The Defender Dispatch - Alumni Newsletter - Summer 2021 |
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Congratulations, Emily Jordan ('17), Columbia University Class of 2021!
Emily Jordan graduated Summa Cum Laude with a 4.0 GPA from the prestigious Ivy League school in May. She also received departmental honors for her senior essay “Out of the Mouths of Babes: Beyond Genre in Christina Rosetti’s Sing-Song” and was awarded the Charles Paterno Barratt-Brown prize for best critical writing on any topic.
As an English major, Emily studied abroad at Cambridge University during her junior year. Additionally, she studied Italian and was an au pair in Italy the summer following sophomore year. Emily is especially grateful to Steve Happ who coordinates the annual Westminster senior trip to Italy for helping her get the most out of all things Italian!
Regarding her preparation for Columbia, Emily said Westminster, along with her family prepared her “by helping me to be rooted and grounded in faith, and equipped me to embrace all of the challenges, freedoms and opportunities of the past four years." She added, “And I should also say that I never would have dared to confront the terrifying and thrilling adventure of starting at Columbia without the counsel (and occasional kick in the pants) of teachers like Mr. Woods, Ms. Perry, Mrs. Collins, Mrs. Shaunak, Mr. Kinney and Mrs. Dormois (though the list goes on.) Beyond their teaching, their patience, faith, strength and steadfast encouragement emboldened me to act with courage I did not always feel and to push beyond what I felt myself capable of. I will be forever grateful to them.”
Emily also earned a concentration in psychology while at Columbia. She is currently living in Birmingham completing an internship in the philanthropy department of an economic justice nonprofit. Emily, we cannot wait to see where your phenomenal academic career leads you next! Congratulations!
(Submitted by Kelly Wells)
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Allison Shaunak ('16) writes: "After graduating from WA in 2016, I completed my Bachelor's degree in Food Science at the University of Tennessee Knoxville. I am currently living in Richmond, Virginia with my sister and fellow alumna Dr. Ashley Sullivan and my brother-in-law Dr. Samuel Sullivan as I pursue my Doctorate of Pharmacy at Virginia Commonwealth University. This August, I will begin my third year of the four year program and I am honored to hold the title of Student Body President at the School of Pharmacy. My role includes updating the students, faculty, and staff on the events and happenings of the school, advocating the student perspective to administrative leaders, and serving other student leaders and members of the student body anyway I can.
Additionally, I work part time at Publix Pharmacy as a Pharmacy Intern. As of now, I hope to pursue a residency upon graduation and specialize in critical care. The emphasis on logic and rhetoric that my Westminster education provided has greatly contributed to my success in advocating for my patients, fellow students, and profession. Especially over the past year, using the reasoning skills and critical thinking WA encouraged has been essential to me as a healthcare worker in evaluating primary literature and research."
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Quinn Peebles ('15) reports: "I graduated from WA and went to Texas A&M where I was a member of their full-time military school, the Corps of Cadets. I spent my freshman year being yelled at, waking up early, having no hair, and keeping my clothes and room inspection ready. However, I decided that my education would not flourish like it did at WA if I continued at Texas A&M. That decision sent me on a collegiate adventure all the way to northwestern Pennsylvania to a small, Christian school called Grove City College. I ultimately matriculated from Grove City with a cum laude degree in finance.
Since graduating, I started working in capital markets as an analyst in family wealth management in Memphis, TN. I work for Rhizome Group LLC which focuses on long-term investments in a real attempt to replicate the legendary strategy of Warren Buffet. My hope is that after I’ve spent a few years working in this capacity I can shift more into a career in trading. Personal updates aside, I constantly look back to my Capstone class at WA where my class read some of the most important Burkean literature.
I used to think that the world had figured out its meaning and purpose in life, but as I look about at a world twisting and turning, wrenching and withering, I realize what the word “lost” truly means. Without the careful cultivation that occurred at WA at the hands of thoughtful and wise teachers, my faith may not have survived 2020."
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Madeline Dormois ('12): Madeline graduated with a Master’s in school counseling in 2019 at University of Memphis and did research on family systems with the REACH lab there. She is now a full-time counselor at Center Hill High School. She’s also an active traveler, most recently visiting Iceland.
“I really love history so I travel places I want to learn about,” she says. Lasting friendships are one thing she’s thankful for - “After this November, will have been in all of my core friends weddings from WA (except Savannah since it was cancelled due to COVID, but I will go and visit her soon). My core friends were created at Westminster and stuck with me through the years!”
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Lexie Shaunak Danford ('09): Lexie was married in March 2020, and currently lives in the Harbor Town area of Memphis with her husband Dameon and dog Levi. She has just celebrated 5 years at Paradigm Marketing and Creative, a full service creative agency, where she is Brand Strategist and Account Executive.
