January 2023

Academy Alumni in the News Dr. Jay Morgan ’76 (left) recently began serving as president of the Western Neurosurgical Society and was profiled in the organization’s Fall-Winter 2022 newsletter. He is currently chief of the spine section at Renown Regional Medical Center in Reno, Nevada. Michael Corey ’01 was named CEO of the Year, Small Nonprofits for his role as executive director at the Human Service Chamber of Franklin County, where he helps 165 member nonprofits achieve their goals through advocacy and a newly expanded focus on professional services. For more alumni press clips, click on the following links. Randy Schoedinger ’86 Jen Burton ’95 Avishar Barua ’05 Bob Bradway ’81 Tori Abell ’18, Brie (Abell) Williams ’16 & Tony Capuano ’07 Jack Madison ’21 (obituary and news story) James McAtee ’62 (obituary) If you have clips (either in print or on the web) to pass along for future issues, please send them to info@columbusacademy.org.

Hallet & Neal Honored at Alumni Holiday Luncheon “I never strove for this recognition but will strive to be worthy of it,” stated Dr. Michael Hallet ’70 while accepting the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus Award at last month’s Alumni Holiday Luncheon. The annual event – which also included Scott Neal receiving the Alumni Service Award and Alaina West ’24 re-delivering her Junior Speech – was held at the The Grand Event Center at Grandview Yard. Click below for a complete recap including links to photos and videos of the presentations.

VIEW RECAP

Fond Farewell to Melissa Clarke Beckett Last month’s Holiday Luncheon served as the final public event for Melissa Clarke Beckett as our Director of Alumni Relations. Melissa began her role at Columbus Academy in 2018 and is set to join Beecher Hill Consultancy. We wish Melissa all the best in her new endeavors and thank her for four years of outstanding work on Academy's behalf. We hope to announce a new Director of Alumni Relations soon!

Academy Launches New Advertising Campaign Since last spring, Columbus Academy has worked with a local partner that is a hybrid consulting firm and advertising agency to develop a new marketing campaign. To collect key data and feedback about the school, focus groups were conducted with students, parents, alumni and faculty/staff. Some of the key findings were that Academy provides a foundation that empowers students to succeed and thrive outside our walls, families like our sense of community, it takes more than academics to produce happy kids, and our teachers ignite curiosity so students learn voraciously and live their lives with intention. In order to differentiate our campaign from looking like other school ads, it was created to be visually striking and provocative while focusing on our students and staying consistent with Academy's mission and values. For a behind-the-scenes look and sampling of our new ads, which will begin appearing online, in local magazines and on streaming channels as well as select radio (NPR) and billboard locations (downtown & Easton), click here.

School News A total of 434 bowls were made this year by our ceramics students and art faculty for our annual participation in Empty Bowls/Soup for Shelter. Upper-schoolers spun bowls over the course of several weeks to prepare for this event. Over 230 people attended and picked a handcrafted bowl of their choice before enjoying soup and socializing, with all funds going to benefit the Westerville Habitat Partnership (view photos). The Summer Experience 2023 schedule is now available! From TITLE Boxing to Broadway and everything in between, you can start making your plans now for a summer of endless possibilities (view online brochure). Registration opens for Academy alumni at 9:00 a.m. on February 2 and the general public on February 3. If you would like a printed version, please email Summer_Experience@columbusacademy.org and we will be happy to mail one to you!

Sports News A new issue of our Experience magazine will be arriving in mailboxes this month that focuses on Academy’s athletics department. The edition starts with a full-page spread on favorite sports memories and also includes the evolution through the decades of what athletic development means to the overall mission of the school. It also highlights historic teams, legendary coaches and important traditions while providing a profile of fourth grade teacher (and former Viking student-athlete) Miranda Bring ’03 and a glimpse of current campus facilities. We hope you’ll be impressed!

Save the Date Mark your calendars for the Alumni Networking Reception on Saturday, April 29, when we will honor Samuel Levy ’01 with the 2023 Young Alumni Award. The event will also feature an "Innovations in Healthcare" panel discussion. More details forthcoming.

Send In Your Class Notes We love keeping in touch with our alumni, and we want to hear all of your latest news. Have you recently changed your name? Moved to a new home? Been promoted? Changed your line of work? Please go to the Alumni Updates Form to share these details. Providing the school with this information will help ensure you receive reunion updates, regional event invitations and the latest news from your alma mater!  Have you recently earned a new title or degree? Have details about an exciting trip or recent accomplishment to share? Gotten engaged or married? Added a new little Viking to your family? Please use the Class Notes Form to share these exciting life updates for inclusion in the class notes section of an upcoming edition of Academy’s Experience magazine.