Edward Rotenberg '79, Drew Patty '83, Stephen LeBlanc '83, Paul Garrett '89, 
Tom D’Armond '85 and Andy McCracken '83 fullfilled an "Episcopal Graduation Tradition" on Tuesday, May 10 by hosting a crawfish boil for the Class of 2016, just days before thier graduation.

​Students were able to gather and socialize as a class one last time before their big day. The very tasty crawfish and desserts were served picnic style at the lovely home of Nicole and David Chauvin. The weather was perfect and the well attended event was enjoyed by all!

Mary Elizabeth Barksdale
​Episcopal Class of 2016 Salutatorian

 Mary Elizabeth Barksdale '16, has been awarded one of the most highly selective merit scholarships in the nation. The Jefferson Scholars Foundation at the University of Virginia selected Mary Elizabeth as one of 34 recipients of the Jefferson Scholarship. She will commence her studies in the fall at U.Va.
 
In order to be named a Scholar, candidates must undergo a rigorous, highly competitive, multi-stage selection process. This year, out of the approximately 1,800 students nominated for the Scholarship, 120 finalists were invited to take part in a five-day competition at U.Va., which included seminar discussions, essay and mathematics examinations, as well as interviews conducted by U.Va. alumni and faculty.
 
The 34 selected recipients of the 2016 Jefferson Scholarship boast a number of significant achievements and Mary Elizabeth is no exception.  During her time at the Episcopal School of Baton Rouge, she was elected to the Honor Council, presented her thesis: “Of Monsters and Men: A Study of Popular Culture’s Monsters and Their Influence on the Social Psyche” at the Southwest Popular Culture Association Conference, was a leader on the Varsity Basketball and Varsity Powerlifting teams, and a member of both the Jazz and Concert Band. She was a founder of True 2 You, an organization mentoring Middle School girls, served as a Writing Fellow in the Episcopal School Writing Center, served as an ambassador to the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Conference, and attended Louisiana Girls State where she was recognized as Outstanding Senator . She was the class Salutatorian, and graduated with honors. Finally, Mary Elizabeth received Episcopal School’s Webster Cup, the highest honor awarded by the school,  which is given to the senior who has epitomized excellence in scholarship, in service to the school and the community, in character and in involvement in school activities.

Mary Elizabeth will join a community of 138 current Jefferson Scholars this fall.  In addition to receiving the full cost of attending the University for four years, Jefferson Scholars benefit from a number of enrichment programs sponsored by the Foundation, including travel abroad, career networking activities, an outdoor challenge program and a leadership speaker series.  

Episcopal's class of 2011,
Duke TIP Grand Winners
established a new school record!
​

 "The Class of 2021 has had an impressive result for Duke TIP.  The 24 students who have achieved recognition as State High Scorers represent 28% of the class.  Having six Duke Grand Winners this year is a school record.  These statistics reveal the continuing hard work our teachers and students are accomplishing together as the Non-negotiable Skills guide our middle school curricula."
- Lucy Smith, Middle School Division Head

The Duke TIP Identification Program (Duke TIP)
is a nonprofit organization dedicated to serving academically gifted and talented youth. As a global leader in gifted and talented education, Duke TIP works with students, their families, and educators to identify, recognize, challenge, engage, and help students reach their highest potential. ​

Go Knights!

The Episcopal Legacy Reception honors members of the senior class who are children of Episcopal’s alumni or grandchildren of Episcopal’s founders. This year's event was held on Thursday, May 12 at Juban's Restaurant and provided an opportunity for the Head of School and the Board of Trustees to congratulate these "legacy" graduates and share memories of Episcopal with their parents and grandparents. 



​
Emma Claire Massengale
Nicholas Andrew Patty
Emma Jane Pellegrin
Samuel Edward Rotenberg
Madison Alece Underwood
Aimee Claire Whitehurst 
Richard Agustus Whitehurst 

With the end of the school year comes many celebrations and accolades, and the 2015-2016 School Year brought much to be honored and commended. Each division honors students in a number of ways during their End of Year Award Ceremonies -  from athletic awards, to citizenship awards, course awards, and scholarships, students are recognized for their classroom and community contributions.

