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Chat-Spring 2015

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spring 2015

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

the alumnae magazine of chatham hall

an insider’s guide to

the Girl of Today


2 letter from the rector \ 3–11 an insider’s guide to the girl of today and her roadmap for tomorrow 14–17 students \ 18–19 service and leadership \ 20–24 signature events 25–27 philanthropy \ 28–32 community \ 33–44 class notes

photo ©2015www.LISArichmond.com

on the cover

Claire Mayo ’15 Tutu Turtles Robotics Team Captain Photo by Chip Riegel

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Laura Rand Matheny ’06, Editor Design by Christine Walker Printing by Collinsville Printing Company, Martinsville, VA

chatham hall administration

Suzanne Walker Buck, Rector Maisie Deely, Director of Communications and Marketing Strategy Ned Edwards, Chaplain Martha Griswold, Academic Dean Emily Johns, Dean of Students

ex-officio members Christine Knight, Director of Advancement Ronald Merricks, Chief Financial and Facilities Officer Carney O’Brien, Director of Enrollment Management Sharon D. Williams, Director of College Counseling

board of trustees

Stacey M. Goodwin ’83, Chair Lucy McClellan Barrett ’53 Nina Johnson Botsford ’72 Katharine Bulkley ’77 Katharine Reynolds Chandler ’68

Laura Brown Cronin ’72 Sarah Martin Finn ’74 Jane M. Garnett ’73 Zachary Hairston P’15 Katherine Coleman Haroldson ’75 Mary Kay Karzas ’71 Sarah Monarchi Longpré ’84 Robert G. McIver P’10 Lisa Rosenberger Moore ’59 Robin Peake Stuart ’69 Michelle Thomas Supko ’02 Ross Walton P’16 Penelope Perkins Wilson ’41, P’67

The Rt. Rev. Herman Hollerith, IV P’15 Melanie Hogg P ’15, President, Parent Advisory Committee Talmadge Ragan ’69, President, Alumnae Council

trustees emerti

Boyce Lineberger Ansley ’64, P’90 Polly Wheeler Guth ’44, P’70 Robin Tieken Hadley ’57

Chat is published by the Office of Advancement and is distributed to alumnae and those who have shown a continued interest in Chatham Hall. For comments and suggestions, or to request a copy of Chat, please send an e-mail to lmatheny@chathamhall.org. Contributing Writers: Suzanne Walker Buck, Amy Davis, Maisie Deely, Ned Edwards, Samantha Fleming, Delia Ibañez ’17, Catherine M. LaDuke, Laura Rand Matheny ’06, Frances McBride ’18, Don Morley, Dennis Oliver, Giovanna Paz ’16, and Molly Thomas Photography Credits: Maisie Deely, Amy Davis, Wanda Gammon, Christine Knight, Catherine M. LaDuke, Laura Rand Matheny ’06, Lisa Richmond ’84, Chip Riegel, and Don Wood Chatham Hall complies with applicable federal and local laws prohibiting discrimination on the basis of race, creed,color, age, sex, disability, religion, national origin, or any other legally protected category.

800 Chatham Hall Circle • Chatham, VA 24531 • 434-432-2941 www.chathamhall.org © 2015 Chatham Hall


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letter from the rector Welcome to The Chat!

an insider’s guide to

the Girl of Today and her roadmap for

3

tomorrow

When the topic of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) emerged as the focus for this issue, our team was elated. An essential conversation in the world of education, we are excited to draw you into the dialog as we celebrate the accomplishments of Chatham Hall students, share the advancements in how we prepare them for the future, and connect with our talented alumnae. Perhaps this is not the first time you’ve heard about STEAM. The conversation is everywhere. In fact, it is the theme of the annual conference of National Coalition of Girls Schools (NCGS) where Chatham Hall will proudly present four workshops. Preview our dynamic presentations on page seven. We’re honored to participate in this forum and are grateful for the recognition of our leadership in the field. While we focus on STEAM for this issue, I assure you that the humanities continue to be an area of excellence at Chatham Hall. We emphasize writing and the ability to articulate one’s ideas. Synthesis of information, the ability to apply knowledge, not just regurgitation of fact, is an essential element in the education of each of our students. In marrying these foundational aspects of our curriculum with those required of future leaders, we must define relevancy. We do so by asking tough questions. Who is the girl of today—the 21st Century girl? What must she do to create success in an ever-changing world? How do we provide her with the skills to engineer her own future? We invite you to partake in our investigation. I conclude with my belief that the essence of today’s Chatham Hall girl is no different from the one of yesterday, we merely give her more diverse technical and creative tools for navigating her own advancement. I know I can’t wait to observe their future successes and meet the women whom these phenomenal girls will become. Esto Perpetua,

Suzanne

Who is the girl of today— the 21st Century girl?

What must she do to create success in an ever-changing world? How do we provide her with the skills to engineer her own future?

We invite you to partake in the investigation.

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an insider’s guide to

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the Girl of Today and her roadmap for

an insider’s guide to

is charged with helping girls to be innovative and adaptable so they can go out and be successful in a quickly changing world. How do we give our girls the tools they need to be prepared for jobs that may not yet exist? How do we prepare them to thrive in a global economy that requires a skill-set different from what may have been required for success 20 years ago? In addition to reading, writing, and math skills, the next generation of leaders will need to hone 21st century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, technology and media literacy, global awareness, environmental literacy, productivity and initiative, and communication and collaboration skills. While many of these skills have always been important and part of the foundation of a solid education, their mastery is now critical in our information-based and rapidly changing world. One way to develop these skills? STEAM education. It’s important to note that STEAM isn’t a program; it’s a way of teaching. The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) movement is an approach that fosters 21st century learning skills by eliminating barriers between art, science, and math to encourage integrated learning. It is a movement that builds upon STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education up a notch by acknowledging the essential element of creativity and appealing to students who might not see themselves as “hard” math or science people, thus removing themselves from STEAM centric endeavors. Academic Dean Martha Griswold explains:

science

tomorrow

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

SustainAbility

the Girl of Today S A 21st CENTURY SCHOOL, Chatham Hall

STEAM

STEAM pulls more girls in because they realize that the creativity piece isn’t stifled by math and science, it’s enhanced by math and science. Say you have a science class or some other type of class where there’s a project in which students are working collaboratively, and you are going to have to draw something…you’re pulling in that person who is so creative and is always thinking about design and how things piece together, with STEAM you’re bringing more people in and allowing for the fact that the creativity piece is as important as—it’s got its letter there— the science and technology piece. What you create is as important as the pieces that create it.

and her roadmap for tomorrow

From the Sustainability Committee-run greenhouse to quilting projects to Math League competitions to the Tutu Turtles robotics team, STEAM can be seen across the curriculum at Chatham Hall. Teachers and students alike are using STEAM in dynamic and purposeful ways (some of which we hope you will enjoy exploring in the following pages). In fact, because of the work we are doing at Chatham Hall, four Chatham Hall faculty members have been selected to present at the 2015 National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS) Conference, From STEM to STEAM: Girls’ Schools Leading the Way at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia this summer. NCGS reports that research shows that girls’ school graduates are six times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology and three times more likely to consider engineering careers compared to girls who attend coed schools. Chatham Hall is proud to have a 121-year history of preparing girls for the challenges of the future by encouraging intellectual growth, creativity, and personal responsibility. Academic Dean Griswold reflects: 121 years of that type of power at Chatham Hall is pretty moving. The content, the foundations, the things you want girls to take away from classes, having the confidence and competence to go out into the world and use the information that they’ve learned here—that hasn’t changed. The pieces that change are the tools. Kids used to write with chalk, and now we use whiteboard markers or a stylus. Kids took notes on notecards and notebooks, and now we have everything stored in an iPad. The tools change, but the strength of the education and the girls’ experiences and contact with different people, with different ways of thinking, that hasn’t changed and that’s not going to change.

The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics)

movement is an approach that fosters 21st century learning skills by eliminating barriers between art, science, and math to encourage integrated learning.

focuses on growing produce organically, studying soil chemistry and microbiology, and investigating sustainable solutions with the goal of implementing them at Chatham Hall. Along with the School’s Sustainability Committee (49 members strong!), class members help to maintain our Community Garden. Faculty, staff, and students can buy a share in the Community Garden for $5 and harvest anything from potatoes to green beans to a wild insectary mix of flowers (to attract insects) for the year. In the fall, members of the community will come together for annual “pesto, vegetable stock, and pickling parties” and we will make strawberry jam together in a few weeks! CHATHAM HALL’S SUSTAINABILITY CLASS

Sophia Rose ’15 proudly displays the greens she grew in the School’s Community Garden

Sustainability Tip:

Support the Bees B R O U G H T TO YO U BY G I OVA N N A PA Z ’ 1 6 , S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y C O M M I T T E E S E C R E TA RY

Summer Investigators Led by Chatham Hall Science Department Head Dennis Oliver, our Summer Investigators science camp for girls in grades 6 through 8 is built around the development of a student’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry, and technology into a program where students assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime. The two-week program consists of three 90 minute class periods a day where students develop the techniques they will need to solve the “crime.” With investigations into atomic structure, chemical bonding, genetics and DNA structure students learn through laboratory activities what it means to be a forensic scientist. Students are also provided with the opportunity to speak with people who are experts in this field, from members of the local police CSI unit to a retired FBI investigator. With the introduction of iPads, students learn to keep a record of all of the evidence that they collect and how to organize it into an e-book presentation to a grand jury at the conclusion of the camp. Sixteen Summer Investigators campers have come to Chatham Hall as students. For more information, contact Dennis Oliver at doliver@chathamhall.org.

“We took DNA out of a strawberry and we got to wear the DNA in a necklace. We literally took the DNA out! You could see the double helix strands… it was incredible! I’d always been interested in Chatham Hall, but science camp sealed the deal and made me fall in love with the school even more. -ASHTON MITCHELL ’16, PAST CAMPER AND PAST CAMP COUNSELOR

The growth of numerous plant and animal species alike relies on the existence of bees. Bees are vital to our ecosystem through their role in pollination, so why not return the love these upcoming seasons? To support your local bees, plant different types of flowers (listed below) to ensure blooms through as many seasons as possible. Doing this would provide bees with a constant source of food and you would only need a small plot of land to accomplish this. Recommended flowers to plant: • F O R S P R I N G Crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, and wild lilac • F O R S U M M E R Bee balm, cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons, foxglove, and hosta • F O R FA L L Zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel, and goldenrod

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One thing I’ve really enjoyed about computer programming is seeing how everything works together (the hands-on aspect of the class). We were learning about circuits, voltage, current, and resistors in AP Physics, and then we get to how they all worked when we started building circuits with our kits.

Physics students explore the physics of sound by studying the organ in St. Mary’s Chapel

technology

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

Kerrington is a 1993 graduate of Chatham Hall who went on to the University of Virginia where she earned a B.A. in Biology, an M.S. in Biological and Physical Sciences, and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. She was a research faculty member in the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, from 2004–2011. She worked in clinical and translational cancer research, taking findings from the lab bench and moving them into clinical trials and back to the bench for analysis. In 2011, Kerrington accepted a position in the private sector as a Data Services Project Manager for OpenQ, a company that provides consulting and data services for the Life Sciences industry. How did you go from working as a research faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to your current job as a data services project manager? A friend who worked at OpenQ recruited me while I was on maternity leave. It sounded like a wonderful opportunity to learn new skills and shift my work/life balance after becoming a new mom.

Because the business world runs differently than academic medical centers, I am learning and using new skills related to business processes and methods, customer interaction, and sales and marketing, and I am developing new skills in the collection, storage and analysis of “Big Data” and how we can use that to further medical research.

Was a shift like this a goal for you from the onset of your career? No, but what I have found is that my plan for my career is constantly evolving as I learn more…more about cancer, more about data and research, and more about all of the potential career options that are related to these areas. As research evolves, so do career options. Likewise, my goals are continually being met and new ones added.

How do you think Chatham Hall prepared you for your career? I was fortunate to have had exceptional teachers who planned experiments to capture my attention within the classroom, and also mentored me outside of the classroom. We were encouraged to participate in extracurricular science activities. My teachers recognized my passion for science, and sought out additional opportunities for me, like the Young Women in Science Summer Program at Mary Baldwin College, exposing me to other women with a passion for science.

What new skills are you using in your current job that you didn’t use in your previous job?

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What’s your advice to girls who are interested in a career in STEAM? Seek out opportunities for externships and volunteer work. When I started as an undergraduate at UVA, I was originally on a Pre-Med track, thinking I wanted to be a Pediatric Hematologist/ Oncologist. The philanthropy work I performed at my sorority at UVA focused on children’s cancer, so I volunteered twice weekly in the children’s cancer center at UVA for four years. I learned through this experience that I did not want to be a medical doctor treating these patients, but that I wanted to be a scientist working in cancer research. If you do not have a firm idea of what careers you would find interesting, take advantage of extracurricular programs that highlight science, technology, and math to expose yourself to different types of ideas and careers you haven’t yet considered.

-SRIYA CHADALAVADA ’15

In 2011, Chatham Hall entered uncharted territory and launched our iPad pilot program.

-RACHEL NELLER ’15

KE R R I N G TON R A M S EY M O L H O EK ’ 9 3

Now more than ever before, programming is important for high school students to learn. We learn French and Spanish in schools often to communicate with people across the world. We are surrounded by computers and iPads on a daily basis. Shouldn’t we learn their language as well?

Computer Programming students have spent the semester working in groups and individually on projects using micro-controllers and open sourceware.

The iPad has become central to learning in all classes, encouraging interdisciplinary learning, creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Chatham Hall’s successful program has served as a model for other schools that are building their programs. Teachers in all disciplines have traveled to Chatham Hall to observe classes and speak with the iPad Team. In 2012 Chatham Hall presented at the VAIS Technology Conference, and in 2013 we presented at the iPad Summit USA and at the National Coalition of Girls Schools conference.

As leaders in the field of STEAM education, the following faculty members have been selected to present at the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference; From STEM to STEAM: Girls Schools Leading the Way at St. Catherine’s School in June 2015. Deus ex Machina? The Use of Technology to Support Spirituality THE REV. DR. NED EDWARDS, CHAPLAIN

Despite an assumed contradiction between technology and spirituality, the iPad can be an effective tool for integrating questions of meaning and purpose (spirituality), and even shared religious practice, into the lives of students and the school. We will explore the ways adolescent girls’ brains respond to spiritual influences and provide apps and techniques that support spiritual reflection, growth, and mindfulness practices. Participants will receive a list of tested and proven apps and techniques that can be embraced by those who are spiritual, religious, or both.

Tutu Turtles Promoting STEAM Through FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics MOLLY THOMAS, PHYSICS AND ROBOTICS TEACHER

This session is STEAM in action at Chatham Hall. Students will drive and describe a robot they built from Tetrix and 3-D printed parts for the FIRST Tech Challenge and explain the competition. View one-minute videos the Tutu Turtles created to compete for the Promote Award (Why I choose FIRST) and the Compass Award. Watch as the robotics team’s 3-D printer creates a plastic part. Discover the time, costs, outreach and service involved with FTC robotics and learn how Chatham Hall promotes and markets the robotics team. #omgrobots, #tututurtles

Designing and Reporting in Book Creator: A Tactile Experience in Inquiry-Based Science AMY DAVIS, SCIENCE TEACHER AND SUSTAINABILITY CLUB SPONSOR

In this highly interactive session, small groups of participants will design and perform a series of safe, fun, and inexpensive laboratory experiments, chronicling their unique process using the iPad app, Book Creator. The app will allow participants to describe their experience in their own words, to include electronic sketches, pictures, and videos of what they create, and to experience the power of inquiry-based science. Then, participants will brainstorm in their small teams to design Book Creator lessons for use in their own schools, in their own classrooms, and across disciplines, helping to get the “A” in STEAM.

The Summer Investigators DENNIS OLIVER, SCIENCE DEPARTMENT HEAD

For the last twenty-one years, Dennis Oliver has been actively involved in a science summer camp for girls: The Summer Investigators. Summer Investigators camp is built around the development of a camper’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry and iPad technology into a program where girls assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime.

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STEAM

Claire Mayo ’15

engineering

Full STEAM Ahead With Chatham Hall Tutu Turtles Robotics The school robotics team, officially called FTC5086, but also known as the Tutu Turtles, has been hard at work this year. Led by Team Captain Claire Mayo ’15 and mentors Molly Thomas, Dan Waters, and Joel Keneipp, the team competes in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge, a robotics competition for high school students, designed to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering. and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete as alliances against other teams. The Tutu Turtles team is comprised of 11 students, each coming with their own interests ranging from engineering to videography. The students use their varying talents to each fill a unique role, from driving the robot in competitions to coordinating outreach into the school community. Each September, challenges for the year are announced and the team spends the next several months building a robot tailored to the year’s challenge. This

year’s challenge: Cascade Effect. The game is played on a square playing field with 160 plastic balls used as scoring elements. The end goal is to get as many balls as possible into three rolling goals, and then move the goals into scoring areas on the field. Easier said than done! All meetings and design ideas are documented in an engineering notebook, the quality of which is reviewed by judges in making awards decisions. This year’s robot, Gameron, is partially comprised of custom pieces designed by the Tutu Turtles and printed on a 3-D printer. The Tutu Turtles and Gameron competed in qualifying meets in January, and went on to the State Championship in February, ending the season with the Shenandoah Inspire Award, the Eastern Motivate Award, and the Compass Award. The Inspire Award, which is given based on match performance, observations made during interviews, and the team’s engineering notebook, is awarded to the team the judges felt truly embodied the “challenge” of the FTC program. The Motivate Award celebrates the team that exemplifies the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit, and enthusiasm, and the Compass Award recognizes an adult

“I can like

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CA PTA I N , D R I VE R , O U T R E A CH Photo by Chip Riegel

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Meet the Team

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

Coach or Mentor who provided outstanding guidance and support for an FTC Team throughout the year. Congratulations to Tutu Turtles mentor Dan Waters for this well deserved honor! An active part of the school community, the Tutu Turtles hosted a “Celebrate STEAM Day” at Chatham Hall on January 22 to recognize all the STEAM activities at Chatham Hall from Advanced Placement Math and Science classes, to science and math competitions to iQuest student projects. The Tutu Turtles introduced Gameron, who was the star of the show, to the student body. The team also presented to alumnae during Reunion Weekend, created a STEAM experience for campus faculty children in grades 3–6, and showed their robot in action during two Admitted Student Days. Also active in the greater Chatham community, the Tutu Turtles exhibited at The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research at the STEM-H Summit Day in Danville. The team will also present at the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference: From STEM to STEAM: Girls Schools Leading the Way in June, where their mentor, Molly Thomas will be offering a presentation on Chatham Hall Robotics.

pink and still want to be an engineer.”

–CLAIRE MAYO ’15

Rachel Neller ’15

A S S I S TA N T CA PTA I N , D R I VE R , O U T R E A CH

Sriya Chadalavada ’15 S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Peiwen (Sparkle) Jiang ’16 T R E A S U R E R , S CO U T, PH OTO G R A PH E R

Jiayun (Ann) Li ’15

LE A D S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Xinwei (Vicky) Liu ’16 S E CR E TA R Y, LE A D S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Nyshae Manning ’17

S T E A M D AY M A S T E R O F CE R E M O N I E S , S CO U T

Annabelle Poston ’15 S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Sara Young ’15

CO M PE T I T I O N COA CH

Luojia (Luna) Zhu ’17 PI T CA PTA I N , O U T R E A CH

Jessica Zhou ’15

VI D E O G R A PH E R

Follow the team on Twitter @ftc5086

Congratulations to the two teams of 16 Chatham

Hall students who participated in the annual TEAMS competition ranking 1st and 3rd in the state of Virginia’s highly competitive Division 2! Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) is an annual competition for middle and high school students designed to help them discover their potential for engineering. During this one-day competition, students apply math and science knowledge in practical, creative ways to solve real-world engineering challenges. Students explored the relationship between energy and engineering in the 2015 competition, the theme of which was “The Power of Engineering.” Scenario topics included biofuel, electricity, nuclear, and solar energy.

Senior Named Jefferson Scholar and Rodman Scholar at UVA CHATHAM HALL SENIOR MARYMICHAEL ROBERTSON ’15, from Hurt Virginia, has been named a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia. The Jefferson Scholarship is the premier undergraduate scholarship at the University of Virginia. Scholars are selected through a rigorous selection process that is based on exceptional performance in the areas of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. The scholarship, only awarded to 30-35 high school seniors from around the country and world, covers the entire cost of attendance for four years at the university including tuition, fees, books, supplies, room, board, personal expenses, and additional enrichment experiences. The goal of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation is to attract the world’s most promising leaders, scholars, and citizens to the University of Virginia.

In addition to being a recipient of the Jefferson Scholar award, Robertson has also been selected as a Rodman Scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Rodman Scholar program is reserved for the top 5% of each engineering school class. Rodman Scholars receive special programming, priority course selection, and Scholar housing for the first year. Mary-Michael plans to study civil and environmental engineering. “I’m drawn to environmental engineering because of its connection between STEM fields and policy issues, as well as social causes. I want to apply my interests and skills to make a positive impact on the world, and I see environmental engineering as a fantastic way to do so,” says Mary-Michael.

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STEAM

Van Voorhis Lecture Hall was enhanced with new state of the art lighting and sound equipment this year. Sophomore Abbi Plemmons ’17 is the community expert. From helping with musicals, to mixers, to convocation, to dance productions, she’s done it all! Her love of behind-the-scenes tech work began when she mentioned an interest in being on tech for the musical at the new girl picnic last year. Her old girl took her to Director of Music David Grimes on the spot and said, “This is Abbi and she’s going to be on tech for the musical.” She was originally put on props that year, but the sound person “For me lighting and sound work is more of an art fell through, and because I don’t have to think about the technology, from there but if someone were to come in and sit down next Abbi’s expertise to me, they wouldn’t know what to do, and so they would probably see it more as technology. blossomed. I put a lot more thought into what the scene is than I probably should, but you get to consider if it’s morning or night, and what the sun would be doing, or what the different parts of the stage represent and what colors they should be and that’s my art outlet because I’m not really an ‘art’ person in terms of drawing or anything like that.”

mathematics

Architectural paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe, Chatham Hall Class of 1905. One of O’Keeffe’s primary visual responses to new places was to its architecture.

Pi(e) Day Celebrations

As a part of her Math Competitions Club membership, Jessica Zhou ’15 of Plano, Texas, math and baking aficionado, is responsible for celebrating National Pi Day in her school community. This year, Pi Day was observed on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53. Since Pi Day was accurate to 10 significant digits, it was a very significant holiday! Jessica made Pi(e) related treats to share with the school community. In addition to Pi Day celebrations, Jessica made a pie chart out of pie to celebrate World Statistics Month STEAM and National Dessert Month in October. Engineering Mathematics

National Mathematics League

Over spring break, students combined art, geometry, and STEAM community service to create a purple Engineering Mathematics and gold quilt that was donated to the Annual Reunion Raffle benefiting the Legacy Scholarship Fund.

PI(E) ON A STICK RECIPE Cut out circles from a Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust i Add a dollop of Nutella to the center of a circle i Apply egg wash around the edges i Sandwich a lollipop stick between two circles i Press down edges with a fork i Cut out the pi symbol from the scrap dough, and apply the pi onto the pie with egg wash i Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Statistics in Action: If You’re in Assembly and You Know It, Clap Your Hands TA B E A FA H R ’ 1 5 : A R C H I T E C T U R A L LY I N S P I R E D Beginning in September 2015, senior Tabea Fahr ’15 will be completing a six-month internship in architecture and interior design at Increart Design in Berlin, Germany. She has deferred her acceptance to Syracuse University for 2016. Tabea has prepared for her internship by taking AP Studio Art with a concentration in perspective, structure, and texture, and attended the intensive two-week Architecture Discovery Program at Washington University in St. Louis in summer 2014.

Hybrid Drawing Pencil on paper 9” x 20”

“All of these random things from my past are related to architecture. Some people aren’t so lucky, but for me, I feel like this is probably the right thing for me to do, and that’s a scary thing to say… completing a gap year is so far from the norm. It’s been hard to realize that I can make a mistake and then go back and do something different. I think that now that I’ve decided that architecture is what I want to do, I’ve realized more of the things that have drawn me to the subject, and that’s made me more confident in my decision.”

spring

View 2 Varying wood sticks and glue 12” x 20”

After observing a trend of students clapping during weekly assemblies for seemingly un-applause worthy announcements such as club meetings, statistics students Annika Tice ‘15, Jessica Zhou ‘15, and Lian Chen ’15 aim to better understand the relationship between the intensity of clapping and different types of announcements. Do people clap because they feel it is mandatory out of respect, or do people clap because they genuinely feel that the announcement is worthy of applause? Using the iPad app Decibel 10th, the students measured the average intensity of 393 announcements’ applause in decibels from December through April.Announcements were organized into different categories: College Acceptances, Club Meetings and Fundraisers, Sporting Events, Awards, and School Information. In this observational study, the girls found a moderate positive correlation between genuine applause and applause intensity as well as participation rate. Student announcements tend to garner more applause, in both intensity and participation rate, than faculty announcements, for college, clubs, sports announcements. The opposite is true for announcements thanking members of the school community. As for informational announcements, faculty announcements garner more intensity in applause but have lower participation rates. It is no surprise that award announcements garner 100% participation in the school community.

Each year, the National Mathematics League organizes six contests throughout the year to promote enjoyment and study of mathematics. Each contest consists of a 30-minute test composed of six questions covering a variety of challenging topics for above-average students. Chatham Hall had the 12th highest school score in the state of Virginia on October’s test. Two members of the Class of 2016 were two of 51 students in the state to earn a perfect score! Try out the following sample questions to see how you do! Visit http://www.themathleague.com/ for a full sample test! 1) W hat value of x satisfies (x–2014) (x+2014) (x–2015)? 2) H ow long is the longer diagonal of a rhombus whose perimeter is 60, if three of its vertices lie on a circle whose diameter is 25, as shown? 3) T he 14 cabins of the Titanic Mail Boat are numbered consecutively from 1 through 14, as are the 14 room keys. In how many different ways can the 14 room keys be placed in the 14 rooms, 1 per room, so that, for every room, the sum of that room’s number and the number of the key placed in that room is a multiple of 3? 3) 345,600

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Answer key: 1) x=0 2) 24

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an insider’s guide to

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the Girl of Today and her roadmap for

an insider’s guide to

is charged with helping girls to be innovative and adaptable so they can go out and be successful in a quickly changing world. How do we give our girls the tools they need to be prepared for jobs that may not yet exist? How do we prepare them to thrive in a global economy that requires a skill-set different from what may have been required for success 20 years ago? In addition to reading, writing, and math skills, the next generation of leaders will need to hone 21st century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, technology and media literacy, global awareness, environmental literacy, productivity and initiative, and communication and collaboration skills. While many of these skills have always been important and part of the foundation of a solid education, their mastery is now critical in our information-based and rapidly changing world. One way to develop these skills? STEAM education. It’s important to note that STEAM isn’t a program; it’s a way of teaching. The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) movement is an approach that fosters 21st century learning skills by eliminating barriers between art, science, and math to encourage integrated learning. It is a movement that builds upon STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education up a notch by acknowledging the essential element of creativity and appealing to students who might not see themselves as “hard” math or science people, thus removing themselves from STEAM centric endeavors. Academic Dean Martha Griswold explains:

science

tomorrow

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

SustainAbility

the Girl of Today S A 21st CENTURY SCHOOL, Chatham Hall

STEAM

STEAM pulls more girls in because they realize that the creativity piece isn’t stifled by math and science, it’s enhanced by math and science. Say you have a science class or some other type of class where there’s a project in which students are working collaboratively, and you are going to have to draw something…you’re pulling in that person who is so creative and is always thinking about design and how things piece together, with STEAM you’re bringing more people in and allowing for the fact that the creativity piece is as important as—it’s got its letter there— the science and technology piece. What you create is as important as the pieces that create it.

and her roadmap for tomorrow

From the Sustainability Committee-run greenhouse to quilting projects to Math League competitions to the Tutu Turtles robotics team, STEAM can be seen across the curriculum at Chatham Hall. Teachers and students alike are using STEAM in dynamic and purposeful ways (some of which we hope you will enjoy exploring in the following pages). In fact, because of the work we are doing at Chatham Hall, four Chatham Hall faculty members have been selected to present at the 2015 National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS) Conference, From STEM to STEAM: Girls’ Schools Leading the Way at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia this summer. NCGS reports that research shows that girls’ school graduates are six times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology and three times more likely to consider engineering careers compared to girls who attend coed schools. Chatham Hall is proud to have a 121-year history of preparing girls for the challenges of the future by encouraging intellectual growth, creativity, and personal responsibility. Academic Dean Griswold reflects: 121 years of that type of power at Chatham Hall is pretty moving. The content, the foundations, the things you want girls to take away from classes, having the confidence and competence to go out into the world and use the information that they’ve learned here—that hasn’t changed. The pieces that change are the tools. Kids used to write with chalk, and now we use whiteboard markers or a stylus. Kids took notes on notecards and notebooks, and now we have everything stored in an iPad. The tools change, but the strength of the education and the girls’ experiences and contact with different people, with different ways of thinking, that hasn’t changed and that’s not going to change.

The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics)

movement is an approach that fosters 21st century learning skills by eliminating barriers between art, science, and math to encourage integrated learning.

focuses on growing produce organically, studying soil chemistry and microbiology, and investigating sustainable solutions with the goal of implementing them at Chatham Hall. Along with the School’s Sustainability Committee (49 members strong!), class members help to maintain our Community Garden. Faculty, staff, and students can buy a share in the Community Garden for $5 and harvest anything from potatoes to green beans to a wild insectary mix of flowers (to attract insects) for the year. In the fall, members of the community will come together for annual “pesto, vegetable stock, and pickling parties” and we will make strawberry jam together in a few weeks! CHATHAM HALL’S SUSTAINABILITY CLASS

Sophia Rose ’15 proudly displays the greens she grew in the School’s Community Garden

Sustainability Tip:

Support the Bees B R O U G H T TO YO U BY G I OVA N N A PA Z ’ 1 6 , S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y C O M M I T T E E S E C R E TA RY

Summer Investigators Led by Chatham Hall Science Department Head Dennis Oliver, our Summer Investigators science camp for girls in grades 6 through 8 is built around the development of a student’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry, and technology into a program where students assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime. The two-week program consists of three 90 minute class periods a day where students develop the techniques they will need to solve the “crime.” With investigations into atomic structure, chemical bonding, genetics and DNA structure students learn through laboratory activities what it means to be a forensic scientist. Students are also provided with the opportunity to speak with people who are experts in this field, from members of the local police CSI unit to a retired FBI investigator. With the introduction of iPads, students learn to keep a record of all of the evidence that they collect and how to organize it into an e-book presentation to a grand jury at the conclusion of the camp. Sixteen Summer Investigators campers have come to Chatham Hall as students. For more information, contact Dennis Oliver at doliver@chathamhall.org.

“We took DNA out of a strawberry and we got to wear the DNA in a necklace. We literally took the DNA out! You could see the double helix strands… it was incredible! I’d always been interested in Chatham Hall, but science camp sealed the deal and made me fall in love with the school even more. -ASHTON MITCHELL ’16, PAST CAMPER AND PAST CAMP COUNSELOR

The growth of numerous plant and animal species alike relies on the existence of bees. Bees are vital to our ecosystem through their role in pollination, so why not return the love these upcoming seasons? To support your local bees, plant different types of flowers (listed below) to ensure blooms through as many seasons as possible. Doing this would provide bees with a constant source of food and you would only need a small plot of land to accomplish this. Recommended flowers to plant: • F O R S P R I N G Crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, and wild lilac • F O R S U M M E R Bee balm, cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons, foxglove, and hosta • F O R FA L L Zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel, and goldenrod

spring

2015

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STEAM

6

One thing I’ve really enjoyed about computer programming is seeing how everything works together (the hands-on aspect of the class). We were learning about circuits, voltage, current, and resistors in AP Physics, and then we get to how they all worked when we started building circuits with our kits.

Physics students explore the physics of sound by studying the organ in St. Mary’s Chapel

technology

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

Kerrington is a 1993 graduate of Chatham Hall who went on to the University of Virginia where she earned a B.A. in Biology, an M.S. in Biological and Physical Sciences, and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. She was a research faculty member in the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, from 2004–2011. She worked in clinical and translational cancer research, taking findings from the lab bench and moving them into clinical trials and back to the bench for analysis. In 2011, Kerrington accepted a position in the private sector as a Data Services Project Manager for OpenQ, a company that provides consulting and data services for the Life Sciences industry. How did you go from working as a research faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to your current job as a data services project manager? A friend who worked at OpenQ recruited me while I was on maternity leave. It sounded like a wonderful opportunity to learn new skills and shift my work/life balance after becoming a new mom.

Because the business world runs differently than academic medical centers, I am learning and using new skills related to business processes and methods, customer interaction, and sales and marketing, and I am developing new skills in the collection, storage and analysis of “Big Data” and how we can use that to further medical research.

Was a shift like this a goal for you from the onset of your career? No, but what I have found is that my plan for my career is constantly evolving as I learn more…more about cancer, more about data and research, and more about all of the potential career options that are related to these areas. As research evolves, so do career options. Likewise, my goals are continually being met and new ones added.

How do you think Chatham Hall prepared you for your career? I was fortunate to have had exceptional teachers who planned experiments to capture my attention within the classroom, and also mentored me outside of the classroom. We were encouraged to participate in extracurricular science activities. My teachers recognized my passion for science, and sought out additional opportunities for me, like the Young Women in Science Summer Program at Mary Baldwin College, exposing me to other women with a passion for science.

What new skills are you using in your current job that you didn’t use in your previous job?

spring

What’s your advice to girls who are interested in a career in STEAM? Seek out opportunities for externships and volunteer work. When I started as an undergraduate at UVA, I was originally on a Pre-Med track, thinking I wanted to be a Pediatric Hematologist/ Oncologist. The philanthropy work I performed at my sorority at UVA focused on children’s cancer, so I volunteered twice weekly in the children’s cancer center at UVA for four years. I learned through this experience that I did not want to be a medical doctor treating these patients, but that I wanted to be a scientist working in cancer research. If you do not have a firm idea of what careers you would find interesting, take advantage of extracurricular programs that highlight science, technology, and math to expose yourself to different types of ideas and careers you haven’t yet considered.

-SRIYA CHADALAVADA ’15

In 2011, Chatham Hall entered uncharted territory and launched our iPad pilot program.

-RACHEL NELLER ’15

KE R R I N G TON R A M S EY M O L H O EK ’ 9 3

Now more than ever before, programming is important for high school students to learn. We learn French and Spanish in schools often to communicate with people across the world. We are surrounded by computers and iPads on a daily basis. Shouldn’t we learn their language as well?

Computer Programming students have spent the semester working in groups and individually on projects using micro-controllers and open sourceware.

The iPad has become central to learning in all classes, encouraging interdisciplinary learning, creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Chatham Hall’s successful program has served as a model for other schools that are building their programs. Teachers in all disciplines have traveled to Chatham Hall to observe classes and speak with the iPad Team. In 2012 Chatham Hall presented at the VAIS Technology Conference, and in 2013 we presented at the iPad Summit USA and at the National Coalition of Girls Schools conference.

As leaders in the field of STEAM education, the following faculty members have been selected to present at the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference; From STEM to STEAM: Girls Schools Leading the Way at St. Catherine’s School in June 2015. Deus ex Machina? The Use of Technology to Support Spirituality THE REV. DR. NED EDWARDS, CHAPLAIN

Despite an assumed contradiction between technology and spirituality, the iPad can be an effective tool for integrating questions of meaning and purpose (spirituality), and even shared religious practice, into the lives of students and the school. We will explore the ways adolescent girls’ brains respond to spiritual influences and provide apps and techniques that support spiritual reflection, growth, and mindfulness practices. Participants will receive a list of tested and proven apps and techniques that can be embraced by those who are spiritual, religious, or both.

Tutu Turtles Promoting STEAM Through FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics MOLLY THOMAS, PHYSICS AND ROBOTICS TEACHER

This session is STEAM in action at Chatham Hall. Students will drive and describe a robot they built from Tetrix and 3-D printed parts for the FIRST Tech Challenge and explain the competition. View one-minute videos the Tutu Turtles created to compete for the Promote Award (Why I choose FIRST) and the Compass Award. Watch as the robotics team’s 3-D printer creates a plastic part. Discover the time, costs, outreach and service involved with FTC robotics and learn how Chatham Hall promotes and markets the robotics team. #omgrobots, #tututurtles

Designing and Reporting in Book Creator: A Tactile Experience in Inquiry-Based Science AMY DAVIS, SCIENCE TEACHER AND SUSTAINABILITY CLUB SPONSOR

In this highly interactive session, small groups of participants will design and perform a series of safe, fun, and inexpensive laboratory experiments, chronicling their unique process using the iPad app, Book Creator. The app will allow participants to describe their experience in their own words, to include electronic sketches, pictures, and videos of what they create, and to experience the power of inquiry-based science. Then, participants will brainstorm in their small teams to design Book Creator lessons for use in their own schools, in their own classrooms, and across disciplines, helping to get the “A” in STEAM.

The Summer Investigators DENNIS OLIVER, SCIENCE DEPARTMENT HEAD

For the last twenty-one years, Dennis Oliver has been actively involved in a science summer camp for girls: The Summer Investigators. Summer Investigators camp is built around the development of a camper’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry and iPad technology into a program where girls assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime.

2015

7


STEAM

Claire Mayo ’15

engineering

Full STEAM Ahead With Chatham Hall Tutu Turtles Robotics The school robotics team, officially called FTC5086, but also known as the Tutu Turtles, has been hard at work this year. Led by Team Captain Claire Mayo ’15 and mentors Molly Thomas, Dan Waters, and Joel Keneipp, the team competes in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge, a robotics competition for high school students, designed to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering. and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete as alliances against other teams. The Tutu Turtles team is comprised of 11 students, each coming with their own interests ranging from engineering to videography. The students use their varying talents to each fill a unique role, from driving the robot in competitions to coordinating outreach into the school community. Each September, challenges for the year are announced and the team spends the next several months building a robot tailored to the year’s challenge. This

year’s challenge: Cascade Effect. The game is played on a square playing field with 160 plastic balls used as scoring elements. The end goal is to get as many balls as possible into three rolling goals, and then move the goals into scoring areas on the field. Easier said than done! All meetings and design ideas are documented in an engineering notebook, the quality of which is reviewed by judges in making awards decisions. This year’s robot, Gameron, is partially comprised of custom pieces designed by the Tutu Turtles and printed on a 3-D printer. The Tutu Turtles and Gameron competed in qualifying meets in January, and went on to the State Championship in February, ending the season with the Shenandoah Inspire Award, the Eastern Motivate Award, and the Compass Award. The Inspire Award, which is given based on match performance, observations made during interviews, and the team’s engineering notebook, is awarded to the team the judges felt truly embodied the “challenge” of the FTC program. The Motivate Award celebrates the team that exemplifies the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit, and enthusiasm, and the Compass Award recognizes an adult

“I can like

9

CA PTA I N , D R I VE R , O U T R E A CH Photo by Chip Riegel

chat

8

Meet the Team

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

Coach or Mentor who provided outstanding guidance and support for an FTC Team throughout the year. Congratulations to Tutu Turtles mentor Dan Waters for this well deserved honor! An active part of the school community, the Tutu Turtles hosted a “Celebrate STEAM Day” at Chatham Hall on January 22 to recognize all the STEAM activities at Chatham Hall from Advanced Placement Math and Science classes, to science and math competitions to iQuest student projects. The Tutu Turtles introduced Gameron, who was the star of the show, to the student body. The team also presented to alumnae during Reunion Weekend, created a STEAM experience for campus faculty children in grades 3–6, and showed their robot in action during two Admitted Student Days. Also active in the greater Chatham community, the Tutu Turtles exhibited at The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research at the STEM-H Summit Day in Danville. The team will also present at the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference: From STEM to STEAM: Girls Schools Leading the Way in June, where their mentor, Molly Thomas will be offering a presentation on Chatham Hall Robotics.

pink and still want to be an engineer.”

