NewsUpper School
Five of Six Heads of House Named
Mar 1, 2000 8:00 AM
By Stefan Eady - Faculty
Five of the six heads of house have been chosen for next year, President David Hicks announced to faculty and students Wednesday, Feb. 23, at the Chapel.
For more than three years, Reba Barnes (South) has been a member of the admission office at Darlington. A native of Columbus, Ga., she came to Darlington after many years experience in a private educational service agency in Knoxville, where she also attended the University of Tennessee. Barnes serves as youth coordinator at Trinity United Methodist Church in Rome, where her duties include planning tours for the Youth Choir for over 70 students and chaperones. Joining her as new residents of South Hall will be her husband of 22 years, Wendell, an associate professor at Floyd College and director of the American Sign Language Immersion Training Program for Interpreters, and son Trip, 16, a Darlington sophomore. The Barnes family is active in the arts communities in Rome and Atlanta.
Walt Steadman (Third Floor Wilcox) ’94 has been associated with Darlington for ten years as a student, an active alumnus, and a faculty member.
As a student, Steadman was a member of the Cum Laude Society, Honor Council, and the varsity football and track teams. He attended Davidson College, where he majored in history and served as a resident adviser. During his final semester at Davidson, he taught history at Mooresville Senior High School in North Carolina. While at Davidson, he spent four summers working as a counselor with two Darlington camps.
Following graduation, he returned to Darlington as assistant director of admission. He has been a resident of South Hall for the past two years and serves as a student adviser, coordinator of the tour guide program, boys lacrosse coach, and dormitory duty teacher. Since 1995, Steadman also has volunteered as a Darlington class agent, winning the Bruce Burch Award this year for the highest number of new Annual Fund donors. He enjoys running, sports, and spending time with his one year-old black labrador, Maggie.
Casey Zimmer (Second Floor Wilcox) returns to living in a dormitory after practically being born in one. His father taught at a boarding school, lived in a dorm when he was a child, and ultimately became a long-time boarding school headmaster. “I guess it’s just in the blood,” says Zimmer about boarding school life.
An alumnus of St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Del., Zimmer earned a bachelor’s in English at Duke University in 1993. He came to Darlington as associate director of admission in 1997 after working as director of public relations and marketing for the Richmond Renegades hockey club in Richmond, Va., for two years. Prior to his professional hockey experience, he worked in television advertising sales and served as a legal assistant and public relations intern. In addition to his admission duties, Zimmer currently serves as a college adviser, a member of the Student Support Team, and the voice of the Tigers at Chris Hunter Stadium.
Zimmer’s wife, Libbie, is a Trippeer Hall duty staff member and a special education teacher for McHenry Primary School. The Zimmers will become first-time parents on or about June 9, 2000. Currently, they live above the Darlington Middle School with Colvin, their English Setter.
Mindy Gibbons (Trippeer), from Snellville, Ga., graduated from Rome’s Berry College in 1990 and completed advanced certification in gifted education from West Georgia College.
A gifted education and language arts teacher at Rome’s Armuchee High School and Model Middle School for seven years and at East Paulding Middle School for two years, Gibbons currently teaches ninth grade English at Darlington and serves as housemother in Trippeer Hall. She is a trustee at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, where her husband, Darlington math instructor Mark, serves as lay minister. They have two children, Emily, 4, a pre-kindergarten student at Darlington, and Abby, 1, and a basset hound named Charly.
Lori Harris (Persons), a 1990 graduate of Ohio State University, started her career teaching mathematics in a public middle school in Texas. She then taught mathematics and study skills and coached soccer and lacrosse for three years at The Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio. Here she also served in her first administrative role as the disciplinary coordinator for the middle school. While at Wellington, she taught study skills and self-esteem building programs in the summers at Westfield College in Massachusetts and Stanford University. Harris then moved to Singapore where she taught various mathematics courses ranging from Sixth Grade Math to AP Calculus at the Overseas Family School, a private international school.
For the past four years, Harris and her husband, history teacher Kevin Purpura, have made their home on the Darlington campus, where Harris has served as a housemother and Persons Hall resident dean. Harris, an assistant lacrosse coach for the new girls lacrosse team, and Purpura have two daughters, Jordan, 2, and Kasie, 1.
