Wingin’ It with Nikki Shrader: The Heart of Upper School

This week on Wingin’ It, Nikki Shrader joins us to share about senior thesis, her journey in education, and what it means to walk alongside students during some of their most important years. It’s a conversation about growth, purpose, and finishing well.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:00

Hey everyone, this is Callie. This is Ashley.

SPEAKER_02 0:02

And this is Brady. And welcome to Wingin It, the Covenant School podcast. Hello, winging it fam. Happy to be back. You're trying something new with the intro today. Yes. Happy Friday. So much as we're going to be able to do that. We are recording on a Friday, so energy is high here at the Hickory campus. Really, really excited to be back with you all. So many great things are happening. Spring has sprung. Indeed. We are waiting on a spring storm that's about to come in. So lots of great things.

SPEAKER_03 0:37

Not until 1 p.m.

SPEAKER_02 0:38

Yes, please. Fingers crossed. We have to preserve the uh egg hunt at all costs.

SPEAKER_03 0:43

It is egg hunt day, people.

SPEAKER_02 0:44

Yes. Well, that's a good segue into our news. We have lots of great things to do.

SPEAKER_03 0:49

Oh my gosh. I have to, because you said Segway. A seventh grader, I think it was a seventh grader in my aft, told me that he listened to the podcast. I was like, Stuart, you listen to our podcast? Wow. And then he was like, yeah, but you guys say Segway a lot. So I was like, that's actually really good feedback. Wow. I said it in the first third. I mean, it might be one of your favorite words.

SPEAKER_02 1:15

Might be.

SPEAKER_03 1:16

It might be. Anyway.

SPEAKER_02 1:17

Also the other version of Segway, like the one that you ride around on, also one of my favorites.

SPEAKER_03 1:21

Sware.

SPEAKER_02 1:22

Have you that too? I was not talking about Sware, but yes.

SPEAKER_03 1:26

Like the vehicles.

SPEAKER_04 1:27

We ride on the Segway.

SPEAKER_02 1:28

I got you.

SPEAKER_03 1:29

Wait, have you ridden one of those before?

SPEAKER_02 1:30

I did a Chicago Segway tour twice.

SPEAKER_03 1:35

Wow. It's a lot of fun. We are learning a lot in the first couple of minutes.

SPEAKER_02 1:41

Maybe not pot appropriate, but Arrested Development is one of my favorite shows. Okay. And uh uh oh my gosh, what's his name? Will Arnett's character in Arrested Development has a segue. It's a really funny bit.

SPEAKER_03 1:52

That's like what Paul Bart Maul cop rides around. That's what I was thinking in my head.

SPEAKER_02 1:57

I look way cooler than Paul Bart when I write a segue. All right, anyways, let's segue into news. Callie, you have some stuff going on.

SPEAKER_03 2:08

Um, yes, as I stated previously, it is egg hunt day. Woohoo! Um at the time of this recording, it's egg hunt day. Um so it's our second annual egg hunt. Last year, some temperantia girls decided they wanted to do a school-wide egg hunt. And I was like, okay. And so we did it, and it was so fun. And it's happening again today. Easter eggs are scattered all over campus. I think like from baseball field to parking lot to tennis court, like literally everywhere. And then they just go ham and they go and collect all of the eggs, and there's some fun prizes up for grabs. So that's happening today, which will be really fun. And yes, it is supposed to rain, but not until 1 p.m.

SPEAKER_02 2:52

Not until 1 p.m. It's not happening.

SPEAKER_03 2:54

So the egg hunt will happen because it's just so much fun. Um, also, tomorrow, March 28th, so when this comes out, it will have already happened, is powder buff, which is our boys' volleyball tournament for charity. So that will be lots of fun. It's always really uh entertaining is the word I would use to watch our boys play some volleyball. Yes, they take it very seriously, and so we love it. We raised last year over I think over like twelve hundred dollars for the Haven last year at the event, which was really awesome. Um, and so the funds raised again this year will go toward the Haven, and so we're hoping to I don't know, match the sum or do something great. Um, something great, whatever. Donate some money to the Haven. Anyway, so that's happening. Um we also have a middle school dance coming up.

SPEAKER_02 3:48

Fun.

SPEAKER_03 3:49

The first one ever in history.

SPEAKER_02 3:51

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 3:52

On April 17th. We are still locking down the theme for that, but it'll be really fun. And they okay, so one quick story is when we were planning this, it's the middle school HLT planning this dance, and uh Brogan McKetchen and I oversee middle school HLT, and so we suggested to them that it be semi-formal. So, like girls wear a spring dress or like a skirt and a cute top, and boys wear a button-down with khakis, and they were all like, No, we don't want to slow dance! Don't make it semi-formal. We don't want to slow dance. And I was like, You do know that like the dress and attire does not dictate how you get to dance, and they don't know that because they've never been to a dance before. Isn't that cute? It's also pretty funny. That's sweet. It's hilarious. Quinn Point Dexter was the one who was like, No way, I am not slow dancing. And I was like, Sounds about right. Don't worry, girl. We don't want to see you slow dance either. Anyway, speaking of another dance, prom is May 2nd. So exciting at the Paramount Theater. More information on that will come out soon as we continue to plan and do all the things. Yeah, that's what's going on in my neck of the woods. What about what about sports?

SPEAKER_04 5:13

Um, I'll keep it short and sweet today. We are very much in the midst of spring sports. If you guys have driven through campus, it is nice and busy every single day. Um, but the big thing we have coming up is spring signing day on April 15th. Yay! Very excited. My list right now, and this could change um before April 15th, but I have John Nathan Lawrence, Savannah Wood, Price Lineweaver, Miller Grimes, and Owen Collati. So super excited for those athletes. Um and yeah, please come out. It'll be April 15th at noon in the gym. Yay! So exciting. Yeah, very exciting. Anything for you, Brady?