–CLAIRE MAYO ’15

Rachel Neller ’15

A S S I S TA N T CA PTA I N , D R I VE R , O U T R E A CH

Sriya Chadalavada ’15 S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Peiwen (Sparkle) Jiang ’16 T R E A S U R E R , S CO U T, PH OTO G R A PH E R

Jiayun (Ann) Li ’15

LE A D S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Xinwei (Vicky) Liu ’16 S E CR E TA R Y, LE A D S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Nyshae Manning ’17

S T E A M D AY M A S T E R O F CE R E M O N I E S , S CO U T

Annabelle Poston ’15 S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Sara Young ’15

CO M PE T I T I O N COA CH

Luojia (Luna) Zhu ’17 PI T CA PTA I N , O U T R E A CH

Jessica Zhou ’15

VI D E O G R A PH E R

Follow the team on Twitter @ftc5086

Congratulations to the two teams of 16 Chatham

Hall students who participated in the annual TEAMS competition ranking 1st and 3rd in the state of Virginia’s highly competitive Division 2! Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) is an annual competition for middle and high school students designed to help them discover their potential for engineering. During this one-day competition, students apply math and science knowledge in practical, creative ways to solve real-world engineering challenges. Students explored the relationship between energy and engineering in the 2015 competition, the theme of which was “The Power of Engineering.” Scenario topics included biofuel, electricity, nuclear, and solar energy.

Senior Named Jefferson Scholar and Rodman Scholar at UVA CHATHAM HALL SENIOR MARYMICHAEL ROBERTSON ’15, from Hurt Virginia, has been named a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia. The Jefferson Scholarship is the premier undergraduate scholarship at the University of Virginia. Scholars are selected through a rigorous selection process that is based on exceptional performance in the areas of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. The scholarship, only awarded to 30-35 high school seniors from around the country and world, covers the entire cost of attendance for four years at the university including tuition, fees, books, supplies, room, board, personal expenses, and additional enrichment experiences. The goal of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation is to attract the world’s most promising leaders, scholars, and citizens to the University of Virginia.

In addition to being a recipient of the Jefferson Scholar award, Robertson has also been selected as a Rodman Scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Rodman Scholar program is reserved for the top 5% of each engineering school class. Rodman Scholars receive special programming, priority course selection, and Scholar housing for the first year. Mary-Michael plans to study civil and environmental engineering. “I’m drawn to environmental engineering because of its connection between STEM fields and policy issues, as well as social causes. I want to apply my interests and skills to make a positive impact on the world, and I see environmental engineering as a fantastic way to do so,” says Mary-Michael.

2015


STEAM

STEAM

Van Voorhis Lecture Hall was enhanced with new state of the art lighting and sound equipment this year. Sophomore Abbi Plemmons ’17 is the community expert. From helping with musicals, to mixers, to convocation, to dance productions, she’s done it all! Her love of behind-the-scenes tech work began when she mentioned an interest in being on tech for the musical at the new girl picnic last year. Her old girl took her to Director of Music David Grimes on the spot and said, “This is Abbi and she’s going to be on tech for the musical.” She was originally put on props that year, but the sound person “For me lighting and sound work is more of an art fell through, and because I don’t have to think about the technology, from there but if someone were to come in and sit down next Abbi’s expertise to me, they wouldn’t know what to do, and so they would probably see it more as technology. blossomed. I put a lot more thought into what the scene is than I probably should, but you get to consider if it’s morning or night, and what the sun would be doing, or what the different parts of the stage represent and what colors they should be and that’s my art outlet because I’m not really an ‘art’ person in terms of drawing or anything like that.”

mathematics

Architectural paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe, Chatham Hall Class of 1905. One of O’Keeffe’s primary visual responses to new places was to its architecture.

Pi(e) Day Celebrations

As a part of her Math Competitions Club membership, Jessica Zhou ’15 of Plano, Texas, math and baking aficionado, is responsible for celebrating National Pi Day in her school community. This year, Pi Day was observed on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53. Since Pi Day was accurate to 10 significant digits, it was a very significant holiday! Jessica made Pi(e) related treats to share with the school community. In addition to Pi Day celebrations, Jessica made a pie chart out of pie to celebrate World Statistics Month STEAM and National Dessert Month in October. Engineering Mathematics

National Mathematics League

Over spring break, students combined art, geometry, and STEAM community service to create a purple Engineering Mathematics and gold quilt that was donated to the Annual Reunion Raffle benefiting the Legacy Scholarship Fund.

PI(E) ON A STICK RECIPE Cut out circles from a Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust i Add a dollop of Nutella to the center of a circle i Apply egg wash around the edges i Sandwich a lollipop stick between two circles i Press down edges with a fork i Cut out the pi symbol from the scrap dough, and apply the pi onto the pie with egg wash i Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Statistics in Action: If You’re in Assembly and You Know It, Clap Your Hands TA B E A FA H R ’ 1 5 : A R C H I T E C T U R A L LY I N S P I R E D Beginning in September 2015, senior Tabea Fahr ’15 will be completing a six-month internship in architecture and interior design at Increart Design in Berlin, Germany. She has deferred her acceptance to Syracuse University for 2016. Tabea has prepared for her internship by taking AP Studio Art with a concentration in perspective, structure, and texture, and attended the intensive two-week Architecture Discovery Program at Washington University in St. Louis in summer 2014.

Hybrid Drawing Pencil on paper 9” x 20”

“All of these random things from my past are related to architecture. Some people aren’t so lucky, but for me, I feel like this is probably the right thing for me to do, and that’s a scary thing to say… completing a gap year is so far from the norm. It’s been hard to realize that I can make a mistake and then go back and do something different. I think that now that I’ve decided that architecture is what I want to do, I’ve realized more of the things that have drawn me to the subject, and that’s made me more confident in my decision.”

spring

View 2 Varying wood sticks and glue 12” x 20”

After observing a trend of students clapping during weekly assemblies for seemingly un-applause worthy announcements such as club meetings, statistics students Annika Tice ‘15, Jessica Zhou ‘15, and Lian Chen ’15 aim to better understand the relationship between the intensity of clapping and different types of announcements. Do people clap because they feel it is mandatory out of respect, or do people clap because they genuinely feel that the announcement is worthy of applause? Using the iPad app Decibel 10th, the students measured the average intensity of 393 announcements’ applause in decibels from December through April.Announcements were organized into different categories: College Acceptances, Club Meetings and Fundraisers, Sporting Events, Awards, and School Information. In this observational study, the girls found a moderate positive correlation between genuine applause and applause intensity as well as participation rate. Student announcements tend to garner more applause, in both intensity and participation rate, than faculty announcements, for college, clubs, sports announcements. The opposite is true for announcements thanking members of the school community. As for informational announcements, faculty announcements garner more intensity in applause but have lower participation rates. It is no surprise that award announcements garner 100% participation in the school community.

Each year, the National Mathematics League organizes six contests throughout the year to promote enjoyment and study of mathematics. Each contest consists of a 30-minute test composed of six questions covering a variety of challenging topics for above-average students. Chatham Hall had the 12th highest school score in the state of Virginia on October’s test. Two members of the Class of 2016 were two of 51 students in the state to earn a perfect score! Try out the following sample questions to see how you do! Visit http://www.themathleague.com/ for a full sample test! 1) W hat value of x satisfies (x–2014) (x+2014) (x–2015)? 2) H ow long is the longer diagonal of a rhombus whose perimeter is 60, if three of its vertices lie on a circle whose diameter is 25, as shown? 3) T he 14 cabins of the Titanic Mail Boat are numbered consecutively from 1 through 14, as are the 14 room keys. In how many different ways can the 14 room keys be placed in the 14 rooms, 1 per room, so that, for every room, the sum of that room’s number and the number of the key placed in that room is a multiple of 3? 3) 345,600

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art & design

11

Answer key: 1) x=0 2) 24

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2015


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4

an insider’s guide to

a

the Girl of Today and her roadmap for

an insider’s guide to

is charged with helping girls to be innovative and adaptable so they can go out and be successful in a quickly changing world. How do we give our girls the tools they need to be prepared for jobs that may not yet exist? How do we prepare them to thrive in a global economy that requires a skill-set different from what may have been required for success 20 years ago? In addition to reading, writing, and math skills, the next generation of leaders will need to hone 21st century skills like critical thinking and problem-solving, technology and media literacy, global awareness, environmental literacy, productivity and initiative, and communication and collaboration skills. While many of these skills have always been important and part of the foundation of a solid education, their mastery is now critical in our information-based and rapidly changing world. One way to develop these skills? STEAM education. It’s important to note that STEAM isn’t a program; it’s a way of teaching. The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics) movement is an approach that fosters 21st century learning skills by eliminating barriers between art, science, and math to encourage integrated learning. It is a movement that builds upon STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) education up a notch by acknowledging the essential element of creativity and appealing to students who might not see themselves as “hard” math or science people, thus removing themselves from STEAM centric endeavors. Academic Dean Martha Griswold explains:

science

tomorrow

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

SustainAbility

the Girl of Today S A 21st CENTURY SCHOOL, Chatham Hall

STEAM

STEAM pulls more girls in because they realize that the creativity piece isn’t stifled by math and science, it’s enhanced by math and science. Say you have a science class or some other type of class where there’s a project in which students are working collaboratively, and you are going to have to draw something…you’re pulling in that person who is so creative and is always thinking about design and how things piece together, with STEAM you’re bringing more people in and allowing for the fact that the creativity piece is as important as—it’s got its letter there— the science and technology piece. What you create is as important as the pieces that create it.

and her roadmap for tomorrow

From the Sustainability Committee-run greenhouse to quilting projects to Math League competitions to the Tutu Turtles robotics team, STEAM can be seen across the curriculum at Chatham Hall. Teachers and students alike are using STEAM in dynamic and purposeful ways (some of which we hope you will enjoy exploring in the following pages). In fact, because of the work we are doing at Chatham Hall, four Chatham Hall faculty members have been selected to present at the 2015 National Coalition of Girls’ Schools (NCGS) Conference, From STEM to STEAM: Girls’ Schools Leading the Way at St. Catherine’s School in Richmond, Virginia this summer. NCGS reports that research shows that girls’ school graduates are six times more likely to consider majoring in math, science, and technology and three times more likely to consider engineering careers compared to girls who attend coed schools. Chatham Hall is proud to have a 121-year history of preparing girls for the challenges of the future by encouraging intellectual growth, creativity, and personal responsibility. Academic Dean Griswold reflects: 121 years of that type of power at Chatham Hall is pretty moving. The content, the foundations, the things you want girls to take away from classes, having the confidence and competence to go out into the world and use the information that they’ve learned here—that hasn’t changed. The pieces that change are the tools. Kids used to write with chalk, and now we use whiteboard markers or a stylus. Kids took notes on notecards and notebooks, and now we have everything stored in an iPad. The tools change, but the strength of the education and the girls’ experiences and contact with different people, with different ways of thinking, that hasn’t changed and that’s not going to change.

The STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics)

movement is an approach that fosters 21st century learning skills by eliminating barriers between art, science, and math to encourage integrated learning.

focuses on growing produce organically, studying soil chemistry and microbiology, and investigating sustainable solutions with the goal of implementing them at Chatham Hall. Along with the School’s Sustainability Committee (49 members strong!), class members help to maintain our Community Garden. Faculty, staff, and students can buy a share in the Community Garden for $5 and harvest anything from potatoes to green beans to a wild insectary mix of flowers (to attract insects) for the year. In the fall, members of the community will come together for annual “pesto, vegetable stock, and pickling parties” and we will make strawberry jam together in a few weeks! CHATHAM HALL’S SUSTAINABILITY CLASS

Sophia Rose ’15 proudly displays the greens she grew in the School’s Community Garden

Sustainability Tip:

Support the Bees B R O U G H T TO YO U BY G I OVA N N A PA Z ’ 1 6 , S U S TA I N A B I L I T Y C O M M I T T E E S E C R E TA RY

Summer Investigators Led by Chatham Hall Science Department Head Dennis Oliver, our Summer Investigators science camp for girls in grades 6 through 8 is built around the development of a student’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry, and technology into a program where students assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime. The two-week program consists of three 90 minute class periods a day where students develop the techniques they will need to solve the “crime.” With investigations into atomic structure, chemical bonding, genetics and DNA structure students learn through laboratory activities what it means to be a forensic scientist. Students are also provided with the opportunity to speak with people who are experts in this field, from members of the local police CSI unit to a retired FBI investigator. With the introduction of iPads, students learn to keep a record of all of the evidence that they collect and how to organize it into an e-book presentation to a grand jury at the conclusion of the camp. Sixteen Summer Investigators campers have come to Chatham Hall as students. For more information, contact Dennis Oliver at doliver@chathamhall.org.

“We took DNA out of a strawberry and we got to wear the DNA in a necklace. We literally took the DNA out! You could see the double helix strands… it was incredible! I’d always been interested in Chatham Hall, but science camp sealed the deal and made me fall in love with the school even more. -ASHTON MITCHELL ’16, PAST CAMPER AND PAST CAMP COUNSELOR

The growth of numerous plant and animal species alike relies on the existence of bees. Bees are vital to our ecosystem through their role in pollination, so why not return the love these upcoming seasons? To support your local bees, plant different types of flowers (listed below) to ensure blooms through as many seasons as possible. Doing this would provide bees with a constant source of food and you would only need a small plot of land to accomplish this. Recommended flowers to plant: • F O R S P R I N G Crocus, hyacinth, borage, calendula, and wild lilac • F O R S U M M E R Bee balm, cosmos, echinacea, snapdragons, foxglove, and hosta • F O R FA L L Zinnias, sedum, asters, witch hazel, and goldenrod

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One thing I’ve really enjoyed about computer programming is seeing how everything works together (the hands-on aspect of the class). We were learning about circuits, voltage, current, and resistors in AP Physics, and then we get to how they all worked when we started building circuits with our kits.

Physics students explore the physics of sound by studying the organ in St. Mary’s Chapel

technology

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

Kerrington is a 1993 graduate of Chatham Hall who went on to the University of Virginia where she earned a B.A. in Biology, an M.S. in Biological and Physical Sciences, and a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. She was a research faculty member in the University of Virginia School of Medicine, Department of Surgery, from 2004–2011. She worked in clinical and translational cancer research, taking findings from the lab bench and moving them into clinical trials and back to the bench for analysis. In 2011, Kerrington accepted a position in the private sector as a Data Services Project Manager for OpenQ, a company that provides consulting and data services for the Life Sciences industry. How did you go from working as a research faculty member at the University of Virginia School of Medicine to your current job as a data services project manager? A friend who worked at OpenQ recruited me while I was on maternity leave. It sounded like a wonderful opportunity to learn new skills and shift my work/life balance after becoming a new mom.

Because the business world runs differently than academic medical centers, I am learning and using new skills related to business processes and methods, customer interaction, and sales and marketing, and I am developing new skills in the collection, storage and analysis of “Big Data” and how we can use that to further medical research.

Was a shift like this a goal for you from the onset of your career? No, but what I have found is that my plan for my career is constantly evolving as I learn more…more about cancer, more about data and research, and more about all of the potential career options that are related to these areas. As research evolves, so do career options. Likewise, my goals are continually being met and new ones added.

How do you think Chatham Hall prepared you for your career? I was fortunate to have had exceptional teachers who planned experiments to capture my attention within the classroom, and also mentored me outside of the classroom. We were encouraged to participate in extracurricular science activities. My teachers recognized my passion for science, and sought out additional opportunities for me, like the Young Women in Science Summer Program at Mary Baldwin College, exposing me to other women with a passion for science.

What new skills are you using in your current job that you didn’t use in your previous job?

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What’s your advice to girls who are interested in a career in STEAM? Seek out opportunities for externships and volunteer work. When I started as an undergraduate at UVA, I was originally on a Pre-Med track, thinking I wanted to be a Pediatric Hematologist/ Oncologist. The philanthropy work I performed at my sorority at UVA focused on children’s cancer, so I volunteered twice weekly in the children’s cancer center at UVA for four years. I learned through this experience that I did not want to be a medical doctor treating these patients, but that I wanted to be a scientist working in cancer research. If you do not have a firm idea of what careers you would find interesting, take advantage of extracurricular programs that highlight science, technology, and math to expose yourself to different types of ideas and careers you haven’t yet considered.

-SRIYA CHADALAVADA ’15

In 2011, Chatham Hall entered uncharted territory and launched our iPad pilot program.

-RACHEL NELLER ’15

KE R R I N G TON R A M S EY M O L H O EK ’ 9 3

Now more than ever before, programming is important for high school students to learn. We learn French and Spanish in schools often to communicate with people across the world. We are surrounded by computers and iPads on a daily basis. Shouldn’t we learn their language as well?

Computer Programming students have spent the semester working in groups and individually on projects using micro-controllers and open sourceware.

The iPad has become central to learning in all classes, encouraging interdisciplinary learning, creativity, collaboration, communication, and critical thinking. Chatham Hall’s successful program has served as a model for other schools that are building their programs. Teachers in all disciplines have traveled to Chatham Hall to observe classes and speak with the iPad Team. In 2012 Chatham Hall presented at the VAIS Technology Conference, and in 2013 we presented at the iPad Summit USA and at the National Coalition of Girls Schools conference.

As leaders in the field of STEAM education, the following faculty members have been selected to present at the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference; From STEM to STEAM: Girls Schools Leading the Way at St. Catherine’s School in June 2015. Deus ex Machina? The Use of Technology to Support Spirituality THE REV. DR. NED EDWARDS, CHAPLAIN

Despite an assumed contradiction between technology and spirituality, the iPad can be an effective tool for integrating questions of meaning and purpose (spirituality), and even shared religious practice, into the lives of students and the school. We will explore the ways adolescent girls’ brains respond to spiritual influences and provide apps and techniques that support spiritual reflection, growth, and mindfulness practices. Participants will receive a list of tested and proven apps and techniques that can be embraced by those who are spiritual, religious, or both.

Tutu Turtles Promoting STEAM Through FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics MOLLY THOMAS, PHYSICS AND ROBOTICS TEACHER

This session is STEAM in action at Chatham Hall. Students will drive and describe a robot they built from Tetrix and 3-D printed parts for the FIRST Tech Challenge and explain the competition. View one-minute videos the Tutu Turtles created to compete for the Promote Award (Why I choose FIRST) and the Compass Award. Watch as the robotics team’s 3-D printer creates a plastic part. Discover the time, costs, outreach and service involved with FTC robotics and learn how Chatham Hall promotes and markets the robotics team. #omgrobots, #tututurtles

Designing and Reporting in Book Creator: A Tactile Experience in Inquiry-Based Science AMY DAVIS, SCIENCE TEACHER AND SUSTAINABILITY CLUB SPONSOR

In this highly interactive session, small groups of participants will design and perform a series of safe, fun, and inexpensive laboratory experiments, chronicling their unique process using the iPad app, Book Creator. The app will allow participants to describe their experience in their own words, to include electronic sketches, pictures, and videos of what they create, and to experience the power of inquiry-based science. Then, participants will brainstorm in their small teams to design Book Creator lessons for use in their own schools, in their own classrooms, and across disciplines, helping to get the “A” in STEAM.

The Summer Investigators DENNIS OLIVER, SCIENCE DEPARTMENT HEAD

For the last twenty-one years, Dennis Oliver has been actively involved in a science summer camp for girls: The Summer Investigators. Summer Investigators camp is built around the development of a camper’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry and iPad technology into a program where girls assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime.

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Claire Mayo ’15

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Full STEAM Ahead With Chatham Hall Tutu Turtles Robotics The school robotics team, officially called FTC5086, but also known as the Tutu Turtles, has been hard at work this year. Led by Team Captain Claire Mayo ’15 and mentors Molly Thomas, Dan Waters, and Joel Keneipp, the team competes in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Tech Challenge, a robotics competition for high school students, designed to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering. and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete as alliances against other teams. The Tutu Turtles team is comprised of 11 students, each coming with their own interests ranging from engineering to videography. The students use their varying talents to each fill a unique role, from driving the robot in competitions to coordinating outreach into the school community. Each September, challenges for the year are announced and the team spends the next several months building a robot tailored to the year’s challenge. This

year’s challenge: Cascade Effect. The game is played on a square playing field with 160 plastic balls used as scoring elements. The end goal is to get as many balls as possible into three rolling goals, and then move the goals into scoring areas on the field. Easier said than done! All meetings and design ideas are documented in an engineering notebook, the quality of which is reviewed by judges in making awards decisions. This year’s robot, Gameron, is partially comprised of custom pieces designed by the Tutu Turtles and printed on a 3-D printer. The Tutu Turtles and Gameron competed in qualifying meets in January, and went on to the State Championship in February, ending the season with the Shenandoah Inspire Award, the Eastern Motivate Award, and the Compass Award. The Inspire Award, which is given based on match performance, observations made during interviews, and the team’s engineering notebook, is awarded to the team the judges felt truly embodied the “challenge” of the FTC program. The Motivate Award celebrates the team that exemplifies the essence of the FIRST Tech Challenge competition through team building, team spirit, and enthusiasm, and the Compass Award recognizes an adult

“I can like

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CA PTA I N , D R I VE R , O U T R E A CH Photo by Chip Riegel

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Meet the Team

STEAM Engineering Mathematics

Coach or Mentor who provided outstanding guidance and support for an FTC Team throughout the year. Congratulations to Tutu Turtles mentor Dan Waters for this well deserved honor! An active part of the school community, the Tutu Turtles hosted a “Celebrate STEAM Day” at Chatham Hall on January 22 to recognize all the STEAM activities at Chatham Hall from Advanced Placement Math and Science classes, to science and math competitions to iQuest student projects. The Tutu Turtles introduced Gameron, who was the star of the show, to the student body. The team also presented to alumnae during Reunion Weekend, created a STEAM experience for campus faculty children in grades 3–6, and showed their robot in action during two Admitted Student Days. Also active in the greater Chatham community, the Tutu Turtles exhibited at The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research at the STEM-H Summit Day in Danville. The team will also present at the National Coalition of Girls Schools Conference: From STEM to STEAM: Girls Schools Leading the Way in June, where their mentor, Molly Thomas will be offering a presentation on Chatham Hall Robotics.

pink and still want to be an engineer.”

