KnightTimes Spring 2020

SPRING 2020

T H E M A G A Z I N E O F PA C E A C A D E M Y

BOYS RUN IT BACK

Basketball Takes the State Title

COM PETIT IVE

Growing programs in all divisions promote innovation and teamwork

COVID-19

THE CHALLENGES AND OPPORTUNITIES OF REMOTE LEARNING

THIS PAGE: Over spring break, 21 juniors and seniors built a home in Lesotho in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International. The homeowner (left), junior CAROLINE JANKI (center) and junior CAROLINE MCCULLOUGH (right) take a dance break during construction.

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It was 2 a.m. at the Molengoane Lodge in rural Ntsi, Lesotho, when the varsity boys basketball team took the court in the Georgia High School Association Class AAA state championship at the Macon Centreplex, half a world away. I was traveling with 21 Upper School students on an Isdell Center for Global Leadership study tour in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International.

The previous afternoon, we had finished our fourth day of work on a home in the village of Ha Ramohajane. The group was tired after hours of bricklaying in the African sun; nevertheless, students set their alarms and huddled around a laptop in the lodge’s lobby—the only space with WiFi—to cheer on their Knights. The following morning, breakfast was filled with talk of senior GEORGE ADAMS’ 9-point run, which sparked the team’s come-from-behind victory. Despite the lack of sleep, there was excitement in the air.

The students’ enthusiasm as we donned our work boots and bandanas and boarded buses for our final day on the construction site perfectly illustrates what it means to be a Pace Knight. Our sense of community, our care for each other and our commitment to global citizenship crosses time zones and transcends students’ interests and activities. That same spirit of community has sustained the Pace family as we have implemented remote learning, and it will make us a more cohesive unit when we gather together again.

In this issue, we celebrate the Pace community and our students’ accomplishments—as well as our resilience as we navigate new and changing circumstances. Thank you for being part of this special place.

CAI T LI N G O O D R I C H J O N E S ’00 D I R E C TO R O F C O M M U N I C AT I O N S

PACE CARES When our families and staff are in need, Pace Cares.

Contact us to deliver a meal: pacecares@paceacademy.org

KnightTimes

CONTENTS

966 W. Paces Ferry Road NW Atlanta, Georgia 30327

06 NEWS

www.paceacademy.org

06 OUR 2020 STAR STUDENT AND TEACHER

34 ICGL The Isdell Center for Global Leadership 34 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE TIME OF COVID-19 Fulfilling our mission in the midst of a novel era presents unique challenges.

06 REGIONAL BRAIN BEE

HEAD OF SCHOOL FRED ASSAF

DIVISION HEADS MICHAEL GANNON Head of Upper School GRAHAM ANTHONY Head of Middle School SYREETA MOSELEY Head of Lower School

COMMUNICATIONS DEPARTMENT CAITLIN GOODRICH JONES ’00 Director of Communications, Editor OMAR LÓPEZ THISMÓN Digital Content Producer RYAN VIHLEN Creative Services Manager, Graphic Designer LELA WALLACE Digital Communications Manager

07 SCHOLASTIC WRITING AWARDS 07 JONATHAN FERRELL NAMED SACAC PRESIDENT 08 AROUND PACE A look at what's happening on campus 08 ACCELERATE PACE DONOR PROFILE THE MUKKAMALA FAMILY

38 ROBOTICALLY ENHANCED Robotics programs grow and thrive in all three divisions.

10 CONSTRUCTION UPDATE Work progresses on The Kam Memar Lower School.

44 STATE CHAMPIONS Boys basketball finds the drive to win another state title.

12 COVID-19 Pace embraces remote learning.

50 ALUMNI

55 ALUMNI OUT & ABOUT

15 CAROLINA COLLEGE TOUR

56 LEADERSHIP PACE

16 FACES OF PACE CHRIS BEVEL, BOWEN EAGLESON AND KIM THOMSON

58 KNIGHT CAP

18 CASTLE CIRCLE PROFILE MARY ALYCE MCCULLOUGH 20 ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS 20 RANDALL HOUSE ROCKED IT

FRED ASSAF

20 MIDDLE SCHOOL CABARET

GEMSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHIC www.gemshots.com

21 STRINGS POPS CONCERT

LAURA INMAN

22 SPAMALOT The Middle School musical

ASHTON STANISZEWSKI

24 LOWER SCHOOL STRINGS

DANA RAWLS

26 ART IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

HAYLEY SHOJI ’12

27 ARTS LAUREATES & KNIGHTS OF THE ARTS

44

28 ARTS ALLIANCE DONOR LIST 30 WINTER SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS 31 SWIMMING & DIVING 32 WRESTLING

To contribute ideas for the KnightTimes, please email Caitlin Jones at caitlin.jones@paceacademy.org.

32 EQUESTRIAN 33 BASKETBALL CHEERLEADING 33 GIRLS BASKETBALL

36 4

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& KNIGHT STARS Young performers in the spotlight 25 KNIGHT OF JAZZ

To create prepared, confident citizens of the world who honor the values and legacy of Pace Academy.

38

21 THESPIAN CONFERENCE

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

OUR MISSION

50 ALUMNI UPDATES

14 BLACK HISTORY MONTH

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

SMAX PHOTOGRAPHY www.smaxart.com

36 GLOBAL LEADERS Building a virtual school community

50

Dear Pace Family,

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL THE COVER Fifth-grader WILL MCDAID programs his robot. Read the feature story about our growing robotics programs on page 38.

ABOVE The boys basketball team gathers around their new state-championship trophy.

Read about the team's epic quest for glory on page 44.

Our campus has been quiet for nine weeks. As an unabashed extrovert, a Knights super fan and Pace Academy’s nextdoor neighbor, I have deeply felt the silence. Schools are made for children, and I miss ours.

Despite our distance, the Pace community has come together—virtually, of course—in remarkable ways as we have weathered this pandemic. There simply are not enough words of praise to describe how our faculty and staff have rallied to support our students. Our IT team has led the charge, ramping up training and technology to ensure that both students and educators have the tools and resources required for successful virtual learning.

Our students and parents’ resilience, creativity, humor in the face of challenge and care for each other have brought tears of joy and gratitude, but also of sadness for what we have missed. To the Class of 2020, we love you; we are proud of you; and we look forward to celebrating you in person later this summer. Thank you for your leadership, strength and courage.

In this issue of the KnightTimes, we look back at life on campus before COVID-19 and cover events such as Knight of Jazz (page 25), our robotics teams’ journeys to state (page 38) and varsity boys basketball’s championship run (page 44). We also reflect on remote learning and the ways in which we have adapted—and thrived—in our new normal.

We are in the midst of a remarkable moment in history. I have no doubt that our school community will emerge stronger, wiser and more compassionate as a result of our shared experiences. There is nothing quite like a global pandemic to bring to light our interconnectedness, and it has made me more committed than ever to fulfilling our mission: To create prepared, confident citizens of the world.

Thank you for your commitment to our school community.

WE CAN DO THIS. Sincerely,

FRED ASSAF

HEAD OF SCHOOL

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NEWS What you ne ed to know

NEUROSCIENCE

ON THE BRAIN

“FOR THE PAST couple of years, I have been interested in neuroscience and psychology,” junior JACQUELINE CUNNINGHAM reports. It’s an interest that led Cunningham to research the brain for an English class, learn more about mental illness in her spare time and enter the 2020 Atlanta Regional Brain Bee. The elimination-style competition for high-school students, held at Emory University, included written and oral rounds that tested students’ knowledge of brain functions and the nervous system. Cunningham advanced from the written portion of the competition to the oral round, where she placed seventh in the region. She has her sights set on next year’s top spot—and a trip to the USA Brain Bee.

MEET OUR

2020 STAR STUDENT

EACH YEAR, the Professional Association of Georgia Educators Foundation, the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and the Georgia Department of Education partner to present the STAR (Student Teacher Achievement Recognition) program. The program requires that nominees achieve the top SAT score on a single test date and be in the top 10% of their class. STAR Students then choose a STAR Teacher who has inspired them to strive for excellence.

Senior AIDAN GANNON was named Pace’s 2020 STAR Student and selected Upper School Latin and history teacher GRADY STEVENS as his STAR Teacher. Gannon has been an active member of the Upper School Student Council, this year serving as student body secretary. A member of the varsity lacrosse team and the senior giving committee, Gannon also participates in the Model UN program and co-leads Pace Academy Entrepreneurship Mentor Day. He is a National Merit Semifinalist, an AP Scholar with Distinction, a Social Entrepreneurship Challenge second-place winner, and a member of the Cum Laude, National Honor and Orkin societies.

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NEWS

WRITERS EARN 19

SCHOLASTIC AWARDS

ASPIRING AUTHORS, painters, photographers, sculptors and poets enter the Scholastic Art & Writing Awards each year for the opportunity to earn scholarships and have their works exhibited or published. This spring, Upper School student-artists received 19 Scholastic Writing Awards, making Pace the second-most awarded school in the state.

Two students received Gold Keys, a designation that represents “the very best work submitted to local programs.”

Gold Key-winning entries are automatically submitted for national-level recognition. Junior ALIVIA WYNN earned one Gold Key for poetry, as well as three Silver Keys and five Honorable Mentions for poetry, short story and flash fiction.

Junior LAURA ROMIG earned three Gold Keys in the poetry and flash fiction categories, as well as three Honorable Mentions. Honorable Mentions also went to juniors MICHAEL FU, CHASE AUSTIN and DARREN ROSING.

FERRELL NAMED

SACAC PRESIDENT

IN APRIL 2019, Director of College Counseling JONATHAN FERRELL was named president-elect of the Southern Association for College Admission Counseling (SACAC), and in April 2020, he assumed his role as president of the organization for the 2020–2021 school year. Ferrell will help lead the nonprofit professional association for a two-year term.

SACAC, a chartered affiliate of the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), includes approximately 1,700 members from secondary schools, colleges and universities, and educational consulting firms, and promotes high professional standards in the college admission process.

Ferrell has served as a member of the SACAC Board of Directors since 2011 and chaired the group’s annual conference from 2014 to 2018. He is an active member of NACAC and has been appointed as one of 12 individuals on a national committee charged with assessing and reimagining NACAC’s governance structure, policies and procedures.

"I am honored to serve our organization in this role, and I am happy to represent Pace Academy while doing so," Ferrell says.

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AROUND PACE A Look at What's Happening at Pace

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AROUND PACE

OUR

S TORY

Pace Academy parents SHIVANI and KRISHNA MUKKAMALA, both physicians, have seen “firsthand the power of Pace during the COVID-19 pandemic,” Shivani says. Although they have faced increasing pressures professionally, the couple feels confident that their daughter, second-grader SHRIYA MUKKAMALA, is continuing to learn and thrive. “We know her education is at the forefront for each Pace educator,” she adds.

“Each morning, the teachers encourage the children to take on more independence and initiative in their learning,” Shivani says. “The dedication of the faculty is evident not just in the continuing curriculum and how quickly they managed to provide an education online, but also in their offering additional ‘for-fun’ projects, like a nature scavenger hunt.” Live art lessons via Zoom and "lunch and listen" gatherings have also spiced up the day for Lower School students.

Krishna notes, “Watching Shriya light up to see her classmates and teachers during online meetings, and seeing that the children can still learn with excitement is a testament to the school.”

The Mukkamalas say their positive experiences with Pace began when they were exploring independent school options for Shriya. “During the process, the Pace administration and teachers were so warm and knew our names. We felt instantly connected to the community and believed Pace was the right school not only for our daughter, but for our family,” Shivani says. “As we have grown into the community, we have formed so many wonderful friendships that we know will last for years to come.”

The couple also appreciates being part of a school community with “so many opportunities for families to get involved,” Shivani notes. “We have enjoyed par-

ticipating in many ways, including helping Pace celebrate [the Hindu festival of lights] Diwali.” This past November, the Mukkamalas were among the Pace families who helped Pace’s Diversity and Inclusion team plan school-wide assemblies and activities incorporating the traditions, foods and festivities central to the holiday.

