8 | Birmingham Boys Choir 2025 Founding Cities Tour
10 | Amy Rainer helps children develop leadership skills through etiquette, respect and kindness.
12 | Dr. Todd Freeman, Superintendent of Vestavia Hills City Schools, sets the standard.
13 | Back-To-School Calendar GIVING TREE
14 | The Hecho Project: Building relationships and hope in Cieneguita, Panama.
16 | Things to do, people to see, music to
19 | Coaching the J Dive Club is a family affair. 20 | Mountain Brook varsity lacrosse teams sweep state championships. Thursday, July 24, 2025
Publisher & Executive Editor: Lee Hurley
Editor: Barry Wise Smith
Design Director: Claire Cormany
Intern: Nausicaa Chu
Photography: Jordan Wald
Contributors: Nausicaa Chu, Cathy DeLozier, Anne Ruisi
Account Executive: Julie Trammell Edwards
lhurley@otmj.com
So Long Summer…
It’s hard to believe that summer is rapidly coming to an end. When the next issue of the OTMJ comes out the first week of August, many over-the-mountain school systems will already be back in session. In advance of the new school year, we spoke with the state’s top school superintendent—Dr. Todd Freeman of Vestavia Hills City Schools—about the school year to come and about the prestigious honor he received this summer (page 12). Also, enjoy our story about The Hecho Project and its founder, Gina Winn, who has taken numerous Birmingham-area students to serve in a remote village in Panama called Cieneguita, bringing hope and help to the community there (page 14). And as you read this issue, take note of the stories written by our summer intern, Nausicaa Chu. Naus is a fantastic, young writer and has been a joy to work with and so much help at OTMJ this summer.
So, enjoy the final days of unscheduled summer fun—sit by the pool soaking up the sun; dip your toes in the surf; eat a juicy Alabama peach or just enjoy a lazy morning on the porch. Real life, with all the busyness that brings, will be here before you know it. So, savor summer while it lasts!
–BARRY WISE SMITH
| OVER THE MOUNTAIN VIEWS |
above: Alex Frenz takes a plunge in the LJCC pool. right: Adley Fair shows perfect diving form.
PHOTOS BY JORDAN WALD
Our Lady of Sorrows 4th of July Festival
What’s summer without barbecue?
At Our Lady of Sorrows Catholic Church in Homewood, the Knights of Columbus cooked up 6,500 pounds of delicious smoked pork, turkey and chicken for the church’s 76th 4th of July Festival. Festivalgoers also enjoyed food, drinks and desserts, and kids played games on the church grounds. People looking for bargains shopped among the thousands of items in the always popular Trash and Treasure Rummage Sale. OTMJ
Kenny and Tracy Adams and Rosalie Gattina
Linda Lucas and Dick Stanford
Mary Artin, Saphira, Haydee and Michael Pelaez
Anna and Wesley Ann Davis
Harold and Marsha Pruitt Heather and Andrew Campbell
HOMEWOOD 4TH OF JULY FESTIVAL
Three blocks of downtown Homewood were closed as the community enjoyed the city’s 4th of July Festival. Food and drinks were featured, as were children’s attractions and rides, which kept the young ones busy while people danced in the streets. The annual Thunder on the Mountain fireworks show, launched from the top of Red Mountain, capped the evening, with the festival site offering spectacular views of the fireworks exploding in the sky. OTMJ
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The Brownings: Emree, Nathan, Tinleigh, Rebecca and Blakely
The annual Thunder on the Mountain fireworks show. Upton and Meredith Moorer
Aubrey Guthrie and Hayden Mitchell
Denise and Lowen Abney Henley, Luke, Everett and Katie Garner
Start the school year strong and healthy
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• Bacteria cause Cavities not Sugar – you have to brush and floss twice a day. Bacteria eat food and sugar, and during this process they create acid. This acid DISSOLVES YOUR TEETH! gross!