–CLAIRE MAYO ’15

Rachel Neller ’15

A S S I S TA N T CA PTA I N , D R I VE R , O U T R E A CH

Sriya Chadalavada ’15 S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Peiwen (Sparkle) Jiang ’16 T R E A S U R E R , S CO U T, PH OTO G R A PH E R

Jiayun (Ann) Li ’15

LE A D S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Xinwei (Vicky) Liu ’16 S E CR E TA R Y, LE A D S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Nyshae Manning ’17

S T E A M D AY M A S T E R O F CE R E M O N I E S , S CO U T

Annabelle Poston ’15 S CO U T, O U T R E A CH

Sara Young ’15

CO M PE T I T I O N COA CH

Luojia (Luna) Zhu ’17 PI T CA PTA I N , O U T R E A CH

Jessica Zhou ’15

VI D E O G R A PH E R

Follow the team on Twitter @ftc5086

Congratulations to the two teams of 16 Chatham

Hall students who participated in the annual TEAMS competition ranking 1st and 3rd in the state of Virginia’s highly competitive Division 2! Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) is an annual competition for middle and high school students designed to help them discover their potential for engineering. During this one-day competition, students apply math and science knowledge in practical, creative ways to solve real-world engineering challenges. Students explored the relationship between energy and engineering in the 2015 competition, the theme of which was “The Power of Engineering.” Scenario topics included biofuel, electricity, nuclear, and solar energy.

Senior Named Jefferson Scholar and Rodman Scholar at UVA CHATHAM HALL SENIOR MARYMICHAEL ROBERTSON ’15, from Hurt Virginia, has been named a Jefferson Scholar at the University of Virginia. The Jefferson Scholarship is the premier undergraduate scholarship at the University of Virginia. Scholars are selected through a rigorous selection process that is based on exceptional performance in the areas of leadership, scholarship, and citizenship. The scholarship, only awarded to 30-35 high school seniors from around the country and world, covers the entire cost of attendance for four years at the university including tuition, fees, books, supplies, room, board, personal expenses, and additional enrichment experiences. The goal of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation is to attract the world’s most promising leaders, scholars, and citizens to the University of Virginia.

In addition to being a recipient of the Jefferson Scholar award, Robertson has also been selected as a Rodman Scholar at the University of Virginia’s School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. The Rodman Scholar program is reserved for the top 5% of each engineering school class. Rodman Scholars receive special programming, priority course selection, and Scholar housing for the first year. Mary-Michael plans to study civil and environmental engineering. “I’m drawn to environmental engineering because of its connection between STEM fields and policy issues, as well as social causes. I want to apply my interests and skills to make a positive impact on the world, and I see environmental engineering as a fantastic way to do so,” says Mary-Michael.

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STEAM

STEAM

Van Voorhis Lecture Hall was enhanced with new state of the art lighting and sound equipment this year. Sophomore Abbi Plemmons ’17 is the community expert. From helping with musicals, to mixers, to convocation, to dance productions, she’s done it all! Her love of behind-the-scenes tech work began when she mentioned an interest in being on tech for the musical at the new girl picnic last year. Her old girl took her to Director of Music David Grimes on the spot and said, “This is Abbi and she’s going to be on tech for the musical.” She was originally put on props that year, but the sound person “For me lighting and sound work is more of an art fell through, and because I don’t have to think about the technology, from there but if someone were to come in and sit down next Abbi’s expertise to me, they wouldn’t know what to do, and so they would probably see it more as technology. blossomed. I put a lot more thought into what the scene is than I probably should, but you get to consider if it’s morning or night, and what the sun would be doing, or what the different parts of the stage represent and what colors they should be and that’s my art outlet because I’m not really an ‘art’ person in terms of drawing or anything like that.”

mathematics

Architectural paintings by Georgia O’Keeffe, Chatham Hall Class of 1905. One of O’Keeffe’s primary visual responses to new places was to its architecture.

Pi(e) Day Celebrations

As a part of her Math Competitions Club membership, Jessica Zhou ’15 of Plano, Texas, math and baking aficionado, is responsible for celebrating National Pi Day in her school community. This year, Pi Day was observed on 3/14/15 at 9:26:53. Since Pi Day was accurate to 10 significant digits, it was a very significant holiday! Jessica made Pi(e) related treats to share with the school community. In addition to Pi Day celebrations, Jessica made a pie chart out of pie to celebrate World Statistics Month STEAM and National Dessert Month in October. Engineering Mathematics

National Mathematics League

Over spring break, students combined art, geometry, and STEAM community service to create a purple Engineering Mathematics and gold quilt that was donated to the Annual Reunion Raffle benefiting the Legacy Scholarship Fund.

PI(E) ON A STICK RECIPE Cut out circles from a Pillsbury Refrigerated Pie Crust i Add a dollop of Nutella to the center of a circle i Apply egg wash around the edges i Sandwich a lollipop stick between two circles i Press down edges with a fork i Cut out the pi symbol from the scrap dough, and apply the pi onto the pie with egg wash i Bake at 350 degrees Fahrenheit for 20 minutes.

Statistics in Action: If You’re in Assembly and You Know It, Clap Your Hands TA B E A FA H R ’ 1 5 : A R C H I T E C T U R A L LY I N S P I R E D Beginning in September 2015, senior Tabea Fahr ’15 will be completing a six-month internship in architecture and interior design at Increart Design in Berlin, Germany. She has deferred her acceptance to Syracuse University for 2016. Tabea has prepared for her internship by taking AP Studio Art with a concentration in perspective, structure, and texture, and attended the intensive two-week Architecture Discovery Program at Washington University in St. Louis in summer 2014.

Hybrid Drawing Pencil on paper 9” x 20”

“All of these random things from my past are related to architecture. Some people aren’t so lucky, but for me, I feel like this is probably the right thing for me to do, and that’s a scary thing to say… completing a gap year is so far from the norm. It’s been hard to realize that I can make a mistake and then go back and do something different. I think that now that I’ve decided that architecture is what I want to do, I’ve realized more of the things that have drawn me to the subject, and that’s made me more confident in my decision.”

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View 2 Varying wood sticks and glue 12” x 20”

After observing a trend of students clapping during weekly assemblies for seemingly un-applause worthy announcements such as club meetings, statistics students Annika Tice ‘15, Jessica Zhou ‘15, and Lian Chen ’15 aim to better understand the relationship between the intensity of clapping and different types of announcements. Do people clap because they feel it is mandatory out of respect, or do people clap because they genuinely feel that the announcement is worthy of applause? Using the iPad app Decibel 10th, the students measured the average intensity of 393 announcements’ applause in decibels from December through April.Announcements were organized into different categories: College Acceptances, Club Meetings and Fundraisers, Sporting Events, Awards, and School Information. In this observational study, the girls found a moderate positive correlation between genuine applause and applause intensity as well as participation rate. Student announcements tend to garner more applause, in both intensity and participation rate, than faculty announcements, for college, clubs, sports announcements. The opposite is true for announcements thanking members of the school community. As for informational announcements, faculty announcements garner more intensity in applause but have lower participation rates. It is no surprise that award announcements garner 100% participation in the school community.

Each year, the National Mathematics League organizes six contests throughout the year to promote enjoyment and study of mathematics. Each contest consists of a 30-minute test composed of six questions covering a variety of challenging topics for above-average students. Chatham Hall had the 12th highest school score in the state of Virginia on October’s test. Two members of the Class of 2016 were two of 51 students in the state to earn a perfect score! Try out the following sample questions to see how you do! Visit http://www.themathleague.com/ for a full sample test! 1) W hat value of x satisfies (x–2014) (x+2014) (x–2015)? 2) H ow long is the longer diagonal of a rhombus whose perimeter is 60, if three of its vertices lie on a circle whose diameter is 25, as shown? 3) T he 14 cabins of the Titanic Mail Boat are numbered consecutively from 1 through 14, as are the 14 room keys. In how many different ways can the 14 room keys be placed in the 14 rooms, 1 per room, so that, for every room, the sum of that room’s number and the number of the key placed in that room is a multiple of 3? 3) 345,600

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Answer key: 1) x=0 2) 24

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alumnae

I give to Chatham Hall because….

Reagan Greene Pruitt ’95

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Voices

from C H A T H A M H A L L

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Voices

In celebrating my 20th Reunion this year, I recognize that Chatham Hall is at the core of who I am today, personally and professionally—as student, friend, from an C individual, H A T H A teammate, M HALL mentor, employee, boss, wife, mother. My Chatham Hall experience was priceless, so now I am committed to supporting Chatham Hall’s people and programs through my gift to the Annual Fund. Chatham Hall needs our support to equip students with the tools they need to prepare for productive lives.

alumnae

I give a monthly gift because….

It’s easy! To show my commitment to Chatham Hall, I have included annual giving into my automatic draft of my paycheck. So just like my 401(k), health insurance, and other charitable giving, I give to Chatham Hall consistently—out of every paycheck.

I use my company’s matching gift program because….

With a dollar for dollar company match, my gift has twice the impact! Check with your company today to see if they offer a matching gift program.

My Chatham Hall experience was priceless,

so now I am committed to supporting Chatham Hall’s people and programs through my gift to the Annual Fund.

Reagan Greene Pruitt ’95 is the Director of Brand Strategy and Marketing Communications at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina. After graduating from Chatham Hall, Reagan earned a B.A. in Sociology from Centre College, an MBA from Northern Kentucky University, and a Certificate in Leadership and Business Acumen from UNC Kenan-Flagler Business School. Reagan lives in Chapel Hill with her husband and daughter, and is active in the community, serving on the Board of Directors for the Chapel Hill – Carrboro Chamber of Commerce, the Leadership North Carolina Board of Directors Executive Committee, the Band Together Advisory Board, and the Habitat for Humanity Board of Directors.

Thank you for your consideration and support of the 2014-2015 Annual Fund. If you would like to set up a recurring gift, contact Director of Advancement Services, Starlet Lemon, at 434.432.5600 or at slemon@chathamhall.org. Or, please use the envelope enclosed in the Chat, or give online at www.chathamhall.org/giving.

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photo ©2015www.LISArichmond.com

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At Chatham Hall, each student actively participates in college preparation. The College Search process is a personal one, and Director of College Counseling Sharon Williams takes a very individualized approach to each girl’s search. Our comprehensive College Counseling program helps each girl find the school that best suits her talents, interests, and abilities. The diversity of our students’ college acceptances reflects the diversity in our girls whose college destinations are as diverse as they are!

“Really it’s helping our girls to

figure out who they are,

and who they want to be four years out, and then finding

“Really it’s helping our girls to figure out who they are, and who they want to be four years out, and then finding the place that’s going to help build that person,” says Ms. Williams, adding that “It’s important to understand that college counseling isn’t a stand-alone option, it’s not like we have different departments and then there’s college counseling. Chatham Hall does a great job of having a strong academic program and a strong residential life program, and those programs fit together to develop the whole girl, and it’s that girl who is looking for this college experience.”

Allegheny College American University Appalachian State University Averett University Bard CollegeQ Barnard CollegeQ Belmont University Boston University

Fordham University Lincoln Center Campus/Rose Hill Campus Franklin and Marshall College Furman UniversityQ Gardner-Webb University George Mason UniversityQ

Bowdoin College

Georgia Institute of Technology

Brandeis UniversityQ

Gettysburg College

Brown University

Guilford College

Bryn Mawr College

Hampshire College

Carnegie Mellon University

Hartwick College

Case Western Reserve University

High Point University

Harvard University

Mercer University Miami University, OxfordQ Mount Holyoke College North Carolina State UniversityQ Northwestern University Old Dominion University Otterbein UniversityQ Pace University, New York City Pennsylvania State University, Erie: The Behrend College Pennsylvania State University, University ParkQ

Cazenovia College

Howard UniversityQ

Point Park University

Chapman University

Indiana University at Bloomington

Pomona College

Christopher Newport University College of William and Mary Collin College-Central Park CampusQ Columbia College Chicago Columbia University Delaware State University

James Madison UniversityQ John Carroll University John Jay College of Criminal Justice of the CUNY

Prairie View A&M University Princeton UniversityQ Purdue University Randolph CollegeQ Reed College

Lewis & Clark College

Dickinson CollegeQ

Liberty UniversityQ

Duke University

Long Island University, Brooklyn

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Sweet Briar College

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Texas A&M University The Citadel, the Military College of South Carolina

Longwood University Loyola University Chicago Marquette University Mary Baldwin College Marymount Manhattan CollegeQ Medgar Evers College of the CUNY

Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology Saint Peter’s University Salem College Santa Clara University Sarah Lawrence College Savannah College of Art and Design School of the Museum of Fine Arts

University of Maine

The University of Alabama

University of Massachusetts, Amherst University of Miami

The University of Georgia

University of MichiganQ

The University of North Carolina at Chapel HillQ

University of MississippiQ

Trinity College Trinity College Dublin

University of California, Davis University of California, Irvine University of California, San DiegoQ University of California, Santa Barbara University of California, Santa Cruz University of Central FloridaQ

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University of LouisvilleQ

The Ohio State University

The University of Findlay

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University of Kentucky

University of Mary Washington

University of California, Berkeley

DePaul University

Florida International University

University of Edinburgh

Tulane UniversityQ

Rochester Institute of TechnologyQ

Fashion Institute of Design and Merchandising, Los Angeles

State University of New York at AlbanyQ

Rice University Roanoke College

Eugene Lang College The New School for Liberal Arts

University of Connecticut

Temple University

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St. John’s University Queens Campus

Syracuse UniversityQ

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Spelman College

Kenyon CollegeQ Lehigh University

University of Cincinnati University of Colorado at Boulder

Smith CollegeQ

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Lake Erie College

Emory University

Shaw University

Kalamazoo College

Denison University

Elon University

Sewanee: The University of the SouthQ

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the place that’s going to help build that person”

Class of 2015 College Acceptances College choices are noted with a star

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University of Missouri, Kansas City University of North Carolina at Greensboro University of North Carolina at Wilmington

University of Washington University of Wisconsin, Madison Vanderbilt University Virginia Commonwealth UniversityQ Virginia Military Institute* Virginia TechQ Washington CollegeQ Wellesley College Wells College West Virginia University Wheaton College MAQ Xavier University

University of RochesterQ

Xavier University of Louisiana

University of San Diego

Yale UniversityQ

University of South Carolina University of Southern California University of Tennessee, Knoxville University of Vermont University of VirginiaQ

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sports news fall and winter 2014 FIELD HOCKEY

Caitlin Aberg ’15, Susanna Hogg ’15, Amber Huggins ’16, Zoey Sims ’15, and Fee Wittenbecher ’16 were named to the Blue Ridge Conference 2nd Team All-Conference for Field Hockey.

BA S K E T BA L L

Susanna Hogg ’15 was named to the Blue Ridge Conference 2nd Team All-Conference for her play on the basketball court this winter.

In just three short years, the Chatham Hall Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) team has accomplished what any of the 1,200 teams in the United States dream of doing…they qualified for the National Finals in Florida in April and rode to a Reserve Championship, placing number two in the country.

Seniors Tabea Fahr ’15, Susanna Hogg ’15, and Zoey Sims ’15 were named to the 2014 Keith Waldman–Optimal Performance Associates/National Field Hockey Coaches Association High School National Academic Squad. These players were recognized for their outstanding play on the hockey field and their exceptional work in the classroom. The National Academic Squad program recognizes those high school seniors who have achieved a minimum cumulative Grade Point Average of 3.5 for the first quarter of the 2014–2015 school year. Jane Allen ’00, in her first year as head coach of the varsity field hockey team, was named the Blue Ridge Conference Co-Coach of the Year, sharing the honors with the head coach from North Cross School. Follow @TurtleAthletics and @RideChathamHall to keep up-to-date on Chatham Hall athletics and riding!

C RO S S CO U N T RY

The cross-country team won the Danville Metro Cross Country Championship Meet and runners set personal records throughout the season. The team had solid performances at the Blue Ridge Conference Championships held at the Elk Run Trails in Elkton, Virginia and the Virginia Independent Schools Athletic Association Cross Country Championships held on the campus of Woodberry Forest School.

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Director of Riding James F. Morris, Emily Simanskis ’15, Elizabeth Trexler ’17, Sara Stuart ’15, Eliza Caprio ’15, Sarah Doss ’17, Ana-Christina Zentner ’16, and Assistant Director of Riding Samantha Pleasant Fleming

Chatham Hall Takes Reserve Championship at IEA Nationals

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Kilraine Pinyard ’15 and Angelica Vinas ’16 received Blue Ridge Conference 2nd Team All-Conference honors for their play on the volleyball court this fall.

Four riders, backed by the other dozen members of the team who cheered them on from Chatham Hall, represented the team at Nationals. Ana Christina Zentner ’16, the 2013 Individual JV Novice Flat National Champion rider, represented the team in the Open Division. She was 8th over fences on Saturday. Newcomer to the IEA sport and to Chatham Hall this year, Elizabeth Trexler ’17 had an outstanding Saturday with a 3rd place finish in the Intermediate Fences division. Emily Simanskis ’15 had a disappointing ride in the Novice Fences class and finished Saturday without a ribbon. With only four points on the board but seated in 8th place at the end of the day, the IEA team was poised for a comeback in the Flats on Sunday. With twenty-four teams to ride off, the flat classes were divided into semi-final sections of 12 and 12 with only eight riders being asked to return in a Final Class where team points would be awarded. Riding amongst the top junior riders in the country, Zentner had a tough draw and was not asked back in the Open Division. Trexler was next to ride and rode a relatively difficult horse, but judges were able to see through horse error and called her back for the flats. Simanskis was also called back for the Final based on her ride in the Novice Division. With two riders in the call back, a fair amount of pressure was placed on IEA newcomer Sarah Doss ’17 in the JV Beginner WTC Division. Doss found herself equally enthusiastic when judges asked her to return to the final. With three riders in flat finals in the afternoon, Chatham Hall sat in the unique position of having three riders able to pull points for the team. Doss went first for the team and earned a 2nd place finish, giving the team five points. Simanskis went next and with a very difficult draw showed her strength as a rider earning a 4th place finish. Trexler was the final rider and her ribbon result could drastically change Chatham Hall’s placing among the teams. On a horse named L’accord, Trexler walked into the ring, and had an absolutely beautiful textbook ride. Standing ringside, James F. Morris, Director of Riding, and Samantha Pleasant Fleming, Assistant Director of Riding, were consistently stopped and asked if Trexler was a Chatham Hall rider. Each coach with a rider in the ring admitted that Trexler had outshined them all.

