May 2000

Character Education at The Summit
Fourth Quarter Report: May, 2000

Written by Mary Foss Brinkmeyer, Assistant Head

"A candle loses nothing by lighting another candle." - Anonymous

This school year we have implemented many new opportunities for our students to develop good character through our Educating For Character Program. Here are highlights of our Fourth Quarter activities.

Spiritual Development:

Montessori All-Day and Primary students participated in a St. Julie Billiart Prayer Service on April 28. It was led by First Grade students who studied the life and good works of St. Julie. At the Prayer Service First Grader Tommy Tobin reminded his fellow students, "Today we come to honor St. Julie, the foundress of the Sisters of Notre Dame and to thank you God, for our teachers who help us with our work…and to help us grow up kind and good. Bless all the teachers in our school."
Middle School students honored St. Julie in a Prayer Service by retelling the story of St. Julie and how she founded the Sisters of Notre Dame.
On Mother's Day, May 14, fifty-eight Second Grade students received the Sacrament of the Holy Eucharist in The Summit's Immaculate Heart of Mary Chapel.
Third Grade students celebrated their three years in the Primary with a special Mass on May 25.
"Change Our Hearts" was the theme of the Lenten Middle School Mass on March 29. Fourth Grade students led the readings and singing with Faculty Ms. Kristy Meineke and student Jennifer Williams singing the Communion meditation, "Teach Me To Love." The song was written by Catholic songwriter Ms. Susan Bailey in honor of Mother Teresa and it asks her to teach us to love and serve others as she did. Mrs. Diane Uckotter, Fourth Grade Religion faculty, recorded the meditation and sent it to Ms. Bailey, who was thrilled with the rendition of her song and has been corresponding with us since then.
During April Eighth Graders were installed as Eucharistic Ministers and will serve at the Middle School Masses as lectors, servers, ministers, and musicians.
Middle School students and their mothers celebrated Mothers Day together at a lovely liturgy on May 12 planned by the Eighth Grade. Highlights of the Mass included liturgical dance, a reading of the Magnificat of Mary, and students presenting flowers to their mothers.
The May Crowning ceremony was held on May 22 for students Montessori through Eighth Grade. This Summit tradition begins with Eighth Grade students proceeding down the aisle hand in hand with the Montessori students.
Several times a year Upper School students participate in prayer services of various religions as students share with each other their faith traditions to gain a greater appreciation of the religions of the world. This quarter Mr. Jonathan Roos, a rabbinical student from Hebrew Union College presided at a traditional Jewish Daily Prayer Service with the Upper School. He chanted Hebrew, read from the Torah, and reminded us that many different faiths have similar traditions.

Christian Service:

Students in the First Grade made Easter candy cup holders for the children of Beech Acres. They also worked hard on a Spring campus project of planting marigolds outside.
Primary students are to be commended on their successful Lenten projects. They contributed $73.15 to the Leukemia Society and $158.40 for the Kids Café.
Third Grade students continue their correspondence with Roberto, the six year old boy they are sponsoring from Chili. In Religion classes they made him books which tell the story of the Ten Plagues, Noah's Ark, Jonah and the Whale, and Daniel and the Lion's Den. Using the website Bablelfish on the Internet they translated their stories into Spanish, Roberto's native language.
While studying the Industrial Revolution the Fifth Grade students in Mrs. Ann Goff's Social Studies classes created an assembly line and produced over three hundred Easter baskets. They gave the baskets filled with candy to Second Grade students at Washington Park School. They also sold the baskets for 50 cents to the Eighth Graders to give to their Fourth Grade "buddies" for Easter. The money they raised was donated to the Cincinnati Zoo.
Seventh Grade students continue to plan CAT (Christian Action Team) activities with service projects at Kid's Café, where students helped with their move to a new location by painting, scrubbing the floors, and cleaning the outside; and at Imago Earth Center, an environmental nature preserve, where students gardened and removed litter from the woods.
Congratulations to the Seventh Grade who are the Grand Winners of the Middle School Penny War. They earned two out- of-uniform days. The grand total collected was $2,300-the largest ever! The proceeds were distributed to SHARE, The Kid's Café, and The Health Resource Center. Many thanks to CAT students who organized this project from beginning to end.
Middle School CAT leaders organized and held a carnival for St. Aloysius Orphanage on May 25. Ten Eighth Graders and thirteen Seventh Graders were responsible for the events of the day.
Middle and Upper School students collected used books to be donated to the Gwamure Secondary School in Zimbabwe, Africa. Over eight boxes of books have been packaged and sent to this school.
Upper School students participated in the third annual Unity Day on May 1. Two-thirds of the student body spent a day of festivities at the Athletic Complex with Fourth Fifth, and Sixth Grade students from Washington Park Elementary School. This special celebration day culminated this year's partnership activities between the two schools. Principal Ms. Viola Jackson and school social worker Mr. Joe Wilmers thanked their "Super Summit Family," -"One hundred and forty of our Fourth, Fifth and Sixth Graders are still smiling after the fun-filled field day at your sports complex. They enjoyed all aspects of the day…especially the individual attention given by their big buddy…We are grateful to all of you for the kindness and generosity you have bestowed on our children and their families for the past six years. We cherish this special relationship, and look forward to continued interaction next year."
Upper School students Kriston Springs, Whitney Hinckley, Brittani Eiseman, Ben Trautmann, Sally Boyce, Maggie Clements, and Mike Dwyer, and Upper School Campus Minister Mr. Mike Johnson joined with students from Hughes High School and Bishop Brossert High School to plan and organize a day of Christian Service. On April 1 they participated in two service projects: they helped to move books and materials in preparation for the renovation at the Emmanuel Center, an Over-the-Rhine day care center for children, and they helped with "rehabing" at Restock, an agency that provides low income housing.

