KnightTimes Summer 2020

SUMMER 2020

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

THE GIFT OF

SPRING HIGHLIGHTS

Arts & Athletics

GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP The Isdell family's enduring vision for the ICGL

Answering the Call for

RACIAL EQUITY

Are you a Castle Circle member?

Is Pace Academy in your will or estate plan?

If so, you are a member of The Castle Circle, which celebrates individuals and couples who take this impactful step.

We hope you’ll let us know!

If you’d like to confirm—or explore—Castle Circle membership, please contact DANA RAWLS in the Office of Advancement at 404-262-3534 or dana.rawls@paceacademy.org for information or visit www.paceacademy.org/support-pace/planned-giving.

Note that sharing the expected amount of your future gift is optional.

Members of the Atlanta independent-school community gathered in June for the Buckhead4BlackLives March, part of the Black Lives Matter movement.

Follow Pace! facebook.com/ paceacademy

instagram.com/ paceacademy

twitter.com/ paceacademy

This summer, admidst the protests and division following still more murders of Black men and women in our country, I received an email from two of my Pace Academy classmates, LAUREN LINDER GRUNBERG ’00 and TEMPLE MOORE ’00.. It was a simple invitation to the members of the Class of 2000: Would we be interested in joining a virtual conversation about racial healing from our time at Pace and beyond?

Nearly 30 people tuned in to our first discussion, taking a break from bedtime routines, work duties and the general busyness of daily life. It was not the 20-year reunion we had expected; it was more meaningful. We felt the power of our Pace connection and of our shared commitment to being better; we were united in our desire to create change and ensure an equitable experience for all students going forward.

The conversation has continued since our initial meeting. To date, nearly half of our class has participated. We continue to brainstorm ways to use our experiences at Pace, as well as in college and our professional lives, to shape the school today and to support the implementation of its Action Plan for Racial Equity.

I invite you to review the plan (page 52) and to join me and my classmates in making antiracism a new pillar of Pace Academy.

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

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

HEAD OF SCHOOL FRED ASSAF

DIVISION HEADS MICHAEL GANNON Head of Upper School

SARAH LETTES ’15 SARAH LETTES is a transportation analyst for ICF, an environmental consulting firm in Washington, D.C. While at Pace, Lettes ran cross-country and track, participated in Student Council and took part in the Isdell Global Leaders program during its first year. She also helped start an environmental club and Pace's current composting system. In 2019, she graduated from Brown University, where she studied economics. In her free time, Lettes loves running, hiking and listening to music.

JILL RAWLS ’19

GRAHAM ANTHONY Head of Middle School

A rising sophomore at Northwestern University, JILL RAWLS served as managing editor for The Knightly News News. During her time at Pace, she was a varsity cheerleader and gymnast, a member of the National Honor and Cum Laude societies, and a Sanford and Barbara Orkin Scholar. Outside of school, she volunteered with refugee organizations in the City of Decatur. She enjoys hiking, traveling and spending time with friends and family.

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

CONTENTS

LELA WALLACE Digital Communications Manager

06

NEWS

08

AROUND PACE A look at what's happening on campus

CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS

32

33 REVIEWING OUR PAST VISITING SCHOLARS

08 END-OF-YEAR AWARDS Honoring our underclassmen

FRED ASSAF GEMSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHIC www.gemshots.com

34 A CONVERSATION WITH NEVILLE ISDELL

09 ALUMNI SCHOLAR AWARD 10 CLYDE L. REESE ’76 DIVERSITY AND LEADERSHIP AWARD

LAURA INMAN SMAX PHOTOGRAPHY www.smaxart.com

35 ICGL FELLOWS PROGRAM 36 SPRING STUDY TOURS

11 HOROWITZ ATHLETICS LEADERSHIP AWARD

CONTRIBUTING WRITERS

ICGL: A SHOWCASE The Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s Year of Waste

40 COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

HAYLEY SHOJI COATES ’12

12 REMOTE LEARNING & END-OF-YEAR ACTIVITIES

46 REFLECTING ON THE ISDELL GLOBAL LEADERS PROGRAM

DANA RAWLS

15 DEPARTING TRUSTEES

OUR MISSION

16 SALUTE TO SALLY FORB A Lower School legend retires

48 A LOOK AHEAD: THE YEAR OF GLOBAL HEALTH

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

18

50

ACCELERATE PACE

52 OUR ACTION PLAN

18 CONSTRUCTION UPDATES

55 LEADERSHIP CHANGES New positions for JOANNE BROWN and DR. TROY BAKER

20 DONOR PROFILE

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

22

ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS 22 COLLEGIATE ARTISTS

SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS Baseball, golf, gymnastics, lacrosse, soccer, track & field and tennis 31 COLLEGE SIGNEES

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58 FACULTY PROFILE OMAR LÓPEZ THISMÓN

24 SENIOR ARTISTS ASSEMBLY 26

ANSWERING THE CALL FOR RACIAL EQUITY

60

ALUMNI 60 ALUMNI UPDATES 64 REMEMBERING GEORGE KIRKPATRICK

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL Dear Pace Family,

THE COVER Six years ago, Pace Academy launched the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), a school-wide, co-curricular initiative to support and enhance the school’s mission. Much of the vision and funding behind the program has come from PAMELA ISDELL and NEVILLE ISDELL (pictured pre COVID-19 in the Grand Tetons), parents of CARA ISDELL LEE ’97 and grandparents of RORY LEE ’26. “Today the ICGL is a point of differentiation for Pace,” Neville says. “It's truly incredible that in just six years, the ICGL has joined academics, arts and athletics as a strategic pillar of the school.” Read more about the ICGL's growth on page 32.

THIS PAGE Despite the unique and challenging circumstances, the Class of 2020’s graduation on Aug. 1 proved to be a joyous community gathering.

The next KnightTimes will include coverage of the event.

When I began teaching 25 years ago, I never imagined that I would one day lead an institution like Pace Academy, much less through such unprecedented times. We find ourselves in a challenging chapter: the COVID-19 pandemic has forced us apart when, in the midst of isolation, widespread bigotry and nationwide division, we need more than ever to be together.

Despite the uncertainty, there has been hope. Over the summer, 56 members of our faculty and staff offered six weeks of virtual programs to keep students connected and intellectually engaged (page 13). Within the sorrow and pain caused by racial injustice in our nation and at Pace, we have listened to voices long silenced and made plans to move forward as a community that stands against racism, bigotry and hate (page 50). And we have reflected on the incredible impact of our Isdell Center for Global Leadership while ramping up for our 2020–2021 global theme: appropriately, Global Health (page 32).

This issue of the KnightTimes goes to print in the days following the Class of 2020’s graduation. The ceremony, delayed by nearly three months, looked different than in years past, but we felt the same warmth that has characterized our school for decades (look for graduation coverage in our fall issue). That sense of family starts with our faculty and staff, many of whom have worked tirelessly over the summer to craft exhaustive plans that could very well change—always with the safety and wellbeing of our community at the center. I cannot thank them enough.

I do not know what the coming year will hold, but I am certain that we will tackle the challenges together and emerge as a stronger school community.

It is our most important role as adults to model the courage to strive for excellence in all that we do. Thank you for your commitment to Pace Academy; let’s be courageous, wear our masks and have a great year!

Sincerely,

FRED ASSAF

HEAD OF SCHOOL

KnightTimes ||| SUMMER 2020

5

Photo by Robert Kaufman

A TRADITION OF EXCELLENCE

TH E K N IGHTLY N E WS W I N S GSPA AWAR DS

YEAR AFTER YEAR, the Upper School student newspaper, The Knightly News, earns praise from the Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA). At the GSPA 2020 Spring Broadcast, Newspaper, Newsmagazine & News Website General Excellence and Individual Award ceremony, The Knightly News won the top rating of Superior for both its print edition and website. In addition, for the second year in a row, The Knightly News website brought home the GSPA General Excellence Award, the highest statewide award for its size category.

Two Knightly News staffers also received individual awards.

Junior DARREN ROSING earned the top rating of Superior in the House Editorials category for his crafting of an editorial on behalf of the staff entitled Despite its Benefits, Technology Can Be Detrimental to Your Education. Junior KATHRYN HOOD received a Superior rating in the Illustrations category for her illustration, A Response to Recent Events—What it Means to be a Good Classmate. This is the second year that Hood has been recognized.

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GOL DS TROM

ALVARE Z

NEWS What you ne ed to know

French Students Shine on Le Grand Concours IN THE SPRING, Pace Middle School students competed in Le Grand Concours, the National French Contest. The competition, sponsored by the American Association of Teachers of French, evaluates students’ written, oral and listening comprehension skills. Nearly 70,000 students in all 50 states competed in the 2020 event.

This year, seven Pace students placed in the top half of all test-takers and received certificates of Honorable Mention. Students who placed in the 80th percentile or above received National Laureate certificates and medals. Bronze medalists were eighth-grader ELLIE CARTER and seventh-graders ALLISON CHITWOOD, KATHERINE HEINEMAN and LIVIE LYNCH. Silver medals went to eighthgraders EMMY BATTISTA and ISABELLE WILHELM and seventh-graders BEATRIX BOEHNER, KATE GRICE and AMINA ZUBAIRI. Seventh-grader KATE CUNNINGHAM earned a gold medal. Two students, seventh-grader ENRIQUE ALVAREZ and eighth-grader MORGAN GOLDSTROM, received platinum medals for achieving perfect scores.

M U L L E R

BAT TIS TA RYAN

BEHL ROSING

G O ODR ICH RO S S FAU X SI NGH A

THE NATIONAL LATIN EXAM (NLE) strives to encourage students in their study of Latin language and culture by providing a sense of personal accomplishment and success. This year, the NLE recognized 13 Pace seventh graders for outstanding performance on the Intro to Latin Exam, including VAN MULLER, who received a perfect paper. In addition, eighth-graders ELLIE ARENTH, CASON KLARMAN, BRODY MATTHIAS and HANNAH MUCH earned NLE silver medals, while TED MILLER was recognized as a Cum Laude winner.

Upper School students also participated in the exam. Cum Laude winners were freshman HUNT STEVENS, sophomores KATE GRABOWSKI and LEWIS TODD, and senior AUSTIN FULLER. Freshman CHLOE WILBERT; sophomores CAROLINE BROWN, ALEX KARAMANOLIS, PATRICK MARR, CAMERON SAINI, JACK WARREN and JORDAN WHITE; juniors LILY CUMMINGS and RIVERS GRAHAM; and senior PAUL-LOUIS BIONDI earned bronze medals. Silver medals went to freshmen AVERY ABRAM, SOPHIE SHAPIRO and ANNA ZIMAN; sophomores SAMUEL ALKIRE, ELEANOR DUPREE and JASON TAPPER; and junior AMALIE LITTLE. Gold medalists, who earned the distinction of Summa Cum Laude, were freshmen ALEX GOODRICH and OWEN ROSS, sophomores SYDNEY FAUX and MEGHNA SINGHA, junior HARLEY RYAN and senior ALAN TAPPER. Faux and Tapper also received NLE Book Awards for their fourth- and fifth-consecutive gold medals, respectively. In addition, Faux placed among the top 5% of entrants in the annual Classical Association of the Midwest and South (CAMWS) Latin Translation Exam and received a prestigious CAMWS Book Award.

RYA N

LATIN

TA PPER

FOR THE LOVE OF

NEWS

Congrats, Governor’s Honors Finalists!

FOUR UPPER SCHOOL students joined an elite group of scholars from across the state as 2020 Governor’s Honors Program (GHP) finalists. Following intensive nomination and application processes, sophomore KARGIL BEHL (mathematics) and juniors ISABEL BATTISTA (world languages), DARREN ROSING (communicative arts) and HARLEY RYAN (world languages) were selected to participate in the academic, cultural and social enrichment program.

Due to COVID-19, the residential summer program did not take place as planned, but at print time, plans were underway to publicly honor finalists. “These finalists are our future leaders, and we celebrate and encourage their continued educational growth,” says Governor Brian Kemp.

KnightTimes ||| SUMMER 2020

7

AROUND PACE A Look at What's Happening at Pace

LOWER SCHOOL AWARDS ✮ The Courage to Strive for Excellence Award

Alex Eachus, Campbell Hanna & Paige Vadnais

MIDDLE SCHOOL AWARDS ✮ B.J. Hayes Good Citizen Award Kate Grice & Charles Smith

✮ Daughters of the American Revolution Youth Citizenship Award Alex Hayes & Eva Tucker

✮ Jim and Lesley Wheeler Scholar Athlete Award SEVENTH GRADE: Benjamin Ganz & Olivia Resnick EIGHTH GRADE: Grace Agolli, Mac Barnett, Griff Millner & Ellie Siskin

✮ Sanford and Barbara Orkin Scholars SIXTH GRADE: Britton McGurn, Olivia Siskin & Jon Soren UyHam SEVENTH GRADE: Enrique Alvarez, Beatrix Boehner & Peter Davis EIGHTH GRADE: Ellie Carter & Asher Lubin

RECOGNIZING EXCEPTIONAL STUDENTS AND FACULTY

UPPER SCHOOL UNDERCLASSMEN AWARDS ✮ Alumni Scholar Award Mary Childs Hall

✮ Cara Isdell Service Learning Award

Kate Grabowski & Will Hankins

✮ Clyde L. Reese '76 Diversity Leadership Award Allison Silverboard

✮ Columbia University Book Award Michael Fu

✮ Computer Science Department Award Caroline Janki

✮ Crissa Noelle Hawkins Scholarship Award

Amalie Little & Cole Middleton

✮ Dartmouth College Book Award Darren Rosing

✮ Dean's Award for Character

✮ Frances Felicité Thomas Award Niko Karetsos

✮ Frank Woodling Community Service Award Sloan Baker & Eli Mautner

✮ Georgia Institute of Technology Mathematics Award Ashley Myers

✮ Georgia Institute of Technology Science Award Alexander Swann

✮ Harvard University Book Prize Laura Romig

✮ History Department Award Claire Howell

✮ Horowitz Athletics Leadership Award

Logan Baker & Jamie Kornheiser

✮ Jefferson Book Award Alivia Wynn

✮ Jim and Lesley Wheeler Scholar Athlete Award CLASS OF 2023: Brooke Fung Chung & Carter Freudenstein CLASS OF 2022: Megan Hardesty & Sam Howe CLASS OF 2021: Sidney Funston & Josh Mininberg

CLASS OF 2023: Chris Mason & Kate Webb CLASS OF 2022: Xavier Agostino & Raina Moseley

✮ English Department Award Kathryn Hood

✮ Eric Hay Henderson Jr. Friendship Award

✮ Lance and Shield Award CLASS OF 2023: Brooke Brumfield & Jordan Sloan CLASS OF 2022: Laura Arenth & Deuce Jordan CLASS OF 2021: Justin Johnson & Hanna Vincent

Eve Kogon & Marc Rosenthal

✮ Faculty Award for Scholarship CLASS OF 2023: Emma Beth Neville & Jack Wagreich CLASS OF 2022: Sydney Faux & Cole Kaplan

UNDERCLASSMEN 8

SUMMER 2020 ||| KnightTimes

✮ Mike Murphy Courage to Strive for Excellence Award CLASS OF 2023: Camille Caton & Gerardo Ovalle-Mares CLASS OF 2022: Nikki Byrne & Cameron Saini CLASS OF 2021: Peyton Smith & Gus Thomas

AROUND PACE

✮ Mimi Ann Deas Award Carly Appel & Kargil Behl

✮ Renaissance Award for Visual and Performing Arts CLASS OF 2023: Jeb Bring, Josie Swain, Marit UyHam & Iowa Vance CLASS OF 2022: Reese Cleveland, Marielle Frooman, Rebecca Kann & Lauren Smith CLASS OF 2021: Lily Cummings, Audrey Holton, Camryn Jones & Harley Ryan

✮ Sewanee Book Award for Excellence Chase Austin

✮ Smith College Book Award Olivia Ullmann

✮ Social Entrepreneurship Challenge Award FIRST PLACE: Megan Hardesty & Amalia Haviv SECOND PLACE: Michael Fu THIRD PLACE: Kate Grabowski

✮ University of Pennsylvania Book Award

Anthony Salazar

✮ Wellesley College Book Award Isabel Battista

✮ Yale University Book Award Jamie Kornheiser

Hall Named 2020 Alumni Scholar Every year, the Pace Academy Alumni Association selects as the Alumni Scholar a rising senior who demonstrates outstanding moral character, service and leadership to the school community, and academic excellence. The award, presented by Alumni Scholar Committee Chair CHARLEY BRICKLEY ’88, is one the highest honors a Pace underclassman can receive. In addition to the title, the student receives a generous scholarship toward senior-year tuition.

