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LATIN The MAGAZINE of CHARLOTTE LATIN SCHOOL

Fall Semester 2015

2015–16 SCHOOL LEADERSHIP BOARD OF TRUSTEES Jean E. Davis, Chair Eric J. Lloyd, Immediate Past Chair Ruth K. Gammon ’77, Secretary John G. Norman, Treasurer William C. Adams Gary J. Anderson ’75 Joanne O’Brien Beam William A. Bowen, Jr. ’82 Robert G. Calton III Lynn G. Crutchfield Heather S. Finke Kodwo Ghartey-Tagoe Edward P. Imbrogno Kelly L. Katterhagen Joycelyn C. Lavelle Denny Smith O’Leary ’90 Robert A. Schleusner III Thad M. Sharrett ’89 Walker C. Simmons EX-OFFICIO Arch N. McIntosh, Jr., Headmaster Fletcher H. Gregory III, Associate Headmaster & Director of Finance Kimbrel B. Morris, Parents’ Council President Patrick N. Rivenbark ’02, Alumni Governing Board President ALUMNI GOVERNING BOARD OFFICERS Patrick N. Rivenbark ’02, President David Pharr ’05, Past-President PARENTS’ COUNCIL OFFICERS Kimbrel Morris, President Tiffany Orndorff, First Vice President Denny O’Leary, Second Vice President Ashleigh White, Treasurer Leslie Wickham, Assistant Treasurer Susan Calton, Secretary BOOSTER CLUB BOARD OFFICERS Heather Bonner, President Kristin Smith, Vice President Amy Nielsen, Treasurer Debbie Scott, Secretary

ADMINISTRATION Arch N. McIntosh, Jr., Headmaster Michael Bocian, Director of Plant Operations Linda Cropper, Assistant Head of Lower School

C H A R L OT T E

L AT I N The MAGAZINE of CHARLOTTE LATIN SCHOOL Fall Semester 2015

Ayeola G. Elias, Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs David Gatoux, Director of Athletics Fletcher H. Gregory III, Associate Headmaster and Director of Finance Jeffrey D. Knull, Assistant Head of Upper School Deborah C. Lamm, Head of Middle School Beth Cox Lucas, Director of Human Resources Mary Jane Masonis, Director of Development Judith R. Mayer, Director of Marketing and Communications Jacqualyn C. Misenheimer, Assistant Head of Middle School Hunter B. Murphy, Dean of Students Mary Yorke Robison Oates ’83, Director of Admissions Brian Sossamon, Interim Director of Technology

EDITOR Judy Mayer CLS Director of Marketing and Communications ASSOCIATE EDITOR Courtney Oates CLS Director of Integrated Media CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Arch N. McIntosh, Jr. CLS Headmaster CONTRIBUTORS Mary Jane Masonis Director of Development Katie Rozycki Director of the Latin Fund Sally Gray Smith ’82 Associate Director of Development and Alumni Relations

Marcus H. Tayloe, Head of Lower School Lawrence E. Wall, Head of Upper School William W. Zuehlke, Curriculum Coordinator

LATIN ARTS ASSOCIATION BOARD Kelly Gardner, President Patty Lambert, Vice President Lisa Hill, Secretary Shannon Acks, Treasurer Dawn Whitmore, Publicity Nancy Stenersen, Membership Linda Edwards Campbell, Friends of Music Patti Julliard, Friends of Theater Arts Kim Tayloe, Friends of Theater Arts Jaime Nashbar Callicutt, Friends of Visual Arts Tonja Padgett, Friends of Creative Writing

DESIGNER April Baker CLS Director of Design Services

Published Winter 2015–16 by Charlotte Latin School for students, alumni, parents, grandparents, employees, and friends of the School. Please send address corrections to: Development Office Charlotte Latin School 9502 Providence Road Charlotte, NC 28277 Or by email to vrucker@charlottelatin.org

CLS MISSION STATEMENT Our mission is to encourage individual development and civility in our students by inspiring them to learn, by encouraging them to serve others, and by offering them many growth-promoting opportunities.

Send Class Notes information to: Sally Gray Smith ’82 at 704.846.7253 ssmith@charlottelatin.org

Charlotte Latin School is an independent, non-sectarian, coeducational, college-preparatory day school for students in transitional kindergarten through twelfth grade. Charlotte Latin School does not discriminate on the basis of sex, race, color, religion, disability, age, sexual orientation, or national origin in the administration of its educational programs, admissions policies, financial aid policies, employment practices, or other school-administered programs.

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what’s inside

Charlotte Latin Magazine

HEADMASTER’S CORNER 2

In Praise of Teachers

Seizing Service

Carpe Diem

News from 9502

Athletics News

Alumni News

Class Notes

Parting Shots

NEWSMAKER 4

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CAMPUS CURRENTS 6 18 24

It’s Fabulous Winning Words A Culture of Wellness

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT 12

Lives Well Lived

On the Cover: Head of Upper School Lawrence Wall teaches an early morning Greek class.

HEADMASTER’S CORNER

In Praise of Teachers The teachers whom we remember most vividly are those who knew their subjects best and transmitted them with the greatest intensity and love. They were confident in their knowledge, and not dogmatic; they acted out their own struggles to understand in front of us, joyful when they understood something fresh, troubled when they did not or could not know. They joined us at the laboratory bench, in the library, at the museum, puzzling with us over a test tube result, complaining about a book’s interpretation, discovering a painting’s meaning. They stood before us to present the act of learning with a sort of honesty that we rarely encounter in everyday life. It is such examples of passion and exhilaration that students need in their teachers. Only in that way can students meet the importunate demands of learning with a full heart; only then can the thirst for learning move on. – The Elements of Teaching

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It seems that I have been influenced by teachers my entire lifetime; teachers who consistently encouraged me, challenged me, and saw the potential in me before I could see it in myself. Many of them were mediocre instructors, if I am to be completely honest, but there were a few – only a few – who were truly exceptional. These few individuals altered my life forever. My first and greatest teacher was undoubtedly my own mother, Estelle Washburn McIntosh. She taught first grade until she gave birth to five children and then retired to our family home where her most important lessons were imparted. Whatever my immediate interest might be – and I had many different interests and hobbies as a young boy – my mother would go to the local public library in our hometown of Marion, North Carolina, where she would gather as many books as she was allowed to check out on the subject of my current passion. From music to history to athletics to animals in Africa, my love of the written word was always encouraged and reinforced by the books my mother would bring to me from the library. She read aloud to me long after I learned to read in Ms. Wagner’s first grade classroom at Marion Elementary (this is still a sound practice that more young mothers should model for their children). It also was my mother who taught her three sons from the Bible during bedside devotionals three nights a week, which fanned my youthful imagination and growing faith. I still remember and love all of my teachers from kindergarten and grade school: Ms. Hewitt, Ms. Wagner, Mrs. Morris, Mrs. Flowers, Mrs. Gray, and Mrs. Giles. In spite of having more than 40 children in many of those classrooms, without any teaching assistants or specialists I might add, we all learned to read phonetically, to master math facts, to use grammar correctly (through the conjugation of sentences, no less) and to develop

beautiful handwriting skills for which I still receive compliments to this very day. These teachers taught science, history, math, grammar, literature, art, and music and were even proficient at officiating any games or athletic contests we could create on the school playground. Something about each of these teachers, including my mother, made me want to learn. I longed for their encouragement and the best among them showered me with it liberally. It was as if they had a sixth sense for knowing what I needed in any given moment and were quick and eager to reinforce the lessons learned in their classrooms. In The Elements of Teaching, one of the finest books I have ever read on the art of teaching, authors James M. Banner, Jr. and Harold C. Cannon outline nine personal qualities of good teachers: learning, authority, ethics, order, imagination, compassion, patience, character, and pleasure. While they are mindful of the science of teaching, as with every other art, mastery of teaching is gained through close attention to methods and materials as well as to the refinement of native gifts. As they assert, “The human factor in teaching is infinitely variable and beyond the reach of scientific inquiry.” I believe, as do these authors, that teaching is more a calling than a vocation. Its demands are great and its rewards are more intrinsic than monetary. “…for those who pursue it seriously, teaching is a calling, a summons from within; that it is among life’s noblest and most responsible activities – an activity in which we have all engaged at one time or another as parents, workers, and friends; and that those who teach with fullness of heart and complete engagement are entitled to every honor and support that their communities can extend.” Continued on page 72.

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Latin’s campus grows to 128 acres with property acquisition

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NEWSMAKER

The big brick house on the hill is now the big brick house on Charlotte Latin’s campus. The School acquired the former Butler family home in December. This unique property, which was sold by R.J. Butler ’88, consists of six acres and a 14,752-square-foot house. It was the last available parcel of land contiguous to Latin’s campus, and it offers opportunities to support a variety of current needs and future strategic goals. Charlotte Latin last purchased a plot of land in 1999. Fifteen years later, this 30-acre component of South Campus is a center of vibrant activity that continues to offer the School options to enhance the athletic program for students. Similar to South Campus, the use of the Butler property will evolve over time, but it is certain that this purchase by Charlotte Latin School ensures that a wide variety of strategic options will be available to future generations. While specific plans have not been developed, the property could be configured to support the following institutional goals: • Campus Access and Safety Access to an additional traffic light on Providence Road can give the School an opportunity to improve campus traffic patterns. • Social House Charlotte Latin hosts numerous annual social events that may be held at the new property, such as events for the Board of Trustees, the Board of Visitors, parent organizations, alumni, and other groups. • On-Campus Meeting and Retreat Center The property may be utilized as a meeting center during the school day, at night, or on the weekends. The ability to “get away without leaving campus” would encourage grade level teams, departmental teams, coaching staffs, and others to gather for team-building, goal-setting, and “retreating” in a convenient environment. This facility can also serve as a training and orientation center and ideally would provide a venue for collaboration with local schools, organizations, and others in the Charlotte community to support current service work and innovative outreach programs. • Guest House It is not uncommon for independent day schools to offer housing for their guests on campus at a “Visitors” house.

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It’s Fabulous Charlotte Latin Launches Fab Lab by Judy Mayer If a visitor to Charlotte Latin’s campus is interested in observing classrooms where desks are lined in orderly rows, the engineering classes in the Science, Art and Technology Building (SAT) will not be on the tour. On the other hand, the visitor who wants to see dynamic spaces where students are collaborating to create an amazing variety of projects should make a beeline to the SAT’s labs, where Latin’s Middle and Upper School students are among the first in America to learn in a “Fab Lab.” Founded at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, a Fab Lab is a special maker space that meets specific criteria for equipment and collaboration. Upon receiving its Fab

Lab certification in 2015, Charlotte Latin became one of approximately 20 middle and high schools in the United States to have a Fab Lab, joining a network of Fab Labs that spans 40 countries and 32 time zones. Fab Lab participants comprise a community of schools and universities in which teachers and students share their time and expertise to contribute to humanity by producing products that solve real-world problems. Fab Lab participants also pursue opportunities to collaborate with an international network of professional engineers, entrepreneurs, educators, and students. Charlotte Latin students, for example, are working with professors at UNC-Charlotte,

N.C. State University, and Central Piedmont Community College (CPCC). To ensure high standards, Fab Lab faculty members are required to participate in training conducted by MIT professors. Long-time engineering teacher Tom Dubick and his colleagues, science teacher Dr. Ian Brauner, engineering teacher David Taylor, art department chair Richard Fletcher, and network supervisor Brian Sossamon, are being trained during the Spring 2016 semester by MIT professors under the supervision of Dr. Terrance Fagan, a certified Fab Lab instructor and the chair of CPCC’s engineering program. Continued.

Multi-dimensional artwork executed by Kaelin Bush ’16 in the Fab Lab using a laser cutter.

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“The Fab Lab is fun… you get to learn a lot and make things. I am in Mrs. Morrow’s seventh grade engineering class, and we are working on a “Serving Others” project and making things to serve other people. My group is making a bracelet to help people with autism. The bracelet helps them calm down.” – Neely Grace Tye Seventh grade engineering and art student programming a design for an art project for fabrication on the laser cutter.

Taylor, who teaches seventh and eighth grade engineering, is enthusiastic about this professional development opportunity. “This training will push our teaching and learning to a new level. It will give us the ability to look at our curriculum and see what we are doing well and what areas we can improve to help our students get ready for college. They will have the academic knowledge and the ability to use all of our tools, equipment, and materials to the fullest for design and fabrication,” he says. In addition to intensive faculty training, Fab Lab participation represents a significant financial investment to provide the required equipment, such as laser cutters and 3D printers. Charlotte Latin’s long-term commitment to the

engineering program has consistently supported noteworthy instructional progress, such as positioning Latin as the first American school to use the Raspberry Pi to teach basic computing skills, as well as helping to pioneer virtual reality design and programming in a high school engineering curriculum. The return on these investments is obvious as Latin’s students are building upon their strong academic foundation to design, code, and build products in the Fab Lab. “Latin’s administration has always shared this program’s vision,” says Dubick. “And the Parents’ Council volunteers deserve special thanks for their support. We wouldn’t have a Fab Lab without their funding.”

Charlotte Latin was the first American school to use the Raspberry Pi to teach basic computing skills. Charlotte Latin students were among the first in the nation to create virtual reality environments in their classrooms. The Charlotte Latin Fab Lab is home to thirteen 3D printers, a laser cutter, and other fabrication tools and equipment.

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The projects that students create in Fab Labs are intended to provide real solutions that benefit the community. Since the School’s engineering program was introduced by Dubick in 1989, Latin’s students have shown their eagerness to learn by working on projects that reinforce their academic studies while giving them opportunities to innovate. For example, sixth graders learn to take complex problems and break them into smaller pieces to solve, which helps prepare them to design and execute more advanced projects like virtual reality programs.

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“This critical thinking ability has broad appeal across all disciplines,” Dubick believes. “The professor who started the Fab Lab program at MIT expected a small class of engineering and computer science students. He was blown away when more than 200 students signed up for his first class, including liberal arts students. They were all eager to make things.” As evidence of the Fab Lab’s appeal for students with a variety of interests, Latin’s art students are joining the engineering students in the Fab Lab to create artwork that combines traditional techniques like painting with engineering skills. Commonly termed “STEAM” (science, technology, engineering, art, and mathematics) education, this multidisciplinary approach fosters creativity and innovation. When STEAM students employ design thinking, the result is a new way of thinking in which they are comfortable brainstorming ideas. “Design thinking” is an engineering method that is utilized to solve problems. “The best days in the Fab Lab occur when students work on a project and leave without considering whether it was a programming or an art or an engineering project... they are just happy

to try something new and innovative,” Dubick observes. The projects that students create in Fab Labs are intended to provide real solutions that benefit the community. For example, Charlotte Latin’s Middle School engineering students are working to improve a wheelchair design for a local man. This work is just one illustration of how young people are developing the intellectual and hands-on skills to solve problems, which builds empathy for others in the process. The lessons are deeper, too, as students retain skills learned while they are enthusiastically engaged in projects that are relevant to their lives. Companies across the globe are implementing the Fab Lab model to accelerate the process from design to production using CAD, 3D printers, and laser cutters to facilitate rapid prototyping. This fabrication approach is the result of, as well as the catalyst for, the design thinking that is reshaping manufacturing processes across a broad spectrum of industries. Exposing students to rapid prototyping encourages them to be open to new ideas. This school year, Charlotte Latin

is taking this concept a step further by launching the Entrepreneurship and Global Leadership course for seniors. “Students in the entrepreneurship class write business plans for services and products; they then have the option to work with the engineering students to fabricate prototypes in the Fab Lab. At the same time, the engineering students learn business principles to understand how to make sustainable products,” Dubick explains.

When STEAM students employ design thinking, the result is a new way of thinking in which they are comfortable brainstorming ideas. The entrepreneurship program is a new initiative that enhances the School’s long-standing commitment to students’ leadership development. “Since Founding Board of Trustees Chair Frank Thies committed Charlotte Latin to prepare the leaders of each generation, Latin has offered many growth-promoting opportunities that provide each student with a path to lead in some area of Continued.

“I really like the freedom that we have with the projects in the Fab Lab. When Mr. Dubick tells you he wants to teach you to build anything, he means it. We have the supplies and the equipment in the Fab Lab to have the opportunities to go above and beyond with our projects. I love the problem-solving skills that this class teaches me. It’s a really amazing opportunity that I wanted to take advantage of at Latin.” – Jack Helwig Tenth grade engineering student soldering components to a circuit board to make a custom audio system from scratch using a mini computer and re-purposed speakers.

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“Mr. Fletcher and Mr. Dubick helped me learn how to use the laser cutter. Seeing how quick and easy it is to use was just incredible. It definitely takes my art to a new level. Before I was basically just doing circles and now I’m creating Celtic knots and layering different windows with more intricate designs on them. The details that I’ve been able to create since using the laser cutter are…crazy. If you look at my art, compared to before using the laser cutter, it’s like night and day. It’s completely transformed my art.” – Kaelin Bush Senior art student whose intricate works of art were fabricated in the Fab Lab.

his or her passion,” states Headmaster Arch McIntosh. “Latin graduates will serve as corporate CEOs or serve their communities by working in a nonprofit organization or invent products that improve the quality of life for other people. Whatever the field of endeavor, Charlotte Latin’s leadership program is designed to nurture the head and heart of each child and to develop the leadership skills that will prepare him or her to make a positive difference.” Even Latin’s transitional kindergarten students are participating in an optional Young Engineers of Today program, which shows the benefit of this hands-on approach for students of all ages. Taylor, who collaborates with Lower School science teacher Andrew Hammit to teach 10

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engineering lessons for fifth graders, is an advocate of starting with young students to mitigate their fear of failure. He states, “A big part of the engineering design process is that when you are designing and fabricating, there are going to be so many iterations that it’s up to the individual to keep problem-solving, and failure is a part of problem-solving. It allows you to figure out what went wrong and how to improve upon it. I think people get too caught up in the notion that things have to be right or wrong. People come up with discoveries all the time through examining their failures. We preach this to our students: ‘If something doesn’t work, why not? What’s another option or pathway that you can take?’ That’s critical thinking.”

Latin’s student leadership program is designed to nurture the head and heart of each child and to develop the leadership skills that will prepare him or her to make a positive difference. Charlotte Latin students are not unique in their enthusiasm for learning by collaborating with others on projects with real-world applications. Charlotte Latin and Charlotte-Mecklenburg teachers meet regularly to develop instructional best practices. Latin’s teachers share their expertise with other independent and public school students and often pilot

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curriculum that is adopted by other schools. A Raleigh public school will even print its car design project overnight on Charlotte Latin’s 3D printers via a collaboration with N.C. State University’s Science House. “These collaborations provide opportunities for all students to solve real world problems, which they are very capable of doing, to improve the quality of life for themselves and their community,” Dubick asserts.

Fab Labs are developing modern artisans, where students build upon their liberal arts foundation to research and develop plans, then implement them using higher mathematics and programming to solve problems, communications skills to write and present proposals, and even soldering skills to manufacture products. “Kids are once again learning the skills that go with the theories; for fifty years, academia split principles and skills, and now we are bringing them back together,”

Tom Dubick and his Middle School girls’ engineering class present at TEDx CharlotteED. Photo courtesy of Tedx CharlotteED. The Charlotte Latin Fab Lab was featured in the Charlotte Business Journal. David Taylor and his students won the 2015 Watauga Sumo-BOT Competition hosted by the Department of Mathematical Sciences at Appalachian State University.

says Dubick. “It’s a very collaborative approach that prepares students for the global workforce of tomorrow…not today and certainly not yesterday.” By applying the lessons they learn everyday in the School’s classrooms and labs, Latin’s students are developing the confidence and critical thinking skills that will prepare them to compete successfully and to lead thoughtfully in the increasingly diverse and technologydriven future they will inherit as adults.

Lives Well Lived: Two Latin Alumni Take Action to Serve Others by Judy Mayer

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Scot Robison ’07

knew he wanted to help others and he loves swimming, so it isn’t surprising that he combined the two passions. It is surprising, however, that his desire to serve led him to Nicaragua, where an organization that he co-founded in 2014 is giving young people an opportunity for a better future. Headquartered in Managua, Nicaragua, Nica Nadadores sponsors a swim program for more than 50 children ages 5 to 18. Older children swim twice weekly, then step into the role of swim coaches on “Tuesdays for the Tiny.” Wednesdays are reserved for a girls’ group. “No one knew how to swim before we started working with them, so our more experienced kids just learned how to swim last summer,” says Robison. While the program is centered on swimming, its real mission is to teach leadership skills. “Teaching the kids to swim is a byproduct; what we are really trying to do is to help them overcome a lot of challenges and change their minds about what they are capable of doing,” Robison explains. “Nica is first and foremost a leadership and character development organization. Swimming is the tool that we use, but if swimming pools were banned in Nicaragua, we would still exist in some way because our main goals are education, leadership, and teaching life skills. Our mission would still exist.” To support this mission, a weekly leadership theme is promoted at swim practices. “We ask the kids to think about questions like ‘Why is it important to be a team member and be responsible for living up to your commitments?’” he says. “Our practices include life lessons in which we tell them ‘You can be the change.’” Changing the children’s current frame of mind, which often results in an acceptance of the status quo, to a more positive and action-oriented mindset is no small task. As the second poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Nicaragua faces many challenges. Even so, Nica Nadadores is attracting attention as well as swimmers.

