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By Audrey Lutz

Ms. Switzer and her History of Nonviolence class made an outstanding art installation depicting a visual timeline of nonviolent movements in American history. The project is the culmination of many years of preparation, research, and development. 

After involving Ms. Story, an upper school art teacher, they decided to make a timeline following events through history. We were standing in front of the artwork when we spoke and she said,  “If I were to go back 20 years when I first started teaching about non-violence I would not have known half of what is up here.”

Each student made individual tiles that show non-violent activists and researched them to gain a better understanding of who they are and how they affected history. I was able to speak with Leah Cox about her involvement with this project. “I was a student in the class, so I helped with brainstorming and making the background,” she said. “If you look at the board, on the far right, there is a collage of non-violent organizations and above it there are doves. I made both of those.” 

Ms. Switzer said that the installation is a way “of visualizing all of the interconnected complexity of non-violence in American history.” Everything is connected one way or another, and this installment shows all of the historical branches. 

As we started the interview Ms. Switzer implied that “Non-violence isn’t just about creating peace and justice, it’s creating conditions where violence is less likely.” This art is meant to show that peace is possible and that people are willing to risk their lives to stand up and say, they want a better society. 

There are 14 different non-violent movements that are represented on the board, but the art piece starts with the Indigenous people in the United States. “What my students discovered is that from a very early point, Indigenous people in the United States had non-violent peacemaking kinds of cultural technologies, and a lot of the non-violence that evolved came from seeing the way the Indigenous people resolve conflict,” said Ms. Switzer. 

The Indigenous people are the true roots of America and the first people to teach non-violence. “Many people think that the Indigenous people were just bows and arrows, but they had such a complex life,” said Ms. Switzer. 

Next, we move on to the Quakers and Anabaptists. “The historic peace churches (the Quakers and Anabaptists) came to the United States to escape persecution.” The Quakers and Anabaptists lit the fire for the anti-slavery movement. “They believed that there is a god and somehow that god is present in all people, so then anytime you’re unjust or violent to another person, you’re being unjust and violent to god. So that sort of theological premise motivated them to confront slavery first.”

Everything is connected in history and this board is illustrating that. “So we have this early women’s movement that starts, and those same women became the leaders of the suffrage movement.” Ms. Switzer then shows me how the branches connect everything together. 

As we keep moving down the boards we are introduced to the pre-civil rights which of course leads us to the all mighty civil-rights movement. They tried to include as much as they could, but the board can only hold so much. The board includes the majority of the 50s, 60s, and 70s. 

Finally, we come to the final board with the Black Lives Matter movement “as the most recent manifestation,” with its focus on anti-racism. “We have anti-racism, kind of having these moments of surging and then receding and then surging over time, but always there.” 

People have always been fighting against racism in history. “A takeaway that one of my students realized is that since the 1600s, there have been people, white people standing against racism, all the way to the current time. And since 1730-1740 every year someone has been born in America who has fought against racism.”

At the end of the final board, there are many pieces of art. “We have this collage of doves and it sort of represents the future for hope and peace,” Ms. Switzer said. There is a collage of different activists, and then finally  a mirror “because we wanted people to get to the end of the installation and say, well what can I do to make a more peaceful future?” 

Under the mirror, it says “The Future of Nonviolence is You.”

This project was a semester-long idea, yet the idea mainly came to fruition right around thanksgiving. As Ms. Switzer usually has a much bigger class she doesn’t do big projects like this one. This year she only had 9 students in her History of Nonviolence class, so Ms. Switzer asked them if they wanted to do something more creative than they normally couldn’t do with a greater number of students. “We talked to Ms. Story and we started brainstorming options. My students wanted to work together so we developed this idea, which was much more complicated than we were expecting and I didn’t know if we were going to finish.”

They started making it right after fall break and only had until exams to finish. “Towards the end of the last 2 weeks of class, this project was all we did. The students came before school, after school, and during lunch. They spent so much time on this and it’s incredible.” Leah Cox, a student who worked on this project, said that “There were times when we would have to come during our free periods, and we would work together and collaborate throughout the whole process.”

As the artwork started to finish they brought in Ms. Story again to take a look. “Once Ms. Story saw the project coming together she said that we needed to get this in front of other audiences.” Then came talk of where this outstanding project could go. They are considering the  Hartfield Jackson airport, which has a section where they display student work; the Center for Civil and Human Rights; and even the history center of Atlanta. “Right now the chief of the marketing department – Janie Beck- is working on finding out if this could be a traveling exhibition.”

Ms. Switzer is so proud of this piece and it has only made her think of what she could do in the future. “I’ve been trying for years to know how to organize this incredibly complex history and the more I taught the more I realized that it’s not just the history of non-violence but the histories of non-violence, and I’ve always struggled to make sense of it all visually. And the fact that they were able to create a way of visualizing it is amazing, not only to me but to them and future students.”

This project was huge, not only for Lovett but for the future of Ms. Switzer’s class. This artwork alone holds so many important people, dates, and moments in history that are not talked about in the history books. 

The students had to work so incredibly hard to get this project completed and it brought them closer together. “I think that this bonded my class,” she said. “We would see one another so much during the day that our close proximity to each other almost forced us to get closer.”

This artwork will be displayed in the art gallery hall until the end of February. After that, no one is truly sure where it will end up but, hopefully, wherever it goes it will inspire people. “We’re trying to create a better world,” Leah said.

By Mariella Bishop and Angelina Ricker

As the school year comes to an end, the seniors are off to college and to a new start in their lives. In addition to the leaving seniors, some teachers are retiring or leaving Lovett. We were able to catch up with Michele Davis, Jeffrey Turner, and Wesley Adams. As they move onto the next steps of their life,  

Michele Davis 

Mrs. Davis has been working at Lovett for 5 years and was recently recognized for that at the All-School Closing Chapel on May 1st. In total, she has been teaching for 27 years. She’s mostly been teaching high schoolers, though a third of her career was dedicated to teaching middle school. Throughout her teaching journey, Mrs. Davis has taught English and History.

Mrs. Davis’s spark to teach began in her junior year of high school, when she worked at a summer camp for young children. “I just realized it was so fun to be around just the silly, vibrant energy,” she said. Additionally, Mrs. Davis’s majors in English and Political Science and her love for writing and reading ultimately led her to become a teacher.

After leaving, Mrs. Davis plans to be a writing consultant for Ripples Media LLC, the publishing company of her book, Grieve Like a Mother, Survive Like a Warrior. She also plans to continue working with Warrior Moms, a community of women who work together to help each other and other mothers who are victims of child loss. She’ll be producing  a “ Warrior Mom podcast,” and leading “a bunch of retreats,” she says. Traveling and having fun are also a part of her plans.

But what she looks forward to the most is “just kind of slowing down life.” Mrs. Davis explained that for the past 12 years, she has been extremely busy with work, family, and other responsibilities. She’s excited to “have time to go on a walk and to play tennis and all these things that I absolutely love to do that I have not done in a really long time,” she said.

I (Angelina) had Mrs. Davis for my English class this year. To me, she is one of the best teachers I’ve ever had. She always understands her students, whether that’s their stress or their confusion. There is not one time in class when I felt a negative presence from her. She has been nothing but kind, sweet, gentle, and every other positive adjective I can think of. I am deeply saddened to see her leave Lovett, but I wish her the best of luck with the rest of her journey.

“I think taking risks and that failure is part of teaching, and that’s okay; that kids value when you’re vulnerable, that’s both with making mistakes, that’s with just errors on assignments or whatever it is. If you’re just honest and real, the kids really respond to that,” Mrs. Davis said.

Wesley Adams

After three years of teaching at Lovett, math teacher and wrestling coach Mr. Adams is preparing to leave the school and continue his coaching career elsewhere. Mr. Adams has been coaching wrestling for about 10 years; his passion for the sport has been a big part of his role at Lovett. Along with teaching high school math, he also spent a lot of time helping student athletes and building strong relationships both in and out of the classroom. A lot of students know him not just as a teacher, but as someone they can talk to and learn from outside of class, too.

I (Mariella Bishop) not only learned math from Mr. Adams in middle school for pre-algebra, but also had the honor of helping him during wrestling season by becoming a Mat Lion. To me, he is not only a great teacher but a caring coach who loves his job deeply. Seeing him leave Lovett is sad, but in the end, I’m glad he gets to experience new schools and, hopefully, continue coaching for longer.

