SENIOR CHAPEL TALKS

One of the Greatest Gifts We Can Give

Imagine having the opportunity to give a talk as a high school senior to your entire school, teachers included. Imagine being able to deliver a message of your choice, something you think is important for others to know about you or is a culmination of your experiences as a high school student. Imagine having the opportunity to select others to read quotes, passages from literature or theological texts, or even song lyrics that feel important to you and then speak about their relationships with you. Imagine having the chance to express yourself not only in words, but also in song, dance, writing, or other artistic works if you so desire. For decades of Chatham Hall graduates, this is not something to imagine but rather the established tradition of Senior Chapel Talks.

“Senior Chapel Talks were in their infancy when I gave mine” recalls Eleanor Burke ’86. “My senior class may have been the first or second year of Senior Chapel Talks, at least in more recent history. They were a relatively new brainchild of then- Rector Jerry ‘Dutch’ Van Voorhis and our Episcopal minister and religion instructor Dr. John Ruef. None of us had been coached in public speaking; some of us were just fortunate to be rambunctious, fearless, or theatrical.”

Burke will never forget the date she delivered her Senior Chapel Talk in St. Mary’s Chapel. It was Jan. 28, 1986, the day the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded on live television just 73 seconds into flight. All seven astronauts on board including America’s first teacher-in-space, Christa McAuliffe were killed.

“I happened to be reading Leo Buscaglia’s Living, Loving & Learning, and truly identified with his hug-mentality, his celebration of being different, and how risktaking in life brought growth, happiness and success,” says Burke.

“My talk came together pretty easily for me, but on the day of the service I froze, and took a long pause before reading my last quote from Leo Buscaglia. I had to focus on the quote, and use my finger on my paper, at every line, and read it very slowly, especially that last sentence: ‘To live is to risk dying. I’m ready for it. Don’t you dare shed one tear if you hear that Buscaglia blew up in the air or dropped dead. He did it with enthusiasm.’

“I will never forget that, or the gasps and rustling from my friends in St. Mary’s Chapel when I finished. My talk, with this quote, had been approved months prior, and here I was, on this day, somehow addressing a real moment in history. To say this blew my mind is an understatement. I have never forgotten anything about that day. Reflecting on it now, it still sends chills.”

For alumna Kristin Reese Solomon ’08, there was no national disaster by which to remember the day of her Senior Chapel Talk but she will never forget the memory of her mother and grandmother in St. Mary’s Chapel.

“My mom and my Nana were there, unfortunately my dad couldn’t get away from work,” she remembers. “I intentionally picked a day that was close to my birthday and a long weekend. I spoke about always struggling with change and accepting change, and how I was going to college and I knew that it was my time to embrace it. I also talked about moving from a public school to Chatham Hall, and all of the challenges and opportunities that came with it, and how much growth I went through as a result.” Solomon often thinks back to her Senior Chapel Talk, especially while she continues to experience change throughout her life.

“As an adult, I know that the one constant in life is change.

Everything keeps changing, often not in ways you expect. Even when you think you have life figured out, it’s going to change again. The process of writing my Senior Chapel Talk gave me time and space for really good introspection, and let me figure some things out about myself that will stick with me forever. Whenever I have a significant change after a life event, I often think of my Senior Chapel Talk.”

This time and space for introspection is a hallmark of the Senior Chapel Talk process, now overseen by Dean of the Chapel and Spiritual Life Beth Barskdale, the School’s chaplain.

“A Senior Chapel Talk is an important and significant rite of passage for each graduating Senior. These services are also a public and communal celebratory response from our community. Unlike some schools which offer seniors a chance to give a tenminute talk during a chapel service, we have created an opportunity for our students to fully express themselves by designing an entire program that articulates who they are. In many ways, the service is a story of their transformative experience while at Chatham Hall,” she says. “But it can also be a message about an important virtue of the senior, or a guiding principle or perspective.

“Though I shepherd the process, the senior creates the entire liturgy for a thirty-minute service. They decide the main focus of their message and they build components around that which comprise the liturgy. This includes the opening and closing words, the hymns, texts, prayers, and blessing, all of which is meant to bring clarity and focus to the Senior’s main discourse, the Chapel Talk itself.

