REDISCOVERING
THE WONDER OF
THE THEATRE
What do you remember most about elementary, middle, or upper school? Or, if your memory is really good, your Early Childhood experience? Most of us would harken back to a favorite teacher or a time when we succeeded, achieved something special, or experienced pure joy. I often reflect on my elementary school days, in particular my third grade class with Mrs. Gould – my favorite teacher. Of all my teachers from childhood, I most remember her investment in building my love of reading. In addition to discussing the books we read for class, Mrs. Gould always asked what I was reading outside of school. She encouraged me to explore our library for books that challenged me as a reader and engaged my imagination, and I’m certain that her work with me built a foundation for my lifelong love of learning. I’m truly grateful for Mrs. Gould’s support and interest in helping me grow as a person beyond her classroom. Here at Country Day, we hope memories of special times and relationships are too many to note or name. Our focus on individualized instruction within a nurturing environment ensures our students are known, challenged, and appropriately supported. Every student benefits from the myriad opportunities presented to them through our rigorous academic program, 50 athletic teams, immersion in the arts, and participation in service projects. This issue of Comments Magazine shares just some of the ways we help form our students, including those “ordinarily special” moments that happen each day. It also highlights some of the new experiences our faculty, staff, and students took part in during the COVID-19 pandemic. As our community navigated the last eighteen months, one thing is certain, our students’ tackled unique challenges with poise, adaptability, and resilience. Turn the page and see for yourself. Then, we hope you’ll visit us. We are proud of the memories we make each day and look forward to sharing them with you through this publication and in person for many, many more years to come. Sincerely,
Rob Hereford Head of School
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Read this issue of Comments magazine online at mpcds.com/comments.
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COMMENTS MAGAZINE 2021
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS
Rob Hereford
Rob Hereford
Mike Miley
Shay Steckler, 2002
Mimi Odem
Reed Green
Steven Donnelly
Lori Gordillo
Michelle Haysley
Head of School
Head of School
Lori Gordillo
Middle School French Teacher
Director of Development
Julie Bordes
Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Editor, Comments 2021
Coordinator of Admissions and Outreach Director of Development
Jennifer Sciortino
Director of Teaching and Learning
Howard Hunter, 1975 Academic Dean
Sean Patterson
Middle and Upper School Drama Teacher
Blythe Bouza
Upper School English Teacher Lower School Principal Middle and Upper School Visual Arts Teacher Middle and Upper School Visual Arts Teacher
Courtney Couvillon
Upper School Learning Specialist
Rebecca Coatney
Middle School Mathematics Teacher
Class of 2021
BOARD OF TRUSTEES Mrs. Rachael Gambel 1987 Chair Mrs. Jennifer Heebe Vice-Chair Mrs. Dathel Georges 1986 Secretary
Mr. Greg Feirn Dr. Shammi Gupta Mr. Odom Heebe, Jr. 1985 Dr. Suma Jain Mr. John Kazour
Mrs. Yvette Jones Treasurer
Mr. John Little III 1962
Mr. Rob Hereford Head of School
Mrs. Heidi Morse
Mrs. Tara Luparello Parents’ Association President
Mr. Franco Valobra
Mrs. Elaine Montgomery Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees Ms. Blair Price 2010 Alumni Board President Mr. Jim Rogers Dads’ Club President
Mr. Jamar McKneely Mrs. Robyn Schwarz Mr. Jake Weinstock 2009 Mrs. LaTresha White Mr. Paxton White 1995
Country Day accepts qualified students without regard to race, color, disability, gender, sexual orientation, religion, national or ethnic origin.
METAIRIE PARK COUNTRY DAY SCHOOL
Table of Contents
Community in the Time of COVID
Land of Dreams
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16 Rediscovering the Wonder of the Theatre
The Human Psyche in American Film
26
24 Conversations with Mike Miley
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38 College Acceptances
Athletic Awards
The Al Moore Endowed Fund
Academic Awards
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20 Importance of Parent Teacher Relationship
Get to Know Rob Hereford
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34 Find Your Voice: An Artistic Exploration
Student Art
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11
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O-YES Turns 25
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44 ReZOOMions & Alumni Weekend
Faculty Fellows
f o d n a L s m a e r D eckle ay St by Sh
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d r, Mid
le
ch l Fren Sch o o
e Teach
r
Palm trees hang from the ceiling while lotus blossoms appear to float on the floor. A fullsized bed is replete with stacks upon stacks of magical and mythical books: A Book of Brave Deeds, The Merry Maker, Dragon Seed and The Good Earth. Gumball machine dioramas present different vignettes: “Time Flies” is a collection of watch faces and gears supporting a bird’s nest with a cracked egg that contains more gears. Along the walls are collages of Audubon Park, City Park, and Bayou St. John interspersed with old photographs ranging from New Orleans women in the 1920s to snapshots of children playing in the lush flora of the city. The Tarpon Rodeo of 1959 and the integration of the Audubon Pool in 1969 are projected as videos. Spanning fifty-seven feet along the back wall is a panorama collage of enlarged postcard prints of Pontchartrain Beach and Bali Ha’i with revelers of all ages, races, and time periods. From September 2020 to March 2021, tucked inside the Historic New Orleans Collection, itself a dreamscape on Royal Street, one could find Susan Gisleson’s Land of Dreams art installation. This was the Country Day Creative Arts director’s largest installation to date. It evoked a humid and lush New Orleans summer, but more than anything, it evoked wonder. In her art, Susan tries to capture wonder, that spontaneous and fleeting feeling. For this installation, she was inspired by a photograph of Pennyland, a bygone French Quarter arcade featured in Confederacy of Dunces. After doing further research, she found a Tennessee Williams’ recording of him on a machine at Pennyland singing and joking with Pancho Rodriguez. “It was an epiphanic moment of the importance of amusements - the joy and wonder they bring - from the smallest currency, the penny.” For Susan, a penny in a gumball machine or arcade game could create that sense of wonder she sought. Land of Dreams captured “moments frozen in time, memories, and poems.” Her installation was to run for six weeks in the summer of 2020, but in the spring when installation was to begin, the world came to a halt. She used the time to continue to create and add to her love letter to a New Orleans summer. Susan sought solace from the chaos of the pandemic in the HNOC’s vast collection of virtual resources including those old photographs she used in the collages. Falling into a rabbit hole of images of New Orleans from the last century, Susan says, “was like having dessert for breakfast, lunch, and dinner.” Land of Dreams was meant to be seen as a form of escapism, and working on it was a means of escaping the reality of a virus-stricken world. Time was suspended as she poured through photograph after photograph with a deadline that had disappeared into an unknown void. Along with creating wonder, suspending time was also at the heart of Land of Dreams. The bed represented an escape into a timeless world of dreams. Susan coupled this with the magical essence of a New Orleans summer, which itself feels devoid of the constraints of time. “Don’t you just love those long rainy afternoons in New Orleans when an hour isn’t just an hour, but a little piece of eternity dropped into your hands, and who knows what to do with it?” Blanche DuBois quips in A Streetcar Named Desire. There’s something about daily changes in weather, school being out, and the slow pace, perhaps caused by the sweltering humidity, that makes one think of Salvador Dali’s The Persistence of Memory. Perhaps this is apropos as the principal element of her installation was collage. Collage as an art form came from Surrealism, an art movement that was a reaction to World War I. Surrealist images are seemingly a chaotic mélange, yet they are anything but. They are an attempt to understand a profound sadness. How does one create order and meaning out of something so dark? Susan’s installation was no different. A happy, nostalgic feeling could be created because it was fueled by the opposite. As much as Land of Dreams presented a romanticized, idealized New Orleans summer, it also presented the city’s racial tensions and struggles with global warming. The juxtaposition of the two was where Susan excelled at getting the viewer to wonder and then to reflect, learn and hopefully grow, change, and evolve. Land of Dreams was installed in July 2020 where it sat unattended for almost three months. Once it did open in September, it was forced to shut down three times during its six-month run. The proverbial question of “is the tree really falling in a forest” comes to mind. Is art art at all if no one is there to see it? A penny can be a coin to be discarded, a token of luck, or the chance at a prize from an arcade game. So too, art is what we make of it. It requires a perspective to give it life. “It was hysterical, beautiful, and sad,” says Susan about her installation. The Historic New Orleans Collection wanted to showcase a gathering space, and Susan gave us a space to collectively gather via our shared experiences of a New Orleans summer - all the good and bad memories, suspended in time as collage, flora, books, and dioramas.
