Summit Echoes 2012

2011 2012

In This Issue John Milner Finds his Way, Deliciously Chloe Kontos

Enjoys the Adventure of Life

Martin Tucker Documents Life at Summit

Table of Contents 2011-2012 Summit Echoes

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1

Michael Ebeling Message from the Head of School

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Denise Faulhaber Explores the World

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Chloe Kontos

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Martin Tucker Documents Life at Summit

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John Milner Finds his Way, Deliciously

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Meredith Welch Carrying on the Summit Culture

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Enjoys the Adventure of Life

Caitlin Folan, Ashley Veneziano and Stephanie Flores de Valgaz

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Class Notes

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In Memorium

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Stay Connected to Summit

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Colleges Attended by Summit Alums

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Reunion Pictures

On The Cover Denise Faulhaber ‘95 and the Dubai Skyline

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Summit School Echoes is published annually for parents, alumni and friends by Summit School • 2100 Reynolda Road, Winston-Salem, NC 27106 • 336.722.2777 • www.summitschool.com

Editor

Mary Horan

Design

One Hero Creative, Inc.

The School admits students of any race, religion, color, and national or ethnic origin.

Summit provides a challenging curriculum within a caring environment to help students develop their full potential.

Message from the Head of School Curiosity and passion are the basic fuel of learning. At Summit, we don’t waste these gifts and we don’t squelch them—we inspire them. We give our students the training and the discipline to create without a template, to search out reliable sources, to think critically and to take meaningful action.

We believe knowledge that is earned is the most enduring.

The pages of this issue of Echoes feature stories about alums who have pursued their passions and piqued their curiosities with courage and vision. Whether their travels beyond Summit’s campus have led to the offices of Boeing in Dubai, the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, the halls of Islamic Saudi Academy in Washington, DC, the kitchens of the Culinary Institute of America, the casts of Hollywood blockbusters, or the classrooms of Summit School, these accomplished professionals are making an important difference in the world by meeting challenges, taking risks and transforming not only their lives but the world around them.

Throughout Summit’s nearly 80-year history, our educators—from founding head Louise Futrell to our most recently hired classroom teacher—have understood that the best way to build a student’s confidence is to build authentic competence. While our youngest children are learning respect and sharing, our oldest students are grappling with what it means to be present to the needs of their world. We know that every child brings distinctive potential and a unique voice to Summit. We cherish that individuality, and our faculty is committed to discovering each child’s gifts.

The result of this work can be seen throughout this issue. Summit students who think globally become Summit alums who lead for the good of others, which they reveal to their former teachers, as seen in this excerpt from Mary Virginia Ireland’s ’08 recent note to former Head of School Sandra Adams.

Looking back, Summit not only prepared me for high school, but it prepared me for college... I never had a bad teacher at Summit and the school is the defining difference of education in a world of schools that do not teach the whole child... My dream is to teach at a school just like Summit.

Our alums embody a profound testament to this simple truth: Summit inspires and equips each student for a rich journey of lifelong learning.

Onward and upward,

Michael Ebeling

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Denise Faulhaber ’95 Explores the World

Denise Gagnon Faulhaber has traveled a long road since her Summit days when exploring the world meant writing to her Sixth Grade Russian pen pal or making a Japanese style puppet for a play.

But the director of indirect sales for Boeing in the Middle East and North Africa said that the seeds for her consuming curiosity about the world were planted at Summit.

“It definitely built a foundation,” she said, of the school she entered in 1989 as a Third Grader. “We were given so many opportunities. It wasn’t just going to class.”

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She worked in Boeing offices in St. Louis and Washington D.C. When her husband, Peter Faulhaber, who works for HSBC Holdings, moved to Dubai, Faulhaber asked for a transfer from Boeing and followed him. HSBC is a multinational banking and financial services company.

Boeing is the world’s largest aerospace company and the leading manufacturer of commercial jetliners and defense, space and security systems. The company has 165,000 people in 70 countries, according to its website.

She left Summit in 1995, after the Eighth Grade, to enter Salem Academy. She graduated from Washington University with majors in international business, finance and French. She spent her junior year abroad working for General Electric in Paris and the next summer she studied at the London School of Economics.

The most fun thing about the job

After graduation, Faulhaber was intrigued by the variety of opportunities offered in Boeing’s leadership development program, where she would change jobs within the company every few months.

never have met in the States.

is meeting people from all over the world and meeting people I would

Faulhaber said that Boeing’s corporate philosophy focuses on building long-term relationships with local governments in the Middle East and North Africa. Her job is to support both commercial and defense aircraft sales for Boeing by creating strategies for establishing Boeing’s footprint in each country. She is expected to immerse herself in the culture of these countries, understand local government priorities, partner with local aerospace industry on engineering projects and identify local community organizations to work jointly with to promote math and science-based careers to future generations.

Dubai is a young country that was created in the 1970s, Faulhaber said, and it is a cultural crossroads. Many international corporations have offices there.

Faulhaber says that she expects she and her husband will leave the region next year, but she’s not sure they will return to the United States.

“I think we might have just started the adventure,” she said. “Both of our companies are multinational and offer opportunities we might not have back in the United States” Faulhaber has traveled to Algeria, Libya, Quatar and Syria. She has seen the Dead Sea in Jordan and the pyramids in Egypt.

“The most fun thing about the job is meeting people from all over the world and meeting people I would never have met in the States,” she said.

“It’s the kind of place that sucks you in,” she said. “It’s 80 percent expatriates, so it’s a culture you can fall right into.

People are always moving in.”

When she travels around the region, she doesn’t forget the school that first helped her reach across oceans to distant lands--or the possibility that there are children like her back home who can be inspired by a brush with foreign cultures.

Winters are like California, but in the summer temperatures get up to 125 Farenheit.

She collects newspapers front pages from various countries she visits for the Summit library.

“The city comes alive at night,” she said. “It cools off when the sun goes down. People are very social. They’re out all hours of the night.”

