The Pomeranz Family For the first time in 25 years a Pomeranz will not be attending Cincinnati Country Day School. The youngest of the six Pomeranz children, Cody, graduated in June of 2011 ending this chapter in their lives, but certainly not their connection with Country Day.
25 years at
country day Penny Pomeranz, mother of six CCDS alumni, explains she grew up in Indian Hill and had heard great things about the school. In the fall of 1985 she and her husband, Dr. Stephen Pomeranz, enrolled their oldest daughter Christy in the Montessori program. Penny admits, “we originally put Christy in Country Day for preschool with the intentions of eventually sending our kids through the public school system. However, there is something about that Lower School hallway that creates a feeling of community, and we just never left.” All six of the Pomeranz children are Country Day lifers, and all six of the kids couldn’t be more different. “All of our kids learned differently,” Penny comments, “Country Day grew their strengths and challenged them. Country Day fit all of our kids like a comfortable sweater but in a different way and style.” The Pomeranz children have definitely made their way in the world. Christy ’00 graduated from Columbia University and earned a medical degree from the Feinberg School of Medicine at Northwestern University. She is completing a year of internal medicine in New York before she begins her radiology residency at Cornell in 2012. Corbin ’03 graduated with a degree in Psychology from Kenyon College. After graduation he spent time working with troubled boys at “E-TohNee”, a youth collaboration program in the mountains of northern New Hampshire. He lived in subzero conditions in a self-built structure, burning wood for heat, while rehabilitating teenaged boys. Currently, he is applying to medical school. Taylor ’04 graduated from Northwestern’s McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science with a degree in industrial engineering where 32
she also spent some of her free time as Willie the Wildcat, the Northwestern mascot. Today, she works for Northwestern Hospital and is considering a career in medicine. Jory ’06 graduated from Northwestern’s School of Communications as a film major. He is fluent in Spanish and has studied and worked in Buenos Aires, Guatemala and Seville. He worked for NBC sports in New York City and is currently a freelance writer. Kellen ’07, also a Northwestern graduate, received her degree from the Bienen School of Music in music technology. She is in New York City pursuing a career in music production and has written sold, sang, and produced several songs. Cody ’11 is a freshman at Yale University where he hopes to pursue a degree in history, political science or psychology. When asked how the Pomeranz family plans to stay connected to Country Day now that they have transitioned from parents to parents of alumni, Penny responded simply, yet poignantly, “our children made lifelong friends at CCDS and stay in touch with their former teachers. They have such an admiration for the faculty, and we will always be involved.”
Christy ’00 Corbin ’03 Taylor ’04 Jory ’06 Kellen ’07 Cody’11 There are nearly 100 Country Day faculty who have dedicated their careers to making sure Country Day students receive the best education possible. All of our teachers and collaborative teachers have degrees, while 73 percent of our Upper School faculty holds advanced degrees. More importantly, the Country Day faculty connects with their students. They are the personification of the CCDS mission; they inspire a passion for learning and independent thinking through
Country Day Annual Report
a steadfast commitment to academic excellence, personal integrity, and service to others. Penny comments even at a young age, the faculty knew how to make every child feel special. She recalls the December that Kellen was born. Christy was in first grade at the time and informed Penny that she must attend the school pageant because Christy was going to be the angel. Penny, who had given birth a few days earlier made her way to the program where she proudly told the gentleman in the seat next to her that her daughter was going to be the angel in the play. To Penny’s surprise when the curtain opened, nearly the entire first grade class was dressed as angels. Even though most first graders were angels in the play, the faculty made each one of them feel special. The children knew every role was important. “Service to others,” is an aspect of the CCDS mission that is reinforced at Country Day. “The Country Day community gives back to others in a myriad of ways,” explains Penny. For ten years Penny has co-chaired the Cris Collinsworth ProScan Fund’s Pink Ribbon Luncheon. Ten girls from the Country Day eighth grade class have served as hostesses greeting guests at the luncheon. You never know when you might run into another member of the Country Day community. Penny remembers when a few Country Day students, volunteering at the Cris Collinsworth ProScan Fund’s Queen City Classic Chess Tournament, were delighted to see Vondale Batchelor, a member of CCDS’s facilities team, singing the national anthem to open the event. It was inspiring and fun for these students to see a member of the CCDS community giving back and serving others. Penny sums it up nicely, “the faculty teaches kids to delve into new things, they are challenged to question and dig deep. Students are encouraged to speak publicly, serve their communities and are prepared to work and question the world around them.” With the amazing guidance of our faculty and staff, Country Day students are ready for any world.