ISS Magazine - Spring 2010

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SPRINGS RECEIVES

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LEARNING THROUGH LIVINGCAMPAIGN CONCLUDES

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190 Woodward DriveIndian Springs, AL 35124205-988-3350www.indiansprings.org

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contents

Welcome

Alumni Profiles

Faculty Focus

Alumni Events

News

Sports

Development

Class Notes

bOARD OF GOVERNORS 2009-2010

MISSION STATEMENT The mission of Indian Springs School is to develop in

students a love of learning, a sense of integrity and

moral courage, and an ethic of participatory citizenship.

Inspired by the motto Learning Through Living, the

school is a community of talented boarding and day

students and dedicated faculty committed to the belief

that in learning to balance individual achievement with

the values and principles of democracy, the student can

develop to his or her full stature.

Donald Hess ’66 P ’89, ’93, ’93, ’95, ’95, ’01, Chairman

John Abbot ’80

Larry DeLucas P ’05

Bryson Edmonds

Alan Engel ’73, P ’03, ’12

Greg Hawley ’75, P ’08, ’09

Jim Lewis ’75 P ’11, ’11

Catherine McLean P ’03, ’06, ’11

Libby Pantazis P ’03, ’06, ’09

Alton Parker, Jr. P ’94, ’99

Ginger Grainger Rueve ’86, Ex-officio, Alumni Council

Rusty Rushton ’74, P ’09, ’11

Frank Samford ’62, P ’90

John Simmons ’65, P ’96

Virginia Smith P ’09, ’10, ’12, Ex-officio, Parents Association

Janet Stewart P ’04, ’09

Glennon Threatt ’74

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Gareth VaughanDirector

David NooneAssociate Director & Dean of Academics

Victoria ArrandDirector of Development

E.T. Brown ’74Director of Admission &

Financial Aid

Jan FortsonDean of Student Life

Sue HutchisonRegistrar

Gunnar OlsonDirector of College Advising

Greg Van HornAthletic Director

Chuck WilliamsDirector of Technology

Tanya YeagerDirector of Finance

Indian Springs School admits students of any race, gender, religion, national origin or ethnicity to all the rights, privileges, programs and activities generally accorded or made available to students at the school. It does not discriminate on the basis of race, gender, religion, national origin, ethnicity or sexual orientation in the administration of its educational policies, admission policies, scholarship and loan programs, and athletic and other school-administered programs.

t is with great enthusiasm that I welcome your reading of this issue of The Magazine of Indian Springs School.

You will find within the pages of the magazine news about the great accomplishments of our faculty, staff, students and alumni. In articles, feature stories and class notes, you will find that members of the Springs community are reaching pinnacles of success in every sense of the word. For that, we are most proud.

What I hope you will find between the lines, however, is the impact of your contribu-tions to Indian Springs School — through both time and resources. Behind every student

success, faculty and staff honor, and alumni achievement are generous people who gave of them-selves to Indian Springs and helped make those accomplishments possible.

Because tuition only covers part of the cost of a Springs education, every single student who has walked on this beautiful campus and taken part in this world-class education has benefitted from the generosity of people they have never met and may never know. For this generosity, I offer heartfelt thanks. All contributions to ISS truly make a difference, and we hope this publication shows not only the effect of your gifts but also our deep appreciation to you, our alumni and friends.

I“Members of the springs community are reaching pinnacles of success in every sense of the word. for that, we are most proud.”

s we publish this issue of The Magazine of Indian Springs School, it gives me pause to remember how much has transpired over the past year.

We maintained our focus on high-quality academics with individual students and the school as a whole garnering national recognition. We walked alongside the Class of 2010 as they graduated, leaving ready for the journey to college and beyond. We bid farewell to one of Indian Springs’ giants — Coach Ray Woodard — who epitomized not only a commitment to the world of soccer but also to the full development of our students, and saw one of the

hallmarks of the Springs experience, soccer, celebrate 50 years of existence. We welcomed alumni back to school during Alumni Weekend and saw their love for the Indian

Springs community during the Alumni Holiday Party and at alumni gatherings throughout the country. We saw recent graduates return to campus during holiday and spring breaks to tell us how well ISS prepared them for college. We witnessed the generosity of both our alumni and other donors as we celebrated the end of The Learning Through Living Campaign, witnessed the beginning of the Springs For Life giving society, and achieved great things in our Annual Fund efforts, including the inaugural Wine 101 event. We continue to hear of graduates making a tremendous mark on the world, evidenced by the profiles of alumni in the film industry in this issue.

Indeed, much has transpired over the past months, but one thing remains consistent — Indian Springs is a community committed to helping students get the best start in life through a process of Learning Through Living. I continue to be honored to be director of such as community as this.

A“indian springs is a community committed to helping students get the best start in life through a process of Learning Through Living.”

Donald E. Hess ’66Chairman, Indian Springs School Board of Governors

Gareth VaughanDirector, Indian Springs School

Welcome

On the cover: Renowned film director John Badham ’57


alumni profiles alumni profiles

John Badham ’57Director, “Saturday Night Fever”

Legendary film director John Badham ’57 has been making magic in the world of entertainment for decades, and it all — quite literally — began at Indian Springs.

As a student at Springs during its early years, Badham performed magic at school-wide comedy/sketch shows that preceded a formalized theater program at ISS. Students performed variety acts of all kinds in the gym — a “low-tech enterprise,” Badham says, that included performing in front of curtains made of parachutes from the local army surplus store.

“My act included being nailed in a big box, escap-ing out of the back of the box and the gym, and bik-ing to the front of the gym so I could make a grand entrance,” he says. “It was great, except for the time I couldn’t get the screws off the back of the box!”

With strong fingernails and a strong will, Badham made it out of the box without incident – or embar-rassment – a testament to the kind of tenacity that would make him one of Hollywood’s leading directors.

After graduating from Springs and Yale and motivated by the examples of his mother and sister, both actresses named Mary (his mother starred in Birmingham’s first local television program and his sister was Oscar-nominated for her role in “To Kill a Mockingbird”), Badham moved to Los Angeles and worked his way up at Universal Studios, starting his career in the studio

mailroom and eventually directing movie trailers and episodes of television programs.

His hard work continued to pay off with opportunities to direct several made-for-television movies in the early 1970s that, in turn, led to his first feature film, “The Bingo Long Travelling All-Stars and Motor Kings,” starring James Earl Jones, Billy Dee Williams and Richard Pryor.

A few months after “Bingo Long,” Badham received the call that shaped his career — and the 1970s — forever. The director of “Saturday Night Fever” had been fired, and he was called to pick up the project.

“It was one of those situations where you just hit the ground running,” he says. “The five or six years I was in television prepared me to work quickly with the material, and thankfully, I had experience in film, so it worked out well.”

It worked out well, indeed. The film not only became one of the top grossing films ever but also catapulted John Travolta to stardom and cemented disco music and fashion as the cultural identity of a decade.

“It was a transforming experience, a bit of a godsend,” Badham said of the movie and cultural phenomenon it created. “Once I made it, it was out of my hands, a lot like raising children and letting them go out the door, hoping you can watch them and say, ‘This is exciting!’”

Badham says that after all these years, the feeling hasn’t gone away. “Whenever one of the songs (from the movie) is playing on the radio or in an elevator, I just smile and remember,” he says.

While “Saturday Night Fever” is his best known film, Badham also directed two of 1983’s biggest hits — “Blue Thunder” and “War Games” — which were nominated for a total of four Acad-emy Awards. Badham continued with a string of movies including “American Flyers,” “Short Cir-cuit,” “Stakeout,” “Bird on a Wire,” “Point of No Return” and “Nick of Time.” Mel Gibson, Goldie Hawn, Johnny Depp, Richard Dreyfuss, Wesley Snipes, Kevin Costner and Ally Sheedy are among the scores of actors with whom he has worked.

Over the past several years, Badham has returned to his television roots — directing episodes of such series as NBC’s “Heroes” and “Crossing Jordan,” FX’s “The Shield,” and USA Network’s “Psyche” — while serving as Professor of Media Arts at Chapman University in Orange, Calif. He has also written I’ll Be in My Trailer, a book for actors and directors on how to deal creatively and produc-tively with one another.

Teaching has been a natural extension of Badham’s career, allowing him opportunity to share his vast experience — his “magic” — with the next generation of film professionals.

he film industry is a field of creativity, challenge and adven-ture — it is no surprise, then, that many Springs graduates over the years have embraced it as a career and calling.

Meet three Springs alums — John Badham ’57, Celia Carey ’87

and Michael McCullers ’89 — who have made their mark on the industry and who will be back on cam-pus Saturday, October 16, for Film 101. This event, which benefits the Indian Springs School Annual Fund, will give people the opportunity to “go back to school” and learn about film-related topics from the alums as well as ISS faculty members.

Sponsored by the Indian Springs School Parents Association, the event will also include beverages, heavy hors d’oeuvres and a “commencement” featuring coffee, desserts and a silent auction.Tickets go on sale in August. For more information, contact Director of Development Victoria Arrand at [email protected].

Celia Carey ’87Award-Winning Documentary Filmmaker

Even in elementary school, Celia Carey ’87 had a nose for news. As a third grader in Birmingham, she and her friend created a neighborhood “newspaper.”

“We ran around the neighborhood, taking sur-prise Polaroid photos of people and concocting racy fictional headlines like, ‘Mrs. Smith Caught Stealing Baby —Again!’”

“It would seem the accurate auguring of a future National Enquirer writer. But somewhere in there, the truth took hold,” Carey says of her evolution to journalist and documentary filmmaker.

And it still does. In a career that has taken her around the world and explored difficult — and even controversial — topics, Carey found truth as intrigu-ing and often stranger than fiction.

Unwittingly, according to Carey, her career path began at ISS. “I discovered my creative talents, as well as the importance of individuality, working hard, and maintaining high standards and expecta-tions at Springs,” she says. “This early foundation certainly helped me succeed in later endeavors.”

After high school, the path continued as Carey attended Loyola University and majored in film. She hoped to embark on a feature film career, but the economy — and job prospects — weren’t promis-ing. Additionally, she encountered the infamous glass ceiling.

“At the time, it was hard for a woman to break in to film,” she says. “Directors didn’t seem comfort-able hiring a woman for the typical entry-level job of production assistant, which involved schlepping heavy equipment.”

So she switched gears entirely and started graduate school in epidemiology while working full-time for a Washington, D.C., environmental engineering group. In her spare time, she researched stories for the Discovery Channel, a then-new documentary network.

Through this combination of environmental work and film research, she found her calling – documentary film.

“I dropped everything, moved to New York City, and waited tables in Soho while knocking on

every door and dropping off resumes.” Eventu-ally, National Geographic Television offered her an unpaid internship. “I treated it like a paid job and they hired me full-time when the first position opened,” she says. “I entered the field the hard way, but I learned a lot.”

After two years there she entered freelance film-making. For a decade, she hopped the globe and brought scientific exploration to the small screen, working for National Geographic, BBC, PBS, the Discovery Channel and Outside Television.

She immersed herself in every part of the docu-mentary film process — writing, producing and di-recting — and covered such topics as the Milky Way, the Andes, pelagic ocean life, and species survival in Kenya, Sri Lanka, Venezuela and Iceland. She’s also contributed articles and photos to various scientific and environmental publications, and in 2002, the Explorers Club inducted her as a fellow.

Her world travels came to a halt after an assign-ment in the Arctic Circle for Outside magazine and TV that culminated in a bacterial lung infec-tion involving “psychedelic sweats in-and-out consciousness inside a Styrofoam igloo,” Carey says. “On my way back to London, where I lived at the time, I stopped in Birmingham to visit my family. It was warm. The sky was blue. I didn’t want to return to London rain and my shoe-box sized apartment.”

So she did a self-described “180” and came home. Equipped with her experience and a mas-ter’s degree in journalism from Columbia Univer-sity, she approached Alabama Public Television (APT) about developing documentaries.