When asked why he became a teacher, Mr. Adams explained his motivation has always been about helping others. He wanted to help students grow, not just in school but overall. “I became a teacher to help people, mentor people to help students grow, and then Lovett was really attractive,” he said. “It’s a really good school, it’s a really good area. I had a connection with some coaches that I talked to, and just seemed like you’d be a good fit.”

He said Lovett stood out to him as a place where he could help others. He saw it as a really good school in a good area, and he already had some connections with coaches here, which made it feel like a place where he could fit in. From the start, it felt like a good fit for him.

As he moves on, Mr. Adams is not done with teaching and coaching. He will be heading to Pope High School, where he hopes to focus more on wrestling full-time. 

“I’m heading to Pope High School to continue as a wrestling coach. I’m hoping to have a good transition to that job and hopefully have some success on the coaching front,” he said.

Even though he is excited about his next step, leaving Lovett won’t be easy. According to Mr. Adams, what he will miss most is the people. He’s already built strong connections with lots of different people at Lovett. “I have really good colleagues between teachers and coaches,” he said. “I’ve got some pretty good relationships with students as well.”

For new teachers coming into Lovett, Mr. Adams offered some advice: “Get involved with something outside of teaching, whether it’s coaching or a sport or a club or whatever it may be.” He also shared that Lovett is a really supportive community with awesome students.

Looking ahead Mr Adams plans to keep coaching wrestling for as long as he can.  “I hope to coach until I physically can’t anymore,” he said, showing his dedication and care for the sport.  

Even though Mr. Adams is leaving Lovett, his impact will be remembered. We wish him the best as he starts his next chapter at Pope High School.

Jeff Turner

Jeff Turner has been working at Lovett for 7 years as an AP US History/American Studies teacher and is also the upper school history department chair. His wife, Fran Turner, also works at Lovett as the Director of Civic and Global Engagement.

Mr. Turner has always loved teaching history and getting to connect with his students. From a young age, when learning about history in class and studying the subject, he knew that he wanted to pursue a career in history. “I really loved the teaching part as much as I loved the history part, or maybe even more,” he shared.

Lovett definitely stood out to him as a great place to teach. “Lovett’s American Studies program has been around a long time. And I was actually … I did professional development here before I even came to Lovett. Lovett used to run an American Studies Institute. So for me, that was very attractive. They had a really good program, and I wanted to be a part of it,” he told us.

Leaving Lovett is another big step in his life. Like Mr. Adams, something he will definitely miss about Lovett is the relationships he has built over time. 

“I’ve loved the students and I’ve really enjoyed the relationships that I’ve built with my colleagues, and I’ve really loved working at the same place that Ms. Turner worked,” he said. “So that’s always been fun coming in and together and talking about our day. We still get to do that. We just won’t talk about Lovett.” Even while interviewing Mr. Turner, he and Mrs. Turner were sitting in the same office!

Lovett is an amazing place that opened up many new opportunities for Mr. Turner. “I’ve loved the students, and I’ve really enjoyed the relationships that I’ve built with my colleagues, and I’ve really loved working at the same place that Ms. Turner worked,” he said.

Mr. Turner looks forward to many things in retirement, such as traveling, spending more time with his kids, volunteering, and “slowing down a bit” (which seems to be a common theme!). He especially looks forward to “just doing things that I haven’t been able to do.”

To new teachers and to his past self, Mr. Turner gave some good advice: “Don’t be so anxious about all the details, just sort of enjoy it. Enjoy being who you are and the opportunities you have.”

By Micah Ingram

It wasn’t long ago that they were sitting at these exact desks that we are in right now. Or, roaming these halls dreaming of what’s coming next. I decided to catch up with some members of the class of 2025 to see what literally came next for them. Now, almost a year into their college journeys, our recent alumni are here to share the unfiltered truth about their freshman year. 

Graysen Stratton 

To get a clear picture of life after Lovett, I asked Graysen Stratton to walk us through her first year of college at the Fashion Institute of Technology. 

First, I asked her to sum up her overall experience in three words. She described this year as fast-paced, evolving, and exciting. This is a fitting response for a student who transitioned from the predictable pace of high school to the turmoil of college, especially at the Fashion Institute of Technology in New York City, where days are no longer dictated by the school bell but by her own independent drive. 

