Welcome to St. Andrew's "Cru's News," the e-newsletter that captures monthly highlights of our scholars, artists, athletes, and servants, as well as alumni stories and important event reminders. If you consider yourself a member of the St. Andrew's community, then this newsletter is for you!
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All Saints/All Souls Eucharist - Nov. 2
Hands for Hope Food Drive - Nov. 3-18
LS Veteran's Day Assembly - Nov. 4
SPC Tournament - Nov. 5-7
Kindergarten Groundbreaking - Nov. 5
No US Classes - Nov. 6
MS Costa Rica Trip
Info Night - Nov. 8
Latin Banquet - Nov. 15
7th Grade Marine Biology Trip - Nov. 16-18
St. Andrew's Day - Nov. 19
2nd Grade Stone Soup - Nov. 20
Thanksgiving Break - No Classes - Nov. 23-27
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Celebrate Kindergarten Groundbreaking on Nov. 5!
Come be a part of St. Andrew's history, and celebrate the groundbreaking of our Kindergarten Center!
Where: Wabash Parking Lot
When: Thursday, Nov. 5, 8:15 am
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Curious What St. Andrew's Fund Does?
The goal this year is to raise $875,000. This is an attainable goal if every family participates!
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Admissions Office News: Calling All Siblings!
The online application is active! Current SAS families who plan on submitting an application for a sibling can do so through the
mySAS
portal (Click on the "Apply: Begin Application" button under the Resources tab.) Once we receive your child's application a member of the Admission Team will follow up with you to schedule a parent interview and your child's visit. Feel free to contact us with any questions!
Throughout the fall, Admissions hosts
small group tours, parent coffees, information sessions, open houses
, as well as
shadow visits
so that students can get a sense of what a typical day is like at St. Andrew's. For those families interested in the
new Kindergarten program
, prospective parents will have an opportunity to meet Kathy Wynn, Lead Kindergarten Teacher, and learn about this dynamic, innovative new facility and programming.
Click here for more details on these events
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Blessings on a Favorite St. Andrew's Tradition
Fur, scales, and wagging tails! First and second graders spent the morning of Oct. 2 helping their pet animals receive a special blessing in St. Andrew's McGill Chapel garden. A favorite St. Andrew's tradition, the annual "Blessing of the Pets" occurs on or near the feast day of St. Francis of Assisi, commemorating the patron saint of animals and the environment. Students and their parents are invited to a special morning chapel service, where they sing songs and learn about St. Francis, before heading outside for the blessings by Lower/Middle School Chaplain Ashley Brandon. It's a fun chance for students to introduce their animal kingdom friends to classmates and parents alike. Find these photos and share them with friends via our
Facebook
or
Instagram
pages!
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6th Graders in First "Cities in Space" Competition
Art teacher Holly Melear made a special announcement to sixth-graders after chapel one day that
ignited the imagination of Laney Goodrum, "Ms. Melear was talking about her involvement with The New World Institute Conference and told us about the 'Cities in Space' competition for students." The challenge: create a self-sustaining colony for 1,000 people in space. As Laney's imagination took off, her talks with fellow students soon mobilized a team of nine to tackle the challenge, including Bering Edwards, Dexter Glassco, Lucy Layne, Graham Speight, Bray Stratton, Avery Wayne, Luke Weaver, and Emily Grace Williams. The team had a month to create a model of their colony, a presentation, and a six-page paper, to illustrate how their colony would function. Their Moon colony "Stelluna" included...
Read the full article here
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Special Authors Attend Book Fair 2015
This year's Book Fair featured some special authors: former St. Andrew's teachers Anne Donovan and Kay Hart! Anne and Kay have traveled around the world as avid birdwatchers, and found inspiration to write a book about chimney swifts a few years ago when they noticed the birds' rapid displacement. "The Adventures of a Chimney Swift Family" was available for purchase at the Book Fair, and such a popular pick that Anne had to call BookPeople to bring more copies! Anne remarks, "We both taught in the Middle School for many years, and it's wonderful to be back here. Kay was the main author of this book, but we've both had a great time writing it in our retirement." Though Anne is uncertain whether more books will follow this one, she and Kay are already planning their next birdwatching trip!
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MS Students Attend Texas Book Festival
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(L to R) Lucas Parker, author Sandra Cisneros, Matthew Kennedy, and teacher Dorothy De La Garza.
