Anchor Magazine, Spring 2015

GRACE - ST. LUKE’S EPISCOPAL SCHOOL • SPRING 2015

special feature: EIGHTH GRADE LEGACIES

plus: FASHION FORWARD: ALUMNA ELLIS DIXON FACULTY TRANSITIONS CLASS OF ’15 HIGH SCHOOL PLACEMENTS CAMPUS NEWS IN HOG HEAVEN: ALUM MARSHALL BARTLETT

ALL ABOUT ASC NEW PROGRAM ADDITIONS ENHANCE AFTER-CARE OFFERINGS

from the

HEAD OF SCHOOL As some of you may know, our eighth graders have recently received their acceptances from high schools and finalized decisions about where they will continue their education for the next four years. (See this year’s list, opposite page.) Having spent more than 20 years in elementary and middle school education, I am very familiar with the process, but it was nonetheless very different experiencing it for the first time as a dad. Our 8th grader Claire will be moving on soon, and we have reflected a great deal this year about her time at GSL and the range of experiences she and her classmates have had here.

I have many fond memories of the landmark experiences this class has enjoyed. I remember the wild excitement of the JK Gingerbread Hunt, and helping Claire gather 100 beads for the 100th day of school. I remember saving shoeboxes for book reports in third grade; it seemed like there were several dioramas constructed that year! I remember shivering in the cold on a long-ago Maundy Thursday, watching Claire and her classmates re-enact the death and resurrection of Jesus as part of the annual Stations of the Cross. I remember the Christmas pageants at Miss Lee’s, and of course, countless Christmas sing-alongs at Celebration before departing for Christmas break. I remember the second grade Parade of Presidents and trying to come up with a costume and a line for James Buchanan.

(Claire’s summary: “The most influential thing I did in office was to leave office.”)

I watched her work on state and country reports as a Lower Schooler, and now I see her tackling full-fledged interdisciplinary research papers as a Middle Schooler.

Of course, the learning didn’t stop in the classroom, but extended to many other areas as well. There were too many productions to count in Lower School, with irrepressible songs you’d be singing for days afterwards.

I’ve attended more than half a dozen of her Middle School plays, ranging from the chaotic to the sublime. I remember watching her grade begin to learn how to play volleyball. It was so much fun to see them grow in skill and confidence. Countless games and tournaments at GSL and around the city of Memphis enhanced the athletic experience here. Learning continued beyond the boundaries of Memphis as well, with exciting class trips to New Orleans, Chicago, and more.

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My daughter and her GSL classmates have experienced a tremendous amount of growth, intellectually, physically, socially, emotionally, and spiritually. In countless life lessons they’ve discovered some important truths about who they are as people and how they learn as students. Through it all, I have been continually amazed and inspired by the teachers working with our students and the deep, long-lasting connections they make with our children. Our students are truly rooted and anchored in their time here and in the remarkable opportunities afforded to them. It is clear to me as a parent that they have been not only well-cared for, but also well-prepared in many different ways. It is with a sense of confidence that we send Claire into the world ready to experience her next big adventure, with joy and gratitude for everything that GSL has meant to her along the way.

Sincerely,

Thor A. Kvande Head of School

CONTENTS 3

CLASS OF ’15 OFF TO HIGH SCHOOL

4

CAMPUS LIFE

6

ALL ABOUT ASC: PROGRAM ADDITIONS ENHANCE OFFERINGS

8

ANCHORS AWAY ALUMNI UPDATES

9

CHURCH RENOVATIONS ANNOUNCED

10

FASHION FORWARD: ALUMNA ELLIS DIXON

12

8TH GRADE LEGACIES

14

IN HOG HEAVEN AT HOME PLACE: ALUMNUS MARSHAL L BARTLETT

16

FACULTY CHANGES

18

NEWS FROM DEVELOPMENT

20 21

SAINTS SUPERLATIVES NEW SAINT KATE SHELTON

22

P.A. UPDATE

23

IN MEMORIAM

ABOUT THE COVER:

Karate has been a favorite multi-week enrichment class here for some time now, but families this year enjoyed a variety of new, shorter offerings as well, from coding to cookie baking sessions and much, much more.

Purple belts Alyssa Flowers and Christopher Morice show off their moves on this issue’s cover.

Photo by Jeff White.

Editor: Marci Woodmansee Contributors: Karla Held, Shelly McGuire, Denise DuBois Taylor, Jeff White, and Kimberly White Magazine layout by RocketFuel (www. gorocketfuel.com) The Anchor is a publication of GraceSt. Luke’s Episcopal School. Articles are published at the discretion of the school. To contribute Alumni News, email mwoodmansee@gslschool.org.

With Claire on the first day of school, long ago!

Grace-St. Luke’s’ mission is to prepare boys and girls to become creative problem solvers, confident lifelong learners, and responsible citizens in their communities and the world.

901.278.0200

www.gslschool.org

GSL’S CLASS OF 2015

Congratulations to our 51 graduating eighth graders as they prepare to set sail for high school in August.

We are proud of you, and we will miss you very much!

Frank Allan Lausanne Kofi Apprey Undecided Nino Barnes CBHS Jeremy Bowers Undecided Jerry Butler Collegiate Sonny Charbonnet MUS Lily Davis St. Agnes Callum Doty CBHS Eddie Feild MUS Sara Fraser St. Mary’s Maggie Gamble IC Ellyn Hamilton Undecided Gentry Harwood MUS Jackson Hays MUS Charles Heiter Lausanne Wendell Henson CBHS Olivia Hettinger Lausanne Connor Homayouni Homeschool Jacob Horn CBHS Bralyn Horton Undecided Owen Howell CBHS David Imig MUS Claire Kvande Lausanne Anna Mercedes Lachica Lausanne Jack Lakey CBHS Adaline Lawson St. Mary’s

Caleb Lee Collegiate Cole Mattingly CBHS Stella McCain St. Mary’s Joanna McCall St. Agnes Sloan McHugh CBHS Brady McLaughlin CBHS Sophie Morrow St. Mary’s Adam Nathan CBHS Ben Nathan CBHS Claire Pellegrin St. Mary’s Abbie Ryan St. Mary’s Bella Schaffer St. Mary’s Sidney Selvidge MUS Chase Shepherd CBHS Andrew Sichting CBHS Lily Smith St. Mary’s Baker Springer CBHS Quint Stovall The Taft School Carter Terry CBHS Ayana Walls Harding Matthew Williams Lausanne Zachary Williams St. George’s Ammon Wood MUS Caroline Wood St. Agnes Grant Young MUS

Kofi Apprey not pictured.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 3

CAMPUS LIFE AT THE PRESCHOOL

BETTER COVERAGE Students now have a little more protection from rain, sleet, snow (or sun!) at the main entrance to Miss Lee’s, thanks to the bright red awning that was installed in the fall.

CHRISTMAS LOVE The Daring Dinosaurs put on their traditional Christmas play, “Who is Coming to Our House?,” and wore special costumes handmade years ago by beloved former teacher Ann Glenn.

ROCKIN’ OUT Our youngest music lovers got a treat when North Mississippi Allstars guitarist and GSL parent Luther Dickinson performed at the Preschool.

IN LOWER SCHOOL

P IS FOR PRETTY CUTE In Senior Kindergarten, sometimes it helps if you can eat pineapple while wearing a pirate hat and PJs, when you are learning about the letter P.

HELLO, MRS. PRESIDENT Ruby Martin and her second grade classmates wait their turn to present in the annual Parade of Presidents.

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UPTOWN FUNK First graders put on their awesome, annual hip-hop performance for the school in February.

S-M-A-R-T 3rd and 4th grade students participated in this year’s Lower School Spelling Bee; the top finishers were Kayla Oliphant (3rd), Gloria Bird (2nd), and Spencer Norris (1st).