They had wanted to start a documentary division, so they asked Carey to take on the task. During her four-year tenure, she produced and/or directed six films on Alabama culture and history, which resulted in APT’s first nationally aired PBS programs in its 50-year history, first Emmy Awards (11 regionally), and a host of other national and international awards.

Carey’s final APT film, “Mr. Dial Has Something to Say,” investigated the history of racism and classism in America’s visual arts world. Along with three other films — including a Frontline and an Oscar-nominated program — PBS chose this project out of hundreds to represent them internationally in 2008.

In 2008, Carey relocated to California’s Napa Val-ley with her husband, sommelier Sean Meyer. With this new environment, her story fodder expanded again, and she even found herself writing a humor-ous wine column, “I Married a Wine Snob.”

Wherever she is, Carey is observing people and estimating possible topics. “It’s a bad habit really,”

And perhaps ISS had something to do that, too. “At Springs, I was taught to figure things out for myself, but the teachers were there to help,” he says. “I try to pursue that as much as possible in my teaching as well. I am a better teacher — and filmmaker — be-cause of the foundation I got at Springs.”T

“i am a better teacher — and filmmaker — because of the foundation i got at springs.”

Carey getting ready to film from a helicopter at an Arctic shoot for BBC/Outside TV

Carey with the Emmy she won for the APT film “The Quiltmakers of Gee’s Bend” and two of the film’s stars, the late Arlonzia Pettway (left) and Nettie Young


alumni profiles faculty focus

Jim Ellington“I am firm in my belief that a teacher lives on

and on through his students.”A print with this saying is front and center in the

office of ISS Theater Director Jim Ellington, and its sentiments are front and center to him as well.

Ellington joined the ISS faculty in 2006, but teach-ing and acting — in one form or another — have long been a part of his life.

Born in Kentucky and raised in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., Ellington grew up in what he terms a “teacher household” — his mother spent her career teach-ing elementary school, and a host of other relatives embraced the education profession as well.

“i grew up in the environment that teaching was cool,” he says. “it never occurred to me that i wouldn’t teach; it would only be a matter of what i would teach.”

The beginning of his interest in acting budded in his childhood as well, whether it was putting on a “garage play” with his neighborhood friends or parodying television comedies at church suppers. “When I look back on it, I guess I was always writing and doing comedy,” he says.

During high school, Ellington’s focus shifted to history and political science, partly due to the influ-ence of the political events of the late 1960s, and he entered Florida State intent on studying them.

That all changed when his advisor talked him into ushering a play on campus. “Before I knew it, I was a theater major and I had no free evening for the next three years,” Ellington quips.

Since college, he has spent most of his career teaching theater, along with English and Latin, in independent schools — starting at St. Andrews-Sewanee School in Tennessee, and later at the Albany Academy for Boys in upstate New York and Episcopal High School in Alexandria, Va. Over the years, he has also directed choirs, served as an organist, and managed school theater facilities.

“I like to wear a lot of hats, and working in inde-pendent schools has given me the opportunity to do that,” he says.

Before teaching and during school breaks, Ellington acted with professional touring companies and did summer stock theater in Cape Cod, Mass. He also took a break from teaching for two years and moved to New York City to further embark on an acting career.

“What I discovered was that you have to be hungry to make it (in acting) and that I didn’t want it as badly as I thought,” he says. “I realized that while I loved to act, I loved to teach more.”

At ISS, Ellington teaches 8th Grade English as well as Stagecraft, Stage Band, Acting I and II, Play Production and Musical Theater classes. He also directs the school’s theater program, which takes on three productions per year, and serves as Town Hall manager.

Drawing upon the strong history of the ISS theater program, Ellington hopes to build upon it. “I love to think that we can send kids to the finest college theater programs,” he says. “And for those students who do theater as a hobby, we can provide a positive experience that builds public speaking skills, confidence and an appreciation for the art.”

Michael McCullers ’89Writer/Director, “Baby Mama”

As a writer and director for such movies as “Baby Mama” and the “Austin Powers” series, Michael McCullers ’89 has worked with some of Hollywood’s biggest stars — Tina Fey, Mike Myers, Lorne Michaels and Amy Poehler — and gained his fair share of fame.

But now, he says, he has reached the pinnacle of success. how? “Being (iss history teacher) Bob Cooper’s facebook friend,” he says.

McCullers embarked on a career in writing and directing comedies after graduating from Yale, but his training began on the grounds of Indian Springs. “ISS is full of smart and funny people,” he says. “I had to be on my toes, and it served me well.”

But McCullers wasn’t the class clown, as you might expect. A National Merit Scholar, he was captain of the Scholars Bowl Team — one reason for the ‘friend’-ship with Cooper, the longtime team advisor — and worked on the school newspaper and yearbook. “I gravitated toward those ‘Springsy’ things,” he says.

But one of the most profound influences on his career came at the hands of English Teacher Diane Stewart, who saw in McCullers a gift for writing and encouraged him to employ it by going to Yale and majoring in English.

“I had never even visited Yale, but Diane Stewart recommended it and that was good enough for me,” he says. “I first laid eyes on the campus the day I enrolled.”

After a stellar career at Yale that included being editor of the school’s literary magazine, conventional wisdom would have dictated that McCullers go to New York City and pursue a literary career. But Mc-Cullers took another path. “Most everyone from Yale was going to New York, so I thought, ‘Let’s see what L.A. is like!’” he says.

With movie-making in the back of his mind, McCullers moved cross-country and roomed with

ISS classmate John Kim ’89, who was living in Los Angeles. After a first job tutoring students for the SAT, McCullers landed a job as a film company pro-duction assistant and, later, as a research assistant and self-described “scribe” for Mike Myers while he was writing the first Austin Powers movie.

That was the job that changed everything. “It was like comedy boot camp; he would give me names of films to study like ‘Monty Python’ and its predeces-sors,” McCullers says. “Mike was where I was in terms of sense of humor, so I just went with it.”

Having gained Myers’ trust, McCullers was the first to come to mind when Myers’ wife learned that “Saturday Night Live” was looking for a couple of writers. Before he knew it, he had moved cross-country again, writing for the landmark series and sharing an office with fellow new hire Tina Fey, who later made a name for herself as an SNL actress and Emmy-award winning star of the NBC sitcom “30 Rock.”

After a year writing for SNL, Myers came calling again — asking if McCullers was interested in co-writing the second Austin Powers movie. “I loved SNL, but I always wanted to do movies, so this was my chance,” he says.

So across the country he went again, and he hasn’t made a return trip, except for visits. After co-writing the second Austin Powers movie, he wrote “Undercover Brother” starring Chris Kattan, Dave Chappelle and Neil Patrick Harris and co-wrote the third Austin Powers movie, “Austin Powers in Goldmember,” with Myers. Then later came the opportunity to write and direct “Baby Mama,” which was born out of the desire McCullers and Fey had to collaborate again, years after their time together at SNL.

“I had met Amy through Tina, and the three of us had batted about ideas for a movie,” McCullers says. “Then this idea about Amy having Tina’s baby came up, and it was so funny and simple, we had to do it.”

McCullers says he initially had wondered if, as a man, he could pull off writing about Fey’s character having a baby with the help of Poehler’s character, a surrogate with childlike tendencies of her own. But by then married to Sidney Shorter McCullers (who he met during her time as a Springs student) with two kids and one on the way, he felt he had a grasp of the subject matter.

“I thought, ‘I have kids, I love kids, so I can draw from that,’” he says. What resulted was a No. 1 hit that further catapulted McCullers’ career, as well as Fey’s and Poehler’s.

McCullers continues to write for new projects, thankful for his success — and the place where it all began. “ISS is one of the best high schools in the country,” he says. “I’ve been to a lot of places, and Springs can go toe to toe with any school out there.”

she says. “Although now, I am getting to the point that I’ve seen and sometimes done so many bizarre things, I may have to lump the ‘unfilmable’ parts into a roman à clef. Did I tell you the one about the Peruvian shaman who made me eat his coca leaves?”

McCullers on the set of “Baby Mama” with Poe-

hler and Fey (courtesy of Universal Pictures)

Ellington directing — and acting — in “The Rimer’s of Eldritch,” the 2009-2010 Fall Play


alumni events alumni events

Alumni Weekend 2010: (1) Class of 1960 Reunion Party (2) Hobby ’60 and Sandra Manasco and John ’60 and Mary Ann Furniss cheer the soccer teams to victory. (3) John Simmons ’65 and Burk McWilliams ’65 visit at the Friday night reception. (4) The ISS Choir performs during the Alumni Town Hall Meeting. (5) John ’80 and Susan Abbot enjoy the Friday night reception. (6) Todd Lyles ’90, Honza Prchal ’90 and Paul Samford ’90 catch up before the Alumni Town Hall Meeting. (7) Class of 1970 Reunion Party (8) Susan Dillard Phillips ’80, Priscilla Goodwyn Anderson ’80 and Rebecca Garity DePalma ’80 look at a class photo taken during their days as Springs students. (9) Class of 1995 Reunion Party (10) Alumni congratulate Varsity Boys Soccer Coach Rik Tozzi after the team’s overtime victory over Altamont. (11) Springs for Life members Dorrie Fuchs, Gareth Vaughan, Ginger Grainger Rueve ’86, Greg Hawley ’75, Donald Hess ’66, Allan Cruse ’59, Frank Samford ’62, Ehney Camp ’60, Emily Hess Levine ’01 (with daughter Violet), Jimmy Lewis ’75, Alan Engel ’73 and John Abbot ’80 are recognized during the Alumni Town Hall meeting. (12) Class of 1990 Reunion Party (13) Class of 1980 Reunion Party (14) Sally and Greg Hawley ’75 (second, third from left) display his Outstanding Alum of the Year Award, as Director Gareth Vaughan, Board of Governors Chair Donald Hess ’66, Alumni Council President Ginger Grainger Rueve ’86 and OAY Committee Chair Greg Hodges ’66 look on. (15) Class of 1975 Reunion Party (16) Class of 1985 Reunion Party (17) Chemistry Teacher Christina Tetzlaff helps children of alumni make tie dye shirts during Kids Camp, held on Saturday morning.

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Graduates Welcomed Home during alumni Weekend

Springs welcomed graduates “home” Alumni Weekend with events — old and new — that connected alums with each other and the school.

The April 16-18 weekend kicked off with the inaugural Friday morning Faculty Lecture Series featuring history teachers Bob Cooper and Kelly Jacobs and continued Friday night with ISS varsity soccer victories against Altamont and an evening reception hosted by Director Gareth Vaughan and his wife, Dorrie Fuchs.

Other new features to the weekend were a Sat-

urday morning Kid’s Camp led by ISS faculty and students, a Saturday evening Young Alum Barbe-cue at the Hut, and a Sunday morning brunch.

Traditional Alumni Weekend activities — the Saturday morning mimosa and brunch reception and Alumni Town Hall Meeting, and Saturday evening class reunion parties — rounded out the weekend.

The Town Hall Meeting began with a perfor-mance by the ISS Choir and followed with an address by Gareth Vaughan, the recognition of Springs for Life giving society members, the presentation of the Outstanding Alum of the Year Award to Greg Hawley ’75 (see story, page 26), and closing remarks by Board of Governors Chair Donald Hess ’66.


alumni events alumni events

NYC alumni Gather in the CityA gathering for New York City alumni was held January 27 at 92Y Tribecca in New York. The event was hosted by Michelle Thompson ’83, Lauren Wainwright ’88, and Charlie Callahan ’07, as well as former Director of Development Gisele Crowe, who relocated to New York City last winter. The event gave NYC alums the opportunity to meet Director of Development Victoria Arrand, who was in the area that week.

