KnightTimes Summer 2015

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

A LITTLE PACE HISTORY

THE CLASS OF 2015IRON-CLAD & READY TO SOAR

The Year of FOOD

AND

Spring Sports

Coverage

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S U M M E R 2015 T H E M A G A Z I N E O F PA C E A C A D E M Y

SAVE THE DATE FOR THE 52ND FALL FAIR, "A SWEET DAY & KNIGHT!"

Visit www.paceacademy.org/fallfair for event information and sponsorship opportunities.

LETTER FROM THE EDITORI have to admit, I’ve drunk the Kool-Aid—or rather, the raw, organic, pressed juices of whole

fruits and vegetables. During my first week of summer hours (there are major benefits to work-ing in education, people!), I spent my afternoons on the back deck reading Michael Pollan’s In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto, highlighter in hand.

This year’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) all-school read and its mandate to “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” made me think… and then made me take action.

My husband and I signed up for a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture co-op); I spent an evening drilling holes in a 10-gallon plastic storage bin to create a container for compost; my “Urban Farmer” Pinterest board is now filled with vertical gardening tips and lists of vegetables that thrive in shade; and my stack of summer reading books includes the titles recommended on page 41. Needless to say, I’m excited about FOOD, the 2015–2016 ICGL theme.

As the year unfolds, I hope you’ll join the Pace community in considering the role food plays in your daily life and in the lives of individuals all over the world. We’ll share what we learn in the coming issues of this magazine, at www.paceacademy.org/icgl and via social media. Follow us as we explore the past, present and future of food.

Caitlin Goodrich Jones ’00DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS

S U M M E R 2 0 1 5

On the cover:

Surprise Commencement Speaker Robert Downey Jr. congratulates CAILLIN COOKE.

Photograph by MARTHA DOWNER-ASSAF

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

Contact us to deliver a meal:

404-926-3727 or [email protected]

www.facebook.com/paceacademy

www.instagram.com/paceacademy

www.pinterest.com/paceacademy

www.twitter.com/paceacademy

FOLLOW US!

http://www.paceacademy.org/icgl

http://www.pinterest.com/paceacademy

THE MAGAZINE OF PACE ACADEMY

CONTRIBUTORSFred Glass ’89After graduating from Pace, FRED GLASS attended the University of Georgia as a business major and went on to receive his MBA in finance from Georgia State Uni-versity. He is a financial planner and strategist with Glass Financial in Atlanta. He is the husband of ELIZABETH GLASS, a member of the Pace Academy Office of Advancement, and father of MERRITT ANN GLASS ’19 and KATHLEEN GLASS ’22. The Glass family lives in Atlanta’s Buckhead neighborhood.

Hannah Kelly ’15A recent Pace graduate, HANNAH KELLY will begin her freshman year at Duke University in the fall, where she plans to study English and visual art. While at Pace, Kelly was a member of the Barbara and Sanford Orkin Society, the National Honor Society and the Cum Laude Society. In her free time, she enjoys reading, running and playing with her cat. She interned with the Pace communications department over the summer.

Kamran Sadiq ’15KAMRAN SADIQ recently graduated from Pace with honors and will begin his freshman year at Kennesaw State University in the fall. He plans to study interna-tional business and resource management. While at Pace, Kamran was a member of the varsity swim team and the Barbara and Sanford Orkin Honor Society. In his free time, he loves to read, cook and travel. Over the summer, he interned with the Pace communications, advancement and college counseling departments.

KnightTimes966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org

Head of SchoolFRED ASSAF

Division HeadsMICHAEL GANNON Head of Upper School

JOHN ANDERSON Head of Middle School

SYREETA MOSELEY Head of Lower School

Communications DepartmentCAITLIN GOODRICH JONES ’00 Director of Communications, Editor

RYAN VIHLEN Creative Services Manager, Graphic Designer

LELA WALLACE Digital Communications Manager

LIZ WIEDEMANN Stewardship Manager, Staff Writer

Contributing PhotographersFRED ASSAF

GEMSHOTS PHOTOGRAPHIC

LAURA INMAN

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

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

CONTENTS 6 NEWS

10 AROUND PACE

20 SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

28 ICGL The year of water concludes

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

38 THE YEAR OF FOOD Introducing the 2015–2016 Isdell Center for Global Leadership theme

42 GRADUATION A fitting celebration of a wonderful group of students

48 WHAT'S IN A NAME? The surprising origins of Pace Academy’s moniker

52 ALUMNI

52 Updates

56 Out and About

58 Encore 2 A celebration of GEORGE MENGERT's career

60 Alumni Scholar Award Catch up with previous recipients and meet the newest winner

KnightTimes | Summer 20154

Dear Pace Family,

Was it just this past August that we launched the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), opened the Arthur M. Blank Upper School and welcomed Knights fans to Walsh Field?

These new features are now so much a part of Pace Academy that it’s hard to imagine our lives without them. They have enriched the Pace community in immeasurable ways and made possible many of this year’s highlights—from international adventures, state play-off runs, and classroom discoveries to a deeper understanding of WATER and its critical role in our world.

We concluded this monumental year by welcoming the Class of 2015 into our alumni ranks with the help of surprise Commencement Speaker Robert Downey Jr. (see story on page 42). Downey reminded our graduates of the “beauti-ful messiness” of life, of the importance of honesty, tolerance and sacrifice. He challenged them—and the entire Pace community—to become the prepared, confident citizens of the world we so hope they will be.

Moving forward, we remain focused on that mission. Thanks to the Parents Club’s Citizens of the World Travel Grant Program, students in all divisions will continue to build meaningful connections across the globe; we’ll welcome Director of Professional Development and Curriculum Studies MARLA READ CAPPER to support our expert faculty; and we’ll dig deep into the subject of FOOD, the 2015–2016 ICGL global theme.

As we enjoy a restful summer (or maybe not… I’m off on an ICGL Middle School study tour to Greece!), I look back at the past year with gratitude, and I look ahead with anticipation.

Here’s to Pace Academy’s exciting future!

Sincerely,

Fred AssafHEAD OF SCHOOL

LETTER FROM THE HEAD OF SCHOOL

THE MAGAZINE OF PACE ACADEMY

KnightTimes | Summer 2015 5

From left to right: Fred Assaf,

HANK ASSAF '15, KEVIN JOHNSON '15

and staff member KEVIN JOHNSON

NEWS What you need to know


FAMILIAR FACES, NEW PLACES This fall, several faculty members will assume new responsibilities within the Pace Academy community.

In the Middle School, history teacher GRAHAM ANTHONY has been named assistant head of Middle School for student life, a new position responsible for overseeing discipline and safety, student events and Vital Signs, the Middle School’s character-education program. Anthony also will work as a liaison between the Middle School and Pace Athletics, as well as the Isdell Center for Global Leadership.

In the Upper School, math teacher GUS WHYTE has been named dean of stu-dents, and science teacher JOE SANDOE will serve as assistant dean of students, a new position. Together, Whyte and Sandoe will manage matters relating to honor and conduct, work with faculty and student leadership to facilitate programs and activities that enhance student life, and promote a culture of honor, respect and responsibility within the Upper School student body.

THE UPPER SCHOOL IS OFFICIALLY AWESOMEThe Pace Academy community knew that the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School was special from the moment its doors opened, but it’s clear that those outside the community think so as well. The new facility, designed by SANDY COOPER ’79 (pictured above) of Collins Cooper Carusi Architects, took second place in the American Institute of Architects’ 2015 Georgia People’s Choice Awards, which honor construction and renovation projects throughout the state.

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ARTHUR M. BLANK FAMILY UPPER SCHOOL

WILSON, KNIGHT NAMED NATIONAL ACHIEVEMENT SCHOLARSThe National Merit Scholarship Cor-poration recognizes outstanding Black American high-school seniors as National Achievement Scholars based on consis-tently high academic performance, written recommendations and PSAT scores.

This year, seniors TRACY KNIGHT (top left) and MORIAH WILSON (bottom left) were two of only 800 National Achieve-ment Scholars selected from a nationwide pool of approximately 160,000 students. The prestigious award also includes a $2,500 scholarship.

EACH YEAR, Pace Academy sixth graders submit entries to Letters About Literature, a reading and writing contest for students in grades four through 12. Participants are asked to read a book, poem or speech and write to that author (living or dead) about how the book affected them personally. Letters are judged at the state and national levels, and tens of thousands of students from across the country enter.

This year, sixth-grader NOAH BEN-NETT’s letter won second place in Georgia (Level 1), while sixth-grader SIDNEY SIL-VER’s letter received first place in Georgia (Level 1). Both were celebrated at an April awards dinner. In the past 11 years, Pace students have received 35 Letters About Literature Awards—seven of them have been state winners.

GSPA HONORS “THE KNIGHTLY NEWS” The Georgia Scholastic Press Association (GSPA) awarded The Knightly News, the Upper School student newspaper, a rating of “Excellent” in the General Excellence category of its 2014–2015 newspaper com-petition. The Knightly News website (right) also received an “Excellent” rating. Senior Co-Editors-in-Chief JULIA BECK and DEAN PAPASTRAT led this year’s talented staff and were advised by faculty member LEE WILSON.

DEBATE WRAPS UP SEASON WITH NDCA WINIt was a banner year for Upper School debate under the leadership of coach SHUNTÁ JORDAN. The squad, led by seniors JERI BRAND, ARIELLE LEVIN, TANNER LEWIS, ERIN RAWLS and CLYDE SHEPHERD, earned the Debate School of Excellence Award for the fourth consecutive

year—just one of many accolades. Lewis and Shepherd, the Georgia High

School Association state runners-up, finished the season ranked third in the nation, and Pace teams brought home victories at pres-tigious national tournaments, including the University of Michigan’s annual tournament, the Glenbrooks and the Southern Bell Forum.

Three Pace teams (Lewis and Shepherd, Rawls and Brand, and Levin and junior REID FUNSTON) qualified to compete in

both the University of Kentucky’s National Tournament of Champions (TOC) and the National Debate Coaches Association’s (NDCA) National Championship Tourna-ment. At the 82-team NDCA tournament in April, Lewis and Shepherd brought home the title—Pace’s second NDCA victory. The duo’s dynamic debate career ended in the seventh round of the TOC.

NEWS

BENNETT, SILVER WRITE

AWARD-WINNING LETTERS

At the NDCA

Silver

Bennett


MARLA READ CAPPER joins

the Pace faculty as director of professional development

and curriculum studies.

When Pace Academy launched MyTeachingPartner (MTP) in 2013 in partnership with the University of Virginia’s Curry School of Education’s Center for Advanced Study of Teaching and Learning (CASTL), Research Scientist and Professional Development Spe-cialist MARLA READ CAPPER was the go-to resource for participating Pace teachers.

MTP, a focused, targeted professional-development model provides teachers regular feedback on classroom instruction and interactions as aligned to a framework. Through MTP, teachers trained as coaches observe colleagues’ teaching practices through video-recorded classroom instruction. Coaches and teachers collaborate to create goals in the teachers’ practices, and then coaches clip moments in the teachers’ lessons that capture those goals.

The program is structured around peer-to-peer observation, reflection and the ways in which student-teacher interactions can enhance learning. Pace was one of two indepen-dent schools to partner with UVA and pilot the MTP program in a K–12 setting, and it’s taken off—so much so that Capper has left UVA to become full-time director of profes-sional development and curriculum studies at Pace.

Capper holds graduate degrees in special education and educational psychology with concentrations in gifted education, specific learning disabilities, and curriculum and instruction, and she has classroom experience in nearly every grade from kindergarten through college. Needless to say, Capper is uniquely qualified to teach Pace’s expert faculty how to become even more effective as they interact with students.

“Relationships between teachers and students are foundational to teaching and learning, and student-teacher interactions directly influence student motivation and achievement,” Capper says. “The simple fact is that students learn from people they believe love them and they love back… Differentiating instruction and creating engaging, memorable lessons is my goal when working with students and teachers.”

At Pace, Capper hopes to build bridges between teaching theory and practice so that Pace faculty will “inspire one another to have more reflective conversations about prac-tice as a way to push thinking about teaching and learning.”

TEACHING TEACHERS

NEWS

A NEW DIRECTOR TAKES THE STAGE

“The arts have always been central to Pace Academy’s culture,” says Head of Upper School MIKE GANNON. “[When filling retired Upper School theatre director GEORGE MENGERT’s position], we knew we needed to find someone who would continue that tradition of excellence while introducing new elements and expanding our theatre curriculum.”

Gannon feels confident that SEAN BRYAN is just the man for the job. He brings to the position a master’s in directing, professional acting experience, and significant teaching expertise from stints at the University of Iowa and Miami Dade College. Since 2007, Bryan has led the high-school drama program at Ransom Everglades School in Coconut Grove, Fla., where he also served as an academic dean. He received the Ransom Everglades Arthur Moses Faculty Award in 2012 and was named performing arts department chair in 2014.

“When teaching, I strive to embrace the creativity of each student and reinforce abstract thinking,” Bryan says. “Theatre teaches us to work our way through a problem… it’s a process that demands failure in order to pave the way toward success. Ultimately, theatre should encourage students to become independent thinkers and lifelong learners.”

At Pace, Bryan will oversee all Upper School theatre productions, teach classes in the performing arts, sponsor student groups in theatre competitions, and work with faculty, parents and students to ensure a well-rounded arts education.

NEWS


BAKER NAMED DIRECTOR OF ATHLETICS

There’s never been a better time to be a Pace Academy Knight. Over the past decade, Pace Athletics has grown by leaps and bounds, and Pace student-athletes have achieved unprecedented success, with more than 60 going on to play at the collegiate level.

Student-athletes and programs will continue to thrive under new Director of Athletics TROY BAKER, who joined the Pace community over the summer. Baker began his career as a middle-school English and social studies teacher and went on to earn his master’s degree from Brown Uni-versity. He recently completed a Doctorate of Education at Vanderbilt University’s Peabody College.

Baker comes to Pace from Lausanne Collegiate School in Memphis, Tenn., where he doubled athletic participa-tion school-wide over a six-year period, maintained high academic standards for all student-athletes, implemented strength-and-conditioning and sports-medicine programs, and played an instrumental role in construction projects, capital campaigns and strategic planning.

“Although I am an athletic director in title, I view myself as a ‘school person,’” Baker says. “I hold myself responsible for all aspects of the school experience, and I want to be a re-source for my students, their families and my colleagues. As an educator, I take great comfort in the fact that Pace’s aca-demic program focuses on preparing students for success in college and am impressed by the school’s commitment to ‘create prepared, confident citizens of the world.’”

The stage is yours,

Mr. Bryan !

AROUND PACE A look at what's happening at Pace

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Five members of the Pace Academy Board of Trustees completed their terms this summer, and the Pace community thanks them for their dedicated and generous service.

LAURIE ANN GOLDMANSince 2006, LAURIE ANN GOLDMAN has played a game-changing role in Pace’s mar-

keting, communications and advancement efforts. She spearheaded a rebranding project in 2007, oversaw marketing for the SHINE and Aim High capital campaigns and, as chair of advancement, was a member of the Board’s executive committee. Goldman also contributed her expertise to the finance committee. Goldman and her husband, JONATHAN GOLD-MAN, have three sons: AUSTIN GOLDMAN ’12, JARED GOLDMAN ’16 and LANE GOLDMAN ’19.

JOHN INMAN ’83JOHN INMAN ’83 has worn many hats during his nine years on the Board. He served

on the advancement, properties and governance committees and, as a Pace alumnus, took a particular interest in strengthening the school’s alumni relations program. Inman initiated the Alumni Scholar Award, a significant financial scholarship given each spring to a rising senior who enriches the school through high moral character, academic achievement, leadership and service (see story on page 60). He and his wife, TISH INMAN, have two sons: Jie Inman and MITCH INMAN ’16.

BILL SMITHA member of the Board of Trustees since 2006, BILL SMITH contributed to Pace’s market-

ing efforts and later sat on the governance and neighborhood relations committees. He played a key role in the development of the school’s Warren Road Fields as well as the Athletics Com-plex on Riverview Road. He and his wife, JULIE SMITH, are the proud parents of WILLIAM SMITH ’12, JULIE SMITH ’18 and JIMBO SMITH ’20.

GREG THURMANA long-standing member of the finance and properties committees, GREG THURMAN

has made significant contributions to Pace’s day-to-day operations as well as recent capital campaigns and building projects during his nine years on the Board. He was particularly influ-ential in the initial construction of Pace’s satellite athletic facilities at Warren and Riverview Roads. Thurman and his wife, MARY BRIDGET THURMAN, have three children: ANDREW THURMAN ’12, William Thurman and PATRICK THURMAN ’19.

TIM WALSH ’81Few alumni have had a greater impact on Pace than TIM WALSH ’81 and his wife, LEIGH

DRAUGHON WALSH ’81. Walsh played significant roles on the Board’s governance, prop-erties, and neighborhood relations committees and went on to serve as chair of the Board from 2011 to 2014. Under his watchful eye, Pace launched the Aim High campaign for a new Upper School, generating more than $35 million. The Walsh family contributed to the Aim High campaign the largest alumni gift in school history, and Walsh Field at Pace Acad-emy's Athletics Complex is named in their honor. The Walshes have three children: JAMES WALSH ’12, JACK WALSH ’16 and MEGAN WALSH ’18.

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At the Knights of the Round Table event on April 28, the Pace Academy community said thank you to more than 300 Pace supporters who gave $1,500 or more to the school this year. Pace parents RICK BLUMEN and LIZ PRICE, who is also a Board

member, graciously opened their home to host this celebratory event. Previously held

each fall, the Knights of the Round Table party has moved to a

springtime gathering.

