The Lovett School Magazine, Winter 2023 by The Lovett School

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WINTER 2023

THE LOVETT SCHOOL 4075 PACES FERRY ROAD NW ATLANTA, GEORGIA 30327-3009

PARENTS OF ALUMNI: If this is addressed to an alum who no longer maintains a permanent address at your home, kindly notify the Alumni Office at (404) 262-3032 or alumni@lovett.org.

ALUMNI AND FRIENDS:

RECONNECT WITH LOVETT! the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

Update your name and contact information or share alumni news by visiting lovett.org/update or scanning the QR code.

the lovett school magazine

LOOKING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD: ACADEMICS

page

FEATURES

109

MEANINGFUL

CONNECTIONS CREATE

LIMITLESS OPPORTUNITIES

Year in and year out, the generosity of donors like you ensures that today’s students have the vast opportunities and exceptional experiences that only Lovett can offer.

LOVETT LAST LOOK

SUPPORT LOVETT’S TRUE BLUE ANNUAL FUND TODAY BY SCANNING THE QR CODE OR VISITING LOVETT.ORG/GIVETRUEBLUE

Lovett students make full use of the Riverbank campus no matter what the weather is like. When a cold snap froze the pond during 1969-1970 school year, students took to the ice for skating and hockey.

GREETINGS

TABLE OF CONTENTS 04 | GREETINGS 06 / Lovett School Leadership 07 / Letter from the Head of School 08 / The Lovett School Board of Trustees 2023-24

46 13

08 / Message from the Board of Trustees Chair

09 | CAMPUS NEWS 10 / Celebrating Faculty

13 / Tech Curriculum Alignment 14 / Glenn Speakers Series presents Bob Woodward 16 / Live It. Learn it. Lovett.

85 | ALUMNI

18 / Neuro Teach

86 / Run ’n Lovett

20 / LIA Kickoff

87 / Alumni Board

22 / Words of Wisdom from Patrick Boswell

88 / 2013 Football State Champion Alums Reconnect on the Riverbank

24 / Diploma of Distinction 26 / Summer Study Abroad 28 / Inside a Responsive Classroom 29 / Phonics: The Lower School’s Approach to Literacy 30 / Fine Arts 36 / Advancement Updates

45 | FEATURES 46 / Looking Back to Move Forward: Academics 53 / Life with Eva Lovett 56 / Progressive Education 60 / Teaching & Learning 66 / Back to the Future

39 / Riverbank Chat

72 / Congratulations, Class of 2023

42 / Riverbank Pride

108 / Lovett Last Look

92 / Riverbank Rock ’n Roast 93 / Class Reunion Parties 94 / From the Riverbank to the Emmys 95 / Class Notes 103 / Marriages 104 / Births & Adoptions 106 / In Memoriam 107 / Tributes the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

PREPARING STUDENTS FOR THEIR

FUTURES AND LOVETT FOR A SECOND

CENTURY 04

GREETINGS

the lovett school magazine WINTER 2023 EXECUTIVE EDITOR

Georgia Parmelee, Senior Director of Strategic Marketing & Communications

SENIOR EDITORS

Lara Kauffman, Director of Alumni Engagement Starr Pollock, Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement

CONTRIBUTORS

LOVETT SCHOOL LEADERSHIP HEAD OF SCHOOL Meredyth Cole

ASSOCIATE HEAD OF SCHOOL Chelle Wabrek

HEAD OF LOWER SCHOOL James Choi

HEAD OF MIDDLE SCHOOL Joseph Moody, Ph.D.

HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL Patrick Boswell

SENIOR CHAPLAIN Rev. Steve Allen

CHIEF ADVANCEMENT OFFICER Matt Gould

CHIEF OF CULTURE AND COMMUNITY Tommy Welch, Ph.D.

CHIEF ENGAGEMENT OFFICER Jessica Sant

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER

Adekale Ande Jay Freer ’78 Jacob Geiger Beverly Hamrick Elizabeth Jones Jessica Sant Amanda Stibbs Mason Sutherland Danielle Terzer Fran Turner Chelle Wabrek

John Mongelli

GRAPHIC DESIGN & ART DIRECTION

CHIEF HUMAN RESOURCES OFFICER

PRINTING

Chorlana Francis

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER Gray Kelly

SENIOR DIRECTOR OF STRATEGIC MARKETING & COMMUNICATIONS

Dawn Stein

Bennett Graphics

PHOTOGRAPHY

Art of Life Studios Clyde Click Miguel Gutiérrez / Legacy Studios Alice Park Paul Ward Faculty, staff, student, and parent photographers

Georgia Parmelee

ACADEMIC RESOURCE DIRECTOR Carrie Stafford

Lovett Magazine is published by the Communications Office twice a year and is mailed free of charge to alumni, parents, and friends of The Lovett School. For general information, please email communications@lovett.org. To submit alumni news, email alumni@lovett.org or visit love.tt/alumniconnect.

DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

Adam Nelson ’93

The Lovett School, Inc. does not discriminate on the basis of any category protected by applicable federal, state, or local law, including, but not limited to, race, color, gender, religion, age, physical or mental disability, sexual orientation, national or ethnic origin, or gender identity and expression, with respect to qualified persons in the administration of the School’s employment practices, admission policies, educational policies, scholarship and loan programs, athletic programs, or other school administered programs.

DIRECTOR OF FINE ARTS Jay Freer ’78

DIRECTOR OF ENROLLMENT Gopi Shammas ’95

This publication is printed by an fsc-certified printer on paper that is 30 percent post-consumer waste and 50 percent recycled, processed chlorine-free.

GREETINGS

Dear Lovett Community, As winter arrives on the Riverbank, the air is dry, skies bright blue, and the sounds are happy screeches, athletic whistles, the Ellington Band and the roar of Lovett buses heading on and off campus. Lovett is once again full of energy, intellectual discovery and a sense of community like none other. Over the course of a day, I am provided the unique opportunity to spend time with kindergarteners surprising themselves with their ability to read to seniors who are unphased by the challenge of multivariable calculus! I observe a third grade teacher who has appointed one of her students to “teach” the class through a math problem and on the same day receive an unsolicited call about the wonderful presentation one of our faculty gave at a professional conference. Life at Lovett is good! In this issue, we celebrate the class of 2023 as they head off to their next chapters well prepared to succeed and thrive, departing Lovett with the intellect and character to travel their paths to success. What our college destination list does not reflect as fully as the acceptance list is the wide variety of the country’s finest colleges and universities that offered admission to Lovett students. Our students are uniquely prepared to succeed in learning and in life. In his new book From Reopen to Reinvent: (Re)Creating School for Every Child, Michael Horn identifies key areas to prepare students, areas that Lovett faculty are already actively engaged in conversation around: the teaching of relevant knowledge; the development and practice of communication, collaboration and critical thinking skills; the explicit teaching of essential traits of those who thrive, the same skills Eva Lovett nearly a century ago identified as the skills and mindsets she thought to be the purpose of education: selfconfidence, empathy, self-control, integrity, curiosity, perseverance and optimism. This is NOT reinvention for Lovett. Rather, it is the working definition of Eva Lovett’s Whole Child Education. As we prepare all of our students for their futures, be they second graders moving to third grade, or seniors launching to college, our work is to ensure we are preparing students for what they will see in future educational settings and that they will have the skills and mindsets needed to succeed in today’s world. None of these outcomes are possible without excellent educators. Teacher retention, attraction, competitive compensation models and continued efforts to ennoble the profession of teaching are top

of mind for Lovett’s leadership. We have extraordinary teachers here at Lovett. In the pages of this issue, you will see reflections from Ben Posten on his 41 years of teaching middle school, learn how Alex Douglas instills the values of civil discourse in his economics and government students, and hear how Allison Williams uses motion and action to help our youngest Lions learn to read and write. We need to take care of teachers like Ben, Alex, and Allison, along with their many outstanding colleagues. Since arriving at Lovett, I have been committed to looking back at our history to inform who we will be moving forward, doubling down on the timeless vision of our founder Eva Lovett’s vision of education for a changing world. In her “New Deal in Education”, our founder stated: “The manner of doing something is considered more important than the thing done. How to study is of greater importance than how much is studied. Every effort is applied to establish an interested and questioning, rather than an accepting attitude.” As you read through the following pages I hope you will experience the same sense of pride, excitement and hopefulness I do for the future of The Lovett School. In interviews with Trevor Martin ’07 and Elizabeth Bowling Aldorsson ’09, you will hear from two outstanding alumni how an interested and questioning attitude, first developed at Lovett, has served them well in their careers at the heart of emerging technologies. Lovett’s continued commitment to Eva Lovett’s educational vision remains more relevant than ever. As we near the milestone of our 100th year, we are very focused on ensuring the conditions are in place to launch Lovett into our second century stronger than ever.

Meredyth Cole HEAD OF SCHOOL

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

GREETINGS

2023-24 BOARD OF TRUSTEES CHAIR

John O. Knox Jr. ’88

VICE CHAIR

Frank H. Briggs III

SECRETARY

Megan Apple Stephenson ’93

TREASURER

John C. Staton III ’84

TRUSTEES David B. Allman ’72 Yetty Levenson Arp ’64 Katherine Rowland Boudreau ’91 Garry L. Capers Jr. Harold M. Cohen Aimee Simmons Connolly ’95 Malon W. Courts Sylvia Dick Elise Blitch Drake Michael S. Hardee, MD Justin P. Jones ’97 Mark Kauffman Amy Rollins Kreisler ’88 Nikunj R. Lakha Donald M. Leebern III Alison E. Lewis Anne Helms Marino Eileen Keough Millard ’80 James T. Mills Jr. ’74 W. Wright Mitchell ’88 C. Vaughan Nalley IV ’90 David Wall Rice, Ph.D. Peter Thomas ’84, Ph.D., MPH Michael A. Woocher Leonard W. Wood Jr. ’94

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Spence Pryor Russell M. Richards ’99

Looking Back to Move Forward: A Trustee’s View In this issue, you’ll read about how Lovett’s faculty are looking to the past— particularly the vision for education laid out by our founder Eva Edwards Lovett—to shape the school’s academic future. That approach is also an apt description of what a good board of trustees should always be doing: Looking back in order to move forward. Trustees at Lovett, or any outstanding independent school, are charged with providing a long-term, strategic direction for the institution. We are stewards of the campus, ensuring that all of the school’s resources—not just financial assets, but also physical property and the dedicated employees who work here—are well cared for and deployed in ways that best serve students. To give a concrete example, trustees were deeply involved in the development of the campus master plan, including the new Riverbank Community Center that will eventually serve as Lovett’s new front door. But, it’s not our role to tell teachers how they should arrange their classrooms in the new building, or where the furniture in the lobby should go. There is also just one employee who reports to the board of trustees—Head of School Meredyth Cole. Every other employee reports to Meredyth, through various division and department heads. This structure, which again is the standard at excellent schools, empowers the head and her team to run the school day-to-day and year-to-year, while partnering with us on the board to set a long-term vision. In September, we gathered to honor my friend and fellow Lovett trustee Sylvia Dick with the Founder’s Award. You can read more about Sylvia, the mother and grandmother of Lovett graduates and current students, within these pages. But, I wanted to give my thanks for her contributions to the board of trustees, and to the school, over many years. Sylvia epitomizes the attributes of an excellent trustee. She knows Lovett from decades of sustained involvement, cares for it deeply, and is committed to ensuring its long-term excellence. She takes the long view, providing counsel that helps us discern what to do in the future, while honoring the school’s past. Over the past year, we’ve detailed plans for the physical transformation of the Riverbank. As we approach Lovett’s centennial in 2026, you’ll learn about how the school is working to prepare students for their future, combining tried and true approaches with new innovations made possible by emerging technologies. We will do all of this while guided by Eva Lovett’s enduring idea that education should be hands-on, experiential, and exciting. The school that bears her name should always be a place where children are eager to come each day. Eva Lovett’s vision for education is more relevant today than ever before. As Sylvia said when accepting the Founder’s Award, there are so many exciting opportunities ahead of us. As a board of trustees, we look forward to seizing them and ensuring that the end of Lovett’s first century, and the beginning of its second, is one to remember.

John O. Knox Jr. ’88 CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CAMPUS NEWS

K-12 Technology teachers worked to better align their curriculum across all three divisions, ensuring students are positioned to have successful transitions after fifth and eighth grades. See page 13 to learn more.

CAMPUS NEWS

FACULTY WELCOMING NEW FACULTY! LOWER SCHOOL Angela Gao

Lead Teacher, 1st

Melissa Letzler Guidance

Katherine Miller Co-Teacher

Aira Morris Visual Art

Madison Pierce Co-Teacher

Kimberly Smith Co-Teacher, 1st

Grace Sommer Orchestra

Ashley Treiger

Amber Crosswhite Math

Mercedes Vazquez Howard

Ashley Shelton Gayanilo ’88

Jordan Keagle

Assist. Head of MS for Teaching & Learning

Corey Gray

Frances Faulk

Melanie Murphy

Keeley Johnson

Taylor Parker

Robert Leon

Dan Ruppel

Kate Moreman

Chinequa Shelander

Math

Language Science

English/SS

MIDDLE SCHOOL

Cat Vestri

Daniel Afolabi Language

Brittany Arrington

Amanda Lucas

Assist. Head of US for Teaching & Learning

Lyvelle Simms

Math

History

Math Department Head

DTL 3-5

Wesley Adams

Spanish

Counselor

Language English English

Science

ATHLETICS Chris Archambeault

Science

Head of Athletic Training

UPPER SCHOOL

Asst. Athletic Trainer

Christopher Chow Math

Science

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Alissa Crowe

Brandon Evans Associate AD

Trina Hodgson Athletic Trainer

Zach Reed

US PE Teacher

Everett Smulders ’17 Athletics Assistant

COLLEGE COUNSELING Steven Albano

Assoc. Director of College Counseling

Mason Brown

Assoc. Director of College Counseling

Courtney Vaughn Assoc. Director of College Counseling

CAMPUS NEWS

WELCOMING BACK A NEW LEADER

Ashley Shelton Gayanilo ’88 joined the middle school at

the start of the school year as the division’s assistant head for teaching and learning. Joseph Moody, head of the middle school, said he’s delighted Gayanilo is helping the division’s teachers look at what, why, and how they teach. Gayanilo, a history teacher with more than fifteen years in the classroom and a Lovett Alum, came to Lovett after serving for the past six years as curriculum coordinator and history teacher at The Westminster Schools. One early focus of her work is partnering with department heads across the middle school to bring the community into the classroom as guest speakers or classroom leaders for the day. “Bringing in speakers and other guests helps our students see how learning is applied,” Moody said.

Right: Ashley Shelton Gayanilo ’88, Assistant Head of Middle School for Teaching & Learning. Below: Some of Lovett’s new teachers during opening faculty meetings.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CAMPUS NEWS

2022-2023 FACULTY AND STAFF AWARDS

Thanks to the generosity of our donor community, Lovett had the honor of presenting awards to the following faculty and staff:

ALUMNI 50TH CLASS REUNION AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

MATHEWS FAMILY DISTINGUISHED TEACHING FELLOWSHIP

WOODWARD AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING

Hope Myers

Elizabeth Perkins

MARY AND JACK DINOS MIDDLE SCHOOL MASTER TEACHER CHAIR

CHARLES E. OAKLEY SERVICE AWARD

Leah Decker Vicki Greenberg Jill Stedman Katie Vernon

Elvira Chinen

BETH AND RAY CHENAULT FINE ARTS TEACHING AWARD Rebecca Metzger

PEEBLES LEADERSHIP BY EXAMPLE AWARD Meadow Bond Smith ’87

KAHN FAMILY DISTINGUISHED TEACHING FELLOWSHIP Angela Sauter

EXEMPLARY SERVICE AWARD (LICHTENSTEIN) Sharmeen Hugue

LOUDERMILK FAMILY FOUNDATION COACHING AWARD Matt Casper

Tanya Taylor

STEPHEN AWARD FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING Tyra Lamar

SURDYK AWARD

Caroline Blackmon ’15 McKenzie Braddy

LOYAL LION AWARD

UPPER SCHOOL EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD

Abraham Advincula Bertelie Jules Scott Russo

Jennifer Reynolds

LORIDANS

LEONARD AND CARLA WOOD LOWER SCHOOL MASTER TEACHER CHAIR

Debi Ohayon

WOOD FAMILY DISTINGUISHED TEACHING FELLOWSHIP Bob Amar Caitlin Muldoon Jeff Wierzba

ROLLINS MERIT AWARD (MASTER TEACHER) David Eccles Angela Mitchell Ben Posten Kevin Randolph Ashley Sharpton Amy Story

TEACHERS TRAIN TO HELP EARLY READERS

Helping students develop strong reading skills is a key responsibility for the teachers working with Lovett’s youngest Lions. This summer, three Lower School teachers participated in Orton-Gillingham training. Catherine Byles and Lydia Smith attended a training organized by the Institute For Multi Sensory Education, Megan Lorick attended the Orton-Gillingham Classroom Educator course offered at The Schenck School in Sandy Springs. Orton-Gillingham is a structured literacy approach designed to support early reading. It uses multisensory teaching strategies to allow students to see, hear, touch, and move as they connect language with letters and words. Students break words apart into their components and build words from individual sounds. The next time you pass through the lower school, you may see students learning to read using strategies learned at last summer’s training.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

See page 56.

