Volume 11, Issue 12
ALL INVITED TO TUESDAY EVENING'S CURRIER LECTURE

Columbus Academy's Currier Lecture Series will feature the Community Refugee and Immigration Services (CRIS) agency and its Executive Director Angela Plummer, Program Manager Tara Dhungana and former refugee Sowdo Mohamud this week. The event will include assemblies for our Middle and Upper Schools as well as a lunch forum with students today and a free public presentation in our dining hall at 6:30 p.m. tomorrow (Tuesday, March 6). The lecture series was founded in memory of Phil Currier, former head of Academy's Upper School, whose zest for life overshadowed his untimely death in 1995. Its mission is to bring to Columbus Academy speakers whose lives and experiences exhibit self-challenge, provoke thought and are agents of positive change.  
SPECIAL GUEST AT WEDNESDAY'S PACA MEETING

Instawhat? If you're reading this, you know. And you know that social media can affect our kids. Dr. Ryan Hansen will deliver a visual presentation and lead an interactive discussion at the PACA meeting this Wednesday, March 7, covering the subject of "Technology, Social Media and Adolescent Depression." In other words, "This is Your Brain on Facebook." Don't Snapchat, go. We should all be in the Dining Hall at 8:00 a.m. Wednesday.
BLACK HISTORY MONTH CULMINATES WITH STEAM EVENT

 
Columbus Academy's celebration of Black History Month culminated with an event titled "Our Hidden Figures Revealed: The Color of STEAM." Sponsored by MOSAIC, the event provided hands-on activities for the kids and featured art, music, food and fellowship. Thank you to everyone who helped to spotlight the experiences of our "Hidden Figures" and their valuable contributions to their respective STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and mathematics) fields! Click on the following links to watch excerpts from our Black History Month assemblies: Lower School, Middle & Upper Schools.
AQUAVIKES EARN TWO STATE TITLES & DIVING RUNNER-UP

At the Division II swimming state finals, our boys won two individual state titles on the way to matching last year's best-ever finish of third in the team standings while our girls placed 12th out of more than 50 schools competing! Academy junior Jacob Eismann led the way by tying for first in the backstroke, taking third in the 100 freestyle, swimming the opening leg of our third-place medley relay and anchoring the state champion 400 free relay. In his final high school meet, senior Max Dreisbach finished third in the 200 free and seventh in the butterfly, led off the 11th-place 200 free relay and joined Jacob, junior Jack Campbell and sophomore Mike DeAscentis on the winning 400 free relay. For our AquaVike girls, junior Jordan Skilken was state runner-up in diving and senior Esther Lawrence placed fourth while sophomore Annalise Grammel, senior Jane Li and juniors Sarah Cabré & Sammie Kass also made the podium as the 8th-place 400 free relay squad. 
SPRING GALA IS COMING SOON

Come one, come all! Step right up for an evening of high-flying fun!

PACA presents Spring Gala 2018: Cirque Du CA - Reaching New Heights. Feast your eyes on the thrills, chills and spills of aerial acrobats, jugglers, magicians, contortionists and much more at this one-night-only performance. Mark your calendars. This will be a night to remember!
 
Saturday, May 12
7:00-11:00 p.m.
"The Mack" Gymnasium 
ACADEMY NIGHT AT COLUMBUS SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA

 
Thanks to a partnership with the Columbus Symphony Orchestra, the CSO has offered our parents the opportunity to attend a concert on Saturday, April 7, at a discounted rate as well as a pre-concert reception with the conductor of the Columbus Symphony himself, Rossen Milanov! The reception will start at 7:00 p.m. in the Ohio Theatre and will offer light appetizers, desserts and nonalcoholic beverages. Maestro Milanov and musicians of the orchestra will stop by to give brief remarks and welcome us before the concert.
FIRST-GRADER QUALIFIES FOR U.S. GEOGRAPHY OLYMPIAD

 
Columbus Academy first-grader Landon Fisher will compete in the 2018 National Championships of the United States Geography Olympiad in Atlanta, Georgia, on June 2nd! He qualified in the 4th grade and under division by doubling the required score needed on the regional qualifying exam, which was proctored by Head of Lower School Mark Hansen.
EIGHT NAMED TO NFHCA NATIONAL ACADEMIC SQUAD

