Message from the Alumni Board

Fellow Alumni:

North Cross School opened its 70th year with 485 students on August 25, and the Alumni Board already has so many exciting things to report. As your new Alumni Association President, I begin my fourth year on the Alumni Board, and I also begin my first year as a North Cross parent. Having my son, William, in the Early Childhood Program (Class of 2029!!), has given me a new appreciation and perspective of the faculty, staff, and curriculum at North Cross. I am more excited than ever about the future of our alma mater, and I would like to share news directly from the Alumni Board with you:

• Your Alumni Board is growing! Three new members have joined the board for the 2014-15 year for a third year term. Please help me extend a warm welcome to Stan Chopski ’92, Chris Teter ’74, and Alison Stover Vagts ’03.

• You asked, we listened! Instead of scheduling the Alumni Party during Homecoming (October 3-4), your Alumni Association felt it should be at Thanksgiving when more people are back in Roanoke. On Saturday, November 29th, there will be an Alumni soccer game, followed by an All Alumni party on Hooper Field. All Alumni are invited and encouraged to attend. We expect a special announcement from Richard Cook. You will be receiving additional communication with details on this event.

• The Alumni Association created a new award, The Distinguished Alumnus(a) Award, that recognizes an alumnus or alumna who has made distinguished and outstanding contributions to his or her profession or field of interest and has brought benefit to the community or humanity and honor to North Cross while embodying the values and spirit of the school.  This will be awarded during Founder’s Week January 28-30, 2015.

• In February, the North Cross School Alumni Association approved the establishment of an Alumni Merit Scholarship. The criteria will be the same as our Founders Merit Scholarship, recognizing outstanding academic accomplishment of a rising 9th grade student but awarded to a child or grandchild of an alumnus of North Cross School. We are in the process of raising funds for this award. If you’d like more information or want to make a gift to this Scholarship, contact Chris Moore ’71, cmoore@northcross.org .

• The academic curriculum at North Cross is constantly growing. Lower School now has Singapore Math, an innovative math program that emphasizes a three-step learning process. Technology is still a focus, as grades 1-8 all have smart boards in each classroom. Global Studies, ICAT, DeHart projects are all notable and continue to grow. The junior and senior class had 29 AP scholars and impressive college admission list.

Campus Update

Homecoming Schedule Updates

Homecoming activities began on Monday around campus. The week started with Spirit Days in the middle and upper schools and ends with a Homecoming dance for upper school students on Saturday, October 4. Five Raiders teams will be in competition Friday and Saturday and the Boosters have arranged for a special giveaway for the first 300 spectators at the athletic contests. If you are in Roanoke or will be in town next weekend, please come out and support the Raiders! Click here for a full list of Homecoming events.

Alumni Soccer Game and Alumni Party

Mark your calendars for Saturday, November 29!  Come out and enjoy the Alumni Soccer Game at 1 p.m. and then stay for the Alumni Party beginning at 3 p.m. on Hooper Field.  We look forward to seeing you there.

CrossWalk Open House

After a summer of expansion and renovation, the CrossWalk Program held an open house and dedication on Tuesday evening. Dr. Proctor recognized the contributions of the many volunteers and board members who shared a vision to create a program unique to the Roanoke Valley that would meet the needs of students with language based learning differences. He also recognized donors Richard Bell and Toni Clark (at left in photo with CrossWalk Program Director Kit Prillaman and Dr. Proctor) who were instrumental in funding the classroom renovations.

Dr. Proctor also announced that an anonymous donor will match, up to $50,000, all donations made to the CrossWalk Program through the month of October. WDBJ7 aired a story about the program expansion and challenge announcement on their 6 p.m newscast on Tuesday. Click here, or the video image, to watch the news story from wdbj7.com.

If you are interested in taking advantage of the challenge gift and doubling your gift to the program, click here to download a pledge card. 

Teacher Features: Richard Cook, Dawn Hollandsworth, and Liz Holt

Richard Cook

Dawn Hollandsworth

Tell me about your history with North Cross.
Well, I first came to North Cross as a kindergarten student. It was the school’s second year at the current location and my mom, Virginia Paitsell, was my kindergarten teacher.

Who was your mentor when you first started teaching at North Cross?
My mom. I knew I wanted to be a teacher the minute I had her as a teacher. She made learning fun. I remember playing “school” in my basement as a five year-old, and by the time I was 14, I was actually tutoring other students in my basement. 

Liz Holt

How did you end up at North Cross?

After graduate school I was working as the Headmaster for a school in South Carolina that was very similar to North Cross. I had been there for 10 years and was looking for something new.

Who was your mentor when you first started working at North Cross?

Dave Calvert. Dave started working at North Cross right after college. Before I started he was the Director of the Lower and Middle School.

Academic Update

“I will not lie. I will not cheat. I will not steal.”

Getting Students Excited About Science

Forensic Science is now offered in the upper school and provides a great way to get students to expand their scientific knowledge and discover new ways to apply scientific methods. This year the students in Jennifer Landry’s Forensic Science class will be investigating topics ranging from hairs and fibers to blood spatter and DNA. For the past two weeks students have focused on working a crime scene. They have heard and read about how to search a scene for evidence, identify evidence, and how to document a crime scene. In this photo the students are documenting a staged crime scene. In class they will present their photos, case notes, and crime scene sketches.

Twenty-nine AP Scholars Named for 2014

Art Update

Poland Comes to Fishburn

On September 9, students from the Frederick Chopin School of Music in Opole, Poland performed for middle and upper school students in Fishburn Auditorium. The musicians recently performed in Washington D.C. and at Mill Mountain Theatre and found time in their schedule to visit North Cross School. The students performed music written by Polish composers for piano, violin, and flute. 

Athletic Update

Seventh Player in the Stands

The Varsity Volleyball team has been competing this season with only six players, including two eighth graders. Coach Shannon Yopp has been impressed with the girls’ ability to handle the grind of playing full matches without the benefit of substitutions. “We have to overcome aches and pains and the overall tiredness of a long match. No one can really have an off day, and all six players have to show up and compete no matter how they feel that day.”  

But playing through the pain, and long hours of travel, have brought the team together and created a sense of family among the players. “Most of the teams we face have a second team sitting on the bench waiting to come in if someone is struggling or tired.  Our team knows that they have to have each other’s back and have to fight through if they are tired or hurting. We have the mind-set that we have nothing to lose and just keep pushing and giving all we have each point.  I am very proud of each one of them, the heart they show on a daily basis is inspiring!” 

The hard work is paying off for the Raiders as Coach Yopp sees improvement both physically and emotionally. “My eighth graders have had to grow up quickly,” Yopp said, “and my veterans have shown patience and stepped up in key moments. The compassion, understanding, and support that everyone involved with this team has shown, has helped these six girls become a family.”

Celebrating 70 Years

“She stays where she lays.”

The Class of 1995 decided the school needed a rock that students could paint for homecoming each year. Headmaster William Stacey, however, was not happy with the prospect of turning over the landscape gardens to student artistic expression. Class representatives decided to get their own rock and took a trip to Rockydale Quarries to find the right one. When the driver arrived on campus two days later with the 15 ton rock, there was much discussion about the proper location. The driver warned the students that regardless of what they decide, “She stays where she lays.” He pulled up over the curb and placed it near the freshly painted football field, where she lays to this day.

The Legacy of Thomas Slack

In the fall of 1959, Mr. Slack was a retired attorney living in Botetourt County enjoying the fruits of a successful career in Texas and California. A graduate of VMI, he was instrumental in founding an independent school in Houston, Texas. Mr. Slack was contacted by Brounie Trout and Dot Saunders and asked to lead the education enterprise that founded the Wellington School in Roanoke in 1960 and that later joined forces with North Cross School in Salem and the Eaton School in 1961. Under his leadership, the three schools merged into one. From the time Mr. Slack served as chairman of the school’s board until his death in 1974, the school grew from a single building with 183 students into a two division school with an enrollment of 475 by the fall of 1973. More than anyone, he influenced the intangibles that give the school its identity. Today, two buildings on campus bear his name and one of the highest awards bestowed at commencement is given in his honor. The Thomas A. Slack Award is presented to the student in the senior class who has rendered the highest service to North Cross School through leadership based on the influence of character.

Class News & Notes

Gathering at the Local in Washington D. C.

A lively gathering of North Cross School Alums and spouses and friends occurred on August 13, 2014. In attendance were Marvin Winston ’84, Dominic Basile ’95, Parker Moore ’95, Sam Strulson ’95, Jamie Greenawalt ’99, Andrew Hill ’04, David Krisch ’04, Kelsey Greenawalt ’05, Katey Houck ’05, Temple Moore ’07, and Christopher Moore ’11.

Caroline Light ’87 published her first book, That Race of Pride and Character: The Roots of Jewish Benevolence in the Jim Crow South, with New York University Press. She serves as the Director of Undergraduate Studies in Harvard's Program in Studies of Women, Gender, and Sexuality and teaches historically focused courses on U.S. consumer culture, gender and ethnic studies, and immigration. She lives in Belmont with her husband, three children, and four cats.

Dominic Basile ’95 is the Senior Director of Campaign Operations at Conservation International, an organization that strives to protect the earth's natural wealth, to promote sustainable production, and to foster effective governance.

Ryan Jennings Snow ’95 is living in Arlington, VA with her husband Gabe and two girls, Jessie (3) and Vivian (1), as well as a dog and a cat. She is working as a veterinarian at a small animal practice in Arlington.

Moulin Desai ’96 is managing the Friends of Bill Tilghman campaign in Chester, MD. Bill is running to represent the 1st Congressional District of Maryland in the House of Representatives. 

Laura Black ’01 married Bryan Beard on July 19, 2014.

Joe Revercomb ’07 and Lauren Luckay ’07 worked at Eaton's Ranch in Wyoming.

Tyler ’10 and Jennifer Caveness were married on August 2, 2014 at Silver Hearth Lodge on Bent Mountain. Dillon Meacham ’10, Devin Cain ’10, Emma Caveness ’11, and Zack Caveness ’14 were in attendance. Tyler and Jennifer are currently residing in Dallas, TX where Tyler works as a financial adviser.