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Nothing signified the end of a successful school year like our Graduation Ceremony. Graduates on stage, their families in the audience, all surrounded by the beauty of our campus, there is nothing quite like it. This year, however, there was added flair! Fireworks ended the celebration in a most appropriate fashion, surprising our graduates and their families with a colorful show of wonder!
COMMUNITY IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 by Reed Green, Coordinator of Admissions and Outreach
For most schools, having on-campus, robust learning this year was almost impossible due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Though some schools were able to successfully have teachers and students together in classrooms, they found themselves unable to do much more. A “whole child” educational experience risked taking a back seat to maintaining academic excellence during a time in which many students were falling behind due to an inability to learn consistently and in-person since March 2020. Through true grit and determination, Country Day was able to open as scheduled for the 2020-2021 school year and offer all students the opportunity to learn in-person and oncampus. The option of virtual learning, for any family that did not feel comfortable having their child attend in-person, was also offered. This meant that faculty and staff had to take on new and numerous roles to meet the needs of students and families. More than ever, we harkened back to the school’s mission, focusing on the word community. For years, Country Day has found itself best defined by that important word - community. Anyone who tours the campus will inevitably hear it; if not from an admission officer then from a student or faculty member. Undoubtedly, if you ask anyone to name their favorite thing about Country Day you will hear, “The community!” (And then probably, “Donut Day!”) When applicant families are surveyed about their admission experience and asked to name what most impressed them about Country Day, they always mention the community. To be honest, to those of us in admission
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and marketing, this can be a little frustrating. It is hard to showcase something so prevalent and obvious but also so tightly intermingled in all Country Day has to offer. That’s often why we invite guests to “come inside” and experience Country Day for themselves. If you delve a little deeper into this simple word, you can see what makes it emblematic of Country Day. The Online Etymology Dictionary shares a broad history of the word and its meaning. Most people would probably agree with the Old French communité and the associative meanings of “commonness” and “everybody.” What is probably more accurate is the Latin communitatem which is a noun of quality meaning “fellowship” and later the English the meaning “common possession or enjoyment” from c. 1400. At Country Day, our fellowship comes from our common enjoyment of it as a place that goes beyond being a school. When times get challenging, we all do what needs to be done to keep this place going. This is true of our parents who volunteered to deliver gifts, drop off dinners, and stock the faculty and staff lounge with goodies; of the faculty and staff who took turns serving lunch, taking temperatures, and helping with recess duty; of the students who learned new ways to stay connected when necessary, and who managed throughout it all to do it with a smile on their faces. It takes a community to make the magic happen, and here at Country Day, we have the very best one. We do not need a pandemic to know this, but when times get tough, our community is what makes the difference.
CAPSTONE SHOWCASE We are proud of our seniors for the work they put into their Capstone research projects as well as those who were recognized in the Capstone Showcase. Country Day’s Global Humanities course is an academic rite-of-passage for every senior. It is a challenging, thoughtprovoking class that asks students to consider what it means to be human. Seniors explore big ideas, ask difficult questions, and hone critical-thinking skills while learning about human origins, belief systems, conflicts, and cultures throughout history. The culminating project is the Capstone research paper and presentation. Last spring, four students were chosen to present: Lauren Perlis (Humanitarian Award), Rayne Swanson (Best Research Award), Ryan Cooper (Best Writing Award), and Grayson Myers (Best Overall Award). Blythe Bouza was also honored with the Spirit of the Humanities Award honoring Betsy Petersen.
PARENTS’ ASSOCIATION SUPPORT Country Day’s Parents’ Association supported the School’s traditions and began new ones as they continued to raise funds that ultimately benefit our students. From Front Circle To Go meal deliveries in Chandler Circle to a sold out Tennis Tournament, their generous support and perseverance acts as a perfect example of adaptability and resilience.
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VIRTUAL CHORALE Last spring, Middle and Upper School Music Teacher Mrs. Laurie Gardner (Class of 1985) shared our Advanced Chorale's virtual rendition of Somewhere Over the Rainbow/What a Wonderful World. Each student recorded their part individually and then added it to the accompaniment played by Cameron Barrett, Virginia Vaughn, and Ellie Lee on ukuleles. According to Mrs. Gardner, "I am so pleased with their efforts and the outcome. These students persevered in a challenging, frustrating, and often surprisingly fun, year."
FRENCH THEATRICS 7th grade honors French students spent the spring semester reading an abridged version of La Tulipe Noire by Alexandre Dumas (famed author of The Count of Monte Cristo and the Three Musketeers). They then performed a theatrical version of the story on Founders' Terrace for their peers and some lucky adults on campus who were able to enjoy this tour de force popup performance.
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ARTS FEST Arts Fest showcased the arts across all disciplines and grade levels in a “Jazz Fest” inspired day oncampus! Students participated in printmaking, ceramics, glass blowing, a dance workshop, a furniture expo, a drama production, and more than 25 other exhibits and interactive activities. Chef Mark even brought an array of "arts fest" foods for the students to learn how to cook.
LISTENING TO AMERICA
PRIDE@PREJUDICE
What do Miles Davis, Billie Holiday, Nina Simone, Jelly Roll Morton, Jimmie Rodgers, Patsy Cline, and Johnny Cash have in common? They were all featured in Season 3 of Listening to America, a podcast series developed by Mr. Miley’s American Literature students. Along with the novels and poems read in Mr. Miley's class, these musicians' catalogs serve as texts through which students explore the idea of what it means to be an American. Each episode is a culmination of weeks of research, scripting, and sound design that bring the music and legacy of these iconic American artists to life. Listening to America is currently streaming on The Bright Podcast, available at brightpodcast.com, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
The Spring 2021 Upper School Drama production was Pride@Prejudice by Daniel Elihu Kramer. The play included a playful deconstruction of Jane Austen's enduring Regency romance Pride and Prejudice, filtered through the lens of digital communication. Using blog posts, internet searches, and even Austen's own letters, a troupe of actors reinterpreted the classic novel for a new era. As with the Fall 2020 production of Clue!, Pride@Prejudice was presented in a virtual format, allowing watchers to view the production from the comfort and safety of their own home. The production featured the on-and off-camera talents of Minnie Mae August, EmmaJane Bauer, Emma Bellaire, Olivia Bouy, Caroline Cvitanovich, Aliya Eissa, Anna Hayne, Julianna Holley, Jhanvi Honoré, Ellie Lee, William Messersmith, Julia Mueller, Grayson Myers, Collin Neece, Willie Odem, Margo Thionville, and Sophie Wyatt.