Diversity:

While studying the continent of Asia and the country of India, Montessori students in Mrs. Linda Moeggenberg's and Mrs. Karen Koch's afternoon class were treated to a beautiful performance of the classical dance of India by Eighth Grader Anjali Rajasekhar. Anjali performed for the students in her exquisite Indian costume. She has been studying dance for ten years and is graduating with her solo recital performance in August.
Mrs. Alice Chung, mother of Harry and Woody Chung, visited Ms. Susie Kammer's Montessori class to present traditions of Korea. The students listened to a Korean story, shared Korean food and costumes, and enjoyed looking at artifacts and pictures from Korea.
Montessori Faculty Ms. Susie Kammer shared stories of her recent visit and adventures in Guatemala. The students in her classes learned where Central America is and about Guatemalan culture. They enjoyed looking at various artifacts and pictures and each received their very own Guatemalan doll to take home as a souvenir!
Montessori students in Mrs. Tilly Pfeiffer's Three Day Program were treated to a piano concert given by Tino Delamerced's grandmother, Mrs. Pilar Cusi. Mrs. Cusi, who has spent her life and professional career as a concert pianist in Cebu City, Philippines, was visiting her family in Cincinnati. The students were interested to hear about life in the Philippines and to enjoy the piano concert in St. Cecilia Hall.
Upper School Faculty Dr. Mo Xuan, Peter's father, demonstrated Chinese writing for Mrs. Karen Koch's classes. He showed the students how the Chinese use written characters to express themselves on paper. Students were taught how to write their names and to use simple Chinese symbols.
Dr. Dogan Temizer, William's father, visited Mrs. Linda Moeggenberg's afternoon class to present Turkish artifacts and to speak to the students about his native country of Turkey.
First Graders studied the continents of the world and learned about the cultural differences among the continents.
The Summit Upper School welcomed twelve students from Schaftlarn School, located near Munich in Germany. These students and their teacher stayed with Summit host families from April 28 through May 12. They attended school with our students and enjoyed many activities with the host families, from canoe trips to baseball games to shopping at the outlet mall. This is the third year for this exchange program which was initiated as part of the sister city relationship between Munich and Cincinnati. Upper School faculty Mr. Jeff Stayton, who coordinates this program, will accompany twelve Upper School students to Bavaria for a visit to the Schaftlarn School from May 27 to June 9.
Eight Upper School students along with Upper School Director Tom Monaco, his wife Marie, and French faculty Dr. Mo Xuan traveled to Nancy, France this spring from March 6-17. They spent three day in Paris touring the many historical sights, followed by a week in Nancy during which students stayed with host families and went to school in the morning and toured in the afternoon. A highlight was a visit to Strausberg, the political capital of the European Union. This is the eighth year for this French exchange program.
The Summit Camerata traveled to Germany over spring break to perform in a joint choral concert in the AudiMax with the Potsdam Singakademie in Potsdam. They performed a concert in the Kaufmannskirche in Erfurt and sang in a service in the Georgenkirche in Eisenach. The students visited the Bach Museum and the Buchenwald Concentration Camp.
Middle School faculty Mrs. Katie Gregg and Assistant Head Mrs. Mary Brinkmeyer attended the Worldfest 2000 presentation by Noble Peace Prize winner and Holocaust survivor Dr. Elie Wiesel, who spoke about the injustice of indifference. Mrs. Gregg shared the message with her students who have read and studied Wiesel's book, Night.
Mrs. Barb Sander's Fourth Grade Social Studies classes studied the Southwest and celebrated this unit with the "Taste of the Southwest." Students shared with each other a sample of Southwest regional food and collected favorite family recipes to create a cookbook.

