KnightTimes Winter 2016

STATE CHAMPIONS

THE RISE AND TRIUMPH OF A TRULY HISTORIC TEAM

THE 2016–2021 STRATEGIC PLAN A BOLD VISION FOR THE FUTURE

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6 T H E M A G A Z I N E O F PAC E A C A D E M Y

MILLS B. LANE, JR.

PACE'S GUIDING

LIGHT

Starry Knights GalaUnique Auction Items, Delectable Dining,

Dancing under the Stars,

Elegance, Fun, Excitement… Games & Surprises Galore!

Pace Academy

Parents Club

presents

Sponsor, Donate and Purchase Tickets at

www.paceacademy.org/auction

Saturday, April 2, 2016 6:30 p.m.

Ritz-Carlton, Buckhead5013C

Starry Knights GalaUnique Auction Items, Delectable Dining,

Dancing under the Stars,

Elegance, Fun, Excitement… Games & Surprises Galore!

W I N T E R 2 0 1 6

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

Contact us to deliver a meal:

404-926-3727 or [email protected]

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I don’t know much about football. Pace Academy fielded a team long after I gradu-ated and, no offense to the mighty Rhodes College Lynx, but I only attended college football games to see who was crowned homecoming king and queen. I’ve been known to refer to halftime as “intermission.”

My limited knowledge of rules and regulations, play-calling and penalties stems from Saturday afternoons half watching the Georgia Bulldogs with my fanatical hus-band and the occasional Friday night under the lights at Pace’s Walsh Field. But I have to admit, after the Knights’ road to the state championship, I’m a football fan.

Honestly, I still don’t care much about the game itself, but this season, everything around it made me pay attention. From my perch in the Castle, I watched our varsity football players arrive for summer training sessions; I listened to our cheerlead-ers running through their routines on the front lawn and the pep band rehearsing fight songs. Lower and Middle School students unfurled rolls of butcher paper to craft colorful banners; parents and students packed fan buses; and longtime history teacher HELEN SMITH asked me how to watch games on KnightFlix.

For the Pace family, football became more than a game; it was a chance to come to-gether as a community, to root for the home team and to go a little nuts. It was electric.

I hope you’ll read Director of Athletics TROY BAKER’S heartfelt reflections on the season on page 40, and I hope to see you in the stands at an upcoming athletic compe-tition or in the audience at an arts performance. It’s a great time to be a Pace Knight!

Caitlin Goodrich Jones ’00DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

The Georgia Dome was electric when Pace squared off against Fitzgerald in the Class AA state championship. Read about it on page 38.

LETTER FROM THE EDITOR

KnightTimes966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org

Head of SchoolFRED ASSAF

Division HeadsMICHAEL GANNON Head of Upper School

JOHN ANDERSON Head of Middle School

SYREETA MOSELEY Head of Lower School

Communications DepartmentCAITLIN GOODRICH JONES ’00 Director of Communications, Editor

RYAN VIHLEN Creative Services Manager, Graphic Designer

LELA WALLACE Digital Communications Manager

LIZ WIEDEMANN Stewardship Manager, Staff Writer

Contributing PhotographersFRED ASSAF

GEMSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHIC

LAURA INMAN

Our MissionTo create prepared, confident citizens of the world who honor the values and legacy of Pace Academy.

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

KnightTimes | Winter 2016

CONTRIBUTORSTroy Baker

Director of Athletics TROY BAKER joined the Pace Academy community in 2015 following six years as director of athletics at Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn. He received his undergraduate degree in educa-tion from Wright State University and a master’s in secondary education

from Brown University. In May 2015, Baker graduated with a Doctor of Education from Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.

Athletics has always been an integral part of Baker’s learning experience. He played basketball in high school and college in addition to competing in the long jump and the high jump. Baker and his wife, LORI BAKER, have four children: Spen-cer Mackey, MCKENZIE BAKER ’17, LOGAN BAKER ’21 and DYLAN BAKER ’22.

Marla Read Capper

Director of Professional Development and Curriculum Studies MARLA READ CAPPER came to Pace in 2015 after serving as a research scientist and professional development specialist at the University of Virginia. Capper graduated from Ohio University with a bachelor’s in elementary

and English education. She went on to receive her Master of Education in special education at Ohio University before attending the University of Virginia to earn a Doctor of Educational Psychology.

Fred Glass ’89

After graduating from Pace, FRED GLASS attended the University of Georgia as a business major and went on to receive his MBA in finance from Georgia State University. He is a financial planner and strategist with Glass Financial in Atlanta. He is the husband of ELIZABETH GLASS, a

member of the Pace Academy Office of Advancement, and father of MERRITT ANN GLASS ’19 and KATHLEEN GLASS ’22. The Glass family lives in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood.

Hannah Kelly ’15

HANNAH KELLY, a former intern for the Pace communications depart-ment, is a freshman at Duke University and plans to study English and visual art. While at Pace, Kelly was a member of the Barbara and Sanford Orkin Society, the National Honor Society and the Cum Laude Society. She

is also a former Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Pacesetter (read about it on page 9). In her free time, she enjoys reading, running and playing with her cat.

Hayley Shoji ’12

HAYLEY SHOJI graduated from The University of Alabama with a degree in public relations and is now pursuing a master’s in marketing at Alabama. She is a graduate assistant in the school’s University Programs depart-ment, where she manages all communication for events and three “unruly

undergrads.” At Pace, Shoji was on the debate team, Student Council and Honor Council, and was a student ambassador and a basketball cheerleader.

4

THE MAGAZINE OF PACE ACADEMY

Dear Pace Family,

In 1958, banker MILLS B. LANE, JR., took a chance on Pace Academy, facilitating the loan that allowed Pace to purchase property on W. Paces Ferry Road. The transaction inspired a lifelong relationship between Lane and his “little gem of a school.” He joined the Pace Board of Trustees and envisioned a school dedicated to academic excellence, joyful learning, diversity, inclusion and endless opportunity.

As we highlight Lane’s contributions to Pace (see story on page 30), it is only fitting that we also unveil the 2016–2021 Strategic Plan, our vision for the next five years (page 34). While building on our recent progress, this Strategic Plan prioritizes the tried-and-true Pace values Lane so prized. The initiatives the Board of Trustees has identified are based on thoughtful reflec-tion, critical self-analysis, concrete data and aspirational thinking.

I am forever grateful to Strategic Planning Chair LIZ PRICE and her com-mittee for their leadership on this project. The forethought these Trustees demonstrated in mapping our path forward ensures our future success, just as their predecessors’ farsightedness enabled today’s accomplishments—and there are many.

In this issue, we celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Lower School Holi-day Program and a football state championship; we applaud our academic all-stars, artists, performers and student-athletes; we reflect on what makes a “good teacher”; and we continue to dig into the Isdell Center for Global Lead-ership’s Year of FOOD.

I know Lane and our founders would be proud of what this “little gem of a school” has become.

Go Knights!

Fred AssafHEAD OF SCHOOL

KnightTimes | Winter 2016 5

The 2015–2016 Isdell Global Leaders traveled to California to study FOOD. Read the story on page 24.

Photograph by ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

ON THE COVERSenior ANTHONY TRINH hoists the state-championship trophy while fellow seniors SAMUEL SLOMAN and SPENCER HEMMINGWAY look on. Read about the team's improbable title run on page 38.

Photograph by Head of School FRED ASSAF

THE MAGAZINE OF PACE ACADEMY

It was a busy semester for Middle and Upper School debaters. Middle School students, under the leadership of coach KIRK GIBSON, competed in multiple tournaments, bringing home individual and team awards.

In the final tournament of the semes-ter, the team of seventh-graders NED COLEMAN and DYLAN KAMINSKI finished with an undefeated record and placed fourth out of 80 teams.

Upper School debaters and coach SHUNTÁ JORDAN crisscrossed the country in search of debate gold. Freshmen TYLER HENDERSON and BEN NOTTINGHAM took home the junior-varsity title at the Peach State Classic tournament, ranking sixth and 10th, respectively.

At the varsity level, the team of senior REID FUNSTON and junior JAKE MOVSOVITZ finished as quarterfinalists in the New Trier Season Opener, where Funston was the 11th individual speaker. Funston followed up this perfor-mance with the top speaker award at the Heart of Texas Invitational. The team finished as finalists in the Electric City Invitational and was fourth in the Scranton Round Robin.

Also competing in the Electric City tournament, the team of juniors MISHA ANDRA-THOMAS and JACK MCMILLIN advanced to the octafinals. Funston was named the tournament’s seventh-place speaker; McMillin was 16th.

EXCELLENCE IN DEBATE IS NOT DEBATABLE

Gibson, ISABEL BATTISTA,

Kaminski and Coleman

NEWS What you need to know


6 NEWS What you need to know

10 AROUND PACE A look at what's happening on campus

14 Life Trustee Spotlight Catching up with GARRY SCHAEFER

16 Striving for Excellence in Teaching

18 FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

22 ICGL The Year of FOOD

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

26 Faculty Spotlight Head of Lower School SYREETA MOSELEY

30 MILLS B. LANE, JR. Meet Pace's guiding light, an unlikely hero during our early days

34 A VISION FOR THE FUTURE The 2016–2021 Strategic Plan— a bold look at where we're going

38 STATE FOOTBALL CHAMPS Find out how a No. 4 seed became your 2015 GHSA Class AA State Champion

44 ALUMNI

44 Updates

45 Richard Haining '97

50 Sam Birdsong '08 Birdsong and DTproductions tell the Pace story

52 Charley Brickley '88 We profile our new Alumni Board president

53 Alumni Out & About

CONTENTS

Henderson and Nottingham

NEWS


MEASURING OUR “HIGH Q”Pace Academy and the Lovett School are no doubt rivals on the athletic field, but how do they match up when academic titles are at stake? In December, seniors JACK EICHENLAUB and ANDREW WU and juniors AVERY HERMAN and BRIAN SLOAN went head to head with the Lions’ brightest in a battle of wits.

WSB-TV Channel 2’s High Q, an academic quiz-bowl competition, poses lightening-fast questions about everything from history and litera-ture to science and current events.

Did you know that seven of the country’s most polluted cities are in California? Or that one third of Americans are obese? Or that the Arctic Ocean is the world’s smallest ocean? Our students did. The Knights defeated the Lions 470–210 to advance to the next round of competition, scheduled in the spring.

WILLIAMS, CROSS RECEIVE CERAMIC ARTS AWARDSEach year, the Georgia High School Ceramic Arts Awards recognize outstanding visual artists throughout the state. Out of more than 600 entrants, junior TAHIRIH WILLIAMS’ sculptural vessel (shown right) took home the 2015 second-place prize, while junior JOSIE CROSS received one of 10 Awards of Excellence.

Williams

Cross

NEWS

SEVEN NAMED NATIONAL MERIT SEMIFINALISTSEach year, the National Merit Scholar-ship Program recognizes outstanding high-school seniors based on student performance on the PSAT. Seniors JACK EICHENLAUB, REID FUNSTON, LAUREN PICKMAN, JOHNNY REECE, STEPHEN REISNER, JAMES SADLO and ANDREW WU (pictured above, left to right) were named National Merit Semifinalists, placing them among the highest-scoring entrants in Georgia. Na-tional Merit Finalists will be announced in February 2016.

Freshman CAELAN CORBALLY’S artwork is out of this world—literally. Through International Paint Pals, which coordinated a youth art exhibition for the 2015

World Summit of Peace Laureates, Corbally’s work was selected from 2,000 submissions to ride into the stratosphere on a research balloon. High-school students in California working with a former CalTech professor launched the balloon as part of a study of cosmic radiation and microbiology at the edge of space.

Corbally’s painting, which, with her permission, was altered to include the words “Up with Peace,” was flown alongside a picture by a young Russian artist. Both pieces were then displayed at the Nobel Summit in Barcelona.

“This is what International Paint Pals is all about,” says founder Linden Longino, “bringing kids together through art—this time in a most unusual place.”

ICGL TRAVELS INSPIRE AWARD-WINNING PHOTOIf you visited Atlanta’s new Ponce City Market this past fall, you may have viewed work by some of Pace Academy’s talented visual artists.

Photographs by juniors LIZABETH FROHWEIN, SARI LEVEN, LAURA SHELTON, LIAN SHEPHERD, KATIE JORDAN, JACK WALLACE and SOPHIE ZELONY, and seniors CALLAWAY CHASE, HALEY HARTMAN, ELIZABETH HAWN, LINDSEY SAMPLE, NICOLE SHAFER and PAIGE WILLIAMS were displayed as part of My Atlanta, a pop-up photogra-phy exhibit in Atlanta Celebrates Photography’s 2015 festival.

The staff of Creative Loafing judged the exhibit, and Sample’s photograph, Oasis (shown left), won a third-place prize. The photo, taken during Pace’s Isdell Center for Global Lead-ership (ICGL) study tour to India in 2015, depicts a man practicing a religious ritual outside the Ellora Caves near the city of Aurangabad.

“One thing that is stressed in Indian culture is tolerance and acceptance,” says Sample. “I think this is shown through how normal it is to see this type of ritual being performed so publicly. There is no shame or need for privacy in this man’s personal relationship with his faith. I also believe [the photo] captures the beauty of this ancient place where these fantas-tic old caves are accessible to the public to practice whenever they please.”


PACE IN SPACE

NEED AN OLD YEARBOOK?Was yours lost, damaged or destroyed? We can send you another copy!

Contact Pacesetter adviser RYAN VIHLEN for availability.

[email protected]

NEWS

CONCEPTUALIZING, writing, photograph-ing, designing and producing a 360-page book in a matter of months is no easy task—just ask our yearbook staff.

Jostens, the country’s leading producer of yearbooks, recognized the 2014–2015 Pacesetter staff’s hard work and outstand-ing results with a 2015 Jostens’ National Yearbook Program of Excellence award. The designation recognizes “engaging year-books that reflect a broad representation of the student body while helping students develop 21st-century skills.”

The Pacesetter staff, one of only five in Georgia to receive the award, achieved the defined criteria in each of the fol-

lowing categories: creating an inclusive yearbook, generating school engagement and successfully managing the yearbook creation process.

Co-Editors-in-Chief HANNAH KELLY ’15 and LACEY O’SULLIVAN ’15 led the awarding-winning program, which also re-ceived a Silver Medalist Certificate from the Columbia Press Association and a Second Place Certificate from the American Scho-lastic Press Association. Seniors CAROLYNE EITH and CARLY SHOULBERG are this year’s co-editors-in-chief, and RYAN VIHLEN serves as their faculty adviser.

THE 2014–2015 PACESETTER STAFF

BACK ROW (left to right): Haley Epstein, Emma Laura Gash, Molly Marks, Cadie Schiffer, Carolyn Propst, Katie Nelson, Caroline Hardison, Nicole Shafer, Carolyne Eith and Mr. Ryan Vihlen; FRONT ROW: Erica Kahn, Quin Waldrop, Hannah Kelly, Lacey O'Sullivan, Carly Shoulberg and Samantha Moreland

The Pacesetter Sets the Bar HighPACE IN SPACE

AROUND PACE A look at what's happening at Pace

MIDDLE SCHOOL PLAYThe Middle School’s fall play, The Seussification of Romeo and Juliet, told the Bard’s tragic tale of star-crossed lovers at lightening speed—just as Dr. Seuss might have. Under the imaginative eye of director PATRICK CAMPBELL, rhymed couplets, creative wordplay and fantastical machines put a Seussified spin on the feud between two of literature’s most famous families.


ALL ABOUT PACE ARTSPace Academy’s visual and performing artists excelled throughout the fall semester. From Seuss and Shakespeare to holiday concerts, a major musical production and affecting exhibits, Pace Arts never failed to impress.

HOLIDAY CONCERTSPerformances by strings, band, and chorus students in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools made the holiday season at Pace the most wonderful time of the year. Our performers delighted audiences with traditional holiday tunes as well as new material.

10


A SWEET DAY & KNIGHTON OCT. 10, the Pace Academy Par-ents Club channeled Candyland and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory to create “A Sweet Day and Knight,” the 52nd annual Fall Fair.

An army of parent volunteers, led by Fall Fair Co-Chairs DAPHNE GAUDET and KIERSTEN LEACH, worked from dawn until dusk to pull off the iconic event, which raised nearly $110,000.

EVENING OF THE ARTSArts faculty and the Pace Arts Alliance collaborated to present the school’s inaugural Evening of the Arts. The October event included Symmetries of Nature, an Atlanta Celebrates Photography exhibit by award-winning photographer Kathryn Kolb; performances from Middle and Upper School strings students and vocal ensembles; and the Upper School’s one-act play, The Book of Everything. 11

Light One Candle Turns 25

AROUND PACE


AFTER a quarter of a century, the candle burns on. Light One Candle, the Lower School’s annual Holiday Program, celebrated its 25th year in December.

The beloved tradition began when former Head of Lower School ANNA VALERIUS, then a first-grade teacher, was looking for a way to involve her students in the performing arts. She went to then-Head of Lower School MIKE MURPHY with an idea for a program that would celebrate the Christmas and Hanukkah traditions and include all Lower School students in age-appropriate ways.

Murphy gave the project the green light, and faculty member CHARLOTTE BROWN and former faculty member AMELIA MILLER ’78 consulted with local ministers and rabbis to write the script. In 1991, students took the stage as angels and historical figures, singers, musicians and narrators, bringing to life the classic stories.

This year, LILA MCALPIN RETNASABA ’98, a narrator in Light One Candle’s inaugural production, watched from the audience as her daughter, Pre-First student RADHA RETNA-SABA, performed as an angel—the perfect holiday gift to mark the special occasion.

AROUND PACE

Radha and Lila Retnasaba

AROUND PACE

UPPER SCHOOL Theatre Director SEAN BRYAN is all about productions with purpose. He selects shows based upon the messages they communicate, taking into account current events and hot topics, community interests and educational op-portunities. So Bryan’s choice to stage Legally Blonde the Musical as his first Pace Academy production was a no-brainer.

In Legally Blonde, sorority president Elle Woods journeys from UCLA to Harvard Law School in search of love. At Harvard, Elle quickly discovers the law’s power for good and takes on a high-profile murder trial, defying expectations to save the day.

“Legally Blonde tackles serious issues through a light, energized, fun lens,” Bryan wrote in his program notes. “But don’t let that ‘fun lens’ fool you—these issues are im-portant to address: the issue of the female struggle in a male-dominated field, the issue of being true to yourself rather than changing to fit in or succeed, the issue of maintaining a strong moral compass against great pressure. These are all important les-sons we should take away from this piece.”

To drive these lessons home, Bryan brought in a panel of pros—Pace mothers who work in the legal profession. JANE LAMBERTI, LAUREN BURNHAM PREVOST, LIZ PRICE, SUSAN REISNER, KAREN GREENBERG ST. AMAND '81, and KELLY SCHIFFER met with the Legally Blonde cast to share their personal experiences and answer students’ questions.

Performers took the experts’ advice to heart. Pace’s production of Legally Blonde was a treat for the senses and food for thought.

Legally Blonde the Musical: More Than Meets the Eye

Top: Standing, left to right, Willie Lieberman, Paige Demba, James Sadlo and Tory Dancu; Seated, left to right, Mitchell Zwecker, Libby Sams and Ryan Duvall; Above: Lieberman starred as Elle Woods; Below: The cast receives legal advice from our parent experts.

War

ren

Sam

s

13KnightTimes | Winter 2016

War

ren

Sam

s


“It’s not about us,” says Pace Academy Life Trustee GARRY SCHAEFER. “The work we do as Trustees, administrators, parents and faculty is for our children. Remember—Pace wouldn’t exist without them.”

Schaefer speaks from the heart. He and his wife, RUTH SCHAEFER, chose Pace for all three of their daughters: COURTNEY SCHAEFER ’07, LUCY SCHAEFER ’08 and CAROLYN SCHAEFER ’11. Early adopters of a global-education model, the family decided to spend 2001 living in Aix en Provence, France—a decision the Pace com-munity supported.

“When we returned, we were wholeheart-edly welcomed back to the Pace family,” Schaefer recalls. He believes that familial culture sets Pace apart from other Atlanta independent schools, and it’s one of the rea-sons they became—and remain—so involved.

AROUND PACE

Schaefer served on Pace’s Board of Trustees from 2006 until 2011, a period of tremendous growth for the school. As chair of The Pace Fund for part of that time, Schaefer raised a record $1 million with his volunteer team—a first for Pace. He credits a strong economy and a “young and ener-getic new Head of School” (FRED ASSAF) for the feat.

“Truly, Garry’s leadership on the Board of Trustees set a new standard for fund-raising [at Pace]. Often seen at his ‘OK Cafe office’ meeting with Pace benefac-tors, Garry helped develop new paths for philanthropy and engagement that have been foundational in making Pace what it is today,” says Assaf.

Schaefer also co-founded the girls lacrosse club team in 2003 and was integral in that sport eventually becoming a varsity

LIFE TRUSTEE SPOTLIGHT:

GARRY SCHAEFER

offering. Ruth consistently volunteered behind the scenes, both in the snack bar and for the Fall Fair.

Despite the large-scale impact the Schae-fers have made on the school, they insist that they—like any other Pace parents—were “just volunteers,” and that events like Sundae Sunday and Fried Chicken Thursdays in the Lower School stand out most amongst their Pace memories. Also chief among those are the many outstanding teachers for their children, the Schaefers say.

Such sentiments inspired the Schaefers to make a decision that would ultimately change several lives. Some years ago, a close family friend was attending an area public school and failing to receive the attention and academic challenge that her aptitudes required. Recognizing the student as an ideal fit for Pace and cognizant of the opportunities a place like Pace could offer, the Schaefers connected the child’s mother with school administration and urged the family to apply. For the duration of the stu-dent’s successful Pace career, the Schaefers supported her tuition in full, under the con-dition that the student learn nothing of the financial assistance until her graduation.

Acts like these characterize the Schae-fers. “[I’m] always growing, always shifting my energies somewhere new when the last opportunity comes to a close,” he says. Still deeply engaged here as a Life Trustee since his daughters’ graduations, Schaefer has also become active on the board of trustees for New England-based Tabor Academy, where he attended preparatory school. He says he hopes to bring some of the fundrais-ing and board leadership skills to Tabor that he has learned over the years at Pace.

“I drive by the Castle several days a week heading from OK Cafe to my office,” says Schaefer, managing partner with Peachtree Investment Partners, LLC. “Every time I look at it, that image brings back a sweet nos-talgia of wonderful memories—whether in a particular class, on the stage or on a field, Pace is where our children grew up.” •

The Schaefer

Family

AROUND PACE


FOR SEVEN YEARS, the Pace Academy Office of College Counseling has hosted a College Case Studies Night for sophomore students and their parents.

The interactive event serves as the launch-ing pad for the college process, helping all members of the sophomore class and their parents get an initial grounding in what’s ahead in a non-threatening, informative and immersive setting.

During the event this fall, attendees were presented with a description of an imaginary college and five completed college applica-tions to that school. They were then led, in small groups, through a college admis-sions committee process by an admissions officer from one of 12 different colleges. Participants then acted as the admissions committee and decided who was admitted, wait-listed or denied.

The program aims to acquaint Pace students and parents with the most common

factors considered important by a range of colleges and to provide insight into the complexity and subtleties of the process.

“We offer this event in the sophomore year because we hope it can serve to relieve some stress from those students who are working in the right direction and remind those students who aren’t that this process is coming. And to do that at a point in their high-school careers when they still have some control over their decisions,” says Director of College Counseling GAVIN BRADLEY.

Pace was honored to have representa-tives from the following colleges participate in this year’s event: Birmingham Southern University, Boston College, Centre Col-lege, Emory University, Furman University, George Washington University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Pennsylva-nia, Rhodes College, Rice University, Wake Forest University and Washington University in St. Louis.

THIS PAST FALL, two events brought students’ favorite people to the Pace Academy campus.

In October, sixth-grade girls put on their party dresses and dancing shoes and brought their VIP dates to the Middle School’s Father-Daughter Dance.

Then, in November, Pace grandparents and special friends joined Lower School students for a morning of per-formances and classroom activities as part of Grandparents and Special Friends Day. A cocktail reception for all Pace grandparents took place the evening before.

FUN FOR THE WHOLE

FAMILY

Fun at the

Father-

Daughter

Dance

College Case Studies

Prepare Sophomores

for Search Process

Grandparents

and Special

Friends Day


ACCORDING TO PACE STUDENTS, A GOOD TEACHER…• “Uses different kinds of strategies for

all types of students since we learn in different ways.”

• “Allows time for discussions where we connect the content [we’re learning] to current events.”

• “Plans fun activities like ‘around-the-world’ in math, scavenger hunts, jumping up and down for nouns and vocabulary bingo.”

• “Searches the world high and low for good tools to help us learn better.”

AROUND PACE


STRIVING FOR EXCELLENCE IN TEACHINGDirector of Professional Development and Curriculum Studies DR. MARLA READ CAPPER answers the question, “What does it mean to be a ‘good’ teacher at Pace?”

You don’t have to look far to confirm that Pace Academy teachers are among the best of the best—simply talk to our students. When asked to describe their favorite teachers, Pace students use words like “kind,” “organized,” “knowl-edgeable” and “fun.”

“It’s important for the teacher to be a good person and to be understanding,” one student told me.

In response to a question about a particular teacher, a Lower School student’s face lit up: “She is an awesome teacher! I love her!”

High praise indeed, but what does that really mean? How does one become a good or, better yet, effective teacher?

At Pace, our motto, “To have the courage to strive for excellence,” certainly applies to teachers’ standards for instruction, but what does “excellence” in the classroom look like?

Of course, it includes student achievement. We boast that an increasing number of our Upper School students achieve 3 or better on AP exams, and our standardized test scores far surpass the national average. Certainly those metrics matter and reflect positively on our teachers’ abilities, but in order to be truly effective, to strive for excellence, teachers must communicate to their students that they care about them as individuals first.

The students I interviewed knew that their favorite teachers were interested, not only in their success, but also in them as human beings. Their favorite teachers wanted to get to know them and sought out ways to develop relationships with them. Small class sizes (our student-teacher ratio is 9:1) allow Pace teachers to know students’ strengths and challeng-es. We invest in our students and believe that relationships are central to life and learning.

For this reason, three years ago, Pace was one of two independent schools to launch MyTeachingPartner (MTP), a professional-development program founded on the principle that positive student-teacher interactions are the vehicle for successful learning outcomes.

In MTP here at Pace, we spend a great deal of time observing classrooms and iden-tifying effective teacher behaviors. Anyone who has been in a classroom knows a lot happens simultaneously; classrooms are complex. In an effort to narrow the focus of classroom observations, we zero in on the things that matter most for learning. We use the Classroom Assessment Scoring System (CLASS) as the benchmark for quality.

The CLASS focuses on the processes that take place in classrooms: student-teacher interactions (academic and social), relationships and the implementation of the curricu-lum. These factors matter more than standards, materials or even teacher training, and when these processes are in place, children are more engaged and achieve more—a finding supported by research and practical work with which I have been involved

at the University of Virginia’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching & Learning. I was interested in finding out whether Pace students agree with some of the findings. I’m happy to report that they do!

I interviewed equal numbers of students in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, questioning students of MTP teachers as well as students of non-MTP teachers. To each student, I posed one simple question: “What makes a good teacher?”

Emotional support topped the list of students’ comments. Each individual I inter-viewed had a favorite teacher, someone who had touched his or her life in some positive way. A good teacher “takes time to laugh with us,” one student said. Others reported that a good teacher “understands that not all students are the same,” “lets us form our own ideas and opinions,” “is excited to learn with us,” “celebrates our birthdays” and “creates connections both inside and outside the classroom.”

Classroom organization and instructional support also ranked high. A good teacher is “fair with punishment,” “understands if someone has an off day,” “tells us what we are going to do at the beginning of the day,” “states what we need to do to get an A on an assignment or in the class,” and “is up-to-date on technology and uses it.”

In addition, students understood that teachers must practice what they preach. “Good teachers seek out information on how they can be better teachers,” one said. “They practice their lessons at home so they ‘do it right’ when they come to class.” Interestingly, not a single student mentioned that a good teacher is measured by his or her students’ test scores.

We often say that the student-teacher connection is the heart of the Pace experi-ence; according to research, it is also the heart of good teaching and the gateway to learning and development. Student-teacher interactions matter, and the little things teachers do in their classrooms every day to provide emotional support, developmental relevance, academic rigor and organization all make a difference for learning.

As one Lower School student put it, “If you get the right teacher, you’ll be set for life!”

Dr. Marla Read Capper

Jenkins

Sadaka

IBUM OBU and HANNAH SCHRAGER

Senior cheerleaders


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

In its first season in Division 1, the Geor-gia High School Water Polo Association’s (GHSWPA) top classification, the Pace water polo club fared well, finishing with a 9–12 overall record. The AquaKnights advanced to the state tournament, where they went 3–2 and tied for fifth place.

Following the tournament, seniors CIARA SADAKA, BRENDON PACE and ANDREW JENKINS were selected to play in the GHSWPA All-Star Game. Sadaka also received Academic All-Amer-ican honors from USA Water Polo.

In addition to Sadaka and Pace, the AquaKnights will lose seniors JOE LOUGHRAN and BRAD RUBIN.

