Alumni Faculty Appreciation Award: Holly Steward

Faculty member Laura Moore and Ann Steward McGuire ’03 presented the Alumni Faculty Appreciation Award to Annie’s mom, Holly Steward, who was LA’s counselor for 27 years. Noting in her speech that Holly “gave us her all and then some,” Laura continued:

“If you take into account that Holly was the only counselor the school had from 1989 until 2016, tending to the social and emotional needs of, depending on which year you are tracking, 325-400 students and 40-60 adults who were also supporting them, that she was also able to involve herself so fully into the life of the school is not only unusual, it’s extraordinary … From 1998 until 2009, Holly and I collaborated and commiserated to make sure our own kids got through high school, despite the possibility that their mom might be around every corner. Holly navigated the mine field of being both parent and professional with typical grace and humor, particularly because Holly blended the two so elegantly.

“As she did with her own children, Holly treated every student with loving respect and measured expectations. And students respected her right back. What is more, they loved her. The number of alums who attribute their success at LA to Holly can be measured in the recognition she is receiving today, even if success for some of them simply meant getting through each day and finally getting a diploma … In her years at LA, from 1989 until 2016, Holly was instrumental in our school’s acceptance, elevation, and current singular focusing of health and wellbeing as central to learning at LA and anywhere — an innovation that has come to define who we are and how we work with kids.”

After Dan Scheibe’s traditional “State of the School” address and a remembrance ceremony in the Garden, many gathered on the edge of Murbach Field for a simple, moving ceremony in memory of former Headmaster Ben Williams, who died last spring. Among the speakers was Ben’s youngest son, Joe Williams ’84, himself a head of school.

Reunion Dinner under the tent (actually, under two tents on opposite sides of the sidewalk) capped a busy weekend. Mercifully, the rains held off, until the exact moment when dinner was to be served — in the small tent 100 feet from the main one! If clothing was dampened, spirits certainly were not, and the party went on well into the evening. Then, tired, but happy, perhaps a little wet, they winded their way home.

Amos Lawrence Award: Steve White ’73

The Amos Lawrence Award, established in 2004 to acknowledge and honor alumni for their outstanding volunteer service to Lawrence Academy, was presented to Steve White ’73, “in recognition of his amazing work keeping his class connected and bringing together one of the largest 50th reunions in recent history.” Including Steve, 39 members of the Class of ’73 gathered to be a class once more and to smile at slides of their (hirsute) teenage selves!