Welcome to Cru's News
Welcome to our St. Andrew's e-newsletter! Every month, you'll read exciting news about our scholars, artists, athletes, and servants
--in and outside the classroom. If you consider yourself a member of the St. Andrew's community, then this newsletter is for you.
If you have any interesting news you'd like to share, contact us at
[email protected] with your story ideas and pictures!
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MS Musical ("Peter Pan") - May 8-9
Grades 5-8 Percussion and Choir Concert - May 13
Grades 5-8 Band and Orchestra Concert - May 14
Diversity Dash - May 16
MS Awards Banquet - May 22
Memorial Day - No Classes - May 25
LS Field Day - May 28
Last Day of Classes - May 29
8th Grade Commencement - May 29
US Graduation - May 30
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Thank You Concert Volunteers and Sponsors!
Thank you to our Concert for Financial Aid Volunteer Committee and to our Sponsors for making Sunday's event so special.
The Nazro Green was filled with Derby hats and cowboy boots as St. Andrew's friends and families joined together on a breezy, beautiful spring evening to "toast the Derby" at the Concert for Financial Aid on May 3. Click here to see the photo gallery.
Parents, friends, faculty, and staff enjoyed partaking in Derby-inspired cocktails and food, posing in the photobooth--with a live horse!--and perusing the many silent and live auction items up for bid. Though the final numbers are still being tallied, ultimately St. Andrew's students will benefit from another year of generous giving by our St. Andrew's community.
A special thank you to St. Andrew's parents and Concert Co-Chairs
Teresa Bessette and
Stacie Keliehor for their leadership in organizing this beautiful event. If you're a St. Andrew's parent who would like to help organize next year's Concert, you can sign-up for the committee now via the Volunteer page here
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Middle School's "Peter Pan" Debuts Tomorrow
Our Middle Schoolers are in the final stages of (flight!) preparation before the curtain goes up for "Peter Pan" tomorrow at the Upper School's Dell Fine Arts Center.
When: Friday, May 8, 7:00 pm Saturday, May 9, 2:00 and 7:00 pm Where: Dell Theater, Upper School Tickets: $5.00 Mezzanine, $8.00 Orchestra Tickets must be purchased through the Long Center box office. You may purchase tickets online through their website here. A limited number of tickets will be available for purchase at the door.
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Diversity Dash is Next Weekend!
Do you enjoy trail running? Want to help your local community while you do it? Come to the St. Andrew's Diversity Dash on Saturday, May 16! Register to run a timed 5k or a 400m "Fun Run" on our Upper School campus trails. You don't have to be a runner to enjoy the day's festivities, which include raffles, art, music, and post-race snacks. We're celebrating our growing diversity and our partner organizations (Breakthrough Austin, Con Mi MADRE, and El Buen Samaritano) who address the needs of under-served students in the local area. Read all the details (including contest prizes!) and register on our Diversity Dash page here.
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SAS Summer Camp Registration Closes May 29
Are you still searching for ways to keep your kids busy this summer? Look no further than St.
Andrew's SAS Summer camps, open to youth across Austin!
WHEN: June 8-26, 2015
AGES: 4-18
WHERE: St. Andrew's Lower/Middle and Upper School campuses
REGISTER:
Online here by Friday, May 29
May 29 is the last day to register for camps that include "Animal Planet," "Kitchen Chemistry," "Once Upon a Stage," and "Unicycling," among many others. Your student's favorite St. Andrew's faculty members, along with some new faces, will join together to make a truly memorable summer experience for campers.
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Students Make "Top Six" at PSIA State
Congratulations to our seven Lower and Middle School students who competed in the Private Schools Interscholastic Association (PSIA) State competition on April 25 at Texas Christian University! St. Andrew's was among 94 other elementary and middle schools in Texas that competed in subject areas spanning art, language arts, maps and graphs, math, music, science, and spelling.
A special congratulations to these four St. Andrew's students, who finished in the Top Six of their respective grade-level subjects: Jiya Mutyala (Grade 2, Creative Writing), Camden Werner (Grade 4, Maps, Graphs and Charts), Avery Wayne (pictured) (Grade 5, Art Memory), and Auveed Rokhsaz (Grade 8, Impromptu Speaking). Click here to see more pictures and read the full article.
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Second Graders Host "Publishing Party"
Second-graders celebrated their literary debut as published authors during their "Publishing Party" in the library this week! Each student used their creativity to write and illustrate their own story, which was then professionally printed and bound. Parents and other guests joined students in the library to hear the stories read aloud for the first time, and provided feedback to each author over light refreshments.
See more pictures on our Facebook page here
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Tim O'Brien and His Stories
By Emma Schmidt '21
Tim O'Brien is the author of
The Things They Carried, The Nuclear Age, Going After Cacciato
, and many other books. One of his children, Timmy O'Brien, is in the sixth grade at St. Andrew's, so we were lucky enough to have him come talk to us in April. He talked about being in the Vietnam War, and he talked about writing stories. Mr. O'Brien told us a story of how Timmy and Tad, his two sons, were very interested in tails and wore them all the time. Even Mr. O'Brien and his wife wore them. Eventually he shared with us that most of the tail story was made up. He had most of the audience believing his tail story. He used this as an example to talk about the difference between facts and a story.
After hearing this talk, I think I will be a better writer because I learned a lot about writing fiction and how you can base it off something true and add fiction to make it more interesting. Hopefully many people will get to read one of Tim O'Brien's books and hear one of his wonderful stories.
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MS Track and Lax Teams Victorious 
The 7/8 Boys and Girls Track-and-Field teams (pictured right) won the 5A division at the AIPL Track meet last weekend at St. Andrew's Upper School. The teams were coached by Nichole Adams and alumni John McNamara ('09) and Jack Moody ('13).
The 5/6 Boys and Girls Track-and-Field teams finished strong as well. The Girls won their meet for the third time in a row! The Boys finished in 4th place.
 Congrats to the 7/8 Boys Lacrosse team for an undefeated record (6-0) in the Central Texas Youth Lacrosse Association (Blue division). The team was coached by Nick Compogiannis and Michael Beecherl.
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Students Gather for Holocaust Remembrance Day
By Gina Perkins '19 and Emma Rodman '19
On April 16, Holocaust Remembrance Day, more than 150 students, faculty, and parents gathered
together in the McGill Chapel around a Star of David composed of lit votive candles in remembrance of the six million Jews who died in the World War II genocide.
Rabbi Gaile Swendroe of Congregation Agudas Achim, the guest speaker, spoke to students about taking responsibility for their actions and their community. Eighth grade students prayed and sang during the service, which included traditional Jewish prayers such as the Mourner's Kaddish and poems. Readers were Jack Williams, Hasie Sherman, Eva Strelitz-Block, Seth Abramowitz, Carson Kurad, Adrian Almy, Taylor Harrison, Coby Sheehan, Emma Williams, Alli Durrett, and Lele Corman. Will Sarahan and Caroline Daniel read the names of Jewish Holocaust victims to commence the service, and while the congregation recessed. Middle School strings students played as well as strings director Dr. Amy Harris, who played a violin solo.
We asked several members of the Middle School community to share their thoughts on the service. Seth Abramowitz remarked, "It was a very nice service. I'm glad people know about the Holocaust and are learning more about it." Seventh grade Spanish teacher Carolyn Simon shared her favorite part of the ceremony, "The part where they read the names was very moving."
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Chapel Talk Entertains, Inspires Students
LS/MS Band Director Danny Schmidt delivered a very special performance during the Middle
School's chapel service on April 21. In his chapel talk, Danny explained that he has always yearned to sing for an audience and has been too afraid to try. He recently decided to face his fears, and with a lot of practice, prepared to sing for his St. Andrew's family. Danny challenged Middle Schoolers to "find something new that scares you a little, and try it! You might be surprised by what you learn."
