From a Lifer: The Lasting Impact of Randolph
Written by LeeLee Ray '06 and shared with Randolph School faculty prior to the start of the 2023-24 school year.
Good morning, faculty members and thank you so much for having me. I am thrilled to be here celebrating the beginning of another wonderful year at Randolph with you.
I was so honored when Catherine reached out to me about this speaking opportunity; however, after a little thought, I did reach out to let her know that I am not currently working and that if she needed someone with an impressive skyrocketing career, I wasn’t the girl for the moment. However, in all reality, even if I did have a skyrocketing career, that probably wouldn’t be what I spoke on today. In the end, as much as Randolph School did shape my education and my career, it had a much larger role in shaping my character.
"Thirteen years of my life were spent in these halls, and the impact they had on me is truly immeasurable."
As a Randolph Lifer, my journey here began in 1994. A timid little girl with a big hair bow, I stepped out of my Mama’s car and was immediately comforted and welcomed by the warm smile and strong grip of Mr. George Crutcher’s hand as he led me to my teacher, patted me on the back and told me my day would be great. My first sign that this place was something special.
Thirteen years of my life were spent in these halls, and the impact they had on me is truly immeasurable. In preparation for this speech, I turned to some of my very best friends- all made here of course. After several phone calls and nostalgic conversations, I gathered my notes and realized that we all said the same thing in different ways- that we are the women that we are today, because of our teachers here.
Vivian Schreeder recalled the important balance of patience and discipline that our teachers gave us in middle school, during such a crucial time for our academic and personal development, sending apologies to Mr. Green for her hyperactivity. Sarah Stubblefield Ford noted appreciation for just how high the bar was set for us and her work ethic that grew from those expectations. Caroline Wills Vergara expressed gratitude for the longevity of our relationships with our teachers and the continuous way in which they supported us long after we moved on from their classroom. All in all, while we did learn so much academically during our time here, it is what our teachers taught us about ourselves, and the values that they nurtured in us, that have stood the test of time.
"Randolph built an 'I can do this' mindset that is deeply ingrained in me."
Every current passion of mine has roots here. My love for reading began as I watched my third-grade teacher, Cindy Shaw, sit on a stool in front of me and weep, reading “Where the Red Fern Grows” aloud to our class. The tears came on so strong as we read “Bridge to Terabithia” that she had to pass the book off to Bill Dworsky, the best reader in the class at the time, to grab some tissues. My love of cooking came from my Mama but was nurtured here by Randolph’s very special art teachers, as well as the middle school interim program. Mrs. Snyder still gets credit for my perfect omelet skills. The Lord knows Vivian and I made our parents so many omelets after that interim they may still be sick of them. Mrs. Jones, Mrs. Reyes, and Mrs. Dumolin all challenged and expanded my mind, encouraging me to learn from other cultures, other mediums, and Master of History to create something beautiful of my own that was relevant today. I was recently decorating cookies for a client who wanted perfectly painted polka dots surrounding the monogram on the iced cookies for a baby shower. My paintbrush just wasn’t cutting it. That’s when I thought of you Mrs. Jones, and the aboriginal floor mat project that we did as a class. I grabbed my pencil, dipped the eraser, and there it was -- the perfect circle -- only made from food coloring instead of paint this time.
Randolph built an, “I can do this” mindset that is deeply ingrained in me. In the fifth grade, I was a student in Carole Chase, then Mrs. Howard’s speech class. We were assigned a “How-To” speech and I decided to teach the class how to make my Mama’s sausage pinwheels. I practiced and practiced, but on the day of the speech, I pulled out my groceries and realized I had bought puff pastry shells instead of sheets. I panicked. Mrs. Chase pulled me aside and told me, “I know you, LeeLee, and I know you can make this work. You just have to believe in yourself, and the audience will believe you too.” I brushed my nerves off, rolled those shells together into a sheet and never looked back. That lesson has served me well.
