Galloway Alumni Magazine Winter 2017

WINTER 2017

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the alumni

ma azine THE GALLOWAY SCHOOL

John Nickerson ’01 Anti-Abuse Software Engineer at Google Headquarters

Software

Standouts

CONTENTS

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the alumni

ma azine THE GALLOWAY SCHOOL

6 Happenings UL retreats help students make transitions; Inaugural Galloway Games brings the community together around friendly competition; Upper Learning students travel to France and Greece; 2016 ALUMinaries are named; Galloway launches BOLD Summit.

12 Software Standouts This issue’s feature story includes three Galloway alumni who are making their mark behind-the-scenes in software engineering.

16 Academics UL students venture out during Excursion 2016; Introducing new leaders in UL; EL students take on Passion Projects; Galloway adopts Social Emotional Learning at every level.

26 Athletics Four fall athletic teams compete in state tournaments; Carson Waln ’13 completes four years on Wofford College baseball team.

28 Alumni Events Reunions are held for the Classes of 1996, 2001, 2006 and 2011.

30 Get 2 Know Get to know more about EL Assistant Principal Cutia Blunt.

31 Class Notes Find out the latest news about your fellow classmates. Who has a new job, got promoted, got married, had a baby, or all of the above?

24 Arts Three Atlanta artists enjoy residencies at Galloway; Guitar Ensemble is a new addition; Galloway Theatre Ensemble receives honors for fall production; ML and UL chorus students are selected for All-State Chorus.

Editor Sherri Breunig Art Direction/Design Ridge Creative, Inc.

WINTER 2017

Cover Photography Heather Finnecy Dito Contributors Jamie Anderson Allison Arsenault Peggy Benkeser Cutia Blunt Sherri Breunig Josh Burr

Wynton Coleman ’25 Audrey Compton ’25 Gareth Griffith Claire Horn Noah Houston ’25 Suzanna Jemsby Linda Levy Max Levy ’13 Julia Mahood Lynn Mandelbaum Gordon Mathis Liz McRoberts Kelly Mize Seth Morganstern ’01 Hanna Meyers ’17 Micah Parness ’25

Janet Reed Megan Smith ’12 Mallory Ward ’06 LaRita Williams Photography Dena Bass Thomas Baylark Sherri Breunig Peter Emmons Claire Horn Jerry Mucklow Butch Petitejean Legacy Studios Phillip Spears Tony Rinaldo

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WELCOME

Happy 2017, Alumni!

As we begin a new year, I want to reflect on 2016 and express my deep appreciation for all of you. It has been an exciting and successful year for our Galloway alumni community.

Our Alumni Giving Week saw an increase in participation and total dollars invested in the school. Notably, our investments helped pave the way for the expansion of our campus last year with the purchase of new baseball and softball fields. Investing in Galloway enables our future alumni to have unique learning experiences and an ever-increasing quality of education.

During the holiday months, we celebrated four class reunions (Classes of 1996, 2001, 2006, and 2011), had our first alumni speaker at GPS (Galloway

Alumni Association Executive Board

Professional Series), and celebrated with our always lively Alumni Winter Toast.

Seth Morganstern ’01, president Adam Rabinowitz ’05, vice president Amy Stevens Smith ’89, secretary Rachel Fox Weitz ’01, giving chair Hillary Fixelle Hendrix ’05, events chair Kevin Luptowski ’08, liaisons chair Mike Feldberg ’01, advisor Michael Maziar ’01, advisor Anne Lokey ’04, advisor

Check out our Facebook page for photos! The GPS event with John Ernst ’94,

Alumni Association Class Liaisons 2016-2017 Phillip Daves ’77 Jason Evans ’85 Heather Angel Dittus ’87 Marthame Sanders ’88 Amy Stevens Smith ’89 Dennis Fish ’95 Megan O’Brien Noltemeyer ’96 Kate Coley Dinerman ’98 Nick Benzine ’99 Gloria Kantor ’00 Seth Morganstern ’01 Matt Goldberg ’02 Scott Covington ’04 Hillary Fixelle Hendrix ’05 Mallory Ward ’06 Kathleen Bazaz ’07 Evan Shapiro ’08 Jasmyn Turner ’09 Elizabeth Walz ’10 Lauren Godfrey ’11 Sara Cramer ’12 Katy Thompson ’13 Julianne Lang ’14 Julia Castanet ’15 Haley McKee ’16

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mayor of Brookhaven, was motivating. We left politics at the door and gained insight into John’s experience as mayor. I appreciated hearing how his time at Galloway prepared him for governing effectively by working to create a consensus among a community of diverse people and opinions.

Now, more than ever, we must challenge ourselves to live by Mr. Galloway’s guidance: Become lifelong learners and lead with empathy and understanding.

I have no doubt 2017 is going to be another exciting year at Galloway and a great one for our alumni community!

Seth Morganstern ’01 Alumni Council President

ALUMNI HAPPENINGS Gordon Mathis and alumni parents, Jodi and Mike Gross order coffee and dessert at The Little Tart Bake Shop in Krog Street Market.

Alumni Parent BeltLine Tour A bus full of alumni parents enjoyed the Atlanta BeltLine bus tour with Gordon Mathis on Saturday, October 22. The individualized tour began at Galloway and traveled through neighborhoods near the BeltLine, including Old Midtown, Poncey Highland and areas of south Atlanta near the former Turner Field. Halfway through the three-hour tour, the group took a coffee and dessert break at the hip intown spot known as Krog Street Market.

L to R: Seth Morganstern ’01, Amy Stevens Smith ’89, Brennan Galloway ’00, Anne Lokey ’04, John (Jay) Ernst ’94, Alex Chanin ’02, Michael Maziar ’01 and Mallory Ward ’06 attended GPS in the fall at Galloway.

Galloway Professional Series GPS

The Alumni Association hosted its first Galloway Professional Series (GPS) of the year on October 21 with alumnus and Brookhaven Mayor John Ernst ’94. John

Pictured L to R: Gus Williams ’13, USMA ’17; Keeandra Hale ’10, Howard University ’14; and Scott Covington ’04, USMA ’08

(also known as Jay) was sworn in as Brookhaven’s mayor on January 4, 2016. Mayor Ernst grew up in Brookhaven, attended Emory University after Galloway and later received

Veterans Day

his law degree from the University of Georgia. In 2005 he

Galloway celebrated Veterans Day on November 11 by

opened a law practice. Then, from 2013 to 2015, he served on

honoring our community members who are serving or have

the DeKalb County Board of Ethics, where he filled lingering

served our country in the armed forces. The school gathered in

vacancies, raised the department’s budget to handle increasing

the gym for an event with several special speakers including alums

ethics complaints and led the board in convicting a public official

Scott Covington ’04, Keeandra Hale ’10 and Gus Williams ’13.

of an ethics violation for the first time in 15 years. Mayor Ernst’s

To all the veterans in our community, thank you for your service!

goals are to get back to the basics by delivering better parks, more greenspace and a transparent government. Thank you, Mayor Ernst, for returning to Galloway!

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WELCOME

Dear Alumni, I’ve been reflecting on our progress over the last few years. We are well into implementation of our strategic plan, embracing 4D Learning across all levels as our instructional framework. Regardless of when you graduated, 4D Learning will have been a part of your education, as it has been part of our DNA since 1969.

The focus on 4D Learning has been all-encompassing. It has driven our teacher hiring efforts; it has informed how we spend professional development monies; it has brought about extraordinary physical improvements to spaces; and it is helping shape how we think about scheduling student time.

Another key part of our strategic plan was to tell our story boldly and broadly. Through our rebranding efforts, we have built tremendous interest in the school. We’re at full enrollment, with a waitlist at every grade level and unprecedented numbers of applications to the school (more than 500).

We broke through the million dollar barrier with annual giving, and the endowment now stands at $16.5 million! Because of this financial health, we have been able to make a laptop available to each student from grades 5-12.We have also added a superb food service on campus for our students and teachers. FLIK Independent School Dining is operating our kitchen and dining area in the newly renovated Middle Learning Commons. Upper Learning students still have the option to head off campus for lunch or to eat wherever they like on campus, but the addition of the FLIK kitchen adds a new opportunity to experience community.

A personal passion of mine was to get a leadership summit for aspiring educators of colour off the ground.

Galloway is the right school to lead in this area, and we successfully launched BOLD Summit in the summer of 2016.You can read more about this exciting initiative on pp.10-11 of this magazine.

