When Convocation was started eight years ago, it was a way to bring everyone K-12 together, and Fort Worth Country Day hadn’t seen anything like it. The K-12 tradition has survived many long years – including those during the pandemic.
This year, Convocation did not disappoint. After the cheerleaders and Talon – the beloved school mascot – welcomed grades 1-11 into the celebration, the kindergarteners arrived, escorted by their senior buddies they had met the day before. Then, the activities started.
Walker Gaines ’24 – the Student Body President – welcomed everyone to the celebration and talked about the school’s Core Value of kindness. Students met Gaines with cheers and sounds of excitement.
“Convocation is a fun event for the whole school… especially being a senior and getting to meet and introduce a kindergartener to the whole community was a lot of fun,” Gaines said. “[I] was also happy to continue the tradition of the StuCo president kicking off convocation like all my predecessors have.”
Then the student body and faculty all stood as Gaines led everyone in the Pledge of Allegiance and the senior cheerleaders – Belle Xu and Holland Link – led everyone in the Alma Mater, where one could see hundreds of Falcons, new and old, with their hands in the air.
“I love Convocation because it gives a sense of community… speaking in front of everyone was a bit scary, but it was fun to be able to see everyone together and cheering for their quad,” Link said.
Head of School Eric Lombardi talked about the school’s 60th birthday and the school’s Core Values. Lombardi said that the big message he wanted to get through was kindness.
“Practice kindness and interrupt unkindness […] I really want our school to always work on being a kinder and kinder place,” Lombardi said.
After that, the air buzzed with excitement for the second-ever teacher quad sing off. Teachers from each quad sang songs from a category presented to them until they couldn’t think of another one. B Quad was eliminated first in a Beetles round, quickly followed by D Quad during the Motown section. The F and W quads faced off in two rounds. While they tied during a Beach Boys round, W Quad came out victorious singing Taylor Swift songs.
After the varsity cheerleaders led the school in the Fight Song, everyone filed out of the round gym, filled with school spirit and energy. New Upper School science teacher, Scarlett Sun, said that she was not prepared for the positive energy that she said was very “bright and happy.”
When kindergartener Swayze Baganz ’36 was asked if Convocation was fun, she gave a very enthusiastic nodded yes, and when asked if she had the best senior — Andrea Andrade ’24 – she gave an even more enthusiastic “YES,” to which Andrade said, “Obviously.”
Convocation was started in 2015, the year that Lombardi came to FWCD as its Head of School. He says though, that the idea was a group effort, and that so many people come together to plan the event every year. Someone who plays a large role in that is Mallory Sample, who works behind the scenes with Varsity cheer sponsor Courtney Krauss ‘06 and the cheerleaders, Tech Theater Director Eric Tysinger, Technical Support Specialist Boone Clegg, Plant Operations, and the Advancement Department to set the schedule and organize Convocation so that each little part of it goes off without a hitch.
“I think that Convocation is a fun way to start the year [with] everyone together,” Sample said.
Each year, Convocation exhibits big spirits, energy, and a sense of community, especially because of the houses. Previously, FWCD had 16 sectors – all named after a founding member of the school – which were split into 4 quads. The sectors have been eliminated so that there are now just four big quads: F, W, C, and D. Lombardi said that the idea for the quads and their predecessors were the houses found in Harry Potter.
This year, Convocation was placed the day before the 60th anniversary of Fort Worth Country Day’s first day of school, September 9, 1963. The birthday theme will continue all year as we celebrate six decades of the School.
