Comments Magazine 2024

EXPLORE

Each school year brings with it the opportunity for a fresh perspective. This year offers us a unique vantage point to look back on the start of this decade — and its unremitting course of change — with a perspective of resurgent optimism.

It’s with this perspective that we continue our pursuit of clarity on the definition of Country Day's Portrait of a Graduate. In the past few years, our faculty, in partnership with the Global Online Academy, has transformed the initiative on this topic from brainstorming sessions and meetings into tangible ways to observe its impact within the classroom. Our teachers have taken the next step — designing lesson plans and structuring portions of their classes around the fundamental character traits of Curiosity, Critical Thinking, Character, and Citizenship. The open cooperation and collaboration between our faculty, administrators, students, and staff, bringing this aspirational concept from inception to fruition, has not only strengthened the process of how we work together but also has provided a blueprint for how we can achieve our most noble ideals.

I could not be more proud of these efforts. At every grade level and across each division, our work on the Portrait of a Graduate will continue — directing us as we grow and address the same fundamental questions from our founding that we ask today: What defines our school, and how will our students contribute to making the world a better place after they graduate?

As we approach our 100th school year in 2028-2029, the way we navigate and shape our responses to these questions will carry a unique and special significance.

It reminds us how, almost a century ago, several like-minded families looking for an alternative to the status quo came together to break ground on the first structures that would become our campus. Much like today, our founders were occupants of uncertain times. In the current moment, as we confront the steady thrum of historic events that have unfolded since the beginning of this decade, we see our school’s guiding principles and approach to learning endure. As a community with a steadfast tradition of pursuing excellence, we recognize that endurance alone is insufficient. It’s with this perspective of resurgent optimism that we choose to set our sights on the farthest distances of the horizon. From this unique vantage point, we choose not to simply endure — but to explore.

In this issue of Comments, we celebrate our inherent ambition for exploration. Throughout the process of curating the content for this edition, it became clear that exploration is not solely about forging ahead. Delving into our past is critical to understanding the true meaning of discovery. While this teaches us that exploration may not always be linear, knowing where we’ve been allows us to better grapple with who we are so that the farthest distances of the horizon we strive for are attainable to all.

Whether enriching the Portrait of a Graduate, establishing guardrails to harness the power of AI, deepening our understanding of the connections between a student’s mind and their ability to learn, or uncovering the unique congruity between our community and the world, consistently prioritizing the best interest of every student will always be at the core of our decision-making.

I sincerely hope you will enjoy exploring this edition as much as we enjoyed putting it together. Thank you for your ongoing support, and we look forward to sharing more stories with you in the coming years. It’s a truly exciting time to be at Country Day. We wish you and your family a Happy 2024.

Sincerely,

Rob Hereford Head of School

COMMENTS ONLINE

Read this issue of Comments online at mpcds.com/comments

MetairieParkCountryDay MPCountryDaySchool

COMMENTS MAGAZINE 2024

Rob Hereford

Head of School

Lori Gordillo

Director of Development

Jennifer Myers '09

Director of Marketing and Public Relations, Editor, Comments Magazine 2024

2023-2024 BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Mrs. Jennifer Heebe

Chair

Mrs. Robyn Schwarz

Vice Chair

Mr. Paxton White ’95

Secretary

Mrs. Yvette Jones

Treasurer

Mr. Christian Blessey ’85

Mrs. Dathel Georges ’86

Mrs. Dollie Gill

Parents’ Association

President

Dr. Nihal Godiwala

Mr. Rob Hereford

Head of School

Dr. Suma Jain

Mr. Jonathan Katz ’98

Mr. John Little ’62

Alumni Board President

Mrs. Tara Luparello

Mr. Malcolm Meyer ’94

Mr. John Morton ’81

Mr. Jim Rogers

Dads’ Club President

Ms. Amelia Sherman ’05

Faculty Representative to the Board of Trustees

Mr. Jake Weinstock ’09

Dr. LaTresha White

Mr. Marc Whitener

Mr. William Wolf ’99

ALUMNI BOARD

John Little ’62

President

Kerith Foley Amen ’90

Samantha Bach ’17

Mary Beth Benjamin ’11

Kathleen Holmes Berry ’97

Gary Briggs, Jr. ’06

Marigny J. Dupuy ’65

Julia Fendler ’01

Akili Franklin ’95

Nike Georges ’15

Meredith White Griffin ’01

Simran Gupta ’20

Peter Holzer ’01

Nikki Katz ’02

Harry Kelleher IV ’15

Meagan Lilly Marsac ’99

Grant Mathews ’15

Kyla Lorraine Maupin ’14

Leigh Victory Moss ’89

Mike Norton ’61

Blair Price ’10

Christina Peck Samuels ’03

Heidi Heumann Saporito ’06

Kristin Weidner Stewart ’99

REACTIONS? NOTES? STORIES FOR COMMENTS ? comments@mpcds.com

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

John Cole

Upper School Computer Science Teacher

Caroline Ellinghausen Director of Annual Giving

Genna Ellis

Lower School Teacher (Grades 3/4)

Susan Gisleson

Director of Country Day Creative Arts

Lori Gordillo

Director of Development

Rob Hereford

Head of School

Jason Hubert

Lower School Teacher (Grade 5)

Mike Miley

Upper School English Teacher, Director of the New Orleans Scholars Program

ALUMNI, NEED TO UPDATE YOUR CONTACT INFORMATION?

Visit bitly.com/alumni or scan here.

Mimi Odem

Lower School Principal

Sean Patterson

Middle and Upper School Drama Director

Killian Philipson

Middle School English Teacher

Shay Steckler '02

Middle and Upper School French Teacher

Kate Turnbull Director of Professional Learning

Emily West

Lower School Assistant Principal

Augustine Whyte

Upper School Principal

MISSION

Metairie Park Country Day School enriches the lives of talented young people in a dynamic learning environment, building strength of intellect and strength of character within a community that is simultaneously challenging and supportive. Our students learn to be flexible, to be adaptable, and to face the challenges of life with honor, optimism, confidence, creativity, and a sense of humor.

Who Will They Be When They Graduate?

Developing the Portrait of a Country Day Graduate

BY ROB HEREFORD, HEAD OF SCHOOL

We’re living in an era where visualizing the big picture can often feel challenging — the picture itself can even feel broken. Three years after the COVID-19 pandemic, and two years spent emerging from it, disruptions around the world continue to fragment our broader perspectives.

Some things are no easier to visualize wholly than they were when COVID lockdowns scuttled educators’ plans, despite ongoing gains in Country Day’s classrooms and an overall return to normalcy.

As mentors to young people, shaping their potential, and revealing possibilities — no matter how challenging they may be to see — our job must always be to offer perspective and bring clarity to the big picture.

In 2021, as I returned to Country Day with the honor of serving as the Head of School, one of my initial responsibilities involved expanding our focus after a year of operating under

COVID restrictions. Simultaneously, there were exciting conversations happening among innovative thinkers like Kate Turnbull, our Director of Professional Learning, in collaboration with our partners at the Global Online Academy, specifically Eric Hudson.

From these discussions with Kate and Eric in the fall of 2021, the concept of a big picture, wholly defining, benchmark of student expectations, collectively referred to as the Portrait of a Graduate, began to take root at Country Day.

The Portrait of a Graduate concept is not new. Programs like these are being implemented in communities throughout the nation in both public and private schools. In certain cases, entire districts adopt such programs as critical benchmarks to measure student success.

As the leader of an independent institution with over 90 years of history, I believed the success of defining our best version

of this initiative rested in the ability to sharply address two important questions. These questions had become increasingly crucial since the pandemic and other changes thrust Country Day further into the 21st century: Who are we as a school, and how are we preparing our students to make the world a better place after they graduate?

Two years later, we begin to evaluate these efforts by retracing the journey that brought Country Day’s Portrait of a Graduate to life. This process took us from the initial development of collaborative brainstorming sessions to the current stage of implementation, where these clearly defined overarching

cornerstones — Curiosity, Critical Thinking, Character, and Citizenship — are observable and actively practiced in our school every day.

From Meeting Rooms to Classrooms

CURIOSITY

CHARACTER CRITICALTHINKING

At the beginning of the 2021 academic year, a committee was formed consisting of a dozen faculty members, principals from each school division, Kate Turnbull, and me. We conducted several preliminary meetings before gathering for an intensive all-day retreat where we delved into identifying qualities that we felt Country Day had collectively and consistently valued since its founding. During this retreat, ideas flowed onto Post-It Notes and poster boards, with phrases, inspirational quotes, and concepts strewn across the many whiteboards in our meeting room.

CITIZENSHIP

In pursuit of our mission, we have prioritized four essential outcomes for all our graduates: Curiosity, Critical Thinking, Character, and Citizenship. With these cornerstones as guidance, students are better equipped to adapt to challenges and remain open to future possibilities throughout their academic careers.

CURIOSITY:

Curiosity Fuels Everything We Do

CRITICAL THINKING:

Learning How to Think, Not Simply What to Think

CHARACTER:

Becoming Meaningfully and Ethically Engaged in Communities

CITIZENSHIP:

Caring for Each Other and the World We Live In

We sustained the momentum from the initial retreat over the next several months, convening regularly every few weeks. In early 2022, we united around the four foundational cornerstones, based on their merit as universally important to every student. After many hours of intense creativity and review, along with some heavy lifts from several small groups, we landed on a concise rough draft.

Tangible Terms

As educators, we can’t afford to undervalue the importance of “buy in” when it comes to rolling out new programs. So, our first big step toward implementation was ensuring that what we were saying resonated with students and teachers. We wanted the language in the Portrait of a Graduate to feel authentic to the classroom and all elements of the student experience.

As we gathered those first rounds of feedback from different faculty members, we also presented drafts to the Middle School Student Council and to the Upper School Student Senate. By May 2022, we presented a final draft of Country Day’s Portrait of a Graduate to the wider faculty and staff in its entirety.

After presenting it to a mostly internal audience, I wanted to know if our newly created guide to student success would translate as effectively to other stakeholders at Country Day. I questioned whether it would convey the same authenticity to others as it did to us. I shared the document with our Board Chair Counsel. A former parent and past Board Chair approached me after the presentation, looked at me, and said, “You got it: This is Country Day.” Given that particular parents extensive association with the school, their words and perspective carried significant resonance. As litmus tests go, this proved to be remarkably empowering.

Daily Interaction

For the 2022-2023 academic year, we tasked each division of the school with the responsibility of analyzing one quadrant of the Portrait at a time, dedicating time during the four quarters of the school year to each. Their task involved conducting exercises to ensure that the intent and language were not only usable but also applicable on an everyday basis. Using the curiosity quadrant as an example, we prompted the principals to lead their divisions in identifying examples of students pursuing knowledge for its own sake. We questioned the principals on whether such instances would be easily discernible. A priority for us is preventing the document from becoming stagnant or outdated, which requires an ongoing need to refine the language, emphasizing the commitment to connecting the Portrait in tangible ways to the classroom experience.

In the 2023-2024 school year, we have been expanding these exercises to the department level and continue looking for ways to improve and optimize.

The Portrait of a Graduate in Practice: Evaluating Curriculum

Inside and Outside the Classroom

You can see first-hand how we’re weaving each of these foundational cornerstones into our curriculum by looking

at how we’ve restructured our upper school Humanities program. This program transcends conventional boundaries, fusing cultural awareness, history, and environmental studies to forge a connection between the strength of intellect and the strength of character, fostering curiosity and critical thinking. Analogous enriching experiences are emerging in our Lower and Middle Schools, such as the launch of the 8th-grade Capstone Project and the Explorations Program for 3rd-, 4th-, and 5th-grade students.

Beyond the confines of the classroom, our students embody the tenets of character and community through activities like athletics, extracurricular clubs, and community involvement.

You can see these concepts converge on full display throughout each academic year. One most notable example is during Field Day, a long-standing Pre-K through 12th-grade Country Day tradition. The orchestration of this event serves as a testament to our students’ leadership prowess, quickthinking abilities, and collaborative spirit. It’s impressive to see how this event unfolds; our 11th-grade students set the rhythm of the day and are largely responsible for pulling off the event by themselves with limited guidance from teachers.

A North Star for All

We believe our teachers are more than teachers to our students. They are mentors, advisors — even friends. While we all share the responsibility of ensuring that these ideals are not just lofty aspirations but tangible and achievable goals, it is our teachers who actively and consistently carry

out our mission day in and day out. When we speak of integrating the principles of character and community into our students’ daily lives, it is our teachers who, with tactical precision, bring these ideals to life.

Our teachers are responsible for creating fruitful corners for ideas to grow, whether it’s within a multi-age classroom in our Lower School or a middle school Geography class.

We’re discovering that our teachers are also deriving considerable value from prioritizing essential student outcomes. It’s helping them see the big picture as educators. The Portrait not only broadens their perspectives — it also adds to their expertise and provides a common vocabulary for a Country Day education. That vocabulary transcends grade levels and departmental divisions. Rather than viewing themselves solely as math, science, or history teachers, for instance, it allows Country Day’s faculty to play a more holistic role, dedicated to advancing the school’s mission of enriching the lives of talented young people in a dynamic learning environment.

The Portrait of a Graduate provides a common direction. It gives students, teachers — and all of us — a guiding North Star to look up to. And ultimately, that’s the essence of this initiative.

Always a Work in Progress

I review the Portrait of a Graduate regularly, and each time I do, I recognize the document applies to me as an adult just as much as it does to our students. We are all works in progress, modeling lifelong learning and growth as adults to the younger learners in our community.

In simplest terms, our Portrait of a Graduate represents who we want our students to become, and I believe this journey never ends. Even when students cross the graduation stage and gaze into the audience, they behold the faces that played crucial roles in their development. The faces smiling back at them are all still in development themselves, even as adults, even as teachers, administrators, and parents.