IN MIDDLE SCHOOL

PI RULES With more than 200 digits memorized, 6th grader Abby Fogerty earned first place bragging rights and a chance to pie Ms. Fo at GSL’s annual Pi Day Pep Rally.

CIAO DOWN The 8th graders put on another fantastic Italian Dinner for the GSL community this year. Delizioso!

BRAINY SAINTS 7th graders Caroline Couch, Cole Donnelly, and J.D. Huber made it to the championship round in the Memphis Regional Finals of the National History Bee, which qualified them to attend the 2015 National Finals in May.

ALL SCHOOL

READING IS FUN

COOL SCHOOL

Cheerleaders and our trusty mascot helped promote this year’s Book Fair at the Booksellers at Laurelwood.

For the second year in a row, GSL was featured as a Cool School of the Week on ABC24.

READY FOR OUR CLOSE UP CBS Sports came to film Tigers’ Coach Josh Pastner during a Celebration visit for their Men of March series, which aired in January.

SCHOOLHOUSE ROCK GSL’s spring play featured a talented Middle School cast and crew plus a superb fourth grade chorus.

NEED FOR SPEED Great faculty turnout for the Lisa 5K.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 5

ALL ABOUT ASC

To serve a majority of families who work full-time and enroll in after-care, GSL ramps up enrichment to provide more offerings.

BY MARCI WOODMANSEE ’83, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Gymnastics, a fairy tea party, LEGOs, lacrosse, karate, guitar, fashion design, math clubs, chess, acting – this is just a small sampling of the options available for enrichment this spring, much to the delight of GSL students and the 75% of families who are regularly enrolled in our After School Care program.

Surprised by the variety? If so, you must have missed the fall and winter slate of offerings, which included new activities such as etiquette lessons and multiple holiday workshops.

“After School Care and enrichment have grown.” says new Director of ASC & Enrichment Brooke Shannon. The program already benefited from the strong foundation built by former ASC Director Diann Youngblood, who led ASC at GSL for 25 years until her retirement last summer. Under the current leadership of Shannon, the program has added new offerings and implemented some programmatic changes to give families more options and make enrollment a little easier, as well.

“With the number of dual-income families only increasing, the amount of kids coming in and out of ASC has been growing for some time,” says Shannon. “We knew we wanted to continue strengthening the program this year, and I was excited to join the staff and get to try out some new ideas.”

With a large staff roster that included 12 new instructors, ASC started the school year with a big carnival that featured a game truck, snowcones, and inflatables on Anchor Hill, plus face painting, balloon animals, and fun activities inside.

“I think it helped make that first day back more fun, and it got kids really excited about a new year of ASC,” Shannon says. “Some students who left at noon and were riding home on bikes stopped and asked if they could come back in!”

Students in every grade level seem to be enjoying the newly

revitalized ASC program. In the Preschool, which has always been an area of strength with nearly full ASC enrollment, the majority of students continue to stay. A typical afternoon at the Preschool begins with naptime, with ASC teachers arriving at 2:00 pm so they have time to talk about each student’s day with the regular classroom teachers before the classroom teachers leave at 2:30. Students get up about 3:00 pm for snack and outside time. Pre-kindergartners and junior kindergartners then rotate through three different afternoon centers with fun, hands-on activities like art, cooking, and science. Little Lukers stay in their rooms to keep their routine consistent and familiar.

For the older SK-8 students, a popular new addition last fall was “Fun Fridays,” a time when they could swim in GSL’s pool behind the Doan House while the weather was nice.

Fun Fridays started back up this spring and will continue this coming fall, along with swim lessons as part of the fall offerings for some of the younger grades.

“We have also become well known for our snacks on Fridays,” Shannon adds with a laugh. “When kids see me, that is almost always the first question I’m asked. It’s funny, but one of the things they get most excited about is the cereal snack we have on Friday!”

Other improvements have enhanced ASC for Middle School students, as well. “Everyone loves the teacher, Ms. Keara, and we’ve worked hard to try to make things more fun for fifth through eighth grade,” says Shannon. “We wanted to strike a balance: Give them enough freedom that they don’t feel like someone is babysitting them, but still provide the right level of supervision. So we created a new gathering space for them upstairs with a couch and a bulletin board, just past the science labs. They still love the library because they can enjoy some supervised usage of the computers there, but now they have an extra space where they can hang out. We also let them use the outdoor dining area and the Lemaster playground.”

HAPPY ABOUT HOLIDAY CARE Another goal Shannon set this year was making sure that Holiday Care during vacations like fall break and spring break had plenty to offer. “I wanted to make sure that the kids who were not going away for the holidays were excited to stay here, and that our program would be just as much fun as going out of town,” Shannon explains.

Hayes, Sam, and Stella proudly display the fantastic pyramid of stacked cups they created during ASC. Photo by Lance Murphey.

6 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

Future chess champions line up to learn the game during their enrichment club.

Photo by Lance Murphey.

“For fall break, we created a sports-themed ASC Zone geared around football and cheerleading. We also brought in the Middle School cheerleaders to teach cheers that the kids learned and performed. We went to the corn maze at the Agricenter one day, and we took the third through eighth grade students on a walk to Back Yard Burger for lunch. We added similar activities during A little cheerleading fun during Fall spring break. The ultimate goal Break Holiday Care. is making sure the kids are happy to be here. We are also trying to ease the pressure on our working parents to find other alternatives for care.”

EXPANDING ENRICHMENT With exciting new offerings plus a new online enrollment system, enrichment has been the area of greatest change this school year. “We started experimenting in the fall with the Math Magic workshops and holiday options like Christmas Treats and Old-Fashioned Christmas, which we had never done before,” Shannon says. “They attracted a lot of interest, so we felt confident about expanding our offerings in an even bigger way this spring. The long, 10-week sessions that GSL has always been known for like ballet and gymnastics were joined by new, slightly shorter multi-week sessions in activities like coding, basketball, LEGOs, Chinese, acting, and hip hop, to name a few. We even introduced a sewing class for the Preschool.”

The new additions are generating lots of excitement. “I’m really glad that we have some fun offerings with an academic or literary component, like our math workshops and Harry Potter offerings, plus new recreational activities like lacrosse

and basketball,” Shannon says. “There should be something for everyone to enjoy.”

So what’s next? In the fall, Shannon plans to add violin instruction to the guitar, piano, and voice lessons already offered. New short courses will be added along with the traditional longer courses that students look forward to every year.

“A future goal is to offer some adult options, like our trial run with the hip hop cardio class we offered this spring,” Shannon adds. “We are even thinking about some additions for preschoolers who usually leave at noon, like a short gymnastics class. And of course, we’re committed to keeping sign-ups online to make things easier for busy parents.”

It’s been a full, fun-filled year in ASC, with lots of growth and unlimited potential for the future. “We did change some procedures that can be hard to adjust to, but I am grateful for our parents’ flexibility and everyone’s willingness to try out some of our new offerings,” Shannon says. “I love the kids and the community, and I’m so happy to be at GSL. We are looking forward to another great year in 2015-16!”

Owens and Alyssa get ready for karate with Mr. Dragon.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 7

ANCHORS AWAY alumni updates ‘77

GSL alumna Katie Smythe, founder and CEO of New Ballet Ensemble, was recognized in November at the White House with a 2014 National Arts and Humanities Youth Program Award. An initiative of the President’s Committee on the Arts and the Humanities, the award is intended to honor programs that are especially effective in developing learning and life skills in young people.

‘82

Accomplished keyboardist and singer/songwriter Charlie Wood made a rare local appearance at Lafayette’s Music Room this fall.

Alumnae friends Meg Patterson Comes (‘80), Maura Black Sullivan (‘82) and Paige Crabtree Henson (‘82) came out for the show.

