THE
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Fall 2019 Magazine & 2018-19 Annual Report on Philanthropy
We Commit Ourselves to Community Service
THE SUMMIT The magazine of The Summit Country Day School Fall 2019 Magazine & 2018-19 Annual Report on Philanthropy EDITOR Nancy Berlier ART DIRECTOR/DESIGNER Kathy (Hilsinger) Penote ’93 ALUMNI EDITOR Mark Osborne PHOTOGRAPHY Nancy Berlier, Jolene Barton, Scott Booth Photography, Larry Dean, Robert A. Flischel, Cecelia Johnson, Kentucky Science Center, Hannah Michels, Rick Norton, Bambi Pappano, Kathy (Hilsinger) Penote ’93, Nick Robbe, Jennifer Schiller, Joe Simon, The Squash Academy and Sophie Young ‘20. CONTRIBUTORS Tanya Bricking Leach, Sue Kiesewetter, Kirstin Pesola McEachern, Erica Miknius, Mark Osborne, Nick Robbe, Kathy Schwartz and Sophie Young ‘20. Special thanks: Jen McGrath, Nancy Snow. PRINTING Arnold Printing © 2019 The Summit Country Day School, Cincinnati, OH. The Summit magazine is published three times a year by the Communications Department of The Summit Country Day School, 2161 Grandin Road, Cincinnati, OH 45208. Please direct address changes or other correspondence to the above address.
Summit News Phone: (513) 871-4700 ext. 291 Email: communications@summitcds.org Alumni News Please submit news about new degrees, new jobs, marriages, births and other notable passages in your life. Go to www.summitcds.org/submityournews Summit Online View an archive of The Summit magazine online. www.summitcds.org/magazine The Summit Country Day School serves students from age 18 months through grade 12 in a coeducational setting. The Summit combines the academic excellence and one-on-one guidance of a top-tier independent school with the servant leadership and character-building environment that are hallmarks of a Catholic education.
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ON THE COVER: Students weed blueberry plants in the FreestoreFoodbank’s Giving Fields in Melbourne, Ky., this summer during The Summit’s Cool 2B Kind Camp. The Summit is committed to community service, one of the hallmarks of a Notre Dame learning community. See Head of School Rich Wilson’s foreward on Page 4 and story on Page 14. Photo by Kathy (Hilsinger) Penote ’93. ON THIS PAGE: The largest graduating class in The Summit’s history make a Hallmark moment out of their class picture on the front steps. The Class of 2019, which included 43 lifers, was heavily recruited by college reps. These graduates are at top universities across the country and in Canada this fall. See their story on page 30. Photo by Nick Robbe.
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Head of School Message
COMMUNITY SERVICE In the first floor hallway of the main building, we have displayed the Hallmarks of a Notre Dame Learning Community. We dedicate this issue of The Summit Magazine to Hallmark No. 4: We commit ourselves to community service. It’s well known that colleges like to see prospective students engaged in community service during their high school years; however, that’s not the reason we include it in our graduation requirements. One of the fundamental teachings of the Catholic faith is that we live in community with one another. “For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them.” (Matthew 18:20) Our common humanity creates a bond between us which requires us to help each other. Community service comes in many forms: making sandwiches for the poor, packing supplies for victims in crisis from war or weather, gathering trash by rivers or roadways, food collections for those who are food insecure, shoe collections for children in underdeveloped countries and raising money as we do with our Hands Across the Water event to supply water-purifying packets which provide clean water to the communities in Africa where the Sisters serve. These are all important to living in the larger community. We perform these tasks out of love. However, the most effective form of community service for adolescents involves working face to face with the less fortunate: tutoring children in Catholic
inner-city schools, working with disabled children at Stepping Stones Inc., delivering meals to elderly shut-ins or visiting the elderly in nursing homes. The benefits from this kind of community service are many. Developing Compassion: Adolescents can be self-absorbed. It’s natural given their stage of development. One of the responsibilities of the adults in children’s lives is to refocus them from time-to-time on the needs of others. Helping the less fortunate is the perfect antidote to selfabsorption. Such encounters require the children to closely listen, so that they understand about the life of others and can then provide the help they need. Helping the less fortunate also requires patience. The elderly and infirm move slowly. Those with physical or mental disabilities may not be able to perform tasks that are easy for the average teenager. It’s not a coincidence that patience is one of the Upper School character traits. Encounters with those suffering hardships require children to be non-judgmental. They learn to accept others for whom they are. We teach children to regard such people as the face of God – to treat them with dignity, respect and care. Building Self Worth: Initiating plans for community service may result in student resistance. They perceive other activities to be of more interest. It’s curious to watch the transformation that happens as they proceed to help others. Most derive satisfaction from the experience. The gratefulness of others encourages them to seek another such experience. Sometimes they are surprised at how much they can do on their own. They see a role for themselves that they didn’t see before. Performance pressure at school can sometimes be discouraging to a teenager. If they are not making the grades they want to make or they aren’t performing in athletics or in other activities the way they hoped, they can get down on themselves. Community service pulls them out of the artificial
Contents environment of school and into the real world. Helping others builds the child’s self-confidence and agency. Learning about the World: Private school children often talk about living their life in a bubble. While life in the bubble can be good, many often long to be out in the real world. Helping the less fortunate exposes them to different cultures, ways of doing things and a variety of perspectives. They learn a lot while helping others. They also learn about accepting help, which can be hard for some children. Illness and disability makes us vulnerable, which can be an uncomfortable experience. Yet, when someone comes along and extends a hand to help, we are grateful and want to express it. Again, it’s not a coincidence that another Upper School character trait is gratitude. Spiritual Act of Reflection: The Sisters believe that community service isn’t done until those who serve spend some quiet time reflecting on the experience: Was I as helpful as I could have been? What did I learn from the experience? Such reflection informs ways we can improve what we do next time. Encouraging children to keep a community service journal and write their reflections after each experience is a worthwhile exercise of discipline and learning. The Summit’s various community service programs are fully described beginning on page 14. You’ll note the many mission partners we serve and have been doing so for many years. Community service is a form of philanthropy – using personal resources to help others. One of the planks of Summit’s strategic plan is to nurture a culture of philanthropy in the Summit community and especially among our students. Christ calls us to serve others throughout our lives. Inculcating that belief and providing opportunities to put that belief into action is Christ’s way, the Sister’s way and The Summit Way. Rich Wilson Head of School
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Features Third and fourth graders in the Lower School are engaged in capstone experiences which cause them to reflect on the character traits of fairness and responsibility. For more than a decade, more than a hundred mosaics have been created in a Middle School arts and crafts project using Jelly Belly candies. Several of the pieces have found permanent homes in such places as the Reds, Bengals and Gorilla Glue corporate offices. Inspired by the founding Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, faculty and students engage every year in service to the most vulnerable and disadvantaged. The Class of 2019 was the largest graduating class in The Summit’s history and included 43 lifers whose life experience has been imbued in school tradition and history. The Summit’s faculty is highly-trained – averaging 20 years of teaching experience and 63 percent with advanced degrees. In the last fiscal year, endowed funds provided professional development opportunities for more than 85 faculty and staff members. This year’s recipient of the Schilderink Family Faculty Chair for Distinguished Teaching has been a teacher for more than 30 years, teaching all levels of math. Middle School teacher Laura Priede is a master teacher. Leader of Character Awards were given to religion teachers Kurtis Smith in the Upper School and Laura Dennemann in the Middle School. Middle School music teacher Greg Williams, who works humbly and treats others with kindness and respect, was The Summit Way Award recipient. Tom Theobald SBS ’50, one of The Summit’s largest lifetime donors, shares what compelled him to give back in this latest installment of our “My Summit Story” series. As Kentucky Science Center’s CEO for more than a decade, Joanna Haas ’85 has become a well-respected, trusted leader in the field of informal science education.
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Students in the News Athletics Faculty in the News Retirements Alumni Profiles
Insert Printed issues of this magazine include the 2018-19 Annual Report on Philanthropy
Correction: The marriage date of Ben Chassagne ’99 and Margot Richey ’03 was incorrect in the May magazine. They married on Feb. 9, 2019. We regret the error.
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Fourth grader Cailyn Youtsey, right, gives her presentation as part of the Character Education curriculum. Fourth graders practiced their character trait, responsibility. Each student was tasked with selecting and researching a threatened or endangered animal not currently in the Cincinnati Zoo’s collection, then developing a persuasive argument about why it should be added.
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Lower School Adds Character Education Capstones
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about technology, science, art, research, writing, oral communication and the Hallmarks of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur as they consider the formation of one’s character, conscience and faith.
By Kathy Schwartz
Here’s a look at the inaugural projects for grades 3 and 4. Capstones for grades 1 and 2 are still in development. Grade 4: Responsibility
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A call to advocate for endangered species impressed upon fourth graders how their decisions can affect not only other people but all of God’s creation.
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Character education at The Summit begins as soon as wide-eyed preschoolers toddle into Montessori classrooms and continues until confident seniors stride out of the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel at commencement. It is one of the school’s Signature Programs. At each step, students spend a year focused on understanding and internalizing one of 13 traits as a way to open their minds to new experiences, diversity, acceptance and curiosity. When they complete their journey, they walk out of The Summit with the academic and ethical framework to make smart and good decisions.
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When the Character Education Program was redefined in Each student the 2011-2012 Resp was tasked academic year, onsi bilit with Middle School y Kindness selecting and Director Mike e researching a Johnson asked rag Cou threatened or his faculty to endangered develop capstone animal not presentations that currently in were embedded the Cincinnati across the curriculum Zoo’s collection, – and not just an then developing a add-on. Since then, persuasive argument the Character Education about why it should Program in the Harold be added. The children C. Schott Middle School created 12-slide PowerPoint has been nearly synonymous presentations and papier-mâché with the capstone projects – the Wax sculptures of their creatures to help them make Museum of Courage by fifth graders, personal their case before parents, administration and perseverance presentations by sixth graders, art faculty. They also performed songs about the of accountability projects by seventh graders and animals for first graders. heart-wrenching accounts of injustice that eighth graders compile annually in a volume titled “Hear “I learned how impactful our actions can be My Story: Be My Voice.” on the environment and on all the animals in the world,” Wyatt Gockerman says about his When Mr. Johnson added the Lower School to his capstone experience. “There are so many ways responsibilities this past year, he asked the Lower we can protect these animals. Even the smallest School faculty to develop capstone experiences actions can have a big effect.” for the younger grades, too. e
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Like their Middle School counterparts, children in the Lower School will take a cross-curricular approach to their capstones, applying lessons
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Lessons in responsibility and environmental stewardship were reinforced throughout the Summit Magazine 7
school year. Biweekly, fourth graders collected the recycling bins throughout the Lower School. They did all the prep work for the spring planting of the organic Garden for the Good and helped second and third graders sow the beds.
of perseverance when her computer stopped working midway through her presentation. “I know in life there are going to be times when things are hard,” she says. “But, you have to find a way to make it work, so that’s what I did.”
Teachers Clare Gilligan SMS ’07, Frances Keller and Pat Seta, along with educational assistants Karol Hellmann and Sue Swinarski, say that in addition to spiritual enrichment, the capstone participants gained many practical skills. As they prepare to enter middle school, the students understand how to gather relevant information from a variety of sources, know how to create a visually appealing display using PowerPoint and possess speaking skills that allow them to effectively communicate what they have learned.
Lessons about responsibility come at an appropriate time in fourth graders’ development, educators say. As the students move from a self-contained classroom and experience more freedom, it becomes necessary for them to be more accountable for their learning and their behavior as they transition from class to class. A capstone project, teachers say, helps set up the children for continued success as they learn to organize materials and budget their time. Grade 3: Fairness
“I learned to present on a higher level,” Rylee Jewell says. “Instead of reading the information off each slide, I practiced many times so that I knew the information well enough and I could look at the people I was presenting to.” Rowan Cosgrove remembers the importance
The third graders practiced their character trait, fairness, by introducing playground rules to first graders while working in small teams themselves. The students collaborated in groups of two or three to create animated stories using
Third graders Xavier Davis, left, and Iggy Dwyer, right, deliver their presentation on the grade level’s character trait, fairness. They introduced playground rules to first graders.
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Scratch coding. Scratch is an online computerprogramming service used to teach coding concepts to grade-school children. It was rolled out at The Summit three years ago in the third grade classrooms. During the school year, the children first worked individually to gain coding skills. They created coding dance party projects to learn about animation and sound, and then they moved on to discovering how multiple characters and objects can interact onscreen. For the capstone project, the partners had to work out how to share coding and storytelling responsibilities fairly. The Grade 3 teachers, led by Stacy Remke, used the analogy of a driver and a passenger to guide the students’ negotiating and listening skills. Fourth grader Hannah Mitchell says she decided that group work is “harder because sometimes we both want to do different things.” At the same time, “it is easier because you have a partner to work with.” By sharing ideas, fourth grader Caroline Gehring says she learned: “Teamwork makes the dream work.” For their culminating experience, all the third graders brainstormed long lists of what they believed were playground fairness rules that would be important for first graders. For example, players should listen to each other’s ideas when choosing a game, include everyone in an activity, use kind words on the playground, admit when they get tagged in a game and help clean up at the end of recess. Each classroom voted on their top eight rules and assigned them to the individual groups. The partners then sketched their stories, characters and backgrounds on paper before bringing their projects to life in the computer lab. According to the teachers, fairness is a good topic for third graders because they are developing social awareness and the understanding that we all have special strengths and weaknesses. The capstone project asked the children to consider not only their peers but also a younger age group and to instruct them in a way that would be fair to the first graders’ level of understanding.
As students progress through the grades, they are challenged to understand and internalize these 13 character traits:
Montessori: Kindness Grade 1: Caring Grade 2: Respect Grade 3: Fairness Grade 4: Responsibility Grade 5: Courage Grade 6: Perseverance Grade 7: Accountability Grade 8: Justice Grade 9: Patience Grade 10: Humility Grade 11: Compassion Grade 12: Gratitude
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Tarek Hasan uses a glue gun to position a Jelly Belly to a mosaic. Â
Jelly Belly Mosaics Find Homes Across City 10
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By Kathy Schwartz
As a seventh grader, Tarek Hasan remembers feeling, well, like a kid in a candy store once he finally had his chance to create a Jelly Belly mosaic in the art room of Paula (Bien) Yarnell ’65. “I mean, you use jelly beans!” Tarek says. “It’s really cool to be able to use food to make art.” For more than a decade, Mrs. Yarnell has guided teams of Harold C. Schott Middle School seventh graders in these arts and crafts projects as they design three-dimensional artworks using the colorful candies. She estimates that more than 100 mosaics have been created. Often featuring marketing logos or other iconic images, several of the pieces have found permanent homes with Greater Cincinnati organizations and businesses, including the Reds, Bengals, Gorilla Glue and Joseph Chevrolet. They also are on display around The Summit and are a highlight of the annual Campus Day exhibition. “The fifth graders ask me every year when they get to do the jelly beans,” Mrs. Yarnell says.
“They are so excited. They cannot wait to get to the seventh grade.” The candy, which comes from Patty’s Old Fashioned Popcorn in Hyde Park, is just part of the project’s appeal. Mrs. Yarnell also turns students’ attention to collaboration, cooperation, communication and creative thinking. “They work in groups, which is great because they learn how to get along,” she says. “They begin brainstorming ideas and they have to decide which of all their ideas they are going to do.” Sometimes the students get requests, such as this year’s red Porsche for the Joseph family, but most of the subject matter is chosen by the young artists. “We start by having discussions about the importance of giving back to the community,” Mrs. Yarnell says. “We talk about what places excite them, spots around town where they would like to see their artwork. Places such as
Completed Jelly Belly mosaics, which are being given to area businesses and nonprofits, are on display at Campus Day.
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L to R: Owen Kohlhepp, Donovan Mathews, art teacher Paula (Bien) Yarnell ’65, Izzy Rawlings, T.J. LaMacchia and Trey Joseph pose with “The Vroomster” created for Porsche of Kings Auto Mall.
Children’s Hospital and Ronald McDonald House are wonderful because of the work they do, and because children will see the artwork.” The project starts after Christmas and ends the week after spring break. The seventh graders research the history of places, people and things they want to feature. Art lessons follow as Mrs. Yarnell and the children discuss design theory, branding, the color wheel, texture, transparency and opacity, pattern and shadowing and shading. The teams determine the best techniques for executing their works. The students also apply their math skills as they calculate how many candies need to be purchased for each section of their piece. After the designs are reproduced on sheets of foam core board, the process of hot gluing hundreds of Jelly Belly beans begins. Tarek collaborated on an award-winning tiger mosaic. His classmate, Kyle Lauckner, says the opportunity to recognize the Cincinnati Zoo helped inspire their choice. They embellished the piece with pipe cleaner whiskers and fake fur 12
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and left some spots bare to achieve a 3D effect. “As a class, we continually critiqued the artworks,” Kyle says. While each piece required close attention to detail, the kids also needed to consider how their art looked from a distance. Earrings and false eyelashes enhance a portrait of actress Marilyn Monroe. License plates surround the frame for the Porsche. Each year’s art class makes six to 12 Jelly Belly mosaics. Seven artworks from the class of 2024 will go on permanent display in the area: “Changing the Owlcome Together,” by Maya Hajjar and Riley Nelson, is headed to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. The title of the avian art is a play on the center’s motto of changing patients’ outcomes together. • “He’s Lovin’ It” by Olivia Faucett, Ally Kukanza and Margeaux Saba will cheer patients and families served by the Ronald McDonald House Charities of Greater Cincinnati. •
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“High Tea,” a work that Abby Almaguer, Khamia Brooks, Irene Calderon and Paloma Gordon adorned with antique cups and saucers, is going to the BonBonerie bakery in O’Bryonville. “How Much is That Doggie in the Window?” by Ella Barnes is off to Lewis Animal Hospital in O’Bryonville. “Marilyn,” by Johanna Huelsman and Karley Michel, will star at Kenwood Theatre. “Sleepy B,” by Audrey Campbell, Cecilia Hasan, Hudson Ritch and Matthew Sutton, joins Sleepy Bee Café’s buzzworthy art collection. “The Vroomster,” by Trey Joseph, Owen Kohlhepp, T.J. LaMacchia, Donovan Mathews and Izzy Rawlings, will be displayed at Porsche of Kings Auto Mall.
“Since the fifth grade, all of us have been waiting to create this unusual and fun project,” Tarek says. “We learned that art requires patience and concentration. We also learned that working with others allowed us to make more innovative ideas. We grasped to overcome obstacles and learned that there is always more room for improvement no matter what.”
Above: Middle School science teacher Michael DiPaola has a Jelly Belly mosiac of Albert Einstein in his classroom. Right, top to bottom: An American eagle, “Sleepy B” for the Sleepy Bee Café and Music Hall.
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This summer, 31 students in grades 8-12 at The Summit traveled to the Appalachian region in Moundsville, W. Va. for a mission trip. While on the trip, our row: Kathy (Hilsinger) Penote ‘93, Benny Penote, Assistant Director for Upper School Admission Brandon Lorentz ’13, Lauren Leesman, Caitlyn Roma, Uppe Riley Richard, Naomi Purdie, Makayla Fisher, Meredith Gilbert, Sam Kohlhepp, Maria Luiso, Liam Jones, Thomas Lamarre and Julie Jones. Back row: CJ Repl Andrew Kahle, Benjamin Fearn, Keenan Schomburger, Adam Foley, Zach Watford, Chris Whitney, Evan Lakhia, Mac Hoeweler, Leo Santamarina, David Sch
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Students Are Quick to
“To whom much is given, much is expected.” Luke 12:48
r students helped Moundsville residents in a variety of ways. L to R, front er School religion teacher Megan Luiso, Lauren Foley, Matthew Brumfield, logle, Sam Zawaly, Cole Mackey, Hudson Ritch, Drew Reder, John Penote, hnitter, Lily Ritch and Bella Santamarina.
By Nick Robbe Junior Sam Vessel is committed to serving others in the community. Through April of his sophomore year, he had completed more than 281 hours of service. As an eighth grader, Shannon Dennemann taught English online every week for seven months to a Chinese student living in Beijing. When she was in sixth grade, Kira Njegovan took photographs of Cincinnati icons and then made postcards out of them in order to raise money for the American Cancer Society. Even though each instance had a different outcome, they all demonstrate that service to the community is at the heart of The Summit Country Day School. Every student, from the Montessori to the Upper School, engages in an array of mission-based activities that honor the dignity of each person and contribute to the greater good. “In a Catholic school, founded in the charism of the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, it is critically important to impress upon our students to care for others just as the Sisters do,” says Stephanie Duggan, the Upper School Campus Minister. “We were given a school based on a set of values that are not stringent or obscure, but rather inclusive and loving. Our values are recognizing how good God is and impressing that love on other people’s hearts.” In addition to challenging students, along with faculty and staff, to use their God-given abilities, The Summit’s mission seeks to create leaders of character who value and improve the world they inherit. In order to improve the world, our students must develop empathy. Head of School Rich Wilson believes each student must put herself or himself in the shoes of others. Armed with new perspectives, our students can then lead real change in this world. Students participate in numerous impactful events such as our annual Hands Across the Water event with the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur, partnering with Magnified Giving which aims to turn students into philanthropists, our Cool 2B Kind camp and summer mission trips.
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L to R, Montessori students William Blakely, Winston Steele, Cody Meyer, Macey Adams and Julia McCormick hand deliver to Sister Mary Ann Barnhorn SNDdeN the $1,150 in cash they collected in the Montessori Program’s bake sale for Hands Across the Water.
Kindness: The building block At The Summit, learning the importance of community service starts at a young age. Montessori students and their teachers utilize a variety of ways to give back. The Santa Maria Christmas gift and coat collection is when items are collected and distributed around Christmastime to ensure that needy families have a nice holiday, too. Christmas on the River is when The Montessori and Lower School students create cards for industrial workers along the Ohio River. The goal is to give these workers a sense of holiday cheer when their jobs pull them away from family during the season. The Montessori students also play a role in the school’s largest community event, the Hands Across the Water school-wide service project. In 10 years, The Summit has raised almost $150,000. That amount is estimated to be enough 16 Summit Magazine 16
to provide 103 villages with clean water for an entire year. Montessori students and teachers hold a bake sale to raise money for the cause. The preschoolers carry around small water bottles during the walk, which symbolizes the distance people in the developing world have to travel in order to find a clean water source. Of course, the zeal these students feel when doing acts of kindness outside the classroom wouldn’t be possible without the efforts of the faculty and staff inside the classroom. Character education is a hallmark of The Summit, and it starts in the Montessori preschool program. The faculty and staff work diligently to instill the character trait of kindness in our youngsters. Montessori Director Kathy Scott says kindness is the foundation for character education, whether it is kindness to a classmate, teacher, brother, sister, parent or someone in the community. “Respect and
kindness go hand in hand and each classroom fosters kindness to all as we witness it through daily acts and the spoken word,” says Mrs. Scott. The next steps Learning about the value of character is not reserved for only the classroom. Students apply the principles of caring, respect, fairness and responsibility to their service opportunities in the Lower School. Teacher Ceil Johnson says faculty are very intentional about how activities are selected. “Choosing projects where they can use their gifts and talents and donate things in their realm of understanding is important,” Mrs. Johnson says. “It is our hope the children develop empathy and learn that even one small thing can make a difference. We have come to see over the years that the donations are important, but a simple card, kind word or beautiful drawing can mean as much. Of course, we find ways to have fun, too.” One of the newer projects the Lower School has engaged in is partnering with Operation Give Back in Blue Ash. Operation Give Back’s mission is to empower at-risk and underserved students and their families. This year, an Operation Give Back speaker talked to students about the organization’s mission. Then, the kids were tasked with bringing in small donations
“I liked participating in this project because it made me think of invisible buckets. If you do a good deed, it doesn’t only fill their bucket. It also fills yours.” – Summit third grader, Maren Lafley
such as healthy snacks, small toys, personal care products and school supplies. From there, the faculty and staff charged the students to take a leadership role in the project. Each grade level took a day during the morning announcements to encourage their peers to participate in the project. They also created flyers to send home so parents would know about the project. Operation Give Back opens students’ hearts to the needs of those who are less fortunate, encouraging them to be generous and kind. Says third grader Maren Lafley, “I liked participating in this project because it made me think of invisible buckets. If you do a good deed, it doesn’t only fill their bucket, it also fills yours.”
