, "published every morning of the year by the Knight Publishing Company, Incorporated." Population figures for the city in the nineties total almost four hundred thousand. Charlotte has become the center of the nation's fifth largest urban region and is ranked among the top six financial centers in the country. Five of the nation's top banks operate in Charlotte, while 240 multinational corporations and 2,600 growing companies are located within the regional transportation hub, with more than two hundred trucking firms. Charlotte/Douglas International Airport ranks twenty-fourth in the nation in size and thirty-fourth in the world in total passenger traffic. No longer the "trifling place" President George Washington called it when he visited in 1791, when the city consisted of little more than the courthouse that had qualified it to be named the Mecklenburg County seat in 1774, Charlotte in 1991 is a thriving, modern city. It sports a 25,000seat coliseum, completed in 1988; the 177,000-square-foot, five-level North Carolina Performing Arts Center to be completed in 1992; and the 60-story NCNB Corporation Center that will become the city's tallest building. It has a National Basketball League team, the Charlotte Hornets; a minor-league baseball team, the Charlotte Knights; team tennis, the Charlotte Heat; NASCAR racing at the Charlotte Motor Speedway; and there

are plans to bring a National Football League team to Charlotte and build a new stadium to house it. Suburban shopping centers, an eighteen-branch public library system, ninety-nine parks and playgrounds, more than four hundred churches, seven colleges and universities, and the Carolinas Medical Center are among the assets that affect positively the quality of life in the Queen City. In 1991, the schools also reflect the burgeoning changes. No longer the only independent school in town, Charlotte Country Day School now has two major rivals for sports and activities and a number of church-related schools with whom to compete. No longer limited to a couple of station wagons for transportation, the school has a fleet of buses to transport students back and forth between the campuses and mini-buses to carry teams to games. Upper School students drive to school in their own cars, but neighborhood carpools are still an important component of Lower School life. As the population has risen, so have comparable prices of everything from homes to cars to food. Tuition and fees at Charlotte Country Day School, for example, range from $3,100 per year for a child in junior kindergarten to $6,750 for a student in grades four through seven and $7,400 for grades seven through twelve in 1991-92. In 1941, tuition for a preschooler was $112.50; annual tuition for a seventh grader was $360. A graduating class, accreditation, and adequate facilities were dreams on the drawing board in 1941. In 1991, Charlotte Country Day boasts 2,147 alumni with thriving alumni chapters in New York, Atlanta, Chapel Hill, and Washington, D.C. The school is accredited not only by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools but also by the state of North Carolina. One hundred percent of the graduates attend college, and many of them arrive with credit already in hand from the fourteen advanced placement courses available on the Country Day campus and successful performance on the College Entrance Examination Board's Advanced Placement exams. These are the accomplishments that would make Dr. Thomas Burton, founding headmaster, the proudest. He would also be delighted to see the international and minority student involvement on the Cannon and Bissell campuses. Far removed from the World War II era and the adversarial roles played by Germany and Japan, far removed from the shoe-banging days of the Cold War, the modem campus has the cultural, racial, and ethnic flavor Dr. Burton sought. Above all, however, the founding headmaster would be pleased to see the way the campuses are used from daylight to dark. For more than 80 percent of the student body participating in the athletic program, remaining

at school until five or six o'clock daily and still having homework to do at night is the norm rather than the exception. Headmaster Booker, on the other hand, would no doubt be distressed by the lack of religious instruction, chapel programs, and daily prayers. He would be aghast that students no longer rise as adults enter the room, that they no longer say the blessing at lunch, and that their dress and decorum are what he would consider higWy informal. Yet as he looked at the friendly, confident, and well-mannered student body, as he saw the Scholastic Aptitude Test scores well above the national, North Carolina, and National Association of Independent School mean, as he saw the Honor Code in action, the numerous service projects in which students participate, and the outstanding record of scholastic achievements, he would realize that the moral, academic, and athletic fiber remains intact. Mr. Evans would be pleased that soccer has become a popular sport in modern times, with plenty of opponents around the city. For Headmasters David Howe, William Pfeifer, and Emerson Johnson, a return trip to the campuses is both a journey in nostalgia and a source of pride. Mr. Howe, for example, might miss the ideal 550-student school with an interrelationship among students and adults in each division, but he recognizes the advantages of the larger school, visits it often, and supports its programs. He watches the night games with interest and says not a word about the lights on the field. For Horton Reed, still actively involved as an English teacher and department chairman and as a member of the institutional advancement team, slipping into a new role has seemed natural and rewarding. All are glad to see one hundred students per year receiving financial aid totaling $393,625. All are impressed by the growing operating budget and increasing endowment, as well as the generous gifts of one hundred thousand dollars for each of the past three years from both the Parents' Association and the Boosters Club. As for Headmaster Robert Johnston, who has been asked to join the twenty-one member Board of Directors of the Museum of the New South in Charlotte, he understands and appreciates the New South that he sees in action every day, reflected in the changes that have taken place at Charlotte Country Day over the past fifty years. It bodes well for the future as Country Day students prepare for the technological and global advances of a new century while keeping safe the established values of the past.

Charlotte Country Day School Board of Trustees

1991-92

Mrs. Patricia O'Herron Norman, Chairman Mr. W. Frank Dowd IV, Vice Chairman Mrs. R. Downie Saussy, Jr., Vice Chairman Mr. James H. Hance, Jr., Treasurer Mr. A. Zachary Smith III, Secretary Mrs. John M. Belk, Assistant Secretary

Mr. H. W. McKay Belk Mr. Erskine B. Bowles (Ex officio)** Mrs. Beth B. Boyd** Mr. James G. Cannon* Mr. Patrick L. Diamond** Mrs. Carla E. DuPuy Mr. Ronald L. Gibson Mr. H. Wilson Glasgow, Jr. Dr. Eckart Goette Mrs. Joyce P. Hackney Mr. J. R. Hendrick III (Rick) Mr. David L. Hood, Jr. (Chuck) Mr. Stephen D. Hope** Mrs. Gretchen M. Johnston Mrs. Sandra P. Levine Mr. William B. McGuire, Jr.**

Indicates

Life Trustee

Indicates

Member

of Executive Committee

Dr. William R. Pitts* Mr. Nelson Schwab III Mr. Ray Shaw Mr. H. Keith Stoneman, Jr.** Mr. James R. Tice Mr. S. Lance Van Every Mr. C. Rex Welton Mr. F. Abbott Whitney, Jr.** Mr. William Wade Wood * Board members retiring in 1991: Mrs. Sara Bissell** Mr. L. Jack Blythe ** Mr. Robert A. Boulware Mr. William Gorelick

Former Trustees of Charlotte Country Day School

Mr. Ernest A. Anderson, Jr. Mr. Bruce G. Ballenger Mrs. Nancy Ballenger Mr. Gary H. Bechtel Mr. Bruce A. Beery Mrs. Kat Belk Mr. Richard B. Bevier Mr. Howard Cary Bissell Mr. Louis A. Bledsoe, Jr. Mr. F. J. Blythe, Jr. Mrs. Betty Bowers Mr. H. Tate Bowers Mrs. Betty Boyd Mrs. Janet Y. Bradshaw Mrs. Betsy Brand Dr. Breece Breland Mr. Harold B. Carter Mrs. Mary A. Cathey Mr. James F. Clardy Mr. J. Patrick Clayton Mr. William 1. Coddington Mr. G. Bennett Cramer, Jr. Mr. John Scott Cramer Mr. Larry J. Dagenhart Mr. Robert 1. Dalton, Jr. Mr. R. Stuart Dickson Mr. Rush S. Dickson III Mr. R. Thomas Dooley, Jr. Mr. William H. Dougherty, Jr. Mr. Frank Dowd, Jr. Mrs. Roddey Dowd Mrs. C. Hardwick Efird Mr. A. J. Elam Mrs. Litt Erdle Mr. Henry J. Faison Mr. John T. Fielder

