Student Spotlight...
Claire Glass
Class of 2015
Claire spent October 25 visiting seniors at the
Sunrise Assisted Living facility for fellowship and service. As part of annual Make-a-Difference Day projects,
Claire and her Junior Girl Scout Troop (1342) threw a Halloween party, carved
pumpkins and helped residents make blankets to donate to the hospital.
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The Viking Voice is published weekly by the Columbus Academy communications office.
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October 29, 2008
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Volume 2, Issue 13
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Griffin, Johnson earn National Achievement honors
 Two more Columbus Academy
students have been recognized by the National Merit Scholarship Program. Seniors Austin
Griffin and Chyna Johnson have
been named 2009 National Achievement Program Outstanding Participants Referred
to Colleges, meaning they scored in the top four percent of more than 150,000
Black Americans who requested consideration in the 2009 National Achievement
Program when they took the 2007 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship
Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT). This
brings the total number of CA students in the Class of 2009 who have been
nationally recognized by the National Merit and Achievement Programs to 25,
constituting an impressive 27.5 percent
of the 91-member class. To see a
complete year-by-year list of Academy students who have been recognized by
these programs since 1986, please click here.
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CA's "Kids for Kids" Clothing Drive begins Sunday
 First, a heartfelt "THANK YOU!" goes to those who donated to the food drive, which met
its quota for today's Make-a-Meal event after a late influx of items.
Now it's time to clean the closets and the basement for the annual "Kids for Kids" Clothing Drive. Send in your children's gently used clothing,
toys, bicycles and books so we can help 135 children who are in need. Please drop off your items in the truck
parked at the Arts Entrance/Lower School turnaround starting this Sunday,
November 2, from 11:00 a.m. until 2:00 p.m.
Donations will also be accepted at the same location on Monday and
Tuesday, November 3-4. Volunteers are still needed on November
3-7 to help sort and pack up each sponsored family's items, so please join us
in the Schoedinger Theatre lobby. Any
questions, please contact Ann Boeckman
(253-3108 or rpboeckman@aol.com) or Karen Skilken (901-4050
or kskilken@gmail.com).
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Annual Fund hopes for 100% parent participation
The 2008-09
Annual Fund is underway, and all parents should have received a note from a
fellow parent, a letter and envelope and, most recently, an e-mail from
Headmaster John Mackenzie about the
importance of the Annual Fund. Tuition
covers 87% of the cost to educate our students, leaving a gap of $2,600 per
student which the Annual Fund helps to make up.
The bottom line is that the Annual Fund is NOT for extras - it is for
the day-to-day essentials of running the school, such as paying the salaries and
benefits of our terrific faculty. Now,
more than ever, your support is critical for the school's future success.
 For those families who are able to make a gift
at a leadership level (gifts of $2,500 or more), we hope you will be able to
attend the fifth annual Celebration of Leadership event on November 12, featuring
special guest Lisa Ling. Ling is known to millions around the world as
the first-ever woman host and correspondent of the hit National Geographic
series Explorer and as special
assignment reporter for the Oprah Show,
will speak to Columbus Academy students on November 12, 2008. Later that
day, Ling will speak at the fifth annual Celebration
of Leadership event, generously hosted and sponsored by school parents Abigail and Les Wexner. Ling is
the fifth guest speaker in CA's Annual Fund Celebration
of Leadership Series, following in the footsteps of Sam Donaldson (2004), John
Walsh (2005), Cal Ripken Jr. (2006)
and Christopher Gardner (2007). To
RSVP (click here for invitation) or for further information, please contact the
Development Office at 614-509-2256.
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Reserve your tickets for US play "See How They Run"
 The Upper School Theater Program will perform
Philip King's "See How They Run" next Friday and Saturday, November 7-8, at
7:30 p.m. in Schoedinger Theatre. Academy
seniors Zeshawn Ali and Madison Lee, junior Emily Downes, sophomores Blair Brightwell, Stephanie Grauer, Ben
Sinvany and Ben Yoder and
freshmen Alex Farrenkopf and Drew Klopfer star in the classic
English comedy set in the 1940s. Tickets
are $5 (students and faculty/staff free) and can be ordered by sending an e-mail to marykate_hermann@columbusacademy.org. There will also be a special performance for
the Middle School at 12:30 p.m. on Thursday, November 6. To see photos from a recent rehearsal, visit
this week's Around Academy gallery.
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Campus safely secured during today's lockdown drill
In an ongoing effort to make our campus as safe
as possible, Columbus
Academy held an Interior Threat Lockdown
Drill this morning. This drill will
help prepare our faculty, staff and students in the event that a disruptive
force is inside one of the school buildings or there is a situation within one
of the school buildings that would involve more than normal discipline to
resolve the situation. In addition to
familiarizing everyone with the proper procedures during such an incident, the
drill served as another test of the recently installed campus-wide emergency
communication system. Current state law
requires at least one lockdown drill per school year.
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Academy headmaster elected to ISACS leadership
 John
Mackenzie, who has been Headmaster at Columbus Academy
since 1997, recently was elected Vice Chair of the Independent Schools
Association of the Central States' (ISACS) Board of Trustees. At the end of his two-year term, Mackenzie
will become the Board of Trustees Chair for ISACS, which is a membership organization of 230 independent
schools from 13 states of the Midwest
region. The purpose of ISACS is to
promote the development of strong learning communities characterized by high
achievements, social responsibility and independence of governance, programs
and policies. This goal is achieved
through a rigorous accreditation process, targeted professional development
programs and focused support services.
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Upper School News
Mark your calendars for the Upper School Parent Coffee at 8:15 a.m. on Thursday, November 13,
in the Dining Hall. Please also be aware
of two upcoming events with the College Counseling office. College Counseling's Financial Aid Meeting will take place at 7:00 p.m. on Monday,
November 10. Then, at the same time on
Wednesday, November 19, College Counseling will host a Junior Parent Meeting. More
details on those events to come.
All ninth-grade parents are invited to a
parent get-together at 7:30 p.m. on November 15 at the home of Ivan and
Sharon Fong. Mark your calendars now for this fun evening with new
and old friends. New parents are especially encouraged to
attend. Please RSVP to grade mom Donna Simmons at psimmons10@aol.com or
614-471-4596.
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Middle School News
 All Middle School students
participated in a national "online
presidential election" during their social studies classes yesterday. Through the University of Virginia's
Youth Leadership Initiative, each CA middle schooler cast a vote for president,
for their district's House representative and for what issues they considered
most important in this election. Results
will be published in next week's Viking Voice, hopefully along with Upper School
tallies as well. Photos from the voting
are in this week's Around Academy gallery.
Photos from last week's class trips will be included in next week's Viking Voice.
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Lower School News
Tomorrow is the last day to shop at the LS Book Fair! Come on in with your child's "favorites"
list or get some holiday shopping done.
Classroom gift certificates still available... 7:45 a.m.-3:30 p.m. in the LS
Multipurpose Room. Thanks for your
support!
All kindergarten
parents are invited to a parent get-together on November 7 at 7 p.m. in the
home of Sean and Vanessa Gouhin. Mark your calendars now for this fun event
with new and old friends. Please contact
grade mom Sarah Henry at Sarah.Henry2@gmail.com with any
questions.
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Arts & Music News
The first concert of the school year will take
place next Wednesday, November 5. Students
in grades 6-12 will perform at the Fall
Choir Concert, which is set to begin at 7:00 p.m. in Schoedinger
Theatre. Admission is free.
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Sports News
All students
in grades 7-12 who are interested in playing a winter sport (basketball, swimming or wrestling), please click here
to see start dates and coaching contact information. If you have any questions, please contact
Maureen Belcher in the Vikings' athletics office at 509-2253 or maureen_belcher@columbusacademy.org.
 The 2008 season came to a heartbreaking end for Academy's
boys soccer team last night as the
Vikes lost 1-0 to Worthington Christian in the regional semifinals played at
The Wellington School. The Vikings completed
their season with both league and district titles as well as a 14-3-2 overall record.
 CA's field
hockey squad beat Olentangy Liberty 4-0 last Saturday to advance to this
weekend's state final four. Academy (16-1-2)
will play defending state champion Thomas Worthington (16-1-2) at noon on Friday at Upper Arlington High School (click here for directions) with the winner advancing to the state championship game at 1 p.m.
Saturday, also at UA. Admission is $8
each day.
To see photos from the field hockey and boys
soccer district championships, as well as golf senior night and football's
season-ending game at Licking
Valley, visit this week's
Varsity Sports gallery. Postseason awards and
honors will be announced in next's week's Viking Voice.
