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Transcript of Ensights Winter 2015
ENSIGHTSI N S E ARC H OF T RU T H
COEDUCATION
3-D Design Technology
My Day at the Harkness
Coeducation in Sports
WINTER 2015
ENSWORTHMission Statement
In Search of Truth
The Ensworth School is a pre-first through twelfth grade, coeducational inde-pendent school. The School promotes academic excel-lence and inspires students to be intellectually curious, to use their talents to the fullest, to be people of integrity, and to be contributors to society.
Administrative Team
David Braemer Head of School
Sarah Buchanan Assoc. Head and Director of Enrollment Management
David Morgan Assoc. Head and Head of High School
Ricky Bowers Assoc. Head and Director of Athletics
Bruce Libonn Head of Lower School
Chan Gammill Head of Middle School
Darrell Wells Director of Finance and Operations
Jenny Hannon Director of Institutional Advancement
Bobby Mirzaie Director of Curriculum and Instruction
Jason Hiett Director of Technology
BOARD OF TRUSTEES 2014-2015
President Philip D. Krebs
Vice President Julie Frist
Secretary Trisha F. Elcan
Treasurer Phil Hertik
Counsel John Jacobson
E. McBride Bass*
Kathryn C. Brown
Jeffrey Buntin, Jr..
Laura F. Chadwick
Sandy Cochran
Thomas F. Cox
Bruce Crosby
Jonathan N. Dyke
Alec Estes
Amanda Farnsworth
Persephone Felder-Fentress
Trish C. Frist*
Kerry Graham
Alice I. Hooker*
H. Hill McAlister
A. Bruce Moore, Jr.
Anne W. Nesbitt
Neal Patel, M.D.
Margaret Ann Robinson*
Reed E. Trickett
Ann Harwell Wells*
Toby S. (T.J.) Wilt
Head of School David Braemer, ex officio
President Ensworth Parent Association Amy Christiansen, ex officio
President-Elect Ensworth Parent Association Shannon McGuffin, ex officio
President Ensworth Alumni Council Patrick Warfield, ex officio
*Indicates Permanent Trustee
Front Caroline Gracey and
Titus Wootson, Class of 2021,
collaborate in Science Lab.
Right The Ambassador Club
welcomes new students on
Book Signing Day at the
high school campus.
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 1
12
COMMUNITYACADEMICS
FACULTY
ATHLETICSALUMNI
ARTS
Copyrighted 2015 by Ensworth School. The Ensworth School does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, religion, gender, or ethnic /national origin in its admissions or its hiring policies. Ensworth is a member of NAIS, CASE, SACS, SAIS, and the Tennessee Association of Independent Schools. ENSIGHTS is a bi-annual publication of Ensworth’s O�ce of Institutional Advancement. EDITORIAL STAFF Mary Byrne Dailey, Jasmine Davis, Alli Hicks, Anne Stringham, Sally Taylor, Tori Thomas, Ti�any Townsend DESIGN Tori Thomas, Mary Byrne Dailey, Sally Krebs CONTRIBUTING WRITERS David Braemer, Mary Byrne Dailey, Jasmine Davis, Alli Hicks, Anne Stringham, Tori Thomas PHOTOGRAPHY Mary Byrne Dailey, Sally Krebs, John Picklesimer, Tori Thomas, Yearbook Sta�, Allen Ralph Photography, Adrienne Parker
Cascades Rolland 100 Enviro Satin 60# Text, 100# Text
28 Grandparents Days
30 Lower/Middle School Events 32 High School Events
34 Parent Association
35 Golf Tournament
12 My Day at the Harkness
13 Walk a Mile in their Shoes
13 An Owlstanding Time
14 For the Record
2 Coeducation Message from the Head of School
FEATURES
3 Why Coeducation?Faculty and parents share perspectives on co-education.
10 3-D Design TechnologyAn Interview with Mike Ireland, High School Science
Department Chair
10
36 Faculty News
37 Faculty Bookshelf
38 Faculty Focus
16 Art News
17 Artists in the Community
18 Charlotte’s Web
20 Christmas Carol
22 Coeducation in Athletics
24 High School Athletics
26 Middle School Athletics
66 Class Notes
Contents22 30
Above Mills Darst, 27 and Mateo Scala ‘27, help David Morgan build his
gingerbread house.
2 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
This past December, the National Association of Inde-pendent Schools (NAIS) held both its annual People of Color Conference for faculty and administrators, and its Student Diversity Leadership Conference. These coordi-nated conferences serve as the flagship of NAIS’s commit-ment to equity and justice in teaching and learning. For schools invested in diversity-related issues, this major event typically attracts over 2,000 adults and 1,600 students from independent schools across the country. Once again, Ensworth was represented at these confer-ences, with both students and faculty taking part in what always proves to be an intense and invigorating experience. Having attended this event on numerous occasions, including this past December, I can attest to the impact that these confer-ences can have on empow-ering students and energizing both faculty and school leaders when it comes to the work of making our schools more inclusive.
The issue of diversity in independent schools is signifi-cant and extends far beyond race, touching on many other social identifiers such as religion, socio-economic status, gender, and ethnicity, to name just a few. As we strive to truly live our Mission, the importance of the e�orts we make as a school when it comes to diversity must not be underestimated. For example, the broad range of perspec-tives that a diverse student body and faculty can bring to the classroom raises the level of discourse, thereby forcing students to consider di�erent viewpoints when developing their own position on a given issue. The result is the devel-opment of deeper, more sophisticated understandings which are critical to the pursuit of academic excellence and the fostering of intellectual curiosity, central tenets of our Mission as a school.
Given the importance of diversity at Ensworth, this issue of Ensights focuses on one of the most significant factors in our quest to create a more inclusive community: the critical role that coeducation plays in our school. Our commitment to coeducation and gender diversity has been a guiding principle of Ensworth since its inception. This commitment is intentional, as it not only enhances the quality of the academic experience, it better prepares students for the real world in which they will interact
and collaborate with others regardless of gender. Quite simply, coeducation allows u s t o more ef fec t ively educate children in a manner that builds genuine self-con-fidence and introduces each individual to a wider variety of ideas and opinions.
As a school, we understand that for both developmental
and socialized reasons, boys and girls can be very di�erent. While some might view these di�erences as problem-atic, we believe these di�erences provide a tremendous educational opportunity. The process of exploring and embracing di�erences, whether based on gender, race, religion or any other identifier, is not always easy, making our e�orts to be a diverse, inclusive community so chal-lenging. Striving to meet this challenge, however, not only enhances the educational benefits for all students, it is the right thing to do if we are to be a community that values and respects each individual. While there is always more work to be done in this area, I am proud to be part of a school community where In Search of Truth is more than a motto; it is a call to action when it comes to issues such as diversity.
David Braemer HEAD OF SCHOOL
MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL
Coeducation Coeducation
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 3
David Braemer HEAD OF SCHOOL
CoeducationWHY
“We need to give each other the space to grow,
to be ourselves, to exercise our diversity. We need to give each
other space so that we may both give and receive such beautiful
things as ideas, openness, dignity, joy, healing,
and inclusion.”
— Max de PreeAmerican Businessman & Writer
4 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
M I S S ION S TAT E M E NT
The Ensworth School is a pre-first through twelfth grade, coeducational independent school. The School promotes academic excellence and inspires students to be intellectually curious, to use their talents to the fullest, to be people of integrity, and to be contributors to society.
ENSWORTH’S LE A DER S A N D EDUCATOR S believe that coeducation impacts and enriches the educational experience of our students. A coeducational setting promotes mature social and emotional development, providing students with an advantage during their school years that will carry throughout their adult lives. Recognizing our critical role in preparing students for the real world, our classrooms comprise both genders, helping students understand that girls and boys are di�erent yet equal.
Every day Ensworth students have interactions that challenge and allow them to realize how di�erences might inf luence one’s perspective and also
understand that problems are best approached with consideration to di�ering worldviews.
Coeducation i mproves t he ways students think, learn and collaborate. Children are able to develop confidence, empathy, understanding and leadership amongst both genders as they navigate the challenges of social and emotional growth, while encouraging success in one another. By o�ering a coeduca-tional environment where youth can truly develop character, understanding and skills necessary for the future, Ensworth equips students for life beyond the classroom.
Acad
emic
Excel
lence
Acad
emic
Excel
lence
On Coeducation
WHY Coeducation
Anne StringhamDirector of Communications
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 5
intellectually curious
E ARLY DAYS AT E N SWORT H
Since its earliest years Ensworth’s focus has been the development of an academically strong coed program. Thus a coeducational learning envi-ronment has been part of Ensworth’s “DNA” as Head of School David Braemer says, since the school’s early days. What does that part of the school’s program look like now? How does learning in a gender-diverse setting benefit today’s students?
Numerous studies have researched the advantages and disadvantages of coed learning; however there is not universal agreement on the topic. In this article we explore the first-hand experiences and observations of educators and other individuals in the school community regarding how learning in a diverse environment works at Ensworth.
BOBBY M I RZAI E
Bobby Mirzaie joined the Ensworth faculty this fall as Director of Curric-ulum and Instruction charged with u n der s t a n d i n g t he c u r r ic u lu m throughout the school’s thirteen grades and helping faculty assure that the program o�ered is an integrated one that leads students smoothly from one grade level to the next, building on skills learned. Mirzaie has spent his first few months at Ensworth getting to know not only the curriculum as described on paper, but also the teachers who interpret it and the students who are learning under its guidance. “I observe four to eight classes a day,” he says, “and I’m getting a good picture of what is happening in our classrooms.”
Asked about the role of the coeduca-tional environment in the school’s program, Mirzaie comments “I look at the coeducational piece from the stand-
“Students learn to work and learn with a broad range of people and personalities, and they learn to accept and honor diversity among their peers. In this setting, students have opportunities to practice leadership in mixed gender situations and to hone their abilities to collaborate on projects.”
– Bobby MirzaieDirector of Curriculum
and Instruction
Intellectually curious
WHY Coeducation
6 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
point of…is the coed setting enhancing student and teacher performance…just as I look at a number of other aspects of Ensworth’s programs such as class size, skills encouraged, methods of assessing progress, and many more.” He says, “In my observations, I do find that the coed environment benefits students. They learn to work and learn with a broad range of people and personalities, and they learn to accept and honor diversity among their peers. In this setting, students have opportunities to practice leadership in mixed gender situations and to hone their abilities to collaborate on projects.”
“I also look at whether certain aspects of our program are benefiting teachers as they perform their jobs,” Mirzaie comments, “and these observations include many factors along with the coeducationa l cla ssrooms. W hen analyzing the environment for teaching and its components, I try to determine whether a certain condition helps teachers get better at what they do, whether that condition encourages
more e�ective teaching. I believe that having both boys and girls working together in the academic setting promotes age-appropriate cooperation and encourages greater understanding of individuals and their di�erences. I have seen teachers use this aspect of their classrooms as a great vehicle for helping combat stereotypes.”
