The Sabre: Summer/Fall 2019

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SHINE

From Our Readers

So much happens at R-MA and with our alumni that our staff photographer cannot get to it all! Reader-submitted photos are highlighted in this section to give you a glimpse of life at R-MA. Have a photo you would like to send in for the next issue? Email a high-resolution file to sabre@rma.edu.

Congratulations to our medalists in the JMU Regional Science Fair! Payton Sullivan ’23 won a bronze medal in Environmental Science, Chichi Ogbuebile ’23 earned a bronze medal in Chemistry, and Shawn Starling ’23 was awarded a bronze medal in Chemistry. Photo by Dani Clingerman P’21.

Congratulations to the Middle School Girls’ Basketball Team on their championship win! See related story, page 27. Photo by Monica Kaufman P’23.

MSgt Stephen Pederson P’15, ‘17 captured this moment of the Upper School Career Fair held in April. Students were able to attend several sessions to learn more about various careers.

Ladies and Gentlemen,

Warm regards,

David C. Wesley Brigadier General, USAF, Retired President

The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

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From the President’s Desk

We’re putting the wraps on another great year for R-MA! Adding 27 students during the year helped to bolster our enrollment and several of those new students quickly became productive and successful members of our community. I am so proud of our faculty and staff because they’ve delivered on the promise of an R-MA education.

They’ve done more than that, they’ve given back to the Academy we love.

Working harder than ever, every single member of the team contributed to the Annual Fund this year (I’m told that has never happened before) and, thanks to many of you reading these words, our Advancement staff has completed one of the best fundraising years in R-MA history! YOUR role R-MA President Brig Gen David C. Wesley, USAF, on Giving Day 2019 was inspiring on so many levels...on a single day, more Retired, presents Corps Commander Fatoumata “Rana” donors participated and gave more money than normally comes in during Diallo ‘19 with the “Best All Around Cadet” Award an entire month! Thank you! during graduation week.

The result of all this effort? The Class of 2019 ranks among the best classes we’ve ever graduated...49 seniors and 8 Falcon Scholars accepted at 191 colleges and universities with $8.3M in scholarships…M.I.T., U.S. Naval Academy, Harvard, William & Mary, NYU, Syracuse, UVA, George Washington...the best college educations in the world, earned by R-MA grads through your support and the hard work of the faculty and staff... now moving into their 128th year. Just typing that sentence makes me proud. If you want a sense of what it was like to be in Melton Memorial Gym on that great Saturday in May, check out the Graduation Week events at: https://www.youtube.com/ user/RandolphMaconAcademy. I particularly recommend watching Cadet Noelle Kramer’s Valedictory Address and the Commencement Address by General Darren McDew, USAF (Ret). During graduation week, we also had the opportunity to say thanks to the Lewallen and Ezell families having, as a group, served the Academy for more than 100 years. You can see them receive the Pass in Review from the Corps of Cadets at the Final Parade...this was a powerful moment as well.

It is inspiring to see our students thrive and to reflect on the hard work of titans like the Lewallens and Ezells, but we continue to plan for the future as well. With the expansion of the Pre-Professional Pathways and the addition of a “J-Term,” excitement is in the atmosphere! If you have questions about what we’re doing or where we’re headed, I invite you to call me or a member of the senior staff...we’ll be glad to tell you. Or better yet, come visit us and reaquaint yourself with your alma mater! We will be happy to share stories about our back-to-back Virginia State Champs in drill (and #8 in the Nation); our choir’s selection to perform for the Governor and his wife at Christmas; our Conference Championships in Middle School Tennis, Middle School Boys’ and Girls’ Basketball (the first time any conference school has won both titles in a single season), and Girls’ Varsity Soccer; and about how, after having placed two teams in the top 10 spots for the National Semi-Finals of the Texas Instruments Coding Competition, one of R-MA’s teams was among the five finalists for the National Championship!

We’ve got our Virginia Association of Independent Schools (VAIS) accreditation coming up in 2020, and we’re working hard to prepare for that as well as readying our terrific Middle School to celebrate its 25th Anniversary next year. We’ll again host summer camps for the U.S. Marine Corps Cyber Camp and the U.S. Navy Sea Cadets, along with a host of athletic camps, so if you’re in the area, stop by The Hill and see all that is underway...including an exciting makeover that will convert our Upper School Library into a Learning Center. The Yellow Jackets are on the move...come and see us!

Rise Inside

Inside This Issue

Campus Happenings...................................................................3-4

The Power of Leadership Lewallens Ease Into Retirement....................................................... 5 A Most Genteel Leader: Jonathan Ezell............................................. 6 Valedictorian Noelle Kramer: From “Apology Cupcakes” to MIT......... 8 Four Different High Schools, One Graduation................................... 9 International Students Earn Aim High Awards................................10 Two Exceptional Leaders Join R-MA Board of Trustees......................10 Be RAD Today: Remembering Mr. Robert A. Davies.......................... 11 A Humble Man, Middle School Benefactor: Joe Mast ‘49...................12

The Power of Service

Students Volunteer for Hurricane Recovery Efforts in NC.................13

The Power of Giving Giving Day 2019: Mark it as a win!...................................................14 Parents’ Association Corner............................................................14

Homecoming Information Schedule.......................................................................................15

Registration Information...............................................................16

The Sabre

M a g a z i n e Summer-Fall 2019 | Volume 98 | Number 2 Published by the Office of Communications Editor: Celeste M. Brooks P’12,’21 Photography: Misti Walters Copy Editors: Clare M. Dame and Amy M. Harriman The Sabre is published twice a year for alumni/ae, parents, students, and friends of: Randolph-Macon Academy 200 Academy Drive | Front Royal, VA 22630 Phone: 540-636-5200 | Fax: 540-636-5419 www.RMA.edu | sabre@rma.edu On Facebook: Facebook.com/Randolph.Macon.Academy.VA On Twitter: @RandolphMaconA On YouTube: www.youtube.com/user/RandolphMaconAcademy On LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/company/randolph-macon-academy On Pinterest: pinterest.com/randolphmacon/ On Instagram: instagram.com/randolphmaconacademy/

Feature Articles

Class of 2019 Graduation Celebration............................................. 17 Preparing To Make Their Marks: 2019’s College Acceptances.............19 Middle Schoolers Talk About Grit................................................... 20 Engineering Team Advances to National Finals................................21 J-Term Will Offer a Different Academic Experience......................... 22 Excitement Mounts Over Library Renovations and New PPPs........... 23 Yellow Jackets Drill Team Repeats States, Add National Duet Championship to Accomplishments........................................... 24

The Power of Grit

Middle School Boys’ Basketball Team Cruises to Championship....... 26 Morgan Leads Middle School Girls to Victory...................................27 Middle School Tennis Back on Top................................................. 28 Varsity Soccer Takes DAC Title, Makes State Playoffs........................ 29

Rise Beyond

Class Notes................................................................................... 30 The Final Roll Call.........................................................................31

Randolph-Macon Academy admits persons of any race, gender, color, religion, nationality, and ethnic origin to all rights, privileges, programs, and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. R-MA does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, color, religion, or national or ethnic origin in administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

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Affiliated with the United Methodist Church

Board of Trustees RADM John D. Stufflebeem '70, Chairman Mr. John Simar ’68, Vice Chairman Mr. Harry G. Austin III ’75, Secretary Mr. Brian Bogart P’03, ‘07, Treasurer Dr. Bill Bersing ‘85 Mr. Joe Hadeed '84 Mr. Stuart Hester P'16 Ms. Lucy Williams Hooper Mr. Doug Huthwaite ’69 Ms. Patty Keenan Mr. George Mathias ’54 Ms. Pamela McInnis Ms. Lawrencia Pierce Ms. Katie Tewell ‘97, P’22 Ex-Officio Members Dr. Susan Gawalt P'14, '16, '20 Mr. Robert “Bo” Snitchler ’06 Dr. Rev. Steven Sumners

President Brig Gen David C. Wesley, USAF, Retired

R i se

INSIDE

Campus Happenings

Band Shows Off, Brings Home Honors Just as Virginia entered a deep freeze, the RandolphMacon Academy Band and Parade Unit headed to Florida on Thursday, January 31st​for a trip that combined fun in the Sunshine State with a performance at Universal Studios. After the performance, the 40 cadets enjoyed two days at Universal Studios and one day at Busch Gardens in Tampa Bay before heading back to Virginia.

At the Military School Band and Choir Festival held at New Mexico Military Institute in Roswell, NM, February 22-24, 2019, R-MA musicians won two awards. Connor Gamma ’20 won the Silver Medal for First Chair Flute/Piccolo in the Festival Concert Band, and Isabella Spencer ’21 received the Silver Medal for Outstanding Soprano in the Festival Choir.

R-MA’s band and parade unit marched with pride in the New York City St. Patrick’s Day Parade on March 17th, visiting the Intrepid Sea, Air, and Space Museum on the USS Intrepid aircraft carrier along the way.

The off-campus parade season ended with the Apple Blossom Festival in Winchester, VA, where the R-MA Band won Third Place Overall Band in both the Firefighters’ Parade on Friday, May 3rd, and the Grand Feature Parade on Saturday, May 4th. Junior Drum Major Jacob Gehly ’20 won First Place Overall Drum Major in the Firefighters’ Parade, which was held in the rain.

Middle School Champ Qualifies for State Competition Evan Sennott ’23 won this year’s school-level National Geographic Bee and subsequently qualified for the state-level competition.

A Fine Show Indeed On Sunday, April 28th, R-MA held its first Fine Arts Showcase, which included the annual spring performances by the band and chorus. Visitors to the early part of the showcase were able to browse through the impressive 2D and 3D artwork displays, graphic design displays, and robotic displays scattered throughout Melton Memorial Gymnasium. A few students even gave individual performances. All of the videos can be viewed on YouTube at bit.ly/R-MA_Arts2019.

In addition to the musical performances and art displays, the new R-MA chapter of the national Tri-M Honor Society inducted its first group of students.

Flight Program Celebrates Four Solos, Three Private Pilots The end of the year came in a rush with a flurry of solo flights and private pilot certifications. Jake Hannas FS’19 and Trevor Grigas FS’19 both soloed on Wednesday, April 17, 2019.

Jake achieved his private pilot certification on Saturday, May 11th and Trevor earned his on May 16th. Although briefly interrupted by a thunderstorm, Johnathan Ellis ’20 soloed on May 23rd with his proud mother watching at the Front Royal/ Warren County Airport.

In addition to these students, Lt Michael McElroy, USAF, the Falcon Scholars’ instructor for the first part of the year, flew his first solo on Friday, October 26th, and earned his private pilot certification on Thursday, January 17th, before leaving for his first active duty assignment.

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Campus Happenings

Ethan Mayo Selected for NSLI-Y

International Night Raises Funds for UNICEF On Monday, April 22nd, the R-MA family gathered for a popular fundraiser: International Night. Students, faculty, staff, and families created a diverse buffet of culinary delights, which were enjoyed by all in attendance. A fashion show completed the evening.

The event is hosted by the International Club each year to raise funds for UNICEF.

Leadership Symposium Challenges Students with Real-World Situations Randolph-Macon Academy’s second Leadership Symposium held on Saturday, April 13, 2019, brought more than 60 students from private and public schools to campus.

After the opening session that provided insight into the role of innovation in today’s world, the students broke into groups according to their topics of interest, choosing from Health Sciences, Military, Cyber/Computer Science, Aviation (Drone), Data Analytics, Engineering, and Non-Profit.

Organizer Mike Starling ‘88, P’19, ‘23, ‘24, commandant of R-MA and a retired Marine Corps lieutenant colonel, brought together seven outstanding facilitators who helped the students delve into the world of innovation and how leaders can use it to inspire those around them. The facilitators each gave an overview of innovation in their industry, then presented a problem statement, complicated by an ethical dilemma, for the students to solve. Throughout the challenge, students discussed specific leadership styles that promote innovation in particular industries as well as leadership requirements to create or sustain an innovative organizational culture. The groups came back together at the end to share their challenges and solutions with each other.

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Ethan Mayo ’21 has been selected to receive a 2019-20 National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y) scholarship to study Arabic in Amman, Jordan, for six weeks over the summer. The program includes approximately 120 hours of intensive language instruction as well as an immersive cultural experience.

Ethan’s family has lived in Saudi Arabia since he was four years old, when his father took a position with Saudi Aramco.

Ethan became fascinated with the culture and started taking Arabic in sixth grade. He has continued taking Arabic at R-MA via a virtual classroom.

NSLI-Y offers summer opportunities in Arabic, Chinese, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Persian (Tajiki), Russian, and Turkish. When Ethan applied to the NSLI-Y program, he chose which language he wanted to focus on, but the program’s administrators selected the country in which he would study.

NSLI-Y is administered by the U.S. Department of State, in cooperation with American Councils for International Education. One of the primary goals of the program is to develop a lifetime interest in foreign languages and cultures.

For more information about NSLI-Y, visit https://www. nsliforyouth.org/.

New Scholarship Opportunity for Rising Freshmen The Freshmen Rise Team Scholarship has been created to honor rising ninth grade scholars from R-MA Middle School.

Consideration was given to applicants with a minimum GPA of 3.5 and a good conduct record. Students chosen will receive priority dormitory roommate and room selection, priority course selection, and a $3,000 scholarship. Additionally, these students will participate in an Honors Seminar Course on problem solving, research opportunities, field experiences, and educational excursions. In order to continue in the program and receive the yearly scholarship funds throughout their high school career at R-MA, these students must continue to maintain the minimum GPA of 3.5 and remain good citizens of R-MA. The inaugural group to receive the Freshman Rise Team Scholarships includes Shawn Starling ‘23, Kaitlyn Morgan ‘23, Magdelana “Lena” Stefanos ‘23, Haozhe “Aiden” Guan ‘23, Shengwen “Owen” Wang ‘23, and Payton Sullivan ‘23.

T h e Po w e r o f

LEADERSHIP Lewallens Ease into Retirement

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

Janie Lewallen managed the R-MA bookstores with class and style for more than 30 years. This photo is from the 1991 yearbook.

The Power of Leadership

Within the solid walls of the basement in Sonner-Payne Hall, Robert and Janie Lewallan have served students, hauled boxes, conducted inventory, and pulled all-nighters to meet audit deadlines, most of which went unseen by most of the R-MA community. When they officially retire this summer, they might have to join a gym to keep up their level of physical activity, because it has kept them young for the last 33 years.

The couple arrived at R-MA when Bob—also known as Sergeant Lewallen and Coach—joined the Air Force Junior ROTC staff after retiring from the Air Force. He spent three years in that position, then became the Night Commandant during a time when there were no Cadet Life Supervisors in the dorms. After six years in that position, he switched to the job of Uniform Store Manager, a position he has held for 24 years.

Meanwhile, Janie went straight into the bookstore upon their arrival on campus. After a few years, she was managing both the Upper School and the Middle School bookstores. Upon completing 28 years as the Upper School bookstore manager, Janie cut back and managed only the Middle School store for three years, before stepping back from that position as well.

For the last two years, she and Bob have managed the uniform store together.

While the students knew them as the wise and friendly people who doled out the books and uniforms and other life-sustaining wares, much of what Bob and Janie did went

In addition to serving as an AFJROTC instructor, Night Commandant, and Uniform Store Manager over the last 33 years, Bob Lewallen was a successful baseball coach, guiding his teams to two championship titles.

unseen. Janie, for example, turned a small bookstore with an antiquated record system into a more modern student store.

“Bob and Janie love this place,” commented Upper School Academic Coordinator Christine Bennett P’08, who worked closely with the Lewallens while she was the Middle School Coordinator. “Bob and Janie showed me such a desire for teamwork and work ethic. They always strive to do the best work possible. Bob can be selling a pair of pants while at the same time mentoring a young man or lady in real life situations. Janie was maternal to all students and could be stacking boxes full of numerous heavy books, while still remaining wrinkle-free, with great hair and a smile. Janie is the epitome of a genteel lady who can work circles around anyone.”

Reflecting back over their careers, both of the Lewallens remember the 1995-96 school year as being their most challenging. That November, the infamous fire took down Sonner-Payne Hall. The bookstore and uniform store were left with eight inches of standing water and a decimated inventory. Just when it seemed they were finally recovering from that challenge, a hurricane came through the Shenandoah Valley during the first week of school in the fall of 1996, bringing with it unprecedented flooding. The computers See Lewallens, page 7 The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

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A Most

Genteel

Leader

Leaders Who Make a Difference

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications Each year, the R-MA faculty award one male and one female senior cadet the honor of “Most Genteel.” If they were to vote on who on the R-MA staff and faculty should receive an award with such a title, the winner would undoubtedly be R-MA Vice President Jonathan Ezell P’07, ’08.

“Jonathan is the kindest, most genteel man I have ever known,” said R-MA Middle School Admission Counselor Pam Cole P’06, ‘10. “He exemplifies all that R-MA stands for and has passed those attributes on to our students.”

“Dean” Ezell started out at R-MA more than 30 years ago, teaching ESL and upper level English courses. His colleagues recognized his talent in the classroom and voted him Teacher of the Year. Under his guidance, R-MA dominated the local level of the American Legion Speech Contest, with Kent Werner ‘97 eventually becoming a National Finalist. He sponsored the Chess Club, taking students to tournaments throughout the region, Maryland, and Pennsylvania. He and his wife, Lisa, were the sponsors for the Quiz Bowl team and the Bicycle Club; they also led two cultural enrichment trips to Italy with the students. Dean Ezell even started the Literary Magazine, Letters, which was eventually taken over by the late Robert Davies.

Throughout the years, he has served as the assistant coach for six different teams, from football and baseball to basketball and wrestling.

Dean Ezell advanced to become the English Department Chair, then became Principal of the new R-MA Middle School, with Mrs. Ezell serving as the Assistant Principal. There they developed cross-curricular, school-wide projects about the

Always setting the standard, a 1990 yearbook photo shows “Mr. Ezell” working on English assignments in the evening.

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solar system, flight, and the Egyptians. Some alumni will remember another one of their innovations, “Zellers,” the paper currency students could earn for being good citizens and then trade in for special snacks and items once each quarter.

This time at the Middle School was extremely special to Dean Ezell. “It was incredibly hard work at the Middle School with Ben [‘07] and Emily [‘08] being so young,” he said, “and we were taking Masters classes together and running a boarding school with 100-plus students, and the school was new to the community—a blank slate. But it was also incredibly rewarding to see the excellent projects and awards the teachers and students produced and achieved—and then watching them as seniors go to some of the most prestigious colleges and universities in the world.”

He moved on to become the Upper School Academic Dean in 1999, a position he held until January 2018, when he was again promoted, this time to Vice President. As Dean, he focused on elevating the drama and arts programs, enhancing the English program to give students a better base for communicating, and added many college and AP courses to the curriculum. He oversaw the hiring and implementation of a full-time college counselor, which led to a higher college acceptance rate to colleges that better fit the R-MA graduates.

He also served as the Honor Council Advisor for a time.

“When the Board of Trustees called on him to serve as Interim President in 2014, he ably kept R-MA on course during a challenging time,” said R-MA President David Wesley, USAF, Retired. “He has been incredibly helpful to me and should be afforded a place of honor on any list of the most important leaders in the Academy’s history.”

In looking back over his career, Dean Ezell observed, “What gave me the most pleasure was watching and being a part of a team that improved R-MA year by year by year for over thirty years. That is a lot of satisfaction. It was hard work. The advance was slow to begin with. It was incremental progress but steady and true. Being one of many who saw this upward trend and knowing that we were outstripping our competitors year by year gave me great satisfaction.”

Beyond the programs and his leadership, however, Dean Ezell has made a difference in the countless lives he has

of my time here at R-MA,” commented Christine Bennett P’08.

“What stands out about him is his consistent ability to always see the positive and to always remind others of that. Jonathan can see good in every person. He helped me grow by reminding me of these items and also to always be seeking to learn more and more each day. He values education in all facets and makes adults and students want to seek that as well. I will always remember him reminding me of a great quote: ‘Seek first to understand, then to be understood.’ This was a way that he was able to teach us from our weaknesses and to not belittle, but grow stronger and become a better person. His impact on so many students will live on forever.”

“I met Mr. Ezell during my first year on the Honor Council,” said Jacob Dodson ‘15. “We talked endlessly about class opportunities, Honor Council matters, college decisions, and life after R-MA. Mr. Ezell displayed a unique ability of respect and admiration in any conversation.

I distinctly remember conversations with him concerning Honor at R-MA and the difficult decisions that would shape the character of the Academy. Mr. Ezell looked towards the future, but always held great regard for the past. His commitment to honesty and honor was paramount. I remember unique philosophical discussions which would alter students’ understanding. Mr. Ezell’s knowledge, humility, and quiet strength are some of the qualities he has passed onto generations of R-MA students. Simply put, Mr. Ezell is the definition of a gentlemen and scholar.”

Jonathan and Lisa Ezell and Bob and Janie Lewallen (left to right, foreground) conduct the pass and review at the Final Parade on May 17, 2019.

Lewallens, continued from page 5 went down, and Bob and Janie had to hand-track every sale for the first week of school, then cross campus to enter their sales.

One service the pair couldn’t hid was their dedication to the baseball team and the number of hours they spent tending to both the players and the field while Bob was the head coach.

“When we went out there, they had only three benches on each side,” Bob recalled. The two worked to raise funds that went towards building storage onto the back of the dugouts, new equipment, uniforms, jackets, and the scoreboard. Bob even re-sodded the infield twice during his tenure. Along the way, they won two Virginia Independent School Championship titles.

The number of hours the Lewallens have put into R-MA over the past 33 years would be difficult to calculate, but it is not unrecognized. R-MA President Brig Gen David C. Wesley said, “Their combined service to the Nation and Academy over

the past 56 years is as inspiring to others as it is precious to all of us who work with them today. It is a primary reason for R-MA’s success and the driver behind more individual student success than can be counted.”

“Bob and Janie are the hardest working people I know,” said Middle School Admission Counselor Pam Cole P’06, ‘10. “They strive for excellence in all they do. They are organized, run a tight ship, enforce the rules, and hold the kids accountable. However, they were always there to listen and guide them as a parent would. They are both very kind and caring and would do anything for you. They are truly committed to R-MA, take their duties seriously, and have given back in so many ways over the years.”

Janie’s retirement became official on June 30th. Bob will retire later this summer. MSgt Stephen Pederson, USAF, Retired, P’13, ’15, will be the new Uniform Store Manager.

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Beloved Leaders

encountered, from students to adults.

“Dean Ezell was much more to me than just the academic dean or vice president during my years at R-MA,” said Ryan Latham ‘18. “He was a fantastic mentor. He always took the time to check his mentees’ grades and talk about our future plans with us individually. He helped me to start my college search and always encouraged me to explore. He showed such great generosity and kindness towards everyone he taught, mentored, and worked with. I will never forget visiting Dean Ezell’s house as a mentoring group where he and his lovely wife would cook us chili and open up their home for us to relax in.

Every encounter I’ve had with Dean Ezell ended with a smile and an encouraging handshake that showed how much he cared about me and always left me a little more cheerful than I was before.”

“I have been very fortunate to work with Jonathan for most

Valedictorian Noelle Kramer: From “Apology Cupcakes” to MIT

Leadership on Display

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications Driven, dynamic, and perfectionist might be the words one would use to describe this year’s valedictorian, Noelle Kramer. Or you might prefer drum major, actress, harpist, leader, scholar, athlete and...baker?