AROUND PACE A look at what's happening at Pace


Families who named spaces in the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School continue to dedicate their classrooms, halls, offices and outdoor areas. On May 21, LOREN, GAIL and eighth-grader MI-CHAEL STARR dedicated the Student Commons patio in memory of Gail’s father, DR. MARK RAVIN. The family was joined by Gail’s mother, SONDRA RAVIN, and by Loren’s parents, POLLY and MARTIN STARR.

SPECIAL PEOPLE, SPECIAL PLACESRECOGNIZING OUR KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE

PACE PARENTS “LIGHT UP THE KNIGHT”

The Pace Academy Parents Club’s annual Auction & Party, this year themed “Light Up the Knight,” took place April 18 at the InterContinental Hotel in Buckhead.

During the event, hundreds of guests bid on exotic getaways, one-of-a-kind jewelry and art, tickets to concerts and sporting events and VIP experiences, ultimately gen-erating more than $421,500. The Parents Club will use the funds to support every area of campus life—from the arts and athletics to international study tours and need-based financial aid.

Parents LAURA KAYE and DONNA POTTOROFF co-chaired “Light Up the Knight” with assistance from Pace grandparent and event designer BARBARA ROOS.

Photography by LINDA FULLER

Softball


A Festive FinaleEach year, the merry month of May

ushers in time-honored Pace Academy traditions: Lower School Principal of the Day, Great American Picnic and the sixth grade’s Medieval Banquet,

the senior-faculty softball game, Physics Phlotilla and Middle School

Team Challenge. Between dunk tanks, dodge ball and burgers, a good

time was had by all.

Medieval

Banquet

Team

Challenge

KnightTimes | Summer 2015 13KnightTimes | Summer 2015

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Phlotilla

Principal of

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14 KnightTimes | Summer 2015

GEORGE MENGERTFor 44 years, Upper School Theatre Director GEORGE MENGERT

devoted his life to Pace. In 1971, the fledgling school needed an Eng-lish teacher, and Mengert took the job, thinking he would stay just a year or two.

“Doc,” as his students often called him, went on to launch Pace’s first Advanced Placement course; he served as director of admissions for 22 years; and he founded Pace’s nationally renowned debate pro-gram, was 1983’s Debate Coach of the Year and now holds a place in the National Forensic League Hall of Fame.

While these contributions are tremendous, Mengert’s love and life’s work was creating Pace’s world-class theatre program. Early productions took place in local churches and cafeterias, and under his meticulous direction, the quality of those productions far exceeded the modest venues in which they were staged; the Pace Players earned 15 Georgia High School Association One-Act region championships and 10 state championships. In 1991, Pace Theatre found a perma-nent home in the state-of-the-art, 600-seat Fine Arts Center, a space Mengert helped design.

“It’s always a treat to see a musical at Pace,” Atlanta Journal-Con-stitution theatre critic Wendell Brock wrote in 2003. “The students are fearless, funny and well prepared. And most importantly, you get the feeling that lives are being changed and careers are being born.” He was correct.

Generations of performers grew up on the Fine Arts Center stage; some went on to schools such as New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts, Carnegie Mellon University, Cincinnati’s College-Con-servatory of Music, The Juilliard School, Boston Conservatory and Northwestern University; many now work in theatre, music and film.

Over the course of his four decades at Pace, Mengert directed 128 productions, always re-blocking, tweaking the delivery of a line or changing a curtain call until the last possible second to ensure per-fection. He was known for his exacting standards, but those who participated in Pace Theatre never doubted his love for his students.

More than 50 of those students returned to the Pace stage to honor Mengert upon his retirement. Encore 2, a musical retrospective fea-turing numbers from his most memorable musical productions, took place May 23 in front of a packed house (see story on page 58). For once, Mengert took the last bow.

In his retirement, Mengert hopes to return to the stage and may dabble in voice work or directing.

MARTHA KASILUS“Oh my stars, what has Dr. K meant for math awareness for Pace

students?”After 29 years at Pace, MARTHA KASILUS retires from 46 years

of teaching mathematics to students all across Georgia. Before her teaching career began, she earned four degrees from Georgia State University, including a bachelor’s in mathematics, a Master of Arts in teaching, an education specialist degree, and a Ph.D. with a cer-tification in mathematics and gifted education.

She felt at home in the academic com-munity, and found her niche teaching high-school students after 16 years at Georgia Perimeter College and Georgia State University. She was the chair of the math department and high-school dean at the Arlington School before arriving at Pace in 1985, bringing with her high expectations for students and a love for the beauty of mathematics.

At Pace, Kasilus was named STAR Teacher 13 times and received the Richard Smith Pope Scholarship for teachers twice. She was fully dedicated to Pace and passionate about her career, even teach-ing while undergoing cancer treatment. She cared about students’ understanding of mathematics as a whole, and taught beyond what her own class required. In addition to the traditional topics of alge-bra, pre-calculus, trigonometry, and statistics, her classes explored areas of math many have never heard of, including number theory, groups and rings and fields, and fractals.

Kasilus says her hope was for students to leave her class with “an understanding of mathematical concepts and an appreciation of how mathematics is utilized in many different disciplines.” She pioneered Pace’s first math team and spent countless hours going over SAT math questions until all of her students were able to achieve perfect scores in order to help further this understanding.

Whether one took her class in 1985, 1995, 2005 or 2015, there were common experiences for all of Dr. K’s students. She brought the class-room to life with creative teaching methods. She sang her original “I am a trigonometric identity” song to help Analysis Honors students memorize over 50 trig identities, and she created an art project to help students learn the equation for an ellipse.

She required that all students learn her punctilious organization strategies, giving clear guidelines to transform the unruly notebook of a disorganized student into a meticulously organized study tool. For any given topic, she had at least one, if not two, in-depth and often hand-written packets, preemptively answering any questions students might have had.

After such a long and successful career, however, now is the time for Kasilus to enjoy retirement. She values family and God above all else, and she said goodbye to her second family at Pace to spend

RETIRING TEACHERS LEAVE LASTING LEGACIESThis year’s four retiring faculty members represent 106 years of service to Pace Academy. Each contributed mightily to our school community and shaped the lives of generations of students. They will be missed.

Kasilus

15

AROUND PACE

time with her beloved husband, KAS KASILUS; her sons, DAVID KASILUS ’00 and Mark Kasilus; her daughters-in-law, Mandie and Rebecca Kasilus; and her grandchildren, Jason, Sarah and Miranda Kasilus.

Longtime friend and head of the math department CHARLIE OWENS says, “I will miss her at Pace, and so will her former students. Martha, we will always remember you and hope you have many more visits to Disney World.”

KATHLEEN LIEBMAN Once there was a librarian…And she loved the little boys and girls.And every day the boys and girls

would comeAnd they would gather her booksAnd read them out loudAnd lay on the carpets.

The Giving Tree is the perfect representation of what KATH-LEEN LIEBMAN gave to the Pace Lower School. Over her 19 years as a library assistant, she touched the hearts and minds of thousands of students, not to mention all 16,000 books in the library’s collection.

“Children’s literature has been my avocation since I began reading to my children,” Lieb-man explains.

Pace has truly been a family to Liebman as all three of her children, PAUL LIEBMAN ’99, MEG LIEBMAN ’05 and MARY LIEBMAN ’00, graduated from Pace during her tenure. She made a strong impact on Pace through her patience and understanding of students and her depth of knowledge of the library. Fellow Lower School librarian DAVIS JAMES explains, “through her vast knowledge of our collection of books, she was always able to place the right book in the hands of the right student at the right time.”

As she retires, Liebman looks forward to traveling with her husband, JESSE LIEBMAN, and visiting her children.

NANCY QUINTRELLThe Middle School recently celebrated “Mrs. Q Day,” a day for students to express

their gratitude for seventh-grade English instructor NANCY QUINTRELL’s dedication to teaching at Pace over the past 14 years.

Head of Middle School JOHN ANDERSON put out an open microphone for students to say publicly how Quintrell affected their lives. “[This] would be a risky move with some teachers, but not with Nancy,” he says. “Nancy is a true professional. Without ever seeming rushed, she packs more education into a 45-minute class period than most teachers can in a week. Most of all, though, when I think of Mrs. Quintrell’s classes, I remember the sense of love, security, and joy in learning and growing that she engenders among her students. She will be missed!”

Quintrell initially came to Pace in 1991, when her son entered as a Pre-First student. She was impressed by Pace’s high academic standards and family atmosphere, and joined the staff in 2001 while her three children progressed through Pace as “lifers.”

Mrs. Q made learning fun for her students by incorporating strategies to keep them actively engaged. She sponsored a reading incentive program for Middle School students called Reading Karate (“reading is the best exercise for the brain!” she states), and she always kept a jar full of Jolly Ranchers to reward students for using vocabulary terms.

In retirement, Quintrell looks forward to spending time in her garden, cooking for her family, visiting Blue Ridge Lake and—of course—reading.

— with contributions from HANNAH KELLY ’15

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AROUND PACE

ARTISTS ABOUND EACH SPRING, Pace Acad-emy’s studios and stages burst at the seams as end-of-the-year concerts, exhibitions, and produc-tions showcase our talented visual and performing artists.

Spring Arts WeekDuring Pace’s annual weeklong Spring Arts Festival, Art Laureates in each division shared their work and talents with the school community.

Georgia Photography Awards and ExhibitionNow in its 24th year, the Georgia Photography Awards and Exhibition, a partnership with Atlanta Celebrates Photography, features artwork by students from across the state. Honorable mention awards went to juniors ELIZABETH HAWN and LINDSEY SAMPLE and to senior LYDIA JAMES; junior HALEY HARTMAN received a merit award.

An Evening of ImprovBrave performers took the stage for an evening of hilarious improvisation games during the Middle School’s annual Improv Throwdown.

Upper School Advanced Studio/Independent Study ExhibitThe Upper School’s Advanced Studio/Indepen-dent Study Exhibit allowed senior visual artists the opportunity to discuss their interests and inspirations with family and friends.

Move With the MusicBand, strings and chorus students in all divisions celebrated the end of the school year with a series of concerts, and Middle School musicians and vocalists traveled to Universal Studios in Orlando, Fla., to perform for theme park visitors.


IT WAS EASY for actors to emulate the mood of the Great Depression

knowing that Babes in Arms would be Director GEORGE MENGERT’s final Pace

Academy production before retirement after 44 years at Pace.

Performing the Cincinnati College Con-servatory of Music’s version of the musical, REBECCA HUSK and COOPER DROSE led the cast in their final show while playing Billie Smith and Val LaMar, respectively.

Rodgers and Hart’s musical comedy follows a group of Long Island teenagers

as they attempt to support themselves by putting on a show rather than being sent to a work farm. The Fine Arts Center was filled with students, faculty, parents, and alumni, all there to enjoy the music and to honor Mengert in his final show, along with graduating seniors DYLAN ABBOTT, ANNIE BUTLER, CAILLIN COOKE, Drose, Husk, PETER HURLEY and COOPER PEERY.

— by HANNAH KELLY ’15

ARTISTS FOR LIFEWe hope you got seniors CAILLIN COOKE and COOPER PEERY to sign your yearbook: you just might see them onstage or onscreen in the near future!

Cooke will always be remembered for her starring roles in Upper School fall musicals, playing Annie in Annie, Peter in Peter Pan and Cinderella in Into the Woods. She will continue her impressive career singing at the Hall-Musco Conser-vatory of Music at Chapman University, one of the most prestigious performing arts programs in the country.

Peery was a star on the stage as well, but found a passion for filmmaking his junior year. He will attend New York Uni-versity’s Tisch School of the Arts to study film and television production, saying, “It’s hard to pinpoint one thing that draws me to filmmaking; the entire pro-cess is always rewarding and exciting.”

With these two artists hard at work, Pace Arts will be well represented from coast to coast next year.



“LET’S PUT ON A SHOW!”Peery

Cooke

Rebecca Husk RYAN DUVALL LEXI RUBIN & Cooper Drose

Photography by NEIL BAINTON


End-of-the-year awards recognize exceptional students and faculty.

LOWER SCHOOLCitizenship AwardCarly Appel & Jason Tapper

MIDDLE SCHOOLBarbara and Sanford Orkin Scholars Sixth Grade: Jack Brown & Laura RomigSeventh Grade: Aidan Gannon & Sophie LettesEighth Grade: Cole Campbell, Abigail Lund & Lily Reckford ❶

Jim and Lesley Wheeler Scholar Athlete AwardSeventh Grade: Virginia Hobbs & Ben TollidayEighth Grade: Paige Fleming, Andrew Jenkins & Charlie Warren

BJ Hayes Good Citizenship Award Quill Healey & Virginia Heiser

Daughters of the American Revolution Youth Citizenship Award Alexandra Baker & Billy Snyder

UPPER SCHOOL UNDERCLASSMENAgnes Scott College Book Award Payton Gannon

Alumni Scholar AwardMark Handler

Cara Isdell Service Learning AwardDaniel Blumen & Grace Dwyer

Columbia University Book PrizeTory Dancu

Crissa Noelle Hawkins Scholarship AwardMark Handler & Jillian Paul

Dartmouth College Book AwardMadison Graham

Dean’s Award for CharacterClass of 2018: Donn Boddie & Megan Walsh ❹ Class of 2017: Alyse Greenbaum & Mitchell Zwecker

Eric Hay Henderson, Jr. Friendship AwardAndy Bainton & Carlee Pokalsky

Faculty Award for ScholarshipClass of 2018: Ben Thompson & Jennifer SpaltenClass of 2017: Eno Reyes & Katy Leitz

Frances Felicité Thomas AwardJonathan Rushton

Frank Woodling Community Service AwardAlec Rogers & Carly Shoulberg

Georgia Institute of Technology Mathematics AwardMax Sharpe

Georgia Institute of Technology Science AwardJake Jenkins

Harvard University Book PrizeJack Eichenlaub

History Department AwardStephen Reisner

Jefferson Book AwardMary Stuart Gray

Jim and Lesley Wheeler Scholar Athlete AwardClass of 2018: Frank Houser & Rachel Ribner Class of 2017: Jessica Haidet & Alex RossClass of 2016: Zack Kaminsky & Lauren Pickman

Lance and Shield AwardClass of 2018: Sophie Ferry & Jamaree SalyerClass of 2017: Summer Brown & Wendell CarterClass of 2016: Madison Graham & Anthony Trinh

Mike Murphy Courage to Strive for Excellence AwardClass of 2018: Jack Douglass & Ashley YoffeeClass of 2017: Sallie Quiner & Rob Warren Class of 2016: Conor Pelletier & Lindsey Sample

Mimi Ann Deas AwardJulia Ross & Sophie Zelony

Renaissance Award for Visual and Performing ArtsClass of 2018: Jeb Carter, Paige Demba, David Roos & Alex Tolliday Class of 2017: Julian Alexander, Michael Chen, Willie Lieberman & Taylor UpchurchClass of 2016: Elizabeth Hawn, Haley Hartman, James Sadlo & Lexi Rubin

Sewanee Book Award for ExcellenceAlec Rogers ❸

Smith College Book AwardElizabeth Hawn

Social Entrepreneurship Challenge AwardMax Irvine, Carson Myers, Parker Payne & Seth Swiecichowski

A MATTER OF RECORD

AROUND PACE

University of Pennsylvania Book AwardAndrew Wu ❷

Vanderbilt University Book AwardJulie Covall

Wellesley College Book AwardLauren Pickman

Yale University Book AwardJohnny Reece

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARDS

The Kessler Award is presented to members of the Lower and Upper School faculty who exemplify Pace’s motto, “To have the courage to strive for excellence.” The Alumni Association and the Kessler Foundation co-sponsor the award, which includes a stipend for a travel study experience.

With the addition of the Middle School in 2005, Pace and the Alumni Association began presenting a similar award to Middle School teachers. The award is presented each year to a teacher who makes a positive difference in the lives of students.

This year’s Excellence in Teaching Award winners are: CRISTIAN EDEN (Lower School), LISA DUBOVY (Middle School) and NANCY ROBINSON ❺ (Upper School).

Class of 2013 Outstanding Teaching AwardEmily Stevens

Cum Laude Society Teaching AwardTommy Hattori ❻

Knight Capital Investment in Education AwardMatt Ball

Lolly Hand Schoolkeeper AwardAmy Secor

Mary Ellen Baumie AwardKim Thomson

Pace Parents Club 30 Years of Service AwardFrance Dorman

Pace Parents Club 20 Years of Service AwardScott Sargent

Pacesetter DedicationHelen Smith ❼

At 83, Life Trustee SANFORD H. ORKIN still goes into the office every day.

“I try to stay active—involved in various community activities,” he says. If that's his secret, it seems to be working.

The Orkin name is a familiar one here, well established in the Pace Academy lexicon and synonymous with “student achievement.” In 1981, Sanford and his wife, BARBARA ORKIN, established the Barbara and Sanford Orkin Honor Scholarship Fund to recognize Pace students of exceptional scholarship and citizenship each year. Three of the Orkin's four children attended Pace, including LAURIE ORKIN GINBURG '75, former Trustee MICHAEL ORKIN '77 and KENNY ORKIN '79.

“[Barbara and I] always wanted our kids to go to public schools, but many of the public options were not pulling their weight,” Orkin recalls. At the time, the Orkin's daugh-ter Sherri was already a junior at Northside High School, where she was very successful and happy. Still, after explor-ing all options, the Orkins decided that Pace was the best fit for their other three children.

“I liked the wide-open atmosphere [at Pace],” Orkin says. “There was a transparency about the school and no religious affiliation, which meant that all were welcome and accepted. There is certainly a place for religion, and some students benefit from that concentrated educational experience; but Pace made a statement to our community that this was a place to learn about and embrace differ-ences,” he says.