Congratulations to the many students who were honored during Awards Ceremonies!
4th Grade Award Winners
5th Grade Award Winners
6th Grade Award Winners
7th Grade Award Winners
8th Grade Award Winners
9-11th grade Award Winners

Congratulations to Ellis Herring who has committed to Morehouse College as a "preferred walk-on" for thier Football team!

​"Ellis has been a tremendous athlete for Episcopal this year particularly shining in football and wrestling where he was All-Metro Player and State Champion."
- Myra Mansur

Congratulations to this fine athlete, scholar and poet!

​Please congratulate Katy Riley who has been awarded a scholarship to attend this year’s Arthur and Rochelle Belfer National Conference for Educators hosted by the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum.

This scholarship is funded by the Baton Rouge Jewish Film Festival and the Jewish Federation of Greater Baton Rouge. We are happy for her and know she will use all she learns to enhance her work with our 7th graders.

Lower School students had a blast last week during their Field Day activities! From balloon tosses to sponge relays, students in Pre-4 through fifth grades enjoyed a day of fun in the beautiful sun. Festivities concluded in the afternoon with a large group game and picnic lunches. Special kudos to Heidi Hebert for coordinating a massively fun day!

Episcopal's Performing Arts Department presented their year's end concert on Friday, April 29 in the Charles Lamar Family Black Box Theatre. Musical numbers included "Age of Aquarius", "Day-O", and "Blowin' in the Wind."  Piano accompaniment was provided by Richard Blumenthal. 

Soprano:
Madeleine Cope, Olivia Grice,* Isabella Harlan,* Ashtyn Henderson,* Emily Knight,*
Eleanor Meek, Kate Oliver, Olivia Parker,* Julia Pearce, Dru Powell* Ava Reinecke, and
Sydney Veazie*

Alto:
Wendy Conklin,* Hayden Cresson,* McKenzie Dorris,* Maggie Ewing, Sophia Haynes,* Lauren Hicks,* Lauren
Reed, Johanna Schaefer, Jenny Stauss, Hallie Sternberg, and  Ngan Tran*
 
Tenor:
Ajit Alapati,* Harrison Ferachi,* Ethan Massengale, Jackson Sides,* and Ethan Wax*
 
 
Bass:
Harper Doerr,* Hootie Freeman,* Eli Haymon,* Ben Levine,* Todd McInnis,* and Douglas Robins*

*denotes Select Choir Members

LIGO story by Adam Reid, 8th Grade
​
Recently, our eighth grade class hosted a presentation from Richard Oram, PhD, Operations Manager,  of
the LIGO facility in Livingston Parish, Louisiana. In an informative, detailed slide show,  held in the Lewis Family Memorial Chapel of the Good Shepherd, we learned about the discoveries and milestones of engineers and scientists worldwide. 

Last September, the discovery of gravitational waves confirmed Einstein's theory of general relativity. Over 1.3 billion years ago, two massive black holes, over 30 times the mass of our sun, collided. A ripple effect was created; huge amounts of released energy sent gravitational waves traveling at the speed of light into intergalactic space. The discovery was the first ever made by mankind, and quite possibly, the first in a series to come.

LIGO was the first successful attempt to discover gravitational waves using its two laser interferometers. In simple terms, LIGO is able to detect these usually subatomic waves using two waves of concentrated light and comparing them to each other. Based on the patterns sent back to their observatory, they were able to determine that the Earth had been warped for approximately 0.2 seconds. A billion dollar project managed to produce a very small amount of evidence, but it was sufficient enough to convince physicists that Einstein was right a hundred years before a light was shone onto our relatively insignificant existence.

My own personal experience was rather unique. Physics is an area that I have a lot of background information in; I found the presentation very easy to understand. More importantly, I feel that others were able to share in that same learning experience as well.