For our students to become lifelong learners, we must first recognize our willingness to maintain an open mindset. For an open mindset perceives the big picture in all its complexity, vibrant detail, and uncertainty with optimism and insatiable curiosity.

For having an open mindset is definitively Country Day. h

About the Process

The realization of Country Day’s Portrait of a Graduate would not have been possible without the dedication and collaborative efforts of faculty and staff across our Early Childhood Center, Lower, Middle, and Upper Schools. They worked tirelessly and collectively to bring together the intricate pieces of the puzzle inherent in any complex institution, assembling them into a framework that we hope will be genuinely meaningful and lasting.

JULIE BORDES

Former Director of Marketing and Public Relations

WHITNEY BROOKS '98

Director of the Country Day Early Childhood Center

PAUL FRANTZ

Middle School Principal

ROB HEREFORD Head of School

HOWARD HUNTER '75 Academic Dean

MIMI ODEM

Lower School Principal

CAROLINE PERSCHALL '90

Lower School Art Teacher

AMELIA SHERMAN '05

Upper School Counselor

KATE TURNBULL

Director of Professional Learning

KATIE VANDERBROOK

Country Day Early Childhood Center Teacher

NINNETTE VARISCO

Director of Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging

AUGUSTINE WHYTE Upper School Principal

BRIDG ING THE GAP:

BRIDG ING THE GAP:

FROM RESEARCH TO PRACTICE

FROM RESEARCH TO PRACTICE

BY KATE TURNBULL, DIRECTOR OF PROFESSIONAL LEARNING

Pictured: A print of an amygdala from a printmaking demonstration in Pam Skehan's middle school art class.

At Country Day, we’ve always been lifelong learners, dedicated to meeting the growing needs of our students by drawing connections between our existing knowledge and new research findings. As we entered the 2022-2023 school year, we asked ourselves how we could create an all-school professional learning program that would bridge the gap between our existing knowledge and the latest advances in Mind, Brain, and Education (MBE) research, while keeping it all centered around student success.

In Neuroteach: Brain Science and the Future of Education, authors Glenn Whitman and Ian Kelleher explain, “The most important tool that each student brings to learning is his or her brain … but even with their brain there is no assurance that learning will happen.”

As we gain a better understanding of how the brain functions during the learning process, it is essential for educators to be research-informed to best serve their students. In recent years, huge advances in technology have provided insight into how the brain works and helps us better understand attention, memory formation, and the link between emotion and cognition. As a result, research has grown in the fields of neuroscience, education, and psychology. Mind, Brain, and Education Science is at the intersection of these fields, and educational institutions are tapping this knowledge to improve teaching and learning.

As a result of their expertise in the field of MBE, we chose to partner with Glenn, Ian, and their team of teacher-researchers at the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning (CTTL) at St. Andrew’s Episcopal, a Pre-K to 12 independent school in Bethesda, Maryland. With over 10 years of experience implementing research-informed strategies in the classroom, the CTTL team supplied expertise and offered our faculty an invaluable teacher perspective on how to bridge the gap from research to practice.

GOAL-SETTING

At the beginning of this learning experience, we identified three attainable goals. Our first goal was to share the latest and most promising research in the fields of neuroscience, education, and psychology with every teacher at Country Day. Second, to build a common vocabulary of MBE terminology. And finally, to set a “10% goal” for the school year in which our faculty would intentionally implement an MBE strategy to positively impact their students.

With clear goals defined, this all-school professional learning built teacher efficacy and has had a profound impact on our community of diverse learners. This work also supported the school’s mission statement, the Portrait of a Graduate, and the school’s progressive roots by prioritizing the cultivation of each child and employing innovative approaches to teaching.

PRIMER

Over the summer of 2022, our entire faculty — Early Childhood through Upper School — read Neuroteach as a primer for understanding MBE and why we would focus our professional learning time on it.

Beginning with our August workshops, Glenn and his colleagues spent time with our faculty, sharing some of the latest and most promising brain science research. Each teacher was challenged to create a goal centered around an MBE research topic to be implemented in their classrooms.

During our Wednesday morning professional learning time, teachers shared their goals and progress with colleagues, offered suggestions, and brainstormed novel approaches in their work with students. The CTTL team also continued to visit multiple times throughout the year to share more research and provide support for our faculty.

REFLECTIONS

For many teachers, this process confirmed what they were already doing aligned with the latest research. However, even the most seasoned teacher had the opportunity to reflect on their teaching practices and supplement or reinforce their work with new strategies that were research-informed.

Some teachers created new lesson plans with embedded strategies like retrieval practice or more intentional formative assessments, while others focused on providing more effective feedback to students. Many students were taught the importance of metacognition as teachers offered time for their students to reflect on their learning, an essential step in the connection between learning and retention.

CONTINUOUS LEARNING: FOCUSING ON BELONGING IN 2024

This year, we are narrowing our focus on the theme of “Belonging,” and the intersection of MBE and DEIB. Experts from the CTTL joined us once again for our back-to-school workshops to share research and provide time for reflection and goal-setting for the upcoming school year. This year, faculty will spend their Wednesday morning meeting time sharing their progress and offering feedback to their colleagues. We’re excited to continue this work and look forward to seeing how our students benefit from this powerful professional learning. h

Below are specific examples of how MBE-centered professional learning changed teachers’ perceptions and enhanced their courses of study throughout the year:

“I used to think that assessments were limited to traditional tests and quizzes. Now, I think that, through MBE, a more comprehensive approach can be used, which incorporates Problem-Based Learning and group discussions. Assessing my students’ understanding in a more differentiated way allows them to more deeply demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of historical topics.”

CHRISTINE BERRY

MIDDLE SCHOOL HISTORY

“After learning more about the link between emotion and cognition and implementing specific changes, I’m now seeing a deeper understanding of content from students. Shifting my lesson plans with MBE strategies has yielded a higher recall from students, increased classroom participation, and created deeper positive relationships that can be seen well outside the classroom walls.”

NIKKI

LUDER

LOWER SCHOOL MUSIC

“The strategy of Mind Brain Education that I intentionally use the most is the Ebbinghaus forgetting curve. I purposefully interleave overarching, essential questions into my curriculum and revisit them in different modalities. These retrieval practices ensure that my students are exposed to the core concepts of the French language in different ways. As a teacher, I have noted positive results: Students are more relaxed and confident in class, take more risks with the language, and are eager to demonstrate their language skills.”

MARIE HEBERT

LOWER SCHOOL FRENCH

“The MBE training has affirmed many of our existing practices and bolstered our focus on the link between positive emotion and cognition in young children. Through consistency, calmness, and even a sense of humor, we are building a safe and creative environment where children know what to expect and feel confident to take appropriate risks, build resilience, and develop independence. MBE shows that all of this, in turn, fuels intellectual curiosity and growth.”

ASHLEY HOPE, LAUREN BORDELON PRE-K TEACHERS

“Using more dynamic MBE-informed review for major assessments, like practice tests, and building in content review into class through formative assessments have been eyeopening experiences. Creating a research project that

included arts instructions and dual coding has also helped to keep students engaged, even when they feel like history isn’t their strongest subject. I hope to continue to learn more about MBE and how it can make my classroom more effective for years to come.”

LUCAS MILLER

UPPER SCHOOL HISTORY

“In the metal arts program, we have made a daily practice of what we call ‘Focus Time’ during the first two minutes of each class. It serves to prime and fire up the neural circuitry we must employ in close-focus, sustained, and high-quality attention-driven tasks.”

STEVEN DONNELLY METAL ARTS

“I used to think that the young children I teach were incapable of understanding much of what I was learning during my MBE training. Now I know that not only are they beginning to understand it, but they are even using some of the vocabulary as they ‘name’ what their brains are doing. I love hearing my students say they are using their working memories as they store a number and count on it to arrive at a sum in a math lesson. They comment on using their executive functions when we organize our desks, our day, and our classroom materials.”

EILEEN HARDIN K | 1 | 2 TEACHER

“I used to think I had to give feedback on every step of every writing assignment, but I now know that I can focus on specific elements in different parts of the process and help students learn to utilize feedback. With less cognitive load, students better process the feedback, ask better questions and are more likely to implement writing suggestions.”

KILLIAN PHILIPSON MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH

“My work with MBE has been rather seamless in that mathematics is a discipline that lends itself naturally to the interleaving and retrieval of content and skills. Through MBE, my students and I are provided with a common vocabulary that allows us to communicate better with one another. Together we set an intention to revise and build on topics rather than analyzing content in isolation. Students embrace the good work of learning and growing together and focus their energy on applying concepts rather than memorizing.”

GRETCHEN HENNESSY UPPER SCHOOL MATH

The Country Day Fund Supports Every Student at Country Day.

We had a fantastic, record-breaking year of fundraising at Country Day and raised over $810,000 for the Country Day Fund in 2022-2023! This is a massive achievement for the entire Country Day community, one which we hope to build upon this year.

The Country Day Fund strengthens and sustains our extraordinary school program, including our talented and dedicated faculty, advanced visual and performing arts program, full-spectrum athletic program, enriched student life, advanced technology, exceptional campus and facilities, and a culture rich in tradition.

The Country Day Fund is the School’s most important annual fundraising priority. It provides unrestricted funds that directly support the annual operating budget. The Country Day Fund benefits every student, every year, by bridging the gap between tuition revenue and the actual cost of providing a Country Day education.

By supporting the Country Day Fund, you help ensure that Country Day continues to offer the highest quality education for all children.

2022-2023 COUNTRY DAY FUND LEADERSHIP

• Co-Chairs: Jessica and Jordan Schulman ’92

• Major Gifts Chair: Gaines Seaman ’94

• Parent Giving Co-Chairs: Jessica and Josh Richardson

• Alumni Giving Co-Chairs: Mary Beth Benjamin ’11 and Zana Georges ’11

• Grandparent Giving Co-Chairs: Marbury and John Little ’62

2022-2023 COUNTRY DAY FUND NUMBERS

• Last year, we exceeded our goal and raised over $810,000.

• 800+ donors

• 75+ volunteers

• 100% participation by our Board of Trustees and Alumni Board

It’s never too late to make your gift to the Country Day Fund! Scan the QR code or visit mpcds.com/giving.

The Class of 2030 was the first class to reach 100% parent participation for the 2022-2023 Country Day Fund, receiving a Silent D.J. party to celebrate!

PHOTOGRAPHY BY CAITLYN RIDENOUR

“What is art but a mold in which to imprison for a moment the shining, elusive element which is life itself, life hurrying past us and running away, too strong to stop, too sweet to lose.” — WILLA CATHER

The five-week Country Day Creative Arts (CDCA) program culminates with an extraordinary arts festival, an evening affair to which we invite our families and the wider community to immerse themselves in the artwork and performances we have dedicated our summer to creating. Halfway through the program, we host an event exclusively for the participants, known as the Banquet, a celebration of our collective. For us, it is an opportunity to reflect on our growth, appreciate our artistic endeavors, and acknowledge how far we’ve come in our journey of art-making.

Summer 2023 was the hottest on record. We endured weeks of scorching heat without a single drop of rain, in striking contrast to the previous wet summer when it rained incessantly, transforming the courtyard into a lagoon. As the day of the Banquet approached, the temperature was an unprecedented 100 degrees. We’ve all learned these last few years that the idea about change being the only constant is indeed true.

We investigated nature’s intricate communication, specifically how trees communicate through the mycelial network, referred to in a lighter vein as the “Wood Wide Web.” It became clear that time operates differently in the natural world. Inspired by this revelation, we embraced the concept of saving time by slowing down, a notion aligning with the celebration of our 40th anniversary, or 4D, the fourth dimension being time, also known as Spacetime.

“In physics, Spacetime is any mathematical model that fuses the three dimensions of time into a single four-dimensional continuum. Spacetime diagrams are useful in visualizing and understanding relativistic effects such as how different observers perceive where and when events occur” (Wikipedia “Spacetime”).

The Banquet serves the key purpose of building community. Our young artists come from more than 60 schools in the Greater New Orleans area. The Banquet also offers a welldeserved respite from our daily routines. Taking five art classes a day is a lot of work. The Banquet is an interactive event focusing on engaging and celebrating the senses. Our senior staff creates imaginative booths that may (or may not) draw inspiration from the year’s chosen theme, “Organic Intelligence.”

We considered the concept of the Golden Ratio, also known as Fibonacci’s Sequence. The story goes that the Greeks believed they could figure out the basis of beauty by measuring things they found beautiful in nature — plants, flowers, pinecones, etc. — and applying that to the built world. The Golden Ratio is often represented as a nautilus shell. In celebration of our big anniversary, we collaborated with one of the builders of the Music Box Village, a venue in the Upper 9 th Ward that's an “ongoing experiment in musical architecture.” The musical bench design was based on a nautilus shell. The frame was welded steel, and the bench, reclaimed heart of pine. We voted on a name, and it became

known as The Tone Throne, a place where our young artists gathered to play its glockenspiel-like pipes or just eat lunch.

During Banquet Week, I found myself concerned about the high temperatures. During booth time for the Banquet, we usually spend over an hour engaged in active play outdoors. Mapping out the placement of the booths made me realize the changes that have occurred since I began teaching at CDCA in 2001. The once-small trees in the courtyard have grown tall; some were not even planted back then. At present, most of the courtyard is pleasantly shaded. It felt poetic and befitting our theme that the trees’ shade should shield us from the intense heat. To combat the heat further, we included more water-based activities than usual and strategically placed multiple baby pools filled with refreshing ice throughout the courtyard.

Besides celebrating our 40 th summer this year, we had the genuine thrill of having Sara Stevenson, the program’s founder, work with us. Sara was an intern (an artist’s assistant) in ceramics, her personal art form. While here, we asked her questions about the origins of CDCA, one of which was, “Why is it called Banquet”? She replied, “We thought it would be funny to have an elegant name for such a wild event! Also, in the beginning, we moved all the picnic tables into one line down the center of the courtyard and have a really loooong table.”