Danny belted out the Styx classic "Come Sail Away," with vocal and guitar accompaniment by former teacher Cap Brooks and LS Music teacher Lucy Bourland. He also had seventh-grader
Peyton Prince on drums and eighth-grader Eli Harris-Trent on trumpet accompany him on Mumford and Sons "Little Lion Man" and Avici's "Hey Brother."
See his chapel talk and performance on YouTube here!
After the performance, one student commented to Danny, "That was the best chapel talk all year," and another student said, "You have inspired me to be who I truly am." Reflecting on overcoming his fears, Danny says, "I was so exhilarated! To be able to put a performance like that together with my colleagues and my students was beyond description!"
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MS Students Volunteer for "Run to the Sun"
Middle School students, parents, and faculty, all joined together on April 11 to volunteer for the Run to the Sun relay race, sponsored by Beyond Batten Disease Foundation. MS teachers Carrie Nelson and Rachel Westgate and 20 St. Andrew's students created a relief station where runners on the 90-mile, two-day run could stop to rest and refuel. The students selected a "neon disco" theme for their station, which included decorations, music, and snacks. Some St. Andrew's parents actually ran in the race, including Kelly Daniel, Robin Thompson, and Paige Alam. The sixth annual race helped raise funds for Batten disease research. To learn more about the race and Beyond Batten Disease Foundation,
click here.
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Girls Lacrosse Shows Exceptional Strength
Congratulations to these winning ladies on the Varsity Girls Lacrosse team! In April they were honored in a pre-game ceremony for their exceptional athleticism on the field this year. Pictured left to right: Madeleine Mele '15 (D1 All-State Midfielder), Kendall Cannon '15 (D1 All-State Attacker), Claire Fason '17 (D1 All-District Attacker), Head Coach Alyssa Zinsser, Caroline Rogers '16 (D1 All-District Defender), Megan Lanctot '16 (D1 All-District Attacker), and Annika Mele '15 (D1 All-State Midfielder).
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Senior Athletes Honored
St. Andrew's honored our accomplished senior athletes in a special ceremony during Upper School Chapel services on April 22. Director of Athletics Jeff McCrary recognized two seniors who will continue to compete in college next year (Scott Politz, Yale signee, was honored earlier this year), as well as four seniors who have been named to the Texas Association of Basketball Coaches (TABC) Academic All-State Team. Congratulations to Ally Sherwood, who will run cross-country and track for Sewanee, and to Brian Wongchotigul, who will run cross-country and track for Trinity University!
In addition, a record number of seniors were named to the TABC Academic All-State team: Congratulations to Lucy Jones, Megan Kamm, Cameron Pepe, and Marina Smalling! The requirements for receiving the award are to be a graduating senior, a Varsity letter winner in basketball, and to have a 92 grade average or better. See more pictures and read the full article here.
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Crusaders Bring Fierce Competition to SPC Tourney
St. Andrew's Baseball, Lacrosse, Softball, and Track teams brought serious competition to the SPC tournament in Fort Worth last weekend. Baseball took 5th place, which is the second best result in program history. Girls Lacrosse took 6th place, and Softball took 7th place which tied for best result in program history. Girls Track finished in 12th and Boys Track finished in 14th. Read the full tournament breakdown with individual results here.
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Gold and Silver for Upper Schoolers on NLE
The National Latin Exam results are in for the Upper School Latin scholars, and there is much to
celebrate! Thirty-three Upper School students earned an award, including 13 students who received Gold Medals and eight who received Silver Medals---the two highest awards on the exam.
As seniors receiving gold medals,
Bryce Deskins, Zack Osborne,
and Wesley Wiedenmeier will also receive scholarship applications for the prestigious NLE Scholarship!
Read the full list of winners here.
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Rick Garcia Publishes New Theatre Book
St. Andrew's Upper School Theatre Director
Rick Garcia has published a new book.
