When Kavitha Kasturi walked into her first Student Diversity Leadership Conference in 2022, it was the first time she had been in a space in which most people belonged to historically underrepresented groups.

“The first moment you step into a room with thousands of kids from diverse backgrounds, it’s a different feeling—a great feeling, an immediate feeling of belonging,” said Kavitha.

The first moment you step into a room with thousands of kids from diverse backgrounds, it’s a different feeling—a great feeling, an immediate feeling of belonging.—Kavitha Kasturi, class of 2025

Held every year during the week after Thanksgiving, the Student Diversity Leadership Conference brings together student and adult representatives from independent schools across the US and abroad. Organized by the National Association of Independent Schools, SDLC takes place alongside the organization’s People of Color Conference. Both gatherings provide opportunities to self-reflect, connect with others, and learn how to build inclusive, equitable, and just classrooms and communities.

Because Rowland Hall believes in the importance of these conferences and the benefits they bring to the school community, every year the school pays to send a group of faculty and staff, as well as six Upper School students, to them. Each year, these representatives leave SDLC and PoCC inspired and excited to share what they learned with their community at Rowland Hall.

As in years past, when the 2023 SDLC wrapped, the student representatives—then juniors Kavitha Kasturi, Tenzin Sivukpa, Mattie Sullivan, Sylvia Rae Twahirwa, and Evan Weinstein, and then 10th grader Gavin Schmidt—were looking forward to sharing their experience back at school. But the group, some of whom were repeat conference attendees, also felt a pull to think bigger.

That’s because the students knew, as of 2023, Rowland Hall was the only Utah independent school that attended SDLC—meaning very few students in the state benefit from the four-day experience. While they’d be sharing what they learned with their Upper School peers, they worried it was too small an impact. They wondered if there was a way to expand their reach. As the Rowland Hall representatives gathered for a debriefing on the last day of the conference, an exciting idea was floated: Could the students create their own SDLC-inspired conference for other Utah high schoolers?

It’s the kind of idea that could easily be shared then forgotten, but in the weeks following their return to campus, the SDLC group—along with then junior Hasan Rahim, who had attended SDLC in 2022, and then ninth grader Aoife Canning—kept the conversation going. Guided by advisors Dr. Kate Taylor, Dr. Chandani Patel, and Harper Lundquist ’16, the students began discussing all that actually goes into planning a conference, as well as what elements of SDLC they wanted to keep and what they thought was missing from the experience. Dr. Taylor wasn’t surprised by what she witnessed.

“This group happens to be very action-oriented, which is something I love about them,” she said. “They’re big visionary thinkers.”

And before they knew it, these visionaries’ questions had transformed into a solid plan. By January, they were working on what would soon be known as Wings of Inclusion: Cultivating Joy in Education, a first-of-its-kind student-led conference scheduled for Friday, September 6, and Saturday, September 7, at the Lincoln Street Campus.

In the months that followed, the students immersed themselves in the complicated world of event planning. Between classes and extracurriculars, and then during summer break, the group tackled a long to-do list: design a logo and marketing plan, craft a schedule, communicate with speakers and performers, extend invitations, identify facilitators, arrange catering, decide on activities, gather discussion questions. In line with priority 2 of Rowland Hall’s strategic vision, advisors were on hand for guidance as needed, but focused on empowering the students to make decisions and take the lead as much as possible.

As summer drew to a close and a new school year ramped up, the group put the finishing touches on their conference and prepared to welcome students from Wasatch Academy, the Waterford School, Copper Hills High School, and Olympus High School to campus.

The Wings of Inclusion conference aimed to provide attendees with a space of belonging and safety, where everyone is celebrated for who they are and can connect, and even be vulnerable, with others.

Guided by the theme of Cultivating Joy in Education (which builds on Rowland Hall’s 2024–2025 school-wide theme, Joy, and was inspired in part by a presentation the students heard from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, author of Unearthing Joy), the Wings of Inclusion conference aimed to provide attendees with the kind of space Kavitha remembered walking into for her first SDLC—one of belonging and safety, where everyone is celebrated for who they are and can connect, and even be vulnerable, with others. The schedule, thoughtfully crafted by the student organizers, included space for both affinity groups (groups that share identities) and family groups (groups of randomly mixed participants), as well as unstructured social time, meals, and performances by Punjabi Arts Academy, Salt Lake Capoeira, and Best of Africa.

The students also scheduled three guest speakers: Stacy Bernal, a candidate for Utah State Senate; Michelle Mooney, impact manager for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office; and Dr. Mary Ann Villarreal, vice president for diversity, equity, and student success at American Association of Colleges and Universities, and a Rowland Hall trustee. “Our main goal was to show there are people of color or other diverse identities in positions of power,” said organizer Sylvia Rae. They hoped student attendees would see themselves in these community leaders, and that the speakers’ stories about their personal and professional journeys would help attendees understand that leadership and changemaking were within their reach.

And while the conference’s attendees certainly had an impressive group of adults at the event to look up to (in addition to the speakers, Ryan Hoglund, Robin Hori, Dr. Lydia Jackson, Dr. Nate Kogan, and Stacia McFadden served as conference facilitators, while advisors Dr. Patel and Kaleb Nielsen coordinated the program), the strongest role models of the weekend were the student organizers themselves. In addition to managing the flow of the event, these students all took on the facilitation roles that make breakout spaces safe and provide valuable, joyful experiences for attendees, some of whom may feel unwelcome in other communities.

“There’s definitely a nurturing role, a caretaking role,” said Sylvia Rae about being a facilitator. “You’re bigger than yourself at that moment: ‘I’m facilitating this conversation and it's not about me now; it’s about others.’”

And though the Wings of Inclusion turnout was smaller than the students originally hoped for (30 people attended the inaugural conference), the size turned out to be beneficial. It allowed facilitators to lead deeper conversations and for all attendees to more fully participate. “It was the perfect amount of people,” reflected Sylvia Rae.

Speaker Michelle Mooney, who stayed for a breakout session after addressing the group on Saturday morning, said watching the student facilitators lead their groups was heartwarming, and even reinvigorated her feelings about her own role in the community—particularly when it comes to empowering rising leaders. Though still in her 20s, Michelle said she’s already thinking about the legacy she’ll leave for the next generation to carry on, and she hopes more professionals will recognize the capabilities of students and young adults and help cultivate them as leaders.

“We don’t need to doubt that the youth know what to do, and we really need to empower our youth to feel like they have a place,” said Michelle.

And as Wings of Inclusion showed, when students are empowered, they can do incredible things. As the conference wound down on Saturday evening, a feeling of joy could be felt on campus—an attestation of the small-but-mighty power of this student-created gathering that, only nine months earlier, had been but a question, a dream of a space in which students from across the state could gather to pour strength, love, and inspiration into one another.

To close the event, the organizers gathered the group for an open mic session. Though they knew speaking in front of others is scary, and they were a bit worried the minutes may be filled with silence, they wanted to provide a moment of reflection for attendees. They didn’t wait long before one student stood up. Another followed. Then another. As each student came to the mic, they shared their gratitude for this welcoming conference, for this safe space in which they could share their experiences and be themselves. Some said they had never had this kind of opportunity before. Some called out the guest speakers who made them feel that they, too, can make a difference. They were grateful. They were inspirational. “It was the best moment of the conference for me and my peers,” said Kavitha.

They felt so good for having created a space for people in the broader community, to see their efforts can have a positive impact, that their voices, their actions, have power.—Dr. Kate Taylor, Upper School English teacher

For Dr. Taylor, who supported the students’ dream from its earliest days, the positive feedback the students have received is incredibly well-deserved. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s an ongoing reminder to these young leaders that they are never too young to make real change.

“They felt so good for having created a space for people in the broader community, to see their efforts can have a positive impact, that their voices, their actions, have power,” said Dr. Taylor.

And the organizers can know that the inaugural (and soon to be annual) Wings of Inclusion conference will play an important role in helping more young adults from across the state believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference.

“Little things like this really matter. It made an impact,” said Kavitha. “It’s inspiring, and it made me want to keep going.”

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Banner: Rowland Hall seniors Tenzin Sivukpa, Mattie Sullivan, Evan Weinstein, Kavitha Kasturi, Hasan Rahim, and Sylvia Rae Twahirwa smile for a photo at the 2024 Wings of Inclusion Conference.

Equity & Inclusion

Excavators. Rocks. Dump trucks. Mud. When it comes to all that’s found on a busy construction site, there may be no group that appreciates it more than preschoolers.

And on one sunny Friday in early September, a group of Rowland Hall beginning schoolers had an experience that’s rarely available to those their age: they got to walk into a real construction site.

Donning hard hats and highlighter-orange vests that hung past their knees—and safely contained within a taped-off section of the Richard R. Steiner Campus—the 4PreK students were hard at work. In between chatting with the crew and enjoying a front-row view of the excavator, water truck, and grader on hand for the day, the students could be seen scooping excavated soil into two wagons. Something exciting was happening.

While it’s never surprising to see Rowland Hall students learning in new spaces, this activity was noteworthy as it marked the first time this year that students were using the construction site—future home of the Middle School and Upper School, as well as a performing arts center and athletic complex—in their learning. And it seems only fitting that 4PreK students, who not only love construction but study it each year, were the first to engage with the rising campus.

“There’s nothing better than a construction project for preschool kids,” said Jennifer Claesgens, Rowland Hall’s early childhood experiential learning and science specialist, who has spent months thinking about how to connect students with the Steiner Campus site. She saw a natural connection with 4PreK, where the study of construction progresses from topics such as learning to identify shapes to studying the building techniques behind strong, stable structures. (A favorite way that students put this work into practice each year is by creating block models of the Utah State Capitol.)

This focus on finding ways to connect students with their campus, as well as the wider community, isn’t new for Jennifer. As an experiential learning and science specialist, she focuses on learning by doing and partners with 4PreK through second-grade teachers to build on what’s happening in their classrooms. As part of this work, she’s always keeping an eye out for new spaces in which students can learn. These spaces take many forms, including the Lower School science garden, where she takes students to see the apple trees when their fruit is at its peak, and the McCarthey Campus quad, where students studied shadows during April’s solar eclipse.

Already, the Steiner Campus promises to be a wonderful new resource for student learning. As Jennifer stood among the four- and five-year-olds on that bright late summer day, she could see how engaged they were. During the visit, the students learned from the construction crew, excitedly observed the excavator dig a hole, and took turns adding shovelfuls of dirt to the wagons. It’s clear the site will continue to be a resource for students of all ages between now and the campus’s 2026 opening, thanks to the support of the school and the partnership of Okland Construction, Rowland Hall’s contractor.

“Okland went above and beyond to make this happen,” said Steiner Campus Project Manager Kathryn Pickford of the 4PreK visit, which she coordinated with Okland’s project manager, Scott Thomsen. “They are keen to do this when the opportunity arises and as we move through construction.”

Okland can certainly look forward to continued interaction with the 4PreK students—the classes’ afternoon site visits were only the first step in what will be a yearlong observation of the rising Steiner Campus, which will complement their in-class units and follow students’ interests.

For instance, in Isabelle Buhler and Mara Kushner’s class, students are already at work building their own school on the dirt they wheeled from the Steiner Campus to their play yard. Since their visit, they’ve transferred the dirt to a kiddie pool and started preparing their building’s foundation. Like the construction crew across campus, the preschoolers have been removing materials, such as rocks and wood chips, in order to level the ground so that they can build. In the coming weeks, they’ll be thinking about the materials they’ll need for their school, and will use ongoing observations of what’s happening on the Steiner Campus as their guide.

Best of all? All of this hands-on, deep learning will complement their in-class studies on subjects including 2D and 3D shapes, materials, literacy, math, and even engineering and physics. And along the way, they’ll be continuing to learn how to work together, communicate, observe closely, and take learning risks—all practices that will support their learning for years to come.

It really is exciting.

Experiential Learning

They just graduated in June, but three members of Rowland Hall’s class of 2024 are already published researchers.

As seniors, Sophie Baker, Isabelle Bown, and Adam Saidykhan—the first students enrolled in Advanced Research Biology, now in its second year—took on an impressive yearlong research project.

This week, their work was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cancers.

We’re not the only ones excited about Sophie, Isabelle, and Adam’s accomplishment—this week, local news stations FOX 13 and ABC4 came to campus to film segments highlighting this impactful work and what it could mean for breast cancer research.

Over the 2023–2024 school year, the students focused on identifying novel, actionable treatment targets for androgen receptor-low triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a lethal cancer subtype, by focusing on the role centrosome biology may play in its deadly impact. (Learn more about their research in Fine Print.) Their hope was to enrich the research community's understanding of some of the crucial molecular drivers of this aggressive breast cancer subtype—and hopefully advance the way it’s treated.

This work is important. TNBCs are especially lethal because they test negative for three common actionable cancer biomarkers, leaving patients without approved precision treatments. TNBCs disproportionately affect Black women, are more common in women with dense breasts, have a high tendency to spread rapidly around the body, and have a high chance of recurrence or relapse within five years of diagnosis.

And though the three students were hopeful they could further this work, they also knew their research may not pan out.

“Dr. Rida informed us early on there was a chance this could lead to nothing; we could have nothing published,” said Adam. Still, the students were determined to try, and were excited that, during their early research, they discovered a novel approach they could pursue over the year. “We’re fairly lucky that we managed to find something of note,” Adam continued.

I am thrilled that their findings are now part of the body of scientific knowledge out there, and will form the foundations of many more important studies and explorations in our search for better breast cancer treatments.—Dr. Padmashree Rida, Upper School biology teacher

The group first presented their findings as a poster at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting in San Diego in April during a special session for high school students titled “The Conquest of Cancer and the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers.” They then began collaborating with AR Biology teacher Dr. Padmashree Rida and City of Hope researcher Dr. Nikita Jinna on a manuscript about the topic, which was submitted in August to the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

On September 11, the young researchers received one of the most exciting emails of their budding careers: they were notified that their work would be published in Cancers as a feature paper in the “Cancer Biomarkers” section.

Dr. Rida, who has dedicated her career to mentoring new generations of researchers, is delighted for her first group of AR Biology students. They fully embraced the topic and worked tirelessly to reach this achievement—one that may make a real difference in the care of patients facing this aggressive cancer subtype.

“I am thrilled that their findings are now part of the body of scientific knowledge out there, and will form the foundations of many more important studies and explorations in our search for better breast cancer treatments,” she said.

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Banner: Adam Saidykhan ’24, one of the AP Biology researchers, chats with FOX 13 reporter Scott McKane on the Lincoln Street Campus on September 19.

Advanced Research

Jennifer Price-Wallin Named Chair of the Board of Trustees

Rowland Hall is thrilled to announce the Board of Trustees has named Jennifer Price-Wallin chair of the board, effective August 12, 2024. 

This change in board leadership follows Sarah Lehman’s decision to resign as chair to move to California, where her youngest son is attending school. We extend our heartfelt gratitude to Sarah for her years of service, and especially for her work around our strategic priorities and capital campaign. Sarah will continue to be a strong advocate and ambassador for the school, and we wish her and her family the very best.

Jennifer has assumed leadership of the board through the end of Sarah’s term (June 30, 2026). She is an ideal successor to Sarah, bringing to the role a breadth of professional experience as well as deep understanding of our board, school, community, and vision for what’s possible in education. Jennifer has been a member of the Board of Trustees since 2006 and has held a number of committee leadership positions during her tenure, including chair of the Building Committee, co-chair of the Head Support and Evaluation Committee, and chair of the Development Committee. She also served as chair of the Board of Trustees from 2016 to 2020, bringing to the position her extraordinary combination of insight, compassion, and dedication, as well as her unwavering commitment to student success and to the school’s inclusion and equity work.

“Jennifer is a tireless champion of Rowland Hall and has greatly contributed to positioning us as the school we are today,” said Head of School Mick Gee.

We are grateful to Jennifer for stepping into the board chair role for a second time, and confident in and excited about her ability to steadfastly and seamlessly lead Rowland Hall at this pivotal moment.

Four New Trustees Join Rowland Hall in 2024–2025 School Year

On July 1, 2024, Rowland Hall welcomed four new members to our Board of Trustees.

Connie Dooley

Connie Dooley grew up in Baltimore and graduated from Grinnell College (Iowa) with bachelor of arts degrees in biology and French. She earned her PhD in cell biology and anatomy from the University of Nebraska Medical Center and completed two postdoctoral fellowships, one at the Eppley Cancer Center (Omaha, NE) and one in the Department of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah, where she studied embryonic brain development.

Connie stepped away from biomedical research after having her two children and has since pursued volunteer work as a board member at the Community Cooperative Nursery School and as a board member of the air quality nonprofit Breathe Utah. Connie volunteered as a reading tutor in the Granite School District for several years, working with elementary school students learning English as a second language. She has also served on the McCarthey Campus and Lincoln Street Campus Home & School boards in various roles. In her spare time, Connie plays cello in the University Medical Orchestra at the University of Utah.

Connie and her husband, Rod Miles, live in Salt Lake City with their two children, Rebecca (12th) and Andrew (9th).

Josh Kanter

Josh Kanter started his career as a lawyer focusing on corporate and securities law. After his father’s death in 2001, Josh left private practice to run the family’s single-family office where, for the past 20-plus years, he has been responsible for multigenerational, multibranch communication; governance and education; family meeting design and facilitation; tax and estate planning; business and investment structuring; risk management; and more. Josh also works with other families on many of these same issues.

Recently, Josh founded leafplanner, a digital information platform designed to replicate his family’s “owner’s manual”—a tool to identify, collect, organize, and communicate information from the disparate parts of a family’s ecosystem in order to identify blind spots, share information, educate family members and advisors, and provide a more holistic succession of information for families.

Josh is a member of various family office groups and has been a frequent author and panelist on family and family office topics. He is a director and vice president of the Kanter Family Foundation and has served on the boards of numerous for-profit and nonprofit organizations. This board work includes a previous term on the Rowland Hall Board of Trustees (2011–2017), where Josh was the founding chair of the Investment Committee and co-chair of the Capital Campaign Steering Committee.

Josh received his JD from the University of Chicago in 1987. He earned a BA/BS in economics and political science from Emory University in 1984. Josh and his wife, Catherine, are parents of two Rowland Hall alumni.

Mikelle Moore

Mikelle Moore is a nationally recognized health executive with more than 25 years of experience leading the change necessary to improve health outcomes with sustainable and equitable solutions.

Mikelle is the co-creator of Multiplier Advisors, the country’s first impact consulting firm founded to support health-focused impact investors, bringing unparalleled expertise in aligning investments and other assets with social determinants of health to create healthy communities. She is also strategy advisor to the Healthcare Anchor Network, a fellow at Health Evolution, and an executive in residence at the Health Management Academy and the Scottsdale Institute. 

Mikelle was named one of Modern Healthcare’s Top 25 Women Leaders in 2021, and appeared on the publication’s Women to Watch list in 2019. During her tenure at Intermountain Health, she served as senior vice president, chief community health officer, president of the Intermountain Community Care Foundation, and the first female CEO of the system’s flagship hospital. Mikelle has served as board chair and continues to serve on several nonprofit boards and as an advisor to business and the state of Utah at the intersection of health and public-private partnership.

Mikelle and her husband are the proud parents of four teenagers (including two Winged Lions) and a pet therapy sheepadoodle.

Zachary Smith

Utah natives Zachary Smith and his wife, Janelle, have been part of the Rowland Hall community since 2006, along with their three children, Zander ’19, Ozzie ’22, and Zakrie ’24. 

Zach’s career spans over 25 years in banking and investment management. He is currently managing director for Morgan Stanley's private markets distribution team, focused on scaling institutional assets invested across the Morgan Stanley private credit and equity platform. Zach is former strategic advisor and founding investor in Redemption Holding Company, an African American–led minority depository institution, to be headquartered in his hometown, Salt Lake City.

Zach was most recently a managing director at Crescent Capital Group on the investor relations team, building strategic partnerships with insurance companies, US public pensions, and their consultants. Previously, Zach spent 20 years at Wells Fargo Asset Management in a variety of roles, including investor relations and portfolio management. He began his career at Zions Bancorporation while earning a finance degree from the David Eccles School of Business at the University of Utah.

Zach is an impassioned ambassador for creating opportunity within the Black community. He serves on the Board of Directors for the National Black Bank Foundation and is a founding board member of the University of Utah’s HBCU IMPACT Program, an internship program focused on post-graduate education and employment with HBCUs (historically Black colleges and universities) nationwide.

In Memory of Wood Moyle ’90

Our heartfelt condolences to the family and friends of Rowland Hall parent, alumnus, and trustee Wood Moyle ’90, who passed away on May 19 following surgical complications.

In addition to being an engaged and active parent to his children, Ocky (11th) and Emma (kindergarten), Wood was a devoted Rowland Hall alumnus and volunteer. Over his 11-year tenure on the Board of Trustees, he served as chair of the Nominating Committee and the Capital Campaign Committee, led the Headmaster’s Council, and contributed significantly to the Governance Task Force. Wood’s unwavering commitment to Rowland Hall has been immeasurable and his impact will undoubtedly be felt for many years.

In Memory of Cary Jones

Our deepest condolences to the family and friends of Rowland Hall trustee, alumnae parent, and former board chair Cary Jones, who passed away unexpectedly on September 14.

Over the last 28 years, Cary has had a profound impact on our school community. A proud Rowland Hall parent to Molly Jones ’07 and Megan Jones-Shiotani ’05, Cary first joined the Board of Trustees in 1996, serving for 13 years, including a term as board chair (2001–2004). During these years, Cary shared his knowledge as a real estate transactional attorney to negotiate the sale of the former Avenues Campus and the acquisition of the McCarthey Campus. He was also instrumental in fundraising for the McCarthey Campus.

In July 2020, Cary rejoined the board to assist with the Richard R. Steiner Campus capital campaign and campus plans; this included serving as chair of the Campus Planning Committee. Cary also played a crucial role in negotiating the agreement for the mountain expansion project at Utah Olympic Park, a training facility for Rowmark Ski Academy, in 2019.

Perhaps the top testament of Cary’s contributions to the Rowland Hall community is the Cary Jones Faculty Mentor Award, established through an anonymous gift in honor of Cary’s dedication to the faculty when he was chair of the board. For more than 20 years, this award has recognized outstanding Rowland Hall faculty, and it will continue to keep his memory alive in our school community.

RSVP for Cary’s upcoming celebration of life.

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Banner photo: Jennifer Price-Wallin, far left, with community members—including members of the Steiner family and school trustees—at the Richard R. Steiner Campus groundbreaking in April 2024.

Board of Trustees

Each August, Rowland Hall holds Convocation, a traditional gathering that brings our community together to connect, learn, and celebrate the start of a new school year.

This year’s event, held the morning of Friday, August 23, centered around Rowland Hall’s 2024–2025 theme, Joy. In the words of professor and author Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, joy is “the embodiment of, learning of, and practice of love of self and humanity, and care for and help for humanity and the earth. Joy encompasses happiness/smiles, truth, beauty, aesthetics, art, wonder, personal fulfillment, and solutions to the social problems of the world.”

Joy encompasses happiness/smiles, truth, beauty, aesthetics, art, wonder, personal fulfillment, and solutions to the social problems of the world.—Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, professor and author

Convocation has long included speeches by the student body president and a member of the alumni community, but for the first time this year, the annual event also included speakers from the fifth and eighth grades.

“It was important to us to include fifth and eighth graders so that all of the students in attendance, from the Lower School to the Upper School, saw themselves represented in the program,” said Dr. Chandani Patel, director of equity and inclusion. “As our theme is Joy, we thought it made sense for peers to welcome everyone back to school and talk about how they relate to this theme.”

This year’s Convocation speakers included fifth grader Kyeran G., eighth grader Shea G., 12th grader Gemma Ciriello, and alumna Elizabeth Izampuye ’17. Each reflected on what joy means to them and the many forms joy can take, and asked those gathered to look for joy in their own lives and work to create joy for others. Their beautiful words inspired Convocation attendees and illustrated why Rowland Hall prioritizes amplifying student voices.

“Our strategic priorities guide us to be more student-centered in all that we do here at school, and sometimes grown-ups need to step out of the way to let the kids do their thing and shine,” said Dr. Patel.

We invite you to enjoy this year’s Convocation speeches by watching the video below, or click to read the speeches.

Student Voices

Welcome, Winged Lions, to the 2024–2025 school year! We’re so happy you’re here.

The year kicked off on Wednesday, August 21, with Hello Day, where we welcomed students to their first day of classes. On Friday, our community came together for Convocation, an annual gathering at which we celebrate the start of a new year of learning and growth. And on Saturday, we gathered once again for the Back to School BASH, one of our community’s favorite ways to kick off the new year.

We hope you’ll take a moment to enjoy some of the images captured during the first days of school.

Community

Rowland Hall is thrilled to welcome students and families to the 2024–2025 school year.

As you spend time on our campuses in the following weeks, you’ll get to know the newest additions to our faculty and staff, as well as see some of our returning team members in new, adjusted, or expanded roles. For your reference, we’ve listed these staffing changes below. (Please see Fond Farewells 2024 for a list of those not returning for this school year.)

Be sure to check back, as this list will continue to be updated during the school year.

Administration and Staff

New Staff

• Jackie Hertgen joins Rowland Hall as assistant director of athletics.
• David Judd joins Rowland Hall as a bus driver.
• Kaleb Nielsen joins Rowland Hall as equity and inclusion program coordinator.

Administration and Staff Role Changes and Expansions

• Zack Alvidrez, formerly assistant athletic director, is now director of athletics.
• Lindsay Carver, formerly director of major gifts, is now associate director of admission for the McCarthey Campus.
• Lauren Daynes joins Rowland Hall as administrative assistant to the director of athletics.
• Patrick Godfrey, formerly chief information officer, is now chief information and safety officer.
• Ryan Holgund, formerly director of ethical education, is now director of community engagement and impact.
• Rebecca Jones, formerly admission associate, is now assistant director of admission and director of financial aid
• Mark Millard, formerly the Technology Support Center manager for the Lincoln Street Campus, is now technology systems administrator.
• Patrick Murphy, formerly the Lincoln Street Campus operations lead, is now the Lincoln Street Campus Technology Support Center manager.

Beginning School

New Beginning School Faculty and Staff

• Alise Anderson joins Rowland Hall as the three-day 3PreK lead teacher, working alongside Melinda Canfield.
• Sascha Dimick joins Rowland Hall as a beginning and lower school monitor.
• Donna Dinsdale joins Rowland Hall as the Beginning School receptionist and administrative assistant.
• Justine Gallet joins Rowland Hall as a Beginning School and Lower School learning specialist.
• Mara Kushner joins Rowland Hall as a 4PreK assistant teacher, working alongside Isabelle Buhler.

Beginning School Role Changes

• Katherine McMahon, formerly the Beginning School administrative assistant, is now a 4PreK assistant teacher, working alongside Kirsten White.
• Kiara Rivera, formerly an associate teacher in the Beginning School and Lower School, is now a fifth-grade teacher.

Lower School

New Lower School Faculty and Staff

• Sascha Dimick joins Rowland Hall as a beginning and lower school monitor.
• Carrie Farris joins Rowland Hall as a first-grade teacher.
• Justine Gallet joins Rowland Hall as a Beginning School and Lower School learning specialist.
• Samantha Gerstein joins Rowland Hall as a Lower School associate teacher.
• Chloe May joins Rowland Hall as a third-grade teacher.
• Max Molokov joins Rowland Hall as a Lower School PE teacher.
• Hannah Ruske joins Rowland Hall as a third-grade teacher.
• Kristin Sproul joins Rowland Hall as a fifth-grade teacher.
• Melina Vermetten joins Rowland Hall as a Lower School learning specialist.

Lower School Role Changes

• Jenn Anderson, formerly a Lower School learning specialist, is now the Middle School academic support coordinator.
• Kiara Rivera, formerly an associate teacher in the Beginning School and Lower School, is now a fifth-grade teacher.

Middle School

New and Returning Middle School Faculty and Staff

• Michelle Campbell joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School creative writing teacher.
• David Hall joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School beginning band teacher.
• Colleen James joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School librarian and coordinator of educational technology.
• Jan Middleton joins Rowland Hall as the seventh-grade English teacher.
• Danny Schmidt joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School media arts teacher.
• Megan Shaw joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School social-emotional support counselor.
• Tyler Waterhouse returns to Rowland Hall as a Middle School math teacher.

Middle School Role Changes

• Jenn Anderson, formerly a Lower School learning specialist, is now the Middle School academic support coordinator.
• Jeremy Innis, formerly part-time interfaith chaplain for the Lincoln Street Campus and choir, music, and ethics teacher, is now choir director and music theory teacher.
• Mauricio Morán, formerly the interim Middle School computer science teacher, is now a Middle School and Upper School computer science teacher.
• Sam Thomas, formerly a part-time Middle School Spanish teacher, is now a full-time Middle School French and Spanish teacher.

Upper School

New Upper School Faculty and Staff

• Dr. Amy Gee joins Rowland Hall as the Upper School psychology teacher.
• Samantha Hill joins Rowland Hall as the Upper School entrepreneurship and innovation teacher.
• Colleen James joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School librarian and coordinator of educational technology.
• Dr. Becky Kim joins Rowland Hall as an Upper School science teacher.
• Danny Schmidt joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School media arts teacher.

Upper School Role Changes

• Jeremy Innis, formerly part-time interfaith chaplain for the Lincoln Street Campus and choir, music, and ethics teacher, is now choir director and music theory teacher.
• Mauricio Morán, formerly the interim Middle School computer science teacher, is now a Middle School and Upper School computer science teacher.

Rowmark Ski Academy

New Rowmark Staff

• Joey Berg joins the Rowmark Junior Program as U10 assistant coach.
• Alexis Hollister joins Rowmark Ski Academy as FIS boys assistant coach. 
• Sean Sullivan joins the Rowmark Junior Program as U12 head coach.

People

Rowland Hall is thrilled to introduce the incoming Home & School Association presidents for the 2024–2025 school year.

Sarah Campsen will lead the Lincoln Street Campus Home & School Association, while Alexis Swaringer, Jamie Waters, and Nan Marquardt will lead the McCarthey Campus Home & School Association.

We recently asked the volunteers to share what they’re looking forward to in the coming school year. Responses have been lightly edited.

As an incoming Home & School president, what are your goals for 2024–2025?

Alexis: My goal is to continue to support and advocate for our children by partnering with the faculty to create a safe and inclusive Rowland Hall community where children have a positive learning environment.

Jamie: I would like to build on our family and community engagement as well as strengthen our partnership with our teachers to support our children’s educational success.

Nan: My primary goals are to increase parent involvement as well as to continue to support our wonderful teachers and staff throughout the year. I want every family to have a strong sense of community within our school, and I hope to promote this by helping to organize events and activities that advocate inclusivity and diversity. One of my favorite aspects of Home & School is the emphasis it places on teacher appreciation. I love how the parents show how much they value the hard work and dedication of our teachers and staff throughout the year. I want to continue assisting our teachers in a way that demonstrates to them that they are both appreciated and supported.

What is special about Home & School and why do you choose to volunteer for our parent-school organization?

Alexis: I thoroughly enjoy volunteering my time interacting with the children, teachers, staff, and parents, while doing my part to enhance the Rowland Hall community.

Jamie: I am amazed by the number of engaged parents at Rowland Hall, and it’s such a joy to work with parents from different grades I might not otherwise meet. I also enjoy volunteering at school, where I have gotten to know our extraordinary teachers and staff.

Nan: Home & School is special because it serves as a vital bridge between families and the school, fostering collaboration, communication, and community spirit. When my kids started at Rowland Hall a few years ago, I immediately felt included in the school community through the outreach programs and events that Home & School organizes throughout the year. It has been amazing to see how many parents are involved with Home & School. It makes it easy to get to know other families and to build a community.

Participating in Home & School activities allows families to connect with other parents, share experiences and ideas, and build supportive relationships within the school community.—Nan Marquardt

What do you want families to know about getting involved with Home & School and why do you encourage them to do so?

Alexis: The Rowland Hall community is inclusive to all families and we welcome participation and ideas by all. We have numerous volunteer opportunities throughout the year that are conducive to all levels of time commitments. By getting involved it helps foster a healthy atmosphere on campus.

Jamie: Families can get involved in Home & School in a way that best fits their lives, whether that be for an hour or year-long position. Everyone is welcome! It is informative and rewarding to be involved, but my favorite is seeing a huge smile on my daughter’s face when she sees me on campus.

Nan: Getting involved with Home & School is a wonderful way to get to know other parents. There are a variety of volunteer opportunities that accommodate different schedules and interests. Participating in Home & School activities allows families to connect with other parents, share experiences and ideas, and build supportive relationships within the school community. You can put in as much or as little time as fits your schedule and it is all appreciated!

Learn more about Home & School and ways you can get involved or connect with other families.

Home & School

They just graduated in June, but three members of Rowland Hall’s class of 2024 are already published researchers.

As seniors, Sophie Baker, Isabelle Bown, and Adam Saidykhan—the first students enrolled in Advanced Research Biology, now in its second year—took on an impressive yearlong research project.

This week, their work was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cancers.

We’re not the only ones excited about Sophie, Isabelle, and Adam’s accomplishment—this week, local news stations FOX 13 and ABC4 came to campus to film segments highlighting this impactful work and what it could mean for breast cancer research.

Over the 2023–2024 school year, the students focused on identifying novel, actionable treatment targets for androgen receptor-low triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a lethal cancer subtype, by focusing on the role centrosome biology may play in its deadly impact. (Learn more about their research in Fine Print.) Their hope was to enrich the research community's understanding of some of the crucial molecular drivers of this aggressive breast cancer subtype—and hopefully advance the way it’s treated.

This work is important. TNBCs are especially lethal because they test negative for three common actionable cancer biomarkers, leaving patients without approved precision treatments. TNBCs disproportionately affect Black women, are more common in women with dense breasts, have a high tendency to spread rapidly around the body, and have a high chance of recurrence or relapse within five years of diagnosis.

And though the three students were hopeful they could further this work, they also knew their research may not pan out.

“Dr. Rida informed us early on there was a chance this could lead to nothing; we could have nothing published,” said Adam. Still, the students were determined to try, and were excited that, during their early research, they discovered a novel approach they could pursue over the year. “We’re fairly lucky that we managed to find something of note,” Adam continued.

I am thrilled that their findings are now part of the body of scientific knowledge out there, and will form the foundations of many more important studies and explorations in our search for better breast cancer treatments.—Dr. Padmashree Rida, Upper School biology teacher

The group first presented their findings as a poster at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting in San Diego in April during a special session for high school students titled “The Conquest of Cancer and the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers.” They then began collaborating with AR Biology teacher Dr. Padmashree Rida and City of Hope researcher Dr. Nikita Jinna on a manuscript about the topic, which was submitted in August to the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

On September 11, the young researchers received one of the most exciting emails of their budding careers: they were notified that their work would be published in Cancers as a feature paper in the “Cancer Biomarkers” section.

Dr. Rida, who has dedicated her career to mentoring new generations of researchers, is delighted for her first group of AR Biology students. They fully embraced the topic and worked tirelessly to reach this achievement—one that may make a real difference in the care of patients facing this aggressive cancer subtype.

“I am thrilled that their findings are now part of the body of scientific knowledge out there, and will form the foundations of many more important studies and explorations in our search for better breast cancer treatments,” she said.

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Banner: Adam Saidykhan ’24, one of the AP Biology researchers, chats with FOX 13 reporter Scott McKane on the Lincoln Street Campus on September 19.

Advanced Research

For the fourth straight year, Rowland Hall Debate has claimed the 3A speech and debate state title.

And while it might look easy to defend a title when it’s been done three years in a row, Rowland Hall’s debaters are quick to tell you that, thanks to the nature of the event and the quality of teams that turn up each year, it’s definitely not.

“This was by far the closest tournament yet,” said Coach Mike Shackelford. In fact, Rowland Hall held onto the state title only by a single point, finishing 103-102 over Juab High School. Mike credits the full commitment of each debater in securing this year’s tight win.

“Every person on the team played a critical role in this collective effort,” he said.

A major part of that effort was that debaters were willing to take on speech events they don’t ordinarily compete in. As a debate-first team, Mike explained, Rowland Hall students specialize in events such as Lincoln-Douglas, Policy, and Public Forum. But at state, teams that want the top spot also need to compete in speech events such as Impromptu, Extemporaneous Speaking, and Oratory. Additionally, because Rowland Hall plays up a division level to compete in 3A, the team has fewer debaters than other schools, and so team members have to be willing to drop their usual events and/or compete in new events to secure enough points to hang on to the state title.

“Almost no one was in their traditional event, but they translated prior debate experience into a new challenge,” said Mike. “It’s not just showing up—we had to mutate and morph and try new things.”

Senior Logan Fang was one of these students. Usually a Policy debater, Logan took on Public Forum and Extemporaneous Speaking for the first time this year at state and said his time on the team prepared him for this change.

“Given how well Rowland Hall Debate prepares you to be successful in different events, the adjustment was relatively smooth,” said Logan. “Switching to a speech event just meant I had to focus more on persuasive speaking and articulation, compared to the fast delivery of Policy.”

For senior Harris Matheson, who took on the Foreign Extemporaneous event in addition to the Public Forum event he specializes in, the experience built his confidence and connections with his teammates.

“Two other Rowland Hall debaters and I made it to the finals of Foreign Extemp this year, helping the team get the points we needed to win state,” said Harris. “I learned that if I set my mind to a task, I am capable of doing well at it, and it’s even more rewarding to do it with others.”

For this year’s seniors, the state win marks a new milestone: the first time a group of Rowland Hall debaters has helped claim a state title every year of their high school careers.

For seniors Harris and Logan, as well as Marina Peng and Rosie Schaefer, this year’s win also marks a new milestone: the first time a group of Rowland Hall debaters has helped claim a state title every year of their high school careers. It’s an honor these students worked hard for.

“Defending the championship each year added both pressure and motivation,” said Marina. “Knowing that we were the ones to beat made us try our hardest and do our best in every round we were in.”

But while these seniors are the first to have this experience as Rowland Hall debaters, they, like their coach, are clear that it takes the commitment of each team member to be victorious and that their state win is a reflection of team-wide dedication.

“When each member of the team does their best and gives it their all, being able to see our effort shown in our title really means something,” said Harris.

This team-first attitude is passed on each year by experienced debaters and helps make Rowland Hall’s program such a success, locally and nationally. As another school year wraps, Mike expressed his gratitude to this year’s seniors for the role they played in the Rowland Hall Debate legacy.

“They led by example and demonstrated that the team is bigger than the individual,” said Mike. “Thanks to them, I'm confident the next generation of debaters will know what it takes to win and I'll be able to rely on them.”

Rowland Hall Debate State Performances 2024

Below are Rowland Hall’s top performances at the 2024 state tournament.

• Ninth grader Tyson Brown was the top Student Congress debater from Rowland Hall. In Student Congress, debaters lead and participate in a simulation about pieces of national legislation.
• Ninth grader Chloe Vezina was the state finalist in Impromptu Speaking, an event in which debaters prepare and deliver five-minute speeches on random topics, with only one to two minutes of preparation.
• Senior Logan Fang took second in Extemporaneous Speaking, an event in which debaters are given a current event question and have 30 minutes to research, write, and deliver seven-minute speeches.
• Junior Aiden Gandhi was Rowland Hall’s top Lincoln-Douglas performer, finishing fifth for his solo debate on the ethics of rehabilitation in criminal justice. Lincoln-Douglas contestants debate the pros and cons of a topic one-on-one.
• Junior Elena Owens and senior Marina Peng took second in Public Forum, an event in which debaters give short speeches interspersed with three-minute crossfire sections. Their topic was on paying college athletes. Seniors Harris Matheson and Rosie Schaefer took third in this event, and ninth grader Chloe Vezina and sophomore Anya Ellahie finished fifth.
• Sophomores Gavin Schmidt and Baker Campsen took first in Policy, an event in which debaters advocate for or against a policy change resolution, for their debate on the best proposals to solve economic inequality. Ninth graders Sofia Drakou and Emery Lieberman were second, and ninth graders Arianna Ali and Elle Prasthofer finished third. That’s a clean sweep!

Debate

If you’ve walked by Robin Hori’s science classroom during periods 2 or 7 this semester, chances are you’ve caught a glimpse of students in the middle of a project build.

From water towers to bridges to trebuchets, students in grades 10 through 12 have been putting science and math to the test this year in the Upper School’s first ever, and student-requested, engineering class. Titled Integrated Engineering I and II (Engineering I and II beginning in 2024–2025), this lab-based course deeply emphasizes the engineering design cycle while exploring a variety of engineering fields: civil, mining, and chemical engineering in the fall, and mechanical, electrical, and materials engineering in the spring.

The Upper School engineering class is a lab-based course that emphasizes the engineering design cycle while exploring a variety of fields: civil, mining, and chemical engineering (fall), and mechanical, electrical, and materials engineering (spring).

“For years, we’ve been getting feedback from students that they want an engineering class,” said Upper School Principal Ingrid Gustavson. By designing a fresh approach to the Upper School’s earliest science courses (taken in 9th and 10th grades), Ingrid and her team made room for more subjects that students are interested in, including engineering. Longtime physics teacher Robin Hori was also game to take on this new opportunity—though he wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming reaction from the student body.

“It’s been more successful than I expected,” laughed Robin, whose fall class was filled with students who wanted to continue the course into spring semester—in addition to an entirely separate group of students who wanted to join the spring class. (Upper School students can take engineering during either fall or spring semester, or they can enroll in both semesters consecutively.) The Upper School had to add a second spring class to meet demand.

“The kids were so excited about it that we were approved to open up another section,” said Ingrid, “and Robin took on the class to give everybody that experience.”

It’s clear that this experience is meaningful to these students, many of whom were excited to share their gratitude, particularly about the hands-on nature of the class. As junior Spencer Brady put it, “Engineering is something you do; it's not something you just learn in theory,” and it was important to Robin to structure the class so students fully experience that doing of science in ways that stretch their brains and build their confidence.

“A lot of students have never built anything before and they’re really impressed they can actually build something that works,” said Robin. “Kids are really making an effort to understand why something works. And I’m trying to give them a sense that they can build things out of almost anything, and as long as they follow the science, they know it’ll work.”

To nurture these skills, Robin has structured the class around projects that support each field of engineering, such as building bridges during the study of civil engineering or building trebuchets during the study of mechanical engineering. Students are placed in small groups to promote real-world collaboration and given plenty of room to lead their own learning. Though Robin decides on assignments and parameters—for example, the first-semester bridge-building final required students’ projects to span 100 centimeters and support a moving load—he gives students plenty of freedom, acting as a coach and guide while they problem solve.

There’s lots of freedom in the class to explore.—Andrew Johnson, class of 2024

“He provides materials and concepts, then it’s up to the students to decide what path they want to take—and they can push outside guidelines,” explained senior Andrew Johnson. “There’s lots of freedom in the class to explore.”

For senior Kelton Ferriter, there’s also very low pressure. “It's kind of a perfect, stress-free, good way to get into engineering and explore various areas,” he said. “There’s so much creative freedom.” And this low-pressure approach is beneficial when it comes to practicing the engineering design cycle, from conducting research to creating a prototype to building a final project—and moving back and forth along that path through trial and error.

“These are big concepts, but being able to put them into a physical project and to really see how that works, and to watch where failures happen and when, it’s just a different dimension for learning,” said Kelton.

It’s also helping students become more comfortable with mistakes. “This semester, kids are more patient with failures because they know failure in engineering helps them become more successful,” said Robin. As a result, he continued, “final products are getting a lot better in terms of design, and students are better at explaining the mechanics of how and why a machine works or doesn’t work.”

To help his students become better at learning from mistakes, Robin requires them to keep professional engineering notebooks in which they record projects, including notes, observations, steps, designs, and corrections. All work is done in ink and students are trained to never tear out pages so that they can refer back to what they’ve done. For Spencer, an aspiring engineer and member of the school’s Monochromats robotics team, this is a key takeaway from the class. As a young builder, Spencer said he’s always been told to write down what he’s working on, but he never quite knew how until this year. “I really like how the class has taught me how exactly you write everything down and what you put in an engineering journal,” he shared.

“It’s nice to be able to go back and see where we made a mistake,” added Kelton, who’s acted as project manager for his group at times, a role that’s also helped him better understand how many ways there are to tackle a problem. “Everyone has a different idea and way to approach it, no matter what the project is,” he said. “The class is so open and creative.”

These are big concepts, but being able to put them into a physical project and to really see how that works, and to watch where failures happen and when, it’s just a different dimension for learning.—Kelton Ferriter, class of 2024

And the class isn’t just for one type of student. Every person brings to the table their individual talents and ideas, strengthening each project and even helping the students better understand where they may want to go next in their education and careers. Senior Rosie Schaefer, for one, said that the engineering class, which she’s taking after a summer 2023 internship with biomechanics professor Dr. Brittany Coats at the Utah Head Trauma Lab, has helped her better identify her career path.

“I realized I want to go into biomechanics—to help people with engineering,” she said. “I really enjoy research and I think that’s what I ultimately want to end up doing.” And, continued Rosie, in-class opportunities to share her evaluations of her group’s projects have helped her identify a talent of conveying science. “Where I’ve excelled is in the explanation of how things work: putting into words why what we’re doing makes sense,” she said.

Whatever their individual takeaways, though, many of the students agree that the class isn’t just for aspiring engineers. It’s for anyone who wants to learn more about the field, to build like a kid again, and to discover more about themselves. And because there are no prerequisites for the class, it makes what can often be thought of as a rarefied subject more accessible, opening doors to students who may not have tried it out otherwise. It’s just one example of how the team is putting Rowland Hall’s vision into action.

“As we evolve new courses, we’re offering new opportunities for students to go really deep,” said Ingrid. “And we’re offering life-changing and skill-building opportunities that are accessible to everyone.”

STEM

Most middle school–aged students aren’t yet driving cars—but at Rowland Hall, some of them are already flying planes.

That’s because aviation is just one of the opportunities available to seventh and eighth graders as part of Rowland Hall’s expansive electives curriculum. And while some may think of electives as classes meant to give students downtime, or pad out schedules, nothing could be further from the truth.

“Electives not only enrich the core subjects students are taking, they also introduce new areas of study and interest,” said Middle School Principal Pam Smith. “Students can dive deeper into subjects they find interesting and discover passions they never knew they had.”