The day was perfect. There is always a narrative that accompanies the theme that we built the weeks before the event, with a mystery at its heart. Discovery is an essential aspect of learning, also known as the “a-ha” or Eureka moment. Our Banquet narratives require a little suspension of disbelief, which is also part of the fun. A quick synopsis is that we lost something important to us, and the trees helped recover it.

Most days, our young artists wear old, comfortable clothes to CDCA. However, at the Banquet, they transform into blank canvases, dressed entirely in white. By the end of the event, they are living, breathing works of art. We also adorned ourselves with paper flowers crafted from the Lower School library’s discarded dictionaries.

We give names to the booths because when you give something a name, you make it real. To name a few, the musical theater teachers came up with: “FROGS — Frequencies Resembling Other Great Species,” where visitors listened to a recording of frog sounds and created

their own using a sound system. Another booth, named “Intelligent Slime Mold,” was a slime-filled baby pool. The “intelligent” part involved the kids, elbow-deep in the stuff, blindfolded, trying to identify what they’d found hidden in the pool. “Ice Slugs-Osmosis in Motion” invited visitors to take frozen sculptures on a walkabout. “Pot-a-Kid” had young artists standing in a galvanized tin of potting soil and getting watered. “My Silly-um-Net Work” allowed people to weave a giant net. And, of course, there was everyone’s favorite, “Blue Your Mind,” where participants could get painted with blue clay.

When the music from the live band, Daria and the Hip Drops, ceased from the gazebo, it signaled time for our closing ceremony. The festivities came to an end with the

unfurling of several hundred feet of fabric through the courtyard, physically connecting all the trees. It was a visual interpretation of the mycelial network. Each of us grasped a part of the fabric, and for a moment, all 400 of us were connected. It was a powerful feeling. We ended the celebration by doing what I consider one of life’s most important acts: saying thank you.

CDCA is a community that demonstrates the importance of imagination through play, physical activity, storytelling, and how to make things and places. We learn about materials and processes and how to appreciate the natural world. It is an extraordinary and meaningful experience on one of the most beautiful campuses in Louisiana. Here’s to 40 more years!

Nay, a 100 more! h

After-School

RENAIS

BY SEAN PATTERSON AND GENNA ELLIS

In the fall of 2019, After-School Players, a hallmark of Country Day’s lower school enrichment program since the late 1990s, held its last in-person performance before the COVID-19 pandemic forced everyone into lockdown. After salvaging a virtual performance in the spring of 2020, the program went on hiatus due to pandemic-induced restrictions. In the fall of 2022, three years after its last live show, After-School Players made a triumphant return to Weinmann Auditorium under the guidance of new program directors Sean Patterson, the Middle School and Upper School Drama Director, and Genna Ellis, at the time a K/1/2 teacher in Room 2 and now a 3/4 teacher in Room 8. In the fall 2022 session, Genna and Sean welcomed 16 students in grades kindergarten through 5, and in the spring 2023 session, they split the growing group into two sections: one with 22 2nd through 5th graders and the other with 14 kindergarteners and 1st graders.

In this conversation from May 2023, Genna and Sean explored the responsibility of revitalizing a Country Day institution, the joys of collaboration, and the many ways through which theatre can make a positive and lasting impact on a student’s academic development and social-emotional well-being.

SANCE

GENNA: How has it felt bringing the After-School Players program back, post-COVID?

SEAN: I find it really exciting. We tried to bring it back in the ’21-’22 school year, but everything was still too tentative in light of the pandemic, and there wasn’t a strong response. Overall, it’s impressive how well the performing arts on our campus have rebounded from COVID-19. We’re still rebuilding student engagement, but we’re back. It was a little worrisome, because we couldn’t do anything in person for a year and a half; everything had to be filmed. In fact, the last After-School Players production before the pandemic had to pivot to a video format. That was Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, directed by Sandy Thornburg and Betsy McGovern. So, it’s been great to see how things have found a new normal.

GENNA: The fact that the last After-School Players show had to pivot to a virtual format meant that everybody involved didn’t get that sense of closure.

SEAN: They didn’t. There wasn’t closure for the students involved—or for Sandy and Betsy, either—and what the interruption created for our Lower School was essentially a twoyear cycle of students who didn’t have access to that experience of putting on a show with their peers. And it likely will make a difference as students progress through the grades, where there’ll be this “blip,” I guess, of students who weren't able to do that. Because even though all the students do, say, Merry

Meeting or the 3rd | 4th Grade Musical, the ones who do AfterSchool Players often stick with it. Many of our Upper School actors got started there. So I think After-School Players is an important part of what we offer at Country Day. It’s classified as “enrichment,” but it’s more than just enrichment. It fills a void. After-School Players allows lower school students interested in dramatic expression, or even creative play, to explore that interest separately from the touchstone experiences we have at certain grade levels, such as Merry Meeting in kindergarten or the 3rd | 4th Grade Musical. After-School Players gives our students in 1st, 2nd, and 5th grades a chance to get on stage, and it offers students who are in K, 3rd, and 4th grades a chance to do something more than or different from what they do in those grade-level productions that are part of the curriculum.

GENNA: What is special, too, is that I had a handful of 2nd graders in my class join After-School Players. Some had dabbled in theatre, and some were completely new to it this year. But they all stuck with it for both the fall and spring sessions. It was really beautiful to see them, with that level of exposure, attending the Upper School musicals, watching the spring production of Urinetown, and talking to me about other shows they’d seen on campus or elsewhere. The experience opens up doors of opportunity for them. It shows them the possibilities. It shows them the trajectory of where they can go and where they can end up.

SEAN: The supple, spongy brains of the K–5th grade age group allow them to literally absorb the material in a different way. After-School Players really gets our Lower School students eager to be on stage, excited about being on stage, and accustomed to being on stage.

As someone new to this community, what do you feel the attraction is for the After-School Players program? What does it offer to you?

GENNA: Well, I knew right off the bat, from my first in-person interview at Country Day, that this would be a welcoming place for me. I was embraced from the get-go into a super-warm community, which was exciting. I also was able to tour the campus and could see everything here was really community-based, which I loved. Theatre is all about a supportive community. And you know, when I got here, I also got to see the beautiful resources that we have, the strong sense of community amongst faculty, too...

SEAN: Here she is, crying. Now she’s crying.

GENNA: I’m not! It’s my contact!

SEAN: Please note, she’s crying.

GENNA: Education and theatre have been my two biggest passions. When I was in Chicago, I taught many after- school residencies. I did a lot of theatre camps and programs and had some teaching artist gigs. It was a big part of me, and I knew I had to continue that wherever I went; ideally, it would happen at my place of work. And when I discovered an opportunity for it, I got to work with you...

SEAN: Uh-huh.

SEAN: It is one hundred percent a class.

GENNA: I look for little moments in the day to integrate arts into my work as a teacher. I think that will always be what I do, whether in an elementary classroom or on a stage teaching kids. But I feel like at Country Day, I’m so supported either way. And whatever I want to do, or however I want to go about it, everyone supports me. And the kids are eating it up, which I love.

SEAN: I agree, and this ties in with the idea of kick-starting the After-School Players program again ... I was hired as the theatre educator. That is my position. However, what hasn’t always been the case is a place for me to be involved in every division, and After-School Players has afforded me that opportunity.

GENNA: How has it felt to work with a new age group?

GENNA: We hit it off right off the bat; we really get each other and work well together. I couldn’t have asked for a better spot to be in.

SEAN: Do you think of yourself as a theatre educator who does early childhood education, or do you consider yourself an early childhood educator who gets to do theatre?

GENNA: I’m an early childhood educator who gets to do theatre at her place of work. But I’m also a theatre educator at my place of work, because even though it’s an enrichment class, even though it’s an after-school class, it’s a class.

SEAN: Well, I’ve always supported the efforts of the Lower School. I’ve always provided technical support, whether it’s design elements, lighting, or sound, or helping pull together props, some sort of thing like that, for Merry Meeting, for the 3rd | 4th Grade Musical, and for After-School Players when it was under the auspices of Sandy Thornburg and Betsy McGovern. So I’ve always worked with it during my time here, but I haven’t always worked as a full-fledged creative collaborator. I’ve always provided technical support, but it’s a new thing to be able to contribute creatively. And you know, it’s interesting, because while I am a performer and was a member of Actor’s Equity, and I direct, both of my Master’s are in writing–playwriting and musical theatre writing. So, you know, I look for lots of opportunities to either write for my students or create writing opportunities for them, so it's an opportunity to do that because one of the things I love about what we’re doing in After-School Players is that we did three original scripts this year.

GENNA: You know, I think when we walk the kids through that process, it’s so magical that their scripts are specially curated for them. I have really enjoyed co-directing with you. It is rare to work right alongside the playwright throughout the entirety of a production. h

Lower School Art Show

Middle and Upper School Art Show

Three Upper School Students Recognized for Their Exceptional Work at the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards

In January 2023, three students from Country Day were honored with Scholastic Art and Writing Awards. Since 1923, these awards have acknowledged the creative talents of some of America’s most celebrated artists and writers while they were teens, including Tschabalala Self, Stephen King, Kay WalkingStick, Amanda Gorman, Charles White, Joyce Carol Oates, and Andy Warhol.

Students are judged based on their originality, technical skills, and the emergence of a distinctive personal voice or vision. In this competition, students are awarded a Gold Key, a Silver Key, or an Honorable Mention based on their accomplishments.

Salem Fitch ’23 earned a Silver Key for a piece from her AP Art and Design Portfolio, which beautifully showcased the development of and love for her faith, evoking a childlike wonder.

Marygrace de la Cruz ’24 earned a Silver Key for her painting of an interior space depicting her own living room, skillfully capturing beautiful lavender grays and cozy texture.

Gabrielle White ’23 was recognized with an Honorable Mention for her modified self-portrait, a thought-provoking commentary on how humanity manipulates nature by way of medication, which can alter the state of human nature.

CURIOSITY UNBOUND

THROUGH EXPLORATIONS, STUDENTS HELM IMAGINATIVE YEAR-LONG STUDY PROGRAM

BY MIMI ODEM, LOWER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, AND EMILY WEST, LOWER SCHOOL ASSISTANT PRINCIPAL

“EX-PLORATIONS! EX-EX-PLORATIONS!”

And so the chant goes, echoing feverishly through the Lower School Atrium at Country Day. On days like these when our “Explorations” groups meet, for passersby and onlookers alike, this rallying call sparks a curious energy to the start of the school day.

But what’s all the chanting about? Our Lower School Explorations groups have gathered to mark the beginning of their year-long odyssey of learning and academic exploration through research, backward design planning, and collaborative activities. Now in its second year, the Explorations program’s momentum continues to be fueled by each student’s sincere curiosity about the topics they choose to immerse themselves in.

At Country Day, we’re always looking for ways to re-evaluate and iterate on our curriculum. To this end, we’ve been following data and research trails over several years that show students are more engaged when they seek out topics relevant to their everyday interests. As stated in The Brain-Targeted Teaching Model for the 21st Century Schools (Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin, 2021), “Students must be offered choices in their learning to maximize engagement and intrinsic motivation.” Anecdotally, every teacher has witnessed the strong spirit of activism, leadership, and desire that is fostered through small interest groups and clubs among 3rd, 4th, and 5th graders.

Drawing from these observations, experiences, and research, and bolstered by a deliberate focus on allocating time for these projects within the school day, the concept of ‘Explorations’ was born.

Think: Passion projects of a student’s choosing — examined, explored, and evaluated throughout the academic year — in a collaborative, student-led group setting.

Since launching the Explorations program in 2022, Country Day eagerly welcomed its second cohort of students for the current academic year. We hope this year’s program will bring added dimension and depth to the goals set during the inaugural expedition: student-driven learning, cross-content collaboration, teachers modeling lifelong learning side-by-side with their students, application of organizational skills, and the continued acquisition of new information.

BIG IDEAS ONLY

On the first day, like passengers abuzz before departing to a distant land, students mingle and gather with excitement in the Lower School Atrium. At this early stage, facilitators put a strong emphasis on encouraging big ideas, and students are asked to consider how to research and explore their ideas — to not simply come up with them. By the end of the day, students prepare to pitch their ideas for Exploration Units of Study.

“I loved every part of Explorations! We cannot wait to see what our students will explore this school year.”

KELLY FINEGAN JEWELRY AND FASHION GROUP FACILITATOR

TABULATING TOPICS

Students return on the second day of Explorations and are welcomed with another large group assembly. Here, they’re given an overview of how their ideas will become potential topics of study. Students then break up into smaller classrooms where they have a chance to commit their ideas to paper. These student interest forms are then combed through looking for common threads and cross-over ideas. These are then transformed into an extensive list of Explorations topics for students to choose from.

PRIORITY RANKINGS

On the third day of Explorations, teachers present the compiled topics to the students, who then rank their preferences. Our aim is to place each student in one of their top-three choices. Faculty members also provide their preferences and are matched with the students to become facilitators of these student-led Explorations groups.

EXPLORATIONS BEGIN

The program’s commitment to exploring all worthy ideas is evident in the inaugural year’s diverse range of topics, spanning visual art, performance, fashion, and even LEGO projects. Yes, you read that right – even LEGO bricks.

HERE’S THE COMPLETE LIST OF GROUP TOPICS FROM EXPLORATIONS YEAR ONE

∙ Drawing/Pottery/Clay

∙ History Focused on WWII Biographies

∙ Dance and Cheer

∙ Drama/Theatre/Acting

∙ Yearbook/Photography

∙ LEGO Bricks

∙ Fitness and Health

∙ Cooking/Baking

∙ Saving Animals Fundraising Group

∙ Movie Making/Podcasts

∙ Fashion and Jewlery

∙ Chain Reactions/ Inventions

∙ Soccer

EXPLORATIONS 2022 BY THE NUMBERS

∙ 13 groups

∙ 147 students

∙ 26 unique facilitators

∙ 100+ original topics

COMMON CHANTS, UNCOMMON OUTCOMES

For every group rotation, the infectiously curious energy generated by the Explorations chant permeates further and further beyond the atrium. Each Explorations group meets about 16 times throughout the school year to research, create, and build. Groups work together toward the culminating event in May as part of the Explorations Celebration. In the celebration, groups share what they’ve learned in a hands-on show and tell.

Our inaugural program had so many remarkable highlights that listing them all in one place is a delightful challenge, but we’ve given it our best shot.

∙ The History Club meticulously conveyed the lessons of World War II through comprehensive research, presenting them in stunning detail.

∙ A performance from the Dance and Cheer Group mesmerized us with their disciplined, acrobatic wizardry.

∙ The Cooking/Baking Group satisfied our need for something doughy and sweet, handing out goldenfried churros and baking tips for recreating these deliciously fried treats at home.

∙ The Soccer Group put on a dazzling offensive and defensive display in their Red vs. Blue expo game.

∙ The Fashion and Jewelry Group pushed the boundaries of haute couture on the runway.

∙ Our Saving Animals Fundraising Group raised $1,800 for Silent Voices Wildlife Rehab.

∙ Flying Monkeys! The Drama Group transported audiences to the Emerald City with their video presentation of The Wizard of Oz; a separate performance was also showcased live.

∙ The Podcast Group unscrambled the hidden meaning in their analysis of the Attack of the Eggs podcast.

∙ The Yearbook/ Photography Group captured it all and shared their final creation, “The Explorations Yearbook!”

∙ The Art and LEGO Groups welcomed us into their museums of creations.

THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF IMAGINATION

What can LEGO bricks tell us about our ambitions for future Explorations programs? For a generation, these tiny, colorful, interlocking bricks have become a hallmark of childhood creative expression. They’re quite literally the building blocks of a child’s imagination. But like all building blocks (and puzzles for that matter) you need all the pieces, a little direction on where to get started, and most importantly, time to turn these disparate elements into a lasting endeavor. Much like developing an idea, when given time, analysis, collaboration, guidance, and a flinty resolve, we can see our simplest ideas grow into something lasting and impactful.

“EX-PLORATIONS! EX-EX-PLORATIONS!”

And so, the chant goes on. And so, the chant continues. h

“Being with the students in this capacity was fun. Watching their leadership, perseverance, and creativity was particularly joyful for me.”

CAITLIN COLLLIER FASHION AND JEWELRY FACILITATOR

FUTURE FORWARD

BY AUGUSTINE WHYTE, UPPER SCHOOL PRINCIPAL, AND JOHN COLE, UPPER SCHOOL COMPUTER SCIENCE

Hi there! How can I help?

Can you write a lead for a magazine story about the rise of generative AI and its impact on the field of education?

“In an era defined by rapid technological advancements, one innovation has emerged as a game-changer in the realm of education. Generative Artificial Intelligence, or generative AI, is revolutionizing the way we teach and learn. As we delve into the intricacies of this cutting-edge technology, this story explores the profound impact it is having on the educational landscape, reshaping classrooms, empowering educators, and redefining the future of learning. Join us on a journey into the heart of this transformation as we uncover how generative AI is not just a tool for education but a catalyst for educational evolution.”

Not bad, but not exactly what I was envisioning. I’d like to start by focusing more on the questions generative AI’s raises about what it means to be human.

“In an era marked by the unprecedented rise of Generative Artificial Intelligence (generative AI), the very essence of what it means to be human is being brought into question. As this remarkable technology penetrates the heart of the educational realm, it prompts us to ponder profound inquiries about the nature of human intelligence, creativity, and the very core of our existence. Our cover story embarks on a journey into the intriguing confluence of generative AI and education, delving deep into the thought-provoking queries that this revolution stirs. Join us as we navigate the uncharted waters where algorithms meet human potential and discover the profound implications this convergence has for the future of education and our understanding of ourselves.”

Hey, you’re pretty good at this!

Thank you for the compliment!

We aren’t strangers to how new technology can cause rifts in education. For much of our school’s history, we’ve recognized innovation as both a benefit and a challenge to learning. Our progressive roots continue to remind us to confront disruptive forces by embracing their capacity for long-term change, no matter how uncomfortable they make us feel in the short term.

Unlike the expansion of the Internet and the way mobile technology and social media have impacted student life gradually over decades, the recent breakthrough emergence of generative artificial intelligence seems to have everyone in rapt attention for its exponential evolution and universal applications.

But how did this new wave of technology come to be, and why does it seem to have business leaders, government agencies, and news media simultaneously proclaiming the dawn of a new epoch and the threat of an existential crisis for humanity?

As educators, how can we tap this latest disruptive force as a learning tool and play a role in its integration into our curriculum?

This article represents our effort as a school to wade into the waters on the rapidly evolving topic of generative AI, a topic destined to continue to unfold dramatically even after this article’s publication.

Generated Over Decades (And Even Before)

Generative artificial intelligence, generative AI, or GenAI, is an artificial intelligence technology capable of generating text, media, and other content, based on generative models. These generative models are highly advanced learning programs that have been “trained” on patterns of data to replicate new data that has similar characteristics.

AI technology has been in existence in some form or another since the

mid-20th century. The early merits of its use and adoption were not clear, attracting only fleeting interest save for a handful of scientists and researchers. After several periods of underdevelopment (known in tech circles as “AI Winter”), early machine learning models slowly showed promise through nascent applications in the 1990s: speech recognition, banking software, and the early stages of Google's search engine were all precursors to today’s more advanced generative AI.

Over the next three decades, the more these programs learned, the more advanced they became in the data patterns they could replicate.

Cut to just a few years ago.

The recent exponential boom is flintsparked when the most advanced machine learning algorithms are used to solve complex problems honed on unprecedentedly large data sets.

Now able to access the most prolific contents of human history available by mining the Internet and its data, this notched-up progress attracts more interest from lucrative tech investors.

Funding skyrockets the technology into the moment we’re now seeing come to fruition, as a flood of new generative AI solutions are released for public consumption. These include large language models — advanced chatbots with uncanny interactivity — like ChatGPT, Copilot, Bard, and LLaMA, and image generators like DALL-E and Midjourney. All with consumer-friendly interfaces, capable of a wide variety of personal and business applications on everything from generating emails to writing code with just a few keystrokes. As their presence becomes more ubiquitous, so does the demand and marketability to infuse AI into more products and services.

Input/Output

We’ve spent a good amount of time familiarizing ourselves with how programs like ChatGPT work, partly

Can a technology hurtling forward remain within our control? As educators, we believe there’s a unique role we can play.

for exploratory reasons, partly to test the limits of what it can do to support classroom engagement and effectiveness in the short term.

ChatGPT, for example, is proficient in helping scale resources. We’ve seen educators wrangle its capabilities to cull documents, create syllabuses, brainstorm sample test questions, and ideate quiz topics.

For students, chatbots like these can be used to enhance learning. They can use the tools to aid with organization and time management. Students can also use these tools to help them learn by asking them to create additional study questions and getting feedback on their answers.

Like any incipient technology, generative AI has had initial missteps and is not without limitations. When using ChatGPT, the guidance to both teachers and students is that specific details matter. Vague prompts will inevitably return vague responses. But it goes beyond this. There’s a pattern witnessed by some early users that some responses have included biased or misleading information. Sometimes, the chatbots gave incoherent replies. Others were prone to a glitch, causing them to “hallucinate” responses in incredibly vivid ways.

Through our own initial research, we asked ChatGPT for “a brief history of animals in space.” The first part of the response shot back was a list of helpful annotations and useful dates detailing the animal kingdom’s contributions preceding human space travel. Then, the robot’s imagination ostensibly went off script and spouted a fever dream of warped information. The phenomenon we experienced wasn’t isolated to our own queries or to ChatGPT. There have been numerous high-profile instances of bizarre and strange responses from Microsoft’s Bing (it proclaimed sentience then confessed its love to a New York Times tech reporter) and Google’s Bard (its unboxing in front of

journalists was overshadowed when it flubbed simple questions during a live stream event).

This leads us to the fine print disclaimer nested at the bottom of ChatGPT’s search bar: "ChatGPT can make mistakes. Consider checking important information." That these resources need to be vetted does not mean we should dismiss their potential. After all, these models were trained to recognize patterns of available data, not the quality of it. Remember, this technology has been trained on one of the most basic sources of abundant data, the Internet; a place not always considered a pristine repository of truth; a place often cluttered with false information; a place incorporated by humanity’s discretion and gatekeeping. This not only speaks to the larger maxim that the quality of output is in direct correlation with the quality of input, but as the quantity of information increases, the critical thinking required to decode its legitimacy does, too.

Even with these high-tech tools pushing misleading or potentially false information, readily available and incrementally encroaching upon our daily lives, it seems the ability to learn how to think, not simply what to think, should be valued now more than ever.

Can a technology hurtling forward remain within our control? As educators, we believe there’s a unique role we can play.

The Argument for Educators

While it may be hard to imagine what AI’s arrival in the classroom might look like in the years to come, in truth, it’s already happening. In April of 2023, Snap, the company behind Snapchat, made its My Chatbot, a Snapchatskinned version of ChatGPT, available to all customers. For most students, Snapchat is the communication channel of choice.

We see generative AI’s implantation into existing technology not as a

Trojan horse but as a preview of what’s to come when access to these new super tools is commonplace.

We see the steep curve of this innovation’s adoption and potential, not as something to compete with or to cause consternation, but to develop proper policies and guidelines around. We want to support our teachers in ways to harness this new technology to expand their teaching skill sets and make them more effective in the classroom — to use this technology in the long term as a way to solve problems, sharpen perspectives, and refine arguments.

We want to show our students that tools like these still require critical thinking and a fundamental grasp of the subjects they aspire to retain and the codes they hope to crack. At the ground level we’re already experimenting with how “prompt writing” can be used to reverse engineer research and study. In our computer science classes, we’ve had students synthesize the information they receive in ChatGPT as a way to delimit the borders between practical application and shiny-new-thing fascination. Separately, we’ve encouraged students to scrutinize responses they suspect of misinformation, falsities, or biases. And in an effort to broaden our perspectives in this burgeoning field, we’ve even hosted a guest lecturer pursuing their doctoral thesis in AI.

We often take the view that collaboration instead of competition yields bigger outcomes. We see generative AI as an avenue for advancing this concept. Even at the current moment, generative AI’s explosive growth seems to be without equal. History tells us otherwise. In 1996, when Garry Kasparov, global chess champion at the time, agreed to take on IBM’s supercomputer, Deep Blue, an early existential Human vs. Machine battle played out in real-time over a series of chess matches as the world watched.

The significance here has many parallels, both figuratively and metaphorically, in how collaboration created a more meaningful long-term positive impact. Kasparov won the first match, but Deep Blue took the second. The gravity of the moment continued to propel IBM’s research team to develop its artificial intelligence capabilities further. Shortly after these competitions, a new game was born called Advanced Chess, where humans and machines competed together. Interestingly, an average player with a computer was better than the strongest players or the strongest computers alone. Perhaps the future isn't AI; it is humans and AI together.

As educators, we’re most curious about and excited by the ways of how collaboration between students and this new technology will lead to something beyond the bounds of what humans or machines can achieve alone.

A Future Foreword

When publishing a biannual magazine with a venerated tradition for capturing topics most relevant to the moment, finding the proper point of entry to discuss one that’s evolving so rapidly has proven a formidable assignment.

By the time you read this article, some innovation or breakthrough may eclipse the current one. But as our previous Comments articles, including the importance of Internet access (Technology in the Classroom, 2012) or harnessing the intrusions of tablets in the classroom (iPad Revolution, 2014), we prefer to embrace disruptive forces rather than trying to futureproof our position.

Rather, we try to capture something that can be read as a foreword of the moment, written for the future.

In the end, none of us can predict the future; we can only help prepare our students to thrive within it. h

We often take the view that collaboration instead of competition yields bigger outcomes. We see generative AI as an avenue for advancing this concept.

National Merit Awards

FOUR SENIORS FROM THE CLASS OF 2024 NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTS

Four Country Day seniors, Marygrace de la Cruz, Pierce Hatheway, Sarah Heebe, and Cooper Woods, have been named National Merit Semifinalists in the 69th annual National Merit Scholarship Program by the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC).

Beginning in 1955, this national academic competition for recognition and scholarship selects Semifinalists based on their excellent PSAT scores.

Over 1.3 million juniors from 21,000 high schools entered the National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the 2022

Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. The pool of Semifinalists represents less than one percent of United States high school seniors, representing the highest-scoring entrants in each state. These academically talented students can continue to compete for some 7,140 National Merit Scholarships that will be awarded in the spring. Congratulations to our students!

THREE SENIORS FROM THE CLASS OF 2023 NAMED NATIONAL MERIT COMMENDED SCHOLARS

Each year, 1.5 million high school juniors take the PSAT standardized test, and approximately 34,000 of those students are named National Merit Commended Scholars, based on their performance. Congratulations to the students listed below who were named National Merit Commended Scholars.

TWO SENIORS FROM THE CLASS OF 2023 RECOGNIZED BY THE COLLEGE BOARD

Students who identify as Black, African American, Latino, Hispanic, or Indigenous and also have performed at a high level on the PSAT are recognized as National Recognition Scholars.

Lance Hebert ’23 (Hispanic)

Gabrielle White ’23 (Black, African American)

Parijat Basak ’23

Yash Gupta ’23

Lance Hebert ’23

Left to right: Cooper Woods, Marygrace de la Cruz, Pierce Hatheway, and Sarah Heebe.

National Honor Society Fall 2023 Induction Ceremony

The National Honor Society 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, 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.

