Press Releases, 2000-2001

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Recent Alumni Survey Shows Positive Results  
An anonymous online survey was given in the fall of 2001 to alumni from the Class of 2000.  These current college sophomores were asked to respond to seven questions on their preparation for college generally and in specific academic subjects while they attended Cary Academy, the overall degree of difficulty in college, and differences in their grades from high school to college.  
Dr. Samuel Barnett, college advising director, said he was very pleased with the responses.  Of the slightly fewer than 40 students asked to participate, 17 responded—an overwhelming 60 percent.  Barnett used current technology by soliciting responses online rather than by regular mail, as other schools often do, in order to reach more alumni. Barnett described the survey as part of an “ongoing attempt at quality control” at Cary Academy.  He said he believes the school’s college preparatory curriculum can only be strengthened by this feedback.  
Although the identities of the alumni are not known, all 17 of the respondents said they are still enrolled at the same college they attended for their freshman year.  
Of those respondents, only four said they find college significantly more difficult than high school.  Barnett added, “What I find interesting is that 13 of the 17 respondents said their grades were about the same or better [in college] than they were here.”  This shows that Cary Academy has been effective in its goals of adequately preparing its students for the challenges that lie ahead of them after graduation.  
Survey questions also addressed preparation in the areas of language, history, math and science.  A vast number of alumni, as many as 15 of the total 17, responded that they either agreed or agreed very much that they were prepared by Cary Academy in each of these areas.  
“So we conclude from that that they felt themselves well-prepared for college and are doing well,” Barnett said.  He feels this is a positive reflection on the different academic areas at Cary Academy, and the school’s continued emphasis on helping students be successful in achieving their post-secondary academic goals.  
Barnett said similar online surveys will go out to every graduating class in the fall of their sophomore years of college from now on.  It is at this point that Barnett feels they should be somewhat adjusted to the demands of college life.  Cary Academy has a total of 97 alumni from its two graduating classes, and another 74 are slated to graduate this spring.  Barnett believes that the participation in this survey is “evidence that we’ve made a good beginning” and expects that pattern of success to continue as the school grows and solidifies its reputation as an excellent preparatory school.  

CA Students Explore Argentina's Cities and Countryside     
The skyscrapers became visible through the clouds as the airplane slowly declined in elevation. The students eagerly leaned across the seats to peer through the windows at their destination: Buenos Aires. During Cary Academy’s spring break, March 5-16, Spanish teacher Vic Quesada-Herrara led 11 students on an excursion through Argentina. This trip allowed students to experience the culture firsthand and erase the stereotypes of the third-world South America.            Their first destination was the capital of Argentina, Buenos Aires. This portion of the trip gave the students a perspective of city life in South America.  They enjoyed the historical sites such as the tomb of Evita Peron and magnificent architecture of the ancient buildings and churches. They experienced the nightlife of the city with an exquisite formal dinner followed by tango dancing entertainment. 
The next cultural experience was on the Argentinean ranches on the outskirts of Buenos Aires. “Gauchos,” Argentinean cowboys, entertained the students with a popular dance called “bola” dancing. This dance is performed by strategically swinging a rope with a stone tied on the end.  
From the Buenos Aires area, the group flew south to Punta Tombo to tour the preserved environment of southern Argentina. They drove down gravel road through undisturbed wildlife discovering various families of unfamiliar animals.  “Maras,” appearing as large rabbits with long legs; “Guanacos,” cousins of the llama and camels; and “Rheas,” birds similar to ostriches, were seen gallivanting past the touring car, through the fields. While in the Patagonia, they took a day trip to observe hundreds of Magellenic penguins in their preserved environment and came within five feet of elephant seals on the Peninsula Valdes. 
The last area of the trip was spent north of Buenos Aires, in Iguazu Falls on the border of Brazil. The students walked on waterfalls and took a boat for a magnificent view of the powerful falls. 
The students returned to Cary Academy after this 10-day life-changing adventure with a love for the Spanish language and a respect for the different Latin American cultures.          

Key Club Sponsoring Clothing Drive for Low-Income Women    
Cary Academy’s Key Club is sponsoring a clothing drive to provide interview-appropriate attire for low-income women. The drive is now under way and will continue until March 30. The project – part of a national program called Dress for Success – is geared toward women who have begun to change their lives by undergoing job training or skills development in an attempt to re-enter the workforce. 
Many of the beneficiaries of the program have been referred by domestic violence shelters, employment and development centers and other women’s programs.
“The program gives recipients a boost over one more hurdle standing in the way of success,” said Tami Kaiser-Polge, the advisor of the Key Club and the coordinator of Cary Academy’s service-learning program.
“If a woman doesn’t have a job, she cannot afford professional clothing,” she said. “But without the right clothes, she can’t get the job.”
The club is accepting skirts, suits, blouses, blazers, shoes and other appropriate formal clothing that is new or used but in good condition. It also has requested monetary donations, which will be used to purchase new suits for submission.
Men’s clothing will also be accepted and will be given to an appropriate charity.

Charger Outreach Program Grabs Attention of Younger Students     
The Charger Outreach program kicked off in January with great success as members of the Cary Academy Key Club met with 22 middle school students from Wake County schools. One Saturday each month, the groups will gather at Cary Academy from 9:30 a.m.- 12:45 p.m. The older students will provide assistance and guidance on independent projects such as creating a web page and a student newspaper; and teach seminars including art projects, basketball skills and drills, computer programming, photography, Spanish and video production.

Mural Represents, Celebrates Diversity of All Cultures     
Students at Cary Academy celebrated diversity and civil liberties on Jan. 29 with the creation of a mural that displays images of hate-crime victims against a backdrop of students’ handprints.
The mural, which hangs in the Upper School, culminated a week of activities designed by the Student Civil Liberties Club to raise people’s awareness of diversity in our culture. First, a poster campaign highlighted the contributions of Martin Luther King, Jr. to the civil rights movement. Students also staged a ribbon campaign and distributed more than 300 orange ribbons to faculty, staff, and students. Orange ribbons are a recognized symbol of the acceptance and celebration of diversities of all sorts. 

CA Places 11 Students in All-District Band     
Eleven Cary Academy students were selected to the All-District Band, with two others selected as first and second alternates. Cary Academy placed more students than any other independent school in the district.

Teacher Elected to Executive Position on Language Council       
Cary Academy Upper School Spanish teacher Ken Stewart was elected to the K-12 position on the Executive Council of the American Association of Teachers of Spanish & Portuguese. He will serve a 3-year term starting in January 2001. This is a national group of about 10 faculty and administrators in the field of Spanish education.

Debate Team Continues Success, Gains 2nd Sweepstakes Win     
The Cary Academy Debate Team brought home its second Sweepstakes win of the season with a third place finish at a debate tournament at Douglas Byrd High School during the weekend of Dec. 8-9.

Student Performs with NC Honors Orchestra     
Cary Academy senior David Johnson performed with the NC Honors Orchestra in Winston-Salem at the NC Music Educators In-Service Conference, Nov. 12-14. The Orchestra was made up of the finest High School instrumental musicians from public or private schools throughout the state. David was one of only four percussionists in the state selected to participate and is the second Cary Academy student to have ever played in the NC Honors Orchestra. 

Middle School Holds Mock Presidential Election    
Cary Academy Student Television (CAST) News, in association with the Middle School History Department, is sponsoring the first Cary Academy Middle School Mock Election. On Tuesday, Nov. 7, all Middle School students and teachers will be able to cast votes for president and governor before school or during break in selected history classroom polling stations. The results of this election will be announced during a special CAST News broadcast during Enrichment on Tuesday at 3 p.m. For the past week, CAST News has been running CAST Campaign 2000 features every morning, on subjects ranging from looks at the candidates to how the electoral system works in the United States.

Blood Drive at CA Shows Community Spirit   
Ninety-one Cary Academy members positively impacted the lives of 316 people when they participated in the American Red Cross Blood Drive on campus on Nov. 1, far-surpassing the school’s goal of having 75 donors. Several of the donors were Upper School students – first-time donors! Students also served as volunteers and manned the canteen, registered donors and scheduled appointments throughout the day.

Student Selected to All-State Jazz Band  
Sophomore Jordan Mitchell has been selected to the All-State Jazz Band. He was one of only two tenor saxophone players selected from the state. He will rehearse and perform with the band Nov. 18-19 in Greensboro.

CA Students Outnumber All Others in MS Honors Chorus   
Thirteen Cary Academy students were among the 180 students selected to participate in the NC Middle School Honors Chorus. More than 1,000 students auditioned statewide. The Honors Chorus will be held in conjunction with the NC Music Educators Conference in November. Cary Academy had more Middle School (7th & 8th graders) chosen than any other school in the state. 
6th grade: Flo Lumsden, selected to participate in the NC Elementary Honors Chorus
7th grade: Ian Anson, Lianne Gonsalves, Eleanor Hanna, Anna Niles, Michael Oertel, Kelly Shipkowski
8th grade: Emily Gordon, Matt Ham, Whitney Hill, Kathryn Moreadith, Clarke Munford, Alex ter Wee          

Students Garner Trophies at Debate Tournament  
Cary Academy students brought home three trophies in a Debate Tournament at Southeast Guilford High School on Oct. 21. Honors went to: 
Keith Porcaro, 3^rd in Speaker points and 7^th overall among 40 novices in Lincoln-Douglas Debate (LD).
Byron Wall, 5^th overall in Novice LD
Natalie Chou and Calvin Krishen went 2-2 (two wins, two losses) among 20 highly experienced Varsity debaters.
Will Duke scored a perfect 6 on his only speech in the Senate.

