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Episcopal High School does not discriminate in its admissions, or in the administration of its educational policies, admissions policies, scholarship programs, or in access to or treatment in any other School-administered program on the basis of race, color, religion, sex, ancestry, sexual orientation, disability, national origin, or any other protected category in accordance with applicable Federal, State, and local laws.
FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
There are many factors that enable a school to be a truly great institution. For Episcopal, it starts with our mission and purpose to foster intellectual and moral courage. It includes having a classroom setting that combines the amazing resources of Washington, D.C., with an ability to control time and infuse our 100% boarding setting and remarkable facilities with powerful learning experiences 24/7. The true magic of Episcopal, however, has been the School’s ability to attract amazing adults to our faculty and staff who build inspirational relationships with our students that foster the confidence and the curiosity needed to thrive and be their best selves.
During my years at Episcopal, I have loved watching these close, powerful relationships flourish between our adults and the students in their care. They develop in both intentional and intuitive ways. They grow in and around campus when students bump into just the right adult at just the right moment when they are grappling with a tricky issue or distressed about a situation. With everyone living here together, adults and students alike, there is a much greater opportunity for these chance encounters to occur. Young people are not always great at making just the right appointment with just the right person at just the right time.
“These relationships also blossom when students feel known and appreciated by the adults around them.”
These relationships flourish when the adults and students share an interest or passion together and the expertise of the adult inspires the student to engage at a deeper level than they would have thought possible. I see this kind of inspiration regularly when Whit Morgan helps students fall in love with Shakespeare, or Kim Adams and Jim Fitzpatrick help their players believe they can compete with anybody, or Kim Olsen ignites a future vision of doctors or scientists in her Chemistry stars.
These relationships also blossom when students feel known and appreciated by the adults around them. It is so important to see students being greeted by name by various adults as they enter Chapel or Community Meeting each week. The moments when students know that their teachers, advisors, and dorm parents have seen them in action at a field hockey game, applauded their performance in the winter musical, or acknowledged acts of kindness exhibited to fellow students in need position these students to then listen to the advice and guidance of these adults in much more impactful ways.
I am excited that a number of articles in this edition of our school magazine also capture how these inspirational relationships are pushing Episcopal to new levels of greatness, guided by the 2025 Strategic Plan Update. We live in a time of significant technological transformation, and our standout teachers in the area of STEM and AI are leading the charge to inspire our students and position them to take this new world by storm. Our faculty also love finding ways to share their specific expertise with interested students, and our curriculum has been significantly enriched by the array of independent studies that our faculty have helped facilitate for intellectually curious students each year.
This is also the time when we prepare to say farewell to faculty and staff who plan to retire at the end of the year. Celebrating these special individuals when these moments occur also reminds all of us of the amazing impact of their inspirational relationships over the years. It is hard to say goodbye to stars like Catherine Gómez-Goodnow, Rocío Mendizábal, Eleanor Moore, and Tim Rogers ’79, but their example will guide us for years to come.
Sincerely,
Charles M. Stillwell Head of School
Episcopal Up Close
Four RetireLegends
If you were to ask Catherine Gómez-Goodnow where she is originally from, she might have to pause a moment before responding, “Washington, D.C.” The child of a U.S. diplomat (actually his cover), her father was a career intelligence officer with the CIA, and over the course of 30 years, was posted to various countries in the Western Hemisphere and Europe. Gómez-Goodnow was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and spent a sizable portion of her childhood in Santiago, Chile. She met her husband, Peter Goodnow, (also a longtime EHS faculty member who retired in 2024) in Washington, D.C., post college. He was an analyst at the CIA while Gómez-Goodnow worked for the House of Representatives as a legislative researcher.
Goodnow’s career pivot from the CIA to the classroom, when he began teaching history at Virginia Episcopal School (VES) in 1984, came as a bit of a jolt to GómezGoodnow, and the pair dated long distance for a year, before they married and GómezGoodnow joined him in Lynchburg, Va.
“At first, I thought my life was over,” Gómez-Goodnow laughed, thinking back on her move to a small southern city. Before long, she was warmly embraced by the school community and fully leaned into this new chapter. VES went coed in the fall of 1986 and Gómez-Goodnow became the first head of the girls’ dorm, in addition to teaching Spanish. “I knew that this is what I was meant to do,” she said. She promptly went back to school and received her master’s in Spanish from Middlebury College before coming to Episcopal in the fall of 1997 after wonderful years at the Robert Louis Stevenson
School in Pebble Beach, Calif., and the Cranbrook School in Bloomfield Hills, Michigan. In 2000, she began traveling to Segovia, Spain, as a chaperone on the school-sponsored immersion program. A decade later, Gómez-Goodnow began to lead the trip, which evolved into an exchange with a private day school in Seville. “It’s an incredible responsibility, but observing students immersed in the culture and standing in awe of stunning world heritage sites like the Alhambra Palace in Granada and the Mezquita in Andalusia, you realize how richly rewarding this experience is for both participating students and faculty.” She continued to travel, spearheading an exchange
I knew that this is what I was meant to do.”
CATHERINE GÓMEZ-GOODNOW
program with students at her former elementary school, Via Maria Academy in Santiago, Chile. Gómez-Goodnow also served for 12 consecutive years as a chaperone on school-sponsored community service trips to the Dominican Republic.
Gómez-Goodnow reflects back on the innumerable opportunities Episcopal has afforded her over the years with
CATH
ERINE GÓMEZ-GO
O D N OW
ROCÍO MENDIZÁ
enormous gratitude. “Never in my wildest dreams did I believe that I would have the privilege one day of meeting Archbishop Desmond Tutu, who fought so valiantly against apartheid in South Africa, or shaking hands with towering leaders of the Civil Rights movement, namely Representative John Lewis and Reverend Jesse Jackson,” she said. The avid traveler also got to take a once-in-a-lifetime trip with three other Spanish teachers to Havana, Cuba, in the summer of 2017. “It was among the most extraordinary trips I have ever taken — right up there with the EHS service trip to a coffee plantation in Nicaragua in 2012-13 where we experienced 50-75 mph winds every evening while we did lesson planning, and could hear the high-pitched wails of howler monkeys who lived in the nearby jungle forest. Both unforgettable experiences, thanks to EHS.”
Together with their now-grown children, Lizzie and Ned, the couple created a home at EHS over the last 25+ years. “The school has become an extension of my family,” GómezGoodnow said. “The friendships I have made here, and the joy of teaching generations of students, is what I treasure most and will sorely miss about Episcopal.” While it is bittersweet to leave The Holy Hill, they have more traveling to do and look forward to many years of adventure ahead.
Rocío Mendizábal arrived on Episcopal 1993, just three short months after they got married. It was a homecoming of sorts for Rogers, who had attended EHS with his two brothers, following in the foot steps of his grandfather, father, and uncle, and Mendizábal was excited to join a community that meant so much to him after starting her own teaching journey in 1988.
The two quickly learned the demands of teaching at a 24/7 boarding school while raising a young family. Mendizábal ultimately went parttime, though that equated to a full-time teaching load with four, sometimes five and six, classes. She was then able to be home in the afternoons and evenings with their children, while Rogers coached, advised, did dorm duty, and more well into the evenings. “The fact that we were able to make it work with our
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Episcopal Up Close
Four Legends Retire continued
lifestyle made all the difference,” said Mendizábal.
A native of Spain, Mendizábal often works with our Spanish-speaking community on campus, including our Hispanic and Latinx families and students and our housekeeping and Laird Dining Hall staff. For several years, in addition to her class load, she
watched mature academically right before my eyes; some loved to learn; some learned to love to learn; some tested my patience; and some became friends through the years. I rooted for all of them, every year. And that makes 32 years pass rather quickly.”
Rogers began Episcopal’s Writing Center in 1993, which remains an inte-
I think of all the thousands of stories I’ve heard now over the years, and I consider myself lucky to have had a career like this.”
taught English classes to interested staff members, and when the need arose, she taught a heritage speakers’ class to native Spanish-speaking students. The connections she has made with this community will stay with her long after she leaves campus, she said fondly.
While they teach different languages, the couple has one important thing in common: a deep love for their students. For Rogers, the rotating cast of characters has always kept life at Episcopal exciting and new. He has loved getting to know “their idiosyncrasies, their senses of humor, their complaints, their tempers — and most of all, their stories year after year. I think of all the thousands of stories I’ve heard now over the years, and I consider myself lucky to have had a career like this.” Mendizábal agreed: “I remember so many faces and names, so many bright-eyed, openminded, genuinely intelligent young men and women. Some were funny; some I
TIM ROGERS ’79
gral part of our curriculum, with student tutors coaching their peers through writing assignments — editing closely and providing thoughtful feedback.
“When Tim handed off The Writing Center to me, I knew this important student resource was in fantastic shape,” said fellow English teacher Lauren
makes a prodigious tutor, and through his guidance and mentorship, I’ve been able to build on this legacy.”
In the early aughts, Rogers recalled some on-campus bullying that did not sit well with him — so much so that he was moved to give a Chapel Talk to the community. He quoted one of his favorite lines from poet Donald Hall as a way of addressing the issue, noting that, in Hall’s words, even though “the use of power is ineluctable,” we do not always need to exercise it over the vulnerable. He then stressed the importance of choosing the right path. This talk led to the School asking Rogers to helm the Honor Committee for over a decade, a role he knows would have made his late father, The Honorable Robert Jett Rogers ’47, proud.
One can often find Rogers and Mendizábal walking home to Sesame Street together after the busy class day is over. No matter their schedules, they have always found time for each other — one of the perks of working together at a place as special as Episcopal. For their retirement, the couple plans to move to
I remember so many faces and names, so many bright-eyed, open-minded, genuinely intelligent young men and women.”
ROCÍO MENDIZÁBAL
Echko. “He had gathered a refined group of student tutors who were ready to jump into action to improve the writing culture of the School. Tim has an impressively critical eye for what
their home outside Charlottesville, Va., and soak in all the time that they can with their children and grandchildren in the coming years.
Eleanor Moore first fell in love with foreign languages as a wide-eyed eight-year-old in Greenville, S.C. Her family hosted an Italian exchange student in the early 70s, and a young Moore could not believe this student spoke five languages. “That was such a transformative experience for me,” she said, and that relationship inspired many more experiences with exchange students (and many more trips abroad!) for Moore.
One of Moore’s first teaching jobs was at her alma mater, Christ Church Episcopal School in Greenville, where she had the pleasure of teaching alongside her former French teacher and mentor. At Christ Church, she met Joe and Joey Halm, who in the spring of 1999 would encourage Moore and her husband Toby to join them at Episcopal, where their friendship would continue for many happy years.
In middle and high school, Moore loved the idea of going to boarding school, though her parents did not allow it. That interest lasted through her adulthood, and ultimately brought her to Episcopal, where she threw herself into coaching, advising, and all of the 24/7 responsibilities that come with boarding school life. “I eventually made the boarding school dream work,” she said, laughing.
Moore, who has a master’s in French literature from the University of South Carolina, seamlessly fell into the teaching load at Episcopal — it was all the extracurriculars she had to learn on the go. She felt most out of her comfort zone while learning to coach volleyball. “I went to Barnes and Noble and bought ‘Volleyball for Dummies,’” she remembered. “Baptism by fire.” She enjoyed having her advisees over to her family’s home for dinner and community and getting to know students through her residential life roles, which she knew could not have happened in a day school environment. “I was really in it for that,” Moore said.
For the last seven years, Moore has served as the Sarah Graham Kenan Chair of the Modern and Classical Languages Department. Her three children, Cecilia ’20, Olivia ’22, and Wyatt ’24, each opted to learn different languages while at Episcopal, a testament to the department and its vast offerings. Whether they studied Chinese, French, or Spanish at Episcopal, each has a continued focus on foreign languages through college and beyond — something that makes Moore incredibly proud.
Over her career, Moore has approached her work with a growth mindset. “Every year, I think about what I could do differently or better.” Thanks to that, every year has felt fresh and full of different opportunities for learning, professional development, or international travel. “It’s a place of growth, and that is one aspect of EHS that has made me want to stay,” she said.
Moore and her husband Toby are looking forward to traveling and immersing themselves in new cultures during retirement, as well as settling into their new home base in West Virginia.
It’s a place of growth, and that is one aspect of EHS that has made me want to stay.”
ELEANOR MOORE
Episcopal Up Close
Years of the MLK Symposium
THANKS TO EPISCOPAL’S OFFICE OF COMMUNITY & EQUITY (OCE), OUR SCHOOL HAS ENJOYED TEN YEARS OF MLK SYMPOSIUMS, A CAMPUS-WIDE INITIATIVE TO HONOR DR. KING AND CELEBRATE HIS LEGACY AND IDEALS. THIS YEAR’S THEME WAS “WHERE DO WE GO FROM HERE: COMMUNITY OR CHAOS?,” TAKEN FROM THE TITLE OF DR. KING’S FINAL BOOK.
During Sunday’s Vespers service, Alexandria Mayor Alyia Gaskins addressed the community about the importance of activism — of taking action against injustice even when you might not know what to do or where to start. “Dr. King didn’t teach us to sit around and hope for change,” she said. “He said that we have to be the ones to do something about it.”
Mayor Gaskins recognized that, for the teenagers in the room, being a part of that change can feel intimidating and overwhelming. But she encouraged them to lean into that discomfort and push back against injustice in the world like Dr. King did: “Whether you can write, speak, dance, move, whatever your God-given talent may be, we
need it in this moment in order to create a world we know each of us deserves. And we don’t have to have all the answers, because we don’t have to do it alone.”
Following Mayor Gaskins’ remarks, Episcopal enjoyed beautiful musical offerings from the community choir, led by Dr. Ollie Watts Davis of the University of Illinois. On Monday, the community packed 40,000+ meals for Rise Against Hunger, and then attended an interactive presentation with “At The Table With Dr. King,” a lunch based on “The Meal That Never Was,” and afternoon workshops designed to foster community-building leadership. ANNUAL
Thank you to the OCE for ten powerful years of honoring Dr. King’s important legacy.
Mc CAIN-RAVENEL DAY
Listening to Understand
FEBRUARY’S M c CAIN-RAVENEL DAY IS NAMED FOR ALUMNUS AND JOURNALIST HOMER A. JACOBS ’83 , AND WAS ESTABLISHED BY HIS CLASSMATES AND FRIENDS TO CELEBRATE HIS SPIRIT OF EMPATHETIC LEADERSHIP AND CURIOSITY.
The day opened with a journalism panel in Pendleton Hall that included Julia Ainsley from NBC News, Izzy Ortega from The LIBRE Initiative, and author (and EHS faculty member) Dr. Charlotte Taylor Fryar , and was moderated by Louis Smith , director of the Office of Community & Equity. These writers provided insight into their work, shared analysis about current events, and helped students understand how to be better consumers of information. “One of the biggest takeaways I had during the panel was the importance of getting multiple sources of information,” said Tina Vu ’26 . “It is very important not just to understand your point of
view but also to understand multiple perspectives and stories.”
Coupling the celebration of Black History Month with Homer Jacobs’s passion to engage with the community, students and faculty honored the struggles and achievements of marginalized people through musical performance, historical exploration, and off-campus experiences centered on resilience and achievement. Drawing from our Portrait of a Graduate trait of “listening and communicating effectively,” students were challenged to actively connect with, and better understand, both our local and global communities in all of the day’s endeavors.
I love this place. I want to retire from here feeling like I’ve really given my all.”
Driven by Data
LONGTIME SCIENCE TEACHER EMBRACES HER PASSION FOR DATA ANALYTICS TO STRENGTHEN EPISCOPAL’S INNER WORKINGS.
Dr. Kim Olsen arrived on campus in 2004 after being a tenured professor at Loyola University in Maryland. Since then, she has made a significant impact across campus. She served as the B. Hollis Hand Chair of the Science Department for 20 years, constantly innovating with the curriculum and supporting science teachers as they experimented with their own pedagogy.
At the beginning of this year, her 30th as a teacher and her 22nd at Episcopal, she felt ready to embrace a new challenge. She began to envision other ways she could help across campus, tapping into her love for data and her research-driven approach. Thanks to the generosity of The Olsson Sabbatical Fund, she has been able to do so — much to Episcopal’s benefit.
The 2025 Strategic Plan Update calls for the School to use emerging
technologies to improve institutional efficiency, which Olsen hopes her sabbatical work will enable. This section of the strategic plan will lead to a five-year Institutional Research framework that gives her oversight of school databases to collect, mine, and streamline data from different areas of school life. With a comprehensive overview of our data and systems, Olsen will identify places where the information reveals strengths, weaknesses, and helps us measure our progress as we seek to improve the experience for our students and faculty.
In addition to her work in the classroom, Olsen is heavily involved with the registrar’s office and the technology department — streamlining processes like standardized testing and teaching faculty members the intricacies of Canvas, the digitalized
learning management system where teachers post assignments, grades, and comments. Olsen’s wide lens knowledge of school life has helped her understand the inner workings, putting her in a unique position to consider the ways institutional research can benefit the community.
Olsen has long been enamored with technology: “Even back in 1996, I always saw computers as a tool.” With her PhD in analytical chemistry from Indiana University, she learned at a young age to “be fearless” about technology. “A lot of people are scared of new programs, but when you’re working on building a new instrument or creating a method, you have to embrace the question of ‘What could go wrong?’” She has approached her sabbatical in the same way. Though not a statistician, Olsen knows her institutional knowledge is valuable as she sorts through mountains of data, and she hopes her work could lead the way for a more statistical approach by others.
Olsen believes that there are unlimited ways to collect data, interpret it, and then implement changes to push Episcopal toward the cutting edge of institutional research. She will continue to spend this year mining through the data the School already has, while envisioning ways to utilize data in the future. This data can support all areas of the School — from the registrar to admissions, advancement, residential life, and more.
Though those limitless possibilities could overwhelm her, that has never been Olsen’s style. As she has since 1994, she is leaning wholeheartedly into the work. “I love this place,” she said. “I want to retire from here feeling like I’ve really given my all.”
Episcopal Up Close
PLACE-BASED LEARNING
HISTORY THROUGH A NEW LENS
Students in Will Mebane ’91’s Advanced Photography class recently transformed Washington, D.C.’s iconic urban design into a compelling visual storytelling installation in the Angie Newman Johnson Gallery. Inspired by Pierre Charles L’Enfant’s 1791 plan for the city — a rhythmic grid of streets intersected by grand diagonal avenues — students explored how D.C.’s famous traffic circles function as both historical landmarks and modern cultural hubs.
The class identified five circles based on their historical weight and photographic potential: Banneker, Logan, Dupont, Lincoln Memorial, and Columbus Circles. Traveling across the
District during flex blocks, students documented the unique character of each site.
