Hockaday Magazine – Fall 2021

THE HOCKADAY SCHOOL MAGAZINE | FALL 2021

GAME ON! Celebrating Athletics, Health, and Wellness at Hockaday

Believing in the inherent worth and dignity of all people, The Hockaday School is committed, within the context of its educational mission, to build and maintain an inclusive community that respects the diversity of race, ethnicity, national origin, religion, sexual orientation, family composition, socioeconomic status, and talents of its members. This commitment to diversity and inclusion is vital to educating and inspiring Hockaday students to lead lives of purpose and impact as resilient, confident women.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

FEATURES

Facing the Competition Hockaday’s Varsity Athletes and Coaches on the Importance of the Athletics Cornerstone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Hockaday Athletes Meet Four Athletes Competing Around the Country in Their Chosen Sport.. . . . . . . . . . . .

The Hockaday Way

18 28

A Note From Our Benefit Chairs.. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

31 34 36

Update on the Hockaday Land Use Plan Focused on Athletics and Wellness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

37

Athletics as a Cornerstone. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

The 3rd Annual Color Run. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

by Jessica W. Epperson ’96, Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives

Feeding Our Neighbors Olivia Park (Class of 2023) Spearheads Food Pantry Project . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Setting Goals A Social Impact Project Combines Science, Engineering, and Soccer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Alumnae Fall Cocktail Party. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

38 39 40

DEPARTMENTS

5 Perspectives 6 On Campus 12 Scoop 16 Zoom 43 Class Notes 84 Milestones 90 Alumnae Spotlight

FA L L 2 0 2 1

3

Hockaday Magazine A Publication of The Hockaday School More than a century of individuals involved with the Hockaday community – students, faculty, staff, alumnae, parents, grandparents, and friends – have a positive impact on one another and the world in which we live. Hockaday Magazine, published biannually by The School’s Communications Office, strives to articulate that impact – in the past, in the present, and in planning for the future. The magazine also seeks to highlight the activities of The School and its alumnae, as well as to help define and analyze topics facing our entire community.

4

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

EDITOR

Sara Stoltz Director of Communications ART DIRECTION

Elizabeth Enloe Malakoff ’86 Creative Director CONTRIBUTOR

Sally Darden Hudspeth ’87 Communications Manager

PERSPECTIVES Dear Hockaday Community, When Miss Ela Hockaday and her colleagues first articulated the Four Cornerstones, the inclusion of Athletics was a modern idea, far ahead of its time – at least where young women were concerned. Miss Hockaday strongly believed that sports and fitness not only develop a sense of wellness, strength, and confidence – but also build in our girls a deep understanding of fair play and grace, both in winning and in defeat. More than 100 years later, her vision continues to shape the distinctive experience of learning, growing, and playing at Hockaday.

This fall, we chose Athletics and Wellness as our magazine’s focus, because this Cornerstone not only plays a vital role in enriching learning and instilling healthy habits in our girls, but also demonstrates the many ways in which community, pride, and joy are expressed across our School.

Our Director of Athletics, Deb Surgi, is known for her view that “There is an athlete inside of every girl.” I agree wholeheartedly. From our Lower School little ones running and playing at recess, to our Green and White games in Middle School, to our strength and conditioning program in Upper School – I can look out my window at any time of the day and see active Daisies filling our campus with activity and laughter.

A few highlights from this issue include: • Learning about our School’s philosophy on Athletics and Wellness at all ages • Meeting some of the amazing Upper School interscholastic athletes who represent us on the fields,

courts, greens, and waterways

• Hearing from Alumnae who have carried their love of

Athletics into their careers

• Diving into our ambitious Land Use Plan focusing on

Athletics and Wellness

• Understanding the important, related work our Institute for

Social Impact is doing in the community

• And seeing the joy that is evident across campus through

our Fine Arts program, scholastic endeavors, and more!

I hope you enjoy this issue as much as I do. I can’t wait to see you at upcoming competitions, cheering our Daisies on!

With gratitude,

Dr. Karen Warren Coleman

Director of Athletics Deb Surgi and Eugene McDermott Head of School Dr. Karen Warren Coleman sit inside one of the massive cement structures installed in the new underground pipe system underneath our fields.

Eugene McDermott Head of School

FA L L 2 0 2 1

5

ON CAMPUS

Class of 2022 National Merit Semifinalists

SEVENTEEN SENIORS NAMED 2022 NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTS Seventeen seniors were named National Merit Semifinalists in the 67th annual National Merit Scholarship Program, a national academic competition for recognition and scholarship that began in 1955. The semifinalists include: Tukwa Ahsan, Fiona Chen, Sienna Ellis, Veronica Fang, Rachel Jan, Kyulee Kim, Minje Kwun, Cassie Liu, Eleanor Lockhart, Mina Raj, Lucy Roberts, Ananya Sharma, Nazli Soysal, Madeline Stout, Laura Taten, Sophia Yung, and Hanna Zhang.

JERI SUTTON SELECTED FOR THE UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO OUTSTANDING EDUCATOR AWARD Jeri Sutton, Upper School Math Teacher and Department Chair, was selected for this distinguished award

JUNIOR ELLE CHAVIS WRITES PLAY First-time playwright Elle Chavis (Class of 2023) was recognized as a semifinalist in the Circle Theater’s High School Playwriting Project Competition. Elle’s play “The Light” is about two sisters and the spirit of their mother.

Elle Chavis (Class of 2023)

6

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

by the University of Chicago. Members of the University of Chicago Class of 2025 were asked to nominate an educator whose guidance has helped them along the path toward intellectual growth.

Claire Zhu (Class of 2023)

VOLLEYBALL PLAYERS HONORED

Five Hockaday underclassmen were named to the American Volleyball Coaches Association 2021 Phenom List. Payton Arbaugh (Class of 2023), Lauren Ingram (Class of 2023), Avery Jackson (Class of 2024), Katherine Shoup (Class of 2024), and Olivia Wayne (Class of 2025) all made the national watch list and have been invited to attend the 2021 AVCA Phenom Program in Columbus, Ohio in December. Two seniors, Sydney Eyestone (Class of 2022) and Audrey Gass (Class of 2022), were named to the 2021 AVCA All-American Watch List, a national watch list for the top senior players in the country.

JUNIOR CLAIRE ZHU PLACES THIRD IN INTERNATIONAL HOSA COMPETITION Claire Zhu (Class of 2023) placed 3rd in the 2021 HOSA International Competition: Cultural Diversities and Disparities. Claire won first place in the state competition in March.

HOSA (Health Occupations Students of America) is a career and technical student organization for students planning to pursue health professions.

HOCKADAY SISTERS LAUNCH NON-PROFIT SENIOR PEN PALS Hockaday students Anisha Sharma (Class of 2024) and Ananya Sharma (Class of 2022) have launched the non-profit Senior Pen Pals, a virtual letter-exchange program to connect nursing home residents and teenagers. With the purpose of promoting health and strengthening intergenerational connections, the program has reached more than 750 seniors in seven nursing homes in Texas, Oklahoma, and Louisiana.

Anisha Sharma (Class of 2024) and Ananya Sharma (Class of 2022)

FA L L 2 0 2 1

7

College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars

College Board National African American or Black Recognition Scholars

SEVERAL FORM IV STUDENTS NAMED DESIGNATED SCHOLARS Several students were named for excelling on College Board assessments and in their classrooms. College Board National African American or Black Recognition Scholars include: Lacy Green and Katanu Ndambuki. College Board National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholars include: Victoria Chien, Haley Coleman, Cassandra Diaz, Grace Dorward, Carlota Fedorko, Olivia Garcia, Victoria Gonzalez, Genesis Flores-Homuth, Lucy Roberts, Jordan Stock, and Sophia Yung.

UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS EARN EAGLE SCOUT RECOGNITION Caroline Rich (Class of 2022) and Maya Dattatreya ’21 joined the elite inaugural class of female Eagle Scouts. Girls were only recently eligible to join Scouts BSA (formerly known as Boy Scouts) in February 2019. They were among the first in the nation to achieve this honor.

Caroline Rich (Class of 2022)

8

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

Isabel Bhasin (Class of 2023)

JUNIOR ISABEL BHASIN RECEIVES SERVICE AWARD Isabel Bhasin (Class of 2023) was selected as a recipient of the Rotary Club of Dallas Uptown's Inaugural Service Above Self award for her work with TR Hoover students in South Dallas.

Class of 2022 National Merit Commended Students

27 SENIORS NAMED NATIONAL MERIT COMMENDED STUDENTS Twenty-seven Seniors have been selected as Commended Students in the 2022 National Merit Scholarship Program. These students are among 34,000 high schoolers recognized throughout the nation as the top 50,000 scoring students who entered the 2022 competition by taking the 2020 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). The 2022 National Merit Commended Students include: Premanshi Agarwalla, Shree Allada, Paisley Brown, Sydney Eyestone, Carlota Fedorko, Sydney Ghorayeb, Anna Gum, Sidney Kronbach, Abrea La Grone, Hannah Lee, Elise Little, Juliana Lu, Julia Luo, Leena Mehendale, Avery Moore, Hannah Philip, Sophia “Sophie” Podeszwa, Gabriella Rees, Caroline Rich, Courtenay Sands, Mary Elizabeth “CiCi” Sprouse, Jordan Stock, Madeline Sumrow, Megan Vettoretti, Olivia Weeldreyer, Airu Weng, and Angela Yuan.

SEVENTH GRADE STUDENT WRITES NOVEL First-time author Naisha Randhar (Class of 2027) recently published Roses of Arma. This young-adult fiction, with two unlikely heroes on the planet of Arma, is available for purchase on Amazon.

Princess Ogiemwonyi (Class of 2023)

STATE POETRY FINALIST PRINCESS OGIEMWONYI Princess Ogiemwonyi (Class of 2023) was one of five finalists in the 2021 State Poetry Out Loud Competition.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

9

VARSITY VOLLEYBALL PLAYER SELECTED FOR MACCABIAH GAMES Olivia Wayne (Class of 2025) has been selected to represent the Maccabi USA Delegation on the U16 team in the 21st Maccabiah Games in Israel in July 2022. The Maccabiah Games are a long and proud tradition of Jewish athletes competing against different national teams from around the world.

