Alumni News

ALUMNI NEWS

FWCD team doctors, alumni doctors, nurses and health care professionals have been working around the clock for months to care for the community and help patients battle COVID-19. Comfort is the farthest thing from their minds, but it can be key. Head Athletic Trainer and Associate Athletic Director Ed Chisholm saw online that someone was making “ear savers” using their 3D printer. “I asked one of FWCD’s team physicians, Richard Linsky ’91, MD, if he thought that he and his colleagues could use them,” Chisholm noted.

Dr. Linsky was excited about the possibility because the masks they were using had elastic behind-the-ear bands. With the need to wear masks all day long, the doctors and nurses were taking a hit: getting sore and raw behind the ears. “This strap takes the pressure off the ears by connecting the side elastic ‘ear loops’ behind the head instead,” Chisholm noted. “It can be reused over and over.”

Chisholm contacted Dr. Steve Uhr, Director of Technology, to see if the ear savers could be manufactured using the 3D printers in the FWCD TEAM (Technology Engineering Art Maker) Room. Using a shared public file posted on Thingiverse by contributor Suraky, Dr. Uhr made a couple of straps to try the design out. After a few simple modifications on Tinkercad, he used the School’s 3D printers to produce both nylon and plastic ear-saver straps. “The printers can print a batch of eight straps in about three hours.”

In April, Chisholm delivered 40 ear savers to team doctors and their clinics, offices and ER. Sixteen went to Dr. Linsky (Harris downtown ER); 10 were provided to Steve Brotherton, MD; two were given to Millard “Buddy” Tierce IV ’92, DO; and six each were given to Natalia Hanson ’90, MD, and Greg Hanson, MD.

Glowforge began a national program, asking volunteers to make two million ear savers on school laser cutters. “Using an acrylic material, we can turn out a sheet of 70 acrylic ear savers in about an hour,” Dr. Uhr said. “Fort Worth Country Day is proud to support alumni, local and national doctors and nurses in this time of need.”

Patrick Powers III ’05, Claire-Lise Knecht H’06, Carlisle Wysong ’89, Anne-Lise Knecht Woods ’85, Mary Hallman Smith ’03, Stephen Dickey ’89, Kathryn Garvey Cain ’03, Meg Kendall Lehman ’90, Blair Hyde Hamburg ’87, Karen McKenzie ’79, Joe Breedlove ’78, Colleen Kleuser ’76

FWCD alumni laughed and applauded the Upper School students’ great work in their February performance, The Drowsy Chaperone. All were impressed by the musical numbers, tap-dancing, and scenery created by the cast and crew. A favorite scene featured the character Robert Martin, played by Landen Walker ’22, skating through the garden blindfolded so as not to see or run into his fiancée on the day of their wedding.

ALUMNI NEWS

Six young alumni returned to FWCD for a College Chat session with the Class of 2020. This year’s speakers were Jared Imber ’17, Tulane University; Helen Holloway ’18, Wake Forest University; Ryleigh Rains ’17 and Emma Rooker ’18, Texas A&M University; Alex Gibbs ’18, University of Oklahoma; and Catherine Cravens ’18, Franklin University Switzerland. They sat on a panel and took questions from Director of College Counseling Kristin Larsen and from the seniors themselves about their first few years in college. Questions ranged from “What is your roommate like?” to “How do you balance your social life with academics?” If you will be a junior or senior in college next year and would like to be one of our panelists, please email kristin.larsen@fwcd.com. After the College Chat panel, young alumni attended a special lunch and caught up with some of their favorite teachers.

(Pictured above): Jared Imber ’17, Helen Holloway ’18, Ryleigh Rains ’17, Emma Rooker ’18, Alex Gibbs ’18, and Catherine Cravens ’18

(Pictured below): Lisa Wallace, David Hoppe, Bryan Carlson, Jared Imber ’17, Jonathen Wilks ’17, Brendan O’Connell ’18, Patrick Powers III ’05, Emma Rooker ’18, Robbie Heine ’19, Casey Hammett ’15, Colin Douglas ’06, Riley Hammett ’19, Alison Robinson, Alexandra Stevens ’85, Christy Alvear, Eric Lombardi, Alexandra Galloway ’19

ALUMNI NEWS

Hosted by Lauren (Hunt) ’05 and Blake Brogdon ’05, Falcons on the Road took to Houston with the FWCD alumni team and current and former faculty members Lisa Wallace, Joe Breedlove ’78, Bill Arnold ’86 and Sharon Foster H’05. Alumni gathered with the Brogdons for their first event since rebuilding their home after Hurricane Harvey. The conversation was lively, with all topics sharing a common theme: FWCD is a special place that has an extraordinary impact on all of its students.

Greg Caraway ’11, Eric Lombardi, Blaine Brogdon ’08, Lisa Wallace, Taylor Arnold ’11, Patrick Powers III ’05, Courtney Reimer Arnold ’11, Stephen Levy ’12, Bill Arnold ’86, Lauren Hunt Brogdon ’05, Blake Brogdon ’05, Meredith Grant Qualls ’03, Madeleine Samuelson Herman ’05, Rebecca Hove ’94, Annie Samuelson Schorfheide ’07, Dee Thomas ’90, Kyle Herman ’93, Joe Breedlove ’78, Marylyn Breedlove, Sarah Watson Ofner ’00, Val Thomas ’92, Avery Ruxer Franklin ’08, Stephon Breedlove ’79, Bethany Johnson Dylewski ’92, Sharon Foster H’05, Ting Wang Bresnahan ’94

Once the campus and businesses in Fort Worth were shut down amidst COVID-19 protocols, the FWCD Alumni Association could no longer meet in person for happy hour events. Thanks to programs like Zoom, FWCD alumni from across the country were able to come together over a drink and share their stories. Be on the lookout for more fun online events as we head into the 2020-21 academic year.

Homecoming and Reunion Parties will be a bit different this year. As we plan to make the best possible experience for our alumni and other FWCD community members, the School has decided to move all reunion events to the spring. Please save the date for April 16-17. FWCD is planning to celebrate the Alumni Awards Dinner on the evening of Friday, April 16, and a load of fun events will be happening all day on Saturday, April 17. We look forward to seeing you in April!

ALUMNI NEWS

Singer, songwriter, actor, doctor, philanthropist – that’s J Mack Slaughter, Jr. ’02. Born into a “Partridge Family,” he sang with his father, J Mack, Sr., and sisters, Lisa Slaughter Stovall ’99 and Sarah Slaughter Hughes ’96. His mother, Marti, a percussionist, was manager/sound engineer.

“Ms. [Christine] Nesvadba [formerly Derber, now Leuck] identified my comfort on stage in Lower School. I soon was singing solos,” said Slaughter, an FWCD Original. He even appeared in the Upper School musical Pippin as a first-grader. In Middle School, he worked with Pam Chernick and Tricia Franks. Melodee Halbach directed him in Brigadoon. “These teachers were my reason for being,” Slaughter said. “They provided me with confidence to excel.”

Slaughter felt less comfortable in a classroom, but he forged forward. “I didn’t have a favorite core subject,” he noted. “I did my work to spend time on stage or sing.”

At 15, he auditioned for a boy band through the Kidd Kraddick Morning Show. Intended as a radio bit, Sons of Harmony had potential, ultimately touring with Destiny’s Child.

When asked to go to Los Angeles, Slaughter looked to FWCD for help. “My mom was like ‘No way is my son getting a GED,’” he said. “We approached the administration asking to complete my senior year while in LA. Ms. [Peggy] Wakeland and Mrs. [Beverly Anne] Robinson [H’18] helped make that possible.”

His hope was to pursue music, but he took to acting. Slaughter garnered his first TV role in 2002 on What I Like About You, while completing academic work and submitting it to his FWCD teachers via AOL. He came home weeks before graduation to complete final projects. “My parents would not tell anyone other than my teachers that I was back,” he said. “They were serious about me graduating.” Returning to LA, he was cast in multiple TV shows, including Like Family, and the movie Fat Albert. He signed a Talent Hold with Warner Brothers, pausing work while they searched for more roles on their network. “I’ve got too much energy to sit still,” Slaughter noted. “I started thinking about the future and a family. This was not a family-friendly career.”

Slaughter returned to Fort Worth to determine next steps, which soon became clear. He enrolled in TCU’s pre-med program and learned he had been soaking in academics at FWCD. “Even though I was arts-focused, Country Day provided a foundation for me to rise to the top of my TCU class,” Slaughter said. “I gained a solid academic base without knowing it at the time.”

Merging passions, Slaughter created Music Meets Medicine as an undergraduate. The nonprofit donates instruments and teaching time to teenagers in children’s hospitals. He established fundraisers and teamed up with Kidd’s Kids to raise $150,000 for the Kidd’s Kids Music Meets Medicine Therapeutic Arts Room at Children’s Medical Center Dallas.

Slaughter earned his MD and completed his residency at UT Southwestern Medical Center Dallas. In medical school, he reconnected with FWCD classmate Rebecca Shaw ’02, a ballerina and fellow arts lover. They fell in love and built a family. J Mack ’33 is one of their three children.

The couple dreamed of a way to reward local student artists. After seeing FWCD’s 2019 spring musical, Chicago HSV, they created the Slaughter Family Arts Awards, a recognition and scholarship program celebrating fine arts excellence and effort. (Read more on page 19).

When not immersed in the arts or working philanthropically, Slaughter is an Emergency Medicine Doctor. “I get to do a hodgepodge of stuff,” he noted. “I like searching for that next thing that is going to fulfill myself and others.”

ALUMNI NEWS

By Debby Jennings

Suzanne Lewis US History 1978-2013 To the surprise of no one, Suzanne has remained “an inveterate student and teacher.” After FWCD retirement, Suzanne homeschooled two students focusing on areas of history that she had not previously taught. Now, she fills her days with online Latin class, playing the piano, line dancing, and learning how to watercolor.

Retirement allows her to travel widely: four trips a year to visit her mother and friends in Florida, a trip to Northern England to study Roman ruins and see Hadrian’s Wall, a trip to Brunswick and the Bay of Fundy to better understand the American Revolution. Although her travel typically has a history or art focus, she also appreciates culinary experiences and comments that Rome has “the best pasta and fresh vegetables she has ever eaten.”

Suzanne never stops appreciating the value of history and believes it can teach perspective and help all people analyze issues and divisive points of view. She leaves her former students and colleagues with this: “I wish to all a healthy, safe and rewarding journey through the fears and uncertainty of today. There is light at the end of the tunnel, even if we do not know when it will come or what shape it will take.” Sharon Hamilton US Biology 1978-2017 Sharon continues to teach and learn by volunteering with the Texas Master Naturalists, a program that educates in support of natural resources and natural areas of Texas. Through the Texas Wildlife Association and its James Green [’01] Wildlife and Conservation Initiative, she teaches students about freshwater and prairie ecosystems. She also serves FWCD as a long-term sub.

Recently, Sharon and her husband added a 2-year-old Labrador retriever, Charlie, to their family. Another welcome addition to the family: a first grandchild, Annabelle, born in May. Since retirement, Sharon has traveled to Cuba, Maui, Hawaii and Cordova, Alaska. She explores the small towns of Texas, enjoying out-of-the-way restaurants.

Sharon’s best FWCD memories center on the excitement, fun and genuine learning that took place during labs, projects and field trips. She misses watching the “light bulb go on” in a student’s mind when insight or inspiration hits. When asked to give advice to former students, she quotes author George Eliot: “It’s never too late to be what you might have been.” Christine Derber Leuck LS Music and US Music History 1988-2017 Just 17 days after Chris retired in 2017, her beloved husband, David, died suddenly. In the months following, Chris bravely forged forward, even taking the trip to Italy that she and Dave had planned to celebrate her retirement. To be closer to family, she rented an apartment in Los Angeles, near her twin sons, Jonathan and Joel Nesvadba ’00. In fall 2018, she was introduced to John Leuck, by of all people, their dentist. The couple married on September 10, 2019, on the University of Notre Dame campus, John’s alma mater. They live on Eagle Mountain Lake.

The couple has attended five Notre Dame football games and traveled through 26 states. In March, they took a 35-day trip to Brazil, Uruguay, Argentina, South Africa, Zimbabwe and Botswana, returning home just as the international travel ban for COVID-19 went into effect.

Chris’s fond memories from her 30 years at FWCD include Grandparents’ Day, Kindergarten Super Turkey, and summer productions of Falcons Off- Broadway.