Noelle has been a percussion member of the band throughout her time at R-MA, and was the senior drum major this year. She has also been a member of the track and field team, the swim team, and the cross-country team, winning school awards in each of those sports. She is a member of the National Honor Society, the National English Honor Society (of which she was the Treasurer as well as the Alpha Readers Book Club President), the National German Honor Society, and the National Math Honor Society. She has won awards R-MA Class of 2019 Valedictorian Noelle Kramer hands an “apology cupcake” to at poetry slams and for submissions she made to Band Director Ed Richards during her graduation speech. Her speech may be viewed the school literary magazine, Letters. This year, at bit.ly/NK_R-MA. she was recognized as a Commended Student proceeded to hand those out to several teachers, including Dr. for the 2019 NMSQT (National Merit Scholarship Anthony Maranto.

Qualifying Test), and for earning a perfect score on the ACT. Before the graduation ceremony, Dr. Maranto stated During her senior year, she has worked at both Mountain Trails about the valedictorian, “Noelle is certainly among the top five and Down Home Comfort Bakery in Front Royal. students I have encountered over the past twenty-some years She’s been a little busy. of teaching. She is so intellectually curious and willing to take Even before earning recognition for any of that, however, on the most difficult challenges. Of course, it is one thing to Noelle became a familiar face on campus as she has been try many things, but quite another to stick with and master a regular talent on the stage since her arrival at R-MA. In them, but that’s what Noelle does. She seems to be everywheredescribing his first play working with her, assistant drama -singing, taking AP classes, drumming, acting, working instructor Brandon Sloan noted, “Noelle’s work ethic and downtown, playing harp, organizing community service, and enthusiasm for the project continually raised the bar for all of so on. She is not one to take the easy path.” us around her. The pressure she placed on herself, and the rest Noelle, who is going to attend MIT rather than Dr. of the cast, had us all holding our breath for the days and weeks Maranto’s alma mater of Harvard, said during her speech, leading up to the show’s opening.”

“I’m sorry that I didn’t tell you right away that I got into MIT, Mr. Sloan said that while he was concerned Noelle might and I’m sorry that I decided to go to school on the better side suffer a breakdown from the amount of pressure she was of Cambridge. I just really didn’t want to come out of college putting on herself, the opposite proved true. “Noelle proved addicted to sweater vests and khakis.” herself during that first performance, and time and again in Dr. Maranto laughed and accepted his cupcake graciously. the years to come, to be the inexhaustible sparkplug of our Later, he jokingly stated: “Of course, she can still go to Harvard program, constantly providing everyone with an indefatigable for graduate school.” source of positive energy from which to draw inspiration,” he On top of her stellar resume, Noelle learned this year that explained. even perfectionists can fail, but that just means you have to get And if her enthusiasm didn’t get her fellow students up and try again--and that shows she is truly ready for college. motivated, she would bring in baked goods to help do the job.

(For more about her story, see the article on page 17.)

During the graduation ceremony, Noelle once again produced some baked goods, which she called, “Apology cupcakes.” She

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Four Different High Schools, One Graduation

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

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Leadership Beyond the Classroom

At R-MA, Zach said, “I’ve learned to be a bit more outgoing when I’m meeting people for Coming into a new school the first time. Usually when I mid-year during your junior year get to a new school, I’m more of can be difficult, but when it’s an introvert until I get to know your fourth high school move, friends, and that’s when I’m a you have probably adapated to bit more outgoing. Since I’ve the challenges of adjusting to a been here, I’ve been able to go new environment, learning from up to strangers and start up a new teachers, and making new conversation, which I would not friends. Still, you don’t really have done a couple of years ago.” expect to be named salutatorian Naming another benefit from as Air Force dependent Zachary his time here, Zach added, “I’ve Lusson was this year. always been more of a person who “I didn’t think I was going to With his familiar smile, Zachary Lusson ‘19 shares his wants to try to figure out how to be in the running, because there thoughts with his classmates the day before graduation. His do something, rather than go ask.” are so many talented students speech is available online at bit.ly/ZL_R-MA. He said that has changed while at here,” Zach commented.

R-MA. “I’ve gone up to teachers Upon his arrival at R-MA, Zach became an integral part more and said, ‘Hey, I don’t get this.’” of the VA-091 Air Force Junior ROTC Drill Team, which won Learning to ask for help simply raised his teachers’ State Championship last year and this year, and also joined the appreciation of his intelligence and work ethic. US CyberPatriot Team, which made it into the top-level Platinum Government Teacher Brian Barbour described Zach as, “One of Tier in the state for the first time since R-MA began having a the most self-disciplined, dedicated, inquisitive, and congenial team. His habit of success seemed almost contagious. students I had the pleasure to teach this year. Zach is one of “Zach is always polite, respectful, and considerate,” those students that loves to learn. He was a student that always commented his drill team coach, TSgt Tina Laing, USAF, had questions as he wanted to take the information presented Retired. “He is truly genuine in his demeanor and it’s rare to and take it to the next level. He was a student that always had see a young man with such strong morals and values. Zach a smile on his face and would do whatever he could to help a is not only a gentleman, he is smart, creative, and raises the student that might be struggling with a concept or items being standard for his peers to emulate. Throughout the year I’ve covered or discussed. I will truly miss him as a student next witnessed Zach’s leadership skills when he took a stressful year and I know that he will do great things!” situation and changed the team’s mindset by creating a Zach ran track in his junior year, and tried golf his senior solution to their challenges. I could always count on Zach to year. He is a member of the National Honor Society and the find a solution while raising the standards!”

National German Honor Society. He plans to attend Virginia In spite of the challenging academics, for Zach, being Tech in the fall, majoring in Business Information Technology at R-MA has almost been “relaxing,” because he didn’t have or Computer Science. He is also considering going into the emotional stress of wondering if they were going to have cybersecurity as a career, which would take some creative to move suddenly during the school year. “It’s been a really planning at Tech, since the university does not offer that as a cool experience, because I’ve been able to meet kids from all major. So why choose VT? “I wanted a school with spirit,” he around the world, and I don’t think I’d ever get a chance to do said. “And I wanted a wide variety of things I could dip my toes that elsewhere,” he said. It might not be what you’d expect to into.” hear from a young man who had traveled the world with his Air Aside from the fun speech he gave at the Final Force family, but Zach explained that when they were stationed Awards Ceremony, Zach had a few pieces of advice for the overseas, he went to the school on the base, so he was always underclassmen: “Try your best. If you need help, ask for it. And with other American students. do your homework.”

Leading the Way

International Students Earn Aim High Awards This year’s Aim High Awards were presented to Jiseong Choi of South Korea and Yu “Sam” Bai of China.

Jiseong has been at R-MA since the sixth grade. He is a threesport athlete that leads both on the field, in the classrooms, and in the dorm. Throughout his R-MA Middle School career, Jiseong has consistently earned a spot on either the Principal’s or President’s List every quarter. He placed third in the annual speech contest held at the school in sixth grade and qualified for the regional science fair in eighth grade. He was secretary of the Interact Club in seventh grade, and he is currently a member of the National Junior Honor Society.

Jiseong has been an athletic standout. In his sixth-grade year, he tried wrestling as one of his sports, and earned the Most Improved Award. In his eighth-grade year, he earned the MVP Award in every sport he played: soccer, basketball, and golf.

Sam has been at R-MA for two years.

She is also a threesport athlete that has shown commitment both on the field and in the classroom. She was named to the Principal’s List for the first three quarters of seventh grade, and since the fourth quarter of seventh grade, she has been on the President’s List. She is a member of the National Junior Honor Society. She earned the MVP award in cross country in seventh grade, and the Coaches’ Award in eighth grade.

New Leaders Join Board of Trustees Four new board members have joined Randolph-Macon Academy’s Board of Trustees: Lawrencia C. Pierce, Esq., joined in February, Bill Bersing, DM, PE, CCM, ‘85 joined in April, and Katie Tewell ‘92, P’22 and Brian Bogart P’03, ’07 were elected in June.

Ms. Pierce is a graduate of Southern University and A&M College, as well as Southern University Law School in Baton Rouge, LA. An Air Force veteran who is committed to serving our military members, veterans, and their families, she is currently the Assistant Director for the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Insurance Service. Prior to joining VA Insurance Service, she served as the Deputy Director (Acting) for the Office of Transition Assistance and Economic Development, which reports directly to the Principal Deputy Under Secretary.

Ms. Pierce’s previous experience also includes serving as a Senior Policy Analyst and the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Officer with Loan Guaranty Service (LGY); the Chief of Interagency Coordination & Governance for the VA Transition Assistance Program (TAP); Deputy Secretary for the Maryland Department of Veterans Affairs; and as a Commissioner for Maryland State Veterans Home.

Bill Bersing, DM, PE, CCM, a 1985 graduate of R-MA, is an accomplished Senior Executive with more than 25 years of success across the energy, engineering, construction, security, IT, and government sectors. He has held leadership positions at companies such as the Institute for Program Solutions PC (IPS), Louis Berger, O’Brien Krietsbert (URS) and Jacobs Engineering. He is currently the President of IPS, a position he has held since 2011 (and previously held from 2003 to 2006).

Dr. Bersing holds a BS in Civil Engineering from Virginia Military Institute, an MiS in Management Information Systems from Bowie State University, and a DM in Organizational Leadership from the University of Phoenix. He has been a Board Member with the American Society of Civil Engineers Region 10 and is an Advisory Board Member with the International Resilience Center.

Meet our two newest board members, Ms. Katie Tewell ‘97, P’22 and Mr. Brian Bogart P’03, ‘07, in the next issue or on our website at www.RMA.edu.

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The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

BE RAD TODAY Remembering Mr. Robert A. Davies

Over the years, many alumni have returned and attributed their college success and/or their love of reading and their ability to analyze literature to this amazing teacher.

In tribute to him, students throughout the Academy posted “Be RAD Today” signs. In addition to “RAD” being his initials, Mr. Davies was known for saying “Be rad today,” to his students. In response to his passing, dozens of comments were posted on the R-MA Facebook page, many expressing the sentiment that he was not only a teacher, but a beloved mentor and friend.

R-MA President Brig Gen David Wesley noted, “For those of us privileged to have worked with him or studied under his leadership, this is a great loss. Bob was as kind as he was literate; as blessed with humor as he was demanding of our best performance. It is a rare thing to be able to teach young people with great skill; Bob Davies had that precious talent and used it for the benefit of all of us for a long time.”

Mr. Davies’ family has established a scholarship in his memory; it will be awarded this fall.

Younger alumni may not know that Mr. Davies was once upon a time the assistant softball coach. The photo on the left was taken with the 1998 softball team.

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Faculty & Staff Leaders

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications Amidst all the end-of-year celebrations, there was someone who was physically missing, though he was fondly remembered and mentioned often. On March 1, 2019, Mr. Bob Davies, the Chair of R-MA’s English Department and an R-MA icon for more than 24 years, passed away in Wilmington, NC, among family and friends.

Though a humble, quiet man, Mr. Davies was honored several times throughout his career. He was named R-MA’s Outstanding Teacher for 2000-2001 by the Parents’ Association, and was named to “Who’s Who Among America’s High School Teachers” for the same school year. He was selected as Teacher of the Quarter, 1st Quarter, for the 2005-2006 school year. He was again honored outside of R-MA when he was named an Educator of Distinction, an award presented by Dr. Claes Nobel of The National Society of High School Scholars (NSHSS), in both 2008 and 2009.

These honors were well-deserved, as Mr. Davies developed several innovative programs at R-MA that impacted the students in and out of the classroom. He took R-MA’s Literary Magazine Letters to a new level, and launched the Alpha Readers Book Club and the Community Reader program. He established the Byzantium Chapter of the National English Honor Society (NEHS) and served as its advisor, and he and the NEHS hosted the Poetry Slam each year. In addition, he created the Power English Program, in which students took two class periods of English from sixth grade through tenth grade.

