Traditions
Several of the traditions established at Ward-Belmont were carried over to Harpeth Hall.
The Lady of the Hall is a senior elected without nomination by the student body as the lady most representative of the ideals of the school. Each year, a new Lady of the Hall and court is elected. Ladies of the Hall have their names engraved on a plaque in the Upper School. Each class also elects a representative to the court. The Lady of the Hall and her court are honored each year at Step Singing.
Step Singing is a long-established year-end event that began at Ward-Belmont in the 1900s. Seniors lined the steps of the academic building to sing traditional songs a capella, hence Step Singing. These days, both the senior and junior classes participate in Step Singing and will sing their class songs in front of the Ann Scott Carell Library. The Step Singing ceremony begins with the presentation of the Lady of the Hall and class representatives, who process down Souby Lawn in long white dresses with a single magnolia flower. The Lady of the Hall gives a speech, and later the junior class is officially recognized as the new senior class and joins in reciting the leadership pledge to the school. Step Singing is typically held the Sunday night before graduation. Juniors and seniors wear short white dresses.
George Washington’s Birthday Celebration has happened at Harpeth Hall since 1922. Today, the George Washington Celebration is performed by the 7th-grade class as its American history studies curriculum coincides with the pageant. Every member of the class participates as a sailor, soldier or minuet dancer. The seventh-graders also choose two members of the eighth-grade class to play the roles of George and Martha Washington.
The Four Clubs (Angkor, Ariston, Eccowasin and Triad) have existed since the days of Ward-Belmont. During that time, the clubs were social clubs for the day and boarding students, similar to sororities. In the early years of Harpeth Hall, (and pre-Title IX), the clubs competed against one another in athletic competitions. Today, every girl is placed in one of the four clubs and students of alumnae are placed in the same club as their mothers, grandmothers or aunts. Today’s clubs serve as spirit and community service clubs. They operate separately in the Middle and Upper Schools, although club affiliation persists. In the Middle School, clubs are instrumental in Field Day. In the Upper School, clubs compete in a song competition at Awards Day each year, at which the entire club performs a routine choreographed by the club president and co-president. Scarves and sweaters emblazoned with the club colors and insignia are available at the bookstore.
The Katie Wray Valedictory Award is a prestigious award bestowed upon a senior at graduation. The Katie Wray Award, named for Ellen Kathleen Wray who died of cancer in 1955 during her last semester in high school, is presented to the senior with the highest academic average. Recipients have their names engraved on a plaque in the Upper School.
Read more about this topic: Harpeth Hall School
Famous quotes containing the word traditions:
“Napoleon never wished to be justified. He killed his enemy according to Corsican traditions [le droit corse] and if he sometimes regretted his mistake, he never understood that it had been a crime.”
—Guillaume-Prosper, Baron De Barante (1782–1866)
“And all the great traditions of the Past
They saw reflected in the coming time.
And thus forever with reverted look
The mystic volume of the world they read,
Spelling it backward, like a Hebrew book,
Till life became a Legend of the Dead.”
—Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1809–1882)
“I think a Person who is thus terrifyed [sic] with the Imagination of Ghosts and Spectres much more reasonable, than one who contrary to the Reports of all Historians sacred and profane, ancient and modern, and to the Traditions of all Nations, thinks the Appearance of Spirits fabulous and groundless.”
—Joseph Addison (1672–1719)