Scot Robison with Nica Nadadores swimmers “We had five kids for the first practice and after six weeks, we had 25,” Robison recalls. “One practice a week, at the least, there are people waiting for us who we have never seen before. We ask, ‘How did you hear about Nica?’ and the response is from someone at school or some other word-of-mouth contact. I struck up a conversation with a guy in a park and asked if his 12-year-old son would like to learn to swim and he said ‘yes.’ The kids come from all over the area.” At this point, Nica Nadadores accepts all children who are interested. Robison states, “We don’t always know the parents’ motivations, but it’s okay, because we are helping the kids. They don’t have structure in their lives. After school, they don’t have anything to do. So coming to swim practice once or twice a week is what they do. Often, they come with their family, and Nica is their weekly activity. That’s what we are... a family.” Robison and his co-founder, Timmy Hayes, assume a somewhat paternalistic role with their swimmers. While they are happy if the younger children just have fun and maintain good grades, they are pushing the older kids to initiate projects so they learn leadership skills and practice personal responsibility. “We gave them a budget and told them to come up with a project,” Robison explains. “At first, they didn’t understand the

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Student Athlete Mentors program. “We worked throughout the year making sure that our teammates knew about service opportunities in the community,” says Robison. The mentors also serve as a resource to help address any issues that might arise on the team such as substance abuse, which required training in bystander intervention. Upon graduation from UVA in 2011, Hayes moved to Nicaragua, attracted by the surfing and an opportunity to work with a social development organization that served women and children in poor communities. Robison, who spent a year preparing for the Olympic swim trials, in 2012 accepted a position with an investment bank in Charlotte.

Nica Nadadores co-founders Timmy Hayes and Robison explore Nicaragua concept of a ‘project’ and after six months they are still figuring it out. They say to us, ‘You are always thinking like a businessman,’ and we say ‘exactly.’ They don’t totally realize what that means, but they are learning. It just takes time.” Robison and Hayes are taking a long view of Nica Nadadores’ impact on the lives of the children who participate in its programs, which is why they also are providing scholarships to private schools and even to college. “If we put a kid in private school, the scholarship includes whatever is needed to help him or her be successful,” Robison states, “including books and tutoring help as well as tuition.” Applicants are carefully screened to ensure that those who receive the scholarships are capable of handling the work, which is far more challenging than the curriculum at the local public schools. “We observe applicants for a couple of months and look at their report cards to check their grades,” he says.

Robison remembers, “I really liked the bank, but I wanted to do something a little more entrepreneurial. I decided to go back to business school, which meant I had a gap of a year and a half, so I could do something a little bit different. I was considering volunteering with the Peace Corps or doing foreign service working for the U.S. State Department when Timmy contacted me in December of 2013. He pitched the idea of introducing swimming as a cool tool to teach kids about leadership. We kicked around the idea of starting an organization, and that was right up my alley at the time. Our goal was to counter a cultural tendency toward a lack of vision and ambition by giving children something to aspire to through swimming.” While continuing to work at their jobs, Robison and Hayes developed the mission for their organization, and they launched Nica Nadadores’ first swim classes after incorporating as a

Nica Nadadores also is sending students to college in Managua. “These are kids who would never have gone to college otherwise... maybe not even worked. They took buses all over Managua to check out programs, then came to Timmy and me with the information. They understand that they are getting an opportunity they otherwise would not have,” he asserts. College is the connection that initially brought Robison and Hayes together. As members of the University of Virginia’s swim team, the young men also volunteered with the UVA Scot Robison in Nicaragua 14

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not-for-profit organization in July of 2014. The launch led Robison twice to Nicaragua for extended visits, most recently during the summer of 2015, when he and Hayes worked during the week and then explored the country on the weekends. “Our life is the program, but on weekends we travel,” Robison says. “We have a group of friends from the U.S. who are in Nicaragua volunteering and Nicaraguans who were educated in the U.S. and have returned home.” The two Americans also are invited to the homes of their swimmers, where they are warmly welcomed. “In the two times that I have been in Nicaragua, I have never left saying I really want go home right now. It’s a really fun lifestyle and it’s a learning experience for us... we are learning how to start something from scratch.” As he explores Nicaragua to learn about the country and to promote Nica Nadadores, Robison is thankful for the preparation that he received at Charlotte Latin. He says, “My Charlotte Latin education is the only Spanish I have had because I placed out of the language requirement at UVA. It was my favorite subject at Latin. I am not fluent, but my vocabulary is improving and I can communicate. I really enjoy being adventurous and trying to express what I have to say in Spanish.” He also appreciates the emphasis on serving others and the close relationships he developed with his teachers and coaches. He fondly remembers Señora Sanchez, Señora Perkins, and Señora Murphy for his Spanish language instruction, as well as Upper School science teacher Bill Zuehlke for inspiring his choice of a college major. Robison states, “Bill Zuehlke was the most influential teacher I had at Latin because he inspired me to major in environmental sciences in college. He made the biggest impact on me because he is so smart and so able to relate to his students. I really admired him. And I still have a lot of interaction with Coach Howard (Latin’s former swimming coach who retired in 2015). I never had a coach who was more team-oriented, and he is such a selfless guy. His attitude toward the team set the example for all his swimmers.” Robison, who will be returning to UVA to pursue an MBA degree, looks forward to expanding Nica Nadadores’ outreach so they can serve more children. He and Hayes are seeking NGO (non-government organization) status from the Nicaraguan government, which will result in official recognition for Nica Nadadores, and also reaching out to the swimming community to forge partnerships.

swimsuit drive or a bake sale or some fundraiser to support our program. And we are exploring partnerships with a major team like SwimMAC or Charlotte Latin,” Robison explains. Building a pool also is on Nica Nadadores’ “to do” list. The program is currently operating in a backyard swimming pool, so a top priority is a much larger pool to support additional swimmers. Robison, who notes that pools are constructed by hand in Nicaragua, dug trenches this past summer to assist with the construction. As Robison heads to graduate school, he will continue to promote Nica Nadadores and spearhead the organization’s fundraising efforts in the U.S. “We have many cool opportunities on the horizon,” he states. “We don’t know exactly what Nica will look like in the future, but Timmy and I are adamant that it will still exist in 15 or 20 years. I think that we will look back in a few years on this time and say it was kind of crazy, but we are changing mindsets and giving the children of Nicaragua hope for a better future.”

Scot Robison ’07 and Director of Alumni Relations Sally Gray Smith ’82

For more information, please visit www.nicanadadores.org.

“We’ve put out feelers with the swim community in the U.S. So far, we’ve had middle school swimmers who want to do a

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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

Harshada Rajani ’03 When faced with a life-altering challenge, some people are defeated while others respond with courage and conviction. Harshada Rajani ’03 is definitely an inspirational role model for how to turn a personal tragedy into an opportunity to help others. Rajani’s fast-track life detoured in 2008 during her second year of medical school at Duke University. With no warning, she suffered a vertebral artery dissection leading to a massive, spontaneous brainstem stroke that left her paralyzed from head to toe. For the next few months, she suffered locked-in syndrome during which she was conscious yet unable to move or communicate with others. As the 23-year-old embarked upon a journey to recover physically that continues to this day, her brilliant mind searched for answers to why she was a stroke victim. Since strokes largely affect older people, healthcare professionals are at a loss to explain why a seemingly healthy young person would be afflicted by a stroke. “It’s a mystery why this happened,” Rajani explains. “Medicine is evidence-based and there’s just not much evidence of young stroke.” She also notes there was no family history to offer a clue. While she still seeks answers from science, she focuses on regaining her quality of life, which requires daily physical therapy to improve her mobility and ability to speak.

Harshada Rajani ’03 and Director of Alumni Relations Sally Gray Smith ’82 During her frequent appointments with physical therapists, Rajani encounters other patients, many of whom are young people who have suffered spinal cord injuries. Based upon her personal experience and her medical training, she realized early on that many of her fellow patients were unable to obtain a sufficient number of sessions to produce significant improvements. Private insurance companies typically pay for only four therapy sessions annually, and Medicare covers only three sessions per year. Even as she faced her own challenges on the road to recovery, Rajani committed to help others gain access to the therapy they need. She took a concrete step to meet this need by founding We Win in 2012. With assistance from her mother, Rekha, Rajani explains that We Win’s ambitious plan is to provide funding for physical therapy sessions not covered by other sources. The focus is on young catastrophic brain or spinal cord injury survivors because they often don’t have adequate insurance but would benefit from therapy. Those who are helped complete an application and provide letters of recommendation from a doctor or therapist. Currently, the majority of applicants are referred by healthcare professionals who are known personally by the Rajani family, although they plan to expand We Win’s reach. “At this point, we are trying to help everyone who applies,” states Rajani.

Harshada’s father and mother, Prem and Rekha, Harshada, and her brother, Anand, at the We Win gala

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Rajani is quick to credit her cousin, Simran, who inspired her to found We Win to re-engage in life as well as to serve others. As Rajani posted on her blog, “I have been blessed with incredible, unwavering support from my family and friends through

ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT

all of this. Somehow, in the mix of things, my cousin, Simran, became my wonderful, irreplaceable source of positivity and hope. For every pessimistic thought I had, she had an optimistic point instantly to counter me. She believed in me so much, that I had no choice but to believe in myself. We decided that every young survivor should have this much support. Everyone should have this much hope. With her passion and my experience, we started with a dream, and it soon blossomed into a reality. We started this organization to bring support, hope, and aid to young survivors so they have the power to win back their lives.” In addition to promoting We Win, Rajani’s blog is an example of her enduring ability to connect with people. “I started with my own blog when I had the stroke. I was using my eyes to type,” she recalls. Even though the topic of her blog typically deals with serious issues, her lively sense of humor is obvious: one of her blogs is titled, “My Stroke... of Luck?”

A delegation of current and former Latin faculty also supported We Win by attending a charity gala in September that Rajani and her cousin organized to raise funds. “Ms. Maria Klein, Mr. Stacks, Señora Sanchez, and Mr. Bob Curry came to help us,” Rajani recalls. “It was great.” Rajani’s affection for her former teachers and Charlotte Latin is expressed simultaneously through heartfelt tears and a huge smile. She appreciates their continued support and encouragement as she promotes We Win and blogs about healthcare access, which she articulates effectively based upon her personal experiences and medical training. “I hope that awareness is rising,” Rajani expresses. Although her ability to speak is diminished by the physical limitations imposed by the stroke, it is certain that this talented and dedicated young woman’s voice will be heard as she advocates to improve the lives of others.

Her honest and compelling storytelling attracted the attention of the Huffington Post and garnered an invitation for her to write for the popular site. “I can write whenever I like about any topic,” Rajani says with a grin. Among her Huff Posts is one that chastises performer Kanye West for taunting two disabled, wheelchair-bound fans during a concert in Australia. The post drew 54,000 likes. A true blue Duke University fan, (her cherished dog is, of course, named Duke) Rajani is excited that Daniel Jones ’15 is playing football for the Blue Devils. She follows and is followed via social media by former Blue Devils and NBA basketball players Jay Williams and Gerald Henderson, Jr. “I wrote an article for the Huffington Post about them and they really liked it, so they started following me. I’m Duke all the way!” she laughs. Her loyalty to her other alma mater, Charlotte Latin School, is equally strong, and it is reciprocated by Latin faculty members who remain in contact with her. Upper School science teacher C.W. Stacks is a frequent visitor, often bringing others with him. He and Rajani forged a strong friendship when she led the Upper School Service Club her junior and senior years. “Mr. Stacks was my service club advisor, so I got to know him really well, and we kept in touch while I was in college and medical school,” she says. Among her many accomplishments, she is exceptionally proud of winning the Service Society Award for her service work. “We enlisted a lot of students. I would drive them to service venues. I especially loved Seigle Avenue (afterschool program).”

Harshada at “Girl’s Night Out,” a charity gala in Secaucus, New Jersey

Want to follow Harshada’s story? Harshada on Twitter: @harshadarajani Harshada on Huffington Post: www.huffingtonpost.com/harshada-rajani/ We Win on the web: www.wewintogether.org Email We Win: wewin360@gmail.com We Win on Twitter: @wewin360

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The Great Debates of 1858 between Illinois senatorial candidates Abraham Lincoln and Stephen Douglas set the precedent for the format that forensics teams use today in Lincoln-Douglas debates, which commonly address issues of morality and justice. 18

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WINNING WORDS Charlotte Latin’s Forensics Team Skillfully Competes by Judy Mayer The team members consult each other and their coach, making last minute adjustments to their collective strategy and sending one another into the pending competition with words of encouragement. Each one approaches his or her upcoming event with intense focus, silently rehearsing to ensure the best possible performance amid a flurry of activity. Each competitor understands that months of hard work and preparation will be tested in mere minutes, and success hangs in the balance. While the scenario described may be applicable to a football game or a swim meet, in reality this field of play is a forensics tournament. And similar to Hawks athletics, Charlotte Latin’s forensics team is building a winning tradition. “I have always considered myself to be a coach,” says CLS Director of Forensics Jonathan Peele. “I’m not uncomfortable being called a teacher, but coach is the better descriptor. If you walk into my

classroom, it doesn’t feel like a traditional class because speech and debate are skills, not content areas.” Students in forensics classes prepare for their events, often working collaboratively. During these practice sessions, Peele guides the students’ research and helps them refine their presentation skills.

evolved over millennia, the value of mastery in forensics is timeless. Since classical times, litigators and orators who could conceive and argue a case successfully have been influential, and often, admired.

The confusion about Peele’s role is partially a byproduct of a common lack of understanding of the field of forensics. In a world of crime-themed television programs like the CSI franchise, many people equate “forensics” with medical examiners and science labs where often miraculous investigations are conducted to identify perpetrators.

Today, forensics competitions like the ones Latin’s students are participating in encompass both debate and speech events (see sidebar “Up Close and Personal” on page 21). “There is a huge range of events,” Peele explains. “Policy debate is about argumentation, whole speech events like interpretation of literature are performance oriented. The skillset is the same, but debate is adversarial while oratory is a labor of love about precise word choice.”

“People know about forensic science from popular culture,” Peele explains, “but forensics originally described ‘speech before the court.’” Today, the term “forensics” is defined as competitive speech and debate. Although the definition has

The athletics analogy continues: students compete in their own event, vying for individual awards. Each team member’s individual successes contribute points to Latin’s efforts to earn recognition with an overall school award. And like athletic Continued. Fall Semester 2015

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Forensics Coach Jonathan Peele and students research debate topics.

conferences, forensics competitions are subject to shared standards. Charlotte Latin School is a member of The National Speech and Debate Association (formerly the National Forensic League), which is the primary governing body in the United States. There are three major post-season debates annually, each with its own qualifications and structure. Charlotte Latin competes in all three: The National Speech and Debate Association (NSDA), the National Catholic Forensic League, and the Tournament of Champions, which is an invitational founded by the University of Kentucky 45 years ago. “We compete in NSDA’s Western Carolina District, which is one of 10 districts across the country,” says Peele. Each competition requires extensive preparation via a multi-step process. Peele explains, “We begin in September when we receive topics for four debate events: public forum, policy, congressional, and Lincoln-Douglas. We have class discussions to identify research leads and search terms, then each student is assigned a research area. They find articles – the best ones are from peer review academic journals – and supplement them with stories from the mainstream media and position papers from think tanks like the Heritage Foundation, Brookings, and Cato.” The next step is to excerpt each useful 20

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Latin debaters prep for the Charlotte Catholic tournament.

piece of information and record it with a tagline and source citation. “The card is to debate like the cell is to biology or the atom is to physics,” says Peele. The cards, which are shared among the team members, are fundamental to building an argument as well as to fostering esprit de corps. “Debate from the outside appears to be a very individual or paired competition and in some ways it is, but we are definitely a team and the members work together, which creates a good culture,” Peele asserts. The students talk in class and during practices about the information they have found, review the cards, then move into case writing. These cases are essays that serve as the starting point for the debate argument, which is constantly refined over the course of the season. Each student prepares answers to questions that he or she anticipates will be posed by those debating the other side of the topic. Known as “blocks,” the answers are developed to provide multiple responses, which the students are prepared to field since they have prepped for both sides of the topic. Every debate round itself begins with constructive speeches, in which students present cases advocating their side of the topic. Peele explains, “The same concept of offense and defense that you find in sports exists in debate; offense is the reason your side is right and defense is the

reason your opponents are wrong. So, on the affirmative, your offense is showing the judge the advantages of agreeing with the topic. On the negative, your offense is showing the disadvantages of agreeing… how agreeing makes the status quo worse.” The debate preparation process teaches students valuable critical thinking skills that serve them well in all areas of civil discourse. “Debaters are taught to gather data and to draw conclusions and build opinions from that data,” says Peele. “They don’t usually reverse engineer the research by starting with a conclusion and then trying to find information to prove it.” By teaching students how to write a plan, to make a case and to anticipate questions, the forensics program provides valuable preparation for many careers. Yet the program’s most important contribution to the students’ education comes from the requirement that each person must reflect on his or her opinions and values. “For most Latin students, forensics is not an experience that changes what they believe, but they do develop a deeper understanding of those beliefs,” Peele states. “Their convictions are often stronger because they are based on self-reflection.” He continues, “High school is the perfect time for kids to develop answers about why they believe as they do. Being able to say why you believe something also means Continued on page 22.

Forensics Competition… Up Close and Personal William Lloyd stood before a judge in a classroom. Dressed in a dark suit, he looked more like a young businessman preparing to negotiate a deal than a high school freshman. Yet, the same sense of anticipation infiltrated the room. Less than an hour before, Lloyd picked a slip of paper from a hat that assigned his topic, accessed resources he had previously researched and saved on his iPad, and spent 30 minutes preparing a sevenminute speech that he was about to present from memory. The judge set his stopwatch and with a nod of his head, signaled Lloyd to begin. It was game on! Lloyd’s playing field that Saturday morning was at Charlotte Catholic High School, where nearly 500 students from public, parochial, and private schools across the greater Charlotte region participated in 17 debate and speech events during Catholic’s Forensics Invitational Tournament. While many of his classmates were preparing for Halloween festivities, Lloyd enthusiastically chose to test himself as he eloquently expressed his position on the effect that the recent Volkswagen scandal would have on the European car industry. Maintaining eye contact with the judge and carefully timing his hand gestures for the maximum impact, Lloyd presented a thoughtful and well-constructed argument. Mere minutes later, he concluded his speech and thanked the judge, who was already ranking Lloyd’s performance. His ranks would not only determine Lloyd’s individual standing, they also would be combined with those of the 25 other members of the Charlotte Latin Forensics Team. To the casual observer (including the author of this article), the extemporaneous speech event that Lloyd competes in at tournaments is a relatively daunting experience. Lloyd, however, is attracted to speech and debate as an avenue to learn about current events and to hone his language and critical thinking skills. “I am always interested in politics and the surrounding world and how issues shift,” says Lloyd. “I wanted to do a current topic and have a new topic each time, so I compete in extemporaneous speech events. While I like to think on my feet, some people focus on one topic and research it. It really depends upon which kind of skills you have.” Lloyd believes that the forensics program offers a wide range of opportunities. “There’s something for everyone,” he asserts. “I really like to do both debate and speech, and Mr. Peele lets you do whatever you like and it helps your skills so much. In debate, you’re thinking on your feet and avoiding word repetition, while in speech, in my event, it’s about speaking concisely and standing up and making sure that your hand motions are precise. It really helps your language and presentation skills overall.”

