School News
The Girls Preparatory School Drama Department will present the Tony Award- winning play “The Miracle Worker” this weekend in the school’s Frierson Theatre. The play, based on Helen Keller’s biography, is the story of Alabama native Helen Keller and her governess/teacher Annie Sullivan, who teaches the blind and deaf child both discipline and language.
Performances are set for Friday and Saturday, Nov. 6-7, at 7 p.m. and Sunday, Nov. 8 at 2:30 p.m. General admission tickets are $6 and will be available 30 minutes before show time at the door. There are no pre-sold tickets; those needing further information should call 634-7692.
GPS and McCallie School students in starring roles are Laura Laughlin as Annie Sullivan; Shelby DeWeese as Helen Keller; and Maddie Casey and Hayden Sloan as the Keller parents.
The play is directed by GPS Director of Drama Suzanne Smartt, assisted by student director Sarah Thomas. GPS junior Taylor Boyd is the sign language coach, and the stage manager is senior Emily Dilbeck.
Frances Street Smith ’48 and her husband Gordon were honored on Wednesday, Nov. 4 as Chattanooga’s Outstanding Philanthropists of 2009 by the Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP). The program noted their quiet but steady philanthropy to United Way, their alma maters GPS and McCallie, Allied Arts, and Hospice of Chattanooga.
GPS Headmaster Randy Tucker presented the awards to all recipients and noted the grace and generous spirit of all Chattanoogans who support non-profit organizations.
Frances served on the GPS Board of Trustees for 26 years and was honored in 1984 as the school’s Distinguished Alumna. She has served as president of the Junior League and as a member of the boards of the UC Foundation, Metropolitan Council for Community Service, Baroness Foundation of Erlanger Medical Center and the local chapter of the American Red Cross. Their family’s philanthropic offerings have made a unique impact on Chattanooga and GPS.
Peggy Evans Thomas, longtime contributor to the physical education and dance program at GPS, was honored on Tuesday, Nov. 3, as the 2009 Pathfinder for the state of Tennessee by the National Association for Girls and Women in Sport. Past recipients have included University of Tennessee basketball coach Pat Summitt.
The award was established to honor women who have demonstrated continuous dedication to the advocacy, recruitment, and enhancement of girls and women in sports and sport leadership in their states.
Peggy Thomas taught P.E. and dance at GPS for over 30 years. Beginning in 1953, she established a rigorous physical education curriculum and implemented varsity programs in basketball, volleyball, tennis, swimming, golf, and track, serving as the coach for most of those teams. Continuing her philosophy of broad-based participation rather than opportunities for only the select few, 61% of students currently enrolled at GPS participate in interscholastic athletics. At GPS, she was also the Director for Terpsichord, Tennessee’s first high school contemporary dance company. At GPS, she was the recipient of the Outstanding Teacher Award and is the namesake of the Peggy Evans Thomas Dance Studio and the Peggy Thomas 100% Award, given annually at Class Day ceremonies.
She is a charter member of the GPS Athletic Hall of Fame. Eighteen of the other 20 women currently in the GPS Athletic Hall of Fame are her former students and athletes, including luncheon attendees Teresa Lawrence Phillips, athletics director at Tennessee State; Janet Parks, distinguished professor at Bowling Green State University; Laura Strang, and Debbie Young, GPS Admissions Director.
A “Going Green on Halloween” carnival on Sat., Oct. 31 was hours-long entertainment for students in local elementary schools, alumnae families, and Camp Kaleidoscope summer campers. The inaugural event, concluding a week of Robin Hood fundraising fun, featured a costume parade, storytelling, cookie decorating, tie-dye making, bowling and face painting, as well as hot dogs, chips, and ice cream for the hungry parents.
Local businesses such as Mercatinos, Good Dog, and Pino Gelato were on hand to supplement the many food choices from student-run booths that offered French crepes and caramel apples. Many local GPS alumnae were in attendance, with children in princess and pirate themed attire. Those in the market for a small bowl of goldfish or a chance at an embroidered pillow shopped alongside students looking for good used clothing at a booth sponsored by the GPS Student Council. GPS Headmaster Randy Tucker was spotted designing a beaded bracelet, and history teacher David Cook joined other moms and dads in showing their small children the way through an inflatable obstacle course.
Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to Take Root Chattanooga, Green Spaces Chattanooga, and Kiva, an international micro-financing organization.
Sixteen current GPS eighth graders qualified last spring for State Recognition in the 2008-09 Duke University Talent Identification Program (Duke TIP). Over half of their classmates, by virtue of their standardized test scores, were eligible to participate in the program. State Recognition candidates included Anne Elizabeth Bailey, Madison Bratcher, Anna Carroll, Peyton Costa, Macy Cox, Lauchlan Davis, Rebecca Jenkins, Jacqueline Kliner, Taylor Pels, Ashley Christenson Ramsey, Christian Shaheen, Bonnie St. Charles, Caroline Stitts, Jaimie Thompson, Madison Ward, and Lucy Whitfield.
This fall, 32 GPS seventh graders have scored in the 95th percentile on a grade-level achievement test and been invited to take the ACT or SAT test as part of the Duke TIP 2009-10 program. Those whose scores enable them to take advantage of the opportunity for enhanced learning experiences are Rebecca Baker, Chelsea Berghorn, Nicole Blohm, Angela Bonds, Carly Bourne, Savannah Camp, Anjali Chandra, Ayda Fisher, Ragan Foley, April Forsthoffer, Alex George, Rebecca Goodrich, Mary Claire Graham, Sarah Jane Green, MacKenzie Hobbs, Najia Humayun, Maddie Logan, Katie McDougal, Hannah Mills, Anina Mu, Hira Munir, Anna Claire Pierce, Olivia Ray, Lindsey Rufolo, Nia Sanders, Grace Sanford, Cami Shands, Hannah Thel, Katherine Ward, Anne Miller Welborn, Savannah Williams, and Meg Winchester.
The Duke TIP is a non-profit that identifies academically talented students and offers them a variety of resources for unique educational opportunities, including summer courses, field studies, scholar weekends, and distance or at-home learning programs. According to GPS Middle School Principal Elaine Milazzo, “The classes of 2014 and 2015 are very talented in all areas. I am pleased that these young women bring their gifts to our school community.”
Paula Mirk, the Director of Education at the Institute for Global Ethics, was the keynote speaker Thursday, Oct. 29, on the opening day of the first Global Think Tank sponsored by Girls Preparatory School. Mirk presented the more than 40 attendees from national and local schools with the question, “What does it mean to be a global citizen?”
Her ensuing conversation with the audience revealed her belief that “ethics can be a linchpin” to students’ finding a connection between personal experience and the curriculum that they study. The institute’s work, she said, is to encourage the use of a “language of ethics” that answers the question “What’s right?” instead of “What’s in it for me?” or “Who’s winning?”
Concepts related to global ethics, she explained, include an “obedience to the unenforceable,” judgment, reason, and critical thinking. The bulk of the institute’s work is getting people to “articulate the reasoning behind their decision-making” and identify values shared by cultures across the globe. The institute’s 500 trainers have worked within schools and community groups worldwide to discover that those shared values usually include respect, responsibility, loyalty, integrity, freedom, and compassion.
Concluding that people are “on a permanent learning curve” in regard to acting ethically, she said she loved working with students, the next generation who will “make it a habit to think and act ethically” if taught “how to think” as well as “what to think.”
Group sessions later in the day covered topics such as “Ethics and Social Justice,” “Connecting Globally through Technology,” “Integrating Global Awareness into the Classroom” and “Green and Global Go Hand in Hand.”
The keynote speaker for Friday is former Tennessee Senator Bill Brock, the founder of Bridges Learning Systems and a consultant specializing in education and trade issues.
Robin Hood, the annual fall fundraiser, is continuing its interest and involvement in more socially-conscious fundraising this year with a theme that reflects the school initials and the students’ interests: “Girls Promoting Sustainability: The Greening of the Blue.”
Robin Hood is taking place on the front lawn during the school’s lunchtime hours from Tuesday, Oct. 27 through Friday, Oct. 30. A “Going Green on Halloween” carnival on Sat., Oct. 31 will be held for students in local elementary schools, alumnae families, and Camp Kaleidoscope summer campers.
On Tuesday, students, parents, and faculty shopped through an array of local crafts with a recycled theme and selected cupcakes, caramel apples, gelato, or French crepes for desserts. Chattanooga’s Recycle Right mascot was on hand to encourage signup for the city’s recycling program.