By agreeing to chair the Lower School Parent Committee for the Accelerate Pace campaign, the Mukkamalas have taken their Pace involvement to a new level.

They consider the capital project extremely important to the Pace community.

Krishna explains, “Accelerate Pace will help the entire school strive for excellence from a curriculum, community and facility standpoint.

“We are excited to see the Lower School’s facilities match [those of] the Middle and Upper Schools, and to see Pace’s historic Castle reimagined,” he adds. “The new spaces for STEAM classes will provide a setting where our children will combine academics, art and technology to equip them with the skills to face modern challenges.”

The Mukkamalas share a conviction that “the process of the school community coming together through Accelerate Pace will facilitate our appreciation of the diversity of family backgrounds at Pace and improve efforts of inclusion,” Shivani says. “Pace is increasingly diverse—the campaign will celebrate this by engaging so many different members of our community in so many different ways.”

Most of all, the Mukkamalas are grateful for the education Pace is providing their daughter, no matter what the circumstances. “Because of this [COVID-19] experience, we are able to see the qualities of resilience and independence that Pace has instilled in our daughter to allow her to adapt to a changing world,” Krishna says. l

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AROUND PACE

A

s life as we know it came to a screeching halt for many this spring due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, construction, deemed an essential service, has continued throughout the country and at Pace Academy, where the Kam Memar Lower School begins to rise from the ground.

“Fortunately for the project, activities on site are not in confined spaces, and work modifications have been easily achieved without any material impact to the work that needs to be done,” says Project Manager BOB MILLS, president and chief operating officer of UDS Development Services and a parent of Pace alumni. “Social distancing and contact control requirements have been clearly communicated and strictly enforced, and the commitment to safety by all has been remarkable to see.”

At print time, crews had completed the relocation of the existing utilities— water, natural gas, electrical and fiber-optic—to the Lower School classroom building so that workers may put in place structural shoring systems. These systems will allow for excavation of the Kam Memar Lower School’s lower levels and the construction of its foundation walls. “Lots of dirt will be leaving the site for a new home,” Mills reports.

In April, the project marked a milestone with the pouring of the Kam Memar Lower School’s first concrete—the building’s utility yard, which will house its gas meter and electrical transformers. Despite record rain in the early part of the year and the pandemic, construction remains on budget and on schedule. l

CONSTRUCTION WO R K CO N T I N U E S O N T H E K A M M EM A R LOW ER S CH O O L .

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AROUND PACE

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CITIZENS OF THE WORLD IN ACTION:

AT PACE ACADEMY, we talk a great deal about our mission: To create prepared, confident citizens of the world. But what does that look like when conversations take place through screens rather than in person? When morning assemblies move online and advisory groups meet via Zoom?

On March 16, Pace, like countless schools across the country, implemented remote learning, changing the way students attend school, teachers teach and the Pace community comes together. School leaders were hopeful that students would return to campus, but as government officials declared states of emergency and issued shelter-in-place orders, it became clear that virtual learning would continue for the duration of the school year.

Despite our distance, the Pace community has discovered that we are, in fact, fulfilling our mission. Our community has rallied together in the midst of this global crisis and responded like true citizens of the world by making education and genuine connection possible via digital platforms.

Third-grade teacher PATRICE WRIGHT-LEWIS incorporates themes into her daily class Zoom meetings—“Bring a Parent to Morning Meeting,” “Pajama Party” and “Rep Your Team.” She notes, “I also have several touch points throughout the day, including small groups, office hours and a closing circle.” Second-grade teacher MARY PAT MCCALLUM offers fun optional projects for her students such as nature scavenger hunts and building leprechaun traps.

In the Middle School, eighth-grade science teacher KELLY COLQUITT takes lessons outside whenever possible and checks on students’ emotional well-being at the start of every class. Students of seventh-grade English teacher KATE ALLEGRA TORNUSCIOLO ’01 took part in a virtual debate, while sixth-grade English teacher ERIC WILHELM uses Zoom breakout rooms to divide his class into small groups to chat and connect with each other while accomplishing academic tasks.

Librarians in the Woodruff Library offer after-school hang-out sessions for Upper School students; Upper School Spanish teacher DR. PAULA PONTES (top left) starts each class with a Disney song; Pace Athletics posts daily workouts to social media; and Director of Diversity and Inclusion JOANNE BROWN and her team offer virtual discussions around films and documentaries, and they host virtual dance breaks for faculty and staff.

“Over the past weeks, we have seen our community exemplify what it means to be Pace Knights,” says Lower School Director of Student Life KACY BRUBAKER. “Teachers, students and parents have been positive, flexible and cooperative. Families have leaned into remote learning with curiosity and patience and trusted that the teachers have their children's best interest at heart.”

The future may be unknown, but there’s no doubt that the Pace community is prepared and up for the challenge.

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AROUND PACE

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AROUND PACE

D

uring this year’s commemoration of Black History Month in February, the Office of Diversity and Inclusion tapped members of the Pace Academy and Atlantaarea communities to share their stories and celebrate their shared histories.

To kick off the month, the Pace Arts Alliance partnered with the Office of Diversity and Inclusion in sponsoring a two-day visit from cellist, composer and storyteller Okorie “Okcello” Johnson. Through student assemblies in the Lower and Middle Schools, improvisation workshops and jam sessions, Johnson connected music to black history and brought a fresh perspective to classical composition.

Art also served as a means of education in the Lower School, where a bulletin board designed by Lower School visual art teacher MOLLY HURD highlighted the accomplishments of black leaders. Inspired by Nigerian-American artist Kehinde Wiley, best known for his portrait of former President Barack Obama for the Smithsonian National Portrait Gallery, the beautiful display incorporated flowers made by fourth graders in Hurd’s class.

Throughout the month, Pace faculty, staff and Upper School students visited the Lower School Library to read to younger students stories written by black authors highlighting black characters and themes of inclusion. A highlight for the PreFirst students was a cooking lesson from Lower School parents. Skillet cornbread, a traditional food in the homes of many black families throughout the Southeastern U.S., was on the menu.

In the Middle School, Assistant Head of Middle School for Student Life MARK SOMMERVILLE presented Who Am I in assemblies, a series spotlighting significant cultural contributions by African-Americans, and senior KELLEE KINDLE screened a film she created to show the impact of historical events on music and film. In addition, Middle School Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator SCOTT SHUPE shared resources with faculty and students throughout the month and presented Google’s most-searched video highlighting black cultural icons in American history.

To wrap up the celebration, members of the Upper School Black Student Alliance, led by junior COLE MIDDLETON and senior SYDNEY THOMAS, and faculty of color planned a special Upper School assembly. The presentation included Kindle’s video; musical performances from Director of Diversity and Inclusion JOANNE BROWN, Director of College Counseling JONATHAN FERRELL (right) and senior BRIANNA THOMAS; a poetry reading by nine-time Scholastic Writing Award winner ALIVIA WYNN; education regarding the history of social dance and the significance of the black church; and student dance and step performances.

"While talking with students about the content of the assembly, we quickly saw that they wanted it to be a celebration,” says Upper School Diversity and Inclusion Coordinator OMAR LÓPEZ THISMÓN, “a celebration of their excellence, culture, identity and talents. Through their hard work and talent, students gave us a powerful, thought-provoking assembly."

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A PAC E FA M I LY C E L E B R AT ION OF

B LAC K HISTORY MON T H

AROUND PACE

The Georgia Private School Tax Credit Program allows individual and corporate taxpayers to donate a portion of their state tax liability to a Student Scholarship Organization. The funds are then used for need-based financial aid at the independent school(s) of the taxpayer's choice.

Students visit nine campuses on their February college tour.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE

OVER A LONG WEEKEND in February, 38 sophomores and juniors, accompanied by a team of faculty chaperones, toured colleges and universities in North and South Carolina on a trip offered by the Pace Academy Office of College Counseling.

“These trips focus more on ‘what’ than ‘where,’” says Director of College Counseling JONATHAN FERRELL. “It is important that we help students get a feel for the types of schools they like— or don't like—because once they understand that, we can help them identify more of those types of schools around the country and the world.”

When possible, the group reunited with Pace alumni attending the schools they visited. Pace graduates shared with the prospective students information regarding their transitions to college and their experiences on campus.

NORTH CAROLINA

Clemson University

status—up to $1,000 individual; $2,500 married filing jointly; $1,250 married filing separately; $10,000 for pass-through taxpayers from an S-Corp, LLC or Partnership.

• C-Corps, under the newly adopted IRS ruling, can allocate the tax credit as an expense against revenue, reducing taxable income on the Georgia return by 5.75%.

federal deduction.

Put your Elon University

Duke University

SCHOOLS VISITED

SOUTH CAROLINA

the program.

• Tax credits are limited based on tax filing

under the SALT cap are able to claim the

Davidson College

Wofford College

credit and incur no cost for participating in

taxpayers who are itemizing and who fall

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Furman University

• Taxpayers receive a dollar-for-dollar state tax

• Under a recent IRS-adopted ruling, only those

Crisscrossing the Carolinas Wake Forest University

PROGRAM INCLUDE:

North Carolina State University

to work for Pace Academy.

Apply now for the 2020 TAX YEAR www.paceacademy.org/tax-credit

AROUND PACE

Chris Bevel

/// MAINTENANCE & GROUNDS STAFF ///

How did you come to work at Pace?

I was in the process of looking for a job, and longtime facilities team member CHARLES SMITH recommended that I apply at Pace. That was in 2001.

What do you do at Pace that falls beyond the scope of your job description?

I interact with students and parents.

Pace is part of my extended family.

Is there one particular moment that defines your Pace experience?

When I was awarded the yearbook dedication in 2017. [We thought we’d share an excerpt from that dedication: Known for his generosity of spirit and enthusiasm for life, Mr. Bevel is a well-known face to the Pace community. From the minute students step on campus in the morning, they are greeted with a smile and a cheerful, “Have a great day!” His willingness to help those in need and passion for being an integral member of this community do not go unnoticed in daily life on campus.

His devotion and hardworking personality illuminate his coworkers and family members’ lives.]

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FACES OF PACE

Get to know the Pace Academy staff members who make the business of school happen.

AROUND PACE

Bowen Eagleson

/// ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT FOR UPPER SCHOOL STUDENT LIFE /// What do you do at Pace that falls beyond the scope of your job description?

I like to think that I offer a "soft place to land" for students, faculty and staff. My desk is out in the open right next to the Upper School’s Seaman Family Student Commons so people are always stopping by. I try to offer a smile, encouragement, conversation and even a hug to anyone who needs it!

Why is Pace a special place to work?

Pace embraces everyone. It doesn't matter who you are or what your job description might be. Students, faculty, staff— all are treated with respect and shown genuine love and appreciation.

Is there one particular memory or experience that defines Pace for you?

I started working at Pace during the summer months when there weren't many people around. The cafeteria wasn't open, so I wasn't sure what to do about lunch. Almost immediately, the administrative team in the Castle reached out and invited me to join them in the boardroom for lunch.

It was such a kind gesture and a great way for me to meet other people on staff. I felt very included. Inclusion is what defines Paces for me.

Kim Thomson

/// ADMINISTRATIVE ASSISTANT TO THE HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL, MIDDLE SCHOOL REGISTRAR /// How did you come to work at Pace?

I was a parent volunteer in the Middle School Office for many years. In the middle of 2013, JOHN ANDERSON, then Head of Middle School, asked if I would fill in as his administrative assistant for the remainder of the year. Of course I said yes, and fortunately for me, the interim job became permanent. I've loved working here ever since!

What do you do at Pace that falls beyond the scope of your job description?

The word “mom” is not in my Pace job description, but that is a role that I often willingly take on when I try to "fix things" that can derail a Middle Schooler’s day: a lost book, a broken home printer, forgotten items, broken glasses. The most unusual was when a sixth-grade girl came to me in tears because her jeans had ripped when she bent down at her locker. We quickly went to the restroom, and while she waited in the stall, I sewed up the ripped seam!

Why is Pace a special place to work?