OUTSTANDING CO-TEACHER AWARD

Jack Parrish

Susan Lincoln

BEN POSTEN ON PROGRESSIVE EDUCATION OVER THE LAST 40 YEARS

2023 O. WAYNE ROLLINS QUEST FOR EXCELLENCE GRANT RECIPIENTS BASED ON YEARS OF SERVICE WITH LOVETT: 10 YEARS: Umberto Aguilar Aaron Feldbauer Bertelie Jules Jennifer King Anne Konigsmark Kelly Lecceardone Larken McCord Brian Patterson Kevin Randolph Anne Sams Angela Sauter Meadow Bond Smith ’87 Teresa Young

20 YEARS: Mike Burgess Kathy Butts Alisa Dinkel Jonathan Newman April Perez

30 YEARS: Marianne Beverly

40 YEARS: Ben Posten*

CAMPUS NEWS

TECH CURRICULUM

ALIGNMENT This summer technology teachers across all three divisions worked to link their programs to ensure students enjoy a consistent experience. Leading the effort was Teresa Young, who is in her eleventh year at Lovett. Young teaches middle school computer science and is a middle school academic technology specialist. Young and her colleagues—Karen Boykins and Vanessa Boone in the lower school, Susan Packman in middle school, and Ethan Greenberg and Dana Graham in the upper school—traced a students journey through various computer science, design, and engineering courses, starting with the lower school’s InGen Studio. “We started wondering what that journey looks like, and if we are aligned in a way that students are progressing well from one grade or division to the next with what they need to be successful at the next level,” Young said. Young said she and her colleagues mapped out the entire journey a student might take from kindergarten to twelfth grade, paying particular attention to whether they were offering the right mix of courses and if students would feel ready to tackle the next course. “We looked at the borders, especially fifth to sixth grade and eighth to ninth grade and asked, ‘what do we do to make sure those transitions are as smooth as possible?’” Young said she and her colleagues are excited to keep delivering new opportunities for students and helping them graduate with the technical skills they need for a world that is increasingly digital. “A lot of this is about keeping students excited and engaged, keeping them curious and fueling that motor of curiosity,” she said. “One way to do that is to make sure we are aligned.”

Top, left to right: Vanessa Boone, Susan Packman, Dana Graham, Teresa Young, Ethan Greenberg, and Karen Boykins brainsotrming vertical alignment. Above: Teresa Young, who spearheaded the tech alignment process.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CAMPUS NEWS

LEGENDARY JOURNALIST VISITS LOVETT GLENN SPEAKER SERIES PRESENTS

BOB WOODWARD IN

April the Lovett community welcomed renowned, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Bob Woodward to campus to discuss his more than fifty years in journalism, including coverage of 10 different presidents. Woodward’s visit was moderated by Lovett parent Robyn Curnow, an award-winning journalist who most recently reported and anchored at CNN International. A native of South Africa, she began her career as a reporter and anchor for the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) and the BBC before she joined CNN in 2001. She has interviewed presidents and Nobel Prize winners, including one with Nelson Mandela

on his 90th birthday that was the last the South African statesman recorded before his death. A highlight of the event came during the Q&A session, during which Leah Cox ’24, who writes for The OnLion, Lovett’s student paper, asked this question to Woodward: “Today, journalism seems to be under great scrutiny. I think many critics or readers would agree that in some ways, we have lost true investigative journalism that is intentional, nuanced, and skilled— especially if we compare it to the golden age of American journalism. Nevertheless, I want to ask you this question: how is journalism better today than in the golden age of American journalism?” The Glenn Speaker Series, made possible by the Jack and Anne Glenn Character Education Speakers Fund, was established in 2004 with the purpose of bringing to Lovett speakers and scholars who can engage our community on the critical matter of character as part of educating the whole child.

Top: The Glenn family with Bob Woodward. Above: Bob Woodward and Robyn Curnow. Right: Leah Cox ’24 asks Woodward a question.

CAMPUS NEWS

LOVETT OFFERS “AN EDUCATION OF DOING AND CREATING AS OPPOSED TO A TRAINING IN MEMORIZING AND REPEATING.” – Eva Edwards Lovett, New Deal in Education (1933)

Teachers in all divisions bring learning alive through hands-on lessons. Here are some ways that students live out Eva Lovett’s vision for an education of “doing and creating.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

LIONS HUFF AND PUFF BUT HOPE SAND DUNES DON’T BLOW DOWN

While exploring the concept of erosion, second-grade scientists learned how wind can move sand, altering sand dunes that offer important protection to coastal environments. In the spirit of hands-on learning, the second graders explored and designed solutions to reduce wind erosion on coastal sand dunes. Working in groups, students built a model of a dune using a bin of sand before designing and building wind barriers using index cards and craft sticks. Once the anti-erosion measures were in place, they took turns blowing through straws to simulate wind, while other members of the group recorded observations of what type of wind barriers were effective. After the experiment, students regrouped as a class to discuss how their barrier performed during the tests.

CAMPUS NEWS

MIDDLE SCHOOL AND ATHLETICS DEPARTMENT TEAM UP FOR SPORTS MATH

As middle school students move into higher level math classes, the topics can become a bit more abstract. Take quadratic equations, for example; translating the formula on the page into realworld application can be a bit tricky. But shortly before the school year ended in May, eighth grade algebra students found themselves investigating various situations that can be modeled with quadratic equations. To bring the lesson to life, the students met with Director of Athletics Adam Nelson ’93, an Olympic gold medalist in the shot put, to discuss projectile motion and how it applies to sports. With their form with the shot put perfected (or at least improved), the students returned to the classroom to model out what they’d learned.

CUTTING-EDGE TECH COMES TO UPPER SCHOOL BIOLOGY CLASSES

For the past two years, students in Katie Vernon’s advanced placement biology class have gotten to work with a technique at the current edge of scientific research: CRISPR gene editing. “I can’t think of anything more exciting to students, because it touches on relevant scientific topics, helps them understand the promise and opportunities of bioengineering, and allows them to discuss the ethics of genetic modification,” said Vernon, who has taught at Lovett since 2005 and is head of the upper school science department. Vernon usually offers the unit after concluding the AP curriculum but before the final exam, as the work offers a good refresher of content students previously learned during a genetics unit. She notes that the CRISPR work exposes students to techniques used in research labs around the world, from examining gene edits of a gel to using polymerase chain reaction tests, something they, and everyone else, became familiar with in recent years from COVID-19 tests. This school year the CRISPR gene-editing unit will expand beyond the advanced placement classes.

CAMPUS NEWS

RETHINKING THE CLASSROOM

NEURO T

his summer, Lovett relaunched its 2020 partnership with the Center for Transformative Teaching and Learning at St. Andrew’s Episcopal School, which is located in Potomac, Maryland. Lovett faculty spent the summer learning ways to infuse their classroom practice with the latest researchinformed strategies to help students reach their highest potential. Many teachers redesigned their classrooms to maximize learning after seeing how visual clutter can lead to overstimulation and make students feel distracted and tired throughout the day. Using student-created designs helps their classrooms tell the story of the learning that happens. To complement the work of our faculty, Lovett’s ninth graders recently started using Neuroteach Global Student software. Through this program, students will learn how to study smarter and more effectively using Neuroteach’s innovative, teacher-

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CAMPUS NEWS

created platform. Students are practicing effective note-taking strategies and how to turn their notes into productive study tools. They will practice concrete ways to reduce test anxiety and become more confident learners. Throughout the course, students will compile a notebook filled with strategies, alongside their reflections on how their learning has changed. All students will benefit from one or more of these research-based strategies. Students will learn by doing through reallife missions where they will put what they learn to use and make strides toward conquering confusion, self-doubt, and anxiety.

TEACH

STUDYING SMARTER

| By Carrie Stafford

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CAMPUS NEWS

FAMILIES GATHER FOR THE

LIA KICKOFF ON

Sunday, August 27, more than 200 members of the Lovett community were on campus for the Lovett International Alliance’s (LIA) annual school year kick-off. Returning and new Lovett families from all three divisions, as well as school administrators, celebrated the start of the new school year. The community bonded over fun, food, and fellowship. Guests enjoyed multicultural music by DJ CNS, Bollywood dance performances and dance instruction by Naach Dance Academy, delicious food from The Taco Truck, a bounce house, face painting and games, and sweet treats for our young Lions! Leaders from our five new Cultural Resources Groups (CRGs) welcomed guests at their tables and gave families a taste of the social events their CRGs are planning this year.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CAMPUS NEWS

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CAMPUS NEWS

WORDS OF

WISDOM

PATRICK BOSWELL’S OPENING REMARKS TO UPPER SCHOOOL STUDENTS As the new school year began in August, Patrick Boswell, head of the upper school, reflected on how students could set a standard to measure against while being sure to take care of themselves, each other, and the school. Here is a portion of his remarks to the upper school student body on the first day of school. Each summer, I spend considerable time reflecting on the past year and thinking about the year ahead. This place is super quiet during the summer, which gives me ample opportunity for dreaming. I also have the opportunity to catch up on the adolescent psychology books, World War II historical fiction, golf podcasts, and streaming shows that stacked up during the school year. As I considered an opening message for the year, a couple of ideas kept coming back to my mind from two very different media: the “Fried Egg Golf” podcast and AppleTV’s hit show, Ted Lasso. Some of you know that I love the game of golf—playing it and watching it. This summer, the “Fried Egg Golf” podcast had an episode called the “History of Par.” I don’t know many other people who’d listen to an hour about that, even at 1.5x speed, so I’ll summarize quickly. Par is a golf concept suggesting the number of strokes that a scratch golfer should achieve on any given hole. The game of golf existed for centuries without par, and it wasn’t until the recent history of the game that every golfer began

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

measuring themselves against this arbitrary standard. And it truly is arbitrary—it doesn’t help distinguish between who wins a golf match, it doesn’t evolve with new technology and equipment, and it doesn’t fit the wide variety of golfers that play the game. My four-year old son, my wife, my 80-year old father, and I—we play holes with the same par, but we clearly should be using different standards to measure our individual growth as golfers. So where am I going with this? How do we measure ourselves at Lovett? What are the standards to which we pay attention? Are these standards arbitrary? Do these standards reflect our values or someone else’s? Does measuring ourselves against these standards further our growth and development or inhibit it? During a culture and community meeting last year, one of your wise peers brought up the idea of the Lovett Ideal. When people volunteer information about what constitutes that standard, I’ve heard mention of grades, classes, attractiveness, athletics, fine arts, height,

CAMPUS NEWS

leadership, college acceptances, hair color, socio-economic status, and clothing, specifically shoes. Literally, no one feels like they meet these standards; literally no one could. They’re arbitrary, don’t reflect our values, don’t serve our ongoing growth and development, and certainly don’t serve our ongoing mental health. What are the standards that truly define Lovett students? In my experience, it’s more about how Lovett students act and how they treat one another and this community. It’s living our values of intellect, belonging, purpose, faith, and love. It’s upholding our Character Pledge and Honor Code. That brings me to Ted Lasso, who I mentioned earlier, and the second idea that kept percolating this summer. In an all-day interview with Trent Crimm of The Independent, Ted defines success: “For me, success is not about the wins and losses. It’s about helping these young fellas be the best versions of themselves on and off the field.” And if you allow me to paraphrase for this school context, “For me, success is not about the grades or college acceptances. It’s about helping these young adults be the best versions of themselves in and out of Lovett.” The best version of ourselves—that’s the only standard that should matter, and the only one that we should be striving toward. As you consider that goal, I want you to consider three buckets that will set our community up for success: take care of yourself, take care of each other, and take care of your school.

TAKE CARE OF YOUR SCHOOL

• Literally taking great care of our spaces—the newly renovated and those showing more wear and tear. • Representing the School positively—when we wear our uniform, when we’re online, when we cheer at a game. • Exchanging and examining our views in the classroom without attacking those who don’t share our own. • Honoring the uniqueness of the individuals in our community rather than furthering feelings of otherness. When we reach the end of the year, there will be lots of accomplishments and accolades in the community. We’ll have a valedictorian and other award winners, teams will have won state championships, this stage will host professional quality performances, seniors will have been accepted to numerous colleges and universities. I know that each of those things will happen—they happen every year here. However, the standard of success is much more nuanced and individualized. When it comes to success, there are 654 of us all striving to be the best versions of ourselves.

TAKE CARE OF YOURSELF

• Getting your sleep, eating well, and exercising. • Taking care of your business in and out of the classroom. • Advocating for yourself by utilizing tutorial and asking for assistance. • Seeking help from advisors, counselors, deans, and teachers when you find yourself at a difficult crossroads. • Surrounding yourself with people who build you up rather than tear you down. • Giving yourself the grace of holding yourself to your own standard and not someone else’s.

TAKE CARE OF EACH OTHER (CLASSMATES AND ADULTS ALIKE) • Encouraging your friends to take care of themselves. • Asking a friend to reconsider their choices. • Showing compassion for those around you. • Using our words to build each other up rather than tear each other down. • Holding each other to their own standards and not someone else’s arbitrary measuring stick for them.

“FOR ME, SUCCESS IS NOT ABOUT THE GRADES OR COLLEGE ACCEPTANCES. IT’S ABOUT HELPING THESE YOUNG ADULTS BE THE BEST VERSIONS OF THEMSELVES IN AND OUT OF LOVETT.” the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

DIPLOMA OF

DISTINCTION PROGRAM ADDS DEDICATED CLASS TIME

For the past decade, upper school students have been able to pursue extra learning and work, culminating in a special project completed by the end of senior year, in order to graduate with distinction. This year, for the first time, the diploma of distinction opportunity includes dedicated class time during the academic day. Twenty-two juniors have elected to join the program, which is jointly led by history and religion teacher Matt Bohrer, chemistry and environmental science teacher Jennifer King, and English teacher Larken McCord. “We decided that having this as an add-on to students’ already rigorous academic load made it so hard to do something challenging and unique, and we made the case to give students dedicated time to pursue this,” McCord said. Under the new model, students meet regularly with the teachers during the first semester of junior year, and then

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

have dedicated time to pursue their chosen project during the second semester, meeting with the teachers one-onone for advice and support. The cohort will reconvene and meet regularly during the first semester of their senior year, with the capstone projects being completed and presented during the spring of their senior year.

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WE WANT TO MAKE IT MORE EXPLICIT THAT WHAT THEY ARE DOING CAN BE MODELED OR DESIGNED DIFFERENTLY IF THEY HAVE IN MIND THE PEOPLE THEY MAY HELP WITH THE IDEAS AND EFFORTS THEY ARE PUTTING FORTH.”

“The longer run-up, in contrast to senior projects, which really focus on the final six weeks of a student’s time, allows students to build proposals that are longer-running, more meaningful, and more productive,” King said. Previously students focused on one of three areas— global studies, sustainability, or service and leadership. Over the past few years the faculty have recognized the increasing overlaps between those concentrations and chosen to work more closely together, encouraging students to think broadly and not focus on one area to the exclusion of others. Though the new model has only been underway since the school year began in August, Bohrer said he, McCord, and King are already seeing opportunities to deepen the learning undertaken by students. “A point of emphasis so far is the idea of scholarship that will help students build knowledge of content and a repository of skills, but also ask them to examine what they will do with the skills to impact other people,” he said. “We want to make it more explicit that what they are doing can be modeled or designed differently if they have in mind the people they may help with the ideas and efforts they are putting forth. … That’s where the most rewarding moments often come; ownership and self-awareness are the real end goal.”

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Summer STUDY ABROAD | By Fran Turner, Director of Civic and Global Engagement

hat makes a truly memorable learning experience? If you think back to your school years, it’s not surprising if your memory lands on a lesson that involves travel. Whether it’s a class trip to a museum or an extended study abroad, some of the most impactful learning experiences take us beyond classroom walls. Lovett faculty and staff strive to create opportunities for students to explore new places, build intercultural skills, and see firsthand the places they’re studying. Over the past year, Lovett students built transect lines to study coral reefs in Caribbean waters; cooked authentic meals in an Italian kitchen; searched for orchids along the trails of an ancient Ecuadorian cloud forest; and climbed sandy mountains to historic Israeli ruins. Since COVID-19 stopped educational travel in its tracks, Lovett students’ desire to explore new places has grown exponentially. In 2022-2023, more than 300 upper school students applied to participate in Lovett’s overnight courses and trips. And that number does not include students who traveled as part of classes, such as the marine biology trip to Skidaway Island or the theater trip to New York. Students’ yearning for academic travel led the school to open new trips for 2023-2024, including spring break upper school trips to Tanzania, India, and France and a middle school science trip to Iceland. Tenth grader Shelby Morris participated in Lovett’s partner school exchange with St. Mary’s School in Calne, England last summer. During the exchange, she spent three weeks attending classes and living with a host family. “It was a life-changing experience,” she reflected recently. “It’s given me a perspective on other places that

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

I didn’t use to have.” St. Mary’s is one of three partner schools in different parts of the world that Lovett students exchange with each year. Last fall, 11th grader Brendan Pitfield traveled with a group of classmates to Siempre Verde, Lovett’s research

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station in the Ecuadorian cloud forest, where he gained a new perspective on learning. “I saw not only how students there learned, but also how the population lived. This made me realize that learning is not a linear idea in which you only gain knowledge by progressing through each class in high school,” he said. “Instead, I realized that the opportunity of learning through experiencing the topic in the real world, first hand, will teach you even more than a textbook can. While I am not going to ditch my books to travel the world, this is something I will make sure to keep in mind as I continue my career at Lovett and onwards.” Virginia Lathrop, another 11th-grade student who participated in the Siempre Verde trip, felt that the experience not only expanded her knowledge of culture and ecology, but the time the group spent at a small village school also prompted her to appreciate the access Lovett students have to resources and materials. On the Lovett trip to Italy, senior Megan Jones said she learned two important things. “First: Olive oil fixes everything!” And on a more serious note, Megan noted some of the soft skills that took root when she was out of her comfort zone meeting new people and exploring new places. The Italy trip served as a catalyst for Megan to think about the importance of using her voice as she navigates new surroundings. “Questions are like doors,” she said. “They connect us with one another and present us with limitless opportunities to grow and discover, but we can only experience their gifts if we open the door and ask.”