• Watch out for ACID! It is BAD for your teeth! Like Bacteria, if you drink or eat anything too acidic, it will dissolve your teeth! Drink water immediately after drinking soft drinks, lemonade,
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I LOVE AMERICA NIGHT
Anna Gray and Lauren Hunter
Ella Ru, Coco Scruggs, Finley Stephens and Miller Ru
Jordan and Madeline Shaw and Iva Nelson
Martha and Eli Chadband
Davis and Jodie Mote
Emma Lawing, Elizabeth White and Abbie Jones
Malia and Andrew Daroczy
MK Alvie, Betsy Stevens and Helen Holcomb
estavia Hills residents celebrated the land of the free and the home of the brave at the 43rd annual I Love America Night on June 26. The popular community event at Wald Park is eagerly anticipated by families and features free swimming at the city’s aquatic complex, sponsor booths, children’s activities and live music. A fireworks show capped off the evening. OTMJ
Zoo Brews 2025
The Birmingham Zoo hosted its signature beer-tasting event, Zoo Brews, on June 6. This year, the event featured 28 breweries from around Alabama and the southeast. Attendees started the event at the zoo entrance with Abita Brewing, sipped their way to the crane exhibit and looped back to finish at Palmetto Brewing Co.
Guests also enjoyed dinner from local food truck vendors Battle Axes Feast, Bougie Foodie, Craving Cajun, Eugene’s Hot Chicken and Stephen’s Hotdogs.
Beverage samples cost a “Penny-A-Pour”—with the pennies donated to the zoo’s Animals Fund, which helps support the over 400 species at the zoo. OTMJ
Barbie Cleino and Cathy Beasley
Brent Wallace and Rebecca Carter
Graham Duncan, Jessica Watson, Andy Rivera and Pat Latham
Lee Alice and Jamie Monroe
Brad and Heather Neighbors, Michelle Downing and Patrick Andres
Deanna Reynolds and Tina Blerebome
Kathie and James Knickrehm
Luke Griffin and Hunter Tilashalski
Birmingham Boys Choir 2025 Founding Cities Tour
The Birmingham Boys Choir (BBC) Founding Cities Tour wrapped up a slate of performances in June visiting Williamsburg, Yorktown and Norfolk in Virginia; Washington D.C.; Moorestown, New Jersey and Philadelphia. Along the way, The Boys Choir collaborated with other choirs like the Virginia Children’s Chorus and the Philadelphia Boys Choir. The tour concluded with a homecoming concert at Samford’s Brock Recital Hall on June 6th OTMJ
For information on joining the choir, birminghamboyschoir.org.
Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C. // June 3, 2025
Collaborative concert with the Philadelphia Boys Choir & Chorale in Moorestown, NJ // June 4, 2025
Brock Hall at Samford University, Homecoming Concert // June 6, 2025
Candlelight Concert, Bruton Parish Church in Colonial Williamsburg // May 29, 2025
Colonial Williamsburg, Virginia // May 29, 2025
Yorktown Victory Monument in Yorktown, Virginia // May 31, 2025
Collaborative Concert with the Virginia Children’s Chorus in Norfolk, Virginia // May 31, 2025
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BACK-TO - SCHOOL
Etiquette for All Seasons
Amy Rainer helps children develop leadership skills through etiquette, respect and kindness.
BY CATHY DELOZIER
What do Birmingham-area children, participants on the reality television show The Bachelor and the governor of Arkansas all have in common? They’ve participated in etiquette classes taught by Amy Rainer. A former Crestline Elementary school teacher, Amy helps children develop leadership skills through etiquette, respect and kindness. She and her colleagues—Cathy Turner in Homewood and Meredith Cashio in Vestavia Hills—teach these skills and many others through etiquette classes held in their homes in fall and spring. “I want to help children walk into any social situation and be comfortable and confident in themselves so they can be gracious to others,” Ranier says.
Ranier began her business during her first teaching job in Atlanta by hosting Turkey Tea Parties to teach preschoolers table manners before Thanksgiving. The classes became so popular, she held them every fall and later expanded to include first impressions, general etiquette and others. “I had etiquette classes growing up in Atlanta, and I loved them,” she says.
