Oasis
The ESA Experience Summer 2020
When we set out to celebrate ESA’s 40th anniversary this school year, who could have imagined the challenges we would face in 2020! With very little notice, ESA teachers, students, and parents made the switch to distance learning in March, and proved once again that the ESA community is resilient and creative. In the two months that we stayed at home, students created videos, conducted science labs, cooked and baked, painted, drew, photographed, built with clay, played music together, elected officers, hosted guest speakers, practiced for sports, held club meetings, built shelters and dressed as characters inspired by literature, held a virtual field day, celebrated Earth Week, designed in Minecraft, attended virtual chapels, competed in spirit competitions, sang, danced, researched and portrayed famous historical figures, took AP exams, and so much more!
ESA Beyond the Oaks For a look at how ESA experienced distance learning, visit ESAcadiana.com/beyondtheoaks. To see ESA through the eyes of our students, visit ESAcadiana.com/takealook. Find videos from the year, including the year-end message from ESA faculty and a tribute to seniors in spring sports, at vimeo.com/channels/esacadiana.
Congratulations
Class of 2020
The 50 members of the Class of 2020 were accepted to 100 college and university programs (right) and were offered over $6.1 million in institutional merit aid, not including TOPS. To read more about the members of the class, go to ESAcadiana.com/2020.
Cum Laude Society ESA is one of four schools in Louisiana to be a part of the Cum Laude Society, a program for independent schools modeled after Phi Beta Kappa. These students are at the top of their graduating class, and have maintained superior academic performance in a challenging and rigorous high school curriculum. 2020 Members Michael dela Rosa Kate Kaufman Hannah Kitakule Emily Minvielle Ruthie Reaux Robert Rhymes Keegan Riley Amaryllis Wiltz
Agnes Scott College American Musical and Dramatic Academy Auburn University Honors Barry University Baylor University Belmont University Birmingham Southern College Boston College Boston University Boston University Honors Butler University Centenary College of Louisiana Clark University Clemson University DePaul University Drexel University Duke University Eckerd College Elon University Emerson College Emory University Florida Gulf Coast University Florida Institute of Technology Florida Southern College Florida State University Fordham University Georgetown University Grinnell College Hartwick College Hawaii Pacific University Howard University Illinois Institute of Technology Johns Hopkins University Lake Forest College Lewis & Clark College Louisiana State University Louisiana State University Honors Louisiana Tech University Loyola University Chicago
Loyola University New Orleans Marymount Manhattan College McNeese State University Missouri University of Science and Technology Missouri University of Science and Technology Honors New York University Honors New York University Tisch Northwestern State University of Louisiana Nova Southeastern University Oglethorpe University Honors Oklahoma City University Pennsylvania State Univ. (Main Campus) Point Park University Purdue University (Main Campus) Rhodes College Rice University Ringling College of Art and Design Saint Edward's University Saint Mary's College Samford University Seattle University Sewanee: The University of the South Skidmore College Southern Methodist University Southwestern University St John's University (New York) Syracuse University Temple University Texas A & M University Texas Tech University The University of Alabama The University of Alabama Honors
The University of Tampa The University of Texas at Austin The University of West Florida Trinity University Tufts University Tulane University of Louisiana University of California Berkeley University of California Los Angeles University of Colorado Boulder University of Denver University of Louisiana at Lafayette University of Louisiana at Lafayette - Honors University of Louisiana at Monroe University of Mary Hardin (Baylor) University of Miami Honors University of Mississippi University of Mississippi Honors University of Nevada Reno University of North Carolina at Asheville University of Portland University of Puget Sound University of Redlands University of San Francisco University of South Florida (Main Campus) University of Southern California University of Virginia (Main Campus) Virginia Commonwealth University Washington State University Wofford College
Will Bako* Isabelle Berthelot* Ellie Bollich* Ben Bordes* Lawrence Bourgeois Katy Broussard* Caitlin Chen* Andrew Daly Michael dela Rosa* Braxton English* Stella Falterman* Leah Gerard* Eliza Gothreaux Vern Guidry Harper Gunn* Evan Haik Matt Hebert*
Riley Hulin* Sarah Humble* Ana Huval Divya Kasarla* Kate Kaufman* Hannah Kitakule* Averie Lajaunie Charlotte Leavitt ZoĂŤ LeBoeuf Will Lemoine* Ethan Littlefield Angelica Llopis McKenna Miller* Rylie Miniex* Emily Minvielle* Piper Naudin* Oliver Nickel*
Emily Olivier Jessi Olivier Jack Osborne Jacques PlauchĂŠ Collin Pooler* Anna Claire Rader Ruthie Reaux* Ryan Rhoades Robert Rhymes* Keegan Riley* Henry Shuffler Jackson Spoon Madi Stelly Christiaan Thibodeaux Makayla Vallery Amaryllis Wiltz* *National Honor Society member
Lower School Awards Headmaster’s Award Juliet Williams (far left) St. Barnabas Award Ella Uebinger (near left) For other awards usually given at Lower School Closing, look for the news section on the homepage at ESAcadiana.com.