The recipient of the 2020 Alumni Scholar Award is MARY CHILDS HALL ’21. Co-editor-in-chief of The Knightly News, a member of the Honor and Discipline Committee, an Admissions Ambassador and a star on the lacrosse field, Hall has

demonstrated leadership in many realms of the Pace community. She is a Sanford and Barbara Orkin Scholar, a member of the Cum Laude and National Honor societies and a recipient of the Faculty Award for Scholarship.

Hall’s senior year marks her 13th at Pace, and she plans to continue dedicating herself to the school community. “I hope that I can be a better advocate and leader for others,” Hall says. “The award has shown me that I have the opportunity to become a more active student, and I should continue to lead as much as I can,” she says. “After graduating next spring, I know that I will continue to make an effort to stay connected within the Pace family.”

—by JILL RAWLS ’19

KnightTimes ||| SUMMER 2020

9

AROUND PACE

Inaugural Reese Diversity & Leadership Award Goes to Silverboard This spring, the Association of Black Pace Academy Alumni selected sophomore ALLISON SILVERBOARD as the first-ever recipient of the Clyde L. Reese ’76 Diversity and Leadership Award. The award recognizes a well-respected student who demonstrates integrity and morality, as well as the drive to expand diversity and inclusion efforts within the Pace community.

The award is named for JUDGE CLYDE L. REESE III ’76, one of the first Black students to graduate from Pace. Reese now serves on the Georgia Court of Appeals (read The Knightly News profile of Reese in our Summer 2019 issue, available at www.paceacademy.org/about/news).

Silverboard has dedicated herself to expanding awareness of and advocating for issues regarding diversity and inclusion in the Pace community and beyond. She co-leads the Pace Academy Board of Diversity and the GenderSexuality Association and spearheads Pace’s partnership with the Atlanta BeltLine. She also serves as an Isdell Center for Global Leadership Public Policy Fellow.

In her final years at Pace, Silverboard will continue her efforts to ensure that Pace is an equitable community. “I plan to use this award as a platform to speak up about various issues that face Pace, the Atlanta community and the United States,” she notes. “I want to actively use my white privilege to fight and advocate for people of color.”

Silverboard enjoys facilitating dialogue about equity and other important topics. In the 2020–2021 school year, she and junior OLIVIA ULLMAN will launch a social justice club to “create a space dedicated to furthering conversations about race, environmentalism and women's rights.”

For more information on fundraising efforts or to make a contribution to the Clyde L. Reese ’76 Diversity and Leadership Award, please visit www.paceacademy.org/alumni/book-award.

—by JILL RAWLS ’19

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KORNHEISER

HOROWITZ

BAKER

AROUND PACE

Baker, Kornheiser Receive New Horowitz Athletics Leadership Award During a virtual Honors Day ceremony in the spring, juniors LOGAN BAKER and JAMIE KORNHEISER became the first recipients of the Pace Academy Upper School’s Horowitz Athletics Leadership Award.

Recognizing two junior student-athletes for “consistently demonstrating qualities that represent positive athletics leadership, both on and off the field,” the annual award was created to complement Pace’s newest endowment fund, the Horowitz Athletics Leadership Endowment, established in 2019 by alumnus SCOTT HOROWITZ ’84.

In conjunction with the new award and endowment, Pace Athletics is developing leadership opportunities for Pace studentathletes. Recipients of the award will participate in leadership development training and then co-lead the Athletics Leadership Council, launching in 2020–2021.

Horowitz established the endowment, named to honor his family, to show gratitude to Pace for the well-rounded education he received. “Pace was a stepping stone that gave me the tools to navigate life,” he says. He credits Pace’s academic and athletics programming for helping develop his strong convictions about leadership. His dedication and participation on the varsity soccer team from 1982–1984 played key roles in his growth during high school.

“The team was very competitive and regularly played for the state championship,” he says. In addition to the thrill of competition, Horowitz feels the team opportunity contributed to his “personal development and created lifelong memories and friends.”

Lessons learned through athletics are especially valuable today, notes Horowitz. “Through sports, students learn to be inclusive

and to support their teammates’ success.” Programming through the Athletics Leadership Council will encourage student-athletes to develop those and other leadership qualities.

Baker, a member of the varsity soccer and basketball teams, helped the Knights secure the basketball state championship in 2020. “I’ve tried to be coachable and an all-around team player,” he says. “I’m excited that this award allows us to take a leadership role in the upcoming year.”

A catcher for the varsity softball team and a member of the basketball and tennis squads, Kornheiser believes that “both [academics and athletics] play important roles in the development of a person’s leadership qualities,” and she looks forward to this opportunity for further personal development.

Horowitz is pleased to have taken this step to help Pace’s student-athletes build leadership qualities. “Academics and athletics teach different life lessons, and having that balance is important.

By fostering leadership in athletics as well as academics, we can help Pace students develop the skills they need to flourish, even when life is difficult,” he says.

SCOTT HOROWITZ ’84 enrolled at Pace as a sixth grader in 1978.

As a new student, he was happy to see some familiar faces from the community soccer program (now Buckhead United). He took up the sport at Pace, eventually becoming team captain, and has fond memories from time spent on the soccer field. He believes that both academics and athletics play important roles in the development of leadership qualities in students. Horowitz resides in Atlanta and is a senior director with Lavista Associates.

KnightTimes ||| SUMMER 2020

11

AROUND PACE

C L O S I N G T H E Y E A R,

COVID-Style LIKE THOUSANDS of schools across the country and around the world, Pace Academy wrapped up the 2019–2020 year virtually due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Students tuned in to their final classes via Zoom, took Advanced Placement exams online and participated in year-end ceremonies from the comfort of their homes.

It was not the in-person ending for which we had hoped, but in typical Pace fashion, faculty, staff, students and parents made the best of an unusual situation, incorporating ingenuity and humor into every event.

Throughout the remote-learning period, Head of School FRED ASSAF and Board of Trustees Chair ELIZABETH CORRELL RICHARDS kept the Pace community updated via frequent Zoom webinars—perhaps the most well-attended parent meetings to date!

In the Lower School, the PE department provided virtual field day activities for students and their families, complete with commemorative T-shirts. The Lower School Isdell Center for Global Leadership team coordinated a weeklong celebration of Children’s Day, a Japanese tradition honoring happiness and joy. The week included online cooking classes, origami-making sessions, guest visitors, hands-on activities and history lessons. The Lower School year officially ended with a last-day-of-school Zoom dance party and, with the help of their first-grade buddies, fifth-grade students moved up to the Middle School during a virtual ceremony in June.

The Middle School’s annual Team Challenge Day also moved online and included Minute to Win It challenges as well as Jeopardy and Bingo. Middle School Spanish classes held virtual Cinco de Mayo celebrations, and Community Engagement Day included Zoom activities, letter-writing and other do-it-yourself projects.

In addition, Middle School students joined forces with Upper School volunteers to provide afternoon storytime for Lower Schoolers during the month of May. “The idea was to help working parents,” says Upper School math teacher KRISTA WILHELMSEN, who led the charge. “We chose stories with great lessons and diverse characters and had a great following!” In keeping with the theme of family friendly activities, the Upper School Student Council offered several Bingo nights for members of the Pace community, complete with prizes.

Upper School year-end award ceremonies for underclassmen took place via Zoom (see page 8), and although graduation was postponed until August, seniors celebrated their final day of class with a parade through campus, where, from their cars, they collected their Pacesetter yearbooks and bid a socially distanced farewell to cheering faculty and staff.

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our Y e t Ea cienc S

Put your

It

Creating e h t n i n o i t Connec D I V O C f o e Tim

goes without saying that summer in the midst of a pandemic promised to be a bit of a downer. Recognizing that large gatherings, camps and other activities might call it quits due to COVID-19, a team of dedicated faculty and staff assembled six weeks of virtual programs throughout June and July to ensure students remained socially connected and intellectually engaged.

Fifty-six faculty and staff led division-specific, age-appropriate sessions via Zoom. Lower School offerings ranged from Eat Your Science and a cross-stitch club to Who Am I—Discovering Your Identity and global-themed projects. Middle School students enjoyed Music & Pop Culture, Mythological Creatures & Science, slam poetry workshops, knitting and Bingo, among other programs.

Upper School offerings included sessions on cardiac physiology, college interviews and songwriting, as well as peer support groups and courses such as Quick & Easy Cooking, How to Read Non-Fiction Critically, The Harry Potter Series: Start to Finish, The Science of Happiness and How to Build Your Own PC. l

ry of The Poet on!

Hamilt

to work for Pace Academy.

Pace Academy has come to rely heavily on the Georgia Private School Tax Credit Program to strengthen its fi nancial aid resources. The program allows Georgia’s 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 fi nancial aid at the independent school(s) of the taxpayer’s choice (Go Knights!). Pace depends on its entire family of parents, alumni, parents of alumni, grandparents, faculty, staff and other friends of the school to make this program a success.

This program does not cost the taxpayer anything—it is simply a redirection of taxes already owed to the state. When fi ling state income taxes, the taxpayer receives 100% credit for the amount of the contribution. Think of it as prepaying taxes already owed to the state and giving them to Pace!

Tax credits are limited based on the taxpayer’s filing 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; 75% of a C-Corp’s or eligible Trust’s total Georgia tax liability.

Please contact the Office of Advancement at 404240-9103 or visit www.paceacademy.org/tax-credit to learn more about the program and submit your form before the Dec. 15, 2020 deadline.

 APPLY NOW FOR THE 2021 TAX YEAR AT WWW.PACEACADEMY.ORG/TAX-CREDIT

AROUND PACE

PACE THANKS THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE lot!

“Sir Winsa t It's so grea to hear .” your voice

IN THE SPRING, Pace Academy found a safe and socially distant way to honor the 2019–2020 members of the Knights of the Round Table (KORT) giving society, which recognizes donors of $1,500 or more to the Pace Fund. In lieu of the usual party, KORT members received a “virtual toast” in the form of an emailed video message featuring Pace’s mascot, Sir Winsalot, and Head of School FRED ASSAF. Addressing viewers, Assaf remarks, “Typically we would all be gathered around, and I’d be able to say thank you in person. But we’re called to something different now, and I want to use this video message to say thank you to all of you who have been so supportive and generous to the school. We couldn’t do it without you.”

The Pace Fund, Pace’s highest annual fundraising priority, supports every aspect of the school. Donors may support the area of greatest need or indicate an area of preference: academics, arts, athletics, global citizenship/community engagement, financial aid or professional development. In 2019–2020, donors at the Knights of the Round Table level contributed over 70% of the Pace Fund dollars raised.

To view the video, visit vimeo.com/405550241.

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AROUND PACE

LONGTIME TRUSTEES BID GOODBYE TO THE BOARD

TOM B E T H E L

B ECCA S H E P H E RD

One would be hard pressed to find a greater fan of the Pace Academy Knights than TOM BETHEL. A fixture at Pace sporting events and a dedicated supporter of all things Pace Athletics, Bethel joined the Board of Trustees in 2011.

A senior vice president for commercial banking at BB&T, now Truist, Bethel lent his financial expertise to the Board’s advancement and finance committees and, as a member of the neighborhood relations committee, helped oversee a period of significant growth for the Pace campus.

Bethel and his wife, JENNY BETHEL, served as Middle School co-chairs of Aim High, the campaign for the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School, and he had a hand in shaping the school’s vision around enrollment, admissions, student life and school culture, as set forth in the Board’s 2016–2021 Strategic Plan.

Bethel’s involvement at Pace extended well beyond his Board work, however. The father of KATE BETHEL ’17, MARGARET BETHEL ’19 and Thomas Bethel, who attended Pace in the Lower School, he never missed an opportunity to cheer on his children and their classmates on the field, the court and the stage. He made significant contributions to the Booster Club—serving as president during the 2015–2016 school year—and never overlooked a detail when it came to school spirit.

“Tom made T-shirts, bought steak dinners, scheduled food trucks and ordered banners and cupcakes—always looking for ways to boost spirit and morale,” says Head of School FRED ASSAF. “He and Jenny made extraordinary contributions to school life and set the stage for so much greatness to come to Pace. We will miss his voice on the Board.”

When BECCA SHEPHERD joined the Board of Trustees in 2011, Pace was preparing to launch its most ambitious capital campaign to date, a $32-million undertaking to build the state-of-the-art Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School. As a member of the Board’s advancement committee, Shepherd jumped right in and never looked back.

“Becca’s passion for Pace helped us to secure philanthropic support for the new Upper School, raise the bar for the Pace Fund and grow the George Private School Tax Credit Program,” says Director of Advancement HEATHER WHITE. “Likewise, Becca and her husband, CLYDE SHEPHERD, have supported nearly every fundraising initiative at Pace for well over a decade.”

As an involved parent to CLYDE SHEPHERD ’15 and GEORGE SHEPHERD ’18, Shepherd also cared deeply about the student experience. “As a member of the Academic & Institutional Excellence and Enrollment Strategic Plan subcommittees, Becca focused on maintaining excellence in our student programming both in the classroom and in our co-curricular activities,” says Assaf. “She also advocated for the long-term health of the school by assisting with our endowment and planned giving programs, and she extended her reach beyond the immediate Pace family and helped promote the school in the broader Atlanta community.”

Shepherd leaves the Board—and the school—better for her service. “Her enthusiasm and support for Pace will impact students, faculty and alumni for years to come,” says White.

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Farewell to SALLY FORB A LOW E R S C HO O L L E G E N D

AROUND PACE

his year, the Pace Academy community says goodbye not only to the Randall House, the former Lower School administrative building, but also to a woman who holds a special place in the hearts of generations of students and faculty: SALLY FORB, a kind-hearted colleague, teacher and friend, and a two-time winner of the Kessler Excellence in Teaching Award.

Of her 49 years as a teacher, Forb spent 43 at Pace, where she joined the faculty in 1977. She received a teaching license from Tulane University and a master’s in elementary education from Georgia State University, and came to Pace after several years teaching fourth grade in the DeKalb County School District.

Forb had been a lead fifth-grade teacher at Pace for decades when she decided to switch to the associate teacher position.

“I wanted to downsize,” says Forb, who still hoped to interact with children in the classroom, but also have more time to pursue one of her great skills and passions: designing creative, hands-on projects for math and social studies. “I love those subjects, and I’m very passionate about both of them. Not being the lead teacher gave me the chance to not just teach subjects I’m passionate about but to stretch myself and come up with some really good creative, innovative projects,” she notes.