Physical fitness continues to be highly valued at Galloway, and we recently seized an opportunity to purchase property to meet the needs of our thriving athletics program. After renting softball and baseball facilities for decades, we finally have our own softball and baseball field at the new Warren Road Complex. The property is located just one-half mile down the street from our existing track and soccer field, which makes participation very convenient.

As I mentioned earlier, part of our strategic planning process included taking a hard look at our learning spaces to ensure that they are optimal for supporting 4D Learning. Master planning is underway for our entire campus, and we should have exciting news to share soon!

Best,

Suzanna Jemsby Head of School

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Members of the girls softball team and their coaches assist Head of School Suzanna Jemsby and Trustees Steve Chaddick and Mark Frank with the official ribbon cutting ceremony at Galloway’s newest athletics facility.

WELCOME

TO WARREN ROAD Galloway adds new athletics facility to the lineup

With most opportunities, timing is everything, and that was

Just when it seemed we were out of options, opportunity

certainly the case with Galloway’s recent purchase of an additional

came knocking and the timing was just right. Pace Academy

athletics facility on Warren Road in Northwest Atlanta.

was looking to sell its athletics facility on Warren Road and the

With more than 75% of the student body participating in at

Galloway Board of Trustees was well-positioned to seize the

least one of 73 different teams in 10 different sports, Galloway’s

opportunity. An agreement was reached, and Galloway became

athletics program is thriving like never before. In order to support

the official owner in June 2016.

the program, Galloway has multiple venues in which teams train

“We’ve been looking for a suitable property for quite some

and compete. The gymnasium, Galloway’s first athletics home, was

time, and the Warren Road Complex is a great fit for our needs,”

built on the main campus in 1996 and is used for training and

said Suzanna Jemsby, head of school. The property is well equipped

competition for basketball and volleyball in addition to Kinetic

with locker rooms, lighting, indoor batting cages, a concession

Wellness instruction and community gatherings. The Galloway

stand, and bleacher seating for home and visiting spectators. An

Athletics Complex on DeFoors Ferry Road was completed in

added advantage is its location, just one-half mile from Galloway’s

2008 and serves as the home for soccer and track & field.

existing athletics complex on DeFoors Ferry. The close proximity

The remaining needs of the athletics program have been

allows Galloway to host home athletics events for multiple sports

accommodated over the years through partnerships with over 10

all within walking distance of each other. As the old adage goes,

different organizations around the City of Atlanta. However, as

“anything that is worth having is worth waiting for,” and Warren

Atlanta has grown, the demand for athletics facilities has outpaced

Road was definitely worth the wait. #GoScots!

the available space, leaving Galloway with limited to no options

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for supporting our baseball and softball programs within a 10-mile radius of the school.

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HAPPENINGS

Students participate in a team-building activity during the ninth grade retreat.

UPPER LEARNING RETREATS help students make transitions During first semester, students in the ninth and twelfth grades participated in two off-campus events. Initiated by Director of

GALLOWAY GAMES brings the community together in friendly competition A fun new tradition at Galloway began on December 16, 2016.The

Student Life Felicia McCrary and funded through an Innovation

inaugural Galloway Games brought the entire school together on

Grant, the activities brought excitement and opportunities to

the last day of classes before winter break. Everyone was divided into

bond with other members of each class. UL Guidance Counselor

four “castles” that completed a variety of tasks and played a myriad of

Jill Weinstein helped in the planning to promote friendships

games together.Twenty-eight teams, comprised of students from each

among the students.

grade level, competed in activities across the campus that tested their

In early September, freshmen spent three days and two nights in Tennessee. The theme of the retreat was “20/20

skill, intellect, teamwork and creativity.

In the Scots tradition, the teams adopted the names of real Scottish

vision,” and students were challenged to step outside of their

castles: Dunnattor (white team),Tantallon (blue team), Ravenscraig

comfort zones by participating in a variety of activities like

(yellow team), and Slains (grey team).Teams and castles will remain

the adventure race, aka “the mud crawl,” a high ropes course and

together in future years as well, so that cross-level friendships and

“open mic nights” around the bonfire. The experience helped to

connections can be formed and maintained.The winner was the blue

forge a bond and to shape the culture of the Class of 2020.

team, Castle Tantallon, and all four teams earned a total of 10,376

Two months later, the seniors traveled to Montara Farms in Clermont, Georgia, for a day of similar activities. After laughing

points, which translated into a $1,038 donation for the Mommy and Me Refugee Family Literacy program.

their way through “Farmer Olympics,” the students planned the touchstone moments for the remainder of their senior year – the senior skit, the senior prank, the senior internship program, and the class gift to the school – and began to prepare themselves for the transition from Galloway students to Galloway alumni.

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Second grade teacher Yolanda Anderson and ML Principal Sarah Armstrong with young members of the Dunnattor Castle team during the Galloway Games.

The “Green Chickens” pose with their first-place trophy after winning the Farmer Olympics at the Class of 2017 senior retreat in November.

GREECE The Parthenon in Athens was just one of many spectacular stops on the students’ trip led by LaRita Williams, science teacher and Dr. Matt Vieron, Latin teacher.

GALLOWAY GOES 2016 Students travel to France and Greece Galloway’s student travel program whisked students across the Atlantic for several days of cultural immersion, delicious food and

the school ended up being our students’ favorite part of the trip — no one wanted to leave!”

The French students at the Lycée Saint Elme are scheduled to visit their Galloway counterparts in Atlanta in April of 2017.

learning beyond the classroom.

Upper Learning students ventured across Greece with Latin teacher Dr. Matt Vieron and science teacher LaRita Williams. From the Greek islands to the Acropolis of Athens to rug weavers in Turkey, students gained an appreciation for this Mediterranean culture.

“Some students on the trip were extremely well traveled while some had never been out of the state, but the students really made the trip their own and got everything they wanted out of it,” says Vieron. “They were an amazing bunch to travel with and were invested in every aspect of the trip.”

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Mediterranean, French teacher Scottie Belfi and art teacher Devin Allen traveled to France with several students to immerse them in the French language and expose them to the country’s incredible cuisine, culture and history.

Mme. Belfi says, “We’ve established a really special relationship with the Lycée Saint Elme in Arcachon, whose students have engaged in an exchange program with our students, and visiting

FRANCE Galloway French students pose with French teachers in front of Lycée Saint Elme in Arcachon, France.

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HAPPENINGS In the same courtyard where many Galloway alumni have participated in Commencement over the years, some generous members of the Galloway community gathered on October 7 for the annual Head of School Party. Designed as a night to recognize and celebrate accomplishments around Galloway over the past year, the event also honors some very accomplished Galloway alumni with highly prized ALUMinaries Awards.

Each year, the ALUMinaries Awards are given in recognition to outstanding Galloway alumni who have made an impact in business, research, arts, leadership, community, education, and/or philanthropic endeavors and illuminate the principles expressed in Galloway’s mission by living successfully as enlightened citizens in a changing world. Chaired by Hillary Fixelle Hendrix ’05, the committee selected this year’s honorees: Bryan Gabourie ’00 and Christina Jensen Vicente ’89.

Bryan Gabourie ’00

Christina Jensen Vicente ’89

Senior Director, A&E Networks

Vice-President of Store Design, Chanel

After graduating from Galloway in 2000, Bryan Gabourie earned a

Christina is a Galloway “lifer”, having entered Early Learning in

degree in film and media studies at Indiana University. From there,

nursery and graduated with the class of 1989. After nurturing a love

Bryan moved to Los Angeles to begin a career in the entertainment

for arts and languages throughout her years at Galloway, she went

industry. Starting out as a production assistant at Warner Brothers,

on to earn a bachelor’s degree in French Language & Literature

Bryan has built his career with companies such as Kelsey Grammer’s

and International Studies from Washington University in St. Louis,

Grammnet and Rive Gauche. Currently, he is the Senior Director

followed by a master’s degree in interior design from Pratt Institute

of International Content Distribution at A&E Television, where he

in New York. In her career, she has gone on to combine both of

works to bring A&E’s brand to international broadcasters. Bryan

these passions in her current role as vice preseident of store design

values his Galloway experience, saying it was this community that

for Chanel. Christina lives in New York City with her husband J.P.

helped him develop personal communication skills and build strong

and 11-year-old son Thomas.

relationships – two skills relevant to his career today.

ALUMinaries recipient Bryan Gabourie ’00 with his parents Michelle and Fred Gabourie.