Mr. Charles L. Fonville Mr. Stanley A. Gertzman Mr. Shelton Gorelick Mr. Grant L. Hamrick Mr. Harald R. Hansen Mrs. Judy Hargett Dr. H. Paul Hatten, Jr. Mr. Neal G. Helms Dr. W. D. Holbrook Mr. Frank Horne, Sr. Dr. J. Sterling Hutcheson Mr. James E. S. Hynes Mr. John Sikes Johnston Mr. Edwin L. Jones, Jr. Mr. Raymond A. Jones, Jr. Mrs. Francis B. Kemp Mr. John F. Ladley Mr. Charles C. Leonard Mr. Douglas A. MacGregor Mr. James H. Martin, Jr. Mrs. Esten B. Mason Mr. William A. Masterman, Jr. Mr. Larry T. McDowell Dr. Hamilton W. McKay, Jr. Mr. Herman B. McManaway Mr. Paul Ostrow Mr. B. B. Parker Mrs. Jimmie P. Pritchard Mr. John G. Pritchard Mr. J. Craighill Redwine Mr. Paul Reichs Dr. Clyda Rent Mr. Russell M. Robinson II Dr. John T. Roper Mr. James B. Rowe Mr. Frank W. Rush 249

Mr. Darrell R. Setliff Dr. Wm. H. Simendinger Mrs. Mary Van Every Sisk Mr. H. Allen Skeens Dr. Roger E. Smith Mr. Robert S. Speizman Mr. Verner E. Stanley, Jr. Mr. Robert L. Stultz, Jr. Mr. John A. Tate, Jr. Mrs. Ann D. Thomas Dr. W. Chandler Thompson Mrs. Blaney P. Tillett

Mr. Charles V. Tompkins Mr. R. Read Tull Mr. William K. Van Allen Mr. Clarence W. Walker Mr. J. Mason Wallace, Jr. Mr. Stephen R. Walsh Mr. Howard W. Walters Co!. Marion H. Ward Mrs. Betsy Smith White Mrs. Genie White Mr. Charles R. Willard Mr. Herbert M. Woodward

Board of Visitors of Charlotte Country Day School

1990-91 Dr. Robert L. Albright Mr. Ernest A. Anderson, Jr. Mr. Robert M. Baldwin Mr. George W. Baxter Mr. Stephen E. Benson Mr. Richard B. Bevier Mr. Patrick Billarant Mr. Howard Cary Bissell Mr. Louis A. Bledsoe, Jr. Mr. F. 1. Blythe, Jr. Mr. H. Tate Bowers Mrs. Janet Y. Bradshaw Mr. Alfred Brand III Mrs. Henrietta C. Cannon Mr. F. Armistead Cash, Jr. Mr. John Chalk III Mr. James F. Clardy Mr. Charles H. Conner, Jr. Dr. Joseph W. Cook Rev. Timothy L. Croft Mr. John Crosland, Jr. Mr. Charles H. Crutchfield Mr. Larry 1. Dagenhart Mr. R. Stuart Dickson Mr. R. Thomas Dooley, Jr. Mrs. Roddey Dowd Mrs. Carla E. DuPuy Mr. John T. Fielder Mr. 1. Carlton Fleming Mr. Spencer A. Folger Mr. Charles L. Fonville Mrs. Dee Fox Dr. E. K. Fretwell, Jr. Mr. Ronald L. Gibson Dr. Eckart Goette

Mrs. Elisabeth G. Hair Mr. James H. Hance, Jr. Mr. Jack Hanna Mrs. Catherine Hansen Mr. John M. Harney Dr. Charles W. Harris Dr. E. Flynn Harris, Jr. Mr. William R. Holland Mr. C. C. Hope, Jr. Mr. James E. S. Hynes Mr. F. Kenneth Iverson Mrs. Gretchen Johnston Mr. David G. Jones Mr. Edward L. Jones, Jr. Mr. Raymond A. Jones, Jr. Mr. Graeme M. Keith Mr. Fred W. Klein Dr. John W. Kuykendall Mr. John F. Ladley Mr. Edwin P. Latimer Dr. Elizabeth H. Locke Mrs. Lucinda Nisbet Lucas Mr. Douglas A. MacGregor Mr. Albert L. McAulay, Jr. Dr. Hamilton W. McKay, Jr. Mr. 1. Alex McMillan III Mr. Jakob Messer III Mr. John S. Miller, Jr. Mayor Sue Myrick Dr. Harry A. Nurkin Mr. Edward M. O'Herron, Jr. Mr. Hajime Okuma Dr. Joe H. Patterson Mr. Edwin B. Peacock, Jr. Dr. Jack Perry