Given her skill for facilitating original activities and group work, adapting to the virtual environment brought on by COVID-19 this past spring had its challenges, but was ultimately an enlightening experience for Forb. “It was different,” she says. “I’m not opposed to trying new or different things, but I’d much rather be face-to-face with the kids, no question.” For her final Zoom class, fifth-grade students and teachers worked together to provide a goodbye video. “It was just a killer,” Forb recalls, becoming emotional at the thought of it.

Forb’s ingenuity for creative ways to teach was accompanied by her own continuous drive to learn and adapt, which did not go unnoticed by her colleagues.

“When people talk about being a lifelong learner, I think of her,” says Head of Lower School SYREETA MOSELEY. Moseley adds, “Upon my arrival at Pace, I had ideas that I thought would be beneficial to the school, and [Forb] was on board every step of the way—willing to learn, willing to go to conferences, extremely inquisitive in asking questions. Honestly, she is just a wonderful model for all of us in the Lower School.”

According to Moseley, Forb had an incredible rapport with students, parents and colleagues and was extraordinary when it came to collaboration.

Always bringing passion and joy to the classroom, Forb loved having the opportunity to teach two generations of many families, “teaching kids of kids,” she says. “I love keeping up with the families.

Families are the heart of Pace Academy.”

Forb has a special place in her heart for Pace’s emphasis on global education, and one of her fondest memories is her experience as a chaperone for the fifth-grade trip to Costa Rica a few summers ago. As a teacher to both CARA ISDELL LEE ’97 and her son, RORY LEE ’26, and friend to Pace grandparents and benefactors PAMELA ISDELL and NEVILLE ISDELL, Forb is thrilled with the work of the Isdell family and their contributions to Pace, including the creation of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL).

“It’s not just traveling to be a traveler—it’s traveling to learn about the people and the culture,” Forb says about the many global experiences offered to students.

Forb expects one of the things students will remember her by is her daily reading from the Pete the Cat series, picture books with good messages.

“The moral of the story is ‘it’s all good,’ and that’s one of my mantras,” she reports. “Even when things are a mess, there is something good about everything.” Her classroom was filled with Pete the Cat paraphernalia, and she would sing and dance while reading, much to the students’ enjoyment.

For Forb, the decision to retire was not easy due to her love for the Pace community. “I know I’m leaving it in good hands,” she says. “It is killing me, and I have so many mixed emotions, but it’s time.” Forb’s admiration for Pace is mutual: Moseley notes that the Pace community will miss Forb’s “contagious spirit.” She adds, “We will miss her joy, her energy and her appreciation for being in the moment.

She always had a smile on her face, which will be remembered.”

Forb looks forward to lots of travel, but won’t leave Pace behind altogether as she may serve as a substitute teacher or find other ways to stay involved. In the meantime, her spirit of joy and excitement about teaching will continue to make Pace a better place, even in her absence.

—by JILL RAWLS ’19

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ACCELERATE PACE

CONSTRUCTION

T

WOR K CON T I N U E S ON T H E K A M M E MAR LOW E R SC HOOL.

he start of summer didn’t slow the construction of the Kam Memar Lower School, the three-story, 36,500-square-foot facility adjoining Pace Academy’s existing Lower School classroom building. If anything, the students’ absence from campus and ideal weather allowed the team from New South Construction to—pardon the pun—pick up the pace.

In early summer, crews finished the relocation of existing utilities such as water and natural gas and began installing a complex structural system. Where the former Randall House basement once stood, walls have begun to rise to form the new facility’s ground floor. In addition, concrete has been placed in the first section of the building’s foundation wall, and work is progressing quickly to complete all of the remaining below-ground structural work.

“With the help of Mother Nature, structural steel should be visible by late October.

That said, we still have much to do before the building’s form will be recognizable,” says Project Manager BOB MILLS, president and chief operating officer of UDS Development Services and a parent of two Pace alumni.

Passersby will also notice changes taking place directly behind the stone Pace Academy marker at the corner of Rilman and West Paces Ferry roads, where crews have installed massive underground stormwater detention vaults. “While this important underground structure will not be visible when the project is complete, it will hold almost 225,000 gallons of stormwater and will be a great benefit to our campus and, as importantly, to our neighborhood,” says Mills. “For perspective, the pool in the Pace natatorium holds approximately 250,000 gallons.”

Although much of the construction work checked off the list thus far is hard to see, students, faculty and staff will notice very visible changes upon their return to campus.

A retaining wall has been added to accommodate the new playground design, and the Lower School classroom building has received something of a facelift. Hallways have been refreshed with new paint, carpet and flooring, and a complete redesign of the Lower School library is underway. Crews have relocated the library entrance to make it a third-floor focal point and allow for the reorientation of the space. With new windows and more natural light, the library will include quiet nooks for reading, designated spaces for small-group work, a video conferencing area and open shelving. l

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ACCELERATE PACE

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OUR

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S TORY

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ACCELERATE PACE

Pace alumnus RUSS ALLEN ’93 and his wife, NICOLE ALLEN, have deep roots at Pace Academy, to say the least. The parents of four children, all current students who began in Pre-First, have a Pace story that started in 1980 when then 5-year-old Russ enrolled—also as a Pre-First student.

He explains that his father, Life Trustee SAM ALLEN, and mother, JANE ALLEN, decided to send him to Pace because they were so pleased with the education it was providing his older sister, LAURA ALLEN NOEL ’84.

This year, as Russ and Nicole’s son ADGER ALLEN ’24 commences ninth grade, the couple reaches a noteworthy Pace parent milestone: children in all three divisions. Daughter ELOWYN ALLEN ’25 will be in the eighth grade, while their youngest children, daughter CARYS ALLEN ’28 and son HART ALLEN ’30, continue their Lower School journeys in the fifth and third grades, respectively.

Since becoming Pace parents almost a decade ago, the Allens have shown a deep commitment—a companion to their deep Pace roots—to supporting the school in every possible way. Notably, the couple was early to pledge to the Accelerate Pace capital campaign, launched this year, for the new Kam Memar Lower School.

Having their children in Lower School for so many years—a combined 20 to date— the couple recognizes the significance of the campaign to the entire Pace community.

“Accelerate Pace will provide for a vastly updated, needed space for the Lower School children,” Russ says. “In addition, the new building will enhance the traditional, aspirational feel of the historic campus.”

“We see Accelerate Pace as an exciting, necessary next step to continue the school’s drive ‘to have the courage to strive for excellence,’” adds Nicole.

Involvement at Pace has been an Allen family tradition since Russ and his sister were students. Nicole notes that Russ’s father, as a Board member, was deeply engaged with the Pace of earlier generations. “When we discussed Accelerate Pace with Sam, he recalled Pace’s first major capital campaign, which brought Pace the Fine Arts Center,” she says. “He cited the leadership of past Board members [Life Trustee] BOB YELLOWLEES and CHUCK BRADY, and [former] Head of School GEORGE KIRKPATRICK, which helped lay the groundwork for boosting Pace’s resources as well as preserving its relevance for the future.”

She adds, “Russ and I see this campaign as a continuation and an expansion of that tradition, positioning the school to educate future generations of students with improved resources and collaborative spaces.”

Director of Advancement HEATHER WHITE describes the Allens as “volunteers who take seriously the concept of sharing ‘time, treasure and talent’ with the school.

They have been generous with the school in so many ways through the years,” she says.

“Nicole has served as a grade representative multiple times, chaired several Parents Club committees, served as a Fall Fair co-chair, and this year is president of the Parents Club,” White explains. “Russ has helped Pace with fundraising and is a graduate of the second class of Leadership Pace, our two-day alumni retreat aimed at building future school leaders. He’s even helped with Pace’s Scout troops.”

Russ laughs, “If we gave all our reasons for our passion for the school, I’m pretty sure it would go over the page limit.” He

names as most important: “Pace teachers and staff who foster curiosity, analytical thinking and the ability to write—areas where otherwise excellent schools sometimes fall short.”

Nicole reflects, “When we were looking for a school home for our children, Director of Admissions JENNIFER MCGURN said Pace was a place that would cherish children for who they were. That message really made an impression on me, and we feel the school has stayed true to that promise. I know my kids are learning. I know my kids are being exposed to arts and athletics. But most importantly, I know my kids are happy at Pace.”

She continues, “The other night we ‘Zoomed in’ for Adger’s Middle School graduation ceremony. I had low expectations going in, but the Middle School leadership team knocked it out of the park. They managed to pivot to a Plan B scenario and create an atmosphere of intimacy and joy so the eighth graders, together—albeit virtually—could celebrate the transition to high school. The programming was thoughtful and wellexecuted, and everyone at my house truly enjoyed themselves. They really brought their A-game to Plan B; it’s experiences like these that cement our resolve to support Pace in every way we can.”

“As a student and alumnus, Pace has been a place not just of learning, but of warmth and friendship for me,” Russ says.

“No place is perfect because people are not perfect, but Pace has worked hard to preserve the best parts of its legacy while looking to a broader and hopefully even better future. Nicole and I want to support the school’s ability to continue this tradition for our children and for others in the community.” l

THE

ALLEN FAMILY

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temple university japan visual art

A NEW STAGE

FOUR MEMBERS OF THE CLASS OF 2020 PLAN TO MAJOR IN THE VISUAL OR PERFORMING ARTS IN COLLEGE. CONGRATULATIONS TO THESE ARTISTS!

university of north carolina at greensboro theatre

ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

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ALLIE APPEL

ZOE WI LLI AM S

JACKSON GRAY

oberlin college film

ENACTING HISTORY

stetson university film

KELLEE K INDLE

THIS PAST FALL, Pace Academy became the first high school to participate in the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival’s On Campus initiative when the school hosted a screening of the documentary Witness Theatre.

As part of the event, Upper School students presented This is What I’ve Seen, consisting of short theatrical depictions of survivor stories. Mira Hirsch, director of education at Theatrical Outfit, directed the production and recently published Enacting History: A Practical Guide to Teaching the Holocaust through Theater. The book provides methodologies and resources for teaching the Holocaust through scripted texts, verbatim testimony, devised theatre techniques and processoriented creative exercises. On its cover appears a photo of the Pace production of This is What I’ve Seen featuring freshmen JEB BRING and BEA CHADWICK. Photo courtesy of the Atlanta Jewish Film Festival, Vaughn Gittens, 2019

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Claire Wierman

Tara Harris

Sean Bryan

Mark Knott

Lauren Stebbins

Allie Appel

Danny Doyle

Maya Kaplan

Emerson Barrett

Blaise Reyes

Mary Lawson Bring

Zoe Williams

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Robert Cushman

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Susan Wallace

Maya Kaplan

Austin Fuller

io Mill n D

ms rea

A

ALL ABOUT PACE ARTS

Anna Jordan Nikki Rubin

Emma Shelton

United Through Art Zoe Williams

DURING A TYPICAL APRIL, performances and exhibitions pack the Pace Academy calendar, providing opportunities for fans of Pace Arts to enjoy students’ talents and for student-artists to showcase their work.

This year, COVID-19 canceled the Upper School musical, as well as concerts and opening receptions, but it failed to stop our intrepid arts faculty from celebrating student-artists. A virtual Senior Spring Arts Assembly hosted by Visual and Performing Arts Chair SEAN BRYAN highlighted members of the Class of 2020 in advanced studio art and independent study visual art classes, as well as those selected as 2020 Arts Laureates and GHSA Literary Meet participants. The virtual showcase included a tribute to the never-seen spring musical, The Music Man, as well as a number from the show.

In addition, Middle School strings and chorus students under the direction of TARA HARRIS and DONNA POTTORFF performed a beautiful rendition of A Million Dreams from the movie The Greatest Showman. Members of the orchestra and chorus filmed videos of their individual performances, which Pace parent ANTON HARRIS mixed and mastered into a single stunning song. View the Senior Spring Arts Assembly, senior visual art portfolios and A Million Dreams at www.paceacademy.org/spring-arts.

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IGHLIGHT

SPRING SPORTS

SPR I NG SPORTS

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CAME TO A S C R E E C H I N G H A LT WHEN, DUE TO

C O V I D -1 9, S C H O O L S AC R O S S AT L A N TA TRANSITIONED TO R E MOT E LEARNING IN MID M A R C H. D E S P I T E THE ABRUPT END TO THE SEASON, WE SALUTE OUR STUDENTAT H L E T E S AND COACHES AND BID FAREWELL TO OU R S E N IOR K N I G H T S.

VA R S I T Y B OY S & G I R L S T R AC K & FIELD Coached by JOLIE CUNNINGHAM, CHOSEN BLAKEY, JASON CORNELIUS, ZACH SLANEY, TERRANCE TRAMMELL and BRITTANY TRUITT “The season was off to a magical start,” says varsity track-and-field head coach JOLIE CUNNINGHAM. Prior to the cancellation of athletics events, the Knights competed in three meets. Nevertheless, two distance medley relay teams—the boys team of senior SAM ADAMS, juniors SAM WEBB and JONNY SUNDERMEIER and sophomore ROBERT MALLIS, and the girls team of seniors PAYTON PAYNE and PAULA SANDOVAL, sophomore RAINA MOSELEY and freshman BROOKE FUNG CHUNG—set new school records.

The team sends off an amazing group of seniors: GEORGE ADAMS, S. Adams, ROBERT CUSHMAN, QUILL HEALEY, CONNOR HUSK, GRANT LAROUX, JOSH PICKMAN, Payne, JAY SATISKY, KENNEDY TATE and BRIANNA THOMAS.

VA R S I T Y BAS E BA L L Coached by DONICE BLOODWORTH, SETH LAFERA, LV WARE and JASE WRIGLEY ’94

SPRING SPORTS

The varsity baseball team managed to squeeze in a big win over Benjamin E. Mays High School and a spring-break tournament in Florida prior to the end of the season. Seniors MATTHEW FRIESTAD, REGGIE HARRIS, ZACHARY HOWARD, JACK MCCARTHY and ANDREW NEVILLE will be missed next year.

VA R S I T Y B OY S G O L F Coached by SCOTT SHUPE and MASON AMBLER The short but sweet varsity golf season included a single tournament for the Knights, the La Grange Par 3 Shootout. The Knights came out on top against their 10 opponents and took the tournament trophy.

“As seniors BEN CRAWFORD, AUSTIN KELLY, GEORGE ROBBINS and JIMBO SMITH said, ‘We went undefeated this year!’” remarks coach SCOTT SHUPE.

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SPRING SPORTS

VA R S I T Y G I R L S S O C C E R Coached by DECLAN TRAQUAIR, WEZLY BARNARD, KIMBERLY GOODSTADT, ROSS KEENAN, KAITLYN KERRIGAN and TAMARA NEILEY The varsity girls soccer team celebrated a successful season, finishing with an impressive 5–0 region record. The Knights kicked things off against several strong non-conference teams to prepare for an anticipated trip to the playoffs. These matches built the confidence and skills needed to keep possession and dominate the field during region competition, which included a nice win over rival Lovett.

The Knights bid a fond farewell to seniors KLARA ANDRA-THOMAS, MERYLL ASHER, LENOX HERMAN, VIRGINIA HOBBS, JULIA KONRADT and SOPHIE LETTES.

VA R S I T Y B OYS SO CCE R Coached by LUCAS MORENO, JUAN BONILLA, MIKE FIORELLO, RICARDO PINNOCH and ANDREW WOLVERTON The varsity boys soccer team finished the truncated season with a 7–2–1 overall record. The Knights played one of the toughest schedules in the state and earned statement victories against 5A defending state champion McIntosh High School and the 1A defending champs from Wesleyan School.

“The team continued to build on the program’s culture of hard work and discipline,” says head coach LUCAS MORENO. “These young men showed great character and determination throughout the season and are eager to return to work in 2021.”

The Knights say goodbye to senior captain and Most Valuable Player JESUS TADEO, a four-year starter, as well as senior goalkeeper JARED MCCALL.

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VA R S I T Y G I R L S L ACR OSSE

SPRING SPORTS

Coached by KELSEA AYERS, MOLLY ERDLE and MOLLY MILLARD The varsity girls lacrosse team found great success in a short amount of time. After starting the season with two tough losses, the Knights went on a 3–0 run, leaving them undefeated at home and 1–0 in area play.

The turning point came with the team’s 17–11 home-opener win against Mount Paran Christian School, which provided the momentum to propel the Knights to a buzzer-beater victory over St. Pius X. The team ended the season with a win against Maynard Jackson High School.

“It is truly incredible how far this team progressed throughout the abbreviated season,” says new head coach KELSEA AYERS. “In our time together, we built strong relationships, won hardfought games, improved every day and stayed together even when we were physically apart.

The future is bright for Pace girls lacrosse.”

Next season, the team will miss seniors SANDY LUM, EMMA SHELTON, MAE SHIPPEN, NIKKI RUBIN, FRANCESCA VANERI and CLAIRE WIERMAN.

VA R S I T Y B O Y S L A C R O S S E Coached by GRADY STEVENS, BRYAN COLE, BEN EWING ’06 and SHAYNE JACKSON The varsity boys lacrosse team strung together strong performances in February and early March, finishing the season 5–0 and ranked eighth in the state.

The Knights opened the season against 7A Kennesaw Mountain High School and came out on top after an electrifying fourth quarter. The team also earned solid wins against Mount Pisgah Christian School and Kell High School. In what has turned into an annual early test of the team’s mettle, the Knights came away with a 12–8 win over St. Pius X, which highlighted the team’s creative, unselfish offense and strong defense. The Knights ended the season with a commanding win over Union Grove High School.

The Knights said goodbye to the seniors who led them to their first undefeated season: EVAN DUNCAN, AIDAN GANNON, BEN GINSBERG, JACK JACOBY, JEREMY LEVEN, ANDREW MILLER, EVERETT O’GORMAN, THOMAS SIEGENTHALER, WILL STRATTON and MBITI WILLIAMS.

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SPRING SPORTS

VA R S I T Y B OYS TE N N I S Coached by NEIL DEROSA Perpetually stormy skies and the subsequent pandemic severely limited the varsity boys tennis team’s time on the court this season. The Knights, the defending state champions, played just two matches and notched wins over Wesleyan School and Chamblee High School. Seniors ROHAN JATAR, FINN LAMASTRA, MORGAN PAYNE and NEIL SASHTI led the squad.

VA R S I T Y GIRLS TENNIS Coached by MATHEW MARSICO and ANNA FLUEVOG Optimism and confidence characterized the varsity girls tennis team’s season. “Coming off our state championship, we knew that we had the ability and the depth to go all the way again,” says coach MATHEW MARSICO, who looked to senior captain REKHA SASHTI to lead the squad.

The Knights played only two matches, both against non-region teams. “I would have loved seeing this team compete against our neighborhood rivals. I know the girls would have made our Pace community proud,” Marsico says. “Next year, we will miss Rekha’s ability, leadership and friendship.”

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ON WAR D & U P WA R D

KNIGHTS COMMIT TO C O L L E G E AT H L E T I C S This fall, 13 members of the Pace Academy Class of 2020 representing 10 sports will join athletics teams at their respective colleges and universities. Congratulations and good luck, Pace Knights!

GEORGE ADAMS University of Pennsylvania cross-country & track

SAM ADAMS University of Georgia track

ADA JANE AGOLLI Brown University volleyball

TAY L O R D O U C E T Tuskegee University basketball

ERIN HOOD Georgetown University swimming

CAROLINE LANDIS Bowdoin College softball

PAY T O N PAY N E University of Miami cross-country & track

SA S H A R AT L I F F University of San Diego volleyball

L AUREN STEBBINS Baylor University equestrian

J E S U S TA D E O Rhodes College soccer

DOMINIQUE TURNER Marshall University volleyball

CLAIRE WIERMAN Williams College lacrosse

MBITI WILLIAMS United States Naval Academy football

VA R S I T Y GYMNASTICS Coached by STEVE CUNNINGHAM The varsity girls gymnastics team opened and closed the season by vaulting past Allatoona High School and Pope High School in a meet in which junior CASEY SHOULBERG led the squad on all four events. Sophomore KATE GRABOWSKI tied for second on balance beam and placed third in the all-around competition. Senior HAYDEN SAMPLE, back from knee surgery, finished sixth on the uneven bars. In addition to Sample, the team bids a fond farewell to seniors ALEXA LEVINE and RACHEL WRAY. Photos by Glenny Brown

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LOOKING BACK TO LOOK FORWARD

SIX YEARS AGO, the Isdell Family Foundation announced plans to fund the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) at Pace Academy—a school-wide, co-curricular initiative to support and enhance the school’s mission to create prepared, confident citizens of the world. Since then, the program has developed deep roots throughout our community as our teachers, students and parents have embraced the vision to become a globally competent and connected school.

I hope that as you peruse the work of the ICGL in the following pages, you will get some sense of the ways in which the program has breathed life into our mission. As our students have explored our global themes each year, they have developed an awareness of the interconnectedness of local and global issues, as well as a real sense of the way in which these issues are themselves intertwined. Our rising sixth graders, who were Pre-First students the year the ICGL launched, cannot help but bring up issues related to Water when thinking about Food, or Energy when thinking about Climate, or Conservation when thinking about Waste. Their growing awareness of and ability to think critically about the world around them is one of our core objectives: Global Mindedness.

Our annual ICGL survey of students in the fifth, eighth, 10th and 12th grades, developed in collaboration with McKinsey & Company, has shown that across divisions students are increasingly able to appreciate the ways in which different cultural contexts impact practices and outcomes as they relate to dealing with different global issues.

Learning how to recognize these different perspectives, values, outlooks and frames of reference is another of our core objectives: Cultural Appreciation.. This ability to reach across cultures and languages in order to effect positive change is one of the most important skills students acquire as they become global citizens. Whether they are participating in classroom projects that explore Climate issues in the Arctic, Energy in Iceland, Conservation in South Africa or Waste in Japan, or traveling and talking with experts and peers around the world about how different countries understand and tackle these global issues, our students are increasing their content knowledge as well as their ability to appreciate and engage in their own culture alongside the cultures of others.

Engaged Citizenship and Leadership are two additional core ICGL objectives taught and practiced in tandem as embodied skills. Community engagement happens at both the local and global levels, as two sides of the same coin. As students discover the world around them and better understand the issues we have in common, we want them to become active participants in community efforts to make the world a better place.

Our STEAM and Design Thinking programs have been critical in the development of our studentsʼ identities as young agents of change. Highlighting the importance of empathy, these programs help students become thoughtful, responsive and responsible citizens. Older students who have developed strong passions for community engagement eagerly lead their peers in a variety of projects. These student leaders are mentored through the Upper School Community Engagement Council, the ICGL Student Advisory Council, the Isdell Global Leaders program and the Fellows program.

As you explore the programs, opportunities and student voices on the following pages, I hope you will be inspired by the deep commitment that our faculty and staff bring to the mission of global leadership education and by the incredible learning opportunities that the ICGL offers Pace students. Whether at home or abroad—and, for the foreseeable future, it will be more at home than abroad!—our students have myriad unprecedented occasions to discover the world and the power of their own effect on it. l

The Isdell Center for Global Leadership in review

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Isdell Center for Global Leadership Director TRISH ANDERSON on the program’s growth and impact

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

OUR PANEL OF PROS Visiting Scholars bring expert lens to ICGL annual themes

CHARLES FISHMAN

In 2014, ICGL inaugural Visiting Scholar Charles Fishman clarified the purpose of the program’s annual global theme of study—in 2014–2015, The Year of Water: J O E L S A L AT I N

“Pace Academy [has] embarked on a great experiment: to see if it can infuse an important global issue into the curriculum each year… It’s going to be hard, but it can give the work students do every year a sense of purpose and connection. Water is a brilliant theme for the first year. The problems are immediate and important… local and global…

Water cuts across politics, income, occupation and culture.

It is, frankly, the perfect topic for learning about how to analyze something important in a way that allows [one] to take action.”

Fishman, acclaimed author of The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water is also a renowned investigative journalist.

Like Fishman, subsequent Visiting Scholars with extraordinary credentials, knowledge and expertise have heightened the Pace community’s understanding of major issues surrounding each global theme.

The Year of Food (2015–2016) brought sustainable farming expert Joel Salatin to the Pace campus. Salatin is the author of multiple books and articles on alternative farming and has been featured in multiple documentaries on the topic, including Food, Inc. One of the world’s preeminent polar explorers and environmental leaders, Sir Robert Swan, Visiting Scholar in The Year of Climate (2016–2017), set Pace's schoolwide exploration in motion. Swan, a lauded motivational speaker, was the first person to walk to both the North and South Poles, witnessing at each location the disconcerting effects of global warming.

The Year of Conservation (2017–2018) launched with a visit from three Scholars from World Wildlife Fund (WWF): Bas Huijbregts, manager of African species conservation, Giavanna Grein, program officer for wildlife crime and traffic, and Erica Rieder, senior program officer for community conservation.

Clean energy advocate Jeff Goodell fueled schoolwide discussions with his visit in The Year of Energy (2018–2019).

Goodell, who writes prodigiously on energy and environmental issues, has authored multiple books and is a contributing editor for Rolling Stone magazine.

In The Year of Waste (2019–2020), waste guru Tom Szaky posed the question: “How do we solve the unintended consequences of disposability while maintaining its virtues?” Szaky is founder and CEO of TerraCycle, a global leader in the collection and repurposing of complex waste streams. l

SIR ROBERT SWAN

JEFF GOODELL

TOM SZAKY

ERICA RIEDER

GIAVANNA GREIN

BAS HUIJBREGTS

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FIVE MINUTES WITH

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

/// What observations do you have about the ICGL’s growth to date? ///

NEVILLE ISDELL

There are different definitions for growth; for the ICGL, growth is measured in terms of depth, breadth, sophistication and meaning. Over time it has changed and adapted— you can see this forward movement through the integration of ICGL programming and themes into the curricula and ultimately through its increased relevance within the school. Today the ICGL is a point of differentiation for Pace; it's truly incredible that in just six years, the ICGL has joined academics, arts and athletics as a strategic pillar of the school.

Conceived through the vision and

/// How does today's ICGL correspond to the original vision? ///

generosity of Neville Isdell and the

former CEO of The Coca-Cola

The original vision for the ICGL was a concept about what was necessary to equip our students for the future. The growth we’ve seen is validation that what I had espoused was true: there is a need to educate children on a global basis. Despite everything that’s happening today and the questioning of globalization, we still live in a global world, and it is essential that our children understand the broader world and learn to think globally.

Company and a Pace Life Trustee,

/// What has been the role of Pace’s faculty in creating success for the ICGL? ///

reflects on its progress.

The teachers’ engagement from early on has been amazing. This says a lot about them; here was something new and different, and they ran with it. If the teachers hadn’t signed on, it never would have worked. Yet they embraced the opportunity, which presented new challenges outside the constraints of the usual year-in, year-out curriculum. I see them as multipliers of the ICGL’s work; every year the program advances in countless incremental ways as they continue to find creative and meaningful ways to incorporate the annual theme into the curriculum at all the levels.

Isdell family, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) enters its seventh year in 2020–2021. Isdell,

the ICGL

BY THE NUMBERS 6 7 24

Years Continents visited Isdell Global Leaders

27

Community partnerships

46

Upper School ICGL Fellows

86

Hours of community engagement per graduating senior

235 1,144

34

Faculty and staff on study tours Students on study tours

SUMMER 2020 ||| KnightTimes

/// What insights can you offer about the importance of young people becoming global citizens? /// Creating a global perspective is a necessary piece of the puzzle in our children’s education. We need to enable kids to understand other cultures and see how things work differently, and to question what they see, even if they never leave the U.S. This must begin early; imprints in children happen at very young ages. For me, it was age 10, when my life was uprooted by my family’s move from Northern Ireland to Zambia. I discovered a whole new world—the amazing and interesting things as well as the injustices that I witnessed took me out of my box and taught me to question. Without this early experience, I would not see the world as I do today, and I don’t believe I would have progressed in my career as I have. /// How do you see recent global events impacting the ICGL in the coming year? /// We don’t expect that students will have study tours outside the U.S. [in the 2020– 2021 school year]. You can’t minimize the value of these experiences, yet the ICGL’s programming is embedded into the curriculum and will continue to be impactful.

By leveraging technology, we can continue to connect our students to people

and places around the world even with restricted travel opportunities due to the pandemic.

The ICGL’s annual theme is key; having a new theme refreshes the program and builds linkages, both with the previous themes and across the curriculum.

Through this integrated approach, we encourage a holistic, rather than siloed, understanding of issues. This coming year’s theme, Global Health, clearly connects to each of the previous themes, and especially in light of COVID-19, impacts each of us. l

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP AT HOME

1 / G L O B A L H E A LT H /

2 / F O O D H I G H WAY S /

3/ARTS & URBAN LIFE/

4/FIVE FREEDOMS/

Pace launches the ICGL Fellows program “Throughout this next year, I hope to explore the connection between science and society and learn to be a better leader through it.”

S Y D N E Y FA U X Global Health

t the close of the 2018–2019 school year, ICGL leaders invited members of the Class of 2022, then freshmen, to apply for the new ICGL Fellows program, an opportunity to bring global learning to life at the local level.

The two-year, co-curricular, team-based leadership program would place students in four cohorts, each led by two faculty mentors and focused on a particular global issue—Global Health, Food Highways, Arts & Urban Life and the Five Freedoms. During their sophomore and junior years, Fellows would commit to weekly cohort check-ins, one weekend meeting or activity each month, and staying up to date on reading and research assignments—in all, approximately 10 hours of dedicated work time per month on an issue of global significance.

“The Fellows program is designed to be co-curricular,” said Director of Global Leadership TRISH ANDERSON at the program’s launch. “Students will build the skills necessary to become good leaders with the ability to do critical and interdisciplinary thinking, while building on knowledge they gain in the classroom.”

Twenty-five students participated in the inaugural program and recently completed the first of their two years of study.

Global Health Fellows explored HIV and AIDS from both the scientific and social perspectives, researching and presenting on the topic while meeting with local leaders in the academic, medical and nonprofit sectors.

Buford Highway, with its eclectic mix of culinary delights from around the world, was the Food Highways cohort’s focus.

Fellows met the people behind the food, exploring the notion of the “American Dream” through the immigrant lens and diaspora stories. Meanwhile, Arts & Urban Life Fellows dove deep into the connection between art and sustainable revitalization, exploring Atlanta landmarks such as Ponce City Market and the Cabbagetown neighborhood, in addition to educational exhibitions at the High Museum of Art. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s senior editors welcomed the Five Freedoms cohort to their offices to discuss freedom of the press as part of the group’s ongoing study of First Amendment rights. The group’s exploration also included conversations with CNN senior editorial staff and representatives from the Georgia First Amendment Foundation, a visit to the Georgia Supreme Court and a project that included filing Freedom of Information Requests with Fulton County.

