THE POWER OF RISE.
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RANDOL PH-MACON ACADEMY MAGAZINE - 2 0 20
TABLE OF CONTENT
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GENERAL S GREETINGS Ladies and Gentlemen -- how wonderful it is to return to this venue and speak to you after the incredibly successful campaign your Yellow Jacket team waged this fall against the many challenges facing schools and our Republic! When I wrote to you in this past summer’s edition of the Sabre, I reported, The key ingredient, our student body, is missing. I’ve written and engaged with students on ZOOM sessions, I’ve talked with their parents about the fears and expectations we all share, and I’ve reflected on the remarkable progress we made this spring under challenging circumstances. I’ve come to believe that, to endure we must return to campus, as a Corps of Cadets and a Middle School, faithful to the lessons that have made this a great place to work and learn. I’ve prayed and I’ve studied and I’ve listened to the views of all who will talk with me and I know now: we have to go back to school here in August. Our graduates are our best effort to be a force for good in all the ways our world so desperately needs…let’s build our 129th class!
History will record that we have done that… and we have done so much more.
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R-MA’s students did return to “The Hill,” with a student body 25 percent larger than expected, yielding the fastest year-over-year growth in more than 15 years. Thanks to tireless efforts by our teachers and staff, those students have attended in-person classes safely and successfully throughout this most unusual fall. Our computer science program added an MIT Quantum Computing class. Our statewide ranking among private schools rose from 31st in the Commonwealth to 13th and from 12th among boarding schools to 6th, according to Niche.com. R-MA’s drill team, though forced to compete virtually because of COVID-19 travel limitations, has surpassed all other Virginia schools in national competition, finishing ranked #4 of 168 teams from across the country. Our generous donors have already broken through our $100,000 goal for the Yellow Jacket Emergency Fund, making an R-MA education possible for children whose parents have faced economic challenges in this most unusual year. Many of you may have seen our new marketing videos; if not, you can find them on R-MA’s YouTube channel. Be sure to subscribe so you can catch all the terrific news happening on campus. Returning from holiday break, we will follow the same testing protocols that kept our community safe and healthy in August. During that time, faculty and staff are offering a series of virtual symposia, designed to utilize the quarantine phase for a fascinating array of short courses. We expect to return to varsity athletic competition in whatever form the Commonwealth and health officials will allow this spring. For the Class of 2021, we look toward keeping our promise to R-MA’s 129th senior class. We’ve done all of this to give our seniors that in-person graduation experience, complete with a Final Parade, throwing their wheel caps in the air, and walking across the stage at Melton Gym. They will receive a diploma on May 22 which will open the door to a life of meaning and purpose! I wish every person reading this edition of the Sabre could be here to see it. This is truly a thrilling time to be a Yellow Jacket. Thank you for being a part of this winning team!
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RISE INSIDE FALCONS TAKE FLIGHT
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R-MA feels a huge sense of pride in our community’s ability to transfer to online learning in March of 2020. The success of our transition to virtual learning prepared our community for a fall semester of in-person, on-campus learning. At the time of the March 13th shut down, our students, faculty, and staff stood ready to complete their spring semester, and for our seniors their final semester, virtually. R-MA’s decision to invest in 1:1 technology upgrades cannot be understated in importance to keeping us prepared for in-person instruction this Fall. Access to laptops for each student meant the classroom could travel home with them practically overnight. Our teachers were poised to adjust their classes to work virtually and they adopted online tools very quickly. Our preparation and ability to respond to the necessity to go virtual from the 1:1 tech program gave our entire community the belief that we could return to in person classes for the 20202021 school year. We watched as all of R-MA bonded together as a whole to follow health and social distancing guidelines and we kept a unified goal in mind: in-person instruction and in-person graduation for the 20-21 school year. This moment of unity and coordination took tremendous effort. Every faculty and staff member, and especially our students, have greatly benefited from the fruits of our labor, and an immense sense of gratitude is shared across the campus for everyone’s efforts. General Wesley shared his thoughts on the lasting impact of the campus community coming together during this pandemic, “This group will know they overcame something that people haven't seen in 100 years. Later on in life, when they encounter difficulty, they'll be able to remember back to this time and say, ‘I’ve seen bad before, I’m not scared.” And in speaking on the overall success of R-MA’s transition to and from virtual learning, General Wesley describes, “Modern methods, timeless heritage. That’s what R-MA is about. We use modern methods, but we strive to be faithful to the lessons our predecessors taught us.”
