Spotlight 2020
In September of 2019, Orchard House School proudly welcomed students back through the doors of its beautifully renovated, 110-year-old building after a jam-packed summer makeover. The academic year gave way to a flurry of events, from parent socials, Studio mornings, and OH Men activities to our annual block party and schoolwide dance. Students, families, faculty, and staff ventured into the community and, in true Orchard House fashion, made a positive impact wherever they went. Head of School Laura Haskins visited nearby communities to share her presentation, The Bumpy Road Ahead with parents of rising middle school girls. She reflected on adolescence as a time of rapid and intense physical, intellectual, and emotional change for girls, rivalled only by their first few years of life. Mrs. Haskins reviewed research on girls’ development and confidence. She provided parents with the best practices for supporting girls with selfcompassion.
Jennifer Pharr Davis, (pictured above) who has hiked over 12,000 miles on six different continents, travelled to OHS from her home in North Carolina to share her adventures with our students and the public (see page 3). Eighth grade students were invited to Virginia Commonwealth University to participate in the Prejudice Awareness Summit, an intensive workshop designed to increase awareness, knowledge, and acceptance of differences. The students developed action plans to increase their fellow student’s sensitivity to and awareness of diversity issues in order to create school and community environments that actively seek prevention of and response to prejudice, stereotypes, and bigotry. After studying Shakespeare’s Taming of the Shrew, the seventh grade class was treated to an all-female performance of the play in historic Agecroft Hall’s courtyard garden as part of the Richmond Shakespeare Festival. Inspired by what
they learned, they designed costumes based on each character’s personality. The Richmond based organization Side by Side, whose mission is to create supportive communities where Virginia’s LGBTQ+ students can thrive, provided an interactive workshop for OHS faculty and parents. The workshop focused on basic understanding of LGBTQ+ identities, risk and protective factors for youth, as well as best practices for supporting LGBTQ+ youth in schools and youth-serving organizations. Around the world, 2020 ushered in a pandemic, causing Orchard House School to close its doors. While our time together ended prematurely, we stayed together virtually (see page 4), and when necessary we kept a safe distance for special deliveries (see page 5). In the end, we hosted an unforgettable graduation ceremony (see page 7). As our graduates paraded by, the energy and spirit of Orchard House could be seen and felt in the cheers, smiles, and tears of everyone.
WELCOME TO THE
SPOTLIGHT “Hope is being able to see there is light despite all of the darkness.”-Desmond Tutu The 2019-2020 school year was a year like no other. In September, we began as always. Girls streamed out of their cars on the first day of school taller, with new hairstyles, fresh school supplies, and eager to learn. The fall and winter ushered in our favorite lessons and traditions - we welcomed alumnae at the annual block party and election day luncheon, laughed at the 7s Western-themed adaptation of The Quiltmaker’s Gift at Winter Ceremony, and broke out our dancing shoes for the school dance. No one could have imagined that on March 13 we would leave for the day not to return to our building due to the Coronavirus.
INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY | EMOTIONAL INTEGRITY
Laura Haskins Head of School Orchard House School
OHS quickly pivoted into distance learning and relied on the creativity and innovation of faculty and staff to deliver curriculum and keep girls connected and learning. Tried and true traditions were adapted and new ways to shine our light were created. Although a challenging time for all, we were constantly reminded of the strength and warmth of our community and the hope we have in one another. This issue highlights our hope and our light. Sincerely,
BOOKS BRING US TOGETHER Oprah Winfrey’s book club is notably America’s most notorious group of bibliophiles, but they’ve got nothing on the dynamic growing between the participants of Janine’s Book Club. Beloved teacher Janine Russo has awfully good taste in books and she is sharing them with OHS Alumnae. The group recently explored Eligible by Curtis Sittenfield, The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah, Save Me The Plums by Ruth Reichl, and Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. COVID restrictions have paused the Book Club meetings. Until its safe for alumnae to reconvene, OHS is mailing Mrs. Russo’s suggested reading list for the alumnae’s enjoyment. To learn more about alumnae activities, please email your contact info to alumnaeassociation@orchardhouse.org.
Speaker, author, hiker, and entrepreneur Jennifer Pharr Davis has logged over 12,000 miles on six different continents, including hikes of the Pacific Crest Trail, the Colorado Trail, Vermont’s Long Trail, numerous trails in Europe, and the Appalachian Trail three times. In 2011, Jennifer wanted to test her physical limits. With the help of her husband Brew and a dedicated group of friends, she set the fastest known time (male or female) on the Appalachian Trail by hiking 47 miles a day for 46 days straight. She also backpacked 550 miles while pregnant with her daughter and hiked 1,200 miles while nursing her son. For her adventures, Jennifer has been featured in the New York Times, the Washington Post, NPR’s Talk of the Nation, ESPN, and the CBS Early Show. She is founder and owner of Blue Ridge Hiking Company (www.blueridgehikingco.com), an Asheville, North Carolina-based guiding service whose mission is
to make the wilderness accessible and enjoyable through the written and spoken word, instruction and guiding. Jennifer shared her trail stories at Orchard House School for students of all ages and their families. Over 100 people registered to hear Jennifer relate her personal experiences to the exciting and empowering challenges that middle school girls face today. At the end of the event, local favorite bbgb books, the classic little bookshop with books for the entire family, coordinated a book signing for Jennifer Pharr Davis titles that detailed the trails, her determination, and most clearly, her growth. The following day, Jennifer surprised OHS students by visiting each grade to share more personal stories and conversations with our girls. We greatly appreciate the generous support of the The Stanley Family, who made Jennifer Pharr Davis’ visit possible.
“Hiking is not escapism; it’s realism. The people who choose to spend time outdoors are not running away from anything; we are returning to where we belong.” ― Jennifer Pharr Davis, The Pursuit of Endurance: Harnessing the Record-Breaking Power of Strength and Resilience
“I wasn’t worried about not succeeding; I was worried about not trying.” ― Jennifer Pharr Davis, Called Again: A Story of Love and Triumph
“Life would be much better if the speed limit was three miles per hour.” ― Jennifer Pharr Davis, Becoming Odyssa: Adventures on the Appalachian Trail
RESPONSIVENESS | PHYSICAL WELL-BEING | SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY | EMOTIONAL INTEGRITY
GOING PHARR WITH JENNIFER
RESPONSIVENESS | SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | INTELLECTUAL CURIOSITY | EMOTIONAL INTEGRITY
A VIRTUAL TRANSFORMATION
As the COVID-19 health crisis unfolded in early 2020, Orchard House School was inspired each day by the way our school community responded with patience, understanding, kindness, and respect. Orchard House quickly pivoted to a Distance Learning Program (DLP) in a few short days to allow students to continue their full curriculum from home. The program was designed to carry out our mission of inspiring middle school girls in a responsive, academically engaging community that fosters each girl’s intellectual curiosity, social responsibility, emotional integrity, and physical wellbeing. Along with academics, the DLP included elements from physical education, arts, and peer socialization. Girls could meet with teachers one-on-one to review questions or assignments. Faculty and staff members organized Zoom meetings for small groups of girls to meet for lunch twice a week. This type of peer socialization was crucial during social distancing and improved adolescent mental health. The classroom experience around the globe fundamentally changed, but our faculty, staff, and students continued to adapt with grace and determination. Synchronous and asynchronus learning models were implemented to allow girls a mix of group participation and independent learning. Faculty encouraged girls to raise their hands, ask questions, make presentations, and participate in discussions
virtually. Students were engaged. A continued partnership between home and school was the key to our success. Faculty and staff were in frequent communication with families to explain how students were progressing and to solicit feedback so that OHS could refine and update the program. With extensive, collective persistence and openness in addressing the unanticipated transformation, faculty put the concerns of parents at ease. The proof was in the many “action” shots that Orchard House School received of girls doing their asynchronous and sychronous learning throughout each day, along with photographs of their physical activities. We shared these images on our social media to inspire more students to move outdoors and be active. Our students accomplished so much in the spring and continued to move forward by learning and sharing together. Our agile girls and adaptive faculty took pride in the resilience with which they faced this crisis. Creatively they pushed forward and came together for schoolwide Zumba classes and produced a virtual talent show, which was broadcast to extended family and friends from around the world. What we learned in the process is that each girl’s light beamed brighter than ever before, and we discovered silver linings amid this pandemic. For this we were truly grateful.
You may have seen a white school bus with purple trim and a license plate reading “GRL PWRD” driving through your neighborhood causing some commotion in May. Not to worry. It was only Orchard House School delivering Thrones to their eighth grade students. Like hundreds of thousands of other students across the country, OHS eighth graders were forced to face the inevitable-their long-awaited graduation traditions that celebrated the end of their middle school journey were considered a health risk. Faculty and staff, however, were committed to sustaining as many OHS traditions for students as possible. True to tradition, each eighth grader at Orchard House School was paired with a new student during the winter months before the pandemic reached Virginia. The new students wrote anonymous notes to their eighth grader in an effort to gather personal information and inspiration to transform a wooden chair into her “Throne” with a custom paint job and a lot of care. “What starts out as a plain wooden chair becomes a canvas for connection and a symbolic seat of leadership,” explained Head of School Laura Haskins. The artists are revealed when the chairs are presented in the school’s annual Winter Ceremony in December. Toward the end of the school year, each eighth grader sits upon her throne to lead a schoolwide meeting and deliver a “Throne Talk” as the throne’s artist sits proudly nearby. This is a time of reflection on how the eighth
grade student has grown during her time at Orchard House and may include triumphs, challenges, and changes that marked her middle school experience. “Spending the remainder of your last year at school without the traditions that form such a rite of passage brings our girls a distinct sense of loss,” Haskins noted. “Orchard House serves as a second home to many of our students, and since we aren’t able to see them there, we thought we could at least do something to join their two homes,” she added. Clad in proper PPE, Haskins and dedicated teachers Elizabeth Lafoon and Maria Howard took to the streets to keep alive a long-standing tradition. They personally loaded the school’s lone bus with 20 wooden “Thrones” and set out to surprise each eighth-grade girl at her home, all while maintaining appropriate social distancing. “When I saw my school bus and teacher, I felt the happiness I had been waiting for all throughout quarantine,” said one throne recipient. “It meant so much that they would go out of their way to deliver our Thrones to each of our houses.” The eighth grade class delivered their Throne Talks virtually. It was clear that they’ll make it through the hardships to come, and they can do so proudly perched on their Thrones, maintaining a long-held Orchard House tradition, no matter where they may be.
RESPONSIVENESS | SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY | EMOTIONAL INTEGRITY
IN KEEPING WITH TRADITION
ALUMNAE NOTES Emma Blake (2012): Emma graduated from Davidson College recently and moved to Asheville, North Carolina, to start work at the Mountain Area Health Education Center as a Davidson Impact Fellow. Through the fellowship she will conduct research and educational interventions related to substance use disorders, with a focus on opioid use. She hopes to attend graduate school and pursue a PhD in clinical psychology.
Ally Godfrey (2012): After four wonderful years at Virginia Tech, Ally graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Development. This fall, she will start graduate school to pursue a Master of Arts degree in Teaching so that she may teach elementary school. “I’m so thankful for my education at Orchard House, and I know it was instrumental in my desire to become an educator myself!”
Juliana Gecker (2012): A spring 2020 graduate from Old Dominion University, Juliana received her Bachelor’s degree in Sport Management and minored in Communication. She plans to complete the Sports Backers fellowship and pursue a career in sports as a Development Officer at a Division 1 college or working in community outreach with the NBA or NFL.
Grace MacDougall (2016): Grace is a proud (remote-for-now) student at Dickinson College in Carlisle, Pennsylvania. She is currently pursuing a major in Women’s Gender and Sexuality Studies and a minor in Japanese! She hopes to study abroad later in Japan. “I can’t wait for my upcoming years at Dickinson and I am thankful for this opportunity to share my experiences with you all.”
Courtney Moore (2012): Courtney recently graduated from Old Dominion University where she minored in Engineering Management and Site Development and earned a degree in Civil Engineering. As a student, she was a member of the Division 1 women’s rowing team,and the head of a student volunteer program. She was very involved in an Engineers Without Borders Water Treatment/Distribution Project in La Reforma, Guatemala. Courtney is currently studying for the Fundamentals of Engineering (FE) exam to become an Engineer in Training. In the interim, she is working at a hydraulic engineering firm in Virginia Beach. “A big thanks to Orchard House for giving me such a wonderfully supportive place to learn and grow and for the amazing relationships!”
Hey, Alumnae! We want to hear what you are doing! To share your story in the next issue of Spotlight, click on Spotlight News @ www.orchardhouse.org/alumnae-corner.
We talk often about how Orchard House School thrives on its traditions, which are intentionally designed. Afternoon tea with the Head of School gives students a chance to strike an informal relationship with school leadership, while Mrs. Haskins is able to talk to and get to know girls in a specifically non-academic setting. The Dream Quilt is a representation of the possibility realized when a group of young girls with disparate personalities, dreams, and perspectives come together to create a unified project. School administrators and staff constantly reimagine and build on these long-held OHS traditions, revaluating and reimagining them to make sure they all stay mission-aligned and relevant to our students. When it became clear that so many of our traditions risked being cancelled or converted into a virtual format, a wave of loss crashed over the entire school community, in particular the eighth grade class. It wasn’t that none of the events could be translated into a digital format—in fact, the Throne Talks were well-suited to a pre-recorded format. The looming worry, however, was always with graduation. How would it happen? Would it carry the same emotional heft of the traditional graduation? Orchard House School’s Board of Trustees, faculty and staff could not stand the idea of failing to deliver on our students’ feelings of accomplishment. As a result, they rallied and developed not one, but two nights of graduation festivities.