Above: Students explored the food, architecture, and culture of Italy. Below: Siempre Verde is once again hosting regular visits from students. Opposite: Students traveled to the Bahamas for an elective course on marine biology.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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INSIDE A

| By Carrie Stafford

“RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM” F

ounded in 1981, Responsive Classroom is an educational approach that uses evidence-based practices to create safe, joyful, and engaging classroom environments for students. Responsive Classroom helps children develop essential social and emotional skills, like cooperation and self-regulation, alongside engaging academic learning. Lovett teachers make their lessons active and interactive. They provide hands-on activities and cooperative learning experiences to capture students’ interests and foster their intellectual curiosity. When teachers ask open-ended questions, they allow students to stretch their curiosity and reasoning abilities. They practice constructing knowledge together, rather than relying on the teacher as the sole expert.

HERE’S AN EXAMPLE OF A RESPONSIVE CLASSROOM IN ACTION ON A RECENT DAY:

QUIET TIME:

Students entered from recess and began QT—included memoir writing, reading, math practice, science check in, or working on incomplete assignments.

CHOICE:

• Students had options for things to talk about during book club. An example prompt was: Disagree—challenge each other, retell a part of the story with a lot of emotion or feelings, or share ideas, not facts, to analyze the book together. • There were options for where to gather for book club, and which book to read. • Students had options for which strategy their group would use for listening and engaging in the discussion.

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REFLECTION:

How did you contribute to the book club as a member— what did you do well, what could you try next time, what suggestions do you have?

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fäniks noun

phonics

THE LOWER SCHOOL’S APPROACH TO LITERACY

hough Lovett students of all ages learn through hands-on lessons, kindergartners certainly need plenty of learning by doing. When Allison Williams teaches the newest Lions to read and write, each student’s name becomes a learning opportunity in the class’ phonics-based approach to literacy. “Names don’t always follow phonic rules, so they are a good way to explore the sounds different letters or combinations can make,” she said. “And putting students’ names into our learning makes the kids feel more attached to the curriculum.” Students practice tapping out sounds with their hands, which helps them understand syllables. Often they do this by moving around the classroom and tapping on different

objects—such as an easel or a table—as they sound out the thing’s name. The next step for students is to start writing down the words they are saying aloud. The entire process creates a lively classroom of kindergartners speaking, tapping, and writing. But underneath the noise of exuberant learning, a larger curriculum is at work. The lessons are drawn from units designed by Lucy Calkins, one of the preeminent scholars of childhood literacy. First graders down the hall are building on material learned in kindergarten and adding additional depth to their knowledge. “It’s all about getting students to consider, ‘what do you see and what do you know?’ and then put it into practice,” Williams said. “And then you can start to write and form these sounds into words on the page.” the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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FINE AR TS Lovett’s art, music, and drama courses offer an incredible range of ways for students tap into, and develop, their creative sides. But what happens on the stage or in the studio doesn’t stay there. Several upper school Lions recently reflected on how their experience in the fine arts has shaped the entirety of their Lovett experience.

ART “I have really enjoyed my time in the fine arts department. I have taken an art class every year of high school, and it has really helped me balance out my schedule, creating a good mix of academic requirements while also having something I am passionate about and enjoy. I feel that the skills I am learning in my art classes are ones that I can take with me later in life and will always be either an enjoyable pastime or even work that I am passionate about. I love the freedom I get to create, especially in the honors visual arts class, in which the projects are self-paced and you can make just about anything your creativity leads you to.” — Emily Rosenfeld ’24

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PHOTOGRAPHY “Darkroom photography is a creative medium that I never thought I would have the chance to learn about in high school, and honestly, I wasn’t really even sure what I was signing up for when I registered for the class. Learning the darkroom and understanding how to work the cameras took time, but now it’s almost like second nature. The class gives so much creative freedom, and although the assignments are the same, it’s amazing how different each student’s work is.” — Graysen Stratton ’25

Above: Upper School Photo II students recently experienced the wonder of Cyanotype photography, a camera-less technique that brings images to life. Their life-size Cyanotype was meticulously crafted, incorporating both artistry and scientific precision elements. Left: Middle school students have the chance to work in a variety of media. Below: From the time they arrive at Lovett, lower school students make regular visits to the art classroom.

Graysen Stratton ’25 has successfully completed her Girl Scout Gold Project. For her project, she created two pieces of art that were used to brighten the Crossroads Community Ministries counseling offices and welcome its visitors.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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DANCE “Being in the arts at Lovett has allowed me to find myself in a way that I never had before. Although I have experienced anxiety from time to time, through dance, I have discovered that I love to perform in front of others as a way of self expression.” — Imani Kenner ’24 “Entering dance during my freshman year was really scary. I was the only freshman in my dance elective and was really shy (a personality trait that my friends outside of dance would never correspond with me). I am so glad that Mrs. Metzger pushed me and my confidence in dance further, allowing me to feel like I belonged. While it took time, I gained new friendships with dancers from different grades. I had never taken a dance class outside The Lovett School, but the girls made me feel as if I had taken dance all my life, lifting me up when I said ‘I can’t.’ Last spring, I auditioned for the honors dance program, and while I did not actually make the auditions, Mrs. Metzger let me have a shot. This year, as a sophomore, I am again the youngest member of my dance class. I have come to understand that I have made progress and learned to stop comparing myself to the other girls who can do double pirouettes. I now only compare myself to who I was before, now, and in the future. This new self-confidence has allowed me to try out for the new dance team without resistance, and I am glad that I did.” — Christina Dahabreh ’26 Dance students had the amazing opportunity to work with the accomplished and up-and-coming choreographer, Branndi Lewis.

MUSIC “My experience in Chorus at Lovett and the entity of the arts has been crucial to my overall Lovett experience in such a positive manner! The environment that the Lovett Choral Program has developed is very supportive, and the program has made transitions within the school very smooth. Knowing that I have a constant support system through my instructors and peers has allowed me to take risks, and I know that the skills I have learned, including resilience and determination, will benefit me for years to come. In Middle School, I set a goal to make the GMEA All-State Chorus. My teacher, Ms. Ulrich, was extremely supportive, and she gave up her time and knowledge to help me work toward my goal. She helped me outside of school, and she checked on me throughout the entire process. At the end of the audition process, I made the chorus, and I know that I owe a large amount of my ability to reach such a level to the supportive faculty and Lovett arts program. I am extremely grateful for the arts at Lovett, and I can’t wait to see what they continue to bring to the school!” — Katherine Molner ’26 “The Choral Program has been an integral part of my Lovett journey. After seven years in the Lovett Choral Program, I truly feel that my creativity and musicianship have been greatly influenced. Learning songs from different cultures, time periods, and just flatout hard music has shaped me into the student I am, both in the chorus classroom and beyond. — Daniel Mann ’24 “Being a part of Chorus has given me a great community where I’ve made so many new friends in every grade and I’ve had an amazing time working together during chorus and singing together!” — Susanna Lynch ’25

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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Above: The Lovett Chorus sings at the Founder’s Award Reception. Below: The band and orchestra programs are thriving, with students across all divisions practicing and performing regularly.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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THEATER “Theater has provided me with one of the strongest and closest-knit communities I have found at Lovett. I love that we push each other to be the best versions of ourselves while also giving each other the space to fail as we grow. Additionally, it makes me smile to see how many of my theater friends show up to support me and each other in our lives outside of rehearsal. For example, when I got the opportunity to sing the National Anthem for our football team, I could look out into the crowd to see the same people who cheer me on during rehearsal screaming and cheering me on at the field. We are a dynamic group of athletes, activists, academics, and artists that by some magic can come together to create a piece of art larger than any of us alone. Theater has helped me a lot in my day to day life. I credit a bit of my fearlessness when it comes to meeting new people to the theater program, because we are taught how to improvise, which makes talking to new people more fun. Lastly, over the years theater has helped me cultivate a curiosity for the human condition. Now, I thoroughly enjoy people watching, and listening to their stories.” — Megan Jones ’24 “Through theater, I have gained a better understanding of myself and my emotions, which has made me more confident in social and academic settings. I now recognize the power of my voice, and I am so appreciative of the stage for helping me realize that. I love our Playwright Of The Month system, which allows us to learn more about theater history through important playwrights and their works. In particular, acting out Thornton Wilder’s “Pullman Car Hiawatha” was really fun because it was so different from traditional theater structures. I’ve also really enjoyed our study of Uta Hagen’s acting techniques. They push me further as an actor by helping me develop applicable skills that I can apply to our theater productions at Lovett and beyond.” — Joshua Stewart ’24

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

Above: The Middle School play, “The Day the Internet Died,” explored the struggle of human interaction when the screens go dark. Below: Lower School students in a fun performance of the musical “The Hundred-Year Snooze.” Right: Upper school presented “The Crucible,” Arthur Miller’s classic retelling of the Salem Witch Trials.

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FILM PRODUCTION After taking nine credits worth of fine arts classes, I would say Lovett provides an amazing opportunity for students passionate about art. We are able to explore and grow in various forms and mediums. From Design and Production to Ceramics to Photography, I have learned so much about the mediums I love to work with and about classes I never knew I would enjoy. — Sterling Halad ’24

This summer, a group of talented Lovett students, alumni, teachers, and parents made a movie! “It’s Almost the End of the World, Probably” is a 15-minute family-friendly comedy.

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ADVANCEMENT UPDATES

Angela Morris-Long (center) with Robert and Catherine Hutchinson.

STUDENT SUCCESS FUNDS THE ANGELA MORRIS-LONG STUDENT EXPERIENTIAL TRAVEL FUND

In honor of the retirement of Angela Morris-Long, Lovett parents of alumni, Rob and Catherine Hutchinson, created a new endowment fund named The Angela Morris-Long Student Experiential Travel Fund. Angela retired from Lovett at the end of the 2022-2023 school year. Her enthusiasm and passion to serve the students of Lovett shone brightly during her thirty-five years of service. Angela had a profound impact on the Hutchinsons’ two sons, Nathaniel ’05 and Patrick ’07, throughout their education. Upon learning of Angela’s retirement, Rob and Catherine were inspired to create this new endowment fund to honor Angela’s legacy while benefiting current and future students who wish to travel, but may not have the means to do so. The fund is intended to make Lovett’s experiential and travel programs available to a broader array of Upper School students. Any upper school student with demonstrated need may apply for funds through the Office of Civic and Global Engagement to be used for Lovett’s many travel, study abroad, and semester abroad programs. This new endowment was unveiled during the Year End Faculty & Staff Awards ceremony in May 2023.

“THE ONSET OF INFLATION PROVED TO BE A CHALLENGE FOR ME TO MAKE ENDS MEET. THE STUDENT SUCCESS FUND WAS A TRUE BLESSING FROM GOD. IT CAME AT A TIME THAT I NEEDED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE FOR MY DAUGHTER’S BOOKS, UNIFORM, ETC. I AM TRULY GRATEFUL.” – Shared by a Lovett parent

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THE STUDENT SUCCESS ENDOWMENT FUND

In fall of 2022, a long-time Lovett family established The Student Success Fund in the hopes that it will quietly make a difference to Lovett students, and what a difference it has made! The family recognized that Lovett students may not come to school each day on the same playing field. As the School has been examining the full student experience, and what it means to a student’s social and emotional wellbeing if they miss out on certain activities due to a family’s financial circumstance, these loyal Lions took initiative to establish a new endowment fund to ensure that every student is afforded the full Lovett experience.

THE STUDENT SUCCESS ENDOWMENT FUND 2023

BY THE NUMBERS 281 INCIDENTAL

56 STUDENTS

CHARGES MADE

30 UNIQUE

EXPERIENCES

90% QUALIFYING

YOUR TAXES, YOUR CH ICE! SUPPORT OUR SCHOOL WITH YOUR TAX DOLLARS

The Lovett community has the opportunity to redirect their Georgia tax liability to support independent school education— specifically a Lovett education! Your participation in this program can help us offer need-based scholarships to new students at a time when financial need is at an all-time high. Thanks to the support of the community, more than $2.8 million has been redirected for Lovett financial aid through the Georgia Private School Tax Credit Program since 2010!

AID

$33,295.23 IN FUNDS AWARDED

GOAL IS ALWAYS ACCEPTING TAX CREDIT APPLICATIONS. APPLY EARLY IN ORDER TO SECURE FUNDS FOR 2025. VISIT:

www.goalscholarship.org

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FOUNDER’S RECEPTION On September 13, 2023, Lovett’s most generous and loyal supporters gathered for the annual Founder’s Reception. Along with the chance to thank supporters from the prior school year, the event was an opportunity to honor the leadership and service of Sylvia L. Dick, who received the Founder’s Award.

The leadership, work ethic, and generous spirit of Sylvia Dick have shone brightly on the Lovett community since she began her journey with the school in the 1970s as a parent to three children: Laura Dick Moses ’88, Amy Dick Hurst ’90, and Allison Dick Blaisdell ’02. Sylvia’s strong involvement continued as a grandparent to Henry Hurst, Calvin Dalke, and Charlotte Dalke ’20 and now West Blaisdell ’36, who began kindergarten earlier this year. She has served on the board of trustees since 2016 and is a member of the advancement committee. Sylvia and her husband, Bruce, are among the first to make a gift to the new One Lovett campaign. “I really enjoyed every opportunity that came my way through Lovett over all these many years,” Dick said after accepting the Founder’s Award. “I had mentors I learned so much from, I had so many Lovett supporters who inspired me, and I am so grateful for all of these opportunities.” She closed her remarks by encouraging those present to look to the future and continue the work she, and many other devoted supporters of the school, have begun. “Tonight kind of sounds like a retirement party, but it’s not. There’s another big opportunity right out there in front of all of us. We have the chance to take Lovett to another level of educational excellence,” she said. “If we do—and we will—it’s going to be the most extraordinary 100th birthday for The Lovett School.”

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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RIVERBANK Lovett graduates go on to do amazing things. For two Lions, careers at the cutting edge of tech and AI have been shaped by the way they learned to think when they were students on the Riverbank.

TREVOR MARTIN ’07

Trevor Martin ’07 is co-founder and chief executive officer of Mammoth Biosciences, a company devoted to building the CRISPR DNA editing platform for the next generation of diagnostics and therapeutics. After being a student at Lovett from kindergarten through graduation, he studied molecular biology at Princeton University, where he graduated with honors and was awarded the Molecular Biology Senior Thesis Prize. He then completed a doctoral degree in genetics and statistics at Stanford University.

ARE THERE MEMORABLE CLASSES, TEACHERS, OR MOMENTS AT LOVETT THAT YOU LOOK BACK ON AS IMPORTANT TO SETTING YOU ON THE PATH TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?

At Lovett I was definitely a nerd, but most focused on history and physics. I was also drawn to engineering disciplines and trying to understand universal rules; I think that drew me to history too, as I sought patterns and rules across history. The American Studies curriculum was really good, as well, as was the speech and debate team. I never took classes in that subject but was really involved in it as an afternoon activity.

IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU Q: WHAT LEARNED AT LOVETT?

How to think. Whether in American studies, history, or physics, I learned how to be able to interrogate an idea and form an opinion, and then to be able to criticize your own ideas and challenge your own conceptions through logical reasoning.

CHAT EVA LOVETT TALKED ABOUT “PROGRESSIVE : QKEEPEDUCATION,” MEANING THAT EDUCATION MUST ADVANCING TO KEEP UP WITH CHANGES IN

THE WIDER WORLD. HOW DO YOU SEE THAT PLAYING OUT IN YOUR WORK?

That’s what startups are all about! The whole game in a startup is that there is no playbook. That’s similar to research or any new field, where there’s no right answer. Which can be very different from high school, where often there is a textbook and a right answer in the back of the book that you can look at to check your work. So you have to be comfortable with ambiguity and having limited information when making decisions. I think a big part of education at all levels is being able to make decisions with limited information and navigate ambiguity and uncertainty, both from a logical and emotional perspective. You’ll be working on situations without a clear right or wrong answer.

DID YOU SEE THAT SORT OF PROGRESSION OF QOR:DURING EDUCATION HAPPENING AS AN UNDERGRADUATE GRAD SCHOOL? Especially in graduate school, for any PhD student the whole point is that you venture into the unknown and push forward a small slice of human knowledge, and that’s really on you to figure out. You’ll do a thousand things

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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I THINK A BIG PART OF EDUCATION AT ALL LEVELS IS BEING ABLE TO MAKE DECISIONS WITH LIMITED INFORMATION AND NAVIGATE AMBIGUITY AND UNCERTAINTY, BOTH FROM A LOGICAL AND EMOTIONAL PERSPECTIVE.”

prepare you for the next technique. Adaptability is super valuable. There are always new things around the corner.

ELIZABETH BOWLING ALDORSSON ’09

Over the past decade Elizabeth Bowling Aldorsson ’09 has built a wide-ranging career helping organizations—from start ups to major enterprises to the federal government— understand, adopt, and get value from emerging technologies. In October she joined Anthropic, an artificial intelligence startup and public-benefit corporation focused on responsible AI use. She was previously at Tribe AI, a data and machine learning services firm that worked with clients on AI projects, and at Luminary Labs, an innovation consulting group. Elizabeth attended Lovett from sixth grade through graduation before studying philosophy and German at Duke University.