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ALUMinaries recipient Christina Jensen Vicente ’89 with her parents and former trustees, Esther and Jorgen Jensen.

ALUMINARIES AWARD PAST RECIPIENTS Amir Farokhi ’96, Seth Morganstern ’01 and Michael Maziar ’01 attend the ALUMinaries presentation in the courtyard.

2013: David Flink ’98 Founder and CEO of Eye to Eye National Angelyn Chandler ’84 Architect, New York City’s parks department and Loeb Fellow at Harvard University 2014: Paul Hertz ’72 Director of Astrophysics at NASA Lindsay Stradley ’99 Co-Founder of Sanergy 2015: Molly Bode ’05 Associate Chief of Cabinet Affairs – Governor’s Office in Massachusetts Tom Malone ’87 CFO and Senior Vice President of Artificial Cell Technologies

Rachel Fox Weitz ’01 and her husband Ari Weitz at the Head of School Party.

Amy Stevens Smith ’89 reunites with classmate Christina Jensen Vicente ’89.

Nominate The 2017 Award Winner

2017 NOMINATIONS ARE OPEN UNTIL JULY 31, 2017 Mike Feldberg ’01 and his wife Lacey visit with Bryan Gabourie ’00 and his father, Fred Gabourie.

The nomination form can be found on Galloway’s website at www.gallowayschool.org/aluminaries

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Twenty-two educators from across the country participated in the inaugural BOLD Summit 2016 at Galloway.

By LARITA WILLIAMS, UL Science Teacher and BOLD Fellow

Galloway launches new initiative to cultivate leaders of color Educators of color across the nation are being BOLD! We’re Building Opportunities for Leadership Development within our school communities and ourselves. The movement began this summer with the 2016 inaugural BOLD Summit hosted by The Galloway School.

Always at the forefront of diversity practices and progressive ideals, Galloway launched BOLD to address the large deficit of leaders of color in independent schools. Of the approximately 1,800 independent schools in the United States, currently less than four percent of them are led by an educator of color. The Summit aims to equip educators of color with the tools and confidence needed to become the BOLD leaders of the future. As a program participant and member of the Galloway community, I was proud to see the message of inclusivity that we share with students also being spread deliberately among faculty here and beyond.

This year’s conference welcomed 22 participants, all of whom brought their own passion and enthusiasm to the week’s agenda.

Together we formed a cohesive unit through conversations, games and team-building activities. The ability to have fun and be our authentic selves with one another translated well into productive workshops, where we could share our experiences and uninhibited learning with the group.

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One of my favorite workshops was a lesson in various leadership styles supported by whole brain psychology. I learned more about my own personality and way of thinking and how I can best communicate with and lead others, based on their personality and preferred thinking. It’s an approach that I’ve since worked to apply not only in any leadership roles that I may have but also in my classroom management and teaching.

Other breakout sessions from the conference included a look into the daily, behind-the-scenes activities of a school administrator, strategies for managing adults and fundraising.

Such valuable information was coupled with personalized mentorship from current heads of school and advice for the hiring process from top-name recruitment firms, which altogether gave participants a strong foundation on which to take their first BOLD steps moving forward.

BOLD 2016 was an overall amazing experience! I believe that at the end of the week, we left feeling empowered with fresh ideas and goals, as well as newfound knowledge and encouragement for achieving them. By offering minority educators practical career development, BOLD is not only making it possible to promote qualified candidates into leadership roles, but also working to create learning environments rich with diverse perspectives, talents, and individuals.

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HAPPENINGS

Pictured L to R: Yvette Hubbard, Julie Schatz, Mahamood Ismail, Roberta Osorio, Megan Cramer, Suzanna Jemsby, LaRita Williams, Cutia Blunt, Felicia McCrary, and Ayisha Karim promote the BOLD Summit 2017 at the national People of Color Conference.

Out of 1,800 schools that belong to the National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS),

ONLY 4%

are led by a person of color.

BOLD participants simulate leadership scenarios during one of the Summit sessions.

Head of School Suzanna Jemsby and Orpheus Crutchfield, president and founder of Strategenius, lead the BOLD participants in a discussion about leadership challenges.

BOLD SUMMIT ATLANTA July 17-20, 2017 BOLD Summit is an annual gathering of passionate educators of color who are looking to grow in their careers and make an impact on education through leadership of an independent school.

Do you know of educators who would benefit from participation in BOLD Summit 2017? Please encourage them to apply online at gallowayschool.org/BOLD. Applications are due by March 15, 2017.

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Software

Standouts Their work is everywhere — in an enormous variety of things we use, see and touch.

Integrated into our everyday activities via apps and programs on our phones, tablets and computers. They make our lives and jobs easier, faster, more secure and fun, in ways big and small. Essentially, they make everything tick.

So given the enormous impact they have on us, it’s a little odd that we don’t know the names of software engineers like we do those of, say, rock stars, right? The engineers’ quiet toil simply doesn’t gain them the attention they deserve.

Well, that’s about to change. Meet John Nickerson ’01, Terrence Jackson ’06 and Marc Moskowitz ’91 — three rock star alums making a big splash in the behind-thescenes world of software engineering.

John Nickerson ’01 poses with Google’s well-known android in front of the company headquarters.

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FEATURE STORY

After Nickerson completed the computer science classes

John Nickerson ’01 Anti-Abuse Engineer Google

available at Galloway, he designed his own 3D graphics course.

“It was clear that computer science would be my thing,” Nickerson said.

This passion led Nickerson to Georgia Tech, where he completed a special six-year undergraduate degree program

You’ve probably heard of a little company called Google. That’s where John Nickerson ’01 works as an anti-abuse engineer, doing exactly what his job title would suggest: protecting Google users from fraud and abuse.

“Our group deals with Google products such as Google Maps and Google Search, making sure that they work the way they’re supposed to,” Nickerson explained.

Nickerson loves his job and the responsibility he has there — writing software that fights fraud and assists in abuse investigations, which helps to protect the Google brand and keeps Google’s products well supported. “Most people don’t spend time thinking about how others would or could abuse products like ours, but fraudsters are creative — and sometimes a little scary,” he said. “What’s hardest to understand is why people do it. But like many things, it generally comes down to a desire to make money.”

One of Nickerson’s most recent projects is tackling the problem of “fake news” that raised its head during the presidential election. “We’re constantly evolving our code and reevaluating to ensure the integrity of our products,” he said. “We need to protect the trustworthiness and accuracy of the site.”

Computer science has been of interest to Nickerson for a long time. Even as a young teen, he was tinkering on a computer his

which included an internship with Capgemini, where he worked as a consultant for several years. He moved to Google in 2011 and has found surprising similarities between his experiences at Galloway and at the multinational technology company.

“Both Galloway and Google really care about their people,” Nickerson said. “Both organizations believe that being yourself lets you produce your best work. There’s great respect for the individual and an emphasis on cherishing differences.”

Nickerson credits Galloway with preparing him for his career.

“Galloway helped me learn how to learn, think for myself and challenge ideas,” he said. “Teachers at Galloway were passionate about their areas of expertise. The way they embraced teaching showed us what it was like to really care about the work you do every day.”

But most of all, Nickerson says, Galloway taught him to be comfortable with the unknown. “Galloway gives students confidence to navigate and solve problems in an ambiguous environment — to try and fail and to not give up,” he explained.

“And that’s what’s required at Google, too.”

But Nickerson did point out a significant difference between Galloway and Google: While both are flexible and nurturing places, Nickerson noted that “Unlike at Galloway, at Google, we don’t even have to wear shoes!”

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parents bought. “There was something interesting to me about messing around on that computer,” he said. “I was really curious about how it all worked.”

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FEATURE STORY Terrence Jackson ’06 Software Engineer and Business Consultant Helium

Terrence Jackson ’06 was always one of those kids — the kind who had a million things going on, with lots of different interests and endeavors.

At age 16, he started working for a local bail bonding company, developing custom software. At Galloway, he started a small business as his senior project — The Corner Store — selling snacks to fellow students. True to form, he eventually started an online ordering system and classroom delivery. He just couldn’t help himself from trying to make the service better and more convenient.

At Georgetown University, which the self-described “political junkie” picked mostly because of its center-of-the-politicaluniverse location, was also busy. In addition to his rigorous classroom pursuits — Jackson majored in computer science and minored in economics — he also worked at one of the school’s technical support help desks, providing telephone and on-site IT support for Georgetown’s global staff.

