SAS to Celebrate New Head of School and Chapel Restoration

by Kevin Cummings, Messenger Staff Writer
Starting today (Friday) St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will celebrate two big occasions during Upper School Family Weekend, the installation of its new head of school and restoration of St. Andrew’s Chapel.
Karl Sjolund, the new head of school, will preach during the Eucharistic installation service at 2 p.m., today (Friday), Sept. 23, at the Outdoor Altar. The Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt, Episcopal Bishop of Tennessee, will be the celebrant at the service.
Sjolund, who was previously headmaster at Salem Academy in Winston Salem, N.C., started at SAS on July 1. He said the first two months have been frenzied and exciting.
“I’m drinking water from a firehose right now and I’m still trying to figure out what’s next. But I sure am having fun doing it,” he said.
Sjolund is only the third head of school in SAS’s 35-year history.
“I’m just so pleased with how welcoming this community is, the SAS community and also the greater Sewanee community,” he said. “It’s been such a warm embrace, it really has, for both my wife and I.”
Sjolund’s wife, Susan, is the new head coach for the University of the South’s equestrian team and they have twin daughters, one at Furman University and the other at Samford University.
He said staffing at SAS is almost complete and he is looking forward to the fall meeting of the board of trustees in October.
“I inherited a tremendous team of very talented professionals and I have added a new director of admissions, Anneke Skidmore, who’s an SAS graduate,” he said.
Enrollment is up by 16 students compared to last year, with 247 students enrolled at the school. This includes 77 boarding students and 31 international students.
He said the board will discuss such issues as the next capital projects for the school, increasing staff salaries and building the scholarship fund for students who need financial help.
Sjolund said he was drawn to SAS because of the location, but also because he loves the Episcopal boarding school environment and students from all over the world coming together for an education.
“It was the people more than anything else that sold me on it,” he said. “The leadership, the faculty and probably more than anything else, the students. I thought it was an incredibly talented, kind and happy student body and that was what I was looking for.”
On Sunday, Sept. 25, at 10:30 a.m., the school will also host a special rededication service at its newly-renovated Chapel, with the Rt. Rev. Neil Alexander, dean of Sewanee’s School of Theology, presiding.
SAS raised approximately $1.35 million, with about $850,000 of that for restoration of St. Andrew’s Chapel and the rest for an endowment for operation and maintenance of the Chapel, said Tim Graham, assistant to the head of school on special projects. The building, which was consecrated in 1914, seats approximately 250 people.
Workers started the restoration of the Chapel in April and have essentially completed a number of renovations, such as replacing and repairing stucco and wood, repairing the roof, landscaping, weathering windows and doors, removing carpeting, refinishing wood floors, a new fire alarm system, replacing the shingle roof with Spanish tile, a new sound system and restoring pews and artifacts.
Graham said about 450 donors contributed to the Chapel renovation and endowment with donations ranging from small to $200,000.
“The donors represented a broad base of support for the school, which really reflects the breadth of support for that Chapel, and the importance of the Chapel,” Graham said. “People understand the importance of the Chapel in the life of the school. It really is the central building on our campus.”
The project also included repairing and waterproofing the Chapel’s bell tower, which officials will name in honor of the late Bishop Robert Tharp, a former SAS trustee.
Both the installation ceremony and Chapel rededication are open to the public.

SAS Family Weekend to Include Two Celebrations

In addition to the usual class walk-throughs and parent meetings, St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School’s Upper School Family Weekend, Sept. 23–25, will include two special celebrations—the Installation of Head of School Karl J. Sjolund and the Rededication of the newly restored St. Andrew’s Chapel.
The weekend kicks off at 2 p.m., Friday, Sept. 23, with the installation ceremony of Karl J. Sjolund, the third head of school in the school’s 35-year history. The installation will be a Eucharist Service with the Rt. Rev. John C. Bauerschmidt, Bishop of Tennessee, celebrating and Sjolund preaching. Following the event there will be a reception. The public is invited.
Friday afternoon continues for the SAS community with a question and answer session with Dean of Students Laura Clay, Head of Upper School Kelley Black and student panelists. The Mountain Lion Invitational Cross Country meet begins at 4:30 p.m.
At 8 a.m., Saturday, Sept. 24, parents of senior students will gather to hear Sewanee Assistant Director of Financial Aid Denise Barry talk about the new FAFSA procedures and strategies for paying for college. The 9 a.m. all-parent meeting in McCrory Hall will be followed by a class walk-through. At noon, the varsity girls’ soccer team takes on Huntland High School. Senior players will be recognized before the game begins. The afternoon includes faculty office hours and a campus hike. Parents will enjoy a reception with the head of school and an evening Creative Expression Assembly, an opportunity to see some of the talent among the student body.
The Rt. Rev. Neil Alexander will preside at the Rededication of St. Andrew’s Chapel at 10:30 a.m., Sunday, Sept. 25. The Chapel recently underwent extensive restoration thanks to the generosity of more than 450 donors. St. Andrew’s-Sewanee welcomes the community to join in this service and celebration; seating may be limited.

