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Westridge takes pride in afford-ing each girl the opportunity to explore, take risks, and extend beyond what she believes she is capable. The Westridge girl is taught to appreciate success as well as endure setbacks with self-reflection and grace. There is no better forum for girls to put them-selves to the test than when being completely “in the moment” in the public venue of athletics.

Triumphs — whether personal or team — are achieved throughout each competition, while relationships are forged through collective effort. These moments provide a platform from which self-esteem and school pride grow.

Westridge athletics began in 1919 when four Westridge girls par-ticipated in the Ojai Valley Tennis Tournament. Additional varsity sports were added in the mid-1920s including basketball and volleyball. The spirit of Westridge competition gained momentum from the start and would set the tone for Westridge’s involvement for years to come.

The Tigers’ athletic program today boasts 12 sports with all three divisions engaged in a range of competitive opportunities. In the past decade, golf, lacrosse, and water polo were added in Upper School. To date, Westridge has won 33 Prep League Champion-ships and 11 California Interscholastic Federation – Southern Sec-tion (CIF-SS) Championships! Our girls are recognized through Prep League and CIF-SS individual awards as well as annual endowed awards. The Joan Taufenbach Haskell ’47 Contribution to Athlet-ics Award was added in 2011, recognizing a graduating senior’s service, participation, and dedication to the athletics program.

Beginning in our Centennial year, Westridge will announce its first Athletics Hall of Fame inductees, to be unveiled at Homecoming on January 10, 2014. This important milestone to pay tribute to our student-athletes over the decades will be the crowning moment at the Centennial Homecoming event!

Go Tigers!

Melanie HornWestridge Director of Athletics

from the start: westridge athletic tradition

westridge beginnings1927 | Mask and Brush formally orga-nizes, growing out of two earlier groups, the Dramatics Club and the Aesthetics class. Its first perfor-mance is a medieval play, Herodes.

1928 | The Westridge Alumnae Association takes up the American Indian cause and hosts a lecture to benefit the Indian Defense Associa-tion, while students continue their tradition of international service with donations to the Near East College Association.

1929 | Thirteen of the graduating class of 20 plan to attend college. The Academic girls draw up a new constitution and work out a plan for com-plete self-government.

1930 | In September, Westridge enrollment grows to 185 students, with a faculty of 16 and two principals.

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1931 | In August, a locker-room, office space, and attic art studio are added to the gymnasium.

•1932 | As the Great Depression deepens, the 127 members of Westridge’s Alumnae Associa-tion designate the proceeds of their annual benefit for Pasadena emergency relief, instead of toward the Scripps Scholarship Fund.

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Countdownc e n t e n n i a l 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4

Volume 3 | January 2013

It fascinates me to see the similarities and differences in Westridge athletics today from 60 years ago. I’ve learned that while girls join a team for pretty much the same reasons now as in 1948, the level of com-mitment and intensity runs much deeper.

I attended Westridge in 1948, graduating in 1952. I came to Westridge from a co-ed public school, which at the time did not have team sports for girls. Since I was a “ball” girl – I loved any sport with a ball – the chance to be on a team was exhilarating. At Westridge, I played volleyball, basket-ball, and tennis, all with gusto. The chance to join the older girls was a really thrilling, great experience. As a freshman, some of my older teammates became my best friends; as a senior, I had younger friends, one of whom eventually asked me to be her daughter’s godmother. What I got was the opportunity to test my mettle in competition and to develop real friendships.

Four of my granddaughters attend Westridge now. Collec-tively, they swim, play tennis, soccer, basketball, volleyball, water polo, and lacrosse, with gusto and dedication. My granddaughters tell me they go out for a team because they love playing, they want to do things with friends, they want to exercise and be healthy (truly!), they want to test themselves in competition, and they enjoy making friends of different ages. To me, those sentiments quite resemble our motivations in 1948.

A significant difference from 1948 is that if you are on a team now, you practice or play every day after school. You are transported to your sports venue by bus or van and you don’t return to school until close to 5:30 p.m. Teams practice during Christmas and spring vacations. Anyone my age reading this will know that our mothers drove us to games; we practiced twice a week and being picked up after practice was considered a great inconvenience.

To some extent Title IX (see below) has wrought that change in intensity in girls’ sports. The acceptance of women as rightful competitors on the athletic field bred admiration for those who succeeded. Focus, discipline, and determina-tion became desired outcomes of women’s sports along with good health, sportsmanship, and leadership skills – qualities that are valuable in each and every aspect in life.

Westridge strikes a sound balance in their athletic philoso-phy, as illustrated in a story I was recently told. This year, a girl tried out for the water polo team not knowing how to swim. She has since learned a little, and now helps mostly with team logistics. In January, the team lost to Poly, 22 to 2. Are they discouraged? No. They have a few more games and intend to give every one of them their all. And with that determination, they will win some of them.

I love that girls are still motivated by the exhilaration of competitive play and the fun of a team; of doing some-thing with and for each other, by friendships made and solidified on the court, of aspirations toward pride in some-thing a notch removed from oneself – one’s school.

