“Use your powers for good” and “make sure you’re running your devices and they’re not running you” were just two of the many helpful tips Devorah Heitner, Ph.D., shared with our students and parents last month. As our first special guest in this year’s Parent Academy Series, Dr. Heitner spoke with middle-schoolers at a special assembly on September 12 and then spent the evening with our parent community (view photos). The following morning, the author of “Screenwise: Helping Kids Thrive (and Survive) in Their Digital World” and founder of Raising Digital Natives addressed students in grades 4-5 and finished her visit with our upper-schoolers.

Thank you to everyone who attended and sent in photos from last month's Lower School Campout! According to Head of Lower School Mark Hansen, about 220 people from 65 families enjoyed the overnight event together (view photos). Click on the following links for more recent school news.

Kids 4 Kids, our annual school-wide community service project, will begin with the food drive portion starting October 17. We will collect non-perishable food donations until November 3. All food donations can be brought in by students to drop off to their advisories. All other donations will be collected starting October 31. Please consider donating gently-used fall/winter clothing, coats (all sizes), toys, books, bikes, youth-size snow boots, blankets and bedding. You can also Fill-a-Wish for sponsored families and sign up to volunteer!

Two Sundays ago, Academy families – including many senior-kindergarten buddies – gathered at Lynd Fruit Farm to pick apples for themselves and to donate. The result was a new record of 1,640 pounds of apples that our Service Board will distribute to several local food pantries! Click on the following links for photos and a news story. And in addition to this year's Kids 4 Kids service learning program (see above), here are more news items from our service department:

“Here at CA, we celebrate, connect and create opportunities to build community throughout campus,” says Director of Student Outreach Pedro Mena, who recently organized an event at COSI for our HOLA (Hispanic Outreach for Latino Awareness) affinity group. The gathering included a presentation by Academy parent Dr. Orlay Alonso, a renowned pianist who is from Santa Clara, Cuba. Following his musical performance, attendees enjoyed authentic Cuban food from Pablo’s Havana Café and a tour through COSI’s “¡Cuba!” exhibit (view photos & video). We'll be sharing many more Hispanic Heritage Month activities in our next issue!

All lower-schoolers and their families are invited to the Junior Vikings Youth Soccer Night set for Monday, October 10, as the girls and boys varsity soccer teams play back-to-back on Hondros Field! Our girls take on CSG at 5:30 p.m., and the boys will host Columbus International at 7:00 p.m. with a pregame ceremony for Senior Night. Junior Vikings t-shirts, mini-soccer balls and wristbands will be tossed to our fans throughout the festivities as well. In addition to the Senior Night posts below, check out more coverage of our fall sports at @academyvikings on Instagram.

Interested in becoming a Parent Admissions Ambassador? You are invited to the fireside of the dining hall at 8:15 a.m. on Wednesday, October 26, to hear about volunteer opportunities with our Admissions Office. Meet other parents, hear from past volunteers and learn more about specific roles for the coming year. Please click here to let us know if you plan on joining or are interested but can’t attend. Families interested in enrollment for the 2023-24 school year are welcome to register for upcoming Viking Visits, which involve coffee and conversation about all three divisions where parents can meet teachers and administrators as well as see Columbus Academy in action. Lower School Viking Visits will be on Tuesdays (November and December) and Mondays (January) for parents only. Middle and Upper School Viking Visits will be on Thursdays (November–January). Also, the popular Zoom@Noon webcasts will again take place this fall through the winter months as Director of Admissions and Tuition Assistance John Wuorinien will help families get a glimpse into the Academy experience as faculty and staff preview topics such as the Independent School Model, S.T.E.A.M., College Counseling, Diversity and Community Life, Math, Performing Arts, Athletics and more. Register for both at columbusacademy.org/admissions/visiting-academy.

After a two-year COVID hiatus, our annual appreciation event for leadership donors to the Annual Fund is returning on November 16 from 6:00-9:00 p.m. at COSI! We are thrilled to welcome this year’s featured speaker, Professor Brian Greene, who is a leading theoretical physicist, New York Times bestselling author and entertaining communicator of cutting-edge scientific concepts. A Harvard graduate and Rhodes Scholar, Greene is a frequent television guest, joining Stephen Colbert eight times and even playing himself in an episode of “The Big Bang Theory.” To learn more about leadership giving and opportunities to attend, please contact Director of Development Emily Campbell or view details by clicking here.

Two weekends ago, we welcomed nearly 150 alumni and close to 200 total guests to campus for Alumni Weekend 2022! Six different decades were present on campus spanning the Class of 1955 to a significant group of more recent graduates from 2012 and 2017. This year we celebrated classes ending in twos and sevens along with a pair of 50th Reunions. For a complete recap, click here.

“It’s essential to me that Jewish kids are able to see themselves reflected in literature,” says middle school librarian and newly published author Stacy Nockowitz in today's front-page story for Columbus Jewish News. We launched Stacy's debut novel with a special assembly for our middle-schoolers (view coverage). Click on the following links for more alumni and faculty/staff news: