pace academy knighttimes winter 2015

THE FACES OF STRENGTH &

CONDITIONING

MAKING A MUSICAL Behind the Scenes of Into the Woods

THE ACADEMIC RESOURCE

CENTERPLUS

Fall Sports Highlights

Sponsorship and donation information at paceacademy.org/auction

2015 Parents Club Auction & PartySaturday, April 18 InterContinental Hotel

SAVE THE DATE

LETTER FROM THE EDITOROne semester down—and boy, was it a big one! In this issue, we take a look back at the

moments that made the fall of 2014 so memorable. We continue to explore the growth of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership; applaud

our performers and visual artists; celebrate our athletic teams’ accomplishments during their first fall in Class AA; welcome new members to the Alumni Association Board and the Pace Academy Board of Trustees; bid farewell to a retiring staff member; salute our debaters; and look ahead to a fruitful partnership with The National Center for Civil and Human Rights.

In addition, we recognize the many heroes working behind the scenes in the Academic Resource Center, the Fine Arts Center and Pace Athletics. These hard-working parents, faculty, staff and coaches support our students day in and day out, and we thank them for their dedication to the Pace community.

There’s no doubt that 2014 was a banner year for Pace Academy. Here’s to an equally exciting 2015!

Caitlin Goodrich Jones ’00DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

W I N T E R 2 0 1 5

On the cover:

Cinderella's Prince (RYAN DUVALL) and Cinderella (CAILLIN COOKE) in Into the Woods

Photo by Pace parent NEIL BAINTON

PACE CARESWhen our families and staff are in need, Pace Cares.

Contact us to deliver a meal:404-926-3727 or [email protected]

THE MAGAZINE OF PACE ACADEMY

CONTRIBUTORSWilson Alexander ’14

WILSON ALEXANDER is a freshman at the University of Georgia, where he plans to study broadcast journalism. While at Pace, Alexander was the co-editor-in-chief of The Knightly News, and a four-year member of the swimming, football and baseball teams. In his free time, he enjoys fantasy football, travel and writing for his sports blog. He recently interned at sports talk radio station 680 The Fan.

Julia Beck ’15

JULIA BECK came to Pace in the ninth grade and is currently a senior. She will be attending Middlebury College in Vermont next year, taking a gap semester in the fall to participate in Middlebury’s February admission. Beck likes to travel and participated in an ICGL trip to Cambodia over spring break, a language immersion program to Panama and will go on the ICGL Romania trip this spring break. She plays golf for the Knights and is the co-editor-in-chief of the Upper School student newspaper, The Knightly News.

Robin LaLone ’12

ROBIN LALONE graduated from Pace with honors and is now in her junior year at Auburn University, majoring in communications with a minor in Spanish. She is a member of the Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority and volunteers with Reading is Fundamental, an organization that provides literacy resources to children and families. LaLone plans to graduate in December 2015 and hopes to pursue a career in public relations.

KnightTimes966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org

Head of SchoolFRED ASSAF

Division HeadsMICHAEL GANNON Head of Upper School

JOHN ANDERSON Head of Middle School

SYREETA MOSELEY Head of Lower School

Communications DepartmentCAITLIN GOODRICH JONES ’00 Director of Communications, Editor

RYAN VIHLEN Creative Services Manager, Graphic Designer

LELA WALLACE Digital Communications Manager

LIZ WIEDEMANN Stewardship Manager, Staff Writer

Contributing PhotographersFRED ASSAF

NEIL BAINTON

GEMSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHIC

LAURA INMAN

Our MissionTo create prepared, confident citizens of the world who honor the values of Pace Academy and who will preserve the legacy of our school for future generations.

To contribute ideas for the KnightTimes, please email Caitlin Jones at [email protected].

CONTENTS 6 NEWS

10 AROUND PACE

18 FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

22 FOOTBALL

24 ICGL The year of water

28 GLOBAL LEADERS Honoring students who set the pace outside of school

30 INSIDE THE ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTER Academic support for all students

34 THE STRENGTH OF PACE ATHLETICS The trainers who support our student-athletes

36 MAKING A MUSICAL Behind the scenes of Into the Woods

42 ALUMNI

42 Updates

46 Out and About

47 New Alumni Board Members

50 Reunion Activities

KnightTimes | Winter 20154

Dear Pace Family,

Each May, the Pace Academy community comes together at honors day pro-grams and end-of-the-year celebrations to sing our students’ praises. Not only do we applaud those who excel academically, but we also tip our hats to stu-dents of outstanding character, athletic talent and artistic ability. We honor those who serve others, who radiate school spirit and individuality, and who turn challenges into opportunities.

I love that about Pace. But during those special times, I am careful to remind our students that those accomplishments, while tremendous, are not entirely their own. A community of supporters—parents, grandparents, teachers, coaches and friends—has made their triumphs possible.

In this issue of the KnightTimes, we recognize those individuals behind the scenes who help our students shine. They are people like SCOTT SARGENT and his parent volunteers, who turn an empty stage into a magical forest for our actors; CLEMENT ROUVIERE and our athletic trainers, who shape young girls and boys into student-athletes; and MICHAEL CALLAHAN and our Academic Resource Center staff, who work tirelessly to support incredibly gifted students who learn in many different ways.

One of our four core values states: “We create success through partnership with parents, students and faculty.” That’s not the case at most schools, but it’s what makes Pace special.

On behalf of our students, THANK YOU for being our partners on this journey!

Sincerely,

Fred AssafHEAD OF SCHOOL

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

THE MAGAZINE OF PACE ACADEMY

KnightTimes | Winter 2015 5

Lower School Grandparents & Special

Friends Day was Nov. 24. See the story on page 15.

Garcia Family Dedicates Middle School


NEWS What you need to know

On Nov. 8, 2014, Life Trustee PAUL GARCIA, his wife, CAROL, and their five children returned to campus for an intimate ceremony to dedicate formally the Garcia Family Middle School. Gathered in the build-ing’s rotunda, MATTHEW ’03, ANDREW ’05, Christopher, ALI ’11 and ELIZABETH ’11 joined their parents, members of the Board of Trustees and close family friends to mark the special day.

As part of one of the first classes to experi-ence the Middle School building following its construction in 2004, Elizabeth, currently a senior at Tulane University, remembers those years fondly.

“I met some of my life-long friends in the Pace Middle School, and my teachers were invested in the success of each and every student. Oftentimes it felt more like a commu-nity than a school, and I could not imagine having gone anywhere else,” she says.

The celebration honored the Garcia fam-ily’s remarkable gifts to Pace Academy, including the PJ Garcia Scholarship Fund, an extraordinary endowment for need-based financial aid.

A 2016 MBA candidate at Emory Univer-sity’s Goizueta Business School, Andrew has deep appreciation for his family’s scholarship funding. “Hopefully [the scholarships] will provide the opportunities we had to those who would otherwise not have been able to enjoy them. I can’t think of any better place for those funds to go,” he says.

THE GARCIA FAMILY From left to right: Matthew, Andrew, Ali, Elizabeth, Christopher, Carol and Paul


DEBATE KEEPS ROLLING

Pace Academy’s dominance in policy debate continues! At print time, Pace Upper School teams had won three con-secutive “octafinals” tournaments.

At these nine prestigious tourna-ments, students who advance to the final 16 earn bids to participate in the University of Kentucky’s Tournament of Champions, the debate community’s national championship.

In November, Pace sent five teams to participate in the University of Michi-gan’s annual tournament. Of 160 teams entered, the team of seniors TANNER LEWIS and CLYDE SHEPHERD de-feated a very competitive Westminster Schools squad in the finals to notch the overall victory.

Later that month, three varsity teams represented Pace in the 2014 Glenbrooks tournament in Northbrook, Ill. Of 188 teams entered, Lewis and Shepherd de-feated Caddo Magnet High School from Shreveport, La., in the finals to notch Pace’s first-ever Glenbrooks victory.

Then, during the first weekend of 2015, Pace debate brought home yet another octafinals win. Lewis and senior JERI BRAND defeated Maryland’s Centennial High School in the finals of Montgomery Bell Academy’s (MBA) Southern Bell Forum in Nashville, Tenn. The win marked Pace’s second-ever vic-tory at MBA, its first since 1985.

At print time, Lewis and Shepherd were ranked first in the country and had earned four bids to the Tournament of Champions; Lewis and Brand had earned one; and the team of senior ARIELLE LEVIN and junior REID FUNSTON had earned two. The 2015 Tournament of Champions will take place April 25–27.

Lewis

Shepherd

Brand

Levin

Funston

PACE PARTNERS WITH THE CENTER FOR CIVIL AND HUMAN RIGHTS

The Center for Civil and Human Rights’ mission to “empower people to take the protection of every human’s rights personally,” is one that resonates with Pace Academy’s core value of “respect for others and their unique ideas and beliefs.” Those shared values form the foundation of an affiliate partnership between Pace and the new downtown attraction—The Center’s first.

The multi-year agreement will create a collaborative environment between The Center and Pace faculty, staff and students, provid-ing opportunities in the areas of education, special programming, customized experiences and professional development.

Specifically, the partnership will include frequent, age-appropriate visits to The Center for students, as well as admissions and member-ship discounts for Pace families. Pace teachers will participate in The Center’s professional development programs, and students and alumni may apply for internships within The Center’s Interpretation department. In addition, The Center will assist Pace faculty with cur-riculum development, and the school will benefit from The Center’s ties to individuals and organizations on the forefront of civil and human rights debates.

“This partnership will support the goals of our Diversity Action Plan by nurturing multicultural teaching, multicultural curriculum, and cultural dexterity for our faculty and students,” says Director of Diversity RICK HOLIFIELD. “I look forward to building a close work-ing relationship that is sure to benefit both organizations.”

Pentagram's Paula Scher designed this large-scale mural for The Center's lobby. The composition features graphics from diverse human rights movements. Photo by Gene Phillips Photography.

NEWS

Learn more about The Center for Civil and Human Rights at www.civilandhumanrights.org.

http://www.civilandhumanrights.org

Lewis

The Magic Behind the NumbersLongtime CFO JEAN HELD retires

“Not everyone knows that JEAN HELD began her career as a middle-school sci-ence teacher,” says Head of School FRED ASSAF, “but I think that that experience gave her a unique ability to understand and prioritize what a school truly needs and to balance that with financial pressures.”

Held retired in December following a career that included stints in the classroom, as an independent certified public accountant and business manager, and as controller at Wesleyan School and Pace Academy. She became Pace’s chief financial officer in 2006.

Over the course of her 17 years at Pace, Held no doubt faced a multitude of financial pressures. “Jean’s cash management during the recession ensured that Pace operated in the black, not relying on our endowment to balance the budget,” says JIM HOWARD, former finance chair of the Board of Trustees.

Through it all, Held’s professionalism and expertise remained unmatched. “Jean’s budget analysis and financial oversight are legendary among Pace board members,” Howard says. “She’s an Excel spreadsheet wizard with keen financial acumen.”

Under Held’s watchful eye, the school’s endowment grew from $2.3 million in 1997 to more than $50 million today. And while those numbers are impressive, they don’t tell the whole story.

“Jean understands that finance isn’t just about money,” Assaf says. “Yes, dollars and cents matter, but managing a school’s fi-nances is about listening to and understanding a problem—a teacher or a student’s need—and then solving that problem. It’s about love, and it’s about heart—and Jean is all heart.”

“It’s rare to find a CFO as smart, as honest and as ethical as Jean Held,” Former Chairman of the Board of Trustees JEFF SEAMAN told guests at Held’s retirement party. “She will be missed.”

NATIONAL MERIT RECOGNIZES SENIORS

Each year, the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) recognizes students who achieve high scores on the Preliminary SAT or National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

Approximately 16,000 qualify as National Merit Semifinalists, the highest-scoring entrants in each state, and are invited to apply for a National Merit Scholarship. Seniors JERI BRAND, REBECCA HUSK, SARAH LETTES, TANNER LEWIS, ERIN RAWLS and HAJO SMULDERS were named Semifinalists.

The NMSC also recognizes out-standing Black American students through the National Achieve-ment Scholarship Program, and about 1,600 high-scoring partici-pants are designated Semifinalists and invited to apply for a Na-tional Achievement Scholarship. Seniors AKETE KNIGHT, TRACY KNIGHT and MORIAH WILSON received National Achievement recognition. Finalists will be an-nounced in early 2015.

Lettes

Brand

A. Knight

Rawls

Husk

T. Knight

Smulders

Wilson

The highest-scoring entrants in each state are invited to apply for a National Merit Scholarship.

NEWS

Fred Assaf, Jean Held and Jeff Seaman at Held's retirement party

NEWS


BEA PEREZ joined the Pace family in 2013 when she and her husband, KEN QUINTANA, enrolled their son, MATTHEW QUINTANA, in the sixth grade. Perez, chief sustainability officer and vice president of The Coca-Cola Company, says that after weigh-ing other school options for her now-seventh grader, she had the confidence that Pace would be the school to help Matthew maximize his talents and live a life of contribution to others.

Perez serves on the boards of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta Foundation, the USO, Save the Children, The Boy Scouts of America, Primerica, International Council on Women’s Business Leadership and The Coca-Cola Scholars Foundation. She is also involved in her daughter Bella’s Girl Scout troop.

Citing Pace’s sense of family, fostering student strengths and a focus on the greater community, Perez’s hope for the school “is that it continues to stay true to what has made it great.”

CARA ISDELL LEE ’97 and her husband, ZAK, are parents of RORY, a first-grader this year. A Pace grade representative for the past two years, Isdell Lee is also an active philanthropist, currently serving on the boards of the Fernbank Museum of Natural History and Atlanta Botanical Garden and is the trustee and head of the Isdell Family Foundation. Isdell Lee and her family are benefactors of two service awards at Pace in addition to founding the school’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership, which opened its doors this fall.

“Pace is a community in which every student is valued and ac-cepted,” says Isdell Lee. While the campus and programs have grown over the years, Isdell Lee says that Pace’s genuine interest in its stu-dents and their families will never change. As a member of the Board of Trustees, she looks forward to giving back to the school that has also invested in her.

DANIEL J. “DANNY” FERRY and his wife, TIFFANY, have five children: senior HANNAH, junior GRACE, freshman SOPHIE, seventh-grader LUCY and second-grader JACKSON. President of Basketball Operations and general manager for the Atlanta Hawks, Ferry is an NYO board member, and he and his family are heavily

FOUR JOIN BOARD OF TRUSTEES

involved with the Lymphatic Malformation Institute. Ferry serves as co-chair of Pace’s Athletics Advisory Committee, which began in 2013.