“The Fellows program furthers our commitment to providing excellent global leadership training opportunities to all students without leaving the country,” said Anderson. “We are expanding the Fellows program in 2020–2021 by adding an additional cohort that will focus on Social Innovation and are looking forward to welcoming 25 new Fellows to the program.” l

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THE ACADEMY ABROAD

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

Spring study tours sneak in under the COVID wire

l Schoo Upper A AFRIC SOUTH OTHO & LES

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Just weeks before the world shut down due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Pace students crisscrossed the globe on seven spring-break ICGL study tours. Ninety-four Middle and Upper School students and 20 faculty members traveled to Australia (two trips), Belize, Colombia, Kenya, the Galapagos Islands, and South Africa and Lesotho—focusing on everything from conservation and marine ecology to outdoor adventure and community engagement.

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

ool e Sch Middl I L A A AUSTR ps) (2 tri

Middl

e Sch ool BELIZ E

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ICGL: A SHOWCASE

Middl

e Sch ool COLO MBIA

Upper

Schoo l PAGO S ISLAN DS

GALA

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ICGL: A SHOWCASE

KENYA TO DUBAI

ool e Sch Middl B D ARA UNITE TES EMIRA

The 12 Middle School students on this spring’s ICGL study tour to Kenya received a true lesson in global leadership, international relations and adaptability. Not long after their arrival in Nairobi, a security threat against Americans in the city prompted the group’s evacuation. Thanks to some speedy planning on the home front, the group was diverted to Dubai, where students spent several days exploring the United Arab Emirates’ largest city.

“Despite a drastic and disappointing change in our plans, these global citizens were able to learn, grow together and have fun,” faculty advisers TARA HARRIS and EDNA-MAY HERMOSILLO wrote in their final Instagram post of the trip. “We appreciated their ability to laugh and gracefully come together to make an impromptu detour a short but incredibly meaningful ICGL study tour. All agree that we now have a more complete understanding of the Middle East and Islam… [This change] provided an opportunity to learn who we are in times of challenge and yet also to appreciate the privilege we had to pivot safely and experience the diversity and welcome of Dubai.” l

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ICGL: A SHOWCASE

SPOTLIGHT ON COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT IN THE YEAR OF WASTE

From the year’s beginning through its virtual end, Pace students embraced engagement opportunities during THE YEAR OF WASTE.

NO OPPORTUNITY WASTED With Waste as a backdrop, students in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools went to work in Atlanta and beyond over the course of the school year through Pace’s thriving community engagement program.

In the Lower School, each grade focused on a community engagement theme such as Environment, Animals, Food and Homelessness & Housing. In partnership with local organizations like Second Helpings Atlanta (see opposite page), engagement activities—from field trips to hands-on projects during holiday parties—broadened students’ awareness of community issues.

Highlights of the Middle School year in community engagement included an eighthgrade cleanup project at Piedmont Park and Canstruction, an annual competition in which student groups use non-perishable food items to assemble elaborate displays with themes such as #Woke2Waste, the Middle School’s yearlong waste-reduction challenge. Following judging by faculty and staff, several thousand pounds of food departed Pace for Meals on Wheels Atlanta.

Throughout the year, 19 Upper School students served as community engagement leaders with non-profit partners, helping coordinate volunteer opportunities for their classmates. Upper Schoolers forged new partnerships with community organizations such as the Atlanta BeltLine, Glamour Gals and Park Pride, and during Ninth-Grade Community Engagement Day, students traveled to 10 different sites throughout the city to assist with various projects. In keeping with the theme of Waste, junior LAURA ROMIG connected Pace to Books for Africa (BFA), which seeks “to end the book famine in Africa” and promote literacy. Romig, a longtime BFA volunteer, recruited her peers to collect unwanted books and prepare them for distribution to children in Africa.

In the spring, as the Pace community adapted to virtual learning, community engagement remained a priority. Students adjusted traditional events and developed new opportunities consistent with social distancing and limits on gatherings. The Lower School hosted a food drive for elderly Meals on Wheels clients. Sophomore LAURA ARENTH and juniors LANE BRICKLEY and CAROLINE JANKI turned their clothing drive for Bloom Closet into a community event, collecting two truckloads of donated items. Pace parent and school IT systems administrator GEORGE SOKOLSKY put his barbeque skills to work to provide emergency meals to the Women’s Community Kitchen, and Pace Athletics donated excess concessions inventory to the Atlanta Community Food Bank. l

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Bloom Closet

Ronald McDonald House

Atlanta Community Food Bank

Spreading Hope Around the Globe Canstruction

Homeless Collection Drive

Books for Africa

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

PARTNER SPOTLIGHT:

Pace Lifer LISA BURCKHALTER SIVY ’90 credits her alma mater for igniting her passion for community engagement during high school. “I was the Atlanta Community Food Bank representative in Upper School—my memories include delivering boxes of food at Thanksgiving and going to sort food monthly,” she says. “My love of service blossomed at Pace, and [as an adult], it stuck!”

Sivy returned to Georgia in 2010 after living in New York City. Now residing in Roswell with her two sons, ages 11 and 13, and balancing family and career, Sivy remains passionate about engaging and making a difference. Food insecurity is a particular interest, and since her return, she has again volunteered for the Food Bank, as well as for Open Hand Atlanta. She adds, “A more recent highlight has been joining the board of Second Helpings Atlanta.”

Second Helpings fills a special niche in addressing food insecurity by rescuing surplus food from grocers, retailers and cafeterias and distributing it to reach those with food insecurity, according to Sivy. “It also reduces food waste—helping to decrease our carbon footprint,” she says.

After joining the board, she was delighted to discover that Pace had for several years been a Second Helpings partner, donating unserved cafeteria food.

In addition, during the ICGL Year of Waste, Pace students and their families had begun to engage in new ways.

TED WARD, associate director of the ICGL, explains: “During the 2019–2020 school year, we built on the partnership already in place between Pace and Second Helpings to better connect its work to our students’ learning and s t community engagen e stud sure rade a g e ment experiences.” m d r o Thi cks t rdsti ut the a o As a first step, y b a e us data waste llect d o o c Pace’s third o f d an ch n of lun ade i e r m g graders particiu l h vo y eac sed ced b hey u T u pated in Second d . l o r o p r Scho t othe ower r L e Helpings’ Food l e a h t s to e and nding u i f s for Thought s e i h t the to nts to program, which tions stude d e ac g a r u teaches students enco te. e was about hunger and reduc

PACE CONNECTIONS INTERSECT AT SECOND HELPINGS

food waste. Students took a short walk across campus to the Inman Center cafeteria, where Pace grandparent and Second Helpings Immediate Past President SHERI LABOVITZ and others explained the nonprofit’s work redistributing uneaten food and how students can make active choices that support Pace’s weekly food donation— to date over 2,000 meals.

Before Thanksgiving break, Pace provided the location and manpower— sixth-grade student-volunteers—for an initiative sponsored by Second Helpings and West Rock, a packaging company, to assemble snack bags for food relief agencies across the city. Ward delivered nearly 1,000 assembled bags to Atlanta’s Lost-NFound and At-Promise youth centers.

As spring semester began, Lower School parent KATHERINE MITCHELL coordinated with Ward and Labovitz to create an additional engagement opportunity.

“We arranged for Pace to run the donation route to Mary Hall Freedom House in Sandy Springs,” Mitchell explains, “allowing families to participate and freeing up Second Helpings’ regular volunteers’ time for other needs.” Upper School students are also able to drive the route and may help with volunteer coordination in the future.

“This type of engagement can spark meaningful conversation within families and also allows students to feel ownership through hands-on activities like loading and unloading food and making the delivery,” she says.

Sivy’s volunteer work on the board is less hands-on than volunteer roles she has held in the past, she says. As a Pace alumna, she takes special pleasure in the active ways Pace has partnered with the organization. She says, “Pace has been a great supporter, both as a food donor and as an educational partner.”

Second Helpings is making a difference in our community through Pace and countless other partners “collectively working along the food supply chain,” Sivy says. “Together they are addressing the needs of those in our community who are food-insecure, which to me is the most important thing.” l

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SLOAN BAKER

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

TED WARD One year ago, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership welcomed TED WARD as its associate director. Responsible for the school’s community engagement program, Ward came to Pace with a broad range of experiences from the DeKalb County School District, the National Center for Civil and Human Rights and the Atlanta BeltLine Partnership.

Since his arrival, Ward has sought to build on the legacy of service learning and community engagement already in place at Pace while creating new avenues for engagement and education for students, faculty and families. During the 2019–2020 school year, he added partnerships with Purpose Built Schools Atlanta and Books for Africa, helped Pace adopt a section of the Atlanta BeltLine, and added new community wide experiences such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend of Service and Engage Pace week.

Looking ahead, Ward envisions “engaging organizations from every Atlanta zip code and ensuring a wide variety of opportunities and interactions for Pace students, faculty and families.” He adds, “Through thoughtful collaboration with existing and new community engagement partners, we hope to broaden and add depth to student learning experiences outside of the classroom.” l

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L I LY K O C H K AT E M A L L A R D

GET TO KNOW

Rising seniors SLOAN BAKER, JACK BROWN, LILY KOCH, KATE MALLARD, ELI MAUTNER and LAURA ROMIG are the first members of the ICGL’s recently formed Community Engagement Board.

An outgrowth of the student-led cohort that previously managed community partnerships, the board offers these and future Pace students a meaningful ICGL leadership opportunity. Having led community engagement clubs that support Pace’s partner organizations, these six students bring insight and vision to their roles on the new board, which is tasked with evaluating and planning engagement opportunities at Pace.

The students hope to add new events—such as the Martin Luther King Jr. Weekend of Service introduced during the 2019–2020 school year—and to develop and support educational and interactive activities surrounding the ICGL’s 2020–2021 annual theme, Global Health. They will also work to increase continuity in all of Pace’s engagement activities by connecting the efforts of students in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. l

ELI MAUTNER

Upper School Board to lead the way

LAURA ROMIG

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

JACK BROWN

THE FUTURE OF

EVAN ELSTER DARREN ROSING

CLAIRE HOWELL

ERIN HOOD

OLIVIA ULLMAN

ALLIE CAMPBELL

HANNAH WHITE

TOMMY ASSAF

INSHA MERCHANT PRABHAVH PRADEEP AMALIA HAVIV

ABBY SROKA SOPHIE LETTES

The ICGL Student Council, which consists of Upper School students dedicated to educating peers about matters relating to the annual global theme, found multiple opportunities to creatively address Waste this past school year.

Through educational endeavors that included assemblies, messaging on Upper School video monitors and solution-oriented “Thoughtful Thursday” activities—like repurposing old T-shirts into totes (pictured above)—the council kept waste reduction top of mind in the student body.

In addition, council members helped Pace forge a partnership with Tom Szaky’s Terracycle (see page 33) to recycle used foil-lined chip and snack bags; collected soft plastics in partnership with CHaRM (Center for Hard to Recycle Materials); and supplied recyclable cups at Water Monster stations during Pace’s Fall Fair to decrease plastic bottle waste.

The 2019–2020 council members included freshman SHEZA MERCHANT; juniors GRACE DEMBA, EVAN ELSTER, CLAIRE HOWELL, DARREN ROSING, ABBY SROKA and OLIVIA ULLMAN; and seniors ERIN HOOD, SOPHIE LETTES and INSHA MERCHANT. In 2020–2021, TOMMY ASSAF will join the other rising seniors on the council: Rosing, Sroka and Ullman. Other new members include rising freshmen HENRY LEVENSON, PRABHAVH PRADEEP and HANNAH WHITE; rising sophomore CAITLYN PINSKER; and rising juniors AMALIA HAVIV and ALLIE CAMPBELL. l

HENRY LEVENSON

IN ACTION

C A I T LY N P I N S K E R

GLOBAL LEADERSHIP

GRACE DEMBA

SHEZA MERCHANT

The ICGL Student Council shapes the student experience

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43

ICGL: A SHOWCASE IGL stud y to SAN ur: FRAN CISC O

D

uring the Isdell Center for Global

Leadership’s (ICGL) YEAR OF WASTE, students in every division let their creative juices flow as they delved into complex and interwoven matters related to the ICGL’s global theme.

In ordinary circumstances, an annual ICGL Showcase caps off the year of study. This spring, however, the COVID-19-imposed shift to virtual learning quashed this de h-gra Eight trip: field ND A LT O IELD WHITF E WAST SOLID Y RIT AUTHO

plan, so instead, we highlight students’ efforts here.

In the Lower School, Pre-First students studied Japan, comparing its recycling practices to those of the U.S. and exploring the zero-waste city of Kamikatsu. First graders focused on food waste, investigating composting and its benefits, while second-grade students performed Waste Not, Want Not for their peers, teachers and parents, conveying information about garbage, recycling, reusing and composting through poetry, song and dance.

Third graders learned about Pace community partner Second Helpings (page 41), while fourth graders completed projects for social studies classes with only used and found materials. Fifth-grade students dug deep to understand the life cycles of different objects.

Sixth, seventh and eighth graders took the Middle School’s #Woke2Waste challenge to heart, tackling projects related to medical and food waste, recycling and upcycling, styrofoam, soft plastics and more using STEAM & Design approaches. End-of-year student surveys indicated that hands-on learning opportunities at school and on field trips had dramatic impacts on students’ awareness of waste-related issues and led to lifestyle changes.

From speakers at morning assemblies to international study tours, Upper School students gained new insights and broadened their knowledge of Waste and numerous associated concerns ranging from consumerism to inequity. ICGL opportunities for Upper School students seeking a deep dive into the annual theme further expanded the students’ experiences. These include the Isdell Global Leaders program (page 46) and the ICGL Fellows program (page 35), new in 2019. l

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THE YEAR OF WASTE: A SHOWCASE

Seco nd-g rade WAS TE N play : O T, WAN T NO T

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

MOPPING UP

THE MESS

Students in KELLY COLQUITT’S science class teamed up with DR. KIRSTEN BOEHNER in the Action Studio to focus on the problem of plastic waste. Using innovation and imagination, eighth graders pursued projects geared toward "turning off the tap" or "mopping up the mess" of plastic waste.

Some students brainstormed uses—such as credit cards, Astroturf and even clothing—for plastics extracted from the ocean. Others focused on ways to generate less waste in their daily lives by researching and testing products that use less plastic, while others explored alternatives to plastic for food storage, soda bottles, health and beauty products, and gardening supplies.

In addition, some evaluated alternatives to petroleumbased plastics, testing plant-based plastics for straws, utensils, food storage and grocery marketing. “This project was a great way to have students explore their individual interests while raising awareness of the prevalent problem of plastic,” Colquitt shares. l

te ticipa s par t n e tal d n e stu onme envir -grad h h t l t h i a i g Ei erc call w comm ideo d v n a a on d film e r. ist an Michl activ th arah S r e er wi c memb produ w e which r s a c orld, a W w e r h e t the Michl Round round dition ews a r e arch c p e X s e X l e e fema ific r t l l n a e i sc sends nduct to co d l r . o c i w last ean p on oc

DOWN ON

THE FARM

First graders explored food waste and learned about composting and how it helps the soil. Their study of the life cycle of apples and pumpkins included a field trip to Jaemor Farms, a family farm in Alto, Ga., for a firsthand look at its apple farming sustainability practices. l

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ICGL: A SHOWCASE

CITIZENS OF THE WORLD

On th e far m: NOTTI NGHA & LEX M ’17 TREVE LINO ’17

ANNIE

AFTER PACE

SARAH LETTES ’15 reflects on the impact of the Isdell Global Leaders program and catches up with her fellow IGLs.

At 3 a.m. one morning in Canada, Upper School science teacher KEVIN BALLARD pounded on the doors of his students’ hotel rooms and told them to come outside. The Isdell Global Leaders (IGLs) were tired after a full day of talking to climate experts, but they slipped on jackets and stepped out into the cool fall air in Churchill, Manitoba. The four students looked up and saw the Northern Lights for the first time. After spending weeks researching the science of climate change and absorbing new facts and figures, seeing the surrounding landscape under the glow of the lights helped them remember what was at stake. “That experience really helped me connect with nature and feel that I want to protect it,” says MAX IRVINE ’17.

