Julia Grace Dunn
Julia Grace aspires to become a physician scientist, specializing in genetics. In preparation for her eventual MD/PhD program, she will be attending the University of Cincinnati as a medical sciences major in U.C.’s honors program.
Throughout Julia Grace’s time at Walnut Hills High School, she has participated in choirs and private voice lessons and has been a member of the Tri-M Music Honors Society, which involves performance and volunteering in music-related community events. She has volunteered at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital and has been a member of the Youth Council for Suicide Prevention. Furthermore, Julia Grace has tutored fellow students in math and science and was a library assistant. She is proud to have received a Junior Book Award in 11th grade, and is honored to be a National Merit Scholar Finalist and an inductee in the Walnut Hills Chapter of the Cum Laude Society. Julia Grace credits The New School Montessori with her persistence and passion for learning.
Ethan Frank
Ethan graduated from Clark Montessori where he played soccer, was Defensive MVP as well as First Team All Conference as a senior. Ethan played center field on the school’s baseball team from 7th grade through senior year. He is looking forward to pursuing a degree in mechanical engineering at the University of Louisville. Ethan spoke highly of his experience at TNSM and said he wouldn’t be the person he is today without The New School.
Emma Harrison
Upon graduating from The New School Montessori, Emma attended The Seven Hills School where she was a four-year varsity swimmer, a district qualifier, and received all-conference academic honors. During her junior and senior years, Emma worked after school with three- to five-year-olds at the Seven Hills Early Childhood center during their program called After the Bell. Emma plans to attend the College of Wooster in the fall, majoring in early childhood education.
Leah Hartmann
Leah attended Cincinnati’s School for the Creative and Performing Arts (SCPA) and graduated at the top of her class with honors. She received the prestigious Corbett-Mayerson award which is given to only one person from each major. Leah served as the chairperson of her yearbook and had the honor of having her graphic design selected for the school’s T-shirt. Leah credits her love of math to her experience at TNSM, as well as her independent learning and organizational skills.
Francine Kellar
Francine graduated from Sycamore High School and will attend the University of Cincinnati to study nutrition, dietetics and photography.
Francine credits The New School for helping her learn good work habits, respect for academics and so much more. It was at The New School that she was first introduced to photography in an after-school club and also became interested in trying new foods and learning the importance of proper nutrition. In high school, Francine packed her own lunches and her friends were always wanting to try her food.
At Sycamore, Francine continued to pursue her love of photography, receiving several awards for her photos. She included one from a recent trip to the Philippines and one she took of an important friend and TNSM (9-12) teacher, Laura Slanker. Traveling to different countries also opened Francine to the wonders of multi-cultural foods which she will take with her as she pursues a career in nutrition.
Nina Martinez-Diers
Throughout high school, Nina volunteered for the Latino Ministry Center as a babysitter and tutor for the Homework Club. In November 2018, she attended the Student Diversity Leadership Conference with 5 other Seven Hills students, where they learned methods of activism and advocacy to spread awareness of social justice issues; as a part of this group she helped establish and teach a diversity/inclusivity curriculum for Seven Hills students. Nina also played bassoon for the school band and piano on the side throughout middle and high school. She has continued to cook and bake on a regular basis.
Nina was inducted into the Cum Laude Society of academic excellence, received the Seven Hills physics award, and is a National Merit Finalist. She will attend Bryn Mawr College in the fall to major in physics. Nina is not quite sure what she’d like to do for her career but is considering medicine, engineering, and academia. Nina says, “Almost everything interests me so it’s hard to decide what to do!”
Nina’s favorite thing is hanging out with her cousins, and future TNSM students, Joseph (3) and Henry (1). She credits TNSM with helping her develop her work ethic, love of learning, and sense of justice and community, saying, “I wouldn’t be the same person without the education I received at The New School.”
Jacob Meazle
Jacob attended Booker T. Washington High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, in the music conservatory – orchestra division. In addition to the concentration in music, Jacob’s academics were focused on AP, dual credit, and STEM course load in preparation for any college and career possibilities.
He received the following awards at graduation: Music Honors, AP Scholar, Texas Music Scholar, and DISD Scholar. Jacob played 6 seasons in the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra System. He was a top double bassist at the UIL Regional Orchestra level and a multi-year top solo bassist at the Texas state level. The pinnacle of his high school orchestra experience was performing Carnegie Hall in NYC just prior to the pandemic crisis lockdown. For even more music fun, Jacob became an electric bass guitarist for two contest-winning bands that also played gigs in Dallas’ Deep Ellum entertainment district.
The TNSM experience fed Jacob’s love of learning and was foundational in his academic success. The musical door swung open for Jacob at TNSM, and he stepped through it – enabled by the groundbreaking work of Melissa Robinson and the inaugural season of ‘The Schoolhouse Orchestra’. His confidence and kind heart were both nurtured by his teachers, friends, and the community as they all supported, loved and offered themselves as family.
Navia Palmer
Navia graduated cum laude from Walnut Hills, was a member of the Quill and Scroll Society, and was awarded a scholarship for her deep passion for the English language.
