Stories from the Ridge, The McCallie Podcast

Squash, McCallie’s newest varsity sport, is the topic of this edition of Stories from the Ridge. Head of School Lee Burns ’87 introduces the new head varsity squash coach, Dan Sharplin, who discusses his reasons for coming to Chattanooga to lead this growing part of the school’s athletic offerings. Mr. Sharplin, who comes to the Ridge via his native New Zealand and Boston, shares his vision for Mc...

In this podcast, leaders of The Ed Johnson Project, along with a McCallie history teacher, discuss the story of Ed Johnson, who was lynched on Chattanooga’s Walnut Street Bridge more than a century ago, and the five-year effort by community volunteers that has resulted in a memorial being placed near the bridge to commemorate Mr. Johnson and the attorneys who defended him. The podcast also discuss...

For the past eight years, students in Dr. Duke Richey’s Advanced Placement U.S. History classes have been collecting stories from family members, friends, and acquaintances about the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon. To mark the 20th anniversary of the attacks, the students have launched a website that will be updated weekly throughout the year. That website can be...

That’s the sound being heard more across campus often as student anticipation grows for the annual Duck Day, in which students are dismissed from classes to enjoy the campus, the formal opening of the Lake, organized games, and just generally enjoying the springtime. Duck Day, along with another McCallie springtime tradition, the senior prank, are the topics of this edition of Stories from the Rid...

How have boys – specifically McCallie boys – fared during the COVID pandemic and all the social and educational changes that have occurred over the past year? Five McCallie teachers and administrators sat down recently to talk about that question, and the discussion was surprisingly upbeat – and it led to a broader discussion of how McCallie boys have changed over the past couple of decades. Boys,...

The “super-formative” high school years are challenging to all teenagers, but for those who are also recognizing an emerging identity of being gay or bisexual, the anxiety can be significantly increased. During a Zoom webinar with faculty and staff in late February 2021,  Alumni Alex Hostetler ’09, of New York, Boyd Jackson ‘09 and Scott Woods ’02, both of Washington, discussed their experien...

McCallie School has made a lot of progress in fully embracing and including its students of color, but more work remains. That’s one of the assessments delivered by three members of the school’s newly formed Black Alumni Steering Committee who joined Head of School Lee Burns ’87 for a conversation about the school’s Moving Forward Together As Brothers initiative. The alumni – Johnny Graham ‘95, Ch...

Heads of three of the nation’s top independent schools – Lee Burns, of McCallie School, Kate Windsor, of Miss Porter’s School in Farmington, Connecticut, and Greg O’Melia, of The Buckley School in New York City, discuss the challenges they face as they lead their schools through a period of social and political unrest -- as well as a pandemic that forced the closing of their campuses. They share t...

That seems to be one of the major societal questions today for parents of teenage boys, and it is a question that McCallie teachers and counselors get asked frequently by parents. In this podcast, Headmaster Lee Burns '87 talks with Upper School Counselor Will Honeycutt and Middle School Principal Scotty Jones about this question and other questions that it spawns: how to set limits, how to have d...

The late Senator Howard Baker Jr. '43 would tell current Senators to “listen eloquently,” during the upcoming Senate trial of President Trump, Pulitizer Prize historian Jon Meacham '87 says in this timely discussion of Senator Baker. “Baker once said, ‘One of the keys to life is to listen eloquently . . . because it is just possible that the other guy might have something to offer,” Mr. Meacham sa...

Developing a whole new generation of eaters for MoonPie , a nostalgic snack treat from Chattanooga Bakery, is a challenge shared by Dooley Tombras ‘00, President of The Tombras Group and Tory Johnston ‘83, Vice President of Marketing for Chattanooga Bakery. In this podcast they share the storied success of the “ Out of This World ” marketing campaign that has received national attention with Steve...