Student Work Ethic:

The three year old students in the Three Day Program have been learning about the importance of nature and they studied the life cycle of the frog, the bird, and the butterfly. They were thrilled to experience nature firsthand by going on a school field trip to Sunrock Farm. They took to the "farm experience" naturally by feeding and milking the goats, planting seeds, and gathering eggs.
To enhance their study of the Civil War, students in Mr. Tom Venner's Seventh Grade Social Studies classes participated in "first person interviews" of important individuals of the Civil War time period. Military leaders such as Lee, Grant, Chamberlain, Jackson, and Sherman; Women such as Clara Barton, Harriet B. Stowe, Dorthea Dix, and Mary Chestnut, and African Americans such as Frederick Douglass, Harriet Tubman, Henry 'Box' Brown, and Sojourner Truth were all interviewed as students were both the interviewer and the interviewee. Along with learning about important Civil War figures, students were given experience in data collection, group work, writing and verbal presentations.
In Mr. Emil Nelson's Eighth Grade Social Studies classes students held a mock trail on World War II war crimes. Students played the roles of witnesses, jury, and attorneys for the defense and prosecution.
From Friday, April 28 to Sunday, April 30, The Summit hosted the 4th Annual Celebration of the Classics 2000 with a marathon reading of Virgil's Aeneid. The purpose of this event was to gain a greater appreciation of the literature of classical antiquity. Past marathon readings have included Homer's Illiad and Odyssey and Ovid's Metamorphoses. The reading of the Aeneid in English was the main event and there were other activities such as informal skits, dramatic interpretations of the text, academic competitions, and arts and crafts projects. The number of readers varied throughout the weekend from 100 people who participated in the opening ceremonies to a dedicated group of four students on Sunday morning. Numerous awards were earned by students: Best of Show in Arts and Crafts-Patrick Massa, Jacquelyn White, and Allyson Hock; Best Poem-Frank Charlton, Natalie Sammarco; Best Dramatic Interpretation-Katie Klosterman and Lourdes Perrino; Best Skit-the Eighth Grade 'Muses'; Academic Contest-Margaret Niehaus-Sauter, Anna Ryan, Andrew Evelo, and Brian Kelso; Novice 'Runners' in Reading Marathon-Stephanie Kortyka, Allyson Hock, and Sarah Bromley; and Veteran 'Runners' in Reading Marathon-Jason Carreon Chua and J.P. Carreon Chua. A big thank you to the Latin department and to all who participated and contributed to this wonderful weekend.
Latin faculty Mr. Larry Dean and Mrs. Kim Ashcraft are happy to announce that thirty-nine Summit students earned induction into the National Junior Classical League Latin Honor Society (LHS) on May 10. Each year students must earn their induction into the LHS by maintaining above a B+ average in Latin and by demonstrating dedication and enthusiasm for the language. The functions of the LHS includes service activities, peer tutoring, and the organization of the annual "Summit Certamen."
Two Eighth Grade students, Lisa Cosgrove and Drew Loftspring, entered the Ohio State Science Day at Wesleyan University after receiving a superior rating at the regional Science Fair at Miami University. Both students received an excellent rating on the state level. Lisa's project "Scents and Sense Ability" was designed to see the relationship between the sense of taste and smell, and Drew's project "What Substance is Best For Cleaning and Protecting Teeth" proved Crest was the best!
The Eighth Grade Percussion Ensemble, Kahle Buse, Ashley Rice, Richard Tranter, Peter Moore, Michael Burke, and Kyle Baron, participated in the Ohio Music Education Association District 14 Solo and Ensemble Contest on April 1.
The Summit Camerata competed in the Ohio Music Education Association State Choral Competition on May 5 in Columbus. The Camerata received a composite rating of II. Choirs receive ratings from I through V on a scale with I being the best. The choir was judged on their performance abilities as well as their ability to read at sight a piece of music they have not seen before. This marks Camerata's first state competition.
Mrs. Marianne Martin's Sixth Grade Math classes participated in the Stock Market Game sponsored by the Greater Cincinnati Center for Economic Education. Twenty teams of students were given an imaginary "$100,000" each to invest on NYSE, NASDAQ, and AMEX using the Internet. Students learned how to buy, sell, and calculate broker commissions. The winning team was the one who made the most profit on their investment at the end of ten weeks. Math concepts of decimals, fractions, percent, and profit and loss were stressed. Congratulations to the team of Cara Lonergan, Kirby Ropar, Lindsay Wagner, and Sarah Bromley, who placed tenth out of 331 teams in the tri-state region with a final balance of $110,211.22.
Congratulations to Middle School students Emily Irwin, Frank Kortyka, James Niergarth, Morgan Owens, Michael Lee, Anjali Rajasekhar, Sonja Sturbaum, and Ashley Terry who were inducted on May 17 in the National Junior Honor Society.
Congratulations to the following Upper School students who were inducted on April 26 into the National Honor Society: Frank Albi, Shannon Antoine, Molly Bayer, Sarah Berhalter, Michael Billmire, Trenita Brookshire, Nina Caporale, Lauren Conners, Lauren Hoeck, Laura Janneck, Sarah Kelly, Alison Kling, Marta Passerini, Lisa Reddy, Lauren Roedersheimer, Rob Shoemaker, Marcie Stayton, and Theresa Uckotter.
Senior Euell ToChip was honored at the Student Recognition Day sponsored by the Kiwanis Club. This special award gives recognition to outstanding scholastic students from the senior classes of Hamilton County High Schools, emphasizing their achievements, honoring their abilities and encouraging them to greater efforts. More than 1950 students have received this Certificate of Meritorius achievement throughout the program's 45 year existence.

Teaching Values Through the Academic Curriculum:

Montessori students in Ms. Karen Pohl's classes read the character education books, "Let's Talk About" book series and Serendipity book series. These books are designed to educate children about a particular topic on values and to lead them through a group discussion on that topic.

Montessori students in Mrs. Karen Koch's class learned about the importance of the work of a police officer from Mr. Royce Winters, an investigative detective and Ryan's father. He told the students all about the daily job of a policeman and showed them the "tools" a policeman uses each day.
In Science and Social Studies classes First Grade students have been learning about the need to save the rainforest.
In First Grade Religion classes students are viewing a character education video about the negative impact of name calling. Students discussed the three character values of respect, responsibility, and honesty and are drawing themselves displaying these values. They emphasized the positive values St. Julie displayed in her life and how one can live these values out daily.
Several of the Fourth Grade Language Arts classes read Eleanor Coerr's Sadako and The Thousand Paper Cranes, a story of an eleven year old girl's courage to face a terminal illness. Students made paper cranes and inscribed Sadako's message, "this is our cry, this is our prayer-peace in the war." The children also wrote memorial prayers on Japanese lanterns
Fourth Grade advisements discussed friendships and respect for each other particularly in the classroom, cafeteria, and on the playground. Their discussions included the difference between playing competitively in their sporting events and playing on the playground where everyone should be included.
Fifth Grade students have "met with the character" Medwyn in The Book of Three by Lloyd Alexander. Students learned from this character that "every living thing deserves our respect, be it humble or proud, ugly or beautiful." He gave the children a great deal to think about and to discuss.
In preparation for Holy Week each Seventh Grade Religion class planned and led their own hand washing Prayer Service complete with songs, scripture, and original prayers.
Eighth Graders read A Man For All Seasons by Robert Bolt in Mrs. Mary Rose Collins's Religion classes and studied the theme of personal integrity. In the Fourth Quarter Eighth Graders are reviewing and discussing the moral virtues of wise judgment, justice, courage, wholeness, honesty, respect for persons, compassion, reverence for human life and peacemaking.
Sophomores in Ms. Kelly Cronin's Upper School History classes are learning about the lives and accomplishments of two of the most influential female leaders of the 19th Century: Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Susan B. Anthony.

Student Leadership:

First Grade students each made a "Math About Me" poster which recorded mathematical facts about the student in a creative manner. One poster is selected each week to feature the child as the "Classmate of the Week."