2023-2024

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY OFFICERS

CLAIRE CANNELLA ’24 President

MELISSA MORRISON ’24 Vice President

MASON KWON ’25 Secretary

2023-2024 NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY ROSTER

*Indicates inducted in the 2023-2024 school year

CLASS OF 2024

Phillip Antis (2022-2023)

Minnie Mae August (2022-2023)

Adele Barba (2022-2023)

Sinnott Bland (2021-2022)

Jacob Boelte (2023-2024)*

Mark Brown (2021-2022)

Claire Cannella (2021-2022)

Pellegrina Cimini (2022-2023)

Jack Davidson (2021-2022)

Julia Drago (2022-2023)

Ava Dufrene (2023-2024)

Pierce Hatheway (2021-2022)

Sarah Heebe (2021-2022)

Nicole Kazour (2022-2023)

Simon LaGraize (2022-2023)

Nico Link (2022-2023)

George McCelvey (2021-2022)

Max Mills (2023-2024)*

Melissa Morrison (2022-2023)

Maddox Moss (2023-2024)*

Londyn Norwood (2022-2023)

Sasha Ridgeway (2022-2023)

James Rogers (2021-2022)

Ellie Schmidt (2023-2024)*

Daisy Schulte (2023-2024)*

William Singer (2023-2024)*

William Sinnott (2023-2024)*

Zach Spangler (2022-2023)

Henry Swope (2023-2024)*

Grace Wang (2022-2023)

Kate Wood (2023-2024)*

Cooper Woods (2021-2022)

CLASS OF 2025

Taylor Alexander (2022-2023)

Lia Beverly (2022-2023)

Greer Bouza (2022-2023)

Henry Breen (2022-2023)

Brody Cummings (2023-2024)*

Cole Devenport (2022-2023)

Coco Emonet (2023-2024)*

Gavin Ferrand (2023-2024)*

Jane Gambel (2022-2023)

Coco Goldenberg (2022-2023)

Peetsie Goldenberg (2022-2023)

Raine Goldenberg (2022-2023)

Will Heath (2022-2023)

Julianne Isacks (2023-2024)*

Manish Jain (2022-2023)

Chloe Jones (2023-2024)*

Charlie Kazour (2022-2023)

Mason Kwon (2022-2023)

Josephine LaGraize (2023-2024)*

Clovis Layrisson (2022-2023)

Lance Moore (2022-2023)

Christian Myers (2022-2023)

Harry Odem (2022-2023)

Oliver Parsi (2022-2023)

Maggie Schneider (2022-2023)

Hope Singleton (2023-2024)*

Cooper Velie (2022-2023)

Amelie Ventola (2023-2024)*

CLASS OF 2026

Sydney Alltmont (2023-2024)*

Field Barba (2023-2024)*

Emmy Casey (2023-2024)*

Anne Marie George (2023-2024)*

Cortlan Katz (2023-2024)*

Peyton Katz (2023-2024)*

Ben Morvant (2023-2024)*

Sofia Ryan (2023-2024)*

Ethan Saenz (2023-2024)*

Bea Schwarz (2023-2024)*

Madeleine Seal (2023-2024)*

Janna Sherman (2023-2024)*

Porter Sinnott (2023-2024)*

Magdalena St. Louis (2023-2024)*

Foster Woods (2023-2024)*

Mason Zink (2023-2024)*

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 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.

CUM LAUDE MEMBERS INDUCTED IN THE 2022-2023 SCHOOL YEAR

CLASS OF 2023

Caroline Grant ’23

Cait Groh ’23

Lance Hebert ’23

Isabella Miller ’23

Armin Parsi ’23

Ethan Smith ’23

CLASS OF 2024

Minnie Mae August ’24

Claire Cannella ’24

Marygrace de la Cruz ’24

Pierce Hatheway ’24

Sarah Heebe ’24

Cooper Woods ’24

MEMBERS INDUCTED IN THE 2021-2022 SCHOOL YEAR

Parijat Basak ’23

Ellie Lee ’23

Mia Luparello ’23

Emmeline Moore ’23

Ellie Schneider ’23

Gabrielle White ’23

Student-Athlete Academic Awards

LHSAA

ALL-COMPOSITE TEAM

Student-athletes must maintain a 4.0 GPA and have played the sport for at least two years.

Gabrielle White ’23

Track & Field

LHSAA

ALL-ACADEMIC AWARD

Student-athletes must maintain a 3.5 or higher GPA and have played the sport for at least two years.

Colin Cummings ’23

Football, Baseball, Track & Field

Salem Fitch ’23

Cross Country, Track & Field

Caroline Grant ’23

Tennis

Cait Groh ’23

Soccer, Softball

Yash Gupta ’23

Football, Track & Field

Lance Hebert ’23

Soccer

Ellie Lee ’23

Track & Field

Hunter Miller ’23

Cross Country, Track & Field

Emmeline Moore ’23

Cross Country

Olivia Prout ’23

Volleyball, Soccer

Ellie Schneider ’23

Volleyball, Basketball, Softball

Ethan Smith ’23

Football

Margo Thionville ’23

Cross Country, Track & Field, Indoor Track & Field

THE WORLD IN OUR BACKYARD:

UNDERSTANDING NEW ORLEANS, UNDERSTANDING THE WORLD A PREVIEW INTO THE FIRST UNITS OF STUDY

BY MIKE MILEY

What happens in Vegas may stay in Vegas, but “what happens in New Orleans doesn’t stay in New Orleans.” At least, that’s what Dr. Lawrence Powell, author of The Accidental City, told our seniors in class this year.

As clever as it may be, Dr. Powell’s claim is more than just a pithy one-liner.

It echoes the main claim of the New Orleans Scholars Program:

If you can understand New Orleans, you can understand the world .

Photography by Julia Drago ’24

Let’s back up and explain how we got to Dr. Powell’s quip. The 12th grade curriculum has undergone a major change for the 2023–2024 school year. Two courses, Global Humanities and English IV, have been combined under the umbrella of Country Day’s New Orleans Scholars Program, an initiative the school began in 2013 that has been dormant since 2018. The New Orleans Scholars Program was created to educate students on the major issues determining our city’s future, whereas Global Humanities and English IV aim to show students how to connect big ideas across space and time to understand the forces that have shaped their world and to express their understanding of it. Incorporating these courses with the New Orleans Scholars Program not only allowed Country Day to use grant money awarded through the E. E. Ford Foundation and the RosaMary Foundation, but it also gave Country Day an opportunity to create a flagship program that distinguishes it from other independent schools locally as well as nationally.

The New Orleans Scholars Program is dedicated to studying New Orleans as a global city through lectures, small group discussions, literary analysis, and field trips. Closely scrutinizing the history of a city where the histories and cultures of five continents converge helps a young person see how the Big Ideas of human history have traveled across the globe throughout history and taken root in their backyard. However, this exchange is not one-way: as many ideas flow out of New Orleans as flow into it. This program helps students to see how the ideas and culture emerging from this confluence of people, traditions, and ideas radiates outward to transform

the rest of the world. New Orleans is truly impossible without the rest of the world, and the rest of the world is also truly impossible without New Orleans. It is our hope that this approach to learning about the world will stoke the students’ curiosity about the world at large and deepen their appreciation for their hometown before many of them move away from it for the first time.

Rather than follow a chronological timeline through the course, the course is divided into thematic units. We have decided to name these units after the streets of New Orleans, from Elysian Fields and Commerce to Piety and Desire. These units will cover many aspects of the human experience, from geography to belief to industry to politics to the arts. The lecture series will culminate in a series of speakers who will use Mardi Gras as a case study for everything that we have learned in the course. The English portion of the program is devoted to studying how New Orleans is represented in literature. The students will read classic New Orleans works such as Walker Percy’s The Moviegoer and John Kennedy Toole’s A Confederacy of Dunces alongside more contemporary explorations of the city such as E. M. Tran’s Daughters of the New Year, Margaret Wilkerson

Sexton’s A Kind of Freedom, and Nathaniel Rich’s King Zeno As the seniors study these novels, they will be looking at how the writers map the New Orleans of their imaginations and learning how the city can be used as a lens through which to read literature. At the end of the year, students will hear local writers discuss the future of the New Orleans novel as they complete their own New Orleans stories.

The first two units of the program brought together a wide array of areas of expertise and experiences for our students. In Unit 1, entitled Elysian Fields, students interrogated not only the myths that attempt to explain (or mischaracterize) New Orleans but also how humans have used myths throughout the ages to make meaning out of their experiences. Humanities Teacher and Academic Dean, Howard Hunter, broke down the myths that define New Orleans as a European city, a Southern city, or a Confederate city, arguing instead, after A. J. Liebling, that New Orleans most closely resembles a Mediterranean city in culture and temperament. Next, Chris Young, Country Day’s Director of Libraries, examined origin stories, flood narratives, and apocalypse myths to show students the continuity of myths across cultures and time periods, as well as to explain why humans are both natural storytellers and “natural-born believers” hardwired to make narratives out of their experiences. Then, C. Morgan Babst, author of the novel The Floating World and several acclaimed essays, spoke to the class regarding how different cultures have approached death and burial throughout history. Her talk focused on both how New Orleans treats death differently and, more importantly, the reasons why the geography and culture demand a different attitude toward mortality. This unit culminated in a tour of St. Louis Cemetery #3, where the local organization Save Our Cemeteries gave students an up-close look at the special features and rich symbols found in New Orleans crypts and tombs, as well as pointed out the final resting places of luminaries such as photographer Ernest Bellocq, chefs Paul Prudhomme and Leah Chase, and Mayor Dutch Morial.

Canal Street, or Unit 2, studied the geography of New Orleans and how New Orleans and all human civilizations have handled the problem of water. As Dr. Michael Hopkins of the Pontchartrain Conservancy explained to students, there is no culture that has just the right amount of water: There is always either too little, or, in our case, too much, and as urban planner Tom Haysley explained, civilization organizes itself (or falls apart) around how to control water. Students saw how New Orleans keeps itself above water by touring the Sewerage and Water Board’s Pumping Station #6, one of the largest of its kind in the United States. This all-access tour took students inside the control room, the generator, and the machine room of the station, firing up one of the pumps for them and even letting students push a few buttons.

This unit also took students deep into fields such as environmental science, sociology, and cultural history, ranging from Vanderbilt professor Daniel Usner’s presentation on how indigenous tribes settled in and cultivated the area before European settlement to Country Day science teacher Jennifer Lasseigne’s overview of climate change to Dr. George Washburn’s investigation of invasive jeopardizing the Louisiana wetlands, which are already under threat from coastal erosion and industrial development. Each speaker provided recommendations for how to build a sustainable New Orleans, from the Coastal Master Plan to green cities, offering students no easy answers, while simultaneously imploring them to educate themselves and get involved. Dr. Andy Horowitz complicated matters further by describing to

students how decisions made in the middle of the 20th century set the table for both the expansion of New Orleans and its destruction in Hurricane Katrina in late August 2005. Finally, Zack Godshall’s film Low and Behold presented students with the human cost of all these issues, and in his Q&A session with students after the screening, Godshall spoke about the importance of approaching tragedy with humility, compassion, and respect.

This program has nine units in all, all seeking to give students a similar exploration of ideas that mixes the broad with the in-depth, the local with the global. The class will take them around the world and into the city, from Haiti to the Cabildo, from Vietnam to a school on the frontlines of desegregation, from a battlefield in medieval France to a Mardi Gras parade. By the end, the students will emerge with newfound knowledge and experiences, but they’ll also aquire the confidence to share their own ideas in the form of their Capstone project, a 10-page research paper and 10-minute presentation on a subject they’re passionate about. These presentations will take place on May 15 and 16, with a special showcase on the evening of May 16. We hope you can join us to see the students show off what should be a signature learning experience for them.

There’s an old New Orleans joke, and it goes something like this: How many New Orleanians does it take to change a lightbulb?

It takes three. One to change the lightbulb and two to talk about how much better the old one was.

This joke illustrates New Orleans’ unique ability to regard change with suspicion and disappointment. However, as new and different as this curriculum may seem, Global Humanities and English IV continue to pursue the same objectives and teach the same skills they always have. Humanities still exposes students to the big ideas and major movements of human history, and English IV continues to develop close reading and writing skills. This new program does not so much replace as it does enhance what has always been part of not just the 12th-grade curriculum but the entire Country Day experience — an experience best captured in our Portrait of a Graduate. It demonstrates to them the strength of intellect by fostering critical thinking and curiosity in the ways it reveals the history and complexity of the city. It also captures strength of character by asking students to display integrity and to claim citizenship of their school and their city by exposing them to not just the tensions and conflicts in the city but also by putting them in contact with the local leaders working to resolve them. Regardless of whether they remain in New Orleans or not, our graduates should see themselves as stewards of and stakeholders in the legacy and future of this great city. It is our belief that this course gives them the gift of recognizing their responsibility to their city and the confidence to meet that responsibility. h

FROM THE LOCAL STAGE TO THE NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT:

COUNTRY DAY'S SPELLING BEE MAKES A BUZZ

BY KILLIAN PHILLIPSON MIDDLE SCHOOL ENGLISH

TEACHER

Spelling bees, with their rich history rooted in community engagement, set the stage for countless success stories. One such story is that of Country Day student Nayara de SilvaAhmed ’28. By exploring the origins of spelling bees, which began in the 19th century, it becomes clear that these events are more than just competitions. Spelling bees embody a sense of community, celebrate language and learning, and pave the way for individuals like Nayara, who found herself spelling on the national stage at the 95th Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland with 229 other spellers.

On Thursday, February 9, 2023, Metairie Park Country Day School’s spelling bee began with 25 spellers from grades 5 to 8. By the end of five intense rounds, Nayara emerged victorious as our 2023 School Champion, effortlessly spelling the word “eurhythmics.” The second position was a tie between Ansley Spruill ’29 and Robert Hope ’28, followed by Leena Jain ’27 in fourth place. There was a fierce four-way tie for the fifth spot between Ezra Miley ’29, Huck Goolsby ’28, Jackson Spruill ’28, and Drazen Udhrain ’27.

