2013 Alumni share future plans

Congratulations to 2013 New School Montessori Alumnae: Shelby Ewing and Maia Kiniyalocts for being honored as CPS valedictorians and to Ben Halsted, Marcus Goodman and Shelby Ewing for being named as National Merit Scholars.

 

Aiden Clancy

Aiden graduated from Clark Montessori High School where he was active in the school’s steel drum band and soccer team (junior varsity and varsity soccer) from 7th through 12th grade. He worked as a Lunken Flight Training Center employee for 3 years and has been involved in flight school for 2 years. Aiden’s interests outside of flying include rock climbing, mountain biking and hiking.

At The New School, Aiden learned to play set drums with teacher Brendan Blumer and hand drums with club leader Bauku Moses. Aiden shares some of the impact The New School has had on him saying, “TNSM taught me to be an active part of whatever community I’m engaged in, and I also learned leadership and confidence in my abilities to make informed decisions, which certainly helps when flying an airplane.”

Aiden plans to finish his Private Pilot License (PPL) this month and will attend Western Michigan University College of Aviation this fall, where he will learn to fly more advanced aircraft including commercial airplanes, float planes, and helicopters. His longer term plans are to fly commercial airlines, and he is very interested in Search & Rescue and Disaster Relief aviation.

Lucy Dustman

Lucy attributes much of her success to her time at The New School. She especially credits TNSM for helping her develop her levels of consciousness, compassion, and empathy for others. Lucy attended Qingdao Amerasia International School in the city of Qingdao in Shandong, China and completed her Middle Years Program by scoring in the top 3% of all students internationally on her MYP exams.
While living in China with her family, Lucy traveled to Rome, Italy to participate as a delegate in the Montessori Model United Nations Conference that she and her sister, Amelia, both attended.  Lucy also began several important projects, including 1) raising about $3,000 to support Syrian refugees 2) co-founding another refugee relief effort for an organization in Switzerland, and 3) co-opening and operating The Mix, a coffee house operated within QAIS for staff and students.
As for Lucy’s time on Maui, she attended and graduated from Seabury Hall, participating in track and field (throwing shot put and discus) and as the manager of the girls’ varsity volleyball team. Lucy was named the school’s only non-playing “Athlete of the Month.” Additionally, she co-chaired the Student Activity Committee and served as secretary of the Upper School’s Student Council in her senior year. Lucy was awarded the Student Council’s Community Service Award, and at graduation, received the Faculty Merit Award, the school’s highest honor of distinction.
Lucy will be attending Scripps College in Claremont, CA, just outside of Los Angeles and will continue in her pursuit of writing, reading and speaking Chinese at Harvey Mudd. She is heading to college early to participate in the school’s Impact Program where she will be volunteering with a community organization called Artworx, supporting art exploration amongst high schoolers. Lucy is still considering the possibilities for her future with interest in United Nations work, partnerships with NGOs, pursuit of law studies, science and humanitarian interests. Lucy has grown up in Montessori environments where “following the child” was the driving mission and now, Lucy is continuing to follow her own inner child in pursuit of her interests and passions.

Shelby Ewing

Shelby attended Walnut Hills High School and graduated as valedictorian and a National Merit Finalist. At WHHS, she was a four-year varsity athlete, 3X OHSAA Div. I State Championship Qualifier, and was named to the All-City First Team for swimming. Shelby was a part of the Student Athlete Leadership Team and co-founded the Student Athlete Mentor (SAM) Program to demonstrate how lessons learned through athletics can be applied to achieve academic success for elementary students within the CPS school district. Shelby also served as Student Congress Executive Vice President and a cellist in the chamber orchestra. Outside of WHHS, she lifeguarded in the summers, volunteered at Christ Hospital as a Patient Concierge and continued individual piano studies with the same teacher she started with at TNSM in the first grade.
Shelby will be attending the University of Virginia as an Echols Scholar. She plans on studying finance with a possible minor in cognitive science.
Shelby attended The New School for nine years and felt she learned the many benefits of individual determination and the importance of team collaboration as well. Shelby noted, “TNSM instilled a mindset in me that, at the time, I thought was normal, but I have to come to realize that this mindset is a defining feature of TNSM graduates. Every student graduates ready to tackle any obstacles without hesitation and always think outside the box. I am very, very thankful for my time at TNSM. I don’t think I would be nearly as motivated as a person if I hadn’t attended TNSM.”

 

 

Annabel Forman

Annabel graduated Suma Cum Laude from Cincinnati Country Day School and believes her experience at TNSM helped her thrive in school. Her high school teachers consistently praised her ability for creative problem solving and out-of-the-box thinking. However, thanks to TNSM, Annabel struggles to keep her shoes on all day and can often be found lying on the floor in the hallways doing her homework or taking a test on a clipboard “Montessori style” because she swears it helped her grades.

Annabel co-founded her school’s Mock Trial team which placed 5th in the city this year and she won the outstanding attorney award for her team. She also won the theater award for her dedication to the arts both in and out of school. Over the years, Annabel continued to study musical theater with CCM Prep. She spent two summers in Italy studying with Music Academy International and performed in several local professional productions.

This past spring, Annabel went to Chicago and auditioned to be a performer with Disneyland Hong Kong.  She was offered 2 consecutive employment contracts and will be taking a gap year to pursue this amazing opportunity. Her family and friends could not be more proud or excited for her!

 

Marcus Goodman
Marcus Goodman graduated cum laude from Walnut Hills High School and is a National Merit Scholarship finalist.

During his time at Walnut Hills he ran cross-country, played on the ultimate frisbee team, played trumpet in the school band and in an ensemble at CCM and was the Props Master for several theater productions. He was also very actively involved in CISV, a global peace education organization.
Marcus will be attending the University of Chicago in the fall. He is undecided on his major but expects it to be in the sciences or economics.

