Taking the Next Step

Leaving Collegiate is hard. It’s emotional. For some, it’s quite unsettling. That said, situations change, opportunities arise and folks pull up stakes and head off to different venues for new challenges and new adventures.
Kathy Wrenn came on board in 2000 as a Middle School physical education teacher. She was a last-minute hire. In fact, most of us didn’t meet her in person until the week we showed up for meetings that August.
 
If there were any questions back then, they quickly vanished.
 
With no hesitation, she assumed her duties in her “classroom” and performed them with expertise and passion. She served as department chair for five years. She became an integral part of the volleyball program both as a coach and a mentor of coaches.
 
It was as the school’s wellness coordinator that she truly made her mark. In 2005, she organized the first Wellness Day for the Middle School. In 2008, she and her colleague Amanda Cowgill started Link It & Live It. Two years later, the program that promotes, encourages and enlightens faculty, staff and students about the benefits healthful eating, physical activity and sleep went school wide.        
 
“It came out of the need for integrating wellness into everyday life, not just in PE class,” she said. “It heightened awareness and empowered people to take responsibility for their own well being. Now, it’s the norm. It’s the culture.”
 
Kathy has accepted a position as associate director of program development with the Virginia Center for Addiction Medicine. Her focus will be to create programs and support groups for families touched by addiction.
 
“I like to build things,” she said. “This is my next calling in life.”
 
Chris Williams arrived on the scene a decade ago as athletic department equipment manager, a job that also entailed assisting with the setup for competitions in pretty much every sport as well as any other task that came his way.
 
From the get-go, he coached Cub girls basketball and six years ago became varsity golf program leader.
 
His dedication, attention to detail and professionalism were quickly evident. In all that he did, he maintained a smiling countenance and even-tempered demeanor that endeared him to the Collegiate community.
 
His golf team won the Prep League and VISAA championship in 2012, and was state runner-up twice. He was voted state coach of the year in ’12 and league coach of the year in ’13, ’15 and ’17. Three times, the Cougars earned the Prep League sportsmanship award.
 
“The best part of the job,” he said, “has been the connections: working with the kids and their families. I’ll leave with great memories. That’s what makes Collegiate so special.”
 
Chris and his wife Lindy are moving to Rome, Georgia, where she’ll be the director of enrollment for the Darlington School and he’ll be director of operations for the Coosa Golf Academy.
 
“Chris is a great person and a beloved coach,” said athletic director Karen Doxey. “We’ll miss his quick wit and humor along with the way he
gets to know his athletes and parents. He always seems to have the right touch to make a situation better, a way to poke fun at you that you can laugh about too, and he is forever trying to set up the perfect gag. At the same time Chris is a competitor who studies his opposition, makes the necessary adjustments and, if his team happens to lose, he always handles it with grace and humility.”
 
Dave Fuller came to Collegiate 12 years ago following a stint as a teacher and soccer coach at Powhatan High School.
 
During his time on North Mooreland Road, he’s taught 8th Grade history and 7th Grade Spanish, served as an 8th Grade advisor, and coached JV soccer, indoor soccer and Cub basketball.
 
“When I first taught Middle Schoolers here at Collegiate, I didn’t think I wanted to do it,” he said. “Now, I can’t picture myself doing anything else.”
 
There’s more, though.
 
“The relationships are what makes this place unique,” he said. “Collegiate will always be part of my fabric. Twelve years have flown by.”
 
Fuller, who spent two memorable days in 2004 as a contestant on Jeopardy!, is relocating to Seattle where his wife Sandi has family. He’ll be teaching 7th and 8th Grade history at NOVA School in Olympia, Washington.
 
“The only thing I love more than Collegiate is my family,” he said. “Even though this is a large community, I feel, especially in the Middle School, that I know everybody and they know me. There’s such a feeling of support. That’s what makes this place so special.”
         -- Weldon Bradshaw
 
        
Back