When my children were in the Pace Middle School, I would attend parent gatherings. I was always so impressed by the Middle School administration and teachers. To be honest, I thought that they put on a good show but that there was no way they could keep that up on a daily basis. When I started working here, I saw that it was definitely not a show, and that the behind-the-scenes view was even more impressive. I am still blown away by the thought, intention and time that goes into each decision, big and small, and by the genuine love and concern they demonstrate toward each and every child.

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AROUND PACE

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ace grandparent and member of The Castle Circle MARY ALYCE MCCULLOUGH has included Pace Academy as a beneficiary of her charitable remainder trust (CRT) because of her desire “to give something back to Pace,” she says. “I believe Pace has been a perfect environment for my granddaughter KATE ROMERO ’23. The resources available at the school are a gold mine.

She has just flourished—it’s been a wonderful experience.”

McCullough chose the CRT as a planned giving vehicle because it was easy to do and for the capital gains tax advantages it offers donors of low-basis stock. “A CRT can benefit both the donor and the charity,” she explains. “It’s a win-win, providing income to the donor and funds to the institution once the donor passes away,” she says.

McCullough’s interest in supporting Pace began after Kate enrolled in the Middle School as a new sixth-grade student. McCullough’s daughter and Kate’s mother, child psychologist DR. JUDITH ROMERO, chose Pace because “she knew it was the best fit for Kate,” McCullough explains. “Judith especially valued the quality of Pace’s teachers and the school’s commitment to global citizenship and character development.”

As a Pace grandparent, McCullough has enjoyed watching her now ninth-grade granddaughter develop “right-brain” talents through the arts and athletic abilities on the soccer field. She shares that Kate traveled on the Isdell Center for Global Leadership study tour to Morocco last school year. “Like everything else, it was a great experience,” she says.

McCullough believes that Pace’s Academic Resource Center (ARC), available to all students, is a very special feature of the school. “The ARC’s tutors are an incredible resource for the students—Kate has benefited in many ways, even learning time-management strategies to help her balance homework and class projects with other activities,” she says.

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, Kate’s Pace experience this spring looks very different, as it does for all Pace students.

“She misses the time in class and with her

friends, but feels her teachers are doing the best possible job teaching online,” she says. “She’s often told me how much her teachers care about their subject areas and want every student to succeed.”

McCullough is no stranger to change; a particularly difficult change came in early 2018 when her husband of 48 years, JOE MCCULLOUGH, passed away. “When Joe was living, being a part of our grandchildren’s lives was always important to us,” she reflects. Pace’s Grandparents and Special Friends day was an occasion they enjoyed together. When the event took place in the fall of 2018, McCullough attended on her own because staying involved in Kate’s life remained a priority.

A native of Maryland and a Duke University alumna, McCullough met her husband, born in Northern Ireland, in London as she was completing a nursing neurology postgraduate program and he was working as an industrial engineer. When he accepted a position at Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he encouraged her to complete her nursing graduate degree at Boston University. She did, and the relationship blossomed; they soon married, and she began her nursing career while he obtained his MBA from the Harvard Business School.

In their early years of marriage, the couple moved to Spirit Lake, Iowa, where Romero and their son, Eamonn McCullough, were born. “We loved Iowa,” McCullough says, “but when Joe inter-

viewed for a new position in Chicago, and Judith, then 6, called the Sears Tower ‘the biggest grain elevator’ she’d ever seen, we decided it was time to move.”

This launched the family on a path that included Chicago, Dallas, Los Angeles, Montreal and finally Atlanta, now home for more than three decades. Both children graduated from independent schools in Atlanta. “Joe and I always believed in the value of good education and knew the importance of giving our support,” she says.

After their children were grown, the couple took the opportunity to travel, journeying “to seven continents after Joe retired,” McCullough says. The breadth of their experiences, including those with other independent schools, gives special meaning to her appreciation of the education Pace offers and her plans for a future gift. “I am committed to continuing our support of Pace,” she says.

She believes others would choose this way of giving if they realized that “a CRT is a two-way street—you get a benefit and eventually, so do your charities,” she remarks.

McCullough is pleased to help Pace through membership in The Castle Circle but says she does not seek special recognition. "The fact that Pace is taking good care of my granddaughter is the only thing that matters." l

THE CASTLE CIRCLE MEMBER PROFILE

MARY ALYCE MCCULLOUGH

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F R O M CL A SS PL AYS A N D P O P S CO N CE R T S TO T H E AT R E CO M PE T I T I O N S A N D C A B A R E T, PACE AC A D E M Y S T U D E N TA R T I S T S TO O K TO T H E S TAG E A N D T H E S T U D I O PR I O R TO T H E S TA R T O F R E M OTE LE A R N I N G — A N D T H E Y M A N AG E D TO M A K E A R T E V E N A F TE R O U R C A M PUS CLOS E D!

TALENT TAKES CENTER STAGE On a Friday afternoon in February, 36 performers, a student tech crew of four, and five eighth-grade emcees—JACKSON ALLEGRA, CHARLEE CHASTAIN, KENNEDI EVANS, WALKER SMITH and REBECCA THOMPSON— presented Cabaret, the Middle School’s annual talent show. The event, a community favorite, featured everything from classical piano and strings performances, to dance numbers and comedy routines.

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A MUSICAL FAREWELL TO THE RANDALL HOUSE The cast and crew of the fifth-grade play and their creative teachers took a fun look back at the Class of 2027’s journey through the Lower School in Randall House Rocked It, a tribute to the former Lower School administrative building and a walk down memory lane.

ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

SUPERIOR PERFORMANCES AT THES CON In February, 23 Upper School students and faculty advisers SEAN BRYAN, DONNA POTTORFF and SCOTT SARGENT traveled to Columbus, Ga., to participate in the 2020 Georgia Thespian Conference.

The event brought together more than 5,000 drama students from all over the state. Students attended multiple workshops, four productions and two major showcases, while participating in acting and tech competitions.

Senior LAUREN O’SULLIVAN earned an Overall Superior rating in the Costume Design category, and senior TYLER KELLY received Overall Superior and Critics Choice ratings for Costume Construction. Overall Superior and Critics Choice ratings also went to the acting ensemble of freshman JEB BRING, sophomore ALLIE CAMPBELL, junior OLIVIA ULLMANN and senior ANDREW MILLER for their performance of Enter Laughing.

FROM STAGE TO SILVER SCREEN Musical theatre hits, movie scores and pop tunes comprised the program at this year’s Middle and Upper School strings POPs concert. Conducted by instructor TARA HARRIS, students performed numbers such as Waving Through a Window from the smash Broadway musical Dear Evan Hansen, Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl and Black Panther. “It was a great performance,” Harris says. “I was so proud of the kids.”

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ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

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evermind that today’s sixth graders missed Monty Python and the Holy Grail by more than 40 years— the comedic British classic found its way to the Pace stage in the Middle School’s production of Monty Python’s Spamalot: Young@Part Edition.

The absurd musical retelling of the legend of King Arthur and his Knights of the Round Table, overseen by Middle School Drama Director PATRICK CAMPBELL, delighted audiences, inspiring theatre-goers to “always look on the bright side of life” and “find [their] grail.”

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ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

LOWER SCHOOLERS

IN CONCERT THE MONTH of February included multiple performances

by Lower School studentartists. The Knight Stars, the Lower School’s vocal ensemble directed by DONNA POTTORFF, took the floor at State Farm Arena, where they sang the national anthem prior to the Atlanta Hawks game against the New York Knicks.

Lower School strings students and director NIRVANA SCOTT followed up with a springtime performance in Knights Hall, an informal concert featuring some of the students’ favorite compositions.

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ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

LAISSEZ LES BONS TEMPS ROULER MARDI GRAS made a merry theme for the Upper School’s annual Knight of Jazz, a collaboration between Upper School band members, vocalists and visiting clinicians, including Bruno Mars Band trumpeter Jimmy King.

The program featured Pace’s traditional jazz band performing old jazz standards, as well as Mardi Gras favorites from the full band. Director of College Counseling and soloist JONATHAN FERRELL even offered rousing renditions of Let the Good Times Roll and When the Saints Go Marching In. The evening concluded with a Mardi Gras parade, complete with beads and MoonPies!

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ART IN THE TIME OF COVID-19

ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

THE SHIFT to remote learning has required major adjustment for faculty in all departments and divisions, but for those SEANBRYAN teaching visual and performing arts, the change has necessitated a total reimagining of the curriculum.

“Normally, during the spring, we work with students in person as an entire group while preparing for final concerts, performances or showcases,” says Visual and Performing Arts Chair SEAN BRYAN. “That is nearly impossible to do virtually. There are simply too many variables—for example, tuning instruments or voices, trying to maintain a common tempo or dealing with lags in WiFi service. So we’ve had to readjust while still making our classrooms safe, fun places for students to learn.”

For music classes, the solution has been more individualized video lessons. “I have worked hard to create content of myself playing all of the students’ parts so TARAHARRIS they have something to play along with when they practice,” says Middle and Upper School strings instructor TARA HARRIS, whose students are learning a song that they hope to record—in their homes, of course—alongside members of the Middle School chorus. “We wanted to have something to present to all of the parents and grandparents who will miss our favorite performance of the year,” she says. Similarly, Lower School strings instructor NIRVANA SCOTT offers 15-minute mini lessons to students throughout the day.

In addition to her scheduled classes, Lower School visual arts teacher MOLLY HURD offers an optional lunchtime class NIR VANASCOTT for anyone who would like to tune in. A different prompt each day—create your own treasure map or draw “a gallery of gratitude”—allows participants to step out from behind their screens and connect with their creativity and emotions.

Hurd provides pre-recorded demos and posts her work to a website for students to reference. “Since students turn in photos or videos of their artwork online, I'm able to comment on each project,” Hurd continues. “This has been such a great opportunity to give individual feedback and really feel connected to the kids.”

Similarly, Upper School visual arts teacher DONICE BLOODWORTH’S students present their work to classmates via Zoom, a videoconferencing service.

“Because we can’t create together, we spend MOLLY HURD much more time talking about art and the art that students make than ever before,” Bloodworth says. “That's something that I will definitely incorporate more in my classroom in the future.”

For Bryan, connecting students and faculty and providing spaces to de-stress and create are of primary importance. “I believe that athletics develops the body; academics develops the mind; and the arts develops the soul,” Bryan says. “During this time, there is much soul tending and mending to do. Our faculty have been up for the task.” l

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ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS Gray Ambra

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A C E L E B R AT I O N O F THE OUTBREAK OF COVID-19 put the kibosh on Spring Arts Festival, the annual celebration of Pace Arts, which highlights the work of outstanding visual and performing artists in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools.