Having served on the boards of both Pace and the University of Georgia, Orkin says he is gratified to see that Pace continues to provide an exceptional academic experi-ence while incorporating all of the many other lessons that accompany the maturation process.

In keeping with Pace's mission to create prepared, confident citizens of the world, the Orkin Society—the so-named designation of the Orkin Scholarship Fund award—underscores a challenge for continued personal growth, setting an example in the areas of scholarship, citizenship and leadership.

As for the future, Orkin hopes to see Pace stay the course: “Pace fosters such meaningful relationships because along with the excellent education it offers, the [teachers and administrators] also give the necessary support,” he says. “Whatever they're doing seems to be working. I wouldn't want to interfere with that.”

LIFE TRUSTEE SPOTLIGHT: SANFORD ORKIN

19KnightTimes | Summer 2015

SPRING SPORTS HIGHLIGHTS

Jack Spencer

Jack Rubenstein

Coach Hall

NICOLE SHAFERSARAH DAVEY

Matthew Plisko

VA R S I T Y B A S E B A L LCoached by MATT HALL and JASE WRIGLEY ’94

Spring showers may have shortened the season for the varsity baseball team, but the Knights still managed to finish fifth in Region 5AA, just one place out of the state playoffs.

Senior CHASE UTER, junior ALEX RAFEEDIE and sophomore JACK RUBEN-STEIN led the Knights offensively, while the team relied on junior pitchers MAT-THEW PLISKO and ANDY BAINTON to lead the defense.

Uter, who played catcher, was named First Team All-Region for the second consecutive year; Plisko and senior centerfielder DYLAN STEINFELD were selected as Second Team All-Region.

The Knights graduate seniors NOAH BROOKER, COOPER DROSE, DANNY KAPLAN, JACK SPENCER, Steinfeld and Uter.


VA R S I T Y G I R L S T E N N I SCoached by MATHEW MARSICO and JULIA RICHARDSON

As the varsity girls tennis team’s season progressed, the Knights only became stronger, defeating opponents that had previously proven too much for the squad. One such victory came in a region battle to determine which team would win the No. 3 seed in the state tourna-ment. The Knights, who had fallen before to Greater Atlanta Christian School in a close match, bested the Spartans to clinch the spot.

In the first round of the state tour-nament, the girls faced Bowdon High School and defeated the red Devils 5–0. It was on to the Sweet 16, where the Knights made quick work of the Darling-ton School Tigers to earn their second post-season sweep. The girls’ season came to an end when they fell to the Lovett School in the quarterfinals.

The team graduates seniors MORGAN BAKER, MARIA GRENADER, ANNA HOFFMAN and SARAH THOMSON.

CAROLYNE EITH


SOPHIE ZELONY


SANDY XIE

VA R S I T Y B O Y S G O L FCoached by BAILEY PLAYER

It was a great season for the golfing Knights! With major regular-season wins over Wesleyan, Walker and Paideia, the Knights advanced directly from the region tournament to state competi-tion—altogether skipping sectionals.

At the state tournament, sophomore ALEX ROSS (76), junior KYLE ORR (80), freshman MARC MITCHELL (81), and sophomore BARRETT BAKER (84) com-bined for 321 points and a sixth-place state finish. Juniors JAKE RICHARDS and JACK DWYER also played well, contrib-uting to the Knights’ strong season.

VA R S I T Y G I R L S G O L FCoached by TIM WALSH and KEVIN BALLARD

Under the leadership of four-year varsity player JULIA BECK, the varsity girls golf team put in a strong effort throughout the season but ultimately came up shy of qualifying for the state tournament. The team will miss Beck, a two-time state qualifier, as well as seniors MAGALI LAPU and MORIAH WILSON.

Julia Beck

Kyle Orr

Christina Darland

LINDSAY FISHER

Katy LeitzErin Rawls

Marc Mitchell

Jake Richards

VA R S I T Y G Y M N A S T I C SCoached by STEVE CUNNINGHAM, NATE LEWIS and TALISA SLADE

With just five members, this year’s varsity gymnastics team may have been small, but it was mighty. Over the course of the season, the Knights defeated teams from Henry County High School, OLA, the Lovett School and Woodland High School to finish the regular season with a 6–3 record.

Senior ERIN RAWLS and sophomore MOLLY JACOBY advanced to the state preliminary meet in vault, while sopho-more KATY LEITZ competed with her floor exercise. The team bids a fond fare-well to seniors CHRISTINA DARLAND and Rawls.

Dustin Hadley JOSH SIMONS and Matt Tanenblatt

Hank Assaf

VA R S I T Y G I R L S L A C R O S S ECoached by COURTNEY MORRISON, LYNLEE DUSEK and PRUE WATERS

Still in its infancy, the girls lacrosse program experienced more growth this year, winning three more area games than ever in its his-tory. The team ended the season with a 6–10 overall record, and seniors LARINE HAMIED and ELIZABETH WILLIS were named to the All-Area team.

“Our season high was beating Darlington for the first time ever and getting our first area win of the season,” says head coach Courtney Morrison. With 35 girls playing Middle School lacrosse this year, the varsity team looks for-ward to an influx of new talent in the coming seasons.

The team graduates seniors ANNA BROWN, JESSICA CASTRO, CAILLIN COOKE, JULIANA DEROSA, Hamied, CAROLINE MILLS, LAURA ROSENBAUM and Willis.KnightTimes | Summer 201522

Juliana DeRosa Jessica Castro


Robert Farinella

Elizabeth Willis

VA R S I T Y B O Y S L A C R O S S E Coached by GRADY STEVENS, HUNTER DEBUTTS, MATT FORTIER and WES FORTIER

With two new coaches and strong senior leadership, the members of the varsity boys lacrosse team set their sights on advancing to the state tournament—and advance they did!

As the season progressed, the Knights gelled as a team, and that cohesion on the field led to big wins over Woodward, Mount Paran, Creekview, Whitefield, Holy Innocents’, River Ridge, Sequoyah, Walker, East Pauling and Carrollton.

In a thrilling overtime win, the Knights defeated Kell High School to secure the No. 3 spot in the state tournament. Although the team ultimately fell to Greater Atlanta Christian School in the first round of the tournament, the future looks bright for the Knights.

The team will lose seniors HANK ASSAF, TREVOR CEFALU, RICHIE EVERETT, ROBERT FARINELLA, DUSTIN HADLEY, TED HOBBS, BOB LEBOW, AUSTIN LITTLE, DAVIS MILLER and MATT TANENBLATT.

FRANCES CRISLER Sarah Smith


VA R S I T Y G I R L S S O C C E RCoached by LIZ TUTT, RON APOLLON, CAROLINE TROTTER ’06 and GRAHAM TUTT

Last year’s Class A state-champion soccer team faced tough competi-tion in its first year in Class AA. After graduating several key players and suffering through a series of injuries, the Knights finished the season with a 5–1 win over Providence Christian Academy and a 6–9–1 record.

Junior CADIE SCHIFFER was the team’s high scorer with 25 goals and three assists; she scored in 14 of 17 games. The team will miss seniors CAROLINA ABDULLAH, CASSADY GREENE, MAGGIE INMAN, RACHEL MORRISROE, KATE MULLALLY, PAYTON PULVER, GINNY REYNOLDS and SARAH SMITH.

HOBIE MALIK ETHAN ROBINSON

JOHNNY REECE

VA R S I T Y B O Y S S O C C E RCoached by BROOKS FLEMING and KEVIN NUTTING

The varsity boys soccer team put up quite a fight in its battle for a state title. With a 10–4 regular-season record, the Knights were opti-mistic heading into the state playoffs, and their opponents remained scoreless until the GHSA Class AA semifinals.

The young team—MARK GRENADER was the lone senior—took on Temple High School in the first round of state competition. The Knights dominated from the start, winning 10–0 and ending the game midway into the second half due to the mercy rule. The team then traveled to Putnam County High School for the Sweet 16 and came away with a 5–0 victory. In the Elite Eight, the Knights faced Gainesville’s Riverside Military Academy and defeated the Eagles 4–0 to advance to the semifinals.

But a state title was not to be. The Wesleyan Wolves proved to be too much for the Knights; the team fell 1–3 in its final game.

Mark Grenader

JESSICA HAIDET

Cadie Schiffer



Michael Easley

Jack Douglass

Xori Johnson

Lauren Hadley

Christopher LaLone

VA R S I T Y G I R L S T R A C K & F I E L DCoached by JOLIE CUNNINGHAM

The varsity girls track team worked hard on its way to the post season, and several Knights’ efforts paid off with outstanding performances at the state meet.

Freshman IBUM OBU qualified for the state shot put competition with her personal record of 31’ 9”. Senior LAUREN HADLEY, the defending 300-meter hurdles state champion, placed sixth in the event this year and was seventh in the long jump. Sopho-more JULIA ROSS finished fifth in the state in the 800 meters, setting a personal record, while the 4 x 400 relay of Ross, Hadley, junior MOLLY MARKS and sophomore SOPHIE BLASBERG finished sixth.

The team bids a fond farewell to seniors Hadley, NORA HARLIN, HANNAH KELLY, SARAH LETTES, KATIE NELSON and LACEY O’SULLIVAN.

JOSIE CROSS

ALEX TOLLIDAYNora Harlin

VA R S I T Y B O Y S T R A C K & F I E L DCoached by JOLIE CUNNINGHAM

Records were no match for the members of the varsity boys track team this season. Junior XORI JOHNSON shattered the 100-meter school record—set in 1986—with a time of 11.25, while many of his teammates set personal records meet after meet.

Four Knights—senior MICHAEL EASLEY (long jump), sophomore MAX IRVINE, (1600 meters) and freshmen HAYDEN BOONE (300 hurdles) and JACK DOUGLASS (3200

meters)—advanced from the region meet to sectionals. Easley, Irvine and Douglass then qualified for state.

When all was said and done, Easley—in his first season competing in the long jump—finished third in the state. Douglass placed fifth, while Irvine was sixth.

The team says goodbye to Easley and fellow senior CHRISTOPHER LALONE.


HOME OF THE KNIGHTSON APRIL 8, the varsity track and field team hosted Pace Academy’s first-ever home meet, thanks to the state-of-the-art facilities at Walsh Field. The event was made even more special as the team celebrated its seniors and their accomplishments.

A RECORD YEAR FOR THE PACE RACEON APRIL 11, hundreds of runners and spectators enjoyed near-perfect spring weather during the 33rd running of the Pace Race. The annual event, organized by

the Pace Academy Booster Club and chaired by Pace parents CARA LUBIN and JULI OWENS, benefitted Pace Athletics and raised more than $40,000!

Pre-Firster ZAEEM JOHNSON smiles through the finish. COLLEGE ATHLETIC

COMMITS KEEP COMINGSINCE the spring issue of the KnightTimes hit mailboxes, three additional members of the Class of 2015 joined the ranks of Pace alumni participat-ing in college athletics, bringing the total number of college athletes in the class to 14 in eight sports!

CHRISTINA DARLAND com-mitted to cheer for the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets, while ALEX JOHNSON will cheer for Indiana University’s Crimson All-Girl Squad. ELIJAH HOLIFIELD will play bas-ketball for St. John’s University.

Top, left to right: Johnson, Coach TALISA SLADE

and Darland; Above: Holifield

Above: Coach GUS WHYTE and

Coach JOLIE CUNNINGHAM

SPOTLIGHT ON

VARSITY BOYS TENNIS

Matthew Seaman during the state finals match on May 9

Region champs, state runners-up


On paper, the 2015 varsity boys tennis team shouldn’t have made the state playoffs,

let alone the finals. The team graduated five seniors from the 2014 squad, and the move up to the Georgia High School Athletic Asso-ciation’s Class AA meant tougher competition from neighborhood rivals. Four players on the nine-man squad had never played at the var-sity level; four were freshmen.

Nevertheless, the Knights set their sights on post-season play: “Our goal was to quali-fy for the state tournament,” recalls longtime head coach NEIL DEROSA.

To accomplish that objective, DeRosa set about finding the right players for the right spots—a pre-season task that’s typically easier said than done. “With so many new faces, finding winning combinations, particularly with doubles, can take considerable time.”

But thanks to team chemistry, a will to win and a work ethic established by past teams, things quickly fell into place for the Knights and stayed that way. “This is the only year that I can ever remember keeping the same lineup from the very first match of the season to the state finals,” DeRosa says.

Lone senior MATTHEW SEAMAN led the way at No. 1 singles, while sophomore JOSH NASH and freshman DAVID LEVEN gelled

BOYS TENNIS

at No. 1 doubles. DeRosa also credits Seaman and sophomore PRASHANTH KUMAR for creating that vital chemistry. “They were key in welcoming our new players with humor and genuine acceptance,” he says. “Matthew treated his teammates like little brothers, and Prashanth was constantly motivating and pumping them up.”

With the lineup set and team spirit high, the Knights entered the season ready to com-pete. Key wins over Greater Atlanta Christian School, Wesleyan School, Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School, Whitefield Academy and the Lovett School meant that the boys en-tered the Region 6AA tournament poised to take the No. 1 seed in state-tournament play. And they did, defeating Holy Innocents’ and then Lovett to win the region title and automatically advance to the Sweet 16 with home-court advantage.

The Knights faced Riverside Military Acad-emy in the Sweet 16 and swept the Eagles 3–0. They then took on Bremen High School and came away with another 3–0 victory. Their third consecutive sweep came with a semi-final win over Savannah’s Benedic-tine Military School, again at home on Pace Mountain, where the Knights played in front of a standing-room-only crowd.

“I don’t think I can remember a year in which I saw this level of overall school spirit,” DeRosa says. “Many faculty, students and staff made the long trek up the hill to watch the team, and there were many more who offered congratulations in the hallways and around campus.”

The Knights faced Greater Atlanta Chris-tian School in the state finals on May 9 at the Clayton County International Park and Tennis Center. “The boys gave a valiant effort but couldn’t quite reach the Promised Land,” DeRosa says. They fell to the Spartans 3–1.

More than the team’s charge through the state playoffs, DeRosa will remember his players’ dedication, intense competitive spirit, attitude and sense of fun. “It was a great season,” he says, “and with so many freshmen and sophomores, the future looks bright for Pace tennis.” •

The boys after their convincing

semi-finals win

ICGL A global education for every Pace graduate

WRAPPING UP THE YEAR OF WATERThe ICGL’s inaugural annual theme

The term global education has been part of the Pace Academy vernacular for years. Once synonymous with the growing number of international adventures undertaken by students and faculty, it sounded good when used in conjunction with our mission: “To create prepared, confident citizens of the world.” Certainly world and globe go together, right?

But for some time, Pace struggled to define global education in the context of school cur-riculum and culture. After all, tackling something global is no small task.

With the conceptualization of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), global educa-tion evolved into global leadership, and a clearer definition and program structure began to emerge. The goal was to encourage Pace students to build critical-thinking skills—but through a lens that takes into account the people, places and experiences around them, so that by thinking critically, they become ethical, empathic, innovative, culturally aware and adaptable. Again, no small task.

But what if, in true Pace fashion, the school were to start small in order to THINK BIG, to take one issue—something that impacts each and every human being around the world—and examine it from all angles and at all ages, so later, that same thinking could be applied when attempting to understand other global issues? That seemed to make sense.

And so began the year of WATER, the ICGL’s 2014–2015 global theme. The year included a week with ICGL Visiting Scholar Charles Fishman, author of The Big

Thirst: The Secret and Turbulent Life of Water. Special projects took place in each division: Lower School Waterpalooza Day, Design Thinking challenges to develop filtration devices, speakers who addressed water crises at home and abroad, fundraising for water-related non-profits and a water-themed Social Entrepreneurship Challenge (see story on page 31).

Beyond the projects, teachers in each division incorporated water issues and study into their curriculum: Lower School students engineered oil spills to understand not only the scientific properties of oil and water, but also the difficulties involved in cleaning up spills and their impact on the surrounding areas; Upper School students in the new Global Issues class ex-amined water’s role in politics, poverty and current events; and sophomores CHRISTOPHER HOWARD and JULIA ROSS, junior ALEC ROGERS, senior SARAH LETTES, and faculty members TRISH ANDERSON, JONATHAN DAY, and KEVIN BALLARD spent the year exploring water through travel, research and a regular independent-study class.

It’s safe to say that each member of the Pace community has a more personal relationship with water as a result of this year’s experiences. These relationships manifest themselves in different ways. Perhaps a Lower School student now turns off the faucet while brushing his teeth, a Middle Schooler pays close attention to the length of her morning shower and a faculty member decides against a car wash on a particularly pollen-y spring day. Or maybe a student now plans to study environmental science in college, while another hopes to work for an international relief organization and still another aspires to redesign our country’s aging water infrastructure.

Whatever the level of impact, the hope is that all members of the Pace community now turn on the faucet understanding the value of and the stories behind the resource we so ef-fortlessly enjoy.

KnightTimes | Summer 201528Photograph by senior CAROLINE MILLS

"Our objective was to see water issues in real life, to learn through experiences. Over the course of the year, we learned that water is precious and limited. However, when we pay attention to natural processes and are willing to live within limits, our needs can be met even when resources are scarce."

Jonathan Day ICGL Global Leaders advisor

ICGLICGL A global education for every Pace graduate

THE ICGL TURNS 1When Pace Academy launched the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) in August 2014, ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON and school leader-ship knew the inaugural year would be one of exploration and analysis, of refining and solidifying the program’s curriculum and structure.

Now, with an Advisory Board in place and a successful year under its belt, the ICGL is positioned for additional growth within its refined framework (illustrated above).

29

Middle School

students went

to Greece!

PACE PARENTS MAKE IT POSSIBLE

Thanks to the Pace Academy Parents Club’s Citizens of the World Travel Grant program, student participation in ICGL study tours has more than doubled. During the 2014–2015 school year, 126 Upper School students, 63 Middle School students and 14 fifth-graders participated in ICGL study tours.

ICGL

GOIZUETA GIVES PACE READ INITIATIVE SOME STEAMNext steps for Pace Robotics, Engineering, Arts and Design curriculum

In May, The Goizueta Foundation made a transformational investment in Pace Academy by way of a grant designated to a comprehensive Robotics, Engineering, Arts and Design (READ) Initiative. A portion of the total grant will support the implemen-tation of the READ Initiative over a three-year period, and the remaining funding will establish an endowment to support the efforts of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) initiatives.

The Atlanta-based Goizueta Foundation has helped lead a local charge to enhance STEAM education across Atlanta-area schools, advocating STEAM as a critical component of 21st-century learning. The grant opportunity coincided with the one-year anniversary of Pace’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), and funding will support Science & Technology, one of the ICGL’s six focus areas.

“Our vision is to build a state-of-the-art program that prepares our students for the highly technological, scientific and infor-mation-based world they will inherit, while honoring the Pace tradition of excellence in culture and the arts,” says ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON.

Plans for putting the funding to use will strike the delicate bal-ance between stretching the school’s comfort zone and honoring its core identity and values. Components of the READ Initiative in-clude a new Upper School READ teaching position; renovations for a robotics, engineering and design makerspace; training and pro-fessional development for Middle and Upper School faculty; and project-based learning and makerspace integration into the Middle School science curriculum.

“In our discussions about the overall Strategic Plan for Pace and the READ Initiative, we were mindful of what we see as the ‘Pace brand’—what is distinguishing, compelling and enduring about the Pace experience for our kids,” says Trustee LIZ PRICE.

“The ICGL and the READ Initiative naturally build on each other and use age-appropriate, real-life learning and innovative approach-es to problem solving that [foster] a global awareness,” says Price.

ICGL POSTER CHILDREN

Two winners were selected in the first Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) Poster Competition, a contest designed to demonstrate visually the ICGL’s annual global theme.

Junior LINDSEY SAMPLE’s photograph entitled Caribbean Sunrise promotes the 2014–2015 ICGL theme of WATER, and junior LIAN SHEPHERD’s sketch, Hands, will be used to promote the 2015–2016 theme, FOOD. Both girls received a $500 prize, half of which will be donated to a non-profit organization related to the annual theme. The competition reaches far beyond a monetary impact, however, as it serves to inspire discussion and action for the Pace community.

“Drawing Hands was a great way to show the necessity of food and the role we as a community should play in promoting the impact food has on the world,” Shepherd explains. Signed copies of each image are hung in the ICGL office and will be used for promotional purposes throughout the year.


Illustration by LIAN SHEPHERD ‘16

I C G L G L O B A L T H E M E2015–2016

waterI C G L G L O B A L T H E M E2014 –2015

Photograph by LINDSEY SAMPLE ‘16



Let us ask you a question. How much water have you had today?

If you have no idea, you are in the vast majority of people and the inspiration for sophomores MAX IRVINE, PARKER PAYNE, CARSON MYERS and SETH SWIECICHOWSKI’s award-winning social entrepreneurship idea: SIP, the water bottle with a brain.

In conjunction with the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL), this year’s social entrepreneurship theme was WATER. Par-ticipants in the Social Entrepreneurship Challenge were tasked with developing an innovative solution to Georgia’s water issues, taking into account the quadruple bottom line: purpose, people, planet and profit. Par-ticipants partnered with the Mayor’s Office, the Atlanta Department of Watershed Man-agement and Conserve Water Georgia to help develop their ideas further, and the winning group would receive $10,000 as seed money to start their business.

Now in its second year, the Social Entrepre-neurship Challenge has found its stride, and many strong ideas were developed throughout the competition. Two groups were awarded Honorable Mentions for their efforts. Juniors JARED GOLDMAN, JOHNNY REECE, ANDY BAINTON, ANDREW WU and JACK ZOOK proposed Streamline, a data-base that rates the water-efficiency of home appliances, allowing consumers to make in-formed and environmentally-conscientious decisions. Sophomores THOMAS HOOVER, MILES HSU and JACK WALLACE took a different approach and created PUG, a por-table charging device that harvests natural power from rivers to allow campers to charge

their phones and other electronic devices in the most remote places.

Receiving an Honorable Mention is promis-ing for future success: Irvine and Swiecichowski were runners-up in the 2014 challenge and used what they learned to improve their entre-preneurial skills.

Advisor TOMMY HATTORI says, “I think SIP has demonstrated exactly what we hope the Social Entrepreneurship Challenge can attain. Max and Seth participated last year, but had many issues with their idea. They were able to take those lessons and apply them this year, while also adding some key new team members. Their idea has the po-tential for incredible social impact while also showing true innovation.”

With the addition of Myers and Payne, it was clear this group had chemistry from the start. “Max, Parker, and Seth are all such enthusiastic and hilarious people, and it was so inspiring to work with such a dedicated group,” Myers explains. “We had an amazing dynamic from the beginning, and I always enjoyed going to meetings about SIP because they were so much fun.”

All cross-country and track runners them-selves, these teammates were well versed in the importance of hydration, and SIP took off from there. After learning that over 90 per-cent of people fail to consume enough water during the day, the idea for SIP was born.

SIP is a water bottle that connects with a smartphone or computer to track daily water consumption, monitor water temperature and notify users when to “SIP” for optimal hydra-tion. The app is third-party compatible and connects with fitness apps like Fitbit, Nike Fuel and Apple Health to provide informa-

tion about fluid consumption automatically, rather than require that consumers enter in-formation manually.

The first prototype, SIP 1.0, used a standard irrigation meter, a camelback water bottle, a wall outlet and a platform called Arduino. The bottle connected to a computer over Eth-ernet to monitor water flow, but it was bulky and inaccurate. The team went back to the drawing board and created SIP 2.0, which tracks water consumption more accurately with a Bluetooth low-energy module.

SIP will be sold for $35, a small price compared to the $200 price tag of its only competitor, which has already been proven to be highly inaccurate. The SIP team hopes to partner with local businesses such as West Stride, Flywheel and Mountain High Outfit-ters, before moving on to larger retailers like REI and Dick’s Sporting Goods.

All four members of SIP have found that this process has changed their lives. Irvine explains, “Entrepreneurship is a whole dif-ferent world. Entrepreneurship is success. Entrepreneurship is failure. Entrepreneurship is all these different things that make you think and act in an entirely new way. For-tunately, I had the opportunity to experience all of these situations this year. Ultimately, this process has changed our thinking and paradigm; we don’t operate as we did before the challenge. It’s a change that can only be experienced through a process like the Social Entrepreneurship Challenge.”

So, who’s ready for a SIP?


THE WATER BOTTLE WITH A BRAINSIP WINS SECOND ANNUAL SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP CHALLENGE

Left to right: Irvine, Myers,

Payne and Swiecichowski

ICGL

KnightTimes | Summer 2015 Source: www.usclimatedata.com32

DOWN THE RIO GRANDEIsdell Global Leaders investigate water issues in The Lone Star State.

The inaugural Isdell Global Leaders, senior SARAH LETTES, junior ALEC ROGERS, and sophomores CHRIS HOWARD and JULIA ROSS, are truly setting an example of what it means to be a citizen of the world. In their second of three water-related study tours, they explored the Rio Grande and Big Bend National Park in Texas to investigate water in a desert region, alongside faculty advisors TRISH ANDERSON, JON-ATHAN DAY and KEVIN BALLARD.

“We were lucky enough to be there in a year with a rela-tively large amount of rain, so we got to observe and learn a lot about the flora and fauna of the desert,” Lettes says. A typical amount of rain in this region is approximately 13.78 inches per year. To put that in perspective, the average amount of rainfall in Atlanta is 49.74 inches per year—nearly four times as much!

Anderson explains the value of visiting such an arid region, saying, “Studying water in a desert is one of the best ways to understand its importance, its power, its value and its beauty. It didn’t hurt to be in one of the most amazing National Parks either!”

In their first study tour, Global Leaders traveled down the Chattahoochee and Apalachicola Rivers to learn about the tri-state “water wars” between Georgia, Florida and Alabama. During the second study tour, they continued their journey down the river—this time paddling down the Rio Grande in Texas before exploring Big Bend National Park.

“The difference in terrain [with]in Big Bend was amazing,” Ross recalls. One moment we would be driving through desert, then the desert would turn to mountains, then the mountains to a river. It seemed so unreal that the land could take so many forms within the boundaries of the park.”

For 10 days, the group of seven toured across Texas and Mexico, hiking, camping, climbing and paddling through iso-lated regions. A highlight of the trip for everyone was watching the sunrise from the top of Casa Grande on Easter morning. Even though the school year has ended, these Global Leaders’ journeys continue as they travel to Africa’s Okavango River Delta in July.


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

http://www.usclimatedata.com

ICGL


WRITING WATER

As part of the Middle School’s Discovery curriculum, each eighth grader takes ANNE ALEXANDER’s Writer’s Workshop. Now entering its third year, the course aims to strengthen students’ grammar skills, but to do so within a flexible framework.

With input from fellow English teachers KATHARINE NORTON and PETE POPE, Alexander has created a curriculum in which students learn by doing. The work-shop environment encourages students to be inspired by authors and other writers— even each other.

“We know that each class of students is different,” Alexander says, “so I have the flexibility to change the curriculum year to year, based on the needs of each group.”

Recognizing a need for non-fiction-writing practice, this year, Alexander collaborated with Isdell Center for Global Leadership

OSSABAW ISLAND sits amidst Geor-gia’s string of barrier islands, sandwiched between Skidaway and St. Catherines just south of Savannah. A heritage preserve for natural, scientific and cultural study, as well as research and education, the island is accessible only by boat and contains 26,000 acres of maritime forest, tidal wetlands and wide beaches.

With its pristine foliage and array of wildlife, Ossabaw is the perfect place to take photographs. So, in April, visual arts instructor FRANCE DORMAN and science teacher KEVIN BALLARD took four aspiring artists to participate in a workshop with photographer, naturalist and author Kathryn Kolb, whose work focuses on natural forms and landscapes.

During the trip, students photographed sunrises, sunsets, and wildlife under Kolb and Dorman’s expert direction, breaking to take in the scenery from the rocking chairs on the island clubhouse’s wraparound porch.

In a word, the artistic adventure was “Oss-some,’” says Dorman.

CAPTURING THE LOW

COUNTRY ON CAMERA

(ICGL) Director TRISH ANDERSON and used the 2014–2015 ICGL theme of WATER as a springboard for writing topics and prompts.

In the fall, students wrote 100-word research-based essays entitled Did You Know?. Each piece focused on some aspect of water—conservation, average usage, bottled water—and students placed their il-lustrated essays around the Middle School.

For example, eighth-grader ALEXAN-DRA BAKER wrote in Bad News About the Bottle, “Did you know that you could save money and save the environment by not buying bottled water? Producing, chilling and transporting bottled water uses about 17 million barrels of oil per year.”

In the spring, students tackled current events and wrote about California’s historic drought, specifically water usage at stadi-ums, almond and strawberry production, and even the disparity between socio- economic classes and usage in the city of Compton.

Eighth-grader ROSS OGLESBY asked, “Did you know that California is in a four-year

drought? One of the places most af-fected by the drought is Compton, a low-income community in Los Angeles County. Although the drought has caused many hard-ships for the people of Compton, other places in Los Angeles County are still prospering.”

The theme inspired fiction as well. Using Winslow Homer’s famous Gulfstream painting, students crafted narratives from a variety of vantage points within the piece.

“I swoop and soar above the waves, in and out of the clouds,” eighth-grader SUSIE PIEPER wrote in Gull’s Life. “They appear awfully low today, and by the color, I’d say a storm’s coming soon. The ocean seems interminable, an open prairie of water and waves. But there’s something unusual about today—maybe the purplish clouds, maybe the high surf, maybe the trade boat ignoring that castaway man, I don’t know.”

Next year’s eighth graders will explore the theme of FOOD while discovering ways to improve their writing.

Ale

xand

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WATER INSPIRES ART, PHILANTHROPYDuring an Isdell Center for Global Lead-ership (ICGL) study tour to Patagonia, Argentina, seniors CAROLINE MILLS and CAILLIN COOKE found themselves blown away by the presence and beauty of water in the natural landscape. Inspired, the two decided to take action by creating H2O, a photography exhibit at BEE, a local boutique. Mills and Cooke then donated proceeds from their exhibit to a nonprofit organization called charity: water.

Mills explains, “Since we’d been learn-ing about the importance of water and the role it plays in our world today, I thought putting up an exhibit about the rivers and glaciers in Patagonia would tie together what I’ve learned in the classroom with my experience from my travels.”


“I BELIEVE that giving all students the chance to open their eyes and become more aware of the world and those who might be different than them—racially, emotionally, mentally and/or physically—is an important step toward understanding how to become more accepting,” says junior XORI JOHN-SON. And he’s all about making that happen—at Pace Academy and in the greater Atlanta community.

Johnson, a founding and active member of the Pace Academy Board of Diversity (PABD) and a Center for Civil and Human Rights Youth Activ-ism Fellow, was recently recognized by Princeton University’s Princeton Prize in Race Relations with one of four Certificates of Accomplishment for the Atlanta area. The prestigious program commends high-school students who have demonstrated a commitment to advancing the cause of positive race re-

lations, and ultimately hopes to inspire others to join in similar efforts.

“I decided to apply [for the Princeton Prize in Race Relations] because the program was an amazing opportunity to meet students with similar mindsets and to network with student leaders who will make an even bigger impact on the world soon,” Johnson says. “[Being part of the program] has sparked my mind in various ways and given me a greater sense of creativity and more ideas about new ways to improve race relations around me.

“With all of the negativity and tension that has taken America by storm in Ferguson, Staten Island and Baltimore, it’s nice to show the world that people are doing positive things to try to better the racial situations and tensions at hand... I want to be the best voice I can for those who don’t feel as if theirs is loud enough.”


GLOBAL LEADERS

PRINCETON PRIZE IN RACE

RELATIONS RECOGNIZES

JOHNSON

Caroline Mills photographed this rushing mountain stream during a 2015 ICGL study tour to Patagonia.

GLOBAL LEADERS

BUILDING CONFIDENCE, ONE GIRL AT A TIMEBecoming a prepared, confident citizen of the world is no easy task. It

requires bravery, determination, vulnerability and a willingness to take advantage of opportunities—qualities that 24 Pace Academy third-, fourth- and fifth-grade girls worked to develop by participating in Girls on the Run.

The nonprofit organization exists to “create a world where every girl knows and activates her limitless potential and is free to boldly pursue her dreams.” Girls on the Run accomplishes this lofty goal through a 24-lesson life-skills curriculum, taught by certified coaches, that encourages girls to “understand themselves, value relationships and teamwork, and understand how they connect with and shape the world at large.” The program culminates in a 5K running

event, and while physical activity is at the heart of the program, the girls who take part say Girls on the Run is so much more.

Pace parents RIPPLE ALKIRE, AMY MININBERG, KIMBERLY NEVILLE, KIM NUCKOLS, ALEX VADNAIS, LANDRIA VOIGHT and ANN WALSH coached the Pace team—the school’s first—assisted by teachers BARBARA SCOTT and BETH THOMPSON. On April 25, the 24 members of the Pace team braved rain and thunderstorm delays to join more than 2,000 other runners in a 5K that concluded with a victory lap around the track in Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium. Each girl on the team completed the race and wore a T-shirt that read, “It’s good to be me!” Mission accomplished.

Top, left to right: SHEZA MERCHANT, CHARLOTTE VADNAIS and ALICE VOIGT with Pace teacher Barbara Scott; Middle: Members of the Pace team crossing the finish line; Bottom: All Pace participants

GLOBAL LEADERS

If you pay taxes in the state of Georgia, it’s time to pre-apply for the Georgia Private School Tax Credit program for the 2016

tax year! Applications must be received by DECEMBER 15, 2015.

This education credit is better than a tax deduction because it gives you a dollar-for-dollar reduction in the amount you owe in Georgia taxes and supports need-based

financial aid for deserving students to attend Pace Academy. You receive a tax credit on your state income taxes and a charitable

deduction on your federal taxes. A win-win for both you and Pace!

Thank you to the 376 parents, alumni, grandparents and friends of Pace who

contributed more than $680,000 for the 2015 tax year. The growing enthusiasm and support for this program allowed us to provide tuition assistance to 18

students in all divisions—Lower, Middle and Upper Schools—this year. We hope you will

participate again for the 2016 tax year.

If you are new to the program, PARTICIPATION IS EASY! Visit

www.paceacademy.org/taxcredit to learn more. Submit your form electronically, or print and mail a completed form to the

address provided on our website.

Questions? Contact the Office of Advancement at [email protected]

or call 404-240-9103.

Deadline to Pre-Apply

DEC. 15, 2015

http://www.paceacademy.org/taxcredit

mailto:[email protected]

GLOBAL LEADERS

When KIM PETERSON, former director of the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) in the Middle School, departed Pace Acad-emy to enter Lutheran ministry, she left a pair of globetrotting, study-tour-planning shoes to fill. But never fear… Middle School world languages teachers EDNA-MAY HER-MOSILLO and HOLLY JIMÉNEZ are here!

Hermosillo (pictured above), who teaches French, and Jiménez (pictured left), who teaches Spanish, have engaged in global education since arriving at Pace in 2005. Both multi-lingual, they’ve asked students to

do more than learn conjugations and vocabulary—they’ve required them to explore the cultures and traditions inherent in each language; they’ve established cross-cultural collaborations between French and Spanish classes; and they’ve tackled issues such as immigration and civil rights through a world-language lens. Now, as co-directors of the ICGL in the Middle School, Hermosillo and Jiménez will help ensure a well-rounded, global education for every Pace graduate.