In appreciation of recent contributions from members of the R-MA community, we would like to thank everyone who has contributed mask donations to the school. Masks and other personal protection equipment (PPE) are vital to the day-to-day operations of the school at large. These masks and PPE ensure that our in-person classes can continue throughout the school year and our students can continue to receive quality education. Additionally, thank you to the anonymous donor who contributed 3 outdoor pavilions with chairs to facilitate outdoor learning opportunities for our students. Indoor space limitations could have made it difficult for our students and teachers to share space while observing social distancing guidelines. These outdoor pavilions allow for all students to take class together in a safe open-air environment.
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THE POWER OF LEADERSHIP The Falcon Scholars Program aims “to further the ability of exceptional young men and women to attend the United States Air Force Academy...". Scholarship recipients are selected by the Air Force Academy from students who successfully obtained nominations to the US Air Force Academy and who are fully qualified to attend the Academy, but were not selected. R-MA provides Falcon Scholars with the tools and knowledge to succeed in the Air Force Academy upon completion of the program on our campus. The Falcons are an elite group who take their role on campus very seriously. Part of the reason they feel the pressure to succeed is because R-MA recognizes their contributions. The Falcons recently sat down together to speak about their experience so far through the first semester. “We all chose R-MA for different reasons. But overall, we feel like R-MA recognized the Falcon Program as a major part of campus, whereas some of the other schools we considered didn’t seem to really recognize the Falcons. We felt like R-MA was invested in us before we even arrived on campus.” At R-MA the Falcons are given responsibility and a chance to improve the community that has welcomed them rather than being lost in the shuffle of the rest of the student body. Feeling recognized and appreciated wasn’t the only takeaway for the Falcons. “Our work ethic has gone up exponentially. It’s not even an option. We have to be on top of our game 24/7; whether it means encouraging other students or disciplining them, we have to be ready for whatever is going to happen that day.” Time management, self-accountability, leading diverse groups of people, enforcing structure to daily routines, and removing distractions to improve efficiency were among the common traits each Falcon has experienced and built upon during their time at R-MA. A prime example of R-MA’s community welcoming and teaching the Falcon Scholars to become leaders can be seen through Falcon Vivienne Truong. Vivienne joined R-MA from Fairfax, VA but her family's journey started from Vietnam in 1980. “My parents are immigrants from Vietnam and they just love America. They always tell me the roads here are so much better, and I’ll never forget my dad telling me about the first time he fell in love with burgers after eating at Burger King the first time. The food had real meat and cheese and lettuce and tomatoes! He felt like this country was going to take care of our family.” Vivienne embodied her parents’ gratitude, and she soon felt herself being called to give back. “I always knew I was going to enlist in order to give back to this country. That just felt natural to me.” And when Vivienne was asked why she wanted to join the Air Force, she responded, “Flying looked so cool and fun! I’ve always wanted to learn to fly a plane.”