After college, Jackson came back to Atlanta, where he returned to the bail bond company for a time, then moved on to Emory University where he worked in the institution’s facilities management IT department.

“That was where I was able to really use the power of computing to make improvements,” Jackson said. “Looking at trends, I could analyze why the same things kept breaking all the time and suggest changes that cut costs.”

What followed was a stint as principal engineer at Tote, an ondemand delivery start-up. Although the “friend with a truck” app closed after about a year, Jackson called his time there “one of those cool experiences where you learn so much.”

A few jobs later, and Jackson is now running his own show, having co-founded Helium, a custom software and business consulting firm. “I love figuring out how things should best

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work,” Jackson said. “I love solving problems for different people.

And one of the cool things about being your own boss is that you can take risks.You can take a leap of faith, because you know you can do it.”

Of course, entrepreneurship is not always sunny. “There have been times when we’ve messed up, and I think it’s all over.

But after one day of panic, I always wake up the next morning knowing that everything’s going to be okay.”

Jackson describes himself in high school as a “complete nerd,” but says that was fine. “At Galloway, it was completely okay to explore your interests, to have ideas others didn’t have, to not care what other people think,” he explained.

“We learned to understand, accept and tolerate other ideas,” he said. “There was an understanding that going your own way was okay. The reward was knowing that you can do things unlike everyone else and make your own path. That’s something I picked up at Galloway that I’m obviously still living today.”

The biggest lesson Jackson learned at Galloway? “It’s easy for people to appear to be smart, to study and learn information.

It’s harder — but more important — to be compassionate and tolerant. That’s the biggest takeaway for me.”

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FEATURE STORY

Marc Moskowitz ’91 Senior Data Engineer Safari Books Online

It’s probably safe to say that college Latin majors and professional software engineers don’t overlap much in any given Venn diagram. But for Marc Moskowitz ’91, these seemingly disparate pursuits started early and have meshed nicely throughout his life.

“I had my first exposure to Latin in 8th grade and adored it throughout my time at Galloway,” he said. “I also got my first computer when I was very young, in elementary school. Back then the quickest way to get a computer to do something useful was by programming it yourself.”

But that wasn’t quite as easy as Moskowitz makes it sound. While his interest in computing persisted throughout high school, there were no formal computer classes at Galloway at the time. And his last two years of high school Latin were done mostly in an extra period, working one-on-one with teacher Ellen Schwartz. These inconveniences didn’t deter Moskowitz one bit. In fact, he loved the responsibility and challenge of working independently.

Looking for a small college in a different part of the country, he headed to Carleton College in Minnesota. “I thought I’d be a religion or math major — or both,” he said. But Latin continued to captivate him. And as a work-study job, he worked in computer support.

“It was especially interesting to try to help the Humanities department solve its computer-related problems,” Moskowitz explained. “The challenge was dealing with how to present, process or analyze information that was created by a human — a book, for example — using a computer.” Interestingly, this challenge became the theme of Moskowitz’s career.

Moskowitz’s first job out of college was at a help desk for a publishing company. He then became a programmer for Digitas, then moved to Boston.com, the website associated with the Boston Globe newspaper. A brief stint at a Harvard University

“The group I work for takes content from publishers and creates and maintains websites where users can access the content by subscription, like the Oxford English Dictionary’s OED.com, for example,” Moskowitz explained. “The challenge is to put editorial content into a form that can be displayed and searched.

There’s a technical side, of course, but also a sense of how the content works. It’s a great blend of my interests.”

What Moskowitz likes most about his job is thinking in terms of ideas. “It’s these mental constructs that we’re manipulating,” he said. “We’re problem solving, trying to figure out how to turn one piece of data into another piece of data. It’s fun to interact with colleagues to determine the best way to do things.”

Which brings him full-circle back to Galloway. “Even at the time, I appreciated what Galloway was offering in terms of collaboration and cooperation,” he said. “I felt very much on the same team as my teachers and friends. There was a certain comfort at Galloway, knowing you were trusted and responsible for yourself and your education. That’s how young people build confidence.”

Nickerson. Jackson. Moskowitz. Just a few software engineering stars whose names you now know. Rock on, Galloway alums!

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library was followed by a long run with his current employer, Safari Books Online.

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UPPER LEARNING VENTURES OUT ON

EXCURSION

BY GARETH GRIFFITH, UL PRINCIPAL

UL students explore the ecosystem of the Okefenokee Swamp.

For the past seven years the Upper Learning Excursion program has offered students the opportunity to learn by experience and

Ecosystems of Georgia Students traveled to southern Georgia for a couple of days and

to venture beyond the walls of the classroom and campus. As

nights so they could study the longleaf pine ecosystem of Moody

students study one topic during the entire Excursion period, they

Forest and the unique ecosystem of the Okefenokee National

uncover many layers of meaning and understanding. The deep

Wildlife Refuge. The students also gave back as they worked at

dive into one topic coupled with the opportunity to venture off

Panola Mountain State Park to help eradicate invasive species and

campus creates high-impact learning experiences that students

reintroduce native plants to the park.

will remember for a lifetime.

This year’s excursion week offered a variety of classes that had students traveling to the farthest corners of Georgia to study topics such as ecology, robotics, quilting, public health, social justice, folk art and more. Here is a sampling:

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ACADEMICS Kat Eaton ’17 and Mattox Reed ’17 build puzzle boxes to test EL students’ math skills.

BreakoutEDU Students who enjoy problem solving were able to study and create puzzles and solve challenges in collaborative and creative ways. In one project, they created puzzle boxes for Early Learning students to solve that were designed to test the EL students’ understanding of academic subjects such as math.

Charlie Rinzler ’18, Elliott Gruenhut ’19, Alex Panovka ’19, and Venture Cates ’19 assemble robots during the Cyborg Invasion excursion.

Cyborg Invasion Students were exposed to the key role robots play in modern manufacturing when they visited a KIA automotive plant and also to the latest in robotics research when they took a tour of the robotics lab at Georgia Tech. In addition, students designed, built, and programmed simple robots.

Quilting and Community Crafty and artistic students learned about the centuries-old art of quilt making and the role quilting plays in binding communities together. Students had to use both sides of their brains to design, measure, cut, piece, quilt, and bind original blankets. Their finished

Students in the Refugee Resettlement excursion prepare clothing and toy donations for new refugee families in Clarkston, Georgia.

products were donated to hospitalized children through the

Contemporary Social Issues

Just for You program.

A handful of excursions adopted topics with a decided interest in contemporary social issues, such as Immigration and the Ideal of Social Justice; Social Justice and Tourism; Refugee Resettlement; The Intersection of Art and Social Justice; and The Narrative of Video Games.

The type of work students accomplish during Excursion and the interests they discover will continue to distinguish a Galloway education and Galloway students as they prepare for college. In the future, we look forward to extending the length of Excursion to expand the depth and richness of our students’ experiences. And as

Sophie Butler ’20, Sam Goldfein ’20, Wyatt Woodbery ’20 and Emma Halaburt ’20 proudly display one of the quilts that they made during Excursion.

we provide the time, Galloway’s creative and inspiring faculty and students will invent a slate of profound and life shaping learning experiences for years to come.

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ACADEMICS

GALLOWAY WELCOMES NEW

UPPER LEARNING LEADERS

BY HANNA MEYERS ’17

This is my senior year, and I am excited to experience the many milestones and other life changes that are coming my way as I finish my time at Galloway. I have to confess, though, that I was nervous at the beginning of this year because of the big changes in Upper Learning leadership; we have a brand new Principal and Assistant Principal, so I was afraid many of the traditions I’ve grown up with and looked forward to might change or disappear altogether. However, I continue to be pleasantly surprised with these two new leaders’ smooth transitions and fresh ideas. They are already helping to make the 2016-17 school year even more fun than I anticipated it would be, and it’s my pleasure and honor to introduce UL Principal Gareth Griffith and UL Assistant Principal Roberta Osorio to our readers.

Gareth Griffith and Roberta Osorio discuss class assignments with Kate Green ’18 and Erika Kaivani ’18.

