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Six Students Travel to Jamaica for Servant Leadership Trip

Barbara Kennedy

Mar 13 2025 12:13 PM

Updated Mar 13 2025 12:24 PM

The group will work in an early childhood center and the squatter community of Ferry.

Six student leaders in Baylor’s Community Service program departed from campus on March 11 for the annual community service trip to Kingston, Jamaica, where they worked in an early childhood center and the squatter community of Ferry.

Anna Stoddard, Avery Glover, Eloise Adams, Mia Perdomo, Olivia Williams, and Yulissa Gerard were selected for this year's Jamaica Servant Leadership Trip, which is funded by the school and led by Community Service Director Takisha Haynie, and Assistant Director Keela Jackson.

Students who are selected for the Jamaica trip stay in the Immaculate Conception Convent, and travel to the community of Ferry to visit children and staff at the Ferry Basic School. Other stops included a visit to an art studio and the Home for the Aged in Trenchtown and Bethany Village, a community that provides care and housing for people with disabilities.

An important component of the Jamaica Trip are the large duffel bags, which are loaded with school supplies and transported to Kingston for children who live in Ferry. Typically, the duffel bags are filled with more than 100 backpacks containing school supplies for children in Ferry.

Baylor senior Alisha Chandra, who participated in the trip last spring, said building relationships with people in Kingston even in a short amount of time was an impactful experience. "I think how easy it is to make a true human connection if you just take the time to really get to know someone. For me, I think I was able to establish so many genuine relationships with people in such a short time, even on the last day, just because I took maybe five minutes to get to know them, actually interact with them, learn about them, and write my phone number on a piece of paper for them."

**Jamaica Trippers load up the orange duffle bags filled with school supplies for children in Ferry.**

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New Scholarships Announced at Annual Banquet

March 3, 2025 4:02 PM

Updated March 13, 2025 12:25 PM

The annual scholarship dinner took place Wednesday, Feb. 5 to honor Baylor’s merit-and-need-based named scholars..

tudent speakers pictured above with Head of School Chris Angel '89 are seniors Sasha Smith, Bruin Webster, Johnny Sutter, and Jayla Simpkins. Junior Taryn Harris delivered the invocation.

The annual scholarship dinner took place Wednesday, Feb. 5 to honor Baylor’s merit-and-need-based named scholars, including the Cartter Scholars and over 30 additional honored scholars.

The 300 guests included former faculty and current faculty members, scholarship recipients, parents, donors, and trustees who come together each year to celebrate the opportunity to attend Baylor.

In his keynote, Upper School Head Garrison Conner '05 referenced Paul Woodruff 's book, Reverence: Renewing a Forgotten Virtue, and expanded on the meaning of "reverence" as it applies to Baylor broadly and to the scholarship dinner specifically. "On a night like tonight, one of my favorite of the year, it is easy to reverently pause and celebrate this community," he said, "At no point in Baylor’s robust 131-year history, have we relied on the efforts, generosity, intellect, or talents of one person. A night like this is the perfect example – we can collectively sit here and be in awe of the gift that Baylor has been to all of us in this room."

Head of School Chris Angel '89 followed the keynote with an announcement of three new endowed scholarships for qualified students:

Jeff Morgan '78 Scholarship (Frank Harrison '73 and family)
Sheldon B. Soss Scholarship
McKenney Family Scholarship

Additionally, the Chris Wright '03 Scholarship, announced at the 2024 banquet, has reached its goal to fully fund a day student's tuition this fall. The scholarship memorializes Christopher Wright '03, whose life was tragically cut short in September 2023.

Also, a generous donor made a special gift to rename the ARCKS Scholarship to LARCKS to honor Matt Lewis '74 for his service to Baylor. The scholarship also honors Roy Ashley, Lewis Rush, Bill Cushman '59, Joe Key, and Jack Stanford.

Pictured above *(left to right*) are **Zane Brown, Ben Brown '00, Alex Wright, Wells Wright '05, Janet Wright, Greg Wright '64, John Arthur Daniel '89, Keith Davis '00,** and **Chris Angel '89.**

Pictured above *(left to right*) are
**Brook Soss, Jason Soss '97**, and Terri Soss.

Pictured above *(left to right*) are **Rick McKenney, Pam McKenney, Mary Elizabeth Clements McKenney '16,** and Matt McKenney '16.

Three members of Baylor’s championship soccer team who were among the guests honored at the recent scholarship dinner have not only excelled on the field but have also fully embraced the academic rigor of Baylor’s classrooms.

Like many Baylor athletes, juniors Zoe Misenhimer, the school’s first Aiken Scholar; Elizabeth Silva, the Baylor Faculty and Staff Scholar; and Emily Betterton, the Lew Oehmig 1935 Scholar (pictured above with Coach Curtis Blair), balance rigorous training with demanding course loads while also participating in club sports outside of Baylor. “Their dedication to both sports and academics demonstrates a remarkable work ethic and leadership qualities,” said Director of Soccer Curtis Blair.

Silva is enrolled in Baylor’s advanced engineering research course as well as multiple Advanced Placement courses. Later this month she will represent the school in the state Poetry Out Loud contest in Nashville, an accomplishment that she considers to be the most impactful academic experience at Baylor.

“After preparing for the contest through daily practice and the encouragement and insight of my English class, this achievement showed me that hard work pays off and that if you put your mind to something, you can achieve anything,” said Silva. “I am so excited and grateful for the opportunity to represent Baylor at the Poetry Out Loud state competition.”

Betterton points to her AP English Literature course as her most impactful academic experience. “My favorite class is probably AP English Lit with Coach (Heather) Ott,” she said. “The engagement in the classroom has allowed me to flourish as a more insightful thinker.”