After working in the Atlanta area for five years, she moved to Birmingham to teach third grade at Crestline Elementary and brought her etiquette classes with her. Ranier says, “I like to take something that could be boring and make it fun and relevant. I like to use humor, real life situations and role play with children to get them engaged and to see the importance of manners.”
While Ranier usually teaches children and tweens, she has taught adults, most notably Colton Underwood and Hannah G. from the 2020 season of The Bachelor. Hannah, who is from Birmingham, wanted Colton to learn how to be a Southern gentleman before meeting her parents for dinner. Ranier met with the two to go over some of the South’s more traditional manners but ultimately told Colton to be himself.
Another notable class she taught was in the governor’s mansion in Arkansas. Amy says she usually doesn’t conduct classes in
“Good manners are just a way of showing other people that we have respect for them.”
–bill kelly, disney screenwriter
such “hoity toity” places and thought that having a lesson there was a bit much, until she realized that the Governor herself—Sara Huckabee Sanders—was booking the class. “Then it made sense,” she says. Ranier made the trip to Little Rock to teach etiquette to “all the Huckabee grandchildren.” Amy says the older children received lessons in public speaking and how to avoid “Ums” and “Uhs” while at a podium, and the younger ones learned the importance of table manners and making a good first impression. The session culminated in a big dinner in the dining room for all the children to practice what they had learned. “It was definitely one
POINTERS FOR BACK-TO-SCHOOL ETIQUETTE
Add RESPECT to your checklist.
Greet your teachers by name, with a smile and a firm handshake while making eye contact.
Hold the door open for others. Right before you open a door, glance behind to see if others are close. If so, let them go first.
At lunchtime, don’t add to the chaos by jostling to be first in line. Let others go before you; you’ll still have time to eat.
Show respect to parents, teachers and other adults you see at school or out in the community by speaking to them first and calling them by name.
Use your words to encourage your friends and fellow classmates, even if you don’t know them well.
Earn trust by respecting yourself enough to make good choices (even when no one is watching) and to develop your character.
Have a fresh start every day by showing respect and kindness to your teachers, your friends and classmates, and yourself.
of my wilder experiences,” she says.
Currently there are eight different programs for kindergarteners through fifth graders that focus on making manners and table manners fun, the art of making conversation, making a good first impression, goodness and grace and behaving like a perfect gentleman. Programs for eighth graders focus on etiquette for dinners and dances, as well as a refresher for what was learned when they were younger. Classes are offered January, February and March and August, September and October.
“I love it when I run into former students out in the community. They are often a little shy from a distance when they see me but usually gather themselves to approach me and my husband, take off their hats, shake our hands and speak to us. It’s so gratifying,” she says.
Ranier is passionate about her profession and considers character development and how we treat others as paramount to her lessons. “I can help children who may not excel academically or athletically by teaching them how to present themselves and how to treat other people with kindness and consideration. They gain confidence and then they shine,” she says. OTMJ
For more information, etiquettewithamy.com
Amy Rainer with some of her young etiquette students.
Star Superintendent
Dr. Todd Freeman, Superintendent of Vestavia Hills City Schools, sets the standard.
BY BARRY WISE SMITH PHOTO BY JORDAN WALD
When Dr. Todd Freeman, superintendent of Vestavia Hills City Schools (VHCS), headed to the School Superintendents of Alabama (SSA) conference in Orange Beach this summer, he already felt like a winner. Selected by his peers to represent his district as a nominee for superintendent of the year, Freeman was humbled by the nomination.
“When your peers are involved and make that decision, it’s quite an honor,” Freeman says. “In this area, I’m surrounded by exceptional school
leaders, so to even be in consideration is a huge honor.”
At the SSA conference, Freeman and the other eight nominees were interviewed by a panel, and at a luncheon later in the week, Freeman was named Alabama’s 2026 Superintendent of the Year. “It was a surprise,” Freeman says, “and truly humbling to be given this.” Freeman follows in the footsteps of other local superintendents who have recently won this honor: Dr. Dicky Barlow, superintendent of Mountain Brook Schools, received the honor in 2023, and Dr. Walter
“Our mission is for every student to have the opportunity to learn without limits.”