“It’s something that’s very tangible and it’s easy to do,” she said. “I know they’re getting there because I keep getting thank-you notes.”

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Chloe Kontos ‘02 Enjoys the Adventure of Life

When young Chloe Kontos was a student at Summit, she bought an acre of rainforest in Millicent Foreman’s class.

She learned to tie knots, along with other survival skills, from teacher Dane Perry.

These days, as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, Kontos draws on the sense of adventure, curiosity and creativity that Summit nurtured, in a place where people have few material comforts or educational opportunities.

“Because I was exposed to great teachers and a spectacular education, I have learned to love learning and also know how to teach effectively and interactively,” she writes.

“This has definitely affected how I have handled working as an education volunteer in the Dominican Republic, which has one of the worst education systems in the Western Hemisphere.”

Kontos came to Summit as a Kindergartner and after Ninth Grade graduation, she moved on to Forsyth Country

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Day School. She graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in politics.

As a high school student, Kontos was a volunteer with Habitat for Humanity, which started her on a path to volunteer work. As a Peace Corps volunteer, Kontos lives in a Haitian-Dominican migratory community that has grown up around the sugar plantations in the area.

“I only have running water for three to four hours a day-it is not potable--and electricity comes and goes each day as well,” she said.

Despite the privations, Kontos describes her life as busy and rewarding.

As an adult literacy volunteer, she developed a program called Si Se Puede (Yes, You Can) that taught women to read, write and become financially literate, so that they could lead more independent lives.

as a volunteer with the Peace Corps in the Dominican Republic, Kontos draws on the sense of adventure, curiosity and creativity that Summit nurtured She also worked with youth on a business plan competition, Construye Tus Sueños (Build Your Dreams).

Kontos worked with two young adults in the community to write a business plan for their natural peanut butter business. They won second place in a national conference and money to expand.

Kontos said that she realizes now, more than ever, how lucky she was to receive an education at Summit.

“My perspective now is that though education should be a right, and not a privilege, that is not the case in the world,” she said. “It is important that anyone who has received a wonderful education takes advantage of it and tries to ensure that others have access to the same.”

“I believe I have taught some people here how to be good teachers,” she said, “but I also taught my students how to be creative, interactive learners as well, which definitely stemmed from my experiences at Summit.”

Kontos started a boy’s club with weekly activities that range from discussing engineering and science to HIV/

AIDS awareness. The group put on a carnival and talent show this Spring with an environmental theme. The club has designed games out of recyclable garbage that they’ve collected in the community.

“The two most rewarding moments during my Peace Corps service were watching the women in my class learn how to write their names and finding one them trying to read the Bible,” she said. “The second was winning the Construye Tus Sueños competition with my kids after months of hard work, practice and planning. For them, winning meant an opportunity to change their lives through their business.”

Her Peace Corps service is the start of what Kontos hopes will be an international career of service abroad.

“For those who want to get out there and explore the world, do it. Volunteer, study abroad, join the Peace Corps,” she said. “Do not be afraid to go somewhere different, even if people discourage you. Create your own adventure. Enjoy the ride.”

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Margaret Gardner ’81 & Deanne Maynard ’80 Summit Alums Reunite in Alexandria

They carpooled to Summit as children, where they played pioneers, acted in musicals and took nature walks.

These days Summit alums Margaret Gardner and Deanne Maynard relive their school days through their children’s experiences at Burgundy Farm Country Day school in Alexandria, Va. Like Summit, Burgundy emphasizes creative, experiential learning.

“There are so many different facets to the educational program that there are opportunities for every student to shine,” Maynard said, of schools like Summit and Burgundy.

Maynard entered Summit in Junior Kindergarten and graduated from the Ninth Grade in 1980. She is a partner in the law firm of Morrison & Foerster, and head of appellate and Supreme Court practice for the firm.

She credits her ability to think on her feet with her experiences at Summit.

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While in school, she memorized Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s 130-line masterpiece, “The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” and recited it at an assembly. She delivered her Ninth Grade speech on the Russian monk, Grigori Rasputin, “the Mad Monk.”

The presence of strong female role models at Summit was also important to Maynard, who is now the mother of two daughters, Carrie and Madison. Maynard counts Math Teacher Martha Albertson as one of her memorable teachers.

“There’s such a big emphasis now on girls and math,” she said. “Mrs. Albertson taught me algebra and I loved it. I never had this perception that girls weren’t supposed to be good at math.”

After graduating from Summit, Maynard went on to major in English at the University of Virginia and then graduated from Harvard Law School. She spent several years clerking for several judges, including Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer.

When it was time to find a school for her own girls, she mentioned Burgundy to her parents, who live around the corner from Gardner’s parents in Winston-Salem.

Maynard learned that Gardner’s children attended Burgundy. She called Gardner to ask about the school, and Gardner told her that it was the closest thing to Summit in the area.

Like Maynard, Gardner relishes the learning opportunities at both Summit and Burgundy.

At Summit, Gardner decided she wanted to be a starfish in a school production, despite the difficulties of creating a costume. Her Third Grade Teacher Maureen Barber said, “If that’s what you want to be, that’s what you’ll be.”

She has taught at the Islamic Saudi Academy, an English/ Arabic college preparatory school in Alexandria, Va., and has worked as a researcher and writer for Time-Life Books.

These days she is a parent volunteer at Burgundy and has served on the board of trustees. Her daughter, Katherine, and son, Gabe, have graduated from Burgundy, but another son, Zachary, is still there.

Though the suburbs of Washington, D.C. are a long way from Winston-Salem, Burgundy’s wooded campus gives children a chance to explore and enjoy the kind of freedom that Gardner valued as a child. Many times parents look at schools like Summit and Burgundy and think, “I wish that was the kind of school I had gone to.” It’s a comfort to Gardner that her children will never say that.

“I wanted my children to experience a school that’s similar to what I knew,” she said. “Summit has stuck with us and we hope Burgundy will be the same for our children.”

Medieval Day, one of the special days that Gardner remembers fondly, is still going on today as an entire unit in Seventh Grade.

“That kind of immersion in an experience helps you get a sense of a different time and culture,” she said. “It’s something that Summit did very well. I valued that in my education and looked for it in a school for my kids.”

She also looked for those experiences in her career.

Gardner graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill summa cum laude with a bachelor’s degree in English and history. She went on to earn her master’s in English at the University of Virginia.

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Martin Tucker Documents Life at Summit

Martin Tucker can hardly remember a time when he wasn’t a photographer. He received two job offers as a college journalism major and he’s been shooting photos ever since. In a career spanning 20 years, he’s taken photos of Tom Hanks, Tiger Woods and Goldie Hawn. He’s shot sports for several publications. Since 1995, he’s been the owner of his own photography business in Winston-Salem, specializing in publicity photos for people in the entertainment industry.

He’s also a photography instructor and school photographer at Summit, where his job is to document life at the school through his camera lens. That arrangement works fine with Tucker. He says his work infuses his teaching and his teaching inspires his work.

“I teach because I love to share what I’ve done,” he said.

Tucker teaches courses in digital photography, Photoshop, portraiture, documentary photography and a class with Ninth Graders that allows students to develop a portfolio. Students leave Summit with a portfolio that includes portraits, sports

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and other examples of photographs they’ve taken.

During class, Tucker draws on a wealth of tales from his long career. He might discuss the difficulty of capturing a surfer in motion or how a photographer coaxes a compelling photograph from a bored celebrity who’s been photographed many times.

“Whether it’s a dancer or a basketball player in mid-air,” he said, “I love the challenge. Photojournalism is about problemsolving.”

Good photography requires much more than holding a camera in front of your face and snapping the shutter at a particular moment, Tucker tells students. It’s also about telling a story.

“Photography, in my opinion, is a way in which to look at the world,” he said, “to look at the details of life and to solve problems, and to develop empathy.”

Young students don’t have a wealth of life experience to draw

from, but under Tucker’s tutelage they begin to develop an eye for beauty and a way of looking at the world.

As children mature and become more aware of their peers’ opinions, they can lose some of their early enthusiasm and confidence. Tucker is particular about the atmosphere in the classroom.

“There is an agreement that criticism needs to be respectful, it needs to be positive,” he said.

In his quest to find new ways to tell stories and explore the world, Tucker shot his first documentary in 2010.

Tucker met Patulla “Patty” Williams, a hobo, when she passed through Winston-Salem with her dog, Ashes, in April 2010. Tucker saw Williams walking down W. Fourth Street and he followed her, sensing from her appearance that she had a story to tell.

“There was a joy that emanated from her that fascinated me,” Tucker said. “I approached her and said, ‘I’m a documentary photographer and you look like you have a story to tell.’”

He spent several hours with Williams, taking photographs of her and recording her story. Williams said that she had hopped freight cars since the age of 13 and lived off the land, trapping wild animals and cooking them.

Photography, in my opinion, is a way in which to look at the world, to look at the details of life and to solve problems, and to develop empathy.

Tucker put together a documentary short, “Patty - This is My Normal,” that debuted at A/perture Cinema in 2010. The film was shown at RiverRun International Film Festival last year.

Williams’ life took a tragic turn after she left Winston-Salem.

In December 2011, she was arrested in Texas and hung herself with a television cable in her cell.

Through a string of email contacts, Tucker found out more of Williams’ story. After her death, Williams was the subject of a newspaper article in Missoula, Mont., where she grew up. The article described a childhood of abuse and mental illness that had led to her life as a hobo.

Tucker said he sensed none of that when he interviewed Williams.

“The other facts disappoint me,” he said, but he didn’t change the ending of the film because he wanted to represent the joyful person he had met on a sunny Spring day.

“I feel driven to tell her story in hopes it will keep someone else from the same life,” he said.

He has gone on to talk with other family members and friends, and he received a regional artist grant from the Arts Council to make a full length movie on Williams. The longer film will put her story into its larger context.

Tucker has shown his film to some of Summit’s older students.

He thinks the film is especially good for conveying the effectiveness of black and white films. He has heard from parents that his students find Williams’ story fascinating.

“A photographer borrows a slice of someone’s life when they tell their story,” he said. “That comes with great responsibility.

The more stories you tell, the more you learn about the world and the people in it. Patty is a prime example of not judging a book by its cover.”

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John Milner ’91 Finds his Way, Deliciously

Chef John Milner calls his trip to Mexico as part of the Summit School Exchange one of the most formative experiences of his childhood. During his three-week stay with his host family, the Fifth Grader had his first taste of beef tartare and relished the chance to soak in the culture of a foreign country.

“I attribute a lot of what I do today to some of those fond memories and the food,” he said.

But the courage that took Milner to another country deserted him when he contemplated the speech he was required to give as a Summit Ninth Grader. He left Summit after Eighth Grade and entered Reynolds High School.

After graduating from Reynolds in 1994, Milner went on to study anthropology at Appalachian State University. He earned an associate’s degree from the Culinary Institute of America in 2000. He worked as a chef at one of the busiest restaurants in Charleston, S.C. before returning home in 2003, when his mother became ill.

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He and his brother, Buddy, have owned Milner’s American Southern restaurant since 2005.

Milner was a child who didn’t necessarily fit into a neat category. He liked skateboarding and played soccer. He was interested in food and cooking. He was the son of a very sociable mother who catered and rented out part of her large house for receptions.

“Our house was a party house,” he said. “We just gathered there.”

Summit gave him a sense of himself when he was struggling to become his own person, and it helped him develop a sensitivity to others.

“This was the first time in my life where I said, ‘I’m someone.

I can be this way.’ You start to realize you have an impact on people,” he said.