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THE CONSTITUTION IS DEMOCRACY'S INSTRUCTOR'S MANUAL Challenge: To build a Lego set WITHOUT its instruction manual. That’s what students in Ms. Gentinetta's class were tasked to do, except only a few were privileged to have been given the manual. As students discovered, building Baby Yoda or The Mandalorian without full knowledge of its design is far more difficult a task. So what was the take away related to the Constitution?... How hard it is to build democracy without knowledge of the Constitution.
MARDI GRAS AT COUNTRY DAY Country Day held Pre-K and Kindie Drive-Through Mardi Gras Parades in Chandler Circle in February 2021, complete with student-made floats, music, masks, throws, and very happy Pre-K/K students. After the parent drive-through parade, students from our Lower School and our Seniors walked and danced by their classmates. The School was also decorated for Yardi Gras!
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The Al Moore Endowed Fund
Country Day has always known that its faculty members are among its most treasured resources. When we speak to alumni across the decades, conversation often turns to a faculty member who has touched the lives and hearts of so many of us... Mr. Al Moore. Just saying his name probably brings back memories of the songs he taught us to sing, the stories he told around his lunch table, and the adventures he made possible for us at Country Day. In recognition of the enormous impact Al Moore had on the lives of decades of Country Day alumni, we established an endowed fund in his memory. The Al Moore Endowed Fund will support professional development opportunities for Country Day faculty. Professional development is the lifeblood of sustaining and growing a faculty that is well versed on the latest pedagogy and the art of teaching. These professional development opportunities might include things such as conferences, workshops, study towards the pursuit of an advanced degree, or visits to schools that embody best practices. The Al Moore Endowed Fund will ensure that Mr. Moore’s teaching legacy is honored in perpetuity and that future generations of Country Day teachers will practice the craft he so loved. We invite you to join us in making a donation to support the Al Moore Endowed Fund by using the enclosed giving envelope or by making a gift online at www.mpcds.com/almoorememories. While you are visiting the website, please share your memories of Al Moore and enjoy listening to some of his songs. Mr. Moore’s legacy lives on in our lives, and this endowed fund will ensure that his legacy of great teaching will live on for future generations of students and faculty as well. COUNTRY DAY
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2020-2021 Academic Awards
Why Academic Awards? by Howard Hunter, Academic Dean
I’d like to start by posing a question, which is why are we here? It might seem existential but it’s more elemental. After all, if I draw a salary and you get academic credit, then to be honest we should justify this thing called school. Your response might be, “well, my parents put me here and the state requires it.” Fair enough. Then there is what I call the whatever response, “I’m in school to get the grades to get into college, to find the right internship and then land a job that pays well after graduation.” This is the “un”cosmic wheel, education as one big transaction. The writer Jim Harrison referred to this as consensus existence; safe, boring, and insipid, the dining equivalent of SpaghettiOs out of the can. But there is a way out of the quotidian and it’s called the liberal arts, which includes the humanities, the math/ sciences and the visual/performing arts. The liberal arts are an invitation to become. The liberal arts curriculum in the medieval world was defined as that which befits a free man or in rare cases in those days a free woman. While liberal arts curricula have changed over the years — for example astrology has gone by the wayside, and science is no longer the handmaid of alchemy, the notion that education can lead to human freedom has not changed much. And this freedom is a freedom to make sense of things; be it the physical world or the human condition. The liberal arts fuel independent thought in which one can see through shibboleths and superstition that imprison the human spirit. Moreover, the liberal arts hone our ability to distinguish between truth and falsehood, between reason and sophistry, between substance and fluff, and between the beautiful and the tawdry. No doubt one needs to be educated to find a place in a world experiencing exponential change. But a liberal arts education goes beyond the utilitarian. As the late president of Georgetown Timothy Healy surmised, a contemplative curriculum …bears little relation to careers to the grim business of earning a living. It is intended to foster discrimination, to reduce arrogance, and to curb the threat of energetic folly. The liberal arts are hardly random — they exist as a way for us to become our better selves. And in a complex world — seeing the good and discerning the awful is exigent for good citizenship. So, when we ask the question of why school? One response is that because a liberal arts education makes life worth living and ultimately is essential for a civil society. And on this day when we celebrate the work of our students and their teachers, I hope that we also acknowledge how marvelous a liberal arts education can be.
These remarks were shared during the 2020-2021 Academic Awards Ceremony. Scroll through this magazine to see more.
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Academic Awards
National Honor Society
The National Honor Society is the nation’s oldest, largest, and most prestigious student academic recognition program. It was established in 1921 to "recognize and encourage academic achievement while also developing other characteristics essential to citizens in a democracy. These ideals of scholarship, leadership, service, and character remain as relevant today as they were in 1921." Our inductees should feel great pride in being a member of this organization. Throughout the year, members of our chapter serve as role models for our Country Day community. They strive to maintain their high academic records. They participate in additional service-learning requirements, both on and off campus. And, they uphold the tenets of the National Honor Society: Scholarship, Leadership, Service, and Character.
NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY OFFICERS Valerie Cannella, President Parrish Abramson, Vice President Emmeline Moore, Secretary Maddie Oberfoell, Faculty Adviser ROSTER CLASS OF 2022 Parrish Abramson (2020-2021) Valerie Cannella (2019-2020) Layne Corcoran (2020-2021) Ellie Davidson (2020-2021) Claire Fernandez (2019-2020) Eli Goodwin (2021-2022) Mason Poole (2019-2020) Marguerite Schwarz (2019-2020) Ethan Taylor (2019-2020) Maximo Valobra (2021-2022) Wil Watrous (2020-2021) Jack Zink (2020-2021) CLASS OF 2023 Parijat Basak (2020-2021) Cole Collier (2021-2022) Colin Cummings (2021-2022) Colin Fiore (2021-2022) Caroline Grant (2021-2022) Yash Gupta (2020-2021) Lance Hebert (2020-2021) Jeanne Marie Landry (2021-2022) Ellie Lee (2020-2021) Mia Luparello (2020-2021) Hunter Miller (2020-2021) Isabella Miller (2020-2021) Lila Moody (2020-2021) Emmeline Moore (2020-2021) Jack Morton (2020-2021) Olivia O’Bell (2020-2021) Armin Parsi (2020-2021) Olivia Prout (2021-2022) Ellie Schneider (2020-2021) Ethan Smith (2020-2021) Margo Thionville (2020-2021) Gabrielle White (2021-2022)
CLASS OF 2024 Sinnott Bland (2021-2022) Mark Brown (2021-2022) Claire Cannella (2021-2022) Jack Davidson (2021-2022) Pierce Hatheway (2021-2022) Sarah Heebe (2021-2022) George McCelvey (2021-2022) James Rogers (2021-2022) William Varisco (2021-2022) Cooper Woods (2021-2022) Sophie Wyatt (2021-2022) *Italics denote new 2021-2022 inductees.