For Hermosillo and Jiménez, opening students’ eyes to the world around them is more than a job; it’s personal. “We both have a keen interest in studying other languages, traveling, and interacting with different people and cultures,” they say, and they know firsthand the impact such experiences can have on one’s life.

Hermosillo grew up on the U.S./Canadian border and credits a trip to Montreal with instilling her love of languages, new people and new places. Over the years, her adventures have included two years in Paris, a month in Togo and multiple summers working with Hai-tian children in the Dominican Republic. “I even met my husband, [Héctor], on an international trip I was included in because of my language skills and interests,” she says.

Jiménez, a native of Canada, spent her Saturdays as a child at-tending Polish school, where she studied French. When, at age 11, her family moved to the U.S., Spanish became her passion. “I learned both Spanish and Arabic and studied abroad in Cuba,” Jiménez says. “My first job in Atlanta was with a company that catered exclusively to the Latino community.” Her husband, Luis, is from Colombia, and their two children are bilingual.

EDNA-MAY Hermosillo & HOLLY Jiménez

Faculty Spotlight


Both Hermosillo and Jiménez firmly believe in the importance of global leadership in today’s society. “We live in a world that grows smaller every day,” they say. “As we continue to connect with people around the world through technology and travel, we come to see how much our future depends on our ability to cultivate global relationships.”

Already, these educators are helping Middle School students build global connections. In mid July, they traveled with students to the Dominican Republic through a partnership with Project Esperanza, an organization that provides assistance to Haitian immigrants in the areas of education, social aid and community development. Pace students served as camp counselors and, prior to the trip, met their Haitian “buddies” via Skype, introducing themselves in Spanish or Creole and sharing their respective interests.

“To us, global education is about promoting a perception of the world in terms of ‘unity within diversity,’” they say. “We want to help our students recognize what is similar and unique among cultures.”

Upon their return from the summer break, Hermosillo and Jiménez will set their sights on accomplishing specific goals for the ICGL in the Middle School. They hope to expand ICGL study tour offerings, incorporating additional opportunities for service learning and cul-tural exchange.

They’ll also focus on seamlessly integrating the ICGL annual theme—FOOD for the 2015–2016 year—into Middle School daily life and culture. For example, they’re developing Food and Faith, a series of weekend and evening outings during which students and their families will hear from speakers about the intersection of food and faith—each time from a different faith perspective. They also plan to offer service opportunities related to food waste, hunger, sustainabil-ity and local foods.

“We hope that our students will learn that no matter where in the world people live and regardless of what their faith traditions might be, what kind of houses they live in or what’s on their dinner tables, most of us have the same desires and hopes in life,” Hermosillo and Jiménez say.

“We hope they’ll learn that we have far more in common than we have differences. We want them to do more than visit museums and monuments—we want them to dance, since, eat, play and make friends in another language and another culture.”

Merit Beyond the Badge The rank of Eagle Scout “is not just an award; it is a state of being.” To be an Eagle Scout, a Scout must have been a Life Scout for at least six months, earn 21 essential merit badges, complete a service project to benefit the community, hold a posi-tion of responsibility within his troop and complete a board of review: all before his 18th birthday.

Only six percent of Scouts manage to earn the rank of Eagle Scout. The Class of 2015, however, more than tripled this statis-tic, as nine of the 48 boys in the class—or 19 percent—achieved the rank. Seniors HANK ASSAF, RICHIE EVERETT, DUSTIN HADLEY, TED HOBBS, PETER HURLEY, DAVIS MILLER, PATRICK MOORE, BLAKE MURPHY and JACK SPENCER have earned the Eagle Scout designation, a lifelong honor.

Their service projects varied from building benches to clearing trails to creating gardens for churches and schools in the Atlanta community. Moore’s project directly benefitted Pace by creating an outdoor classroom on the school’s Rilman Road property, which Lower School classes visit for hands-on learning. The boys’ service project hours added up to be 2,209 hours total, averaging 245 hours per project. Hobbs and Spencer were the first in the class to achieve this rank, completing it by August 2013, the beginning of their junior year.

These boys will serve as Eagle Scouts the rest of their lives, and they have honored—and will continue to honor— Pace with their dedication to the community.



Ever

ett

Moo

re

Clockwise from top left: Assaf, Hadley, Moore, Miller, Hurley,

Murphy, Spencer, Everett and Hobbs

GLOBAL LEADERS

38

THE YEAR OF FOOD

The Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s 2015–2016 Theme

“FOOD IS… about pleasure, about community,

about family and spirituality, about our relation-ship to the natural world, and about expressing our identity,”

journalist Michael Pollan writes in his New York Times bestseller In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. “As long as humans have been taking meals together, eating has been as much

about culture as it has been about biology. That eating should be foremost about bodily health is a relatively new and, I think, destructive idea—destructive not just of the pleasure of

eating, which would be bad enough, but paradoxically of our health as well. Indeed, no people on earth worry more about the health consequences of their food choices than we Americans do—and no

people suffer from as many diet-related health problems.”Needless to say, food is a complicated—and often controversial—subject. It binds together all humans

in their struggle for survival while highlighting the differences between cultures, beliefs, socio-economic status, religions, races, families and individuals. There is much to be said about what we eat—and what we eat says much about us.

During the 2015–2016 school year, the Pace Academy community will attempt to think critically about FOOD, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership’s (ICGL) second annual theme. Students, faculty, staff, parents, and friends of the school will explore food as it relates to science and technology, culture and arts, social entrepreneurship and business, service and environmental sustainability, public policy and international relations—and our individual lives.

Teachers will incorporate food issues and study into their curriculum with the goal of building awareness, fostering understanding and encouraging engagement. We’ll hear from experts like ICGL Visiting Scholar Joel Salatin; explore the interplay between food and water, the 2014–2015 ICGL

theme; travel to farms and food deserts; sample fare from near and far; recycle, compost, cook and generally get our hands dirty.

We sure hope you’re hungry…


JOEL SALATIN is about as famous as a farmer can get. Featured in Michael Pollan’s 2006 bestseller, The Omnivore’s Dilmema, and the 2008 documentary Food, Inc.?, Salatin runs Polyface Farm in Virginia’s Shenandoah Valley.

He’s a full-time, third-generation alternative farmer, an advocate for the sustainable-food movement, the author of nine books and countless articles and a sought-after speaker. The Washington Post calls Salatin an “eco-friendly, avant-garde Old MacDonald,” someone “who can appeal to [the] left, right and center” of the political spec-trum; Pollan calls him “the most influential farmer in the country.”

Needless to say, Salatin is more than a little bit obsessed with food and its importance in our lives. “Food is perhaps the most primal of all human needs, surpassing shelter and clothing—unless you live in Siberia,” he says. “When we fail to know anything about something this foundational to our existence, we can easily hurt ourselves, even ignorantly. That our modern civilization in general is more passion-ately interested in and informed about the latest dysfunction in the Kardashian household than what is going to become flesh of our flesh and bone of our bone is incredibly foolish and shortsighted. Appreci-ating our connection to and dependency on our ecological womb is the foundation of humble and appropriate stewardship.”

For four days in early October, Salatin will share with the Pace com-munity his tremendous energy, thought-provoking commentary, and hands-on and practical knowledge about food production. He hopes his visit will bring food to the forefront of our everyday discussions.

“For too long food has been placed on the back burner of our minds,” Salatin says. “The result is a culture that leads the world in the five chronic diseases. Perhaps thinking about what our bodies need and how we viscerally interact with our ecological umbilical cord is more important than we once thought. Indeed, it is the starting point toward healing.”

Rachel Salatin Photography

Meet ICGL Visiting Scholar Joel Salatin

Get in your kitchen. We can’t change the quality and accountability of our food system without changing us. That means we need to participate… we’re not victims; we’re either part of the solution or part of the problem. If we want food and farmscape healing, we must prepare, process, package and preserve food in our homes. It’s never been easier or more needed.

I hope Pace students will understand that nature’s patterns trump human ingenuity every time, that parents will be proud of their smart kids even if they want to be farmers—and encourage them to do so; and that the Pace community will realize that we all create the landscape our grandchildren will inherit, one bite at a time.


THE YEAR OF FOOD

IN THE FALL, rising juniors THOMAS HOOVER, ANNIE NOTTING-HAM, and LEX TREVELINO and rising senior EMMA ST. AMAND will attempt to fill up on all things related to FOOD, the Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) annual global theme. The four Upper School students make up the Isdell Global Leaders Class of 2016 and will work together throughout the coming academic year to explore food through travel, research and an independent-study course.

ICGL Director TRISH ANDERSON and Upper School science in-structors KEVIN BALLARD and JULIE HALL will serve as advisors to these Global Leaders, and together, they’ll embark on three study tours, immersing themselves in food and farming.

This fall, the group will head to drought-ridden California to examine the fishing industry and agricultural practices, specifically the farming of strawberries, blueberries and lettuce. They’ll visit Earthbound Farm, a 50,000-acre organic facility in the mountains of Carmel Valley, and meet with founder Myra Goodman, an author, farmer, and advocate for organic food and farming.

The spring will take them north to Virginia and Maine. They hope to visit ICGL Visiting Scholar Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm in the Shenandoah Valley before traveling to South Paw Farm in Freedom, Maine, where they’ll go to work alongside alumna MEG LIEBMAN

’05, who founded the farm in 2008. The destination of the Global Leaders’ summer study tour is yet to be determined.

“The [Class of 2015 Global Leaders] say that they can’t get through a week without tripping over countless examples of the water issues they explored this year,” Anderson says. “Personally, they are more aware of water in the news, of the amount of water they use, of water waste and politics… they’ve become attuned to it. They’re even starting a water-focused service club this coming year. Our hope is that this year’s Global Leaders will feel the same way about food and take similar action.”

Hoover Nottingham St. AmandTrevelino

THE FUTURE

OF FOOD

Introducing this year’s Isdell Global Leaders


THE YEAR OF FOOD

RECOMMENDED READINGLooking for a summer read? Try one of these tasty titles:

• In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan (ICGL all-school read)

• American Wasteland: How America Throws Away Nearly Half of Its Food (and What We Can Do About It) by Jonathan Bloom

• Animal, Vegetable, Miracle: A Year of Food Life by Barbara Kingsolver

• Food: A Love Story by Jim Gaffigan

• Folks, This Ain’t Normal: A Farmer’s Advice for Happier Hens, Healthier People, and a Better World by Joel Salatin

• The End of Plenty: The Race to Feed a Crowded World by Joel K. Bourne Jr.

DID YOU KNOW?• Four of the top 10 causes of death today

are linked to diet: coronary heart disease, diabetes, stroke and cancer.

• Approximately 795 million people are undernourished globally.

• Eighty percent of Type 2 Diabetes cases could be prevented by changes in diet and exercise.

• One in nine people on earth goes to bed hungry each night.

• The average item of organic produce in the supermarket travels father from the farm than the average item of conventional produce.

• It takes 20 minutes for the brain to know when the belly is full.

• Since the early 1960s, the average American’s weight has increased by 12 pounds.

• Hunger kills more people each year than AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis combined.

Sources: In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto by Michael Pollan; The State of Food Insecurity in the World, 2014 and 2015, Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations

Middle School Service— Family StyleTHE MIDDLE SCHOOL jumpstarted the year of FOOD during its inaugural Service-Palooza, a weekend of volunteer activities that took place in mid April. A dedicated parent committee worked with Director of Service Learning MARY LIEBMAN ’00 to coordinate the event, which encouraged families and faculty to partner with food-related nonprofit organizations throughout Atlanta in an effort to better understand hunger issues at the local level.

All Middle School students spent one school day participating in the Atlanta Com-munity Food Bank’s Hunger 101 workshops, which strive to increase awareness about hunger and poverty on the local, state and national levels. Armed with knowledge, many students then spread out across the city to give their time and energy to nine organizations, including Meals on Wheels, Project Open Hand and the Chattahoochee Nature Center Unity Garden. Forty-six families participated, and students contributed approximately 160 combined hours of community service.

With such success in its first year, Liebman hopes ServicePalooza will become an annual event and encourages even more families to participate next year.

The Class of 2015…

• Will matriculate to 55 colleges and universities in 26 states, the District of Columbia and Scotland

• Averaged 30 on the ACT• Includes six National Merit

Finalists and two National Achievement Scholars

Following a refreshingly honest,

insightful address, Commencement Speaker Robert

Downey Jr. assisted with the presenta-tion of diplomas and posed for a

photo with each graduate.


If there was an inadvertent theme to this year’s graduation festivities, it was without a doubt change—the willingness to adapt to it, to embrace it and to enact it.

“All high-school students experience con-tinuity and change to one degree or another,” Head of Upper School MIKE GANNON told those gathered for Senior Honors Day. “It’s just that this class, more than most, has lived this theme fully. There have been many, many changes in their high-school lives.”

Indeed, the Pace Academy Class of 2015 resided in three different academic buildings during their four years in the Upper School: the late Bridges Hall (may it rest in peace), the temporary “Academic Village” and the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School. The class contributed to Pace’s exploding global leadership program, more than weathered the move up to the Georgia High School Association’s Class AA, and embraced new challenges and opportunities.

This fact was not lost on the seniors. “Things change,” Valedictorian MARK GRE-NADER said during his valedictory address. “Pace has changed… [and] regardless of our inability to imagine who we will be in the future, we must recognize that we’ll change... But the winds of change are manipulable by man, manipulable by us. Just as we have been able to conquer many other aspects of nature, we can chart our own courses across this sea. So… if things change, be an agent of change, because we most certainly have the resources to do so.”

Grenader’s point is one his classmates already understand. In her introduction of Commencement Speaker Robert Downey Jr. (more on that later), Salutatorian ERIN RAWLS characterized the Class of 2015 by its

love of complaining, of facilitating change. “Calling our class a group of complain-

ers doesn’t seem very complimentary at first glance,” Rawls said, “but I believe the Class of 2015 complains so much because we are making real changes… I know that we will continue to make changes when we leave Pace, in our communities and globally.”

The 107 members of the Class of 2015 are certainly prepared to be agents of positive transformation. When asked to describe their senior students, faculty members cited stu-dents’ willingness to try new things, unity in diversity, positive curiosity, support for one another and humor, and well as their class motto: Outgoing. United. Original.

“You have indeed lived into your motto,” Class Dean TRISH ANDERSON told her “kiddos” during Baccalaureate. “The way you have carried yourselves, the attitude with which you have approached things, and the respect you have developed over time for each other and for this place have made a difference. Now, you, each of you, has the opportunity to make a positive difference on a much wider scale.”

It was appropriate, therefore, that the Class of 2015 was sent off into the world with words of wisdom from a man who knows a little something about changing—not to men-tion saving—it. Actor Robert Downey Jr., best known for his role as Marvel’s Iron Man, ad-dressed the class during Commencement on Saturday, May 16, at Peachtree Presbyterian Church.

Downey’s participation in the ceremony was kept secret until his introduction, and speculation as to the identity of the “mystery

speaker” swirled in the weeks, days and hours prior to the event.

“Mr. Assaf didn’t want to tell me who [our speaker] was, but I couldn’t let my class down with a substandard, pre-written introduc-tion,” Rawls told the Commencement crowd. “So I finally teased the speaker’s name out of him. And let me tell you, you won’t be disappointed.”

Soon after, the sanctuary’s side entrance opened, and Downey—whose Iron Man char-acter, Tony Stark, just happened to top USA Today’s 2015 list of the most desired fictional graduation speakers—appeared to resounding applause.

During his speech, Downey, too, dis-cussed the shifting, changing nature of life, and shared observations gleaned from his personal experiences as a father, actor and businessman.

“Life is doing something with us,” he told graduates, “something kind of beautifully messy and imperfect. But I like it.” He went on to encourage graduates to “stay out of life’s way,” “be rigorously honest,” “strive to be tolerant of yourself and others” and “make the right series of sacrifices.”

“I’m grateful that the future belongs to you,” Downey said in closing, before assist-ing Head of School FRED ASSAF and Board of Trustees Chairman ROBERT SHEFT with the presentation of diplomas and posing for a photo with each graduate.

When all was said and done, the Class of 2015 left the sanctuary one more member strong, as Downey also received a Pace Acad-emy diploma.

Welcome to the Pace family, Iron Man! And now, Class of 2015, go change the world!

GRADUATION

The Class of 2015

Outgoing. United. Original. And Ready for Change


“Life is doing something with us... something kind of beautifully messy and imperfect. But I like it.”

Senior Lunch at the Assafs'

Commencement Speaker ROBERT DOWNEY JR.

