Spartan Strong: The Spring Term that Tested and Bolstered Our Resilience

SPARTAN

The Spring Term that Tested and Bolstered Our Resilience

Few moments are as joyful for students and faculty alike as perusing the school calendar and seeing “School Closed for Spring Break” blocking out two full weeks of March. Even the extra day in February for leap year could not darken our spirits. Yet, as we made our way into early March, news reports of viral outbreaks around the world became too urgent to ignore. Within a few short weeks, COVID-19 became a global pandemic and ended life as we knew it … at least for a while.

The spring of 2020 will forever be remembered as one that tested our school community’s resilience and resolve. Yet, true to form, St. Stephen’s students, teachers, staff and coaches rallied—and discovered just how powerful our collective strength and spirit can be. As we moved from the traditional classroom setting to a remote learning model, our students and faculty never allowed sheltering-in-place or physical distancing to dampen their remarkable perseverance or good cheer.

hearts

While many school families were trying to plan physically distanced holy season celebrations for Easter, Passover and Ramadan, St. Stephen’s Director of Equity and Inclusion Yvonne Adams rallied the school’s residential families to

create holiday care packages for people experiencing food insecurity. Members of the residential community helped gather much-needed supplies, pack boxes and deliver care packages to our families in need. - In the wake of medical supply shortages due to COVID-19, science teachers Lauren Murphy, Kathy McCain and Dean Mohlman gathered more than 5,000 medical gloves—initially earmarked for use during dissections in science classes —and donated the much-needed items

to local physicians and nurses. Travis County Medical Society representatives were extremely grateful for the personal protective equipment, which enabled them to continue their important work. -

PHOTOS (left to right) Kathy Coe helps prepare food deliveries for local families; Dean Mohlman packs up donated medical supplies

strong INSPIRATION

Early in spring term students in Troy Lanier’s Electronics and Robotics class

started learning how to implement computer vision on an inexpensive single-board

computer called a Raspberry Pi. During the shift to remote learning, the intrepid Lanier helped students find equipment from suppliers in their home countries to continue their robotics projects. From Thailand and Korea to Jamaica and Texas, every student received the resources needed to work virtually alongside Lanier in their own home robotics lab. -

Throughout the period of online learning, mathematics teachers Dhvani Sethi and

Kurt Oehler assigned their students a number of statistics projects using real-time COVID-19 data. In addition to making use of the City of Austin COVID-19 case tracker, students studied up-to-the minute information from The University of Texas pandemic toolkit, created by the Division of Statistics and Scientific Computation. -

To help students acclimate to a remote learning model, teachers frequently shared photos of themselves and their classes working from home, which helped establish a sense of normalcy to daily life during the pandemic. - The St. Stephen’s English department celebrated National Poetry Month in April by sharing videos of our teachers reading their favorite poems. Scan the QR code above with your smart phone camera to hear Greg Bravo-Bonetti read “Gate A-4” by Naomi Shihab Nye. His reading was a wonderful reminder of simple ways to look for the good around us. -

PHOTOS (clockwise from top left) Noah Yow shows off his remote robotics lab; English teacher Greg Bravo-Bonetti; English teacher Colleen Hynes celebrates her birthday with students via an online video chat; math teacher Kim Meyer at her remote work station with cat Anchovy

strong creativity

Remote music and dance lessons? You bet! Dance instructor Ally Holt held virtual dance classes with her Middle School students, and the school’s music instructors, including cello teacher Hai Zheng Olefsky, conducted livestream lessons with students, who never missed a beat. - Student Government spearheaded a number of online social events for Spartans, including movie watch parties and virtual coffee houses. Their weekly livestream meetups showcased the musical talents,

culinary skills and artistic creativity of

our teachers and students to the delight of everyone who logged onto the group’s Instagram live sessions. -

PHOTOS (clockwise from top left) Hai Zheng Olefsky holds a virtual music lesson with 11th grader Sofia Messier; siblings Matthew and Natalie Kim share their talents during a StuGov coffee house; Middle School dance students

spirits

To help spread cheer among our graduating seniors, the Parents’ Association made yard signs for every member of the Class of 2020, enabling them to share their Spartan spirit with family and friends. - Although the pandemic brought a quick end to Southwest Preparatory Conference (SPC) play, athletes and coaches across the conference united to honor members

of the Class of 2020. On May 2, SPC participants ran, walked, biked and hiked with the collective goal of logging 2020 miles to honor senior athletes. St. Stephen’s Spartans were excited to compete and amassed more than 370 miles in the competition. -

If we were to give an award to the most resilient Spartans, special honors would go to the dozens of boarding students who were unable to return to their homes during the first few months of the pandemic, when many countries closed their borders. During students’ extended campus stay, these Spartans showed true perseverance and grit. They were tirelessly supported by International Program staff and our Residential Life community, under the great care and loving direction of Sarah Todd and Gene Phillips.

