Celebrating the Day Friday, March 4, was an exceptionally beautiful day that began as any other, except that students, faculty and staff came to school sporting their new Falcon House T-shirts. By 10:45 a.m., the community began making its way to Rosacker Stadium for an all-School picnic, complete with boxed lunches by SAGE Dining Services. As students walked to the track, they connected with others in the same color shirts. The field quickly was alive with color. Joe Breedlove ’78 emceed the picnic, playing lively music and encouraging students to play with the beach balls and Frisbees on the field.
A Grand-Entry Parade
Betty Claire Dupree McKnight H’13, with her granddaughter, Claire Davis (above), and Founding Trustees George Ann Carter Bahan H’13 and Patricia Schutts H’13, with Jeanie Luskey, the Falcon and Debra Lombardi, served as grand marshals of the Founders’ Day Grand Entry Parade.
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THE FALCONER
Following the picnic, a Grand-Entry Parade began, led by three of FWCD’s Founding Trustees—George Ann Carter-Bahan H’13, Betty Claire DupreeMcKnight H’13 and Patricia Schutts H’13. At the beginning of the procession, the School community stopped at the base of an FWCD form crafted by Dewayne Dodgin and Clovis Murphree in Plant Operations. The form was created to hold 1,328 hand-painted rocks: one each for the 1,108 students and one each for the 220 faculty/staff. The idea of the painted rocks stemmed from Upper School Diversity Day and a book College Counseling Assistant Terri Hutton found, titled Only One You by Linda Krantz. Through her dazzling rockfish, Krantz tells a story about the beauty of difference. Upper schoolers painted rocks to reflect themselves on Diversity Day. The Founders’ Day Committee loved this idea and wanted to expand it division-wide, with all levels painting rocks with representations of themselves. One by one, students, faculty and staff paraded by the form, leaving their rocks. The parade curled around the track and led into the Round Gym. No grand entry is complete without music: Middle School Science Teacher Dan Bloch H’06 greeted community members as he plucked away on his banjo, something he has been doing at the School for the Kindergarten Rodeo for 46 years. Each Falcon House walked a red carpet to find their seating areas in the gym.