45

Salutatorian Erin Rawls

Baccalaureate


Valedictorian

Mark Grenader

Senior Honors Day

Baccalaureate Speaker Dr. Gregory C. Ellison, II

of Emory University

GRADUATIONGRADUATION

Atlanta Journal-Constitution CupTrevor Cefalu

Career Contribution to Athletics AwardChristina Darland & Katie Nelson

Charlie Owens Letter Blanket AwardBrittany Allen, Hank Assaf, Julia Beck, Noah Brooker, Anna Brown, Annie Butler, Jessica Castro, Trevor Cefalu, Caillin Cooke, Christina Darland, Juliana DeRosa, Cooper Drose, Richie Everett, Robert Farinella, Grace Francour, Maria Grenader, Mark Grenader, Natasha Goehring, Dustin Hadley, Lauren Hadley, Nora Harlin, Ted Hobbs, Anna Hoffman, Alex Johnson, Kevin Johnson, Daniel Kaplan, Hannah Kelly, Christopher LaLone, Sarah Lettes, Austin Little, Maryellen Malone, Natalie Marcrum, Rachel Merkel, Caroline Mills, Harrison Moncino, Rachel Morrisroe, Rachel Much, Katie Nelson, Olivia O’Connell, Lacey O’Sullivan, Payton Pulver, Erin Rawls, Braylin Robinson, Laura Rosenbaum, Kamran Sadiq, Matthew Seaman, Sarah Smith, Hajo Smulders, Claire Snyder, Jack Spencer, Dylan Steinfeld, Matthew Tanenblatt & Elizabeth Willis

Daughters of the American Revolution Citizenship AwardLarine Hamied ❹

Eagle Scout Recognition Hank Assaf, Richie Everett, Dustin Hadley, Ted Hobbs, Peter Hurley, Davis Miller, Patrick Moore, Blake Murphy & Jack Spencer

English Department AwardAlyssa Calloway

Foreign Language Department AwardAnnie Butler (French)Jonathan Spalten (Latin)Dylan Steinfeld (Spanish)

Frank D. Kaley AwardMark Grenader

George G. Kirkpatrick Pace Knight AwardErin Rawls & Matthew Tanenblatt

George Mengert Lifetime Achievement Award Annie Butler, Caillin Cooke, Cooper Drose, Nora Harlin, Peter Hurley, Rebecca Husk, Tracy Knight, Sam Nail, Dean Papastrat, Cooper Peery & Jonathan Spalten

Gladys Johnson AwardMorgan Baker & Noah Brooker

Headmaster’s AwardJosh Blank, Caillin Cooke, Maria Grenader & Kamran Sadiq

Hilton and Philippa Kort Service Above Self AwardSarah Lettes

History Department AwardRachel Much

James De La Fuente Fine Arts AwardRebecca Husk & Tracy Knight

Jim and Lesley Wheeler Scholar Athlete AwardTrevor Cefalu & Nora Harlin

Kent C. Taylor, Jr. AwardJulia Beck, Jeri Brand, Kevin Johnson, Lacey O’Sullivan, Dean Papastrat & Jonathan Spalten ❶

Lance and Shield Award Hannah Ferry & Kevin Johnson

Margery Russell Wilmot Spirit AwardCaroline Denny, Cooper Drose, Nora Harlin, Elijah Holifield, Jack Spencer & Elizabeth Willis

Mike Murphy Courage to Strive for Excellence AwardCarolina Abdullah & Bob LeBow ❷

Pace Literary PrizeJeri Brand

Pace Senior CitizensDylan Abbott, Carolina Abdullah, Morgan Baker, Anna Brown, Alyssa Calloway, Caillin Cooke, Juliana DeRosa, Richie Everett, Robert Farinella, Maria Grenader, Mark Grenader, Dustin Hadley, Lauren Hadley, Ted Hobbs, Anna Hoffman, Rebecca Husk, Maggie Inman, Hannah Kelly, Zachary Kerker, Caroline Mills, Katie Nelson, Corinne Orr, William Pair, Carolyn Propst, Ginny Reynolds, Laura Rosenbaum, Matthew Seaman, Elijah Sheft, Sarah Smith, Hajo Smulders & Matthew Tanenblatt

Pace Silver Knight AwardMaria Grenader, Mark Grenader, Dustin Hadley, Lauren Hadley, Caroline Mills & Elizabeth Willis

Peter F. Hoffman Honor ScholarshipBrittany Allen & Davis Miller ❸

Ralph Lee Newton Literary AwardJulia Beck, Arielle Levin, Dean Papastrat & Clyde Shepherd

Raymond Buckley AwardLauren Hadley & Harrison Moncino

Robert A. Yellowlees AwardJuliana DeRosa & Carolyn Propst

SalutatorianErin Rawls

Science Department AwardMaryellen Malone

Sydney Rushin Mathematics PrizeMark Grenader

ValedictorianMark Grenader

SEN

IOR

AW

AR

DS


GRADUATION

COLLEGE CHOICESDylan Abbott, University of Colorado

at BoulderCarolina Abdullah, University of MiamiBrittany Allen, Oral Roberts UniversityHank Assaf, University of Notre DameMorgan Baker, Tulane UniversityDrew Beck, Wofford CollegeJulia Beck , Middlebury CollegeJosh Blank, Elon UniversityJeri Brand , Reed CollegeNoah Brooker, Emory UniversityAnna Brown, University of GeorgiaAnnie Butler, Washington University

in St. LouisAlyssa Calloway, Point Park UniversityJessica Castro, University of GeorgiaTrevor Cefalu, University of PennsylvaniaCaillin Cooke, Chapman UniversityChristina Darland, Georgia Institute

of TechnologyCaroline Denny, Trinity CollegeJuliana DeRosa, Auburn UniversityLane Dikeman, Middlebury CollegeCooper Drose, University of GeorgiaMichael Easley, Clark Atlanta UniversityScott Eisenberg, University of GeorgiaJayla Ellis , Georgia Southern UniversityRichie Everett, University of GeorgiaRobert Farinella, University of North GeorgiaHannah Ferry, Emory UniversityGrace Francour, Miami University of OhioAlexandra Garton, University of California,

Santa BarbaraNatasha Goehring, Florida State UniversityCassady Greene, Texas Christian UniversityMaria Grenader, Northwestern UniversityMark Grenader, University of PennsylvaniaDustin Hadley, Miami University of OhioLauren Hadley, Bucknell UniversityLarine Hamied, Georgetown UniversityNora Harlin, University of GeorgiaElena Hill, Virginia TechTed Hobbs, Clemson UniversityAnna Hoffman, Furman UniversityElijah Holifield, St. John’s University—

Queens CampusPeter Hurley, University of St Andrews,

ScotlandRebecca Husk, University of ChicagoMaggie Inman, Clemson UniversityLydia James, Grinnell College

Alex Johnson, Indiana University at Bloomington

Kevin Johnson, University of RichmondDaniel Kaplan, Tulane UniversityHannah Kelly, Duke UniversityZachary Kerker, University of AlabamaTracy Knight, Brown UniversityChristopher LaLone, Virginia TechMagali Lapu, University of GeorgiaBob LeBow, University of GeorgiaSarah Lettes, Brown UniversityArielle Levin, American UniversityTanner Lewis, Emory UniversityDaniel Lipman, University of Colorado

at BoulderAustin Little, Southern Methodist UniversityDaniel Luetters, Southern Methodist

UniversityMaryellen Malone, Georgia Institute

of TechnologyNatalie Marcrum, DePaul UniversityRachel Merkel, University of GeorgiaDavis Miller, Tulane UniversityCaroline Mills, University of GeorgiaHarrison Moncino, Miami University of OhioPatrick Moore, Wake Forest UniversityRachel Morrisroe, University of GeorgiaMelissa Moyers, University of California,

Santa CruzRachel Much, University of ChicagoKate Mullally, University of MississippiBlake Murphy, University of Notre DameSam Nail, Reed CollegeKatie Nelson, Duke UniversityOlivia O’Connell, Sewanee: The University

of the SouthLacey O’Sullivan, University of North

Carolina at Chapel HillCorinne Orr, University of North Carolina

at Chapel HillAshley Pace, Georgia Institute of Technology

William Pair, University of Tennessee, Chattanooga

Dean Papastrat, Georgia Institute of Technology

Cooper Peery, New York UniversityElla Phillips, University of California,

Santa CruzCarolyn Propst, University of GeorgiaPayton Pulver, University of GeorgiaHarris Quiner, University of AlabamaRohith Ramireddy, University of GeorgiaErin Rawls, Rice UniversityGinny Reynolds, Southern Methodist

UniversityBraylin Robinson, Georgia Southern

UniversityLaura Rosenbaum, Washington University

in St. LouisKamran Sadiq, Kennesaw State UniversityMatthew Seaman, University of PennsylvaniaElijah Sheft, University of PennsylvaniaClyde Shepherd, Georgetown UniversitySarah Smith, University of GeorgiaHajo Smulders, Georgia Institute

of TechnologyClaire Snyder, University of GeorgiaJonathan Spalten, Georgia Institute

of TechnologyJack Spencer, Sewanee: The University

of the SouthDylan Steinfeld, Georgia Institute

of TechnologyWaide Swain, University of MississippiMatthew Tanenblatt, Dartmouth CollegeSarah Thomson, Washington and Lee

UniversityChase Uter, University of West GeorgiaElizabeth Willis, University of GeorgiaMoriah Wilson, Rice University •

This photograph of General Sherman and members of his staff was taken on July 18, 1864, before the Battle of Atlanta. (Sherman is pictured with arm resting on breach at rear of cannon.)

Libr

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of C

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WHAT’S IN A

NAME?

FRED GLASS ’89 traces the origins

of Pace Academy’s moniker


UPON ENTERING THE lobby of One Paces West,

an office building off Paces Ferry Road in Vinings, Ga.,

one notices a life-size statue (shown above) of a rugged 19th-century man. On the

wall adjacent to the statue is the following inscription:

HARDY PACE, 1785–1864

Hardy Pace was the founder of Vinings. He settled in this

area and acquired 10,000 acres ceded by the Cherokees in 1835, between Buckhead and Smyrna,

including Vinings Mountain. Pace brought prosperity to the

region. He operated a ferry, built a gristmill and a tavern, had large farming operations, and was the area postmaster.

The large home he built west of the Chattahoochee was a social center for friends and travelers. The Civil War brought an end to

this life. Pace and his family took refuge in Milledgeville. His home

was occupied and then burned by Federal troops. Pace died in Milledgeville and is buried on

Vinings Mountain.

IN my six years as a student at Pace Academy, I never gave much thought to how the school’s name came to be. Looking back, I suppose I assumed that “Pace” was

someone buried in the Gardens or the person who built the Castle. A reasonably observant individual might conclude that the school’s name has something

to do with a ferry, and is probably connected to its W. Paces Ferry Road address, and both conclusions would be correct. But what’s interesting is that the ferry—in operation from the 1830s until 1904—as well Atlanta’s many “Paces” roads, and yes, even the name “Pace Academy,” can all be traced back to one man: Hardy Pace.

What’s equally interesting is Hardy Pace’s connection to the significant series of events that occurred in the Vinings and Buckhead areas as Sherman’s army approached Atlanta in the summer of 1864.

After the Civil War and well into the 20th century, Hardy Pace’s descendants played an important role in the area that would eventually become Pace Academy’s present-day campus on W. Paces Ferry Road.

Hardy Pace, PioneerHardy Pace was a ferryman, miller and early settler who, among others, is credited with found-

ing the area known today as Buckhead. He was born in obscurity to Stephen Pace and Catherine Gatewood Buchanan Pace in Anson County, N.C., and moved to North Georgia in 1809.

Pace would eventually establish Pace’s Crossroads—later known as Vinings Station, and then, simply, Vinings. He arrived in North Georgia when it was lawless frontier wilderness inhabited primarily by Creek and Cherokee Indians. His first home sat off the old Indian trail that would become W. Paces Ferry Road near its current intersection with Castlegate Road, not far from the Pace Academy campus.

By the 1830s, the inflow of settlers to the region had increased substantially, and the state of Georgia established land lotteries to accelerate the orderly settlement of the areas west of the Chattahoochee River. Pace participated in these lotteries and, over time, ac-quired an area of land roughly two-thirds the size of Manhattan.

The construction of the Western & Atlantic Railroad began in 1836, and Pace wisely moved his family across the Chattahoochee and closer to his business interests, which were strengthened considerably by the railroad’s construction through his land in newly created Cobb County.

He was best known for the ferry he operated upon his acquisition of land on both the Cobb and Fulton County sides of the river. Pace’s Ferry ran from the present-day site of Canoe Restaurant to what is now the Lovett School campus, and the road leading to the ferry was soon referred to as Pace’s Ferry Road. Anyone traveling via horse and buggy from Marietta to Decatur or Terminus (later Atlanta) had to cross the river using Pace’s Ferry and then follow Pace’s Ferry Road to their destination. Hermi’s Bridge, the current pedestrian bridge constructed in 1904 adjacent to Pace’s Ferry Road, ended the ferry service.

From the 1830s until 1861, Pace and his family thrived through his several business opera-tions. However, the Civil War and the arrival of Sherman’s Army of the Cumberland forever altered the region and the lives of its inhabitants, chief among them the Pace family.

The Civil War Comes to AtlantaHad General William Tecumseh Sherman and his 100,000-man army failed to capture

Atlanta in September of 1864, Abraham Lincoln might not have been elected in November for a second term. A loss for Lincoln could have meant a Confederate victory, altering the future of the United States—and democracy worldwide—forever. For this reason, the events involving Hardy Pace in the summer of 1864 were significant not only regionally, but nationally as well.

After several outflanking maneuvers, Sherman pushed Joseph E. Johnston’s Con-federate Army south from Chattanooga along the railroad to the Chattahoochee River.

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

Sherman needed the railroad as a supply line, and Johnston planned to use the Chat-

tahoochee—the final major natural barrier separating

Sherman from Atlanta—to stop his opponent’s advance.

When Sherman fi-nally reached the river

on July 5, he chose Hardy Pace’s property as

his headquarters. The land was close to the Chattahoochee, provided railroad access and high-ground advantage, and afforded a clear view of the city’s stee-ples and spires from Vinings Mountain, the location of the Pace family cemetery today. There, from July 5 to 17, Sherman and his generals planned their final move on Atlanta.

During that same time, the Pace home also served as Union General Oliver O. Howard’s residence. Howard (pictured above) went on to found Howard University in Washington, D.C., and led the Freedman’s Bureau. He also commanded the Army of Tennessee in the right column of Sherman’s March to the Sea in the fall of 1864.

On July 17, Sherman’s men built two pontoon bridges at the site of Pace’s Ferry (shown in the illustration above), and two corps, including Joseph Hooker’s 20th Corps, crossed the river and proceeded toward At-lanta on Pace’s Ferry Road. The late CECIL ALEXANDER, a former Pace Academy Trustee, remembered walking under Hermi’s Bridge as a boy in the 1920s and seeing the remains of the Federal pontoon bridges.

Hooker’s 20th Corps marched down Pace’s Ferry Road, past the future Pace Academy campus, and camped near where Arden Road intersects W. Paces Ferry Road. On July 18, Hooker’s men joined two other Union corps to engage the Confederates, led by John Bell Hood, at the Battle of Peachtree Creek.

The wounded and killed from the battle,

WHAT'S IN A NAME?

and later the battles of Atlanta and Ezra Church, were sent back up Pace’s Ferry Road to Vinings Sta-tion, and the Pace home was converted into a hospital for the treatment of the

wounded and dying. As many as 30,000 Union men were treated at Pace’s home and in tents on his property. One can only imag-ine the horrific scene as surgeons performed mass amputations in the July heat with no one on hand to bury the dead.

After the fall of Atlanta, Sherman sent some of his troops north after Hood’s army to protect his railroad supply lines. They would eventually catch up with Hood at the bat-tles of Nashville and Franklin, Tenn., where Hood’s army was essentially destroyed. As Sherman’s men passed back through Vinings in pursuit of Hood in November 1864, they burned the Pace’s antebellum home and most everything at Vinings Station.

Hardy Pace died in Milled-geville, Ga., in December 1864, but Solomon K. Pace, his only surviving son, would return to At-lanta to rebuild.

The Pace and Randall Families in the Post-War Era

Solomon Pace (pictured above in hat) buried his father in the Pace family cemetery on Vinings Mountain. The gravestone reads:

Sacred to the memory of Hardy Pace. Born 1785. Died December 5, 1864.

A friend of the poor, He is gone to secure the riches of Heaven. They need not

the moon in that land of delight. They need not the pale pale star. The sun he

is bright by day and by night. Where the souls of the blessed are.

Before the Civil War, Solomon Pace lived on present-day W. Paces Ferry Road, somewhere between Randall Mill Road and Northside

Drive; Pickney H. Randall, Pace’s brother-in-law, and his family, were his neighbors. Both Pace and Randall had acquired their land from Hardy Pace, who at one time owned 700 acres on the stretch of road.

Upon his return to Atlanta, Solomon Pace moved to Vinings and went to work recon-structing his father’s home, known today as The Pace House on Paces Mill Road. He estab-lished Vinings United Methodist Church and was instrumental in the founding of Sardis United Methodist Church on Powers Ferry Road in Buckhead. When he died in 1897, he left behind no children to carry on the Pace name.

Randall and his wife, Hardy Pace’s daugh-ter Catherine “Catron” Gatewood Pace, however, had a son, Hardy I. Randall, named in honor of his grandfather. Hardy Randall, the inspiration for Gone With The Wind’s Captain Randall, served as a Confederate captain and returned to Atlanta following the war to operate with his father a mill on Nancy Creek near Pace’s Ferry Road (hence present-day Randall Mill Road).

Hardy Randall’s son, Harvey Gatewood Randall, continued his family’s entre-

preneurial tradition and established Randall Brothers, Inc., in 1885.

The moulding and millwork company remains in opera-

tion—and in the Randall family—today.

Harvey Randall’s son, Luther H. Ran-dall (pictured left with

glasses), succeeded his father at the helm of

Randall Brothers, Inc., and in the 1940s, built his home on 22 acres at the current corner of W. Paces Ferry and Rilman roads. Much of the land—a portion of it now Gatewood Court—was later sold off to devel-opers, and in the 1970s, Luther H. Randall Jr., Hardy Pace’s great-great-grandson, sold the home to Pace Academy for a “friendly” price.

The Randall House now serves as home to Pace Academy’s Lower School, and Luther Randall Jr.’s widow still maintains a resi-dence on Gatewood Court. His grandchildren, Hardy Pace’s great-great-great-great-great-grandchildren, are Pace Academy alumni LAURA CHOYCE STEIN ’01 and MAT-THEW RANDALL CHOYCE ’05.

