Editor’s note: From February 19-22, 2015, Director of Alumni Relations Jeff Pilgrim was in Mexcio City to visit with alumni and prospective families in the area. The following is his description of the trip.
The American School Foundation (ASF)
I had a nice long meeting with Ricca McGowan, the eighth grade counselor and counseling coordinator. Ricca has been at the school for four years. ASF is widely considered the top school in all of Mexico City with over 3,000 kids in Grades K-12. Williston’s strong athletic, arts, and academic program and location make this a good opportunity to collaborate on a study abroad program.
After my meeting with Ricca, I met with Ellie Molyneux ’04, who is teaching fourth grade at ASF. This is Ellie’s third year here. Prior to that, she taught at Indian Mountain.
Ellie is the daughter of Penny Dods Molyneux ’74 and one of my former soccer players. Ellie was as fast as could be and had a bulldog attitude, which I just loved. She would go charging down the field, limbs flying in all directions, bouncing off players…and the ground…with no fear at all. I used to call her “Gumby” for some of the positions she would end up in.
This year, she has been traveling all over Latin America playing polo, which she recently learned, and started a school teaching polo mainly to adults. She loves polo and has been to 14 of Mexico’s 32 states so far. Ellie loves life in Mexico City and is very busy doing all sorts of things.
TABS Fair
We had two full hours on Saturday to get everything set up. I have to say I was somewhat surprised by the turnout. We had the very first table so every family had to walk by us. I was busy talking with families for a good 2.5 hours! I met a number of really fun kids, including a female soccer player (striker). I even ended up doing a quick interview with one candidate at the end of the fair.
Coming up: