Gold Key Writing Awards Three Hathaway Brown seniors earned eight Gold Key awards in the 2011 Scholastic Art & Writing contest for our region. In number of awards, HB was third in Ohio and tied for 18th in the nation. These works will automatically be submitted for national judging.
Sienna Zeilinger ’11 had an especially impressive showing, winning five awards in four different genres − Short Story, Personal Essay/Memoir, Poetry, and Science Fiction/ Fantasy. Stephanie Yu ’11 earned two awards in two genres, Humor and Personal Essay/Memoir. Joyce Guo ’13 won an award in the “Short Short Story” category.
Parents in the Classroom
On a special evening in February, parents were able to step into their daughter’s shoes, sit in her seat and see the Hathaway Brown magic for themselves. Parents attended three 25-minute classes, chosen from 18 offerings by faculty from Primary, Middle and Upper Schools, ranging from China’s One Child Policy to Shakespeare, Our Contemporary. HB held this first-ever Back to School for Grownups to give parents a chance to experience the distinctive, transformative classes that their kids experience every day.
Since 1923, The Awards have recognized some of America’s most talented writers while they were teenagers, including Truman Capote, Bernard Malamud, Joyce Maynard, Sherley Anne Williams, Joyce Carol Oates, and Sylvia Plath.
Seventh grader is finalist in “Stop the Hate” essay contest
Isabella Nilsson ’16 was selected as one of three seventh grade finalists in the “Stop the Hate: Youth Speak Out” essay contest sponsored by the Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage. This annual contest solicits insight from area students on ways to counter discrimination and prejudice in their communities. Isabella’s essay was chosen from more than 1,700 entries from students of seven Northeast Ohio counties and will have its final judging in April. Seventh grade English teacher Sharon Baker has organized the HB contest submissions for the past two years. She has made the essay a required assignment because the topic mirrors the seventh grade theme of social justice. Baker encourages her students to submit their essays and has had high rates of participation. In 2010, HB student Beki Waterman ’15 won third prize.
Algebra II class presents findings on education
Learning not for school but for life was front and center when Algebra II students delivered a Sustaining Our City presentation in January about school performance indicators. Using data on public school districts within Cuyahoga County, students measured the relationship between a variable such as attendance rates and the percent of students passing the Ohio Graduation Test. The conclusions that students drew from their work became the basis for a lunchtime conversation on education. Moderated by Upper School Math Department Chair Michael Buescher, the discussion focused not only on the results of the data analysis, but also on what policy recommendations students would make about public education in Ohio.