The new Bowden Upper School features innovative spaces designed for student collaboration.
One of the new spaces is the Social Stairs in the new Bowden Upper School lobby.
The Social Stairs have a special twist to them: inspirational quotes from famous people all around the world.
“We wanted a mix of the three A’s — academics, arts and athletics,” said Ms. Alexa Leach, the school’s advancement services manager. “These values are very important for Kinkaid, and we wanted to showcase that.”
The original idea for this design feature came from alumni Mr. Brandt Bowden and Ms. Christina Cho Yoo, both from the class of 1996.
Ms. Cho Yoo is co-founder of Atelier Cho Thompson, the company that created the design for the new Upper School and Mr. Bowden is the CEO of the Hanover Company, which oversaw the construction and design of the building. The two collaborated to create the look and design of the Social Stairs.
Ms. Leach said the advancement team at Kinkaid wanted to get the faculty and staff involved in the design of the new building.
In October 2023, the team invited faculty and staff to help by submitting quotes for the stairway.
Head of School Mr. Jonathan Eades, Mr. Tom Moore, director of advancement, and Mr. Bowden carefully selected 25 out of 106 responses and sent them to the design team to see which quotes would fit on the stairs.
One of the quotes on the right side of the stairs is from Mr. John Ger Mann, who taught AP U.S. history at Kinkaid for over 30 years.
His students and people who knew him, know of his famous acronym “Tanstaafl.” This acronym stands for “There Ain’t No Such Thing As a Free Lunch.”
Another quote is from Mr. David Underwood, an alumnus who graduated in 1954. Mr. Underwood, who served on the school’s board of trustees, is the only Kinkaid alum to have a quote.
The Social Stairs ended up having 17 different quotes, from athletes to philosophers.
