Volume 13, Issue 7
FLOURISH WITH PACA THIS THURSDAY

 
Please join our Parents' Association in the dining hall this Thursday, November 21, at 6:30 p.m. for "Flourishing, Real Time" with Dr. Suzanne Ritter and Michelle Schroeder-Lowrey. PACA is excited to have Suzanne and Michelle share practical tools and experiences for integrating their training in positive psychology into our parent experience at Academy. A buffet dinner and daycare (please indicate how many and ages of your children needing care) will be available. RSVP to cavikingparents@gmail.com by the end of day tomorrow, November 19.
KIERSTEN THOMASSEY SIGNS NLI FOR FIELD HOCKEY

On national signing day last week, Columbus Academy senior Kiersten Thomassey signed her National Letter of Intent to join the defending national champion field hockey program at the University of North Carolina! In her illustrious high school career, Kiersten led our Viking squads to back-to-back undefeated seasons and two state titles while recording 28 goals, 50 assists, 250 interceptions and 200 steals. She is a three-time All-Ohio selection who was also named All-Region in 2018 and was listed among the top 100 high school players in the country on MAX Field Hockey's All-American Watchlist for 2019.    
CELEBRATION OF LEADERSHIP WITH DR. TAL BEN-SHAHAR

Two weeks ago, we had the pleasure of welcoming Dr. Tal Ben-Shahar to our community as this year's guest speaker for Columbus Academy's Celebration of Leadership, a thank you event and stimulus for leadership donors to the current school year's Annual Fund. The lecturer, entrepreneur and New York Times bestselling author spent the afternoon speaking with students in grades 8-12 during a special assembly and then sat down with members of our upper school journalism class. In the evening, Dr. Ben-Shahar shared his thoughts on the importance of positive psychology with leadership donors in the Party Barn at the Wexner Residence. His key points were that everyone: 1. has permission to be human ("the foundation of a happy life"), 2. needs ways to manage and overcome stress ("lack of recovery is the problem"), 3. relies on relationships ("#1 predictor of happiness" and "must be real rather than virtual") and 4. should make a habit of expressing gratitude ("reduces pessimism, anxiety and depression... what a difference it can make)."   
ELLIE JEFFERS EARNS SCHOLARSHIP FOR INTEGRITY

 
Last Wednesday, Columbus Academy's Ellie Jeffers was one of just 10 high school seniors from Central Ohio who were recognized during the Better Business Bureau's Torch Awards for Ethics luncheon at the Ohio Union as Students of Integrity $1,000 scholarship recipients for personifying high character through leadership, community service, overall personal integrity and academic accomplishments!
ACADEMY HONORS ALUMNI & FACULTY/STAFF VETERANS

 
As our school bell rang 502 times last Monday morning honoring 495 alumni and seven current members of our faculty/staff, coaching, facilities and security teams, students and teachers lined the quad to pay their respects to all who have served in our armed forces. The solemn ceremony concluded with our Camerata singing "America the Beautiful." Later that morning, alumni author David Cohen '54 shared stories from his "World War II Combat Veterans" book during an upper school assembly. The school also recognized recent achievements by a pair of alumni veterans on social media: SFC Peter E. Yen '05 and Dr. Sanjay Gogate '89.
FIRST "BACKSTAGE PASS" EVENT ON DECEMBER 6

All are welcome to join PACA as we Celebrate the Arts on campus with the school year's first "Backstage Pass" event prior to the fourth grade musical ("The Wizard of Oz") on Friday, December 6. Later in the year, an adults-only reception is scheduled in the Morris Hall Art Gallery before our upper-schoolers take the stage for the winter band and choir concert on February 25. Be on the lookout for RSVP details.
NOTES FROM COLLEGE COUNSELING

One of many strengths at Columbus Academy is our College Counseling Office, which recently hosted a Junior College Night that was the only college counseling program exclusively focused on Grade 11 students and parents all year. Following are the slides and handouts from that evening's presentation, which provided a road map for the next 18 months of the college admission process. 
ARTS & MUSIC SCENE

 
Earlier this month, Columbus Academy Student Theater staged six comedic One Acts as our Upper School's fall production. In addition to the cast, bravo to director Scott Dillon, "Philip Glass Buys a Loaf of Bread" director Whitney Eads, "Philadephia" director and sound technician Nikki Turley, technical director Anthony Stype, costume designer Donna Williamson, lightboard operator Reyha Satish, propmaster Madison Thomas, poster and program cover designer Grace Harrison, program editor Stacy Nockowitz and our portfolio tech theater class for technical assistance on a highly entertaining show!
Additional Arts & Music Links
SERVICE LEARNING

Our CASE after-school program has weekly themes which all of the activities are based around, and last week the theme was service with the early childhood group of 3YO, PreK and Kindergarten students doing a different service project each day. They baked homemade cat treats and decorated bandanas that dogs will wear home when they are adopted from the Gahanna Animal Hospital. They also made cards with positive messages that were taken by CASE lead Leah McInturf to the Sunrise of Gahanna senior center to brighten the residents' day. Lastly, they made thank you cards for the school's dining hall team and security staff which they delivered in person! 
SPORTS REPORT

This past fall sports season was one for the record books as our boys golf and field hockey teams captured state championships, along with the girls tennis program's first-ever individual state title in singles won by junior Sydni Ratliff. Boys golf was the first to be recognized and then raise the state championship banner atop the flagpole outside Academy Hall on October 23, this after claiming its third-straight Division II crown and 10th in program history. Sydni Ratliff, who was honored the following week after she won the program's first Division II singles title, asked first-year Director of Athletics Jason Singleton to invite the entire girls tennis squad to join her on stage during the ceremony because they were just as much a part of her success. On November 8, for the 12th time under legendary head coach Anne Horton, our undefeated field hockey team rounded out the trio of teams to raise a state champion flag, marking back-to-back seasons in which the title of top team in the state of Ohio belonged to the Vikings.  
Additional Sports Links
THIS IS THE ACADEMY EXPERIENCE
Middle School 
STAY CONNECTED: