Taylor Townes Named Recipient of School's First Maggie McLeod Scholarship

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The inaugural Maggie McLeod Scholarship was awarded to senior Taylor Townes in the Senior Awards Assembly on May 22, 2006.

The scholarship is in memory of Maggie McLeod ’05 and was established by her family and friends to honor a student who demonstrates "creativity in the arts" and who is recognized by his peers for "generosity, kindness, and concern for others."

Maggie's aunt, Connie Cheren, introduced the award by citing the "Ten Things to Know About Maggie," including these: "She loved her family," "She loved CCES," and "She loved life."



Then, Anthony Bucci ’05, friend and accomplished tenor, now a voice major at the University of Michigan, stepped on stage to sing a song in Maggie's memory. Anthony volunteered to sing for Maggie as soon as he learned about this special occasion.

English teacher Donna Miller, chair of the selection committee for the award, announced that the 2006 Delphian, the school literary magazine,is dedicated to Maggie and contains a poem she wrote last year in Spanish class to commemorate the Day of the Dead.



Spanish teacher Julie Bullinger read the poem, entitled "A Celebration of Life," in its original Spanish, and Mrs. Miller read an English translation. The last verse reads:

"So remember the dead with smiles,
With music and flowers,
With happiness.
Honor their smiles,
And forget your tears."

"We remember Maggie today with smiles, with music, and with much happiness," continued Mrs. Miller. "It was not at all difficult to choose the senior to receive this award. This person writes lovely, haunting, lyrical verse and has been published often in the Delphian. This person is pleasant, kind, and generous with everyone, regardless of background or social station.

"This person loves music; in fact, he lives his life listening, writing, singing, and producing music. I cannot be happier to announce that the winner of the Maggie McLeod Scholarship is...Taylor Townes!"



The award includes not only a $1,000 scholarship, but also a copy of a book of poems by Maggie McLeod entitled Beauty Scattered and published by her family. The book will be available in mid-June at Open Book, Gage's, Twigs, and the Upper School bookstore. Proceeds from the sale will help to fund the Maggie McLeod Scholarship for future classes.

Taylor was enthusiastically applauded by his classmates as he rose to accept the award.





The night before, he had received the Outstanding Achievement in Jazz Guitar Award from the Fine Arts School, where he attends classes in the afternoon.

Taylor Townes, performing in the recent CCES Young
Artist Series.

Director of College Counseling Ashley Pittman has described Taylor as "intuitive, musical, gifted, intense, and deep," adding "Taylor Townes is the Renaissance Man of the Class of 2006....Every teacher who has taken the time to know Taylor loves him. He has a real depth about him. He abhors superficiality. He is moved by the beautiful in the world, and he is an idealist."

Drama teacher David Sims praised him, saying "Taylor knows how to deal with challenges. He chooses to explore rather than be intimidated by them, making him an ideal student." Taylor participated in the 2005 production of Alfred Jarry's Ubu Roi and the 2006 production of Tina Howe's Museum. In addition, he was involved in leading the CCES Upper School Improv Club, which stages a weekly show for faculty and students.



English teacher Barbara Carter said of Taylor, who is in her English IV AP class, "What a pleasure he has turned out to be, and what a delight to work with academically."

We applaud both Taylor for his achievement, and the McLeod family for finding such a fitting way to remember Maggie.