NYC: (1) Charlie Callahan ’07 and Rachel Hirsch Schneider ’03 (2) Radhi Prasad Kakarla ’91, Naveen Kakarla and Lauren Wainwright ’88 (3) Andres Soto ’88, Amanda Key ’95 and Charles Guo ’05

JACKSONVILLE: (7) Kathy Woods Quinones ’87, Travis and Diana Cunningham Lunsford ’00, Marketa Novakova ’08, Andres and Mary Alston Fitts Kerllenevich ’94, Preston ’56 and Joan Haskell, Gareth Vaughan, and Kathleen and Jim Clower ’64

alumni Meet in JacksonvillePreston Haskell ’56 and his wife, Joan, hosted a dinner for Jacksonville, Fla.-area Springs alumni at their home in Jacksonville on February 27. The crowd enjoyed visiting and learning about the latest ISS news from Director Gareth Vaughan, who attended the event.

Halls Host d.C. ReceptionStewart Hall ’84 and his wife, Lisa, hosted a reception for Washington, D.C.-area alumni on March 13. The reception was held at their Great Falls, Va., home, in honor of Athletic Director Greg Van Horn and Latin Teacher John Lusco. The Halls made a generous donation to the ISS Annual Fund in honor of Van Horn and Lusco in hopes of inspiring additional alumni giving to the school.

WASHINGTON, D.C.: (4) Scott Anderson and Lida Fitts ’92 with their son at the party (5) D.C.-area alumni and guests in the Halls’ Great Falls, Va., home (6) Hosts Stewart ’84 and Lisa Hall with honorees Greg Van Horn and John Lusco

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Record Crowds attend alumni Holiday partyA record 400-plus Springs graduates and guests attended the annual Alumni Holiday Party — enjoying cocktails, hors d’oeuvres, live piano music and, most importantly, the opportunity to visit with classmates and faculty members. The party was held December 26 at the Birmingham Museum of Art.

BIRMINGHAM: (1) Kari Todd ’09, Kate Hawley ’09, Colby Marks ’09, Aliya Rubenstein ’09 and Will Smith ’09 (2) Joe ’75 and Janet Simonetti (3) Salena Braun ’05 and Davin Stamp ’05 (4) Holly Ellis Whatley ’84 and Leslie Lusco Leopard ’84 (5) Dorrie Fuchs and Gareth Vaughan (6) Amy and Jeff Sides ’91 (7) Chip ’58 and Gail Gamble and Diane and Tom ’60 Gamble (8) The record crowd of 400-plus attendees

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neWs

iSS Receives Siemens award for advanced placement

Springs received the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement (AP), which honors schools that lead their state in AP participation and performance in math and science. It is the only high school in Alabama — and one of just 50 in the nation — to receive the award, and the first Alabama independent school to ever earn the distinction.

The award winners were announced last February by the Siemens Foundation and the College Board, who partner to present the awards. Names of all award recipients were featured in USA Today.

As an award recipient, Indian Springs received a $1,000 grant from the Siemens Foundation to support math and science education.

“In a pool of extremely strong applicants from your state, your school’s commitment to providing your students opportunities to explore the AP Pro-gram and your staff ’s dedication to student success were evident,” said Diane Tsukamaki, director of the

Director Gareth Vaughan and Biology Teacher Bob Pollard

unveil the Siemens Award banner during a Town Hall meeting

2008-2009 math and science faculty Stephanie Thomas,

Mike Lantrip, Lisa Balazs, Trudy Anderson, Gene Garza, Mac

LaCasse, Paula Nemeth, Chris Tetzlaff and Bob Pollard and ISS

Director Gareth Vaughan

College Board’s National Recognition and Scholar-ship Programs, in a letter to Indian Springs Director Gareth Vaughan congratulating the school on the award. “We believe high schools like yours represent the best of American education.”

“I am very proud of our faculty and students for their achievement in AP math and science,” Vaughan says. “But if anything, I am even more proud of how our AP involvement helps stimulate the develop-ment of other exciting educational experiences.”

Examples include student participation in the Proteins in Space program with Dr. Larry DeLucas at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and sustainable development courses built around the Fertile Minds Learning Garden, the school’s organic garden and outdoor learning laboratory, Vaughan adds.

Indian Springs School offers AP courses in Biology, Calculus BC, Chemistry, Environmental Science, Physics B, Physics C: Electricity and Magnetism, Physics C: Mechanics, and Statistics.

The College Board is a not-for-profit association of schools, colleges, universities, and other educational organizations that administers the AP Program as well as the SAT and PSAT/NMSQT tests. The Siemens Foundation offers more than $7 million annually in support of educational initiatives in the areas of science, technology, engineering and math in the United States.

Three Springs students — two of them twins — reached perfection on one of education’s highest litmus tests, the SAT.

Michelle Luo ’10 and Jeff ’11 and Larry ’11 Liu earned a perfect 2400 on the SAT. Only 294 students out of more than 1.5 million made a 2400 on the test during 2008-2009, according to the College Board, the not-for-profit association that administers the SAT.

Luo was also one of 100 students nationwide designated a state winner of the Siemens Award for Advanced Placement (AP) in the student category. She received the award in February for earning the greatest number of grades of 5 on a range of math and science AP courses. As an award recipient, she received a $2,000 college scholarship and recognition in USA Today.

Luo, along with Richard Baxley ’10, Alex Freedman ’10 and Alison Newman ’10, were named National Merit Scholars for 2010.

The four were among only 2,500 seniors awarded the scholarship from a national pool of 15,000 finalists. Each student won a $2,500 scholarship as a part of the honor, given to those with the strongest combination of accomplishments, skills and potential for success in rigorous college studies.

ISS had the most 2010 scholars of any independent school in Alabama, and tied for second among all schools in the state.

In other honors, Luo and Elliott Bell ’10 were selected by Portico magazine last fall as “21 People Who Will Change the World.” They were profiled in the Birmingham area magazine’s September-October 2009 issue.

Luo was honored for her academic achieve-ments as well as her efforts in volunteerism. She served as the 2009 fall semester Commissioner of Citizenship and as president of the Schools for Schools Club, which works on projects benefiting Ugandan school children. She is also an accom-plished pianist and ballerina who played the lead in recent Birmingham Ballet performances of “The Nutcracker” and “Hansel and Gretel.”

Bell was honored for his achievements in school and community leadership. The school’s 2009 fall semester mayor and Men’s Glee Club president, Bell is also involved in politics on a wider scale — currently serving as campaign manager for Virginia Sweet, who is running for the Alabama House of Representatives District 43 post. An active volunteer and award-winning singer, his own career plans involve public service.

(1) Richard Baxley ’10, Michelle Luo ’10, Alison Newman ’10 and Alex Freedman ’10 (2) Jeff Liu ’11 and Larry Liu ’11 (3) Elliott Bell ’10

Students achieve perfect SaTs & Honors

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Remembering a Friend: iSS Students Erect Gazebo as Memorial for Classmate

The lake on the campus of Indian Springs School has long been a favorite place for students to gather, socialize and spend time in quiet reflection.

That’s why Sam Lapidus’ classmates knew it was the perfect spot for a memorial to honor their friend who died of cancer.

After raising money to buy a gazebo, a group of students built benches for the structure and landscaped the area with trees and bushes.

“Sam loved the lake, and he loved Indian Springs. It’s so nice that he’s being remembered in such a meaningful way,” Billy Lapidus, Sam’s father, said.

Sam, who had a form of bone cancer called Ewing’s sarcoma, died November 5, 2008 — nine days shy of his 15th birthday.

His classmates, in the 9th grade at the time, had trouble dealing with the news, so their teachers took them outside that day.

“We went out into the sunshine,” said Kelly Jacobs, ISS history teacher and Sam’s advisor. “It was one of those really nice, warm fall days.”

As they talked, the idea of the lakeside memorial was born.

Haley Payton, one of Sam’s classmates, said they wanted to celebrate his spirit.

“He lived life to the fullest,” she said. “He was really positive throughout the entire thing. I never heard him complain once.”

Lapidus said his son, who was diagnosed at age 9, didn’t let the disease stop him.

“He loved all kinds of music; he was really into exercise and weight training, and he loved Alabama football,” Lapidus said. “He continued to focus on all that with such intensity after his diagnosis, and really, up until the end.”

Sam also loved his friends and family, including his mom, Susan; his sister, Clara; and his brother, Noah, also a student at Indian Springs.

Lapidus said the kindness from everyone at the school has meant the world to his family, who live on Southside. “The support from his teachers and friends has been overwhelming,” he said.

The students raised $500 through a car wash for the gazebo project, despite stormy weather that day. Other classes donated their end-of-the year party money to the gazebo fund.

It looked like they would still fall short until they contacted Ed’s Amish Sheds in Indian Springs Village.

“The price they quoted was exactly to the dollar how much money we had raised,” Jacobs said. “And the architecture and the colors of the gazebo were a great match to the buildings on our campus.”

Things fell into place quickly after that. Dr. Bill Ryan and Rev. Lynn Bledsoe, whose son, Daniel

The Lapidus family — Susan, Noah ’13, Clara and Billy

Lapidus — poses in front of the gazebo after a campus-wide

gazebo dedication

neWs

Board Honors Outgoing Member, Welcomes New Ones

The ISS Board of Governors honored Alton B. Parker Jr. of Birmingham during its April 30 Annual Meeting for his years of service.

Parker, whose term ended at the meeting, received a resolution of appreciation as well as a framed ISS photograph in honor of his dedication to the school.

Parker has been on the Board since 2003. He started his association with Indian Springs as a parent, when he and his wife, George Ann, sent children Alton III ’94 and Rawlins ’99 to the school.

While on the Board, Parker served on the Plan-ning Committee, where he helped guide the school’s efforts in strategic planning, student life and capital improvement initiatives. He is a senior partner with Spain & Gillon, LLC, in Birmingham.

Alton B. Parker Jr.

“We are appreciative of alton’s work on the Board,” says Board of Governors Chairman Donald hess ’66. “his service and generosity will have a lasting effect on the school — and the students we serve.”

While Parker finished up his tenure, the Board of Governors welcomed several new members: Stephen Black of Birmingham, Director, University of Alabama Center for Ethics, and President and Founder, Impact Alabama; Myla Choy of Birmingham, General Counsel and Senior Vice President of Regional Development and Public Policy, Birmingham Business Alliance; Mike Froning of Birmingham, Executive Director, Birmingham Education Foundation; Mike Goodrich Jr. ’90 of Birmingham, Founder, Goodrich Law Firm, LLC/Red Mountain Law; and Ben Hunt ’82 of Redding, Conn., Portfolio Manager, Iridian Asset Management, LLC.

The Board also welcomed several members who started their tenure last September. They are: Jimmy Lewis ’75 of Birmingham, Presi-dent, Lewis Investment Company, Inc.; Janet Stewart of Homewood, retired Vice President of Health Information Services, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama; and Glennon Threatt ’74 of Birmingham, Partner, Law Offices of Glennon Threatt.

2009-2010 Parents Association President Virginia Smith of Mountain Brook and Alumni Council President Ginger Grainger Rueve ’86 of Birmingham served as ex-officio members of the Board during 2009-2010, representing ISS parent and alumni constituencies, respectively. Dur-ing the next academic year, Rueve will continue her service and 2010-2011 Parents Association President Amy Barr of Birmingham will represent parents on the Board.

Ryan, is an ISS student, donated pomegranate trees and bushes to be planted around the gazebo.

Even the weather cooperated. “We needed a series of dry days, so he could deliver the gazebo when the ground wasn’t wet,” Jacobs said. “We had a stretch of eight days with no rain.”

The gazebo was delivered on November 5 — one year to the day that Sam died.

“It was so perfect,” Leah Fox, a classmate of Sam’s, said. “It just couldn’t have been a coincidence.”

Jacobs said the students and teachers were having a hard time that morning until the gazebo arrived.