As with most of life’s endeavors, William Lloyd ’19 participation in the forensics program is proportional to the time and effort one puts into it. Lloyd explains, “How ever much you want to put in is what you’re going to get out of forensics. You can prepare yourself to compete on the national level or compete just for fun on the weekends. It depends on different events, but I spend at least a couple of hours a week preparing for an event. Once I get my topic for each round of extemporaneous speaking at a tournament, I can only check the sources that I have filed previously. So if I have spent five hours on research, I have many more resources and a lot more facts available to prepare my speech than if I just researched for thirty minutes.” Accumulating the facts is just part of the preparation for an event. “You can have the best facts, but if you don’t ‘sell’ your point, it’s not going to work. You have to have good body language and an AGD (attention grabbing device) that connects different things creatively to real world applications,” he states. Lloyd believes that forensics provides a practice field for learning civility and empathy. “Competing in forensics, whether it’s speech or debate, really adds to your understanding of civil discourse because you develop a sense of respect for different opinions. You really learn to appreciate others’ pointsof-view, and you understand that all views should be taken into consideration. It breeds people being kinder to each other and being willing to listen to others and therefore being civil.” He continues, “A lot of the kids at the tournaments have really stark points of view and ideas on how to do things, but because all the speeches are opinionated, you really can open up and see another solution that you might not agree with, but you can certainly take some of those ideas and add them to your philosophies. So while it helps you affirm what you think and what you believe, you see what other people believe and add it to your solutions for a problem.” The intellectual handshake that students share at the end of tough forensics competitions is teaching Lloyd and his teammates the value of preparation, intellectual curiosity, and respect for oneself and others…life lessons that will serve them well. Fall Semester 2015

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Continued on page 22. being able to state why you don’t believe the opposite. Forensics teaches them to learn the opposite point of view to argue effectively.” Peele believes that students’ participation in the forensics program nurtures empathy. “As the students learn to acknowledge that there are multiple points of view, they learn to respect others’ opinions even when they disagree with them. They also come to understand that varying positions on an issue are often more a question of priorities than something being true or false. They learn to consider that in a particular situation, one must weigh individual good over the collective good or short-term impacts over long-term impacts; they learn that adversaries may not be evil, they just have a different set of priorities among shared values.” The topics that are chosen by the NSDA for the debate season can test the students’ ability to consider views that are potentially controversial. In September–October 2015, the public forum topic stated: “Resolved: the United States government ought to pay reparations to African Americans.” “We all have various comfort zones when talking about race and it’s a challenge to coach students about sensitive topics,” Peele reports. “But it’s been fascinating to watch the kids learn to argue about reparations without being racist. To balance the need to acknowledge continuing injustice but still be able to effectively argue the side of the argument that reparations are not the right solution has been a real learning experience for our students. I really am proud of the way they have handled it.” Peele asserts, “Anyone from anywhere across the political spectrum could walk in and hear our students and whether they agree or not with the conclusion, they 22

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would agree that our students made the argument in a fair, not inflammatory, way. It’s hugely beneficial to help our students develop a comfort level talking about sensitive topics in a constructive way, which is the foundation for practicing good citizenship.” Regardless of the topic, an effective speaker must learn to be sensitive in his or her rhetoric and not self-censor, while also making an argument that persuades an audience. “The trick to is to convey that you are a person of good faith,” says Peele. Eleven Latin students learned valuable life as well as forensics lessons during the School-sponsored trip to China in January of 2015. Peele explains, “In China, they debated in front of one of the most diverse audiences you can imagine. At Concordia International School in Shanghai, we had parents in the audience who had grown up all around the world. Although the students almost exclusively spoke English in school, the backgrounds and viewpoints of the judges could not have been more global. So our students, when they compete domestically, are used to assuming an American perspective. Sometimes the depth of their international examples is superficial because they don’t have time to learn details, so when you have to argue in front of people who have been citizens of those countries it changes the depth of knowledge you must have, and it changes the rhetoric because you can’t have the same level of certainty.” Since the resulting lack of confidence can diminish a student’s ability to compete, the students are coached to use a technique called “weighing,” in which they tell the judge that the points they are making are more important than those made by their competitors. “It’s better to make the arguments that you know clearly than to try to bluff… in competition you often will be exposed,” says Peele.

FORENSICS CATEGORIES SPEECH EVENTS Dramatic Interpretation, Humorous Interpretation and Duo Interpretation Original Oratory Extemporaneous Speaking DEBATE EVENTS Congressional Debate Public Forum Debate Lincoln-Douglas Debate Policy Debate

“I think the tournament in China pushed to the max some of the skillsets that we are teaching the kids to develop, such as audience and judge adaptation. More importantly, they learned the importance of using rhetoric that is sensitive to their audience, which is a form of empathy for others,” Peele states. The forensics program is in perfect alignment with Charlotte Latin School’s emphasis on practicing civility. As stated in the CLS Mission Statement: Our mission is to encourage individual development and civility by providing our students with many growth-promoting opportunities and encouraging them to serve others. Implied in Latin’s call for civility is the students’ ability to engage in civil discourse as a fundamental component of their commitment to good citizenship. “Civility underlies the curriculum,” states Peele. “The students are always encouraged to form opinions that are based on factual information they have gleaned from research rather than ideas

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Emma Lee ’16 and Riley Davis ’18 participate in a practice round.

that may appeal to their baser selves. We teach the students to seek out forums where they can more meaningfully discuss their ideas and offer something of substance.” This enlightened approach is reinforced as the students prep for both sides of an argument. “We like to believe that people are drawn to substance in the exchange of ideas. The speech side of our program, particularly original oratory and the interpretation of literature events, provides exceptional opportunities to build these particular skills,” Peele notes. Similarly, the demand on the students to make compelling presentations and to select the perfect vocabulary reinforces Latin’s ongoing commitment to elevate the stature of language. Peele explains, “The curriculum has traditionally been good at teaching reading and has focused in recent years on teaching writing skills, but speaking and listening skills have not been priorities in the traditional language arts curriculum except in foreign language classes. The speech and debate program supports this huge need across the curriculum to develop our students’ communications skills. Due in part to its interdisciplinary application, interest in forensics among Latin’s students is increasing steadily, either through their enrollment in a forensics class or via the Forensics Club. When Peele arrived three years ago, 15 students were enrolled in the Upper School forensics class; currently, he

Lily Zang ’18 and Michele Tian ’18 before a tournament.

coaches 40 students in four classes as well as those who are involved in the Forensics Club. “There are 30 opportunities to compete annually, and 56 Upper School students participated in at least one tournament during the 2014-15 season,” Peele reports. Interest in speech and debate is growing at the Middle School level as well, which reflects a national trend. “I am grateful to librarian Maureen Paschal, who is sponsoring the Middle School forensics club,” Peele says. “The Middle School team will feed the Upper School’s program with interested kids who have skills.” The School’s investment in the forensics program is bearing fruit. “I have found great support for the forensics program here,” states Peele. “While Latin has fielded forensics teams and had many successful competitors in its history, the decision to hire a fulltime faculty member demonstrates the School’s commitment to providing a quality opportunity for our students. Headmaster Arch McIntosh and Head of Upper School Lawrence Wall, himself a forensics champion in high school and college, see the value of forensics across the curriculum and as a major component of Charlotte Latin’s student leadership development curriculum.” “An effective leader must inspire and motivate others, and our forensics program prepares Latin’s students to communicate

eloquently and convincingly,” states Mr. McIntosh. A high school debater who chose this career path his senior year, Coach Peele is as committed to Latin’s program as he was to his teams at East Chapel Hill High School and The Harker School in San Jose, California, which earned NSDA National School of Excellence honors in 2005 and 2013, respectively. “As Latin continues to provide the faculty needed to coach students for individual events, as well as appropriate practice spaces to grow the Middle and Upper School forensics programs, we are poised to be very competitive. We still have a young team, but they are learning to compete with older students from well-established programs,” he says. As with any team, the hard work required to compete successfully builds camaraderie and provides opportunities for fun. As Latin’s team prepared for a competition hosted at Charlotte Catholic High School in November, the sounds of teenagers joking juxtaposed with the intense, last-minute strategy sessions. “We have a good time traveling to tournaments,” says Peele, “and lively… even loud… conversations in class. We want our students to think and speak for themselves, and our team members are taking us at our word.”

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A Culture of

Wellness by Courtney Oates 24

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There is a strong relationship between student health and academic success: healthy students make better learners. We hear the term “wellness” now more than ever before – once simply describing diet and exercise – it now truly connects all aspects of health. “Wellness” references not only an individual’s physical health, but also overall well-being, quality of life, and balance. Goal One of the Charlotte Latin 2015-2020 Strategic Plan is “to enhance the School environment to support each student’s physical and emotional well-being” thus preparing children to lead healthy and meaningful lives. This goal is not new to the Latin campus, but the expanding support of all aspects of our students’ lives, so that they are equipped to face life transitions within and beyond Charlotte Latin with success, is evident across the campus.

culture. In years past, classroom parties and countless birthdays lent, on any given day, to a Lower School filled with sweet treats. The Lower School continues its long tradition of celebrating children’s birthdays, but now for both nutrition and food allergy reasons, teachers implement healthier activities in their classrooms. Beyond celebrations, each day students in grades one through five bring their own nutritious snack – fruit, cheese, crackers and snack packs – and proper hydration is always a focus. In Mrs. Russell’s third grade classroom, for example, there is a centrally-located cubby that houses a water bottle for each child. And at lunchtime, instead of wide-eyed students being tempted by numerous dessert choices, the first grade team identifies certain sweets days such as Cookie Fridays or Ice Cream Mondays.

LOWER SCHOOL Faculty and administrators work together to promote healthy habits for lifelong nutrition and fitness practices thereby creating a solid foundation for and a culture of wellness in the Lower School. Good nutrition is at the forefront of the good things happening to support this

When it comes to physical fitness, Lower School students experience wellness activities in many arenas. From the Lower School P.E. classes in the gym, to twice-daily recess time on the playground, to yoga in the classroom and Hawks Quest challenges in the fourth grade, the energy levels of Lower School students are always

in check. Many teachers call for “brain breaks” or “energy bursts” to break up lessons; such breaks may involve cranking up a fun song and doing jumping jacks or pausing for a yoga stretch on a rainy day. And at times, activity is implemented not as a way to break lessons up, but directly into a teaching moment, when school work is shared in a type of “musical chairs.” During this “mix. pair. share.,” the class walks around until the music stops, then each student has the same amount of time to share his or her work. In the fourth and fifth grades, girls and boys may take extra strides beyond their school day by participating in the Girls on the Run or Let Me Run programs. These programs focus on character-education through running and culminate in a 5-kilometer race. Wellness for younger students also is supported by Lower School nurse Dawn Hull, who among her many responsibilities teaches students the importance of washing hands and covering coughs – things that seem so simple, yet can prevent a flu outbreak. When she is not seeing students in the Lower School health room, Hull regularly visits Continued.

Between lessons, Mrs. Russell’s third grade students step away from their desks for a moment and perform a series of yoga poses to keep focus and give their brains a break.

On the way back to their classroom from time on the track, Lower School students are encouraged to walk along the curb, learning balance and focusing on core development. Fall Semester 2015

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With good nutrition always in focus in the Lower School, first grade teachers designate certain days of the week for particular desserts. Instead of having multiple options for sweet treats, students look forward, for example, to Ice Cream Mondays and Cookie Fridays. In Hawks Quest, ninth graders participate in an initiative called ”Krazy Krane” in Belk Gym. This activity requires collaboration and 100% participation amongst the group. Through strategy and consensus building, the students must maintain balance and control to creatively solve a problem. In sixth grade, Power Posing exercises help students feel confidence when speaking to others or in a public speaking situation. Students also learn to be aware of how power posing naturally affects the other person who tends to collapse his or her body language. Classes use “I” versus “you” statements which reflect power posing in a verbal form. classrooms, reviews proper techniques, and presents tips like the importance of good hydration. Support of wellness extends beyond the school day. In the Lower School, homework loads are limited by grade level (10 minutes for grade 1, 20 minutes for grade 2...) per night, thus enabling family time, sleep and rest, as well as time for other non-school activities. MIDDLE SCHOOL As students transition to the Middle School, “emotional self awareness is vital,” says Head of Middle School Debbie Lamm. “The pressures on kids are great. Comprehensive health and wellness is where we need to go.” Studies show that the biggest predictors of high school grades and eventual college success and completion are empathy, social responsibility, and impulse control – all factors of Emotional Intelligence or EQ. 26

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Different from Intelligence Quotient or IQ, EQ skills can be developed. To this end, students in grades six, eight, and nine follow a sequential curriculum that focuses on wellness in P.E., science, advisories, and clubs. The curriculum goals are as follows: • The sixth grade theme of acceptance is supported through understanding of self and others. Sixth graders engage in enrichment activities in advisory with Meredith McCarter and science classes with Jenn Moore to learn about selfawareness, self-regard, appropriate selfexpression, assertiveness, independence, and interpersonal relationships. • The seventh grade science curriculum focuses on body systems, and advisories introduce girls to Athena’s Path with counselor Sarah Kilby and boys to Hero’s Pursuit with science teacher Matt Morrow. Both programs are designed

to help middle school students think about and handle social challenges like peer pressure. • A curriculum called “Choosing the Best Journey,” which was selected based on significant research by Middle and Upper School nurse Jean Asinger and P.E. chair Laura Thomsen, focuses on decision making, overcoming peer pressure, and healthy relationships. Eighth grade emotional intelligence lessons highlight stress tolerance, optimism, flexibility, problem solving, empathy, and self-actualization. Through traditional P.E. classes and experiential education activities such as Hawks Quest challenges, all Middle School grades maintain a wellness focus using the importance of exercise, skill-development, leadership, conflict resolution, rest, and discipline to promote not just success at Latin, but also lifelong success.

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UPPER SCHOOL Ninth graders participate in a required P.E. curriculum that focuses on wellness in several ways: an emotional intelligence curriculum, experiential education through Hawks Quest challenges, “Prime for Life,” and physical education units. Prime for Life is an evidence-based prevention program that focuses on decision-making and helping students learn to reduce the risks of alcohol and drug-related problems throughout life. The ninth grade curriculum repeats and reinforces many of the lessons from eighth grade while introducing reality testing, social responsibility, and impulse control. In addition, ninth graders participate in yoga, fitness, team sports, recreational sports, and individual sports. In a recent ninth grade Hawks Quest session, Director Ann Brock and Hawks Quest facilitator Scott Moulton asked for feedback from the students after the 12-week series. Their positive comments included team-building/trust, meeting new people, getting to know others more deeply, combining ideas, and relating the experience to real life. “The kids felt unique connections, felt respected, felt worthy. This is wellness and healthier human beings,” says Brock. According to counselor Karla Claytor, the Upper School at Latin is structured to promote relationships. Several intentional scheduling decisions support the health and wellness of students and these relationships. The Upper School day includes a free period for most students – and even faculty members. This time allows students the opportunity to develop time management skills and discipline. The free period is theirs to seek extra help, to study, to do homework, or to unwind and release stress with friends in the quad. According to senior Austin Acks, “I believe that it’s really important for students at Latin to relax a little during the long day. As a junior, I was extremely stressed all the time, but I started spending time outside

Twice a year in the Upper School, students are treated to Concert in the Quad during lunch. Sponsored by Student Council, this is an opportunity to showcase student talent and to relax outdoors with fellow classmates. with friends during my free period, and after that I felt much more confident in my work.” The School also schedules a handful of designated No Activity Days per school year that are designed to promote family time, rest, and a break for students, coaches, and faculty alike. It is also no mistake that band class, complete with 8:15 a.m. pomp and circumstance, is offered only during first period. “I can’t think of a better way to start the day,” says Claytor. Students should expect to review topics like genetics and infectious diseases and the immune system in a setting like Dr. Gee’s Biology class, but even in Señora Wheeler’s Spanish II classroom, health is integrated into the curriculum. Wheeler dedicated a unit to focus on the topic of health – not only health vocabulary, verb tenses, and essay writing, but she also reviewed similarities and differences in the health systems of the United States and Latin America. While students learned basic terminology, they also gained a more global understanding of health and wellness and an appreciation for what they enjoy at home. Another way Latin supports wellness through both nutrition and safety is the addition of the after-school smoothie bar. “Athletes were coming in here after school

When asked what they would tell the next group based on lessons learned during a Hawks Quests challenge, ninth graders had amazing responses, including: • listen to each other, • don’t give up, • don’t blame others, • work hard to improve, • think outside the box, • respect different personalities, • show respect, and • don’t exclude ideas. and buying Pop Tarts and unhealthy snacks before going to practice,” says FLIK manager Dawn Collier. In addition, students were leaving campus, getting in their cars, and driving to the Arboretum to buy smoothies. Latin’s smoothie bar is the collective brainchild of Collier, Athletic Trainer Mariana Spero, and Ann Brock. “When we added a healthy option right here in Founders’ Hall, we are able keep students on campus, safe and off the roads with a nutritious snack,” says Collier. Promoting good choices perpetuates good habits. Continued. Fall Semester 2015

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The weight room is an incredible place to teach life skills. With approximately 20 athletes from varying sports teams per session, the Athletic Development Program helps build a sense of community among athletes. Pictured here, coaches Whitney Headrick and Patrick Duffy work with athletes in their off-season. ATHLETICS Latin’s athletic program is built upon a foundation of physical fitness, wellness, and good sportsmanship. Approximately 85 percent of students in grades 7-12 participate on at least one of the School’s 65 athletic teams. To support our student athletes, a yearround Athletic Development Program was implemented in 2013-14 that focuses on strength and conditioning to enhance their performance and to prepare them for the physical challenges of athletic competition. The Athletic Development Program is used for in-season maintenance by all teams and coaches, as well as by individual male and female athletes in their off-seasons. Under the direction of Head Strength and Conditioning Coach David Paige with support from coaches Patrick Duffy, Whitney Headrick, and Charisse Mapp, an individual workout plan is created for each athlete. The first phase for any student includes a basic workout to focus on proper form and correct movement patterns. “We want to

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keep kids healthy, reduce risks, and avoid injury,” says Headrick. Eventually, the current workout program may be supplemented, depending upon the sport. Coach Paige says, “The weight room is an incredible place to teach life skills. Physical development helps attack diversity in a safe space. Here, we create a culture of work and respect that you can take to your sport and your life.” Alumnus Toby Okwara ’15 says Coach Paige and the Athletic Development Program both “played a huge role in my development as an athlete and, more importantly, as a man during my seven years in the Latin wrestling program.” An added benefit of the program is the opportunity that it affords to build a sense of community among the athletes. With approximately 20 students from a cross-section of teams working out during before-school and after-school sessions, camaraderie is encouraged and School spirit is promoted. Director of Athletics David Gatoux is excited about the goal of supporting

students’ physical and emotional wellbeing, especially through the Athletic Development Program. “If we are engaging our kids to think holistically about healthy behaviors such as proper rest, nutrition and a proactive approach to physical fitness, we are perpetuating good habits and promoting wellness, mindfulness, and leadership,” states Gatoux. The quest for excellence at Charlotte Latin is never ending. When we support a consistent culture of wellness through all aspects of life at Latin, we strengthen our students and we prepare healthy future leaders to lead meaningful lives of consequence.

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Goal One of the Charlotte Latin 2015-2020 Strategic Plan To enhance the School environment to support each student’s physical and emotional well-being.

SEIZING SERVICE

THANKSGIVING SERVICE PROJECT BENEFITS AUTISM CHARLOTTE Latin students have been deeply engaged in various service opportunities in support of Autism Charlotte for six years. This partnership includes students volunteering at the Afterschool Enrichment Program at the Siskey YMCA’s Hemby Center, participating in the iCan Bike Camp, and providing technology support for the Autism Charlotte program staff. In addition, several Latin volunteers have assumed more substantial roles: Meg Bryant ’14 as an administrator, Morgan Carnes ’11 as a summer volunteer during college Isabel Owen, Laura Hunter, Headmaster Arch McIntosh, Addie Robards ’16, Abby Hinrichs ’16, with the iCan Bike Camp, Carter Sarah Nolin, Taylor Woollen ’16, Service Learning Coordinators Shirley Anderson Cook and Rives Wedding, and Lori Schleicher celebrate the Latin community’s generosity. Tate ’14 as an intern with Autism Charlotte’s University Program, and Autism Charlotte is the beneficiary of Charlotte Latin School’s Abby Hinrichs ’16, who is employed at the Inclusion Afterschool annual all-School service project. The local non-profit organization Program following her time as a volunteer. focuses on addressing the needs of families who have loved ones with autism. Autism Charlotte’s mission is three-fold: to create During the assembly, seniors Taylor Woollen, Addie Robards, and community-based programs that provide inclusion opportunities; Abby Hinrichs shared their personal experiences from working with to increase the knowledge and understanding of these children, their autistic children at the Hemby Center and welcomed Isabel Owen, needs and their families’ needs; and to provide financial assistance acting Executive Director of Autism Charlotte. As the mother of to families and organizations that support the development of these two autistic children, Owen shared that it takes two ingredients to children throughout their lives. The organization’s vision is to be make a difference: compassion and a desire to learn. “This room a community partner that enables Charlotte to become a model is filled with people with those two ingredients.” She stated that autism community – one that visibly embraces and integrates although autism presents many challenges for families, “there are many blessings involved with these challenges. One example is the individuals with autism into society. partnership between Autism Charlotte and Charlotte Latin.” The service project culminated during the School’s Thanksgiving Assembly on November 24. As he presented a check for $24,437 Owen thanked faculty member C.W. Stacks for his service to Autism Charlotte representatives, Headmaster Arch McIntosh commitment to Autism Charlotte and recognized the leadership of stated, “I am proud of the entire student body for stopping faculty members Shirley Cook and Rives Wedding, who co-chaired during their busy schedules to think of the needs of others in the service project. the community.” Members of the Charlotte Latin community Started 14 years ago, Latin’s annual Thanksgiving service project contributed to the success of this service project through their is a popular School tradition. The project, which incorporates participation in a variety of events, including a jump-a-thon, a service learning opportunities, alternates between a local and read-a-thon, the Community Fun Run & Walk in August, and an international social service organization and is supported by t-shirt and donut sales. Many additional opportunities throughout students, parents, faculty, and staff members. the semester helped Latin students learn about autism and the difficulties autistic children of all ages have with everyday activities.