GARETH GRIFFITH, UL Principal

Hometown: Greensboro, NC College education: Wake Forest University (BA), UNC Chapel Hill (MA), UNC Greensboro (MS) Years in the field of education: 19 What sold you on Galloway? I was particularly attracted to

ROBERTA OSORIO, UL Assistant Principal Hometown: Boston, MA College education: Columbia University Years in the field of education: 14

Galloway’s 4D Learning philosophy because it resonates with my own interests and teaching philosophies; when I stepped foot on

What sold you on Galloway? My twins, who are now both in

campus, Galloway exceeded my expectations.

kindergarten, came home smiling after their Galloway admissions

What do you like most about Galloway? The community

visit. When I started exploring Upper Learning, I fell in love

and location. I love the view from the porch of Gresham. I like

pretty quickly, too.

that my kids are here, too! It’s a luxury that a lot of parents don’t

What do you like most about Galloway? I like that I

have, so I feel pretty fortunate.

can walk into Galloway just as I am, with no pretense. It’s

What is something you’ve been working on at Galloway?

really comforting.

I’ve been working on getting to know people and the school. I’m

What is something you’ve been working on at Galloway?

interested in the ways we use time at Galloway, including the daily

I’ve been listening to teachers and students a lot, and I’ve been

schedule and the duration of outside-the-classroom experiences

exploring ways that we can incorporate more of the students’

like Excursion. Our 4D strategic vision calls on us to explore

voices into decisions we make. One example of this is the recent

ways to facilitate an optimal, effective learning environment that

formation of a Senior Project committee.

maximizes our students’ learning potential.

Personal Fun Fact: My favorite adventure was climbing Machu

Personal Fun Fact: My current favorite ice cream flavor is

Picchu. It was awesome. … I felt like if I reached out, I could

salted caramel gelato.

touch the sky. It was humbling.

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PASSION PROJECTS

EARLY LEARNING

BY: AUDREY C. ’25, NOAH H. ’25, WYNTON C. ’25 AND MICAH P. ’25

A passion project is a trendy name for doing something, often outside of regular school or office work, that excites you, inspires your creativity and sparks a sense of fulfillment. There are no rules about what a passion project should or shouldn’t be and because there’s joy in the discovery, such projects lead to deep learning and subject matter mastery. Fourth-graders Audrey, Noah, Wynton and Micah (pictured L to R) report out on how Passion Projects are going in Early Learning.

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Early Learning students gain mastery through PASSION PROJECTS

BY: WYNTON COLEMAN ’25, AUDREY COMPTON ’25, NOAH HOUSTON ’25 AND MICAH PARNESS ’25

This year, all of the Early Learning students in grades 1-4 are

communications office. That’s where the idea for this article

spending time each week working on Passion Projects. Our

started. Since we wanted to learn about publishing a magazine,

teachers said we could pick anything we wanted to work on as long

Ms. Breunig said she would love to have us work with her

as it was something we enjoy, are interested in and really want to

to tell the story of the fourth grade Passion Projects for

learn more about. Passion Projects have a four-step process.

Galloway’s magazine.

✐ Step One - Complete a Passion Project sheet by writing

Our story is a little unexpected. While we were trying to figure

answers to questions such as What do you want to do and why? and

out what kind of magazine we wanted to publish, we got frustrated

How will you grow and change from this project?

and weren’t working well together. Our teacher, Ms. Salerno,

✐ Step Two - Get approval for the project from our teachers.

helped us talk it through, and we came to realize that we did not

✐ Step Three - Complete the project.

actually share the same passion, so we decided to split up and work

✐ Step Four - Present the project to the class or others in the

on different projects. She told us that it was an important part of

Galloway community.

the learning process to step back and figure out why it wasn’t going

The process also allows us to choose whether we wanted to

well and to be willing to do something different.

work on our project alone or work as a group with others who

So we ended up following different passions. Micah chose photography, Audrey is learning to tie-dye and Noah and Wynton

share our passion.

Our group started working together because we wanted to

are coding. One thing we all agree on, though, is that we are

publish a magazine for our class. It took a lot of research to

having a great time and learning a lot! Here are some of the cool

figure out what kind of magazine we wanted to publish. We

Passion Projects being done in the fourth grade. We hope you enjoy

interviewed several people, including Ms. Breunig in the Galloway

reading about them.

Lila K., Vivian C., and Sienna M.

Passion Project: Doughnuts We love eating doughnuts and wanted to learn how to make interesting ones.

We discovered that they are not easy to make. Our first batch had too much yeast, and it was a bust. We got a lady who has a lot of experience with making doughnuts to help us and the next batch was a lot better. Those were strawberry and our class loved them.

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AJ W.

Passion Project: Carpool Karaoke I LOVE watching James Corden’s Carpool Karaoke on YouTube. I have seen all of them. I’m going to make some videos with Galloway teachers and show them during the EL assembly. The first video I am going to make will be with Ms. Jemsby, and we decided to sing “Let’s Hear It for the Boys!”

Eliana D.

Passion Project: Painting I love art and color, and I wanted to learn how to paint. Since the ceiling in our class is dull, I asked if I could paint the ceiling tiles. Each tile will be a different painting. So far, I’ve done an abstract, a Zentangle, a sunset, and a Peruvian line drawing. I am painting things that I like.

ACADEMICS

Ayla M. and Brooke N.

Passion Project: Drawing We were both interested in learning to draw better, and as a first project, we wanted to draw something that would show the love that we have for our families. We got to work with the UL art teacher, Mr. Allen, who taught us how we could draw things to symbolize characteristics of our family. Brooke used symbols from the Chinese zodiac and Ayla used pictures of things that her family members love, like BBQ and musical notes. The main thing we learned from Mr. Allen is not to immediately erase our mistakes. Instead, we learned to find a way to create something new using our mistakes.

Madison M.

Passion Project: Rubik’s Cube I did a lot of research to learn the best ways to solve a Rubik’s Cube. I practiced a lot and tried to improve my time.

The world record is four seconds but it takes me about one minute. Ms. Salerno rented 30 cubes for me to use. I solve them and then use them to create art mosaics. I have entered one into a national contest.

Samantha W., Mira S. and Foster S.

Passion Project: Cooking Sweets We call ourselves the “CaviTies.” We love to eat sweets and wanted to learn how to follow a recipe to make things like cakes, pies and cookies. We researched recipes together and started with no-bake recipes like Oreo Ice Cream Pie and Rice Krispy spiders. Every time we don’t measure correctly or leave out an ingredient, we learn something new. For instance, our Campfire Delight was supposed to be a milkshake but we forgot the ice cream, so we figured out how to make a mousse instead.

Rohan D.i and Elias K.

Passion Project: Derby racing cars We are working with the UL Theatre Tech teacher to make wooden cars and tracks in the wood shop. We’ve learned a lot about building things that have to be very precise in order to work right.

We’ve also learned about aero-dynamics.

Joshua W., Grant C., Zachary S., and Luke F.

Passion Project: Sports Tricks We all love sports, and we wanted to learn how to do cool tricks like we’ve seen at halftime shows and on videos.

We decided that we’d concentrate on soccer, basketball and football, and we got a lot of our inspiration from videos we’ve seen. These tricks aren’t as easy as you think. It takes a lot of practice.

We’ve learned a lot about not giving up and believing in ourselves. You’ve got to believe you can make the shot! We are making videos of our successes and our failures to show our classmates.

Raya L., Nola S., and Hanna H.

Passion Project: Dance We all love to dance, and we wanted to learn how to teach dance to younger children. Once a week, we work with the EL dance teacher to teach the first graders. We are going make a music video of the first-graders doing a dance-off between the boys and the girls.

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AT GALLOWAY,

SOCIAL EMOTIONAL LEARNING IS PART OF THE CURRICULUM

EL Counselor Lynn Mandelbaum works with first-grader Addisyn to create a “listening web” during SEL class.

8 in 10 employers say SEL skills are the most important to success, yet they are the hardest to find.

Parents’ biggest concern for their children is their social and emotional well-being.

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productive people you just want to be around, whether they’re

Understanding Emotion Through Science To foster that ability, SEL teaches five skills:

co-workers, friends or family. Wouldn’t it be great if we could

• Self-awareness

analyze their interpersonal skills, then teach them to our kids?

• Self-management

We can and we are. It’s called Social Emotional Learning (SEL) and the evidence is clear: it positions students for lifelong success.

“SEL is an approach to learning that intentionally teaches core social and emotional skills,” explains Lynn Mandelbaum, EL

• Social-awareness • Relationship skills • Responsible decision-making Neuroscience shows the more you practice SEL, the better your

counselor. “But it’s not just about understanding feelings…it’s

brain can apply it. So by teaching SEL like any other subject, we lay

about developing the emotional capability to manage stress, address

the neurological groundwork for better decision making, problem

conflict, solve problems, reach your full academic potential and

solving, communicating, collaborating, behaving ethically and

successfully nurture relationships.”

managing stress.

