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School News
Posted 06/13/2013 04:20PM 
54 SENIORS GRADUATE FROM GIRARD
On Thursday, June 6, 54 seniors graduated from Girard College.
Held in the school's historic Chapel, the commencement ceremony brought several hundred family members and friends to the north Philadelphia campus.
Girard College is a college prep school for academically capable students from families of limited financial resources. 99% of the 2013 graduates have been accepted into a 2-year or 4-year college or university. Scholarships have been awarded to (but are not limited to) the following: Penn State, Temple, Pitt, LaSalle, University of the Arts, University of Delaware, California University of Pennsylvania, Syracuse University, University of Southern California and University of Pennsylvania.
NBC White House correspondent Kristen Welker gave the charge to the graduates. Growing up in the same neighborhood as Girard College, Welker said she identified with the Girard students who were setting out for college in the fall and taking their first steps toward independence. She encouraged the graduates to do three things: (1.) Define their goals, (2.) Confront their fears and (3.) Learn how to move forward after suffering a set-back.
"You have the tools you need for success in college and life," Welker said, "You are prepared. You will succeed. Congratulations!"
Students also spoke to the audience.
Valedictorian Cynterria H. told her classmates never to forget their roots at Girard. Shaykhia W. was the salutatarian and reminded the seniors to give back to Giard: "To whom much is given, much is required." Student Body President Bamidele I. shared class memories and encouraged the students to remember the Five Core Values.
Diplomas were presented by Deans David Ruiz and Kymelle Clark and President Clarence D. Armbrister.
After the ceremony, students and their families enjoyed a reception in the library.
For a list of awards, click here.
To see the Commencement Photo Gallery, click here.
To see all of the 2013 photos, click here.
Posted 06/06/2013 04:58PM AWARDS CHAPEL WAS JUNE 5
The annual Awards Chapel was held on Wednesday, June 5, 2013. Numerous students awards and one staff award were presented. Recognition was bestowed for academic, athletic, civic and personal achievements. For a complete list, click here.
Posted 06/03/2013 02:21PM Board of Directors of City Trusts Announces Change for Girard College
Faced with significant financial challenges that threaten the permanent closure of historic Girard College, the Board of Directors of City Trusts today announced that it has approved a plan to temporarily scale back Girard’s operations to allow time for the Girard Trust to grow back to full financial health. The College also will revamp its educational program to provide more standards-driven, research-based practices to its students.
Read more ...
Posted 04/25/2013 12:18PM
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Senior Honored at Phillies Game
Senior Najaii C. was honored Friday, April 19, before the Phillies-Cardinals game as part of Major League baseball's Jackie Robinson celebration. Her photo was posted on the video sign and she shook hands with the Phillie Phanatic.
Najaii plays for the Phillie's RBI 18U softball team, as well as the Girard College varsity squad. She was selected by her coaches to receive the annual Jacke Robinson Youth Scholarship worth $2,000.00. The Phillies describe Najaii as dedicated to both softball and the ideals that Jackie Robinson held so deeply.
The Girard College softball team is very proud of our senior shortstop.
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Posted 04/25/2013 11:59AM Announcement:
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Kristen Welker will be the 2013 Commencement Speaker
Kristen Welker, NBC News White House Correspondent since December 2011, will be the commencement speaker at Girard College on Thursday, June 6.
Welker has traveled domestically and internationally with President Obama, the First Lady, and Vice President Biden, including extensive coverage on the campaign trail during the 2012 election. Her reports appear across all platforms of NBC News, including “NBC Nightly News,” “Today,” MSNBC and NBCNews.com.
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Welker previously served as an NBC News network correspondent based in Burbank, California. She joined the broadcast network in 2010 from NBC’s Philadelphia owned and operated station, WCAU, where she anchored the NBC 10 weekend newscasts. Welker started at NBC 10 as a general assignment reporter in April 2005. Before her move to Philadelphia, Welker was a reporter and anchor at WLNE-TV in Providence, Rhode Island and at KRCR-TV in Redding, California.
Welker, a native of Philadelphia and alumna of Germantown Friends, graduated from Harvard University with a bachelor’s degree cum laude in American History. In 2008, Welker was nominated for two Mid-Atlantic Emmy awards. She is a member of the National Association of Black Journalists.
Posted 04/18/2013 05:44PM
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WATCH THE "GOOD MORNING AMERICA" SEGMENT ON DAUB AND THE PARKS STATUE.
On February 27, a new statue was unveiled in National Statuary Hall in the U.S. Capitol Building in Washington D.C. The statue shows a woman, described by President Obama as “slight of stature but mighty in courage.” She is Rosa Parks, and her image is the first full-sized statue of an African-American woman to appear in Statuary Hall.
Girard alumnus Eugene Daub is the sculptor.
The statue is the result of a search by the NEA (National Endowment for the Arts). Daub collaborated with his partner, Rob Firmin of Daub & Firmin Studios, on the initial approach and historical research. After the team was selected and eventually became a finalist, Daub created a 24” clay “maquette” or model, which won the competition.
The next step was for Daub to create the full-sized clay that would eventually be cast into bronze, 7 1/2 feet tall weighing 2,700 pounds. He and Firmin also collaborated on the design for the granite pedestal.
Working out of a studio in San Pedro, California, Daub has more than 30 years of experience as a professional artist. He attended the University of Pittsburgh, the Pennsylvania Academy for the Fine Arts, and Alfred University, and he is a Fellow of the National Sculpture Society.
Daub attended Girard from 1950-53 after his father died of health complications resulting from his experiences in WWII. Although he missed his mother at first, Daub soon became comfortable at Girard where he benefitted from the order of the campus, the camaraderie of new friends and a certain amount of free time when he could draw.
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“I had a few close friends at Girard, but I was kind of a loner,” he said. “On weekends, I would roam around the campus and make little drawings and watercolors.”
“In third grade, I drew a dinosaur and received some sort of award,” Daub said. “That was the first time that I remember thinking, ‘Hey, I might be good at this!’”
That feeling was a “big thrill,” and the early recognition of his talent changed him. From then on, he made art out of anything and at every chance he got.
“I recall taking sticks, and carving them into shapes,” Daub said.
After two or three years, Daub left Girard for a new home with his mother in Rivertown, New Jersey.
“It was short but definitive time,” Daub said about his years as a Hummer.
“I remember certain things vividly: going to the quarter-master for new or used clothes and shoes,” he said. “I loved it; we all wore knickers, and looked like English kids.”
Although originally from Pottstown, Pa., Daub’s mother moved to New Jersey, then Philadelphia and finally Pittsburgh. While living in Pittsburgh, Daub married and had four children.
In the early years of his career, he was a graphic artist and art director, but at some point felt the need to sculpt. He was initially employed at the Franklin Mint where he gained experience in “relief.” He later moved on to three-dimensional work and pursued commissions.
Eventually divorced, Daub moved to California in 1989. He remarried an artist from Fresno, Anne Olsen, who is a painter and jewelry-maker. He works with a partner – Firmin – who who collaborates with him on projects and conducts research for commissions.
Alumni and friends can view many examples of Daub’s work on his website, dfsculpturestudios.com. In the Greater Philadelphia area, you can see his work at the Methodist Hospital on South Broad Street (Christ the Healer in the chapel) and at the Presbyterian Church in Paoli, Pa. (a relief). Daub is also well known as the designer of the Philadelphia Freedom medal, also known as the Freedom medal.
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Posted 04/04/2013 11:16AM On Wednesday, April 3, Arthur C. Evans Jr., Ph.D.spoke to the entire student body of Girard College during the school's April Chapel.
Girard College holds monthly Chapels as part of the school's commitment to values education. Community and business leaders come to the historic north Philadelphia campus bringing a variety of messages that support Girard's mission to prepare its students "for advanced education and life as informed, ethical and productive citizens." Often these speakers address the school's five Core Values: respect, responsibility, integrity, self-discipline and compassion.
Dr. Evans asked the students to identify their fields of interest, and then explained how psychology plays a part in that career.
In describing his own work and responsibilities, he asked the children ages 6-18, "What would you buy if you had to spend a billion dollars, and you couldn't spend any of the money on yourself?"
