Retiring Faculty

Four retiring faculty and staff graced our stage and our thoughts this weekend. These three faculty and one staff member made up exactly 100 years of service to GDS. Of course, the most monumental retirement was that of Bob Satterfield who has been with GDS since its founding, thirty seven years ago.

Bob is a dearly beloved member of the Upper School faculty and has been a key member of the math department throughout his tenure. He has also held various administrative positions and once, served as an interim Headmaster along with two other members of the faculty.

Val Vickers, Pat Horvath and Janet Poole are joining Bob in retiring at the end of this school year. What an extraordinary role these individuals have played in the lives of hundreds of students and the life of the school. Val, in MS science, Pat as Registrar and Janet as our seventh grade English teacher. They have brought depth and meaning to their work and have regularly gone above and beyond in working with students and their colleagues.

When I heard the testimonials given by friends of each last Sunday afternoon, I was once again struck by the incredible community at GDS. It was hard to hold back a tear as those who had known each of the retirees spoke so eloquently of the virtues that each possessed and they had touched the lives of their students.

It is an honor to be leading a community where almost 20% of our employees are graduates of the school and where the average tenure is 17 years. You might think that such a community is stuck in the past, but you would be wrong. Greensboro Day is an energetic, engaging and fun place for everyone. it is filled with a rich and lasting legacy of people and programs.

If you don't think so, just ask anyone who attended the party Friday night for Bob about the Dolly Parton look-alikes who graced the stage and gave Bob a really big goodbye!