Waiting in the ring for the results, Trexler was the last one standing as the 2nd place rider was called. She recalled “When my name wasn’t called for second, I looked over to the Chatham Hall box and all the parents were shouting and jumping and I looked for Emily (Simanskis) and she was cheering for me. It was a great moment and I was so happy I could have ridden for my team.” At the end of the day Chatham Hall earned the Reserve Championship Placing. At the end of the 2014–2015 IEA Season, Chatham Hall sits at 2nd place in the entire country, and is ranked 1st among boarding schools with IEA programs. IEA Team Captain Eliza Caprio ‘15 and Assistant Director of Riding Samantha Pleasant Fleming

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Chapel and School Life in an Episcopal Setting Chaplain Ned Edwards and Dean of Students Emily Johns presented Linking Lives: Chapel and School Life in an Episcopal Setting at the National Association of Episcopal Schools in November. Utilizing research on integrative education, how adolescents understand the life of the spirit, adolescent brain development, spiritual practices, relational dynamics, and the postmodern effects of stress and anxiety, Chatham Hall has developed a residential curriculum incorporating the spiritual development of girls while honoring our Episcopal roots. Ned and Emily offered both the theoretical basis and practical examples of how addressing questions of meaning and purpose can provide schools with tools and practices that are both educationally sound and developmentally appropriate. While there, Ned and Emily met the 26th Presiding Bishop of the Episcopal Church, the Most Rev. Dr. Katharine Jefferts Schori.

Incredible India

During spring break, nineteen members of the Chatham Hall community traveled to north India through Chatham Hall’s inaugural 13-day “Incredible India” service program. The program is a companion to the School’s long-running signature service program in Cape Town, South Africa. Focused around gender and equality of opportunity in India, the program took students to Pardada Pardadi Educational Society for a core three-day service experience. Pardada Pardadi is an academic and vocational initiative for girls in Anupshahar village, and it was there that students experienced the most transformational events of the program. Founded by Sam Singh, who had a long career in the U.S. with DuPont, Pardada Pardadi exists to make Indian girls’ and women’s lives better.

Upon returning from India, students shared their experiences through words, music, and videos in a special chapel service. Delia Ibañez ’17 shared her reflections:

I’ve always found beauty in the unconventional, in rust and ruins and peeling paint. This has not changed. I look around the impoverished villages and see more beauty than I could in any posh upper class mall in Delhi. The crumbling temple, beautiful. The piles of trash, beautiful.

The elderly man crouched by a bucket to wash himself, beautiful. The baby buffalo laying in mud littered with fragments of paper, beautiful. The man sitting in his dark hut waving at the bus and smiling with his yellowing, rotting teeth, beautiful.

The dirty naked baby playing with the dirty flea bitten mutt. The most colorful, joyful sights were simultaneously the most desolate. The smallest villages held the most smiles, the most colorfully painted buildings, the most vendors with fruits and sweets or scarves and saris. However, tourists in India pay hundreds of dollars to see the Taj Mahal, simply a massive hunk of marble with embedded gemstones, while just outside the walls there are hungry people. There is the American embassy school with the pool and auditorium and then there’s Pardada Pardadi, where they give the best of what they have, and it is still so little. Every glimpse of this broke my heart, but the heart is a muscle, and the way muscles grow and strengthen is by ripping and repairing. With every blink my heart has been torn to shreds, but my hope is that it will repair and that in those thirteen days, the nineteen of us will have gained a new capacity for love and a new understanding of beauty. To read more from the India Blog, visit www.chathamhall.wordpress.com Visit http://youtu.be/QXW7jqgbjpw to watch a video produced by Victoria Bongard ’16 documenting the India trip!

Local Impact spring

A group of Chatham Hall students spent their spring break volunteering with Habitat for Humanity in Danville and completing service work around campus.

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More than 135 Chatham Hall alumnae and friends from 30 states, representing classes from 1953 to 2010—came home to Chatham Hall for Reunion Weekend, May 1–3. Alumnae traveled from as far as California, El Salvador, England, The Bahamas, and Bermuda to join in the celebration. The Class of 1975, with 20 members in attendance, had the highest attendance with a close second by the 50th Reunion, Class of 1965, with 19 attendees. It was a wonderful weekend of reconnection, fellowship, and stories of Chatham Hall’s shared history. Highlights of

Congratulations to our 2015

the weekend included a history of Chatham Hall talk by Dr. William Black, student and faculty conversations, a Kentucky Derby Party, Reunion and Purple and Gold Banquets, visits with Rector Suzanne Walker Buck, and the presentation of our 2015 Distinguished Alumna— Nina Johnson Botsford ’72. Thank you to all who joined us in celebrating Chatham Hall. Mark your calendar for next year’s Reunion Celebrations—April 15–17, 2016! Visit goo.gl/0i9D8Y to view and download photos from Reunion 2015!

Distinguished Alumna Nina Johnson 21 Botsford ’72! Nina is a true philanthropist who exemplifies the spirit of caring and is a vibrant example of the values of Chatham Hall: honor, integrity, spirituality, and service to others. She has had a meaningful and powerful impact on every community she has touched. The list of Nina’s service and dedication to Chatham Hall, her church, and her community is an impressive description of what Nina has accomplished in her life. She leads from the middle in an unassuming and gracious manner. She genuinely values the contributions of all members of a team and artfully brings divergent viewpoints and styles together in collaboration. She leads by example, not by title, through grace, caring, and community building. After graduating from Chatham Hall, Nina received her B.A. from Wheaton College in Massachusetts and went on to dedicate her life to service. In her home community of Birmingham, Alabama, Nina has served in her children’s schools, in various non-profit organizations, and in her church. She currently serves on the Endowment Board of The McWane Science Center where she was a Founding Board member and Chairman of the Board. Nina is also a Trustee of the Susan Mott Webb Charitable Trust and a member of the Endowment Board of Alzeimer’s of Central Alabama. She is a Senior Warden Emeritus of The Cathedral Church of the Advent where she serves weekly in their homeless ministries and their healing ministry. A fiercely dedicated Chatham Hall alumna, Nina has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2003, serving as Chair from 2011–2013. She chaired Chatham Hall’s successful $58.9 million capital campaign from 2003–2010, and was Co-Chair of the 2013 Rector Search Committee that brought

Chatham Hall’s Writer in Residence Program to be named for Pulitzer Prize Winner Claudia Emerson ’75

us Suzanne Walker Buck. Nina was also a member

Over Reunion Weekend, Chatham Hall announced the launch of a fund drive to endow its distinguished Writer in Residence Program and to name it for Claudia Emerson, poet and Pulitzer Prize winner who passed away December 4, 2014. Emerson would have celebrated her 40th Reunion on May 2, 2015 with the Class of 1975. Members of the Class of 1975 have contributed the seed money to launch a fund drive to name the Claudia Emerson Writer in Residence Program. She shared her love of writing as the Writer in Residence herself in its inaugural

1986–1991. She

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year 2003–2004 and again in 2008–2009. The Writer in Residence Program enhances the Chatham Hall curriculum by engaging students, and the larger Chatham Hall community, in a hands-on learning experience and dialogue with a notable author each year from a variety of genres and modes of literature: poets, short story writers, fiction writers, non-fiction. Each writer spends 2–3 days on campus, giving a public reading, teaching classes, hosting writing workshops, and meeting students and faculty and community members. Chatham Hall and the Class of 1975 invite

and welcome gifts to the fund. To make a donation please contact the Advancement Office, Attn: Claudia Emerson Writer in Residence Fund, 800 Chatham Hall Circle, Chatham, VA 24531. You may also contact Christine Knight, Director of Advancement, at 434-432-5549.

of the Alumnae Council from 1981–1991, and its President from has been the recipient of two alumnae service awards, the Boyce Lineberger Award and the Nancy Gwathmey Harris Award.

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Reunion Celebrations 2015


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Get Your Gold!

Freshman Leader in Residence

Lightweight Ladies Cut T-Shirt

Ellen Gustafson By Frances C. McBride ’18

Hoodie with Two Color School Seal

Baby/Toddler T-Shirt

A group of fresh-faced ninth graders sit eagerly in front of an ambitious—yet somehow calm—looking young woman. She sits with one leg on her stool, and eyes the students proudly and exclaims, “You guys just figured out in thirty minutes what it took me over a year to figure out.”

Unisex Long Sleeve Chatham Hall T-Shirt

Limited Edition “Chatham Oak” Print

Augusta Jogging Shorts

Short Sleeve T-Shirt Chatham Hall Logo

by Charlottesville based artist Robin Hanes ’73

Chatham Hall Dog Leash

Chatham Hall Luggage Tag

School Seal Bumper Sticker

Canvas Tote with School Seal

To order online or to view more great merchandise, including tervis tumblers, jewelry, notecards, and more, visit www.chathamhallbookstore.bigcartel.com. To order by phone, call 434.432.5512. All proceeds benefit the ongoing

spring of Chatham Hall, with the exception of Alumnae Council items, which support the Legacy Scholarship Fund. operations

This is Ellen Gustafson, author, entrepreneur, and healthy eating activist, who was invited to Chatham Hall as the Freshman Leader in Residence. While on campus, Gustafson presented a keynote speech, hosted a think tank conversation, and contributed to the ninth graders’ social action plan. Gustafson’s school-wide presentation focused on food, her relationship with food, the world’s perception of food, and food’s correlation with violence around the world. When Gustafson first discovered this correlation, she was working for ABC News researching and reporting terrorism. During her research, she found that the UN’s Violence Map was almost identical to the UN’s World Hunger Map. She decided if hunger and violence were related, then stopping the hunger would stop the violence. This belief drives her benevolent work with food. Gustafson charmed the entirety of Chatham Hall with her lively and easygoing spirit. Maisie Deely, the Director

of Communications and Marketing Strategy at Chatham Hall, said of her visit, “Ellen Gustafson is a force of nature. During her time on campus she not only educated our school community, she energized it.” The ninth grade class chose Gustafson not only for her work with charitable companies and non-profits, but to have a more hands-on experience. While at Chatham Hall, the ninth graders relied on Gustafson’s assistance to form a sustainable action plan—one that will benefit the Pittsylvania County community and Chatham Hall. Gustafson co-created FEED Projects in 2007 to address the hunger in third world countries. FEED Projects created a business plan that would sell bags, then use the bags’ profit to provide food for the hungry. However, Gustafson realized that this outside assistance was detri-

mental to the local economy. Since FEED Projects provided food for free, the local farmers would have no one to buy their food, thus putting them out of business. Gustafson recognized that this project wasn’t sustainable. When the food ran out, there would be no more farmers to support the community, putting the locals back at square one. Gustafson moved on to create her next project, the Apron Project, which gives women in third world countries a chance to earn a stable income by making and selling aprons. This gives women the opportunity to provide for and feed their families. Thanks in large part to Gustafson’s assistance, Chatham Hall’s ninth grade class has devised a social action plan. Their goal, which borrows from Gustafson’s FEED Projects, is to sell a product to fund a nonprofit donation. It made sense for the group of girls to take after Gustafson in creating aprons out of recycled men’s shirts. The ninth graders’ will sell their aprons to raise money for a local food bank.

During her research, she found that the UN’s Violence Map was almost identical to the UN’s World Hunger Map. 2015


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ful spring day featuring a Parent and Grandparent Open House at the Rectory, a Convocation celebrating creativity and mastery, and special recognition of senior athletes.

Penelope “Penny” Perkins Wilson ’41

A special thank you to Parent Advisory Committee Co-Presidents Brad and Melanie Hogg P’15 and Vice-President Kristen Mitchell P’16, as well as to the Class of 2015 PAC members: Dale and Denise Evans P’15, Holly and Lizzie Hollerith P’15, and Vincent and Suzy Pinyard ’15. Our thanks goes out to all members of the 2014–2015 PAC who helped make this a fantastic year!

When Penny looks at our campus, she sees beyond the beauty. She sees the cracks. She sees the things that she knows down the road will cause problems. She comes on campus and sees things most people or have no interest in seeing.

don’t see

She just gets infrastructure.

The Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees is delighted to announce that Chatham Hall’s PPRRSM (Provision for Plant Replacement, Renewal, and Scheduled Maintenance) Endowed Fund has been named in honor of Penelope “Penny” Perkins Wilson ’41. It is most appropriate that the PPRRSM Fund, which helps fund the Capital Expenditures line of the operating budget, be named in honor of Penny, who over the past several decades has worked tirelessly to support and strengthen Chatham Hall’s infrastructure. A member of the Board of Trustees since 1989, and a past Chair of the Buildings and Grounds Committee, Penny’s contributions will be long lasting and felt over many generations. A firm believer in wedding fine design with practical function, Penny led the planning effort to renovate Yardley Dining Room and to construct Van Voorhis Lecture Hall, supported the renovation of Lee Library, and funded many demolition projects and the building of Merricks Maintenance Building. In 2010, Penny was one of two alumnae honored as Chatham Hall’s first Distinguished Alumnae. Ronald Merricks, Chief Financial and Facilities Officer, reflects on Penny’s contributions: I recently read a quote by Lance Morrow, essayist and writer that says, “Leaders make things possible. Exceptional leaders make them inevitable.” Penny Wilson is an exceptional leader, not only in philanthropy, but also in her keen ability to see what can be done. And, inevitably, it gets done! When Penny looks at our campus, she sees beyond the beauty. She sees the cracks. She sees the things that she knows down the road will cause problems. She comes on campus and sees things most people don’t see or have no interest in seeing. She just gets infrastructure. Penny has been instrumental in improving Chatham Hall’s campus, from the old swimming pool years ago to most recently the old stable and run-down buildings. Chatham Hall is blessed to have Penny Wilson so actively involved in the School. All facility managers need a “Penny Wilson” type person. Fortunately, we have the original, and she is the best! Penny will be sorely missed after rotating off the Board of Trustees this spring. We thank Penny and extend our most sincere gratitude to her for all that she has done for Chatham Hall!

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Endowed Fund Named in Honor of

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We are delighted to announce that forty members of the Class of 2015 have pledged to the 2015-2016 Annual Fund! The pledge drive, led by Class Captains Mereweather Lackey ’15, Claire Gardner ’15, Annika Tice ’15, and Yolanda Mantilla ’15, was an overwhelming success, and resulted in 88% of the class pledging a gift to next year’s Annual Fund. The success of this drive is a testament to the class’ appreciation for their experience at Chatham Hall, and serves as a strong message of support from our newest alumnae.

Maggie Bentley Katie Buckner Eliza Caprio Sriya Chadalavada Lian Chen Mary Craft Karen Dedegbe Annie Deng Delaney Evans Tabea Fahr Margaret Fletcher Kelly Fu Claire Gardner Jingi Hairston Susanna Hogg Elizabeth Hollerith Sahra Jaamac Mereweather Lackey Katherine Leak Ann Li

Yolanda Mantilla Claire Mayo Rachel Neller Alyssa Parrish Memi Pearsall Kilraine Pinyard Annabelle Poston Mary-Michael Robertson Sophia Rose Jingyi Shao Ivy Shelton Emily Simanskis Zoey Sims Sara Stuart Katie Thomas Annika Tice Kat Wilhelm Ellen Wilson Kelsey Woody Jessica Zhou

The Benefactors Society recognizes those who support the School’s mission with generous gifts of $1,000 or more to the Annual Fund. As our young alumnae graduate into the community of alumnae and friends, they are invited to become Benefactors at a graduated level. 1894 Founder’s Circle l $25,000 and above Rector’s Circle l $10,000 to $24,999 Lantern Circle l $5,000 to $9,999 Iris Circle l $1,000 to $4,999

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from C H A T H A M H A L L

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Wissie Thompson ’58

“Because I shall be eternally grateful Hall, alumnae from C HtoAChatham THAM HA L L I have been a regular supporter of the school since my graduation in 1958, most recently including Chatham in my will.

The excellence of the education I received there is indisputable. Even the most unwilling students, as was I, learned to THINK! If one can think, with a little bit of luck, one can usually figure out an interesting and enriching life. Chatham Hall was the right school at the right time for

me. It was one of the seminal experiences in my life. However, it cannot exist on feelings of love and devotion alone! Because I hope that Chatham will be able to continue to offer such a high quality of experience to young ladies in the future,

I am proud to be a part of the Esto Perpetua Society.” Wissie Thompson ’58

is a “Chatham Girl” through and through.

As a student, she was a member of St. Mary’s Choir, Chatham Athletic

Chatham Hall Faculty and Staff give because they believe in Chatham Hall! 100% of our faculty and staff have made gifts to the 2014–2015 Annual Fund. Thank you faculty and staff for all that you do for Chatham Hall! CHATHAM HALL BENEFACTORS SOCIETY

alumnae

Council, Senior Quartet, and Student Council, and she received the Rector’s Medal upon her graduation. She has served several terms on the Alumnae Council, where she was a positive and effervescent source of insight and inspiration. A donor for 45 consecutive years, Wissie has also thought beyond the here and now by including Chatham Hall in her estate plans.

YOUNG ALUMNAE PURPLE AND GOLD CIRCLE 1 to 5 years l $100 to $499 6 to 15 years l $500 to $999 COLUMNS CLUB Donors who give to the Annual Fund over a period of five consecutive years or more qualify for membership in the Columns Club. Columns donors are the pillars of Chatham Hall, who, through loyal and consistent support, sustain the ideals and traditions of our School.

What is the Esto Perpetua Society? Chatham Hall welcomes into

the Esto Perpetua Society individuals who have included the School in their estate plans. If you have designated Chatham Hall as a beneficiary of your estate, retirement plan, life insurance, of other assets, you are a member! Just let us know. Esto Perpetua!

If you would like to become a member of the Esto Perpetua Society, we would be glad to help you! For information, please contact Director of Advancement Christine Cutright Knight at 434.432.5549 or at cknight@chathamhall.org. For online resources including eBrochures on a range of estate planning topics, visit our website at www.chathamhall.org/giving.

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members of the Class of 2015 for pledging to the 2015–2016 Annual Fund!

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faculty book club in review What’s the best night of the month in Chatham, Virginia? Well, of course, it’s Faculty Book Club! Since the fall of 2012, members of the Chatham Hall faculty have been gathering once a month in a faculty home to discuss literature. We have members from most every academic department, as well as members from the admission, advancement, athletic, and the technology departments. In addition, we have a faculty spouse, a faculty friend from Chatham, and a former faculty member who join us.

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e have dabbled with several different ways to select books. Usually folks will have access to lists of suggested readings, such as the New York Times best books of the year, then ten or so books will be put on a ballot and members will vote for the ones we will read in that semester. That is the process we are currently going through as we make our selections for the fall of 2015. We experimented with another process this year, in which book club members chose the book that others would read. Both systems seem to have worked very well. We also try to read a few books a year that are significant to southern Virginia. For example, among my favorite books are Factory Man: How One Furniture Maker Battled Offshoring, Stayed Local - and Helped Save an American Town and The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks. We also select works by Chatham Hall Leaders and Writers in Residence. Among the highlights of the past two years have been dining with Writers in Residence Amber Dermont and Joy Harjo to discuss their works The Starboard Sea and Crazy Brave: A Memoir. Among the books that we have read in the past few years that I highly recommend to you are Wild, Eating Animals, Beyond the Beautiful Forevers, The Son, The Goldfinch, The Orphan Master’s Son, and The Round House. For all the joy these readings have brought me, however, the books are ironically not the focus of Book Club. The friends that attend are. During our second year, two members called an Emergency Book Club Meeting. They had some serious

decisions to make in the next few weeks, and they called upon the people on campus they felt closest to, Book Club. There is a great sense of camaraderie that comes from meeting monthly, sharing a drink or two, and enjoying fine food. The book discussions that follow are lively, and yes, sometimes a bit contentious. This was perhaps especially true when we discussed Factory Man and Eating Animals. What obligations, if any, do we as a society have to protect or assist communities that are devastated by offshoring? For environmental and ethical reasons, should we be more cognizant and careful about the foods that we consume? Would the world be a better place if there were more vegetarians in it? We at Chatham Hall have created a Book Club that fosters lively discussions because we also have created a group that trusts each other, and that does not judge each other. And yes, very often what happens at Book Club, stays at Book Club. Most of us are currently reading Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption for one final Book Club meeting for the year before we scatter across the country this summer with five new books in tow, ripe for summer reading. As we gather together in August to commence another academic year, we will also know that our favorite night of the month will be back as well. – D ON MORLEY, WORLD CULTURES AND MODEL UNITED NATIONS TEACHER

We at Chatham Hall have created a Book Club that fosters lively discussions because we also have created a group that trusts each other, and that does not judge each other. And yes, very often what happens at Book Club, spring

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Gift to the Archive Gives Insight to Chatham Hall’s History Circa Georgia O’Keeffe a recent archive acquisition has helped give new understand-

ing into the early faculty of Chatham Episcopal Institute. These are letters written by two teachers during the 1904–1905 academic year back to family in Earlville, New York. Cora Maude Wetmore had come to CEI to teach vocal music. Her sister, Hallie G. Morgan, had signed on for one year to teach both harmony and instrumental music. It was to be a single year for both sisters. Hallie was to be married at the end of the year. Cora, a widow, had left a young son with his grandmother in Earlville….An interesting coincidence is that the 1904–1905 session was also Georgia O’Keeffe’s senior year. One piece of evidence shows that she knew the two music teachers fairly well. As Art Editor of the 1905 Mortar-Board, Chatham Episcopal Institute’s first yearbook, Georgia included eight caricatures of faculty members and one of Mr. Pruden, President of the Board of Trustees…Clearly, one of O’Keeffe’s other caricatures is of Hallie Morgan. She sits at a piano saying “Wh-o-o-o-w-e-e-e but—this goes A caricature of faculty pretty well.” member Hallie Morgan

October 10, 1904 Maude to son As I have no news to write you this time will send some notes that were found, that one of the girls (one of the day pupils from town who takes both piano & vocal from me) of whom Dorothy is so jealous had written about me. We are both so well and happy. Very busy, but counting the weeks. Time to begin lessons. Must leave you. Will try and write you a letter soon. Dearest love and many kisses.

by Georgia O’Keeffe from the 1905 Mortar-Board yearbook

tales from chatham hall Do you recognize the location of this 1912 photo from the Chatham Hall archives? Let us know and receive a fun gift from the bookstore if your guess is correct! Contact Laura Rand Matheny ’06 at lmatheny@chathamhall.org, or at 800 Chatham Hall Circle, Chatham, VA, with submissions!

