DURHAM ACADEMY MAGAZINE

This summer, every school and every city in America has the opportunity to become more equitable and more just. Every organization in the world will be transformed by the COVD-19 pandemic. Each will emerge either stronger or weaker as a result, but none will be the same.

As of late May, Rossilli had sewn and sold more than 250 cloth face masks, raising nearly $2,000 for organizations that are providing families support in the face of the pandemic. 

Families were able to tune in to a virtual version of each ceremony broadcast on Vimeo Live, and were then invited to visit campus for car parades to give their kindergartners, fourth-graders, eighth-graders and seniors a chance to celebrate as a class and have a sense of closure.

You and your generation — the global Class of 2020 — will solve problems, create beauty and build relationships like no generation before you.

The Durham Academy community celebrated the 111 members of the Class of 2020 on Senior Day, May 8, which kicked off with a video message from Head of School Michael Ulku-Steiner.

It seemed almost like magic the way school transitioned from Durham Academy to Durham E-cademy — poof, from classroom instruction to online instruction in the blink of an eye — but that was far from reality.

Sheri-lyn Carrow began the school year with a full class of 18 pre-kindergarten students, but by February there were just 16. One student left on a long-planned sabbatical with her family to New Zealand and another was diagnosed with leukemia and could not risk returning to school.

Preschool and Lower School students already know that library assistant Letizia Haynie is the storytime queen, but this spring Haynie enjoyed an even wider audience when she launched a fun Saturday tradition of virtual “Storytime with Mrs. Haynie.”

This year, the audience for third-graders’ state projects expanded to include the entire Lower School!

No matter the pet, DA families have shown a lot of love this spring.

Technology teacher Michele Gutierrez wanted to make sure her students could experience the same type of learning during Durham E-cademy.

Lower School students created a virtual time capsule project — with their thoughts and observations about their feelings, their families, their rituals and milestones — resulting in a historical artifact to be displayed in a living history museum that will be displayed on campus this fall.

To help keep health care providers safe, Director of Security Jim Cleary and security officer Carey Britt for personal protective equipment that wouldn’t be used by students who were now learning at home.

School is where kids and adults can be fully human together, and we need it back.

One thing I know for sure, I will never take walking into my classroom in the mornings for granted again.

In April, two Middle School efforts raised money to feed frontline health care workers, support local restaurants and support North Carolinians in the restaurant and hospitality industry who lost their jobs or income during the coronavirus pandemic.

Fifth-graders have a long tradition of learning about the Lewis and Clark expedition and how they and the men who traveled west with them kept journals.

Boyd and Ruberg decided to take advantage of one of the few silver linings of the coronavirus outbreak and subsequent quarantine — that real-time access to subject matter expertise that might have been limited by geography was now erased.

TeraThought is a mobile app startup powered entirely by students. Our apps have more than 10,000 customers and span a variety of industries from stopwatch/timer apps to green screen solutions to fitness motivation platforms.

When coronavirus cut the spring season short, Cavalier coaches were presented with the unprecedented challenge of keeping student-athletes motivated, engaged and active — without the benefit of the in-person interaction and attention that are critical during a typical season.

The Upper School Wellness dream team was squarely focused on student wellness when Durham E-cademy launched in March.

Members of the Durham Academy community may have been physically separated this spring, but they connected across the miles during the first-ever virtual all-school spirit day on April 3!

Being away from campus this spring hasn’t kept students and teachers from joining together to create some amazing music.

In addition to advisors surprising seniors with at-home visits, Senior Day included a surprise that honored a faculty member who is oh-so-beloved by seniors! 

Although there are many changes occurring, one thing that remains the same is our mission to keep our alumni informed, connected and proud to be part of the Durham Academy family.

While Cavaliers weren’t able to gather in person for what is typically a busy spring of Alumni Networking Socials, alumni enjoyed the opportunity to catch up with one another and faculty virtually!

In late April, Durham Academy alumna and University of Oxford classics professor Dr. Alison Rosenblitt ’95 reached out with a unique proposal: a trans-Atlantic Zoom master class on E. E. Cummings for Upper School English students and teachers.

The campus is quiet, as are the seven of us, bleached pale in the streetlights, revisiting every important building, every frequented study spot.

As a second year surgery resident at New York City’s Weill Cornell Medicine, Dr. Caitlin Finn ’10 knew she would spend a lot of time caring for patients in surgical intensive care units.

One of the most painful things to experience as a senior is losing your season prematurely. The irony of the situation is that my teammates and I received this news in the middle of practice.

I took for granted that it was all going to happen for me — the cap and gown, the sunny days, the pomp and circumstance of taking my first step into a seemingly bright future.

Whether through the arts, education, health care or food drives, Durham Academy alumni reached out to help others as COVID-19 drastically changed life around the world. Below is a roundup of the ways alumni put their varied talents to work. 

Senior Jack Linger, who passed away just before the start of the school year, completed a cross-country cycling journey last summer as part of an independent study project. 

Durham Academy’s annual Upper School Spring Dance Concert and assembly, which would have been held one week ago today, has two showcase pieces — the Senior Dance, choreographed entirely by students, and the Faculty Dance, a piece that’s a fan favorite because it prompts teachers to model what learning and vulnerability (or bravery) look like.

When senior members of Durham Academy’s speech and debate team left campus for spring break, they weren’t sure if they’d ever compete again. With the cloud of the COVID-19 pandemic hanging over them, it seemed unlikely that they’d be able to compete in culminating in-person tournaments, even if they could ultimately return to campus.

Friday, April 24, will mark the reinvention of Special Olympics as a day designed to put the same smiles on athletes’ faces. Virtual Special Olympics will let the athletes know that everyone involved in the event is still connected to them in spirit, even if they can’t connect with them in person.

Virtually surrounded by coaches, teammates, teachers and friends — and with an abundance of hugs and high-fives from family members at home — six Durham Academy seniors committed to continue their athletic careers in college on Wednesday. 

Thanks to drone footage, students in the Middle School’s Science In Action class are keeping up with progress on the Middle School’s Arts and Languages Center — and continuing to think about its relationship to the ecology of the greater community.

Bernadette Cooper Vereen ’14 credits Durham Academy with equipping her with skills she has used to navigate college and the start of her career in maternal health and social work. Now a graduate student, she hopes to become a perinatal social worker and address racial disparities in childbirth outcomes, with an ultimate goal of opening a natural birthing center for low-income families.

Durham Academy’s new development director, Michelle Morgan, has experienced the transformational power of education firsthand. The North Carolina native credits the influence of her stepfather, who came into her life at age 12, with inspiring an academic work ethic and an appreciation of education that now drives her philanthropic work