If you know Galloway, SEL probably sounds familiar. “Elliott

At Galloway, we’re taking SEL and running with it, from

Galloway recognized that learning took place through relationships,

preschool to Upper Learning. Our SEL-trained counselors teach

so SEL is already organic to our culture…it just didn’t have a

skill classes at every level, while our teachers (also SEL-trained) use

national movement behind it until recently,” says Mary Giattina,

innovative activities to weave it across subjects.

ML counselor. “Now, we’re not only at the forefront of SEL; we’re

“Many classroom SEL activities are simple, like beginning class

also benefiting from best teaching practices coming out of the

with a mindfulness moment or creating detailed characters to

groundswell of research.”

represent and embody various emotions,” says Jill Weinstein,

Beyond the Three R’s

UL counselor. “Even when teachers just check in with students

In our globally-connected world, the three Rs aren’t enough.

Vital to the education equation is another R: relationships. In fact, many colleges are now shifting admissions metrics toward criteria that value emotional preparedness.

“There’s a great demand that comes from many sectors… especially from the business world, where the biggest skill problem we have isn’t (a gap in) technical skills,” says Mark Greenberg, Ph.D., board of directors, The Collaborative

ACADEMICS

You know who they are. They’re those well-adjusted, relatable,

each day to see how they’re feeling, it helps everyone slow down and reflect.”

But SEL is no program du jour; it’s part of our Galloway DNA. “In a way, it’s our birthright,” Lynn says. “By making SEL more intentional, we’re taking an evolutionary approach to Mr. Galloway’s vision of ‘learning by honoring one’s self and others.’We’re maintaining SEL’s core relevance and elevating our teaching practices to the next level.”

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for Social and Emotional Learning (CASEL). “It’s the ability to work together with others.”

Pre-K students practice mindful breathing in SEL class.

Faculty members Liz Rathore, Patti Hallen, and Mary Giattina practice non-verbal communication during SEL training.

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ARTS

Ruth Stanford poses with her fifth-grade collaborators in the Haven exhibition.

Eighth-grader Ilana Hilley performs with the Franklin Pond Quartet during a Wonderful Wednesdays concert.

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David Tatu works with Wesley Hardin ’18 to focus stage lights.

DEEPEN STUDENT LEARNING

ARTS

ARTIST RESIDENCIES

FALL 2016

ARTS UPDATE

Three Atlanta artists are serving as Galloway’s artists-in-residence during the 2016-17 school year, working alongside Galloway students with projects in the visual arts, technical theatre and music.

“One of the things that is unique about Galloway,” says Director of Arts Peggy Benkeser “is how students’ interests shape their education.

We work hard to help students discover their passions. Bringing in artists-in-residence—professionals from the community with unique skill sets—allows students and teachers access to knowledge and hands-on projects to support and deepen that learning.”

Haven, an art installation that was on view in the Gallery and

New this year is the addition of guitar ensembles in Middle and Upper Learning, led by guitar teacher Brian Mitchell.

Members of the ML Guitar Ensemble are L to R: seventhgraders Cece Benz, Hayley Lieberman, Zacary Simonoff, and Elsie Salerno.

throughout the Gresham Building this fall, was the work of Ruth Stanford, Georgia State University associate professor of sculpture.

Her particular artistic vision is inspired by history and architecture of a place, so the Gresham Building served as the muse for this latest work.

Gresham was originally called “Haven Home” when it was built as an almshouse by Fulton County in 1911. She worked with Middle Learning students to research the background of the Gresham Building and created installations that resonated with the building’s history. A motif of birds filled the walls and led the viewer to objects such as a wardrobe and crutches that served to represent one of the residents of Haven Home.

David Tatu, resident lighting designer at Kennesaw State University, is leading a group of technical theatre students through the process of lighting theatre and dance productions. As they learn the hands-on business of focusing instruments and programming the light board, they also learn to echo the mood and pacing of what is happening on stage through the quality of light that they choose to wrap it in. Mr. Tatu will be working

The Galloway Theatre Company’s fall production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged) won a number of awards in the GHSA One Act Play competition. The cast also performed at ThesCon, the annual thespian conference in Georgia. Pictured standing are Christopher Nieves ’19 and Abby Vogelsang ’17; kneeling are Rachel Schiffer ’19, Derrick Bass ’17, Kat Eaton ’17 and Lawrence Nieves ’17.

with advanced students to put their knowledge into action as they develop the lighting for Galloway’s spring shows.

The Franklin Pond Quartet is teaching more than music technique.

Its members from the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra: Jun-Ching Lin (violin), Carolyn Hancock (violin), Paul Murphy (viola), and Daniel Laufer (cello), are helping students understand how chamber ensembles function so they can go on to develop their own ensembles.

Rather than being led by a single conductor, ensembles must collaborate on everything from selection of repertoire to tempo and phrasing of each piece of music. The quartet models this interaction so students can become comfortable with the group dynamics of an ensemble.

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Seventeen Middle and Upper Learning chorus students recently qualified for the prestigious Georgia All-State Chorus. UL honorees pictured L to R: Sammy Rosner ’19, Joseph Henry Monti ’19, Rachel Schiffer ’19, Jacob Marks ’19, Stephanie Rinzler ’18, Charlie Pike ’18, Kat Eaton ’17, and Isak Wall ’20

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ATHLETICS

FALL 2016

The 2016 girls varsity volleyball team participated in the state tournament for the first time in school history.

ATHLETICS UPDATE Practices for fall sports seasons begin on August 1 for high

The varsity volleyball team took a huge step forward in 2016.

schools across Georgia. When Galloway’s three varsity fall sports

The Scots put all the pieces together at the right time and won

teams began training in facilities both on and off campus, they

10 of their last 14 matches leading up to the state tournament,

had no idea that they were on a course to make school history.

their first. The team’s slogan for the year was “Banner or Bust”,

This fall was the first time in school history that every varsity

so now there is a volleyball banner hanging from the gym wall.

team from any season (fall, winter, spring) advanced to the state tournament/meet.

The Cross Country program added to Galloway’s rich running

Congratulations to our student-athletes on a historic season!

INDIVIDUAL ACCOMPLISHMENTS

tradition by sending both the boys and girls squads to the state

Cross Country

meet. This was the varsity girls team’s third consecutive trip to

Alex van Schoor ’18

the state meet and the 14th trip in the last 20 years. The boys

GHSA State Meet, 3rd Place Overall

varsity team qualified for the state meet for the 20th straight

Softball

season and finished 7th overall as a team in the GHSA Single A

Annalise Simons ’17

Private Classification. Individually, Alex van Schoor ’18 finished

All-Region Team, 1st Team

3rd overall.

Bridget Nabors ’17

Galloway’s varsity softball team celebrated the opening of the

All-Region Team, 2nd Team

Warren Road facility on August 17, 2016, with a 9-1 victory

Samantha Scalise ’17

over North Atlanta High School in front of 200+ fans, and they

All-Region Team, 2nd Team

never looked back. Fourteen wins later, Galloway earned a state

Volleyball

tournament berth for only the second time in school history (the first being in 2010).

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Caitlin Felts ’18 All-Area Team

GALLOWAY ATHLETICS

ATHLETICS

CARSON WALN ’13 EXCELS

IN FOUR-YEAR BASEBALL CAREER AT WOFFORD COLLEGE

BY MAX LEVY ’13

Baseball has always been Carson Waln’s passion, a fact that has

teamwork) and is a great example to future Scots on how doing

shone through from his early days at Galloway to today. This spring,

things the right way will lead to success on and off the field.”

Waln will play his fourth and final season as a catcher for Wofford

Waln’s hard work paid off, and the baseball program he helped

College’s Division I baseball team, marking the next milestone on a

build is stronger than ever. Galloway now competes as a Varsity

journey that’s been years in the making.

sport with its own permanent training facility. Now, Waln says,

Playing a college sport for all four years of college—while also studying biology and making the Dean’s List—is an accomplishment in and of itself, but Waln has gone above and

“very few events give me as much pleasure as when I hear about Galloway baseball.”

