SCHOOLS
A4 • EASTERN HILLS JOURNAL • MARCH 13, 2013
EASTERN HILLS
JOURNAL
Editor: Eric Spangler, espangler@communitypress.com, 576-8251
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Truck helps spark St. Ursula Villa creativity St. Ursula Villa fourth, fifth and sixth-graders benefited from the Spark Truck’s exciting workshops on mechanics, innovation, and creativity. Villa students brainstormed ideas, applied design techniques, and proudly demonstrated their finished products. The Spark Truck, created by Stanford graduate design students, is an educational “build-mobile” outfitted with cool 21st-century shop tools,
spreading the fun of hands-on learning and encouraging kids to find their inner maker. The Spark Truck was profiled on MSNBC and welcomed by Arne Duncan, the secretary of the U.S. Department of Education. Arriving at the school on one of the final stops on its nationwide tour, the Spark Truck team voted St. Ursula Villa “a definite contender for the most gorgeous school we’ve visited this summer.”
University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono reads to his daughter's second-grade class at Cardinal Pacelli School in Mt. Lookout. LISA WAKELAND/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
UC president reads to Pacelli students By Lisa Wakeland
lwakeland@communitypress.com
In any given week, a handful of parents are at Cardinal Pacelli School in Mt. Lookout reading to the students. And on Feb. 25, University of Cincinnati President Santa Ono stopped by to read to his daughter’s second-grade class. He’s one of many parents who volunteer to read to students in kindergarten through fourth grade. “I wanted to lead by example and show how all of us can read to our kids, read at our schools and encourage every single one of the kids in this region to read,” he said. Ono is co-chairman of the Read On! Campaign, which is being led by the Strive Partnership and Northern Kentucky Education Council. The goal of the program is to ensure all third-graders in the Greater Cincinnati region are reading at grade-level by 2020. “It’s really important because if you’re not reading by
A parent volunteer reads to a first-grade class at Cardinal Pacelli. LISA WAKELAND/THE COMMUNITY PRESS
the end of third-grade, chances are it’s unlikely you’ll actually finish school and enter the workforce,” he said. Ono said they’re working with 70 companies and 19 school districts on the initiative, which will launch in the region this spring. Jenny Scheidler, a second-
grade teacher at Cardinal Pacelli, said the students love when parents come in to read to the class. “Seeing the parents involved (in reading) makes it more special and impactful,” she said. Parents come in once a week for 30 minutes to read to each class, Scheidler said.
Summit student earns perfect score Carter Hall, a Summit Country Day School junior from Anderson Township, scored a perfect 240 on his PSAT test. A 240 on the PSAT is equivalent to a 2400 on the SAT. About 3.5 million students take the PSAT each year, according to the College Board. Only 100 students a year on average get a perfect score of 240 each year, according to Lynn Scully, a college prep testing expert in Haggettstown, N.J. “In my 26 years as a counselor I’ve never known a student to get a perfect score on the PSAT,” said Maureen Ferrell, director of college counseling at The Summit. “It is really rare. He should be congratulated, as should the faculty. Clearly, he was well prepared for this test.” Carter also took the test his freshman and sophomore years. Generally, a student’s score improves 10 points each time the test is taken. Carter’s score improved 30 points over last year. “I was a lot more careful this year,” he said. Carter is a “lifer” at The Summit, having enrolled when he was 3 years old. He is an avid reader who loves to work
crossword puzzles, run cross country and watch film noir. His academic pursuits have included rigorous coursework and Hall an independent study during his sophomore year in which he collected data from The Summit’s cosmic ray detector and analyzed the data. In an eight-week internship summer at the University of Cincinnati Physics Department, he analyzed data from the Large Hadron Collider, a particle accelerator in Switzerland. He is a member of the cross country team and Latin Club. He aspires to become a particle physicist. “Carter reads for pleasure outside the required reading in class and he is using crossword puzzles as a mind-stimulating activity,” says his academic counselor, Upper School Chemistry teacher Ed Escudero. “Both of those things are going to build your vocabulary and help you with the PSAT and other college admission tests.” Carter offers three points of
advice for students preparing to take college preparatory classes: take rigorous classes, read a lot and thoroughly read the questions on tests before answering them. Terrence Malone, The Summit’s Upper School director, said the entire junior class performed exceptionally well on the test this year. While nearly 90 percent of the juniors performed above the national average, 37 percent scored in the 90th percentile or above and 10 percent scored in the 99th percentile. “Six of our students have perfect scores in one section of the test, but Carter has perfect scores across the board,” Malone said. “All these scores are a reflection of the hard work of the students and the rigorous courses here at The Summit.” The PSAT is the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test administered by the College Board. Scores are used to determine eligibility and qualification for the National Merit Scholarship Program. The test is composed of three sections – math, critical reading and writing skills.
The Spark Truck and team with budding engineers in the Villa Courtyard. THANKS TO MARTA RUNNELS
Four Summit students tapped for MD program Four juniors from The Summit Country Day School are among 32 students from across the Greater Cincinnati area who have been accepted into the 2013 TAP MD program sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Health Council. Allison Brophy, Sycamore Township; Tino Delamerced, Hyde Park; Alexandra Schmerge, Anderson Township; and Monica Windholtz, Clifton were selected based on high academic requirements which included ACT scores of 29 or above or 1300 SAT/130 PSAT scores or above. Beyond minimum test scores, students must also demonstrate high grade point averages; obtain letters of recommendation; submit records of Advanced Placement or college coursework; and write personal application letters. The program seeks applicants who are mature, motivated, dependable and have a positive attitude. “The scores of these students are impressive,” says Terrence Malone, Upper School Director at The Summit. “But when you meet these students and see that the passion for science has been ignited in them by our faculty, you’re even more impressed.” The TAP MD Program at-
Brophy
Schmerge
Delamerced
Windholtz
tempts to identify “untapped” talent among regional high school students and encourage them to consider careers in medicine. The program allows students to explore medicine through visits to Tristate hospitals and outpatient clinics and by shadowing physicians. Students in the program will meet monthly, beginning in January. Over the course of a year, they will witness a live surgery, observe emergency and medical trauma physicians in action, attend a medical school lecture, participate in hospital rounds and view a primary care physician caring for patients.
Student art featured in magazine The artwork of 11-year-old Springer School student Griffin Melson was recently chosen to be featured on the cover of the “Journal of Learning Disabilities” in 2013. Each year, three works of art are selected from those submitted by students with learning disabilities from across the country. “I’ve enjoyed art for as long as I can remember,” said Griffin, who lives in Maineville. His watercolor painting, called “Winken, Blinken and Nod,” depicts a sailboat Griffin drew by visualizing it in his mind. “I used water to show wind blowing from the clouds,” he said. “It’s the same scene in
Fifth-grader Griffin Melson displays his watercolor painting "Winken, Blinken and Nod."
warm and cool colors.” Griffin is a fifth-grader in Corrinne Thaler’s art class at Springer School and Center in Hyde Park.