Know a future Chatham Hall girl?

Mamma Note #1 (pencil) Dear Dorothy, I don’t like you any more – ‘cause I am jealous of you. ‘Tis true that Mrs. Wetmore walked with me yesterday evening, but every other word was “Dorothy.” She said “Emily don’t you think Dorothy is interesting?” I said “no, I don’t.” Then she would wait about half a minute and say, “Emily isn’t Dorothy pretty?” I realize that you have an advantage over me being here in the house with her. That is all right. I am going to take a music lesson today and there I will see her for a whole half an hour, but “Apple Dumpling” and “Earnestine” are always in the dining-room from twelve to half past. Isn’t that horrid? Say, I have a whopping trade for you. Two gentlemen told me last night they thought you were beautiful. The prettiest girl at the Institute. To read the full article by School Historian William Black, visit goo.gl/ZBJgkk

Join us for a 2015–2016 Open House! Monday November 9, 2015 Monday January 18, 2016

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Rector on the Road! Welcoming Suzanne Walker Buck Chatham Hall alumnae and friends have welcomed Rector Suzanne Walker Buck to the extended Chatham Hall community during a series of events held around the country this year! Rector Buck has met more than 600 alumnae and friends at events in Atlanta, Georgia; Birmingham, Alabama; Boston, Massachusetts; Charlottesville, Virginia; Chatham, Virginia; Chicago, Illinois; Denver, Colorado; Mt. Vernon; Houston, Texas; New York, New York; Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; Sarasota, Florida; Vero Beach, Florida; and Winston-Salem, North Carolina. Visit goo.gl/0i9D8Y to see a full gallery of photos from the Suzanne Walker Buck Welcome Tour.

BOSTON Sallie Gray Harrington

’04, Sarah Lannom ’05, and Suzanne Walker Buck

BOSTON Susie and John Buck, in-laws of

Suzanne Walker Buck, with Katharine Reynolds Chandler ’68 and David Chandler

CHARLOTTESVILLE Margaret McElroy ’59, Gray Baird

’58, Stephanie Tuck ’13, and Barbara McMillan ’59

BOSTON Julia Morris Kashkashian

’75, Alida Bryant ’76, and Laura Brown Cronin ’72

PHILADELPHIA Kristine Caldwell Schad ’73, Elizabeth

Kirk Unger ’73, Jane Garnett ’73, and Jake Darby ’73

PHILADELPHIA Jane Clark Warren ’58, Wissie

Thompson ’58, and Eleanor “Ellie” Silliman Maroney ’58

HOUSTON Robin Peake Stuart ’69, Suzanne Walker

Buck, Sarah Monarchi Longpré ’84, and Frannie Wallace Robertson ’73

PHILADELPHIA

CHICAGO Caroline Finke ’07, Mary Kay Karzas ’71,

NEW YORK Rebecca Smith ’10, Laura McCall ’09, Laura Price ’09, Amanda Stewart-Gonzalez ’09, Axi Walker ’09, Jennifer Rappaport ’08, Gloria Mejia ’08, Emma Smith Castro ’05, and Megan Grissett ’05

Gloria Bond Clunie ’71, Suzanne Walker Buck, Venita Fields ’71, Robin Peake Stuart ’69, and Nicole Fox ’04

CHARLOTTESVILLE Frances

Johnson Lee-Vandell ’60, G’12 and Sarah Goodwin P’83

CHICAGO

NEW YORK Jane Garnett ’73, Suzanne Walker Buck, Johnny Buck, and Lucy McClellan Barrett ’53

ATLANTA Cheri Bentley ’83, Rebecca Taylor Heery

’88, Suzanne Walker Buck, Boyce Lineberger Ansley ’64, Eleanor Burke ’86, and Erin Conner Blair ’81

CHATHAM

MT VERNON Lisa Rosenberger Moore ’59, Jean

Armfield Sherrill ’63, and Boyce Lineberger Ansley ’64

NEW YORK Josephine McFadden ’57, Polly Wheeler Guth ’44,

and Nancy Callery ’70

NEW YORK Cheney Knight ’19, daughter of Director of Advancement Christine Knight, and Robin Tieken Hadley ’57

NEW YORK Diana Howard Fisketjon

’78, Director of Enrollment Management Carney O’Brien, and Laura Brown Cronin ’72

We extend much gratitude to our wonderful hostesses Boyce Lineberger Ansley ’64, Gray Baird ’58, Lucy SARASOTA John Parsons, Carlotta Hellier Parsons ’55, Dianne Covey Ohlandt ’68, Suzanne Walker Buck, Ann Tracy

Ross ’51, Carol Babcock Davenport ’47, Dora Thomas P’02 P’04, Edith Bettle Gardner ’43, Mary Evelyn Guyton ’75, Patricia Noojin Dudley ’67, and Chip Dudley

VERO BEACH David Kriedler, Donna Vroman Kriedler ’54, Henry Maresi, Suzanne Walker Buck, Robert

Montague, Lala Mapes Maresi ’59, Wissie Thompson ’58, Lee Porter Page ’59, Betsy Baldwin Montague ’59, Anne Lanier ’65, Ann Potts ’67, David Page, Janie Huntley Webster ’57, Johnny Buck, and Hope Metcalf Johnston ’65 Not pictured, Peggoty Worthing Gilson ’59 and husband Peter Gilson

WINSTON-SALEM Muffin Dalton Grant ’66, Martha

Brown Stevens ’73, Mary Reynolds ’84, Suzanne Walker Buck, Melanie Kirk Holton ’87, Talmadge Ragan ’69, and Jean Armfield Sherrill ’63

BIRMINGHAM Camille Agricola Bowman ’71, Walker Johnson

Jones ’70, Johnny Buck, Nina Johnnson Botsford ’72, Suzanne Walker Buck, Kate Johnson Nielsen ’72, Donie Martin Carlson ’87 P’87, Donie Martin P’87 G’18, and Frances Sommers Wheelock ’75

McClellan Barrett ’53, Natalia Barrett-Rose ’93, Cheri Bentley ’83, Erin Conner Blair ’81, Eleanor Burke ’86, Nina Johnson Botsford ’72, Martha Stevens Brown ’73, Donie Martin Carlson ’87, P’18, Emma Smith Castro ’05, Judy Carter ’63, Ansley Chapman Cella ’91, Kathy Reynolds Chandler ’68, Sarah L. Collie ’85, Laura Brown Cronin ’72, Mary Walton Curley ’42, Past Trustee Belk Daugtridge P’13, Carol Babcock Davenport ’47, Lelan Dunavant Davidson ’05, Olivia Hutchins Dunn ’53, Joanna Edgell ’93, Venita Fields ’71, Sarah Martin Finn ’74 and John Finn, Susan Huntington Fisher ’60, Diana Howard Fisketjon ’78 and Gary Fisketjon, Lynn Gammill P’84, Jane Garnett ’73, Stacey Goodwin ’83, Muffin Dalton Grant ‘66, Emily Blair Harvey ’93, Rebecca Taylor Heery ’88, Helene Zimmerman Hill ’46, Ashley Hockensmith ’05, Melanie Kirk Holton ’87, Lydee Conway Hummel ’72, Walker Johnson Jones ’70, Mary Kay Karzas ’71, Julia Morris Kashkashian ’75, Pauline Dent Ketchum ’70, Poppy Stewart Lacey ’67, Christopher and Arlene Lee P’12, Frances Johnson Lee-Vandell ’60, P’86, G’12, Sarah Monarchi Longpré ’84, Ellen “Westy” Childs Lovejoy ’50, Adrienne Mars P’78, Margaret McElroy ’59, Josephine McFadden ’57, Barbara McMillan ’59, Alice Pack Melly ’52, Kerrington Ramsey Molhoek ’93, Lisa Rosenberger Moore ’59, Kate Johnson Nielsen ’72, Phyllis Statter Oxman ’64, Lee Porter Page ’59 and David Page, Jennifer Quainton ’96, Talmadge Ragan ’69, Mary Reynolds ’84, Catherine Roberts ’74, Frances Wallace Robertson ’73, Anna Robinson ’93, Jean Armfield Sherrill ’63, Robin Peake Stuart ’69, Barbara Billings Supplee ’53, Ann Taylor ’54, Elkin Cushman Taylor ’87, Dora Thomas P’02,’04, Wissie Thompson ’58, Stephanie Tuck ’13, Elizabeth Kirk Unger ’73, Alexandra Walker ’09, Frances Sommers Wheelock ’75, Sarah Jones Winmill ’49, and Past Trustee James H. Wright.


chat

Tracy Bartlett Lively ’84 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON CAMPUS? I have several. The chapel, The Well, Senior Stairs, the trails; and I love the drive up the hill. WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT STATE OF MIND? I work in admissions for a small liberal arts college, so this time of year I fluctuate between anxious and exhausted. WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR MOM/DAUGHTER? I love her independence even though it means she needs me less often. I also love how thoughtful she is of other people. WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF PERFECT HAPPINESS? Considering question number two, my answer would be a week at the beach with no cell service or Internet. In general, happiness is being connected to my faith, my family, and my friends. WHAT IS YOUR BEST CHATHAM HALL MEMORY? There are really too many moments to even begin to narrow them down to a favorite, so I have to go with my very first day on campus. Anyone who knows me well can tell you I have a horrible memory, but I still remember that my C.O.E. was Susie Bross and she was excited because they were having london broil for dinner that night. I loved every second of my tour and didn’t want to leave. A few short weeks later, I was back as a mid-year junior and haven’t stopped loving it since. I’m happy for and envious of my daughter’s three full years!

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Parallels WHAT DO YOU MISS/WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL MISS THE MOST ABOUT CHATHAM HALL? Being on campus now as a parent makes me miss seeing classmates and the CH community from my time as a student. I miss trail rides and King of the Mountain, coffee and ice cream with a variety of faculty and classmates long after dinner has ended, general laughter and life on dorm. I’m thankful for the experience, and could not be happier that Mary Elizabeth is there now creating her own Chatham Hall memories.

Mary Elizabeth Lively ’16 WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE PLACE ON CAMPUS? The barn. WHAT IS YOUR PRESENT STATE OF MIND? Excited for the spring to continue so I can get my ring! WHAT DO YOU LOVE MOST ABOUT YOUR MOM/ photo ©2015www.LISArichmond.com DAUGHTER? I love that my mom supports me in everything I do. WHAT IS YOUR IDEA OF PERFECT HAPPINESS? Lying in bed watching movies with my friends. WHAT IS YOUR BEST CHATHAM HALL MEMORY? The moment I realized that my roommate, Jane, and I were perfect together. WHAT DO YOU MISS/WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU’LL MISS THE MOST ABOUT CHATHAM HALL? All of the friendships and the sense of community.

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Katharine Hobson Sturtevant I’m about to be 95 in December. Things don’t get any easier in old age. Still mobile with a walker. Am in a great retirement home which makes it easier.

Barbara Briggs Trimble has three children, five grandsons, and four great grandchildren (one a girl—a little “princess”) and eight step great grandchildren. Is pretty delightedly busy.

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Effie Siegling Bowers Barbara Mallory Hathaway ’39 spoke to Effie and reports that in her lovely, soft Charleston voice, Effie says that she has six children, five grands, and two greatgrands, and is doing well. Barbara Mallory Hathaway has four children, five grandchildren, and four great-grands all living from Manhattan to New Hampshire. Sees much of Mary Marr Speer ’39. Both pretty spry! Frances Grimball Maclean is in very good spirits, with one son and one daughter, and two grandchildren, she goes anywhere that she’s asked including her Garden Club of America’s meetings. Mary Speer Marr reports that classmate Anne Rose Hilliard ’39 has acquired an iPad and inspired her to do the same, saying that their Chatham background must be contributing at their “tender” years. She has four children (one daughter deceased), nine grands, six greats, and one on the way. She is very active and sees much of Barbara Mallory Hathaway ’39.

Mary McChesney Ten Eyck From the moment I entered the sophomore class in 1942, through a 53 year marriage consecrated by Dr. Lee, and supported by Chatham classmates, to becoming a mother of four, grandmother of 13, and great-grand to 13, ongoing—my three years at Chatham provided me with a strong faith that has sustained me through every joy and pain of my life. I am eternally grateful.

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Joan Miller Tait Still living in the foothills in Litchfield County, Connecticut. Greetings to all ’46ers’!

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Adelaide Comstock Roberts I am now a great grandmother! I have had fun talking to my old roommate, Carol Babcock Davenport ’47 and she has updated me on old friends, generally whether they are dead or alive. I spend part of my time in Newport, Rhode Island, where I have bought a condo. That is old and familiar stomping grounds for me. Happily, my son lives there and so I see my grandchildren more frequently.

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Trygve Norstrand Cooley Like so many others our age, we are now in a lovely retirement community and are enjoying it very much– especially as it is in Florida (Naples). Haven’t sold the place in Haverford, so we still go North in the summer.

Anne Lydgate Kaiser I’m back in “volunteer” activities, heading the Board of our Highlands Chorale, with more than thirty singers who will perform two concerts in June at our retirement community (the hall, in a charming old New England building, holds 125 people, thus the need for two performances). We have a superb director who leads us to singing accomplishments we never hoped to attain. Andy and I are a little grayer, but well, and look forward to the melting of mountains of snow outside our cottage. Harriet Simons Williams First February back in Durham, and first of Durham’s snow events of the year. Things mostly just close down, and we wait until it melts. However, tonight is the Duke—UNC game, so many others will be jammed into Cameron Stadium. Finding our first full-time residency in the Retirement Community goes well, just back from my daily round of pingpong. It is all women, because we just rally, and the men always want to keep

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Carol Babcock Davenport Past President of the Board of Trustees Dora Thomas P’02, ’04 and I hosted a luncheon on March 12 for Suzanne Walker Buck, the new Rector of Chatham Hall. This event was held at the Glenridge, the retirement community where I live in Sarasota, Florida. This was a great opportunity to meet Suzanne and to hear about our school. As usual, my co-chairman, Nancy Evans Gruner ’47, and I are contacting our classmates at Christmas and in the spring. Eleanor Walton Bequart ’47 reports problems with arthritis but is pleased that her vision has improved due to a very successful cataract operation. She feels that her time at school was truly one of the miracles in her life. Esther Coke ’47 has moved to a condo which borders conservation lands. She has a garden there which she enjoys. She continues her volunteer work at the New England Historic Genealogical Society in Boston, where her focus is on special collections projects. Marjorie Flory ’47 divides her time between her apartment in New York City and Wake Robin Retirement Community in Charlotte, Vermont. Because she has relatives in Sarasota, we were able to spend time together visiting at the Ringling Museum. Nancy Evans Gruner ’47 leads a busy life in Verona, Pennsylvania and on Fisher’s Island during part of the summer. Cordy Ruffin Richards ’47 is planning to move from her condo to a retirement community in Annapolis some time in the next few years. She enjoys singing in a chorus and participating in church activities. Cecily Hogg Morrow ’47’s daughter lives in Bradenton, Florida, so we get together for lunch when she is visiting. She is still painting and promoting her instructional figure skating video. Mervyn Adams Seldon ’47, now a resident of Claremont Manor in Claremont, California, will show her paintings at a show in May and had her work hung in her community for three days in February. She is still the Director of a cooperative gallery in Pomona. Adelaide Comstock Roberts ’47 now has a condo in Newport, Rhode Island and spends most of her time in Washington, Connecticut. She is still active in her garden club and is now a great grandmother. I received a lovely Christmas card from Noel Barnes Williams ’47 detailing her activities in the New Orleans area. Nancy and I send good wishes to you all for 2015 and hope you will contact us if you have news to share.

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class notes spring 2015


score. The men find pool more to their liking. Just finished reading a history of cotton, reminded me of hiking through the dreadfully gullied tobacco fields when we went on Monday hikes. Will go up to our in-house library and snuggle up with yet another book.

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Kathleen Herty Brown Among the many things I learned at Chatham Hall were keeping a check book and arranging and singing in the Senior Quartet. I’m still writing checks and arranging and singing! Thank you. And my two singing gangs, “Mixed Blessings” and “Eldee Moments.” Thank you. Caroline Jeanes Hollingsworth ’50 I always hear wonderful things about Chatham Hall. I am very proud of all who make it so fine a school.

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Margaret Dayton Ankeny I have no proper photo, but I am seldom without some of my 23 grandchildren in pictures! We are very proud of all of them and enjoy spending as much time with them as possible. The oldest, at 31, is getting her PhD in Denver, the youngest, at 13, has my exact same name, and is in middle school near us in Minnesota. Number two was married last August in California. The others all seem to get to great colleges and have great futures. Pete and I celebrate 60 years together, and 45 in the same too large house on Lake Minnetonka. Winters in Rio Verde, Arizona, some time in Aspen. One grandson is on the US ski team! I am mostly in a wheelchair (after 20 joint replacements), so I do not travel much. I have happy memories of time at Chatham. Sending love to all ’51’s especially!!

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Ann Kirkpatrick Runnette We currently spend part of the year at Cypress retirement community on Hilton Head with our two Labs and enjoy it very much. I see Nancy Greene Miller ’52 often for bridge. We spend most of the summer in Dorset, Vermont. We spend a little time in Ponte Vedra, Florida in the winter.

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Lucy McClellan Barrett As your class agent, I am having

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a wonderful time touching base with many of you. I am also privileged to feel the pulse of Chatham Hall as I spend three weekends each year on the campus at trustee meetings. It is truly an exciting time for our beloved School. Thanks to Gary Fountain, Chatham Hall moved gracefully and forcefully with the times while maintaining the traditions you remember. Leadership for women is the byword and now we have Suzanne Buck leading us forward into new realms with energy and passion. It has been my good fortune to be involved at Chatham Hall during part of Gary’s tenure and now with Suzanne’s. Recently, my husband, Johnny, visited the campus with me. He was bowled over by everyone and everything! You will be too—come visit! It is with great sorrow that I let you know about two recent deaths in our class. In October of 2014, Winston Case Wright ’53 passed away in Mobile, Alabama where she lived. Win’s husband, Jack, preceded her in death but she is survived by four children and five grandchildren. Win graduated from Bennington College in Vermont and went on to work in Alumni Relations and Development in several schools. Win and Jack spent the years of 19611968 on the Chatham Hall campus where Jack was Dean of Faculty and taught English and Win taught dance. Lois Shelton Wilson ’53 whom we all knew as “Shelly” died this past January after an illness. As many will remember, Shelly roomed with Hildy Wilson ’53 at Chatham Hall and then married Hildy’s brother, Eric who died in 2009. Shelly earned a B.A. and an M.A. in Religious Studies from the University of Villanova in Pennsylvania. She was very involved with the Carmelite Order and devoted herself to church work. She leaves a son and a daughter. Those who attended our 50th Reunion will recall seeing Shelly. We shall miss these wonderful classmates and send our warm condolences to their families. Note: We have recently lost track of Didi Stafford Cheseldine ’53. We last heard from her when she was living in Chicago. Does anyone have any information on Didi?