SAS Students Honored for Achievements

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School honored students, faculty and staff during its Honors Day ceremony. The ceremony began with the presentation of the senior gift and banner. This year’s senior gift is a base for the baptismal font which will be installed in St. Andrew’s Chapel. The Chapel is currently being renovated but will be completed and rededicated in the fall.
SAS recognized the following students for outstanding academic achievements:
The Salutatorian Award was presented to  Grace Liu (Beijing, China). The Valedictorian Award was presented to Sophie Swallow (Sewanee);
Highest 9th grade academic average—Sophia Patterson (Sewanee); Highest 10th grade academic average—Cindy Chen (Qingdao, China) and Genevieve Rogers (Sewanee); Highest 11th grade academic average—Cooper Nickels (Manchester);
The National Merit Scholarship Program Commended Students—Joshua Alvarez (Sewanee) and Sophie Swallow (Sewanee);
Cum Laude Society New Members—Dan McNair (Monteagle), president Cooper Nickels (Manchester) and Fritz Stine (Cowan).
Academic awards for outstanding students in individual courses were presented to the following area students:
Health and Fitness Award—
Mariel Rinck (Sewanee);
Chorus—Sophie Swallow (Sewanee);
Technical Theater—Cooper
Nickels (Manchester);
Theater—Vanessa Moss (Sewanee);
Clay—Wesley Smith (Tullahoma);
Chinese II—Noah Mendlewski (Sewanee); Chinese IV—Blake Drinen (Sewanee); Chinese V—Daniel McNair (Monteagle);
Latin I—Kia Whitman (Coalmont); Latin II—Katie Giltner (Manchester; Latin III—Sophia Patterson (Sewanee); Latin IV—Carolyn Bruce (Monteagle);
Spanish II—Wesley Smith (Tullahoma); Spanish III—Cooper Nickels (Manchester); The Bun Pickering Spanish V Award—Jack Haight (Sewanee);
Biology—Andrew Bachman (Sewanee); Advanced Biology—Dan McNair (Monteagle); Advanced Chemistry—Andrew Bachman (Sewanee); The Michael S. Dalton Award for Excellence in Physics—Cooper Nickels (Manchester);
World History I—Sophia Hartman (Sewanee); United States History—Charles Jenkins (Whitwell);
Pre-Algebra—Sarah Beth Hobby (South Pittsburgh); Algebra I—Aidan Smith (Sewanee); Geometry—Jack Simons (Sewanee); Advanced Statistics—Tommy Oliver (Sewanee); The Sarah McPherson Carlos Calculus Award—Fritz Stine (Cowan);
9th grade English—Sophia Patterson (Sewanee); 10th grade English—Genevieve Rogers (Sewanee); The Frank Phillips White 11th Grade English Award—Annemieke Buis (Christiana); The Danny Griffiths Award for Excellence—Sophie Swallow (Sewanee); The Andrew Nelson Lytle Writing Award—Sophie Swallow (Sewanee); The James Agee Award for Non Fiction—Dan McNair (Monteagle).
Special awards were presented to the following:
Sewanee Military Academy Class of 1946 Junior Leadership Award—Caroline Graham (Tullahoma); The Sewanee Military Academy Memorial Merit Award—Abby Mainzer (Monteagle); The Josephus Conn Guild Colmore, Jr Award—Jack Haight (Sewanee);
The Mountain Mirror Literary Magazine Writing Award—Dan McNair (Monteagle); The Mountain Mirror Literary Magazine Art Award—Kyra Wilson (Sewanee); The Phoenix  Yearbook Award—Katie Giltner (Manchester); The Bayard Walters Broadcasting Award—Vanessa Moss (Sewanee); Acolyte Award—Sarah Grace Burns (Sewanee).

Theater—Vanessa Moss (Sewanee);

Clay—Wesley Smith (Tullahoma);

Chinese II—Noah Mendlewski (Sewanee); Chinese IV—Blake Drinen (Sewanee); Chinese V—Daniel McNair (Monteagle);

Latin I—Kia Whitman (Coalmont); Latin II—Katie Giltner (Manchester; Latin III—Sophia Patterson (Sewanee); Latin IV—Carolyn Bruce (Monteagle);

Spanish II—Wesley Smith (Tullahoma); Spanish III—Cooper Nickels (Manchester); The Bun Pickering Spanish V Award—Jack Haight (Sewanee);

Biology—Andrew Bachman (Sewanee); Advanced Biology—Dan McNair (Monteagle); Advanced Chemistry—Andrew Bachman (Sewanee); The Michael S. Dalton Award for Excellence in Physics—Cooper Nickels (Manchester);

World History I—Sophia Hartman (Sewanee); United States History—Charles Jenkins (Whitwell);

Pre-Algebra—Sarah Beth Hobby (South Pittsburgh); Algebra I—Aidan Smith (Sewanee); Geometry—Jack Simons (Sewanee); Advanced Statistics—Tommy Oliver (Sewanee); The Sarah McPherson Carlos Calculus Award—Fritz Stine (Cowan);

9th grade English—Sophia Patterson (Sewanee); 10th grade English—Genevieve Rogers (Sewanee); The Frank Phillips White 11th Grade English Award—Annemieke Buis (Christiana); The Danny Griffiths Award for Excellence—Sophie Swallow (Sewanee); The Andrew Nelson Lytle Writing Award—Sophie Swallow (Sewanee); The James Agee Award for Non Fiction—Dan McNair (Monteagle).

Special awards were presented to the following:

Sewanee Military Academy Class of 1946 Junior Leadership Award—Caroline Graham (Tullahoma); The Sewanee Military Academy Memorial Merit Award—Abby Mainzer (Monteagle); The Josephus Conn Guild Colmore, Jr Award—Jack Haight (Sewanee);

The Mountain Mirror Literary Magazine Writing Award—Dan McNair (Monteagle); The Mountain Mirror Literary Magazine Art Award—Kyra Wilson (Sewanee); The Phoenix  Yearbook Award—Katie Giltner (Manchester); The Bayard Walters Broadcasting Award—Vanessa Moss (Sewanee); Acolyte Award—Sarah Grace Burns (Sewanee).

SAS Graduation Events

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will host its commencement exercises during the weekend of May 20–22.
The weekend begins with the baccalaureate service at 5:30 p.m., today (Friday), May 20, at the school’s outdoor altar. This year’s baccalaureate speaker will be SAS English teacher Susan Core. The baccalaureate service is followed by a banquet for seniors, their families and guests in Robinson Dining Hall. The final event of the evening is the senior lead-out and Annie presentations in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts.
At 10 a.m., Saturday, May 21, the school community will gather under the tent at the outdoor altar for Honors Day, a celebration of student achievements throughout the year and major awards recognizing outstanding leadership, service and scholarship. Following the program, guests are invited to a reception in Simmonds Hall. Student artwork will be on display in the SAS Gallery throughout the weekend.
The weekend and the school year concludes on Sunday, May 22, with a commencement Eucharist and commencement exercises, which begin at 10 a.m. under the tent at the outdoor altar. There will be a reception in the Spencer Room.

SAS Class of 2016 Graduation Events

The thirty-two seniors in the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School Class of 2016 will graduate in commencement exercises during the weekend of May 20–22.
The weekend begins with the baccalaureate service at 5:30 p.m., Friday, May 20, at the school’s outdoor altar. This year’s baccalaureate speaker will be longtime and beloved SAS English teacher Susan Core, who is stepping down from her role this year. The baccalaureate service is followed by a banquet for seniors, their families and guests in Robinson Dining Hall. The final event of the evening is the senior lead-out and Annie presentations in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts. The Annies, an SAS tradition, is an opportunity for each senior to be honored with an original poem written by a faculty member in celebration of that senior. Events will end on Friday night at approximately 9 p.m.
At 10 a.m., Saturday, May 21, the school community will gather under the tent at the outdoor altar for Honors Day, a celebration of student achievements throughout the year and major awards recognizing outstanding leadership, service and scholarship. Retiring and departing faculty members will also be honored during the ceremony. Honors Day lasts about an hour. Following the program, guests are invited to a reception in Simmonds Hall. Student artwork will be on display in the SAS Gallery throughout the weekend.
The weekend and the school year concludes on Sunday, May 22, with a commencement Eucharist and commencement exercises, which begin at 10 a.m. under the tent at the outdoor altar. The graduation ceremony lasts about 90 minutes. Each senior will be awarded a diploma and receive a parting blessing. Following commencement exercises, there will be a reception in the Spencer Room of Langford Hall.

