Episcopal Knightly News

REUKNIGHTED: Coach Van Hiles '93

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Head Girls Track & Field Coach Van Hiles ’93 was a standout Episcopal athlete during the days of landlines, cassette tapes and the original “Jurassic Park.” Now a Knights Athletic Hall of Famer, Hiles develops the next generation of student athletes, one race, one jump and one play at a time.

As a student, Coach Hiles left a lasting mark on Episcopal football, basketball, and track and field. He was a gifted football player, earning a scholarship to the University of Kentucky and All-SEC honors before being drafted by the Chicago Bears.

The NFL took Coach Hiles far from Baton Rouge and created many exciting opportunities. After playing for the Bears, he started his own engineering firm and was a member of a team developing the first Motorola NFL headset. He met Chicago native Tracie and the two married in 2000. Life in Chicago was good, but then, with the 2008 crash, the Hiles looked to make a change. Coach Hiles still feels grateful that Tracie agreed to relocate to Baton Rouge. Once here, the two enrolled their children, Jayden ’24 and Makyla, at Episcopal.

Back on the home track

While Coach Hiles had not planned on returning to his home field, his son Jayden brought him back, and Coach Hiles still beams with pride remembering the moment his son expressed interest in the long jump. “I didn’t introduce it to him,” he recalls. “He found it on his own.” That shared love for a common interest was all it took for Coach Hiles to return to the Episcopal track. At first, he observed practices, offered advice and enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with his son. Eventually, Makyla also picked up the sport, and to Coach Hiles’ delight, the entire family began discussing track and field at home.

Looking back, it makes sense that Coach Hiles is back on the track. Though he had a natural talent for football, his heart always belonged to track and field. He says he learned early on that the sport fosters lasting connections among athletes and spans the entire school community. He says it’s also the perfect balance of team effort and individual accomplishments. Coach Hiles loved the excitement of competing independently in hurdles and jumps and was also proud to help his team become state champions.

Coaching the next generation of Knights

Welcoming and approachable, Coach Hiles has now coached Jayden, Makyla and countless other Knights to similar success. He’s coached two long jump state champions and three high jump state champions, while helping the boys and girls teams capture a combined seven state championship titles and three state runner-up finishes. He’s also found time to apply his NFL experience as an assistant coach for the Episcopal football team.

Coach Hiles is a family man, an entrepreneur and an engineer. Yet, he still makes time to work with Episcopal athletes, including those currently enrolled and several who now compete at the collegiate level. He puts in the extra time because he knows it matters. “If the kids don’t think you’re invested, they won’t perform their best,” he says. There’s no question that Coach Hiles believes in the students and Episcopal School of Baton Rouge. “I’ve seen this school change a lot,” he recalls, thinking of the former Episcopal bus circle and the house that used to sit where the Visual & Performing Arts Center now stands. “It is a great community that supports each other. You don’t get lost in the shuffle. You can participate in a lot of things, and you’re pushed to be better.”

Coach Hiles is sure to push the Knights to another great season, and students are fortunate to have him as a mentor.

Were you coached by Coach Hiles or a teammate of his from decades ago? Share a message of appreciation for him in the comments section below.

Track and field action gets underway later this school year. Meanwhile, if you want to catch Episcopal runners in action, the cross country team begins its quest for additional state titles in September.

Saturday, September 19th Episcopal Round Table Run Highland Road Community Park

Don't forget Homecoming is Friday, September 18th!

The Episcopal School of Baton Rouge 2025-2026 application is now available! For more information on the application process, to schedule a tour, or learn more about the private school, contact us at enrollment@ehsbr.org or 225-755-2685.

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Reimagined QUEST Center Spaces Spark Inspiration and Discovery

Wed, 02 Sep 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Permanent STEAM Stations, a Mini Knights Maker Space and a new Light and Shadow space are coming to the QUEST Center in Foster Hall this school year! These reimagined spaces are sure to inspire creativity and exploration in a facility dedicated to purposeful play.

QUEST Coordinator Stacy Hill can’t wait for students to interact with the new spaces. Last year, after hearing from first through third graders that they’d like to return to the QUEST Center for center time, Hill piloted a space within Investigation Station with those students in mind. Students loved the STEAM Stations, including the Air Toobz center, the light table and the magnetic ramp wall. The pilot was such a success that STEAM Stations are now a permanent part of Investigation Station, and students will return once a month to explore. Going forward, Hill will continue to add age‑appropriate experiences, including a sensory area modeled after early childhood spaces. Because the stations are mobile, Investigation Station can still transform into a hub for dissections and similar lessons, demonstrating the benefits of flexible design.

In the early childhood room, the new Mini Knights Maker Space becomes a permanent station, like the beloved sensory bin and tinker area. The Maker Space area provides students with a range of materials, such as tape, popsicle sticks and cardboard tubes, and Hill will challenge the little Knights to see what they can do. This is one of her favorite lessons as she loves watching students discover through creation. In the past, she’s seen a child turn a cardboard tube into a watch and popsicle sticks into an airplane. This new dedicated center is sure to spark creativity, giving the little Knights the freedom to imagine, build and test their ideas.

This year, a new Light and Shadow Space within the Production Studio invites students to experiment with lamps, a light table and even an old overhead projector. The projector, which many teachers will recognize, allows students to examine and magnify objects. The interactive light table and mini lamps allow students to study how light interacts with colors and shapes. Hill says the applications for this new space are exciting, and she looks forward to seeing the discoveries students make inside.

While all three spaces have reimagined components, they will also continue to serve their original intent. Essentially, the design expands the QUEST learning opportunities and creates new ways for students to grow.

Teachers make learning fun

These reimagined spaces highlight the talent of Episcopal teachers. They are masters at designing environments that support multiple learning goals at once, and they recognize the educational potential in everyday materials. Teachers also model flexibility and creativity, adjusting spaces to meet developmental needs and learning objectives. More importantly, they make learning fun so that students are so immersed in play that they don’t realize they’re building essential skills. “There’s not a right way to play in these areas,” says Hill. “We provide materials, and the students provide the magic.”

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Episcopal Students Road Trip through Italy and Learn a Lot Along the Way

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

This summer, 36 students and six chaperones spent nine days road tripping through Italy. Upper School history teacher Clara Howell says the trip was packed with as many classes and learning opportunities as possible, with a focus on art and history. Along the way, there were also the unexpected joys that make traveling so impactful.

Experiential learning that students will never forget

“My favorite part of this experience was definitely the ancient ruins of the Roman Empire,” says senior Noah Henderson. “It was awesome to see all of this history in one place, with lots of it still intact as well!”

The Episcopal explorers took part in a variety of experiential activities, including Gladiator School, where they learned archery and other gladiator techniques. They painted frescoes in Florence, took cooking classes and learned to paint with watercolors. The group saw Michelangelo’s David, toured the Vatican Museum, and was in awe of St. Peter’s Basilica. The trip was filled with learning opportunities, and Howell and fellow chaperone Dr. Karin deGravelles appreciated the chance to watch students take in their surroundings. For Howell, it is especially rewarding that six students from the trip are now in her AP European History class. With the school year underway, students are learning about the places they visited, and Howell even shares photos of them from the trip.

As is often the case with big adventures, the Italy road trip also included unexpected experiences that truly made the trip epic. Howell points out that the visit coincided with the Giro d’Italia finale, and the group actually watched cyclists pedal quickly through the streets of Rome. Students were also in St. Peter’s Square as Pope Leo prepared for a prayer service in the gardens. In addition, Howell says Episcopal equestrian Stella Silva was thrilled to be in Villa Borghese park at the exact time as the CSIO Roma Piazza de Siena, an elite international jumping event. Stella and Howell took a few moments so that Stella could watch several of her favorite riders and get up close with the horses. Even the natural world seemed to align for the explorers, as they timed a visit to the sea just at sunset. deGravelles recalls the joy she felt in hearing a student exclaim, “I’m going to touch the Mediterranean!”

Creating community thousands of miles from home

Nine days in Italy established lasting connections among the explorers. As students threw netting over each other at the Gladiator School or tried different forms of art or food, they naturally developed friendships. The personalized lagniappe moments allowed students to get to know one another and become a community of explorers. Senior Noah Henderson says he was most surprised by the bonds the group formed. “I went with a lot of people I had never really met before or only talked to briefly, but while in Italy it was super easy and really fun to get to talk to these people more,” he says. “This experience benefited me upon my return because it definitely helped me start a lot of conversations with people I had not talked to in months. It also helped me stay connected with teachers while away over the summer, so when I returned it was really easy to come back.”

