Oasis Summer 2021
Photograph by Miles Eble, ’24
Congratulations, ESA Class of 2021! Ava Allam • Charlie Blanchard • Hayden Boagni • Edie Bollich • Peyton Bourgeois • Tate Broussard • Matthew Bush Emma Cascio • Sam Castille • Lara Castro • Emme Clement • Makenna Cullen • Nick Disher • Claire Dolan Kathryn Dressel • Corbitt Driskell • Ben Eble • Darryl Elias • Jae Fabre • Moiz Fazal-ur-Rehman • Arden Frantzen Sadie Fuller • Lauren Gachassin • Addison Gibbs • Estelle Godeaux • Kyla Greenstein • Ava-Grace Hebert • Christian Herpin Amélie Huval • Peter Kaiser • Jaya Kasturi • Nic LaGraize • Mai Landry • Luke LeGoullon • Aline Malek Madyson McBroom • Bridger McCasland • Josie Movassaghi • Maudry Anne Nichols • Sue Person • Lily Pillaro Brooks Prejean • Thomas Rhymes • Ben Romero • Matthew Romig • Adam Sabbaghian • Maggie Shuffler • Lance Stowers Malaika Subramanian • Grant Suire • Haley Waddell • Ian Waskom • Kinsley Welch
The Class of 2021 includes 6 students who were at ESA since PK3 • 3 National Merit Semifinalists • 2 National Merit Commended Students • 4 legacy graduates • 4 All-State athletes • 1 Louisiana delegate for the U.S. Senate Youth Program 30 members of the National Honor Society • 10 members of ESA’s chapter of the Cum Laude Society • 1 poet published in the American Journal of French Studies • 4 students with the Seal of Biliteracy on their diplomas • 53 new ESA alumni
The members of the Class of 2021 have been offered more than $10.9 million in merit aid from colleges and universities, including over $2 million from TOPS. They will attend Columbia College Chicago • Duke University • Eastern Florida State College • Fordham University • Furman University • George Mason University - Honors • Louisiana State University • LSU - Honors • Loyola University New Orleans Middlebury College • Northeastern University • NorthWest Arkansas Community College • Northwestern State University of Louisiana • Rhodes College • Rollins College • Southern Methodist University • Spring Hill College • Tulane University • United States Naval Academy • University of California - Los Angeles • University of Chicago • University of Denver • University of Louisiana Lafayette • UL Lafayette - Honors • University of New Orleans • University of Virginia • Villanova University
2020-2021 Lower School Honors St. Barnabas Award Alison Clark (top left with teacher Coty Eastin) Lower School Headmaster’s Award Oz Arceneaux (center left with Dr. Paul Baker) Ben McWhorter (bottom left with teacher Deb Cochran) View a complete list of Lower School Honors, as well as year-end Honor Roll and Headmaster’s Lists at ESAcadiana.com/todayESA.
Middle School Honors Sixth Grade Citizenship Award Lyla O’Niell Seventh Grade Citizenship Award Bird Fuller Eighth Grade Citizenship Award Walker Prejean Middle School Athletes of the Year Grace Pellegrin and Will Brown Martha Annan Cooper Citizenship Award Sian Allen and Jonathan Bush Valerie Marsalis Cox Award Perry Joseph View a complete list of Middle and Upper School Honors, as well as year-end Honor Roll and Headmaster’s Lists and athletic awards at ESAcadiana.com/todayESA.
Upper School Honors Junior Book Awards Harvard Book Award and Rensselaer Medal - Ali Munshi Hendrix College Odyssey Book Award - Piper Leger Tulane Book Award - Caitlin Cotteleer Smith Book Award - Regan Manning Yale Book Award - Anil Cacodcar
Bishop and Mrs. Henton Award Estelle Godeaux Faculty Award Arden Frantzen Tom Olverson Award Corbitt Driskell and Matthew Bush
Upper School Citizenship Awards 9th - Allison Aucoin and Curtis Hidalgo 10th - Lucy John and Josh Mendoza 11th - Tori Wilson, Taylor Guillotte, and Ayden Brown
Bishop’s Medal Arden Frantzen and Luke LeGoullon
DAR Award Lauren Gachassin
Headmaster’s Award Aline Malek
Shriner’s Patriotism Award Mai Landry and Tate Broussard
Trustee Award ESA nurses Christie Kane and Laura Magann
The Class of 2025 © nouveau photeau
ESA’s Fine Arts Festival
For several years, ESA artists and musicians have attended the Independent Schools Association of the Southwest’s spring Fine Arts Festival to network with other students, perform on music and drama stages, and exhibit artwork. With the ISAS festival cancelled for the second year in a row, the visual and performing arts departments decided to host a fine arts festival in Cade. The event kicked off with the Senior Art Show Reception, which featured classical music played by ESA students. On Saturday, the Cade Campus was transformed into festival grounds complete with art displays; a jazz stage; painting, ceramics, cyanotype, and improv workshops; video screenings; drama and musical theatre performances; a coffeehouse stage; and a final concert on the soccer field.