EVA LOVETT TALKED ABOUT “PROGRESSIVE : QKEEPEDUCATION,” MEANING THAT EDUCATION MUST ADVANCING TO KEEP UP WITH CHANGES IN

THE WIDER WORLD. HOW DO YOU SEE THAT PLAYING OUT IN YOUR WORK?

wrong, but you have to figure out how to do one thing right. The best undergraduate work, the answer may be in the back of the book, but it teaches and prepares you for the graduate work where there’s not an answer. Princeton’s integrated sciences taught biology as an engineering and computational discipline. So in class maybe there’s a right answer, but also there was a research component, and in that you’re working on things that are unknown.

WHEN YOU’RE HIRING/RECRUITING, ARE THERE : QPOTENTIAL CERTAIN TRAITS/BEHAVIORS YOU LOOK FOR IN EMPLOYEES?

Critical thinking skills in general are crucial. Often people over-index on whether someone knows a certain technique. And yes, you need the basics of technique, but it’s way more powerful to have a great critical thinker who can mix and match techniques in an appropriate way. Training can be done for techniques, but it’s harder to train for critical thinking and excitement for the field. Things are rapidly changing. So learning technique can help your thinking, and

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

I agree with the idea that education needs to advance and keep up with the changes of the wider world. This is becoming especially important today as the pace of tech innovation continues to accelerate. We’re seeing the impact of AI in the classroom already. We’re seeing some amazing things—like teachers using AI to improve curriculum, write lesson plans, and provide more personalized instruction. But, we’re also facing dilemmas like how to evaluate students when cheating is getting easier. I don’t know that anyone has all of the answers on how to keep up with these changes, but I am encouraged by how many schools, like Lovett, are asking questions about what education will look like in the next few years and how they can adapt to best prepare their students. Interestingly, the challenges we’re seeing in education mirror a lot of the struggles companies are facing. Well established processes are being redefined seemingly overnight, and experts in their craft are having to learn completely new ways of working. I don’t see that slowing down anytime soon. So I’m excited to see schools leaning into this moment of change and cultivating curiosity, critical thinking, and resilience in students as they experiment together. Think of it this way. My current industry didn’t really really exist on the mainstream much more than a year ago. My job of commercializing AI safety definitely didn’t exist when I was in school and my next job may not exist today. So the greatest skills I’ve had to employ in my career are deep curiosity and adaptability.

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DID YOU SEE THAT SORT OF : QAS ANPROGRESSION OF EDUCATION HAPPENING UNDERGRADUATE?

I didn’t face the same fundamental shifts in education that students are now facing. But I did appreciate seeing progression from a more traditional, fact-based education model in high school (like memorize a date, prove you know a formula, etc.) to a more applied learning approach in college. Much of that traditional type of learning, I was not very good at. As an undergrad, I studied philosophy, which at the beginning was just reading a lot of ancient texts and writing a lot of very long papers. But later, I had the opportunity to take courses where I applied the philosophical principles to contemporary problems that I was interested in. For example, I took a few ethics courses where we had the opportunity to debate topics like liability when it comes to self-driving cars and the moral relationship between humans and the environment. I’ve found this made it easier to understand the principles and also honed my ability to take general principles and apply them across new and unknown subjects. As a product strategist, that’s essentially all I do now.

THE GREATEST SKILLS I’VE HAD TO EMPLOY IN MY JOBS IS DEEP CURIOSITY, KEEPING UP WITH THINGS THAT ARE CHANGING SO QUICKLY. THAT LEVEL OF CURIOSITY IS SOMETHING I WAS TAUGHT, NOT THAT I NATURALLY WAS BORN WITH.”

ARE THERE MEMORABLE CLASSES, TEACHERS, : QYOU ORLOOKMOMENTS OF LEARNING AT LOVETT THAT BACK ON AS IMPORTANT TO SETTING YOU ON THE PATH TO WHERE YOU ARE TODAY?

I took German from seventh through twelfth grade at Lovett, and I remember my senior year reading this famous German play called The Physicists, which was about the making of the atomic bomb. I loved being able to learn about an important period in history and discuss moral conundrums, all in another language. Oh, and through a play! I think engaging in that type of learning totally changed how I saw school. It was different from any other class I took in high school. I’m so glad Lovett emphasized language so much when I was there. What I found exciting about language classes is that once you get to an advanced point and start to communicate in it, you have a more open field, because how are you going to understand a language unless you understand the associated history, culture, and literature? That class unlocked more freedom and more excitement about learning than any other courses did and likely was one of the classes that influenced my choice of majors in college.

IS THE MOST IMPORTANT THING YOU Q: WHAT LEARNED AT LOVETT?

A lot of time is spent in high school and college developing hard skills, but what I learned at Lovett was some of these softer skills of engaging with people. Lovett does a great job at building and fostering community. Some of the greatest friendships in my life to this day are with people I met at Lovett. Though maybe counterintuitive, the deeper I’ve gotten into the tech industry, the more I’ve realized that the human component is really the most important. The most important skills in the world are being genuinely caring and understanding of colleagues, clients, and users. Learning how to get to the bottom of what people say vs. what they want. Learning that you’re going to be wrong, and how important it is to actually admit when you’re wrong. I think Lovett did a great job creating an environment where these kinds of social skills can develop.

WHEN YOU’RE HIRING, ARE THERE CERTAIN : QPOTENTIAL TRAITS/BEHAVIORS YOU LOOK FOR IN EMPLOYEES?

The AI industry is still quite new so there’s not a well defined path to success yet. It’s been refreshing to see people with all types of academic backgrounds, skills, and experiences be successful. Mostly I look for bright and passionate people who can thrive at a fast pace while dealing with a lot of ambiguity. It sounds cliche, but it truly makes a difference in industries that are evolving so fast. I love finding people who are energized, not fazed, by entering the unknown and navigating to solutions with me. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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RIVERBANK

For news and updates on the Lovett Lions, follow @LovettAthletics on Instagram and Twitter.

PRIDE! | By Adekale Ande, Sports Information Manager

ATHLETICS HIGHLIGHTS

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CAMPUS NEWS

BASEBALL

Head Coach Lance Oubs captured his 500th career win on April 14th, 2023 in a 6-1 win over Hampton High School.

BOYS BASKETBALL

Christian Anderson Jr. became Lovett’s Boys Basketball all-time leading scorer with over 1500+ career points.

BOYS GOLF

Lovett Boys Golf captured their third straight state championship winning by seven strokes. Zidan Ajani ’23 won 4-A Player of the Year and was named All-State along with Jack Shaifer ’23 and Ryan Ohde ’24.

BOYS SOCCER

On March 14, 2023, Nick Carrano ’23 became Lovett Boys Soccer all-time career points and goals leader with 157 points and 60 saves. Marco Brok ’23 became Lovett’s all-time saves and shutouts leader, with 149 saves and 35 shutouts, at the end of the 2023 season.

TRACK & FIELD

William Zelnak ’24 broke a triple jump record that stood for 50 years. His mark of 45’ 1” broke the previous record by 10 inches.

WRESTLING

Wrestling captured back-toback State Traditional titles. Lovett with four individual state champions in Alex Hyman ’23, Christopher Mance ’25 (2x Champion), Cael Kusky ’25 (2x Champion), and Elle Kaufmann ’26 (First ever female state champion in the program). Lovett also had one State runner-up, two 3rd place and one 4th place finishers. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CAMPUS NEWS

CLASS OF 2023 COLLEGE SIGNINGS

Fourteen members of Lovett’s class of 2023 signed to play sports at the next level in college. Not only did these students excel in the classroom, they excelled on the fields, courts, and mats. Across the entire class, there are five state champions, five state runners up, one All-American, six all-state honors, and eight region championships. These athletes have left their mark on Lovett and will be continuing their education and athletic careers at a range of outstanding schools. Will Abney Gettysburg College Football

Cameron Foster-Martez Lasell University Basketball

Mason Ball Denison University Lacrosse

Hudson Gregory Sewanee: University of the South Lacrosse

Prescott Bayman Emory University Soccer

Henry Hicks Pepperdine University Cross Country/Track & Field

Marco Brok Lafayette College Soccer

Alex Hyman Long Island University Wrestling

Nicholas Carrano Emory University Soccer

Jake Kennedy Auburn University Tennis

Noah Claxton Mercer University Football

Charlotte Lee Sewanee: University of the South Volleyball

Grant Ewing Hampden-Sydney College Football

Kyle Walters Brandeis University Basketball

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As generative Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools become more accessible, some Lovett faculty have been exploring how they might be used in the classroom— not as a way for students to look up answers—but to push students to take their learning further. See page 66 to read more.

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LOOKING BACK

ACADEMICS TO MOVE FORWARD

EVA LOVETT’S

VISION FOR EDUCATION IS MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER | By Meredyth Cole, Head of School

riting in 1933, Eva Edwards Lovett outlined a vision for progressive education, which she defined as an “education which is progressing continually in order to keep in step with the constant changes occurring in the world around us. It is a changing education for a changing civilization.”

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The past few years have certainly thrown a wide range of changes and challenges at the world, Atlanta, and Lovett, ranging from a global pandemic to continued political polarization to the introduction of generative artificial intelligence tools. After a few years of being in the trenches, last year was a chance to rebuild old patterns and reset norms around the campus. This school year, and the ones ahead, offer a chance to set out a long-term vision.

Given the uncertainty of the future, encouraging students to embrace an attitude of lifelong learning becomes ever more important. “The manner of doing something is considered more important than the thing done,” Eva Lovett wrote in her New Deal for Education. “How to study is of greater importance than how much is studied. Every effort is applied to establish an interested and questioning, rather than an accepting, attitude.”

The past two issues of this magazine laid out the plan for reimagining the Riverbank, especially through the construction of a new community center at the heart of campus intentionally situated to completely transform the experience of students and faculty. In this and forthcoming issues, we will explore how a Lovett education continues to keep in step with the constant changes occurring in the world, ensuring students entering the school today will graduate equipped with the values and skills they need to succeed outside Lovett’s gates.

“EDUCATION WHICH IS PROGRESSING CONTINUALLY IN ORDER TO KEEP IN STEP WITH THE CONSTANT CHANGES OCCURRING IN THE WORLD.” — EVA LOVETT, 1933

The kindergarten students who entered Lovett this fall will graduate deep into the 2030s. It is difficult to predict what technology they will use a decade from now as upper school students, or 15 years from now as college undergraduates, just as few of us would have predicted a dozen years ago, when the class of 2024 started kindergarten, that they would be able to chat, in real-time, with a variety of artificial intelligence services.

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The early years of Lovett were undoubtedly shaped by the Great Depression, which began three years after the school’s founding. But even in the face of economic challenges, Eva Lovett saw an argument for an education that treated knowledge and skills as means to continue learning, rather than as ends in themselves. “How many persons today fail in their home life, their business life or their life in the community because they lack the three R’s?” of reading, writing, and arithmetic,

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“IF WE’RE ASKING QUESTIONS THAT AI CAN EASILY ANSWER, WE’VE MISSED THE MARK. WE WANT TO ACTIVATE AND CONNECT THE LEARNING THAT STUDENTS ARE DOING, AND HELP ANSWER THAT COMMON QUESTION: ‘WHAT AM I GOING TO DO WITH THIS?’” — Chelle Wabrek, Associate Head of School

Our Associate Head of School, Chelle Wabrek, believes that each day is an opportunity to practice Eva Lovett’s philosophy that learning should occur in settings that help make knowledge real to students. That means lower school students going to the Dell while they learn about the water cycle, eighth graders traveling to Washington, D.C. to study history and the American government, or upper school students conducting environmental science research in the wooded parts of the Riverbank. These active forms of learning give teachers the opportunity to push students to obtain a deeper understanding of what they are learning, to move beyond memorization of dates and formulas into the synthesis of knowledge. Chelle is constantly saying, “If we’re asking questions that AI can easily answer, we’ve missed the mark. We want to activate and connect the learning that students are doing,

and help answer that common question: ‘what am I going to do with this?’” James Choi, our head of the lower school, sees this playing out in a range of ways. Some would be apparent if you dropped by a classroom; others happen behind the scenes. In talking with James, he describes how he observes our teachers seeking best instructional practices rooted in research, reflecting, and interrogating pedagogical practices and curricula that may need to be analyzed and reconsidered. I couldn’t agree more. He gave an example of teachers pushing students to take control of their learning rather than being passive recipients, which aligns with Eva Lovett’s idea that “student-directed activities” often yield the best results. James tells the story of a teacher that read a picture book but did not share the pictures. Instead, the students drew images after the reading. The class was exploring visual imagery and describing words. If the teacher shared the pictures from the book, then the students would not have the opportunity to direct their thinking. The students made elaborate—and different—pictures based on the reading, then shared their reasons with the class. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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Eva Lovett asked, quoting pioneering education reformer Carleton Washburne. “Compare the small number with the multitude who fail because they lack initiative, clear thinking, the ability to cooperate, and a sense of responsibility to the social order.”

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JOSEPH WORKED WITH MIDDLE SCHOOL STUDENTS TO HELP THEM ARTICULATE THE VALUES THAT ARE IMPORTANT TO THEM AND THEIR DAILY LIFE AT SCHOOL. IT WAS A STUDENT WHO SUGGESTED THOSE VALUES BE WRITTEN ON THE PILLARS IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL LOBBY. JUST AS THE PILLARS HOLD UP THE PHYSICAL STRUCTURE, THE VALUES HOLD UP THE EMOTIONAL STRUCTURE.

“INTEGRATE THE CHILD AS A CONTRIBUTING MEMBER OF SOCIETY.” — EVA LOVETT, 1933 Dr. Joseph Moody, our head of the middle school, has taught at Lovett for the past 14 years. Before assuming his current role, he coached, taught eighth grade science, and was part of the student life team.

Joseph and other members of the faculty have also worked with middle school students to help them articulate the values that are important to them and their daily life at school. It was a student who suggested those values be written on the pillars in the middle school lobby. Just as the pillars hold up the physical structure, the values hold up the emotional structure. Another group worked with an artist to create an abstract representation of the values, which is now a mural in the middle school’s Rita Anne Rollins Garden and Pavilion.

Joseph believes we are truly living out her vision, and that we are bringing experiences into learning, whether that’s studying sustainability by going to look at the systems in Mercedes Benz Stadium or going behind the scenes at the zoo.

Joseph knows first-hand that middle school is all about social-emotional development, strength of character, building relationships and understanding what your learning has to do with you and the world you inhabit. We are building confidence in the students, while also

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thinking about how we hold them accountable and help them learn from their mistakes. Ben Posten, now in his 41st year as a member of the Lovett faculty, said a strong relationship between student and teacher paves the way for learning. Chelle talks to Ben often, and he believes that even though he loves what he teaches, it’s not always the most important thing; sometimes building relationships supersedes content. Ben and his colleagues have been using design thinking—a style of innovation and idea development that emphasizes the experience of the end-users, in this case students, who will use a product or service—to think about how to approach different units and topics. He says it’s less about the nuts and bolts and more about idea generation, and one reason why we are leaning into the experiential, hands-on aspects of learning. Patrick Boswell, our head of the upper school, has seen the evolution of education as both a teacher and administrator. After teaching math and economics in the upper school from 2004 to 2009, he returned in 2013 as dean of students and director of studies, becoming head of the upper school in 2021.

LOOKING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD : ACADEMICS

He recognizes that Lovett’s oldest students are eager to take their learning beyond the four walls of a classroom. He’s seeing a push to engage outside the classroom, whether with lower school kids, with the physical campus, or with Atlanta at large. At the same time, teachers are pushing students to develop a wide range of skills rather than focusing solely on how much content they can memorize and regurgitate. Patrick believes that the content helps to develop skills; it is not an end in itself. Artificial intelligence, or technology more generally, can recite content. So content knowledge is fleeting in an area of AI, making it important that students—really all of us—are progressing through skills we can use to keep learning, he said recently. Often this requires a shift in attitude, where the focus is on what a student can do in the future, not what they’ve just done. Coming out of a class thinking, “I can write analytically” rather than coming out and saying, “I got an A on that government paper,” highlights that shift. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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“WHAT KIND OF SCHOOL IS YOUR CHILD ATTENDING—PROGRESSIVE OR STATIC?” — EVA LOVETT, 1933 At the end of her “New Deal in Education,” Eva Lovett posed a series of questions to Atlanta parents. One thing she asked is if those parents were sending their children to a school that was “constantly trying to improve methods and material. Or is it content to remain as it was five, ten, even twenty years ago?” Chelle recognizes that our faculty’s ongoing work to make sure each lesson best serves students is a way of living out Eva Lovett’s renaissance right now. In 1926, when the school began, education across America was dominated by ideals of standardization and memorization, with one teacher in front of a large classroom where students sat and listened, rarely participating. Chelle sees similar challenges on the horizon today. She continues to believe that ChatGPT

is the direct result of a factory model of education, and it is the antithesis of deep learning and generative thinking spurred on by genuine feedback from a teacher. And I couldn’t agree more. All of us at Lovett are fortunate that our founder left such a compelling vision and rationale for the school, one that remains as relevant today as it was in 1933. As Lovett approaches its centennial, we must recognize that what’s happening on campus now will eventually become part of the school’s history and, hopefully, provide inspiration for future generations of teachers and students, just as the current school community can look to Lovett’s past. All of us—Chelle, James, Joseph, Patrick, and Ben, and really everyone at Lovett—are writing history right now as we think about the future and what students will need. When people at Lovett look back at this time, 50 or 100 years from now, we want to ensure that what we did in this moment made good sense. As we are writing the next chapter of Lovett’s history, one of the best ways to make sure of that is to look back at our roots to inform who we will be moving forward.

ALL OF US AT LOVETT ARE FORTUNATE THAT OUR FOUNDER LEFT SUCH A COMPELLING VISION AND RATIONALE FOR THE SCHOOL, ONE THAT REMAINS AS RELEVANT TODAY AS IT WAS IN 1933. WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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Life with

EVA LOVETT LOOKING BACK TO MOVE FORWARD : ACADEMICS

As the only grandchild of Eva Edwards Lovett, Joseph Edwards Kling has a unique perspective on the school—and its founder’s—history. Now in his 90s, Kling spent time this summer with Associate Head of School Chelle Wabrek to talk about his childhood, growing up under the care of Eva Lovett, and her vision for education. The following are some of Kling’s recollections of Mrs. Lovett.

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Her schooling was interesting. She grew up in a very small town—Marshallville, in Macon County. They had a small school and her teacher, a man named Mr. Frederick, was sort of the head of the school. He was a great influence on her life. After finishing school in Marshallville, she went on to Peabody [now part of Vanderbilt University] in Nashville. In those days communications back home would’ve been slow and difficult. She also went on to study education in Chicago, where her sister was studying art, and New York. She was a pretty remarkable lady. There was a lot of difficulty and struggle in her early life. She had three children. The oldest was a boy named William who died after three months. Her next child was my mother, Evelyn who died when she was 35, and the youngest child was named Edwards. He contracted muscular dystrophy as a teenager and died in 1920, at the age of 19. The loss of her own children impacted was part of why she was so dedicated to impacting children.

Left: A Portrait of Eva Lovett from her time as head of school. Above: Lovett’s original location on Myrtle Street. Below: The West Wesley location, sometimes called “Little Lovett,” that the school inhabited before moving to the Riverbank. Right: Joe Kling LL ’43, Eva Lovett’s only grandchild, reviews digital renderings for the new Riverbank Center and updates to the campus master plan during a meeting with Associate Head of School Chelle Wabrek. Far right: Joe Kling LL ’43 looks at Eva Lovett’s diploma from the Peabody Normal College in Nashville. The college is now the education school of Vanderbilt University.

Grandmother started a few small classes in Atlanta during World War I, which I remember hearing her talk about later on, and then there was a period where nothing happened until 1926. In part that was because her husband, Dr. William Lovett, was a pastor and for a while was assigned to a church that was farther away from Atlanta. But also it took time to recover from her son’s passing. And then in

1938 my mother died at the age of 35, and that obviously had an impact on her, too. My mom was a teacher at Lovett with my grandmother and for awhile I was at school with both of them. After my mom died, for a while Eva came to live with me and my dad and took care of me. She became sort of my surrogate mother. I would ride to school and ride home with her. Once a week as a special treat, we’d stop at the drug store in Buckhead and have lunch—a pack of Nabs and a milkshake. That was our big outing. I called her “mother,” and my other grandmother “mama.” She treated me as anyone would treat their child. And I knew there were certain guidelines and rules I had to follow. My grandmother taught math, so I had her class for a couple of years. She always treated me just like anybody else; I’ve always been better at math than most things. She gave the impression of being very sweet, but also of, “don’t mess with me.” She wasn’t stubborn, but she had some fairly strong opinions. Well, so I guess maybe she was stubborn.

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Even after I wasn’t living with her, I spent a night a week with her. Often we’d take the trolley down to the apartment building where her sister, Kate Edwards, lived. We’d meet Aunt Kate and have dinner. Kate was the youngest sibling; she’d gone to the Chicago School of Art and became a very successful portrait painter [one of her paintings, “Out of Work,” is in the High Museum’s collection], including doing a portrait of Bobby Jones that hangs at Augusta National. I started kindergarten at the Myrtle Street location, where one of the big rules was “don’t run on the cobblestones” in the driveway, and then I went to school at the West Wesley location [1415 West Wesley Road, about three miles southeast of the current Riverbank campus] once we moved out there. One day in the spring was set aside for us to go out in the woods and do our own thing, I think so the faculty could meet. We’d hang out with friends, play games. I remember there was a playground, and I remember playing capture

the flag up there. Everyone always looked forward to that as a fun day, when we had to stay outside all day. She liked the “Little Lovett” campus and the fact that it had so many trees. She would like the way the current campus still has the Dell and has so many trees, that the students are able to be outside, though I think she’d be awed by the whole scale of things. As a kid I wasn’t at all impressed that Eva had started the school; I was pretty matter of fact about it. One of my grandmothers was a buyer, and the other grandmother had a school. It was just normal to me. And Lovett didn’t cut a very big swathe in the world in those days. On my visits back to campus over the years, I can see that the school is a happy place. The students and teachers both seem content, and that they have a purpose. My grandmother would be extremely pleased and proud that the school is still using her writing and principles to guide the school. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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[MY GRANDMOTHER] LIKED THE “LITTLE LOVETT” CAMPUS AND THE FACT THAT IT HAD SO MANY TREES. SHE WOULD LIKE THE WAY THE CURRENT CAMPUS STILL HAS THE DELL AND HAS SO MANY TREES…

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PROGRESSIVE

EDUCATION AN EVOLUTION OVER 40 YEARS | By Jacob Geiger

ifty years after Eva Lovett articulated her vision for schools in the New Deal in Education, Ben Posten arrived at the middle school. Eva Lovett’s document urged teachers to show up as the chief learners, “progressing continually” to ensure the school is preparing students for their evolving future. Now in his forty-first year on the Lovett faculty—all of them in the middle school—Posten has seen plenty of changes in education to prepare students for a world he can hardly imagine. But he’s also seen many key things remain the same, and not just because he is now teaching many of the children of students who sat in his classroom early in his career.

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“What’s remained the same is that teaching at Lovett has allowed me to focus on relationship building,” he said. “Especially in middle school, it’s all about building those relationships with students so I can understand who they are individually and what each of them needs to learn.” Posten understands, as Eva Lovett did, that each student arrives with special strengths and that the role of the teacher is to help them harness those gifts. To do that one needs to know each child that sits in the classroom and that has been a constant over his years at Lovett. At the same time, Posten has seen things change over the past four decades. Innovative technological tools allow teachers to bring abstract and ancient content to life. Further, he notes that because teachers are thinking critically about the impact of their work, they are able to generate creative ways to reach unique generations of students. “We’ve really been successful in developing new interdisciplinary projects,” he notes. “These are often grade-wide projects that infuse creative, hands-on experiences to engage students with new concepts

and ideas. We’re leaning into experiential teaching and learning so students understand why the skills and content matter.” Posten said this just days before he—along with other Lovett faculty and the entire eighth grade—set out for the grade’s annual trip to Washington, DC. The trip is a chance to see the civic process and visit key historic sights they have been reading about. This approach also aligns perfectly with the eighth grade civic leadership class Posten developed, which has grown this year to have four sections of students. Civic Leadership invites students to explore the way government at all levels is directly involved in their lives, as any traditional middle school civics class might. However Posten has added a layer of field work— opportunities for students to travel throughout the Atlanta metro area to experience active citizenship. After each visit, whether to a nonprofit or a government agency, students complete written reflections on what they’ve learned. This field work fuels the development

“IN A TECHNOLOGICAL WORLD, I THINK THE ANSWER IS TO GET OUTSIDE, BOTH OF THE CLASSROOM AND THE CAMPUS… IF YOU WANT TO LEARN, GET FACE-TO-FACE WITH NEW PEOPLE AND NEW IDEAS.”

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Also alive and well in Posten’s class is her admonition that, “The manner of doing something is considered more important than the thing done,” she wrote in her New Deal for Education. “How to study is of greater importance than how much is studied. Every effort is applied to establish an interested and questioning, rather than an accepting, attitude.” Posten notes that Eva Lovett’s New Deal for Education was infrequently discussed during his early years on the faculty. He said former Head of School Billy Peebles began to reintroduce the topic, and that Head of School Meredyth Cole and Associate Head of School Chelle Wabrek have increased the school’s focus on the school’s founding vision.

“We use the New Deal for Education as a document to help us ask why and how to do what we do,” he said. One thing Posten’s forty-one years in education, and at Lovett, have shown him is the importance of helping students develop the skills and confidence to interact with others. As technology grows ever more prevalent, he sees the principles outlined by Eva Lovett ninety years ago as being even more important today than they were then. “In a technological world, I think the answer is to get outside, both of the classroom and the campus,” he said. “Deal with people in Atlanta, and in the wider world. Get face-to-face with new people and new ideas if you want to learn.” the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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of their own projects that they will pitch to local experts at the Chamber of Commerce at the end of the course. Connecting students to their community, and encouraging them to learn by experiencing things in the world around them, aligns with Eva Lovett’s vision of progressive education, as she notes repeatedly that “children should learn to be contributing members of society.”

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TEACHING LEARNING WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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rom the classroom to the athletics field, and everywhere in between, Lovett’s faculty work to prepare students for the future. Whether they are classroom teachers, coaches, or college counselors, Lovett faculty members always strive to embrace lifelong learning. Aside from continuing their own learning journeys through conferences, summer courses, and other forms of professional development, teachers seek to instill a mindset in students that learning continues long after graduation. By focusing on analytical skills and placing an emphasis on how to think, rather than what to think, teachers ensure students graduate prepared to thrive in a world that values adaptability.

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TEACHING POLITICS AND ECONOMICS

| By Jacob Geiger

IN AN ERA OF POLARIZATION HOW UPPER SCHOOL STUDENTS ARE LEARNING TO CHALLENGE—RESPECTFULLY—A RANGE OF IDEAS.

n the first day of class this fall, Alex Douglas gave his economics students a short survey. One question asked them to rate, on a scale of one to ten, how they thought the American economy was doing. The next question asked them to assess their political leanings on a spectrum ranging from very conservative to very liberal.

After gathering the data, Douglas plotted it for the students. There was a strong correlation between students’ reported political beliefs and their assessment of current economic conditions, with more conservative students saying the economy was doing worse than more liberal students did. Students then read headlines from The New York Times and The Wall Street Journal, as well as from Fox News and MSNBC. Each article examined the same recent unemployment report but had a different interpretation of what the numbers meant for the economy as a whole. To cap off the lesson, Douglas showed national survey data before and after recent federal elections, pointing out how voters around the country tended to see the economy as improving if their party has just won the presidency or control of Congress, and deteriorating after the party they support lost an election. “So we looked at our own survey results that day and discussed how much of what we believe is based on data points and how much is based on other beliefs we bring in,” Douglas said. Now in his sixth year at Lovett, Douglas teaches a set of subjects that overlaps almost perfectly with the topics most people were taught not to discuss at a dinner party: politics, money, and religion. He holds a bachelor’s degree in economics, and a master’s degree and doctorate in the Old Testament, all from Harvard University. And no matter what he’s teaching—whether it’s Lovett’s Old Testament

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religion elective, Advanced Placement American Government, or Advanced Placement Microeconomics and Macroeconomics, Douglas pushes students to engage their classmates, and new ideas, in a rigorous but civil fashion. “The environment right now is fraught. But that’s true for anything we teach. In my Old Testament course I work with everyone from strong believers in Christianity to non-believers to kids with a wide range of different religious backgrounds,” he noted. “So I navigate how to teach while being respectful of the beliefs each student brings into the conversation. Hopefully they learn from each other along with learning from the teacher.” Douglas also seeks to bring economics and government alive with current events. In his government class, most periods begin with a student sharing a summary of an article they read the night before about politics or the function of government. The economics class is punctuated with readings connecting the content of the course to the current state of the world, helping the students understand everything from the economics of dating markets to strategies in business negotiations.

AND NO MATTER WHAT HE’S TEACHING … ALEX PUSHES STUDENTS TO ENGAGE THEIR CLASSMATES, AND NEW IDEAS, IN A RIGOROUS BUT CIVIL FASHION.

Both the government and economics courses are primarily taken by seniors. Douglas says they are a “very driven, curious group,” which leads to rich conversations each day in the classroom. “It’s no secret that Lovett students, on average, come from a background of opportunity,” he said. “So a lot of these kids have been exposed to ideas or opportunities that may not be true of kids in other places, and that gives them a world view and an entry point into these conversations. These kids know about politics. They hear their parents talking about it at the dinner table. They are engaged in this world.” By bringing conversations from the dinner table to the classroom, and fostering an environment where students can learn from each other, Alex Douglas has created a rich, ever evolving, academic experience. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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LEARNING TRENDS IN COLLEGE ADMISSION | By Anita Hua, Director of College Counseling

IN AN UNCERTAIN COLLEGE ADMISSION LANDSCAPE, FOCUSING ON OUR STUDENTS IS KEY.

ecently, I had the opportunity to attend our profession’s annual conference in Baltimore, Maryland. The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) annual conference kicks off each year’s admission cycle as our colleagues connect with one another, attend workshops and panel sessions, and hear keynote addresses from special guests like the secretary of education and the governor of Maryland. Our profession is highly relational, with the spirit of collaboration, student advocacy, and transparency at its core. While I’m always happy to connect with my colleagues across the country, I also attend this conference with the hope of learning more about the landscape of our industry and its impact on our students, campus, and team. College counseling offices across the country are feeling the growing complexity of the admission process, the increased demand on our offices, the squeeze on admission budgets, and the need to diversify our approach to advising students. While the timing of this event is always challenging during a busy season, our team’s attendance is critical. The NACAC conference was our first gathering since the Supreme Court decision this summer regarding affirmative action in higher education. While it is true that many admission offices across the country were preparing for a ruling since the case was introduced, the decision was clearly still fresh on many attendees’ minds. I would love to say that the media frenzy circling college admission is unusual, but the reality is that it is difficult to escape the constant news cycles and click-bait headlines focused on our profession. It was only a few years ago that a settlement with the Department of Justice and NACAC created a great deal of uncertainty and gray areas by permanently limiting our

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association’s Code of Ethics. We continue to navigate many of the obvious changes that grew out of that settlement, like the significant increase in application nuance and loss of uniformity, an uncertain landscape of standardized testing policies and requirements, and longer admission cycles for students as a result. I share all of this to give you some insight into the conversations occurring in real-time in the college admission world, which stretch beyond the headlines and the angst that exists for our students. After speaking with college admission officers about their thoughts regarding our college counseling team, their perspectives on Lovett students, and their insights into our admission industry, I walked away with a renewed commitment to our students and the profession. The world of college admission has evolved significantly over the last decade, and as college counselors, we try our best to help students and their families understand those changes. Helping our students

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Anita Hua with college counselors from around the country during the National Association of College Admission Counseling Conference. In addition to her work at Lovett, Anita has held leadership roles with NACAC and the Southern Association of College Admission Counseling.

navigate college choices that make sense based on their interests, skills, and goals is central to our work as college counselors. In that vein, I’m excited to share a number of recent updates to Lovett’s program that make it especially unique. In the last two years, two full-time college counselors have been added to our staff for a grand total of six full-time counselors, making it one of the largest in the city. The team, all of whom are former college admission officers, brings over 113 years of combined admission and counseling experience to support our students. A larger staff allows for our caseloads to remain relatively small which translates into more individual time with students and families. Another update worth highlighting is the shift to our twelve-month availability; many counseling offices across the city are only available during the school year. This means our counselors will meet with students as they tackle applications over the summer months and will also include the new required application boot camp for all rising seniors, a program that was formerly fee-based. As one colleague shared during our conversation at NACAC, “Lovett’s college counseling team is made up of experts in the field. They have an expansive network in our profession, and they are a highly respected team of individuals.”

“WHILE I’M ALWAYS HAPPY TO CONNECT WITH MY COLLEAGUES ACROSS THE COUNTRY, I ALSO ATTEND [THE NACAC] CONFERENCE WITH THE HOPE OF LEARNING MORE ABOUT THE LANDSCAPE OF OUR INDUSTRY AND ITS IMPACT ON OUR STUDENTS, CAMPUS, AND TEAM.”

There is likely no other time in our country’s history when the American higher education admission landscape was more fraught with uncertainty. Our community cannot escape these narratives, so how do we move forward? The answer seems simple and obvious. We continue to stay involved in our professional network. We continue to think creatively about programming that supports students and their families. Most importantly, we continue to prioritize students in this process by advocating for student humanity as the single most important admission factor. Thank you to Lovett’s leadership for investing in our office. Thank you to our students who inspire us every day. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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HOW THE ADVENT OF AI IS INCREASING THE VALUE AND NECESSITY OF A LOVETT EDUCATION | By Chelle Wabrek, Associate Head of School

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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FUTURE Doctor. Lawyer. Teacher. Financial advisor. Architect. These are all jobs that people understand regardless of generation. Prompt Engineer, not so much. Yet it is just that role, Prompt Engineer, that is heralded by the prognosticators at the World Economic Forum as the number one job of the future.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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he job of a Prompt Engineer is to create tasks or ask questions that allow an artificial intelligence to answer accurately and effectively. The way the prompt (a task or question) is posed also allows artificial intelligence to teach itself to provide better answers as a result of the prompt. Essentially the Prompt Engineer is hosting a conversation with artificial intelligence in the hopes of making it better. While Lovett has not created a graduation track in prompt engineering, the emergence of large language models, like ChatGPT in November 2022, has drawn our attention. As educators, we are tasked with asking ourselves each day, “What does the future need from us?” That answer is wholly focused on preparing students for an unwritten set of forthcoming skills. Since the official “birth” of the Internet in 1983 through the founding of AOL in 1991, the launch of Amazon in 1994, the creation of Facebook in 2004, the first iPhone in 2007, and the start of Google Drive in 2012, waves of technological

innovation have often left schools flat-footed, unprepared for future impact, and not poised to leverage these new technologies in service of learning. ChatGPT, and its relatives—Jasper, Google Bard, Microsoft Bing, and Meta Llama 2, among others—should not have surprised us. Worldwide, the educational system has asked students to absorb information and regurgitate that knowledge in a variety of ways. That is exactly what chatbots do. A school system that asks students to listen for memorization and regurgitation without that purpose, creative thought, thinking and problem-solving is not teaching children how to think. And, in an educational system like that, of course language models like ChatGPT will emerge to do that kind of thinking for students. Questions or prompts ranging from “What was the most impactful moment in World War II and why?” to “What is 5 + 5 - 6 *423 divided by 12?” to “Write a lab report that explains this data set (data upload required),” to “Write a fourteen stanza poem comprised of rhyming couplets

Upper School social studies teacher Dr. Hope Myers works with students in a hands-on activity.