Randolph taught me to try things that were out of my comfort zone. When interim came around my sophomore year, I had no clue what I wanted to do, so I turned to Mr. Allen, our upper school head. He sat me down and asked me what I wanted to be when I grew up. Like any level-headed sophomore donning pink rhinestone seven jeans, rainbow flip flops and a peasant top, I told him I wanted to go into fashion. He noted that I had a connection to someone at Polo Ralph Lauren, which I would have never considered asking for. A big-time long shot and a major over ask. He told me to reach out and ask for an internship.
Who on earth would give a sophomore from Alabama an internship at a company like that in New York City, I thought? One email and one week later, I had a custom internship at Ralph Lauren, working one day in each department: Children’s Design, RL Sport, RL Home, Blue Label, and RL Foundation. I learned so much that week. That I absolutely loved doing philanthropic work, that I absolutely HATED fashion, and that I would never get what I wanted unless I had the courage to ask for it.
Academic support from our teachers is the standard for students at Randolph. It is the reason that we are able to write operas as fourth graders, write and illustrate multi-chapter autobiographies as sixth graders, excel on nationally recognized academic levels, all while volunteering, being good team players and learning how to be good citizens that have something to offer our community.
"I was able to press forward, push boundaries, and excel beyond my own expectations because I knew that my teachers had my back."
But sometimes, we are still children, still middle schoolers, still high schoolers -- and being those things can be hard. We need support in more ways than academically, and the recognition and delivery of that support is what sets teachers at Randolph apart. During high school, my parents went through a divorce and my world was completely upside-down, but my teachers rallied around me and held me up, so that I could continue to thrive despite my heartbreak.
I can’t remember if it was my Sophomore or Junior year, but I remember that Mrs. McMichens was not my teacher that year. Nonetheless, on multiple occasions, when she saw me walking past her door between classes, she would ask me to come in. She wouldn’t ask questions, or offer solutions, she would simply hug me. After her embrace, she would send me on my way. That support has stayed with me until this day.
In teenage brains, pain is much worse than it really is, even when it is pretty bad in actuality. I needed an outlet for it. That outlet became writing because of Jennifer Rossuck. We were studying Walt Whitman and were tasked to write our own “Song of Myself.” The last thing I wanted to do was write about myself at that time. I wrote my first draft, and it was more like what I wanted myself to be. She pulled me aside and told me I needed to “go there.” That project changed my life, being told by someone I looked up to so much, my favorite teacher, that it was okay to be who I was, even if it wasn’t the best version. She met me where I was and showed me how to turn something undesirable into something beautiful through words. She gave me my power back, allowing me to flip the narrative into something that represented strength rather than weakness, beauty instead of pain, and all I needed was a pen and paper.
Our teachers supported our class through so much. I will always think of Elaine Poplin, whose pre-algebra class I was sitting in when the second plane hit the World Trade Center on 911. Her calm presence under immense panic kept us all safe. As we mourned the loss of our classmate, William Walker, who fought a valiant battle with cancer, our teachers encouraged us to be good supportive friends, both to William, his family and to one another. As yearbook editors our senior year, we came up with the theme “Strong in Spirit.” Vivian mentioned the support and creative freedom that Ms. Hooper gave us as we wanted to honor William saying, “to this day, I am still so very proud of our theme that year. It was a true representation of our class and of our time at Randolph.”
So teachers, my intention in taking this trip down memory lane is to encourage you and remind you that the relationships you build with your students this year very may well impact their lives forever, as they did mine. The biggest blessing of being a student here was that I was never fearful of my teachers and their expectations, worrying that I may let them down. Instead, I was able to press forward, push boundaries, and excel beyond my own expectations because I knew that my teachers had my back, building me up when they could, catching me each time I inevitably fell, and holding standards high.
I wish I had time to name every person, and tell every story, because there are so many more special relationships, but we would be here all day! I have cherished this time with you and thank you all for being a part of my story. I wish you all the best this year!