April 12, 2013 - The Geneva School

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A Night of Pizazz &All that Jazz!By Katie Deatherage, Director of DevelopmentThink Downton Abbey. If one were observing the Country Club of Orlando on March 9,2013, one might have thought that a film crew was sure to arrive given the festive and stylishrepresentation of 1920s fashion and society. In fact, it was a sea of creative guests attendingThe Geneva School’s Roaring 20th Celebration and Auction! If you are unfamiliar withthe hit show Downton Abbey let me try to paint a picture. Grand plume feathers, flowersatop each table, candlelight throughout, with black and white color all around. Add the 350guests, many wearing ’20s style dresses, feathers, cloche hats adorned with jewels, strands ofpearls, top hats and tails, walking canes, and wraps. The guests were the decorations, “pullingout all the stops,” demonstrating amazing creativity and style with old treasures from hereand there.And then the evening began! “You’ve been outbid” dinged on the handheld bidding devices;delicious food was served; the Rhetoric Chamber Choir sang; Tam Costar and Shelly Shafershared some of their Geneva moments; and our guests heard alumna Abbie Beates (’08) attestto the indelible mark that God, through the work of The Geneva School, has imprinted onher life. Hearing a student who completed all 13 years of her K–12 education at Geneva say,“God gave me my passion for education, but Geneva taught me how to bridle this passioninto lifelong learning” reminds us of one of the reasons for supporting Christian classicaleducation.A night to remember no matter the dress! You get your tickets, and we’ll do the rest!An auction lasts for about five hours. However, thinking, planning, and securing begins manymonths before. Praying, soliciting donations, inviting guests, taking photos of students, runninghere and there, stuffing envelopes, designing displays for items, speaking to our audience(whew!), and the list could go on and on. To name each one would take pages, but I wouldlike to highlight those who ran an extra mile to help make the evening what it was. JenniferPruitt, Malia Dreyer, Chrissy Martin, Kelly Mathias, and Sarah Cloke each volunteered countlesshours for the benefit of the auction. Well over an estimated 4,000 total volunteer hoursfrom both staff and parents poured in to complete various aspects of the auction process, andGod blessed the efforts of their hands.Everyone agreed, it was the bees’ knees!Those in attendance agreed that the affair was both festive and satisfying. Guests bid generouslyknowing that their treasure would benefit the school. We are truly grateful. Our guests left withitems and certificates while the entire Geneva community—faculty, students, staff, and familiesbenefitted from the great generosity of the evening. The auction raised nearly $220,000, over20% of the funds needed to meet the gap between tuition and the annual budget!Page 2By any measure, the evening was a huge success for our whole community. Over a third of ourguests were people from the greater Orlando community. Some already knew our school andwanted to see our mission flourish; some were new to Geneva and now support our vision.And so, many new faces “met” The Geneva School, many of our own community mingled andenjoyed each other’s company, and many of our 11th and 12th grade students made a stellarimpression as they assisted throughout the evening and thanked each attendee for supportingtheir school.Non Nobis Domine.
News from the Admission OfficeBy Patti Rader, Director of AdmissionI enjoy promoting The Geneva Schoolto all of our prospective families; it’s nothard for me because I love the school.However, I have had my share of toughdays at Geneva. Are you shocked tohear me say that? The truth is that weexperience the pain of living in a fallenworld no matter how much we try toavoid it. There is no perfect church, noperfect marriage, no perfect family, andour school is not perfect either. We areprivileged to live in a country that allowsus to choose public, private, or homeschool. We make decisions on what webelieve is best for our children. It is hardto pick the school that will be a “rightfit” when there are so many choices andphilosophies of education.Our family tried two other privateschools before landing at Geneva, andI served on Mayor Dyer’s EducationAction Committee many years agowhen I was considering public schoolas an option. I am thankful that Godled our family to Geneva. It has beena great fit for all five of us and, alongwith our three children, we have learneda lot from our Geneva experience. Ona personal note I can say that my faithin God and knowledge of the Scriptureshas grown, and my understanding ofwhat it is to flourish as a human beingin this culture has changed.I tell prospective families that there isno “promised land of schools,” butrather you must pick the school that is agood fit for your family and be loyal tothat school. I encourage them to learnabout the years of education beyond K4,K, and grammar school and to think allthe way to graduation day. I ask them,“What do you want in the long run foryour children?” I give families long toursthrough the building in an effort to showthem our facilities. I walk new familiesthrough the reader’s digest version ofChristian classical education as I showthem classrooms and introduce them toteachers. I love my career; and more importantlyI love seeing God at work inthe lives of my children and yours.This year’s admission season has been especiallybusy with inquiries, tours, andapplications, and we are definitely seeingan increase in interest in the school.Next year we have two full classes in kindergarten,and we are well on our waytoward filling the third. Current parentsare singing our praises to their friends,and we will be giving many referral tuitioncredits in August. It is safe to saythat we may have wait pools for studentsin certain grade levels and I am hopefulthat the school will be close to capacitynext year.It would be great if the admission departmentcould take the credit for this,but the truth is we are filling our classesfor many reasons. We are experiencingthe biblical concept of reaping what issown, and the sowing at Geneva is exceptional.Thanks go to all of you—parents,employees, students, faculty, andadministration—for your work in developinga culture of recruiting at Geneva.Thank you for your love of your school.It is because of all the nice things you sayto your friends that Geneva is experiencinga fruitful time. Please keep up thegood work.Please contact the admission departmentfor assistance with scheduling tours orgetting information for your friends orfamily. It is always our greatest pleasureto work with your friends to share informationon our Christian classical school.OUR APPLE TREE IS BEARING FRUIT!The next time you are at the ECC or the main campus you might notice a small apple tree on atable in the lobby. TGS is growing apples; each apple represents one enrolled kindergarten studentand we hope to grow 48 apples by the first day of the 2013/2014 school year. Bob Ingramcalls kindergarten the “lower 48.” Currently, we are celebrating 30 apples (students enrolled) and10 applications “in process.” As I look at each apple, I think about how blessed we are to be ableto watch every one of these students learn and grow up at Geneva. Each time you see one of thetrees, please remember to pray for all of our students. Think of the tree as a metaphor for growthand the bearing of the fruit that we work to water and nourish through the years. Our hope isthat in 13 years these 48 students will graduate as the TGS Class of ’26 with a Christian classicaleducation that prepares them for lifelong learning.Page 3
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Page 5 and 6: An Answer to the Question—Why a L
Page 7 and 8: the practices and ways of being in
Page 9 and 10: What is a Good Life? The Western Na
Page 11 and 12: TGS Youth Sports Relies on Parent V
Page 13 and 14: Student vs. Faculty Basketball Game
Page 15 and 16: Long-time Coaches: Mike McAvoy and
Page 17 and 18: The first semester has many opportu
Page 19 and 20: We arrived early at the marina, ate
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Page 23 and 24: Michael Miller• Praying: Finding
Page 25 and 26: SAT Reading SAT Math SAT Writing AC
Page 27 and 28: living in and I affirm your adulter

April 12, 2013 - The Geneva School

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