Laura Mathews was a member of the USA team competing in the International Triathlon Union (ITU) World Championships in Canada last August and placed seventh in her age group. She also competed in the USA National Championship last August and won her age group, qualifying her for a spot on Team USA for the ITU World Championships again this August. She attends Rice University and is a member of the cross country team, while continuing to train in swimming and biking in preparation for the coming national and international competitions.

‘09

Jesse Wilcox was named to the Chancellor’s List at the University of Arkansas for maintaining a four-point grade average.

‘10

‘93

Ian Reddick is the recipient of a four-year Gautrelet Service & Leadership Scholarship at Spring Hill College in Mobile, and will serve as a resident advisor next year.

‘98

Sophie Starks is a freshman at DePaul University on Leadership and Dean’s scholarships. She is also working for Americorps in their Jumpstart Program, and has been nominated to join the National Society for Collegiate Scholars.

Cory Prewitt, COO and Marketing Director at Laurelwood Shopping Center, was featured as a Weekend Warrior in the December 2014 issue of Health & Fitness magazine.

Mark Griffin is the director of catering for Babalu.

’99

Kate Lassandrello Letson and husband Jack welcomed baby Caroline on October 27, 2014. She weighed 7 pounds, 10 ounces, and measured 21 inches.

‘00

Becca Bolding, an account executive at Inferno, helped lead an advertising project for FedEx (“Fat Toad Farm”) that won the Deloss Walker Memorial Award for Best of Video at this year’s Memphis Addy Awards.

‘08

Will Long, a junior at Vanderbilt University, will study human rights, security threats, conflict resolution, and the international system during a summer abroad program in Geneva, Switzerland.

*Students are listed according to their last year of attendance. Asterisk indicates student left GSL before their graduating year.

8 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

‘12

Hutchison junior Piper Bell won a Silver Key award for her mixed media piece titled “Roots” at the annual Mid-South Scholastic Art Awards at Memphis Brooks Museum of Art.

‘14

Sidney Nichols, Mackenzie Barnes, Grace Lee, Caroline Ciaramitaro and Kyra Tennyson were inducted into St. Mary’s School’s Beta Club in February in recognition of their service, academics, and character.

Lausanne freshmen Logan Sorrels and David Rhea both won first place in the West Tennessee District National History Day Competition. Logan was honored for his Individual Senior Exhibit on Frank Lloyd Wright, while David won for his Senior Solo Performance on Lenin and the Revolution. David competes for the state title in April. He also attended the Stella Adler Teen Conservatory last year in New York and is one of five students invited to study there again this summer.

CELEBRATING 75 YEARS GSL CHURCH EMBARKS ON RENOVATIONS TO ENHANCE FACILITIES AND ENSURE SUSTAINABILITY. This Thanksgiving marks the 75th anniversary of the merger of two historic Memphis parishes: Grace Church and St. Luke’s Church. In celebration of the creation of Grace-St. Luke’s Church, the parish is about to embark upon a transformative yet historically sensitive restoration that will enhance how its sacred space looks and sounds (see rendering below).

Work will begin this summer and continue into the fall, so families should anticipate a few changes to the normal chapel routine for several months at the beginning of the coming school year. The project highlight is the addition of an antiphonal organ to the balcony area that will complement the front organ by filling the space with sound. Renovation work will also include structural repair and renovation of the nave ceiling, and the addition of a new sound system with speakers throughout the nave and balcony. The Tiffany Ascension Window will be preserved and protected with a new frame, and a new lighting system will provide better visibility and accentuate the pulpit, lectern, font, and altar.

“We have been fundraising behind the scenes and planning for this for some time now,” says GSL Rector Richard Lawson. “We are grateful for the gifts we’ve already received to help make this dream a reality, and we are incredibly excited about what it will mean for the future of our church, school, and parish.”

WELCOMING BRODERICK GREER In January, GSL Church announced the appointment of Broderick Greer as a new priest and curate. Greer is a graduating senior at Virginia Theological Seminary, with a bachelor’s degree in social work from Freed-Hardeman University in Henderson, Tennessee. Broderick loves traveling and barbecue (both Memphis pulled pork AND Texas brisket), and visiting his family. His parents, Roderick and Patricia, and brother, Patrick, still live in Fort Worth, the family’s hometown.

“Broderick will bring many gifts to GSL Church and School,” says Richard Lawson, GSL Rector. “GSL is a parish that enjoys having priests with different gifts, and I am happy to welcome in Broderick a priest whose gifts and personality will offer something different than Reverend Gayle and I do. We also want a priest who, in addition to the ordinary work of the parish, can also oversee our work with young adults, Episcopal Service Corps, and school chapel. In Broderick, I am very confident that we have found the right person.”

Greer will join the staff in July, and students and families will have the chance to meet him in August at Episcopal School Sunday.

ZOE JACKSON ASSISTS YOUTH GSL Church recently welcomed Zoe Jackson as a part-time assistant youth minister. Zoe is a senior at Rhodes, majoring in Religious Studies and minoring in International and Africana Studies. She has traveled to six continents, primarily for mission work, and has many inspiring stories from her travels. Zoe will pursue a career in teaching after graduating in May and feels called to help develop faith in young adults. She will be working with GSL for 2015, thanks to a generous grant from the Diocese of West Tennessee.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 9

FASHION FORWARD

Alumna Ellis Dixon creates a name for herself in the U.S. and abroad with her simple, elegant clothing designs.

BY MARCI WOODMANSEE ’83, DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

Creativity, perseverance, and grit are among numerous traits for success that GSL works to develop in its students. These characteristics are embodied by many of our talented and entrepreneurial alumni, who put traits like these to good use in their own lives and careers after GSL. One such creative, driven alumna, who no longer lives in Memphis but is making a name for herself both in the U.S. and abroad, is GSL graduate Ellis Dixon.

A student at GSL from preschool through fifth grade (1993) who completed her schooling at St. Mary’s in 2000, Dixon always had a creative bent. “I still remember art projects at GSL that I loved!” Dixon says with a laugh. “We made the Christmas tree angels with clay, and the face masks. Mrs. Alexander was the art teacher and she was phenomenal. She really piqued my interest in Henri Rousseau by showing us his jungle paintings. Art was always one of my favorite classes, for sure.”

After high school in Memphis, Dixon headed straight for New York, graduating from the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan in 2004 with a bachelor’s degree in fashion design.

Her path to success has had its twists and turns, but an irrepressible spirit and ability to persevere has helped her face challenges with strength, grace, and as you might imagine, inimitable style.

“When I graduated from school, the industry was open and I had no trouble finding a job; the economy was great,” Dixon says. “My first job was at Capacity International, Inc., and I was doing my own thing on the side with clothing. I went to tons of Salvation Army-type places to find a piece that I liked, and I would slash it and dash it, and do all kinds of things to the clothing to sell it. My first line was a sellout at a Phish concert in Deer Creek, Indiana! The portfolio I created was how I got that first job, and when I showed it to my boss, he asked if I had ever thought about opening my own line.”

Needless to say, Dixon was interested, and Capacity backed her with financial support plus showroom space on 7th Avenue and Broadway. “It was like a Cinderella story,” says Dixon. “I traveled to China to get material and find factories, and started thinking about construction, production minimums, sourcing for fabric (which is really fun), and much more. You have to think about the bottom line and the mark-

10 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

up, and be able to work with factories overseas. I was talking on the floors to sewers who spoke different languages, using lots of hand motions, in trying to get my first line ready, and we ended up with about 35 pieces.

“Then it was time to come back and do trade shows,” she explains. “We got good feedback, and we began to do a lot of advertising under my name, Ellis Dixon, Inc. In 2005, we launched the line and were starting to get sales and get ready to go into production, when Capacity took a big financial hit.