SPEAKER_02 5:50

Yeah, we have a couple of uh advancement things going on. I think I mentioned last time we were um recording the day before. Um Andrew and I went down to Richmond and visited some alumni in the Richmond area. It was a blast. We had I think eight alumni show up to our happy hour at uh Three Notch in Richmond and ranges from the class of 2002 to 2016. So we had a lot of really great, um, great time just reminiscing with those uh alums, and it was just really special seeing um you know a lot of their significant others and spouses came, and it just felt really lively and lots of school spirit is alive and well across the Commonwealth of Virginia. So really happy about that. Go Eagle Commonwealth. Yeah, go Eagle.

SPEAKER_01 6:35

It's this amazing Commonwealth.

SPEAKER_02 6:37

Oh, it's the best. It's the best. And then please join us in Charlottesville uh on May 30th, Saturday, May 30th, for our all alumni reunion. Oh, yeah. We've mentioned this a couple times, but we'll have food trucks, um, we'll have hopefully live music. Um, not hopefully, we will have live music. Um come walk the halls, remnants.

SPEAKER_03 6:56

Rumor has it, there's gonna be a mechanical bowl.

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Rumor in a dunk tank where you and Andrew will get dunks. Rumor coming up in the last five seconds. Um button. I have no idea what's happening at this event. I don't know. It was a joke. Mechanical bowl would be. I mean, could you imagine off the table? I would love to see John Colemas on a mechanical bowl. No, he would totally crush it. Totally crush it. So that would be a blast. Please come join us then.

SPEAKER_04 7:23

Uh our Covenant sixth grade alums, welcome at the covenant.

SPEAKER_02 7:26

Absolutely, actually. Thank you. Actually, encouraged, please.

SPEAKER_03 7:29

Actually, anyone who's ever stepped in the building can come. Sure.

SPEAKER_02 7:33

The more the merrier. Please come on down. Um, and then uh briefly, Grandparents' Day. So, lower school parents, if you um are listening, please invite uh all lower school grandparents to come on Friday, May 1st. It's such a lovely time. Um, just like I think probably the most heartwarming day of the year. Uh, just the energy and love and just compassion that fills the halls of Birdwood is um just really special. So I'm really thankful that we get to do that. Um last piece of news, I'm actually gonna improv a little bit here. And I want to introduce our guest here to talk about this. But we are joined today by Opera School Director Nikki Schrader. Nikki, thank you so much for joining us.

SPEAKER_05 8:17

I'm so happy to be here. This is so exciting.

SPEAKER_02 8:19

We're so pumped. Um we have uh senior thesis coming up. Can you share a little bit just for our audience who doesn't know what that is? Just share about it.

SPEAKER_05 8:28

Happy to. Um, senior thesis is sort of our culminating experience here uh for our Covenant Upper Schoolers. They've taken rhetoric classes, they have taken all of their English classes, they've really focused over the years uh in theology, on looking at the world with a biblical worldview, and they put all of that together into a project that they actually start when they're a junior and they pick a topic that they're interested in and they research it starting in the summer between junior and senior year. And then they write this big research paper, they do an expert interview, and then they have to present their thesis to a panel of faculty members who will grade them on their presentation. And it's a separate thing from their actual paper, but it's a huge deal and a huge part of it. And their parents get to come and watch them, and they've worked so hard to prepare these speeches, and it's absolutely amazing to see what these kids are capable of doing and just the fruits of their labor for a whole school year for them and for our teachers who have supported them the whole time. So that's happening every day next week. Um, we'll have parents in the building, and uh the this is the week before spring break. Uh, and yeah, and then hopefully the seniors won't check out too much after spring break. Sometimes it's hard to get them back after they're done with the presentations, but uh, it's one of my favorite things that we do. I'm just so proud of all of them.

SPEAKER_02 9:59

It's special. It feels so obvious to say, but it's just like I feel very um fortunate just to hear about their passions. And like I got to hear about Jackie Boongood uh speak about like indie car design. I thought that was so cool. Um and then I was perusing the spreadsheet today and seeing um recommendations for Covenants curriculum, and I just I think it's so cool.

SPEAKER_05 10:20

Yeah, it really runs the gamut. I mean, the kids will have topics that are about things that are very specific to the Covenant school, they'll have things that are just about how to live the good life, they'll have things that are about medicine and science or things about public policy or, like you said, indie cars or other types of technology. Um, more and more topics have to do with AI, which I think is really uh important to get their perspective. They're the ones who are gonna have to go learn how to have a job where AI is a bigger part of it. So um they're passionate about things and it's exciting to be there with them for that. So fun. I'm always so impressed.

SPEAKER_03 10:57

I'm like, I could have never done this when I was in high school. It's a little intimidating. It's so intimidating. It's so intimidating. Yeah, and I feel like it really sets them up for a college well, like it's gonna be a breeze. Oh my gosh, yes, because they've already done it. Yes.

SPEAKER_05 11:10

What do they say? Like one of the number one fears that people have is public speaking. And so all Covenant graduates already conquered check done. Yeah, check done, Mark.

SPEAKER_03 11:20

It's incredible. Love it. Okay, that's all for news.

SPEAKER_02 11:23

That's all for news.

SPEAKER_03 11:24

Time for faculty is the school.

SPEAKER_00 11:26

Yay!

SPEAKER_03 11:26

Favorite segment. So we've got two today that I'm gonna read off. And our first one is about an upper school teacher. She teaches ninth grade Western Civ, yeah? That's is that the name of the course? Okay. Um uh it's May Reimer.

SPEAKER_00 11:44

Yay, May.

SPEAKER_03 11:44

I love May Reimer. Um, here is what this is a submission specifically about Quizball, so it's from Clay Daniel because he's our Quizbull, you know, uh sponsor. Yes, thank you. Yeah, coach. And just like Wizard, I was also gonna say he's just like a trivia walking like encyclopedia. It's crazy. Anyway, May, this is what Clay has to say about you. May gives a significant amount of time, particularly at lunch, when she could otherwise be free to catch up on work or connect with our faculty, to our Quizbull students. She graciously opens her room to our Quizbowl elective and has filled in for me more than once with eagerness and without complaint. It's fun when she plays Quizbull alongside the students as well. She is one of the unsung heroes of Covenant Quizbowl I'm grateful for her. So sweet! Yay! I am not a trivia person.

unknown 12:37

Wow.