One of the newer projects the Lower School has engaged in is partnering with Operation Give Back in Blue Ash. The students were tasked with bringing in small donations such as healthy snacks, small toys, personal care products and school supplies. Front row: Noah Berhanu. L to R, Back row, Shriyan Masineni, Jack Reynolds, Ama Karikari, Faye Edmondson, Jefferson Campbell, Bebe Heekin.
First graders Emma McCormick and Eliana Hafner pick school supplies to put in their bags.
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L to R, William McLane, Logan Miller, Benny Penote, Matthew Langenderfer, David Schnitter, Reagan Bricking, Mia Cavallo, Ethan Lam and Jackson Campbell volunteer at Matthew 25: Ministries.
The goal for the service project was to give the organization 100 bags filled with items. In the end, the school donated nearly double the amount of bags with 190. “Not bad for the first year,” Mrs. Johnson says. “It will be hard to top next year.” Plenty of other service options exist on the Lower School’s slate. The first grade engages in the St. Nicholas Toy Drive. Second graders travel to Matthew 25: Ministries to tour the Global Village, a representation of a village in the developing world. After the tour, the students work in the processing center in order to tangibly help those in need. The Lower School has an annual canned food drive for the Little Sisters of the Poor. As an example, first grade students are asked to perform a job around the house to earn two dollars. Then, they are encouraged to take those two dollars and buy a canned good. “We show the impact of how their few cans combined with everyone else’s donations can really add up quick,” Mrs. Johnson says. Called to serve When a student advances to the Harold C. Schott Middle School, the character education doesn’t stop 18 Summit Magazine 18
and neither do the service opportunities. Service is an equally important facet to the Middle School. In order to receive the sacrament of confirmation and be inducted into the National Junior Honor Society, students must complete 18 hours of service. There’s no shortage of ways students can fulfill those requirements. For example, students participate in Magnified Giving in Laura Dennemann’s classes or they can perform hours of service as a member of Larry Dean’s Latin club. This year, one Middle School class chose Churches Active In Northside (CAIN) as its organization. This selection made the project eligible for a grant from Kroger. Students had to raise $500 which Kroger would then match. To fundraise, the students hosted a movie night, selling hot chocolate and snacks. That raised $411. To cover the difference, the students partnered with Chipotle to create a fundraising night. As a result, they presented CAIN with a check for $1,280. During the summer, students can apply what they learn in the classrooms to the community with the Cool 2B Kind summer camp. For a week, students in grades 4-9 go to places such as the Rose Garden Mission, Washington Park, Withrow Nature Preserve, an animal shelter and a nursing home and do good works.
Laura Dennemann, a Middle School religion teacher and coordinator of the Cool 2B Kind Camp, says that students enter the week feeling as though they are just fulfilling a requirement. However, that notion gets turned around quickly. “They are pleasantly surprised that they actually enjoy the camp,” Mrs. Dennemann says. “The students enjoyed that we went to a variety of different places and they learned something new at each place. They also learned that while serving others is important, and at times difficult work, they can still have fun, and it becomes a positive experience for them.” The Cool 2B Kind Camp just completed its third summer. Laura’s daughter Shannon, a freshman, wrote in her reflection of the week about her experience at Tender Mercies. “While we were there, we served breakfast and played bingo for prizes,” she writes. “They played bingo to earn the prizes instead of just being given them so, they could feel that sense of accomplishment. And the prizes were practical, too.” Last summer, Shannon and classmates Liam Lakhia and Evan Mescher earned the Aubrey Rose Foundation Scholarship. The scholarship is based on
a child’s kindness and willingness to give back to the community. Shannon has always known the importance of serving those in need, a trait she will surely carry over into her high school years. Putting it all together When it comes to high school, students are asked to fully commit themselves to developing spiritually, academically, physically, socially and artistically so they can become leaders of character who value and improve the world they inherit. They have learned many lessons through service opportunities including Leadership Scholars, Tender Mercies, Soles for Souls, Days of Grace and Wisdom, Hope Squad, Latin Club, the Philanthropy Club, the People of Color Conference and Magnified Giving. Days of Grace and Wisdom is a three-day retreat where every Upper School student completes service work and learns from downtown agencies about the importance of service. Soles for Souls is a project that collects and donates gently-used or new shoes through contributions from each school division.
Nick Bergeron, front, leads a cadre of middle school students during the Hands Across the Water walk-a-thon.
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“There are pragmatic reasons why we do these things, but more importantly we do it to help out our community.” – Larry Dean, Summit Latin teacher L to R, Sophomore Anna Catherine Sansalone, Micah Johnson ‘19 and Paul Wilson ‘19 organize shoes during the Soles for Souls event.
In partnership with Magnified Giving, Summit teacher Jeff Carle, 2019 graduates Mei Kurlas, Mia Semler, Cat Alway, Brigid Devine and Upper School Campus Minister Stephanie Duggan present Paws for Ability with a check for $1,000.
Seated, Maggie Hudepohl and Jordyn Pez, along with (standing) Wil Eads ‘19, Bronson Mehlman’19, Kiernan Cinque’19, Adaliene Andsager and Mimi McNabb show the blankets they made for Warmth From the Heart, an organization which aims to bring 20 toMagazine women and children who are victims of domestic 20 comfort Summit abuse or misfortune.
Hope Squad, a relatively new student program, is a peer-to-peer organization designed to empower students to help their classmates by being there to listen or offer support. Through the partnership with Magnified Giving, Class of 2019 graduates Brigid Devine, Cat Alway, Mia Semler, Mei Kurlas awarded Paws for Ability, a nonprofit organization that trains service dogs for children and veterans with disabilities, a check for $1,000. The Key Club holds many events such as teacherstudent basketball and volleyball games to raise money for various organizations. The state champion Latin Club, which includes Middle and Upper School students, is serious about service. Usually, members of the club complete 200 hours of community service, sometimes as much as 300. The club makes weekly visits to Matthew 25: Ministries, has two annual outings at the Marjorie P. Lee retirement home, cleans up the California Woods Nature Preserve every November, writes cards to those in hospitals and much more. “There are pragmatic reasons why we do these things, but more importantly we do it to help out our community,” says Larry Dean, Summit Latin teacher. Faculty and staff also drive home the importance of serving others. Brandon Lorentz ‘13, Assistant Director of Admission for the Upper School and International Students, volunteers his time at Saturday Hoops, an initiative from the Cincinnati Youth Collaborative that seeks to inject fun, faith and positive role models into the lives of children. Mr. Lorentz has recruited a number of students to take part in the program.
Top left, Summit trustee Andy Ritch and Board Chair Allison (Hiltz) Kropp ‘93 volunteer at Venice on Vine in Over-the-Rhine, a preemployment training and job placement program operated by the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. Top right, Bradie Goodwin, middle, and Isha Tamrakar, pet therapy dogs. The Summit’s Hope Squad requested the dogs as a stress reliever. Bottom, William Fassler, right, is part of a group of Summit students who mentor and teach inner-city children how to play squash. Bottom right, Teddy Sumnar teaches children the ways of squash. 21 Summit Magazine 21
In the final four years, it’s up to the students to pick up the mantle of the classes that have gone before them. The Class of 2019 certainly did its part. The Upper School requires 48 hours of service for graduation. However, the average among our 2019 graduates was 78. Time and again, students prove Sam Vessel ‘21 they’re willing to go beyond what is asked of them. That includes junior Sam Vessel. He is active in 4-H and is a church acolyte and youth minister at St. Anne’s Episcopal Church. His service hours report includes daylong meetings with the Ohio 4-H Teen Leadership Council, where he serves on the fundraising committee, oversight of youth projects at the Butler County Fair, cleaning his church grounds and assisting with communion, outreach
among members of the Appalachian community and recruiting and welcoming new students to The Summit. “I don’t have much in the way of free time, but when I do, I like helping other people,” says Sam. “It makes you feel good when you help others. I know a lot of the hours I served were with 4-H, an organization I’ve been a part of since I was younger. It is almost natural for me due to the fact I have been doing it for a long time.” He says his outreach among members of the Appalachian community really stuck with him. A summer ago, he was down in Tennessee repairing houses, an activity he never engaged in before. In May, Sam was honored during National Public Service Recognition Week. He said he wasn’t even aware that awards were distributed for service, but that it felt good to be honored. However, he doesn’t complete these service opportunities for the reward or the recognition. “The reward is knowing that we make a difference in lives of others,” Mrs. Duggan says.
With more than 281 service hours, junior Sam Vessel was recognized by the city during National Public Service Recognition Week. Bottom, L to R, Class of 2019 graduates Alexandra Ragland, Yurui “Jerry” Wu, Carli Vallota, Lilly Gieseke, Aaron Bialon. Right, Jiaqian “Sarah” Bai, Emily Harris and Tess Wyrick fill bags of Nutri-Plenty meals for the Lesotho Nutrition Initiative, an effort to serve the estimated 550,000 who are facing severe malnutrition in the African country. Rachel Wallace ’15, who graduated from Wittenberg University this year, 22 children Summit Magazine organized the project.
Clockwise from top left: Unloading a truck during a mission trip in Moundsville, W. Va., are L to R, front row, Benjamin Fearn, Benny Penote, John Penote and back row, Assistant Director for Upper School Admission Brandon Lorentz ’13, Keenan Schomburger and Cole Mackey. Brandon Lorentz ‘13, Matthew Brumfield, Adam Foley, Zach Watford and Andrew Kahle have shovels in hand as they prepare for some landscaping work. Drew Reder, Caitlyn Roma, Lauren Leesman and Riley Richard sort through items in a donation center. Lily Ritch serves food during the summer mission trip to the Appalachian region.
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NEWSMAKERS Senior Maliah Bricking achieved a perfect 36 on the ACT college entrance exam. According to an ACT spokesman, only 0.2 percent of the 1.9 million students nationwide who took the test in 2018 received the highest possible score.
Senior Junbo “Tom” Li ranked among the top 1.7 percent out of 2,773 participants worldwide on the American Invitational Mathematics Examination. Tom qualified for the AIME after achieving the top mark in the state on the American Math Competition 12 test and placing in the top 1 percent nationally. Summit mathletes earned high scores at the University of Cincinnati Math Bowl on March 2. The team 24
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of junior Mengchen Li and sophomores Irene Calderon, Nicholas Ciaccio, Ze “Alan” Liu and Dong “Tony” Zhang received a superior rating while competing as the Level 2 team for Geometry and Algebra 2. Earning an excellent rating was the Level 1 Calculus team consisting of seniors Maliah Bricking, Shiyi “Freya” Fang and Jiamin “Jane” Zhou and juniors Peini “Penny” Song and Yunbo “Bonnie” Wang. The Level 1 Calculus team of seniors Sicheng “Oliver” Ai, William Fassler, Zejun “Mark” Zhou, Donghua “Daniel” Zhang and junior Wanli “Vennis” Yang receiving a good rating. Senior Ryan Burns and sophomore Irene Calderon earned perfect scores on the National Latin Exam. Ryan achieved perfection for the third time in five years. Irene accomplished the feat for a second consecutive year. Less than one percent of students who take the test earn a perfect score. Seniors Maliah Bricking and Emily Warden, sophomore Jimmy Fraley, freshman Ali Burns and Nicholas Stanis SMS ’19 all received gold medals and summa cum laude certificates. Maliah and Ryan also received a special book award for earning four consecutive golds.
Senior Ryan Burns and 2019 graduate Julia Dean lead the Latin Club through a spirit tunnel into Flannery Gym for a celebration of their state championship.