–dr. todd freeman
Gonsoulin, Jr., from Jefferson County Schools was named both the State Superintendent of the Year and the National Superintendent of the Year in 2025.
Freeman is VHCS’ seventh superintendent and has served in the role since March 2018. Prior to coming to Vestavia Hills, Freeman served as the superintendent in Sylacauga for five years and worked in the Auburn school system for 20 years. Originally from Clay County, Freeman has a bachelor’s degree in secondary social science from Jacksonville State University, a master’s in secondary social science from Auburn University and a doctorate in educational leadership from Valdosta State University in Georgia.
Since Freeman took the system’s reins in 2018, a new strategic plan was developed, and the system’s accreditation was renewed in 2019. His leadership team also implemented a comprehensive school restructuring and rezoning plan, which led to the opening of Vestavia Hills Elementary School Dolly Ridge in 2019 and the new campus of Louis Pizitz Middle School on the site of the former Berry High School and the Vestavia Hills High School Freshman Campus in the former Pizitz facility in 2020.
FUTURE FOCUSED
Freeman is now focused on the future, including the upcoming school year. “Summer is a busy
time,” he says. “We’re in the midst of budgeting season, so we’re prioritizing how we’re going to spend our dollars.” Taking advantage of the absence of students and teachers, summer is also when facilities work happens. “Our system is 54 years old, and many of the facilities fall in that range,” Freeman says. “So, we have work to do on our aging facilities.”
The last six months was also spent revising the system’s 2019 strategic plan. During the “very collaborative process,” stakeholders— teachers, students, administrators, parents and community leaders—developed a value statement centered around excellence, safety, character and community to shape the system’s strategic goals. “Those are the four cornerstones we build our strategic plan around,” Freeman says. “We rewrote our value statement to live up to our mission for every student to have the opportunity to learn without limits.” Having concluded the process, Freeman presented and recommended the new plan and goals to the board at their July 21 meeting.
Another important summer task is hiring new teachers and staff. “The most important thing we do in our system is hire and keep the very best employees we can,” Freeman says. “We hire the best and then work constantly on ways to best support our teachers. In the end, teachers are the most important factor to the success of the students. We want to make sure they’re resourced and supported well and receive all the opportunities for growth and advancement they want.”
While Vestavia Hills is consistently on the list of the state’s best public school systems, Freeman does not want to rest on their laurels. “The expectation is that we have top-notch schools,” he says. “We want to be known as a system that is always trying to improve itself. We never want to just rest on our history of excellence.” OTMJ
On August 12, Dr. Freeman and Vestavia Hill’s City Manager Jeff Downes will speak about the school system’s important relationship with the city at the Vestavia Hills Chamber of Commerce’s monthly luncheon. For more information or to register, visit vestaviahills.org.
Designer Handbag Bingo Luncheon
In Support of Lettermen Of The USA
Southminster
School
Homewood City Schools
homewood.k12.al.us
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 21
Hoover City Schools
hoovercityschools.net
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 21
Mountain Brook City Schools
mtnbrook.k12.al.us
First Day for Students: August 11
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 22
Shelby County Schools
shelbyed.k12.al.us
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 5
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 22
Vestavia Hills City Schools vhcs.us
First Day for Students: August 7
Winter Holidays: December 22-January 2
Spring Break: March 23-27
Last Day for Students: May 21
Registration
Southminster
Hoover City Schools
County Schools
GIVING TREE
The Hecho Project
Building relationships and hope in Cieneguita, Panama.
BY NAUSICAA CHU
In Cieneguita, Panama, a single main road cuts through a patchwork of grass and trees like a vein. To the south, the road winds through empty swaths of green before reaching the small village. Most people have never heard of this village. Even people 20 minutes down the road do not know that it exists.