SAS Celebrates 35th Annual Earth Day

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will celebrate its 35th annual Earth Day on Wednesday, April 20. Since 1982, the school has suspended regular classes for one full day in celebration of the environment.
The festivities will kick off with an Earth Day Eve Film Festival on Tuesday night. Students will have a choice of movies to enjoy in the residential houses around campus.
The morning of Earth Day begins with a bike-in from Sewanee to the SAS campus. Students can join the convoy at the Kirby-Smith monument at 7:20 a.m., or at Shenanigans at 7:25 a.m. The school community will convene in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts at 8 a.m. for an Earth Day-inspired Creative Expression Assembly, an opportunity to share music, poetry and skits. Workshops begin at 8:30 a.m. Students, faculty, and community members will share their interests and expertise on a range of topics, including vegan baking, yoga, meditation, water use, nature photography, bike maintenance, fly fishing, farming and more.
At 11:15 a.m., Sewanee Farm Manager Carolyn Hoagland will speak on her positive outlook for our environmental future. Hoagland is a soil ecologist with dedication to sustainability principles and student collaboration. She is finishing a Ph.D. in soil and crop science at Colorado State University, where she also completed a master’s degree. She has a B.S. in environmental science from the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga, and a permaculture design certificate from Oregon State University. As Farm Manager, her projects include the construction of hoop houses and expansion of composting practices. The public is invited to this free lecture, held at McCrory Hall.
A noon feast of locally-sourced foods, including a smoked pig, will be prepared by students, faculty and staff. After the picnic everyone will gather for a faculty/staff soccer game, ice cream, music and more.

Alvarez Lectures at SAS

Photojournalist Stephen Alvarez of Sewanee will be the 2016 Bishop Reynolds Forum speaker at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee. His talk, which is open to the public, will be at 8 a.m., Wednesday, March 30, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts. 

A 1983 graduate of the school and a current parent, Alvarez spent his life exploring and photographing the world. He is an award-winning National Geographic photographer and filmmaker who produces global stories about exploration, culture, religion, archeology and the aftermath of conflict. He has published more than a dozen feature stories in National Geographic.

Alvarez has produced stories with National Public Radio, including a story on underground Paris that won a 2012 White House News Photographers Association award.

The Bishop Reynolds Forum brings a prominent speaker to campus each year to engage students and the community in a topic of current interest. The Bishop Reynolds Forum was established through an endowment in memory of The Rt. Rev. George Reynolds, the late Bishop of Tennessee and a former SAS trustee and parent. His daughter, Katherine, was a member of the Class of 1988. 

Anima Baroque at SAS

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will host Anima Baroque Music Ensemble at 7 p.m., Friday, Jan. 29, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts on the SAS campus. The concert is free and open to the public. Anima will present “Postcards from Orpheus.” 

This is an unusual opportunity to see Anima Baroque perform in this region, as most of their concerts take place in New York City. The musicians specialize in music for small ensemble and voice from the baroque and late Renaissance era, played on period instruments. 

The group features soprano Beth Anne Hatton, baroque violinist Vita Wallace, viola da gamba and lirone player Motomi Igarashi and baroque harpist Christa Patton. Anima’s performances are fresh, sincere, joyous and powerful, and connect today’s listeners with the music of 400 years ago.

Festive Music on the Mountain

The Sewanee Symphony Orchestra  (SSO) will present its annual holiday concert at 7:30 p.m., today (Friday), Dec. 4, in Guerry Auditorium. Under the leadership of César Leal, SSO will perform audience favorites including Rebecca Van de Ven performing Mozart’s Oboe Concerto, as well as the world premiere of “The Forest Through the Trees” by Jeremy Crosmer. Commissioned by SSO, this work was inspired by David Haskell’s book,“The Forest Unseen.”

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will host the MTSU Guitar Quartet at 7 p.m., Friday, Dec. 4, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts on the SAS campus. The MTSU Guitar Quartet will perform music from Renaissance and Baroque to contemporary American and Latin Music, including the music of Praetorius, Telemann, and more. The quartet members—Brad Poe, Ryan Jerzak, Alex Saber and Jacob Miears—are four of the finest classical guitarists in the state. 

The Sewanee Praise Gospel Choir will have a Christmas concert at 6:30 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 6, in St. Luke’s Chapel on campus. Come hear this amazing group of talented college students and community members sing praise and gospel music. A reception will follow in the Bishop’s Common.

At 12:30 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8, John Bordley will perform a carillon concert in Shapard Tower.

The Sewanee Folk Music Collective will have its winter concert at 7:15 p.m., Tuesday, Dec. 8, in St. Luke’s Chapel.

The St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School Winter Concert will be at 7 p.m., Wednesday, Dec. 9, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts on the school’s campus. Join the middle and upper school choruses and the upper school chamber ensemble for an evening of music, including tunes from Lennon and McCartney, Tchaikovsky and more. The choirs and ensemble are under the direction of Katherine Anderson.

The eighth annual Jazz on the Mountain concert, featuring the Little Big Band and Friends will be at 7:30 p.m., Thursday, Dec. 10, in the Ayres Multicultural Center at the corner of Alabama Avenue and Willie Six Road in Sewanee. 