SPEAKER_03 12:38

Like I would love to be, but that shocks me. I know a lot about pop culture, but that's like the extent. And so I'm always impressed with people who know trivia.

SPEAKER_05 12:48

Quizbowl is so fun. I go in there and I maybe should be walking around at lunch, but instead I want to be a quiz bowl. It's so fun to go to the practices on Tuesdays and Thursdays. And some of our kids, I mean, I don't know. Uh they are really incredible. I'm like, how in the world did you possibly know the answer to that question? That's crazy.

SPEAKER_03 13:08

Amazing. Well, we love you, May. Good job, May. Our next one is about the infamous Becky Lynch down at Lower.

SPEAKER_02 13:19

Doesn't infamous have like a bad connotation?

SPEAKER_03 13:21

I don't know. Sometimes Becky Lynch I say you guys, sometimes I say words, and I'm like, that's not the definition of that word. You know? And then you're like, dang it.

SPEAKER_02 13:32

Yes, I know.

SPEAKER_03 13:33

That's bad. Okay. Okay, so famous. Becky Lynch, I don't hate you.

SPEAKER_00 13:39

Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 13:40

I just am not a quizful person and I don't know things. The beloved, famous rock star, Becky Lynch. I'm embarrassed. It's fine. We're gonna keep moving. Okay, here's what they said about you. Becky Lynch is a memory maker. She curates experiences that not only are memorable for our little list eagles, but creates community and ultimately points them to Christ. She loves everyone lucky. Wait. That's right. She loves every okay, sorry. I'm just really thrown off now. But during this, it's fine. We're gonna keep going because we make mistakes. She loves everyone lucky enough to be in her vicinity with unparalleled Christ-like love. She is the most spirited person I have ever met and shows up to support her students every chance she gets. When I think of what it means to be a Covenant Eagle, I think of Becky Lynch and remember why I'm so proud to be part of this community. Oh my gosh! Becky, Miriam Gilday wrote this about you. I know you guys work closely together, and it's true. I mean, I've never been in preschool or worked at lower, but I know that all of these things are true about you. And everyone who is in your life and gets to be impacted by you. I know this is so true. And also, you have a really cool duck.

SPEAKER_02 15:01

Such a cool duck, little duck, little duck, little duck.

SPEAKER_03 15:03

That's also amazing.

SPEAKER_02 15:04

Becky is such a gift with just I don't know, infusing joy into life in all the little ways. And like for that reason, I can't think of a better person to introduce students to the cup in school than Becky Lynch. So I've popped in the times that I've been at lower to her classroom, and it's just all smiles all the time, all giggles, and like that's what preschool should be. Yeah. Like, and yeah, I'm just so happy that we have such an amazing person like Becky Lynch leading the way down there.

SPEAKER_03 15:34

I want to be in her class. Oh, okay. Me too. Can I go back to preschool?

SPEAKER_05 15:38

We'll get to play outside when it's raining and muddy and stuff.

SPEAKER_03 15:40

That's amazing. Yeah. Okay, so just going back to the word infamous, because clearly I don't know the definition. What it's bad?

SPEAKER_05 15:48

I think it should be good. It means you're famous for doing something bad. No way. Yeah, way.

SPEAKER_02 15:53

Yeah. Yeah. Like Dak the Ripper. Infamous. Infamous.

SPEAKER_03 15:58

See? Didn't didn't connect that. Yeah. But see, now you're not. You didn't do anything bad. You did all things good. All things good. All things good, true, and beautiful. Okay, well, I'm gonna have to work. She's laughing at this. Hopefully. That's fine. That's fine. Anyway, that's our faculties to school. You guys rock. Yay!

SPEAKER_02 16:18

Yay.

SPEAKER_03 16:18

Go Eagles.

SPEAKER_02 16:19

Go Eagles.

SPEAKER_03 16:20

Go Eagles.

SPEAKER_02 16:21

All right. Nikki, it's time. All right.

SPEAKER_03 16:24

You're on the hot seat.

SPEAKER_02 16:26

Thanks for being here. Um, so as we mentioned earlier, you are our upper school director. Um but I also saw on our website you've been you taught for 17 years in the public school system, social studies, history, et cetera. Um, would love just to hear what brought you into education. Um, yeah, what were your passions that led you into this profession? Yeah. Um, would love to just hear more about your background.

SPEAKER_05 16:50

Yeah. Um, well, I always knew I wanted to have some kind of a job with kids. That was very obvious to me, even when I was a kid myself, that this was something that a gifting that I had to be with little ones. Um, I'm the on one side of my family, I'm the oldest of like, I don't know, like 12-ish or something. I don't know. And I have a little brother. And so there was just, there's always cousins to take care of in my life growing up. Um and helping out at church and Sunday school, VBS, whatever. So I always knew I wanted to do that. Um, and I actually had a, but I never had any intent to be a teacher, ever. And uh, I remember my 12th grade English teacher actually said to me, Nikki, you should really think about being a teacher. I could totally see you leading a classroom and doing that. And I thought, she is insane. Who would do that? Who would make that choice for their lives? And I so I dismissed that and went to UVA, totally confident that I was gonna be a pediatrician. Yes, wa, wah. And I started, I'm well, my mom's a been a nurse forever. And I was like, okay, I'll go be a pediatrician and work with kids. And then I took chemistry in a giant auditorium, my very first semester, and thought, nope, science is not what I should be doing with my life. This is way too difficult. And so then I thought, okay, well, maybe the ed school is the way to go. And um went into ed school and actually started off with elementary and thought that I was gonna be an elementary school teacher and um did a few practicums like at um, I don't know if it's still the name. It was Jackson Baya Elementary School back in the day and different elementary schools in the area, did some work at Clark, which I think now is I don't know what Clark's new name is. Anyway, um, and did that, and then I just thought, I don't know, this just doesn't feel right. Um, I don't know if this is quite it. And I was also majoring in politics, and so I said, okay, well, I am going to switch over and do secondary education. And once I got into the classroom and started teaching history and government, I was like, oh yeah, this is this is where I need to be. This is what I love to do to be with older kids. Um, and history's the best. And sorry to all the other teachers and subject areas out there, but history is actually the best. Sorry, you're not the best. History is the best. Exactly. Um and so I graduated from UVA and I did their five-year program. And my first two years out of college, I taught eighth grade civics at the middle school in Louisa. And I really loved it actually. Um, and I liked being with the middle schoolers, they were so fun and great faculty out there, but then a job opened up where I could teach AP government at Charlottesville High School. And there wasn't like commuting to Louisa every day. And so then I taught for six years at Charlottesville High School, and I taught um AP Gov. I taught AP human geography, which was super fun. I taught um other levels of government, I taught world history for the ninth graders, a little bit of everything. Did student counsel, um, helped coach their softball team, did all kinds of different things, and then went to Albemarle High School, which is where I had student taught. And I had always kind of wanted to be back there. And went to Albemarle and taught pretty much any kind of social studies class they had available for me to teach. I taught it for over nine years or for nine years there. And I did student counsel and taught leadership classes and did that sort of thing. Um, and then different things started shifting in my life, and things were shifting at Albemarle. And so my husband and I were thinking, okay, maybe this isn't the place for you to be anymore. And so then I uh applied for a job and came over to Covenant and taught World or Western Civ uh for a year and then got into administration. So now this is my third year as upper school director, and it's my fourth year at Covenant. Yeah. And I have to say that I'm very surprised, probably the most surprised person listening to this conversation that I am the upper school director at any school. Uh, because I just this was not the path that I had planned out for myself at all. Um, but lots of good, rich conversations with Spencer and Colin and Brad and different people, lots of prayer about it. And it was just so clear that this door had opened, not only at first for me to be a covenant, but then to go into administration. And even though I was uh a little terrified that it was my job to just walk through the door and to let the Lord lead and trust that he was gonna. Give me what I needed to be able to do the job. So here I am. The rest is history. Yeah. The rest is history. That's awesome.