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2020-2021 Academic Awards
LHSAA All-Academic Award
Student-athletes must maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA and have played the sport for at least 2 years. Carter Borron: Football, Soccer Ryan Cooper: Cross Country, Golf, Track & Field Aliya Eissa: Soccer Douglas Heebe: Football, Track & Field Gabe Kohlmaier: Basketball Dingkang Liu: Cross Country Emma Morton: Cross Country, Track & Field Hartson Moss: Basketball, Baseball Sammy Nichols: Soccer, Tennis John Overby: Football, Baseball Lauren Perlis: Volleyball, Soccer, Softball Virginia Vaughan: Softball
LHSAA All-Academic Composite Team
Student-athletes must maintain a 4.0 GPA and have played the sport for at least 2 years. Caroline Koppel: Tennis Grayson Myers: Cross Country Elizabeth Rogers: Soccer
Louisiana All-State Orchestra
The National School Choral Award is in recognition of singular merit, ability, and achievement, of outstanding contributions to the success of the school vocal program, and of the unusual degree of loyalty, cooperation and high qualities of conduct. Miles Lemmler Ethan Taylor: Academic All-State Phillip Antis
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2020-2021 Academic Awards
Cum Laude Society
The Cum Laude Society, which is the high school equivalent of Phi Beta Kappa, is a national organization founded in 1906. Its primary goal is to recognize and honor superior scholastic achievement. We are limited to the number of students that we can elect based on a percentage of juniors and seniors in any given year. Their nomination is based on their superior GPA, good character, honor, and integrity in all aspects of their school life. NEW CUM LAUDE INDUCTEES: CLASS OF 2021 Ryan Cooper Kristin Kempton Matthew McCelvey Zije Qiu Rayne Swanson John Overby
CLASS OF 2022 Parrish Abramson Jack Zink Claire Fernandez
SECOND-YEAR CUM LAUDE MEMBERS: Caroline Koppel Grayson Myers Elizabeth Rogers
Blythe Bouza Lauren Perlis Emma Morton
National Merit Scholarship Program Each year 1.5 million high school juniors take the PSAT standardized test, and approximately 34,000 of those students are named commended scholars.
Approximately 15,000 semi-finalists progress to become National Merit Finalists. National Merit Finalists from the Class of 2021: Ryan Cooper Caroline Koppel Grayson Myers Commended Scholar Jean Paul Doucet
*2021-2022 awards will be shared in a future publication. COUNTRY DAY
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by Sean Patterson, Drama Teacher
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The COVID-19 pandemic has hit the performing arts especially hard. Local and regional theatres are only just beginning to emerge from the safety protocols that inhibited production for well over a year, and Broadway productions won’t resume until late summer or early fall. At Country Day, our stage has been sadly dormant since the fall of 2019, when we saw our last Shakespeare performance of Julius Caesar and our last live 3rd-and-4th grade musical, Celebrate Our Differences. So, with indoor stages under heavy restriction, performing artists and educators have had to get creative. For the past year and a half, we’ve presented outdoor shows, virtual concerts, and prerecorded productions. (Did you see Clue and Pride@Prejudice? Not bad for a pandemic! See page 9.) Now, we’re looking forward to a return to normal, or at least a return to whatever passes for normal these days. And it will be a new normal. The graduating classes of 2020 and 2021 included 14 students who regularly graced our stage. The production pause of the pandemic meant fewer performance opportunities and fewer kids performing. Across our three divisions, we have a cycle of students who desperately need to discover or rediscover the joys of the theatre. To engage those students, we need to ignite their sense of wonder. Fortunately, when it comes to generating wonder, the theatre is up to the challenge. In 6th grade Drama, our students learn that theatre requires both actors and audience to participate. When the house lights go down and the stage lights come up, we activate our imaginations simultaneously. The actors agree to create the world of the play by pretending, and the audience agrees to believe in it. It’s a miraculous transaction. We often don’t even think about it. We simply give ourselves over to it. But from that relationship, stories are born, and characters come to life. The impossible is made real, even if only for the few moments we’re together as actors and audience. This magical communion can be so powerful that the experience of seeing or performing a play is often unforgettable. But this mystic alchemy of performance is not the only source of wonder in the theatre. There is also the wonder that comes from collaboration. Collaboration is an extraordinary exchange of ideas and talents, a tightrope walk where generosity and sacrifice are balanced by compromise, in which the whole we create together is almost always greater than the sum of its individual parts. Theatre is a fundamentally collaborative art form, for theatre does not exist without community. There is collaboration among artists, but there is also collaboration among disciplines. Theatrical productions bring together actors, directors, designers, technicians, musicians, and more, all artists working together to create an illusion that will live in the audience’s imagination. These
artists blend their art forms together, too: performers play in the visual art of the scenery, wearing the textile art of the costume, speaking the poetic art of the play,and using musical art to express story through song and dance. And it doesn’t stop there. Student theatremakers learn to work together to make the magic happen, whether they’re contributing their talents on stage or off. This ensemble ethic is much more than “there are no small parts.” Being part of the ensemble means that each person brings something important to the project, and the project is stronger because of each person involved. It’s a powerful feeling to be part of something bigger than yourself. Students are often amazed to discover the same kind of exhilaration they find in athletics is very much present in the theatre. The sense of camaraderie is just as meaningful, and the feeling of accomplishment is just as addictive. But there is also a much more personal sense of wonder in theatrical performance, and it’s specific to each student. The very idea of getting up on stage is daunting for many people, children and adults alike. Add to that the fact that not only is each production unique, but each performance is unique. We rehearse to know the show so well that we can create the illusion with confidence, and so that we can face any circumstance that arises – a missed cue, a misplaced prop, a crying baby in the house, tech malfunctions. Students often ask what will happen if they forget a line or if something else goes wrong, and my answer is always the same: “The sun won’t fall out of the sky, the earth will go on turning, and we’ll all still have our birthdays.” The theatre is a continual lesson in resilience, flexibility, and adaptability. The performance is ephemeral. It exists only in a precise moment in time, and then it is gone. We must live fully in that moment, or we miss it. If we allow ourselves to be fully present, our experience is so much richer. Often, when students are afraid of performing, it’s because they’re considering all the hypotheticals that could go wrong. But when they prepare well and stay focused on what’s happening in the moment, a wondrous thing happens. Their fear dissipates, and they soar. For most, it’s an empowering feeling. It might last a lifetime, or for the run of a production, or maybe only for a scene. But it’s a glorious thing for them to discover how to do this thing they swore they could not do. This year, I hope we all rediscover the wonder in the theatre. Our Middle School Drama students will be presenting a season of four plays for the Lower School, using their talents to excite and inspire their younger peers. Our Upper School students will perform two musicals, Chicago and The Pirates of Penzance, both chosen to capture the interest of as much of our community as possible. Just as the Renaissance followed the Black Death, we’ll have our own Renaissance at Country Day. Like the Phoenix, our stage will blaze brightly again.
Image Taken by Julia Drago, 10th Grade
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THE
HUMAN PSYCHE IN
AMERICAN FILM AN INTERVIEW WITH BLYTHE BOUZA, CLASS OF 2021 In a recent interview with Class of 2021’s Blythe Bouza, Blythe discussed her lifelong interest in how the human brain works, her budding appreciation of film, and how these interests converged into an independent study course at Country Day. “I’ve always been interested in how the brain works, and I have also always enjoyed reading literature and acting in plays,” she shared. “In quarantine, I started to watch movies I never had the time to watch before. As I started watching these films the subject matter resonated with me, and I began to appreciate movies in the same way I appreciate literature.” This interest led Blythe to focus a yearlong independent study course on the portrayal of the human psyche in contemporary American cinema. “In general, independent studies at Country Day are student-driven courses or projects that allow particularly driven students to craft their own course of study, pursue a passion project, or explore ideas and themes not offered elsewhere in the school curriculum,” shared Upper School English Teacher Mike Miley. Under Mr. Miley’s guidance, Blythe delved into her course. She chose a handful of movies to watch, study, and analyze, with Mr. Miley recommending others. Her first semester, she watched movie after movie, some of which did not make the cut for inclusion in her final project. She then divided the movies into four distinct themes: destruction vs. obsession, consumerism vs. freedom, ignorance vs. control, and freedom vs. control. She worked with Mr. Miley to determine what movies fit which theme and then began to write essays on each. “We’d review the movies using one big storyboard that I would bring to school each week, color coding them to determine which movie would go under which theme.” Blythe shared that all the movies she chose had different subject matter to reflect on and digest, adding, “those are the sort of things I like to investigate and nerd out about.”