The school bee was the first chapter for Country Day students. The top eight spellers went on to represent our school at the New Orleans (LA) Chapter of The Links, Incorporated 34th Annual New Orleans Spelling Bee at Dillard University, alongside 81 spellers from area schools. When reflecting on his experience, Robert Hope shared, “It was scary going up there,” but he said, “the time with my friends at the beginning took the edge off.”

Three of our students reached the final round at the New Orleans Area Spelling Bee: Jackson Spruill, Ezra Miley, and Nayara de Silva-Ahmed. Ezra Miley secured third place, and Nayara stole the show. Nayara’s dedication to spelling bees has been evident throughout the years, and this bee was no exception. Before the bee, Nayara studied a list of approximately 1,000 words with the guidance of her coach and mom. After a full day of competition, Nayara secured first place, tears of joy streaming down her face as she sat on the stage. Her winning word, “apocryphal,” secured Nayara the prized title of 2023 New Orleans Area Spelling Bee Champion. Nayara’s impressive spelling won her the opportunity to represent New Orleans and Country Day at the 95th Annual Scripps National Spelling Bee in Maryland in May. The bee had 230 spellers from the United States, aged 9 to 14. The entire campus was atwitter with excitement, and though Nayara didn't make it to the final stages of the national bee, she looks back on the experience with fondness. “In the end, it wasn’t really about the moment I was on stage. One bell, and that’s it. But it doesn’t diminish the experience of the time that I spent preparing.” h

Celebrating the Class of 2023

“There is something special about being a senior that I did not understand until I actually was one. You have to be the community you want to build.”

SENIOR CLASS PRESIDENT

SAM SCHLESINGER '23

Metairie Park Country Day School celebrated the graduation of its Class of 2023 on Saturday, May 27, as 66 graduates crossed the stage and became alumni of the school. Jennifer Heebe, Chair of the Board of Trustees, opened the ceremony with words of encouragement and wisdom for the graduates.

Reflecting on her own journey post-high school, she offered three key pieces of advice: “Slow down. Don’t postpone the magic of the moment.” In the hustle and bustle of life, it’s crucial to pause, appreciate the present, and savor the joy in fleeting moments. “Take stock.” She urged them to assess their values and rearrange their priorities accordingly. Lastly, she motivated the graduates to “keep swimming” and to persist, even when faced with adversities and uncertainties.

Scan to view all of the pictures from the Class of 2023 Graduation Exercises.

Jacob Alfred Alltmont

Congratulations to the Class of 2023

Caroline Lynn Fernandez

Marcie Trum Amann

Parijat Basak

EmmaJane Bauer

Emma Elizabeth Bellaire

Clarisse Sasha Bernard-Bitchatch

Olivia Reed Bouy

Cole Jeunesse Collier

Jackson Paul Cosma

Caitlin Elise Cossé

Colin Thomas Cummings

Samuel Ronald Danzig

Dominic Anthony Dazet

Jenna Marie DeLatte

James Paul Emonet

Edith Diana Farrell

Colin Charles Fiore

Salem Elizabeth Fitch

Clayton Raff Gehman

Connor James Gibbs

Ella Grace Fú Yíng Gilbertson

Theodosia Caroline Grant

Cait Maren Olivia Groh

Yash Joshi Gupta

Anna Sofia Zhenshi Hayne

Lance Richards Hebert

Jhanvi Faustina Honoré

Jake Marcel Ibieta

Logan Michael Katz

Orest Krekhtiak

William Nicholson Lacoste

Jeanne Marie Landry

Emma Grace Launey

Eleanor Virginia Lee

Mia Alessandra Luparello

Dominic Ameen Mansour

Massiel Aimée Martinez

Victoria Alexis McKay

Jacob Hunter Miller

Katherine Isabella Miller

Lila Rose Moody

Emmeline Catherine Moore

John William Morton

Collin Wade Neece

Olivia Elizabeth O’Bell

Taj Ashton Oberhelman

Armin Emil Parsi

Hanna Sharkawy Pittman

Olivia Marie Prout

Christian Nicolas

Rodriguez-Fierro

Teagan Tonti Rouse

Lee Samuel Schlesinger

Ellen Elizabeth Schneider

John Blakemore Schwing, Jr.

John Alden Senette

Ethan Joseph Smith

Stephen David Swander

Avishai Woods Taylor

Cameron Joseph Terrell

Margo Nicole Thionville

Jordan O’Connor Trahan

Danielle Aimée Venturatos

Gabrielle Elaine White

Jackson Wardlaw Witherspoon

Elise Amina Wright

Members of the Class of 2023 were accepted into the following colleges and universities.

Albion College

Appalachian State University

Arizona State University

Auburn University

Bard College

Belmont University

Bennington College

Bradley University

Carleton College

Case Western Reserve University

Clarkson University

Clemson University

Colorado School of Mines

Colorado State University

Columbia College (Chicago)

Denison University

DePaul University

Drexel University

East Carolina University

Eckerd College

Elon University

Emory University

Fordham University

Furman University

George Washington University

Hendrix College

High Point University

Illinois Institute of Technology

Iona University

LIM College

Louisiana State University

Loyola Marymount University

Loyola University Chicago

Loyola University New Orleans

Lynn University

Marist College

Marymount Manhattan College

Mississippi State University

North Carolina State University

Oglethorpe University

Pace University

Penn State University

Presbyterian College

Rhodes College

Roanoke College

Rochester Institute of Technology

Rollins College

San Diego State University

Savannah College of Art and Design

Sewanee: The University of the South

Southeastern Louisiana University

Southern Methodist University

Syracuse University

Temple University

Texas A&M University

Texas Christian University

The American University of Paris

The University of Alabama

The University of Tampa

The University of Tennessee

Trinity University

Tufts University

Tulane University of Louisiana

University of Arizona

University of Arkansas

University of California (Berkeley)

University of California (San Diego)

University of Colorado Boulder

University of Denver

University of Florida

University of Georgia

University of Health Sciences & Pharmacy

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

University of Kansas

University of Kentucky

University of Louisiana at Lafayette

University of Miami

University of Mississippi

University of New Mexico

University of New Orleans

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

University of Oregon

University of Portland

University of Puget Sound

University of South Carolina

University of Southern Mississippi

University of Toronto

University of Utah

University of Vermont

University of Virginia

Vanderbilt University

Washington and Lee University

Washington University in St. Louis

Wentworth Institute of Technology

William Peace University

Xavier University of Louisiana

Photo by Monica Orozco

SHE GOES ON TO DO BIG THINGS IN HOLLYWOOD

Some stories begin at the end. Others start on solid ground before venturing into unexplored territory. The most captivating ones drop the audience right into the heart of the action.

In the first fifteen years of her career as both a producer and executive for film and television powerhouses like Miramax, Twentieth Century Fox, and FOX Network, Country Day Alumna Lauren Levy Neustadter ’98 mastered the art of enveloping audiences into the imaginative worlds brought to life within the scripts she was tasked with developing.

Through hard work and determination, she parlayed her ability to recognize a script’s potential into more significant projects and expanding responsibilities, growing her reputation in leadership positions throughout the industry. Lauren’s ambitious hustle, or as she puts it, her willingness to apply elbow grease (a term she learned from her father), caught the attention of many in Hollywood, including A-listers like Reese Witherspoon.

From student to graduate and actor to producer, Lauren found her most rewarding career pivot yet: from producer to an accomplished ground-breaking industry veteran. In 2017, eight years after initially working together, Witherspoon asked Lauren to join her production company, Hello Sunshine, to oversee Film and Television. Since then, Lauren’s everexpanding list of credits has been responsible for chart-topping films like Where the Crawdads Sing and seasons of awardwinning shows and limited series, including The Morning Show, Truth Be Told, Little Fires Everywhere, and more recently, Daisy Jones and the Six

In the spring of 2023, Lauren returned to Country Day as the guest speaker for Alumni Weekend. Students, faculty, and

alumni gathered as she spoke about her career, the importance of pushing yourself outside your comfort zone, the power of individuality, the intense memories of cheese buns enjoyed at lunches, and most crucially, the role Country Day played in helping her realize her own potential.

Balancing introspection and valuable advice in her words, Lauren shared the story of how Country Day cemented the foundation of her success: “It was more than just a school. Country Day was a place that embraced individuality, nurtured creativity, and instilled in us the belief that we could achieve anything we set our minds to.”

During our interview with Lauren after Alumni Weekend, she transported us to a particularly enigmatic moment from her upper school years. And just like the extensive list of memorable stories she’s responsible for producing for platforms including Apple, Netflix, and Amazon, we were at once enthralled.

Plot Points

“I mean, I’m the kid that nearly failed chemistry,” Lauren fondly recalled, reflecting on a defining moment in Upper

School. “But I had a teacher who cared about me and gave up her free time to help me. She stayed to tutor me every day after school until I understood it. And I was SO proud of my C.”

For Neustadter, this specific memory distills the most remarkable qualities of Country Day in such a profoundly distinct event; specifically, the accountability, intention, and attentiveness to every student.

Growing up in New Orleans and initially attending a different elementary school, Lauren’s mother recognized Country Day’s sense of community as an invaluable aspiration for her daughter. “She looked at all the schools, and she felt like Country Day was the best fit for me. And, certainly, it was a risk to switch your kid in 5th grade. But it was the best thing that could have ever happened. I felt like I really found my place.”

The grade she received in chemistry is considered one of her most hard-fought classroom achievements while at Country Day, the value of which wouldn’t become clear until later.

Capable of More

Unlike chemistry, Lauren’s passion for English, including reading, writing, and theater, equipped her to chart her own course in Hollywood. In an industry where articulating stories, ideas, and intricate imagined worlds are part of every interaction, Lauren shared how one of her greatest Country Day lessons didn’t come from getting A’s in English or getting lost in essays and short stories.

“I was shocked and honestly furious,” Lauren pauses as if the moment is still fresh. “I was in honors English in 10th grade, and I wrote a paper, and I got a D.”

Lauren was one of the strongest students in the class and questioned her teacher about how she could receive a D compared to the other papers. Her teacher’s response clicked on a lightbulb moment she wouldn’t forget.

“I will never forget what she said: she wasn’t comparing me to my peers. She was comparing me to myself, to what she knew I was capable of. For someone else, the paper might have been a B. But, for me, it was a D. She knew I was capable of more.”

Lauren’s strengths in storytelling and performance caught the attention of more of her teachers, and it wasn’t long before one of them pushed her beyond her own perceived expectations.

Outside Her Comfort Zone

Country Day’s Upper School English department chair at the time, Betsy Petersen, was sponsoring an independent study program and encouraged Neustadter to develop a series of monologues as her contribution.

“It was the first time I jumped into the abyss of doing something I was capable of, but also terrified of.”

It wouldn’t be the last.

“But it wasn’t enough for us to simply write the monologues,” Lauren reflects with a winsome smile. “Mrs. Petersen wanted us to perform in and direct them.” The project evolved into a

“I will never forget what she said: she wasn’t comparing me to my peers. She was comparing me to myself, to what she knew I was capable of. For someone else, the paper might have been a B. But, for me, it was a D. She knew I was capable of more.”

Pictured: Lauren with her Country Day classmates during Alumni Weekend 2023.

collaborative experiment, with Lauren and a classmate writing additional monologues, recruiting their peers to perform them, and even directing their teacher, Betsy Petersen, in a monologue herself.

The creation of Shadows & Light, her accomplished monologue composition, and the teacher who pushed Lauren and her classmates out of their comfort zones draw parallels to the impactful moments of her Hollywood career, a place that writes its own definition of “risk averse.” Exempli gratia, when Reese Witherspoon approached Lauren to join Hello Sunshine as the President of Film and Television, she had to confront that same abyss of self-doubt she had faced some 20 years earlier.

“I was scared to do it. But just like Mrs. Petersen told me to bet on myself at Country Day, my husband told me I had to take the risk, or I would always regret it. So I did it.”

Dramatic Pivots & Elbow Grease

While Lauren talks about her work with some of the most prominent figures in the entertainment industry in a casual, conversational way, her path to reaching this point was never certain.

“What do they say about luck and preparation meeting opportunity?” Lauren asked rhetorically.

From going all in and following her acting dreams after graduating from Country Day to receiving her diploma from Loyola Marymount ahead of schedule to making the critical shift from acting to producing, each experience opened doors for what came next. But it never felt that significant in the moment.

Lauren describes her journey to discovering the work she was born to do, from auditioning in front of the camera to working behind it, as a dramatic pivot. But it was only one-half of the full turn needed to find success. It also would require an immeasurable amount of what her father always talked about: elbow grease.

“It’s my sense of purpose and my passion for what I do and the fact that I don’t take it for granted. As far as I’m concerned, I may be an adult now, but inside I'll always be a kid from New Orleans who dreamed of being on stage and screen and came out to Los Angeles in pursuit of that dream.”

Full Circle

Stealing a page from Lauren’s Alumni Weekend speech notes, she offers a final piece of wisdom about how important it is to be present in your life. Put more directly, it’s about “showing up.” It’s a simple maxim, but she believes it’s a quality instilled in her by Country Day. It’s a quality engrained in her work ethic and evidenced by how often she’s whispered it to herself while standing on the edge of some of the biggest challenges

in her life. It was something that guided her when she first arrived on the set of This Means War in 2009, where she made a connection with the film’s star, Reese Witherspoon. It’s what left a lasting impression on that same star when she needed the right person to lead her production company nearly a decade later. “Showing up” didn’t just apply to acting, or monologues, or honors English, or chemistry. Showing up was the most valuable advice she could give anyone.

Among the many roles Lauren has taken on, one she holds dearest is being a working mom. During her return to New Orleans and Country Day, she experienced a comforting realization. It wasn’t the usual nostalgia that arises when revisiting a familiar place after many years, nor was it merely a rush of memories. Instead, it was a unique realization — her son is now the same age she was when she first attended Country Day. It felt like coming full circle.