“It really changed the tone of the day,” she said. “It became less about how sad we were and more about how excited we were about this really cool thing we were going to get to do for our friend.”—Reprinted with permission from The Birmingham News, November 18, 2009. Reporter: Scottie Vickery.

neWs


sports

t is said that soccer is the most popular sport in the world. But that was far from popular opinion 50 years ago in Alabama. Soccer was merely thought of as a European pastime, and there was scarcely any mention of the intense play, the unfaltering teamwork, and the excited, united fan base that defines the game. That is, until the first soccer team in

Alabama started at Indian Springs School, impacting both the school and the state forever.

This year marks the 50th anniversary of soccer at Springs. Although the passing of longtime ISS Soc-cer Coach Ray Woodard in 2009 sadly resonates on the spirit of the anniversary (see separate story, p. 19), it is still a momentous milestone.

Because of the leadership of Springs in Alabama soccer, the game has now emerged as a sport widely played and loved across the state. The Alabama High School Athletic Association (AHSAA) State Soccer Tournament is attended by more than 5,000 people, and teams fiercely compete for the right to call themselves the best in the state. The number of school teams increases each year, and children and adults alike can now be found playing all over the state as soccer becomes further engrained into our society.

Beginnings of iSS SoccerSoccer was started at Springs by Health and

Physical Education Teacher Bob Pieh, who laid a strong foundation for the program and its dual emphasis on the athletic and academic.

“He had the ability to make it OK for teenage boys to be both intellectual and athletic, even when they had the athletic equivalent of two left feet,” says Harry Mueller ’62. “I never had the feeling that being among the ‘intellectual’ crowd was any detriment to being a successful participant in the soccer team.”

Only intramural soccer games existed at ISS before Woodard joined the ISS faculty in 1963 and formed an official team. Since so many were unfamiliar with the sport, he welcomed anyone to the ISS fields for clinics and practices to learn and improve. Still, the Springs players often traveled overnight to places such as Tennessee and Georgia just to find a game to play since there were so few teams in the state.

iSS Soccer Over the YearsOne of the biggest changes in soccer at ISS came

when girls joined in after the school went co-ed in the 1970s. Sally Nemeth ’77 was one of the first women to attend ISS once girls were admitted. At the time, soccer was the only sport in the fall, so she decided to try it out, Nemeth says. There were

Ino other sports for female athletes, so Nemeth and a group of girls approached Woodard, expecting him to form another team. But girls sports teams in the South, let alone soccer teams in general, were scarce, so their options were limited to one — make the boys team.

According to Nemeth, Woodard treated them the same as any other student trying out for a spot. In the end, Nemeth and Janie Farley Behr ’76 were the only girls to make the team. Woodard never told anyone on the team to go easy on them simply because of their gender; there was no chance of special treatment, and they had to run and work the same amount as their teammates.

“I didn’t realize until later in life what a profound experience it had been,” Nemeth says. “Often dif-ficult, yes. But ultimately it was the best experience I could have possibly had, and one that has served me well.”

The program continued to evolve over the years, morphing from interstate play in the 1970s to adding a girls team in 1976 to playing with other Alabama teams through the Metro League in the 1980s.

When the AHSAA sanctioned soccer in 1991, Indian Springs joined in and has been participating ever since, according to ISS Athletic Director Greg Van Horn.

program of SuccessSince its creation, the Springs soccer program

has experienced great success. During Metro League play in the 1980s, ISS won several confer-ence championships as well as a state champion-ship in 1982, when the team went undefeated, Van Horn says.

After six appearances in the AHSAA 1A-4A Final Four, the boys team won a state championship in 2008 and were state runners-up in 2010. The girls team has made seven AHSAA 1A-4A Final Four appearances and captured two state championships, in 2003 and 2005. The boys and girls teams have also won the Lakeshore Tournament in Birmingham on many occasions.

“[The ISS soccer program] is certainly something we’re proud of and can take pride in,” says Van Horn. “It is one of the main aspects of spring, both at Indian Springs and in the state.”

Steve Rueve ’84, a member of the 1982 state championships team agrees. “Soccer is a sport that we can compete with anyone in the state, no matter how big the school,” he says. “I give credit to Coach Woodard, who could motivate student-athletes and get the best out of them, as well as the other great coaches who have led the program.”

ABOVE: Sally Nemeth ’77 (foreground, second from left), one of Springs’ first girls soccer players, cheers on her teammates.OPPOSITE: Coach Ray Woodard with members of the 1965 ISS Soccer Team50

CELEBRaTES

years of soccer

SPRINGS

by Julia Fawal ’10


Ray Woodard, iSS Soccer Coach and ‘Father of Soccer in alabama,’ dies at 72

Coach Ray Woodard — retired Indian Springs soccer coach and the “Father of Soccer in Alabama” — died July 16, 2009, in Birmingham. He was 72.

a Stellar CareerKnown as “Coach” by all who knew him, Coach

Woodard was the winningest high school soccer coach in Alabama and among the winningest in the nation with a record of 396-228-70.

In 1963, Coach Woodard became physical education teacher and soccer coach at Indian Springs, where he served until he retired in 1998 due to health reasons. In spite of health limitations including a stroke that left him partially paralyzed, he returned to the school to co-coach the JV soccer team during 1999-2000 and supported and inspired Springs soccer from the sidelines throughout his retirement. He also coached volleyball, track, girls soccer, boys JV basketball, and girls basketball at ISS.

an indelible imprint on alabama Soccer

Throughout his career, Coach Woodard worked tirelessly on behalf of the game of soccer. Under his leadership, Indian Springs became known as the “birthplace of soccer” in Alabama. In 1975, he started the Indian Springs Invitational, the first tournament to invite high school teams from throughout the state to compete. This invitational became the model for the Alabama State Tournament when soccer was sanctioned by the state in 1991.

Coach Woodard served as the first and only president of the Dixie Conference (1964-1981), a high school league that included teams from Alabama, Georgia and Tennessee. He also served as president of the Greater Birmingham Soccer

Officials Association, and helped start Birmingham’s first amateur men’s soccer team in 1969. Coach Woodard was the first National “A” licensed coach in Alabama and the first Director of Coaching for the state of Alabama, and he ran referee and coaching clinics throughout the state in the 1970s, 1980s and early 1990s.

In 1982, he became the first coach of the Alabama State Select Team, now called the Alabama Olympic Development Program (ODP), which identifies potential regional and national soccer players from the state and offers them unique opportunities for training and competition.

“As the ‘father’ of high school interscholastic soccer at Springs and in the state, Coach Woodard was, quite simply, the heart and soul of soccer in Alabama,” said ISS Director Gareth Vaughan.

Honors Over the YearsHis honors over the years include the Alabama

High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association Award of Merit, the Birmingham Metro Soccer League Coach of the Year, the Jon Miller Magic Soccer Award for Excellence in Coaching, the U.S. Amateur Soccer Association Region III Coach of the Year, the Southeast National Collegiate Scouting Association Coach of the Year for Boys Youth Soccer, the U.S. Youth Soccer Region III Boys Coach of the Year, and the U.S. Youth Soccer National Boys Coach of the Year.

In 1999, the Civitan Club named its Coach of the Year Award the Ray Woodard Award for Men and Women’s High School Coach of the Year. Two years later, Indian Springs built and named its new Olympic-size soccer field in his honor.

His Life and FamilyA native of Rochester, N.Y., Coach Woodard

was an All-American (1959) standout in soccer at the former College at Brockport in New York, now known as State University of New York (SUNY) at Brockport.

He is survived by his wife, Mary Woodard; children Eric Woodard (Kara), Christa Woodard Webb (Joe), Michelle Woodard, and Becky Woodard Oddo (Tony); and stepchildren Lea Traylor Smith (David), Steve Traylor (AJ), Wade Traylor (Melanie), Melody Traylor and Ben Traylor. Also surviving are grandchildren Brandon, Parker and Keegan Woodard; Jason, Loryn and Ryan Webb; Jessica and Josh Woodard; Max and Zack Oddo; Cameron (Rachael), Craig (Charelette) and Rachael Smith; Stevie (Steve), Mary Jean and McKinley Traylor; Brent, Brook, Samantha and Brandon Traylor; Steven and Laurie Christolear; and Emma Traylor; and great-grandchildren Presley Smith and Caden Smith.

LEFT: Coach Ray WoodardRIGHT: Woodard during earlier days of his Springs career

sports

Lasting impact of iSS SoccerISS soccer has gone on to influence the lives

of its players, both male and female, throughout the years. Like any sport, soccer teaches the importance of team work, leadership, and a strong work ethic. One of the most vital aspects of playing a high school sport is learning to balance academics with athletics — continued since Pieh’s days as coach — and the ISS soccer program teaches exactly that.

“School comes first,” says Varsity Boys Soccer Coach Rik Tozzi. “To be a successful athlete, you have to know how to balance your school work and soccer. That’s what I try to teach my players.”

Varsity Girls Soccer Coach Hunter Gray believes most sports, particularly soccer, provide a safe environment for students to learn how to deal with conflict. “I am hard on my players because I want them to leave here feeling like if they made it through soccer they can do anything they want to apply themselves to,” he says.

ISS soccer players leave Springs with more than an increased proficiency in the sport; they leave with valuable life lessons that cannot be gained under other coaching and another environment, according to Ben Guion ’08, one of the captains of the 2008 state championship team.

“I learned so much playing soccer at Springs. Coach Tozzi taught me how to put my entire heart and mind into something,” Guion adds.

The love Springs soccer players have for the game and their school sets them apart from other teams and makes all of the difference on the field. “I just enjoy playing, particularly for Indian Springs. I’d rather play soccer than do anything else,” says Sunney Poyner ’10, captain of this year’s girls team.

Poyner’s sentiments are a far cry from 50 years ago, when soccer held little significance to the average Alabamian. Because of Springs’ leadership in the sport, we can celebrate soccer today as a game that has become a defining model of the character, talent and spirit — at Indian Springs School, throughout the state and beyond.

The Varsity Boys Soccer Team made it to the AHSAA 1A-4A Championship Game on May 8 before dropping a hard-fought 1-0 match to UMS-Wright. The boys advanced by beating Fultondale, Altamont and Randolph during tournament play.

The Varsity Girls Soccer Team advanced to the AHSAA 1A-4A Final Four before losing to eventual

state champion Guntersville. The girls beat Parkway Christian and Altamont to make the trip to Huntsville.

ISS soccer standout Sarah Hook ’10 signed a letter of intent with Vanderbilt University February 3 on the Springs campus. Hook was a five-year starter for the ISS Girls Soccer Team. A defender/midfielder with 100 starts, she had 60 career goals and 55 assists during her years at ISS.

Erin McMinn ’11 and Carly Putman ’11 brought home top girls tennis honors at the April 1 Shelby County Championships. McMinn won the championship at the No. 1 singles spot and teamed up with Putman to win the championship at the No. 1 doubles spot. The Girls Tennis Team placed fourth overall in the tournament.

The Varsity Girls and Varsity Boys Basketball Teams finished second in the Indian Springs Tip-off Tournament, which named Emma Harms ’10 and Catherine Pihakis ’10 to its All-Tournament Team.

Charlie Simpson ’11 was named to the Alabama Sports Writers Association’s Class 3A All-State Basketball Team as an honorable mention, and Simpson and Hart Wilson ’11 were named to the Over the Mountain All-Star Team.

The Girls Cross Country Team placed third in the AHSAA Class 3A Sectionals, which qualified them for the state meet. Erin McMinn ’11 placed first and Erin Abraham ’10 placed fifth. Five Springs boys — Tom Rogerson ’12, Everett Smith, ’10, William Rushton ’10 and Hanno Ulrich ’12 — also qualified for state.

The Varsity Girls Soccer Team won the 2010 Lakeshore Shootout B Division Championship February 20. Sarah Hook ’10 was named overall MVP of the Birmingham tournament, and Dabney Hofammann ’11 was tapped Offensive MVP. Sunney Poyner ’10, Mallory Mathews ’11 and Laura McMullan ’12 were named to the All- Tournament Team.

