News

The College Board National Recognition Programs award academic honors to sophomores and juniors who take eligible administrations of AP and PSAT exams, have a GPA of 3.5 or higher and identify as African American or Black, Hispanic or Latino, Indigenous or Native, or attend high school in a rural area or small town. This year, the Board has honored five Knights. Congratulations to our National African American Recognition Award winners, junior Tyson Dawson and seniors Ansli Hennings and Jovana Willoughby, and to our National Hispanic Recognition Award winners, seniors Cole Belinfante and Julia Diaz.

As the Pace community dives deep into issues surrounding Water, this year’s Isdell Center for Global Leadership (ICGL) theme, students and faculty prepare to host ICGL Visiting Scholar Dr. Kersey Sturdivant on campus Sept. 20 and 21. Sturdivant is a marine ecologist who studies the effects of human disturbance on the seafloor and develops marine technology to enhance human understanding of the ocean. 

A graduate of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore and the College of William & Mary’s Virginia Institute of Marine Science, Sturdivant is an adjunct assistant professor at Duke University’s Nicholas School of the Environment and a principal scientist at INSPIRE Environmental, an environmental consulting company he helped launch. He is also the author of Getting into Graduate School in the Sciences, a senior correspondent at SouthernFriedScience.com and a co-creator of Oceanography for Everyone. He recently received a two-year appointment to the National Academy of Sciences. 

During his visit to Pace, Sturdivant will share his work with students across all divisions during special assemblies; will spend time in science classrooms; and will meet with the Upper School ICGL Council, Isdell Global Leaders, the BAAAD Affinity Group, faculty members and Knights Circle donors.

The 2023-2024 Upper School theater season has officially been revealed! Get ready for magic, Plastics and a whole lot of drama—Puffs and Mean Girls are coming soon to a Zalik Theater near you. The one-act play, Puffs, or Seven Increasingly Eventful Years at a Certain School of Magic and Magic, will bring Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry to Pace Academy in the ultimate combo of Castle lore on Thursday, Oct. 19, at 7 p.m. and Friday, Oct. 20, at 4 p.m. before the Pace thespians compete the show in the annual GHSA One-Act Competition. A Pace favorite, the Winter Showcase, will return Jan. 25-26, and the spring musical, Mean Girls, will take place April 18-19. Mark your calendars and prepare for some high-quality entertainment, thanks to our Upper School drama department!

In late July, a delegation of faculty members and Upper School students represented Pace at the week-long National Junior Classical League (JCL) convention at Emory University. More than 1,300 students from around the world attended the convention this year.

Junior Claire Jiang, vice president of the Georgia JCL, helped organize meetings and activities for the state delegation and participated in more than 10 academic competitions, most notably placing second in the Mixed Media category and sixth in Maps. Junior Van Muller was first in Decorative Stitching and ninth in Digital Scrapbooking, and sophomore Evan Babrow placed ninth in Classical Art. In total, Pace student representatives earned 18 top-15 prizes, making faculty advisers Michelle Yancich, Elizabeth Kann and Stewart Tarvin very proud.