SPEAKER_03 22:08

So we know that you came to Charlottesville because of um you went to UVA. Yes. Um, and we I don't know. I just like going from working in the public school system for 17 years to coming into a school like Covenant and just working in private education. Like, how was that hard? How was that good? What were the like culture shock moments that you had? And then also would love to hear just a little bit more about I mean it's kind of baller that you worked here for one year and then they were like, Yeah, you're gonna be the principal. So obviously questionable potato patato. Obviously, you are good at what you do, and I have had the privilege of, you know, sharing a wall with you this year and and working next to you and seeing just how good you are at your job. And so I don't know. And and we you started as upper school director when I started here. Um, I don't know, and so I've just I feel like gotten to see you, and it's just it's a it's a privilege to work with you because you love the kids and you're so good at your job. So those were a lot of questions, but just like so many big transitions. Why are you asking? All of your transitions, like I just how how how did it happen? And how were you like, okay, sure, let's just change everything?

SPEAKER_05 23:29

And I mean, it was definitely a little bit intimidating. I mean, because I had I I mean, before I came to Covenant, I had zero experience in my own life in private school anything. I had gone to public schools in my little rural part of the Commonwealth. And we'll touch on that, don't worry. We're coming back to the northern neck. Uh, and so I had gone to public school, and then obviously UVA is a public school, and then I had taught in public schools uh for a long time, and that had always just been the plan. And my husband still teaches in public school, and there's a big part of us um still is that thinks like this is our mission field, right? This is where God has called us to be. Um, and we are there to be light in that particular setting. Yeah. And um, so it never had really crossed my mind to not be there. Uh, but then when it was becoming clearer to me that like where I was was not where I wanted to stay, and I kind of didn't know what to do. Like honestly, I didn't know what to do. Um, I joked with you before that I had a thought like maybe I should go back to Bed Bath Meon and fold towels like I did in college. Um, I didn't know. Never, never. And um, and then I can really fold towels though. I mean, I bet you fold a mean towel. Yeah. Um and then my husband actually saw that the position was there uh for Covenant and said, why don't you just apply for this and just see what happens? I mean, so really the whole process has been a leap of faith for our family every step of the way to teach here and leave. I mean, this whole big system that I had been used to to be in a new spot and then to leave the classroom and become an administrator. And even now, we're happy to say that Thomas will be a covenant eagle starting next school. Yeah, I know. So it's all been leap of faith every way, and at every step of the journey, God has made it very clear that He's got us and we don't have to worry. And so we're going with that. Okay. I love it. But it's been, I mean, it's been um, it's been really great. And there are hard things that like you had asked, I think earlier about like what was tough about the transition or what was easy or maybe what was surprising. I mean, Covenant's obviously very different from being at, we'll say, Albemarle or Charlottesville, where I was before. Um the size is a huge difference. I mean, when I was um when I came here, uh they said, okay, well, the ninth grade class that you're gonna teach is one of our larger classes. There's like 63 kids in the class. And I thought, the whole grade only has 63 kids? It's amazing because there were absolutely times that I had years where between all of my classes I had over a hundred students that I was responsible for, or have 28, 29, 30 AP students in one classroom with me. Yeah, wow. Um, and so that is a really significant difference. And I love the size of our school. This is much more like what I grew up with. Um, even as upper school director, I know every single kid's name. Yeah, I know now I will say that when the Wilcox twins or the Clark twins wear their hair like up in a ponytail or something. Or when they dye their hair, yeah, then I can't say with full confidence that I know every kid's name. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:16

You're not allowed-50 chance.

SPEAKER_05 27:19

If they're together, it's easier if they're separate. Yeah, forget it. Yeah, yeah. It's like, hey, you uh have a great day. Hey you. And so, but I know every single kid, I know their schedule, I know what sport they play, I know what club they're in, I know what if they're in the musical or something, and so it just makes the absolute best part of being a teacher is the relationships with the kids and being able to just get to know them. And they're, I mean, they are funny and they have wonderful energy, and you get to be with them. The special part of high school, I think, is that you're with them with all these rites of passage that we all remember so well, whether it's prom or that one really fun pep rally, or remember that time so-and-so did such and such at the Easter egg hunt. Like we get to be there with them the whole time, and I love that. And so you get to do that more with a smaller school, and then obviously there's the Christian perspective here at Covenant and the Christian community here, which is really special to know that all the faculty, even if we disagree about certain things, we all are coming at this um the same way, generally and foundationally, and so it just helps us bond, I think, more as a faculty and helps us uh be a better support system for the kids. So yeah, I don't know if anything like difficult about the transition. Yeah, I will say if I'm gonna be totally honest, please. Okay, the toughest transition for me coming to Covenant was that at Albemarle, I own I didn't have to be at work until like 8 30 or 8 40. Yeah, and now I'm like it's such a struggle for me to get out the door in time so that I can be here at 7 30 in the morning. So that's so early. That's so early. At least the waking up earlier has been the most difficult part, but that is an extremely small price to pay. Covenant, yeah, worth it, worth it.

SPEAKER_04 29:23

Very fair. Amazing. Well, shifting gears a little bit, I feel like it's only right that I probably ask a question related to sports. Yes. Um, of course. So you mentioned that you coached softball at CHS. Um, I think you also coached field hockey. Is that uh I did here. Here, coaching. Field hockey here. Yeah. Oh, we might have to rip you back in. Um, what is your background with I guess sports in general? You grew up on the Northern Neck. Did you play sports in middle and high school? Um, what kind of got you into coaching? Would you ever coach again?

SPEAKER_05 29:57

Wow, there's a lot of open mess, you know. Uh I was not like a naturally sporty kid. I feel like some kids are born immediately ready to watch ESPN. And that was not me. Um, and I was definitely more of like school kid, bookworm. I couldn't stop like reading my books and doing that sort of thing, which is fantastic. And no offense to all the book readers out there. Um read those books. Yeah, yeah. Y'all read too much, please. But it I'm just saying it wasn't natural for me to be uh doing sporty things. And I remember I was also uh very, very shy when I was in elementary school. And so when this, I think it was at the end of fifth grade, so I didn't play any sports really until the end of fifth grade. Um, and my dad sort of forced me to join our little league softball program because he was like, You've got to learn how to make friends better than you're making friends right now. Stop being awkward, and um he knew it would be good for me, and so while I resisted at first, he was totally right and it was great for me, and so I played little league softball uh from fifth grade until like 11th grade um when I was done with that, and then I started playing like I played JV softball uh in eighth grade and then played varsity softball in high school. I played JV volleyball in eighth grade because when I was in school, um volleyball was a fall sport. No, I'm sorry, it was a winter sport. Oh, okay. And girls' basketball was in the fall. Yeah. I'd watched why I have no idea, but that's what all the public schools did. Um at least in the 90s, that's what they were doing. So I played, and then when I got to ninth grade, I started to play field hockey. And the entire time I was in high school, we were the only single A public school in Virginia, which means we were the small rural ones. We were the only single A school in the whole state that had a field hockey team. Wow. Wow. So we would always have to play the bigger schools or the private schools. So I can't say that we had a winning record. Most of us never touched a field hockey stick until we got there to the very first practice in August. Right. Um, but I played that because um I do have one older cousin, um, and she had played field hockey, and she was like, You will play field hockey. And I really didn't have a choice about it, actually. So um, so I played three sports all throughout high school. And but I did other stuff too, like uh band. I mean, I'm gonna flex a little bit and say that I was the head drum major for my marching band in high school. What? Dan Warren already knows this about me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 32:52

Um so well rounded.

SPEAKER_03 32:55

Yeah, you're just you're just giving hope to my dream that one day we'll have a marching band. I loved marching bands.

SPEAKER_05 33:02

Were you in it? I was the head drum major of a marching band. Kelly. We missed that slept that I just gave you. I think my brain is broken, yes. Uh no, my our band director in high school was at the best teacher, and he still is my favorite teacher of all time, and uh probably everyone in my high school would say that. And at one point when I was a sophomore, our my high school only had 400 kids in it. Wow, and 200 were in the band. Like we played halftime at the Sugar Bowl. We went to the we went to the Bahamas one year and performed in some like president of the Bahamas parade or something that they had. Yeah. Listen, this is what we could be at Covenant. Are you listening?

SPEAKER_03 33:43

The head drum major who was in marching band. If you guys didn't catch that, she was in marching band.

SPEAKER_05 33:48

I was. I played the saxophone. And so if you're looking for somebody who knows how to march backwards and also conduct things, it's me.

SPEAKER_03 33:57

Okay, so you cannot have her for athletics because she has to start our marching band. I would be willing to make that sacrifice. Thank you.

SPEAKER_04 34:04

Because it ultimately benefits athletics. It does.

SPEAKER_03 34:06

The marching band is the best part of football games.

SPEAKER_05 34:09

I do feel struggling about that. Yeah. Drumline adds a lot to the crowd. Excuse me. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 34:15

But then it adds. We'll talk later, Brady. It's fine. Off air. I am this is a hill I am willing to die on. I know ball, okay? Oh, I know ball. Wow. Yeah. Wow. Wow. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 34:28

I'm sure your husband, who's also an assistant football coach here, has something to say about that too.

SPEAKER_03 34:32

You know what? Whatever. I ain't scared.

SPEAKER_02 34:37

Anyway, I'm not scared of him either.

SPEAKER_05 34:40

Ashley asked me how did I get into coaching? And I am very convinced that the only reason that the assistant principal at Louisa County Middle School hired me back in 2005 is because I said I would totally be willing to coach the middle school softball team. See, that's where you went wrong. Oh yeah. And then they hired me. And so um my first year teaching, I was the assistant coach. And then my second year teaching there, I was the head coach. I'd like to also drop a little nugget here that that particular spring, so this would have been like spring of 2007, the Louisa County Middle School Bobcats softball team was undefeated. Oh yeah.

SPEAKER_03 35:23

Let's go.

SPEAKER_05 35:24

There were really amazing girls on the team that year. They were great.

SPEAKER_03 35:27

Um, did they dump the water cooler on you at the end of the season and lift you up? And wait, really? They didn't lift me up.

SPEAKER_00 35:33

They're in middle school. But they didn't.

