My brother and I were public school kids. I don’t really think my parents ever considered anything else. My much younger sister is a different story but that post is for a different day. Maybe when it is National Middle Child Day we can talk about it.

But all joking aside, I don’t think my parents considered private school much for Brett and me. When I moved here to Virginia, I realized that there were lots of private schools - which just wasn’t the case in Ohio. Despite having so many options here I think one of the great things about this area is that kids don’t just hang out with kids from their school. My kids' friends go to tons of different schools, and I think that is such a great part of this town.

A few years ago we had to start the high school search for Blair. I had heard about Georgetown Visitation. I actually remember driving by before I even had kids and seeing the Adirondack chairs and brick buildings and thinking: I can’t imagine going to a school like that. As I have mentioned to Blair, at my big public school, we had a smoking lounge…for the students.

Despite not being Catholic, Blair was fortunate enough to be accepted into Visi and will graduate in 2025. When you have a child who attends Visi you realize how many amazing people have a connection to this place. Either they or their child are an alum, and it remains a special place to so many people. One of the things they will ask you within moments of learning that your child attends is if she is Gold or White. Basically, the school is broken into two teams, and they compete against each other. It is probably my daughter’s favorite tradition.

Maura O’Connor Burchette is one of the people who quickly asked what team Blair was on. Maura is a Visi graduate as well and you could see her genuine excitement when I told her Blair was going there. I asked her to share some of her favorite memories from Visi. Here’s what she had to say:

• What is the best part of going to an all girls school? My friends. They are the best. There is something really special about the girls who go to Visitation. We've been laughing together for the past 20 years. It truly is a community where you make amazing lifelong friends.

• Who was your favorite teacher and why? Visitation was so hard! The teachers are incredible, but man they really made us work so hard. It's tough to pick a favorite from all of the torture they inflicted on us (for which I'm grateful today). I always loved the English classes and adored Mrs. McGovern. I recently found out that my art teacher, who I love, Ms. Duvall (now Mrs. Smith), still has one of my paintings hanging on her wall. I remember feeling like I was awful at art class, but now she's definitely at the top of my favorites.

• What is your favorite tradition at Visi? We have a lot of pride with our many traditions at Visitation. School spirit runs deep and as the Gold Team CAPTAIN, I always loved Gold/White the most: picking a theme, hosting a headquarters to create costumes and secret cheers, and having a huge pep rally for the field hockey or basketball game. All these years later, I jumped at the chance to have a Gold/White competition against the Hive!

• What is the one high school activity you wish you had tried? I feel like I would have loved doing some of the drama stuff, but I was way too scared to try out.

We are, however, divided. Blair is Team White and Maura is Team Gold. The first Gold/White week of the year is a few weeks away and we thought it would be fun to host a fundraiser at our stores.

So, on October 27th from 6 to 8 we are hosting a friendly competition. Shop at either The Shoe Hive, The Hive, or Monday’s Child and we will give 20 percent of our sales to the school. We will track which team (White obviously) you would like to attribute the sale towards. Nothing like some friendly competition, and shopping.