School News

Back To School 2020 Style

The start of this year has looked quite different than in previous years, but one thing is certain: the students are so glad to be back in the building. On August 17th, CLS welcomed its students back. Even our synchronous learners were thrilled to be in a virtual classroom. Because of our technology and synchronous options, our school has gone national! We have students from Eastern Kentucky and Texas. Who would have guessed that our safe haven could become just that for students so far away?

Since March, our faculty and administration have been working to create a reopening plan in order to create a comfortable environment that maintains productivity and safety for our students. We are fortunate to have a beautiful, uniquely designed building that allows us to maintain social distance. Our technology usage in the classroom is now state of the art and continues to support students inside the classroom and virtually. We are ready for all scenarios this year could throw at us.

Our priority has been and will continue to be the health and welfare of our students while maintaining the academic integrity and rigorous intensity that is expected of a Covington Latin education. We are also committed to the social emotional learning (SEL) needs of our students by remaining connected with them. While the typical events one experiences at Covington Latin (mixers, honors assemblies, and more) are now virtual, our students remain engaged and outgoing. Our Student Council hosted a virtual Back to School mixer which was just as well attended as any other mixer. Our students also participated in virtual bingos, trivia nights, and game nights. Check out our photos from our first week of school!

Honors Assembly

During our Honors Assembly in early September, this year’s Academic Leadership Scholarships were announced. We are proud to announce the following students were awarded scholarships for their academic performances for the 2019-2020 academic year. Students are listed by grade level alphabetically.

Corona Studii Award for the 2019-20 School Year

Andrew Apollonio, Teah Hagan, Lucy Obermeyer, Claire Hofmann, Jackson Rauf

Kohlhepp Memorial Scholarship

Abigail Hyrne, Brady Boyer, Olivia Brown, Monica Juelg, Matthew Bier

Ranft-Vesper Scholarship

Elizabeth Longbrake, Lauren Ehrman, Andrew Browning, Cecelia McDaniel, Jaylah Dowell

Zalla Memorial Scholarship

Boston Main, Kevin Garuccio, Lilly Hagan, Brian Noe, Weston Jesinoski

Hellmann Memorial Scholarship

Ella Thornberry, Roman Linkugel, Julia Smith, Karina Stankova, Elizabeth McWhinnie

APT Scholarship

Mary Lauren Veazey, Jacob Schuetter, Sakurako Watanabe, Charlotte Wagstaff, Gabriel Weber

The Gary Cummins Scholarship

Andrew Apollonio, Abigail Hyrne, Mia Ionna, A’nika Lickert, Jonathon Miller

APT Academic Promise Scholarship

Laurynn Smith, Cooper Jones, Sunoor Hundal, Lucas Thompson, Nathaniel Shartzer

LATIN LEGACY: LT. COL RICHARD LAWSON

Carved in stone on the edifice of our building is “Bonitatem et Disciplinam et Scientiam”. It has always been Covington Latin School’s motto that to all who enter the doors would acquire goodness, discipline, and knowledge. Each student who has exited after their graduation has done so in their own unique way and fulfilled our motto in the next stages of their lives.

We have chosen to highlight one such alumnus who has done just that. Lt. Col. Richard Lawson ‘89 entered CLS knowing only a few students in the grades above him. He knew Covington Latin by reputation as being challenging academically. Having participated in the Ascent program (a gifted and talented program through Kenton County Public Schools), he knew what it was like to be surrounded by like-minded individuals who loved to learn.

Richard has fond memories of Latin School and especially his teachers and mentors, including Father Jim Ryan, Gene Morrison, “Doc” Backer, Andy Barczak (and his guinea pig), Mary Brennan, Richard Stewart, Dave Zalla, Ebert Haegele, Dennis Whitehead, and Tim Fitzgerald, Rich still has his senior thesis with teacher comments and proudly has his English Award hanging on his office wall. These teachers had a tremendous impact on him citing, “They were the best thing that ever happened to me. They always expected more from us and gave us the tools to achieve. “The Latin School staff led us along a fine line between shaping future leaders and recreating the Lord of the Flies.”

As a self described “nerd”, Richard appreciated the challenges presented to him by his teachers and conversely the challenges presented to the teachers by the students. He loved the experiential learning of Ancient Day and Medieval Day: where else could you learn to fashion your own armor out of sheet metal? He believes that during his time at CLS, he learned what right looked like, as well as what it took to work with others to make it so. These are a few of the things he attributes his successes to as he moved through the next chapters of his life. His personal motto has been, “You don’t need to be the best at everything, but be great at everything you do”. After graduating from CLS at 15, Rich attended Purdue University and studied Aerospace Engineering and joined ROTC. Finding that he wanted to challenge himself more, Rich changed course and applied to the U.S. Naval Academy where he was a Distinguished Graduate and Burke Scholar. He found his experience in Annapolis familiar and more palatable because it was so similar to Latin School in that he was able to find the renaissance education that he was accustomed to. During his time at Annapolis, Fr. Ryan visited him, and he was so honored that the man that he viewed as larger than life at CLS took the time to make the trip.

Richard was commissioned as a Second Lieutenant in the Marine Corps after graduation and was selected for training as a Naval Aviator. Always seeking to further his education, he earned his Masters of Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and worked with the Haas School of Business before beginning his Marine Corps training. Upon graduation from Berkeley, he attended The Basic School where he was an honor graduate and received awards in discipline and leadership.

Having always loved flying, Rich earned his gold Naval Aviator wings through flight school with the Air Force in Enid, Oklahoma and the Navy in Pensacola, Florida, where he learned to fly jet aircraft and helicopters in. His first routine deployment to the Pacific as a Cobra pilot aboard the USS Pelelieu changed abruptly on September 11, 2001. Rich soon found himself on the way to Pakistan and then Camp Rhino in Afghanistan during Operation ENDURING FREEDOM . On the following deployment he found himself piloting the second aircraft to cross into Iraq during Operation IRAQI FREEDOM. He