Yet, 3,000 miles away, Gina Winn and students from Restoration Academy and Over the Mountain schools have built a close partnership with Cieneguita. Winn and her students have travelled to this village over 20 times as part of the Hecho Project, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides English-language courses and community assistance for the village. It has impacted hundreds of students on either side of the gulf.
One year, the Hecho Project built a covered walkway to shield students from the rain.
Another year, they organized a carnival. Last spring, they bought air conditioning units to stop the computer lab from overheating.
“We’re founded on helping this one little village become more educated and have more opportunities through learning English,”
“We’re founded on helping this one little village become more educated and have more opportunities through learning English.”
–gina winn, executive director of the hecho project
says Winn, Executive Director of the Hecho Project.
Though the project began in 2015, its origins go back further than that—to Winn’s childhood. No stranger to world travelling, Winn’s father was in the Navy, and she grew up in Cuba and Spain. She began learning Spanish in third grade, becoming fluent. After travelling to Panama with Canterbury United Methodist Church, Winn fell in love with the Cieneguita community and founded the Hecho Project.
“So many things that had happened in my life were leading me to this,” says Winn. “It just gives me chills to think about.”
Nearly every summer since 2015—excluding the pandemic years—with a bus full of eager Over the Mountain students, luggage and school supplies, Winn has left the skyscrapers and triple-lane highways of Panama City for the Cieneguita road. At the wheel is Lenin. Winn met the bus driver at the airport one year, and he has driven the students ever since.
This kind of long-term relationship extends to the entire community. “As soon as we start driving into the village, they see the bus, and they’re all running down the street,” laughs Winn.
In the mornings, Winn and her students teach English at the Centro Educativo Básico General De Cieneguita, or Cieneguita General Basic Education Center. While English is a required subject in Panama, the school’s teachers are not fluent in the language and lack the resources to teach it.
The problem is systemic: the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) notes that many rural areas in Panama do not have access to
above: Hosts René (son) and Fina (mom) with Hecho founder Gina Winn. top, left: Restoration Academy students Sarah (left) and Kristan (right) feeling the joy of serving others.
left: Jayden, a rising senior, decided to apply for the trip because he knew it would be an opportunity of a lifetime. He is ready to return in 2026.
quality education. To combat this, Winn created a bilingual curriculum that the teachers could use even without Hecho help.
“I print out, put it in folders and take it down every year,” says Winn.
Though it faces challenges, the Cieneguita school is bright and colorful. Classrooms are painted in greens and reds, while the outside of the school is pink, white and blue. Student artwork decorates the walls. The front lawn is covered in tires with plants and flowers inside—an Hecho Project gardening initiative.
In the afternoons, the Birmingham and Cieneguita students play soccer and do arts and crafts together. Though a language barrier exists, the students quickly form friendships. “If you ran into somebody that speaks Spanish here, and you speak no Spanish, you’re going to try to help them, and you’re going to have this mutual respect for each other,” says Winn. “So that’s how they are.”
Not only is the respect between the students mutual—the benefits of the relationship are too. The Over the Mountain students bond with the local children, practice their Spanish and broaden their perspectives.
After developing a strong connection to the community, many students join multiple trips. Charlotte Winn has gone 10 times; Louise Knight, nine; Mary Johnson Bradford, eight. One summer they, along with Adelia Collier
and Lucy Windle, spent a month in Cieneguita teaching and serving the community.
In 2019, Winn began bringing Restoration Academy students on the trips. Restoration Academy, where Winn teaches Spanish, is a private, 501(c)(3) Christian school in Fairfield. With the support of board members and community partners, Winn has raised over $70,000 to provide scholarships for her Spanish students to go to Cieneguita.
The trip has a transformative impact. “It’s life changing. It just feeds me. It feeds these kids,” says Winn.
This year, Winn travelled to Cieneguita twice: during spring break with Restoration Academy students and during the summer with Over the Mountain students. Her next initiative is to help young community men— her former students—build a once-a-week baseball clinic for 11- to 13-year-old boys, in the hopes of teaching good habits and choices.