Navia will attend The Ohio State University in the fall, majoring in journalism and continuing her studies in English and writing, though she is open to learning and listening for other interesting careers that she can pursue. In her junior and senior years of high school, Navia enjoyed the fun and challenge of working on the yearbook. It sparked her interest in journalism, photography, photo editing, and designing skills. She was honored to leave her legacy in the pages of that important chronicle of high school life and valued the opportunities she had to travel to Chicago one year and to Washington, D.C. the next, to attend two JEA (Journalism Education Association) Conferences where yearbook students from all over the globe came together to learn about journalism from professionals and people in occupations of interest. Going to our nation’s capital brought back a lot of great memories from Navia’s 6th grade TNSM trip back in 2014! Navia also enjoyed her cultural and language-building experience when she traveled with her Spanish class on their trip to Costa Rica in the summer of 2019. She honed her Spanish speaking skills, explored the beautiful city of Quepos, made friends with the locals, and cleaned up and painted a play area for the kids at a local school. Navia shared, ” My time at Walnut Hills was filled with so many learning and enriching activities, but I wouldn’t have been able to go so far without the wonderful community at TNSM! The foundation of excellence that I was provided allowed me to achieve so many great things in high school, and I will forever treasure the fun memories and friendships that I made while there. I hope all is well with the TNSM family!”
Talia Raider-Roth
Talia attended Walnut Hills High School where she was very involved in the theater and choral departments. She was co-president of the International Thespian Society, led the soprano 1’s section in choir for 5 years, and was a member of the Walnut Hills Chamber Choir. Outside of school, Talia was an active member of her temple youth group where she took part in social action planning and connecting with other youth groups in meaningful conversations about Judaism and Israel. Talia has also been a part of the Cincinnati Shakespeare Company’s Groundlings program for the past 7 years where she has looked closely at Shakespeare’s text and has explored the ways in which the classics influence modern theater. As for how TNSM has influenced her, Talia said, “Above all, The New School taught me how to be a creative, involved, and a caring student and friend. I credit TNSM for my love of writing and research as well as for my love for building lasting relationships with my teachers.” Talia is going to attend Denison University this fall and plans to double major in theater and pre-law.
Abby Schwartz
Abby attended Walnut Hills High School where she worked in costume design for their school plays and musicals and earned 3 CAPPIE awards. Abby credits The New School Montessori with helping form who she is today with the lessons learned from her teachers and the formation of her values and lifelong friendships. Abby is even living with two other New School alumni, Francine Kellar and Leah Hartmann. This year, Abby is taking two classes at the University of Cincinnati as a part-time student while she provides full-time childcare as a nanny. Abby will begin as a freshman psychology major at UC in the fall of 2021 with hopes of going into child psychology.
Zoe Sullivan
Zoe is looking forward to attending the University of Cincinnati to study biomedical sciences. She graduated as salutatorian from Clark Montessori and played in the steel drum band and was on varsity soccer and lacrosse teams all 4 years (9th-12th). What an honor it was to have been named student athletic leadership team captain and to have served on the local school decision-making council as a representative for her fellow students .
Zoe enjoys traveling, hiking and camping. She visited Nashville, Tennessee to play steel drums and hiked and camped in Colorado for two weeks. She is excited to be a CPS Ambassador for the University of Cincinnati where she will receive training to support CPS (Cincinnati Public School) 9th-12th graders as they explore their college readiness and navigate their college search process. Zoe will mentor and encourage these students, helping them to eliminate obstacles in their way to pursuing a college education.
David Taffe
David Taffe graduated with honors from Walnut Hills High School. Highlights of his years since TNSM include volunteering at Crossroads Church, playing violin in Walnut’s senior and chamber orchestras, and serving as a student volunteer in Walnut’s music library. David is most passionate about his involvement with youth circus, which began through an after-school club at TNSM. Over the last 10 years, David has become an accomplished juggler, unicyclist, and diabolo artist and has enjoyed choreographing pieces and performing. For the last two years, David has taught circus skills to children and teens in after-school programs and summer camps across the city. He describes participating in the 2019 American Youth Circus Organization Festival in San Diego as having had a tremendous impact on him. He developed lasting friendships and trained with nationally known coaches. He says, “I now feel like I’m part of a larger circus community, and I appreciated representing Cincinnati!” As a circus coach, David has been described as a strong leader who delights in his students and feels that he is to his students, what the amazing TNSM faculty and staff were to him. David will always treasure memories of his time at TNSM. This fall, David will attend Illinois State University, home to Gamma Phi, the country’s oldest collegiate circus.
Alexander Woodman
Alexander and his family send greetings to The New School Montessori community. They moved to Oakland, California a number of years ago and are doing well. Alexander will be finishing classes this summer because of his school’s Covid-19 response. He plans to attend a Junior college in the fall.
Ruth Wuebker
Ruth attended the Benjamin Franklin International School (BFIS) in Barcelona, Spain where she enjoyed playing competitive soccer at the Women’s Soccer School (WSS) for two and a half years, competing in the local catalan league, alongside her Spanish teammates. Ruth also played six years of tennis at a local club, Laieta, with her Dutch coach Thijs. In terms of academics, Ruth participated in the math club from 7th to 11th grade, attending annual international competitions around Europe where hundreds of students competed in both individual and group rounds. At Ruth’s graduation ceremony, she received the Presidential Award and was recognized as a top working and motivated student.
Apart from BFIS in Barcelona, the New School has been the only other school Ruth has attended. Ruth said, “I truly believe that TNSM was responsible for the person I have become. TNSM taught me the fundamentals of respect, independence, and drive to always learn more, and I think this was only possible due to the teachers and tight-knit community.”
With the challenges of the pandemic, Ruth has yet to finalize where she will be attending university next year. She is hoping to study psychology and neuroscience at either University College London, or the University of Glasgow.
Comments 1
How proud I am of these amazing people and honored that I was in their life while they were at TNSM. Their achievements, already, are jaw dropping, and I can only imagine what they will do in their lifetime. Their belief in the importance of community and desire to learn is inspirational, and we should all feel proud of them and breath a little easier, knowing they are our future leaders. Love you guys!! Mary (MOP)