Having moved a few times during the past 10 years and enjoyed positive experiences at other independent schools, Ferry says his family’s three years at Pace have been the best due to exceptional leadership and teachers, and a strong balance between academics, arts and athletics.

“In my opinion, part of being at an independent school is contrib-uting to the school community on many levels, including financially at some level, if you can do so,” says Ferry. “[My hope going forward] is for Pace to maintain its high standards in all that it offers—whether it’s chess club, debate, soccer or the band.”

In addition to his service to the Board of Trustees, REID FUNSTON is serving as the 2015 Pace Fund co-chair. Funston and his wife, CATHY, met while pursuing their MBAs at The Univer-sity of Chicago, and they moved to Atlanta in 2000, after working in Charlotte and Boston for several years. The Funstons are parents to four Pace students: junior REID, eighth-grader WILL, and twin sixth-graders GRACE and SIDNEY. Cathy served as co-chair of the 2013 Fall Fair and of the Middle School Aim High campaign.

Funston is a partner with the investment management firm Reicon Capital, LLC. Active with several for-profit and nonprofit boards, he served as a Middle School co-chair of Pace's most recent capital cam-paign. He is also a member of the Board of Trustees at Sewanee: The University of the South and has served as a co-chair for fundraising at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where he and Cathy were recent recipients of a named scholarship award.

“When looking at schools, what was most intriguing about [Pace] was its very diverse community that really seemed to celebrate all of the students and what they brought to the community, whether their interests and strengths be in academics, the arts or athletics. With four children with pretty divergent interests, that was very appealing to us,” Funston says.

ISD

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AROUND PACE A look at what's happening at Pace

A VERY HAPPY HOMECOMING The Knights may have fallen to the Greater Atlanta Christian

School Spartans during the Homecoming game on Oct. 10, but the Pace community still had much to celebrate.

The Homecoming festivities began with a Friday-morning school-wide pep rally. Students and faculty donned their blue and white and packed the Inman Center gym to celebrate our fall varsity athletes, cheer on the cheerleaders and recognize the 2014 Homecoming Court.

CAILLIN COOKE, CHRISTINA DARLAND, LARINE HAMIED, NOAH BROOKER, ELIJAH HOLIFIELD and HARRIS QUINER represented the Class of 2015 on the Court, and later, at the Upper School Homecoming dance, Hamied and Holifield were named 2014 Homecoming Queen and King.

Hamied & Holifield

Darland & Brooker

Cooke & Quiner

Lower School Fun!

AROUND PACE


SPECIAL PEOPLE, SPECIAL PLACES Throughout the fall, families who named spaces in the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School were invited to campus to dedicate their classrooms, halls and offices. We are forever grateful for these individuals and their support of Pace Academy.

THE LEE FAMILY

THE DARLAND FAMILY

THE CRUMLEY FAMILY

ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON, Head of Upper School MICHAEL GANNON, Head of School FRED ASSAF and THE ISDELL-LEE FAMILY

THE RAYMAN FAMILY

THE SHEPHERD FAMILY with Head of School FRED ASSAF

THE ELLNER FAMILY

OWEN MONCINO, GINNY HOBBS, ARC Director MICHAEL CALLAHAN, TED HOBBS, VIRGINIA

HOBBS, MIKE HOBBS and HARRISON MONCINO

AROUND PACE

ZOMBIES TAKE CENTER STAGE

On Oct. 9 and 10, Middle School drama students did everything they could to ensure that the greater Atlanta community is ready for approaching hordes of the undead.

In 10 Ways to Survive the Zombie Apocalypse, a play by Don Zolidis, the young thespians provided a comprehensive guide to preparing for a zombie invasion. Survival methods included “trick the zombies,” “join the zombies” and “leave the planet.”

“My favorite scene was Method Three: Overwhelming Firepower because it was so fun to play with all of the toy weapons,” says seventh-grader MADISON EDWARDS. “I am now fully prepared to handle the oncoming invasion of the undead.”

Middle School drama instructor PATRICK CAMPBELL directed the hilarious production, which included a cast and crew of more than 30 Middle School students.

Upper School students designed the actors’ hair and makeup.

12

Parents Club Decorations

AROUND PACE

13

The holiday season is always the happiest of times on the Pace campus. From concerts and cocoa to pajamas and the Holiday Program, there’s no escaping the holiday cheer.

Holiday Celebrations

Strings Holiday Concert

Strings Holiday Concert

Lower School Holiday Program

Lower School Holiday Program

Parents Club Decorations

Middle School Chorus Holiday Concert

Sing in the Season

Sing in the Season

Band Holiday Concert

A DESTINATION FOR PHOTOGRAPHYIn October, Pace continued its longstand-ing partnership with Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP) and hosted Teen Spirit, a month-long exhibition of portraiture and writing created by teens involved in ACP’s collaborative program with Scottish Rite and Egleston hospitals. Through the program, volunteer photographers led inpatient teens through writing and self-portraiture that explored their identities and diagnoses.

AROUND PACE

Saturday, Oct. 25, was a perfect fall day, and thanks to Fall Fair chairs COREY HIROKAWA, JENNY MARKS and JULIE THOMPSON, the Pace facilities team and an army of volunteers, the 51st annual Pace Fall Fair went off without a hitch.

Thousands of visitors enjoyed garden games, inflatables, gem mining, extreme obstacle courses, Glamourama and karaoke; the bustling Street Market featured more than 40 vendors selling jewelry, gourmet foods, home goods and kids’ items; and Pace students, disguised as witches, goblins and ghosts frightened guests to the haunted house.

The event, which benefits the Pace Parents Club, raised more than $106,000! These funds will be used to fund the Citizens of the World Travel Grant Program, upgrade technology, support innovative professional development opportunities for faculty, and purchase classroom materials and other resources for students and teachers in all divisions.

A Legendary

Fall Fair


AROUND PACE

15

Spotlight on the Lower School Math Club

Most people know that the age of a tree can be determined by counting the rings on an exposed stump, but how does one discover a tree’s age without cutting it down? Just ask our first-grade students!

This fall, as part of Mathematical Bridge (the Lower School math club), students cal-culated the ages of trees surrounding the Randall House, and we’re happy to report that all of the trees are still standing. The project was one of the many hands-on activities that the club undertakes throughout the year to understand the practical applications of math.

DR. KIRSTEN TRAVERS-UYHAM, a Pace parent, mathematician and founder of River Cam Risk Advisors, LLC, facilitates Mathematical Bridge for Pre-First and first-grade students.

During each meeting, students explore global ideas found in daily life—things like using maps and clocks, balancing and weighing, planning a train ride across Europe and exchanging money to go shopping abroad.

“Throughout the semester, the club provides a way for children to develop their curi-osity about the language of mathematics and appreciate the beauty of math in everyday life,” says Travers-Uyham.

To find out just how old the maples and oaks on our campus are, students groups embarked on a fact-finding mission. They matched leaves with their respective trees and learned that any given tree’s height is an indicator of its age. They then used species-specific growth numbers and the tree’s diameter to guess its age.

By measuring the circumference of trees, inferring their diameter and estimating their age, students were able to calculate the number of years each tree has been standing. It turns out that the oak trees fronting W. Paces Ferry Road are between 180 and 200 years old, while the maples are 40 to 50 years old.

Other examples of Mathematical Bridge projects are available at www.facebook.com/mathematicalbridge.

THE GRANDEST OF DAYS

There’s no doubt that Grandparents & Special Friends Day is a highlight of the school year for all involved—and this year was no different.

On Nov. 24, all Pace Academy grand-parents were invited to attend a cocktail reception in the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School’s Seaman Family Student Commons, where they heard briefly from Head of School FRED ASSAF and enjoyed a performance by Upper School vocalists.

Then, on Nov. 25, special guests gathered in the Lower School cafeteria for a continental breakfast and a special program, which included a performance by our Lower School musicians. Fol-lowing the program, guests visited classrooms, participated in all kinds of fun activities and learned about life in the Pace Lower School.

AROUND PACE

Life Trustees Gather for Breakfast

Life Trustee NEVILLE ISDELL, a former Pace parent and current grand-parent, addressed Pace Academy’s Life Trustees at a breakfast on Oct. 31. In his message, motivating in its honesty and simplicity, Isdell discussed his personal inspiration for funding the Isdell Center for Global Leadership and why viewing educational experi-ences via a “global lens” is crucial for success in today’s world.

Isdell, like each member of the school’s Life Trustee group, has a fascinating, meaningful “Pace story” to tell. In an effort to document these stories into Pace’s institutional history and share them with our com-munity, we are introducing a new, regular column in the KnightTimes—the Life Trustee Spotlight (see opposite page).

Neville Isdell

SAVE THE DATEAPRIL 11, 2015

www.paceacademy.org/pacerace

During his time on Pace’s Board of Trustees in the late 80s through his term as chair in the mid 90s, Edward “Woody” White Jr. witnessed service becoming a school-wide priority. Since then, Pace’s robust service learning program has matured exponentially, earning Pace a community status beyond its outstanding college-prep prestige, says the Life Trustee and former Pace parent. College admissions offices and employers well outside of our community know that Pace stu-dents graduate with the “rounded edges” that make them citizens prepared for life, White reports.

“Pace educates the heart and prepares future leaders,” he says—a particularly flattering endorsement coming from an accomplished leader who has woven service and civic involvement into his life for years. Of course, he would not describe it that way.

In 1976, White and his wife, JENNY, moved with daughters CHRISTEN WHITE REESE ’91 and MORIAH WHITE ’95 to Atlan-ta, where White began working for the Day family of Days Inn hotels. Primarily managing investments for the Days initially, White stayed on through Cecil B. Day’s death in 1978 and the company’s sale in the mid-80s. At that time, the philanthropic arm of the business came to be, and White now serves as president of the Cecil B. Day Foundation.

Currently chairman of the board at Atlanta’s Fox Theatre, White is also heavily involved with the Haggai Institute and an elder at his church. For 15 years, he served on the board of The Salvation Army Metro Atlanta and was a Goodwill board member in the 80s. Despite the many professional and civic demands for his time, White says he and Jenny wanted to be involved with their daughters’ school and always made it a priority.

“We felt that Pace’s small, child-centered atmosphere was very appealing, and the school and teachers met the children’s needs emotionally as well as academically,” he says. The Whites en-rolled Christen in second grade and Moriah shortly thereafter, as soon as she was old enough for Pre-First.

White describes his experience on the Pace Board of Trustees as a united group effort. “Everybody wanted to help pull the oar, and they pulled it in the same direction. The Board of Trustees was one large entity working together,” he says, which he be-lieves was true for faculty, staff and coaches as well.


AROUND PACE

From left to right: Moriah White '95, Jenny White, Christen White Reese '91 and Woody White

LIFE TRUSTEE SPOTLIGHT:

WOODY WHITEPace Academy has developed a bit of a reputation, according to Woody White.

“From [former headmasters] GEORGE KIRKPATRICK and MIKE MURPHY, to longtime teacher CHARLIE OWENS and late Life Trustee CHUCK BRADY, there were too many influential players to name. This is because a great family spirit permeated everything at Pace and still does,” White says.

In his board tenure, White was involved with some of Pace’s major accomplishments, including the addition of the Lower School, the Fine Arts Center and the Inman Center, as well as the expansion of school property. When his term ended and he stepped back from the central decision-making at Pace, he knew he wanted to remain con-nected and informed. He has maintained that connectivity as a Life Trustee.

“As Life Trustees, we can be constant ambassadors and commu-nicators on the school’s behalf. [Head of School] FRED ASSAF has done a fabulous job keeping Life Trustees informed and connected, and a major role we can play is to share that with the community,” White says. “In our later years, we have more time to attend pro-grams at the school and get involved in ways we may not have had time to before.”

Above all, White credits Jenny with getting the family involved in every role possible at Pace and always having a pulse on their daughters, their friends and the Pace family in general. “Jenny was so well connected, and she has been an absolutely key part in our relationship with Pace today, and our girls being so successful there.”

Jenny's affinity for relationship building was evidenced this past September, when she contacted Pace about a surprise gathering for her husband's 70th birthday. Both Christen and Moriah, who live in Charleston, S.C., traveled to Atlanta for the celebration. Assaf led the Whites on a tour of the new Upper School building, topped off with a (very tidy!) birthday cake in the new Woodruff Library.

Looking towards the future, White says he would love to see Pace continue to stand out for its education of the whole child. Perhaps the most valuable aspect of the Pace experience, he believes, is that it fosters a deep understanding of the way faith, language, economics, politics, etc. all intersect in our society, and Pace graduates learn to navigate those complexities with a healthy confidence.

W AT E R P O L O C L U BCoached by JOHN AGUE

The water polo club wrapped up the 2014 season with outstanding performances, a record 13 wins and a ninth-place finish in the league—its first in the top 10.

The Georgia High School Water Polo Association (GHSWPA) named junior standout CIARA SADAKA to its 2014 All-GHSWPA Girls First Team, and Sadaka, along with seniors COOPER DROSE and DYLAN STEINFELD and junior BRENDON PACE, played in the GHSWPA All-Star Game on Oct. 25.

The club says goodbye to seniors DYLAN ABBOTT, Drose, AKETE KNIGHT, DANIEL LUETTERS, MAT-THEW SEAMAN and Steinfeld.


KNIGHTS RISE TO AA CHALLENGE

When news came that Pace Academy would move from the Georgia High School Association’s (GHSA) Class A to become the smallest school in Class AA, some feared that the Knights might flounder in their new classification.

Apparently, no one told our student-athletes.

Despite facing much larger schools and stiff competition, fall athletes fared more than well. All varsity teams advanced to the state playoffs, and our football boys made school history (see story on page 22). Read on for season recaps.

FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

VA R S I T Y C H E E R L E A D I N GCoached by TALISA SLADE, SHANTELL NORRIS and KAREN SOMMERVILLE

The varsity cheerleading squad’s 20 members tumbled, flew and spotted their way through swelter-ing summer temperatures and bone-chilling cold in their quest to pump up crowds, players and pep rallies throughout the football season. The team will miss the enthusiastic leadership of seniors CHRISTINA DARLAND, JAYLA ELLIS, ALEX JOHNSON, CARO-LYN PROPST, ELIZABETH WILLIS and MORIAH WILSON.

Seaman

LALI ZAMORA, Johnson and CARLY SHOULBERG

CLAIRE DIMEGLIO LINDSEY SAMPLE and MOLLY JACOBY

MORIAH WILSON

Sadaka

Drose

VA R S I T Y G I R L S C R O S S - C O U N T R YCoached by JOLIE CUNNINGHAM, STEVE CUNNINGHAM and GUS WHYTE

Following 2013’s state title, the varsity girls cross-country team had high hopes for the 2014 season. Despite graduating several key players, the team rose to the occasion: the Knights finished the regular season fourth in the region, earning another trip to the state meet.

