This fall, 22 new faculty and staff members join Ashley Hall with 39 advanced degrees, decades of combined experience and expertise, and a shared passion for outstanding education. We warmly welcome this stellar group of educators into our community. Click on the button below to learn more.
Although this year challenged our School in immeasurable ways, students, faculty, and staff still found time to embrace and celebrate joy. Hear from Upper School Dean of Students Kelly Sumner as she shares 6 ways Ashley Hall students have stayed connected this year.
“This year is especially challenging—as we knew it would be—and the SLC is meeting the need to provide an extra layer of comfort and care to our students. All of our students are still processing the abrupt ending of school last spring, the loss of a summer as they would have experienced it, the daily challenges of mask wearing and social distancing, and the constant worry about what the rest of the year will look like. The SLC already feels like a ‘check in’ spot—not just for business but for yourself—a place to relax a bit, unwind, and meet with the adults on campus who are helping to guide you, support you, and cheer you on.
Our current challenges are gatherings, togetherness, and space. We are supporting students by helping them to reframe their expectations and find the beauty and the joy in getting to do things traditionally, but with a twist. We have had to reimagine what we do but are committed to capturing everything in a way that still honors the spirit of the event. It is easy to get caught up in something ‘not being the same’ just because it looks different, but it can still feel the same and have the same end result, maybe even a better one!
A silver lining is realizing a true appreciation for the opportunity to be together in community; students are gaining the ability to appreciate both what they have lost as well as what they still have in a way that wouldn’t have been possible without these restrictions. Daily conversations are happening in the SLC about triumphs, struggles, plans, ideas, worries, fears, and hopes. Questions are answered, tears are shed, complaints are heard, news is shared, excitement is expressed, and visions are co-created.”
6 Ways Ashley Hall Upper School Students are Staying Connected
photo above provided by: Volvo Car Open
Congratulations to Emma Navarro ’20 on becoming the 2021 NCAA Women’s Tennis Singles National Champion (while simultaneously reaching the semifinals in the NCAA Doubles Tournament)
by Carrie Singh, Director of Student Affairs
“Looking back at an old appointment calendar, it was three years ago, almost to the day, that Mrs. Muti and I met with an architect to share a vision for a new student center on campus. With the opening of the Lane Student Life Center (SLC), we are thrilled and grateful to so many to see this vision become a reality for our community. Ashley Hall has long been committed to health and wellness as a core component of the student experience; our wellness programming is founded on the belief that a student’s social-emotional learning is crucial to her ability to advance in her academics, athletics, arts, and career aspirations and to lead a fulfilling life, developing into the person she is meant to be. The design of the SLC was to provide a central place for information, community building, support, and sustenance. This repurposed ‘addition’ to campus includes communal areas, study rooms, multipurpose classrooms, a wellness studio, a dedicated student leadership work space, a small café, and the offices of devoted student support personnel (Dean of Students, Director of College Counseling, Director of Student Affairs, the Upper School Administrative and College Counseling Assistant, and the Upper School Counselor), all intentionally designed to support and positively impact the growth and development of adolescents.
By creating a space that emulates a college campus student union, the SLC will offer opportunities for student independence, self-regulation, and agency, providing instances whereby our girls develop and hone decision-making and time management skills. Our café will utilize a point of sale system linked to the student ID cards of ninth through twelfth graders, helping prepare them for the ‘one card’ system used in many colleges. We visualize time for reflection, relaxation, and mindfulness with yoga, meditation, or exercise in a multipurpose wellness studio and chances to commune with friends and classmates in the banquette style seating or the standing desk computer charging stations in the SLC’s commons area. Ultimately, our hope is that this space fosters a sense of belonging for our students, allows them to feel both cared for and independent, and gives them the tools they need to flourish and become the best version of themselves. We believe every student can discover ways to find the professional or peer support she needs for self-knowledge and self-care. Through this kind of agency, she also learns how to be accountable for her decisions and how to practice the critical skills she needs to cultivate inner strength and resilience.
The vision for this renovated space was conceived before the arrival of a global pandemic. Despite our thoughtful design process, we did not anticipate what protocols a pandemic would require. We are making necessary adjustments to ensure the building can be used both purposefully and safely, while still honoring its intended users: our students! Perhaps now, even more than ever before, the health and wellness of our students are of utmost importance, and the literal and figurative space to allow them to practice the skills needed in today’s world in the safe and supportive environment of the SLC will be a most welcome and compelling addition to our campus.”
3 Ways the Lane Student Life Center Will Help Students Thrive
Due to inclement weather, Ashley Hall will close early today, March 18.
Dismissal times are:
Early Education Center | Pre-Primary and Pre-Kindergarten at 11:45am
Early Education Center | Primary at 12:00pm
Lower School | Kindergarten-Grade 4 at 12:00pm
Intermediate Program | Grades 5 & 6 at 12:30pm
Upper School | Grades 7-12 at 12:55pm
Pick-up locations remain the same. All after-school activities are canceled. Please pick your child up in a timely manner as campus will be closing. Thank you and stay safe.
As a freshman searching to give back to her community, Sarah McLean ’21 was immediately drawn to a new initiative being launched by the Lowcountry chapter of the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS): the Students of the Year campaign (SOY). An annual elite leadership development program for local high school students, the SOY accepts nominations for student leaders to participate in a seven-week competition to raise funds and awareness for LLC. Since its inception in the Lowcountry, SOY participants have raised over $815,000 for LLC to aid in research, advocacy, and patient support of those affected with blood cancers.