Academy field hockey players Mercedes Crestanello, Sydney Hill, Jenny L'Hommedieu, Lexi Leader, Alex Phelps, Callista Popp, Liana Shiroma and Avie Smith have been named to the 2017 NFHCA High School National Academic Squad! For achieving a minimum cumulative, unweighted GPA of 3.9 out of 4.0 or the equivalent through the first quarter of the 2017-18 school year, Sydney, Jenny, Alex and Callista were also recognized as Scholars of Distinction by the NFHCA earlier this month. Last fall, they helped our field hockey program win its 21st district title and reach its 16th state championship game in 27 seasons.   
SPRING AFTER-SCHOOL OFFERINGS

 
Registration for our Spring ASA programs is now open so look over the daily after-school offerings for Grades PreK-6 at the link below and sign up before Spring Break! Also, several of our Summer Experience offerings already have waitlists so be sure to register soon. Please visit columbusacademy.org/summer for everything you need to get started.  
NOTES FROM COLLEGE COUNSELING
  • Grades 9-10 Parents: College Counseling Preview Night will be held on Wednesday, March 7, at 7:00 p.m. in our Schoedinger Theatre. The program will be geared towards sophomores and parents, but if you are a Grade 9 student/parent and are curious about the college search process at Columbus Academy, you are invited to join as well.
  • Grade 11 Parents: Please stay tuned for more information regarding SAT testing at Academy on Tuesday, April 10. All juniors will be automatically registered to take the exam. Contact office manager Joan Young with any questions or concerns. 
  • Grades 9-12 Parents: AP registration is now online. An email with the 2018 Advanced Placement registration google form, including instructions, has been sent to all upper school students. Once your child completes and submits the google form, he/she will receive a confirmation email to print out for you to sign. The signed form must be returned to the College Counseling Office by Friday, March 9. Late registrations, if able to be processed, will incur late fees. The Columbus Academy Business Office will bill student accounts $94 for each exam (and any fees for late orders, cancellations, etc., as applicable). Please click on the following links for 2018 AP Offerings and the Bulletin For AP Students and Parents.
ARTS SCENE

Every two years, our Upper School enjoys a special day dedicated to artistic pursuits. In addition to a keynote address by alumnus Rob Ackerman '76, sessions for last month's ArtsMania 2018 included 3D Printing, About Face (Makeup Tips and Tricks), Balloon Art, Barbershop Quartet, Beaded Bracelets, Black Out Poetry, Can-Jo (Make and Play), Creative Jigsaw Puzzle Design, Digital Pinhole Photography, Fingerpainting, Floral Design, Gallery Walk-Through, Game Design, Glass Cutter, Hand Lettering, #Hashtag Comedy, Hip Hop Dancing, Hip Hop Recording Artist, Ice Sculpture, Indian Dance, Jazz Combo, Jewelry, Knitting, Painting, Playwriting, Poetry, Salsa Dancing, Sculpture, Snacks From Scratch, Stencils, Theater Improv, Urbanpainting, Watercolor Technique, Woodworking and Yoga. Thank you to all our special guest artists that day, including alumni Elizabeth Fox '06 and Drew Yakscoe '10! 
SERVICE LEARNING

Columbus Academy has a decades-long connection with Faith Mission, an organization that helps the area's homeless meet their basic food and shelter needs, while also giving them the resources and support to improve their lives. During the week leading up to Valentine's Day last month, our sixth-graders created cards and decorated cupcakes that were delivered to Faith Mission and, according to service department chair Christy Bening, "brought some smiles to the lonely."
SPORTS REPORT

Our boys basketball team cruised past 12th seed Northridge 58-33 in a sectional final Saturday night at The Mack. Our sixth-seeded Vikes advance to face third seed Bishop Ready at 7:00 p.m. Tuesday at Hamilton Township High School in the district semifinals. Photos and video highlights from the season's final home game coming soon!
THIS IS THE ACADEMY EXPERIENCE
Middle School 
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