“As I sit in on classes with students ranging from young elementary grades through high school, I am observing that Ensworth students appear to exhibit a sense of freedom to experiment with ideas, an ability to make meaningful connections with peers, and they are inclined to develop the skills of collab-oration and communication in positive ways,” he concludes.
Talents to the
Fullest
“Ensworth students exhibit a sense of freedom to experiment with ideas, an ability to make meaningful connections with peers, and they are inclined to develop the skills of collaboration and communication in positive ways.”
Bobby MirzaieDirector of Curriculum and Instruction
WHY Coeducation
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 7
DR . NE AL PAT E L
Dr. Neal Patel is the parent of two Ensworth graduates: daughter Alyssa, Class of 2010, and son Rajiv, a member of the Class of 2013, as well as daughter Maya, currently a ninth grader. Dr. Patel wears several hats at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, serving as Professor of Clinical Pediatrics as well as Chief Medical Informatics O£cer for the Vanderbilt Health System.
“My children who have graduated have very different interests,” Dr. Patel says. “We found that Ensworth’s program served them both well. Alyssa earned her degree from the Univer-sity of North Carolina. She very much enjoys an environment with great diversity, and Ensworth’s coeduca-tional setting and programs supported her in that area. She was able to build upon her Ensworth experience and explore further her passion for service because of the confidence she gained in working with many types of people at Enswor th. Those abilities are enhancing her current experience as an eighth grade math teacher in Nashville where she works with the Teach For America program.”
Son Rajiv chose to attend Ensworth indepen-dent of the fact that his older sister had selected the program, Patel states. Rajiv, now a Vanderbilt University sophomore, exhibits communication skills that allow him to work e�ectively with people individually or in small groups—skills that had their founda-tions in his Ensworth experience.
Going beyond his observations of his own children, Dr. Patel states that, in his world of medicine and the rapidly changing field of informatics in health care, it’s not just mastery of content or competence that matters. “To be successful, young professionals need to know how to function as e�ective members of a team and to work in concert with others with di�ering skills and viewpoints to solve problems and make good decisions,” he states. “The core skills that Ensworth’s program seeks to impart to its students—obser-vation, communication, collaboration —are keys to success in today’s profes-sional environment.”
people of integ
rity
“To be successful, young professionals need to know how to function as effective members of a team and to work in concert with others with differing skills and viewpoints to solve problems and make good decisions,” he states. “The core skills that Ensworth’s program seeks to impart to its students—observation, communication, collaboration—are keys to success in today’s professional environment.”
Bobby MirzaieDirector of Curriculum and Instruction
Dr. Neal PatelEnsworth Parent
WHY Coeducation
8 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
SANDY CO CH RAN
Sandy Cochran, Ensworth parent and business leader, arrives at similar conclusions from a di�erent perspective. Cochran, President and Chief Executive O£cer of multi-state restaurant corporation Cracker Barrel, is the parent of daughter Katherine, an Ensworth graduate in the Class of 2012, and son Quin, a current senior looking forward to graduation with the Class of 2015.
Cochran’s own education and early career path included several coeducational institutions and service as an o£cer in the military. She comments, “Obviously many factors influence who we become as adults. A good education—in my case one with a significant component of diversity not only in gender but in other ways—was a huge factor in making me the person I am. Even more fundamental, however, was a mindset instilled in me by my family that two of the most important things in life are an exceptional education and service to country and community.” She adds, “At least from the female perspective, the military and business settings are absolutely a coed environment—you either work well with members of both sexes, or it is more di£cult to succeed.”
About choosing Ensworth’s program for their children, Cochran says, “Actually Don and I did not choose Ensworth for Katherine and Quin—they chose it for themselves. When we moved to Nashville we gave them the choice of what school they wanted to attend. They both looked at a number of school options—coed and single-sex—and both independently chose Ensworth. I believe the fact that Ensworth is coed was a significant factor in both their decisions. At that point in their lives they had been around enough successful people in various fields—business, the military, the law— to know that it’s a coed world out there. This is not to take anything away from single-sex schools —for many kids that may be exactly the right choice. But ours chose Ensworth, and I must say that I agreed with their choice at the time, and it has turned out that Ensworth was the right school for both of them.”
In Sandy’s role, she sees parallels in the work force and the Ensworth experience. Her company, Cracker Barrel, employs sta� at all levels for some 600 locations across 42 states. We asked her: “If you were designing the ideal educational preparation for successful workers/parents/people/members of a community in the 21st century, what would it look like?” She replied, “Innovation, communi-cation, and collaboration are three of the most important attributes that lead to success in the modern world, and these are stressed and practiced in meaningful ways at Ensworth.”
Cont
ributo
rs to society
The Robotics Team is a great
example of collaboration through
age and gender. This year both teams
advanced to State. One team, Team
Brainiacs, won first place at District.
“Innovation, communication, and collaboration are three of the most important attributes that lead to success in the modern world, and these are stressed and practiced in meaningful ways at Ensworth.”
Sandy CochranEnsworth Parent
WHY Coeducation
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 9
It is time . . . to teach young people early on that in diversity there is beauty
and there is strength.
Cont
ributo
rs to societyMaya Angelou
(1928-2014)American Author & Poet
WHY Coeducation
10 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
WHY DID YOU DECIDE TO OFFER THIS CLASS AT ENSWORTH?Ensworth has an enormously talented group of student artists—both visual and performing artists. I felt this was a great way to merge the artistic talents at Ensworth with engineering and science. The 3D Design Technology class gives students the opportunity to tap into their artistic potential and show their creativity.
Professionally, designers are both artists and engineers, working in every sector of the economy. There are numerous special areas of design in which creative men and women enjoy successf u l a nd rewa rd i n g careers, creating technology to solve ever yday ch a l len g i n g problem s . This class was the perfect blend for a coeducational setting.
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT THE CLASS.The first seven weeks focus on technical drawing. Students learn the basics of drafting including scaling, dimen-sioning, layout and using measuring equipment such as digital calipers. They start by drafting models and structures, then make isometric drawings, followed by creating orthographic projections (multi-view drawings). Some projects include taking small objects and scaling up or large objects and scaling down. The second half of the course shifts focus to using CAD (Computer Aided Design), and once their drawings are on a computer, they print their designs to a 3D printer.
3D Design TechnologyAn Interview with Mike Ireland, High School Science Department Chair
The 3D Design Technology class exceeded my expec-tations. Learning how to design objects and working with the 3D printer to see your design be printed was awesome. Mr. Ireland made the class enjoyable as he was just as excited and energetic about the class as the students were. I am interested in pursuing engineering in college after taking this class and several others!
– Coleman GoodwinClass of 2016
The students start with one-piece structures working individually, and as the Semester progresses, the class morphs into working in teams with more complex objects to draft and print. This teamwork simulates the approach that is used in industry today.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE A FLIPPED CLASSROOM APPROACH? A flipped classroom involves students watching online video lessons created by the teacher for homework and using class time for problem-solving. As a teacher, it’s a lot more work on the front-end to create the online videos, but it worked out great. First of all, students can’t take home drafting equipment and 3D printers, so they have to do much of the hands-on work in the classroom. Also, the students learn how to draft at their own pace. If they need to understand better, they can watch the video again or pause the video and take notes. Each day the students start class with knowledge and experience, which helps us jump into our project in-class. Working on projects at school, rather than home, is beneficial because I am nearby for guidance (along with their peers).
The thing I most enjoyed about the class was being able to print what we’d designed. It was really cool to be able to have a concrete representation of what we’d been working on. I think it’s really incredible that Ensworth has such an opportunity like this available to students.
– Victoria BellClass of 2015
Mary Byrne DaileyDirector of Creative Services
ACADE M IC S
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 1 1
The novelty of the 3D printer is that a work seems to appear from thin air. In reality, there are numerous steps, hours of work, and espe-cially thinking to design something that will stand up on its own, and even then it may not print the way you expected. The experience of designing something, printing it, discovering a flaw, fixing its design, and printing it again is invaluable.”
– Ginny Boehm
Class of 2015
HOW DID STUDENTS RESPOND?Many of the students thrive in this learning environment—especially the kinesthetic learners. Some students sign up for the class because they are excited to use a 3D printer, but discover they won’t be using the printer until the second half of the semester (the entire first half of the semester was technical drawing). However, I am amazed at how many of the students really enjoy the entire process—not just using the 3D printer. Interestingly, a number of students remark on how they enjoy being able to use math skills in a real life application, especially when we practice dimensioning and scaling. Through drafting by hand—rather than going straight from software to the 3D printer—the students can understand the process better and see the big picture. The skill sets attained from the drafting experience prove to be very beneficial during the CAD component of the course.
WHAT HAVE YOU LEARNED AS A TEACHER?It is rewarding to see the students collaborate by helping and chal-lenging each other. Often times there are various solutions—not just one way to solve the problem—so it’s really impressive to see the students experience the multiple pathways to the finished product then share their solutions with each other. The students don’t always get it right the first time. Sometimes they design things that fail, learn from it, and improve upon them. Seeing the students evolve within each project is most rewarding. Substantial risks are taken by each student as this class is uncharted territory for all of them. It is encour-aging for me to see that our students are not afraid of taking intel-lectual risks. They are comfortable with knowing they may not get something right on the first attempt. This trait reflects students who are capable of generating original ideas—because they are not afraid of failing.
ACADE M IC S
12 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
“Three things I took away from my day at the Harkness table: be prepared, participate and respect others.”
“HARKNESS” IT’S THE ENSWORTH BUZZWORD;it’s what student learns to navigate their freshman year; it’s the greatest tool we utilize for fostering confidence and curiosity in our students. After my day as a Harkness student, I can attest its value is priceless.
My journey started with a discussion on World War II and The France Campaign in the classroom of history buff and Ensworth legend, Mr. Chanaca. Before we began, I was introduced to the rubric system he uses for grading his Harkness discussions. It is largely based on the student’s self evaluation. After each discussion, students submit their own scores based on what they believe their participation was. After the first five minutes of class, I was floored by how prepared these students were to discuss and their genuine desire to listen and to be heard. Students debated one another
with confidence and listened with respect. When two students began to speak at the same time, the more gregar-ious one encouraged his peer, “No you go first, we haven’t heard from you yet.”
My nex t jaunt was Ms. Morgan’s seminar class. She told me they would be discussing “Twitter… the Pros and Cons.” As the Ensworth social media manager, this topic is right up my alley. Finally, I could bring something to the “table.” When the discussion began, I found myself rethinking some of my own social media life choices. Although a discussion on social media could have easily been driven by emotion or opinion, students took the time to research and form their arguments before sitting down at the table.
