Leadership Education

C. Kyser Miree ’05 appreciated a complex prank or adventure, and was often a pathfinder for fun. The qualities that endeared him to friends also shaped his education and profession. “He was great at seeing a big problem or task and breaking it down into the simplest parts,” classmate Adam Frye ‘05 recalled at a celebration of ten years of The Altamont School’s C. Kyser Miree Center for Ethical Leadership. “It was no big shock to any of us that he became an engineer. While others debated, he would be active. It wasn’t brash or callous—he would just see the simple solution and he would move forward. The funny thing was, people followed. They trusted his judgement and his instincts, and most people would just find themselves naturally inclined to join in.”

When Kyser Miree died in 2010, parents Kathryn and Ben Miree and his family entrusted The Altamont School to cultivate in new generations the qualities they and his friends prized in him. For more than 10 years, The C. Kyser Miree Center for Ethical Leadership has guided students through more than 100 long-term initiatives in Birmingham and beyond. “Students in the program are asked to look at big societal problems and search for ways to break them down into simple issues that people can act on,” Frye observed. Like Kyser Miree, he said, “at some point they have to take this action. They need to trust their judgement, they need to see the solution, and they just need to push forward through the crowd to execute the mission.”

Anne Brisendine ’05 helped organize the anniversary gathering. She praised the Miree Center’s emphasis on empowering students to take on challenges that match their passions, and to persevere in the spirit of her friend. “Leadership can take many forms, but the best projects and best teams always have a Kyser,” she said, “and nothing makes me happier than seeing how this program is raising up a bunch of Kysers.”

Zoe Browning

Zoe created the Page to Stage project, which bridges literature and performing arts. She raised funds for Wizard of Oz books to distribute, read and discuss in the Summer Learning Program at Children’s Fresh Air Farm. She then arranged for students to attend a theatrical version of the book, and led discussion of the differences between the book and play.

Grey Laney

Every Monday for over two years, Grey taught block coding to students at Epic Elementary School. Students came to him with varying levels of computer experience, but over time, Grey taught them broad computer literacy concepts, such as the importance of a username and password, to more nuanced skills in coding with Python. With one other student, Grey managed a large group of elementary students with little adult supervision. Over time, he learned to manage large groups of children with little to no adult supervision, as well as the power of showing up to serve in a consistent manner.

Caroline Lee

During every exam week at the Altamont School, Caroline brought service dogs to help relieve stress for students taking their finals. Though this initiative remained consistent and occurs twice a year, Caroline’s focused changed. In her ninth and tenth grade year, Caroline volunteered with the Humane Society and created donation drives to help the shelter. Junior year, Caroline decided she wanted to blend her love of service with her future career goals, so she received training through Impact America's SaveFirst program to become an IRS certified volunteer who helps people learn how to submit their taxes correctly and on time.

Riley Pierce

Riley co-founded a Young Leaders’ Board for The Recursion Program, a nonprofit organization focused on tackling and eradicating the causes of the persistence of poverty. He hosted and moderated events at Altamont featuring speakers who have advocated for human rights before the United Nations, worked for the Southern Poverty Law Center, and led literacy organizations. He led teams to cook and serve breakfast at First Light Women and Children’s Shelter, provided hundreds of shelf-stable food bags to Woodlawn Community Table, and delivered countless blankets, gloves and other essentials to Birmingham’s warming stations.

Caroline Prince

Caroline set out to help children who are battling cancer. Through her experience as a blood donor she learned about the importance of blood transfusions in cancer treatment, and made donation her Miree initiative. She hosted multiple blood drives at Altamont, providing blood for the LifeSouth organization to distribute to local hospitals.

Eleanor Roth

Eleanor’s Miree initiative took two forms: an exploration of the evolution of education in Birmingham, and a school spirit yarn project around Altamont. The education symposium was titled “Teaching and Learning: Boundaries and Pathways in Birmingham Education.” She started by exploring factors and aspects of curriculum that affect a student’s daily experience in the classroom. The other facet of Eleanor’s Miree work revolved around creating yarn art installations around the school to highlight school spirit and bring a pop of color to the everyday.

Savitri Sasse

Savitri organized a Mental Health Fair on campus, connecting Birmingham-area teens with local mental health resources at a time of great need.

Margaret Schedler

Margaret created the Ladies of Lavender (LoL) organization, which is dedicated to providing underserved individuals with free period products. The organization made menstruation education videos for YouTube and Instagram, stocked Altamont bathrooms with free period products, and discussed menstruation in inclusive ways to help the greater population learn about and appreciate periods.

Alexander Skowronski

Alexander connected Altamont students with peers who are refugees of the war in Ukraine, and organized Christmas gifts for children displaced by the war.

Wesley Sudarshan

Wesley became involved with Break the Outbreak, a national student-led organization originally devoted to donating masks during the COVID-19 pandemic. He established the organization’s Birmingham chapter and assembled a team of Altamont students. The group identified a particular need for personal protection equipment and hygiene prodocuts in local homeless shelters, and provided supplies and funding to serve that population.

Sameer Sultan

Sameer’s passion for music has been a staple in his life. As his father and little brother attempted, with much difficulty, to learn music, he became adamant about music literacy and accessibility. His first idea was to provide pianos in public spaces, but he was able to make a quick shift when he learned of an opportunity to use his fundraising success to provide keyboards and lessons for students in a local elementary school. The remainder of the $3500 he raised for keyboards went to Scrollworks, a local nonprofit that teaches music to youth.

Sophia Sultan

Sophia recognized a major knowledge gap in high school students’ knowledge of sexual health and well-being. In response, she proposed a new curriculum for Altamont's health and biology classes and hosted speakers, classes and workshops to promote knowledge, discussion and a safe learning environment.

Benjamin Tang

Ben saw a need for the women and children living at The Lovelady Center, a residential rehabilitation home for women where they can be re-united with their children, to have working technology for their GED and after school programs. He worked to rebuild seven computers for Lovelady, and continued to share his passion for technology with computer donations and training to other non-profits.

Sarah Whitley

Sarah collaborated with the local community of salons to provide hair clippings for the Matter of Trust organization, which manufactures hair mats to clean up oil spills in an eco-friendly manner.

Olivia Vanlandingham

Olivia established a pen-pal exchange between Altamont Spanish language students and children in Chiapas, Mexico, to build connections, educate her peers about the problems of poverty in Chiapas, and gather supplies for a mission trip to that community.

Iman Zuberi

Iman established Altamont’s chapter of the Cool Cat Club. The club honors the memory of the founder's late father, who died of cancer. Under Iman’s leadership, Altamont’s chapter created cards and worked with local businesses to raise funds to buy hats, beanies, snacks and drinks for cancer patients at Brookwood Hospital.

Maaz Zuberi

Starting in his freshmen year, Maaz created the Altamont eSports Team which aimed to work on how to compete in video games fairly while also learning leadership and problem-solving skills through video games. The team competed in three games and placed top-three in the nation. To the players that have played together, they have learned how to become better problem-solvers, as well as learning leadership tactics in the game that can be applied to their everyday lives. Starting his junior year, Maaz expanded his leadership portfolio by creating Altapreneurs with some fellow classmates. Altapreneurs is a club aimed to teach students about business and entrepreneurship, allowing them to create an actual pitch. In the group's first initiative, students created Wicked Smart (wickedsmarttutoring.com), a peer-led tutoring service that provides personalized ACT tutoring for a low cost. Through the club, Maaz and other students were able to create a pitch for real investors in Birmingham.