Learning through travel

International travel, like the Italian road trip, reflects Episcopal’s commitment to global education and experiential learning. These experiences are designed to support academic learning while fostering curiosity, empathy and a broader sense of responsibility in an interconnected world. In addition to the trip to Italy, students have recently traveled to destinations such as Costa Rica and Iceland. There are also domestic and interest-based experiences, all focused on learning through exploration. Learn more about Episcopal travel opportunities here and join us on our next adventure.

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A Summer of Success!

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Summer is often a time for students to experience learning beyond the classroom. Students participate in a range of activities showcasing their leadership skills and personal interests. Congratulations to these students on their recent success! Look for more student success spotlights in the future.

International Weightlifting Standout

On August 29th, senior Baron Baker finished third overall in the Pan American Games in Ecuador! Baron had a 125 kg snatch and a 173 kg clean and jerk for a total of 289 kg and another American record for his age and weight group!

Earlier this summer, Baron also represented the US in the 94kg weight class at the Youth World Championship in Cali, Colombia. His clean and jerk and total are both new U17 American records! Baron surpassed the USAW Youth 94kg “B” standard by eight kilograms and finished ninth in the snatch, fourth in the clean and jerk and eighth in the total. Baron has worked hard to achieve such success, training for hours five days a week at X Factor.

Chess Success

Episcopal senior Matteo Runge represented Louisiana in a national chess tournament featuring the best players from high schools across the country. Matteo went 4-2 and was ultimately ranked 11th of the 50 states competing! He finished out in a 5-way tie for 8th place and, after two losses, won his final three matches.

International Equestrian

Senior Corinne Boydstun recently won the Worlds Championship Horse Show in the 14 – 17 country pleasure class! The event attracts competitors from across the world and includes more than 2,000 horses. In addition, Corinne impressed at this summer’s ASB Three-Gaited Junior Exhibitor division at the Cleveland Tri-State Charity Horse Show—winning both the qualifier and the championship unanimously.

Episcopal Royalty

Sophomore Kadie Sumbler was crowned Miss Louisiana Teen USA! This week, she represented the state of Louisiana at the Miss Teen USA competition, finishing in the Top 20 and earning the People’s Choice Award!

National Crossword Creator

On September 23rd, the LA Times will feature a crossword puzzle designed by Episcopal senior Nate McLean! This is the first puzzle constructed by Nate to be published nationally. The LA Times puzzle is published locally in The Advocate and is found online at the LA Times or the Washington Post.

Tackling National Affairs

Junior Maddie Falcon and sophomore Graham Hanby were selected to attend the YMCA’s Conference on National Affairs. This annual event brings together student leaders from across the country to raise awareness of national issues and increase the understanding of the federal government and its relation to state, national and international matters. Jack says he felt like he was among the brightest students in the country. “CONA not only contributed to my understanding of social politics and debate, it also helped shape who I am today.”

Camp Crisp

Juniors Hunter Easley, Maddie Falcon and Julian Itriago participated in Camp Crisp, a summer STEM internship through the LSU Ag Center. The two-week paid experience focused on agricultural science and climate-resistant crop systems. During the session, students attended seminars led by university faculty on plant diseases, research careers and scientific methods. Students explored research areas including soil science, pest management, artificial reproductive technology used for livestock and endangered species, and crop production through field and lab activities. Students conducted small group experiments and data collection on the LSU campus, as well as in various LSU research stations.

Louisiana Middle School Teacher of the Year

This summer, new Middle and Upper School Choral Music Director Bridget Zerinque was named the 2027 Louisiana Middle School Teacher of the Year by the Louisiana Department of Education. The award was presented at the 20th Annual Cecil J. Picard Educator Excellence Awards Gala at The National WWII Museum in New Orleans. The recognition highlights Bridget’s work at the Mathematics, Science, and Arts Academy East in Iberville Parish, where she taught K–12 music and built a comprehensive vocal music program centered on musical excellence, student leadership, and opportunities for students to discover their voices through music.

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Convocation Address Highlights Importance of Being a Good, Honorable Person

Thu, 27 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Honor Council President Nate McLean reflected on the Episcopal Honor Code at Upper School Convocation. He reminded classmates of the importance of effort, respect and accountability and the role of the Honor Code in student life.

Good morning. I am Nate McLean, and this is my third year serving on the Honor Council. We are gathered here today to witness the freshman, new students, and new faculty sign the Honor Code. But before you all sign the Honor Code, I’d like to spend a few minutes talking about why it is important. Although there are many principles of the Honor Code that deserve recognition, in the short time that I have I would like to discuss what I believe to be the most important values: effort, respect, and accountability.