The resulting exhibition features curated photographs paired with a hand-drawn map of Washington, projected and traced onto the gallery wall to anchor the images in space. Through “Circles of D.C.,” these student-artists invite the community to view the city’s layout through a new lens, revealing how intentional urban planning continues to shape daily life and preserve the history embedded in our capital’s streets. Joshua Koo ’28 noted that the experience allowed his team to recognize the “unique and intentional layout that blends symbolic and neoclassical history with functional, human-scale, and green spaces.”
Flexing Their Intellectual Muscles
HISTORY UP CLOSE
Hadiyyah Abdul-Jalaal ’17 brought her Modern World History class to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum to engage with key moments in Holocaust history. The visit balanced historical context with personal stories through a series of exhibits.
Students first explored the Permanent Exhibition, a chronological presentation using artifacts and film to document the Holocaust. They then visited “Daniel’s Story,” which shared the era through the eyes of a child. The final exhibit, “Antisemitism: Ancient Hatred, Modern Violence,” examined the historical roots of antisemitism and its continued presence today.
The experience allowed students to interact directly with primary materials and deepen their understanding of the period. As part of their reflections, students asked themselves: “How does modern technology, including social media and the internet, make ancient hatreds more dangerous today?” This prompted discussion on how these issues have evolved from the 1900s to the present day.
¡LIGHTS, CÁMARA, ACCIÓN!
Students in Rocío Mendizábal’s Modern and Classical Languages class attended The House of Bernarda Alba by Federico García Lorca at the Gala Hispanic Theatre in Washington, D.C. In preparation, the students explored the play’s themes and selected scenes in class, allowing them to connect their classroom Spanish directly to a live, professional theatrical production. The performance exposed
them to advanced vocabulary and complex structures within a meaningful cultural context, while its themes of social hierarchy, gender roles, honor, and repression encouraged critical analysis and a deeper understanding of how language reflects cultural and historical realities. “The play was a very immersive experience,” said Jacob Orelue ’26. “Not only were we able to enjoy a performance in our target language, but when viewed with additional context, it also revealed a lot about the political and social dynamics of Spain in the twentieth century.”
BEYOND THE EXHIBIT
Students in Caroline DeVoe and Hadiyyah AbdulJalaal’s ’17 classes read Nathan Pugh’s Smithsonian Magazine article before visiting the exhibit “How Can You Forget Me: Filipino American Stories,” and then welcomed him to campus to bring the material to life in person.
Pugh, a writer and theater critic, explored 26 steamer trunks featured in the Smithsonian exhibit, artifacts that tell the personal stories of Filipino American life. While researching the piece, he had rare access to handle the artifacts in storage and, in the process, uncovered connections to his own family history and the broader arc of U.S.Philippine relations since 1898. Having read his work and seen the exhibit firsthand, students came to the conversation ready with questions.
Episcopal Up Close
Bright Lights, Big City
EPISCOPAL STUDENTS, FACULTY, AND STAFF RECENTLY TRAVELED TO NEW YORK CITY FOR A MEMORABLE MORNING AT THE METROPOLITAN MUSEUM OF ART AND A SPECIAL EVENT WITH OUR CONCERT CHOIR AT THE PENN CLUB.
A group of Episcopal parents, grandparents, and alumni enjoyed a tour of the Met, led by LizaBanks Campagna ’17, a NYC-based comedian and professional guide whose work has been featured in The Cut and on “The Today Show.” Campagna guided the group through highlights of the American Wing, Egyptian Art, and European Paintings, seamlessly weaving The Holy Hill into her storytelling.
By tying the Met’s masterworks to memories of EHS faculty and her own time as a student-athlete, Campagna reminded the group that the Episcopal experience extends far beyond Alexandria. The morning served as a wonderful opportunity for our NYC-based community to find common ground among
ancient civilizations and 19th-century masterpieces alike, celebrating the lifelong bonds that define The High School.
Later that evening, under the direction of Dr. Mike Schmidt, the choir took center stage at the Penn Club of New York for an alumni and parent event. The momentum continued Saturday morning with a performance at the Cathedral of St. John the Divine, where the choir explored their repertoire within the cathedral’s world-renowned acoustics — an experience many students described as a vocal highlight of their time at EHS. When they were not performing, the group fully immersed themselves in the city’s vibrant arts scene, catching performances of “Operation Mincemeat” and “The Outsiders” on Broadway.
On Their Way Rejoicing
At the start of “Senior Spring,” the Class of 2026 gathered in March for two cherished traditions: the Blessing of the Bricks and the annual Senior Dinner. “These bricks represent that you are part of the fabric of this institution,” Head of School Charley Stillwell said as the class gathered around their bricks, “and younger students, for decades to come, are literally going to stand on your shoulders — the way you’ve stood on the shoulders of all the alumni who have come before you.”
Episcopal Up Close
THEOLOGIAN-IN-RESIDENCE
Bishop Robert Wright Asks the Big Questions
FOR ONE WINTER WEEK IN FEBRUARY, EPISCOPAL WELCOMED
RT. REV. ROBERT WRIGHT , THE 10TH BISHOP OF THE EPISCOPAL DIOCESE OF ATLANTA, AS THE 2026 THEOLOGIAN-INRESIDENCE. HE SPENT HIS TIME PREACHING IN CHAPEL, VISITING CLASSROOMS, AND SITTING IN CONVERSATIONS WITH STUDENTS WHO ASKED EVERYTHING FROM WHY BELIEVE IN GOD TO WHO IS HIS FAVORITE JAZZ MUSICIAN?
Wright arrived with an unusual résumé. Before entering the seminary, he served five years in the U.S. Navy, studied at Howard University, worked for mayors in Washington, D.C., and spent time at the Children’s Defense Fund alongside Marian Wright Edelman. “I always say I was introduced to Christianity by someone with the gift of normalcy,” he shared. “Rev. Vincent Harris, the chaplain at Howard, was just a regular guy who wasn’t afraid to create space for me to ask my questions.” Wright spoke candidly about wrestling with faith as a Black historian, particularly the harm done to Black and brown communities in the name of Christianity. “I had to separate who God is from what’s been done in God’s name,” he said.
In his sermon on “the good life,” Wright challenged students to think beyond happiness and achievement, pointing instead toward a life grounded in contentment, peace, and purpose. “It’s more than money,” he said. “More than degrees and distinctions. I want students to ask what a good life actually looks like for them.” That question connects to his wider work, including his podcast “For People,” which reaches listeners in more than 100 countries and features conversations about leadership, faith, and moral courage. It also underlies his call to re-center Christianity on the historical Jesus of Nazareth rather than on political or cultural distortions.
These students are fearless thinkers.”
Students leaned into that complexity. In evening discussions and open Q&A sessions, they challenged Wright on the death penalty, pushing him to distinguish justice from vengeance. They probed the relationship between morality and religion, wrestled with doubt, and asked what it truly means to live ethically in a fractured world. Wright met their curiosity with admiration. “These students are fearless thinkers,” he said. “They’re exploring ideas philosophically and trying to figure out what morality means to them. It’s sacred work to be a part of.”
As his week at Episcopal came to a close, Wright’s advice to students questioning their beliefs was direct and encouraging. “Don’t be lazy,” he said, smiling. “If a spiritual question keeps tapping you on the shoulder, it’s bothering you for a reason. Go get it answered.”
He urged students to read widely, explore different traditions, and understand that answers evolve over time. “I wish I’d given myself more kindness when I was their age. More space to stumble and get back up. I hope the students took away the lesson that life is not an adversary. There are resources all around you.”
RT. REV. ROBERT WRIGHT
SCHOLAR-IN-RESIDENCE
Answering the Coll
...All you need is to be energetic and public minded, and to learn how to recognize a story.”
COLL
ESTABLISHED IN 1998 BY AN ANONYMOUS DONOR, THE BEN GEER KEYS SCHOLAR IN RESIDENCE PROGRAM HAS A LONG, TREASURED HISTORY OF BRINGING TALENTED SCHOLARS AND ARTISTS TO THE HIGH SCHOOL TO WORK WITH AND LIVE AMONG STUDENTS FOR SEVERAL DAYS.
This year, Episcopal welcomed Steve Coll, two-time Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist, editor at The Economist, and prolific author, as its Ben Geer Keys Scholar in Residence. While on sabbatical to finish his tenth book, Coll generously lent his time and expertise to EHS, connecting with faculty members, leading class discussions, and inspiring scholars and aspiring journalists.
Coll’s visit covered a wide range of topics in various highlevel electives — from the conflict over the next Fed Chair to Afghanistan in the early aughts and the First Amendment. The discussions were especially topical in today’s world, with most conversations focusing on real-time discussions of national and foreign policy.
In Captain Joe Eldred’s Advanced U.S. Government class, Coll spoke to students on the impact of New York Times Co. versus Sullivan, a landmark Supreme Court ruling from 1964 that has long defined ethics in journalism. He fielded questions around the Harkness table, finding himself pleasantly surprised
by the students’ careful preparation and deep interest. “They were prepared to think on their feet,” he said.
Taylor Pulsifer ’26, one of the co-editors of The Chronicle, was especially excited about Coll’s visit to his Advanced U.S. History elective and stayed after class to talk journalism. “To interact with someone at the top of their game in such an intimate setting was incredible,” Pulsifer said. As a senior, he has a newfound appreciation for the breadth of outside speakers he has connected with during his time at EHS. “I can really engage in these opportunities now because I appreciate how unique the opportunity is.”
As Pulsifer and other students asked for advice about careers in journalism, Coll noted the accessibility of the field — especially as it evolves within the social media landscape. “You can enter it from almost any starting place,” Coll said. “You don’t need a mathematician’s brain. You don’t need a surgeon’s hands. All you need is to be energetic and public minded, and to learn how to recognize a story.”
STEVE
Episcopal Up Close
JAY WALKER SYMPOSIUM
An ofEvening Music
THE JAY WALKER SYMPOSIUM FUND WAS ESTABLISHED IN 1992 IN MEMORY OF JAY WALKER ’54 BY JOHN BURRESS ’54, JACK BOARDMAN, AND HIS FRIENDS AND FAMILY.
This year’s symposium welcomed the United States Marine Band’s Jazz Combo to The Fox Stage in Pendleton Hall for an inspiring evening. Founded by Congress in 1798, the United States Marine Band provides music for the President of the United States and the Commandant of the Marine Corps. The visiting combo spent the day working with our instrumental students and also provided a live session for Audio Engineering students in the Allen Studio.
“The concert was an incredibly memorable moment,” said Master Gunnery Sgt. Christopher Rose , who has taught
percussion to EHS students since 2010. “You couldn’t help but feed off the enthusiasm and energy of the students. The band had a blast, rose to the occasion and felt so welcome in the space. I hope we can do it again soon.”
Christopher Rose, percussion teacher
Thank you to MASTER GUNNERY SGT. CHRISTOPHER ROSE (percussion), MASTER GUNNERY SGT. ALAN PRATHER (guitar/vocal),
GUNNERY SGT. TYLER LINDSAY (trumpet), and STAFF SGT. JONATHAN KEITH (double bass).
ACADEMICS
Students Dive Into EHS History and Archives
STANDING IN FRONT OF THEIR PEERS AND TEACHERS IN BRYAN LIBRARY, A ROOM STEEPED IN EPISCOPAL HISTORY, SOCIAL STUDIES STUDENTS IN MIKE REYNOLDS ’ RESEARCH SEMINAR PRESENTED THEIR FINAL PROJECTS.
For the last three months, students have painstakingly researched subjects of their choosing with the help of the School’s archivist Laura Vetter. “The students’ work wouldn’t be possible without the work that she does,” Reynolds said of our long-time archivist. Reynolds has served as a history teacher at EHS since 2008 and as the School’s Historian-in-Residence since 2021.
Ultimately, the project is designed to challenge history students to act as true historians by diving into primary materials on campus and “thinking about how to tell a story that goes back to 1839,” said Reynolds, noting Episcopal’s 187-year-old history. “Not every school has the opportunity or the obligation to tell its story over such a long period of time in a responsible way.”
THE PROJECTS COVERED AN ARRAY OF TOPICS:
TIMMY ALBERS ’26
The Early Years of Baseball at EHS
ANSLEY BIEGER ’26
Life at Episcopal During the Early Years of Coeducation
NOAH CHUNG ’26
Aramco Students at EHS
CAMERON CONKLIN ’26
The Evolution of EHS Athletic Facilities
NATHANIEL FAMILUA ’26
Free Black Workers and the Early Years of EHS
EDWARD GRASTY ’27
Five Episcopal Alums Who Fought for the United States during the Civil War
ISABEL HO ’26 AND ISABEL HOMER ’26
Entertainment at EHS: Exploring Culture Through the Lens of Art and Music
ELSA JI ’27
Religion and Spiritual Life Over the Years at EHS
NOBLE KELLY ’26
Rules and Rule Breaking at The High School
MAIREAD RADTKE ’26
Student Culture at EHS in the Years After World War II
IVY TJOENG ’26
Memorial to the Enslaved Laborers at Episcopal High School
MCAULAY VAUGHAN ’26
EHS Students Off The Clock: Leisure Time On and off The Holy Hill
JOSH ZHANG ’26
The Life and Legacy of Weiching Williams Yen
Episcopal Up Close
HUGH DUSKIN ’28
A Winning Season
As winter settled over The Holy Hill, Episcopal’s student-athletes threw themselves into a memorable season. The boys’ climbing team claimed the WAICL Championship, while boys’ varsity basketball earned a second-place finish in both the IAC regular season and tournament, with their only losses to an undefeated Georgetown Prep. On the mat, Vince Linder ’27 was crowned IAC Champion, and on the track, Grey Gibbins ’26 and Essentino Lewis ’28 each stood atop the podium as VISAA State Champions in the 1,000m and 55m Hurdles, respectively. In the pool, 10 school records fell across boys’ and girls’ swimming. From start to finish, the winter athletics season saw six Alexandria Sportsman’s Club Athletes of the Month, 13 All-League honorees, 12 All-State selections, and three All-Met honors. Congratulations to all!
HENRY DE ROULET ’27
MALIYAH REED ’28
SERENA MUTHAIAH ’27
ELSA BILLIG ’27
Steve Castle Wins Big
Congratulations to Steve Castle, who stepped down as Episcopal’s head wrestling coach last year after 33 incredible years. Castle was formally inducted into the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in April and was celebrated by his fellow coaches as the wrestling season ended. “Steve is the epitome of everything that is good in this sport,” said Trae Humphreys of St. Stephen’s & St. Agnes School. Castle led Episcopal’s wrestling program to nine state trophies, 35 league titles, and 32 state finalists, but “what defines Steve isn’t in the numbers,” said Landon School’s Head Coach Andy Katz. “He is a character-first leader — calm, steady, and thoughtful.”
STEVE CASTLE (middle) WITH HIS FELLOW COACHES
GENESIS VILLEGAS ’27
ISAVELLA POUSIOU ’27
CASSIUS JACKSON ’29
JACOB ORELUE ’26
CHUMA ACHUFUSI ’27
CHASE Mc COY IV ’28
Episcopal Up Close
EHS THEATER GOES
“WAY DOWN H ADES TOWN”
LOVE, SACRIFICE, AND HOPE SERVED AS THE BACKDROP FOR EHS THEATER’S PRODUCTION OF “HADESTOWN” ON VALENTINE’S DAY WEEKEND.
Set during the industrial age, the winter musical brought a haunting retelling of Orpheus and Eurydice to Pendleton Stage, inviting the audience into a powerful exploration of the underworld and back. Utilizing a distinctive blend of folk, blues, and jazz to drive the narrative, the cast and crew told the story of the resilience of the human spirit through a soulful, modern lens that still allowed audience members to sing along during the performance.
“‘Hadestown’ required a lot of hard work and dedication, but the outcome made every hour worth it,” said Kyra Lamptey ’26, who played Persephone. “Through my time with the exceptional cast and faculty, I was able to join a family. My passion for singing, dancing, and acting allowed me to create bonds I hope to carry with me forever.”
Episcopal Up Close
VISUAL ARTS
FOR THE SECOND YEAR IN A ROW, EPISCOPAL WAS PROUD TO HOST THE ALEXANDRIA ALL-CITY ART EXHIBITION IN THE ANGIE NEWMAN JOHNSON GALLERY, BRINGING TOGETHER STUDENT ARTISTS AND TEACHERS FROM FIVE ALEXANDRIA SCHOOLS TO SHOWCASE OVER 100 WORKS OF ART.
This year, Bee Bowers ’26, Estella Jerge ’27, Minh Duc Nguyen ’28, and Harper Rueger ’29 were honored with awards for their outstanding work. Bowers reflected on the experience of moving through the gallery, never having met her fellow artists before, yet feeling an instant connection. “We all had one thing in common: being high school students. Seeing a range of talent portray this formative era of our lives was so special to me.”
BEE BOWERS ’26
SCARLETT MADDUX ’29
JOSHUA KOO ’28
MINH DUC NGUYEN ’28
LANIAH HATCHER ’27
PAIGE GOGOLAK ’26
EVELYN KIM ’28
ITAALI MAKATIANI ’27
JEFFREY ZHAN ’29
ISABEL HO ’26
It All STEMs
From This
A LOOK AT EPISCOPAL’S STRONG FOUNDATION IN SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, ENGINEERING, AND MATHEMATICS
In today’s world,
SCIENTIFIC DEVELOPMENTS
CAN
FEEL
AS
THOUGH THEY
ARE MOVING FASTER THAN THE SPEED OF
LIGHT. AS THE FIELD OF SCIENCE ITERATES, INNOVATES, AND CHANGES WITH EVERY PASSING MINUTE, SO MUST EPISCOPAL’S COURSE OFFERINGS.
the School’s 2025 Strategic Plan Update includes a goal to strengthen the School’s STEM curriculum to ensure all students can thrive within the science and math departments. With the trusted scaffolding of physics in freshman year, chemistry in sophomore year, and biology in junior year, EHS students have always been set up for a strong foundation in the sciences. Now, thanks to the updated strategic plan, new faculty members, and passionate longtime teachers, the department is poised to grow to new heights.
B. Hollis Hand Chair of the Science Department Luke Peterson first arrived on campus in 2023 and quickly made his mark on the curriculum. With his own background in microbiology, behavioral psychology, and neuroscience, he has worked closely with other science teachers to create new electives that will make science classes more accessible to students who might not consider themselves scienceminded: “That student is more likely going to engage with science in, say, an astronomy class rather than a neuroscience class or a robotics class. So offering as many broad varieties as possible will allow students to be able to see themselves in that science class.”