In Lauren’s words, “Simply put, this community is unparalleled. It encourages kids to be themselves and do their best. To be kind. To care about and contribute to their community. To be good citizens of the world. I wish I could transport Country Day — this beautiful place and its values — to Los Angeles so my kids could go here.”

Just like the ever-expanding list of memorable stories Lauren is responsible for producing, we will continue to watch her to see where her many plotlines, as a Country Day alumna, a mom, and one of the most sought-after women in Hollywood, will intersect and will take her next. h

Photo by Erin Simkin

Don’t

TOP

10 PIECES OF ADVICE FROM LAUREN

Take Country Day for Granted.

People care a lot about you here. That won’t always be the case. Respect them and respect your classmates. Country Day is a wonderful community, and it’s YOURS.

Be Kind.

The unkind thing you say to someone will be something you forget in 5 minutes, but they’ll remember it forever. Live the values of this place.

Find Great Mentors.

At Country Day and throughout your life, seek out great mentors. Ask for advice. Ask for help. Mentors make all the difference.

Be Curious.

Never think you know everything. You never ever will. Ask smart questions. Then really listen! Be a sponge. It will just make you smarter and more interesting.

Don’t Have a Fallback Plan.

People who have a fallback plan tend to fall back. So, don’t have a fallback plan. Bet on yourself and believe in yourself.

Compete With Yourself, Not With Others.

Each of us is running our very own race. Be a good teammate and find people who inspire you to do your best and be your best.

Work Hard and Really Contribute.

Be the student your teachers will always remember. When you do an internship, be the person they can’t wait to hire. Look at everything in your life as an opportunity.

Always Have a Measurable Goal for Yourself.

When I was 25, I dreamed of being one of the “35 under 35” who were the up-and-comers in Hollywood. That was my goal. When I found myself on that list as a 30-year-old, I pinched myself but then set my sights on another goal: to make the list of 100 Power Women in Entertainment. This year, I found myself on that list with all those incredible women. Dream big, then work hard, and anything is possible.

Think About Your Legacy.

Think about how you want people to remember you. What do you want people to say about you when you’re not listening? What mark will you leave in this world? Are you a good friend? Are you contributing to your community? How are you making the world a better place by being in it?

Do Things That Scare You!

Take risks. Challenge yourself. Don’t be afraid to fail. It’s only when you jump into the unknown that you will learn that you’re capable of flying.

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BEYOND BORDERS:

COUNTRY DAY GRADUATES EXCEL AS FULBRIGHT SCHOLARS

Citizenship is a cornerstone of a Country Day education, and it is one of the outcomes we aim to instill in all our graduates. Here, students discover the power they have to make an indelible mark in our community and have a profound impact on the world. We are proud that two of our alumni, Sydney Lee ’18 and Blake Amann ’17, two Fulbright Scholars, are doing just that.

The Fulbright Program, established over 75 years ago, aims to foster mutual understanding between the people of the United States and other nations. As the world’s largest and most diverse international exchange program, it annually awards 8,000 grants, including 2,000 specifically for U.S. students. The program receives its primary funding through an annual appropriation by the U.S. Congress to the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs.

Renowned for its rigorous selection process, the Fulbright Program carefully chooses participants, based on their academic merit and leadership potential. It offers unparalleled opportunities to study, teach, conduct research, and contribute to finding solutions to shared international concerns. Established by the U.S. Congress in 1946, this program seeks to expand perspectives through academic advancement and crosscultural dialogue.

SYDNEY LEE ’18

FULBRIGHT ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP TO COSTA RICA

In her final year at Washington and Lee University (W&L), Sydney Lee received an encouraging push from a professor to apply for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship (ETA) to Costa Rica. After months of anticipation, reaching the semi-finalist stage, and an interview, Sydney received thrilling news: She was awarded one of two Fulbright ETA scholarship awards to Costa Rica, with her program scheduled to begin in January 2023.

Back in 2019, Sydney visited Nicoya, Costa Rica, as part of a Spanish language program after her first year at W&L. “I fell in love with the incredibly friendly people, the diverse environment, and the pace of life, and I knew I would have to return someday.”

For the past eight months, Sydney has been working as an English Teaching Assistant at two institutions in rural San Carlos, Costa Rica: Instituto Nacional de Aprendizaje (INA) and Universidad Tecnica Nacional (UTN). When asked about these institutions, Sydney shared, “INA is an amazing institution with many campuses around Costa Rica that serve citizens above the age of 18 in many trades, such as engineering, beauty, cooking, human resources, and, of course, English. UTN is a public university with English as a Foreign Language major.” At both institutions, Sydney assists teachers in teaching basic, intermediate, and advanced English courses. She leads lessons on American pronunciation, grammar, and intonation, while delivering presentations on American culture and customs. Her favorite presentation to date has been the one on the vibrant culture of New Orleans.

When reflecting on her role, Sydney stated, “In my eyes, my main role is one of friendship. My personal goal is to help students gain confidence in their English-speaking skills by conversing with a native speaker who also understands what it is like to learn a second language. Every time that a student tells me they feel far more comfortable with English after speaking with me, I feel accomplished.” Sydney explained that in Costa Rica, English proficiency is highly valued for securing top-notch, well-paying professions, as the country largely relies on the tourism industry and aspires to be fully bilingual by 2030. Many students feel the pressure to excel in English, which adds complexity to the languagelearning journey. As a result, Sydney encourages her students to speak with confidence and genuinely enjoy the process of learning English.

“At Country Day, I was given countless opportunities to explore my interests under the guidance of professional and compassionate teachers. With the help of middle and high school Spanish teachers like Monica Harrison, Elizabeth Herman, and Ellen Cohen, I came to recognize that language learning is far more than a high school or college requirement, but an exceptionally useful, interesting, and fundamental skill. I attribute much of my current success in Spanish to each one of them, having taught me the foundations of Spanish, as well as going above and beyond by teaching Spanish culture and literature. In Mrs. Cohen’s AP Hispanic-American Literature course, we read texts from authors like García Márquez that helped me recognize the magic of Central America long before I knew I would end up here. Mrs. Cohen and my other Spanish teachers made me want to continue to learn Spanish for the rest of my life and constantly encouraged immersion experiences such as the one that I am doing now.

In addition, teachers such as Howard Hunter and Mike Miley instilled in me the power of compassionately understanding different perspectives and backgrounds, which I believe has made me a more open-minded person and set me up for this experience abroad. Believe it or not, being on the middle and high school cross country teams during my time at Country Day prepared me to live in Costa Rica. My love for running has carried me through this experience and helped me explore this beautifully diverse country, and that all began under the guidance of coaches like Brendan Minihan and Maurice DuCarpe.”

BLAKE AMANN ’17

FULBRIGHT ENGLISH TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIP IN UZBEKISTAN

During his senior year at the University of Southern California (USC), Blake applied for the Fulbright English Teaching Assistantship program in Uzbekistan. Having studied international relations and the Russian language, he saw Uzbekistan as an ideal opportunity to use his Russian language skills. As a former Soviet state, Uzbekistan would also allow Blake to witness firsthand the emergence of a country eager to establish itself among other strategically important developing economies.

In Uzbekistan, Blake works as an English teacher at the Tashkent State University of Uzbek Language and Literature. He leads classes for students majoring in English Language and Translation, while also organizing weekly clubs open to all students. Last year, he ran a film club showcasing his favorite American movies and TV shows, a debate club to foster public speaking skills, and a speaking club where he taught about different aspects of American culture compared to Uzbekistan, including college and high school life, family dynamics, fashion, and the effects of social media.

Beyond the university, Blake works with the U.S. Embassy, organizing events for students and faculty nationwide. These include running spelling bees, delivering presentations on media literacy, and integrating technology in classrooms for local teachers. In the upcoming year, he is developing a program to assist Uzbek tourism and hospitality students in finding summer employment opportunities at resorts in America. Additionally, he is working on another initiative to support Uzbek junior tennis players to secure athletic scholarships at American universities. h

“My 13 years as a student at Country Day played a big part in laying the foundation for my interest in pursuing a Fulbright fellowship. The fluency I developed in Country Day’s strong French language program gave me the confidence to study Russian in college and fostered my passion to learn about and experience other cultures. Mr. Hunter, among many of my teachers, opened me up to new approaches to understanding the world and sparked my interest in exploring far-away places with vastly different cultures, such as Nepal and Uzbekistan. Mr. Campbell always encouraged me to pursue these types of experiences. I also can’t forget how the Lower School encouraged my sense of curiosity about discovering new subjects and made me passionate about learning. Finally, my years in Coach McGuire’s basketball program helped instill in me the discipline, grit, and team-building necessary to accomplish difficult tasks and the courage to believe that no goal is beyond reach.”

Boothby Club Welcomes New Members

Named for Country Day’s beloved founding Headmaster, Ralph E. Boothby, who served between 1929 and 1956, the Boothby Club is made up of two prestigious groups: members of the faculty and staff who have worked at Country Day for 25 years or more and alumni who graduated from Country Day 25 years ago or more. The Boothby Club meets annually on the Friday night of Alumni Weekend to welcome its newest members of the Club and enjoy the traditional dinner of red

beans and rice. The 2023 Boothby Dinner was preceded by a cocktail reception for the Class of 1973, our 50th reunion class.

As the number of members in the Boothby Club continues to grow, so does the appreciation for all of the lessons learned from these wonderful people who have educated thousands of students throughout the years.

We proudly welcomed the Class of 1998 to the Boothby Club, as well as the following:

2022-2023 NEW BOOTHBY FACULTY & STAFF MEMBERS:

Ellen Heller Cohen ’81 Upper School Spanish Teacher

Cecilia Leon-Drago Director of Admission and Financial Aid

Mike McGuire Director of Athletics

Julie Schneider Former Lower School Teacher (Retired 2023)

Scan to see all of the pictures from the 2023 Boothby Dinner.

Alumni Weekend 2023

We were thrilled to have our alumni back on campus for Alumni Weekend on March 17-18, 2023. This Country Day tradition allowed Cajuns to reconnect with old friends, meet other generations of Country Day graduates, and revisit their favorite spots on campus. Highlights of the weekend included alumni speaker Lauren Levy Neustader ’98, the Boothby Dinner, Class Reunions, and the Annual Alumni Crawfish Boil.

“There is no Miss Zarves. There is no nineteenth story. Sorry.” And with that, we are introduced to one of my favorite literary characters. Miss Zarves is ethereal and mysterious. She exists only to those who stumble into her world. She is the teacher on the 19th floor of Wayside School, the title school of the children’s Chapter book Sideways Stories from Wayside School by Louis Sachar. Instead of being built as a one-story building with 30 classrooms, Wayside School was inadvertently built as a 30-story building with one classroom on each floor.

Primarily, the book tells the stories of the elementary students in the classroom on the 30th floor, but Chapter 19 is titled “Miss Zarves.” In this first book of the series, the above quotation is the only information we are provided about this enigmatic teacher. Who is she? Why is she mentioned at all? How is there no 19th floor? As readers, we are left without answers.

Eleven years later, Wayside School is Falling Down was published, and Chapter 19 gives us more insight into Miss Zarves. While teaching a geometry lesson and showing off her talent for drawing perfect triangles, squares, pentagons, and hexagons, she becomes distracted by a cow in the classroom. The teacher, “who usually had a pleasant disposition,” is rattled by having to put up with the cow,

which leads to her going down a rabbit hole of feeling sorry for herself. She bemoans her lonely childhood, always being the one to compromise, being last in school because everything was done alphabetically, and having to put up with students who shouted out when she herself was quietly raising her hand. “The days of walk-all-over-Miss-Zarves are finished!” she proclaims as she storms down the stairs to the principal’s office. Two students brush past her in the stairwell, not noticing her at all. The principal, Mr. Kidswatter, doesn’t notice her either. Upset, she walks out of the school, and an unidentified man pleads with her not to leave. “Can you see me?” she asks him. He replies that he can and that he “appreciates all [her] hard work.” Touched, Miss Zarves says, “I’ve been teaching for 30 years, and nobody has ever said that before… People treat me like I’m a nobody.” The mysterious man points out how difficult it is to be a teacher, about how they work long hours and make little money. Miss Zarves explains that she never gets paid and never leaves the school, and she wonders why she does it in the first place. “The children need you,” the man replies. Miss Zarves walks back into the school, smiling. “I like to teach. I really do. I love the children.”

