Stories from the Ridge, The McCallie Podcast

The way in which McCallie students learn to write and to appreciate and understand literature has changed over the years, but the objectives remain the same. That’s the message of three of McCallie’s English teachers in this wide-ranging discussion of many themes related to how English is taught. The discussion is hosted by Sumner McCallie, Dean of Faculty and Curriculum, and features Sam Currin ’03, Chair of the Department who is in his 11th year at McCallie, Erin Tocknell, in her 14th year and who teaches sophomore-level courses, and legendary teacher Bill Jamieson, in his 40th year teaching eighth graders. An earlier a podcast featuring the science Department can be found here. Over the next two months, all other academic departments will be featured in this series.

Collaboration, moving around, not expecting teachers to know all the answers, even learning to appreciate failure ... those are some of the characteristics of new methods of teaching science that members of McCallie’s Science Department are using to educate a new generation of scientists and citizens. And they are topics that are discussed in this edition of McCallie’s Stories From the Ridge podcast series. The Science Department podcast is hosted by Sumner McCallie, Dean of Faculty and Curriculum, and features Michael Lowry, in his 28th year on the Ridge, and who serves as department chair, Dr. Karah Nazor, in her 10th year, and Matt Allen, in his third year. It includes lively discussions of how and why science is taught in both the Upper and Middle Schools and conveys the passion that the teachers bring to their profession. This is the first of several podcasts featuring the academic departments at McCallie. Other podcasts will be released throughout the fall of 2021.

Squash, McCallie’s newest varsity sport, is the topic of this edition of Stories from the Ridge. Head of School Lee Burns ’87 introduces the new head varsity squash coach, Dan Sharplin, who discusses his reasons for coming to Chattanooga to lead this growing part of the school’s athletic offerings. Mr. Sharplin, who comes to the Ridge via his native New Zealand and Boston, shares his vision for McCallie’s squash program and how he sees it as a way to introduce squash to other high schools in the Southeast. He and Mr. Burns also share their vision for a squash facility on McCallie’s campus (the squash currently uses a club squash facility in Downtown Chattanooga). For the many McCallie alumni and friends who are unfamiliar with squash, Mr. Sharplin gives a brief explanation on how it is played.

In this podcast, leaders of The Ed Johnson Project, along with a McCallie history teacher, discuss the story of Ed Johnson, who was lynched on Chattanooga’s Walnut Street Bridge more than a century ago, and the five-year effort by community volunteers that has resulted in a memorial being placed near the bridge to commemorate Mr. Johnson and the attorneys who defended him. The podcast also discusses the role the Rev. T.H. McCallie, one of the founders of McCallie, played in trying to prevent the lynching and how he offered shelter on the school’s campus to one of the attorney’s families. And it discusses how McCallie history teachers use the Ed Johnson story to inspire McCallie students to be responsible citizens in their communities. Participating in the podcast are: Donivan Brown, president of the Ed Johnson Project; Eleanor McCallie Cooper, great-granddaughter of the Rev. T.H. McCallie, and a member of the Ed Johnson Project; Mel Cooper, former McCallie Vice President of Development, and a member of the Ed Johnson Project; Bart Wallin ’99, who, with David Levitt ’94, teaches the Ed Johnson story as part of their 8th-grade history classes. Links mentioned in the podcast: The to documentary video on Ed Johnson by Linda Duvoisin: https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=1730677540326112 PDF of anti-lynching sermon delivered in 1883 by the Rev. Dr. T.H. McCallie (courtesy of Eleanor McCallie Cooper): https://www.mccallie.org/fs/resource-manager/view/05341ae6-0c51-44d0-86e4-52b7c148c9de The Ed Johnson Project website, with a schedule of events for the weekend of the memorial dedication: https://www.edjohnsonproject.com/ The book, Contempt of Court: The Turn-of-the-Century Lynching that Launched 100 Years of Federalism by Mark Curriden and Leroy Phillips Jr., published 1999 by Faber and Faber, Inc., New York, available through most booksellers.

For the past eight years, students in Dr. Duke Richey’s Advanced Placement U.S. History classes have been collecting stories from family members, friends, and acquaintances about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. To mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the students have launched a website that will be updated weekly throughout the year. That website can be found here: https://www.mccallie.org/911project Four of those students sat down with Dr. Richey to discuss the project and share their perspectives of the tragic attacks on America. The students are Vihaal Vellanki '22, a boarder from Minnetonka, Minn., Luke Gilbert '22, a boarder from Charlotte, N.C., and Nathan Smartt '22, a boarder from Austin, Texas. In addition, Nelson Eiselstein, a 2016 graduate of McCallie who participated in the project when he was a student, joined the discussion. Mr. Eiselstein now teaches math at McCallie.

Former McCallie teacher Darren Moorman is receiving worldwide acclaim for the latest movie he produced, Blue Miracle, starring Dennis Quaid, and now streaming on Netflix. Mr. Moorman, who taught Bible in the early 1990s under the guidance of John Strang, left the Ridge in the late 90s for Hollywood, where he gained fame as an actor before becoming a successful movie producer, concentrating on faith-based topics. In June, Mr. Moorman visited McCallie and hammed it up with his old friend John Marcellis ’85, Director of Weekend Activities, talking about their time on campus and Mr. Moorman’s early ventures (at times with Mr. Marcellis in tow) into acting and producing, and about Mr. Moorman’s latest accomplishments, including the highly acclaimed Blue Miracle movie. The two were joined by Steve Hearn ’87, Vice President of Advancement.

