24 • Thursday, October 1, 2020
Day & Boarding • Grades 8–12 Discover flexible and individualized learning options for every student at Indian Springs. Join us for a virtual open house! Sunday, October 4 Sunday, November 15 Sunday, December 6 Learn more and register now at indiansprings.org/admission
SCHOOLS
OTM Students Recognized as National Merit Semifinalists After enduring a rough spring and fall, a number of students throughout the Over the Mountain community are being honored for their scholastic achievements as National Merit Scholarship semifinalists. These high school seniors are chosen from a pool of 1.6 million students at 21,000 high schools, which is less than 1% percent of high school seniors in the country. Qualification for the semifinalist recognition is based on a student’s junior year PSAT score, along with their participation in school and community activities, demonstration of leadership abilities, employment and honors. Semifinalists may continue in the competition for about 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $30 million. Winners will be named in the spring. Here are Over the Mountain students named semifinalists:
Alabama School of Fine Arts: Carol He, William Holland, Elizabeth Jason, Taylor McAlister, Sofia Rabbani and Emma Seidel.
VHCS to Celebrate 50th Anniversary
Spain Park’s New Entrance Dedicated to Military Graduates
On Oct. 5, Vestavia Hills City Schools will officially celebrate its 50th anniversary year. The event will begin at 5:30 p.m. with tours of the new Louis Pizitz Middle School, located on the former Berry Middle School campus. Student ambassadors will be conducting the campus tours. At 6:30 p.m., VHCS officials will host a ceremony in the school’s new gymnasium, which will include the induction of its inaugural class into the Educators Hall of Fame. For more information, visit vestavia.k12.al.us.
Altamont School: Hannah Ashraf, Lilla Carroll, Robert Pritchard, Tyler Walley and Maaz Zuberi. Briarwood Christian School: Mason Mathias, Annamarie Thompson and Luke Wolf. John Carroll Catholic High School: Tyler Wittman. Oak Mountain High School: Roshni Datta and Aidan Dokland. Homewood High School: Madeline Garrity, Patrick Harris, Reed Jeffries, Samuel Jones, Caleb McLendon, Robert Merchant, Michael Moorman, Jonathan Parris, Gabriel Quijano, Ayona Roychowdhury, Daniel Wiesen, Matthew “Hugh” Williams and Jane Wilson.
Spain Park High School is selling brick pavers to graduates, students and school families to be installed in its new school entrance. The new patriotic memorial site has been dedicated to Spain Park alumni who have or are serving in the U.S. armed forces. The engraved pavers will be installed each year on Veterans Day and arranged beneath three flag poles that fly an American flag, the Alabama state flag and the Spain Park High School flag. According to school officials, the project was conceived by Principal
OVER THE MOUNTAIN JOURNAL
Hoover High School: Cullen Blanton, Luke Clark, Wesley Crenshaw, Katelyn Heglas, Ria Shah, Peter Shen, Isabella Torres, Srija Vem and Nathan Williams. Hoover, homeschool: Emily Rabbideau. Indian Springs School: Shuqiao Geng, Carina Li Xin Lim, Hooper Markert, Haoze Tang, Paul Weir, Noah Williams and Chu Qiao Zhang. Spain Park High School: Megan Amrine, Benjamin Deas, Kruthika Dheeravath, Adam Ebrahim, Usman Farooqui, Sama Harrison, Anna Morris, Zane Peacock, Advaith Vadlakonda, John Watson, Wyatt Williams, John Wilson and Amy Yang. Westminster School: Pierson Black. Vestavia Hills High School: Alexander Barr, Katy Chen, Ricky Dong, Sarah Gray, Jason Han, Cecilia Kong, Esther Lee, Leighton Reese, Raleigh Robinson, Hanna Sha, Dylan Shi, Alex Stern and Grant Uldrich. Larry Giangrosso, with help from Jill Carter, social studies teacher. In addition, project supporters include the city of Hoover, Hoover City Schools, state Rep. Arnold Mooney, R-Shelby County, and project manager Millard Williams. A link to an order form for brick pavers can be found at hoovercityschools.net/sphs. There will be a limit of one paver per military graduate. Orders received throughout the year will be processed each Sept. 1, and those bricks will be shipped in time for Veterans Day that year. The first brick installation will take place in November 2021, but a dedication ceremony for the site will be held this November.