Current Galloway students are living proof of the legacy Waln

beyond during his years at Wofford. For all four seasons, Waln has

left behind. “It’s great to see how, in the last three and a half years,

been the team captain, and he helped lead his team to its most

the baseball program has grown to be a competitive region team

successful season in school history. In 2016, Waln was named to

with coaches dedicated to improvement,” said Alden Richards ’17.

the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, which honors the top

For Alden and so many others, baseball has become a central fixture

catcher in Division I college baseball each year.

of their Galloway experience.

He’ll be the first to admit that his path there, however, was

And to current student athletes looking to Waln for inspiration,

far from conventional. Unlike most high school students hoping

his message is simple: “Identify your dream and then allow nothing

to play college baseball, Waln had to build a baseball program at

to stop you from achieving it.”

Galloway from the ground up. When he entered Upper Learning,

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Galloway’s baseball team existed on a year-to-year basis with no guarantees for its future. When the team did play, it did so as a Junior Varsity team. If the baseball team was to be a consistent presence at Galloway, more students needed to join the team and stay involved.

Driven by a desire to wear the Galloway name on his jersey, Waln set out to build a larger team and encouraged new student athletes to get involved. He remembers fondly, “I was able to be a part of building something greater than just myself.”

Athletic Director Josh Burr remembers Waln’s dedication to the growth of the baseball program, explaining, “Carson embodies all the characteristics known as the Traits of a Galloway Scot (character, dedication, discipline, encouragement, leadership, sportsmanship and Carson Waln ’13 has played the catcher position for the Wofford College baseball team throughout his college career.

Waln ’13 at bat during his senior season at Galloway.

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CLASS REUNIONS

Class of 1996

Class of 2001

The Class of 1996 gathered in the Gresham building on Saturday,

The Class of 2001 proudly announced the Dan Woolley ’01

November 26, 2016, for their twenty-year reunion! Mr. Mathis

Community and Endowment Award* at their fifteen-year reunion.

made a special appearance and led everyone on a tour around

It was held on Thursday, December 22, 2016, at Hudson Grille

campus. Thank you Danielle Botstein Tamez ’96 and Megan

in Sandy Springs. Mr. Mathis and Ms. McCrary attended the event

O’Brien Noltemeyer ’96 for chairing the reunion!

and enjoyed catching up with everyone. Thank you to

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Classmates Lucy Curtis ’96, Nathan Alexander ’96 and Laura Dawson ’96 meet outside of Gresham and reminisce about Galloway.

Jim Coley ’96 pictured with his family at the reunion.

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Mark Boswell ’01, Rachel Fox Weitz ’01 and Mike Feldberg ’01 for helping coordinate the reunion and award!

*For more information about the award, please contact alumni@gallowayschool.org.

Mike Feldberg ’01, Seth Morganstern ’01, Justin Clifford ’01 and Eric Eaton ’01 caught up with each other at the reunion.

Rachel Fox Weitz ’01, Sara Barnhart Fletcher ’01 and Emily Timm Miller ’01 were excited to see each other again.

ALUMNI EVENTS

Alumni Reconnect

Class of 2006

Class of 2011

The Class of 2006 held their ten-year reunion on Friday,

The Class of 2011 had a huge turnout for their five-year reunion

December 23, 2016, at Ormsby’s. Many classmates were able

on Friday, November 25, 2016, at Fado Buckhead. It was fun to

to attend and Ms. McCrary was able to stop by and say hello!

watch Mr. Mathis catch up with these young alums! Thank you

Reunion chairs, Mallory Ward ’06 and Lane Emmons ’06 planned

to Dakota Foard ’11, Lisa Watkins ’11 and Lauren Godfrey ’11 for

a great event!

chairing the event.

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Lindsey Wolfcale ’06, Martin Woody ’06, Leo Rose IV ’06 and Jordyn Coalson ’06 enjoyed catching up at their ten year reunion.

Glynn McGehee ’06, Terrence Jackson ’06 and Chris Jarret ’06 hanging out at Ormsby’s.

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Leah Zipperman ’11, Donald Daugherty ’11, Emily Cahill ’11 and Lauren Godfrey ’11 enjoyed seeing each other again at their five year reunion.

Adam Gertz ’11, Morgan Stovroff ’11, Ariana Feiner ’11, Alyssa Monserrate ’11 and Hayden Field ’11 at their reunion over Thanksgiving.

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5. What’s the most meaningful professional learning experience you’ve had since you’ve been at Galloway? In June of 2015, I was selected to attend the Kingswood Oxford Leadership Institute for Educators of Color in Hartford, Connecticut. That

Cutia Blunt Early Learning Assistant Principal 1. What attracted you to Galloway and made you interested

experience was very meaningful, and it gave me the knowledge, skills, and ideas I needed to come back to Galloway and have a major hand in planning a similar experience here. For a week in July of 2016, the inaugural BOLD Summit Atlanta was held

in working here? Lynn Mandlebaum (EL Counselor) and I both

at Galloway. Although I was on the planning end of the BOLD

volunteer at Heifer International. Five years ago, she invited me to

Summit, my own leadership abilities were strengthened before,

Galloway to assist with a presentation about Heifer International, and

during, and after that week.

I truly enjoyed my visit. I continued to learn more about Galloway and was impressed with what I saw.When I learned of the vacancy

6. Since you’ve been at Galloway, what has been one of your proudest moments? I am most proud of approaching Polly

for the assistant principal position, I just knew I had to apply! As they

Williams (EL Principal) with the idea of implementing Passion

say, the rest is history!

Projects into the higher grades of Early Learning. Passion Projects

2. From your perspective, what is something that you find

are modeled after Google, where employees can spend up to 20%

extra special about Galloway? Over my 17 years in education,

of their work week working on a project fully fueled by their own

I’ve been around many children. However, I’ve never seen such

personal passions. I am also proud of how our teachers embraced

happy children as we have in Early Learning at Galloway! The

the initiative and truly made it work for their classrooms and for

students literally skip up and down the main hallway. Forget Disney

their students.

World, I think Galloway is the ‘Happiest Place on Earth’!

3. What have the EL students at Galloway taught you about

7. Tell us something about yourself that most people would not guess. Most people do not know that I served as the mascot

yourself? The Early Learning students have taught me that I am

of my undergraduate school - Bowling Green State University in

way more tolerant of high noise levels than I originally thought!

Ohio. Being Frieda Falcon for a year was so fun! It’s a big secret on

My office is directly adjacent to both the EL hallway and atrium.

campus; all my friends thought I was somewhere studying alone

I have the pleasure of overhearing an abundance of giggles, shrieks,

when I always refused offers to attend sporting events with them!

and sweet conversations all day long. I absolutely love the sounds that make their way into my office.

4. What is your favorite Galloway tradition in Early Learning and why? My favorite Galloway tradition in Early Learning is definitely the annual Halloween parade. I’ve always loved the holiday - especially preparing the perfect costume each year. Although the students’ costumes are always super cute, I think the teachers are actually the ones that are most creative! I love how our teachers get into the Halloween spirit just as much as the kids.

Cutia Blunt works with first-grader Emily Bell during one of the technology classes she teaches.

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CLASS NOTES 1981

Wray Burgess has returned to Atlanta after twenty five years away and will live and work in the metro area. He has been a Floridian and business owner who has become an empty nester! With a son at SCAD in Savannah, he is pleased to be able to return to Atlanta.

1988

Galloway is now a full family business for Marthame Sanders. His wife, Elizabeth, is the 9th grade biology teacher, and his boys Cyrus (Early Learning) and Ramsay (Middle Learning) are fully immersed Galloway learners!

The family photo is from a recent visit to Jimmy Carter’s Sunday School class in Plains, Georgia.

1995

Sarah Segal McCaslin, an ordained Presbyterian minister and clinical social worker, has joined the Psychotherapy and Spirituality Institute in New York City, offering counseling to individuals, couples and families. In early 2016, her husband, Donny McCaslin, was featured on David Bowie’s final album, Black Star.

They have two children - Claire, 7 and Henry, 5.

1996

Clayton Doss is a commander (same rank as Mr. Galloway) in the U.S. Navy. He is stationed in Honolulu, Hawaii, with his wife Kristina, daughter Bella, and sons, Bradley and Dylan. He specializes in public affairs and transfers to U.S. 7th Fleet in Yokosuka, Japan, this summer.

Evan Shapiro ’08, Spencer Bernstein ’08, and Kyndal Turner ’08 gather for a picture at the annual Winter Toast.

