Cincinnati Country Day School
March Alumni 2021 Journal
CountryDate Brings Community Together Virtually
Dear Country Day Families and Alumni,
 
A huge THANK YOU to everybody who supported CountryDate 2021! 
 
Our virtual event was attended by over 200 households, enthusiastically supporting our school, our faculty, and our students. If you missed the broadcast or would enjoy a reminder of why Country Day is so special, click the link below. 
We are delighted to report the event raised more than $210,000, surpassing all expectations. Whether you tuned in to the broadcast, offered sponsorship, donated auction items, purchased raffle tickets, played the games of chance, or bid feverishly on silent and live auction items, you helped to make the evening a huge success for our school. Thank you!
 
Congratulations to our raffle winners:
 
1st prize – Mr. Tom Shafer and Mrs. Lauren Hannan Shafer ’84
2nd prize – Dr. Pamela C. Sisney and Mr. John C. Tiffany
3rd prize – Mr. Charles A. Pettengill ’79 and Mrs. Lisa K. Pettengill ’85
 
And to our golden paddle winner – Mr. Terry L. Moorman and Mrs. Ruda L. Jenkins
 
On behalf of the faculty, staff, and students of Country Day, our sincere thanks to you all.
 
With good wishes,
Louise Vaughan
Director of Advancement
Shannon Reilly
Events Coordinator
The Passing of Beloved Former Middle School Head, Richard Schwab '67
It is with a heavy heart that we inform you we have lost a beloved member of the Country Day family.
Richard O. "Dick" Schwab, '67 former head of middle school, died peacefully surrounded by his loving family and "the spirit of the school community" as passed on to us by his son Oliver '91. Oliver further told us that Dick kept his 2017 Chieftain Award by his bed and that the comments made at the Middle School Office dedication ceremony meant the world to him, giving him tremendous peace.
Accelerating Alumnus
John Graves ’06 is preparing for the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. After placing first in the men’s single rowing time trials in Sarasota, Florida on February 26, he now sets his eyes on Lucerne, Switzerland where he needs to place in the top two in order to punch his ticket to Tokyo. “It was a big sense of relief to cross that line and put my focus toward Lucerne on May 15,” said Graves.
John was a three-sport athlete during his time at Cincinnati Country Day School. “I loved rowing, but it was not my passion in high school,” said Graves. “Soccer was my sport back then, but I loved the energy of the Friday night basketball games and watching Coach Brownstein get fired up and Coach Ross’s enthusiasm.” After Country Day, John attended Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut where both his brothers, Tom ’01 and Peter ’03, attended. “I played soccer at Trinity, but ultimately found my passion for rowing there.”
John and his brother Peter rowed together as part of a quad team that came up just short of qualifying for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro in 2016. During John’s time trial in Sarasota, Peter ran along the edge of the course cheering him on the entire race.
Currently, John resides in Austin, Texas where he is training with the University of Texas women's rowing team and continuing to train for his final time trail in Switzerland. John recently married his wife Felice who is in medical school at the University of Michigan. After the Olympics, John plans to move back to Ann Arbor and complete graduate school there. John also works part time for the venture capital firm that sponsors his rowing team.

To keep track of the time trials and cheer John on, visit worldrowing.com. We wish John the best of luck as he chases his dream of representing the United States of America in the Olympics in Tokyo, Japan this summer. 
Sisters Swim Together to Break School Record
Grace, Caroline, and Isabel Ramirez have been Cincinnati Country Day School students since they were 18 months old and have been swimming together for nearly as long. "My first memory of them swimming is of them learning to swim with floaties on in my mom's backyard pool," said their mother, Tracy Ramirez.
The sisters swam with the Cincinnati Aquatics Club, which is a USA competitive swim team that operates out of the Leonard Family Athletic Center on Country Day's campus, since they were each five years old, but this is the first year the sisters have been able to swim on a relay together.

"Whenever we've done club swimming we've been too far apart in age to swim together competitively," explained Grace. "Because my sisters are now in high school, this was the first year I have been able to swim on a relay with them and it has been a lot of fun."

Earlier this month, Mia Latimer '23, Grace Ramirez '21, Caroline Ramirez '24, and Izzy Ramirez '24 set a new school record in the 200-medley relay, and finished in second place in the 400-free relay and overall at the 2021 southwest district meet, qualifying them for the state competition.
Homecoming and Reunion Weekend October 1 - 3, 2021
We plan to celebrate all reunion year classes ending in ’1 and ’6 on campus. In addition, we welcome classes who were unable to celebrate their reunions last year to join. Stay tuned throughout the year for more details. If you would like to plan your reunion, please contact Giles DeCourcy at 513-979-0283. (Pictured: Class of 1966 celebrated their 50th reunion in 2016.)
Five Seniors Named National Merit Finalists
Five Cincinnati Country Day School seniors have been named finalists in the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program. Nora Brant (Amberley), Skandda Chandrasekar (Blue Ash), Abhimanyu Jetty (Mason), Michelle Riemann (Montgomery), and Lila Weizer (Hyde Park) have joined more than 353,000 other distinguished young people who have earned this accomplishment throughout the program's history.