Middle School students use elective classes to look at the world and the skills they are learning in new and different ways. They discover competencies, and how to put them to work to become people the world needs.

Students use these classes to look at the world and the skills they are learning in new and different ways. They discover competencies, and how to put them to work to become people the world needs. Currently, seventh- and eighth-grade students have dozens of options to choose from when it comes to electives. Topics range from guitar to app design, and cover a range of diverse fields of study including fine arts, multimedia production, climate science, and public art and discourse. (Sixth graders, while not eligible for elective classes, are introduced to many of the concepts in their foundation classes with subjects like computer science, music, and debate.)

“Electives give students more of a voice and choice in the curriculum,” said Pam. “When they choose a class, it often leads to a greater investment in what’s being taught, as well as incorporates concepts they are learning in their other classes.”

Some of the electives offered are direct offshoots of core curriculum. Math teacher Jen Schones, for example, decided to start teaching personal finance as a Middle School elective after being told by several people that they wished they had learned about money management in school. Now she is helping students use addition, subtraction, percentages, and other math skills to discuss concepts like budgeting, investing, building credit, and taxes—skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.

“The thing I stress to students a lot is that every decision you make with money has a consequence—both good and bad,” Jen said. “We do simulations looking at various choices like career, location, living expenses, and potential financial emergencies, and then students decide if they are willing to live with those choices, or if they would have done something different.”

The class also walks students through financial matters they are currently facing or will face in the near future. Paying for college is a topic of conversation, as is how to set a budget and save for a goal that is weeks, or even months, into the future. Guest speakers come in to talk about investment opportunities students could engage in now, including apps that allow them to buy stocks or money market accounts.

“I actually had one student ask their parents for a custodial IRA for Christmas after hearing about it in class,” said Jen. “Students are really responding well to the course, and not only learning skills for later, but putting some skills into action right now.”

Elective courses not only give students the opportunity to use skills they are learning in different ways, but also awaken them to aptitudes they didn’t know they had.

“There’s this misconception that you are either creative or you are not,” said visual art teacher Anne Wolfer. “I really try to help the kids push through and get to the mindset that we are all creative and that it just takes time, dedication, and a lot of hard work.”

In the public art elective, students unlock their creative minds by learning the many ways that art is created in communities, how a piece goes from an idea to a finished work, and the benefits of art in community spaces. It’s a great way for students to feel further connected to the community around them and to see themselves as contributors to a shared community. If you are walking through Salt Lake City’s 9th and 9th neighborhood, stop to take a look at the large mural that now graces the side of the Tower Theatre. The sweeping mountains, flowers, and a butterfly were all painted by Rowland Hall students. “It feels like we have a bigger connection to 9th and 9th now,” said eighth grader Callie L. “It’s like we are leaving a piece of ourselves there.”

“The kids are really putting themselves out there with this mural,” added Anne. “And in doing so they are gaining confidence in their abilities and preparing themselves to move on to bigger and even more expansive projects.”

Students aren’t the only ones given the opportunity to take on more expansive projects in electives; teachers do as well. Bill Tatomer was teaching math and American studies at Rowland Hall when he decided to put his 20-plus years as a Navy pilot to use for the benefit of the students. He now teaches three different aviation courses in the Middle School, covering everything from basic principles of flight, aerospace science, and aviation design to engineering, careers in aviation, and flight training. During the course of the program, some students even earn their drone TRUST certification, while others take their first steps to getting their private pilot’s license.

“The exposure these classes create, especially as a Middle School student, is truly incredible,” said Bill. “Additionally, when I see students have fun and thrive in the environments created by these classes, whether they continue in aviation or not, my heart is full. I love what I do, and I so love sharing this passion with Rowland Hall students.”

I wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember, and the classes I took from Mr. Tatomer really gave me a leg up. I still use the information I learned today, and I utilize some of the lessons in my own teaching as well.—Davis Kahler ’17

The students love it too. Now-ninth grader Alexa Tracey admits she was a bit nervous when she found herself at the controls of a plane at the age of 14, but she knew she was ready for it because of all she had learned in Bill’s class. “It was nice to be able to know that I knew what was going on and that I was somewhat qualified to fly,” she said. “I would love to be a pilot someday, and taking this class made me realize getting my pilot’s license is an attainable goal.”

Alexa wouldn’t be the first Rowland Hall student to have found a career path thanks to the Middle School electives program. Alumnus Davis Kahler ’17 got his pilot’s license and is now working towards his hours as a commercial airline pilot while also teaching flying in Dallas.

“I wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember, and the classes I took from Mr. Tatomer really gave me a leg up,” said Davis. “I still use the information I learned today, and I utilize some of the lessons in my own teaching as well.”

The elective courses at Rowland Hall give students the opportunity to differentiate themselves as individuals while deepening their understanding of core subjects through additional knowledge. They allow them to explore and learn new things and develop lifelong interests in subjects they otherwise may have missed out on. They also are a lot of fun.

Electives allow students to take flight.

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Banner: Students in the Middle School's metal arts class, another elective option, working on a project in spring 2023.

Authentic Learning

On June 1 and 2, visitors to Rowland Hall’s Eccles Library on the Lincoln Street Campus were treated to an exciting opportunity to step into Utah’s past.

Around the room, 30 prototypes of museum exhibits, designed by eighth graders, showcased fascinating areas of Utah history, including homages to the state’s extreme sports, performance and public art, inventors, and local activist movements, among other topics. There was even an exhibit that recreated the area around Delicate Arch and one designed in the style of a Navajo hogan.

As visitors made their way around the library, poring over the models, students shared how and why they decided on their ideas, as well as fun tidbits—for example, the group behind an exhibit on the history of the Utah governor’s mansion shared that a Christmas tree sparked a fire in the mansion in 1993, while the group behind Pixel Pioneers, an exhibit dedicated to Utah’s long connection to the tech industry, introduced visitors to the Utah teapot, a 3D test model created in 1975 by University of Utah researcher Martin Newell that’s become a standard reference object in the computer graphics community.

This event was the culmination of a month-long learning opportunity designed by Mary Jo Marker, eighth-grade American studies teacher, and Brady Smith, eighth-grade English teacher, that asked students to think about the role museums play in society, and allowed them to connect with historians from the Utah Department of Cultural and Community Engagement (CCE), who are currently designing a new state history museum that’s scheduled to open in 2026. The teaching team wanted to give students a chance to pitch their own ideas for museum exhibits to CCE, believing the opportunity would help them think beyond an audience of their teachers and peers, as well as connect their ideas to the larger community through this real-world opportunity.

We wanted them to understand their ideas have value and to think outside the classroom box for their audience.—Mary Jo Marker, eighth-grade American studies teacher

“We wanted them to understand their ideas have value and to think outside the classroom box for their audience,” explained Mary Jo.

To kick off the project in early May, the eighth graders met with Kat Potter, a former Rowland Hall faculty member and a current parent, who is now deputy director of the CCE. Kat partnered with Mary Jo and Brady during the year to design the project, and during her visit she shared with students the need for the museum and what her team is working on, then invited the group to pitch their own exhibit ideas. “Their challenge was to make an engaging, interactive exhibit,” said Mary Jo.

To help the students prepare to take on that challenge, Mary Jo and Brady held in-class discussions about the role of museums and what makes for engaging exhibits, and had students interview community members, including Rowland Hall fourth graders who have been studying Utah history and residents of the Columbus Senior Center, to get their ideas about what would be interesting in a state history museum. The students also had the chance to analyze current exhibits at the Utah Museum of Contemporary Art and a variety of national museums during their visit to Washington, DC, and to reflect on which exhibits were engaging, which were not, and why. This helped them as they began working on their own exhibit pitches and making decisions about how to engage viewers with the people and events that have shaped the state.

Best of all, the real-world connection to the future museum helped to deepen learning and drive students, who knew they may be contributing ideas that will influence the team of historians. It’s clear the teachers are proud of what the students came up with and how their work may potentially help shape the museum.

School is often fully teacher-facing, but I think having students prepare a big project for the outside world is motivating, and hopefully gives a different perspective.—Brady Smith, eighth-grade English teacher

“We were incredibly happy with how the project went,” said Brady. “We had an excellent turnout from parents, community members, and staff from the Department of Cultural Engagement. The latter gave the kids great feedback and suggested that the projects would impact their thinking about the museum going forward.”

Brady added that he also hoped that this opportunity has helped the eighth graders understand how the past year of studies applies to the bigger world and will inspire them to continue to think of ways they can share their knowledge beyond the classroom.

“School is often fully teacher-facing, but I think having students prepare a big project for the outside world is motivating, and hopefully gives a different perspective,” he said. “I hope they see how everything we’ve done throughout eighth grade has concrete applications to public-facing work.”

Authentic Learning

When Rowland Hall debaters gathered to defend their two-time state title at the 2023 3A tournament at Ogden High School in March, they weren’t facing an easy challenge.

First, as title defenders, the team had a target on their backs. They were also up against a formidable 19 schools, all of which are larger than Rowland Hall, as the debate team plays up a classification level (meaning our students compete in 3A, rather than 2A, to access more events, including Policy, the school’s flagship event). However, the team felt confident, not least because of the changes they had put into place in the 2020–2021 season and that continued to guide them over this most recent debate season.

“Three years ago, we expanded our goals and expectations,” explained Mike Shackelford, Rowland Hall’s head debate coach. Mike said that online debate during the pandemic greatly shifted the team’s approach to state. Motivated by the isolation of online competitions and distance learning, they chose to compete as a collective unit, rather than individually, that year. “We had always tried to win individual titles,” said Mike, “but had never set our sights on competing as a 30-person roster across 10 different events.”

And when they did, they claimed the school’s first-ever state debate victory, solidifying the collective-approach strategy, which they’ve continued to hold themselves to, even though it is often more difficult to pull off as it requires a deeper commitment from debaters, who must remain flexible, push the boundaries of their comfort zones, and even take on multiple events to make the Winged Lions competitive. But it works: the strategy paid off again in 2022, and for a third time this spring (complete with a new overall point record).

“We continued to demand the most from each other, working hard and flexing our skills across different topics and formats,” said Mike; these topics included immigration, universal healthcare, artificial intelligence, high-speed rail, the Supreme Court, and global security strategy (not to mention the impromptu topics and legislative proposals from Student Congress simulations). “Now we enjoy knowing that we have the depth, consistency, and talent to always be in a position to win,” said Mike.

Our third state victory solidifies the school as a premier program in the eyes of the larger debate community. Winning state one year is an achievement, but winning it three years in a row is a trend. It builds a narrative that Rowland Hall and debate success are synonymous.—Mike Shackelford, head debate coach

Senior Layla Hijjawi agrees with her beloved coach. As a five-year Rowland Hall debater (who will go on to debate for Harvard in fall 2023), Layla has had a front-row seat to the team’s incredible growth, and it’s clear she has a deep respect of her fellow debaters and the work they put in to hold onto the state title for three consecutive years.

“It’s easy to say, but it’s harder to actually comprehend how much work this team puts in to consistently remain nationally competitive and locally dominant,” said Layla. “These students are completing thesis-level research annually on unbelievably complex contemporary political issues. They’re spending upwards of 20 hours at tournaments on weekends, not to mention the hours of practice that lead up to those competitions. And they’re committing to an activity where they’re repeatedly told they’re wrong … for fun! That’s difficult, and it necessitates maturity and tenacity you wouldn’t generally expect from teenagers.”

And as a result of their hard work, the team has built on the name of Rowland Hall Debate, which is becoming more broadly known. While the school has long been known as a place to be if you want to go far in debate, the team’s third consecutive state victory is making more people in the debate world pay attention.

“Our third state victory solidifies the school as a premier program in the eyes of the larger debate community,” said Mike. “Winning state one year is an achievement, but winning it three years in a row is a trend. It builds a narrative that Rowland Hall and debate success are synonymous.”

This narrative definitely shapes how students view the program. Ninth grader Zion Wirthlin-Ngugi, who impressed in their first year on the team by competing in different events with different partners, and finishing in the top five in Student Congress at state, said they knew the reputation of Rowland Hall Debate before enrolling at the school last year, and that reputation played a major role in their choice to attend Rowland Hall. In their first year, Zion was determined to soak in as much knowledge as possible from their more experienced peers, citing an opportunity to debrief with seniors Anna Hull and Zachary Klein after Zion’s first national tournament at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, among their top memories of the year.

Looking back, Zion is grateful to have played a role in this year’s state victory. “I feel accomplished to have assisted the team by making it to finals,” they said, adding that they are impressed by the skill level of the nation’s top debaters and, as they move through the program, determined to be among those ranks. “It was a shocking experience to truly apprehend the depth and scope of the skilled debater realm, both from national competitors and in Rowland Hall,” said Zion. “I am looking forward to being amongst them in the future.”

For Layla, the Tournament of Champions—or TOC, to debaters—was a top memory of the year. (The team attended TOC in person this year for the first time since 2019. TOC was held online in 2020 and 2021, and the team didn't qualify in 2022.) It was a chance to, as Layla shared, “compete with some of the best debaters in the country and to join the legacy of Rowland Hall debaters who have attended the TOC,” and to enjoy the camaraderie built among teammates during these experiences—on planes, at dinner, or during late-night research sessions. These “little moments,” as Layla calls them, are a major part of what she will miss after graduation.

“It’s hard to find a group of kids where someone can make a joke about the state of political affairs in Croatia, and the entire room bursts into laughter,” she said. “We often jokingly call ourselves ‘the most distractible debate team in the nation,’ and I think that’s a testament to how well we get along and how many things we want to share with each other—albeit unrelated to the actual task at hand. I’ll miss that companionship dearly.”

Layla and her fellow seniors will also miss their coaches, Mike Shackelford and new recruit Zach Thiede. In fact, the entire team is quick to point out how the coaching staff’s support and dedication to the debate program has been absolutely essential to establishing Rowland Hall Debate as a premier program in the larger debate community. They especially recognize how Mike, who has coached the team since fall 2007, has created an environment that allowed the program to grow to its current level, and whose dedication to each debater has shaped them into, in Layla’s words, “the competitors, students, and people we are today.”

Our team is special because our collaboration is organic and we have many committed members. Mr. Shackelford, Zach Thiede, and upperclassmen to novices prioritize our learning, experience, and understanding of debate conceptually, which in turn improves performance.—Zion Wirthlin-Ngugi, class of 2026

“Mr. Shackelford is an incredible force on this team, and the Rowland Hall debaters and I couldn’t be more grateful for his dedication,” said Layla. “The Rowland Hall Debate team would cease to exist without the overwhelming amount of care and coaching Mr. Shackelford invests in the team. As I’ve mentioned, the debaters are incredible people, but it’s Mr. Shackelford who cultivates their talent and effort into a cohesive team that is capable of achieving results that lead to Tournament of Champions qualifications. It’s an honor and a privilege to be coached by him, and he deserves immense amounts of praise for both the success Rowland Hall has found debating and the truly uplifting and positive environment on the team.”

After all, it’s this uplifting and positive environment that will continue the momentum of this season, and returning members are excited to build on the team’s latest success. They also recognize the exceptional group they are part of.

“Our team is special because our collaboration is organic and we have many committed members,” said Zion. “Mr. Shackelford, Zach Thiede, and upperclassmen to novices prioritize our learning, experience, and understanding of debate conceptually, which in turn improves performance.”

This team-first approach also builds confidence, and while the debaters can’t know for sure what the future holds, their collective experiences over the last three years have shown them that they can believe in themselves and are capable of holding their team to their newest standard of excellence.

“Success breeds expectations, but as an optimist, I've found that expectations dictate outcomes,” said Mike, who knows that the state of Rowland Hall’s debate program is solid—and its future promising. “Our students can compete against anyone, on any topic, in any format. Our program is as strong as ever thanks to great student leaders and mentors who continued the guidance for each new batch of young debaters and reinforced a culture of success.”

Rowland Hall Debate State Performances 2023

Below are Rowland Hall’s top performances at the 2023 state tournament, by debate event.

• Informative Speaking: Senior Angel Wang earned an excellence rating in this event, where debaters present a 10-minute prepared speech that seeks to inform and explain.
• Lincoln-Douglas: Senior Julia Summerfield was Rowland Hall’s top performer in this event, finishing as a quarterfinalist for her solo debate on the Supreme Court.
• Impromptu Speaking: Ninth grader Anya Ellahie was a finalist in this event in which debaters are given a random topic and have one to two minutes to prepare before delivering five-minute speeches.
• Extemporaneous Speaking: Senior Zachary Klein took second place in this event in which debaters are given a current-event question and have 30 minutes to research, write, and deliver seven-minute speeches. Senior Amelie Corson was also a finalist in the event.
• Student Congress: Sophomore Andrew Murphy took second place in this event where students lead and participate in a simulation where they debate different pieces of national legislation. Ninth grader Zion Wirthlin-Ngugi also finished in the top five of the event.
• Policy: Seniors Ruchi Agarwal and Layla Hijjawi took first place in this event for their debate on the best proposals for NATO security. Juniors Marina Peng and Logan Fang, sophomores Eli Hatton and Aiden Gandhi, and ninth graders Enzo Rust and Baker Campsen all had winning records in Policy, finishing in second, third, and fourth, respectively. That's a clean sweep!
• Public Forum: Senior teammates Micah Sheinberg and Anna Hull took first place in this event for their debate on the pros and cons of India's space program. Junior Sophie Baker and sophomore Elena Owens also made it to finals, giving them the co-championship. Senior teammates Amelie Corson and Iman Ellahie, as well as the team of junior Harris Matheson and ninth grader Harrison Lasater, were quarterfinalists in the event.

Debate

The rhythms of West Africa, created by Tiya Karaus’ second graders, filled the chapel.

It’s a chance to expose students to different art forms and give them opportunities to interact with experts in artistic fields. They get to see the arts in action and start making connections between themselves and the outside world.—Tiya Karaus, second-grade teacher

Some students took turns on dundun drums while others danced, each taking a part in telling a story. The activity was part of the Artist in Residence program at the Lower School, which brings musicians, painters, photographers, dancers, and more onto Rowland Hall’s McCarthey Campus each spring. For Tiya’s class, the artist was dancer and drummer Déja Mitchell, who was instructing the students on the kuku rhythm, a celebratory call-and-response drumbeat that, in Guinea, is used to signal the return of women to the village from a successful fishing outing. Opportunities like these, Rowland Hall teachers agree, are a great way to deepen student learning and connect them to the larger community, which is what makes the Artist in Residence program so special.

“It’s a chance to expose students to different art forms and give them opportunities to interact with experts in artistic fields,” said Tiya. “They get to see the arts in action and start making connections between themselves and the outside world.”

In addition to West African drumming and dancing, this year lower schoolers took part in learning about photography with artist Kirsten Hepburn, and explored modern dance with a performer from Tanner Dance. The arts are an important part of a Rowland Hall education from the earliest stages of learning. Music and visual arts are woven into the curriculum in Beginning School classrooms, and regular music and art classes are part of the weekly schedule in the Lower School. In the middle and upper schools, students are given multiple opportunities to take part in a variety of artistic endeavors. The arts enjoy a place of prominence at the school not only for the joys they bring, but also for the lessons they teach. Music, dance, theatre, painting, and other means of artistic expression give the students windows into experiences that they may not otherwise be privy to, and also provide mirrors to their own experiences and how they connect them to the world. They also are a way of learning that feels natural to children.

“The whole child is a musical child, is a dancing child, is an artistic child,” said McCarthey Campus music teacher Susan Swidnicki. “That’s part of being human.”

Part of the human experience for Tiya’s students also involved learning about the people on the other side of the world who invented the rhythms they played and the dances they performed. Along with the music and dance, Déja shared with the class the history behind the rhythms and dances, and how and why they evolved. “It’s a way for them to connect with another part of the world and get a deeper appreciation of other people and cultures,” she said.

We live in a very noisy world. For children to do that kind of focused concentrating, listening, and responding is really important to their learning.—Susan Swidnicki, music teacher

A deeper cultural competency is just one of the additional benefits Tiya’s students are gaining through the Artist in Residence program. Self-control and cooperation are two other skills they have developed as they played the drums and learned the dances. Every student will tell you the kuku rhythm isn’t just about where you strike the drum, but also how hard you hit it. You have to have the balance. And you have to be listening to what others are playing, and watching the movements the dancers are making, in order for everything to work together.

“We live in a very noisy world. For children to do that kind of focused concentrating, listening, and responding is really important to their learning,” said Susan. “It’s a great lesson in how to get along with others collaboratively and joyfully.”

The students also gain confidence in themselves, not only as artists but as people. After all, drumming is not easy. But if you mention the term “kuku” to them, they do not hesitate to show you. Dozens of hands instantly start drumming on tables.

“It’s a full-body experience for them. It’s hard work when you are little, and you have little hands,” said Tiya. “As one student said, ‘I love this so much, but my hands are so tired.’”

Academics

This story won Gold in the "Magazine Writing" category of the 2022 InspirED Brilliance Awards.

By Ashley Atwood and Robert Wilson
Original Watercolors by Annie Nash, Class of 2023

Editor's note: This piece is republished from Rowland Hall's 2021–2022 Annual Report.

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In May, Upper School science teacher Rob Wilson embarked on an opportunity of a lifetime: a trip to Ketchum, Idaho, to reside in the home of Ernest and Mary Hemingway as a visiting scholar. There, he wrote teaching resources based on his own use of Hemingway in the science classroom, as well as conducted the property’s first biological inventory. It was both a personal journey and a chance for the educator to invite students into his experience, showing them what is possible when you pursue and cultivate knowledge and passion.

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In late 1939, riding the high of celebrity built as a bestselling author and international war correspondent, Ernest Hemingway traveled to the newly built Sun Valley resort in Idaho on a publicity trip. While the writer was familiar with opportunities like this, it’s almost certain he was unprepared for the impact this trip would have on his life. From that first visit, he saw the Wood River Valley—home to Sun Valley and the former mining town of Ketchum—as a refuge, an idyllic place in which to socialize, hunt, fish, and write. He returned often over the next 20 years, and in 1959 moved to Ketchum full time with his fourth wife, Mary, after their exile from Cuba. The home they bought would be their last together, a place in which they could recharge, write, and entertain, whispers of cottonwood leaves and the rumble of the Big Wood River their constant companions. It is also where, on the morning of July 2, 1961, Ernest’s life ended in the foyer.

Mary Hemingway kept the home after her husband’s death and continued to visit it until her own passing in 1986, when she bequeathed it to The Nature Conservancy with instructions that it be turned into a nature reference library. In 2017, ownership of the house passed to The Community Library of Ketchum, which today honors the Hemingways’ legacy in Idaho through preservation work and educational opportunities, including an annual seminar that attracts those captivated by the author’s life and work. In 2019, the library completed a renovation of the home’s ground-floor garage into an apartment for visiting writers and scholars—a space in which invited guests can take in the landscape that inspired one of the greatest writers of a generation, find sanctuary in which to create, and walk away changed by this house of light.

Silkworms

That night we lay on the floor in the room and I listened to the silkworms eating. The silkworms fed in racks of mulberry leaves and all night you could hear them eating and a dropping sound in the leaves. I myself did not want to sleep because I had been living for a long time with the knowledge that if I ever shut my eyes in the dark and let myself go, my soul would go out of my body.
— Ernest Hemingway, “Now I Lay Me”

For a long time I avoided seeing the house. When I went to Ketchum, I would visit the grave in the town cemetery or the monument on Trail Creek, but I did not want to see the house. It seemed like an invasion of privacy, and it was not until I was invited late last year that I laid my eyes upon it. When I was invited to stay there, I was both thrilled and frightened; I was afraid that I might not be able to sleep knowing what happened in the foyer.

My first night in the house I did not fall asleep for a long time, until I slept deeply in the wee hours of the morning and awoke with a start from a bad dream. There was a hint of light to the east, and I could hear a robin. Ecologist Aldo Leopold calculated that “the robin will give voice when the light intensity reaches 0.01 candlepower.” I’ll take his word for it. I got up and made coffee and went outside to watch the day emerge. Four geese came downstream and turned around right in front of me and landed in the channel. A house wren commenced to sing. Eventually, some pine siskins and a ruby-crowned kinglet started talking. The sun lit up the peaks of the Boulder Mountains. Like a flash, the sun came out from behind a layer of clouds on the eastern horizon, and the house lit up. Glorious! The place was alive, truly alive. I came in to make breakfast, and only then did I realize the hour had already passed of the event that I’d been afraid would haunt me too much. The life of the land and the house outshines the darkness of the foyer.
— Rob Wilson, May 2022

* * *

Rob Wilson fell in love with the writing of Ernest Hemingway in eighth grade.

To this day, he remembers the thrill of that first reading of The Old Man and the Sea: how the novella brought to mind his own fishing trips with his dad. His mind readily painted a picture of the story’s setting: the boat, the deck, the handlines so different from his own rod and reel.

He remembers, as a high schooler, discovering a hardbound copy of Hemingway’s short stories on his dad’s bookshelf late one Friday and spending hours flipping its yellowed pages, reading long into the night. He remembers bonding with college friends over Hemingway, as well as quiet evenings during his early career as a field biologist, sitting on a cabin porch in southern Idaho and watching the sun set over the Pioneer Mountains above Sun Valley as he, again, made his way through Hemingway novels: The Sun Also Rises, A Farewell to Arms, For Whom the Bell Tolls. 

Hemingway’s writings were one of the first influential connections Rob had into the life of an artist, his stories and novels windows into worlds different from Rob’s in many ways, but also strikingly similar, with familiar streams of human experiences running through each tale. With each passing year, Rob began to see beyond the adventure stories that had first captivated him. Each new reading, supplemented by his accumulating life experience, became an opportunity to get lost in a story’s subtext. In Hemingway, Rob also found a kindred spirit—someone who, like him, respected the natural world. “Hemingway noticed the little things around him, and how they lived,” Rob said. The author’s writings are abundant with those observations: how trout hold in a clear river, for example, or the features of a wildfire-blackened mountainside, all described in such honest, sharp ways that it heightens the real-world experience of being outdoors.

In 2015, while re-reading Hemingway’s short story “A Pursuit Race,” Rob’s connection to Hemingway deepened in a new way when he realized how well its understated portrayal of alcoholism and heroin withdrawal could be applied to his health class lesson on substance abuse. He thought it would complement the textbook he usually used for the lesson, but more effectively invite students to contemplate the human impact of substance abuse in a way a textbook can’t.

“What fiction is,” he explained of that choice, “is a way to invite you into examining life.”

It was a successful experiment, one that excited both Rob and then-Head of School Alan Sparrow. Over the years, Rob began adding more texts to his lesson plans, including Aldo Leopold’s A Sand County Almanac and Robin Wall Kimmerer’s Braiding Sweetgrass, as well several Hemingway short stories: “Now I Lay Me” for its themes of metamorphosis, “The Snows of Kilimanjaro” for its tie to the climate, and “Big Two-Hearted River” for its portrayal of earth systems. Like the living creatures he brings to campus—pigeons for genetics, jellyfish to animate the history of life on Earth—Rob has found that Hemingway texts are an effective resource to enrich students’ understanding of science concepts. They’re also unexpected.

Research continues to make it clear that interdisciplinary learning, combining two or more subjects into one activity, benefits students by broadening how they think and how they approach problem solving.

“Students can be strict about silos,” he said, referring to the kind of thinking that draws lines around areas of study: students should reference a textbook or case study in science class and read Hemingway in English class. But research continues to make it clear that interdisciplinary learning, combining two or more subjects into one activity, benefits students by broadening how they think and how they approach problem solving. Hemingway’s signature iceberg approach—the idea that an author should allow a story’s deeper meaning to be implicitly realized by the reader—is an effective method for stretching young minds, allowing students space to lean on their own interpretations and observations.

“This is a major component of my teaching strategy,” said Rob. “If I tell you something, you are more likely to forget it. If you discover it for yourself based on what I provide, you will remember it and be proud of yourself.”

Many Hemingway stories build this skill with multiple examples of inference and deduction, forms of logic necessary to the scientific process, as well as sensory details that can deepen an understanding of natural sciences. While he was in Idaho, one of the stories Rob had his ninth-grade biology students read was “Now I Lay Me,” throughout which narrator Nick Adams, a soldier convalescing behind the front lines during World War I, refers to the sound of silkworms devouring mulberry leaves in his room. It was a natural tie to the class, which had been observing and caring for their own colony of silkworms that spring. Over the weeks, thanks to their worms’ diet of mulberry leaves, the class had watched the invertebrates grow from eyelash-sized hatchlings to fat, round, white worms. And as they read the story—for many, their introduction to Hemingway—that experience both provided a mental picture and enhanced the story’s subtext.

“It was easier to visualize the things described in the reading,” remembered Loc Ossana-Aoki, while classmate Rachel Brague added, “Having silkworms in the classroom helped emphasize the story, showed the bigger picture. Knowing about silkworms, I understood the emphasis on the man's experience.”

It was an experience that helped drive home the ideas that science isn’t static and that interdisciplinary connections enhance learning in exciting ways. Much like a Hemingway story, the students realized, there is always another layer to discover, something new to take away, to enrich overall understanding.

“Without any knowledge or experience, you can read these stories and understand what is happening,” explained Rachel, “but once you know more, the simple writing suddenly seems like the story is much longer and filled with more information than before.”

In past years, Rob has had students share Hemingway discoveries like these in class, but this year’s trip to Idaho gave them an opportunity to make even more connections among the stories, their studies, and his experience when he invited them to ask questions about his time away. “They were really curious,” said Rob. “All I did was say, ‘What would you like to know?’ and they asked questions for the entire period.” Discussion flowed around the Hemingway property’s major geographic features and how they change over time, natural selection, and the landscape itself: mature cottonwoods and blue spruces the Hemingways may have looked upon, a house wren whose call Rob imitated, and pileated woodpeckers whose strikes Rob demonstrated by knocking on the whiteboard. Rob also shared how he placed the class silkworms on the writing desk as he composed his own work, a metamorphosing muse, and his own feelings of fear, peace, and reverence for the sacred space.

“It was really personal for him,” said student Winston Hoffman, “but I think all of us appreciated what he had to say because he was trying to include us in the experience. It was like we had been there too, almost.”

Grasshoppers

As he had walked along the road, climbing, he had started many grasshoppers from the dust. These were just ordinary hoppers, but all a sooty black in color. Nick had wondered about them as he walked, without really thinking about them. Now, as he watched the black hopper that was nibbling at the wool of his sock with its fourway lip, he realized that they had all turned black from living in the burned-over land. He realized that the fire must have come the year before, but the grasshoppers were all black now. He wondered how long they would stay that way.
— Ernest Hemingway, “Big Two-Hearted River, Part One”

I headed north on Highway 93 around 1 pm. It was cool and windy, and I could see flurries of snow in the mountains ahead of me. I always feel such great anticipation during this part of the drive, and I remembered making the drive at other times of the year, doing other things with other people, and always having the sense that I am gravitating toward Ketchum. It’s funny to think of the warm summer nights on Big Cottonwood Creek, when I sat on the porch and looked across the Magic Valley to the Pioneer Mountains and wondered who had watched them fill with snow and returned to see that the snow had melted. Nothing about the drive reminded me of my dad except loading the car, driving past the duck club on the Jordan River and the other one on the Bear River, looking for ducks when I passed canals, geese in fields, bridges over rivers, and birds circling; the exit at Tremonton that we used to take to hunt and fish in Swan Valley (in the winter, the ducks would circle over the cottonwoods and disappear and reappear over the channel under the branches, closer than you were ever used to seeing them); looking out into the sagebrush, wondering if it held sage grouse; and the drive to Magic Valley where we took our last hunting trip that winter, when I broke through the ice on the Big Wood River, and I didn’t know if it would be 10 inches deep or 10 feet.

What I did not know going north is how much better I would understand this way when I took it, just a few days later, going south. I drove on knowing that I could share this experience and return to it.
— Rob Wilson, May 2022

* * *

Rob’s journey to his Hemingway House residency began in September 2016, when he received an invitation to that year’s Ernest Hemingway Seminar from his best friend from graduate school, Jeff Motychak. Titled Hemingway and Nature, the seminar was to feature discussions on “Big Two-Hearted River” and aimed to, in the words of The Community Library, “stimulate deep thinking about the role of nature in Hemingway’s works.” It was a perfect opportunity for two natural scientists fascinated by Hemingway and would play a transformative role in Rob’s life. “I was so deeply inspired,” Rob remembered. “I came back different.”

Rob has participated in the seminar each fall since, and in 2019 joined the planning committee to assist in its arrangement. His annual journey north is a pilgrimage of sorts, where he observes the landscape, reflects, and recharges. It’s also a chance for him to connect with Hemingway enthusiasts—literary scholars, scientists, art curators, educators, writers, and the curious public—who gather to examine a Hemingway novel, topic, or even passage. It was through these discussions that Rob built a relationship with the library, which in September 2021 extended a writer-in-residence invitation, initially hoping Rob would use the time to write the Hemingway lessons he had developed into teaching resources for other educators, a goal that would expand in the intervening months. And though he knew the experience would be deeply personal, he and Upper School Principal Ingrid Gustavson also knew it was a valuable opportunity, a chance to further help students perceive, seek, and discover connections in their learning, and they decided he would schedule the trip during the school year.

“So much of what we're doing with kids in education is modeling lifelong learning,” explained Ingrid. “This opportunity allowed Rob to explore, through his biologist lens, his observer lens, the home of a literary giant and give a new perspective on it.”

So many scientists know the quantitative evidence of what they’re looking at, but the quantitative evidence doesn’t matter unless you know who you’re impacting.—Annie Nash, class of 2023

It’s this kind of thinking that can change students’ lives. For upper schooler Annie Nash, who was first introduced to Hemingway in 2020 as one of Rob’s ninth-grade biology students, and who identifies as both a scientist and an artist, the confluence of subjects in Rob’s classroom felt natural, freeing her to think about how she can apply both sides of herself to her life’s work.

“I never really imagined art separate from the sciences,” she explained. “Science is artistic, nature is artistic, math is artistic—we can’t separate them.” And the older she gets, Annie said, the more she realizes an interdisciplinary approach to education is preparing her for a dynamic world that needs creative-minded and collaborative thinkers to take on its big challenges. “So many scientists know the quantitative evidence of what they’re looking at,” she said, “but the quantitative evidence doesn’t matter unless you know who you’re impacting.”

An aspiring pharmaceutical scientist, Annie knows her personal definition of success depends on more than an understanding of analytical chemistry and biostatistics. One area she’s especially concerned about is the historically negative impact of medicine on marginalized communities. She worries that the traditional approach to science education, one that focuses strictly on data, leaves scientists removed from the real-world impact of their work, and she believes applying topics like English, art, and history to her science studies helps her recognize worrying trends in her desired field so she can do her part to interrupt them. Novels and short stories are especially powerful ways to frame this history, she’s learned. More than other media, they effectively invite readers to reflect on humanity’s shared history and paint an understanding of how the human journey—what we’ve believed, what we’ve valued, how we’ve lived—has shaped the current world so readers can take away lessons for their own lives.

“You understand the time period but also separate the good and the bad—and then further the good in your own studies,” said Annie. “Scientists are sometimes viewed as being antisocial hermits who are detached from real-world issues. I want to break this stereotype so that I can encourage others to be empathetic in their research, to always strive to better the world.”

Cottonwoods

Best of all, he loved the fall. The leaves yellow on the cottonwoods, leaves floating on the trout streams, and above the hills the high, blue, windless skies.
— Ernest Hemingway, eulogy for Gene Van Guilder

I can track with my eye the flow through the deepest part of the channel that would have ruptured the beaver dam. The flow is deflected off of the bedrock wall. Parts of the channel are visible from the east-facing windows, and it is easy to imagine that residents of the house would have watched the river shape this bend over the years. They would have seen cottonwoods bloom with beet-colored catkins, fill in with lush green leaves, and fill the air with a distinct perfume; leaves yellow on the cottonwoods; and the transformation to black and white skeletons against the winter land. From here, they could watch the plumes of snow raised by the wind from the highest peaks. They would have heard the gossip of geese and had a view into the nests of hawks and private lives of kinglets, and been witness to the comings and goings of myriad birds throughout the year. It saddens me to know how much Ernest would have enjoyed this setting over the decades he could have lived here and did not. He has left us his gifts of perception so that we may enjoy it ourselves and teach others to experience the sublime and to protect it.

Teaching is a service of paying forward knowledge, skills, and values that enable another to cope and thrive in an ever-changing world. You can’t be a beacon if your light doesn’t shine. Mary could have walked away, and she chose to stay and have the house protected in perpetuity. The house on the hill of bedrock above the sea of cottonwoods is a beacon that both signals danger and radiates hope.
— Rob Wilson, May 2022

* * *

The house on the hill is designed to maximize its view.

From its wide patios, large windows, or broad lawn, visitors gaze upon a landscape of colors and textures: snow-capped peaks of the Boulder and Pioneer mountains, the Big Wood River flowing over gray stones, the dark trunks and lush foliage of black cottonwoods that, in late spring as they burst into new life, fill the warming air with a honey scent.

Cottonwood forests, or galleries, tell a story of resilience: their survival depends upon the ability of seedlings to keep their roots in contact with capillary fringe, the area of soil that draws moisture from the water table. When flood conditions are met, the trees grow in cohorts, but most years, due to weather or human disruption, those conditions are not met. As a result, one cohort of cottonwoods matures to nurture the next, a process that strengthens the entire gallery.

There are times, though, when a cottonwood forest stops regenerating altogether, a process that happens so gradually the untrained eye misses the first signs. For the caregivers of the Hemingway House and its estate, a loss like this—of Mary’s desire for how the property would continue on—would especially hurt, and so Rob volunteered to conduct the first biological inventory, a task necessary to fully realize Mary’s vision.

“It's the library’s mission, as stewards, to protect that little bit of land,” he explained. “The biggest thing I could offer was to describe the living landscape for them.”

In addition to writing teaching resources, Rob spent hours of his residency walking the property’s 13.9 acres looking for cottonwood saplings as evidence of regeneration and documenting the landscape, from the bedrock on which the house stands to the kinglets and house wrens calling into early spring mornings, all of which he included in a reference document for the land’s ongoing protection and conservation—his personal contribution to its stewardship. “This idea of stewardship is: if you're here, it's your job to take care of things,” said Rob. “That's maintaining a landscape, if that's what you have the opportunity to do, or a place, or a relationship.”

A recurrent theme at Rowland Hall is: be the change you want to see in the world. That’s stewardship. My message to students is they can be interested in something and cultivate it and watch it become bigger and better than they ever imagined.—Rob Wilson

As a scientist, Rob has too often seen how our time in history is marked by a collective lack of stewardship, from climate change to the imperiled animals he studies, and he believes each individual plays a role in stewarding our world. He knows that if in his classroom he can tap into our shared humanity by breaking down learning silos and showing students how their passions, whatever those are, connect to something bigger, he can better prepare them to be the people the world needs.

“A recurrent theme at Rowland Hall is: be the change you want to see in the world. That’s stewardship,” said Rob. “My message to students is they can be interested in something and cultivate it and watch it become bigger and better than they ever imagined.”

It’s a perspective that can be found in hundreds of ways across Rowland Hall classrooms, from cross-disciplinary teaching partnerships in the Upper School to experiential learning in the Beginning School. “Adults at Rowland Hall model so well how to see connections in the world, to get excited about learning across disciplines,” said Ingrid. “No one is too young or too old to discover things we really care about, then go deep and figure out how to teach them to others, support a cause, or further someone else's learning.”

This sharing of knowledge is often viewed as a pinnacle of education, a way of students continuing the journey their teachers set them on. Just as a younger cohort of cottonwoods benefits from the stability and nourishment provided by an older cohort, students benefit from their teachers’ examples, then go on to share what they know. “The true test of a student's learning is not the answer they write on an exam,” said Rob. “It is how they share what they learned with the people around them.”

Ingrid remembered seeing evidence of this truth in May when she stopped by Rob’s classroom to find him and three earth science students caring for tanks of betta fish and the class jellyfish, Calypso. Rob encouraged the students to tell Ingrid about the creatures, which they excitedly did, showing her how they harvest brine shrimp for jellyfish food and test the water, and sharing who was caring for the animals over the summer. In that moment, Ingrid said, she realized the students had fully taken ownership of their learning. “This is theirs now,” she thought.

“I always thought science was supposed to be very straightforward—not bringing your own opinion, your own feelings into it,” said Hope Thomas, one of the students in the classroom that day, and Calypso’s summer caretaker. “For a while, it made it a hard subject for me because I’m a very creative person.” But being in Rob’s classes, where she’s encouraged to see connections among areas of study that another science teacher may never approach, Hope realized that making science personal wasn’t just okay, it was necessary to understanding, and taking on, the challenges of today. 

“It makes it more applicable to us when we can think about science in a more personal way,” she said. “When you care about it more, you are more willing to take action.”

And ultimately, this is the goal of education: to help students make meaningful connections about what matters to them and take action to leave the world a better place than they found it. It’s a lesson, Rob has found, that means more to him with each passing year and is especially clear when he returns to The Old Man and the Sea, the book that started his journey, and the one Hemingway himself called “an epilogue to all my writing and what I have learned, or tried to learn, while writing and trying to live.” With the benefit of time, study, and lived experience, said Rob, it’s now more than just a fishing story—it’s a reminder of what is most precious in the time he has.

“What gets me now,” he said, “is the poignancy of how brief a moment is going to be.”

Authentic Learning

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Banner photo credits: Ernest Hemingway by Robert Capa (c) International Center of Photography/Magnum Photos; Mary Hemingway courtesy of the Jeanne Rodger Lane Center for Regional History, Dorice Taylor Collection. Other photographs provided by The Community Library and Rob Wilson.

Special thanks to The Community Library for their partnership on this story.

At the end of every school year, students in the Upper School are given two books that highlight the past year. 

One, their yearbook, is full of pictures of their classmates and recordings of the events of that year. The other, Tesserae, is the school’s national award-winning literary magazine, filled with artistic impressions of life at Rowland Hall. It features poetry, prose, art, and photographs, all produced by students, giving a creative slant to everything that happened in the past 12 months. 

“It’s an emblem of art and expression for the Rowland Hall community,” said senior Gabriella Miranda. “It feels like a very celebratory work. Everyone gets excited when it comes out.” 

It encapsulates the voices of that particular generation of writers.—Joel Long, English, creative writing, and literary magazine teacher

Poet Joel Long teaches the creative writing class that creates the publication every year. The class is made up of a staff of student writers and editors, many of whom have been enrolled for all four of their years in the Upper School. In his tenure, Joel has watched 19 editions of Tesserae go to print and says each one has been unique. 

“It encapsulates the voices of that particular generation of writers,” he said. “It tells the stories that they are dealing with, what sorts of things matter to them at that moment.”

The publication of Tesserae is a major event for the creative writing students, but it is not their only project of the year. They spend the majority of their time working on and refining their own creative writing processes and pieces, and they begin by examining the works of other writers. 

“We read a ton of poetry and get exposed to different poets,” said junior Erika Prasthofer. “Poetry is a way to stop and reflect and understand what a moment meant to us. It’s shaped my high school experience and the way I tell stories and think about the world.” 

Joel also brings in guest speakers who work as writers. He wants the students not only to learn from them about the craft of writing but also the hard work that goes into it. “They answer questions about the writing process, about how they wrote their poems and novels,” he said. “And they show the students they are just humans. They are people who sit down in their chairs with a cup of coffee to write and work away at it.” 

Each student gleans lessons from these experiences that help shape how they create their own art. They discover habits that might hold them back and learn how to finesse a piece to take it from ordinary to extraordinary. “My writing process has evolved because I often used to try to plan what I was going to write before starting,” said Erika. “With time, I have discovered that while a structural border for writing can be important, that border can’t always be a distinct shape because the piece may otherwise feel forced and unnatural.”

And students are encouraged to discover their own voices by examining different types of writing, including poetry, nonfiction prose, and short works of fiction. As they move through the process, each person finds a unique way to express themselves and discovers the reasons why they prefer certain types of communication. 

“We’re really able and encouraged to write in the way we want,” said Gabriella. “I’ve been able to write about any topic that’s important to me and that I found resonance with.” 

“I really like freeform slam poetry,” added ninth grader Aoife Canning. “I find that being able to perform poetry for others is a way in which you can get them involved in it.”

To further develop his young writers, Joel encourages students to share their poetry with various audiences throughout the year, not only by reading aloud but also by submitting to various contests and publications across the country. This year, thanks to her writing, Gabriella was chosen as one of five National Student Poets and traveled to Washington, DC, to meet with First Lady Dr. Jill Biden. In addition, Aoife, Erika, and senior Nadia Scharfstein were all honored at Poetry Ourselves and Poetry Out Loud events sponsored by the Utah Division of Arts & Museums and the National Endowment for the Arts. Nadia was also showcased in the young writer’s edition of the Roanoke Review. 

The most rewarding part is the outcome and the ability to read your writing and feel proud of your work.—Nadia Scharfstein, class of 2024

“I am so proud of the students and their outside successes,” Joel said. “They set the bar high, worked really, really hard, and earned it.” 

While the accolades are nice, the students say the work is its own reward. “The most rewarding part is the outcome and the ability to read your writing and feel proud of your work,” said Nadia. “It’s a way for me to express myself through my words. It brings a lot of joy to me.” 

This joy is also felt by showcasing their works, and the works of other students, each year in Tesserae. The entire staff takes the process very seriously, from submission selection to editing individual pieces to the final layout. Every step is done with careful consideration, and the goal is to live up to the responsibility of creating an artifact that accurately represents the artistic pursuits of this year’s student body. 

“Every year I look forward to working on Tesserae. I like being able to contribute to that and be a part of bringing it all together,” said Nadia. “It represents all the creativity that is going on in our school.”

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Banner: Editors Gabriella Miranda and Nadia Scharfstein with the 2023–2024 edition of Tesserae.

Arts

In preparation for this year’s dance concert, Integrated, middle and upper school students researched topics related to technology, AI, and how we as humans relate to these machines in our everyday lives. Students thought critically about their personal experiences with tech and created pieces inspired by their findings and curiosities. Their works explore how we can utilize AI as a resource moving forward, while also giving space to the many moral and existential questions that come along with developing non-human intelligence. Two Upper School students, Hayley Trockman and Mattie Sulivan, reflected on their own processes and interviewed peers to give the audience an inside look into the complex questions underlying this year’s concert.

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Reflecting on Process: Dance Students’ Voices on Integrated

By Hayley Trockman, Class of 2024, and Mattie Sullivan, Class of 2025

During the summer workshop our dance teachers, Sophia Cutrubus ’18 and Grace Riter ’18, presented us with the question: how can we express our thoughts about the advancement of technology through dance? At first, we were unaware of just how many different paths we could take to explore this growing industry. But as we dove deeper, we discovered that this topic left us with endless questions and conversations to have. Both our Intermediate and Advanced Dance Ensembles classes endeavored to answer these questions with open minds and a willingness to delve into our movement explorations.

How can we express our thoughts about the advancement of technology through dance?

Junior Mattie Sullivan decided to ruminate on their individual relationship to transforming technologies, using their piece to uncover a duality that often comes with spending huge amounts of time online.

“When I was presented with the theme of this year's dance concert I felt excited, overwhelmed, and honestly scared,” said Mattie. “Walking into dance class this year, I was full of ideas but really struggling to articulate them. Even a couple of days ago I was reminded of our initial question: can you really express all of these feelings through dance? But in the few weeks leading up to the concert, I feel confident that our relationships with AI and technology have and will continue to be voiced.”

They continued, “The Internet has been my primary form of communication with those I care about and my main source of entertainment. On the flip side, I have observed the detrimental effects an Internet addiction can have on a person. For my piece, I focused on both of these aspects of Internet usage. By manipulating the energy qualities of my movement I was able to portray both loneliness and connection. In our creative processes, we dove into the complexities of using the Internet and AI, and through movement we have been able to tell our unique stories.”

In Mattie’s work with the Iron Lions robotics team captain, junior Evan Weinstein, they discussed how technology has a different kind of intelligence than humans do. Evan highlighted that we don’t need to fear AI; rather, we should focus on how we set boundaries around its use.

He said, “AI is incredibly important because as we learn to harness the power of computing, technological strides become more accessible. When we don’t need to worry about spending time regulating budgets and doing mundane tasks, the future workforce will be able to put our collective energy towards doing new things while AI can maintain what we already know. Additionally, AI will be able to pick up on patterns that humans can’t. This level of pattern recognition can also help us predict and regulate our response to relevant social and environmental issues.”

While neural networks and AI are incredible tools, they are just that—tools. We can learn to use them as innovators and problem solvers, but at the end of the day they can only perform as well as we teach them.

Evan also pointed out, “While neural networks and AI are incredible tools, they are just that—tools. We can learn to use them as innovators and problem solvers, but at the end of the day they can only perform as well as we teach them. AI is an advancement that we need to understand and accept. I urge the support of AI and hope that we can help learn within our communities to set our generation up for success.”

Senior Hayley Trockman gave a look into what her process looked like as she learned about how AI-generated images are created.

“I believe in integrating technology into our lives with human intelligence guiding its role,” said Hayley. “I began the process of choreographing a piece that specifically looked into the ways that AI-produced images are created from our insecurities and unrealistic beauty standards. However, after speaking with Rowland Hall staff member Ashley Atwood, her advice of ‘accepting the new and upcoming’ resonated with me. I realized that we can’t put all of the blame on technology—because we are actually the ones feeding it the ideal body image through our engagement with social media. Whether it be likes and positive reactions, or critical comments, AI recognizes this trend in data and takes that information to generate its own images. My piece is a commentary on that process. The use of mirrors as props represents how AI-generated images become both reflections and distortions of our own insecurities.”

Senior Lauren Bates pivoted the conversation in a new direction, with her inspiration coming from the increase in the use of AI to help process grief.

“My initial idea dealt with how AI does not feel or process grief the same way that we do,” said Lauren. “However, as I did more research, I found a number of articles talking about ‘Grief Tech.’ I learned that there is already technology that allows people to feed information from their loved ones who have passed into AI chatbots. Subsequently, the software can recreate their personality and identity. This has brought up a lot of ethical and psychological concerns, along with questions about if this is a healthy way to process grief. I was initially inspired to create this piece after listening to Kendrick Lamar’s ‘United In Grief’ and applying its meaning to dance. For me, dance has always been a way to express ideas that are too difficult to express with words.”

I hope that our audience will resonate with both our fear and love of technology, and spend a minute thinking about their own relationships, both on and off the screens.

As we have reflected on the past months of choreographing, researching, and critically evaluating our relationship with tech and AI, we hope that the concert encourages our audience to turn inward and think about how they relate to technology in their own lives. As Mattie Sullivan said, “I hope that our audience will resonate with both our fear and love of technology, and spend a minute thinking about their own relationships, both on and off the screens.”  We want this moment in time to allow viewers to take pause and evaluate where we are and how we want to move forward.

Student Voices

“In my darkest nights and brightest days, in times of unbridled joy and unbearable heartbreak, poetry has been a refuge, a soothing companion that gives voice to emotions I can’t always articulate on my own.”

This reflection on the power of poetry was given by First Lady Dr. Jill Biden as she appointed the five 2023 National Student Poets at the White House on Monday, November 13. Rowland Hall senior Gabriella Miranda was among these poets, representing the West Region of the United States. She was joined by Jacqueline Flores of Zolfo Springs, FL (Southeast Region), Miles Hardingwood of Brooklyn, NY (Northeast Region), Shangri-La Hou of Saint Louis, MO (Midwest Region), and Kallan McKinney of Norman, OK (Southwest Region).

Gabby has an instinct for images and rhythm that resonates through the deepest channels of human experience.—Joel Long, Upper School English, creative writing, and literary magazine teacher

In addition to welcoming the poets and their families to the White House, event organizers worked with the honorees’ high schools to arrange live watch parties, which allowed many of Gabby’s classmates, teachers, and well-wishers to gather in support of the celebrated young poet. School representatives were also asked to introduce their students, each of whom shared an original poem. Joel Long, Upper School English, creative writing, and literary magazine teacher, had the honor of introducing Gabby prior to her reading of her poem “Almanac.”

“Gabby showed her gifts as a writer from her first classes with me in ninth grade,” Joel shared. “As a voracious reader and a lover of words, Gabby has an instinct for images and rhythm that resonates through the deepest channels of human experience.”

The 2023 National Student Poets were chosen by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers from a group of high schoolers who collectively submitted more than 24,000 works in the 2023 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards. From a pool of National Medal recipients, 40 semi-finalists were identified as the most gifted young poets in their regions, based on their originality, technical skills, and personal voice, and invited to submit additional poetry and performance videos to distinguished jurors for the final selection of the five National Student Poets, chosen for their exceptional creativity, dedication to craft, and promise. The National Student Poets serve as national poetry ambassadors, sharing their passion for poetry, literacy, and the literary arts with their communities and throughout their regions, and each received a $5,000 academic award.

Congratulations, Gabby!

Arts

Most middle school–aged students aren’t yet driving cars—but at Rowland Hall, some of them are already flying planes.

That’s because aviation is just one of the opportunities available to seventh and eighth graders as part of Rowland Hall’s expansive electives curriculum. And while some may think of electives as classes meant to give students downtime, or pad out schedules, nothing could be further from the truth.

“Electives not only enrich the core subjects students are taking, they also introduce new areas of study and interest,” said Middle School Principal Pam Smith. “Students can dive deeper into subjects they find interesting and discover passions they never knew they had.”

Middle School students use elective classes to look at the world and the skills they are learning in new and different ways. They discover competencies, and how to put them to work to become people the world needs.

Students use these classes to look at the world and the skills they are learning in new and different ways. They discover competencies, and how to put them to work to become people the world needs. Currently, seventh- and eighth-grade students have dozens of options to choose from when it comes to electives. Topics range from guitar to app design, and cover a range of diverse fields of study including fine arts, multimedia production, climate science, and public art and discourse. (Sixth graders, while not eligible for elective classes, are introduced to many of the concepts in their foundation classes with subjects like computer science, music, and debate.)

“Electives give students more of a voice and choice in the curriculum,” said Pam. “When they choose a class, it often leads to a greater investment in what’s being taught, as well as incorporates concepts they are learning in their other classes.”

Some of the electives offered are direct offshoots of core curriculum. Math teacher Jen Schones, for example, decided to start teaching personal finance as a Middle School elective after being told by several people that they wished they had learned about money management in school. Now she is helping students use addition, subtraction, percentages, and other math skills to discuss concepts like budgeting, investing, building credit, and taxes—skills they’ll use for the rest of their lives.

“The thing I stress to students a lot is that every decision you make with money has a consequence—both good and bad,” Jen said. “We do simulations looking at various choices like career, location, living expenses, and potential financial emergencies, and then students decide if they are willing to live with those choices, or if they would have done something different.”

The class also walks students through financial matters they are currently facing or will face in the near future. Paying for college is a topic of conversation, as is how to set a budget and save for a goal that is weeks, or even months, into the future. Guest speakers come in to talk about investment opportunities students could engage in now, including apps that allow them to buy stocks or money market accounts.

“I actually had one student ask their parents for a custodial IRA for Christmas after hearing about it in class,” said Jen. “Students are really responding well to the course, and not only learning skills for later, but putting some skills into action right now.”

Elective courses not only give students the opportunity to use skills they are learning in different ways, but also awaken them to aptitudes they didn’t know they had.

“There’s this misconception that you are either creative or you are not,” said visual art teacher Anne Wolfer. “I really try to help the kids push through and get to the mindset that we are all creative and that it just takes time, dedication, and a lot of hard work.”

In the public art elective, students unlock their creative minds by learning the many ways that art is created in communities, how a piece goes from an idea to a finished work, and the benefits of art in community spaces. It’s a great way for students to feel further connected to the community around them and to see themselves as contributors to a shared community. If you are walking through Salt Lake City’s 9th and 9th neighborhood, stop to take a look at the large mural that now graces the side of the Tower Theatre. The sweeping mountains, flowers, and a butterfly were all painted by Rowland Hall students. “It feels like we have a bigger connection to 9th and 9th now,” said eighth grader Callie L. “It’s like we are leaving a piece of ourselves there.”

“The kids are really putting themselves out there with this mural,” added Anne. “And in doing so they are gaining confidence in their abilities and preparing themselves to move on to bigger and even more expansive projects.”

Students aren’t the only ones given the opportunity to take on more expansive projects in electives; teachers do as well. Bill Tatomer was teaching math and American studies at Rowland Hall when he decided to put his 20-plus years as a Navy pilot to use for the benefit of the students. He now teaches three different aviation courses in the Middle School, covering everything from basic principles of flight, aerospace science, and aviation design to engineering, careers in aviation, and flight training. During the course of the program, some students even earn their drone TRUST certification, while others take their first steps to getting their private pilot’s license.

“The exposure these classes create, especially as a Middle School student, is truly incredible,” said Bill. “Additionally, when I see students have fun and thrive in the environments created by these classes, whether they continue in aviation or not, my heart is full. I love what I do, and I so love sharing this passion with Rowland Hall students.”

I wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember, and the classes I took from Mr. Tatomer really gave me a leg up. I still use the information I learned today, and I utilize some of the lessons in my own teaching as well.—Davis Kahler ’17

The students love it too. Now-ninth grader Alexa Tracey admits she was a bit nervous when she found herself at the controls of a plane at the age of 14, but she knew she was ready for it because of all she had learned in Bill’s class. “It was nice to be able to know that I knew what was going on and that I was somewhat qualified to fly,” she said. “I would love to be a pilot someday, and taking this class made me realize getting my pilot’s license is an attainable goal.”

Alexa wouldn’t be the first Rowland Hall student to have found a career path thanks to the Middle School electives program. Alumnus Davis Kahler ’17 got his pilot’s license and is now working towards his hours as a commercial airline pilot while also teaching flying in Dallas.

“I wanted to be a pilot for as long as I can remember, and the classes I took from Mr. Tatomer really gave me a leg up,” said Davis. “I still use the information I learned today, and I utilize some of the lessons in my own teaching as well.”

The elective courses at Rowland Hall give students the opportunity to differentiate themselves as individuals while deepening their understanding of core subjects through additional knowledge. They allow them to explore and learn new things and develop lifelong interests in subjects they otherwise may have missed out on. They also are a lot of fun.

Electives allow students to take flight.

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Banner: Students in the Middle School's metal arts class, another elective option, working on a project in spring 2023.

Authentic Learning

Can art save the Great Salt Lake?

It’s a question that students have been asking all year at Rowland Hall through dance, visual arts, and other mediums. In May, the question was laid out in black and white with the production of The Great Salt Film, a one-act play commissioned by theatre teacher Matt Sincell and Upper School students that examines the issues of the lake, and how, or even if, the artistic pursuits of teenagers could have an impact on a looming environmental crisis.

I wanted to empower them to have a voice in the creative process ... to see how art can impact people.—Matt Sincell, theatre teacher

“The play centers on a group of teenagers in a short-film competition to bring awareness to saving the Great Salt Lake,” said Matt. “We start to understand what their frustrations are with feeling powerless, and being asked to solve these problems but feeling like they have no voice and no vote.”

These are feelings the young actors in the play related to and were able to work through by helping create a new piece of art. Playwright Rachel Bublitz brought drafts of the play to the students and allowed them to contribute to not only the semantics of the work, but also to its overall structure and theme. “I wanted to empower them to have a voice in the creative process,” said Matt. “This was a way for them to see how art can impact people.”

The impact is already being felt in small ways. More than $500 was raised through the world premiere of the play, all of which went to FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake. This may not seem like much, but that is a key message of the play: every bit matters. The character of Truth, played by ninth grader Anaïs Bray, makes that point by emptying one bucket of water at a time into the dying lake. “It’s all about the small steps,” she said. “Truth’s mindset is: ‘It’s the best I can do and I need to do what I can do.’”

The bigger impact will be putting the play out into the world. Now that it has premiered at Rowland Hall, it is eligible for publication and subsequent production at schools and theaters all over the world. People who have never even heard of the Great Salt Lake will be able to learn more about its shrinking, and the environmental impact. They will also learn the names of the first cast to perform the play, as they will be printed on every future edition. “It’s fun to know that I’m the first person to do this role,” said ninth grader Henry Olsen.

The message is one of hope.—Owen Thomas, class of 2023

The impact is also through the students who participated in the creation of the play and its first production. They now possess a sense of agency to pick up and examine complex dilemmas and not shy away from them, no matter how insurmountable they seem. After all, there is a lake to save.

“I think the message is one of hope,” said twelfth grader Owen Thomas. “This isn’t a battle we’ve lost yet, but we still have a long way to go.”

Theatre

The rhythms of West Africa, created by Tiya Karaus’ second graders, filled the chapel.

It’s a chance to expose students to different art forms and give them opportunities to interact with experts in artistic fields. They get to see the arts in action and start making connections between themselves and the outside world.—Tiya Karaus, second-grade teacher

Some students took turns on dundun drums while others danced, each taking a part in telling a story. The activity was part of the Artist in Residence program at the Lower School, which brings musicians, painters, photographers, dancers, and more onto Rowland Hall’s McCarthey Campus each spring. For Tiya’s class, the artist was dancer and drummer Déja Mitchell, who was instructing the students on the kuku rhythm, a celebratory call-and-response drumbeat that, in Guinea, is used to signal the return of women to the village from a successful fishing outing. Opportunities like these, Rowland Hall teachers agree, are a great way to deepen student learning and connect them to the larger community, which is what makes the Artist in Residence program so special.

“It’s a chance to expose students to different art forms and give them opportunities to interact with experts in artistic fields,” said Tiya. “They get to see the arts in action and start making connections between themselves and the outside world.”

In addition to West African drumming and dancing, this year lower schoolers took part in learning about photography with artist Kirsten Hepburn, and explored modern dance with a performer from Tanner Dance. The arts are an important part of a Rowland Hall education from the earliest stages of learning. Music and visual arts are woven into the curriculum in Beginning School classrooms, and regular music and art classes are part of the weekly schedule in the Lower School. In the middle and upper schools, students are given multiple opportunities to take part in a variety of artistic endeavors. The arts enjoy a place of prominence at the school not only for the joys they bring, but also for the lessons they teach. Music, dance, theatre, painting, and other means of artistic expression give the students windows into experiences that they may not otherwise be privy to, and also provide mirrors to their own experiences and how they connect them to the world. They also are a way of learning that feels natural to children.

“The whole child is a musical child, is a dancing child, is an artistic child,” said McCarthey Campus music teacher Susan Swidnicki. “That’s part of being human.”

Part of the human experience for Tiya’s students also involved learning about the people on the other side of the world who invented the rhythms they played and the dances they performed. Along with the music and dance, Déja shared with the class the history behind the rhythms and dances, and how and why they evolved. “It’s a way for them to connect with another part of the world and get a deeper appreciation of other people and cultures,” she said.

We live in a very noisy world. For children to do that kind of focused concentrating, listening, and responding is really important to their learning.—Susan Swidnicki, music teacher

A deeper cultural competency is just one of the additional benefits Tiya’s students are gaining through the Artist in Residence program. Self-control and cooperation are two other skills they have developed as they played the drums and learned the dances. Every student will tell you the kuku rhythm isn’t just about where you strike the drum, but also how hard you hit it. You have to have the balance. And you have to be listening to what others are playing, and watching the movements the dancers are making, in order for everything to work together.

“We live in a very noisy world. For children to do that kind of focused concentrating, listening, and responding is really important to their learning,” said Susan. “It’s a great lesson in how to get along with others collaboratively and joyfully.”

The students also gain confidence in themselves, not only as artists but as people. After all, drumming is not easy. But if you mention the term “kuku” to them, they do not hesitate to show you. Dozens of hands instantly start drumming on tables.

“It’s a full-body experience for them. It’s hard work when you are little, and you have little hands,” said Tiya. “As one student said, ‘I love this so much, but my hands are so tired.’”

Academics

Chloe Jones ’11 is back on familiar ground. As the new executive director of UtahPresents, and the assistant dean for art and creative engagement for the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, her home base is now Kingsbury Hall.

“I took my first dance class at Tanner Dance when I was two,” Chloe said. “I have vivid memories of being in Kingsbury Hall growing up. It’s surreal to be back on campus in this new capacity.”

I am very committed to continuing our mission of bringing diverse artistic and cultural experiences here to
Salt Lake.—Chloe Jones ’11

While Chloe’s office may be in Kingsbury Hall, the mission of UtahPresents reaches well beyond the grand staircase that leads to the theater. The organization stages performances and cultural experiences across Salt Lake County with the help of several partner organizations. It is also instrumental in arts education, with programs spanning from kindergarten through high school, and into colleges and universities.

“I was drawn to UtahPresents because of the organization’s strong foundation, and I’m excited to continue building on the successes they have had in the past,” Chloe said. “I am very committed to continuing our mission of bringing diverse artistic and cultural experiences here to Salt Lake.”

Chloe is one of the hundreds of thousands of people who make art possible in communities around the world, but she’s not who you might think of when you think of someone who works in the arts. You may picture an actor or prima ballerina, or an up-and-coming sculptor with a hot new show, and while those people are important, they aren’t all the arts have to offer—and are actually a very small part of the overall puzzle.

“A career in the arts is not only about being a performer,” said Sofia Gorder, Rowland Hall’s arts chair of dance education and Chloe’s former dance teacher. “The way we frame a career in the arts has to really shift and change and recognize that it is part of a larger whole, rather than an isolated marginalized space where very few succeed.”

The opportunity to explore different facets of the arts is one of the reasons Chloe is now with UtahPresents. In her new role, she said she is asking what is possible within the arts, and how to tap into the sense of curiosity that brings people to the spaces where art occurs. “Often younger individuals’ relationship to art is through their own practice of art or through consumption of art,” she said. “There are infinite ways to be an artist or an arts worker. That's the beauty of the arts—the space for imagination, creativity, and innovation is vast.”

And those active in the arts will tell you that art should not be centered around a person or persons in the spotlight, but instead involve entire communities. The more voices and contributions to the process, the richer and more profound it becomes. That is the power of art, and its presence enriches the lives of everyone it touches. This is why schools, including Rowland Hall, so strongly emphasize the importance of arts education.

“Art turns up the volume on our nerves so we confront the world in a way that is more human. It allows us to see the world and feel the world, perceive that world that is richer because of the lenses that art gives us,” said Chloe’s former English teacher Joel Long, who teaches Upper School English and creative writing at Rowland Hall today. “All those things heighten our ability and our vulnerability and allow us to enter the world more fully.”

Chloe also knows it isn’t just how art connects us to the world, but also how it connects us to each other and spurs us to action, making us brave in the times when we are most fearful. “I think the arts give us inroads to understand different social issues,” said Chloe. “They are a critical way of convening and building community around those issues. I feel very strongly we need the arts to inspire us.”

Chloe’s education at Rowland Hall laid the groundwork of her arts-filled career. She was a Lifer, or a student who attended the school for 12 or more years. She described the school as her community growing up, and said she is especially thankful she was chosen as a Cumming Scholar in ninth grade. During high school she was a member of the dance company and the co-editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, Tesserae. But it was the more intangible skills she gained that proved to be the most useful.

Rowland Hall made me a critical and curious thinker, and reinforced my love of questions and helped me become more creative and strategic in trying to answer those questions. It was such a nurturing and academically challenging environment, and that combination made me more resilient—and you need to be resilient to pursue a career in the arts.—Chloe Jones ’11

“Rowland Hall made me a critical and curious thinker, and reinforced my love of questions and helped me become more creative and strategic in trying to answer those questions,” she said. “It was such a nurturing and academically challenging environment, and that combination made me more resilient—and you need to be resilient to pursue a career in the arts.”

After Rowland Hall, Chloe attended and graduated from Wesleyan University, and began her career working at the Wesleyan Center for the Arts. From there she went to The Yard, a residency supporting performers and creators on Martha’s Vineyard, where she worked as director of development and associate producer before becoming executive director. Moving through the organization helped her develop skills in fundraising, nonprofit management, curation, and programming. “It was a unique opportunity to invest in the creative process by supporting new work development, while also investing in public programs that build community through the arts,” Chloe said. 

“I’m super proud of her. She has done amazing things,” said Joel of Chloe’s work in the arts. He’s also excited about how these skills promise to now make an impact on Chloe’s hometown. “I am thrilled that she is doing something that will matter to her and could matter to others in relation to the arts,” he said

Now back in Utah, Chloe is certainly applying these early career experiences to her new role. UtahPresents engages more than 45,000 people throughout the Salt Lake Valley in the arts every year through performances, education, and outreach, and Chloe hopes to see those numbers grow and to see experiences diversified. Currently, they are looking at more off-site performances and opportunities like the “Stagedoor” series, where the audience enters from backstage and then sits on the stage to watch the performance.

“It's been energizing to rejoin a campus community at the University of Utah and tap into the sense of curiosity that exists in that environment,” Chloe said. “It is helping me ask the question of what else is possible within the arts. This job really is a homecoming of my dreams.”

It’s a dream homecoming for Salt Lake and the extended community as well. Chloe is set to open doors to a whole new generation of artists, arts sector professionals, and patrons of the arts. Because of her work more people will know what’s possible, and it all started with a Rowland Hall education that never discounted the power of the arts.

Alumni

One common thread you’ll find across Rowland Hall classrooms this year is students’ dedication to protecting the Great Salt Lake—and to educating and inspiring others to do the same.

On February 10 and 11, middle and upper school students took this work to a new level when they used Submerge, this year’s winter dance concert, as a springboard to more widely educate the Rowland Hall and larger Salt Lake communities about the lake through art.

I hope audience members not only learned something new and were spurred to make change, but felt as though this problem isn't some looming, overwhelming thing, but something that can be tackled. I also hope they took away how art can bring many people together, create change, and shape the world for the better.—Mackenzie White, class of 2025

“The arts have the important job of identifying the issues of the day and reflecting, expressing, and interrogating those issues in order to build on-ramps to community development,” explained Sofia Gorder, arts chair of dance education. To further ensure that attendees had the information they needed to get involved, the dancers collaborated with five local organizations—Brolly Arts, FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake, Great Salt Lake Collaborative, Save Our Great Salt Lake, and The Nature Conservancy—who generously agreed to set up tables for concert-goers interested in learning more, and to help promote the event. (Thanks to the collective efforts of all involved—including an essay by senior Anna Hull and a spot on FOX 13—Submerge became the school’s best-attended dance concert ever.)

But the event went even further when it came to inspiring attendees through the arts. Audience members were also treated to two Great Salt Lake–inspired student visual art installations, displayed outside the Larimer Center for the Performing Arts: one of three-dimensional paper tiles, the other of ceramics. It was a way to deepen the learning, but also, the students hoped, to inspire people to leave motivated to help contribute to solutions that benefit us all.

“I hope audience members not only learned something new and were spurred to make change, but felt as though this problem isn't some looming, overwhelming thing, but something that can be tackled,” said tenth grader Mackenzie White, who choreographed the Submerge dance “Ritual Solitude” with junior Lilly Swindle, as well as contributed artwork to both displays. “I also hope they took away how art can bring many people together, create change, and shape the world for the better.”

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We invite you to enjoy galleries of the dance concert and student artwork below.

Submerge Dance Concert

“It is a rare event that has the capacity to unite teens, kids, parents, divisions, multiple subject matters, and faculty to explore, discuss, invent, research, learn, and affirm each other's ideas toward solving a shared collective problem all in one night,” said Sofia. “I think these dances did just that.”

Great Salt Lake–Inspired Paper Tiles

A collection of paper tile reliefs, created by ninth- through twelfth-grade students enrolled in the intro to studio art class, lined the hallway leading to the Larimer Center.

“Students researched imagery of the Great Salt Lake, its flora and fauna, and came up with a visual language to represent the essential nature of their chosen subject,” said art teacher Rob Mellor. “We discussed not just the visible qualities, but sensory ones as well. How does one represent sound, or the feel of wind or salt on the skin?” Rob wanted students to think in modernist and reductive terms, and to work within a limited palette of colors that reflect those of Great Salt Lake’s biome.

Ninth-grade English teacher and poet Joel Long also contributed to the project by supplying short phrases from his own writings, which students digested as they brainstormed pieces.

Great Salt Lake–Inspired Ceramics

Concert attendees enjoyed a collection of middle and upper school students’ ceramic birds, as well as representations of microbialites (rock-like underwater structures made of microbes), in the east hallway display outside the Larimer Center. Some birds were sculpted individually, while others were part of totems (created by first trimester classes) or fountains (created by second trimester classes). Alongside their work, students posted facts about Great Salt Lake, further educating viewers.

“The kids were really excited to use their art as a way to speak out in support of the Great Salt Lake and to teach others about it,” said ceramics teacher Molly Lewis.

Arts

When Kavitha Kasturi walked into her first Student Diversity Leadership Conference in 2022, it was the first time she had been in a space in which most people belonged to historically underrepresented groups.

“The first moment you step into a room with thousands of kids from diverse backgrounds, it’s a different feeling—a great feeling, an immediate feeling of belonging,” said Kavitha.

The first moment you step into a room with thousands of kids from diverse backgrounds, it’s a different feeling—a great feeling, an immediate feeling of belonging.—Kavitha Kasturi, class of 2025

Held every year during the week after Thanksgiving, the Student Diversity Leadership Conference brings together student and adult representatives from independent schools across the US and abroad. Organized by the National Association of Independent Schools, SDLC takes place alongside the organization’s People of Color Conference. Both gatherings provide opportunities to self-reflect, connect with others, and learn how to build inclusive, equitable, and just classrooms and communities.

Because Rowland Hall believes in the importance of these conferences and the benefits they bring to the school community, every year the school pays to send a group of faculty and staff, as well as six Upper School students, to them. Each year, these representatives leave SDLC and PoCC inspired and excited to share what they learned with their community at Rowland Hall.

As in years past, when the 2023 SDLC wrapped, the student representatives—then juniors Kavitha Kasturi, Tenzin Sivukpa, Mattie Sullivan, Sylvia Rae Twahirwa, and Evan Weinstein, and then 10th grader Gavin Schmidt—were looking forward to sharing their experience back at school. But the group, some of whom were repeat conference attendees, also felt a pull to think bigger.

That’s because the students knew, as of 2023, Rowland Hall was the only Utah independent school that attended SDLC—meaning very few students in the state benefit from the four-day experience. While they’d be sharing what they learned with their Upper School peers, they worried it was too small an impact. They wondered if there was a way to expand their reach. As the Rowland Hall representatives gathered for a debriefing on the last day of the conference, an exciting idea was floated: Could the students create their own SDLC-inspired conference for other Utah high schoolers?

It’s the kind of idea that could easily be shared then forgotten, but in the weeks following their return to campus, the SDLC group—along with then junior Hasan Rahim, who had attended SDLC in 2022, and then ninth grader Aoife Canning—kept the conversation going. Guided by advisors Dr. Kate Taylor, Dr. Chandani Patel, and Harper Lundquist ’16, the students began discussing all that actually goes into planning a conference, as well as what elements of SDLC they wanted to keep and what they thought was missing from the experience. Dr. Taylor wasn’t surprised by what she witnessed.

“This group happens to be very action-oriented, which is something I love about them,” she said. “They’re big visionary thinkers.”

And before they knew it, these visionaries’ questions had transformed into a solid plan. By January, they were working on what would soon be known as Wings of Inclusion: Cultivating Joy in Education, a first-of-its-kind student-led conference scheduled for Friday, September 6, and Saturday, September 7, at the Lincoln Street Campus.

In the months that followed, the students immersed themselves in the complicated world of event planning. Between classes and extracurriculars, and then during summer break, the group tackled a long to-do list: design a logo and marketing plan, craft a schedule, communicate with speakers and performers, extend invitations, identify facilitators, arrange catering, decide on activities, gather discussion questions. In line with priority 2 of Rowland Hall’s strategic vision, advisors were on hand for guidance as needed, but focused on empowering the students to make decisions and take the lead as much as possible.

As summer drew to a close and a new school year ramped up, the group put the finishing touches on their conference and prepared to welcome students from Wasatch Academy, the Waterford School, Copper Hills High School, and Olympus High School to campus.

The Wings of Inclusion conference aimed to provide attendees with a space of belonging and safety, where everyone is celebrated for who they are and can connect, and even be vulnerable, with others.

Guided by the theme of Cultivating Joy in Education (which builds on Rowland Hall’s 2024–2025 school-wide theme, Joy, and was inspired in part by a presentation the students heard from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, author of Unearthing Joy), the Wings of Inclusion conference aimed to provide attendees with the kind of space Kavitha remembered walking into for her first SDLC—one of belonging and safety, where everyone is celebrated for who they are and can connect, and even be vulnerable, with others. The schedule, thoughtfully crafted by the student organizers, included space for both affinity groups (groups that share identities) and family groups (groups of randomly mixed participants), as well as unstructured social time, meals, and performances by Punjabi Arts Academy, Salt Lake Capoeira, and Best of Africa.

The students also scheduled three guest speakers: Stacy Bernal, a candidate for Utah State Senate; Michelle Mooney, impact manager for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office; and Dr. Mary Ann Villarreal, vice president for diversity, equity, and student success at American Association of Colleges and Universities, and a Rowland Hall trustee. “Our main goal was to show there are people of color or other diverse identities in positions of power,” said organizer Sylvia Rae. They hoped student attendees would see themselves in these community leaders, and that the speakers’ stories about their personal and professional journeys would help attendees understand that leadership and changemaking were within their reach.

And while the conference’s attendees certainly had an impressive group of adults at the event to look up to (in addition to the speakers, Ryan Hoglund, Robin Hori, Dr. Lydia Jackson, Dr. Nate Kogan, and Stacia McFadden served as conference facilitators, while advisors Dr. Patel and Kaleb Nielsen coordinated the program), the strongest role models of the weekend were the student organizers themselves. In addition to managing the flow of the event, these students all took on the facilitation roles that make breakout spaces safe and provide valuable, joyful experiences for attendees, some of whom may feel unwelcome in other communities.

“There’s definitely a nurturing role, a caretaking role,” said Sylvia Rae about being a facilitator. “You’re bigger than yourself at that moment: ‘I’m facilitating this conversation and it's not about me now; it’s about others.’”

And though the Wings of Inclusion turnout was smaller than the students originally hoped for (30 people attended the inaugural conference), the size turned out to be beneficial. It allowed facilitators to lead deeper conversations and for all attendees to more fully participate. “It was the perfect amount of people,” reflected Sylvia Rae.

Speaker Michelle Mooney, who stayed for a breakout session after addressing the group on Saturday morning, said watching the student facilitators lead their groups was heartwarming, and even reinvigorated her feelings about her own role in the community—particularly when it comes to empowering rising leaders. Though still in her 20s, Michelle said she’s already thinking about the legacy she’ll leave for the next generation to carry on, and she hopes more professionals will recognize the capabilities of students and young adults and help cultivate them as leaders.

“We don’t need to doubt that the youth know what to do, and we really need to empower our youth to feel like they have a place,” said Michelle.

And as Wings of Inclusion showed, when students are empowered, they can do incredible things. As the conference wound down on Saturday evening, a feeling of joy could be felt on campus—an attestation of the small-but-mighty power of this student-created gathering that, only nine months earlier, had been but a question, a dream of a space in which students from across the state could gather to pour strength, love, and inspiration into one another.

To close the event, the organizers gathered the group for an open mic session. Though they knew speaking in front of others is scary, and they were a bit worried the minutes may be filled with silence, they wanted to provide a moment of reflection for attendees. They didn’t wait long before one student stood up. Another followed. Then another. As each student came to the mic, they shared their gratitude for this welcoming conference, for this safe space in which they could share their experiences and be themselves. Some said they had never had this kind of opportunity before. Some called out the guest speakers who made them feel that they, too, can make a difference. They were grateful. They were inspirational. “It was the best moment of the conference for me and my peers,” said Kavitha.

They felt so good for having created a space for people in the broader community, to see their efforts can have a positive impact, that their voices, their actions, have power.—Dr. Kate Taylor, Upper School English teacher

For Dr. Taylor, who supported the students’ dream from its earliest days, the positive feedback the students have received is incredibly well-deserved. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s an ongoing reminder to these young leaders that they are never too young to make real change.

“They felt so good for having created a space for people in the broader community, to see their efforts can have a positive impact, that their voices, their actions, have power,” said Dr. Taylor.

And the organizers can know that the inaugural (and soon to be annual) Wings of Inclusion conference will play an important role in helping more young adults from across the state believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference.

“Little things like this really matter. It made an impact,” said Kavitha. “It’s inspiring, and it made me want to keep going.”

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Banner: Rowland Hall seniors Tenzin Sivukpa, Mattie Sullivan, Evan Weinstein, Kavitha Kasturi, Hasan Rahim, and Sylvia Rae Twahirwa smile for a photo at the 2024 Wings of Inclusion Conference.

Equity & Inclusion

Excavators. Rocks. Dump trucks. Mud. When it comes to all that’s found on a busy construction site, there may be no group that appreciates it more than preschoolers.

And on one sunny Friday in early September, a group of Rowland Hall beginning schoolers had an experience that’s rarely available to those their age: they got to walk into a real construction site.

Donning hard hats and highlighter-orange vests that hung past their knees—and safely contained within a taped-off section of the Richard R. Steiner Campus—the 4PreK students were hard at work. In between chatting with the crew and enjoying a front-row view of the excavator, water truck, and grader on hand for the day, the students could be seen scooping excavated soil into two wagons. Something exciting was happening.

While it’s never surprising to see Rowland Hall students learning in new spaces, this activity was noteworthy as it marked the first time this year that students were using the construction site—future home of the Middle School and Upper School, as well as a performing arts center and athletic complex—in their learning. And it seems only fitting that 4PreK students, who not only love construction but study it each year, were the first to engage with the rising campus.

“There’s nothing better than a construction project for preschool kids,” said Jennifer Claesgens, Rowland Hall’s early childhood experiential learning and science specialist, who has spent months thinking about how to connect students with the Steiner Campus site. She saw a natural connection with 4PreK, where the study of construction progresses from topics such as learning to identify shapes to studying the building techniques behind strong, stable structures. (A favorite way that students put this work into practice each year is by creating block models of the Utah State Capitol.)

This focus on finding ways to connect students with their campus, as well as the wider community, isn’t new for Jennifer. As an experiential learning and science specialist, she focuses on learning by doing and partners with 4PreK through second-grade teachers to build on what’s happening in their classrooms. As part of this work, she’s always keeping an eye out for new spaces in which students can learn. These spaces take many forms, including the Lower School science garden, where she takes students to see the apple trees when their fruit is at its peak, and the McCarthey Campus quad, where students studied shadows during April’s solar eclipse.

Already, the Steiner Campus promises to be a wonderful new resource for student learning. As Jennifer stood among the four- and five-year-olds on that bright late summer day, she could see how engaged they were. During the visit, the students learned from the construction crew, excitedly observed the excavator dig a hole, and took turns adding shovelfuls of dirt to the wagons. It’s clear the site will continue to be a resource for students of all ages between now and the campus’s 2026 opening, thanks to the support of the school and the partnership of Okland Construction, Rowland Hall’s contractor.

“Okland went above and beyond to make this happen,” said Steiner Campus Project Manager Kathryn Pickford of the 4PreK visit, which she coordinated with Okland’s project manager, Scott Thomsen. “They are keen to do this when the opportunity arises and as we move through construction.”

Okland can certainly look forward to continued interaction with the 4PreK students—the classes’ afternoon site visits were only the first step in what will be a yearlong observation of the rising Steiner Campus, which will complement their in-class units and follow students’ interests.

For instance, in Isabelle Buhler and Mara Kushner’s class, students are already at work building their own school on the dirt they wheeled from the Steiner Campus to their play yard. Since their visit, they’ve transferred the dirt to a kiddie pool and started preparing their building’s foundation. Like the construction crew across campus, the preschoolers have been removing materials, such as rocks and wood chips, in order to level the ground so that they can build. In the coming weeks, they’ll be thinking about the materials they’ll need for their school, and will use ongoing observations of what’s happening on the Steiner Campus as their guide.

Best of all? All of this hands-on, deep learning will complement their in-class studies on subjects including 2D and 3D shapes, materials, literacy, math, and even engineering and physics. And along the way, they’ll be continuing to learn how to work together, communicate, observe closely, and take learning risks—all practices that will support their learning for years to come.

It really is exciting.

Experiential Learning

Signs of spring are beginning to show on the McCarthey Campus, which means people are already hard at work preparing for end-of-year festivities. What might be surprising, though, is that not all of these people are grown-ups.

This year, fifth-grade interns have been playing important roles in planning some of Rowland Hall’s most exciting events, including the upcoming Richard R. Steiner Campus groundbreaking and Lower School Spirit Game. But events aren't the only way fifth graders are making a difference. That’s because the 2023–2024 school year is the inaugural year of the 5-I Fifth-Grade Internship Program, a first-of-its-kind optional leadership program that connects fifth graders with McCarthey Campus staff, administrative, and leadership teams for a yearlong authentic learning experience in which students make real impact on campus.

The in-school 5-I Fifth-Grade Internship Program is designed to help fifth-grade leaders:
• Take initiative
• Individualize learning
• Develop interests
• Impact the community
• Be inspired

In this first year alone, the program’s 34 interns are supporting 19 departments and teams, making it difficult to find an area of the beginning and lower schools that students aren’t impacting. They’ve helped to plan, execute, and lead Community Sings, Roar and Soar assemblies, Grandparents Day, and Maker Night. They’ve observed teachers and supported younger students with their math, reading, and writing. They’ve welcomed prospective families on campus tours. They’ve surveyed their peers to learn what they want to see on the new campus. And they’ve provided necessary behind-the-scenes support, from sorting the mail to answering technology support tickets.

“I think it’s cool seeing how the school works,” said fifth grader Anna F., one of three interns who’s helped create Lower School Spirit Nights, new opportunities for lower schoolers to come together to cheer on the Winged Lions. Classmate Bergen S., one of two interns who assisted with Grandparents Day and is now weighing in on the upcoming Steiner Campus groundbreaking festivities, added, “It’s a really good learning experience. It’s nice to know how much people in the offices contribute to our daily lives.”

Beginning School and Lower School Assistant Principal Brittney Hansen ’02, who led the design and rollout of the 5-I program, knows this kind of opportunity is developmentally appropriate for fifth graders, and right in line with the school’s strategic priorities, which emphasize authentic learning that increases student choice and voice. As the oldest students in the division, fifth graders are ready to stretch their leadership skills while also exploring their budding interests. They want to put into practice their talents and knowledge to better their school. And they’re interested in what it’s like to have a job, with many ready to explore the type of right-fit challenges that internships provide—and which can help prepare them for the next stage of their education.

“We’re looking at the trajectory for what they’ll need by middle school,” said Brittney. “What skills do they need to be successful?”

Photos by Charlie P., marketing and communication intern

And because Brittney and the Lower School principals team wanted to emphasize the real-world nature of the program, they kicked it off with an application process that echoes what students may one day see when applying for positions outside of school. Prospective interns were asked to write essays explaining why they wanted to join the program, what they hoped to learn, why they were strong candidates, and any areas of the school in which they’d like to work and why. They also needed a parent or guardian signature, as well as a letter of recommendation from an adult who wasn’t a relative or homeroom teacher because, as Brittney explained, “We wanted to give the kids practice in appropriately asking a grown-up for help in completing an application process.”

Building these kinds of life skills is important to the 5-I experience. “This program builds skills that are hard to learn in a classroom or traditional curriculum, like writing a professional email and responding in a timely way, or writing thank-you notes to express gratitude for someone giving their time to you,” said Brittney. Students also had to take on responsibility for their applications; although plenty of grown-ups were on hand to provide support and guidance, applicants were in charge of ensuring that their essays and other materials were completed and turned in on time. But the fifth graders weren’t deterred.

“I always get my work done and never say no to a little challenge,” read one aspiring intern’s essay. Another shared, “I am a hard worker. I always take my best shot at every challenge that comes my way.”

Thirty-four fifth graders—more than half of the class—submitted applications in which they made clear their excitement for this new opportunity.

And though the idea of the 5-I program had been met with enthusiasm by fifth graders, Brittney didn’t expect a big group for the first year (she originally envisioned a pilot program of 12 participants). However, 34 fifth graders—more than half the class—submitted applications in which they made clear their excitement for this new opportunity. Since October, these interns have been hard at work, connecting with mentors monthly and taking on tasks across campus that both teach them how the school runs and help them learn more about themselves.

For Anna, one of the interns behind Lower School Spirit Nights, a major takeaway from the program (so far) is an understanding of the effort it takes to transform big-picture brainstorming into a real community event. “It’s important because kids see how much work and effort go into major events, from thinking big to making it happen,” said Anna. She also shared how exciting it’s been for students to have a hand in creating school events. “It’s not a little bubble; it’s more real-world scenarios,” she said. “It really improves teamwork, and trying hard, and dedication.”

It also improves connections across grades. Fifth grader Katie P., one of two interns for the Student Support Team, gives mini lessons to kindergartners and third graders every week and is learning that working with kids is one of her passions. “​​It’s fun. We get to have a different experience every time,” she said. And as a longtime Rowland Hall student, Katie can also apply her own experiences to this work. “I remember when I was that young,” she said. “I remember when I was so confused or when I understood things.” By tapping into what helped her, she’s making concepts easier for students and building connections, especially with the third graders. 

Importantly, 5-I also helps interns learn the value of their voices. Bergen, one of the interns who helped plan this year’s Grandparents Day, shared that he helped write the program script in collaboration with intern Zoe Y. and under the guidance of Associate Director of Alumni and Donor Engagement Marc DeCoste, and that being a part of that process was really fun. “They listened to me and asked me to contribute my ideas,” he said. Additionally, using the script to welcome visitors to campus for the event boosted Bergen’s public-speaking confidence. “I never spoke to a group that large before,” he said. “I felt like I knew what I was doing.”

These benefits go both ways. Adult mentors across campus are full of stories about how wonderful it’s been to have the interns’ support. Director of Enrollment Management Shuja Khan, for one, said his intern, Mila P., greatly benefited his team during the admission season, when she helped build the Rowland Hall community by giving time during recess every Tuesday morning for 12 weeks to welcome prospective families to campus. “Every family was surprised and happy to see her,” said Shuja. “Parents have so many interactions with teachers, administrators, and other parents, but it’s harder to have authentic interactions with kids.”

And Mila’s willingness to share her own experiences opened opportunities for Shuja and his team to have deeper discussions with families about curriculum and the school’s strategic vision. The Admission Office is so impressed they're already thinking about how they can expand opportunities for next year’s interns—and they’re not alone. Chief Information Officer Patrick Godfrey, whose team is supporting three interns, also looks forward to the future of 5-I.

Photos by Charlie P., marketing and communication intern

“This is a fantastic program,” said Patrick. “It’s a way for students to connect outside the classroom with people like me that they wouldn’t ordinarily connect with, and see other sides of the school that they would never see otherwise.” As a result, many members of the staff, especially those who don’t regularly interact with students, feel a deeper commitment to Rowland Hall’s vision. “It’s a more direct path to the why behind the work we do each day,” added Brittney.

This internship program is one example of how we're thinking creatively about learning.—Brittney Hansen ’02, Beginning School and Lower School assistant principal

It’s also a rewarding way for staff to see firsthand how authentic learning successfully builds skills and confidence in students, and helps those students actually see themselves as problem solvers and critical thinkers. For Patrick, who’s watched his team’s interns blossom as they’ve taken on tasks such as basic troubleshooting, running a light board, and beta testing software, this is the ultimate end product for a school.

“I have three students now who can troubleshoot classroom tech for teachers,” he said. “Kids are talking about it all the time when they go home; they’re really jazzed about it. There’s no cost but extremely high reward for students who participate. It’s a huge win for the school in my book.”

And it’s already promising to become a top experience for Rowland Hall’s fifth graders (younger students are even asking when it’ll be their turn to intern). Brittney said she could see it turning into a capstone-like project for this grade, marking the end of their Lower School careers—and serving as just one example of the exceptional outcomes of a Rowland Hall education.

“The Lower School team really does take the work of providing authentic learning experiences seriously and in a way that’s appropriate for our young learners,” said Brittney. “This internship program is one example of how we're thinking creatively about learning, in the broad sense, on this campus.”

Authentic Learning

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Banner photo: Interns Zoe Y. and Bergen S. welcome visitors to Grandparents Day.

Utah has seen an influx of new residents in recent years—and not all of them have been welcomed with open arms.

