Acclaimed singer, dancer and comedian Sandy Duncan will take center stage at Shelton School November 8^th, 8:45 am., when she’ll share personal and professional stories with Shelton’s high school theater and choir students and their parents.  Duncan, one of America’s longtime favorites of stage and television, is best known for her performances in the Broadway revival of Peter Pan and in the sitcom The Hogan Family. She has been nominated for three Tony Awards, two Emmy Awards, and two Golden Globe Awards.  Most recently, on Broadway, Ms. Duncan performed the lead role of Roxie in the hit musical Chicago.

Duncan was raised in Tyler, Texas, where she began dancing at age five.  No stranger to Dallas, her career was launched at age 12 on stage with the Dallas Summer Musicals’ production of The King and I.  Since that time, she’s charmed Dallas audiences numerous times over the decades. 

Duncan’s connections to Shelton are unique.  She is a longstanding friend of Anné Hughes, Shelton’s Director of Fine Arts.  Tom Hughes (1931 – 1994), Anné’s husband, who was the face of the Dallas Summer Musicals for 33 years as producer and managing director, is the one who first saw Duncan audition for The King and I.  He recognized her standout talent and cast her in her first role.  Some seven years later, he furthered her career when he escorted the 19-year-old Duncan to New York City and introduced her to new casting directors and agents.  That led to four summer performances around the country, which truly launched Duncan’s career and crystalized her decision to make theater her life’s work. 

The rest is history.  Duncan will share that story with Shelton students, including highlights of her career. 

Duncan figures prominently in the book My Life with Tom Hughes: A Personal Story of the “Musicals Man” of Dallas, published this past year by Anné Hughes.  Duncan will autograph copies of the book that will be available following her presentation. 

“We’re so excited for our aspiring students to share this time with Sandy Duncan,” says Shelton Executive Director Suzanne Stell.  “Her Texas roots, down-to-earth nature and passion for her artistry will be an inspiration to all of us.  It’s especially nice that we are connected through her relationship with Anné and Tom Hughes.”

The Charger Cheerleaders from Shelton School took numerous honors at the recent National Cheerleading Association’s Cheer Camp at the Gaylord Texan in Grapevine, TX.  Twenty students participated in the four-day June event.

“We received a record ten nominations for All-American,” said Shelton faculty member and cheer sponsor Meredith Mathews. 

Sunny, one of Shelton’s mascots, was awarded All-American Mascot and Most Improved Mascot.

The entire team was awarded Most Improved, Safety Spotting Award, a Spirit Stick, and a Technical Excellence Award for Motions.  In addition, the team received an invitation to NCA Nationals to be in Dallas February 1 – 2, 2020.  Mathews and co-sponsor Britt Mitchell say the team is gearing up for fall events, when spirit will be high on Shelton campus.

Shelton School held numerous year-end awards assemblies, culminating with the Class of 2019 senior graduation on Saturday, May 26.  Sixty-six seniors received their diplomas, turned their tassels, and tossed their caps in front of a cheering audience of some 1,500.  They have received acceptances to 111 colleges and universities, and together been awarded $5,856,028 in merit scholarships. 

Valedictorian was Evan Antich, who will be attending Dartmouth College and majoring in English.  Salutatorian was Etan Cohn, who will attend Carnegie Mellon and major in statistics. 

Commencement guest speaker was Dallas resident Rick Sapio, founder and managing partner of Mutual Capital Alliance, Inc.  Sapio, an author and entrepreneur who has founded more than 20 companies, encouraged students to do as he had done – recognize that creatively coping  with childhood learning differences and obstacles may one day be the foundation to successfully dealing with business and personal setbacks. 

“Today the entire Shelton community celebrates our 66 seniors and their success,” says Executive Director Suzanne Stell.  “We’re also receiving news of college graduations from Shelton alumni, and we share pride with them as well. This is what gives joy and meaning to the word,
'commencement.' "

Everyone hears about “designer” sunglasses, shoes, or jeans.  Over 50 high school juniors and seniors at Shelton School learned about a different designer concept – that of designing software.  Designer toast and concepts beyond were the topics brought to class by AT&T personnel who visited Shelton’s campus March 20. 