Winn could not have predicted any of this while learning Spanish in third grade: not that Spanish would take her to Cieneguita, Panama; not that she would teach English to hundreds of local children; not that hundreds more Birmingham students would join her mission.
But a single road can lead to unexpected destinations. OTMJ
For more information,see @hechoproject on Instagram or contact hechoproject@gmail.com.
Students in Cieneguita, Panama.
Over the Mountain volunteers Adelia Collier, Louise Knight, Charlotte Winn, Mary Johnson Bradford and Anne Baxley Winn have visited Cieneguita many times.
Fri., July 25
VIRTUAL REALITY
Show your gaming domination in our Virtual Reality tournament, and you could win an Amazon gift card! Snacks served. For Teens grades 6-12.
WHEN: 4-5:30 p.m.
WHERE: Vestavia Hills Library in the Forest
Sat., July 26
OTEY’S FEST
Enjoy live music from the Yacht Rock Schooner, 8 Track Country, and T.U.B., beer and cocktails and Rodney’s award-winning cheeseburgers at this event. Proceeds benefit the Phoenix Club of Alabama,
an organization that supports young professional men. Tickets are available at oteysfest.com.
WHEN: 6-11 p.m.
WHERE: Otey’s Tavern in Crestline
Tues., July 29
BACK TO SCHOOL BONANZA!
School is back in session! Get ready for back-to-school season filled with giveaways (first come, first serve), games and more!
WHEN: 10:30 a.m.-noon
WHERE: Homewood Public Library
Thurs., July 31
JAZZ NIGHT AT THE MUSEUM
Jazz Night at the Museum brings together acclaimed local musicians and a thoughtfully curated setlist, all set against the backdrop of the museum’s collections and exhibitions. Legendary Birmingham trumpeter, Daniel “José” Carr, and his band will perform.
WHEN: Doors open at 5 p.m., with the performance from 5:30-7:30 p.m.
WHERE: Birmingham Museum of Art
Fri., Aug. 1
PARTY ON THE PORCH
Party on the Porch brings together local musicians, breweries, food trucks and artisans for an evening you do not want to miss. This is a family friendly event with activities for kids, a dog-friendly atmosphere, cornhole, giveaways and loads of fun!
WHEN: 6-8 p.m.
WHERE: Alabama Outdoors in Homewood
Sat., Aug. 2
“OMS” BACK TO SCHOOL BISCUIT RUN
Join us for a family friendly fun run/walk at Railroad Park to kick off the new school year. Each participant will receive a t-shirt and post-race biscuit from Maple Street Biscuits. Enjoy great music from DJ Cuzzo, and shop with on-site vendors.
WHEN: 8-10 a.m.
WHERE: Railroad Park, 17th Street Section A
Sat., Aug. 2
MAGIC CITY CARNIVAL
The Magic City Carnival is an end-of-summer event for the whole family to enjoy, featuring carnival games, fair foods, drinks, pet activities, music, silent auction and more!
Sat., Aug. 9
BIRMINGHAM PIG ROAST Y MERCADO
Join us for authentic Latin slow-roasted pork prepared traditionally over coal, delicious sides, vibrant Latin music and a mercado featuring local artisans and their unique
TDRE Windows & Doors
The Greater Birmingham Chapter of OLLI at UA offers enriching courses, social events and travel opportunities for adults 50+ who love to learn, connect and explore. Courses are held at the Vestavia Hills Civic Center, Riverchase United Methodist Church, Hoover Chamber of Commerce and the North Shelby Library. Online courses are also available. The new membership year begins August 1
Monday, Aug. 11, at 10 a.m. Riverchase United Methodist Church
COACHING THE J DIVE CLUB IS A FAMILY AFFAIR
BY ANNE RUISI PHOTOS BY JORDAN WALD
It’s said it takes a village to raise a child, but at the Levite Jewish Community Center, it takes a family of diving enthusiasts to coach the Dive Club—specifically Helen Smith and her daughters, head coach Kirsten Thomas, and assistant coaches Bailey Avina and Monica Hackney. “I started as a volunteer dive coach 30-plus years ago,” Smith says. It then evolved into a family endeavor over the years as the girls dived on the team while growing up, just as she had in her youth. “Then they became coaches, and Kirsten runs the (LJCC’s) athletic program,” she adds.
