Endowments in Action

Rhett Anderson ’25 was apprehensive: She had never operated an electric say by herself before. It was an afternoon in a series of rigorous summer days spent at a five-week long stage management and technical design program held at Northwestern University, and one of her ongoing projects was styling and building a set design for the play Treasure Island. She had experience with set design from her time working in Collegiate’s theater productions, but the manual labor of building the set herself — crafting art from the raw materials of wood and nails and paint — was new to her.

This was the first in a series of discoveries for her. Granted a portion of the Samuel D. Jessee Endowment for Leadership, Rhett was able to explore her passion for technical theater. Each summer, as part of Collegiate’s commitment to promoting a challenging and supportive educational experience, the School awards grants to Upper School students, allowing Cougars to explore meaningful areas of study in their chosen subjects of interest. This past summer, 17 Upper School students pursued enrichment experiences, ranging from programs such as Rhett’s to intensive financial literacy courses, funded by endowment support. “It’s amazing that Collegiate is willing to support students in this way,” Rhett says. “This kind of support shows the School’s commitment to helping students grow and the donor’s true investment in learning.”

When Rhett is up in the catwalk — whether at Oates Theater or elsewhere — her mind is moving at a controlled, feverish pace. It’s an arena for her to sink into, fully engrossed. As with any art, she’s interested in nuance, how minor adjustments can change the bigger picture. Change the stage lighting just slightly and it imbues a scene with a particular shade of emotion. Everything hinges on light and shadow, and that thrills Rhett. “Theater has so many subtleties,” she says. “By just tweaking the angle of light or adjusting the color, everything can change. Lighting is so essential to any production. It allows you to see and highlight certain emotions.”

At Collegiate, Rhett had always been interested in theater, but the stage didn’t suit her interests. It wasn’t until she was introduced to the intricacies of what goes on behind the scenes, through a theater production course she took, that she fell in love with the artform. The huge, complex wall of ropes and pulleys, all of it weighted and hanging mystically, just off stage, responsible for the magical movement of lights and scenery on stage, fascinated her. This, she realized, was where she thrived. “Through classes at Collegiate I was able to discover the aspects of theater I really enjoyed,” she says. “Before, I didn’t realize that students were the ones involved in the technical side of productions. Once I realized that my entire perspective changed.” 

Rhett saw the summer program at Northwestern as an opportunity to fully explore this perspective. During the program she dove deeper into the world of theater than she ever had before. She worked with a new kind of lighting, she built sets manually, she collaborated with like-minded peers. She was able to take what she had learned at Collegiate and channel it into her productions at Northwestern. Each day began with three hours of acting and voice movement — courses that challenged her but enhanced her appreciation for the craft. As someone working behind the scenes to serve the actors, Rhett found new admiration for what actors have to do. In the afternoons, Rhett would delve into the set design, spending hours working with lights, costumes, and stage orchestration. She was given a world to explore.

In addition to her work on the production of Treasure Island, she was given a poem that she was asked to design three tableaus for, each of which were crafted to encapsulate the particular mood and theme of the poem. Again she was engrossed in every aspect of theater, and again her mind hummed like a bee circling a flower, happy and free.

The intricacies of these large-scale projects surprised her, but the responsibility she carried gave her confidence. In giving stage direction and dictating when to adjust lighting and set pieces, she found a composure and verve she didn’t realize she had. Now, as stage manager for Collegiate’s production of Hadestown: Teen Edition, the 2024 Upper School’s fall play, Rhett is able to apply herself with more refinement and aplomb. “Working and collaborating with people I wasn’t familiar with — and sharing my work with them — showed me how capable I was, which really boosted my confidence,” she says. “Dictating when to take breaks, tracking the locations of props and actors — these were roles I wasn’t comfortable performing initially, but because I was pushed out of my comfort zone I was able to discover new levels of confidence.”

The programs Collegiate offer serve to open students up to what can be done both in and outside a classroom. So when Rhett was adjusting costumes for a play at Northwestern or manipulating an electric saw, she was taking everything she’s been taught at Collegiate and channeling it into beautiful period pieces. All of her interests have become focused on this one study — history, art, design, acting, theater. “One moment when I felt fully immersed was when I had to curate costumes, lighting, sound, and scenery for three tableaus all inspired by a poem,” she explains. “In this moment, I truly felt that everything I had learned throughout my time at the program came together, allowing me to create the best design I could.”

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Endowments play a vital role in allowing students to explore their passions and interests, which better prepares them for future success. The following are the Upper School students who participated in this summer’s engaging endowment programs. 

Izzy Rigby ’25, Brown Leadership Institute: Social Entrepreneurship Copeland Thornton ’25, Service and Hiking in New England

Olivia Bowman ’25, NYLF Advanced Medicine, Johns Hopkins

Anne Ford-Hall ’25, American Musical and Dramatic Academy

Mary Geyer ’25, UVA Advance Summer Program

Maddie Hough ’25, Architecture at Savannah College of Art and Design

Claire Lareau ’25, Mathematical Elements of Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University

Rhett Anderson ’25, Stage Management and Technical Design at Northwestern’s High School Institute

Mary Mason Ingold ’25, Forensic Science at Columbia University

Cameron Jones ’25, Georgetown Emergency Medicine Program

Harper Murphy ’25, Forensic Science at American University

Izzy Rigby ’25, Brown Leadership Institute: Social Entrepreneurship

Soham Saxena ’25, University of Chicago Pathway in Economica Program

Elizabeth Seward ’25, Aquatic Ecosystems and Sustainability in Lisbon, Portugal

Jai Spicer ’25, 21st Century Museum: Ethics of Studying Curation and History of Art

Alexander Tan ’25, Summer Culinary Camp, Austin, Texas

Alex Reavey-Cantwell ’25, Chess Tutoring at the YMCA

Aanika Sethi ’25, Kids Summer Squash Clinic

Copeland Thornton ’25, Service and Hiking in New England