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Vivienne soon found herself experiencing the same challenges and responsibilities as her fellow Falcons. “I came from a public school so my day was busy but nowhere near as structured as R-MA. I had to become very good at managing my time almost right away.” Vivienne credits mental toughness and keeping a positive outlook for her ability to adjust to her new environment and structure. “At home, you might get to your room and throw your socks on the ground and see them sitting there for days before you pick them up. It’s a total mind shift to take pride in yourself and to take care of yourself. Here, [at R-MA] you are given ownership of your day to day responsibilities, and that takes discipline!” Staying positive throughout the day is no small task with all of the pressure to stay on top of her own daily schedule as well as the other students in her flight. Vivienne shares how she manages her daily life, “Staying positive is everything and it gets you through the day. In order to stay positive, you can’t speak the negatives into existence. When you think you can’t keep running, you need to tell yourself you can. When you don’t want to wake up in the morning, you need to tell yourself you can. Be stronger in your conviction to keep things positive than the impulse to go negative. Keep moving forward!” Once structure, discipline, and positivity were established as characteristics to build on, Vivienne started learning lessons from her classmates in Foxtrot Flight. Vivienne explains, “I’ve definitely learned a lot of lessons. First, I had to balance school work and military duty, and there should be a balance. Next, I needed to know my people so I could start to anticipate their needs. Part of getting to know the other students in Foxtrot Flight means making personal connections to create trust between us. And once we’ve formed a mutual respect for each other, they trust I am here to help care for them and provide them with tools to improve themselves.” The final take away from Vivienne’s experience so far is that she needs to be ready to be pushed outside of her comfort zone. Vivienne shares, “All of the Falcons came here this year so we’re all dealing with new things in our personal lives. We just have to be ok with being pushed outside of our comfort zone. And with COVID going on, it feels like this is preparing us for life outside of school.”
Kaylee Jones - Hawaii, USA Colby Deleeuw - Virginia, USA Colby Tell - California, USA
Dylan Simons - Utah, USA Ethan Pyle - Texas, USA Luca Valenti - Rome, Italy
Rocco Graziano - New Jersey, USA Taylor Dunn - Virginia, USA Vivienne Truong - Virginia, USA
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Walking around campus this Fall, you might be surprised to notice our students are here walking around with us. This is a stark contrast to many of the other fellow schools in Virginia, and around the country. We’ve enjoyed the privilege of having students, faculty, and staff on campus for in-person learning. So how did this happen? How was R-MA able to make in-person, on-campus learning a reality whereas so many other schools are struggling to bring their students back on-campus? The simple answer is Task Force-19 provided the school with effective guidelines and a framework for all departments to follow.
The Task Force was created out of necessity in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19 and consists of senior leaders across all departments led by Deputy Commandment, Todd Friewald. Last March there was a tremendous ability by the school to transition to online virtual learning. But this was not ideal, and further examination of virtual summer offerings showed how important it would be to have in person classes for the 20-21 school year. Thus, Task Force-19 was given a clear directive: get students back on campus, and get us to in-person graduation. With clear objectives set, there needed to be a process to make these goals a reality. Mr. Friewald reached out to professionals facing similar operational challenges due to COVID-19, and the general feedback was simplified into five core tenets: conduct daily screenings, uphold social distancing measures, use personal protective equipment (PPE), maintain personal hygiene, and implement routine and regular disinfecting. With these 5 core principles established, Mr. Friewald was able to go to each department leader and present them with these general guidelines. The simplicity of these guidelines meant that each school department would need to examine the way they operate and start to find solutions to problems where the five core principles needed to be strengthened. What were some of the upfront challenges to having students back on campus? Director of Student Services, Don Williams, will tell you the challenge here was figuring out how to take spaces that are unchangeable and find room to spread out the population within those spaces. For example, every classroom needed to be reconfigured to keep distance between students. Bus routes needed to be added or rerouted in order to keep proper social distancing while driving students to and from school. Chapel services needed to be moved outdoors for the first semester. The cafeteria needed to restrict seating and remove the salad bar. All of these measures were successful in ensuring social distancing measures could be taken while students go through their daily schedules.
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But these new adjustments created a new problem. What happens when a class of 15 people can only have 12 students in a classroom for in-person instruction? This is where Dean of Instructional Leadership and Innovation, Tracey Ramey and Assistant Dean, Derrick Leasure had to figure out how to rework the schedule. Twenty classes had to be relocated due to size, classes with existing teachers needed to be duplicated meaning the teachers are taking on more work loads, and the day needed to be expanded to accommodate the extra time needed for teachers to disinfect the room after every class. As you can imagine, all of these added adjustments required all students, faculty, and staff to join together in a joint effort to keep the school safe and open. The immediate reaction from R-MA was to pitch in and help become a part of the solution. When asked how he managed to create a system of success for reopening the school, a humble Mr. Friewald explained, “I didn’t have to do a lot of work on this, the work was on each individual department to make this happen.” Mr. Friewald’s methods allowed the whole school to progress towards in person learning because each department had ownership over solving their specific needs. After the first semester of in-person instruction, the biggest challenge facing the school is not getting comfortable. Everyone is reminded to keep masks on and to keep social distancing each day. Temperature checks still occur every morning. And as Mr. Friewald expressed, “we have to be brilliant in the basics.”
