The Ace Collection

The+Ace+Collection

On April 21, 2023, we experienced something that no school, community, or family should ever have to go through. Ace Pohl, a friend of all, passed away suddenly at the age of 16. While engulfed in grief and heartache, our school community came together in ways unforeseen on this campus. Over the course of the last three weeks, school administrators, teachers, and friends of Ace have shared some stories about Ace. We hope that in some small way this will preserve the legacy of a life cut tragically short. 

 

Donut Table- Mr. Clarke, Head of School

I don’t have the opportunity to interact closely with specific students frequently.  I do remember my first close interactions with Ace.  I was observing Mrs. Kimmell as she taught Fundamentals of Art, and Ace was 1 of 5 students present that day, as they were offering constructive critiques.  I was very impressed with all of the students, with the kindness and depth with which they spoke of their own creations, and the works of one another. I was especially impressed with Ace as the only male in the group, and the vulnerability he was willing to display at that age – while wearing a mask, unfortunately and no less!  All of these initial impressions of Ace have been confirmed in my subsequent interactions with him, from his reaction when I’ve had to nag the “donut table trophy case” boys at lunch to clean up after themselves, to his speech when Rowan was presented the Jacques Award, to what Mrs. Hubert and Mr. Lipp have shared of his Sophomore Project involving photography of Greenville historic buildings and his Computer-Based Control project, respectively.  As I mentioned at assembly, while Ace and I weren’t friends, so to speak, he was a friend to me, because that’s just who he was.  I’m so heartened by the way the school community has stepped up to support one another and the Pohl family during this time of loss and grief.  I’m confident that we will continue to find ways to hold Ace and the way he lived his life in our individual and collective memories.

 

Gym Time-Mr. Riley, Photography Teacher

In my experience, Ace was one of the students who was extremely chill, yet would take a leadership role in the classroom. He was extremely kind in the classroom, making sure everyone was involved in his group. His love of animals was clear, as seen through his request to donate to the Humane Society. One day, while working out at my gym, Ace and his friend Jake came in. Surprisingly, he came up to me and was extremely friendly and cheerful, something you wouldn’t expect from a student in a public place. That really showed who Ace was, a perfect person. Of course, no one is perfect but Ace was about as close as you could get as a student in my class. 

 

Wheelies and Tires – Jackson Linz, Class of ‘25

“I met Ace in the 5th grade. We both had Mrs. Eley, he didn’t really talk much that year. I was playing the game “Wheelie” on some unblocked site and he sat down next to me and we started talking about the game. Eventually we started playing together, and by the end of the year we had beat all seven “Wheelie” games. 

 “The tires at Ace’s spot…we got those last year. We both went to a Formula Drift event; we both loved cars. We drove to Atlanta, went to the event, and during the ‘halftime’ we saw the tires. We stole these two tires from some pit crew and snuck off with them. Ace was continually asking how in the world we got those tires. We didn’t get home until like 2 AM that night, and my mom wasn’t exactly happy about it [the tires], but we thought it was awesome.” 

“Ace and I had agreed to shaving our heads at the beginning of summer. I went ahead and shaved; show it off, whatnot, and put “ACE” in the side of my head because my mom said no to a tattoo.” 

 

Churros – Tucker Hendrix, Class of ‘25

“In 6th grade, Ace, JT, and myself were in Model UN. We were doing a project on Catalonian succession and how to stop it. For part of our project, we needed an exhibit about Spain. For that, we got a bunch of Costco churros, and we were supposed to give them to people at our convention. Ace ate like half of the churros we were supposed to be giving out. At the time we weren’t very happy, but it’s something we laughed about all the time.”

 

From Rowan MacClenahan, Class of ‘25, and a close friend of Ace

Wrapping the House 

Ace was always down to do something stupid and have a good time. No matter what you suggested, he’d say yes. This past December he told me he wasn’t in the Christmas spirit so I had the perfect solution…  We’d cover his dad’s house in wrapping paper. Of course, Ace was down. So we went to the Dollar Tree and bought at least 30 rolls of paper and 5 boxes of tape. I felt so bad for the cashier because we kept dropping the rolls, and were just a total mess. We raced each other back to the house, and of course, Ace won in his bright blue Subaru WRX. He loved that car more than anything and would dust anyone in sight. Once we got to the house, we put on some Kanye and started wrapping. We started in the front hallway and wrapped from the floor to the ceiling, with no wall in sight. By the time we finished the hallway, we were already out of tape and almost out of wrapping paper. So, we went on another Dollar Tree run to restock. When we returned, we continued wrapping in the kitchen. When I say everything…  I mean EVERYTHING was covered in paper. The sink, the oven, the toaster, wine bottles, literally the entire kitchen. We both laughed at the stupidity of what we were doing but persisted to wrap. After about 6 hours I sadly had to go home. As always, Ace thanked me for spending time with him, having fun, and being his best friend. I hope Ace knows he has nothing to thank me for because whenever I was with him, I was happy no matter what. I never got tired of him, and our fun and friendship were never forced, because we both loved each other and were truly best friends. 

Goodwill and Planet Smoothie

Ace was always the person I’d go to after having a bad day and in need of cheering up because he was always there for me when no one else was. The thing I admired most about Ace was his loyalty. He did not care about what other people thought of you, how smart you were, your looks, or what your “reputation” may be; if he was your friend, he’d be there for you. One specific time I remember him being there to cheer me up was a random Friday in January. I had an irritating day at school and was angry over some stupid girl drama, and wanted a distraction. So he came with me to Planet Smoothie and Goodwill. Like always, he let me rant and then proceeded to side with me. We got our smoothies, played Jenga, and went to Goodwill for some thrifting. We always joked that I needed to “drip him up”, but the clothes were just not it that day. However, I remember finding a soccer mom shirt and almost convinced him to buy it, but he claimed he was “too broke”. After shopping, we both had to go home for dinner, so I left and not even 2 minutes later, he called me saying he left his keys and wallet in my car. Leave it to Ace to forget the two most important things you need to drive: keys and an ID. I drove it back to him and he gave me his usual response, “My badddd,” and then laughed and thanked me. Ace was truly one of the most forgetful people I’ve ever met, but I loved him for it. This is only one of many stories about Ace taking me out and cheering me up whenever I asked. He did it all the time; whenever I needed him he was there. I’ve never trusted someone as much as him and believe everyone should strive to be as loyal and loving as Ace.