The O’Neal Quarterly •
O’Neal wins the Moore County Literacy Council’s Annual Spelling Bee.
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O’Neal Upper School Science Olympiad team debuts in regional competition at Campbell University.
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Ten Middle School French students visit O’Neal for two weeks and stay with host families.
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Twenty-one 7th and 8th grade students are inducted into the Jr. Beta Society.
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North Carolina Reading Association Young Author’s Writing Competition winners consist of 34 students from Moore County with 12 of those representing O’Neal.
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O’Neal Varsity Swimming repeats a conference championship for both boys and girls, yet in the new Eastern Plains Independent Conference.
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O’Neal hosts its annual Information Session and Tours for inquiring families.
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O’Neal senior, Sierra Hawkins, is crowned 2015 Homecoming Queen.
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Ten students from Nanfang Highschool in the Hunan Province of China visit O’Neal for a week and are hosted by O’Neal families.
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O’Neal hosts a reception for NCAIS Conference for Heads and Trustees.
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The John Boyd VFW Post 7318 receives 77 essays from three schools in the area for its annual Patriot’s Pen Writing Competition. Prize money is awarded to the top five essays. The winners are all O’Neal eighth grade students. O’Neal eighth grade English teacher, Kristie Wolferman is also honored as VFW teacher of the year.
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Alumni return to O’Neal to participate in the Varsity/Alumni Basketball Challenge. The mens and the ladies games are very close in points with lots of camaraderie. Retired coach Don Woodfield returns to coach the alumnae ladies.
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Four Upper School students are inducted into the National Honor Society.
WINTER 2015 •
The Parents Association hosts a breakfast for O’Neal active military, veterans and their families prior to an all-school assembly in honor of Veterans Day.
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Artist Jessie McKay gives a Tanzanian Art Presentation to Middle School students and serves as a guest art teacher for the Middle School.
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The One-Act Play theatre program called “Hamlette” receives the highest rating of “Superior” for the overall production as well as excellence in stage props at the 2014 North Carolina Theatre Conference (NCTC) High School Play Festival.
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Eleven Upper School students compete in The Consortium for Mathematics and Its Applications (COMAP) Math Competition and rank as “Successful Participant” and “Honorable Mention”. More than 300 teams compete around the world.
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The 82nd Airborne All-American Chorus performs for students.
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ne of the best aspects of an independent school is the fact that students from pre-k – grade 12 all share the same campus where younger children look up to their older peers, older students recognize that they are role models, and adults have the privilege to observe students’ progression over many years. Several times throughout the year we come together as an all-school community and share experiences like the excitement of the homecoming pep rally. Last month, we came together to celebrate and to recognize an extraordinary milestone in O’Neal’s more than 40 year history by officially opening the Landmark Garden. Each division selected a quotation to mark the event and it was read by a student. These quotations demonstrate the unity and continuity of our school. Lower School: “Unless someone like you cares a whole lot, nothing is going to be better. It’s not.” — Dr. Seuss Middle School: “The raising of extraordinarily large sums of money, given voluntarily and freely by millions of our fellow Americans, is a unique American tradition.... Philanthropy, charity, giving voluntarily and freely... call it what you like, but it is truly a jewel of an American tradition.” —John F. Kennedy Upper School: “The future belongs to those who give children reason for hope.” — Pierre Theilard de Chardin
Photo by Delores Muller
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Honoring the Landmark Society
n September 30, 2014, twenty-two donors in O’Neal’s constituency helped to eliminate the debt incurred by the School after having constructed the latest buildings on campus. The Landmark Society was created to specifically identify these individuals and foundations. The Landmark Society members are: Jeff and Lynda Acker, Robert and Elaine Baillie, The Steven and Susan Baldelli Family Charitable Trust, Stan and Jean Bradshaw, F. Farrell Collins, Jr. M.D., Paul and Heidi Dent, Win and Elizabeth Dozier, Paul Fulton, The Golden Pearl Foundation, Denise and Michael Gutschmit, Chip and Dawn Hasty, Andy and Mary Hendry, Lee and Terri Howell, Steve and Roberta King, Stephen Later, Brian and Konni McMurray, The C. Louis Meyer Family Foundation, Stuart Mills and Helen Probst Mills, The Taws Family, Don and Laurie Trexler, and Jim Van Camp.