In addition to all of these innovations, throughout his career Mr. Davies served as a mentor, Honor Council advisor, and the journalism intramural advisor. Mr. Davies was also a leader in the British Exchange program with Queen Elizabeth Grammar School.

A Humble Man, Middle School Benefactor: Joe Mast ‘49 Passes Away

A Quiet Leader

by Christine Meyer, Director of Advancement Middle School students entering Mast Hall pass by the bronze dedication plaque each day, perhaps not realizing that they have always had a champion.

Joe Mast ’49, an often-anonymous benefactor to Randolph-Macon Academy who funded R-MA Middle School, passed away on May 30, 2019 at the age of 87.

Among those honored in 2017 at R-MA’s 125th Anniversary Gala for donations totaling more than $1 million, Mr. Mast did not want to be highlighted during the ceremony.

“Joe was eternally grateful for the foundation the Academy gave him and wanted to pay it forward in any way possible,” said R-MA President Brig Gen David C. Wesley, USAF, Retired.

“His legacy lives on with each child who has passed through our Middle School over the past 24 years. His example of modesty, tenacity, and generosity have been an example to our students, faculty, and staff for more than seven decades. I will remember Joe as a quiet, kindly gentleman who loved his country and our Academy. He put action behind that love and, in so doing, improved the lives of hundreds of young people for the rest of their lives.”

Born on June 19, 1931, in Washington, DC, Joe began attending R-MA in the eighth grade. He later said that it was a decision that guided the rest of his life.

During his time at R-MA, he grew in confidence and leadership, so much that during his senior year, he was selected as Battalion Commander and was captain of the

football team. He attended Randolph-Macon College for 1 1/2 years and left college to join the U.S. Coast Guard, spending more than three years overseas in the South Pacific.

Joe met his wife Lois on a blind date and they were married September 3, 1955. Following his time in the Coast Guard, Joe attended George Washington University and graduated with a degree in mechanical engineering. He and Lois relocated to Toledo, OH, where he went to work for a local construction company. Building spec houses led him to form his own construction company. Commercial construction projects including fire stations, post offices, and apartment complexes were Joe's passion.

Joe was preceded in death by his wife, Lois; brother, David; and parents. He is survived by his children, Debbie Laycock, Kathy (Bob) Marquardt, and Jim (Shelly) Mast; his grandchildren, Mason, Paige, Laura, Bobby, Ryan, Justin, Braden, Alex, and Mackenzie; and his greatgrandchildren, Bobby and Leah.

The Middle School academic building, Mast Hall, is named after its benefactor, Joe Mast ‘49.

Above right, Joe and Lois Mast during Homecoming 1995, when Mast Hall was dedicated.

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The Po w e r o f

SERVICE

Students Volunteer for Hurricane Recovery Efforts in North Carolina

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

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Inspiring Students

While their peers were enjoying some downtime or visiting colleges, 16 R-MA students, along with six adult chaperones, spent most of their spring break at the Washington United Methodist Church Disaster Recovery Center in eastern North Carolina.

The group received some on-the-job training the first day.

The recovery center had been in operation since Hurricane Matthew in 2016 and was in need of a few repairs itself. The students stained decks and walled in a pavilion for supply storage; this conveniently gave them some training with the tools they would soon be using on someone’s home.

Belhaven, NC, where the students were assigned, was devastated by Hurricane Florence in September 2018, with most businesses and homes being impacted by the high flood waters. The R-MA group was the first one to work on the mobile home they went to. The woman who owned the trailer and her fifth-grade daughter had been out of their home for nearly six months. Because Belhaven is so susceptible to flooding, she had used the FEMA funds she received to lift the trailer higher

in hopes of preventing a similar disaster in the future, but the home still needed a lot of work.

“The flood waters were four feet high, so all the mobile homes in the area were severely damaged unless they were raised, which hers was not,” said R-MA Chaplain Joshua Orndorff, who organized and led the trip.

The group worked on skirting the outside of the mobile home and put in flood vents. They also built two 8x8 decks so later volunteers could get inside the trailer to work on flooring, insulation, and other repairs.

Unbeknownst to them, their hard work was being watched. On the last day they were there, the neighbors approached the group and asked for their help. The railing on their house stairs was damaged, resulting in a dangerous fall for an older gentleman. The R-MA group sent a crew over and repaired the railing on the stairs and around the porch.

“It was really neat for the students to realize that they were being watched,” commented Orndorff, “that how they acted and the work that was being done was being noticed in the community. So to be able to help another family while we were there was a blessing for the family, but also our students, to be able to serve, to help them out.”

“It kind of made it real that we were making a difference to someone,” explained Urenna Okoye ’20, who was one of the crew who went to work on the railings.

The week wasn’t all work for the students. They enjoyed s’mores around the fire, music, KanJam, Spikeball, and even a trip to the beach (which took place on a windy, rainy day, but the students enjoyed it anyway). On Tuesday evening, they met up with several R-MA alumni from the local area, who took them to a fishing club for dinner (photo on page 30).

Those who attend mission trips to help others often find that they themselves are the ones who are blessed. This trip was no exception. On the last evening, the group gathered around the fire for a simple yet meaningful ceremony.

“The most memorable moment for me is when my peers and I sat around the fire and shared many stories and burdens that we had weighing on our shoulders,” said Emma Faust ‘19.

“We exchanged vulnerability, trust, tears and understanding.”

Okoye also recounted that evening as being something she would always remember. “We wrote our burdens on paper, and we could speak them or not, then we put them in the fire and symbolically let go of them. Everyone was being so vulnerable.

I’ll always remember that.”

Th e Po w e r o f

GIVING

Giving Day 2019: Mark it as a win!

Making a Difference Through Giving

by R-MA Staff The inaugural Giving Day at R-MA was a huge success by any measure.

This 24-hour fundraising effort brought together alumni, parents, and friends in support of the Academy’s Annual Fund, to the tune of 236 donations totaling $63,273.

“Held in conjunction with the school’s 127th birthday, if we reached 127 donors on April 23, it would ‘unlock’ an anonymous gift of $10,000,” noted Christine Meyer, Director of Advancement.

“Our community enthusiastically responded to that challenge, and we handled more gifts in one day than we usually do in one month.”

Donations came from 24 states and Washington, DC, and 22 percent of the gifts came from first-time donors.

The campaign’s social media component featured Facebook posts highlighting various aspects of campus life, from the flight program to spiritual life, from Junior ROTC to academics. Those messages created dialogue across the generations, as alumni from the 1960s to the 2000s commented on their R-MA memories.

The R-MA media team, led by Josh Cline ’19, created a video that was a focal point of the campaign. Sent out to the entire community, the emails featuring this inspirational message brought in 1/3 of the day’s donations.

“R-MA Annual Fund is an important component of our budget because it funds programs that keep the Academy on the cutting edge,” Meyer added. “We are grateful for the wholehearted response to our inaugural campaign. Thank you!”

Watch for information about Giving Day 2020, which will be held on April 21, 2020.

THA NK YOU! 14

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Parents’ Association Corner The success of the Parents’ Association depends on committed volunteers. Thanks to a solid group of dedicated parents, the PA raised the funds needed to provide grants that improved the classroom experience, helped fund the Military Ball and various student life activities, and supported Middle School class trips during the 2018-19 school year. And that is just a small overview of the many ways in which they have impacted R-MA students this year!

Leading the PA for 2019-2020 will be the following parents: President: Susan J. Gawalt, MD P’14, ‘16, ’20 Secretary: Sherry Williams P’20 Upper School Representative: Mary Kim Waddell P’20 Middle School Representative: Sheryl Williams P’24 Save the dates for the following meetings during the rest of 2019! All meetings are held in Stan Fulton Hall Rm 104 at 5:00 p.m.

August 25 September 8 - New Parent Reception September 29 October 20 November 10 December 8 “We are seeking volunteers to assist in providing funding, supplies and support to the various programs for the students at Randolph Macon Academy,” said Gawalt. Interested parents may email her at sgawalt@pediatric-assoc.com.

WELCOME HOME. HOMECOMING 2019 OCTOBER 18-19

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 19 8:00am

Class of 1969 Presidential Breakfast Holiday Inn & Suites Brigadier General David Wesley, USAF, Retired hosts the Class of 1969 and their spouses/guests with a breakfast in honor of their 50th reunion.

9:00am - 4:00pm

Registration & Map Room Open Sonner-Payne Cross Hall Collect your registration packet, enjoy light refreshments and R-MA memorabilia, and vote on your favorite flight banner.

10:00 - 11:15am

Homecoming Memorial Parade Riddick Field

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 18 12:00 - 4:00pm

Registration & Map Room Open Sonner-Payne Cross Hall Check in and collect your registration packet, then enjoy light refreshments and R-MA memorabilia.

1:00 - 2:00pm

Campus Tour #1 Sonner-Payne Cross Hall Stops will include the Hadeed Innovation Lab, Melton Gym, Boggs Chapel, and the Middle School.

2:00 - 3:00pm

Campus Tour #2 Sonner-Payne Cross Hall Stops will include the new Hadeed Innovation Lab, Melton Gym, Boggs Chapel, and the Middle School.

6:00 - 9:00pm

Please feel free to visit the Memorial Wreath in the lobby of Melton Gym at any time during your visit.

11:30am

Alumni Association Meeting & Lunch Turner Hall Dining Room All alumni and guests are welcome to attend.

1:30 - 2:00pm

Ribbon Cutting at the Betty and David Moore '53 Enterprise and Leadership Lab Sonner-Payne Hall Join us as we unveil our newest learning space.

2:00 - 3:00pm

Hadeed Innovation Lab Open House Hadeed Innovation Lab, Stan Fulton Hall Visit our space dedicated to aerospace, robotics, computer science, graphic design, art, and more!

2:00pm

Homecoming Game Riddick Field

Celebration Dinner & Silent Auction

Cheer on the Yellow Jackets in the Homecoming game!

Bowling Green Country Club, North Clubhouse

4:30 - 5:30pm

Celebrate Homecoming 2019! This event will feature a buffet dinner and cash bar. Proceeds from the Alumni Association’s Silent Auction will support their programs and scholarship efforts. Dress for the evening is business casual.

Alumni Happy Hour Front Royal Brewing Company Visit with friends and faculty and enjoy light refreshments and a cash bar before heading out for dinner on your own downtown. Space for this event is limited; pre-register by October 11th.

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ACCOMMODATIONS

REGISTRATION

Book early! October is peak tourism season in the Shenandoah Valley, and space at area hotels is limited.

Visit www.rma.edu/homecoming to register or for more information.

Holiday Inn & Suites: 540-631-3050 For a discounted rate, call before Friday, September 20, ask for in-house reservations, and state that you are with the R-MA Homecoming group.

Hampton Inn: 540-635-1882 For a discounted rate, call before Wednesday, September 18, ask for in-house reservations, and state that you are with the R-MA Homecoming group.

Quality Inn: 540-635-3161 Super 8 Motel: 540-636-4888 TownPlace Suites (opening July 2019): 540-749-0033

QUESTIONS? Contact the Office of Advancement at 540-636-5343 or at advancement@rma.edu.

If you would like a printed registration form, please contact us at advancement@rma.edu or at 540-636-5343.

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION PARKING Friday Limited parking will be available in the lot between Sonner-Payne and Melton Gym. Overflow parking will be on the football practice field.

Saturday Parking will be on the practice football field. Only handicapped parking will be available on the "The Hill." Please contact us at advancement@rma.edu or at 540-636-5343 if you need handicapped parking, or display your state-issued permit.

SHUTTLE TRANSPORTATION On-Campus Shuttle The on-campus shuttle will run continuously on Saturday to get you from your car to events around campus.

Off-Campus Shuttle Complimentary transportation to/from the Quality Inn, Hampton Inn, and Holiday Inn & Suites for the Friday night Celebration Dinner & Silent Auction will be available by registration only. Please be sure to sign up if needed so we can be sure to provide enough seats for everyone.

