Volume 12, Issue 9
EVENT FOR ALL PARENTS/GUARDIANS ON JANUARY 29

This year's parent education series continues with a showing of "Screenagers: Growing Up in the Digital Age" on Tuesday, January 29, in the Dining Hall. Doors will open at 6:30 p.m., and the event will run from 7:00-9:00. Dr. Ryan Hansen, an Ohio State University specialist in digital distractions and addictions, will introduce the film and take Q&A afterwards. Childcare will be provided with light snacks. The event is free and open to the public. Kindly RSVP by January 22 to Kelly Vaziri at kdvaziri@aol.com with the number attending and the names and ages of your children who will require childcare. 
OVERLY & OLSON HONORED AT HOLIDAY LUNCHEON

 
Columbus Academy's winter break began with an annual Holiday Luncheon where the school honored 2018 Distinguished Alum Niles Overly '69 and Alumni Service Award recipient Gail Olson. During the December 21 gathering at The Westin Columbus, Head of School Melissa Soderberg provided an overview of today's Academy followed by Alumni Board President Lauren Hilsheimer '02 presenting the school's most prestigious awards to the honorees. 
APPRECIATING KEY MEMBERS OF OUR COMMUNITY

In the final middle school assembly before winter break, members of our maintenance, facilities and security crews were recognized in front of students for their integral roles in our school community. In addition, they joined our dining hall and landscaping teams at an annual catered breakfast hosted by the Development & Alumni Office to thank all of these dedicated, caring individuals for being an important part of the Academy experience! 
MARTHA FERGER '02 JOINS ATHLETIC HALL OF FAME

On December 14, Columbus Academy inducted Martha Ferger '02 as the 40th member of its Athletic Hall of Fame. During her time playing for Coach Anne Horton, Martha was All-Ohio in field hockey and a Team MVP for both our field hockey and lacrosse squads. She helped our Vikings win three state field hockey titles as well as a lacrosse state championship and went on to win three national titles in field hockey at Wake Forest University.
ADMISSIONS HOSTING MINI-OPEN HOUSES

Our admissions representatives are hosting mini-open houses every remaining Wednesday this month. If you know anyone who might be interested in exploring Columbus Academy as an educational option, make sure they know that now is the time to be looking for the 2019-20 school year because first-round decisions (when almost all of our open spots will be filled) are made next month. Please encourage them to attend one of the upcoming Academy Mornings so they can see classrooms in action, tour newly renovated facilities and learn about our curriculum while meeting the people who make up our vibrant Academy community. There are two sessions for our Lower School (3-year-olds to 5th grade) on January 16 and 30, and the only remaining middle/upper school option is Wednesday, January 23, all beginning at 9:00 a.m.
CELEBRATION OF LEADERSHIP WITH KIMBAL MUSK

In addition to speaking with our upper-schoolers in mid-November, restauranteur and philanthropist Kimbal Musk met with The Academy Life staff (read student article) and spent a special evening with the school's leadership donors in the Party Barn at the Wexner Residence. Now in its 14th year, the Celebration of Leadership is a thank you event and stimulus for leadership donors to the current school year's Annual Fund, which impacts every Columbus Academy student, teacher and coach every day.
CHECK OUT OUR SUMMER EXPERIENCE OFFERINGS

 
Registration for Columbus Academy's Summer Experience 2019 opens at 9:00 a.m. on Tuesday, January 15. Please contact our Special Programs office at 614-509-2267 with any questions. Happy planning! Also, did you forget to register for Winter ASA programming? Classes begin Monday so if you plan to register your child for a winter program, please contact the Special Programs office immediately at programs@columbusacademy.org or the number above as the registration deadline has passed and low enrollment classes are closing now! 
SUMMER INTERNSHIPS FOR UPPER-SCHOOLERS

Parents and guardians interested in learning more about the new summer internship program for upper school students are invited to attend a meeting on Wednesday, January 30, at 7:00 p.m. on the fireplace side of the Dining Hall. The summer internship program is open to all upper school students. To RSVP, please contact Director of Internships Jennifer Conti at ContiJ@columbusacademy.org. 
COLLEGE COUNSELING'S UPCOMING SCHEDULE

Columbus Academy's College Counseling is hosting three parent coffees this month, all from 8:00-9:00 a.m. on the fireplace side of our dining hall. These discussions are designed for upper school parents and guardians but anyone is welcome to attend.
  • Standardized Testing on Wednesday, January 16
  • Planning College Visits on Wednesday, January 23
  • Athletic Recruiting on Thursday, January 31
Also, our campus will be hosting ACT/SAT Workshops conducted by BWS Education Consulting on January 20, March 1 and April 7.   
ARTS & MUSIC SCENE

 
"Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat" is this year's middle school musical, and the much-anticipated performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on February 1-2 in the Schoedinger Theatre. According to director and choreographer Whitney Eads, the show's themes are "the importance of following your dreams, the power of one person, jealousy, forgiveness, the power of family and family love." The musical is sponsored in part by the generous contributions of our Parents' Association, which will be hosting its first free "Backstage Pass" event at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday, February 2 (more details coming next week). In addition to the large number of middle-schoolers involved in this production, the cast and crew includes 19 lower-schoolers in a children's choir as well as upper-schoolers serving as director's assistants, designing the set, sound levels and lighting, and helping backstage and in front-of-house positions. 
Additional Arts & Music Links 
SERVICE LEARNING

Our community-wide involvement in the Empty Bowls Project came to fruition in mid-December as the annual Soup for Shelter event to benefit the Westerville Habitat Partnership was held inside the campus center at Otterbein University. This year was the third-straight year in which our ceramics students took part in making handcrafted bowls for the event, totaling 370 bowls produced this fall over the course of the two-day "bowl-a-thon" on campus.  
Additional Service Learning Link  
SPORTS REPORT

 
History was made last month when Zara Syed, a freshman from Dublin, became the first Columbus Academy female to win a varsity wrestling match (watch video) as she helped our wrestling squad (pictured) beat Cristo Rey 39-30. Our grapplers also recently defeated Fredericktown 45-6, Centerburg 36-31, St. Charles 30-6 and Beechcroft 30-12. Our girls swimming team is 3-1 and the AquaVike boys are undefeated in four head-to-head duals going into today's Senior Night home meet that begins at 4:30. In bowling, we swept Columbus South (girls 1409-1369, boys 1683-1320) right before winter break and the boys also defeated Village Academy 1469-1292 the following day. Our girls basketball team is 3-5 heading into tomorrow's 7:30 home game against Northridge. And in its initial varsity season, our ice hockey squad is off to a 9-4 start and tied for first in its conference! 
 
 
Boys basketball won both the JV and varsity titles at the Bruin Holiday Tournament over winter break. In the championship game, our varsity team (pictured) beat host Briggs 55-51 to claim its third-straight title at this event. And the 56-41 win over Columbus East in the semifinals marked the 100th career victory for Jeff Warstler (watch video), who took over as head coach prior to the 2012-13 season. A pair of recent wins for our Vikes have been against two of the top teams in the region (Grandview & Johnstown)! 
Winter Sports Senior Nights
  • Swimming & Diving, January 10 at Academy Pool
  • Bowling, January 11 at HP Lanes
  • Ice Hockey, January 25 at Chiller Easton
  • Girls Basketball, January 29 in The Mack (Little Dribblers)
  • Wrestling, February 6 in Barton Room
  • Boys Basketball, February 15 in The Mack (Little Dribblers)
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