During his three-week stay with his host family, the Fifth Grader had his first taste of beef tartare and relished the chance to soak in the culture of a

“If I had questions, they would spend time after school. If I needed extra tutoring, they would graciously do it,” he said. “As long as they saw me making an effort, they would reciprocate.”

He’s come to realize that he took Summit and his teachers for granted, but Milner now looks back and appreciates the generosity they displayed to a young non-conformist who was trying to find his way.

“I think it opens your mind to what you potentially can be,” he said. “When I was there I was very impressionable.

My eyes were opened. My ears were opened. Even though I acted one way, it didn’t mean that little sponge of my brain wasn’t working another way.”

foreign country.

Milner said he was not always a student who tested well, but Summit teachers recognized his curiosity and encouraged his interests. The school was a place that recognized and appreciated individual contributions– whether it was Billy Stoltz’s steady presence on the drive to and from school every day or teachers who challenged and encouraged students.

And Milner is conscious that he has some unfinished business with Summit. The sociable adult who is often in the public eye says that one of these days–not yet–he will return and face the fear that led him to leave Summit earlier than necessary.

“Before I’m done on this earth,” he said, “I’ll go back and speak at that school.”

Milner’s Logo Here

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Meredith Welch ’88 Carrying on the Summit Culture

Back in 1983, Meredith McCullough was a nervous Fifth Grader with braces and overalls who was about to enter Summit School as a new student from Mobile, Ala.

Once again, coming to Summit has been an easy transition.

As an adult she appreciates some facets of her colleagues’ personalities that went over her head in her earlier years.

She remembers an almost seamless entry into the school.

Phil Wood, who taught science when she was at Summit, was a favorite teacher of hers, but Welch said she did not fully appreciate his dry wit until she returned as an adult.

“It was not at all hard to come in,” she said. “People here are purposeful about being kind. We’re mindful of that. I felt welcome from the start.”

She made five close friends at Summit that she still considers among the best friends of her life. She got involved in service projects and continues her involvement with the Ronald McDonald House, which began during her Summit years, today.

“We got to plan and execute actual service projects at young ages. It totally taught me that giving back--paying it forward was so important,” she said. “It taught me empathy and compassion and also opened my eyes to the real world.”

In 2008, she returned to Summit full-time as a Ninth Grade science teacher.

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It was not at all hard to come in she said. People here are purposeful about being kind. We’re mindful of that. I felt welcome from the start.

“It’s great to come back as an adult and have the humor and the memories,” she said.

She has enjoyed the freedom that comes with Summit’s support of inspired educators.

Much of what she remembers valuing about Summit’s culture has remained the same.

She was inspired by many of her teachers and remembers her Fifth Grade English teacher, Neil Wilcox as a favorite.

Her class recently studied genetics and Welch asked them to create comic books based on the stories about various cells that the students invented. One student did a story about the adventures of Evelyn E. Coli and another student followed Lorenzo the Lung Cell through various situations.

“He was kind-hearted, but funny,” she said. “He sort of brought everyone out of their shell.”

“I’m trying to present different ways of learning the material,” she said.

Her Ninth Grade Biology Teacher Marcia Rust, nurtured Welch’s love of science and kept things interesting, Welch said.

Though much about the campus setting has changed, Welch is gratified that the culture of kindness she remembers so vividly is alive and well at the school.

Welch left Summit in 1988. She graduated from Mount Tabor High School and received a degree in biology from Davidson College.

She worked in Charlotte with AmeriCorps as an environmental educator for a year. That was such a good experience that she returned to Winston-Salem to earn her master of teaching degree at Wake Forest University in 1997. She taught science at Reynolds High School but as her three children arrived, she decided to stay home and raise them.

Enrolling each of her three children at Summit brought Welch back to the school and she began teaching part time at the invitation of Dane Perry. When a full time position opened up, she was ready to come back.

Recently she noticed a family touring with two children. She watched a Ninth Grader walk over and introduce himself to the children and begin talking with them.

“Kids understand they contribute to the culture,” she said.

And as an alum, Welch hopes that she will make a contribution to Summit’s culture as well.

“I hope the students remember that they learned material, but they felt nurtured,” she said. “I’d like them to be better people for knowing me and that we laughed a lot and discussed a lot.”

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3 Teachers Linked by Summit

Caitlin Folan ‘01

Exploration is part of every Summit students’ experience. Children are encouraged to tune their antennae to the larger world, and to look forward to the day they’ll take their places there.

Three alums followed their passions, and their curiosity, to the Washington, D.C. area, New York City and Chile, before they realized that coming back to Summit was the right place for them.

For Caitlin Folan, Summit was an all-too-brief pass through Eighth and Ninth Grades when her family moved to Winston-Salem from Cleveland, OH. After spending time in parochial schools, Folan enjoyed the diversity of Summit’s community and the chance to shed her Catholic school uniform. Back then, Folan wanted to be a doctor, though she enjoyed being in productions of Annie and Guys and Dolls.

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“From doing lesson plans to watching how she taught the class, I fell in love with teaching,” Folan said.

As a result of that internship, the country lost an aspiring doctor and gained aspiring teacher.

“I was not a big arts person, but doing the plays helped me develop a more creative side,” she said.

Folan graduated from the University of Virginia with a bachelor’s degree in English and a master of teaching degree. She moved to the Washington, D.C. area and taught in Fairfax County Schools. When she heard that Summit had openings for Fourth and Fifth Grade teachers, Folan didn’t hesitate to apply.

Folan went on to Salem Academy and during her junior year there, she interned with Sally Meehan, Fourth Grade teacher at Summit.

“I was extremely happy up there but reading was my first love,” she said, “And the idea of teaching reading almost the entire day was extremely appealing.”

The chance to design her own curriculum and infuse creativity into her subject was another attraction. Folan returned to Summit in 2011.

For many of Folan’s students, Fourth Grade is a time to embrace their interests through reading and she enjoys steering them toward books they’ll enjoy.