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C LAS S O F 2019

GRADUATION CELEBRATION

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

Throughout the speeches and ceremonies of the graduation season, Randolph-Macon Academy’s 45 graduating seniors and eight Falcon Scholars were challenged to hold fast to their values. With 191 acceptances to 110 different colleges and universities, the class garnered over $5.1 million in college scholarships. In addition, all eight of the Falcon Scholars earned appointments to the U.S. Air Force Academy.

During the Baccalaureate Service on Thursday, May 16th, R-MA Chaplain Josh Orndorff had challenged the class with, “Remember who you are.” His words were a foreshadowing of the messages the graduating seniors would hear throughout the weekend.

During the graduation ceremony, valedictorian Noelle Kramer told her classmates, “If you don’t understand your goal now, that’s okay. That’s what the next years of your life are for. But be sure that while you seek to know your purpose, you never forget to understand yourself. Listen to what your own interests are, and know that a change of heart is never a failure.”

Noelle recounted the difficult personal time she had had during the second semester of her senior year. These struggles impacted her studies tremendously; she stopped participating in class, left assignments undone, and subsequently risked all she had worked for. “I forgot who I was and why I wanted to achieve in the first place. I didn’t care about my schoolwork,

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Graduation 2019

my health, my friends… All I could manage to do when I got home was sleep or watch Netflix. Naturally, my grades suffered as a consequence,” she confessed. “After running for miles and miles with the wind at my heels, I tripped and fell when I was yards away from the finish line. But it was only through the love and support that I have found here at R-MA that I was able to pick myself off the ground and make my way across at the end.” Thanks to that and the fact that she did rally to finish the year well, R-MA’s valedictorian will head off to MIT in the fall.

Guest speaker Gen Darren McDew, USAF, Retired, gave an engaging presentation that resonated with the students. Like Noelle, Gen McDew had researched speeches, and learned he should give the students a charge—and so he did. “My charge is simply, ‘Beware, decide, be,” he said. “Your story begins again today. You don’t have to have it all figured out yet, but you’ve got to understand who you are now, and most importantly who you’re not. And it’s okay to play around on the edges of that.

So beware of the tests. Most of you believe that your academic journey was where the tests were and where the test will be.

I’m here to tell you those are the easy ones. They’re the ones that, most of the time, are scheduled. They’re the ones that you get a letter grade for. They’re the ones that you can recover from. It’s life’s tests that are most damaging and challenging.

Be careful and beware that they’re coming. Someone will test your integrity. Someone will test your honor. Someone will test your core. Understand that test is coming and be ready for it.

You’ve been given all the foundation and tools you need to deal with it.”

Gen McDew then told the story of his first sortie. As a newbie, he read the training manual to refresh himself the night before the flight. Because he was prepared, he did well, and the first block of his reputation was laid. From there, he continued to build his reputation by ensuring he was prepared.

Gen Darren McDew, USAF, Retired, successfully entertained the audience with a quick wit and clever insights.

“That’s why I say, ‘Decide.’ Decide who you are,” he explained to the soon-to-be graduates. “Not forever, but what’s in your core. Many people in the world, some of the people you admire, know what right looks like, but they can’t live it.

Decide today you’re going to live it and then keep doing it. And the last part is ‘Be.’ Beware the test, decide who you want to be and then just be. And the ‘Be’ is ‘Be it every day.’ Be it when times are tough. Be it when it’s inconvenient. Every single day, be who you are at your core, and continue to get stronger.”

Woven throughout the weekend’s events were acknowledgements of the many successes of the school year, such as the Drill Team’s repeat state championship and the girls’ varsity soccer team championship. Also acknowledged was the fact that they were missing someone: the late Mr. Robert Davies, who had taught many of the graduates when they were freshmen and sophomores. Throughout the extreme ups and downs of the 2018-19 school year, the Class of 2019 bonded, and now, with a firm foundation, they move onto the next phase in life. For the eight Falcon Scholars, that is the US Air Force Academy. For one senior, that will mean enlisting in the military. The other 44 graduates will move onto colleges such as the The George Washington University, Penn State, Arizona State, Babson College, VMI, Virginia Tech, the U.S. Naval Academy, and other institutions.

Congratulations to the 2019 Falcon Scholars, all of whom earned appointments to the U.S. Air Force Academy: It’s a tradition: Nathan Sylvia ‘19 (above photo, on left) and Yuyang “Mike” Wang ‘19 (above right), along with Leanndra Morrison Greenhill (at right) show off their college selections with decorated hats.

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Frederick “James” Fees Trevor Grigas Jacob Hannas Caelan Johnson

Emma Jones Devin Ocana Alexandra Paxton Seth Rivera

Preparing to Make Their Marks: 2019’s College Acceptances

Tianyi Sun Babson College Bentley University UC Irvine University of Connecticut Fordham University George Washington Stony Brook University

The following list is incomplete, as some student names have been withheld. The first college listed in bold and italics is the college to which the student plans to matriculate. Due to space constraints, some colleges are listed by full name only the first time they appear. “Community College” is abbreviated as “CC.”

Hamid Elias James Madison University

Carolyn Laourdakis Virginia Tech

Norwich University Salem State University

University of Connecticut University of Kentucky University of Maryland, Baltimore County University of Pittsburgh University of Lynchburg Virginia Commonwealth University

Averett University Bowling Green State University Shenandoah University

Haya Alkazazi U.S. Naval Academy The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina University of Mississippi Norwich University Schreiner University Virginia Military Institute

Emma Faust Dabney S. Lancaster CC

Saad Almalik St. John’s University

Yuanhuan Feng Penn State

Marymount California University Marymount University Mount St. Mary’s University New England College Pasadena City College

Kieran Berigan DigiPen Institute of Technology

Arizona State University Drexel University University of Florida Indiana University at Bloomington University of Miami Michigan State University Rutgers University-New Brunswick Saint Louis University

Andrew Brock U.S. Air Force

Zhiyuan Gao Stony Brook University

Nathaniel Chichester Pennsylvania State University - Altoona

Logan Haithcox Old Dominion University

Norwich University West Virginia University Xavier University

Joshua Cline The George Washington University College of Charleston George Mason University University of North Texas Norwich University

Ashley Daniels North Shore CC Champlain College Manchester CC University of Massachusetts, Lowell Northern Essex CC Roger Williams University Southern New Hampshire University

Fatoumata Diallo Virginia Military Institute Hampton University Norwich University

Drexel University

Arcadia University Carlow University Mary Baldwin University Norfolk State University

Samuel Hess Northern Virginia CC Loudoun Campus Samson Jiya Penn State University of Denver George Washington Marymount University Mount St. Mary’s University Syracuse University

Noelle Kramer Massachusetts Institute of Technology Drexel University Harvard College Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Virginia Tech University of Virginia

Nathan Sylvia Virginia Military Institute Norwich University

Quinnlin Taylor Northern Virginia CC Annandale Campus

Jiajia Lin George Washington University of California, Irvine University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Lehigh University University of Maryland, College Park Penn State Rutgers University-New Brunswick St. Mary’s College of Maryland

Hong Li Liu George Mason University

Yuyang Wang Kings College, London University College London University of Leeds

In a new tradition this year, the Class of 2019 placed their handprints and signatures on and around a freshly painted “19” located on the retaining wall by the ramp leading to the basement area of Sonner-Payne Hall.

Yiming Liu University of Pittsburgh George Mason University Michigan State University Penn State Virginia Tech

Ian Mounts Bowling Green Norwich University The Ohio State University Wright State University

David Odey McMaster University

Ziwen Liu UC Irvine

University of Kentucky Penn State

Penn State

James Reeb New York University

Zachary Lusson Virginia Tech George Washington James Madison University St. Bonaventure University

Joseany Mbakassy Louisiana State University George Mason University Marymount University Mount St. Mary’s University

Shijie Mei Arizona State University Garrett Milo McDaniel College Mount Saint Mary’s University

Leanndra Morrison Greenhill Randolph College

University of Maine McDaniel College Pace University Seattle University The New School - All Divisions

Ziyang Song University of Manitoba Simon Fraser University

Caroline Starling Bridgewater College Averett University Delaware Valley University Post University St. Andrews University Wilson College

Nathan Stewart Virginia Military Institute

Di Wu University of California, Santa Barbara University of Connecticut Fordham University George Washington Penn State Syracuse University The Ohio State University University of Washington

Longjun Yang University of Pittsburgh Yi Yang George Washington Delong Zeng UC Irvine George Washington University of Minnesota, Twin Cities Penn State University of Washington

Dongfang Zhang UC Santa Barbara The Ohio State University

Junzhe Zhang New York University Yadi Zheng The University of Sheffield University of Dundee University of Stirling University of Surrey University of Sussex

Yiyi Zheng The Ohio State University University of Connecticut Penn State Syracuse University

The Citadel Norwich University

Guilford College

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College Acceptances

Arielle Alexis New England College

Middle Schoolers Talk About Grit

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

The Middle School Promotion Ceremony closed out the school year with awards recognitions, musical performances, and the

Middle School Promotion 2019

presentations of the promotion certificates to the eighth grade students. Following the tradition started last year, the Middle School academic staff chose one student, Kaitlyn Morgan ‘23, to speak to her classmates about the year that they had shared, and give some advice for the future.

Kate spoke of how much she initially looked forward to the independence of dorm life, but she quickly realized the discipline and the structure that were in place. Although she knows dorm life in college will be different, she felt that the selfKaitlyn Morgan ‘23 addresses her fellow students during the Middle School Awards & discipline she Promotion Ceremony. has learned and the experience of living away from home have already helped her prepare for being away from home in college.

“But the dorm is not the whole school,” she quickly added.

“Teachers here truly believe in you. If you have any trouble with anything, they’re here to guide you and be your voice when you feel like you do not have one.”

Kate went on to say, “Other than regular things that teachers have to teach us, like vocabulary, important times in history, challenging math equations, and even creativity, I’ve learned the true meaning behind grit this year. Grit: courage

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and resolve, strength of character. Every single one of our teachers teach us grit on a daily basis. Even the dorm staff is teaching us grit. They teach us to persevere and to keep our room clean, and it keeps us disciplined. In this school, grit is shown in many ways: in schoolwork, in sports, and even in personality. The teachers can tell if you don’t use all your effort in something and they will constantly be on you and help you to become above-average.”

Kate recounted the ultimate example of grit this school year, when the girls’ basketball team held on to win the Valley Middle School Conference championship. (See related story, page 27.) Throughout the year, and especially through the hard-fought basketball season, Kate developed new levels of friendships.

“Being at R-MA has taught me new views of teamwork and friendship. At R-MA, everyone has such a tight bond, that can’t be seen anywhere else. We make true friendships that can be for a season, a year, or hopefully a lifetime, but at least we cherish every single moment together.”

Kate closed out her speech by saying, “Ralph Waldo Emerson once said, ‘What lies behind us, what lies ahead of us, are small matters compared to what lies within us.’ This has great importance to me, because looking in the past to see what you could have done, or looking in the future of what you should be doing, can never have the same effect on you as what you’re doing in the present.”

This year’s two Aim High Award recipients were Yu Bai ‘23 and Jiseong Choi ‘23 (see page 10).

The 26 eighth graders received their certificates with pride, then proceeded onto the next major event in their young lives: the Pinkai Chen ‘23 was one of two soloists who summer before performed during the Middle School Awards & Promotion Ceremony. high school.

Engineering Team Advances to National Finals

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

When Ethan Park ‘22 was looking for a teacher to sponsor an Engineering Club, he didn’t really have an idea of what the group would be doing. Fortunately for him, Dr. Anthony The Power of Intellect

Maranto stepped up to sponsor the club and had just the right challenge: for the cadets to create projects for this year’s Texas Instruments Codes Contest. The cadets broke into two teams of three, with one making it into the top-five final round, and the other earning “Honorable Mention” for placing in the top seven.