However, prior to the start of remote learning, the Lower School recognized 15 students as Knights of the Arts, chosen by their peers and teachers for exhibiting excellence, dedication and passion in one or more areas. Knights of the Arts are Pre-First students MOLLY SANDLIN and JAY WEAVER; first-graders KINSEY CRUMLEY and COLIN GRAY; secondgraders SAVANNAH POPO and OWEN WEAVER; third-graders WILLIAM FEAGIN and JULIA MOSS; fourth-graders EDUARDO AMBRA and SCARLETT ELIZONDO; and fifth-graders SHAAN A., LUCY BRYAN, ANDY LEVENSON, KYLIE NEWBERG and JOY WALLACE. Eighteen Middle and Upper Schoolers auditioned (some virtually) and were selected by the arts faculty as Arts Laureates. Arts Laureates include sixth-graders ANGELIKA AVDEYEVA and KATE LEACH; seventh-graders PETER DAVIS and LIVIE LYNCH; eighth-graders CARLY CANNON and ELSIE MIDDLETON; ninth-graders ENGLAND MEADOWS and KATE ROMERO; sophomores MARIELLE FROOMAN and LAUREN SMITH; juniors JACQUELINE CUNNINGHAM, KATHERINE KHAJAVI, JONNY SUNDERMEIER and ALIVIA WYNN; and seniors EMERSON BARRETT, ROBERT CUSHMAN, MAYA KAPLAN and NIKKI RUBIN. Arts Laureates performed or presented their work virtually to classmates throughout the month of April. Look for coverage of the seniors’ final showcase in our summer issue. l

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ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

ARTIST CIRCLE Linda and Adam Fuller Bea Perez and Ken Quintana

PRODUCER Jennifer and Don Demba Allison and Curt Holton

PATRON Julie and Warren Carson Mary Kelly and Jeff Cunningham Allison and Pete Davis Jennifer and David Foster Anne Marie and Mario Govic Angie and Clay Howell Sarah and Rob Lynch Catherine and Ted McMullan Allison and Mike O’Sullivan Kimiko and Jean-Baptiste Quèguiner Sheila and Chip Ryan Wendy and Jay Schmitt Alex and Dave Vadnais Helen and David Zalik

SUPPORTER Kellie and Evan Appel Susan and Doug Brown Ann Marie and Stephen Cannon Caroline and David Crawford Jackie and Jimmy Cushman Shannon and Tom Dempsey Jennifer Douglas-Ullmann David Duncan Tiffany and Danny Ferry Jennifer and Greg Greenbaum ’83 Kristi and Brent Hastie Jennifer and Quill Healey II ’86 Barbara Hingst John Keller Anne and Greg Kelly

Mary and John Kirkland Cara Isdell Lee ’97 and Zak Lee Vivian and Cale Lennon Laurie and Hampton Mallis Lorraine and George Miller Juli and David Owens Anna and Bill Shippen ’85 Hilary and Howard Silverboard Christy and Greg Smith Katie and Ricks Tucker Evis Babo and Steve Weizenecker

Donna and Mark Pottorff Curtis Romig Debra and Bobby Rosenbloum Stephanie and Peter Ross Mindy and David Shoulberg Natasha and Christopher Swann Amanda and Travis Szwast Jo and Steve Tapper Julie and Scott Thompson Corrie and Bret Thrasher Kirsten Travers-UyHam and John UyHam

ASSOCIATE

FRIEND

Ripple and John Alkire Lorrie and Patrick Allegra Blain and Ivan Allen Karina Khouri Belinfante ’95 and Josh Belinfante ’95 Jenny and Tom Bethel Kavita Kotte and Samir Bhatia Lisa and Dan Brooks Lexie Craven Bryan Jenn and Frank Buonanotte Bo and Chris Byrne Chad Cochran Tricia Kinney and Gardner Culpepper Angela and Ketan Desai Ashley and Bijan Eghtedari Courtenay and Chris Gabriel Deanna and Mark Harris Jane and Phillip Hight Jane and Jim Sibley Kim and Adam Jones Peggy and Kaveh Khajavi Rachel and Lee Killian Elise and Tom Lowry Allyson and Jim Maske Jeny and Gil Mathis Nicole and Brock Matthias Melinda Chandler and Mikel Muffley Ann McLean Nagle ’87 and Tripp Nagle Andi and Doug O’Bryan Melanie and Trey Pope ’86

Chloe and John Abram Kathryn and Seth Adams Alison and Mike Arenth Ella Avdyeyeva and Slava Avdyeyev Jeff Baker Allison and Drew Battista Mindy and Eric Berenson Lori Bibb and David Smith Pavna and Barun Brahma Mary and Cameron Bready Anna and Jason Bring Monique and Bland Byrne Forrest and Bob Caton Elizabeth Dangar Cleveland ’92 and Dave Cleveland Kim Cochran Paige and Scott Creasman Jane and Joe Cross Shea and Chad Fleming Kim Szurovy Fogarty ’97 and Sean Fogarty Joelle and Tim Fox Katy and Robert Fransen Kathy and Gary Friestad Jin Wang and Oliver Fu

THANKS FOR SUPPORTING PACE ARTS

The Upper School spring musical, The Music Man, sadly did not take the stage. In the program for the production, we would have thanked the 2019–2020 members of the Pace Arts Alliance, so we would like to express our gratitude here instead. Thank you, Pace Arts patrons, for your continued generosity and support.

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Lesli and Ronald Gaither Jodi and Adam Ganz Elizabeth and Fred Glass ’89 Maria Gomez-Soler and Gaston Vaneri Annie Richardson Goode ’98 and Jason Goode Kiery Braithwaite ’90 and Matt Grabowski Sarah and Bill Gray Bonnie and Jordan Greenbaum Ashley and David Grice Becky and Aaron Gunn Parkey and Dan Haggman Lee Ann and Doug Hantula Jane and Derek Hardesty Jennifer and Brandon Hayes Ginny and Mike Hobbs Paige and Charles Honeycutt Melissa Horne Margot and Hank Houser Stacey Mutz and Michael Howe Stacy and Jon Hughes YiYi and Curt Hutchins Angie and Shawn Janko Hanna and David Jaye Laura and Spyro Karetsos Ann and Dave Kincaid Elenore and Rob Klingler Karen and Mark Klopp Kiersten and Chris Leach Catherine and Ashford Little Melissa and Lee Loree Jill and Brady Lum Manogna and Sreedhar Maddineni Jenny and Miles Marks Angie and Joe McCollum Andrea and Chip Miller ’85 Lucie and Neil Morrisroe Katie and Brannan Moss Henri and Cory Muller Pamela and Wally Neill Stephanie and Mitch Nelson Kimberly and Jon Neville Kim and Hal Nuckols Whitney and Ryan Paulowsky Chrishaunda Lee and Jason Perez Cindy and Drew Pickman Jill and Derek Pollard Natasha and Richard Rice Alyce and Brian Ritchie Ginger Fay and Ken Rona Alison and Greg Sample Maria and Rodney Schiffer Ashley and Duke Scott Mindi and Pete Shelton

Lee Barry Shepard ’90 Puja and Sid Singh Anuja and Vikram Singha Wendy and Jonathan Siskin Lara Watkins and Michael Skop Angie and Brad Smith Heather and Chris Spires Leslie and John Stebbins Andrea and Lanier Thomas Liles and Charlie Thompson Laura and Jimmy Trimble Margaret and Bill Warren Stephanie and Richard Wells Kaprice and Nigel Welsh Heather and Rod White

LOWER SCHOOL FRIENDS Elisha and John Alden Amber and Peter Almond Carla Silvado and Joao Ambra Jenny and Todd Beauchamp Rachel and Mark Bickenbach Jennifer and Steven Bodner Lindsay and Evan Borenstein Sita Jhaveri and Jason Boykin Taylor and Ronnie Brown Carrie and Eric Brune Rebecca and Tom Buehler Michele Johnson and Anthony Burnett Kim and John Chenevey Marisa and David Chin Yee Julia and Jim Combs ’96 Renee Crosby-Myles and Zachary Myles Mary Alicia and Steven DeFrancis Anh and Patrick DeLeon Kerry and Mike Doheny Charnette Fletcher Julie and Ryan Flynn Jennifer and Adam Freeman Dana Feinstein ’97 and Craig Friedman Julie and David Frushtick Britt Jackson Griffin ’00 and Andrew Griffin ’99 Kimberly Loeb Grossman and Robert Grossman

Kristin and Matt Hanna Nicole and Clay Harmon Erin and John Heyman Mary and Andrew Hirsekorn Evin and Josh Hirsh Kimberly Tucker Hooper ’97 and Brian Hooper Mandy and Wes Howard Hillary Shaw and John Hyman Stephanie and Matt Johnson Julia and Dan Kaufman Ali and Andrew Labovitz Nicole Wu and Kenneth LaManna Dana and Marlon Lloyd Julie and Stan Logan Ali and Jon Lohr Julie and Dan Lowrie Lanie and Sanjay Masilamani Jenny and Sean McClenaghan Colleen and Chris McDaid Stephanie and Austin McDonald ’97 Kim and Graham McWhorter Katherine and Greg Mitchell Shivani and Krishna Mukkamala Laura and Dan Newberg Christina and Erik Nordin Sara and Cody Partin Sneha Desai and Tarak Patel Robbin Moore-Randolph and Russell Randolph Z. and Billy Rice Sarah and Daniel Rich Sonja and Ricky Russ Kerri and Wes Sapp Mary and William Schoeffler Leigh and Michael Segall Marissa and Paul Share Natalie Underwood Shirley ’01 and Blake Shirley ’01 Allison and Brian Timberlake Nanci and Charles Tsang Amanda and Ted Walker Katie and Scott Weaver

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IGHLIGHT

WINTER SPORTS 30

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A ETHRE TIME S T AT E P M A H C When junior diver LIZZY KAYE kicks off her senior season next fall, she will do so as one of the most decorated student-athletes in Pace history.

Kaye earned her third GHSA state diving title in February while also becoming the first Knight to qualify for the state championship in both diving and an individual swimming event. A two-time All-American, Kaye holds every Pace Middle and Upper School diving record, as well as the overall state record, and was the 2020 Georgia High School Swimming Coaches Association Diver of the Year.

VA R S I T Y B O Y S SWIMMING & DIVING

WINTER SPORTS

Coached by JOHN AGUE, JIM EBERT, GRACE SOUTHWORTH NADEAU ’10 and GEORGE SOKOLSKY The varsity boys swimming and diving team worked hard throughout the season to advance to the GHSA 1A–5A state championship, where the Knights placed 13th in the 1A–3A division.

Following the state meet, the boys 400 freestyle relay team— senior JASON ROSENBLOUM, freshmen CARTER FREUDENSTEIN and BARRETT HIGHT and junior RIVERS GRAHAM—were selected Third Team All-State. Seniors PAULLOUIS BIONDI, JOHN O’BRIEN and Rosenbloum were named National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Academic All-Americans.

In addition to Biondi, O’Brien and Rosenbloum, the team bids a fond farewell to seniors DILLON CARROLL, RYAN KANN, BLAKE MANER and HARRISON SAINI. With photo contributions by Nicole Seitz

VA R S I T Y G I R L S SWIMMING & DIVING Coached by JOHN AGUE, JIM EBERT, GRACE SOUTHWORTH NADEAU ’10 and GEORGE SOKOLSKY The varsity girls swimming and diving team—led by seniors ZOIE FREIER, ERIN HOOD, MEGHAN MCMILLIN, INSHA MERCHANT and TANNER WALTON—finished the season at the GHSA 1A–5A state meet with a 13thplace finish in the 1A–3A division.

Junior LIZZY KAYE led the way for the Knights with her third consecutive diving state title (see sidebar). Hood also earned points for the team as the state runner-up in both the 200 individual medley and the 100 breaststroke. Both Kaye and Hood received All-State recognition. In addition, Freier, Hood, Merchant and Walton were named National Interscholastic Swim Coaches Association Academic All-Americans. With photo contributions by Nicole Seitz

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VA R S I T Y WRESTLING Coached by GUS WHYTE, DEVIN BILLINGS and GRADY STEVENS The wrestling team wrapped up a strong season by qualifying three wrestlers—sophomores XAVIER AGOSTINO, GEORGE BLAHA and SAM HOWE—for the GHSA Class AAA state championship, where all three advanced to the quarterfinals, and Blaha finished in sixth place overall.

The young, injury-prone team’s season came to a close with a 12–22 dual meet record but, individually, the Knights’ starting wrestlers combined for a 59% win rate. Howe led the team with 45 wins and 28 pins.

The Knights bid a fond farewell to seniors CONNOR HUSK, GRANT LEROUX and BLAISE REYES. They hope to build on the foundation set this year and expect several wrestlers to finish on the state podium next season.

Action photos by Rodney Schiffer

EQUESTRIAN CLUB Coached by JOLIE CUNNINGHAM and SELBY HILL

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Seniors EMILY CATON and LAUREN STEBBINS led this year’s equestrian club team, which included 13 student-athletes from the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. Sixth-graders VIRGINIA FOSTER and COLBIE WEST, eighth-grader ELLIE ARONSON and sophomore MARYAM DANDASHLY represented the Knights at the regional competition. Fourth-grader LEXIE KAUFMAN, West and Dandashly were selected as Pace’s International Equestrian Association high-point riders.

Photos by Nicole Seitz

VA R S I T Y BASKETBALL CHEERLEADING

WINTER SPORTS

Coached by LORI BAKER and CAMERON RUSS ’17 This season, the varsity basketball cheerleading team was small but mighty and supported varsity boys and girls basketball at games near and far.