I’m drawn to Miss Zarves in this second appearance. I love that everyone leaves her alone. Now, I realize she is left alone because “There is no Miss Zarves,” but on the plus side, she is left to be able to do what all teachers simply want to do: teach. Life in a school pulls teachers in different directions, and obligations outside of the classroom seep in. Like Miss Zarves, the many things we do in a classroom often go unnoticed, and we can feel invisible. Teaching as a profession is challenging for myriad reasons, not least of which is helping a student achieve their absolute best in a room full of other children. Teachers are in it for the students, and Miss Zarves, in her autonomous existence, creates a classroom where students are successful by developing self-realization. We see this in her third appearance, in Chapter 19 of Wayside School Gets a Little Stranger

This Chapter 19 is a three-parter. Part 1 begins when Allison, a girl in the classroom on the 30 th floor, is not seen or heard by her classmates or teacher. She thinks they are playing a prank, but she continues to speak out, and no one acknowledges her. Afraid that she is invisible to her peers, she starts running down the stairs screaming, when out steps Miss Zarves from her 19 th-story classroom. Miss Zarves hears her, sees her, and invites her in. In Part 2, Allison joins a class of students who have never left Miss Zarves’s room and who are of various ages, including high-schoolers and adults. Students knew they had been there nine or 32 years, but no one could remember where they had come from or what they had done prior to being in Miss Zarves’s class. They never have recess or lunch or go to the bathroom; they get a two-minute break every 11 hours, and they smile, explaining to Allison that everyone only gets A grades in the class. “Now, everyone, take out a pencil and some paper. I want you to write all the numbers from zero to a million in alphabetical order,” Miss Zarves instructs her students. Allison vows to escape. In the third part, Allison has been in Miss Zarves’s classroom for 14 two-minute breaks, and the students are now working on memorizing the dictionary. “What would happen if we didn’t do our work?” Allison poses, and then she realizes that the busy work is so that the students don’t have time to think. “She makes us memorize stupid things, so we don’t think about the important things. And then she gives us good grades to keep us happy.” So Allison begins misbehaving, taking off her socks and shoes and hanging her socks on her ears while singing a song. Miss Zarves gives her 10 seconds to get back to

work, but she doesn't stop; by the 10 th second of Miss Zarves’s counting, Allison finds herself back in the stairwell with her classmates from the 30 th floor, and no time has passed. While it may seem that a teacher who asks students to memorize the dictionary or to spend hundreds of years alphabetizing one million numbers may not be someone to emulate, what Miss Zarves accomplishes is to have students find freedom in self-realization. That is why she is my professional hero. Most of the students in her class are stimulus-response machines. They do as they are told and do not think for themselves. They are content to do mundane tasks and get good grades, but they aren’t learning anything this way. Memorizing what a teacher says and spitting it back out on a test is not synthesizing information. As teachers, we give the students the tools they need, but they ultimately are the ones who must use those tools to create learning. Teachers provide a foundation for students, but having students do only multiplication tables will not allow them to blossom into critical thinkers in mathematics. We must also provide the scaffolding necessary for students to begin using their knowledge to create and explore. In my French courses, students learn vocabulary and verb agreement, but using French to discuss and share ideas is how the students put the tools of language into practice. That's where the real learning happens. It is at the moment when students are able to speak or write in French that they have moved beyond rote memorization and into analysis, evaluation, and creation.

I admit that Miss Zarves does not provide much scaffolding or guidance toward this higher-order thinking, but her seeming inaction may indeed be a ruse to get the students to begin thinking for themselves. Allison’s breaking free from the cycle of busy work may look like misbehaving, but it is intentional. She chooses to think for herself and thus frees herself from the mundane. In Miss Zarves’s class, the moment students become aware of themselves as learners and begin to show higher levels of understanding is when they find the freedom to leave the world of rote memorization. Her classroom model is the same as the real world: Until students learn to think for themselves, they will be forever trapped in busy work. The character of Miss Zarves allows the reader to understand that visibility, awareness, and freedom from the rote into higher levels of synthesis and analysis are the goals of all teachers for their students. h

Students Shatter Athletic Records

In the past year, a remarkable cohort of athletes has been rewriting the Country Day record books. These student-athletes have cemented their place as role models for future generations of Country Day Athletes.

Cross Country

In the ’23-24 Cross Country season, Christian Myers ’25 emerged as an exceptional runner, delivering a series of record-breaking performances in both the 5K and 3-mile races. In the 5K event, Christian’s impressive time of 16:27 set a new 5K record for the school. At the Catholic High Invite in October 2023, Christian shattered the existing school record for the fastest 3-mile run, setting a new benchmark at 15:45. Christian further surpassed his own 3-mile record at the Division IV Region 3 meet, establishing an incredible new school record with an astounding time of 15:13.

FUN FACT: It’s worth mentioning that the previous 5K and 3-mile Country Day records were held by Adam Goldberg ’13, who happened to be Christian’s senior buddy during his kindergarten days.

Pictured: Christian with his senior buddy, Adam, posing at the Senior Fashion Show.

2022-2023 Track and Field

3200 METER

Marygrace de la Cruz ’24, Coco Goldenberg ’25, and Raine Goldenberg ’25 each made school history by breaking the school’s previous girls’ 3200m record. The previous record was 12:37, set by Jen Farris in 1998 and Stephanie Best in 1987. The record was first broken by Coco (12:22.28) and Marygrace (12:21.64) in the Ronnie Doyle Memorial Event in March. Marygrace broke her new record again at the end of March at the Newman Hecker Invitational with a time of 12:14.28. At a St. Martin’s Meet in April, Raine (11:53.46), Marygrace (11:56.56), and Coco (12:04.64) again broke the most recent 3200m record.

By the end of the season, Raine held the 3200m record, with a time of 11:34, ranking her the 2nd-best sophomore and 7th-best 3200m runner in Louisiana. Coco’s best time of 11:44 ranked her 3rd-best sophomore and 12th-best 3200m runner in Louisiana.

JAVELIN

Isaac Herzenberg ’26 left his mark in the 2022-2023 Track and Field season, setting a new school javelin record with an impressive throw of 170-05.25. This record placed him in the elite category of the top freshman javelin throwers across the United States and earned him his first state title.

800 METER

Mason Zink ’26 had a fantastic first outdoor season as part of the Country Day Track and Field Team. His firstplace time of 2:03 in the Regional Championship race broke the Country Day record and provided Mason with an invitation to compete in Nike, adidas, and New Balance nationals with elite status.

Lft: Marygrace and Coco at the Ronnie Doyle Memorial Event.

Right: Raine at the Ronnie Doyle Memorial Event.

Cajun Athletes Set Their Sights on College Teams

In a series of special ceremonies, members of the Country Day community, along with friends and family, came together to celebrate six seniors from the Class of 2023. These student-athletes officially committed to playing their respective sports at the collegiate level by signing their letters of intent.

These individuals have undoubtedly left their mark on our athletic programs through their dedication, hard work, and leadership over the years. We are thankful to have been a part of their journey, and we can’t wait to see what the future holds for them.

Congratulations, Cajuns, on this welldeserved achievement!

CLAYTON GEHMAN

RHODES COLLEGE, FOOTBALL

CONNOR GIBBS

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, FOOTBALL

YASH GUPTA

TULANE UNIVERSITY, FOOTBALL

JAKE IBIETA

LOUISIANA STATE UNIVERSITY, FOOTBALL

ELLIE SCHNEIDER

UNIVERSITY OF KANSAS, VOLLEYBALL

JACK SCHWING

UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN MISSISSIPPI, FOOTBALL

BY JASON HUBERT

With just six minutes remaining in Super Bowl XLIV, the Saints find themselves trailing the Colts by a single point, 16-17. Knowing he needs to put a drive together, Sean Payton searches for his team’s heart and soul, Drew Brees. However, to his dismay, Drew is nowhere to be found. It turns out Drew decided to sit out the game, opting instead to spend time with friends and record TikTok dances. The Saints lose the game, leaving them still in pursuit of their first Super Bowl victory.

OK, maybe the youth sports epidemic hasn’t reached such extremes, but that’s the direction we could be headed.

Research shows that student-athletes are three times more likely to graduate from high school and are significantly less likely to engage in substance-related activities. Additionally, an impressive 62% of CEOs played youth sports. Not only do sports contribute to physical well-being, but they also boost self-esteem and reduce depression and feelings of loneliness among young athletes. Engaging in sports promotes cardiovascular health, burns calories, increases metabolism, and enhances strength and mobility. Plus, physically active teenagers tend to experience better quality sleep, which is essential during their formative years.

Doesn’t that sound promising? Well, despite the numerous benefits, youth sports participation is on the decline in our country. Recent data from the Sports and Fitness Industry Association reveals that only 37% of children between the ages of 6 and 17 regularly participate in team sports, a significant drop from the 56% reported in 2019.

So what is to blame for this steep decline? Firstly, the COVID-19 pandemic forced many children to cease their sports activities, and unfortunately, a considerable number never returned. Some kids no longer enjoy team sports, preferring to spend time on YouTube or playing video games. Parents also may bear some responsibility, with concerns about safety and the increasing time and financial commitments associated with organized sports.

I sat down with Mike McGuire, Country Day’s Athletic Director of over 26 years, to gain further insight. Mike said, “Parents’ fear of injuries has led many kids to transition from traditional football to safer alternatives like flag football leagues such as the Brees League. Also, kids would rather spend time on a computer. Football participation is down, but eSports are taking off!”

Country Day is an exception to this worrying trend, with an impressive 90% of middle schoolers and 70% of upper schoolers actively participating in at least one sport. Several factors contribute to this success, including the school’s strategic scheduling of sporting events and practices, making participating in sports far less time-consuming. And possibly most impactful, Country Day teams are no-cut, meaning they are open to everyone. “No cut is absolutely beneficial,” says McGuire. “It allows kids to have a ‘why not?’ attitude. Kids are relaxed and included. Another thing is our school and community culture. Nothing is more inclusive than our school’s culture.”

The research shows unanimous agreement on the benefits of sports for children. However, finding solutions to reverse the national decline remains a challenge. Notable companies like Nike, Under Armour, and the Aspen Institute have launched campaigns and fundraisers to enhance accessibility to sports for all. As we distance ourselves from the grip of COVID-19, we hope to see a resurgence in sports participation as kids, including the next Drew Brees, return to fields, playgrounds, and basketball courts. Coach Mike McGuire fittingly concluded our interview by saying, “I think team sports are the most important thing to a kid’s development. It gives them a chance to be humble. It teaches them the value of trusting teammates and believing that, together, they can be greater than themselves.” h

2023-2024 Athletic Season Welcomes Three Trophies

Cross Country Brings Home State Championship and Runner-Up Trophies

The Cross Country Teams had a season full of personal records, new school records, and now, new trophies! The boys’ team took home the 2023 Division IV Cross Country State Championship, and the girls’ team, the 2023 Division IV Cross Country State Runner-Up!

CROSS COUNTRY STATE SPOTLIGHTS

Harry Odem ’25, 7th Place, 16:32.60

Christian Myers ’25, 8th Place, 16:37.20

2023 LOUISIANA HIGH SCHOOL

ALL-STATE TEAM

Raine Goldenberg ’25

Christian Myers ’25

Harry Odem ’25

Mason Zink ’25

ALL-GEAUXPREPS SMALL SCHOOLS

CROSS COUNTRY TEAM

Christian Myers ’25

Harry Odem ’25

Volleyball Team Wins Eighth Straight Championship Title

For the eighth straight year, the Country Day

Volleyball Team won the LHSAA Division V Volleyball State Championship on Saturday, November 11, 2023, at the Cajundome in Lafayette.

The #1 seeded team defeated #2 Westminster Christian in three sets (25-10, 25-11, 25-21). This victory secured the 14th state championship for the Cajuns in 15 seasons.

VOLLEYBALL SPOTLIGHTS

Jane Gambel ’25 was named Most Outstanding Player of the State Championship Game, with a match-high of 14 kills.

2023 LOUISIANA VOLLEYBALL COACHES ASSOCIATION

ALL-STATE TEAM

Four players have been named to the 2023 Louisiana Volleyball Coaches Association All-State Team:

Lia Beverly ’25

Gigi Dazet ’24

Jane Gambel ’25

Addison Launey ’25

LVCA DIVISION V PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Gigi Dazet ’24

LVCA DIVISION V COACH OF THE YEAR

Julie Ibieta

LHSAA VOLLEYBALL DIVISION V, DISTRICT 9

ALL-DISTRICT TEAM

FIRST TEAM

Gigi Dazet ’24

Evelyn Rivas ’24

SECOND TEAM

Jane Gambel ’25

Julia Henry ’24

Maggie Schneider ’24

Leila Washington ’26

Addison Launey ’25

Elle Nunez ’25

DISTRICT PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Lia Beverly ’24

DISTRICT COACH OF THE YEAR

Julie Ibieta

ALL-GEAUXPREPS

SMALL

SCHOOLS VOLLEYBALL TEAM

Lia Beverly ’25

Addison Launey ’25

Maggie Millet, Long-Standing Country Day Coach, Announced as 2024 LHSAA Hall of Fame Inductee

The Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame Committee announced the 2024 Louisiana High School Sports Hall of Fame Class on August 25, 2023. We take immense pride in announcing that Margaret “Maggie” Millet, a pivotal figure within the Country Day community, is set to be inducted into the Hall of Fame on April 16, 2024.

Maggie Millet held the reins of the Country Day volleyball program for an impressive 34 years. Alongside her volleyball responsibilities, Maggie served as the head coach for the soccer and tennis teams, while also contributing to the track and softball programs as an assistant coach. Under her direction, the Cajuns achieved a 427-388 volleyball record, made 33 appearances in the LHSAA volleyball playoffs, and secured three state titles, seven state runner-ups, and 14 district championships. Developing players to their potential and commitment to the team were hallmarks of the Millet program. Seven players advanced to play at the collegiate level under her leadership.

During her career, Millet worked tirelessly to develop the sport of volleyball in Louisiana. She is a charter member of the LVCA, served as their president, was voted coach of the year, and was inducted into the LVCA Hall of Fame. Millet worked closely with the LHSAA as one of the coordinators of the state volleyball tournament and served on the committee for seeding. She has received awards from LHSCA, Gatorade, the National High School Athletic Association, AVCA, Tachiakara, Mikasa, and The Times-Picayune for her efforts in the sport.

Sam Dozier, Country Day Coach and P.E. Teacher, Inducted Into the LHSAA Baseball Hall of Fame

Coach Sam Dozier has dedicated 41 years to teaching and coaching, forging lifelong friendships with his students and players along the way. His passion for personal connections has made his journey incredibly fulfilling and rewarding.

As a head coach, Coach Dozier achieved remarkable success, securing two state baseball championships. In 1991, he led the St. Martin’s Episcopal baseball team to their inaugural state baseball title with an impeccable undefeated record of 23-0 in class 2-AA. Then, in 2007, he guided the Jesuit Blue Jays to a triumphant 5-A state baseball championship.

Throughout the past 16 years, Coach Dozier has continued to coach baseball and football, while teaching physical education at Country Day. He cherishes every moment of his journey, building meaningful relationships with his players, students, and colleagues.