She recently assigned her class a stop-action animation project based on the book, Taffy of Torpedo Junction. The book is based on the true story of Germany’s bombing of the Outer Banks. The animation project was a chance for a student who is fascinated by all things military to show his knowledge.

“Finding those moments where students can shine and share their love with others is important,” she said

From doing lesson plans to watching how she taught the class, I fell in love with teaching.

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3 Teachers Linked by Summit

Ashley Veneziano ‘87

One of Ashley Veneziano’s first thoughts when she returned to Summit as a parent with children of her own was, “This is so small. I remember it as being big.”

She lived in Colorado for a year as a ski bum/nanny, trained for a possible career in advertising in Atlanta and worked as a middle school counselor in Westchester County, N.Y.

That impression is understandable for a woman who came to Summit as a Junior Kindergarten student in 1987. At Summit, Veneziano found a nurturing environment where a child could adopt a loft as her own special place, make bread on Pioneer Day or practice her calligraphy as a monk.

When her husband, Joe, an orthopedic surgeon, received a fellowship from Wake Forest Baptist Health in 2007, they returned to Winston-Salem.

Because Summit represented safety to her, Veneziano always knew she wanted her children to attend the school.

Summit is a well-established tradition in Veneziano’s family. Three generations of her family attended the school, as did Veneziano’s brother and sister.

Though she loved her Summit days, Veneziano traveled far from home after majoring in elementary education at Wake Forest University and receiving master’s of education and master’s degrees from Columbia University.

They come home singing. They can go to their own library. They take nature walks. They love their school.

The teachers are very loving.

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Now, Noah, Annabella and Poppy are all in the Lower School, with two-year-old Finn waiting in the wings.

She returned to Summit as a Second Grade teacher assistant in 2011.

Veneziano sees her own happy childhood reflected in her children’s experiences at the school. Her children are filled with excitement about their time spent at school, and she said, she loves that they are coming to understand that learning can happen anywhere through the school’s innovative curriculum.

“They come home singing,” she said. “They can go to their own library. They take nature walks. They love their school. The teachers are very loving.”

Because Summit represented safety to her, Veneziano always knew she wanted her children to attend the school.

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3 Teachers Linked by Summit

Stephanie Flores de Valgaz ‘01

Stephanie Flores de Valgaz came to Summit for Seventh Grade in 2001, after an uninspiring year in the public school system.

“It was like diving head-first into the water, the expectation was so high,” she said.

But Flores de Valgaz soon found that she was swimming, not drowning, in Summit’s challenging environment. One of the first assignments she remembers was a math exercise on proportions that compared the Barbie doll’s figure to a real life woman.

“It renewed my love for learning,” she said. “I think my parents saw an immediate turnaround.”

She enjoyed the plays, the community service and even the speeches she was required to give at Summit.

“These are the kind of things that make you confident about yourself and your abilities,” she said.

In high school she did an internship with Summit Teacher Alice Cleland, who predicted Flores de Valgaz would become a teacher.

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But Flores de Valgaz thought she was headed to law school after graduating from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill with an English degree. She decided to take a year to study abroad and went to Chile to teach English.

“The teaching was a hard experience,” she said. “Even though it was a private school, the resources were not what we have here.”

Also, the lines between teacher and student were often blurred and it was hard to establish authority.

“Going to Chile was supposed to push me toward teaching or law school,” she said.

She returned to the United States, believing that fate was pushing her toward law school. She took the LSAT and started applying to law schools, all the while working as a substitute teacher at Summit.

She worked as an administrative assistant for a while at Summit, but teaching was where her heart kept leading her. When a job opened up that allows her to teach Spanish and work as a Third Grade teacher assistant, she jumped at the chance. When Summit offered her the job, she withdrew her law school applications.

“You cannot turn down an opportunity to feel joy in the morning when you get up,” she said, adding that she wasn’t so sure she would feel joy in the morning when she woke up as a law student.

An added bonus is that her mother, Dolores Flores de Valgaz, also teaches Spanish at the school.

This is where I’m supposed to be. Every day is a confirmation of that -- whether it’s a compliment from a colleague or a reflection from a student.

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Burgess Jenkins ’89 Looking for the Best in Himself, and Others

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Almost anyone can become a good actor if they are willing to be vulnerable and explore their emotions, said Burgess Jenkins, an actor and acting teacher. That process is a lifelong journey for those boldface names we watch on the big and little screens.

In his work with his students, he often draws on the lessons he learned from Summit teachers.

For Jenkins, the process of learning about himself began at Summit, which he attended from Kindergarten until his Ninth Grade graduation in 1989.

“He really went out of his way to make learning fun. He would make a game out of everything,” Jenkins said. “He was a really upbeat guy.”

“Summit taught me to believe in myself and who I was created to be,” he said, “but also to find the best in others.”

From science teacher Phil Wood, Jenkins learned the value of hands-on instruction.

Jenkins has done that in an acting career that has included such blockbuster hits as Remember the Titans and his work as the founder of the Carolina Actors Group, which trains film and television actors. He founded the group in 2005, when he and his wife, Ashlee Payne, returned to Winston-Salem from Los Angeles. He will appear on ABC this fall on Nashvilles, which he describes as a night time family soap opera set against the world of country music. It will air at 10am on Wednesdays.

“He wouldn’t tirelessly explain something. He would do it and then he’d have you do it,” Jenkins said.

Paul Walpole, Jenkins’ Fifth Grade teacher showed Jenkins that the classroom need not be a serious place.

Coaches Mike Smith and Capers Carlton tried to find the best in each student, whether they were athletic or not.

Jenkins received a bachelor’s degree and completed some course work for a master’s in psychology from Lenoir Rhyne College. While in school, he worked for a modeling agency in

Greensboro to pay his bills. He went on a few casting calls and booked a part on the television show Dawson’s Creek and a role in the independent film Unshackled.