End-of-Year Awards Go Virtual With ESA Beyond the Oaks, Lower and Middle School awards and Junior awards were presented via videos (viewable at vimeo.com/ channels/esacadiana). We’ve moved Senior Graduation to August 1st, with limits on the number of people who can attend, but we’ll stream the ceremony for anyone who wants to join us online! Junior Awards: George Washington Book Award - Lauren Gachassin, Harvard Book Award - Aline Malek, Hendrix Book Award - Corbitt Driskell, Sewanee Book Award - Arden Frantzen, Smith Book Award - Maggie Shuffler, Tulane Book Award - Matthew Bush, Yale Book Award - Luke LeGoullon, and Rensselaer Medal - Christian Herpin.
Middle School Awards Valerie Marsalis Cox Award Allison Aucoin (near right) Martha Annan Cooper Award Henry Fuller (far right) 6th Grade Citizenship Award Will Schumacher 7th Grade Citizenship Award Sian Allen 8th Grade Citizenship Award Anna Breaux
Rusty brought the whole range of the world’s music to our students, music from all eras, all cultures, and all genres. It was not at all unusual for us to open a car door in the morning drop-off line to students and their parents singing - anything from “Camptown Races” to “Bohemian Rhapsody.” Kathleen O’Shaughnessy Lower School Head Lower School music teacher Rusty Roden came to ESA in 2014 with more than 30 years of musical experience and over a decade of teaching experience. For the past six years, he has led students and teachers in singing and playing through classes, chapel, and the spring musical.
Thank you for making a mark on ESA! Rusty Roden, Lower School Music Cathy Mills, Middle School Art and Social Studies I have been blessed and honored to have Cathy as my classroom neighbor, fellow teacher, mentor and friend for so many years. Cathy was always there to listen, encourage, and teach both students and colleagues. Her love for learning benefited students, from her fascination with our state’s history and culture to the use of her gifted artistic eye to foster and encourage creativity. We will miss her kindness, support, and wisdom on campus every day. Andrea Hernandez Middle School Head A teacher for 28 years, Cathy Mills taught middle school at ESA for 17 years in both the visual arts and social studies departments. A working artist, she will continue to create! Back row: Amie Rogers, Jennifer Graycheck, Cathy Mills, Elise Sonnier, and Garrett Rosen. Front row: Kat Movassaghi and Andrea Hernandez.
Learning by Doing Over the course of several months, fifth graders designed and built a ride through the digestive system for PK4 students. Both groups of students studied the human body in their science classes early in the year, and the fifth grade students came up with the idea of creating the ride to bring what they learned to life. Divided into teams for the mouth, esophagus, stomach, small intestine and large intestine, the older students developed visual and tactile elements and scripts for the different sections of the tour. They worked with science teacher Beverly Burgin, art teacher Claire Caffery, and Idea Lab Coordinator Ashleigh D’Aunoy to make sure the ride was academically accurate and used the vocabulary that the younger students learned in their studies. The tour began in the mouth, continued down the esophagus with a ride in the elevator, and moved on to the stomach and intestines. The two-story ride captivated both students and adults. Lafayette Campus students and teachers brought book characters to life in their celebration of Read Across America Day in March (bottom right). Sophie Wilson, ’29, has reason to celebrate, too. Her story, “Trip to the Future,” placed third in her age group in the 2020 Writes of Spring, a contest for K-12 students in Lafayette and surrounding parishes. The spring issue of The Eclectic, ESA’s literary magazine, is available online at ESAcadiana.com/TodayESA. Designed and edited by students, the magazine features writing and artwork by ESA students in middle and upper school. With the move to distance learning, the traditional Senior Art Show featuring the works of graduating seniors was cancelled, but the Visual Arts department opened the doors to a virtual art show featuring ceramics, paintings, drawings, photographs, and mixed media pieces by members of the Class of 2020. View the show at esavisualart.com. Top right: ceramic piece by Christiaan Thibodeaux Visit vimeo.com/channels/ESAMusicCollective for a sampling of work by ESA Music students during distance learning. While group performances were out, students collaborated by recording different elements and editing them together. Drama students even performed acts at a distance and pieced their parts together to make scenes.