FALL SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

MITCHELL ZWECKER

VA R S I T Y F O O T B A L L C H E E R L E A D I N GCoached by TALISA SLADE, MARY LIEBMAN '00 and SHANTELL NORRIS

As the varsity football team’s season stretched from summer well into the winter months (see article on page 38), the varsity football cheerleaders braved the elements to spread spirit before and during the team’s march to the Georgia Dome.

The 20-member squad impressed fans at home and away with its expertly choreo-graphed routines and amazing acrobatics,

contributing significantly to the Knights’ post-season success.

Next year, the squad will miss seniors RETTA CAROLIN, AILISHA CASEY, CALLA-WAY CHASE, EMMA LAURA GASH, MARY STUART GRAY, LINDSEY SAMPLE, LIND-SEY SCHRAGER, CARLY SHOULBERG, SYDNEY SOMMERVILLE, MAGGIE WRAY and LALI ZAMORA.

Our cheerleaders take the field during the Pace-Lovett game.

Read about the Football team on page 38!


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Richardson

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

Following a fifth-place state finish in 2014, the varsity girls cross-country team aimed to continue its strong per-formance in 2015.

The girls concluded the regular season by placing fourth in Region 6AA, earning the No. 6 seed in the state meet. Four of the seven Pace runners competing at state were freshmen, so sophomore MOLLY RICHARDSON, junior JULIA ROSS and senior JILLY PAUL provided valuable leadership, encouraging their younger teammates. When all was said and done, the Knights placed fourth in the state, with freshman VICTORIA SANDOVAL, Ross and freshman CARLY IRVINE making up the Knights’ top three finishers, respectively.

The team will miss the leadership of seniors JUNE BRENNER, CARO-LINE HARDISON, Paul and CARLEE POKALSKY.

Rogers

The girls cross-country team

Irvine and Paul

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

The varsity boys cross-country team fin-ished in second place at the 2014 Region 6AA meet, so the Pace Academy runners entered the 2015 competition with high hopes—and they delivered, coming away with the region title.

Ranked second going into the Georgia High School Association’s (GHSA) state meet, the boys battled rain and mud on a soggy course to finish as state runners-up for the second consecutive year.

In the state meet, region champion sophomore JACK DOUGLASS finished first for the Knights and second overall. Junior ROB WARREN placed third over-all, while junior MAX IRVINE was sixth. Strong performances from the remainder of the team put the Knights just nine points behind the state champions from Bleckley County High School.

Douglass, Warren and Irvine received All-State honors, and Douglass was named to the Atlanta Track Club’s 2015 All-Metro Team. The team bids a fond farewell to seniors JAKE JENKINS, KIERAN LEHANE, HARRISON RAY, STEPHEN REISNER and ALEC ROGERS.

Douglass

At Regionals

MADELINE ARENTH

VA R S I T Y S O F T B A L L Coached by COURTNEY MORRISON

Under the leadership of new head coach COURT-NEY MORRISON, the Diamond Knights continued their state-playoff streak this season, advancing to the GHSA tournament for the fifth consecutive year. The team ultimately fell to Gordon Lee High School in the first round of the playoffs.

All-Region honors went to senior LAUREN PICKMAN and sophomore PRESLEY MARX-MILLER, while junior LAURA SHELTON earned the Region 6AA Sportsmanship Award.

The team says goodbye to seniors Pickman and KELLYANN MALONE, both four-year members of the varsity squad.

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

The varsity volleyball team made Pace history this season, securing key wins over multiple rivals to earn the Area 3AA title—a first for the Knights.

The team hosted Rabun County High School in the first round of the GHSA state playoffs, and the Pace girls, the No. 5 seed, emerged victorious. The Knights then traveled to Savannah, Ga., to take on St. Vincent’s Academy, the No. 4 seed, in the Elite Eight. In a thriller that came down to the final seconds of the match, the Knights fell 2–3.

At the season’s conclusion, the Georgia Volley-ball Coaches Association named junior standout SUMMER BROWN to its All-State team. The Knights bid a fond farewell to seniors LAUREN ARCHER and FRANCES CRISLER.



The squad before a match against Hapeville on Sept. 1

Archer and Crisler MEGGIE STEIGER

Brown

PickmanSARI LEVEN

LIZABETH FROHWEIN Eith, BEN SOLOMON, J. Fuller and AUSTIN FULLERJULIA ROBISON

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THIS FALL marked a historic season for the Middle School girls cross-country team. The team beat rivals Woodward, Greater Atlanta Christian, Westminster, Marist, Wesleyan, Holy Innocents’ and Lovett to conclude the season with a 37–0 record—the best in Middle School history.

Coach ERIC WILHELM attributes the team’s success to the students’ genuine passion for running. “This team just loved to run,” he says. “Loving what you’re doing is more important than any team record, even more important than an undefeated season.”

Unfortunately, the team’s historic season was cut short after the region meet as the state championship conflicted with Pace’s fall break. But seventh-grader LAURA ROMIG continued on to state individually. Expectations were high due to Romig’s record-breaking season—she is the first Pace Middle School girl to run the 2-mile race in under 13 minutes.

“My favorite part of running is the feeling you get when you’re about to finish [a race],” she says. “You’re so tired, but you still manage to find enough energy to sprint to the finish line.” Romig’s final burst of energy didn’t fail her, and she placed ninth overall in the state meet. She looks forward to the team joining her at the championship next year.

While Romig was a front-runner for the Knights, the undefeated team also had great depth. Four of the team’s top five runners earned spots on the Middle School girls top 10 all-time record list. Eighth-grader PAYTON PAYNE, seventh-grader KATHRYN HOOD and sixth-grader KATE JONAS all joined the ranks of the best runners in Middle School history.

Not to be outdone by the girls, the Middle School boys also had a very suc-cessful season, finishing with a record of 33–8. Sixth-grader EDWARD BLAHA made the boys top 10 all-time record list.

“Our top seven boys and girls were some of the most consistent, reliable racers we’ve ever had,” Wilhelm says. “They knew how to pace themselves, and race after race they would put themselves in the right positions during the first mile and then pass other teams during the second.”

Next year, both teams plan to make an appearance at the state meet, with Romig leading the way.

— by HANNAH KELLY ’15

SPOTLIGHT ON MIDDLE SCHOOL GIRLS CROSS-COUNTRY

BEN SOLOMON

M O U N TA I N B I K I N G C L U BCoached by JESSE MARSHBURN, DAN BROOKS, ADAM FULLER and BO MEADOR

Now in its second year, the mountain biking club boasted nine members from both the Middle and Upper Schools—seven boys and two girls—and participated in three Georgia Cycling League races this season.

In his first-ever race, eighth-grader BEN TOLLIDAY won the middle-school novice division, while eighth-grader ANDREW EITH and sophomore JACK-SON FULLER, also a member of the varsity cross-country team, both finished in the top 10 in two races.

FRIENDLY COMPETITION FOR A CAUSEIN OCTOBER, the Booster Club hosted its annual Queens of the Court tennis tourna-ment. Twenty-two Pace moms, led by co-chairs ELIZABETH DANGAR CLEVELAND ’92 and MARY SUSAN COSTANZO, participated to raise funds to support Pace Athletics.

“We had a great time catching up with old friends and meeting new friends from other grades,” Cleveland reports. “SAGE Dining Services provided a delicious lunch, and we played fun and competi-tive tennis matches to music.”

Reigning Queens of the Court Champi-on CECE COLEMAN defended her title, and all participants took home a fleece blanket embroidered with the Queens of the Court logo.

ICGL A global education for every graduate

OUR FAMOUS FARMER

We welcomed Joel Salatin as the ICGL 2015 Visiting Scholar. Salatin, often called “America’s most famous farmer,” is a third-generation alternative farmer, an advocate for the sustainable-food movement, the author of nine books and countless articles and a sought-after speaker.

During his visit, Salatin shared his tremendous energy, thought-provoking commentary and practical knowledge about food production. He met with students in the Lower, Middle and Upper Schools, and addressed parents and members of the greater Atlanta community during evening lectures.

DOWN ON THE FARM

As part of its From Farm to Table unit, second graders visited Serenbe Farms to tour its facilities, interview farmers and pick vegetables. They also enjoyed treats at the Blue Eyed Daisy bakeshop.

THE SCIENCE OF FOOD

During the first week of the spring semester, Upper School students participated in science minimesters, courses that explore a variety of out-of-the-box, science-related topics. In AMY SECOR’S Cooking Science course, students studied foods from around the world and got their hands dirty whipping up distinctive delicacies.

WE’RE STILL HUNGRYThe ICGL’s Year of FOOD continues.The Pace Academy community continues to fill up on knowledge of FOOD, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s (ICGL) annual theme. From farm visits and fresh produce to the science of cooking, here’s a look at some of the FOOD- related fun we’ve been having.


WHO'S HUNGRY?

To expand the FOOD discussion to the entire school community, the ICGL partnered with Burge Organic Farm and Global Growers to offer Pace families the opportunity to participate in Community Supported Agriculture (CSA). This food-distribution model connects consumers directly to local farmers, and for 10 weeks this past fall, participating families received regular deliveries of fresh produce.

GEORGIA GROWN

As part of the third grade’s Design Thinking curriculum, students researched Georgia-grown crops and created kid-friendly, healthy recipes using locally grown produce. SAGE Dining chefs then taught these creative thinkers about food preparation and worked with them to test their recipes.

SPICING THINGS UP

How well do you know the herbs and spices that flavor the food you eat every day? Middle School students tried to identify 12 herbs using teamwork and some helpful hints.

FRUTAS Y VERDURAS

Third graders put their Spanish food vocabulary—and bargaining skills— to the test at their Mercado de Frutas y Verduras (Fruit and Vegetable Market), using common expressions to play the roles of buyers and sellers. Produce from the market was then donated to the Atlanta Community Food Bank—150 pounds to feed 450 Georgia families!

VAMOS AL RESTAURANTE

Fourth-grade students used food to learn more about Spanish-speaking cultures by creating restaurant menus featuring authentic dishes and “ordering” food and drinks in Spanish. KnightTimes | Winter 2016

FULL STEAM AHEAD“Geometry Village” combines science, technology, engineering, art and math.

Pace Academy’s 2016–2021 Strategic Plan calls for expanded curricular and extra-curricular programming around science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM)—and our fifth-grade Design Thinking students are getting a head start.

With the help of mathematician and Pace parent DR. KIRSTEN TRAVERS-UYHAM (pictured), students explored the world of 3D geometry and its many real-world applications. Using Tinkercad, an online app, our mathematicians de-signed 3D structures to be incorporated into “Geometry Village.”

Their designs—beachfront mansions, a town hall, a church, a school with a playground, beautiful bridges, a row of shops, skyscrapers, homes, and even farmland with stables, a greenhouse and a barn—were then produced using the Lower School’s 3D printer.

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The Academy AbroadICGL fall study tours take students to Hungary and the Golden State.

CALIFORNIAOct. 8–17

There’s no doubt that all humans have a relationship with food, but for each of the 2015–2016 Isdell Global Leaders (IGLs), the desire to connect deeply with this year’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) global theme was personal.

Junior THOMAS HOOVER, a budding chef, once lived on a small farm in North Georgia, where he tended the garden and raised chickens. A vegetarian since child-hood, junior LEX TREVELINO began a “veggie blog” about the Middle School cafeteria and spends his weekends volun-teering at a local farm.

Junior ANNIE NOTTINGHAM’S grandfa-ther founded a family farm in Virginia, and when she visits, she helps man the store and harvests the fields. And Sow What?, a book about global food concerns, inspired senior EMMA ST. AMAND to explore sustainabil-ity issues and install garden beds at a local retirement community.

Hoover, Trevelino, Nottingham and St. Amand make up the second IGL class, a select group of students charged with ex-

ploring FOOD through travel, research and customized learning experiences.

Their yearlong adventure began with an October journey through central Califor-nia, which took them from San Francisco’s Berkeley Food Institute to the Salinas Valley, the “Salad Bowl of the Nation.” California produces nearly half of all U.S.-grown fruits, nuts, and vegetables, and recent droughts and water shortages have kept the state in the headlines and on environmental watch lists. Needless to say, it’s an area ripe for academic exploration.

Each IGL was assigned a FOOD-related topic to research before, during and after the trip: St. Amand is tackling farm labor; Trevelino has his hands full with water and irrigation; Hoover is digging into the poli-tics, history and economics of the Salinas Valley; Nottingham is focused on the food-supply chain.

The group, led by ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON and Upper School science teacher JULIE HALL, visited ranches, vine-yards, co-ops, farms and factories on their “agraventure,” questioning the individu-als they encountered along the way. They sampled food, received lessons in aquapon-

ics and harvested crops alongside farm workers.

Inevitably, the group happened upon people and places that countered their initial perceptions. The size of farms struck Hoover: “We talk a lot about large-scale agriculture, but I didn’t realize how large it really is,” he says. “The size of the fields is almost hard to imagine.”

For St. Amand, interacting with farm workers made an impact. “People refer to farm laborers as ‘unskilled,’ but they’re really so skilled. I talked to a recent vocational-school graduate while he was working, and I tried to pick [produce] the way he was pick-ing it. I was so bad. He went so quickly and always picked the right [produce].”

Trevelino was surprised to learn how much of the fruit and vegetables we consume is harvested and packaged in the fields and sent straight to grocery stores. “Artichokes were the only things they washed,” he says.

And skull-and-cross-bones signs on the periphery of many fields alarmed Notting-ham. “By California law, you have to let farmers and the public know that pesticides are being sprayed,” she explains. “I was like,

ICGL

24

ICGL


For many years, Pace has sent a team of student diplomats to Budapest to participate in Yale Model Government Europe (YMGE), a fast-moving simulation of political decision-making and crisis in 21st-century Europe. YMGE attracts stu-dents from around the world in an effort to “raise awareness of and foster debate about international relations and global affairs in the European context.”

This year, nine Upper School stu-dents formed Pace’s delegation; faculty members HELEN SMITH and GRADY STEVENS served as chaperones. During the three-day policy simulation, Pace students played the roles of Spanish delegates to NATO, European Union Ministers and elected officials in the Brit-ish Houses of Parliament.

“Research and preparation [gave us] a glimpse into the international politics

and issues of today and the complexities of legislative debate and procedure,” junior MILES HSU wrote in a blog post. “One of the best parts of YMGE was that many Pace delegates were able to make friends from Europe and around the world.”

At the conclusion of the program, junior MIA WRIGHT, French Minister of the Environment, and sophomore JONATHAN TENNIES, Finnish Minister of Energy, re-ceived awards for exceptional performance.

Prior to the YMGE, the group spent several days exploring Budapest, “the pearl of the Danube.” Excursions included tours of Liberty Square, the city’s Jewish quarter and the Hungarian Parliament Building, as well as a boat ride on the Danube and a performance of Madama Butterfly at the Hungarian State Opera.