Years of brainstorming and research culminated into an official campus master I quoted Jacqueline Novogratz, founder of plan in 1996. It was made up of 3 phases. the Acumen Fund, who wrote: “Each of us Phase I and II transformed the campus can work to change a small portion of events. with a new Upper School – Meyer Hall, And it’s in the total of all those acts that hisa new administrative building – Bradshaw tory…will be written.” Believing in someHall and the renovation of the existing thing and being fully committed to it, as the Middle School –Taws Hall. Phase III, with Landmark Society has been to O’Neal, is a its capital campaign titled “Complete the lesson everyone, from the youngest to the Vision”, provided the new Lower School oldest, needs to consider. – McMurray Hall and activities center – Hannah Marie Bradshaw Activities Center, in addition to campus-wide improvements to technology, accessibility and safety. Though there were a few revisions along the way, today’s five-building camJohn C. Elmore pus is the completed vision of that plan. Head of School
In appreciation, the students, faculty and Board of Trustees recently held a recognition ceremony for the Landmark Society members. Head of School John Elmore addressed those at the ceremony and concluded by saying, “We all need to recognize that generosity and caring deeply about things that are important result in real, positive outcomes. The Landmark Society believes in The O’Neal School and their extraordinary commitment has allowed the School to fully complete the campus plan for us, and for generations to come, to fully utilize and appreciate.” Student representatives from each of the divisions addressed the members in appreciation for what they’ve done. Trustee and O’Neal parent Lynda Acker designed and O’Neal parent Bart O’Connor built a garden between Bradshaw Hall and the Upper School to commemorate the Landmark Society. Two plaques are placed in the Landmark Garden. The message reads: “The Board of Trustees gratefully acknowledges the extraordinary gifts of the following supporters. May their leadership inspire the School and wider community for years to come.” The new garden (pictured on page 1) serves as an outdoor sitting area for students to gather, study or just to enjoy the outdoors and the beauty of O’Neal’s campus. A reception was held for the Landmark Society after the event where each member was given a framed print of the aerial view of O’Neal’s campus with the signatures of faculty and staff in appreciation. Many thanks to O’Neal parent Birche Meese for photographing the campus from the sky.
Arts Festival Winners O’Neal students placed first in four of the seven categories offered (in addition to a few second and third place positions). The event exhibits the best artwork by over 225 Moore County students in grades K-12 from public, private, charter and home schools. High school categories include: Drawing, Painting, Photography, Computer Art, Mixed Media, 3D/Sculpture and Printmaking. The artwork was judged by Anne Bradley Rawson, grants and special project director, from the Arts Council of Fayetteville/Cumberland County. There is also a wall dedicated to other O’Neal works of art from students in younger divisions. To see this exhibit, visit The Campbell House from 9am to 5pm until March 9th.
1st Place • Drawing • “Nellie Rose” Hannah Fitzgerald, 9th grade
1st Place 3D/Sculpture “Rothenburg Cityscape” Jordan Wolfe, 10th grade
New Directors Announced
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he O’Neal School is pleased to announce that the positions for Upper School director and athletics director for the school year 2015/2016 have been filled. Will Rhem will officially join O’Neal as Upper School director on July 1st, when Richard Catania retires after 5 years of service to the School. Will is currently the English department chair and head of teaching and learning at Kents Hill School in Maine. A Houston native with ties to North Carolina, he attended Wofford College majoring in religion and Spanish and he also played soccer. Will has held a number of positions in education, including serving with the Peace Corps in El Salvador as well as teaching English and Spanish. He has earned advanced degrees from
Will Rhem
Middlebury College and Columbia University. O’Neal is looking forward to his leadership and to welcoming Will, his wife Amanda and two young daughters. Also joining O’Neal as athletic director on July 1st is James Franklin. James graduated cum laude from Champlain College - attending on a full scholarship for soccer - with a degree in public relations and media communication. He also earned a post-graduate certification in sports management from University of North London. James has coached collegiate soccer and tennis, and at each school, he held additional roles including director of recruiting, director of life skills, and athletic events manager. He has also served as director of coaching and director of operations for extensive youth club soccer programs. James, his wife Sandra, and two children already reside in Pinehurst and look forward to engaging themselves in the O’Neal community.
James Franklin
1st Place • Printmaking • “Tuscan Vineyard” Jordan Wolfe, 10th grade
1st Place • Photography • “Blue Bucket” McKenzie Cooper, 12th grade
Upcoming Events
2/20 2/24 2/25 2/28 3/1 3/24
The O’Neal School’s 44th Annual Auction JV/Varsity Winter Sports Recognition The O’Neal Talent Show (MS and US) Admissions Testing Registration Open for Summer Camps Upper School Scholarship Applications Due
See Math in a New Light: Build a Boat
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o build anything requires the knowledge of math, but when O’Neal parent Dargan Moore read an article titled “Building a Skiff to Teach Math” in his bi-monthly subscription of WoodenBoat Magazine, he decided to share it with his oldest daughter Emma who then presented it to her math teacher, Win Ford. Intrigued by it all, Mr. Ford and Emma decided to take on the project of building a Blevin’s Skiff, under the supervision of someone who could provide the tools as well as woodworking (and boating) skills – Emma’s father. During this project, the ability to use a ruler and divide mixed numbers becomes comfortable as it is repeated a lot. The use of ratios when mixing epoxy or using scaled drawings comes into play. The “rise over run” or slope formula is used to calculate the plywood scarf joints offering a little introduction to algebra. Geometry is huge. Straight, perpendicular, and parallel lines are common place as well as planes and isosceles triangles. The finished product is up for bid in “O’Neal’s Own” segment of O’Neal’s 44th Annual Auction on Friday, February 20th at 6pm at The Pinehurst Country Club. Go to www.ONealSchool.org for more information. For more information on building a Blevin’s Skiff go to: www.woodenboat.com or www.buildingtoteach.com.
The O’Neal Quarterly P.O. Box 290 Southern Pines, NC 28388
This issue features The Landmark Garden.