Firstly, effort is an important aspect of life, one that has much to do with your own honor and dignity. When you sign the Honor Code, you make a vow to follow its ideals. While the ultimate goal of the Honor Code is to create a better communal life together, it fundamentally starts with your own personal efforts to uphold the code. Sure, you could come here, sign the Honor Code, and then completely disregard it. You could cheat and Chat your way through high school, if you get away with it. But you wouldn’t just be going against the Honor Code (which you wouldn’t care about in this scenario), you would be sacrificing your own honor itself. Sure, you made it through high school without trying, but at the expense of your character and your pride. Only through effort and intentionality can you build character and uphold your honor.

Additionally, the Honor Code encourages us to be honorable by reminding us to respect those around us. When signing the Honor Code, we vow to respect others, not undermine our life together, and not infringe upon the rights of others. This respect is necessary for a community in which we can safely express our interests and opinions.

It seems like a simple task, respecting those around us, but it takes a good bit of effort and understanding. Respect may look different for different people: someone may feel disrespected if their friend doesn’t talk to them in class while they’re doing classwork, but someone else may feel more respected if they’re mostly left alone to do their work. Either way of feeling about the situation is equally valid, which shows that it takes patience and understanding to figure out how to best respect your peers. Respect should be taken into account alongside the first value, effort, because you have to put in effort to learn how to best work with others.

Lastly, accountability is another important value reflected in the Honor Code. When signing the Honor Code, we vow that our “word will always be trusted.” If we want to be trustworthy people, we must first be responsible and accountable people. Becoming accountable has a lot to do with honesty: we have to be honest with ourselves and with others if we want to learn from our mistakes.

Let’s say I put a blasphemous image of my friend Tyler on the senior wall without his permission and no one noticed it. It doesn’t seem like such a big deal if no one noticed it. And it would be ridiculous for me to turn myself in when I could just leave it alone and not get in trouble. But to be accountable in this situation, I should be honest with myself and think about the impact beyond “not getting in trouble.” Such an action might be destructive to our friendship. I’m not saying I would turn myself in in this situation, but I guess that’s kind of the point of having accountability: you should be able to make the right decision even when there’s no punishment. The accountable thing for me to do would be as simple as just taking the photo down.

So even if you walk out of here and completely forget about everything I said, I hope that you at least retain the idea that putting these principles of Honor into action. Being accountable for your actions, respecting other people, and actually trying in life go beyond the Honor Code itself. The real importance of the Honor Code does not lie within itself, but in your actual efforts to be honorable. Because when you graduate and look back on your time here, you’re probably not going to think about whether or not you followed the Honor Code to a T, but whether or not you actually tried to be a good, honorable person.

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SE Greenland: Exploring at the Edge of the Polar Ice Cap

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

In the fall of 2025, I applied to the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, a professional development program run by National Geographic and Lindblad Expeditions, one of their many exciting educational opportunities, and I was accepted in Spring of 2026, joining their 20th anniversary cohort alongside 36 amazing educators from across the United States and Canada.

I’m so grateful to my students who inspire me to keep teaching and keep learning year after year, and to the National Geographic Society and Lindblad Expeditions for the Grosvenor Teacher Fellowship, and for their contributions to science, storytelling, and education at large.

Telling the story of my experience seems impossible, so I’ve resolved to tell a story that is lingering most ardently for me: Greenland’s glaciers and polar ice sheet and the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC). The most impactful part of this PD was the overwhelming feeling of interconnectedness, that across an ocean, we are still connected by the systems that govern our natural world.

After leaving Skjoldungen/Saqqisikuik Fjord heading South, we had to turn around and go back North because the fjord was blocked by giant icebergs. Riding along the foggy coast that morning, close to the Irminger Sea, I sat on the bridge with the captains, solved crosswords, and chatted about the waters surrounding us. The stretch of water is unremarkable at first glance: gray, cold, occasionally iced. The water’s surface conceals the consequential processes happening close by, underneath. Southeast Greenland’s coastal waters begin their journey in the Gulf of Mexico.

This I learned, among so much else, this summer aboard the National Geographic Endurance, listening to presentations by geologists, naturalists, photographers, historians, and biologists, or reading in the library’s soft nighttime lighting or sitting outside on Deck 6 in the quiet mornings.