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FEATURE ARTICLES Campus has been buzzing this semester! In every classroom, hallway, dorm room, and athletic field, you will see students enjoying the warm weather and soaking in their education. There’s a life and freshness that has returned to campus that has not gone unnoticed by students, faculty, and staff alike. Aside from the joy of being on campus during unprecedented times of COVID-19, one contributing factor for the new life brought to campus is the increase in enrollment numbers this year. We are proud to say R-MA admissions has risen dramatically this fall with one hundred and sixteen new students from twenty different states. Even more exciting is that the Admissions team is currently taking students for the Spring Semester waitlist for the first time in nearly fifteen years! We are proud to see this increase in student enrollment and renewed interest in the quality education and discipline R-MA provides to its community. There are many reasons why R-MA has flourished through these challenging times. One primary cause for the increase in enrollment is that we made the necessary adjustments to have students on campus. Families prefer R-MA’s in-person learning rather than having their kids stay at home for online-only learning. The entire R-MA community is to be applauded for their continued efforts to keep the students on campus. This has been a great moment where our community was able to come together. Changes to the Admissions Department have also helped ensure we continue to pursue quality students and families that want to join R-MA. The Department has launched several new directives to increase admissions marketing to ensure our school can be shared with the world. With these new marketing initiatives, we are giving R-MA a fresh look with a new website, upgrading our social media presence and analytics, tracking the messages that resonate with prospective students, and marketing to families as a strong academic institution that also instills the structure and values the US Air Force provides. R-MA students have welcomed this influx of new cadets with open arms. In speaking with seniors on campus, one remarked “We don’t feel like the culture has changed at all on campus. If anything, we’re just happy to have new kids to welcome to the community.”
The hydroponics lab has not been immune to the challenges of COVID-19. Lynette Lane, R-MA science teacher and supervisor of the Crow Hall lab, laments how the timing of COVID could not have been worse for the brand-new hydroponics lab, “The shut-down meant the kids couldn’t harvest their first crop, and they had to stop the program right as it started!”
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Ms. Lane, not one to be deterred from a challenge, maintained the hydroponics lab while her students were away. In this time, Ms. Lane was able to harvest the previously planted crops and took this as an opportunity to share the hydroponics lab with the R-MA community. “15-20 families were receiving bundles of lettuce, chard, basil, and a variety of microgreens, it was great,” Ms. Lane shared. “Even better is that the families were contributing right back to the school with monetary donations to help keep the lab running while the kids were gone.” And then something amazing happened, students returned to campus in August and were able to resume their hard work in the hydroponics lab. With a passion and desire to learn how to grow and produce crops responsibly, the students looked for ways to expand their own contributions to the program and used one mishap as a way to bring their STEM knowledge to the lab. A small water leak occurred from blockages in framing that holds the plants as water continually runs through the plant roots. True to form, R-MA students took it upon themselves to design and build water float sensors that will be placed in the hydroponic water reservoirs and can be read in real-time. This will allow the hydroponics lab to precisely measure water levels and respond to any troubling fluctuations in water levels. Not to mention, the students were the ones to do the manual labor to construct the lab in the first place! The hydroponics lab is proving to be a great resource for students to show creativity, ingenuity, and resourcefulness in ways they may not have previously explored. The lab is also making an impact on the entire student body by providing fresh grown produce to the cafeteria. “We want the kids to learn the difference between truly fresh grown produce versus some of the stuff you might buy at the store,” Ms. Lane commented. Looking to the years that lie ahead for the lab, Ms. Lane wants to keep working with the students to perfect their system and continue to use the lab as an instructional tool as well as an everyday learning environment.