251

Mr. Henry N. Pharr Dr. Peter D. Relic Mrs. Mary C. Rinehart Mrs. Lily Robicsek Mr. Leroy Robinson Mr. R. Downie Saussy, Jr. Mr. Ray Shaw Dr. Ruth Shaw Mr. Whitney Shaw Mr. George Shinn Mr. James B. Sommers

Mr. William G. Staton Mrs. Rosa Martin Stinson Mr. Gregory J. Stone Mrs. Ann D. Thomas Mr. William K. Van Allen Mr. Clarence W. Walker Mrs. Genie White Mr. Charles R. Willard Dr. Billy O. Wireman Mr. Herbert M. Woodward

Alumni of the Year Award Recipients

1981

Mr. John Scott Cramer '49 Mr. Craig A. Gillen '70 Mrs. Mary Cosby Rinehart '57

1982

Mrs. Beth Brown Boyd '63 Dr. Duncan Morton '58

1983

Mrs. Betsy Smith White '55

1984

Mrs. SallyCannon Saussy '67 Mrs. Patty O'Herron Norman '65

1985

Mr. John W. Harris '65

1986

Mrs. Sara Harris Bissell '56

1987

Dr. Ross McElwee '66

1988

Mrs. Sarah Porter Boehmler '61

1989

Mr. C. Rex Welton '58

1990

Mr. John W. Baynard '72

Honorary Alumni Association Charlotte Country Day School 1991-92 Mrs. Virginia K. Abernethy Mr. Wilbert Alexander Mr. Ernest A. Anderson, Jr. Mr. William H. Barnhardt Mr. and Mrs. Gary Bechtel Mr. Bruce A. Beery Mrs. Claudia W. Belk Mr. John M. Belk The Thomas M. Belk Foundation Mr. Howard C. Bissell Mr. Louis A. Bledsoe, Jr. Mr. F. J. Blythe, Jr. Mr. J. Chadbourn Bolles Mrs. Janet Y. Bradshaw Mrs. Betsy D. Brand Mr. and Mrs. Richard V. Bray Mrs. Louise Jones Brown Mr. Thomas C. Burton Mr. John Cowles Camp Mr. James G. Cannon Mrs. James G. Cannon Mrs. Marion Cannon The Martin L. Cannon Family Foundation Mr. J. Patrick Clayton Mrs. Louise Cobb Mrs. Gladys T. Coddington Mr. John Cook Julia Cramer Smith and Major Stuart Warren Cramer Larry J. Dagenhart Mr. and Mrs. Harry L. Dalton The Rush S. Dickson Family Foundation

Mr. R. T. Dooley, Jr. Mr. William H. Dougherty, Jr. The Dowd Foundation Mrs. Sally Carson Dowd Mrs. Kay S. Earnhardt Mr. John T. Fielder Mr. Charles L. Fonville Ms. Margaret E. Gragg Mr. and Mrs. James J. Harris Mrs. Martha Haywood Mrs. Debbie H. Hickman Mrs. Eunice S. (Dolly) Hickman Mr. David L. Howe Mrs. Jacqueline Jones Hunter Mrs. Frances Hyatt Mr. James E. S. Hynes Dr. A. Emerson Johnson Mr. Edwin L. Jones, Jr. Mrs. Mary C. Jones Mr. F. Franklin Justice Mr. John F. Ladley Mr. J. Harold Lineberger Mr. Joseph W. Lineberger Miss Alice Litwinchuk Mr. Douglas A. MacGregor Mrs. Norma Nuttall Mackenzie Mrs. Eleanor K. Martin Mr. James H. Martin, Jr. Mrs. Rebecca L. Martin Dr. Ross S. McElwee Mr. H. Woodward Middleton Mrs. Doris B. Miller and Mr. John S. Miller, Jr. Mrs. Carol C. Morris

Mr. and Mrs. Edward O'Herron Mrs. Ellyn Gorham Pell and Mr. Allison H. Pell, Sr. Dr. William R. Pitts Mrs. Jimmie Pritchard Mr. John G. Pritchard Nancy Eubank and Zeb Milton Rea and the Rea Family Mrs. Elizabeth Gay Reddig Mr. Horton C. Reed Mr. Russell M. Robinson II Dr. PaulW.Sanger