Leading the Baseball Team to its first winning season in more than 30 years, Stephen Himic ’13 pitched two perfect games this season and also hit for the cycle (a home run, triple, double and single) during a 23-2 rout of Jefferson Christian Academy in February.

Varsity Girls Soccer Coach Hunter Gray has been selected to coach and Dabney Hofammann ’11 has been selected to play in the AHSAA North-South Girls Soccer Game. They will compete for the North Team in the match, to be held at Huntsville’s John Hunt Park on July 12 at 5 p.m.

The Softball Team swept Altamont during the 2010 season — beating them twice during the regular season and once during tournament play. They finished the season by placing third in the area tournament.

CLOCKWISE: Alice Marson ’13 fights for the ball during

the 2010 Final Four game; The 2008 Varsity Boys Soccer

Team displays their state championship trophy;

The 2010 Varsity Boys Team huddles up before the state

championship game.

Students, faculty, staff, parents and alums cheer at the 2010

state championship game.

SpORTS WRap

sports


developmentdevelopment

alums, Friends Return to ‘School’ for Wine 101

ISS alumni, parents and friends “hit the books” at Springs last fall, learning the basics — and intricacies— of wine during Wine 101, a Parents Association-sponsored fundraiser for the school.

Approximately 200 guests took wine-related classes from ISS alumni and teachers while enjoying wine tastings and hors d’oeuvres. In keeping with Indian Springs tradition, the October 3 event also included a Town Hall Meeting featuring a lecture from wine expert Clark Smith ’69 on “Winemaking for Dummies.” After attending classes, guests packed the library for an evening-ending “graduation” complete with coffee, desserts and a silent auction.

A first-time event and near sell-out, Wine 101 raised more than $35,000 for the ISS Annual Fund, which supports need-based scholarships, student activities, faculty salaries and updates to campus facilities.

“The Parents Association is absolutely thrilled with the success of Wine 101,” says Ruth Bean, chair of the event’s Planning Committee. “We were pleased to put on an event that showcased the impeccable talent of our alumni and faculty and raised funds for a tremendous cause.”

(1) Director Gareth Vaughan, Learning Through Living

Chair Greg Hawley ’75, Board Chair Donald Hess ’66, and

Former Board Chair Gray Plosser Jr. ’63 toast the

success of the campaign with beaker-shaped

champagne flutes.(2) Andrea Mayo ‘11 and

Kendra Bridgham ‘11 perform science experiments

for guests during the celebration.

Indian Springs marked the end of The Learning Through Living Campaign during a November 12, 2009, celebration that featured the naming of the boys and girls dormitories in honor of Billie Grace and Henry Goodrich and Jimmie and Emil Hess, respectively.

Goodrich and Hess family members and other campaign supporters were on hand at the event,

held at the new science center made possible by the campaign. Director Gareth Vaughan announced the naming of the dormitories in honor of the two couples at the celebration, which also featured fireworks, a champagne toast, remarks by Campaign Chair Greg Hawley ’75, Board of Governors Chairman Donald Hess ’66 and Vaughan, multimedia presentations, and student-led science demonstrations.

The Learning Through Living Campaign concluded on June 30, 2009, resulting in more than $12 million in gifts and pledges to ISS. In addition to the dorms and science center, the campaign also provided for reorganized campus roadways, a central green space named for first ISS Director “Doc” Armstrong, endowed funds for scholarships and student enrichment, and four faculty homes, including those named for long-time faculty members Mac Fleming and John Lusco.

“Gifts to this campaign have provided for state-of-the-art buildings, scholarships and enhanced campus surroundings. But these gifts have done much more,” Hawley says. “They have enriched the lives of students — young people who, because of our investment in them, will leave here and make their own mark on the world.”

School Celebrates Capital Campaign Conclusion

Bloom Commits to Lifelong Giving at age 20

It is always special when alumni commit to giving to their alma mater, and even more so when they commit to lifelong giving.

But David Bloom ’08 made that life commitment to Indian Springs at age 20 — an extraordinary commitment that speaks well of him and the school.

Bloom was among the first to join the Springs for Life Society: A Commitment to Lifelong Giving. As a member of the society, Bloom pledged to contribute every year to the ISS Annual Fund, which provides for student scholarships, teacher salaries, campus upkeep, extracurricular offerings and other essentials of an Indian Springs education.

“Springs has given me a lifetime’s worth of value, so I think it definitely deserves my lifetime’s worth of support,” says Bloom, now a rising junior at Bard College in the Hudson Valley of New York.

Part of that value, he notes, comes from the impact that ISS has made on his college career. “I would not be here (at Bard) if it had not been for Indian Springs,” he says. “Every day I think of something I learned at Springs, or draw upon something that I accomplished there.”

Bloom points to his founding a new music ensemble at Bard as an example of his high school’s influence. “I instituted the ensemble as a not-for-profit entity, which was a big undertaking,” he says. “I would have never been prepared had I not been involved in the ISS music program or been a part of the school’s constitutional revision work.” Lessons learned from his classes and work in student government have also stayed with him during his college years, he says.

Pursuing a dual degree in music composition and philosophy, Bloom hopes to embark on a career in music composition or conducting, or a combination of the two. “I aspire to be an artist, so I may not have a lot of money to give to Springs to begin with,” he quipped.

And that is the whole point of the Springs for Life Society, says ISS Director Gareth Vaughan. “The society is focused not so much on the amount given, but on the participation of the giver,” he says. “Consistent giving, regardless of the amount, makes an immeasurable difference in the lives of our students and teachers.”

According to Bloom, the difference ISS made in his life is the reason he joined Springs for Life. “It’s really a matter of community for me,” he says. “I was able to participate in the Springs community and experience what it means to have a broad education. And now I continue to be part of the community by giving back.”

The Springs for Life Society: A Commitment to Lifelong Giving has been established with gifts from the family of Board of Governors Chairman Donald Hess ’66 and others in honor of his 60th birthday and his own exceptional lifelong commitment to Indian Springs School.

By joining the society, Springs for Life members pledge to contribute to the Indian Springs Annual Fund, in some way, every year. “Society members recognize the lifelong effect of an ISS experience and state with their pledge that they are dedicated to Springs’ continued success,” says Director Gareth Vaughan.

If you would like to join Springs for Life or obtain more information, please contact Development Associate Beth Mulvey at [email protected] or (205) 332-0591.

Donald ’66 and Ronne Hess

David Bloom ’08 (second from left) catches up with Alicia York ’08, Choir Director Tim Thomas and Salena Braun ’05 at the Alumni Holiday Party.

JOiN THE SpRiNGS FOR LiFE SOCiETY!

1 2

3 4

5

(3) Wine 101 “pupils” listen intently during one

of the classes.(4) Parent Keecha Harris

is all smiles at Wine 101.(5) English Teacher

Charles Ellis and his wife, Jane, examine a Wine 101

silent auction item.


iN MEMORiaMalumniMarvin Mason Donovan ’56 passed away on October 3, 2009, after a long battle with cancer. He was a lifelong resident of Birmingham. Donovan attended Washington and Lee University, Birmingham Southern College, and the University of Alabama at Birmingham pursuing his deep interest in English literature. For most of his career, he was employed by Donovan Coffee Company, founded in Birmingham by his grandfather William Fitz Donovan, and was instrumental in the start of the food service division of the company. After his retirement, Donovan worked for both Ritch’s Pharmacy and Crestline Pharmacy.Joe Henry Hamner Jr. ’59 of Washington D.C., passed away August 31, 2009, following a brief illness. A native of Sylacauga, Ala., he earned a degree in political science from the University of Geneva, Switzerland. He earned a doctor of law degree from the Tulane Law School in New Orleans, La., where he practiced law for 16 years. While living in Boone, N.C., he earned a master of business administration degree from Appalachian State University. He was employed most recently as an accountant with the National Academy of Education in Washington D.C. Calvin Jones III ’61 passed away from heart complica-tions at his home in Fort Walton Beach, Fla., on November 29, 2008. After graduating from Vanderbilt University and completing a master’s degree in electrical engineering, the Birmingham native pursued a 30-year career as the senior computer consultant for Eglin Air Force Base in Fort Walton Beach. He served as commodore of both the Fort Walton Yacht Club and the Gulf Yachting Association. David Johnson ’68 died of brain cancer on December 7, 2008. He lived in Baltimore, Md. He earned a Ph.D. in math from Lehigh University and went on to work for the National Security Agency in cryptography for his entire career. Mark Russakoff ’68 died April 12, 2009, in Homewood, Ill. Born and raised in Birmingham, he graduated from Washington University and earned a doctorate in music from Northwestern University. He taught music, French and German from the elementary through college level. He composed and arranged classical music, wrote and performed children’s music, spoke five languages and played organ,

harpsichord, piano, flute and guitar. For the last 20 years, he was director of music at several Catholic parishes outside Chicago. James Curtis “Curt” Johnson Jr. ’73 died on August 23, 2009. He attended Indian Springs School, Red Mountain School and Eckerd College, and held a degree from the University of Alabama at Birming-ham in math and physics. Brian Elliot Malkove ’76 passed away March 1, 2010, at his home in Lakeside, Calif. Born in New Orleans, La., he graduated from the University of South Alabama with a degree in computer science. Leslie R. “Bobby”Coffman III ’86 of Birmingham passed away September 13, 2009. He was a graduate of the University of Alabama at Birmingham, where he earned his bachelor of science in marketing and master of business administration degrees. Jan Oplander ’08 of Cologne, Germany, ISS student during the 2006-2007 school year and younger brother of ISS ASSIST student Eva Oplander ’03, died in a traffic accident on September 1, 2009, while vaca-tioning in Thailand.

Former BoardCarole Wilkerson Samuelson died February 14, 2009, after a battle with ovarian cancer and dermatomyositis. She served as Jefferson County Health Officer for 17 years, retiring in March 2002. She also served on the medical staff of The Chil-dren’s Hospital of Alabama and was adjunct assistant professor, clinical assistant professor and assistant professor in the Department of Pediatrics and adjunct assistant professor at the School of Public Health at the University of Alabama at Birmingham. She received her undergraduate degree in biology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and her doctorate in medicine from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She served her internship, residency and ambulatory fellowship in pediatric medicine at the University of Rochester, Strong Memorial Hospital, Rochester, N.Y. Survivors include sons David ’90 and Marc ’91 Samuelson.

Former Faculty & StaffJohn Wells Jennings of Birmingham, former ISS Glee Club Director, died November 6, 2009, after living 10 years with Alzheimer’s Disease. A graduate of Birmingham-Southern College, he earned a master of music in education degree from Southern Methodist

What does Your Experience at indian Springs Mean to You?By Bill Nolan

Indian Springs alumni are special people. A quick look through the alumni directory will tell you how far graduates have gone in life. Part of this achievement is due to the person himself or herself, but some is due to the influence ISS has had on each person who passes through. Would you be where you are today if you had not attended Springs?

Many alumni support the school each year through the Annual Fund, and for that support the school is undoubtedly grateful. Some alumni also gave to the recent capital campaign, and their generosity is evident everywhere one looks around the campus.

In addition to annual giving and capital cam-paigns, there is a third way for alumni to express their gratitude to Springs. It is called “planned

giving.” You are most likely familiar with this type of gift because every college is actively soliciting their alumni to give in this manner.

You might not be aware, though, that ISS can also offer every type of planned gift that colleges and other nonprofits offer with identical financial benefits to you. Planned giving is a wonderful way for you to acknowledge that Springs was influen-tial in your becoming the person you are today. It is a way for you to support the mission of the school so that future generations can also benefit from the ISS experience.

The most popular type of planned gift is a simple gift to the school in your will. Bequests in wills are a very generous way for alumni to support Springs’ mission. You might add a provi-sion to your will that you want 10 percent of your estate to be distributed to the endowment of Indian Springs to be used wherever the need is greatest. Or you can designate how you want your gift to be used. Either way, your generosity will be greatly appreciated.

