FROM THE PRESIDENT
A Letter from our
President
Ms. Peggy Slater As I reflect on the last year, I am beyond grateful for everything we have accomplished as a community, and optimistic for the year to come. The flexibility and creativity demonstrated by students and coworkers throughout all the challenges presented to them as a result of the COVID19 pandemic has been truly inspiring. Our school theme for the year was “Creating New Possibilities” and we lived it fully! I’m proud to say that initially, the abrupt change to distance learning in the spring was manageable because the technology was already in place and in use by many of our faculty. Your support made that possible. We’ve also worked hard to provide as much of the high school experience as possible from a safe distance. Delivering yard signs provided coworkers a welcomed opportunity to see students and families after weeks apart. And as we reimagined traditional ceremonies, parents and alumnae took on new roles such as leading the blessing at Junior Ring and presenting diplomas at Graduation. There have been many joys all along this complicated journey together. We have learned a great deal and see opportunities to create new traditions, new possibilities for the classroom experience and new ways to generate the financial support the Ursuline needs to continue delivering a high quality education. This year, our nation and community have again been faced with the issue of social justice, central to the charism of the Ursuline Sisters. My attention continues to be on having as many girls as possible experience the benefits of an Ursuline education, girls of all socio-economic backgrounds and races, and that Ursuline be a financially viable option for years to come. St. Angela tells us that when “the need arises to make new rules or do something differently, do it prudently and with good advice.” As I write this letter today, uncertainty regarding the pandemic remains, but it is clear that the Ursuline community will thrive. You are receiving this annual report because you have helped make it possible for us to live St. Angela’s words during the past year. The theme this year is “Together at Heart.” I’m confident that physical distance will not stand in the way of Ursuline students, families, alumnae and coworkers coming together to face all that comes our way with a spirit of service, courtesy, loyalty and courage. With tremendous gratitude,
Peggy Slater President
Scots Song 2019 A Musical Residency Written by: Mr. Jay Harkey The UA vocal and instrumental students once again participated in our annual Scots Song residency during the first half of October. This residency is provided by the Scottish Partnership for Arts in Education (SPAE for short). SPAE, under the executive direction of Diane McCullough, brings in teaching artists who are noted performers in the field of Scottish folk song and also facilitates fiddle residencies in other schools. We were delighted to welcome Jil Chambless from Tuscaloosa, Alabama back for her second year. Jil is a math professor during the week, but on weekends travels all over the country and occasionally the world singing and playing flute with various groups. This year the instrumental students were involved as well and worked to develop arrangements based upon the materials Jil sent in preparation. Our vocal students worked to figure out some harmonies, besides learning the tunes and lyrics to all eleven songs! This was our most ambitious program yet, both in scope and complexity of our arrangements. I was very pleased with how our UA students responded to this challenge both in terms of the learning process and our culminating concert with Jil. The songs chosen for this year’s residency represented a wide range from Scottish song repertoire, from the Robert Burns classic “Scot’s Wha Hae” (an unofficial national anthem of Scotland) to relatively modern songs written in the 1960s by luminaries of the folk revival such as Ewan MacColl and Ed Pickford. Other songs chosen were American variants of songs originally from Scotland that immigrants brought with them. We also paid tribute to Hamish Henderson, who is an extremely important figure in the Scottish folk revival. This year marks the centenary of his birth. We sang his song “Freedom Come All Ye” which is set to a Scottish bagpipe tune called “The Bloody Fields of Flanders” and is in a heavy Scot’s dialect. Even though the songs have their origins in Scotland they do not express a eurocentric viewpoint. In fact, the theme that runs through almost all of the songs is sticking up for the oppressed, whoever that may be, both in your own neighborhood and in our global village. Providing students with experiences of this type is an extremely beneficial component of their musical development and their overall musical and cultural literacy.