Balsam woolly adelgids, fox squirrels, field bindweed, quagga mussels, and other invasive species have found comfortable homes in the state, and in some cases have made life difficult for native species by competing with them for limited resources. It’s a real problem, and it recently presented a perfect project-based learning opportunity for students in the seventh grade. Science teacher Lindsay Mackintosh challenged her students to use skills from across the curriculum to find a solution and put it into action—and maybe even impress scientists working in the field.

“The students designed and built traps to capture invasive insect species, and help ecosystems be more biodiverse by limiting their impact,” said Lindsay. “This required them to explore engineering concepts to research, build, and revise their traps.”

Engineering helps students become problem solvers and think critically..—Lindsay Mackintosh, seventh-grade science teacher

Engineering may appear to be an advanced topic for seventh graders, but these kids were up to the challenge. It all comes down to problem solving in a methodical way, while at the same time considering numerous possibilities. That’s why increasing engineering opportunities is expressly mentioned in the school’s strategic priorities.

“In making these traps they had to consider some constraints but also had freedom to be creative,” Lindsay said. “Engineering helps students become problem solvers and think critically.”

Research was the first order of business for the students, as all bugs can’t be caught the same way. “We had to do a lot of research so we could engineer the trap around the bug,” said seventh grader Atticus P., whose group chose the elm seed bug as their target. “We had to figure out, What does it eat? Where does it live?, and other things like that so we could catch it.”

The design and build process came next, with students doing multiple concept sketches and revisions before building their first prototype. There were lots of different factors to consider when coming up with designs. Students only had ten dollars total to spend on materials for their traps, and that wasn’t the only practical concern facing them.

“We had to think about where we would put it,” said seventh grader Ben D. “We had to think about how it would be sustainable so the wind or rain wouldn’t destroy it. We had to think about so many different things when creating a good and effective trap.”

Once the first prototypes were built most students found themselves going back to the drawing board. While that may have been frustrating for some, it was a valuable lesson that engineering is not a linear process. “Some groups had to make drastic changes when they saw their first prototype,” said Lindsay. “It was interesting to see them walk through this process and decide what changes they want to make.”

We took our mistakes, and we turned it into something better.—Harper J., class of 2029

“Our prototype was trash. It was really bad,” said seventh grader Harper J., who was in a group chasing down Japanese beetles. “We used Saran wrap to keep them from getting out, but it was too sticky, so we switched that out to mesh. We took our mistakes, and we turned it into something better.”

Students started their bug studies at the beginning of the school year, perfecting them by mid-November. Then it was time to present their inventions to scientists from the University of Utah who study invasive species. This is when they learned that you can have a great idea, but that might not matter if you don’t know how to communicate it. Presentation preparation built upon lessons the students had already learned as part of their writing curriculum, and seventh-grade English teacher Jill Gerber helped them apply those skills to the science realm.“We talk a lot about task, audience, and purpose in class,” said Jill. “That’s what they had to do here. Identify their key points and have a clear idea and message going into the presentations so their audience would come away understanding their content.”

This shift from focusing on their content to focusing on how the audience received it meant the students had to change the way they viewed the project. While they had a wealth of information about their bugs, the invasive species problem, and their design and construction process, all of that data could now be a hindrance to clearly and succinctly communicating their message.

“Our goal was to tell everyone how the trap worked, and what the purpose of the trap was, and how we would get the bugs to the trap,” said seventh grader Stella O. “We had to take a lot of information about the bugs out because the main purpose of the presentation was talking about the trap.”

In the end the presentations were successful, and the students not only got to show off their work, but also interact with working scientists. Additionally, they got a deeper understanding of how all learning is connected and, when used together, is greater than the sum of its parts: problem-solving skills learned in the science classroom can be applied to other subjects, and communication skills from English can be used to get messages across in any field. It’s a kind of understanding that’s already gone far beyond this fall project, continuing to benefit students in the second half of the year—and will undoubtedly continue to do so beyond seventh grade.

“Layering skills and concepts is something I know we all try to do,” said Lindsay. “That way we are giving students skills that are transferable and can be used across the curriculum and outside the classroom.”

It all adds up to creating people the world needs, whether they are building bug traps to combat invasive species or shaping solutions to the world’s hardest problems.

Authentic Learning

Tribulus terrestris is a deceptively lovely plant.

It fans out across surfaces with delicate fern-like leaves and, when in full bloom, displays tiny and charming yellow flowers.

Under the surface, though, this plant is a nightmare. More commonly known by names like goathead, tackweed, devil’s weed, and puncturevine, it has learned to adapt to almost any environment, pushing out native plants in its wake. It also has a myriad of defenses, making it hard to kill. Students in Rowland Hall’s fifth grade can tell you all about it. The first problem? The thorns.

“The thorns can get stuck in tires and shoes and all sorts of things,” said fifth grader August P. “It was sharp enough that it would just go through your gloved hands when you were pulling it. It went through the trash bags too.”

Hannah Blomgren got the fifth graders involved in puncturevine eradication efforts after seeing the vine’s damage on the trails along the river and realizing how perfectly the situation illustrated lessons she was teaching about the problem of invasive plants in Utah.

The roots also pose an issue. They go deep into the soil and spread around the plant in all directions. “You have to get all the roots,” said Katie P. “If you leave any of the puncturevine it’s going to regrow. It’s hard to pull it all out. Some of them were very heavy and bigger than they looked.”

The students battled the prolific and hazardous weed this fall as part of the Jordan River Commission’s puncturevine eradication efforts. Science Specialist Hannah Blomgren got the fifth graders involved after seeing the vine’s damage on the trails along the river and realizing how perfectly the situation illustrated lessons she was teaching about the problem of invasive plants in Utah.

“In fifth grade, we talk about what plants need to survive, and how invasive species use up the nutrients native plants need,” Hannah said. “We also discuss the environmental impacts involved, like erosion, especially in river areas.”

So in late September, the grade headed to Jordan Park on the west side of Salt Lake City to help remove the vines from fields and riverbanks. While working to pull the puncturevine, the students quickly learned that the tools provided to them (basic two-prong weed pullers) were not up to the task. “We noticed seeds were being left behind,” said Freya S. “We needed a machine that would pull out the roots, but then vacuum up the seeds too.”

Luckily for the students, TREC (technology, robotics, engineering, coding) teacher Kaelis Sandstrom had joined them for their field trip and was ready to help them design better tools for the job. After returning to campus, the students were given class time to build their own. Using LEGOs and basic building materials, the kids built models of their ideal puncturevine pullers. Groups came up with lots of ideas, like a puncturevine-sensing drone that could destroy the weed on sight, or a robot that looked like a small animal but was designed low to the ground to successfully get under the vines and pull them out. Since coming back from the field trip, the students have continued working on these designs in the TREC Lab on campus, working through design issues and developing new prototypes. 

They’re taking on the engineering process. They are learning you can build something really cool in a short amount of time, but in order for something to be lasting and useful, it takes time and work. And they’re learning that they can take on local problems here in Utah.—Kaelis Sandstrom, TREC teacher

“They’re taking on the engineering process,” Kaelis said. “They are learning you can build something really cool in a short amount of time, but in order for something to be lasting and useful, it takes time and work. And they’re learning that they can take on local problems here in Utah.”

Community engagement was a big reason for getting the students involved in the puncturevine eradication efforts. Part of Rowland Hall’s first strategic priority is about cultivating community partnerships, and the students did just that in a part of the city many had not visited before.

“We wanted to tie this into the idea of all of us being a part of a community or an ecosystem,” said fifth-grade teacher Samantha Hemphill. “One area where they were working was a soccer field, and so pulling out the puncturevine and helping the people who would play there made it feel important.”

In addition to the time spent working, the students also got to spend time exploring the International Peace Gardens, a site on the banks of the Jordan River that features different areas devoted to the diverse populations that call Utah home. Fifth-grade teacher Rachel Slivnick said the visit highlighted lessons the kids were learning in social studies at that time.

“We had talked a lot about the idea of windows and mirrors, learning about how their cultures can be both a window into a different way of life and also a mirror that reflects your own values and the things that are important to you,” said Rachel. “So, at the International Peace Gardens, it was almost like a scavenger hunt or a treasure hunt, identifying what makes cultures unique and how students could relate to them.”

The students aren’t done with their work along the Jordan River. In the spring they plan to return, not to pull out plants but to place new ones. They will be planting trees in the area along with their kindergarten buddies. And their impacts on the community go beyond the banks of the river. You see, puncturevine has a bounty on its leaves, and the students received two dollars a pound for the plants they pulled. A grand total of $204 will be donated to the school on their behalf, and they have lots of ideas on how it could be used.

“Maybe they use some of it for the new Upper School,” said fifth-grader Aster S.

Tribulus terrestris is a terrible plant, but Rowland Hall’s fifth grade may have helped stop its spread. At the same time, the lessons they learned planted seeds that have already grown roots, sprouted, and will continue to grow for years to come.

STEM

Kicked off in 2013, the annual ninth-grade Camp Roger trip is a special experience for the newest members of the Upper School community.

Camp Roger, which took the place of the annual Southern Utah trip led by the late Peter Hayes, offers ninth graders an unforgettable chance to come together in a natural setting to learn and build community as they establish connections and bonds they’ll carry through their Upper School experiences.

The Camp Roger itinerary was revised to better complement the ninth-grade curriculum, to emphasize points of connection among students and teachers, to strengthen the place-space aspect of the experience, and to add opportunities to break down learning silos, enabling learners to find connections among subjects and apply them to real-world scenarios.

And while Camp Roger has long been a thoughtful opportunity to build on on-campus learning and community, this year a group of Rowland Hall educators—Rob Wilson (biology/climate studies), Ben Smith (computer science), Ryan Hoglund (ethical education), Joel Long (English/creative writing), and Laura Meyer (science)—came together to find ways to further strengthen the experience for students.

Thanks to the generosity of the school’s Bamberger grant program, sponsored by the Ruth Eleanor Bamberger and John Ernest Bamberger Memorial Foundation as a way to support teachers’ professional growth over the summer, the group spent time in summer 2023 rethinking the Camp Roger trip itinerary. They revised it to better complement the ninth-grade curriculum and emphasized points of connection among students and teachers, as well as the place-space aspect of the experience—the idea that what students learn in school is relevant in where they live. They also looked for further opportunities to break down learning silos, enabling learners to better find connections among a variety of subjects and to apply them to real-world scenarios

Among the outcomes of this work was a 38-page field notes document that guided this year’s experience, housing not only the trip’s lessons, schedules, and group duties, but also space in which students could record thoughts and observations as they made their way through seven rotations that built both hard skills and self-understanding—areas they’ll need as they continue to identify and build on their individual strengths, develop their voices, and find their leadership skills.

Below, three ninth graders share their reflections on their Camp Roger experiences. Responses have been lightly edited.

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Much of the Camp Roger experience is about building community with other Upper School students. What moments from camp were especially important to you when it came to building community and how do you think those moments will play a role during your time in the Upper School?

“Moments from camp that helped build the community in Upper School for me were being in a cabin with people that I haven’t spent too much time with and might not have gotten to know without sharing a cabin with them. The talent show as well helped build community because we were all just there to share with people and have a good time. These moments will play a role throughout Upper School by improving relationships and memories between people. We now all have memories that we all share with each other and can remember or discuss.”
– Mina Granger

“Some moments from camp that were especially important to me when it came to building community happened during our recreation time, when we were done with everything we had to do for the day and we could all just have fun with each other. I think these moments will play an important role in my time in the Upper School in the way that my community sees me, because I feel like they taught everyone a lot about me, and me a lot about them.”
– Grey Obermark

“It showed who would stay with you up in the middle of nowhere with only a volleyball, a bed, and bad food. I love that it shows people what you're made of—doesn't matter if you're a frequent camper or a first timer, the mental challenges/stress is hard for everyone. It allows you to be closer. I said things up there to people I had only known in the past few minutes that I wouldn't dare to down here.”
– Jacob Gerhardt

How did your Camp Roger experience teach you to think beyond first impressions? How will you apply this to your learning this year?

“This trip has taught me that you should always consider the bigger picture and impact everything has, rather than focusing on the object or person in one part. This will help me in the future by making me look at many different and close details in classwork and allow me to see the whole picture as well as small parts of that picture.”
– Mina Granger

“It changed how I see water. A lot more water goes down that stream every second than I thought.”
– Jacob Gerhardt

How did you surprise yourself at Camp Roger? What did you learn in that moment and what did it teach you about who you are as a person, learner, and community member?

“During Camp Roger I didn’t feel too well and got pretty sick, but I surprised myself by still going on the hike even though I wasn’t feeling up to it. It showed me perseverance in a harder time for me and I eventually did accomplish it proving that I can accomplish hard things and I shouldn’t give up just because of an inconvenience.”
– Mina Granger

“I surprised myself at Camp Roger because I realized how much nature was in my day to day life. I spent so much of my time at the start of the trip paying attention to myself that I almost forgot to pay attention to the world around me. But when I finally did, it was beautiful. Nature tends to really surprise you like that. It taught me that maybe I needed to look around more, that maybe there were more things to learn about the world than what I’d like to see, and that maybe my community isn’t as different from me as I might have thought.”
– Grey Obermark

“It taught me it doesn't always have to be your friends, or in my case, my brother, that I hang out with. Everyone here is a spectacular person that you could talk to, no matter what age, for hours on end.”
– Jacob Gerhardt

Community

For 10 years and counting, Rowland Hall’s Upper School internship program has played a role in shaping the people our world needs.

Established in summer 2013 (then known as Project 12, a senior job shadow program), the summer internship program has exposed more than 150 Rowland Hall sophomores, juniors, and seniors to a variety of careers, helping them build real-world skills, explore professions, and even uncover their passions. And the program’s future continues to look bright: this summer, which marked its 10th anniversary, the program had its highest number of participants to date.

English and publications teacher Dr. Laura Johnson, known as LBJ to students, manages the internship program and sees the many benefits these opportunities provide to Rowland Hall students who are thinking about their future careers and the impact they could have.

“Through our internship program, students get exposure to various professions and what going into those professions entails,” said Dr. Johnson. “They see in real time where there are gaps in our systems—medical systems, social systems, governmental systems, and so on—and consider the roles they might play in filling those gaps.”

Through our internship program, students get exposure to various professions and what going into those professions entails. They see in real time where there are gaps in our systems—medical systems, social systems, governmental systems, and so on—and consider the roles they might play in filling those gaps.—Dr. Laura Johnson, English and publications teacher, internship program manager

And while students often come to Dr. Johnson for help in finding internships that meet their interests or career goals, it can work the other way around too. This was certainly the case for now-senior Diego Ize-Cedillo, who, in spring 2023, was approached by Dr. Johnson about a new opportunity for the Rowland Hall internship program. People’s Health Clinic, a nonprofit medical clinic in Park City that provides high quality, no-cost health care to uninsured residents of Summit and Wasatch Counties, was looking for volunteer medical assistants, and because such a high percentage of the clinic’s patients speak Spanish, they wanted a fluent Spanish speaker. Many Upper School teachers, including Dr. Johnson, thought Diego, who is bilingual as well as emotionally mature, empathetic, and curious, may be the right fit for the role. And although Diego, who comes from a family of medical professionals, hadn’t considered a career in medicine, he was excited about the opportunity—especially because it would allow him to share his language skills in a way that would give back to the Park City community, where he and his family live.

“LBJ brought it to me and it was such a good fit,” said Diego. “I was like, ‘That sounds so cool.’” It would also give him the chance to learn more about People’s Health Clinic, a community resource he was shocked he hadn’t known existed until then. “It showed my ignorance,” he said.

So for three months this summer, Diego rose early to report to People’s Health Clinic at 8 am, where he’d receive his daily assignment. (Diego worked five half days each week, and though his title was volunteer medical assistant, he was paid for his work.) As an intern, Diego provided both administrative support (answering phones, scheduling appointments, notifying patients of lab results) and was trained to assist doctors by taking vitals, completing patients’ medical history questionnaires and depression/anxiety screenings, charting, and acting as a translator during appointments, among other duties. Diego said this work could be nerve-racking at times, given doctors’ seniority and knowledge, and because he knew he was responsible for providing accurate, thorough information to provide the best care to patients. “There’s this sense of accountability—real mistakes have real consequences and can affect people's health,” he explained.

But even though the role could be intimidating, Diego also understood what an incredible opportunity it offered him to get hands-on experience in a variety of medical specialties, and to be coached by the People’s Health Clinic team. “I had great mentors who showed me how to do everything,” he said.

Beyond the hard medical skills he gained, though, what Diego may be most grateful for from his unexpected internship is how it opened his eyes to the most vulnerable in his community. “People’s Health Clinic is really trying to help a population that sometimes people choose to not see,” said Diego, despite the fact that these community members play vital roles in the tourism industry that Park City is known for. The clinic even goes beyond providing high-quality, essential medical care by helping patients find resources that support their overall well-being.

“What’s really important to the clinic are social questions: Who’s running out of food? Who needs a stable place to live? Who’s struggling with transportation?” said Diego. He saw firsthand how the clinic works to acknowledge and care for all community members as part of health care. “Empathy is essential in order to provide good quality care,” explained Diego in an internship reflection assignment. “I saw how the doctors … took the time to empathize with everyone, asking them about their living situations, food insecurity, and issues with transportation, as well as truly dedicating time and energy to finding the best course of treatment.”

Dr. Johnson said this kind of understanding about one’s ability to make the world a better place within a chosen profession is a strong takeaway for many Rowland Hall interns. “I’ve watched students become fired up to address inequities in nursing care, or to follow in their mentors' footsteps to create a more representative democracy at the state level,” she said. “On the ground, they see the kinds of people the world needs, often in their mentors; they see the need for more such people; and they see how they can continue and further the kinds of projects they contribute to over one high school summer.”

Dr. Mairi Leining, chief executive officer of People’s Health Clinic and a Rowland Hall parent and trustee, said she’s touched by Diego’s takeaways from his summer at the clinic. “That’s the awareness that comes with working with the vulnerable population, and it speaks to how important it is to work for nonprofits addressing these needs,” she said. Dr. Leining also complimented Diego’s work, calling him an exceptional intern and praising his natural ability to connect with patients, to break down medical conversations for them, and to make them feel comfortable.

“He was responsible, dedicated to the patients and the importance of his role,” she shared. “He was able to adapt to challenging patient situations very quickly and with a maturity that I haven’t seen out of high school students in the past. It wasn’t just his Spanish skills, but his intuition in helping patients and discerning urgent from not urgent—usually you need a lot of clinical experience to know how to react to these situations.”

In turn, Diego is grateful for People’s Health Clinic’s patients and the many lessons they taught him this summer.

These mentors have inspired my future professional goals. What's more clear than ever to me is that I want to dedicate my life to doing something that helps people on the ground. I think this will be the key to a fulfilled life, and I look forward to finding out how I will help the world be a better place for everyone.—Diego Ize-Cedillo, class of 2024

“The patients taught me the value of shared humanity and of realizing that we might be different—we might not go to the same schools or interact often—but in the end, everyone is human and has this essential right to health care,” he said. “In a world so polarized, this experience showed me we need to realize that divisions and differences are superficial, and creating the world we want requires a recognized shared humanity—realizing that in the end we are all human and we all have undeniable human rights. In its simplest form: we need to be kind to each other now more than ever.”

Diego expressed his gratitude to all who made this valuable internship experience possible and said he hopes to return to the clinic as a volunteer after graduating in June. Whatever lies ahead, he shared, he knows he’ll carry the experience with him and it will shape his future.

“I want people to know how grateful I am to LBJ and all the mentors at the clinic for such a unique opportunity,” said Diego. “Please, know how grateful I am for my invaluable time at the clinic, and that I left with this sense that there are such good people in this world—people who are so kind and so selfless and dedicated to others. These mentors have inspired my future professional goals. What's more clear than ever to me is that I want to dedicate my life to doing something that helps people on the ground. I think this will be the key to a fulfilled life, and I look forward to finding out how I will help the world be a better place for everyone.”

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Are you a Rowland Hall student or parent who’s interested in the Upper School internship program? Check out our internship web page to view available opportunities or reach out to Dr. Laura Johnson for help finding an internship that meets your interests.

We are also always looking for professionals who are willing to host Rowland Hall interns. Submit your internship opportunity.

Authentic Learning

Beyond the Classroom, an Upper School tradition, is a four-year sequence of experiences designed to take the classroom into the field, expose students to life skills and possible paths, engage in the greater community, and develop leadership skills. In short, it’s an experience that helps Rowland Hall students embrace being community builders.

This year’s event was held September 19 (grades 10–12) and September 19–22 (grade 9), and included the following experiences.

Ninth Grade

Ninth graders traveled to Camp Roger to engage in the natural landscape and laboratory of the Uinta Mountains. Over four days, students enjoyed academic rotations that allowed them to investigate, explore, and observe the wonders of this natural environment, and built community and support for one another.

 

Tenth Grade

Tenth graders studied world religions through field study and film. In the morning, students visited Holy Trinity Cathedral (Greek Orthodox Christianity), Krishna Temple (ISKCON Hinduism), and Urgyen Samten Ling Gonpa (Tibetan Buddhism), and spoke to religious leaders about their communities, spaces, beliefs, and practices. In the afternoon, students watched and discussed films that follow pilgrims to sacred sites in Mecca and Nigeria.

Eleventh Grade

Eleventh graders worked with fourth graders, who are studying the Great Salt Lake, traveling to visit three sites on the lake: Great Salt Lake State Park, to focus on watershed aspects of the lake and their impact on lake biology and migratory birds; Black Rock, to focus on the physical aspects of the lake, mining interests, and dilemmas facing the shrinking lake; and Saltair, to focus on the area's rich history, politics surrounding Great Salt Lake, and examples of the individual and collective solutions to dilemmas facing the lake. Students then returned to the McCarthey Campus to work on a field guide that can be used by our, and the wider, community.

Twelfth Grade

Seniors worked on their college applications, particularly essays, with Rowland Hall’s college counselors and English teachers.

Experiential Learning

They just graduated in June, but three members of Rowland Hall’s class of 2024 are already published researchers.

As seniors, Sophie Baker, Isabelle Bown, and Adam Saidykhan—the first students enrolled in Advanced Research Biology, now in its second year—took on an impressive yearlong research project.

This week, their work was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cancers.

We’re not the only ones excited about Sophie, Isabelle, and Adam’s accomplishment—this week, local news stations FOX 13 and ABC4 came to campus to film segments highlighting this impactful work and what it could mean for breast cancer research.

Over the 2023–2024 school year, the students focused on identifying novel, actionable treatment targets for androgen receptor-low triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC), a lethal cancer subtype, by focusing on the role centrosome biology may play in its deadly impact. (Learn more about their research in Fine Print.) Their hope was to enrich the research community's understanding of some of the crucial molecular drivers of this aggressive breast cancer subtype—and hopefully advance the way it’s treated.

This work is important. TNBCs are especially lethal because they test negative for three common actionable cancer biomarkers, leaving patients without approved precision treatments. TNBCs disproportionately affect Black women, are more common in women with dense breasts, have a high tendency to spread rapidly around the body, and have a high chance of recurrence or relapse within five years of diagnosis.

And though the three students were hopeful they could further this work, they also knew their research may not pan out.

“Dr. Rida informed us early on there was a chance this could lead to nothing; we could have nothing published,” said Adam. Still, the students were determined to try, and were excited that, during their early research, they discovered a novel approach they could pursue over the year. “We’re fairly lucky that we managed to find something of note,” Adam continued.

I am thrilled that their findings are now part of the body of scientific knowledge out there, and will form the foundations of many more important studies and explorations in our search for better breast cancer treatments.—Dr. Padmashree Rida, Upper School biology teacher

The group first presented their findings as a poster at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting in San Diego in April during a special session for high school students titled “The Conquest of Cancer and the Next Generation of Cancer Researchers.” They then began collaborating with AR Biology teacher Dr. Padmashree Rida and City of Hope researcher Dr. Nikita Jinna on a manuscript about the topic, which was submitted in August to the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute.

On September 11, the young researchers received one of the most exciting emails of their budding careers: they were notified that their work would be published in Cancers as a feature paper in the “Cancer Biomarkers” section.

Dr. Rida, who has dedicated her career to mentoring new generations of researchers, is delighted for her first group of AR Biology students. They fully embraced the topic and worked tirelessly to reach this achievement—one that may make a real difference in the care of patients facing this aggressive cancer subtype.

“I am thrilled that their findings are now part of the body of scientific knowledge out there, and will form the foundations of many more important studies and explorations in our search for better breast cancer treatments,” she said.

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Banner: Adam Saidykhan ’24, one of the AP Biology researchers, chats with FOX 13 reporter Scott McKane on the Lincoln Street Campus on September 19.

Advanced Research

People don’t often associate high school with opportunities to develop an original thesis or conduct research alongside an expert. But at Rowland Hall, we're working to change that.

Rowland Hall has a long and proud history of preparing students to thrive not only in college, but in career and life. As a leader in education, we know this begins with ongoing opportunities to build student confidence, whether that’s by climbing a tree or testing a new invasive insect trap. As a result of our approach, many students enter the Upper School with an understanding of their own interests and passions. They’re ready to grow the knowledge and skills they’ll need after graduation, as well as to embrace new, self-directed learning opportunities that allow them to address real-world questions, including some of the toughest we’re facing today.

To ensure that students are well prepared for what lies ahead, the Upper School offers a wide array of advanced courses that build knowledge as well as provide opportunities to practice skills. These include Advanced Placement classes and faculty-designed Advanced Topics courses, which deeply dive into their subjects and offer more opportunities for lab, hands-on, and project-based work.

I'm not sure many other high schools can or do offer the opportunity to do such in-depth research on a topic of your choice. These classes were incredibly fulfilling for me because they were more independent, and I could dictate what I wanted to research based on my own interests.—Sophie Baker, class of 2024

An increased focus on research-based courses, particularly over the last four years, is further setting apart Rowland Hall’s program. Classes including Research Science, unveiled in fall 2020, and authentic learning opportunities such as collaborating on peer-reviewed journal articles have helped prove that high school students can help find solutions to real-world problems and create impactful knowledge—a key focus of Rowland Hall’s strategic vision. To further this important work, the Upper School recently took steps to formalize and expand research classes. The result? A new class designation, Advanced Research (AR), which was applied to four areas of study—chemistry, biology, humanities, and debate—in its first year, 2023–2024.

“Advanced Research is a program across different disciplines that allows students with significant interest, and some advanced coursework already under their belts, to go deep in an area of study with the goal of a college-level, real-world application to their work,” explained Upper School Principal Ingrid Gustavson. To be designated AR, a class must allow students to develop original theses and/or conduct research under the guidance of an expert, offer some student choice in what is studied, and provide opportunities to present original work or compete for an external audience. And because AR classes are so advanced, they tend to be more intimate (even for a school with an already impressive nine-to-one faculty-to-student ratio), providing more opportunities for one-on-one mentoring and bonding with peers.

“I'm not sure many other high schools can or do offer the opportunity to do such in-depth research on a topic of your choice,” said senior Sophie Baker, who took AR Biology and AR Humanities this year. “These classes were incredibly fulfilling for me because they were more independent, and I could dictate what I wanted to research based on my own interests.”

Below, we provide a glimpse at each of the four AR classes offered in the program’s inaugural year. You can also check out each section individually: AR Chemistry, AR Biology, AR Humanities, and AR Debate.

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AR Chemistry and the Promise of Algae

For most, the word algae calls to mind a carpet of green scum atop a body of water. But for this year’s AR Chemistry students, the word holds the promise of a more sustainable world.

“There are many unique ways algae can be used,” said science teacher Tascha Knowlton—from biofuel to biodegradable plastic to medicine. And because algae also captures large amounts of carbon, it’s becoming an important tool for a greener future.

Algae first captured upper schoolers’ attention last spring, when Tascha asked her students, including those enrolled in her upcoming AR Chemistry class, to research the organism for an end-of-term project. The students were so excited by what they found, they asked if they could make algae the focus of their AR Chemistry research. While Tascha had been planning to continue the graphite research started in Research Chemistry (the original name of AR Chemistry), she was happy to change course to follow the students’ interest.

And though there were several directions the students could take their research, the six seniors in this year’s class decided to focus on two: the use of algae as a wastewater treatment and as a substitute for limestone in cement, both of which contribute to a more sustainable world. As a wastewater treatment, algae provides a more effective alternative to the chemicals and bacteria that remove pollutants in water; the by-products of this process can also be used to create bioproducts. In cement, the calcium carbonate by-product of algae can take the place of limestone, which lessens the amount of carbon released into the atmosphere during limestone mining.

This fall, the students began diving into current research on these subjects, as well as writing their own proposals and abstracts and conducting lab work. One group studied the effect of two types of algae, chlorella and Scenedesmus, in wastewater, and the other focused on the use of Emiliania huxleyi, a special type of algae that produces a calcium carbonate shell, in biocement. They also spoke with experts, including Dr. Ronald Sims from Utah State University—who took them on a tour of the Central Valley Water Reclamation Facility, which recently piloted an algae wastewater cleaning program—and biocement specialists. These opportunities to immerse themselves in their chosen areas of research made a big impression on the young scientists.

These classes really provide an outlet to explore personal areas of interest and use your education to make an impact that resonates with you and your values.—Gabriella Miranda, class of 2024

“These classes really provide an outlet to explore personal areas of interest and use your education to make an impact that resonates with you and your values,” said Gabriella Miranda, a member of the wastewater group. “Truly, I think the AR program embodies academic freedom and gives students valuable insight.”

By the spring, the class was ready to take their work on the road. In early March, both groups competed at the University of Utah Science & Engineering Fair, where the wastewater team placed third in the Biology & Microbiology category and the biocement team placed second in the Chemistry & Biochemistry category. Later that month, they traveled to New Orleans for the American Chemical Society spring conference, where they confidently shared their work with attendees from around the world.

“Their posters and how they presented themselves was on par or better than any undergraduate posters, and there are hundreds,” said Tascha. And she wasn’t the only one impressed—many attendees shared their amazement that the Rowland Hall group was still in high school; one undergraduate said he wished he’d had this type of experience before college. Tascha hoped moments like these provided the students with perspective about their experience, showed them their capabilities, and gave them the confidence they’ll need to hit the ground running as undergraduates. “They’ll be able to jump in and expand opportunities in college, versus having to get familiar with the work later,” said Tascha.

The experience may even inspire careers.

“Prior to taking AR Chemistry, I wasn’t particularly passionate about any given subject. With the pressure of college majors looming, I often dismissed the decision entirely,” said class member Halle Baughman. “Through this in-depth investigation, I was able to explore my passion for sustainability by integrating it with my interest in the sciences. I found a topic with the promise of success and my personal investment.” As a result, Halle changed her indicated major from undecided to sustainability and design.

“My project excited me in ways I couldn’t imagine,” said Halle. “The process was truly life-changing.”

Learn more about the AR Chemistry class’s time in New Orleans.

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AR Biology Works to Better Understand and Find Treatments for Aggressive Cancer

To Upper School science teacher Dr. Padmashree Rida, providing students with research opportunities is a no-brainer.

“It’s important to invest in mentoring and guiding high schoolers,” she said. “This is how you’re going to build on the next generation of people who can impact big areas.”

With the introduction of the AR designation, Dr. Rida knew she could further expand student research opportunities in an AR Biology class, opening the door for more students to build strong research, critical-reading, and science-writing skills during school hours and under the guidance of a trusted mentor invested in their growth.

That’s why the former university research scientist and breast cancer researcher, who joined the faculty in 2021, has been on a constant lookout for ways to bring students into the process of research science. In addition to sharing her expertise in class, Dr. Rida has even welcomed students to the teams of researchers she collaborates with on peer-reviewed papers. (Two, now-alums Max Smart ’22 and Tianyi Su ’22, have already been published.) And with the introduction of the AR designation, Dr. Rida knew she could further expand these opportunities in an AR Biology class, opening the door for more students to build strong research, critical-reading, and science-writing skills during school hours and under the guidance of a trusted mentor invested in their growth.

And it all begins, she explained, by deciding what to study.

“Defining the scope of the work is itself a big step,” she said, and one she wanted the three seniors enrolled in her first AR Biology class to experience. Though Dr. Rida did provide some parameters (she encouraged students to choose a topic within her area of expertise, and one that can be done on campus—after all, the school has no biosafety clearance to work with cancer cells), she wanted students to have a say in what they studied. She also wanted them to get familiar with identifying research worth pursuing by learning what kind of questions to ask: What is already known about a topic? What are people not yet asking that is of value to the field? What are some of the gaps in our knowledge that we can help fill?

Armed with this guidance, the students kicked off the year by reading papers and brainstorming subjects that were both manageable and could make a contribution to the research field. By early November, they’d chosen their topic: to uncover more about why androgen receptor-low triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) is so lethal. By understanding drivers of the disease, they hoped to help identify novel, actionable treatment targets, as this cancer currently has no approved targeted treatments and, as a result, poor outcomes, particularly in Black women.

“Black women are twice as likely as white women to get TNBC, and within this subgroup Black women are disproportionately afflicted with the androgen receptor-low form of TNBC,” said Dr. Rida. “Identification of potential treatment targets for androgen receptor-low TNBC could therefore help us ameliorate the stark racial disparities observed in breast cancer outcomes.”

To further keep research manageable, the students limited their scope to the centrosome biology that may play a role in this cancer subtype’s deadly impact. Centrosomes, miniscule structures in cells that organize the cell’s cytoskeleton, are critical for cell division; however, excessive centrosomes, which are commonly found in cancer cells (and at a higher level in tumors of Black women), are implicated in the aggressive clinical behavior of TNBC. That’s because cancer cells cluster their extra centrosomes during cell division via a process that increases genomic instability and clonal heterogeneity inside tumors, contributing to treatment resistance and disease progression. Although we have known for a few decades that, to survive, cancer cells must dial up their centrosome-clustering mechanisms as they generate extra centrosomes, exactly how this accompanying upregulation is achieved was undefined.

In pursuit of answers, the AR Biology students began analyzing publicly available gene expression data to identify the pathways that are in overdrive in androgen receptor-low TNBCs, while keeping their eyes peeled for crucial links that connect centrosome-amplification mechanisms to centrosome-clustering pathways. The students were fortunate to identify oncogenes (genes with the potential to cause a cell to become cancerous) that connect these two pathways, synchronously upregulating both drivers of aggressive disease, said Dr. Rida. This helped identify potential treatment targets for high-risk patients. And the students did all this alongside learning how to navigate databases and perform in silico analyses, wade through dense primary sources, create publication-quality figures, and collaborate with researchers outside Rowland Hall. It could be tough at times, but it was worth it.

We were working on something that actually had real-world value.—Sophie Baker, class of 2024

“We were working on something that actually had real-world value,” said senior Sophie Baker, as well as something that allowed the group to discover their own capabilities. “The most important thing that I learned about myself this year is that I can actually complete research of this scale,” Sophie continued. “It's impossible to know if you're capable of doing something until you try, so it was nice to be given the opportunity to try in a supportive environment.”

Best of all, the students’ potentially life-changing work didn’t stay in the classroom. In April, they traveled to San Diego to present their findings as a poster at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting. And later this spring, they were part of a group (including City of Hope researchers) that submitted a journal manuscript that’s currently in its first round of peer review. Dr. Rida said both opportunities have brought immense value to the students.

“It helps place work they did in the context of the real world issues—this actually can advance understanding of tumor biology, or guide clinicians or researchers,” she said. And on the flip side, she continued, these opportunities also show clinicians and higher education researchers the benefits of welcoming high school students to the table.

“We’re changing the culture,” said Dr. Rida.

Click the image below to view the poster presented by AR Biology students at the American Association of Cancer Research’s annual meeting.

Update September 18, 2024: Rowland Hall is pleased to announce that the AR Biology students’ manuscript was accepted for publication in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Cancers on September 11. The article was published on September 18.

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AR Humanities Expands Opportunities for Student Voices

Rowland Hall students are known for their writing. Throughout their time at the school, there is an ongoing emphasis on developing strong writing skills, and faculty members provide expert guidance as students grasp the foundations of language and grammar, then begin to build on their skills, knowledge, and confidence. Year by year, the school graduates exceptional writers, many of whom share their voices, whether that’s through poetry, science, or newspaper op-eds.

With the introduction of AR Humanities, Upper School students can apply and build writing skills on a whole new level: through college-level humanities research.

“Even though I'm a ‘STEM student’ of sorts and really like robotics and whatnot, I was really interested in doing some sort of deep dive into writing and humanities-based research,” said Omar Alsolaiman, one of the six seniors enrolled in AR Humanities in fall 2023. “And I thought the idea of getting to a full paper by the end was super exciting.”

Omar is referring to the 15- to 20-page research paper that is the pinnacle of the AR Humanities experience. Written over the 17 weeks of the fall semester, each student’s paper is the culmination of their time tackling research like professional scholars: by choosing a focused project question, developing unique arguments, and examining primary and secondary sources.

This class is an opportunity for students to craft questions around something that’s meaningful and interesting to them ... and to ultimately make small but meaningful contributions to a larger body of knowledge about whatever topic they want to study.—Dr. Nate Kogan ’00, history teacher

“This class is an opportunity for students to craft questions around something that’s meaningful and interesting to them, and to work to pursue that in the way one would an undergraduate senior thesis,” said history teacher Dr. Nate Kogan ’00. “They’re more independently trying to emulate the methods and practices and scholarship they’ll be more fully immersed in when they go to college, and to ultimately make small but meaningful contributions to a larger body of knowledge about whatever topic they want to study.”

In addition to providing the students with his own support as a historian and academic, Nate uses Wendy Belcher's Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, a workbook for academic publishing, to guide them through the research process. “I try to give the class a well-scaffolded and accessible entry point to the type of work real scholars in the humanities use,” he said. “This book helps plan the course by setting up a practical and accessible framework of steps you have to go through, which can often be opaque and challenging for students.”

And whatever a student’s inquiry, said Nate, they pursue the same process, meaning that over the semester, each class member became familiar with how college-level research unfolds as they pursued individualized research topics:

• how American media coverage of Haiti employed necropolitical narratives;
• how the medieval kingdom of Al-Andalus fostered social cohesion amongst a multiethnic and religiously diverse community;
• how neoliberal economic and regulatory policies toward pharmaceutical companies exacerbated an opioid crisis in Appalachia;
• how neoliberal economic policies exacerbated the gender wage gap and intensified racially driven critiques of welfare policy;
• how changing attitudes toward migrant players in the US men’s soccer program limited the competitiveness of the team at international competitions; and
• how the community-based ideologies and practices of the original Black Panther Party evolved into a more exclusionary form with the New Black Panther Party in the 1980s and 1990s.

“I learned a lot about what college-level writing would be like, and I definitely learned a ton of great formal writing strategies while also researching something I'm really interested in that I hope to continue learning about,” said Omar, who worked on the Al-Andalus project and credits AR Humanities for building his ability to write efficiently and systematically—a skill he believes will be invaluable in college.

I learned a lot about what college-level writing would be like, and I definitely learned a ton of great formal writing strategies while also researching something I'm really interested in that I hope to continue learning about.—Omar Alsolaiman, class of 2024

And since this is an AR class, the experience also included the chance for the students to share their work. As the semester began to wind down, the group worked to condense their arguments into eight-minute presentations for a mini-conference, held at the Upper School in December. Not only was the conference a chance to share their research with more people, but it also improved their final papers.

“The goal of the presentation is to serve as a testing ground for the clarity of their written arguments: ‘Can I take this stuff I've been mulling over and writing about and communicate it clearly to other people?’” said Nate. “That process of distilling an argument and trying to articulate it in a more condensed format also helps with the final revision stage: ‘Which points landed? Where do I need to play up the evidence more clearly?’”

By the end of the semester, all six students had completed beautifully written research papers that reflected their diverse and wide-ranging interests. (Though it wasn’t required, one student submitted their paper to The Concord Review, a high school history scholarship journal, in addition to Nate.) When asked to reflect on the class experience, Omar said it was valuable in many ways, not least of which was its reminder of the importance of the humanities as well as the ability to write well—areas that can easily be forgotten in the noise of a technology-heavy world.

“This class definitely reminded me how important the humanities are to me, so in college I'm hoping to find some outlet or focus on the humanities, despite my overarching path in engineering and STEM,” he said. “It also recentered my strengths in writing as one of my most important skills for the future.”

Click the video below to listen to this year’s AR Humanities students share their research at their mini-conference.

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AR Debate Soars in First International Debate Research Opportunity

Rowland Hall and debate go hand in hand. For nearly 40 years, the school has offered a top debate program—we’ve been named a Debate School of Excellence by the National Speech and Debate Association, and our debate team has claimed the last four 3A speech and debate state championships (2021–2024).

Needless to say, a lot of exceptional debaters roam the Upper School halls, so when the division’s administrative team was identifying potential areas for AR classes, they knew that a high-level debate-based research class would appeal to and benefit the school’s most advanced debaters. And for debate coach Mike Shackelford, AR Debate offered an ideal space for debaters to not only work on ongoing prep for their Policy and Public Forum competition events, but to harness their knowledge and skills in a new way.

“Our kids are really good at research, and it was important to me to give them an opportunity to show off their research skills in a more traditional format,” he said.

And Mike knew just the right outlet: the International Public Policy Forum global essay contest, which he had heard about from some of his national colleagues. Jointly administered by the Brewer Foundation and New York University, this contest “gives high school students around the globe the opportunity to engage in written and oral debates on issues of public policy.”

To participate in the IPPF contest, teams of at least three students from the same school are invited to submit a qualifying essay of no more than 3,000 words on an annual topic (this year’s was “Resolved: Governments should provide a universal basic income”). Teams can either affirm or negate the topic in qualifying essays. From there, a panel of judges chooses the top 64 schools to advance to a single-elimination, written debate tournament—in other words, teams are invited to engage in a pen pal-style debate competition. During each round, a team receives a competitor school’s latest 3,000-word essay via email, then writes an 1,800-word rebuttal. Judges review both essays and choose the top response from each round. The contest ends with the final eight teams traveling to New York City in early May for IPPF Finals Weekend.

Even with steep odds, the Rowland Hall team stood out. They were selected to move on to the top 64—and called out for their exceptional work on their qualifying essay. "This is a fantastic paper, bordering on brilliant,” one judge wrote. “This paper reflects scholarship rivaling post-graduate work.”

In October, the eight AR Debate students (three seniors, three juniors, and two sophomores) began working on their qualifying round essay. To stand out, the Rowland Hall group decided to write their essay using a critical feminist analysis, affirming universal basic income as a way to reduce domestic violence, reverse the stigma of welfare, and promote a more just concept of work that’s valued in the United States.

"We took this approach because we thought other papers would be written from traditional economic topics, and we didn’t want to silence an important perspective,” said Mike.

The team hoped to qualify to the round of 64, but suspected competition would be stiff. Indeed, this year, 311 teams, representing schools in 26 countries, submitted qualifying essays to the IPPF. But even with these steep odds, the Rowland Hall team stood out. They were selected to move on to the top 64—and called out for their exceptional work on their qualifying essay.

"This is a fantastic paper, bordering on brilliant,” one judge wrote. “This paper reflects scholarship rivaling post-graduate work.”

Buoyed by this feedback, the group jumped into the next round of competition, ultimately submitting and defending seven different essays to and against schools from Texas to Canada. With a trip to New York as their new focus, the AR Debate students remained nimble, switching sides in their essays as required and working closely to write their best responses.

“It’s rare, at least in debate, to have that much of a collaborative research opportunity—to have one product with six cooks in the kitchen, writing, collaborating, and thinking,” said Mike of this new opportunity for debaters. “The competitive debate world is so insulated, so this experience was so valuable in translating the skills they’ve been building. They know intuitively they’re great researchers, but I don't think they ever had practice taking their debate cases and translating them into papers.”

The small nature of the AR Debate class created an environment that facilitated targeted, individual growth in addition to improvement as a team. This meant that each of us got more individual attention in terms of feedback and skill improvement than before.—Eli Hatton, class of 2025

Class members also felt the benefits of stretching their skills. “AR Debate has given us the opportunity to use our research and argumentative skills beyond Policy Debate competition. I am glad I took AR Debate mainly because of the dedicated time and space for focusing on improving debate skills, practicing debates, and building arguments and strategy,” said junior Eli Hatton, who plans to continue debating in college and appreciates how the research-based approach of the class challenged class members, helping them become stronger debaters.

“The small nature of the AR Debate class created an environment that facilitated targeted, individual growth in addition to improvement as a team. This meant that each of us got more individual attention in terms of feedback and skill improvement than before,” Eli continued. “I personally learned quite a lot about the areas where I needed to improve and became a much better debater as a result.”

And though the team didn’t make it to New York City (they were defeated in the Sweet 16 round, in a 2-1 decision, in early April), they are proud of what they accomplished and how far they went in their first IPPF contest. Returning debaters are even looking forward to next year’s competition.

“After the close loss, I was expecting students to be hesitant in making the same investment next year," said Mike. "Instead, they unanimously said it was a positive and fun experience and that they would want to do it again.”

Check out the AR Debate students’ work: view one of the team’s negative essays (submitted during the round of 32) and one of their affirmative essays (submitted during the round of 16).

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Editor’s note: In addition to the classes covered in this article, Rowland Hall will expand AR offerings to include AR Computational and Mathematical Sciences in fall 2024. This class will provide a new opportunity for student-driven projects in computer science and math.

Advanced Research

Since its opening in fall 2022, the McCarthey Campus’s TREC Lab—short for ​​Technology, Robotics, Engineering, and Coding Lab—has been an exciting place for students to explore a variety of STEM projects during their specialty classes. This year, the lab expanded its offerings with a new opportunity: Open Lab.

Offered twice a week and available to all McCarthey Campus students, Open Lab allows classes, small groups, and individual students to access the TREC Lab outside designated class time. Students can use the space—and its tools, technology, and materials—to work on projects, as well as exercise choice and voice as they explore the STEM activities and supplies they’re most interested in, including micro:bits, Scratch coding software, 3D printers, LEGOs, and even craft supplies. 

Open Lab can be an adventure of choice. It’s time to use the lab’s tools, figure out a way to put things together, do collaborative work rooted in play, and explore.—Kaelis Sandstrom, TREC teacher

“Open Lab can be an adventure of choice,” said TREC teacher Kaelis Sandstrom. “It’s time to use the lab’s tools, figure out a way to put things together, do collaborative work rooted in play, and explore.” 

Whatever a child chooses during Open Lab, they’re engaging in active and beneficial learning, getting familiar with STEM thinking in all its forms. That’s because giving children chances to tinker freely helps them get familiar with materials, experiment and explore, problem solve, get resourceful, and engage in design thinking, among other benefits. Fifth-grade classmates Jules O. and Zoe Y., for example, have enjoyed Open Lab this year because it gives them the chance to experiment and build with the TREC Lab’s wooden domino sets. Both girls say the tactile nature of this activity is important to them.

“I think the most fun things in TREC involve building,” explained Zoe. “A robot can be coded for you, but dominoes are something physical. It’s a lot more fun when you can see something physical happen. You can understand how it’s working.”

Both Zoe and Jules became interested in dominoes during a TREC specialty class where they learned about the domino effect—the cumulative effect that’s produced when one event initiates a succession of similar events (such as when a line of dominoes falls). While in class each group had to build in a four-by-four square, the girls love that in Open Lab they can take their domino experimentation to new lengths … literally. “We use, like, half of the room,” laughed Jules.

And the classmates appreciate that Open Lab gives them a say in what they want to learn about and lets them work through any problems they may encounter on their own. “There’s more freedom,” said Zoe, “and when you can be creative and do whatever you want to, it’s a lot more interesting. When things don’t work, it’s not for adults to fix. It’s nice to have that time.”

Importantly, these types of experiences are open to any student on the McCarthey Campus. While the TREC specialty starts in second grade, students from 3PreK through first grade can also take part in Open Lab. Liz Ellison, one of the Beginning School’s 3PreK lead teachers, has enjoyed this new resource and said it’s super beneficial for early childhood learning.

“Young children are so drawn to building, creating, and making, and this is open space for them to explore and start building the foundation of bigger skills,” she said.

They’re creating that story about themselves: we are coders or creators or builders. It’s ownership and positive labeling. If you tell yourself, ‘I am a mathematician or innovator,’ you become that.—Liz Ellison, 3PreK lead teacher

Liz has signed up her class for Open Lab slots multiple times this year and said students always look forward to walking over to the TREC Lab, where they’ve participated in a variety of activities, including mapping and setting up mazes, creating a market out of cardboard boxes, constructing ice castles with colored cups, and building with a type of block that’s not available in their own classroom. These activities are not only an age-appropriate introduction to the kind of knowledge that will support these students’ future STEM learning, but they’re also helping the students understand their capabilities.

“They’re creating that story about themselves: we are coders or creators or builders,” said Liz. “It’s ownership and positive labeling. If you tell yourself, ‘I am a mathematician or innovator,’ you become that.”

And it’s moments like this that show the magic of Open Lab—a time for pressure-free activities that quietly build students’ self-esteem.

“It’s low-stakes, high-choice exploration,” said Kaelis. “It’s a time where students can build confidence in skills they may not be as confident in, or explore without the pressure of a final outcome. They can take risks and it’s not as scary.”

STEM

If you’ve walked by Robin Hori’s science classroom during periods 2 or 7 this semester, chances are you’ve caught a glimpse of students in the middle of a project build.

From water towers to bridges to trebuchets, students in grades 10 through 12 have been putting science and math to the test this year in the Upper School’s first ever, and student-requested, engineering class. Titled Integrated Engineering I and II (Engineering I and II beginning in 2024–2025), this lab-based course deeply emphasizes the engineering design cycle while exploring a variety of engineering fields: civil, mining, and chemical engineering in the fall, and mechanical, electrical, and materials engineering in the spring.

The Upper School engineering class is a lab-based course that emphasizes the engineering design cycle while exploring a variety of fields: civil, mining, and chemical engineering (fall), and mechanical, electrical, and materials engineering (spring).

“For years, we’ve been getting feedback from students that they want an engineering class,” said Upper School Principal Ingrid Gustavson. By designing a fresh approach to the Upper School’s earliest science courses (taken in 9th and 10th grades), Ingrid and her team made room for more subjects that students are interested in, including engineering. Longtime physics teacher Robin Hori was also game to take on this new opportunity—though he wasn’t prepared for the overwhelming reaction from the student body.

“It’s been more successful than I expected,” laughed Robin, whose fall class was filled with students who wanted to continue the course into spring semester—in addition to an entirely separate group of students who wanted to join the spring class. (Upper School students can take engineering during either fall or spring semester, or they can enroll in both semesters consecutively.) The Upper School had to add a second spring class to meet demand.

“The kids were so excited about it that we were approved to open up another section,” said Ingrid, “and Robin took on the class to give everybody that experience.”

It’s clear that this experience is meaningful to these students, many of whom were excited to share their gratitude, particularly about the hands-on nature of the class. As junior Spencer Brady put it, “Engineering is something you do; it's not something you just learn in theory,” and it was important to Robin to structure the class so students fully experience that doing of science in ways that stretch their brains and build their confidence.

“A lot of students have never built anything before and they’re really impressed they can actually build something that works,” said Robin. “Kids are really making an effort to understand why something works. And I’m trying to give them a sense that they can build things out of almost anything, and as long as they follow the science, they know it’ll work.”

To nurture these skills, Robin has structured the class around projects that support each field of engineering, such as building bridges during the study of civil engineering or building trebuchets during the study of mechanical engineering. Students are placed in small groups to promote real-world collaboration and given plenty of room to lead their own learning. Though Robin decides on assignments and parameters—for example, the first-semester bridge-building final required students’ projects to span 100 centimeters and support a moving load—he gives students plenty of freedom, acting as a coach and guide while they problem solve.

There’s lots of freedom in the class to explore.—Andrew Johnson, class of 2024

“He provides materials and concepts, then it’s up to the students to decide what path they want to take—and they can push outside guidelines,” explained senior Andrew Johnson. “There’s lots of freedom in the class to explore.”

For senior Kelton Ferriter, there’s also very low pressure. “It's kind of a perfect, stress-free, good way to get into engineering and explore various areas,” he said. “There’s so much creative freedom.” And this low-pressure approach is beneficial when it comes to practicing the engineering design cycle, from conducting research to creating a prototype to building a final project—and moving back and forth along that path through trial and error.

“These are big concepts, but being able to put them into a physical project and to really see how that works, and to watch where failures happen and when, it’s just a different dimension for learning,” said Kelton.

It’s also helping students become more comfortable with mistakes. “This semester, kids are more patient with failures because they know failure in engineering helps them become more successful,” said Robin. As a result, he continued, “final products are getting a lot better in terms of design, and students are better at explaining the mechanics of how and why a machine works or doesn’t work.”

To help his students become better at learning from mistakes, Robin requires them to keep professional engineering notebooks in which they record projects, including notes, observations, steps, designs, and corrections. All work is done in ink and students are trained to never tear out pages so that they can refer back to what they’ve done. For Spencer, an aspiring engineer and member of the school’s Monochromats robotics team, this is a key takeaway from the class. As a young builder, Spencer said he’s always been told to write down what he’s working on, but he never quite knew how until this year. “I really like how the class has taught me how exactly you write everything down and what you put in an engineering journal,” he shared.

“It’s nice to be able to go back and see where we made a mistake,” added Kelton, who’s acted as project manager for his group at times, a role that’s also helped him better understand how many ways there are to tackle a problem. “Everyone has a different idea and way to approach it, no matter what the project is,” he said. “The class is so open and creative.”

These are big concepts, but being able to put them into a physical project and to really see how that works, and to watch where failures happen and when, it’s just a different dimension for learning.—Kelton Ferriter, class of 2024

And the class isn’t just for one type of student. Every person brings to the table their individual talents and ideas, strengthening each project and even helping the students better understand where they may want to go next in their education and careers. Senior Rosie Schaefer, for one, said that the engineering class, which she’s taking after a summer 2023 internship with biomechanics professor Dr. Brittany Coats at the Utah Head Trauma Lab, has helped her better identify her career path.

“I realized I want to go into biomechanics—to help people with engineering,” she said. “I really enjoy research and I think that’s what I ultimately want to end up doing.” And, continued Rosie, in-class opportunities to share her evaluations of her group’s projects have helped her identify a talent of conveying science. “Where I’ve excelled is in the explanation of how things work: putting into words why what we’re doing makes sense,” she said.

Whatever their individual takeaways, though, many of the students agree that the class isn’t just for aspiring engineers. It’s for anyone who wants to learn more about the field, to build like a kid again, and to discover more about themselves. And because there are no prerequisites for the class, it makes what can often be thought of as a rarefied subject more accessible, opening doors to students who may not have tried it out otherwise. It’s just one example of how the team is putting Rowland Hall’s vision into action.

“As we evolve new courses, we’re offering new opportunities for students to go really deep,” said Ingrid. “And we’re offering life-changing and skill-building opportunities that are accessible to everyone.”

STEM

Have you ever watched a child play with blocks? 

It’s something that almost every child does. There is something innate in the human brain that makes us want to stack and position items from our earliest age. Building with blocks is such an important skill that is tracked as a child development milestone. In the Rowland Hall Beginning School, though, blocks are more than that—they are the foundation of a transformational education. 

In the work we are doing you can see all the skills we teach the students at Rowland Hall, no matter what their age. Making a plan, organizing it, sticking with it, learning to fail, learning to make mistakes, listening to others, it’s all there.—Isabelle Buhler, 4PreK lead teacher

“We have been doing block study and block building for many, many years,” said 4PreK lead teacher Isabelle Buhler. “In the work we are doing you can see all the skills we teach the students at Rowland Hall, no matter what their age. Making a plan, organizing it, sticking with it, learning to fail, learning to make mistakes, listening to others, it’s all there.” 

Block study starts out with the basics: the names and shapes of blocks, their functions, how to care for them, how to work together to build with them, and how to put them away. It doesn’t stay simple for long, though: by four years old, students in the Beginning School have transformed into miniature architects. 

“We start looking at how to make structures more stable and learn building techniques like plank and pillar, and staggering,” said 4PreK lead teacher Ella Slaker. “We start looking at buildings in books, like the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and talk about how we could make it better. And we look at buildings locally to see where we can identify the building techniques we are learning.” 

This year the 4PreK took advantage of the school’s central location and visited the Utah State Capitol as part of their block study. Accompanied by their fourth-grade buddies, the students walked up and down the grand stairs, counted the beehives that dot the grounds, and marveled at the high domed ceilings covered in beautiful murals. They also noticed how the marble walls are built in a staggered pattern to make them stronger, and how the soaring pillars support the planks of the ceilings and roof. They took in all these details for their next project: building models of the capitol themselves. 

“The idea was to get them thinking about it,” said 4PreK lead teacher Kirsten White. “We wanted to start with inspiring them by seeing the capitol firsthand, the inside and all around.” 

Like any good architects, the students didn’t start building immediately. First, they had to draw up blueprints. Using pictures from books as well as those taken on their field trip, the students drew plans to build their capitols. Then, they decided which blocks and techniques to use to build the levels, the columns, the dome, and other aspects of the structure.

The great thing about this project is that it goes across the curriculum. When we drew the blueprints from memory and photos, it required tracing straight or curvy lines and orienting them correctly. The building process required knowing shapes and counting blocks, which falls under math skills. Building a balanced, stable, and symmetrical building engaged physics skills.—Kirsten White, 4PreK lead teacher

“The great thing about this project is that it goes across the curriculum,” said Kirsten. “When we drew the blueprints from memory and photos, it required tracing straight or curvy lines and orienting them correctly. The building process required knowing shapes and counting blocks, which falls under math skills. Building a balanced, stable, and symmetrical building engaged physics skills.”

Social-emotional learning concepts came into play during the construction of the capitol models. No child built their model alone; they all had to work either in small groups or as a class. That meant using cooperation and letting everyone have a say in how they were going to proceed. It also meant learning to deal with setbacks. 

“The collaboration is huge. It takes a lot of stamina and a lot of coaching,” said Isabelle.  “And when it falls down what do you do? You start again and you don’t give up.”

The wide range of skills being explored in this project meant that every child could have a role, no matter their learning style or talents. It’s an excellent example of how voice and choice are promoted in the classroom. Students with an eye for detail helped perfect the plans and guide the builders, while those with more adept motor skills placed blocks so they balanced perfectly in the trickier parts of the structure. 

Of course, when you ask the four-year-olds what their favorite part of the block study was, they won’t mention any of these lessons initially. The first thing they all say is that they had fun. Of course they did—they were playing with blocks. When you dig a little deeper, though, they will start telling you about the ways they built, showing you the blocks they used, and telling you how they solved problems when something went wrong. That’s when it becomes obvious that they are taking away knowledge to help them build a lifetime of learning.

Experiential Learning

Utah has seen an influx of new residents in recent years—and not all of them have been welcomed with open arms.

Balsam woolly adelgids, fox squirrels, field bindweed, quagga mussels, and other invasive species have found comfortable homes in the state, and in some cases have made life difficult for native species by competing with them for limited resources. It’s a real problem, and it recently presented a perfect project-based learning opportunity for students in the seventh grade. Science teacher Lindsay Mackintosh challenged her students to use skills from across the curriculum to find a solution and put it into action—and maybe even impress scientists working in the field.

“The students designed and built traps to capture invasive insect species, and help ecosystems be more biodiverse by limiting their impact,” said Lindsay. “This required them to explore engineering concepts to research, build, and revise their traps.”

Engineering helps students become problem solvers and think critically..—Lindsay Mackintosh, seventh-grade science teacher

Engineering may appear to be an advanced topic for seventh graders, but these kids were up to the challenge. It all comes down to problem solving in a methodical way, while at the same time considering numerous possibilities. That’s why increasing engineering opportunities is expressly mentioned in the school’s strategic priorities.

“In making these traps they had to consider some constraints but also had freedom to be creative,” Lindsay said. “Engineering helps students become problem solvers and think critically.”

Research was the first order of business for the students, as all bugs can’t be caught the same way. “We had to do a lot of research so we could engineer the trap around the bug,” said seventh grader Atticus P., whose group chose the elm seed bug as their target. “We had to figure out, What does it eat? Where does it live?, and other things like that so we could catch it.”

The design and build process came next, with students doing multiple concept sketches and revisions before building their first prototype. There were lots of different factors to consider when coming up with designs. Students only had ten dollars total to spend on materials for their traps, and that wasn’t the only practical concern facing them.

“We had to think about where we would put it,” said seventh grader Ben D. “We had to think about how it would be sustainable so the wind or rain wouldn’t destroy it. We had to think about so many different things when creating a good and effective trap.”

Once the first prototypes were built most students found themselves going back to the drawing board. While that may have been frustrating for some, it was a valuable lesson that engineering is not a linear process. “Some groups had to make drastic changes when they saw their first prototype,” said Lindsay. “It was interesting to see them walk through this process and decide what changes they want to make.”

We took our mistakes, and we turned it into something better.—Harper J., class of 2029

“Our prototype was trash. It was really bad,” said seventh grader Harper J., who was in a group chasing down Japanese beetles. “We used Saran wrap to keep them from getting out, but it was too sticky, so we switched that out to mesh. We took our mistakes, and we turned it into something better.”

Students started their bug studies at the beginning of the school year, perfecting them by mid-November. Then it was time to present their inventions to scientists from the University of Utah who study invasive species. This is when they learned that you can have a great idea, but that might not matter if you don’t know how to communicate it. Presentation preparation built upon lessons the students had already learned as part of their writing curriculum, and seventh-grade English teacher Jill Gerber helped them apply those skills to the science realm.“We talk a lot about task, audience, and purpose in class,” said Jill. “That’s what they had to do here. Identify their key points and have a clear idea and message going into the presentations so their audience would come away understanding their content.”

This shift from focusing on their content to focusing on how the audience received it meant the students had to change the way they viewed the project. While they had a wealth of information about their bugs, the invasive species problem, and their design and construction process, all of that data could now be a hindrance to clearly and succinctly communicating their message.

“Our goal was to tell everyone how the trap worked, and what the purpose of the trap was, and how we would get the bugs to the trap,” said seventh grader Stella O. “We had to take a lot of information about the bugs out because the main purpose of the presentation was talking about the trap.”

In the end the presentations were successful, and the students not only got to show off their work, but also interact with working scientists. Additionally, they got a deeper understanding of how all learning is connected and, when used together, is greater than the sum of its parts: problem-solving skills learned in the science classroom can be applied to other subjects, and communication skills from English can be used to get messages across in any field. It’s a kind of understanding that’s already gone far beyond this fall project, continuing to benefit students in the second half of the year—and will undoubtedly continue to do so beyond seventh grade.

“Layering skills and concepts is something I know we all try to do,” said Lindsay. “That way we are giving students skills that are transferable and can be used across the curriculum and outside the classroom.”

It all adds up to creating people the world needs, whether they are building bug traps to combat invasive species or shaping solutions to the world’s hardest problems.

Authentic Learning

Sophie Zheng remembers the first time she saw a competition math problem in fifth grade. “It was nothing I’d ever seen before,” she remembered.

At the time, Sophie had been tackling her first-ever American Mathematics Competition (AMC) exam, an optional test that’s designed to promote problem-solving skills in students. She remembered that initial excitement about the test, about using unique perspectives to observe the world and weaving connections between concepts with utmost flexibility.

“I see competition math as a puzzle,” Sophie explained. “It’s not like school math, where you have an equation and follow it. There’s a lot more creativity involved.”

Math really isn’t a competition in itself. It’s about learning skills and a way to connect with friends around the world. It’s vibrant and joyful.—Sophie Zheng, class of 2024

So when she came to Rowland Hall in seventh grade, Sophie, now a senior, embraced the middle and upper schools’ offerings for students interested in the creative world of competition math. She joined (and now leads) MATHCOUNTS and the Upper School Math Club, and, inspired by the division’s successful Writing Center, founded the Math Center to offer tutoring to students. Along the way, she delved into the wider competition math community by joining the Utah American Regions Mathematics League (ARML) team, the Ross Mathematics Program, Math Prize for Girls, and the Harvard-MIT Math Tournament (HMMT). Sophie has also continued to take the AMC every year, placing in the top five of all girl competitors in the Intermountain Section since 2020, and has qualified for the American Invitational Mathematics Examination (AIME), the next level of AMC competition, every year since eighth grade. In 2020, she even earned an inaugural Maryam Mirzakhani AMC 10 Award for her work on the AMC, just one of the many recognitions she’s collected during her high school career.

Sophie has enjoyed opportunities to travel for mathematics competitions, both as an individual and as a member of the Utah ARML team, a selective group of mathematicians from Utah high schools. And this year has been especially exciting, as she’s had three opportunities to travel to Boston to compete not only in math, but also in scientific research. In October, Sophie went to MIT to participate in the Math Prize for Girls. In November, she attended HMMT with her ARML team. And later that month, she flew east again for the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award, where she defended her astronomy research, “Investigating the Origins of Hot Neptunes from Radial Velocity Data,” a project Sophie has spent two years on and which beautifully exemplifies how her math journey has helped to shape her goal to become an astrophysics researcher—a career, she said, that provides “a perfect integration of applied and pure math.” (By the way, Sophie’s research won silver.)

For Sophie, these trips to Boston go far beyond any wins or recognitions, though. In a journal she wrote about the experiences, titled “Three Trips to Boston,” the young mathematician and scientist shared how these opportunities have furthered her advocacy for gender equity, inspired collaboration, and invigorated her personal enjoyment of STEM.

“Math really isn’t a competition in itself. It’s about learning skills and a way to connect with friends around the world. It’s vibrant and joyful,” she said.

And though Sophie is busy preparing for college and the next chapter of her own journey, her senior year STEM experiences aren’t over quite yet. Sophie recently took the AMC and AIME once more, achieving personal records for both. As head MATHCOUNTS coach, she’s guiding middle schoolers to the state competition in March. She’s also extending her astronomy project to participate in this year’s science fair and to submit her paper for publication. And in May, she’ll be traveling with her ARML team for the national ARML tournament. Best of luck, Sophie! We know you’ll do great.

Below, we share Sophie’s journal reflection, “Three Trips to Boston.”

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Three Trips to Boston

By Sophie Zheng, Class of 2024

This fall: three times I stepped out of the same airport at 5 AM, Utah time, on a Saturday morning and rushed to university campuses with a sense of purpose. The Math Prize for Girls (MPFG), Harvard-MIT Math Tournament (HMMT), and the S.-T. Yau North America High School Science Award were all held at the most famous universities in Boston through back-to-back weekends. The MPFG, the largest contest for female students, brought together about 250 girls who were invited to promote gender equity in STEM through showcasing their mathematical creativity. The HMMT, as one of the most popular high school competitions in the world, draws thousands of students in over a hundred teams globally to engage in math reaching beyond traditional curriculums. Lastly, the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award, founded in 2008 by Fields Medal winner Prof. Shing-Tung Yau, inspires scientific innovations from high school students all over the world. Through writing academic papers and defending their research, students cultivate innovative thinking and collaborative spirits. Amidst 48-hour whirlwind trips every weekend, I traversed the corridors of three renowned Boston universities, immersing myself in all three of these STEM endeavors.

MPFG is not just a platform to spotlight individual skills. It is a crucial frontier for female participation in math competitions. In the world of STEM, where the gender gap looms prominently, competitors like me who have felt the strength of solidarity in the battle for gender equity carry a responsibility to pass on our vision. It's a call for everyone, irrespective of gender, to fearlessly pursue their passions in STEM.

This July, I was thrilled to receive the news that I qualified for the MPFG and immediately intensified my math studying in preparation. The night before the contest, over 250 girls met each other at game night at MIT. I not only reunited with friends from past summer math camps, but also met a larger community of girls who all shared a profound love for mathematics. We exchanged stories about our mathematical journeys and experiences, forging connections through our shared passion. The following morning thrust us into the 20-question, 150-minute test. Despite the jetlag, the adrenaline had woken me up hours earlier, and I felt ready to face these problems head-on. 263 tables, 263 chairs, and 263 school girls spread out in a massive ballroom to stretch our brain muscles to their limits. Out of all the math contests I had ever taken, I felt this was definitely the one where time was the tightest. I was able to solve 7 out of the 20 questions correctly, and secured the rank of 42nd place, narrowly missing an honorable mention, which needed 8 correct answers. While my performance received much praise, what resonated more profoundly with me was the substantial gap that separated me from the first-place winner. Rather than discouragement, this wide margin inspires me to continue striving for proficiency. Moreover, MPFG is not just a platform to spotlight individual skills. It is a crucial frontier for female participation in math competitions. In the world of STEM, where the gender gap looms prominently, competitors like me who have felt the strength of solidarity in the battle for gender equity carry a responsibility to pass on our vision. It's a call for everyone, irrespective of gender, to fearlessly pursue their passions in STEM.

In my second trip to Boston, together with five other Utah ARML team members from various schools and our coach, we flew to the east coast to represent Utah in the HMMT. The Utah ARML team—a club that convenes weekly to practice cooperation on math problems and partake in national tournaments—traditionally competes in the HMMT twice every year; once in November, and once in February. The competition lasted a whole 8-hour day and consisted of two individual rounds—the General Round and Theme Round; and two team rounds—the Team Round and Guts Round. The individual rounds offered exciting challenges with stimulating questions, but the true highlight was undeniably the team rounds, which displayed the synergy we had honed during team practices throughout the year. The ability to synchronize a flow of individual ideas toward a shared solution is what I love most about math. It is in these moments of collaborative problem-solving that the beauty and joy of mathematics come to life. Our Utah team won an impressive 19th place out of approximately 120 teams, as all 6 members in our team displayed strong performances. I placed 11th in the Theme Round, and another team member ranked 10th in the General Round. Our achievements continue the legacy of the Utah ARML team and serve as an inspiration for the rising younger generation. In the Rowland Hall MATHCOUNTS team and Upper School Math Club, I have encountered so many talented students during my years as a member and coach. My hope is that more Rowland Hall students can venture into the wider community of competition math and see the Utah ARML team for themselves. 

The entire process of my research served as a constant reminder of why STEM captivates me. It taught me to identify core issues, explore creative solutions, and build upon past contributions for advancing scientific frontiers.

On my latest trip to Boston, I defended my astronomy research thesis for the S.-T. Yau High School Science Award at Brandeis University. In the 15-minute presentation and ensuing question session from professional judges, I explained how I modeled astronomical data to detect extrasolar planets, coded statistical analyses to study their parameters, and derived physics equations to interpret my results. The feedback from my judges and winning the Silver Award (second place) in the physics category brought back memories of the past two years, from learning foundations of physics to mathematically resolving astronomical mysteries. The entire process of my research served as a constant reminder of why STEM captivates me. It taught me to identify core issues, explore creative solutions, and build upon past contributions for advancing scientific frontiers. Looking to the future, my exploration is only the first glimpse into the greatest mysteries of the universe and our existence.

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Banner: Sophie Zheng competes at the 2023 Math Prize for Girls. All photos courtesy Sophie Zheng.

Student Voices

Sophomore Fanni Ventilla used to have a stream in her backyard.

It was a place in which she and her siblings could splash on summer days, the flowing water nourishing the trees along the bank that provided refuge both for children who needed a break from the sun as well as for the owls that roosted in their branches. As the sun lowered, the family could hear the owls hooting into the cooling air.

But over the years, as global temperatures have continued to rise, Fanni watched her beloved stream slowly shrink, then fully dry out.

“As the temperature increased, the stream stopped flowing,” she shared, and the losses cascaded from there. “This caused many of the nearby trees to dry out. Some of these trees were recently cut down, and, as a result, the owls that used to come to our yard were forced to find a new home. It’s sad to not hear the hooting.”

Extreme heat has been the number-one weather-related cause of death in the United States for the last three decades, and future heat waves will continue to threaten lives around the globe. By identifying urban heat islands, we can better pinpoint where life-saving heat mitigation resources should be prioritized.

In today’s changing climate, stories like these are not uncommon. Rising temperatures are affecting environments as small as individual backyards and as massive as polar ice caps. They’re also wreaking havoc on human bodies: extreme heat has been the number-one weather-related cause of death in the United States for the last three decades, and future heat waves will continue to threaten lives around the globe.

And even though extreme heat is here to stay for the foreseeable future, Rowland Hall Coordinator of Climate Studies Rob Wilson hasn’t lost hope in our ability to protect one another from its impact—and he doesn’t want his students to either. That’s why, in early 2023, Rob jumped on an opportunity for his climate science class to get involved in a community project to map extreme heat, to better safeguard lives.

In partnership with representatives from Utah State University's Utah Climate Center, Salt Lake City, and the Natural History Museum of Utah, the class helped to apply Salt Lake City for participation in the annual urban heat island mapping campaign, a citizen scientist program funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Cities chosen for this program (more than 60 to date) are provided support from CAPA Strategies, an organization that helps map heat distribution within communities. The goal of this work is to identify urban heat islands—hotspots that can measure up to 20 degrees Fahrenheit hotter than areas with more trees, more grass, and less pavement that absorbs heat—so that local decision-makers can better pinpoint where life-saving heat mitigation resources should be prioritized. This work is necessary because urban heat islands are often home to those most vulnerable to the health impacts of extreme heat, which are exacerbated in environments that are unable to cool to under 80 degrees Fahrenheit, the temperature bodies need for recovery. And when people don’t have access to cooler environments, Rob explained, damage can happen quickly.

Being able to collect the data, view the data afterward, and see how people are going to use that information to better our community makes me feel proactive rather than a bystander.—Maddie Mulford, class of 2024

“When experiencing extreme heat, the body responds by dilating the peripheral blood vessels to release heat through the skin. This causes a drop in blood pressure and leads to reduced blood flow to internal organs, and can lead to chronic heat-related illness such as kidney failure,” he said. “In acute cases, when body temperature gets too hot—such as when you live in a space without air conditioning in a city hotspot, over multiple days of a heat wave—the body experiences heat exhaustion or heat stroke. Heat stroke is a medical emergency, and develops when body temperature exceeds the range of tolerance of the cells and organs begin to fail.”

Rob and his students knew that mapping Salt Lake’s hotspots would make a real difference in saving lives during heat waves, so when it was announced that the city was one of 18 communities in 14 US states and one international city chosen for the 2023 campaign, they were ready jump into action—both to help map data and to use that information to make a difference to others.

“I think there's not enough opportunities for people to feel like they're doing something hands-on to help people, especially when it comes to issues like extreme heat or climate change,” said senior Maddie Mulford, who was integral to the early project proposals to the city and who, along with classmate Max Jansen, drove a route for the Salt Lake City campaign. “Being able to collect the data, view the data afterward, and see how people are going to use that information to better our community makes me feel proactive rather than a bystander. I think programs like these are a good way of showing that people don't need to be a huge political figure or start a super new and innovative organization to fight climate change. Helping can look as simple as driving around on a Saturday afternoon.”

Maddie’s observation is what Rob always hopes his climate science students take away from class.

“I want students to feel empowered,” he said, and this goal has played a major role in how he’s structured climate science, now in its fourth year. “This subject feels alarmist—and you’re going to get the alarmist message for your entire life. I want to avoid that. Part of helping students to not give in to alarmist messages is to offer them opportunities to take real action against some of the hardest problems our planet is facing. Action is incredibly empowering, and it helps you realize that you can make a difference. We saw this as we worked on this campaign: the mapping project gave us agency. We could address something that’s important to ourselves, our neighbors, and our city, that will help us cope with changes that are happening in our city.”

Part of helping students to not give in to alarmist messages is to offer them opportunities to take real action against some of the hardest problems our planet is facing. Action is incredibly empowering, and it helps you realize that you can make a difference.—Rob Wilson, coordinator of climate studies

Many members of the community also felt that empowerment as they came together for Salt Lake’s heat mapping campaign on July 15. That day, 42 volunteers, including Rowland Hall students and community members, mounted sensors on their cars and drove 10 routes around the city in the early morning, afternoon, and evening, recording the temperature and humidity data that CAPA Strategies would use to create the city’s heat map. This work, which took place over a weekend in which tens of millions of US citizens were under heat advisories, captivated more than just those who were there. Multiple news outlets covered the project between July 13 and 19, and Maddie and Max, along with classmate Angus Hickman, joined Rob on RadioACTive, a local program that highlights grassroots activists and community builders, to share their experiences and talk about why heat mapping is necessary.

Fanni was among those watching the coverage on the news and via the school's Instagram account, and she was inspired by what she saw. Since taking AP Environmental Science at her last school (Fanni transferred to Rowland Hall for sophomore year), she’s spent a lot of time thinking about how pollution contributes to the heat waves that have affected not only her backyard trees, but also her grandmother, who lives in Europe. “My grandma is worried about going outside due to the extreme heat because she has heart issues,” said Fanni. “She has no access to AC, and if homes don’t cool down it causes health problems. That really worries me.”

As she watched some of her new peers contribute to a project that will provide real solutions to local residents, Fanni realized she, too, could do something that would both ease her worries and help support ongoing heat mitigation efforts. This fall, she took action by starting the Upper School’s Climate Action Club, which has set a goal to collaborate with TreeUtah to help plant trees in the hotspots identified in Salt Lake City’s Heat Watch Report and to create a website that will teach others how they can help.

“The heat mapping data makes it clear that we need to take action and we need to take it now,” said Fanni, who joined junior CJ Wujkowska on an October 30 follow-up episode of RadioACTive to discuss next steps that will be taken in Salt Lake’s heat mitigation efforts. “I want to help the city stop the urban heat island effect by planting trees and educating the population in this area about the importance of taking responsibility for the environment.”

I felt like I could do nothing, but now I know I can, and I want people to know they can do something. Everyone can take small steps that will make a better future—and even help now.—Fanni Ventilla, class of 2026

And Fanni isn't the only student applying the data. This year’s climate science students have been hard at work studying the Heat Watch Report findings, and each has picked an area that speaks to them and that they want to explore further: long- and short-term heat-related illness (Ani Agarwal), heat and mental health (Brooke Brown), heat and topography (Hayden Kaufman Schiller), heat and outdoor work (Kiri Mannelin), urban heat and sports training (Bea Martin), heat and air quality (Lulu Murphy), urban heat and redlining (Cam Prichard), and heat and invasive insects (CJ Wujkowska). In addition to writing articles about their chosen subjects for submission to The Gazette, the Upper School newspaper, each student created a poster about their subject that was shared with community members who attended Making the Invisible Visible, a November 5 community event that brought together members of the Salt Lake City heat mapping team, scientists, policy makers, and community members to discuss the Heat Watch Report and solutions that will help the community be more resilient to future heat waves.

It is just the start of what’s to come of this important work, and a promising glimpse of how Rowland Hall students will continue to tackle climate concerns.

“I felt like I could do nothing, but now I know I can,” said Fanni, “and I want people to know they can do something. It’s not just a problem that only scientists and professionals can solve. Everyone can take small steps that will make a better future—and even help now."

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Banner photo: Upper schoolers Maddie Mulford and Max Jansen show one of the heat mapping probes that was used to gather temperature and humidity data in Salt Lake City on July 15, 2023.

Authentic Learning

Each August, Rowland Hall holds Convocation, a traditional gathering that brings our community together to connect, learn, and celebrate the start of a new school year.

This year’s event, held the morning of Friday, August 23, centered around Rowland Hall’s 2024–2025 theme, Joy. In the words of professor and author Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, joy is “the embodiment of, learning of, and practice of love of self and humanity, and care for and help for humanity and the earth. Joy encompasses happiness/smiles, truth, beauty, aesthetics, art, wonder, personal fulfillment, and solutions to the social problems of the world.”

Joy encompasses happiness/smiles, truth, beauty, aesthetics, art, wonder, personal fulfillment, and solutions to the social problems of the world.—Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, professor and author

Convocation has long included speeches by the student body president and a member of the alumni community, but for the first time this year, the annual event also included speakers from the fifth and eighth grades.

“It was important to us to include fifth and eighth graders so that all of the students in attendance, from the Lower School to the Upper School, saw themselves represented in the program,” said Dr. Chandani Patel, director of equity and inclusion. “As our theme is Joy, we thought it made sense for peers to welcome everyone back to school and talk about how they relate to this theme.”

This year’s Convocation speakers included fifth grader Kyeran G., eighth grader Shea G., 12th grader Gemma Ciriello, and alumna Elizabeth Izampuye ’17. Each reflected on what joy means to them and the many forms joy can take, and asked those gathered to look for joy in their own lives and work to create joy for others. Their beautiful words inspired Convocation attendees and illustrated why Rowland Hall prioritizes amplifying student voices.

“Our strategic priorities guide us to be more student-centered in all that we do here at school, and sometimes grown-ups need to step out of the way to let the kids do their thing and shine,” said Dr. Patel.

We invite you to enjoy this year’s Convocation speeches by watching the video below, or click to read the speeches.

Student Voices

Welcome, Winged Lions, to the 2024–2025 school year! We’re so happy you’re here.

The year kicked off on Wednesday, August 21, with Hello Day, where we welcomed students to their first day of classes. On Friday, our community came together for Convocation, an annual gathering at which we celebrate the start of a new year of learning and growth. And on Saturday, we gathered once again for the Back to School BASH, one of our community’s favorite ways to kick off the new year.

We hope you’ll take a moment to enjoy some of the images captured during the first days of school.

Community

Rowland Hall is thrilled to welcome students and families to the 2024–2025 school year.

As you spend time on our campuses in the following weeks, you’ll get to know the newest additions to our faculty and staff, as well as see some of our returning team members in new, adjusted, or expanded roles. For your reference, we’ve listed these staffing changes below. (Please see Fond Farewells 2024 for a list of those not returning for this school year.)

Be sure to check back, as this list will continue to be updated during the school year.

Administration and Staff

New Staff

• Jackie Hertgen joins Rowland Hall as assistant director of athletics.
• David Judd joins Rowland Hall as a bus driver.
• Kaleb Nielsen joins Rowland Hall as equity and inclusion program coordinator.

Administration and Staff Role Changes and Expansions

• Zack Alvidrez, formerly assistant athletic director, is now director of athletics.
• Lindsay Carver, formerly director of major gifts, is now associate director of admission for the McCarthey Campus.
• Lauren Daynes joins Rowland Hall as administrative assistant to the director of athletics.
• Patrick Godfrey, formerly chief information officer, is now chief information and safety officer.
• Ryan Holgund, formerly director of ethical education, is now director of community engagement and impact.
• Rebecca Jones, formerly admission associate, is now assistant director of admission and director of financial aid
• Mark Millard, formerly the Technology Support Center manager for the Lincoln Street Campus, is now technology systems administrator.
• Patrick Murphy, formerly the Lincoln Street Campus operations lead, is now the Lincoln Street Campus Technology Support Center manager.

Beginning School

New Beginning School Faculty and Staff

• Alise Anderson joins Rowland Hall as the three-day 3PreK lead teacher, working alongside Melinda Canfield.
• Sascha Dimick joins Rowland Hall as a beginning and lower school monitor.
• Donna Dinsdale joins Rowland Hall as the Beginning School receptionist and administrative assistant.
• Justine Gallet joins Rowland Hall as a Beginning School and Lower School learning specialist.
• Mara Kushner joins Rowland Hall as a 4PreK assistant teacher, working alongside Isabelle Buhler.

Beginning School Role Changes

• Katherine McMahon, formerly the Beginning School administrative assistant, is now a 4PreK assistant teacher, working alongside Kirsten White.
• Kiara Rivera, formerly an associate teacher in the Beginning School and Lower School, is now a fifth-grade teacher.

Lower School

New Lower School Faculty and Staff

• Sascha Dimick joins Rowland Hall as a beginning and lower school monitor.
• Carrie Farris joins Rowland Hall as a first-grade teacher.
• Justine Gallet joins Rowland Hall as a Beginning School and Lower School learning specialist.
• Samantha Gerstein joins Rowland Hall as a Lower School associate teacher.
• Chloe May joins Rowland Hall as a third-grade teacher.
• Max Molokov joins Rowland Hall as a Lower School PE teacher.
• Hannah Ruske joins Rowland Hall as a third-grade teacher.
• Kristin Sproul joins Rowland Hall as a fifth-grade teacher.
• Melina Vermetten joins Rowland Hall as a Lower School learning specialist.

Lower School Role Changes

• Jenn Anderson, formerly a Lower School learning specialist, is now the Middle School academic support coordinator.
• Kiara Rivera, formerly an associate teacher in the Beginning School and Lower School, is now a fifth-grade teacher.

Middle School

New and Returning Middle School Faculty and Staff

• Michelle Campbell joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School creative writing teacher.
• David Hall joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School beginning band teacher.
• Colleen James joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School librarian and coordinator of educational technology.
• Jan Middleton joins Rowland Hall as the seventh-grade English teacher.
• Danny Schmidt joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School media arts teacher.
• Megan Shaw joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School social-emotional support counselor.
• Tyler Waterhouse returns to Rowland Hall as a Middle School math teacher.

Middle School Role Changes

• Jenn Anderson, formerly a Lower School learning specialist, is now the Middle School academic support coordinator.
• Jeremy Innis, formerly part-time interfaith chaplain for the Lincoln Street Campus and choir, music, and ethics teacher, is now choir director and music theory teacher.
• Mauricio Morán, formerly the interim Middle School computer science teacher, is now a Middle School and Upper School computer science teacher.
• Sam Thomas, formerly a part-time Middle School Spanish teacher, is now a full-time Middle School French and Spanish teacher.

Upper School

New Upper School Faculty and Staff

• Dr. Amy Gee joins Rowland Hall as the Upper School psychology teacher.
• Samantha Hill joins Rowland Hall as the Upper School entrepreneurship and innovation teacher.
• Colleen James joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School librarian and coordinator of educational technology.
• Dr. Becky Kim joins Rowland Hall as an Upper School science teacher.
• Danny Schmidt joins Rowland Hall as the Middle School and Upper School media arts teacher.

Upper School Role Changes

• Jeremy Innis, formerly part-time interfaith chaplain for the Lincoln Street Campus and choir, music, and ethics teacher, is now choir director and music theory teacher.
• Mauricio Morán, formerly the interim Middle School computer science teacher, is now a Middle School and Upper School computer science teacher.

Rowmark Ski Academy

New Rowmark Staff

• Joey Berg joins the Rowmark Junior Program as U10 assistant coach.
• Alexis Hollister joins Rowmark Ski Academy as FIS boys assistant coach. 
• Sean Sullivan joins the Rowmark Junior Program as U12 head coach.

People

Rowland Hall is thrilled to introduce the incoming Home & School Association presidents for the 2024–2025 school year.

Sarah Campsen will lead the Lincoln Street Campus Home & School Association, while Alexis Swaringer, Jamie Waters, and Nan Marquardt will lead the McCarthey Campus Home & School Association.

We recently asked the volunteers to share what they’re looking forward to in the coming school year. Responses have been lightly edited.

As an incoming Home & School president, what are your goals for 2024–2025?

Alexis: My goal is to continue to support and advocate for our children by partnering with the faculty to create a safe and inclusive Rowland Hall community where children have a positive learning environment.

Jamie: I would like to build on our family and community engagement as well as strengthen our partnership with our teachers to support our children’s educational success.

Nan: My primary goals are to increase parent involvement as well as to continue to support our wonderful teachers and staff throughout the year. I want every family to have a strong sense of community within our school, and I hope to promote this by helping to organize events and activities that advocate inclusivity and diversity. One of my favorite aspects of Home & School is the emphasis it places on teacher appreciation. I love how the parents show how much they value the hard work and dedication of our teachers and staff throughout the year. I want to continue assisting our teachers in a way that demonstrates to them that they are both appreciated and supported.

What is special about Home & School and why do you choose to volunteer for our parent-school organization?

Alexis: I thoroughly enjoy volunteering my time interacting with the children, teachers, staff, and parents, while doing my part to enhance the Rowland Hall community.

Jamie: I am amazed by the number of engaged parents at Rowland Hall, and it’s such a joy to work with parents from different grades I might not otherwise meet. I also enjoy volunteering at school, where I have gotten to know our extraordinary teachers and staff.

Nan: Home & School is special because it serves as a vital bridge between families and the school, fostering collaboration, communication, and community spirit. When my kids started at Rowland Hall a few years ago, I immediately felt included in the school community through the outreach programs and events that Home & School organizes throughout the year. It has been amazing to see how many parents are involved with Home & School. It makes it easy to get to know other families and to build a community.

Participating in Home & School activities allows families to connect with other parents, share experiences and ideas, and build supportive relationships within the school community.—Nan Marquardt

What do you want families to know about getting involved with Home & School and why do you encourage them to do so?

Alexis: The Rowland Hall community is inclusive to all families and we welcome participation and ideas by all. We have numerous volunteer opportunities throughout the year that are conducive to all levels of time commitments. By getting involved it helps foster a healthy atmosphere on campus.

Jamie: Families can get involved in Home & School in a way that best fits their lives, whether that be for an hour or year-long position. Everyone is welcome! It is informative and rewarding to be involved, but my favorite is seeing a huge smile on my daughter’s face when she sees me on campus.

Nan: Getting involved with Home & School is a wonderful way to get to know other parents. There are a variety of volunteer opportunities that accommodate different schedules and interests. Participating in Home & School activities allows families to connect with other parents, share experiences and ideas, and build supportive relationships within the school community. You can put in as much or as little time as fits your schedule and it is all appreciated!

Learn more about Home & School and ways you can get involved or connect with other families.

Home & School

Every year, the Board of Trustees and school community thank and bid farewell to the dedicated board volunteers who have worked hard for many years on behalf of the school. This year, we say goodbye to three trustees who provided exemplary service to Rowland Hall. Our sincerest thanks to them for their contributions.

Sarah Campsen served on the Board of Trustees for one term (2021–2024) as the Home & School representative for the Lincoln Street Campus. Representing parent and caregiver perspectives, Sarah advocated for parental concerns in board meetings, ensuring they were heard and addressed, and represented the board to the parent community, fostering transparency and understanding. She also chaired the Annual Fund for the last two years and has been a dedicated leader in bolstering the school’s fundraising efforts. We wish Sarah well and thank her for her dedication to the board and school.

Bing Fang served two terms on the Board of Trustees (2018–2024). Bing was the inaugural chair of the board’s Inclusion, Equity, and Outreach Committee from 2019 to 2023, and his leadership was instrumental in integrating diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts into the fabric of our school community. Bing also served on the Finance Committee during his tenure. We thank Bing for his dedication and many contributions to the board and for his support of the school over several years.

Sarah Lehman served on the Board of Trustees for three terms (2015–2024). She was chair of the board from July 2023 to August 2024, when she resigned to move to California, where her youngest son is attending school. During her tenure on the board, Sarah also served as Finance Committee chair, Strategic Planning Task Force chair, and as a member of the ad hoc Capital Campaign Committee. We are grateful to Sarah for her years of service and continued advocacy for the school.

Akemi Louchheim returned to the Board of Trustees in 2015 and brought a wealth of experience, having previously chaired the Strategic Planning Committee. Akemi provided valuable insights and strategic direction to the board. During her tenure, she was chair of the Nominating Committee from 2018 to 2021. She was also a member of the first Rowmark Advisory Committee and always advocated on behalf of Rowland Hall student-athletes. We wish Akemi well and thank her for her dedication to the board and school.

Board of Trustees

Our condolences to the loved ones of the following alumni and friends of Rowland Hall who passed away during the 2023–2024 school year.

Peter Billings ’63, alumnus, parent, grandparent, and former board member and board chair, passed away on June 29, 2024.

Susan Tanner Wood Chapman ’62 passed away on June 5, 2024.

Mary Anne Chesarek ’62 passed away on March 25, 2024.

Carol Dumke ’45 passed away on December 10, 2023.

Joyce Orlob Evans, former student, passed away on January 27, 2024.

Marvin Jones ’66 passed away on May 31, 2024.

Oscar Wood Moyle IV ’90, alumnus, parent, and board member, passed away on May 19, 2024.

Anne Hilgard Tittmann Widerstrom ’53 passed away on September 25, 2023.

Cynthia Muirhead Worthington ’51 passed away on December 26, 2023.

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If you know of a Rowland Hall community member who should be acknowledged in this way, please contact Marc DeCoste, associate director of alumni and donor engagement.

In Memoriam

By Dr. Chandani Patel, Director of Equity and Inclusion

In its third year, the Office of Equity and Inclusion continued to implement programs and initiatives towards cultivating a community where each member thrives.

Led by Dr. Chandani Patel, Rowland Hall’s director of equity and inclusion, this year the team included four divisional coordinators across the school and a part-time equity and inclusion intern. Collaborating with other key partners, the Office of Equity and Inclusion built capacity across the school so that more individuals share the responsibility for advancing an equitable and inclusive Rowland Hall community. This year in review highlights programs and initiatives we led this year, with the help of many partners, to foster a sense of belonging for all. 