The first night recalled a conventional program. All graduates delivered speeches via pre-recorded videos as our largest audience from across the nation and different parts of the world joined us virtually. After the speeches, each eighth grader passed the light of her candle to a seventh grader, signalling their new roles as leaders of the school. The next day OHS presented a Drive-In Certificate Ceremony. As cars started lining up in the enormous parking lot at the Richmond Scottish Rite Temple, it was clear that while this program would be vastly different from the norm, the emotional impact would remain intact. Eighth grade families parked and perched on their decorated cars in the front row before the contactless, certificate stage. Car roofs became grandstand seating for fifth, sixth, and seventh grade families. The ceremony was brief, but the sea of cars adorned with balloons, signs, and the names of all the members of the Class of 2020 made for an enduring scene. As the Class of 2020 paraded through the crowd, waving and blowing kisses on their way out, we saw the creative revisioning of our traditions. And though it wasn’t noted in our calendar, the Class of 2021 situated themselves at a distance for a photo, and just like every year when a photographer refers to them as seventh graders, they were quick to respond, “You mean eighth graders!”
RESPONSIVENESS | EMOTIONAL INTEGRITY
AN EPIC 2020 GRADUATION
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OHS HAS MET ITS MATCH! An important matching challenge grant of $150,000 from the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation was awarded in the spring of 2020 in support of the renovation and improvements made at Orchard House School under its Building with a Purpose initiative. With less than a year to raise an additional $150,000 to meet the challenge, we are proud to announce that OHS successfully met the match due to the generosity of the school’s Board of Trustees, faculty, staff, and alumnae, as well as past and present families. Mary Morton Parsons and her foundation have a long history with giving to Orchard House School dating back to our earliest years. The Mary Morton Parsons Foundation has continued a legacy of major gifts, ensuring the growth and development of Richmond’s only dedicated middle school for girls. Orchard House School is thankful for the Mary Morton Parsons Foundation and all of our generous donors for their long-standing support of the school and its mission.
ALUMNAE NOTES Maddie Philhower (2012): Maddie graduated from Virginia Tech with a Bachelor’s degree in Clinical Neuroscience and a minor in Chemistry. Currently, she is studying for the MCAT and applying to medical school. In her journey to become a doctor, she has had some amazing opportunities, such as traveling on a medical mission trip to Honduras and watching open brain surgery. “It’s a long road ahead, but I am so excited about what life has to offer me. “
Lyla Rossi (2012): Pictured here on a suspension bridge along the Everest Base Camp trail in Nepal, Lyla spent 4 years of adventure and growth at The College of William & Mary. She studied Anthropology and Sociology and got the opportunity to travel with people who are driven to improve the world. She is preparing to move to the Dominican Republic for 2 years to serve in the Youth Development sector of the Peace Corps. She is motivated by notions of global equity, cultural humility, and the power in community. “I can’t wait to take another step into a long life of learning!”
Erica Royal (2012): Erica graduated from James Madison University where she was a varsity student athlete on the field hockey team. She studied Finance, Spanish, and Chinese and graduated with honors. Erica will be continuing on to Washington D.C. where she will work in private equity as an analyst. “I look forward to seeing what this next chapter holds and think fondly of my time spent growing and learning at OHS.”
Virginia Taylor (2012): Virginia graduated college a year early and travelled through Asia, where she worked for 4 months. She created the travel blog brokenbootstravel.com before returning to Asheville, North Carolina where she attended college. She now runs her own business as a photographer, videographer, and web designer. Virginia hopes to move to South or Central America one day and become fully fluent in Spanish.
Camryn Travis (2012): Camryn is a 2020 graduate of the University of Richmond, where she double majored in Political Science and Spanish. This summer she started a new position as an Insurance Agent at Mutual of Omaha, while she prepares to take the LSAT.
Abby Zinsser (2012): After training at Nashville Ballet’s preprofessional program for three years, Abbey moved to Fort Wayne, Indiana, as a Corps de Ballet member of the Fort Wayne Ballet. She has been invited back for the upcoming season and cannot be happier that she achieved her dream of being a professional ballet dancer. “I thank Orchard House not only for its stellar education but also for letting me pursue my dreams!”