Thayer named as new head
of St. Anne’s Episcopal School in Middletown, DE

     Tuesday, February 5, 2008, Middletown, DE -- The Trustees at St. Anne’s Episcopal School have announced the appointment of Peter Thayer as the new head of St. Anne’s Episcopal starting July 1, 2008. Mr. Thayer succeeds
Harvey Zendt, who co-founded the Pre-K through 8^th grade day school in Middletown, DE.  Mr. Zendt is stepping down in June 2008 to pursue work in the environmental and in the international peace movements, after nine years of masterfully and lovingly building, leading, and guiding St. Anne’s.
     Peter Thayer has served as Head of the Middle School at Lancaster Country Day School in Lancaster, PA, from 1989 to the present. He served as Director of Admissions and  English teacher at Kent Denver School in Denver, CO, from 1981-1989. He began his career in education as an English teacher and College Counselor at University Liggett School in Grosse Pointe Woods, Michigan.
     Mr. Thayer is a graduate of Williams College; he received his masters degree from The Bread Loaf School of English at Middlebury College.
     “As the Search Committee interviewed Peter and as students, administrators, staff members, teachers and trustees talked to him during his visit, it quickly became clear that Peter possessed the qualities we sought for a new Head of School,” said Elizabeth Roach, chair of the Search Committee, and a member of the school’s board of trustees. “Peter is a brilliant teacher and educator, a mature, versatile and experienced administrator, a man of integrity, goodness and humanity.”
     Mr. Thayer will build upon Harvey Zendt’s wonderful legacy as the first head of St. Anne’s School, who announced to the St. Anne’s community last October the 2007-2008 school year would be his last.
     “’The fire in my belly’ has always been my guiding light,” Zendt said. “Whether it was coaching wrestling, running service projects, surfing, or working with children, my passion has driven me. For the past nine years, I have been driven to make St. Anne’s the best school in the country. That drive is still alive and well, but it is competing with my desire to give my commitment to the environmental and world peace movements.”
     Zendt said that the relationships he has formed with students, parents, teachers, and board members have been the source of growth and happiness in many different ways, but that over the last year, his concerns about the environment and the international political situation have begun to lead him in a direction that requires more of his time and energy.
     “Today, St. Anne’s stands as an exciting and dynamic school with bright, energetic and creative children and a loyal and dedicated faculty, staff and parent body,” said Caroline duPont Prickett, chair of the board of trustees of St. Anne’s. “The Board of Trustees thanks Harvey for his vision, his creativity, his dedication and most importantly, his love for the humanity of our school.”

 

St. Anne's Students compete and win honors at LEGO League Power Puzzle Challenge

     February 4, 2008, Middletown, DE -- Lower school students who are in St. Anne’s Episcopal School’s LEGO League recently participated in the Junior First LEGO League Power Puzzle Challenge (JFLL).  This year’s Lego League challenge was to explore how energy production and consumption choices affect the planet and our quality of life today, tomorrow, and for future generations. The goal of JFLL is to provide an experience that will capture young children's inherent curiosity and creativity and direct it toward discovering the possibilities of improving the world around them through understanding, thought, planning, and technology.
     St. Anne’s Episcopal students eagerly met the challenge with no less than six teams eager to participate.  
      “Our students and parents were both enthusiastic and creative. They made it easy to coordinate this event," said coach and parent Wendy Hassiepen. "The students were proud of their accomplishments and coaches were most impressed by the ability of the children to articulate the details of the project. The kids liked that they were able to build new friendships while building legos."
     Jack Hutchinson, a member of the Flying Legos team, which built a Flying Refrigerator, said  “I loved playing off of my friends' ideas. We would all put our own spin on our project and work together.”
      There were two events this year. St. Anne's Purple Dragons attended the first event took place on January 12^th at the Barley Mill Plaza. The second event took place on January 19^th at the Bob Carpenter center. This event was attended by the following teams: The Energy Monsters, Team Lightning, Team Energizers, The Lego Stacks, and the Flying Legos. The Energy Monsters built a hydro-powered fish tank, and won an award for being the most gracious and professional.

 The late, great Dr. Martin Luther King’s life is celebrated at chapel service at St. Anne’s Episcopal School

Everybody ought to know (everybody ought to know) what freedom is,
Everybody ought to know (everybody ought to know) what justice is,
Everybody ought to know (everybody ought to know) what happiness is,
Everybody ought to know (everybody ought to know) what freedom is.
(African-American spiritual performed by the first graders at St. Anne’s Episcopal School)

      January 29, 2008, Middletown, DE -- The late, great Dr. Martin Luther King’s life and legacy were celebrated with song, speeches, dramatic readings, and a play at a recent all-school chapel service at St. Anne’s Episcopal School. The service commenced with a solemn peace march, led by the kindergarteners, who quietly walked through the school’s halls to the gym, waving signs of peace – the only sounds heard were the patter of tiny feet and kindergarten teacher Kari Kalloo's gentle beating of an African drum.
     During the 45-minute service, which was held in the school gym, third grade students shared words of peace in different languages, followed by readings from the Prophet Isaiah.
     Fifth graders performed a beautiful skit that was presented as a live radio broadcast about significant events in the civil rights movement, and Mrs. Shannon Cameron’s sixth and seventh grade language arts classes performed a play called Pioneering Women. In Pioneering Women, two women, played by Elsa McLean and Hannah Willey traveled in a makeshift blue van to the birth places of great American women whose personal or professional lives made a huge impact on equal rights. The two women ‘visited’ birthplaces of women such as Susan B. Anthony, Helen Keller, Sandra Day O’Connor, Sally Ride, and Rosa Parks to learn about the accomplishments of these great women and the impact they had on women’s and civil rights.
     “I found the entire service to be very meaningful and moving,” said Shannon Cameron, whose classes performed Pioneering Women. “It is inspiring to see that our students are finding ways to integrate Dr. King’s important message in their everyday lives.”