Six faculty members received new chairs and masterships during the underformer awards assembly on May 21. They joined other members of the faculty who hold the chairs and masterships that generous alumni and friends have established to honor teaching excellence at Woodberry.

Members of the Class of 2018 graduated from Woodberry Forest School on May 26, 2018. The celebration of the school's 129th class included the Commencement Address, the Amici Night awards ceremony, Baccalaureate, and Commencement.

 

This year's Commencement speaker was Mr. Dan Ritchie '50, a leader in the worlds of academia, arts, and business. The native of China Grove, North Carolina graduated from Woodberry and then went on to Harvard, where he earned both an undergraduate degree and a masters degree. After a stint in the United State Army, Mr. Ritchie went to work for Lehman Brothers. He then joined MCA in Hollywood, eventually rising to the role of chief financial officer. Following several entrepreneurial ventures, Mr. Ritchie was hired as chief executive officer of Westinghouse Broadcasting, a role he held for eight years. After retiring from that job, he was asked to assume the chancellorship of the University of Denver. Over sixteen years he transformed the university's culture and campus. He held the job without pay. Following his second retirement, he went on to serve as CEO of the Denver Center for Performing Arts, again without pay, for more than a decade.   

Presidential historian and Pulitzer Prize winner Jon Meacham delivered Woodberry’s annual Fitzpatrick Lecture on Thursday. His talk, The Soul of America, drew from material in his latest book, which was published this week.

 

Phoebe Warmack, director of Woodberry Forest’s William H. White, Jr. Library, will join the board of directors of the American Association of School Librarians this summer.

Over the past two years Phoebe has been a critical part of the library’s move from its long-time home in Hanes Hall to its new home in the Walker Building. The new library space, which was dedicated in November, includes the Reynolds Family Learning Commons and the Dunnington Reading Room

 

 

Members of the Woodberry Forest School community mourn the death of legendary science teacher and coach Jack Glascock ’43. He died on March 2, 2018, in Orange, Virginia.

 

Jack Alvin Glascock came to Woodberry from Marshall, Virginia, attending the school for two years before serving for three years in the US Air Force and graduating from Hampden-Sydney College in 1949. At Woodberry, he was both a fine scholar and an excellent athlete; Jack scored five touchdowns during a single game against rival Episcopal High School. During college and in his early years teaching at Woodberry, he spent summers playing semi-pro baseball.

 

Two members of the Woodberry Forest Roaring Tigers speech and debate team have qualified for the National Catholic Forensic League Grand Nationals Tournament. William Xie and Ian Kim qualified for the tournament, which will be held in Washington, D.C., after placing fourth in the Virginia state tournament on Saturday. William is a fifth former from Shanghai, China; Ian is a fourth former from Bellevue, Washington.

A dozen Woodberry students competed in a powerlifting competition in mid-February. 

The boys, who have been working with coach Raphael Sydnor as part of the afternoon Athletic Development program, competed in bench press and deadlift. Coach Sydnor said nearly every student hit a personal record in one of the two events during the competition. 

Woodberry's Athletic Development program offers an afternoon athletic option for students who aren't participating in an interscholastic sport during a certain trimester. Students work with coaches on strength and conditioning, either for general purposes or to prepare for an upcoming season in a specific sport.

 

Three Woodberry Forest sixth formers signed letters of intent Wednesday to continue their athletic careers in college. Lee Dudley ‘18 of Richmond, Virginia. will attend the University of Virginia as a preferred walk-on and play long snapper on the football team. Khalid Thomas ‘18 of Youngsville, North Carolina will attend Harvard University and play wide receiver for the Crimson. Woodson Smith ‘18 of Martinsville, Virginia will attend Sewanee: The University of the South and play golf.

William Xie ’19 and Ian Kim ’20 took first place Saturday in two-on-two debate at a tournament hosted by Woodberry Forest. William and Ian won all four rounds of debate while arguing whether the United States should abolish the capital gains tax. Judges praised them as "strong in all areas of debate" and "persuasive" with "great command and implementation of their evidence." The pair worked with math teacher Mike Szydlowski in the weeks before the tournament to deepen their understanding of capital gains taxes. 

Woodberry hosted a special farm-to-table lunch January 31 in the dining hall. The menu featured an array of local foods, including hamburgers made from cattle raised on campus by Woodberry’s farmers. Students were able to meet several of the farmers and providers, including Jennifer Gilley from Heaven's Hollow Farm, Christie Huger from Mountain View Farm, and Michael Clark from Planet Earth Diversified. The event was organized by Woodberry’s Director of Food Service Clyde Firman and Katie Maillet from the Local Food Hub.

 

 

The contest was judged by poet Jeffery Renard Allen, a faculty member in the creative writing program at UVa who has authored two collections of poetry and two works of fiction. Sam placed in the poetry category for grades 9-12 as an honorable mention out of 186 poems. An awards ceremony will be held at UVa on March 11, 2018.