Water begins rounding the Yucatan Peninsula then swings into the Gulf of Mexico, loops around and back out through the Florida Straits, now loaded with heat. From there it runs north along the North American coast as the Gulf Stream, warm, fast, and narrow, until off the coast of the Carolinas, it cuts across open ocean toward Europe, arriving in the subpolar North Atlantic, off the coast of Greenland and in the seas around Iceland, expelling its heat along the way. This current has helped Northwestern Europe thrive for recorded history.

The remaining current is cold and salty, so it is dense, and so, it sinks! Then it turns around and flows back South toward the Gulf. This is the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation (AMOC), and for the water to sink, it must be heavy enough.

Greenland’s ice sheet is shedding roughly 270 billion tons yearly of fresh water, through meltwater and calving, due to warming temperatures. This fresh, buoyant water runs into the current where the water needs to be heavy to continue to sink. And so, the AMOC appears to be slowing. Since 2004, the overturning has declined by about a fifth at the highest end of the range. A study published in Science Advances in April corrected long-standing salinity biases in past models against real-world observations and concluded that the AMOC is likely to weaken by about half by the end of this century.

What would it mean for the AMOC to weaken? I’ll refer to the experts on this. See the excerpt below from Yale’s Environment 360.

"In November, Iceland made the unusual move of designating the risk of an AMOC shutdown a national security threat. If the AMOC shuts down, its flow slowing to a near halt, the modeled consequences are catastrophic: Europe dries out, affecting agriculture and wildfires; the temperature difference between northern and southern Europe jacks up by a whopping 7 degrees F (4 degrees C), supercharging storms; the vital African and Asian monsoons weaken; and more. An AMOC collapse is also predicted to stir up the Southern Ocean, which could spew out more of its deep carbon into the air, further warming the globe."

So much is lost in the communication of climate science. We get bogged down in debates over anthropogenic causes and natural earthen cycles. I don’t want to do that. I just want to say that whatever your thoughts and feelings are about climate change, about its causes and origins, I hope we can come together to agree that its consequences are not only extensively researched, predicted, and proved, but are observable all around us, all seasons, in Greenland’s melting and in Louisiana’s, especially these late summer afternoons, when I somewhat hysterically start to believe the sun is shooting individual heat waves at us like some kind of astronomical laser tag nightmare. The dog days are over and the days of direwolves are upon us. It is hot.

The good news is that the remedies are all around us too, if we choose to look, explore, and listen.

The scientific phenomena I describe, thanks to this opportunity, are no longer abstract to me, and that is the value and effect of experiential education. I have seen an iceberg roll, seen how they break, flip, and equalize, seen them release buoyant freshwater into the salty sea.

I watched and recorded my shipmate, Rhonda, measure the salinity near and far from icebergs, and the result? The closer to the iceberg or to the glacier, the less salty the water. The less salty the water, the less dense.

To hear a glacier calve is the sound of rolling thunder. To see a glacier calve is awful in every sense of the word: awe inspiring, yes, and tragic, if we’re talking the implications. If you are in the mood for a mournful but educational documentary, I highly recommend Time and Water, which chronicles an Icelandic family’s long history with the Okjökull glacier, which has officially been declared dead.

I’ll end this with a poem because I am an English teacher, after all, but also because I believe in poetry and narrative’s ability to transcend disciplines and boundaries, and I hope to bring that to my community.

“Levees of All Kind”
by Melissa Easley

The front of it is but a wall
Blue where light had red removed
And every tide comes in beneath
And lifts and lifts, but is refused.
The tide goes out and again it lifts
Ice knows not what is being asked
Inland a hundred winters sift
Into one dense foot of what will crack.
The sound arrives behind
The sight the way the thunder does
And what took ninety thousand years to grind
Down here, is weather now, and weather was
Already, only slower, seeming still and holding well
But a wall is just a pall that has not yet fell.

Teachers, students, and families alike should visit Education | National Geographic Society to explore the opportunities for engagement. The Slingshot Challenge for students, Explorer Classroom for teachers, and the new Museum of Exploration for families are highlights.

Teachers – apply to be a fellow! Applications open in September and close in November: Grosvenor Teacher Fellows - National Geographic Society

References

Arnold, Paul. “Atlantic current system could be weakening faster than expected,”Phys.org. April 16, 2026.

Jones, Nicola. “Why Fears Are Growing Over the Fate of a Key Atlantic Current,” Yale Environment 360. May 6, 2026.