Under the direction of Gary Sturgis, the Sewanee Chorale will perform its annual Christmas concert at 2 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 13, in All Saints’ Chapel. Ruth Cobb will accompany the Chorale.

All of these events are free and open to the public.

Tennessee Craft-Southeast Presents 20th Annual Holiday Studio Tour

Tennessee Craft- Southeast is having its 20th annual Holiday Studio Tour on the Mountain 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Saturday, Dec. 5, and 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Sunday, Dec. 6. Tennessee Craft-Southeast is the regional branch of Tennessee Craft, the statewide organization that supports and promotes all handmade crafts in Tennessee.

At its inception, the local studio tour ranged from Chattanooga to Tullahoma, but gradually, the tour focused increasingly on the Sewanee area because of the concentration of artists and exhibition spaces on the mountain. 

Thirty local and regional artists will show their work, ranging from textiles, sculpture, jewelry, pottery and glass to paintings, cast bronze, metal work and wood work. 

Sewanee artists who will open their studios to the public during the tour include Bob Askew, Claire Reishman, Archie Stapleton and Merissa Tobler. 

Other Sewanee locations displaying work are the Potter home, the Greenspace Art Collective, the American Legion Hall, Locals Gallery, Claiborne House (Otey’s parish hall), Shenanigans and the Spencer Room at St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School. 

Additionally, there is a group exhibition of all artists’ work in the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee Art Gallery, located in the center of the Simmonds Building at SAS. Most sites host several different artists showing their work, while the SAS Art Gallery presents an exhibition from all members of the group, in addition to SAS faculty and students. Most works featured in the Studio Tour Exhibition are for sale at the Gallery. 

There are six sponsors for the Holiday Studio Tour this year: Monteagle Inn, Mooney’s, Shenanigans, Locals, Sewanee Inn and the Blue Chair. Studio Tour brochures are available at each of these local businesses.

Bright yellow signs mark the tour route, and maps are available at all locations on the tour, as well as at all sponsors’ locations and on the Tennessee Craft-Southeast website,
<tennesseecraft.org/members/chap​ters/southeast>. 

SAS Announces New Head of School

The St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School board of trustees met on Oct. 10 and unanimously appointed Karl J. Sjolund to be the next permanent head of the school. His tenure will begin on July 1, 2016.

“Among a slate of highly qualified candidates, Karl stood out as particularly well-suited to lead SAS at this point in its history,” said Eunice Colmore, chair of the search committee and vice president of the SAS board of trustees.

Sjolund, a boarding school graduate himself, has devoted his career to living and working in boarding schools. He is currently in his ninth successful year as head of Salem Academy, a boarding and day school, like SAS, with both an essential church affiliation and a reciprocal relationship with its neighboring college. He is a man of great faith, confirmed in the Episcopal Church, and committed to the Episcopal educational model that values diversity in culture and thought.

During a 20-year career at his alma mater, Virginia Episcopal School, Sjolund served in a wide range of administrative positions, taught and coached. An active leader in the field of education, he is currently treasurer of the board of North Carolina Association of Independent Schools and an advisory board member of World View at University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

“Sjolund’s proven record of increasing enrollment, directing fund raising, improving student retention, leading strategic initiatives in campus improvement and balancing budgets will serve SAS well as it addresses the challenges and opportunities ahead,” Colmore said. “Throughout the search process, we were impressed not just by his résumé and strong references, but also by his faith, honesty and thoughtfulness.”

Sjolund earned a master of arts degree in private school leadership through Columbia University’s prestigious Klingenstein Fellows program. He received a bachelor of arts degree in economics at Virginia Military Institute, which he attended on a Division I baseball scholarship.

During his campus visit, Sjolund told the SAS community, “I am deeply committed to the unique educational environment that boarding schools provide and to the value that a strong boarding program offers day students and their families. 

“At St. Andrew’s-Sewanee, I see students who are being challenged in every aspect of their lives and who are answering those challenges because they thirst for knowledge of the good, the true and the beautiful. This is an extraordinary school that turns out confident young men and women who are turned on to learning,” he said.

Sjolund and his wife, Susan, will reside on the SAS campus. Their twin daughters, Berkley and Hannah, are freshmen in college.

Richard Westling, chair of the board of trustees, thanked Interim Head of School Judy Chamberlain for the leadership she will continue to provide during the remainder of this academic year.

“We are deeply grateful to the SAS community, search committee, and board of trustees for their involvement and patience throughout the search process. Together, we move forward with confidence that the SAS mission will find growing expression under Karl’s leadership,” Westling said.