We want to thank the students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and parents/caregivers who have contributed to this work this year. We look forward to working with many more of you in the years to come.

Ongoing Faculty Support for 2023–2024

During the 2023–2024 school year, divisional equity and inclusion coordinators collaborated with and provided support to faculty colleagues to advance equity and inclusion in classrooms and divisions. Coordinators worked closely with Dr. Patel and division principals to identify key needs, design resources, and facilitate learning opportunities. The coordinators were Quincy Jackson ’16 (Beginning School), Samantha Hemphill (Lower School), Susan Phillips (Middle School), and Dr. Kate Taylor (Upper School).

We again hosted a national Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity seminar, led by fifth-grade teacher Jen Bourque, where participants considered how they can use their classrooms, communities, or workplaces to create a more equitable environment for all.

2023–2024 DEI Learning Communities and Affinity Groups

• Belonging @ Rowland Hall Learning Community: This learning community convened a group of faculty and staff committed to advancing belonging for all community members at Rowland Hall. Organized around a set of topics related to equity and inclusion, the community met once a month and was open to all faculty and staff to come learn together. 
• Student JEDI leaders: This group of Upper School students facilitated learning opportunities for Middle School peers, including on topics such as recognizing and respecting differences, and organized community-building programs, such as luncheons and movie nights, to bring students together across their identities. 
• Inclusion, Outreach, and Equity (IEO) Committee: This committee of board members and administrators worked to identify and support strategic alignment centered on Rowland Hall’s priority to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across the school community. 
• Affinity groups: Twenty-one affinity groups—spaces that bring together people with common identifiers or life experiences—in the lower, middle, and upper schools built relationships and engaged members in shared learning (see list of groups below). A faculty and staff BIPOC affinity group, for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, gathered to recognize cultural heritage months and build community. The White Antiracist Educators group met to discuss key readings related to equity and inclusion and ways to activate allyship. Three parent/caregiver affinity groups (listed below) also met throughout the year to build community and provide mutual support. 

Student Affinity Groups

Twenty-one affinity groups supported lower, middle, and upper schoolers this year:

• Banana Splits, Lower School
• Kids of Color, Lower School
• Neurodivergent Club, Lower School*
• Rainbow Club, Lower School
• Arab and Muslim Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Boys Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Jewish Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Neurodivergent and Allies Affinity Group, Middle School
• Sexuality and Gender Alliance, Middle School
• Students of Color, Middle School
• Asian Affinity Group, Upper School
• Black Student Union, Upper School
• Christian Affinity Group, Upper School*
• Girls of Color, Upper School
• Infinity: Neurodivergent and Allies Affinity Group, Upper School
• Jewish Affinity Group, Upper School
• Latine Affinity Group, Upper School
• Multiracial Affinity Group, Upper School
• Muslim Affinity Group, Upper School
• Queer Straight Alliance, Upper School
• Queer/Trans People of Color, Upper School*

*New in 2023–2024

Affinity groups in the Lower School are requested by families, led by faculty mentors, and provide space to build community and support. Affinity groups in the middle and upper schools are requested by students and are student-led in terms of topics and activities. 

Parent/Caregiver Affinity Groups

• Active Allies*
• Families of Neurodivergent Students*
• Families of Students of Color

*New in 2023–2024

2023–2024 Programming

• MLK Week 2024: Weavers and Dreamers: This year’s MLK week theme, Weavers and Dreamers, invited us to consider—alongside storytellers, artists, and musicians—how our dreams of and for the future necessitate listening to each other’s stories, being in relationship with each other, and working toward a shared future. The program featured guest performers Micah Willis ’14 as well as Mama Charlotte and Ashley Finley from the Nubian Storytellers of Utah Leadership. We also celebrated long-serving board member and trailblazing community member Reverend Pastor France A. Davis as he retires from the Board of Trustees. 
• Second annual STEM Symposium: Led by the Upper School Science Department, this annual program was designed to offer our Upper School students an opportunity to learn from researchers across a variety of STEM disciplines about their work. The program provided students with a lens into a diverse array of career pathways with the hope of igniting their curiosity and showcasing role models in our community. 
• (*NEW*) All Affinity & Alliance Group Celebration: This end-of-the-year celebration was an opportunity for members of all affinity and alliance groups across the school to come together to build community and celebrate each other. Members of student, faculty and staff, and parent/caregiver affinity groups were in attendance. 
• Pride Parade 2024: More than 100 participants from the Rowland Hall community marched in the Utah Pride Parade this year. The group was led by student members of the Upper School’s Queer Straight Alliance, the Middle School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and the Lower School’s Rainbow Club. This year, we hosted a float-decorating party for students and families the evening before the event to help build community and add Rowland Hall pride to our float. 

Community Education & Impact

Educational Programs

• Deliberate Dialogue on Indigenous Perspectives (October) was an opportunity for the community to explore the grounding principles that inform indigenous ways of learning and knowing. Participants learned about indigenous knowledge systems through music and art, resources created by indigenous communities, and discussion about education and indigeneity. The event was presented by Emily Quetone Khan, director of learning services, and her father, Tucker Quetone, who are members of the Kiowa Tribe and citizens of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. 
• Author Talk and Discussion with Kimberlee Williams (April) allowed participants to explore how to racially diversify their friend groups, how to show up for and with colleagues in ways that disrupt historic patterns, and how to intentionally and thoughtfully be in community with one another across racial differences.

Community Impact

• Together with Director of Community Engagement and Impact Ryan Hoglund, Dr. Chandani Patel launched the Center for Community Impact, which the two will be co-directing. The Center is designed to educate, empower, and inspire individuals to become agents of positive change in their communities and beyond and will offer opportunities for Rowland Hall students to establish deep and reciprocal relationships with community partners.

Equity & Inclusion

Kendra Tomsic, beloved and legendary director of athletics, is retiring after 32 years at Rowland Hall. It is difficult to quantify the number of student-athletes, coaches, colleagues, and families who have been impacted by Kendra during her time at the school. She’s been a coach, supervisor, and colleague, and she was the first woman in Utah history to serve as president of the Utah Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association. She’s also been honored in myriad ways at regional, state, and national levels. After more than three decades at Rowland Hall, Kendra is most proud that she had the opportunity to impact young athletes. She made all who worked with her feel supported, heard, encouraged, and empowered, and we wish her all the best in her new chapter. Read Kendra’s retirement tribute.

Diane Guido, Upper School psychology teacher, is retiring after 31 years at Rowland Hall. An institution unto herself, Diane’s three sections of AP Psychology were perennially overflowing. Diane is funny, humble, demanding, a puzzle master, stylish, supportive, and truly dedicated to her students, who do exceedingly well on that AP test. To quote the College Board in 2005, “Your school has been identified as having the strongest AP Psychology course in the world among schools in your size range. No other school had a greater proportion of its student body succeed in AP Psychology.” Diane also worked with many students over the years as our school counselor before going part time a few years ago. We are grateful to have had her all these years. Read Diane’s retirement tribute.

Katie Schwab, third-grade teacher (pictured in banner), is stepping away from teaching after 23 years at Rowland Hall. Katie first taught in the Beginning School for nine years, then moved to the Lower School, where she taught second and third grade. Katie is highly respected, beloved, and admired for her commitment to and skill in supporting children in the fullness of their school experiences. She helps students grow and stretch academically, and masterfully fosters their development of social-emotional and self-regulation skills. She is a trusted guide for families, often for years after their child has been in her class, and a source of counsel and support for colleagues. The parent of two alumni (Alexa ’19 and Zach ’22) and the daughter of Susan Freed ’60, Katie’s connections to our community run deep. She will be sorely missed, and we wish her the best.

Lynelle Stoddard, 3PreK lead teacher, is retiring to care for a grandchild. For 15 years, Lynelle has been a steadfast advocate for our youngest students and their families. She’s provided a calm, caring, and developmentally appropriate curriculum and classroom environment for hundreds of littles, and walked alongside families with compassion and sage advice. Lynelle is an organized, thoughtful, and kind colleague whose conscientiousness and professionalism are admired by everyone. We are sad to see her go, but delighted for her to take on her next adventure.

Christian Waters, director of technology integration, left Rowland Hall in August to pursue a new opportunity in the Park City School District. During his 15 years of distinguished service, Christian taught students across all divisions and acted as an invaluable resource for teachers, administrators, and the Technology Department. Christian was also instrumental in helping us begin to fulfill the promise of our strategic priorities through the expansion of our programs in computer science, coding, and robotics. Thank you, Christian.

Josh Leger, technology systems administrator, left Rowland Hall in January to join Bunnell, where he’s putting his amazing technology and interpersonal skills to work. Josh joined the Technology Department two and half years ago after working for the Operations Department for 12 years in various positions, including director of transportation. Josh was a wonderful asset to the school for years and we wish him well.

Wendell Thomas, director of teaching and learning, is leaving the school to take on new challenges at Colegio Internacional Puerto la Cruz in Venezuela. Wendell and his family have been integral to the Rowland Hall community for the past 10 years. Under Wendell’s leadership, we’ve increased professional development opportunities; created more cross-divisional moments of learning; standardized ways of gathering and reflecting upon student data and feedback; grown teacher leadership through our accreditation process, professional development, instructional coaching, and professional learning communities; and brought in nationally known experts to speak about subjects including feedback, project-based learning, and mathematics. In addition, Wendell has helped us think about cycles of continual improvement, document curriculum, and navigate conversations with grace and positivity. Wendell has also worked with division leadership to support teachers in professional growth cycles and classroom observations, as well as improve upon our hiring practices by being more reflective. Finally, Wendell has stepped in at various times to teach science in the Upper School and TREC in the Lower School, and served as an interim department chair. We will truly miss his research-based approach to best practices and wealth of knowledge.

Mary Swaminathan, 4PreK assistant teacher, is re-retiring after nearly 10 years of service to the Beginning School. After stepping away from teaching during COVID-19, we were delighted to welcome Mary back for an encore performance alongside Isabelle Buhler. During her time at Rowland Hall, Mary has touched the lives of countless kids and families. We’ll miss her deep care, unwavering team spirit, and ever-present good humor for years to come.

Jennifer Nelson, Beginning Band teacher, is leaving Rowland Hall after nine years to spend more time with her family. Jennifer has been teaching the Middle School Beginning Band class since 2015, and in that time has introduced countless students to musical instruments, feeding their love of music and helping to build our successful middle and upper school jazz band programs.

Dani Howe, controller, left the school in December for a new opportunity after eight years of dedicated service. During her time at Rowland Hall, Dani transformed the accounting and control processes of Rowland Hall, improving our finances while working closely with faculty, staff, and students. She gave her time and expertise freely to many projects over the years, and while she is sorely missed we are very happy for the exciting opportunity she has to grow her career.

Gita Varner ’05, project coordinator for athletics, left the school in August after eight years. Gita left an incredible mark at Rowland Hall, thanks to her dedication and unwavering commitment to improving processes. Gita’s contributions enhanced the school in numerous ways, from her time in the Advancement Office to her efforts against COVID-19 to her work to improve the school’s safety protocols. While we were sad to bid her farewell, we’re excited to see Gita embark on a new chapter and comforted by the fact that she continues to help with athletic scorekeeping and stays involved in the school’s alumni events.

Wendy Butler, Lincoln Street Campus librarian, is leaving Rowland Hall after nearly six years. Wendy joined the school in fall 2018 when we lost our librarian after the year had already started. We were fortunate to find Wendy and her wealth of experience as a longtime independent school educator, department chair, and director of global programs. Wendy jumped in with both feet, immediately reorganizing, auditing, streamlining, and generally improving library collections and systems, as well as book displays, make-up testing, and shared-space systems. Wendy was eager to make the library more user-friendly, too, and integral to the redesign process that made it the most popular study and hangout space in the Upper School. Additionally, Wendy taught a variety of offerings in the History Department, most recently adding a new course, AP World History: Modern. We will miss her initiative, collaboration, strategic thinking, and care for all students.

Leslie Czerwinski, Middle School social-emotional support counselor, is leaving Rowland Hall after six years to return to private practice and focus on her family and bike team. Leslie is hardworking, even-keeled, supportive, caring, and fun, and she leads with her heart. She is a strong advocate for all students, supporting them and their families without hesitation. A motto Leslie has spread across the Middle School is: What you feed will grow. Leslie has nurtured and strengthened our community and culture and is leaving us a stronger and more inclusive space.

Kerrie Smith, associate director of admission, is leaving Rowland Hall after six years to pursue other opportunities. During her time at the school, Kerrie worked across all divisions. She contributed to college counseling at the Upper School and was part of the Admission Team for the Beginning School and Lower School communities. She assisted many families with the admission process. We appreciate Kerrie's work with students, families, and colleagues over the past few years and wish her success in her future endeavors.

Collin Wolfe, McCarthey Campus PE teacher, will be relocating closer to family after six action-packed years on the beginning and lower schools’ PE faculty. Collin has made a meaningful mark on the lives of countless kids and families with his fun-loving approach and dedication to this community. In addition to his truly excellent teaching, we’ll miss his cheerful greeting at the Lower School doors each morning, colorful Color Day rotation reminders, and wicked dance moves (as seen in countless COVID-era PE videos).

Jen Bourque, fifth-grade teacher, is stepping away from Rowland Hall to focus on her growing family. Jen taught fifth grade for five years and has had an enormous impact on the curriculum and team. Apart from being an excellent teacher and colleague, Jen has led lots of important work in DEI as a consistent and committed member of the Belonging@RH group, and she launched and led SEED Seminars over the last two years for faculty at Rowland Hall, The McGillis School, and Park City Day School. We will miss Jen’s sense of humor, quick wit and insight, and extraordinary work ethic, and wish her all the best in this new chapter of her life.

Jill Gerber, seventh-grade English teacher, is leaving Rowland Hall after four years. Jill brought to the Middle School a wealth of experience, a love of learning, and a strong, student-centered vision. She is hardworking and self-motivated, especially when it comes to supporting our diverse student body and collaborating with colleagues on interdisciplinary and problem-based curricula. Jill has been on numerous faculty committees and led a variety of professional development sessions. Although her colleagues will miss her, her students are most saddened to see her leave as she is a fearless advocate for them and supports all of their endeavors in the classroom, on the volleyball court, or while playing Dungeons & Dragons.

Cheryl Chen, fourth-grade teacher, is moving on to a new professional adventure after three years at Rowland Hall. Cheryl moved to Salt Lake City a few years ago after teaching in the Compton Unified School District in California for several years across a number of grade levels. We are grateful to Cheryl for her work with students, families, and colleagues these last few years and wish her all the best in the future.

Quincy Jackson ’16, 4PreK assistant teacher, is stepping away from teaching after this year. Quincy spent three years serving in our kindergarten and PreK programs, and also spent several years supporting Extended Day. In addition to Quincy’s many contributions in the classroom, she served for two years as the Beginning School’s divisional equity coordinator. We are grateful for her work in each of these roles and wish her the best.

Jane Singleton, Middle School academic support coordinator, is leaving Rowland Hall to embrace new adventures. Jane joined the Middle School community three years ago, transforming our learning support program and proving to be an invaluable resource to students, families, and faculty. The Middle School has benefited greatly from Jane’s organizational systems, attention to detail, and data-driven approach to supporting students. Our academic support program has not only grown in the number of students supported, but has also become more equitable, supporting all students with executive functioning and metacognition as well as teachers with differentiation. Jane will be missed.

Lexi Kemp, third-grade teacher, is leaving Rowland Hall after two years to teach middle and upper school history at Waterford. Lexi has been a warm and engaged colleague, developing strong relationships with his third graders. We wish him all the best as he shifts to teaching older students.

Nicholas Renzo, director of people operations, left the school in November to pursue new adventures. We’re thankful to Nicholas for his hard work leading our Human Resources Department and for the HR expertise he provided during his year and a half at the school. Many improvements were achieved under his leadership, including the announcement of enhanced benefits for 2024. We wish Nicholas all the best.

Beth Singleton, director of auxiliary programs, resigned in August after a year and a half at the school to relocate to the Southeast. Beth did a terrific job in her short time at Rowland Hall, inspiring and cheering on her team and working to create a vibrant and growing summer program after COVID-19. We appreciate all that she brought to the school.

Carlos Eyzaguirre, entrepreneurship teacher, is leaving Rowland Hall after a year. Carlos played a critical role in the Upper School this year, where he helped launch two new business and entrepreneurship courses. Carlos’s own experience founding start-ups and working in investment management provided invaluable experience for his students, whether they were developing their own projects or learning the basics of the business world. Carlos models intellectual curiosity, a passion for seeking out new learning opportunities, and a commitment to elevating students’ own initiatives and interests. Carlos leaves a strong foundation on which to grow the program.

Aliette Frank, assistant to the athletic director (project coordinator), left Rowland Hall after one year of service. We appreciate the work that Aliette put in this past school year and wish her well in her future endeavors as she pursues other opportunities.

Paul Hochman, media arts teacher, is leaving the school after a year. Paul had a big impact on the middle and upper schools by helping us launch a new media arts program. Paul’s experience as an educator and in journalism, as well as in his current role as president of Humongous Media, helped to shape and inspire students. Thanks to Paul, they learned the importance of storytelling through short films and their work was showcased at assemblies, the dance performance, and the band concert. We will miss Paul’s infectious enthusiasm and energy.

Sam Johnson, fifth-grade teacher, made the difficult decision to not return for the 2023–2024 school year. During her year at Rowland Hall, Sam thoughtfully contributed to the Lower School community, building strong relationships with children, families, and colleagues. We wish her the best.

Braden Morrill, director of annual giving, left Rowland Hall in July to start a new position at the Humane Society of Utah. During Braden’s year at Rowland Hall, he made great relationships with donors and volunteers and raised just over $1 million for the Annual Fund. His easygoing attitude and strong work ethic will be missed, and we wish him the best of luck on his next endeavor.

Kodie Osterberg, human resources specialist, left the school in April to pursue a new opportunity. Kodie was a valued member of the Business Office for a year, supporting our human resource functions. She was instrumental in delivering recent benefits improvements implemented for 2024 and helped us improve numerous HR processes. We wish her well in her next role.

Kristi Torsak, Middle School computer science teacher, left Rowland Hall in October after six months at the school. During her short time at Rowland Hall, Kristi positively influenced the computer science program, especially in the areas of robotics and web design, now two of our more popular elective classes. We wish her the best.

​​Cassia Peeler, Middle School French and Spanish teacher and advisor, decided to step away from teaching in December to focus on her family. We wish them all well.

Rachel Slivnick, fifth-grade teacher, stepped away from teaching in November to focus on caring for her young family at home. We wish them well.

People

Rowland Hall Director of Athletics Kendra Tomsic loves sports and wants other people to love them too. 

“I’ve always loved sports. I knew from a very young age that this was what I wanted to do. Not be an athletic director—I didn’t know what that was—but I knew I wanted to be involved in sports in some way,” Kendra said. “I’m a pre-Title IX woman so at that time to even want to go into a profession that was related to sports was a pretty big deal.”

Kendra made it her mission to get as many people involved in sports as possible. She expanded the Athletics Department to include more sports and recruit more kids to play them. She pushed for more inclusion in athletics at the state level. She also worked to make it clear that sports aren’t just about winning and losing, but how they shape you as a person.

In the course of her career, Kendra has made it her mission to get as many people involved in sports as possible, and for them to reap the benefits that come from being an athlete. Over her more than three decades at Rowland Hall, she has expanded the Athletics Department to include more sports and recruit more kids to play them. She pushed for more inclusion in athletics at the state level, working tirelessly to expand options for those who want to play. Kendra has also worked to make it clear that sports aren’t just about winning and losing, but how they shape you as a person. 

“The focus wasn’t on banners and trophies,” she said. “They’re nice and we loved getting them, but the focus was on developing kids that could go out into the world and be contributing adults.”

Unsurprisingly, banners and trophies are not the first thing Kendra’s former players bring up when asked about her either. In fact, they are hardly mentioned at all, though there are plenty of them hanging on the walls of the gym and stacked in cases around the school. Kendra’s former volleyball and softball athletes would rather discuss the life lessons Kendra taught them than the games she helped them win. 

“She cared about you not only as an athlete but also as a person,” said former volleyball player Robyn Jensen ’02.  “She was invested in developing my skills both on and off the court. Above all she wanted me to be a good person.”

Kendra not only built strong players, but strong people as well. “​​She taught me the value of putting in the hard work and celebrating regardless of whether you win, and learning from the times that you don’t,” said volleyball player Becky Webster ’03.

The athletes Kendra coached were better able to overcome limitations and were pushed to levels they didn’t think possible, but always in a way that was never uncomfortable or trying.

“There was something about the way she coached that made me think I could do it even if I knew I couldn’t,” said Chloe Coleman-Houghton ’20, who played both softball and volleyball. “She had a passion behind the way that she coached. It fed the students and made them more passionate about what they were doing.”

She always said when you put on your uniform, when you put on your shoes to come out here, start fresh, wipe your attitude clean, and focus on being present.—Megan Andrews ’03

Chloe’s sister, softball and volleyball player Harper Lundquist ’16, also benefited from Kendra’s encouragement. “She told me I was limiting myself. When she said that, I realized what I was doing,” she said. “That was powerful.”

Developing individual athletes was important to Kendra, but she also worked hard at turning them into teams. It wasn’t just about spending time at practices and games; she encouraged students to spend time at team dinners, outings, and breakfasts at Village Inn. Many of her players said this not only made them teams but also family. 

“She put the responsibility of team building in our hands. We weren’t just players playing for her—we were playing for each other,” said volleyball player Sara Matsumura ’16. “She was there to help us get through the game but allowed us the space to make our own friendships and bond.”

The lessons learned from Kendra made these students better athletes and better teammates, as well as gave them life skills they carry with them today. Volleyball player Megan Andrews ’03 said she learned to be more resilient and not let a single aspect of her life get in the way of other tasks and priorities. 

“She always said when you put on your uniform, when you put on your shoes to come out here, start fresh, wipe your attitude clean, and focus on being present,” Megan said. “I’ve revisited that as an adult. Whatever just happened I can take it, set it aside, and be ready for what’s next.”

Former volleyball team manager Gita Varner ’05 learned about self-acceptance from Kendra. “She wanted us to not only be nice, welcoming people to others, but also to ourselves,” she said. “I think having a role model that was comfortable with who she is was super inspirational.”

Inspirational is a word heard a lot when talking about Kendra, and it comes not only from her players but also from the coaches who have worked alongside her. Zack Alvidrez will take over as director of athletics when Kendra retires and said he plans to build on her legacy of being both a competitive coach and a compassionate one. And he is glad that she will continue to coach volleyball so he can continue to watch and learn. 

“I love watching her on the sidelines when she’s locked in and chomping on her gum,” he said. “But you know that while she’s pushing her team to be competitive they all know they have an ally in her and that she will always be there for them.”

Assistant volleyball coach and health and wellness teacher Lauren Carpenter also enjoys watching Kendra on the sidelines as she balances her competitive drive with her desire to foster skills and build confidence. “Kendra, almost to a fault, will leave kids in because she’s so optimistic they are going to get it right,” she said. “I think the thing that sets her apart from a lot of coaches is that she sets her ego aside. She wants to win; she’s a competitor. But she would never put a win over the kids loving and enjoying the game.“

The love of the game was and is the most important thing for Kendra. If she saw an athlete who wanted to play, she worked to make sure they could. It wasn’t always an easy task, but it was one she was willing to take on. 

Rowland Hall owes a huge debt of gratitude to Kendra. We are lucky to have had her here for 32 years, and we are even luckier to see the impacts of her work for decades to come.—Mick Gee, head of school

“There is no question that female athletes are now treated more equally in the state of Utah because of Kendra,” said former Head of School Alan Sparrow. “She was a real force inside the Utah High School Activities Association, where she was incredibly diplomatic with people who weren’t always open to hearing the need for promoting women’s sports.” 

Now that Kendra is retiring from her role as director of athletics, she plans to spend more time enjoying athletic pursuits instead of organizing and overseeing them. She said she’s looking forward to long hikes, playing golf, going for bike rides, and reading books that have nothing to do with sports or sports psychology. She also will still be on the sidelines coaching volleyball and softball, creating the next generation of not just great athletes, but people the world needs. 

“Rowland Hall owes a huge debt of gratitude to Kendra,” said Head of School Mick Gee. “We are lucky to have had her here for 32 years, and we are even luckier to see the impacts of her work for decades to come.”

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Editor's note: Please review this year's Fond Farewells for a full list of departing faculty and staff.

People

We are pleased to announce that Zack Alvidrez, a leader in high school athletics and former professional athlete, has been named Rowland Hall’s next director of athletics.

Zack is currently the school’s assistant athletic director and varsity boys basketball head coach. He will begin his new role on July 1 and has been tasked with leading an already strong Rowland Hall Athletics program into a new era.

“Our foundation has been established and defined,” said Zack. Indeed, Rowland Hall prides itself on being a leader in 2A and 3A athletics in the state—as of late April 2024, the school holds 71 state and 142 region titles, six of which were added in this school year alone. Rowland Hall also provides a unique experience for student-athletes. Thanks to our size, athletes get far more play time than they might at larger local schools. Rowland Hall students are also more likely to participate in school sports: this year, 79% of middle and upper school students were on school sports teams. Beyond building skills, these athletic opportunities provide social-emotional support for students, further connecting them to their peers and school community. Zack knows it’s important to continue to provide this experience.

“I’ve had a boots-on-the-ground perspective, seen through the lens of student-athletes,” he said, which has helped him understand what students need and how to best support them. “My philosophy is to continue the tradition of athletics that’s been established at Rowland Hall. I’m going to do that by mixing together healthy competition with the skill of problem solving through education-based learning.”

But for Zack, a solid program foundation is just the start. He’s also excited about growth.

“I want to bring athletics to the forefront by showcasing student-athletes, coaches, and our facilities through social media and outreach opportunities,” he said. Additionally, the school’s upcoming move to a larger campus and new athletic facilities will allow for more Upper School students—and as a result, more athletes.

We have exciting teams and programs, phenomenal athletes and coaches. Come out and support them, and meet me if you don’t already know me. Come say hello, let's have a conversation and build relationships.—Zack Alvidrez

Importantly, Zack is the best person to lead this charge. Out of a pool of more than 80 national candidates and four finalists, the longtime Rowland Hall coach was the most prepared for the director of athletics role.

“Zack stood out from a large, deep pool of candidates from across the country,” said Upper School Principal Ingrid Gustavson. “His approach is all in and kid-first. He shows up to support students and peer coaches, and encourages school spirit in the student body. He has already developed relationships with coaches and admin at member schools and in the greater Utah athletics community. We are confident in his ability to continue Kendra Tomsic's legacy of a competitive and inclusive athletics program, while also finding opportunities to grow our offerings and exposure.”

A former high school varsity athlete himself, Zack joined Rowland Hall as the Middle School girls and boys basketball coach in fall 2016 after playing basketball professionally for seven years in Mexico and then working as a coach. Over the years, he’s taken on additional roles across the Lincoln Street Campus: Upper School boys varsity basketball coach, advisor, health teacher, and assistant director of athletics. He is honored to have been selected for this new opportunity to impact students and the school community he calls home.

“It means everything to me,” said Zack. “The pride I have in this community and this school means so much.” And he hopes he can encourage even more people to catch Winged Lion fever.

“We have exciting teams and programs, phenomenal athletes and coaches,” said Zack. “Come out and support them, and meet me if you don’t already know me. Come say hello, let's have a conversation and build relationships.”

Athletics

Rowland Hall is proud to congratulate four student-athletes from the class of 2023 who will be going on to compete at the college level.

Rowland Hall Athletics recently recognized these students at our first Senior Signing Celebration, held on May 30.

• Jada Crockett will run track at California State University, Fresno
• Maile Fukushima will play soccer at Occidental College
• Arden Louchheim will golf for the University of Nebraska–Lincoln
• Ezra Shilling Rabin will run cross country and track at Emory University

“We are so proud of these talented athletes and wish them all the best as they go on to compete for their colleges,” said Kendra Tomsic, director of athletics. “We will be cheering them on.”

Watch the Senior Signing Celebration.

Athletics

Since childhood, Jada Crockett has played a lot of sports.

“I've been involved with sports from a very, very young age,” she said. “My parents put me in gymnastics, tennis, swimming, basketball—almost every sport. And that gave me the opportunity to continue the sports that I enjoyed the most.”

For much of her life, Jada found herself most drawn to two sports: soccer, which she started playing as a preschooler, and track, which she first tried in fifth grade. And while over the years she often took long breaks from track to concentrate on soccer, by her sophomore year, Jada decided to fully devote herself to running.

“I wanted to do track at the highest level that I could,” she said.

I wanted to do track at the highest level that I could.—Jada Crockett, class of 2023

And as a member of Rowland Hall’s track and field team, Jada certainly pushed herself to new heights. Some of her top accomplishments as a Winged Lion include taking first place in the 100 meter and second place in the 200 meter at state (as well as setting school records in these events) as a sophomore, completing the 200-meter dash in 25.46 seconds as a junior, and taking first, and setting a new 2A record of 56.74 seconds, in the 400 meter as a senior.

During her time on Rowland Hall’s team, Jada also worked toward a goal to run track at the NCAA Division I level, a hope that recently became a reality when she committed to join the track and field team at California State University, Fresno. Not only will she get to run at Fresno State, she shared, she’ll also enjoy a big school with good academics, diversity, and year-round warm weather. Jada said she knew Fresno State would be a good fit as soon as she set foot on campus, where she was able to get a feel for the team, coaches, and academics.

“I went on an official visit a few months ago and as soon as I got there, I just knew it was the right spot,” she said. “ It was just a great environment. I was very confident in my decision. I'm super excited to go out there and continue to run.”

To celebrate Jada’s decision to run for Fresno State, we asked her to share a bit more about her athletic journey and what she’s looking forward to in college. The following interview has been lightly edited.

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Congratulations on committing to Fresno State! What do you love about running that made you want to continue the sport at the college level?

I enjoy the individual and team aspect of everything, just being able to run for yourself as well as get points for your team. And it's just a time where I can really free my mind of everything, clear my head. It's a good getaway from all the stressors in my life.

What are you looking forward to as a college athlete?

I want to continue to improve my times and get close to all my new teammates. And I'm really excited to figure out what my major will be and to use all the tools that I've been given from all the teachers at Rowland Hall.

Looking back on your time as a Rowland Hall athlete, both in track and field and in soccer, what moment as a Winged Lion are you most proud of?

It's very hard to narrow it down just to one, but I'd say my top two would definitely be winning state soccer my freshman year with my sister, because that was the first time we ever played together, and the last time, so that was an amazing moment. And I'd also say probably last year, my junior year, winning state in the 100 and 200 and breaking some of the school records was exciting.

Rowland Hall has definitely prepared me for this next chapter in my life, and I want to thank the faculty and staff, my peers, and my family for all their support because I wouldn't be where I am today without all the support of my amazing village.—Jada Crockett

Tell us about the skills, both academic and athletic, you built at Rowland Hall that you'll be taking with you to Fresno State.

I'd say the biggest thing is definitely time management because being a student-athlete at Rowland Hall, with the heavy workload and everything, made me manage my time and be very productive whenever I got the chance. I'll definitely bring that to college. 

Is there anything else you want our community to know about your athletic and/or academic journey?

I want to say that Rowland Hall has definitely prepared me for this next chapter in my life, and I want to thank the faculty and staff, my peers, and my family for all their support because I wouldn't be where I am today without all the support of my amazing village.

Congratulations, Jada, and best of luck at Fresno State!

Athletics

For most of her life, Arden Louchheim was a dual-sport athlete in golf and ski racing.

Arden first discovered an interest in golf at just three years old after her family moved to Park City and rented a house on a golf course, which gave the preschooler plenty of chances to hit golf balls, a skill she quickly discovered she was not only good at, but enjoyed. “When you’re a little kid you don’t get to hit stuff very often, so I thought that was fun,” she said.

Ski racing came just a couple years later, in kindergarten, and by the time Arden was in elementary school, she was succeeding in both sports. Thanks to the support of club pros and coaches on the golf course, Rowmark Ski Academy coaches on the mountain, and her parents—whom she credits with a no-pressure approach that drove her interest in both sports—Arden excelled. By the time she was an upper schooler, she was regularly playing in tournaments against the nation’s top young golfers, had joined the Rowland Hall’s girls golf team, and was competing for Rowmark. And though Arden was successfully juggling both sports, alongside her academic responsibilities, over time it started becoming clear that her long-term interest lay in golf. “I knew golf was what I should be doing and what I love the most,” she said. And because Arden wanted to play golf at the college level, she didn’t want to risk a racing injury derailing that goal. “I didn’t want to do anything that could mess up the rest of my golf career,” she said. 

 

Arden has been the player every coach dreams to have on their team. She is dedicated to the game, dedicated to the sport, and inspires everyone else around her.—Brianna Coopman, coach

So Arden made the difficult decision to quit Rowmark after her sophomore year to focus on her golf game, using the time previously spent on the slopes for golf-specific workouts, which target different muscles than ski conditioning does, and golf practices. As she worked, Arden dropped her score significantly—a welcome result as she began contacting schools of interest. With her parents’ help, said Arden, she made a list of schools she’d like to attend, narrowing them down not only based on their women’s golf programs, but also on their size and school pride. Though her family helped her make sure her choices were achievable, said Arden, some of them still felt like a reach, including the NCAA Division I University of Nebraska–Lincoln, which remained in the golfer’s top-three schools during nearly the entire recruiting process. “It felt for a long time that Nebraska was a dream,” she said.

But over time, by highlighting her achievements, determination, and team-positive attitude, Arden built a relationship with Jeanne Sutherland, head coach of Nebraska’s women’s golf team. They first emailed and talked on the phone, then Coach Sutherland came to watch Arden compete in a tournament and ended up offering her a spot on the team. In July, Arden headed to Lincoln for her first visit and immediately felt a connection to the golf team and coaches, and—necessary for the aspiring journalist—Nebraska’s College of Journalism and Mass Communications. At the conclusion of their trip, her parents asked her an important question: Would you want to be here with a broken leg?—meaning, if you couldn’t golf, would you still want to attend the school? For Arden, the answer was an enthusiastic yes. Later that month, she verbally committed to Nebraska, and this week she signed her National Letter of Intent, making her an official Husker.

“Arden has been the player every coach dreams to have on their team,” said Brianna Coopman, head coach of Rowland Hall’s girls golf team. “She is dedicated to the game, dedicated to the sport, and inspires everyone else around her. When I heard the news she was signing with Nebraska and the Big Ten Conference, I could not have been a prouder coach. Nebraska will be lucky to have her, and I have full confidence she will excel at both golf and academics during her time there. Congrats! Go, Cornhuskers!”

To celebrate Arden’s decision to golf for Nebraska, we asked her a few questions about her athletic journey. The following interview has been lightly edited.

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Congratulations on signing with Nebraska! You’ve long wanted to play golf for a large university; in 2020, you even told HER Fairways, “I would love to play for a D1 women’s golf team at a school with a lot of school spirit and a football team.” How does it feel to know you’ll be attending and competing for a Big Ten school next fall?

It still doesn’t totally feel real. If you compare Nebraska to what I said in the HER Fairways article, it literally checks every box that I had for a college and more. Not only does it have a strong golf program, a football team, and school spirit (for all sports, not just football), it also has one of the best journalism schools in the country, which is what I want to major in. I feel so incredibly lucky that I get to go to Nebraska next year because it truly feels like it is the perfect place for me.

There have been so many people who have put in time and effort to help me achieve this goal.—Arden Louchheim

The recruitment process is a long journey. How did you feel when you received the offer from Nebraska?

Overall, I felt so extremely grateful. Grateful to the Nebraska coaches, Coach Sutherland and Coach Zedrick, for their belief in me; grateful to my parents for their undying love and support; grateful to my coach for all of his guidance with my swing; and grateful to everyone else who supported me on this journey. There have been so many people who have put in time and effort to help me achieve this goal, so it was really amazing to see not only my hard work, but also everyone else’s effort, come to fruition. I also definitely felt some relief. I learned and grew so much from the recruiting process, but it was long and stressful, so it was nice knowing that I had finally reached the end of it.

You've had a successful golf career at Rowland Hall, including helping to lead your team to back-to-back 2A state championships, earning top 2A medalist honors for three consecutive seasons, and being named team MVP twice. What moment as a Winged Lion are you most proud of so far?

I am most proud of the team’s back-to-back state wins. It is really fun to win individually, but it is even more rewarding to come together as a team and achieve our goals as a unit. In the 2021 season I believe we only won state by three strokes, so we knew going into the 2022 season that we needed to practice hard to make sure we defended our state title. Watching all of my teammates come to practice motivated me every day, and seeing all of our hard work pay off with a large margin of victory at state in 2022 is a moment I am very proud of.

As previously mentioned, you’ve achieved so much already as a Rowland Hall golfer, but because girls golf is a spring sport for the UHSAA, you still have one more season to play before graduating. What are your hopes and/or goals for your final season as a Winged Lion?

My two main goals for the season are for the team to defend our back-to-back team state titles and for me individually to gain my fourth state title. My goal going into high school was to be a four-time state champion, so it would be really cool to achieve that goal with a win this year. Other goals I have include setting a new personal best for 18 holes, and maybe even trying to set a 2A record. My 67 in state last year was my personal best and set a Rowland Hall record, and I would love to try to lower that even further.

Tell us about the skills—both academic and athletic—you built at Rowland Hall that you'll be taking with you to Nebraska.

Rowland Hall played a massive part in achieving my goal of playing D1 college golf. Academically, Rowland Hall is a very challenging school, and while balancing golf and school was difficult, it taught me to be disciplined and to manage my time well. I learned to budget the time I had each day for practice, homework, workouts, and social events so that I could excel in academics and athletics while still enjoying time with friends and family. Additionally, the discussions that we have in classes like history and English helped me gain comfort expressing myself clearly and concisely. A lot of the recruiting process is emails and phone calls with coaches, and the speaking skills that Rowland Hall taught me benefited me greatly in these conversations with coaches.

Rowland Hall provided me with a place to grow as an athlete.—Arden Louchheim

Athletically, Rowland Hall provided me with a place to grow as an athlete and to experience team golf for one of the first times. Golf is largely an individual sport, and there are only a couple of team tournaments per year, so getting the chance to play with my classmates representing my school every year has been an incredible experience for me. Additionally, our school’s ski academy, Rowmark, is a very competitive program and the athletes are expected to hold themselves to the team’s high standards. These expectations instilled in me at a young age the responsibility, work ethic, and focus needed to be a member of the team. Once I built these habits, I was able to apply them outside of ski racing, and they have served extremely useful in my golf career, and my life as a whole. I have been at Rowland Hall since kindergarten and I take a lot of pride in this school, so getting a chance to use my athletic skills to represent the school is an opportunity I am very thankful for.

What do you think golf has taught you about yourself?

In my opinion, golf is one of the sports that most closely resembles life, so it has taught me so much about myself as an athlete but also just as a person. First and foremost, golf has taught me that I am a competitor. I love the feeling of adrenaline that comes with a must-make putt or a drive on a tight hole where I have to hit the fairway. The opportunity that competition provides to showcase every skill that I have worked so hard on is my favorite part of the sport. Golf has also taught me to be very, very resilient. In golf, progress is not always linear, and learning to fight through a single tough round or a couple weeks of rough play has made me a stronger golfer and person who is more prepared to face adversity.

Is there anything else you want our community to know about your athletic and/or academic journey?

I am so thankful for the support that Rowland Hall has provided me. Golf tournaments, as well as Rowmark events, required me to miss a lot of class, but my teachers were always so understanding and supportive. I have had math teachers take time out of their lunch breaks or free periods to go over material I missed, and history teachers who allowed me to sit in on class periods other than my own to hear lectures that I was not at school for. The faculty and staff’s willingness to be flexible in order to allow every student to achieve their full potential is not something that I take for granted, and my success is a direct result of the support that I have received from Rowland Hall. I am very proud to be a Winged Lion.

Congratulations, Arden!

Athletics

At only 18 years old, Rowmarker Mary Bocock has already had an impressive skiing career.

In addition to her achievements as a top Rowmark Ski Academy athlete, Mary had the chance to compete with the US Ski & Snowboard Team in Europe in January 2021, an opportunity that led to her first nomination to the US Alpine Ski Team later that year. Earlier this month, she was nominated to the US Ski Team for a second time. And prior to sustaining a knee injury in December, Mary was ranked first in super-G, third in giant slalom, and eighth in slalom in the United States for her age.

Mary will soon add another achievement to her resume—college athlete—when she joins the Dartmouth College women’s ski team next year. She plans to enroll as a first-year student in fall 2023, after taking a gap year to continue her healing and focus on her commitment to the US Ski Team before she dives back into a routine of balancing school, training, and racing.

“Joining the Dartmouth ski team has been one of my athletic goals since I started thinking about colleges,” said Mary, who long considered the Ivy League school not only because it offered a top ski program, but also because of its academic excellence.

“This is a great fit for Mary on all levels,” said Todd Brickson, Rowmark Ski Academy program director. “Dartmouth has a long history of developing world-class ski racers within their storied NCAA Division I ski team, in conjunction with their flexible academic structure and top-notch education.”

To celebrate Mary’s plan to attend Dartmouth, we asked her a few questions about her decision and her journey as a skier. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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When did you find out that you have a spot on Dartmouth's ski team? How did it feel to receive that news?

I started talking to the coach about a year and a half before I committed to skiing for him. I knew the coach was interested in me, but I knew that I shouldn’t get my hopes up because there could be other girls out there. So when he told me he wanted to offer me a spot in the fall of 2023, I felt relieved and excited that I didn’t have to worry about my college experience.

You'll be taking a gap year before heading to Dartmouth. Why did you make that choice?

I will be taking a gap year after I graduate in the spring so that I can focus on my commitment to the US Ski Team and take advantage of all the resources they provide. Throughout my whole racing career, I have always had to balance traveling and school, so I want to experience the sport without having to balance the stresses of high school alongside the pressure of performing well in races and traveling. The Dartmouth coach actually offered me a spot to start in the fall of 2022, but I decided that I want to take a year to mature as an athlete and really focus on racing to make the most of my opportunity with the US Ski Team.

You've been offered a spot on the Dartmouth team and you're on the US Ski Team—basically, you've achieved two of your dreams. While you can't know what lies ahead, how are you approaching these two amazing opportunities?

I feel very lucky to have these two incredible opportunities ahead of me. I am trying to stay present and not worry about how I will balance the two programs. I am just trying to take advantage of the places and lessons I am experiencing. I always try to not take anything for granted—especially after COVID—and make the most of my time traveling and exploring new mountains and countries.

Focusing on your time at Rowland Hall, what moment as a member of Rowmark are you most proud of?

I’ve had a lot of great experiences on Rowmark, so it’s hard for me to pick my favorite moment. But if I had to, I would say one of my favorite memories is when I won a GS [giant slalom] race in Breckenridge, Colorado, at the end of my junior year. It was that race that helped me lower my points enough to make criteria for the US Ski Team. When I came down and everyone was cheering for me, I was so excited that I couldn’t stop smiling. Then, a few minutes later, my coach came down and gave me a hug (which is rare because he’s not one for hugs), and I started to experience an overwhelming amount of emotions because it all felt real.

On the other side, some of the most memorable experiences from Rowmark have been off the snow. The conditioning/team bonding week is always a highlight of the year because the whole team comes together to compete with each other in a very cohesive way. Competition is one of my favorite aspects of ski racing, so I always have a lot of fun on the camping weekend when the whole trip is just filled with competition.

Tell us about the skills you built at Rowland Hall and on Rowmark that you'll be taking with you after graduation.

One of the most notable skills I’ve learned from being on Rowmark while attending a challenging high school is time management and communication. In order for me to keep up with my work while I’m gone, I have to be very diligent with letting my teachers know when I will be gone and updating them on my progress throughout my trips. My first few training camps with the US Ski Team have been very different compared to those with Rowmark because nobody else in my group is in school. I am the only one trying to keep up with classes while skiing at a high level. I have to find time to separate myself and sit down and do school work while my teammates do their other activities. However, I have actually started to really enjoy Zooming into my classes while I'm away on ski trips because it is an opportunity for me to take time off from thinking about skiing and still feel connected with my life at home.

Congratulations, Mary!

Athletics

Congratulations to junior Elisabeth Bocock, who this week was nominated to the US Ski Team.

Elisabeth is one of 42 athletes nominated to the US Alpine Ski Team and one of three athletes who will be joining the women’s Development Team (D-Team) for the first time for the 2022–2023 competition season. (Athletes qualify for the team in the spring based on selection criteria, and the official team is announced in the fall once nominees complete physical fitness testing and medical department clearance.) She is the youngest addition to the D-Team and the only new member from the state of Utah.

“It was unreal,” said Elisabeth of the moment she received the call from US Ski Team Coach Chip Knight congratulating her on her season and confirming her place on the team. “It was what I’ve been hoping for basically my whole life.”

She’s not kidding. Thanks to her family’s love of skiing, Elisabeth has been involved with the sport for as long as she can remember: she clipped into her first pair of skis at age two, and some of her earliest memories include traveling with her family to Colorado to watch the World Cup—an experience that inspired her first dreams of joining the US Ski Team. “Seeing people on the team there was super exciting,” she remembered. “It made me want to be a part of that.”

It was unreal. It was what I’ve been hoping for basically my whole life.—Elisabeth Bocock, class of 2023, on being nominated to the US Ski Team

It also didn’t hurt that Elisabeth has three older siblings—brothers Scottie ’18 and Jimmy, and sister Mary—who were early naturals on the slopes and whose ski racing journeys inspired her own competitive drive. Elisabeth began racing for the Snowbird Ski Team at age six, and she joined Rowmark Ski Academy at age 13—a move she credits for preparing her to excel in both racing and academics, and where she’s had an exceptional career. In the 2021–2022 season alone, Elisabeth had five podium finishes in elite-level FIS races and is currently ranked first for her age in the US in slalom, giant slalom, and super-G, and second in the world in giant slalom.

“What is so impressive about Elisabeth objectively earning a spot on the US Ski Team is that her season was filled with setbacks,” said Foreste Peterson, Rowmark Ski Academy’s head women's FIS coach. “Whether it was having to quarantine from COVID exposures, or the many hard crashes she took that left her concussed, bloody, bruised, and banged up, she was knocked down time and time again. Yet, she bounced back every time, better than before, and always with a smile on her face. It was truly a pleasure to work with Elisabeth this year, and I so look forward to seeing what her future holds.”