His role as Ray Budds in Remember the Titans showed Jenkins that he needed more training if he was going to reach his potential as an actor. He spent four years taking classes at Playhouse West in Los Angeles. More roles followed.

His television roles include such shows as One Tree Hill, Army Wives and Drop Dead Diva. He has played opposite Hilary Swank in the movie The Reaping.

Summit taught me to believe in myself and who I was created to be,” he said, “but also to find the best in others.

He and his wife wanted to raise a family in Winston-Salem, so they returned home, knowing that the move might mean that Jenkins’ acting career was effectively over.

That was not the case, and Jenkins has continued to work, as well as teach. When he first began to teach acting classes locally, he worried there would be enough students to keep the business going.

“I’ve been very impressed with the level of talent and dedication that I’ve found,” he said.

In his classes, he tries to create the nurturing environment he enjoyed at Summit.

“I think that a lot of the places where I’ve studied were focused on being your best you,” he said, “but it’s an enormous mistake when an institution doesn’t emphasize finding the best in others.”

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CLASS NOTES

In Memoriam Algine Neely Ogburn ‘37 April 24, 2011

Jo Taylor Walker ‘40 April 10, 2011

R. Philip Hanes, Jr. ‘41 January 16, 2011

Lucy “Sookie” Fain Pebbles ‘46 April 29, 2012

Kent Hill Graham ‘46 October 4, 2010

David Lock ‘56

1939 Libbie Cobb Greer passed away on December 16, 2009 at the age of 85. Libbie was born in Winston-Salem and graduated from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. She worked for the Tennessee Valley Authority in Chattanooga, Tenn. as a map editor. While employed at TVA, she met her future husband, Earl Greer, and they married in 1947 in Chapel Hill. She and her husband later moved to El Cerrito, Calif., where they raised three children. In 1994, they moved to Ashland, Ore. where she volunteered for the Tudor Guild.

October 26, 2010

Sarah “Sally” Lane Ivey DeRamus ‘61

1973

February 9, 2011

Thomas “Tommy” Willard Littlejohn, III “63 March 30, 2011

David Bahnson Butler ‘64 October 20, 2010

John H. Myers ‘75 October 8, 2010

Nawal Alexandra Ebeid Giscard D’Estaing ‘75 September 6, 2011

Robert Baker Crawford, III ‘87 September 9, 2011

Theodore “T.R.” Randall Keith ‘91 April 28, 2012

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Beth Gilley writes, “I am back in Winston Salem after many years in Texas and Florida.”

Ellen Nordstrom Baer writes, “please share the Concord Community Music School’s website information with anyone who’d like to learn more about our (my) school: www. ccmusicschool.org. I’m in the process of opening up my own business at www.gutz2basinger.com and have also taken on a job with Classical Voice of New England www.cvneweng.org as their Northern New England Music Critic. (I love that my boss up here is also a UNC grad--a constant reminder to me about North Carolina!)”

1974 Sarah Insch passed away on March 9, 2010. She was the wife of Daniel Pelletier andmother of William, 14, and Julia, 10.

Sarah was born on July 2, 1959 in Winston-Salem. She was the daughter of the late William Edward Insch and Elizabeth (Betty) Truitt Insch. She attended Summit and graduated from Reynolds in 1977. She earned her undergraduate degree in Slavic linguistics at Duke in 1981 and studied abroad in Russia. She later attended graduate school at UNC. Sarah was a co-founder and vice president of Global Translation Systems,

Inc., a Chapel Hill-based translation firm. A loving wife and mother, Sarah was extremely active in her community, volunteering countless hours with political campaigns, Seawell Elementary and Morris Grove Elementary schools, and serving as a Brownie and Girl Scout leader. She was a lifelong member of the Unitarian Universityersalist church, first in Winston-Salem and since 1990 at the Community Church of Chapel Hill, where she served on the religious education and many other committees. She was the recipient of the Community Church’s Annual Gertrude Willis Lifespan Religious Education Award in 2006. A passionate fan of Duke University basketball, she also enjoyed spending time with her family, reading, hiking and traveling. In addition to her husband and children, she is survived by two brothers, Douglas Insch of Memphis, Tenn. and Kenneth Insch of Albuquerque, N.M.

Michael Winger writes, “after spending ten years touring the Southeast, Midwest and Europe as lead singer of alternative college rock group Dayroom, I moved to San Francisco and worked as a producer, engineer, arranger, songwriter and musician. I currently work as executive director of the San Francisco Chapter of the Recording Academy, the organization that produces the GRAMMY awards.”

1987

1982 David Maynard has joined MassMutual Financial Group’s Greensboro Agency as the agency’s Investment Specialist.

David, a graduate of the University of North Carolina, the University of Missouri and Vanderbilt University, has more than 12 years’ experience in the financial services industry.

He most recently served as Director of Wealth Management at Southern Community Bank and Trust. David and his wife, Stephanie, live in Winston-Salem. Their children, Brooke and Matthew, are current students at Summit.

1986

The Austin Business Journal recognized John Porter in the 2010 Best CFO Awards. As the CFO of Astrotech Corp., a company that helps send satellites and cargo into space, John is responsible not only for financial operations, but also for strategic planning and corporate development. In addition to his financial duties, he is focused on advancing Astrotech’s biotechnology initiatives in microgravity processing and commercializing technologies that have been developed in and around the space industry. His unique background in investment banking and the life sciences industry provides the insight needed to align these two high-growth segments within the company.

1988

Classmates from class of 1986 attending Jennie Davis’ June 12, 2010 wedding

Frank Shepherd writes, “Beth and I have moved to Charlotte, from Denver, Colo. Despite missing dear friends and the Rockies, we are thrilled to be surrounded by the eye-popping beauty and rich history of North Carolina. Being close to family and the beach is the icing on the cake.”

From left to right: Whitney Wright Lewallen, Kimbrel Bunn Morris, Holbrook Newman, Francie Vaughn Powers, Lorrie Dixson

1991

Chris Burris earned his master of library and information studies from UNC Greensboro. Chris says, “if it were not for Summit, I would not have earned this degree.”