Fine arts as a whole presents itself to the public. Visual artists use pedestals and walls; performing artists use stages for music and theatre. It’s important to have students’ visions for their creations out in front of the public. It’s a way to showcase, to prepare professionally to present their crafts. Visual Arts teacher Amie Rogers
Ben Eble, ‘21, explored ceramics, painting, drawing, photography, and videography, and built a body of work with a very distinctive style.
Sam Oliver, Executive Director of the Acadiana Center for the Arts and this year’s guest juror, chose to honor Ben with the Senior Art Exhibition Award.
Spring on the Lafayette Campus
Right: Lower School Head Kathleen O’Shaughnessy issued a design challenge to art teacher Claire Caffery’s fifth-grade students. She asked them to create coverage for the windows in the EC workrooms while still allowing in maximum natural light. The students analyzed, researched, sketched, collaborated, communicated, met with clients to get input and direction, prototyped, then created the full scale pieces. The finished products were installed this spring.
Below: To teach her second grade students to write persuasively, teacher Emily Theriot presented them with a cookie design contest. Each student created a design, described it in writing, then wrote a persuasive piece about why the design should be chosen to be made into a cookie. After rough drafts, edits, and final drafts, the writings and designs were sent to Kay Miller Broussard, aka The Cookie Mama, who chose two top designs. As a special surprise, The Cookie Mama made a cookie for each design!
Left: In March, fifth-grade students enjoyed two Adventures Days led by staff members from Inside Out, the organization that hosts ESA’s eighth-grade wilderness trip in North Carolina. The students learned how to use a compass, how to light a fire, and how to collaborate and solve problems to complete tasks, all in the wooded and less-traveled areas of the Cade Campus.
Right: The first-grade Storm Cluster met with KATC Chief Meteorologist Rob Perillo to better understand local weather phenomena. The students had been researching dangerous weather and storms for weeks. Mr. Perillo answered their questions, showed videos and graphics to help them better understand, and gave them a tour of the weather station and KATC news station. The Storm Cluster shared what they learned by offering safety tips through a slideshow presented in chapel.
Right: ESA Lower School celebrated Mardi Gras with gumbo, dancing, and games. PK3 and third grade students in traditional costumes made their way along the walkways to beg for food from other classes (to donate to Solomon House) in ESA’s version of a prairie Mardi Gras run, Courir des Faucons. Guest musicians Chris Stafford and Cedric Watson provided the music for dancing, and students practiced the Cajun dance steps they’d learned in movement classes.
Below: The Lafayette Campus participated in Global Play Day, a full day of unstructured play. With this year’s event held on May the 4th (be with you), the event became a Galactic Play Day. Students were given the freedom to choose where to play, create, and rest all day long. Options included a fort building area, art stations, quiet places, an outdoor music space full of instruments, classrooms filled with craft supplies, and a movement room with items for active play.
Left: Fifth graders in the Outdoor Classroom Cluster and their team of volunteers cleared an area of the Lafayette Campus near the Vermilion River to serve as an outdoor academic space. They created a slideshow for chapel to explain why they chose to create the outdoor classroom and guidelines for using the space. Students will be able to use the cleared area as a science classroom, an open-air art studio, a quiet venue for reflection and writing, and much more.
Right: To celebrate Read Across America Week in March, Lower School students and teachers enjoyed reading-themed activities, including Dress as Your Favorite Book Character Day. Librarian Emily Lyles (who dressed as Ramona Quimby) generated excitement about books with Storybook STEM activities in the library, such as making Lego mazes after reading Oh the Places You’ll Go!, creating 3D sticky structures after reading Iggy Peck, Architect, and recreating characters and settings from The Lorax.
Follow us on Facebook to learn about the adventures of the students in our ESA Summer program. Week-long camps offer outdoor fun, robotics and coding challenges, creative arts outlets, handson science explorations, opportunities to learn new skills in cooking, sewing, videography, and more. Whether it’s dinosaurs, princesses, water games, or board games, adventure awaits at ESA Summer!