The Latin Club earned another state championship after finishing first in overall points at the 2019 Ohio Junior Classical League (OJCL) Convention in March. It was the fourth time in the last five years that The Summit has claimed the top spot. Student delegates won 18 first-place awards in various categories. The intermediate and novice level certamen teams also won state championships. Top point earners and first-place winners were graduates Julia Dean ’19 and Beckett Schiaparelli’ 19, seniors Maliah Bricking, Ryan Burns, Michelle Chen, Mike Hall, Connie Nelson and Kathryn Sullivan, juniors Erin Devine and Elizabeth Fahrmeier, sophomores Abby Almaguer, Irene Calderon, Jimmy Fraley, Kendall Richard, Anna Catherine Sansalone, Jennifer Sullivan, Nicholas Stanis SMS ’19 and eighth graders Jackson Campbell and Alek Stanisic. Summit Country Day School students demonstrated a strong grasp of the Chinese language in recent assessments. Senior Conor Brodie scored a 95 out of 100 in both listening and reading on the HSK Level 1 test, an international standardized exam that measures proficiency among non-native speakers. In the Ohio K-12 Chinese Essay Contest, sophomore Lavinia Ward placed third among high schoolers. Classmates Jack Hargis, Danny McDowell and Abby Moore received honorable mentions. Junior Grant Gerhardt received a gold medal for his score on the National French Exam, ranking among the top 10 percent of participants. 20 other students received silver and bronze medals.
Student Newsmakers Sophomore Mimi McNabb received a gold prize, or the Premio de Oro, for her score in the National Spanish Examinations. She placed in the 95th percentile out of more than 150,000 participants. Twenty-eight Upper and Middle School students received silver and bronze prizes. Summit Band members freshmen Logan Miller, Sam Parker, Nicholas Stanis SMS ’19 and eighth graders Jude Gerhardt, Tarek Hasan and David Schnitter earned individual superior ratings at the Ohio Music Education Association Solo and Ensemble event. Eighth grader Max Jambor joined Jude and David for a clarinet trio that also earned a superior rating. The trumpet trio of freshman Jack Hollenbeck, Logan and Sam, earned a superior rating. Freshmen Ali Burns and Shannon Dennemann and eighth grader Lyla Soper helped make up the woodwind ensemble and earned a superior rating. Sophomore Irene Calderon placed third in the National DNA Day Essay Contest sponsored by the American Society of Human Genetics. The organization received 1,088 essays from around the world that explored an ethical dilemma in human genetics. Irene was awarded $400, and The Summit receives a $400 grant for materials. Irene’s essay is available at ashg. org.
A sports medicine research poster created by Michael Hajjar ‘19 earned a spot at Ohio’s State Science Day, following a superior score at the University of Cincinnati Science and Engineering Expo. Michael spent nearly a year collaborating with Dr. Samer Hasan of Cincinnati Sports Medicine and Orthopaedic Center in an independent study project under the guidance of Jessica Replogle, Ph.D., head of The Summit’s Science Research Institute. Together they compared data on patients who have undergone arthroscopic repair of rotator cuff tears with and without a biomaterial tissue scaffold implant.
L to R: Sophomores Siena Cutforth, Ellie Moran, Luis Valencia, Thomas Lamarre, and Jimmy Fraley presented their molecular biology research at the Experimental Biology/American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology annual meeting in Orlando, Fla. Classmate Irene Calderon also contributed to the project. The students, members of The Summit’s first Modeling A Protein Story (MAPS) team, researched the role a water channel protein known as Aquaporin 4 has in a rare autoimmune disease called neuromyelitis optica. Their work was shown at the conference alongside that of college undergrads. before graduation. Sam has already gone far beyond that, completing 281½ hours through April in community- and faithbased activities.
Maya Mehlman ‘19 won first place in the smartphone category for ages 25 and under in the Digital Camera Photographer of the Year contest sponsored by Photocrowd. Maya’s photo, titled “Freckled Grace,” is a close-up of classmate Grace Kaegi ‘19 taken during an Advanced Placement photo portfolio class. It was named best among 821 international works judged by professionals and was shown at the United Kingdom’s National Exhibition Center in Birmingham. Another of her photos, “Jellyfish,” took 10th place in a peer review.
Second grader Sabrina Diaz won her age category in a bookmark design contest for grades K-8 sponsored by JosephBeth Booksellers in Rookwood. She received a $50 gift card, and her artwork will be distributed throughout the year to customers. Junior Sam Vessel was honored for his dedication to others as part of National Public Service Recognition Week and organized by Public Service Recognition-Cincinnati. The Summit requires students to perform 48 hours of service work
Forty-two students were recognized in the 2018-19 National Community Service Awards sponsored by the United Nations Association – USA and InterView Technologies. Juniors Katie Dobelhoff, Hans Huelsman and Sam Vessel each were given the Ambassador Award for more than 100 service hours during the year. The Honor Award, for more than 40 hours of service, went to sophomores Samara Bill and Nicholas Ciaccio; juniors Colin Altmix, Adam Foley, Mona Hajjar and Evan Lakhia; senior Adaliene Andsager; and Brigid Devine ‘19. Thirty-one other students received merit awards. Summit Magazine 25
Senior Jake Simpson gives a thumbs up in the cockpit after passing his solo test.
Senior Takes ‘Aim High’ Motto to New Level By Sue Kiesewetter Senior Jake Simpson was at Lunken Air Field one morning nearly two years ago watching business jets taxiing around the airport when he let his mind wander to the pilots flying the aircraft. It was at that moment he realized he wanted to be a pilot. No longer was he content to just watch the planes, take pictures of them in flight or shoot them as they landed. He wanted to be at the controls. “The realization of what the people in front of those sleek, fast jets were doing hit me,” he says. “There were two people sitting up front who got to fly these incredible machines up to altitudes greater than 40,000 feet – above the clouds, above everyone else all day long and get paid for it. That was the moment I realized I wanted to be a pilot.” The journey to get his private pilot license began May 13, 2018 with an introductory flight at the Lunken Flight Training Center. Within a year, he received his private pilot license – after passing an online Federal Aviation Administration test and completing a solo flight to a Columbus area airport.
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Before that first flight, Jake had already built up a following among pilots as someone who was very knowledgeable about planes and a photographer who posted increasingly sophisticated pictures on his Instagram. They began asking him to take pictures of them as they flew into area airports. He continues to take photos between school, working at Great Summit Magazine
Wolf Lodge to help pay for plane rental – and his participation on Summit’s golf team. His first solo flight on March 6 was a proud moment for his mom, Kelly Simpson, who has a fear of flying. “I don’t care to fly, but I do. I wasn’t going to let my fear of flying stop him from what he wants to do. When he focuses on something, it’s intense,” Mrs. Simpson says. “If he hears a plane overhead, he can identify it. He listens to the control tower. He knows the language they speak.” Jake plans to turn his passion for flying into a career. He would like to enter the Air Force Academy and become a fighter jet pilot. Eventually, he’d like to fly commercial passenger jets around the world. “The thing about flying that makes me happy is the fact that we can travel at such a high speed above the rest of the world living below, and the views from up there are truly magnificent,” he says. “There is no better feeling than watching the city of Cincinnati come into view off of your nose as you follow the Ohio River back to Lunken as the sun sets and paints the sky various shades of red and orange.” “The machines that allow flight, miles above ground truly amaze me, and the thought of putting my skills to use to defend my country in some of the most advanced aircraft in the world, keeps me motivated every day to keep pushing no matter how difficult things get.”
Luke Pappano, far right holding the bat, poses with Matthew Modine and other cast members in the movie Chance.
Seventh Grader Gets ‘Chance’ to Be on Big Screen By Sue Kiesewetter Luke Pappano wants to be a major league baseball player. He’s pretty good, too. Luke plays on the national select team, 5 Star Midwest, and is one of the best left-handed pitchers in Ohio for his age group. Luke never considered acting as a possible career – and still doesn’t. But the 12-year-old Summit seventh grader already has one movie – “Chance” – to his credit and is a member of the Screen Actors Guild. Chance tells the story of a youth baseball star, from age 6 to 16, and is based on a real-life story of a Hamersville teen baseball player. Luke took on the role of Brad, one of Chance’s teammates and friend. Filming took place in the summer of 2018, between Luke’s fifth and sixth grade years, at the Flash Baseball Complex, in Brown County’s Hamersville. Four months ago, Luke went to a private Cincinnati screening of “Chance,” which hasn’t been released yet. “At first, it was a little weird seeing myself on screen. Back then, I was a lot different; I was shorter. My voice has changed a lot. My voice was so much softer than it is now,” Luke says. His acting debut may never have happened if not for a chance inquiry from a producer during a dental appointment with Summit mom, Dr. Tara Hardin. The producer wanted to know if Hardin happened to know any left-handed pitchers.
“She called me immediately and asked if we had a video of Luke playing baseball and a picture. It was surreal,’’ Luke’s mom Bambi Pappano, says. “I asked myself ‘Is this really happening?’ Here we are not even looking and we get this call. They had been working on this (project) for a year and couldn’t find a left-handed pitcher and in this role, this kid is very, very good at pitching.” Nevertheless, the family prepared an audition tape and sent it to producers. Once he got the role, life got busy for the family. For two months before filming began, the family made weekly trips to a baseball complex to learn the pitching and batting routines needed for the movie. Then, filming began. “It was hard at first,’’ Luke says. “The night before shooting I had to study my lines. Make sure I knew them. Some days I had one line; some days I had to memorize paragraphs.” What surprised Luke and his mom about making the movie were the multiple takes for each scene. “I thought it would be short takes – do it in an hour or so. Most scenes took three or four takes. There were a lot of 10-hour days,” Luke says. “I could not believe the details and the time it took. A three-second scene might take three hours to film,” Mrs. Pappano says. Luke has loved baseball since before he hit his first ball off the tee on a YMCA team for 4-year-olds. “My older brother and dad played baseball,’’ Luke says. “I grew up around it, started playing and I loved it.” 27 Summit Magazine 27
Honor In Action
Summit Sports
Silver Knights: YEAR IN REVIEW
By Erica Miknius The Silver Knights set new records in 2018-19 with competitive play regionally and statewide. Taking a moment to bask in success, here are the outcomes for the blue and silver teams. National Team Academic Awards: Girls’ Soccer, Baseball All Americans: Colleen McIlvenna, Girls’ Soccer; Sydni Black, Girls’ Lacrosse State Champs: Boys’ Soccer State Qualifying Events: Boys’ Soccer; Boys’ Cross Country; Girls’ Cross Country; Boys’ Golf – Jake Simpson; Girls’ Tennis – Elizabeth Fahrmeier in singles, Sadie Joseph and Amy Poffenberger in doubles; Girls’ and Boys’ Track – Brian DeWine in the 3200 meter, Khamia Brooks in 100-meter hurdles and 4x100, Na’Kyah Kennedy, Sophie Young and Rachael Montgomery in Girls’ 4x100, Alex Sougstad, Alonzo Motley, Michael Stanis and Ellis Ramsey in Boys’ 4X100 State Team Academic Awards: Volleyball, Boys’ Soccer, Girls’ Soccer and Field Hockey Academic All State Awards: Katie Chamberlin, Catherine Coldiron, Matt Brumfield, Nick Dahling, Brian DeWine, Evan Lakhia, Sean LaMacchia, Daniel Shisler and Andrew Wagner in Cross Country; Colby Gordon and Evan Hunt, Boys’ Soccer; Micah Johnson, Boys’ Golf; Zoe Myers and Carli Vallota, Volleyball; Caitlin Barnes, Sam Crew, Grace Kaegi, Colleen McIlvenna and Victoria Walton, Girls’ Soccer; Brian DeWine, Alonzo Motley and Michael Stanis, Boys’ Track; Aaron Bialon, Kate Nazzaro, James Speed and Tess Wyrick, Bowling; Eric Fisk, Micah Johnson and Brady Ray, Baseball; Sophie Young, Girls’ Track 28
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Regional Champion: Boys’ Soccer All Region Player of the Year: Colleen McIlvenna, Soccer District Champions: Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country; Boys’ and Girls’ Soccer; Boys’ Track and Field (Girls were runner-up) All City Player of the Year: Will Eads ‘19, Baseball Miami Valley Conference (MVC) Champs: Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country; Girls’ Tennis; Wrestling, individual – Jack Stewart; Boys’ and Girls’ Lacrosse; Baseball MVC Players of the Year: Rachel Martin, Girls’ Basketball; Wil Eads, Baseball; Sydni Black, Girls’ Lacrosse MVC Coach of the Year: Kurtis Smith, Boys’ and Girls’ Cross Country; Jessica Burke, Girls’ Lacrosse; Triffon Callos, Baseball; Pat Collura, Boys’ Lacrosse
Graham Nicholson looks to pass to a teammate.