My last stop was in English department chair Mrs. Mark’s class. Her freshman class was discussing book twenty inThe Odyssey. This discussion di�ered from the others in how the teacher took a back-seat and allowed the students to explore themes with one another. At one point, there was a specific word in the text that confused everyone. Instead of immediately turning to Mrs. Marks for answers, a student took initiative
and researched the answer for himself. If I had to use one word to describe this Harkness discussion, it would be “motivated.” Students do the work themselves because they genuinely want answers. Mrs. Marks empowered her students to be responsible for their own learning.
Three things I took away from my day at the Harkness table: be prepared, participate and respect others. You can’t sit at a Harkness table and fake it when everyone else has come prepared for the discussion. Students find ways to be part of the conversation; even the more timid or shy students can later add comments to the class Google doc for points and are always encour-aged by peers to participate. Lastly, students learn to respect the process of debate, discussion and di�erence of opinion in ways that will serve them in college classes, work place forums and throughout their communities.
My Day at the Harkness
HIGH SCHOOL
Jasmine DavisCommunications & Special Events
ACADE M IC S
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 1 3
¡ Sixth grade history class walks a mile for empathy
MIDDLE SCHOOL
LOWER SCHOOL
Who, who…….who is learning everything you could possibly know about owls? Dr. Wynn’s first-grade students had a special visitor from Owl’s Hill as part of their owl unit. During this unit of study, students listen to books about owls and research and write about this animal known as the silent flier. They are introduced to a rich vocabulary and begin to understand the owl’s importance to nature.
Owl’s Hill nature sanctuary is a protected green space in northwestern Williamson County, whose usage is dedicated to a mission of education, conservation and restoration of the owl species. Students were able to witness the wing span of an owl and even see two tiny baby owls firsthand. After the presentation, students got out their magnifying glasses to dissect owl pellets. It can often contain plant matter, feathers, claws and even teeth!
An “Owl”-standing Time!Wildlife visits to the First Grade
“AND TO BE CONTRIBUTORS TO SOCIETY.” In every community, there are needs. Some are clear, others are more subtle. The question is: how will they be met and who will meet them?
This fall, the sixth-grade history teachers brought modern context to one of the most ancient needs — hunger. While studying the challenges faced by emerging civilizations, students learned about modern-day “food deserts” (places where healthy a�ordable food is scarce). They examined USDA maps and discovered “food deserts” in Nashville, where people walk over a mile for groceries. To give further context, students trekked a mile around the track carrying a grocery bag filled with a gallon of water and canned goods.
Equipped with this knowledge and experience, the sixth grade set a school record collecting food for the annual Second Harvest food drive. When learning involves mind, body and emotions, students are more engaged in the content. Service learning is an integral part of the Ensworth curriculum. It is applied in classroom discussions, incorpo-rated throughout each subject, and practiced in meaningful projects and partnerships.
“When students are connected to and knowledgeable about a particular issue, they are empowered to learn and serve more deeply and thoughtfully.”
Walk a Mile in Their Shoes
ACADE M IC S
Hayley Brantley History Department & Middle School Service Learning Coordinator
Dr. K.K. WynnFirst Grade
“Thematic units of study allow the students to really explore, in depth, a variety of topics. Owls are fascinating animals that have been associated with wisdom. Therefore, I start the year off with an owl unit.”
¡ Artwork by
Emory Sonsino, ‘26
14 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
Scholastic Art Competition Gold Key
Kayce Boehm ’15 - “Goose and Gander” (printmaking) Silver Key
Kaelene DeCoster ’16 - “Bounce” (black and white film)Rita Johnson ’18 - “Underwater” (digital photo)Jonas Wood ’15 - “Distraction” (black and white film)Honorable Mention
Sarah Cooley ’16 - “Trapped in a Cycle” (multiple digital images assembled in Photoshop)Rebekah Greenberg ’16 - “The Looking Glass” (digital photo)Claire Joyce ’15 - “Mr. McGraw” (digital photo)Perri Wiatrak ’16 - “Finer with Age” (color film)
Middle Tennessee Regional Student Art ExhibitionKayce Boehm ’15 “Goose and Gander”, Best of PrintmakingSage Loh ’16 Graphite Drawing “Bird and Sky”Ginny Boehm ’15 Linoleum Print “Eioche is Born”Kaelene DeCoster ’16 Black and White Photography “Bounce”
Symphony Visits EnsworthIn January, the Ensworth high school students had a special visit from the Nashville Symphony. This was the first time that the Nashville Symphony performed at an inde-pendent school. What a privilege!
Nashville Civitans Nipper A.D. Hancock AwardP.J. Settles ’15 was named winner of the Nashville Civitans Nipper/ A.D. Hancock Award. The award recog-nizes outstanding sportsmanship on and o� the football field. Awards were presented to six Nashville area high school football players and two local college players.
Middle Tennessee State OrchestraHannah Smalley ’17, was chosen to perform in Middle Tennessee State Orchestra. She represented Ensworth as one of the best tenth grade violinists in all of Tennessee and was selected through a rigorous audition process.
HIGH SCHOOL
ACADE M IC S
FOR THE RECORD
(top left) Kayce Boehm
(top right) “Goose and
Gander” by
Kayce Boehm
(left) “Bounce” by
Kaelene DeCoster
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 1 5
Orange & Black Captains Orange TeamDrake Elcan & Caroline Frist
Black TeamGeorge Corzine & Allison Halloran
Little League World SeriesIn August, Drew Byers ‘20 and his South Nashville baseball team played in the Little League World series.
AP Scholars
National Merit ScholarsCongratulations to seniors Kayce Boehm, Ben Frumkin,
Austen Hertik, Emma Hood, Aislinn Murphy, and Bailey
Murphy who have been named Semifinalists in the 2015 National Merit Scholarship Program.
American Math Contest (AMC 8)
School Winner and Award
of Distinction (top 1% nationally)
Colin Murray ’20
Algebra I
Gold - Colin Murray ’20
Silver - Hailey Braemer ’19, Ryan
Crants ’20, Caroline Frist ’19
Bronze - Luke Lapré ’19,
William Seitz ’19
6th Grade
Gold - Nell Harris, Thomas McRae, Chloe Rollins
Silver - Claire Chidsey, Sam Meacham
Bronze - Isabella Davé
7th Grade
Gold - Max Moeller, Katie Patel
Silver - Dante Rodriguez
Bronze - Kaitlyn Crosby, John Noonan, Liam Savona
NATIONAL AP SCHOLARAverage score of at least 4 on all AP Exams taken and 4 or higher on 8 or more exams
Class of 2014
Benton Rose
AP SCHOLAR
WITH DISTINCTION Average score of at least 3.5 on all AP Exams taken and 3 or higher on 5 or more exams
Class of 2014
Beau AllenBobby BethkeElizabeth CoxShelby CrantsJosh DaughertyGilchrist GreenMary Kate HannonAlex HoltonSally KrebsAlexandra LiggettHunter MerrymanPete NordlundRichard RolappCasey Rose
AP SCHOLAR
WITH HONOR Average score of at least 3.25 on all AP Exams taken and 3 or higher on 4 or more exams
Class of 2015
Ben FrumkinEmma HoodBailey Murphy
Class of 2014
Battle KenneyAbby Mudter
Chandler TelferParker WadeLynn Whitfield
AP SCHOLARScores of 3 or higher on 3 or more AP Exams
Class of 2015
David AllenKayce BoehmGinny BoehmReagan CaldwellLilly ChadwickLiam CroninAnna DensonAusten HertikLili JohnstonAislinn MurphyCaroline SheridanEmma SloanLaura Catherine Wallace
Class of 2014
Daniel BeairdGrace ChangCasey CloseEvanne DillWill GarsideEllen HardcastleWilliam JohnsonElla MannBecca RolfeKaeley ScottNatalie SmithAshley Wines
MIDDLE SCHOOL
ACADE M IC S
Colin Murray, ‘20
16 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
Be on the lookout!The mural will go on the overpass at Old Hickory and HWY100. Each section is 16ft x 16ft.
If you have ever driven under the train track overpass at Old Hickory and Highway 100, then you know how disappointing it is to see gra£ti tagging in the neigh-borhood. Art Teacher Cati Blitz and her studio art students are taking the initiative to help beautify this area of Nashville.
In the Fall of 2010 (after the flood) students from Ensworth, Hillwood and Nashville Christian met to collaborate on the design of a mural to hang on the overpass. Designs were to incorporate historical and contemporary aspects of the Bellevue community, including Edwin Warner Park. Since this is a service project, students paint for eight hours each service learning day.
Studio Art students use their talents for the community.
ART S
ART NEWS
“This is a wonderful opportunity for our art students to learn to collaborate on a large scale. This is very close to large set design and painting techniques used in theater productions.”
Cati BlitzHigh School Art
¡ (top left) Ms. Blitz’s studio
art class by their mural
¡ (top) Kate Clements ‘15 holds
a study of the artwork.
¡ (left) It’s not all work.
Collaboration in Colors
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 1 7
Artists in the Community
ART S
Jack Alcott, Caroline Hunt, Briana Middleton, and Sophie Scott have
a passion for the visual and performing arts. Earlier this year, these
students were recognized in the November issue of the Nashville Arts
Magazine for their contribution to the Nashville arts community.
¡ Read the article online at NashvilleArts.com
Jack AlcottSince he was young, Jack Alcott has loved acting. Roles in chil-dren’s community theatre, middle school and high school plays gave way to professional theatre productions. Part of what draws him to the stage and to acting is his extro-verted personality. When he is on stage, he feels connected with the audience and his peers. “Your relation-ship with the audience is very gratifying and fun, because they are cheering you on. You’ve prepared a gift for them, and they have come to watch you just to accept your gift and congratu-late you and cheer you on,” Jack reflects. In addition to acting, Jack plays the saxophone and bowls. In fact, he was state runner-up in the TSSAA bowling tournament last year.
Sophie ScottSince being in high school at Ensworth, Sophie’s love for dance has grown. “I was primarily a ballet dancer for the majority of my lower and middle school years. When I came to high school, and became a part of the Dance Company, I was exposed to so many different styles that I have grown to love.” Adding contemporary, lyrical, modern, tap, jazz, and even hip-hop to her repertoire has inspired her to pursue musical theatre and acting to her resume.
Attending summer intensive programs all over the United States
“has helped me have a glimpse into the life of a professional dancer,” and fueled her dream to continue to pursue dancing and acting for the future.
Briana MiddletonSinging is Briana’s first love. “It’s the best way I know to communi-cate to an audience. When I sing there are no boundaries or limits on what I can convey,” she says. As many members of the Ensworth community have experienced,
“one of her greatest strengths is her will-ingness to be present with her audience and her desire to bring them into the moment,” explains Nashville Arts Magazine’s Rebecca Pierce. Briana finds motivation amongst her peers, she says that she likes “to surround myself with people who are better and smarter than me. It’s humbling and produc-tive at the same time.”