Lexie says, “I spend a great deal of time doing research and writing, and my role as a brand strategist requires both critical thinking and creative problem solving. I am thankful for all the reading and writing we did at WA, as it is a great scaffolding for communicating succinctly, cleverly, and with ethos, pathos and logos.”
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Dr. Anna Halford Burton ('07): Anna currently lives in Memphis, TN. She earned a BS in Science from the University of Memphis, an MS from the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, and an MD from University of Tennessee Health Science Center ('21). She works as an OB/Gyn resident at Baptist Memorial Hospital for Women, and her aspiration is to be an OB/Gyn in the city of Memphis. She enjoys working in the OR and helping patients manage complicated pregnancies.
Anna is married to Jason Burton, civil engineer at Memphis International Airport, and they have two children, Naomi (5) and August (1). Her hobbies include sleeping, drinking coffee, and riding horses. Fun fact: Her horse is from New York City and used to ride in the Macy’s Day Parade with his previous owner!
Anna's fondest memory of WA is playing basketball when her uncle (Chuck Halford) was the coach.
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Broadmoor days and khaki skirts ('99-'00 pictured)
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Our first year at RBC - We finally outgrew one section of bleachers! Fun fact: This is when most of our current Class of 2022 seniors were born!
('03-'04 pictured)
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2004 Upper School Literary Character Day |
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Do you remember your 6th Grade Graduation? Congratulations to our latest Grammar School graduates! |
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Remember finding out which house you belonged to? Here's what House Reveal looked like this past year... |
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Kenneth Read still coaches Cross Country and teaches 6th Grade!
Fun fact: When Mr. Read first started at WA, he taught in the Upper School.
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From 2005 to 2021...Does he even age?! |
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Gone are the days of cafeteria carpet...Our cafeteria now has tile floors! |
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Robin Reed's Upper School Anatomy classroom is now a state-of-the-art
Grammar School Science lab
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A Full Strength Celebration! |
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This past Monday, we celebrated the new improvements to our Athletic facilities! If you want to come by and see the changes for yourself, reach out to Mary Rachel at mpang@wamemphis.com and schedule a tour!
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Join us for our Opening Assembly |
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Be our special guests for this year's Opening Assembly on Tuesday, August 24th, at 8:05 AM in the Ridgeway Baptist Sanctuary. |
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Keith McCurdy to Visit on September 21st |
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Keith A. McCurdy, M.A., Ed., is a Family and Parenting Educator and Consultant, as well as a Licensed Professional Counselor and Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist. He has worked with families, children, parents, and individuals for over 30 years in the field of mental health. Keith will visit Westminster Academy on Tuesday, September 21. At 7:00 in the evening he will do a presentation on Raising Sturdy Children for parents, alumni, and friends in the Sanctuary. You will not want to miss this evening! |
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Please join fellow alumni and their families for good food and fellowship at Frank Roberts' ('01) family farm. There will be a hayride, bonfire, farm tour and more! Look for more information to come via email. Click here to learn more about Maranatha Farms.
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Congratulations to Jay Brownlow ('06), who took the reins as Chief Financial Officer this summer.
Jay says, "I actually first got into accounting when I was elected 9th grade treasurer, which I continued to do all of high school. This was back when students raised money for the senior trip to Italy. I had great classmates with great ideas and we ended up raising the most money out of any class, so I was able to get lots of good accounting experience. So, I got my degree in accounting and have worked in the finance world in one way or another since graduation. I love puzzles and seeing a beautiful spreadsheet come together!
I love being back at Westminster - to be able to give back to such a great Christ-centered community of faculty and families!"
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Friendships for a Lifetime...The More, the Merrier |
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Local alumni Holley Halford Peters ('02), Michal Avila Isbell '(00), and Emily Bernardini O'Dell ('02) recently got together with all their children for a little summer porch fun. |
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Still Have Old Uniforms? We Need Them! |
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If you are a recent WA graduate (the last 5 years) and you have any uniforms packed away, we currently have an urgent need for them at the school! If you're willing to donate any uniform items, then please drop them by the school office. Thank you! |
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We are in need of people willing to grab individual time slots to come in and serve hot lunches to students. Please reach out to Julie Crenshaw at jcrenshaw@wamemphis.com to see where you might be able to help.
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We also need subs now more than ever! If you are interested in being on our substitute list, then please reach out to Terri White at twhite@wamemphis.com. There is a sub training class coming up on September 17 from 8:00-9:30 AM.
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There are many ways to stay connected to Westminster Academy... |
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- Follow us on social media using the links at the bottom of this email.
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