Cade Campus Happenings in 2021
Right: Coach Mike Bourgeois and the P.E. department collaborated with the maintenance staff to create the newest addition to Field Day in Cade, the Tough Mudder Race. After running through obstacles, climbing a wall, dunking in an ice bath, and rolling in a giant wheel, teammates splashed through a mud pit, pushed a sled, crawled through a sand pit, then piggybacked to the finish. We think this event will find a permanent home on the Field Day schedule!
Right: During this spring’s Camp Cade, sixth-grade students explored the Cade hiking trail, fished and canoed at Spanish Lake, mastered a challenge course, completed an archaeology dig, designed garden stones, and collaborated on an ESA scavenger hunt in two days of outdoor adventures. The seventh-grade class spent three days at Tall Timbers in Forest Hill, on the edge of the Kisatchie National Forest. The students worked together to further develop the leadership, teamwork, and communication skills they’ve practiced all year.
Below: The Varsity Quiz Bowl team made the playoffs in this year’s Small Schools Nationals virtual tournament, and finished 16th, the best Nationals finish in ESA Quiz Bowl history. The middle school’s ESA-1 quiz bowl team won the league’s end-of-the-season tournament. ESA Quiz Bowl should continue to thrive for years to come!
Left: The ESA Social Studies Department hosted its second annual Social Studies Conference in April. Through a poster session and panel presentations, members of the Class of 2021 presented research focused on transnational movements and ideologies. Topics included sports, multinational corporations, transportation, art, global intellectual movements, technology, crime, and climate change.
Below: EcoClub celebrated Earth Week with daily eco-conscious activities. The club members welcomed local artist Benjamin Koch, who spoke in chapel about his eco-friendly artwork. During tutorial, he taught a group of students and teachers how to make paper from recycled materials. The club also partnered with Northside Vegan pop up to sell vegan burgers for lunch.
Right: ESA Performing Arts went to great lengths to bring Grease to the stage this spring with a new venue in the middle school gym to meet social distancing requirements. After adapting to the new stage, lights, and sound equipment, the cast, crew, and band produced a fantastic show!
Left: Tre Bishop, ’26, presented an urgeand-request bill for recycling political signs to Louisiana legislators during the most recent legislative session. To ask legislators to assist in the establishment of programs for the collection and recycling of campaign signs, Tre spoke along with Representative Malinda White, Lieutenant Governor Billy Nungesser, and Secretary of State Kyle Ardoin. After the presentation, Tre received a commendation from the Secretary of State.
Right: Caitlin Cotteleer, ’22, is participating in the National Security Language Initiative for Youth’s Arabic program this summer. This program, run by the U.S. State Department, was created to help American students develop linguistic skills and cultural knowledge about various regions of the world. Caitlin chose to study Arabic, and typically would be spending the summer in Morocco for an immersion in the language and culture. This year she’ll engage in an intensive virtual experience.
Follow @esacadiana on Instagram for updates throughout the year. This May and June, we featured the members of the Class of 2021 on Instagram and Facebook. Learn about what they did at ESA, where they’re heading next, what they plan to study, and other fun facts about them through their posts.
ESA Athletics 2021-2022 ESA coaches chose to honor four athletes with the Sidney Hebert Athlete of the Year award this year. The four seniors led their teams through District and State competitions, and have been a part of 14 of ESA’s 89 State Championships. Here are their 2020-2021 accomplishments: Aline Malek (top left) Cross Country - Individual State Runner-Up, Small Schools All-State, Team State Championship Soccer - First Team All-District Track - Winner of 2021 Louisiana Track and Field Coaches Association Scholarship Ava-Grace Hebert (top right) Cross Country - Individual 4th place State finish, Team State Championship Soccer - Second Team All-District Track - Individual Runner-Up in the 3200, Team State Runner-Up
Aline Malek, ’21
Adam Sabbaghian (bottom left) Soccer - First Team All-State, Selected for West All-Star Team Basketball - All-State Honorable Mention Baseball - First Team All-District Christian Herpin (bottom right) Cross Country - Individual State Runner-Up, Small Schools All-State, Team State Championship Soccer - First Team All-State, Selected for West All-Star Team Track - Member of State Runner-Up 4x400 relay team, Team Third Place State Finish Cross Country and Track Coach Laura Magann was selected by the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Association as the 2020 Girls’ High School Cross Country Coach of the Year for the state of Louisiana. Since she began coaching at ESA in 2012, Coach Laura has led ESA Cross Country to 12 state championships — seven boys titles and five girls titles, and has coached for four Girls Track & Field state championship teams. Thanks to Greg Hernandez for capturing ESA’s athletes in action.