And while Elisabeth’s riding the high of simply making the US Ski Team, she’s also enjoying an additional perk not available to every athlete in her position: the knowledge that this new experience will include her older sister (and role model), Mary, who was nominated to the US Ski Team last spring. “I’m super excited to work together in a different atmosphere,” said Elisabeth. “Mary’s been a real inspiration to me and has shown me what it takes to get to where I need to go.”

We can’t wait to see where she goes next. Congratulations, Elisabeth—we’ll be cheering you on!

Rowmark

Ever since Briggs Ballard learned he could play lacrosse while also studying finance and business development in college, he focused on turning that goal into a reality.

“From the day I realized I could play college lacrosse, it has been my biggest dream,” he said.

That dream came true on March 4, when Briggs committed to play for Texas Christian University (TCU), a Division 1 school with a lacrosse team that competes in the Men’s Collegiate Lacrosse Association. It’s an impressive step for the talented young athlete, who has been passionate about lacrosse since the age of three, when a Rowland Hall parent who moved to Utah from the East Coast created a mini lacrosse team for the community as a way to introduce students to the sport.

“I was a little too young to suit up,” Briggs said about the experience. “However, my brother [Boston Ballard ’20] played and I was always there watching and waiting for my turn. As I watched the older kids, I knew I wanted to play, and from that day on lacrosse was my sport. When I got my chance, I hit the ground running.”

And he’s excelled: by third grade, Briggs was playing competitive club lacrosse, and by sixth grade, club box lacrosse, and he was a member of youth teams at both Brighton High School and Corner Canyon High School, where his eighth-grade team won the state championship. In ninth grade, after a family move, Briggs began playing for Highland High School, where, as the only freshman on the varsity team, he led in goals, assists, and total points, earning him Freshman of the Year and Most Valuable Player accolades. When COVID-19 canceled his sophomore season, Briggs decided to use the time to think about how to take the skills he’d been building to the next level. “During quarantine, I decided I needed to push myself and play at the highest level of high school lacrosse,” he said. After making the team at IMG Academy, a prestigious sports training facility and boarding school in Florida, Briggs chose to spend his junior year there, where he practiced seven days a week and traveled the country playing top teams.

“It was a difficult decision to move away from my family and to leave Rowland Hall, but I decided to go for it and spent my junior year at IMG,” said Briggs. “The experience was one I will never forget; I learned so much about lacrosse and myself.”

He also learned just how much he appreciates his family and the Rowland Hall community: Briggs returned to Utah for his senior year, where he’s been enjoying time with friends, wrapping up his studies in the Upper School, playing lacrosse (of course!), and preparing for the next chapter of his story.

To celebrate Briggs’ decision to play lacrosse for TCU, we asked him to share more about his athletic journey. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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You're a Rowland Hall student who has pursued the sport you love (but one that's not offered by the school) alongside your studies. How have you juggled both responsibilities?

Juggling the rigor of Rowland Hall and the intensity of my lacrosse schedule has been challenging. I've had to learn to manage my time and plan ahead. I've done a lot of homework and studied on planes while flying home from tournaments. Even though Rowland Hall does not have a lacrosse program, the school and teachers have been very supportive and have always worked with me. Along with the challenges, playing for other schools has also been a blessing in many ways. It has enabled me to meet and socialize with kids outside of Rowland Hall and it's really expanded my social circle.

Can you briefly describe how you connected with the TCU team and how you made your decision to join them?

The lacrosse recruiting experience has been both awesome and stressful. I've had to really consider what level of lacrosse I want to play and balance that with the kind of college experience I want. My options were all over the board, from D1 schools to some smaller D3 schools, and several club options. Ultimately, I was heavily recruited by TCU, which happens to be where my brother goes to school. My brother has several friends currently on the TCU lacrosse team and because he knew I would love TCU, he had them reach out to me and from there the coach reached out. I fell in love with everything TCU has to offer, including their D1 lacrosse program. In addition to the lacrosse program, TCU checks all of the academic boxes for me and I can't wait to be a Horned Frog!

How did you feel when you officially committed to play for TCU?

I felt proud of myself and like all of my hard work paid off. I felt like I had finally done it and was relieved to have made a decision. The feeling of finally committing is a feeling I will never experience again and I am so grateful for how everything worked out.

What are your top memories from your lacrosse career (so far)?

My top memories of my lacrosse career so far are traveling all over the country with my parents and my best friends/teammates. I have played with several of the same kids since we were in the first grade and they have truly become some of my best friends. The summer tournaments are always memories; staying together as a team and playing the sport we love are memories I will never forget. Finally, last year, my IMG team traveled to Indiana, where we played Culver Academy, one of the best teams in the country. While we did not come away with the win, playing in front of so many people, and in a nationally televised game, is a very cool experience and a major memory for me. 

Tell us about the skills you built at Rowland Hall that you'll be taking with you to TCU.

I strongly believe Rowland Hall has set me up to succeed at TCU both academically and socially. Rowland Hall has taught me how to learn, how to be a critical thinker, and how to manage my time. Rowland Hall is a one-of-a-kind school and I cherish my time here and the education I’ve received. I know I will be a strong writer and contribute to the TCU community because of my Rowland Hall experience.

Is there anything else you want our community to know about your athletic and academic journey?

Just that I am beyond grateful for everyone who has supported me and helped me on my journey. My Rowland Hall friends have always been so supportive and encouraged me to keep on with lacrosse. From the teachers and staff to my friends, family, and coaches, I will forever be thankful for all of you. 

Lastly, GO FROGS!

Athletics

When Kavitha Kasturi walked into her first Student Diversity Leadership Conference in 2022, it was the first time she had been in a space in which most people belonged to historically underrepresented groups.

“The first moment you step into a room with thousands of kids from diverse backgrounds, it’s a different feeling—a great feeling, an immediate feeling of belonging,” said Kavitha.

The first moment you step into a room with thousands of kids from diverse backgrounds, it’s a different feeling—a great feeling, an immediate feeling of belonging.—Kavitha Kasturi, class of 2025

Held every year during the week after Thanksgiving, the Student Diversity Leadership Conference brings together student and adult representatives from independent schools across the US and abroad. Organized by the National Association of Independent Schools, SDLC takes place alongside the organization’s People of Color Conference. Both gatherings provide opportunities to self-reflect, connect with others, and learn how to build inclusive, equitable, and just classrooms and communities.

Because Rowland Hall believes in the importance of these conferences and the benefits they bring to the school community, every year the school pays to send a group of faculty and staff, as well as six Upper School students, to them. Each year, these representatives leave SDLC and PoCC inspired and excited to share what they learned with their community at Rowland Hall.

As in years past, when the 2023 SDLC wrapped, the student representatives—then juniors Kavitha Kasturi, Tenzin Sivukpa, Mattie Sullivan, Sylvia Rae Twahirwa, and Evan Weinstein, and then 10th grader Gavin Schmidt—were looking forward to sharing their experience back at school. But the group, some of whom were repeat conference attendees, also felt a pull to think bigger.

That’s because the students knew, as of 2023, Rowland Hall was the only Utah independent school that attended SDLC—meaning very few students in the state benefit from the four-day experience. While they’d be sharing what they learned with their Upper School peers, they worried it was too small an impact. They wondered if there was a way to expand their reach. As the Rowland Hall representatives gathered for a debriefing on the last day of the conference, an exciting idea was floated: Could the students create their own SDLC-inspired conference for other Utah high schoolers?

It’s the kind of idea that could easily be shared then forgotten, but in the weeks following their return to campus, the SDLC group—along with then junior Hasan Rahim, who had attended SDLC in 2022, and then ninth grader Aoife Canning—kept the conversation going. Guided by advisors Dr. Kate Taylor, Dr. Chandani Patel, and Harper Lundquist ’16, the students began discussing all that actually goes into planning a conference, as well as what elements of SDLC they wanted to keep and what they thought was missing from the experience. Dr. Taylor wasn’t surprised by what she witnessed.

“This group happens to be very action-oriented, which is something I love about them,” she said. “They’re big visionary thinkers.”

And before they knew it, these visionaries’ questions had transformed into a solid plan. By January, they were working on what would soon be known as Wings of Inclusion: Cultivating Joy in Education, a first-of-its-kind student-led conference scheduled for Friday, September 6, and Saturday, September 7, at the Lincoln Street Campus.

In the months that followed, the students immersed themselves in the complicated world of event planning. Between classes and extracurriculars, and then during summer break, the group tackled a long to-do list: design a logo and marketing plan, craft a schedule, communicate with speakers and performers, extend invitations, identify facilitators, arrange catering, decide on activities, gather discussion questions. In line with priority 2 of Rowland Hall’s strategic vision, advisors were on hand for guidance as needed, but focused on empowering the students to make decisions and take the lead as much as possible.

As summer drew to a close and a new school year ramped up, the group put the finishing touches on their conference and prepared to welcome students from Wasatch Academy, the Waterford School, Copper Hills High School, and Olympus High School to campus.

The Wings of Inclusion conference aimed to provide attendees with a space of belonging and safety, where everyone is celebrated for who they are and can connect, and even be vulnerable, with others.

Guided by the theme of Cultivating Joy in Education (which builds on Rowland Hall’s 2024–2025 school-wide theme, Joy, and was inspired in part by a presentation the students heard from Dr. Gholdy Muhammad, author of Unearthing Joy), the Wings of Inclusion conference aimed to provide attendees with the kind of space Kavitha remembered walking into for her first SDLC—one of belonging and safety, where everyone is celebrated for who they are and can connect, and even be vulnerable, with others. The schedule, thoughtfully crafted by the student organizers, included space for both affinity groups (groups that share identities) and family groups (groups of randomly mixed participants), as well as unstructured social time, meals, and performances by Punjabi Arts Academy, Salt Lake Capoeira, and Best of Africa.

The students also scheduled three guest speakers: Stacy Bernal, a candidate for Utah State Senate; Michelle Mooney, impact manager for the Salt Lake City Mayor’s Office; and Dr. Mary Ann Villarreal, vice president for diversity, equity, and student success at American Association of Colleges and Universities, and a Rowland Hall trustee. “Our main goal was to show there are people of color or other diverse identities in positions of power,” said organizer Sylvia Rae. They hoped student attendees would see themselves in these community leaders, and that the speakers’ stories about their personal and professional journeys would help attendees understand that leadership and changemaking were within their reach.

And while the conference’s attendees certainly had an impressive group of adults at the event to look up to (in addition to the speakers, Ryan Hoglund, Robin Hori, Dr. Lydia Jackson, Dr. Nate Kogan, and Stacia McFadden served as conference facilitators, while advisors Dr. Patel and Kaleb Nielsen coordinated the program), the strongest role models of the weekend were the student organizers themselves. In addition to managing the flow of the event, these students all took on the facilitation roles that make breakout spaces safe and provide valuable, joyful experiences for attendees, some of whom may feel unwelcome in other communities.

“There’s definitely a nurturing role, a caretaking role,” said Sylvia Rae about being a facilitator. “You’re bigger than yourself at that moment: ‘I’m facilitating this conversation and it's not about me now; it’s about others.’”

And though the Wings of Inclusion turnout was smaller than the students originally hoped for (30 people attended the inaugural conference), the size turned out to be beneficial. It allowed facilitators to lead deeper conversations and for all attendees to more fully participate. “It was the perfect amount of people,” reflected Sylvia Rae.

Speaker Michelle Mooney, who stayed for a breakout session after addressing the group on Saturday morning, said watching the student facilitators lead their groups was heartwarming, and even reinvigorated her feelings about her own role in the community—particularly when it comes to empowering rising leaders. Though still in her 20s, Michelle said she’s already thinking about the legacy she’ll leave for the next generation to carry on, and she hopes more professionals will recognize the capabilities of students and young adults and help cultivate them as leaders.

“We don’t need to doubt that the youth know what to do, and we really need to empower our youth to feel like they have a place,” said Michelle.

And as Wings of Inclusion showed, when students are empowered, they can do incredible things. As the conference wound down on Saturday evening, a feeling of joy could be felt on campus—an attestation of the small-but-mighty power of this student-created gathering that, only nine months earlier, had been but a question, a dream of a space in which students from across the state could gather to pour strength, love, and inspiration into one another.

To close the event, the organizers gathered the group for an open mic session. Though they knew speaking in front of others is scary, and they were a bit worried the minutes may be filled with silence, they wanted to provide a moment of reflection for attendees. They didn’t wait long before one student stood up. Another followed. Then another. As each student came to the mic, they shared their gratitude for this welcoming conference, for this safe space in which they could share their experiences and be themselves. Some said they had never had this kind of opportunity before. Some called out the guest speakers who made them feel that they, too, can make a difference. They were grateful. They were inspirational. “It was the best moment of the conference for me and my peers,” said Kavitha.

They felt so good for having created a space for people in the broader community, to see their efforts can have a positive impact, that their voices, their actions, have power.—Dr. Kate Taylor, Upper School English teacher

For Dr. Taylor, who supported the students’ dream from its earliest days, the positive feedback the students have received is incredibly well-deserved. And, perhaps more importantly, it’s an ongoing reminder to these young leaders that they are never too young to make real change.

“They felt so good for having created a space for people in the broader community, to see their efforts can have a positive impact, that their voices, their actions, have power,” said Dr. Taylor.

And the organizers can know that the inaugural (and soon to be annual) Wings of Inclusion conference will play an important role in helping more young adults from across the state believe in themselves and their ability to make a difference.

“Little things like this really matter. It made an impact,” said Kavitha. “It’s inspiring, and it made me want to keep going.”

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Banner: Rowland Hall seniors Tenzin Sivukpa, Mattie Sullivan, Evan Weinstein, Kavitha Kasturi, Hasan Rahim, and Sylvia Rae Twahirwa smile for a photo at the 2024 Wings of Inclusion Conference.

Equity & Inclusion

By Dr. Chandani Patel, Director of Equity and Inclusion

In its third year, the Office of Equity and Inclusion continued to implement programs and initiatives towards cultivating a community where each member thrives.

Led by Dr. Chandani Patel, Rowland Hall’s director of equity and inclusion, this year the team included four divisional coordinators across the school and a part-time equity and inclusion intern. Collaborating with other key partners, the Office of Equity and Inclusion built capacity across the school so that more individuals share the responsibility for advancing an equitable and inclusive Rowland Hall community. This year in review highlights programs and initiatives we led this year, with the help of many partners, to foster a sense of belonging for all. 

We want to thank the students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and parents/caregivers who have contributed to this work this year. We look forward to working with many more of you in the years to come.

Ongoing Faculty Support for 2023–2024

During the 2023–2024 school year, divisional equity and inclusion coordinators collaborated with and provided support to faculty colleagues to advance equity and inclusion in classrooms and divisions. Coordinators worked closely with Dr. Patel and division principals to identify key needs, design resources, and facilitate learning opportunities. The coordinators were Quincy Jackson ’16 (Beginning School), Samantha Hemphill (Lower School), Susan Phillips (Middle School), and Dr. Kate Taylor (Upper School).

We again hosted a national Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity seminar, led by fifth-grade teacher Jen Bourque, where participants considered how they can use their classrooms, communities, or workplaces to create a more equitable environment for all.

2023–2024 DEI Learning Communities and Affinity Groups

• Belonging @ Rowland Hall Learning Community: This learning community convened a group of faculty and staff committed to advancing belonging for all community members at Rowland Hall. Organized around a set of topics related to equity and inclusion, the community met once a month and was open to all faculty and staff to come learn together. 
• Student JEDI leaders: This group of Upper School students facilitated learning opportunities for Middle School peers, including on topics such as recognizing and respecting differences, and organized community-building programs, such as luncheons and movie nights, to bring students together across their identities. 
• Inclusion, Outreach, and Equity (IEO) Committee: This committee of board members and administrators worked to identify and support strategic alignment centered on Rowland Hall’s priority to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across the school community. 
• Affinity groups: Twenty-one affinity groups—spaces that bring together people with common identifiers or life experiences—in the lower, middle, and upper schools built relationships and engaged members in shared learning (see list of groups below). A faculty and staff BIPOC affinity group, for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, gathered to recognize cultural heritage months and build community. The White Antiracist Educators group met to discuss key readings related to equity and inclusion and ways to activate allyship. Three parent/caregiver affinity groups (listed below) also met throughout the year to build community and provide mutual support. 

Student Affinity Groups

Twenty-one affinity groups supported lower, middle, and upper schoolers this year:

• Banana Splits, Lower School
• Kids of Color, Lower School
• Neurodivergent Club, Lower School*
• Rainbow Club, Lower School
• Arab and Muslim Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Boys Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Jewish Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Neurodivergent and Allies Affinity Group, Middle School
• Sexuality and Gender Alliance, Middle School
• Students of Color, Middle School
• Asian Affinity Group, Upper School
• Black Student Union, Upper School
• Christian Affinity Group, Upper School*
• Girls of Color, Upper School
• Infinity: Neurodivergent and Allies Affinity Group, Upper School
• Jewish Affinity Group, Upper School
• Latine Affinity Group, Upper School
• Multiracial Affinity Group, Upper School
• Muslim Affinity Group, Upper School
• Queer Straight Alliance, Upper School
• Queer/Trans People of Color, Upper School*

*New in 2023–2024

Affinity groups in the Lower School are requested by families, led by faculty mentors, and provide space to build community and support. Affinity groups in the middle and upper schools are requested by students and are student-led in terms of topics and activities. 

Parent/Caregiver Affinity Groups

• Active Allies*
• Families of Neurodivergent Students*
• Families of Students of Color

*New in 2023–2024

2023–2024 Programming

• MLK Week 2024: Weavers and Dreamers: This year’s MLK week theme, Weavers and Dreamers, invited us to consider—alongside storytellers, artists, and musicians—how our dreams of and for the future necessitate listening to each other’s stories, being in relationship with each other, and working toward a shared future. The program featured guest performers Micah Willis ’14 as well as Mama Charlotte and Ashley Finley from the Nubian Storytellers of Utah Leadership. We also celebrated long-serving board member and trailblazing community member Reverend Pastor France A. Davis as he retires from the Board of Trustees. 
• Second annual STEM Symposium: Led by the Upper School Science Department, this annual program was designed to offer our Upper School students an opportunity to learn from researchers across a variety of STEM disciplines about their work. The program provided students with a lens into a diverse array of career pathways with the hope of igniting their curiosity and showcasing role models in our community. 
• (*NEW*) All Affinity & Alliance Group Celebration: This end-of-the-year celebration was an opportunity for members of all affinity and alliance groups across the school to come together to build community and celebrate each other. Members of student, faculty and staff, and parent/caregiver affinity groups were in attendance. 
• Pride Parade 2024: More than 100 participants from the Rowland Hall community marched in the Utah Pride Parade this year. The group was led by student members of the Upper School’s Queer Straight Alliance, the Middle School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance, and the Lower School’s Rainbow Club. This year, we hosted a float-decorating party for students and families the evening before the event to help build community and add Rowland Hall pride to our float. 

Community Education & Impact

Educational Programs

• Deliberate Dialogue on Indigenous Perspectives (October) was an opportunity for the community to explore the grounding principles that inform indigenous ways of learning and knowing. Participants learned about indigenous knowledge systems through music and art, resources created by indigenous communities, and discussion about education and indigeneity. The event was presented by Emily Quetone Khan, director of learning services, and her father, Tucker Quetone, who are members of the Kiowa Tribe and citizens of the Cherokee Nation of Oklahoma. 
• Author Talk and Discussion with Kimberlee Williams (April) allowed participants to explore how to racially diversify their friend groups, how to show up for and with colleagues in ways that disrupt historic patterns, and how to intentionally and thoughtfully be in community with one another across racial differences.

Community Impact

• Together with Director of Community Engagement and Impact Ryan Hoglund, Dr. Chandani Patel launched the Center for Community Impact, which the two will be co-directing. The Center is designed to educate, empower, and inspire individuals to become agents of positive change in their communities and beyond and will offer opportunities for Rowland Hall students to establish deep and reciprocal relationships with community partners.

Equity & Inclusion

By Dr. Chandani Patel, Director of Equity and Inclusion

My second year in the inaugural director of equity and inclusion role was an opportunity to build capacity across the school so that more individuals share the responsibility for advancing an equitable and inclusive school community. One key addition this year was the Divisional Equity and Inclusion Coordinators program, through which one faculty member in each division coordinated learning and action centered on equity and inclusion. These coordinators now help make up the Office of Equity and Inclusion, which brings together key partners across the school to collaborate on equity and inclusion initiatives, including the committees listed below. This year in review highlights programs and initiatives we led this year to cultivate a community where each member thrives. 

This year in review highlights programs and initiatives we led this year to cultivate a community where each member thrives.

We want to thank the students, faculty, staff, trustees, alumni, and parents/caregivers who have contributed to this work this year. We look forward to working with many more of you in the years to come.

New Faculty Support for 2022–2023

During the 2022–2023 school year, divisional equity and inclusion coordinators collaborated with and provided support to faculty colleagues to advance equity and inclusion in classrooms and divisions. Coordinators worked closely with Dr. Patel and division principals to identify key needs, design resources, and facilitate learning opportunities. The coordinators were Quincy Jackson (Beginning School), Abigail Bacon (Lower School), Susan Phillips (Middle School), and Dr. Kate Taylor (Upper School).

We also hosted a national Seeking Educational Equity and Diversity seminar, led by fifth-grade teacher Jen Bourque, where participants considered how they can use their classrooms, communities, or workplaces to create a more equitable environment for all.

2022–2023 DEI Committees and Affinity Groups

• JEDI Committee: This faculty and staff committee focused on four main areas this year: community education, inclusive and accessible practices, curriculum, and making our core values actionable.
• Student JEDI leaders: This group of Upper School students developed and facilitated learning opportunities for peers, including on topics like microaggressions and recognizing and respecting differences.
• Affinity groups: Affinity groups—spaces that bring together people with common identifiers or life experiences—in the lower, middle, and upper schools built relationships and engaged in shared learning (see list of groups below). A faculty and staff BIPOC affinity group, for those who identify as Black, Indigenous, and other People of Color, gathered to recognize cultural heritage months and build community. The White Antiracist Educators group met to discuss key readings related to equity and inclusion and ways to activate allyship.
• Inclusion, Outreach, and Equity (IEO) Committee: This committee of board members and administrators worked to identify and support strategic alignment centered on Rowland Hall’s priority to advance diversity, equity, and inclusion across the school community.

Student Affinity Groups

Sixteen affinity groups supported lower, middle, and upper schoolers this year:

• Banana Splits, Lower School*
• Kids of Color, Lower School*
• Rainbow Club, Lower School*
• Neurodivergent and Allies Affinity Group, Middle School*
• Sexuality and Gender Alliance, Middle School
• Students of Color, Middle School*
• Asian Affinity Group, Upper School
• Black Student Union, Upper School*
• Girls of Color, Upper School
• Infinity: Neurodivergent and Allies Affinity Group, Upper School*
• Jewish Affinity Group, Upper School
• Latine Affinity Group, Upper School
• Multiracial Affinity Group, Upper School*
• Muslim Affinity Group, Upper School
• Pagan Affinity Group, Upper School*
• Queer Straight Alliance, Upper School

*New in 2022–2023

Affinity groups in the Lower School are requested by families, led by faculty mentors, and provide space to build community and support. Affinity groups in the middle and upper schools are requested by students and are student-led in terms of topics and activities. Those interested in forming affinity groups should speak to their principal (Ingrid Gustavson, Upper School, or Pam Smith, Middle School) or Dr. Patel.

2022–2023 Programming

• MLK Week 2023: Afrofuturism: Building a Beloved Future: This year’s MLK week theme, Afrofuturism, invited us to imagine more inclusive futures and featured two prominent guest speakers: New York Times bestselling author Rio Cortez and youth climate activist Aniya Butler. Rio Cortez’s community poetry reading, “Afrofuturism, Frontiers, and Pioneers,” drew over 100 audience members from the broader community. The daylong student program featured dance, poetry readings, discussion, and artifact creation, all centered on building a future in which all individuals are celebrated.
• The Future of STEM: A Symposium With Local Innovators: This inaugural program was designed to offer our middle and upper school students an opportunity to learn from innovators in STEM about the state of their fields and about their journeys to their current roles. The program was also a recognition of Women’s History Month, highlighting prominent women leaders in STEM and providing allies with some tools to support underrepresented folks in STEM.
• Pride Parade 2023: More than 100 participants from the Rowland Hall community marched in the Utah Pride Parade this year. The group was led by student members of the Upper School’s Queer Straight Alliance and Middle School’s Sexuality and Gender Alliance. 

Community Education

Deliberate Dialogue Series

• Practice the Unpracticed: A Deliberate Dialogue On Racism (November) was an opportunity for the community to practice unpracticed conversations together around topics of race and racism.
• Making the Invisible Visible: A Deliberate Dialogue on Neurodiversity (March) was a forum for the community to learn about neurodiversity and how it impacts all types of learners, including the challenges and opportunities they encounter in educational settings.
• Celebrating Our Stories: A Deliberate Dialogue on Storytelling (May) allowed participants to explore how different ways of storytelling can help us connect to others' stories as windows or mirrors to our own experiences.

​Have You Been Wondering About… Resource Series

• The Office of Equity and Inclusion continued our series Have You Been Wondering About… as resources to help deepen learning in our community. This year’s topics were “How Racism Affects All of Us,” “Neurodiversity,” and “How to Be an Upstander.”

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Banner photo: Aniya Butler and Rio Cortez join Dr. Chandani Patel for Rowland Hall's Afrofuturism event in January 2023.

Equity & Inclusion

Can art save the Great Salt Lake?

It’s a question that students have been asking all year at Rowland Hall through dance, visual arts, and other mediums. In May, the question was laid out in black and white with the production of The Great Salt Film, a one-act play commissioned by theatre teacher Matt Sincell and Upper School students that examines the issues of the lake, and how, or even if, the artistic pursuits of teenagers could have an impact on a looming environmental crisis.

I wanted to empower them to have a voice in the creative process ... to see how art can impact people.—Matt Sincell, theatre teacher

“The play centers on a group of teenagers in a short-film competition to bring awareness to saving the Great Salt Lake,” said Matt. “We start to understand what their frustrations are with feeling powerless, and being asked to solve these problems but feeling like they have no voice and no vote.”

These are feelings the young actors in the play related to and were able to work through by helping create a new piece of art. Playwright Rachel Bublitz brought drafts of the play to the students and allowed them to contribute to not only the semantics of the work, but also to its overall structure and theme. “I wanted to empower them to have a voice in the creative process,” said Matt. “This was a way for them to see how art can impact people.”

The impact is already being felt in small ways. More than $500 was raised through the world premiere of the play, all of which went to FRIENDS of Great Salt Lake. This may not seem like much, but that is a key message of the play: every bit matters. The character of Truth, played by ninth grader Anaïs Bray, makes that point by emptying one bucket of water at a time into the dying lake. “It’s all about the small steps,” she said. “Truth’s mindset is: ‘It’s the best I can do and I need to do what I can do.’”

The bigger impact will be putting the play out into the world. Now that it has premiered at Rowland Hall, it is eligible for publication and subsequent production at schools and theaters all over the world. People who have never even heard of the Great Salt Lake will be able to learn more about its shrinking, and the environmental impact. They will also learn the names of the first cast to perform the play, as they will be printed on every future edition. “It’s fun to know that I’m the first person to do this role,” said ninth grader Henry Olsen.

The message is one of hope.—Owen Thomas, class of 2023

The impact is also through the students who participated in the creation of the play and its first production. They now possess a sense of agency to pick up and examine complex dilemmas and not shy away from them, no matter how insurmountable they seem. After all, there is a lake to save.

“I think the message is one of hope,” said twelfth grader Owen Thomas. “This isn’t a battle we’ve lost yet, but we still have a long way to go.”

Theatre

What do you get when you ask a class of resourceful fifth graders to take the lead on a community-focused project?

An impressive array of impact-making solutions.

That’s a truth that Rowland Hall’s fifth-grade teaching team discovered this year, thanks to a new project-based learning (PBL) opportunity that kicked off in the fall and, after months of dedicated student work, wrapped earlier this month.

The project, the first of its kind for the grade, began taking shape at a summer PBL workshop attended by two of the fifth-grade teachers, Sam Johnson and Colleen Thompson, who brought an idea to fellow teachers Jen Bourque and Dr. Torry Montes, both of whom had PBL experience from previous schools and were excited to bring a new idea to life in their Rowland Hall classrooms. The team wanted to connect their students’ learning with an understanding of their place within community, as well as—thanks to the nature of PBL, which promotes deep learning through student choice and leadership—empower them to take charge of an opportunity to build connections across the larger Salt Lake community. They decided to identify a shared public space that could use improvement, picturing it as a canvas on which students could lead the charge of finding ways to better serve the community, and they chose Bend in the River, a somewhat neglected park along the Jordan River Parkway, as the space for the project. They planned an October field trip to introduce students to the area.

Their discussion focused not on transforming the space they stood in, but on examining larger societal issues that contributed to unmaintained spaces, pollution, and a lack of housing. And since PBL is designed to follow students’ areas of interest, rather than adults’, it quickly became clear that the project was going to shift in unexpected, and exciting, ways.

But when the teachers took the students to Bend in the River, things didn’t unfold quite as expected. Instead of discussing how they wanted to change the area, the kids instead wanted to discuss the why behind what they were seeing: litter, broken structures, water pollution, and unhoused people. Their conversation focused not on transforming the space they stood in, but on examining larger societal issues that contributed to unmaintained spaces, pollution, and a lack of housing. And since PBL is designed to follow students’ areas of interest, rather than adults’, it quickly became clear that the project was going to shift in unexpected, and exciting, ways.

“We had this idea of proposals to change this park, but that didn’t come from the kids,” said Jen. As a result, the role of Bend in the River changed. “It became the place we used to come back to how that place is related to issues that touch the greater Salt Lake community.”

To better support their students’ burgeoning interests, the fifth-grade team refocused the project, moving away from transforming a specific space to answering an essential question: What do communities need to thrive? In November, they relaunched the project with an in-school field trip composed of rotations that would help students answer that question, determine what they were most passionate about, and identify where they wanted to work toward making an impact. “We were embracing the ever-moving target that is project-based learning,” explained Jen.

As part of the in-school field trip, the teachers brought in community members who could speak about creating connections and working toward solutions that benefit a shared community, a choice that was well-received and led to visits from additional representatives who generously shared their knowledge over the coming weeks: Britney Helmers and Josh Schuerman from Little City; Will Wright from the Salt Lake City Office of Economic Development; Tyler Fonarow, recreational trails manager for Salt Lake City Corporation; Ann Wigham (parent), Stan Stensrud, and Kimo Pokini from Ruff Haven; David Garbett (parent) from O₂ Utah; Greta Hamilton, stormwater program supervisor for Salt Lake County Public Works & Municipal Services; Brian Tonetti from Seven Canyons Trust; Mat Jones, District 2 supervisor for the Utah Department of Public Lands; and foothill rangers Haley Long and Eric Creel.

As the students learned about and discussed what communities need to thrive, four areas of interest naturally rose to the surface: environment, unhoused community, arts and community spaces, and trails and parks. It was decided that, in place of the original Bend in the River idea, students would find solutions to community problems within the four areas, each of which would be led by a teacher who could provide coaching, feedback, and support. And as an added benefit, the teachers structured the project so that students could work with their peers in other fifth-grade classes, a helpful experience for this group of rising middle schoolers.

The three A's allow students to be young changemakers in their own communities and prepare them for the challenges of the world they are going to inherit.—Dr. Torry Montes, fifth-grade teacher

The teachers also wanted to use the experience to help students better understand the many ways people can make real-world impact, which they did by introducing them to the three A’s: awareness, action, and advocacy. They explained that each A stood for a way people can make change: generate awareness by bringing attention to a problem, take action by moving forward on a solution, or act as advocates for policies that help people. The three A's, explained Dr. Torry, are often considered the goal of high-quality PBL.

“Educator Tony Wagner states that project-based learning is one of the best ways to meet all of the 21st-century learning goals,” she said. “The three A's allow students to be young changemakers in their own communities and prepare them for the challenges of the world they are going to inherit.”

Inspired by the ways they could make communities better, the students set to work researching causes and solutions, reaching out to groups and organizations, and creating a variety of projects that impressively showcased each of the three A’s, including proposals, petitions, posters, websites, flyers, and even a poem. By early March, when the students shared their final solutions at an open house, they had truly illustrated how young learners, when empowered to lead their learning, can take action, build awareness, and advocate for what they believe in. And as parents and caregivers wandered the fifth-grade wing, examining the projects, they were amazed by what they saw, recognizing how this work would benefit community organizations—including Salt Lake City Corporation, Tiny Village, Family Promise, Crossroads Urban Center, and Rowland Hall, not to mention the community members whose lives would be enhanced through the students’ ideas around clean water, safe shelters, and environmental protections—as well as the students themselves. Through this experience, the students learned life skills that will benefit them long after they leave their fifth-grade classrooms—including leaning on their own thinking to approach real-world problems. It’s a skill that’s essential, and one they’ll be encouraged to build on as they move on to middle school, and beyond.

“This is preparing them for their futures,” said Jen.

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Project Galleries

As part of their community project, Rowland Hall’s fifth graders were asked to not only choose the areas of change they wanted to pursue, but also to decide how they wanted to creatively share their work with others. We’re proud to include in this story the students’ choices for the Rowland Hall community’s enjoyment, and have provided examples of the students’ work in the galleries below. We also invite readers to read the students’ reflection essays on the experience, written to be published here in Fine Print.

Awareness

Students learned that generating awareness is essential to bringing attention to a problem, what needs to be done, and who should be involved. Click below to view the gallery.

Action

Students learned that action means moving forward on solving a problem they have identified. Click below to view the gallery.

Advocacy

Students learned that advocacy is designed to influence policy, helping to mobilize community members toward improvements. Click below to view the gallery.

Authentic Learning

Change may be slow, but it’s worth the wait.

This life truth was recently made clear to Jodi Spiro’s third graders, a group of students passionate about doing their part to save the earth—particularly when it comes to limiting the amount of garbage that’s dumped into the environment, a topic they’ve discussed often this year.

“We knew there was a problem, then we watched this video of how much trash ends up in rivers and oceans, and we thought it was really sad,” said class member Helena A. “We saw this island made out of trash—it’s bigger than Texas.”

“It feels like people don’t really care about what they’re throwing out,” added classmate Declan M.

And it really bothered the third graders to imagine Rowland Hall contributing to the problem—especially in one specific way: even though the school had returned to a traditional serving line at lunch (during the pandemic, individually packaged meals were delivered to classrooms), the dining hall hadn’t shifted back to using metal cutlery. The students knew the use of plastic utensils had to be creating a lot of waste, so in October they visited the dining hall to get an idea of just how much. The third graders began by counting the number of plastic utensils that fit into the dining hall’s cutlery dispenser, then determined how many times that dispenser was filled. They were shocked to learn that the McCarthey Campus was tossing around 900 plastic forks, knives, and spoons each week.

We realized how much we were throwing away and we wanted to know why, and we wanted to change it.—Third grader Declan M.

“We realized how much we were throwing away, and we wanted to know why, and we wanted to change it,” said Declan.

And though the students were anxious to make those changes right away, Jodi knew they would need the support of campus partners, including SAGE Dining Services, Rowland Hall’s lunch provider, which she knew was probably using plastic cutlery for a reason. Jodi saw the moment as an opportunity for her class to not only understand the reasoning behind that decision, but to learn how to respectfully present their request to reverse it.

“The way you go about something is the way you’ll get lasting change,” she told the class. “You’re going to get better buy-in from everybody if you’re respectful.”

So the class began by writing persuasive letters to explain their concerns and to propose their solution, which they sent to Julia Simonsen, food service director for SAGE, in November. They received a prompt response explaining that there was indeed a reason behind the use of plastic cutlery: students had been throwing away the dining hall’s metal cutlery, as well as reusable cups and even lunch trays. This was its own problem—the dining hall simply couldn’t afford to keep replacing these items. The third graders realized that, in order to address their cutlery concerns, they would first have to tackle another waste issue. So they made Julia an offer: they would teach lower schoolers how to properly use lunchroom materials if SAGE agreed to bring them back. Julia agreed.

With their end goal in mind, the third graders jumped into making plans for educating fellow students both on the proper use of cafeteria materials and on limiting what they sent to the landfill. They knew they would have to talk to every Lower School class, so they divided into teams, with each team choosing the grades they wanted to present to and the approach they thought best for that age group, such as a slideshow, a game of Kahoot!, or a Book Creator story. They also teamed up with staff and faculty members Emily Clawson, Mary Anne Wetzel, and Collin Wolfe to create a TikTok video demonstrating these skills, which they played for every class.

@rowlandhall1867

Jodi Spiro's third-grade class is on a crusade to make our school more environmentally friendly, and their first stop is the dining hall. After seeing how many plastic utensils were being thrown away, the students knew they had to take action. They urged the school to bring back metal cutlery, reusable cups, and compost buckets. Even at such a young age, these students are authentically learning and making a difference not only for our school, but for the world. Great job, third graders!

♬ original sound - Rowland Hall

Rowland Hall third graders demonstrate where to discard leftover milk, how to separate trash from compostable materials (which are then used by the Lower School’s Garden Club), and where to return utensils, cups, and trays.

These class presentations were another chance for the third graders to tap into their respectful dialogue skills: they had to present their material in ways that didn’t place blame on anyone and inspired students to want to help. “We wanted to make sure everyone understood the problem,” explained Helena. “We showed them what’s been happening and what they can do.”

And the presentations made an impact. From first to fifth grade, students expressed a desire to help fix the dining hall’s dual waste problems through their daily actions. “I didn’t really know that I could actually convince people this well of what's been happening in the cafeteria,” said Declan. “It felt really good.” Fellow third graders in Matthew Collins’ and Katie Schwab’s classes even created posters to help remind students to pay attention when disposing of items on their lunch trays, which are helpful resources as students continue to build these habits.

From her perspective, Jodi was thrilled to see not only how other classes responded to her students’ hard work, but how the experience also built the students’ confidence. She said her class loved being seen as experts on a subject and answering their peers’ questions; after each presentation, they returned to the classroom beaming and asking to talk to more people. “I think it brought out parts of themselves that they probably didn’t even expect,” she said.

They learned change is slow, but change is possible, and to be persistent: just because you want something to change doesn’t mean it’s going to follow your timeline.—Jodi Spiro, third-grade teacher

It also showed them that hard work on a cause you believe in is worth it. When the reusable cutlery and cups returned to the dining hall after April break, the moment was more than just the culmination of a nearly school-year-long goal; it was a strong reminder of how young learners can help address problems that seem insurmountable—such as waste in the environment—and truly make a difference.

“It’s so easy to get overwhelmed with the bigness of it,” said Jodi, “but the students learned you can start with something small and in your control, like what’s happening in our school. They learned change is slow, but change is possible, and to be persistent. Just because you want something to change doesn’t mean it’s going to follow your timeline.”

They also learned that making good choices add up and that, often, being the change you wish to see in the world starts by simply making a small decision to do something.

“Don’t be a problem starter,” summarized Jodi. “Be a problem solver.”

Ethical Education

Disagreement is everywhere. At times it feels like it has overtaken discourse and that a civil exchange of ideas is near impossible. How are young people supposed to navigate this world?

When faced with disagreement the natural reaction is to pull back. But it is in those moments when leadership is needed most.—Ryan Hoglund, director of ethical education

At Rowland Hall, it is with the help of their teachers, administrators, and a bevy of special guests who are part of the recently revived Upper School Speaker Series.

The theme of this year’s series is “Leading with Impact While Navigating Disagreement.” The aim is to help students understand the importance of listening to diverse perspectives when forming opinions and to teach them to become leaders even in the face of contentious arguments.

“When faced with disagreement the natural reaction is to pull back,” said Ryan Hoglund, director of ethical education. “But it is in those moments when leadership is needed most. The speakers are helping our students learn how to lead in those moments.”

English teacher Kody Partridge began the speakers series more than a decade ago as part of her 11th-grade rhetorical research project. (As was the case with many programs, the series was shelved last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.) Series speakers are all considered changemakers—people who recognize when positive change is needed and take action to make a difference—in their respective fields. In their presentations, they lay out for students how they have dealt with disagreements in their professions and how those disagreements have helped them grow their skill sets and reach important goals.

The series kicked off in October with Brittney Cummins, educational advisor to Utah Governor Spencer Cox. Since then, Salt Lake Tribune Executive Editor Lauren Gustus, Millcreek City Council Representative Silvia Catten, alumna and activist Dulce Horn ’20, First District Congressional Representative Blake Moore, Senate Candidate Becky Edwards, Flourish Bakery and Flourish Ventures Executive Director Rev. Aimee Altizer, and Utah Senator Derek L. Kitchen have spoken to students.

I have really enjoyed how the speakers have helped us understand the importance of implementing these dialogue tactics in our day-to-day lives.—Kaitlyn Bates, class of 2022

“Millcreek City Councilwoman Silvia Catten discussed navigating billboard controversies,” said Dr. Carolyn Hickman, English department chair, when asked to share an example of a message from this year’s series that stood out to her. “She vividly illustrated the importance of active listening and empathy building as she spoke to the challenges of building compromise at the local level.”

“She explained how she worked around conflicts to help benefit her own community; I found her tactics about how to approach the more tense situations to be super informative and engaging.” added senior Kaitlyn Bates. “I have really enjoyed how the speakers have helped us understand the importance of implementing these dialogue tactics in our day-to-day lives.”

The speaker series is a companion piece to the Deliberate Dialogue skill set taught throughout the Upper School curriculum. These skills, defined early in the year so that students can develop an awareness of when to use them, include:

• Open-Mindedness: I am open to learning about the lives, values, and beliefs of others.

• Listening: I can reflect what the other person is saying.

• Speaking: I can speak for myself and not on the behalf of others.

• Responding: I am able to respond empathetically to others.

• Reflecting: I can find differences as well as similarities between my life, values, and beliefs, and those of others.


“Collaboration is messy. We want students to know that conflict can be productive and when that mess is managed you get the best outcomes,” said Ryan. “This not only helps prepare them for college, but for the world at large.”

Ethical Education

This week, Rowland Hall celebrated Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.'s life and legacy by focusing on the ways we can build a beloved community—a trusting, loving place where all people feel welcome and where individuals unite across differences.

Because each person in a community plays a role in realizing this vision, Rowland Hall dedicated the week surrounding Martin Luther King Jr. Day to a series of events and conversations designed to prompt reflection and foster solidarity towards action. 

"Students across the lower, middle, and upper schools were able to collectively engage in a program called Beloved@RowlandHall,” said Dr. Chandani Patel, director of equity and inclusion. “The interconnected program focused on Dr. King's idea of the beloved community, one that leads with love, understanding, and solidarity. Beloved@RowlandHall helped remind students that each of them holds the potential and responsibility to be a changemaker and that each of them is a valued and integral member of our beloved community."

Beloved@RowlandHall helped remind students that each of them holds the potential and responsibility to be a changemaker and that each of them is a valued and integral member of our beloved community.—Dr. Chandani Patel, director of equity and inclusion

On January 14, middle and upper schoolers had the opportunity to view the Brolly Arts film Beloved Community, a documentary featuring some of Utah’s civil rights leaders, and enjoy a performance by Utah’s Hip Hop Education and Resource Center—activities that, Dr. Patel explained, allowed them “to interrogate the power of storytelling through multiple methods towards a shared goal of recognition—of ourselves, each other, and our community.” Students then created artifacts depicting what they need from one another to feel beloved and how they can help build a community in which each member feels valued, integral, and beloved.

At Lower School’s annual Changemaker Chapel, held on January 18, students continued this practice of creating their own reflective artifacts, as well as learned from dancer and educator Ursula Perry, who performed a piece for students and “elicited their reflections about Dr. King, movement, stories, and each of their hopes for the world,” said Dr. Patel.

In addition to student events, Rowland Hall celebrated Dr. King’s legacy with a virtual evening of dialogue for all members of the school community. After viewing Beloved Community, participants had the chance to engage in a Q&A session featuring the Rev. France Davis, pastor emeritus, Calvary Baptist Church; Marian D. Howe-Taylor, communication and media outreach manager, Salt Lake Community College, and co-creator, Black Social Change Utah; Ursula Perry, dancer, Repertory Dance Theatre; and Amy MacDonald, director and founder, Brolly Arts.

Thank you to all members of the Rowland Hall community for your thoughtful participation this week and for the steps you are taking to shape our beloved community. As you continue on your own personal journey, we invite you to view educational material related to Brolly Arts’ current project, Black Social Change Utah 2.0. Also, keep an eye on our diversity, equity, and inclusion web page, where we’ll continue to announce upcoming evenings of dialogue.

Equity & Inclusion

Todd Brickson stands tall as a mountain in the world of ski racing. 

For the past 20 years, he has served as the program director of Rowmark Ski Academy, Rowland Hall’s world-class ski racing program, founded in 1982. An international level 500 coach in the US Ski & Snowboard Association, Todd has worked with hundreds of top-level Olympic, World Cup, and collegiate athletes. But, even with all that experience, those who know Todd don’t immediately bring up his coaching prowess, or his experience on the slopes. Instead, they talk about who he is as a person—and for good reason.

Priority one, before coaching, is to be a very good role model. You need to be the kind of person who young people aspire to be one day. Todd is solid in that way.—Olle Larsson, Rowmark Ski Academy co-founder

“Priority one, before coaching, is to be a very good role model in front of people. If you fail that, it doesn’t matter what kind of coach you are,” said Olle Larsson, former Rowmark program director and the co-founder of the program, who was instrumental in hiring Todd. “You need to be the kind of person who young people aspire to be one day. Todd is solid in that way.”

Building athletes of good character is central to Todd. He makes that clear on the first page of the handbook given to all team members. There, he writes that the main goal of the program is “for each Rowmarker to learn and develop responsible independence.” He emphasizes that there is more to being on the team than just making it down the hill, adding, “This is above all a process, a time of trial and error, a time to learn from mistakes, a time to learn how to win—and learn how to lose.”

The values of responsibility and independence that Todd promotes create a strong bedrock on which he builds exceptional competitors and people. But here is where Todd steps back a bit, to let the athletes find that fire within that’s needed to push themselves farther and achieve more. He’s the iconic definition of a coach in these moments, trusting that his athletes are capable of practicing what to do, and he allows them to do it. That mutual respect is what launches Rowmark athletes into greatness.