SPEAKER_05 35:37

But we had a lot of fun. I love those girls. And some of them actually went on later uh because Louisa has an outstanding softball team and like program. Yeah. Um have like went on to play in college and stuff. And so then when I got to CHS, I helped coach their team. Um, CHS has had a struggling softball program for quite some time. So um I did that for a couple years and then um focused more on student council stuff. And then when I got to Albemarle, they asked me to help coach their JV softball team, um, which I was happy to do and I really loved. I only stopped because I had my son and um somehow I would have rather been at home with the baby than like on a bus traveling with the JV baseball team who was on the bus with us most of the time. I don't get that, but like, okay, whatever you say. Uh so coaching to the side after I became a mom. And then uh when I came here, I remember it was sort of similar to the Louisa thing that I was talking to Colin Anderson and he said, so we actually might need someone to coach middle school field hockey. We see that you played field hockey in high school, and I said, I played poorly, and he said, That's okay.

SPEAKER_06 36:58

Um we'll take care of it, we'll take care of it. You do a really great job. Love it.

SPEAKER_05 37:03

And I love those girls. I love them. They are um some of those girls that were on my team that year are uh seniors right now, like that they were a tenth grader or a ninth grader back then. I I'm still really honestly trying to get used to like how private school sports are organized and how they work and the leagues and stuff compared to public school. Um and but a lot of those girls that I had are our um ninth and tenth graders that we have right now. Like I just will never forget little tiny, teeny tiny, feisty Kate McNish as a sixth grader. Um being on that team. She was so much fun. Yeah. And the only reason I stopped was just to focus on administration. I didn't think it would be uh fair to the girls, maybe to have them have me as a coach and also a brand new administrator. Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 38:00

Makes sense. That makes sense. Um I want to go back a second to you mentioned when you were speaking about the senior thesis, how our seniors are navigating worlds where AI is being introduced, and that's part of their future um and part of our future, um, but especially part of theirs as they're entering into the workforce and graduating high school and college. Um in that same vein, I'm curious from where you sit and your position, what do you see as the current sort of challenges that high schoolers face right now in today's world? Um and then also on the flip side, what are some of the beautiful aspects of that phase of life? Um I I'd love to hear from you as you interact with them daily, what what you see those doing?

SPEAKER_05 38:43

Um I think that it's just important for us to be cognizant of like the double-edged sword that they have of the phones and technology. Um the good thing about that that I see the kids doing is that they they just look at the school's Instagram uh page. Instagram page. That's what we say. Profile. Yeah, okay, great. Um they look at all that stuff and they do uh look up good things and connect with people, like they have their Bible app that I see some of them are using, that sort of thing. So it gives them opportunities that I certainly didn't have when I was a teenager. Um but I think that uh that's probably the most significant obstacle I see for them and the thing that just makes me sad. Um and they don't know any different, and so they're not sad. But for those of us who grew up without technology, we kind of know a sense of freedom. Yeah, a sense of I can, you know, be a total doofus at school and I can trip and fall in the cafeteria, and everyone can laugh at me, but then everyone's gonna forget and we're just gonna move on with our lives. And that kind of stuff lingers with them because somebody is recording it, not here so much, but at uh public school certainly. Uh, and so they're just always attached to it. Yeah, and I love that we uh create policies to try and give them some of that freedom back, uh, I think is really important. Um, they are all really photogenic, I have to say, too. Because they're taking their pictures all the time, and I just I don't know. Um they don't know the thrill of using the disposable camera and then turning it in at CBS and thinking, oh man, how did these turn out? I have to wait three whole days looking absolutely unless I want to pay extra for the one-hour development. Uh so I think that that's probably it. And I um I am sure that when I was in high school, so I graduated high school in 2000. And so um, like that New Year's Eve, my senior year of high school was the Y2K scare. We're all gonna graduate when the computers flip over. Um, and so I am sure that when I was that age, the adults were worried about us and thinking, like, oh my gosh, this new crazy thing called the internet. Like, what are their jobs gonna be like? And the the the future, right, is in their hands, and we weren't thinking about any of that. We were just like, oh, cool. You can chat with someone and leave an AOL instant message behind or something. Um and so we just developed with it, so I think that they'll do the same thing. I do think that the AI, um, this is why it's so important for them, I think, to be at Covenant, honestly. And one of the things that we do so purposefully and so well is to uh in this unprecedented time where there is a technology that is going to try to be human, but is absolutely not human. I mean, that's that's new, yeah. And so we focus so much on their humanity. What makes them a being that was made on purpose by God to serve a purpose with these certain qualities that no kind of technology could ever replicate, and really getting them to focus on that, and they do that even you can see it through their like senior thesis topics and things like that. Um, so I'm I I think it's a huge blessing that we have the ability to focus on that with them.

SPEAKER_02 42:30

Amazing.

SPEAKER_03 42:32

Going off of that, we've talked about seniors a lot, senior thesis, we're coming toward the end of the school year. Um just so you can give them a little bit of wisdom. If any of them listen to this, that'd be great. Um if there's one thing that you want a senior who's about to graduate to know before they got into the real world, before they go to college, before they leave covenant, what is it?

SPEAKER_05 42:59

That is uh that's always at this time of year, I'm always thinking about that because there's if I just narrow it down to one little thing, yeah, you know, like fortune cookie statement kind of like that's so hard because there's so many many things I want to tell them. But I want our covenant graduates to walk away from here knowing um that they are loved by their creator and that they are loved by us.

SPEAKER_06 43:25

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 43:26

And that no matter where the world takes them and what they do, they can be anchored in the fact that they are loved for who they are. And I would also pray that they have some sense of who they are. And it's much more important, I think, to know who you are when you graduate high school, have some idea of that. Way more than like what will you do? Yeah. They get so focused on what job will I have, where will I go to college, what fraternity or sorority will I rush, what kind of income am I gonna have? Where am I gonna? Those are all important things, but those aren't about who you are as a person. And so I want them to walk away knowing they're loved and they have an idea of who they are, what their values are. And then whatever else happens is probably gonna be okay. Yeah. Yeah. They'll make it. They're gonna be great. And I I have to give a special shout out to these seniors. I love them. Yeah. I love all of the kids. Great class. Yeah, since I taught them when they were sweet little ninth graders, I have so many good memories of them in my classroom. And I already know it's gonna be all I can do to like hold it together on senior night or graduation day. It'll be super embarrassing, and I'm just giving you all preemptive apology. That's fine.