IONA Opens New Season of Readings & Art

The Autumn Assembly of Authors at IONA: Art Sanctuary opens this month with a full slate of readings and art exhibits. The public is welcome, all events are free, and parking is available.

At 7 p.m., Friday, Sept. 18, there will be an exhibition of photographs by Sewanee native Elizabeth Core. Readers will be Lynn Cimino-Hurt, Chris McDonough and Laura Willis. Cimino-Hurt is a local writer and artist; she will read poetry. McDonough is a professor of classics at Sewanee who blogs regularly at <www.uncomelyandbroken.wordpress.com>.

At 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 20, there will be a tribute to Fulford Hall. Leslie Richardson will offer an introduction to poetry by David Landon and Richard Tillinghast. Billy Terrell will provide music. Core’s photography will also be on display.

On Friday, Sept. 25, at 7 p.m., there will be readings of poetry and verse by Virginia Craighill and Camila Hwang-Carlos. Bill Yelverton will accompany on guitar. 

At 2 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 27, Eugene Ham will talk about Fayetteville history; there will be readings by Alric McDermott, Jennifer Michael and Stephen Feeley.

On Oct. 2 and Oct. 4, Rachel Malde will have an exhibit of her photography; Alston McCrady will also exhibit photographs. Readers will include April Berends, Yolande and Robin Gottfried, Robie Jackson and Waring McCrady.

On Oct. 9 and Oct. 11, there will be a painting exhibit by Addison Willis. Readers will include Kiki Beavers and John Beavers, Kevin Cummings, Noah Feeley, Luann Landon, Leslie Lytle and Bran Potter. The theatre students of St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will also perform at IONA that weekend.

IONA: Art Sanctuary, founded by Sewanee artist Ed Carlos, exists “to offer a place for writers and artists to share their creative work with each other and the community, and our emphasis is the source: creativity and spirituality.”

Refreshments are served after each program. These events are free and open to the public. Additional dates and readers will be announced throughout the fall. IONA: Art Sanctuary is located at 630 Garnertown Rd., Sewanee.

Community Bells Tolled in Solidarity with Emanuel AME Church

On Sunday, June 21st , at 9 a.m., churches on this Mountain will ring bells in solidarity with Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, South Carolina, in the wake of the tragic events of June 17.

Tomorrow, bells will ring at Otey Parish, the Chapel of the Apostles and the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School. At All Saints’ Chapel, there will be a four-bell peal of the carillon for one minute followed by “Nine Tailors” on the George Bentley bells.

May these bells symbolize the deep yearning of all people of good will that tragedies of this nature will some day come to an end.

SAS Welcomes Alumni

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will host several hundred alumni and their guests for the school’s annual Alumni Weekend, today (Friday)–Sunday, June 5–7. SAS, which was formed by the merger of Sewanee Academy and St. Andrew’s School in 1981, also welcomes the alumni of its parent schools, including St. Mary’s School and the Sewanee Military Academy (SMA). Milestone reunions this year (fifth, 10th, 25th, etc.) are from the classes ending in 5s and 0s, but many SAS alumni and their families make this an annual pilgrimage.

The weekend begins today (Friday)with a golf tournament at the Course at Sewanee and dinner under the tent on the SAS Quad featuring music by Herschel Van Dyke, ’03.

Saturday, June 6, continues with an awards brunch, where this year’s Distinguished Alumni Award recipients will be surgeons Dr. Clifton Lewis StA ’75 of Birmingham, Ala. and Dr. William Turner, SMA ’65 of Dallas. The 1965 Reunion Classes of SMA, St. Andrew’s and St. Mary’s will be awarded their 50th-year medallions. In the afternoon there will be a memorial tea honoring longtime SAS Latin teacher Ruth Benson. On Saturday evening, alumni reconvene for the Alumni Parade under the tent for dinner and entertainment.

Residents along Tennessee Avenue can expect to be awakened at 9:45 a.m., Sunday, by the sounds of the Highlander Pipes and Drums Corps. Led by the 50th reunion class, former cadets will re-enact their weekly march from Quintard Hall to All Saints’ Chapel. 

The weekend concludes with a 10:30 a.m. Holy Eucharist in St. Andrew’s Chapel, where the StA ’65 class banner will be retired, followed by a farewell brunch.

Throughout the weekend there will be activities for children, swimming and canoeing at the Res, and late-night bonfires.

The Sunday march and church service are open to the public. Area alumni are asked to register online for all other activities on the school’s main website or by contacting the Alumni Office by email, <sasalumni@sasweb.org>. Registration will also be available on campus beginning at 10 a.m., today (Friday), June 5, and 8:30 a.m.–1 p.m., Saturday, June 6.

SAS Class of 2015 Graduation

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will graduate the class of 2015 on Sunday, May 17, at the school’s outdoor altar. 