Besides the fulfilling work, McLean, whose cousin passed away due to blood cancer complications, recognized that by giving back, she would help ensure that one day no family would have to suffer the loss of a loved one from a blood cancer. Now a senior who has worked with the SOY campaign for the past four years, McLean serves as this year’s Chair of the Student Leadership Team. She recently shared her experience guiding the first all-female SOY candidate class through the campaign season and her deep appreciation for an organization that has profoundly impacted her life.
(Click HERE to learn more about the Students of the Year campaign)
Discuss your work this year as the Chair of the Leadership Team for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Lowcountry Student of the Year program. What have been some of the challenges you have had to overcome because of the pandemic, and what makes you most proud?
McLean: “My work began in the summer of 2020. As the Chair of the Leadership Team, I worked with the team to brainstorm ideas for candidates, listen to ideas, and plan out the new year. At the beginning of this campaign season, I conducted meetings with the team, the manager for the division in the Lowcountry, the Student Leadership Team Vice-Chair, and the Executive Leadership Team Chair. The meetings occurred twice a month, then once a month when our candidate list was set. As the Chair, my job is to answer questions from the leadership team, build comradery, and work with the Vice-Chair to build new ideas and installments within LLS.
In a pandemic year, my roles changed, and the way we went about our tasks was transformed to a computer screen. Instead of meeting at a Starbucks and pitching our campaign to potential candidates or company sponsors, we met with everyone via Zoom. In preparation for these meetings, the student Leadership Team was tasked with reaching out to people within the Lowcountry community to participate in the SOY program. SOY is a very hands-on campaign, and without going forth in society, even masked and distanced, we used virtual methods to tell amazing students about our life-changing opportunity to raise money for cancer research.
My team adjusted to the inevitable and started to use Zoom to conduct meetings. These introductions to LLS included a PowerPoint presentation given by our manager to the SOY candidates and their parents. The students who nominated candidates are also present in the meetings to share their experiences and why they would make amazing candidates. Though it was not always the case that a nominee would agree to participate, we were still able to enlighten the community on what the SOY campaign is and what our mission is to better society. This year, we were able to secure fifteen candidate teams who are the first candidate class to be all girls.
We decided to make our Zoom meetings festive to make online SOY more exciting. This ranged from Christmas outfits and funniest hats to Halloween-themed Zoom calls. We tried everything to make these calls feel as if we were there together. Before each meeting, the manager, Vice Chair, and I would meet to discuss the upcoming meeting, prepare any questions, brainstorm, and review our speeches. My favorite part of these meetings is our Minute for Mission. This is the first minute of each meeting where we share an inspirational cancer survivor video, story, or advancement in the campaign. This Minute for Mission helps us to remember why we are fighting so hard to raise money for this worthy cause.
The first event for our candidates was our workshop where we helped the candidates start to think about their team and campaign and to feel comfortable about their life-changing choice to be a part of the LLS family. Within the workshop, they heard from former candidates, team members, parents, our Honored Hero who is fighting cancer, and a cancer survivor. This year, my leadership team has eleven active members below me. Every candidate team is assigned a Leadership Team mentor, who supports, guides, and teaches. Everyone who participates in LLS supports each other to the point that it is not only a competition but also a support group to fund the same fight.
For our mentees, we went to their houses for a surprise visit, during which we delivered gifts to welcome them and congratulate them on joining LLS. Each week I reach out to my mentees via FaceTime to encourage them, offer support, see what’s coming up, and be a sounding board for their ideas. I am proud of all the candidates who have taken on this fight and are staying committed to their job, even with a hectic schedule and school.”
How has working with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society’s Student of the Year program enriched your high school years? What do you find most rewarding about the experience?
McLean: “LLS has helped me to find my identity through charity and giving back to people within my community who are battling cancer. LLS is funding research, and being a part of the SOY campaign from its first year in the Lowcountry has allowed me to watch it grow and reach almost everyone in Charleston. What I find most rewarding about being a part of the program is watching students realize they have a voice and can make a difference in a seemingly adult field. Though they have to work harder than anyone, I get to see the smiles that come to everyone’s faces when we lift the numbers at the end of the year, which is the total amount the high school students who are a part of the campaign have raised.”
Why is philanthropy so important to you? Do you have any plans to stay involved with the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society once you graduate?
McLean: “My cousin passed away due to blood cancer complications so giving back in any way helps me to ensure that one day a family will never have to go through the loss of a daughter, son, sister, brother, mother, father, cousin, loved one, or friend. Cancer in particular has affected almost everyone I’ve met, and until there is a cure, I will not stop funding the fight. Depending on where I go to college, I would love to be part of their local LLS chapter. With the adjustment to COVID-19, there might be ways to still participate in the Lowcountry’s chapter via Zoom.
This year I’ve had to be creative in my fundraising, so I suggested making an Instagram account for thrifted and gently used clothes where fifty percent of the profits go back to the LLS. I came up with this idea from watching successful stores on Instagram and added a twist to give back. I suggested it to my Vice President, and together we started our online fundraising store, @lls_thrifted. On the page, we have collaborated with SOY candidate teams to upload their items as well, and half will go to their campaign while half goes to the leadership team account, which funds the SOY campaign.
So far, we have uploaded one hundred and fifteen posts, worked with a candidate team clothing drive, received donations from two candidate teams, used the PSA drive team to collect clothing, and raised around $80 for LLS in three and a half months. The pandemic has made it difficult to reach a large audience, but with the help of social media we can connect with different social groups, adults, families, and friends online through the store. By combining the love for shopping, low prices, clothing from each other, and a wonderful cause, we can spread the word of LLS. This store includes everyone through artistic ability of the logo and fashion selection, social networking, financing, providing a product, communication, outreach, and teamwork.”