We hope you enjoyed this year’s virtual Homecoming! While we would have preferred to gather in person, it was important for us to observe R-MA traditions and honor our fallen. Since future alumni events and large gatherings are still uncertainties, we wanted to share more ways to stay up to date with RMA from a distance! You can always contact the Alumni Office by emailing alumni@rma.edu. Additionally, you can reach the Alumni Office directly by calling 540-636-5343.
R-MA is also revamping our social media pages so be sure to follow us on: Facebook (@Randolph.Macon.Academy.VA) Alumni Facebook Group (Randolph-Macon Academy Alumni) Instagram (@randolphmaconacademy) Twitter (@RandolphMaconA) And don’t forget there are other ways to stay connected! Join us for upcoming Virtual Alumni Gatherings! January’s virtual gathering will feature former school waiters, and February will reunite R-MA “Lifers” (those who attended all the way through the Middle and Upper school) who have passed through the halls of R-MA.
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A group of 8 R-MA seniors were gathered together and asked the question, “What new changes on campus have you liked so far this year?” The most agreed upon answer among the group was “Outdoor Chapel!” The seniors, many of them R-MA lifers from the 6th grade, went on to explain how it was fun to see a new version of Chapel Services simply because, “it’s new and fun.”
There have been several adjustments made to accommodate the new chapel service and chief among these changes is its new location on the football field. Students are socially distanced on the field marked by bright yellow cones, and the remaining student body, faculty, and staff sit 6ft apart in the stands. Rev. Josh Orndorff shared, “Outdoor Chapel has been a great experience for all of us. It’s really the only time the entire community is able to come together in one place and share in something together.” Students have embraced the new service too, as Rev. Orndorff explained, “A lot of students are involved. True to RMA, this is student lead and student driven which is great to see how they embrace their faith and form deeper connections with one another.” Being able to provide a great experience for the students was Rev. Orndorff’s primary focus when planning how to continue having service when the chapel cannot be used. The football field served well as the new chapel space. But once the cold weather rolls in, Chapel service will look different yet again. “We’re excited to change the service for the winter,” Rev. Orndorff says, “it’ll be a chance to bring in more production to the service.” Bringing more production to the service consists of live-streaming Chapel so students can participate with their mentors from classrooms while a third of students can participate in the Chapel. The production club will be able to help plan and execute the entire process to help ensure R-MA can continue to practice their faith.
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R-MA’s Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) Program continues to offer quality hands-on pilot training, testing and certification procedures, and mission-specific training for students. Part of the purpose of the UAS Program is to provide students a chance to work with local organizations to conduct mission-oriented flights. This gives our students real-world experience in working with clients, as well as, a deeper understanding of the vast possibilities for drones. Mr. Brian Kelly, Director of Unmanned Flight Operations, shared more updates about projects for UAS, “Currently, our community outreach efforts have worked very well to engage with our surrounding community and have our students gain crucial real world experience. We’re working with the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute (SCBI) to help with a new tree mapping project.” Working with SCBI requires using drones with specific mapping technology to survey test plots of land in order to study growth patterns of trees. Ultimately these test sites would be able to inform other areas of the state, and the country, in order to manage the growth of trees on a grander scale. “It’s so exciting because we’re probably one of very few schools that have such a dynamic combination of flight school with drones while working on job requests with community partners.” Mr. Kelly explains further, “The two disciplines of drones and flight have a lot of overlapping regulations and commonalities that come together in the ground school. We’re beginning to see ways we can create a hybrid model combining both ground school and the UAS program that we hadn’t previously envisioned.” One thing remains clear: the UAS program is opening up new opportunities for R-MA and every student who participates. The added bonus is watching the extraordinary way in which the UAS and Flight Programs can cross disciplines and integrate with each other to the benefit of the students.
