Tonight the Hockaday Alumnae Association will host a lecture with very distinguish panelists discussing “The Art of Diplomacy,” featuring former U.S. Ambassadors, foreign service officers, community leaders, and alumnae. Wine and tapas will be provided by Cafe Madrid (which is one of my favorite local tapas bars) & the event will start at 6:15. For more information click here.

ESD hosted a talent show last night for those involved in the diversity club DADYO, which consists of students from the big seven schools: ESD, Jesuit, Ursuline, St. Mark’s, Hockaday, Parish Episcopal, and Greenhill.

Sharon Bales, ESD’s DADYO coordinator, said the talent show will become an annual event since all the schools participated and the students had a wonderful all inclusive spirit.

Teachers from each school judged the competition, and the winner, Daniel Park of ESD, won for his acoustic guitar solo of Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway to Heaven.” Second and third place included students from Greenhill and St. Marks that showcased their musical talents with guitars, bongos, tambourines and vocals.

This just in from Hockaday: Effective next fall, teacher and ‘97 alumna Randal Rhodus will be head of the Lower School, replacing interim head Peggy Bradley.

“… It comes as no surprise to me that after a national search for our next Lower School Head, Randal emerged as the obvious choice in a pool of exceptional educators,” Hockaday headmistress Kim Wargo said in a press release.

After graduating Hockaday — where she played varsity field hockey and golf; served as class president; and received the school’s Founder’s Day Award, its Idanelle McMurry Headmistress Award, and its Sudie Duncan Citizenship Award — Rhodus went on to Duke University and Colombia University Teachers College, and has spent the past nine years teaching at Hockaday.

She won’t be in her new position for upwards of a year, of course. But you’ll know her when you see her.

Well this is interesting. Hockaday students are getting a visit Monday from a celebrity alumna: Grammy-nominated singer Lisa Loeb, who’ll lead “campfire style” assemblies and sign copies of her new (and first) book, Lisa Loeb’s Silly Sing-Along: The Disappointing Pancake and Other Zany Songs.

Parents and alumni are welcome at the last assembly of the day, at 2:25 p.m. Book-signings are slated for 9:25 a.m. and 3 p.m.

Doesn’t it seem like Dallas roads are perpetually under construction? Perhaps the solution to speedy projects lies with the city’s youth. A dozen students from DISD, Hockaday, Ursuline, and Greenhill constructed a 20-foot model of the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge in just one day.

If you don’t believe me, the entire thing was caught on film by producer Judy Kelly.”Calatrava Student Constructors Documentary: An Engineering Workshop,” will be screened 7 p.m. Friday at Simmons Hall on the SMU campus.

With the NBA lockout in full swing, Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle is making good use of his spare time. On Tuesday, he conducted a music assembly with musician Joseph Vincelli. Go to the jump for more photos and information on the event.
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OK, Daisies, whose dad is this? I want to thank him for relieving my extreme ninth-inning tension by making me say, “Hey, look — Hockaday!”

Oladunni Ogundipe of Hockaday, Spencer E. Williams of St. Mark’s, and Monica Ohawke of Ursuline are among the more than 1,600 black high school seniors who have been designated semifinalists in the National Achievement Scholarship Program. These students now have an opportunity to compete for approximately 800 Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $2.4 million.

The National Achievement Scholarship Program, conducted by the National Merit Scholarship Corp., was initiated in 1964 to recognize academically promising black students throughout the nation and to provide scholarships to a substantial number of the most outstanding program participants. More than 31,100 young men and women have received Achievement Scholarship awards worth more than $98 million.

Kim Wargo should feel at home at Hockaday, since the school’s new headmistress — who was officially installed Sunday — has worked at similar all-girls campuses for a number of years. But Wargo should also feel at home because she could easily pass for a student. Seriously. Wow.

Kim Wargo, who was named the Eugene McDermott Headmistress of the Hockaday School in November, began her tenure today as Head of School. For more on Wargo’s background read our earlier post and the school’s press release.