J.-Y. Lee, J. Marotzke, G. Bala, L. Cao, S. Corti, J. P. Dunne, F. Engelbrecht, E. Fischer, J. C. Fyfe, C. Jones, A. Maycock, J. Mutemi, O. Ndiaye, S. Panickal, T. Zhou, “Future global climate: Scenario-based projections and near-term information,” in Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis. Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, V. Masson-Delmotte, P. Zhai, A. Pirani, S. L. Connors, C. Péan, S. Berger, N. Caud, Y. Chen, L. Goldfarb, M. I. Gomis, M. Huang, K. Leitzell, E. Lonnoy, J. B. R. Matthews, T. K. Maycock, T. Waterfield, O. Yelekci, R. Yu, B. Zhou, Eds. (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2023), pp. 553–672.

Valentin Portmann et al., Observational constraints project a ~50% AMOC weakening by the end of this century.Sci.Adv.12,eadx4298(2026).DOI

Melissa Easley was born and raised in Baton Rouge where she graduated from LSU with a Bachelor of Arts in English Literature and Masters in Teaching English. She went on to earn a Master of Fine Arts in Creative Writing from The University of Mississippi for Women. Mrs. Easley is deeply committed to all things reading, writing, and thinking.

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Welcome Home: Alumni Return with the Next Generation of Knights

Fri, 21 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Sharing a school with your child brings new meaning to being a community. When alumni enroll their children at their alma mater, they come home to the traditions and experiences that made Episcopal such a special place for them. This year, Episcopal is thrilled to welcome 16 new alumni students. This group joins the more than 150 alumni students who are already following in their family’s footsteps. After more than six decades of developing leaders, Episcopal is seeing increases in alumni families, Legacy Graduates and even multi-generational Knights.

"When alumni return as parents and entrust their children to our care, it speaks volumes,” says Alumni Relations Director Lindsay Turner ’97. “As alumni, we remember the experiences we loved when we were students. To watch your child experience some of those same experiences, but also be exposed to so much more, is truly wonderful."

Admission Director Dana Messina loves touring alumni families as they reminisce about their own experiences as Knights. “These families already know the value of an Episcopal experience, but seeing the joy their children feel with each new discovery is a new and priceless feeling,” she says.

Turner encourages all alumni to stay connected to the Episcopal community in whatever way they can. “We love welcoming back our alumni for events throughout the year, but we also love for our alumni to give back by their guidance, perspectives and involvement with our current community,” she says. “One program in which we are always looking for new perspectives is our Alumni Speakers and Connections Program.” Through this program, graduates offer expertise in a particular industry or profession. Students benefit from the advice, guidance and unique perspectives that only alumni can provide. In addition, each spring, alumni are invited to Support a Senior by welcoming new graduates to the alumni community with a personal note. Alumni are also invited to return during Homecoming to read to younger students.

To learn more about the rewarding opportunities to get involved, click here or contact Lindsay Turner ’97 at 755-2687. We invite you to update your contact information or share your alumni news here.

Save the Date for Homecoming 2026!

Join us for a special alumni Homecoming event!
Date: Friday, September 18
Episcopal hosts Catholic High Pointe Coupee
Kickoff: 7:00 pm
Location: Graves Family Field House Terrace
Reserve your complimentary tickets by September 14 here.

Learn more about other upcoming events here.

Enroll Your Student

Want to share your Episcopal legacy with your child? Click here to learn more about admission and enrollment. Remember, the application fee is waived for children of alumni!

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Episcopal Students Reunite with Chilean Exchange Students in Chile

Thu, 20 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

“The biggest lesson I learned from the experience was that when you have the chance to fully immerse yourself in a culture, you should take the chance because it is such a unique and memorable experience.” Sophomore Carolena Duncan

Episcopal’s Global Studies department offers a range of global and domestic travel opportunities to help students engage with the world, deepen cultural understanding and connect learning to real-world experiences. This summer, a group of Episcopal students completed the Chilean exchange program by traveling to Chile to visit the South American students who had previously spent time in Baton Rouge.

Middle School Spanish teacher Chantal Castille and Director of Security & Campus Services Stephen Anderson chaperoned the group of students on their journey south. The two say the visit felt like a reunion as the students developed meaningful, international friendships through the exchange. Everyone was delighted to be on the same continent once again.

