July 5, 2022

Dear Middle School Families,

I hope you are enjoying the summer and savoring time spent with your loved ones. We are busy making preparations for the upcoming year in the middle school office and look forward, without haste, to another opportunity to work with our students in the fall. For the coming school year, one new and one familiar face will join the middle school office. We look forward to their expertise in serving you and your children.

Not a stranger at all to Columbus Academy, Amy Brooks takes on a new role as the Middle School Counselor. Since 2005, she has led our middle and upper school choirs and more recently worked with our counselors to support student wellness and health. Amy holds a B.M.Ed. from Bowling Green State University and an M.S. in school counseling from the University of Dayton.

Also, Michelle White – parent of a 2021 Columbus Academy graduate – joined our office recently as Administrative Assistant, thus becoming a new point of contact for you. Michelle has extensive experience working as a clerk and bar admissions specialist for the Supreme Courts in multiple states and as clerk in the Superior Court of California. She holds a B.S. in business administration and human resources from Ohio Dominican University.

This summer, we are asking all middle school students to read “Everlost” by Neil Shusterman as well as a book of their choice prior to the start of the school year. “Everlost” follows two young people as they learn to navigate an afterlife in limbo following a car accident. Inadvertent travel companions, Nick and Allie discover that they have a lot to learn and many challenges to overcome, even after passing away. The book’s central themes of leadership and emotion will be built upon throughout the year’s middle school programming. There are questions below to help guide your children’s reading of the novel.

On Leadership:

• Who exhibits leadership in the novel? 
• How is leadership portrayed by Mary? The McGill? Allie? Nick? 
• What makes a good leader?

On Emotions:

• Where do you see characters showing emotions in the novel?
• How do they help characters in certain situations?
• How do they hurt characters in certain situations?

Overall:

• What lessons are learned? By whom?
• Which characters do you see changing through the course of the novel?
• Is their situation better or worse at the end? Why?

Thank you for engaging with your children in their reading this summer! While we think it is an amazing story with deep character development, we recognize that the central event in “Everlost” may elicit emotional responses in some students. Please contact us if you foresee any issues for your child with this summer reading requirement.

Warm regards,

Shaka Arnold, Head of Middle School

Ed Rhee ’93, Associate Head of Middle School

Amy Brooks, Middle School Counselor