March 2021
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SPRING SOCIAL 2021/REUNIONS CANCELED
To protect the health and safety of all of our Griffins during COVID-19, we've made the decision to cancel our the 2021 Spring Social and class reunions. We can't wait to see all of you in person as soon as possible!
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WORK ON DIVERSITY, EQUITY & INCLUSION AT SDS CONTINUES
by Darryl Evans '06
I am honored to serve on the DEI Steering Committee. Diversity, equity, and inclusion work and improvement is important to me because it is highlighting a much larger, deeper, and more meaningful understanding of humanity – a humanity that connects us all. I am thrilled SDS has taken initiative to start something like this here. Hopefully, it will continue and organically grow for the future.
Over the first few months, the group has worked to create both mission and vision statements, as well as a DEI website that introduces who we are, our intentions, and provides DEI news updates. The DEI committee has also been active in the school such as bringing in a speaker for Black History Month efforts, a speaker for Women's History Month, and all of Will Strait's work as our school librarian advocating for literature on the issue has been inspiring. I admire the dedication each member exudes towards the cause and the work they have done up to this point. We all understand the journey will be tedious and sometimes uncomfortable, but the outcome will be unrelentingly fulfilling.
Darryl Evans, along with Jayde Barton '11, are our alumni representatives on the school's DEI Steering Committee. We thank them for their time and work on this important effort.
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CAMP GRIFFIN REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!
Local alumni, we'd love to see your little Griffins this summer! Camp Griffin is now enrolling for a wide variety of camps appealing to all ages and interests. Camps are open to children from 30 months through eighth grade from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. daily with early and late stay options available. Half-day options are open to preschool campers.
Alumni receive a 10 percent discount for camp registrations. Use code GRIFFIN4LIFE. (can not be combined with other offers)
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ADMISSIONS NOW ENROLLING FOR 2021-22!
You already know how valuable an SDS education is. If you know a family interested in joining our Griffin community, our admissions team would welcome the opportunity to talk to them about enrolling for 2021-22. Refer them to admissions@sdsgriffin.org or share this link. Apply early as spaces are limited!
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THANK YOU FOR SUPPORTING THE 2020 ANNUAL FUND!
THANK YOU to all alumni who participated in the 2020 Annual Fund campaign. We are pleased to announce that we not only met this year's goal, but exceeded it, raising more than $584,000. Your generosity and support are greatly appreciated as we continue to offer an unparalleled experience for every student at Spartanburg Day School. Together, we are #GriffinStrong!
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SHARE YOUR NEWS IN OUR SKYLYNER MAGAZINE
We love sharing your good news in the Alumni section of our annual Skylyner magazine. Please send all your wedding, graduation, baby news and photos to sally.spencer@sdsgriffin.org so we can be sure to include them.
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ALUMNI SPOTLIGHT
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Frank Fleming '81 - Wildlife Conservator
Frank Fleming '81 with wife Kate
Frank Fleming '81 has always been a wildlife enthusiast. In fifth grade, he brought a black rat snake to SDS for show and tell in Mr. Davis's science class. It went missing overnight, leading to a bit of panic and an all-out snake hunt. In Upper School, he often helped science teacher David Emory. They discovered tiny flowering plants near the soccer field, including the rare Myosurus minimus (tiny mouse tail).
Today, Fleming and his wife Kate are owners of Ochoas Verde, a wildlife preserve and artist retreat in Costa Rica. The preserve consists of about 120 acres of some primary but mostly old growth secondary rainforest. When asked about his work in Costa Rica, here's some of what Frank shared with us:
There are many beautiful properties in Costa Rica…most of them are what I call "a scrape on hill." It is literally a carved out piece of land, usually on a hill, with awesome views. And that is great… however we didn't want to come to Costa Rica and sit on a porch and look at a nice view. We wanted to explore the jungle, learn about the ecosystem, watch individual plants and trees as they matured in the rainforest. We needed a place where we could grow!
Artists have visited Ocho Verde for inspiration and world renown experts from the wildlife sciences have stayed and observed animals and plants. A primatologist studied the squirrel monkeys, several world class herpetologists, noted mammalogists, and even wild vanilla experts, have come to observe in our jungle.
In 2015, I teamed up with Zoological Society of London and their Instant Wild app. I used cellular trail cameras to record images and send them via email instantly for identification by the worldwide users of Instant Wild. We were the very first to send instant images from the jungle of Costa Rica to the US and around the world using this new (at the time ) technology.
Our trail cameras have recorded a huge variety of wild life one of the most interesting being the Rufous Tree Rat, that we recorded for only the second time in Costa Rica. The videos recorded are shared on the Ocho Verde YouTube Channel where they have been viewed almost 7 million times.
I am also involved in snake conservation. We made a simple laminated full page chart with venomous snakes on one side and large non venomous snakes on the other side. We give these cards out to folks we run across on our travels around the area. Locals tend to kill all snakes, but the chart is designed to eliminate the non-venomous snakes, and hopefully extending the snakes lives.
Kate and I were presented with a unique opportunity to be a temporary custodian of a unique section of rainforest. We have the ability and means to share it with others. While we still live in our home in Charleston, we spend more time at Ocho Verde every year.
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Update your info
We want to hear from you! Visit our website to update your contact information, or email us with your important news – graduation, awards, marriage or a new baby. Remember, you are forever a Griffin!
Spartanburg Day School
1701 Skylyn Drive • Spartanburg, SC 29307
www.spartanburgdayschool.org
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