“WHAT DOES THE FUTURE NEED FROM US?” THAT ANSWER IS WHOLLY FOCUSED ON PREPARING STUDENTS FOR AN UNWRITTEN SET OF FORTHCOMING SKILLS. WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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AN EXAMPLE OF AI TECHNOLOGY IN ACTION

On the afternoon of this year’s opening chapel, I re-recorded Head of School Meredyth Cole’s remarks so they could be shared with the broader community. We chose a beautiful outdoor location, right next to the stone lion at the door to the upper school. While reading her nineminute remarks, an army of cicadas sang with crescendo and decrescendo, numerous vehicles drove along the Lion’s Walk, and the wind blew indiscriminately. Back in my office, I listened with optimism hoping the cicadas were louder in real life than my phone would suggest when replaying the video. Alas, they seemed louder than ever, and the ten minutes I had dedicated to this project had long passed. I reached out to Tim Pitchford, Lovett’s band director, who quickly sent me to David Silverman, Lovett’s film teacher, and I waited anxiously outside his classroom during the remaining four minutes of his class. The speed of my speech gave away my anxiety until David said, “A friend of mine told me about some technology in Adobe Podcast. It is in the beta stage but maybe we can use it.” Within minutes we had uploaded Mrs. Cole’s speech, and the system was “enhancing” it. The result demonstrated a world without cicadas and oncoming traffic.

their knowledge to quickly design a city in conjunction with the advances produced by industrialization and the urban infrastructure it both required and created. Students named their cities, created a character from a designated economic strata, and wrote a letter to a fictitious cousin who lived in rural England describing city life. Before they began to write, Dr. Myers put ChatGPT on the large screen in her room and typed in a prompt. “I am imagining that I am writing a letter to my cousin in the 1800s in London, England to describe what the city is like? Can you give me a template of what the letter should look like?” Immediately the system produced a template. At first, students were excited. The template felt like it made the task easier and provided a starting point for many. However, given the creative nature of the task and the requirement of using a city map uniquely created by each student, the template very quickly began to feel restrictive to students.

SCAN THE QR CODE TO LISTEN TO MRS. COLE’S OPENING CHAPEL REMARKS

in the style of Longfellow,” are easily answered by current technologies. The difference at Lovett is that the skills being developed in our classrooms require a connection between content, imagination and personal experience, none of which can be generated without the humanity and intellect of the student. The moment ChatGPT became widely available, upper school history teacher Dr. Hope Myers began thinking about how to use it for good, and how students might learn to harness its power, instead of worrying about how it could be used for students to take shortcuts. Her Modern Global History class was knee-deep in the Industrial Revolution and its impact, and Dr. Myers had set them loose in an activity called The Urban Game. The game requires students to become urban planners, using

Student-drawn map—The Urban Game.

“I thought it was going to be more helpful than it was, but the assignment was written in a way that was more about me using what we had learned about the causes and effects of the Industrial Revolution to make something that was completely my own,” one student said. “I wasn’t just describing industrialization, I was showing it through the lens of a city I designed myself.” Another noted, “It was cool to see how quickly ChatGPT could write something, but it was giving generic information about the way cities grow, not showing how my city grew and why. I could see what ChatGPT could do and what it couldn’t do.” the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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Top left: Ninth-graders look at coming-of-age novels. Top right: Lower school students show off classmate inventions. Bottom left: Students build “monsters” based on those encountered by Odysseus. Bottom right: Students created “origin stories” by visually representing the places in Atlanta they feel most connected to. .

Taking the time to help students unpack technical advances like ChatGPT, rather than just telling students not to use it, is a priority for Lovett teachers. We want Lovett graduates to have the skills of both discernment and innovation to harness the power of AI. “AI is a tool with unlimited possibilities and utilities to expand imagination, but it also has unlimited risks we have yet to imagine,” senior Ryan Ohde said. Another student said of ChatGPT, “I think it is helpful if you use it the right way. One time I was going to use it to see if I was writing a sentence format correctly. I asked ChatGPT if it was a run-on, and why. If I had been in class I would have asked my teacher, but I was at home and ChatGPT helped me.” It was clear the student understood what could be “staffed out” to the program and what couldn’t.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

In October, history and English teachers from both the middle and upper school spent several days with writing instructors from Bard College Institute for Writing and Thinking. The premise of that work is that students write to learn and write to think. In a world where essays can be written by AI, it is essential that we make the case that learning and skill-building are at the heart of what we do at Lovett. An AI produced document is performative in nature, completely disconnected from the learning process of a student. The professional development began with the prompt, “If we aren’t writing, are we thinking.” The physical act of composing handwritten thoughts and generating the language that gives shape to an idea is learning and that is what goes on in Lovett classrooms. Eva Lovett imagined a school where test questions aren’t “Google-able” and where essay prompts aren’t “ChatGPT-

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able” because she designed “an education of doing and creating as opposed to a training in memorizing and repeating.” She created a school where students practiced important computational skills and understood the need for mathematical thinking by having them design, organize and run a school bank. It was one of many activities at Lovett that, as early as 1926, highlighted the top five most important skills identified by corporations for the World Economic Forum’s Future of Work 2023 Report: the cognitive skills of analytical and creative thinking, followed by resilience, flexibility, and agility. Those traits are nearly impossible for ChatGPT to do for people and are essential to the work students engage in at Lovett every day. Eva Lovett would smile broadly at the projects, assignments, and questions in today’s Lovett classrooms that would stump AI. No doubt she would be extremely pleased that in her school students are asked to do things like: • As we explore coming-of-age novels in ninth grade English, what books do you remember reading that helped you work through the challenges of growing up, and what was the impact? • Based on what you have learned about simple machines, create an invention that will solve a problem your

CURIOUS WHAT AI SAYS ABOUT LOVETT?

Scan the QR Code to read the article ChatGPT would have written about our school.

classmates are facing and design a marketing plan that will sell it to the individual in your class. • Given our deep dive into the city of Atlanta, the geography and personalities of its neighborhoods, create a visual image of the place in Atlanta where you feel most connected to who you are and your values, and write a reflection about why that is. • Homer’s Odyssey tells the tale of a hero’s journey home. In order to do this, he finds that he must face seemingly insurmountable obstacles that are both physical and psychological “monsters” that cruelly threaten him. What are the “monsters” you have encountered on your school journey? Create an image of a monster that has served as an obstacle or warning for you, highlight its impact on your journey and connect it back to that of Odysseus.

LIVING LOVETT:

STORIES FROM THE RIVERBANK Living Lovett explores where we’ve been and where we’re headed. Hosted by Chief Engagement Officer Jessica Sant, the podcast is ranked in the top fifty education and children’s podcasts worldwide and has been featured in the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. This school year marks the podcasts fourth season with the theme of exploring learning at Lovett. Recent episodes include an exploration of how math teachers cultivate confidence in their students and an introduction to the school’s teaching and learning team.

TUNE IN TODAY! SUBSCRIBE WHEREVER YOU LISTEN TO PODCASTS. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

Congratulations!

CLASS OF

2023 72

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Alden Ghegan John Ghegan Cecilia Gilliland Caroline Goodsell John Goodsell Tanner Grady Anna Gray Elizabeth Green Hudson Gregory Kai Hackney Roland Haden Aiden Hahn Adams Hall Addison Harmer Laila Heard Sylvia Heiner Henry Hicks Margaret Hollingsworth Brooks Hooper Spencer Hough Zachary Hovis Margaret Howell Mary Hubbard Jane Huffard Julia Hunt Alexander Hyman Gabriella Janis Landon Kalish Aidan Kaufmann Jake Kennedy Alicia Kim Madison King Cannon Kleinknecht Mary Kollme Matthew Kosmahl Ishaan Lakha Aashna Lal Tyler Lamberson Charlotte Lee Jillian Lee Mary Lester Seth Light Matthew Lovein Wei Lu Elizabeth Lynch Haden Marshall Michael Marshall Howell Martin

Peter Martorella Cooper McCabe Henry McCord Liyam Merchant Christopher Millard Isabella Moffett Nicholas Moffett Madeleine Morris Julie Murray Kendall Nixon Lauren Novellas Katherine O’Brien Fielder Odegard Jack O’Donnell Gene Oglesbee Nastassja Panos Chad Parker Elizabeth Pearce John Peavy Ava Petro Miles Phillips Ella Posner Andrew Powell Charles Richert James Finnegan Roach Thomas Robinson Jewell Rooker Eva Rouland

Mary Grace Samp Sloane Santos Grace Schneider Katarina Schroeter Addison Scott John Shaifer Jacob Shapiro Elizabeth Shaw Eden Shepherd Rani Shrivastava Elizabeth Stewart Walter Stewart Ansley Stibbs Larry Turner Ann Vaughan Parker Vedell Ava Vinci Madison Walker Raquel Walkins Kyle Walters Kamryn Washington Parker Welanetz Elizabeth Wildman Caroline Williams Dicksie Williams Rex Wilson Adam Young

Katherine Abercrombie Will Abney Zidan Ajani Charlotte Allen Mason Ball Thomas Barranco Madison Baxter Prescott Bayman Leila Beaver Anderson Beavor John Bernard Roshan Bhandari Molly Bradbury Robert Bradbury Taylor Brasher Marco Brok Charles Brown Hannah Brown Jake Bryant Wesley Caldwell Remy Capers Nicholas Carrano Alec Cauwenberghs Bennett Cauwenberghs Noah Claxton Caroline Colavito Catherine Colavito Ryan Coombs Avtaar Daftari Malyssa Darville Corinne Davie Lila D’Emilio Isabella DeNapoli Baran Derebail Nikh Edupuganti Samuel Ehlers Sabra Ellis Grant Ewing Julian Farris Harrison Fei Christopher Fielden Devin Fisher Cameron Foster-Martez Samuel Franco Carter Friedman Ella Friedman Kathryn Fryburger Amia Georges

CLASS 2023

THE LOVETT CLASS OF 2023

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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CLASS 2023

MATRICULATION LIST #

COLLEGE OR UNIVERSITY

1 14 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

American University of Paris Auburn University Boston College Boston University Brandeis University Dartmouth College Davidson College Denison University Duke University Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University (Daytona Beach) Emory University Florida State University Furman University George Washington University Georgia Institute of Technology Gettysburg College Hampden-Sydney College Hampton University Lafayette College Lasell University

1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 6

Long Island University (Post) Mercer University New York University Northeastern University Olin College of Engineering Penn State University Pepperdine University Rice University Sewanee: The University of the South Smith College Southern Methodist University Stanford University Texas Christian University The University of Alabama The University of Texas at Austin Tulane University University of California (Los Angeles) University of Colorado Boulder University of Georgia

2 1 5 3

University of Miami University of Michigan University of Mississippi University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill University of North Georgia University of Notre Dame University of Pennsylvania University of San Francisco University of South Carolina University of Southern California University of Tennessee University of Toronto University of Virginia University of West Georgia Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Wake Forest University Washington and Lee University Worcester Polytechnic Institute

3 3 1 1 5 1 1 1 1 1

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

1 5 1 8 3 7 4 1 5 24

3 1 1 1 2 3 1 1 3 1 1 3 1 1

# Number of Students Enrolling

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Miles Montgomery Phillips

SALUTATORIAN AWARD

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARD IN CHINESE

FRIENDS OF THE ARTS AWARD IN VISUAL ARTS

Kai Alexander Hackney

Spencer Robinson Hough Kamryn Taylor Washington

Wesley Alexander Caldwell

SIMONE CRONK AWARD IN FRENCH

EMILY DUNN ’06 MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP FOR INTERNATIONAL GAP YEAR STUDIES

CATHARINE LOUIS LOVELL ’66 AWARD IN LATIN

Alec William Cauwenberghs

Raquel Simone Walkins

John Drury Ghegan

GWYNNE ADAMS BURROWS AWARD IN ENGLISH

COMPUTER SCIENCE AWARD

Eva Elizabeth Rouland

JAMES E. WARREN AWARD IN CREATIVE WRITING Ansley Reid Stibbs

MATHEMATICS AWARD IN CALCULUS Samuel Thomas Ehlers

MATHEMATICS AWARD IN ADVANCED CALCULUS John Gibson Shaifer

MATHEMATICS AWARD IN STATISTICS Wesley Alexander Caldwell

HISTORY DEPARTMENT AWARD Ryan Andrew Coombs

MARVIN HOWARD FLOYD AWARD IN SCIENCE IN BIOLOGY Madeleine Raine Morris

MARVIN HOWARD FLOYD AWARD IN SCIENCE IN CHEMISTRY Miles Montgomery Phillips

MARVIN HOWARD FLOYD AWARD IN SCIENCE IN PHYSICS Addison Leigh Harmer

MARVIN HOWARD FLOYD AWARD IN SCIENCE IN ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE Jewell Cunningham Rooker

MODERN FOREIGN LANGUAGE AWARD IN SPANISH Maria Grace Schneider

Wei Lu

ENGINEERING AWARD Madeleine Raine Morris

BIBLE AND RELIGION AWARD Ava Elisabeth Petro

FAITH AND LEADERSHIP AWARD Henry Desmond Hicks II

12TH GRADE FEMALE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT AWARD Elizabeth Crawford Stewart

12TH GRADE MALE ATHLETIC DEPARTMENT AWARD

KATE FLOURNOY EDWARDS ART AWARD James Finnegan Nikles Roach

HEAD OF UPPER SCHOOL AWARDS Robert Brooks Bradbury Bennett Alexander Cauwenberghs Kathryn Todd Fryburger Zachary Hudson Hovis

THE BOBBY TRAIN ’83 FRIENDSHIP AWARD Christopher Cabe Fielden

SENIOR CLASS FACULTY AWARD Mary Kay Waterman

DAN DALKE AWARD FOR CHARACTER Sloane Carter Santos

FACULTY AWARD FOR SERVICE Roland Davis Haden

Anderson Thomas Beavor

PARENT ASSOCIATION AWARD

JOHN A. RABBE SCHOLAR-ATHLETE AWARD

Remy Simone Capers

Noah Patrick Claxton

WILLIAM C. CONLEY DISTINGUISHED ATHLETE AWARD Nicholas Andrew Carrano

MONTAGUE LAFFITTE BOYD JR. AWARD IN CHORAL MUSIC Ann Thomas Vaughan

VINITA THERRELL LEAKE ART AWARD Ava Jade Vinci

VALEDICTORIAN AWARD

CLASS 2023

HONORS&AWARDS

ALUMNI ASSOCIATION AWARD Noah Patrick Claxton

VERNON B. KELLETT AWARD IN THE HUMANITIES Leila Camille May-Beaver

THE ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION CUP Zidan Fareed Ajani

THE EVA EDWARDS LOVETT FOUNDER’S MEDAL Wesley Alexander Caldwell

FRIENDS OF THE ARTS AWARD IN PERFORMING ARTS Malyssa Andria Joy Darville Aiden Carter Hahn the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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CLASS 2023

SENIOREVENTS Before the more formal graduation ceremonies, the days leading up to commencement are full of fun and meaningful events. Whether seniors were making waves in the pond or gathering together at senior communion, they and their families enjoyed a festive final week on the Riverbank.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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CLASS 2023

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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CLASS 2023

The Class of 2023 and their friends and families gathered in Kilpatrick Stadium to mark the close of their time at Lovett and celebrate all they have accomplished together. Along with receiving their diplomas, the class heard from Miles Phillips, the valedictorian, and Wesley Caldwell, who received the Eva Edwards Lovett Award and was the salutatorian. Here are excerpts from their remarks.

CLASS 2023

Graduation We’re about to enter a world that advises against vulnerability—one that pressures us to present our flawless selves at the expense of our emotional health. We’re almost conditioned, in the things we really care about, to act like we don’t fail at them. In reality, every person sitting here has undergone shortcomings or embarrassing situations exactly like mine. Every person here, myself included, will inevitably mispeak, overreact, under-react, overthink, not think at all, selfsabotage, disregard other people’s perspectives, commit wrongdoings, deny some of those wrongdoings, finally realize their guilt, try to do better next time, rinse, repeat. “But every person sitting here will also overcome the afflictions they face, because by being vulnerable, you develop resilience. We often experience life’s greatest and most contradictory emotions simultaneously—through sadness, we learn happiness; through suffering, we learn compassion; through loss, we learn love. Accordingly, the more honest we are about our current limitations, the more readily we can push them. The more quickly we can recognize the parts of life that are difficult, uncertain, or simply frightening, the more readily we can triumph over them. So, as we now travel different paths, I’m confident that all of you will lead a legacy of resilience. I’m ecstatic to hear about the immediate successes of each and every one of you—and having grown up with you, I know there will be a lot. But what I’m more excited to hear is how you conquered your tribulations—how you were tenacious and unrelenting—to get to your current position.” — Miles Phillips, Valedictorian

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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— Wesley Caldwell, Salutatorian and The Eva Edwards Lovett Founder’s Medal Recipient

CLASS 2023

I encourage you all to be thankful for the gift of life. Be thankful for the glory of God, for Dean Howell’s daily fist bumps, and Mr. Newman’s short stories. Be thankful for each and every waking moment. Life is a tapestry of experiences, woven together by threads of joy, sorrow, love, and loss. Each moment, whether big or small, holds significance in shaping who we are and the world we inhabit. We must learn to appreciate the beauty of transience and find gratitude even in the passing of things we hold dear.”