Another popular type of planned gift is using life insurance as a means of making a gift. Some alumni have purchased life insurance policies where they have named the school as the owner and beneficiary of the policy. Each premium pay-ment then becomes a tax-deductible gift. Younger alumni can purchase a $500,000 policy for only a few dollars per month. Or you could simply name the school as an alternate or successor beneficiary under an existing policy.

There are other types of planned gifts, from charitable gift annuities to charitable remainder trusts, and each type has a specific purpose and set of benefits. Regardless of the type of gift you choose, remember this — ultimately, you want your gift to have meaning. Where will your generosity have the most meaning and where will it do the most good? While your college or other nonprofit might have a large development staff regularly bombarding you with solicitations, it is probable that they also have an endowment in the tens or hundreds of millions of dollars. Your gener-ous gift of even $100,000 there would be a drop in the bucket. A gift of $100,000 to Springs would be a very significant gift and would be well-used and thoughtfully managed. Your gift here would allow ISS to carry on its unique mission. Your gift here would have meaning. Consider that when you consider who you want to support.If you would like more information on planned giving, please contact Director of Development Victoria Arrand at [email protected] or (205) 332-0600.

Bill Nolan is an attorney in Birmingham. He is married to Frances Ross Nolan ’77 and father to William Nolan ’09.

development


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University and a doctor of musical arts degree from the University of Illinois. In addition to his service at Springs, Jennings was a choral conductor at Shorter College, Sam Houston State University, First United Methodist Church in Rome, Ga., Elkins Lake Baptist Church in Huntsville, Texas, and South Highland Presbyterian Church in Birmingham. His wife, Joyce, a pianist and organist, taught and served with him. Jennings’ choirs toured extensively, performing throughout the United States and internationally in Spain, Yugoslavia, Austria, France, Belgium, Germany, Russia, Poland and Czechoslovakia, often as the first American choir invited to perform in these venues. One of many highlights in his career came in a joint concert with the ISS Glee Club and Vienna Boys Choir at the Imperial Chapel in Vienna. He also directed concerts in New York City’s Lincoln Center and the famed Carnegie Hall. Retired chemistry teacher George Edward “Ed” Marshall passed away October 31, 2008.Walter F. Moeck, who taught brass instruments at ISS, passed away on January 7, 2009. He attended Eastman School of Music and University of Iowa, where he earned bachelor’s and master’s degrees in music. He was the founder and conductor of the Alabama Pops Orchestra and the San Fernando Theatre of Performing Arts in Los Angeles. He conducted orchestras across the U.S. and was awarded an honorary doctorate from the International Institute of Arts and Letters In Zurich, Switzerland, for his achievements in music.

CLaSS UpdaTECLaSS OF 1959Steve Coleman married Belle Sumter Miller Carmichael in a small family wedding last May. He serves on the ISS Alumni Council. Allan Cruse was part of a faculty panel on “Sustaining Yourself After Tenure,” where he had the chance to mention Joe Payne’s 9th Grade algebra class at ISS and the influence of his “enrichment topics” and “indepen-dent learning” on Cruse’s career as a college mathematics professor in San Francisco.The Capital Medical Society in Tallahassee, Fla., awarded Sam Moorer the 2009 I.B. Harrison, M.D., Humanitarian Award. This award is presented to a physician who demonstrates dedication to humanitar-ian values. A retired pediatrician and a dedicated child advocate, he was in private practice for over 30 years and now serves as the Medical Director for the Children’s Medical Services Child Protection Team. Roland Rice still lives in Kensington, Md., with his wife, Darlene. Daughter Debbie, son-in-law David Zwick, and grandchildren David Roland and Emma Rice live close by. Jesse Shearin retired from practicing law in 2005. He started teaching philosophy part-time at N.C.

Wesleyan College in 2005 and became full-time Visiting Professor of Religious Studies in 2008. He taught initially at Thiel College in Greeenville, Penn., and then went to law school and started practicing law. He moved back home to Scotland Neck, N.C., in 1981 where he had “office” practice and got back into choral conducting. He currently serves at Englewood United Methodist Church in Rocky Mount. He and his wife, Jinny, have three sons, and each son is married and has three children.M.D. Smith is general manager of HiWAAY Internet Services, the business he launched as a branch of WAAY-TV Channel 31 in Huntsville. He is CEO of the family-owned parent company of HiWAAY, Smith Broadcasting.

CLaSS OF 1961John Thames is a volunteer helpline counselor with the Clark Howard Radio Consumer Action Center in Atlanta.

CLaSS OF 1962Harry Mueller married his long-time girlfriend, Susan Brand, in November 2007 and retired from Saudi Aramco in June 2008. They have moved and settled into their retirement home in Fort Collins, Colo.

CLaSS OF 1963Chip Feazel has eased into retirement, working three days a week at Conoco Phillips. He is still performing geologic studies worldwide as part of his work.After a decade of full-time international development work, mostly in the Middle East and southern Africa, Alvin Rosenbaum began a project with the World Bank in Cross River State, Nigeria — a pilot for a five-year nationwide intervention. He leads a team including several MBAs from the U.S. and volunteers from IBM’s Corporate Service Corps, working with small busi-nesses and Nigerian market linkages.

CLaSS OF 1964Jim Clower reports, “I am working part-time in clinical medicine and part-time in cat herding (administration) and planning to work until 10 years after I’m dead to replenish retirement.” He is also enjoying gardening, fishing, exercising, traveling, cooking and spending quality time with family and friends.Bob McGahey writes that he is “working on awakening the faith community to the imperative to respond to global ecocrisis” through service with Quaker Earth Care Witness and North Carolina Interfaith Power and Light. Last summer, he led a workshop, “Ecology as Spiritual Practice,” at the Friends General Conference annual gathering and hosted a conference on preserving the Blue Ridge bioregion.

Belle Miller and Steve Coleman ’59 at their May 2009 wedding

Sam Moorer ’59 received the 2009 I.B. Harrison, M.D.,

Humanitarian Award

U.S. ambassador to Romania

Mark Gitenstein, the new U.S. Ambassador to Romania, has spent most of his life circling back to his roots.

The four years he spent at Indian Springs School during the early 1960s helped prepare him for the journey.

“It shaped my life in a very big way,” Gitenstein said of the school. “It shaped everything about my whole intellectual development. I learned how to think on my own there.”

When Gitenstein was sworn in by Vice Presi-dent Joe Biden in August, he became the first U.S. Ambassador to Romania with Romanian heritage. His great-grandparents emigrated to the U.S. from Romania in 1891, and his parents ended up settling in Florala in south Alabama.

“My parents were originally from New York, but Dad came down to Alabama when he was 17 to run a family shirt factory,” he said.

Gitenstein started at Indian Springs in the 9th grade after his uncle read about the school in a New York Times article. Dr. Louis Armstrong, the school’s first director, and history teacher Mac Fleming were big influences on him, he said.

“Dr. Armstrong was a strong believer in independent thinking and independent study and letting kids develop at their own pace,” he said. “Mac Fleming recommended the first book I ever read on foreign policy. I ended up disagreeing with the book, but he was the kind of guy who encouraged disagreement.”

After graduating from Indian Springs in 1964, Gitenstein earned a bachelor’s degree from Duke

University and a law degree from Georgetown Uni-versity. Before accepting the appointment, he was a partner at the Washington office of Mayer Brown LLP, a multinational law firm, and served as Biden’s attorney.

Gitenstein had previously served as a Senate staff member for 17 years, both in Biden’s office and as Chief Counsel with the Senate Judiciary Committee. He also served as co-chairman of Biden’s transition team and helped him prepare for his role as vice president.

“I worked closely with him and President Obama in the weeks after the election,” Gitenstein said. “They looked at me for several positions, and then they called and asked if I’d ever considered being an ambassador.”

After doing some research and learning more about his ancestry, Gitenstein took the job, and he and his wife, Libby, moved to Romania.

“I like to say I found Romania, and Romania found me,” he said. “It’s a place that seems on the cusp of really doing some great things in terms of its economy and march toward democracy.”

Gitenstein said his father, 94-year-old Seymour Gitenstein, had a lot to do with his new role as well.

The elder Gitenstein, who still lives in Florala, was very active in cultural affairs. He also established a foundation to help send children to college and established the community’s hospital.

“He taught me, from my youngest years, the obligation of public service,” Gitenstein said. He said his father was thrilled when Obama nominated Gitenstein for the ambassador position in June.

“He basically told me, ‘You wouldn’t be here if not for these people. You need to help them,’” Gitenstein said. “He loves the fact that I have developed these contacts with people who knew my ancestors.”—Reprinted with permission from The Birmingham

News, October 21, 2009. Reporter: Scottie Vickery.

CLaSS OF 1964 Tommy Moody was chosen by the University of Alabama Medical Alumni Association Board of Directors as an honoree of the Martha Myers Role Model Display, which highlights accomplishments of physician alumni whose lives epitomize the ideal of service to their communities. The Alabama Senate Health Committee also presented Moody with a resolution commending him for his work in the battle against prostate cancer on the state and federal level. The Alabama High School Athletic Directors and Coaches Association also presented an award to Moody for his outstanding service and dedication to the coaches of Alabama.

Mark Gitenstein ’64 “[springs] shaped my

life in a very big way... i

learned how to think on

my own there.”


2010 Outstanding alum of the Year

Greg Hawley ’75 was selected 2010 Outstanding Alum of the Year by Indian Springs School. He was honored by the school as part of its annual Alumni Weekend activities April 16-18.

A member of its Board of Governors for the past 14 years, Hawley recently spearheaded The Learning Through Living Campaign, the school’s successful $12.5 million capital campaign that provided new girls’ and boys’ dormitories, faculty homes, a new science center, reorganized campus roadways and green space, and endowed funds for scholarships and student enrichment.

A native of Birmingham, Hawley practices law with the Birmingham firm of White, Arnold & Dowd, specializing in complex civil litigation, environmental tort actions and class actions involving products liability and consumer fraud. He also serves as president of the 4,000-member Birmingham Bar Association and formerly served as a bar commissioner for the Alabama State Bar.

“Greg Hawley exemplifies the best of Indian Springs,” says ISS Director Gareth Vaughan. “He brings thoughtful leadership to our board and caring concern for the community at large, and his dedicated efforts in spearheading the recently concluded capital campaign will make a positive difference in the school for many years to come.”

After graduating from Indian Springs 35 years ago, Hawley graduated cum laude with an A.B. degree in history from Harvard College and a law degree from Georgetown University. He later served as a legislative assistant to the Honorable Howell Heflin, U.S. Senator, and then as law clerk to the Honorable U.W. Clemon, Chief Judge of the Northern District of Alabama.

A 1996 graduate of Leadership Birmingham, Hawley now serves on that organization’s members’ council, the governing body. He also served as presi-dent of the Harvard Club of Birmingham and recently helped revitalize the Birmingham Volunteer Lawyers Program, which provides legal services to Alabama’s low-income citizens.

Hawley and his family have been actively involved with Indian Springs for many years. His wife, Sally Hawley, is a past president of the Indian Springs Parents Association, and they have two sons, both graduates of Indian Springs — William Hawley ’08, now a rising junior at Harvard, and Steve Hawley ’09, a rising sophomore at Centre College. His broth-ers, Kirk Hawley ’66 and Larry Hawley ’68, are both graduates of the school, and his sister, Liz Hodges, is a past president of the school’s Parents Association. All together, 15 family members have attended Indian Springs.

CLaSS OF 1965Richard Crocker was installed as Dartmouth College’s 12th Dean of the William Jewett Tucker Foundation in a ceremony on February 1. Crocker will continue to serve as College chaplain, a position he has held since 2003. The mission of the Tucker Foundation is to educate Dartmouth students to think and act as ethical leaders and responsible citizens in the global community through service, character development and spiritual exploration.