So one day I was in Las Vegas selling pieces like hotcakes, and the next day I came home to New York, and they said, ‘You’re fired, it’s done.’ It was awful.”

The abrupt, unexpected end to Dixon’s plans necessitated some creative thinking. “I worked hard to figure out what I could save, and had meetings and meetings trying to find new investors, but got a lot of no’s,” Dixon says. “I did have all of these wonderful samples, so I sold some as one-of-akind pieces to shops in Memphis like Muse, Blu Champagne, and Bella Notte. Then I moved on. I went back to New York and got a 9-to-5 job as a designer doing work for Coldwater Creek, Garnet Hill, Talbots, and others.”

Tiring of the office grind, Dixon decided in 2007 to make another change and take a break from New York. “I did something called the Mongol Rally, known as one of the greatest motoring adventures in the world, in which you drive a small car some 10,000 miles from London to Mongolia and raise money for charity,” Dixon says. “After that I went back home and lived outside Sewanee in my grandparents’ cabin.

I returned to New York for a little while and did work for Caribbean Joe, Apollo Jeans, and a few other lines. But then I quit my jobs once more, sold my possessions, and decided to travel again. I spent time in Thailand, Ukraine, Crimea, South America, and parts of Europe before deciding that Lisbon, Portugal is where I wanted to live. It’s amazing and affordable, and beautiful all the time, and I’ve been here almost three years now.”

One big benefit of Dixon’s years of travel was the opportunity to absorb many different cultures’ influences and thoughts about design. “Plus, by living for the most part out of a backpack, I realized that it’s important for clothing to be absolutely practical,” Dixon says. “It should fold up small, it shouldn’t wrinkle much, and it has to look GOOD! It should be comfortable, able to go from the beach to a bistro, and go with everything. I prefer more classic lines, and just want to add a bit of the trend in if I can. Clothing shouldn’t be so trendy that you only get to wear a piece once, and then you’re done with it. I want clothes to be timeless.”

Dixon’s women’s wear line has a young, dramatic, simple style and attention to quality construction that offers wearable silhouettes for forward-thinking women, with everything from beautifully fluid day and evening pieces, to sportswear and swimwear. She introduced her 2015 spring/summer line last year during Memphis Fashion Week’s runway show, and plans to show at Lisbon Fashion Week in the future.

Dixon continues to dream big about the future. “When I think about what happened at Capacity, I’m almost glad it didn’t work out,” she says. “I don’t know that fashion on that level is for me. It was too big, and I definitely don’t want my designs to ever be anonymized. I love working with clients that want specific things. I prefer collaboration and I like the back and forth, finding different ways to come at things. I think I would eventually like to open a boutique that functioned more like a gallery, because fashion is art. I would procure industry-standard machines that do fine finishes that you can’t do at home, and would have an onsite tailor so people could drop-off pieces. It would be like a computer lab in a way, where people could rent time to come work on the machines, using the space as a studio and displaying their lines. Making that initial investment is what holds a lot of people back. This would be a forum for creativity, where I could also have my pieces on the racks.”

Dixon’s designs on the runway at Memphis Fashion Week.

In the meantime, Dixon is keeping her hand in ventures in the States, currently working for Bald Head Blues, a women’s and men’s wear company on Bald Head Island in South Carolina. She still does madeto-order work through her website and is also selling her line in Lisbon, working with a local artist collective called the Village Underground, and teaching English at Lisbon’s American School of Languages.

For current GSL students, she offers both practical and philosophical advice: “The classmates you refer to as geeks or nerds are going to grow up to be the ‘cool kids’ as adults. Treat them well now because you will want to be in their club down the line, I promise!” she says with a big smile. “And remember that you are never too old to dream. Dream big while you’re young, then refine it as you get older and start to find your place in the world. Never settle… never, never, never!”

“REMEMBER THAT YOU ARE NEVER TOO OLD TO DREAM. DREAM BIG WHILE YOU’RE YOUNG.” FOR MORE INFORMATION Ellis Dixon Line: www.ellisdixon.com Memphis Fashion Week Show: www.youtube.com/watch?v=QpkxSOzLYqA Bald Head Blues: www.baldheadblues.com Lisbon Village Underground: www.vulisboa.com Dixon makes a final adjustment to a jersey infinity travel dress.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 11

LEGACY 8TH GRADERS

Continuing the Saints Tradition

We asked our four eighth grade legacies and their alumni family members to share their favorite things about GSL as they prepare to say farewell. Congratulations to our students, and many thanks to these families for continuing the Saints tradition.

We will miss you next year!

BEN NATHAN

GSL ‘04-’15

Favorite class: Fifth grade, because it was easy.

Favorite extracurricular: Soccer. We had played together for forever and we were there to have fun, but we were still okay.

Favorite GSL memory: The New Orleans class trip.

What I will miss most: The small classes.

aunt

LAURA NATHAN

ADAM NATHAN

GSL ‘04-’15

Favorite class: Mrs. Eason’s history class, because I am really interested in history and because it is hilarious when Mrs. Eason yells at students.

Favorite extracurricular: Scouting. I am with Troop 25 of Temple Israel.

Favorite GSL memory: Going on the Italy trip.

What I will miss most: I will miss the entire feeling of GSL. It’s hard to imagine what life is going to be like during high school after attending GSL for 11 years. I will miss all of my friends and the faculty. I wish that GSL had a high school for me to continue attending.

GSL ’77-’79

Favorite class/teacher: All my teachers were great and memorable: Coach Scully jumping on his desk in history class, he and Coach Lass leading sports, my basketball coach Debbie Callahan, Mr. Gamble taking us on our eighth grade camping trip, and Mrs. Griffin and Mrs. Daush taking us to El Salvador. They all left lasting impressions on me!

Favorite extracurricular: Going to football and basketball games. I had friends that were cheerleaders, and I played eighth grade basketball. It always felt like we did everything together. The Social Studies Fair was also very fun, and the student lounge.

Favorite GSL memory: I loved going to GSL, and I still love going to pick up Adam and Ben and going to their events.

Considering that I was at GSL during the awkward teenage years and still had a positive experience is truly saying something about the school and the people who went there. It was and still is a family. It is pretty extraordinary that I am still very close to my friends from there and see them regularly. I will always be grateful that my parents sent me to GSL, and I am really going to miss coming to GSL for after school pick-ups. GO SAINTS!

WENDELL HENSON

GSL ‘05-’15

Favorite class: Science, because of the teachers I’ve been lucky to have and all the experiments we do.

Favorite extracurricular: I love basketball.

I grew up playing the sport mostly because my dad played it. I enjoy working together with my teammates and having fun.

Favorite GSL memory: The Chicago trip. We had many fun memories there, and it was a blast to hang out with friends.

What I will miss most: The teachers and my friends.

12 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

mother

PAIGE CRABTREE HENSON GSL ‘82

Favorite GSL teacher: Coach Scully. He was a great teacher who got us excited about learning. He taught us world history by letting us play the board game Risk.

Favorite extracurricular: Being the manager of the girls basketball team. I cannot play basketball AT ALL, but I wanted to go on the basketball trip to New Orleans and Navarre Beach!

Favorite GSL Memory: Too many to list, but everything about our 9th grade class trips!

10TH ANNIVERSARY LISA LASSANDRELLO 5K RACE

BELLA SCHAFFER GSL ‘05-’15

Favorite class: Latin.

Favorite extracurricular: Volleyball.

Favorite GSL memory: The Chicago trip.

What I will miss most: All of the friends I’ve made here and all of the fun things that I got to do while at GSL.