John Barrett, Lucy McLellan Barrett ’53, former Director of Advancement Missy Fountain, and former Rector Gary Fountain at a Yankees game in fall 2014

Olivia Hutchins Dunn Hopefully I will be in my new house at 60 Christmas Tree Lane, Southport, Connecticut, 06890 mid spring. It’s been a long haul—six moves in a year and a half! Susan Elder Martin To my great delight, Barkie Billings Supplee ’53 visited me in May 2014. She was going to her grandson’s graduation from The University of the South, not at all far from my home where I’ve lived since 1968. The magnificent views keep me happy!! Four children, 10 grandchildren, one great grand. Doris Silliman Stockly Holmes and I are just fine, although a little creakier. We still travel a bit, usually once a year and mostly with a local group which has organized nice trips on rivers in Europe. I am still a volunteer for land protection by land trusts focused on the Maine Coast. I am also involved with the Maine Historical Society—wouldn’t Miss Havemeyer be pleased—or startled?

Margaret Morss Stokes I had an interesting connection this Christmas. Our family of 16 were in Utah where our youngest daughter lives. We rented a home in Park City and had a fabulous 10 days. As we were leaving and thanking the owner of the home (Nancy Wastcoat Garbettt ’61) we discovered that we both had graduated from Chatham Hall. Small world!!

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Susan Embree Parker Had a delightful evening with Carlotta Hellier Parsons ’55 and her husband in Sarasota this past March!!! Carlotta Hellier Parsons Mary Jo Balkind ’55 escaped the frigid north and visited my husband, John, and me at our new home in Sarasota, Florida. We have a house at The Glenridge on Palmer Ranch, a delightful CCRC (continuing care retirement community), where the people are extremely active and interesting. We love it here, and would encourage anyone considering such a move to be sure to look into The Glenridge. Mary Jo Lee Balkind ’55 and Carlotta Hellier Parsons ’55

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Caroline Ramsay Merriam My husband, “Duke,” and I live in the Georgetown section of Washington. We have three living kids, our eldest having died in 2005. They live in New York City, Philadelphia, and Los Angeles. We have seven grandchildren and four great grandchildren. We just got back from ten days in Jamaica and in June will go to Brittany, France, where we go each summer, renting the same house. This year we will also go to Croatia. I work at my foundation, funding organizations which combat exploitative child labor, sex trafficking, and solitary confinement. A colleague, fighting child labor in India, received the Nobel Prize for Peace in 2014. Duke and I contributed to many Democrats running for Congress in 2014 and continue to support President Obama.

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Marcia Pyle Welch As a seasonal resident and single woman since 2012, in North and South--best of both worlds, I downsized in both Nantucket and the Florida Keys. I’ve been a board member and co-chair of the Atheneum Dance Festival in Nantucket for over eight years—a brilliant success. Florida activities: Garden Group, Questers.

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Leila McConnell Daw I don’t get to go to Arizona in the winter, but 12 of my small paintings do. The exhibition The Weight of the World: A Contemporary Art Exhibitions of Affect and Reason will be at Arizona State University, Tempe, from January to May. Any Chathamites in Arizona are

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Simone Crockett ’60 Last summer I took two nieces over to Spain and we did 175 miles of the Camino de Santiago. This coming May, I’m going to go back by myself to do 375 miles, starting from Logrono. As part of AmeriCorps, I’ve been tutoring and creating a workshop on the Great Migration, Jacob Lawrence’s Migration Series and its impact on photography and poetry, at an alternative high school in the Bronx. Mention of my work elicited the following interesting comments from Lucy Wise McIllif ’60 and Ann “Tammy” Davenport Mavroleon Dixon ’60:

Lucy: I believe volunteering in these

Nancy Starr Tyson I now have a bunch of highly educated grandchildren: graduated from Haverford, seniors at Wellesley and Georgia Tech, entered at UVA and another Tech school, and an acting school. Funny that none of them ride horses or play sports as I did, except three of them are superior squash players. The youngest are eight and six--possibly future entertainers like their father, or artists like their mother. Nothing like their grandmother! My friends are now going into retirement homes, the thought of which fills me with despair!

minority schools is one of the most important jobs you can do to help these children—and for teenagers especially. In the 70s my children went to a previously all African American school, which had been recently integrated. It was in the middle of a very poor all African American neighborhood. The parents from the surrounding more affluent neighborhoods decided to send their children there. Not only did the school give all the children a great education, ending up being one of the best elementary schools in Maryland, but it lifted up the neighborhood it was in.

welcome to visit! In February I traveled to India where I took a class on Indian miniature painting. I can’t seem to stay away from Asian art forms! Husband Nigel and I spent a magical few days in and around Kathmandu; I dont think I’ll take up Nepalese bronze singing bowl making, however. A Chatham trip to India overlapped our stay, but we were in different areas. Too bad!

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Lee Porter Page We hosted Suzanne Walker Buck at a reception at our house in Vero Beach on March 10, 2015. Wissie Thompson ’58 visited us in January, and David and I look forward to seeing Ann Weir ’59 at Lala Mapes Maresi ’59’s house next week.

tic school with very dedicated staff; and I thought the whole premise very exciting. That said, my daughter had a difficult time. Most of the other parents where we lived had decided to tutor their children in lieu of busing them to Watts, so my daughter lost her neighborhood friends. Also, the bus ride was very long both ways, so there was no time for her to socialize with new classmates in the new school. Just a bit of the downside to an otherwise fantastic educational experience. Marion Benson Miller and I frequently get together here in New York. In the photo I submitted, we were headed to have lunch with Katrina Watson ’60, and Marion turned into her street photographer persona. Marion Benson Miller ’60

Tammy: Years ago, I put my youngest daughter into an exchange school in LA in the Watts area—it was a fantas-

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Lucy Wise Iliff ’60 and husband, Charlie, with family celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary

Margaret Reeder Crosbie Not a lot of news—we are escaping the winter in Boca Grande. Our eldest son is with Doctors Without Borders as an operations manager and gets sent to run their facilities in various places, mainly Asia; another teaches English in the Emirate system at the equivalent of our charter schools—boys at the high school level. The third is in money management in New York. He and his lovely wife have our two darling grandsons. Fortunately they are just a quick plane ride away! Best to everyone. Audrey Sawtelle Delafield We have been inundated with snow; quite beyond belief. Snow and freezing temperatures. We have had about three or four feet, I think. More to come. But we live in Maine, so we soldier on. Joe and I are both enjoying our retirement enormously. I am not really doing a whole lot—some parish visiting now and then, taking a service at the nursing homes occasionally. I am indulging my love of reading and have put away

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knee surgery and am in no hurry to do the other one. Waiting for spring to melt the ice and snow that is not supposed to be here in Southwest Virginia. Still doing painting, will teach a class of flower painting in March… maybe it should be a class in winter landscapes??

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Susan Dwelle Baxter Our sad news is that Sweet Briar is closing its doors in August due to insurmountable financial challenges. The board wisely, I think, came to this difficult decision after exploring every other possible solution. Hard to get young women to come to a single-sex school in a very rural setting. I hope that something good will happen to that beautiful campus and that it won’t be scooped up by Liberty University which now has such a huge presence in Lynchburg. I am fine—had a wonderful safari to East Africa and Tanzania last fall with Micato, one of our top fabulous companies. I’m still selling travel with Valerie Wilson Travel and have two river cruises coming up soon. My son Parker and his wife and two-yearold have been living with me here in Ponte Vedra while they decide where they will live next—they’ve been here since June. My daughter Lucy and her husband live in Charlotte. Looking forward to a good visit with Caroline Tate ’60 this weekend when I’m in North Carolina visiting Lucy Wise Iliff ’60.

many books. What a treat! We are going South for a couple of weeks in March, which will be a nice change. Our son, Joe, is in an off-Broadway play in New York, so we went to see that last weekgreat fun! I suspect we will be doing more traveling since our time is now our own. And yes, my crossword puzzle skills are improving day by day! Carol Harkey Garner 2014 was our 50th anniversary year. Fred and I visited our son, Fred, Jr. and his family in Nairobi, Kenya, where they live on the Rosslyn Academy campus, taking them all on a safari in the Masai Mara. The following summer, our five children, their spouses, and 15 grandchildren

Carol Harkey Garner ’60 and husband, Fred, celebrating their 50th wedding anniversary

honored us at our summer cottage with a low-country boil, pipe cleaner crowns and bows, love notes, a hiphop routine to “I Blow Kisses,” and a review of family quirks and traditions to “These Are a Few of Their Favorite Things!” On more ordinary days, I am busy with home Bible studies, volunteering in 3rd grade reading programs

for low scoring students, and playing poor rounds of golf, both in Wisconsin and Florida. I absolutely love everything I do, but as far as golf goes, it’s the girls I play with that make it special! Lucy Wise Iliff This winter is getting to me. I just came up from mucking the stalls for my two horses that I still have at home. We have snow, ice on the river and creek, and bitter cold. Who doesn’t? Anyway, the picture is of my family on Charlie’s and my 50th wedding anniversary. The kids took us all to a nine bedroom cabin in Luray, Virginia last August. We had a wonderful time visiting the caverns, walking on the Skyline Drive, and watching old home movies. Who ever would have thought 55 years ago when we graduated from Chatham, that life would be this good in our 70s? I still have my job at the magazine. Sky won his first event of the year in Florida. We’re planning on going down to see him in North Carolina next month. Margaret Lloyd Keuler This past year I have fully experienced the cycle of life. My family had three Celebrations of Life for my mother in South Carolina, New York, and Massachusetts. She was 97 and we met many of her friends who told us stories about her which we did not know. On February 28, I watched my sixth grandchild, Elias Oliver Kolacz, being born. All four of my children and the grandchildren live very near, so I see them frequently. I also went to my 50th reunion at Bryn Mawr College and reconnected with another part of my life. What a blessing to have family so close physically and emotionally. I hold all of you in my heart. Great to hear your news.

Eleanore Lee My husband, Ron, and I just returned from three weeks in Morocco. Part of the trip was an organized tour, the first time I’d ever done this. The whole visit was very intense and beautiful. A real learning experience. We spent two days in a tent on the Sahara desert. Seeing the sunrise over the dunes was amazing. But right now I’m in total collapse mode. Before we left for Morocco, I finished organizing a collection of papers left by my grandparents, Edmund and Lucy Lee, and gifting them to the University of Virginia Library. They were papers from their time as Episcopal missionaries in China (and in preparation). The papers date from 1896 to 1920. I learned a lot going through this material! Wish you all well. Ann Davenport Mavroleon Dixon Art for Youth London was a wow last year— making £92,000 net for the charity UK Youth, and after collapsing in a heap and saying we would never do it again, we are already gearing up for October 7 and 8—and are back in the Mall Galleries for 2015—where it all began 28 years ago. See more on www.artforyouth.com. Would love to see classmates there. Just had a great dinner with Sarah Perkins Smither ’60 (we share a taste for very rare hamburgers!). And have heard from Toinette Tucker ’60 whose online magazine is a wonder. Eliza Wolcott Morehead ’60 Still appraising fine art and antiques and loving it-very involved with an historic house in Austin which is reimagining itself under a dynamic young director! It’s exciting and demanding! My travel mostly involves my antiques, interests, or my children in Japan and Atlanta. I spend time in Delaware with my sister, Mary Wolcott Davis ’69. Adelaide McKenzie Moss ’60 Not much news here, have recovered from

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Theresa Cass Turko Still working at hospital as a patient advocate—my passion. Have three children and two grandchildren. I am loving life as a senior citizen.

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Susan Beekman Clough Last May, Sally Gordon ’63, from the Southwest, was visiting Gini Willson Welch ’63 in Stonington, Connecticut and I joined them for two nights. Enjoy seeing lots of Cillie Pilling ’63, in Philadelphia, since our 50th too! I still live in Lancaster Pennsylvania. I am trying to sharpen my focus with my “Susan Beekman Decorative Surfaces” business to restorations, which I can do in my studio. After years of studying and teaching at the Isabel O’Neil Studio in NYC, I am especially enjoying the Society of Gilders and learning their fine techniques of Water Gilding. Life is good, I’m just too far from my three son’s families including seven grandchildren: two in Marblehead, Massachusetts, three in New Canaan, Connecticut, and two in Fair Haven, New Jersey. I still think dear friends are a special part of Life’s Glow!

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Noree Lee ’60 in Morocco

Lucille Pilling ’63 and Gini Willson Welch ’63 parasailing for Gini’s 70th birthday

Mary Michael Leslie Fenn Greshon ’63 and I are leaving on a trip to the Amazon and Machu Pichu on 2/24. When I visited her in NYC after our 50th reunion, we both discovered that they both were high on the list of places we wanted to go. I’m rather amazed that we actually followed through. Perhaps a picture in the next Chat.

1965 Evelyn Bullitt Hausslein ’56, Lolly Bullitt Despard ’65, Margaret Bullitt Pough ’58 and Marion Sherwood Klump Bullitt, niece of Sally Sherwood ’32, who is memorialized in the Rose Window in St. Mary’s Chapel

Gini Willson Welch ’63, Susan Beekman Clough ’63, and Sally Gordon ’63

Susan Overbey Funderburk I had the opportunity to tour Northern Ireland this past summer with the Jefferson Choral Society from Lynchburg. Singing “Amazing Grace” in St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Dublin was a thrill! Fifty years ago I toured Europe with the Salem College Choral Ensemble, I never thought it would happen again!

Susan Farwell Houston We are still well rooted in Northern Vermont surviving long winters and relishing way too short summers! Come visit! Late breaking news—a grandchild at last!!! Barbara Lane I retired after 27 years on the Ventura County (California) Superior Court; but—after a great summer travelling in the neighboring western states—I am headed back to work as a “substitute” judge, filling in at California courts that need extra help in civil and probate and trust cases.

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Kathryn Carter Jacobs Wayne and I are enjoying life to the fullest! We have just returned from a month’s filming trip with our company to England and are now gearing up to walk in the Kiawah Half Marathon with our two daughters and son-in-law in December (2014).

Grandson of Nancy Hanes White ’66

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Mary Lynn Thomas Van Wyck had a granddaughter March 10, and her name is Mary Lynn. Nancy Hanes White ’66 We are enjoying our grandson, Merritt, who turned two. It is wonderful living on a farm where he can run around and even sit on a sweet horse!

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Priscilla Wade Belsinger Finally a grandmother! Sydney Alice Reynolds born January 21 to my son, Nicholas, and his wife, Jane. And I am smitten! Debbie Humphreys Jones ’67 I’m so excited to be retired from teaching kindergarten for 35 years. I have been traveling, de-cluttering, and enjoying family and friends. I do see Ida Little ’67 quite often which is always fun! Marney Ault Wasserman Dave and I are happily retired, and relocated in northern New Mexico—Taos in the summers, Santa Fe in the winters. Time for writing projects at last, and for sailing dreams. Our three children are busy

Lucy Williams Maish I am so excited that by the time the Chat comes out my first grandchild will be born! My son, Parker Maish, and his wife, Molly, of Kansas City, Missouri are expecting in April 2015. If it’s a girl, I will get a cute baby CH tee for her and make a donation to the Legacy Scholarship Fund in her honor! I have Sunday Supper each week with my darling daughter, Cary Dunn Maish Brodie ’97 and her husband, Charles. I spent time with my dear friend and classmate, Muffy Dent Stuart ’68, in June. I am delighted to be back on the Alumnae Council with another classmate, Glad Schaff Markunas ’68, and other old friends from my decade. We have great ideas and I look forward to being of service to this wonderful school of ours! CHEERS! Laurie Nussdorfer Corinne Rafferty and I walked the coastal footpath in South Cornall in September 2014—sunburn, countless hills, and 50 miles—we survived and it was gorgeous!

Family and friends gathered in Wolfeboro, New Hampshire to celebrate the long life of Tod Blodget (1917–2014), beloved husband of 65 years of Margie Meigs Blodget ’42. Also pictured (L-R) Marian Larkin ’65, Anne Blodget Holberton ’69, Linda Alford Sahl ’69, Carol Harlocker McBee ’69, Anne Meigs Larkin ’41

five miles with me at Mount Katahdin, the Northern terminus of the trail in Baxter State Park, Maine. We welcomed a granddaughter (Mary) that lives in London, and a grandson (Cody) that lives in Denver, on a road trip I enjoyed connecting with Dottye Shaheen Hammett ’69 for lunch in Memphis.

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Ninna Fisher Denny As class agent, I have been having fun catching up with our classmates this year. Hope to do more of the same next year! Martha Givens Nicol and Studie Johnson Young ’70 had a wonderful visit in Florida this February. It does not take long to catch-up with good friends, no matter how long it has been since the last visit! Mott and Bruce live in Lexington. Studie and Zack live in Atlanta. Trustees Robin Peake Stuart ’69, Stacey Goodwin ’83, Kathy Reynolds Chandler ’68, Sarah Monarchi Longpré ’84, Mary Kay Karzas ’71, Laura Brown Cronin ’72, Lucy McLellan Barrett ’53, Jane Garnett ’73, and Nina Johnson Botsford ’72 gathered with John Henry Waller for a photo op on the occasion of Rector Suzanne Walker Buck’s Investiture in October

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Lisa Vilas Weismiller 2014 was a banner year! I completed my section hike of the 2181 mile Appalachian Trail. One of my sons and his five month pregnant wife hiked the last Left: Sons and grandchildren of Muffy Dent Stuart ’68 at Thanksgiving Below: Muffy Dent Stuart ‘68, Lea Cumings Parson ’43, and Trina Robinson Secor ‘68 together in Florida in January

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Mott Givens Nichol ’70 and Studie Johnson Young ’70

Lori Braun Jackson 2015 is a busy year for us. My daughter (and my youngest) Mary Alice will graduate in May from Kenyon College. Bringing Kenyon graduates in our house to four. My son Carl is getting married September 19 to Monica Manfred, and because things seem to happen in threes, we will begin our house raising project in April—raising it five feet to comply with new post Sandy FEMA guidelines.

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Susan Bruce Fortunate to have some wonderful Chatham Hall alumnae in the Denver area! I am now working at Rothschild Safaris developing new destinations for them. Would love to plan a trip for you! Happy 2015 and I look forward to my class’s 40th Reunion this year. Tyler Norman Scott I published a novel The Excellent Advice of a Few Famous Painters with Create Space/Amazon and uploaded it in the fall. Available on Amazon, Kindle, and paperback, or through my website Tyler Scott “Pour the Coffee, Time to Write” www.tylernscott.com. My blog is www. tylernscott.com. I’ve tackled divorce— but made it funny, made it sad—and used the art world to tell my story. All made up of course. I’m happily married and I don’t know how to paint.

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Frazier Millner Armstrong is currently busy consulting to several non-profit organizations through her communications, marketing, and fundraising business, as well as serving as a senior consulting associate for West Avenue Associates, a small firm providing counsel to non-profit leadership throughout the Richmond region. In addition, Frazier is serving as Chair of the Board of Directors for the YWCA of Richmond. I currently sit on the following Boards of Directors as well: Library of Virginia Foundation, Leadership Metro Richmond, VCU College of Humanities and Sciences Advisory Board, Robertson School of Media and Culture at VCU, and The Woman’s Club. She and her husband Brad are enjoying their home

near the James River on Cherokee Road, and old, restored hunting lodge. They share their home with a new rescue dog, TrudyMae. We would love to see and hear from Chatham friends nearby!

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Letitia Berlin I’ve seen several friends from classes of ’78 and ’77 recently. It’s been wonderful to catch up. I hope lots of us will make it to our next reunion. Sherri Talbert Caruso Married to Carey Caruso and living in the Hollywood Hills, California. For the past 11 years I have been the executive director of a 40-year-old nonprofit, sober living for women, in Los Angeles called Felicity House. I also lead Spirituality and Meditation groups for the newly sober— Loyola Marymount students and an outpatient program. I try to stay fit with my yoga practice and such—I enjoy my Jane Austen Reading Group lead by UCLA Professor Lynn Batten (who was born and raised in Virginia!)...I would be happy to hear from those who venturing out to Los Angeles...