The Body, The Voice, The Imagination: A Theatre Arts Teacher Resource Book
is already being considered by two universities as their required reading for theatre education majors. The book is a thorough supplement for theatre educators which includes a year of daily lesson plans, over 100 theatre activities and games, a demonstration lecture DVD, and a membership to an interactive online talk forum. Visit maestrotheatre.com for excerpts from his book and blogs.
The idea to write the book came four years ago during Rick's theatre directing workshops. Rick says, "The book
was a natural resource tool to the curriculum I teach directors, as well as a much needed resource for any theatre teacher."
Rick's
three assistant writers for the book are all teachers who attended his workshop 12 years ago. Rick adds, "I watched them grow and develop into master teachers and directors, and eventually hired them to assist me as guest instructors for my workshops." Congratulations to Rick on his publication!
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Lucio-Martin '17 Accepted to Conspirare Symphonic Choir
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Gabriel as Judge Turpin in "Sweeney Todd"
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Sophomore Gabriel Lucio-Martin has had some standout performances this year. He was nominated by the GAHSMTA for his role as Judge Turpin in St. Andrew's fall production of "Sweeney Todd." In January, he auditioned for and was accepted into the Conspirare Symphonic Choir. The Conspirare Symphonic Choir is mostly adult vocalists, making Gabriel's acceptance even more remarkable.
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Gabriel with "Revolution" actor David Lyon
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Gabriel says his love for singing began at St. Andrew's, "I remember being interested in first grade when I started going to St. Andrew's. My family encouraged me to sing, but it was my Music teacher Miss McDaniel who told me to audition for the Conspirare Youth Choir when I was in fourth grade. I got in to the Youth Choir, which was the beginning of my formal vocal training, and ever since then I have had a passion for music."
As a member of the Conspirare Youth Choir, Gabriel performed in Puccini's "La Boheme" at the Austin Opera, which sparked his interest in opera performance. His other tours included the American Choral Directors Association Performance in Chicago, Illinois, multiple performances at the Long Center, and more recently on NBC's TV show "Revolution."
Now, as a member of the Symphonic Choir, Gabriel will perform in the "Great Big Choruses" program at the Victoria Bach Festival and the Long Center in June, which will include pieces from oratorio, opera, and Broadway.
Gabriel credits Conspirare for his vocal accomplishments, saying, "Without the Youth Choir and its directors I would not be the singer I am today." For students who are interested in formal training, Gabriel says, "I recommend these choirs for aspiring singers who want disciplined vocal training, and who are willing to work hard."
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This month, Jane Kilgore (pictured, left) is returning to Austin from South Africa after completing her MSSW degree in poverty alleviation. She's been living in a village called Botshabelo Community Development Trust, serving mostly children, women, and families affected by poverty, HIV/AIDS, and trauma. Her journey through this master's program at UT-Austin has been filled with many memorable moments she has captured in her blog, which you can view here
After graduating from St. Andrew's, Jane attended
Rhodes College in Memphis, TN where she
received a BA in Theatre with a minor in
Psychology. Uncertain of her ideal career, she worked and saved for a year after graduation to fund a year of traveling to southern Africa, Thailand, Australia, and New Zealand. Jane recalls, "Not only was it the trip of a lifetime, but I was also lucky enough to find the career calling I'd been missing: social work."
Jane read an introductory social work textbook and began researching graduate programs while still in South Africa, and discovered UT had one of the Top 10 programs in the country. During the last three years in the UT program, Jane participated in two international projects (in Papua New Guinea and South Africa), interned locally with Communities in Schools, and served as a Graduate/Research Assistant for UT's Gender & Sexuality Center. Jane describes her experience at Botshabelo as, "a complicated one, and I've learned a lot about topics I could not have anticipated prior to my arrival. Everything here operates in the present, with entire days often devoted to dealing with one crisis after another...The kids, however, are truly pillars of resilience. My time here has taught me so much about social justice, international development work, the power of relationship, assertiveness, shame culture, and dozens of other topics." For those interested in learning more about Botshabelo, Jane recommends their dedicated website (click here), the documentary film "Angels in the Dust," as well as her own blog, though she notes she is still in the process of updating it. Jane truly embodies St. Andrew's Servant pillar in the work she has decided to pursue, and we are so glad she has shared her story with us!