In the state race, senior captain KATIE NELSON finished first for the girls, lead-ing the team to an overall fifth-place finish. Sophomore JULIA ROSS was second for the Knights; seniors CAROLINE MILLS and LACEY O’SULLIVAN, junior JILLY PAUL, senior HANNAH KELLY and freshman MOLLY RICHARDSON followed. The girls entered the meet ranked seventh and put in a great performance to finish fifth.

The team bids farewell to seniors MARIA GRENADER, ANNA HOFFMAN, Kelly, SARAH LETTES, Mills, RACHEL MUCH, Nelson and O’Sullivan.


VA R S I T Y B O Y S C R O S S -C O U N T R YCoached by JOLIE CUNNINGHAM, STEVE CUNNINGHAM and GUS WHYTE

The varsity boys cross-country team built on the momentum of a tight (two points!) second-place region finish and went into the state competition with its sights set on the podium. The boys did not disappoint; they wrapped up a great season as state runners-up.

In the state race, senior captain MARK GRENADER finished first for the Knights and fifth overall. Freshman standout JACK DOUGLASS followed closed behind in sixth place overall. Sophomores MAX IRVINE, ROB WAR-REN and PARKER PAYNE followed, and junior ALEC ROGERS and sophomore ALEX KAYE rounded out the Knights’ top seven. Douglass and Grenader were selected to the Class AA All-State Team.

The team bids a very fond farewell to seniors RICHIE EVERETT, DUSTIN HADLEY, Grenader, TED HOBBS, CHRISTOPHER LALONE, AUSTIN LITTLE and HAJO SMULDERS.


Payne, Kaye and Rogers

Grenader

The 2014 State Runner-Up Team

Mills

Irvine

Paul and Nelson

Kelly


VA R S I T Y V O L L E Y B A L LCoached by ANNA BUSH, STEPHANIE HARRELL and SCOTT MCEWAN

The 12 members of the Pace varsity volleyball team didn’t let the jump to Class AA affect their goal for the season; after falling in the first round of the 2013 state tournament, they set their sites on a 2014 playoff run.

The Knights advanced to the Elite Eight, falling to Savannah’s St. Vincent’s Academy in a five-set thriller—“the match of a lifetime,” says head coach ANNA BUSH. The squad finished the season ranked fifth in the state (second in area play) with a 19–14 record. Sopho-more KAKI COX and senior NATASHA GOEHRING received All-Area honors.

Next year, the team will miss seniors BRITTANY ALLEN, Goehring, NATA-LIE MARCRUM, PAYTON PULVER and CLAIRE SNYDER.


VA R S I T Y S O F T B A L LCoached by KRIS PALMERTON

The Diamond Knights continued their state-playoff streak this season, advancing to the first round of the GHSA tournament before falling to top-10-ranked Bremen High School in a best-of-three series. The team ended the season with a 16–15 record thanks to strong performances by all 16 players.

Senior LAUREN HADLEY, the Knights’ 2013 and 2014 MVP, was named Region 6AA Player of the Year and will continue her softball career at Bucknell University in the fall (see story on opposite page). Senior NORA HARLIN won the Region 6AA Sportsmanship Award and was named to the All-Region First Team. Sophomore JULIA ROBISON and fresh-man catcher PRESSLEY MARXMILLER also earned First Team All-Region honors, and senior MARYELLEN MALONE and junior LAUREN PICKMAN received All-Region Honorable Mention.

The Knights say goodbye to seniors Hadley, Harlin, REBECCA HUSK and Malone, who were an integral part of the team’s four consecutive state-playoff appearances and 65 wins.

Hadley

SUMMER BROWN Pulver, KATE BETHEL and FRANCIS CRISLER

Snyder

Robison

Pickman



OUR QUEENS TAKE THE COURT

On Oct. 15, the Pace Academy Booster Club sponsored Queens of the Court, a tennis tournament benefitting Pace Athletics. Twenty Pace parents participated in the tournament, and CECE COLEMAN brought home the top prize.

On Nov. 13, 2014, two Pace Academy student-athletes signed NCAA National Let-ters of Intent. LAUREN HADLEY committed to play softball for the Bucknell University Bisons, and diver HARRISON MONCINO signed with Miami University of Ohio’s RedHawks.

A four-year member of the varsity softball team, Hadley led the Diamond Knights to four state-playoff appearances and the 2012 Elite Eight. She was the team’s 2013 and 2014 Most Valuable Player, has been named First Team All-Region every year since 2011

and was a member of the 2013 All-State Second Team. Hadley completed her final season of Pace softball with a .523 bat-ting average, 53 runs, eight home runs—all school records—as well as 45 hits and 24 RBIs. Region 6AA coaches named her the 2014 Player of the Year.

Hadley also plays softball for the East Cobb Bullets, and in addition to her work on the diamond, she is a four-year member of the Pace varsity track and basketball teams. She is the reigning state champion in the 300-meter hurdles, and placed fourth and third in the same event in 2011 and 2012, respectively. On the basketball court, Hadley was named Defensive MVP her sophomore and junior years.

Moncino, a three-time All-American, has rewritten Pace record books during his tenure on the varsity diving squad. He was state runner-up in 2012 and brought home state-championship medals in 2013 and 2014. Moncino also dives with the Atlanta Diving Association at Georgia Tech, and has participated in the program for 13 years. In

2014, Moncino finished first in the Greater Atlanta Diving League Championships as well as the USA Diving Summer Junior Region 7 Championships.

Moncino has competed on the national level for seven years, most recently placing 24th among 16–18 year-old boys in the one-meter competition at the USA Divings 2014 Junior National Diving Championships. He was 25th in the three-meter competition.

Top: Swimming and diving coach JOHN AGUE with Moncino; Above: East Cobb Bullets coach Scott Council, Hadley and Pace softball coach KRIS PALMERTON; Left: Seniors show their support for Hadley and Moncino

HADLEY, MONCINO COMMIT TO DIVISION I SCHOOLS

Queens of

the Court!

Varsity Football Advances to the Elite Eight

“If you’re looking for excellence in theatre, debate and the arts, Pace is the place for you,” Head of School FRED ASSAF told visitors to the Lower School Admissions Open House on Nov. 23. “It also happens to be the place if you’re looking for excellence in football,” he added with a laugh.

It’s funny because it’s true. The Friday before, the varsity football team took the field at Jefferson County High School in Louisville, Ga. There, the Knights defeated the home team 57–50 to advance to the Georgia High School Association’s Class AA Elite Eight for the first time in the young program’s six-year history.

The Road to the Elite EightThings got off to a slow start for the Knights,

with losses to Lovett, Wesleyan, Landmark Christian, White County and Greater Atlan-ta Christian School. But head coach CHRIS SLADE never doubted his players’ abilities, and the tide began to turn as the season progressed.

On Nov. 7, with a trip to the Class AA state playoffs on the line, the Knights pulled out a 13-point fourth-quarter comeback to defeat B.E.S.T. Academy 20–16, bringing their regu-lar-season record to 5–5 and guaranteeing a trip to the playoffs.

As the No. 4 seed, the team faced Region 6AA champion Bowdon High School in the first round. “We watched film that whole week [before the game],” recalls senior captain TREVOR CEFALU. “We knew we could win. Bowdon saw us as a tune-up game for the rest of the playoffs, but once we got in there and started trading scores, we knew we had a game. In the second half, we sure didn’t feel like un-derdogs. We could do anything we wanted to offensively.”

Despite playing away in freezing tempera-tures, the Knights brought home a decisive victory, defeating Bowdon 49–28 to advance to the Sweet 16—a first for Pace football.

Jefferson County was up next, and the Pace community rallied behind the Knights. Stu-

Cefalu

Johnson during the game against Bowdon High School on Nov. 15, 2014

KNIGHTFLIX SPREADS SPIRIT

Knights fans didn’t actually have to attend football games to follow the team’s progress this season. Thanks to KnightFlix, the Upper School’s student-run webcasting service, sup-porters far and wide tuned in to watch each game online.

As the Knights’ win record grew, so did KnightFlix viewership. The total view count for all 13 games was 10,127, and 2,738 people watched the Elite Eight game versus Fitzgerald High School.

dents and faculty in all divisions took a break from classes to form a Knight Walk, cheering on the coaches and players with colorful signs and banners as they loaded the bus to Louis-ville. Parents and students packed fan buses to make the two-and-a-half-hour trip, while more than 2,500 Knights fans across the country tuned in to KnightFlix to watch the game live online (see sidebar).

With 931 yards of total offense between the two teams, and three touchdowns in the final three minutes, the game came down to its last seven seconds. The Knights pulled out the vic-tory when sophomore DEON JACKSON took a shovel pass from senior quarterback KEVIN JOHNSON and barreled 24 yards for the win-ning touchdown.

The victory marked the Knights’ first trip to the Elite Eight, and over Thanksgiving week-end, Pace fans came out in droves to support the team against Fitzgerald Purple Hurricanes of Fitzgerald, Ga.

But a Final Four appearance was not to be; the Knights fell 49–21.

“As a team, we wanted to make the playoffs our first year in AA,” Cefalu says. “We wanted to earn some respect.”

Mission accomplished. At the end of the season, out of 59 teams in Class AA, Score At-lanta ranked Pace eighth overall, and five out of six polls placed the Knights among the divi-sion’s top 10 teams.


A HISTORIC SEASON

More Than Football“When we proposed beginning a football

program to the Board of Trustees nearly a decade ago, many people asked me, ‘Why?’” says Director of Athletics KRIS PALMERTON. “My response was simple: ‘It will make the Pace Academy community stronger than you can even imagine.’”

He was right. More than one thousand Knights fans filled Walsh Field for the stadium’s inaugural game in August, and the momentum never slowed. Without a doubt, the sword in the stone at the rear of the field will bring the Knights continued luck in the seasons ahead, and other traditions will be born.

From Knight Walks, the pep band and packed stands, to cheerleaders, fan buses and online viewers, Friday evenings in the fall are now Pace family events—not just for the foot-ball players and their parents, but for families in all divisions.

“We had a great run this season,” Slade says. “Our sights were set on the playoffs long before our first game in August, and we didn’t stray from that goal. I’m proud of the hard work our players and coaches put in, and I’m proud to be part of the Pace community.”

MICHAEL ALBANESE, GAVIN BRADLEY, WILL DURRETT, DARNELL JENNINGS, KEVIN JOHNSON, BILL LELLYETT, ROB-ERT MOORE, CEDRIC OGLESBY and JOE SANDOE also served as football coaches this year. In addition to Cefalu and Johnson, the team bids a fond farewell to seniors NOAH BROOKER, ROBERT FARINELLA, BRAYLIN ROBINSON and JACK SPENCER.

*Special thanks to KnightLights reporter and Pace parent JIM ZOOK for his coverage of the football season, and to senior HANK ASSAF for maintaining the team’s official stats.

“We wanted to make the playoffs our first year in AA,” Cefalu

says. “We wanted to

earn some respect.”

Cefalu

Jackson

Robi

nson

Broo

ker

Photography by FRED ASSAF


From left to right: Lettes, Ross, Rogers and Howard

CHATTAHOOCHEE & APALACHICOLA RIVERS Sept. 10–19

This past fall, the inaugural class of Isdell Global Leaders embarked on a year-long deep-dive into the world of water. The award, given to four Upper School students following an extensive application process, requires that Isdell Global Leaders explore water through travel, research and custom-

ized learning experiences.In September, sophomores CHRIS-TOPHER HOWARD and JULIA

ROSS, junior ALEC ROGERS and senior SARAH LETTES hit the road—or, rather, the river—with faculty advisors TRISH ANDERSON, JONATHAN

DAY and KEVIN BALLARD to explore the Chattahoochee and

Apalachicola rivers in Georgia and Florida, the first of three study tours

scheduled this school year.

While paddling portions of each river, stu-dents talked with local residents in an attempt to understand the decades-old water wars between Alabama, Georgia and Florida. Ac-cording to the Southern Environmental Law Center, at issue is the allocation of water in two major river basins that cross the states’ borders, “one of the most important environ-mental issues facing the region today.”

“The issues seem really complicated,” says Lettes, “but most people we spoke to believed that physical limitations weren’t the biggest obstacle in solving the water problems in our region right now, but rather a lack of conver-sation. Everyone we talked to, from dam and mill operators to oyster harvesters, had strong reasons for needing water and wanted to have a real, productive conversation.”

For Ross, taking time to examine the ori-gins of the water Atlantans enjoy every day was a powerful experience. “[I want my class-mates] to know where our resources come from,” she reports. “Our local water problems are such a huge issue that they’ve reached the Supreme Court, yet only a small fraction

TheAcademy AbroadICGL fall study tours take students to Japan, Budapest and down the Chattahoochee.

24

Fresh oysters

BREAKING DOWN OUR WATER ISSUES

Each state involved in the tri-state water wars has its own concerns about the proper allocation of water:

GEORGIA As the upstream user, Georgia wants to have enough water to continue growing, particularly in booming metro Atlanta and in cities such as Columbus that require heavy agricultural usage.

ALABAMAA downstream user, Alabama is con-cerned that Atlanta’s ever-increasing thirst for water will severely limit its own water supply for power generation, mu-nicipal supply, fisheries and other uses.

FLORIDAAnother downstream user, Florida wants enough freshwater to reach the Apalachicola Bay to sustain its multi-million dollar shellfish industry, which is under severe ecological stress.

Source: Southern Environmental Law Center (www.southernenvironment.org)

DID YOU KNOW? • Atlanta gets 75 percent of its water

from Lake Lanier, a reservoir created by the Buford Dam on the Chatta-hoochee River.

• In February 2008, in the midst of the worst drought in Atlanta’s history, Lake Lanier was just two feet from the lowest it had been since being filled in 1958.

• Atlanta takes 500 million gallons of water a day from Lake Lanier.

• The Atlanta metro region includes 28 counties, 140 municipalities and 52 separate water utilities.

Source: The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water by Charles Fishman

ICGL A global education for every Pace graduate

http://www.southernenvironment.org


ICGL

25

of the people who live in the area know what the tri-state water wars are.”

The trip also provided an opportunity to disconnect and, consequently, connect. “I prob-ably learned the most on the trip just from all of the conversations we had,” Lettes says. “Instead of looking something up on our phones, we would ask a question and it would start a really interesting conversation. I really enjoyed that.”

The Global Leaders’ next stop? The Rio Bravo del Norte in Mexico!

JAPANOct. 9–20

“Initially, I expected Japan to be full of tech-nology and robots,” says sophomore SAMMY TANENBLATT, “but apparently that’s only the case in the Akihabara district… and with the toilets, which had heated seats and bidets.” Talk about a global education!

In October, Tanenblatt, 10 of his fellow Upper School classmates, and faculty advisors ERICA BARBAKOW and TOMMY HATTORI spent 11 days in Japan investigating the robot theory and dispelling other cultural misconceptions.

The trip began in Tokyo, where the group visited the Tsukiji Fish Market, explored local neighborhoods, took in a kabuki play and par-ticipated in a tea ceremony at the Hamarikyu Gardens.

“The position of our hotel allowed us to walk around the city, eat at different restaurants, and shop at markets and stores,” says sophomore BARRETT BAKER. “The Tokyo Skytree, simi-lar to the Seattle Space Needle, was one of the coolest places we visited. It gave us a never-ending view of Tokyo, which highlighted just how dense the city is, while showing off its beauty as well.”

The time in Tokyo also included a visit to Shibuya High School, where the group talked with Japanese students studying English.

“I think [visiting with Japanese students]

was the highlight of the trip for me,” says junior JONATHAN SPALTEN. “One class was studying Hiroshima. It really interested me to hear another perspective [on the event]… and to share a U.S perspective. The second class we visited was a class for students who had studied abroad in English-speaking countries and were discussing American literature and, specifically, the American Dream.”

From Tokyo it was on to Kyoto, where the group explored the Fushimi Inari Shrine, the Kiyomizu Temple, and the Nishiki Market before journeying to Hiroshima to visit the Peace Museum and Atomic Dome, later deliv-ering handmade origami cranes to Peace Park.

“This was my first time traveling with Pace teachers,” Baker reports. “To be completely honest, it felt very similar to traveling with my family. I enjoyed this trip more than any other I’ve taken.”

BUDAPESTNov. 22–Dec. 1

It’s not often that high-school students serve as diplomats in a foreign country, but that’s just the experience that Yale Model Government Europe (YMGE) offers.

The program, in which Pace has participat-ed for many years, aims to “raise awareness of and foster debate about international relations

and global affairs in the European context.” To accomplish its mission, YMGE brings together students from around the world to take part in a fast-moving simulation of political decision-making and crisis in 21st-century Europe. This year’s model took place in Budapest.

“Although I learned so much about the Euro-pean Union government and how it functions [through the model], the most surprising thing was the amount of diversity and the knowl-edge that the other participants gave me about the global community,” says junior CARLY SHOULBERG. “[I met people] from all over the world—Ukraine, Russia, France, Israel, Britain, Germany and more—which was unique to any-thing I had ever done. Everyone could speak English, which was amazing. Talking to these people outside of the model and between ses-sions was definitely the most memorable part of the trip.”

Junior LINDSEY SCHRAGER had a simi-lar experience: “I became really good friends with girls from Ukraine, Luxembourg and New York City,” she says. “I think being surrounded by different people, accents and cultures really gave me a new outlook and curiosity about others. I learned that people are all similar even though we come from very different back-grounds.”

Upper School teachers HELEN SMITH and SCOTT SARGENT led the study tour, which also included juniors AARON DAVIS, ETHAN ROBINSON and NICHOLAS KRATZ. Kratz received honorable mention recognition is his YMGE committee.

Prior to the model, the group spent four days exploring Budapest, “the Paris of central Europe,” and its turbulent history. They par-ticipated in walking tours, spoke with local citizens, and visited sites in historical Buda and Pest, including museums, relics of communist rule, the Jewish Ghetto, and historical cathe-drals and synagogues.

Hungry in Hungary!

Halfway around

the world!

ICGL A global education for every Pace graduate

ICGL

A PACE WELL IN KENYA

When missionaries Susan and Len Eastwood visited Lower and Middle School students this past fall, they shared the hardships many Kenyans—in particular, girls and women—endure to obtain clean water.

Inspired by the Eastwoods’ message, Middle School students organized a bake sale and raised $1,113 to build a well that will benefit the Kenyan com-munity the Eastwoods serve.

A LOWER SCHOOL WATERPALOOZA!

In November, the entire Lower School celebrated water in the first annual ICGL Theme Day, appropriately titled “Waterpalooza.”

Students tackled the subject of water through activities like the Water Olympics; they participated in a water scavenger hunt; and they explored the water cycle, the creation of waterfalls and canyons, conservation and pollu-tion through hands-on activities.

TRADING CANDY FOR CLEAN WATER

For 18 years, Lower School students have partnered with UNICEF to trick-or-treat for causes that the relief organization supports.

This year, students collected an astounding $2,111.17. In keeping with the ICGL’s annual theme of water, the funds will be used to install four $500-water pumps, each of which will serve an entire village.

The remaining $111.17 will pur-chase clean water in the communities UNICEF serves. Each dollar donated supplies safe drinking water for 40 days, bringing the Lower School’s donation total to 4,440 days.

ALUMNI ASK, "WHO OWNS WATER?"

Pace Academy alumni DAVID HANSON ’96 (above, left) and MICHAEL HANSON ’99 (above, right) paid a visit to their alma mater on Oct. 21 to screen for Upper School students their docu-mentary, Who Owns Water.

The film, an official selection of the 2014 Mountainfilm Festival in Telluride, Co., follows the brothers as they paddle the Chatta-hoochee, Flint and Apalachicola Rivers to explore the water wars in Georgia, Alabama and Florida. In September, Pace Global Leaders embarked on a very condensed version of the same journey and discussed their experiences with the Hansons during their visit (see story on page 24).

“The Hanson brothers were so cool,” says senior SARAH LETTES, one of four Global Leaders. “I thought it was awesome that they were Pace grads because we had had a lot of the same teachers and experiences. It was also inspiring to see how much they had done since they were my age.”

David Hanson has traveled the world as a freelance journalist and written for publications such as Southern Living, Outside, Mountain and National Geographic Adventure.

Michael Hanson is an award-winning travel and documentary photographer whose work has appeared in publications such as the New York Times, National Geographic Traveler, Coastal Living, Budget Travel, and the magazines of US Airways and Continental Airlines.

The brothers published Breaking Through Concrete: Building an Urban Farm Revival in 2012.

ICGL ICGL


WATER: CHARLES FISHMAN STARTS THE CONVERSATION

When Pace Academy students returned to school in August, they faced a fun and formidable task: understanding water, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s (ICGL) inaugural theme.

To help with this undertaking, the ICGL leadership team selected Charles Fishman as its inaugural ICGL visiting scholar. An award-winning journalist and author of The Big Thirst: The Secret Life and Turbulent Future of Water and New York Times bestseller The Wal-Mart Effect, Fishman (shown above in a first-grade classroom) spent a week on the Pace campus in September.

ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON more than filled his sched-ule—from early morning meetings to dinner-time discussions, Fishman did nothing but talk about “the most familiar substance in our lives,” encouraging all those with whom he spoke to consider the important role water plays in their day-to-day existence.

Fishman talked to students in the Lower, Middle and Upper

Schools during assemblies and class visits. He addressed parents, faculty and members of the Atlanta community during two special events. He discussed essay writing with seventh-grade English stu-dents, talked social entrepreneurship with Upper Schoolers, shared insights into the world of journalism with The Knightly News staff, answered countless questions from inquisitive Lower School stu-dents, explored environmental issues in science classes and much, much more.“Charles [Fishman] went above and beyond the call of duty, and

did an incredible job reaching out and becoming a part of our com-munity during his time on campus,” Anderson says. “His humor, warmth and genuine support for the work we are doing through the ICGL were infectious. As one of our students put it, ‘Fishman was a powerful, fun and really smart speaker. I learned something new on each occasion I interacted with him.’”

27

Anderson and Fishman


NELSON’S ICGL EXPERIENCE BECOMES AN EXHIBIT

Every October for 14 years, Pace Academy students have walked by a special photogra-phy exhibit on the back wall of the Fine Arts Center. The exhibits are a part of a citywide photography festival called Atlanta Celebrates Photography (ACP).

This year, senior KATIE NELSON had her own ACP exhibit at BEE, an eco-friendly interior design store owned by Pace parent JILLIAN PRITCHARD COOKE.

Nelson’s exhibit, A Glimpse (Mtazamo), features photos she took on the ICGL study tour to Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania over the 2014 spring break. Her exhibit had three focuses: the climb students took to the peak of Kilimanjaro, the conservation of African wildlife and why it needs conservation, and the people of Africa, along with the challenges they face and how they overcome them.

“I really wanted to showcase those three different aspects of the trip because it was about more than just some Pace kids going on a trip to Africa,” says Nelson. “We got to talk to and learn from kids and the headmaster of their school, and we went to a village and learned about how their story is so different from ours, and even different from people 10 minutes down the road from them.”

Cooke, after seeing Nelson’s pictures from the trip and loving them, approached Nelson in July and offered to help her submit her pictures as an ACP exhibit. Nelson’s success with her exhibit shows how even an amateur photographer can create something worth-while. A Glimpse (Mtazamo) ran from Sept. 30 to Nov. 1, 2014. (A detail of her work is pictured above.)

— by JULIA BECK ’15, as published in The Knightly News

India in India Musings from a citizen of the world

Former Pace Academy Middle School student INDIA BEHL and her family are spending several years in New Delhi before moving back to Atlanta. Here Behl reflects on her experiences abroad and the ways in which Pace prepared her for a global future.

Can you imagine moving to another country? Starting your life all over? Saying goodbye to all you have ever known? Well, that’s exactly what happened to me. In August 2014, I left Atlanta because of my dad’s job and moved to New Delhi, India, with my family.

Honestly, I was not happy about the move—really I was 100 percent against it. Now that I’m here, should I call New Delhi home? I can’t… yet. However, there are times when I think it’s not so bad. My world has opened up…

Being in India has helped me connect with my roots and bond with my family. I am now close to my young cousins, and Pace’s fifth-grade buddy program gave me the tools to build these relationships. There are Hindu traditions that we celebrated in Atlanta because my parents upheld them, but now I have tried them in a different way and on a bigger scale. I’m grateful that Pace taught us to respect all sorts of diversity.

One cool thing about my school is everybody’s past experiences. Now I am friends with people from Spain, Finland, Singapore, France, the U.S. and South Korea. Remembering Pace’s beliefs about nobody being excluded and The Golden Rule has helped me make new friends (but I still miss my Pace friends).

I joined the American Embassy School, and while it is very different than Pace, I know that my Middle School study skills class has prepared me to adapt to this new learn-ing environment.

Right before I left Pace, I went to Iceland on a global leadership study tour. It was fan-tastic. There I found a passion for photography. I came back and did the Pace photography summer camp, and now, I’m always snapping photos!

However some experiences are hard to accept—like whenever I see a less fortunate child. About a month ago, when we were stuck in traffic, a small boy, maybe 7 years old, came up to the window. He asked my mom in rapid Hindi for some water (it was a very hot day, around 110 degrees). She regretfully told him she had none, but she gave him a little bit of money to go buy a bottle. The boy shook his head and pointed towards my cup. My mom told him that I had already had half of it. He said that he didn’t care. He just needed some cold water. I picked up the cup and gave it to my mom. She offered it to the boy, who snatched it and quickly drank half of what was left of my lemon slush. He eagerly ran away.

As we drove off, I smiled as I saw him urging his sister to drink what was left. I will never forget this.

One major problem in India is the safety of water, and many people don’t have access to clean drinking water. In a lot of rural areas, water is pumped from the ground and drunk immediately before it has been sanitized. India’s new Prime Minister has pledged to clean up the Ganges River. This river is sacred, but it’s estimated that 1 billion liters of sewage are dumped into it daily. The Yamuna River, a river that flows into the Ganges, has not had any life for 15 years! I recently went on a field trip to a non-toxic area of the Ganges with my new school. It was beautiful but also heartbreaking to know that no one is trying to conserve it. I hope that Prime Minister Modi will fulfill his promise.

I feel incredibly fortunate to have grown up in Atlanta, and now New Delhi… and hope-fully I’ll be back in Atlanta again very soon.

GLOBAL LEADERS

FREIER WINS WATER ESSAY CONTEST

For 13 years, the Metropolitan North Georgia Water Planning District has spon-sored a water essay contest for middle-school students. The contest raises awareness for conservation efforts and the preservation of water quality in metro Atlanta.

This year, seventh-grade English teacher NANCY QUINTRELL (above, left) required that her students participate as a means of exploring water, the 2014–2015 ICGL theme. “We were especially fortunate that [ICGL Visiting Scholar] Charles Fishman spoke to my classes about water and writing [earlier in the year],” Quintrell says.

Students were asked to write a 300–500 word essay explaining why water quantity and water quality are equally important. Middle School teachers selected seven Pace Academy students’ essays for submission, and seventh-grader ZOIE FREIER (above, right) took home the top prize for Atlanta.

Freier and 15 other winners from metro counties—selected from more than 2,000 entries—were recognized at the state capitol on Dec. 4.


Faculty Spotlight

Kevin Ballard

“I firmly believe that the only way to really learn about a place is to go there,” says Upper School biology teacher KEVIN BALLARD (shown above, shooting the Chattooga River). So, the mild-mannered outdoor enthusiast is on a quiet mission to take Pace Academy students “there.”

An avid kayaker, Ballard, often accompanied by his Upper School colleagues JONATHAN DAY and GUS WHYTE, has led nearly 10 kayaking ex-

peditions in his five years at Pace. He and several students spent the 2013 spring break hiking the mountains, deserts and canyons of Big Bend National Park. And this year, Ballard is advising the inaugural class of Global Leaders as they investigate water issues by paddling the Chattahoochee River, exploring Mexico’s Rio Bravo del Norte and jetting off to Africa’s Okavango River Delta (see story on page 24).

“The greatest benefit to these types of trips is to actually ex-perience the place,” Ballard says. “[Students] must breathe the air, feel the ground and the water, get hot, get cold, get tired, be

uncomfortable, be disappointed, be surprised, be bored, be excited… As a teacher, sharing these ex-periences with students is particularly rewarding. [I find that] they always learn something new and exciting.”

Ballard speaks from experience. He’s been whitewater boating for more than a quarter of a century, and has spent years paddling rivers and hiking mountains up and down the Eastern Sea-board. He oversaw the outdoor program at the

New Hampton School in New Hampshire and served as director of outdoor education at Moravian Academy in Bethlehem, Penn., for nearly two decades.

Ballard’s message to all of his students is simple: “Go out and explore”—a directive he borrowed from British explorer Apsley Cherry-Garrard.