Ms. Susan M. Saunders Mrs. Gisele Shumake Mr. James R. Tice Mr. Charles V. Tompkins Mr. William K. Van Allen The J. Mason Wallace Family Mrs. Genie N. White Mr. C. R. Willard Mrs. Mimi M. Wood Mr. William Wade Wood Mr. Herbert M. Woodward

Senior Cup

The Class of 1968 presented as its senior gift to the school a "Senior Cup" to be given annually to the "Senior of the Year." The class representatives also set up the method by which the winner is to be selected. Chosen by the faculty from persons nominated by the senior class, the Senior of the Year is named on the basis of superior citizenship and constructive contribution to the school. Neither superior scholarship nor athletic performance dominates the choice, but both may contribute to it. The Senior Cup was first awarded in 1969 to a member of the school's eighth graduating class, which also honored Freeman Randolph "Randy" Jones, Jr., as the school's first Morehead Scholar. 1969 1970 1971 1972 1973 1974 1975 1976 1977 1978 1979 1980 1981 1982 1982 1983 1984 1985 1986 1987 1988 1989 1990 1990 1991

Alice Grier Johnston Mary Babs DeMeritt Maxine Joy Madans Laura Elizabeth Lee Charles Goodrich Snow, Jr. Theresa Gail "Terry" Bowers Virginia Harrison Burns Anne Huntington Gover Nancy Ellen Levin Mary "Molly" Wilmer William Davis Mann Karen Ann Culbreth Laura Elizabeth Taft Carter Marshall Mills Jennifer Sue Smith (Senior of the Year for all of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County) Sara Sue Smith BeverlyMerryman Cassels David Caldwell Dixon Mary Louise Dagenhart Frederick Abbott Whitney III Elizabeth Simmons Long Matthew Lawrence Scharf John Yates Dew Valerie Wright (Senior of the Yearfor all of Charlotte-Mecklenburg County) Steven Roy Cole

1973-74 VirginiaEleanor Newell 1974-75 Mary Gage Davidson 1975-76 Anne Elizabeth Josephs 1976-77 Marion BryanHanes 1977-78 Emma Marie Gover 1978-79 Catherine Elizabeth Mann 1979-80 KarenAnn Culbreth 1980-81 Elizabeth Denny White 1981-82 Mary Martha Bledsoe 1982-83 John David Ramsey 1983-84 KatherineWood White 1984-85 David CaldwellDixon 1985-86 John KiltyReidy 1986-87 Anne FrancoiseHarris 1987-88 Elizabeth SimmonsLong 1988-89 David LefkowitzIV 1989-90 Richard Loren Pacetti 1990-91 Sarah Elizabeth Salton

The I(aty McCanless Underwood

Spirit Award

1984

Richard Williams Tourtellot

1985

Harvey Moore Grasty, Jr.

1986

Leslie Ann Kaplan

1987

Elizabeth McClean Love

1988

Josephine Elizabeth Savas

1989

Joan MacDonald

1990

Tracey Eileen Steff ora

1991

Barbara Reinhardt Love Penelope Warren Love

Fleming

Faculty and Staff

1990-91

Robert Johnston Headmaster Margaret Gragg Associate Head Janet White Lower School Head David Plank Middle School Head Roger Coulombe Upper School Head Stan Coble Athletic Director Fanny Cracknell Director of Admissions Nina Dooley Director of Development John Burke Manager of Information Systems Becky Martin Business Manager Lower School - Cannon Campus Janet White

Head of Lower School and Director of Coordinate Programs

SylviaAshcraft Dean/Director of Studies Judy Sutker Secretary Linda Morley Coordinate Programs Assistant Bonnie Douglas Business Coordinator Shirley Laye Nurse Junior Kindergarten Wanda Davis Susanne Short First Grade Mary Ann Cathey Beth Ellis Diane Harwood Tomi Miller Martha Woods

