Alumni Association Bestows Honors 

FWCD’s Alumni Association hosted its Sixteenth Alumni Awards Dinner on Thursday, September 22, to honor the 2022 Alumni Award and Wall of Honor recipients. The evening felt extra special since the last awards ceremony took place in 2018. The evening started with a reception in the Goff Room of the Fischer Dining Pavilion before moving to the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center for dinner and the presentation of awards.

Asad Dean ’90, Alumni Council President, introduced each Alumni Award recipient with kind words about what makes them special and why they deserved each award. The 2022 Alumni Award recipients are:

Dr. Jay Herd ’79 – Distinguished Alumni

When presented with his award, Dr. Herd said, “I really want to thank Fort Worth Country Day for all they have done for me … being a shy, young student and being accepted into the community. As a [college] preparatory school, I think it prepared me …  academically, athletically, socially, and everything else, to become a leader and do the things that are required to do the different jobs I have now. I want to end with a quote from Eddie Schenecker, Founding Trustee: ‘To the students who remain, I offer the challenge to continue this era of excellence and to set the example for those to follow in your footsteps, to participate, to lead in a positive manner and to maintain, or even improve upon, those standards of citizenship and academic achievement set by those who preceded us.’”

Andy Cordell – Honorary Alumni

“It has always been my pleasure to teach students,” Cordell shared, “I enjoyed teaching at every place that I taught, but Country Day is a family. I found that out not too long ago when my wife had an accident. The people of FWCD were the ones that responded with help, calls and bringing food. They are truly family.”

Laura Bonnell Alexander ’88 – Jean Webb Service to Alma Mater

Bonnell was unable to attend, but her words were shared: “I am honored to be a recipient of this year’s Service to Alma Mater Award, and I am proud to be associated with the distinguished list of former recipients. I had a wonderful experience as a 13-year student at Fort Worth Country Day. As a result, I have tried to make giving back to the School a priority in life over the subsequent 30-plus years, and I have worn my different hats as a Falcon volunteer. Serving this school as an alum has, in some ways, been a continuation of my student years at FWCD with the opportunities to learn, to grow, even to compete. Fort Worth Country Day has long been, and always will be, an intricate part of who I am. It has been a privilege to contribute my abilities toward the betterment of such a wonderful institution.”

Jill Klabzuba Ahrens ’97 – Falcon Star

Ahrens was unable to attend the ceremony. Her award will be delivered to her in California. 

Following the presentation and acceptance speeches, Head of School Eric Lombardi presented the plaques to the 2022 Wall of Honor recipients. For the first time in School history, the Wall of Honor recipients were part of the Alumni Awards. The Wall of Honor was created to recognize extraordinary commitment to the School. Recipients are former members of the School community who have had a lasting impact on the mission and vision of FWCD. The 2022 Wall of Honor recipients were Beverly Anne Robinson H’18 and Lt. Colonel Rocky Rosacker H’00. 

“Both of these former faculty members at FWCD are getting the School’s most prestigious honor, becoming members of our Wall of Honor,” Lombardi said. “They are the eighth and ninth people in the School’s 59-year history to be named and will have their bronze plaque placed on that wall in the Lou and Nick Martin Campus Center.”

Robinson and Colonel Rosacker join the ranks of past Headmasters Perry R. Bass H’98 and Peter A. Schwartz H’98, and former faculty members Claire-Lise Knecht H’06, Jean Webb H’01 and Dr. Jim Aldridge H’14, Sharon Foster H’05 and Evelyn Siegel H’99.