FALL DEBATE SUCCESS This fall, the team of Cassie Liu (Class of 2022), Shree Allada (Class of 2022), Sherry Long (Class of 2023), Naz Soysal (Class of 2022), and Mili Pathak (Class of 2023) advanced to the Final round of debate, and the team of Eesha Neunaha (Class of 2023), Ayla Sumer (Class of 2023), Meera Thamaran (Class of 2023), Claire Zhu (Class of 2023), Sarah Zhou (Class of 2023) advanced to the Quarter Finals round at Grapevine High School. The team of Celine Ebert (Class of 2025), Carissa Ye (Class of 2025), Anya Ahuja (Class of 2025), Dithyae Devesh (Class of 2025), and Anna Crook (Class of 2025) won the tournament hosted at the Greenhill School, while the team of Isabella Moreno (Class of 2025), Vanessa Ma (Class of 2023), Riley Kim (Class of 2025), and Anastasia Romanyk (Class of 2025) advanced to Quarterfinals, Dithyae Devesh (Class of 2025) received the Top Speaker award at the Greenhill tournament as well. The team of Asha Gudipaty (Class of 2023), Neha Gottimukkala (Class of 2023), Julia Paek (Class of 2023), Aishu Anbuchezhiyan (Class of 2023), and Sarah Zhou (Class of 2023) advanced to the Semifinals debate, and the team of Claire Zhu (Class of 2023), Mili Pathak (Class of 2023), Sherry Long (Class of 2023), Premanshi Agarwalla (Class of 2022), and Shree Allada (Class of 2022) advanced to the Quarterfinals debate at the annual Newman Smith High School tournament.

EIGHTH GRADER PARTICIPATES IN JUNIOR OLYMPICS Sena-Ter Asom (Class of 2026) participated in the Games of Texas and the Junior Olympics over the summer. At TAAF Games of Texas, she made it to the finals in the 200, 400, and long jump. She received a Bronze medal and personal best of 17’+ in the 14 and under girls long jump. At the Junior Olympics, she made it to the finals in the long jump and was an All-American coming in 5th.

Sena-Ter Asom (Class of 2026)

10

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

Margot Meyer (Class of 2022)

SENIOR HONORED AS YOUNG WOMEN OF DISTINCTION Margot Meyer (Class of 2022) was honored by the Girl Scouts as one of three 2021 Young Women of Distinction and as a future changemaker of tomorrow. Margot used her passion for medicine and public health to focus her Girl Scout Gold Award project efforts on improving the healthcare experience for children and parents at DISD’s David G. Burnet Elementary. She renovated the school clinic by painting murals, acquiring new furniture, promoting their on-campus telemedicine program, and by providing a database of physicians to serve as resources to the Burnet school clinic.

"Friendship from Afar" by Sophia Foster ‘21

Anjali Konda (Class of 2026)

SOPHIA FOSTER WINS BEST OF SHOW

MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENT ANJALI KONDA PLACES FIRST IN KIDWIND CHALLENGE

In the 2021 juried exhibition and competition, “Black and Whites Images,” Sophia Foster ’21 won Best of Show for her entry, “Friendship from Afar.”

STUDENTS RECEIVE GIRL SCOUT GOLD AWARD Last year’s Girl Scout Gold Award recipients include: Avery Antes ’21, Victoria Chien (Class of 2022), Haley Coleman (Class of 2022), Elena Dewar ’21, Cate Goglia (Class of 2022), Neelam Jivani ’20, Juliana Lu (Class of 2022), Alexandra May ’19, Margot Meyer (Class of 2022), Sophia Pearson ’19, and Sarah Wright ’21. These young women partnered with various agencies including United to Learn, DISD, Hope Supply Company, and Oak Hill Academy, and dedicated many hours towards their various projects including healthcare campaigns, blood drives, learning gardens designs, YouTube learning videos, and multiculturalism programming.

Anjali Konda (Class of 2026) won first place out of more than 200 teams in the National KidWind Competition. Anjali “loved the opportunity to understand complicated parts of blade design (like angles of attack) and physically build things (like gearboxes). Renewable energy takes a step into the future, walking the line between providing people with accessible energy and combatting climate change.”

SEVENTH GRADER JAELYN LIU PLACES FIRST IN NATIONAL FENCING CHAMPIONSHIP Jaelyn Liu (Class of 2027) was recognized as the Y12 USA 2021 National Fencing Champion. Through her confidence, speed, and strategies, Jaelyn won all national gold medals for the age group of Y12, as well as the silver medal for the Y14 group.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

11

SCOOP PROTECTING THE MEADOW Mascot makes comeback, proving Daisies anything but delicate

By Maddie Stout (Class of 2022), Arts & Life Co-Editor Published in The Fourcast, April 16, 2021 The University of California Santa Cruz Banana Slugs. The Scottsdale Community College Artichokes. The Delta State University Fighting Okra. And of course, the Hockaday Daisy.

As Daisies, students stand alongside some of the most unusual mascots in the nation. Still, in the 100 years of the School’s existence and through multiple changes, they continue to thoroughly embrace the Daisy, their love for it only growing stronger.

While the mascot has a long history behind it, the original reason for choosing the symbol is unclear. Perhaps, as many suggest, the daisy was Miss Hockaday’s favorite flower, or it may be that she simply chose it because it fit with her name.

Regardless, former Athletic Board Chair Margaret Woodberry ’20 said the message behind the flower certainly encapsulates a Hockadaisy. “[Daisies] can pop up anywhere, from meadows, gardens, to urban areas or along roadsides. They are versatile and adaptable,” said Woodberry in a speech to the Hockaday community at the start of the 2019–2020 School Year. “A daisy is also known to grow in groups and spread quickly, just like our teams, and our Hockaday community as a whole supports each other and ultimately helps us blossom.”

Woodberry’s speech sparked a resurgence of love for the daisy, but the community did not always feel so fond about the flower.

“I remember how nobody used to want to be the ‘Daisy’,” PE coach Carol Thumlert said. “It seemed too fragile.”

Woodberry noticed this and immediately set out to change it.

She met with the Director of Athletics, Deb Surgi, the summer before her senior year, and the two worked together to find ways to bring the daisy back to its full potential.

“The first thing that we did, before the year even started, was start using the #GoDaisies on all of the Hockaday Athletics posts on social media, and we ordered the #GoDaisies stickers to hand out at the opening athletics barbeque,” Woodberry said. “That was the beginning of us starting to embrace the mascot, and it really set the tone for the rest of the year.”

12

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

Now, the slogan that most Hockadaisies would associate with our daisy would be “Protect the Meadow,” which also originated during Woodberry’s time as Athletic Board Chair during the Winter SPC tournament.

“It was actually a joint effort of the whole basketball team,” Woodberry said. “We were sitting in the stands before our game at SPC watching the St. Stephens Spartans play, and their fans would yell ‘This is Sparta!’ We were joking around throwing terms around and we started saying ‘This is the Meadow!’ and it really fired us up for our game.”

Since the creation of the phrase, “Protect the Meadow” has spread across the Hockaday community. At games, students bring signs advertising the slogan, and the hashtag makes an appearance on nearly every post on @HockadayAthletics on Instagram.

“Whether you’re the golf team, the basketball team, or the swim team, you protect the meadow,” Surgi said. “It’s really become the athletic metaphor for the campus.”

In 2020, the Athletic Department brought the daisy to the courts. In Penson Gym, the volleyball and basketball courts were repainted with the mascot on them as another way to further embrace the daisy.

Now, students are prouder of the mascot than ever: its revitalization in the past year truly proves the resilience and uniqueness of a Hockaday education.

“When I first found out about the daisy [before coming to Hockaday], I really thought that it made us seem very delicate, but that’s actually one of the reasons that our mascot is even better,” two-sport varsity athlete Landry Grover (Class of 2022) said. “Our School proves that the daisy is not just some delicate flower, and instead it’s something strong that can hold its ground and dominate in competition.”

FA L L 2 0 2 1

13

SUMMER STUDY GRANTS

LIFELONG LEARNING Hear from three of Hockaday’s summer grant recipients on their summer experiences

Middle School History Teacher Darin Jeans

DARIN JEANS MIDDLE SCHOOL HISTORY, 19 YEARS Darin’s goal this summer was to gain new knowledge and understanding of the events and people of the Civil Rights Movement. He drove throughout the southern part of the United States, visiting important landmarks and honoring those who lost their lives fighting injustice. He started at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas, where the Little Rock Nine fought for the enforcement of school desegregation. A stop in Greensboro, North Carolina, at the International Civil Rights Center gave detailed background information on the sit-in movement. He toured two of Martin Luther King Jr.’s homes and churches in Georgia and Alabama, the Freedom Rider National Monument and the Freedom Rides Museum in Montgomery, Alabama, the Voting Rights Museum in Selma, Alabama, and the Mississippi Civil Rights Museum in Jackson, Mississippi.

“Each of these places provided a wealth of knowledge that will now be integrated into my classroom,” said Darin. “A high point for me was seeing what local, ordinary citizens were doing to push the Movement forward.”

DR. JASON GOLDSTEIN UPPER SCHOOL ENGLISH, 3 YEARS Dr. Jason Goldstein received a Curriculum Study Grant to research and design a new Form IV English seminar, Women in Art. Students will celebrate women artists from the modern and contemporary period, studying their art and writings, both creative and expository, in tandem. As an English course, Women in Art will focus on understanding and creating relationships between images and texts written by artists.

The course will focus on one artist each class, and students will take active roles in leading a seminar, presenting the artist, and posing discussion questions about images and texts under consideration.

“In designing Women in Art, I have made it a priority to introduce students to artists with diverse identities and ways of expressing themselves through both a variety of artistic media and the written word,” said Jason. “In addition to familiarizing students with several of the most famous women artists, I want them to recognize that there are extraordinarily talented women making art locally.”