Ready to Serve First grade students in Mrs. Joanne Broussard’s class discussed poverty as part of their focus on cultural anthropology this spring. The students brainstormed about how to help those less fortunate, and decided to hold a lemonade sale to raise funds to send much-needed socks to children in an orphanage in Ghana. The students took the proceeds from their sale to Walmart and purchased 440 pairs of socks! ESA families contributed posters and cards to a service project led by sophomores Ali Munshi, Anil Cacodcar, and Madeline Breaux. To thank essential hospital workers, including maintenance, cleaning, and cafeteria staff, Ali (top) delivered the posters to local hospitals. ESA’s Environmental Club (center) led an Earth Week celebration that encouraged families to hold an eco-conscious movie night, and play Earth Week bingo by completing earth-friendly activities such as picking up litter and starting a compost pile. Members of Students to End Prejudice, also known as STEP Club, surveyed Cade Campus students and shared the information they gathered about diversity at ESA. Some of the members spoke in chapel (bottom) about their experiences as people of color at ESA and in the world. The Community Service Club extended their annual Adopt-a-Grand program to reach out to elderly community members during the pandemic. Each winter, the club hosts a Christmas party for residents of the Schooldays apartments in New Iberia. Advisories adopt the elderly residents and provide them with needed items and treats. In March, the Community Service Club asked students to reach out to the residents with notes and cards since many of them live alone and were isolated due to COVID-19.
At the Spanish Club Convention in February, ESA’s Spanish Club earned several awards, including: Shirt design - 1st place, Makayla Vallery and Ruthie Reaux; Beginner level skit - 1st, Matthew Bush, Tyler Chen, Anna Gachassin, Matt Gary, Lucy John, Madeleine Martin, and Emily Olivier; Written level testing: Level 1 - 1st, Hannah Kitakule; Level 2 - 2nd, Madeleine Martin; Level 3 - 1st, Emma Gombos; Level AP - 2nd, Maggie Shuffler; Oral communication level 2 - 2nd, Anna Gachassin; Narrating level 4 - 1st, Emily Olivier; Drawing - 3rd, Sophia Salvaggio; Quiz bowl - 3rd, Matt Gary, Robert Rhymes, Thomas Rhymes, and Stephen Rhymes.
Amaryllis Wiltz, ’20, and Piper Naudin, ’20, represented the ESA French Club at ALCFES, the yearly convention of Louisiana French students. Amaryllis received first place for her vocal performance of “Sous le Ciel de Paris” by Francesca Blanchard, and ESA took home first place in artistic quality for scrapbook, third place in theme for scrapbook, and first place in artistic quality for poster. Perry Joseph, ’25, is a Platinum Winner in the 2020 National French Contest for French I. Platinum is the highest award in the Le Grand Concours, given to the student who earned the top score in the nation in the level.
Connecting Across the Curriculum Long Walk
Exploring the stories of two African children, told in A Long Walk to Water by Linda Sue Park, launched ESA seventh graders into an adventure in geography, history, and science. The cross-curricular project based on the book gave seventh graders the opportunity to explore east-central Africa and to examine the issue of water scarcity from several different angles. Teachers Christina Hidalgo (life science), Susan Doré (English and cultural geography), and Missy Gates (cultural geography) helped the students forge connections through reading, writing, hands-on experiments, research, presentations, artwork, and discussions. As one of the book’s characters journeyed through Africa, the students traced the geography of his path and studied the biome challenges of the different terrains he encountered. As they dove into the issue of water scarcity, they deepened their explorations by investigating the organizations that drill wells and work to provide water in the areas with the least access. With online resources, they examined their own water usage as they learned about how difficult accessing clean water was for the book’s characters. In life science, hands-on experiments introduced the students to the difficulties of carrying water over long distances and purifiying the water they managed to bring to their destination.