BUDAPESTNov. 21–30

are you kidding? I’m eating food marked by a sign that signifies death?!”

Overwhelmingly, the group was shocked to see few signs of California’s much talked about drought. In fact, they say, agricultural production seems to be increasing.

“Because of the economic impact farming has on this region, people had anticipated and prepared for the current drought condi-tions,” Anderson says. “They put in place water recycling systems and other measures so production could carry on. You go there and you have no idea you’re in a drought. Growth has taken place despite real fears around lack of water, labor shortages and the huge amounts of legislation that farmers have to work around.”

Hoover, Nottingham, St. Amand and Trevelino are now hard at work on position papers about their assigned topics. They’ll compile the essays as well as photos from their journey into a National Geographic-esque book, collaborating with Anderson, Hall and faculty advisor KEVIN BALLARD along the way.

Already the IGLs’ California adventure has made an impact. “My favorite food is breakfast, and I eat a lot of cereal—espe-cially Apple Jacks,” St. Amand says, serious. “Now when I eat [cereal], I just see corn. It’s just straight corn. Have you looked at the ingredients? I must be made of corn now!”

Nottingham’s eating habits have changed as well: “I’m usually a picky eater, but the trip made me branch out and learn more about what’s healthy and all-natural.”

For Hoover, the study tour piqued his curiosity about food issues as well as the world around him. “In general, I’ve found that I notice more things,” he says. “It’s opened my eyes.”

Next up for these IGLs? Exploring FOOD in Virginia and Maine.

ICGL

“Our trip to California made me wish learning could always be so interactive. It combined so many subjects—statistics, economics, math, history—and they all made sense together.”

—Annie Nottingham

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Tag along on ICGL adventures via the Student Travel Blog!

VISIT knightlife.paceacademy.org/travel

Faculty Spotlight

MOSELEYS Y R E E T A

It’s no coincidence that Head of Lower School SYREETA MOSELEY joined the Pace family just as the school launched

the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL). Her forward-thinking approach and endless energy have been essential to getting the program up and running in the Lower School.

“I think it’s important for our Lower School students to be involved in the ICGL because it broadens their perspectives at an early age,” Moseley explains.

True to her word, Moseley was one of four chaperones to take students on the first-ever Lower School ICGL study tour. This past summer, the group of 14 visited Costa Rica, where they enjoyed a week of service and adventure.

While there, Moseley worked alongside students to build an amphitheater for the Centro Educatito de Chilamate, went white-water rafting and toured an organic farm.

“The most compelling thing to me about the trip was how easily our students were able to acclimate to a whole new environ-ment and culture and how much they were able to appreciate it,” Moseley recalls.

In addition to bringing study tours to the Lower School, Moseley has also jumped headfirst into Design Thinking, an ap-proach to teaching children how to solve real-world problems that focuses on col-laboration and empathy.

“Design Thinking really is a philosophy,” Moseley explains. “It helps our children learn how to collaborate, and they learn that it’s okay to fail. To learn that it’s okay to make mistakes the first time and that you can go back and make changes again, which creates a sense of resiliency. This makes stu-dents more willing to try new things without the fear of failure.”

Students have already fully embraced this forward-thinking approach and are constantly looking for new ways to apply what they’ve learned in class to the real world. When learning about the lack of clean drinking water in Nicaragua in the fall of 2014, for example, a group of fourth graders decided they wanted to make their own water-filtration systems. With the help of Moseley, Director of Design Think-ing JASMINA PATEL, and their teachers, students researched and created their own water-filtration devices before meeting with an expert in the field who gave feedback on their ideas.

With projects like this, Moseley and her talented team have seamlessly incorporated the ICGL into the Lower School curriculum. “Whenever our students are studying any-thing related to social studies or science, we always want to broaden their perspectives by talking about global issues,” she says. “It prepares them to be globally confident citi-zens, and it also helps them see that there’s a role that each of us can play in this world as it relates to serving others.”

Above all else, however, Moseley’s favorite part of her job is interacting with the students, families and teachers. A Pace parent herself, she appreciates the parent perspectives that make the Pace community what it is.

“Our school was founded on the relation-ship between community and school, and parent and school, and I think that’s what makes Pace so special.”


GLOBAL LEADERS


A TRADITION OF SERVICEFOR NEARLY a quarter of a century, Pace Academy and other independent schools have partnered with Habitat for Human-ity to construct homes for local families, helping families break the cycle of poverty and build long-term financial stability. Since 1992, Pace has contributed more than $140,000 to Atlanta Habitat for Humanity, and, this fall, the Independent School Build dedicated its 24th home.

In October, while sophomores and juniors sat for the PSAT and seniors took advantage of college-essay days, the Class of 2019 headed out into the community for a day of volunteer work. Through Freshmen Service Day, an annual event, students are exposed to several of Pace’s community partners.

Together with Pace faculty and staff, students volunteered with children at the Guice Center and the Childhood Develop-ment Center at Sylan Hills, both programs of Easter Seals North Georgia. Students also

sorted and packed 11,149 pounds of food at the Atlanta Community Food Bank—

that’s 9,290 meals for hungry families!


Kumar Named to Atlanta INtown’s “20 Under 20” Junior PRASHANTH KUMAR has been selected as one of Atlanta INtown’s 2016 “20 Under 20” honorees. Every January, Atlanta INtown recognizes with this honor young people who have “gone above and beyond to give back to the community.”

Kumar has traveled to India the past four summers to vol-unteer at Galaxy Hospital and Kidney Care Center, where he translates for doctors during procedures and helps comfort patients. He also volunteers at the Alpharetta Tamil School and as a middle-school math tutor in Pace Academy’s Aca-demic Resource Center.

In addition to his service work, Kumar is secretary of the student body, a student ambassador, and a member of the varsity tennis team, math team, Pace Acad-emy Student Support and the Pace Academy Board of Diversity.

Deepening Our Understanding of Diversity“Respect for others and their unique ideas and beliefs” is one of Pace Academy’s core values and, through school-wide diversity programming, we strive to practice what we preach.

“This requires deepening our community’s understanding of differences around social identifiers and issues of equity, inclusion and social justice, while pre-serving an environment that expresses empathy and respect for everyone,” explains Director of Diversity RICK HOLIFIELD.

To that end, in December, 11 students and faculty attended the National Association of Independent Schools 2015 Student Diversity Leadership Confer-ence in Tampa, Fla. Sophomore XION JOHNSON, juniors SUMMER BROWN, TONYIA JOHNSON, SAMANTHA MORELAND, and MIA WRIGHT, and senior XORI JOHNSON participated, along with faculty advisors NIKKI MCCRARY, GUS WHYTE, LEE WILSON, LAURA AGRONT-HOBBS and Holifield.

The annual conference brings together high-school students from independent schools around the country for three days of networking and dia-logue, facilitating cross-cultural understanding and a call to action to improve our school communities and our world.

“The conference was a very eye-opening experi-ence and a wake-up call to work towards being more active leaders in the Pace community and improving the Pace Academy Board of Diversity,” Xori Johnson says. “Over the next few years, the Pace students who attended will be able to have a big impact on our school’s culture relating to diversity and inclusion.”

GLOBAL LEADERS

Kumar

ence in his life and some things that he is most grateful for,” freshman BLAIR MYERS wrote to Stevens. “It was so interesting to hear all about these things that I’ve never really sat down to ask him about before. I want to thank you for encour-aging us to do this interview because I think it was a wonderful way to connect with him.”

Freshman EMILY SCHMITT provided similar feedback. “I learned that one of [my grandmother’s sisters’ husbands died in World War II and how that was difficult for her,” Schmitt wrote. “She was around 12 years old during the war, and it really made me realize how much she has lived through.”

The lesson? Never be afraid to ask good questions.

GLOBAL LEADERS

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PRESERVING THE PAST TO PREPARE FOR THE FUTURE

AS VICE PRESIDENT of the Pace Acad-emy Student Advisory Board (SAB), senior CARLEE POKALSKY and her fellow SAB members endeavor to “be there for all Pace students.” Through events like Love Your Body Week and Donut Stress, SAB pro-motes healthy lifestyles, self-acceptance and “ways to encourage an appreciation of who you are,” Pokalsky says.

Always on the lookout for new opportuni-ties to support to her classmates, Pokalsky worked with Upper School Counselor SARA EDEN to create a Pace team and participate in the 2015 Merrick’s Walk. The walk raises awareness of eating disorders, remembers

PokalskyRAISING AWARENESS of Eating Disorders

those who have lost their battles with the mental illness and serves as a fundraiser for the Eating Disorders Information Network (EDIN); Pace parent DINA ZECKHAUSEN is EDIN’s founder.

“The topic [of eating disorders] can be uncomfortable,” Pokalsky says, “but we can’t ignore it because it’s a very real issue that affects millions of people. By becoming involved [in Merrick’s Walk], we could be the change that would help spread awareness. By taking action, we could help members of our community and ourselves.”

Pokalsky recruited seven friends to her team and raised $150 for EDIN through

donations from family and friends. Her essay—a response to the question “What would you tell your younger or future self about body image and self-appreciation?”—took second place in the walk’s contest, and Pokalsky plans to join EDIN’s Junior Board.

“Every single person can make a dif-ference,” Pokalsky says as she reflects on the experience. And she has an important message for the Pace community: “Be there for your friends. If you suspect they are in trouble, reach out. Never keep how you are feeling to yourself. You are loved. You are beautiful. You matter. Everyone needs to know this because it’s true.”

OVER THE THANKSGIVING holiday, Na-tional Public Radio (NPR) encouraged teens around the country to record an interview with a grandparent or older adult as part of its ongoing oral history project, Story Corps.

Upper School teacher EMILY STEVENS offered “a tiny amount of extra credit” to students who participated and reported what they learned as a result of The Great Thanksgiving Listen.

Through the Story Corps app, students recorded conversations that touched on topics such as experiences during World

War II, religious beliefs and families’ journeys to America. In all, more than 50,000 interviews were uploaded—the largest col-lection of voices ever gathered in such a short period of time. The impact on Pace Academy participants was profound.

“I interviewed my grandfather and got a chance to hear all about his [recollections] of the I Have A Dream speech, a religious experi-



PACE ACADEMY’S GUIDING LIGHTIn the second in a series of articles about those who shaped our school, FRED GLASS ’89 introduces us to MILLS B. LANE, JR.


MILLS B. LANE, JR.

“A Little Gem of a School”The 1950s and 60s were transformational

periods of both growth and struggle in Atlan-ta. Not since the Civil War and Reconstruction had the city and the South experienced such social turmoil and upheaval, and nowhere were disruptions more keenly felt than in Georgia’s public schools.

For many Buckhead-area residents, schools fell short of what parents desired for their children. There was widespread dissatisfac-tion with a general teaching emphasis that discouraged critical reasoning, as well as a high degree of uncertainty surrounding the implementation of racial integration following the Supreme Court ruling on Brown vs. Board of Education. It was entirely possible that the Governor might shut down state school sys-tems in defiance of the federal government, and Buckhead’s existing independent schools had reached capacity. It was time for an ad-ditional school.

Despite the tumult, many of Atlanta’s defin-ing characteristics and institutions, including Pace Academy, came into being during this period—due in large measure to MILLS B. LANE, JR.

Unlike many of its sister schools, Pace shares no affiliation with a church or reli-gious organization and, in its early days, lacked a pool of large benefactors. Instead, the school relied on concerned citizens to provide much-needed financial support.

When Pace Academy, Inc. was formed in February 1958, organizers hoped to acquire the Ogden family property at 966 W. Paces Ferry for the new school’s campus. Attempts

reputation for the combination of informal-ity and sophistication that came to define the “New South.”

Lane was just 34 when he ascended to the C&S presidency—the youngest bank presi-dent in the country. What he lacked in age, he made up for in education, innovation and fearlessness. Lane recognized that the post-WWII world was changing rapidly and that the banking business—“as archaic as The Iliad or The Odyssey”—demanded new ideas. He abhorred the preceding generation of bank-ers; he called them “the old men in black suits, sitting behind big mahogany desks, and with disgusting personalities.”

Lane felt strongly that banking needed to be “humanized,” and that banking services should be friendly, easy and accessible. Many of his ideas, now commonplace, were unheard of at the time. Lane was the first southern banker, for instance, to offer credit cards, and he pio-neered the concept of cash access or “instant money” for cardholders. He introduced banking by mail, drive-up windows, personal install-ment loans, cheap “pay-as-you-go checking” accounts, and travel and insurance services. He encouraged his loan officers to take risks and gave them full authority to make loans up to the legal bank limit, requiring them to report only the loans they rejected.

“I felt it was better to trust people and be deceived once in a while than never trust anybody,” Lane said.

While Lane’s vision for and success at C&S cemented his legacy in the business world, his civic leadership left an even greater im-print on his city and the South—one that remains to this day.

A Life of ServiceAs a boy, visiting C&S branches with his

father deeply imbued Lane with a sense that banking, unlike any other industry, had a unique responsibility for public service. “We must play our part as community citizens,

to raise the necessary funds proved moder-ately successful; however, Pace Academy, Inc. required a sizable bank loan to close the deal. No bank dared consider a loan to this “risky venture”—save for C&S Bank, led by Lane, its eccentric and flamboyant president.

Known as “Georgia’s cornerstone bank,” C&S was legendary for taking gambles, es-pecially when they involved worthy causes. In Lane’s mind, Pace fit the bill. C&S’s ini-tial loan allowed Pace to open its doors in September 1958, initiating Lane’s profound and personal interest in the school’s success. Lane had a vision for Pace: he hoped it would become “a little gem of a school.”

Born to be a BankerMills Bee Lane, Jr. was born in 1912 in Sa-

vannah to a family rooted deeply in Georgia’s banking industry. In 1906, his father, Mills Bee Lane, Sr., orchestrated the merger of the Citizens Bank of Savannah and the South-ern Bank of the State of Georgia, creating the Citizens and Southern Bank of Georgia (C&S Bank). Located in Savannah’s historic cotton port, the commercial center of the state, C&S became the largest bank between Baltimore and New Orleans. In the 1930s, bank opera-tions moved to Atlanta when the “uncouth upstart” surpassed Savannah as the state’s economic hub.

A product of New England prep schools and Yale University, the junior Mills entered the banking business and succeeded his father as president of C&S. From 1946 to 1971, Lane oversaw C&S as it grew to become the most profitable of the nation’s top 50 banks. Re-ports estimate that one in three Georgians banked with C&S in the post-war years, and C&S bankrolled many businesses inextrica-bly linked to Atlanta and Georgia’s economic vitality: Delta Air Lines, Waffle House, Gold Kist, Georgia Pacific, Scientific Atlanta and the Atlanta Braves. The city’s most vision-ary and progressive bank, Lane’s C&S built a

There’s something special about Pace Academy. Call it divine intervention or extraordinary luck, but the school’s survival through infancy and successful entry into adulthood was nothing short of miraculous, thanks to unlikely heroes who arrived in hours of need. In 1958, the hero was Mills Bee Lane, Jr.