Kenton Brown was published in the Letters section of Nature, the international weekly journal of science, March 2011: Coupled quantized mechanical oscillators. Read more here: http://www.nist.gov/pml/div688/quantum-022311.cfm

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1993

1994

Daniel C. Gunter III was selected by the NC State University Alumni Association as its Outstanding Young Alumnus of 2011. The award recognizes an NC State alum younger than 42 who has made outstanding contributions to the University, profession and the community.

Clayton Capps Brant writes, “On May 20th, 2011, my husband, Keith, and I welcomed our son, Fischer into the world. We have loved every moment of looking at the world through his eyes. I continue to teach middle school art in Mechanicsburg, Pa. This year I received the Cumberland Valley School District’s Commitment to Excellence Award, given to one teacher or administrator in the district for his/her dedication to the school community. I also co-own an interior design business, Purple Bike Design, which continues to grow. I feel so fortunate and grateful for the path my life has taken, and certainly credit Summit for helping to guide me. I sincerely hope that it continues to be the special place that it was when I attended.”

1994 Mary Craig Wilson Tennille has been named vice president of Excalibur Advancement Services, the Winston-Salem based firm that provides strategic communication and development solutions for educational institutions and nonprofit organizations.

Caroline Gray DenHerder and husband, Dave, welcomed their first child, Madeline Gray DenHerder, born July 9, 2011.

Caroline is a stay-at-home mom as well as board member of Bright Beginnings Inc in Washington, D.C. Dave is the US CEO of Burson-Marsteller. They live in Alexandria, Va.

1994 Katherine Hollis completed her masters in sustainable international development (through the Heller School for Social Policy and Management at Brandeis University) in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan, working with the international development organization Mercy Corps. The program invests in the country’s development by improving education and vocational opportunities for youth, establishing a framework for improved natural resource management and providing financial services and business advice. Her time in Kyrgyzstan included working with communities on Lake Issak-Kul to improve their home garden practices in order to produce and sell higher quality and quantity fruit. She has also worked with Mercy Corps’ Food for Education program, a school feeding and infrastructure repair program that couples all aid with community capacity building. She writes, “it has been an adventure getting to know this unique place of stunning mountains, real winters, substantial poverty and some truly open-hearted people: a young country working to define itself within its nomadic traditions of the Kyrgyz people and the undeniable imprint of over half a decade of Soviet rule. I’ve managed to squeeze in a few days of climbing, mountaineering and skiing, too.”

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1995 Dorothea Garner McCollum writes, “our son, Zebedee (Zeb) Bryan McCollum, was born August 13, 2010. His older brother, Evan, is excited to have him here!”

Zach Albertson and wife Rebecca live in Graham, NC with their three children, Leah, 7, Peter, 5, and Sam, 4. Zach is a student at the UNC School of Dentistry. Rebecca counsels and educates adoptive families through Carolina Adoptions Services in Greensboro, N.C. Caroline Beavers Numbers graduated from Wake Forest in 2002 and worked at the Hesburgh Library at the University of Notre Dame for three years while husband, Bob, attained his law degree. Their daugher, Alexandra Chadwick, was born in 2008. Caroline is now a stay-at-home mother and volunteers in the Junior League.

Sara Rice Wichers lives in Winston-Salem. She and husband, Peter, have a son, Leo, born May, 2009. Sara sings as a soprano with the Piedmont Opera.

1997

2005

J. Taylor Pierce is a senior consultant for Booz Allen Hamilton in Washington, DC. Following his graduation from Furman University in 2004, Taylor got an MPA from the Maxwell School at Syracuse University.

Kimani Griffin was invited to train at the Olympic Ice Skating Oval in Salt Lake City in the fall of 2010, potentially for a spot on the USA Olympic Team. He was awarded a scholarship in the WHIP training program, which will allow him to train in the Short-Track and Long-Track Speedskating programs. Now 6’ 2”, he switched from Short Track to Long Track, which involves more graceful finesse, strength and a long stride.

Kimani was awarded Category 1 status at the end of his first year of training, which essentially ranked him among the top 12 Long Track speedskaters in the country. He will continue to study classical guitar with Patrick Lui, his guitar teacher in Winston-Salem.

1999 George Memory received one of the Top 10 Under 10 Alumni Awards from Elon University. These awards are made to ten graduates from within the last ten years who “have enjoyed major professional success or made a big difference in his or her ommunity.” He was nominated by Sylvia Oberle, executive director of Habitat for Humanity, where George serves on the board of directors.

2008

2001 Scott Pierce appeared on an August 9, 2010 webcast with Katie Couric of CBS News entitled Jobless in America. http:// www.cbsnews.com/video/watch/?id=6761437n. (Scott appears at the 12 minute, 50 second mark in the webcast.) The interview was focused on Scott’s blog www.recentlylaidoff.com, which he co-authors with Rachel Steinberg. Scott is employed as a junior editor at www.metacafe.com. In addition to his work at Metacafe, Scott freelances and has recently interviewed James Cameron and Angelina Jolie in connection with an article pertaining to her movie Salt. These links follow: http:// www.wired.com/underwire/2010/08/james- cameron-talksabout-avatar-re-release-sequels and http://www.wired.com/ underwire/ 2010/07/salt. He has also written articles for www. popularmechanics.com.

2004 Lindsay Rothrock, a recent Vanderbilt University graduate, has joined Nashville-based public and government relations firm Hall Strategies. Rothrock will assist the firm’spublic relations clients.

Logan Pierce majored in chemistry at UNC-Chapel Hill.

Margaret Gilmore, Lily Carlton and Blair Roemer were varsity captains of the 2010 Reynolds High School field hockey team.

Jesse Paschall was awarded the 2011 Society of Manufacturing Engineers Scholarship. Jesse graduated from East Grand Rapids High School and attends North Carolina State University.