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CLASS 2023

LOVETT SENIORS SIGN THE WALL MAY 13, 2023

the morning of graduation, seniors continued the more than fifty-year tradition of signing the walls at Loridans House. As always, graduates whose older siblings or parents went to Lovett were also able to add their initials by the signatures left in years past. Each signature marked the class of 2023 as Lions for life.

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MAY 7, 2023 The 20th annual reception for Lovett’s African-American/Black graduates was hosted by the Black Alumni Council and honored 16 members of the class of 2023: Madison Baxter Remy Capers Noah Claxton Malyssa Darville

Cameron Foster-Martinez Amia Georges Laila Heard Gabriella Janis

Jillian Lee Cole Oglesbee Chad Parker Katarina Schroeter

Jalen Turner Raquel Walkins Kamryn Washington Adam Young

A tradition rooted in the celebration of Lovett’s first Black valedictorian, Renuka Hines Gandhi ’04, the event was held off campus for a number of years and was organized and sponsored by parents of Black students in the junior class. The reception moved to campus in recent years and when the Black Alumni Council was established by the Alumni Association in 2021 its members eagerly took the lead. The 2023 speaker was Lovett parent and trustee Peter Thomas ’84, PhD MPH, an epidemiologist and senior research scientist at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as a Commander with the U.S. Public Health Service. He has served as a CDC Epidemic Intelligence Officer in Washington, D.C., led several national HIV testing projects, and has deployed to more than a dozen countries in response to health threats including Polio, HIV, Ebola, Malaria and the Haiti earthquake. Fluent in French, Dr. Thomas was posted overseas for several years in Benin and then Uganda with his family as the CDC Resident Advisor for the President’s Malaria Initiative. Much of his career has focused on addressing racial inequities that affect health disparities among people of color and credits much of his call to serve others to his Christian influence and upbringing he received at home and through his 12 years at Lovett. Dr. Thomas, a founding member of the Black Alumni Council, joined Lovett’s Board of Trustees last fall. He and his wife Leslie have two children at Lovett, Sampson ’25 and Lennox ’29.

VISIT WWW.LOVETT.ORG/ALUMNI/ALUMNI-LEADERSHIP TO LEARN MORE ABOUT THE BLACK ALUMNI COUNCIL.

GRADUATE RECEPTION

CLASS 2023

THE BLACK ALUMNI COUNCIL’S

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CLASS 2023

GRADUATES &

THEIR ALUMNI PARENTS First row, left to right: Tom Bradbury ’92 and Brooks Tom Bradbury ’92 and Molly Second row, left to right: Sam and Ryan Franco ’86 Alden, David Ghegan ’89 and Jack Third row, left to right: John and Steve Goodsell ’79 Myers and Mary Kathryn Lientz Green ’92 Gill and Haynes Huffard ’91

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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CLASS 2023

First row, left to right: Andree, Gabriella and Michael Janis ’87 Rocky Kaufmann ’93 and Aidan Second row, left to right: Shannon Lientz Kollme ’89 and Mary Douglas Liddy and Kip Lynch ’89 Third row, left to right: Haden, Michael Marshall ’89, and Trick Kristen, Hank, Ella Kate ’25, and Hank McCord ’97 Fourth row, left to right: Chris and Eileen Keough Millard ’80 Julie and Doug Murray ’89

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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CLASS 2023

First row, left to right: Kate McIntosh Pearce ’90 and Janie Hamilton and Allison Bussey Peavy ’91 Nancy Dorough Powell ’92 and Drew Second row, left to right: Ridley and Katherine Bone Richert ’91 JC and Gil Rooker ’88 Third row, left to right: Sloane and Joni Milsap Santos ’89 Woody Vaughan ’86 and Ann Thomas Not Pictured: Caroline and Richard Goodsell ’77

TRUE SUCCESS COMES FROM A DEEP LOVE AND DEDICATION TO WHAT YOU DO. PASSION FUELS OUR DRIVE, MOTIVATES US TO PERSEVERE THROUGH CHALLENGES, AND PUSHES US TO CONTINUOUSLY IMPROVE. WHETHER IT’S HAYDEN BERNARD’S PASSION FOR ART HISTORY OR DEVIN FISHER’S LOVE FOR DANCE, WHEN WE FIND OUR TRUE PASSIONS, WE DISCOVER A SOURCE OF ENERGY THAT CAN PROPEL US FORWARD, INSPIRING OTHERS ALONG THE WAY.” — Wesley Caldwell, Salutatorian and The Eva Edwards Lovett Founder’s Medal Recipient

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

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Fans flocked to the Riverbank on August 25 to celebrate the tenth anniversary of the 2013 football team’s state championship and to watch the Lions take on Greater Atlanta Christian School. See page 88 for more details.

ALUMNI

RUN ’N LOVETT APRIL 29, 2023

The Alumni Association’s 30th Run ’n Lovett was a record-breaking year! We had over 550 participants and raised $85,000 in sponsorships. It was a wonderful spring morning, and our community came together in force to support need-based financial aid.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

ALUMNI

2023-2024 ALUMNI EXECUTIVE BOARD Russ Richards ’99 President Ali Dick Blaisdell ’02 President-elect Kurt Hohlstein ’76 Larry Jackson ’77 Melissa Warmack Howard ’80 Kristi Kinnett Roche ’89 Mark Brown ’90 B.J. Crane ’93 Cameron Davis Glass ’99 Michelle Domanico Oppenheimer ’04 Katie Boydston Rollins ’07 Hannah English ’11 Michael MacDonald ’13 Stacey Sampson ’13 Devyn Edelstein ’16

EX OFFICIO MEMBERS Meredyth Cole Head of School Matt Gould Chief Advancement Officer Lara Kauffman Director of Alumni Engagement Starr Pollock Assistant Director of Alumni Engagement

(404) 262-3032, ext. 1208 alumni@lovett.org

ALUMNI

FOOTBALL CHAMPS

10th REUNION AUGUST 25, 2023

2013 FOOTBALL STATE CHAMPION ALUMS RECONNECT ON THE

| By Olivia Janis ’25 and Taylor Johnson ’25

RIVERBANK

ALUMNI

“We still have time,” said Willie Candler ’15. Taylor, Willie, and I were intently watching the Lovett game against GAC and looking at the score; we were down by 14 in the second half. This was the first home game of the season, and Willie Candler, a Lovett alum and football player, was back on the bank for the 10-year anniversary of the State Championship win in 2013. That evening Taylor and I spent the night chatting it up with former football players to get a sense of how they felt being back on the Bank and learn about what they were up to these days. It was Lara Kauffman, director of alumni engagement, who connected us with the alumni. We spoke to her on the phone, and she told us they were having a gathering prior to the game. She thought it would be a great way for us to introduce ourselves and let them know who would be “badgering” them during the game. That night, Taylor and I were decked out in tropical gear for the Aloha-themed game. We were told the gathering would be in the MAC, but we were not exactly sure where. But as soon as we entered the MAC and started walking up the stairs, we heard booming laughter. Taylor and I followed the noise until we finally reached the third floor, where we saw all the former Lovett football players shaking hands, hugging, and saying hello.

It was a bright and positive environment, but Taylor and I couldn’t help but feel very intimidated. We spotted Ms. Kauffman and she quickly came to greet us as well as introduce us to the team captains from 2013, Grant Haley ’14, Charlie Ingram ’14, and Tej Suber ’14. All three of the captains shot us bright smiles as we stated our names, and we explained how they should be prepared to see us in the stands throughout the game. They were super friendly, but we wanted to give them a chance to socialize more with their peers, so we said “See you later” and headed back to the stadium. Around the start of the second quarter, Taylor and I made our way to the Alumni section of the stadium to look for the captains. Our first encounter was with Grant Haley. Grant Haley was a team captain, defensive back, and running back for Lovett’s 2013 championship team. When we approached him in the stands he was locked in, watching the field like nothing but the game mattered. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

ALUMNI

“IT IS AN UNBELIEVABLE FEELING. WHEN I THINK BACK TO ALL THE PLACES AND STADIUMS I HAVE PLAYED FOOTBALL IN, THE RIVERBANK DEFINITELY STANDS OUT THE MOST.” – Grant Haley ’14 He was thrilled to be back on the Riverbank after ten years. “It is an unbelievable feeling. When I think back to all the places and stadiums I have played football in, the Riverbank definitely stands out the most.” Returning to the Riverbank inspired Grant Haley to give advice to the current football players. He said, “Enjoy the game and have fun because you never know when your last moment of playing football is going to be so each opportunity you get go out there and enjoy your teammates, have their back, and the rest will take care of itself.” After Grant’s football career at Lovett, he continued his athletic journey at Penn State. Playing football in college was really special to him. The Penn State stadium is filled with 110,000 people every weekend to cheer on their team.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

“The atmosphere was amazing and there is nothing like it,” he said. Grant Haley then went on to play in the NFL, for the Giants for two years, the Saints for a year, and the Rams for two years. He is currently recovering from an injury to get back to his 6th year of playing in the NFL. He has a daughter, Harper, who is 7 months old. While taking time off to recover, “Harper keeps me busy during my long boring days,” said Grant. Grant Haley gave a special shout-out to the movie Friday Night Lights. “Watching this movie growing up as a kid influenced my football passion and pushed me to play in college,” he said.

ALUMNI

As we approached the next team captain, Tej, we got quite intimidated. Tej looked almost 7 feet tall and he was towering over us. Tej was surprised to see how much the Riverbank had changed over the last ten years. He was mesmerized by the entrance of the stadium. “This is crazy,” he said as he pointed to the top of the stadium. He was also surprised to see that the railing was not rusty. “Back in my day, the railings were rusty and gross.” Tej called seeing the school and all his former teammates “surreal.” This was Tej’s first time being back on the riverbank in ten years. Even though football is not a very important part of Tej’s everyday life anymore, “the guys and the team at Lovett will always be a crucial memory of my life.” After Lovett, Tej attended Rhodes College in Tennessee and played for their football team for two years. Unfortunately, Tej injured his knee which ended his college football career early.

“I miss it a lot, but eventually sometimes you have to hang your passions up as memories,” he said. Tej is now living and working in Cleveland, and he just got married. “That feels so weird to say,” he said. We were quick to congratulate him. The last of the football captains was Charlie Ingram. He was sitting with a few friends and was quick to share a very friendly smile as we approached. As we began to interview him, one of his friends took out their phone to film us which was very funny to Taylor and me, because it felt like we were being interviewed ourselves. “It’s been a long time since I’ve come to a game,” Charlie said, “and it’s just so great to reconnect with all of the members of our team that came out, and see some of our old coaches, and see everyone have a good time.” Since Charlie hadn’t had the opportunity to come back to the riverbank in a while, he mentioned how different the stadium looked. Similarly to the other guys, he noticed that the front of the stadium changed, and he also noted that “the whole complex across the stadium is new, which is very impressive.” While Charlie no longer plays football, having “hung up his cleats” after high school, football still remains very important to him. He loves the camaraderie and teamwork aspect of football which he continues to maintain in his life by keeping up with college football. One of his favorite teams is the Bulldogs, the team of his alma mater, the University of Georgia. As we started to talk to Charlie about what he was up to nowadays, we were interrupted by a Lovett touchdown, which caused all of us to stop what we were doing and celebrate. When we settled down, Charlie told us about living and working in Atlanta. “I love it here and I am just enjoying life,” he said. The interview came to an end as Charlie talked about one of his favorite memories from his Lovett football career. “After our last home game, senior year, there was a big rainstorm and the whole field was a mud pit, and after the game, we all took turns doing a slip-in slide on the field,” he said. But Charlie’s last words to us were not about the past but were instead words of advice for current Lovett football players. “Enjoy every moment,” he said. “Most of you won’t be able to play football when you graduate, so you are going to miss it. Relish it and maybe write down some of your favorite memories because there are so many and it’s going to be hard to remember them.”

Republished from The OnLion, Lovett’s Student Newspaper. To read more student articles from The OnLion, scan the QR Code or visit thelovettonlion.com. the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

ALUMNI

RIVERBANK

ROCK ’N ROAST FRIDAY, APRIL 28, 2023

15th-45th Reunion alumni (years ending 3s & 8s) celebrated the start of spring reunion weekend at the annual Riverbank Rock ’n Roast, featuring live music, food, drinks, friends, and fun!

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

ALUMNI

CLASS REUNION

PARTIES

SATURDAY, APRIL 29, 2023

EVENTS

Top left: 40th Reunion, Class of 1983. Top right: 35th Reunion, Class of 1988. Middle: 30th Reunion, Class of 1993. Bottom: 20th Reunion, Class of 2003.

REUNIONS—

SAVE THE DATE! 5TH & 10TH REUNIONS November 30, 2024: Years ending in 4 & 9

15TH-45TH REUNIONS

April 26-27, 2024: Years ending in 4 & 9 April 25-26, 2025: Years ending in 5 & 0 April 24-26, 2026: Years ending in 1 & 6 April 23-24, 2027: Years ending in 2 & 7 April 28-29, 2028: Years ending in 3 & 8

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

ALUMNI

FROM T H E RIVER BAN K

TO THE EMMYS MARCH 23, 2023

LOVETT’S BLACK ALUMNI COUNCIL FEATURES

RASHIDI HENDRIX The Alumni Association’s Black Alumni Council recently held its inaugural speaker event “From the Riverbank to the Emmys” featuring Rashidi Hendrix ’92, an award-winning producer and talent manager who is a Partner at Independent Artists Media and CEO of Metallic Pictures, a Los Angeles based television/film production company. In 2022, Hendrix won three Emmys and four Telly Awards for his hit series on Hulu, “Set the Record Straight: The Jam Master Jay Case.” A majestic view from the 53rd floor of Truist Plaza was the backdrop and guests spanned several decades of Lovett graduates—from ZeZe Matthews Buck ’80, Lovett’s first Black female graduate, to Melissa Ige of the class of 2017.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CLASS NOTES

This information reflects news and updates shared with the Alumni Office prior to August 15, 2023. Send us your news! Visit love.tt/alumniconnect.

ESPN broadcast journalist Coley Harvey ’03 reports from TD Garden at the 2022 NBA Finals in Boston, Massachusetts.

CLASS NOTES

REMEMBERING SANDY STURGEON Sandra “Sandy” Stewart Sturgeon, a beloved math teacher for 36 years at Lovett, passed away peacefully from complications of dementia on March 1; she was 85. After being one of the first women to work at Lockheed Martin, she began teaching at Lovett in 1969 and became an inspiration and favorite to her students for her ability to make the typically tedious subjects of calculus, trigonometry, and algebra fun and interesting. Her joie de vivre and innocent silliness won them over as well. In her years at Lovett, she garnered many honors including Star Teacher (1981, 1991, 1996), Senior class faculty award (1980, 1985, 1996, 2004), and a Woodward award, among many others. A Mensa member, she also served as an AP exam reader for the College Board for six years. Sandra Stewart was born in Jacksonville, FL on November 22, 1937 to Kenneth Stewart, a prominent tennis pro, and Dorothy Stewart (Chase), an awarded artist and educator. She was married to Robert F. “Bob” Sturgeon for 54 years until his passing in 2016. She earned a BS and Master’s degree in mathematics from Florida State University, and was a member of Phi Beta Kappa honor society. She was also a performer in the FSU circus, homecoming queen at Sewanee: The University of the South, and a Gator Bowl princess. She is survived by her son, Richard Sturgeon ’81 of Brooklyn, NY, and grandson, Luca Wesley Sturgeon.

1964

For ten years of achieving Top Producer level of individual sales, the Atlanta Board of Realtors presented Yetty Levenson Arp with the Phoenix Award at their banquet in April! Among the many celebrating Yetty’s accomplishment, her husband and fellow alum Charlie Arp ’62 (pictured).

1987

Together at opening night of The Atlanta Design Social were (pictured left to right) Vickie Scott Kirbo ’85, Molly Ware Beery ’87, Jessica Jordan Walmsley ’84, Miles Redd ’87, Kimbrough Mobley Gibson ’84, Laura Horton Fox ’87, Sarah Toole Lindsay ’87, and Georgia Ware Margeson ’84. The event featured a conversation between Miles, a renowned interior designer based out of New York City, and Veranda editor in chief Steele Marcoux.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CLASS NOTES

1988

Since 2013, Glen Davis has been a senior psychiatrist and Medical Director for Education & Training at the Center for Urban Community Services (CUCS), a not-for-profit organization that provides psychiatric and medical care to homeless New Yorkers. In April, after ten years at CUCS, Glen transitioned to Chief Medical Officer at the Institute for Community Living (ICL), overseeing 80 communitybased programs that serve individuals with severe psychiatric illness and substance use disorders.

1996

Kelly Ragland Boyd received the President’s Award for Excellence at Tulane University for her outstanding achievement and extraordinary contributions. Recipients were selected based on nomination letters by peers and colleagues. Excellence Award honorees demonstrated success in areas including increased productivity, cost savings, enhanced objectives or humanitarian efforts. She is known among her colleagues along with medical students for her role as an adviser. One student wrote, “It amazes me how one individual can find the time to meet all our needs and ensure the Biochemistry department functions optimally. My classmates and I would refer to Kelly as our second mother.”

