The O’Neal Quarterly FALL 2014

• LowerSchoolstudentsweretreatedtotheannualKeyClubHalloweenCarnivalfollowedbyaTrunkorTreatbytheCommunityPrefectCommitteeonHalloweenWeek.

• TheAdmissionsOfficehosteditsannualLowerSchoolOpenHouse.

• Best-sellingauthor,JayAsher,makeshisonlyappearanceinNorthCarolinaatTheO’NealSchoolandpresentedhisbook:Thirteen Reasons Why to8th-12thgradestudents.

• HolocaustSurvivor,RalphJa-cobson,spoketo8th-12thgradestudentsaboutgrowingupinNaziGermanyasaJew.

• CarolinaRailHawksbeginweeklyEliteTechniqueclinicsforO’NealMiddleandUpperSchoolsoccerplayers.

• EighthgradestudentsbegintheirmonthlyscheduleofpreparingmealsforMANNA!–feedingthehungryinMooreCounty.

• O’NealJuniorJohnAndersonpres-entshisyearabroadinSouthAfricaasarecipientofTheKennedy-LugarYouthExchangeandStudy(YES)AbroadScholarshiptoUpperSchoolstudents.

• MiddleandUpperSchoolstudentslearnoftheimportanceofO’Neal’shonorcode,inductnewmemberstotheHonorCouncilandareaskedtosigntheHonorCode.

• GlobalSafarivisitsLowerandMiddleSchoolstudentsandintro-ducesthemtoanimalsfromeachofthesevencontinents.

• RetiredLt.Col.DonaldVanRoosenpresentsto8th-12thgradestudentshisexperienceoflandinginNor-mandyonD-Day.

• AuthorAlanGratztalksto5thgradeandMiddleSchoolstudentsabouthislatestbook,The League of Seven.

• Classtripsforgrades6through9tookstudentstoPineKnollShores,CampHighRocksinCedarMoun-tain,WashingtonD.C.,andCampCarawayinAsheboro.

• Parentswereinvitedtoavisit-ingnighttolearnabouttheirchild(ren)’sdailyschedulesandtomeetteachers.

• AdedicationceremonywasheldforJanSimmonsandherfortyyearsofservicetotheSchool.TheceremonywasfollowedbytheParents’As-sociationAnnualPicnic.

• HeadofSchoolAchievementAwardswerepresentedtoFreshmenJennaElliottandSophiaRenner,SophomoreKatePeters,JuniorLaurenDaileyandSeniorEmmaMoore.

• Toendthefirstweekofschool,allstudentsattendedaconvoca-tionwhereHeadofSchool,JohnElmore,addressedthestudents.ItwasfollowedbyanALSIceBucketChallenge.

• Areceptionwasheldfortheinter-nationalstudents,theirfamiliesandhostfamilies,welcomingthemtotheSchool.O’Nealhasnineinterna-tionalstudentsfromthreecountriesattendingO’Nealthisyear.

BuiltnexttotheLowerSchoolaspartof its evergrowingoutdoor learning

center,thegreenhouseisoneofthethreecomponentsincludedinO’Neal’sscienceinitiative, launched at the School’s an-nual auction in February. The objectiveforthegreenhouseistoaddmoreenergyandexcitement to theLowerSchool sci-ence class, renderingmanyopportunitiesforlearning.Fromarainforeststudyongrowing plants in different light to theplantlifecyclestartingfromseedtofruit/vegetableandsharingwhatisharvestedtocultivating worms and researching theircontribution to the soil, the learning op-portunities are endless. The constructionofthegreenhousewasunderthedirection

of theAssistantHeadofSchool,Dr. Jai-wantMulik.Many parent volunteers as-sistedwiththeproject.

The initiative also included the upgradeof a 7th grade science lab in theMiddleSchool and a physics lab in the UpperSchool.Overthesummer,newdesksandchairsdesignedtoaccommodateeachsub-ject replaced the old standard classroomdesks.New lab equipmentwas alsopur-chasedforthephysicslab.

Manythankstoallwhocontributedtolastyear’sscienceinitiative.Yoursupportwillimpacteverystudent ineverydivisionatO’Neal.

Science Initiative is Complete

OuropeningmonthsatO’Nealhavebeenexciting. The energy of the students,

personalengagementofthefacultyandtheinvolvement of the families have been ex-tremely positive. O’Neal began the yearwith 447 students, including 109 new stu-dents and nine new faculty members, andeveryoneisfullyengagedwiththeactivitiesin the classrooms and beyond. In particu-lar,ourinternationalprogramsareflourish-ingandincludenewprogramming,liketheNAIS “Challenge 20/20” program, nineinternational students from three countries,andschoolpartnershipsaroundtheglobe.

O’Nealisalsoproudtosaythatourcampusisnowcomplete, including the recent con-structionofagreenhouseforscienceclasses,and thatwehave retiredourbankdebt as-sociatedwiththeconstructionofournewestbuildings. This milestone was made pos-siblebythegeneroussupportofdonorsandwill allow O’Neal to focus its fundraisingoninitiativesthatwillcontinuetogrowanddiversify our academic and extracurricularprograms.

