Points of Pride: August 23, 2025

For multiple Januarys now, Shannon Allen, our Communications Manager, has curated a year’s worth of “Points of Pride.” She creates a wonderful collection of things to brag about to grandparents and the like, a list unique to each calendar year. 

In our first or second week of 2025-26, the Pride list is mostly about the spring semester of 2025. Feel free to share ideas with Shannon and with me about your spring 2025 memories.

Meanwhile, I just wanted to highlight one single day in the ramp-up to a great 2025-26. I would call Saturday, August 23, 2025, a Point of Pride. Consider all that that day says about the vibrancy and sense of community at Fort Worth Country Day.

8:30 a.m. The Class of 2038 kindergarteners and their parents/guardians enjoyed popsicles (really sno-cones) on the playground.

10 a.m. The Junior Kindergarten Class of 2039 had popcorn on that same playground.

10 a.m. Our College Counseling team (Director Kristin Larsen, Assistant Director Sarah Casarez and Assistant Director Emily Shideler) hosted an incredible workshop for junior class parents.

10 a.m. English Teachers Jackie Rains and Myrna Sam, and former faculty and past parent Esther Mulqueen were running the first of many Saturday Test Prep workshops, preparing kids for SATs and ACTs.

11 a.m. Our varsity football coaches and players gathered in the Scott Theater for Coach Keith Burns’ traditional end-of-preseason Helmet Ceremony. 

8 p.m. Our Parent Faculty Association (PFA) worked with our Advancement Team to host a wonderfully simple dessert and champagne gathering in the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center.

8 p.m. Our Upper School Student Council, under the direction of faculty members Jennifer Giroir, Stephen Dickey and Sarah Casarez, and of Student Council President Jack Wegman ’26, decorated and planned a wonderful back-to-school Howdy Dance.

On that Saturday, there was serious work AND serious community-building going on. I am proud of the effort and thought behind that day; I am grateful for its impact on the start of our year; and I feel fortunate to be part of a community creating so many opportunities for students and parents alike.