Students in Mrs. Kerry Daus's Second Grade class participated in a special "craft day" during which students volunteered to be a leader and present an art project to the class. Second Grader Angela Messina was one of the first to write a note to volunteer, "I would like to be a leader in our craft day. I have lots of crafts to choose from. P.S. I think I would be a great leader."
Eighth Graders Liz Laird, Ashley Rice, and Whitney Manning visited Fifth Grade Religion classes, which were studying the Sacrament of Confirmation, to share with the students their recent preparation for the sacrament and the significance it will have in their lives.
Eighth Graders hosted an Easter party for their Fourth Grade "buddies." They presented them with an Easter basket of candy which they acquired from Mrs. Goff's Fifth Grade Easter basket assembly line. The high point of the gathering was the Bunny Hop.

Drug and Alcohol Prevention:

On March 27 Seventh Grade students participated in a Drug and Alcohol Awareness Panel. Middle School Health Faculty Ms. Kristy Meineke organized this event featuring Honorable Stephanie Wyler, Juvenile Judge and Ben's mother; Deputy Bill Sharber, DARE officer; two representatives from Alcoholics Anonymous; and Mrs. Carol Lahke and two students form the Kids Helping Kids Program.

Middle School Guidance Counselor Patty Argus and ten Middle School students participated in the "Creating Leaders Conference" on April 8 at Indian Hill Middle School. Joining them were Freshmen Margot Richey and Andrew Evelo who participated in this conference during their Eighth Grade year. Margot and Andrew served as peer leaders this year after participating in over twenty-four hours of leadership training. The purpose of the conference was to provide the students with the skills to become leaders in order to make good choices in regards to drugs and alcohol.

Sportsmanship:

Four Upper School students, Senior Kriston Springs, Junior Frank Albi, Sophomore Lauren Manning, and Freshman Darwin Ashley participated in the Miami Valley Conference Student Forum, a group of coaches, officials, administrators and students from schools within the conference who meet on a regular basis. The mission of this Forum is to "promote respect on and off the playing field. We shall be humble in victory and gracious in defeat. Our mission is to aspire to these high ideals in word and deed, and at the same time, to have fun." The Student Forum defines sportsmanship as "an athlete or person who can show pride and leadership for their school, team, and themselves, while showing confidence in their play, courtesy towards their opponents and leadership as an individual." The Student Forum defines school spirit as "a body of people who exhibit pride, enthusiasm, and commitment towards a common goal." According to Frank Albi, " The forum meets once each sports season and afterward we share what we learn with Upper School students at our morning assembly. You can really see improvement in sportsmanship among the schools."

Human Sexuality:

Seventh Grade students in Ms. Kristy Meineke's and Mr. Larry Kozlowski's Health classes participated in the "baby project." Each student carried a "baby" which was constructed of non-perishable food items and weighed between 7 - 10 pounds. The students were responsible for all the baby's needs for 36 hours. At the completion of the project the food items were donated to the Saint John Social Service - Food Services.
Eighth Grade students studied sexual morality as part of their Fourth Quarter morality unit. Topics include God's plan for sex and marriage and reverence for human life.

Parent/School Alliance:

Grandparents Day both in the Primary division on May 15 and in the Montessori division on May 17 were highly anticipated and enjoyed by all as the students shared programs and their classrooms with their grandparents.

The Summit pig, "Taking Flight On The Silver Knight", is nearing completion as the art department and parent volunteers are putting the finishing touches on it. You are welcome to visit the pig in the Upper School Dining Room or on the stysite, http://www.summitcds.org/bigpiggig/ The Summit pig will be displayed at Union Terminal when the Big Pig Gig, a Cincinnati public art project, makes its grand debut on Fountain Square in June.

These are just a few of the many activities of our Educating For Character Program. We have had a most productive year of implementations and we would like to thank the Educating For Character Committee for supporting this program and for providing information for this report: Montessori-Mrs. Diane Fee and Mrs. Linda Moeggenberg; First Grade-Mrs. Ann Thelen; Second Grade-Mrs. Kathleen Kane; Third Grade-Mrs. Joan Hilton; Fourth Grade-Mrs. Diane Uckotter; Fifth Grade-Mrs. Brenda DelFavero; Sixth Grade-Mr. Mark Friedman; Seventh Grade-Mrs. Maureen Everhart; Eighth Grade-Mrs. Mary Rose Collins; Middle School-Mrs. Patty Argus; and Upper School-Ms. Laura Haas and Mr. Mike Johnson.

Your input and support are greatly appreciated as we prepare for the 2000-2001 school year. Have a wonderful summer!!!!!