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Several seventh graders participated in the 20th annual Texas Book Festival in October, meeting prize-
winning writers, including Sandra Cisneros. The Latina author's book
The House on Mango Street
is currently studied in seventh grade English. For several years, St. Andrew's Middle School students have read her coming-of-age novel to inspire their own stories of childhood, heritage, neighborhood, and family. English teacher Dorothy De La Garza says, "I received an incredible news account of Cisneros's talk from seventh grader Nicholas DeBalko, who sat up in the balcony during her speech but missed the photo opportunity with her. His student writing was splendid." Nicholas wrote, "Cisneros thinks it is important that boys learn what it means to be a feminist, but even more so, about being a humanist. To her, being a humanist includes understanding and speaking up for those who find it hard to have a voice of their own."
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MS-LS Partner-up for Homework Helpers
The Middle School is partnering with the Lower School's Beyond the Classroom (BTC) program again this year to send three MS "Homework Helpers" over to the LS BTC study hall every afternoon. MS Community Service organizer Carrie Nelson says, "This has been such a great partnership of MS kids helping out the LS students." Seventh grader
Helen Chapin-Eiserloh explains why she volunteered for the program, saying, "I love working with kids, and it is a great way to give back to my community. I have enjoyed how much joy it brings to the kids when you play with them or read to them. Sometimes it is hard to really get involved with what the kids are doing, because you don't know them, but after about 5 minutes they're used to you. Other students should definitely do homework helpers because it is a fun way to get community service hours."
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Seniors Discuss Good Citizenship at MS
Upper School seniors (R to L)
Blais Herman, Keaton Drummer, Mac Baskin, Tres Allen, Sam
Hughes, and
Cole Baker visited with seventh grade boys yesterday to discuss what it means to be a good citizen of the St. Andrew's community. The seniors imparted some helpful tips and advice on how to handle changing friendships, relationships with adults, and the world of social media. Scott Zimmerman, Director of Social Emotional Learning, says, "It was a great success, and already the Upper School girls have voiced interest in doing the same for their Middle School counterparts."
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Robotics Takes 3rd at BEST Competition
This year the Robotics Club again enrolled in the Capitol BEST competition, with key insights from last year's competition and 45 club members ready to work toward the Oct. 24 showdown. The aggressive six-week timetable in which to build a robot capable of running an intricate obstacle course ("Pay Dirt") had the club members spending every free moment in the Robotics lab, including Saturdays. Thankfully, they had a leader in
Katherine Dyson '18, who competed last year and was, "the o
ne leading th
e charge and leading by
example this year," according to faculty advisor Jim Thomas.
Katherine says, "The hardest part is just getting work done, not everyone has the same availability to work on it. Also, you don't know if something is going to work until you build it and try it." The team created a robot that could execute a specific set of tasks...Read the full article here
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"Les Miserables" Debuts to Sold Out Crowds!
This fall's musical, "Les Miserables" broke a school record. For the first time, tickets to all three shows sold out in only two days. The St. Andrew's cast of 47 delivered their interpretation of this world-famous musical in the Dell Fine Arts Center with the help of a live 12-piece orchestra and 22 student crew members providing the set, sound, lighting, projections, makeup,
hair, costumes, props, and stage management. Peggy Keelan, Assistant to Director Rick Garcia, says, "'Les Miserables' was one of our most complex shows yet - with over 155 costumes, 175 props, 25 artistic signs, and 12 crew members doing hair and makeup before the show. The set continually transformed, with pieces and parts coming together, spinning, and separating to become multiple scenes. We needed 10 set crew to move this large set throughout the show." Though the musical is vocally challenging--almost entirely sung for over two hours--it didn't prevent new theatre students from auditioning, or younger students either. Peggy says, "We had one 6th grader (Emily Grace Williams) and three 7th graders (Charlie Welland, Millie Sunshine and Sofia Huston) in the show. They balanced sports and the rigorous Upper School musical schedule well."
Read the full article here
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Cross Country Sets Sights on Nov. 7 SPC Championship
by Assistant Coach Liz Shelton
Boasting 80 runners this season, Cross Country is the largest sport at St. Andrew's and for good reason. Both the Boys and Girls teams are consistently ranked in the top of the Southwest Preparatory Conference and both teams have at least two runners in the top 10 individual rankings. But success is nothing new at St. Andrew's...In an interview earlier in the season, team captain and senior Hannah Blake was interviewed by MileSplit after finishing a strong second place in the Girls' Varsity division at Dripping Springs Invitational. When asked about summer training leading into fall, she commented that, "it's been really great and I think our team is going to be so good this year because we're really working hard and doing well. This year we're hosting SPC and I think our team has so much potential and I really think that we can win it this year." Read the full article here
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Baker '16 is Ford Motor Company's "Player of the Week"
Congratulations to Cole Baker '16, who was one of six outstanding student athletes selected by Ford Motor Company during their eighth week of the "Built Ford Tough" Texas High School Football Player of the Week program. The program recognizes one player in each of the state's six athletic classifications. The winners are chosen for athletic achievements, outstanding scholarship, and community involvement. Their description of Cole's achievements follows: There's one constant at St. Andrew's: If the ball is in play, Cole Baker is on the field. On offense, defense and special teams, the 5-foot-7-inch, 170-pound powerhouse is always...