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Charlotte Latin students showcased their talents and the variety of the School’s curricular opportunities: The National Merit Scholarship Corporation was established in 1955 specifically to conduct the annual National Merit Scholarship Program. High school students enter the National Merit Program by taking the PSAT/NMSQT and by meeting published program entry and participation requirements.

LUCKY 13 Thirteen Charlotte Latin School seniors were selected as National Merit semifinalists in the 61st annual National Merit Scholarship Program. Pictured above left to right (top row): Noah Berens, Nolan Wheeler, Jack Ratterree, Raymon Wang; (middle row): Joshua Smith, James Hardy, Clayton Parnell, Wilson Salisbury; and (bottom row): Audrey Davis, Tatiana Krzesicki, Kendall Phillips, Somaya Gupta, and Libby Lang. This group represents the highest number of semifinalists in Charlotte schools – both public and private – in 2015. These students have an opportunity to continue in the competition for 7,600 National Merit Scholarships, worth approximately $43 million, which will be offered this spring.

Each September, approximately 16,000 students qualify as semifinalists. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, includes the highest scoring entrants in each state. The number of semifinalists in a state is proportional to the state’s percentage of the national total of graduating seniors. Three types of National Scholarships will be offered in the spring of 2016: National Merit $2,500 Scholarships; corporate-sponsored Merit Scholarships; and collegesponsored National Merit Scholarships. To be considered for a Merit Scholarship award, semifinalists must advance to finalist standing in the competition by meeting high academic standards, receiving endorsement and recommendation by the school principal or headmaster, and earning SAT scores that confirm each student’s earlier qualifying test performance. Merit Scholarship awards are supported by some 440 independent sponsors and by NMSC’s own funds. Sponsor organizations include corporations and businesses, company foundations, professional associations, and colleges and universities. National Merit Scholarship winners of 2016 will be announced on four dates beginning in April and concluding in July.

N.C. MUSIC EDUCATORS ASSOCIATION CONFERENCE Charlotte Latin shared the sweet sounds of the Upper School Orchestra and Upper School Chorus during performances at the North Carolina Music Educators Association Conference. The choir, under the direction of Craig Estep, and the orchestra, under the direction of Sabrina Howard, performed on November 9, 2015. It is a special honor for an ensemble to be invited to perform at the conference, and a rare distinction for one school to send two groups to showcase their talents for the music educators from across North Carolina. Charlotte Latin Upper School Orchestra (top) and Chorus (bottom)

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AWARD-WINNING JOURNALISM Charlotte Latin’s Upper School Hawk Eye TV was named All North Carolina in the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association (NCSMA) 2015 High School Journalism Awards, TV News Division. In only its first year producing and presenting full newscasts, Hawk Eye TV was described by the NCSMA as a “college-level” production. In addition to being recognized as the top high school newscast in the state, Hawk Eye TV also received two distinguished Individual Awards: Hawk Eye TV reporter Sabrina Brewer ’17 placed first in the Feature News category, and Lilly Omirly ’18 placed first in Sports reporting. Lilly Omirly (left) in a “Lil’s Kitchen” segment on Hawk Eye TV

SENIOR ART EXHIBIT The amazing scope and ability of Charlotte Latin’s senior artists was on display during the Senior Art Exhibit, which ran from October 24 to November 28 in The Knight Gallery at Spirit Square for the Arts in uptown Charlotte. Impressive paintings, drawings, and works of photography, sculpture, and digital mixed media by 31 students represented Latin’s award-winning art program to the Charlotte community. Thanks to the Latin Arts Association and CLS Visual Arts Department for sponsoring the exhibit.

Charlotte Latin School Arts Vision Statement As the result of their fine art experience, Charlotte Latin School graduates will be lifelong learners who appreciate, participate in, and evaluate the arts through personal, historical, and cultural contexts. They will see the value of the arts as a vital contributing force, enriching not only their own lives but also the lives of the greater community.

Artwork by senior Sidney Thomason

WALL RECEIVES UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD Educators believe that they make a difference in the lives of their students, but they don’t often receive an award as confirmation. One Latin alumnus, Matthew Sparks ’15, made sure to share the impact of Head of Upper School Lawrence E. Wall, Jr. on his life by nominating him to receive the University of Chicago Outstanding Educator Award for excellence in teaching and mentorship. Sparks is a freshman at the College of the University of Chicago, where for more than thirty years entering students have been asked to identify and commend outstanding high school educators. According to the University Office of College Admissions, “Our students frequently tell us that they were influenced by a particular high school educator, someone who opened new vistas and realms of discovery, challenged them intellectually for the first time, or channeled their private interests into productive paths for intellectual growth.”

Head of Upper School Lawrence E. Wall, Jr.

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GO BOLD, GO BLUE Charlotte Latin School’s Board of Trustees approved the 2015-2020 CLS Go Bold, Go Blue Strategic Plan on September 21, 2015. The plan, which serves as the required self-study for the School’s reaccreditation every five years, charts a course for continued progress. The strategic plan’s four goals and supporting initiatives were developed with input from representatives of Latin’s constituent groups including students, alumni, parents, trustees, administrators, faculty, and staff members. The School received the official notification that Latin was reaccredited by the Southern Association of Independent Schools (SAIS) in December. According to SAIS, “Charlotte Latin complied with quality standards, was evaluated by an outside group of peer professionals, and implemented a school plan focused on strategic improvement and student performance in accordance with Charlotte Latin’s mission.” Read the 2015-2020 CLS Go Bold, Go Blue Strategic Plan online at www.charlottelatin.org/StrategicPlan or request a copy by contacting Loretta Tuttle at ltuttle@charlottelatin.org.

SOUTHERN ASSOCIATION OF INDEPENDENT SCHOOLS REACCREDITATION SAIS-accredited member schools are part of an international network of accredited schools that have demonstrated success in educating children. As such, SAIS accreditation is recognized throughout the world as a symbol of quality in education for students and teachers. In today’s world of accountability in education, accreditation serves as a critical component of a school’s demonstrated effectiveness and ability to provide successful schooling for children. A school that is able to achieve accreditation demonstrates a commitment to a process that requires the school to meet a set of rigorous standards, to engage in a program of continuous school improvement, and to demonstrate quality assurance to its stakeholders through self-evaluation and peer-review. SAIS accreditation provides schools access to an integrated network of services and technical assistance that supports every school’s ability to identify and meet its goals for improving the teaching and learning process and mission-focused outcomes for students. The mission of SAIS is to provide leadership, accreditation services, and professional development resources that will strengthen member schools as they fulfill their missions. Text provided by SAIS For more information, please visit www.sais.org. 32

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Headmaster Arch McIntosh with Richard and Tiffany Fletcher, their sons Mac ’26 and Theo ’27, and Richard’s siblings, Cathy Fletcher Himan ’87 and Chris Fletcher.

FLETCHER NAMED DISTINGUISHED FACULTY CHAIR Charlotte Latin alumnus, parent, faculty member, and coach Richard Fletcher ’85 is the School’s third Alumni Association Distinguished Faculty Chair. The Distinguished Chair recognizes the teacher who most exemplifies leadership, instruction, and mentorship for the entire Latin community, both inside and outside of the classroom. The chair is designed to honor, support, and motivate outstanding faculty members, and to serve as a teacher recruitment and retention tool. Fletcher joins previous Distinguished Faculty Chair recipients Upper School History teacher Mike Weiss (2006) and Middle School Humanities teacher Linda Coffman (2008), who retired in 2015. The Distinguished Chair presentation was made during the annual faculty-staff back-to-school meeting on August 19. Patrick Rivenbark ’02, president of the 2015-16 Alumni Governing Board, noted that the Distinguished Chair is supported with an annual stipend by the CLS Alumni Association’s Endowment, established in 1990. He explained, “The Alumni Endowment, over the past 25 years, has grown to more than $1.65 million with the Latin Fund galvanizing its growth in recent years. The endowment enables us to recognize faculty with the Inlustrate Orbem Awards and Distinguished Faculty Chairs.” “In the independent school world, the teachercoach model has long been one that is highly valued as it ensures deep relationships between faculty and students and enables professionals to model strong core values in action,” stated Headmaster Arch McIntosh. “Ever humble about his own accomplishments, Richard’s focus always remains on his students’ growth, character, and work ethic.” Fletcher and his wife, Tiffany, a member of the Upper School English Department, are the parents of Mac ’26 and Theo ’27.

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THREE MEMBERS OF LATIN COMMUNITY HONORED FOR PHILANTHROPY Charlotte Latin School’s commitment to serving others was prominently illustrated as three members of the Latin community were among nine recipients who were honored for their service, philanthropy, and leadership. James McLelland ’17, Howard Levine ’77, and Ed O’Keefe, father of Lauren ’06, Christy ’09 and John ’12, were honored by the Association of Fundraising Professionals Charlotte chapter as the organization marked National Philanthropy Day during its annual luncheon on November 18. The celebration of philanthropy highlights the importance of giving, volunteering, and charitable engagement. Individuals, groups, organizations, and businesses are honored for their commitment to philanthropy and to improving lives through service and charity. Headmaster Arch McIntosh and Art Gallagher, Vice President of Foundation and Community Engagement at Novant Health Presbyterian Medical Center, gave welcoming remarks. McIntosh thanked the community that has helped inspire the students at Charlotte Latin and made his own commitment, as Headmaster of Charlotte Latin School, to join those in attendance in their quest to improve Charlotte, the region, and the world.

MCLELLAND MODELS SERVANT LEADERSHIP James McLelland ’17 received the Outstanding Student Philanthropist Award, The award recognizes a student or student group (age 23 or younger) whose voluntary fundraising efforts have demonstrated the spirit of philanthropy and set an example for others. The student(s) have demonstrated an outstanding commitment to community service and philanthropy in the Charlotte/Metrolina Region. The only student to be honored, McLelland thanked Headmaster McIntosh for providing the resources and opportunities to follow his passions, and expressed his humility and appreciation for the attendees and their contributions to the Charlotte community. McLelland offered a unique perspective on philanthropy, challenging that just as important as service and financial support, offering a hand or simply acknowledging others is often the very gift underserved members of our community need day to day. McLelland was quick to acknowledge his parents’ encouragement and support. McLelland accepted the prestigious award in front of nearly 700 attendees as the Hilton City Center, including thirty Latin trustees, alumni, administrators and teachers, as well as members of the Latin community and representatives of Habitat Matthews and McLelland’s church. He was nominated for the award by CLS faculty member and service program advisor C.W. Stacks and Director of Development Mary Jane Masonis. Desiring to “make a difference in the lives of those who are less fortunate,” McLelland began his service work with Habitat for Humanity, initiating “Habithon,” a fundraiser walk to support Habitat for Humanity of Matthews. The first walk took place in 2012 at the Matthews Five-Mile Creek Greenway. Initially, HABITAT FOR HUMANITY McLelland was the event’s sole organizer; currently, it is Habitat Matthews’ signature YOUNG LEADERS CONFERENCE fundraising event, which includes James McLelland was selected as the only high Hammers and Hope, a gala held the school student to participate in the annual Young night before the walk that McLelland Leaders Conference for Habitat for Humanity chaired. He also helped with held in Atlanta, Georgia, on November 6. He administrative duties, events, and has and Director of the Latin Fund Katie Rozycki contributed more than three hundred presented “Community Buy-In: Social Media, hours at the ReStore in Matthews. In Volunteerism, and Fellowship” to more than addition to his work with Habitat, 300 conference attendees. Their message was McLelland has volunteered at a simple: To encourage change, create buy-in. To Boy Scout camp each summer create buy-in, be a leader, be intentional, create for the past six years giving swim an atmosphere of action, steward your donors, instructions to first through and show impact. Passion for your purpose fifth graders. He works with his is non-negotiable. The execution of this church as a youth liaison for the message takes a lot of hard work, but having a Global Impact Celebration and commitment to it and a clear call to action are volunteers with church ministries all it takes to get started. approximately twenty hours each week. A familiar face at service venues across Charlotte, Charlotte Latin School’s mission is to encourage McLelland has also assisted at individual development and civility in our students the Matthews Help Center, by inspiring them t o learn, by encouraging them Crisis Assistance Ministry, to serve others, and by offering them many Blessed Assurance, and growth-promoting opportunities. Urban Ministry.

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LATIN WELCOMES RANDI ZUCKERBERG Among the trends that Zuckerberg presented that are making profound impacts on the business world is the concept of the “entreployee.” Citing that 40 percent of Americans work freelance, she advised that all employees should think like entrepreneurs to build value. She encouraged companies to follow Facebook’s model by giving their employees time to invest in themselves in order to generate the best ideas.

Randi Zuckerberg, founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media (pictured sixth from the left) is welcomed to Charlotte Latin School by (left to right) Dr. Santosh Rao ’94, Cameron Hall Wagner ’90, Marshall Brenizer ’95, Jalen Ross ’11, Headmaster Arch McIntosh, Michael Blair ’75 and Gladden Pappin ’00. Charlotte Latin School alumni marked their reunion weekend by welcoming Randi Zuckerberg to campus on October 3. Zuckerberg, who ran Facebook’s first marketing programs from 2005-2011, presented “Ten Exciting Trends Impacting Your Business Right Now” to an audience composed of CLS alumni, parents, faculty, and students in Thies Auditorium. An Emmy Award-nominated television producer, musician, and Broadway actress, Zuckerberg’s entertaining presentation was also thought-provoking as she addressed the impact of technologies such as virtual reality on healthcare, education, and retail, and how they are changing the workplace and job market. She cited amazing innovations like 3D printers that create organs and provide solutions to real-world problems, while also warning about technology being “dot complicated” and potentially isolating for an individual. As the founder and CEO of Zuckerberg Media and the mother of two young sons, Zuckerberg seeks to balance the positive as well as the potentially negative aspects of society’s dependence upon and thirst for technology. In her most recent book, Dot., which is being developed into a children’s television show, she encourages children to balance screen time with playing outdoors. She told the Charlotte Latin audience,

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“Children need sunshine and free play as well as how to learn to code.” Zuckerberg shared her enthusiasm for the opportunities that technology presents for sharing ideas and helping people. “In this world we live in we can dream up a job and launch an industry,” she stated. She recalled that when she joined Facebook at the request of her brother, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, the company was located over a Chinese restaurant yet six years later employed 10,000 people. “They were young people who believed they were going to change the world,” she recalled. Zuckerberg attributed Facebook’s phenomenal success in large part to its requirement that people use their real identities to establish accounts. “It is a matter of trust,” she stated, observing that this culture is similar to Charlotte Latin’s “Honor Above All” core value. Facebook also cultivated an internal culture that sought to sustain the “start-up” enthusiasm shared by the early employees. “Hack-a-thons” were periodically held where employees would work all night on projects for which they had a passion, then present them the next morning to the entire company. “We were creative because the fear of failure was erased and we were not afraid to be ridiculous,” Zuckerberg explained.

Zuckerberg embraced the power of technology to improve the quality of life for people across the globe. Innovations such as homes being created on giant 3D printers in China have the potential to end homelessness while “life-logging” body devices foster personal wellness and a mindboggling array of apps provides instant how-to advice at one’s fingertips. She ended her engaging presentation with a call to create and nurture relationships separate from a computer or cell phone screen, singing “I long to live life more offline... I want to go where the people go.” Follow Randi: zuckerbergmedia.com www.facebook.com/randi www.twitter.com/randizuckerberg

PUBLIC AND PERMANENT Richard Guerry, an expert on digital citizenship and the responsible use of technology, shared his cautionary tales of life in the age of social media with Charlotte Latin students and parents on October 14 and 15. Guerry’s visit provided insights in preparation for Digital Citizenship Week, which Charlotte Latin observed on October 19-25 as part of the School’s campaign to promote students’ safe and positive online conduct. During his evening presentation for adults in the Charlotte Latin community and guests from Charlotte independent schools, Guerry delivered a rapid-fire message: It’s imperative to promote the responsible use of technology to prevent digital abuse.

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ALUMNI ROUNDTABLE Alumni Reunion Weekend featured a thought-provoking discussion as alumni explored how technology and other trends are dramatically changing their respective workplaces and industries. The alumni roundtable participants were Michael Blair ’75, senior vice president of CapTrust Advisors; Marshall Brenizer ’95, leader of the Space System Analysis and Test Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Gladden Pappin ’00, Visiting Fellow of the Center for Ethics and Culture at the University of Notre Dame; Santosh Rao ’94, MD, FACC, invasive cardiologist at Sanger Heart & Vascular Clinic; Jalen Ross ’11, Boston Consulting Group consultant and former student body president at the University of Virginia; Casey Viser ’90, attorney who has been nominated by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory to serve as a Special District Court Judge; and Cameron Hall Wagner ’90, general manager and senior vice president of client management for GMR Marketing. Ross moderated the lively discussion, during which the panelists shared their insights, including the following: • Rao discussed the changes in healthcare delivery such as the portability of medical

records and virtual care that is provided by doctors who are not in physical proximity with their patients. While expanding access, these new technologies also are generating questions about physicians’ accountability for the care they provide. He believes, “This is an interesting time in our field and we must adapt.” • Brenizer stated that micro-satellites are being printed on 3D printers. “An individual now has the technology in his or her pocket that once only big governments possessed.” • Wagner observed that new technologies are innovating how companies talk to consumers. “Companies must create content to build their brand,” she advised. • Viser cited online law libraries and e-discovery as examples of how even the field of law is being affected by technology. “A big issue is how to obtain and compile the massive amounts of available information for even the smallest case,” he shared. • Blair stated that people must remain flexible in the workplace. “You control

your own destiny” in changing times by remaining flexible, he observed. • Pappin cited Democracy in America, written by Alexis de Tocqueville in 1835, to illustrate that Americans have always sought the shortest path to riches, regardless of the technologies being utilized. The alumni agreed that Charlotte Latin prepared them very well for college and taught them important life skills. Wagner recalled that Latin taught her how to study so that she was able to take advantage of other opportunities in college. “It was a great place to grow and be nurtured, and to learn to be a good citizen.” Rao asserted, “Latin prepares you abundantly for college.” He cited advice given by Upper School math teacher Dr. Ken Collins, who encouraged him to take intellectual risks in Latin’s safe environment. “Doc Collins tells his students, ‘Here, we can catch you.’” Viser is grateful for the opportunities that helped him develop self-confidence. “Educational experiences do translate into future success,” he stated. “Latin is preparing the next generation of leaders.”

Ms. Zuckerberg’s presentation and the Alumni Roundtable were sponsored by the CLS Alumni Association and the CLS Office of Development and Alumni Relations as a part of the LatinRedde program. LatinRedde provides opportunities for Latin’s students to connect with alumni as interns and via job shadowing and volunteer opportunities.

Guerry addressed topics like cyber-cruelty and sexting to illustrate his point that every communication which is exchanged via social media is both public and permanent, and therefore people must be aware of the consequences of poor social media behavior. Guerry described the reality of “public and permanent” as the 21st century’s golden rule. “We need to learn to drive technology and to use tech tools to make life better and to have a little fun.” Guerry asserted , “Good people are making blind decisions that get them into trouble. We are the first generation learning to use social media so our kids and grandkids will grow up with a public and permanent mindset” that will protect them. He noted that the social aspect of online communications is directly in conflict with the notion of personal privacy. He encouraged his

audience to read the so-called privacy policies of online sites and social media platforms. “There is no such thing as anonymous online,” he stated. Guerry also offered advice to help parents learn how to keep their families safe online, asking them to apply a common sense test for their online communications: Would you post something on the front page of your local newspaper? If not, don’t post it online. Guerry is the executive director of The Institute for Responsible Online and Cell-Phone Communication (IROC2), and he has served as a guest expert for Radio Disney, CNN, and other media. His program received the 2010 and 2011 Exemplary School Safety Program Award from the School Safety Advocacy Council. For more information, visit www.iroc2.org and www.publicandpermanent.com. Fall Semester 2015

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An Update From t h e l at i n f u n d 2015 - 2016

Gifts from every area of the Latin community continue to support the School by: • Enhancing the STEAM program, including development of the Fab Lab. • Continuing technological progress on campus, including the new student-run technology help desk in the Media Center. • Ensuring student safety and well-being. • Emphasizing leadership development among many pursuits and avocations, including forensics, global studies, experiential education, and the alumni-led LatinRedde program. • Cultivating community and collaboration, especially among those who are not frequently on campus such as alumni, parents of alumni, and grandparents. • Leading an excellent professional development program, with opportunities ranging from workshop participation to postbaccalaureate education.