“When I got the two emails that said both of R-MA’s teams made it to the semifinals I was happy, but when I read the emails and found out that only 10 teams nationally made it to the semifinals, I was very impressed,” said Dr. Maranto.

The challenge for this year’s TI contest was to “design a product that automates or optimizes a process or product related to food, then use coding and TI technology to build a model of the solution.” One R-MA team, led by Ethan, was called Robo-tastic. They constructed a box that keeps vegetables fresher for a longer period of time by killing bacteria with a bactericidal lab and adding humidity when it senses the humidity is low. The other two members of the team are Amy Lin ‘22 and Maxwell Yang ‘21.

“We’re measuring all these things, like temperature and humidity; we’re basically trying to control them. For example, we’re using Peltier plates to cool it down,” explained Ethan. “In your refrigerator are a lot of different things, like drinks, eggs.

Their favorable conditions are different than vegetables’. This is specialized for vegetables.” Robo-tastic finished in the top seven, earning an “Honorable Mention” award from the judges.

The other team, led by freshman Sean Waddell ‘22, was called Neptune Aeternum. They built a combination aquaponics/aquaculture device that will raise fish and grow plants while sensing water temperature and light and adjusting these levels. Masaru Mori ‘22 and Justin Meng ‘22 make up the rest of the team.

Masaru Mori ‘22 prepares to speak with WDVM reporter Ellie Williams about the Neptune Aeternum project, which was selected as a top five finalist.

“It’s for a DIY project, for small families, small homes,” said Sean. He said they were inspired by the idea of growing fresh, organic food for the R-MA dining hall. Neptune Aeternum was selected by the judges as one of the top five entries this year. The winner overall, Clever Composters from Illinois, was selected by public vote.

The R-MA students were pleased—if a bit surprised—with their placings. They knew that their ideas were sound and had real, practical applications, but they didn’t think they were anything extraordinary.

“When I found out we made the top ten, I was happy,” said Ethan. “I knew we put in the hard work. I knew the project was good, but I didn’t know what other people were doing.”

“I was personally surprised, because I thought that our group wasn’t doing that much creatively, because homegrown aquaponics are already a thing,” said Sean. But in this competition, the coding and how it is used in the physical solution are important factors in who moves forward.

TI sent each group a TI-84 Plus CE graphing calculator, a TI-Innovator Hub, TI-Innovator Accessory Packs, and a $50 Visa gift card for additional miscellaneous supplies. The two teams scrambled to complete the prototype and coding for their projects while also studying for final exams. “It [was] stressful, but rewarding and fun at the same time,” said Ethan.

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The Power of Innovation

J-Term will offer a Different academic experience

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

Imagine being back in school for a moment—ignoring all of the drama

Students browse through the curriculum fair to learn about elective offerings for the 2019-20 school year. A similar fair for J-Term electives will be held this fall.

and acne, of course. Just focus on the good parts. Imagine, as a student, having three weeks in the middle of the school year to take a break from the regular classes and explore a topic, learn a lifelong skill, participate in an internship, or take a trip overseas. It’s tempting enough to make you wish you could turn back the clock and give it a try, right?

This is what R-MA students will get to experience during the new January term, or “J-term,” as it is being called. In 2020, the students will have on-campus courses created and led by the R-MA teachers. Originally, 25 course concepts were submitted by the Upper School teachers, including: Building Winning Arguments in School and in Life; How to Get the Job You Want; Financial Education Made Easy; Unlocking Your Creative Potential; Adulting (practical life skills, etiquette and protocol); and Mind & Body. The Middle School teachers submitted their own suggestions, which included courses such as Primitive Survival, Interior Design, Debate, and Health Education.

This year is just the start. By 2021, Dean of Instructional Leadership and Innovation Tess Hegedus expects to have internship and overseas opportunities for upperclassmen.

“Our goals are simple,” she said. “We want to improve the educational quality of our students’ experience and we want

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to broaden the scope of topics our students can consider, as college and a career approach. We plan to offer seminar-style and experiential learning opportunities for students, beyond the current curriculum, to develop necessary career and life skills.”

R-MA prepares young people for college and beyond, in a holistic manner. The J-term offerings will add another dimension to each student’s education by providing additional opportunities to build 21st-century literacies (e.g., financial, civic, health, environmental) and cognitive capacities (e.g., systems thinking, entrepreneurship, cultural agility/global awareness, and critical thinking).

The inaugural J-term (January 6-24, 2020) will include oncampus course offerings Monday through Thursday and local excursions that tie to course objectives on two Fridays. The final Friday will culminate in a school-wide symposium, where students share what they have learned during their unique experiences through presentations and project showcases. The students will not have homework in the traditional sense during the three-week program; instead, they will be expected to work on projects for the culminating symposium or devote time to researching questions that arise in the courses.

“The J-term has the potential to differentiate us as a school, and our students as graduates, improving their chances to attend the college best suited to his or her talents,” said Dean Hegedus. “It will also allow our faculty to teach creatively and engage with students as systems thinkers and problem solvers.”

Approximately 16 offerings at the Upper School and six to eight at the Middle School are planned for the inaugural J-term. In the early fall, R-MA will host a course fair for students to explore and make their J-term selections.

Excitement Mounts Over Library Renovations and New Pre-Professional Pathways

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

With the upcoming addition of J-Term classes and a major renovation taking place this summer in the Garth Payne ’34 and Helen addition of another Pre-Professional Pathway (PPP), the R-MA academic program is not just moving forward, it’s skyrocketing upwards.

It all started last fall with the creation of the Hadeed Innovation Wing in Stan Fulton Hall. This integrated space featured robotics, computer programming, flight, engineering, art, and graphic design. It was the perfect area to support R-MA’s first Pre-Professional Pathway: Aeronautics, Technology & Engineering Design. The team of teachers—Ryan Koch and Marc Kramer of the flight department, art teacher Holly Thompson, and technology teacher Stephanie Wagner—moved easily from room to room to accomplish various aspects of projects. “For example, Ms. Wagner’s robotics students would go into the graphics lab to use CAD software,” said Dr. Tess Hegedus, Dean of Instructional Leadership and Innovation.

“They would create the 3D design, then build component parts of their robots using the 3D printer and/or the laser cutter.”

The drone program was expanded through a partnership with Brian Kelly of National Drone Services with an optional, in-depth class on Friday afternoons. Dr. Hegedus is hoping that partnership will continue to develop. “Drones are becoming a part of everything we do,” she observed, “in terms of cybersecurity, delivery systems, healthcare, construction mapping, cinematography, and so on.”

This collaboration and partnering is exactly what Dr. Hegedus had anticipated when she introduced the concept of the simulation labs at R-MA. The Hadeed Lab has been so well-received by the R-MA family that a second lab is being constructed this summer within the Garth Payne ’34 and Helen Cooper Payne Library.

Once a central hub to the campus, the R-MA library has slowly grown quiet as students began to do more and more research through online databases and on the Internet.

Though learning lab and tutorial sessions, along with the occasional online class, took place there, the room was otherwise woefully empty. R-MA Librarian & Media Specialist

The Garth Payne ‘34 and Helen Cooper Payne Library was prepped for renovations as soon as the school year concluded.

Elizabeth Rogers wasn’t satisfied with that, and neither was Dr. Hegedus. The opportunity of updating the library to a modern, active research space intersected perfectly with the need for a new collaborative learning hub for the next two PPPs: Leadership Dynamics and Global Entrepreneurship.

The library renovation will include moving the traditional bookshelf stacks, obtaining some low-level bookshelves to help open the space, and adding tables and chairs that provide a hub for collaboration and research. Retractable glass walls will create a learning studio, which will be named the Betty and Dave Moore ’53 Enterprise and Leadership Lab, in honor of two people who have been devout supporters of R-MA. The part that began before the school year ended was paring down the library’s collection, but while this is an emotionally difficult process for book lovers, it is logically simple: books that have never been checked out or research materials that have aged out are removed. In their place, Ms. Rogers will focus on bringing in books and databases that align more intentionally with the Academy’s PPPs—books on flight and leadership, and, in the future, health and human performance. The goal is for students to be so comfortable with research that it is completely natural for them to explore a question or an idea and engage their curiosity without being prompted by a school assignment.

“The library renovation is a way to bring us up to speed and also intentionally align what we’re doing educationally,” said Dr. Hegedus. “It’s going to be more than just a library. It’s going to be a place where people build knowledge and future possibilities.”

A ribbon-cutting and tour are planned during Homecoming.

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Moving to the Forefront

Cooper Payne Library that will support the

The Power of Camaraderie

Yellow Jackets Drill Team Repeat States, Add National Duet Championship to Accomplishments

Above, the R-MA Drill Team poses for their official photo during the AFJROTC National Drill Meet. At right, National Duet Champions Fatoumata “Rana” Diallo ‘19 and Gabriel Rivera ‘19 pose with their first-place medals.

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

It was an amazing year for the RandolphMacon Academy Air Force Junior ROTC VA-091 Drill Team, as the cadets successfully defended their state championship title and produced a strong showing on the national stage as well.

Though the timing is counter-intuitive, the Air Force Junior ROTC National Drill Meet came up on the calendar first. The R-MA drill team traveled to Dayton, OH, to compete

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at Wright State Nutter Center Arena on March 23, 2019.

Competing against 28 other teams, most of whom had been participating in Nationals for years, R-MA finished a respectable eighth place overall, with Cadet Captain Gabriel Rivera ’19 and Cadet Colonel Fatoumata “Rana” Diallo ‘19 placing first in the Duet Competition.

In addition to the first-place finish by Rivera and Diallo, Cadet Airman First Class Masaru Mori ’22 placed sixth out of 630 cadets in the Knockout Drill Competition. The Color Guard finished seventh, and Inspection Team finished eighth. Diallo earned tenth place in the Commander’s Trophy competition, and both Unarmed Regulation and Unarmed Exhibition claimed 13th place.

“Five years ago, we went to States for the first time, and we finished 18th out of 18 teams,” said TSgt Tina Laing, USAF, Retired, the drill team’s head coach. “I am very excited to go into this level of competition and finish so well. I am very, very proud of them.”

The road to Nationals was not easy. Many of the cadets were involved in other activities. That includes Rivera, who played varsity baseball and commanded one of the teams competing in the drill meet, and Diallo, who was the 2018-19 Corps Commander, played varsity soccer and acted as the commander for three of the drill teams. Laing explained that these two eventual National Champions were the only two

division of Nationals (the unarmed division), and they knew their armed drill performances were just as good, if not better. However, they also knew they had to bring their best performance, as the competition would be stiff, and the expectations, both at home and at the drill meet, were high. The R-MA cadets were especially concerned because this year, Chantilly was in the running for the championship title. (Last year their lack of exhibition teams kept them from qualifying, according to Laing.)

Their concern was justified, as Chantilly made a strong showing; both teams were holding their breath when the champions were announced. But overall, the Yellow Jackets placed first once again, giving them back-to-back State Championship titles! The Armed Exhibition Team and Color Guard Team both took first place. Armed Regulation took second and Inspection came in third. Unarmed Exhibition claimed fourth, and Unarmed Regulation took fifth.

Citlaly Sosa ‘20 was part of the Unarmed Exhibition Team, as well as the Commander of the Inspection Team and a member of the Unarmed Regulation Team. “You could feel the tension in the bus all the way until we were called up for our first event,” she said. “I could never forget how fast the room became silent once we (Unarmed Exhibition) stepped onto the drill floor. There was a point where I overheard students and other coaches talk about ‘this R-MA school who stopped the crowd.’ I am proud to be a Yellow Jacket!”

AFJROTC Adds Another Honor

During the Final Parade, it was announced that the R-MA’s VA-091 AFJROTC Unit had earned the Distinguished Unit Award for the 11th year in a row. This award recognizes VA-091 as being in the top third of all Air Force Junior ROTC units worldwide.