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Parents' Association News
 Save the date for The Columbus Academy Spring Gala 2009 Play to Win on Saturday night, April 25. Come to the parent party of the year and
enjoy fine food, cocktails, thematic games, live and silent auctions, and live
music. All proceeds directly benefit our
students through special programs, equipment, enrichment activities, and
need-based financial aid. Mark your
calendar and plan to Play to Win for CA!
Parent
volunteers are needed for morning (9
a.m.-noon) and afternoon (noon-3 p.m.) shifts on November 3-7 to sort clothes,
toys, books and bikes from the "Kids for
Kids" clothing drive. Please contact
Karen Skilken at (901-4050 or kskilken@gmail.com) or Ann Boeckman (253-3108 or rpboeckman@aol.com) if you can assist in
this annual event.
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10-Day Calendar
Thursday, Oct. 30-C
Book Fair
Ends at 3:30 p.m. (LS Multipurpose Room)
University of Evansville visit, 12:45 p.m.
Junior
Speeches, 10:30 a.m. (Ryan Wheeler, Zalika Corbett, Rachel Ellman)
Lunch: BBQ
chicken legs, steamed rice, vegetable medley, vegetable lo mein, sandwich &
salad & soup bars, fortune cookies
Friday, Oct. 31-D
Senior/Kindergarten
Buddy Activity, 10:30 a.m.
Claremont McKenna
College visit, 12:45 p.m.
LS
Halloween Parade, 2:30 p.m. (Senior Quad)
Lunch: glazed
pork medallions, couscous, Italian vegetables, eggplant casserole, assorted
bread station, sandwich & salad & soup bars, seasonal fruit
Saturday, Nov. 1
SAT &
SAT Subject Tests (off-campus)
Sunday, Nov. 2
Daylight
Saving Time Ends
"Kids for
Kids" Clothing Drive,
11:00 a.m.-2:00 p.m. (Arts Entrance/Lower School turnaround)
Monday, Nov. 3-E
"Kids for
Kids" Clothing Drive
(Arts Entrance/Lower School turnaround)
Lunch: philly
cheese steak, steamed spinach, baked beans, assorted cereal bar, sandwich &
salad & soup bars, fresh fruit
Tuesday, Nov. 4-F
Election
Day
"Kids for
Kids" Clothing Drive
(Arts Entrance/Lower School turnaround)
Hobart and William
Smith Colleges
visit, 12:45 p.m.
Lunch: penne
pasta, meat sauce, peas & carrots, roasted eggplant parmesan, rice bar,
sandwich & salad & soup bars, rice krispie treats
Wednesday, Nov. 5-A
"Kids for
Kids" Clothing Drive
Sorting (Theater Lobby)
Lafayette College visit, 12:45 p.m.
Board of
Trustees Meeting, 4:00 p.m. (Trustees' Room)
Fall Choir
Concert - Grades 6-12, 7:00 p.m. (Schoedinger Theatre)
Lunch: roasted
herb chicken, steamed brown rice, roasted vegetables, wild mushroom stew over
polenta, sandwich & salad & soup bars, fresh fruit
Thursday, Nov. 6-B
"Kids for
Kids" Clothing Drive
Sorting (Theater Lobby)
Grove City College visit, 10:15 a.m.
Junior
Speeches, 10:30 a.m. (Clay Hoster, Sarah Kahwash, Will Sherman)
MS viewing
of "See How They Run", 12:30 p.m. (Schoedinger Theatre)
Lunch: sloppy
joe sandwiches, chicken & wild rice, sautéed snow peas, zucchini casserole,
sandwich & salad & soup bars, ice cream cups
Friday, Nov. 7-C
"Kids for
Kids" Clothing Drive
Sorting (Theater Lobby)
US Play "See
How They Run", 7:30 p.m. (Schoedinger Theatre)
MS Dance at
CA, 7:30 p.m. (Barton Room)
Lunch: pizza
(pepperoni, cheese & vegetable), cottage potatoes, cauliflower blend,
sandwich & salad & soup bars, fresh fruit
Saturday, Nov. 8
Northeastern
Ohio Universities College of Medicine visit, 9:00 a.m.
US Play "See
How They Run", 7:30 p.m. (Schoedinger Theatre)
Click here
for the complete Nov. 3-7 lunch menu.
Click here for Viking Athletic schedules! |
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