Those moments of learning and connection are what Director of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL)

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TRISH ANDERSON hoped for when she helped dream up the Isdell Global Leaders (IGL) program. In 2014, Anderson sat down with Ballard and former Upper School science teacher JONATHAN DAY (now Head of Upper School at The Savannah Country Day School) to create a new kind of intellectual experience.

“We wanted to have the opportunity to see how deeply we could dive into an issue with a small group of students,” Anderson recalls. “We were asking, ‘How do you develop a global mindset?’” They began to envision a program that combined rigorous learning and discussion with hands-on, experiential education.

As they brainstormed, a vision began to emerge: four students, alongside two or three teachers, would spend a year studying a critical, globally relevant theme. This small, tight-knit group would read about the topic and build background knowledge.

Then, the students and teachers would travel to places where they could observe and learn about many dimensions of the theme. As Anderson explains, “the model is to learn through experience and investigative thinking, and to develop leadership skills that enable effective research and questioning.”

In the fall of 2014, this innovative vision came to life as the first group of IGLs (myself included) studied water issues in the southeast U.S., Texas and Botswana.

Now, six cohorts of IGLs have crisscrossed the country and world exploring important themes: Water, Food, Climate, Conservation, Energy and Waste. The issues and locations have varied greatly from year to year, but all IGLs speak to the ways the program has impacted them.

When Anderson announced the program, students were thrilled about the opportunity. JULIA ROSS ’17 recalls, “I was excited to get out of the classroom and learn about really relevant topics.”

Irvine explains: “It’s just the coolest opportunity you could possibly have as a student. Get out of the classroom and travel around the world and meet with experts. What more can you ask for?”

Some students come into the program with deep personal connections to the year’s theme. LEX TREVELINO ’17 was thrilled when he heard the 2015–2016 theme would be Food. For years, he had been volunteering on a local organic farm, learning how to cook vegetarian meals with his family and “kind of becoming a food nerd.”

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

THOMAS HOOVER ’17, another IGL during The Year of Food, grew up on a small farm in North Georgia, where he helped tend the garden and raise chickens.

For students like Trevelino and Hoover, the program was an opportunity to explore totally new sides of an issue they already cared about. Other IGLs have started the year with an intellectual interest and an eagerness to learn more.

With these diverse backgrounds and interests, students bring all sorts of questions to the table—and get to pose these questions to experts around the world.

Irvine recalls talking with elite researchers at the University of Hawaii. “I don’t think I understood how fully unbelievable that was,” he says. “Then I’d see someone talking about climate change on the news and it would be one of the experts I talked to.”

The IGLs in The Year of Food visited the farm of Joel Salatin, who is known as “the world’s most famous farmer.” Trevelino notes, “That was so special. It was amazing to listen to [Salatin] and hear him speak. He really knows how the land and ecosystems and wildlife are connected.”

Beyond meetings with experts, these trips are packed with experiential education moments in which students can live and breathe the topics they’re studying.

When I was an IGL in The Year of Water, we spent 10 days traveling down the Chattahoochee River. In the course of our journey, we walked around a power plant drawing water from the river, went rafting at an outfitter affected by dams upstream and canoed around ecosystems connected to the river. At the mouth of the river, where it empties into Apalachicola Bay, we hopped on small boats to harvest oysters.

“We really got to see firsthand how things we were doing in Atlanta affected people down the river,” Ross remembers.

“When we turn on the tap in Atlanta, it affects the Chattahoochee and the connected ecosystems and people all the way down to Florida. In turn, that affects the oyster industry that a whole town depends on.”

The IGLs in The Year of Food will never forget the time they prepared a meal with a local family in Malawi. Hoover grew up raising chickens as pets, so he was caught off

guard when the head of the family handed him a knife to kill the chicken they had just bought at a market. “I thought about having fat chickens at home that gave us fresh eggs, and treating them as pets because we could buy our packaged meat at the store,” he recalls. Preparing this meal from start to finish gave Hoover new insights on what food means to people around the world.

IGLs also learn to take ownership of their education. During The Year of Energy, VERONICA SANDOVAL ’19, MADELINE ARENTH ’19, VIRGINIA HOBBS ’20 and SANDY LUM ’20 traveled to Vermont and West Virginia to learn about renewable energy production and coal mining. After witnessing the startling impacts of coal mining on the physical, social and economic health of entire communities, the IGLs wanted to learn more about the role of energy in people’s lives. They requested to change the destination of their spring study tour and travel to Puerto Rico. There, the group saw the devastating impacts of Hurricane Maria on Puerto Rico’s energy infrastructure. Arenth notes, “being part of the IGL program altered the way I see the world today.”

Arenth and her IGL cohort finished their year of study with new perspectives on what it means to be a global citizen. Studying energy made Arenth realize that she has a role to play in global issues. “I learned the most impactful change lies in politics,” she says. “I learned that even though I am one person, my vote can potentially change the course of our world's fate.”

For ANNIE NOTTINGHAM ’17, the IGL program awakened an excitement for research and investigation. Nottingham has translated this passion into her research on diversity and inclusion practices in the workplace: “The IGL program taught me to constantly question the systems in place around me, their origins and how they could change to be more equitable.”

Every IGL talks about learning how to take responsibility for their education. On each trip, leaders pose questions to experts and locals, who bring new perspectives and add layers to the themes. “I learned to ask better questions,” Ross notes. “I learned to

think about the material we were exploring from different perspectives and consider different framings.” “[The program] taught me how to be a leader,” Hoover says, “how to converse with respected people and how to develop and grow a passion on my own. Being an IGL also taught me how to listen.”

For all of these leaders, the IGL experience hasn’t stopped after their travels. “Now, I love having conversations about renewable energy and thinking about change,” Irvine says. MELANIE CRAWFORD ’18 explains that the IGL program helped her “realize what I was truly passionate about… I do not think I would be an environmental economics major today if it was not for the ICGL.” Exploring food in California, Virginia, Maine, Ghana and Malawi sparked a chain of transformative experiences for Trevelino.

“The way the IGL program impacted me was really special,” he says. “It opened my eyes to the world and made me want to explore more.”

In the four years since his IGL experience, Trevelino has studied agriculture in Bhutan and Belize, worked on Penn State’s student farm and become involved in hydroponics research. Learning about agriculture through the ICGL helped inspire him to keep seeking new perspectives and exploring his interests. Now, he hopes to join the Peace Corps—“and maybe even go full circle and return to Ghana.” l

ring Explo oba: Manit NIE MELA ’18 FORD CRAW

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ICGL: A SHOWCASE : rk by 1 Artwo BA ’2 M E E D GRAC ith the world’s attention turned to the COVID-19 pandemic, the selection of Pace Academy’s 2020–2021 Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) theme, Global Health, is astonishing in its timeliness. The theme connects to the previous six ICGL annual themes— Water, Food, Climate, Conservation, Energy and Waste—and offers students in every division meaningful opportunities for exploration during a period of heightened relevance in all of our lives.

“Previous annual themes have focused on humans’ impact on the environment,” says Director of the ICGL TRISH ANDERSON. “In planning for this year’s theme—two years ago!— we decided to flip that approach and focus on the ways the environment impacts us. Seeking a humanities-based study that could incorporate lessons from our previous themes, we arrived at Global Health.”

The Year of Global Health will unfold in each division in age-appropriate ways, from topical exhibits on each floor of the Lower School and a twoday global health summit to a speaker series on topics such as women in medicine and social equity and health in the Middle School. Upper School students will hear from visiting experts in assemblies, lunch-and-learns, discussion groups and Zoom meetings. The theme will also be explored as part of the curriculum in various history, English and science classes.

Anderson explains that students will examine how globalization intersects with health and the impacts—positive and negative—on people around the world. “Globalization has enabled rapid implementation of highly effective public health initiatives,” she says. “As a result, the world's population is more healthy today than it has ever been, life expectancy is higher and major diseases such as AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis and malaria are in decline.”

Yet globalization presents new and significant challenges, she adds. Foremost among these are the rise of non-communicable diseases, like cancer, diabetes and coronary heart disease, and of infectious diseases, many of which are viral. The rapid spread of the SARS-CoV-2 virus that causes COVID-19 is the latest reminder of the threat of infectious diseases in a highly connected world.

GLOBAL HEALTH Introducing The Year of Global Health

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Global health experts agree that international coordination is needed to treat and prevent pandemics. Anderson says, “The COVID-19 experience makes it clear that health in one country affects the health of all countries. Global cooperation is essential if we are to effectively address the worldwide threats that arise from communicable—as well as non-communicable—diseases.”

The COVID-19 pandemic presents Pace students and faculty opportunities to consider how we, as a global community, approach the intersection of human health and the natural environment.

“We look forward to celebrating many global health success stories, and exploring some of the most pressing challenges to health—some existing and some yet unknown—that will shape the future health of our global community,” she adds. l

ICGL: A SHOWCASE

MEET ICGL VISITING SCHOLAR

DR. RICHARD ZANE

During a two-day visit to campus this fall—or a virtual visit, pending the state of global health—Richard Zane, M.D., the ICGL’s 2020 Visiting Scholar, will address impacts and lessons from the COVID-19 pandemic, along with other global health matters such as government policy and preparedness and healthcare delivery innovation.

A leader in medicine and business, Zane’s vast professional credentials include emergency physician, university professor and department chair as well as healthcare access and delivery expert. Recognized for applying collaborative, innovative solutions to the redesign of healthcare settings, Zane has been published in the Harvard Business Review, Wall Street Journal and elsewhere, and was recently named a New England Journal of Medicine Catalyst Thought Leader in Medicine.

During his visit to Pace, Zane will discuss matters surrounding COVID-19 that include his personal experiences, policy and preparedness, and global communication and cooperation. He will also offer insights on medical career paths and the future of medicine.

RICHARD ZANE, MD CHIEF INNOVATION OFFICER UCHealth CO-FOUNDER UCHealth CARE Innovation Center CHAIR Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine PROFESSOR Emergency Medicine, University of Colorado School of Medicine

MEGAN HARDESTY

AMALIA HAVIV

TRIPLEEPROJECTS Student-designed innovation advocates for healthy habits

Through the ICGL, Pace offers students many opportunities to not only learn about global issues, but also to design and implement ways to help solve them. Perhaps the most fascinating opportunity is the Pace Academy Social Entrepreneurship Challenge (PASEC), where Upper School students work as individuals or in teams alongside mentors to develop solutions with the potential to impact worldwide issues.

With TripleEProjects, a program designed to reduce childhood obesity among students from low-income families, rising juniors MEGAN HARDESTY and AMALIA HAVIV stole the show, taking first place in the 2020 challenge.

“TripleE stands for eat, educate and exercise—the core of our program,” says Hardesty. She and Haviv have seen the consequences of how limited access to nutritious food and limited knowledge about the importance of exercise play a big role in childhood obesity. To tackle this issue, TripleEProjects is an after-school program for children at Title 1 schools across Atlanta. They will start their program at Price Middle School, providing healthy snacks and offering fun lessons on nutrition, fitness and the importance of healthy choices. “We want these kids to have a knowledgeable base before they graduate our program,” says Haviv.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic delayed TripleEProjects’ launch, as Hardesty and Haviv could no longer meet with students in person. However, they are now creating a YouTube channel to virtually connect with the children. In the meantime, Haviv notes that they are planning for the program’s future, developing ideas to “decrease and prevent obesity in our city one child at a time.”

—by JILL RAWLS ’19

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ON MAY 25, George Floyd, a Black man in Minneapolis, was killed by a police officer, sparking outrage and protests across the country. In the wake of Floyd’s murder and the senseless deaths of countless Black men and women before him, conversations swirled around issues of hate, racism, violence and discrimination in America, and brought the reality of the Black experience to the forefront.

As Black voices were amplified across the country, Black members of the Pace Academy community, past and present, began sharing their stories; current students and alumni of Atlanta-area independent schools united as Buckhead4BlackLives to organize a march highlighting racial disparities in private schools; and “Black at” Instagram pages showcased individual experiences of pain, isolation and racism at Pace and in school communities across Atlanta and nationwide.

In a June 25 letter to Pace students, parents, faculty, staff and alumni, Head of School FRED ASSAF and Board of Trustees Chair ELIZABETH CORRELL RICHARDS wrote, “We have spent decades at Pace trying to build a community that loves each of its members, that respects the value and dignity of every person, and sees each other's differences as gifts that we can share, celebrate and benefi t from. Our Black community members have spoken and have informed us that we have fallen short of these ideals. We have come face to face with the realization that we have failed to make them feel welcome, safe or loved. We are profoundly sorry… We can do better, and we will.”

On July 8, Assaf and Richards shared with the Pace community the school’s Action Plan for Racial Equity, a document that builds on current work and will evolve as the community continues to listen and learn, as Pace bolsters administrative leadership in the areas of diversity, equity and inclusion, and as members of the school community take ownership of the plan’s many parts, ultimately bringing it to life.

“One thing is certain,” Assaf and Richards wrote, “this plan requires an ongoing commitment from each and every one of us—the courage to strive for excellence. Thank you for being part of this journey.”

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Accounting for our painful past and present, and planning for an equitable future

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ANSWERING THE CALL FOR

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PACE ACADEMY ACTION PLAN FOR RACIAL EQUITY S TAT E M E N T OF PURPOSE Pace Academy is committed to eradicating racism and its legacy, and to dismantling any racial hierarchies within our school community. As an institution of learning, we have a responsibility to ensure that every community member feels supported, valued and safe.

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OUR ACTION PL AN This Action Plan reflects our commitment now and in the future to look critically at our institutional practices, policies and procedures, and to implement meaningful changes in an effort to establish true racial equity, embedding antiracism in all that we do.

Given the urgency of our national situation and our understanding of the pain, isolation and racism experienced by our Black community members, our Action Plan focuses on anti-Black racism, with the knowledge that our action items will continue to evolve, ultimately enriching the value of the Pace experience for all members of the school community—regardless of race, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion, age or ability. This is not a checklist; instead, our plan is an ever-expanding inventory of strategic actions.

This Action Plan calls on all Trustees, administrators, faculty, staff, alumni, parents and students to take responsibility for fostering an antiracist community— to be a member of this community is to be committed to this process. Given the central importance of this work, the Board of Trustees will provide purposeful support to school leaders as its members work to implement the Action Plan.

We recognize that we cannot carry out this important work alone. We are committed to enlisting outside support and resources to help us identify further steps to create a more equitable community. It is also vitally important that we continue to listen to the Black voices in our community in the continued development of this plan.

There is no end to this work; this is not a job that we finish. Instead, we must hold each other accountable and strive every day to live out our core values of love, respect and celebration of differences.

LISTENING & LEARNING All members of our community must have the capacity to engage in a manner that demonstrates fluency and strong capabilities to address matters of race, diversity, equity and inclusion. Direct support will be provided by way of training and professional development. To that end, we will: • Establish cultural competence and an antiracist culture among all school leadership, faculty, staff and students through continued, mandatory training, professional development and education in antiracism, diversity, equity and inclusion.

• Collaborate with the Parents Club, Community of Change and parent leaders to establish expectations for parent involvement to support an antiracist culture, including educational programming and a deep understanding of community standards.

• Continue to provide robust programming for faculty and staff through the Office of Diversity, Equity and Inclusion.