Luckily, he did not need to go too far. “In Dallas, we are fortunate to have vast holdings of art books at our disposal, and I spent most of my afternoons this summer exploring the stacks in Hamon Arts Library at SMU,” said Jason. “The education curators at The Warehouse, a rich collection of postwar modern and contemporary art founded by the Rachofsky family, also graciously opened up its library, enabling me to source some rather obscure texts. In addition, my research involved attending The Museum Forum for Educators, a week-long series of seminars hosted by The Warehouse, Nasher Sculpture Center, Dallas Museum of Art, Modern Art Museum of Fort Worth, and Kimbell Art Museum. These sessions inspired several maker’s activities I will incorporate within the course to allow students hands-on opportunities to experiment with materials and sharpen their looking and thinking.”

“Standing in the 16th Street Baptist Church where four young girls were killed by a bomb or Medgar Evers’ driveway where he was fatally shot was humbling,” said Darin. “But nothing drove home the human cost more than seeing the Emmett Till sites.

Being only fourteen years old, his story really resonates with my students.

“I returned home with a full notebook and a passionate eagerness to teach the Civil Rights Movement. I cannot wait to share it all with my students. This trip will have a tremendous impact on my curriculum. I thank Hockaday so much for giving me this opportunity.”

14

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

Upper School English Teacher Dr. Jason Goldstein

Jason also wants to enrich his students’ study with artist talks and visits to local art collections. He is collaborating with Talley Dunn ’86, owner of Talley Dunn Gallery, whose team assembled a series of artist talks with three women artists of color, Vicki Meek, Jer’Lisa Devezin, and Arely Morales. These artists will visit Jason’s classes from their studios over Zoom in the fall and spring, and students will also have an opportunity to visit Talley Dunn Gallery as part of their culminating independent projects.

Jason also expanded his partnership with the education curators at The Warehouse, and they will drop in on seminars through Zoom to lead a close looking and writing workshop based upon works of art in their collection.

“I feel extremely fortunate to be a recipient of a Curriculum Study Grant to aid in designing this course, and I am also grateful for the support and encouragement I have received from our administration and my department chair, Janet Bilhartz,” said Jason. “I cannot wait to see how students respond to this course, and I hope it will give them a solid foundation in interdisciplinary work with its focus on art, literature, and gender studies.”

EMILY RIGGERT LOWER SCHOOL ART, 1 YEAR Emily’s goal this summer was to augment her reservoir of diverse artists to interweave into her teaching at Hockaday while giving her robust exposure to new art and ideas. Her trip began in Bentonville, Arkansas at the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art and traversed to Santa Fe, New Mexico via Route 66, where she visited several art spaces throughout the city. “My personal practice as an artist fuels my excellence as an educator,” she said. "This trip also allowed me time to deepen my inspiration for my studio practice, which I am bringing back to my classroom as enthusiasm, rich lived experience, and commitment to modeling and instilling lifelong learning and curiosity in our Hockaday students.”

The artwork on view at Crystal Bridges showcased the rich traditions in American Art. A through-line in the museum’s galleries was the theme of representation and diverse perspectives on what America means to whom. “Seeing Romare Bearden’s work in person was particularly inspiring,” she said. “The depth of textures in the textiles reflected the depth of the American experience he depicted in his work. The winding trails filled with lush greenery surrounding the museum allowed me time to brainstorm while walking, stopping to sit, sketch, and reflect while surrounded by nature.”

Lower School Art Teacher Emily Riggert

From Arkansas, she drove across Oklahoma and the Texas Panhandle along Highway 40 and parts of Historic Route 66 on her way to Santa Fe, New Mexico. “There were vestiges of an America gone by: neon retro motel signs, burger joints, and ever-present wooden structures crumbling alone in vast fields surrounded by cattle,” she said. “I drove with the full moon rising behind me while the sun set in front of me. The part of the country where the southern plains begin to meet the desert.

I drove between day and night, between geographies, between history and future. On my right, a folkloric Texas windmill: old, and missing a piece of its fan, backlit and black with the immense sky behind it. To my left, a new Texas: hundreds of wind turbines slowly, gracefully churning, saluting the vastness of the sky as they turned ever onward while I sped past.”

In Santa Fe, she visited SITE Santa Fe, The Museum of International Folk Art, and the Museum of Indian Arts & Culture. There, she encountered a multi-gallery exhibition of Mary Weatherford’s work. “The paintings were expansive, as large as entire walls sometimes, and featured bright fields of overlapping color, embellishments with tubes of neon lights, and an almost luminous quality to the paint,” she said. “Seeing this show left me feeling energized to teach our youngest artists about her work and guide them as they explore color themselves. Weatherford uses a new type of vinyl paint called Flashe that I was excited to learn about and will be bringing to the classroom to use with students this year.”

The Museum of International Folk Art was another source of inspiration. “I came away with many ideas to incorporate into my classroom from new perspectives on teaching foundational elements to a variety of global folk art traditions to weave into my lessons.”

FA L L 2 0 2 1

15

ZOOM

The Fine Arts Department presented “A Year With Frog and Toad” in October. Based on Arnold Lobel’s well-loved books, the whimsical show followed two great friends – the cheerful, popular Frog, played by Juliana Lu (Class of 2022), and the rather grumpy Toad, played by Stella Sigurdsson (Class of 2022). The cast and crew built an outdoor stage and set in the Margaret Doggett Crow Amphitheater for three performances, plus a special performance for the Lower School featuring interactive elements.

16

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

FA L L 2 0 2 1

17

FACING THE COMPETITION Hockaday’s Varsity Athletes and Coaches on the Importance of the Athletics Cornerstone

18

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

"We know that Athletics is a powerful teacher of leadership, drive, problem solving, failure, and so much more,” said Deb Surgi, Director of Athletics. Surgi has been leading the charge to foster a cultural change in Hockaday Athletics since she began her tenure in 2018. She has placed an emphasis on spreading equity throughout all sports and integrating Middle and Upper School Athletics to create a unified program.

Hockaday competes in the Southwest Preparatory Conference, which has 18 member schools. Fourteen are coed, with four single-sex institutions. Hockaday offers 15 sports plus Athletic Training. At the end of each fall, winter, and spring season, Hockaday teams compete for the SPC Title in every sport except Fencing and Crew, which are not governed by the SPC. “Putting an emphasis on the varsity athletes will hopefully reveal all the hard work and dedication they are putting in,” said Surgi.

“At the same time, we want to create a culture where we don’t want the Junior Varsity or Middle School to feel lesser than, we want them to look at a varsity player and feel like, ‘She represents the varsity program, and I’m part of that program.”

Hear from some of our varsity athletes and coaches on what makes their Athletics experience special, what they have learned through playing a sport, and why Athletics is so important as a Cornerstone.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

19

CROSS COUNTRY CICI SPROUSE, Form IV I’ve been running since Fifth Grade, and this is my fourth season running for Hockaday. Cross Country has helped me learn a lot about how exercise can really change my own attitude and motivation to work hard. Recently, I completed a 30-day backpacking trip in the Pacific Northwest, which would never have been possible without the lesson I learned in cross country: that hard work always pays off. Last season was very tough for me because I finally learned of my anemias, which made it very hard for me to maintain my place on the team. I couldn’t run at all for multiple months, but my team supported me through this as well. Overcoming my fear that my teammates might not understand my inability to run meant that I can also trust them so much more now to support me through all of my challenges.

ATHLETICS IS AN ALL-ENCOMPASSING CORNERSTONE AS IT TEACHES SPORTSMANSHIP AND CITIZENSHIP TOWARD YOUR TEAM AND COMPETITORS, COLLABORATIVE SKILLS, AND AN INTERNAL DRIVE TO BE YOUR BEST SELF THAT I BELIEVE CARRIES OVER INTO THE OTHER AREAS OF OUR LIVES.

DIVING FIONA CHEN, Form IV It is easy to get in your head when doing dives, so it is important to know how to manage fear and anxiety. This is my third year diving at Hockaday, and when I first started, I smacked a lot because I didn’t know how to do dives, so I got massive green, blue, and purple bruises on my legs. I continued diving, learned the technique, and eventually became bruise free! Throughout my athletic career, I’ve learned the truth in the phrase “mind over matter.” The subjectivity of almost everything allows me to control my thoughts/ attitude and make a “difficult” practice less harsh. I believe it is important to have Athletics as a Cornerstone because an active mind should be paired with an active body. Beyond physical wellbeing, sports are a fantastic way to meet new people and create a sense of community.

FENCING TUKWA AHSAN, Form IV I’m a Foil Fencer and the Varsity Captain this year. When I joined Hockaday Fencing two years ago, the team was only about 15 girls. Going into my third and final season, I am amazed at how much the team has grown. Recently, I walked into the gym a few minutes late to see all 35 girls on the team this year standing in a line facing me. I love seeing so many people interested in the sport and genuinely willing to learn it, and I'm so glad to have witnessed such a large change in the program in these past three years. Although it sounds a

20

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

bit cliché, playing sports has truly taught me the importance of collaboration and teamwork. While I have participated in team sports like lacrosse and soccer that require a collective effort for success, individual sports like Fencing also require collaboration. I believe the energy of the rest of the team reflects the performance of the individual athlete. Though each of us fences on our own, the support and encouragement of teammates push us to work harder and approach difficult tasks with a positive attitude, whether we’re doing conditioning or fencing. Athletics complements the other three Hockaday Cornerstones because it helps each student realize their power to contribute to a larger team. Hockaday Athletics has taught me that the smallest things make a difference, such as staying after practice to help pack up, sharing words of encouragement, or thanking someone for their help. Hockaday emphasizes that whether or not they see it, every student has something unique to offer to their sport.

ANGELA YUAN, Form IV Practice and experience are important for sports like fencing, because though strategies matter a lot, reaction time and muscle memory are more significant at a higher level.

I’ve fenced for eight years, and three at Hockaday. Many qualities like perseverance and resilience in Athletics can also be extended into academics, and having Athletics as a Cornerstone reinforces those qualities that Hockaday helps students develop.

Savannah Frederiksen (Class of 2023), Sophia Clavenna (Class of 2023), Paisley Brown (Class of 2022), and Marietta Scherer (Class of 2022)

BASKETBALL ANANYA SHARMA, Form IV I’ve been playing basketball since First Grade, but officially for Hockaday since Seventh Grade. My favorite memory from Hockaday basketball was our away trip to Casady, during my sophomore year. The trip was a great team bonding moment, and we all left Oklahoma feeling like a close family, like sisters. It’s moments like that that make me love Hockaday basketball so much. The team energy is so important to our game on the court.

