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Baccalaureate and Commencement Videos
The Webb School’s 56 seniors graduated during 151st commencement ceremony on May 29. Family and friends joined faculty and staff in honoring the class. Dr. Shilpy Dixit, a 2000 Webb graduate and Alumni Board member, was the guest speaker.
Graduation was preceded by Baccalaureate with Dr. Michael Edwards, Webb history teacher, coach, dorm parent and parent of a 2016 Webb alumna, as the speaker.
Head of School Ken Cheeseman welcomed those attending commencement and congratulated the graduates. Recognizing the parents, he added, “We are very grateful for your support throughout the years, and your trust in us. I am sure that your son or daughter is thankful for the opportunity that you have given to them.”
“The class of 2021 is a very unique collection of individuals. This class is a medley of talents, skills, passions, and paths forward. We celebrate your accomplishments, timeliness with deadlines, and your futures,” Cheeseman told the class. “You have worked very hard to reach your academic goals, and you have been leaders on the playing fields, the courts, the courtroom (in mock trial competition) and on the stage. Your academic accomplishments include a National Merit Scholar, Chandler Vargas, many winners of national academic awards, and eight AP scholars. Your class is filled with talented musicians, actors, artists, and singers.”
Cheeseman remarked that “there has been personal success in athletics in the form of 14 All-District awards, seven All-Region awards, two All-State awards and one All-State MVP. He added that the class also provided team achievements, including bringing back a girls’ basketball program, a boys’ lacrosse program and track program to campus, and being part of the first 11-man football team, cheerleading team that won the State Championship Spirit Award, and boys’ golf team that went to state. The first time in school history, the boys’ basketball team made it to the state tournament four consecutive years, and the girls varsity basketball team became Webb's first state championship team.
Cheeseman commended the class saying, “Your last two years have been shaped by COVID-19, and yet, you lived with grit and persistence, and accomplished much. These are your memories, and no other decades can say they had the same experience as you, at Webb.”
Cheeseman introduced Dr. Dixit, a native Tennessean who currently serves as Program Director for Prevention and Sleep Health at the National Center on Sleep Disorders at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. She did her undergraduate training at Tulane University, where she studied psychology and classics and went on to complete her Ph.D. in Neuroscience at Vanderbilt University, where her research primarily focused on the detrimental effect of vitamin C deficiency in aging and neurodegenerative disease. As a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, she investigated the mechanistic relationship between Alzheimer’s Disease and seizure disorders, before earning a fellowship at NIH through the American Society for the Advancement of Science. After completing her undergraduate degree, she returned to Bell Buckle, and spent three years as a dorm head and science faculty member while completing her Master’s degree in Experimental Psychology, specifically investigating the role of cognitive-behavioral interventions in the classroom.
The guest speaker congratulated seniors and said, “You have worked so hard to get to this day, from classes and grades to extracurriculars to the colleges you’ve chosen -- there is immense pressure to have it figured it out by the time you get to graduation day. I remember sitting just where you are. I did not feel like I had it all figured out. As it turns out, I didn’t need to know at 18 what I would want or who I wanted to be 20 years later. She added, “I am not telling you to go blindly into the world and just hope for the best. … As a scientist, I have learned that your plan has to be flexible to allow for unexpected events that can change the outcomes. But how do you make a plan when you don’t know what you don’t know? You rely on your training and your values. You may not realize it, but your experiences at Webb have already shaped who you will become.” Dixit said that through the years she realized how Webb’s training and values helped her navigate new experiences and challenges throughout her life that took her from an initial plan to become a medical doctor because she likes science, helping people and financial security. Along the way, she realized she wanted to be a scientist.
“I would rather spend time learning what caused the disease than how to treat it,” she said. As a scientist, every day I get to engage in discussions about cutting-edge research with the scientific community, the needs and concerns of our patient advocates, and inform our public stakeholders about ways to safeguard our nation’s health. I like science, and I want to help people. I’m doing it.”
The Webb alum added, “It is not easy to transition careers, but the most valuable piece of advice I can give you is work your network. It is much easier to get in, if they know to look for you. But this also means you have to establish a network by demonstrating your integrity and unique gifts and maintain your network … . It is scary to reach out to people and ask them for their time … but those who genuinely want to help others will be happy to share their time and their resources.
“When I was in graduate school, I would attend career talks where the speaker would say something like ‘oh, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.’ These people did not serendipitously fall into their success -- they relied on their own training and values to develop their own plan. They found the path that was right for them. So, in closing, I want to leave you with this: Let the values you have created at Webb lead you to the opportunities that shape your life.”
Following Dixit’s remarks, Cheeseman recognized and thanked three retiring faculty members – L.R. Smith, Ralph Jones and Marget Sikes.
History teacher Scott Persichetti received the David Newton McQuiddy Award that honors a teacher who has integrity, is loyal to Webb and its ideals, is dedicated to the profession, and who encourages sound character development and academic excellence. The recipient of the award is selected by a vote of the student body. Persichetti, a York, Pa., native, attended boarding school, is a graduate of the Kiski school, and went on to earn a Bachelor degree in Social Science and Education in 2015. He joined the Webb faculty in 2016 and during his tenure, he has helped coach football, boys’ basketball, girls’ lacrosse, serves as the dorm parent at Chambliss, is an advisor, all while finding time to inspire his students.