A sink or swim moment

Just as the Chilean students attended classes with the Episcopal students, the Episcopal students attended classes at Colegio Concepcion de San Pedro. The experience was immersive for the Episcopal explorers as they stayed with host families, ate local food and spoke the language. Anderson says host families spoke little English, so being able to communicate in Spanish was important. After studying Spanish for two years, he was pleasantly surprised by his own ability. “You don’t know your language skills until you’re immersed in it,” he says. “It’s a sink or swim moment.”

Similarly, the trip's immersive nature boosted the students’ confidence. “I find I am more confident in my Spanish skills now and feel driven to improve my Spanish with my host family,” says sophomore Carolena Duncan. Castille says her son, Mason, who participated in the exchange, has also discovered a new interest in the language and may consider going abroad for college as a result.

In addition to everyday Spanish conversations, Episcopal students had the opportunity to share more about their school and culture with the Colegio Concepcion student community. Presenting in Spanish further tested the students’ language skills and required confidence and determination. The chaperones were proud of how well the Episcopal delegation met the moment.

Domestic and global travel opportunities

Episcopal students benefit from a range of travel opportunities, all with an emphasis on learning. Students have the opportunity to study scientific and environmental topics in Costa Rica and Key West. There is also a range of domestic travel opportunities, including Middle School excursions and interest-based experiences.

An Episcopal education goes beyond the classroom to prepare students to lead in an increasingly connected world. Meaningful travel, led by knowledgeable and experienced faculty, expands lessons and creates experiences that prepare students well for college and beyond.

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Knights Football to Begin 2027 Football Season in Dublin, Ireland

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

The Knights begin the 2026 season with several road contests before the first home kickoff on September 18th. However, this year’s travel distance doesn’t compare to what’s in store for the team next year, as the Knights will journey to Dublin, Ireland, to play the first game of the 2027 season!

While the exact schedule is still being worked out, Episcopal football players, cheerleaders, dance team members, drum corps members and spirit groups will spend the last week of August 2027 abroad. The team will face off against another American team in a Friday night game in a 6,000-seat Irish rugby stadium, much larger than Episcopal’s Memorial Stadium. The experience will coincide with a college game scheduled for that Saturday night and will include parades and festivities celebrating American football.

A first for Louisiana

Bringing American high school teams to Ireland has been a tradition since 2012, when the first college game was played in Dublin between Navy and Notre Dame. However, this is a first for a Louisiana high school program and a first for longtime Head Coach Travis Bourgeois. “After 30 years of coaching, opportunities to do something out of the norm are exciting,” he says. “This will give our kids the chance to do something no other Episcopal team has ever done before. Our athletes will be ambassadors for the sport, our state and our school."

Like proud parents wanting the best for their kids, the Episcopal coaches truly are excited to offer this experience to students. Athletic Director Brent Broussard says experiencing this as a team will be something that connects this group of students for the rest of their lives. He points out that the experience will also foster independence and develop leadership skills among participating students. Head Girls Soccer Coach and Irish native Lynn Bradley can’t wait to show off her homeland and see students and coaches enjoying themselves on her turf. She feels like the experience offers the team a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

With enthusiasm building, the coaches quickly become nostalgic when discussing the international game. Coach Bourgeois remembers well Episcopal legend Jimmy Williams ’97 sharing stories of his own international football experience. Williams, who studied Japanese as a student, traveled with the San Francisco 49ers to play in Japan for one of the NFL’s global contests. Thanks to his Japanese language skills, Williams became the NFL spokesperson for the game and was treated like a celebrity. Coach Bourgeois is thrilled that his Episcopal players will have a similar experience and feels like Jimmy would be happy, too.

A community effort for a cultural experience

Episcopal’s path to Ireland was paved by the diversity of the school community. Alumni parent Brian Rigby works with USA Football and initially proposed the idea. Coach Bourgeois polled student athletes, and there was strong interest in the opportunity. Denzil and Shirley Moraes, both originally from Ireland, are especially interested in the opportunity to bring their son Emmet and his teammates to their home country. It is also a tremendous benefit to have Coach Bradley involved in planning. These connections and the school’s focus on fostering a globally connected and inclusive community make the adventure an ideal fit.

