The Wright Way

If you have been to any event on the campus of UMS-Wright, chances are you have seen, Al Chow!  Al is the father of Janie '15 and Jordan '20. Even though his daughters have graduated from UMS-Wright, Al remains the ultimate Bulldog supporter. Known as the "Assistant TO the Band Director," Al attends every home game and travels to all away games. In addition, he assists Mrs. Jokerst with anything and everything she needs, including feeding the band before every football game. Al's constant support of our school does not go unnoticed, and we are thrilled to share him as a guest on the latest podcast episode! 

Eden Walker Flora grew up in Mobile, Alabama and has happily been an artist since she was a
little girl, officially starting her business in 2013. She graduated from UMS-Wright in 2002.
Eden received a BFA in Fabric Design from the University of Georgia and a MPS in Art Therapy
and Creativity Development from Pratt Institute in Brooklyn, New York. She is a Registered Art
Therapist. As an experiential learner, Eden finds she learns best when she creates an
experience for her ideas to be searched and pondered. She loves teaching what she discovers
through her work.

Eden resides in Oxford, Mississippi with her very loving and very tall husband and two precious
sons. She paints from her aqua filled home studio there. Eden sells her work via her website
and various licensing collaborations. Her work can be seen at @edenwflora,
www.edenwflora.com and in stores such as Belk, HomeGoods and Hobby Lobby.

Dr. Arick Auyang is a graduate of the class of 2000 from UMS-Wright and the Director of Product Innovation for Columbia Sportswear. After graduating UMS-Wright, he graduated from Emory University and then earned a PhD in Applied Physiology from GeorgiaTech where he specialized in robotics, prosthetics and human rehabilitation. He spent the next 7 years in academics, teaching and doing research at GeorgiaTech, University of Maryland, and CU Boulder. He transitioned to Nike in 2013 where he joined the Nike Sports Research Lab focusing on basketball footwear research. He developed research protocols and worked with elite athletes to identify opportunities for the next generation of Nike Basketball footwear. He later transitioned to become Nike Basketball’s head of Innovation Strategy and Integration for Nike Basketball. In this role, he worked with amazing product creation teams and athletes to create iconic products seen on courts around the world and helped chart the course for Nike Basketball’s most successful new franchise, the G.T. Series. He recently transitioned to become the Product Innovation Director for Columbia Sportswear where he continues to combine his academic mindset, knowledge of product and innovation excellence with his love of the outdoors.

Arick enjoys spending time in the outdoors and traveling with his wife, Katie, and two children, Coraline and Archer. One of the things that Arick values the most is ‘Perspective,’ something that he incorporates into all aspects of his life and tries to instill on his children. Through education and travel and discussion, the ability to see the world from different perspectives without first introducing the bias of one’s own perspective can bring new understanding, empathy, and enlightenment.

Philip Long graduated from UMS-Wright in 2007. After high school, he attended Wooford College and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Philip and his wife Amber have three wonderful children, Lois (8), Micah (6), and Lydia (3), and currently reside in Fountain Inn, South Carolina where he serves as the pastor at Infinity Church. When he is not at church, Philip enjoys coaching the kids' sports teams, running, cycling, reading, and home renovations.

386 students, 56 teachers, 14 buses, 8 planes, 29 internships, 18 offerings, 42 cities, and 2 international trips..PROJECT ENGAGE 2023 is a WRAP!

UMS-Wright is always striving to provide unique opportunities to enhance the lives of our students, and Project Engage does just that. It offers a cross-curriculum, hands-on learning experience that allows students to delve deeply into an area of personal interest while developing deeper relationships with peers and faculty with similar academic curiosities! Project Engage 2023 kicked off on January 5 with a variety of adventures and experiences for our 9-12 grade students. Throughout this 10-day mini-term, students had learning experiences along the Gulf Coast, Belize, the Grand Canyon, Greece, Key West, and other exciting places! They participated in flight simulations, cooking classes, archaeology digs, museum tours, hunting excursions, camp outs, scuba diving and much more.

