HIGHLAND

Finley launched her ‘Green Leap Forward’
Fund in March to support efforts that have
a positive impact on the environment.
That December, Finley was accepted early decision into
William and Mary’s class of 2018; in February, she became
an in-patient at Hopkins battling a rare and incurable form
of liver cancer.
The youngest child of Ike and Julie Broaddus and sibling
of Coleman and Callie ’08, Finley had attended Highland
since the fifth grade. With the lithe body of a dancer and
arms that moved when she spoke, she always struck one as
an intuitively expressive person.
To share a space with Finley was to understand the grace
and beauty of her physical presence. Perhaps she loved
butterflies so much because she was part one herself.
Intensely smart and often funny, she had a way of pursing
her lips and looking upward when considering a question,
tapping the side of her cheek with her finger as though to
emphasize that she was doing some very serious thinking.
While she had several deep friendships, she also moved
easily between groups; indeed, it was her inclusiveness
and kindness that gave rise to one of her nicknames:
Friendly. Her interests spanned the Upper School building,
from the Science Hallway where she took AP Biology
and spearheaded the recycling efforts of Green Team,
to the Fine Arts Center where she performed at Coffee
Houses and drama productions, and spent hours in the art
studio. Outside, she played varsity tennis and interned at
Piedmont Environmental Council. She adored animals.
Y Y Y Y
In the early months of 2014, Highland students and faculty
pieced together a large quilt with messages of love and
support to send to Hopkins. We knew that Finley didn’t
want “stuff,” – she had been very clear when asked that
what she really wanted was our help with the Earth.
30 Highland Magazine highlandschool.org