Caroline HuntCaroline Hunt is “dili-gently acquiring the expertise she will need to make her vision a reality,” says Nashville Arts. That vision is to one day become a one-of-a-kind designer creating
“stories that will one day be worn and told on the street.” Caroline has embraced the impor-tance of learning about every aspect of design, which helped her “learn how to take ideas from your head, put them on paper, and manip-ulate them to make a collection.” She has worked with a couture designer to perfect her sewing and handwork, as well as attended Central Saint Martins in London for a summer.While at Ensworth, Caroline has been involved in Theatre, where she focused on costuming. “Last fall, she made the costumes for six girls in the school’s production of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, a corset and two skirts for each girl.” This year, the up-and-coming designer has taken on the challenge of completing a Capstone Project, where she is using printmaking methods to create images on fabric, embel-lished with handwork.
18 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
Sometimes, there are easy choices. Selecting Charlotte’s Web as our middle school musical was one of those for me. To begin with, it is such an iconic and unforgettable piece of literature. That is the reason Ensworth pre-first grade teachers read it to their students and our fourth graders study its themes and characters in class. Who among us wasn’t sucked into E.B White’s bittersweet story of friendship and loss upon reading his first line:
“Where’s Papa going with that ax?”
This fall, I had the good fortune of having Megan Florentine as part of the Charlotte’s Web team. As a pre-first grade teacher, she
has read Charlotte’s Web to her students for years. We benefited from her familiarity with the book as she lovingly reworked our script (with permission from the play-wright—a mentor of mine) so that it stayed as true to E.B. White’s voice as possible.
This production was the first in which I had the privilege of collaborating with two outstanding musical directors, Heidi Wolter and Grace Tseng. It was thrilling to watch them teach intricate and complex harmonies to our kids. The bar of my expectations rose higher at every rehearsal, and the vocal performances they elicited from our cast gave me chills. I am excited to work with them on future produc-tions, and I know they are already full of ideas for next year and beyond.
Middle School Drama Club Fall Play
Saturday, November 15, 2014
ART S
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 1 9
The best aspect of Charlotte’s Web for all of us on the Middle School Drama Team was the unique group of middle school students who made up the cast and crew. They came ready to be challenged, had their lines memorized and harmonies mastered in record time, and they were so much fun to play with that I never wanted to send them home. Instead of depending on a select few strong singers to carry the show, we were able to create a full sound with a variety of powerful, glorious voices, blending and contrasting throughout the production. As Charlotte herself would agree, they were nothing short of ‘radiant.’
On the evening of our perfor-mance I crossed paths with an Ensworth pre-first grader dressed in full post-Halloween
spider costume, complete with spider glasses and ring. She had already seen Charlotte’s Web at Assembly the day before, but like many of her friends, was back for a repeat viewing. Every now and then I peeked at her during the performance. She was easy to find, what with all the legs. There she sat, eyes glued to the stage, mouthing every word of the songs. I realized we had our first groupie. For weeks afterward, her teacher told me of the passionate writing workshop stories she was penning about the Charlotte’s Web characters; retelling E.B. White’s story, wondering about possible sequels, critiquing our performance. There is no higher compliment to our charismatic young actors and crew than a young fan with the enthusiasm
of Wilbur and the writing acumen of Charlotte, checking out her heroes through a pair of spider glasses.
Hope MoellerDrama Club Director
Second Grade Teacher
ART S
¡ Feeling dramatic, faculty
members Hope Moeller, Heidi
Wolter, Linden Lantz and
Bruce Libonn, serenade the
Charlotte’s Web audience
20 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
ART S
High School Theater Fall Play
Saturday, November 22, 2014
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 2 1
David BerryEnglish & Arts
High School
DIRECTOR’S NOTES
When our current seniors were freshmen performing in their first show at the high school, I described Shake-speare’s King Lear as being “as close to a sacred text as a secular text can get.” Well, I’m not sure if I’m ready to go that far with A Christmas Carol, but Dickens’ story does make demands of us on a deeply spiritual level. Despite its title, there really is no theology in it that pertains to Christianity any more directly than it does to another faith, or to any moral creed rooted in a life of
selflessness, service, charity and gratitude. When the Ghost of Christmas Present rebukes Scrooge’s exclamation that the starving poor had better get on with it and die—and thus decrease the “surplus popu-lation”—she tells him that he had better learn exactly “what the surplus is, and where it is.” I cannot hear this line without thinking of King Lear and his own conversion as he charges himself, and those in power like him, to shake the “superflux” from them, so that charity may “undo excess and each man have enough.” Dickens’ story challenges us
to love one another well, even when that means thinking of ourselves a bit less. But the story o�ers us comfort too: the comfort that, when we do give of ourselves, we stand to receive even greater blessings in return. Putting this show together alongside my students has been both a challenge and a comfort to me. As always, I remain grateful for the opportunity to work with them and beside them. It is a blessing.
ART S
22 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
AT H LE T IC S
The value of a coeducational
environment extends beyond
the classroom and into
extracurricular and athletic
activities. While most compet-
itive sports are segregated by
gender, there are a few sports
at Ensworth where boys and
girls practice and compete
together, such as swimming,
tennis, golf, cross country and
track. Coaches of these sports
witness the benefits of boys
and girls working together
as teammates and challeng-
ing each other to excel.
Coeducation in Athletics
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 2 3
AT H LE T IC S
“At swim meets, you’ll see boys and
girls cheering for each other, talking
about the races, chatting in between
events. It provides some positive
social interaction away from school,
since they are all swimming or
diving for the same team.”
Chelsy Hooper Swimming
Middle School
“When our girls played in a tennis
tournament, the boys showed up to cheer
them on without anyone asking them
to. The same thing happened when the boys played in the
tournament; the girls came to show their
support. There is a bond that forms
when they see them-selves as one team.”
Grace KeebleTennis and Golf
Middle School
“The biggest value in a sport like
swimming is that everyone is a
teammate, working and striving together for common goals. So when a boy watches
his female teammate race, he knows how much work she has
put into practice and his desire to
support her comes from that shared
background in hard, honest training. Boys
and girls who train together don’t cheer
for each other as fans or spectators, but as teammates
who are invested in each others’ dreams
and goals.”Christian Bahr
SwimmingHigh School
“The value of boys and girls working
together on a team is that they learn the basic skills of working, commu-
nicating and competing with and against the opposite
gender which will serve them well in
life. We live in a co-ed world, and
it is important for children to have
plenty of opportuni-ties to work with the
opposite gender in different
environments.” Tish Picklesimer
Cross Country & TrackMiddle School
“Co-ed value arises when boys and girls of similar playing levels, but different playing styles, practice together. As a coach, I find it quite rewarding to explain the importance of honest line calls, respecting one’s opponent, and representing yourself and your team with excep-tional dignity. If boys and girls are taught together, it can create a feeling of comradeship and healthy competition among them.”
Greg ChambersTennis High School
¡ Golf team members Garrison Hogan ‘15, Lindsay Miller ‘15, and Matt Lale ‘15
24 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
HIGH SCHOOL
CONGRATULATIONS, T i g e rs !
TWO INDIVIDUAL STATE CHAMPIONS
BROCK OCHSENREITERBoys Golf
EMMA SLOANCross Country
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 2 5
Congrats, Tigers! Three Ensworth Seniorssigned to play a collegiate sport.
Lindsay Miller (left) signed with Tennessee Tech, Golf.
Garrison Hogan (middle) signed with Furman, Golf.
Mackenzie Minnick (right) signed with Mercer, Lacrosse.
FALL SEASON HIGHLIGHTS
FOOTBALLThe Ensworth football team enjoyed another successful year on the gridiron. The Tigers opened the season with a home victory over national power-house Louisville Trinity. Follow-ing wins over Brainerd and JPII, the Tigers came back from a halftime deficit at Father Ryan to start the year 4-0. After a disappointing road defeat at the hands of McCallie, the Tigers bounced back with an over-time victory at rival MBA. After victories over Giles County and Baylor, the Tigers finished the regular season with a win over Brentwood Academy. Entering the playoffs with a record of 8-1, the Tigers opened with a first round bye, before easily defeating Briarcrest in the Quarterfinals. After a thrilling Semifinal victory over Memphis University School, the Tigers headed back to Cookeville in search of a fifth straight state title. In a hard-fought rematch with MBA, the Tigers lost by a score of 10-7. The Tigers ended a 10-2 season as DII-AA State Runner-Up.
Many Tigers received individual honors and recognition over the course of the season. Rico McGraw was named an Army All-American, while Myles Douglas was nominated for the DII-AA Mr. Football Award. Donovan Sheffield was named Co-Defensive MVP of the conference, and was joined
on the 2014 All-Conference Team by Myles Douglas, Thomas Freeland, Trent Holt, Brycen Hopkins, Greg McCloud, Rico McGraw, Darius Morehead, Nash Moorer, and PJ Settles. All ten of those players were also named to the 2014 TSWA All-State Team. Myles Douglas, Rico McGraw, and Donovan Sheffield were also named to the 2014 All-Midstate 1st team, while Greg McCloud and Darius Morehead were named to the 2nd team. Daniel Mangum received the All-Con-ference Scholar Athlete award.
CROSS COUNTRY The cross country season came to an end on Saturday November 1st. State Champion Emma Sloan led the wom-en’s team with a time of 18:36. Junior Sage Loh placed 15th and received All-State honors with a time of 20:36. The wom-en’s team made up of Emma Sloan, Sage Loh, Corinne Brooks, Bailey Francis, Reagan Caldwell, Courtney Daddario, and Ellie Clark placed 7th overall. The men’s team was led by senior Jack Runyon-Hass with a time of 18:27 and sophomore Connor Galvez with a time of 19:20. The men’s team made up of Jack Runyon-Hass, Connor Galvez, Donnie Lawrence,
Riley McCormick, Nathan Earl, Wiley McDougall, and Owen Alsup placed 10th over-all. Emma Sloan was chosen to be on the All-Region team.
BOYS GOLF The Ensworth golf team finished State Runner-up as well as Regional runner-up. The state finish is the high-est finish in school history. Brock Ochsenreiter was the individual state champion with a two day total of 141 (71-70). He is the first boy individual to win the championship. Garri-son Hogan tied for 5th in the State with a total of 151 (76-75). Brock also was the Region individual champ with a school record of 65 at Tims Ford State Park. Brock was selected first team all Mid-State while Garri-son was selected to the second team.
GIRLS GOLFThe girls golf team finished Regional runner-up and third in State. Lindsay Miller finished 4th overall in the State. She was selected to the second team All Mid-State.
GIRLS SOCCER A young girls’ varsity soccer team finished the season with a record of 7-8-2. Regular season highlights included victories over eventual DII-A state champion Battle Ground
Academy and local rival Christ Presbyterian Academy. Additionally, the team played a hard-fought game against eventual DII-AA state champi-on Girls Preparatory School, losing 1-0. In the first round of the state tournament, the girls avenged a regular season Senior Night defeat to Harpeth Hall by defeating the Honey Bears 3-1 on their Senior Night. Emily Patton made both All-State and All-Region for the Tigers.
VOLLEYBALLThe Ensworth Lady Tigers volleyball team wrapped up a very successful season in October by finishing 4th overall in the State Champi-onship in Murfreesboro. The team finished 2nd overall in the Mideast Region. The Lady Tigers had an exceptional regular season with matches against eight different teams who were in the state Tour-nament. Ensworth Volleyball finished in the top 16 in the very prestigious Brentwood Invitational and 3rd in the Father Ryan Invitational.Led by All Mideast Region and All Mid State second team selection Becca Smith, the team progressed and im-proved throughout the season.
HIGH SCHOOL
26 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 2 7
MIDDLE SCHOOL
VOLLEYBALLForty-two 7th and 8th grade girls played volleyball this fall. They participated on four teams. The C-teams had suc-cess this year developing their skills while playing in seven competitive playdays. The JV team had an exciting year with victories over Harpeth Hall, Lipscomb, USN and Goodpas-ture. The Varsity team grew to be a competitive team playing a hard fought match versus Goodpasture in the HVAC tournament.
GIRLS GOLFAnnabel Frist was the HVAC Champion (32-1 under par).
BOYS GOLF The boys golf team was led by Stephen Turner and Sam Banks who were the HVAC co-champions each shooting a 33 (2 under par each). Julian Maxwell and DeWitt Thompson added their skill for a 3 shot win to become 2014 HVAC Team Champions.
BOYS CROSS COUNTRY Led by some dynamic 6th grade runners and some seasoned 8th grade veterans, the 2014 Ensworth boys’ middle school cross country team improved steadily each and every week of the season. They ran compet-itively in each meet, finishing second as a team in four of the five meets leading up to
the HVAC Finals. In the HVAC Finals, the boys ran in the highly competitive AA Division where, although almost all the boys ran personal bests, they finished in fifth place as a team. In the HVAC Finals, the boys were led by John Aguirre (30th place), George Corzine (31st place), and Raleigh Berggren (35th place).
GIRLS CROSS COUNTRY The 2014 Ensworth girls’ mid-dle school cross country team started the year with a bang, winning their first meet at USN, their second meet at BGA, and their third meet at home. All the girls ran well, improving their times in almost every race. Sadly, multiple injuries to several of the top runners hindered the team as they prepared for the HVAC Finals. In spite of these setbacks, the girls ran with grit and determi-nation in the HVAC Finals and finished a respectable fourth place in the highly competitive AA Division. Leading the Tigers in the final race were Hailey Braemer (13th place), Sara Pickrell (14th place), and Mary Chandler McGuffin (22nd place).
FOOTBALL The 2014 Ensworth Middle School finished its season against McCallie with a 34-0 loss. The overall 2014 record
was 1-5. The highlight of the season was a come from behind victory over FRA. Even though the team was out-sized each week, the team never quit and improved throughout the season. Evan Coleman, Dan-te Wynn, Worth Scott, and Josh Howard were two-year starters and did a terrific job leading the team. Evan Coleman, Josh Howard, and Lewis McDaniel were voted captains by the team at the end of the year.
GIRLS SOCCER The Varsity Girls soccer team had an incredible 2014 season. Led by Captains Hailey Braemer and Mary Chandler McGuffin, the Tigers boasted a 4-1-2 regular season, beating rival Brent-wood Academy and tying rival Harpeth Hall. Lead scorers for the team were Allison Halloran, Hailey Braemer, Sara Pickrell, and Lilly Smith. They were supported by Avery Smith and Annabel Frist who shared goalie duty for the season. The Tigers beat USN 1-0 in the semi-finals to advance to the HVAC championship game where they finished 2nd place to Harpeth Hall in a hard fought 1-0 loss. Most importantly, the girls worked hard, had fun, and came together as a team, which is the mark of a very successful season.
All-HVAC: Allison Halloran, Hailey Braemer and Mary Chandler McGuffin
BOYS SOCCER The boys soccer team had great participation and finished as the HVAC Silver Division Runner-Up.
WRESTLING Ensworth had six wrestlers in the tournament, four made it to the consolation finals. The skill and technique of our wrestlers was equal to or better than the skill and technique of any of the other wrestlers in the room. Two of our wrestlers in the consola-tion finals were 6th graders.In the HVAC, Alex Bond fin-ished in 3rd Place (82 lbs.),Adam Garfinkel in 3rd Place (88 lbs.), Henry Bright in 3rd Place (100 lbs.), and Thomas McRae finished in 4th Place (107 lbs.).
28 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
November 25, 2014LOWER/MIDDLE SCHOOL
Grandparents Day
1 Noah Jamison ‘21 & Nori
Jamison ‘26 2 The first grade
performs 3 Rico Edwards ‘26
4 Ariana Sowell ‘25 5 Harper Dale
‘22 & A.J. Dale ‘24
6 Diana Barrett ‘25 7 Max
Sonsino ‘25 8 (Left to Right) Alexander Sifford ‘24, Mary
Chandler McGuffin ‘19, Caroline
Sifford ‘26, Jackson McGuffin ‘26,
Claiborne Sifford ‘22
Students
1 2
3 4 5 6
7 8
COM M UNI TY
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 2 9
October 3, 2014HIGH SCHOOL
Grandparents Day
a Reed Williams ‘18
b Lanier Mason ‘18 c Carmel
Buckingham ‘16 sings with the
rock band d Corinne Brooks
‘16, Chloe B. Abram ‘18 &
Briana Middleton ‘16 perform
in the assembly e Jordan
Zagerman ‘15 f Carter Pankow
‘17 g Synia Hall ‘18 h Taylor
Phillips ‘15
Students
a
e
g h
b
c d
f
COM M UNI TY
30 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
LOWER/MIDDLE SCHOOL
Ensworth Events
a b
c
COM M UNI TY
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 3 1
a 8th Grade Pancake Breakfast b Mary
Meacham ‘03 and Lucy Wallace ‘03 at
Pancake Breakfast c Ricky Bowers
visits the Pre-first Grade d Mr. Sherland’s
4th Grade Play e Drake Elcan ‘19 and George
Corzine ‘19 at Spirit Assembly f Aaron Mixon
‘24 at Chess Club g Gracie Sinks ‘19 and
Camillle McRae ‘19 lead Pre-first grader
Maddie Miller ‘27 on the first day of school
h Myatt Mixon ‘26 at the 1st Grade Pet show
i Ms. Smith’s 2nd Grade Puppet Show
j Middle School Pumpkin Race
d
g
h i
j
e f
COM M UNI TY
32 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
HIGH SCHOOL
Ensworth Events
a b
c
e f
d
COMMUNITY
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 3 3
a All Community Day b Homecoming Tailgate c All Community
Day d Winter Choral Concert e Ensworth Orchestra f Alli Malone
‘18 at 9th Grade Book Signing g Music Assembly h Football State
Sendoff i Sophie Scott, ‘16 at Special Olympics j Houston Vick
‘15 and Lila Sohr ‘16 at the One Act Plays
g
h
j
i
COMMUNITY
34 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
COM M UNI TY
PARENT NEWS
EV ERY ENSWORTH PA R ENT IS A
MEMBER OF THE PA R ENT ASSO-CI ATION — and it takes every Ensworth parent to make it
work. Did you know more than 70 Room Parents and Grade Coordinators and nearly 60 Committee Chairs work on both campuses, supported by hundreds more Ensworth parents? The goal of the Parent Association is to build our community, educate our parents and support our school. The Parent Education Committee, new this year, was created to lead our e�orts to provide meaningful
and helpful informa-tion about parenting topics l i ke st udent d i s c i p l i n e , s o c i a l media, legal realities and cyberbullying.
We a re honored to have everyone collaborating to help strengthen our community and make Ensworth a special place for our children. Big thank you to committee chairs, grade coordinators, room parents, and the Parent Asso-ciation Board for their leadership and dedication to our community.
Thank You Auction ChairsElizabeth Gerken, Jennie Garth Lowe, Janet Sterchi & Heather Wright invested countless hours for our community. Thank you to every volunteer and participant.
Building a strong community requires
looking out for one another.
If you know of an Ensworth family who could use words of
encouragement, a meal or just a helping hand,
please contact the Sunshine Committee.
Contact information can be found online or in the
Finding List.
Super SaturdaySATURDAY, MAY 16, 2015Laura Bowen and Josephine Smithwick are chairing this year’s Super Saturday. Don’t miss this fun community event!
PARENT ASSOCIATION 2014-2015
President Amy Christiansen
President-ElectShannon McGuffin
SecretaryKatherine Cigarran Kirsten Crosby
TreasurerChandra Jamison
Treasurer-ElectCarrie McLaren
High School RepresentativeStephanie Sundock
High School Representative-ElectKim McRae
Middle School RepresentativeChristi Turner
Middle School Representative-ElectBarbara Smith
Lower School RepresentativeJennifer Frist
Lower School Representative-ElectElena Rollins
Tiger Club ChairsMonica McDougallSally Nesbitt
Fund Raising ChairKristen Greer
Parent Education ChairCarolyn Hall
Alumni Parent Reps Sara BakerAmy Colton
Immediate Past PresidentKatie Elcan
At Large MembersCandy BassJim JohnsonLouis Upkins
ENSWORTH
ASSOCIATIONPARENT
Ensworth Sunshine Committee
D
RG_Sunshine Club_2012.indd 1 9/13/12 1:23 PM
Build our CommunityEducate our ParentsSupport our School
Amy ChristiansenParent Association President
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 3 5
COM M UNI TY
Monday, September 15, 2014
The Golf Club of Tennessee
CHAIRS Stephanie and Forrest Conner
Thank you to our generous sponsors!
Bricktop’s
Dr. and Mrs. Reuben A. Bueno
Christie Cookie
Covenant Capital
Crichton Group
Cumberland Transit
Dale Inc.
The Dinkins Family
Elite Sports Medicine
Enterprise Electric
Famous Dave’s
Flipside
Julie and Tommy Frist
Groove Inc.
Hale & Hale PLC
Josephine
McCarthy Jones & Woodard
Mira Winery
Nat Harris Family
Northwestern Mutual-Chad Greer
The Pasta Shoppe
Premier Golf Services
Sinema
The Smithwick Family
Sperry’s
Taqueria del Sol
Thompson Machinery
Wyatt Johnson
SAVE THE DATE 10th Annual Robert Inman Tiger ClassicMonday, October 26, 2015 Congratulations!