The squad’s season concluded at the GHSA Class AAA state championship, where the varsity boys brought home the title (see story on page 44).

Seniors EMMA SZWAST and SYDNEY THOMAS, both four-year members of the squad, led the team and will be missed next year.

VA R S I T Y G I R L S BASKETBALL Coached by TROY BAKER, KELSEA AYERS, BOBBI BOYER, CHELSEA BROCK and STEPHANIE SOSEBEE The varsity girls basketball team undertook one of the most grueling schedules in Georgia this season, facing teams from much larger schools such as St. Pius X, Woodward, Starr’s Mill and Marist. With five players graduating from the previous year’s squad, seniors TAYLOR DOUCET, VIRGINIA HOBBS and JORDAN UPCHURCH had big shoes to fill.

Entering the region tournament, the Knights came up short-handed due to injuries and illness. Yet the young team continued to play the scrappy defense that has become a hallmark of Pace girls basketball. Sophomore newcomers DYLAN BAKER and MEGAN HARDESTY provided a defensive spark throughout the tournament and helped the team qualify for the state playoffs for the fourth consecutive year. The Knights’ season came to an end at the hands of North Hall, a team that advanced to the Class AAA Final Four.

For the fourth year in a row, the Knights allowed the fewest total points in a much-improved Region 5-AAA. Hobbs was named All-Region, and Upchurch earned Region Player of the Year honors on the heels of a historic senior campaign in which she shattered the single-season record for threepointers (82) with an incredible 114 threes. Upchurch was also selected to the GACA AAA All-State Team and received Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-State and All-Metro honors.

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ICGL

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE AGE OF SOCIAL DISTANCE

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PACE ACADEMY’S community engagement program, a pillar of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), brings Pace students and community members myriad opportunities to contribute to the community in authentic, hands-on ways. So what does this look like at a time when the very words “community engagement” are at odds with expectations for social distancing?

Although Pace’s most recent community engagement endeavors lack the handson component, they have been especially impactful, with new needs arising in the unexpected COVID-19 era. Since March, the ICGL has offered creative engagement opportunities to allow students and their family members to further the efforts of essential community organizations while adhering to health and safety guidelines.

TED WARD (pictured bottom left), associate director of the ICGL, shares, “We have continued to stay in touch with our community partners about the best ways to support them in serving those in need. As most organizations have shifted away from in-person services, the need to assist their clients persists and grows by the day.”

He notes, “With the universal impact of this virus, our students comprehend the

needs of others perhaps more clearly than ever before. We are grateful that so many Pace students and families have reached out to us seeking ways to support those most impacted.”

Highlights of Pace’s springtime efforts included: • Middle School Community Engagement Day moved online with activities and engagement efforts focused on local and global communities. Students worked with their faculty advisers to find ways to serve others— from frontline workers across the country to students with visual impairments—while remaining at home.

• Lower and Middle School students sent letters of gratitude and support to nurses, doctors and first responders at Grady, Emory St. Joseph’s, Piedmont and Northside hospitals.

• In an undertaking for older students and family members, Pace partnered with the Metro Atlanta Red Cross for a series of emergency blood drives, conducted with safe distancing practices, in response to thousands of cancelled drives across the nation.

• Pace also ran a canned food collection drive to support Meals On Wheels in Atlanta’s efforts to scale up collections and meet the surge in requests for elderly residents sheltering in place across the city.

• Partnering with Atlanta Beats COVID, Pace’s Upper School Science Department Chair DR. JOHN PEARSON and Middle School Director of STEAM & Design DR. KIRSTEN BOEHNER used Pace's 3D printers to produce more than 100 face shields for essential workers on the frontlines, including Grady Memorial Hospital staff, Atlanta-Fulton Emergency Management Agency first responders and MARTA Police.

Pace students and families are participating in numerous other ways with partners including the Atlanta Community Food Bank, Bloom Closet, Emory Healthcare, Hands On Atlanta, Open Hand Atlanta, the Giving Kitchen, Points of Light, Translators without Borders and Learning Ally.

Ward welcomes additional suggestions and can be reached at ted.ward@paceacademy.org.

We are pleased to offer the official

INMANCIRCLE.COM/PACE

OUR FA CULT Y A ND S TA F F GO A BOV E A ND BE YOND T O CRE AT E A VIR T UA L SCHOOL COMMUNI T Y In recent years, every issue of this magazine has contained a profile of a faculty or staff member who demonstrates a commitment to the ideals of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL): global awareness, global understanding and global engagement.

As the Pace Academy community has

weathered the COVID-19 pandemic, each and every employee has adopted a global mindset, displaying adaptability, creativity, critical thinking and compassion.

Here, a few members of our faculty and staff—true global leaders—reflect on how they have acclimated to remote learning, maintained connection and expanded ways of thinking outside the box.

Joanne BROWN

Sandra CHUNG

DIRECTOR OF DIVERSITY & INCLUSION

PRE-FIRST ASSOCIATE TEACHER

“I have connected with students through my African American Saga class, and it makes my day to see their faces online. My physical office at Pace is a place where students pop in and hang out, so that is harder to replicate virtually, but I have continued to meet online with student groups and have been available to connect one on one with students who have reached out needing that space to talk. Not surprisingly, everyone has stepped up and showed up for each other.

The idea of working collaboratively to meet a common goal has always been a cornerstone of Pace’s success. In this challenging season, it has been really beautiful to watch our students and community extend their gifts and talents beyond comfort zones to support each other.”

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“Our goal in Pre-First is to make learning fun with hands-on activities, and we vowed not to let distance learning change that.

Throughout the school year, we learn about many different countries. When I realized that so many of the destinations we’ve learned about were offering virtual field trips, I knew it would be a great way to wrap up our year and remember all the fun we’ve had along the way. But virtual field trips alone will not suffice for a Pre-Firster! For our final unit of the year, Around the World in Eight Days, we mailed supply packages to students to provide them with everything they needed for our ‘trip!’ Activities included a picnic in front of the Eiffel Tower, planting a pizza garden, making binoculars for a virtual safari and so much more! It’s heartwarming to know that the magic of Pace Academy transcends this virtual world, and I’m honored to be a part of it!”

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Steve CUNNINGHAM PE DEPARTMENT CHAIR

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“Our team couldn't schedule PE with Lower School students every day, so we created videos of more than 25 fitness activities and games that families could use—we even had Upper School studentathletes contribute. Teachers embedded links to the activities in their daily class outlines. For Lower School field days, we reached out to other schools to see if they wanted to collaborate to create a virtual family field day.

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ICGL

“Throughout this period of remote learning, I have focused on our strong classroom community. Our class has become a family this year, and I wanted to make sure our kids continued to feel part of a loving and inclusive environment—even in a digital classroom. I love the energy our students have about learning. They are so passionate about all that they do, and we are very intentional about creating learning experiences that excite them and keep them engaged. We’ve provided ways for them to express their learning on Seesaw by creating projects on their favorite region in Georgia or by doing a geometry scavenger hunt around their house and yard.”

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Anna MURPHY MIDDLE SCHOOL VISUAL ART TEACHER “I try to get my students away from their screens to create things as much as possible, so some of my lessons are made to be done outside. I host ‘free art’ days once a week to let kids be natural and free in creating to feed their souls, and I love getting new glimpses of the kids’ lives and sharing some of mine! I feel like my students and I are getting to know each other on a whole different level. We are meeting each other where we are mentally and emotionally each day and adjusting to the changing tide together.

There is something refreshing about taking things a little slower and giving each other a little more grace as we navigate these changes.”

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THIRD-GRADE LEAD TEACHER

“Prospective families have been eager for information about remote learning and Pace’s future plans, so we hosted a webinar before notification day. We've also been proactive in connecting new families to our community: we reimagined our onboarding process; our spring orientation events were held virtually; each new student received a Welcome to Pace Box, including all kinds of Pace goodies; and we are moving some of our fall programming to the summer so we can start making connections earlier. In every division, our administrators and faculty have generously offered their time over the summer to help welcome our new families. Families have been incredibly grateful for the opportunities to meet members of our community as well as other new families. They are excited about their new school and proud to be Pace Knights!”

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Paige KAGAN

DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS

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“[The College Counseling team’s] days are filled with Zoom meetings with both students and parents, so while we don't get to see them in person every day, we ‘see’ students every day. We also launched virtual information sessions featuring recent Pace alumni who chat with current juniors about the schools they attend. Our students have rolled with the punches. They ask all the right questions. Navigating the daily changes in the landscape of college admissions hasn't been easy, but it has pushed our team outside of our comfort zone, and it's making us better each day.”

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DIRECTOR OF COLLEGE COUNSELING

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Jonathan FERRELL

Jennifer MCGURN

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school came up with fun field day activities that they demonstrated on video. We plugged the videos into a presentation that each school could personalize. In consideration of parents’ work schedules, we gave students a week to take part in this adventure. We mailed field day T-shirts home and asked students to send us their favorite picture from their day.

Overall, this time has revealed that we, as a community, are resilient and focused on our students. Working together is our key to success.”

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ROBOTICS

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"The most exciting part is what happens behind the robot—the team that came in knowing absolutely nothing about the robot or the competition left as a group of confident leaders with the tools to change the world."

TARA HOVAN fourth-grade robotics team coach

A ROBOTICS ODYSSEY

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his past fall, during their first-ever FIRST® LEGO League (FLL) robotics competitions, Pace Academy’s fourth- and fifth-grade competitors stood before a panel of judges, undaunted, presenting in the Robot Design category “with no coaches or other adults in the room,” says fifth-grade teacher and robotics coach HAYLEY HARDWICK. During Robot Design, which counts for 25% of a team’s total tournament score, each team has four minutes to convey to the judges facts about its robot: its sensors, drivetrain, parts and attachments; programming details; and most frequent mission. Competitors also share information about the design process, teamwork experience, innovation—and more— before answering panelist questions.

Preparing for Robot Design, and almost every other aspect of robotics competition, “is completely student-driven,” Hardwick explains. “Students have to design solutions, work as a team and use their research skills.” They also tackle other aspects like “choosing the team name, ordering T-shirts and developing innovative projects,” she adds.

This opportunity for independence, challenge and fun has enthralled these young students, as well as the three Lower School faculty members guiding the process. Science and computer teacher KATIE SANDLIN coordinated meetings and tournaments and supported Hardwick and first-grade teacher TARA HOVAN, the fourth-grade team coach, in teaching the students coding and other technical aspects.

Between the fourth-grade Coding Catastrophes and the fifth-grade RoboKnights, 19 students took part this competitive season, which wrapped up in February. Team members devoted countless hours to the after-school activ-

ity—planning, designing and building their robots while prepping for weekend tournaments. Success in each competition, where they also earned scores in the Building and Coding, Innovation, and Core Values categories, depended on their combined efforts and teamwork.

“Robotics is about the team behind the robot,” Hovan says. “It’s about the collaboration and communication that happens among team members. It’s about critical thinking, the trying and failing, and the trying again in order to successfully complete missions. It’s about creativity and the ability to create something new. Students are given the chance to dream big and to create innovative solutions to real-world problems, all the while learning to code and operate a robot.”

Taking the messages about teamwork and effort to heart helped both teams end the season with impressive results. At the FLL Regional tournament, the fourth-grade team received the Robot Design award and the fifth-grade team won the Robot Performance and Grand Champion awards.

At the Super-Regional tournament, the fourth-grade team won for Core Values; the fifth-grade team again received the Grand Champion award.

Although this year’s fourth- and fifth-grade teams were new, robotics competition isn’t brand new to the Lower School; it was initially offered as a club opportunity in 2016–2017, thanks to the initiative of Pace parent JULIE GOLDSTROM. “That year [former Upper School physics teacher] BRIANNA KORB and I partnered to coach a team of seven fifth graders,” Goldstrom explains. “[Upper School librarian] MATT BALL provided space for a table in the Woodruff Library, where the team could practice for the FLL tournaments. They made it to the second round of Super-Regionals and even brought home some trophies!”

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ROBOTICS

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BEYOND CODING

Goldstrom’s daughter, eighth-grader MORGAN GOLDSTROM, participated on that original fifth-grade team and has remained involved in Middle School.