Many thanks to everyone in the community who came out this year to support the 10th anniversary of the Lisa Lassandrello 5K Remembrance Race. This race is held annually in support of former GSL employee Lisa Lassandrello, who worked here for 19 years until her death in 2004 after a brave, year-long battle with cancer. Co-hosted by GSL and St. Agnes Academy/St. Dominic School, the race this year at GSL boasted almost 1000 entrants, the highest number registered to date! We look forward to seeing you again next year for the race at St. Agnes.

father

BILLY SCHAFFER

Marley White approaches the finish line with style.

GSL ‘77-’84

Favorite class/teacher: Mrs. Pat Gray, my fourth grade teacher, was my all-time favorite. During the summer, her son Christopher and Brian Kellett and I would ride bikes to her house, swim in her pool, and eat homemade cookies. Mrs. Gray had a special way of knowing when I needed a smile or a pat on the back. Both of my daughters cycled through her classroom before her retirement!

Favorite extracurricular: Donkey basketball was one of my favorites. With real donkeys. My wife doesn’t believe me and had no patience to peruse my old yearbooks, but it really happened (see photo below). I certainly enjoyed running laps around the block thanks to Coach Lass and Coach Callahan. I have fond memories of our class trip to New Orleans and the World’s Fair. I hate for my daughters to know this, but Brian Kellett and I had great fun while visiting the principal’s office on a regular basis.

Favorite GSL memory: Making life-long friendships. Literally, most of my close friends were made during my time at GSL. Now, many of my friends also have children at GSL.

Alumnae Meg Patterson, Elena Jabbour, and Kate Reid get a photo with their PE teacher and coach, Debbie Callahan.

Emcee and Action News 5 anchorman Joe Birch enjoys a joke with race chair Sherry Emerson before passing out the awards.

Ready to race: fourth graders Gracie Huggins, Mary Faith Sharp, Avery Arkle, Emma Couch, and Isabelle Mansour.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 13

FROM GSL TO HOG HEAVEN

Alumnus Marshall Bartlett returns to his roots to lead pig farming into the future, the old-fashioned way.

BY DENISE DUBOIS TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

Since childhood, Marshall Bartlett spent his summers working for his father, raising cattle and cotton on the family’s 145-yearold farm known as the Home Place, the same farm that his father, grandfather, great and great-great grandfathers had worked before. He learned to respect the land, to work long hours in the Mississippi heat, to tell tall tales, and to play a mean blues guitar, but mostly, he learned to love the agricultural lifestyle and to value what it takes to sustain it.

After graduating from GSL in 2003, Bartlett attended the Mississippi School for Math and Science, where he first began studying and practicing sustainable farming techniques. In 2007, he headed north to Dartmouth College to earn his bachelor’s degree in environmental studies, during which time he also completed a formative internship at the Virgin Island Sustainable Farm Institute in St. Croix, USVI. After college, he worked briefly on a ranch in Montana before moving to New Orleans, where he joined an Americorps team leading volunteers to rebuild Katrina victims’ homes. After that, he remained in the Crescent City to take a job as the chief of operations for a small business that specialized in custom butchering and marketing pasture-raised meats to chefs across the city. This is where the seeds of his true calling took hold.

Fast forward to January 2014, and Bartlett was back home in Mississippi to co-found Home Place Pastures with his brother Jemison. They set out to build a business that offered something different, something they could produce and sell directly to neighbors, chefs, and retailers. They wanted a product that required a comparatively small investment on the front end but that symbolized the richness of hill country culture and the creativity and resourcefulness of the Deep South. Naturally, they chose pork, and now Bartlett happily spends his days growing the pigs and the business.

EMBRACING THE FUTURE LIKE THE GOOD OLD DAYS Bartlett explains that not so long ago, most families living in the countryside of North Mississippi used table scraps and leftover feed to nourish a hog for “killin’ time” in November. Families would help each other dress and butcher a hog and then share the bounty. Nothing was wasted: jowls were cured and smoked for bacon, the fat back was used to season greens and veggies, and the skin was fried to make cracklings. The meat brought people together, and through cooperation and sharing, it also saw them through the winter.

Over time, traditional knowledge and family secrets about raising, butchering, and cooking pork began to disappear, as did the communal aspect of harvesting and sharing. This is the kind of tradition that Bartlett and his family intend to reintroduce and maintain.

The Anchor magazine visited Bartlett at Home Place and asked him to explain in his own words what he foresees for his family venture in the future.

Anchor: How is your business different from a large, commercial operation?

Bartlett: We operate under four primary principles: ethical treatment of the animals, land stewardship, economic sustainability, and community involvement. Though seemingly old-fashioned in our approach, we actually run what is considered a progressive production program. We believe that tradition is important and with renewed interest in sustainable food, people are returning to the values of environmental stewardship with a keen interest in the humane treatment of animals.

We can think of no better way to strengthen this revival than with the mighty swine! We like to think that our pigs are the happiest creatures on earth. It’s more work for us, and it takes Gertrude Swine, Home Place Pastures Artist-in-Residence.

14 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

longer for our hogs to reach ideal weight, but we take great pains to ensure they have proper space, shelter, nutrition, forage, and clean water at each stage of development. Our pigs are never confined or put on concrete. They live their entire life on open pasture land, free to romp and root around the fields and woods, eating roots and acorns and fertilizing the soil as they go. We also supplement our pigs’ diets with a high quality ration of grains and minerals specifically formulated to give them protein and vitamins. We mix our feed ourselves using non-GMO corn, so our products contain no animal parts, antibiotics, or growth hormones. We are extremely serious about what our pigs eat, not only for their health, but also for ours. Bottom line: Happy pigs = better meat.

MEMPHIS FOODIES FROM GSL A new online journal published a feature in February that introduced “The 15 Hottest Foodies” of the Mid-South. Three of the 15 were GSL alumni, all from the same class!

Photos courtesy of The Fork. http://www.thefork.me/the-forks-15-hottestfoodies-2015/

Anchor: You feed and care for the pigs very well! What’s the next step?

Bartlett: For my wholesale customers (chefs, restaurants, grocery stores, and St. Jude), I do the butchering myself and make personal deliveries. For my retail customers, I use a USDA-approved company just outside of Memphis for the butchering, and I sell my products at the Memphis Farmers Market and online at www.homeplacepastures.com. Items ordered online are shipped out, frozen on dry ice, every Monday.

Anchor: What restaurants in the Memphis area serve your pork?

Bartlett: My biggest supporter is St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, but a number of area restaurants serve my pork, including Erling Jensen, Interim, Sweet Grass, Las Tortugas, and Schweinehaus; it is also available in numerous restaurants in Jackson and Oxford, Mississippi and in New Orleans. In fact, one of my early contacts in New Orleans was Ryan Prewitt (James Beard award-winning chef of Peche and fellow GSL alum). When I first approached him about buying some of my pork, he said that he’d love to buy from someone who graduated from such an outstanding grade school! GSL was our bond.”

Sisco Larson, 26, Manager of Joe’s Wines & Liquors

Anchor: In what other ways has GSL played an important part in your life, personally and professionally?

Bartlett: I feel totally connected to GSL. When I transferred to GSL, coming from a small town, a farm, I was happy to discover how easily I made friends. Also, I got so close to my teachers. The size of the school, that intimacy, enabled the teachers to get to know each student so well. They built my confidence and strengthened my interest in academics. The faculty at GSL opened my eyes to a bigger world.

One of my first customers when I launched the online store was Tom Beazley, GSL’s former headmaster.

I was quite honored by that.

Several of Bartlett’s former GSL classmates assist him:

Miles Tamboli, 26, Youth Farm Director for Girls Inc. Memphis

Ben Jordan helps at the Memphis Farmers Market and Andy Stubblefield (above) is his farm manager.