Top: The Summit boys’ cross country team stands on the podium as the Division III state runner-up. L to R, Coach Kim Horning, Coach Kurtis Smith, Brian DeWine, Daniel Shisler ‘19, Andrew Wagner, Evan Lakhia, Elijah Weaver ‘19, Matthew Brumfield, Sean LaMacchia, Luke Desch ‘19 and Coach Jerry Hilton ‘91. Bottom left: Summit girls’ lacrosse player Sydni Black can call herself one of the best players in the nation. She 29 achieved all-American status last summer. Bottom right: Rachel Martin was named Miami Valley Conference player of the Summit year in the Scarlet 29 Magazine division for girls’ basketball.
u t l a a r t g ions n o C
Graduates Class of 2019 ‘And we, though many, throughout the earth We are one body in this one Lord’ 30
Summit Magazine
An essay by Sophie Young ’20 The anticipation in the air the day of The Summit’s graduation was so pervasive that one couldn’t help but feel drawn into the excitement. It was the event the last 1,358 days of the students’ lives led up to. The famed moment was finally here. As lifer Anna Fahrmeier described it, the day represented “the end of an era” shaped by the outstanding successes of Summit’s largest graduating class. Not only was the class the largest, it was composed of 43 Summit lifers, one of the highest numbers in the school’s recent history. There was something enchanting about the chaotic order taking place in the foyer as the soon-to-be graduates made their lastsecond preparations to enter the heart of The Summit, the grand Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel. A nostalgic memory of the dozens of masses, prayer services and Chapel Talks heard throughout their Summit career swept over the students. They stood anxiously, waiting to hear the regal music to which they would take the steps that would walk them across the line from the past into the future. Boys turned into men donning their tailed tuxedos, and the traditional white dresses worn by the young women were indicative of the fresh blank page waiting to be written of their lives beyond The Summit. After the graduates entered one-by-one, their final mass together as the Class of 2019 preluded the ceremony. As the congregation sang One Body, it became evident that, as salutatorian Jerry Wu and valedictorian Julia Rosa Helm emphasized in their addresses, The Summit community is not one of faculty, staff and students, but rather a family. As a result, graduation held a bittersweet place in the graduates’ hearts. Parting at graduation was hardly a goodbye, but rather a “see you soon.” Though one chapter of life was coming to a close, another was opening in a world of opportunity. Julia Rosa perfectly encompassed this in her farewell to her classmates. “Summit is my home. The time I have spent here, growing up alongside my classmates, has taught me to never take a moment for granted and to take advantage of every opportunity… I would honestly give anything for more time here, but I know it’s time to move on and start the next chapter in our lives. I know everyone in this class is going to do such amazing things. We are the future and we have to be the change we want to see in the world.”
One of 43 lifers in the Class of 2019, valedictorian Julia Rosa Helm delivers the commencement address.
With happy hearts and teary eyes, the new class of Summit graduates bid farewell to friends outside their second home. The plethora of photos taken could not truly capture the mixture of pride and sadness experienced by students and families alike as they departed for the last time ready to face their bright futures head on with the support of The Summit behind them. 31 Summit Magazine 31
Class of 2019 Outcomes • Our 105 graduates attracted more than $10 million in scholarship offers. One student alone received more than a half million in offers. • 10 full-tuition scholarships were awarded. Eight colleges and universities offered our graduates their top scholarship. • 92% of the class took college-level classes through the College Board Advanced Placement Program. • 14% of the class was recognized by National Merit. Half of them were lifers. • 6 student athletes signed to NCAA Division I and 4 plan to play on Division III teams. • 81% participated in at least one sport during their senior year. • Seniors performed 8,208 hours of community service, averaging 78 hours per student. The requirement is 48. • Our graduates received 496 acceptances from 150 institutions. The 52 colleges and universities they attend will be coast-to-coast in 21 states and Canada. Half the students will attend colleges out-of-state.
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Top: Summit’s Chaplain, the Rev. Dave Lemkuhl gets in the picture as students prepare for their processional into the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel for the graduation mass. Middle: Ethan Carr and Evan Purdie. Bottom: Carli Vallota is escorted through a faculty “clap out” by her brother Diego ’18 and sophomore sister Maria. Summit Magazine
National Recognition National Merit Finalists: Julia Rosa Helm and Caroline Kubicki National Merit Semi-Finalist: Alex Almaguer National Merit Commended Scholars: Caitlin Barnes, Ben Carcieri, Nick Dahling, Julia Dean, Luke Desch, Brigid Devine, Lilly Gieseke, Emily Harris, Luke Ritter and James Speed. National Hispanic: Alex Almaguer, Julia Rosa Helm and Colby Gordon National Merit Corporate Scholarship nomination: Luke Ritter 2019 Digital Camera Photographer of the Year: Maya Mehlman (Smartphone age 25 and under category) National publication: Victoria Walton, “Operation Valkyrie,” The Concord Review. Chris Guarasci, “An Ode to the Storm,” Live Poets Society of New Jersey’s 20th “Of Love and Dedication” anthology published in his junior year. National presentation: Victoria Walton, abstract of science research poster, American College of Cardiology annual conference.
Special Awards
Five seniors received special recognition awards during graduation. Clockwise from top: Aaron Bialon, Archbishop McNicholas Award, Daniel Shisler, Archbishop McNicholas Award; Colleen McIlvenna, Maurice “Bud” O’Connor Memorial Award; Carli Vallota, The St. Julie Billiart Award and Wil Eads, The Maurice “Bud” O’Connor Memorial Award.
Athletic national recognition: Soccer All-American: Colleen McIlvenna All-American girls’ soccer game: Colleen McIlvenna
Left: Will and Ben Carcieri were among three sets of twins in the graduating class. Above: L to R: Andrew Averill, Wil Eads, Terry Evans,Summit Eric Fisk, Magazine Brady Ray 33 and Colby Gordon.
College Athletes
The following students have signed or committed to National Collegiate Athletic Association teams: Division I • Kennidy Belle, soccer, Iowa State University. • Wil Eads, football, Eastern Kentucky University. • Tara Franke, rowing, George Mason University. • Colleen McIlvenna, soccer, University of Tennessee • Alonzo Motley, football, University of Dayton. • Connor Woodruff, football, University of Dayton Division III • Dane Barker, lacrosse, Marietta College. • Caitlin Barnes, soccer, Washington and Lee in Virginia. • Bennett Caruso, soccer, University of Mount Union in Alliance, Ohio. • Brady Ray, baseball, Mount St. Joseph University THIS PAGE Top: L to R, Brigid Devine, Carli Vallota, Catherine Alway, Mikayla Roma and Alexandra Ragland. Middle: Alex Almaguer, Micah Johnson, Michael Armitage and Chip Riechmann proudly tug their tuxedo lapels. Bottom: Alexis Fee takes a selfie as students gather for the class photo on the front steps. RIGHT PAGE Left: Board of Trustees Chair Allison (Hiltz) Kropp ‘93 congratulates Daniel Shisler. Right: Daniel Shisler, Chris Ralph, Luke Desch and Filippo Tosolini proclaim their new status as alumni. 34 34 Summit Magazine
Lifers
Row 1: Brigid Devine, Noor Amir, Alexis Fee, Julia Dean, Grace Kaegi, Catherine Alway, Anna Fahrmeier, Maya Mehlman and Lillian Gieseke. Row 2: Kristina Bauer, Maria Maples, Grace Carle, Grace Anderson, Isabella Saba, Caroline Kubicki, Emily Harris, Julia Rosa Helm and Gillian Fajack. Row 3: Martha Seltman, Samantha Crew, Victoria Walton, Grace Gilligan, Alexandra Ragland, Molly Mambort and Grace Millikin. Row 4: Alejandro Almaguer, Colby Gordon, Robert Paul Wilson, Jack Bergeron, Luke Ritter, Evan Hunt, Colton Biggs and Connor Woodruff. Row 5: Christopher Murtaugh, Brandon Harris, Jacob Schneider, Luke Desch, Bronson Mehlman and Micah Johnson. Row 6: Dane Barker, Michael Hajjar and Filippo Tosolini. Not pictured: Tara Franke.
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Clockwise from top left: Trustees taking part in the celebration include Chair Allison (Hiltz) Kropp ‘93, Drew Myers, Mirja Zeilstra, Joelle Ragland, Matt Carcieri and Sheryl Black.
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Victoria Walton, Grace Gilligan and Martha Seltman. Grace Dayton. Faculty decked out in robes for the ceremony include Larry Dean, Karen Suder, Jeff Stayton and Susan Miller. Michael Hajjar’s sisters, junior Mona and freshman Maya, escort him to the reception.
The Graduates
Row 1: Brigid Devine, Noor Amir, Catherine Alway, Julia Dean, Grace Kaegi, Grace Anderson, Anna Fahrmeier, Maya Mehlman, Lillian Gieseke and Alexis Fee. Row 2: Kristina Bauer, Maria Maples, Grace Carle, Anna DeRoussel, Meilian Kurlas, Grace Dayton, Grace Gilligan, Caroline Kubicki, Emily Harris, Julia Rosa Helm and Gillian Fajack. Row 3: Eric Fisk, Luke Desch, Victoria Walton, Amy Poffenberger, Ava Yoon, Abigail LaMacchia, Caitlin Barnes, Kennidy Belle, Isabella Saba, Jiaqian Bai, Grace Millikin, Molly Mambort, William Carcieri and Benjamin Carcieri. Row 4: Jack Bergeron, William Eads, Samantha Crew, Adrianna Parker, Zoe Myers, Hannah Gottenbusch, Meg DeNoma, Kiernan Cinque, Evelyn Mattson, Martha Seltman, Autumn Class, Colby Gordon and Bennett Caruso. Row 5: Kristalynn Proctor, Mikayla Roma, Tess Wyrick, Amelia Semler, Colleen McIlvenna, Caroline Vallota, Glenna Komujuni and Alexandra Ragland. Row 6: Alejandro Almaguer, Micah Johnson, Kieran Dowling, Reyyan Khan, Brandon Harris, Hudson Nuss, Elijah Weaver, Bronson Mehlman, Noah Hudepohl, Beckett Schiaparelli, Evan Purdie and Ethan Carr. Row 7: Terry Evans, Nicholas Dahling, Robert Paul Wilson, James Speed, George Riechmann, IV, Jacob Schneider, Marc Zakharov, Patrick Bissmeyer, Jack Sumerel, Andrew Averill, Colton Biggs, Christopher Murtaugh and William Pauly. Row 8: Michael Armitage, Alonzo Motley, Hanchen Huang, Neng Chai, Nicholas Nazzaro, Evan Hunt, Luke Ritter, Christopher Ralph, Filippo Tosolini, Yurui Wu, Jack Speight, Andrew Warren and Robert Sims. Row 9: Michael Elijah Rawlings, Christopher Guarasci, Rylan Woods, Brady Ray, Connor Woodruff, Aaron Bialon, Michael Hajjar, Dane Barker, Daniel Shisler and Grayson Ruehlmann. Not pictured: Tara Franke.
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Lower School guidance counselor Elizabeth Drumm spent her spring break at Verona School Counseling Institute in Italy. The institute included over 20 hours of presentations, discussions and school visits to facilitate the sharing of best practices among school counselors around the world, and particularly those in the US and Italy.