Overall, I’ve learned from playing sports that I am capable of pushing my limits and achieving. Sports have shown me that my body and mind are capable of overcoming both physical and mental challenges – all I need is hard work and discipline.

I can apply that same reasoning to my future. Life will throw me curveballs, but because I know my body and mind and I know how to push myself, I feel better equipped to take on those challenges.

Athletics, especially at an all-girls school, is important to show girls the endless potential within their own minds and bodies.

The world doesn’t always support strong women – I know it’s cliché to say, but trust me, I’ve experienced it first-hand.

Athletics teach us how to cope with opposition, how to train our bodies and minds to reach a goal, to win. It may seem like an obvious skill, but much of the adult world feels otherwise.

I consider myself a pretty independent woman, meaning I don’t like asking for help. I trust myself most, which isn’t a bad thing – in the real world, sometimes trusting yourself is the only way to get where you need to go. As a result, I tend to work alone, which is why basketball is so important to me. Basketball has taught me how to balance trusting myself and others. I still depend on myself, but I’ve learned that I don’t always have to place that pressure on myself. I can share the burden, because I’m not and never will be alone.

FIELD HOCKEY RILEY CARTER, Form IV I’ve played field hockey at Hockaday for four years, and one of the best parts about it is that I can meet girls from different grades. My freshman year I met Kate Clark, a sophomore, on the field hockey team and she became my best friend. Athletics have allowed me to make so many friendships, and taught me discipline and time management.

It allows people to come together and show school pride. For me, it also helps with burn out. Whenever I feel overwhelmed, playing sports gives me an outlet to blow off some steam, allowing me to regroup before my nightly homework.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

21

GOLF JULIA HAETZEL, Form IV I’ve played golf since Seventh Grade, and this will be my fourth year playing for Hockaday. My favorite memory is SPC my first year, because we really bonded as a team and it was fun to travel together. We haven’t been able to travel because of COVID, so I’m excited to hopefully be able to do so again this year. Playing golf has taught me how important cooperation is in general as it applies to many aspects of life.

Being on a team makes you understand your responsibility as a team member but also that of your fellow teammates as you work together. If I didn’t play my sport, I would constantly be consumed by academics and lose a healthy balance.

JULIA KATZMAN, Form IV Through golf, I’ve learned the importance of patience, especially when working on a new skill or adjustment. Practice takes time to make significant progress. I think Athletics are very important as a Cornerstone because they teach the importance of sportsmanship.

LACROSSE MINJE KWUN, Form IV The past two years have been really memorable for our lacrosse team. The silver lining of our 2020 season being cancelled was that we had nearly an entire year to prepare mentally and physically for the 2021 season. Quarantine gave me the opportunity to truly identify my weaknesses and practice individually. I finally had all this free time to watch more lacrosse games, to practice shooting the ball, and to focus on injury prevention. I know many of my teammates did the same. Individually, we all sharpened our skills, which contributed to our success as a team when we all came together for the 2021 season. When we learned that the 2021 season would indeed happen, with the SPC and State Championships on the line, we were so grateful for the sense of normalcy. And above all, we were so thankful for the opportunity to compete for the title of State Champion.

Following the cancellation of the 2020 season, we learned that we cannot take the opportunity to represent Hockaday Varsity Lacrosse for granted. So, we used this mentality of gratitude to work hard every practice, to win every game of the regular season, and to become State Champions.

Gracie Little (Class of 2024)

ROWING PAISLEY BROWN, Form IV I started rowing as a freshman, the time that most athletes are introduced to the sport. As far as position, I have historically been in the middle of the boat but recently I have begun bowing (the last seat in the boat, which directs and is responsible for the crew). My favorite memory from rowing was the Stotesbury Cup in Philadelphia this past May. It was incredible to be in the city and experience the historic regatta with my close friends on the team. The timing coincided with Junior Ring Day, so we had a celebration of our own in Philly and it was a very memorable night. I have learned hard work, pushing yourself, and the importance of people from my sport. The first two are inherent to rowing, which is a very physically and mentally demanding sport and requires a high level of commitment and determination.

One challenge in rowing is learning how to push yourself physically and mentally past what you think is possible.

The workouts we do always remind me that my mind will quit before my body will, and it’s exciting to see how much more I can do than what I originally expect. It is incredibly rewarding to finish a race knowing that there is not a single bit of energy or any harder you could have gone during it, that you emptied the bucket and left everything out on the water. Conversely, it can be very frustrating to get bogged down during a race and only after finishing discover that you had way more energy and could have gone much faster during it.

My valued time spent on the Hockaday team always reminds me of the importance of pursuing something you’re passionate about with people you love and support. While you can row a boat alone, you would be completely lost in this sport without a team.

22

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

JENNIFER JOHNSON

SOFTBALL HALEY COLEMAN, Form IV I’ve played softball for six years at Hockaday. Our team has developed a reputation of being mercilessly supportive and enthusiastic during games. In particular, once we were playing a team that was supposed to completely destroy us. But something strange happened.

Whenever we would go through our barrage of bad puns and chants as our batters approached the plate, the other team would be caught off guard. Their team was practically silent in the dugout, and they seemed unsettled by our enthusiasm, especially given that we seemed to have no hope in beating them that day. But soon enough, the pitcher started throwing balls, and our hitters started to send strikes into the outfield. We got on base, kept our heads up, and won the game. I believe that day, we won solely because of our support, which was an inexplicably powerful experience for me.

Most of the time, I think about exercise as something purely individual. But when I play softball, my goals become entangled with every other player’s goals. It doesn’t matter if I can throw down to second if the baseman can’t receive it. It doesn’t matter if the pitcher can throw a strike if I frame it as a ball. It takes humility to play a team sport. Whenever I need help, I have to ask myself what my teammates are doing that is better, and when I achieve a goal, I have to ask myself what I can do to help others achieve it too.

Some might say that running a lap around the diamond is significantly less effort than running a 10k by yourself. In terms of calories burned, she might be right. But the amount of collaboration required to read a pitch, receive signals, hit the ball, turn the corners, scan the field, and read signals is so much more of an accomplishment in my opinion because it is fueled by the support of your teammates chanting and calling plays in the dugout and your coaches. The perspicacity required to make any progress is a skill that is difficult to obtain in any other capacity, which is why it should be prioritized as a Cornerstone.

Assistant Director of Athletics, Varsity Field Hockey Coach How long have you been at Hockaday?

I’ve been here since 2003. I was a initially a PE teacher, then became the Department Chair for Health and PE, then the Interim Director of Athletics, and now the Assistant Director of Athletics.

How did you begin coaching?

I have always had an athletic background. I played field hockey at Ball State and earned my Bachelor of Science in Physical Education. My coach in college told me that Hockaday was looking for a coach, so I reached out and visited Dallas over spring break. The Hockaday coach was leaving, so the first year I was the Middle School coach and helped with the varsity, and then in 2004, I became the head coach.

What are the benefits you see for girls playing sports?

The opportunities the girls have – they get to do it all and experience all aspects of leadership. I believe that one of the greatest benefits of participating in Athletics is that the student-athletes meet friends from all grade levels in the Upper School. Also, the important life skills of time management, communication skills, working with a team, and dedication/commitment can be taught through playing sports. Examples of “real life” are always popping up within a team atmosphere and it provides them an experience to practice these skills.

What do you see as the future of Athletics and Wellness at Hockaday?

I see an exciting future for Athletics and Wellness.

The Land Use Plan to update our Athletic facilities has created a great amount of enthusiasm and spirit for Athletics. I hope the spirit continues and we continue to envision and build a program that includes our entire community.

MAIA HARTLEY, Form III I’ve played softball for four years at Hockaday. I think it's important to have Athletics as a Cornerstone because even now, women in sports are not as highly regarded as men. By placing a strong emphasis on Athletics in an all-girls school, we push against that traditional idea. In softball, everyone gets out at some point, and it’s frustrating, but the game taught me how to handle when things don’t go the way I planned.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

23

LA’BORIS BEAN

Strength and Conditioning Coach, Head Track & Field Coach, Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Basketball Coach How long have you been at Hockaday?

Eight years.

How did you begin coaching?

I always liked teaching and coaching. My first serious paid coaching job was the summer after my freshman year in college. I helped coach for a football camp.

At that moment, I knew my purpose. I had passion for what I was doing.

What is your favorite thing about working at an all-girls school?

I get to challenge the girls, and 99% of the time most of them do not think they can do it. But they can!

What is one of your favorite coaching memories at Hockaday?

Winning the first Track & Field SPC championship in the history of Hockaday.

What are the benefits you see for girls playing sports?

Athletics will help you work through the tough times in life! Life lessons are mostly taught with sports.

What do you see in the future for Hockaday Athletics?

I see Hockaday Athletics raising the bar. What Hockaday does everyone else will want to follow and be a part of.

SOCCER LEENA MEHENDALE, Form IV I’ve played Hockaday soccer since I was 4! I played rec soccer for the Wild and Crazy Daisies, Middle School soccer, and now in Upper School. Teamwork is the engine that allows our team to run. Each year, we take time to get to know our teammates both on and off the field. This creates meaningful connections between each and every one of us, which allows our team to play cohesively and also make some of our best friends. During both practices and games, all across the field, we encourage each other no matter the situation—bad pass, missed clearance, etc. We lift the team up and help each other rather than bringing anybody down.

This positive encouragement makes the good moments and victories even more important to us. Athletics is an extremely important Cornerstone because it provides another way for Hockaday students to discover new opportunities and establish connections with their peers. Athletics also allows students to

24

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

step out of their comfort zone by trying new sports and meeting new people. One of my favorite memories is winning SPC in 2020 at Hockaday with all of our classmates cheering us on. We had lost to the same team in the finals of the SPC tournament the year before, so it felt amazing to know that all of our hard work had paid off and led us to the win!

SWIMMING SARAH ROBERTS, Form IV I’ve been swimming at Hockaday for six years and competitively since I was five.

I put a lot of pressure on myself when I started swimming in Upper School, and it took a lot of enjoyment out of the sport itself. I’ve found that swimming for fun and trying my best is so much more fulfilling than stressing out over a personal record or getting frustrated over a bad race. Swimming is just as much a mental sport as it is physical, so this change really shaped me as an athlete.