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Middle School Soccer

members who were on all five teams (Color Guard, Inspection, Unarmed Regulation, Unarmed Exhibition, and Duet) that R-MA entered into the competition. So on the Tuesday before the event, it didn’t seem as if Rivera and Diallo would even be entering the duet event.

“They led their teams, and they put every team before their duet,” Laing explained. “They kept saying, ‘We’ll get to that.’”

The two finally started prepping a few weeks before Nationals, but a few days before the event, they still hadn’t produced the type of routine Laing knew they were capable of.

She recruited TaJour Gadson ‘18 to help her motivate the two seniors. Laing, Gadson, Diallo, and Rivera spent two days reworking the entire duet routine. The result was astoundingly different from what they had on Tuesday morning. The judges were amazed by their chemistry; one wrote on the evaluation form “I would have thought you two were MTIs [Military Training Instructors].” In every other competition, the Jackets had finished perhaps three points ahead of the next competitor. Diallo and Rivera took first place by an impressive 24 points.

A month later, the R-MA Drill Team traveled to Atlee High School in Atlee, VA, for the 2019 Virginia Air Force Association JROTC State Drill Championship meet on April 27th.

The Yellow Jackets went in with confidence. They had taken eighth place overall while competing in just one

T h e Po w e r o f

GRIT

Your Yellow Jacket Sports Middle School Boys’ Basketball Team Cruises to Championship The Heart of R-MA Athletics

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications R-MA Middle School boys’ basketball team was very young in experience, with a starting line-up led by Jiseong Choi ’23 and Nnamdi Odom ’23, both only in their second year of basketball, and Patrick Brewer ‘23, who was in his first year playing organized basketball. However, raw talent and strong determination outweighed that inexperience. The team dominated the Valley Middle School Conference, winning both the season and tournament championship titles.

“Nnamdi and I had a goal to be champions this season, because last year we lost to Mountain View [Christian Academy] by one point,” said Choi. Frustrated by that close loss, the two of them, along with Brewer and anyone else who would join in, worked hard on improving their game, both during and outside of practice. They had a long way to go, as their second game demonstrated to them—they lost to Highland School by 20 points.

“At the beginning of the year, the whole team wasn’t working together as we did later on in the season,” said Brewer.

“Our only game that we lost against Highland, we weren’t communicating as much. As a team, you have to communicate to each other.”

“I feel like we came together as a team this year, not because of one person, because the whole team knew their job and we all played it,” commented Odom.

Coach Kyle Mackey saw the team dynamics slip into place in January. “I knew [we had a chance at the championship] when the new year began, when we went to St. Joe’s and we beat them,” Coach Mackey said. “I said, ‘Oh, we’ve got something.’”

Mackey credited the players’ hard work as the primary reason for the season’s success. He explained that the newer players would often get a rebound, but immediately look to throw the ball rather than dribble, so in January, he set his team to doing dribble drills over and over. By the end of the season, all of his players, even the sixth graders, were dribbling up and down the court. “The game is about dribbling,” he said.

“Everybody should know how to bring the ball down the court, nobody should be afraid. No one was afraid by the end of the year, of anything. They stepped up, all of them, as a team.”

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Their fast style of play, their depth, and their intimidating defense made a recipe for success.

Spirits and expectations high, the team didn’t fool around during the first quarter of the championship home game against Chelsea Academy, as they quickly gained the lead and finished the first quarter 16-6. In the spirit of sportsmanship and because he wanted all of his players to share in the experience, win or lose, Mackey pulled four of his five starters at the start of the second quarter, soon followed by the fifth starter. When the half was called, Chelsea had closed the lead slightly, to 22-16.

During the third quarter, though the score fluxuated, R-MA never lost the lead. Soon Chelsea was lagging by ten points again. When Odom went down and had to sit out for a while, Chelsea surged back and suddenly, at the start of the fourth quarter, the score was 30-27. That was the closest Chelsea got to the Yellow Jackets as several starters returned to the court, and Chelsea was called for a technical foul. At the end of the game, the score was 43-37—and every single player on the R-MA team had gotten to play.

Morgan Leads Middle School Girls to Victory

by Celeste M. Brooks, P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

Starter Peyton Kaufman ‘23 heads for a score in a home game.

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Middle School Achievements

The Middle School girls’ basketball team players had no idea they would be the eventual Valley Middle School Conference (VMSC) Basketball Tournament Champions.

“When we first practiced, I thought, ‘Okay, we’re not terrible,’” Kaitlyn Morgan ‘23 said.

They won their first game easily, and continued to win.

Then they went to St. Joe’s in Martinsburg, WV. As any VMSC player will tell you, St. Joe’s is a tough venue. It’s a long trip, St. Joe’s is a physical team, and the home crowd is raucous.

“We were winning the whole game, then at the end they came back and beat us by two points,” Morgan remembered.

“That was very devastating.”

It was also very motivating. It was the girls’ only loss of the season, and every game for the rest of the season was played with one goal in mind: to become good enough to beat St. Joe’s.

The girls continued to win, with a mid-season highlight coming in the form of the Foxcroft Think Pink Tournament held on January 12th. The girls played three games back to back, but won easily--so easily, in fact, that the R-MA coach, Ms. K, had to tell her top three players--Morgan, Peyton Kaufman ‘23, and Chichi Ogbuebile ‘23--to stop scoring, or pull them completely.

But although they prepared as best they could, and they rolled through the tournament to earn their spot in the championship game to be held at St. Joe’s, the last few days leading up to that championship threw challenges at the young athletes. The game was originally scheduled for Friday, February 8th. St. Joe’s coach had a prior commitment, so the game was moved to Monday, February 11th. A round of bad weather cancelled St. Joe’s classes, and the game was moved once more, this time to Wednesday, February 13th.

The R-MA team left early enough to allow plenty of time to warm-up at St. Joe’s, but a traffic snarl on I-81 caused a delay, and the girls hurried in with only ten minutes to spare before tip-off. (In fact, Ms. K had her players put on their shoes while they were still on the bus!) The girls did a quick stretch routine and lay-up line, but that was all they were allowed, as Ms. K’s request for additional warm-up time was denied.

Though they were prepared, the girls candidly admit they were scared during the game. “Everybody was praying during the game,” Jorina Vamboi ‘24 said. “When the girls were taking their foul shots, everybody was praying so much.”

“Everytime I had to take a foul shot, I literally bowed my head and started praying,” agreed Morgan. “You can ask Ms. K; I usually miss my foul shots.” But not during this all-important game. This time, Morgan came through for her team and made

every foul shot except for one.

At halftime, the girls were surprised to see that they were up by five points.

During the second half, however, St. Joe’s again fought for a comeback, threatening a repeat of the regular season game.

They even took the lead after one of their players made two foul shots in a row with only 15 seconds left on the clock.

“I did what Ms. K taught me,” said Morgan. “Check in for the ball, then leave and sprint. Peyton, with her mighty softball arm, chucked it.” Morgan caught the ball, but the girl guarding her prevented her from doing a lay-up, so instead she tried a reverse lay-up, which she had struggled with in practices. This time, however, she made it, putting R-MA back up on top by one point. A St. Joe’s player took the ball up the court, took her shot and missed; Vamboi got the rebound. The referee blew the whistle, and the girls stopped their play, thinking he was calling a foul.

“You ever hear in a movie, where they literally slow it down, and you hear the beating of the heart in the background?” Morgan asked. “And you’re moving your head, and you’re moving slowly? That’s literally what it felt like. The boys were just spewing onto the court.”

“We were like, ‘What’s happening?’ And then we looked at the clock,” interjected Vamboi.

“I look at the clock,” continued Morgan. “Zero-point-zero.

Score of 31 to 30.” The girls were then mobbed by the boys, who were yelling and jumping with excitement.

“Everybody who came up, I gave them a hug, I didn’t care who it was,” Kaufman said. “I started crying. It was so great. I was so happy.”

Middle School Tennis Back on Top

The Grit to Succeed

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications An experienced returning core gave R-MA Middle School Tennis Coach Howard Walters what he needed to build a strong tennis team this year. Still, he had no reason to expect the team to go undefeated and sweep both the season and tournament championship titles in the Valley Middle School Conference. But they did.

“When we beat St. Joe’s at their place, I thought, ‘Oh! We might have a decent season this year,’” Coach Walters said.

“We’d already beat Sacred Heart and Chelsea once.”

“This year, at first, people weren’t that good and we were worried,” confessed Sheila Xu ‘24, whose position varied from three to five during the season. “But then people worked really hard and they improved a lot.”

Once R-MA had defeated each of the other conference teams one time, the matches became a coach’s game.

Normally, the strongest player plays at position one, the second at two, etc. With R-MA being the team to beat, the coaches in the conference began adjusting Henry Scott ‘23 takes a swing during practice. their line-ups to try to figure out a way to win. The Yellow Jackets’ perfect team record, however, wasn’t threatened by the changes in line-ups on other teams. It was the weather that almost did them in.

The Yellow Jackets had defeated Sacred Heart 5-2 at home the first time the two teams played, but the second time, as they were heading to Winchester, it rained, forcing the match indoors. “My kids had never played inside,” said Coach Walters. “Now you play tennis inside, it’s a whole different dynamic. The ball travels differently inside.” The R-MA team won three of the five singles matches, and only had to win one doubles to take the overall match. The first doubles team lost, bringing it down to the number two doubles team: team cocaptain Henry Scott ‘23 and Sam Chen ‘23.

It’s important to note at this point that the two pairs had previously played in an exhibition match, which only goes to

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four points. A regular match goes to six. From across the court, Coach Walters watched his final doubles team. As Henry came off the court, his posture dejected, Coach Walters asked the score. “4-2,” Henry replied. “No!” exclaimed Coach Walters.

“The match isn’t over!” The players returned to the court, reinvigorated, and won their match 7-5, giving R-MA the overall victory by a score of 4-3.

The Yellow Jackets continued to work hard throughout the season, playing tennis with each other or other students during their free time, and the extra practice reflected in their skills set. That continued improvement enabled them to roll through victory after victory, ending with the championship game in which they defeated Chelsea Academy on May 2, 2019.

Delaney Athletic Conference Honors Girls’ Basketball Taylor Wreath ’20, 1st Team Margaret Acquaah ’20, 1st Team Boys’ Basketball Quinnlin Taylor ’19, 2nd Team Girls’ Soccer Margaret Acquaah ’20, 1st Team Fatoumata “Rana” Diallo ’19, 1st Team Cecilia Paredes ‘22, 1st Team Abigail Stewart ‘21, 1st Team Sophia Wagner ‘23, 1st Team Baseball Jonathan Bunker ’20, 1st Team Tennis J.J. Banek-Gabelle ’21, 1st Team David Li ’21, 1st Team Golf Connor Gamma ‘20, 1st Team (Qualified for State Tournament as well) Ian Mounts ’19, 1st Team

All-State Honors Wrestling A.J. Sullivan ’20, All-State, 2nd Team Soccer Fatoumata “Rana” Diallo ’19, All-State, 2nd Team

Varsity Soccer Takes DAC Title, Makes State Playoffs

by Celeste M. Brooks P’12, ’21, Director of Communications

MVP Maggie Acquaah ‘20 looks to pass the ball.

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Powering through to States

When the R-MA girls’ varsity soccer won against Fredericksburg Academy by a score of 1-0 in their first game of the season, Head Coach Brandy Hudson took it as a good sign.

“I felt there’s definitely opportunity here, because Fredericksburg Academy is in a higher division within the DAC, but I knew it would be a challenge,” she said.