The ultimate goal of the department is “to create a general base that teaches students about the scientific method, and then really allows the students to choose their own adventure and find their passion within the
sciences,” said former longtime chair of the department Dr. Kim Olsen. “We want them to understand the impact of science in everything they do and in the world around us.”
Peterson hopes that new course offerings, combined with the trusted required courses, will “help students see science is not as rigid as they might think. There’s that beauty, there’s art, there’s that joy that I think students naturally get from humanities that can also be found in science, as well.”
A ZOOMED-OUT LENS
Dr. Kacey Meaker first stepped into a classroom while teaching at San Quentin Prison. She taught math to prisoners — often men who did not have robust access to education in their childhood. That gave her much-needed perspective at the beginning of her teaching journey. “No one appreciates education more than people who haven’t had the opportunity,” she learned.
Meaker has taken that passion for teaching into Episcopal’s curriculum for the last eight years, where she is a standout physics teacher as well as the head coach for the Robotics and Science Olympiad teams. Her love of science is evident to her students (in small part thanks to her legendary science-themed dresses that match the subject of the day), and she was excited to introduce two
Kacey Meaker
new electives to her teaching repertoire this year: ASTRONOMY and ROBOTICS, ENGINEERING, & PROGRAMMING . Meaker believes that astronomy is a fascinating entry point to understanding humanity’s place in the universe. In her class, students explore the study of celestial objects, space, and the physical universe. The focus is on star formation and stellar evolution, with special emphasis on our sun and how it compares to other stars. Through data analysis and scientific inquiry, students investigate stellar properties, life cycles, and the fundamental courses shaping the cosmos. Designed to be accessible to all, Meaker intentionally focused the course on the limitless discovery ahead for space exploration. “The amount we know is so small compared to the amount we don’t know,” she said.
As the head coach of the Robotics team, Meaker also created a new course to bring students into the field of robotics. ROBOTICS, ENGINEERING, & PROGRAMMING introduces students to robot components, basic mechanics, and programming fundamentals, with hands-on projects that culminate in designing, building, and programming a robot to complete a specific task using advanced techniques for autonomous functionality. She was able to workshop this course over the summer, when she offered a Residential Robotics camp to sixth through eighth graders through The Summer Camp at Episcopal.
Robotics is a wonderful entry point to science, according to Meaker, because it allows and even encourages failure. “Sometimes when students don’t know how to do something, they’ll freeze and panic. Programming and engineering are
so good for that perfection paralysis because there’s truly no problem with being wrong,” Meaker said. “Edison’s light bulb didn’t work a thousand times and then it worked, right?”
Hill Hubbard ’27, who hopes to study business or engineering in college, took the class not knowing what to expect. His biggest takeaway was not the formation of stars, though he did love learning that; it was the opportunities Episcopal has afforded him. “Episcopal is all about learning about things that you might not have the opportunity to learn about at another school,” he said. “So why not just extend that piece of your brain a little bit further?”
AN INTERDISCIPLINARY OUTLOOK
Though Kathleen Westervelt was new to Episcopal this year, she certainly is not new to innovating in the science classroom. A science writer in her own right, Westervelt has written for science education publishers like National Geographic, contributing chapters for textbooks, teacher resources, and instructional design plans.
At the Chadwick School in Los Angeles, Calif., Westervelt taught a highly integrated science program, where physics, chemistry, and biology were taught simultaneously from year to year. While Episcopal spreads those subjects across freshman, sophomore, and junior years, Westervelt is planning to bring that interdisciplinary approach to two of her new electives, which will be offered in the 2026-27 school year: ADVANCED SCIENCE JOURNALISM: READING & WRITING and ETHICS: SCIENCE & SOCIETY
The science reading and writing course will be presented as both a science and English course. The goal of the course is to use storytelling to make science more digestible to readers who might not understand the technicalities. Science writing, at its core, should inform the reader and have them consider two important questions: “Why should I care as an everyday citizen? How does science impact my life?”
According to Westervelt, science writing and storytelling surrounds us as humans, even if we might not notice — from reading the news or talking to a friend or watching a short-form TikTok video. “And not all of
Kathleen Westervelt
it is good,” Westervelt has observed. She hopes to teach Episcopal students how to write and study data responsibly, limiting misinformation and encouraging factual reporting.
ETHICS: SCIENCE & SOCIETY will study and debate difficult ethical dilemmas within the field of science. Westervelt will take a case-study approach to the class — choosing relevant topics to today’s students like the effects of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy on youth athletes and the dangers of plastic pollution. “Plastics do amazing things for people,” she said, referencing inventions from modern medicine like heart valves and IV tubing, “yet the plastic waste in our culture disproportionately affects the most marginalized communities and nations.” She and her students will discuss ways to resolve that dichotomy from an ethical standpoint. Although science is part of the problem, the field, more than any other, is “one of the best ways to create solutions.”
As Westervelt plans the course, she looks forward to pivoting as she sees what lights the students up and gets them interested in science. “The world’s my oyster, and I think the challenge will be picking topics that fit within the semester timeframe and meeting the students where they are.”
Westervelt hopes her classes will highlight other careers in the field of science and that students leave her class thinking: “I could be a lobbyist who needs to write and communicate about science,” or “I could make educational videos about scientific content.” The field of science changes every day, and Westervelt knows the career opportunities within the field will only continue to grow year after year.
AN ACCESSIBLE APPROACH TO DATA
Director of STEM Dave Collins is in his 17th year at Episcopal, and every year, he continues to grow his own scientific practice to keep pace with the rapidly changing landscape. His COMPUTER SCIENCE & DATA ANALYTICS class blends math, statistics, and computer programming to introduce computer science and the emerging field of data science.
In the course, students analyze large sets of data from various areas of interest such as the financial sector, retail sales, sports analytics, healthcare industry, and
social networking platforms to discover patterns and trends. Though AI can help draw conclusions on data, Collins knows his students can still do it better. “The students ask much better questions to make their own conclusions.” The class also focuses on the importance of scrubbing and cleaning data before drawing those conclusions.
Carson Cowburn ’26 loved the course so much that he pursued an externship with Big League Advantage (BLA), an organization founded by former Major League pitcher Michael Schwimer in 2016. The innovative firm partners with athletes and provides resources they need to succeed: capital, a professional network, and analytical support. Cowburn, who will play lacrosse at McGill University next year, was excited to work somewhere that combined three of his passions: sports, data analytics, and finance. After going on a flex block to BLA with his class, Cowburn knew he wanted to spend his May continuing the work he started with Collins.
Though AI can do much of the work, Collins impresses upon the students the importance of going deeper using a human lens. “You can upload a data set and ask AI to tell you the ten most interesting things, and they won’t end up being very interesting,” Collins said. “When you let students come to their own conclusions, they can come up with some really amazing conclusions.”
Collins does his best to give his students plenty of agency in his classes — letting them follow their passions. This is in part due to his own high school experience,
Dave Collins
where he said he only remembers one lesson clearly. He figured out the forces on a rowing machine. (Coincidentally Collins would later go on to win a Bronze Medal in the 1996 Olympics in rowing.) “So anytime I get to introduce student choice to the curriculum, I know they’ll get more out of it.”
Through all his classes, Collins hopes to show students that different fields exist today that did not exist even ten years ago. “I want to show them the possibilities and the opportunities waiting for them. And if that light bulb goes off and they know that’s a field they may want to pursue, that brings me great joy as a teacher.”
A DEEP DIVE INTO COMPUTER SCIENCE
When science and mathematics teacher Tommy Pratt began his first full-time teaching job at Episcopal in 2023, he instantly elevated the computer science offerings. Fresh from Duke University, where he excelled in computer science, he was eager to bring that energy to the classroom. Once his ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE students take the AP exam, they are eligible for ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE: DATA STRUCTURES, ALGORITHMS, & COMPUTER ARCHITECTURE , where they do a deep dive into exactly how a computer works internally — and how coding, or combinations of ones and zeros, produce everything humans know about technology today.
“ The most important thing that differentiates people in the world of AI is not their executive skill but their peristence...”
TOMMY PRATT
As a relatively recent college graduate, Pratt is practiced at meeting the students where they are, and he adjusts his courses accordingly as he goes. He heavily models his courses off of his Duke classes, and he hopes his students will prioritize passion over perfection. “I mostly just ask students to engage deeply with the material,” he said. “It’s not as important that it comes out right.”
Pratt also welcomes students who wish to take independent studies by acting as teacher’s assistants. David Song ’25 and Joe Lee ’26 have both excelled as TAs, sharing their love of computer science with their peers through a lot of patience and trial and error. And in a beautiful fullcircle moment, Song is now at Duke, where Lee will join him in the fall, and they both will continue their computer science journey with Pratt’s former college professors. (Read more about Lee’s journey on page 38.)
Pratt will also teach AI: SKILLS AND ETHICS next spring, an offering for seniors interested in learning the fundamentals of machine learning and artificial intelligence from a non-technical perspective. Experience in computer science is not required, and he hopes the class will draw a new crowd to his classroom. The course will focus on how AI works and what it means for society, culminating in a final project where students build a long-term individual project of their choosing with robust check-ins and frequent reflections.
Pratt hopes to impress upon his students the importance of using AI the right way. “There is so much evidence to suggest that people who really learn how AI works use it less frequently and more thoughtfully,” he said. He believes that discretion is pivotal in this age of AI. “The most important thing that differentiates people in the world of AI is not their executive skill but their persistence. They need to have good taste and the ability to develop a broad vision to truly use AI to their advantage.”
Tommy Pratt
Seven students reflect on pursuing their passions through independent studies.
REAL-TIME ECONOMICS
Noah Baker ’26, Carson Cowburn ’26, and Zach Jackson ’26 all excelled in social studies teacher Mike McGowan’s MICROECONOMICS class, acing the course material and proving their invested interest in the subject. Rather than encourage them to continue with MACROECONOMICS , McGowan saw an opportunity to help them lean into their passions with an accelerated independent study.
The three students spent their senior spring doing intensive research on projects of their choosing and meeting with McGowan on a weekly basis. During the first week, they did a crash course in MACROECONOMICS to set them
up for success before honing in on their individual research.
Baker focused on prediction markets, using coding skills he learned in Dave Collins’ ADVANCED STATISTICS to analyze long-shot biases. During March Madness, he researched the percentage odds that Arizona University would win the tournament, which fluctuated wildly day by day. He also focused on a more longterm project: predicting the 2028 Democratic candidate for the President of the United States. Cowburn, a native Canadian, studied currency and interest rates, focusing on the U.S. dollar. And Jackson researched how tariffs
“ NOT MANY HIGH SCHOOLERS GET TO DO THIS”
— NOAH BAKER ’26
“ I REALLY GOT TO GRAPPLE WITH MY OPINIONS”
— LOUISE WILLIAMSON ’26
affect bond prices and investments. “Learning something that’s constantly evolving is so much more interesting to me, and I can get much more out of it than a set curriculum,” Jackson said.
Fortunately for Baker, Cowburn, and Jackson, McGowan was often available to them in the 24/7 boarding school setting — especially when the news changed rapidly and they had to adapt their projects and pivot their research on a dime. Jackson recalled the Supreme Court tariff ruling in
February, which he digested and debated with McGowan while he was on dorm duty that same evening. McGowan coached Baker on the varsity basketball team this winter, often bonding over NCAA statistics or dissecting the most recent news cycle together. “It’s amazing to have a one-on-one research mentor,” Baker said. “Not many high schoolers get to do this.” Cowburn agreed: “Being able to go in depth and learn concepts I might not have learned until a second-year economics course has been great.”
“ARCHITECTURE IS REALLY JUST PROBLEM SOLVING.”
—
IVY TJOENG ’26
“ IT’S SO EASY TO LOSE OURSELVES, ESPECIALLY IN THIS GENERATION WHERE WE’RE SO EXPOSED TO SOCIAL MEDIA.”
— ERIC SCHIN ’25
To McGowan, economics is more than the study of scarcity. “For me, economics is a specific way of thinking that helps us make choices.” He hopes that all his economics students understand the cost of decisions. “Typically a choice is ‘good’ if the benefit is greater than the cost. You don’t just have to think of it with money — it’s our time.” Though he sacrificed his time to lead this independent study, he wanted
his students to get as much out of their senior spring as possible. “At this juncture of their time here, the question is, ‘What can we do for you that will be meaningful?’”
Next year, Baker will play football for Johns Hopkins University, Cowburn will play lacrosse for McGill University, and Jackson will attend Harvard University. All three plan to continue studying economics in college.
A LEGACY OF ARCHITECTURE
Ivy Tjoeng ’26 has always wanted to be an architect. She remembers being fascinated by her architect grandmother’s sharpened pencils as a child. That love of architecture allows her to research and honor other cultures, come up with logical solutions, and expand her mind beyond the day-to-day demands of being a high school student. “Architecture is really just problem solving,” Tjoeng has learned.
During sophomore year, Tjoeng took ADVANCED 3D MODELING: COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN & MANUFACTURING with Dave Collins. She then enrolled in Cornell University’s Introduction to Architecture & Design for High School Students to further her education. The next summer, Tjoeng published a research paper titled “Luxury in the jungle: Contemporary resorts, Balinese culture, and sustainability” in the Scholarly Review Journal. According to Tjoeng, the paper “assesses the ability of luxury resorts to form and preserve a local community’s culture and identity through their architectural designs.”
In her independent study, Tjoeng designed three projects across campus: an extension of Baker Science Center (which is one of the priorities in the 2025 Strategic Plan Update), a memorial to enslaved people who worked at Epicopal in the antebellum period, and a parking lot with an
A PASSION FOR LITERATURE
For Louise Williamson, a love of Russian literature runs in her family. Her mother, a business professor, studied Russian literature in college, but Williamson never saw herself following in those footsteps. It only took one semester in Hugh Koeze’s ADVANCED ENGLISH SEMINAR: CHEKHOV to change Williamson’s mind. “I just fell in love with it,” she said. “It’s so different from American literature. A lot less manifest destiny and a lot more ‘What is the point of life?’”
In the fall of her senior year, Williamson embarked on a semester-long study of Leo Tolstoy’s masterpiece “Anna Karenina,” meeting with Koeze weekly to discuss the hundreds of pages of required reading.
For Williamson’s final paper, she chose to marry two of her loves: Russian literature and early childhood education. Her work coincided with her afternoon externship at The Butterfly House, the daycare at Virginia Theological Seminary, so the well-being of children was especially top of mind. “The children in 'Anna Karenina' are shockingly a very unexplored area of the novel,” she said. Whether studying Anna’s abandonment of her son Seryozha, Dolly’s devotion to her six children, or Stiva’s neglect of his children, Williamson explored how parents use children to serve as “a marker of whether they are good or bad.”
observation deck. During the semester, she and Collins went to Washington, D.C. together to meet with Richard Salopek, whose architecture firm designed Episcopal’s North and West Dormitories, and discuss her work. “He was a bit stunned,” Collins said of the sophistication of her projects. “Then he asked if she was really a high school student.”
Tjoeng gave her final presentation to Head of School Charley Stillwell, Assistant Head for Institutional Advancement Christina Holt, Chief Financial Officer Geoff Bennett, Assistant Head for Academics Nate Ebel, and social studies teacher and Historian-in-Residence Mike Reynolds. Though she was nervous, she said the entire project was more than worth it. “It’s definitely one of my favorite classes I’ve ever taken,” Tjoeng said. “To have this one-on-one experience where I wasn’t afraid to ask questions was really nice.”
Tjoeng loved both the minute details of the architectural process and the combination of so many of her passions in school. “I’m so interested in how buildings can represent different histories and cultures. The humanities aspect of architecture was so fun to learn because you typically think it’s just physics and STEM.”
Tjoeng will major in architecture at Columbia College this fall.
Williamson did not expect her confidence to grow as much as it did. She recalled usually playing it safe in English class — something Koeze did not let her do. “I err on the side of caution usually,” she said, “and I avoid making bold claims.” Slowly, with Koeze’s encouragement, she proved that she could dive deeper than she was accustomed to. “I learned I can do hard things,” she said. “I read a super long and challenging book, I wrote a long paper, and then I defended that paper to teachers.”
At the culmination of the course, Williamson defended her final essay to Koeze, English Department Chair Molly Pugh, librarian Sarah Fite, social studies teacher Dr. Alan Roe, college counselor Ellen Albers, and English teacher Tim Rogers ’79. “I really got to grapple with my opinions and also relate the subject matter back to my life,” Williamson reflected. When asked what she would tell a younger student about pursuing an independent study, she advised fully committing to the project: “What you put into it is what you’ll get out of it.”
Williamson will attend Vanderbilt University in the 2027-28 school year after taking a gap year to travel the world. She plans to major in English literature and Russian.
WHEN HONOR AND CODING MEET
For his year-long independent study, Joe Lee ’26 first worked as a teacher’s assistant in ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE in the fall. As the TA, he helped his fellow students work through long lines of code, often meeting them in the library on the weekends or during Study Hall to lend a hand. “Somtimes in coding, one mistake in one character could be the root cause of everything,” he said.
In the spring, Lee shifted his focus to a more personal project. As the Head of the Honor Committee, he wanted to make a long-lasting impact on the tradition of honor at Episcopal. He set out to code a website for the committee using JavaScript. The site is designed to answer student questions, highlight resources, and clarify rules around honor at EHS. When he began to lead Honor Committee meanings, he noticed that some students could use extra help to make the right choices. “I would never think that EHS is made up of bad people,” he said. “Sometimes good students just make bad decisions.” While Lee does not yet know the future of the site, he “has a lot of pride in taking the initiative.”
His next passion project was streamlining the voting process and improving efficiencies with hardware. He was not deterred by the fact that he did not know how to 3D model.
PURPOSE IN THE UNKNOWN
When Eric Shin ’25 was a junior at Episcopal, he found himself questioning his purpose. He was far along in his STEM courses, but he yearned for a more humanities-based approach to understand why humans behave in certain ways. This desire for answers led to a love of existentialism, especially after he first read Albert Camus’ “L’étranger” and Herman Hesse’s “Demian.” Shin came to realize that “while we tend to think that we live deliberately, a bulk of our actions, thoughts, and morals are mere repetitions of what society tells us to do.”
English teacher Tim Rogers ’79 was able to partner with Shin on an independent study during his junior year, where they read Franz Kafka’s “The Trial,” Albert Camus’ “The Myth of Sisyphus,” Samuel Beckett’s “Waiting for Godot,” and Herman Hesse’s “Steppenwolf.” Now at Princeton University, Shin constantly returns to the questions he and Rogers explored together to make sense of the world.