At the end of the second semester, she published her work on a website she created called, The Human Psyche in American Film (https://www. thehumanpsycheinamericanfilm.com/blog). “Getting to write about films and have my thoughts go someplace permanent, that’s exciting,” she shared about her site. Mr. Miley sent Blythe’s work to many in Country Day’s school community. “What’s fun about Blythe’s work is that she is not content to let something mean just one thing, nor is she afraid of ambiguity, paradox, or uncertainty, ‘’ said Mr. Miley. That’s actually the stuff that interests her most, and the work she decided to engage with certainly reflects that. No one goes to films like Memento or A Scanner Darkly for easy, clear answers. She’s willing to entertain multiple approaches to an idea or a text without letting the various potential angles overwhelm her or dilute her thinking. This project is a perfect example of that because she frequently circles back to films she’s already explored in detail elsewhere to shed new light on them, and she does so in a way that makes the connection lucid to the reader and captures the ‘ah-ha’ moment that drew her to the work in the first place.” When asked what Blythe hoped someone might take away from her project, she shared, “I hope the takeaway is that certain aspects of human behavior can manifest in a plethora of ways, especially depending on the person and his or her given situation. We are complex, donning multiple personas to get through life, carefully cultivating how we are perceived. However, while we may feel like we are alone in curating these perceptions of ourselves, we aren’t. Therefore, the best thing we can do is hold on to our internal sense of self in any setting.”
Blythe began her freshman year at Vanderbilt University in the Fall of 2021 where she’s studying neuroscience, theatre, and creative writing. As the project is in the form of a website, Blythe hopes to explore more of her favorite and new films with this critical lens and create more series of essays. Here is one essay she wrote recently titled, The Jagged Little Pill 25th Anniversary Tour hits Nashville. Copy this link to read her piece: https://vanderbilthustler.com/42673/featured/the-jagged-little-pill-25th-anniversary-tour-hits-nashville/
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Importance of Parent/Teacher Relationships by Mimi Odem, Lower School Principal
The importance of building a close relationship between parents and teachers has never been more evident than after living a year with distance in our school systems. For years we have read the research showing the positive impact on academic achievement and children’s selfesteem, correlated directly with parent involvement and connection with the school. As we all slowly open our doors to our strongly missed parent body, it feels so good. When doors are open for parents to come to school on a day-to-day basis, our parents are given opportunities to have sneak peeks of daily life and see the process of learning rather than only the products. When we, as parents, do not see this regularly, reports from the school in this isolation, can be a true breakdown in the communication system. However, when parents come to help in the library, install art, or read a story, they also tend to walk through the campus and see and feel so many other parts of school life: recess on the playground, snack time, and friendships. Seeing and feeling school life builds understanding, partnership, and trust. When parents come to school, our teachers are given opportunities to connect in less formal ways, often with laughter in a combined effort working on a classroom project. These types of activities lend to conversations and connections with fewer time constraints than the hustle and bustle of carpool drop off and pick up. These are important bonding experiences that build our community. When parents come to school, children see the valued relationship between their parents and teachers. Children see the connection between these important adults in their lives, and it builds a feeling of security and stability. Our children see that both parents and teachers, together, are responsible for helping a child meet their educational goals. If you can find time to head to school to make a craft, help in the garden, visit for lunch, or organize a class trip or party, the benefits are big for all involved. However, do not be distressed if these types of involvement are not a match for you. One of the many silver linings that have come out of COVID-School life is ZOOM/GoogleMeet, and I believe both are here to stay! Most schools will continue to offer this amazing technology tool for additional ways to connect with teachers and your child’s classrooms while accommodating life’s hectic schedules. So, as we slowly come out of the tighter COVID safety protocols and restrictions, and as we offer opportunities to come in and engage with your child’s classroom and school community, please consider joining us!
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Get to Know Rob Hereford
Rob Hereford’s return to Country Day as our 10th Head of School is something new and something known. As a dedicated leader and educator with experience at four excellent independent schools across the nation, including Metairie Park Country Day where he was Upper School Principal from 20032006, Mr. Hereford officially began his tenure as Head at Country Day on July 1, 2021. We sat down with Mr. Hereford to discuss his take-a-ways after serving as Head of School for just over 100 days. 24
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Tell us about your family:
My wife, Amanda, grew up in Houston and attended Texas A&M where she played softball. After college, she has taught lower school science at Country Day as well as 7th-grade and 9th-grade science at three other schools. We have three children: an adult son, Scott, in Austin and two sons at Country Day, John, in 8th grade and Jojo, in 6th. We all love cooking and eating – we couldn’t be in a better city for that pursuit – and we spend a lot of time managing our boys’ club and Country Day sports schedules. What do you wish everyone knew about Country Day?
I wish people understood the depth and power of the relationships that exist throughout Country Day. We all talk about those relationships, but you have to be on campus to experience them fully. I know that has been a frustration for us all during the pandemic – our community hasn’t been able to participate completely in the life of the school – but we are beginning to slowly welcome everyone back as society begins to reopen. What is the funniest thing that has happened to you on campus?
This response goes back to my previous tenure at CD when we had a faculty staff talent show in the auditorium using the American Idol format, judged by Carolyn Chandler (in the Paula Abdul role), Chef Mark (Randy Jackson), and me (Simon Cowell). We were trying to boost morale postKatrina and we had a blast. It’s one of those moments that illustrated the power of the Country Day community to create connection and joy in a challenging time. What has surprised you about being back on campus?
I would say that while it has been a long time (15 years) since I last worked here, it feels like I never left. It’s been a very comfortable place for me and my family to settle into, and Amanda and I have loved that we now get to be Country Day parents. That experience gives us an even deeper appreciation for this amazing place.
Are you on the Red or Blue Team?
Team Red!
We’re asking this for our alumni: If you had to eat cheese buns or red beans and rice for the rest of your life, which would you choose?
Sorry to disappoint the cheese bun lovers, but that’s an easy call: red beans and rice! What excites you most about the year ahead?
The opportunity to establish roots here for my family and to learn my way around Country Day again. It’s been wonderful to reconnect with former students and colleagues and even better to forge new connections here. I’m excited to see how we can all work together to make Country Day even better! Which part of the School Mission speaks most to you?
I love that our mission highlights the need for our students “to face the challenges of life with honor, optimism, confidence, creativity, and a sense of humor.” With so much important work to be done in schools, a sense of humor makes life better, and reminds us not to take ourselves too seriously. What is one thing you hope to give, impart, leave at Country Day?
I’ve had the good fortune to work for three longtenured Heads of School at Country Day – Ned Becker, David Drinkwater, and Carolyn Chandler – so I know the high expectations for this role. It’s humbling to be in a position of leadership at a school with such rich history and traditions. My hope is to operate in the spirit of our founding Head, Ralph Boothby, who wrote that we should be in a state of “constant reexamination of old customs and conventions to see what is the essence of [their] contribution,” and see how we can build an even stronger Country Day for future generations of families. It’s difficult to say what that future looks like today, but I am eager to work together as a community to chart an exciting course for our school.