I’ve learned a lot about time management, especially at a busy school like Hockaday. Between practices, homework, and spending time with my family, I have had to stay organized, communicate with teachers, and use the study hall time we are given during the day to my advantage. Athletics is an allencompassing Cornerstone as it teaches sportsmanship and citizenship toward your team and competitors, collaborative skills, and an internal drive to be your best self that I believe carries over into the other areas of our lives.

TENNIS LILI BECK, Form IV I’ve played tennis since I was 5 years old, and this will be my fourth year playing tennis at Hockaday. I used to only play singles so when my coach put me in for doubles last year I struggled at first. However, with practice I improved my doubles game and now look forward to playing both doubles and singles! Through tennis, I’ve learned the importance of teamwork because even if I lose my match, I support my team members by cheering them on because we can still win as a team.

KATANU NDAMBUKI, Form IV I have been on the Varsity Tennis Team at Hockaday since my freshman year and I am going into my fourth year on the team.

One challenge that I have overcome is learning to look at a loss as a learning opportunity and not as a reflection of my potential and skill because there are some days that I will not play my best, but I have learned to look at opportunities in which I could do better rather than constantly reminding myself that I lost a match. I’ve learned that you do not always have to win every single game or match. I look at every match as an opportunity to

Varsity Volleyball 2021-2022 SPC Champsions

learn from my mistakes and to grow further in my sport. I think it is important to have Athletics as a Cornerstone because it is not just about being an athlete, but sports encourage collaboration and healthy competition outside of the classroom as well.

TRACK AND FIELD LOLA ISOM, Form III I run the 300 meter hurdles, the 400 meter, and some relays. Our relay teams are never announced until about 15 minutes before races. During a meet last season, one of my teammates felt sick so I stepped in for her, even though I had just eaten a sandwich, which is not the best for running!

I twisted my ankle, but we qualified for SPC. Athletics is vital to balancing work and play in a school environment. It gives

48

THE NUMBER OF STUDENTS IN THE PAST FIVE YEARS WHO COMMITTED TO PLAY A SPORT AT THE COLLEGIATE LEVEL.

us healthy competition and creates closer ties than just being classmates. Through Athletics, I’ve learned how to channel my stress better. Also, I’ve learned how important teamwork is, even in individual sports.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

25

BOBBY PATTEN

Varsity Swimming Coach How long have you been at Hockaday?

I started coaching Hockaday Swimming in January of 2001.

Hockaday needed a coach to finish off the 2000–2001 season. I was hired and planned to coach the team for six weeks until the 2001 SPC Championships.

I’ve had the longest “six week” high school coaching career in history.

How did you begin coaching?

I started coaching and teaching swimming while in high school. I continued coaching while a swimmer at SMU. Over the course of several decades, I’ve had the opportunity to coach athletes of all skill levels from Olympians and world record holders to teaching middle-aged adults how to swim. Coaching Hockaday is one of the most rewarding coaching positions one could ever hope for.

What is your favorite thing about working at an all-girls school?

The student athletes are intelligent, willing to work, and above all, Hockaday swimmers are really good kids.

What is one of your favorite coaching memories at Hockaday?

After 21 seasons I have hundreds of great memories, hundreds if not thousands of personal best swims over the course of my Hockaday coaching career. Seeing hard work and dedication pay off at the end of a season for the majority of the athletes year in and year out is rewarding in and of itself. Knowing the experiences of swimming at Hockaday carries over, positively, to many aspects of a student athlete’s life for years after graduation and the goggles are put away.

What are the benefits you see for girls playing sports?

Sports represent a microcosm of life. Through sports an athlete learns dedication, focus, goal setting, teamwork, personal responsibility, acceptance and understanding of what as an individual you can and cannot control. No coach can promise a winning season. What coaches can deliver is the chance and tools for the swimmer/athlete to improve, they have to do the work. It’s about the athlete, not the coach.

What do you see in the future for Hockaday Athletics?

Athletics will continue to provide an important part of the educational experience for Hockaday students for decades to come.

26

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

Hockaday Fencing

VOLLEYBALL Audrey Gass, Form IV Through being a part of Athletics, especially at Hockaday, I have learned the value of a great team culture. It doesn’t matter if you have the best players on the court, what really makes a team is the energy, the support, and the passion each member of the team contributes. I’ve played volleyball for nine years, and at Hockaday since I was a freshman. Sometimes, I put too much pressure on myself to be perfect. By playing volleyball, I have learned that it is okay to make mistakes as long as you take them and learn from them!

One of my favorite memories is coming back and beating ESD last year in five sets. We were down two sets and they only needed one more set to win; however, my team and I battled back and ended up winning against one of our biggest rivals.

I think it is very important to have Athletics as a Cornerstone, because Athletics generate unity and school spirit among everyone at Hockaday. For athletes, this Cornerstone speaks to their team, their ambitions, and their accomplishments. For other students, Athletics are an opportunity to support your friends, your classmates, and your school. For any member of the Hockaday community, Athletics are a time for the School to come together, appreciate everything our School stands for, and to cheer on Hockaday to great achievements.

ATHLETIC TRAINING RACHEL JAN, FORM IV I’ve been an athletic trainer for three years. Athletic training is all about helping others. It's important to keep the ideas of teamwork, perseverance and spirit in mind -- all ideas that are essential in the Cornerstone of Athletics.

Since we are such a small group compared to actual teams, everyone’s efforts counted towards helping the coaches or an athlete.

BOLD

2021–2022 HOCKADAY ANNUAL FUND

Hockaday girls are bright, confident, and focused on their dreams. We are proud that our students have persevered through a uniquely challenging year and have proven

MAKE A GIFT TODAY

their resilience.

Your can make your gift in the following ways:

Each and every gift made to the Annual Fund is vital to

Make a gift online: hockaday.org/makeagift

our students and our ability to achieve our mission of

Make a gift by phone: 214.360.6583

educating young women to lead lives of impact, today

Make a gift by mail to: The Hockaday School Attn: Development 11600 Welch Road, Dallas, TX 75229

and in the future. The Hockaday Annual Fund supports the School’s operating budget in myriad ways and helps fund the true cost of a Hockaday education.

HOCKADAY.ORG/MAKEAGIFT

For additional information, contact: Mary Crain Roman ‘01 Director of Annual and Planned Giving mroman@hockaday.org 214.360.6583

FA L L 2 0 2 1

27

HOCKADAY ATHLETES

Meet Four Hockaday Athletes Competing Around the Country in Their Chosen Sport

28

SQUASH

DRESSAGE

ANIKA KAPOOR, Class of 2025 Anika trains five or six days per week, has qualified for multistate regional tournaments and is ranked #115 in the country in her age group. “The majority of players start playing squash at around seven or eight years old, while I transitioned from tennis to squash at the age of 12,” she said. “As a result, I have had to both rapidly change my technique and push myself hard to catch up with other players in my age group. Squash has taught me to keep a positive mindset in stressful situations. I now focus on having fun in anything I do, rather than the result.”

MK CONNATSER, Class of 2028 MK trains with her horse, Donny, six days a week, and gives him a long walk on his one day off. She’s been riding since she was three years old, and now competes year-round in shows.

She recently won the 13-and-under Seat Medal Championship which earned her a chance to compete for the national championship Seat Medal Final in Chicago next year. In August, she was invited to compete in the Festival of Champions (National Championships) in the FEI Children’s division due to her national ranking and finished eighth in the nation for her division. She also got to meet the silver medal-winning USA Olympic Dressage team! “While I would love to compete in the Olympics someday, right now I am concentrating on competing at higher levels and hopefully making it to Regional Championships and National Championships in the coming years,” said MK. “My sport has taught me patience, responsibility, resilience, and to expect the unexpected. I have also learned the importance of my relationship with my horse.”

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

ICE HOCKEY

ICE SKATING

ELLIE ABEL, Class of 2023 Ellie’s dream is to play NCAA hockey, and she’s well on her way! Last year, with a three-goal game in regionals, she helped her team win that tournament and advance to the USA hockey nationals. She’s also made two USA hockey multi-district camps. Training sessions are four times a week, both on and off the ice. Her team competes in girls’ tournaments across the country and in a local boys’ league. “Through hockey, I have learned all about facing adversity and how to get through tough losses,” she said. “I spent a year on a team that lost almost all our games, which taught me how to face losses and what to do to get back to winning. I also learned how to work well with others and how to treat opponents.”

SOFIA DE LA PEÑA, Class of 2025 Sofia’s day starts early, as she’s training at the rink by 6:30 a.m. every weekday. She starts with a warmup, then practices her jumps and spins, then learns new skills and techniques with her coach. Once a week, she trains off the ice by doing cardio and ab workouts to build muscle strength and improve balance and coordination. She participates in two or three competitions each year. This fall, she’s heading to the Nine States Regional Competition. “One of my favorite accomplishments is landing my axel, a jump with a forward takeoff from the forward outside edge of one skate to the backward outside edge of the other, with one and a half turns in the air,” she said. “Landing my axel took lots of dedication and months of practice on and off the ice.” Figure skating is not just a grueling physical challenge, but a mental one as well. “Figure skaters struggle with mental blocks, such as the inability to perform specific jumps or skills after suffering hard falls or injuries on the ice,” Sofia explained.

“These mental blocks are due to fear of falling or self-doubt of not landing a jump or performing a skill again. In this sport it is very important to overcome the fear of getting hurt. When I fall, I need to get up on my feet and try again and again. If I don’t push myself, I wouldn’t be able to make any progress or learn any new skills because in this sport learning requires falling on the ice!”

FA L L 2 0 2 1

29

Athletic Board Chair Minje Kwun (Class of 2022) and Director of Athletics Deb Surgi

30

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

THE HOCKADAY WAY Athletics as a Cornerstone

“There is an athlete inside every girl.”

If you’ve been around Director of Athletics Deb Surgi for any amount of time, you’ll hear her articulate her philosophy on Athletics often. In the context of Hockaday Athletics and Wellness, that means creating an environment for girls to learn to be proficient and efficient movers and work within a team environment to accomplish goals. It means creating a spirited, athletic culture where everyone feels a part of it, and ownership in all divisions, where everyone has a place.