Read the full article here
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Marshman '17 Gets Game Ball for 4 Touchdowns
Congratulations to Varsity Football's quarterback
Evan Marshman '17
, who received the Statesman's "Game Ball" honor for his performance in the 55-12 victory over San Antonio Hawkins on Oct. 1! Evan passed for three touchdowns and rushed for one touchdown to lead the Crusaders to another win. Marshman was also featured as an "under the radar" performer on Oct. 14 by the Statesman: "Marshman has 14 touchdown passes over St. Andrew's seven games this season, and he has thrown for 819 yards. Only one of Marshman's 106 passes has been intercepted, and he has spread his 59 completions among the likes of senior Blais Herman (21 receptions) and junior Max Cummins (16 receptions)...
Read the full article here
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Winning Crusader Football Season a "Breakthrough Campaign"
After the Crusaders won the Episco-Bowl against St. Stephens 28-14 on Oct. 23, their winning 8-1 record prompted sports columnist Rick Cantu to feature the winning team in his Oct. 27 column, calling it a "breakthrough campaign" with the help of head coach Ty Detmer and several key players.
Read the full article here
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Field Hockey Loves October!
by Head Coach Molly Blackman
The St. Andrew's Field Hockey team loves the month of October. Every year, each player and coach on the Junior Varsity and Varsity squads are assigned a day to bring a gift to the rest of the program. The team always looks forward to a mystery treat that is unveiled after practice is over. The gifts, which have included baked goods, T-shirts, bumper stickers, personalized Nalgenes, custom keychains, and pictures frames, are a way to bring everyone together in an uplifting way amidst a time of year when practices are long and games are intense. They players show the care they have for one another expressed in a personal and creative way. It is taken very seriously, especially by veterans. The seniors gently explain to the freshmen, "Don't forget your day!" The team earned their first conference win against Houston Christian 3-0 on Oct. 10.
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'05 and '10 Alumni Reunion Weekend
Rain wouldn't keep our alumni from their reunion on Oct. 24! The classes of '05 and '10 enjoyed conversation over cocktails and dinner, and a tour of the ever-growing Upper School campus. Physics teacher Dan Latreille was excited to show off the new Innovation Center, while Head of School Sean Murphy and Head of Upper School Todd Stephenson gave alumni the chance to ask questions about the future of their beloved alma mater.
View the full gallery of photos here
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Sophie Osella '10 was recently interviewed for Adweek magazine as a part of their story on "creative think tank" organization GumboLive (
read the article here
). Sophie took some time to explain more about her role there and what she plans for the future.
How has St. Andrew's prepared you for the challenges you face in work/life now?
St. Andrews taught me to think critically and creatively. So many of my classes, especially in high school, challenged me to look at issues in new ways and formulate creative solutions to problems. The film program and Dr. Eclarinal introduced me to videography, which honestly kickstarted me to where I am today. In college I never took a film class, but was equipped with enough skills to be selected as a documentary fellow in a summer program as well as produce a concert series my senior year. Now I'm producing video content at GumboLive.
How did you find out about GumboLive and what got you interested to work for them?
I had worked at an internship for a start up accelerator in Memphis after I graduated and developed an interest in promoting other people's lives and passions, which is basically marketing. Indeed.com is actually how I found the job. I wanted to move to New Orleans and they had a really funky and creative interview process which was actually way more fun than work.
What is your role and what sort of projects have you been working on this year?
My co-workers and I are all Idea Generators. We all hold the same title and same position in our office. We ideate for large brands that want to advertise in ways other than traditional media. Since March we've worked on about 180 briefs, so we average about a 38 hr. turn around on projects--very fast paced. We work on a large variety of social campaigns and experiential campaigns, as well as produce video and photo content. As idea generators, we all collaborate and brainstorm together, basically giving our affiliates pages full of "thought starters" to get their presentations for their clients going.
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Director of College Counseling Elizabeth Guice visited with Megan Thompson recently to learn more about her school for other St. Andrew's students. Elizabeth says, "Megan is a sophomore at Whitworth University in Spokane, WA. She's on the swim team and is majoring in Psychology and Communication. She is having a great experience at Whitworth and would love for more SAS students to find their way here!"
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Alumni Dani Dailey, Emily Zientek, Alex Gurasich, and David Gurasich popped into the new Innovation Lab with teacher Richard Wright this month to check out the newest addition to St. Andrew's Upper School campus.
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