MILLS B. LANE, JR.

taking an interest in all good and construc-tive things,” he later said.

This sense of duty and commitment to ser-vice proved a driving force throughout Lane’s life. While he referred to himself as “a south-ern traditionalist,” Lane’s Yale experience instilled what he called “a liberal outlook on the race issue.” He believed that the South could not reach its full potential until it elim-inated racial segregation.

Lane’s focus on racial fairness, inclusion, and equality, in the context of his day, drove him toward forms of stewardship that fostered ties across racial lines and among citizens with varying religious, ideological and so-cio-economic backgrounds. To that end, he initiated The Georgia Plan, a C&S program that provided loans to minority homeowners and businesses. Lane also placed great value on the liberal arts education. He believed that a good bank employee should be character-ized by a “diversity of interests” and “love [for] his fellow man.”

An unabashed southern patriot, Lane cham-pioned any cause that might garner national prominence for his beloved South. And when-ever the Yale Bulldogs played the University of Georgia Bulldogs in Athens, Ga., Lane could be found amongst the UGA fans when the football team marched into the stadium.

A Political PowerhouseLane was a major player in Atlanta’s close-

knit business community, and he understood the complex relationship between the city’s politics and economy. He is perhaps most famous for providing the City of Atlanta an unrestricted line of credit on a handshake deal with then-Mayor Ivan Allen, Jr. to “build a stadium with money it did not have, on land it did not own, for a team it had not yet signed.” Allen came to Lane only after every-one else denied his funding requests. Atlanta Fulton County Stadium soon welcomed the Braves, and the Falcons followed.

Lane and Allen partnered on other initia-tives as well. In 1960, they were the only business leaders willing to negotiate with student demonstrators to end a lunch-coun-ter boycott. It was Lane who convinced Allen to run for mayor, and Lane successfully man-aged Allen’s 1960 and 1965 campaigns. With the support of Atlanta’s black leadership and

voters, Allen skillfully navigated the violent upheavals of the 1960s and testified before Congress in favor of federal legislation to end discrimination at public accommoda-tions. Many have said that Allen’s mayoral record is in part a testament to Lane’s skillful, behind-the-scenes work to advance progres-sive candidates and agendas.

Lane also supported Carl Sanders’ suc-cessful 1962 gubernatorial campaign against segregationist and former Governor Marvin Griffin. “[Lane was] one of the great unsung heroes of our time,” Sanders recalled. “I per-sonally feel like my election… and many of the programs I initiated were because of the inspiration I received from the advice and counsel of Mills B. Lane.” Interestingly, Sand-ers delivered the commencement address at Pace’s second graduation ceremony in 1965.

At Allen’s request, Lane founded The Com-merce Club, an exclusive social organization that continues to facilitate communication between a diverse group of business and civic leaders. Lane also was instrumental in providing funds to purchase land for the governor’s mansion and the Buford Dam, which created Lake Lanier. He negotiated the purchase of Stone Mountain and its conver-sion into a park and, in his retirement years, helped preserve Savannah’s historic district.

“[Lane] had a vision of development not just for Atlanta, but the entire South, and he was bullish in his support of public and private projects that he believed would help create economic growth,” said Dr. George Manners, founding dean of Georgia State University’s J. Mack Robinson College of Business.

"It’s a Wonderful World!"Lane’s famous salutation, “It’s a wonderful

world! Can I sell you some money today?,” and his insistence that all C&S employees “call me Mills” sit in stark contrast to “the men in black suits” of his father’s day. Those who knew Lane best described him as quirky and eccentric, brilliant and full of energy and imagination. Former Upper School Principal BOB CHAMBERS, who arrived at Pace in 1963, describes Lane as “a very talented in-dividual with lots of energy and enthusiasm and an excellent memory.”

The exuberant executive inspired intense loyalty amongst his employees, who appreci-

ated his humble approach to the corner-office position. Lane’s office sat on the bank’s main level rather than its exclusive sixth floor; he answered his own phone, and his door re-mained open for anyone who wanted to see him. When asked how he achieved such suc-cess, Lane frequently responded, “Hell, my father owned the joint!” and went on to ex-plain that his life’s greatest accomplishment was his choice of ancestors. A competing bank president once remarked, “We have em-ployees. Mills Lane has disciples.”

Lane recognized staff accomplishments with neckties featuring a smiling sun, a bale of cotton and the words “It’s a Wonderful World!” He was fiercely competitive, citing a “burning desire to have fun and give our competitors hell!” A rival once said, “Mills would stand on his head on top of the C&S flagpole if he thought it would get him a new savings account.” He was correct.

To promote Georgia’s wool industry, Lane herded a flock of sheep into the bank’s main lobby; he drove a toy car into a meeting to “rev up the competition,” often showed up in baseball or football uniforms to pro-mote teamwork, and even stormed a C&S conference room wearing a shooting jacket and unloaded a round of .30-caliber cartridges to encourage his executives to pursue bigger targets.

Lane’s attire reflected his personality and included outlandish sports jackets, flashy slacks and white bucks; he frequently wore tennis shoes to work. Due to color blindness, he often donned bright, clashing colors that his bemused colleagues described as “bad works of art.” On July 4, he dressed as George Washington and read the Declaration of In-dependence to neighborhood children.

Days began with a Coca-Cola and a ciga-rette, and Lane’s early morning inspirational meetings were dubbed “Mills’ sunrise ser-vices.” His mind constantly raced with new ideas that colleagues called “Mills’ hot flash-es”; not surprisingly, they often inspired the bank’s next stage of growth.

“We Will Do the Right Thing”To Lane, helping Pace get off the ground

served a dual purpose: It would provide an additional educational option for local fami-lies, and it would benefit the city of Atlanta. Lane believed that any truly great city needed a quality public-school system, as well as a variety of private and parochial schools from which to choose.

At the time, Buckhead’s fine independent schools were somewhat myopically focused on academic achievement. In contrast, Lane and other early Pace supporters envisioned a small, family oriented school that, according to Chambers, “had a heart” and “truly looked after the kids” while providing a first-rate, college-preparatory, liberal arts education. Much like The Commerce Club, Pace would welcome families of differing faiths and backgrounds in such a way that would elimi-nate marginalization.

Pace remained true to this vision when, in 1967, the school received its first black ap-plicant. Lane served on the Pace Board of Trustees, and the group quickly voted not to deny admittance based upon race, which

would have been legal at the time. “It’s im-portant to remember that Pace never had a policy of exclusion,” Chambers notes.

The Board was secure in its decision, yet there was legitimate concern regarding the financial impact should Pace families with-draw their children as a result of the ruling. Lane famously declared, “We will do the right thing, and I will back it up.”

Approximately 20 percent of the student body left Pace following the Board’s decision to admit a black student. Swallowing a sig-nificant loss of tuition dollars, Lane and C&S stood by the school as promised, allaying fears of financial ruin.

Lane’s Pace LegacyLane’s impact on Pace’s development

cannot be overstated. In addition to his financial support through C&S, Lane re-cruited influential and visionary leaders to the Board of Trustees, including RUSSELL BRIDGES, for whom Bridges Hall, the old Upper School, was named. Bridges served as chair of the Board from 1960 until 1970 and hired FRANK KALEY as Pace’s first head-

master. Kaley employed Chambers, who in turn brought on many of Pace’s most beloved educators, individuals who have changed the lives of thousands of Pace alumni. Many con-tinue to teach at Pace today.

As evidence of their affection for Pace, Lane and his wife, ANNE LANE, donated personal funds to build the Gardens plaza and covered walkway that existed until Bridges Hall was demolished.

Early Trustees described Lane as Pace’s “guiding light,” a man who energized sup-porters to coalesce around their vision for the “little gem of a school.” Service, diversity and inclusion—traits not always valued at the time of Pace’s founding—are part of the school’s DNA, thanks in large part to Lane’s influence. His leadership gave birth to the spirit that has distinguished and propelled Pace forward ever since.

Mills B. Lane, Jr., died on May 7, 1989, and was buried next to his father in Bonaventure Cemetery outside Savannah.

“You don’t have to die to be forgotten,” Lane said a year before his death. Certain-ly, Pace Academy stands as a testament to his memory. •

MILLS B. LANE, JR.


SOURCES:Alston Glenn

An Unfinished History of Pace Academy, Suzi Zadeh

Bob Chambers

The C&S, Georgia’s Cornerstone Bank, Jan Pogue, 1993

Mills B. Lane, Jr. and Enterprise in a New South, Randall L. Patton, Department of History and Philosophy, Kennesaw State University, 2009

Mills B. Lane, Jr. (1912–1989), Edward A. Hatfield, New Georgia Encyclopedia, Sept. 16, 2014

Mills Bee Lane, Jr., Jan. 29, 1912–May 7, 1989, “It’s A Wonderful World,” Merritt Steed Bond

New York Times, Obituary, May 10, 1989

The Wonderful World of Mills B. Lane, Jr., Mills Lane, 1990

Photos courtesy of The C&S, Georgia’s Cornerstone Bank, Jan Pogue, 1993

Left to right: L.L. Gellerstedt, the C&S banker who ran most of

the daily loan work for Delta Air Lines; Mills B. Lane, Jr.; and C.E. Woolman, the founder of Delta


S INCE 1958, Pace Academy has cre-ated prepared, confident citizens of the world, individuals equipped to

innovate, lead with compassion and make a difference.

Pace’s magic lies in our people. Our outstanding faculty emphasizes the devel-opment of the “whole child” in a family oriented, respectful environment. We strive to be a diverse and inclusive community, one in which everyone understands what it means to belong. With a focus on character education and global perspectives, we en-courage students to explore their passions and strengths, experience triumph and failure and, ultimately, excel.

Past generations’ strategic vision, thoughtful planning and careful execution of prior plans have enabled this success. Pace’s leaders have lived up to the school’s motto: To have the courage to strive for excellence.

Building on the foundation set by our predecessors, the Board of Trustees has put forth its strategic vision for the coming five years. Conceived through a lens of equity and inclusion, the Strategic Plan 2016–2021 ensures that Pace’s culture of excellence and innovation remains intact for future generations, and that all future graduates are prepared for the ever-changing world they will encounter.

We hold fast to our founding principles and take pride in our legacy as a small school that THINKS BIG. The Strategic Plan 2016–2021 continues that proud tradition while celebrating growth and envisioning an ever-greater place for children to learn and develop.

THE PLANNING PROCESSMost institutions enlist the help of outside counsel when crafting strategic plans, but in true Pace fashion, the Strategic Planning Committee of the Board of Trustees took this important project upon themselves.

For two years, the committee gathered information from Pace’s many constituen-cies; reviewed survey results from parents, faculty, students, Trustees and alumni; ana-lyzed data regarding admissions, financial aid, advancement, diversity, extracurricular participation, college placement and col-lege success; and measured Pace’s progress against previous Strategic Plans.

THE PLANThe resulting Strategic Plan is structured around five focus areas: Academic & Institutional Excellence, Enrollment, Global Citizenship, Student Life & School Culture, and Community & Communications.

Within each of these areas, the Board of Trustees has set forth specific initiatives that will enable Pace to further fulfill its mission: To create prepared, confident citizens of the world.

* Bold indicates priorities within each focus area.

The Pace Academy Board of Trustees unveils the 2016–2021 Strategic Plan.

A VISIONFOR THE

FUTURE

STRATEGIC PLAN 2016–2021 FOCUS AREAS• Academic and Institutional Excellence

• Enrollment

• Global Citizenship

• Student Life and School Culture

• Community and Communications


■ Academic excellence is a Pace hallmark, and the foundation of any great academic institution must be an outstanding and devel-oping faculty.

Because our expert faculty prepares students for the ever-changing world they will encounter, a Pace education includes innovative curricular and extra-curricular programming around science, technology, engineering, arts and math (STEAM).

To excel in these and other endeavors, Pace students in all divi-sions utilize our Academic Resource Center (ARC), which provides individualized academic assistance, particularly to those with learn-ing differences.

The combination of intellectual challenge and a nurturing environment ensures students graduate from Pace prepared for college, and the Office of College Counseling guides each student to his or her collegiate “fit.”

Because participation in our growing arts and athletics programs is encouraged—as is a healthy, productive relationship with tech-nology—our students leave Pace emboldened by well-rounded perspectives and ready to further explore their passions.

TO ENSURE CONTINUED ACADEMIC AND INSTITUTIONAL EXCELLENCE, PACE WILL:

• Seek out and cultivate diverse teaching talent; expand faculty development* opportunities; continue to provide financial sup-port for faculty children to attend Pace; enable higher education for faculty; promote employee enthusiasm and satisfaction.

• Expand STEAM programming, particularly in the Middle School; partner with local colleges and corporations to provide practical opportunities for students; attract students with STEAM strengths.

• Continue to support the work of the ARC; focus on early iden-tification of learning-style needs; explore the creation of a writing lab.

• Further expose ninth-grade students and parents to the college-search process; educate Upper School deans regard-ing college placement; develop metrics to assess college admissions success.

• Evaluate the need for a school-wide fine arts director; reevalu-ate arts budgets based on growing participation and increased staffing; consider expanding and/or renovating arts facilities.

• Further incorporate emerging technologies into classrooms to enhance teaching, learning and relationships.

• Renovate aging facilities to ensure maximum usability; annually review student safety and campus security; provide appropriate personnel and systems to protect the Pace community.

• Given high athletic participation, evaluate the necessity and efficacy of physical education in the Middle School; continue to support healthy, active lifestyles.

■ The Pace student body defines our school, and it is crucial that we continue to attract applicants who will thrive at Pace and beyond.

We build an outstanding student body by consistently promoting the Pace brand, establishing personal relationships with prospective families, and welcoming qualified siblings and legacies into the Pace community.

In order to fulfill Pace’s mission to create prepared, confident citi-zens of the world, our school community must reflect the diversity of our local and global communities, and we must embody the values of equity, social justice, empathy, inclusion and respect for all people.

In that spirit of inclusion, Pace strives to provide financial aid for tuition to all families who demonstrate need and has increased both the amount of aid awarded and the percentage of students receiving assistance.

TO ENSURE CONTINUED ENROLLMENT SUCCESS, PACE WILL:

• Further articulate its admissions policies regarding sibling and legacy applicants; continue to attract and enroll diverse students.

• Foster meaningful diversity and inclusion efforts throughout the school; equip the Pace community with the skills required to engage effectively in issues of diversity; continue to cultivate a respectful and inclusive workplace and learning environment; increase the Board of Trustees’ engagement with issues of diversity.

• Consider increasing financial-aid awards to cover costs beyond tuition; create a financial-aid award program for middle-income families; develop a contingency plan for financial-aid funding should the Georgia Private School Tax Credit program be eliminated.