1990

Auden Grumet continues to be an avid road cyclist, and occasionally drops by the school on his rides from Dunwoody, where he is currently living with his girlfriend (“partner”), a therapist from Europe, and his pug, Mr. Trippy! Also, The Law Office of Auden L. Grumet, LLC has relocated to 1720 Peachtree Street, N.W. ,Peachtree 25th Bldg., North Tower, Suite 333, Atlanta, Georgia, 30309.

It is in the same building, and they continue representation of consumers in various matters of credit, banking, mortgage, finance, real estate and other complex civil litigation in state and federal courts.

Dyan Thuesen Jacobus ’88, Katherine Peavy ’88 and Ashley Toomer Camoosa ’88 are reunited at the Winter Toast.

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CLASS NOTES Carson Morris earned her PhD with distinction in May 2016 in History, specializing in Gender and Sexuality in Latin America. She is pictured with her son, Eli. Amir Farokhi is setting up for a busy 2017! He got engaged to Julie Okada in Paris last October and launched an Atlanta City Council campaign. Check out his website at www.amirforatlanta.com.

1997

Andrew Pollack just had his second baby in September and will also be opening a state of the art glassblowing studio and gallery in New Orleans in 2017.

Alex Mountford ’10, Nate Reineck ’10, Brooke Lewis ’10, Jake Goodman ’10 and Emma Geis ’10 happy to be together again over the holidays.

2000

Ann Marie Purr married Jared Mullikin last summer in front of friends and family at the Atlanta Contemporary Arts Center. Her Man-of-Honor was her brother, Michael Martin Purr ’03 and a bridesmaid was Gloria Kantor. Their officiant was the extraordinary Carmen Gonzalez, Galloway’s Early Learning art teacher.

1998

Tabitha Boyajian started a new position at Louisiana State University as an assistant professor of astrophysics.

Devon Dutcher Burnore and her husband have been having a great time living in Germany for the past year. She spent her time learning German and traveling as much as possible. They also just welcomed their second child into the world on October 22, 2016 — a beautiful baby girl named Annabelle Marie.

2001

Michael Maziar traveled to Tel Aviv last fall and visited Jenifer Weaver Eisenscher ’03 and her little girl, Aviva.

Katie Battle ’04, Jess Ewing ’04 and Liam Greenamyre ’07 reunited at the annual Winter Toast.

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CLASS NOTES

2002

Sasha Greenspan married Brett Scheffers on October 9, 2016, in Atlanta at her childhood home. Upper Learning science teacher Mark McCandless officiated the wedding and many Galloway classmates attended the wedding.

Asia Watson ’03 and her fiancé in New York.

2003

Ansu Baysah proposed to Asia Watson on April 30, 2016, in Long Island City, New York by the beautiful East River. The wedding is set for April 15, 2017, in Atlanta. She is extremely happy to marry her soulmate!

2004

Katie Battle is engaged to Chris Montell.They met at a wedding and will be getting married in the same place, Yarborough Mill in Fairmont, Georgia, in October 2017!

Mark McCandless officiated the wedding of Sasha Greenspan and Brett Scheffers. Galloway alums who were present to help them celebrate were (pictured below): Sam McCandless ‘05, Andrea Schklar ’02, Scott Covington ’04, Bonnie Prokesch ’00, Sasha Greenspan ’02, Sasha’s husband Brett Scheffers, Mark McCandless, and Sasha’s sister, Jesse Greenspan ’02.

Alumni spanning from the 1980’s to 2013 attended the annual Winter Toast on December 23, 2016, at Monday Night Brewing Company in Atlanta.

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CLASS NOTES Young alumni came out over winter break to support a varsity basketball game!

(L to R, front) Marley Richards ’14, Merill Stovroff ’14, Maddie Felts ’13, Carson Waln ’13, Alex Slawson ’13 (L to R, back) Roland Seim ’15, Dylan Kidder ’13 and John Gabianelli ’14.

2005

Molly Bode moved back to San Francisco in 2016 and is enjoying west coast living! Let her know if you are in the area. She had a great time with Amanda Morelli and Audrey Davis when they came to visit a few years ago!

Paul Preston’s ’04 social media video hit for FurKids Atlanta has had more than 4.7 million views on YouTube. Use the QR code to view it.

Paul Preston received over 4 million views for his FurKids Kitty Commercial in January. Paul created the comical video with his sister, Helen, who is a volunteer at FurKids, an animal shelter in Atlanta.

Bettina Bammer-Whitaker got married on September 4, 2016, in St. Michaels, Maryland, to John-Paul Jendrek. Emily Reeves was one of her bridesmaids and Sarah Marrin also attended the wedding.

Max Faulkner ’16, Noah Kidder ’16, and Cameron McIntosh ’16 came back to campus over the holidays to visit with old friends.

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Riccardo Corrales married Susana Victoria Fernandez on Dec 17, 2016.

Hillary Fixelle married Jeffery Hendrix in October 2016.Two of her bridesmaids were Angelyn Dionysatos and Michelle Kupshik. She is also set to graduate from Mercer University in the spring of 2017 with her master’s degree in Early Childhood Education.

CLASS NOTES

2006

Sam Todd is the social media editor for T Magazine, the style magazine of the New York Times.

2008 Zack Greenmayre graduated from Harvard Law School last spring and is now an attorney at Mitchell & Shapiro, LLP in Atlanta where he maintains a general litigation and civil rights practice. He visited Galloway this past fall and spoke to Upper Learning students about civil rights in their history class.

Chelsea Hunter Harrison and husband Sam Harrison welcomed their son, Luc River, into the world on July 26, 2016.

Sarah Cate Ward got engaged to Jonathan Rupp on December 31, 2016. They look forward to a wedding in 2017 in Atlanta. Sarah Cate’s sister, Mallory Ward ’06, will be her maid-of-honor.

Felicia McCrary catches up over winter break with former students Malik Evans ’11, Tre McFarlane ’07, Alex McFarlane ’11 and Jordyn Coalson ’06.

Virginia Noyes ‘16, Cameron Mitchell ‘16, Cathy Kane ‘16 and Molly Fortnow ‘16 back on campus for their first College Aged Alumni Brunch.

Luc River Harrison

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CLASS NOTES

2012

Sylvee Legge is now the head of talent coordinations at AMF Entertainment in New York City, a full service provider of celebrity and influencer entertainment focusing on booking, content creation, and logistics management.

2015

Since beginning at Georgia Tech, Sean Henry’s company has gone on to receive venture capital funding from one of Georgia Tech’s most noteable alumns, as well as a strategic fund in Tennessee.With an office across the street from Georgia Tech, he’s been fortunate enough to enjoy a rigorous school/work balance.

Charlotte Simons is the official Merrell College Ambassador for the Northwest region. She will be representing Merrell, the outdoor company, and encouraging people to have adventures outside. She will be leading excursions and outfitting people at Whitman College. Only twelve people in the nation were selected for this position, so she is incredibly excited to help many more people find a love for the outdoors.

Grant Williams ’15 competes for the NYU Fencing Team.

Grant Williams placed first in saber at the Temple Collegiate Open in November. Grant is a sophomore at New York University (NYU). Last year, he was named NYU’s Male Athlete of the Year and placed seventh in the U.S. Fencing Nationals.

2016

Guilford College is sending Zach Schaefer to attend the Creating Change Conference, one of the largest conferences dedicated to LGBTQ advocacy. Zach will be networking with organizers from national nonprofits, as well as on-the-ground grassroots organizers from all over the world.

GALLOWAY ALUMNI AND ALUMNI PARENTS

Join Gordon Mathis for a river cruise along the Danube River.

June 22-July 1, 2017 Visit five countries on this music-themed journey featuring three nights in Prague.

Contact Mr. Mathis for more details at gmathis@gallowayschool.org.

Stay social. Stay connected.

Visit gallowayschool.org, find us on Facebook, follow us on Twitter and join our LinkedIn group to keep up with the latest campus news. facebook.com/gallowayschool facebook.com/gallowayalumni @gallowayschool @gwaygiving youtube.com/gallowayschool instagram.com/gallowayschool

Look for The Galloway School Alumni

group on LinkedIn.

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Non-Profit Org. U.S. Postage

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215 W. Wieuca Road NW Atlanta, GA 30342 gallowayschool.org

Scottie celebrates Founder’s Day 2016 with seniors Sam Levy ’17, Sam Wimpfheimer ’17, Joseph Shields ’17 and Alden Richards ’17 who have attended Galloway together since Early Learning!

Permit No. 643 Atlanta, GA