CONNOR GOLDSTROM was a member of the successful fifth-grade Robo-Knights team this year.

Goldstrom feels pleased to see Sandlin, Hovan and Hardwick enthusiastically leading the relaunched Lower School program. “I feel it’s important for Pace to offer robotics in Lower School—it aligns so well with the school’s STEAM initiatives and the Lower School’s Pillars of Character [program].” she explains. “Having teachers oversee the teams will help ensure it continues as a Lower School program.”

In the Middle and Upper Schools, robotics has become more firmly established, with participation in each division more than doubling over the past five years.

This growth mirrors robotics expansion in schools across Georgia and nationwide.

Georgia, in fact, is one of the fastestgrowing regions for the FIRST® Tech Challenge (FTC), a competitive league open to older students, from grades seven through 12. Pace’s Upper School teams compete in the FTC, while the Middle School teams compete in the FLL along with their Lower School counterparts.

Middle School students have taken part in robotics for more than 10 years, and this year, teachers ZACH SLANEY and ALYSON TOCKSTEIN coached the four Middle School teams. Slaney taught the seventh- and eighth-grade robotics classes and coached the two combined-grade teams, Team Spark and KnightScape; Tockstein coached the two sixth-grade teams, Microchips and Salsa, and Team Void, which met after school.

Robotics adds new layers to Middle School students’ development as they apply Design Thinking skills to the undertaking. Director of Middle School STEAM & Design KIRSTEN BOEHNER says it’s more than making robots: “Students must understand the implications of robotic design and the values embedded in our design choices.”

By Middle School, students are ready for this heightened challenge and further, welcome new experiences, teamwork and competition. “I had never tried robotics before, and it seemed like a fun experience,” seventh-grader PETER DAVIS says.

“I enjoy the fact that everyone on the team has an equal role in the experience.”

Pace’s Middle School teams are part of the growing robotics phenomenon, Slaney notes. “Our teams were among the 700 FLL teams in Georgia this past year, all competing under the annual theme, City Shaper,” he says. Under the theme, the FLL [in its handbook] challenged teams “to shape your growing city with more stable, beautiful, useful, accessible and sustainable buildings and structures.”

“The theme helps students structure the missions that their robots perform,” Slaney explains. “Once they decide the missions, they code the robots using a block framework. This type of coding helps students this age gain an understanding of how to code and provides them a foundation in how programming works.”

Because FIRST competitions for grades nine and above require more advanced coding, Pace’s robotics track in the Upper School begins with semester-long introductory classes for programming and robotics, typically taken freshman year. Sophomore year and beyond, students take the robotics elective and participate in FTC robotics competitions, also designed around an annual theme, in 2019, Skystone.

Upper School Science Department Chair DR. JOHN PEARSON (left), computer science teacher CHARLIE BRYANT (right) and science teacher BETSY COSTLEY mentor the students. Pearson likens the students’ competition experience to that of “building a startup company.” He explains, “You come up with an idea and strategies to achieve it; you spend a lot of time planning and have to make decisions along the way; you have to test and test, experience failure and try again; you have to make the most of your resources in the least time possible and try to beat the competition.”

Bryant adds, “Programming and technical building skills are important, but

Robotics competition is far more than building and coding a robot; competitors must demonstrate integration of core values, outreach and more. Sophomore KATE JONAS describes the outreach project she conceived and organized during the 2019 season.

“My outreach project was with STEM for Every Child, an organization that tries to get students from under-resourced communities involved in the STEM community. My partner, [senior] JOHN O’BRIEN, and I went to Smoke Rise Elementary in Tucker, Ga., to teach students about our robotics program and the FIRST® Tech Challenge competition.

We talked to them about the coding used to program the robot, as well as robot structure and sensors. It was a fantastic experience because I felt that the students were very engaged and interested in their school incorporating more STEM programs into the curriculum or as after-school activities.”

W H A T I S F I R S T ®?

FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded by the late Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor Woodie Flowers and inventor and engineer Dean Kamen. The men sought to promote science and technology, and in 1992, launched a robotics competition, the FIRST® Robotics Competition (FRC), which continues today. Flowers is credited for coining the phrase “gracious professionalism,” today a pervasive value in the robotics competitive arena, along with “coopertition.”

In 2017, FIRST® held its first international competitions, both in the U.S., in addition to an Olympics-style global competition in Washington, D.C.

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A CC E L E R AT E I N N O VAT I O N The Accelerate Pace campaign will bring the Lower School’s facilities up to speed with our innovative teachers, curricula and students.

The Design Thinking Lab in the new Kam Memar Lower School, now under construction, will offer Pace’s youngest innovators—including our intrepid robotics teams—the space and tools they need to collaborate, think critically, communicate and create as they explore global challenges. Robotics endeavors incorporate Design Thinking practices, through which students gain awareness and understanding of real-world problems using a human-centered, hands-on and team-based approach to learning.

DID YOU KNOW? FIRST LEGO League robot missions take place on specially designed 93” x 45” tables covered by “field mats” that provide a visual setting in keeping with the theme. The core of each robot is the LEGO EV3 brick, described

by LEGO as the programmable, intelligent “heart and brain.” With hardware including a controller, motors and sensors, the robots, up to 12” tall, navigate through tasks like pushing, lifting, moving, swinging and more.

In the FIRST Tech Challenge league, teams with up to 15 members are guided by mentors and coaches; the playing field is 12 square feet; and robots are larger, fitting into an 18” cube, but able to expand during operation. Competitions are complex, with sets of randomly paired teams operating their robots in multiple competitive matches against other team pairs— designed to put the competitors’ engineering, coding, design, teamwork and other skills on display.

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ROBOTICS

equally so are problem-solving, creativity, and the perseverance to stick with a problem that you just can't seem to solve until you find a solution or a new work-around.”

Some of his favorite moments have been late on a competition eve, “when students stay as long as it takes to get the job done.”

Both Upper School RoboKnights teams, known as Team 112 and Team 15290 in the robotics world, qualified for state at Robotics League Championship this past November. The teams were the first- and second-place winners, respectively, of the tournament’s Collins Aerospace Innovate Award, celebrating thinking outside the box, ingenuity, creativity and inventiveness.

Pearson is impressed by an ethos in the league “that values more than the ability to build a robot,” he says. “The competitions emphasize core values and philosophies such as ‘gracious professionalism,’ and ‘coopertition’ that are baked into every aspect.

It’s not just about how well you can build a robot; it’s about being part of a community that values contributions from all participants, as well as high-quality work.”

He adds, “There is room in robotics for multiple skill sets. Students with different interests and talents can all contribute; each one is important to team success. Our teams have benefited from strong leadership and team members willing to play different roles.”

This past season, seniors BEN TOLLIDAY and JOHN O’BRIEN co-led the six members on Team 112 (the RoboKnights of the Round Table). Tolliday, lead builder, and O’Brien, lead programmer and 3D modeler, spent many free periods and after-school hours readying the team and its robot for competition.

O’Brien felt the hard work as a team paid off. “The most rewarding aspect was making it to state and advancing to the semifinal round.” He adds, “FTC places a huge emphasis on teamwork in the live competition… of the many things I’ve taken from robotics, I most value the teamwork skills and the design process.”

Sophomore KATE JONAS says, “My most valuable lesson was the importance of participating in ways that would be most useful to the team,” she says. “Even though I would have preferred spending most of my time coding and building the robot, for the team to have the best chance to advance, I worked mostly on the other aspects of the competition, such as the engineering notebook and the outreach program.” She adds, “Hopefully next year, with the knowledge I have gained this year, I will be able to participate more on the other side of the competition.”

Tolliday cites “placing first in the league championship and making it to the state competition” as the highlight of his robotics experience. He adds, “However, at state our robot did not perform as well as we had hoped and expected, which was disappointing… yet we made it further than ever before, which was a great experience.”

Bryant is proud of “the vast improvement this team made.” He adds, “Last year, we didn't even consider the state championship a possibility and were content just participating. This year, we not only won our league but had expectations of doing well at state, and could have won if a few breaks had gone our way.”

As Pace’s flourishing robotics program continues to grow, students and their coaches are excited about what the future holds. “The program is steadily becoming more advanced and capable,” O’Brien says. “The improvement from my junior year to senior year was significant, and I would expect that trend to continue.”

Robotics coaches and team members in Pace’s other divisions also look forward to continued growth and success. New sixth graders with a year of robotics experience under their belts will join the Middle School team next school year; Lower School coaches are excited for the year ahead, but most of all are proud of the incredible development of their students this school year.

“The team members grew so much over the length of the season,” Hardwick says.

“It has been one of the most rewarding things I have experienced as an educator.” l

LOWER SCHOOLERS SHARE W H AT WA S T HE HIGHLIGHT OF YOUR ROBOTICS E XPERIENCE? “Working as a team. Sometimes we would argue, but we would always work things out together. It’s hard at first, but if you keep trying, it gets easier and easier.”

CHLOE QUÉGUINER fourth grade “Collaborating with my friends and learning the robot codes. I loved the feeling when we finally completed the bridge mission. I learned to take turns talking and hearing everyone’s ideas.”

FINN WALSH fourth grade “Making friends during the competition and having fun. I learned how to code, and since I have experience, I am definitely going to do it again. This was the best club I’ve ever done.”

HENRY SUKENIK fourth grade “I liked the teamwork in robotics. Robotics also made everybody on the team feel closer together. Everybody on the team had their talents and weaknesses.

We learned from each other.”

NATALIE MCWHORTER fifth grade “I really, really loved coding with my friends during robotics. I loved testing to see whether or not my code would work, and I always cheered when it worked. I will always remember my first year of robotics."

WILL MCDAID fifth grade

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BOYS BASKETBALL

RUNNING IT BACK BOYS BASKETBALL CLAIMS THE STATE TITLE.

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e had high expectations for the year,” SHARMAN WHITE says of the 2018–2019 season, his first at the helm of Pace Academy’s varsity boys basketball program.

“We thought we had taken the necessary steps to set us up for success in the playoffs, but that just didn’t happen.” In the first round of the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) Class AAA state playoffs, in front of a home crowd, the favored Knights fell to Hart County High School.

“After that loss, we had a very bitter taste in our mouths,” recalls junior captain MADISON DURR. “No one wanted to feel that way again.”

Following the disappointment, the team gathered at a banquet to wrap up the season and bid farewell to its lone senior, MYLES TODD. There, White introduced the concept that would guide the Knights over the coming weeks and months.

“Run it back,” he told his players. “Next season, we have a chance to play the game again—and we’re going to come out with a different result.”

It was a phrase that resonated with the team and continued to take on meaning as the Knights reconvened in June to begin practice. “We decided to use that loss as motivation,” says senior JOSH MININBERG. “We wanted to prove to everyone that we were the best team in the state.”

The Knights got to work and committed to their new mantra. From strength training and player development to team bonding, White, along with assistant coaches MASON AMBLER, GREG BLYTHE and JOHN ROBINSON, encouraged each player to step outside his comfort zone and put the team first. When November rolled around, they were ready.

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STATE CHAMPS SHARMAN WHITE HEAD COACH • Region 5-AAA Coach of the Year • Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class AAA Coach of the Year • AJC AAA State Coach Of The Year • USA Basketball 2020 Nike Hoop Summit Head Coach MASON AMBLER ASSISTANT COACH

“Deep down, we had a

GREG BLYTHE ASSISTANT COACH

feeling we were going

JOHN ROBINSON ASSISTANT COACH

to win as long as we

GEORGE ADAMS

played our game and

MATTHEW ARONSON LOGAN BAKER BENNETT BOUSHKA BEN CALDWELL MATTHEW CLEVELAND • Naismith High School Honorable Mention All-American • Jersey Mike’s All-American • Region 5-AAA Player of the Year • Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class AAA Player of the Year • AJC AAA State Player Of The Year BEN CRAWFORD MADISON DURR • Region 5-AAA First Team • Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class AAA All-State Team BUCK HALL JUSTIN JOHNSON COLE MIDDLETON • Region 5-AAA First Team • Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class AAA All-State Team • AJC AAA First Team All-State JOSH MININBERG JOSH REED • Region 5-AAA Second Team REIGN WATKINS LUCY FERRY MANAGER DANIEL LUCKE MANAGER LEWIS TODD MANAGER

didn’t underestimate our opponents.”