Second Grade Alene Lambert Debbie McPhail Lin Plank Mary Richardson Freeda Wood

Third Grade

Piano

Janet Layman Betsy Lewis Grace Nichols LiNelle Woodall Barbara Zelickson

Leanna Parker Lisa Thornton

Fourth Grade Sarah Bumgarner Libby Helms Jackie Hunter Stacy Lynch Sue Wood Learning Center Susan Saunders Kae Roberts Dina Stolpen Robin Riggins Sharon Strumwasser Science Carolyn Leonard Karen Sullivan, Computer Science Joann Yockey Fine Arts Alice Munn, Art Judith Plough, Art Mayreese Koraly, Dance Tammy Bucy, Music Bonnie Duckworth, Music French Paulette Beatty Andree Weaver Physical Education John Bristor Diane Bullock Robin Clay Madeline Frosch Tracy Ryan

Ballet Gay Porter-Speer Extended-day Program Gerard Loiseau, Director Teaching Assistants Isabel Johnston (Short) JK Carol Kudla (Davis) JK Linda Hamel (Logan) K Debbie Pacetti (Smith) K Carol Westbrook (Walton) K Milly Kennedy (Deal) K Maureen Johnson (Williams) K Peggy Long (Woods) 1 Martha Ann Dixon (Ellis) 1 Bonnie Case (Harwood) 1 Julie Appelbaum (Miller) 1 Jody Chiperfield (Cathey) 1 Debbie Dill (Richardson) 2 Lucille Spearman (Wood) 2 Peggy Brackett (McPhail) 2 Jane Morgan (Plank) 2 Barbara Jones (Lambert) 2 Rochelle Kelley 3 Melissa Smith 3 Sue Gorman 4 Peggy Otey 4

Middle

School - Bissell Campus

David Plank

Head of Middle School

Carol Morris

Director of Studies

Prissy Satterfield

Administrative

Phyllis McArdle

Receptionist/Registrar

Assistant to Head of Middle School

Dorcas Zeeso

Guidance Counselor

Lucy Cramton

Campus Store Assistant

Fifth Grade Core Teachers T elia Blackard Sara Gwynn Brackett Joy Council Tina Gilbert 5th Grade Coordinator Linda Pelletier Chris Witt

Physical Education Kevin Daly, Department Art Hoffman Dianne Lawing Patricia Meyer AI Pearman Leesa Pepper Rick Stack

English Marianne Burkhead Department Head Kate Johnson Carol Morris Glinda Walker 7th Grade Coordinator

Sixth Grade Core Teachers (English/Social Studies) Bob Doherty Margie Lohr Linda Wolf

Mathematics Carol Adler Dianne Lawing, Department Susan McGarity David Plank Patsy Ratterree 6th Grade Coordinator Richard Toll Foreign Language John Ahrens, Department Kathy Babula Jean Merchant Patricia Meyer Sarah Shaw Debbie Teague

Head

Social Studies Paula Davidson Stephen Lawrence 8th Grade Coordinator Sally Morris Science Jim Crowell William Haynes Tom Howe, Computer Science Rich Ulrich, Department Head Tony White Kelly Wilson Fine Arts Mary Ann Haden Department Head Kate Johnson, Drama

Language Developing Program

Ron Marston, Band Meg Masterman, Art Melanie O'Neal, Music Barbara Scott, Choir

Naomi Fast, Department

Head

Media Center Nancy Hutcheson Pam Ulrich, Department

School Nurse

Head

Barbara Bumgarner

Upper School - Cannon Campus Roger Coulombe David S. Ball Frank Justice

Head of Upper School

Dean of Upper School Coordinator of Student Programs and Director of Summer School

Sallye Richards

Director of Studies

Mary Karen Vellines Helena Rea

Director of College Guidance

Registrar/College

Anne Woodruff

Administrative

Guidance Secretary Assistant to Head of Upper School

Lynn Bower

Secretary

Jerry Levine

Director of Guidance Services

English

Science

Julia Britt Jean Cheney Stephanie Felder Frank Justice A. J. Morgan Amy Ray Darren Redman Horton Reed Interim Department Mary Todd

Florence Chapman Marlene Jacoby Kin Mack 10th Grade Coordinator Norma Mackenzie Department Head Lynn Montgomery Computer Science Marsha Newton-Graham 11 th Grade Coordinator Sallye Richards Scott Saltman

Head

Social Studies Edward Kelly Brian Kridler, Department Jerry Levine 9th Grade Coordinator David Norris Bob Plyler Brad Touma J. R. Williams

