The O’Neal Quarterly •
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Model UN travels to Washington D.C. to compete for the first time. The 7-member team is awarded Outstanding Small Delegation. Senior Andrew Martin wins Best Delegate Award in the Cabinet of China and Diplomacy Award. Freshmen Jamie Wenzel and Téa Waldt receive Verbal Mention for Peru’s representation in INTERPOL. Thanks to The Country Book Shop, guest author Lauren Myracle visits lower school students. She is the coauthor of the Upside Down Magic series. Varsity girls basketball wins the Eastern Plains Independent Conference (EPIC) regular season undefeated 12-0.
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AFRIZO, a student vocal group from Daystar University in Kenya performs for O’Neal students.
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O’Neal freshmen Chloe Shen, Téa Waldt, Zoey King and Naomi Johnson all earn honorable mention awards for their short stories submitted to the 2018 Scholastic Art & Writing Awards.
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O’Neal cheer teams do well at the Liberty Classic. The exhibition team wins an Excellence Award. The middle school team wins 2nd place in their division. The varsity team wins 1st in their division as well as GRAND Champion out of 11 teams! O’Neal hosts the 3rd annual middle school Science Olympiad Invitational with sixteen teams from around the state participating.
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Senior Ellie Henry is elected Homecoming Queen by her peers. She is escorted by her brother, sophomore Sam Henry.
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Upper School trims the tree with hats, mittens and scarves as well as hosts a coat drive for the Coalition for Human Care. A Toys for Tots Drive is held in the Middle School and Upper School. Lower School donates “Bags of Cheer“ to the Coalition and Guardian Ad Litem. The O’Nealers and Middle School Chorus visit assisted living facilities to sing to residents for the holidays.
WINTER 2018 •
The FCA makes gifts for “Build the Village”, an orphanage in Kenya.
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Nine students from the Class of 2018 and 2019 were inducted into the National Honor Society. They are: (Class of 2018) Xirui Du, Jieying Han and Signe Healy (Class of 2019) Tazreean Ahmed, Zirui Guo, Talia Ferrerio, Fanqi Meng, Ryan Ritter-Diosdado, and Peter Seifert.
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O’Neal runners, cheerleaders and Key Club members all participated in the annual community Reindeer Fun Run. O’Neal’s 4th grade student Corbin Weeks placed 16th overall and 1st place in his age group of 84 9-year-olds!
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O’Neal’s international students were invited to dinner at the Chancellor’s home by Robin and Rebecca Cummings to meet UNC-Pembroke international students.
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The Parents’ Association holds a successful annual book fair leading up to Special Persons’ Day in the Lower School.
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The S.T.E.A.M. Initiative at O’Neal
ow do we enhance our current student experience? How do we further prepare our children to be well versed in collaboration, communication, innovation and problem solving? A STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics) experience in all grade levels taught through integrated curriculum can provide our students with opportunities to deepen their understanding of content skills through creative hands-on experiences.
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ecent student successes have been a source of school pride at O’Neal. The Varsity Girls’ Basketball team won the EPIC conference championship with a 12-0 record. They will compete in the state playoffs, and the Middle School Boys are the SEMSAC basketball champions. The School is filled with excitement for these extraordinary student-athletes. O’Neal’s Model United Nations group made their first trip to Washington, D.C. this month, and in addition to individual honors, they were named the Outstanding Small Delegation. Looking to the future, individual seniors have received Early Admission to Boston University, College of William and Mary, Skidmore College, Northeastern University, Colorado College, the Art Institute of Chicago, Elon, Texas A&M, the University of Virginia, Davidson College and more. We are proud of these accomplishments and celebrate the dedication of our students to achieve success. The community and determination of our students and faculty are what makes our school so special.
John C. Elmore Head of School
STEAM is currently incorporated into many class projects such as composing music with computers, pumpkin chunkin, airplane models, mini go cars and the outdoor classroom in the Lower School. We wish to expand our STEAM opportunities with more appropriate technology, supplies, and professional development. Students can learn to create geometrically perfect snowflakes with a laser cutter, design and print a 3D sculpture, record composed music, make digital videos with handmade props and green screen technology, control and command robots, build drones, design a tiny house, to name just a few. The variety of projects and experiences we can create with a STEAM focus is almost endless.
These hands-on experiences, whether integrated into already existing curricula or through elective courses and clubs will give our students the confidence to enter a workforce we have yet to imagine. --Megan King, Director of Studies
Economic uncertainty has led America to once again turn to innovation as the way to ensure a prosperous future. It is apparent that Art/Design is in a position to change the economy in the 21st century just as science and technology did in the last century. For this reason, it is imperative to add Art/Design to the STEM equation; therefore: STEAM. To review case studies on the STEAM initiative, visit: www. stemtosteam.org .
The STEAM Initiative at O’Neal is the School’s Live Auction Fund-a-Need item this year. If you are unable to attend the O’Neal Auction you may support this effort by making an online donation. You will find the page under Giving on O’Neal’s Website: ONealSchool.org.
The Arts
Auction Honorary Chairs Announced
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’Neal is excited to have Lisa Dishman and David Hensley as honorary chairs for the School’s 2018 Annual Auction. Parents of freshmen twins, Caroline and Maddie, they have been involved with many facets of the School since they first enrolled their daughters in kindergarten.
“After moving to the area from Virginia when our twins were five, we quickly knew that O’Neal was the right school for our daughters,” say David and Lisa. “We could not have been more right. The experience our girls have gotten from a PreK-12 school environment has been so positive in ways we would have never imagined. Additionally, the commitment of the teachers, staff and administrators to do more than just educate, but to help prepare young adults for a productive future, is invaluable. We initially selected O’Neal for the quality education and amazing facilities, but ended up with a whole lot more.” Lisa and David are strong believers in private school education and support many of the area’s private schools. They also give to various military charities to include the local Duskin & Stephens Foundation and various chapters of the Special Forces Association. Lisa and the children are members of First Baptist Church in Southern Pines where the girls are active members of their youth group. David is a serial entrepreneur who founded several companies after his retirement from the US Marine Corps in 2004. Currently located in Ashley Heights, the companies are Quantico Tactical, a nationwide retailer and the third largest NC based federal government contractor; Tactical Gear Distributors, a wholesale distributor of weapons, weapon accessories and gear; and TacShield, a manufacturer of apparel, tactical gear and weapon accessories. Lisa and David currently own all of these companies and maintain full-time active roles with Quantico Tactical. They spend most of their free time supporting their children who are involved in travel volleyball and dance.
A Midsummer Night’s Dream
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nder the direction of Librarian Lynn Bowness, O’Neal’s fifth grade students performed their annual play on January 31st to parents and fellow students. A play written by William Shakespeare in 1595 was the perfect choice for this year’s 5th grade. The students let their creative juices flow and put their own unique twist to the classic comedy.
Upcoming Events Middle/ Upper School Musical “Joseph and the Amazing Technicolored Dreamcoat”
O’NEAL SUMMER FUN Summer enrichment programs for youth age 3 through high school. Camps are priced at a $10 discount through May 31st.
Feb. 22nd & 23rd
Auction Preview Feb. 23rd
The Annual Auction
Camp offerings from June 4th-Aug. 3rd
Feb. 24th
Danielle Cormier ‘14 Performs March 10th
5th Grade Musical “The Girl at One Strawberry Lane” March 13th
The O’Neal Quarterly P.O. Box 290 Southern Pines, NC 28388
Register online at
ONealSchool.org (910) 692-6920