The Project Engage 2023 courses offered were as follows: Grand Canyon 2023; Lights | Camera | Action; Forestry; Key West; Belize; Explore Greece; Ready | Set | Dive; Take a Journey; Physics Xtreme; Design | Build | Fly; Art & Architecture; Choose an Internship; Habitat for Humanity; Archaeology;  Entrepreneurship; It’s All About the Food; and The Other Side of Sports.

Dr. William Mangham is a native of Mobile, Alabama and a 2000 graduate of UMS-Wright. He attended the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. 9/11 occurred during his sophomore year and inspired him to join the Marines, in which he served as an officer on three deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. This period of service included combat experience in Afghanistan's Korengal Valley and during the Iraq "surge" in 2007. After being honorably discharged as a captain, Dr. Mangham completed pre-med studies and entered medical school at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island. Upon graduation in 2016, he began his residency in neurosurgery at the University of Tennessee and Semmes-Murphey Clinic in Memphis. Dr. Mangham served as chief resident from 2021-2022 and is currently completing a spine fellowship. Dr. Mangham will join the staff of Ochsner Health in New Orleans, Louisiana this summer and his practice will focus on minimally invasive spine surgery. Dr. Mangham enjoys spending time with his wife and three children, as well as reading, gardening, cooking, and exercise.

Joe is a 1987 graduate of UMS. Today, Dr. Savage works full-time as the director of Roads of Hope, committing his life to the rescue and care of orphans in distress. ROH currently cares for 40 orphaned children living in five different “family-type” homes scattered across Moldova. Joe also rescues children who have been taken, provides humanitarian aid to orphanages, hosts orphans to the United States, and tries to connect as many orphans to families as possible.

Sivan & David Sabag moved their family from Pardes Hanna Karkur, Israel to Mobile, Alabama in August of 2021 just in time for Hallel to start K3, Eden to start 1st grade and Maor to start 3rd grade. Additionally, Sivan was pregnant with their 4th child, Avari. Be sure to catch this episode of The Wright Way for an inside glimpse of how our international families embrace the UMS-Wright culture and support the UMS-Wright mission! 

Joni Hendee is the Marketing and Public Relations Director for the Dumas Wesley Community Center. For over 15 years, she has been serving the community center in a variety of capacities, including: public speaking, special events and fundraising; communications planning; media relations; crisis management; online promotion and cause-related marketing; social media and Web 2.0, and website content management. Her dedication to serving the less fortunate and genuine desire to help others has propelled her career in the non-profit sector, where she has been recognized among her peers with an Award of Excellence from Public Relations Council of Alabama. Joni and her husband Marcus have a 25 year-old son, Elijah, a 19 year-old son, Tyrek, and a 13 year-old son, Anthony. They reside in Ocean Springs, Mississippi.

Nathan Cox '00 is the founder and CEO of 68 Ventures, the parent company for numerous operating and development entities along the Alabama Gulf Coast and Florida Panhandle. After his time at UMS-Wright, he graduated from the University of Alabama summa cum laude in investment finance and economics, then earned his MBA from the University of South Alabama. He played football at the University of Alabama while earning Academic All SEC Honors, was recognized with the Paul “Bear” Bryant Award his senior year as the university’ s most outstanding student athlete, and later presented with the Economics, Finance, and Legal Studies Alumni Leadership Award.

Upon graduation, Nathan became a Rifle Platoon Commander with 3rd Bn 6th Marines and during his deployment in Iraq was awarded the Navy Commendation Medal with combat “V” for Valor as a 1st Lieutenant in recognition of his actions while in combat. 

Nathan is passionate about spending time with his wife, Kimberly, three children [Savannah, Scarlett and Luke], traveling, leading charitable endeavors, exercising, tackling challenges, any form of competition and studying successful people. He strives to live out his personal purpose statement,

“To see all I can do with all that I have been given by always going for it, never forgetting who I am in the process and helping everyone I can along my journey to live out a story worth telling. On judgement day my life will have been deemed a success because I will be able to say, ‘I have nothing left. I used everything you gave me.’”