“If you can work together and design how to make toast, you might be on your way to designing a car, or designing software,” said Andrea Sutton, Vice President of Design Technology with AT&T.  Sutton and her AT&T colleague Lead Chief of Staff Nate Zager engaged students with an exercise to explore the process of making toast, ultimately moving the students from their individual ideas to a group think-tank collaboration that resulted in a refined process.  Discussions about toast were all over the map:  what kind of bread to buy, how many steps it requires, how long to toast the bread.  Most students talked about using a toaster to cook toast, but one lone ranger preferred a skillet.  Some students mentioned butter and jam for condiments; others liked cinnamon sugar.

“You cannot build software on your own,” said Sutton.  “You’ll find that your ideas expand when you talk with other people, just like they did with the toast-making exercise.”

Recognizing that she was in the largest school worldwide for intelligent students with learning differences, Sutton immediately connected with them on a personal level.  “I’m a world champion dyslexic who was not diagnosed until age 20,” said Sutton. “I used to be embarrassed by how long it took me to read, and I did things differently. I found a unique way to get out my ideas by drawing my notes, putting the central idea inside a circle.  I used to hide my drawings, but somewhere along the way, I learned that this was a part of my creative side.”  Today she reads 70 books a year, using assistive technology.  She still uses a notebook to draw her notes.

Sutton told Shelton students that AT&T needs employees who do things differently, and that the way they think is a valuable asset in today’s work environment.  She leads a team of 50 software designers. “We need people like you who can think outside the box as we tackle gnarly problems, improve products, and build better customer relationships.  Big companies are not designed for change. My job today is just to move rocks out of the way, so that change can happen.”    

Having fun with the toast exercise was the first interaction between AT&T and Shelton students, and both parties hope to create future experiences, including AT&T internships for Shelton high schoolers, summer jobs for Shelton students, and an ongoing presence by AT&T on Shelton’s campus. 

The AT&T collaboration originated with Ryan Stafford, parent to Shelton eighth-grader Ben Stafford and AVP Human Resources Business Partner for AT&T.  He connected Shelton’s administration with AT&T, which also led to involvement with The University of Texas at Austin’s Doreen Lorenzo, Assistant Dean, School of Design and Creative Technologies Professor of Practice.  Shelton faculty members handled logistics and communication for the Shelton campus visit.

“We love working with AT&T,” says Shelton Executive Director Suzanne Stell.  “We seek and value these partnerships for our students, because some of our sharp Shelton graduates will be working for them in leadership roles in the near future.”

AT&T has some 250,000 employees, 100,000 of whom drive around in trucks to customers’ homes to hook up equipment.  The process used to require seven devices, and now it just requires one app on a mobile phone.  Team collaboration made possible the improvement.

Once mentored by people who saw her potential, Sutton says, “Now it’s my turn to do for others, especially women entering the STEM arena.  I design momentum for others, and, at this stage in my career, I look to see how I can give it away.”

Asked one student of Sutton, “So, how do you like your toast?”  No answer was given, but it might just involve the lone ranger who made a different kind of toast in a skillet, instead of in the toaster.

There’s no better feeling for teachers than to see a student’s creativity in full bloom.  That’s clearly the case with Shelton junior Josie Hostin. She’s an artist, a musician, and she has a technically creative side to her brain as well.

Josie’s art was especially noticed in February 2017, when she presented a framed sketch of President Abraham Lincoln to teacher LuAnn Dolly.  She and Mrs. Dolly had a thing about American history.  “Mrs. Dolly is passionate about American history,” said Hostin, “and I guess I caught it from her.”  Hostin made the sketch expressly for her teacher.  “I knew she would love it.”  Said Dolly, “I’ve had many wonderful gifts from students over my 26 years, but this one is truly precious to me.”

Josie, who studies art at Shelton and also privately at an art academy, says she started drawing at age three or four.  The same Lincoln sketch was one of 24 Shelton student artists whose work was showcased on Presidents Day 2017 at a private exhibit hosted by the Addison business, GlobeRunner.

This year Josie attended the regional Texas Visual Arts Scholastic Event (VASE) and won gold for her self-portrait oil painting titled The Colors of My Creativity. She’ll pack her bags for state competition in San Marcos in late April.

Josie also has musical talents.  She sings in Shelton’s choir and has studied voice privately with Blair King, Shelton’s vocal music instructor.  Says King, “Josie is developing an agile and powerful voice with an unusually high range for such a young singer, and she is successfully performing classical arias and arts songs that few high school singers have the range, agility, or breath control to attempt.”

In February Josie participated in the annual vocal solo competition offered by the Texas Private School Music Educators’ Association (TPSMEA).  Josie’s performance of Handel’s Care Selve ended on a high note, with Josie’s receiving a top rating and qualifying for state competition later this spring.