SPEAKER_04 44:41

I love it.

SPEAKER_02 44:42

That's special.

SPEAKER_04 44:43

Yeah. I think that's like a good place to end with a formal interview. Definitely. I mean that was a good word. Yeah, it was a good word. It's like a mic drop. It was a mic drop. No, but I think it's true. I mean, even just hearing about your life a little bit more, like it is so true that like we can have all these plans in our head of like what we're gonna do. But truly, we don't know what we're gonna do ever in life, and that's always changing. And it really is like I think the Lord who like establishes our steps and just kind of have to trust that He's got us, and hopefully the kids know that when they graduate that you know the Lord's got them and they just gotta know who they are. Yeah, they have to know their identity and the rest will the rest will follow. Yes, absolutely. So we like to end, I don't know when we started doing this, but I think it's fun.

SPEAKER_03 45:28

I think it's fun too.

SPEAKER_04 45:29

Um we have superlatives that we like to give our guests based on kind of their field of work. Okay. So we thought for you it'd be fun to do some superlatives for our upper school faculty and staff. Okay. So not to put you on the spot, but it's rapid fire.

SPEAKER_03 45:44

Rapid fire is like the first name that comes to your mind. Okay, sorry everybody. Little to no explanation. Yeah. Actually, it's better with no explanation. Yes, anyway.

SPEAKER_04 45:52

I'm gonna try really hard. All right. So, team mom.

SPEAKER_05 45:57

Oh. Um this is so bad. Uh I I really, it's like I think honestly, like Laura Harris might be one of my choices for team moments. Jenna Marie O'Brien is also totally. Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_02 46:13

School spirited.

SPEAKER_03 46:17

Nate Frank.

SPEAKER_02 46:18

Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 46:19

Yeah. Love it. He's very spirited. David Ewens, too. Oh, yeah. Yeah. Go for it. Hype person.

SPEAKER_05 46:27

Hype person? Like for the rest of us, they make us all feel good. Yeah, like the hype person. Yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, I'm with it.

SPEAKER_02 46:33

Callie did the raise the roof.

SPEAKER_05 46:35

Well, that's like she knows I'm old and we're just not visual.

SPEAKER_02 46:39

I have to give my listeners some visuals.

SPEAKER_05 46:42

The hype person is Brian Lee's a good hype person. That's true.

SPEAKER_04 46:48

He's a good hype person. Brian Lee gave the best starting announcement, starting five announcements, or whatever it is for lacrosse, starting 12 announcements yesterday at the lacrosse game. It was so good. I'm gonna have to witness that. It was it was amazing. Um, class clown.

SPEAKER_05 47:03

You know, I'm not gonna give a lot of explanation, but I think the answer might be Chris Campanelli.

SPEAKER_02 47:09

Yes.

SPEAKER_05 47:11

Yes, that's hilarious. I love that you said that.

SPEAKER_02 47:15

His dancing video is phenomenal. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:18

He waits for the right moment. He's goofy. Oh so goofy. Oh, it's there, yeah. Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_02 47:23

Uh Best Style.

SPEAKER_05 47:25

Cassie Kazlowski. For sure.

SPEAKER_03 47:28

And 5%. Yeah. This is a given. I mean, we kind of talked about this. Most likely to win Jeopardy. Oh, Clay Daniel. Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 47:35

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 47:36

Best chef and baker, or and or baker. Oh, I mean, Carrie Matters is pretty good. Oh, for sure. Yes. Also you. Oh, thank you. Very good baker. I do love to bake. Yeah. I wish I had more time to do it, but it's really when Great British Bake Show is on, and then I'm like, oh, I have to be baking too. Yeah. Love it.

SPEAKER_03 47:56

I have one more that I'm going to improv. Person to show up late with Starbucks.

SPEAKER_05 48:02

Most likely. Most likely to show up late with Starbucks.

SPEAKER_03 48:08

I don't know. That was when we asked Dan in the first time. We asked Dan and which other one should we ask?

SPEAKER_02 48:13

Uh wholesome chaos.

SPEAKER_05 48:15

Ooh, that was. Wholesome chaos. Wholesome chaos. Like in their room, it's fine. Just like a chaotic person, but they mean well.

SPEAKER_03 48:24

Okay. Like, and it works for them.

SPEAKER_05 48:26

It works for them. Wow. These are tough questions. I don't know the answer to that one either. I feel like I'm really not giving you some good material.

SPEAKER_02 48:38

Oh, that's why you know I didn't pick up David Sorry.

SPEAKER_05 48:42

I mean, I'm it's just so fun. Like, so my favorite part of my upper school director job is observing classes and going to just soak in the phenomenal teaching that's happening all across the building. And I'm remembering things from when I was in high school, and I'm so jealous of these kids and thinking, like, oh my gosh, I wish that my teacher had taught this thing to me that way. And I love being in David Sawyer's class because he's just a master teacher, number one. Yeah. And the way he teaches makes even me feel like I can remember some Spanish from 25 years ago. But he insults children in Spanish in a way that helps them learn the Spanish. And they love it. They love it. They're like, please, senor, now say something about it.

SPEAKER_03 49:40

Okay, I have another one. Uh sunshine in human form.

SPEAKER_05 49:46

Oh, what a nice uh question. Okay. Sunshine in human form. Like I'm going through the hallway. Yeah. Mackenzie Farley is kind of sunshine in human form. Yes. I'm so thankful that she has joined our faculty this year. Yeah. Yeah. She's the best.

SPEAKER_03 50:05

Okay, I have one last one. Wow. Okay. Most likely to survive a zombie apocalypse.

SPEAKER_05 50:14

Hmm. I think Brian Verbrugge might be high up on L. Okay. He's got like some like handyman survival-y skills. You're right. And he's just so cool, comical. Yeah. Like nothing's gonna fluster him. Like, oh, all zombies are here. Okay, whatever. Okay.

SPEAKER_03 50:34

Let's just love it. Yeah. Not run or anything.