The Episcopal global and domestic travel program prioritizes travel experiences as an extension of the classroom and an opportunity to encourage students to engage with the world, develop global leadership skills and deepen cultural understanding. The Irish football trip will be infused with cultural and learning experiences similar to other travel opportunities. For example, student athletes will learn to play Gaelic football, Ireland’s most popular sport. Coach Bradley, who previously played the sport, says it’s a combination of rugby and soccer. The team will also visit the Cliffs of Moher for a practice session in a setting unlike anything back home in Louisiana. In addition, they’ll tour the Belfast Titanic Museum and the city of Dublin, try local foods, and watch traditional Irish dancing. As the agenda develops, additional learning experiences are sure to be added. Broussard says if this international experience is successful, they hope to offer similar experiences for additional sports in the future.

As the 2026 season gets underway, the Knights will no doubt focus on the games immediately ahead; however, there is certainly excitement about the future of Episcopal athletics and the places sports can take students.

Don’t miss Episcopal’s first home game, which is also the 2026 Homecoming game!

Friday, September 18th
7 pm – Memorial Stadium
Episcopal takes on Catholic Point Coupee
In addition to the game, a Squires tailgate and alumni gathering is also planned. Look for more information on those events soon.

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Running With the Bulls: Middle School Teacher’s Epic Summer Will Inspire Spanish Learning

Fri, 14 Aug 2026 04:00:00 +0000

Raise your hand if you’ve run with the bulls in Pamplona, Spain? Middle School Spanish teacher Chantal Castille experienced this larger-than-life adventure as part of summer professional development. The experience, along with the course she took, will inform how she teaches Episcopal Spanish learners this school year, and she can’t wait to share everything with her students. “I’ve taught this lesson for more than 10 years, and now I can share my own experience about what running with the bulls is really like,” she says with tremendous enthusiasm.

Two minutes she’ll never forget

Each year, Castille teaches eager Episcopal seventh graders the story of the San Fermin Festival and how this celebration became connected with the annual running of the bulls. She says this is the longest unit of the year because the students truly love it. In Spain for a Spanish Embassy-sponsored course on Spanish language and culture, Castille took the opportunity to extend her professional development to two minutes she’ll never forget in northern Spain.

Initially, Castille only planned to watch the running from a safe balcony overlooking the bull enclosure. However, during the first day’s run, she watched closely as the bulls were released and made their way down an 800-meter path to the city plaza. Seeing the race firsthand, she didn’t think the bulls actually moved that quickly, so she strategized. The next day, Castille donned the local bull running dress and joined the crowd on the street. She was careful about where she stood and how quickly she moved out of the way, and the two-minute experience was thrilling.

Castille documented the entire experience for her students, interviewing locals and taking numerous photos and videos. She hopes they realize that the experience is accessible and that they might add it to their own bucket list for future adventures. She also hopes to equip students with the Spanish skills they need to truly appreciate such an experience.

A lesson in the culture of language

Castille’s professional development adventure began when she was awarded a scholarship from the Spanish Embassy to participate in a course on Spanish language and culture. She was among 12 teachers from around the world, including Episcopal’s Hendrina Itriago, for a week-long immersive experience. Castille says the highlight of the classroom portion was collaborating with others and observing a different side of language teaching. “At Episcopal, we want to maximize the hours that we have with students so that they become proficient and build the skills to have a conversation in Spanish,” she says. “This validated my philosophy.”

The course also inspired Castille to incorporate more cultures in her Spanish lessons. She says the course covered how other cultures have influenced the language and the historical connections that can be made to make learning new vocabulary easier. For example, she points out the Moorish influence on Spain as travelers moved from northern Africa into the country.

Beyond academics, Castille and her classmates enjoyed cultural activities that will inform future Episcopal lessons. The teachers visited a local Spanish restaurant and sampled every item on the menu. They watched a live flamenco show, which Castille says can never be fully captured on video. The group also observed Spanish architecture, discussed the Roman influence on it, and took a Mediterranean boat tour to view the Spanish coast and its proximity to Africa.

Intentional professional development supports student learning

Episcopal professional development experiences are intentional, and these learning opportunities are so much more than a meal, a class or even a bull. The school’s strategic plan includes a focus on Excellence in Teaching & Learning to attract, retain and support high-performing faculty and staff. School administrators are confident that when teachers live the lessons they teach, they return inspired and ready to share everything with their students. No doubt, lessons are more powerful when a teacher speaks from firsthand knowledge, and hopefully, that enthusiasm is contagious. This year’s seventh graders can certainly look forward to a memorable lesson on a student favorite thanks to Mrs. Castille’s summer learning.