1. ACADEMIC & INSTITUTIONAL EXCELLENCE

2. ENROLLMENT

A VISIONFOR THE

FUTURE

THE NEXT FIVE YEARS: OUR TOP PRIORITIES• STEAM

• Faculty Development

• Financial Aid

• Enrollment Management

• The Isdell Center for Global Leadership


STRATEGIC PLAN

■ Citizens of the world are characterized by curiosity, a willingness to take risks and a commitment to integrity. Pace strives to cultivate these characteristics through robust student-life offerings and a healthy, well-rounded school culture.

To achieve this goal, we promote and support the student-athlete concept and abide by an Athletic Philosophy and Code of Con-duct. We strike a balance between fielding competitive teams and allowing opportunities for growth, and we encourage multi-sport student-athletes.

Just as our student-athletes excel in competition, our debaters perform at the highest levels. Pace also encourages participation in extracurricular pursuits and club activities, and students devote countless hours and unlimited energy to these endeavors.

To ensure all students take advantage of the many opportuni-ties available, we place great importance on each student’s mental, physical and social wellness. Parenting programs, full-time counsel-ors, a consulting psychiatrist, and student-driven initiatives promote mental and social health, while physical education and well-balanced meals encourage healthy lifestyles.

Calculated character development programming undergirds student life in all divisions; in order to become citizens of the world, we know students must first be good citizens.

TO ENSURE THRIVING STUDENT LIFE AND SCHOOL CULTURE, PACE WILL:

• In regards to athletics, continue to promote balanced lifestyles for student-athletes; evaluate the teacher-coach model; establish and evaluate ongoing coach development programs; create a succession plan for coaches.

• Increase support for and visibility of the debate program; take advantage of matching grant opportunities.

• Continue to invest in thriving extracurricular activities; appropri-ately recognize extracurricular accomplishments.

• Continue to prioritize the physical, mental and social health of all students; consider integrating a focus on health and wellness into the Lower and Middle Schools’ physical education curriculum; encourage Pace LEAD’s initiatives, as well as Parenting Connec-tion programming in all divisions.

• Continue to support the importance of positive character traits in our children; create and implement an age-appropriate Upper School character education program; measure character development.

■ Pace’s mission to create prepared, confident citizens of the world mandates action, and the school established the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) as the cornerstone in its efforts to provide a global, integrated educational experience. A Board of Advisors guides the ICGL, fostering excellence in global leadership.

Leadership ability, global mindset, engaged citizenship, cultural awareness and appreciation and international experi-ence define global leaders. Through a school-wide annual global theme and collaborative, cross-divisional programming within six focus areas, the ICGL nurtures these qualities at every step.

Inherent in global citizenship is an understanding of the importance of looking beyond one’s self, and Pace endeavors to provide opportunities for community service to all students. Partnerships with local community organizations enable service learning.

TO ENSURE THE CONTINUED CREATION OF GLOBAL CITIZENS, PACE WILL:

• Facilitate ways for Upper School students to share their global-learning experiences with their younger counterparts; tie study tours to curriculum and create accountability measures to ensure faculty incorporate their global travels into the class-room; measure the qualitative skills we seek to build; evaluate ICGL programming on an ongoing basis.

• Expand service learning to meet the needs and interests of all students; further define community partnerships and maintain more consistent involvement with these organizations.

• Leverage relationships with alumni and parents to expand access to internships and external partnerships.

3. GLOBAL CITIZENSHIP

4. STUDENT LIFE & SCHOOL CULTURE

STRATEGIC PLAN


■ We often use the term “Pace family” to describe our community, and the Board of Trustees leads the way in advancing our school’s mission, vision and culture by engaging all constituencies within that family.

Chief among these constituencies are Pace parents, a highly engaged corps of volunteers who enable our small, family focused school to operate at the highest level. The Parents Club, Arts Al-liance and Booster Club, all thriving organizations, represent the epitome of Pace’s diverse, active and committed community.

Our growing alumni population also plays an important role in the life of the school, and recent advancements in alumni programming and giving indicate the potential for even greater involvement.

Strength within the Office of Advancement has been the impetus behind increased involvement among many constituen-cies: the Aim High campaign for the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School exceeded its goal; our annual fund, rebranded as The Pace Fund, has reached more donors and raised more dollars than ever before; and a strategic plan for advancement now guides all devel-opment efforts.

Thoughtful communications around fundraising initiatives, school life and strategic developments ensure that the Pace family remains engaged and that those outside our community regard Pace as a leader among independent schools. Relationships with our neigh-bors and the local community have never been stronger.

TO ENSURE CONTINUED SUCCESS WITHIN THE AREAS OF COMMUNITY AND COMMUNICATIONS, PACE WILL:

• At the Board of Trustees level, continue to survey and engage with the Pace community to ensure consensus around the school’s vision; review independent-school best practices in regards to governance.

• Consider new and greater ways to involve parents in the school’s daily life and strategic vision; add non-Board members to Board committees and/or task forces.

• Encourage the Parents Club’s continued commitment to its Citizens of the World Travel Grant Program; review best practices regarding governance of parent organizations.

• Further connect Upper School students and alumni by exploring mutually beneficial programming; continue to support meaningful alumni programs.

• Create an advancement “menu” of giving options to better align giving with the school’s needs and priorities.

• Maintain our high level of communications with a focus on quality and consistency of presentation, timeliness and effective-ness; provide opportunities for community feedback; nurture neighborhood relationships while striving for a further-reaching community impact.

MEASURING OUR PROGRESS This Strategic Plan includes many wide-ranging and aspi-rational goals, and we believe they are achievable.

To measure progress and ensure these goals are met, the Board of Trustees has formed subcommittees around each focus area, and will engage with the Pace commu-nity to measure progress and address concerns. Regular subcommittee reports will keep Board members apprised of progress.

In addition, the Board will review the Strategic Plan on an annual basis, remaining open to course corrections, new opportunities and alternative options. When possible, the Board will track quantitative measures of progress for each focus area, using data to drive decision-making.

To learn more about our strategic growth and vision for the future, visit www.paceacademy.org/growth.

STRATEGIC PLANNING COMMITTEE

Liz Price, ChairCharlie BrownDanny FerryBonnie HarrisGreg KellyCara Isdell Lee ’97AJ JohnsonMark LuettersJeff SeabrightNatasha Swann

5. COMMUNITY & COMMUNICATIONS


STATE CHAMPS


Varsity football wins the 2015 GHSA Class AA title. “This is our time,” Director of Athletics DR. TROY BAKER declared during the year’s first school-wide pep rally. “No challenge is too great, no opponent too strong. United as a community, the Pace Academy Knights will prevail.”

Dramatic language indeed, and it sure sounded good. But could Pace’s student-ath-letes really rise to the challenge and perform to the very best of their abilities? Baker believed they could—and he passed a little bit of that belief on to Pace students, teachers, coaches and parents.

As the fall season progressed, belief in “OUR Time” grew stronger as crowds grew larger. Varsity softball made its fifth consecutive trip to the Georgia High School Association (GHSA) state playoffs; volleyball brought home the school’s first area championship and advanced to the Elite Eight; girls cross-country placed fourth at the state meet, while the boys team brought home the silver medal.

The varsity football team made it all the way to the Georgia Dome.

The Knights’ post-season included away wins over the Darlington School (35–0), Screven County High School (27–7), Macon County High School (33–26) and a 45–20 semifinal vic-tory over the Greater Atlanta Christian School Spartans, Class AA’s 2014 state runner-up.

During the 2014 playoffs, the Fitzgerald High School Purple Hurricane put an end to the Knights’ championship hopes with a 49–21 quarterfinal victory. This year’s state final of-fered the Knights a chance for redemption.

With three touchdowns and 113 yards from junior tailback DEON JACKSON, two touch-downs and 78 rushing yards from sophomore REALUS GEORGE, a touchdown from senior SPENCER HEMMINGWAY and 148 passing yards from sophomore quarterback GUNNOR FAULK, the Knights proved too much for Region 1’s No. 2 seed. The home team de-feated the Purple Hurricane 42–21, becoming only the second No. 4 seed to win a state title in GHSA history.

Sometimes, you just have to believe.


STATE CHAMPS

AS THE FINAL seconds ticked away on the Georgia Dome scoreboard, Knights fans erupted in anticipation of being crowned the Georgia State High School Association (GHSA) Class AA state champions.

BILL LELLYETT, an assistant coach since the football program’s inception, hugged me. He stepped back with tears in his eyes, looked me square in the face, and said, “We started this thing.”

I understood the gravity of the moment, but I couldn’t find the right words to respond. So I just said, “I know. Thank you, Coach.”

Knights Head Coach CHRIS SLADE was just one year into his high-school coach-ing career when he took the helm of Pace Academy’s fledgling varsity program in 2013. A former linebacker for the New Eng-land Patriots and Carolina Panthers, Slade had experienced tremendous success, but coaching teenage boys was new. He got to

work, articulated a vision for Pace football and, through diligence, hard work and con-sistency, built something special.

Slade normally approaches victory with an eye on the future. I’ve listened to every post-game talk this season, and like clock-work he says, “This was a good win, but this game is over. We have work to do. We have to get ready for next week.”

He tells his student-athletes to make sure they get to treatment, position meet-ings and film sessions. He talks about the importance of character, the value of putting teammates first and the benefits of applying concepts from practice into game situations. He stresses the process and the proper approach. He does the same thing every game—win or lose.

But when the buzzer sounded at the end of the state-championship game, Slade stood atop the sideline bench, raised both fists in victory and saluted the sea of Pace supporters. Our players hugged; a few

jumped into the student section to celebrate with their friends; some were silent, com-pletely overwhelmed by the moment.

I looked around the stadium and saw parents shouting, crying and hugging one another. I heard the pep band and cheer-leaders belting out the fight song with tremendous intensity, and I saw pride in our students’ eyes. I stood off to the side doing my best to commit the picture to memory. I was in awe of the spectacle and the power of a football game to evoke such emotion from so many people. Then I thought to myself, “This will never happen again.”

It’s not often that someone has an op-portunity to make history; the first football state championship in school history is a one-time occurrence. I was truly over-whelmed by the realization that our school had just completed a process that was, by all accounts, unrealistic.

In 2008, the Board of Trustees, Head of School FRED ASSAF, founding football

Spencer Hemmingway Photo by WARREN SAMS

Gunnor Faulk

Coach Slade

JUSTIN RAYMAN and SAMUEL SLOMAN

HISTORY IN THE MAKINGDirector of Athletics DR. TROY BAKER reflects on the Knights’ state-championship season.

41

STATE CHAMPS

coach MATT HALL and former Director of Athletics KRIS PALMERTON launched the varsity football program.

Current seniors MICK ASSAF, JEAN-LUC BROWN, PHILIP ELLIOTT, JORDAN HARRIS, PHILIP MARKWALTER, KYLE ORR, JACK WALSH and JACK ZOOK played on Pace’s Middle School squad. They had no idea what to expect, but they had the courage to ignore voices of doubt. They battled through losing seasons and small rosters, and they beat the odds. This is the stuff of greatness.

Each of the student-athletes on this year’s team will be tested in the future; they will face situations that seem unrealistic—impossible even—and they will need the courage to stay the course. Adversity may come in college; it may surface when these young men start new businesses or begin families of their own. But at some point, they will have to buy into a vision; they will have to believe in their ability to execute,

and they will have to convince others to believe as well.

I’m hopeful that this process aids our student-athletes in whatever adventures they may undertake. I hope they remem-ber the journey from start-up Middle School football players to state champions. When they think about the crowd at the Georgia Dome, I hope they are energized by the fact that they inspired an entire community. When they are in leadership positions, I hope they remember Coach Slade, his consistency and focus, and how he convinced 52 young men to believe in the same vision.

Recently, Lower School P.E. teacher LIZ TUTT told me that several Lower School stu-dents engaged her in a conversation about the varsity football team. “The football team must have worked really hard to get to this point,” they said. “If we work hard, we can

do great things. Someday we might be able to do what they did.”

Our Lower School students get it: We are Pace Academy. We are all connected. When one wins, we all win, and we should draw motivation from each other.

I would surmise that in 2008, the school’s vision for Pace football was less about the state-championship trophy and more about the conversation in Tutt’s P.E. class.

Congratulations to our coaches and student-athletes on a job well done. You have set a standard for excellence, but in the words of Coach Slade, “We have work to do.”

May all of us take pride in the process. Whether it’s academics, arts, athletics or community service. We are Pace Academy, and This is OUR Time.

Jack Walsh, Mick Assaf and Kyle Orr Photo by BOB WEBSTER

ANTHONY TRINH and ANDREW THOMAS

Deon Jackson


42 KnightTimes | Winter 2016

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OUR TIME From bonfires, banners, and fan buses to tailgates, team dinners and T-shirts, the Pace family—led by the Booster Club, Pace Athletics and team parents, as well as our cheerleaders, pep band and student broad-casters—rallied around the Knights during their historic march to the Dome.

1) The bonfire on the night before the state championship; 2) The Zook family at the bonfire; 3) JUSTIN MORRIS, rapper Rich Homie Quan and JAMAREE SALYER; 4) The Final Four send-off; 5) Rapper and singer Rich Homie Quan paid a surprise, pre-state visit to practice!; 6) The football moms show off some wicked dance moves.; 7) PAIGE BELAND and GRAY MULLER at the bonfire; 8) PHILIP ELLIOTT, SAMUEL SLOMAN and JACK ZOOK greeted Lower School students at carpool; 9) TIMOTHY COLEMAN, JEAN-LUC BROWN and JORDAN HARRIS with Lower School students GAVIN MCGURN, BRITTON MCGURN and MIA CHUNG; 10) The Final Four send-off


STATE CHAMPS

HEAD COACH CHRIS SLADE• Atlanta Journal-Constitution Class AA

All-State Coach of the Year• Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-Metro

Co-Coach of the Year• Georgia Sports Writers Association All-State

Class AA Coach of the Year• Georgia Athletic Coaches Association

Class AA Coach of the Year• Touchdown Club of Atlanta Class AA

Coach of the Year• 2015 Rising Senior Bowl coaching selection• U.S. Army All-American Bowl 2016

coaching selection

MICK ASSAF• Georgia Sports Writers Association First

Team Defense• Georgia Athletic Coaches Association

Class AA First Team Defense• Region 6AA Second Team Defense

TREY BLOUNT• Georgia Sports Writers Association First

Team Offense• Region 6AA First Team Offense• 2015 Rising Senior Bowl selection

TIMOTHY COLEMAN• USA Today High School Sports All-USA

Georgia Team• Georgia Sports Writers Association First

Team Offense• Region 6AA First Team Offense• North-South All-Star Game selection

PHILIP ELLIOTT• Region 6AA Second Team Offense

DEON JACKSON• Region 6AA Athlete of the Year • Georgia Sports Writers Association

Honorable Mention

PHILIP MARKWALTER• Georgia Sports Writers Association

Second Team Defense• Region 6AA First Team Defense

KYLE ORR• Region 6AA Second Team Defense

JAMAREE SALYER• Atlanta Journal-Constitution Class AA

All-State First Team• MaxPreps Sophomore All-American First

Team Offense• Georgia Sports Writers Association First

Team Offense• Region 6AA First Team Offense

SAMUEL SLOMAN• Kohl’s Kicking 2015 High School Season

All-American First Team• 2015 Chris Sailer National High School

Placekicker of the Year• USA Today High School Sports All-USA

Georgia Team• Atlanta Journal-Constitution Class AA

All-State First Team• Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-Metro

First Team• Georgia Sports Writers Association First

Team Offense• Georgia Athletic Coaches Association

Class AA First Team Kicker• Touchdown Club of Atlanta Metro All-Star

Team, Kicker of the Year• Region 6AA First Team Offense (kicking)• Region 6AA Second Team Defense (punting)• Kohl's Kicking National Player of the Week• Set GHSA record for field goals in a season

ANDREW THOMAS• Atlanta Journal-Constitution Class AA

All-State First Team• Atlanta Journal-Constitution All-Metro

Offensive Player of the Year• Georgia Sports Writers Association First

Team Offense• Georgia Athletic Coaches Association Class

AA First Team Offense• Region 6AA First Team Offense• Region 6AA First Team Defense• U.S. Army All-American Bowl 2017 selection• 2015 Rising Senior Bowl selection

ANTHONY TRINH• North-South All-Star Game selection

INDIVIDUAL ACCOLADES The football community recognized several Knights for their performances this season:

Slade

Assaf

Blount

Coleman

Elliott

Jackson Trinh

Thomas

Sloman

Salyer

Orr

Markwalter


TOM PEE ’83 is in his second year teach-ing middle-school math and coaching cross-country and track at George Walton Academy in Monroe, Ga. He married Lisa Slocumbe Pee in December 2013.

BRIAN BECKER ’02 is now a certified fi-nancial planner. Brian opened The Becker Law Firm in East Cobb, Ga., and his prac-tice is limited to wills, trusts and estates, business planning and mediation.

HAYLEY KAHN ’12, daughter of BRIAN A. KAHN ’78, was one of 10 nominees for Vanderbilt University’s Outstanding Senior Award. To qualify for the award—given during annual Homecoming festivities—student leaders must have a minimum GPA of 3.0 and are required to have had a positive impact on the organi-zations with which they are involved and

44

the Vanderbilt community as a whole. The Outstanding Senior Award is Vanderbilt’s only award that is both merit-based and student-selected.

ROBIN LALONE ’12 recently graduated from Auburn University and moved to Houston, Texas, where she now works as a community relations and events manager for Kendra Scott, a popular accessories brand.

ANNIE ARMSTRONG ’13 is a junior at Emerson College in Boston, Mass., studying journalism and creative writing. Annie spent the summer of 2015 in New York City, where she interned at VICE, an online news source. She continues to freelance for VICE, and her article about Atlanta’s evolving art scene was published in September 2015. Annie’s poetry has been published in the New York magazine Played Boy.

WHERE ARE THEY NOW?

Alumni ALUMNI

1) Jack Assaf with pupils in Ghana

2) Annie Armstrong3) Brian Becker

“Early on, my folks

taught me that if I didn’t like what

I was given, I should learn to make it better,” RICHARD HAINING ’97 says.

Haining, a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design, has taken that advice to heart. The Brooklyn-based

“maker” crafts chairs, tables and wooden vessels that counter the pervasive buy-it-cheap, use-it-briefly, throw-it- away-and-repeat attitude.

“I create pieces that I’d want to live with,” Haining says, “[They’re] handcraft-ed with a modern sensibility.”

For nearly eight years, Haining worked as a producer for Readyset Inc., designing and building sets for studio photography projects, film and video events, retail and showroom displays and galleries. He went out on his own in March 2015.

“My current body of works is strongly influenced by the over-abundance of


scrap material being thrown out in the shops I worked in,” Haining says. “This perfectly good material becomes the building blocks for my ‘vessels.’”

Haining approaches his work with what he calls a “snout-to-tail” attitude. He takes the scraps and mills them down, cuts them to size, stacks, glues and positions them to create the vessel’s approximate form. Then, entirely by hand, he shapes the exte-rior of the vessel, finessing the surface until it’s perfect.

“Each piece I create begins and ends in my hands, and the single most important tool I use in this process is an unyielding attention to detail,” Haining says. “All in all, I strive to maintain a balance between form and function to create elegant utilitarian pieces. I want you to kick your feet up on my table and stay a while.”

See Haining’s work at richardhaining.com.

RICHARDHAINING

’97

Spotlight on

During the summer of 2015, JACK ASSAF ’13 traveled to Adaklu Helekpe in the Volta region of Ghana through Notre Dame’s International Summer Service Learning Program.

While there he taught physics and mechanics. He also worked with the Adaklu Youth Education Committee, an organiza-tion that provides access to education and vocational training, to design projects and initiatives that are sustainable and profitable for their group.

“It was an incredible opportunity!” Jack reports. “The trip provided valuable experi-ence in both teaching and serving—with the added twist of being on the other side of the world.”

BIRTHSMOLLY HAINING SCOTT ’93 and her husband, John, welcomed their third child, Mary Eleanor, on April 17, 2015. Mary joins sister Julia, 6, and brother Henry, 3. The family lives in Atlanta’s Morningside neighbor-hood, and Molly works part-time at the Georgia Justice Project as the legal volunteer coordinator and staff attorney.

April and STEWART GRACE ’98 wel-comed daughter Cora Elizabeth on Oct. 11, 2015. Stewart has been an IT project manager at Randstad for four years.

Evan and ERICA PETROSKY DELANEY ’01 welcomed son Connor Michael on Oct. 19, 2015, at Atlanta’s Northside Hospital. Connor was 7 pounds, 3 ounces and 21 inches long.

Erica is a physician assistant in emergency medicine at Saint Joseph’s Hospital in Atlan-ta, while Evan is the managing member of Fish Hook LLC, which builds mobile apps for midsized companies nationwide. The family lives in Atlanta’s Brookhaven neighborhood.

ALEXIS SCHULZE GRACE ’01 and her hus-band, Lukus, had a son, August James, on Sept. 1, 2015. August joins sister Salem, 3.

The family recently returned to Atlanta, where Lukus serves as the St. Regis Atlanta’s food and beverage director. Alexis is the

ALUMNI

1) Mary Eleanor Scott; 2) August James Grace; 3) Cora Elizabeth Grace; 4) Connor Michael DeLaney; 5) Carter Neal Cagle (left) and Davis Harrison Cagle; 6) Hamish Owings Cockey; 7) Samuel Oliver Drinkard; 8) William Burk Shaw


corporate director of social media for Ca-pella Hotel Group.

“[Our] return to Atlanta may be tempo-rary—that’s the nature of the hotel industry,” Alexis writes, “but we’re enjoying being close to family for the time being!”

LAURA BOLLMAN ’02 and her husband, Preston Cockey, welcomed son Hamish Owings on Aug. 12, 2015. He weighed 8 pounds, 2 ounces and was 21 inches long.

This summer, the family will move to Cam-bridge, Mass., where Laura, now director of program design and implementation for the CF Foundation, will attend Harvard Univer-sity, working toward her Master of Education in policy and management.

ANDY DRINKARD ’02 and his wife, Jen Tem, had a son, Samuel Oliver, on Sept. 14, 2015. He weighed 7 pounds, 7 ounces and was 19 inches long. Andy recently received his master’s from the University of West Georgia and is working as a mental health counselor with Medicaid patients in Atlanta.

Spencer and JULIANNA RUE CAGLE ’03 welcomed identical twin boys on Oct. 22, 2015. Carter Neal was born at 4:18 p.m.; he weighed 6 pounds and was 19 inches long. Davis Harrison was born one minute later; he was 5 pounds, 14 ounces and 18 3/4 inches long. The family lives in Atlanta.

TALBOT HEAD SHAW ’03 and her husband, Burk, welcomed William Burk on Nov. 10, 2015. He was 9 pounds, 10 ounces and 21 1/4 inches long.

The family lives in Houston, Texas, where Talbot is a brand manager for Medsafe, a company that produces safety products and equipment, including a line of fire-resistant clothing Talbot oversees. Burk is Medsafe’s president.

“I’m also involved with the Junior League of Houston,” Talbot writes, “but right now I’m looking forward to staying home with William for the next couple of months!”

ALUMNI

MARRIAGES KEELY HERRICK ’94 and JUDD MILLMAN ’94 tied the knot on Nov. 7, 2015, at Paris on Ponce in Atlanta. KEVIN LINDER ’94 performed the ceremony. DAVID POLINE ’94, JED APPELROUTH ’94, ELIZA WATT ’94, ROBERT HAMBURGER ‘93 and faculty member RICKS CARSON attended.

Judd is a senior consultant at Public Consulting Group, and Keely is a managing partner at her own law firm, KHerrick LLC. Keely is also a freelance writer; Creative Loafing Atlanta regularly publishes her work.

COURTNEY CLINKSCALES ’97 married Jennifer Bertolani on Sept. 12, 2015, on the top of a mountain in Beaver Creek, Colo. WILSON COVINGTON ’97 was in the wed-ding party.

Courtney is a pediatric anesthetist at Egleston hospital, where she has been prac-ticing for 10 years. The couple stays busy taking care of their dogs and spending time with family.

Adam and SHAYNA WALTER LEVY ’99 were married on Sept. 6, 2015, at the King Plow Arts Center in Atlanta. MAGGIE FOSTER ’99 was a bridesmaid; ELIZABETH MCNEILL SILBERT ’99 attended.

Adam and Shayna live in New York City, where Shayna works in marketing and digital media at Israel Bonds.

KIP PASTOR ’00 and Samantha Shuman tied the knot on Sept. 12, 2015, at Sunstone Villa in Santa Ynez, Calif. BEN THORPE ’00, BRYAN WOLF ’00 and MICHAEL HAR-BOUR ’00 attended.

Sam is a director of publicity at Warner Bros. Kip is the executive vice president of production at Indigenous Media, a company formed in 2014 by producer and director Jon Avnet (Black Swan, Fried Green Toma-toes, Risky Business, Justified) and producer and writer Rodrigo García (In Treatment, Six Feet Under, Last Days in the Desert). Kip is also finishing three documentaries on the side; they will come out next year.

The couple recently bought a house with an avocado tree and an orange tree. “We’re living the California dream,” Kip says.

BRYAN WOLF ’00 and Suzie Sagues were married on Oct. 10, 2015, at the Ribault Club on Fort George Island in Jacksonville, Fla. Pace alumni in attendance were KIP PASTOR ’00, NICK JEFFERS ’00 and ELIZABETH ANSLEY JEFFERS ’00.

The couple lives in Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla., where Bryan works in investment banking at Deutsche Bank, and Suzie is an orthopedic physician assistant and teaches at NOVA Southeastern University. They met four years ago while living in New York City and moved to Florida in 2013.

JON BIRDSONG ’03 and Emily Barrow Birdsong were married on Sept. 26, 2015, in Highlands, N.C.

Emily is in her second year of a surgi-cal residency within Emory Hospital’s ENT department. After receiving her bachelor’s from the University of Georgia, she earned her doctorate at Emory University’s School of Medicine.

Jon runs WideAngle.com, a company lo-cated in Atlanta Tech Village that provides meeting-management software. Compa-nies such as General Electric, Thomson Reuters, Google and IBM use WideAngle to produce stronger communications, greater alignment and deeper relationships between team members.

Kip and LAUREN FOWLER THOMAS ’03 were married on Oct. 3, 2015, on the beach in Amelia Island, Fla. AMELIA CALLOWAY ROBERTS ’03 was a bridesmaid.

Lauren attended art school at the Uni-versity of Georgia and earned a master’s in architecture from the University of Colorado Denver. She now works for Atlanta architec-ture firm Cooper Carry. Kip, a food lover, is pioneering a new urban garden project in Atlanta. Both Lauren and Kip—their friends refer to them as a “Renaissance couple”—are musicians who love art and nature.

MEGAN KNOTT ADDISON ’04 and Edward Burke Addison IV, a graduate of Holy In-nocents’ Episcopal School, were married on June 20, 2015, at the Ocean Club in Delray Beach, Fla. Bridesmaids included COURT-


ALUMNI

NEY SCHAEFER ’07, LUCY SCHAEFER ’08 and CAROLYN SCHAEFER ’11.

Megan and Burke met while pursuing undergraduate degrees at the University of Georgia and live in Delray Beach with their dog, Alley. Megan is vice president of Peri-winkle and Morley, an independent chain of clothing boutiques. Burke attended gradu-ate school at Lynn University in Boca Raton, Fla., and is a therapist at an addiction treat-ment center, also located in Boca Raton.

LINDSEY WILLIAMSON ’04 married Dan Baumann at Atlanta’s Northside United Methodist Church on Nov. 14, 2015. The reception was held at the Biltmore Ballrooms. LAURA COKER BUSSERT ’04 and ANNIKA SALTMAN COX ’04 were bridesmaids, and SARAH JOHNSON COSSICH ’04 attended.

Dan and Lindsey live in Atlanta, where Lindsey is an associate product manager for Halyard Health, and Dan is a project man-ager at Patterson & Dewar Engineers.

ALINE ANSPACH KUKANZA ’05 married Thomas Kukanza on Aug. 29, 2015, at Cha-teau Terblock in Brussels, Belgium. HENRY MCALPIN ’05, CHRISTINA MORRISON ’05, MAGGIE MATHEWS ’05, JODI SHEF-FIELD ’05, JENNI RIDALL ’05, VANESSA PETROSKY ’05, PATRICK DEVEAU ’05, LIA MORATAIKIS HOOFF ’05 and former Pace student Benjamin Lowenthal attended.

The couple lives in Brooklyn, N.Y., where Aline is an account director for GCI Health, a healthcare public relations agency headquar-tered in New York City. Thomas is a senior consultant in customs and international trade at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).

“We met in our hometown of Brussels three years ago after my parents moved back from Atlanta,” Aline writes. “It only seemed fitting to have our wedding there.” The couple will honeymoon in Cambodia and Vietnam in March 2016.

MEG LIEBMAN ’05 married Ryan Mitch-ell Oct. 11, 2015. PAUL LIEBMAN ’99, MARY LIEBMAN ’00, HARDEN WISE-BRAM ’05, JENNY NEWMAN ’05 and RACHEL KORSCHUN ’05 attended. Meg is the daughter of retired Lower School Assistant Librarian KATHLEEN LIEBMAN.

