The Gears of Grace
Media provided by Cassie B. 26.
Meet the faculty you might not know whose day-to-day work keeps our school running.
Dozens of Grace HS faculty members work long hours to maintain the school and all its parts, often out of the limelight. Their work occurs in secluded spaces, behind closed doors, and even during hours when students and teachers are asleep.
Although their day-to-day responsibilities and challenges vary widely, given the diversity of their positions, descriptions of these faculty members’ roles revealed a common thread of community and collaboration that makes Grace the school we know and love. While these individuals represent only a small part of the picture, their work, passion, and values exemplify the Grace Church community.
Simeon Luna Aparicio is the Sous Chef of Grace High School. He works with Angela Reynoso Batista, the Head Chef of all Grace Church divisions, as well as his team, to adjust menus, place orders, and prepare meals. Mr. Luna usually arrives at school around six in the morning — three hours before the day officially starts. “The kitchen is ahead of the school,” he explains. “We don’t have a schedule, but we have to prepare everything for the day.” When asked his favorite part of the job, Mr. Luna answered quickly: “Making you guys happy. Everyone. Teachers. If you guys are happy, I’m happy to.” Without Mr. Luna’s work, we would not have the meals that the entire Grace community enjoys every single day.
Cammy Ollivierre is the Director of Facilities at Grace Church School. He has worked with Grace for 31 years and says no day is ever the same. “Sometimes it’s a desk, sometimes it’s a faucet,” he said. “Once I had to come in at 2 AM because the fire alarm went off. I had to walk the FDNY through the school to make sure it was safe.” Mr. Ollivierre described his day-to-day responsibilities as managing the school’s heating and cooling systems, performing daily setup and breakdown, and handling repairs. He added that he greatly appreciates his team, who show up every day and know the routine. They are always prepared for anything that could go wrong in the building to keep people safe and calm. “We always have to be ready,” he said. Regardless of the time or circumstances, we have Mr. Ollivierre to thank for our safety and the upkeep of the building we spend so much time in.
Georgia Warner-Haakmat is the Director of Admissions for Grades 9-12. She primarily works with Dana Foote and Camilla Campbell to select the next year’s 9th-grade class, though students can be admitted in other years as well. She describes admissions as a highly cyclical process, with workload peaking from September to March. “We’re in full swing now,” Ms. Warner-Haakmat said. “The bulk of our day is interviewing, processing visiting families, and following up with families. We host tours, schedule coffees and open houses, and manage our own student ambassadors.” Ms. Warner-Haakmat explained that after admissions begin, around January, the admissions office must review hundreds of applications. Then they have to send out decisions and schedule revisits. “It’s unpredictable and a little bit stressful because you can’t predict the outcome,” Ms. Warner-Haakmat said. “But we make it happen, thanks to this incredible team.”
Emma Golden is the director of the Writing Center and the coach of public forum debate, and she also teaches the Art of Criticism elective. Though it is only her first year at Grace, Ms. Golden says that she is “loving it.” She particularly adores the relationship the students have with the Writing Center staff. “I remember unlocking the door on the first day of school, and kids were coming in just to say hi to the consultants,” she recalls. Ms. Golden’s day-to-day responsibilities include managing the writing center schedule and staffing (writing center faculty serve as substitutes for many classes). “The biggest challenge I face on the job is that writing is hard,” she said. “The consultants and I aren’t in students’ classes with them, so we’re always trying to be liaisons between the students and teachers to understand what expectations are. The challenges of the job are the challenges of the writing process for anyone.” However, Ms. Golden emphasized the Writing Center staff’s strength and their ability to meet this challenge. “I want to uplift the consultants as being the gears that make the writing center possible,” she said. “They help students relieve themselves of nervousness and create work that they are proud of.”
Alpha Kann is the Senior Director of Technology and Infrastructure. His team’s job is to manage and maintain all devices, classroom technology, networking, phones, surveillance, and resource allocation. “We often run into problems,” he said. “You will not know exactly what can fail at any given time, so make sure all devices are up to date. You’re upgrading and updating.” Mr. Kann doesn’t stop working when the school day is over. As an IT professional, he must be on call at all times, even when he is at home on weekends. Although tech problems can be frequent and challenging, Mr. Kann emphasized that he loves what he does. “I’ve been doing this for over 25 years, and every day is a new day. There is always a learning curve. We sharpen our skills by going back to professional development and educating ourselves. It is rewarding and very gratifying. It is challenging but never boring.”
Daron Forbes is a Security Officer, an Administration Assistant, and Head of Oreo Distribution. While it is a common misconception that his primary role at Grace is to candy for students, his primary role is to oversee the safety of students, faculty, staff, and the building, and Oreos are a result of his heart and kindness. Daron also manages administrative functions, including interviews, visitors, attendance, and incoming students. He describes the work as “family-based, where everyone looks out for each other.” When asked his favorite part about the job, he said, “greeting the kids as they come into school.”
Dr. Akbar Ali Herndon is Grace’s Chief Technology Officer as well as a Service Leader, Musician, and Communications Director. Within the Tech Department, he reports to and oversees all technology-related maintenance. He is a co-teacher of the Tech Major and manages curriculum development for the freshman and sophomore technology classes, as well as developing new classes like fashion technology that will be taught for the first time in the spring. However, outside of chairing the Tech Department, Dr. Ali does a TON of other work for Grace Church School.
Dr. Ali came to New York as a violinist, but found himself equally in the education world as he was in the music industry. To this day, he still performs for the Lower School and at various chapels, sharing his love for music with the community and showing that a career in music and one in STEM are not mutually exclusive. Dr. Ali also runs the annual Coat and Toy Drives at both schools and was one of the primary organizers of the High School’s MLK Symposium in January. As Communications Director, Dr. Ali has also helped create a group called GMAP (Grace Media Aware Parents), which partners with parents to host “unplug to connect days” and have seminars on cybersecurity. Dr. Ali describes these roles as “invisible things,” but it is important to recognize just how much he does for this school.
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The Grace Church community is so much more vast, talented, and compassionate than one could ever imagine without asking, especially when some of the most valuable faculty members work in corners of the school where students rarely go. The next time you see your favorite faculty member, try to thank them for all they do to make your school experience the best it can be.
And generally, thank you to all the Grace Church staff who make this school as amazing as it is.
Catlin L. ‘27, the author, is a staff writer for The Grace Gazette.