1S T PLACE
Toby Wilt, Grace Keeble, Julie Frist, Tommy Frist
2 N D PLACE
Craig Goguen, David Braemer, Phil Krebs, Toby Gray
3R D PLACE
Doug Hale, Neil Dyer, Michael McClellan, Jesse Felker
PUTTING CONTEST
John Montgomery
36 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
Andrew Smith (Grayson)Colton Bruce born August 18, 2014
Meg Cooper (Josh)Sonny Sanford Constantin Cooper born October 20, 2014
Molly Machleit (Braton)Rivers Blei born November 2, 2014
Jonas Rodriguez (Crockett)Jack Ru� born January 6, 2015
Chris Tuley (Aubrey)Carter Ruskin born January 6, 2015
Dillon Seigenthaler (Laura)Eli Wilton born January 20, 2015
Lemanski Hall to Leslie McClainMay 31, 2014
Alima Dubrulle to Joe O’MalleyOctober 18, 2014
BIRTHS WEDDINGS
FAC ULTY
Robin Smith will serve as the Chair of the Geisel Committee, the companion group of the Caldecott, Newbery and Sibert Commit-tees. The Committee deter-mines the awards given to the author(s) and illustrator(s) of the most distinguished American book for beginning readers published in English in the United States during the preceding year.
FACULTY NEWS
Connor Schutzman is a Certified Sports turf manager. He is one of about 350 in the U.S. to earn this title.
Elias Salazar conducted the Nashville Philhar-monic at the Schermerhorn Center September 27 in the Laura Turner Concert Hall. The Philharmonic played movements from Shosta-kovich Symphony No. 5, a movement of the Dvorak Violin Concerto, and Elias conducted Mendelssohn’s Hebrides Overture.
¡ (Above) Faculty at the Red Gables campus
pose in their festive holiday attire.
2 0 1 5 W I N T E R | 3 7
BOOKSHELF
CHRISTINE DOZAMathematics, High School
MYRA MCLAREYEnglish, High School
HEIDI WOLTERMusic, Lower School
NIGEL LLOYDSpanish, Middle School
Midnight in SiberiaAuthor: Dav id GreeneG e nre: Non-f ictionThis book follows the author as he travels across Russia on the Trans-Siberian Express. He is the former bureau chief of NPR’s Moscow office, so though the book is readable and chatty, Greene tackles lots of serious political and cultural issues within Russia and has good historical insight. Recommended!
Motherland, “Growing Up with the Holocaust”Author: R ita G oldbergG e nre: Memoi rThis will hit the bookshelves in the US this spring. It was first published in Europe, written by Rita Goldberg (the goddaughter of Otto Frank). This story is about Rita’s mother, Margo Frank’s close friend, who evaded the Gestapo (unlike most of her family) and worked in the underground as a teenager, but it also explores what legacy means and how the children of survivors find purpose in their lives. Writing is exquisite.
Results Coaching; The New Essential for School LeadersAuthor: K at h r y n KeeG e nre: Non-Fiction
Results coaching is a leadership model based on building coaching relationships with staff members to help them develop as professionals. Being a “coach leader” is a new identity that challenges a leader to “walk the talk,” growing and improving themselves before leading others.
Time to be in EarnestAuthor: P. D. Ja mesG e nre: Autobiog raphy An eye-opener, touching, moving account in diary form of one year in the life of the writer who has just died, in November 2014.
FAC ULTY
18
19
An Ensworth Story
Always a
Always a TigerAn Ensworth Story Coloring BookWritten by Tua Bultje
Illustrated by Lynn Vincent
Don’t miss this beautiful coloring book featuring a heart-warming poem by Tua Bultje, Third Grade teacher, and illustrated by Lynn Vincent, Publications. Pick up a copy in the Admission Office!
featuring a heart-warming poem by Tua Bultje, Third Grade teacher, and illustrated
Sometimes, a Sometimes, a tiger walks
boldlyboldlythrough the front doors.through the front doors.
38 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
KK WYNN First Grade
TREY HOUSELatin, Middle School
You have been at Ensworth for 2 years, but you are an old pro when it comes to the classroom. Tell us a little about your journey into education and Ensworth.This school year marks my 17th year in education. My mother was actually
my elementary school principal. In my eyes, she was an amazing teacher and leader and inspired me to be a teacher too. Following my graduation from Peabody at Vanderbilt, I taught first grade for one year in Metropolitan Nashville Public Schools. Following that first year, I moved on to teach third grade in Huntsville City Schools. Once I moved to Nashville, I taught second grade for two years. I left the classroom for an administrative opportunity and then returned to the classroom after being hired for a first grade position at Ensworth. When attending Peabody, I actually completed an arts practicum under Mrs. Rose Pickel. It was truly a dream to further my teaching career at Ensworth and to get to learn from Mrs. Pickel again, while cultivating new relationships with other professionals such as my teammates, Camy, Jen, and Jennifer.
If you had to pick one thing you hoped your first grade students left your class knowing what would it be?If I could pick one thing that I hoped my first grade students left my class knowing, I hope that they have learned altruistic values that they will carry with them throughout their lives.
If you could trade places with any Ensworth teacher for a day who would it be and why?I would trade places with Melissa Fogaros. She has all three of my children for math this year, and they all agree that she is an amazing teacher. I’m interested in seeing how she e�ectively teaches di�erent children who have such varying needs.
Typically students don’t gravitate to the idea of Latin as a foreign language option. What are some challenges you face?Going all the way back to my undergraduate days, if I had a dollar every time someone asked me “What can you do with Latin?” I’d be answering these questions from my beach house. While it’s true that you will be hard pressed to use Latin, strictly speaking, outside of the Vatican, that doesn’t make it a fruitless endeavor. Latin requires discipline, problem solving, critical thinking, analyzing, and integration skills just as much as any other subject. Education is about more than learning what you need to get into college or to get a job. Those outcomes are obviously important, but they need to be the product of a good education, not the aim in and of itself.
What a sad and boring world it would be if we only learned things directly related to our work. If we wish to fulfill the Ensworth mission statement, we must be ready to embrace and encourage learning in all its forms.
What is your favorite lunch day in the cafeteria?Chicken fajita day without a doubt. The new parfait cups for the faculty (sorry, students!) are quite delicious too.
If you could trade places with any Ensworth teacher for a day who would it be and why? I’m not sure I would be an adequate replacement for any of the P1 teachers, but I would love to see them in action.
FACULTY FOCUS
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CHRISTIAN BAHRDirector of Aquatics
TIFFANY TOWNSENDDirector of Marketing
Tell us a little bit about the typical day for you and what goes into running the Natatorium.I typically arrive on campus before 5:30 am. I coach a Masters Swimming Team three days a week and a small group of Ensworth students two days a week. Following a 7:40 a.m. Fitness meeting it is time for the school day. Some days that means meeting,
scheduling, and planning for things such as Swim School, Lifeguard classes, summer camps, facility maintenance, lifeguard schedules, parties, swim meets, etc. On other days my school day is filled with teaching classes to Ensworth students through our Fitness program. After school I work with a group of approximately 30 year-round swimmers, 8 of whom attend Ensworth. I also oversee our entire High School Swimming & Diving Team. I typically leave campus between 6:30 and 7:00 pm. The days are pretty full.
As to what goes into running the Natatorium—very good people. I am incredibly fortunate to have a cadre of intelligent, excited, and passionate people with whom to work, from Krysten Call our Swim School Director to everyone who works in the Operations department. Their expertise, guidance, dedication, and joy are priceless assets to the programmatic success we strive for in Aquatics.
Oh…the last thing that goes into running this place? Plenty of chlorine.
If you could trade places with any Ensworth teacher for a day who would it be and why?I would trade places with Dave Berry for theater class. I have zero theater experience, but I have always been a literature lover and was, once upon a time, a writer. I think I’ve always enjoyed the written word because of the escape it provides from the everyday world and the ability to slip into someone’s life and experience.
Marketing Director encompasses a lot of different aspects of advancing the school. Tell us about your new marketing goals for Ensworth?One of the first goals is to clarify our brand identity and ensure that our messaging is clear and consistent. We are emphasizing that Ensworth is one school, P1-12, with one mission and vision, and we are focusing our message on these core values that represent the heart of Ensworth.Another goal is to strengthen our online presence. We recently redesigned our website to function as an online viewbook that more e�ectively showcases Ensworth to our external audience. We are also developing our social media portfolio through Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and our blog.
You have been here for over 10 years. If you had to name one thing that really sets Ensworth apart from other schools what would that be?I think what sets Ensworth apart is the way that we help each student discover and develop his/her voice. From the pre-first grade standing on the stage at the high school asking for pennies for Habitat, to the 2nd grade authors’ reception and 4th grade biography fair, to the middle school plays and the high school Harkness tables, our students are constantly challenged and encouraged to speak in front of and within groups. As a result, our students become very confident, articulate people who are prepared to engage in thoughtful, respectful discourse in any setting, which is a skill that will serve them well no matter what path they take in life.
If you could be a student for a day, what class would you want to take?I have always wanted to be adept in both visual and performance arts, even though I have no natural talent in either area. I think I would spend my day sampling classes in the arts department: ceramics, photography, acting, guitar, dance, etc. How I wish I was a renaissance woman!
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CLASS NOTESENSWORTH Alumni
WEDDINGS
Allison Clark Bates ’92 married Stephen Buford Smith October 4, 2014
George Scoville ’94 married Emily Passini September 27, 2014
Curtis Lane ’01 married Katie Fear August 23, 2014
Gretchen Wilson ’03 married Steve Altenburger September 27, 2014
Diana Beckner ’03 married Patrick Whelan December 20, 2014
Ward Pickens ’09 married Becca Senn on October 4, 2014
Mandy Williams ’11 married Mark Johnson
December 30, 2014
Kathryn Alexander ’88 (Matt Davanzo) William Rank Davanzo October 23, 2014
Sarah Allen Cassanego ’96 (Dante Cassanego) Emilia Grace CassanegoOctober 5, 2014
Patrick Warfield ’98 (Catherine) James Patrick Warfield Jr. September 26, 2014
Cutler Averbuch ’00 and Liza Trickett Averbuch ’00 Harvey Davis Averbuch September 9, 2014
Crockett Hale Rodriguez ’00 (Jonas) Jack Ruff Rodriguez January 6, 2015
BIRTHS
ALUM NI
William Rankin DavanzoBorn October 23, 2014
Kathryn Alexander and Matt Davanzo happily announce the arrival of William to their family,
joining excited big brothers Jonathan (5)
and Matthew (3).
Love and Best Wishes,the Davanzo Family
1 Gretchen (Wilson) ’03 and Steve Altenburger 2 Mandy (Williams) ’11 and Mark Johnson 3 William Rank Davanzo 4 Becca and Ward Pickens ’09 5 Emilia Grace Cassanego 6 War Eagle! Wirth Campbell ‘11 7 Honey Bennett ‘10 and Olivia Carmichael ‘10 at the Alumni Art Show
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Ever since her first day in Mrs. Sanchez’s first grade class-room, Honey Bennett has wanted to be a teacher. “Even though I
often struggled in school, I still loved learning and being in the classroom.” Throughout her time at Ensworth and the University of Alabama, the teachers who really went above and beyond to make sure that she understood the material reinforced her desire to be a teacher so that one day, she could go the extra mile for her future students.
