A new school year on the Ridge means new faces, and that includes some new faces in the ranks of the McCallie faculty.
“We are fortunate to be adding a group of extraordinary individuals to mentor, teach, coach and advise our boys,” says Headmaster Lee Burns ’87. “They have tremendous experiences and expertise and come to us both locally and from around the nation, yet they all share a commitment to the mission of McCallie.”
Collectively, their formal training includes undergraduate and graduate degrees from Duke, Illinois, Miami, Michigan State, Old Dominion, Southern California, Stanford, Tennessee-Chattanooga, and Vanderbilt.
Here are the teachers and their backgrounds:
Dave Porfiri, director of the CAVE
When McCallie announced the Center for Animation, Video and Entertainment in the spring, it was clear that a creative and innovative instructor would be needed to lead this ambitious project housed on the first floor of the Maclellan Academic Building.
Dave Porfiri brings a special combination of practical experience in filmmaking combined with a background in teaching film and visual skills to others, making him the perfect choice to be McCallie’s CAVE-man.
Mr. Porfiri has an undergraduate degree from Miami and an MFA from Southern California with an emphasis on film production.
From 2004-2016, Mr. Porfiri was a partner at Mindflow Media, an award-winning film and television production company based in Chattanooga with both local and national clients. While at Mindflow, Mr. Porfiri worked with clients ranging from EPB and Friends of Moccasin Bend National Park to National Geographic and the Food Network.
He also worked as a teacher, founding the film and television training program at Chattanooga State and serving as an assistant professor in Film and Media Arts at American University in Washington, D.C.
He has taught all areas of film and video production, and he will bring a wealth of knowledge and experience to the CAVE and McCallie students interested in studying this exciting type of work.
Dr. Leo Procise, AP Biology Teacher
With his doctorate in Oceanography from Old Dominion, Leo Procise brings a great amount of expertise to the Ridge, where he will teach Advanced Placement Biology.
His subject specialties include phytoplankton ecology, predator prey relationships within the microbial loop, harmful algal blooms (HABs) and nutrient cycling in coastal waters. His graduate study — supported by the Hall-Bonner Program for Minority Doctoral Scholars — was focused on grazing by the toxic red tide-forming dinoflagellate, Karenia brevis, in the Gulf of Mexico off the coast of Florida.
Dr. Procise played football in college at the University of Saint Francis and ran track in high school. He will be coaching both of those sports at McCallie.
Dr. Procise comes to McCallie from Floyd Central High School in Floyds Knobs, Indiana, where he coached diving in addition to teaching all levels of biology.
Rev. Jim Suddath, Middle School Bible Teacher and Chaplain
Jim Suddath is not unfamiliar with hard work, striving of excellence or the color Blue. As a college basketball player at Duke University, he played his senior season under legendary coach Mike Krzyzewski during Coach K’s first season with the Blue Devils.
Despite multiple knee surgeries leading into his senior season, Rev. Suddath’s hard work and dedication impressed Coach Krzyzewski, and he was a starter during the final games of the season. Rev. Suddath played in 113 games during his four years with the Blue Devils, with 11 starts from 1977-81.
Following his graduation from Duke, Rev. Suddath earned his Master of Divinity from Columbia Biblical Seminary and began a career in the ministry, working at First Presbyterian Church in Chattanooga as well as serving as senior pastor at churches in Jackson, Tennessee and Dalton, Georgia.
His background as an athlete and his knowledge of the Bible and faith will give him the ability to connect with and help guide the Middle School students in their spiritual and physical growth, as he serves as Middle School Chaplain and Bible teacher. He and his wife, Jenny, will live in Belk Dorm and help to mentor the 10th-12th graders in there.
Dr. Yuemei Wu, Chinese Teacher
Dr. Yuemei Wu brings a wealth of knowledge of the Chinese language and of McCallie to her new position as a Chinese teacher in both the Middle School and Upper School.
Dr. Wu studied teaching Chinese as a second language in Beijing and earned her Masters and Ph.D. in Chinese linguistics at Stanford. She has taught at the collegiate level at Stanford, UC Davis and Michigan State.
She and her husband, Read Taylor ’94, returned to China in 2007, where Dr. Wu worked developing a variety of Chinese language teaching materials. She authored a picture dictionary series for adult learners as well as a version geared toward children. That series won a publication grant from the Office of Chinese language international/ Headquarters of Confucius Institute and has been translated into about 50 different languages.
Dr. Wu’s son Lucas Taylor will be a seventh grader this fall and is a fourth-generation McCallie student, following his father, grandfather Jerome Taylor Jr. ’60 and Jerome Taylor ’34.
Scotty Jones, Middle School Principal
Scotty Jones has been busy throughout the summer getting the Middle School ready for an exciting new school year. Mr. Jones appointment was announced last winter, and he and his family arrived on campus earlier in the summer.
Mr. Jones comes to the Ridge from Westminster Schools in Atlanta, where he was Dean of Boys for the sixth grade for 11 years. While at Westminster, he served in various roles, including as middle school curriculum coordinator for fine arts, band director, and middle school tennis coach.
Mr. Jones takes over for Lynn Goss, who retired as Middle School Head at the end of the 2015-16 school year after 21 years in that role.
He helped lead sixth-grade orientation in recent weeks, and he has been making moves to be ready for the return of students next week.
Athletics additions
Other new additions for the 2016-17 school year include Jake Yost, who will teach Middle School MTA and Health & Wellness courses and be an assistant coach for varsity wrestling.
Mr. Yost is a two-time state champion wrestler and was a two-time Southern Conference Champion at the University of Tennessee at Chattanooga. He most recently served as varsity wrestling coach at Cleveland High School, where his athletes won three consecutive traditional and dual state titles.
Tim Costo and Jeff Clark ’91 will lead varsity baseball and tennis teams in McCallie Athletics department.
Coach Costo is a former Major League baseball player with a 10-year professional baseball career. He was promoted to head coach following the departure of former coach Greg Payne.
Coach Clark, who played collegiate tennis for Vanderbilt, returns to McCallie after a successful 9-year run as the women’s tennis coach at UTC. Coach Clark become McCallie’s new varsity coach while Coach Eric Voges ’81 will move to the role of Director of Tennis Operations, where he will continue to build the overall tennis program and attract new interest to McCallie’s world-class tennis facilities.