The Altamont School helps all students find their unique expressions of leadership through experiential learning. The school's C. Kyser Miree Center guides all of these efforts, but is especially focused on the advanced leadership education of Upper School students who apply to work within the Center.
Miree Center students create and lead long-term community initiatives as they become thoughtful and informed community leaders. To date, they have created more than 100 initiatives in human rights, environmental preservation, mental health, education, medicine, the arts, and a host of other topics that spark their passion and intellectual curiosity.
Nivedha Goli worked through the Miree Center to create a Multicultural Dance Festival that showcases Birmingham's richly diverse community. Her aim was to promote representation and cultural inclusivity, provide education about the history and importance of dance in different cultures, discover talent among Altamont students, and bring people together for what has become the school's largest annual cultural event. The Alabama Committee of The Princeton Prize honored her with its Certificate of Merit in recognition of the important work she has done to advance racial equity and foster positive race relations.
Alexander Skowronski keeps a spotlight on young refugees as part of his ongoing work with the Miree Center. At the beginning of the war in Ukraine, he and his parents, Jan and Bozena, developed an aid program through the family’s Fortuna Clinical Foundation. At school, he organized virtual meetings between his Altamont peers and the displaced students. Skowronski and fellow Miree Center student Akshay Gaddamanugu also solicited refugee children’s letters to Saint Nicholas, found translators, raised more than $4,000, bought the items the children requested, organized wrapping events with other Altamont students, and ensured that the gifts were delivered on time to refugee centers at Yazlovets and Tlumach, complete with response letters from Saint Nicholas.
Each year, the Miree Center organizes a two-day conference for its students. A day of on-campus seminars is led by a diverse set of local leaders. A day of off-campus learning introduces students to the workplace culture of prominent Birmingham-area businesses, cultural institutions, research centers and nonprofit
organizations. The experiences demonstrate the variety of ways people work to improve their community, and inspire Miree Center students as they develop their own initiatives.
The Miree Center guides students in a variety of supervised summer internship experiences that immerse them in areas of academic and professional interest. The Altamont School's network of distinguished local and national alumni, community partners, and Birmingham-area business, education and cultural institutions provides exceptional opportunities for this kind of advanced experiential learning. Students research their internship hosts and industries, and formally reflect on what they learn. The experiences are transformative, refining students' interests in unexpected ways as they make vitally important decisions about college and career. Recent internships have included:
U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
Office of the Mayor of Birmingham
SHIPT
Southern Research
Birmingham Hand and Plastic Surgery
CRC Insurance Services
Alabama Pediatrics
Birmingham Legion Football Club
Contact Us!
Beth Dille
Director, C. Kyser Miree Ethical Leadership Center
Altamont alumnus Kyser Miree ‘05 was a firm believer in the ability of an individual to make a significant difference in the world. He developed that conviction and sense of responsibility during his years at Altamont, and carried it with him through college and professional life. He was a victim of gun violence in 2010, but his memory and values are celebrated in the name of our thriving center. We invite you to make a gift that will help us continue this work.