LOOKING DOWN THE ROAD With a strong GSL foundation and his own natural entrepreneurial drive, Bartlett seems headed for success. Home Place Pastures is fast building a reputation for its large, farm-to-table dinner events in the fields of north Mississippi, which come complete with the finest in local foods prepared by renowned chefs and musical performances by the area’s most famous blues artists, often accompanied by Bartlett himself on guitar. More than 300 people attend many of these musical-culinary events.

As Bartlett likes to say, “Smoke it, grill it, fry it, cure it, pickle it, even boil the chitterlings if you want; we are confident that after one bite of our pork, you’ll know that the tradition lives on!”

Marshall Bartlett, 26, Founder/Owner of Home Place Pastures

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 15

FACULTY CHANGES AT GSL GSL bids farewell to Martha Young and Jennifer Vest, and prepares to welcome a new Head of Preschool CHASING NEW DREAMS Jennifer Vest was teaching four-year-olds at the Lipman School seven years ago when the call came from one of GSL’s new teachers, Emilee Cox, that we had a position open that was perfect for her.

“Emilee was one of my former student teachers, and she let me know that GSL was looking for a new Head of Preschool,” Vest remembers.

“I was actually considering a change, although I hadn’t really thought much at that point about moving to the administrative side. But the next thing you know, I was meeting with Tom Beazley, GSL’s Headmaster at the time, and I ended up signing a contract!”

“There were some challenges in making sure our building was ready and satisfying countless requirements from the Fire Marshall, the Department of Education, and NAEYC,” Vest recalls. “But I was never worried about creating the program itself. I’ve always been very passionate about schooling for children age 0-3; those years are so important. I knew we had phenomenal teachers in place who were excited and ready to go, and we did a lot of preparation and research to ensure our success. Being able to launch a strong program for twos that is developmentally appropriate, with teachers who are fully degreed in early childhood education, and a classroom environment specially prepared for that age level, has been very gratifying. We’ve had amazing results, and we know that we’re providing something very special for these children.”

Vest joined GSL at a time of extremely difficult personal challenge, with the tragic loss of her mother during the first full week of school.

“That was extremely hard,” Vest says. “But Tom was wonderful and said something I’ll never forget: ‘Take the time you need.

The teachers know what they’re doing.’”

“He was right, and I realized very early on that my teachers knew exactly what to do. Many were veteran teachers, and all were strong, capable, and competent. It was comforting to find out right away that I could fully trust my staff, and that our Head truly supported me. It really brought home that our community does a wonderful, focused job of caring for individual faculty members, just as we care for each individual child.”

There were professional challenges, too, at the beginning of Vest’s tenure. The school was launching a capital campaign to expand Miss Lee’s and build the Anchor Center in the fall of 2008, despite an economic recession that began at the same time.

“My very first year, we were trying to figure out construction, timelines, a transition plan for our carpool, where to move our Preschool summer camp, and how to reconfigure the parking lot!” Vest says. “But by the fall of 2009, we had completed the new west wing at Miss Lee’s with two new classrooms and two offices.”

The expansion was a great success and the economy eventually improved, leading to another expansion of the Preschool in 2013 to add the Little Lukers program for twoyear-olds. Vest is immensely proud of the success of the program, which has been full each year and is flourishing.

16 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

Miss Jennifer turned into Wonder Woman one Halloween and posed with all of her superhero friends!

The launch of the program helped put Vest’s decision to pursue her doctoral degree into focus. “I learned that I really like program development, starting new things and getting to put my stamp on it,” she says. “I loved getting to build the Little Luker curriculum and design a new environment.

Ultimately, I also knew that I wanted to become a college professor and teach future teachers. So I realized that it was time to leave GSL and focus on next steps, especially with the final year of my doctoral program at Vanderbilt approaching this fall.”

Vest has every reason to be pleased with the legacy she will leave behind. “I’ve hired 10 of our current 18 faculty members, and I think we’ve managed the growth in a way that ensured we retained a community of teachers who get along and work well together,” she says. “We’ve got a good, strong team. I will miss them! But I’m keeping my home in Memphis, and I will still be volunteering at the Shell where I hope I will continue seeing many GSL families.”

A LONG CAREER INSPIRING YOUNG MINDS Veteran first grade teacher Martha Young already knew GSL was a special place before former Headmaster Father Merchant asked her to join the staff in 1994. Her niece and nephew attended GSL, and she had been on campus before to see them in plays. Her teaching career began years earlier in other areas of the country. Young taught in schools in Florida and New York, and even had experience abroad teaching at The American School of Kinshaha in Zaire, before eventually returning to Memphis, her hometown. She was filling in for a teacher on medical leave at St. Agnes and also working with special education students at a school in Olive Branch when the chance to work at GSL emerged.

“It’s funny because at the time, my mother was working at the Woman’s Exchange, along with Jennifer Atkins’ mother,” says Young. “Jennifer and I did not know each other yet, and one day at work her mother told mine that she had just been hired at GSL, and my mother told her mother that I was interviewing at GSL, too. So we both got appointed as first grade teachers the same year, joining Linda Niell who was already teaching first grade here.

We had a good team!”

A mom of three, Young brought her daughter Emily to GSL when she joined the staff. “One of my happiest memories was when Emily ended up receiving the Bishop’s Award at her graduation,” Young says. “Emily and Jennifer Atkins’ son Hudson are the same age and they are friends now as young adults, so we ended up with a three-generation connection between our families!”

Although the technology and curriculum have evolved a great deal in Young’s 21 years here, she says that in many ways, GSL has stayed the same. “Our core concept and mission never changed,” she says. “We treat each student like they are special, and they are. Everyone is known and loved.”

Young is loved and known too, as a fantastic teacher, an amazing runner, and a wonderful friend. Of course, she will also be long-remembered for helping put on one of GSL’s greatest Celebrations ever, the first grade hip-hop performance.

“I still remember around the time of Michael Jackson’s death, I asked Mr. Robert if he thought the kids could do a version of his Thriller video,” Young says. “While we didn’t ever quite achieve that, we certainly offered up many memorable performances.”

Young says one of her first tasks upon retirement is to clean out her attic. No doubt she will also plan some trips to visit her six grandchildren, who live in St. Petersburg, Florida and Manhattan Beach, California. GSL won’t be the same without her! She will be dearly missed and we wish her all the best.

Martha Young surrounded by lots of love: her last first grade class at GSL.

CYNTHIA BURNETT ACCEPTS POSITION AT MISS LEE’S In January, GSL appointed Cynthia Burnett as the new Head of Preschool at Miss Lee’s. Currently serving as the lead first grade teacher at St. Martin’s Episcopal School in Atlanta, Georgia, Burnett is a graduate of Kennesaw State University, with a master’s degree in education from Indiana Wesleyan University. In her 10-year career at St. Martin’s, she has assumed numerous leadership roles, including mentoring new and developing teachers. She also served as the elementary division liaison for St. Martin’s Professional Development Committee.

Prior to her appointment at St. Martin’s, Burnett taught kindergarten at the Atlanta International School, a dual language program. She also worked as the summer camp director and preschool co-coordinator at the Clifton Schools Child Development Center, a program affiliated with Emory University.

“I am delighted that Cynthia accepted our offer to join GSL,” says Head of School Thor Kvande. “She is regarded as a leader among her peers, is familiar with the Reggio Emilia approach, and brings a deep commitment to play-based early childhood education. She told us she was drawn to GSL by the warm, welcoming community, as well as the vibrant learning environment at Miss Lee’s, and she’s eager to build on the recent NAEYC-accreditations GSL has successfully completed. Her appointment is an important step forward for GSL as we build on the growth at Miss Lee’s over the past few years and continue to live into our strategic plan.”