For more than three years, Reba Barnes (South) has been a member of the admission office at Darlington. A native of Columbus, Ga., she came to Darlington after many years experience in a private educational service agency in Knoxville, where she also attended the University of Tennessee. Barnes serves as youth coordinator at Trinity United Methodist Church in Rome, where her duties include planning tours for the Youth Choir for over 70 students and chaperones. Joining her as new residents of South Hall will be her husband of 22 years, Wendell, an associate professor at Floyd College and director of the American Sign Language Immersion Training Program for Interpreters, and son Trip, 16, a Darlington sophomore. The Barnes family is active in the arts communities in Rome and Atlanta.
Walt Steadman (Third Floor Wilcox) ’94 has been associated with Darlington for ten years as a student, an active alumnus, and a faculty member.
As a student, Steadman was a member of the Cum Laude Society, Honor Council, and the varsity football and track teams. He attended Davidson College, where he majored in history and served as a resident adviser. During his final semester at Davidson, he taught history at Mooresville Senior High School in North Carolina. While at Davidson, he spent four summers working as a counselor with two Darlington camps.
Following graduation, he returned to Darlington as assistant director of admission. He has been a resident of South Hall for the past two years and serves as a student adviser, coordinator of the tour guide program, boys lacrosse coach, and dormitory duty teacher. Since 1995, Steadman also has volunteered as a Darlington class agent, winning the Bruce Burch Award this year for the highest number of new Annual Fund donors. He enjoys running, sports, and spending time with his one year-old black labrador, Maggie.
Casey Zimmer (Second Floor Wilcox) returns to living in a dormitory after practically being born in one. His father taught at a boarding school, lived in a dorm when he was a child, and ultimately became a long-time boarding school headmaster. “I guess it’s just in the blood,” says Zimmer about boarding school life.
An alumnus of St. Andrew’s School in Middletown, Del., Zimmer earned a bachelor’s in English at Duke University in 1993. He came to Darlington as associate director of admission in 1997 after working as director of public relations and marketing for the Richmond Renegades hockey club in Richmond, Va., for two years. Prior to his professional hockey experience, he worked in television advertising sales and served as a legal assistant and public relations intern. In addition to his admission duties, Zimmer currently serves as a college adviser, a member of the Student Support Team, and the voice of the Tigers at Chris Hunter Stadium.
Zimmer’s wife, Libbie, is a Trippeer Hall duty staff member and a special education teacher for McHenry Primary School. The Zimmers will become first-time parents on or about June 9, 2000. Currently, they live above the Darlington Middle School with Colvin, their English Setter.
Mindy Gibbons (Trippeer), from Snellville, Ga., graduated from Rome’s Berry College in 1990 and completed advanced certification in gifted education from West Georgia College.
A gifted education and language arts teacher at Rome’s Armuchee High School and Model Middle School for seven years and at East Paulding Middle School for two years, Gibbons currently teaches ninth grade English at Darlington and serves as housemother in Trippeer Hall. She is a trustee at Chapel Hill United Methodist Church, where her husband, Darlington math instructor Mark, serves as lay minister. They have two children, Emily, 4, a pre-kindergarten student at Darlington, and Abby, 1, and a basset hound named Charly.
Lori Harris (Persons), a 1990 graduate of Ohio State University, started her career teaching mathematics in a public middle school in Texas. She then taught mathematics and study skills and coached soccer and lacrosse for three years at The Wellington School in Columbus, Ohio. Here she also served in her first administrative role as the disciplinary coordinator for the middle school. While at Wellington, she taught study skills and self-esteem building programs in the summers at Westfield College in Massachusetts and Stanford University. Harris then moved to Singapore where she taught various mathematics courses ranging from Sixth Grade Math to AP Calculus at the Overseas Family School, a private international school.
For the past four years, Harris and her husband, history teacher Kevin Purpura, have made their home on the Darlington campus, where Harris has served as a housemother and Persons Hall resident dean. Harris, an assistant lacrosse coach for the new girls lacrosse team, and Purpura have two daughters, Jordan, 2, and Kasie, 1.