Charlotte Latin is grateful to those 1,040 donors who stepped up in the first half of the year with their pledges and gifts, and to the more than 180 volunteers who advocate for that support. The deadline to participate in this year’s Latin Fund effort is June 30, 2016. To learn more, or to make a pledge or gift online, visit www.charlottelatin.org/giving.

Joy and Christian Kenefick’s daughters, Ana ’20 and Sara ’20, participated this year in Exit Strategy. This “escape room” game promoted experiential problem-solving and team-building among the Eighth Grade Advanced Physics class.

The Latin Fund is shaped by dozens of volunteers and hundreds of supporters. Here’s why Joy and Chris Kenefick, 2015-16 Chairs, lead the charge: “We give our resources to the Latin Fund because we want our daughters to graduate from a Charlotte Latin that is even more prestigious than the one to which they were admitted. We volunteer our time encouraging other families to support the Latin Fund because we passionately believe that Charlotte Latin School is a good steward of those resources. “Volunteerism has allowed us to be part of the process and has given us so much insight and appreciation for the School and its thoughtful approach to every decision. But more than that, it has afforded deeper relationships with both other parents and the administration.”

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LATIN SOCIETY EVENING CELEBRATES RECORD NUMBER OF LEADERSHIP SUPPORTERS 2014-15 Latin Fund Chairs Debbie ’88 and Scott Frail P ’17 celebrated more than 160 Latin Society leadership supporters in their home on September 9. Last year, there were 368 Latin Society members, including 61 alumni and 48 faculty and staff. Parents of Alumni Jane and Gary Green P ’10 once again generously gave Latin the gift of fine catering and service from Compass Group for the event.

Young alumni supporters include Blair ’02 and Emily Shwedo, Chris and Ruth ’02 Wyatt and Anna Stiegel Glass ’01

Carla and Bryant Fuller P ’24, ’27 with Wayne Thornhill P ’21

Debbie Frail ’88 P ’17, Todd and Linda Bleakney P ’25, ’28, ’28, Deborah Hullinger P ’22, ’25 and Director of Development Mary Jane Masonis

Jennifer McIntosh P ’10, ’11, Amy and Clay Adams P ’21, ’23, ’27, Head of Upper School Lawrence Wall and Heather Finke P ’13, ’17, ’19, ’20

FACULTY AND STAFF ACHIEVE 100% LATIN FUND PARTICIPATION EARLIER THAN EVER BEFORE On November 23, Latin’s faculty and staff celebrated 100% participation in the Latin Fund. 261 faculty and staff members achieved this milestone within 100 days of the start of school, and contributed nearly $65,000 to the effort. Although faculty and staff reach full participation annually, this is the first time this group attained full involvement before the second semester.

PRINTER’S PROOF TO BE RELEASED MID-MARCH

“It was my pleasure to help Latin achieve 100% faculty and staff Latin Fund participation once again,” said Upper School Choral Music Teacher Craig Estep. “Gifts support the incredible opportunities I’m given to bring students profound experiences in music and theater education. I’m happy to make this investment in our community.”

This March, the Development Office will email the annual Printer’s Proof, a mid-year report that provides a preliminary opportunity to recognize supporters whose gifts were made between July 2015 and February 2016. In addition to allowing the School to thank its supporters, the Printer’s Proof also provides the opportunity to ensure the accuracy of donors’ information.

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= sponsored or supported by Parents’ Council

HAWK EYE TV AWARDS (1)

LET THE NEW YEAR BEGIN (3)

Charlotte Latin’s Upper School Hawk Eye TV was named “All North Carolina” in the North Carolina Scholastic Media Association (NCSMA) 2015 High School Journalism Awards, TV News Division. In only its first year producing and presenting full newscasts, Hawk Eye TV was described by the NCSMA as a “college-level” production. In addition to being recognized as the top high school newscast in the state, Hawk Eye TV also received two distinguished Individual Awards: Hawk Eye TV reporter Sabrina Brewer ’17 (pictured left) placed first in the Feature News category, and Lilly Omirly ’18 (pictured right) placed first in Sports reporting.

The annual back-to-school assembly on August 27 features student speakers, along with Headmaster Arch McIntosh, who addressed the student body and faculty in the Beck Student Activities Center. Keynote speaker and Student Council President E.C. Myers ’16 spoke of the importance of trying new things and that by doing so, “you will end up finding something you love.” Introduced by her classmate and Student Body President Austin Acks ’16, Myers went on to say, “Somewhere along the way, I realized there is nothing to be scared of. Especially not here at Latin.” Pictured (left to right): Reid Brownlow ’20, E.C. Myers ’16, Austin Acks ’16, Noah Berens ’16 and Headmaster Arch McIntosh.

WATERCARRIER AWARDS (2)

CONVOCATION (4)

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2015 Watercarrier Awards (l to r): Page McEachern, Paul DuPont, Jessie Sellner, Karla Claytor, C.W. Stacks and Tim Scott (not pictured). Charlotte Latin’s Watercarrier Award dates to 2001. The origin of the award references the Native American role of a Watercarrier, which is described in Max DePree’s book, Leadership Jazz: The Essential Elements of a Great Leader. In Native American culture, the Watercarrier supported his community by making the necessary trek to collect and carry containers of water for his people. The term represents selflessness, dedication, and dependability.

Charlotte Latin School celebrates the Class of 2016 during Convocation Exercises on September 4 in Thies Auditorium. John Fennebresque, Sr., who is a Latin grandparent, parent of alumni, and former Chair of the CLS Board of Trustees, addressed the senior class. “Being involved with your school since 1976 has been one of the joys of my life,” Fennebresque shared with the seniors.

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THE SHAPE OF POETRY (5) Seventh grade students learn about the writing process during workshops with author, poet, performer, and educator Allan Wolf during the week of September 8. Wolf, who has worked with Middle School students since 2007, is a National Sonnet Slam

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Champion and the author of The Watch That Ends the Night: Voices from the Titanic, Zane’s Trace, New Found Land and Immersed in Verse: An Informative, Slightly Irreverent and Totally Tremendous Guide to Living the Poet’s Life, among others. Wolf encouraged students to be observant and to record their impressions of “a world waiting to be written.”

ITALIAN EXCHANGE (6) Twelve students and two faculty members from Istituto Bertrand Russell, Latin’s sister school in Italy, enjoy a busy two-week visit to Charlotte Latin School on September 14-25. The Italians attended classes and toured sites in Charlotte. Many thanks are extended to the Charlotte Latin community for making our guests feel at home and for the ongoing support of these transformative experiences.

ROSETTA LEE (7) Nationally-known diversity educator Rosetta Lee (pictured center) is joined by representatives of Charlotte independent schools during her visit to Charlotte Latin on September 15 (pictured left to right): Brian A. Wise, Charlotte Country Day School; Danielle S. Ferguson, Providence Day School; CLS Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Ayeola Elias; and CLS Headmaster Arch McIntosh. Lee addressed Latin students during the day, and faculty and administrators from area independent schools in the afternoon on Latin’s campus. Her message called upon the students as well as the adults to work to create an inclusive community.

PUPPETS WITH A PURPOSE (8) The talented Grey Seal Puppets teach as well as entertain students as part of the Lower School’s Cultural Enrichment Program on

September 17. The theme of puppeteer Drew Allison’s performance was “A Show of Virtues,” which reflects and promotes Latin’s core values. Allison, who makes his puppets, performs for young audiences across the United States.

TOUCHDOWN TAILGATE (9) The Charlotte Latin community shares the limelight with members of the School’s Varsity Football Team during the Touchdown Tailgate on September 18. Hosted by Parents’ Council, families enjoyed fun, food, and fellowship before the Hawks took the field against the Carolina Pride.

DESTINATION ITALY (10) Kindergarten students “fly” to Italy on September 24 with the help of Parents’ Council’s Global Partners Committee, which coordinates the School’s “passport” program with faculty members to promote cultural awareness and global studies. Classrooms became the inside of a plane, and students received airline wings stickers when they boarded the plane. This event coincided with the visit by Latin’s visitors from Istituto Bertrand Russell, so students also viewed a report prepared especially for them by our Italian friends.

BULLY NO ONE (11) Upper School students address the subject of bullying during a performance of One, which they presented for transitional kindergarten and kindergarten students on September 24 in Anne’s Black Box Theater. The play, which is based upon the book of the same title by Kathryn Otoshi, cleverly offers a way to talk with very young children about bullying and helps put their imaginations to work on solutions. The play was written by Will Branner ’12.

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CELEBRATING CHINESE CULTURE (12) Sixth grade students learn Chinese writing from artist-inresidence Cong Yuan on September 30. Yuan worked with sixth grade students for a week as a part of the students’ study of China. Born in Hangzou, China, Yuan studied at the Central Institute of Arts and Crafts in Beijing and received his MFA in drawing and painting from the University of Georgia.

BOOK BUDDIES (13) Seventh grade students read to their transitional kindergarten and first grade book buddies on October 1 as part of the “Book Buddies” program. Each seventh grade student visited his or her “book buddy” during the fall semester and will compose and illustrate original, bound books that feature the buddy as the main character.

LUNCHEON FEATURES REAL FOOD (14) Parents’ Council welcomes Lisa Leake, a local writer and the author of 100 Days of Real Food, to Charlotte Latin. Leake gave the keynote address at the annual Book Fair Luncheon on October 7. She shared tips and anecdotes about her young family’s selfinitiated challenge in 2010 to remove processed foods from their home and diets for 100 days. Her blog of the experience resulted in her nationally-acclaimed book. Pictured (left to right): Diane Hargett, Lisa Leake, Melissa Witzel and Karen Sullivan.

OKEE DOKEE BROTHERS (15) Joe Mailander and Justin Lansing, better known as The Okee Dokee Brothers, visit Latin on October 8. The childhood friends, who won the Grammy award for Best Children’s Album in 2014, spoke to an audience of Upper School music students and then performed a concert for Lower School students. The Okee Dokee Brothers record and perform family music with a goal of inspiring

children and their parents to be creative and share outdoor experiences to motivate kids to gain a greater respect for the natural world.

THE BUTTERFLY PROJECT (16) Charlotte Latin eighth grade students participate in The Butterfly Project on October 8 at the Jewish Community Center (JCC). Locally, the program is called Zikaron V’tikvah, which means “remembrance and hope” in Hebrew. Each student painted a ceramic butterfly to memorialize one of the 1.5 million children who died in the Holocaust. The butterflies will be added to the permanent butterfly sculpture at the JCC.

CHARMUN (17) Fourteen Upper School student chairs, award recipients, and delegates serve as dignified ambassadors of Charlotte Latin School in the second annual CHARMUN (Charlotte Model United Nations) Conference at Providence Day School on October 11-12. More than 80 students were involved from schools throughout the Charlotte area. Each delegate represented a country in the General Assembly and debated and conferred with other delegates on the topics of the Iranian nuclear deal and offshore drilling.

THE GIFT OF LIFE (18) Parents and friends of Charlotte Latin join seniors, faculty and staff members, and administrators during the annual Charlotte Latin Red Cross Blood Drive, which was held on October 14.

SOUTH AFRICAN GUESTS (19) Three students from Latin’s South African sister schools visit on campus from mid-October through early December: Robyn Ducasse and Jess Redfern from St. Anne’s College, and Gordon Cook from Hilton College. Joe and Corby Smith hosted Cook;

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WORLD AFFAIRS COUNCIL LUNCHEON (23)

Spirits SOAR as the student body celebrates Homecoming 2015 during an all-School pep rally on October 16. The rally was led by Student Council and the Victor E. Hawk mascot, aka Austin Acks ’16, who was crowned Homecoming King that night as the Varsity Football Hawks took on the Davidson Day Patriots in Patten Stadium.

Students in Derek Smith’s Global Diplomacy class and the Model UN program attend a luncheon hosted by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte on October 22 at The Westin Charlotte. Keynote speaker Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg served as Minister of Economics and Technology and Minister of Defense in the Cabinet of German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Pictured (left to right): Robyn Ducasse (from Charlotte Latin’s sister school St. Anne’s Diocesan College in South Africa), Daniela Williams ’19, Jess Redfern (SA exchange student - St. Anne’s), Beatrice Klein (German exchange student), Anna Sybrecht (Rotary Exchange Scholar from Germany), Will Anderson ’19, Karl-Theodore zu Guttenberg, Gordon Cook (SA exchange student - sister school Hilton College), Connor Fultz ’19, Kaelan Amin ’19, Derek Smith, Jenny Coston (Latin parent of Russian heritage), and Elke Dennis (German citizen and Latin staff member).

HOODIE (21)

ALL-STATE HONORS BAND (24)

The Middle School Theater Department presents Hoodie on October 17-18 in Thies Auditorium. The production examines image and appearance in the vignette style and poses what may be the most difficult question of all, “Do I stay in the clump or do I stand alone?”

Four band students participate in the NCAIS All-State Honors Band, which was held on October 23 at High Point University. Students were selected on the basis of prior participation in District and State band events. After a day and a half of intense rehearsal, the clinic concluded with a concert presented by both Middle and Upper School bands. Participating students (left to right) are Veronica Leahy ’19 (alto saxophone), Jasmine Leahy ’17 (trumpet), Kaitlyn Snyder ’19 (clarinet), and Elena Egge ’21 (bass clarinet).

Ducasse stayed with the Rich family; and the Stenersen family welcomed Redfern to their home. Charlotte Latin is grateful to the families who serve as host families and support this important Latin initiative. Pictured (left to right): Global Studies Coordinator and Director of International Exchange Derek Smith, Cook, Redfern, Ducasse, and Headmaster Arch McIntosh.

HOMECOMING (20)

DIGNITARIES VISIT (22) Dr. Howard Wolf, professor emeritus of American literature, journalism and creative writing at SUNY Buffalo, addresses students in Derek Smith’s Global Diplomacy class on October 20 in his lecture entitled “From Goethe to Grass and Beyond: Responsibilities of the Writer in the Postwar Period.” Dr. Wolf was joined by Klaus Becker, Honorary Consul of the Federal Republic of Germany to North Carolina, and Al Guarnieri, Charlotte representative of the American Council on Germany (ACG) and a partner at Parker Poe. Pictured (left to right): Guarnieri, Global Studies Coordinator and Director of International Exchange Derek Smith, Dr. Wolf, and Becker, who is the father of Fiorella Becker ’02.

TWELFTH NIGHT (25) The Upper School Theater Department presents Twelfth Night on October 23-25 in Anne’s Black Box Theater. Shakespeare’s famous comedy, which is based in the quixotic kingdom of Illyria, represented ambitious material for Latin’s thespians. Shakespeare’s plays present a unique challenge to actors, even professionals. Not only do they have to create and inhabit a character with depth, Continued Fall Semester 2015

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humor, humanity, and pathos as is the case with any role on stage, but they must also do so while mastering language that is rich and complex, and frankly daunting to contemporary sensibilities. Latin’s cast achieved this level of performance with great aplomb, which speaks to the level of dedication, imagination, and talent that the theater students bring to the stage.

PARLIAMENTARY PIZZA (26) The Middle School Model United Nations team participates in the second annual CHARMUN Parliamentary Procedure Pizza event hosted by Cannon School on October 27. The event is designed to introduce student delegates to parliamentary procedure, which they will put into action during future Model UN conferences. Congratulations to seventh grader Ethan Li, who was recognized with an Honorable Mention. Participants (left to right) were James McLelland ’17 (Upper School assistant team advisor), Christina Yang, Dilan Amin, Saige Gulati, Harrison Kaplan, Madelyn Boltz, Ethan Li, Sydney Wargo, EJ Boakye, Owen Reimers, Ryan Beam, and team advisor Kari Wimbish.

KRZESICKI SELECTED (27) Violinist Tatiana Krzesicki ’16 is accepted into the 2015 National Association for Music Education’s All-National Honors Symphony Orchestra. This select group of students represents the very best of music students from all 50 states. Each student must have ranked sufficiently high in his or her own All-State Orchestra before being invited to audition. These exceptional musicians gathered in Nashville, Tennessee, on October 28 to showcase their expert musicianship. Students rehearsed at the Opryland Hotel and performed at a gala concert at the historic Grand Ole Opry House during the 2015 National Association for Music Education Conference.

FORENSICS TEAM NAMED TO 200 CLUB (28) The Charlotte Latin’s forensics team earns significant recognition from its membership in the National Speech & Debate Association’s prestigious 200 Club. Students earn points, and advanced degrees of membership based on those points, for tournament competition and service-related activities. Because the team members accumulated more than 200 degrees during the 2014-15 academic year, Latin ranks among the top 7.5% of schools nationwide. This milestone demonstrates outstanding commitment to teaching students essential life skills, including speaking, listening, writing, research, and organizational skills. (See also “Winning Words” on page 18.)

EL DÍA DE LOS MUERTOS (29) Señor Irwin’s Spanish I classes transform into a day of authentic and exciting celebration - full of the sights, sounds, smells, and even tastes of El Día de los Muertos (“The Day of the Dead”) on October 28. Seventh and eighth grade students engaged exclusively in conversational Spanish while experiencing the products, practices, and perspectives of this cultural pillar of Mexico and other Spanishspeaking countries. Parents volunteered to serve authentic food and helped the students decorate skulls to mark this festive occasion.

BOOK CLUB GOES VIRAL (30) Charlotte Latin parent and young adult author Brendan Reichs visits the sixth grade Book Club on November 4 to discuss the Virals series he co-authored with his mother, author Kathy Reichs. Students brought their lunch to the Carolinas Reading Room and enjoyed cake and conversation with Reichs.

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CLASS ART (31)

CHRISTO BRAND (36)

Members of the Charlotte Latin community attend the opening reception for the Senior Art Exhibit on November 7 at The Knight Gallery in Uptown Charlotte. The exhibit, which ran through November 28, showcased the diverse work of Latin’s senior art students. James Layton ’16 is pictured here with his parents, Anne and Thomas, at the reception.

Headmaster Arch McIntosh (left) welcomes Christo Brand (center) who shared very personal stories about his relationship with the late civil rights leader and former South African President Nelson Mandela during presentations for Charlotte Latin students, parents, faculty and staff members on November 11. Brand worked as a prison guard at Robben Island, where he guarded Mandela and other political prisoners. His relationship with Mandela evolved over the years into a friendship that is chronicled in Brand’s book, Mandela: My Prisoner, My Friend. Global Studies Coordinator Derek Smith (right), who facilitated Brand’s visit, called him an “international statesman.”As she introduced Brand, Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Ayeola Elias urged the students to “never underestimate the power that they have in making an impact on someone else’s life... and the reverse.”

MIDDLE SCHOOL HONORS CHORUS (32) Seventh grade student Nate Lambert and sixth grade student Kaya Nichols are chosen for the 2015 Middle School Honors Chorus. More than 1,200 students auditioned with Lambert and Nichols and only 145 singers were chosen. The Latin students traveled to Winston-Salem, N.C. on November 7-8 to rehearse and perform with this superior choir.

N.C. HONORS CHORUS (33) Nolan Wheeler ’16, Michael Julliard ’16 and Abigail Okland ’17 participate in the North Carolina Honors Chorus concert on November 8 at the Stevens Center at the University of North Carolina School of the Arts (UNCSA) in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Honors Chorus performance marks the beginning of the annual North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA) Conference. Approximately 1,200 high school choral students from across the state auditioned for this prestigious honors choir from which a group of 179 was selected to perform.

ALL-STATE HONORS ORCHESTRA (34) Alex Warmath ’17 is selected to participate in the bass section of the 2015 All-State Honors Orchestra. The selected students, who attend high schools from across North Carolina, gathered for three days of intense rehearsals prior to performing in a concert on November 8. The concert marks the beginning of the annual North Carolina Music Educators Association (NCMEA) Conference, which was held in Winston-Salem, N.C.

HONORING THOSE WHO SERVE (35)

Charlotte Latin recognizes its United States Veterans and U.S. Service Hawks to mark Veterans Day on November 11. Guest speaker Colonel Alvin D. Cantrell (U.S. Army, retired) addressed Upper and Middle School students during a Veterans Day assembly, noting that he sees this day as “a vivid reminder of the price paid for our liberty and joy.” Colonel Cantrell, a personal friend, high school classmate, and fellow veteran of Upper School science teacher C.W. Stacks, stressed the impact of five simple words spoken to any veteran: “Thank you for your service.” Also in attendance and honored at the assembly were Charlotte Latin parents, grandparents, alumni, faculty, and staff members who have served America. The Upper School Chorus performed the Star-Spangled Banner and the Armed Forces Medley, during which each honoree stood and was recognized during his or her service branch’s anthem.