“The quest for knowledge should be the goal, not the means,” Ballard says. “And the quest for knowledge is truly exploration without end, because the more we learn, the more questions we have. Every question answered opens up a whole new world to explore. Real exploration has no guarantee except that we will find out what life and living are really about.”

GLOBAL LEADERS

Inside the Academic Resource CenterAt Pace, we set the bar high for all students, but we provide the support to help them jump over it.

THE ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTER

When the Lower School introduced the Design Thinking program in 2012, the goal was to enable students to think differently about the ways in which they tackle problems and to address issues on their own.

The “human-centered” approach to problem solving encourages innovation through hands-on activities. It’s an untraditional teach-ing tactic—one that might be slightly uncomfortable for students who would prefer to sit quietly at a desk, taking notes as a teacher lectures. But for others, Design Thinking not only feels right, it offers them a chance to shine.

Design Thinking’s overwhelmingly positive impact on certain students makes perfect sense for Academic Resource Center (ARC) Director MICHAEL CALLAHAN (pictured above). “All kids learn dif-ferently,” he says. “They have different strengths in different areas, and it’s our job as educators to give all children different opportuni-ties for success.”

The Advent of the ARCEnsuring that Pace Academy students with learning differenc-

es have those opportunities is Callahan’s calling. While the school employed a learning specialist prior to Callahan’s 2007 arrival, no formalized academic-support program existed.

As knowledge of learning differences grew, it became clear that Pace needed structures in place to help students struggling with dys-lexia, dysgraphia, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), written expression, and math and reading disabilities—and to educate parents and teachers about these issues. The administration and Board of Trustees charged Callahan with creating an Academic Resource Center unique to the Pace community.

“Pace has always had children who learn differently,” says Lower School Learning Specialist DEB COOK, previously a longtime class-room teacher. “It’s nothing new, but there’s been a misconception in the general public that if you have a learning disability, you don’t have a solid IQ or you can’t excel. We know that’s not true.”

In fact, many of today’s most successful business leaders overcame learning disabilities. Richard Branson, Ted Turner and Charles Schwab are dyslexic. Late Apple founder Steve Jobs struggled with learning differences; JetBlue Airlines CEO David Neeleman has ADHD; and a 2003 JGFR Tulip study found that self-made millionaires are four times more likely to suffer from dyslexia than the rest of the popula-tion.

“These people are successful because it was never easy for them,” Callahan says. “They always had to think of different strategies to succeed. We know that 20 percent of any given population will have some type of learning challenge, so the ARC’s overall goal is to de-mystify learning differences and help Pace students overcome them.”

With a master’s in varying exceptionalities and leadership expe-rience at Lynn University’s Institute of Achievement and Learning, Callahan modeled the ARC on the academic-support programs he’d experienced at the university level.

While Callahan oversees the ARC school-wide, his focus is on the Upper School, so PEGGY CLARK (now retired) joined the team in the Middle School, and Cook came on board in the Lower School. Callahan hired part-time content tutors and expanded the existing peer-tutoring program in the Middle and Upper Schools, requiring that all National Honor Society members take part.

He formalized a program to support students with documented learning differences and provides individual learning profiles to teachers at the start of the school year. Middle School ARC Director

CINDY O’NEILL, who took over following Clark’s retirement in 2014, employs a similar system. The Lower School does the same.

Profiles include information regarding a student’s strengths and challenges, how a student’s disability might manifest in the classroom, effective teaching strategies, and any required accommodations such as ex-tended testing time or computer needs. “We don’t modify expectations,” Callahan says. “We only accommodate.”

The ARC team also requires that students advocate for themselves, and creates—or as-sists students in creating—customized plans for those with documented learning disabili-ties. For example, ARC staff members help students with attention or time-management challenges learn to schedule their evenings, afternoons and weekends in manageable blocks of time. Others may be encouraged to arrange meetings with classroom teachers to discuss difficulties or to delve further into a particular subject area.

“This is the strangest job because you’re always working to get fired,” O’Neill says. “Our goal is to give kids the skills to advocate for what they need. Those skills eventually become second nature, and students don’t need our help anymore. It’s really great when that happens.”

The ARC TodayWith a strong structure in place, the ARC

has grown rapidly. Middle School Counselor and Upper School Academic Coach DR. TARA TERRY joined the team in 2010. As a psycholo-gist, she brings an additional level of expertise to challenging situations.

In 2014, RYANN SMITH came onboard as a full-time Upper School academic coach, and O’Neill and Learning Specialist LISA RICHARDSON, both formerly of the Atlanta Speech School (for students with hearing, speech, language or learning disabilities), joined the team. Richardson and Cook work together in the Lower School.

The 2014 arrival of Head of Lower School SYREETA MOSELEY further strengthened the ARC. Moseley holds degrees in learning disabilities and special education and reha-bilitation, and spent 16 years in multiple roles at the Atlanta Speech School. She brings a wealth of experience in the development and

implementation of multisensory learning and research-based curriculum as well as a passion for children with learning differences.

The ARC now has five full-time employees and five part-time staff, and the full-time team meets on a monthly basis to discuss challenges, victories and research in the field.

“There’s a lot of communication between divisions, particularly at the beginning and end of each school year,” Cook says. “Cindy [O’Neill] will call and ask about a Middle School student I worked with in the Lower School, and I’m able to check on how my former students are performing. It’s a true community effort.”

That community includes parents as well. Based on a student’s needs, the ARC team

serves as an educational resource for parents and provides customized strategies that enable them to support their students at home.

The ARC’s ImpactJust as strong student-teacher relationships

are the hallmark of a Pace education, rela-tionships are the key to the ARC’s growth and success. Without great people, the plans, sched-ules, profiles and evaluations have little effect.

The faculty members who staff the ARC are experts in their fields, but their ability to care about and build personal relationships with the students they support is even more vital.

“If you can make connections, the sky is the limit,” Callahan says. “Our tutors and teach-ers have to be interested and invested in their students’ lives.”

That investment pays off. “I am so thankful that I used the ARC during

my time at Pace,” reports KELLY BROWN ’14, a freshman at Southern Methodist Uni-versity. “I wasn’t diagnosed with learning differences until ninth grade, so it took me a while to figure it all out. Mr. Callahan was so helpful with getting me the accommodations I needed… and monitoring my progress as I tried out things like audiobooks or new note-taking methods. He set me up with tutors in the ARC who explained and taught things in different ways.

“I’m so happy at SMU, and have used all the time-management techniques and study skills that I learned from Mr. Callahan. I’ve been more successful than I’ve ever been.”

And that, the ARC team says, is the best reward. •

SPOTLIGHT ON JACK EICHENLAUB, PEER TUTOR EXTRAORDINAIRE

Every Tuesday and Thursday afternoon, junior JACK EICHENLAUB heads to the Middle School ARC for backpack club. There, Eichenlaub, a math whiz, works with Middle School students in need of extra help.

“I jumped at the chance to help [because] I think having a high-school [stu-dent] in the ARC gives the kids a glimpse into what their futures can be like,” he says. “And it helps them to stay excited about the future in school.”

The excitement goes both ways. “I love when someone comes in with a test that they did really well on after I helped them,” Eichenlaub says. “It’s very empowering to know that just a little bit of my time can help make someone else’s knowledge and grade better.”

THE ARC IN THE UPPER SCHOOL

• Callahan and his team work with all Upper School students at some point during their Pace careers.

• The ARC provides all ninth-graders time-management instruction through the Transitions program, and is open to any student who needs a quiet place to study or organizational assistance.

• The ARC employs three part-time tutors to help students with challenges in specific subject areas, and coordinates with out-side tutors when needed.

• Peer-tutoring pairs meet before and after school and during free periods. In any given year, the ARC arranges between 40 and 50 peer-tutoring matches.

• Next on Callahan’s wish list? An Upper School writing lab.

THE ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTER


THE ARC IN THE MIDDLE SCHOOL• O’Neill strives to educate students,

teachers and parents about learning styles; monitors education plans and recommended accommodations; and supports all students as needed.

• The ARC’s services include study-strat-egies classes, morning and recess help sessions, backpack club, small groups, individual meetings and peer tutoring. O’Neill also helps parents coordinate outside tutoring when necessary.

• At faculty meetings, O’Neill provides helpful information for teachers—for example, how to use Inspiration Software, a visual learning tool that helps students develop and organize ideas. She also coordinates lunch n learns during which teachers discuss successes and challenges.

• O’Neill has implemented a division-wide test-taking/scheduling policy for those students who require extended time to ensure that all teachers and students abide by the same standards.

THE ARC’S FOOTPRINT EXPANDS• The Arthur M. Blank Family Upper

School’s Sheft Family Academic Re-source Center includes a learning lab in which students spend time before or after school or during free periods, as well as smaller meeting spaces and offices.

• Part of the Inman Center space vacated by Upper School deans was transformed into the Middle School ARC. The space includes an office and two classrooms—one for small-group study sessions or individual work, another for tutoring groups and academic study halls.

• Over the summer, construction crews converted space on the Lower School’s fourth floor into an additional learning lab for Pre-First through second grade. The second floor’s colorful learning lab welcomes students in grades three through five.

THE ARC IN THE LOWER SCHOOL• Moseley has implemented a consis-

tent, collaborative process to assess students and determine who might need the ARC’s support and, con-versely, who might need additional academic enrichment.

• Every month, Cook and Richardson meet with Moseley, Assistant Head of Lower School PHYLLIS GRANT and classroom teachers to ensure that all students have the tools they need to succeed.

• Cook and Richardson monitor students throughout the year and meet with those who might need additional help before and after school and at designat-ed times during the school day. Parents receive frequent progress reports.

• Approximately 95 percent of teachers have participated in Orton-Gillingham training, a program that provides strategies for teaching children with the reading, spelling and writing dif-ficulties associated with dyslexia.

THE ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTERTHE ACADEMIC RESOURCE CENTER

Deb Cook

Ryann Smith

Cindy O'Neill

Applauding the trainers who support our student-athletes

It’s one thing to be born with athletic abil-ity and quite another to become a true athlete. Day after day, season after season, Pace Acad-emy Strength and Conditioning Coordinator CLEMENT ROUVIERE and his staff of WILL DURRETT and COURTNEY MORRISON take Upper School students of varying fitness levels and make them Pace Knights.

Tucked away under Boyd Gym, the three work with an estimated 80 percent of Pace student-athletes each year, prescribing cus-tomized, sport-specific training regimens to improve performance and prevent injury.

Rouviere leads the team. A creature of habit, he’s up at 4:15 a.m. in the summer to eat his traditional breakfast of steel-cut oatmeal with egg whites and blueberries, a sprinkle of almonds and a dash of honey. At 6:30 a.m., he begins leading three hours of workouts. During the school year, he main-tains his early morning routine and is always one of the last to leave campus.

“No one in this building outworks Clem-ent,” says head football coach CHRIS SLADE.

In 2009, Rouviere had his pick of jobs at a number of colleges—and even a National Foot-ball League program. Instead, he chose Pace.

“High-school kids are the age group I want to work with,” he says. “Working with college and professional athletes is great, and I did that, but I realized that it was easy to work with those guys. I didn’t feel fulfilled. With high-school kids, you can take someone with no experience and you can develop him or her. I feel like I am making more of an impact.”

Rouviere’s investment in students’ well-being, combined with his fun-loving attitude and humor, have made him a Pace icon. You can find him at a Thanksgiving-day football practice dressed in a turkey costume or at a track meet waving around a white towel like a mad man.

“He’s our emotional leader for sure,” says Coach Slade.

THE STRENGTH OF PACE ATHLETICS

“High- school kids are the age group I want to work with,” Rouviere says.


Although Rouviere has made a huge impact on Pace Athletics as an individual, in order to reach more of the student body and safely monitor a maximum of 32 in the weight room at once, he needed help.

Hired prior to the 2014 school year, Dur-rett served as the strength and conditioning coach and an assistant football coach at Mount Paran Christian School prior to his ar-rival at Pace.

“He’s as qualified as I am to do this,” says Rouviere. “We’re pretty much equal.”

Durrett also provides years of yoga experi-ence. “The implementation of a yoga practice allows athletes to achieve the full benefit of a well-balanced regimen,” he says. “It’s not only a great way to restore the central nervous system, but it also offers a medita-tive element that I believe sharpens athletes’ mental focus.”

Morrison completes the training trium-virate. Like Rouviere and Durrett, she holds certification with the National Strength and Conditioning Association. “She’s the real deal,” says Director of Athletics KRIS PALMERTON.

Evidence of the team’s impact is easily found. The Knights won two state titles during the 2013–2014 year, the first since 2006, and a record five students committed to play Division-I athletics. Every Pace student-athlete has greater stamina and strength, and as a result, constantly outlasts opponents.

“You can see it in our teams,” says Palm-erton. “Volleyball for instance—the girls went the distance in a five-game set and were still fresh. Coach [ANNA] BUSH attributes a great deal of that to what [Rouviere] did with the team in the weight room.”

There’s no doubt that Pace strength and conditioning is better than it’s ever been. “There’s a true progression and plan for our high-school kids now,” says Palmerton. “It’s made a tremendous impact.”

Students recognize this impact as well. “[The strength and conditioning team mem-bers] have been the catalyst to my athletic success,” says senior football captain TREVOR CEFALU. “Without them, I would not have known where to begin to improve. Every day they come to work intent on making kids better, and if you buy in, it can go a long way.”

—by Wilson Alexander ’14

Rouviere at work


36

MAKING A MUSICAL

Theatre productions bring out the best in the Pace family.

It’s 5:37 p.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 12, and Pace Academy parents JOHN COOKE and DAN DOWNEY stoop over piles of leafy branch-es on the Fine Arts Center stage. One by one, they thread the boughs through chicken wire painted black and hung from battens above the stage. Up close, the branches and wire don’t look like much, but from a distance and in the perfect light, they cast shadows, creating a simultane-ously eerie and iridescent woodland scene.

The final dress rehearsal for the 2014 fall musical, Into the Woods, begins in one hour and 23 minutes.

As Cooke, Downey and the rest of the set crew put the finishing touches on their magical forest, properties coordinator and parent SALLY NAIL works with props manager NORA HARLIN, a senior, to place loaves of bread and baskets carefully on stage for the opening scene. In the booth atop the auditorium’s steep steps, technical director SCOTT SARGENT reviews light and sound cues with junior JACK EICHENLAUB and se-niors JONATHAN SPALTEN and DEAN PAPASTRAT.

Backstage, parents DIANE DUVALL, GIDGETTE RUBIN and ALISON SAMPLE oversee student, parent and faculty volunteers in a crowded dressing room. Wigs of varying colors and styles hang on the wall, and several actors sit on high stools in front of a mirror and hot lights, waiting for their wigs or mustaches or makeup. Down the hall, parents JOANNA HURLEY, RETA PEERY and TONI MORRISON attend to last-minute costume adjustments.

During “show week,” the Fine Arts Center’s chorus classroom doubles as a green room, and parent ANNA DANCU restocks fresh fruit, pret-zels, and pizza while cast members complete homework assignments or trill vocal warm-ups by the piano.

Soon, student violinists WHIT FITZGERALD, THOMAS HOOVER and TRACY KNIGHT arrive with the rest of the musicians, and director GEORGE MENGERT pulls aside an actor in the hallway to discuss his delivery of a pivotal line.

Then, at 7 p.m., conductor and musical director SUSAN WALLACE descends into the orchestra pit, the house lights go down and senior COOPER PEERY, portraying the narrator, utters that perfect opening line: “Once upon a time.”

MAKINGA MUSICAL


MAKING A MUSICAL

A MUSICAL The evil stepsisters, Florinda (LINDSEY

SAMPLE) and Lucinda (LIBBY SAMS), during

a dress rehearsal

Photo by NEIL BAINTON

38

MAKING A MUSICAL

That moment—when all is dark and actors scurry to their places on the empty stage—is the culmination of months of work by stu-dents, faculty and parents. It began in the spring of 2014, when members of the Pace performing arts community gathered for their annual end-of-the-year banquet and Mengert announced Into the Woods as the school’s 43rd fall musical.

The Tony Award-winning show, with a book by James Lapine and music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, tells the dark side of several classic fairytales. Jack, Cinderella, Rapunzel, Little Red Riding Hood, and others journey into the woods and discover that life may not, in fact, include a happily ever after.

Challenging melodies and often tongue-twisting lyrics characterize the production, so over the summer, students prepared audition songs and monologues that would showcase their ability to tackle the tough material. Then, in August, the aspiring actors attempted to wow Mengert and Wallace and win coveted spots on the cast list—the Witch, the Wolf, the Baker and his Wife.

Students cast in the show would spend the next three months learning lines, music and blocking, or movements on stage. Rehearsals typically run from 6 to 9 p.m. throughout the week and for several hours on Sunday after-noons—a major time commitment for students with already hectic schedules, but most will tell you that they wouldn’t have it any other way.

After completing the casting puzzle for any given production, Mengert invites parents to a “Meet the Directors” night, and production coordinator STEPHANIE HUSK takes over.

By day, Husk runs Deep Blue Insight, a boutique market-research firm, but by night (and weekend!), she’s all about whatever pro-duction happens to be gracing the Pace stage. Husk, a longtime Pace parent, has volunteered with Pace theatre for six years and has served as production coordinator for an astounding 18 shows.

“During the fall musical, we have 13 [vol-unteer] committees, ranging from simple duties like ushering to more involved tasks like props,

ANNIE BUTLERAlison Sample, Gidgette Rubin and Diane DuvallCARSON MEYERS

REBECCA HUSK and LEXI RUBIN

Rebecca Husk CAILLIN COOKE

“My favorite duty as ticket chair is the time I spend before the curtain goes up affixing reserved seating signs for the winter and spring shows. The energy present in the Fine Arts Center at that time is in-describably cool as the very talented actors warm up, go through mic checks, tinker with scenes with Dr. Mengert and otherwise prepare themselves for the show.”

Pace parent DOUG NAIL, Ticket Chair

costumes and tickets,” she says. “The job of production coordinator starts before auditions and ends a couple weeks after the show, once we’ve reconciled all of the receipts.”

Husk recruits committee chairs and ensures that committees are filled, oversees logistics and makes sure every aspect of the produc-tion runs smoothly. She also coordinates with Mengert on any special needs that might arise—and there are often many.

“Finding committee chairs is a blend of art and luck,” Husk says, but she’s fortunate that parent volunteers often bring incredible pro-fessional expertise to their positions.

“Think about how wonderful it is to have DOUG NAIL, senior partner in a law firm, oversee ticket sales; [Peery], general counsel for a television station, and [Hurley], owner of an eldercare law firm, in charge of costumes; [Rubin], senior vice president for a medical equipment company, and [Duvall], a dermatol-ogist, in charge of makeup; [Downey], partner at a construction and design firm, helping with sets… the list goes on and on,” Husk says. “These are tremendously successful people who are 110-percent committed to making the

show a success. And that makes my job easy.”With committees in place, the hands-on

work begins. “We typically give [Sargent] a couple of days to finalize his set design, and then we meet with him to plan workdays,” says Downey, who served as Into the Woods set chair with Cooke.

Workdays take place on Saturdays through-out the fall and, as performances approach, often stretch into weekday evenings de-pending on the need. Students in Sargent’s stagecraft classes assist in building sets during class periods, and parent volunteers like set stalwarts JOHN SADLO and DANA RAY do the rest. Tasks range from painting and wood-working to welding and complicated electric work; “I mean, how often does a high school production have a remote-controlled crocodile like the one [Pace parent] HOBIE DUVALL built for [the 2013 fall musical] Peter Pan?” Downey asks.

While Downey and Cooke coordinate vol-unteers and contribute significant manpower, Sargent, a graduate of Georgia Tech’s Col-lege of Architecture, is the man behind the magic. For nearly two decades, his sets have

MAKING A MUSICAL

39

PETER HURLEY PAYTON GANNON

Lexi RubinCooper Peery MITCHELL ZWECKER

Scott Sargent's workshop

WILLIE LIEBERMAN COLE MCCORKLE

“I really like theatre, but due to my athletic schedule—and stage fright!—I’ve never actually been in a pro-duction. Some of my best friends and some of the best people I’ve ever met participate in shows, and I love being able to do something with them when I might not be able to otherwise.”

senior NORA HARLIN, Props Manager

40 KnightTimes | Winter 2015

MAKING A MUSICAL

The stage on Oct. 31, 2014

animated Pace musicals and plays, elevating the technical quality with each production.

“I saw [Sargent’s] design skills come to life while watching my wife, JILLIAN [COOKE], spend days up on a lift faux-finishing Rapunzel’s tower, transforming a chicken-wire-and-paper structure into a stone tower built on top of boulders,” says Cooke, who estimates that he’s worked on 16 sets in seven years.

Sargent’s imagination extends into the realm of props as well. “[He] has a vast collection, and he makes many of the hard-to-find items, such as the horse he built for Into the Woods,” says Sally Nail, who works with a props committee to find the less ob-scure objects.

To prepare for her job, Nail, who has served as props coordinator for eight produc-tions, first reads the script and makes notes. She then meets with Mengert and Sargent to finalize a list of necessary items, which often changes throughout the rehearsal process. She frequently attends evening rehearsals, and works with her committee to borrow, make or shop for props.

As all of the elements come together on stage, parent NANCY GIBSON gathers bio-graphical information from the cast, crew, and musicians and begins assembling the 40-page playbill. She works with Upper School visual arts instructor DONICE BLOODWORTH (who frequently lends his painting skills to dramatic backdrops) to design the play-bill cover and with graphic designer RYAN VIHLEN to create the interior layout.

Parent WARREN SAMS and Duvall, who has lent her photography skills to 18 Middle and Upper School productions, contribute photos for the piece, and it all goes to print at least a week prior to opening night. At the

same time, Doug Nail, an eight-show veteran volunteer, launches online ticket sales, the culmination of a planning process that starts in mid August. He collaborates with the Pace Arts Alliance and the Office of Communica-tions to spread the word about the show and ensure that the Fine Arts Center’s 600 seats are filled for all four performances.

As opening night approaches, attention turns to the finishing touches that make a pro-duction come to life. Actors join forces with the light, sound and stage crews, most of them students, for a weekend of full-day technical rehearsals, and the hair-and-makeup team takes over the dressing room.

Transforming a cast of more than 30 actors into witches, wolves, little pigs and other fai-rytale creatures is no small task. “We spent two hours with a professional makeup artist to learn the tricks and techniques, and then we were on our own,” Duvall says. “We ar-rived two-and-a-half hours prior to the start of every dress rehearsal and show, worked backstage throughout the performance and helped actors remove wigs, masks and mus-taches after the show… pretty much six or seven hours every day for more than a week.”

Between staffing the concession stand, working at will call, distributing programs prior to performances, costuming, cooking and candlestick making, Pace theatre parents do it all. “Without the talents of our wonderful behind-the-scenes volunteers, our students’ performances could not shine in the spectacu-lar fashion they do,” Mengert says.

But the actors aren’t the only ones who benefit from their parents’ time spent back-stage or during rehearsals; the parents say they love it, too.

“In theatre, we’re all truly part of a team that must come together for the show to succeed,” Husk says. And gelling as a team re-quires getting to know one’s teammates.

“My family was new to Pace when my son, [senior SAM NAIL], started high school, and we wanted to meet people and stay involved,” Sally Nail says. “Volunteering behind the scenes seemed like a good place to start. We were warmly welcomed by everyone and have made some very good friends over the years. This may sound cliché, but the people make Pace theatre.”

Nail’s fellow volunteers feel the same way. Not only do parents become friends as a result of their shared efforts, but they come to know and love their children’s friends as well.

“As production coordinator, I’m the ‘door guard’ during auditions, so I get to help wipe tears when auditions don’t go well, give pep talks to calm pre-audition nerves and cel-ebrate when the cast list is announced,” Husk says. “Most times, I’m there opening night in the green room for the warm-up ‘hokie pokie,’ [a Pace theatre tradition], and then feel like a proud momma for every one of the kids after the show. I’ve cherished every moment.”

Duvall agrees. “I love these kids so much it’s utterly ridiculous,” she says. “They are amaz-ing. They’re smart, funny, talented, kind and just plain fun to be around. It’s awesome to see the cast work together as a team—and the-atre absolutely is a team sport. Being in the makeup room, listening to the kids and get-ting to know them is a gift. When my son, [junior RYAN DUVALL], graduates and I’m no longer involved with Pace theatre, there will be a rather large void in my life.” •

“From the very first production I saw, I have been astounded by the quality of Pace theatre. It’s extremely rewarding to be a part of that.”

Pace parent DAN DOWNEY (pictured above, left)

“Sometimes it seems like we almost overuse the phrase ‘Pace family,’ but there really is no other way to describe the theatre group… I have made lifelong friends through the set-building process. Parents of graduates like TOM BARHAM still come help with the set, and theatre alumni like RANDY MARCRUM ’80 show up to paint the stage. It’s been such an incredible opportunity to get to know so many students and watch their talents grow on stage. I’m so proud of what they accomplish.”

Pace parent JOHN COOKE (pictured below, right)


“My favorite Pace theatre memory was watching the father of a student who was new to theatre standing in the back of the Fine Arts Center with tears running down his face. He had just seen his son perform his first solo and knew that that moment changed his son’s life forever. The boy, who had been shy, was now transformed and confident. He had found a magic quality. That’s what Dr. Mengert and Pace theatre do—they help our children find magic they didn’t know they had.”

Pace parent STEPHANIE HUSK, Production Coordinator

Sam Nail

COOPER DROSE and TORY DANCU

Assistant Technical Director BRET BRAMMER

JEB CARTER and JORDAN SHOULBERG

Sams and Sample

Cole McCorkle and MARYELLEN MALONE

Doug Nail

Jillian Cooke

JOHN NESBITT ’85 (above) success-fully solo climbed Argentina’s Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the Western and Southern Hemispheres at nearly 23,000 feet. John reached the mountain’s peak on Dec. 7. After descending on the wrong side of the mountain, he summited again on Dec. 8. John hopes to climb the Seven Summits, the highest mountains on each of the seven continents. Aconcagua is the second he’s checked off his list.

Attorney by day, singer/songwriter by night, ALAINA BEACH ’00 has released her first album, Walls. “The music is a satisfying synthesis of country, pop and folk influ-ences,” Greenville Journal reporter Vincent Harris wrote in a review. “The songs… are so richly melodic and well-constructed that the piercingly intimate lyrics might not resonate on the first listen.” Learn more about Walls and Alaina’s music at www.alainabeach.com.

In November, the Atlanta Decorative Arts Center featured the work of artist MAGGIE MATHEWS ’05 as part of Diversity Earth, a unique eight-day exhibit featuring a diverse group of Georgia artists and benefitting the Chastain Park Athletic Club.

Maggie received a Bachelor of Fine Art with a concentration in painting from Auburn Uni-versity and now creates abstract paintings that focus on shape, color and light with influences found in nature. View Maggie’s work at www.maggiemathewsart.com.

DEAN ELIAS ’09 was featured on the pilot episode of Red Band Society, a televi-

sion show on FOX about a group of teenagers living in a hospital. The show is set in Cali-fornia but filmed in Atlanta.

The University of Alabama recently fea-tured senior HALLIE CROSS ’11 on the Find Your Passion feature section of its website home page. Hallie, an advertising major, spent the summer of 2014 as an intern for Unruly Media, a global social video marketing com-pany in Paris. The internship required that Hallie manage campaigns, secure clients and complete campaign placements—in both Eng-lish and French.

Hallie credits Pace faculty members DA-VID MATANES and NANCY ROBINSON and former faculty member ANNEMARIE BATAC for helping develop her passion for French. “I am so grateful for everything I learned at Pace,” she says, “and I want to thank all of those who helped me achieve my goal of working in Paris!”

In October, the George Washington Uni-versity Hatchet profiled Sigma Chi President ERIC ESTROFF ’12 and his chapter’s work raising funds for the Huntsman Cancer In-stitute. Through its Derby Days philanthropy, which included pledge drives, corporate spon-sorship and an auction, Sigma Chi collected $84,000—the largest amount ever raised by

one of George Washington University’s Greek organizations.

HAYLEY KAHN ’12, a junior at Vander-bilt University, was recently elected president of Kappa Kappa Gamma sorority. Hayley is a Vanderbilt tour guide, serves as an admis-sions assistant in the Vanderbilt Office of Undergraduate Admissions, and works as a research assistant for the Canine and Child-hood Cancer Study in the Monroe Carell Jr. Children’s Hospital at Vanderbilt.

Amherst College junior guard HALEY ZWECKER ’12 and the Lord Jeffs basket-ball team recently set a new NCAA record for consecutive home wins. The Division III team’s 100 victories broke the record of 99, previously set by the University of Connecti-cut, a Division I university.

GWYNNIE LAMASTRA ’14, a freshman at Johns Hopkins University, is already set-ting records for the Blue Jays swim team. At the three-day TPSC Invitational in December, Gwynnie broke her own school record in the 100-meter breaststroke with a time of 1:03:82 to become the first JHU swimmer to go sub 1:04 in the event. She added another record in the 200-meter breaststroke, finishing with a time of 2:18:73.


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1) Estroff; 2) LaMastra; 3) Kahn; 4) Cross; 5) Matthews; 6) The Amherst College

womens basketball team. Zwecker is No. 24.

http://www.alainabeach.com

http://www.maggiemathewsart.com

http://www.maggiemathewsart.com

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1) Jordan Weitzner and Stacey Cohen Weitzner '01 holding Ivy Adair Weitzner; 2) Bennett Daniel Shapiro; 3) Isla and Fiona Emery holding their new sister, Lydia Mary; 4) Amanda Rogers Inman '00, Eliza, Walker and Harrison Walker Inman; 5) Brody Long; 6) The Weinstein twins; 7) Kate and Andrew Hoffman '01 holding Madeline Marie; 8) Sarah and Will Frampton '99 with daughter Rebecca

"Becca" Elizabeth; 9) Hilton Burke Kort

BIRTHSMARTY LONG ’97 and his wife, Fran,

welcomed son Brody on April 25, 2014, at At-lanta’s Piedmont Hospital. Brody was 7 pounds. Marty is a broker for Riverside Realty.

WILL FRAMPTON ’99 and his wife, Sarah, welcomed Rebecca “Becca” Elizabeth on Oct. 21, 2014. Sarah is a huge San Francisco Giants fan, and Game 1 of the 2014 World Series was on in the delivery room when Rebecca arrived. The connection was made even more special by the fact that Will proposed to Sarah behind home plate at the Giants’ stadium—and the team went on to win the World Series. Will says he hopes that Becca will love the Atlanta Braves as well.

AMANDA ROGERS INMAN ’00 and her husband, Walker, had a son, Harrison Walker, on June 2, 2014. He weighed 6 pounds, 14 ounces and joins big sister Eliza. The family moved back to Atlanta from Boston in Febru-ary of 2014, and since returning, has enjoyed warm weather and the company of family and friends.

Hilton Burke was born to Jackie and JONATHAN KORT ’00 on July 29, 2014, at Stanford University Hospital. Hilton weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and is named in memory of his late grandfather, former Pace Academy Board of Trustees Chairman HILTON KORT. Hilton is also Jackie’s maiden name.

The family lives in Menlo Park, Ca., where Jonathan is in the midst of a fellowship in reproductive endocrinology and infertility at Stanford. Jackie is an attorney with the law firm of Cooley LLP.

MELISSA OXMAN SHAPIRO ’00 and her husband, Ari, had a son, Bennett Daniel, on Sept. 8, 2014. Melissa and Ari moved to Atlanta from Washington, D.C., in 2011 and live in the Brookhaven area. Melissa works for Deloitte as a senior consultant for the Centers for Disease Control. Ari is an attorney at Magill Atkin-son Dermer LLP, a small law firm in Midtown Atlanta. Melissa’s parents, DARCY and JOE OXMAN ’74, are very proud grandparents.

KRISTEN MILAM WEINSTEIN ’00 and her husband, Josh, welcomed twin girls, Kin-sley Taylor and Blakeley Ryan, on Oct. 18, 2014. Kristen is a commercial real estate lender at CharterBank. The family lives in At-

lanta’s Morningside neighborhood. “We love to travel as much as possible, but those days seem to have come to an end for a while with the babies!” Kristen says.

Madeline Marie was born to Kate and ANDREW HOFFMAN ’01 on Nov. 6, 2014, at UC San Francisco Medical Center. Mad-eline weighed 7 pounds, 3 ounces and was 19 inches long. “She already has me quite firmly wrapped around her cute little fin-gers!” Andrew writes.

Andrew attended Dartmouth College, where he met Kate, and worked in consult-ing in Boston, Mass., for several years. He has lived in San Francisco, Ca., and worked in clean energy for the past seven years, and is currently pursuing an MBA at UC Berke-ley in the evenings. “School, family and work make for a busy trifecta, but I’m en-joying it so far,” he says.

STACEY COHEN WEITZNER ’01 and her husband, Jordan, welcomed Ivy Adair on Nov. 3, 2014. She weighed 7 pounds, 1 ounce. Stacey is a dentist in Atlanta’s East Cobb area, and Jordan is completing his fellow-ship training in pediatric gastroenterology at Emory University. The family happily moved back to Atlanta in July 2014.

ELLEN MCCAULEY EMERY ’02 and her husband, Patrick, welcomed their third daugh-ter, Lydia Mary, on Aug. 8, 2014. Isla, 5, and Fiona, 3, love being big sisters. Ellen stays at home with the girls, and Patrick works as an attorney at Reed Smith LLP in Pittsburgh, Pa.

MARRIAGES DAVID HANSON ’96 married Christine

Schwager Hanson on Sept. 6, 2014, at Lake Crescent in Washington State’s Olympic National Park. Pace alumni in attendance in-cluded JIM COMBS ’96, SCOTT SHAPIRO ’96, TED TERRY ’96, BRANNON COOK ’96, RYAN BERK ’96 and MICHAEL HANSON ’99.

SARAH BRITTINGHAM ’00 and Scott Muir were married Oct. 25, 2014, in Black Mountain, N.C. Among the bridesmaids were KAREN MARGOLIS KAYE ’00, WHITNEY WHITE ’00 and CATHERINE WOODLING ’00. Sarah recently graduated from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill


with a Master of Public Health and is cur-rently collaborating on a research study with North Carolina’s migrant farmworker popu-lation. Scott, the brother of GINNY MUIR JOHNSON ’98 and TRAVIS MUIR ’01, is a doctoral student in the American religion program at Duke University.

Nele and CRAWFORD CRAIGE ’00 were married Oct. 4, 2014, in Black Mountain, N.C. BARCLAY MACON ’00, DAVID LEWIS ’00, BRITT JACKSON GRIFFIN ’00, ANDREW GRIFFIN ’99, DAVIS INMAN ’00, ROB BIRDSONG ’00, STEPHANIE CROCKER MITTELSTAEDT ’00, KIRK MCALPIN ’00, AMANDA ROGERS INMAN ’00, JONA-THAN KORT ’00 and TEMPLE MOORE ’00 attended the festivities. Crawford and Nele live in Asheville, N.C., with their dog, Oskar. Nele is a teacher at a nearby public el-ementary school, and Crawford works in real estate development.

KATIE STAHL ’01 married Aaron Smith in Hunt, Texas, on Oct. 25, 2014. BETH HUD-DLESTON ’01 was a bridesmaid, and Katie’s brother, SAM STAHL ’99, officiated. Aaron and Katie live in Austin, Texas, where Aaron is an electrical engineer, and Katie works as an art teacher and painter. Check out her work at www.houndoggle.com.

ASA FLYNN ’03 married Kelly Gannon Flynn on Oct. 18, 2014, at the Trolley Barn in Atlanta’s Inman Park neighborhood. BROOKS FICKE ’03, CAM SIMONDS ’03, JULIAN-NA RUE CAGLE ’03, BLYTHE O’BRIEN HOGAN ’03, WILLIAM WATTERS ’03, JON GLASS ’03, PETE GOODRICH ’03, WIL-LIAM FLYNN ’99, ERIN MAZURSKY ’03 and CLAIRE GRAVES ’03 attended.

Kelly and Asa recently moved back to Atlanta from Washington, D.C. Kelly is pur-suing a Ph.D. in history at Emory University, and Asa works in private equity.

BRAD HUNTER ’03 married Jennifer Beek Hunter on Oct. 25, 2014, at the Colony Club in New York City. ZACHARY GREEN-BERG ’03 attended the wedding. Jennifer is an interior designer and the owner and cofounder of J+G Design. Brad is in online advertising sales and works as an account executive at Google.

DANA COHEN NOLAN ’04 mar-ried Jeff Nolan on April 26, 2014, in Hilton Head Island, S.C. The bridal party included STACEY COHEN WEITZNER ’01, JULIA WERTHEIM SCHNABEL ’04, CARO-LINE FAULKNER SHIRLEY ’04, SARAH BAXLEY ’04 and STEWART BARBOUR ’04. EVANS RAINER ’04, STEVE SHIRLEY ’03, BRIAN PFOHL ’04, MOLLY LEVEN-SON EISENBERG ’04, LAUREN MACKAY JOHNSON ’04, SARAH WILSON GREEN-FIELD ’04, ANDREW ALEXANDER ’04 and BRAD UDOFF ’04 attended.

Dana graduated from Emory Law and is now a medical malpractice defense attor-ney at Hall Booth Smith, P.C. in Atlanta. Jeff graduated from Wharton Business School and is now a private equity investor with Formation Capital in Atlanta.

LIA MORAITAKIS HOOFF ’05 married Easley Hooff Oct. 25, 2014. MARIA MO-RAITAKIS ’13 was the maid of honor, and MAGGIE MATHEWS ’05 and CHRISTINA MORRISON ’05 served as bridesmaids.

Pace alumni in attendance were ANDREW GARCIA ’05, FRANK WOODLING ’05,

1) Aaron Smith, Katie Stahl '01 and Sam Stahl '99; 2) Asa Flynn '03 and bride Kelly Gannon Flynn with Pace alumni and their significant others; 3) Nele and Crawford Craige; 4) Easley Hooff and Lia Moraitakis Hooff '05; 5) Jennifer and Brad Hunter '03

THOMAS SHINGLER ’05, HENRY MCAL-PIN ’05, HANK WYCHE ’05, CASEY SHUSTER ’05, KIEFER PIRRUNG ’05, PAT-RICK DEVEAU ’05, BEN LOWENTHAL ’05, ALINE ANSPACH ’05, JODI SHEFFIELD ’05, VANESSA PETROSKY ’05, BRECK ROCHOW ’05, MCKENZIE LEONARD BLANCHARD ’05, SARAH BRAY ’08, ELLIE WEBER ’13, SARA MULLALY ’13, MADI-SON SNYDER ’13, JOEY CAPELOUTO ’13, CAROLINE SMITH ’13, ALEX PARÉ ’13 and DAVID WEINER ’13.

Lia works for Jerry Pair Leather and owns and operates her own jewelry business, Co-pella Designs. Easley recently earned his JDMBA from the University of Georgia and works for Multi Housing Advisors, a real estate brokerage firm in Atlanta. The couple lives in Atlanta’s Brookhaven neighborhood.

KATHERINE RANKIN MADDUX ’06 married Andrew “Andy” Taliaferro Maddux of Waterford, Va., on Sept. 20, 2014. Former Pace faculty member NANCY PERRY is Andy’s maternal step-grandmother and had Katherine and two members of the wedding party in her third-grade class!

Pace alumni in attendance were KELSEY JONES PRATT ’06, PERRYMAN ELLISON ’05, CARSON TURNER ’06, PEARSON WEEMS ’05, ANDREW ALEXANDER ’04, EMILY ALEXANDER ’06, matron of honor EMILY EVENSON HANLEY ’06, MATT CHOYCE ’05, Andy, Katherine, Nancy, groomsman HARRISON KAUFMAN ’06, maid of honor ALLISON KESSLER ’06, MAGGIE REYNOLDS ’06 and bridesmaid LAUREN GRIFFITH KAIL ’06.

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http://www.houndoggle.com

Randolph is survived by his wife of 63 years, former Pace parent and grandparent CHARLOTTE EDMONDSON GOULD-ING; son Frank Ross Goulding and his wife, Sandra Moore Goulding; and daughter ANNE RANDOLPH GOULDING ’84 and her husband, Kelly Bandlow. His grandson, JOHN RANDOLPH GOULDING ’11, is a Midshipman, First Class at the United States Naval Academy. Randolph was predeceased in 2005 by his daughter, Julianna Goulding.

EVAN THOMAS MATHIS JR., who served as chairman of the Pace Academy Board of Trustees in the early 1970s, passed away on Dec. 20, 2014, in Atlanta. Evan began his career as a pilot in the U.S. Navy and went on to become president of Atlanta’s Marble Products Co. and of Concrete Products Co. in St. Simons Island, Ga. He later worked as a self-employed commercial real estate broker.

Evan was involved in many business and social organizations and served on the Board of Directors of Citizens Bank of Americus and C&S National Bank. He loved woodworking, flying airplanes, playing the harmonica and spending time with his family.

“He was a truly knowledgeable, entertain-ing and jolly man, a loving husband, father, grandfather, great-grandfather and friend,” his family wrote. “He will be dearly missed by all who knew him.”

Evan is survived by his wife of 64 years, former Pace parent LOIS MCMATH MATHIS; daughter Lane Mathis Arnold and her husband, Robert; daughter NELL MATHIS BLACK ’74 and her husband, Ralph; daughter and former Pace student CAROL MATHIS CARTUS and her husband, Bill; six grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.


IN MEMORIAMFormer Pace faculty member JANE PARK-

MAN MURPHY BOWLES passed away on Nov. 13, 2014. A graduate of Florida State University, Jane began her teaching career at Andrew College in Cuthbert, Ga. She returned to Andrew 27 years later for her final teaching position. The interim years provided teach-ing opportunities at Pace, Dykes High School and Truett-McConnell College. She earned her Master of Music from Georgia State University and served in several capacities with the Geor-gia Music Educator Association.

In her professional career, Jane was a member of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra Chamber Chorus under Robert Shaw, a solo-ist with the Lubbock, Texas, Symphony and the featured soloist at eight Peach Bowls. She was always involved in church music as a so-loist and often as choir director for churches wherever her family lived.

Jane was predeceased by her husband, Jesse Groover Bowles Jr. She is survived by daughter Mary Jane Bennett, and her hus-band, Sterling; son ROBERT MURPHY JR. ’76 and his wife, Amanda; two grandchildren and six step-grandchildren.

Longtime Pace supporter ELIZABETH “BETSY” BRADY passed away on Nov. 16, 2014, following a decade-long battle with cancer. Betsy’s late husband, CHUCK BRADY, served as a member of the Pace Acad-emy Board of Trustees and chaired the capital campaign for the Fine Arts Center during his tenure. He was later named a Life Trustee.

Betsy is survived by her daughter, BETSY BRADY ORR ’78, a former member of the Pace Academy Board of Trustees, and by two

6) Christine and David Hanson '96; 7) Dana Cohen Nolan '04 and Jeff Nolan; 8) Katherine Rankin Maddux '06 and Andrew "Andy" Maddux with Pace alumni; 9) Sarah Brittingham '00 and Scott Muir

grandchildren, senior CORRINE ORR and junior KYLE ORR.

The Pace Head of School’s office is named in honor of Chuck Brady, and Betsy returned to campus in the fall of 2014 to visit the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School, where she and her family fittingly named the Head of Upper School’s office.