1999

While in Paris on a 12-hour layover with his wife Sara, Russ Richards texted Walter Evans for a quick dinner recommendation. As fate would have it, Walter was also in Paris (visiting his cousin) and just five minutes away. Great timing for all and an even better dinner together!

Ben Tuff is a lifelong educator and has had the privilege of working with hundreds of boarding students from across the world. In 2012, he made the life-altering decision to break free of the hold that the addiction to alcohol had on him. Despite not knowing how to swim, the sport of triathlons arrived quickly in his life. After seven years of competitive triathlon, Ben switched to marathon swimming. After many crossings from Newport, RI to Jamestown, RI, he throttled it up with the 12.5 Mile FKCC Swim Around Key West. After that, he completed a 21-mile swim around Jamestown, a 19-mile swim from Block Island to Jamestown, and most recently swam the length of Narragansett Bay—24 miles from Providence, RI to Jamestown, RI. Esteemed producer, Matt Corliss, chronicled Ben’s journey to sobriety and the parallels of his recent swim in the film, “Swim Tuff: How I Swam my Way Out of the Bottle.” Over the summer and this fall, the documentary has been shown at screenings in New York, Atlanta, Athens, Newport, and other locations. See the trailer at swimtuff.com.

2000

Released in September, Report Cards: A Cultural History, a new book by Wade Morris. In this book, Wade tells the story of American education by examining the history of this unique element of student life. Report cards represent more than just an account of academic standing and attendance. The report card also serves as a tool of control and as a microcosm for the shifting power dynamics among teachers, parents, school administrators, and students. In the nearly two hundred-year evolution of the report card, this relic of academic bookkeeping reflected broader trends in the United States: political zealotry and religious fervor of the antebellum period, the failed promises of the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CLASS NOTES

SHARA HUGHES ’01: SURREALISM MEETS FASHION Designer Ulla Johnson took an artistic turn for her Spring/Summer 2024 Collection, teaming up with Lovett alum and Brooklyn painter Shara Hughes to create stunning dresses and soft tailoring featuring prints from three of Shara’s vibrant surrealist paintings: “Tuck” (2021), “Ignoring the Present” (2018), and “Cherry in Lace” (2022). The clothing designer noted, “I have long admired Shara’s sense of color and the dynamic quality of her landscape: hypersaturated and surrealistic.” Among the many shared affinities between Shara and Ulla Johnson is a passion for the natural world that translates into their respective work. “An Ulla Johnson garment reminds me of movement in nature,” Shara explained. “The repetitive unveiling of layers mimics ripples in a river or petals of a flower.” Their synergistic visions united in the collection—a first for the brand—featuring a series of fluttering frocks, structural outerwear, and timeless separates printed in the captivating imagery of Shara’s breathtaking landscapes. See the full collaboration at ullajohnson.com/blogs/news/shara-hughes

Above: Photo courtesy of Shara Hughes and Ulla Johnson. Left to right: Tuck, 2021; Ignoring the Present, 2018; Cherry in Lace, 2022. Photos courtesy of Shara Hughes and Ulla Johnson. Below: Photos courtesty of Ulla Johnson.

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

CLASS NOTES

postwar Reconstruction for the formerly enslaved, the changing gender roles in newly urbanized cities, the overreach of the Progressive child-saving movement in the early twentieth century, and—by the 1930s—the increasing faith in an academic meritocracy. The use of report cards expanded with the growth of school bureaucracies, becoming a tool through which administrators could surveil both student activity and teachers. And by the late twentieth century, even the most radical critics of numerical reporting of children have had to compromise their ideals. Morris traces the evolution of how teachers, students, parents, and administrators have historically responded to report cards. From a western New York classroom teacher in the 1830s and a Georgia student in the 1870s who was born enslaved, to a Colorado student incarcerated in the early 1900s and the son of Russian-Jewish immigrants applying to college in the 1930s, Report Cards describes how generations of people have struggled to maintain dignity within a system that reduces children to numbers on slips of paper.

2002

Rebekah Wright Latham is proud to announce the opening of House of Colour Chattanooga—North Shore, a personal styling business. House of Colour has been offering the premier personal color and style analysis program since 1985. Rebekah delivers accurate color analysis for each of her clients to help them find colors that harmonize with their natural skin tone, hair, and eye color. Rebekah works with clients to discover individual style based on their personality and body shape giving them insight to look their authentic best. See her colorful journey @HouseofColourChattanooga.RL and www. houseofcolour.com/stylists/rebekah-latham-north-shorechattanooga-tennessee.

2001

In September, Lane Shackleton was inducted into the Sewanee Athletics Hall of Fame for his career as a pitcher and second baseman. Splitting time between the two positions, he recorded 166 hits, 38 doubles, 17 home runs and 102 runs batted in. Posting a .334 batting average, he added a .427 on-base percentage and a .525 slugging. On the mound, he recorded 110 strikeouts in 173 innings pitched with 36 walks and a 4.11 earned run average. He was a four-time All-SCAC selection, becoming the second player in Sewanee Baseball history to achieve All-Conference all four years for the program. In the classroom, he was a three-time member of the SCAC Academic Honor Roll. At Lovett, Lane was 22-2 as a pitcher and was honored in two different years by the Braves 400 Club on their Metro Atlanta All-Star Team. Lane has founded two wine companies, worked nine years for Google and YouTube, and now is in charge of Project Development and Design for Coda. He lives in Mill Valley, CA with his wife Meg and children Tate, Kal, and Mara.

Margaret Champagne Wright was recently named by Forbes magazine as one of America’s Top Wealth Advisors for 2023. This is the first time Truist has named a woman to this list and she was one of the few individuals featured! What’s more? Margaret is ranked #161 in America, #24 in America’s Top Women Wealth Advisors, #5 Best-In-Georgia Wealth Advisors and #2 Best-In-Georgia Women Advisors. See her Forbes feature at www.forbes. com/lists/top-wealth-advisors.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

CLASS NOTES

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2008

Since 2009, Kelsey Reed Armbruster has been an avid yoga practitioner and health advocate. She received her RYT-200 in 2012 from Asheville Community Yoga Center and has since earned my E-RYT with over 3500 hours of experience teaching yoga. Since being certified and also earning her degree in Health & Wellness Promotion at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, she’s dedicated her life to sharing the practice of yoga to improve mental and physical health and motivate growth in her community. This is her eighth year teaching at Lovett! She teaches employees, as well as the middle school girls. In founding Innercise Yoga, Kelsey continues to find ways to grow her practice and help more people. Learn more about Kelsey Reed’s teachings and full schedule at innerciseyoga.com.

2009

At the beginning of 2021, the travel itch was in full swing. Like everyone else, Merrill Ricketts Horridge and Mary Scott Wolters Jameson had spent the past year in and out of COVID lockdowns, living in family members’ basements, and working in bedrooms. To escape reality, they started planning trips to the beach, the lake, and anywhere that was open for business. “Like most of the country, we had spent the last year of our lives in exercise clothes. It was time for some wardrobe improvements to help make us feel and look good on our much-needed vacations.” And thus, the online hunt for vacation clothing began. With no one-stop shop for resort wear, they spent an embarrassing amount of time and money trying to shop for well-made, reasonably priced cover-ups. To help fix their own shopping troubles, they decided to build Sitano together—a brand that focuses on creating stylish, comfortable cover-ups. “We are proud to be a femalefounded company. Having met in middle school, we have survived some very awkward stages of life together. From 8th grade civics projects to after school tennis matches, our friendship started in our youth and has evolved ever since. We parted ways for college and have not lived in the same city since but have certainly covered a lot of

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

geography—Atlanta, Athens, Memphis, Dallas, New Orleans, Paris, Philadelphia, New York, and Charlotte. Our friendship and different life experiences have made coming back together to build this company so much fun and we are excited to see where it takes us.”

2011

Alexandra Hightower is a Senior Editor at Little, Brown Books for Young Readers (LBYR), a division of Hachette Book Group. This year, Alexandra edited Freewater, a middle-grade historical novel written by Amina LuqmanDawson (pictured, right) that received the prestigious John Newbery Medal for 2023—awarded annually by the American Library Association for the most distinguished American children’s book published the prior year. In the award’s 101-year history, Alexandra is the first Black person to edit a Newbery-winning book, while the author Amina is just the third Black woman to receive the award. In addition, FREEWATER won the 2023 Coretta Scott King Book Award. Alexandra cites her English classes and her 10th grade English teacher Jonathan Newman as her inspiration for jumping into the publishing industry, and she’s

CLASS NOTES

101

appreciative of her journey from Lovett student to Senior Editor. A profile of Alexandra can be found at https://www. hbook.com/story/profile-of-editor-alexandra-hightower. An official press release for Freewater can be found online at www.ala.org/alsc/awardsgrants/bookmedia/newbery.

2018

This fall, several 2018 alums reconnected in Atlanta for their first golf weekend!

After graduating summa cum laude from the University of Georgia, earning her medical degree from The Medical College of Georgia, and completing her residency in Internal Medicine at The University of Cincinnati Medical Center, Hannah Hempel Menk, M.D., has returned to Atlanta and joined Piedmont Internal Medicine this fall. Dr. Hempel believes in partnering with her patients to help make healthcare decisions that align with the patient’s values. Among her many medical interests, Dr. Hempel takes a special interest in preventative medicine by focusing on physical activity, nutrition and mental wellbeing.

2019

A mini-Lovett reunion after a Denison University Lacrosse Game in March. Pictured: (Left to Right) Clyde Bresnahan ’20, Thomas Boudreau ’19, Reid Edelstein ’19, Quinn O’Donnell ’19, Nick Jackson ’19, and Sarah Grace Selby ’19.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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EMILIO FERRARA ’20 NAMED GOLDWATER SCHOLAR In April, University of Georgia junior Emilio Ferrara was named a 2023 Barry Goldwater Scholar, earning the highest undergraduate award of its type for the fields of mathematics, engineering and natural sciences. Since 1995, 66 UGA students have received the Goldwater Scholarship, which recognizes exceptional sophomores and juniors across the United States. He is a Foundation Fellow and Stamps Scholar in the Franklin College of Arts and Sciences and the Morehead Honors College. Majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, Emilio plans to pursue a doctorate in biomedical sciences and research the next generation of curative genetic medicines for rare diseases. His goal is to move these discoveries from the lab into FDA-approved drugs, ultimately starting his own biotechnology company. He believes the effective delivery of genetic medicines is the key to treating many rare diseases. “I want to address critical unmet needs for patients and develop curative genetic medicines,” Ferrara said. “Genetic medicines deliver nucleic acids to fix, replace or fine tune expression of certain genes. By supplying patients with new functional copies of genes or fixing mutated genes, programmable genetic medicines provide the biological ‘source code’ to treat and cure rare genetic diseases.” Ferrara’s research journey began in 2019. He studied enzyme kinetics at Georgia State University and led his own mini-project, which resulted in a scientific paper that is being submitted to the Journal of Biological Chemistry. As a first-year student at UGA, Ferrara studied new vaccine targets for Streptococcus pneumoniae, received multiple CURO Research Awards, presented twice at the annual CURO Symposium, and wrote an Honors research thesis on his work. He will receive a research distinction on his transcript upon graduation. He is now conducting research on CRISPR-Cas systems with Michael Terns, a

STAY CONNECTED! JOIN US ON LINKEDIN TO STAY UP-TO-DATE

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

Article excerpt and photo above: courtesy of UGA Today. Below: courtesy of the University of Georgia and Stephanie Schupska.

Regents’ Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Genetics. Ferrara is minoring in pharmaceutical sciences. He participates in the Innovative Genomics Institute’s CRISPR Journal Club and works with KdT Ventures, a biotech venture capital firm. He also is the UGA Interfraternity Council President and serves on the UGA Division of Student Affairs Student Advisory Board. This summer, he conducted research at Tavros Therapeutics, using CRISPR technologies to discover gene combinations that can kill cancer, known as “synthetic lethal relationships.”

SCHOOL PAGE: love.tt/linkedin ALUMNI NETWORKING GROUP: love.tt/networking

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MARRIAGES

1. 2. 3. 4.

1. Elizabeth Henschen Gurdian ’06 and Robert Gurdian April 15, 2023

2. Ellie Sherman Pursley ’14 and Tanner Pursley October 15, 2022

3. Chuck Slick ’69 and Liz Lyon Kite May 27, 2023

4. Everett Smulders ’17 and Hastain Biggs Smulders April 15, 2023 the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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BIRTHS & ADOPTIONS

1. Sarah Rose “Sally” Alexander December 12, 2022 Ed and Leigh Falgoust Alexander ’05 2. John Paul “JP” Austin March 21, 2023 Paul ’11 and Sarah Brook Williams Austin ’11

3. Brooks Bailey Barthmaier May 15, 2023 Michael and Jessica Holt Barthmaier ’05

4. 5.

4. Alea Helena Brentnall March 29, 2023 Alena and Edward Brentnall ’11 5. Margaret Graham Carr August 5, 2023 Alex and Maggie Dozier Carr ’07 6. Elizabeth Rose DeVoe August 16, 2023 Benjamin and Caroline English DeVoe ’04 7. Hailey Marie Gannon February 9, 2023 Sean and Kelsey Neville Gannon ’11 8. Henry Fields Hallmark March 8, 2023 Chad and Eleanor Falgoust Hallmark ’08

WINTER 2023 / the lovett school magazine

6. 7.

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11. 13. 9.

10. 12.

9. Michael Erwin “Winn” Molyneux September 30, 2022 Matt and Caroline Wagerman Molyneux ’09 10. John Austin Murad April 18, 2023 Christopher and Austin Killebrew Murad ’09 11. Katherine “Kay” O’Rouke April 3, 2023 Jason and Emily Kota O’Rouke ’03 With big sisters Caroline (4) and Margaret (2).

16.

12. Daniel Oliver Sinclair June 2, 2023 Peter and Mary Margaret Cline Sinclair ’01 13. George Wilcox Spear February 24, 2023 Jordan and Meredith Herbert Spear ’10

14. 15.

14. Aria Kai Ondina Stallings August 16, 2023 Greg and Zoe Lamis Stallings ’09 15. Emmett Ralph Sullivan February 13, 2023 Brandon and Amanda McDaniel Sullivan ’15 16. John “Jack” Noffel Summerour April 3, 2023 Chelsea and Park Summerour ’13 the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

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IN MEMORIAM Douglas Ray Aldridge – Parent of alumni Carl Allen – Parent of alumni, grandparent Honorable Marvin S. Arrington Sr – Lifetime Trustee Erwin Baumer – Parent of alumni, grandparent of alumni Polly Brown – Parent of alumni Shirley Broyles – Parent of alumni Polly Buckelew – Parent of alumni McLeod Buckham-White ’19 Craig Cairney – Parent of alumni Thomas Champion Jr. – Parent of alumni Annap Derebail – Parent of alumni Mary Ann Minnich DeFoor ’69 Deanne Lambert Ellison ’74 Bill Luesing – Parent of alumni Parks Harrison Majors ’68 Joan Hancock Mebane ’63 Peter Millichap – Parent of alumni Max Wayland Monteith Jr. ’77 Louise Wattles Moreland ’65 Randy Murphy – Retired faculty Cheryl Rudd Phillips – Parent of alumni Nancy “Karen” Thompson Phillips ’63 Betty Pope – Parent of alumni, grandparent of alumni Mary Jean Selman – Parent of alumni, grandparent of alumni Miriam “Meme” Wellman Smith – Parent of alumni, grandparent of alumni, great grandparent of alumni Sandy Sturgeon – Retired faculty Miriam Smith Taylor – Parent of alumni, retired employee Deborah Clifton van der Lande ’74 Anne Virginia Sarran Whitman – Parent of alumni Jac’lyn Troutman Willie ’67 Dovie Wingard – Parent of alumni

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TRIBUTES ALFRED R. ROACH JR. ’62 (1944-2022) Alfred R. Roach Jr. ’62, known to his Lovett friends as Al, passed away on December 12, 2022. Al was a champion for Lovett throughout his life as a student, alumnus, parent, parent of alumni, and member of the School’s Board of Trustees. During Al’s time as a Lovett student he was involved in the football program, and he served as co-president of the student body during his senior year in 1962. Al attended Clemson University for his undergraduate degree, followed by Emory Law School. He practiced law in Atlanta, and held the position of CEO at Service America. Al remained actively engaged as an alumnus through his long service on the board of trustees from 1976–1991, followed by his tenure as an emeritus board member from 1991–2020. He co-founded the Lovett Alumni Association in 1972, serving as president of the Alumni Association from 1978–1979, and was presented with the Distinguished Alumni Award in 1995. He contributed philanthropically to Lovett for 38 years and was a charter member of The Lovett Legacy Society. Upon retirement, Al relocated to Sarasota, Florida, where he co-owned a fitness company. Al is survived by his wife Virginia Phillips, his daughters Marchie Roach Surface ’86 and Mobley Roach Bowman ’88, and six grandchildren.

THE HONORABLE MARVIN S. ARRINGTON SR. (1941-2023) The Honorable Marvin S. Arrington Sr. passed away on July 5, 2023. Judge Arrington served on The Lovett School’s board of trustees from 1990–2001. Judge Arrington graduated from Clark College and then Emory University Law School in 1967 as one of Emory Law’s first black graduates. He became a fixture in Atlanta politics beginning in the late 1960s. He was elected to the Atlanta Board of Aldermen (now called the Atlanta City Council) in 1969 and became president in 1980. He was appointed as Fulton County Superior Court Judge in 2002 by then-Governor Roy Barnes. He retired in 2012. Judge Arrington was well-known as an accomplished lawyer, Superior Court Judge, and pillar of the Atlanta community.

the lovett school magazine / WINTER 2023

FEATURES

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FEATURES

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MEANINGFUL

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