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HOLOCAUST SURVIVOR (37)

TURKEY TROT (39)

Bert Wohl, Holocaust survivor and grandfather of eighth grade student Nicole Reinhardt, gives a moving presentation to the eighth grade on November 12. The students had been reading about the Holocaust in Betsy Fox’s English class, so it was appropriate for Reinhardt to invite her grandfather to share his personal experiences from such a grievous time in history. Despite the challenges of his early life, Wohl noted two positive terms that remained a common thread throughout countless horrific circumstances: “miracle” and “beshert,” a German word that is translated into English to express “it was meant to be.” Pictured (left to right): Nicole Reinhardt, Wohl, and Fox.

Fifth grade physical education classes join Upper School history teacher Linda Murdock (center) as they participate in the eighth annual Gil Murdock Turkey Trot on November 17. The event was hosted by Providence Day School, where Gil, Linda’s husband, taught for 35 years. The trot honors his memory and his passion for fitness and community service. PDS and CLS combined for a total donation of 3,361 food items for Loaves and Fishes in Gil’s name.

DIGNIFIED AMBASSADORS (38) The Upper School Model United Nations Team participates in the 35th annual University of Virginia Model UN (VAMUN) Conference in Williamsburg, Virginia, on November 13-15. Ten delegates attended this conference where they represented Switzerland, Kenya, Nigeria, Iraq, the World Health Organization and the 18th Politburo of the Chinese Communist Party. Latin delegates served as vital contributors to their respective committees and as dignified ambassadors of Charlotte Latin. Pictured left to right are Claire Friou ’17, Sabrina Brewer ’17, Kelly Mulrooney ’17, Isabelle Sumichrast ’17, Ken Liu ’17, faculty advisor Luke Ivey, José Posada ’18, Andrew Egge ’18, Jack Sobel ’17, Tyler Henry ’16, and Jazz Zeng ’18.

WORLDQUEST (40) Upper School students and faculty represent Charlotte Latin School at the 2015 WorldQuest tournament on November 18 at The Hilton Charlotte Center City. The event, which is sponsored by the World Affairs Council of Charlotte, included more than 550 students from dozens of Charlotte-area schools who participated in an intense, yet fun, night of world trivia competition.

HIGH POINT UNIVERSITY WRITING CONTEST (41) Latin students (pictured left to right) Riley Singer ’17, Bridget Fish ’17, Charlotte Kohn ’17, and Grace Morris ’16 bring home awards from the High Point University Writing Contest. Singer won First Place in Fiction and Second Place in Poetry, Fish won First Place in Poetry, Kohn earned an Honorable Mention in Poetry, and Morris earned an Honorable Mention in Fiction. The quality of their works also earned them an invitation to attend a writing workshop with Canadian author Douglas Glover on November 20 at High Point University.

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LION KING (42)

COMMUNITY HOLIDAY CONCERT (44)

The Charlotte Latin Music and Theater Departments presents The Lion King Kids on November 20 in Thies Auditorium. The cast of the popular Disney production featured 96 fourth and fifth graders. The students worked for three weeks after school learning music, choreography, and acting skills. Each “tribe” of characters was featured on the stage as drummers, puppeteers, dancers, and gymnasts. The beautiful costumes and props were created by a team of parent volunteers and the show was directed by Lower School music teacher Alicia Long. A preview was held for Lower School students during the school day before the evening performance for parents.

Headmaster Emeritus Dr. Edward J. Fox, Jr., is among the special guests from retirement and assisted living centers in Mecklenburg County to come to campus on December 4 for the eighth annual Community Holiday Concert. The concert featured songs of the season performed by the Middle School String and Wind Ensembles and the Middle School Concert Choir. Pictured (left to right) are Headmaster Arch McIntosh, Dr. Fox, Head of Middle School Debbie Lamm, and Assistant Head of Middle School Jackie Misenheimer.

PEOPLE OF COLOR CONFERENCE (43) Charlotte Latin students and faculty attend the People of Color Conference (PoCC). The three-day conference, which focused on the theme “Art, Science, Soul and the Equity Imperative” was hosted by the National Association of Independent Schools in Tampa, Florida, on December 3-5. The annual conference provides support as well as diversity and cultural literacy training for thousands of independent school educators. Diversity and inclusiveness speakers such as Rosetta Lee, a recent guest at Charlotte Latin, presented at PoCC this year. Pictured (left to right) are Austin Fitzgerald ’18, Neil Patel ’16, Riley Singer ’17, Reilly Jones ’17, Darby Glenn ’18, and Michelle Charles ’17. Faculty members Topher Gee, Maggie Shamblin, Maria Klein, and Director of Diversity and Multicultural Affairs Ayeola Elias also attended the conference.

TERRIFIC S-P-E-L-L-E-R-S (45) Eighth grade student Brooks Finby wins Charlotte Latin’s Middle School Spelling Bee on December 8. Sixth grader Kaya Nichols was the runner-up. Brooks represented Latin at the Independent School Spelling Bee at Carmel Christian School on January 27.

SOUNDS OF THE SEASON (46) Charlotte Latin fourth grade students sing about visiting Santa Claus during the Grade 4 Holiday Concert for parents on December 11 in Thies Auditorium. The concert was the final performance in the Music Department’s busy and exceptional concert series. Latin’s Middle and Upper School wind ensembles presented their concert on December 3; the Middle School and Upper School string ensembles presented their concert on December 7; and the Middle and Upper School choirs presented their concert on December 9. Fall Semester 2015

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ATHLETICS NEWS

Congratulations Hawks! McNulty Named 2015 Bronko Nagurski High School Coach of the Year Charlotte Latin Varsity Football Team coach Larry McNulty was named the 2015 Bronko Nagurski High School Coach of the Year by the Charlotte Touchdown Club on December 7. The Touchdown Club hosts the Annual Bronko Nagurski National College Defensive Player of the Year Awards and honors local football players, coaches, and teams during an awards ceremony. The High School Coach of the Year award was introduced in 2014 to honor a coach “who demonstrates character, integrity, sportsmanship, responsibility, and excellence on and off the field.” Connor McNulty ’95, Coach Larry McNulty and his wife In his 31-year career as the Hawks’ head football coach, McNulty Marilyn, Cullen McNulty ’93 and Carson McNulty ’97 led his teams to 10 state championships and two undefeated seasons. Three of his former Latin players are currently playing in the National Football League, and one of his players from a previous coaching position is a coach in the NFL. These career achievements are among many others accomplished during his outstanding career and illustrate why “Coach Mac” was selected for this honor.

Presenting a check in honor of Coach Stacks to ACEing Autism

Charity Cup participants

Charity Cup Honors Coach Stacks On November 21, Margaret Redic ’17 and the Charlotte Latin tennis program hosted The Charity Cup, a mixed-doubles tennis tournament to honor former Latin Varsity Tennis Team coach C.W. Stacks, who quietly retired as the team’s coach in 2015 after a 30-year career. Students from Latin were joined by students from Providence Day School and Covenant Day School. Together, the participating teams raised more than $1,500 for ACEing Autism, an organization that “makes the sport of tennis available to children with autism spectrum disorders as a means to enhance health, fitness, hand-eye coordination, motor development and to improve social skills.” After the tournament, a check was presented in honor of Coach Stacks to Nils Weldy, ACEing Autism’s marketing director. The Covenant Day School teams were the winners of the first Charity Cup. In addition to the donation, Redic recognized Coach Stacks by reading a tribute to him as well as heartfelt messages from former students and players. Coach Stacks remarked, “I am so grateful. I must have made some good choices in my life to deserve such an honor.” 46

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ALL-CONFERENCE Fall 2015 Girls’ Golf Moon Cheong Alexis Sudjianto Anna Sybrecht

Boys’ Cross Country Adam Bear Noah Berens Matt Padgett Jack Ratterree Rob Schleusner

Boys’ Soccer Austin Acks Will Boyd Andrew Calton Zach Case Bennett Jones

Girls’ Cross Country Ellie Beuley Kiera Dowell

NCISAA Champions Field Hockey

CISAA Champions Girls’ Golf

Field Hockey Sabrina Brewer Hannah Burlingame Corbett Foster Christina Glaser Camille Kane Cecelia Monnin Sutton Orndorff Isabelle Sumichrast

Girls’ Tennis Fleming Landau Margaret Redic Martha Elizabeth Watson Volleyball Rachel Mackey Dalila Mendygaziyeva

Football Eddie Crutchfield Addison DeBord Robert Fuller Bates Jones Melvin Rouse Ben Scott Hunter Sheridan DeMarkes Stradford Brady Whitmore

ALL-STATE Fall 2015

Signing Day

Boys’ Cross Country Matt Padgett Jack Ratterree

Girls’ Golf Moon Cheong Alexis Sudjianto

Senior Varsity Volleyball Team captain Rachel Mackey was the first Latin Hawk this school year to sign a National Letter of Intent to play a college sport. Mackey, who was honored at a recognition ceremony hosted by the College Center on November 12 in the Forum, signed her NLI to play women’s volleyball at Anderson University in South Carolina.

Field Hockey Corbett Foster Camille Kane Cecelia Monnin Isabelle Sumichrast

Boys’ Soccer Austin Acks

Mackey came to Charlotte Latin as a sophomore and is a three-year starter at outside hitter. Mackey is the team’s Most Valuable Player, has earned the team’s Warrior Award for two consecutive years, and is First Team All-Conference this year. She has played national level club volleyball for Carolina Juniors Volleyball for five years and is on the National 18U team.

Football Eddie Crutchfield Addison DeBord Hunter Sheridan

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Girls’ Tennis Fleming Landau

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ATHLETICS NEWS

Student-Athletes Garner

Academic Honors Volleyball Team Charlotte Latin’s 2014 Varsity Volleyball Team was recognized with the 2015 American Volleyball Coaches Association Team Academic Award for the thirteenth consecutive year. The team must have an average 3.3 GPA or higher for the previous academic year.

Varsity Soccer Both the Girls’ Varsity Soccer Team and the Boys’ Varsity Soccer Team received the National Soccer Coaches Association of America Team Academic Award. This annual award is based upon a team’s academic performance for the academic year. For a team to be considered, it must have a minimum 3.25 composite team grade point average.

Savino Named Field Hockey Coach of the Year Varsity Field Hockey Coach Deb Savino was named the Charlotte Observer Field Hockey Coach of the Year. She led the Hawks to a 14-3 season, including a thrilling win over CISAA conference rival Charlotte Country Day to capture the 2015 NCISAA State Championship. Coach Savino has served as Latin’s head field hockey coach since 2008, and her teams have earned three state championships and five conference championships.

Landau Co-Tennis Player of the Year Fleming Landau ’18 is the Charlotte Observer Co-Tennis Player of the Year. Fleming’s record was 19-1 overall in singles, and she was undefeated (19-0) against all of her NCISAA 3A opponents, earning Individual Player of the Year honors as the top player on the 3A NCISAA All-State and All-Conference teams. She led the Hawks to the state title game this year. Fleming plays #1 singles and doubles for Charlotte Latin and is a 4-star recruit according to www.tennisrecruiting.net. 48

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TRUE BLUE

Alumni News ALUMNI SOCCER GAME August 12, 2015

Soccer Alumni

Coach Lee Horton and the Varsity Boys’ Soccer Team hosted Latin soccer alumni for a night-time soccer game. More than thirty alumni turned out, warranting two games being played side by side. Who knows who won, but all enjoyed a family dinner afterward in Alumni Hall.

Meaghan Keeley, Rory Keeley ’13 and Tyler Keeley

Emerson Schaeffer ’15, Adam Watts ’15, Trent Martensen ’15 and Scott Chappell ’15

Duncan Keeley ’16 and Conor Keeley ’11

Sam Shumate ’86, Tommy Hunter ’86 and Thomas Layton ’86

Barbara Robinson and Vance Carlisle ’95

Charlie Dunn ’99, Coach Lee Horton and Lawrence Watts Fall Semester 2015

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REUNION WEEKEND LATIN WORKS ROUNDTABLE October 3, 2015

Santosh Rao ’94, Cameron Hall Wagner ’90, Marshall Brenizer ’95, Jalen Ross ’11, Headmaster Arch McIntosh, Randi Zuckerberg, Michael Blair ’75 and Gladden Pappin ’00

Charlotte Latin School alumni kicked off Reunion Weekend 2015 by welcoming Randi Zuckerberg to campus on October 3. Zuckerberg, who ran Facebook’s first marketing programs from 2005-2011, presented “Ten Exciting Trends Impacting Your Business Right Now” to an audience composed of CLS alumni, parents, faculty, and students in Thies Auditorium. The event also featured an Alumni Reunion Roundtable discussion. The participants shared how technology and other trends are dramatically changing their respective workplaces and industries. The alumni participants were Michael Blair ’75, senior vice president of CapTrust Advisors; Marshall Brenizer ’95, leader of the Space System Analysis and Test Group at MIT Lincoln Laboratory; Gladden Pappin ’00, Visiting Fellow of the Center for Ethics and Culture at the Ruth Van Dyke Wyatt ’02, Randi Zuckerberg and University of Notre Dame; Santosh Rao Eric Madara ’01 and Jennifer Madara Bill Lyday ’84 ’94, MD, FACC, invasive cardiologist at Sanger Heart & Vascular Clinic; Jalen Ross ’11, Boston Consulting Group consultant and former student body president at the University of Virginia; Casey Viser ’90, attorney who has been nominated by North Carolina Governor Pat McCrory to serve as a Special District Court Judge; and Cameron Hall Wagner ’90, general manager and senior vice president of client management for GMR Marketing. Casey ’90 and Boo Viser 50

Charlotte LATIN

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Heather Finke, Chris Gammon and Ruth Knight Gammon ’77

Fall Semester 2015

TRUE BLUE

REUNION WEEKEND CLASS REUNIONS October 3, 2015 Charlotte Latin School

C l a s s

1974 1975 a

Class of 1975

o f

C l a s s

Ye a r

o f

Reunion

hosted at Providence Road Sundries Muffin Skinner Suttles ’75, Gary Anderson ’75 and Jean Trice Deason ’75

Marty Frazer Caton ’74, Betty Fleming Onsrud ’74, Sherrie Hendrix West ’74, Betty Shull Butler ’74 and Dowe Albright ’74

Doug Ausbon ’75 and Jon Michael ’75

Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

TRUE BLUE

Charlotte Latin School

Class

1985 30

Ye a r

Reunion

at the home of Libby and Paisley Gordon '85 '85 Libby Tate Gordon ’85

Class of 1985

Ginny Carson Cobb ’85, Fiz Anderson Craig ’85, Blair Carriker Donald ’85 and Kenna Cloninger Jordan ’85 52

Charlotte LATIN

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Salem Suber ’85 and Mark Riopel ’85

TRUE BLUE

Class of 1990

Cameron Hall Wagner ’90, Denny Smith O’Leary ’90 and Britt Boshamer Yett ’90 Julie Patton Evans ’90 and Carlisle Evans ’93

Charlotte Latin School

Class

1990 25

Kim Thompson ’90 and Dave Johnson ’90

Ye a r

Reunion

at the home of Denny Smith O’Leary '90 Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

TRUE BLUE

Class of 1995

Angus McDonald ’95, Megan Kempert Morrow ’95, Vance Carlisle ’95 and Lowell Rayburn Combs ’95

Alex Brackett ’95 and Sam Dengler ’95

Charlotte Latin School

Class

1995 20

Ye a r

Kendall Booe Burgess ’95 and Mac McBryde ’95

Reunion

hosted at 10 Park Lanes Kristina Nichols, William Nichols ’95, Dana Everett Edwards ’95 and Eric Edwards 54

Charlotte LATIN

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Fall Semester 2015

TRUE BLUE

Charlotte Latin School

Class

2000 1 5

Ye a r

R e u n i o n

hosted at 10 Park Lanes

Brian Smith ’00, Josh Leary ’00 and Ryan Gorman

Class of 2000

Stephanie Wisinski Ladley ’00 and Gladden Pappin ’00

Todd Stonitsch ’00, Sean Newton, Devon Chandler ’00, Paul Manos ’00 and Margaret Manos

Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

TRUE BLUE

HOLIDAY WITH THE HAWKS ALUMNI GAMES AND LUNCH Saturday, December 19, was a homecoming of sorts. Alumni of all ages were back on campus for games and lunch. Cullen McNulty ’93, Carson McNulty ’95 and Mason Ledonne ’14 hosted alumni for the fifth annual alumni flag football game. Fun was had by all and luckily no injuries were reported!

Latin Football Alumni

56 #

Kanyon Tuttle ’15

Carson McNulty ’97, Coach Larry McNulty and Cullen McNulty ’93

Chris Jones ’12, Michael Tomlin ’10, Davis Austin ’10 and Archie McIntosh ’10

Back row: Harris Oates ’12, Johnathon Garwood ’13, Matthew Wingard ’14, Chris Paschal ’13 and Mason Ledonne ’14 Front: Brendan Paschal ’14, Zach Brouse ’14 and John Robinson ’14

Charlotte LATIN

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Fall Semester 2015

Classes of 2011 – 2015 enjoyed being back on campus for a Holiday Lunch with some of their favorite teachers.

Gray Smith ’15, Austin Lancaster ’15, Ryan Gardner ’15, Alex Demas ’15, Leila Evans ’15, Adam Watts ’15, Scott Chappell ’15, Marcus Tayloe ’15 and Sebastian Nabatoff ’15

Aseda Ghartey-Tagoe ’12, Liza Robinson ’12, Dean of Students Hunter Murphy, Lucy Brock ’13 and Brooke Brown ’13

Lunch

Maria Klein and Nick Ray ’06

After lunch, Varsity Boys’ Basketball Coach Chris Berger ’89 and former Coach Jerry Faulkner were on hand to officiate and coach the annual alumni basketball game.

Obi Okwara ’08 and David Chadwick ’09

Basketball Alumni

Chris Berger ’89, Jerry Faulkner and Kevin Levine ’86

Adam Herrmann ’13, Bryan Williams ’05 and Derrick Truesdale ’06

James Mingoes ’13, Michael Gabbard ’15, David Herrmann ’15, Louis Tonon ’13 and Richard Brown ’10 Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

57 #

TRUE BLUE

The Class of 2005 and the Class of 2010 enjoyed celebrating their milestone reunions on December 23. Both classes gathered at the Olde Mecklenburg Brewery for the festivities.

Class of 2005

Charlotte Latin School

Class

2005 1 0

Ye a r

Mark Wojcik ’05, Deanna Lomax ’05 and Patrick Boruta ’05

R e u n i o n

Kathryn Steele ’05, Callan Blough ’05 and Maggie Savage ’05

Peter Tanneberger ’05 and Reid Hubbard ’05 58

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Caroline Stroup ’05, Patrick Calhoun ’05 and Jeff Benjamin ’05

Class of 2010

Chris Downing and Catherine Schepp ’10

Davis Austin ’10, Ian Shorkey ’10 and Reid DeCarlo ’10

Rachel Kokenes ’10, Peyton Thorp ’10, Samantha Wedding ’10, Caroline Rand ’10 and Blair Carson ’10

Director of Alumni Relations Sally Gray Smith ’82 and Thomas Ashcraft ’10

C.W. Stacks and Hobbs Maker ’10

Erin Love ’10 and Katie Sheild ’10

Charlotte Latin School

Class

2010 5

Y e a r

R e u n i o n

Señora Murphy with her advisees Back row: Thomas Ashcraft ’10, Paul Paschal ’10, Davis Austin ’10, Will McGinnis ’10, Sam Myers ’10 and Chase Carbone ’10, Front row: McKay Kirkland ’10 and Mary Kate McAlister ’10

Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

TIS THE SEASON

With Young Alumni On Saturday, December 26, the Alumni Association hosted the 10th annual Young Alumni Holiday Party for the classes of 2001 through 2012. This gathering at Angry Ale’s has become a much-anticipated alumni tradition.

Michael Parks ’07, Ehimere Etomi ’07, Alex Li ’07, Mason Ellerbe ’07 and Zane Chiad ’07

Dr. Collins and Aashna Desai ’12 60 #

Charlotte LATIN

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Fall Semester 2015

Effe Ghartey-Tagoe ’10, Georgia Walker ’10 and Jalen Ross ’11

TRUE BLUE

Alex Kern ’11, Mary Cameron Faison ’12 and Sarah Bailey Wilson ’12

Robby Lucas ’12, Grayson Foster ’12 and Brandon Jordi ’12

Sarah Manns ’11, Morgan Carnes ’11 and Jennie Stuart

Jeff McIntosh ’11, Sophie Hilliard-Arce ’11 and Alex Dragelin ’11

Jamey Price ’06, Nick ’06 and Jackie Ray, Katie Toussaint ’08 and Louise Hindal ’08

Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

61 #

Class Notes 1974

If you are interested in being the Class of 1974 Class Agent, please contact Sally in the Alumni Office: ssmith@charlottelatin.org.