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THE POWER OF GIVING Randolph-Macon Academy approached December with two vital fundraising efforts underway: the Yellow Jacket Emergency Fund (YJEF), and a Giving Tuesday effort called #JacketsGive. “While dollars and donors are certainly important goals of our development and fundraising work, it is also about making the act of giving a joyful one for the donors,” noted Christine Meyer, Director of Advancement. “People want to know that their gifts – no matter what size – make a difference in the lives of our students. I assure you, the generosity of our donors makes a difference every day, whether helping to retain our excellent faculty members or providing the financial aid needed for a student to stay here and graduate.” The Academy created the Yellow Jacket Emergency Fund in September of 2020, with the goal of raising $100,000 by December 31. The YJEF will keep the R-MA community intact by assisting those families for whom this pandemic has created financial hardship. This Emergency Fund will give the Academy the capacity to offer tuition relief to those families. By mid-December, the school had raised 93% of the goal.
Focusing on R-MA athletics, #JacketsGive, held on December 1, raised more than $21,000 in a single day - more than double the goal! Donations will go to:
Build a baseball bullpen
Complete tennis court renovations and add a hitting wall
Replace uniforms for the girls and boys soccer teams
As for the 2019-2020 academic year, you can find our Honor Roll of Donors on R-MA’s website at https://rma.edu/19-20-honor-roll-of-donors Raising funds during uncertain economic times can be challenging, but certainly not impossible, as every donor listed there has proved. “This is evidence of the deep commitment so many alumni and parents have to R-MA for the difference it has made in their lives,” Meyer added. If you have not yet made a new or renewed commitment to R-MA, we invite you to do so this year, using the envelope included in this issue of The Sabre. If you have any questions, you can contact the Advancement Office at (540) 636-5206 or advancement@rma.edu.
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THE POWER OF SERVICE Service has remained a priority for students and spiritual life leaders despite restrictions imposed by COVID-19. It is not entirely possible to pack a bus full of students and go for regular weekend service trips anymore because there are factors involved beyond the limits of our own campus. We cannot always expect other locations and institutions to observe the same health, social distancing, and disinfecting measures that take place on campus. Therefore, we must be extremely careful and calculated when taking students off campus. Nonetheless, community service remains a necessity especially in these trying times. R-MA students and Rev. Josh Orndorff recognized this truth and decided to work on the apple farms! The Apple Gleaning trip was great fun for the students as they took part in the classic fall tradition while knowing the fruits of their efforts would go to help others. The Marker Miller Orchard in Winchester opened their fields to our students who quickly took this as a challenge to collect as many apples as possible. Rev. Orndorff explains, “the kids harvested hundreds, if not a thousand, pounds of apples.� Better yet, this huge yield of apples were donated both in their raw form and also turned into things like apple butter that food banks can sell in order to raise money.
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THE POWER OF GRIT
R-MA has had to adapt to a life without competition this year. At least, that is to say we cannot compete with other schools. However, this has not meant a complete drop in all athletics and personal exercise opportunities for students.
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R-MA Athletic Director, Frank Sullivan, comments on the challenges of implementing sports activities during the pandemic, “There’s a lot of challenges with trying to have sports. We can’t leave campus for events, everyone has to get their own equipment, students can’t play catch with one another, it’s hard to implement teamwork because most activities need to be individualized, and among all other things the kids need to buy into what they are doing.” These obstacles are difficult to overcome, but maintaining physical fitness and providing an athletic outlet are vital to each student’s development. A plan was made to implement as many individual activities as possible throughout the week. Four times a week, various sports practices can take place with social distancing measures such as soccer, cross country, conditioning, tennis, golf, and other mini activities. Some of these mini activities have recently garnered the attention of the middle school as well. Coach Sullivan explains, “Frisbee golf has become a great new addition to the campus. Having the frisbee golf course has been a great way for the middle school to get active outdoors in a safe way.” Coach Sullivan goes on to explain the importance of each student’s involvement in making athletics and physical fitness possible, “We have to ask the kids what they would do differently and adjust if necessary. So far this has worked and students are buying in because they’re happy to have input and at the very least they have something to do instead of being locked away inside all day.”
