Shelton Vance ’23, McLain Pogue ’23, Emma Couch ’23, and Amelia Crabtree ’24 received the award at a special ceremony in November, where they were the only youth at the event alongside many other well-respected award winners.
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Upper School Students Receive Youth Philanthropy Award
Four Hutchison students accepted the award for Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy at the AFP Memphis Crystal Awards.
As leaders of the Le Bonheur Club Teens, Shelton Vance ’23, McLain Pogue ’23, Emma Couch ’23, and Amelia Crabtree ’24 were honored with the Outstanding Youth in Philanthropy Award from the Memphis chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals. The award recognizes service by an individual or group of young people ages 5-23 who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to the community through leadership, volunteerism, and the development of charitable programs. They accepted the award at a special ceremony in November, where they were the only youth at the event alongside many other well-respected award winners.
Le Bonheur Club Teens provides youth with an opportunity to volunteer at Le Bonheur Children’s Hospital. It is an organization made up of female students in grades 9-12 that attend local private schools. McLain Pogue ’23 and Shelton Vance ’23 are co-presidents, and Emma Couch ’23 and Amelia Crabtree ’24 are co-vice presidents. In their roles, they organize events, work to expand membership within the community, and serve as leaders and communicators with members. They have assembled goodie bags, held toy drives, and planned a Sip and Shop event at Laurelwood Shopping Center to raise money for the club.
This is the first school year the group is allowed back at the hospital due to previous COVID-19 restrictions, and the girls are looking forward to more interactions with patients and their families. For seniors McLain, Shelton, and Emma, this is their last year to be a member of the organization. They said they hope to make a lasting impact.
“We feel fortunate to have the opportunity to serve, and it is exciting when we can see how much of a difference our service makes,” Shelton said.
Eleanor Merchant '23 wanted to find a way to help fight the national ongoing blood shortage, so she organized a blood drive at Hutchison. With her efforts over the past two years, blood donations at the Hutchison blood drive could have saved as many as 192 lives.
Allison Blankenship ’12 has committed her 10 years since graduating from Hutchison to working in the political arena, spending the last five years working in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Becca Coopwood ’27 serves as a student ambassador for The Social Institute, an organization that works to empower students to use social media and technology in a positive way. In her role, she helps produce blog posts from the perspective of students.
If you want to see Coach Thomas Jones light up, ask him about Maxine Engel ’21 and her journey from a rising ninth grader with a broken leg to a senior walking away as a State Champion. “You know how most coaches say, ‘I helped a kid?’ Well, she helped me. Helped me grow as a coach.
Seniors had a lot to say about the Tom Lee Park redevelopment after a recent Rogers Scholars excursion. And that's the point of these forays into the community. “They keep us aware of what is happening in our city, ultimately making us more well-rounded citizens,” said Emma Couch ’23.
Meet Katie Davis, one of Hutchison's third grade teachers. Ms. Davis enjoys taking on a challenge in the classroom and the freedom to follow her students' interests. She encourages her students to become lifelong learners.
The College Board has named Antonella Lejwa ’23 a National Hispanic Recognition Program Scholar, an honor reserved for a select number of outstanding students. She has proven herself through academic achievement and various extracurricular activities.
Middle school teacher Joe Koelsch loves quadratic equations like only a math teacher can. He wants his students to spend time understanding the equations before they rush to solve them. Koelsch, a national expert in Illustrative Math (IM), wrote in a leading blog for educators that IM’s focus on understanding processes, not just the pursuit of a right answer, can be a game-changer for math students.
Solving global issues requires research, critical thinking, proposal crafting, and challenging discussions, and our 7th and 8th graders are honing their diplomacy skills through Model United Nations. The YMCA Middle School Model UN Conference provides an opportunity for students to practice their debate and public speaking skills in a formal setting while encouraging them to find ways to join together as a community to solve current global issues.
Hutchison Lacrosse Head Coach David Gearhardt has been selected as an inductee into the Tennessee Lacrosse Hall of Fame. The longtime Sting coach is in the inaugural class of four, one of a very select group of historically significant contributors to lacrosse in the state of Tennessee.
The career of Berklee Scifres ’23 is only going in one direction – up! Scifres is signing a college scholarship to play basketball at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Daytona Beach, Florida, where she also plans to pursue a career in aviation.
Two Hutchison seniors signed to continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level and received athletic scholarships after terrific high school careers. Morgan Simmons ’23 and Kolby Cohen ’23 were honored at a signing ceremony held at the new Keras Complex.
Meet Lorraine Gagliano, Hutchison's Latin teacher. Mrs. Gagliano enjoys seeing individual students' English vocabulary and confidence grow. She hopes to spread her passion for the language and culture with her students.
It is a vivid memory for Lynn Witte Rodriguez ’78. She was a sophomore at Hutchison and on a field trip with her biology class, taught by Elsie Yeates, at the Veterans Administration Medical Center. “They packed us into this little room to watch hemodialysis,” she recalled. “I was horrified by the experience. The whole thing scared me to pieces. I remember sitting there, and someone told me not to lean on one of those little silver instrument trays they put out. All of a sudden I woke up in another room. I had completely passed out.”