The “super-formative” high school years are challenging to all teenagers, but for those who are also recognizing an emerging identity of being gay or bisexual, the anxiety can be significantly increased. During a Zoom webinar with faculty and staff in late February 2021,  Alumni Alex Hostetler ’09, of New York, Boyd Jackson ‘09 and Scott Woods ’02, both of Washington, discussed their experiences of being gay at McCallie. They shared their struggles to reconcile their sexual identity with their religious faiths, their families, their fellow McCallie students, and their teachers. This panel discussion was part of McCallie’s “Belonging at McCallie” initiative which is designed to ensure that all students, regardless of their sexual orientation, can experience and participate in the fullness of the McCallie brotherhood. They also offer advice to current students on how to live full, happy, and successful lives at McCallie and beyond.

McCallie School has made a lot of progress in fully embracing and including its students of color, but more work remains. That’s one of the assessments delivered by three members of the school’s newly formed Black Alumni Steering Committee who joined Head of School Lee Burns ’87 for a conversation about the school’s Moving Forward Together As Brothers initiative. The alumni – Johnny Graham ‘95, Charles Green ‘06, and Keenan Hale ‘11 – provide focused perspectives on the issues facing the school. The alumni also speak with pride about the new mentoring program that they all participate in which pairs Black alumni with McCallie students. Also included in this podcast is a short segment of an interview of David Chatman ’75, who was the first Black student to enroll and graduate from McCallie.

“I would say there’s no school in the country that has had a musical history that McCallie has had . . . as far as having all these great performers come to campus,” says John Marcellis ’85, Director of Weekend Activities at McCallie. Steve Hearn ’74, Vice President of Advancement, agrees: “When you think about great music venues, places where great musical acts come together, . . . people don’t think of an independent school on Missionary Ridge being such a place where great acts perform. It is pretty amazing when you can go from the Dismembered Tennesseans to Luke Bryan and all the great acts in between.” Mr. Hearn and Mr. Marcellis recently sat down with another longtime faculty member, Dr. Duke Richey ’86, to discuss McCallie’s star-filled history of musical performances, from the early days of big-band dances to the legendary Otis Redding, to more recent performances from of Luke Bryan and George Clinton and the P-funk All-Stars. They share stories, have a lot of laughs, and appreciate “all the stars that glitter all the way” through McCallie’s history.

Heads of three of the nation’s top independent schools – Lee Burns, of McCallie School, Kate Windsor, of Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, and Greg O’Melia, of The Buckley School in New York City, discuss the challenges they face as they lead their schools through a period of social and political unrest -- as well as a pandemic that forced the closing of their campuses. They share their insights into how school heads must continuously work to express the mission, values, and traditions of their schools while at the same time adjusting to the realities and demands of the modern world.

That seems to be one of the major societal questions today for parents of teenage boys, and it is a question that McCallie teachers and counselors get asked frequently by parents. In this podcast, Headmaster Lee Burns '87 talks with Upper School Counselor Will Honeycutt and Middle School Principal Scotty Jones about this question and other questions that it spawns: how to set limits, how to have difficult conversations, how to “enter into their gaming world,” and how to find moderation and balance.

The late Senator Howard Baker Jr. '43 would tell current Senators to “listen eloquently,” during the upcoming Senate trial of President Trump, Pulitizer Prize historian Jon Meacham '87 says in this timely discussion of Senator Baker. “Baker once said, ‘One of the keys to life is to listen eloquently . . . because it is just possible that the other guy might have something to offer,” Mr. Meacham said. In this discussion, he joins Dr. Duke Richey '86, Senator Howard Baker Jr. Chair of American History at McCallie, and McCallie Headmaster Lee Burns '87. They offer compelling insight into Senator Baker’s role in the Watergate hearings and speculate on what advice Senator Baker would offer Senators today.

Developing a whole new generation of eaters for MoonPie, a nostalgic snack treat from Chattanooga Bakery, is a challenge shared by Dooley Tombras ‘00, President of The Tombras Group and Tory Johnston ‘83, Vice President of Marketing for Chattanooga Bakery. In this podcast they share the storied success of the “Out of This World” marketing campaign that has received national attention with Steve Hearn ‘74, McCallie Vice President for Advancement. Wacky and weird social media, as well as no-permission-needed pop culture sponsorships and memes, have resulted in record-breaking sales for MoonPies and national recognition for The Tombras Group’s branding approach. Dooley and Tory reflect upon the success factors they gained from McCallie as well as the immediate trust in their working relationship born from their common McCallie bond and values. Anyone interested in creating more customer engagement, learning relevant social media strategies, or getting an inside look at a favorite snack treat will enjoy this podcast.

James Harr '92, McCallie's director of choral programs, talks with former McCallie Music Department Chair Lew Cisto about Candlelight — McCallie's musical celebration of Christmas and the holiday season. McCallie will be celebrating 35 years of Candlelight in 2019 with performances December 6 and 7 in the McCallie Chapel. Lew and James discuss the origins of Candlelight and how it helped spark the growth of the McCallie music program over the next three decades.

Matthew Merritt is a senior boarding student and a member of the Class of 2020, and he is passionate about history and environmental issues. Listen in as Matthew hosts a conversation about Chattanooga's industrial history and efforts to clean up in recent years with alumni Allen McCallie '73 and Rick Montague '64, board members with the Southern Environmental Law Center.