During Honey’s last semester, she was given the opportunity to complete her student teaching in Auckland, New Zealand where she spent four months
on the North Island of New Zealand in a small suburb of Auckland called Howick. Coincidentally, Pre-first teacher Megan Florentine was working in the same school during the summer. “I went to Owairoa Primary School in August on a professional development trip to spend some time observing children learning to read and write in Year Zero and Year One classrooms (the equivalent of American kindergarten and first grade). I was thrilled to see an Ensworth alum, Honey Bennett, doing her student teaching at the very same school! Watching Honey work as a colleague among the New Zealand teachers filled me with pride and so much excitement for her future as an educator.”
“Alongside becoming a teacher one day, another dream of mine was to become a teacher with the Teach For America Program.” Honey is very excited to be joining Teach For America in May where she looks forward to becoming “part of the movement to help children that really need the extra attention and give them a fair chance at a quality education.” She will be teaching in Houston, TX where she hopes to create a place where she can help students who face obstacles in their daily lives receive the solid education that they deserve. “A classroom is a special place, and getting to see the excitement and eagerness of students who overcome a difficulty is almost magical.” Her passion for the well-being and success of her students is a testament to those teachers who went the extra mile with her while she was a student walking the halls of Ensworth.
Honey BennettClass of 2010
“A classroom is
a special place,
and getting to see
the excitement
and eagerness
of students who
overcome a
difficulty is
almost magical.”
“ I was thrilled to see an Ensworth alum, Honey Bennett, doing her student teaching at the very same school! Watching Honey work as a colleague among the New Zealand teachers filled me with pride and so much excitement for her future as an educator.”
—Megan FlorentinePre-first Teacher
Alumni
Focus
1 9 6 0Irwin Fisher ’66 is the Chair of the Event Marketing Com-mittee for the Convention & Visitor’s Corporation, serving on the Strategic Planning Commit-tee for CVC, and on the Boards of Community Foundation, West End Home Foundation and Women’s Fund.
1 9 7 0Ray Abner ’71 recently be-came the Executive Director of Kosmos Ministries, a non-profit based in Winder, GA. Kosmos enables local churches to “pro-vide food, water, clothing, and the Word to the extreme impov-erished in Central America.”
1 9 8 0Reuben Bueno ’82 was named chief of Pediatric Plastic Surgery at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Wendell Harmer ’84 recently became the CEO at HARCO, LLC in Nashville.
1 9 9 0Chenault Sanders ’91 is a Managing Member at Trailblaz-er Station Investment Partners, LLC.
Allison Bates Smith ’92 lives in the Logan Circle neighbor-hood of Washington, DC where she works for Google in public policy and government affairs.
George Scoville ’94 is a public affairs consultant and adjunct professor in the department of political science at Belmont.
Morgan Scoville ’96 is cur-rently the Director of Admission at Currey Ingram Academy. He is also in the inaugural class of the Masters in Independent School Leadership program at Vanderbilt University.
2 0 0 0Will Colton ’01 and his wife Lexi live in Lancaster, Massachusetts, outside of Boston where he works for Hewlett Packard.
Curtis Lane ’01 lives with his wife Katie in Denver, CO, where he works as a Sales Represen-tative for St. Jude Medical.
Jennie McCabe ’01 was recently promoted to special events coordinator at the Frist Center for Visual Arts.
Gretchen (Wilson) Alten-burger ’03 graduated with her J.D. in May 2014 from the University of Denver Sturm Col-lege of Law. She will graduate from the University of Denver’s Graduate Tax Program this year, with an LL.M. in Taxation, focusing her research on the impact of Section 1411 on Un-earned Net Investment Income under the Affordable Care Act.
Jesse Colton ’03 is working in Brentwood for a small software company, Intelometry, providing comprehensive software to un-regulated utilities nationwide.
Millie Chapman ’08 is a Proj-ect Manager at Pearson North America in New York City.
Peyton Davis ’08 graduated from Airborne Training for the U.S. Army at Ft. Benning, GA on November 7, 2014.
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Virginia Ann Ivey ’08 is an Account Executive at Tracy-Locke in Dallas, TX.
Lizzie Guerre ’08 is a 4th grade teacher at Sequoyah Elementary School in Knoxville, TN. She teaches Writing, Sci-ence, and Social Studies.
Carly Warfield ’08 graduated from The University of Lou-isville’s Accelerated Nursing Program with her Bachelor of Science in Nursing in August. Following graduation, she accepted a position as a Regis-tered Nurse on the Labor and Delivery unit at Norton Hospital in Louisville, KY.
Michael Dunn ’09 graduated from Texas Christian University with a BS in Economics and minors in Business and Com-munications. He is working as a Financial Representative for Capital Financial Partners in Ft. Worth, and living in Dallas, Texas.
Katie Smalley ’09 is cur-rently in her second year of Law School at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. She is a contributor to The Law Review and Transactions Journal and has a new puppy named Luke.
Andrew Colton ’09 moved to New York City in November. He joined an international com-pany, Gerson Lehrman Group (GLG) that markets itself as an ‘expert network.’
Corey Sacks ’10 graduated from University of Alabama in December. He recently moved to Atlanta to work for Insight Global as a recruiter for the technology industry.
Claire Glassford ’10, grad-uated with Honors from the Tisch School of the Arts at New York University, where she re-ceived a BFA in Drama. Claire is now an alum of both The New Studio on Broadway for Musical Theatre and Stonestreet Film Studios. Last summer, Claire choreographed a show for the NYC FRINGE Festival called, Dust Can’t Kill Me. Claire can be seen in the upcoming feature film, The Family Fang, opposite Christopher Walken, directed by and starring Jason Bateman and featuring Nicole Kidman.
Ellyse Murphy ’10 is now Recruiting Associate at FTI Consulting in Washington, DC.
Genny Mayden ’10 is living in New York City and working at Peerless Clothing Inc. as a Marketing and Advertising Assistant.
William Joy ’10 graduated Magna Cum Laude from the Missouri School of Journalism while working at KOMU-TV (NBC) in Columbia. He re-ceived the NATAS Mid-America Student Television Award for a story on how the state’s lack of alcohol enforcement was losing money for public schools. He is now working in Charleston, SC as a reporter for WCSC-TV (CBS).
Kyle Holcomb ’10 has gradu-ated from University of Ten-nessee with a BS in Electrical Engineering. He is presently employed as a Smart Grid Engi-neer at Prince George Electric Cooperative in Virginia.
Ashlyn Johnson ’11 will graduate from Kenyon College in the spring as a psychology major. She is currently apply-
ing to graduate schools in the Northeast to obtain a master’s in social work.
Wirth Campbell ’11 will complete his senior year at Auburn in May 2015. Wirth has been a member of the 2013 SEC Champion Auburn foot-ball team, and played for the National Championship at the Rose Bowl in January 2014, and played in this year’s Outback Bowl on New Year’s Day 2015.
Sto Mahoney ’11 is a senior at Lehigh. He earned both Sophomore and Junior of the year for the IBE program. He has earned Dean’s list every semester for a GPA over 3.6.
Alexandra Callahan ’11 will be graduating from Indiana University in Bloomington with Honors and Distinction with degrees in Accounting and Finance with a minor in Theatre in May 2015. She was a member of Indiana University’s Homecoming Court for 2014, Guide Coordinator for the Kelley School of Business Guides, member of the Kelley Consult-ing Workshop, and a member of the winning Target team com-petition. She studied in London during the Spring of 2014. As a member of Theta Phi Alpha sorority, she served as Internal Vice President and Academic Chair. Alexandra interned as a Financial Analyst in personal healthcare with Procter and Gamble during the summer of 2014 and she will start full time as a Financial Analyst for them in the summer of 2015.
Carolyn Fisher ’11 has ac-cepted a position with DeLoitte Consulting in Atlanta as a Human Capital Analyst in May after she graduates from Van-derbilt University.
Katarina Vollho�er ’11 is now Marketing Strategy Intern at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans and a senior at Tulane University.
Cole Parrish ’11 was elected captain of the 2014-2015 Se-wanee men’s golf team.
Carol Allen ’12 is a double major in Communications and Psychology and continues to play Lacrosse as a starting attack at Denison University. She also just returned from a semester in Copenhagen.
Elam Mangum ’12 is a Political Science major at Pepperdine University where she is also studying to obtain a Certificate in Conflict Manage-ment from the Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution. She is a Resident Advisor; serves as Student Representative to the Pepperdine Student Disci-plinary Committee; member of the American Enterprise Insti-tute Executive Council, Pep-perdine Chapter; and serves as Administrative Director of Won-derfully Made at Pepperdine.
Mary Elizabeth Colton ’12 is a junior at Bucknell Univer-sity majoring in International Relations and French. She is an orientation leader, tour guide, and in the a capella group. During the summer of 2014, she spent her summer working with Congressman Cooper in Washington, D.C. She is cur-rently studying abroad for the semester in Tours, France.
Nathan Watkins ’12 made the Southeastern Conference Academic Honor Roll for the 2013-2014 school year in recog-nition of outstanding academic accomplishment while compet-ing in intercollegiate athletics at Vanderbilt University.
CLASS NOTESENSWORTH Alumni
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Maya White ’12 is currently a junior at Loyola University studying Political Science. During the summer of 2014, she interned at the White House in the Office of Public Engagement and Intergovern-mental Affairs where the bulk of her work centered on the Champions of Change Program.
Hannah Kimbrough ’12 is a junior at Eastern Illinois Univer-sity majoring in Business. For the academic year 2013/2014 Hannah was named to the EIU and the EIU Business School’s 4.0 Dean’s list and also to the OVC (Ohio Valley Conference) Commissioner’s list. Additional-ly, she was designated captain of the EIU women’s team for the 2014/2015 season.
Alec Holcomb ‘13 is complet-ing his second year, working toward a Bachelor of Music at Curtis Institute of Music in Philadelphia, PA.
Graham Stessel ’13 is a soph-omore at University of Missouri at Columbia in the Honors Col-lege. He was accepted into the Cornell Leadership Program in the Trulaske College of Busi-ness and was recently elected Historian of his fraternity, Pi Kappa Phi. He plans to study abroad this summer in Spain.
McKenna Monk ’13 was elected Member Recognition Chairman in the Delta Delta Delta sorority at The University of Alabama. She also launched her jewelry line, Blair, which can be found on Instagram @blairjewelry.
Blaire Smith ’13 is a soph-omore at Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she is on the Southern Athletic Asso-ciation Student-Athlete 2014 Academic Honor Roll. Blaire was awarded the Crossroads to Freedom Fellowship in Mem-phis during the summer of 2014.
