Senator Lamar Alexander, a former U.S. Secretary of Education, came to the USN auditorium to talk about the future of education.
Senator Alexander began by mentioning the familiar faces he saw in the crowd, including Harvey Sperling, who was USN's director when Lamar and Honey Alexander were USN parents. He also mentioned Cathie Sperling, who taught the Alexanders' son, and at one point said, "I assume Ms. Schneider is still around." She was in the auditorium.
Vince Durnan asked Senator Alexander questions about education, eliciting his opinions on charter schools, which he sees as "cause for optimism." He argued that the most important contributors to a school's success are the parents and the teachers, citing the example of Maryville High School in his home town.
When he was asked what role a school like USN could play in the future of education, Senator Alexander said, "You should train your students to save the world rather than try to save it yourself." Then he listed three ways an independent school could "be part of the solution," as Vince Durnan said.
1. Show the world what an independent school can do and be part of the charter school debate. 2. Become involved in the school board. 3. Help public schools figure out what to do about digital education.
People in the audience asked Senator Aleander's opinions on such topics as teacher tenure, charter schools, the FAFSA form (which the senator had displayed earlier), and standardized tests in college admissions.
Aliza Ahmed '26, Uma Ehrig '26, Victor Peng '26, Ruchika Ramachandran '27, and Yvonne Wang '27 participated in the Asian Educators Alliance conference this year in Atlanta, Georgia.
Anna Brook '30, Claire Yu '30, Clio Cherry-Pulay '29, and Liam Mooney '28 took him the championship during the 4th annual USN Middle School Quiz Bowl Championships. Two teams will travel to Chicago to compete in the National Academic Quiz Tournaments Middle School National Championships on Saturday, May 10.
Cpl. Robert Gibson joined University School of Nashville in November as a School Resource Officer, a certified police officer who is primarily assigned to a school and provides safety and security-related functions, including emergency response, safety training, traffic direction, and patrol functions.
USN Mission: University School of Nashville models the best educational practices. In an environment that represents the cultural and ethnic composition of Metropolitan Nashville, USN fosters each student’s intellectual, artistic, and athletic potential, valuing and inspiring integrity, creative expression, a love of learning, and the pursuit of excellence.