Endowed Funds Support Professional Development Training
By Kirstin Pesola McEachern, Ph.D Summit’s mission guides us to challenge our students as they develop across the school’s five pillars. But unlike other independent schools, our mission statement extends beyond our students to faculty and staff as well. Thanks to five endowed professional development funds, Summit financially supports faculty and staff as they grow in grace and wisdom and share their God-given gifts with other professionals by attending and leading professional development all over the world. In the last fiscal year alone, over 85 faculty and staff members utilized endowed funds to pursue professional development opportunities. Due to the generosity of our donors, we did not have to deny any requests due to lack of funding. “We are fortunate to be at a school that not only expects each faculty member to stay current on educational topics, but also supports that 38
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expectation by providing funds that allow them to attend workshops, conferences and seminars,” says Kathy Scott, Montessori Director. “These experiences help teachers increase the depth of their instruction and also add to their ‘toolbox’ when working with students.” In most cases, teachers add to their toolbox by going to content-specific workshops to strengthen their pedagogy. In the fall of 2018, Upper School science teacher Kat Sickinger traveled to New York for the 19th Annual Case Study Teaching in Science Conference. “This conference was dedicated to teaching educators how to use the case study method in teaching their science courses,” Mrs. Sickinger says. “In addition, there were sessions on inspiring active learning and how to implement methods of active learning in the classroom. I was able to take what I learned at this conference and directly apply it to my current teaching.”
Music teacher Ai Li Brown benefitted from attending the American Orff-Schulwerk Association’s National Professional Development Conference, where she says, “I had the opportunity to sing, dance and play my way through several amazing sessions that reinforced my basic grasp of the Orff-Schulwerk method. I also learned many innovative and captivating ways to present lessons.” Our specialists commit to deepening their content knowledge just as our classroom teachers do. In the winter of 2018, Upper School Resources teacher Laura Samuels, Ed.D. went to the Learning Disabilities Association of America Conference. “I came back incredibly excited and recharged to help shape the learning experience for students who struggle in school due to learning disabilities,” Dr. Samuels says.
er-leaders and encouraged them to reflect upon the habits and actions of teachers who are successful in creating healthy learning communities. We also sent five faculty and staff members to Rubicon Atlas in Portland, Oregon for their “Curriculum Leadership Institute,” where they received hands-on, in-depth training on how to design a curriculum process, define the best curriculum mapping strategies for our school and how to run and use reports within the Rubicon Atlas software platform to inform our teaching and decisions surrounding our curriculum process. Later in the year, three Upper School teachers attended the Professional Learning Communities Institute in Atlanta to learn more about how to work collaboratively to educate all learners to a high standard Lower School counselor through common Elizabeth Drumm used assessments, her spring break to go mediation and abroad to the Verona extension. Math School Counseling Institeacher Stacey tute in Italy. Oldfield says, Students and teachers at The Summit Country Day School have become an annual presence at the National Association of Independent Schools’ “I walked away People of Color Conference. First row, L to R: Jade Smitherman, Jessie “The institute included with a plethora of Headley, Nakyah Kennedy, Adrianna Parker and Cary Daniel ‘93. Back over 20 hours of presen- row, L to R: Jack Bergeron ‘19, Julia Almaguer, Yngrid Alvarez, Kirstin knowledge and McEachern, Kristalynn Proctor, Gail Rosero ‘82, Marsha Wermes and Maria tations, discussions and saw the need to Hill. school visits to facilitate change some of the sharing of best practices among school counour current teaching and grading procedures.” selors around the world, and particularly those in the US and Italy,” says Ms. Drumm. “The Institute Not all professional development requires travwas a fabulous chance to connect with leaders el, though. The Summit draws on endowed in the school counseling field internationally who funds for both virtual learning opportunities and are actively conducting research and implementbringing outside organizations to campus to ing interventions in schools.” reach a larger faculty audience. For instance, last summer, six Montessori faculty members took a Faculty also learn from conferences that focus on 10-week online course with The Center for Guidlarger goals congruent with our mission, such as ed Montessori Studies focused on infant and fostering teacher leadership, fine-tuning curricutoddler Montessori environments in an effort to lum design and facilitating professional learning advance our toddler program. For the past two communities. Last spring, five teachers from years, the Upper School has invited TorchPrep across divisions attended the workshop, “What to work with the entire division on an in-service Great Teacher Leaders Do Differently,” which day to focus on increasing student achievement highlighted the behaviors of effective teachon the ACT by reviewing new testing procedures Summit Magazine 39
teachers here at The Summit, it is an opportunity to enliven their work through reflection, learning and action.”
Interim Upper School Director Kelly Cronin, Athletic Director Greg Dennis, Assistant Head of School for Enrollment Management and Community Engagement Kelley Schiess and Montessori Director Kathy Scott engage in discussions during an Aileron Leadership Training presented for the Senior Leadership Team in June.
Kat Sickinger shows off the spectacular scenery in New York where she attended the 19th Annual Case Study Teaching in Science Conference. The conference was dedicated to teaching educators how to use the case study method in teaching their science courses.
Music teacher Ai Li Brown leads students in a performance rehearsal. She benefitted from attending the American OrffSchulwerk Association’s National Professional Development Conference.
and content with faculty and working with our teachers to embed content and test preparation into their courses. “For many teachers, professional development is an obligation to maintain licensure,” says Lower and Middle School Director Mike Johnson. “For 40
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Many take action by serving as presenters to share their ideas with other educators at the regional and national level. Summit faculty regularly occupy the agenda at the annual conference of the Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS). Middle School language arts teacher Brendan McEachern has presented at ISACS and at the Creative Problem Solving Institute in New York. “I have been encouraged by my colleagues and administrators to share classroom ideas to a greater audience,” he says. “I have thoroughly enjoyed presenting at conferences over the past few years. Besides the sheer joy of presenting, it was particularly helpful to hear and later incorporate audience feedback.” One endowed fund, The Schilderink Family Faculty Chair for Distinguished Teaching, presents a nominated teacher with funds to devote to professional activities as they wish. As teachers do not apply for this funding, receiving it catches them by surprise. This year’s recipient, Middle School math teacher Laura Priede, says, “I do not know how I will spend the monetary award. It was so unexpected, I really need to think about how best to honor the sentiment.” Montessori teacher Maggie Prinner, the 2018 Schilderink winner, has just decided how to use her award. “With the funds I plan to go to Italy next summer with two former colleagues to visit the birthplace of Montessori education,” Prinner says. “It has long been a dream, and with the generosity of the Schilderink award, I am able to afford the trip.” Priede says, “I’m blessed to work at a school where people love their experience enough to create an endowed award for teachers.” Kirstin Pesola McEachern Ph.D. is Assistant Head of School for Academic Affairs and Diversity & Inclusion Coordinator.
How Endowments for Professional Development Work Professional development endowments are
•
The James E. Evans Teacher Institute Fund,
restricted funds that provide donors the
established in 1990, provides grants for
opportunity to focus their gifts on the most
teachers and administrators to improve
critical aspect of an independent school –
teaching skills, expand their knowledge and
excellence in teaching. Endowments are an
facilitate their use of technology for the
investment in the future of the school, because
benefit of teaching.
only the interest on the endowment is spent.
•
The Theresa and Richard Davis Professional
Thus, donors are assured their investment will
Development Institute was established in
continue the mission of the school through
1999 by an anonymous donor to strengthen
generations of families.
pedagogy and motivate faculty and staff to enhance their skills and develop innovative
Outstanding faculty help distinguish The Summit from the competition through expertise in their
programs. •
The Ragland Fund for Teaching Excellence,
fields of study, best practices and innovation in
established in 2002, supports individual
the classroom. Professional development funds
professional development opportunities
allow faculty to pursue challenging experiences
as well as specific educational pedagogy
that advance their expertise, gain the knowledge
training to enhance the whole school. These
to design new curricula and learn new methods
funds can bring educational experts and
of engaging students. The funds attract and
guest lecturers to The Summit for in-service
retain high-level teachers who see the funds as a
programs that further excellence in teaching.
commitment to excellence in education and an investment in the cultivation of faculty.
•
The Castleberry Curriculum Development Fund, established in 2015, supports teachers who are rewriting curriculum to enhance
Currently, The Summit has five professional
teaching and learning.
development endowments. Creation of an endowed professional •
The Schilderink Family Faculty Chair for
development fund is the ultimate show of
Distinguished Teaching, established in 1989,
gratitude for teachers who have an impact on
is an annual award which recognizes faculty
children’s lives.
for excellence in teaching and bringing value to The Summit. The award includes a grant
To create an endowed professional development
which can be used for further professional
fund at The Summit, contact Chief Philanthropic
activities.
Executive Jim Jackson at 513-871-4700 ext. 242 or jackson_j@summitcds.org.
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Schilderink Family Faculty Chair for Distinguished Teaching Laura Priede
By Nancy Berlier The first time Head of School Rich Wilson observed Laura Priede teaching math in her Middle School classroom, he was surprised at how engaged the students were in the topic. “It’s a subject that some might think is less interesting than others, but you would have never known that from the way the students reacted to her,” he says. “She employed a variety of teaching techniques that engaged the children and kept their attention over 70 minutes.” He was a bit taken back when one student in the back of the room got out of his seat and started pacing back and forth. “It turns out, she knew the student had trouble sitting still. So while her lesson had students up and moving around the room, that was not enough for this particular student. She needed to seat him in a space where he wouldn’t disturb anyone when he got up to pace the room and process the information he had been presented. She understands how to accommodate different learning styles and abilities.” Awarded the Schilderink Family Faculty Chair for Distinguished Teaching, Mrs. Priede had taught all levels of math at a suburban Cincinnati public school system for 30 years before her arrival at The Summit in 2013. Last year, she taught grade 7 and 8 math, Algebra 1 and Honors Algebra 2, stepping up to teach this high school course so her students did not have to trek over to the Upper School. She arrives at school at 7:30 a.m. to offer extra help to students who need it. In every class period, she mixes standard teaching methods with projects, puzzles and math games. She tries to call on each student and have each one work at the board or on whiteboards. An innovator, she introduces seventh graders to computer science every December when her class participates in Microsoft’s “Hour of Code” project. In the process of coding games or animated graphics, students tap into their creativity and use the critical thinking and problem-solving skills needed in technology-driven 21st century workplaces. Every spring, she invites a speaker from Engineers Teach Algebra for an all-day workshop in which students attempt to solve traffic engineering problems. She
frequently uses the Wolfram Alpha Demonstrations Project, an online collection of tutorials which allow students to manipulate graphics that help them visualize math concepts and applications. More than anything else, she teaches her students to have confidence in themselves whether they are off the charts or struggling. “I believe every student can learn and have success in the math classroom,” she says. “Developing a love for or an appreciation of math is the ultimate goal I have for each student.” One of the parents who nominated her says she engages her students and no one falls between the cracks. “She makes the classes interesting and explains things many different ways so that everyone understands the concepts before she moves on. She never just goes to the next topic without everyone understanding the previous one. She is always available before school to help students with things they are struggling with. I know she ‘gets’ my child.” Another member of the Middle School faculty describes her as vastly experienced in the classroom, perceptive, selfless and humble. “She conscientiously works to bring out the best in each of her students using a tried and true pedagogy of active student engagement, firm classroom management, effective parent communication and productive collaboration with other teachers so that she can massage and adapt her classroom activities to meet the needs of each of her students.” Lower and Middle School Director Mike Johnson has been impressed with her insight into both assessment and placement. “She listens to all sides and has a finely tuned filter on what is best for the student,” he says. “She frames the outcome as a win-win for everyone. She is wise. She is thoughtful. She is a straight shooter who speaks up for what is right for the child, and she does so with grace and wisdom.” The Schilderink Chair represents the highest level performance, hour by hour, year in and year out. Every year, The Summit’s Educational Team agonizes over which outstanding teacher should get the honor. Being selected from a field of worthy candidates is humbling, Mrs. Priede says. “I work with so many outstanding teachers. I am truly blessed to work at The Summit.” 43 43 Summit Magazine
Leader of Character Awards
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Laura Dennemann
Kurtis Smith
Leaders of character recognize opportunities, form a vision of what can be achieved and then challenge themselves and others to get results. For Laura Dennemann, one of this year’s Leader of Character Award recipients, opportunities abound at The Summit. She has taken on leadership roles in Destination Imagination, Magnified Giving and the Knights of the Round Table leadership program – all of which focus on the student growth within the school’s mission. She also organized the “It’s Cool 2B Kind” summer community service camp. And in addition to the preparation and work for her religion classroom, she planned liturgies, chaperoned retreats, fulfilled annual Archdiocesan requirements for religion certification and planned celebrations of the Sacraments.
Leaders of character consistently model what we seek to teach children.
“Laura is truly a teacher focused on what is best for the students,” says Middle School language arts teacher Rosie Sansalone. “Her work within the classroom adheres to the ideals of a hallmark education – most notably, her work with Magnified Giving with her seventh grade religion classes. She works to be an example to her colleagues with regard to remaining focused on the students and the positive and the optimistic.”
One parent says: “When I watch him in action, I’m impressed how he closely observes students… He figures out what makes each one tick. He knows what successes and challenges they are facing while always seeing their unique gifts and talents. He’s always there encouraging and challenging them. ‘What is your purpose,’ he’ll ask. The way he uses his words causes them to stop and think… He impacts their life journey.”
“She makes time for students to discuss and make sense of the sensitive issues they face, providing them with an oasis which allows them to strike a balance in their lives – mindfulness, prayer, reflection and quiet,” says Head of School Rich Wilson. “Amid a frenzy of activity, she never loses her cool and keeps her students at the center of it all.”
“Kurtis believes in the values of family and builds them everywhere, with his own family, in his classroom, with his teams, with his colleagues and with his friends,” says Laura Haas, Leadership & Student Activities Coordinator in the Upper School. He helps others develop discipline and commitment. Kurtis is a leader who “walks the talk,” he adheres to a moral code and shares his faith and love with those around him.
One of this year’s Leader of Character Award recipients, Upper School religion teacher and Cotton Family Coed Cross Country Head Coach Kurtis Smith intentionally challenges his students and athletes to become the best versions of themselves. In his freshmen “Last Lecture” writing assignment, Kurtis requires students to set goals by making them answer three questions: Who was I? Who am I? Who do I hope to become? Modeling, he tells them about the tribulations that guided his life goals. He requires runners to keep track of their personal bests. Modeling, he finished 18 out of 127 in a 100-mile run in Tennessee this spring.
Summit Magazine
NEWSMAKERS
Summit Way Award
Faculty/Staff
Greg Williams Recipient of this year’s Summit Way Award, Greg Williams, wears many hats. He is a Middle School music teacher. Says one parent, who has seen her daughter’s confidence and competence grow remarkably: “Here is a man who works tirelessly to find a way to open a door so that the music floods in.” He is a musician. Says a teacher: “Greg’s ability to pull exquisite music from the piano fills the chapel with magic each time he sits at those 88 keys.” He’s an organizer. Says Head of School Rich Wilson: “He has taken on many extra duties in the chapel, ensuring that everything is in order for every Mass.” He’s a role model. Says a colleague: “Greg’s presence among us encourages each of his colleagues and students to be better human beings.” And he still steps up to do more. Says another teacher: “Greg Williams is one of the most thoughtful and generous people I have ever met. He is immediately willing to drop everything to help you and goes out of his way to share a smile and a kind word.” The Summit Way Award celebrates faculty and staff who strive for excellence, while maintaining a servant mentality – working hard and humbly while treating everyone with kindness and respect. “Greg puts his whole self into whatever he does,” says Mr. Wilson. “Yet, he does what he does so quietly, so humbly, so effectively, many don’t realize how it happened. All they know is that it’s very, very good.” – Nancy Berlier
The National Council of Geographic Education journal The Geography Teacher published "Exploring How Iceland's Physical Geography Impacts Daily Life and Energy Use,” a lesson plan written by Upper School geography teacher Tracy Law '85 Ph.D. The lesson is centered on using Iceland as a focus for teaching geography. The Xavier University Montessori Institute awarded Montessori teacher Arielle (Campbell) Wilson ’06 its inaugural Hilda Rothschild Scholarship for 2019-2020. Arielle received her B.A. in Psychology from Ohio University and expects to receive her M.Ed in Montessori Education from XU in the spring of 2021. A book co-authored by Nick J. Accrocco Ed. D., who became College Counseling Director this year, was published this summer. “Achieving Admission: How to Help Students Get into Selective Colleges and Keep Everyone Sane in the Process” is available at Amazon.com. Middle School language arts teacher Brendan McEachern published his first young adult book, Bolus Blues, in April. He also was accepted to present at the Creative Problem Solving Institute in June. Middle School language arts teacher Rosie Sansalone blogged from Africa this summer while researching a book of short stories focused on the People of Kenya. Collaborating with House of Friends, a human rights organization, the blog can be found at www.summitcds. org/RosiesJourney. Upper School biology teacher Kat Sickinger spent a week this summer at the American Wilderness Leadership School in Jackson, Wyo., in a professional development program.
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Conky Greiwe ’61 She Fosters Memories of a Lifetime at The Summit
By Nick Robbe White, long-sleeved blouses, a white skirt, white gloves, white socks or pantyhose and black shoes were worn during The Summit’s Distribution of Honors ceremony. Conky Greiwe ‘61 remembers when she donned the traditional garb of that era and what it was like to be part of that bygone ceremony. “Awards were given for courtesy, academic excellence, religion, conduct and music” she recalls. “I remember that, during the ceremony, you sat up straight and didn’t budge. My mother
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focused on me receiving conduct and politeness medals. I focused more on the academic sections.” Based on grade point averages, medals and ribbons were distributed. Medals were pinned to ribbons for students with higher marks in those areas. Ribbons were given to students with good marks. After the ceremony, students unpinned the ribbons and immediately returned them to the sisters. Retiring at the end of the 2018-19 school year, she is looking forward to spending more time in Evanston, IL, with her grandsons, Nick and Luke. Conky has many fond memories of her life
at The Summit. One of her favorite memories is a Summit tradition that continues today: May Crowning. A Boys School teacher, Tom Kane, began the rosary from the porch above Convent Lane. The procession started at the boys school. The Primary, Lower and Upper School girls followed the boys around the back of campus, eventually ending in the circle in front of the school. Back then, the school circle had grass and a statue of Mary. “We lined up in a horseshoe formation around Mary,” she says. “At the tail end of the procession was the first grader who was carrying the crown, the two senior attendants to the senior who crowned Mary and two first graders who carried her train. I carried the train when I was a first grader.”
I think I was good at each piece and had something to contribute to each one.” In 2008, her role changed again. She moved into Father Phil Seher’s office to serve as his liaison, a position she truly enjoyed. “You cannot help but totally enjoy that man. He’s one of the most well-liked people I’ve ever met. He was a real treat to work with and he taught me so much.” Her favorite job of all was preparing the chapel for the Christmas season and Christmas Eve masses. “I will miss it,” she says. When the position came open again, she resumed serving as the liaison for the SPA and all the duties that come with the role, including planning and hosting the organization’s events.
After graduating from The Summit, Conky enrolled at Marquette University for a year before coming back to Our Lady of Cincinnati College and Edgecliff College, which eventually merged with Xavier University. She graduated college with an education degree.
As the day of her retirement neared, the parents threw her a going-away party. Her daughter joked that The Summit should dedicate a “Conky Party Room.” With her history of planning and hosting innumerable events, it seems fitting.
Her second stint at The Summit lasted three days. She taught second graders before her husband took a job in Wisconsin. She taught second grade there, too. After bouncing from suburb to suburb of cities in the Rust Belt, she moved back to Cincinnati in 1980 where her next place of employment was MediClub at the Academy of Medicine. That lasted until one day she needed a haircut.
However, she does not need a room to cement her legacy. People will be reminded of her when they step inside the Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel. Her father was the interior designer who was hired to renovate the chapel and parlors. In the chapel, Conky’s father’s company erected scaffolding to reach the top of the nave where gold leaf was applied in four-inch squares by hand.
She walked into her salon and bumped into fellow alumna Donna (Hocks) Meakin ‘49 who told her there was a job opening in the Development Office. Conky decided to “throw my hat in the ring and see what happened.”
Even with all that history, Conky never focused on what was behind her. Her legacy might well be handling everything placed on the plate in front of her.
What happened was that she led the Summit Alumni Association, the annual auction and Summit Parents Association. She led fun and profitable auctions for 12 years.
“I’ve always said ‘this is the job to be done; let’s do it the best we can,’” she says. “I wanted to make Summit a better place through the projects with which I was involved.” Ask anyone, there is no doubt she did.
“I can’t say I loved it in the beginning, but I learned to like each piece,” she says. “However, Summit Magazine 47
Annie Vertuca
She Makes a Lasting Mark on Reading It can take a while for teachers to find a “sweet spot.” The perfect mix of the right school, content area and grade level. Some teachers search and never find it. Middle School Language Arts teacher Annie Vertuca did. After serving as a long-term substitute for The Summit on a few occasions, she became a fulltime teacher at our school 17 years ago. One of the reasons she came to teach here is that her three children either graduated or attended Summit. “I never taught my daughters, but I did teach my son,” she says. “It was different because students called me Mrs. George or Mrs. Vertuca and then he’d yell, ‘Mom!’” Following stints in fifth and sixth grade, she eventually found her groove teaching seventh graders. When reflecting on their teacher, students will remember being drilled on their grammar. “I made sure I really prepared them to go to eighth grade,” she says. “Then, Rosie (Sansalone) made sure they were ready for high school. She took what I did and made it a lot better. I’ll miss all my buddies. I’ve loved working with all these people.” Now that she is retired, Annie plans on spending her days gardening, taking golf lessons, keeping tabs on her children and continuing to be a voracious reader. She says, at any point, there are as many as 10 books on her tablet waiting to be read.
a six-week period each fall. At a scheduled time called Drop Everything and Read (DEAR), Summit middle school students stop what they are doing and read from the same book. “I think it’s going to be a great program,” Annie says. “I’ll be curious to hear how the kids like it.” Perhaps the thing she’ll miss most about being here at Summit is the feeling of community both with faculty and the students. That feeling is mutual among students. Annie says one Upper School student came up to her and said that she didn’t like the retirement news. She told the student their paths crossed infrequently. The student wouldn’t be denied. “She said to me ‘at least I knew you were here,’” Annie says. She was there for all her students.
Her love of reading will play a significant part in her legacy at this school. On behalf of the family, her husband, Louis D. George, gave the school $10,000 to establish the Anne Vertuca Global Read Aloud. The gift funds the purchase of books and an author visit once a year. The Read Aloud will happen during 48
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“Her insights into student behavior – their struggles and their triumphs – have helped her and the seventh grade team uncover the hidden potential of many students,” says Middle School Science teacher Joy Parker. – Nick Robbe
Maureen Ferrell
She Leaves with Hundreds of Success Stories For the past 45 years, 10 of them at The Summit, Maureen Ferrell’s life was dictated by the sound of a bell. That bell signified a change of class, when to go to an assembly or guaranteed another swift lunch. Maureen always had something to do in her role as College Counseling Director here at The Summit. It’s been that way since she arrived in October 2009. She did not have the benefit of time to ease into the role, but she made it work. “I was overwhelmed with how many parents were lined up, waiting for my arrival,” Maureen says. “Writing those first letters of recommendation was a challenge, but it worked well.” Maureen says she will not forget her first day at The Summit. Upper School teacher Laura Haas swung by her office and asked what she could do to help the school’s new College Counseling Director. She used that moment as inspiration when it came to helping hundreds of Summit students be successful. Those students’ stories are her stories too. During her time at The Summit, Maureen was responsible for updating The Summit’s College Counseling Handbook. She created a year-byyear work plan designed to get students to the next level. She also put together several programs throughout the year to help parents and students with the college process. “They (the students) had all the pieces to the puzzle,” Maureen says. “I just helped them put it all together and get into the best program for them at whatever college or university they wanted to attend.” The biggest thing she will miss is that day-to-day interaction with the students, whether it was
them coming into her office to offer a quick hello or seeing them in the hallways. “I don’t know if the kids knew how much I needed them as well,” she says. Now that she has the benefit of time, she will try and eat her lunch at a slower pace, enjoy morning and late-night television and travel. Bucket list locations include New York City for the Macy’s Day Parade on Thanksgiving and Rome. However, more than anything, she wants to travel during the different seasons, not just summer. When the calendar turns to August and September, Maureen expects the thoughts that surround not returning to school to hit her. However, wherever her journey takes her, she will look back upon her time at the school fondly. “I’ve always had to prove myself at other places I’ve been,” she says. “But with The Summit, I was embraced the minute I arrived. Summit has been good to me and good for me. I’ll always feel that way about this place.” – Nick Robbe
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Annual Fund for Excellence
MY SUMMIT STORY Tom Theobald SBS ’50
#MySummitStory
50 50 Summit Magazine
By Tanya Bricking Leach Tom Theobald SBS ’50, has long believed that “adversity brings victory.” It’s something the successful businessman was quoted as saying in a Crain’s Chicago Business story 25 years ago. He added that: “it’s astounding what people can do when deeply challenged by adversity.” That might give some insight into why Mr. Theobald, one of the biggest names in banking, has a soft spot for the underdog. He is chair of The Summit Foundation Board. He’s also one of the school’s largest donors by virtue of endowing The Summit’s largest scholarship, one that specifically offers a Summit education to African-Americans. An Underdog Himself His Summit story begins with him as something of an underdog. “My parents were not wealthy people,” he says. “My father finished school at 14. My mother was an orphan and was raised by her older sisters. My father eventually became a veterinarian, but it wasn’t a highly remunerative profession at the time. So, it was a big sacrifice for my parents to send my brother and me to the Summit Boys School when it opened.” He attended through eighth grade. At that time, the Upper School wasn’t co-ed, so he attended St. Xavier High School. He enrolled at the College of the Holy Cross on the recommendation of a favorite Jesuit teacher. Then, he earned his MBA at Harvard Business School. He worked in Vienna, served in the Army and started his career at Citibank. He enjoyed a lucrative career in banking, becoming a global banking leader. His career allowed him to cross paths with Queen Elizabeth and the King of Saudi Arabia. Fortune magazine once described him as “an unflappable, plain-spoken executive known for being a shrewd commercial lender.” Compelled to Give Back He says he owes much of his success to the value system he learned growing up in Cincinnati and attending The Summit. To honor his parents, he created the Arthur and Irma Theobald Scholarship in 1996 “in honor of the abiding belief in the gift of education and perseverance in the face of challenge.” It has become The Summit’s largest scholarship in
Tom Theobald SBS ’50 meets with some of the students who have been awarded the scholarship he endowed in memory of his parents.