Thomas, affectionately known as Coach K, works full-time as LJCC’s athletics and aquatics director. Her mother and sisters are volunteers. The women, along with Sam Slaughter, who is not a relative, work with about 35 youth ranging in age from four to 18.
Many were swimmers who became interested by watching the divers practice. “Usually, they get fascinated by the diving boards,” Thomas says. “When they see that we’re practicing, a lot of kids ask, ‘Hey, is this a dive team?’ That’s when they end up getting signed up.”
Others, like six-year-old Alex Frenz of Homewood, became interested after taking swimming lessons at the J, his mother, Laura Frenz says. “I like diving and flipping,” Alex adds.
Prospective divers, no matter their age, must be able to jump off the diving board in the deep end and swim unassisted to the ladder on the side of the center’s outdoor pool before they can join the team.
It’s especially exciting to see the very young divers qualify for the team, Smith says. “When they’re that young, to be able to swim to the ladder, it’s like, oh, my heart melts,” she says of watching them accomplish that challenge.
“Yes, wait, yes, you can take a breath. You’re not going to drown. It is great to see them do that.”
Divers practice for 90 minutes every Monday through Friday during the season, which this year runs from the last week of May through the end of July.
During practice on a sweltering afternoon a few weeks ago, a group of elementary schoolage children form a line to take turns diving off
Diving meets are held throughout the season against four other teams in the Jefferson County summer league: Magic City Diving, the Country Club of Birmingham, Vestavia Swim and Dive Association at Wald Park and Shades Cliff in Bluff Park.
The season is nearing its end, and the LJCC team has won two meets and lost one. Unlike a swim meet, the divers aren’t racing against a clock but striving for an overall calculated score. The more difficult the dive, which is measured in its degree of difficulty, the higher the score.
a low board and splashing into the water. There were a few grimaces when a diver is unsatisfied with their performance, but most smile and grin as they break the surface.
After a dive, the divers quickly get out of the water and patiently wait in line to take another plunge. There’s no tomfoolery at practice— horseplay is not allowed. “We want to make sure the kids are safe and thriving,” Smith says. Dive instruction begins with the basics, like takeoffs and the approaches, like “putting your arms out and leaning into the water,” and approaching the dive using front and back jumps and front and back dives, she says.
Once they learn the fundamentals, the divers build on those basic skills and become advanced, learning more difficult maneuvers, like front somersaults.
Normally, after learning those fundamentals, the longer a diver has participated, the more likely they are to have those higher diving skills performed with a higher degree of difficulty and accuracy, Smith continues.
And it’s a joy for the coaches when the divers conquer their fears and learn those skills to develop confidence. “We celebrate every jump, every accomplishment,” as their divers progress, Avina says.
Divers love being on the team and working with their coaches. “It’s fun. I just dove right in,” says Leo Burton, a Mountain Brook eight year old. “I like Coach K, she’s really fun.”
While the mother and daughters coach, the family’s third generation is participating, Thomas says. Two of her nieces and a nephew, Annalisa Avina, eight, Alesandra Avina, 11, and Grayson Hackney, six, are diving on the team.
While some might think spending so many hours with relatives might be too much of a good thing, the coaches love their family time. “We very much enjoy spending time with one another and spending time coaching, Smith says.
There’s also the satisfaction of seeing the community brought together to support what’s an individual sport in what are essentially team competitions. “It’s very, very community based, which is always a fun aspect,” Thomas says. “It’s beautiful. We all love working with the kids, and by the end of the summer, they go from not knowing how to dive to competing and doing well.”
For example, an eight-year-old girl in her first year of diving came in second place at a recent meet against Vestavia Hills. “Everything just clicked,” Smith says.