SPEAKER_02 50:38

Feels like an obvious choice, but Patrick has us. Oh, also, my team. Yeah.

SPEAKER_03 50:43

He would just save the world. For sure. The whole world.

SPEAKER_02 50:47

Maybe Brad. Brad would be cool.

SPEAKER_05 50:50

That noise came from. No, no, no, no, no, no.

SPEAKER_01 50:55

I don't know about all the things.

SPEAKER_04 50:56

I just feel like we shifted gears because we went from like Brian and Patrick, who are like kind of like quiet, cool, calm, collected, and then Brad is like not quiet.

SPEAKER_02 51:04

Respect for the David Sawyer said John Colemas would just befriend all the time.

SPEAKER_04 51:08

I feel like Brad would be the same way.

SPEAKER_02 51:12

Preach the gospel to me.

SPEAKER_01 51:15

That's incredible. He'd be like, hey, do you know Jesus? Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 51:20

We got some food in here. You want to come in?

SPEAKER_05 51:23

Yeah. We got brains over here. Yeah. Life story. Tell me a little bit about what church do you go to?

SPEAKER_03 51:31

Yeah. Yeah. That's incredible.

SPEAKER_02 51:33

Oh man, so good.

SPEAKER_03 51:34

Wow. I love it.

SPEAKER_02 51:35

I think we end on that one.

SPEAKER_03 51:37

Yes, that was perfect. Nikki, thank you. Thank y'all for having me. Yeah. Okay, we have to end with our Gen Z slag though.

SPEAKER_02 51:44

Oh, that's right.

SPEAKER_04 51:45

Yeah. Bertie's gonna have to help with this one.

SPEAKER_02 51:47

Okay. You introduce it all.

SPEAKER_04 51:49

All right. So I guess this started when Kelly was telling us about an interaction you had with Cassie.

SPEAKER_03 51:57

Miss Miss Klausowski, yes.

SPEAKER_04 51:59

Miss Style herself. We have um Best Style Award. Best style award. Um and the phrase is like I know ball, you know ball, ball knowledge. Ball knowledge. I guess is what she used. So Brady, would you like to explain what she was? Sure.

SPEAKER_02 52:14

Um I'm I'm trying to use an example from what we've talked about this episode, but like um, let's see.

SPEAKER_03 52:22

I have one.

SPEAKER_02 52:23

Go for it.

SPEAKER_03 52:23

So when Nikki was talking about how she went from public school where her classes were so big and she got here and was like, oh, 63 people, like, oh, she knows ball. Like she's she's got it, right? Is that right?

SPEAKER_02 52:34

Yeah, but it's it's more like when you're talking about that was like a like that's a bona fide fact. Like it's more like when you're giving an opinion.

SPEAKER_03 52:44

Okay, so like your example then.

SPEAKER_02 52:46

Well, I was gonna bring up how Arrested Development is my favorite like comedy show. So if someone said, like, oh, I love Arrested Development Arrested Development, I'd be like, she knows Paul.

SPEAKER_05 52:57

Oh, like I agree with you, you are totally correct in that thing you just said.

SPEAKER_02 53:01

Interesting is the best, like uh, you know, thing ever.

SPEAKER_03 53:05

Oh, so it's like so okay, so it's a different okay.

SPEAKER_02 53:09

It's less about like something that's a fact, like that was very quantifiable. This is more like opinion, hot take. It's like yes. Interesting.

SPEAKER_03 53:16

I've seen it defined differently, but oh well. I mean, I guess if you know ball, I know ball right.

SPEAKER_02 53:23

Trust me, I know ball.

SPEAKER_04 53:24

That was good. That was a good segue.

SPEAKER_02 53:26

Good segue.

SPEAKER_03 53:28

We're gonna leave you with uh an image of Brady riding away on a segue. Just think Paul Bort Malcolm.

SPEAKER_02 53:36

Oh no, think I don't know who else rides a segue from we'll get you one so you can ride around this the hallway. Absolutely love that protecting the people. Heck yeah. I used to have a hoverboard in college. Uh I love my fantasy football league, uh, my second year of college, third year of college, and um we hosted a uh uh dance party at our house and uh it got stolen. So I had sad stories and it got stolen from last.

SPEAKER_05 54:04

Wait, you had a hoverboard when you were in college?

SPEAKER_02 54:07

Yeah, not one that like levitates. Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 54:09

Marty McFly hoverboard.

SPEAKER_02 54:10

Yeah, not a Marty McFly hoverboard, but like it was the wheels, two-wheel sort of like balancing walls.

SPEAKER_05 54:15

Did you ride around grounds on that thing?

SPEAKER_02 54:17

No, because it was banned because they were fire hazards. They started catching on fire, randomly caught on fire. It's probably somewhere in the archives.

SPEAKER_03 54:24

Do you guys don't remember this? No.

SPEAKER_02 54:26

This is probably somewhere on the internet, but MC29 interviewed me and another UVA student that we had hoverboards, and she was totally what? The reporter was kind of like a mutual friend. Um, she was the fourth year at the time, and she was totally expecting both me and this other guy to be like, yeah, we're so upset with UVA administration for not letting us ride our hoverboards on grounds. But both me and the other guy were like, Yeah, these are like fire hazards and a toy. Like, I'm not gonna bring it into the chemistry auditorium. I'm not gonna do that. Hard-hitting news. Yeah, and then she wrote it. This is actually funny. Her name was Nora. She wrote it and totally wiped out on the uh brick like pathways on the lawn. And then she interviewed or interned with Anderson Cooper. And on her last day with Anderson Cooper, they showed that. And I was like, that's my hoverboard.

unknown 55:17

Wow.

SPEAKER_02 55:17

Yeah, so Anderson Cooper.

SPEAKER_04 55:19

I am 100% finding this after this episode. Stay tuned on the winging to Instagram. Yes, yes, yes.

SPEAKER_02 55:25

There, poor Nora. We'll get shouted out again for wiping out.

SPEAKER_03 55:29

Okay, with that. With that.

SPEAKER_02 55:31

We're just winging it. Oh, it's just winging it.

SPEAKER_03 55:32

Just swinging it. Thanks, Nikki. See y'all. See you later. Bye.