Shin and Rogers would often meet outside — enjoying the spring weather at “Camp Episcopal,” walking Rogers’ dog, and getting lost in conversation. As Shin struggled to find his purpose, he leaned on literature to cut through the noise. “It’s so easy to lose ourselves, especially in this generation where we’re so exposed to social media.” He
Instead, he reached out to Director of STEM Dave Collins for the syllabus to his ADVANCED 3D MODELING: COMPUTER AIDED DESIGN & MANUFACTURING class and taught himself to do it over Spring Break. Lee ultimately designed a handheld station with two buttons: one for yes and one for no. Each committee member would make their decision, which the station would then transmit to Lee’s app for the final tally.
For Lee, being chosen as the Head of the Honor Committee was a huge source of pride. He recalled coming to Episcopal his freshman year from Seoul, South Korea. He did not speak English well yet; he got nervous with small talk; and he struggled to learn the many traditions. But the Honor Code spoke to him, since he was raised to be honorable above all else. His work with the committee has inspired him to help others. “I wanted to make a space where students can reach out for help,” he said. Lee was grateful to Pratt for allowing him to pursue his passion for STEM and his commitment to honor. According to Lee, “There’s really no limit to what we can learn thanks to independent studies.”
Lee will follow in Pratt’s footsteps next year as he continues his computer science journey at Duke University.
found comfort in diving deep into complex topics that did not necessarily have answers. “I was deliberate in everything while doing the independent study,” he said. It was when he felt most connected to his purpose while at Episcopal.
As an international student from Korea, Shin spoke of his parents’ sacrifice and his desire to make them proud. “I’ve realized as a college student just how much they really sacrificed their time with me so that I could have a better experience and better education at Episcopal,” he said. “Now I’m trying to give back that sacrifice.”
“It was challenging for sure,” Shin admitted of the independent study and the difficulty of the texts. “Sometimes we would just complain about how hard it is to read that book,” he laughed. “But at the same time, I enjoyed it the most because that level of intellectual thought was not replicated anywhere else on campus.”
While Shin pursues his degree in Princeton’s School of Engineering and Applied Science, he still intentionally fills his schedule with as many humanities courses as he can — just as he did at Episcopal. When asked what keeps him coming back to existentialism, he said, “It’s just the act of questioning itself. I cannot stop doing that.”
“ I WANTED TO MAKE A SPACE WHERE STUDENTS CAN REACH OUT FOR HELP.”
— JOE LEE ’26 —
“ BEING ABLE TO GO IN DEPTH AND LEARN CONCEPTS I MIGHT NOT HAVE LEARNED UNTIL A SECOND-YEAR ECONOMICS COURSE HAS BEEN GREAT.”
— CARSON COWBURN ’26
LEARNING SOMETHING THAT’S CONSTANTLY EVOLVING IS SO MUCH MORE INTERESTING...”
— ZACH JACKSON ’26
EHS Archives Honors Senator McCain’s Legacy
arlier this year, Arizona State University broke ground on the John S. McCain III Library and Museum in Tempe. The venue will serve as a living memorial to EHS alumnus Senator John McCain ’54
The immersive and interactive exhibits will tell the Senator’s story — connecting his formative EHS years with his lifelong commitment to service and honor.
The Episcopal High School archives supported this endeavor by providing images, documents and background about Senator McCain’s EHS experience.
Episcopal first learned of the plans for the library and museum from Davis White ’99, who has served the McCain family in multiple capacities since the Senator’s 2008 presidential campaign. White also advised on Episcopal High School’s McCain-Ravenel Center for Intellectual and Moral Courage, planned and carried out Senator McCain’s memorial service in 2018, worked as the director of the McCain Institute’s Sedona Forum from 2022 to 2025, while also planning and executing the groundbreaking for the McCain Library and Museum in a consultant capacity.
John McCain enrolled at Episcopal in 1951, and quickly forged one of the most impactful relationships of his life with long-time faculty member William Bee Ravenel III. As the Senator’s English teacher, coach, and mentor, Ravenel was the one who reinforced in him the standards of honorable behavior that sustained McCain during his lengthy imprisonment in Vietnam, as a Prisoner of War. “Years later, during the time I was imprisoned in Vietnam, I thought about Mr. Ravenel a lot,” Senator McCain reflected. “He was the one
who reinforced in me the standards of honorable behavior.” When the Senator received an offer from the Vietnamese to return home early, he thought of Ravenel’s own experience in combat in World War II. “I really believed, as I thought about it and considered it, that Mr. Ravenel wouldn’t look favorably upon such a decision, because it was not an honorable one. So, I refused the offer...”
Sadly, by the time Senator McCain returned home, Ravenel had died.
“After I returned home, Mr. Ravenel was the only person outside of my
Rendering of the John S. McCain III Library and Museum
“ If we stuck to those standards of integrity and honor then we could be proud of ourselves. We could serve causes greater than our own self-interest.”
SENATOR JOHN MCCAIN ’54 REFLECTING ON EPISCOPAL'S HONOR CODE
family who I wanted to see, because his approval or disapproval of me was probably more important than anyone else’s in my life, outside of my father’s,” said McCain. “I felt he was someone to whom I could explain what had happened to me, and who would understand. That is a high tribute to Mr. Ravenel. I regret that I was never able to pay him that tribute.”
Coming from a multi-generation Navy family, McCain saw Ravenel, a decorated World War II veteran, as a mentor, guide, philosopher, and friend. “Mr. Ravenel changed my life,” the senator said. “He gave me some
“
… it's going to be a place where young people get educated, get that idea of service beyond self. The idea that freedom matters, leadership, courage, all those things that John McCain stood for.”
moorings and a compass. He used his classroom as not only a way to teach English but also to teach values and standards and morals.”
The John S. McCain III Library and Museum aspires not just to document the Senator’s life and service, but also to inspire the next generation to commit themselves to public service and the cause of democracy. Visitors will certainly be drawn in by the Douglas A-4 Skyhawk, the same model flown by McCain as a fighter pilot during the Vietnam War, suspended from the ceiling of the lobby; the flight simulator, recreating the experience
of landing on an aircraft carrier; and the digital hologram of Senator McCain that guides visitors through the exhibit. The venue will also host debates, lectures, and international dialogues, with the opportunity to continue the conversation in restaurants, as well as indoor and outdoor gathering spaces. Like Episcopal High School’s McCain-Ravenel Center for Intellectual and Moral Courage, the John S. McCain III Library and Museum will engage with the critical issues facing society today, including democracy, civil discourse, and ethical leadership.
Davis White ’99 with Ambassador Cindy McCain at the John S. McCain III Library and Museum Groundbreaking.
William Bee Ravenel in uniform
John McCain wrestling his senior year
MICHAEL BIDWILL PRINCIPAL OWNER, ARIZONA CARDINALS
Though campus is quiet, the impact of your support is louder than ever.
The academic year has drawn to a close, and our students have departed The Holy Hill to carry the spirit of Episcopal into the world.
Make your gift today at EHSRollCall.org or scan the code below.
Your gifts to the Roll Call sustain our 100% residential community. Your annual support allows EHS to budget almost 10% more for the faculty who mentor long after the school day ends, for the programs that make EHS unique, and for the vital financial aid that ensures an Episcopal education remains accessible to all the talented students who belong here. Our fiscal year ends June 30. Thank you for your partnership and support!
QUESTIONS? Contact
The Bell Society recognizes members of the EHS community who have chosen to provide a legacy to the School through wills, trusts, charitable gift annuities, life insurance policies, retirement account and donor-advised fund beneficiary designations, and other planned gifts.
Class Notes
Thank you to our dedicated Class Correspondents for your contributions and efforts to keep us all connected.
’47
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
’48
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
’49
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
’50
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
’51
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
There are several ways to submit Class Notes:
1 Submit news online through the alumni portal at episcopalhighschool.org;
2. Contact your Class Correspondent by phone, mail, or email; or
3. Write your news in the space provided on the Roll Call reply card and mail it with your annual gift. 1 2 3
’52
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
’53
Ed W. Mullins Jr. (C) 803-463-1440 ewmullinsjr@gmail.com
Pete Page writes: “Donna and I have had a long hunker-down with weather colder than we were used to in Alaska. We kept warm, tending wood fires to help our straining heat pumps, which are causing the power company to sing a happy song. Our Alaskan kids chortle when they tell us Juneau and Anchorage are warmer than where we are. The frozen sleet on top of the snow will support our weight. I learned to ice skate on this stuff on the cow pasture in the late forties. So much for being Old Guys.”
Bailey Patrick Jr. reports that after practicing law for 65 years in Charlotte, N.C., he retired last year at 90. He and his wife, Rose Reece, still live in Charlotte and are doing well. His son, Bailey ’79, and eight grandchildren attended EHS, and he is hopeful that more family members from among 13 great-grandchildren will attend in the future.
Ed Mullins reports that he is still a widower and is doing well. He is still living in his house, which he has had for over 40 years. He turned 90 on January 17, 2026, and it was an eventful birthday. On the night before, his old law firm, Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough, where he practiced for 59 years, gave him a surprise birthday party attended by almost all of the lawyers he had mentored over the years. The next
day, his son and daughter-in-law gave him another 90th birthday party, attended by many of his friends. He has given up his license to practice, but has an office at his son’s law firm where he consults on marketing their practice, and at bar meetings introduces young associates to other lawyers and judges. He spends a lot of time with his good friend and old Episcopal roommate Dr. Nelson Weston ’54.
Austin Moore Jr. reports that he is a widower. He turned 90 in 2025 and still lives in the family home on Lake Murray, just outside of Columbia, S.C. Lake Murray is a very large lake around which many homes have been built over the years. He is doing well and is very fortunate to have some children and grandchildren very close by. They have built their homes on the large piece of family land there, which allows them to use it for many things. One of his children, Alexandria, lives with him and manages the many horses that are boarded on the land there. She is an active writer and the master of the hunt at Belle Meade plantation in Augusta, Ga. He watches and studies the market daily and, on occasion, loves to watch bald eagles and ospreys sitting in nests and tall trees nearby.
Jon Bryan writes: “I’m doing fine, looking back on four great years in the Marines (deep recon officer, special ops); MA & PhD; 20 years teaching English (mostly community college); 16 years as the rector of a fast-growing Episcopal parish; 26 years in retirement, including 15 years of parish consulting; writing memoirs and biblical theology; 17 years as ecumenical presenter in biblical studies; seven years in our CCRC; four years as moderator of weekly large-group conversations with our CCRC residents; three recent successful cardiac tune-ups; 64 years as the husband of magnificent Judy; parent of three delightful people; grandparent of four promising citizens (a PhD, a chef, a charter boat captain, a
Taekwondo blue belt). Hindsight shows my parents, The High School, and the Corps as my formative trio. Now counting down nine years to my centennial!”
’54
Charlie V. Covell Jr. (C) 502-639-2691 covell@louisville.edu
’55
Sandy A. Wise (C) 614-638-5190 hawppmd@gmail.com
Malcolm Matheson III says: “I was widowed in December 2016 when my wife, Gail C. Matheson, joined our Lord in his heavenly kingdom. Since 2018, I have safely kept walking on the top side of the sod by my consort and loving companion, Nancy M. West. At 88, my pace has slowed considerably, but my family keeps growing. I have four children, 12 grandchildren, and five and a half great-grandchildren (number six is due in March 2026).”
Editor’s Note: Since submitting this update, Malcolm passed away. We are grateful to share his words here and honor his memory in this issue’s In Memoriam section.
’56
Class Correspondents Needed If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
’57
Col. Tim Thompson deGavre (C) 321-543-4661 tim.degavre@gmail.com
’58
Surry P. Roberts (C) 919-828-2245 surryroberts@adventure777.com
’59
Page Dame III (C) 802-624-0071
wpdame3@gmail.com
Jack Cann writes: “In October, Tom Boyd Jr. ’58 organized a luncheon for local Charlottesville alumni from his era that included Fred Scott, Dickie Tayloe ’58, Jim Lewis ’64, Rick Pietsch ’58, Sam Clark, Saunders Midyette ’58, Jack Cann, and Bill Julian ’61. We plan to continue to meet semiannually, and it will next be in the spring of 2026.”
’60
Bill M. Drennen (C) 304-283-5011
wmdrennen1@me.com
Joint 65th Reunion with 1961: June 5-7, 2026
Blake Newton III says: “We moved to Atlanta in June 2025.”
Barna Szabo writes: “Finally retired this past summer. This will give me more time with my two grandchildren (and to improve my golf game). Enjoying the seasons in Wisconsin and its people.”
’61
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
Joint 65th Reunion with 1960: June 5-7, 2026
’62 Al R. Berkeley III (C) 443-310-0588
AlfredBer keley@gmail.com
Joint 65th Reunion with 1963: June 2028
’63
Cotten Alston (C) 404-310-0541
cottenalston@gmail.com
Joint 65th Reunion with 1962: June 2028
Chad Young says: “2025 brought us our second grandson and my four score and tenth birthday.”
John Haywood says: “Mary Fry and I are the proud grandparents of nine lively children ages 10 to one. We moved in August 2024 to The Cedars of Chapel Hill, a very nice CCRC with the best food in Chapel Hill! Hadn’t planned on moving here so early, but when a really cute cottage came up for sale, we couldn’t resist. Jimmy Davis ’59 and I went to D.C. together on a city bus for the JFK inauguration. As I recall, you had to have a ticket from your Congressman. Will Jordan may have gone too. The tickets were standing and a mile away from the proceedings. Because of heavy snow the day before, there were few spectators along the parade route, so I could and did run beside Kennedy’s open car all the way from the Capitol to the White House! Couldn’t do that today.”
What a lovely family John Haywood has shared. Congratulations, Grandad! Such a great way to start this short note.
John Haywood ’63 and Mary Fry with their nine grandchildren, ages 10 to 1.
Class Notes
Richard Somerville ’58
Richard Somerville ’58 grew up a few miles away from The High School in Alexandria, Va. Dissatisfied with the local public schools, his parents chose Episcopal for its academic rigor and close-knit classrooms.
“Episcopal teachers didn’t just teach material,” he said. “They trained you to think carefully and work hard, and that stayed with me.”
The strongest influence came from Somerville’s English teacher, William B. Ravenel. He still remembers every lesson required to master grammar and language fundamentals. “We essentially memorized the grammar section of an English reference book Ravenel wrote,” he said. “I can still quote from it today.” Decades later, he gives the same advice to graduate and doctoral students studying science. “The objective of scholarship is not just discovery, but explanation. Communication decides who shapes ideas and who disappears behind them.”
After graduating from Episcopal, Somerville thrived at Pennsylvania State University, earning a degree in meteorology in just three years before completing a PhD at New York University. He began his career at leading research institutions, including NASA and the National Center for Atmospheric Research, before he joined the University of California-San Diego (UCSD) as a tenured professor, where he spent decades teaching and contributing to global climate research, including work with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.
Now a retired climate scientist, professor emeritus at UCSD, and sought-after cruise ship lecturer, Somerville continues to translate complex science for broad audiences around the world. “I’ve flunked retirement,” he said with a laugh. “You don’t stop being a teacher just because you retire. If you understand something important, you have an obligation to explain it well.”
As a cruise ship lecturer, Somerville delivers accessible, science-based talks on weather, oceans, and climate change to passengers from around the world. “You’re not talking to unintelligent people; you’re talking to accomplished people whose expertise is simply in a different field,” he said. He calls the approach “edutainment,” a blend of education and entertainment. The role demands clarity, credibility, and engagement, skills he traces back to the School.
“Episcopal taught me that learning isn’t just about mastering facts,” Somerville said. “It’s about learning how to think, write, and make ideas intelligible to others.”
Nearly seventy years later, those habits still guide Somerville’s work. Whether addressing students, policymakers, or passengers at sea, he approaches every audience with the same respect for clarity and curiosity first cultivated at Episcopal.
By the time you read this, it will be widely known that Episcopal has just chosen a new football coach after an extensive search. Coach Zach Matthews from New Hampshire will soon be on campus, looking ahead to next year’s season. Congratulations to Charley Stillwell and his search team! The reviews of Zach’s outstanding leadership are marvelous.
Football has always been an integral part of life at EHS. Back in the dark ages, 1950s-60s, it was the central sport for 250 boys, from the cake team to varsity, there was no lacrosse or golf, and such to attract/ distract us boys, nor were there female admissions, perhaps reducing the number of boys to make the School/team. Football is what we did — rickety rackety shanty town. Athletics at EHS are part and parcel of the educational experience, and as one wise observer has noted, “the athletic field is one of the many ‘classrooms’ where our students learn.”
Throw in Friday Night Lights, college football, and the massive NFL marketing juggernaut, and football is now our “national sport!” I believe that we can safely say that football is indeed a magic elixir and an educational part of our lives, especially at EHS, and may the force grow and be with the mighty Maroon. Classmates, as we age up and attend too many “celebrations of life,” we send the very best for good health and a few pearls.
“If your work is becoming uninteresting, so are you. Work is an inanimate thing and can be made lively and interesting only by injecting yourself into it. Your job is only as big as you are.” – Hubbs
“It is better to wear out than to rust out.” – Cumberland
Stay strong. Onward and upward.
’64
Alex S. Jones
(C) 617-549-8203
alexsjones2@gmail.com
Joint 65th Reunion with 1965: June 2030
Jim and Betsy Lewis came to Charleston, S.C., in January because Betsy is involved with the Anglican Church in a leadership role. Your Class Correspondent had dinner with Son and Helen Trask, who live in Mount Pleasant. It turns out all of them
have broken with the Episcopal Church and now consider themselves Anglicans. I was the only self-declared Episcopalian at the table. The Anglican approach to Christianity is more traditional than the more flexible Episcopalian approach to some issues — especially social ones.
Son told the story of his solo train journey from Charleston, S.C., to Episcopal in fall 1960. He had never been on a train, and he said he was very worried about how he would get off! His mom passed away before he really knew her. He arrived at EHS weighing 85 pounds, and he and Jim, who was slightly bigger at the time, were on the cake football team. One day at practice, Jim blocked Son so hard that it broke his ribs, and Son spent several weeks under the eye of Miss Annie at the EHS infirmary. Son now does annual Christian missions to Central America, which gives him great satisfaction.
I got an email from Eric Mantz, who is still practicing medicine in Charleston, W.Va., and is still a widower, having lost his beloved wife Sandy some years ago. It was during the terrible winter storm that swept the South. He said he didn’t have power for more than a week, and after that week, his generator ran out of gas, so he was without electricity. It was a hard winter.
Eric was seeking news of Tom Graham I had none, but I wanted to ask the rest of the Class of ’64 if they knew anything about Tom. He seems to have disappeared. David Dougherty had tried to find him for Reunion, but had no luck.
David is now reading in a singular way that he very much enjoys. He is reading James Joyce, and listening to the same book narrated by an Irish voice, which he feels adds greatly. He and I particularly like Joyce’s short story “The Dead,” from his Dubliners collection. If you haven’t read it or seen the movie, it’s great.
’65
Richard H. Lee (C) 617-512-2034
dlee60@verizon.net
Joint 60th Reunion with 1966: June 5-7, 2026
’66
Jack N. Sibley Sr. (C) 404-290-6427
jack@sibleyfarm.net
Phil G. Terrie Jr. (C) 810-300-5311
pterrie@bgsu.edu
Howell Hollis III (C) 404-277-1577
Howell.hollis@outlook.com
Joint 60th Reunion with 1965: June 5-7, 2026
’67
Charles D. Coppage (C) 252-202-1323
char les@nccoppagelaw.com
Joint 60th Reunion with 1968: June 2028
’68
Walker Moore Jr. (C) 864-941-0666
moorew327@aol.com
Joint 60th Reunion with 1967: June 2028
’69
Marty Martin (C) 919-272-2106
mar ty_martin@martinlegalhelp.com
Kinloch Nelson Jr (C) 585-733-3132
kinloch@rochester.rr.com
Joint 60th Reunion with 1970: June 2030
Sharon and Marty Martin attended The 124th Game Watch Party in Raleigh, N.C., at the Rialto Theater. They also attended Charlotte Hunt’s ’14 first annual Raleigh tailgate party. Other alumni in attendance included Katherine Farrar ’07 , Emily Urquhart ’08, Walter Holt ’71, Anderson Brown ’07 , Ania DeJoy ’14 , Jordan Whichard ’03, and former EHS faculty
Kathleen and Doug Caslow. Despite being outnumbered by Woodberry alums and their many children who thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon, our EHS attendees sought in vain to cheer The High School on to victory. Next year!
Sharon and Marty also enjoyed a fall trip to Las Vegas. They attended two excellent shows, had good meals, an “inexpensive” lesson in blackjack, shopped at the M&M
Class Notes
store, and toured the Mob Museum, among other activities. While touring the museum, Marty participated in the shoot/don’t shoot law enforcement exhibit.
Verne Morland watched The 124th Game while enjoying the tropical breezes (and perhaps a Mai Tai or two) while overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Mauna Kea Beach in Hawaii. Notwithstanding Harvey Moseley’s warning that the local temperatures were known to drop as low as 72 degrees. Sheila and Verne will celebrate their 32nd anniversary in November.
T. Lad Webb says: “Kristin and I celebrated our 53rd Anniversary, with a week and a half at Sea Island, Ga., vacationing in a lovely second-floor lodge suite overlooking two of the three local golf courses. We dined superbly and were feted by the staff on our January 20th anniversary date. A side story is that 53 years ago, we lived there on St. Simon’s Island for about six months while I was completing my advanced naval aviation training and earning my Wings of Gold. A fun remembrance and a grand time spent avoiding a snowstorm at our home in Pennsylvania. If you are contemplating a first visit to the lodge/cloister, look for the Black Friday special rates, which can save you considerably, making it nearly affordable.”
Rob Whittle and Page Smith report that they are serving as volunteer delivery drivers for ALIVE! (alive-inc.org) which is an Alexandria nonprofit providing food for the needy.
’70
Jim E. Newman Jr. (C) 253-677-4697
Newman_jim@comcast.net
Joint 55th Reunion with 1971: June 5-7, 2026
The highlight of the fall for Your Class Correspondent was connecting with Rob Little, who was in Seattle, Wash., visiting his brother and attending a memorial service for his cousin (a Sidwell Friends School graduate). Rob and I had a wonderful time reminiscing about our times on The Holy Hill. Rob informed me that he and Will Corbitt had previously roomed together at the Duke Basketball Camp when they were younger. On his way home, Rob visited his son Curtis ’10, who lives in Minneapolis.
A bucket list item for Robbie was to see the headwaters of the Mississippi River.
Ken Ulsaker and his wife Nash have three married sons and six grandchildren. In addition to family time, they take daily walks and play pickleball. Ken’s main family excursion is going to his beach house.
Johnny Coupland says: “On draft day, many of us were sitting in a fraternity house. My number was @ 312. Just remember
saying ‘ok,’ got up, and had a beer. Several brothers enlisted, and a couple went to Vietnam. No one was killed. The Vietnamese and Cambodians are beautiful (physically and personally) people and really like Americans. The late Sen. John McCain ’54 did so much to help them rebuild, and they almost worship him. Very physical trip and 43 hours to get home, but well worth it. This is the last of the 50-year anniversary bucket
M&M meets Marty Martin ’69.
Marty Martin ’69 shared a photo of The 124th Game Watch Party in Raleigh, N.C., at the Rialto Theater.
Verne Morland ’69 watched The 124th Game while enjoying the tropical breezes (and perhaps a Mai Tai or two) while overlooking the Pacific Ocean and Mauna Kea Beach in Hawaii.
list trips.” Johnny recently returned to the States from a trip to Southeast Asia with his wife, Kris.
With the Super Bowl on the horizon, Vic Grainger informed me that he amazingly bet Joe Shelor ’52 two weeks of bosses that the NY Jets would beat the Baltimore Colts in Super Bowl III. Vic enjoyed his reward! There was a recent second Super Bowl bet! Result: He has just sent me a Starbucks gift card. Vic recently ran into David Kern ’71. David was wondering about the upcoming ’70-’71 reunion, so I hope to see you there, David!
Interesting news from Rob Barnett, a pilot since the early 1980s. He has taken many interesting trips, such as family excursions to Key West, Fla., and Colorado. Some more adventuresome hunting and fishing trips to Wyoming, Idaho, and Montana. He recently received the prestigious FAA Wright Brothers Master Pilot Award for 50 years of accident-free flying.
’71
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
Joint 55th Reunion with 1970: June 5-7, 2026
’72
Beau A. Wilson Jr. (C) 828-390-9802
beauatciti@aol.com
Joint 55th Reunion with 1973: June 2028
’73
Palmer Holt (C) 704-662-8764
pholt@inchristcommunications.com
Joint 55th Reunion with 1972: June 2028
’74
John Hughes Chandler Jr. (C) 901-326-2422
jhchandlerjr@yahoo.com
Joint 55th Reunion with 1975: June 2030
’75
Stuart M. Grainger (C) 910-352-7474
stuar tgrainger@msn.com
Joint 50th Reunion with 1976: June 5-7, 2026
Greetings from Stuart “Lanny” Grainger reporting from a cold January in Wilmington, N.C. My old Hummel suitemate, Ed Ricciardelli ’77, finally gave me a flight in his Beechcraft Baron. We did a short trip up to Edenton, N.C. Sambo Dixon, a VES graduate and EHS dad, gave us a private tour of Hayes Farm and the historical downtown area.
Edenton is the home town of Ned Leary ’73, who lives on Wrightsville Beach. On my last sighting of Ned, he was using his marketing skills as a political consultant. His client won her election to the Wrightsville Beach Board of Aldermen. Anne and I recently ran into our local poet and aspiring actor, Steve Roberts ’71, at the closing of Pinpoint Restaurant.
Jim Hardison reports that he and Kathy have both of their children living in Winston-Salem. Their daughter has two boys, and their son, Jimbo Hardison ’09, has been married for two years. Jim and
Ken Ulsaker ’70 and his wife Nash celebrate Christmas with their three sons and six grandchildren.
Rob Little ’70 walking across the Mississippi River.
Rob Whittle ’69 and Page Smith ’69 serve as volunteer delivery drivers for ALIVE!, an Alexandria nonprofit that provides food to the needy.
Class Notes
Jimbo will be meeting George Maxwell and his son David for a Carolina basketball game in February. Jim participated in the EHS vs. WFS Alumni Challenge Cup in September.
I had a nice phone conversation with Jim Dudley, the “Crooner” of the Greater Commonwealth. Jim is still in Lynchburg and, at this writing, assures me that he will attend our 50th Reunion.
Matt Long ’84, here in Wilmington, was pleased to tell me over the holidays that he is no longer paying Duke University tuition. The second of the two Duke sons graduated this past year.
Mel Broughton celebrated his 70th birthday on December 18th with Gilliam Kittrell ’74 and Trent Ragland ’74 in attendance. I was with Rob Saunders at a funeral in Northern Virginia. Rob is still working, and he and Melissa are enjoying country living in Marshall, Va. Rob reported that, rumor has it, Willie Moncure is engaged.
It appears on Facebook that John Churchman spends more time plowing snow on his Vermont farm than writing children’s books.
Ro b Clement sold his downtown Charleston, S.C., home and moved out to Johns Island. His son, Lebby Clement ’18, took a commission in the Marine Corps after graduating from The Citadel. He is currently stationed in Okinawa.
’76Boota H. deButts III (C) 703-774-5717
bootadebutts21@gmail.com
Joint 50th Reunion with 1975: June 5-7, 2026
’77
Billy King III (C) 804-472-4450
wtkiii@hotmail.com
Joint 50th Reunion with 1978: June 2028
Your Class Correspondent was thrilled to see an unsolicited submission for the last Class Notes. Thank you, Allen Lister, for leading the charge to make Class Notes ’77 a hub of lively activity. When asked for a little more information, Allen said that he has retired from the U.S. Postal Service and now lives in a golfing community near
Wilmington, N.C. He reports that conditions are ideal for peaceful contemplation, naps, nature walks, and corresponding with friends. Allen is also active on Instagram, so check him out if you’d like. In Allen’s words, “I bought myself a convertible, and I frequently take naps with my cat.”
’78Jim F. Clardy Jr. (C) 704-609-5570
jim.clardy@wellsfargo.com
Joint 50th Reunion with 1977: June 2028
Best-selling author Steve Vogel is back with another history-based thriller called “A Task Force Called Faith,” set in the darkest hours of the Korean War.
On the 75th anniversary of the legendary Battle of Chosin Reservoir, Steve brings new research into the role of Army soldiers during the war’s most consequential battle, where 150,000 Chinese soldiers trapped 20,000 U.S. Marines in the frozen mountains of North Korea in December of 1950. Steve’s latest tome is the culmination of twenty-five years of digging, first as a reporter for The Washington Post and now as one of the country’s leading military historians.
“A Task Force Called Faith” arose from stories he wrote for The Post on the battle’s 50th anniversary, where he learned that while the Marines were justifiably hailed as heroes, Army soldiers who fought alongside had been denounced as cowards. Over the last quarter century, Steve interviewed dozens of Army veterans and their families, pored over letters, and benefited from the opening of previously sealed Chinese records.
His book centers on Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s ill-fated drive to reach the Yalu River and unify Korea when 3,100 Army soldiers were sent to the east side of the Chosin Reservoir while the 1st Marine Division was positioned to the south and west. When the Chinese launched a massive surprise attack at Chosin, the small Army unit, known as Task Force Faith, battled an enemy four times its size with little ammunition or food and temperatures that plunged to 35 degrees below.
Frostbite became a silent killer with poorly equipped soldiers wearing damp or
inadequate clothing. More than three-quarters of the Army soldiers were killed, wounded, or captured, and years later were falsely accused of abandoning their weapons or feigning wounds.
As Steve documents, the unit survived four hellish days, which gave the Marines time to consolidate and fight their way out. The Army survivors and their families have long sought to clear the soldiers’ reputations and reclaim their lost honor. Steve uncovered records of Chinese soldiers who testified to the courage of their U.S. Army foes and claimed that the Army’s brave stand enabled the Marines to evacuate to safety.
Steve is also the author of “Betrayal in Berlin: The True Story of the Cold War’s Most Audacious Espionage Operation” (which Your humble Class Correspondent enthusiastically gives a five-star review) and “Through the Perilous Fight: Six Weeks That Saved the Nation” about the War of 1812 and the last stand at Baltimore that kept the young nation intact.
’79
Bill L. Hughes (C) 772-268-6820
wlhcomms@gmail.com
Joint 50th Reunion with 1980: June 2030
I owe you an apology. Seems my uncharacteristic rant in the previous edition of the Class Notes on the lack of communication was unfounded and irresponsible. Turns out that my contact details are wrong. No wonder I wasn’t hearing from you. My bad, and I am sorry. With the contact information now corrected, thanks to Jim Clardy ’78, I look for ward to an unmanageable and unrelenting barrage of updates and photos from you going forward.
In case you missed it, in February, Frank B. Holding Jr., Chairman and CEO of First Citizens Bank, EHS Hall of Famer, husband to Ruth E., and proud father and grandfather, was named to the Federal Advisory Council (FAC) to the Federal Reserve Board of Governors. The FAC is composed of 12 representatives of the banking industry from each of the Fed districts who advise the board on economic and banking matters, discussing issues such as financial stability and community lending, offering crucial
industry insights to shape policy. First Citizens is a top 20 US financial institution with more than $200 billion in assets and a member of the Fortune 500.
Jack Sayler, former CEO, EHS Hall of Famer, entrepreneur, healthcare and business consultant, and father of three, has written and published a noteworthy book, “Glorious Lethal Euphoria: Radical SelfMastery in a World Gone Soft.” Packed with personal insights and smart and relevant quotations from accomplished business leaders, athletes, philosophers, historians, and musicians, Jack offers a genuine, realistic perspective on living without the banal trappings you find in other lightweight, motivational self-help books. Amazon writes: “From the opening realization that the universe had to get everything right just for you to exist, to the hard truth that real wealth is measured in moments, not things, Sayler pulls you out of autopilot and drops you straight into responsibility, meaning, and action.” It is a great read. Well done, Jack. Mighty impressive.
Robert Griffith III lives large and prosperously on St. Simons Island. His son, Reynolds ’15, recently married Rebecca Arrington. Chip Craighill’s son, Hunter ’15, recently married his classmate, Meredith Sackett Craighill ’15. Chip is a successful commercial real estate magnate, EHS Hall of Famer, husband to Virginia, father, and trailblazer, recently completed the Camino de Costa Rica, which is a 174mile hike from the Caribbean to the Pacific. Meanwhile, his wife Virginia hiked the 140-mile Fisherman’s Trail in Portugal. You may recall that last year, Chip and Virginia walked the Camino de Santiago, a long and spiritual 200- to 500-mile journey.
Finally, my daughter, Chase Hughes Thalhimer ’12, and her husband, David Thalhimer, welcomed their first child, Jack, and our first grandchild — while Ryland ’16 became engaged to Brady Collins over New Year’s. Time sure does move fast.
I look forward to hearing from each of you.
Class of ’82 friends from The 124th Game (from left to right): Danny Miller, Bart Hardison, Elis Olsson, Mark Slack, Hill Hopper, Tony Landi, James Ragsdale, Sam Igoe, Eddie Gamble, Christopher Marston, Nelson Weston, Arthur Smith, Ed Lilly, Van Merchant. Not pictured but in attendance: Lee Ainslie, Jack Bocock, Tom Garland ’80, John Kelly, Charley Matheson ’81.
’80
Staige D. Hoffman Sr. (C) 813-597-5059
staigehoffman1@aol.com
Bill J. Watt Jr. (C) 804-320-6525
chezwatt@gmail.com
Joint 45th Reunion with 1981: June 5-7, 2026
’81
Seward Totty (C) 859-361-1568
seward.totty@gmail.com
Joint 45th Reunion with 1980: June 5-7, 2026
’82
Arthur Smith IV (C) 205-222-3054
wilchester@msn.com
Joint 45th Reunion with 1983: June 2028
Hello, Class of ’82, and I hope this finds e veryone safe, in good health, and off to a great 2026. I want to thank everyone who participated and helped make the Rendezvous ’82 at Royal Orchard such a great success. I want to especially thank Jack Bocock for sharing such a special place with everyone. Many thanks, Jack!
Macon Baird passes along: “Grandson number one turned one on 12/14. Our
daughter told us over Thanksgiving that they’re expecting number two in September! Hope everyone is doing well! Retirement life is wonderful.”
Jack Bocock reports: “No news except that Moultrie Dotterer shot better than I did (which is no news).”
Mills Fleming shares: “My only update is that, after 35 years of practicing medicine, my wife has retired. I had my busiest year ever last year, so no slowing down for me.”
’83
Frank Vasquez (C) 804-873-2212
rfvasquez1965@gmail.com
Joint 45th Reunion with 1982: June 2028
Ken Tyler says: “I married Dr. Leona Ba on June 7, 2025. My son, Jordan Tyler ’16, was my best man, and my daughter, Logan Tyler ’19, was a bridesmaid. We got married at Callaway Chapel, with the reception at The Student Center in Stewart Gym. Chris Giblin ’86, Paul Utt, Trip Caldwell, and Carter Jordan were in attendance.”
’84
Sam B. Froelich (C) 336-402-3772 froelich@me.com
Joint 45th Reunion with 1985: June 2030
’85
Thorne Gregory Jr
(C) 917-922-6250
thornegregoryjr@me.com
Joint 40th Reunion with 1986: June 5-7, 2026
Will Winston is living in Fort Worth, Texas.
Tony Bueschen and Paul Barringer have offered to help with our 40th Reunion on June 5-7, 2026. Paul is busy running for Congress in North Carolina’s 13th District. His website is paulbarringer.com. I’m sure he would appreciate any donations towards his campaign. Paul says: “I’m running for Congress in North Carolina’s 13th district, one of the most oddly shaped and gerrymandered districts in the state. In November 2025, I biked most of the length of the district — from our farm in Lee County to Yanceyville in Caswell County — to meet some people, garner a little press, and, well, just because it was there. As a measure of the extent of the gerrymander, the ride was 182 miles, but the direct distance from the start to end points is only about 65 miles.”
Your Class Correspondent has four sons, all of whom work in NYC.
Alex Bocock’s ’86 daughter is on the Olympic Alpine Ski team.
Marvin Lummis is living life in southwestern rural Colorado.
I do happen to have some awesome updates on Scott Cathcart, who has been living in Jamaica since 2020. As you can imagine, he had a front row seat for the devastating landfall of Category 5 Hurricane Melissa that caused unprecedented damage and loss of life in late October 2025. He and his fiancée Grace could have left the island before the storm, but they stayed, knowing Jamaica would need enormous assistance of every kind in the aftermath, which continues to be extremely challenging.
In an effort to help the hundreds of thousands who are still suffering, Scott and Grace set up the Jamaica Respect Foundation. If you are interested in helping Scott’s efforts and Jamaicans in need, please consider lending a hand. Cathcart also told me he can’t make the Reunion because he will be participating in his 29th(!) consecutive Escape from Alcatraz Triathlon that very weekend. He has the second-longest streak of participation in the world. The world record for consecutive
completions is 33, so SC, of course, will be going for that.
’86
Art Taylor III (C) 703-774-5079 ar t@arttaylorwriter.com
Joint 40th Reunion with 1985: June 5-7, 2026
I’m writing the column for this issue while looking at snow still on the ground outside my window in Fairfax, Va. — coming up on a full three weeks and barely melting — and snow on the TV screen too, just at the midpoint of this year’s Winter Olympics. And one of our classmates, Alex Bocock, shared some news in this direction.
“This has been an exciting time for our family,” Alex wrote. “Both of our daughters, Mary and Elisabeth, are on the U.S.
Alpine ski team. Mary just got named to the U.S. Olympic Team and will be racing in the Super G. Fingers crossed.” Sadly, with “low visibility at the start of the run and a windy, grueling course,” as People magazine reported, both Bocock and Breezy Johnson crashed during their separate runs. The New York Times also reported on the “brutal conditions in the women’s super-G,” but noted that Bocock “was able to bounce back to her feet quickly and received a great ovation from the fans at the bottom after skiing down to the finish.”
Worth Williamson reported getting together with fellow alums, hosting Chuck Jones for a visit last May for the PGA Golf Tournament, and catching up with Jim Bass in Nashville, Tenn., in October.
I’ve been hunkering in, as I said, but am appreciating a study leave this semester from George Mason University to work
Jack Bocock ’82 and Moultrie Dotterer ’82 hunting together. Macon Baird ’82 with his grandson.
Ken Tyler ’83 married Dr. Leona Ba on June 7, 2025, in Callaway Chapel, with his son, Jordan Tyler ’16, serving as best man and his daughter, Logan Tyler ’19, standing by their side as a bridesmaid.
Harrison
Robert
on a textbook project — one I’m hesitant to discuss yet, afraid I might jinx my progress! But stay tuned to the next issue to find out more (hopefully) — and be sure to send in your own news in the meantime.
’87
David S. Haddock II (C) 301-575-6750 haddock.david@icloud.com
Joint 40th Reunion with 1988: June 2028
Harrison Coleman writes: “Basketball college Indiana made an improbable visit to Atlanta, and a football game broke out. On hand to witness this phenomenon were Tony Bueschen ’85, Harrison Coleman, Robert Weatherly, Rob Jones ’86, Lathan Allen ’85, Rober t MacKnight ’86, and Edward Spearman ’86.”
’88
Ned N. Durden (C) 704-576-5039
neddurden@gmail.com
Joint 40th Reunion with 1987: June 2028
’89
Croom M. Lawrence (C) 540-878-6754
croomlawrence@gmail.com
Joint 40th Reunion with 1990: June 2030
’90
Jason L. Acosta (C) 301-933-4690
JAcosta_JAh311@hotmail.com
Joint 35th Reunion with 1991: June 5-7, 2026
Jim Bass ’86 (left) and Worth Williamson ’86 (right) caught up in Nashville, Tenn., last October.
Dr. Bo Mason ’79 and Will Coxe ’91 on a quail hunt the week before Christmas at Oaklyn Plantation in South Carolina. The two enjoyed a long weekend hunting quail on horseback with a great group from South Carolina.
’91
William M. Coxe Jr. (C) 864-313-9803
williecoxe@gmail.com
Joint 35th Reunion with 1990: June 5-7, 2026
’92
Fred C. Alexander (C) 704-641-4858
fcaiii@yahoo.com
Joint 35th Reunion with 1993: June 2028
Tony Bueschen ’85,
Coleman ’87,
Weatherly ’87, Rob Jones ’86, Lathan Allen ’85, Robert MacKnight ’86, and Edward Spearman ’86 enjoyed a night out in Atlanta together.
Ken Tyler ’83 at his wedding reception in The Student Center in Stewart Gym with Chris Giblin ’86, Paul Utt ’83, Trip Caldwell ’83, and Carter Jordan ’83.
Class Notes
’93
Walker Lamond (C) 301-580-0761
walkerlamond@mac.com
Joint 35th Reunion with 1992: June 2028
Jason Light writes that he recently completed an 18-month trip around the world, during which he explored 53 countries and all seven continents, including Antarctica. He must have just missed Val Hawkins, whose family was also recently on the “white continent” enjoying a very photogenic holiday spent cold-plunging with the penguins. Jason tells me that upon his return from his world travels, he decided to finally pull up stakes in Atlanta, Ga., and move to the most exotic place he could think of…Asheville, N.C.
Don Pocock has once again been named one of the best lawyers in America for both construction and commercial litigation. He recently joined the formidable Baker Donelson as a shareholder in the construction practice group, where he represents contractors, suppliers, and owners in all things “sticks and bricks.” Which incidentally would have been a good name for Mr. Frazier’s Algebra 3 class, considering it was home to half the football team.
Griff Gideon and his family recently made the trip to Red Dog Farm to visit Gary Graham and his menagerie of rescued farm animals. Man, if those animals saw the gallery of taxidermied critters in me and Gary’s room on first Dal, they might rethink their accommodations.
Chris Jacobs and Victor Maddux continue to dominate the Chevy Chase Club duckpin bowling league. (For our North Carolina classmates, this does not involve throwing birds.) Off the lanes, Chris has had a pretty incredible year personally. After beginning a search into his family history, he was able to connect with and meet his biological mother, who is 87 and living in Denver. Chris tells me that they have had the opportunity to build a wonderful relationship, and it has been an incredibly meaningful and positive experience.
Ham Morrison’s fabulous Starlight Motor Inn in Charleston, S.C., has received a flood of glowing press everywhere from The Wall Street Journal and Vogue to The Times of London. It seems that the
world is catching on to what we’ve always known — that Ham throws the best party in town. John Hooff ’95, Courtney Gunter Rowson ’95, Lane Eastland McCluer ’94, and Shep Rose ’97 have all been spotted at the motel’s famous Burgundy Lounge. And if you really want to step back in time, Ham’s vintage VW Bug is parked right outside. As many of us can attest, a ride with Ham is always a trip.
Last week, I was regaling an older gentleman in London with stories of boarding school, matching his tales of the Royal Navy with some of our more scandalous exploits on The Holy Hill. He was most amused, and I was certain I had bolstered Episcopal’s legend overseas. It wasn’t until the next morning that I realized I had been speaking with Sir Timothy Laurence, husband to Princess Anne and brother-in-law to the King. So there’s a decent chance that rat runs and weenie roasts will be a topic of conversation at the palace this spring. As they should be. Rickety Rack!
’94
Emily Fletcher Breinig (C) 480-330-8017
fletchee@hotmail.com
Joint 35th Reunion with 1995: June 2030
’95
Class Correspondents Needed If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
Joint 30th Reunion with 1996: June 5-7, 2026
’96
Temple Forsyth Basham (C) 804-332-1517
templefbasham@gmail.com
Randy Shelley Jr. (C) 843-452-2244 randallshelley78@gmail.com
Luke J. Zehner (C) 571-338-1389 zehner lj@gmail.com
Joint 30th Reunion with 1995: June 5-7, 2026
What’s up, guys? By the time this magazine hits your mailbox, you will have just returned from the best high school Reunion you’ve ever attended. Thirty years later, your fellow classmates were just as sharp, funny, successful, and gorgeous as they were in the mid-nineties. We came, we saw, we partied. We crushed the ’95ers in turnout. Hopefully, no one got arrested. You might still be recovering from the weekend, but it was worth every minute.
Sully, Gary Graham ’93, and Garland Graham hosted Lulu, Stefanie, and Griff Gideon ’93 at Gary’s animal rescue farm in North Carolina. (Emus not pictured.)
Quick correction from the last notes sent in by meathead cheerleader Luke Zehner. (For someone who writes for a living, you think he’d check his sources.) Only one of my sons attends a Virginia Episcopal boarding school; the other son still goes to school here in Richmond — although I’d love nothing more than for him to consider The Holy Hill. We actually toured campus in November and stayed with EHS lax coach Brian Knutson (Sarah was out of town), who kindly hosted us after playing golf all day (shocker).
Back in Richmond, we took our son to lunch with another lax coach, Tyler Meurlin, to discuss the advantages of playing in the competitive DMV region. Nothing seems to have won him over. At least not yet. I’m planning to force him to return to campus this spring in hopes that he’ll see a cute girl and change his mind.
Speaking of cute girls, today is Valentine’s Day, and I’m reminded of my many Galentines. In the past week, I texted with Gray MacNair King and “the Sarahs” ( Sarah Akridge Knutson and Sarah Pugh Kadish), all of whom are doing well in Chevy Chase, Alexandria, and Easton, respectively.
Jane Pope Cooper came to Richmond last month to do a photo shoot with Carter Hancock Johnston ’97. Both ladies have incredibly successful businesses and have teamed up through various collaborations that I love and support. Laura Morton
Michau joined us for a fun, but not long enough, Tuesday dinner out. We plan to get Jane up here more often on the Breeze flight. Laura, Carter, and Hampton Moore Eubanks were at my birthday party last month, along with Robert Birdsey ’95. Topics ranged from midlife crises (not yet), menopause (also not yet), if AI is good or bad (both), and how our teenage children will ever be self-sufficient, productive adults (unknown).
So far, 2026 is off to a good start. I joined the development department at a local nonprofit and am very happy. If you ever want to donate to an awesome organization supporting kids and families across the state, give me a holler! (Hopefully I refrained from asking you for money at the Reunion!) Wishing you all the best. Over and out.
’97
Bill Allen
(C) 919-673-2269
williamwallen@gmail.com
Joint 30th Reunion with 1998: June 2028
Hello, everyone! After a little layoff, the Class of 1997 is back! It has been a busy few years in my absence, and thank you to the person who took over for me while I stepped away for a bit. We all appreciate how thorough your notes were, and it was great to be a reader for once, and not the
author. Prabs. No one stepped up to take over! So whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me.
Let’s hop right in. Our resident beefcake, Finny Akers, has found a way to merge his love of lifting heavy things and talking about heavy things into both a passion and a profession. Still active in coaching, he is devoted to helping amorphous blobs like me get off the couch and take better care of themselves. Professionally, he works in treated lumber, where he has learned the subtle art of discussing wood densities with a straight face. At another time, there is a 15-year-old chuckling uncontrollably and inappropriately at an old lady during a performance of Julius Caesar in D.C., unaware that this is his future. He, Sam, and their twins left NYC after 18 years for the more relaxed environs of Charlottesville.
Finny Akers ’97, David Bickford ’97, Nick Carosi ’97, and Caldwell Clarke ’97.
Patricia Kinser ’97 with Elizabeth and Bobby Watts.
Bennett White ’97, Scott Harris ’97, and Bill Allen ’97.
Class Notes
As many of you likely know, Lucy Whittle Goldstein is the assistant head for strategic initiatives and dean of faculty at Episcopal. She and Jeremy live on campus, while Jane ’27 is a current student! She says being able to go to school each day with Jane is the best, and Jane also likes it, okay. Fellow classmates C.A. Spivey Rountree and Joe Segrave make it to campus quite a bit because they both have kids here, so Lucy sees them when they do. She also bumps into Nick Carosi IV, Portia Scott, and Danny O’Banion a few times a year, and one time she got to see Your Class Correspondent as a surprise mystery guest at the Woodberry game.
Patricia Kinser lives in Richmond, Va., where she is a dean at VCU. She gets to see fellow classmates Shriti Patel Moore, Lissa Williams Gupton ’96 , and Ann Woods Cutchins Byrne, who all live in the area, and she was also able to spend some good time with Elizabeth and Bobby Watts at VCU.
Alex Dickerson is living quite the bi-coastal life, splitting time between NYC and Los Angeles and running an experiential marketing agency focused on fashion, beauty, and lifestyle clients. For anyone who has seen the show “The Studio,” Alex was at the holiday party at Charlize Theron’s house that was featured in an episode. Reports indicate that it was all it was cracked up to be and more. She could not confirm whether everyone’s favorite bon vivant Shep Rose was there.
I still keep a close eye on circa 19951996 Second Berk, and I can report back that everyone is doing well. J.W. Perry lives in Connecticut and has recently begun the boarding school search for his son Jack. We all have high hopes that he will make the right decision and go to EHS. Bennett White, Scott Harris, and I got together back in October for an incredible golf weekend. We were joined by a great friend of ours whose name doesn’t matter because he didn’t go to Episcopal. Three rounds of golf, plenty to eat and drink, at the height of college football season in Highlands, N.C., was a long-overdue get-together and a welcome respite. Jim Goodwin, Joe Segrave, and Scott all live in Raleigh, and we do our best to get together in person.
Kind of a fun update in the Allen household: Out of nowhere, my youngest son has
Betsy Watts Metcalf ’00, Becky Arnesen Jenkins ’00, Brittanny Wildman Meierling ’00, Sarah Brown Love ’00, and Stewart Gilchrist Jones ’00 spent the weekend in Palm Beach.
gotten obsessed with ice hockey. Not just watching it, but learning how to skate and, soon enough, learning how to play. He’s a little on the scrawny side, so not sure if he’ll be the team enforcer — a “goon,” in hockey parlance — but maybe whatever position Gretzky played? Not much else relevant for the alumni magazine, but by the time the next one comes out, hopefully I will have just finished running the Chicago Marathon, something I’m really excited about having the opportunity to do this year.
Final comment. It’s hard to believe it, but 2028 will be our 30th reunion. I hope everyone can make the effort to get back to the Hill for such a big one. Time to start planning now!
’98
Katherine Moncure Stuart (C) 434-989-7054
katstu@gmail.com
Andrew B. Nielson Sr. (C) 706-254-2277
Joint 30th Reunion with 1997: June 2028
’99
Ravenel Richardson (C) 843-422-7638
ravenelrichardson@gmail.com
Joint 30th Reunion with 2000: June 2030
Kate Leggett Mabry ’00 snapped a photo of The 124th Game Watch Party in Atlanta, Ga.
’00
Schuyler Williams (C) 703-304-9423
schuyler13@gmail.com
Zsolt Parkanyi (C) 49-176-88413393
zsolt.par kanyi@gmail.com
Joint 25th Reunion with 2001: June 5-7, 2026
Kate Leggett Mabry writes that she enjoyed having coffee with Charley Stillwell during a trip to Atlanta this fall. Kate has also been playing somewhat regularly with a group of girlfriends at Will Stallworth’s The Painted Pickle, which is quite a swanky “compeatery” in Atlanta. She also enjoys running into Nat Hendricks ’01 at yoga classes. Allegedly, his form is way more solid than hers! Professionally, as an architect, Kate continued to collaborate with Wright Marshall P’25 and his team at Revival Construction to build beautiful houses here in Atlanta. Beyond the city, she has been working with Hattie Gruber, her uncle Mel Broughton ’75, and others in the Broughton clan on building a new family house on Bogue Sound in Morehead City, N.C., over the past couple of years. Construction is almost complete, and she looks forward to her invitation to stay in style when it’s complete!
Betsy Watts Metcalf still lives in Atlanta, and both of her girls are now in middle school. A highlight of the fall was spending the weekend in Palm Beach with Brittanny Wildman Meierling, Stewart
Gilchrist Jones, Sarah Brown Love, and Becky Arnesen Jenkins. They also got to see Elizabeth Hossfeld!
Her nephews are students at EHS, and she says it has been fun to watch them experience life on The Holy Hill! She is excited to be back on campus for our reunion in June. Hard to believe it’s been 25 years for us!
Yoon Suk Lee reports having enjoyed skiing this season! This year, she and her family will be spending one year at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., as a visiting scholar. She will try to make it back to EHS.
Your Class Correspondent is still making the most of life in Jakarta, Indonesia, and has been busy setting up his family’s life after they relocated from Germany over the summer. A winter holiday highlight was visiting Singapore for New Year’s celebrations and Taiwan for some sightseeing and hiking. Tickets are already booked for Reunion! Looking forward to reconnecting in June!
’01
Beezie McLaughlin Sayers (C) 713-560-6210
beezie.sayers@gmail.com
Joint 25th Reunion with 2000: June 5-7, 2026
Taylor Gillis Clement is halfway through her term as Mayor of Southern Pines! She loves the work, and they are so lucky to have her leadership. She was also just accepted to The Campaign School at Yale University for this June. She and her husband Baxter have three handsome sons, so life is busy!
’02
Andrew S. Farrar (C) 919-616-6636
asfarrar@gmail.com
Ar tie L. Armstrong (C) 805-341-5233
ar tiearmstrong@yahoo.com
Joint 25th Reunion with 2003: June 2028
’03
Alden Koste Corrigan (C) 443-783-4659
alden.k.corrigan@gmail.com
Joint 25th Reunion with 2002: June 2028
’04
Kalee Stuart Blackburn (C) 704-654-1855
kalee.blackburn@gmail.com
Hugo Vandeveer Gilbert (C) 703-402-6077
gilber t.hugo@gmail.com
Joint 25th Reunion with 2005: June 2030
This past fall, a group of old friends, including Ben O’Neil, Odie von Werssowetz, Hugo Gilbert, Nick Stewart, and Blake Murphey, got together in Montauk, N.Y. They report having had a great time fishing and catching up on each other’s lives. Houston Moncure was honored by Sha’are Shalom Synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica, for his hurricane relief work.
Betsy Watts Metcalf’s ’00 daughters hang out with their cousins — Rob Watts’ ’98 sons. Yoon Suk Lee ’00 enjoying the ski season.
’05
Peebles Squire (C) 434-594-4652
peebles.mobile@gmail.com
Joint 20th Reunion with 2006: June 5-7, 2026
Taylor Embury has joined Mercer Advisors as a wealth advisor in its San Francisco office, and he and his wife Yana hopped the continent to settle in the Bay Area at the end of January. They’re loving it so far and look forward to seeing everyone at the Reunion!
Richard B. Lee VI and Meredith Judkins Lee (Collegiate ’05) were married on Squam Lake in New Hampshire last summer, with their daughter Charlotte by their side. A few notable Old Boys and Girls in attendance included Bayly Buck ’69, Greg Rober tson ’69 , Gracie McGurn Mason, Margaret Anne McArver, Johnny Rockwell, Caroline Fedora Parker, and Kate Hollo Kegan and Henry Kegan ! It was a special time and place to have so many Episcopal friends up on the lake in the White Mountains. Even though Richard may have married into a Woodberry family, Meredith does come from good Episcopal stock — former Headmaster Rob Hershey is a first cousin once removed! They look forward to seeing everyone this summer.
’06
Molly E. Wheaton (C) 504-247-8674
mewheaton@gmail.com
Margaret von Werssowetz Waters (C) 843-607-5788
margaretvonw@gmail.com
Joint 20th Reunion with 2005: June 5-7, 2026
Howdy, everyone! Molly Wheaton here. Going on my 14th year in Austin — if you’re ever in town, feel free to reach out. I’m lucky to see EHS alumni several times a year. Most recently, I saw Kingsley Trotter McNeil, Sarah Montz Harcus, Peyton Killeen Walling, and Caitlin Dirkes Simmonds for a little reunion trip at Lake Oconee in Georgia. A fun time was had by all. I also spent New Year’s with Lizzie MacPherson ’05 in Cabo, which was lovely. It’s hard to beat a trip with EHS buddies. That said, I’m really looking forward
Andy Nelson’s ’01 four-year-old son, Jeffrey, enjoyed a taste of the recent ice storm in Nashville in an old EHS winter hat from the 90s.
Brittany Bell Moye ’04 and Craig Stewart ’70 caught up over a cup of coffee in Raleigh recently. She’s a part-time nurse and full-time mom and Craig is retiring this December.
to our reunion in June and hope to see everyone there!
Julie Barraza Boggs says: “I’m still back in Louisiana, managing farmland and chasing kids. We celebrated our newest little one’s first birthday in November. Marigold “Goldie” Gail Boggs is the sunshine in our family and is so adored by her big brothers. I’ve included the Christmas picture that we never sent out. Goldie also has the entire Barraza crew wrapped around her tiny little finger. Between the complexity of the farm world in trade turmoil and chasing little blonde ones, my world is beautiful and chaotic right now! We had some bad damage from the ice storm in January, so we’ll be spending our spring turning giant piles of
oak tree limbs into what is sure to be a flourishing firewood business. I’m hoping to host Molly and Sarah at some point this spring. Reach out if you want to come down to the swamp to join us for a spectacular bonfire!”
Kingsley Trotter McNeil writes: “Hi, everyone! I am still in Fort Mill, S.C. (right outside Charlotte) with my family. I am lucky to see my EHS friends often and cannot wait to see everyone at our Reunion in June!”
R yan Jackson moved from San Francisco to Chicago in January to be with his co-founder for a new company. Having raised a first round of capital at the end of 2025, they are launching an AI-native insurance technology platform. During the
Taylor Gillis Clement ’01 and her husband Baxter with their three sons.
Richard B. Lee VI ’05 and Meredith Judkins Lee were married on Squam Lake in New Hampshire last summer, with daughter Charlotte by their side. A few notable Old Boys and Girls in attendance included Bayly Buck ’69, Greg Robertson ’69, Gracie McGurn Mason ’05, Margaret Anne McArver ’05, Johnny Rockwell ’05, Caroline Fedora Parker ’05, Kate Hollo Kegan ’05, and Henry Kegan ’05.
and her family.
journey, he was fortunate to reconnect with James ’07 and Todd Becker ’08. So if you or someone you know works in insurance and/or lives in Chicago, reach out! Ryan’s “excited to reconnect with everyone at their 20-year reunion!”
Harper Cullen says: “Hard to believe I have been in California for 15+ years. I moved to EHS at 15, so I have lived here longer than anywhere else in my life. Caroline, the twins (five-and-a-half-year-old boys), and I love our access to hiking, camping, skiing, and surfing while working in a big city, but we do feel like we’ve been far from our families and the Mid-Atlantic for a long time.
My wife went to Middlesex, and we both agree that the bonds built during boarding school are among the most impactful of our lives. While I haven’t seen some of the Old Boys (and Girls) in a while, your spirit and influence on my life are omnipresent. Your loyalty to each other and to our community is deeply felt.
I haven’t been back to the Hill in a long time, but I’m planning to be there for our 20th Reunion this June. I owe a special debt of appreciation to Mason Tillett and Sloan Battle — they were such filthy roommates that even my twin five-year-olds don’t seem so bad by comparison. Love to y’all and hope to see you soon. Please reach out if you find
yourself in the apocalyptic San Francisco. Also, we are having another baby, and I hope it’s a girl.”
Mary Lide Parker writes: “Greetings from the edge of the earth (again)! I just returned from an expedition to the interior of western Antarctica, where I worked with a team from the NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory. We spent three weeks living in a field camp and deploying seismic equipment on the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf. It was quite literally the coolest work gig I’ve had yet.
I like what Harper wrote about how boarding school bonds can impact the rest of our lives. For every expedition I join, having the wherewithal to live in tight quarters, to get along with different types of people, and to be a solid teammate is critical. EHS helped me build a solid foundation on all those fronts, and I’ll always be grateful for it.
I’m trying to wrangle my insane travel schedule so that I can attend our 20th Reunion! Hope to see a bunch of y’all there.”
Eliza Hopper says: “Hi, friends! I had two major adventures in 2025 — one abroad and one at home, but both were unforgettable! My husband and I welcomed the new year on a riverboat on the Nile while on our honeymoon in Egypt, and ended the year with a new addition to our family. Georgia Elizabeth Graney was born on October 22, just in time for spooky season and just shy of our first wedding anniversary. We adore our sweet Georgia peach! But also, if you ever get an opportunity to sail the Nile and explore ancient Egypt, seize it. No vacation will ever top it for us!”
Mary Lide Parker ’06 gets ready to go to work on the Filchner-Ronne Ice Shelf in Antarctica.
Julie Barraza Boggs ’06
Rae Williams ’07
When Rae Williams ’07 first arrived at Episcopal in 2003, she was late, jet-lagged, and stepping onto a campus she had never seen. Hurricane Fabian delayed her departure from Kingston, Jamaica, and her decision to attend The High School was what she called a blind choice.
“Episcopal immediately spoke to me because it was close to Washington, D.C.,” she said.
“I never had a chance to visit campus, and I couldn’t have been more pleased. The School was amazing, and everybody was warm and welcoming.”
Longtime English teacher Perry Epes ’65 encouraged Williams to submit a story to The Daemon, Episcopal’s student literary magazine, but she hesitated. Epes insisted, and her piece won a $100 prize, but more importantly, it gave her confidence. “I would have never submitted that story,” she shared. “Mr. Epes believed in me, and I will always
be grateful that he pushed me outside of my comfort zone.”
Near ly 20 years after graduating from the Hill, she revisited that same story — centered on culture and identity — as the foundation for a fiction book she is now developing. After graduation, Williams attended the University of Miami, initially pursuing film before pivoting to journalism. “I had to decide what kind of journalist I wanted to be,” she said. “And then I decided what my moral code was going to be. That made navigating my career easier and more aligned with my spirit.”
Today, Williams’ work spans hard news and entertainment. She has reported from wildfire recovery sites in California, covered economic policy in Los Angeles, and interviewed nominees on the red carpet at the Academy Awards and the Golden Globes. “Covering awards shows reminds me that anything is
possible,” she said. “Growing up in Jamaica, I never imagined I’d be on a red carpet asking questions to the stars. It’s a reminder that dreams can come true.”
This year, Williams launched Broad, a video podcast with The Female Quotient examining headlines through the lens of women in the workplace — a milestone that included seeing her image on a Times Square billboard.
“Podcasting is just the beginning,” she said. “This platform allows me to blend expertise with personal opinion in a way that’s transparent and engaging.”
There are moments when Williams still feels like that 14-year-old from Jamaica, navigating a new world, an experience that shapes the advice she offers students: “Don’t hold yourself back. Take that first step, even before you feel ready, and lead with what you’re passionate about.”
Peyton Killeen Walling writes: “I’m still living in D.C. with my family and trying to keep up with my two little boys, Gray (4) and Owen (1.5). I recently traveled to Austin in December with Kingsley Trotter McNeil and Sarah Montz Harcus to surprise Molly Wheaton after her boyfriend, Michael (now fiancé), proposed! Molly, we are sorry that we snuck into your new house and terrified you when we screamed ‘SURPRISE!’ but it was well worth it! Looking forward to seeing everyone in June!”
Ina Dixon is living in the beautiful Big Lick (Roanoke, Va.) and working on historic redevelopment projects in Danville, Va. She just finished working on the historic tax credits for a pretty cool hotel called The Laurel; it’s right by Danville’s new Caesars Virginia Casino & Resort, so y’all should come by and check it out — maybe bring some cash for the blackjack table (although remember: the house always wins). Ina is astounded that it’s been 20 years since we graduated and looks forward to catching up with everyone in June!
Mason Tillett says: “Hello, all! Not sure when I last played Molly and Maggie’s game, but figured this is the time for an update to those who aren’t included in my 20-30 followers on Instagram (@tmtillett). BAM, just like that, I am married to a Chattanooga gal, Margaret, and live in Charlotte along with Fletcher Dunn, Kyler Carr , and Mac Amos. I have two boys, Thomas and Paul (not the AF models), who seem to be a perfectly equal mix of me: one has a high intellect, and the other is athletically gifted. Despite being away for a while, I still find myself constantly reminded of my time at EHS. Just the other day, I was looking at Thomas’ participation trophy in soccer and was reminded of when Harper Cullen, almost to tears, begged his mom during our freshman year to send up his middle school trophies to display in his room. Or when Paul ran into a wall, it, for whatever reason, reminded me of my old roommate Phil Duggins. Anywho, I digress, but I’m definitely looking forward to seeing all at the Reunion this summer and being back on The Holy Hill.”
’07Victoria Friedman Thevenot (C) 434-466-1525
victoria.m.friedman@gmail.com Joint 20th Reunion with 2008: June 2028
Phinizy Wimberly is currently living in Sydney, Australia, with his partner. He works at Accenture, where he focuses on the banking industry across the AsiaPacific region, and she works at a boutique media agency. They also welcomed a golden retriever puppy, Chilli, in October, who loves swimming and digging holes at the beach. Recently, he ran into Danny Coale at the nCino conference in Charlotte — small world! He’s especially looking forward to traveling back to Georgia to spend time with his first cousin and fellow EHSer Lydia Mackie at her sister’s upcoming wedding.
Jane Arnold Wylie and her husband Nick are actually back in Alexandria. They are loving all the things the D.C. area has to offer them and their two girls, Katherine (seven) and Lindley (four). She is looking to start Kat in The Summer Camp and loves reminiscing on the “good old days” when she takes the girls to a movie at AMC Hoffman or drives by the center. She is really looking forward to reconnecting with everyone at the 20-year reunion in 2028.
Ansley Stewart Condon reported she and her family are doing great in the
Midwest. Her kids are seven (Riley), five (Cooper), and four (Archie). Her daughter recently started playing club lacrosse for M&D, which she coaches.
’08Lucy Glaize Frey (C) 540-327-2267
lglaize@gmail.com
Joint 20th Reunion with 2007: June 2028
Hello from the Class of 2008! Time flies! At the time of writing this, I just barely finished reading the last edition of EHS: The Magazine of Episcopal High School. One of my favorite parts of serving as a Class Correspondent is, of course, connecting directly with so many members of our class. My request for updates often sparks ongoing conversation with those who do respond, even when people reply just to say hello, without an official update. I suspect I wouldn’t have gathered quite so many details about the recent boys’ ski trip otherwise! Rest assured, I will spare you some of those details — but not the photos.
Tucker Clarkson, Dylan Harry, Jeremy Austin, Lee Carter, and Todd Becker recently reunited in Sun Valley, Idaho, for some skiing. Tucker reports that while they missed their wives and children, they were able to console themselves with top-notch après-ski provisions. The absences of Tom Weaver and Zach
Ansley Stewart Condon ’07 with her family.
Glubiak, however, were felt keenly throughout the trip.
Leah Andress Brady recently transitioned into executive recruiting in the commercial real estate sector. She’s having fun connecting with fellow alumni in the industry, and hopes to connect with many more. She and her husband, David, are expecting their fourth baby in May! The Brady Bunch is coming to life!
Karl Lee also writes with exciting career updates. After leaving academia in 2024, he spent a year at an AI startup in San Francisco before recently joining Apple. He is currently living in Cupertino, and encourages any EHS folk who want to reconnect to give him a holler!
Elizabeth Dale Uhrinek shares that she and her husband welcomed their second son, Theodore Stuart “Theo” Uhrinek, in January! He is already adored by his big brother Anthony. This sweet family of four is settling into their new chapter.
Our updates are limited this season, but as always, they are full of excitement.
’09
Jeila Martin Kershaw (C) 334-399-0386
jeilamar tin@gmail.com
Haley Morgan Tenney (C) 703-509-3117
09hmorga@gmail.com
Joint 20th Reunion with 2010: June 2030
Greetings, classmates, Haley here. It’s been a busy time with a newborn in a particularly cold NYC. I left my job at the end of the year to spend more time with our perfect baby, consult for a few brands, and work on a personal project. Hopefully, by the time you’re reading this, the hip-high snowbanks have melted away, and my fellow Mid-Atlantic and Northeasterners have a renewed sense of life (and I’ve left my apartment…!)
I was thrilled to hear from my pal Catherine Harrison Culp, who shared the great news that she and Robert welcomed their son, Robert “Ladson” Culp Jr., in September. Cece has been embracing her new role as a big sister, and I’m jealous to report that they’re still living in LA. Catherine also met up with Bitsy Motley in Manhattan Beach before the holidays when she was in town for work. Sounds delightful!
In other very exciting baby news, Caroline Williamson Miller welcomed a baby girl in December! Sloane Miller joined Caroline and her husband, Matthew, right before Christmas. Caroline also reports that she started a new job, which “pales in comparison to Sloane’s arrival,” but is very exciting nonetheless. Congrats x2, Caroline!
Ben Shuford reports that he and his wife, Katelyn, are expecting baby number two in April. In case that wasn’t exciting enough, “Kelemonster ( Jack Kelemen ) and I are going heli-skiing in three weeks.” He promised me a picture, but we’ll have to follow up with that in the fall.
Your favorite correspondent, Jeila Martin Kershaw, has also been busy, most notably traveling to Japan with Caroline
Moncure in November. Dream trip and dream duo!
In response to a semi-desperate text asking for updates, I can also report that Mary Spencer Morten shared she’s down on books read YoY, but up in many other ways. I’d consider that a WIN. Frances Stone Edge moved to Greenville in July and will be there for a year, so let her know if you’re local and want to hang! Finally, Olivia Vietor realized while preparing for her Super Bowl party that it was indeed finally time to take down her Christmas tree. Proud of you, Olivia!
That’s it from me! If you’re reading this and haven’t sent an update in a while, please email JMK and me. We’d love to hear from you!
Jeremy Austin ’08, Dylan Harry ’08, Todd Becker ’08, Tucker Clarkson ’08, and Lee Carter ’08 enjoyed the après-ski scene in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Dylan Harry ’08, cozy in Sun Valley after a day of skiing with EHS classmates.
Elizabeth Dale Uhrinek ’08, Theodore “Theo” Stuart Uhrinek, Brian Uhrinek, and big brother Anthony.
Dorsett
’10
Whitt W. Clement Jr. (C) 804-477-5732 whitt.clement@gmail.com
Joint 15th Reunion with 2011: June 5-7, 2026
Hello from the Class of 2010! I always get excited when updates roll in.
Zack Czajkowski shared the happy news that he and his wife, Dr. Sarah Cunningham, welcomed their first child, Archibald Matthew Czajkowski, on September 22, 2025. Zack was quick to add that he had already started tennis training three months ago. Congrats, Zack!
Rachel Hurley Kittrell spent a weekend at the beach in Morehead City, N.C., with James Dorsett, his wife Regan, and their kids (baby) James and Liam last October. It’s fun to see the next EHS generation carrying the friendship forward.
It’s somehow been 15 years since we all departed The Holy Hill. Reunion in June awaits! More updates to come.
’11
Connor V. Gallegos (C) 703-919-4833
connorgallegos92@gmail.com
Joint 15th Reunion with 2010: June 5-7, 2026
’12
Celeste H. Jones (C) 434-414-4696
jonescelesteh@gmail.com
Joint 15th Reunion with 2013: June 2028
Matthew Valcourt is the new chief of staff at World Liberty Financial, a crypto company founded by the Trump family.
James
and Liam Kittrell, sons of Rachel Hurley Kittrell ’10 and James Dorsett ’10, in Morehead City, N.C.
Jeremy Austin ’08, Lee Carter ’08, Dylan Harry ’08, and Tucker Clarkson ’08 hit the slopes in Sun Valley, Idaho.
Archibald Matthew Czajkowski, son of Zack Czajkowski ’10 and Dr. Sarah Cunningham, with his tennis racket.
Matthew Valcourt ’12 with Donald Trump Jr. and Zach Witkoff at TOKEN2049, the largest crypto conference in the world.
Class Notes
’13
Somer G. Glubiak (C) 804-370-5886 sglubiak@gwu.edu
Joint 15th Reunion with 2012: June 2028
’14
Cici R. Sobin (C) 703-999-1277 cici.sobin@gmail.com
Joint 15th Reunion with 2015: June 2030
’15
Presley G. Goode (C) 804-441-2286 pgoode2@gmail.com
Tyler P. Hartmeyer (C) 516-474-9843 tyler.hartmeyer@gmail.com
Morgan A. Lineberry (C) 205-789-0447 morganlineberry12@gmail.com
Joint 10th Reunion with 2016: June 5-7, 2026
’16
Kelsey M. Anderson (C) 703-624-6968 kelseymanderson4@gmail.com
Andrew Karo II (C) 804-592-9640 andrew@andrewkaro.com
Priscilla B. Bar ton-Metcalfe (C) 727-410-8746 16bar top@gmail.com
Joint 10th Reunion with 2015: June 5-7, 2026
Josh Szymczak says: “I am working in Maine for J.M. Huber Corporation. I manage northern forest operations.”
’17
Halle T. Hughes (C) 904-322-2828
hughes.halle@me.com
LizaBanks Campagna (C) 202-650-7687
lizabankscampagna@ber keley.edu
Joint 10th Reunion with 2018: June 2028
’18
Class Correspondents Needed If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
Joint 10th Reunion with 2017: June 2028
’19
Olivia H. Tucker (C) 415-361-1561
oliviahelenetucker@gmail.com
Lilly F. Whitner (C) 904-504-5027
lfwhitner@gmail.com
Joint 10th Reunion with 2020: June 2030
The Class of 2019 is now in our third year of post-college adult life! We didn’t receive any major life updates, so we’re assuming
Friends from the Class of 2015 at the wedding of Vicky Reynolds ’15 and Mike Adams (from left to right): Calvin Lawson, Emily Salvant Ducker, Will Farnsworth, Karli Francis Farnsworth, Lizzie Taylor, Izzy Farrell, Vicky Reynolds, Mike Adams, Sophie Holt, Ivy Houde, Annabelle Gibson, Josh Howard, Marie Vencil, Leigh Channell Sandman, Meredith Sackett Craighill, and Hunter Craighill.