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CONVERSATIONS WITH
MIKE MILEY
There are many talented individuals who work at Country Day educating and shaping students who succeed in the classroom and in life. One such teacher is Mike Miley. He’s an inspiring and connected teacher in the Upper School English Department, a creative faculty member at Loyola University New Orleans, a writer, filmmaker, and probably most surprisingly, a hilarious personality behind the microphone at Country Day events. Mr. Miley has also been published in the North Dakota Quarterly, is the author of Truth and Consequences: Game Shows in Fiction and Film (University Press of Mississippi, 2019), and the co-editor of Conversations with Steve Erickson (with Matthew Luter, 2021). His writing has appeared in TheAtlantic.com, Critique, Literature/Film Quarterly, Music and the Moving Image, Orbit, The Smart Set, and elsewhere. In an interview with Steve Erickson, Mr. Miley sits down with Erickson to talk about writing and life. After listening to his interview podcast, we were energized to do the same with Mr. Miley. Continue reading to learn about Mr. Miley, his writing process, how he teaches, and what keeps him learning, and growing each day. Here we go with our “Conversations with Mike Miley.” 26
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How do you make learning English exciting?
I try to come into each class each day and rope a lot of students into a conversation before they are aware there is a conversation. I like it when students see how and what they can contribute to a conversation. One way we do this is through podcasts. Students wrote and shared podcasts about something they love, musicians. These were then shared through the Bright Library podcast. We also talk a lot about projects we do on the Bright Library Podcast, including our project where we redesigned popular book covers and student independent research projects. English work can sometimes be very personal, what do you think about feedback?
I don’t know if there is anything more helpful than to tell someone, ‘I read the thing you wrote, or I saw the thing you made.’ That is an incredibly important thing to do - for it to matter. Even if the feedback is not what you expect, it is as valuable or even more valuable because that person is not being paid to give the feedback yet they paid attention and took the time to read or learn. Young people need encouragement; I see this in my students. They need to know that what they do matters. I do the same thing in my personal life. I ask for feedback. By submitting my work outside of school, I emulate what I hope to accomplish in the classroom. I ask students to do what I make myself do. I believe life is more enjoyable and interesting when we decide to engage. You wear many hats and do so many different things, what else do you love? Is there a common thread that binds all those things together?
I love game shows and music. I was nationally ranked in public speaking in highschool. This has parlayed into some of the MC-ing I’ve done at Country Day. I also love playing music for students as they switch classes. It’s a way to share a passion with them or to start a conversation. When COVID began, students wanted to hang out but had to keep some distance, so I decided to buy a disc golf set...I mentioned this to our Upper School Principal Augustine Whyte and he ordered the
same disc golf set unbeknownst to me. Now we have a few areas to play. This has brought faculty, staff, and students together and kept the students (and me) away from screens. It’s definitely more about hanging out than working out but the music and disc golf have helped to keep me from losing my mind. It’s made dealing with COVID a little more tolerable.
What do you get excited about?
I get excited about people taking the way they see the world and trying to transform it into something someone else can see, especially when it’s done in a way where the individual can uniquely express themselves. I also like things and ideas that start conversations. Maybe because I want to participate in the conversation and don’t always feel comfortable starting them. What piece of work are you most proud of?
THE BRIGHT PODCAST Mr. Miley’s junior students share with a Bright Podcast perennial favorite: Listening to America. Season 4 (LIVE NOW) focuses on students’ analyses of the songs featured in Dana Spiotta’s Eat the Document showing how the songs contribute to the novel’s ideas and themes. Join us at brightpodcast.com as students explore American literature and culture through music and sound. This podcast series is produced with equipment provided through the generous support of the Metairie Park Country Day School Parents’ Association. Visit brightpodcast.com to listen!
I think the first peer-reviewed piece I got published showed me that I could write at that level. I'm also really proud of a personal essay I wrote about reading the annotation in David Foster-Wallace's personal library. Because I sort of wrote through some discomfort and managed to understand what my fascination with DFW was about and what it meant to me. You have authored many things, what’s next?
I am finishing a book proposal for a book about David Lynch's movies where I tie together articles into a book. Perhaps it will come out in 2023? Can you walk us through how you began one of these projects?
I usually write out a lot in longhand and then regardless of where it goes (composition notebooks) I’ll underline and annotate other sources and then eventually I type notes and add more and more to them. Write and write and then move things around. It’s easier for me if I can figure out the first sentence and build from there. Even a title. Those things work for me because I figure it out as I write about it. This process might seem inefficient but it's the only way I don’t become impatient. Do you have any closing words, what didn’t I ask?
So, back to is there a common thread, I think in some ways these things are united in that I am curating stuff. Here is some interesting music, here are some good books to read, putting options and experiences that our students can pick and choose from. In that way, it’s like curating.
I write on my own time to figure “things” out. Then I try to determine if anyone else is interested. At the end of the day, it’s what keeps me going. I am most proud of the things that come closest to making something a concept or idea clearer to myself and others. Photo credit: Nick Ramey
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Student Art
Lower School Art
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Student Art
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Student Art
Middle & Upper School Art
Spotlight: Shading, Value, & Portraiture
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Student Art
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Student Art
Middle & Upper School Art Spotlight: Machine Art
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Student Art
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Student Art
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Student Art
Middle School Art Spotlight: Metals by Steven M. Donelly, Visual Arts Department
What do Metal Arts look like in Middle School?
Our Middle School Metal Arts program engages student interest, energy, and imagination with a threepart approach toward the creation of
the ways that an emergent visual design fluency can serve the higher Art goal itself, namely, the development and expression of meaning. We start this journey with a common recognition that the reason why visual art exists in the first place is that it allows us to communicate with one another about the layers of human experience that transcend linguistics.
alloys of bronze (add tin) and brass (add zinc). We are also utilizing nickel, an additional elemental metal. Each student is now able to safely operate the torch and flow high-temperature silver solder using an acetylene/air set-up.
What have our Middle School students done this year?
original art in the realm of hands-on metalsmithing and jewelry/small object design and fabrication. The first part of our approach concerns the fundamentals of studio and craft indoctrination: tools and techniques, material understanding, studio safety and maintenance, and the conduct guidelines that come with working actively in a shared maker’s space. The second part of our approach entails promoting each student’s capacity as a designer and with it, visual fluency. We promote understanding the Art Elements and Principles of Design as they constitute, direct, and characterize dynamic interactions in the creative visual space. The third and final part of our approach is exploring
Being at the mid-point of our current Fall Semester, we have covered our studio and fabrication basics: annealing, stamping, hammer-embossing, sawing, sanding, sweat-soldering, roll-milling, design transference, drilling, and piercing. We have also established the identification and applied use of our Middle School students create a TSUBA. What is TSUBA?
non-ferrous introductory art metal materials: elemental copper with its two attendant yellow and golden
From this new technical foundation, each middle school student fabricates her first original creative Metal Arts piece by visually interpreting a Japanese graphic design motif derived from a class of objects known as TSUBA. This object is the handguard component of the katana sword, the traditional weapon of the Samurai. In the contemporary world, the TSUBA object is created as a more decorative art expression that explores the dynamic boundary between the world and the self, one that must be understood as both naturally permeable and defensible.
ABOUT STEVEN M. DONNELLY: Steven was born into a U.S. Navy family in Naples, Italy. He earned a Printmaking BFA, followed by post-baccalaureate studies in Jewelry/Metals at Louisiana State University. After earning his MFA in Jewelry/Metals SDSU in 2003, Mr. Donnelly established the New Orleans School of Metalsmithing, celebrating the birth of his son, Maxwell, that same year. Mr. Donnelly joined the Country Day Faculty as a member of the Visual Arts Department in the Fall of 2017. He runs the Metal Arts Studio for both Middle and Upper School Students, teaches 6th Grade Drawing and Illustration, and hosts lively S.E.L. sessions with both 7th and 8th graders.