 

Claire pictured with fellow graduate, Greg Kalin

Claire Harrison

Claire felt that The New School’s experiential learning program helped prepare her for Seven Hills High School’s unique academic courses and various teaching methods saying, “The quantitative learning experience preparation that began as soon as I entered TNSM’s (6-9) program and through the (9-12) experience followed me as I completed Middle School and High School at Seven Hills.” Claire swam on the Women’s Varsity Swim Team for all 4 years of high school, taking two trips to the State meet. She still plans on swimming in college for her university’s club team. Claire studied Latin for three years of high school and took a nine-day trip with then current and former Latin students to Greece and Italy where she discovered her interest in classical studies, specifically art history.

Claire will be attending Loyola University Chicago next year, majoring in international relations with a minor in art history. She hope to study at Loyola’s Rome campus in the future as she pursues her degree.

Maia Kiniyalocts

Maia graduated valedictorian of her class at Clark Montessori High School.  While there, she participated in multiple intersessions across the globe: Andros Island Bahamas, Hilo Hawaii, Chicago Illinois, and Birmingham Alabama.  Her most recent intersession took her to Sofia, Bulgaria where she stayed with a host family and traveled throughout Sofia, Plovdiv, and Stara Zagora playing the piano in a jazz ensemble with fellow classmates and Bulgarian students from the National Academy of Music.  In addition to Maia’s travels she was a four-year Varsity athlete and 2 year team captain in Cross Country, taking the women’s team to their first ever Regional appearance two years in a row and breaking the school’s 5K record.  She played Ultimate Frisbee for 6 years while at Clark, participating in the USA Ultimate 2018 Ohio Girl’s State Championships.  She also participated in the student run Theater Program, EPIC, across eight productions, acting as the producer her junior year and the director her senior year.

Maia thought often of her 6th grade senior project, and after completing her 48-page senior thesis on “How Social Media affects Globalism, Nationalism and the Political Process”, she commented, “This year-long research project reminded me of the senior project on Computer Animation I completed at The New School.  I felt prepared with this and every other writing project at Clark because of the foundation that was built at TNSM”

Maia is excited to be moving to the nation’s capital, studying at George Washington University’s Elliott School of International Affairs.  She attributes her travels with both The New School Montessori and Clark Montessori to fostering her desire to study abroad. Both schools have taught her how to be a global citizen and she is eager to continue to learn nationally and globally.

 

Maggie Leahy

Maggie attended Walnut Hills High School and was inducted into the Cum Laude Society for academic excellence.  While at Walnut, she played both the cello and piano in the Chamber Orchestra, competed in a number of piano competitions, and was a featured pianist with the WHHS Chamber Orchestra’s performance of Saint-Saens’ “Carnival of the Animals” as well as performing Rachmaninoff’s “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini.” She earned two merit piano scholarships to UC’s CCM preparatory and was also a member of the CCM prep senior ballet company as a soloist and a two time ballet merit scholarship winner.

At Walnut, Maggie was also co-president of the Community Action Team, the oldest and one of the largest clubs at the school, and ran a dance marathon fundraiser for Caracole in addition to other monthly service activities. She took her love of volunteering to ballet where she taught Levels 1 to 3 ballet classes. During the past two summers, Maggie worked as a lifeguard at Clifton Meadows and also taught children’s swim lessons. Maggie credits TNSM for her optimistic attitude, deeper thinking, and creativity along with a love of the great outdoors which inspired her to not only become a beekeeper but an adventurer in the world.

Maggie will be attending Boston College in the fall. She plans to double major in biology and art history.

Sam Lorry
Sam graduated from Woodbridge High School in Irvine, CA where he was the captain of his school’s Mock Trial team and treasurer of his school’s chess club. Sam was involved with the graphic design program, heading finances for a student-run clothing company.  Sam also served as the co-director for his church youth group.
In the fall, Sam will be attending Northeastern University in Boston as an International Affairs major, but his major is likely to change as he is interested in a career in business, specifically in either the travel/hospitality or political fields.
I have fond memories of my time at The New School. The school taught me how to better interact with my peers and teachers, how to think creatively, to be mindful of my community (from our many excursions and trips), and to value a holistic approach to life. I can assure anyone currently at TNSM that the memories they are making now will remain with them for a long time— the experiences provided are once in a lifetime. Attached, I’ve included a photo of me, my brother (both TNSM alumni) and my mom at Finca Luna Nueva in Costa Rica— I went here with TNSM’s Costa Rica trip in 2012, and here we are 6 years later, because my time there was so amazing! Proof that the memories never go away.
Marley Sullivan
Marley attended Clark Montessori High School and swam all four years for the varsity swim team. She received academic awards each year for maintaining a 3.5 GPA or higher. During Marley’s senior year she helped lead the student athletic leadership team which encouraged students to get involved in athletics of all sorts at Clark Montessori. Marley was also a CPS college ambassador through U.C. and was trained in the college admissions process so that she could bring information back to her peers at Clark to assist them in the admissions process.
Marley believes The New School Montessori has given her a strong foundation socially, academically and in her presentation skills saying, “I have been able to quickly make friends that have stayed by my side through high school and beyond, and because of TNSM’s senior project, I have never worried or stressed about going up in front of a crowd.”  Marley will be attending the University of Cincinnati College of Arts and Sciences and plans to become a pediatric nurse.

Michael Watts

Michael graduated with honors from Wyoming High School. He was active in GSA, serving as vice president for two years then president his senior year. He plans to start his undergraduate studies at the University of Saskatchewan this fall, majoring in environment and society. He remains grateful to The New School for shaping his young life.

 

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