COLE MIDDLETON

BOYS BASKETBALL

The Knights entered the regular season ranked No. 1 in Region 5-AAA. They knew that maintaining that position would be far from easy. Their schedule included a who’s who of top teams: nationally ranked Briarcrest Christian School out of Eads, Tenn., Chicago’s Bloom High School and GHSA Class AAAAA St. Pius.

“We played a challenging schedule by design,” White says. “We wanted to see where we were and to prepare for the postseason. We wanted to test our resilience.”

The team’s game against Briarcrest did just that. The Knights were up at the half against the No. 17-ranked squad in the country but couldn’t pull off the victory. It was a terrible loss.

“We did everything we could to get ourselves in a great position to win the game,” Durr recalls. “In the end, we weren’t able to finish the job, and that bothered everyone on the team. We gave up a major opportunity.”

That missed opportunity was just what the team needed. They decided to run it back. “We turned our anger into motivation,” Durr continues. “And we hit a hot streak. The rest is history.”

The Knights’ hot streak lasted 18 games and took them all the way to the state finals. They bested Lovett 81–47 on Senior Night, defeated Westminster 59–48 to win the region title, finished the regular season with a perfect 14–0 region record and just kept going.

Led by senior captains BEN CRAWFORD and REIGN WATKINS and junior captains COLE MIDDLETON and Durr, the Knights blew through the first four rounds of the state tournament, defeating North Hall High School, Beach High School, Monroe Area High School and Johnson Savannah High School by an average of 31.5 points.

The team’s fans were with them all the way. “The Pace community and the student section played a huge role in our success,” says Crawford.

White agrees. “The crowds at our games were unreal—not just in the playoffs, but during the regular season as well,” he says.

“That last game we played in the Inman Center, the Elite Eight against Monroe Area, felt like a college atmosphere. Our guys fed off of it. It was pretty epic.”

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BOYS BASKETBALL

The Class AAA state finals took place at the Macon Centreplex on March 5, smack dab in the middle of Pace spring break. “We were worried going into the championship because we knew we wouldn’t have our crowd, our sixth man,” White says.

The Knights faced Jefferson High School and came out of the gates slow. They entered halftime down by 7 points. “It was bad,” White recalls. “We hadn’t been in a fight in so long. We just had to calm down and make some shots. Once we adjusted, we were good.”

Senior GEORGE ADAMS shifted the momentum for the Knights. “When I went back into the game, I made sure to have an extremely confident mindset,” Adams says. “Throughout the year, my teammates—especially Madison [Durr]—held

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me accountable if I passed up an open shot in practice. Knowing that my teammates trusted me was all that I needed in that game.”

Adams, who Atlanta Journal-Constitution reporter Stan Awtrey called “a lanky 6-foot guard with a Pete Maravich haircut,” scored 9 points in an 11–0 second-half run.

After that, there was no looking back.

“On a team laden with Division I talent, it was a senior averaging 3.7 points that changed the momentum and helped propel Pace Academy to the Class AAA boys basketball championship,” Awtry wrote.

The Knights—led by Middleton’s 15 points, junior MATTHEW CLEVELAND’s 10 and Adams’ 9—emerged victorious, 48–35.

“Deep down, we had a feeling we were going to win as long as we played our

game and didn’t underestimate our opponents,” Middleton says. “Our comeback in the second half made the victory that much sweeter.”

Winning is sweet, but the camaraderie and trust between players and coaches distinguish these state champions. “On good teams, coaches hold players accountable,” White says. “On great teams, players hold players accountable. When our guys started realizing that the aim was to make the team better, we took off. They showed up all year long.”

No one showed up more than Watkins.

The senior captain started the season on the injured list, sidelined by a broken tailbone that never healed well enough for him to play. “As a player who was not

THE SHOT SEEN ROUND THE WORLD

on the floor, my goal was to challenge my teammates to be better versions of themselves, on and off the court, so that we could win a state championship.”

That kind of commitment and selflessness characterizes this team, White says.

And those qualities—more than the wins and the records and the many accolades—are what make the 2020 Pace Knights great. l With photo contributions

by Nicole Seitz

AN ACADEMY AWARD-winning screenwriter could not do the moment justice. It was Senior Night for the varsity boys basketball team, and the Knights were hosting neighborhood rival Lovett.

Days before, Coach SHARMAN WHITE announced that team manager DANIEL LUCKE, a senior, would for the first time dress out for the game. Assistant Coach GREG BLYTHE, cellphone ready, recorded the moment and the team’s ensuing celebration, the players’ excitement for Lucke evident as they embraced him.

Lucke, outfitted in his Pace uniform, took the bench with the Knights that evening and watched his team overwhelm the Lions. As the final minutes of play approached, the Knights were up by nearly 30 points, and the Inman Center began reverberating with a chant: “We want D. Lucke. We want D. Lucke.” White made the call. Lucke entered the game.

With 4 seconds remaining, Lucke got the ball. He crossed a Lovett defender at the half-court line, went up for 3—and sunk the shot. The crowd went wild, rushing the court to congratulate the beloved senior.

Like White’s announcement, Lucke’s—pardon the pun—lucky shot was caught on video and posted to social media. ESPN picked up the story within 12 hours, and over the next two weeks, media outlets around the world published headlines such as High School Hoops Manager Sinks Shot, Crowd Goes Wild and Basketball Team Manager Has Surprising Moment On The Court. NBC Nightly News with Lester Holt called, as did CNN and BuzzFeed. The entire team appeared on NBA on TNT. At the end of the day, the story ran on nearly 150 traditional media outlets, reaching an audience of more than 200 million.

"I felt like my dream had come true right then," Lucke told CNN. "For a long time when I was younger, it was my biggest dream to be a varsity basketball player, and to see it come to fruition years later, even just for one night, was surreal… I think the crowd's reaction and their support was far more memorable than anything I did in the game. Getting to feel that love from my classmates was incredible, and it's really a testament to the type of people at my school and the community we have." l

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WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

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UPDATES [1] LAUREN HARTMAN ’00 published Northern Passages, a book that focuses on scientific research, shipping, mythology and tourism in the Arctic. The book is a culmination of Lauren’s research, artwork and travel to the Arctic tundra.

Working with two Russian curators, Lauren organized Northern Passages, a traveling exhibition that made its way across Russia to natural history museums in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Murmansk and Polyarny. The book encapsulates the research behind these exhibitions, presenting it in visual and written form. The color photographs in the book show rarely seen aspects of life in the Arctic tundra in Northwest Russia, a tour of the first nuclear icebreaker, as well as reproductions of each work of art from the exhibition.

[2] BRANDON STOLL ’12 graduated from Southern Methodist University in Dallas with a bachelor’s degree in economics and a minor in statistical science. He worked in Dallas as a big data analyst for an income development firm until April 2018.

Brandon’s next step, together with his

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girlfriend, Kellie Conant, has been to open Parlor’s Handcrafted Ice Creams.

The couple spent seven weeks traveling in Europe and the U.S. to research the business prior to its launch.

“We felt that Dallas was in dire need of a high-quality, scratch-made, local ice cream shop, similar to Salt & Straw in Portland, [Ore.,] Van Leeuwen in New York City and McConnell’s in Los Angeles,” Brandon writes. “Dallas is the fourth largest metropolis in the country and has a sweet tooth to boot, so it seemed like the perfect market to open what we hope is the first of many stores.”

The concept came together in January 2019, and Parlor’s began selling its first scoops in October. Based out of the Dallas Farmers Market, Brandon and Kellie are in the process of opening their first brick-andmortar location, which they hope will allow them to manufacture and sell wholesale to local restaurants, hotels and grocery stores.

The organization coordinates volunteers who safely deliver groceries, medicine and other necessities, free of delivery charge, to those who are most vulnerable to COVID-19—the elderly, the homebound and the immunocompromised.

“During a routine grocery run, I began to worry about the health and safety of my grandmother and other older adults I had seen shopping,” Healy writes. “When I got home, I began researching for an organization that could help vulnerable populations gather essentials in times of crisis but could not find one, so I started to draft my own.

The pace of growth—reaching nearly 1,000 deliveries and 10,000 volunteers in two weeks—has been astonishing. Peoples’ brightest lights always shine in the darkest moments, and I think Invisible Hands has provided a platform for that mantra, as trite as it is, to be demonstrated.”

Invisible Hands’ efforts have been featured in Vogue, People and Grub Street.

[3] HEALY CHAIT ’13 launched Invisible Hands in New York and parts of New Jersey in the midst of the COVID-19 outbreak.

[4] This spring, MADISON GRAHAM ’16 will graduate from the University of Tennessee with a degree in anthropology with a con-

ALUMNI

centration in disasters, displacements and human rights, and a minor in public health.

Madison, a swimmer for the Vols, served as co-president of the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) and attended the Southeastern Conference (SEC) Joint Leadership Meeting in Birmingham, Ala. There, SAAC reps from every SEC school met to discuss and provide feedback to SEC administrators regarding topics such sportsmanship, mental wellness and NCAA legislation. In addition, Madison served on the Student Advisory Board and was a member of the Chancellor’s Athletics Board.

“A major highlight of the year was our team winning the SEC Swimming Championship in February,” Madison writes. “This was the first conference title in the history of our program and our goal for many years.”

Madison is a member of the Omicron Delta Kappa and Phi Beta Kappa societies. She received the Chancellor's Athletics

Board Achievement Award, given to the female student-athlete with the highest GPA in the class. She has completed more than 225 hours of community service during her time at UT and will earn the Gold Service Medallion, the highest level of community service recognition. Madison, a four-year member of the Chancellor’s Honors Program, will graduate summa cum laude from the College of Arts and Sciences, where she was also selected for the Extraordinary Academic Achievement Award.

“I would be remiss not to give my thanks to Pace,” Madison writes. “The closer I get to graduation, the more grateful I am for the way Pace taught me to think, helped me learn and prepared me for my future.”

in Yale’s Branford College, where he oversees open studio sessions twice a week.

“Kelly’s skill as a potter has blossomed since he decided to take a ceramics class during his sophomore year of high school at Pace Academy,” writes reporter William McCormack, who interviewed Upper School ceramics instructor MARK KNOTT for the piece. “[Knott] continues to text with Kelly, who reaches out with questions about kilns and technique, and made sure to tune in to Yale’s postseason run last March.”

You can view Isaiah’s work on Instagram at @isaiahkellyart.

[5] The Yale Daily News recently profiled ISAIAH KELLY ’18, a member of the Yale University basketball team, not for his prowess on the court, but for his dedication to ceramics. Kelly serves as a studio assistant

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“I would be remiss not to give my thanks to Pace… The closer I get to graduation, the more grateful I am for the way Pace taught me to think, helped me learn and prepared me for my future.”

—Madison Graham ’16 1

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ALUMNI

MARRIAGES [1–2] LINDSAY FORD REW ’06 married Edward Rew on Oct. 19, 2019, at Foxhall Resort in Douglasville, Ga. Bridesmaids included KATHERINE FORD ’11, former Knight ANNALISE FORD and MCKINSEY BOND ’06.

Other Pace attendees were BECKY ARNOLD ’06, ELIZABETH CASON ’06, LARA GOODRICH EZOR ’06, ZACK EZOR ’06, ASHLEY LOHMANN HANSON ’06 and ANNA RHODES ’06.

Lindsay is an internal communications manager at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Ned is a senior accountant at Graphic Packaging International, Inc. The couple lives in Atlanta.

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[3–4] MATT O’BRIEN ’12 married Katie Harris on Jan. 11, 2020, in Incline Village, Nev. Pace attendees included Matt’s brothers PATRICK O’BRIEN ’10, JAMES O’BRIEN ’14 and MICHAEL O’BRIEN ’14, as well as JACK SAVARESE ’09 and BRETT KLUGMAN ’12. Matt and Katie met at the University of Notre Dame and now live in Midtown Atlanta. Katie is an attorney at King & Spalding, and Matt works as a management consultant with PwC.