Lily Parrish ’13 is a sopho-more at University of Southern California. She was admitted to the prestigious USC Marshall School of Business and joined the Pi Beta Phi sorority.
Lynn Whitfield ’14 was elect-ed as a Freshman Senator at The University of the South. She is also working as Assistant Coach for the Middle School Girls Soccer Team of Saint Andrew’s Sewanee.
Mary Sawyer ’14, has been notified that her intaglio print “Just Another Slaughter” was accepted into The Young Ten-nessee Artists: 2014 Advanced Placement and Internation-al Baccalaureate Studio Art exhibition at the Frist Center for the Visual Arts. The exhibit runs from November 7, 2014- March 8th 2015. Mary is attending Kenyon College.
While the passion for being on the field usually turns into watching college and professional football in a high school graduate’s past time, Class of 2008’s Leland Taylor had other plans after his playing time came to an end. “I was never going to be as athletic as Orleans Darkwa ‘10 or Tavarres Jefferson ‘09, no matter how much I pretended to be, so I decided to pursue coaching.”
Leland went to the University of Mississippi where he began as a manager for the football team. His hopes were to become more involved in coaching behind the scenes, but that opportunity was not usually offered to many college kids who wanted to be a football coach. After “expressing interest and being persistent,” the coaches realized his potential, and they gave
him more opportunities to become involved in the program, “I was coming in early, breaking down film and sitting in on game plan meetings.” During his senior year at Ole Miss, he decided that he would begin to look into scouting; he sent his resume out to every NFL team but “received nothing but rejection letters.” Although the rejection was devastating, Leland continued to persevere, jumping on any possible opportunity he crossed and finally, he found something. The Indianap-olis Colts had an internship oppor-tunity available for the summer, and after a rigorous application and interview process, Leland got the
job. He spent the summer of 2014 working for the Indianapolis Colts, and when the summer internship ended he spent the season coaching corners at The University of Memphis while continuing to reach out to teams in the NFL for any open spot on their staff.
The aspiring scout’s persistence paid off. After “sending out more resumes and receiving more rejection letters,” the team that he had interned with during the summer before, the Indianapolis Colts, had a spot open up. Now he is living his dream on the scouting team for the Colts. Leland spends the majority of his time collecting stats from players in the NFL, updating inju-ries, suspensions and depth chart changes, and he also watches games of top college players, doing the same for them. “Essentially my job is to keep up with information around the league, which is what most guys playing fantasy football do in their free time.”
Throughout Leland’s ups and downs in his pursuit to become an NFL scout, he uses skills and values that he learned during his time as a student at Ensworth. “My thirteen years at Ensworth provided a foundation for not only perseverance and hard work, but also for the ability to communicate clearly —an essential quality that helped set me apart in my job search.”
Leland TaylorClass of 2008
“My thirteen years at Ensworth provided a foundation for not only perseverance and hard work, but also for the ability to communicate clearly—an essential quality that helped set me apart in my job search.”
Alumni
Focus
SEND US YOUR NEWS!
Keep in touch with your classmates and let them keep up with you. Send your latest news,
moves and photos to Alli Hicks at
44 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
Class of 2014’s Mary Sauve continues to embrace the school’s mission statement in her life beyond Ensworth. While abroad in Salvador, Brazil for the year, Mary has achieved academic excellence, used her talents to the fullest, has been a contributor to society as well as being intellectually curious throughout her time in South America.
After her acceptance to Princeton, Mary expressed interest in the Princeton Bridge Year Program, which is a gap year planned and funded by the Univer-sity. “Their version of ‘In Search of Truth’ is ‘In the nation’s service and in the service of all nations’ so to try to uphold that, they send thirty-five students recently accepted to five different countries each year.” After completing the application and interview process, Mary was accepted and placed in Brazil
for the year.
“Basically the goal is to learn as much about the culture as we can in these nine months; religion, dance, food, traditions, the language, everything.” While living with a host family in Salvador, Brazil, Mary has immersed herself in the culture, vol-unteering at an orphanage called Lar da Crianca, taking Portuguese classes and other classes on the Brazilian culture, teaching English to people in the community, as well as taking dance classes at a federally run dance studio in Salvador where her host dad teaches. “It’s a great way to bond with my host dad and meet people in the city who have similar interests to me.” Capoeira, a type of dance that is “half martial arts and half dance which originated from the slaves of the 1800’s in Brazil,” sparked Mary’s interest prior to her arrival to Sal-vador, and she has really enjoyed taking classes
to broaden her dance expertise and to learn about an art that lies so near to the community’s heart. Going to the Capoeira classes in her spare time has been “another great way to capture the culture.”
She gives much of the credit to her teachers at Ensworth for equipping her with the ability to challenge herself to try new things and to reach outside of her comfort zone. “My teachers taught me how to ask the right questions, which is something I definitely didn’t realize I had learned or needed until I arrived in Salvador.”
Mary SauveClass of 2014
“My teachers taught me how to ask the right questions, which is something I definitely didn’t realize I had learned or needed until I arrived in Salvador.”
Alumni
Focus
1 Class of 2014 back home for the holiday (Left to Right)(Front) Caroline Elcan, Mary Kate Hannon, Becca Rolfe, Sally Krebs, Elizabeth Cox (Back) Grace Chang, Lynn Whitfield, Merritt Dingess 2 Lila Davis ‘11, Mary West ‘11 and Coco Smith ‘11 3 Katie Cox ‘11, David Dingess ‘11, Paul Caudill ‘11 4 Members of the Class of 2009 at their reunion: Tavarres Jefferson, Alli Hicks, Mary Cannon Spradley, Margaret Mc-Donald, Janie McNamee, Laura Barrier, Francie Fisher, Katherine McDonald, Emily Perkins, Nakia Lang, Miles Asafo-Adjei, Carell Brown, Jana Wolskij, Wilson Laine, Robert Yarbrough, Jordan McDonald, Michael Dunn, Tate Lanford, Spencer Foote, Sydney Mayfield, Emily Vaughan, Allison Perkins, Christina Chintanaphol, Gary Pope
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46 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
SERVICE LEARNINGGRANTS
In addition to the Academic
Grants awarded to students,
Service Learning grants for
programs in Peru and Tanzania
were also awarded, thanks
to the generosity of another
supportive member of the
Ensworth community. High
School students with strong
academic records, a commit-
ment to Service Learning,
extensive involvement in
school activities, and who are
leaders in and out of school life
were awarded the grants. The
Ensworth community celebrates
the gifts, talents and passions
of these remarkable students.
2014
ACADEMIC GRANTSSUMMER
High School students at Ensworth with strong academic records were fortunate to have the opportunity to apply for summer Academic Grants. Qualified students submitted proposals for grants that would allow them to immerse themselves in academic programs across the country and around the world. Through the generosity of a supportive member of the Ensworth community, this two-year initiative has inspired students to engage in individual academic pursuits in areas of personal interest. Last year, and again this year, $125,000 was awarded to the top applicants from a large pool of high-achieving Ensworth students. It is our hope that programs such as this one will be available in future years through the generosity of new donors who understand how such opportunities promote and inspire academic excellence for all Ensworth students.
“The summer grant to China
offered me invaluable language
experience that just isn’t
possible within the classroom.
Being able to interact with
English learners in Zhengzhou
as well as visiting a number of
incredible cultural sites along
the way has made for such an
unforgettable experience.”
— Elliot Jaffe
“Being able to visit Karatu, Tanzania and interact with the children from
the Banjika Secondary School was an opportunity that I will cherish
forever. The greatest thing about my experience was learning from the
children. In reality I thought that we would be the ones helping them but,
on our journey, I received so much from the local children, and that was
what made this adventure so humbling.”
— Preston Johnson
“Last summer I was given the
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to
travel to China. The experience
was incredible - I took away new-
found knowledge of Chinese culture
and customs, was able to practice
conversing with native speakers,
connected with students from
Zhengzhou, and, best of all, tried
a wide variety of amazing food.
I’m so thankful for the incredible
opportunities that Ensworth has
given me.”
— Sage Loh
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Vis i t ensworth .com/summer
Exp lore the var iety of opportun i t ies for ages 4-18
S ign up , then te l l your f r iends
Pat yourse l f on the back for be ing such a smart parent
ensworth.com/summer
ACADEMICS • ARTS • CREATIVITYENRICHMENT • EXPLORATION • SPORTS
HOW TO ENSUREYOUR CH ILD
HAS AN EXC IT ING AND ENR ICH ING SUMMER:
“The month that I spent in the
beautiful town of Salamanca,
Spain, was truly unforgettable.
Fully immersing myself in
the Spanish language in my
International Relations class
and in conversations with other
students and locals drastically
improved my Spanish skills,
and it caused me to fall in love
with the rich, laid-back culture
of Spain. I made incredible
friends from all over the world
and truly had the summer of a
lifetime, and I feel so grateful
that Ensworth made this all
possible.”
— Lilly Chadwick
VISIT w w w . e n s w o r t h . c o m /p a g e /p r o g r a m s
TO LEARN ABOUT OUR YEAR-ROUNDDANCE, AQUATICS , & TENNIS PROGRAMS
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48 | ENSWORTH ENSIGHTS
ARCHIVESFrom the
Do you remember…
When all you had to do was follow the yellow brick road and it would lead you to a night out with Dorothy, Toto and the Tin Man?
Can you name the year of this Auction and the people in the photos? Email answers to [email protected].
Learn more. If you want to talk about charitable giving, please contact Bedell James.Bedell James, Director of Development & Endowment
P: 615.250.8919 E: [email protected]
Artist in ResidenceThrough the generosity of an endowment gift, Ensworth has established an Artist in Residence Program. This program will bring an expert in a chosen artistic field to the school for a series of sessions with our students in current classes, teaching master classes and one-on-one artistic mentoring on both campuses. The program will expose students to new and innovative art hap-pening beyond the classroom walls and give them a window into the Nashville arts community.
Our first Artist in Residence will be working with students during the second semester of the current school year and continue a relationship for years to come with the Ensworth community.
“All successful educational arts
programs are spiraled to greater
heights with a guest artist in residence program. This gift,
this endowment, will establish
successful growth of the Ensworth arts program in ways we
have never imagined. Our Music, Visual Arts, Dance, and
Theater will all have the opportunity to
experience visiting professional art
educators on so many new levels. We are
truly grateful.”
Donnie BryanHigh School Arts
Department Chair
Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage
PAIDNashville, TN
Permit No. 2630
211 ENSWORTH AVENUENASHVILLE, TN 37205-1997
ensworth.com
ENSWORTH
Celebrating Traditions
This handmade tapestry, generously gifted to Ensworth, celebrates the traditions at the Red Gables Campus.
How many can you spot?
Artist: Alice Mogan, 2014