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Allison Sutton Fuqua All is wonderful in Summerfield, North Carolina—Caroline has graduated from Clemson and is living and working in Charlotte. Sarah Randall is a senior at University of South Carolina. Theresa Walsh Marchioni Danny is still living and working in China. Jeff completed his three year active duty obligation and is currently living in Orlando, Florida. Bobby and Jimmy are still in high school; junior and sophomore respectively. Bob and Terri are still working and beginning to think about retirement. Terri has a long weekend planned with high school buddy Louisa Young McClanahan ’80 this coming May that is WAY overdue! Bobby Marchioni, Jeff Marchioni, Bob Marchioni, Terri Walsh Marchioni ’80, Danny Marchioni, and Jimmy Marchioni, Thanksgiving 2014 at the Marchioni residence in Miamisburg, Ohio

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Susan Carlson Balderrama I am still living in Austin, Texas. I am teaching special ed part-time, giving massages part-time, and doing lots of horse riding. If you are ever in Texas, know that you are welcome to look me up! Cristina Bornhofen I just returned from a short visit to Arkansas where I attended my mother’s 80th birthday party. While there I went through some old boxes of photos and came across stacks of pics from Chatham days. Wow! What a memory surge it was! I currently live in Sydney, Australia, with my partner Mark and two character-rich dogs. I completed a PhD in Clinical Psychology in 2007 and have been practicing in public hospital and private settings since then. It’s an interesting field with few dull moments. I also get to travel a bit for work and breaks, which I love. I’d be really happy to hear from anyone I knew in the two years I was at Chatham!

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Lisa Richmond I was honored to photograph the amazing wedding of Sallie Grace Tate ’81 and Ashley Dotger this fall at the Inn at Park Winter. Leslie Olcott ’81 and Lisa Busby Hingst ’81 came out to celebtrate. A beautiful ceremony of laughter and tears.

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Anna Avery I live in Cary, North Carolina and have been operating my own tutoring business for over four years. I love teaching my students (K-12, almost all subjects) and helping parents. My daughter, Juliana Avery ’14, attends Guilford College, and will be studying in Sienna, Italy this fall. My email is anna.avery@ymail. com. I’d love to hear from classmates and past teachers. If you are ever in the Cary/Raleigh area, please contact me! I’d love to see you.

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Shanda Jo Haley Blackmon has just moved to Rochester, Minnesota and is Associate Professor of Thoracic Surgery at Mayo Clinic. She has three beautiful children Grace (2), Jake (10), and Sam (10). She celebrates her 20th wedding anniversary with Matt Blackmon this July.

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working and raising their own families, in Denver, New York and Houston. Our 4th grandchild was born in March!


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Nini Hadjis ’89 as “Lisa” and Angele Perez as “Cosie” in the film Old Fashioned

Claire Elizabeth Mathews, daughter of Melissa Dixon Matthews ’94, future class of 2033 James Robert Anderson, son of Sarah Wood Anderson ’96 and Dave Anderson, with brothers William and Maxwell

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Nini Hadjis Thank you to all of my CH sisters who went out to see our film Old Fashioned, which opened on Valentine’s Day weekend this year. I am both an actor and producer on the film and truly appreciate the support! Looking forward to Reunion Weekend as a council member and hope to see many from the class of 1990!

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Natalia Barrett-Rose We have moved to Cape Town, South Africa—our dream for many years. Cape Town is my husband Lawrence’s birth place, so we have lots of friends and family here. The beauty is indescribable and the kids are thriving! I would be delighted to see any of my beloved classmates or other Chathamites who venture down here!

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Melissa Dixon Mathews Mark, Will, and I welcomed Claire Elizabeth on October 23, 2014. We are so excited to have my CH legacy join our family. Elizabeth Talmadge ‘93 attended my baby shower in August, and we’ve seen each other since then in Atlanta. I’m still working as a preschool teacher and love it! It definitely makes me appreciate how much love and hard work goes into shaping minds.

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Sarah Wood Anderson and Dave Anderson are proud to announce the birth of their third son, James Robert Anderson, born January 7, 2015. He joins big brothers William (8) and Maxwell (6). Don, Gayla, and Leigh Wood are enjoying James’s sweetness and soaking up the fun!

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Candice Dickinson Hamilton My mother, Suzan, lives in Boones Mill, Virginia. She owns Creekside Salon and Spa, so if you

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Sarah Wood Anderson ’96 and family with Leigh Wood, Gayla Wood, and Don Wood—the happy aunt and grandparents

are in the neighborhood stop by and say “Hi.” She was diagnosed with lung cancer last year, and has elected not to receive treatment, but she is making the most of living with her cancer. My children and I got to spend the month of June with her last summer, and we made lots of sweet memories. I even got to chat with Bill via phone while he was at the lakehouse near Smith Mtn. Lake vacationing with his wife and two daughters. It is very strange to be in that part of Virginia so many years later. My mother-in-law passed away in October 2014 in a tragic accident involving a handgun, so it was a very rough time for our family this past holiday season. We moved a few miles down the road to Germantown, Tennessee, and we are loving being closer to our children’s private school and having double the sq. ft., so I have finally gotten to enjoy unpacking, and

having a dining room. I have taught preschool for the last few years at our church so that I could work around my children’s schedule. In January I began working as a personal care assistant for an elderly couple living with Alzheimer’s. Everyday is new and challenging, but often filled with laughs, much like caring for my preschool students! I am looking forward to completing my TN licensure for counseling so that I can return to work full time when my daughter, Savannah Jayne, begins Kindergarten this fall. Bryan and I will celebrate our 10th Anniversary this year, and that is a testament to hard work, much faith, and many prayers. I was so sad to learn of the deaths of two former professors, Dr. Beal and Claudia Andrews Emerson ’75. My thoughts and prayers have been with Madeline Corbin-Beal ’97’s family and with Claudia’s husband, Kent. Life’s

Rory Jelks ’00, Florentina Frangiamore Adams ’00, and Sarah Giddings ’00 at the baptism of Florentina’s son, George Patterson Adams, on February 15, 2015 in Atlanta.

hard sometimes, right? Problems abound, people get sick, hurt and disappoint us, but God is good! He is in control, so we don’t have to be. I pray each of you are well and I love and miss you all!

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Kristin Holland I graduated from the VA-MD Regional College of Veterinary Medicine (at Virginia Tech) in May 2012. I then completed a one-year rotating internship in small animal internal medicine, surgery, and emergency medicine at Hollywood Animal Hospital in Hollywood, Florida. After the internship, I moved to Nashville, Tennessee to be closer to family and have been working as a general practitioner at a small animal hospital since. I am excited to share that I have matched for a residency in radiology and diagnostic imaging at Ohio State University (I can’t quite bring myself to refer to it as THE Ohio State University just yet,) with the goal of becoming a board-certified veterinary radiologist. I will therefore be relocating to Columbus, Ohio for the next three years, so if any classmates/other Chatham Hall alumnae will be nearby, please feel free to get in touch!

02

Madelyn Anne, daughter of Rebecca Boswell Parsons ’01 and David Parsons

01

Johanna Waschmann I am excited to announce the launch of my jewelry brand “ALMA FRIEDA.” Some well known German fashion retailers have already bought my designs and I have also won several direct customers. Please check out my online shop on www.alma-frieda.com and also find me on Facebook, instagram, and pinterest. If you wish to order, please send me an email: service@alma-frieda.com. I am sure I will expand to the States soon :-).

Elisabeth Campbell Cales Hello to my beautiful Chatham Hall family! There’s lots going on in the Cales family! My husband Elijah, son Gabriel, and I moved to Harlingen, Texas in January 2015, where Elijah is stationed with the Naval Operations Support Center Harlingen. To add to the excitement, on February 24, 2015, my family and I welcomed our newest addition to the Cales family (and future member of the PURPLE team)! Lyla Bella-Rose was born at 8:15 a.m. weighing 7lbs 10.5oz of pure sweetness! We are all so excited for this chapter in our lives Lyla Bella-Rose, daughter of Elisabeth Campbell and can’t wait for new adventures! Cales ’02

Michelle Thomas Supko ’02, Adair Hendrickson ’02, Kenzie Logan Graffeo ’02, and Kimberly Daniels Taws ’02

Rebecca Boswell Parsons My daughter Madelyn Anne was born on August 24. Her big sister’s name is Claire, and she just turned three in September.

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Michelle Thomas Supko Adair Hendrickson ’02, Kenzie Logan Graffeo ’02, Kimberly Daniels Taws ’02, and I all spent the weekend together in November in Southern Pines, North Carolina bouncing between my home and Kimberly’s home. It was a wonderful mini-reunion spending quality time with each other and catching up on all the changes in our lives (children, weddings, etc.). We loved it!

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Whitney Jones Allen In mid-February, Michael and I enjoyed a lovely, long stay at the Sanderling Resort on the OBX. I just finished up the General Assembly session for the Commonwealth, which is an incredibly busy time at the Attorney General’s Office (the attorneys review all of the proposed bills). I hope to earn my Paralegal degree in the next year or so. Michael and I plan for an extended visit along the Gulf coast in April, where I will work on genealogical research for my family as well as attend a wedding! We are entering our 6th year of owning our home in Goochland County, and are finally starting on the backlog of renovation projects (DIY and otherwise). In January, I formed WorthyStyle, LLC—which is tied to my work as a freelance writer/blogger/social media strategist. These activities definitely keep me busy. I hope everyone has had a wonderful spring!

2015


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Jaquette Page Gilbert I was honored by the positive response I got from the extended Chatham family after a recent post about my Chatham Hall experience (an excerpt of which is on the right) on my blog, mrsmadame. wordpress.com. I hope that my three daughters, ages eight, six, and one, will also benefit from the Chatham Hall experience one day:

Often, I get asked if I wanted to attend boarding school, and what was it really like? For me, I must admit that my days at Chatham Hall make up some of the best years of my life. Where else could I go to school with students who represented over thirty countries? Or with students who took pride in learning, embraced challenges, and encouraged self-exploration? Or even with students who take the honor code seriously? I still wish more Jaquette Page Gilbert ’03 with her eldest daughter, Faith people believed in “white flag.” Chatham Hall gave me the chance to feel comfortable in my own skin...Chatham Hall planted seeds of leadership, self-confidence, and determination within me. I was able to try new sports, like cross-country, field hockey, and lacrosse (my in-laws still have my lacrosse stick in storage!). I was able to take both French and Spanish, four AP courses, and meet a variety of important women from around the globe. Some women were Prime Ministers, Nobel Peace Prize winners, and esteemed authors. In fact, Venus Williams was the featured speaker for the Leader in Residence Program a few years ago. After her visit, Venus Williams shared her thoughts about the event, “The girls were obviously so intelligent and their questions really made me think. I wish I could have attended a school like Chatham Hall.” I count it a blessing that I was afforded the opportunity to join the ranks of many other women, and attend an all-girl college preparatory boarding school.

Caroline Biedenharn I am marrying my best friend and love of my life, Albert Lawrence Lin, on April 11, 2015 at my mother’s home in Jackson, Mississippi. We are moving to Charlottesville, Virginia (UVA) this summer where he will start his retina surgery fellowship and I will start graduate school for teaching high school English. Mary Katherine Evans Rordam Jennifer Hinson ’03, Sarah Arnn Parrish ’03, Nan Futrell Liles ’03, Mary Giddings Dunlap ’03, Averil Liebendorfer ’03, and I gathered in Baltimore, Maryland for Valentine’s Day 2015. We had a wonderful time catching up and touring Averil’s city. We often commented about how grateful we are for our days at Chatham and for the friendships we formed there that are still sustaining us 12 years later. Top: Jennifer Hinson ’03, Mary Katherine Evans Rordam ’03, and Sarah Arnn Parrish ’03 Bottom: Nan Futrell Liles ’03, Mary Giddings Dunlap ’03, and Averil Liebendorfer ’03

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Sallie Gray Harrington I am continuing for a fifth year as Operations Director of Piers Park Sailing Center on Boston Harbor. It’s been a wonderful year for reconnecting with Chatham—including 2004’s 10-year reunion, Jennifer Hills ’04’s amazing wedding, and Suzanne Bucks’ visit to Boston!

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Laird McIver In lieu of getting a job and joining traditional society, I have defected from the US to live with giant galapagos tortoises.

Laird McIver ’10

Aemelia Hudson Mauldin ’07 and husband Ethan Mauldin

06

Erin Renn I will be joining the graduate division at UC Merced this fall to begin working on my PhD in Bioarchaeology, and am currently teaching Anthropology at my undergraduate alma mater. In addition, I have self-published my first book series, The Abbot Hall Sweepers, based off of my time at Chatham Hall!

Charlotte Rettberg As part of my Master’s degree, I will be spending the fall semester of 2015 in Milan, Italy. I’d love to hear from anyone who is or will be in the area! The Rev. and Mrs. Alexander W. Evans Daughter Ginny Evans ’07 continues to live in Atlanta and enjoys her work at The Lovett School. Mary Katherine Evans Rordam ’03 also lives in Atlanta with her husband Gardner Rordam and son, Taylor.

06

Laura Rand Matheny With great joy I married my husband, Jonathan Matheny, on November 22. Wearing my mama’s gown and veil, in the church where my grandparents, parents, and sisters were married, I was incredibly happy to walk down the aisle. My wild and wonderful nieces Aurora (6) and Ausley (4) were flower girls, and my darling baby sister Maggie (12) was a stunning little maid of honor. I am so lucky to have Katarina Greve ’06, who made the long trip from Stockholm to be with us for our wedding, as a friend. My family has missed her and loved having her to themselves for a few days after we left for the honeymoon. Jon and I moved from Arlington, Virginia to Richmond, Virginia in March, and are loving life here with our two dogs. I am fortunate to continue working for Chatham Hall through telecommuting. I still spend lots of time on campus, and I am hoping to see a huge group of you there for our 10th Reunion next year! It will be great to have time all together again. In the meantime, stop by and visit me if you’re ever passing through Richmond. Sending love and good wishes to you all!

Atticus Mauldin, son of Aemelia Hudson Mauldin ’07 and Ethan Mauldin

07

Aemelia Hudson Mauldin married Ethan Mauldin on August 31, 2014 at Grace Episcopal Church in downtown Charleston, South Carolina. Their wedding ceremony was followed by a reception hosted by the bride’s parents at the historic Alhambra Hall in Mount Pleasant. Ethan and Aemelia’s wedding party, a total of four adults and 10 children, included Ethan’s two brothers as best men, one of Aemelia’s nieces as a bridesmaid, five of Aemelia’s nephews as groomsmen, and Ethan’s 5-year-old son Atticus as ring bearer. Despite the absence of a honeymoon, due to Ethan’s enrollment in the Physician Assistant program at the Medical University of South Carolina, Aemelia & Ethan were blessed in October to begin expecting their first baby. Baby Boy Mauldin is due June 26th—his parents, grandparents, great-grandparents, and Big Brother Atticus couldn’t be happier!

Adele Cornwall ’10, Margaret Googe ’09, Morgan dePaulo ’09, Grace Fulop ’09, Helen Jones ’09, and Sudie Brown ’09 in Washington, D.C.

Ginny Evans ’07, Emily Dale Willmott ’07, and Isabella Yeager ’07 ventured to Boise, Idaho in October to visit Sandy Turnbull ’07 and Emily Garner ’07

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in memoriam

The Chatham Hall community extends its deepest sympathy to the families and friends of the following alumnae and friends of the School who have recently passed away. Doris Taylor Bishop ’34 died January 5, 2015.

Winston Case Wright ’53 died October 29, 2014.

Anne Bundy Lewis ’37 died September 22, 2014.

Susan Fox Beischer ’59 died January 20, 2015.

Elizabeth Lasell Whipple ’39 died November 20, 2014. She was preceded in death by her sister, Katherine Lasell Dealy ’39.

Deborah Clark ’65 died July 30, 2014.

Elizabeth Evans Morton ’41 died January 27, 2015. She is survived by her daughter Liza Morton Gossett ’67, sister Nancy Evans Gruner ’47, niece Diana Morton LePage ’61, and niece Jane Morton ’63. She was preceded in death by her daughter Susan Morton Parker ’64 and sister-in-law Sylvia Morton Kingsley ’46. Joanna Baxter Curtis ’43 died November 30, 2014. Caroline Hartwell Stewart ’44 died November 1, 2014. Caroline was the mother of Caroline Stewart Lacey ’67, and was preceded in death by her sister, Eleanor Hartwell ’41. Sara Bankson Stenson ’45 died September 21, 2014. Cynthia Waterbury Cole ’46 died September 26, 2014. Beverly Brady Roche ’47 died March 7, 2014.

Ross Siragusa, husband of Alison Fennelly Siragusa ’50 and father of Irene Siragusa Phelps ’71, died November 27, 2014. Frances Hallam Hurt, mother of Hallam Hurt ’63, died February 6, 2015. Frances was a member of the Board of Trustees from 1980–1984, and endowed the Hallam Hurt ’63 Student and Faculty Foreign Tavel Award, which offers an annual travel award for foreign study and research to a Chatham Hall student and faculty member. Sally Maria Garrett Hessee, mother of Betty Hessee ‘70, died November 6, 2014. Edward John Dyer, former Chaplain and father of Cynthia Hancock ‘71, died January 23, 2015. He worked at Chatham Hall from 1966–1969. Franz M. Oppenheimer, father of Roxana Oppenheimer Day ’74 and former trustee (1973–1985), died November 28, 2014.

Virginia Davidson McNaughton ’49 died February 18, 2015.

Michael F. Blair, father of Emily Blair Harvey ’93, died January 3, 2015.

Martha Nicely Sigg ’49 died October 17, 2014. She is survived by her sister, Deborah Nicely ’52.

Richard Loftus, father of Genevieve Loftus Helms ’93, died in January 2015.

Varnell Gibson Badgett ’50 died February 13, 2015.

Sterling Jinks Usher Laffitte, father of Mary Madison Laffitte ’14, died February 13, 2015.

Lois Shelton Wilson ’53 died January 19, 2015.

spring

CHatHam Hall Summer Camps 2015 Claudia Emerson ’75

died December 4, 2014. An ardent ambassador for the school, she celebrated her love for Chatham Hall through her poetry and advocacy. A distinguished professor, poet, Pulitzer Prize winner, and native of Chatham, Virginia, Claudia entered Chatham Hall as a 9th grader in 1971. In addition to her time as a student, she was the School’s Academic Dean and Head of the English Department from 1996– 1998, and served on the Board of Trustees from 1998–2004. She returned to Chatham Hall several times, sharing her love of writing as the School’s Writer in Residence. Claudia was awarded the Pulitzer Prize in poetry in 2006 for her third collection of poetry, Late Wife, a series of poems examining one woman’s emotional and personal overlap of past and present. In 2008, she was selected as Poet Laureate of Virginia.

Summer Investigators Science Camp This camp is built around the development of a student’s 21st century skills, especially those related to problem solving, collaboration and curiosity. This is accomplished through the integration of the areas of biology, chemistry, and technology into a program where students assume the role of crime scene investigators in order to solve a mock crime. The two-week program consists of three 90-minute class periods a day where students develop the techniques they will need to solve the “crime.” With investigations into atomic structure, chemical bonding, genetics, and DNA structure, students learn through laboratory activities what it means to be a forensic scientist. Students are also provided the opportunity to speak with people who are experts in this field, from members of the local police CSI unit to a retired FBI investigator. Using iPads, students learn to keep a record of all of the evidence that they collect and how to organize it into an e-book presentation to a grand jury at the conclusion of the camp.

Science Camp contact: Dennis Oliver, doliver@chathamhall.org 434-432-2941

Summer Riding Program Join our Riding Faculty for an exceptional riding and residential experience. The riding facilities on Chatham Hall’s campus include: the indoor Mars Arena, two outdoor sand rings, and a permanent hunter-trial course. Many School horses of all shapes and sizes provide the appropriate challenges for all riders to learn and improve. Sessions I and II of Chatham Hall’s Summer Riding Program offer mounted and un-mounted lessons designed to improve the skills of the rider as well as adaptability to new mounts. Session III is designed as an intensive program for advanced riders, including current Chatham Hall students. Riders will work with current riding faculty and guest clinicians focusing on adaptability for interscholastic competition. Session III campers will have the option to leave on Friday afternoon or to continue until Sunday, competing at an off-site show for the weekend.

Riding Camp contact: Samantha Pleasant Fleming, sfleming@chathamhall.org or 434-432-5605

Camp Dates

July 12–18

Riding Program Session I for girls ages 9–16*

July 12–24 Summer Investigators Science Camp for girls grades 6–8

July 19–25

Riding Program Session II for girls ages 9–16*

*very limited spaces available for both sessions


800 Chatham Hall Circle Chatham, Virginia 24531-3085 www.chathamhall.org

S S. B E.

Alumnae refer new students every single year. Can you picture a girl you know at Chatham Hall? ALL GIRLS ◆ GRADES 9-12 ◆ CHATHAM, VA ◆ EST. 1894 ◆ WWW.CHATHAMHALL.ORG

CONTACT THE OFFICE OF ADMISSION AT 877.644.2941 FOR MORE INFO


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