Teacher Represents School at Foreign Language Conference
Upper School Spanish teacher Ken Stewart represented Cary Academy at the 2000 conference of the Foreign Language Association of North Carolina held Oct. 12-14 in Raleigh. 
Mr. Stewart’s session, entitled National Board Certification in Foreign Languages contributed to the overall theme of the conference, What if… Visions of the Future. Many other sessions and workshops were presented by experts in the field of foreign language instruction to help enhance and update methods and skills of foreign language teachers and to emphasize the importance of foreign languages in today’s global society.  
The Foreign Language Association of North Carolina is one of the largest state foreign language associations in the country with a membership of approximately 1,000 educators and administrators. North Carolina is recognized as a national leader of foreign languages with its emphasis on early language learning and long sequence of study.

Collaborative Art Project Develops as Tenth Grade Selects Themes.  
Cary Academy’s tenth grade has begun its project of creating collaborative digital collages with artist Nancy Baker of the Contemporary Art Museum. Each class will create its own collage using Photoshop that focuses on a theme of its choice. Examples of themes include fears about relationships, the roles of males and females in society and the notion that we tend to judge one another based on materialistic, superficial standards. 
Baker has already met with the classes to discuss themes. She will return on Oct. 19, Dec. 14 and two other dates in the winter to complete the project. The finished collages will then be exhibited at external venues.  

Online Journal Selected for Inclusion in the Scout Report. 
Teaching History With Technology, the site of the online journal edited by CA history teacher Mark Newmark, has been selected for inclusion in the Scout Report (September 29, 2000). The Internet Scout Project, at http://scout.cs.wisc.edu/report/sr/2000/scout-000929.html, is a weekly current awareness publication that highlights new and newly discovered Internet resources. It covers only the most useful resources, considering the depth of content, the authority of the source and how well the information is maintained and presented.

Debate Team Brings Home Honors.  
The Cary Academy Debate Team placed fifth at a tournament held in Charlotte over the weekend in the Sweepstakes Award, which is calculated based on rankings in all categories. Thirty-five other schools also competed. Receiving individual honors for Cary Academy were:  

• Natalie Chou (’01), 1st place in Varsity Lincoln-Douglas
• Patrick O’Connor (’03), 1st place in Novice Senate chamber II
• Will Duke (’03), 3rd place in Novice House chamber I
• Sam Hotchkiss (’03), 5th place in Oral Interpretation  

Head of School to Present at Education Conference in China. 
Head of School Don Berger will be presenting at a conference on education in China during the first week of Otober. The Affiliated Middle School of Peking University (AMSPKU) will hold A Forum on Secondary Education of the 21^st Century from Oct. 4-7 in conjunction with the 40^th anniversary of AMSPKU, where leaders of more than 40 prestigious secondary schools from 12 countries and 30 of schools in China will present papers. Mr. Berger’s presentation is titled The Enormous Potential of an Intranet: How Technology Can Move a School Forward in the 21^st Century.  

Two Students Selected as Finalists for Morehead Award. 
Cary Academy seniors John Niles and Alex Sinha have been named Finalists for the Morehead Award. The Morehead Award is a full undergraduate merit scholarship that includes four years of tuition and expenses at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as well as a fully funded summer enrichment program that supplements academic study with off-campus travel and experience.  

Teacher Selected as Social Science Editor for MidLink Magazine.  
History teacher Russ Van Wyk has been selected by MidLink Magazine to serve as its Social Science Editor. He will be working with CA students and teachers from area public schools to develop projects to showcase in MidLink Magazine.      

Students Selected as Semifinalists in National Merit Program. 
Cary Academy seniors Vanessa Hamer, John Niles and Matt Oberhardt were among the 398 students from North Carolina selected as Semifinalists for the National Merit Scholarship Program. Semifinalists were drawn from the 1.2 million students who took the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, which served as an initial screen of program entrants. Less than one percent of the nation’s high school seniors were named Semifinalists.   

Teacher Selected to Participate in First North Carolina Capital Forum. 
Cary Academy Upper School history teacher Bill Velto is one of 20 teachers from North Carolina selected to participate in the First North Carolina Capitol Forum on March 23, 2001. The program, sponsored by the Choices for the 21st Century Education Project, is designed to engage high school social studies students and teachers in discussion of our nation’s future in the changing international environment.

Teacher Publishes Article in History & Computing Journal.  
An article by Upper School history teacher Mark Newmark has been published in the Journal of the Association of History & Computing. The article also contains a listing and descriptions of history conferences.