Library o

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WHAT'S IN A NAME?* The Westminster Schools was founded in 1951 as a reorganization of Atlanta’s North Avenue Presbyterian School, a school for girls and affiliate of North Avenue Presbyte-rian Church. In 1953, Washington Seminary, another private school for girls, merged with Westminster. The Lovett School began in 1926 in a home in Midtown Atlanta.

SOURCES:

An Unfinished History of Pace Academy, Suzi Zadeh

Atlanta and Environs, A Chronicle of its People and Events, 1820s–1870s, Volume 1, Franklin M. Garrett, 1954

Hardy Pace Family, Pioneers of Vinings in Georgia, Clare Isanhour

Hermi's Bridge: A Love Story, Wright Mitchell, 2010

Luther Randall III

The Westminster Schools

Vinings, Susan Kendall, 2013

Vinings Historic Preservation Society; special thanks to Gillian Greer

Vinings Revisited, A Review of Older Provenance, Anthony Doyle, 2008

Uncredited photos published courtesy of the Vinings Historic Preservation Society

A School Named PaceBefore the school had a headmaster or a

functioning Board of Trustees, Pace Academy had a name.

In the 1950s, native New Yorker, veteran educator and shrewd businesswoman JANE TUGGLE recognized the demand for an ad-ditional independent school in Atlanta’s Buckhead area. She envisioned a for-profit school (a matter over which Tuggle’s rela-tionship with the school ultimately ended) housed in the Ogden family home on W. Paces Ferry Road.

At the time, the castle-esque stone struc-ture was held in trust by C&S Bank, and in order to ensure that the new school would occupy the home—and permanently tie the school to that location—Tuggle named it “Pace Academy” and immediately began rais-ing funds to make the school a reality.

There is no record that the school’s name was questioned or challenged—or has been since; at the time, it was simply noted that the name “Pace Academy” was “very appro-priate given the location of the school.”

The name’s pertinence is a nod to the histo-ry and heritage of the Buckhead and Vinings regions, and to the influence of Hardy Pace and his family. Hardy Pace’s son, Solomon, died only 61 years before the school’s 1958

founding, so many Buckhead residents knew of the Pace family’s significance.

However, the end of World War II brought a population surge, interstate highways and aggressive development that forever altered Buckhead’s rural character. Prior to 1952, Buckhead sat outside Atlanta’s city limits, a rural community in which members of the wealthy elite, the Ogden and Randall fami-lies among them, built large “country” estates to escape the city on weekends or stay cool during summer months.

As the city grew, the story of Buckhead’s early days seemed to disappear from the col-lective memory.

The Pace LegacyNow we know the history—the names, the

important dates and places. But what was Hardy Pace really like? Did his character and actions in life merit the respect his name-sake school now enjoys? Does Pace Academy today aspire to values he also would have held dear?

According to his heirs, Pace was “quiet and frugal.” He was devoted to his family, a successful landowner and businessman disin-clined to involve himself in politics. His story is uniquely American. He came from nothing and lived to witness the Georgia frontier, the arrival of the railroad and one of the greatest conflicts in U.S. history.

One account posits that Pace died at 79 as a result of a wound inflicted during a gun-fight with Federal troops. Most, however, refute the story; Pace’s benevolent personal-ity, keen intellect and advanced age suggest he most likely would have been gone by the time Sherman’s men arrived at his doorstep. Another account suggests that he may have died of a broken heart following the death of his favored daughter, Catron, around the same time Atlanta was burned.

This past December marked the 150th an-niversary of Hardy Pace’s death, so it’s fitting to consider his influence on the Buckhead region—and on Pace Academy, the only ex-isting institution that carries his name today.

Consider, for example, the prevalence of the word “Paces” in Atlanta’s vernacular. Until 1954, road signs still recalled Hardy Pace’s significance with an apostrophe: “Pace’s Ferry Road.” I would argue that removing

the apostrophe—a seemingly insignificant change—has unintentionally obscured the history and meaning of the word, and there-fore, name.

But the “Pace” in Pace Academy has re-mained true, which is appropriate in that Pace Academy was Buckhead’s first independent school. Both the Lovett School and the West-minster Schools, now located in Buckhead, originally began in downtown and midtown locations, but since its inception, Pace Acad-emy has called W. Paces Ferry Road home.

Through its history and name, Pace Acad-emy is more directly tied to the area than its transplant sister schools. The Lovett School was named for founder Eva Edwards Lovett and, after much contemplation amongst its trustees, Westminster was named to “befit the school’s Presbyterian origins.”*

Both schools enjoyed adequate funding and organization; they were built on more established foundations. Pace Academy, on the other hand, was something of an under-dog, an upstart. Other than a desired location and the enthusiasm of its small number of early supporters, the most valuable asset the new school possessed was the prominence of and meaning behind the word “Pace.”

In many ways, Hardy Pace’s humble be-ginnings and later success parallel that of the school that bears his name. Pace Academy can therefore be considered a lasting legacy to Hardy Pace and his family. •

The Pace Academy campus in 1969.

Pace archives

Below: Pace's Ferry operated

until 1904.

firm just opened a new office. She practices workers’ compensation defense. “This is a great move for my songwriting hobby as well,” she writes.

KATE ALLEGRA TORNUSCIOLO ’01 will return to Pace in August to teach English in the Garcia Family Middle School. A sociol-ogy major at Boston College, Kate went on to receive a Master of Arts in applied linguistics and English as a second language from Geor-gia State University. She previously taught middle-school English and French at Holy Innocents’ Episcopal School. Kate and her husband, Giuliano, have two children, Matteo and Trinity.

PETE GOODRICH ’03 has been named di-rector of college placement at Christchurch School in Christchurch, Va. Pete has taught history at the school for four years and, in his new position, will continue to teach one history class. He and his wife, Kelly, have two children: Louisa, 3, and August, 1.

CHAD RALSTON ’04 (below, top left) re-cently joined American Spirit Works (ASW), makers of American Spirit Whiskey, to guide their marketing initiatives. The company is in the process of building out its distillery on Atlanta’s Armour Drive in the SweetWater Design District, and its first aged bourbon is currently resting in barrels.

Chad joined ASW after careers in both law and technology, having worked as a commercial real estate attorney in Atlanta before joining a logistics software company in Midtown as general counsel. His transition to ASW involved a good bit of ser-endipity. He was in the process of interviewing craft breweries and dis-tilleries about a sales software con-cept he had, while ASW was in the hunt for a tech-savvy sales and marketing partner. “At our very first meeting, Jim [one of ASW’s found-ers] quoted The Big

Lebowski, and I had a hunch it would be a good fit,” Chad writes.

Jim and ASW’s other founder, have a longstanding friendship with Chris Hall, chef extraordinaire at Buckhead restaurant Local Three and husband of Upper School chem-istry instructor JULIE HALL. Not long after Local Three opened, ASW presented Chris with a portrait from The Big Lebowski that still hangs behind the bar. (Hint: it’s the one that involves bowling.)

Chad and the rest of the ASW team are excited to finalize the build-out in early 2016 so they can begin sourcing ingredients from local farmers and orchards. Until then, they’re working to place American Spirit Whiskey, currently manufactured in North Charleston, S.C., on more cocktail menus throughout the Atlanta and Athens, Ga., areas.

EMMA LATTOUF ’06 (below, bottom left) graduated from Boston University School of Dental Medicine in May and moved to Houston, Texas, to complete a fellowship in Advanced Education in General Dentistry (AEGD) at the University of Texas.

LAUREN HART ’11 (below, right) graduated from Texas Christian University in May with a Bachelor of Arts in writing and a minor in French. She now writes for a website called The Bleep Button and Visual Treasure Hunt, a fashion site. Lauren also works part-time as a model. She and her boyfriend, Jordan, live in Chicago, where Jordan is in graduate school at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. They have an English bulldog named Daisy.

ALUMNIWHERE ARE

THEY NOW?

PHILLIP THOMPSON ’77 serves as ex-ecutive director of the Aquinas Center

of Theology at Emory University, which “provides a Catholic scholarly presence, ecumenical in spirit, for the benefit of the university, the Archdiocese and the region. [The Aquinas Center] assists inquiring per-sons to enhance their knowledge of the living Catholic tradition and to engage in the intel-lectual and moral life of the church.”

The Wall Street Journal published Phil’s article, Grappling With Faith and the Death Penalty, in its May 28, 2015, edition. In it, Phil reports on American’s increasing oppo-sition to the death penalty and urges people of faith to challenge the punishment.

Phil has published more than 40 articles on topics such as Catholicism and science, religion and technology and bioethics. He is the author of two books: Between Science and Religion (2009) and Returning to Reality: Thomas Merton’s Wisdom for Technological World (2012).

HEATHER MCCLOSKEY ’89 clearly belongs at Pace. After graduating from Princeton University, Heather returned to Pace to teach math and physics from 1993 to 1995 before heading to Georgia Tech to earn her Ph.D. in chemical engineering. She went on to teach chemistry at Oxford College of Emory Uni-versity and returns to Pace once again this fall as an Upper School math teacher. She and her husband, MIKE MCCLOSKEY, have two children: rising second-grader REBEC-CA MCCLOSKEY and son Cal McCloskey.

ALAINA BEACH ’00 recently passed the Tennessee Bar Exam and was sworn in in May. This summer, she moved from Green-ville, S.C., to Nashville, Tenn., where her law


ALUMNI ALUMNI

Above: Michael Hopkins proudly poses with Yale President Peter Salovey after being awarded two top academic prizes. (Photo by Michael Marsland)

When Pace Class of 2011 Valedictorian MICHAEL HOPKINS ’11 graduated from Yale University in May, he took with him two of the institution’s highest honors: The Arthur Twining Hadley Prize and The Russell Henry Chittenden Prize.

The Arthur Twining Hadley Prize is award-ed annually to the senior in Yale College majoring in the social sciences who ranks highest in scholarship. The Russell Henry Chittenden Prize is given to the senior who ranks highest in scholarship among those majoring in the natural sciences or in math-ematics.

Michael graduated summa cum laude as an economics major and also received a joint bachelor’s and master’s degree in computer science, with distinction in that major. He earned a grade point average of 4.0, with the grade of “A” in each one of his 37 credits. In 2014, he was one of eight juniors elect-ed to Phi Beta Kappa, and that same year, the Department of Economics named him one of four Tobin Scholars for “outstanding performance in the core theory courses in economics.”

Michael now works for Google as a project manager.

GWYNNIE LAMASTRA ’14, a swimmer at Johns Hopkins University, recently completed her freshman season at the D-III NCAA Cham-pionships. Gwynnie qualified for the meet in four individual events and two relays; col-lege swimmers are limited to three individual events, so Gwynnie competed in the 400 In-dividual Medley, the 100 Breaststroke and the 200 Breaststroke.

At the national championship, Gwynnie finished in sixth place in the 200 Medley Relay and in 20th place in the 400 Individual Medley. In the Medley Relay, she set a per-

sonal record as well as Johns Hopkins’ low time by swimming her 50-yard Breaststroke leg in 28.6 seconds.

Gwynnie reached the finals in the 100 Breaststroke, where she placed 15th and earned Honorable Mention All-American honors for her time. She finished ninth in the NCAA in the 200 Breaststroke by winning the B Final by more than 1.5 seconds—the fifth-fastest time at the championships.

In addition, Gwynnie’s time of 2:16.97 was the fifth-fastest time anywhere in NCAA D-III in 2014–2015, and she lowered her own Johns Hopkins record by nearly two sec-onds. Gwynnie completed her freshman year with school records in both the 100 and 200 Breaststroke events.

In his first season as a member of the Univer-sity of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s track team, KENNY SELMON ’14 put in a terrific performance at the 2015 ACC Outdoor Track and Field Championships in May. He and his teammates brought home the title in the 4x400 relay with a time of 3:04:55. The time ranks second all-time in UNC’s history, and UNC has won the event four years in a row.

In the 400-meter hurdles, Kenny achieved his goal of breaking 50 seconds, running 49.60 and placing second. He now ranks second all-time in the event in UNC’s history.

BIRTHSJennifer and JOHN HOCUTT ’94 welcomed daughter Hallie Montgomery on Mother’s Day, May 10, 2015. Hallie joins sister Harper, 3. The family lives in Atlanta.

Sara and MAXWELL FRAZIER ’99 had their second daughter, Altair, on April 30, 2015.

MAGGIE HAGEDORN FITZGERALD ’01 and her husband, Brian, welcomed Theodore “Teddy” Quinn on March 24, 2015. Teddy weighed 8 pounds and was 21 inches long.

MEGAN FOX FORD ’01 and her husband, William, welcomed Jack Edward on Nov. 14, 2014. He weighed 8 pounds, 14 ounces and was 20.5 inches. The family just moved to a new home in Chicago and is enjoying the extra space. Bill works in TreeHouse Foods’ strategy group, and Megan runs a distribu-tor planning team for E&J Gallo Winery. “We don’t get back to Atlanta enough, but when we do, we always see JACI THOM-SON SHANKS ’01 and STACEY COHEN WEITZNER ’01,” Megan says.

1) Hallie Montgomery Hocutt; 2) Altair Frazier; 3) Theodore "Teddy" Quinn Fitzgerald; 4) Jack Edward Ford; 5) Stacey Cohen Weitzner '01 and Megan Fox Ford '01 with baby Jack and baby Ivy


ALUMNI

54

MARRIAGESERIC SILVERSTEIN ’00 married Kris Wag-goner on May 2, 2015. Kris is an independent web designer in Austin, Texas, and Eric, who was featured in the spring KnightTimes, recently opened The Peached Tortilla, a res-taurant in Austin.

JAY PATTERSON ’00 was the best man, and JOHN HELD ’00, KAREN MARGO-LIS KAYE ’00 and CAROLINE CARDON NOLAN ’00 attended. The Peached Tortilla catered the wedding.

ANDREW PINCKNEY ’01 and Kelsey Todd Pinckney were married on May 30, 2015, at Zaxby’s new hangar at the Barrow County Airport in Winder, Ga. Kelsey’s father, a former Delta Air Lines pilot, flies for Zaxby’s and arranged for his daughter’s arrival at the ceremony in a 1952 Beechcraft Model 18 twin-engine airplane.

Pace friends in attendance were JOHNNY STEVENS ’01, GRIFFIN JONES ’01, PAT-RICK BOWMAN ’01, BLAKE SHIRLEY ’01, MAGGIE HAGEDORN FITZGERALD ’01, NATALIE UNDERWOOD SHIRLEY ’01, ALEXIS SCHULZE GRACE ’01, COOPER PETTWAY ’01, HALEY WHITE GRAYLESS ’01 and STEVEN PINCKNEY ’99.

LAURA CHOYCE STEIN ’01 married Zach Stein on April 11, 2015, at Woodlawn Manor House in Silver Spring, Md.

LIZ WESTBROOK ’02 married Scott Holden on May 30, 2015, at Liz’s parents’ home in Buckhead. In attendance were fellow alumnae LAURA BOLLMAN ’02 and ELIS-ABETH "BETSY" KULINSKI ’02. Scott and Liz live in Washington, D.C., with their very large dog, Birkin. Scott is a computer engi-neer, and Liz is an attorney and lobbyist on Capitol Hill. The couple met—and Scott later proposed—playing kickball on the National Mall. They are both avid runners, and in ad-dition to lawyering, Liz teaches spin classes and races triathlons.

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

Email: [email protected]

PERFECTING THE ART OF GIVING BACK

Author Malcolm Gladwell’s “10,000 hours rule,” defined in his 2011 book Outliers, claims that mastering a particular field or skill—say, playing the piano, writing code or running a profitable business—takes 10,000 hours of practice. Success requires hard work, Gladwell argues, no shortcuts. One must be willing to put in the time.

Few know this better than JAMES CURTIS ’90, whose success in his chosen field—serving others—is nothing short of astounding.

Curtis lives with Ataxia, a neurological condition that impedes muscle control during voluntary movements, such as walking or picking up objects. In the 1980s, he par-ticipated in recreation therapy at Atlanta’s Shepherd Center, which specializes in medi-cal treatment, research, and rehabilitation for people with spinal cord and brain injury. He found a supportive community at Shep-herd and, in 1987, began volunteering there as part of Pace Academy’s service-learning program, playing board games with pa-tients and performing other tasks. “I just kept coming back,” he recalls.

After high school, Curtis moved to Wash-ington, D.C., to study literature at American University, and when he returned to Atlan-ta, he and several Pace friends volunteered with Shepherd’s Junior Committee, a fun-draising organization made up of young professionals. Curtis served on the com-mittee for five years, but his father’s death following a battle with cancer put his vol-unteer career on hold. “That time is kind of a blank,” he says. “It took me a while to find my path after [my dad] passed away.”

Shepherd helped pull Curtis out of the fog of grief. “I started volunteering with the Shepherd library, the Noble Learning Resource Center,” he says. Soon Shepherd

leadership began to take notice. Scott Sikes, executive director of the Shepherd Center Foundation, became a friend, and co-founder Alana Shepherd suggested Curtis volunteer on Sikes’s administrative staff. He never looked back.

Curtis arrives at Shepherd at 7 a.m. most weekdays, always ready to work

late into the afternoon. He has now contributed more than 10,000 hours of service to the place he calls his home away from home—officially reach-ing mastery status. In April of this year,

Shepherd recognized this achieve-ment—the first of its kind—at its annual

Volunteer Appreciation Dinner. Seated at Curtis’s table to cheer him on that eve-ning were four of his Pace friends: BLAKE DEXTER ’90, DAVID GLASS ’90, IAN SMITH ’90 and former Pace student Brad Courts. “I’ve been fortunate to find a family at Pace and at Shepherd,” he says.

Despite the accolades, Curtis is modest when it comes to his contributions to the life-changing organization. “[My work at Shepherd] has been a win-win situation,” he says. “Shepherd’s been good to me. I re-ceived a lot of services here, and I’ve been lucky to have the opportunity to give back to the place that helped so much. Hopefully I’ve made a difference.”