James Harr '92, McCallie's director of choral programs, talks with former McCallie Music Department Chair Lew Cisto about Candlelight — McCallie's musical celebration of Christmas and the holiday season. McCallie will be celebrating 35 years of Candlelight in 2019 with performances December 6 and 7 in the McCallie Chapel. Lew and James discuss the origins of Candlelight and how it helped spar...

Matthew Merritt is a senior boarding student and a member of the Class of 2020, and he is passionate about history and environmental issues. Listen in as Matthew hosts a conversation about Chattanooga's industrial history and efforts to clean up in recent years with alumni Allen McCallie '73 and Rick Montague '64, board members with the Southern Environmental Law Center. 

After earning his degree from George Washington University and working as a teacher for Teach for America, Hardy Farrow, a member of the class of 2009, founded the Let’s Innovate through Education program in Memphis. LITE helps Memphis-area minority and low-income students identify their skills and improve their city through entrepreneurial opportunities. Hardy’s work with LITE resulted in his bei...

Sam Sims was a day student at McCallie and a member of the Class of 1980. He began performing music at McCallie and as a student at Morehouse College before making the move to build a career in music. Sam has performed for over 20 years with major artists such as Mariah Carey, Michael Jackson, Justin Timberlake, the Backstreet Boys, Janet Jackson, Boney James, George Duke and many more. In this ep...

Patrick Sholl, member of the Class of 2004, and John Brock, member of the class of 2009 were both part of the Blue Tornado’s epic 11-game winning streak over Baylor, and they will share their memories of that amazing run of success playing for coach Ralph Potter in a conversation with Mark Wiedmer, member of the Class of 1976 and a sports columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

Three members of the Class of 1984, John Green, Peter Hunt and Greg McGuire recall one of best Blue Tornado teams ever to take the field for legendary coach Pete Potter, in a fun conversation with Mark Wiedmer, member of the Class of 1976 and a sports columnist for the Chattanooga Times Free Press.

The McCallie-Baylor football game is a rivalry with more than a century of history and the highlight of Reunion weekend each fall. In this episode we feature alumni Mark Brock, Ellis Gardner and George Robinson, three former football players from the Class of 1979 as they share their memories of Blue Tornado football and stories from this big rivalry. Mark Wiedmer, member of the Class of 1976 and...

McCallie School Dean of Faculty and Curriculum Sumner McCallie talks with his uncle, former Headmaster Spencer McCallie III '55, about his time leading McCallie and his memories of life on the Ridge.

Dean of Faculty and Curriculum Sumner McCallie and Librarian Margaret Wadley discuss the 2019 Summer Reading program for McCallie students. Sumner and Margaret put particular emphasis on the all-Middle School book, "The Boy Who Harnessed the Wind" by William Kamkwamba, and the Upper-School book, "Educated: A Memoir" by Tara Westover.

2019 Graduate Jesse Felker is joined by Middle School Principal Scotty Jones as they talk music education, performance, and even play a little music for us. 

Join Emory University history professor and author Joseph Crespino '90 and McCallie English teacher Bill Jamieson as they discuss Atticus FInch, the topic of Crespino's book "Atticus Finch: The Biography" about Harper Lee's famous character from "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "Go Set a Watchman." 

McCallie's own Caldwell Chair of Christian Ethics, Jim Suddath, talks with Senior (and student broadcaster) Patrick Warren about his time playing basketball at Duke University. Jim played (and scored in) a Final Four and a Championship game, and was part of Coach K's first team at Duke. Get in the March Madness spirit by listening to Jim and Patrick's conversation - complete with some NCAA Tournam...

Join McCallie Director of College Counseling Jeff Kurtzman as he talks with Georgia Tech Director of Undergraduate Admission (and former McCallie Admissions team member) Rick Clark. Together, they'll talk about how to successfully navigate college admissions - sharing some truths and debunking some myths. 

National Center for the Development of Boys Executive Director Troy Kemp and NCDB board member Alison Lebovitz discuss the importance of teaching empathy to teenage boys and the ways that the NCDB is working to spread that message.