“Regardless of what girls choose to do in the future, we know that Athletics is a powerful teacher of leadership, drive, problem-solving, and coping with failure,” said Surgi. “It creates an environment where leadership skills are tested daily. Girls learn how to compete with a team toward a common mission in a diverse setting.

They might not be friends with someone on the weekends, but they can unite toward a mission.”

CREATING AN ATHLETIC CULTURE Since she started at Hockaday in 2018, Deb Surgi has focused on creating an athletic culture at Hockaday, both internally and externally. “It’s one thing to go to a school and graduate, but it’s another to graduate and be in that school and love it,” she said.

“We support students and highlight them if they are in a sport we don’t offer. We encourage them and celebrate them. We focus on teaching young women fitness, and the importance of it is all the skills they learn in the fitness center. We want them to be able to feel good in their skin and confident. If you are physically strong, we want to build on the mind-body connection and give our girls the tools to develop strength.”

One way that Surgi has tried to build on that athletic culture is through the Student Athletic Board. Minje Kwun (Class of 2022) is this year’s elected Chair. “Our job is to show the students who might not play a sport that this is your School or your class, and that this is a way we can show school pride,” she said.

The group consists of representatives from each Upper School Form and encourages school spirit by working closely with the Athletics Department. They plan pep rallies for each season, create theme weeks leading up to each SPC tournament, and enhance the School’s athletic presence through social media.

“Coach Surgi has really encouraged us to think outside the box,” Minje said. “One of the things we are working this year is letter jackets! Also, we want to highlight different athletes each week on social media. This really helps unify all the sports into one Athletic program.”

For every Hockaday girl who plays on a team, there are more behind the scenes that contribute to the program’s success.

“We have statisticians, trainers, managers, videographers, and announcers,” said Surgi.

Flag Runners sprint across the field following a victory.

In 2018-19, she started a Flag Runners group to bring extra spirit to home games. Along with the Athletic Board, she started a Color Run, which is an on-campus event featuring a mile-long course to run or walk, along with food trucks, a wellness festival, and games. The focus was to have a community event modeled after the Daisy Dashes and provided a home opportunity to honor our cross-country seniors. “The goal was to just have fun together,” said Surgi. “It was so great to see faculty, parents, and students of all ages crossing the finish line doused in multiple colors.”

FA L L 2 0 2 1

31

Middle School students competing in the annual Green and White Day competition

WELLNESS CURRICULUM Athletics and Wellness is woven into the curriculum at all ages at Hockaday. Melinda Nuñez, Department Chair of Health and Physical Education, views Lower School PE as a foundation builder for a lifetime of movement. “We teach skills like how to jump and land, how to run, twist, throw, and catch,” she said. “The kids don’t even know how hard they are working sometimes because we disguise it as fun. As the skills evolve, we teach modified games and strategies and how to compete.”

In Middle School, that evolution of skills leads to Green and White competitions, where girls are placed on teams and compete throughout the year in different games. They accumulate points based on spirit, sportsmanship, and the competition itself. “It’s a huge community builder,” said Nuñez.

In the Upper School, girls start to learn lifetime fitness, strength and conditioning through different courses – spin bikes, cross-training, running mechanics, circuit training, and more.

32

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

ONE OF MY FAVORITE THINGS ABOUT WHAT I DO IS SEEING THE GIRLS COME IN LACKING CONFIDENCE OR THINKING THEY DON’T HAVE THE ABILITY, OR THEY AREN’T AN ATHLETE, AND THEN WALKING OUT WITH A DIFFERENT KIND OF CONFIDENCE.

FUTURE OF HOCKADAY ATHLETICS Coach Surgi and her team are always looking ahead to make sure they are providing exemplary programs that also meet global trends and the needs of students. “If they are interested in water polo, we want to explore that,” said Surgi. “We want to provide an Athletics program that surpasses the benchmarks in programming and facilities.”

Elia Stanfield, Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, has designed the course so that girls of all levels and abilities can find success. “One of my favorite things about what I do is seeing the girls come in not confident or think they don’t have the ability, or they aren’t an athlete, and then walking out with a different kind of confidence,” she said. “Maybe that means they can’t finish running a mile at the beginning of the year, but then by the end of the year they can finish. By the end of our course, the results speak for themselves.”

ATHLETIC STRENGTH AND CONDITIONING Along with training Upper School girls who aren’t participating in interscholastic sports, Elia Stanfield and the Strength and Conditioning team partner with the Hockaday coaches to keep participating athletes healthy and strong. She tailors her training to each sport, focusing on muscles or movements to prevent overuse injuries. Stanfield started as a lacrosse coach but was always interested in biomechanics. She later became a Certified Strength and Conditioning Specialist.

For the Athletics and Wellness Staff, defining success for the girls and the program is always top of mind. “For me, success as a teacher is when a girl does more than she thinks she can,” said Nuñez.

“Our community goal is to provide the facilities, culture, and programming that our young women deserve with a thoughtful and sustainable plan,” said Surgi.

“Athletics is the endeavor to lead a healthy, active, and balanced life. It embraces challenges and inspires us to display sportsmanship in both victory and defeat.”

“In Middle School, we focus on long-term athletic development,” she said. “Fifth and Sixth Grade works on things like change of direction. In Seventh and Eighth Grade, we ramp it up and start working on functional movement with free weights.”

Miss Ela Hockaday viewed Athletics as having a four-fold purpose:

In the Upper School, Stanfield designs specific programs that have to meet certain goals. “We have to make sure we are highly efficient and effective,” she said. “We only get these athletes for 30 minutes when they are in season. We have to replicate their training by focusing on high intensity, low volume movements that will really enhance their overall performance.”

• To train girls to be modest winners and courageous losers in games

• To put down intellectual snobbery by providing other areas of competition

•

To provide an opportunity for free movement in sunshine and fresh air, for laughter, conversation, and the exercise of high spirits after the restrictions of the classroom

• To promote a democratic spirit by developing the concept of equal rights and opportunities on the playing field that might be applied to life Of Hearts and Minds, The Hockaday Experience 1913 – 1988

FA L L 2 0 2 1

33

34

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

Our Third Color Run event was an enormous success!

Our Athletics Department welcomed 722 runners to participate in the one-mile walk/run, and the community enjoyed a performance by the Hockaday Drill Team, honored our Senior Cross Country runners, and celebrated after the race with food trucks, popsicles, and more!

FA L L 2 0 2 1

35

A NOTE FROM OUR BENEFIT CHAIRS Dear Hockaday Community, Get ready to make some noise at this year’s Benefit! We are proud to announce the 2022 Hockaday Parents’ Association Benefit – An Evening Pep Rally Benefiting Hockaday Athletics to be held at Hockaday on April 2, 2022. Proceeds from this year’s Benefit will empower and support our student-athletes by providing funds that will be used to elevate Hockaday’s fields and facilities. Just as our students “Protect the Meadow” every time they compete on the field, we have the tremendous opportunity to team up to support Hockaday and show the enormity of the spirit of our community.

This is an exciting time as we come together to plan an unforgettable Evening Pep Rally, including live and silent auctions, dinner, games, and surprise entertainment.

Throughout the school year, we have designed special community events leading up to the big night to generate school spirit and encourage support for our incredible Athletics program. Spirit Week kicked things off in October and was full of opportunities to show school spirit at special events like the on-campus Color Run, Green and White Carpool, attendance at sporting events, and additional on-campus student celebrations and special dress days.

Katie McLeroy and Anne-Marie Myhre 2022 Benefit Chairs

We are all proud to be a part of the Daisy Nation. This year’s Hockaday Parents’ Association Benefit is an opportunity to honor and celebrate the rich history of our Athletics program, while raising funds to improve the Hockaday fields and outdoor venues that nurture our Daisies’ continued growth and enhance programming and wellness. We invite you to join us for the Evening Pep Rally. Thank you for your participation, generosity, and spirit.

We can’t wait to see you at the Benefit Pep Rally.

Go Daisies!

Anne-Marie Myhre and Katie McLeroy

CK

AD AY

An Evening Pep Rally Benefiting Hockaday Athletics HO

SATURDAY, APRIL 2, 2022 AD AY

HO

CK

AD AY

OH

KC

DA YA

Tickets and underwriting opportunities available in January at hockaday.org/benefit.

HO

CK

Underwriting deadline is March 1, 2022.

36

H

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

HO

CK

O KC

AD ADA

Y

HO

CK

AD AY

HO

CK

AD AY

Land Use Plan approved by the Hockaday Board of Trustees in March 2020

UPDATE ON LAND USE PLAN FOCUSED ON ATHLETICS AND WELLNESS Jessica Epperson ’96 Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives We have exciting updates on campus related to Hockaday’s Land Use Plan focused on Athletics and Wellness, which was approved by the Board of Trustees in March 2020.

While COVID-19 threw us a bit of a curveball, our progress has not slowed.

During the summers of 2020 and 2021, we executed the first two steps of the Plan. The first step, which was completed in Summer 2020, included some enabling private utility work.

The next step, which began in the summer and was completed this fall, included the installation of a massive underground pipe system that now captures the public stormwater that originates north of Forest Lane and reroutes it east and underground to Bachman Creek. The installation of this pipe system allows us to abandon the drainage easement that currently bifurcates our campus, providing the campus with much-needed land flexibility and restoring approximately three acres of usable land.

Now that we have completed these first important steps, we are turning our attention to the next phases of the Land Use Plan focused on Athletics and Wellness.

WHAT'S NEXT? The next phases contemplate a new competition track with a turf field inside, two new reconfigured competition and practice fields oriented in a North-South configuration, an improved softball diamond, a cross country path that will circumnavigate the campus, spectator-friendly event access, and easy-access parking to enhance the full experience for students, parents, and families. The design also includes several outdoor classroom areas and a new Main Plaza at the intersection of the fields area, which will serve as a much-needed communitygathering space with a new concession building, as well as team facilities and storage. This new Plaza will be connected to the campus’ academic core by a promenade that will help galvanize and connect our community.

ORIGINS OF THE PLAN Ela Hockaday had a bold vision for her School 108 years ago when she designated Athletics as one of the Four Cornerstones. Our Athletics and Wellness programs include Physical Education, Health, and Recreation and directly support and cultivate many of the core tenets of the Hockaday student experience, including teamwork, collaboration, perseverance, and resilience.

Our School culture actively recognizes health and well-being as paramount to the success of its students. We embrace and promote healthy, active lifestyles through a continued commitment to health and physical education at all grade levels.

LEARN MORE Please contact Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives, Jessica Epperson ’96, at jepperson@hockaday.org or 214.360.6579 with any questions you may have regarding this project or to discuss opportunities to support this exciting initiative.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

37

SOCIAL IMPACT

FEEDING OUR NEIGHBORS Olivia Park (Class of 2023) Spearheads Food Pantry Project

“The students love it and keep asking to do more,” said Laura Day, William B. Dean Director of Service Learning and Executive Director of the Institute for Social Impact. “The faculty loved it because it was so tangible and close. It was such a fun and enjoyable project.”

About 30 Hockaday classmates and five faculty members spent nights and weekends outfitting the portable with shelves and cabinets. Art teachers and their students brightened the space with warm, colorful lettering to make guests feel welcome. This summer, Olivia designed and painted a bright mural on the wall to make the space more inviting.

The pantry is open Tuesdays and Thursdays. It is staffed by Hockaday students who volunteer during their lunch period.

“They’re very creative,” Marcus Elementary principal Jonatan Romero said. “I’m very grateful for The Hockaday School and the support and love they’re bringing to our community.”

Olivia Park (Class of 2023) at the Marcus Mart

Olivia Park (Class of 2023) knew that food insecurity was an issue at Herbert Marcus Elementary in Dallas and led a project to do something about it. She gathered students and started working to convert a portable classroom into a food pantry in April. About 90% of Dallas ISD students are considered food insecure, according to the district.

Parts of this article originally appeared in the August 2021 issue of the Preston Hollow Advocate by Jaime Dunaway-Seale, reprinted with permission.

Claire Cahoon (Class of 2022)

The Marcus Mart opened this summer and provides nonperishable food items to students and families battling food insecurity. It’s located at the school on Northaven Road but is open to anyone in the community who is hungry.

“Our campus is truly a neighborhood campus,” assistant principal Ruth Torres told the Preston Hollow Advocate.

“Our students live in the surrounding apartments, and their siblings go to Marsh or W.T. White. The goal is not to turn anybody away.”

Hockaday students stocked the pantry with items collected at school events. The Upper School amassed more than 1,000 items that were provided as admission to Fine Arts performances at the end of the year. The Middle School also pitched in by donating $7,000 in proceeds from its spring bazaar.

Hockaday is collaborating with community partners like United to Learn to obtain continuous donations so the pantry remains full throughout the year. It is primarily a source of food, but it may also have clothing, children’s books, personal hygiene products, and school supplies in the future.

The goal is to use Marcus Mart as a prototype and replicate the project at other schools that need help.

38

SOCIAL IMPACT AND SUSTAINABLE FASHION “In my Social Impact classes both this year and last year, I identified that there was a large issue surrounding sustainable clothing for teenagers. It has this dangerous stigma of not being very ‛cute’ or ‛trendy’ but in reality, many people don’t know where to shop, and this lack of knowledge is causing huge environmental issues. Working to solve this larger problem, I am in the process of coding and developing a sustainable shopping app that will make it much easier for teenagers (and people of all ages) to find the types of clothes that they would want!”

Claire Cahoon, Class of 2022

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

SETTING GOALS A Social Impact Project Combines Science, Engineering, and Soccer When Class of 2022 members Leena Mehendale and Jules Johnson started volunteering at Foster Elementary, they quickly realized that the students there were as passionate about soccer as they were. As members of the Varsity Hockaday soccer team, they had partnered with DISD schools as part of their Institute for Social Impact work with the soccer team, through repurposing practices and holding clinics. But in order for the kids to really thrive, they decided to fill a desperate need at the school – soccer goals!

“We looked into purchasing goals, but they are really expensive,” said Leena. “So we sent an email out and asked if any students wanted a STEM project!”

Leena and Jules researched the best way to build a soccer goal and had to consider multiple angles. “We had a limited budget, so we had to figure out a way to do it economically,” said Leena.

"The soccer coach at Foster wanted metal poles in the ground with cement, but they don’t have that stuff in stock right now!”

The duo headed to Lowe’s (six times) to experiment with PVC pipe and different types of nets. Jules’s interest in engineering kicked in to figure out the best way to design the goals. “I drew out three different designs, and we worked with the school so they could pick which one they wanted,” she said. “We sat in my driveway this summer cutting all the PVC pipe.” it took a while to nail down which net worked the best. “We tried deer netting, because we thought it would be strong,” said Leena. “It ripped a week later. Now we have new real soccer nets on the way that we bought online.”

Jules Johnson (Class of 2022) and Leena Mehendale (Class of 2022) at Foster Elementary

The project totaled about $300 for each regulation goal. For comparison, regulation goals cost around $4,000 new. Leena and Jules also mowed the lawns and painted the regulation lines so the kids could play and practice.

“The project unlocks a template for what we could build and do for schools,” said Laura Day, Executive Director of the Institute for Social Impact.

“We want to look at the rest of the elementary schools and build them if they need it,” said Jules. “This was the perfect project for us because we have different experiences. Leena handled the soccer part, and I was interested in the science and engineering. We really had to problem solve and work together. We are really proud that our skills came together to build something.”

“The other cool thing is that the girls at Foster are playing soccer too – for a long time it’s been all boys,” said Leena.

Since the goals will need to be replaced each year, the soccer team has started a new project. “Family or friends of the team can pledge money for each goal we score this season,” said Leena. “We want to raise money to buy real goals for them."

INSTITUTE FOR SOCIAL IMPACT + ATHLETICS This fall, the collaboration resumed between our Institute for Social Impact and our Athletics program. Each Varsity team repurposes one of their practices to serve the community. Our Fencing and Field Hockey teams both taught a lesson at Sierra Vista Apartments, and our Rowing team learned how STEM concepts can be taught using rowing ergs, and plan to duplicate this approach and teach STEM concepts to underprivileged schools this year. Cross Country spent an afternoon at Jack Lowe Elementary holding a running clinic to teach technique and have fun, and Volleyball headed to Wesley Rankin Elementary.

FA L L 2 0 2 1

39

40

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

FA L L 2 0 2 1

41

ALUMNAE SPOTLIGHTS

In 2012, she applied to the astronaut program and was rejected for her eyesight. “To say I was devastated is an understatement,” she said. “But today I can say that that was one of the greatest gifts of my life. Since then, I’ve realigned my life with my passions for creativity, human connection, leadership, team dynamics, mindful living, and building resilience.”

In 2015, she transitioned from her active-duty Air Force engineering career to the part-time Air Force Reserve, where she teaches leadership and professional development courses.

“As a coach I’ve experienced the awe-inspiring feeling of helping people rediscover their own sense of purpose, joy, and zest for life,” she said. “Writing a book has brought a whole new dimension to my ability to help others find their own way.” She is now a certified professional coach focusing on resilience, leadership, and success.

MELISSA CORLEY CARTER ’99 Author, Rocket Scientist, Air Force Officer and Leadership Coach Melissa had a rather unconventional Athletics experience at Hockaday. “At the time, it was the one Cornerstone that I felt I struggled with,” she said. “Yet as I look back, it was more integrated than I thought.”

She ran hurdles on the Seventh Grade track team, and at one meet, the runner next to her tripped and fell over her hurdle. “I stopped to ask if she was ok,” she said. “I’m glad I did, but you can probably imagine that competitive athletics were not my strong suit.”

As an adult Melissa discovered she had a passion for running, and immediately set out to run a marathon. And then she resolved to run at least six more: one on each continent.

After she accomplished that feat, she wrote a book about her experience, Running the World: Marathon Memoirs from the Seven Continents.

Beyond running marathons, Melissa’s career has taken her all over the world. In Fifth Grade at Hockaday, she decided she wanted to become an astronaut after an astronaut visited her class. She followed that dream for 20 years by focusing on math and science at Hockaday, earning two engineering degrees from Stanford, being commissioned as an officer in the Air Force, and earning her PhD in astronautical engineering.

90

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

“For a while I wondered what all the science and engineering was for if I wasn’t going to use it,” she said. “But in fact, my science and engineering background has informed my coaching philosophy, which is that resilience actually IS rocket science—and you can rock it! Rocket science is essentially about going from where you are to where you want to be, acknowledging progress and adjusting course, and letting go to lift off. That’s also what resilience is about. It’s what running is about. It’s what life is about.”

At Hockaday, Melissa learned tae kwon do during PE and continued lessons after school to earn her green and blue belts.

“What I loved particularly about martial arts was the element of service woven in,” she said. “I learned that the higher you rose in rank, the more you grew in humility. You learned to harness your strength in a powerful way, and yet you channeled it into teaching and serving those who would follow and learn from you.”

Melissa believes the underlying intent of athletic endeavors of any type is to grow resilience, camaraderie, connection, communication, leadership, and body sense. “I have the utmost respect and admiration for my athletically gifted classmates and every Hockadaisy who plays on an organized sports team,” she said. “I also believe that you don’t have to be on a sports team to be an athlete. There is an athlete inside every single one of us. Moving our bodies, connecting with nature, and connecting with our inner wisdom are wellness practices that are accessible no matter who we are or what we do.

“My current work as a life, leadership, resilience, and success coach is all about integrating Wellness into our way of being.

I’m honored to come full circle and represent the Cornerstone of Athletics for the next generation of Hockadaisies.”

RAVEN TATUM NELSON ’08 Professional Academic Advisor, Westminster College Raven Tatum ’08 always knew she wanted to work with athletes, but didn’t know the form that dream would take until she started her postgraduate degree at the University of Tulsa.

“I started shadowing my academic advisor because I felt that they played a huge part in me being successful academically,” she said. “I loved the relationships I was able to build with my advisors and the advice they gave me that helped me in my life outside of sports.”

Raven started her collegiate career playing soccer at Texas A&M University, after winning an SPC title in basketball at Hockaday. “I just loved playing with some of my best friends and making great memories in high school,” she said. “We always had a good time.” She earned a Bachelor in Sport Management degree at Texas A&M, and went on to earn a Master of Education from the University of Tulsa, where she also played soccer for one year.