Curtis credits Pace for instilling his love of service, and he has no plans to slow down any time soon. He encourages others to become involved in meaningful causes as well. “Volunteering is definitely something everyone should do,” he says. “It should be on everyone’s list.”

Words of wisdom from the master.

JAMES CURTIS '90

ALUMNI

Spotlight on


mailto:[email protected]

ALUMNI


IN MEMORIAMLongtime faculty member DR. ANNE- MARIE BATAC passed away on June 13, 2015, following a yearlong battle with lung cancer.

Anne-Marie began teaching French in the Upper School in 1973 and remained at Pace until 2008. She continued to serve the school even in her retirement: she topped the list of substitute teachers, frequently tutored Pace students and was the go-to proctor for AP exams.

Known for her unforgettable laugh, irre-pressible personality and passion for Pace, Anne-Marie spearheaded the Garden Club, working with students to beautify the campus after school. She could often be heard shout-ing gardening tips in her signature French accent. Today, a portion of the Pace Gardens is named in her honor.

Anne-Marie was a loyal friend to her neighbors and cats, her colleagues, and her students and their families. She kept in touch with generations of Pace alumni following her retirement, often connecting with them on Facebook.

On May 28, after learning that she would enter hospice, Anne-Marie posted this final message on her Facebook page, a testament to her eternal optimism and joie de vivre: “Well, that’s the end of that ride… but I have had a full and complete life, so I’ve got nothing to complain about. Thank you for enriching my life, and see you all on the other side of the rainbow bridge!”

The Pace family lost BRIANNA COCHRAN ’13 on March 25, 2015. “Brianna was gifted with artistic talent as well as an incredible academic mind,” her family wrote. “She was especially passionate about helping others. She touched so many lives around the world, sharing her love, her sweet nature and her silly laugh with everyone she met.”

Brianna was a pre-med major at the Uni-versity of Georgia, where she was a member of UGA Miracle, a student-run philanthro-py that supports Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. She served on the Family Rela-tions Committee and was fundraising for UGA Miracle’s Dance Marathon at the time of her death.

Former Pace parent and longtime benefactor PHILIPPA KORT passed away on April 28, 2015. Philippa’s late husband, former Chair-man of the Pace Board of Trustees HILTON KORT, was a Life Trustee, and Philippa was an active member of the Pace community in many capacities.

Philippa embodied grace and exuded energy. She competed in marathons and triathlons, summited Mt. Kilimanjaro, stew-arded wildlife conservation in her native South Africa, and devoted herself to her family and to others.

She is survived by her sons, ANTON KORT ’96 and JONATHAN KORT ’00, her daughters-in-law and three grandchildren. To honor Philippa, donations may be made to the Hilton I. Kort Financial Aid Fund at Pace Academy.

1) Alumni at the Wagoner/Silverstein Wedding; 2) Alumni at the Todd/Pinckney Wedding; 3) The Westbrook/Holden Wedding

Above: Dr. Batac; Right: Heavily

involved in the Garden Club,

she worked with students

to beautify the campus.

Above: Detail from a

self portrait by Brianna

Cochran '13; Right: Brianna's

senior portrait

During the seniors’ final week on campus, the Office of College Counseling coordinated its annual half-day college seminar for the soon-to-be graduates. The program included a panel of recent alumni, who provided advice regarding their transitions to college and their lives as undergrads.

This year’s alumni panelists were WILSON ALEXANDER ’14, CHARLIE BURRUSS ’14, SHABREA DUFFY ’14, CALLIE CUNNINGHAM ’14, KATHERINE MERRITT ’14, EVELYN HOBBS ’14, KATIE WILLIAMSON ’14, SYDNEY WILLIS ’13 (above, left), ALEXANDER RECKFORD ’13 (above, right), ALEX PARÉ ’13 and SAM SCHAFFER ’13.

PREPARING THE CLASS OF 2015 FOR COLLEGE

ALUMNI


The Five Ps of Marketing with Bo Heiner ’84During the spring semester, many students in the fourth and fifth grades participated in the JuniorPreneur Club, an after-school program in which stu-dents use Design Thinking to undertake invention challenges. The challenges urge the budding entrepreneurs to think outside the box, work as a team, and turn simple ideas into marketing plans and business proposals.

During one of their sessions, JuniorPre-neurs welcomed BO HEINER ’84 to the club. Bo is vice president of Octagon, a global sports, entertainment and lifestyle marketing agency. He shared with students the five fundamental “Ps” of marketing: Product, Price, People, Place and Promotion. JuniorPreneurs then shared their own business ideas and mar-keting plans, and Bo provided feedback and recommendations.

Alumni Out & About

CLASS OF 1973 CONNECTS The Class of 1973, the winner of The Pace Alumni Fund’s inaugural Spirit Week Challenge, stayed true to its spirited ways and reunited again this spring for a casual get together on April 11. JILL PINKERTON HUITRON ’73 hosted the event at her home.

Send your news and photos to:

[email protected]

On Friday, April 24, more than 200 alumni, faculty and friends gathered at Chastain Horse Park for the Alumni Association’s Second Annual Knight Cap event.

The evening included bourbon and wine tastings, food by Avenue Catering Concepts and a silent auction. CHARLEY BRICKLEY ‘88 and JU-LIANNA RUE CAGLE ‘03 co-chaired the event, which raised more than $25,000 for the Alumni Fund. A critical component to Pace’s fundraising ef-forts, The Pace Alumni Fund is dedicated to the support of need-based student financial aid.

All alumni are invited to join the Alumni Association for the 2016 Knight Cap. Details to come!

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Elizabeth Glass & Fred Glass ‘89Britt Jackson Griffin ‘00 & Andrew Griffin ‘99Blythe O’Brien Hogan ‘03 & William HoganKimberly Tucker Hooper ‘97 & Brian Hooper

Cindy Gay Jacoby ‘83 & David JacobyCaitlin Goodrich Jones ‘00 & Wes JonesMaggie Isler Killgore ‘96 & Will Killgore

Caroline Clements Kulinski ‘97 & Chris Kulinski ‘96Heather Patrick McCloskey ‘89 and Mike McCloskey

Dana Cohen Nolan ‘04 & Jeff NolanBailey Pfohl & Brian Pfohl ’04

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Encore 2 celebrates a remarkable 44-year career

IN 2006, alumni of Pace Academy’s acclaimed Upper School Theatre pro-gram returned to the Fine Arts Center to celebrate the facility’s 15th birthday. The production, aptly titled Encore, featured numbers from the countless musicals that had graced the stage.

On May 23, 2015, many of the same alumni joined more recent graduates for Encore 2, a musical retrospective honoring retiring Director of Upper School Theatre GEORGE MENGERT’s 44 years at Pace (read more about Mengert on page 14). More than 50 performers, writers, and te-chies representing decades of Pace Theatre traveled from New York, Los Angeles and everywhere in between to pay tribute to the man behind the magic.

CAROLINE CLEMENTS KULINSKI ’97, Mengert’s stepdaughter, produced, di-rected, and choreographed the production, spending months tracking down alumni, coordinating logistics and assembling the run of show. Thanks to the generous sup-port of the Pace Arts Alliance, and with the help of Assistant Director Matthew Kacergis (a former member of the Pace Class of 2006), Musical Directors SUSAN WALLACE and BETH BARROW-TITUS (now retired), and Technical Director SCOTT SARGENT, Kulinski staged 35 numbers in five days. The entire cast then came together for a mara-thon series of rehearsals just 24 hours before the curtain went up.

Mengert’s expert training served them well. The perfect production played to a packed house, and the audience was on its feet as Mengert took his final bow—a fitting compliment to the father of Pace Theatre.TH

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Matthew Kacergis, assistant director

COLE MCCORKLE (Jack in the 2014 production of Into the Woods) performs with the 2004 Jack, CAMERON SMITH '05.

CORY BUSH '14

MEGAN MCCURRY '13 and JOEY CAPELOUTO '13

CARY DONALDSON '99

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SAVE THE DATESEPT. 18–19

Reunion Gatherings for the Classes of 1970, 1975, 1980, 1985, 1990, 1995,

2000, 2005 & 2010

More information at www.paceacademy.org/

alumni/reunion

#ReuKNIGHT2015

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GOLDEN KNIGHTSON MAY 16, we celebrat-ed the 50th reunion of Pace Academy’s second graduat-ing class. Members of the Class of 1965 were invited to honor this year’s graduating seniors at an unforgettable Commencement ceremony, with a special on-campus dinner event immediately following.

Hosted in the Arthur M. Blank Family Upper School’s Woodruff Library, each at-tending member of the Class of 1965 enjoyed an intimate time to reconnect and reminisce, while being inducted into the Golden Knights Club. Members of the Class of 1964, who were inducted the previous spring, also attended the festivities.

{LEGACIES} GENERATIONS OF GRADSEACH YEAR, Pace alumni parents are photographed with their graduating seniors during graduation festivities. This year, six alumni welcomed children into the Alumni Association.

DON INMAN ’81 and MAGGIE INMAN ’15

RANDY MARCRUM ’80 and NATALIE MARCRUM ’15

BETSY BRADY ORR ’78 and CORINNE ORR ’15

GAIL ALLISON PHILLIPS ’80 and ELLA PHILLIPS ’15

BETH BRIDGES SPENCER ’81 and JACK SPENCER ’15

MARTHA SCOTT SWAIN ’83 and WAIDE SWAIN ’15

ALUMNI

Left to right: JIM CURRY '65,

DAVID RUMRILL '64 and JACK PARTAIN '65


ALUMNI

EACH SPRING for nearly 20 years, the

Pace Academy Alumni Asso-ciation has recognized a rising senior with the Alumni Scholar Award. The recipient must embody Pace’s values of high moral character, academic achievement, leadership and service, thereby enriching the school community as a whole.

A committee of alumni selects the winner following faculty nominations and inter-views, and the award includes a significant financial scholarship. Selection as an Alumni Scholar is a vote of confidence and a call for continued leadership at Pace and beyond.

This year, under the leadership of Trustee and Scholarship Committee Chair JOHN INMAN ’83, the committee redefined the coveted award to ensure that it is regarded as one of Pace’s most prestigious honors. As part of the changes, the scholarship amount was increased to $10,000, to be applied to the winner’s senior-year tuition.

Below, we catch up with past Alumni Scholar Award winners…

BEN WISE ’97

A published author with a Ph.D. from Rice University; associate professor at the Uni-versity of Florida specializing in modern American and southern history, gender, sex-uality and cultural history

DAVID ZANE ’98

A graduate of Hamilton College; director of brand marketing at NASCAR; previously held multiple roles at ESPN, most recently associate director of sports marketing

ASHLEY BROWN ’99

An alumna of the University of Pennsylva-nia, Yale School of Divinity and Princeton Theological Seminary; ordained in the Afri-can Methodist Episcopal Church

ADAM CHALKER ’00

A graduate of Davidson College and George Washington University; director of customer experience at PlotWatt, a company that helps reduce energy bills by providing customized money-saving recommendations

ANDY RIDALL ’01

Attended Middlebury College; now an in-ternational investment writer for Templeton Global Advisors

CHRISTOPHER GODFREY ’02

A graduate of Washington & Lee University and Emory University’s Goizueta Business School; now an equity analyst at Invesco in Houston, Texas; previously assistant vice president at Regions Business Capital

PETE GOODRICH ’03

An alumnus of Rhodes College; director of college placement, history teacher and coach at Christchurch School in Christchurch, Va.; pursing a master’s in educational leadership at the College of William & Mary

MAGGIE O'HAIRE '04

After receiving a bachelor’s degree in psy-chology from Vassar College, O’Haire

(pictured at the 2014 American Aus-tralian Association Awards, left)

moved to Australia to attend the University of Queensland on a Fulbright Scholarship and study the effects of ani-

CHECKING IN WITH ALUMNI SCHOLAR AWARD RECIPIENTS

Researched and compiled by KAMRAN SADIQ ’15

A LEGACY OF LEADERSHIP

ALUMNI

mal-assisted intervention for children with autism. She completed her Ph.D. and received the Dean’s Award for Outstanding Research Higher Degree Thesis, given annually by the University of Queensland to fewer than 10 percent of candidates.

Now stateside, O’Haire is a statistician con-sultant for the American Humane Association in Denver, Colo., and an assistant professor of human-animal interaction in the Purdue University College of Veterinary Medicine’s Department of Comparative Pathobiology.

BAILEY QUINTRELL ’05

Attended the Georgia Institute of Technol-ogy, graduating with a degree in mechanical engineering; now territory sales manager for Caterpillar Inc.

LARA GOODRICH EZOR ’06

A graduate of Whitman College and Tufts Uni-versity’s Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy; director of community nourishment at Lighter, a Boston company challenging the standard American diet and celebrating food; currently hiking the entire Pacific Crest Trail with husband ZACK EZOR ’06

SIMONE MOORE ’07

An alumna of Wesleyan University; now a writer, poet and performer in Los Angeles, Calif.; also works in development for Cartel, a production company

NICHOLAS RHODES '08

After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania, Rhodes (pictured on right side of group shot, opposite page), moved to New York City, where he now works as an ana-lyst for Morgan Stanley’s Non-Agency RMBS trading desk within the company’s Securi-tized Products Group.


ALUMNI


MEET MARK HANDLER, 2015 ALUMNI SCHOLAR AWARD RECIPIENTThere’s no doubt that incoming Student Body President and 2015 Alumni Scholar Award winner junior MARK HANDLER is ready to lead. Handler has been deeply involved in many aspects of campus life: scoring goals for the varsity boys soccer team, leading discussions during Student Council meetings and spending his Satur-days with fellow classmates at the Atlanta Community Food Bank.

In addition, Handler plays club soccer in the summer and has been involved in Pace’s Keeping Pace program. He also works with local dog shelters while looking into opportunities to solve issues involving homeless animals. A member of the National Honor Society, Handler received the Crissa Noelle Hawkins Scholarship Award, the Dean’s Award for Character and the Sanford and Barbara Orkin Honor Scholarship.

Handler’s Pace responsibilities are not limited to the Student Council, however; he will also serve as an executive service leader, as a service leader for the Atlanta Food Bank and as a Peer Leader to the freshman class. Handler has not yet decided what he’ll study in college, but psychology, business and English are all strong possibilities.

He’s a true globetrot-ter and frequently visits cities up and down the Eastern Seaboard as well as countries across

the globe. Rhodes’ recent international adventures

include Montreal, Trinidad & Tobago, Sweden, Denmark and

France. A true citizen of the world, he loves pushing past his comfort zone, seeing new places, experiencing different cultures and meeting fascinating people. Rhodes and his family will soon spend two weeks in Cambodia and Thailand.

STREETER NOLAN ’09

Nolan (pictured below) at-tended Vanderbilt University, where she majored in commu-nications studies and earned minors in corporate strategy and art history. Throughout col-lege, she remained active on and off campus as a member of Delta Delta Delta Sorority and a volunteer for Manna Project International, a service program that provides aid to Latin America.

Nolan discovered her passion for fashion during several summer internships in New York City. Following her junior year, she served as a fashion intern at Vogue maga-zine, working directly with legends Grace Coddington and Anna Wintour.

Degree in hand, Nolan moved to New York and began

making a name for her-self; she eventually landed at Ralph Lauren as celebrity dressing coordinator. Nolan and

her boss have coordi-nated fashion logistics for

major events such as the Met Gala, Cannes Film Festival and

the Oscars, and through her collaborations with Vogue, E! News, and Access Hollywood, she’s worked closely with celebrities like Robin Wright, Kanye West, Anne Hathaway and Hillary Clinton.

CHRIS MERRITT ’10

Majored in economics with a minor in chem-istry at Wake Forest University; now working on Peachtree Orthopaedic Clinic’s support staff and as a pharmacy technician; applying to medical school

HURST WILLIAMSON ’11

A recent graduate of Rice University; ma-jored in history and political science with a focus on international relations; plans to pursue a career in diplomacy and is particu-larly interested in U.S.-African relations

COLIN BARHAM ’12

A student at New York Univer-sity’s Tisch School of the Arts

AMBER EASLEY ’13

Easley (pictured left) is speeding through college at

Clark Atlanta University and plans to graduate with a degree

in Spanish in the fall of 2016. Easley was recently inducted into Sigma Delta Pi National Hispanic Honor Society and is a Provost Scholar and a member of the Isa-bella T. Jenkins Honors Program.

Outside of her studies, Easley has been very involved in the Mighty Marching Pan-ther Band. She played piccolo and flute before becoming the head drum major for the 2015-2016 season. Easley was named Bandswoman of the Year, Most Outstand-ing Freshman, Best Female Marcher and Best Woodwind Player. To further her linguistic skills, she hopes to study abroad and plans to pursue Spanish and kinesiology in gradu-ate school.

NATHAN SOKOLIC ’14

A Magill Rhoads Scholar at Haverford Col-lege, where he plays varsity basketball and was a member of the First-Year Dean’s Council; a market analyst summer intern at Florence Healthcare in Atlanta

JACK SPENCER ’15

Received Pace’s Margery Russell Wilmot Spirit Award; will attend Sewanee: The University of the South, where he plans to play football

966 W. Paces Ferry Road NWAtlanta, Georgia 30327

www.paceacademy.org

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

Thanks for uKnighting!We are grateful to YOU for participating in The Pace Fund 2015! The Pace community raised over $1,780,500 for The Pace Fund this year. This milestone represents a new record for annual giving at Pace Academy.

Because of your annual gift,

Pace students can count on:

• Small class sizes

• Exceptional faculty

• Cutting-edge technology

• Beautiful facilities

• Brushes, stages, bats and nets

• Once-in-a-lifetime experiences

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