CLaSS OF 1967David Allgood has five grandchildren and is still fishing and in private practice in Centreville, Ala.Samuel Cohn’s book Cultures of Plaque: Medical Thinking at the End of the Renaissance was published by Oxford University Press late last year. He reports, “I had my 60th birthday in a pub on Easdale Island.… I ran 14 miles that morning to see if I still could — slower than 10 years ago. I now have an ‘Entitlement Card’ that allows free bus service anywhere in Scotland (negotiating for ferry rights).”

CLaSS OF 1969Mike Simpson writes, “Grandchildren, visions of retirement, recognizing that there will never be enough time, 25 years with my wife, grateful to have been born in a simpler time, still plays with trains.”Clark Smith writes, “Besides making wine and consulting, I’m sort of the Charles Kuralt of American wine appellations for www.AppellationAmerica.com — touring all over the country, writing columns and producing videos, and trying to define regional wines and get people excited about them.” He also started a family business, www.GrapeCraft.com, with brothers Brian and Todd.

CLaSS OF 1970George Harper and his wife, Anne, are continuing their ministry at the Evangelical Theological

Greg Hawley ’75

Seminary in Osijek, Croatia, teaching students from all over Eastern Europe. He writes, “We’re living vicariously through our daughters, one of whom is a master’s student in organ performance at the Eastman School of Music and the other of whom is studying criminal justice at Eastern Nazarene College.”

CLaSS OF 1971Troy Crisswell completed the book Thoughts on Painting, a mixture of colorful reproductions (early works to present) with instructional comments on processes and materials and some humorous accounts. Learn more at www.troycrisswell.com.Andrew Waldo was elected eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina in December 2009. He had been serving as rector of Trinity Episcopal Church in Excelsior, Minn. The Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina, a regional arm of the Episcopal Church, represents 64 congrega-tions with some 26,000 members throughout the upper part of the state.

CLaSS OF 1972Pat Alford received his Alabama Insurance Producer License and his wife, Aggie, works at Hunt Refining in Tuscaloosa. They have three children — Gigi, their eldest, and her husband, Anis, returned last summer from Israel and are now in China; Neda, the middle child, works for Unum in Chattanooga, Tenn.; and Ruha, the youngest, studies chemical engineering at Auburn. Pat Odum is still practicing dentistry in downtown Birmingham, having been there for 27 years. He has three grandchildren – Joseph, Joshua and Sean.Michael Routman reports, “I enjoyed working part-time as an anesthesiologist and part-time as an adjunct ISS faculty member. The contact with a great senior class enriched my life. I hope to continue volunteering at the school in future years.”Haydn Trechsel joined WilliamsGautier as an associate attorney. He has been practicing law in Birmingham for 30 years and is licensed to practice law in both Florida and Alabama. For the past five years, his practice has been devoted to representing credit unions in Florida and Alabama in compliance, corporate, contract and other legal matters. Trechsel is practicing in the firm’s regulatory compliance, commercial law and corporate law areas.

CLaSS OF 1973Bill Jenkins is acting and waiting tables in Dallas. His wife, Linda K. Leonard, is also a performer. His latest credits include being Jim Sale, Josh Brolin’s poker buddy, in Oliver Stone’s “W” and selling Diane Keaton a $62,000 ring in “Mad Money.” He quips, “I was also in a very bad movie called ‘Blonde Ambition’ with Andy Dick and Jessica Simpson.”

CLaSS OF 1974E.T. Brown III retired in 2005 from the Air National Guard as a Lieutenant Colonel. After serving 13 years on the staff at Indian Springs, he will begin work this fall as Technology

Coordinator at Advent Episcopal Day School. His wife, Caroline, a veterinarian, bought Metro Cat Clinic in Birmingham in 2008. Son E.T. IV ’05 graduated from Belmont University and is working in Nashville, Tenn., and son Montgomery ’08 is at High Point University, majoring in communications.Chip Thuss is practicing occupational medicine as the Medical Director of The Occupational Health Center in Gadsden, Ala., but still lives in Birming-ham. His son, Ben Thuss ’09, graduated from ISS last spring and is a student at High Point Univer-sity. Thuss writes, “It’s a nice thing is that all of our ‘special’ alumni days/years will be the same!”Leland Tieszen was recalled to active duty with the U.S. Coast Guard following 9/11 and stayed on active duty until October 2008. He writes, “I reached the rank of Commander, after serving as both Enlisted and Officer in the Reserves. I am in the process of retiring from the USCG Reserve this spring. I retired from UAB while still on active duty in the fall of 2008 and then took a civilian job with the USCG in Mobile. I currently live in Spanish Fort, Ala. My free time is spent working on, riding and racing my motorcycles — a hobby that I stayed with through all these years.”

CLaSS OF 1975Bill Engel’s fourth book, Chiastic Designs in English Literature from Sidney to Shakespeare, was published in April 2009 — information at www.engelwood.net. He is still teaching English at Sewanee, The University of the South.

CLaSS OF 1977Max Pulliam writes, “(Daughter) Alice Jordan is very active with the Mountain Brook gymnastics team. She gets her grace and athleticism from her mother. Teresa is a circuit judge for the Jefferson County Criminal Division and doing good work in tough cases. My law practice continues, and I concentrate in the defense of criminal cases and investigations by regulating agencies. I was again admitted to ‘Best Lawyers in America’ for 2009.”Maggie Somers Ashley works in the Women’s Recovery Room at Brookwood Hospital as a registered nurse. She is married with two boys and lives in Pelham.

CLaSS OF 1979Bailey Jones shares, “2008 started with my wife, Allyson, and I buying an old house that needed renovating; I soon learned that not only am I not good at that sort of thing, but I don’t follow directions well either. Sadly, my Dad passed away in September 2008, following a lengthy and progressive illness.”Carl Nechtman writes, “I am doing well in Lower Alabama (L.A.). My office is in Foley, but I live on the Fish River. This area is growing, as is the medical community. I have had a wonderful time building a new practice in the Southern heat and humidity. All the kids are gone off to college and the house is fairly quiet.”

Andrew Waldo ‘71 was elected eighth bishop of the Episcopal Diocese of Upper South Carolina.

class notesclass notes


Tisha Sklenar has moved back to Birmingham after living in Tennessee for more than 25 years. She writes that she is looking forward to running into fellow alumni around Birmingham.John Tauxe writes, “I won’t bore you with professional details of radioactive waste and scientific ocean drilling — fun as all that is — but I do want to remind everyone that there are CDs available of our old Glee Club albums, that I have painstakingly transferred from vinyl. For more information, contact me at [email protected]. They are all also available in mp3 format, along with many concerts, thanks to web hosting by M.D. Smith.”

CLaSS OF 1980In 2009, Susan Dillard Phillips and her family moved back to the U.S. after living in Northern Alberta, Canada, for almost five years. They relocated to New Bern, N.C., which she says is “very near the Atlantic coast — a most welcome change from six months of winter in which -40 temperatures are not uncommon!”Thomé Matisz writes, “The unexpected sometimes bring great privilege. I have been a full-time dad for the past 8½ years. My son, Matthew, is in 3rd grade now. I like a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt, ‘One’s philosophy is not best expressed in words; it is expressed in the choices one makes.’” Matisz can be reached at [email protected] Russell and his wife, Renee, have four sons and are “happily holed up in Hoover,” he writes. They are landscape architects and have a residential garden design/building company — information at www.johnrusselllandscapearthitect.com.

CLaSS OF 1981Buffy Fuller Klinger has two teenaged children, Simon Oliver and Laura Oliver.

CLaSS OF 1982Grover Cleveland has published the book Swimming Lessons for Baby Sharks: The Essential Guide to Thriving as a New Lawyer — information atwww.swimminglessonsforbabysharks.com.Allie Kent is celebrating completing an associate chef certification from the Living Light Culinary Arts Institute in Fort Bragg, Calif. She writes, “I am looking forward to sharing this most vibrant food on the planet with those interested via my new venture — www.raw-mm-good.com.”

CLaSS OF 1983Jeff Knight started college at Alabama, finished at Auburn, and joined the U.S. Army. He is preparing to retire now. “The Army has been good to me,” he writes, “but I look forward to my next career.”

CLaSS OF 1984Michael Payne shares, “Greetings and salutations. Great to see everyone at the 25th reunion last year.

We have since moved from the bucolic Whidbey Island, Wash., to London. So far so good. Let me know if you are passing through.”

CLaSS OF 1987Larry Brook is still in the publishing business, having changed from a newspaper, Deep South Jewish Voice, to a magazine, Southern Jewish Life, which covers Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and northwest Florida. He was also recently on the advisory board for the launch of a unified national magazine for the Conservative Judaism movement. “We’re always off traveling the back roads for Ginger’s Southern culture website, Deep Fried Kudzu, with our wonderful travel companions, James Henry, who will be 3 in June, and Eli, who will be 2 in October,” he writes.The renovation of a Decatur, Ga., home owned by Doug Glasgow and his wife, Yun, received LEED Platinum certification, the first ever such rating for any home renovation in Georgia. “Platinum” is the highest level of certification under the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The Glasgows work in the design and architectural trades.

CLaSS OF 1988Hanelle Culpepper Meier writes, “I had two babies in 2008! Maceo Christopher Meier was born May 17. He weighed 7 lbs. 20 oz. Why did I wait so long to have kids? And it took two years, but my other baby — my first feature film, ‘Within’ — was also completed.”

CLaSS OF 1990Melanie Buffett-Ingraffia is married to Burke Ingraffia and living in Fairhope, Ala. She reports that is she is immersed in small business ownership, a yoga studio and boutique. Information on the business is at www.yogabirds.com.

CLaSS OF 1991Mary Elizabeth Mays, a member of the Alabama Bar, moved to India for one year to supervise a group of Indian lawyers working for LexMatrix, a firm that reviews legal documents outsourced by American law firms. She lived and worked in Chennai — formerly Madras, a city of 2.5 million known as the Silicon Valley of India — and enjoyed the first-hand experience of a new culture.Leslie Whatley earned his Ph.D in creative writing from Florida State University. In July 2008, he moved to the College of the Bahamas to start a creative writing program. He moved there with his wife, Kadie, and son, Gus.

CLaSS OF 1992James Bell reports, “Anne and I welcomed Moira Violet Bell into the world on September 26, 2008. She is wonderful. I was elected partner of Bingham McHale, a law firm in Indianapolis.”

Alexander Quinn Conroy, son of Alexee Deep Conroy ’96 and her

husband, Matthew

Volunteer in philanthropy

Indian Springs recognized Charles “Kip” Porter ’60 as a Volunteer in Philanthropy (VIP) at the National Philanthropy Day Luncheon held November 12, 2009, at the Sheraton Birmingham Hotel.

Sponsored by the Association of Fundraising Professional’s Alabama chapter, the luncheon honors philanthropists from across the state.

Porter served on the ISS Board of Governors from 1998 until 2009. During his time on the Board, he was chair of the Development and Governance Committees and a member of the Executive Committee, providing guidance that resulted in vital support and leadership for the school. He was also involved in crucial moments in the life of ISS, including the hiring of two directors and the execution of the school’s recent capital campaign. Porter received the school’s Outstanding Alum of the Year Award in 2005.

“We are most indebted to Kip for his years of service to the Board of Governors,” Board Chairman Donald Hess ’66 says. “He has served with distinction, and Springs will long feel the effects of his work on behalf of the school.”

Porter is executive vice president of Porter, White & Company, Inc., and an active volunteer for many civic and charitable organizations.

CLaSS OF 1992Danny Markstein and his wife, Eileen, live in Birmingham and are proud parents to a son, Max, born June 12, 2007. The couple owns and operates Markstein Consulting with a partner, Marc Bromstad. “We chase Max during those waking hours when we are not working!” Markstein writes.