After graduation, she accepted an internship at the University of South Florida, where she worked with the football team and the women’s basketball team as an academic advisor intern.

She then accepted a full time job at the University of Southern Mississippi serving as one of the academic advisors working with the football team. “During my time at Southern Mississippi I also worked with men’s track and field, men’s and women’s tennis, women’s golf, and men's basketball,” she said.

She is now at Westminster College in Fulton, Missouri, where she is a Professional Academic Advisor working with incoming students. “Seventy percent of the student body are athletes, so while I do not work with teams specifically, I am still working with many athletes,” she said.

Raven Tatum Nelson ’08 with the SPC Trophy

Another lesson she learned was to enjoy and appreciate every moment. “I knew that my soccer playing career would end eventually, so I wanted to soak up and be grateful for every chance I got to step out on the field and represent myself, my family, and my university and play the game I loved,” she said.

“I think it's important for girls to play sports because of all the different skills and values that sports can teach you,” she said. “I learned about teamwork, hard work, dedication, how to manage different responsibilities, and how to overcome different challenges and obstacles. Even though I did not go on to play sports beyond college, I was able to take these skills into my career and life after sports.”

While her career path has progressed smoothly, that wasn’t always the case for Raven. “I tore my ACL twice during my soccer career in college,” she said. “Recovering from that injury was so difficult both times mostly because mentally and physically I did not know if I could come back and be the same player. There were many setbacks during the recovery but with support from my teammates and family I just kept going until I got back to the player I wanted to be.”

FA L L 2 0 2 1

91

LEA LAFIELD WALSH ’03 Military Psychologist Sometime around age 12 or 13, soccer truly became the priority sport in Lea Walsh’s life. “Club soccer in Dallas was ultimately year-round, but I found Hockaday soccer to be incredibly important to my mentality,” she said. “The opportunity to play with great friends who I’d gone to school with for years made it unique.”

The team that won the SPC title her freshman year was one of her fondest memories. “That team was the definition of comradery between freshmen, sophomores, juniors, and seniors,” she said. “We had a mutual goal and we trusted one another. I will always remember taking ESD down! Team resilience is greater than the sum of its parts, and we proved that. It’s a message that resonates with me today, and one I actively teach.”

Her athletic experience played a primary role in her choice of colleges, as she chose Vanderbilt University and played soccer for four years there. “I knew that I wanted to play soccer at a high level in college, I also knew that soccer was not my life,” she said. “Playing in the fabled SEC was an incredible life experience. What makes it even more special is that I received a world-class education.”

Lea graduated from Vanderbilt with a degree in Psychology but was also burned out from the high demands of being a student-athlete. “I had always known that sports would leave an indelible mark on my life, and at this point, I felt I wasn’t done in that realm,” she said. She realized she could combine her two passions and went to graduate school at the University of Missouri, as it offered a degree in Sport Psychology. While there, she worked with Mizzou athletes, and studied along a trauma treatment and crisis track. She decided to pursue a Doctorate in Counseling Psychology and matched at Naval Medical Center San Diego and embarked on her Navy career as a commissioned Officer.

“The idea of serving my country and putting all my privilege and passion into that world, was the clearest decision I’ve ever made in my life,” she said.

She completed her dissertation entitled, “Combat and the Possibility of Posttraumatic Growth,” and has since been a military psychologist. She is currently embedded with the 6th Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina and was recently promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

“Hockaday prepares young women to take on the world at the highest levels and to leave a mark,” she said. “Sport is one of those levels. The teachings of sport are universal. What does it mean to be a part of a team? It taught me what my definition of success is.”

For those looking for a future in Athletics, Lea suggested looking within. “First and foremost, make sure you LOVE it,” she said. “Is it your passion, does it drive you internally?”

Lea was a four-year starter on Hockaday’s soccer team, where she led the team in assists in 2000, 2001, and 2002. She also earned All-State honors in 2002.

92

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

The other key? Always be on the lookout for mentors. “Nobody does anything great alone,” she said. “Mentors are the secret key to life. Whether that person is a teacher (at Hockaday or college), family friend, boss, peer, friend, coach; if they believe in you, it’s one of the most important relationships.”

She ended up attending DePauw University in Greencastle, Indiana and was a member of the swim team. She then headed to the University of Texas at Arlington to earn a Master of Science in Exercise Physiology. After a few years working as a Research Associate in a clinical setting, she decided she wasn’t quite finished with school and returned to work toward her PhD in Exercise Physiology at Texas A&M University. “I have always enjoyed working with athletes and wanted to get back into a lab,” she said. “I was able to work on research studies involving elite Division I athletes, recreational athletes, and community members looking to improve health and wellness.”

After graduation, she began working with the United States Army Special Operations Command on a long-term study to enhance physical performance of Special Operations soldiers while minimizing their risk for musculoskeletal injury. “It was through this experience that I was able to fine tune my personal research interests of injury prevention in sport, both through physical training and nutritional interventions,” she said.

JULIE KRESTA ’99, PH.D. Associate Professor of Exercise Physiology and Human Performance, Texas A&M University – Central Texas Julie Kresta’s goal throughout college was to be an athletic trainer or an orthopedic surgeon for a professional sports team.

“Then, I took my first course in Exercise Physiology and a whole new dream started to form,” she said. “I was drawn to the fact that I could develop new questions related to exercise, health, nutrition and wellness and figure out the answers myself by developing experiments.”

During her years at Hockaday, she was a member of the Varsity Swim Team and the Rowing Team. “Athletics have always been an important part of my life and I have had some fabulous experiences through the years,” she said. “I have wonderful memories of my swimming and rowing days at Hockaday as they were honestly some of my most favorite times. Not only was I lucky enough to have fabulous coaches, but the girls on the team became like a second family to me and I felt very at home and supported.”

Julie is now at Texas A&M University–Central Texas overseeing the new Exercise Physiology and Human Performance program. “I truly enjoy teaching and trying to instill in my students some of the same excitement and passion for exercise and sport that I have,” she said.

Being exposed to a wide variety of sports through PE classes at Hockaday was formative for her. “This is actually something I still talk about now that I have young kids trying to figure out their sport,” she said. “Not only was I able to try out different sports, but I was taught the rules and strategies of the sports.

That is something I truly appreciate about my Hockaday experience.”

Julie thinks sports are the perfect opportunity to teach young girls to be comfortable in their own skin, to be confident in their actions and decisions, and to be leaders. “A career in sports is challenging, fascinating and ever-changing. It will keep you on your toes because the field is always evolving as more research comes out. There are so many different career choices to pursue and they all need strong women in them. When I was first entering my field, I was pretty intimidated because it was a very male-driven field. So, I would tell girls to not give up and not to let that change your mind.”

Swimming played a large part in her choice of college. “I was fortunate enough to get recruited at a variety of colleges and my academic background on top of the swimming helped to open many doors for me,” she said. “This is also where my sport started to influence my career, because it was through my experiences and love for sports that I decided early on to pursue Sports Medicine in college.”

FA L L 2 0 2 1

93

LEADERSHIP TEAM Dr. Karen Warren Coleman Eugene McDermott Head of School Nicole Escudero Christenson Head of Middle School J.T. Coats Chief Financial Officer Lisa Culbertson ’96 Head of Upper School Laura Day Dr. William B. Dean Director of Service Learning and Executive Director of the Institute for Social Impact Jessica W. Epperson ’96 Director of Development and Strategic Initiatives Dr. Barbara Fishel Dean of Studies; Science Teacher Jill Flinders Director of Residence Life Emily Gray Performing Arts Chair Joan Guzman Chief Operations Officer Dr. Laura Leathers Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs Tiffany Nelson Director of Admission and Enrollment Management Randal Rhodus ’97 Head of Lower School Sara Stoltz Director of Communications Deb Surgi Director of Athletics Tresa Wilson Director of Inclusion and Community Amy Wintermeyer Assistant Head of School for Student Experience

94

H O C K A D AY M A G A Z I N E

BOARD OF TRUSTEES OFFICERS Nicole Ginsburg Small ’91 Chair Dr. Neelesh Mehendale Vice Chair John Donovan Executive Committee Chair Kathy Crow Treasurer Elizabeth Cullum Helfrich ’98 Secretary Kathryn Walker Francis ’94 Immediate Past Chair Shonn Brown Chair Elect LIFE TRUSTEES Linda Custard Lyda Hill ’60 James M. Hoak, Jr. Natalie “Schatzie” Henderson Lee ’55 Janie Strauss McGarr ’72 Margot Perot Ellen Higginbotham Rogers ’59 Richard S. Rogoff Barney T. Young

11600 Welch Road Dallas, Texas 75229 Telephone 214.363.6311

HOCKADAY.ORG

TRUSTEES Wasan Alfalahi Mary Anne Alhadeff Dr. Elizabeth Bennett Dr. Nancy Lira Bernardino ’97 Carla Bolden Lucy Billingsley Burns ’98 Taj Clayton Tricia Drum Davidson ’91 Landy Elliott Fox ’92 Helen Harris-Allen Ellen Haynes ’81 Heather Hays Ariana Viroslav Held ’87 Isabell Novakov Higginbotham ’98 Andrew Hill Arnold Holtberg Fallyn Gray Jones ’01 Jun Il Kwun Angelica Marin-Hill ’93 Monty Montgomery Guadalupe Mora-Duarte Marisia Parra-Gaona Kelsey Swingle Robertson ’05 David A. Roosevelt Jennifer Sampson Betty Schultz Miguel Solis Dr. Michael Sorrell Candace Campbell Swango ’84 Dawne Tribolet

FIND US ONLINE! facebook.com/ TheHockadaySchoolDallas instagram.com/ TheHockadaySchool

The Hockaday School 11600 Welch Road Dallas, Texas 75229–9000

HOCKADAY.ORG PARENTS OF ALUMNAE: IF YOUR DAUGHTER HAS A NEW MAILING OR EMAIL ADDRESS, PLEASE EMAIL IT TO ALUMNAE@HOCKADAY.ORG

Non-Profit Organization U.S. Postage PAID Dallas, Texas Permit No. 3457