The O’Neal Quarterly •
Retired Admiral Leighton Smith spoke to Middle and Upper School students about his successful journey starting in the Naval Academy and the life lessons he learned along the way.
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The Booster Club hosted the JV/ Varsity Fall Sports Recognition Ceremony celebrating 85 studentathletes for the fall season.
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The O’Neal Volunteers joined in with the local Habitat for Humanity organization for one of the many “Habitat Builds.”
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Parents from Lee County and Moore County each hosted an “All About O’Neal” informative event in their home for current O’Neal families and their guests. The O’Neal Upper School was given a presentation on the dangers of distracted driving by the Southern Pines Police Department. O’Neal Middle School inducted three members into its Jr. Beta Society.
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The Upper School held its Honor Council Induction Ceremony inducting 3 members and 2 alternates to the 5-member council.
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Newbery Award Winning Author Katherine Applegate, spoke in O’Neal’s theater at an event that was open to the public. Many O’Neal students were able to purchase her latest book, “Crenshaw” and have it autographed.
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O’Neal senior Lauren Dailey, presented to the Upper and Middle School students her summer study abroad in Moldova. Sixth, seventh, eighth and ninth grade students enjoyed getting to know one another during their class trips to a variety of locations ranging from the North Carolina mountains to Washington, D.C. Award winning author Alan Gratz, presented his newest book “Code of Honor” to Middle and Lower School students. He also visited 7th grade English classes to teach them his process in writing a book.
FALL 2015 •
O’Neal partnered with Southern Pines United Methodist Church to host a “Stop Hunger Now” meal preparation event on campus. Close to 90 O’Neal families participated and approximately 30,000 meals were prepared and sent to Zambia.
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A variety of after school programs were scheduled to serve Lower and Middle School students including, LEGO League, Science Olympiad, Odyssey of the Mind, Lower School Chorus and more.
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The seniors enjoyed an overnight retreat to Camp Caraway for instruction on writing college essays for applications.
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Middle and Upper School students held Honor Code Assemblies. They recited the Honor Code Pledge and gave their signatures.
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Head of School Achievement Awards were given to Upper School students with the highest GPA entering the 2015-2016 school year.
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O’Neal opened its doors to 412 students on August 18th.
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t The O’Neal School, students love to learn and their teachers inspire their passion and dedication. I am fortunate to see this every day as Lower School students joyfully enter each class and Middle and Upper School students engage with their teachers and each other in their studies. O’Neal’s faculty members truly know their students and challenge them in a nurturing, balanced way, and it is obvious that they love what they do. Each year, the faculty works to develop and enhance our programs. This year we are intentionally addressing the “strength of character” aspect of our mission statement. Students can participate in the Falcon Develop Program in athletics, robotics in the Innovation Center, chorus, and our growing international partnerships. Weekly seminars in Grades 6 and 9 address topics to support our students during these important transitional years in our program. The ideas and energy of our faculty make our programs stronger, improve the learning outcomes and skills of our students. They also instill the love of learning that makes our community so unique.
Victory is making an out with a tag at third base as the students in the Falcon Development Program learn the basics of baseball.
The Falcon Development Program
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’Neal Director of Athletics James Franklin started his first year with specific goals and a plan on how to achieve them. Aside from team pride and continuity by providing practice shirts for studentathletes with help from the Booster Club, he has communicated very clearly the purpose and value of O’Neal Athletics. A few of the key factors for a strong school sports program are the sports interest and fundamental skill sets of the students who feed into it. As part of such cultivation, the Falcon Development Program(FDP) was born. Starting in September, this free after school program has been offered 2 days a week to students in grades 3-6. Almost 20 students strong, FDP Director Ben Kemp started the students off with speed, strength and agility exercises and has now moved on to teaching the fundamental skills of baseball. Before the end of the program, students will also be introduced to soccer, volleyball, tennis and basketball.
John C. Elmore Head of School
“The establishment of FDP has been a great success up to this point,” says Ben Kemp. “The feedback from students and parents has been overwhelmingly positive. I have thought for a few years now that Lower
Sarah Massey
School was lacking some sort of athleticbased program for students. FDP gives our youngest students the opportunity to stay in shape, develop numerous athletic skills, and experience the sports we have to offer here at O’Neal. FDP has the potential down the road to play a major role in helping generate interest and develop athletes for all of our athletic programs.” Using O’Neal sports to teach overall athletic development, FDP students will leave the program with a greater grasp of the ABC’s of sports, Agility, Balance and Coordination. Each session will focus on improving our students’ fundamental growth, cerebral ability, and their psychological and physical development. Ben Kemp is a 4th and 5th grade teacher in the O’Neal Lower School who also has the instructor skills needed for FDP. In addition, his knowledge of the individual students in the FDP program helps in knowing how much to challenge them and how best to communicate to them. “The purpose of The O’Neal School’s Falcon Development Program (FDP) is to provide our younger students the opportunity to become better acquainted with all aspects of organized sports,” says James Franklin. “We are fortunate to have Mr. Kemp’s energy and expertise leading our program. We hope we can aid in the development of our future Falcon athletes and advance their skill and athletic abilities.” FDP Director Ben Kemp teaches the students how to hold a baseball glove in order to properly catch the ball.
