SUSAN AND EDWARD CASTLEBERRY SBS ’46 FAMILY SCHOLARSHIP
NICOLE WEYER
through a gift to the endowment. Last year, Mr. Castleberry received the McKenzie Sargent Distinguished Alumni Award in recognition of the depth and breadth of his service to the school and community. A key player in Cincinnati’s economic development scene, Mr. Castleberry’s civic interests have focused on youth, entrepreneurship and economic education and development. Part of a four-generation Summit family that began with his mother, Constance (Alf) Castleberry ’20, he and his wife now have three grandchildren enrolled here. While the school chooses who gets the scholarship, the Castleberrys are quite familiar with Nicole. Nicole’s mother has kept in touch with them and regularly shares Nicole’s report cards with them. “She’s a great choice by the school for our scholarship,” says Mr. Castleberry. “She’s a very bright, charming and congenial young lady. Susan and I are very pleased with her academic performance. I’m sure The Summit must also be pleased.” Nicole started going to the Montessori Program at The Summit when she was 4 years old. Usually children this age are prone to crying when their parents drop them off. “Nicole cried when she left that day because she wanted to stay,” says her mother.
Twelve-year-old Nicole Weyer is one of those rare students who seem to be able to think from both the left and right side of the brain. Academically, Nicole is usually an all-A student. Technologically, she’s proficient with every computerized gizmo she touches. But her passion lies in singing and making art. And Nicole has proven recently that she is also a go-getter. Nicole was chosen to join a group of Cincinnati students going to Europe this summer as part of People to People International. As unofficial ambassadors of the U.S., the students promote international understanding and friendship. While Nicole was chosen through a competitive process, the trip was not free and not one her parents could readily afford. Nicole raised much of the funding for the trip herself by making and selling no-sew blankets.
+ Deceased
“She made it happen,” says her mother, Jane Weyer. “She filled out the application. She wrote her essay. She had to be interviewed and that was big for her because she’s pretty shy. She raised the money. For her to go on this trip by herself at age 12 without mom and dad is huge.” Nicole’s selection by People to People shows how mature she is, says Edward “Hap” Castleberry SBS ’46, former chairman of the Cincinnati Citizen’s Committee on Youth. “When a student is selected to do something like that, it is all about how mature the student is.” The Summit selected Nicole to be the recipient of the Susan and Edward Castleberry SBS ’46 Family Scholarship, which goes to a well-qualified student in grades 1-12 who needs financial assistance and who displays leadership, Christian values and community spirit. The scholarship was established in 2005 48
“Now that Nicole is getting ready to start 7th grade, she has become selfconfident. She has really grown here. She has matured. She has felt safe and comfortable here. She loves coming here every day.” The mission and values of the school are helping Nicole become a good person. “As parents, we try to instill that in our children at home, but when you know that’s also being instilled in them at school, it’s comforting. Nicole is being taught how to be a good person, and she’s maturing into a person of character because of the teachers who are here. I have always felt she is loved here. The reason I keep her here is she loves The Summit, and the teachers love her. It is just such a gift to bring her here,” says Ms. Weyer. The Summit congratulates Nicole on her achievement. For more information on this and other Summit scholarship programs, please visit the school web site at www.summitcds.org/Admission.
—Nancy Berlier
BMS Boys Middle School GMS Girls Middle School SBS Summit Boys School