Dr. Evans is the Commissioner of Philadelphia’s Department of Behavioral Health and Intellectual disAbility Services (DBHIDS), a $1 billion healthcare agency. In this capacity, he is leading a major initiative to transform how behavioral health care and intellectual disability services are delivered in the city. Since Dr. Evans’ appointment in November 2004, Philadelphia has begun a transformation of its system to one that focuses on recovery for adults, resilience for children and self-determination for all people with intellectual disabilities.
Dr. Evans is a clinical and community psychologist. He holds a faculty appointment at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He has also held faculty appointments at the Yale University School of Medicine and Quinnipiac University and has extensive experience in transforming systems of care while serving in several national leadership roles.
Prior to coming to Philadelphia, Dr. Evans was the Deputy Commissioner for the Connecticut Department of Mental Health & Addiction Services (DMHAS). In this capacity, he led several major strategic initiatives for the Connecticut behavioral healthcare system. He was instrumental in implementing a recovery-oriented policy framework, addressing health care disparities and increasing the use of evidence-based practices.
Dr. Evans has served or is currently serving in several national leadership roles that include: Chair of Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, Partners for Recovery Initiative Steering Committee, Co-Chair of National Action Group on Fostering System Reform for Adults with Serious Mental Illness, and Member of the Federal Center for Substance Abuse Treatment Advisory Committee, Chair of the National Advisory Committee for the Robert Wood Johnson’s Path To Recovery Project; President of the Board of Directors of the New England Institute of Addiction Studies Inc. (NEIAS).
Posted 03/19/2013 11:59AM 
On Thursday, March 14, 2013, Girard College sixth-, seventh- and eighth-graders performed onstage in a celebration called "Black History 365."
The students sang, recited their own poems and danced. Practicing once a week for only one or two semesters, the Girard students worked with staff from Freedom Theater and choreographer Patricia Scott Hobbs. The theme of the production was the history of African-Americans – outside of slavery – from kings and queens in Africa to famous inventors. Sophomore Brandon D. coined the name "365" for the show because, "We should celebrate Black history each day of the year, not just one month out of twelve."
Congratulations, students, on an evening that highlighted talent and hard work. Watch a video of part of the dance performed in collaboration with dancers from the YARE (Young Arts Repertory Ensemble) program.
Posted 03/06/2013 03:35PM
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Charlotte McKines, Merck VP,
spoke at March Chapel
Charlotte McKines, Vice President of Global Marketing
Communications for Merck, was the speaker at a monthly
Chapel, Wednesday March 6, 2013.
McKines brought her own story and her dynamic personality
to the podium. Letting the grade 1-12 students know that she
had been the product of a single-parent home and the first
member of her family to attend college, McKines encouraged
the children to dream big.
"If you can dream it, you can achieve it," she said.
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Sharing one particularly pivotal moment with the audience, McKines said that she didn't initially believe she belonged in college, until one professor told her, "You do belong here, because you are excellent."
She went on to explain exactly what "excellent" means.
E = Education
X = Exceed expectations
C = Core Values: respect, responsibility, integrity, self-discipline and compassion
E = Enjoy your opportunities
L = Ladies, be confident
L = Limitless: dream big
E = Enthusiasm: follow your passion
N = Negativity is not tolerated
T = Tenacious: never give up!
McKines has a B.S. degree from Kent State and an MBA from Boston University. She was born and raised in Cincinnati and currently lives outside of Philadelphia with her husband, Ken Lawrence.
Posted 03/05/2013 04:14PM
Lower School Choir Performs for NAIS Crowd
The Junior Cavaliers opened the General Session on Day 3 of the NAIS (National Association of Independent Schools) convention, Friday, March 1, 2013.
Held in Philadelphia this year, the NAIS convention offered dozens of workshops for teachers, administrators and other staff of independent schools across the country. Friday's General Session boasted a large audience, many of whom leaped to their feet in appreciation of the young Girard musicians.
Students sang a medley of foot-stomping songs including "A Change is Gonna Come" (Sam Cooke), "I Gotta Feelin" (Black Eyed Peas), "Let's Go" (Calvin Harris), and "Revolution" (Lennon/McCartney), concluding their performance with a quiet message to "Teach Your Children Well" (Crosby Stills Nash and Young).
Director Paul Eaton frequently takes Upper and Lower School choir members into the community where they develop their musical skills and their professionalism.
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