Graysen said her favorite class this year was Draping, which she explained is when you copy exactly what the professor is doing to “understand the technique, and then we get to redo it in our own way.” She feels this is the ideal place to show her creativity. She interprets the balance, structure, and freedom to experiment and find her style. 

This transition into college meant trading the “Lovett Bubble” for a much more independent and demanding lifestyle. She said that college doesn’t adjust to your needs, but rather the opposite, causing many people to not only change their environment but also themselves as individuals. 

A typical Tuesday is like a marathon, starting with four-hour drawing classes, ending with a five-hour shift as a stylist on Madison Avenue. This packed schedule highlights the biggest “academic shock” she encountered: the sheer amount of work required outside of class. At FIT, she explained that “it’s normal to be in the studio for hours on your own. A lot of the work depends on how much time you’re willing to put in, which is different from having everything more scheduled.” 

While she felt very prepared by Lovett, rating her readiness for college at 8 or 9, the transition taught her some things that aren’t really taught in a classroom. She had to unlearn the habit of relying on constant reminders, entering a world where independence is key. 

Yet in the midst of all that, she finds herself missing the “Riverbank.” She looks back on advisory time and school traditions with a new perspective, realizing these moments were the glue that made high school a beautiful experience.  

As she reflects on her high school years, her best advice for rising seniors is simple: slow down. While it is tempting to succumb to “senoritis,” she encourages future classes to stay present and soak in every day with friends, as those are the ones that stick. “Try not to completely check out,” she warns. “This year goes by quickly, and you’ll appreciate it fishing strong later.” 

For this FIT stylist, the “Lovett bubble” may be in the rearview, but the patience and creative foundation she built there are what continue to drive her forward.

Ridley Newton

For Ridley Newton, the transition into college wasn’t just about new classes; it was about finding a new community and team. Now a pre-med student and soccer player at Washington University in St. Louis (WashU), Ridley’s year has been defined by community, adapting, and fun. 

Fresh off a National Championship win with her soccer team, she sat down to share how she traded the Riverbank for a “big family” atmosphere in St. Louis.

In terms of community, she feels her soccer team has given her a “big community” of best friends. For adapting, Ridley is a triplet, meaning she was used to being with her sisters almost 24/7, so being slightly “alone” was a huge shock to her system. Finally, fun comes from the new independence that college provides, which is a major step up from the high school environment. 

Moving into the academic side of her experience, Ridley highlighted the difference between the Lovett “Bubble” and the high stakes of the pre-med track. 

When it came to college papers and assessments, Ridley felt a strong 7 out of 10 in terms of readiness. Ridley found herself with a distinct advantage in her college writing class because, while her peers were struggling, she felt very fortunate to have experience from writing her APUSH paper, which was actually more in-depth than her current college assignments.  

Beyond the workload, the physical layout of the university was a major surprise. Unlike the vertical, floor-by-floor organization of Lovett, WashU’s campus is spread out. Ridley recalled the “academic cardio” of her first semester, where she literally had to run from one end of campus to the other just to make it between subsections of the same Chemistry course. Despite the distance, she’s grown to love the campus’s size, large enough for independence, but small enough that she isn’t surrounded by strangers.

Though she’s found her footing at WashU, Ridley still feels the pull of the Riverbank. She finds herself missing the automatic connection of a smaller school—the ability to walk down a hallway and know almost every face she sees. She also noted that the shift in teacher-student relationships, moving from small, intimate classes to 300-person lectures, made her realize how special the close-knit mentorship at Lovett truly was.

Ridley admitted that she definitely felt the pull of Senioritis during her final semester. To stay on track while still enjoying the graduation parties and senior dress-up days, she used a “timer” method. By setting a specific amount of time to finish her work, she created a boundary that allowed her to be productive first and be free afterward. 

She reminds seniors that staying focused is a major favor to their future self, as those credits can save them from having to retake classes in college.

When asked for her best advice for rising seniors, Ridley’s message is to unplug and lean in. 

While many schools use Yondr pouches to limit phone use, Ridley takes it a step further, noting that she doesn’t even use TikTok and barely uses Instagram. Her secret to “soaking it all in” is simply being present with the people around you. She reflected on how rare it is to have your entire community in one place, a reality that hits hard once you head off to different states.

If she could go back to the first day of senior year, Ridley would tell herself, like Greysen, to slow down.

Looking back, the year felt like a blur of activity and fun that ended far faster than she expected. Her final takeaway from her year is to stop rushing toward the finish line and enjoy the “now,” because once you leave the Riverbank, you’re stepping into a much bigger, faster world.

By Henry Thompson

Early in the year, students flock to the club fair, putting their names on lists and reaping the benefits of the ever-bountiful complimentary candy bowls. (Full disclosure, I signed up for six or so clubs myself, while planning on actually attending a select few).

And while many clubs failed to launch, and others got some altitude before falling, the rocketry club literally and figuratively soared. Run by now-senior Andrew Zverkov and sponsored by engineering teacher Mr. Greenberg, the club has gone above and beyond (apologies for the pun) in its activities, participating in multiple events throughout the year, both in and out of the classroom.

Zverkov founded the club in his sophomore year in order to pursue his love of engineering and, well, rocketry. Since then, the club has become a staple of Lovett’s student-led extracurriculars, consistently attracting members across grades and being one of the few clubs lucky enough to be approved before the school year even begins.

When asked why he joined the club, freshman Rob White similarly cited his passion for engineering but was quick to mention the many other benefits he has claimed through his time as a member this year. “It’s an amazing club for learning all sorts of skills that can be applied outside of rocketry; you learn about aerodynamics and chemical reactions. Also, you learn teamwork skills and practice problem solving,” he explained. 

Just this year,  participating juniors and seniors got to create their very own rocket fuel from scratch. Andrew assured me the club worked to keep the environment safe and controlled while still fostering a “deeper understanding of how rocket engines work beyond just building the kits.”

Speaking of the kits, while not quite as cool as some homemade rockets, they’re still pretty fun and are what you can expect to spend your time with if you join as an underclassman. When I visited, this is exactly what they were doing, happily chatting away while tinkering with a little cardboard rocket with pre-built parts.

If you’re a long-term member or an upperclassman, you can expect to take part in a few more intensive activities. For seniors this year, that meant everything from charity outreach to rocketry competitions, all led by Andrew, of course. 

In the spirit of charitable action this year, the club partnered with Agape over the summer, providing students with the opportunity to build rockets and glean useful physics and engineering lessons. He happily told me these meetings would continue: “Right now we are planning another series of sessions with Agape in the near future,” he said.

Excited by the idea of teaching the concepts more frequently, Andrew also volunteers to give demonstrations at local elementary schools with Safran Space and Defense. “I love helping younger students experience the excitement of rocketry and discover an interest in STEM,” he explained.

Back to the actual club activities, this spring break, the group participated in the American Rocketry Challenge (TARC), the largest of its kind in the world. As he explained, “Teams across the country design, build, and launch model rockets to meet specific mission requirements.” Apparently, these missions can require launches reaching up to 700 feet, nearly half the height of the Empire State Building.

The club enjoyed their time at the competition, taking it as an opportunity to learn through hands-on activities and on-the-spot problem-solving while still having a good time. “Our team had multiple successful flights but also a few failures where we had to quickly improve our designs on the fly,” Andrew explained. “This is one of the best parts of the competition.”

The rocketry club is a quintessentially Lovett extracurricular activity, and club members highly advise students to at least give it a try next year. Just because you sign up, doesn’t mean you have to commit to year-long activities, so you might as well try; after all, it’s not rocket science. Wait.

By Bridget Valls

Somehow, Justin Bieber became the focus of a College Algebra class.

On Wednesday, April 29th, students in Ms. Howard’s class shared their songs and music videos to teach various math concepts. This year, it had a new name: “Howard-chella.” Which is a play on Coachella, or this year’s Bieber Chella. 

It earned its name from the group that covered all of Justin Bieber’s songs in honor of his amazing performance at Coachella. Juniors Zarin Sapra, Lane Rodts, and Sunjna Hebbar worked very hard on their video and insisted that I come watch. 

The first video we watched at “Howard-chella” was by juniors Harris Young and Tyler Ebbert, a parody of Vance Joy’s “Riptide.” 

Harris was quick to tell me that he “woke up at 6:30 for this” and that for this project, “the grind didn’t stop.”

The video depicted Tyler and Harris singing the lyrics “I was scared of inverses on graphs.” Mind you, they had zero emotion on their face while singing.

I quickly learned that this was intentional. “We did that on purpose because math is serious,” Tyler told me.

Once their video wrapped up, Harris turned to look at me with the biggest smile and said, “Bridget wasn’t that the best thing you’ve ever heard?” He and Tyler looked so proud that I couldn’ttoo proud for me to say anything but “absolutely amazing”.

Next, we watched the video by seniors Butler Lesley and juniors Maddy Eford and Ashton Hightower, a parody of “Mrs. Right” by Mindless Behavior. 

An even bigger audience of senior boys came in just to watch this one, and it did not disappoint. 

“Where’s Ms. Howard? I gotta see her,” Butler and Maddy sang on the screen. Followed by Ashton singing, “Get me on the line, I gotta plot her.”

This music video was definitely more elaborate, even featuring Ms. Howard. 

Overall, it was a great performance, and if it were posted on Instagram Reels, I’m sure it would do great there. I wish I had seen it before taking the first semester of precalc. 

The final video we saw was apparently (all opinions) “the best for last,” as Lane said. And this is the video that gave this project the name of Howard-chella.

They started with a parody of “Beauty and a Beat” by Justin Bieber, which was played at this year’s real Coachella/Bieberchella. 

This is for sure the video I am most connected with, just because I am probably Justin Bieber’s biggest fan and a proud Belieber.

Some of their lyrics included “find zeros tonight, I wanna find zeros oh oh oh,” and “what you got, the function equals to zero oh oh oh.”

Then they transitioned into ANOTHER Bieber song. And honestly, I didn’t even have FOMO from real Bieberchella anymore; I felt like I was there after this performance. 

They switched to one of my top 3 Bieber songs, “Confident.” Which really got the lyrics “She got division I ain’t never seen anything like that” stuck in my head. 

I had to give a huge round of applause to all these videos because they were truly impressive, and I could tell how proud they all were. 

Next year, get your tickets to Calgebra’s Howard-chella!

By Megha Lakha

When I found sophomore Riya Patel, she was hard at work in the alcove, locking in on Honors Precalculus. 

Riya told me she wishes that she could be doing ceramics instead of math, which happens to be her new favorite subject. “I love it because I get a break during my day and I can be creative,” Riya said. “It also doesn’t require much brain power.”

Riya told me she’s looking forward to Track and Field State because the girls just won regionals. “There’s a new coach this year, and she’s hardcore, but everybody is improving this year,” Riya said. 

She went to state last year for the 4 by 200-meter relay. “We are also going this year, but I have a different team because last year we got 4th place, and I think we can get even higher this year,” she said. 

Riya discovered her love for track last year. “I decided to join Track because I used to do soccer and realized I was good at running.” She’s also enjoyed the friends she’s made. 

Besides track, Riya also participated in Winter Cheer. “It’s a huge switch from cheer to track because they’re such different sports,” she said. “But I love it because I’ve made friends from both teams.”

Outside of school, Riya is an aspiring philanthropist. “I’m in NCL and do a bunch of volunteer work through that,” she said. “I just ran bingo at Rosetta Stone and love volunteering at the Shepherd Center.” She also does Agape Teen Leaders where she tutors kids. Riya also connects with senior citizens through GlamourGals.

Riya said sophomore slump is getting to her, but she is trying to ward it off. “It’s definitely a lot to manage my courseload and extracurriculars,” she said. Riya’s toughest class right now is AP World History with Mr. Tuttle. “I have an A- right now, I’m desperately trying to keep that,” Riya said.

Her summer plans are motivating her to keep up her work and finish off her sophomore year strong. “In June I’m going to Vanderbilt for a Psychology program,” she said. ‘Then In July, I’m going on an African safari, and I’m also interning at Agape.”

Riya is also “ultra thankful” that she has finally acquired her driver’s license. “Hanging out with friends this summer will be so much better since I can finally drive,” she said with a grin.

I ended our alcove conversation by wishing Riya luck on her track state endeavors and, of course, telling her to stay safe on the roads!