Current initiatives include: • Diversity, equity and inclusion coordinators in all divisions, available to provide resources, hear concerns and facilitate training and conversations • Division-specific faculty diversity committees • Affinity groups for faculty and staff of color • A.W.A.R.E. — Pace Alliance of White Anti-Racist Educators has been established as an antiracist ally group for white faculty and staff TEACHING & CURRICULUM To become prepared, confident citizens of the world, students must be taught from an antiracist curriculum, one that is factually accurate, includes multiple perspectives and inspires critical thinking. To that end, we will: • Assess the school’s curriculum and content across all grade levels with the assistance of external consultants

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experienced in providing an antiracist approach to education.

• With the assistance of external experts in the field of antiracist and culturally responsive teaching and learning, assess current teaching practices and provide training for faculty in pedagogical approaches that cultivate belonging for all members of the community.

• Integrate developmentally appropriate student training in antiracism, racial equity and social justice across all divisions.

OUR COMMUNIT Y Pace is grounded in the core value of respect for others and their unique ideas and beliefs. There is no place for hate in our school community. To that end, we will: • In addition to our existing nondiscrimination and diversity policies, adopt an antiracism policy and community standards to explicitly state our intolerance for behaviors that compromise the experience of any community member.

• Examine the culture around the school’s disciplinary system to ensure an equitable, educational, transparent and restorative process.

• Adopt a zero-indifference policy to aggressively address overt racism, the use of hate speech, racist paraphernalia and other forms of bigotry.

• Provide education around informed civil discourse, the use of social media and the role of bystanders in creating an antiracist community.

• Support the continued development of affinity groups for students, faculty and staff in each division.

• Continue to deepen engagement and collaboration with Black and historically underrepresented alumni.

• Develop communication strategies to provide ongoing updates to all constituents regarding antiracist efforts.

OUR PEOPLE To foster a sense of belonging in our school community, all students must see themselves reflected in our leadership, faculty and staff, and must experience meaningful, intentional and authentic support. To that end, we will:

OUR PLEDGE As school leaders, we recognize that it is our responsibility to address this work for the benefit of all—but we cannot do so without committed partners. To ensure that we continue to listen to all community members as we strive toward the aforementioned goals, we will put in place the following feedback loops:

• Ensure that Pace is a safe and supportive space in which to work. In addition to regular training in antiracism for all • Schedule regular listening sessions faculty, specific antiracist and anti-bias between school leadership and training will be provided for school the following community members: leadership, admissions committees, destudent affinity groups, faculty afpartment chairs and new faculty mentors. finity groups, Black parents and the Association of Black Alumni.

• Hire, support and retain faculty and staff members who identify with groups • Create a clear process for students, historically underrepresented at Pace, parents, faculty and staff to register with an intentional focus on those who concerns about incidents of bias and identify as Black. for the investigation of those incidents.

The process must ensure the confi• Throughout the hiring process, clearly dentiality of reporting individuals, and communicate our community values, above all, seek to provide resolution. standards and expectations to ensure that we hire faculty and staff who share • Incorporate questions related to our mission. equity and inclusion in teacher evaluations and course feedback. Require • Explore the creation of a yearlong that faculty leadership address ways teaching and administration fellowship in which their grade-level teams for young alumni of color interested in and departments have sought to entering the field of education, with an promote inclusive practices in their intentional focus on those who identify departments/classrooms in written as Black. year-end reports.

JOINING OUR COMMUNIT Y We strive to be a community reflective of the city and world in which we live. To continue to build an increasingly diverse, inclusive and equitable school family, community members must take seriously their commitment to fostering an antiracist environment. To that end, we will: • Evaluate the admissions process at all levels to ensure equity.

• Focus admissions outreach efforts on historically underrepresented populations.

• Develop systems for measuring our progress against our stated goals and clearly communicating this progress to our community.

As we embark on this never-ending journey, we pledge to be transparent in our work, to listen, to adapt and to report on our progress. This plan will evolve as members of our community take ownership of its many parts and we make it our own. Thank you for your partnership in this process.

• Throughout the admissions process, clearly communicate to prospective families our community values, standards and expectations.

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TERMS TO UNDERSTAND The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) provides a glossary of terms frequently used when discussing racial equity. Definitions of the terms referenced in our plan are listed here.

AFFINITY GROUPS: White people and people of color each have work to do separately and together. Affinity groups provide spaces for people to work within their own racial/ethnic groups. For white people, an affinity group provides time and space to work explicitly and intentionally on understanding white culture and white privilege, and to increase one’s critical analysis around these concepts. A white affinity group also puts the onus on white people to teach each other about these ideas, rather than relying on people of color to teach them (as often occurs in integrated spaces). For people of color, an affinity group is a place to work with their peers on their experiences of internalized racism, for healing and to work on liberation.

ANTIRACISM: Antiracism is defined as the work of actively opposing racism by advocating for changes in political, economic and social life. Antiracism tends to be an individualized approach, and is set up in opposition to individual racist behaviors and impacts.

ANTIRACIST: An antiracist is someone who is supporting an antiracist policy through their actions or expressing antiracist ideas.

ANTIRACIST IDEAS: An antiracist idea is any idea that suggests the racial groups are equal in all of their apparent differences and that there is nothing wrong with any racial group. Antiracists argue that racist policies are the cause of racial injustices.

BIGOTRY: Intolerant prejudice that glorifies one's own group and denigrates members of other groups.

CULTURE: A social system of meaning and custom that is developed by a group of people to assure its adaptation and survival. These groups are distinguished by a set of unspoken rules that shape values, beliefs, habits, patterns of thinking, behaviors and styles of communication.

DIVERSITY: Diversity includes all the ways in which people differ, and it encompasses all the different characteristics that make one individual or group different from another. It is all-inclusive and recognizes everyone and every group as part of the diversity that should be valued. A broad definition includes not only race, ethnicity and gender—the groups that most often come to mind when the term "diversity" is used—but also age, national origin, religion, disability, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status, education, marital status, language and physical appearance.

It also involves different ideas, perspectives and values.

It is important to note that many activists and thinkers critique diversity alone as a strategy. For instance, Baltimore Racial Justice Action states: “Diversity is silent on

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the subject of equity. In an anti-oppression context, therefore, the issue is not diversity, but rather equity. Often when people talk about diversity, they are thinking only of the ‘non-dominant’ groups.”

INCLUSION: Authentically bringing traditionally excluded individuals and/or groups into processes, activities and decision/ policy making in a way that shares power.

RACIAL EQUITY: Racial equity is the condition that would be achieved if one’s racial identity no longer predicted, in a statistical sense, how one fares. When we use the term, we are thinking about racial equity as one part of racial justice, and thus we also include work to address root causes of inequities, not just their manifestation. This includes elimination of policies, practices, attitudes and cultural messages that reinforce differential outcomes by race or fail to eliminate them.

RACISM: Racism is different from racial prejudice, hatred or discrimination. Racism involves one group having the power to carry out systematic discrimination through the institutional policies and practices of the society and by shaping the cultural beliefs and values that support those racist policies and practices.

RACIST: One who is supporting a racist policy through their actions or interaction or expressing a racist idea.

ZERO-INDIFFERENCE: Although zerotolerance policies are popular, mounting evidence suggests that this approach does not make schools safer. A zero-indifference approach to bullying, harassment and other disciplinary issues means never letting disrespectful conduct go unaddressed; school staff always name and respond to behaviors, but they do not implement automatic suspension, expulsion or other punishments.

SOURCES: www.racialequitytools.org/glossary www.teachingtolerance.org

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BROWN, BAKER BOLSTER LEADERSHIP IN DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION

JOANNE BROWN

TO GUIDE THE IMPLEMENTATION of Pace’s Action Plan for Racial Equity, two members of the Pace community will assume new roles with the start of the 2020–2021 school year. JOANNE BROWN, director of diversity and inclusion since 2017, will serve as chief equity and inclusion officer, while DR. TROY BAKER, director of Athletics since 2015, will become director of student life, a new position on the school’s administrative team.

In her role, Brown will continue to work across the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools to ensure a diverse and inclusive school-wide culture, one in which differences are embraced, and students, parents, faculty and staff have a sense of belonging. As a member of the school’s administrative team, Brown will provide strategic diversity leadership around equity and inclusion for the school. She will support faculty and staff by designing a purposeful recruitment process, providing professional development, implementing thoughtful retention strategies and ensuring culturally relevant pedagogies, practices and programs with the goal of creating a welcoming, equitable environment for students.

In addition, Brown will identify opportunities to attract and retain students of color and foster alumni involvement within the community of color.

“I am honored to continue doing the work I’ve been entrusted with for the past three years and to be positioned in a role that will offer me the opportunity to think more strategically around issues of diversity, equity and inclusion for our school community, particularly as they relate to our Action Plan for Racial Equity,” Brown says. “I’m looking forward to implementing our plan with the help of our committed diversity, equity and inclusion coordinators and the entire Pace community.”

Baker, working hand-in-hand with Brown, will oversee the student experience from Pre-First through graduation from both a strategic and programmatic perspective. He will partner with faculty, staff and division leadership to create an environment that nurtures the holistic development of every student, overseeing counseling, discipline, community-building, inclusion and academic and non-academic interventions. Under Baker’s leadership, every student will have access to a rich and exciting mix of co-curricular experiences—experiences that will remain consistent throughout students’ time in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools. In addition, Baker will work with parents and alumni to support student wellbeing, belonging and success.

“I’m proud to have been a part of Pace Athletics,” Baker says.

“More important than the championships we’ve earned and the memories we’ve made are the culture and the standard of competitive excellence we have established. Helping intentionally and strategically foster that environment has been a terrific training ground for the complexity of this new opportunity. I’m looking forward to serving every student in our Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, and making sure that they have the resources and support they need to thrive and become prepared, confident citizens of the world at Pace. I’m excited to get to work!”

DR. TROY BAKER

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ON THE FRONTLINES OF EQUITY WORK AT PACE MEET THE STUDENTS LEADING THE CHARGE AND LEARN ABOUT THEIR HOPES FOR THE FUTURE.

“I hope that Pace becomes a space where we can embrace and respect each other's differences.

It is vital that we not only respect our cultures, but acknowledge what differentiates them. I am grateful to be part of this change.”

ENGLAND MEADOWS ’23 co-leader of the Pace Academy Board of Diversity

“I hope that Pace will create physical spaces for BIPOC [Black, Indigenous and people of color] students and that the curriculum will shift to a more global, less Eurocentric perspective. I also hope that Pace will continue to challenge students, families and teachers by engaging in difficult conversations.”

ALLISON SILVERBOARD ’22 co-leader of the Pace Academy Board of Diversity

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“A lot of the confusion and misunderstandings regarding people of color stems from how we are misinformed on the history of people of color... [we] plan to use the Black Student Alliance as a platform to have difficult conversations regarding racial inequality.”

COLE MIDDLETON ’21 co-president of the Black Student Alliance

“My hope for our community is a higher awareness of what the Black population at Pace goes through on a daily basis, and as a result, more informed interactions and teaching. I plan to be a part [of this change] by offering guidance to the administration and students at Pace, giving the knowledge and experience that I have as a result of being Black in America.”

JAYLA WIDEMAN ’22 co-president of the Black Student Alliance

“My hope is that a permanent safe space can be set up for students to share microaggressions or forms of discrimination that they have felt inside or outside the Pace community. I also hope that more students join Pace Academy Board of Diversity (PABD) to create a more aware and accepting community.”

PRANAVH PRADEEP ’22 co-leader of the Pace Academy Board of Diversity

“My hope is that the progressive dialogue that takes place in PABD meetings might extend beyond PABD and exist ubiquitously around the school community. My coleaders and I will work together to represent the entire student body and make sure every student feels both recognized and celebrated.”

DARREN ROSING ’21 co-leader of the Pace Academy Board of Diversity

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PACE ACADEMY IN 1958 "We conclude that in the field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. Therefore, we hold that the plaintiffs and other similarly situated… are … deprived of the equal protection of the laws guaranteed by the 14th Amendment.”

ON MAY 17, 1954, United State Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren delivered the Court’s unanimous decision in the Brown v. Board of Education case, mandating the desegregation of public schools. The ruling set off a wave of white flight and led to the founding of segregationist private schools, particularly in the Southeast. Atlanta, later dubbed “The City Too Busy to Hate,” was not immune.

Pace Academy founder JANE TUGGLE watched the events of the late 1950s unfold. In the aftermath of Brown v. Board of Education, affluent white families flocked to Atlanta’s existing private schools, and Tuggle saw an opportunity to capitalize on both the demand and the unrest. On Feb. 11, 1958, she chartered Pace Academy Inc., a for-profit corporation, and set about raising funds. Pace Academy opened its doors on Sept. 15 to 150 students in kindergarten through seventh grade.

The Board of Trustees would go on to fire Tuggle just months later, establish Pace as a nonprofit organization and hire FRANK D. KALEY as the school’s first headmaster. Kaley created the school’s identity and motto, To have the courage to strive for excellence.

Despite welcoming families of all faiths, Pace’s student body remained entirely white until 1966, when the Board voted unanimously to admit its first Black applicant, becoming one of the first Atlanta independent schools to integrate. Nevertheless, Pace’s early days as a segregationist white-flight school cannot be denied.

“Our school's history mirrors the painful past of our city,” Head of School FRED ASSAF and Board of Trustees Chair ELIZABETH CORRELL RICHARDS wrote to the Pace community on June 25 of this year. “We can no longer tolerate the trauma that this legacy brings to bear on our Black community. We hear the clarion call now, in 2020 and beyond, to focus on building equity by implementing antiracist policies and representative educational programming for the students entrusted to our care.”

JUDGE CLYDE L. REESE III ’76

ROSS BROWN ’07

BLACK ALUMNI LEAD THE WAY FOUNDED IN 2018, the Association of Black Pace Academy Alumni supports students of color at Pace and helps Black alumni engage with the school and fully embrace their alumni status.

In 2020, the group inaugurated the Clyde L. Reese III ’76 Award in honor of JUDGE CLYDE L. REESE III, one of Pace’s first Black graduates and a member of the Georgia Court of Appeals. To become involved in the Association of Black Alumni, please contact president ROSS BROWN ’07 at ABPAA@paceacademy.org.

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OMAR LÓPEZ THISMÓN FA C U LT Y S P O T L I G H T

by JILL RAWLS ’19

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his role as Pace Academy’s photographer and videographer, Digital Content Producer OMAR LÓPEZ THISMÓN brings key moments and stories to life, creating art that is attractive and compelling to both current and potential members of the Pace community.

However, López Thismón’s contribution to the school goes far beyond his digital content. Since his arrival at Pace in 2017, López

Thismón has made great efforts to discuss and lessen disparities that exist between different groups in the school community, and to make sure everyone’s voice is heard and honored.

López Thismón, originally from Puerto Rico, grew up in Miami and received a degree in broadcast journalism from Southern Adventist University in Collegedale, Tenn. Throughout college, López Thismón explored various visual arts, and ultimately found his passion: photography, videography and cinematography.

He explored this field during his first jobs at universities in California and Florida, trying his hand at producing and marketing. His first job at an independent school was as assistant creative director at Trinity Preparatory School in Orlando, where he worked when he saw the open position at Pace. He applied and received an interview, but it wasn’t until he had the chance to visit Pace that he seriously considered making the move to Atlanta.

His interview included numerous great conversations with current faculty members, including then Director of Diversity and Inclusion JOANNE BROWN, now chief equity and inclusion officer. López Thismón’s personal interest in fostering diversity inspired him to do a lot of reading to educate himself. “I had seen some really big disparities in education in terms of enrollment,” he says. “Students of color just really weren’t well-represented in independent schools and private universities.”