“I cannot convey her excitement [upon touring the new building],” says Head of School FRED ASSAF. “She was giddy over what Pace had become in her life—truly grateful to the Pace faculty and staff for their leadership.”

In addition to her involvement at Pace, Betsy was an avid community volunteer and a devoted member of The Church of The Apostles. Her lifelong interests included art, travel, reading, ancient history and archaeol-ogy and politics.

Pace Academy Life Trustee RANDOLPH GOULDING passed away Oct. 29, 2014, fol-lowing a battle with pancreatic cancer.

Randolph was a quiet and unassuming leader in every aspect of his life. He was a pilot in World War II, an honored engineer, a civic leader, a Georgia Tech enthusiast, and a devoted husband and father.

Randolph worked for 65 years as a con-sulting engineer and founding partner in the firm Jordan, Jones, and Goulding, Inc. He was active in the leadership of the American Water Works Association and in the Atlanta World War II Round Table. He supported the Georgia Tech Alumni Association, Athletic Associa-tion and Presidential Scholarship committee. In addition to his service to the Pace Board of Trustees, Randolph served on the board of Canterbury Court, a retirement community.

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SEND YOUR NEWS AND PHOTOS to [email protected].

This past fall, MCKINSEY BOND ’06, EMILY HISHTA COHEN ’06, JOEL COHEN ’06, ZACK EZOR ’06, LARA GOODRICH EZOR ’06, BRANDON GRANT ’06, LOUIS MITTEL ’06, LINDA OYESIKU ’06 and CLAIRE ROCK ’06 spent a weekend in New York City catching up and reminiscing about their Pace days.

In November 2014, Upper School Dean of Students MATT HALL visited Amherst College, his alma mater, for the school’s reunion weekend. There, he and his wife, Associate Director of Lower School Admissions KELSEY HALL, watched WILL BREW-STER ’11 and the Amherst football team take their fifth NESCAC Championship.

The game versus Williams College wrapped up an undefeated season for the Jeffs. Brewster, a punter/kicker, is part of one of the all-time winningest classes in Amherst program history. The class concludes its college athletic experience with an overall record of 29–3 and three NESCAC championships.

In December, Pace alumni celebrated the holiday season at the home of JARED PAUL ’90 and KELLEY HARRIS ’00 in Atlanta’s East Lake neighborhood. Pictured are (front row, left to right) KATHERINE COLBATH BISHOP ’00, former Pace staff member SALLY WESTERLUND, CAITLIN GOODRICH JONES ’00, Jared, CHRIS-TINE DONATO HARLOW ’90, SINGER WESTERLUND HUGHES ’94, (center row, left to right) ANNE CORBITT ’00, CATHERINE WOODLING ’00, BROOKE BEADLE ANDERSON ’00, ALAINA BEACH ’00, Kelley (back row, left to right), JOE CAIN ’98, LACY WESTERLUND ’98 and REID HARRIS ’98.

Wake Forest University alumna and fifth-grade teacher REBECCA RHODES enjoyed a chance encounter with Wake freshman EVELYN HOBBS ’14 during a visit to the school in November. Rebecca was Evelyn’s fifth-grade teacher.

In November, painter JILL STEENHUIS RUFFATO ’78 returned to the Pace campus to lead a two-day painting workshop in the new Middle School art classrooms. KIM RIPLEY O’BRIEN ’78 and SHERRY WINDSOR KNOCHEL ’76 participated in the class.

“The gardens provided lots of inspiration for our talented group of artists,” Kim says. “Jill manages to bring out the best in all of us with her infectious joy of putting brush to canvas.”

Pace alumni and friends reunited in Athens, Ga., in November to cheer on the University of Georgia Bulldogs against the Auburn University Tigers. Pictured left to right are HAYNES ROBERTS ’96, EDDIE GARLAND ’89, MEGAN ROBERTS, BRIAN LEAL ’96, STEVE MICKLE ’96, Michael Odom, JOHN GARLAND ’96 and TEDDY TERRY ’96.

In October, KATY KEEBLE SUDLOW ’94, MARTHA WEDGE MATTHEWS ’94 and SLOANE WYATT ALFORD ’94 got together to watch the Pace Knights NYO foot-ball become regular-season champions. Sloane’s son, Wyatt, plays on the team, and many members of the Pace varsity football team turned out to support the Knights.

KATE THOMSON ’13 and MEREDITH BRADSHAW ’13, both students at Vander-bilt University, continued Pace’s philanthropic tradition by raising money during Chi Omega sorority’s Make-A-Wish Foundation fundraiser this fall.

In December, JASE WRIGLEY ’94, founder of Vault Stem Cell, visited Pace as part of the Upper School science department’s Lunch n Learn series. Vault Stem Cell is a concierge stem cell collection and storage service that offers individual and family clients the chance to save their healthy stem cells for potential use in future medical treatments.

LINDA OYESIKU ’06 returned to Pace to share with Upper School students her experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer. Linda has a bachelor’s degree in an-thropology and a master's in public health. She served with the Peace Corps in Mozambique and plans to attend medical school. Linda’s visit was part of the Upper School science department’s Lunch n Learn series.

ALUMNI

Alumni Out And About


Welcome to the Alumni Board TREY POPE ’89

TREY POPE ’89 takes great pride in being a Pace alumnus. As the southeastern sales manager for McCullough and Associates, Pope often refers to lessons he learned while in school. From GEORGE MENGERT’S English class to HELEN SMITH’S history lessons, Pope credits his success in life to his Pace teachers.

“Knowing that I graduated from one of the most well-respected high schools in the south is a privilege, and students need to remember not to take that for granted,” he says.

One of the best parts about attending a small school like Pace, Pope explains, is developing close, lifelong relationships with classmates. “Most of my closest friends either graduated from Pace with me or are Pace parents whom my wife, MELANIE, and I met through our chil-dren, [sixth-grader MARY PAIGE and fifth-grader MAGGIE].”

His biggest advice to current Pace students is to branch out and try new things. As a new member of the Alumni Association Board, Pope hopes to encourage Pace alumni to be more involved financially: “The amount of the donation does not matter, but we would like to greatly increase the percentage of alumni donors,” he says.

BETH ALLGOOD BLALOCK ’96When BETH ALLGOOD BLALOCK ’96 reflects on her time at

Pace, she likes to reminisce about participating in Spirit Week and Great American Picnic and spending time in the Senior Cellar. These precious high-school memories are what drew Blalock back to Pace and inspired her to join the Alumni Association Board.

Blalock is the Brownfield Program Manager at the Georgia Environ-mental Protection Division, and credits her love of reading and writing to MARSHA DURLIN’S English class.

“Pace provides opportunities for all students to find out what they like to do—from athletics to service to drama to debate—and shapes who they want to become,” she says. “Pace has a lot to offer, and its small environment provides outlets to every student.”

Blalock and her husband, Tully, have two young children, Tully and Virginia, whom they hope will one day become Pace Knights.

ANDREW TEEGARDEN ’99ANDREW TEEGARDEN ’99 can’t believe how much he still likes

to talk about Pace, 15 years after graduating. “I felt very prepared for life after high school due to my Pace ex-

perience, and I am proud that Pace continues to augment the student experience while remaining a small community,” he says.

Like many alumni, Teegarden’s fondest Pace memory is the excite-ment of Spirit Week. “From hanging banners over W. Paces Ferry Road at 2 a.m. before the pep rally to the Spirit Week basketball games,” Teegarden says he enjoyed every minute of the special week.

Today, Teegarden is a senior vice president with the Atlanta office of Aon Risk Solutions. He wants to thank his favorite teacher MIKE GANNON for “motivating those of us who weren’t necessarily contend-ing for valedictorian.” He also encourages current Pace students “to stay

involved, and if none of the existing options interest you, then create your own.”

In joining the Alumni Association Board, Teegarden is taking his own advice and re-maining involved with his alma mater. “I am very thankful for my time at Pace and want to help others re-engage in the Pace community,” he says.

Teegarden and his wife, Kimbrell, have two young children, Jane and Drew.

FRANK WOODLING ’05FRANK WOODLING ’05 considered

Pace his second home while growing up. His mother, EDITH WOODLING, former Pace English teacher and director of the service learning program, encouraged Woodling’s love for Pace at a very early age.

When asked to name his favorite Pace teacher, Woodling struggles to pick: “So many teachers had positive impacts on my life, so really every teacher was my favor-ite teacher,” he says.

Woodling takes great pride in being a Pace alumnus: “I am most proud of Pace for its diversity and freedom of thought, culture and personality,” he says. “I wouldn’t say that Pace shaped my view of the world, instead, I would say that its teachers gave me the tools and courage to explore and discover the world for myself, and that is an invaluable gift.”

Now a sales manager for an internation-al wood products manufacturer, Woodling wishes he could go back in time and relive his sixth-grade moment of fame when he played a pickpocket in Pace’s production of Oliver! He wants to remind current stu-dents to “get involved in a large variety of activities as quickly as possible. There are so many cool things you can do at Pace, and many are once-in-a-lifetime opportu-nities. Take advantage of your time there and have fun!”

Woodling hopes to assist other students in discovering the world around them by encouraging higher Pace alumni participa-tion through donations to The Alumni Fund.


Pace Academy is pleased to announce the appointment of four graduates to the Alumni Association Board.

by ROBIN LALONE ’12

ALUMNI

The Pope Family

The Blalock Family

Frank Woodling with girlfriend Lauren Shantha

The Teegarden Family


ALUMNI VOLUNTEER AT THE FALL FAIRThe Fall Fair is one of Pace Academy’s most time-honored traditions, and each year, alumni volunteers help make it possible. This year, HARRISON KAUFMAN ’06, KATHERINE RANKIN MADDUX ’06, FRANK WOODLING ’05, ANDREW ALEXANDER ’04, EVANS RAINER ’04, AUSTIN MCDONALD ’97, JULIE NEWMAN ’96, ELIZABETH DANGAR CLEVELAND ’92, MELISSA COHEN FAVERO ’91 and TREY POPE ’86 staffed the alumni booth, supervising young gladiators throughout the day.

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joined us yet?

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SAVE THE DATE for the second annual Alumni Knight Cap!

Benefitting The Pace Alumni Fund’s dedicated cause:

need-based financial aid. The evening will include a bourbon tasting and scrumptious food

from Avenue Catering Concepts.

Friday April 24, 2015

7 p.m.–12 a.m. at Chastain Horse Park

If you are interested in contributing or want to learn more about the event,

please email: [email protected].

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Are you interested in helping coordinate your class’s upcoming reunion?

Email: [email protected]

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On Dec. 19, college-aged alumni returned to Pace to celebrate the season and reconnect with former classmates.

The annual College Alumni Holiday Lunch has traditionally taken place in Knights Hall, but was relocated this year to the Seaman Family Student Commons in the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School.

Students enjoyed lunch from Willy’s—always a favorite!—and caught up with faculty members while exploring the new Upper School.

a Holiday Tradition

mailto:[email protected]

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#ReuKNIGHT2014 Homecoming & Reunion Weekend

Pace Academy alumni and their families returned to campus for Homecoming & Re-union Weekend on Oct. 10 and 11.

The festivities began with an alumni tailgate at Walsh Field prior to the varsity football team’s game versus Greater Atlanta Christian School. Although the home team fell to the Spartans, barbecue and Pace spirit were in abundance, and alumni enjoyed checking out the Knights’ new digs.

The celebration continued Saturday morn-ing with a pumpkin-painting party on the Castle front lawn and a brunch during which alumni reunited with current and former Pace faculty members and toured the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School. Later, several reunion classes gathered for parties, while other classes chose to celebrate reunions over the Thanksgiving weekend.

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CLASS OF 1969The Class of 1969 enjoyed an intimate dinner at the Blue Ridge Grill in Buckhead. TOM RENTZ coordinated the event.

CLASS OF 1974Local Three, a Buckhead restaurant, played host to the Class of 1974’s reunion. DAVID BURRUSS and RUTH WHITLEY WILSON planned the evening, which included dinner and drinks.

CLASS OF 1984Class president BO HEINER opened his home for the Class of 1984’s 30-year reunion, and guests enjoyed food from LowCountry Barbecue. The reunion planning committee included ANGIE WADEWITZ CHESIN, MEA ALLEN FAGIOLA, Bo and KATHERINE BROWN OHLHAUSEN.

Reunion Parties CLASS OF 1989Members of the Class of 1989 celebrated their reunion at Paul’s Restaurant in Atlanta’s Peachtree Hills neighborhood. EMERY DEYO BOURNE, MARGARET BOOTH CELECIA, LANE BEEBE COURTS, FRED GLASS and CARTER INGLIS coordinated the event.

CLASS OF 1994 Margaritas and Mexican fare brought many members of the Class of 1994 out to No Más! Cantina for their reunion. The plan-ning committee included SLOANE WYATT ALFORD, JENNIFER FESTA GIORDANO, MARK JOHNSON, LINDSAY THURMAN MULLIN, MELISSA LYNCH SPINNER, KATY KEEBLE SUDLOW, CORY WEISS and MARTHE BALLANCE WOLFF.

CLASS OF 1999The patio at Del Frisco’s Grille played host to the Class of 1999’s reunion. ASHLEY MCFARLIN BUIE, ALERON KONG, JOHN LYNCH, LAURA SHAPIRO, ANNE SMITH STEPHENSON and ANDREW TEEGARDEN planned the event.

CLASS OF 2004 The Class of 2004 celebrated its 10-year reunion at Paul’s Restaurant in Atlanta’s Peachtree Hills neighborhood. ANDREW ALEXANDER, DANA COHEN NOLAN, ANDREW GUEST, RACHEL WILSON JOHN-SON, MEGAN KNOTT, VALERIE SKINNER and DAVID VOTTA hosted the event.

CLASS OF 2009 NIMAT LAWAL and MORGAN LYNDALL planned the Class of 2009’s first reunion, which took place at Fado’s Irish Pub in Buckhead.

Class of 1994

Class of 1969

Class of 1974

Class of 1989

Class of 1989

Class of 2009

Class of 2004

Class of 1999

Class of 1974

966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org

RETURN SERVICE REQUESTEDIf you have received multiple copies of this publication, please contact the Advancement Office at 404-240-9103 or [email protected] to update your address.

JOIN US AND UKNIGHT! Today’s the day to be counted! Make your gift to The Pace Fund 2015 now. Each gift from our family of parents, alumni, grandparents, faculty, staff, and friends enhances the student experience and preserves the dynamic community life that defines Pace Academy.

Those who donate $1,500 or more are considered part of the Knights of Round

Table Society and will be invited to an appreciation dinner on April 28, 2015.

pace academy knighttimes winter 2015

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