Head

Media Services David Barnes Instructional Technology Specialist Carol Pharr, Librarian/ Learning Center Director Jeanne Mills, Assistant Librarian

Mathematics Sue Bingaman, Department Charlie Bodine Nancy Cox Libby Dumbell 12th Grade Coordinator Rebecca Kasparek Daren Starnes Schedule Coordinator Tim Timson Foreign Language Richard Cox Erica Deshaies Emiko Hopgood Mary Ann Huskey Jerry Kasparek Gerard Loiseau Win Robinson, Department Elizabeth Smith

Head

Fine Arts Gary Forbis Mayreese Koraly Department Head Celeste Morrison Rita Shumaker Rob Williams, Master Instructor English as a Second Language Susan Lambert, Department Head Physical Education Mary Beth Luxton Athletic Trainer Ai Pearman Julie Shaw, Department Ed Walton Bob Witman

Head

Bebe Goodpasture Secretary to Headmaster Karen Thompson Administrative Assistant, Academic Affairs Millie Cox Director of International Studies Suzanne Pignetti Assistant Athletic Director Admissions:

Nancy Ehringhaus Assistant Director AI Pearman Admissions Associate Susan Conder Admissions Associate Development:

Paulette Beatty Marketing and Public Relations Coordinator Bera Davis Coordinator of Development Laura Gowdy Alumni Affairs/Special Events Coordinator Marcia Harmon Publications Coordinator Gigi Harris Annual Fund/Capital Campaign Coordinator Donna Witman Administrative Assistant Finance and Business Operations: Cheryl Miller Administrative Assistant, Finance Delores Hargett Bookkeeper Kathy AIlford Purchasing Agent Shirley Lowery Business Office Assistant Sue Camp Data Operations Specialist Colleen Ramsey Director of Plant Operations Debbie Starin Secretary Kate McBride Calendar Coordinator

50th Anniversary Committee

Mrs. Sally Saussy Chairperson Paulette Beatty CCDS Liaison PUBLIC RELATIONS Mrs. Marcia Simon Chairperson FOUNDERS' DAY/SENIOR CONVOCATION Mrs. Linda Love Chairperson 50TH BIRTHDAY PARTY Mrs. Pam DeRamus Chairperson Mrs. Joyce Hackney Chairperson GRAND GALA Mrs. Mary McLanahan

Chairperson

COMMEMORATIVE TREES Mrs. Carole Joyner Chairperson HOMECOMING/SPECIAL ACTIVITIES Mrs. Katherine Hood Chairperson

Julia Britt came to Carmel Academy in January of 1978 to teach English again after staying home for fifteen years with her children. Previous experience included two years of teaching English and journalism at East Mecklenburg and South Mecklenburg high schools and four years of teaching and counseling with the United States Army's Dependent Schools in Toul, France, and Augsburg and Munich, West Germany. She came to Country Day in 1980-81 when the two schools merged, and over the past ten years has served as English Department chairman from 1980-82, publications coordinator from 1982-88, and as archivist from 1988-91. During this period she has always taught English, including American Literature, Honors American Studies, Writer's Workshop, Advanced Placement English, and term courses in Myth and Fantasy and Russian Literature. A reader for the Advanced Placement English exams in Princeton, she was a member of the North Carolina State Department team that produced Rich and Enriching) A Manual for A.P. English Teachers)and of a United States Information Agency team that produced an American Heritage portfolio for distribution to USIA posts around the world. During the summer of 1990 she was a member of North Carolina State University's Soviet Institute, writing a unit on Russian Literature that is being published by the University Extension Division, and which she will present at the National Council of Teachers of English Southeast Regional Conference in Asheville in October 1991. She serves as the Independent School representative to the board of the North Carolina English Teachers Association. She has been president of three Parent-Teacher Associations, the UNCC Women, and Alpha Sigma Chapter of the Delta Kappa Gamma Society International. Among her greatest accomplishments, however, she counts her thirty-three-year marriage to Dr. William M. Britt, former vice-chancellor for development at UNC-Charlotte and currently senior professor of education, and what she calls her "advanced degrees," all acquired on the same day and within the same hour in different years. She received her master's degree from UNC-Chapel Hill on August 24; daughter Bronwyn was born on August 24, and two years later, twin sons Jamey and Jeffrey were born on their sister's birthday.