Top: ESA Girls Track & Field took second place at State with just three athletes! Ayden Brown (second from left) was named Outstanding Track Athlete, with State Championship finishes in the 200, 400, and 800 meters. Ava-Grace Hebert (far right) was runner-up in the 3200, and Irene Kaiser (center right) won State Championships in the long jump and 100 meter hurdles, and took second in the triple jump. Bottom: The ESA Tennis doubles team of Haley Waddell (left) and Ayden Brown placed second in State after going undefeated throughout the season.
Merci, Madame! Madame Diana Maggini shared her love for the French language and culture with hundreds of ESA students over 26 years of teaching. Her joy and enthusiasm, and her care for the ESA community and the world around us, set an untiring example for students, alumni, and faculty. Retirement is probably the wrong word to describe Madame’s plans. We know she will continue to serve the less fortunate, animals, and the planet, and her legacy will continue to shape ESA.
How does one put into words how much this woman means to me personally, to the school, the community and to the history of this school? This woman’s stamp is practically everywhere on the campus. The gardens, the recycling, service projects galore, and myriads of other things I probably don’t even know about. How many of us has she fed banana bread, cake, quiche, crepes? How many students has she helped before and after school? Coffee House? Her work ethic is amazing. How many kids who may have grumbled about the high standards, but went on to college and completely crushed it academically in their French classes because of her! Dr. Sybil Carter World Languages Department Chair
Alumni Notes 1983
Lila Heymann is proud to run Glitterbox, a feminist artist cooperative and gift shop in New Orleans. Portions of the shop’s proceeds benefit organizations serving girls and women.
1984
Dr. Jonathan Hartiens is expanding the Mountaineer Recovery Center this year to include a residential facility for women in Kearneysville, West Virginia. The expansion will transform the center from a 48-bed facility to one with 72 beds. Hartiens discovered a passion for the area when he left Louisiana for the first time and saw the Appalachian Mountains on a trip with ESA’s Outing Club. His project tackling the opioid epidemic in Appalachia continues to grow.
1991
Aubrey Braithwaite is Director Of Operations at Sodexo Benefits and Rewards Services in Phoenix, Arizona. Doug Granger is a Computer Analyst at Louisiana State University.
1998
Matthew Mahony earned a Doctorate in Education in K-12 Educational Leadership and Policy Studies from the University of Houston this spring. Robin Norvell has relocated to the South of France with her (French) husband, Manu, and their cat Dexter. She’s enjoying life in St Remy de Provence, and working remotely for Google running their global performance management process. She’s also very thankful for the years of French lessons at ESA!
1999
Shome Dasgupta has two books forthcoming in 2021. One is a poetry collection called Iron Oxide, and the other is an epistolary work of experimental fiction called Spectacles, which requires a mirror to read. Recently, he had a short story selected to be included in the Best Small Fictions 2021 Anthology.
2000
EB Brooks shared that Moncus Park broke ground on Phase 2 this spring. Construction projects include the amphitheater, splash pad, inclusive playground, treehouse, veterans memorial, and restrooms. Grand opening is set for the fall with December dedicated to Christmas in the Park!
In May, ESA Baseball invited alumni to compete against current players under the new lights at Cane Field.
Jonathan English, ‘09, here with wife Caroline Craig English, ‘09, graduated from the University of Colorado Denver with a master’s degree in Architecture (MArch). He was recognized by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) as the Henry Adams Medal Award Winner for having the highest GPA and academic performance of his graduating class. This summer, Johnny is beginning his architecture career with the Denver firm 4240 Architecture. Congratulations, Johnny!
Lindsay Meador Young, an attorney with Galloway Johnson Tompkins Burr & Smith, was awarded the 2021 Louisiana State Bar Association Friend of Pro Bono Award. Lindsay is a member of the Lafayette Bar Foundation Board of Directors, on which she serves as Pro Bono Advisory Board Chair. In 2020, she was the recipient of two Lafayette Bar Foundation Champions of Justice Awards: the Outstanding Attorney Award and the Tammy Derouen Outstanding Service to the Bar Award.
2001
Katie Cooper Kennedy launched a new ecommerce and concierge jewelry business called Embark Fine Jewelry (@shopembark). Embark, which offers Fine and Demi-Fine Jewelry, and Engagement and Custom Designs, focuses on women celebrating their daily wins with some sparkle. Anna Mary LeBlanc Walker, husband Matt, and big brothers, Foster, age 6,
and Deacon, age 2, welcomed Holden Lane Walker in August. Whitney Weeks Halamuda, husband Jeremy, and son Walker welcomed another boy, Hunter Cade on April 30th.