The educational emphasis this year is on educating the student body about the importance of making everyday changes to support the environment and promote sustainability. GPS Senior and Robin Hood chair Claire Samuels says, “We hope that the students will take this information home with them, or in the case of the seniors, off to college next year. Whether it’s by saving money and energy by switching to compact fluorescent light bulbs, learning about recycling, or starting a compost pile, we can make changes which positively impact our world.”
Two years ago, the school made some additions to the annual fundraiser, adding a fair trade booth from the Chattanooga business World Next Door. 
“This year,” says Samuels, “we’re taking that concept one step further by bringing in additional local vendors and artisans from the community.” Instead of contacting chain restaurants to sell food during the event, the committee this year has contributions coming from locally owned businesses such as Lupi’s, Koch’s Bakery, Good Dog, Pino Gelato and Mercatino. The businesses have agreed to donate a percentage of their sales to the cause.
Proceeds from the fundraiser will go to Take Root Chattanooga, Green Spaces Chattanooga, and Kiva, an international micro-financing organization.
The Cathie Kasch Student Choreography Concert and Competition was established last year by the Tennessee Association of Dance in recognition of the GPS Terpsichord director’s passion for dance.
Neither Kasch nor her student choreographer/dancers dreamed last year that an admittedly quirky piece in the 2009 GPS spring concert would capture first prize in this fall’s competition which was held at Austin Peay State University during TAD’s annual conference.
The competition featured four student groups, three from high schools and one from the host university. After the performances, each group had 20-25 minutes of “constructive criticism” with the adjudicating professors, who came from Tisch University in NYC and Temple University in Philadelphia, according to Laurel Zahrobsky, GPS dance teacher.
“Copata Genico,” presented by Terpsichord juniors Sarah Evatt, Eller Mallchok, Sarah Douglas McCall, and Emily Rice, was noted by the judges for its “great use of space, level of maturity, and facial expression.” The piece “took dance to a new level,” said the panel of judges.
“We collaborate more than most programs,” says Zahrobsky. “All four of the girls contributed to the choreography.” The GPS ensemble walked away with the first-place cash prize of $250 for “emerging choreographers” and is hoping that Terpsichord will always be represented at the competition named in honor of their director.
GPS will be hosting the girls’ state soccer championships the first week of November, and they’d like to be among the teams vying for the title. They took one step toward that goal on Saturday, Oct. 24 in the first round of the D-II playoffs by defeating Brentwood Academy in a shootout after a 1-1 regulation draw.
In the final minute of regulation, Heather Daniel scored an unassisted goal to tie the game, but neither team scored in three overtimes, so the game advanced to penalty kicks, where the Bruisers took a 5-4 win. Keeper Simone Busby stopped the second Brentwood PK.
GPS (9-5-2) moves on to a rematch with Baylor on Saturday, Oct. 31. Maybe Halloween will be a good time to scare the Lady Red Raiders into a loss and a spot for GPS in the state tournament.
Dr. Robert Ehrenreich, Director of Educational Programs at the United States Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C,. was the Lunchtime Learning speaker on Thursday, Oct. 22. Dr. Ehrenreich presented an abbreviated history of genocide as seen in Nazi Germany and more recently in the Sudan, and he encouraged students to join the student-run Save Darfur Organization to help create awareness of the crisis there.
The Nazis learned several lessons as they increasingly marginalized the Jews from society in Germany, he said. They learned that by enacting laws gradually, society would be more accepting of the racist ideology, and they also learned that the German people wouldn’t speak up against the persecution is it was taking place outside Germany, in Poland and Latvia, for example.
“It is important to learn about the Holocaust,” he reminded the students, “to commemorate the destroyed population, to show the dangers of racism and anti-Semitism, and to remind people of their ethical and moral responsibilities.” Crediting the Catholic church with covertly saving “tens of thousands” of the Jews, he asked, “What if people had expressed more outrage and stood up against the Nazis?” Moral authority, he told the students, “brings special responsibility.”
A later Lunchtime Learning will bring to campus a panel of several refugees from African nations who were persecuted for their ethnicity or culture and who have settled in the Chattanooga area.
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