ADELINE TALBOT writes, “Wish I could be there for the 40th. We live in Greensboro and have for the last 20 something years. My husband, David, is an internist and has specialized in low-income care throughout his career. We have one daughter, Mary, who is a senior at Vassar, her father’s alma mater. I have a small cultural travel company, Studio Traveler, that specializes in contract travel for museums and nonprofits. My volunteer commitments in recent years have included board service at Greensboro Day, where our daughter graduated in ’12. It has put me in mind of CLS often and fondly.”

1975

Jean Trice Deason jtdeason@bellsouth.net Congratulations to JEAN TRICE DEASON and her husband, Richard, who became first-time grandparents to Charlie Deason, Jr. on August 11, 2015.

1976

If you are interested in being the Class of 1976 Class Agent, please contact Sally in the Alumni Office: ssmith@charlottelatin.org.

1977

Carol Lomax Fortenberry carol@fortenberrylambert.com

Angus McBryde agoose@carolina.rr.com

1978

The Honorable DAVID C. KEESLER, now in his twelfth year as a United States Magistrate Judge in Charlotte, North Carolina, has been elected President of the Federal Magistrate Judges Association (FMJA) for the 2015-16 year. The FMJA is a voluntary association of more than 750 active and retired federal magistrate judges across the country. David lives in Charlotte with his wife, Susan, and their daughters, Amelia and Caroline.

1979

Craig Summerville csummerville@windstream.net

In Memoriam

Doc Jones Thurston, III ’ 82 November 16, 2015

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1980

Katherine and Jeff Goodman jmgoodman@bellsouth.net

Robin Waters Griffith robingriffith@carolina.rr.com

Adeline Talbot ’74 lives in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Lee DeWitt Thorpe ’79, Dawn Davis Fellers ’79, Dudley Hanes Faison ’79, Mary McLean Russell ’79, Suzy Dunaway Riley ’79, Gingie Boyd Peterson ’79, Libba Mitchener Schell ’79 and Dede Perry Stefan ’79 had a mini-reunion in Maine.

In September of 2015, LEE DEWITT THORPE, DAWN DAVIS FELLERS, DUDLEY HANES FAISON, MARY MCLEAN RUSSELL, SUZY DUNAWAY RILEY, GINGIE BOYD PETERSON, and LIBBA MITCHENER SCHELL visited DEDE PERRY STEFAN at her home in Camden, Maine.

On October 3, 2015, in Sewanee, Tennessee, Rob McAlister ’08, oldest son of Lib and MARK MCALISTER, married Katherine Hanks Rogers from San Antonio, Texas. Katherine and Rob graduated from Sewanee, the University of the South.

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

1981

1983

SHEP ROBINSON and TOM WESTBROOK enjoyed a golf trip last fall to Kiawah Island, South Carolina.

The Class of ’ 83 was well-represented on Latin’s varsity field hockey state championship team. Annabelle Oates, daughter of MARY YORKE ROBISON OATES, Mary Louise Kenny, daughter of JOE KENNY, and Ann Bernhardt, daughter of ANN RODDEY BERNHARDT, were all members of this winning team!

Annie Gray Roberts agrayinnc@aol.com

1982 The Honorable David Keesler ’80 is a United States Magistrate Judge in Charlotte, N.C.

If you are interested in being the Class of 1982 Class Agent, please contact Sally in the Alumni Office: ssmith@charlottelatin.org.

Deanie Albright Hanley dalbrighthanley@verizon.net

In July of 2015, DAVID STEDMAN launched a new company, Canopy Financial Advisors (www.canopyfa.com). Canopy is creating a new financial technology service that overhauls the way people analyze and keep tabs on their financial lives. MARGARET GLOVER SCHRIMSHER

Mark McAlister ’80, Lib McAlister, Katherine and Rob McAlister ’08, Mary Kate McAlister ’10 and Mark McAlister ’13 celebrating in Sewanee, Tennessee.

Tom Westbrook ’81 and Shep Robinson ’81 enjoy a weekend at Kiawah Island, S.C.

captained a 4.0 USTA tennis team, which included SUZY MINOR JOHNSON and Elizabeth DuBose House ’93. The team won the 2015 Charlotte metro league championship, the North Carolina state championship, and the southern states championship before competing in the national championship in California in late October. Margaret, Suzy, and Elizabeth were all students of Bev Earle and played on Latin’s tennis team.

Annabelle Oates, Mary Louise Kenny and Ann Bernhardt are all Class of ’83 legacies and members of the state championship field hockey team.

1984

Janet Miller Rogers jmrogers@carolina.rr.com Sky Broome skybroome1@gmail.com

Margaret Glover Schrimsher ’82, Suzy Minor Johnson ’82 and Elizabeth DuBose House ’93 play together on a 4.0 USTA tennis team. Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

1985

Libby Tate Gordon libbygordon4@gmail.com Paisley Gordon paisley@cpgrenc.com Jorn Bleimann rinnovations@msn.com Latin Hawks were well represented at the wedding of Keely Simerville ’89 and Dan Hines.

1986

Tom Beaty tbeaty@insightsourcing.com Laurie Barreau Williams lauriebwilliams@hotmail.com

1987

Andy Clark amclark@carolina.rr.com

1988

Debbie McMahan Frail debbiesfrail@carolina.rr.com Derek Painter dapainter@bbandt.com Lt. Commander RICHARD A. VINROOT, JR. returned from Kandahar in southern Afghanistan last December. He served as a trauma team physician with the U.S. Navy Medical Corps. He has redeployed and is serving as Director of Emergency Services with the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Medical Corps at Camp Lemonnier, a counterterrorism base located in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa.

1989

Tino Bleimann tinobleimann@bellsouth.net Beth Anderson Pence bpence@me.com

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Congratulations to KEELY SIMERVILLE, who married Dan Hines of Dayton, Ohio, on September 26, 2015, at Wachesaw Plantation in Murrells Inlet, South Carolina. Little Hawks Will ’20 and Jackson ’22 Simerville were ushers and Walker Simerville ’26 was the ring bearer. Bill Simerville ’84 gave his sister away. BETSEY HUMMEL MACHOLZ made the wedding cake. Keely writes, “It was an amazing weekend at Litchfield Beach and terrific to have so many Latin alumni present, such as HEIDI LAYTON BERGER, DEB LOCKE DENNY, KATHERINE SCHOLL HOSKINS, ERIC NICHOLS and JENNIFER GUNAR JONES.”

LCDR Richard A. Vinroot Jr. ’88 (left) and CDR Tom Carver (right) are physicians serving in the U.S. Navy Expeditionary Medical Corps in Djibouti.

1990

Anna Litaker Reimers anna.reimers@gmail.com Denny Smith O’Leary dennyoleary@me.com Denise Nasekos Pettus dnpettus72@gmail.com

1991

Kathryn Barnhardt Van Nort kvannort@yahoo.com

Eleanor Robbins Davis, daughter of Mark Davis ’91, was born on June 26, 2015.

Sally Gallagher Lindsay sglindsay73@gmail.com Congratulations to Sarah and MARK DAVIS, who writes “I may be old, but I finally got on board with kid #1, Eleanor Robbins, who was born on June 26, 2015. We live in Charleston, South Carolina, and managed to survive the whirlwind of baby’s first Christmas!”

Catherine Clark, the third daughter of Brandon and Kess Connelly Clark ’92, was born on April 8, 2015.

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

to Washington D.C. (four years total, in various capacities - covering bilateral relations with East African countries and more recently Turkey), once to Haiti (two years with our embassy there), and now to Guinea, in West Africa, where I am head of our political/economic section -my first major leadership role in the State Department. I arrived here in late July and am loving West Africa!”

1992

Kess Connelly Clark kess.connelly@yahoo.com Congratulations to Brandon and KESS CONNELLY CLARK, whose sweet angel Catherine Winifred was born on April 8, 2015. Kess writes, “Sisters Clara, 1, and Caroline, 5, adore her and love to dance for her. My husband, Brandon, and I are in love.”

1993

Ed McMahan emcmahan@falfurriascapital.com Cullen McNulty cullen.mcnulty@gmail.com CULLEN

MCNULTY, a broker/ realtor with The David Hoffman Group in Charlotte, writes, “In June, I started a home remodeling company called McNulty Construction. We handle anything you can think of and service NC/ SC. We have over 15 years of experience. We gladly donate a percentage of profits to the Beds for Kids charity.”

JENNIFER HOLLOWAY lives in Santa Monica, California, and works in medical device sales. She recently became a consultant for a unique, start-up skin care/ cosmetic company called BeautyCounter.

Christina and Chase Metheney ’94, along with their four sons, enjoyed visiting with former CLS Varsity Boys’ Basketball Coach Faulkner over the holidays.

1996

Peggy Kane Thies peggythies33@gmail.com Holly Ivanoff Graham hollyigraham@gmail.com Congratulations to MISSY ERWIN HIGHSMITH and her husband, Ted, who welcomed Thomas Erwin Highsmith on December 13, 2015. He joins big sisters Lila, who is a Latin second grader, and Virginia. The Highsmiths live in Charlotte.

If you are interested in being the Class of 1995 Class Agent, please contact Sally in the Alumni Office: ssmith@charlottelatin.org.

Melissa Schreier Guarnaccia melguarnaccia@gmail.com

Krista Gasbarro Rankin kristamrankin@yahoo.com

Katherine Dickson Crockett katherinecrockett12@gmail.com

1995

1998

Talia Caligiuri talia.caligiuri@gmail.com

1994

Congratulations to Christina and CHASE METHENEY, who welcomed their third and fourth sons, twins Sam and Eli, on October 8, 2015. They join big brothers Jack, 22 months, and Amos, 4. The Metheneys live in Charlotte, where Chase works as a spinal consultant with Johnson & Johnson.

Justine Treadwell ’97 lives in West Africa, where she works for the U.S. State Department.

Thomas Erwin, Virginia and Lila are the children of Missy Erwin Highsmith ’96.

Congratulations to LIZ BREYER and Matthew Johnson, who were married on November 14, 2015. The couple lives in Charlotte, where Liz works in Internal Communications for Delhaize America with a focus on the Food Lion banner.

1997

Ben Vandiver bhvandiver@gmail.com JUSTINE TREADWELL joined the U.S. State Department as a Foreign Service Officer in 2009 and has loved working in public service. She writes, ‘’My assignments as a U.S. diplomat have taken me twice

Liz Breyer ’98 and Matthew Johnson were married on November 14, 2015. Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

CHRISTOPHER ARBOR (formerly

REAGAN KENWELL received her Master’s degree in Early Childhood Education from Lesley University in May of 2015. In July, Reagan began her position as Director of Admission at Tower School in Marblehead, Massachusetts. She writes, “I’ve been at the school for twelve years and have been so excited about this new chapter. I’m gearing up for another winter in Massachusetts, but hoping for less than 100 inches of snow this time around!”

Christopher Ansaldo) teaches World Literature at the Asheville School in Asheville, North Carolina. He recently published a children’s book, Wide-Eyed Surprise, which was illustrated by his students and which celebrates creation and community. The book is available on amazon.com.

to JAN SCOTT SWETENBURG FARMER and her

Congratulations Regan White ’99 married Nathan Craig in November of 2015.

TENAE WILKINS DOWNING starred in the summer box office hit, War Room, as Veronica Drake. War Room was the number one new movie in America the weekend of its opening and was number two overall. Tenae and her husband, Earl, live in Charlotte with their three children.

Christopher Arbor ’98 presents his book, Wide-Eyed Surprise, to Asheville School Headmaster Arch Montgomery.

Bo and Sally Scott Farmer are the twin son and daughter of Jan Scott Swetenburg Farmer ’00 and her husband, Luke.

1999

Karen Ubell karen.ubell@gmail.com Regan White reganmwhite@gmail.com Congratulations to REGAN WHITE, who married Nathan Craig in an epic doubleheader on November 6, 2015, at the chapel at St. Matthew Catholic Church in Ballantyne and again on November 7, 2015, outside at The Ivy Place in Lancaster, South Carolina. Family, friends and their fur-son, Charlie, were in attendance. The couple lives in Charlotte’s Dilworth neighborhood.

Charlotte LATIN

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husband, Luke, who welcomed twins Sarah Scott (“Sally Scott”) and Daniel Bowie (“Bo”) on July 24, 2015. Jan Scott says, “We are loving every minute with them. I returned to my job as an assistant in kindergarten at Latin in October and the twins joined proud big brother Luke at The Nest. They’ve already been to a CLS football game!”

Tenae Wilkins Downing ’99 and her husband, Earl, on the red carpet at the premiere of War Room.

2000

Jan Scott Swetenburg Farmer janscottfarmer@gmail.com Mary Dickson maryrdickson@gmail.com

MATT “SMOKEY” CLOUD writes, “The project I’m currently working on is called Mike & Dave Need Wedding Dates starring Zac Efron and Anna Kendrick. It’s a romantic comedy, which will be released in July. In addition to that, I also lent a hand with the assistant editorial on Alvin & The Chipmunks 4: The Road Chip and the upcoming Deadpool movie. Here’s to hoping for more adventures in 2016!” Congratulations

JONATHAN

Lauren

and

STOUT, whose son,

Christian Michael, was born on January 27, 2015. Jonathan says that he “is bouncing all over the house. I predict he will be dribbling a basketball by his first birthday.” The Stouts live in Charlotte.

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

2002

Tripp Cockerham tripp.cockerham@gmail.com Patrick Rivenbark patrick.rivenbark@gmail.com

Christian Stout, son of Jonathan Stout ’00, was born in January of 2015.

2001

Stephanie Hannon stephanie.hannon29@gmail.com In the summer of 2015, KAREN HILL and her brother, Adam Hill ’00, opened the First Wind Cycling and Fitness studio in Charlotte’s South End. One of their instructors is Claire Gregson Cullipher ’93.

2003

Mary Holland Rankin mhrankin12@gmail.com Hunter Miller miller.hunterl@gmail.com Katie Moody klmoody16@gmail.com JARRETT LEWIS married Elise Grace Kelly on October 2, 2015, in Charleston, South Carolina (in the middle of Hurricane Joaquin!). BRIAN SINGER, MICKEY CLOUD, and MIKE OWENS were all there and Jarrett’s sister, Rachael Lewis Anna ’97, served as the matron of honor. Elise and Jarrett met in Boston while working on the Romney presidential campaign in 2012 and have been together since. Elise, who is from New Jersey and is a graduate of Georgetown University, has stayed in politics while Jarrett has returned to the healthcare industry.

Katherine Zuger Ladd ’03 and her family live in Charleston, South Carolina.

CHARLES HODGES and his team at TBWA\Media Arts Lab won the Grand Clio at the 2015 Clio Awards and a Grand Prix at the 2015 Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity for their Shot on iPhone 6 “World Gallery” Campaign for Apple. Charles is Group Creative Director for Apple’s agency in Los Angeles, where he leads all work for iPhone.

Karen Hill ’01 owns and runs First Wind Cycling, where Claire Gregson Cullipher ’93 is an instructor. Congratulations to Jennifer and ERIC MADARA, who welcomed Kathryn Lois “Kate” on November 20, 2015. The Madaras live in Charlotte, where Eric works for Wells Fargo Securities.

Alec Baldwin presents Charles Hodges ’03 and his team with a 2015 Clio Award. Jarrett ’03 and Elise Lewis were married on October 2, 2015. Congratulations to KATHERINE ZUGER LADD and her husband, Jonathan, who welcomed their second son, Nolan Richard, on October 19, 2015. Nolan joins big brother, Eli, who is almost 2 years old.

2004

Lizz Clegg liclegg@gmail.com Shelton Metcalf shelton.metcalf@gmail.com

Eric ’01 and Jennifer Madara welcomed Kate on November 20, 2015. Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

MEARA JERNIGAN lives in Denver, Colorado, where she is pursuing a Master of Science in Business Analytics degree at the University of Denver’s Daniels College of Business. This fall, she enjoyed running into fellow Hawks who were among Carolina Panthers fans watching a game in Denver!

2005

2006

Patrick Fitzpatrick p.fitzpatrick27@gmail.com

Ashley Sigmon asigmon@gmail.com

PATRICK FITZPATRICK is a Collateral

Mark Ashcraft mark.ashcraft@ally.com

William Hodges whhodges@gmail.com

Mary Salem Gregory marysalem.gregory@gmail.com

Manager in Corporate Treasury at Bank of America in Charlotte.

KATHRYN STEELE works as an account supervisor in the health practice at Edelman, a global communications marketing firm, in Atlanta, Georgia.

Congratulations to Jackie and NICK RAY, who were married on October 23, 2015. The couple lives in Charlotte, where Nick works as an Assistant Project Engineer as well as an Assistant Track Coach at CLS.

MEREDITH

TRUSTY lives in Charlotte, where she works as a financial assistant at Laurel Wealth Advisors, LLC.

Front: Meara Jernigan ’04, Cynthia RubioFesta ’07, Shannon Majors ’05 Back: Nick Thigpen ’04, Brad Starbuck ’05 and Lauren Gabosch Starbuck ’05 gather in Denver, Colorado, to watch a Carolina Panthers game. Sarah and CHARLIE DEASON celebrated the arrival of their son, Charles Richard Deason, Jr., on August 11, 2015. The family recently moved from Connecticut to Atlanta, where Charlie will continue in his current Strategy & Corporate Development role. Charlie, Jr. also is the grandson of Jean Trice Deason ’75.

KENT CALDWELL is an acrobat performing for his fifth year at the Cirque du Soleil show “Mystere” in Las Vegas, Nevada. MALLORY NANNY is a Master of Art degree candidate in Art History and an adjunct professor at Florida State University.

LAURA MANNS is an illustrator and fabricator whose clients include Disney World, The Muppets, Sesame Street, and Nickelodeon. She lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Jackie and Nick Ray ’06 were married on October 23, 2015.

JOHN RUDOLPH writes, “I have been living in Salt Lake City, Utah, since graduating from the University of Colorado in Boulder. I am a professional ski instructor at Alta Ski Area, home of the greatest snow on earth! Please contact me if you’ll be skiing out here this winter or over Spring Break. I have seen several Latin families in past seasons and it’s always fun to catch up on what’s going on in Charlotte.”

2005

2015

Sarah and Charlie Deason ’04 welcomed Charlie Jr. on August 11, 2015. 68

Charlotte LATIN

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Fall Semester 2015

Patrick Fitzpatrick ’05, Kathryn Steele ’05, Meredith Trusty ’05, Kent Caldwell ’05, Mallory Nanny ’05 and Laura Manns ’05 reunited in 2015 and recreated an old photo from 2005.

John Rudolph ’06 is a ski instructor in Salt Lake City, Utah.

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

2007

Brent Price Gallagher mbp1024@gmail.com Maddie Durrett madisondurrett@gmail.com Stuart Kessler stuart.a.kessler@gmail.com

Brent Price ’07 and Graham Gallagher ’07 were married on September 26, 2015.

HARRIET BARNHARDT FOLSOM is a captain in the U.S. Army and is stationed at Joint Base Lewis-McChord in Washington. Her husband, James, is a C-17 pilot in the U.S. Air Force.

Harriet Barnhardt Folsom ’07 and her husband, James, live in Washington, where they serve in the military.

July 18, 2015, ANNELISE SHELTON married her college sweetheart,

Gabriel Ward. They had a small wedding in Virginia Beach, Virginia, at the location where Gabe proposed. Mitchell Dudas ’08 performed two solos during the ceremony and Wesley Dudas ’14 was in attendance. Annelise moved to Charlottesville, Virginia, in January to live with her new husband. She previously taught twelfth grade Honors English at Ardrey Kell High School in Charlotte.

Bradley Moody ’07, Matthew Pearson ’07, Randall Masters ’07, Mark Barber ’07, Cowden Rayburn ’07, Stuart Kessler ’07, Sam Teden ’07, Scot Robison ’07, Sean Kerrigan ’07, Graham Miller ’07 and Bill Stafford ’07 enjoy tailgating at the Carolina Panthers game the Sunday following the wedding of Brent Price ’07 to Graham Gallagher ’07. Congratulations to BRENT PRICE and GRAHAM GALLAGHER, who were married in Charlotte on September 26, 2015. The ceremony was held at Christ Episcopal Church and the reception was held on the Price family’s property in Mineral Springs, North Carolina, which is home to the Queen’s Cup Steeplechase. The wedding party included PATTERSON MAKER, MOLLY MCCRORY, Jamey Price ’06, BILL STAFFORD, James Gallagher ’05, and Charlie Gallagher ’11. The bride and groom honeymooned immediately following the wedding in Italy. Brent and Graham reside in New York City’s West Village neighborhood. Brent works in public relations at L’Oreal, and Graham is a Private Equity Associate at Apollo Global Management LLC.