The Fall Sports Season Wraps Up
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’Neal varsity girls’ tennis with a young team and no seniors this year, made a great showing in conference play taking 2nd place and earned their way to the quarter finals for the state tournament losing to Gaston Day School. The varsity boys’ soccer team lost to Cary Christian in the first round of the NCISAA tournament. The team’s last state appearance was in 2013. O’Neal Varsity Soccer Coach Jackie Cavallini was awarded co-coach of the year for soccer by the Eastern Plains Independent Conference (EPIC).
In varsity cross country, seventh grade student and new member of the team, Molly Kuzma, dominated by winning 4 out of the 5 meets she raced in for regular season, 1st place for the conference championship meet and placing 19th at the NCISAA tournament in a field of over 200 girls. O’Neal is looking forward to what the future holds for Molly.
Recognitions All Conference recognition is awarded to Sophia Renner, Sarah McInnis and Caroline Landry (Varsity Girls Tennis), William Schirmer, Brian Subin, and Mason Sullivan (Varsity Boys Soccer), Sarah Colthart (Varsity Volleyball), and Molly Kuzma (Cross Country).
Photo by Avery Schaefer
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The Arts
he O’Neal School has much to celebrate, as they bring home honors from the 2015 NCTC High School Play Festival, held at Union Pines High School on October 30-31. The theatre program, led by Henry Hamilton, made the school and community proud with their presentation of “Drum Taps”, playwright Lindsay Price’s adaptation of Walt Whitman’s poetry at the Festival, and is thrilled to bring home the following awards: an overall rating of “excellent” with an award for Excellence in Production Design. The student cast and crew of 11 includes Grace Bell, Megan Bloom, Ceci Bockoven, Madison Greer, Isabel Huesa, Ian Johnson, Tyra Marsh, Andrew ShoecraftMartin, Avery Schaefer, Grace Stroud, and Lu Yang.
Fall Sports Records Varsity Girls Tennis: 9-2 / 2nd EPIC / Quarter finals NCISAA Boys Soccer: 9-5-1 / 5-3 EPIC / 1st round NCISAA Volleyball: 1-15 / 0-8 EPIC Boys Cross Country: 4th EPIC / 25th NCISAA Girls Cross Country: 4th EPIC / 24th NCISAA Junior Varsity Boys Soccer: 2-2 Volleyball: 3-10 / 0-6 EPIC
Photo by Avery Schaefer
Upcoming Events
Middle School Boys Soccer: 4-0-2 / 1st in SEMSAC Volleyball: 4-12
11/10 Military Appreciation Day 11/16-20 PA Scholastic Book Fair 11/20 Special Persons Day Doran Lamble
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Homecoming
The Tanzania Project
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ast year, local artist, Jessie Mackay, introduced the Middle School to her experiences in Tanzania and Tanzanian art. She spent two days with Judy Browne’s art classes, sharing her African art techniques with the students and creating a class masterpiece.
O’Neal alumna, Katherine Kelly ‘10 has become O’Neal’s connection on the global level to become more acquainted and knowledgeable about the people and customs of Tanzania. Katherine is the founder of the African Community Empowerment Company and the director of the Hill Crest PrePrimary School in Tanzania. Katherine shared information on Hill Crest and its students at one of the recent Middle School morning meetings. Through pictures, students met Noella, an 7 year old girl whose school life will be followed throughout the year. Jessie Mackay and Carol Kelly, Katherine’s mother, spoke to the Middle School at an earlier meeting, informing the students about the children and people of Tanzania. Middle School students then donated pillow cases, which will be sewn into dresses for the young ladies at Hill Crest School. The appreciation of fashion is something shared by middle schoolers around the globe, and it was an enjoyable first connection to have with these students. Jessie and Katherine also met with the Upper School’s Global Issues class to begin discussions on renewable energy. Plans are in the works to collaborate with James Obi, a local businessman who works in the renewable energy field in a variety of African countries. Through this connection with Tanzania, both Middle and Upper School students will benefit by a raised sense of global awareness in the Middle School and one of global citizenship in the Upper School. Additional activities will follow and with these collaborations, similarities and differences between cultures will be unraveled.
The O’Neal Quarterly P.O. Box 290 Southern Pines, NC 28388
Ryann Perkins
In this issue, enjoy photos of Middle School student artwork.