The team benefited from the core group of long-standing veterans such as Josey Mbakassy ‘19, who has been a part of the team since her eighth grade year. A talented group of newcomers bolstered the team to the point where Coach Hudson had trouble naming outstanding individuals, because her bench was so deep. In fact, five of the girls were recognized for being named First Team, All-Conference within the Delaney Athletic Conference: Rana Diallo ‘19 (the powerhouse defensive player who was also named R-MA’s MVP), Sophia Wagner ‘23 (who was also honored with the R-MA Coach’s Award), Maggie Acquaah ‘20, Cecilia Paredes ‘22, and Abigail Stewart ‘21. The Yellow Jackets had more All-Conference players than any other team in the conference.

Going into the DAC Tournament week, the Yellow Jackets were seeded at #2. “When we played Foxcroft in the semi-final on Thursday, I just felt, ‘They’re peaking right now. This is it, they’ve come so far,’” said Coach Hudson. “I felt like I had found all the correct positions everyone should be in.”

After defeating Foxcroft 2-0, R-MA went on to play Tandem Friends at home in the Championship on Friday, May

10th. Coach Hudson was worried. Tandem, the number four seed, had won their quarterfinal and semifinal games, the latter against the number one seed. They had the momentum.

Although R-MA had beaten them during the regular season, it was a nail-biter score of 3-2.

That knowledge kept Coach Hudson and her team on edge.

“At halftime, it was two-nothing, but that’s a very dangerous place to be,” she said. “When we played them at their place, we were down one-nothing, and then we tied it one-one, then we went up two to one, then we went up three to one. Then they scored right away, it was three to two. So you just don’t know.”

When the score remained at 0-0 about ten minutes into the game, Maggie Acquaah ‘20, who had scored both goals in the game against Foxcroft the day before, was already thinking ahead to the end, wondering if they were going to end up deciding the championship by PKs (penalty kicks). So when she went for the first goal, she put the pressure on herself. “I was thinking, ‘I gotta do this, I gotta get this goal right now,’” she recalled later. “That’s when I fell. I was right by the goal and I kicked it, and I fell. I didn’t know if it went in, I was just looking up. And that’s when I heard the crowd go crazy.”

Maggie’s shot had indeed gone in, and she managed a second goal before halftime. When Maggie put in her third goal of the game, Coach Hudson breathed a slight sigh of relief, but she recognized that Tandem was determined to score, and that kept her from completely relaxing. Her worry was needless.

The Yellow Jackets won the game 3-0.

Having the home field advantage definitely helped keep the momentum going in the Yellow Jackets’ direction, according to Maggie. “When you score, or do something that makes an effect in the game, the crowd goes crazy. Knowing that you have your friends that you go to class with, and your closest peers with you, that they support you and they’re cheering you on, it makes it ten times better,” she said. “The energy is so different. It’s positive regardless of if you miss the shot or you make a bad pass. You have more than just your team to fall back on after.”

The girls’ season wasn’t over with the DAC win. For the past ten years, Coach Hudson has had a personal objective of getting her girls’ team into the VISAA (Virginia Independent School Athletic Association) State Tournament. For the first time, the Yellow Jackets earned that honor, with a ranking of #11 in the state. Though they lost in the first round to North Cross School in Roanoke, Coach Hudson is hopeful that the strong core of returning players will earn another trip to the State Tournament next year. With her leadership as a coach, they have a good chance of doing so.

R i se

Beyond

Class Notes

Alumni News & Class Notes Have news to share with your classmates and the Academy? Email it to alumni@ rma.edu for inclusion in the monthly enewsletter, The Dome Dispatch, and the next issue of The Sabre.

Congratulations!

George McIntyre ‘69 and Katie Tewell ‘97, owners of The Apple House Restaurant in Linden, VA, were honored at “An Evening With Our Community Stars” hosted by the Community Foundation of the Northern Shenandoah Valley in January.

1950s Warren Cobb ‘53 shared that he has retired after 35 years as a branch claim manager with Virginia Mutual Insurance Company in Salisbury, NC. He now lives in Concord, NC with his wife, Joey.

Benjamin Oswald, Jr. ‘53 has

Supporting Our Serving Students Over R-MA’s Spring Break, 22 students and faculty journeyed to Washington, NC, to assist in Hurricane Florence recovery through a United Methodist Church program.

The group worked on a mobile home affected by the flooding, building two 8x8 decks and installing skirting. R-MA chaplain Josh Orndorff shared that they felt “extremely blessed by alumni Dick Leach ’63, Mac Jones ’70, and Tracey and Harold Robinson ’68, who provided a cookout for our team at the Tranters Creek Herring Club. The trip was a life-changing experience for our students as they were a ‘city on a hill.’” (See related story, page 13.)

published his eleventh book, Ghost Haven. His brief description: “Ghost Haven is an abandoned hotel deep in the Florida scrub that hosts untethered ghosts who are tired of roaming alone.

The guests enjoy exploring the scrub and talking with the animals and protecting the haven from being discovered by treasure hunters. Not all is harmonious, however...ghosts can be contentious.”

1960s William “Bill” Barker ‘60 was

John Boyd Carroll ‘57 and his wife Carol will be celebrating their 60th wedding anniversary on February 19. They have two children, three grandchildren, and seven greatgrandchildren, and live in Chester, VA.

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The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

presented with the 2018 Air Force Space and Missile Pioneers Award on August 28, 2018. This award honors individuals for their lasting and significant contributions to Air Force Space and Missile programs and includes induction into the Air Force Space and Missile Hall of Fame. Bill is best known for his expertise in astrodynamics. His career highlights include advising the Air Force on NASA’s Skylab reentry in 1979. In 1997, he was instrumental in developing a collision avoidance system to support the launch of NASA’s Cassini spacecraft

name of Sigma Chi. Dave also met up with Mike Shankle ‘74 and Cathy and Lt. Col. Tim Benson ‘74, USAF, in Denver, CO, in November 2018.

1970s

Mark Jennings ‘76 retired after serving 40 years in the US Navy, the US Army, and the Rhode Island National Guard. He deployed three times as Medi-Vac pilot to Iraq, Afghanistan, and Kuwait.

Class Notes

1980s to Saturn. He also oversaw development and deployment of the Astrodynamics Support Workstation and High Accuracy Catalogue to support collision assessments at the Air Force Joint Space Operations Center. In 2007, Bill was inducted in to the Virginia Polytechnic Institute Academy of Engineering Excellence, one of only 61 alumni of the more than 45,000 living graduates to be selected for that honor. In 2017, he retired from Omitron, Inc. after 17 years with the title and duties of Chief Scientist for Astrodynamics. He and his wife Nancy now reside in Oro Valley, AZ.

Dixon Whitworth ‘62 was named 2018 Citizen of the Year by the Top of Virginia Regional Chamber during their annual Greater Good Awards and Membership Meeting in January 2019.

Charles Collins ‘66 reports that he recently visited Cairo, Egypt and Santorini, Greece. Next stops on his travels will include Rome, Paris, and Madrid.

Scarlett Kibler ‘89, past president Major General Dave Puster ‘75, US Army, Retired, was awarded Sigma Chi Fraternity’s 2019 Significant Sig Award. The award is one of the Fraternity’s highest honors and recognizes those alumni members whose achievements in their fields of endeavor have brought honor and prestige to the

of the Alumni Association Board of Directors, completed her Masters degree in Educational Leadership at George Mason University in December 2018.

She currently works as a STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) teacher in Winchester, VA.

The Final Roll Call The following members of the R-MA family have passed away since the last issue of The Sabre. They are greatly missed, but they will remain in our hearts forever.

Alumni Roscoe H. Turlington ‘41 March 9, 2019

James E. McGee, III ‘65 December 22, 2018

Paul A. Schrader ‘46 March 8, 2019

John R. Moncure ‘66 April 9, 2019

Hunter M. Jones, Jr. ‘48 March 22, 2019

George W. Kane, III ‘68 March 21, 2019

Joseph M. Mast ‘49 May 30, 2019

William M. Leptich ‘69 February 9, 2017

Kenneth C. Snow ‘51 February 18, 2019

Michael Kinfu ‘88 March 5, 2019

Robert Maxwell ‘61 June 30, 2015

Dean A. Davis ‘88 April 26, 2019

Thomas E. Waesche ‘62 November 21, 2017

Friends of R-MA

R. Allison Ludwig ‘63 March 8, 2019

Robert A. Davies R-MA English Department Chair March 1, 2019

The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

31

1990s Steven Farmer ‘90 reports that

Jared Purcell ‘11 graduated from

he has graduated from Grantham University with a Master of Science in Information Technology with distinction. He is now working on a Masters of Business Administration, also at Grantham University.

George Mason University with a BA in Russian Language and Culture, as well as Linguistics. He will be continuing at GMU, pursuing his MA in Theoretical Linguistics and will be working this summer as an ESL teacher at Georgetown Prep School.

2000s Class Notes

2010s

Amanda (Tweedie) Chapman ‘02 shared that she completed her Masters in IT Management in August 2018.

Ryan Ochoa ‘12 has finished primary flight training in Texas and will soon take the next step towards flying helicopters for the US Navy in Florida.

Margot Cramer ‘14 graduated from

George Beals ‘13 has been promoted

Kelli Hutcheson ‘14 shared

to 1st Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

that she has been made Head of Laboratory Services and Pharmacy at a 16-veterinarian Emergency Animal Hospital in Charlotte, NC. She celebrated her first anniversary at that job in March!

Rollins College in Orlando, FL.

Keijerian Graham ‘13 shared that he has earned his commerical pilot’s license.

Emily (Reed) Wesson ‘07 married

Catey Borden ‘14 has been named

Will Wesson in October 2018 in a ceremony in Woodbridge, VA.

a recipient of the prestigious Fulbright Award. Catey majored in history at George Mason University and plans to use her award to teach English in the Czech Republic.

Brandon Wilkins ‘03 shared that after serving on active duty in the United States Marine Corps for 11 years, he is now serving as a reservist in Ft. Worth, TX. He is still flying F/A-18s in their only reserve Hornet squadron, and is currently on active orders to attend the USMC Weapons and Tactics Instructor course. He’s also working as a pilot with FedEx Express in Memphis and will begin training on the 777 in the fall.

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The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

Bryan Mazzola ‘14 graduated from the Vermont State Police Academy as a Trooper.

Xiao (Shelly) Zheng ‘14 is now working as Head Assistant of the Public Relations Department at Kirtun World Culture Communication Co., Ltd, in Shanghai, China.

Amy Gray ‘15 graduated from Boston

Tradarius Gadson ‘18 has graduated

University with her BS in Health Science and a minor in Education.

from Naval bootcamp. He is next headed to Pensacola, FL, for his technical training in aviation ordinance.

Surprise!

Ian Whalen ‘18 has been sworn in as a Midshipman in the US Naval Reserve at the US Merchant Marine Academy at Kings Point, NY.

Campus Visitors

Embry-Riddle University and has been commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

Parker Overstreet ‘17 shared that he has been accepted for an internship with Southwest Airlines for summer 2019.

He also recently earned his commercial pilot’s license.

David Daughtridge ‘18 graduated from Air Force bootcamp in January. He will head out to Moody Air Force Base in Georgia later this summer.

Class Notes

Teunis Verheul ‘15 graduated from

It is always good to welcome alumni back to “The Hill.” Recent visitors to campus who checked in with the Advancement Office include: Samantha Jaddou (Yanling Hu) ‘03, who visited campus with her husband, their three daughters, and her parents in April; Rick Newland ‘85, who took a tour of campus with his family; Edwin Guyette ‘14, who shared that he is moving to Winchester, VA; and Roland DeLongoria ‘86, visiting us on “the Hill” in April for the first time since his graduation.

Betty and Dave Moore ‘53 were rendered speechless when it was announced that the new leadership lab would be named the Betty & Dave Moore ‘53 Enterprise & Leadership Lab, in their honor. See related story, page 23.

WELCOME HOME. HOMECOMING 2019 OCTOBER 18-19 Register online at www.rma.edu/homecoming.

More information on pages 15-16.

The Sabre Magazine | Summer-Fall 2019

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