From left to right: Zoe Zerwig Ford ’23, Lacy Williams ’23, and Nyla Johnson ’23
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Three Juniors Receive Indie Memphis Youth Filmmaking Mentorship
Zoe Zerwig Ford ’23, Lacy Williams ’23, and Nyla Johnson ’23 will make a short film with a $500 budget and receive mentoring from a professional filmmaker.
The student filmmakers received the Indie Memphis CrewUP Youth Filmmaking Mentorship, which gives youth across the city a chance to make a short film and compete against other young filmmakers. Each team has $500 to assist in making their film and will meet with a professional filmmaker mentor at least twice a month throughout the process.
Zoe Zerwig Ford ’23, Lacy Williams ’23, and Nyla Johnson ’23 will write, shoot and edit an original film that will compete this fall in the Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest. They have divided up roles: Lacy will focus on camera work and directing, Zoe will be their main screenwriter, and Nyla will edit and oversee production design aspects such as lighting and wardrobe. All three girls said the process will be a new experience for them.
“This is a cool opportunity to venture out and do something different,” Lacy Williams said.
The group’s film must be no longer than 8 minutes. They plan to make something thrilling or suspenseful. Zoe said the team feels that is how they can bring the most to the screen with their time limit. Their professional mentor is Mars McKay, a local independent filmmaker. McKay recently completed a debut film and is participating for the first time in the Indie Memphis mentorship program. At the film festival, the team’s film will be judged by an out-of-town-jury. The girls said they are looking forward to seeing what they achieve.
“We’re excited to take what we learn from this experience and see how we can bring it back to Hutchison,” Lacy said. “This is just the beginning.”
Hutchison filmmakers have made a strong showing at previous youth film festivals. In 2019, Sara Kate Burnett '22, Callie Oehmler ’20, Mischa White ’21, Caroline Couch ’20, Eliza Kamara ’21, and Paige Patteson ’19 all competed in the Indie Memphis Youth Film Fest. Kamara, Oehmler, and Couch received various awards.
Elizabeth Austin ’20, a junior at Middlebury College in Vermont, has been selected for a Udall Foundation Scholarship. She will receive a $7,000 grant to focus on her research in the emerging field of conservation paleontology.
Rising juniors and seniors who are part of four myExperience cohorts in Hutchison's Institute for Responsible Citizenship – global civic engagement, entrepreneurship, STEM, and art and design – explored their respective fields of study on trips to New York and Boston.
The 15-year student and recent recipient of the Ideal Hutchison Girl Award credits Hutchison for providing opportunities for her to delve deeper into her interests and helping her become a strong student and creative innovator.
The National Merit Finalist and 15-year student has distinguished herself by pursuing challenging academic opportunities in math and science and following her various interests along the way. She credits Hutchison for fostering her intellectual curiosity and love of learning.
Fifteen-year student and National Merit Commended Student Brooke Fair ’23 is an award-winning singer-songwriter who has released an album, an EP, and several singles all before graduating high school. This talented artist also is a dedicated student whose music accomplishments have come while achieving academic success.
Fifteen-year student Emmy Walton ’23 has put her heart into becoming a rocket scientist one day. After developing her interests in science and math through various STEM opportunities at Hutchison, she will follow her dreams at one of the nation’s top schools for engineering, Purdue University.
The National Merit Finalist was challenged by Hutchison’s various academic and extracurricular activities. From the tennis court to the courtroom to the classroom, Sarah is a well-rounded, hardworking Hutchison student who lives up to the school’s mission of inspiring girls to go anywhere they can imagine.
Eve-Elyse Hall ’23 has been known for setting up her teammates on the volleyball court throughout an excellent high school career. Now she’s setting herself up for a bright future after choosing to sign to play volleyball at Asbury University in Kentucky.
Hutchison world language students participated in the 2023 U of M Language Fair, sponsored by The University of Memphis Department of World Languages and Literatures. Demonstrating their knowledge of Spanish and Chinese, Hutchison had a total of 21 students win awards at the fair.
Note to the State of Tennessee: If you want to get legislation passed, put Hutchison girls in charge! Seventeen juniors wrote and presented six bills at the YMCA Youth in Government conference in Nashville. All of the bills made it onto the Senate and House dockets, and one was signed into law.
JK girls aren’t scared of these bones! They were fearless and loved being scientists as they took a closer look at the animal bone collection of Lauren Pharr Parks ’02, alumna and mom to Patty Mae ’36.
Seven upper school students will participate in high-intensity summer programs in subjects including computational physics, international studies, and visual arts at universities across the state.