Because of his desire to lessen racial inequity, he was naturally excited about Brown’s work. When he was offered the job at Pace, he accepted without hesitation. “As it relates to the communications and marketing department, the job is really interesting, and it seemed like I could really have a lot of freedom to create and do things that I was really interested in,” he says. Regarding his devotion to encouraging inclusivity within the community, he adds, “[Pace] also seemed like a place where I could talk about things that I was really passionate about in terms of diversity and inclusion, and that those ideas and my experiences would be embraced and not just tolerated.”

After two years creating digital content for Pace’s Office of Communications, López

Thismón took on an additional role: Upper School diversity and inclusion coordinator, a new position at the school. This title did not mark the beginning of his dedication to cultivating diversity at Pace, however.

He had already been attending faculty diversity meetings and chaperoning students at diversity-related events, including the Tearing Down the Walls Conference and the Student Diversity Leadership Conference. He had also developed strong relationships with students, listening to stories and thinking about what Pace, and independent schools in general, can do to stop certain groups from feeling excluded.

“We cannot only do a better job of representing marginalized groups; we also have to do a better job of making sure [those groups] feel like they belong and that they don’t have to leave any parts of themselves outside of the campus once they’re enrolled,” he says.

López Thismón incorporates his passion for helping all students stay informed and included into his other roles at Pace. “In my photography and especially in my videos, I want to make sure that students who feel underrepresented at Pace—whether that is because of their race, or because of their sexual orientation or their gender identity—are included,” he says. “I want to make sure that they feel seen and represented.”

In the summer of 2018, López Thismón chaperoned an Isdell Center for Global Leadership study tour to France with Upper School history teacher CAITLIN TERRY. The two worked together to create an environment where conversations about equity would arise, adding tours through Paris to talk about immigrant groups and discussing nationalism and patriotism, to allow students to reflect on their own knowledge of and experiences with similar concepts in the United States.

While he notes that learning about the diversity-related injustices of the world and within the community is often heartbreaking, López Thismón says that he wouldn't trade this opportunity for anything. “The diversity and inclusion work at Pace right now is just so crucial. I’m really blessed and really excited that I’m in this position to amplify the voices that may have been silenced,” he says. l

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ALUMNI

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

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UPDATES [1] CINDY GAY JACOBY ’83 has launched DISCy Chicks, a podcast she hosts with her colleague Martha Forlines, a business coach and consultant. The program focuses on DISC, a leadership tool that measures Dominance, Influence, Steadiness and Compliance and helps users understand their behavioral styles while recognizing the styles of others.

Cindy believes that everyone should love their job and, eight years ago, founded BizHelp Consulting to work with leaders and teams on developing employee-engagement strategies and manager training.

Cindy has conducted leadership workshops for hundreds of teams using the DISC assessment. “The assessment is so simple to take and understand, and participants find it to be quite accurate,” Cindy says. “There are no bad styles, just differences. If you can master how to recognize the style of another person, you will be much more likely to have positive, productive interac-

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tions with them.” Learn more about Cindy’s work at www.bizhelpconsulting.com.

[2] JUSTIN ALLEN ’10 received a 2020 Emmy Award nomination for his work as a composer on the YouTube show Pillow Talk, an independent web series created by a predominantly African-American cast and crew. The nomination marks the first time that the Television Academy has recognized a web series in the Outstanding Music Direction and Composition category.

“I’m really excited to be a part of history!” Justin writes. “This was a prophetic moment for me and my mom. Years before I started creating music for film and television, she told me that I would go to the Emmys for this very reason. I know that our faith and our prayers for this opportunity played a huge role in being recognized on a national level. Prayer changes things, and Jesus is real.”

[3] Film and television producer ANDREW RILEY ’10 received two awards at the 42nd Annual Southeast Emmy Awards.

The Macon Sound, a 2018 GPB Original documentary he helped produce, won Best Historic Documentary at the 2019 Southeast Emmys. He also worked on Georgia Outdoors: The Rising Sea, which was nominated for a 2020 Southeast Emmy.

Andrew was featured on WABE, Atlanta’s National Public Radio station, for his work livestreaming concerts during the pandemic. His production and consulting company, The Doghouse Atlanta Channel, in partnership with Stanwood Studios, pulled off the first pandemic livestream concert on March 15. The event, called The New Wave Festival, included five bands, two DJs, yoga instruction and arts and crafts.

In March, Andrew premiered Now Dig This!, a music video/short film that he directed for InCrowd Recordings. “I haven't had a live in-person audience like that since

ALUMNI

Crossing characters acting out Hansel & Gretel will appeal to a broad audience.”

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my Pace days,” he writes of the Atlanta premiere. “I'd say I like it better than seeing viewing numbers on the livestream.”

[4] LARISA BAINTON ’12 graduated from the Eastman School of Music in 2016 with a Bachelor of Music and went on to earn a Master of Music from New England Conservatory this spring. This past summer, she founded an opera company, Due Donne Productions, with her colleague Celeste Pellegrino.

In response to the pandemic, they created an online rendition of the Hansel & Gretel opera by Engelbert Humperdinck, animated using Nintendo's Animal Crossing: New Horizons. This project was supported by a grant from the Entrepreneurial Musicianship department at New England Conservatory. “We believe this is the first opera to be performed through a video game,” writes Larisa. “We hope that the Animal

[5] After graduating from Vanderbilt University, KATIE WILLIAMSON ’14 joined Bain & Company's Atlanta office, where she has spent the past two years working with clients in a variety of industries. As Katie enters her senior associate consultant year this fall, she will participate in an externship with Accion Venture Lab, a seed-stage venture capital fund that invests in fintech for the financially underserved, primarily in emerging markets. Katie will split her time between investing and consulting work for some of the fund's portfolio companies.

She will return to Bain in December to finish her senior associate consultant year.

[6] DYLAN STEINFELD ’15 accepted a position at The Home Depot as an analyst in the company’s pricing strategy department. In this role, Dylan uses data to make strategic pricing decisions to help drive Home Depot's sales growth and profitability. This is Dylan's second stint at Home Depot, having previously worked as a finance intern while studying at Georgia Tech. He is excited for this new chapter in his career and looks forward to returning to the Smyrna, Ga., headquarters when things get back to normal.

[7] OWEN MONCINO ’16 graduated with honors from Texas Christian University’s Neeley School of Business. While at TCU, Owen was a four-year Division I diver in the Big 12 Conference. Following graduation, he accepted a position at Mary Kay Global as a material planner. “We provide procurement and planning services to our partners in order to meet product demands in a constantly evolving, competitive landscape,” Owen writes. “I coordinate various components needed to manufacture products accomplished through strategic supplier relationships.”

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ALUMNI

[8] TAYLOR UPCHURCH ’17 is spending the fall as an intern for The Carter Center in Atlanta, where she will work on the Peace Programs division’s Rule of Law team, helping people in developing countries access information from their governments. “This work helps citizens, especially women, make more informed decisions and take advantage of new opportunities,” Taylor writes.

“As a pre-law student studying history and politics, the internship is a perfect blend of my academic interests, experiences and interest in working with governmental transparency and constitutional rights.”

Taylor, a rising senior at New York University, will graduate in the spring of 2021 with a bachelor’s degree in political science and history and a minor in peace and conflict studies. Last year, Taylor was named a Dean’s Circle Scholar, earning a grant to research in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.

Upon returning to New York, she presented her findings at undergraduate and professional research conferences. Taylor is a member of Phi Alpha Theta National Honors Society and the NYU History Honors Program. She has remained on the Dean’s List for three consecutive years.

At NYU, Taylor served as the president of the Panhellenic Council, the largest social

and women’s organization on campus.

Elected as a sophomore, she became the youngest student to oversee the university’s sorority chapters and lead in the Student Government Assembly. She is a member of the Alpha Chapter of Delta Phi Epsilon. Taylor is also the chief of staff for the Sycamore Institute, an undergraduate policy think tank startup, and has designed sexual awareness and diversity programs for NYU’s Center for Student Life.

Over the past three years, Taylor has studied abroad in Israel, France and the United Arab Emirates. In Tel Aviv this past semester, Taylor taught a GED social studies course at the Schoolhouse, an adult refugee education center. “I was intimidated to teach in such a sensitive setting,” Taylor writes. “The experience made me especially grateful to Pace for showing me how passion can transform the way you teach material, especially history.” After graduation, Taylor hopes to attend law school.

[9] HARRIS GREENBAUM ’20 was accepted into the University of Georgia’s elite Redcoat Marching Band. Harris is a third-generation Redcoat; his mother and grandmother were also members.

“I will be playing the tenor saxophone,”

FACULTY & STAFF MILESTONES Second-grade teacher MARY PAT MCCALLUM and Associate Director of Middle and Upper School Admissions and Director of Financial Aid MAC MCCALLUM welcomed William Duncan on May 29, 2020. Duncan was 8 pounds and 20.25 inches.

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Harris writes. “The five-minute video audition took two months of preparation, and I recorded a dozen takes before submitting the best one. I wouldn't be in this position without the help of my grandparents, my parents, [former band instructor] JACK WALKER, [Upper School band director] DR. DANNY DOYLE and [strings instructor] NIRVANA SCOTT. I can't wait to watch some good UGA football! Go Dawgs!”

BIRTHS [10] MAGGIE HAGEDORN FITZGERALD ’01 and her husband, Brian, welcomed a healthy 9-pound baby boy, Martin “Marty” Alexander, on April 21, 2020. He joins older brothers Teddy, 5, and Ace, 3. The family lives in Atlanta.

[11] HALEY BRUMFIELD WESTERLUND ’03 and JEFF WESTERLUND ’98 had a son, Jack Grey, on April 28, 2020. Jack has four proud first-time aunts and uncles who are also Pace alumni: SINGER WESTERLUND HUGHES ’94, ANDREW HUGHES ’94, LACY WESTERLUND ’98 and SPENCER BRUMFIELD ’01.

ALUMNI

IN MEMORIAM

[13] RANDALL “RANDY” QUINTRELL, a longtime member of the Board of Trustees, passed away on July 23, 2020, following a battle with cancer.

Randy attended Clemson University on a baseball scholarship and was on the ACC All-Conference team that twice advanced to the College World Series; there he pitched 24 straight scoreless innings, a 25-year record. He graduated magna cum laude in 1977 and received his master’s in wildlife ecology from the University of Georgia’s Warnell School of Forest Resources. He received his J.D., magna cum laude, from the UGA School of Law and was a member of the Order of the Coif.

Randy built a 35-year career as an environmental lawyer and spent 30 years at Sutherland Asbill & Brennan, now Eversheds-Sutherland. He served as chief counsel for the Georgia Industrial Group, Georgia Construction Aggregates Association, Georgia Paper and Forest Products Association, the China Clay Producers Association and the Georgia Mining Association, which honored him with a Lifetime Achievement Award.

Randy’s peers selected him as a member of the Best Lawyers in America in the environmental area.

[12] SARAH HUGHES ’92 passed away on Dec. 7, 2019. Sarah is survived by her parents, STEVE HUGHES and NORA HUGHES; her sister, LAURA HUGHES POPPINK ’93; her boyfriend, James T. Glass; and many loving aunts, uncles and cousins. After graduating from Pace, Sarah earned a bachelor’s degree at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Sarah loved Boulder and worked there for several years at radio station KBCO. “Sarah loved her AA friends and appreciated their love and fellowship,” her family writes. “She also enjoyed the outdoors, traveling and animals, especially dogs. Sarah held a wide variety of jobs. She was known for her work ethic, her ability to connect with everyone and especially her kindness.”

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made to the SPCA or MARR Treatment Center, 275 W Pike Street, Lawrenceville, GA 30046.

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In addition to his service on the Board, Randy was co-president of Pace’s Parents Club and an active parent volunteer. “To say that Randy had an impact on the Pace community would be an incredible understatement,” says Head of School FRED ASSAF. “Whether he was up all night making boiled peanuts for the Fall Fair or helping the school navigate challenging agreements and contracts to plan for our future, Randy always gave Pace 110% of his effort.”

“A quiet and humble gentleman, Randy’s actions spoke volumes about his integrity, discipline and kindness,” his family writes.

“Randy was most content surrounded by loved ones and nature. He especially enjoyed time with his family and friends on Lake Blue Ridge.”

Randy is survived by the love of his life, former Middle School English teacher NANCY MURPHY QUINTRELL; his son, BAILEY QUINTRELL ’05 (Mary Ann); two daughters, ELISABETH QUINTRELL SWEENEY ’08 (Wyck) and CLAIRE QUINTRELL ’12; and one granddaughter.

In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to Emory’s Winship Cancer Institute. l

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ALUMNI

“He was a strong supporter of the school’s honor code, promoting academic excellence and the school’s activities. He was a cheerleader for faculty and students alike.”

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ALUMNI

REMEMBERING

George Kirkpatrick

GEORGE G. KIRKPATRICK, Pace Academy’s second headmaster, passed away on June 14 at the age of 84. A native of Nashville, Kirkpatrick graduated from Montgomery Bell Academy (MBA) and Vanderbilt University and served for nine years in the United States Marine Corps, attaining the rank of Captain. He worked briefly in business before beginning his career in education at MBA and moving on to serve as headmaster at Thornwood School for Girls, which merged with Darlington School in 1973.

Kirkpatrick arrived at Pace in 1971 with his wife, BELLE KIRKPATRICK, and their daughters, ANNABELLE KIRKPATRICK SOCHA ’77 and MARY SCOTT KIRKPATRICK VAUGHN ’81. During the search process, the Pace Board of Trustees came to understand that Kirkpatrick was a family man whose military background ensured that he would run a tight ship. That balance of warmth and structure, the Board believed, would help Pace maintain its family atmosphere while positioning the school for an era of change—and it did.

Kirkpatrick oversaw a period of unprecedented growth for the young school.

Over his 22 years at Pace, he spearheaded an addition to Bridges Hall, the former Upper School, and the acquisition of the Randall House, the Lower School’s former administrative building. The Fine Arts Center rose from the ground under his watch, and he made significant improvements to Pace’s athletic facilities. He also served as president of the Atlanta Area Association of Independent Schools and as a board member of the Southern Association and National Association of Independent Schools.

“George possessed unlimited energy and determination to meet challenges,” recalls former Upper School Principal BOB CHAMBERS. “He was committed to assisting Pace families in their times of sorrow and distress, which was most appreciated. He was a strong supporter of the school's honor code, promoting academic excellence and the schoolʼs activities. He was a cheerleader for faculty and students alike.”

Upon Kirkpatrick’s retirement in 1994, Pace officially named the Castle “Kirkpatrick Hall” in his honor, and every spring, the school awards the George G. Kirkpatrick Pace Knight Award to members of the senior class whose selfless contributions to the school demonstrate honor, dedication, exemplary attitude and loyalty.

Following his departure from Pace, Kirkpatrick founded the GGK Company, an educational consulting practice, and assisted more than 2,200 children in finding placement in day schools, colleges, boarding schools and special needs programs.

He retired a second time in 2014 and frequently stopped by Pace to say hello and visit the Belle Kirkpatrick Garden, which sits adjacent to the Inman Center and was named in honor of Kirkpatrick’s beloved wife of 53 years.

“George was an important part of my life, always making time to check in on me and on Pace, even during his retirement,” says Head of School FRED ASSAF. “I am grateful for George’s service to our school and his lasting legacy. He exemplified the heart and soul of what it means to be a Pace Knight.” l

Pace Academy’s second headmaster served the school for 22 years.

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In this unusual season, we need your support now more than ever. We are so grateful for your partnership in keeping Pace strong and prepared for the future.

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