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Photo by Catie Laffoon for Baeble Music
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In the summer of 2015, Max Frost will play the Firefly Festival, where headliners include Snoop Dog, Foster the People, Kings of Leon, and Paul McCartney. Max Frost signed to Atlantic Records in the summer of 2013. Since then, he's toured with Gary Clark Jr. as well as with Fitz and the Tantrums, playing major venues all over the US. He's played Blues on the Green, Austin City Limits Festival, and SXSW 2013, 2014, and 2015.
He's released a 5-song EP and his songs "White Lies," "Nice & Slow," "Paranoia," and "Let Me Down Easy" have been played on radio stations in the US, Europe, Australia, and the Pacific Rim countries.
Max's mother, Lucy, remarks, "I know Max's music benefited from his St. Andrew's education. His lyrics in particular are deeper and more sophisticated because of the education he received there. He also has excellent time management skills -- learned at SAS!" Thank you Lucy Frost for submitting these exciting updates on Max!
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Check out this "Top 12 Art Directors" list, naming Jessie Bearden ('10) as a creative talent you should follow on Instagram! Click on her name to see her Instagram posts.
Jessie is currently living with fellow Class of 2010 alumnae Elle Moody and Meagan Jones in New York City. Jessie works as an art director and designer for clients that include Sony Music, McDonald's, Taylor Swift, Versace, Kate Spade and other fashion brands. Elle Moody is earning her master's in art administration at NYU and working at 80WSE Gallery as a curatorial assistant. Elle will be curating her own show this fall! Meagan Jones is earning her master's in art business at Sotheby's Art Institute and interning at the Whitney Museum.
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Parent Association Notes - April 2015
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Sign-up to Lead Next Year's Activities!
It is hard to believe that the school year is drawing to a close! The Parent Association is busy planning for next year, and we would love your help.
We need volunteers to participate in many different committees for the 2015-16 school year. No matter your interests, available time or skills, there is an opportunity for you to support St. Andrew's!
Volunteering is a fun way to meet new people, interact with your children and the faculty, and support the community, so come join us!
To learn more and sign up:
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Visit our Volunteer web page here and click on any volunteer opportunity to read more details
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Click the yellow "Sign Up" button to open the Volunteer Form
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Complete the form and click the blue "Submit" button at the bottom
Don't hesitate to contact us if you have any questions.
Thank you for volunteering!
Lydia Soldano (LS), Mari Josey (MS), Tami Scott (US)
2015-16 Parent Association Co-Presidents
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Volunteers Needed for Spirit Shop Shifts
With only a few weeks left of school...there are a number of events and activities on all three campuses where we can sell SAS spirit gear to new (and current) families and we could really use your help!
Please click on the link below and sign up for at least one shift (or more) if you can.
It has been a great year for our new spirit shop(s) and we are forever
grateful to all of you for volunteering over these past months. Please
contact Mari Josey ([email protected]) if you have any questions!
Here's how it works in 3 easy steps:
1. Click this link to go to our invitation page on VolunteerSpot:
http://vols.pt/nVuikU
2. Enter your email address: (You will NOT need to register an account on
VolunteerSpot)
3. Sign up! Choose your spots - VolunteerSpot will send you an automated
confirmation and reminders. Easy!
Note: VolunteerSpot does not share your email address with anyone. If you
prefer not to use your email address, please contact us and we can sign you
up manually. Thanks!
Spirit Shop Schedule
We are sorry that the Crusader Hall shop has been closed for renovations!
Please visit us online at www.sasspiritshop.org.
The Upper School Cru-Op is also open EVERY day from 2:00-4:00.
We will be open at the following events:
May 7 - Peter Pan, Upper School
May 14 - LS New Parent Dinner
May 22 - MS Awards Banquet
May 28 - Field Day, HUGE Sale at the LS!
Feel free to contact us at [email protected]
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