Special thanks go to our international student parents, who reached out to support students and staff during this difficult time. A number of overseas families mailed hundreds of face masks to the school to help ensure the health and safety of everyone on campus. We are deeply grateful for your thoughtfulness and generous support. -

PHOTOS (left to right) Shirley Yang ’20 shows off her Spartan pride; boarding students on a spring break field trip before Austin's shelter-in-place order: Linda Liu, Victoria Ge, Ivy Fan, Yuka Yasui, Miranda Zheng, Jennifer Liu and Bella Cui

Campus Car Parade Celebrating the Class of 2020

When it became clear that traditional end-of-year celebrations would need to be reimagined, Head of Upper School Kim Garey organized a fun and festive bell ringing and car parade for the graduating class and their families. Held on May 15, the parade of seniors through campus proved to be a cheerful end to the unusual spring term. Lined up along the parade route were faculty and staff decked out in Spartan gear, waving celebratory banners and yelling congratulations. It was a heart-warming event, befitting an extraordinary class that faced down many challenges during their final spring term. We wish that every senior could have attended.

We look forward to welcoming all members of the Class of 2020 back to campus for our traditional graduation ceremonies as soon as it is safe to gather in community once again.

PHOTOS (left page, clockwise from top) Senior triplets Braeden, Sophie and Aubrey Johnson enjoy the parade; Victoria Alcocer cheers on her classmates; residential faculty Alix Lacelarie-Kautz and Kathy Coe parade with senior Emma Hou; Sierra Coffey celebrates the end of her senior year

(right page, clockwise from top) Sophia Waugh at the car parade; Cindy Stadulis, chief financial and operations officer, shows off her Spartan spirit; Roman Rhone parades with his class; members of the English department cheer on the seniors; Jorn Dammann joins the revelry

Middle School’s Spirit-Filled Close to the School Year

On May 29, the St. Stephen’s community gathered to celebrate 8th-grade students’ graduation from Gunn Hall and to honor the many accomplishments of all Middle School students. The morning kicked off with the time-honored Middle School Closing Ceremony, held in an untraditional manner, as participants joined by computer for the event. The ceremony was followed soon afterward by a joyful campus car parade for Middle School students and their families.

During the morning ceremony, Head of School Chris Gunnin and Middle School Head Magnus Maccow each paid special tribute to students for their great resilience and strong spirits. Following their remarks, a number of special academic, artistic, athletic and community leadership awards were presented.

The Academic Hall of Fame Award, which is presented each year to the students who achieved High Honor Roll status every term for the three years of Middle School, was presented to Zachary Geller and William Burkhart.

Zachary Geller (8th grade), Audrey Wan (7th grade) and Emma Ton (6th grade) were recognized for their outstanding scholarship and for achieving Highest Academic Standing in Their Class.

Named for the first head of Middle School, the Priscilla Foster Award recognizes an inspiring student leader with a can-do spirit and desire to help others. Eighth grader Anna Guan was awarded the 2020 Priscilla Foster Award.

Bryson Gibbs (7th grade) and John Wells (6th grade) were recognized with the Citizenship Award for reflecting the highest traditions and core values of our school.

The Linda Douglass Spirit of Hope Award, which recognizes a student leader who exemplifies what it means to make a difference in the school community and beyond, was presented to Hannah Simmonds.

Golden Pen Awards were presented to Christopher Aung (8th grade), Libby Miller (7th grade) and Edward Leigh Jr. (6th grade).

The Middle School’s Spiritual Leadership Award went to Jocelyn Hoenicke.

The Anne Teel Athletics Award was presented to Alice Wilkerson, and the Hunter Paschall Athletics Award went to William Burkhart.

PHOTOS (clockwise from top) Charlie Evans; Amani Gupta and Keyen Gupta; Cale Chappelear; science instructor Stacey Wink; Bethany Butler’s sweet note to teachers