Meredith Sackett Craighill ’15 and Hunter Craighill ’15 celebrated their wedding with friends and family.
Grace Moog ’19 and Lilly Whitner ’19 at King Family Vineyards during a girls’ trip to Charlottesville, Va., in the fall of 2025.
Jeff and Melanie Streed visited Lilly Wilcox ’18 in Oxford in January 2026.
Meredith Sackett Craighill ’15 and Hunter Craighill ’15 at their wedding in May 2025.
Lindsey Harrison ’19, Maggie Moore ’19, Catie Wood ’19, Mary Ives Giblin ’19, and McKenna Gribbon ’19 gathered in Alexandria to celebrate Mary Ives’ birthday.
Olivia Tucker ’19 and Olivia Morton ’19 at a holiday party in Washington, D.C., in December 2025.
Bear Matheson ’20 spent June riding the TransAmerica Trail, where he tore through over 5,000 miles of dirt, gravel, and backroads from coast to coast in 28 days.
Class Notes
everyone is happily trekking along with their jobs, higher education, or other adventures. We’re lucky to have so many classmates concentrated in East Coast cities like New York and Washington, D.C., so we get to see each other often.
Kidron Kollin reports that he will be graduating with his Master’s of Science in Mechanical Engineering in May 2026!
’20South Wallace III (C) 843-973-0626 southallwallace@gmail.com
Joint 5th Reunion with 2020: June 5-7, 2026
Despite living thousands of miles away, Jack Lee, who now works for Clark Construction in Charleston, S.C., decided to forgo a weekend typically dedicated to surfing and good food to visit his twin brother and fellow alumnus Ben Lee in Fairbanks, Alaska. Ben currently serves as a rifle platoon leader in the 11th Airborne Division, training and managing over two dozen soldiers. The unit concentrates on arctic and mountain warfare.
Luke Cowan and Zoe Davidson first met on an Alaskan cruise in 2019 and have been together ever since, navigating college at UVA and UMD before settling in Arlington, Va. Luke now works for the City of Alexandria Planning and Zoning Department, and Zoe is a second-year medical student at GW. In November, Luke proposed to Zoe at The Inn at Herrington Harbour on the coast of Herring Bay. She said yes.
Two alumni are back in the classroom with an important role to play! Lindsey Veatch and Nora Huffines have both entered the field of education to foster the younger generation. Lindsey teaches advanced fourth grade at Stratford Landing Elementary School in Alexandria, Va., and Nora works in special education at Rebecca School in New York City.
Carson and Katherine Allen both finished the New York City Marathon this year.
Bear Matheson spent June riding the TransAmerica Trail, where he tore through over 5,000 miles of dirt, gravel, and backroads from coast to coast in 28 days.
’21
Caroline Morgan Davis (C) 202-440-3636
cdaviscmd4858@gmail.com
Joint 5th Reunion with 2021: June 5-7, 2026
Maria Claiborne is attending the UVA McIntire School of Commerce, where she will receive her MS in Commerce in May 2026. She is on the biotech track. Charles Starks is also in the class, and Maria lives with Lucy Schmachtenberger
’22
Hannah Boone (C) 703-869-3661
boone.hannah14@gmail.com
Joint 5th Reunion with 2023: June 2028
’23
Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at
Lindsey Veatch ’20 teaches advanced fourth grade at Stratford Landing Elementary in Alexandria, Va.
Luke Cowan ’20 and his fiancée Zoe Davidson at the Inn at Herrington Harbor on the coast of Herring Bay.
Jack ’20 and Ben Lee ’20 in Fairbanks, Alaska.
ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
Joint 5th Reunion with 2022: June 2028
’24 Class Correspondents Needed
If you would like to share an update or volunteer to be the Class Correspondent, please contact Irfan Latimer at ilatimer@episcopalhighschool.org or 703-933-4129.
Joint 5th Reunion with 2025: June 2030
’25
Olivia Hanson (C) 843-749-9018
oliviacatehanson@gmail.com
Joint 5th Reunion with 2024: June 2030
Nora Huffines ’20 works in special education at the Rebecca School in New York City.
While at the TABS Conference in Boston, Mass., English teacher Katrina Reed and Director of the McCain-Ravenel Center Dr. Ryan Pemberton met up with recent graduates Nate Bastos ’24, Amelia Hanson ’24, Bella Johnson ’24, Walter Liu ’24, Tristan Duong ’25, and Davian King ’25.
Members of the Class of 2023 gathered in Charleston, S.C., for New Year’s Eve.
Carson ’20 and Katherine Allen ’20 celebrated finishing the New York City Marathon in Greenwich Village with their father Lathan ’85.
Births and New Arrivals
Email alumni@episcopalhighschool.org with news of births, adoptions, and other family additions.
Georgia Elizabeth Graney to Eliza Hopper ’06 and James Graney on October 22, 2025
Merrick Hilliard Clarkson to Tucker ’08 and Rebecca Clarkson on November 3, 2025
Theodore “Theo” Stuart Uhrinek to Elizabeth Dale Uhrinek ’08 and Brian Uhrinek in January 2026
Robert “Ladson” Culp Jr., to Catherine Harrison Culp ’09 and Robert Culp in September 2025
Caroline “Sloane” Miller to Caroline Williamson Miller ’09 and Matthew Miller on December 20, 2025
Carson Ann McCarthy to Jordan Nulsen McCarthy ’10 and Gene McCarthy ’10 on July 6, 2025
Archibald Matthew Czajkowski to Zack Czajkowski ’10 and Dr. Sarah Cunningham on September 22, 2025
Blaine Lanier Roberts to Mary Frantz Roberts ’11 and Andrew Roberts on July 10, 2025
Jack Thalhimer to Chase Hughes Thalhimer ’12 and David Thalhimer
Marriages
Email alumni@episcopalhighschool.org with news of any and all matrimonial unions.
Ken Tyler ’83 to Dr. Leona Ba on June 7, 2025
Richard B. Lee VI ’05 to Meredith Judkins Lee on June 7, 2025
Vicky Reynolds ’15 to Mike Adams on October 18, 2025
Meredith Sackett Craighill ’15 to Hunter Craighill ’15 on May 24, 2025
Reynolds Griffith ’15 to Rebecca Arrington on June 29, 2024
In Memoriam
In Memoriam includes deceased alumni as reported to Episcopal High School on or before February 1, 2026.
We are proud to honor each departed member of our community and celebrate the contributions each made to Episcopal and their respective communities. Scan to read their full obituaries.
Mr. George P. Buckey IV ’44 of Chambersburg, Penn., on June 28, 2025
At Episcopal, Mr. Buckey was a member of check-up team. He played varsity football and ran varsity and winter track.
Mr. Buckey is survived by his two daughters, son-in-law, and two grandchildren.
The Honorable John Edward “Jack” Clarkson ’48 of Ponte Verde Beach, Fla., on October 5, 2025
At Episcopal, The Hon. Clarkson was a member of Missionary Society, choir, E Club, Whispers, Egypt, twelfth night, hop committee, and served as Head Monitor and a waiter. He played varsity football, ran winter track, was the captain of the spring track team, and was a member of the 1947 Hall of Fame football team. John also received the W.A.R. Goodwin Jr. ’40 Memorial Bowl and the Bryant Scholarship medal in 1948. As an alumnus, Jack served three terms on Episcopal’s Board of Trustees between 1963 and 1983. He also served as a longtime Class Chair and Athletics Hall of Fame Committee member.
The Hon. Clarkson is survived by his wife Kirkland, son John Palmer Clarkson II ’75, daughter, four grandchildren, including K. Tucker Clarkson ’08, and eight great-grandchildren.
The Rt. Rev. Herbert Alcorn “Herb” Donovan Jr. ’49 of Highlands Ranch, Colo., on November 3, 2025
At Episcopal, Bishop Donovan served as a Monitor and was a member of choir, Wilmer Literary Society, Fairfax Literary Society, Whispers, glee club, and Grins & Grimaces. He was on the B-squad football team and ran track. He also received the Declaiming medal in 1949 and the prize from Immanuel Vestry for “most valuable player”.
Bishop Donovan is survived by his wife Mary, three children, and grandchildren.
Mr.
Frank Alger Boxley ’51 of Roanoke, Va., on January 25, 2026
At Episcopal, Mr. Boxley served as a Senior Monitor and waiter, and was a member of Honor Committee, hop committee, E Club, glee club, and Blackford Literary Society. He was the co-captain of varsity football, played basketball, and ran track. Mr. Boxley also received the C.C. Baldwin Memorial Trophy in 1951.
Mr. Boxley is survived by his wife Betty, three children, including son Frank Alger Boxley Jr. ’78, nephew Abney Saunders Boxley III ’76, and three grandchildren. He is predeceased by his brother Abney Saunders Boxley Jr. ’50.
In Memoriam
Mr. Jerome Hamilton “Jere” Michael ’51 of Tucson, Ariz., on September 20, 2025
At Episcopal, Mr. Michael was a member of dramatics, E Club, glee club, and served as a Monitor and waiter. He played varsity football, varsity basketball, and ran varsity track. Jere also received the 1951 Football Medal.
Mr. Michael is survived by his wife Holly and two children.
Mr. Joseph MacKay “Mac” Spears Jr. ’52 of Fuquay-Varina, N.C., on October 26, 2022
At Episcopal, Mr. Spears was a member of Blackford Literary Society and played baseball.
Mr. Spears is survived by his family and friends.
Mr. William Compton “Bill” Cook ’55 of Vero Beach, Fla., on January 15, 2026
At Episcopal, Mr. Cook was a member of choir, glee club, Missionary Society, dramatics, Egypt, press club, Blackford Literary Society, and Whispers. He served as a Monitor, schoolroom keeper, assistant coach for tennis and JV basketball, and played JV football. He also received the Boyd Taylor Cummings Medal in 1955.
Mr. Cook is survived by his wife Gloria, brother Charlie Wilkerson Cook Jr. ’52, nephews Charlie Wilkerson Cook III ’83 and John Stephenson Frierson Cook ’86, former wife, two daughters, two step-children, and three grandchildren. He is predeceased by his cousin Dr. E. Edwin Wilson Jr. ’45.
Mr. William Coalter Paxton Jr. ’55 of Wilson, N.C., on December 7, 2025
At Episcopal, Mr. Paxton was a member of Missionary Society, Blackford Literary Society, Egypt, and E Club. He also ran winter and varsity track and was on the Greenway baseball team.
Mr. Paxton is survived by his wife Webber, son, daughter, six grandchildren, two great-grandchildren, sister, and six nephews. He is predeceased by his brother A. Winniett Peters ’45.
Dr. Thomas Cyprian “Tom” Lawford Jr. ’57 of Reston, Va., on January 19, 2026
At Episcopal, Dr. Lawford was a member of exercise squad and A.A. system. He was also the manager for winter track.
Dr. Lawford is survived by his sister and son.
Mr. John Haines Marson II ’58 of Nellysford, Va., on March 18, 2024
At Episcopal, Mr. Marston was a member of Missionary Society and dramatics. He played JV football, ran track, and was on the wrestling team.
Mr. Marston is survived by his nephew Christopher Haines Marston ’82, sister, stepdaughter, nieces and nephews. He is predeceased by his father Harvey Lee Marston 1925, uncle Oliver Jackson Marston ’30, and brother Minor Lee Marston ’51.
Mr. James Jackson “Jim” Ragan III ’62 of Louisville, Ky., on December 28, 2025
At Episcopal, Mr. Ragan served as a Monitor, vice president and president of Fairfax Literary Society, and was a member of dramatics and A.A. Shop. He also played varsity football and ran winter track.
Mr. Ragan is survived by his wife Dianna, son, stepson, daughter-in-law, and two grandchildren.
Mr. Hugh Charles Haynsworth IV ’76 of Rock Hill, S.C., on November 17, 2015
At Episcopal, Mr. Haynsworth was a member of recycling committee and chess club. He played cake football, marauder football, junior soccer, C-team wrestling, JV lacrosse, and ran spring track.
Mr. Haynsworth is survived by his parents and brother. He is predeceased by his great-uncle Perry Beattie Haynsworth ’30.
Mr. William Hampton Keen ’84 of West Palm Beach, Fla., on January 23, 2026
At Episcopal, Mr. Keen was a member of Fairfax Literary Society and Stewart basketball. He also ran cross country.
Mr. Keen is survived by his wife Joette, three children, including Virginia Lee Keen ’23, sister, brother John Thomas Keen ’78, and nieces and nephews.
Mr. Robert St. Clair “Rob” Lesman ’94 of Harrisburg, Pa., on September 25, 2025
At Episcopal, Mr. Lesman served as a Senior Monitor, chair of the Honor Committee, and captain of varsity squash.
Mr. Lesman is survived by his wife Julie, two sons, parents, and brother William Alexander Lesman ’91. He is predeceased by his grandfather John Townsend Burwell Jr. ’30, and great-uncle Charles Lee Burwell ’35.
Ms. Nicole Elizabeth Nicolette ’97 of North Palm Beach, Fla., on September 26, 2025
At Episcopal, Ms. Nicolette served as a Monitor and played varsity field hockey.
Ms. Nicolette is survived by her husband Curt, two sons, daughter, parents, and sister.
A Prayer from School Chaplain Rev. Betsy Carmody
O God of grace and glory, we remember before you this day the departed community members.
We thank you for giving them to us, their family and friends, to know and to love as companions on our earthly pilgrimage.
In your boundless compassion, console all who mourn. Give us faith to see in death the gate of eternal life, so that in quiet confidence we may continue our course on Earth, until, by your call, we are reunited with those who have gone before; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.
humility itdowith
NATHANIEL FAMILUA ’26 REFLECTS ON THE PERILS OF PRIDE, THE IMPORTANCE OF HUMILITY, AND THE MEANING OF SUCCESS.
My father is an immigrant from Nigeria. And as the son of a Nigerian man, I have found that Nigerian culture is particularly obsessed with titles. Engineer, Doctor, Deacon, Chief, Pastor, Chairman of this, President of that. One day, I asked my grandfather to put his contact in my phone, and he genuinely typed in “Engineer Deacon Chief Ajewole Joseph Familua.” I laughed out loud at what he put in my contact list, expecting him to simply put “Grandpa,” but when I looked up, he was staring deep into my soul. Dead serious. And so I asked my father why titles mattered to them so much.
I was met with my dad’s absurd stories. He talked about finishing at the top of his class. Setting records. How his university postponed releasing final exam results after he scored 20 percent higher than any student had ever scored before him. This was hard work, and it deserved recognition. My dad’s heroic origin stories went on. As a child, he woke up at dawn and crossed mountainous terrain and forests. He fought off lions, sometimes bears, and tamed wild horses just to ride to school each morning.
Now I am not sure that story is fully true, but I got the picture he was trying to portray. He was not actually telling me about lions or bears; he was telling me about sacrifice. These titles told the story of how my father, growing up poor in Nigeria, turned his sacrifice into significance. That is why they were important.
At some point during high school, I decided I would do the same. At first, it was healthy. I was proud of my growth and
proud of the discipline and hard work I showed. But pride is subtle and disguises itself as ambition.
By junior year, I did not just hope God would reward my hard work; I fully expected Him to. Pride began to rewrite my mindset and theology. It told me that if I performed life well enough, I would be loved. Pride told me that if I succeeded, I would be praised. Pride told me that if I achieved enough, I would be secure in myself…
I prayed for my life to change, and God heard my prayer. Two weeks into my junior year, I was lying supine on Bryant Field with a torn ACL, and I cannot tell you why, but in that instant, every goal, achievement, and title I wanted to pursue felt out of reach. My life changed, but in a vastly different way than I envisioned.
The injury did not just affect my leg. My hair began to fall out from the physical stress. For the latter half of junior year, I wore caps, cut it short, and hid it every chance I got. Living on the freshman boys’ dorm last year did not help the situation, as I inevitably heard every joke imaginable. I put on a facade to pretend that I had my life under control, yet I was more isolated from God, from this community, and from myself than I had ever been before. Life began to pull at the strings of my pride and ego, one by one, and it was beyond painful. Why was God doing this to me? Me, a good person. What did I do to deserve this?
This summer, my pastor told a story. When his son was younger, he would prepare his birthday presents and place them on the kitchen table for his son to find the next morning.
...one’s ability to handle failure directly determines how ready they are for success...
The next morning, his son saw the presents stacked high, one on top of the other. My pastor had wrapped the presents so precisely, adding a shiny ribbon to each one. The son picked up the first present and examined the beautiful, disposable wrapping paper.
He loved the wrapping paper so much that he carefully unwrapped each gift, then folding the paper, he placed it near him. Then he went to the next gift. Same thing. Removed the disposable wrapping, folded it, and placed it near him. He was so entranced by the wrapping paper that by the time he left for school, no box had been opened, no toy had been played with, just a stack of wrapping paper remained on the kitchen counter.
As students, we can often find ourselves like this boy. We can become so enraptured by the packaging of it all — the leadership position, the title next to our name, the subject award we worked hard for. Pride will convince you that the wrapping paper is enough. With its shine and luster, it will attempt to make you forget how easily it tears, how quickly the shine fades, and how soon it will be in the recycling bin.
My message to you is this: Do not be distracted by what is disposable.
If what you are chasing is temporary, then it is not meant to define who you are. Because an identity dependent on circumstance and achievement is fragile. Your character and humility are more significant than any goal you could ever attain.
My confidence became pride when I became dependent on applause and obsessed with what only concerns me. Pride
is a force that wants to be validated. It is solely performative. It is the force that tempts one to pray in the synagogue to be seen by others, instead of quietly in private to be heard by God.
God allowed me to experience setbacks not to discourage me, but to reveal who I truly was without the adornment of success and praise. I found that I was being distracted by the disposable. My question shifted from why is this happening to me to what is this revealing inside of me?
My experiences in the past two years have led me to realize one simple truth: that one’s ability to handle failure directly determines how ready they are for success…
Over the course of this year, I have talked to numerous teachers and faculty members, asking them a question: “When you reach the end of your life, what will you look back on and say truly mattered?” Not one teacher mentioned their personal achievements, the awards they have earned, the schools they graduated from, or the degrees they have received. They all mentioned their family, the people they love and cherish, and their journeys of self-discovery. This shows me that “success” does not define a life.
So when you fail, do it with humility knowing that God is working something marvelous behind the scenes in your life. Do it with humility knowing that your hard work will one day be rewarded. Do it with humility, staying focused on what’s ahead and on what truly matters. Store up your treasures in heaven, the scripture says, for where your treasure is, your heart will be also, and where your heart is, there your focus will be…
Nathaniel poses with his parents, Oluwamayowa and Lara.