terms of how much money is endowed. Mr. Theobald meets with his scholars regularly when he comes for foundation board meetings. “In the mid-90s, I was really concerned, as I am today, about inner-city education and its failings pretty much across the country,” he says. “I saw a wonderful opportunity to bring that interest and Summit together. We try to find kids, who would otherwise be in very ordinary public schools, and bring them to The Summit where they can get an outstanding education in terms of rigorous academics, character-building and social skills. In retrospect, that is a big thing.” For someone who spent his career on Wall Street and once lived in an $18 million mansion in Connecticut alongside celebrities such as Ron Howard, giving money to have his name on the side of a building doesn’t mean much. He’d rather instill curiosity in people and give the underdog a step up in life. “There is a part of me that says, ‘Hey, I owe something back,’” says Mr. Theobald, now 82. “I really wanted to give it back in the name of my parents. They were the ones who sacrificed, not me.” He says he hopes that sentiment sinks in with other Summit alumni. “By the time you graduate from here, you ought to be able to form the picture that somebody else has been helping you all along,” he says. “If you value the education you’ve received, you owe it to somebody. So even if it is sending $10 a year to start, I really ask that you start with contributions, and you can build them up over time. If you’re lucky enough and able to, you really ought to do something significant, because there’s nothing more fundamental to anybody’s progress in life than the education they received.” This is one in a series of stories called “My Summit Story.” See this story and others via video at www. summitcds.org/mysummitstory. Summit Magazine 51
Joanna Haas ’85
Alumna is CEO of Kentucky Science Center By Tanya Bricking Leach For a time, Joanna Haas ’85, seemed destined to become an art teacher. In high school, Ms. Haas volunteered with Mrs. Yarnell’s students and babysat for her son. Then, Ms. Haas prepared an Advanced Placement art portfolio, designed and painted a mural in The Summit’s Middle School hallway and earned a Vail Scholarship for fine arts from Denison University. Yet, she also felt a strong influence from her Summit science teachers. They encouraged her curiosity about the seen and unseen world. “I never got that art degree and never became a teacher,” says Ms. Haas, who earned a psychology degree instead. “But I landed quite accidentally in a place of informal science education where my leadership capacity, 52
Summit Magazine
my ability to write and speak in public, my self-confidence and risk-taking skills and my foundation in the value of being curious served me well right from the start.” Almost 30 years later, Ms. Haas has become a well-respected, trusted leader in the field of informal science education. She has been Kentucky Science Center’s CEO for more than a decade. She has developed a suite of skills that spans science and technology to fundraising and public relations. Her main mission now is to encourage people of all ages to “Do Science” in their everyday lives. She serves on the Board of the Association of Children’s Museums and has served more than a decade on the Association of Science-Technology Center’s Board. She has also served on four Girl Scout Boards (in each city where she has lived) and is passionate about providing access to
science for all people regardless of gender, race or socioeconomic background. “Summit provided me, at every age and stage, the opportunity to explore and excel across many areas of interest,” Ms. Haas says. “I did not feel pressured to specialize. I felt free to pursue – or even dabble in – art, music, sports or channel my passion toward one academic area or another. I could love both science and literature. I could lose myself in the art room or edit the poetry magazine. In the extracurricular realm, I could feel joy and the benefits of participation. It seemed that emphasis was put on what life skills I was learning from the experience.” Ms. Haas says she was never the best player on any team or the most talented artist. However, she put her best self forward in each setting. She credits skills and character traits she learned at The Summit for helping her get her first job at Ohio’s Center of Science & Industry. That was when she answered a newspaper want ad looking for someone able “to work amid organized chaos.” Over the years, Ms. Haas took on other roles at the Ford Motor Company, The Henry Ford Museum and Pittsburgh’s Carnegie Science Center. Yet, she never lost sight of her roots. “If I had to identify them, some of my most influential teachers were Paula (Bien) Yarnell ‘65, Pat Kelly, Bob Gorey, Mary Vetter and my sister, Laura Haas, who joined The Summit faculty in time to serve as my coach for junior and senior years,” Ms. Haas says. “These and so many others knew me over a long arc of time and had a true knack for coaxing, cajoling, supporting, kicking in the pants, assisting or letting the reins out at just the right moments.” She says it’s thanks in part to her years at The Summit that she learned to be well-rounded and pursue interests with abandon. So while classmates might have thought she would go on to teach art, she instead became a science CEO and a single mom to her adopted son, Winston, who’s now 13. They live in Louisville. Her hopes for her son are much like her hopes for students at her alma mater.
Joanna and her son, Winston, wear special glasses during Eclipse Day.
Joanna and a colleague hold up projects they made during MakerPlace training at the Kentucky Science Center.
“Every job in the future will be infused with even more science and technology than we are familiar with today, so comfort and adaptability here will be key,” she says. “And adults, all adults, will increasingly need the ability to discern, discourse and decide intelligently. Those adults of the future are sitting in Summit classrooms of today.” Summit Magazine 53
Meritorious Service Award: Emily Sheckels Ahouse ’98
Young Alumni Award: René Cheatham III ’03
The Summit Alumni Association awarded Emily (Sheckels) Ahouse ’98 with the Meritorious Service Award for extraordinary service to The Summit, the community and state.
The Summit Alumni Association awarded René Cheatham III ’03 with the Young Alumni Award. This award recognizes an alumna or alumnus, who has graduated within the last 20 years, for significant accomplishments in their professional life, service to the community or The Summit.
Emily is the Montessori chair for The Summit Parents Association and Executive Director of the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation. As a Summit lifer, her Summit family legacy includes her mother, brother and two sons who attend The Summit. After graduation, she earned a bachelor’s degree in Design and Environmental Analysis and a master’s degree in Historic Preservation Planning from Cornell University. After graduating from college, she consulted for Janus Research and served as a Historic Preservationist for the City of Coral Gables, Fla. She has been the Preservation and Planning Specialist for the City of Covington, served as the city liaison for Northern Kentucky Public Arts Network and has been on the board of Renaissance Covington. Her current work with the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation helps ensure that Walnut Hills is a safe, vibrant, healthy and inclusive community. In 2018, she received the Allied Professional Award in the Kentucky chapter of the American Institute of Architects.
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René served on the Alumni Board for ten years, including four years as the president, and served on numerous board committees. He also volunteers his time with the Peaslee Neighborhood Center as the treasurer and works with the finance committee. Now, he is Director of Finance and Operations with the Corporation of Findlay Market. Prior to his work with Findlay Market, he held positions with the Hamilton County Clerk of Courts as the Chief Financial Officer, General Electric and at Mercy Health. After graduating from The Summit, René earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting from Norwich University and his master’s in finance from Norwich and the University of Cincinnati. During his years at Norwich, he was a standout basketball player and was inducted into the school’s Athletic Hall of Fame. He was a threetime Great Northeast Athletic Conference AllConference selection and was voted the team’s most valuable player his senior year. --Nick Robbe
VISIT THE SUMMIT SAVE THE DATE Nov. 12, 2019 Legacy Photo 8:15 a.m. in the chapel
ADMISSION PREVIEW DATES
Current students who have parents
Parents interested in enrolling students in The Summit are welcome to attend one of our upcoming preview events.
or grandparents who are Summit
Thursday, Oct. 24 Montessori Preschool-Grade 8 Parent Preview Day for Prospective Parents 8:30 a.m. Ragland Family Alumni Parlor
Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel for
Wednesday, Nov. 13 Montessori Preschool-Grade 8 Parent Preview Day for Prospective Parents 8:30 a.m. Ragland Family Alumni Parlor Thursday, Nov. 21 Upper School Open House 6:30 p.m. Main Building Thursday, Dec. 5 Montessori Interviews for Prospective Students 8:30 a.m. Montessori Library Wednesday, Jan. 8 Montessori Interviews for Prospective Students 8:30 a.m. Montessori Library Tuesday, Jan. 28 Grades 1-8 Parent Preview Day for Prospective Parents 8:30 a.m. Ragland Family Alumni Parlor Thursday, Feb. 6 Montessori Interviews for Prospective Students 8:30 a.m. Montessori Library Tuesday, March 3 Montessori Interviews for Prospective Students 8:30 a.m. Montessori Library Tuesday, April 7 Montessori Interviews for Prospective Students 8:30 a.m. Montessori Library RSVPs are required. Contact Admission Administrative Assistant Paula Kistner at 513.871.4700 x261 or email Kistner_p@summitcds.org.
Jan. 11, 2020
alumni are invited to join us in the a commemorative photo. Athletic Hall of Fame 2:30 p.m. in Flannery Gym Feb. 1, 2020 Summit Sweethearts 2 p.m. in the chapel Summit alumni who were married in the chapel are invited for a marriage blessing event in the chapel followed by a dessert reception. April 26, 2020 Campus Day Plans are underway for a full day of events including a new family reception, the annual art show, and performances by student musicians. Contact Alumni Engagement and Gifts Officer Mark Osborne at 513.871.4700 x240 or summitalumni@ summitcds.org.
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* 12th ANNUAL *
Early Childhood Education Symposium Saturday, November 2 • 8:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. The Summit Country Day School Keynote Speaker: Maureen Healy Take-away tips for informed parenting. Book signing. • Award-winning author and leader in the field of children’s emotional health. • Her blog for Psychology Today reaches millions of people worldwide. • B.A. and M.B.A. from Clark University in Worcester, Mass. and a Ph.D. in Child Clinical
Psychology at Fielding Graduate University in Santa Barbara, Calif. • A keynote speaker at symposiums globally, she has appeared on PBS, NBC and Disney’s
“The FatherHood Project.” She’s an educator who has helped parents worldwide raise emotionally healthy and happier children. • The Emotionally Healthy Child: Helping Children Calm, Center and Make Smarter
Choices offers practical strategies for teaching children how to overcome challenges, build skills and be emotionally responsive. • Her 2014 book, Growing Happy Kids: How to Foster Inner Confidence, Success and
Happiness, won the Nautilus and Reader’s Favorite book awards.
Free. Open to the public. RSVPs requested, walk-ins welcome. Sponsored by Drs. Renee and Michael Kreeger.
REGISTER NOW
www.summitcds.org/symposium