IMAGES: Middle School Artwork from Spring 2021
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by Michelle Haysley, Middle and Upper School Visual Arts Teacher
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AN ARTISTIC
EXPLORATION
Through development and revision, students are able to discover what is of importance to them while also developing their skills as artists. Those of us in Art Education play a unique role. We provide a safe space for students and encourage them to create and respond to the world around them. The world can seem hectic and stressful to our student body. An arts classroom is specially positioned as a safe space where students can process their thoughts and reactions to this world, as art is a primary vehicle for communication. Social justice in art education and an understanding of the elements and principles of art and design can nurture growth and develop compassion for others in the world we all must navigate. Through our journey in the classroom, students explore topics they are passionate about through a process of reflection and action to create a more humane society. Incorporating these issues encourages exploration through art-making in a variety of settings. The benefits of students exploring these topics in the art space are numerous. Creating art allows students the time to process their own thoughts and emotions, while creatively solving problems. As students develop preliminary ideas in their sketchbooks, they are not only solidifying ideas regarding their chosen topic, but they are learning about themselves. They develop skills in self-assessment, reviewing their own work, its strengths and weaknesses, its ability to communicate their personal positions and opinions. Through this development and revision, students are able to discover what is of importance to them while also developing their skills as artists. These young artists are also experimenting with various tools and artistic media. While they are performing exhaustive research regarding their social issue of choice, students are also taught to understand the power and psychology of shading and pigments, the texture a linoleum print can create, how to design logos and screen-prints as well as poster design and acrylic paint. Students are encouraged to use these tools, manipulating them into a message regarding their chosen issue. These lessons encourage experimentation, process, and yes, even failure. Through these artistic processes, students build empathy and character, helping their classmates by providing critiques, advice, and suggestions. What is most rewarding about guiding students through this process is being able to witness their individualized evolutions and development of empathy, not just for their close Country Day community, but empathy for those who struggle worldwide. Throughout the course of our spring semester, Upper School art students have been able to familiarize themselves with a variety of issues, from those on a local scale, to global crises. Through idea development and revision, our students are able to process information and use their knowledge of both artistic elements and principles and artistic media to thoughtfully respond to these issues. In propelling this series of works, my hope is to help students understand the world around them, the people in it, and for them to form their own thoughts around important topics. As educators, it is not only our duty to teach our discipline, but also to guide our young students to grow into empathetic participants in our society.
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O-YES TURNS by Upper School Learning Specialist Courtney Couvillon and Dr. Any Burka
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In the 2000 winter edition of the Independent School, Country Day’s O-YES program was featured as, “A new program (that) helps students with learning differences take charge of their education.” The basic tenets of the program, Own Your Educational Success, emphasized self advocacy, discovering strategies that were tailored to each student’s learning style, and understanding that academic achievement was one’s personal responsibility. Twenty-five years since its inception, the concepts of O-YES are now being applied to all upper school students at Country Day. Ask teenagers what they want from their parents regarding their academic work? Most would say, “independence.” Many mistakenly believe their parents enjoy nagging about nightly assignments, upcoming projects, and tests. Teenagers seem to have a hard time grasping the inverse relationship between helicopter parents and student ownership. The truth is that parents love the transition when their teenagers step forward and invest themselves responsibly and independently and don’t need to be reminded. These parents can breathe easier and can comfortably step back because they know their teenagers are building a better future for themselves. As one O-YES student explained, “I grew as a human being when I took responsibility and didn’t make my teachers and parents nag me all the time. It allowed me to become more independent and feel more responsible.” Ownership comes from deeply rooted commitments. It involves maturing attitudes, work ethic, prioritized choices, and learning to work smart not just hard. At this stage, students have a better understanding of when they know the test material and when they don’t. As students move incrementally toward ownership, they begin to see teachers as allies not adversaries. They loosen their inhibitions about
asking for help or guidance from teachers. Students are more likely to start a paper and ask their teacher, “Am I on the right track?” They handle extra-curricular activities by planning their calendars carefully. Setbacks are not blamed on teachers nor are “boring” subject matter. Students own their setbacks and learn from their mistakes. They set up work environments that control distraction (e.g. putting their phones away), and some choose to do homework in teachers’ rooms during a break. Often they use their free time during a school day to finish the next day’s assignments to lessen their evening load. When students own their educational success, parents step back because they trust their teenager will take care of their academic responsibilities…on their own. Over its twenty-five year history, O-YES has adapted to changing circumstances. Two major pivots both involved increased student leadership. The first came in the first phase of the program when O-YES staff realized that once students understood their learning differences and unique profile, they did not have to rely solely on the learning specialist to advocate for them. They could do it themselves. For example, one student with ADHD said to his teacher, “Honestly, if I am just sitting next to you and listening, I’m probably daydreaming. Please call on me because it keeps me more involved!”
KEEPING IT REAL
The current senior class has three student leaders, handpicked by O-YES facilitator and US Learning Specialist, Courtney Cheek Couvillon. Courtney looked for students who were smart, kind, and not too proud to talk about their learning journey in the hopes of helping others. “The students I chose are ones who struggled as freshmen but then took responsibility and righted the ship through being open minded and working hard in their sophomore and junior years. I knew O-YES was working when I talked with these students’ parents, begam working with the students directly, and then saw the parents take a step back with full confidence that their student was doing what they needed to do.” Adelaide Gaines was an obvious first pick. Adelaide came to Country Day in 8th grade with a variety of learning challenges common for her age, as well as the equally prevalent fiercely independent mindset of “I don’t need help.” She later realized that her teachers, O-YES facilitators, advisors, and parents all had the same common goal - to help her to be truly successful. “The minute that I shifted my mindset to realizing all of these people were trying to help me, my whole experience of school changed,” Adelaide shares. “Carter Borron and Dylan Simmons were both well respected in our community, varsity athletes, and true mentors to younger students on and off the field,” says Couvillon. When Carter and Dylan speak, their peers listen. Over the past two years, both have shared the most personal details about their learning to help others. “I truly enjoy being able to talk to younger students about my journey towards educational success. Even if it doesn’t get to all the younger students, just impacting one, I’ve realized can change their outcome and attitude towards school and life,” shares Carter. As O-YES widened its scope to include the upper school, our student leaders became even more involved in program
planning and implementation. The starting point was to expose O-YES attitudes and strategies to freshmen, but we needed their help with deciding how best to do it. Our senior leaders urged us to let them share their different journeys through high school with the underclassmen. They would be the primary spokesmen for O-YES and openly discuss how they viewed their academic responsibilities and teachers when they entered high school and how their perspective evolved leading to greater independence and more reliable academic achievement. The theme was “If I knew then what I know now.” There was no doubt in our minds that they were right. Attitudes and perspectives don’t change easily, but freshmen would relate better to and identify more with the leaders who had been ninth graders recently. “To pass my knowledge to younger students makes me feel like I did something right. I love to be a positive influence to my classmates and my younger family members,” says Simmons. In the fall, our O-YES student leaders met individually with each freshman advisory group to share the things they wished they had known as freshmen and to explain that their learning journey didn’t happen overnight, it took trial and error. Once they found tools that worked for them, these students tweaked those concepts to help become more successful. In the spring semester, the student leaders met with the sophomore class and had them take inventory of their strengths and challenges as learners. Once learning challenges were identified, they were shared with parents and advisors. This allowed transparency between all constituents, allowing facilitators to target their focus and use common language when working with the students. As always, the goal was getting all parties on the same page to generate forward momentum toward students owning their educational success. Once inventory was completed, many advisors used that information in their conferences to help guide discussions about how students can be more successful going forward. A frequently discussed theme in O-YES is seeing our teachers as allies instead of adversaries. “Claiming ownership of my learning really started when I stopped viewing my teachers as my enemies, and realized they are helpful tools to expand my knowledge. As I began going to extra help I started to realize that my teachers and the tools given to me actually helped me grow as a student. Once I accepted my teachers and tools, I finally became excited about school and learning,” Carter explains. Another pillar of O-YES is taking ownership. Students are taught the importance of accepting responsibility for their learning, and becoming an active participant in it; a notion that has perhaps never been more relevant than in the past 18 months. As the pandemic shut down schools across the country, kitchen tables became classrooms, parents became TA’s, and students came face to face with unprecedented circumstances. As their peers in neighboring schools floundered, Country Day students were able to stay connected with and mentor students through O-YES. Most importantly, through learning ways to implement the tools taught in O-YES, our students will leave Country Day better equipped than when they arrived, ready to take on life’s challenges in college and beyond.