“Offered with honesty and humility, Senior Chapel Talk services offer insight into our individual and collective experiences and illuminate our shared humanity. For these thirty minutes, we celebrate a senior whose message is one that is fully embodied, and understood in a way that the community carries it forward wherever they go.”

The process formally begins at the end of a student’s junior year, when Chaplain Barksdale publishes the Chapel Talk schedule and encourages students to begin thinking about their messages. Many correspond with her over the summer, sharing initial thoughts and refining ideas into specific reflections.

“We are very fortunate to have Dr. Francis Yun, our musical director, and Mother Becky, our part-time Episcopal Priest serving on our Chapel team,” she says.

Sixty days before a Senior Chapel Talk date, the real work begins. Students begin receiving reminders about their upcoming talk, and both Dr. Yun and Mother Becky serve as helpful resources.

Dr. Yun focuses on the musical components and often an artistic expression. Likewise, if a senior requests Communion before or during their talk, Mother Becky serves as the Celebrant.

Top: Anna B. Davis ‘22 gives her Senior Chapel Talk.

Middle: Eleanor Burke’s ‘86 handwritten Senior Chapel Talk.

Middle: Marisol Helms ‘23 gathers with friends for a celebratory picture after her talk.

Bottom: Kristin Reese Solomon ‘08 with Caroline Gibson ‘09 and Kasey Sakellaris Engel ‘08 on the day of her Senior Chapel Talk.

“While many students have a strong inclination of what they want their main discourse to be, others are uncertain,” says Barksdale. “I might give them writing prompts or have them journal to explore various ideas. Through these efforts, inevitably a specific theme surfaces. For many, the theme of a journey comes up. For others it’s an aspect of themselves that they’ve really learned to celebrate — not because they want others to congratulate them, but instead because public affirmation is important to their journey. For others it might be answering a really profound question like ‘What is happiness?’”

At least two weeks before the date of a service, the student works with Barksdale to build the program itself. Some choose to design it themselves, viewing it as another form of expression and an opportunity to engage skills in graphic design and multimedia, while others choose to use the School’s traditional template. Finally, with the program in its final draft and all music and speaker tributes approved, Barksdale schedules a full rehearsal with all student participants. While the overall rehearsal is usually straightforward, Barksdale meets as many times as needed for a senior to feel comfortable. For some students this is a single practice session, for others it is multiple back-to-back sessions.

“It was such an amazing experience working with Chaplain Barksdale,” says Nuura Abdilaahi ’23. “We spent hours in St. Mary’s Chapel rehearsing and working on ways to make my reflection more engaging. It showed me how much effort and energy Chaplain Barksdale spends working with every student to make them feel special on their Senior Chapel Talk day and to ensure they feel confident.”

For students and faculty alike, Senior Chapel Talks are a way to come together to not only celebrate a specific senior but to learn from them and perhaps be inspired by them as well.

“Senior Chapel Talks are a great opportunity for the community to learn more about each of us, and I personally relate to all of the talks and learn from their experiences. It’s very helpful for me and the other students who are younger than the seniors,” says Vicky Gao ’24.

“I play piano and I sing, and I already have a song that I wrote that I’d like to perform at my Senior Chapel Talk. It’s about feminism, so I think it’s very meaningful and would work well to sing after I give my reflection. I have a lot of things that I want to talk about, but I think mostly I’ll focus on growth and change. I still have some time to think about it. I also might want to talk about the importance of confidence as well.”

For Barksdale, the Senior Chapel Talk is not only a communal experience, but a sacred process by which Chatham Hall students come to learn about themselves, explore their worlds, consider their plans, and ultimately share a precious part of themselves with others.

“I think our Senior Chapel program is one of the greatest gifts that we as a school can give our seniors because it gives them permission to stop, and think, and consider themselves — who they are and who they want to be,” she says. “It offers them the opportunity to fully express themselves and to boldly say ‘hello world, this is me.’ This is something they will have for a lifetime of decisions to come.”