2008 The Dudas family, including Mitchell ’08 and Wesley ’14, attended the wedding of Annelise Shelton ’07.

Obi Okwara obinnayaokwara@gmail.com Rachel Barkley rachelbarkley@kw.com

2009

Catie Faison catie.faison@gmail.com Meggie Trusty meggie.trusty@gmail.com Kudos to ANNIE BOOKE, who earned her private pilot license in December of 2015. She is enrolled in the Elon University Physician Assistant Program.

Annie Booke ’09 flies high with her private pilot license.

STEWART BOSS writes, “I had been living in Washington, D.C. last year, but moved to Las Vegas in November and am working at the Nevada Democratic Party.” Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

KINSEY SULLIVAN writes, “In 2015, one of my best friends, Sarah Leonard, and I started Be Your Own Muse, a digital magazine and community that celebrates incredible young women around the globe. Through Q+A interviews, personal essays and spotlight features, we spread creative empowerment, foster inspiration and encourage adventure. This first year has been wonderfully challenging, and we’re really looking forward to seeing how this passion project continues to grow.” MURRILL OAKES is participating in Pratt Institute’s Global Innovation Design Program as a component of her Master of Industrial Design degree. This program involves an alternate second year abroad. She is currently residing in Tokyo, Japan, studying at Keio University, and she will begin a semester at the Royal College of Art in London, England, in March. Next year, she will be back home in Brooklyn to complete her remaining Master’s thesis year and continue her product design career in New York.

2010

Effe Ghartey-Tagoe effegharteytagoe@gmail.com Rachel Kokenes kokenes@email.unc.edu

Florida, where he works for Kraft Heinz on the Publix Customer Team. He is a Category Manager/Analyst for the company’s grocery and beverage businesses.

WANNAMAKER

has been living out of the country for the past few years – first as a political science student in Madrid, Spain, and currently as an operations manager for a youth peace education program in La Paz, Bolivia. She’s also a part-time graduate student at Lancaster University through a distance learning program, studying for an LLM in International Law and Diplomacy. 70

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stories and report on air each day! Some of my recent stories have been picked up nationally by NBC News and the Today show.”

Caroline Hicks ’11 is a television news reporter in Tyler, Texas.

Ross Calhoun ’10 is conducting a research project on Flammulated owl migration.

2011

Congratulations to ZACH KERN, who graduated from the University of Georgia this past spring and received a merit scholarship to the University of South Carolina School of Law.

Michael Grace michael.r.grace@yale.edu

Mary Padgett Hawkins hawkinsmp@appstate.edu

CHASE CARBONE lives in Tampa,

STUART

CALHOUN is conducting an independent research project on flammulated owl migration in New Mexico and Colorado. Ross writes, “I got involved with researching this species through a biology professor at Colorado College (where I graduated in 2014 with a BA in Biology: Organisms, Evolution, and Ecology) and have been studying the birds both with the school and independently for the past three years. I am passionate about this project and excited to explore the crowdfunding avenue for acquiring funding as an alternative to traditional grant writing, by which my project has been funded for the past three fall seasons.”

Noland Griffith nolandgriffith@gmail.com

Will Tome tome.w@husky.neu.edu

MARY

ROSS

Fall Semester 2015

Daniel Hoilett daniel.hoilett@furman.edu Jalen Ross jalen@email.virginia.edu Ann Louise Seaton alseaton13@gmail.com After graduating with a degree in journalism from Southern Methodist University, CAROLINE HICKS is working as a television news reporter for the NBC affiliate, KETK News, in Tyler, Texas. Caroline says, “I am enjoying the opportunity to write, shoot and edit news

Zach Kern ’11 graduated from UGA in the spring of 2015.

ALEX TAYLOR graduated from Barnard College in May of 2015. While there, she acted in a show affiliated with New Georges, then presented a reading of that play at Playwrights’ Horizons. Alex writes, “This summer, I did some acting at Culture Project and the Tank Theater, marketing for a show at the New York

ALUMNI • CLASS NOTES

Fringe Festival, and stage management for a show at Theater for the New City. I’m pursuing acting primarily, and right now I’m working at the Juilliard School and auditioning... looking for my next project!”

2012

Ryan Carter carterra@email.wofford.edu

Areon Mobasher, who not only looks the part but has a superb baritone voice that is big enough to match this larger-than-life character.”

Aseda Ghartey-Tagoe essie.a.ghartey-tagoe@vanderbilt.edu Chris Jones cjones41693@yahoo.com Kathryn Watts kathrynwatts2016@u.northwestern.edu ELYSE BUSH is a senior at Boston Alex Taylor ’11 is pursuing an acting career in New York City. Congratulations to DANIEL HOILETT, who graduated from Furman University in May of 2015. He also was inducted into the Furman Hall of Leaders for his work in Admissions, Housing, Greek Life, and Student Government. Daniel lives in Greenville, South Carolina, where he teaches second grade at Brushy Creek Elementary School. He plans to start a master’s program in literacy or curriculum integration in the near future.

College, where she has co-founded ModilMe, a campus start-up clothes sharing service. ModilMe won Best Service at Boston College’s 2015 Elevator Pitch Competition, which is sponsored by the Center for Entrepreneurship.

2013

Areon Mobasher ’13 played the role of Tevye in N.C. State University’s production of Fiddler on the Roof. Congratulations to SARAH SABA, who was named a recipient of the Furman Metropolitan Fellowship. Sarah will receive a grant to live in New York City this summer and will hold an internship provided by Furman University alumni.

Ashley Finke asfinke@me.com Areon Mobasher areon.mobasher@gmail.com Jacob Nabatoff jacobsnabatoff@gmail.com Chris Paschal chris.paschal@me.com Ellie Sheild ellie.sheild@gmail.com Congratulations to MICHAEL CHADWICK, a junior on the Mizzou swimming team, who was named to the 2015-16 U.S. National Swimming Team.

Daniel Hoilett enjoys teaching with this second grade team in Greenville, S.C.

ELIZABETH CARLSON lives in New York City and works for PwC in healthcare consulting. Elizabeth graduated Summa Cum Laude with honors in Health Science from Wake Forest University, where she was a member of Phi Beta Kappa, the Order of Omega, and Sigma Delta Pi.

AREON MOBASHER is a junior at N.C. State University, where he played the role of Tevye in Fiddler on the Roof in October of 2015. Areon received glowing reviews, such as CVNC’s: “In any production of Fiddler on the Roof, it is essential that there be a truly super actor/ singer to portray the central character of Tevye. [University Theatre] is fortunate to have just such a performer in the role,

Sarah Saba ’13 was named a Metropolitan Fellow at Furman University.

2014

Mason Ledonne mason.ledonne@tcu.edu Griffin Smith tgsmith9@live.unc.edu Mary Page Welch welchm18@wlu.edu

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Charlotte LATIN

HEADMASTER’S CORNER

Continued from page 3. Numerous articles and books have been written on the subject of what makes an effective teacher. For a number of years, I have made the practice of asking seniors at Latin what they think constitutes the best qualities in their teachers. While there is some variation of opinions, most agree that it comes down to three primary qualities: mastery of the subject, a passion for teaching, and compassion for their students. As I think back to the very best teachers I had in my K-12 education, I would have to agree that these three qualities reigned supreme. Dr. David Ramsey was the finest teacher I had during my four years at Marion High School. A high school dropout, he entered the Navy where, as he often told his students, he “grew up in a hurry” and came to appreciate what it meant to be an “educated man.” He had a reputation for being extremely demanding and many students avoided his class, as did two of my siblings, for fear of the workload that was required. Not being the type of student or person to avoid a challenge, I opted to take his history class my junior year. To be perfectly candid, there were times that year when I regretted my decision. While the lecture format is often frowned upon today by contemporary educators, parents, and students, this was the very method that Dr. Ramsey employed daily in his classes. Of course, this was before the personal computer was invented, so I more often than not would leave my sixth period class with a cramped right hand from taking notes at a feverish pace. However, nothing about Dr. Ramsey’s class was boring. He had a passion for teaching on World War I and World War II. He frequently traveled to Europe during the summers and walked the battlefields and roads where American and Allied troops fought and died for the freedoms we still enjoy in this country. He would interview native historians and war veterans to bring life and context to his 72

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lectures. When Dr. Ramsey spoke about a particular conflict during these wars, my classmates and I felt as though we, too, were on those battlefields hearing the guns and cannons blasting away and experiencing the drama and horror that is war. “Teaching requires more than knowing how to learn, although that is important. Above all, teaching requires learning itself; and, if possible under the demanding conditions that face so many teachers, it requires mastery of a subject.” While his knowledge and passion for teaching was clearly evident, it was his personal connections with his students that made him a favorite of mine. I was always busy as a student engaged in sports, student government, and other school activities. At the time that I was enrolled in his history class, Dr. Ramsey was working on his Master’s degree at Appalachian State University. He was aware of the limitations of our local public library, so he took it upon himself to check out books for me through the college library that I used in his history class. “It is a teacher’s infectious enthusiasm for learning itself, as much as the student’s own curiosity about the teacher’s subject, that is apt to captivate a student.” That year, I wrote three research papers for Dr. Ramsey. The first was on the Lafayette Escadrille, a part of the French Air Service during World War I composed largely of American volunteer pilots, and was a mere 12 typed pages. The third paper was 42 typed pages (no kidding!). Dr. Ramsey helped me with all three papers by supplying me with sources unavailable in my hometown and by meeting with me and my classmates at the public library most Saturday mornings to assist us with our research and to answer questions. His passion for nearly every subject we studied became my passion. Such was the influence he had on my life. In 2001, when I was named headmaster at Charlotte Latin

School, Dr. Ramsey, recently retired, was the first person outside my family to call and congratulate me on my new job. “For the most skilled and devoted teachers, knowledge comes through an intense love of learning and of a subject, a love whose origins may be mysterious and unknown, awakened perhaps by a chance encounter with a children’s book, by a parent’s praise, or by a cherished teacher’s encouragement – by something special that forever marked the future teacher.” When I graduated from high school, I entered college with a full athletic scholarship, a pre-med major, and high self-esteem. What I learned in short order was that none of those prerequisites was a substitute for academic preparation. With no intent to slight any of my other high school teachers, Dr. Ramsey was one of the very few teachers who challenged me and helped give me a glimpse into the world of higher education. When I was assigned my first term paper my freshman year, I was one of a handful of students in my English class who knew how to do the research and who understood the amount and quality of work that was required for a good grade. For the record, I made an “A” on that first paper, the credit for which belonged to Dr. Ramsey, and on my first visit home that fall, I let him know so. The traditional classroom is not the only venue where important lessons are learned. The most challenging teacher I ever had was my high school basketball coach, Ken Brackett. I played four years of varsity basketball under Coach Brackett and had a cumulative record of 83-19. Coach Brackett was a very tough taskmaster. His use of profanity was legendary. Not to celebrate bad language, but Coach Brackett created a sort of art form in his use of fourletter words, some of which I have never heard since graduating from Marion High. He had no interest in your opinion about practices, game preparation, or our

HEADMASTER’S CORNER

upcoming opponent. Our job was simple: give everything you have every day in practice and leave everything else to the coach. While this may sound old fashioned or even barbaric by today’s standards, where every kid gets a trophy just for showing up and parents are often more concerned about their child’s feelings and self-esteem than the greater lessons to be learned through sports, I credit many of my lifelong skills and character development to this one great teacher. Now in my fortieth year in education, I can honestly say that no other teacher or classroom experience has had as profound an impact on my life as the lessons learned on the gym floor under the guidance of Coach Ken Brackett. And for this, I will be forever grateful. Though David Ramsey and Ken Brackett could not have been more different in their styles and approaches to teaching, both were effective. Each man knew his subject very well, both were passionate in their approach to teaching and coaching, and both cared deeply for their students. I agree wholeheartedly with author and former Yale professor, William Deresiewicz, when it comes to what students are looking for in their teachers and college professors: “My years in the classroom, as well as my conversations with young people about their college experience, have convinced me there are two things, above all, that students want from their professors. Not as people commonly believe, to entertain them in class and hand out easy A’s. That’s what they retreat to, once they see that nothing better is on offer. What they really want is that their teachers challenge them and that they care about them.” The manner in which compassion is demonstrated by teachers can come in many different forms. Stories have been shared with me over the years by students and parents at Latin about an individual

teacher or coach who went above and beyond the call of duty in support of a student, especially under difficult circumstances. Whether holding a special study session on the weekend to prepare his students for an upcoming test or making a visit to the hospital simply to check on the welfare of her student, teachers who demonstrate a genuine concern for their students, who see them as human beings, not simply as students, and who understand the developmental, emotional and psychological challenges inherent in childhood, these are the teachers and coaches who stand above the rest. For long after students have forgotten the lessons taught in classrooms, on practice fields and stages, they remember how their teachers made them feel. “Compassion requires first that teachers know who their students are.” I frequently tell prospective parents attending one of our admissions open houses that all I can guarantee them, with respect to their child’s future experience as a Charlotte Latin student, is that their child will be known and their child will be loved. One of my most cherished memories of a teacher’s impact on my life took place near the end of my senior year in high school. I never had Marguerite Gilkey as a classroom teacher. She taught Latin and served as my student council advisor. I was a very involved high school student, serving as vice-president of the student council, captain of the basketball and track and field teams, and as an officer in numerous other organizations. Due to school consolidation in McDowell County, this was to be the final year of Marion High School. As a result, our principal, Ted Freeman, had been appointed to be the new principal at McDowell High. My senior English teacher, Robert Howell, was named the interim principal at Marion in mid-year. Though an excellent classroom teacher, Mr. Howell had no prior administrative experience and

the additional responsibilities and the stress on this fine educator became quite obvious as the year went along. Two weeks prior to my graduation, Mr. Howell called a special assembly of the student body. After some demeaning comments about two organizations for which I served as president, I took issue with Mr. Howell in front of the entire student body. I said some things to Mr. Howell, which I regret to this day, although his own comments were unkind and unfounded. I was suspended from school for the next five days. (I called Mr. Howell later that evening and apologized, as did he. We remained friends until his death several years later.) I stayed at home the following week during my suspension. My mother capitalized on the situation. I was at her beck and call all week long doing everything from yard work to the family laundry. At the end of the week, my mother handed me a folded note saying that it came from Mrs. Gilkey. I have never forgotten the simple yet profound message in that note that brought healing to my soul and a deep sense of gratitude and love for this wise and compassionate teacher: a good boy trying to do a good job will always be misunderstood. No other words or message from another teacher or coach has ever meant as much to me. Mrs. Gilkey certainly didn’t condone my words or actions; she simply let me know that she understood my intentions and she cared. “Great teachers impact others in more ways than they can ever know. The legacies we build last far beyond our years. Students care about great teachers because they know great teachers care about them.” As I told our faculty last summer at the beginning of the new school year, no one cares how much you know until they know how much you care.

Continued on page 74. Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

Continued from page 73. The students who are fortunate enough to attend Charlotte Latin are exposed to excellent, effective, and compassionate teachers every day. All the surveys and interviews we conduct clearly demonstrate that it is the people teaching in our classrooms and in other venues on campus who keep our enrollment full and our parents willing to pay the tuition. Educational excellence is the hallmark of Charlotte Latin School and nothing that our leaders can do is more important to the Schoolâ€™s future than to continue to recruit, hire, and retain the finest teachers available. Sources: The Elements of Teaching, James M. Banner, Jr. and Harold C. Cannon

EAT

& SHOP

FOR LATIN!

Excellent Sheep: The Miseducation of the American Elite and the Way to a Meaningful Life, William Deresiewicz What Great Teachers Do Differently, Todd Whitaker

Please share your time and talents, and even your purchases, to support Charlotte Latin! HARRIS TEETER, TOGETHER IN EDUCATION Relink your Harris Teeter VIC card 1806. You must relink every year. A percentage of purchases of Harris Teeter brand products and a percentage of each prescription filled at Harris Teeter pharmacies are returned to the School. www.harristeeter.com/community/together_in_education/tie_details AMAZON SMILE Sign up for Amazon Smile! .5% of all eligible purchases is returned to the School, when purchases are made on the Amazon Smile site as opposed to the main Amazon site.

In Memory of

Kim E. Mullery

March 17, 1952 â€” November 13, 2015

www.smile.amazon.com

www.charlottelatin.org/alumni/connectwithevertrue IT’S TIME FOR

March Madness! It’s every class for itself in the March Madness Alumni Participation Challenge! This year, Latin is turning the intensity up a notch: beginning on March 14, Latin graduates will have only three weeks to compete for bragging rights, a sweet trophy, and other goodies. Alumni, you’ll hear from your “coaches” (otherwise known as your class agents), soon! Now in its fourth year, the March Madness competition has changed the giving game among Latin’s alumni. Over the last three years, 521 gifts were a result of the March Madness competition. Latin’s alumni raised a total of $312,317 in 2014-15, finishing with a 20% participation total.

Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

PARTING The Nest SH TS

Charlotte LATIN

â€¢

Fall Semester 2015

Put it on the Calendar!

March 21 – 28

March 29

April 1 – 2

April 9

April 15

Grandparents’ Day

April 25

US Orchestra / Wind Ensemble Concert

April 27

Upper School Choral Concert

May 2

Grade 5 Combined Concert

May 9

Grades 6 – 8 Choral Concert

May 11

Grades 7 – 8 Orchestra / Wind Ensemble Concert

May 14

May Day Play Day

May 16

Grade 6 Orchestra / Wind Ensemble Concert

May 20

Middle School Dance

May 22

Baccalaureate

May 24

Hawkspy Dinner and Awards Presentation

May 27

Commencement

May 30

Memorial Day – No School

June 2

Grade 5 Moving Up Ceremony and Reception

June 3

Grade 8 Moving Up Ceremony

June 3

Spring Break Classes Resume One Acts Festival Junior / Senior Prom

Dismissal of Grades 1 – 7 at 12:30 p.m. (TK & K at 11:45 a.m.)

CLS events are posted at www.charlottelatin.org “Campus Events” and under the “Arts” tab.

CLS CORE VALUES “Honor Above All” Charlotte Latin embraces the development of personal honor as a lifelong pursuit in the building of character. What is right and honorable is valued above all else. Adherence to the Honor Code is required from all members of the School community. We honor one another and our personal gifts and accomplishments. Commitment to Excellence The quest for excellence that has characterized Charlotte Latin since its founding extends to all aspects of School life, and is viewed as the effort to do one’s best and to seek to improve continually. This quest embodies the boundless spirit that characterizes our School community, and it is grounded in our commitment to create an exceptional environment for teaching and learning. Leadership Charlotte Latin encourages the development of leadership as a lifelong characteristic of our students and adheres to the concept of service to others (servant leadership) as the ideal model that best meets the needs of our School community, our nation, and the world. Respect for Oneself and Others Charlotte Latin holds that mutual respect is the foundation of our School community, and that our respect for others leads us to serve them and to embrace diverse peoples and cultures. Personal Responsibility Charlotte Latin requires each person to be accountable for his or her actions. We all share responsibility for the welfare of the greater School community. Moral Courage Charlotte Latin leads by example and our members are willing to do what is right and true through the courage of their convictions in spite of possible consequences or the opinions of others. Morally courageous people are willing to admit their mistakes, to address injustice, and to uphold the principle of “Honor Above All.”

CLS BELIEFS Everyone can learn and is encouraged to learn through as many opportunities as the School can provide. Honor is one of the most fundamental values, and upholding the Honor Code is a valued tradition. All students have unique talents and capabilities and have something to give to the community. Faculty and staff are always encouraged to continue their studies and their professional growth with the aid of staff development funds. Parents are an active and important part of the life of the School. All students will act in a manner consistent with the customs and courtesies of the School and the School Community. The School continues to review and update its programs in all areas. Teachers interact with students in a way that develops healthy relationships in a professional manner. The general campus – through its gardens, its statuary, and its buildings – promotes an atmosphere of peace and harmony.

Also, please frequently check the

CARPE DIEM ONLINE MASTER CALENDAR

The leadership of the School shall be carried out in an atmosphere that encourages and supports these beliefs.

on MyLatin for additional dates and information. Fall Semester 2015

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Charlotte LATIN

NON-PROFIT ORGANIZATION US POSTAGE

PAID PERMIT #3031 CHARLOTTE, NC

9502 Providence Road Charlotte, NC 28277-8695 704.846.1100 www.charlottelatin.org

SUM

VICTOR E. HAWK

MER

20I6

CHARLOTTE LATIN SCHOOL SUMMER PROGRAMS JUNE I3 â€“ JULY 29, 20I6

charlottelatinsummer.com