The Head of School’s Award is funded by the J. Murray Hill ’75 Endowment. This award is intended to be given by the Head of School to fund any appropriate annual expense. For this school year, it was designated to cover the cost of upgrading the landscaping in front of the Bradley Building, and to add seating/bleachers to the tennis courts.
As part of the commencement ceremony, Chandler Vargas received the highest academic honor in the class, the Anna Landis Hightower Award, which honors the student with the highest grade-point average for four years at Webb.
Mingyuan (Austin) Xu received the John Hardin Highest Scholastic Award for achieving the highest scholastic average in his or her senior year.
Mollie Kate Creech received the John Lewis Morgan Award, which is presented annually to the student(s) who has maintained high standard of excellence in his or her academic work and who has demonstrated the highest qualities of good citizenship in the service of the school.
Bailey Cavner of McMinnville, Tenn., gave the student address during the ceremony.
Music was provided and directed by Janet Linton, Fine Arts Department chair, Susan Mullen, string instructor and string orchestra director and the string ensemble.
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A complete listing of recognitions and awards presented during the commencement ceremony included the following.
Community Service Award
Students who have averaged 50 hours of community service each year they have attended The Webb School.
Mollie Kate Creech
Ruth Smith
Trey Snell
Carrie Simmons
Honor Council Senior Members
William Taylor
Caleb Voorhes-Fontenot
Dawson Hasty
Slate Bowers
Special awards selected by the faculty included the following.
The Marjorie Iley Manley Award. This award goes to the student who best combines an appreciation of music and foreign language.
Emma Roy.
2020-2021 Dale Hyatt Memorial Awards
Jordan Jenkins
Geneva Vann
2020-2021 John Freeman Athletic Awards
Bart Morton
Leann Faour
The Senior Achievement Scholar-Athlete Award recognizes two seniors: one male and one female who have excelled both academically and athletically. The award is voted on by each varsity coach. The requirements are play two varsity sports senior year, play at least four varsity seasons while at Webb, have an overall GPA of at least 2.5 at the end of the first semester of the senior year.
William Taylor
Bailey Cavner
Webb Follin Award is in memory of Gerald Webb Follin and is given to the senior with the highest cumulative English grade average. A student must be at Webb a minimum of at least three years to be eligible.
Chandler Vargas
The Henry Harrell Memorial Mathematics Award honors the memory of a graduate and friend of The Webb School. The award was established by Mrs. Henry Harrell in memory of her husband. The award is given to the graduating senior who has demonstrated excellence in all of the mathematics courses he/she has completed at The Webb School.
Chandler Vargas
The Joseph Peters Meersman Jr. Award is given to the student who has made significant contribution to the theatre at The Webb School throughout his or her time in high school.
Anderson Slate Bowers.
Old Guard is comprised of students who have attended Webb for four or five years.
Benjamin Winter Bell
Anderson Slate Bowers
Li Yang Chen
Yinuo Dai
Shelby Brynn Dornisch
Jayden Caroline Jackson
Curtis Jordan Jenkins Jr.
Aubrey Myers McCamey
Shawn McKenzie Jr.
Bryant Wade Morton
Abigail Grace Pyrdum
Yijun (Nancy) Shi
Hudson B. Tucker
Olivia Mai Tucker
Chandler Nicholson Waldron Vargas
Ziqi (Zia) Wang
Haoxuan Zhang
Ancient Guard are students who began their careers at Webb in the 6th or 7th grade.
Lane Nicole Allen
Mary Pauline Bryant
Bailey Erica Cavner
Raegan Chambers
Mollie Kathryn Creech
Leann Faour
Katherine Abigail Gallagher
Joshua Valencia Goco
Dawson Christian Hasty
Chaney Jacqueline McKnight
Charles David Mitchell
Claire Alexandra Parsons
Emma Grace Roy
Carolyn Edith Simmons
Ruth Elaine Smith
Fred Clark Snell III
William Taylor
Caleb Voorhes-Fontenot
Presentation of Bibles to the Class of 2021– Vance Berry, Chairman of the Board of Trustees
Yage “Aimee” Zhang
Dũng Hoàng Vũ
Caleb Voorhes-Fontenot
Chandler Nicholson Waldron Vargas
Geneva Lauren Vann
Olivia Mai Tucker
Hudson B. Tucker
Sanai Ariah Thomas
Fred Clark Snell III
Ruth Elaine Smith
Shanice Simpson-Whiteley
Carolyn Edith Simmons
Mia Sampson
Emma Grace Roy
Abigail Grace Pyrdum
Evan Alexander Price
Phan Mai Lan
Claire Alexandra Parsons
Marc-Anthony Nicholson
Bryant Wade Morton
Charles David Mitchell
Chaney Jacqueline McKnight
Shawn McKenzie Jr.
Aubrey Myers McCamey
Zhixing (Feynman) Liu
Curtis Jordan Jenkins Jr.
Jayden Caroline Jackson
Hallie Claire Hawkins
Dawson Christian Hasty
Samuel Denny Hastings
Joshua Valencia Goco
Katherine Abigail Gallagher
Leann Faour
LaShae Dwyer
Shelby Brynn Dornisch
Do Vu Dinh Khiem
Yinuo Dai
Mollie Kathryn Creech
Raegan Chambers
Michael Jr Terrance Chambers
Bailey Erica Cavner
Mary Pauline Bryant
Jameson Brown
Anderson Slate Bowers
Benjamin Winter Bell
Christopher R. Bain
Sugri Male-Yela Amaleboba
Lane Nicole Allen
William Taylor