Discussing metabolic needs for water, as well as the role of water in disease prevention, agriculture, and industry introduced the seventh graders to challenges they’ve never imagined. Along with gaining new knowledge and skills, reading about children near to their own age experiencing the hardships of scarcity gave students the opportunity to develop empathy. More about this project at ESAcadiana.com/LongWalk.
2020 Athletic Honors ESA athletes in spring sports didn’t finish their seasons, but players in both winter and spring sports earned recognition at the district and state level. Congratulations to these Falcons! Boys Soccer All-District First Team - Adam Sabbaghian, Christian Herpin, Ian Allam, Vern Guidry Second Team - Collin Pooler, Sawyer Gibbs, Evan Lipari Honorable Mention - Greer Hernandez, Addison Gibbs All-District Coach - Adam Glover All-State First Team - Adam Sabbaghian Second Team - Christian Herpin Girls Soccer All-District Girls First Team - Aline Malek, Taylor Guillotte, Arden Frantzen 2nd Team - Maddie Breaux, Christiaan Thibodeaux, Piper Leger All-Star West Soccer Team - Christiaan Thibodeaux (top) Basketball All-District First Team- Henry Shuffler Second Team - Oliver Nickel Honorable Mention - Peyton Bourgeois All-Defense First Team - Ben Bordes Best of the Teche Second Team - Henry Shuffler All-State Honorable Mention - Henry Shuffler (bottom) Class B All-Academic - Ben Bordes, Matthew Hebert, Oliver Nickel Golf All-Acadiana - Oliver Nickel, Adam Trahan Class B All-Academic - Oliver Nickel Tennis Class B All-Academic - Caitlin Chen, Stella Falterman, Divya Kasarla, Hannah Kitakule, Keegan Riley, Amaryllis Wiltz Composite All-Academic - Hannah Kitakule Baseball Class B State All-Academic - Robert Rhymes, Matthew Hebert, Collin Pooler, Ben Bordes Track Class B All-Academic - Keegan Riley
In March, the Lafayette Campus welcomed back the Tibetan monks of the Drepung Gomang Monastery. The community enjoyed watching them create a beautiful sand mandala. At the end of the week, the monks swept the sand up and poured it into the river as a symbol of the impermanence of all things. The students joined the monks in practicing meditation and invited them into their classrooms.
Alumni Notes 1989
Dawn Latiolais Justin is a Realtor with Latter and Blum in Lafayette.
1999
Brandon Brown is a Certified Registered Nurse Anesthetist (CRNA). Brandon, his wife Laterrica, also a CRNA, and their three children live in New Orleans.
2000
Brennan Fournerat has founded his own real estate development company in New Orleans after many years of redeveloping properties as a Vice-President for IberiaBank. Fournerat Development recently announced the opening of Maritimes in Algiers Point, a small neighborhood on a plot of land on the Mississippi River with spectacular views of the New Orleans sky-
line. Brennan received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from Tulane. He and his wife, Ashley, have three children.
2001
Danny Bourque is Senior Video Producer/Editor at The Moran Group in Baton Rouge. Leila Sahni is an infectious disease
Dr. Whitney Walker Linville, ‘08, visited the Lafayette Campus to educate students on the importance of taking care of their teeth. The students enjoyed meeting Dr. Whitney, as well as her assistant, Gary the Gator. Whitney has her own practice, Acadiana Pediatric Dentistry, in Youngsville.
Ophthalmologist Anu Gupta Desai,’98, now an ESA parent, spoke to PK3 students about the sense of sight as part of a unit on the five senses. Dr. Desai brought lots of models for the children to examine and answered their many questions. She led them in making model eyes out of paper plates and construction paper.
epidemiologist with Baylor College of Medicine. She conducts respiratory virus surveillance.