Burnett will join the staff in June, and preschool parents will have the opportunity to meet her at a welcoming party this summer.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 17

NEWS FROM DEVELOPMENT NEW ENDOWMENT OPTIONS HELP ENSURE GSL’S FUTURE A recent decision by GSL School’s Board of Trustees now enables school supporters to choose how some of their donations are allocated. GSL first established an endowment fund, called the Anchor Fund, in 1982. Each year, 5% of the money raised through the Annual Fund is automatically deposited into the Anchor Fund Endowment Trust for reinvestment. Under the successful guidance of Gerber/ Taylor Management, this fund has grown over the years and is currently worth approximately $1.5 million.

With the Board’s approval, the structure of this Anchor Fund Endowment was modified and expanded to include several separate funds, offering a more focused range of giving opportunities.

“An endowment fund does not provide support for just one year, or even for one generation, but in perpetuity,” explains Head of School Thor Kvande. “GSL’s six specific endowment funds allow donors to invest in their particular interests, knowing that their donations will increase in value while helping ensure GSL’s short-term and long-term financial stability.”

“By endowing a special fund, you can feel good about making a donation that really helps the school for many years, and you can claim an income tax deduction as always,” adds Eric Barnes, Board President. “These endowments are especially appealing to people who are reviewing their estate planning options and considering major gifts.”

GSL families are encouraged to continue their support of the Annual Fund each year because of its critical importance to the school’s operating budget, but the Board and Administration are pleased to offer the new endowment options as well, further building and strengthening the school’s future.

18 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

THE SIX GSL ENDOWMENT FUNDS ARE AS FOLLOWS: • The Anchor Fund: Established in 1982, this general fund

was established to provide GSL School with long-term stability through a variety of investment opportunities. A portion of the funds are distributed to meet budgetary needs on an annual basis.

• The Dennis Cain Facilities Fund: Established for the

maintenance of the school buildings and grounds. This includes, but is not limited to, construction of new facilities, debt service, and other items related to the physical plant that aid the mission of the school.

• The Scholarship Fund: Established to provide need-based financial assistance to qualified families of current or prospective students wishing to attend GSL.

• The Library Fund: Established to promote and support the GSL School library.

• The Technology Fund: Established to provide appropriate technology to students, faculty, and staff consistent with the educational goals and mission of the school.

• The Arts Fund: Established to promote and support the

arts activities of the school. This includes, but is not limited to, performing and visual arts.

Annual Giving Update

“SURPRISINGLY REAL” CAMPAIGN A SUCCESS This year started out with a creative new twist on Annual Giving, a fantastic, Surprisingly Real! campaign designed to honor donors regularly throughout the fall, increase awareness about giving to GSL, and spread excitement about contributing to something in a way that makes a real difference for students. Many thanks are due to our fabulous, fun, creative, energetic, totallyawesome co-chairs for this year’s Surprisingly Real! Campaign: Cindy and Kevin Brewer and Kelley and Matt Morice (see photo at right).

Their enormous efforts put the “fun” in fundraising as they generated nearly $250,000 in unrestricted donations to the school this year. (Our goal was $220,000.) They also helped increase participation levels by 5%.

BY DENISE DUBOIS TAYLOR, DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT

WE LOVE OUR LEAD DONORS More than 200 of GSL’s individual supporters have donated $500 or more to the Annual Fund this year, earning them the designation of lead donor. One of the benefits of giving in this category is receiving an invitation to the annual Lead Donor Cocktail Party, truly one of the most fun events of the year. Our thanks to Laura and Kenny Charbonnet for hosting this super event last August. The next party, which will honor all of our 2014-2015 Lead Donors, will be held at the home of Eric Barnes and Elizabeth Crosby-Barnes this fall. It’s not too late to earn an invitation!

FYI: GSL operates on a fiscal calendar of August 1 – July 31, so all gifts made by July 31, 2015 are counted toward the current campaign.

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FYI: 74% of GSL’s parents contributed to the Annual Fund so far this year.

WE LOVE ALL OF OUR DONORS Why does it feel so good to make a contribution to the Annual Fund? Well, it is tax deductible, but even more importantly, every dollar has a direct effect on the quality of each and every GSL student’s daily life, enhancing the capabilities of GSL’s faculty, improving technology and facilities, increasing financial aid, and much more.

Thor Kvande thanks Virginia and Michael Rowland for chairing the previous campaign.

FYI: The average-sized gift to GSL’s Annual Fund is $250 but donations range according to what a family can afford, from $20 to $2,000 and more.

Many thanks again to everyone who contributed to this year’s campaign! Your gifts make a difference and we are truly grateful for your support!

Laura and Kenny Charbonnet hosted last year’s Lead Donor party.

WE LOVE OUR NEW GRADUATES & ALUMNI Do you have a child who is graduating this year? Why not purchase a plaque in his or her honor for GSL’s Alumni Corner? It’s the perfect graduation gift, which will provide them with a permanent tribute on the campus where they spent their childhood.

FYI: Speaking of honoraria, a very popular end-of-the-schoolyear gift is an honorarium to the Annual Fund dedicated to a special teacher, coach, or administrator.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 19

SAINTS SUPERLATIVES FANTASTIC FACULTY NEW BABY SAINTS Fourth grade teacher Christy Alberson and husband Michael welcomed Hazel Blaire Alberson, on January 23, 2015. She weighed 10 pounds, 1.2 ounces.

Fifth grade teacher Colleen Householder and husband Anthony welcomed Addison Grace Householder on March 20, 2015. She weighed 8 pounds, 4 ounces and measured 20 inches.

Little Lukers teacher Lacey Ledlow and husband Troy welcomed Harlow Anniston Ledlow on March 30, 2015. She weighed 6 pounds, 13 ounces.

READING IS FUN Paige Henson, Cynthia Goodfellow, and Jan Willis participated in a “What’s New in Children’s Literature” Bureau of Education & Research workshop led by national presenter Judy Freeman.

ALL IN THIS TOGETHER Preschool teachers Amy Reeves, Kendall Jones, Katie Longoria, Kelsey Beagle, and Wesley Ashley are training for the Nashville half-marathon in April.

FAST FINISHERS The following faculty members placed in their age group in this year’s Lisa 5K: Jeff White, 2nd place, 40-44 Debbie Callahan, 1st place, 60-64 Cristina Michta, 2nd place, 60-64 Martha Young, 2nd place, 70 and over GSL was also the winner of the first annual Faculty Cup Challenge.

NEW GRADUATE Kirsten Horton, ASC teacher at Miss Lee’s, received her Master of Art in Teaching, Instruction and Curriculum Leadership for Elementary Education from the UofM in December.

SUPERSTAR STUDENTS SPEEDY SAINTS

SWIM LEAGUE STARS

The following students placed in their age groups in this year’s 10th Annual Lisa Lassandrello 5K Race: BOYS Campbell McLean, 1st place, 6 & under (see photo) Hugh Wilson, 3rd place, 6 & under Owen Sharp, 1st place, 7-9 Hays Prather, 2nd place, 7-9 Charlie West, 3rd place, 7-9 Zach Williams, 1st place, 10-14 Nino Barnes, 3rd place, 10-14 GIRLS Lucy Unglesby, 1st place, 6 & under Sophia Wilson, 2nd place, 6 & under Poppy Schnacke, 3rd place, 6 & under Winnie Wilson, 2nd place, 7-9 Phoebe Plumley, 3rd place, 7-9 Frances Cates, 1st place, 10-14 Claire Epperson, 2nd place, 10-14 Maxine Engel, 3rd place, 10-14

20 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

GSL’s swim team won 1st place in the girls small division and 3rd place in the boys division; plaques were presented to Mr. Kvande at Celebration this winter.