There is hope for potential competition with other schools moving forward into the winter/spring semester. “Part of the idea for upcoming winter sports would be to have swim competitions in each school’s respective pool. We’d all time ourselves and submit our times that would then be assessed by a panel of judges to determine the winner,” Coach Sullivan explains. Of course, this isn’t an ideal setup, “everyone would have a home court advantage. Not to mention, we would all have to be on an honor system to submit accurate times as well.” In the end, these types of competitions remain uncertain but there’s hope in knowing there are creative solutions being discussed. At the end of the day, student health has not only remained a priority for R-MA students, but in some cases it has actually increased. In speaking with R-MA senior, Francesca Schaefer, she explains, “It feels like more students are getting active this year than from previous years.” When asked further about why this change is happening, Ms. Schaefer shares, “I think it’s one of those situations where now that we can’t have sports and games and regular practices, we all kind of feel like we’re missing something. Now it feels like we need to take advantage of the time we get to spend outside with one another. Kids who wouldn’t have played sports previously want to take part in some sort of physical activity now.” Francesca’s sentiment speaks to the overall physical well being of the student body remaining strong and active.
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RISE BEYOND BY JENNY WALTON, ALUMNI ENGAGEMENT COORDINATOR
Ash Avildsen has forged his own path since graduating from Randolph-Macon in 1999. Today, he is a CEO, screenwriter, director, and producer – and he’s just getting started. Avildsen was raised by his mother and grandmother in an apartment in Maryland. His father, Academy-Award winning director John Avildsen (Rocky, Lean on Me, The Karate Kid) was estranged from the family. Deciding that he would benefit from the structure Randolph-Macon Academy provided, his mother and grandmother sent him to “The Hill” in the seventh grade. Avildsen would attend all the way through twelfth grade, as both a boarding cadet and a day student. While his transition was a little rocky – he recalls that there was some bullying because he was small for his age, and the only seventh grader on the tennis team at the time – there were two things that helped him to fit in. First, he could beat anyone at the video games Mortal Kombat and Street Fighter; and second, the older kids always wanted to borrow from his music collection. By the time he graduated, he was senior class president. Avildsen continued playing tennis throughout his time at R-MA (under the watchful eye of teacher and coach, Mr. Eric Barr), served as captain of the chess team, and became a senior yearbook editor. His senior superlative? “Life of the party.” Avildsen said he learned many things at R-MA, even beyond the “strong academics” – he particularly recalls R-MA teachers Mr. Barr and Mrs. Armstrong – things like independence, team building, discipline, accountability, and social skills. “You learn to appreciate things other people take for granted,” Avildsen noted, as well as “respect for the armed services,” and to “appreciate your choices, and your freedom to make those choices.”
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Following graduation, Avildsen decided to go out of state for college, to begin exploring the wider world. He enrolled at Georgia Tech, studying History, Technology & Society, and attended for a full academic year. When he turned 18, however, his father was no longer required to support his education, and he decided to pursue music as a career rather than mount up student loan debt. While singing lead vocals for the band Reflux (signed by Prosthetic Records in 2004) Avildsen also worked at a temping agency in Washington, DC and began learning how to start his own booking agency. As he began building his own business as a concert promoter and tour booker, social media was on the rise. He noticed that bands were starting to gain followings on MySpace, instead of radio – but record companies either hadn’t noticed, or didn’t understand, and were continuing to offer groups “draconian” deals. He knew he could do better. When Reflux’s guitar player decided to attend the Atlanta Institute of Music, Avildsen moved to LA to launch his own career, booking bands on tour independently. In 2006, he founded his own record label, Sumerian Records, designed “by artists, for artists.” With the trust he had built in the music community, it has only grown, with bands like Asking Alexandria and Smashing Pumpkins signing on. Avildsen turned next to another passion: film. “Once I’d gotten Sumerian to a certain level, it was very natural,” he said. Avildsen has written, directed and produced two feature films, What Now (2015) and American Satan (2017); and created, written, and directed an independentlyproduced TV show, Paradise City – starring Black Veil Brides’ lead vocalist Andy Black, Bella Thorne, Drea de Matteo, and the late Cameron Boyce - as a spin-off sequel to his second film. In an interview with emmys.com, Avildsen describes Paradise City as “a human story about unorthodox families. Almost everything in the script is taken from real-life things that I or the cast have experienced.” His next project: transforming rock-and-roll magazine Hit Parader into a production studio for TV, film, live events, and more – starting with a set of reality competition shows, No Cover and Roadie Rage, in addition to Paradise City. What’s next for Avildsen? The sky is the limit. Even with staff working remotely due to COVID-19, he says 2020 has been one of his biggest and busiest years ever, with new projects and exciting albums. In the meantime, Avildsen offered R-MA cadets this advice: “Everything you’re doing now will affect the rest of your life. Use what you’ve learned to get a head start…[R-MA] will benefit you if you allow it to.”
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Have news to share with your classmates and the Academy? Email it to alumni@rma.edu for inclusion in the monthly e-newsletter, The Dome Dispatch, and the next edition of The Sabre.
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Malik Cochran
Uzo Njoku
Alice Barlow-Calhoun
and his wife Jacky welcomed their first child, Malik Cochran Jr., on July 20, 2020. They live in Baltimore, MD, where Malik is a police officer with the Maryland Transportation Authority.
was recently profiled in UVA Today, sharing the story of how her interest in art became a blossoming business, UzoArt LLC. "I'm a contemporary African artist," she told the publication. "I focus on putting more black women into the forefront of these artistic pieces."
married Jacob Calhoun on August 29, 2020 at Team Barlow Performance Horses LLC.
The Sabre - Winter- Spring 2021
Since the last issue of The Sabre, we have received notification that the following members of the R-MA family have passed away. They are greatly missed, and they will remain in our hearts forever. (Please note: Notifications received after October 30, 2020 are not included in this list.)
Richard A. Lancaster ‘42 July 21, 2020
Clayton Wynham, Jr. ‘53 September 18, 2020
James J. Ross ‘67 August 18, 2020
Baxter W. Simmons ‘43 January 25, 2018
George C. Lindsay, Jr. ‘54 March 24, 2020
Ernest M. Smith, III ‘67 October 17, 2020
Richard O. Taylor ‘44 June 15, 2020
Waller S. Poage, III ‘54 April 25, 2019
Barry M. Girouard ‘68 March 20, 2020
William M. Apgar ‘46 October 10, 2019
Douglas H. McCord ‘55 April 27, 2017
Frederick H. Tolbert ‘72 June 10, 2016
Dale A. Ball ‘46 August 2, 2019
John A. Smoot, Sr. ‘55 December 9, 2019
John D. Bernd, II ‘76 August 15, 2018
Dennis G. Combs ‘46 November 30, 2018
Dirk S. Dixon ‘56 September 8, 2020
Steve R. Oliver ‘76 June 20, 2016
Phillip Cooper ‘48 December 5, 2016
Thomas F. Shockley, Jr. ‘58 February 22, 2016
H. David Ludwig ‘79 July 5, 2019
John S. M. Wayland ‘48 September 30, 2020
John P. Johnson ‘59 February 10, 2020
Ronald E. Davies ‘74 May 10, 2020
J. Thomas Willison ‘48 December 22, 2019
Joseph R. Earnest, Jr. ‘61 July 6, 2019
Karl F. Tolzman ‘81 August 14, 2018
Herman R. Decker ‘49 September 21, 2018
John C. Walter ‘62 May 5, 2019
John Migliara ‘89 September 1, 2020
Randolph H. Walker ‘49 October 3, 2020
Gary M. Ganson ‘63 December 22, 2019
Scott M. Fisher ‘95 September 10, 2009
John C. Addison ‘53 November 13, 2019
Robert R. Pickrell ‘63 June 6, 2019
Laila (Gharib) Khosh ‘96 October 25, 2020
Benjamin L. Chase, Jr. ‘53 August 27, 2019
David F. Whitley ‘64 October 31, 2018
Charles V. Corder, Jr. ‘53 August 10, 2020
Eric L. Gatrell ‘65 May 2, 2020
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