2004
Jake Parvino is Vice President of Community Management at Seabreeze Management Company, Inc. in Los Angeles.
2005
Ashwin Jaikishen is a nephrologist in the Metairie/New Orleans area. Dr. Jaikishen, who recovered from COVID-19, shared his antibodies to help save another physician and colleague.
2009
Max Kallenberger is Senior Attorney for Corporate Governance and Transactions at CenturyLink in Monroe, Louisiana.
2010
Lea Hair graduated Summa Cum Laude with a Doctorate of Optometry and a Masters in Vision Science from the University of Houston College of Optometry. In the fall, she will begin a Primary Care Optometry Residency at Ochsner in Metairie.
Chris Rinaldi is a data scientist at Stitch Fix in San Francisco.
Forrest Hise is the manager of business development and a reservoir engineer at Hise Exploration Partners, LLC, in Lafayette. He obtained a B.S. in Petroleum Engineering from LSU and an MBA from Tulane.
2006
2011
Rizwan Merchant started a new position as Systems Safety Engineer at SAIC in Houston, Texas.
Shelby Montgomery graduated from LSUHSC School of Medicine in New Orleans this May. She will begin a Psychiatry Residency at Tulane in New Orleans this July.
With sad hearts, we share that Josh Lahasky ’13, passed away in April after a nearly four year battle with a rare cancer. As Headmaster Dr. Paul Baker said, “Josh was a sweetheart of a guy who always had a great attitude and took care of others.” Our thoughts are with his parents, his sister Ann Marie, and his brother Jordan.
2012
Caitlin Blanchard earned a Masters of Physician Assistant Studies degree from LSUHSC School of Medicine in New Orleans. She received the Academic and Clinical Excellence Award and was named
an Alpha Eta Honors Society Nominee for her academic excellence, leadership and achievement in her chosen field. Once she passes the board examination, she will obtain a license to practice in both Texas and Louisiana.
2014
Katie Como graduated from LSU School of Veterinary Medicine in May, and was featured on Nationwide DVM’s website earlier this year.
Morgan Weiland, ‘02 (left), and her husband, Cameron, welcomed son River Charles Nordholm in May. Morgan is an attorney and a PhD Candidate in Law & Communication at Stanford University. She shared this photo of her growing family on a Bay Area hike in January. Catharine Pyenson (right) and her partner, Jonathan McKinney, welcomed son Hudson Avery McKinney in April. Catherine is a Project Manager and Architect at Skidmore, Owings & Merrill in New York. Congratulations to these ESA families!
Brandon Savoy is joining Bang the Table as a Global Marketing Specialist. He earned an MBA from Leeds School of Business at University of Colorado - Boulder in May.
2015
Mallory Gaspard has been appointed National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate (NDSEG) Fellow in Mathematics, with a three-year NDSEG Tenure starting in the fall.
2016
Matthew Bouchner has graduated with a Bachelors of Business Administration from the Emory University Goizueta Business School.
2018
Jacob Camden was named to The University of Alabama’s President’s List for fall 2019.
2019
Madeline Turner, a freshman in Art History at Oglethorpe University, was named to the fall 2019 semester Dean’s List.
Visit the ESA Alumni page on facebook for alumni news throughout the year.
Send your news to communications @esacadiana.com.
Tyler Clement, ‘02, is a cognitive engineer with PPL in Pennsylvania, where he serves as the Manager of Experience Assessment. He graduated from LSU with degrees in Biological Engineering (BS in ‘06 and MS ‘09) and an MBA in ‘14. Tyler and his wife, Katie, live near Allentown, PA, where they devote nearly all of their free time to their adorable quadruplets. All six of them caught up with Coach Ursula Quoyeser and Dr. Paul Baker in Cade.
P.O. Box 380 • Cade, LA 70519
www.ESAcadiana.com
Our Cade Campus Chaplain, the Rev. Andrew Armond, has been ordained as an Episcopal priest. The ceremony was held in the Henton Chapel in Cade on June 20th. The entire ESA community will continue to benefit from his spiritual leadership, and he will serve the Episcopal community of Acadiana as well. Congratulations, Dr. Armond!