December 2021
Last Chance to Register: Alumni Holiday Luncheon
Don't miss this great annual event! Bill McMenamy '58 will be honored as the 2021 Distinguished Alumnus, and Kay Mason will receive the Alumni Service Award at our 2021 Holiday Luncheon.
 
The event will be held on Wednesday, December 22, at The Grand Event Center at Grandview Yard (820 Goodale Blvd. Grandview Heights, OH 43212).
 
Refreshments will begin at 11:30 a.m., followed by lunch and program at noon. Click here to register online.

RSVPs must be received no later than Wednesday, December 15.
Columbus Academy Black Alumni Holiday Mixer
Join the CA Black Alumni community (in-person and online) as we celebrate the holidays together, reflect on where we’ve been and discuss how we can continue to connect in the months and years to come.

Hosted by Mahon Brown '97 and Curtis Jewell '97, the event will take place on Saturday, December 18 at 4:00 p.m. EST (livestream begins @ 4:30 p.m. EST). For those joining us in-person, the event will be on campus at Columbus Academy. A Zoom link will be sent to those who register to attend online.

For further details and to RSVP, click here.
Susan Neal Lobby Dedication 1/29/22
The lobby outside of our Schoedinger Theatre will be dedicated in honor of the late Susan Neal on Saturday, January 29, prior to the middle school production of "Matilda the Musical Jr."

The program will start at 5:30 p.m. and will include remarks from Susan's family, a formal dedication of the lobby and a musical performance. Afterwards, a celebration of life will take place with food, beverages and the chance to commemorate an extraordinary teacher and friend.

For those interested, a limited number of tickets to the musical have been reserved for those attending the lobby dedication. They will be available on a first-come, first-served basis. The performance of "Matilda the Musical Jr." begins at 7:30 p.m. Please contact Middle School Librarian, Stacy Nockowitz, if you are interested in securing tickets at nockowitzs@columbusacademy.org.

Kindly RSVP for the lobby dedication below.
Athletic Hall of Fame Induction 2/5/22
The Alumni Association will recognize and honor Ed Carter '96 and Katie Walker '02 for their outstanding contributions to the athletic program at Columbus Academy.

Ed and Katie will be inducted into the Athletic Hall of Fame on Saturday, February 5, at 6:30 p.m. in the dining hall and, immediately following, will be recognized on the court at halftime of the basketball game against Wellington. All alumni are welcome to attend!

Kindly RSVP to alumni@columbusacademy.org.
In Honor of our Faculty
When you reflect on your Academy experience, it is likely that a memorable teacher or coach would quickly come to mind — someone who helped you find your unique path. Today's faculty and staff continue Academy’s 110-year legacy of excellent teaching with dedication to their craft, new course offerings, enthusiasm in the classroom, and their desire to instill a lifelong love of learning.
 
Your Annual Fund gift can be made in honor of a teacher/coach/mentor, and we will happily pass on your tribute message. To ensure your tax-deductible donation is counted in 2021, please give online or postmark your envelope by December 31. Thank you!
Call for Award Nominations for 2022-2023
The Alumni Board is requesting nominations from the alumni community for potential 2022-2023 alumni awardees. 

Awards are distributed in the following categories: Distinguished Alumnus Award, Alumni Service Award, Athletic Hall of Fame, and Young Alumni Award. Further details regarding each award and the associated criteria can be found below. 

If you would like to nominate someone, or yourself, for an award for 2022-2023, please submit your nomination to Director of Alumni Relations Melissa Clarke Beckett, Columbus Academy, 4300 Cherry Bottom Road, Gahanna, Ohio 43230 or by email to beckettm@columbusacademy.org.

Distinguished Alumnus Award
The Distinguished Alumnus Award is designed to recognize alumni who have brought positive recognition to the school, as well as to themselves, through service to and involvement with Columbus Academy and the community.

Alumni Service Award
The Alumni Service Award is given to a current or past faculty or staff member who has made a lasting contribution to Columbus Academy through his or her service to the school.

Athletic Hall of Fame
The Hall of Fame recognizes and honors former student-athletes, coaches and other individuals who have made exceptional contributions to the athletic program at Columbus Academy, and who have brought honor to the school through their athletic achievements. Eligibility begins the 10th year after graduation or retirement from coaching.