BIRTHS [5–6] SANDI COHEN HENNESSY ’97 and SEAN HENNESSEY ’94 welcomed their second daughter, Anna Elizabeth, on Aug. 23, 2019.

The Hennessy family lives in Atlanta, where Sandi is a general dentist and Sean is an airline pilot and instructor for Delta Air Lines.

HAVE SOMETHING TO SHARE?

email alumni@paceacademy.org

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ALUMNI

IN MEMORIAM

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[7] Former Pace Trustee RANDAL “RANDY” DONALDSON passed away unexpectedly on Feb. 22, 2020. A graduate of Auburn University, Randy worked as a sports reporter for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution before joining the Atlanta Braves organization as publicity manager, where he met his wife of 43 years, former Pace employee SUZIE DONALDSON. He went on to work in global communications and public relations as the official spokesperson for the Coca-Cola Company for 34 years, traveling to dozens of countries and eight Olympic Games on behalf of the company. After retiring from CocaCola, his lifelong love of language and the arts led him to work as a consultant for the Woodruff Arts Center. He also started his own consultancy company, Donaldson Communications.

“Randy had a beautifully wide-ranging field of interests,” his family writes. “He loved Atlanta Braves baseball and Auburn football, musicals by Sondheim, plays by Shakespeare and reading gritty crime novels by John Sandford on his porch in Highlands, N.C. He solved several crossword puzzles a day, taught his children how to play the guitar and had just enjoyed watching his son get married in France. He believed strongly in the importance of print journalism and arts education.”

In addition to his beloved wife, Suzie, Randy leaves behind his children, JULIE DONALDSON ’03 and CARY DONALDSON ’99, as well as Cary’s wife, Tess.

[8] Pace parent ROBIN THOMAS passed away on March 26, 2020, following a long and courageous battle with ALS. He leaves behind his wife, SIGRUN ANDRADOTTIR, and three children: MISHA ANDRA-THOMAS ’17, KLARA ANDRA-THOMAS ’20 and MARTIN ANDRA-THOMAS ’24.

Born in Prague, Czechoslovakia, Robin earned his doctorate from Charles University. His passion for mathematics led him to the U.S., where Robin joined the Georgia Tech faculty in 1989.

He was appointed a Regents’ Professor in 2010, an honor given to outstanding tenured full professors.

Robin twice received the Fulkerson Prize in discrete mathematics; he won the Neuron Prize for Lifetime Achievement in Mathematics; and he was an American Mathematical Society and Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics fellow. In 2016, he was named the Class of 1934 Distinguished Professor, the highest honor for a Georgia Tech professor.

"Follow your passion, value your education and work hard," Robin told graduates when he delivered Georgia Tech's Fall 2016 Ph.D. and Master's Commencement address, "Don't give up in the face of hardship, and have fun." l

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ALUMNI

Have you liked or joined us yet?

www.facebook.com/paceacademy alumniassociation www.linkedin.com/groups/160587

Need an old yearbook?

Was yours lost, damaged or destroyed?

We can send you a new copy!

Contact Ryan Vihlen for availability. ryan.vihlen@paceacademy.org

SENDING LOVE TO COLLEGE FRESHMEN Parents of the Class of 2019 reunited on the Pace campus to catch up and assemble Valentine’s Day care packages for their college freshmen. The newest members of the Alumni Association received an assortment of sweets and treats, as well as some Pace goodies.

ALUMNI

1) RHONDA PECK O’GORMAN, LINDY MORRIS FISHBURNE and MARGARET RAGSDALE ANCONA, members of the Class of 1988, reunited in San Francisco.

2) The Class of 1990 held a Zoom reunion on March 31. Pictured are (top row, L to R): JENNIFER MAY GREYBER, JEREMY COHEN and JOEL NICHOLS; second row: CHATA DICKSON, DEREK DUGAN and RANDY MEREDITH; third row: KELLY NUGENT MOTZ, ERIN FLEMING EVANS and KEVIN SCHARFF; bottom row: JAKE BROKAW, LESLIE KATZ LESTZ and CORMAC MAHER.

ALUMNI OUT & ABOUT

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BOOK YOUR SUMMER CAMPS TODAY BEFORE THEY FILL UP! EIGHT WEEKS OF CAMP PROGRAMS

JUNE 1–JULY 31 ATHLETIC, ACADEMIC, ART/THEATRE AND SPECIALTY CAMPS PROGRAMS AVAILABLE FOR GRADES K–12

2

VISIT US AT: www.paceacademy.org/summer-programs

L E A D E R S H I P CELEBRATING FIVE YEARS OF ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT FOR THE FIFTH YEAR, Pace Academy alumni gathered for Leadership Pace, a two-day deep dive into all things Pace. Led by moderators BETH ALLGOOD BLALOCK ’96 and GRACE SOUTHWORTH NADEAU ’10, participants heard from speakers representing all facets of life at Pace and discussed ways to further alumni programming.

Participants received a behind-the-scenes look at Pace operations, heard how Pace supports students amidst the everchanging academic landscape and learned more about how the school lives out its mission—To create prepared, confident citizens of the world.

The highlight of the program for many participants was engaging with students, both in class and during a panel discussion with student representatives from the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. Students discussed what they love about Pace, how they find balance in their daily lives and their favorite teachers.

Much to the students’ surprise, many of the alumni in the room had some of the same teachers.

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LEADERSHIP PACE 2020 PARTICIPANTS Heather Allen Bernes ’05 Kim Szurovy Fogarty ’97 Elliott Friedman ’96 Cal Harris ’12 Sallie Hays ’13 Scott Jospin ’08 Thomas McNeill ’05 Anton Ouzounov ’09 Will Penfold ’06 Victoria Wilson ’10

P A C E

2020

ALUMNI

KN IGH T CAP COMM I T T E E Mary Torbert Atkinson ’99 Robert Bradshaw ’82 Kelly Brown ’14 Dorsey Stinson Bryan ’00 Bryan Chitwood ’93 Jessica DiOrio ’12 Maggie Hagedorn Fitzgerald ’01 Kim Szurovy Fogarty ’97 Meredith Winitt Forrester ’95 Andrew Griffin ’99 Britt Jackson Griffin ’00 Kathryn Hays ’09 Sallie Hays ’13 Chaffee Braithwaite Heilman ’95 Pearson Mathews McShane ’07 Julie Newman ’96 Jared Paul ’90 Trey Pope ’86 Laura Shapiro ’99 Blake Shirley ’01 Natalie Underwood Shirley ’01 William Smith ’12 Anne Smith Stephenson ’99 Andrew Teegarden ’99 Stuart Teegarden ’99 Stacey Cohen Weitzner ’01 Frank Woodling ’05

A Knight to Remember

ALUMNI, faculty and friends enjoyed another fantastic evening at the seventh annual Knight Cap, which took place at The Fairmont in February.

The primary alumni fundraiser of the year, the Knight Cap raised more than $25,000 for The Pace Alumni Fund, which benefits need-based financial aid. Financial aid at Pace helps families take advantage of the full Pace experience by assisting with costs beyond tuition and books.

Guests enjoyed delicious food from Carlyle's Catering, owned by WALT TORBERT ’97, MARY TORBERT ATKINSON ’99 and BEN TORBERT ’05; entertainment by the band Lilac Wine; and a silent auction that included bourbon, jewelry, and art by alumni and local artists.

MEREDITH WINITT FORRESTER ’95 and SALLIE HAYS ’13 co-chaired the event, made possible by the 2020 Knight Cap committee and many generous event sponsors.

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KN IGH T C AP S PON SORS PAC ES E T T E RS ($2 5 0)

LORDS & L ADIES ($500)

Alisa Alloy & Jason Alloy ’95 Beth Allgood Blalock ’96 & Tully Blalock Suzie Brickley & Charley Brickley ’88 Julianna Rue Cagle ’03 & Spencer Cagle Heather Dexter & Blake Dexter ’90 Resurgens Hand Surgery Center (Sarah Ficke & Brooks Ficke ’03) Megan Fox Ford ’01 & William Ford McLeod Media (Will Frampton ’99) Britt Jackson Griffin ’00 & Andrew Griffin ’99 Kelley Harris ’00 & Jared Paul ’90 Jennifer Healey & Quill Healey II ’86 Anneke Herman & Brandon Herman ’99 Blythe O'Brien Hogan ’03 & Will Hogan Kimberly Tucker Hooper ’97 & Brian Hooper Carrie Flanagan & Mark Johnson ’94 Katie Daly Johnson ’03 & Ben Johnson Karen Margolis Kaye ’00 & Ian Kaye Maggie Isler Killgore ’96 & Will Killgore Jonathan Lee ’06 Jessica Sutherland Levenson ’93 & Ryan Levenson Meredith Gould Little ’02 & Graham Little Lindsay Thurman Mullin ’94 & Chris Breeden Dana Cohen Nolan ’04 & Jeff Nolan Liz Ryan & Justin Ryan ’95 Caroline Faulkner Shirley ’04 & Steve Shirley ’03 Sara Simonds & Cam Simonds ’03 Norah Smith & Ian Smith ’90 Merchant Card Advisors (Lynn Smith & Graham Smith ’97) Cathy Stephens & Ken Stephens ’79 Smith Stephenson Fine Art LLC (Anne Smith Stephenson ’99 & Martin Stephenson) Shelly Stone & Matt Stone ’99 Laura Troup & Peter Troup ’95 Nick Uppal ’05 Maggie Knox Wallace ’97 & Michael Wallace Leigh Draughon Walsh ’81 & Tim Walsh ’81 Ruth Wellborn & Charles Wellborn ’83 Catherine Woodling ’00 & Evan Strange Lauren Woodling & Frank Woodling ’05

Baby Braithwaite (Chaffee Braithwaite Heilman ’95 & David Heilman) Class of 2014 Mary Torbert Atkinson ’99 & John Atkinson Karina Khouri Belinfante ’95 & Josh Belinfante ’95 Rev. Edith Woodling & Jim Dillon Margaret Hagedorn Fitzgerald ’01 & Brian Fitzgerald Kim Szurovy Fogarty ’97 & Sean Fogarty Julie Hagedorn & Paul Hagedorn Sallie Hays ’13 Kathryn Hays ’09 Integrity LandWorx (Don Inman ’81 & John Inman ’83) Macallan Homes (Laura Childers & David Childers ’94) Kara Marsden & Alexander Marsden ’02 Julie Newman ’96 Melanie Pope & Trey Pope ’86 Natalie Underwood Shirley ’01 & Blake Shirley ’01 Kimbrell & Andrew Teegarden ’99 Ben Thorpe ’00 Stacey Cohen Weitzner ’01 & Jordan Weitzner K N I G H T ( $ 1, 0 0 0 ) Bank of America Private Bank (Jodi & Bryan Chitwood ’93) Cohen Dental Center (Sandi Cohen Hennessy ’97 & Sean Hennessy ’94) Julia Combs & Jim Combs ’96 Jennifer Wray & Steven Wray ’88 KI N G & QU E E N ($2,50 0) Family Practice Center – Atlanta (Lindsay & Tyler Wheeler ’00) McDonald Development Company (Stephanie & Austin McDonald ’97) C AS TLE ($5,0 0 0) Isdell Family Foundation (Cara Isdell Lee ’97 & Zak Lee) Meredith Winitt Forrester ’95 & Jeremy Forrester

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966 W. Paces Ferry Road NW Atlanta, Georgia 30327 www.paceacademy.org

RECEIVING MULTIPLE COPIES? If you have received multiple copies of this publication, please contact the Advancement Office at 404-240-9103 or advancement@paceacademy.org to update your information.

Thank You, Pace Family!

In this unusual season, the Pace Academy community’s support of uknight: The Pace Fund 2020 has been nothing short of remarkable. Thank you, our incredible Pace family, for your participation!

We are grateful for your partnership in keeping Pace strong and prepared for the future.

For more information or to make a gift, visit www.paceacademy.org/support/uknight-the-pace-fund.