The year-end festivities begin with the Baccalaureate service at 5:30 p.m., Friday, May 15. The Baccalaureate speaker will be Nontombi Naomi Tutu, race and gender justice activist. Following the service, seniors and their guests will proceed to the senior banquet in the Robinson Dining Hall.

The evening ends with the Senior Lead Out and Presentation of the Annies in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts. The Lead Out and Annies are both traditions from SAS parent schools Sewanee Military Academy and St. Andrew’s School and are a combined event. At McCrory Hall, seniors and their escorts will ascend the stage for the presentation of their Annies. The Annie presentation celebrates each senior in a unique way with an original poem and/or limerick about them and a handcrafted clay medallion.

Saturday, May 16, is Honors Day. The Honors Day ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the Outdoor Altar. Honors Day is an annual celebration of achievement, service and leadership in the upper school. 

An exhibition of student work will be in the Art Gallery in Simmonds Hall. A reception will be held in Simmonds Hall after the ceremony. Students’ creative work will be on exhibit in the adjacent SAS Gallery at that time and throughout the weekend.

The Commencement Eucharist and exercises begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Following the service and the official closing of the school year, there will be a reception in the Spencer Room in Langford Hall.

For the complete graduation schedule or more information go to <www.sasweb.org>.

SAS Commencement Weekend May 15–17

On Sunday, May 17, St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School will graduate the Class of 2015 at the school’s Outdoor Altar. 

The year-end festivities begin with the Baccalaureate service at 5:30 p.m., Friday, May 15. The Baccalaureate speaker will be Nontombi Naomi Tutu, race and gender justice activist. Following the service, seniors and their guests will proceed to the senior banquet in the Robinson Dining Hall.

The evening ends with the Senior Lead Out and Presentation of the Annies in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts. The Lead Out and Annies are both traditions from SAS parent schools Sewanee Military Academy and St. Andrew’s School and are a combined event. At McCrory Hall, seniors and their escorts will ascend the stage for the presentation of their Annies. The Annie presentation celebrates each senior in a unique way with an original poem and/or limerick about them and a handcrafted clay medallion, produced by SAS faculty members.

Saturday, May 16, is Honors Day. The Honors Day ceremony will be at 10 a.m. at the Outdoor Altar. Honors Day is an annual celebration of achievement, service and leadership in the upper school. An exhibition of student work will be in the Art Gallery in Simmonds Hall. A reception will be held in Simmonds Hall after the ceremony. Students’ creative work will be on exhibit in the adjacent SAS Gallery at that time and throughout the weekend.

The Commencement Eucharist and exercises begin at 10 a.m. on Sunday morning. Following the service and the official closing of the school year, there will be a reception in the Spencer Room in Langford Hall.

SAS Board Announces Interim Head of School

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School’s board of trustees announced on April 2 that Judith Chamberlain has been appointed as interim head of school for the 2015–16 academic year.

Chamberlain will lead SAS while a committee made up of trustees, alumni, faculty, parents and administrators conducts a national search for the permanent head, who will begin July 2016.

A lifelong educator and seasoned administrator, Chamberlain is the former head of Gifft Hill School in St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands; Calmont School in Topanga, Calif.; Ransom Everglades School in Miami, Fla; and Winchester Thurston School in Pittsburgh, Pa. She has built her career on re-imagining K–12 learning, integrating experiential learning into a standards-based curriculum and managing enrollment. 

Chamberlain began her career as a Latin teacher in the District of Columbia Public Schools, going on to serve for 13 years as a teacher and the director of the middle school at National Cathedral School in Washington, DC.

SAS board president Richard Westling said, “Judy’s leadership experience, her insight and her demonstrated knowledge of school operations and governance will serve us well as we prepare the school for new leadership.” In announcing the appointment, Westling noted Chamberlain’s accomplishments in increasing both enrollment and faculty compensation at her last two schools.

Chamberlain holds a bachelor of arts in Latin from George Washington University and a master of arts in Latin from the Catholic University of America. She has done coursework in education at District of Columbia Teachers College and Columbia University, where she was a Klingenstein Fellow.

Chamberlain will begin her tenure at SAS on July 1.