"To say I am proud of these students is an understatement," said Sarah Beyreis, director of college counseling and external opportunities. "This test is just one measure of their abilities. They are wonderful students who have lit up our classrooms and engaged our faculty with their inquisitive, probing minds."
Last fall, approximately 16,000 semifinalists were named in the 66th annual National Merit Scholarship Program. They then had the opportunity to advance in the competition for some 7,600 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $31 million.

Over 1.5 million juniors from approximately 21,000 high schools entered the 2021 National Merit Scholarship Program by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT), which served as an initial screen of program entrants. The nationwide pool of semifinalists, representing less than one percent of U.S. high school seniors, included the highest-scoring entrants in each state.

"At Country Day, we do everything we can to provide a learning community where students are provided with opportunities to perform at their highest potential and pursue their passions," continued Beyreis. "We want our students to feel prepared for college and life, and I cannot wait to see what life has in store for these five students. I have no doubt they will each continue on to do great things."
Upper School Theater Production - New Episode
A ton of slapstick and wild comic confusion happens when two sets of twins, separated at birth, wind up in the same town on the same day. Friends mistake friends, wives mistake husbands, merchants mistake customers, and the seaside city of Ephesus will never be the same again. 

Broken down into episodes, Cincinnati Country Day Upper School Theater brings Shakespeare’s shortest, funniest and sitcomiest comedy to the small screen with an homage to those sitcoms we have loved over the years.
Students Tap into Their Potential to Fulfill Medical Careers
Five Cincinnati Country Day School juniors were recently selected to participate in the yearlong citywide Tap MD and TAP HC programs. Krithika Dama (Mason), Kourtni Hamilton (Norwood), Marissa Handler (Loveland), Kirstin Hayes (West Chester), and Christopher Langenbahn (Mason) will soon begin participating in monthly learning experiences in the world of medicine and health care.
Offered through The Health Collaborative's Workforce Innovation Department, these programs are highly competitive and aimed at sparking interest in medical careers. Tap MD typically has more activities that are tailored for students more interested in being physicians, while Tap HC offers opportunities to explore a variety of careers in healthcare, from occupational therapy to public health to healthcare administration.

"Our students have always loved participating in the TAP programs – observing surgery, visiting emergency rooms and talking with specialists," said Sarah Beyreis, director of college counseling and external opportunities. "This is the largest group we've ever had admitted to the programs. It's quite competitive to be admitted – students have to be strong in the classroom and out, committed to the kind of care for others that makes for great medical practitioners."
Faculty Feature
Ulysses (Ully) Marin, the Middle School arts instructor, is in his 26th year of teaching at Cincinnati Country Day School.
Originally from the Bronx, New York, his teaching career began overseas. “After graduating from State University of New York at Oswego, I took a job teaching elementary school at The American School of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil,” said Marin. “I was fortunate to spend four years there and then moved to England, where I began working at the American Community School.” It was there Ully met his wife Barbra and together, they moved back to the United States and began working at CCDS. “We fell in love with Country Day, the community, and the city,” said Marin. “The community here is so benevolent and willing to give however they can, whether it’s time or resources. They value their children’s education and understand the role the school plays in their life.” 
“Having class in-person is so beneficial for our students and allows them to utilize their creativity and express themselves,” said Marin. “Art is a great way to motivate students and keep them on track. It is also beneficial to incorporate what they are learning in the classroom.” In addition, Ully and the students work on creating props and sets for the eighth-grade musical each year. “I’m thankful that Country Day gives me the freedom to pivot my lesson plans and projects to prepare students for success at the next level.”

Ully’s biggest inspiration at school is still the students. “Every year I am humbled by the talent in my classroom. I see students who have equal or more talent than myself, it’s my job to help them get better and harness their ambitions.”

When able to go on a field trip post Covid-19, Ully is excited to take students to the museums and the Art Academy of Cincinnati. “Art is a frame of mind and I want students to be able to look at things differently and find inspiration and hidden talents they may not know they even possessed.” 
Outside of school, Ully spends most of his time with his wife and grandchildren. He is an adamant exerciser and wakes up every morning at 4:30 a.m. to workout. He also leads his advisory class in calisthenics each morning, a CCDS tradition. When asked what something most people would not know about you, Ully responded, “most people don’t know that I play the Irish flute and love wearing kilts when the weather cooperates.” Country Day is fortunate to have such an inspiring faculty member like Ully and we thank him for his service and passion for our students! 
Pictures of the Month
Senior Sam Pettengill '21 ended a stellar season, breaking the school-record in three events. In his third consecutive trip to the state finals, he finished third in the 50 free.
The facilities team was hard at work keeping campus open during a record snowfall week in Cincinnati.
Upper school students used the MakerSpace classroom to design and print 3D chips for lower school students to use at check-in after their health screening.
Students took advantage of the snow and raced down Mount Country Day on their sleds.
Early childhood students showed off their new Nighthawks shirts!