Young Alumni Award
The Young Alumni Award is designed to recognize and honor an alumnus/a who has distinguished himself/herself through overall service to, and involvement with, Columbus Academy as well as service and achievement within the community. Recognition as a Young Alumni Award recipient shall be limited to those individuals who have graduated within the previous 20 years.
Academy Alumni in the News
Alumni press clippings will resume in the January alumni newsletter. If you have clips (either in print or on the web) to pass along for future issues, please send them to Director of Alumni Relations Melissa Clarke Beckett at beckettm@columbusacademy.org.
School News
As a result of our Kids 4 Kids service learning project, 30 sponsored families received much-needed food, clothing and toys for the holidays. It started in September with a Service Day visit by local architect Curtis Moody, who spoke to our upper-schoolers about altruism. It resumed with students trick-or-treating for donations on Halloween and families bringing in an abundance of food, clothes and toys. Various grade levels completed tasks such as sorting through non-perishables and shopping for fresh items. The spirit of giving continued during a sleep-out in our gym highlighted by guest speaker Michael Corey '01, executive director of the Human Service Chamber of Franklin County. And the conclusion came with the deliveries to Royal Manor Elementary and the Childhood League Center during the weekend before Thanksgiving. For photos and a thank-you message from Service Department Chair Christy Bening, click here.
For a glimpse of Veterans Day 2021 on our campus, click here. Additional activities organized by Student Council included a lunchtime presentation to upper-schoolers about the service academies and college ROTC programs, the opportunity to sample Meals Ready to Eat (MREs) and letter-writing stations encouraging students to send messages to active, reserve and veteran military.
Sports News
Columbus Academy alumna Victoria Foreman ’07 has been hired as our new head coach for girls lacrosse, Director of Athletics Jason Singleton recently announced. For the past four years, Victoria has been an assistant coach for the lacrosse teams at Thomas Worthington High School. “I’m excited to be returning to Academy,” she told us, “and giving back to a program that gave so much to me during my time at the school.” Victoria was an All-Region selection as a junior when the Vikings were state runners-up in lacrosse, and she received the Viking Award after suffering a knee injury during her senior campaign. In field hockey, she was the Defensive MVP for state champion teams in both 2004 and 2006 in addition to being a team co-captain and All-Ohio first-teamer as a senior. Victoria went on to play field hockey for Colgate University and earned a bachelor’s degree in English Studies in 2011 with a minor in Educational Studies. Her coaching experience also includes three and a half years with the Lucky Lax club program, one year with the Winners Lacrosse DC Stars and the 2011 season as our varsity assistant field hockey coach under Anne Horton. “I am super excited that Victoria Foreman will be the new head coach for Columbus Academy girls lacrosse,” stated Anne, who served as Academy’s girls lacrosse head coach for 25 of the program’s 29 seasons before stepping away following the pandemic-canceled 2020 campaign. “As a former student-athlete at Academy, her work ethic and passion to succeed will be key ingredients to lead this program. Victoria understands the culture of the school and what is needed to lift the lacrosse program to new levels. Welcome Victoria!”
All-Ohio Fall 2021 graphic
Our fall sports season concluded with 10 student-athletes earning All-Ohio honors: Gurby Vaziri (1st team) in field hockey, Gyvnn Mendenhall (1st team), Parker Logan (3rd team), Carter James and EJ Jenkins (honorable mentions) in football, Sophie Spolter (2nd team) in girls soccer, and Russell Ahmed (1st team), Stephen Ma (1st team), Aditya Reddy (2nd team) and Matthew Fang (honorable mention) in boys golf. Gyvnn and Sophie will join four other seniors at our winter signing day on January 19. At 3:30 p.m. in our dining hall that day, we will celebrate the athletic commitments for Lauren Klinefelter (swimming, College of William and Mary), Kerry O'Connor (volleyball, DePauw University), Mary Kate Prall (swimming, Ashland University), Kevin Reeves (basketball, Bowdoin College), Sophie Spolter (basketball, Bates College) and Gyvnn Mendenhall (football, Washington University in St. Louis).
Send In Your Class Notes

We love keeping in touch with our alumni, and we want to hear all of your latest news. Here are some of the updates we are looking for:

New family additions
Big moves
New jobs
New schools, titles or degrees
Exciting trips or accomplishments
General updates
Engagements/Marriages

We also love pictures, so you can send those along as well. Fill out our class notes form at columbusacademy.org/alumniclassnotes or send via email to alumni@columbusacademy.org to be sure your message is included in an upcoming issue of Experience, the school's recently redesigned magazine!