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Ralston Hartness and Kyle Loechel are the first students in the area to participate in Hospice of Chattanooga’s teen volunteer program.
Sightings
According to the Hospice Foundation of America, Hospice is a special concept of care designed to provide comfort and support to patients and their families when a life-limiting illness no longer responds to cure-oriented treatments.
New Faculty, Staff for 2010-11 School Year
Three Seniors Earn Academic Accolades
Six new faculty members joined the Upper School for the 2010-11 school year, four of whom are McCallie graduates.
Nathan Bird was named a National Hispanic Scholar, Collin Cochran earned Outstanding Student National Achievement Scholar status, and Chiji Jon-Ubabuco was named a National Achievement Semifinalist.
Adam Caine ’89, Sam Currin ’03, Dr. Duke Richey ’86 and Tawambi Settles ’94 join Dustin Pierce and Limei Xu as new teachers on staff this year.
The National Hispanic Recognition Program recognizes less than 5,000 of the more than 200,000 Hispanic students for exceptional academic achievement by their performance on the qualifying PSAT test. Students must also have a 3.5 GPA.
Mr. Caine teaches wellness and coaches varsity football. Mr. Currin teaches English and coaches Middle School lacrosse; Mr. Pierce teaches math and coaches cross (Bottom L-R) Dr. Duke Richey country; Dr. Richey '86, Sam Currin '03. (Top L-R) teaches history and Adam Caine '89, Dustin Pierce, coaches track and Tawambi Settles '94. cross country and Mr. Settles teaches history and coaches varsity football. Ms. Xu is an adjunct teacher for Chinese, sharing time between McCallie and Girls Preparatory School. Other staff members who recently joined McCallie include Ashley Brandon, campus store clerk; Jim Daughdrill IV ’05, Director of Phonathons and College Age Alumni; Penn Garvich ’01, study hall proctor and basketball and football coach; Lacey Heftka, administrative assistant to Alumni and Annual Giving; Joe Painter, capital gifts officer and Jim Smith, an international recruiter. Suzanne Mortimer teaches Middle School art, and Elizabeth Forrester teaches Upper School molecular biology and AP biology. Both filled in at McCallie in the middle of the 2009-10 year. Dr. Geoff Starron returned to teach Upper School Spanish after a year of active duty in Iraq as a captain in the Army National Guard.
Middle-Schoolers Give to Jordan Thomas Foundation
Outstanding Students in the National Achievement Scholarship Program are among the top five percent of more than 160,000 African-American students who entered the 2011 Achievement Program.
Debaters Earn Academic All-America Distinction Seniors John Arnold and Austen Smith earned Academic All-America Awards from the National Forensic League. The NFL presents All-America Awards to students who have compiled at least 750 points in debate competitions to earn the degree of superior distinction in debate. Other criteria include: a GPA of at least 3.7 on a 4.0 scale, a score of 27 or higher on the ACT test or 2,000 or higher on the SAT, completion of at least five semesters of high school and outstanding character and leadership. Austen has accumulated more than 1,000 points during his debate career, and John has over 800. The pair captured the State Championship in 2009. They placed second last March at the NFL’s National Qualifying State Tournament and secured a berth at the National Debate Tournament this past summer.
Six Earn Hospice of Chattanooga Volunteer Status Six students completed 20 hours of volunteer training to qualify to visit Hospice of Chattanooga patients in area nursing homes. Junior Xiangjiu Wang, sophomore Jackson Houston and freshmen Daniel Condrey, Adam Connell,
Middle School students raised over $1,600 for the Jordan Thomas Foundation with a school dance. The Jordan Thomas Foundation raises money for children with traumatic injuries who do not have the means to afford prosthetics. This fundraising event was earmarked to help the foundation buy prostheses for children in Haiti.
Two Musicians Earn Honor Band Chairs Senior Robert Dann (top) was selected to perform with the Lee University Honor Band in November, his second selection to the group in as many years. Robert earned firstchair tuba and was one of only three tuba players from the area selected for the Honor Band. The concert was held on the Lee campus. Sophomore Brandon Bout (bottom) earned a spot in the Red Band for the East Tennessee School Band and Orchestra Jazz Clinic by placing third out of 19 tenor saxophonists who auditioned. Brandon performed with the band in January in Knoxville. His audition scores were based on two prepared pieces, a sight-reading excerpt and an improvisation.
McCallie Delegates Excel at Model UN Conference Junior Bharath Venkatesh was selected to serve as Secretary-General of this year’s Southeast High School Model United Nations conference, the top leadership position at the 2011 conference. Twenty three McCallie students participated in the SHSMUN summit. Last year’s event included nearly 300 students in 38 delegations. Model UN simulates the procedures used by the United Nations. Students play the role of ambassadors from a U.N.-member nation. As delegates, they research the culture, government, politics and issues of that country and then work to develop a variety of plans and strategies to overcome international issues. Bharath served as a committee chair, and senior Alvaz Kaukab was the Director-General, the secondhighest leadership position in the organization. Several McCallie delegates were also recognized for outstanding achievement at the 2010 SHSMUN including juniors John Giltner, Jakub Langr and Seung Moon Lee and sophomores Alex Elsea, Jonathan Lau and Grant McKown.
Mr. Thomas ’07 lost both of his legs from the calf down in a 2005 scuba diving accident. The JTF also benefitted from two other instances of Middle School generosity. Sixth grader Aidan Adair and his friends raised $400 at his Birthday party, and sixth grader Will Hopping donated an amount from his own money which was then matched by his parents Margaret and Hank Hopping.
Each student is assigned four Hospice patients whom he will visit at least four times per month and help with a variety of tasks including speaking and reading to them, journaling and offering support.
(Standing) Xiangjiu Wang, left, and Jackson Houston, right.
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John and Jakub were All-Stars, recognized as top-15 delegates and are invited as part of the SHSMUN team which will compete at the national conference in New York City in March.
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