“To see your diver do well in a meet, it’s like your heart just goes out to them because they’ve worked so hard, and they’re achieving so much.”
above, coaching staff from left: Bailey Avina (assistant coach), Helen Smith (assistant coach) and Kirsten Thomas (Head Coach and Athletic and Aquatics Program Director). left: Sebastian Uzulina-Kochar shows no fear.
left: Coach Smith, Alesandra Avina and Paisley Moss.
SPORTS
“THEY WERE READY.”
MOUNTAIN BROOK VARSITY LACROSSE TEAMS SWEEP STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS.
BY NAUSICAA CHU
On May 3, the Mountain Brook High School (MBHS) varsity girls lacrosse team walked onto the field at Hoover’s Buccaneer Stadium for what head coach Tom Lewis describes as “just another game.” When they walked off, they were state champions.
Three hours later, the MBHS varsity boys lacrosse team stepped onto the field. After a fast break, stellar saves and tie-breaking shots, they, too, emerged as state champions.
The double win caps an impressive season for the Spartan lacrosse program. Both teams participated in a competitive playoff tournament before the final match, where the Varsity Girls won the championship following a 15-10 victory against Hoover High School and the Varsity Boys took home the trophy after a close 13-11 win over Vestavia Hills.
VARSITY GIRLS WIN FIFTH
CONSECUTIVE CHAMPIONSHIP
The girls team went into the game having been there before—a whopping four seasons in
a row. The victory marks their fifth consecutive state championship, a feat that Lewis attributes to their pre-game mentality. “Because we have been here before, if we execute as we have practiced our offense, our defense and especially our fast transition game, we will win,” he recalls emphasizing to his team.
Their quality practice became evident when Hoover drove up the field and made a series of back-to-back shots. The Spartans’ defense, anchored by senior goalie Addison Hardee, stopped all of them. “That gave us a huge boost of momentum and confidence,” says Lewis.
Three seniors are committed to playing on the collegiate level: Meghan Donahue will be a midfielder in Wofford College’s Division I program; Grayson Crowe will be a midfielder in Rollins College’s Division II program, and Ashby Russell will play defense in Chapman University’s Division III program.
But the seniors are not the only ones leaving: Lewis, who was named the 2024 Alabama Girls Lacrosse Coach of the Year, is retiring from coaching the varsity girls lacrosse program.
“I introduced lacrosse to many of these players and have watched them learn and get better and better each year,” says Lewis. “To be able to spend every Spring with them, sometimes five days a week, was really just fun to be a part of. And to have them win five years in a row, they should be very proud to be part of this successful program. I hope that when they get older, they stay involved in this great game.”
VARSITY BOYS RECLAIM CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE FROM REBELS
The varsity boys had also been there before: battling for the state championship against Vestavia Hills. But that time, in 2023, the game resulted in a 13-7 loss to the Rebels. Two years later, they came back prepared. “They practiced intentionally and worked really, really hard to get better together. We had guys showing up 45 minutes early to work on shooting, faceoffs and goalie play prior to two-hour practices,” says Catenacci. “I was very proud of the time and the discretionary effort they put in—it paid off!” Catenacci says that the Spartans’ teamwork
clinched the win. “Most of our guys have been playing together since elementary school,” he says. “They know success requires team above self, sharing the ball, playing at a position where the team needed them most and making decisions for the greater good.”
When the game was tied 11-11 with two minutes left, junior midfielder Sam Smith picked up a ground ball, streaked down the field and scored a tie-breaking shot. Fellow midfielders sophomore Archie Andrews and senior Truman Lee were also standout players, alongside junior attacker Roscoe Bare.
Junior Luke Catenacci anchored the defense in the goal, with an impressive save rate of 64 percent. Seniors Miller Brooks, Jack Walthall and Hayden DiVenere contributed key plays as well.
The victory marks the team’s fifth championship title in the past seven seasons. Though Vestavia Hills dominated in 2023 and 2024, Catenacci believes that the Spartans’ preparation and strong teamwork gave them an edge.