DAVID DARLAND ’09 and Julia Thead were married on Oct.10, 2015, in Sea-side, Fla. The two met while attending Vanderbilt University. JOSH SURECK ’09 was the best man; JARED WASSERMAN ’11 was a groomsmen, and CHRISTINA DARLAND ’15 was a bridesmaid. KATIE STUART ’09, LESLIE PEARD ’09, SARA SNYDER ’09 and CAROLINE SMITH ’13 attended. The couple honeymooned in Bora Bora and lives in Wichita, Kan., where David works for Koch Industries, and Julia works for IMA Financial Group.

ALUMNI


IN MEMORIAMANDREW MOCK ’09 passed away on Nov. 8, 2015. He was a Hope Scholar studying finance at Geor-gia State University and worked at the Chastain Park and Bitsy Grant tennis centers.

“Andrew was a beloved son, broth-er and brother-in-law, uncle, nephew, grandson and friend,” his family wrote. “He enjoyed playing, watching and coaching baseball—especially with his nephews—and was an enthusiastic Atlanta Braves fan. He was a lifelong animal lover from the moment he got his first pet. His family and friends will always remember him as a loyal, gener-ous, fun-loving person.”

Andrew is survived by his parents, SARAH and RAY MOCK; sisters Joanna Irwin and MARTHA WEDGE MATTHEWS ’94; brothers-in-law Ian Irwin and Carson Matthews; nephews Henry Matthews, Ben Matthews and Charlie Irwin; and niece Sadie Irwin.

Former Lower School secretary BETTY PEE NORD passed away on Oct. 5, 2015, at the age of 86. She served under ERMA HUDMON from 1977 until 1984 and later worked at St. Martin’s Episcopal School with longtime Pace faculty member NEELY YOUNG.

Betty’s sons ROBERT (BOBBY) PEE ’82 and THOMAS (TOMMY) PEE ’83 attended Pace, as did her son-in-law CRAIG OWENS ’72. She is survived by six children, their spouses and 13 grandchildren and was predeceased by husbands Robert Pee and Randell Nord.

Betty is remembered for her love of the ocean; she was happiest walking on the beach at Amelia Island hunting for sharks’ teeth.


1) Barrow/Birdsong; 2) Liebman/Mitchell; 3) From left to right: Samantha Shuman, Kip Pastor ’00, Bryan Wolf ’00, Suzie Sagues, Nick Jeffers ’00 and Elizabeth Ansley Jeffers ’00 at the Sagues/Wolf post-wedding brunch; 4) Anspach/Kukanza; 5) Williamson/Baumann; 6) Walter/Levy; 7) Knott/Addison; 8) Thead/Darland; 9) Bertolani/Clinkscales; 10) Shuman/Pastor; 11) Fowler/Thomas 12) David Poline, Judd Millman, Keely Herrick and Jed Appelrouth, photo by Ken Schneiderman

ALUMNI

Got something to share?

Email [email protected]

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ALUMNI

50

A CITIZEN OF THE WORLD

Sam Birdsong ’08 and DTproductions tell the Pace story.

he created was for [eighth-grade English teacher] PETE POPE’S project on The Hobbit. He also remembers making a video about the Seven Deadly Sins for RICKS CARSON’S sophomore English class, as well as a film documenting a service-learning trip to Louisiana following Hurricane Katrina. Visual art teacher DONICE BLOODWORTH served as a mentor to Birdsong during his time in the Upper School, and Birdsong thanks Pace for giving him the solid founda-tion he needed to start and run his own business.

Today, Birdsong serves as a pro-ducer for DTproductions, helping facilitate communications and taking care of project development while the creative team works on making the best films possible. The company put out videos throughout 2015 and cur-rently has five in the production and post-production phases—no small feat for a group of nine.

“Our team is a story of passion fu-eling passion,” Sam explains. “We’ll argue for hours about a matter of milliseconds in a video. We hold ourselves to a high standard because we’re truly passionate about what we do. Everything we do is very tailored.

“Our process starts with a needs analysis before we move on to pre-production to figure out all of the logistics. After pre-production, we film and edit the video. It’s a very collaborative process the whole way through. Pace was so accommodating and let us address the student body to kick off the whole project, which brought the level of energy we needed for filming.”

For Birdsong, being back in front of the student body was one of the highlights of making the video. The DTproductions team joined the Upper School in the Fine Arts Center for morning assembly and requested an impromptu talent show. The students didn’t disappoint; HARRISON

MONCINO ’15 stepped onto the stage and wowed everyone with a standing backflip. “Pretty impressive for 8 o’clock in the morning,” Birdsong recalls.

While DTproductions has grown steadily for the past three years, Citizens of the World marked the company’s first experience in education, a new challenge the team was excited to take on.

The video was a massive success for both DTproductions and Pace, receiving nearly 10,000 views within the first 24 hours of its release. Seeing the release was especially rewarding for Birdsong and his team after forming such close relationships within the Pace community while filming.

“Meeting new people is the most rewarding part of my day,” Birdsong says. “I just want to tell stories for the rest of my life.”



ALUMNIALUMNI

W hat is a citizen of the world? SAM BIRDSONG ’08 and his team at DTproductions

partnered with Pace Academy and have been working since late 2014 to answer this question. After months of hard work, nearly 100 interviews and dozens of meetings, the video Pace Academy: Citizens of the World premiered in November at Pace’s admis-sions Open Houses.

The film showcases to prospective families all that Pace offers and gives them a sense of the Pace community before they even step on campus. For Birdsong, a Pace lifer and a University of Georgia alumnus, creating this video was a special experience because he got to show his team where he grew up.

“Pace lives with you forever,” Birdsong explains. “I appreciate it now more than I did then. Coming back here to film and seeing my Pre-First teachers and other people who have just completely changed my life was really, really special.”

Producing the video also gave Birdsong the chance to assess how Pace has changed since he graduated. The football team and the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School are just two of these monumental additions to the community.

“Many alumni who graduated from the old Upper School and without football may have felt uncertain about the effect these new changes would have on the culture of Pace,” he says. “But after going through this video-making process, talking to students and teachers, and experiencing the school over the past year, I can see that the culture I remember has only been reinforced through these enhancements.”

DTproductions began unofficially five years ago, but launched formally in 2012 in Athens, Ga. Birdsong cofounded the company with fellow UGA graduates Cartter Fontaine and Kelly Smith as well as Vander-bilt graduate Andrew Levy, who all share a passion for film.

However, Birdsong’s film career started well before his time at UGA. The first video

51

To watch Pace Academy: Citizens of the World, visit www.paceacademy.org/admissions.

The DTproductions team documents life at Pace.

Friday, March 18, 2016 7 p.m.–12 a.m. at

Chastain Horse Park

SAVE THE DATE for the

third annual Alumni

Knight Cap!

Benefitting The Pace Alumni Fund’s dedicated cause:

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

Avenue Catering Concepts.

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

the event, please email [email protected].

Have you liked or joined us yet?

www.facebook.com/paceacademyalumniassociation

www.linkedin.com/paceacademyalumniassociation

CHARLEY BRICKLEY ’88 has come a long way since his kindergarten days in the base-ment of Bridges Hall, the old Upper School; he’s now a Pace Academy parent and the new president of the Alumni Board.

This lifer’s Pace experience has been filled with names familiar to multiple generations of Knights: faculty members like CONNIE HERNDON, JEAN GRIFFITHS, STEVE CUN-NINGHAM and JANE SIBLEY, to name a few.

As a student, Brickley took full advan-tage of all that Pace offered and was involved in “a little bit of everything.” An avid athlete, he played at least one sport every season—soccer in the fall, basketball and swimming in the winter, and tennis and baseball in the spring.

He dabbled in the arts as well, with small roles in junior-high productions and a spot in the Upper School chorus. “I embarrass-ingly tell everyone I earned a letter in choir,” Brickley says. He rounded out his chorus letter with one in baseball.

After graduation, Brickley attended Vanderbilt University. As a college student, he wasn’t sure exactly what he wanted to do for the rest of his life, but he did know he would study abroad. Spanish classes with CAPPY LEWIS and LYNN DRAUGHON inspired him to minor in the world language and spend part of his junior year in Madrid, Spain. He graduated with a degree in eco-nomics and has gone on to work for several commercial finance businesses. He now works for Regions Bank.

Brickley and his wife, SUZIE BRICKLEY, have two daughters: ninth-grader BAY BRICK-LEY and seventh-grader LANE BRICKLEY. Several of their teachers taught Brickley while

he was at Pace. The girls have also been involved in multiple sports like their father.

“The thing that I love about Pace,” Brickley says, “is that students get a chance to par-ticipate in the sports they love and as well as those with which they’re less familiar. I’m very supportive of the Middle School’s athletic philosophy and ‘try-new-things’ attitude.”

Brickley came back into the Pace fold when he became involved with fundraising for Charlie Owens Field and Pace Athletics. He joined the Alumni Board in 2008 and hosted his class’s 20th and 25th reunions.

As president, Brickley wants the Alumni Board to be a voice for Pace graduates to the administration and the Parents Club. He also hopes to build on past Alumni Board President AUSTIN MCDONALD’S ’97 ef-forts and continue developing relationships with alumni, encouraging them to reconnect with Pace. As both an alumnus and a current parent, Brickley is in a unique position to accomplish his goals.

Pace leaves a different imprint on each student that passes through its doors, but one thing to which all Pace alumni can attest is the impact that the Pace motto, “To have the courage to strive for excellence,” has had on their lives after Pace.

“The thing that Pace provided me was an understanding of the importance of having standards and setting goals,” Brickley says. “The beauty of Pace is that everyone is invested in students’ success—the parents, the teachers and the kids themselves. They know there are expectations to achieve. That is the most powerful thing about the Pace environment.”

— by HAYLEY SHOJI ’12

UNITING GENERATIONS OF PACE FAMILY CHARLEY BRICKLEY ’88 takes over as Alumni Board president

ALUMNI


ALUMNI

REUNION GATHERINGS: Classes of 2005 & 2010 Pace Academy’s Class of 2005 celebrated its 10-year reunion at Orsmby’s on the Westside in Atlanta. LAUREN MARX ’05, CHRISTINA MORRISON ’05, BUD WHITMIRE ’05 and FRANK WOODLING ’05 served on the host committee.

HANNAH COLETTA ’10, WILLIAM COX ’10, ASHTON LAGER ’10 and ANGELA SEAMAN ’10 planned the Class of 2010’s first reunion, held at Churchill’s British Pub in Buckhead.

2005

Alumni Out & About

2010

DAVID LEWIS ’00 and his team from Steady Fly Productions docu-mented the final weekend of the varsity football team’s march to the state championship (see story on page 38). The company specializes in aerial video and photography. David co-founded Steady Fly and serves as its photography director. His work has been featured in music videos, commercials and independent films.

Over the holiday break, members of HELEN SMITH'S 2011-2012 AP comparative politics class, now seniors in college, reunited with their beloved instructor over lunch. Pictured left to right are Smith, ANNIE RIDDELL '12, NAOMI GUILLAUME'12, ZEENA LATTOUF '12, ERIC ESTROFF '12 and JAMES WALSH '12.

HANNAH KELLY ’15, JOSH ROGERS ’14, HALEY ZWECKER ’12 and LINDSEY ZWECKER ’13 reunited with Upper School Dean of Students GUS WHYTE and current members of the varsity cross-country team to run the Atlanta Track Club’s Thanksgiving Day Half Marathon on Nov. 26.

While studying abroad in Aix-en-Provence in the south of France, MEREDITH BRADSHAW ’13 ran into JILL STEINHUIS RUFFATO ’76 at a local market. Jill, an artist, lives in Aix-en-Provence. The two struck up a conversation and realized they are both Pace graduates.

“[Jill] remembered both of my aunts, who went to Pace, too,” Meredith says. “I’m still slightly dumbfounded as to how this happened!”

In November, GLEN HARRIS ’12, a senior at the U.S. Naval Acad-emy, returned to Pace to talk to students interested in pursuing military service in college.

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1

3

4

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ALUMNIALUMNI

ONCE A KNIGHT, ALWAYS A KNIGHT


Pictured from left to right are MILES WALLACE ’21 and CAROLYN ROBBINS WALLACE ’80, JACK JACOBY ’20 and Cindy Gay Jacoby ’83, QUILL HEALY ’86 and QUILL HEALEY ’20, BOB BRENNAN ’88 and WILL BRENNAN ’21, MORGAN PAYNE ’20 and CHRIS PAYNE ’86, RHONDA PECK O’GORMAN ’88 and EVERETT O’GORMAN ’20, BETH BRIDGES SPENCER ’81 and BRIDGES SPENCER ’20, and JESSICA SUTHERLAND LEVENSON ’93 and NOAH LEVENSON ’21. HUNTER WILLIAMS ’21 and ERIC WILLIAMS ’87 are not pictured.

A New Generation of Knights Attending a Middle School football game this fall was more like a Pace Academy reunion for a handful of team parents. Nine of the 43 student-athletes on the team are Pace legacies.

“None of us ever thought we’d see the day Pace would have football,” says CINDY GAY JACOBY ’83. “And we certainly never imagined we’d have kids playing football for our alma mater!”

Alumni came out in droves to support the varsity football team during its march to the Georgia Dome. Thanks to all those graduates who

cheered on the Knights to their first state championship!

ALUMNI

HOME FOR THE HOLIDAYSNearly 50 college-aged alumni returned to the Pace Academy campus on Dec. 18, ringing in the holidays with former Pace classmates and faculty. At the annual Young Alumni Holiday Lunch, alumni and faculty caught up with one another in the Seaman Family Student Commons, while enjoying their fair share of Willy’s Mexicana Grill catering offerings!


HEAD-OF-SCHOOL HAPPY HOUR— D.C. STYLEThe Pace Academy Alumni Association hosted a special happy hour for all Wash-ington, D.C.-area alumni in November. Head of School FRED ASSAF rallied a crowd of 16 for drinks, updates on D.C. life and all things Pace.

If you are interested in holding an alumni gathering in your city, please contact COURTNEY LUNDEEN in the Alumni Office at [email protected].

ALUMNI IN THE CLASSIC CITYOn Dec. 7, Pace Academy’s Office of College Counseling and Office of Alumni Relations joined forces to host dinner for alumni cur-rently enrolled at the University of Georgia in Athens. The goal was to hear more about students’ college experiences. In the past four years, Pace has sent 52 graduates to the University of Georgia.

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uKnight means more than a dollar amount—it is the collective support that defines the Pace Academy family. Together, we fulfill our singular mission: to create prepared, confident citizens of the world.

For more information or to make a gift, visit www.paceacademy.org/thepacefund.

It takes a village!

You Set Pace

Apart!#PaceFunduKnight

966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org

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

KnightTimes Winter 2016

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