2003
Faith Broussard Cade has been featured on Maria Shriver’s website and other media outlets for her advocacy of grace and self-care. Faith is a mental health professional based in Atlanta. On Instagram @fleurdelisspeaks, she shares daily affirmations in the form of handwritten notes that remind us to practice kindness, especially to ourselves. Kaira Casey finished law school at Sciences Po in Paris in 2017, and earned a Master 2 in conjunction with a JD from Georgetown. In 2019, she passed the Paris bar equivalency exam for foreign attorneys, and was admitted to the Barreau de Paris this year. In February, she started as
an associate attorney at an international arbitration boutique firm called Teynier Pic. Her team includes attorneys and from all over the world and her clients and cases are equally diverse. Sumaya Elhelou Elhassouni welcomed a a baby girl named Lena in March 2020. Her son, Yussef, turned three this June.
2006
Taylor Hise graduated from medical school at LSU in 2015. She completed a psychiatry residency at Baylor College of Medicine in 2018, and a child and adolescent psychiatry fellowship at Baylor College of Medicine in 2020. She is now double board certified in both general psychiatry and child and adolescent psychiatry. Taylor stayed on at BCM as faculty, and runs the adolescent psychiatry unit at The Menninger Clinic in Houston. She is currently writing a book on the fundamentals of inpatient child and adolescent psychiatry to be published next year.
Eighteen ESA alumni supported ESA Quiz Bowl and had a great time competing with their teams at Trivia Night this spring. Among the winners were Scott Broussard, ‘05, and Garrett Rosen, ‘97. Thanks to everyone who came out for this laughter-filled night!
2008
Paige Kennedy earned an MD from Baylor College of Medicine in 2016. She has been completing a surgical residency in Otolaryngology (Ears, Nose and Throat) surgery for the past five years at University of Chicago Medicine. She graduated this spring and is headed to Austin, Texas, to pursue a fellowship in Facial Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery with Dr. Edward Buckingham. Paige says she loved her time at ESA and is grateful to be a part of this community! Lizzie Simon is a newly licensed family nurse practitioner, and will provide primary care for Spanish-speaking people in Seattle.
2014
Margaret McCarron married Cameron Kimzey in a family-only ceremony during the pandemic, but they plan to celebrate their wedding with dancing and friends next fall. Margaret is entering her fourth year of medical school, and is busy with rotations and two golden retriever puppies.
2017
Mason Shuffler graduated from Washington & Lee University with a degree in economics. He was a fouryear pitcher for the Generals. Nich Beyer led his team of University of Alabama students to a victory in the Innovate Children’s Health Challenge. After the competition, the team pitched their startup, 210 Diagnostic Solutions, to National Institutes of Health investors. Nich graduated from Alabama in 2021.
A few more 2021 graduations: Michael Jindia graduated from Vanderbilt University. Zack Withers graduated from the University of Alabama with honors and a double major in computer science and mathematics. Simone Plauche and Will Storment earned degrees from LSU. Gabe Olivier graduatesd from LSU with degrees in mathematics, economics and political science. Congratulations to all of you who earned degrees this year! Email us at communications@esacadiana.com, and we’ll include your achievement in the next issue.
2018
Story Frantzen is one of 30 Stanford juniors elected to Phi Beta Kappa, the nationwide honor society.
2019
Samantha Withers had a great sophomore season at Rhodes College in Memphis. A mid-distance runner, Sam was named Southern Athletic Association’s Women’s Track Athlete of the Week in March. Her team won the SAA Women’s Track and Field title, and Sam took first in both the 800 and the 1500. She was named to the All-Conference first team.
Send alumni news to communications@esacadiana.com. If you’re not receiving emails from ESA, let us know. We’ll add you to the list so you’ll receive invites, news and more.
The Tates/Tutwiler Endowment made a difference in 2020-2021 for ESA families who faced finanacial setbacks due to COVID-19. The endowment, over $1 million strong, supported more ESA families than ever last school year, thanks to donations by alumni, current and past parents, faculty and former faculty, grandparents, and friends. In what has become an ESA tradition, the Class of 2021 donated their remaining class funds to the endowment to provide more students with access to the ESA experience. Thank you all! ESAcadiana.com/donate
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hibernating bear
learning about shadows ceramic pieces fired in the onsite kiln Lower School artists find inspiration from nature, from the artists they study, from the stories they read, and from the things they learn. insect created with found objects
spirit totems
a fever germ