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Athletic Awards
Athletic Awards
Robert Montgomery Award
The award is given to any senior who has earned nine (9) or more varsity letters in separate seasons during their high school athletic career. Winners will have their names appear on the Robert Montgomery plaque, which is on display in the lobby of the Reily Recreation Center. 2021 ROBERT MONTGOMERY AWARD RECIPIENTS: Daniel Conwill Jean-Paul Doucet Charlie Michaud Willie Odem Sawyer Temple
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Athletic Awards
James “Jay” Carisella Award
The James “Jay” Carisella Award is awarded to the male or female studentathlete who genuinely demonstrates outstanding character, dedication, team pride, and leadership, and creates a positive, encouraging experience for the team. These student’s names will be displayed on a plaque located in the lobby of the Reily Recreation Center. 2021 JAMES “JAY” CARISELLA AWARD RECIPIENTS: Emma Morton Willie Odem
Stephen T. Victory Award The award is given to recognize and honor those students who have committed themselves academically and athletically to the philosophy of the school. The criteria for the award is any senior who participated in two (2) sports in separate seasons during his or her freshman and sophomore years, who lettered in two (2) sports in separate seasons during his or her junior and senior year, and who has a cumulative rank in the top 20% of his or her class at the end of the first semester of their senior year. These student’s names will be displayed on a plaque located in the lobby of the Reily Recreation Center. 2021 STEPHEN T. VICTORY AWARD RECIPIENTS: Emma Morton Lauren Perlis John Overby
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Athletic Awards
2021 Volleyball STATE CHAMPIONS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
2021 Boys’ Cross Country 1ST IN STATE
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Athletic Awards
2020 Boys’ Track and Field 3RD IN STATE REGIONALS CHAMPIONS DISTRICT CHAMPIONS
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ReZOOMions & Alumni Weekend Alumni Weekend 2020-2021 provided the perfect opportunity for reconnection and a reimagined platform for sharing stories, laughs, and even a few tears! From our Speaker Series presentation with Academic Dean Howard Hunter to the Al Moore Discussion Panel to the Boothby Club Virtual Gathering, having our community back to campus (even virtually) truly lifted spirits and boosted pride in our amazing School. A huge thank you to all who attended our reZOOMions and larger alumni gathering last Spring. Now to planning an exceptional Alumni Weekend 2022!
Connecting Continues: The Class of 1981 has not missed a beat. Organized by Eric Norman, ’81, our class members reconnected during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, and even had our 2020 Virtual Alumni Reunion. Connecting through this reZoomion turned out to be so fulfilling that class members continue to meet virtually each Wednesday evening, thanks to Eric. According to alumni John Morton, ’81, "Our class came together again after 40 years, virtually, and with exceptional participation. The alums on the call reside in New Orleans, Atlanta, California, New York, Paris and South Korea, among many other regions. We have been exceedingly grateful for this opportunity to reconnect, especially during COVID. We remain #cajuns4life!"
Faculty Fellows Program by Howard Hunter, Academic Dean 48
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While it may go unnoticed by its denizens, Old Metairie becomes a cultural hub the last three weeks of July, along the likes of Chautauqua, New York, Interlochen, Michigan, and Tanglewood in Lenox, Massachusetts. It’s an American tradition going back to the 19th century, when like-minded people come together in the summer to create, reenergize and learn from one another. The practice is also alive and well in lesser-known venues of summer stock theatre, writer and artist colonies and music festivals. Since 2008, Country Day teachers have had their own version of a creative retreat with the Faculty Fellows program. Thanks to the generosity of the LaCorte family, eight to twelve teachers each year pursue individual and group projects that essentially feed the academic soul. If one believes teaching is an art (and I do), teachers need time to reflect and take part in an intellectual community
free from the distractions of the academic year. Projects run a spectrum from the utilitarian to the deeply personal. For example, we may have teachers looking at new ways to implement technology and at the same time have faculty conduct research for an academic paper, article or book. Yet it’s all part of the same notion that best teaching over the long haul comes from being intellectually engaged. As a result, it is fair to say that since its inception, the Faculty Fellows program has had a salubrious effect on all three divisions as well as on all academic departments. Topics of study for the 2021 Fellows are eclectic but follow traditional modes of thinking about education — societal exigency, academic expectations, student personal development and original scholarship. For example, addressing national concerns, one of our counselors is studying the effects of quarantine on the mental health
of children, and our government teacher is looking at how to construct a political classroom that encourages open discourse. We have a teacher investigating theories of student motivation and concomitantly we have a group redesigning the Country Day Academy for incoming freshmen to help them develop habits of mind for academic success. The science curriculum is the focus of intense scrutiny as our lower school teacher solidifies a scope and sequence while our middle and upper school science teachers look at the transition between divisions. And our resident film scholar is researching a book on “intertextual approaches to the films of David Lynch.” Each Fellow receives a $2500 stipend and lunch brought in from Old Metairie’s varied food emporiums. The Bright Library serves as a veritable think tank as our faculty members give each other valuable feedback on their respective projects. It’s learning and scholarship at its best.
COUNTRY DAY
/ Comments 2021
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Ode to ‘20 - ‘21 by Rebecca Coatney, Middle School Teacher
‘Twas summer 2020, and all through the school, The teachers were anxious. The stress wasn’t cool. We built many new spaces, almost from scratch with tables and chairs that were oddly mismatched. Our scrappy new classrooms with tranquil, white walls sat waiting for students to swarm to the halls. We learned the words “cohort,” and “hybrid,” and “Zoom.” We joined Morning Meeting, each from our own room! With temperatures checked by the famous Mrs. Beahm, our classrooms like families quickly became. Spectacular lunches were served up on boxes (not tables). And the flexible dining staff gave each a name label! One day we lost power, which was certainly eerie. And as the months trudged along, we began to feel weary. We got tired of distancing. Though it wasn’t our intention, Some cohorts descended into madness and tension! The same people...always? No diversity of friends? With Choose Love, we’ve learned to make our amends. We all must be pensive to figure out how to strive to survive without having a cow! Though sometimes it feels like our days have no luster, I urge you to gather all the hope you can muster. Have courage and determination and rally yourself. We’ve nearly put ’20-’21 on the shelf! Now, let me convince you of one crazy idear. Although this has been an eccentric, weird year… Perhaps it’s been perfect in its own, gritty way because we’ve been challenged every. single. day. The adversity facing us helps us to see How spectacular life truly is at CD. Our festive Cajun spirit is alive and abuzz, So farewell to the worst and best year that ever was!
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Comments 2021 /
COUNTRY DAY
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