BUILDING BRIDGES

The following Middle School students were selected to participate in Bridge Builders’ “Collaborate” Summer Leadership program: 6th graders Grace Garrett, Sophie Mansour, Reese McMullen; 7th graders Abigail Apple, Olivia Berntson, Caroline Couch, Molly Huggins, and Whit Overstreet.

The mission of Bridge Builders is to develop a group of future leaders who can lay aside individual, social, economic, and cultural differences and work for the benefit of all.

NEW SAINT ON STAFF ST. JUDE MARATHONERS Middle School faculty members Jackson Boyd and Jeff White ran the St. Jude Marathon in December.

Preschool assistant Amy Reeves ran the half, and first grade teacher Martha Young placed 3rd in her age group in the half.

INTERESTING ART In February, GPAC presented an exhibit of paintings by Lower School art teacher Carol Buchman and sculptures by her husband Roy Tamboli. Several of Buchman’s paintings are now permanently on display at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital and at Baptist’s new Children’s Hospital.

MATH MAGIC 2nd grade teachers Sara Ralston, Sherry Prewitt, and Amie Plumley presented at TAIS last winter on Math Magic, their math program in which students rotate through each classroom for math lessons.

TYING THE KNOT Librarian Jan Willis and JK Teacher Laura Lemly got engaged on Valentine’s Day and will marry in Charleston in June. PK Assistant Amy Reeves got engaged to Edmund Howe this spring.

MAGNIFICENT MATHLETES Middle School students Cole Donnelly, Eddie Feild, Olivia Hettinger, David Imig, Brady McLaughlin, Reese McMullen, and Ammon Wood participated recently in the annual MUS MathCounts competition. Eddie Feild was GSL’s top scorer and went on to compete in and win the Countdown Round against the top scorers from 15 other participating schools.

KATE SHELTON

DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATE

GSL appointed Kate Shelton as a Development Associate in the Development Department in February. Shelton is a native Memphian who graduated from Hutchison before earning a B.A. in Art History from Birmingham-Southern College and an M.A. in Art History from the University of Alabama. She has a first-hand understanding of independent school fundraising, having worked most recently as Director of Annual Giving at Lausanne. At Lausanne, she was also actively involved in the school’s annual auction, Grandparents’ Day, and other special events.

The Anchor staff asked her to answer our “New Saint” questionnaire to help everyone get to know her better. Please join us in welcoming her to GSL! Family: Husband James, daughter Jordyn, and lab Porter First job: Tennis instructor for a USTA summer camp Favorite books you read as a child: From the Mixed-Up Files of Mrs. Basil E. Frankweiler and The Giving Tree Favorite movie: The Wizard of Oz Favorite music: Anything with a beat!

Fun fact: Kate’s husband James (a math and science teacher as well as the athletic director at Resurrection Catholic School) was a volunteer assistant basketball coach for several years at GSL.

SWIM CHAMPS

Claire Epperson, Claire Pellegrin, Madeleine Hays, Jackson Hays, and Grace Ciaramitaro all qualified to compete in this year’s Southeastern Swimming Championship meet in Knoxville.

THEY GOT GAME

The 6 Girls Bernard/Reeves basketball team won the league and the PAA Bishop’s Tournament championship, completing a second consecutive undefeated season.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 21

The 8th Grade hosted a fantastic Italian Dinner for the GSL community in January.

THE P.A. CONNECTION We’ve had a fantastic year so far with a host of great events and activities—some fundraisers, some for fun, and some just to help each other in this community of families—all thanks to the hard work of more than a dozen volunteer chairs and countless committee members.

Hopefully you had the chance to be involved with at least one (if not all!) of the following activities this fall and winter:

• Purchasing lovely wrapping paper through our fall

fundraiser, which helped you at Christmas and throughout the year

• Finding some great new reads for your kids at the Book Swap

• Collecting and turning in Box Tops, which earns money for GSL and an ice cream party for your child’s class

• Joining us at Laurelwood Booksellers for our Book Fair,

where you had the chance to high five our furry school mascot, enjoy story time, and purchase merchandise that helped support both local business and GSL at the same time

• Dining on a fine pasta meal at the Italian Dinner, served

to you by 8th graders and their families, followed with a yummy treat from the bake sale

• Spinning around the dance floor to your favorite old school song with your daughter (incognito in your costume, of course)

• Learning new dance moves from Mr. Robert to show up your son at the Mother/Son event

• Helping cook a meal for a GSL family in need through

BY CAROL SEAMONS, 2014-2015 P.A. PRESIDENT

Besides all of the above, our P.A. volunteers also put on several Teacher Appreciation events this year, sending faculty members home with a soup supper in the fall, and then creating a tropical luncheon getaway – complete with 15-minute professional massages! – for teachers this winter.

What about this spring, you ask? By the time you have read this, you will surely have attended a great night of New Yorkthemed fun, courtesy of the Anchor Auction’s “A Night in the Big Apple” event.

You may also be getting your outgrown uniforms ready for trade-in at our helpful and extremely affordable Uniform Exchange Sale. Or you may have decided to let go of some summer stress by outsourcing your school supply shopping to the P.A. None of our activities would have been possible without our dedicated event chairs, volunteers, and room parents. I have been humbled to witness the time, energy and commitment of our volunteers, as well as the generous financial support of our families and other attendees at all of these events. I hope that everyone who participated in any of these events felt the special warmth and excitement that GSL students and families have for our unique school.

The Parents’ Association sincerely thanks you all for your support as we begin to look forward to another great year in 2015-2016.

Luker2Luker

Ready to greet guests at the annual teacher appreciation luncheon, a faculty favorite!

22 • THE ANCHOR • SPRING 2015

in memoriam BRIAN HENCEL

GSL Middle School Spanish, 2014-15 GSL suffered another tremendous community loss this year with the passing of Brian Hencel on April 1, 2015. He joined the faculty last August as our new Middle School Spanish teacher, but went on medical leave in October and was subsequently diagnosed with cancer. He pursued a rigorous course of treatment that initially seemed successful, until his cancer recurred in a more aggressive form this spring. His brave battle was inspirational to all who knew him.

Although Brian was only at GSL for a short period of time, he brought an incredible energy and enthusiasm to our community that will have a lasting impact. He had a wonderful ability to relate to kids and parents, and the gift of being able to see the best in everyone. He was a gifted teacher, a wonderful colleague, and a caring friend and mentor. He quickly formed a deep commitment to this place, and he realized early on why this community means so much to everyone here. Brian Hencel is a Luker for Life, and he will be dearly missed.

JOHN EFFINGER

GSL Headmaster 1987-1991 John Effinger, former GSL Headmaster, passed away at his home in Virginia on March 10, 2015. A native of Brooklyn, NY, Effinger joined GSL in 1987 and helped oversee renovations to Snowden Field, the celebration of GSL’s 40th anniversary, and the transformation of historic Miss Lee’s into the new Preschool for GSL. We are grateful for his service to the school.

GEORGE MORGAN TONEY December 20, 1924 – November 25, 2014

GSL 6th Grade Teacher, 1979-1981 (Excerpted from the Commercial Appeal)

George Toney enjoyed a long teaching career that included stints at East High School and Bellevue Jr. High, as well as time at GSL. His love was music. He attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music and traveled and played with Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus before beginning his teaching career in the early 1950s. He served as the band and choir director of many schools throughout Texas, Arkansas, and Tennessee before his retirement from teaching in 1990; however he stayed involved with music as long as he could through the River City Concert Band and the choir at Independent Presbyterian Church. He will be dearly missed.

FALL 2014 COVER PHOTO BY LANCE MURPHEY (www.lancemurphey.com).

All past issues of The Anchor are available online at www.gslschool.org under the Resouces tab on the My GSL section of the website.

SPRING 2015 • THE ANCHOR • 23

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