We thank our students, parents, teachersandcommunity supporters forhelpingTheO’NealSchoolreachthispointinitshisto-ry,andwelookforwardwithconfidencetoservingfamiliesintheSandhillsforgenera-tionstocome.

JohnC.ElmoreHeadofSchool

O’Neal seventh grade students learn the parts of a microscope on tables designed with generous workspace for observation and experiments.

O’Neal physics students work on new lab tables with a higher surface in or-der to accurately conduct experiments. Students use the Vernier Motion En-coder System to determine speed and acceleration.

Complete with furnishings and flowers, the greenhouse was showcased at the Lower School Open House in October.

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O’NealhaschangedtotheEasternPlainsIndependentConference(EPIC)for the2014-2015 schoolyear.Theexistingdivision2A independent

schoolconferencecontinues tohavemembers,St.David’sSchool (inRa-leigh) andCaryChristian School. In addition toO’Neal,GraceChristianSchoolofRaleighaswellasGraceChristianSchool(Division1A)ofSan-fordhavealsojoined.

TheO’Nealgameschedulesconsistofconferencegamesandnon-confer-encegamesprovidingadequateplaytimeforeachsport.Astatechampion-shipwinforO’Nealvarsitygirlsswimmingaswellasa1strunnerupforvarsity boys swimming and varsity boys tennis rankedO’Neal number 3in theNCISAAWellsFargoCupstandings inDivision2Afor2013-2014schoolyear.

Congratulations to Greyson Keel for re-ceiving All-State recognition in varsitygirlstennisaswellasAllConferenceandConferencePlayerof theYearall for thesecondtimewhilealsobeingundefeated.

All Conference recognition is awardedto Sophia Renner (Varsity Girls Tennis),BrianSubin,GatesMoore,SpencerSulli-van(VarsityBoysSoccer),TaylorShelton(VarsityVolleyball),JoshRussellandJohnGrimm(CrossCountry).

Fall Sports Records

Upcoming Events11/11 MilitaryAppreciationDay11/11 FalconforDayStudentVisitationDay11/17-21PAScholasticBookFair11/21 SpecialPersonsDay1/9 Homecoming

VarsityGirls Tennis:10-4 / 2nd in EPIC / Seeded 3rd NCISAABoys Soccer: 7-8 / 4th in EPICVolleyball: 5-12 / 4th in EPIC Boys Cross Country:0-4/3rd in EPIC/15th NCISAAGirls Cross Country: N/A

Junior VarsityBoys Soccer: 2-6Girls Tennis: 2-7Volleyball: 6-8

Middle SchoolBoys Soccer: 3-5-1 / 3rd in SEMSACVolleyball: 9-6 / 3rd in SEMSAC

O’Neal Joins New Athletic Conference

Recognitions

TheO’NealMiddle School dance and glee clubclassesmade their debutwith a performance to

theLowerSchoolstudentsonOctober29th.Havingformerly gone by the name of “chorus”, instructorLisaGessnerputadifferenttwisttotheclassgivingitmoreof aglee club feeling.This is thefirst yearthattheMiddleSchoolhasofferedadanceclass.TheclassistaughtbyKiaKorsunskaya,whohasanex-tensivebackgroundindance.Mrs.Korsunskayaalsoteaches drama in theMiddle School and she is thevarsitycheerleadingcoach.

The Arts

P.O. Box 290Southern Pines, NC 28388

In this issue, enjoy photos of student artwork.

The O’Neal Quarterly

ThankstoUpperSchoolfacultymembersWoodyWilderandHeatherWeeks,whoseapplicationforO’NealtoparticipateintheNationalAssociationofIndepen-dentSchools(NAIS)Challenge20/20Programwasaccepted.

NAISpairsdomesticand/orinternationalschoolstogethertocollaborateonfindingasolutiontooneof20GlobalProblems,asdefinedbyNAIS.O’NealwaspairedwithTheMeridianWorldSchool,acharterschoolinRoundRock,Texas.

Theschoolshavebeenassignedtheproblem,globalinfectiousdiseases.Aspe-cificgroupofstudentsfromeachschoolworkstogetherviaaninteractiveportalsupportedbyNAIS.Theprojectconcentratesoncollaborationusingdifferentmethods,suchassharingperspectives,identifyinginterests,generatingideas,evaluatingoptionsandsharingimplementationstrategies.Itisfurtheredbyresearcheventuallyresultinginaproposedsolutiontotheproblem.Thispartnershipisstudyingtheimportanceofproperhandwashinganditsroleinslowinginfectiousdiseases.Also,theyarearrangingforaguestspeakertopresentoninfectiousdiseasesinthenearfuture.Theendproductoftheirresearchwilllikelybeaneducationalvideo.Reports/projectsareduetoNAISinFebruary.

O’Nealparticipantsare:ChloeHoffman,MargauxWinter,KatePeters,JosephTozzi,WilliamSchirmer,DevonMoore,andErinO’Connell.

Pictured:20/20studentspresenttotheMiddleSchoolstudents.