“Todd provided me with tools and then didn't put any pressure or expectation on race day. He knew that pushing wouldn’t help, and that I needed to figure it out,” said former Rowmarker and Olympic athlete Breezy Johnson ’13. “He provided me with the means to reach my incredibly high goals, and then was there with a hug and a word of advice, win or lose, at the end of the day.”

Todd does teach competitive spirit, but not in ways you may expect. He meets his students in competition in other arenas to show them that he respects them enough to go nose to nose. It may be on the golf course, in a go-kart, or by the side of a lake with a fishing pole in hand. Todd understands that coaching is a disposition and not contained to a certain time or place.

“There have been times when Todd has played hockey with us on a pond after skiing, or field hockey on dry land,” said Elisabeth Bocock, a senior who currently competes for both Rowmark and the US Ski Team. “He is never afraid to go shoulder on shoulder with us if that’s what it takes. He is super intense and does what he needs to do to win the game.”

And in his 20 years with the program, Todd’s intensity has helped raise the bar for Rowmark as an elite ski academy. Since 1988, there has been a representative from Rowmark at each Winter Olympics, and in 2014, the program became one of the first in the nation to achieve the Gold Certification level from the US Ski & Snowboard Association, and they’ve held onto that certification in the eight years since.

Rowmark’s skiers achieve off the slopes as well. The team currently has a 100 percent college placement rate, and its students are sought after by the best colleges and universities in the nation. “Todd is very involved in our academic success,” said Ian Hanrahan, co-captain of the Rowmark Academy Program. “He and the other coaches do a lot of work to make sure our teachers understand our busy schedules to help us stay on top of school and make sure we are successful skiers while still growing our academic careers.”

And Todd’s concern about the success of Rowmark skiers starts before they are even on the team. From the outset, he makes sure new recruits can thrive in the program. “Todd gives so much time to prospective families,” said Kathy Gunderson, former director of admission for Rowland Hall. “He cares so much about the candidates not only being a good fit for Rowmark but also finding academic success at the school as well. He’s brought recruiting to the next level.”

Todd’s recruiting prowess also extends to the coaches he selects to help guide the team. Every coach on Todd’s team knows they were selected for their excellence and are expected to reach extraordinarily high standards. But they also know that Todd views them as peers and wants them to feel welcome and able to grow as professionals through trial and error.

“Todd works to develop his staff,” said Rowmark Junior Program Director Troy Price. “Recently, three former staff members have gone on to coach for the US Ski Team. You must have excellent training to get job offers at that level.”

Staff development goes beyond coaching skills under Todd’s mentorship. After all, there is much more to the job than improving skiing skills. There are also all the logistical concerns, financial planning, health tracking, and emotional support needs that must be handled. Then there are the moments that are totally unexpected.

“My first season with the team we had a group of Rowmarkers involved in a head-on car accident while racing in Oregon,” said Troy. “Todd was coaching at another race in Whistler, Canada, yet he made arrangements to get to Portland. He stayed with our injured members during this extremely difficult time and was the glue that held everyone together. His empathy for others and his ability to stay calm in difficult situations is unmatched.”

Todd was a very important person in my development as an athlete. He taught me the tools I needed both technically with the fundamentals, and the greater work ethic required to make it to the highest level.—Breezy Johnson ‘13, Olympian

Todd’s two decades with Rowmark have left an indelible mark on all aspects of the program, and that impact will only continue to grow in the coming years. In 2019, an alpine training addition to the Utah Olympic Park became the team’s primary training facility, giving athletes access to the very slopes where their idols have competed. “This is the most important development for Rowmark since 1982,” said Olle. “The training arena that they now have does not exist anywhere else in the Northern Hemisphere.”

Time will tell what athletes will come off those slopes and into the national and international spotlights, but it’s clear that all of them will have benefitted from having Todd Brickson as a coach, mentor, and friend, just as those who came before them have.

“Todd was a very important person in my development as an athlete,” said Breezy. “He taught me the tools I needed both technically with the fundamentals, and the greater work ethic required to make it to the highest level.”

Rowmark

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Todd's anniversary isn't the only celebration for Rowmark Ski Academy this year. Rowmark is also excited to celebrate its 40th anniversary with a celebration weekend, March 10–12.

At only 18 years old, Rowmarker Mary Bocock has already had an impressive skiing career.

In addition to her achievements as a top Rowmark Ski Academy athlete, Mary had the chance to compete with the US Ski & Snowboard Team in Europe in January 2021, an opportunity that led to her first nomination to the US Alpine Ski Team later that year. Earlier this month, she was nominated to the US Ski Team for a second time. And prior to sustaining a knee injury in December, Mary was ranked first in super-G, third in giant slalom, and eighth in slalom in the United States for her age.

Mary will soon add another achievement to her resume—college athlete—when she joins the Dartmouth College women’s ski team next year. She plans to enroll as a first-year student in fall 2023, after taking a gap year to continue her healing and focus on her commitment to the US Ski Team before she dives back into a routine of balancing school, training, and racing.

“Joining the Dartmouth ski team has been one of my athletic goals since I started thinking about colleges,” said Mary, who long considered the Ivy League school not only because it offered a top ski program, but also because of its academic excellence.

“This is a great fit for Mary on all levels,” said Todd Brickson, Rowmark Ski Academy program director. “Dartmouth has a long history of developing world-class ski racers within their storied NCAA Division I ski team, in conjunction with their flexible academic structure and top-notch education.”

To celebrate Mary’s plan to attend Dartmouth, we asked her a few questions about her decision and her journey as a skier. The following interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

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When did you find out that you have a spot on Dartmouth's ski team? How did it feel to receive that news?

I started talking to the coach about a year and a half before I committed to skiing for him. I knew the coach was interested in me, but I knew that I shouldn’t get my hopes up because there could be other girls out there. So when he told me he wanted to offer me a spot in the fall of 2023, I felt relieved and excited that I didn’t have to worry about my college experience.

You'll be taking a gap year before heading to Dartmouth. Why did you make that choice?

I will be taking a gap year after I graduate in the spring so that I can focus on my commitment to the US Ski Team and take advantage of all the resources they provide. Throughout my whole racing career, I have always had to balance traveling and school, so I want to experience the sport without having to balance the stresses of high school alongside the pressure of performing well in races and traveling. The Dartmouth coach actually offered me a spot to start in the fall of 2022, but I decided that I want to take a year to mature as an athlete and really focus on racing to make the most of my opportunity with the US Ski Team.

You've been offered a spot on the Dartmouth team and you're on the US Ski Team—basically, you've achieved two of your dreams. While you can't know what lies ahead, how are you approaching these two amazing opportunities?

I feel very lucky to have these two incredible opportunities ahead of me. I am trying to stay present and not worry about how I will balance the two programs. I am just trying to take advantage of the places and lessons I am experiencing. I always try to not take anything for granted—especially after COVID—and make the most of my time traveling and exploring new mountains and countries.

Focusing on your time at Rowland Hall, what moment as a member of Rowmark are you most proud of?

I’ve had a lot of great experiences on Rowmark, so it’s hard for me to pick my favorite moment. But if I had to, I would say one of my favorite memories is when I won a GS [giant slalom] race in Breckenridge, Colorado, at the end of my junior year. It was that race that helped me lower my points enough to make criteria for the US Ski Team. When I came down and everyone was cheering for me, I was so excited that I couldn’t stop smiling. Then, a few minutes later, my coach came down and gave me a hug (which is rare because he’s not one for hugs), and I started to experience an overwhelming amount of emotions because it all felt real.

On the other side, some of the most memorable experiences from Rowmark have been off the snow. The conditioning/team bonding week is always a highlight of the year because the whole team comes together to compete with each other in a very cohesive way. Competition is one of my favorite aspects of ski racing, so I always have a lot of fun on the camping weekend when the whole trip is just filled with competition.

Tell us about the skills you built at Rowland Hall and on Rowmark that you'll be taking with you after graduation.

One of the most notable skills I’ve learned from being on Rowmark while attending a challenging high school is time management and communication. In order for me to keep up with my work while I’m gone, I have to be very diligent with letting my teachers know when I will be gone and updating them on my progress throughout my trips. My first few training camps with the US Ski Team have been very different compared to those with Rowmark because nobody else in my group is in school. I am the only one trying to keep up with classes while skiing at a high level. I have to find time to separate myself and sit down and do school work while my teammates do their other activities. However, I have actually started to really enjoy Zooming into my classes while I'm away on ski trips because it is an opportunity for me to take time off from thinking about skiing and still feel connected with my life at home.

Congratulations, Mary!

Athletics

Congratulations to junior Elisabeth Bocock, who this week was nominated to the US Ski Team.

Elisabeth is one of 42 athletes nominated to the US Alpine Ski Team and one of three athletes who will be joining the women’s Development Team (D-Team) for the first time for the 2022–2023 competition season. (Athletes qualify for the team in the spring based on selection criteria, and the official team is announced in the fall once nominees complete physical fitness testing and medical department clearance.) She is the youngest addition to the D-Team and the only new member from the state of Utah.

“It was unreal,” said Elisabeth of the moment she received the call from US Ski Team Coach Chip Knight congratulating her on her season and confirming her place on the team. “It was what I’ve been hoping for basically my whole life.”

She’s not kidding. Thanks to her family’s love of skiing, Elisabeth has been involved with the sport for as long as she can remember: she clipped into her first pair of skis at age two, and some of her earliest memories include traveling with her family to Colorado to watch the World Cup—an experience that inspired her first dreams of joining the US Ski Team. “Seeing people on the team there was super exciting,” she remembered. “It made me want to be a part of that.”

It was unreal. It was what I’ve been hoping for basically my whole life.—Elisabeth Bocock, class of 2023, on being nominated to the US Ski Team

It also didn’t hurt that Elisabeth has three older siblings—brothers Scottie ’18 and Jimmy, and sister Mary—who were early naturals on the slopes and whose ski racing journeys inspired her own competitive drive. Elisabeth began racing for the Snowbird Ski Team at age six, and she joined Rowmark Ski Academy at age 13—a move she credits for preparing her to excel in both racing and academics, and where she’s had an exceptional career. In the 2021–2022 season alone, Elisabeth had five podium finishes in elite-level FIS races and is currently ranked first for her age in the US in slalom, giant slalom, and super-G, and second in the world in giant slalom.

“What is so impressive about Elisabeth objectively earning a spot on the US Ski Team is that her season was filled with setbacks,” said Foreste Peterson, Rowmark Ski Academy’s head women's FIS coach. “Whether it was having to quarantine from COVID exposures, or the many hard crashes she took that left her concussed, bloody, bruised, and banged up, she was knocked down time and time again. Yet, she bounced back every time, better than before, and always with a smile on her face. It was truly a pleasure to work with Elisabeth this year, and I so look forward to seeing what her future holds.”

And while Elisabeth’s riding the high of simply making the US Ski Team, she’s also enjoying an additional perk not available to every athlete in her position: the knowledge that this new experience will include her older sister (and role model), Mary, who was nominated to the US Ski Team last spring. “I’m super excited to work together in a different atmosphere,” said Elisabeth. “Mary’s been a real inspiration to me and has shown me what it takes to get to where I need to go.”

We can’t wait to see where she goes next. Congratulations, Elisabeth—we’ll be cheering you on!

Rowmark

We are proud of the Olympians representing Rowmark Ski Academy and Rowland Hall at this month's Olympic Games, which kick off February 4.

Since their earliest days on the mountain, these skiers have been on a journey toward athletic excellence. Being named to their countries’ alpine ski teams is one of the highest honors of their careers, and represents hours of sacrifice and a steady commitment to intense training and competition.

While four of our former athletes qualified for the 2022 Olympics, two will be competing in Beijing this month.

“Unfortunately, Breezy Johnson and Madi Hoffman both sustained season-ending knee injuries while training for the Games and will not be able to compete,” said Todd Brickson, Rowmark Ski Academy program director. “Nevertheless, they qualified for the Olympics and we could not be more proud of Breezy and Madi. Injury is a common reality in our sport and the timing is devastating, but they will be back stronger than ever. Katie Hensien and Katie Vesterstein will carry the Rowmark Ski Academy and Rowland Hall torch, and we will be watching!”

To help the Rowland Hall community prepare to cheer on our former Rowmarkers at the Games, we have provided brief overviews of the Olympians below (as well as a throwback photo for each!).

Team USA: Katie Hensien ’18

Katie Hensien graduated from Rowmark and Rowland Hall in 2018. She is a five-year member of the US Ski Team, and also currently skis for and attends the University of Denver. Katie is originally from Redmond, Washington, and will make her Olympic debut in Beijing. She is the 2020 national champion in giant slalom and was a part of the Junior World Championships team that won the silver medal in the team event in Val di Fassa, Italy.

“Katie is an incredible talent and hard worker, and is someone who always has a huge smile on her face,” said Todd. “She brings incredible energy and positive vibes into every room.”

Update February 9, 2022: Katie placed 26th in slalom.

Team Estonia: Kaitlyn (Katie) Vesterstein ’17

Katie Vesterstein graduated from Rowmark and Rowland Hall in 2017. A native of Duluth, Minnesota, Katie is currently a senior at the University of Utah and an All-American member of the university’s national champion ski team. Katie is a dual citizen of the US and Estonia and will be representing Estonia at the Beijing Games.

“Katie is a fierce competitor and incredibly kind teammate who grew up ski racing on the small hills of Minnesota before joining Rowmark and Rowland Hall for two years and propelling herself onto the prestigious University of Utah ski team,” said Todd.

Update February 7, 2022: Katie placed 35th in giant slalom.

Update February 9, 2022: Due to a crash, Katie received a DNF in slalom.

Team Australia: Madison (Madi) Hoffman ’18 (Injured)

Madi Hoffman graduated from Rowmark and Rowland Hall in 2018. She has been a member of the Australian National Team for several years and is also a two-year member of the national champion University of Utah ski team. Madi is a three-time Australian National Champion in slalom and giant slalom, and was one of only two Aussie women to qualify for the 2022 Olympics in alpine skiing. She had been preparing for this moment with her coach (and former Rowmark head coach) Jim Tschabrun for four years.

“Madi is one of the hardest working and thoughtful young women I have ever had the pleasure to coach,” said Todd. “Her unfortunate knee injury will keep her from competing in this Olympics, but she is a very determined, talented ski racer, and I have no doubt that she will be back stronger than ever."

Team USA: Breezy Johnson ’13 (Injured)

Breezy Johnson graduated from Rowmark and Rowland Hall in 2013. Originally from Jackson Hole, Wyoming, Breezy joined the US Ski Team in 2014 and qualified for her first Olympic Games in 2018, where she placed seventh in downhill and 14th in super-G. Prior to her knee injury, Breezy was a clear medal contender after reeling off seven podium finishes and nine top-fives in her last 10 World Cup downhill races.

“In Breezy's time at Rowland Hall and Rowmark, she was incredibly determined and hardworking, both on the hill and in the classroom. At a young age Breezy had a very strong belief in herself and what was possible for her to achieve,” said Todd. “All I can say is that she is one of the world's best and she will be back with a vengeance.”

Schedule

Women’s alpine skiing events begin on Monday, February 7. Check out the full Alpine skiing schedule for event information.

Help Us Cheer on the Athletes!

Follow us on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter for updates.

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Banner: Katie Hensien competing for Rowmark Ski Academy.

Alumni

Since the age of six, Rowland Hall junior—and passionate ski racer—Mary Bocock has had a big goal: to join the US Ski Team. That dream just came true.

I’ve wanted to be on the team ever since I started racing, so getting the call felt like I was achieving a goal I’d had for over 10 years.—Mary Bocock, class of 2022

On May 3, US Ski & Snowboard announced that 44 top national athletes, including Mary, have been nominated to the US Alpine Ski Team for the 2021–2022 competition season (athletes qualify based on published selection criteria in the prior season). Mary is one of only three new members of the women’s Development Team, also known as the D-Team; she’s also the youngest addition to that team and the only new member hailing from the state of Utah.

“When I got the call from [US Ski Team Coach] Chip Knight congratulating me on my nomination to the D-Team, I was overwhelmed with excitement,” said Mary. “I’ve wanted to be on the team ever since I started racing, so getting the call felt like I was achieving a goal I’d had for over 10 years. I am looking forward to skiing with a group of girls who push me and who know what it takes to be the best.”

Mary had a sensational 2020–2021 race season, which included a November 2020 US Nationals performance with Rowmark Ski Academy that earned her an invitation to compete with the US Ski Team in Europe. After placing in several races in Cortina, Italy, and Garmisch, Germany, in early 2021, Mary returned to the United States to finish the season: at the FIS Elite Races at Sugar Bowl Resort and Squaw Valley, California, she took 10th place overall (second for U19s) in giant slalom, and 11th place overall (fourth for U19s) in slalom. At the FIS Spring Series in Breckenridge, Colorado, she won the giant slalom race—a win that currently ranks her second in the nation and sixth in the world in giant slalom for her age, as well as first and ninth in the world in super-G. Finally, she ended the season with a 12th-place finish in super-G at the US National Championships in Aspen, Colorado.

Mary's fierce competitive nature is among the best in the world and I'm confident that she will take advantage of this opportunity.—Graham Flinn, head FIS coach

“Mary has worked incredibly hard day in, day out, not only this season but for many years in order to put herself in a position to accomplish the goal of being named to the US Ski Team,” said Graham Flinn, head FIS coach for Rowmark Ski Academy. “I'm very proud of the way she carried herself throughout this past year's successes and challenges. She continues to impress with her drive and ability to be a student of the sport. Her fierce competitive nature is among the best in the world and I'm confident that she will take advantage of this opportunity.”

The US Ski Team’s alpine athletes have already kicked off pre-season camps, and the official team will be announced this fall once nominees complete required physical fitness testing and US Ski & Snowboard medical department clearance. We will continue to update the Rowland Hall community on Mary’s progress in this exciting new chapter in her ski-racing career—which she’ll balance alongside her senior year at Rowland Hall—through the fall and winter.

Congratulations, Mary!

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The below video, first shared with the Rowland Hall community in April 2021, features Mary's reflections on competing in Europe earlier this year.

Rowmark

This summer, Rowland Hall welcomed former competitive ski racer Foreste Peterson to the Rowmark Ski Academy team.

We could not be more excited to have Foreste on board to work with our Academy athletes on and off the hill to share her knowledge, work ethic, and grit.—Todd Brickson, Rowmark program director

Foreste joins Rowmark as U19 International Ski Federation coach and academic liaison. A former racer for the Squaw Valley Ski Team, US Ski Team, Dartmouth College Ski Team, and Team X Alpine private women’s team, Foreste brings to Rowmark valuable elite athlete knowledge and experience that will benefit our student-athletes.

“We are thrilled that Foreste has joined our Rowmark Ski Academy staff,” said Todd Brickson, program director. “Her international experience and skill as an elite ski racer; her determination to scratch and claw her way to the top of collegiate skiing, all the way to the World Cup; and her humble yet confident demeanor all combine to bring an incredible person and personality to our coaching team. We could not be more excited to have Foreste on board to work with our Academy athletes on and off the hill to share her knowledge, work ethic, and grit.”

To help introduce Foreste to the Rowland Hall community, we asked her to play a round of 20 questions. (Be sure to also check out 20 questions with Colette Smith, Upper School girls soccer coach, published earlier this fall.) Foreste's answers have been lightly edited for style and context.

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1. We’re so excited that you’re one of our Rowmark Ski Academy coaches. What made you decide to join the Rowmark team?

Thank you, I’m excited too! It was a pretty easy decision to join Rowmark. I had just retired from my own racing career and knew that I wanted to stay in the sport and give back to the next generation of ski racers. I also knew I wasn’t ready to leave Utah, so it was a no-brainer to not pass up this opportunity.

2. What initially got you interested in ski racing as a kid?

Both my parents were ski racers and avid skiers, so they put my older sister and me on skis at the age of two. At four I joined the Squaw Valley Ski Team junior program, which transitioned into the race program. Skiing has always been a huge part of my family’s lifestyle, so I didn’t really have a choice in the beginning. Luckily, I fell in love with it early on and knew that I wanted to take it as far as I could.

3. You have impressive credentials: you were a member of the US Ski Team for four years, then competed for Dartmouth College, where—among your many achievements—you raced in World Cup competitions and earned the Class of 1976 Award as one of the college’s most outstanding female athletes of 2017. You also skied for Team X Alpine, the elite private women’s team, for two years. How did these opportunities as an athlete prepare you for this new chapter of coaching?

While I’ll certainly take all that I’ve learned from my experiences as an athlete into my coaching career, I think what prepared me most were certain pieces of feedback and advice I got from my former coaches over the years. How I thought about skiing and how I carried myself as an athlete were largely influenced by how I was coached. Now that I’m the one in the coaching role, I’m still benefiting from the pearls of wisdom that struck me back when I was an athlete. This wisdom has not just prepared me, but has compelled me to stay in the sport so that I can pass it on to the next generation, and hopefully make a difference in their athletic careers.

4. You are coaching Rowmark’s U19 athletes (students aged 16–18). As someone who began competing with the US Ski Team at age 16, you understand what it’s like to juggle athletics and academics at a young age. How do you see yourself helping your student-athletes balance those areas?

I do know what it’s like to juggle athletics and academics, and I know how challenging it can be. It wasn’t until I got to Dartmouth that I realized what time management really meant. More than that, I learned how incredibly important it is to make the most of the limited time you have, whether in the library, in the gym, or on the ski hill. I found that staying present, focusing on the task at hand, and being deliberate about what I was trying to accomplish helped keep me grounded, especially in times of stress.

I’m already so impressed by how much the student-athletes I’m working with have on their plates and how well they manage the loads. That said, I realize there will inevitably be bumps in the road for each of them, so as their coach I fully intend to serve as a resource, provide guidance, and do whatever I can to help them figure out how to best strike a healthy life balance so they can focus on what’s important in the moment.

5. As a competitor, you skied all over the world. If you could only ski at one resort for the rest of your life, which one would you choose?

That is a really tough one, but if I had to pick one, it would probably be Jackson Hole.

6. If the powder fairy granted you the chance to pick your perfect ski weather, what would it be?

Twenty-five degrees, bluebird skies, little to no humidity, and no wind!

7. Necessary equipment aside, what’s the one item you can’t be on the mountain without?

A neckie, a.k.a. neck warmer, neck gaiter, or buff. No matter the temperature, I feel naked if I’m not wearing one.

8. What’s your favorite aprѐs ski meal?

Nothing beats Wiener schnitzel in Europe.

9. Who’s your favorite professional skier to watch?

When I was younger it was always Bode Miller. Nowadays, it’s probably Wendy Holdener for the women and Alexis Pinturault for the men.

10. Let’s step away from skiing for a moment and chat about other areas of your life. What is one of your favorite things you did this summer?

I went home to California to see each of my parents, which I hadn’t done in a long time. Part of my time I spent visiting my dad in Squaw Valley and Berkeley (where I split my time growing up), and the rest of my time I spent visiting my mom in Santa Barbara. Squaw Valley and Santa Barbara are two of my favorite places, so getting some quality time in each place made me really happy in and of itself.

11. What book do you read over and over?

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr.

12. What’s the last show you binge-watched?

I’m not much of a binge-watcher, let alone TV watcher, but I’m currently making my way through Ozark.

13. What’s your dream vacation?

Anywhere that has white sand and clear blue water. It would also include eating freshly caught seafood for most meals, hiking to waterfalls, no snakes, and daily massages.

14. What’s one fun fact about you that you don’t often get to share?

I have two: (1) I am a fifth-generation Californian, and (2) I strangely enjoy the hiccups.

15. What one phone app could you not live without?

Probably Spotify. Music and podcasts add a lot of enjoyment to my days.

16. If you could have dinner with anyone in history, who would you pick?

This one is really hard for me, so I picked three from our lifetime: [musician] Taylor Swift, [tennis player] Naomi Osaka, and [basketball coach] Steve Kerr.

17. You grew up in Berkeley, California, but moved to Park City when you joined Team X Alpine. What do you most enjoy about living in Utah?

I love being able to walk out my front door and be on a hiking or mountain biking trail within five minutes, or to be within a 30-minute drive to some of the best skiing in the US. The access here is truly incredible. I also love the community feel of living in a mountain town. There’s always something going on, and it’s so fun to live in a place where the options are endless everyday.

18. Who has been one of the biggest influences in your life?

Each of my parents has been very influential in my life. They have always been my biggest supporters, no matter what the outcome looks like. They’ve taught me how to put my best foot forward and give 100% in whatever it is I’m pursuing. They’ve shown me what it means to set your mind to something, and what it takes to get there. I definitely wouldn’t be where I am today if it weren’t for them, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have had them as my role models.

I’d love to be able to instill a resilient mindset in my student-athletes … if they can learn to be resilient in this sport, they will be resilient in all other areas of life.

19. What is the top life skill that you want to help build in your student-athletes this season?

I’d love to be able to instill a resilient mindset in my student-athletes. 2020 is certainly showing all of us that life can throw some major curve balls, so whether it’s on the scale of a global pandemic or a DNF [Did Not Finish] in a ski race, I want my athletes to be able to pick themselves up when the going gets tough and “keep on keeping on.” That’s not to say I want them to be heartless, emotionless robots—absolutely not. I just think that ski racing can teach them so much about not giving up when things aren’t going well or as planned, and if they can learn to be resilient in this sport, they will be resilient in all other areas of life.

20. If you had to give your athletes one piece of advice or one affirmation to keep in mind before they race, what would it be?

Trust in your abilities and take the reins. Once you get into the starting gate, you are the boss, so make the most of it!

Rowmark

After a four-month delay caused by the global pandemic, the US Ski & Snowboard Intermountain Division (IMD) announced on September 22 their 2019–2020 season awards. We are thrilled to share that Rowmark Junior Program Director Troy Price was named IMD Official of the Year.

An already well-recognized coach (Troy was most recently named US Ski and Snowboard’s Development Coach of the Year in 2018), Troy’s career is marked by an exceptional commitment to his student-athletes and colleagues, as well as to the larger division—he is actively involved with IMD, running yearly officials’ clinics and, this month, completing studies to become a International Ski Federation (FIS) technical delegate, the senior alpine official at internationally scored events. With the completion of this certification, Troy has become the division’s first new FIS technical delegate in 25 years—a necessity for this area of the country.

“There is a desperate need for this certification in our division and region,” said Rowmark Program Director Todd Brickson, who also noted that Troy takes on both his IMD and Rowmark tasks “with tremendous passion and knowledge of our great sport.”

As someone who is enthusiastic about helping to improve the ski-racing experience for athletes not only in Utah, but throughout the West, Troy is honored to be recognized by his peers for his work—although he is quick to point out that he is one of many working toward this goal.

“All alpine officials play a critical role to ensure our athletes have a safe environment and to enforce the rules of our sport. Our division is full of great individuals willing to donate their time and expertise,” Troy said. “I have had the pleasure to follow the lead of many great officials that have guided me throughout my career. I now have the pleasure to share my experience with the next generation and some outstanding folks who volunteer their time throughout our division. I look forward to continuing my education and giving back to the sport for many years to come.”

In addition to Troy’s recognition, five Rowmark student-athletes were recognized by IMD:

The breadth of the awards, both academic and athletic, across all ski racing disciplines is a reflection of our Rowmark values of teamwork, balance, and determination.

• Carter Louchheim ’20 was named the 2019–2020 season’s Alan Hayes Intermountain Scholar for his athletic and academic achievements.

• Harry Hoffman ’23 earned the Bryce Astle Intermountain Cup Award for men’s overall, as well as Intermountain Cup Awards for men’s slalom (first place), men’s giant slalom (first place), and men’s super-G (second place).

• Elisabeth Bocock ’23 earned the Bryce Astle Intermountain Cup Award for women’s overall, as well as Intermountain Cup Awards for women’s slalom (third place), women’s giant slalom (first place), and women’s super-G (second place).

• Jack AbuHaidar ’22 earned an Intermountain Cup Award in men’s giant slalom (third place).

• Dagny Brickson ’21 earned an Intermountain Cup Award in women’s downhill (second place).


“I'm so pleased to have so many Rowmark athletes receiving awards from our Intermountain Division,” said Troy. “Carter, Harry, Elisabeth, Jack, and Dagny all came through the Rowmark Junior Program. It is extremely rewarding to see them continue their love for the sport and their pursuit of excellence.”

Todd echoed Troy and said Rowmark is proud of its award winners. “The breadth of the awards, both academic and athletic, across all ski racing disciplines is a reflection of our Rowmark values of teamwork, balance, and determination.”

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Banner photo: Troy Price, left, with coaches Megan Hanrahan and Jay Sawyer and some of the members of the Rowmark Junior 2019–2020 All-Mountain Rippers team.

Rowmark

Our condolences to the loved ones of the following alumni and friends of Rowland Hall who passed away during the 2023–2024 school year.

Peter Billings ’63, alumnus, parent, grandparent, and former board member and board chair, passed away on June 29, 2024.

Susan Tanner Wood Chapman ’62 passed away on June 5, 2024.

Mary Anne Chesarek ’62 passed away on March 25, 2024.

Carol Dumke ’45 passed away on December 10, 2023.

Joyce Orlob Evans, former student, passed away on January 27, 2024.

Marvin Jones ’66 passed away on May 31, 2024.

Oscar Wood Moyle IV ’90, alumnus, parent, and board member, passed away on May 19, 2024.

Anne Hilgard Tittmann Widerstrom ’53 passed away on September 25, 2023.

Cynthia Muirhead Worthington ’51 passed away on December 26, 2023.

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If you know of a Rowland Hall community member who should be acknowledged in this way, please contact Marc DeCoste, associate director of alumni and donor engagement.

In Memoriam

Author's note: Daisy's pronouns are she/they and have been used interchangeably throughout this article. Learn more.

Staring at her phone, Daisy Innis ’23 almost couldn’t believe what she was seeing.

It was a June morning, and Daisy was busy at her summer job as a camp counselor. Just moments before, while preparing to wrangle a group of children and their gear onto a bus for that day’s field trip, Daisy had seen a notification from The New York Times Learning Network in their inbox. The winners of the 2023 Student Editorial Contest, to which Daisy had entered an original essay (shared at the end of this story), had been announced.

This year, students from around the world submitted 12,592 essays to the New York Times Learning Network’s annual competition, and only 151 were chosen for recognition.

Part of Daisy’s mind remained on their inbox as she got campers seated and ready for the drive. When that task was accomplished, Daisy settled into a seat, clicked the announcement, and began scrolling. Suddenly, their heart gave a leap of recognition: her own name was among the contest’s 33 honorable mentions. She almost couldn’t believe it. “I was a little bit in shock,” she remembered.

That emotion was understandable. This year, students from around the world submitted 12,592 essays to the New York Times Learning Network’s annual competition, and only 151 were chosen for recognition: 11 top winners, 12 runners-up, 33 honorable mentions, and 95 round-four finalists. Daisy was also the only student from Utah to be recognized in this year’s contest.

For Daisy, the recognition was huge, not only because so few entries could be honored, but because the moment marked an important milestone in a months-long process of reflection and healing.

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Daisy’s journey to New York Times recognition kicked off in a somewhat unexpected way: with a trip to Utah’s Capitol Hill.

On January 24, 2023, Daisy attended a House Health and Human Services Standing Committee meeting for House Bill 132 (later Senate Bill 16) during the Utah State Legislature’s 2023 General Session. As an experienced peer educator for Planned Parenthood Association of Utah, a lobbyist during this year’s session, and a devoted community advocate, Daisy had a clear understanding of the impact that this bill, designed to prevent all gender-affirming care for minors, would have on young Utahns.

“This sort of legislature affects so many people in the state of Utah, in a way that is overall life-changing,” she explained.

As she sat in the meeting, Daisy watched, frustrated, as the bill’s sponsor introduced witnesses who argued against gender-affirming care but were unable to provide evidence of their claims. This was a high-stakes legislative session, Daisy thought, and would affect people’s lives. How could it be that students like her were held to far higher standards in the classroom than legislative witnesses were in committee meetings? “I have been taught that you need to have sources, evidence—you need to back it up, you need to list your sources,” said Daisy.

This lack of sources made the passage of the bill three days later especially upsetting for Daisy. “I was so angry,” they remembered, and that anger, as well as the fear Daisy felt for those affected by the bill, stayed with them. Come spring, said Daisy, they still found themself reflecting on the experience. The anger hadn’t dimmed.

It was at this time that Daisy’s AP Literature teacher, Dr. Carolyn Hickman, introduced a unit titled What Makes Us Human?, an opportunity for students to read works such as Ted Chiang’s Exhalation, Jean-Paul Sartre’s “Existentialism Is a Humanism,” and Megan Garber’s “We’re Already Living in the Metaverse” while collectively trying to process broader hot-topic conversations around generative AI and ChatGPT, which had been picking up in earnest since OpenAI launched their chatbot in November 2022. Dr. Hickman asked students to reflect on these in-class conversations, then find ways to share their own commentary with real-world audiences. As she reflected, Daisy kept thinking back to the misinformation leading states, including Utah, to pass bills limiting or blocking transgender youth health care—and realized she wasn't as worried about AI and ChatGPT as others. What she was actually afraid of were politicians who share propaganda and misinformation that impact human lives.

“What I was afraid of was the legislation being passed. To me, it feels more tangible,” Daisy explained. “At least if you use ChatGPT you can ask it to give you sources.”

Daisy decided to tackle this topic, choosing for their real-world audience The New York Times Learning Network, which had recently opened its 2023 Student Editorial Contest, an annual opportunity for middle and high school students between the ages of 13 and 19 to share original opinion pieces on the issues that matter to them. Student writers are asked to use at least one source published in the Times and at least one source from outside the Times, and to limit arguments to 450 words, with winners chosen from those who “not only ground their claims in strong evidence, but also engage [the judges] with voice and style.”

Once she had picked her topic, Daisy remembers sitting down in English class, putting on her headphones, and letting the words flow onto the page. It was as though all she had been ruminating on had been ready to come out, and she remembers the writing process as cathartic and healing. “It was an honest expression of what I’d been reflecting on for months, and probably a good exercise in writing for me,” Daisy remembered. The process also helped Daisy feel renewed passion for the often exhausting work of community advocacy, as well as helped her better understand, learn from, and harness the anger she’d been feeling.

Daisy's opinion piece asked readers to focus not on how the writing is produced, but instead on all the ways we fail to hold others accountable for the information they disseminate.—Dr. Carolyn Hickman, AP English teacher and Upper School English Department chair

“This was a reminder of the passion piece of advocacy—I was so angry, and being able to channel that anger into this piece helped me to think through it and reflect on it, and also to sort of share that anger, because it can be hard to be angry by yourself,” said Daisy.

Importantly, sharing that anger also helped Daisy realize she wasn’t alone. The New York Times recognition showed her that her perspective had struck a chord, providing a necessary perspective in ongoing conversations about not only AI but human-generated misinformation.

“Daisy's opinion piece asked readers to focus not on how the writing is produced, but instead on all the ways we fail to hold others accountable for the information they disseminate,” said Dr. Hickman. “It doesn't matter if it's generated by AI or simply fabricated out of thin air, she challenged, if we don't insist on careful sourcing of facts, data, and opinions as others wield information in ways that affect us all.”

Daisy said their New York Times recognition has given them more confidence in their writing—and that being recognized by a national paper of record isn’t too shabby, either. “It’s pretty cool to be picked out of 12,000 entries, and it’s also really cool that my name is in the New York Times, especially as an avid New York Times reader and crossword-doer,” she said.

Daisy is currently attending the University of Puget Sound, where she’s planning to pursue a degree in the school’s Science, Technology, Health & Society program, with a minor in bioethics, and is contemplating later earning a master of public health. As a Matelich Scholar, Daisy is also working to build community on the Puget Sound campus and said they’ll continue to draw on this experience to stay passionate about this important work.

“I intend to continue working in the same vein that I have been doing,” said Daisy, “and it’s really important to me to remember my values, and my anger, because that is really going to fuel me, that passion and anger and desire, but also the joy that I feel doing work in the community. Finding that balance, but also remembering the fact that I feel emotions about it, whether good or bad, is the best motivator.”

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We invite the Rowland Hall community to enjoy Daisy’s essay, shared below.

When It Comes to Secondary Education, Are We Fearing the Right Things?

By Daisy Innis, Class of 2023

In the wake of ChatGPT’s release, I cannot quite find it in myself to care as much as my parents and teachers. My mother says I’m a fatalist, and my teachers want to know why. But my question is: is generative AI and ChatGPT the right thing to fear?

Much like Mr. Aumann, a professor interviewed for the New York Times’ reflection on ChatGPT and education, my teachers are considering methods to discourage use of this technology. They’ve considered hand-written assessments and detection programs. They have, like many, spent a significant amount of time trying to outwit AI. For them, the possibility of AI-generated student writing is one of their biggest educational concerns.

But it isn’t mine. It is difficult for me to be concerned about the possibility of academic dishonesty in classrooms when I see much more pressing issues within the (mis)use of information. As a student in Utah, I have watched state legislators—in my state and others—be held to a lower academic standard and pass legislation with disastrous consequences.

As a high school student, had I submitted a paper without sources, or even used an AI tool, I would have been failed, and further disciplined in the case of the latter. That disciplinary action would likely follow me for the rest of my education.

During this year’s legislative session, S.B. 16, a bill preventing all gender-affirming care for minors, became law. I attended the committee meeting of a prior iteration of the bill, H.B. 132. I watched Representative Shipp introduce witnesses who spoke without regard for the desires of trans kids and without clear evidence for their claims. Most memorably, when asked for his sources, Dr. David Boettger replied that he didn’t remember, and that he didn’t have them with him.

As a high school student, had I submitted a paper without sources, or even used an AI tool, I would have been failed, and further disciplined in the case of the latter. That disciplinary action would likely follow me for the rest of my education. Dr. Boettger’s testimony was accepted without consideration of his sources, and used to later pass S.B. 16. His choices won’t follow him. This bill, backed by unnamed sources, endangers the lives of trans kids across the entire state of Utah—a state which already boasts a consistently higher suicide rate among the LGBTQ+ community than the national rate. This bill, which has been held to a lower standard of research than a high school English paper, deprives people I love of care crucial to their livelihood and survival.

So no, I am not terrified about the use of generative AI in classrooms. I am no more afraid of plagiarism than before. I am terrified of the world we live in, where I have been held to a higher standard of academic honesty than my legislators. I am terrified for those who are going to die because of the choices they have made.

Works Cited

Huang, Kalley. “Alarmed by A.I. Chatbots, Universities Start Revamping How They Teach.” New York Times. January 16, 2023. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/01/16/technology/chatgpt-artificial-intelligence-universities.html?smid=nytcore-ios-share&referringSource=articleShare.

“LDS Church and Suicide Prevention.” PFLAG. https://pflag.org/resource/lds-church-and-suicide-prevention/.

“Minutes of the House Health and Human Services Committee.” Utah Legislature. January 24, 2023. https://le.utah.gov/interim/2023/html/00000887.htm.

Schott, Brian. “Blocking Gender-Affirming Care in Utah Could Be Found Unconstitutional, a Legal Review Found.” Salt Lake Tribune. January 26, 2023. https://www.sltrib.com/news/politics/2023/01/26/breaking-bill-blocking-gender/.

Wen, Anne. “ChatGPT and Plagiarism: Student Cheating Concerns May Be Overblown.” Teen Vogue. February 13, 2023. https://www.teenvogue.com/story/chatgpt-plagiarism-cheating-students.

Student Voices

Our condolences to the loved ones of the following alumni and friends of Rowland Hall who passed away during the 2022–2023 school year.

Carolyn Bone, former staff member, passed away on June 22, 2023.

Susan VanVoorhis Burdett, former student, passed away on April 28, 2023.

Jackson Byck ’17 passed away on August 7, 2022.

David Clegg ’62 passed away on February 8, 2023.

Mitzi Conover, parent, passed away on January 23, 2023.

Frances Pearson Crossier ’56 passed away on January 30, 2023.

Nathaniel Goodman ’64 passed away on September 5, 2023.

Judith Caldwell Hardy ’59 passed away on December 24, 2022.

Mackay Hare ’15 passed away on August 15, 2022.

Roxanne Christensen Lazzara ’65 passed away in November 2022.

Ed Macner, Upper School chemistry teacher from 1981 to 2003, passed away on March 16, 2023.

Ray Melia ’96 passed away in June 2023.

Tatiana Miller ’02 passed away in February 2023.

Nancy Payne Paxton ’43 passed away on October 5, 2022.

Grant Sibley ’83 passed away on September 11, 2023.

Gregory Soter ’63 passed away on August 15, 2023.

Elizabeth “Betsy” Totten ’58 passed away on November 5, 2022.

John Waldo ’63 passed away on September 17, 2023.

Sara Spade Warren ’98, alumna and parent, passed away on October 26, 2022.

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If you know of a Rowland Hall community member who should be acknowledged in this way, please contact Marc DeCoste, associate director of alumni and donor engagement

In Memoriam

Chloe Jones ’11 is back on familiar ground. As the new executive director of UtahPresents, and the assistant dean for art and creative engagement for the College of Fine Arts at the University of Utah, her home base is now Kingsbury Hall.

“I took my first dance class at Tanner Dance when I was two,” Chloe said. “I have vivid memories of being in Kingsbury Hall growing up. It’s surreal to be back on campus in this new capacity.”

I am very committed to continuing our mission of bringing diverse artistic and cultural experiences here to
Salt Lake.—Chloe Jones ’11

While Chloe’s office may be in Kingsbury Hall, the mission of UtahPresents reaches well beyond the grand staircase that leads to the theater. The organization stages performances and cultural experiences across Salt Lake County with the help of several partner organizations. It is also instrumental in arts education, with programs spanning from kindergarten through high school, and into colleges and universities.

“I was drawn to UtahPresents because of the organization’s strong foundation, and I’m excited to continue building on the successes they have had in the past,” Chloe said. “I am very committed to continuing our mission of bringing diverse artistic and cultural experiences here to Salt Lake.”

Chloe is one of the hundreds of thousands of people who make art possible in communities around the world, but she’s not who you might think of when you think of someone who works in the arts. You may picture an actor or prima ballerina, or an up-and-coming sculptor with a hot new show, and while those people are important, they aren’t all the arts have to offer—and are actually a very small part of the overall puzzle.

“A career in the arts is not only about being a performer,” said Sofia Gorder, Rowland Hall’s arts chair of dance education and Chloe’s former dance teacher. “The way we frame a career in the arts has to really shift and change and recognize that it is part of a larger whole, rather than an isolated marginalized space where very few succeed.”

The opportunity to explore different facets of the arts is one of the reasons Chloe is now with UtahPresents. In her new role, she said she is asking what is possible within the arts, and how to tap into the sense of curiosity that brings people to the spaces where art occurs. “Often younger individuals’ relationship to art is through their own practice of art or through consumption of art,” she said. “There are infinite ways to be an artist or an arts worker. That's the beauty of the arts—the space for imagination, creativity, and innovation is vast.”

And those active in the arts will tell you that art should not be centered around a person or persons in the spotlight, but instead involve entire communities. The more voices and contributions to the process, the richer and more profound it becomes. That is the power of art, and its presence enriches the lives of everyone it touches. This is why schools, including Rowland Hall, so strongly emphasize the importance of arts education.

“Art turns up the volume on our nerves so we confront the world in a way that is more human. It allows us to see the world and feel the world, perceive that world that is richer because of the lenses that art gives us,” said Chloe’s former English teacher Joel Long, who teaches Upper School English and creative writing at Rowland Hall today. “All those things heighten our ability and our vulnerability and allow us to enter the world more fully.”

Chloe also knows it isn’t just how art connects us to the world, but also how it connects us to each other and spurs us to action, making us brave in the times when we are most fearful. “I think the arts give us inroads to understand different social issues,” said Chloe. “They are a critical way of convening and building community around those issues. I feel very strongly we need the arts to inspire us.”

Chloe’s education at Rowland Hall laid the groundwork of her arts-filled career. She was a Lifer, or a student who attended the school for 12 or more years. She described the school as her community growing up, and said she is especially thankful she was chosen as a Cumming Scholar in ninth grade. During high school she was a member of the dance company and the co-editor-in-chief of the literary magazine, Tesserae. But it was the more intangible skills she gained that proved to be the most useful.

Rowland Hall made me a critical and curious thinker, and reinforced my love of questions and helped me become more creative and strategic in trying to answer those questions. It was such a nurturing and academically challenging environment, and that combination made me more resilient—and you need to be resilient to pursue a career in the arts.—Chloe Jones ’11

“Rowland Hall made me a critical and curious thinker, and reinforced my love of questions and helped me become more creative and strategic in trying to answer those questions,” she said. “It was such a nurturing and academically challenging environment, and that combination made me more resilient—and you need to be resilient to pursue a career in the arts.”

After Rowland Hall, Chloe attended and graduated from Wesleyan University, and began her career working at the Wesleyan Center for the Arts. From there she went to The Yard, a residency supporting performers and creators on Martha’s Vineyard, where she worked as director of development and associate producer before becoming executive director. Moving through the organization helped her develop skills in fundraising, nonprofit management, curation, and programming. “It was a unique opportunity to invest in the creative process by supporting new work development, while also investing in public programs that build community through the arts,” Chloe said. 

“I’m super proud of her. She has done amazing things,” said Joel of Chloe’s work in the arts. He’s also excited about how these skills promise to now make an impact on Chloe’s hometown. “I am thrilled that she is doing something that will matter to her and could matter to others in relation to the arts,” he said

Now back in Utah, Chloe is certainly applying these early career experiences to her new role. UtahPresents engages more than 45,000 people throughout the Salt Lake Valley in the arts every year through performances, education, and outreach, and Chloe hopes to see those numbers grow and to see experiences diversified. Currently, they are looking at more off-site performances and opportunities like the “Stagedoor” series, where the audience enters from backstage and then sits on the stage to watch the performance.

“It's been energizing to rejoin a campus community at the University of Utah and tap into the sense of curiosity that exists in that environment,” Chloe said. “It is helping me ask the question of what else is possible within the arts. This job really is a homecoming of my dreams.”

It’s a dream homecoming for Salt Lake and the extended community as well. Chloe is set to open doors to a whole new generation of artists, arts sector professionals, and patrons of the arts. Because of her work more people will know what’s possible, and it all started with a Rowland Hall education that never discounted the power of the arts.

Alumni