By Caroline C. and Anna M.

The successful operation of Winsor is a feat that requires the effort of hundreds of people. We students recognize the hard work of our teachers, but we do not acknowledge the many other members of the Winsor community enough, people without whom we would be unable to thrive and learn. The aim of this article is to recognize and honor a few of Winsor’s faculty members who contribute to our school’s unique culture. Ms. Marshall, Ms. McLaurin, and Mr. Wonoski are three faculty members whose dedication to our school warrants appreciation.  

Ms. Marshall:

1. How long have you been at Winsor?
   1. 20 years.
2. What is your role at Winsor,?
   1. Basically, I am the receptionist, attendance coordinator, and any other hats Winsor needs me to fill. 
3. What is your favorite thing about working at Winsor?
   1. Greeting the girls everyday.
4. If you could have any actor play you in a movie about your life who would it be?
   1. Cicely Tyson. She is an actress or actor.  She started out as one of the first black models and became an actress.  The roles that she has selected in her life reminds me of myself. And she’s 95 years old!
5. If you could travel to one place in the entire world where would it be and why?
   1. I would love to travel to Jerusalem.  I am not sure why, I just have always wanted to go and have never been.
6. What is your favorite Winsor lunch?
   1. The teriyaki chicken.
7. What is your biggest fear?
   1. My biggest fear is that love dissolves. 
8. What is your go-to karaoke song?
   1. “I Will Survive” by Gloria Gaynor.
9. What are your favorite hobbies?
   1. I like to do any kind of community service.  I also like to do arts and crafts.  
10. Do you have anything else you think would be important to share with the community?
    1. I would definitely say that we unify as one. 

Ms. McLaurin:

1. How long have you been at Winsor?
   1. This is my 18th year of employment.  Of course, that does not include my six years as a Winsor student!
2. What is your role at Winsor?
   1. I am the Director of Admission & Financial Aid.  That role requires me to be responsible for keeping the School fully-enrolled, insuring over $23 million in annual revenue, and using $4.6 million of that tuition revenue to support the changing financial needs of many of our students and families.
3. What is your favorite thing about working at Winsor?
   1. The opportunity to build, with tremendous care and intention, a uniquely diverse population of students who reflect the School’s values and principles.  I recognize that for many, a Winsor education will be a positive, life-changing experience for the student and may alter the trajectory of their family’s future for the better.
4. If you could have any actor play you in a movie about your life who would it be?
   1. Kerry Washington
5. If you could travel to one place in the entire world where would it be and why?
   1. I would return to the francophone country of Senegal located in West Africa where I completed a year of undergraduate study and where I have returned only four times: to take my GMAT exam (a test needed to take to get into MBA programs), to have my wedding dress made, to introduce my husband to the country and my friends, and most recently, to introduce my daughter.
6. What is your favorite Winsor lunch?
   1. I feel blessed every time I go into the cafeteria that I get to have a salad, because there’s so many different things to put on a salad!  I love getting a great big salad everyday.
7. What is your biggest fear?
   1. To be honest my biggest fear is that I won’t live long enough to be able to invest the time I need in the work of sculpting and art to get really good at it.  I have put it off for a long time, and I want to develop a body of work that I am proud of to display. 
8. What is your go-to karaoke song?
   1. I don’t really have one, but after doing Truth Hurts [at the upper school sing-off], I could definitely rock it!
9. What are your favorite hobbies?
   1. I am actually a closeted artist.  I do sculpture; in fact, I have a sculpture [that I made] of my husband’s head in my office.  I usually do portrait sculpture, but I have started branching out into other areas. Next year I am going to move to Savannah, Georgia because there is the Savannah College of Arts and Design, and they have a public school for the arts.  I felt that I could move out there and continue my level of art. I find sculpture therapeutic.
10. Do you have anything else you think would be important to share with the community?
    1. The fact that I was a banker after being a bad math student when I was at Winsor should show that you can’t think that whatever it is you are doing now is what you are going to do forever.  I have gone through so many different wonderful things. I never woke up one day and thought “I am going to be the director of admissions at Winsor”, I couldn’t wait to get out of Winsor! The best message I can give is to be open and follow your passions. Don’t be afraid to change your mind and stop and do something else.  
11. Would you speak about your experience being the third student of color that Winsor ever enrolled?
    1.  I got an absolutely fabulous education but the environment in which I got it was not very good; it was very hard.  I did not come back after my graduation for 25 years. When I came back to Winsor, Carolyn Peter was Head of School, and she had done so much work to make the school more diverse, inclusive, and open that I feel so proud to have taken the legacy that she gave me to continue what she started.  Winsor is now a wonderful mix of all types of people. It doesn’t make life easy, but we learn how to disagree but still love each other. The environment that Winsor has now is not being mirrored outside of these walls, and it’s unfortunate. However, I feel so honored to have been able to create an environment where kids can meet other people from other walks of life that they wouldn’t meet anyway.  

Mr. Wonoski:

1. How long have you been at Winsor?
   1. I have been at Winsor for 33 years and actually a year previously working as a carpenter building the science wing.
2. What is your role at Winsor?
   1. I spent the first 25 years as Maintenance Director. Then, when the construction of the LOC started, the school needed someone with construction management experience. Mr. Crompton took over the department, and I took the role of Special Projects Coordinator but will do anything that needs to be done!
3. What is your favorite thing about Winsor?
   1. My favorite thing is standing outside in the morning.  I really enjoy seeing all the smiling faces of students and parents.  I also coach curling and love seeing the girls go from knowing nothing about it to excelling at it.
4. If you could have any actor play you in a movie about your life, who would it be?
   1. Tom Selleck
5. If you could travel to one place in the entire world, where would it be and why?
   1. The place that I would like to visit is Vietnam.  I am planning on a visit after I retire. I’ve been checking Air BnBs and hotels, seeing what’s available; beaches are first on the list, then some jungle excursions. 
6. What is your favorite Winsor lunch?
   1. I am not a fussy-eater and the meals at Winsor have always been good.  I do not really like having fish because my wife won’t eat it at home. The soup on February 4th, beef barley, was fantastic!
7. What is your biggest fear?
   1. My fear now is losing my youngest sister.  She had brain cancer that was in remission but now has returned. 
8. What is your go-to karaoke song?
   1. I am definitely not a singer but if I did, my go-to song would be something from Chris Stapleton.
9. What are your favorite hobbies?
   1. I have a small piece of property in Maine that I have been building a cabin on.  My goal is to build using as much recycled and used material as possible. I’m at about 60% now.  In the winter I snowmobile and in the summer I like to fish. At home I like to garden, and over my 25 years of gardening, I have developed a pretty nice-looking yard.