2009 Megan Probst was featured in the Winston-Salem Journal (Student athlete section). The article highlighted her swimming career, which started at age four. She currently swims the 500-yard freestyle and relays for the Reynolds High School Demons.

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Stay Connected to Summit at www.summitschool.com Where you can: • Log on to the Alumni Portal, a password protected space that allow you to read Class Notes and find email addresses for classmates

• View a photo gallery of alumni events

• Contribute to the Annual Fund

• Follow Summit on Facebook!

• Read alumni profiles

… Or Send Your News Via email!

We want to hear from you and so do your classmates.

Send information about job updates, weddings, births, high school and college graduations, honors, and activities, and new addresses. We also love receiving photos. Please note that we can use only high resolution digital photos in publications.

Email information to alums@summitmail.org Or, fill out the form below and send it to: Sarah Dalrymple, Assistant Director of School Support Summit School 2100 Reynolda Road.

Winston-Salem, NC 27106 ………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………

2010-2011 Class Notes Name_______________________________________ (Maiden)_______________ Summit Class Year________ Address____________________________________________________________State_______Zip__________ Is this a new address?____________Telephone______________________________________________________ Email address____________________________________________________________Date_______________ News_____________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________ __________________________________________________________________________________________

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Class of 2007 Mikhaela Ackerman (Tisci during Summit years) High Point University Maggie Barclay UNC - Chapel Hill R.J. Barrett UNC - Chapel Hill Ann Beery UNC - Chapel Hill Emma Blumstein Duke Emily Bowden Tulane Megan Breese University of Alabama Elliott Brewer UNC - Chapel Hill Spencer Brill Campbell University.

Brad Brown University of Virginia Jenna Canady NC State Annie Carlson Brown CarolAnn Carter Salem Meg Church University of Georgia Allison Danie Maryland Institute College of Art Alexander Dillon High Point University Alison Elster High Point University Eric Engstrom NC State Roger Flores De Valgaz UNC - Wilmington McDara Folan UNC - Asheville Cort Fox High Point University Haley Gfeller UNC - Chapel Hill Parker Hatcher McPherson College Blitz Hoppe Texas Christian University.

Jessica Jabbour NC State Will Krowchuk Wake Forest KellyKuykendall Wake Forest

Class of 2008 Lucy Lovett Hampshire College Chase Mauney East Carolina University James McCall NC State Kyle Mischinski NC State Katie Morrison Virginia Polytechnic Institute Joshua Myers University of Virginia Mary Scott Neill UNC - Chapel Hill Kate Parker High Point University Graydon Pleasants Rochester Inst. of Technology Katie Pons Vanderbilt Ryanne Probst UNC - Wilmington Davis Rainey UNC - Chapel Hill Jimmy Ruffin NC State Cy Schroeder UNC - Chapel Hill Taylor Schultz NC State Baird Sills Appalachian State University Jackie Simpson High Point University Cawood Simpson Appalachian State University Elizabeth Spangler UNC - Chapel Hill Austin Spencer Georgia Tech Dek Timberlake UNC - Chapel Hill Christina Tyler Virginia Commonwealth Tyler Warren East Carolina University Rob Whaling UNC - Chapel Hill Laurin Williams Boston University Eliza Williams UNC - Chapel Hill

Jordan Bailey UNC-Chapel Hill Sam Barnes UNC-Greensboro Colin Bolton Appalachian State University Nicholas Boyd New York University Richard Budd Furman Erin Caldwell UNC-Chapel Hill Lily Carlton NC State George Cleland UNC-Chapel Hill Grace Cullinan Rice University Alex Dapp East Carolina University Harrison Daubert Boston College Paul DeForest University of Mississippi Thomas Douglas High Point University Catherine Douglas Wake Forest University J.D. Eller UNC-Chapel Hill Dominique Fair Howard University Alex Filipowski Savannah College of Art & Design Camden Francis UNC-Chapel Hill McCabe Galloway Washington and Lee Margaret Gilmore University of South Carolina Lydia Gordon Middlebury College David Gorelick UNC-Chapel Hill Sam Haus Jacksonville University Susannah Haynie Elon Daniel Herzberg High Point University Joe Hunter UNC-Chapel Hill Mary Virginia Ireland Mercer University Bennett Jones William and Mary

Cameron Lawson NC State John Lineberger Wake Forest University Mary Taylor Mann Davidson College Laura Marion Appalachian Charlie Martin New York University Miller Maxwell University of Georgia George Moore UNC-Chapel Hill Sarah Murphy Notre Dame Kyle Noyes UNC-Chapel Hill Jesse Paschall NC State Amy Poole UNC-Chapel Hill Ashley Pullen University of South Carolina Shayna Purcell UNC-Chapel Hill Ginny Rice University of South Carolina Cristina Rodriguez UNC-Chapel Hill Blair Roemer University of Georgia Caroline Rudolph UNC-Chapel Hill Olivia Santos Georgetown Henry Shepley East Carolina University William Shepley Salisbury School Jay Silver Appalachian Carolyn Smith Furman Claire Strickland UNC-Chapel Hill Mary Lyle Townsend Southern Methodist University Adam Wade Christopher Newport University Collier Wimmer High Point University Robert Zieser-Misenheimer US Naval Academy

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Thanksgiving Reunion 2012

Last November, Summit Alums gathered on campus to renew friendships and catch up on news.

______, Michael Ebeling and Sandra Adams. former teacher before martha albertson

12

From left to right, Gracie Nicklas-Morris, Ellen Brown, Christina Woodard, Grace Falken, Adria Davis, Libby Jones, Brennen Carr.

Brennen Carr and Robbie Lyerly

Thomas Douglas and Pat Capps

From left to right, Ellie Holmes, Margaret Carlson, Sam Ogburn, Charles Martin French and Benjamin Carson.

Dr. James Toole and family (Sean and Jim.)

_____, Wilson Douglas and Jordan Schwall.

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