CLaSS OF 1993Celebrated Experiences, of which Jonathan Epstein serves as president, was nominated by Luxury Travel

Advisor as Top Luxury Destination Management Company Worldwide. Based out of Atlanta, Celebrated Experiences is a one-stop shop for elite travel agents and is focused on travel to the United Kingdom and Ireland.

CLaSS OF 1994Robyn Broyden has been working at the United States Antarctic Program, stationed at McMurdo Station on Ross Island, Antarctica, supporting National Science Foundation funded science and activities in the Crary Lab (and beyond). “Please feel free to drop me a line — [email protected],” she writes.

CLaSS OF 1995Cameron Wells Killen writes, “Well, considering I work at the state mental hospital, have three kids, follow Nascar and refuse to make any plans that interfere with Alabama football, I rarely — if ever — see my friends from Springs. This, however, does not mean I don’t think of you often.”John Lockett and his wife, Erin, announce the birth of their first child, John A. Lockett IV, on March 7, 2010. “Both Erin and ‘Jack’ are doing great,” he writes.

CLaSS OF 1996Alexee Deep Conroy and her husband, Matthew, joyfully announce the birth a son, Alexander Quinn, born February 12, 2009, weighing 7 pounds, 10 ounces. They are living in New York City. She writes, “I am happily taking a break from my legal career to enjoy time with Quinn before beginning a Federal Clerkship in the Eastern District this year.”Sam Ko won an award from U.S. Small Business Administration as Illinois Small Business Person of the Year. Fergus Tuohy, a financial advisor with Ameriprise Financial in Birmingham, has achieved the Certified Financial Planner certification.

CLaSS OF 1998Following their December 17, 2005, marriage, Lauren Bradley Humber and William Still Humber are making their home in Tuscaloosa. In May 2006, she completed a master’s degree in social work at the University of Alabama, graduating with honors. She is now a social worker at the Rise School, a preschool program serving children with special needs and their typical peers. Ho-Seon Lee finished up mandatory military duties in South Korea as a naval officer and returned to Georgia Tech last fall to resume work on his Ph.D.

CLaSS OF 2000 Megan Fortson graduated from the Universitiy of Alabama School of Law in May 2008 and joined the firm of Clark, Partington, Hart, Larry, Bond & Stackhouse in Pensacola, Fla. She practices in the areas of real estate, probate and land use and lives in Perdido Key.

Kip porter ’60

class notes class notes


Class of 2010: Erin Abraham, birmingham, Ala., Dartmouth College • Margaret Jacobs Aland, Birmingham, Ala., Tulane University

• Jinseok An, Seoul, Korea, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology • Mary Margaret Barr, Hoover, Ala., Barnard College • Richard

Rives baxley, birmingham, Ala., Harvard University • Bryan Elliott Bell, Birmingham, Ala., The University of Alabama • Jonathan

Ryan biles, Hoover, Ala., Pasadena City College • Alesandra Renee Boyle, Birmingham, Ala., St. Olaf College • Logan Oliver

buffington, birmingham, Ala., Auburn University • Laney Gray Caldwell, Indian Springs, Ala., Brown University • Elizabeth

blakeway Chancey, birmingham, Ala., Parsons: The New School For Design • Vivian Pauline Delchamps, Helena, Ala., Scripps

College • Aurian Rahau Eghbalian, Hoover, Ala., Mount Holyoke College • Julia Marie Fawal, Birmingham, Ala., Rhodes College

• Jack Edward Feist, Indian Springs, Ala., Vanderbilt University • Ahmer Festok, Hoover, Ala., Birmingham-Southern College

• Muhamad Akram Festok, Hoover, Ala., Birmingham-Southern College • Kevin Alexander Fox, Birmingham, Ala., Worcester

Polytechnic Institute • Alex Clark Freedman, Birmingham, Ala., Northwestern University • Awbrey Anne Golden, Birmingham,

Ala., Birmingham-Southern College • Samuel Dalton Gregory, Birmingham, Ala., Georgia Institute of Technology • Silvea Lael

Marie Groover, birmingham, Ala., Auburn University • Garrett Christian Guevara, Birmingham, Ala., The University of Alabama

• Michele Lee Guthrie, Birmingham, Ala., Elon University • Kathryn Lee Hamner, Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, Judson College •

Emma Elizabeth Harms, birmingham, Ala., Southern Methodist University • Jeremy Robert Hefter, Birmingham, Ala., Wake

Forest University • Sarah Elizabeth Hook, Birmingham, Ala., Vanderbilt University • Tennyson Farish Horn, Santa Rosa Beach,

Fla., Gap Year • Matthew Crenshaw Howell, Wilsonville, Ala., Gap Year/Hampshire College • Felix Christoph Hueting, North

Rhine Westphalia, Germany, University in Germany • Young Sil Jang, Kyunggi-do, Korea, Cornell University • William Clayton

Kerchof, Atlanta, Ga., University of Virginia • Chee Lee, Seoul, Korea, Columbia University • Kevin Sunwook Lee, Birmingham,

Ala., Emory University • Tyler Jay Lewis, Pelham, Ala., Birmingham-Southern College • Carter Janee Long-Glanton, Albany,

Ga., University of Georgia • Michelle Yimeng Luo, Vestavia Hills, Ala., Harvard University • Keith Chisholm Marson, Birmingham,

Ala., Vanderbilt University • Hannah Howze Martin, Florence, Ala., Sewanee: The University of the South • Katelyn Erin Massey,

birmingham, Ala., Elon University • Julia Killingsworth McMinn, Birmingham, Ala., Georgia Institute of Technology • Jordan

Dellan Morris, Gardendale, Ala., The University of Alabama • Caitlin Rose Morrow, Hoover, Ala., The University of Alabama at

Birmingham • Zehra Fatima Naviwala, Birmingham, Ala., Wellesley College • Alison Baker Newman, Birmingham, Ala., University

of Chicago • Sarah Anne O’Neal, Birmingham, Ala., University of Miami • Lauren Kyle Parker, Hernando, Miss., Pepperdine

University • Catherine Rose Pihakis, Birmingham, Ala., College of Charleston • Sunney Rae Poyner, Hoover, Ala., The University

of Alabama at Birmingham • Maxwell Dylan Rushton, Atlanta, Ga., Birmingham-Southern College • Margaret Anne-Elder Sandy,

birmingham, Ala., Rollins College • Sarah Madeleine Sears, Montevallo, Ala., Hollins University • Kaitlin Shimota, Waxhaw, N.C.,

Boston University • Julie Anne Shooner, Milton, Ga., McGill University • Everett Carruthers Smith, Mountain Brook, Ala., Furman

University • Elan Laxer Strange, Pelham, Ala., The University of Alabama • Caroline Scott Thrasher, Hoover, Ala., Eckerd College

• Yedoye Opigo Travis, Winston, Ga., Oxford College of Emory University • Madison Kate Turner, Birmingham, Ala., Birmingham-

Southern College • Benjamin Stuart Wallis, Trussville, Ala., Georgia Institute of Technology • John Tilton Willingham, Birmingham,

Ala., Sewanee: The University of the South • Amalee Dianne Wilson, Prattville, Ala., The University of Alabama at Birmingham •

Emily Zane Wilson, Birmingham, Ala., Wofford College • Daniel Allison Woodall, Birmingham, Ala., The University of Alabama •

Thomas Jacob Woodham, Montevallo, Ala., The University of Alabama • Joo Yon Yi, Seoul, Korea, Northwestern University

congratulations — anD WElcoME to tHE aluMni FaMilY

We would love to hear about the new developments in your life — and share them with fellow alumni and friends! to submit a class note, please email your latest news to assistant Director of Development Melanie Kieve at [email protected]. Please specify that you would like your news published in the Class notes section of the alumni magazine.

Since 2004, Boris Zaremba has been studying industrial engineering and management at the University of Karlsruhe in Germany. After 12 months of studying in Sweden and Denmark, he is back in Germany.

CLaSS OF 2003Callie Mitchell writes, “Hello, Class of ’03! Y’all are still in my thoughts even though I’ve adopted the land of grizzlies and glaciers as my home.”

CLaSS OF 2004Zeke Couch graduated from Wake Forest in 2008 and is an analyst for Bank of America in Greensboro, N.C.Lisa Francavilla has graduated from college and is working in her first job as an editorial assistant at Oxford University Press in New York City. Lake Trechsel graduated in December 2008 from Boston University with a degree in biochemical engineering.Claire Woodall graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee summa cum laude with a bachelor of arts in history in December 2008. After graduating, she worked for a representative in the Wisconsin state legislature, focusing on prison reform, and is now in law school at the University of Virginia.

CLaSS OF 2005Sarah Moore received her bachelor’s degree magna cum laude from Hamilton College in May 2009.Daniel Odrezin graduated from the University of Alabama in May 2009 and began law school at UA in August 2009.Nadia Michelle Perry became engaged to Ben Robertson in January of this year. They have tentatively set a wedding date of October 15, 2011, in Birming-ham. They are moving to Los Angeles to pursue their film careers in July. Victoria Spencer entered the Doctor of Pharmacy class at the Auburn University Harrison School of Pharmacy in August 2009.

CLaSS OF 2006LaTonzia Evans graduated from William Carey College on May 16, 2009 — a year ahead of schedule — and got married on May 9, 2009. Amy Frederickson matriculated to the University of Alabama Honors College in 2005 following her junior year at Indian Springs and received her ISS diploma in May 2006. She graduated summa cum laude with a bachelor of science degree from UA in May 2009. During her time at Alabama, Frederickson was a member of the National Society for Collegiate Scholars, Phi Kappa Phi and Phi Beta Kappa. She is now attending the University of Alabama School of Law on a scholastic scholarship.

Young Chul Hong finished his sophomore year at the University of Rochester in the spring of 2008 and went to Korea to serve in the Korean Army for two years. He will finish his service in July 2010 and return to the university.Austin Lyman spent a semester in Buenos Aires, Argentina, heading up a pilot study abroad program for his college, St. Mary’s College of Maryland. “I hope to eventually help coach the ISS Ultimate Frisbee Team,” he writes.

CLaSS OF 2009Rebecca Barr is spending 10 months in Turkey. Her travels can be followed on her blog, www.sweethomeadana.blogspot.com.Johann Choo and Matthew Dix interned last summer at the UAB Center for Biophysical Sciences and Engineering under the direction of Larry DeLucas, the center’s director and an ISS Board of Governors member. They learned to use novel techniques to increase the ability of proteins to dissolve in a liquid solution, which can lead to the development of new drugs or to increased shelf life of vaccines. Collin Janich received a Robert C. Byrd Honors Scholarship for the 2009-2010 academic year by the State of Alabama Department of Education.

Former Faculty & FriendsChip Brantley — grandson of late faculty member Frank Cantey — has written the nonfiction book The Perfect Fruit: Good Breeding, Bad Seeds and the Hunt for the Elusive Pluot. The book tells the creation story of the pluot, a plum-apricot hybrid developed by world-famous fruit breeder Floyd Zaiger.

Get iSS News Year-Round!

We send news about the latest school and alumni happenings throughout the year through eSpringsForward, the iss e-newsletter. if you are not receiving eSpringsForward, please submit your current email address, along with name and class year, to Development office assistant Kathryn D’arcy at [email protected], and we will make sure you get your springs news year-round.

class notes

What’s new With You?

l e a r n i n g t h r o u g h l i v i n g s i n c e 1952

SPRINGS RECEIVES

NATIONAL AP MATH

& SCIENCE AWARD

LEARNING THROUGH LIVINGCAMPAIGN CONCLUDES

S P R I N G 2 0 1 0

ALUmNI IN THE FILM

INDUSTRy

50 th anniversaryof soCCer

190 Woodward DriveIndian Springs, AL 35124205-988-3350www.indiansprings.org

FIRST CLASS US POSTAGE

paidbIRMINGHAM, AL

PERMIT #2287

COME BaCK HOMEALUmNI WEEKEND apRiL 15-17, 2011

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ISS Magazine - Spring 2010

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