Noted Author to Speak at SAS

This year’s Bishop Reynolds Forum speaker will be author and journalist Richard Louv. Louv will be speaking to the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee community at 8 a.m., Friday, April 10, in McCrory Hall for the Performing Arts. The public is invited to attend.
Louv is the author of eight books, including “Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children from Nature-Deficit Disorder” and “The Nature Principle: Reconnecting with Life in a Virtual Age.”
As co-founder and chairman emeritus of the Children & Nature Network, Louv has catalyzed the creation of an international movement to connect people and communities to the natural world.
Louv appears frequently on national radio and television programs, including the Today Show, CBS Evening News, and NPR’s Fresh Air, and often addresses national and international gatherings. In 2010, he delivered the plenary keynote at the national conference of the American Academy of Pediatrics, and in 2012 was keynote speaker at the first White House Summit on Environmental Education.
In 2008, he received the Audubon Medal; past recipients include Rachel Carson, E.O. Wilson and Jimmy Carter.
Louv’s appearance is made possible by the support of The Friends of South Cumberland State Park. Louv will also be the keynote speaker at Trails & Trilliums on Saturday, April 11.
The Bishop Reynolds Forum brings a prominent speaker to campus each year to engage students and the community in a topic of current interest. The Bishop Reynolds Forum was established through an endowment in memory of The Rt. Rev. George Reynolds, the late Bishop of Tennessee and a former SAS trustee and parent. Reynold’s daughter Katherine was a graduate of the SAS Class of 1988.

SAS Girls' Wrestling Team Places Second at State

St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School student Abby Mainzer earned the title as the first girls’ heavyweight wrestling champion in the state of Tennessee at the state meet on Feb. 13–14. The SAS girls’ team placed second overall. From left: coach McLain Still, Kia Whitman, Mainzer and Zaferah Fortune. For the full story, go to the full edition and see page 12.

Happy Birthday, Messenger. A Word from the Editor.

Happy 30th Birthday, Sewanee Mountain Messenger

by Laura L. Willis, Editor

Is the printed newspaper on its death bed? Will we read all our news online in the future? I’m no prognosticator, but I know one thing: I believe in community newspapers. And I believe in the Sewanee Mountain Messenger.

Thirty years ago this week, the Messenger published its first issue. Geraldine Hewitt Piccard had great writing and editing skills, plus a typewriter, so she could begin a community paper. She’d planned on it beginning in early February, but the catastrophic ice storm of 1985 slowed her plans. With the help of Mary Smalley as business manager, Geraldine sold the ads, wrote the copy, and produced that eight-page issue on 9x12 white paper. The University press did the actual printing and she distributed it to post offices and businesses in the area. 

On page 1 under the headline, “Community Spirit,” she described the many people who helped Sewanee and her residents survive that historic storm: Carl Reid, Doug Seiters, Dwight Sholey, Ernie Butner, Galon Sherrill, Jim Franklin, Dan Rather, Bob Ayres, John Kildoo, Tom Watson, Doug Cameron, John Greeter, Lisa and Tim Keith-Lucas, and the members of the Sewanee Fire Department. If you’re new to Sewanee, you might recognize only a few of these names; if you’ve been on this Mountain for awhile, reading this list of names may stir memories for you.

In that first issue there are advertisements, many of which remain the same today. For their continuing support, I want to thank the Lemon Fair, Rob Matlock Construction, Monteagle Florist, Sewanee Auto Repair, the Sewanee Inn, the Sewanee Market, Shenanigans and Taylor’s Mercantile. 

Also in Vol. 1, No. 1, were many of the very same things that appear in our paper today: a notice of the Otey Parish Shrove Tuesday Pancake Supper, the obituaries of esteemed community members, birth announcements and wedding announcements, descriptions of meetings and gallery openings, a call for singers to join the Sewanee Chorale in its spring production of “H.M.S. Pinafore,” reviews of the SUT movies, the St. Andrew’s-Sewanee School’s headmaster’s honors list, and a couple of letters to the editor (which are really letters to the community-at-large). The back page was, even then, devoted to the community calendar.

Looking back at its beginnings, the Messenger has always been dedicated to supporting the greater Sewanee area by providing news and information that affect residents’ lives and encourage meaningful community engagement. We are more explicit about this mission now, especially as we watch the number of newspapers decline and the news business change dramatically. Our mission hasn’t changed, but we are very clear about our role in this community. You won’t learn about the votes scheduled in the State Senate; you won’t read stories that “shout” at you or provoke you; and you won’t be embarrassed if your name appears on our pages. We are, with only the tiniest hint of irony, the Good News Newspaper.

Geraldine brought to life the Sewanee Mountain Messenger from the Sewanee Siren, the community newspaper from 1967 to 1984. We haven’t changed its name, but the paper continues to evolve. While we dabble in an online presence, we know that most of you still like to hold the Messenger in your hands and read it on paper, whether standing at the table in the post office or sitting with a cup of coffee at the Blue Chair or pushing a cart through the Piggly Wiggly. 

The printed newspaper is not dead, especially on this Mountain. I believe in our little free, weekly community newspaper. And I think you do too. May the Sewanee Mountain Messenger continue to be of service to the people of this Plateau for another 30 years.