Dorothy is a world-class tennis player whose love of the sport flourished during her time at Westridge. She is ranked No. 1 by the International Tennis Federation in the 75 and over age group and No. 1 by the United States Tennis Association in singles and doubles, having won 131 national singles and doubles titles.

athletics at westridge

then&nowBy Dorothy Hughes Matthiessen ’52Chair, Centennial Architectural History Committee

1933 | In May, to celebrate the school’s 20th anniversary, Mask and Brush produces “School Through the Ages,” written by Mrs. Walkup. The play depicts school life of other days, ranging from an Egyptian school in 2000 B.C. to a Laboratory school in 2000 A.D.

As president of The Association of Headmistresses of the Pacific Coast, Miss Ranney hosts the fall meeting in Pasadena. Dr. William Munro of Caltech gives the keynote speech on “Educational Implications of the New Deal.” Munro predicts that the new social goal of redistributing the country’s wealth will make endowments more difficult to raise.

1934 | The Alumnae Association, now numbering 170, contributes to “civic relief, Pasadena’s poor, and the Scripps Scholarship Fund.” Its next project is to purchase a respirator for the Women’s Hospital of Pasadena.

1935 | The Westridge Parents Association forms. Mrs. John Pratt is its first president.

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1 9 7 2 : t i t l e I X From the U.S. Department of Education: www.ed.gov

Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 protects people from discrimination based on sex in education programs or activities which receive Federal financial assistance. Title IX states, in part, that “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”

In preparation for the Centennial, Westridge is collect-ing all varieties of Westridge-related materials — school pictures, candid snapshots, school records, uniforms, early yearbooks, ephemera, memorabilia, and more!

Currently, Westridge is specifically seeking:• uniform dresses in pink, blue, yellow, white• uniform skirts in pink, blue, yellow, grey• uniform jumpers in pink, blue, yellow, grey• uniform blouses• jackets/blazers• school sweaters• gym uniforms• hats• t-shirts• athletic patches• school pins, medals, rings, and supplies with logo

Your donated Westridge items may be used as part of the Centennial commemoration, but will primarily be maintained as part of the school’s comprehensive historical archive, documenting its first 100 years. Do-nations are being collected now and throughout the Centennial year.

For more information, including Westridge’s acquisition policy, visit www.westridge.org/centennial or contact past parent Bonnie Burke Carthew, chair of Centennial Acquisitions, 626.818.1216, archives@westridge.org.

donate your personal westridge items to the archive!

From the Past to Perpetuity

1936 | The Alumnae Association grants a $225 scholarship to a Westridge 10th grader and holds a benefit at the Pasadena Commu-nity Playhouse with a net profit of $30.

1937 | On January 14, Westridge is purchased by a group of parents and other interested persons from Miss Ranney and Miss Rumney, who wish to retire “as soon as competent replace-ments can be found.” The school be-comes a non-profit institution governed by a Board of Trustees, with Mrs. Hallett W. Thorne as its first president.

1938 | Westridge celebrates its 25th anniversary. Miss Ranney retires a quarter of a century after founding the school but remains on the Board of Trustees. The Alumnae Association contributes to the scholarship fund established in her honor. Miss Rumney, also retired, remains an honor-ary member of the board until her death in 1965.

Miss Anne E. Parker of St. Timothy’s School in Maryland is appointed Westridge’s second headmistress.

1939 | Miss Ranney dies. Evelyn Calvert ’43 is named the first Mary Lowther Ranney Scholar and receives the school’s first scholarship.

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[volunteers]we need you! Join the fun folks committing their time to Centennial preparation. Volunteers are needed for several projects, particularly:

Historical ArchivingHelp the committee scan photos and documents and record information into the archive database.

WritingWriters are sought for various proj-ects, such as short historical pieces relative to the life of the school. Interested writers should contact Ava Megna, amegna@westridge.org or 626.799.1053, ext 297.

Learn more about volunteering at www.westridge.org/centennial. Planning committees are forming around the following topics:

• exhibit design• event planning• communications• social media management• writing and editing• photography and videography• administrative support • hospitality: travel and hotel

To participate, contact current par-ent Jennifer Holladay, chair of the Centennial Volunteers Committee, centennialvolunteers@westridge.org.

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Westridge letter sweater, circa 1966.

Westridge athletic patches, 1930s. Roman patch, circa 1966.

Above, left: Westridge Drill Team uniform, circa 1979. Above, right: Westridge uniform blazer, 1960s.

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage

PAIDPasadena, CA

Permit No. 1986

324 Madeline DrivePasadena, California 91105www.westridge.org

Photo by current parent Marshall Kwong.

Count Down with Westr i dg e !C e n t e n n i a l 2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4

“Countdown” is Westridge School’s quarterly community newsletter detailing the goals, planning needs, and event announcements for Westridge’s Centennial in 2013-2014.

We want you to join in the fun! Find out how, inside!

Centennial Celebrationswelcome | festival of the artsThursday • March 20, 2014

alumnae dayFriday • March 21, 2014

party: happy birthday, westridge! Saturday • March 22, 2014

farewell brunchSunday • March 23, 2014

2 0 1 3 - 2 0 1 4

Centennial E v e n t s

For inquiries about the

Westridge Centennial,

please contact Centennial

Coordinator Ava Megna,

amegna@westridge.org,

626.799.1053, ext. 297.

Founder’s DaySunday • October 6, 2013

Homecomingathletics hall of fame inductionFriday • January 10, 2014

www.westridge.org/centennial

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