Misenhimer, the team’s co-captain, said the sophomore class Ted Talk and this year’s junior Poetry Out Loud contest were both challenging and rewarding. “These presentations challenged me to pick something I was truly passionate about. The projects were very rewarding because I learned important public speaking techniques,” said Misenhimer. “I enjoyed getting to dive into subject matter that we wouldn’t normally go over…they helped me learn to face a challenge head-on and brave the doubt you can have in your mind.”

Named Scholarship Funds

Thanks to the generosity of donors who value a Baylor School education, more than 50 named scholarship funds generate over $6 million each year for Baylor’s robust Tuition Assistance program serving merit- and need-based awards for families and students. Each named scholarship becomes available upon graduation of its previous recipient. Learn more here.

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Three Win Top Harvard Model Congress Awards

February 21, 2025 4:09 PM

Updated February 21, 2025 4:11 PM

Luci Hemphill, Yulissa Gerrard and Amelie Johnson are recognized at closing ceremony.

Eighteen delegates from Baylor participated in the annual Harvard Model Congress Conference San Francisco Jan. 17-19.

Senior Luci Hemphill and junior Yulissa Gerrard were recognized for outstanding performance in debate, and junior Amelie Johnson was selected as a Delegate Speaker to address the entire conference at closing ceremonies.

In addition to Gerrard, Hemphill, and Johnson, this year's participants included seniors Alisha Chandra, Lucy Gratz, Ella Grace Lazenby, Grace Simmons, Caiden Sumner, and Eric Zheng; juniors Shanina Dong, and Avery Glover; and sophomores Ananya Chakraborty, Aubrey Martell, Krishna Patel, Riley Swinford, Rivky Strauss, Elly Wu, and Ivan Zheng.

The conference provides an opportunity for students to debate real-life lessons in government structures, while practicing public speaking and teamwork. Faculty sponsor Mary Beth Hopping, a former Model UN Delegate herself, works in the Upper School Learning Center as a humanities specialist and served as a chaperone along with Anna Glascock '11, a dorm parent and associate director of boarding admissions.

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National Merit Finalists Now Advance for Award Consideration

February 21, 2025 3:56 PM

Updated February 21, 2025 4:06 PM

Seven Baylor seniors have been named finalists in the 70^th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Congratulations to (front row, left to right) seniors Vivien Webster, Alisha Chandra, and Sasha Smith; (back row, left to right) Johnny Sutter, Harper Kelly, Kristin Spykerman, and Lane Cooper.

Officials of the National Merit Scholarship Corporation (NMSC) have announced that seven Baylor seniors have been named Finalists in the 70^th annual National Merit Scholarship Program.

Vivien Webster, Alisha Chandra, Sasha Smith, Johnny Sutter, Harper Kelly, Kristin Spykerman, and Lane Cooper are now among more than 15,000 Fnalists who will be considered for National Merit Awards. The winners will be announced in the spring.

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New Academic Page Highlights Faculty

November 6, 2024 11:38 AM

Updated November 6, 2024 11:39 AM

Meet nine teachers and read what they enjoy most about teaching at Baylor.

A new academic page on our website (view it here) takes a closer look at nine Baylor teachers who were gracious enough to let us pry into their interests outside of the classroom and explore what they enjoy most about teaching at Baylor.

These nine faculty members represent a bigger picture of an amazing community of teachers who have earned degrees in everything from classical studies to computational engineering. They bring experience from teaching at all levels of education in both public and independent school settings. Their interests are just as varied: they have won competitive races, paddled rivers, trekked mountains, started their own businesses, volunteered in their communities, and traveled the world. The variety of their lives notwithstanding, the one thing that remains constant is that teaching matters most to them, and they are hopeful about their students and about what the future holds for them.

Baylor Faculty Fast Facts:

118 Teaching Faculty

40+ Live on Campus

18 Advanced Degrees

10 Doctorate Degrees

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Annual Event Highlights Leadership Opportunities for Ninth Grade Class

November 6, 2024 11:33 AM

Updated November 6, 2024 11:33 AM

Members of the senior class and adult leaders discussed how the Class of 2028 can participate in various Baylor activities and support systems that are available to them.

This year's annual Boys’ Night and Girls’ Night provided ninth grade students the opportunity to learn more about leadership opportunities in the Upper School and the many ways they might contribute to the Baylor community.

Guided by the theme, “The B is Greater than Me," members of the senior class and adult leaders discussed how the Class of 2028 can continue to adjust to the Upper School and the various Baylor activities and support systems that are available to them. Each evening included dinner, breakout sessions on various topics, and plenty of great conversations.

History Department Chair Heather Biebel, who has been involved with the annual Girls’ Night events since the history department brought the program back in 2022, said 125 ninth graders were involved. “This is a night when we see our senior leaders shine. Some worked on creating the night’s theme and the breakout sessions, others were group leaders," said Biebel. "They all spent time getting to know our ninth graders, and every senior involved led by example. Our ninth graders left the events with knowledge on how they can get involved in the Baylor Community and how they can become leaders at Baylor as well."

History instructors Cecily Honeycutt and Jack Studer '01 coordinated the programing for the events. Other adult leaders involved with Girls’ Night were faculty members Lizzie Gendimenico, Kelly Good, Mary Beth Hopping, Kelly O’Mara, Carrie Rice, and coach Kelli Howard-Smith ’95. Faculty leaders involved with the Boys’ Night along with Studer were Rev. Matt Farr ’03, Nick Boehm ’98, Andrew Hoffman ’18, Vic Oakes, Angelo Coclanis, along with varsity coaches Erik Kimrey, Toney Easely, and Cole Johnson.