HOMECOMING AND REUNION WEEKEND 2023

Alumni Reception

Friday, September 22 5:30 p.m.

Wright Family Tennis Complex

All alumni gather for a special evening featuring dinner by the bite and drinks.

Homecoming Football Game

Friday, September 22 7:00 p.m.

Alumni Breakfast

Saturday, September 23 10:30 a.m.

Carey Family Amphitheater

Alumni breakfast honoring the class of 1973 and 50+ year alumni. All alumni are welcome; includes presentation of the Virtue in Action and Distinguished Alumni awards.

Classes ending in ’3 and ’8 will celebrate their reunions this year. Please contact Peter Fossett ’80, associate director of alumni and legacy giving, at 513.979.0283 or fossettp@countryday.net with any questions.

Dear Members of the Country Day Community,

As you will see from this edition of Connections, 2022-23 was a year of refltitdttiitdbtft flecting on our past and getting excited about our future.

In January, we lost a CCDS legend in John Raushenbush. Our 8th headmaster, John led Country Day through a pivotal period from the early days of coed Upper School classes to the doorstep of a technological revolution in the early 1990s. John left a profound legacy at CCDS that is still felt to this day. We are pleased to share some remembrances from colleagues and alumni in this magazine.

This year we also bade farewell to three other legends: Merle Black, Beth Langenbahn, and Ashley Ward, who retired in June. Their combined service of over 80 years has touched the lives of countless students, including mine. Among the articles celebrating these three educators is a personal tribute to Merle Black for changing my life.

But the best part of Country Day is that we are always creating new traditions and cultivating the next generation of life-changing educators. Within this magazine you will find much to celebrate about the present and future of CCDS:

• Addison Heimann ’24, a second-generation Country Day student, personally led an initiative to bring noted speaker Daryl Davis to campus. Addison’s leadership led to an impactful discussion on the power of dialogue, as exemplified by Mr. Davis’s work to convince dozens of Ku Klux Klan members to leave the group. Mr. Davis encouraged the students to “cancel our cancel culture” and “walk across the cafeteria” to start new dialogues, even when they are uncomfortable. I cannot remember the last time I heard such an enthusiastic response from our students and teachers.

• Our Middle School and Upper School spring choir concert, “New Traditions,” was a rousing success, generating unprecedented buzz around our vocal department under the exciting new leadership of choir teacher Greg Miller. We cannot wait to see what comes next!

• CCDX Week 4.0 was bigger and better than ever, including trips to Costa Rica, Spain, and Los Angeles, in addition to local programs like a Shark Tank entrepreneurship course hosted by a consulting firm in Over-the-Rhine, an affordable housing project visiting City Hall and , g p j g y major developers, and an outdoor camping and hiking expedition to Red River Gorge.

• Incredible momentum is building in the Pre-Primary program, where the play- and project-based learning approach has led to record enrollment and historically large waiting lists.

Many of these successes are just previews of coming attractions. As our strategic planning process reaches its conclusion, we are eager to deliver more hands-on experiential learning opportunities, innovate new ways of recruiting and rewarding life-changing teachers, and enhance our students’ authentic connections to the natural world and each other. We are excited to roll out this new plan to the community in the fall.

Thank you for all you do to make Country Day’s future as inspiring as its past.

Sincerely,

Rob Zimmerman ’98 Head of School