Upper School News
New ceramics projects inspire artists
The goal of professional development is to inspire teachers to bring new ideas to the classroom. That is exactly what happened when US art teacher Maggie Towne received a Fortnight Grant* allowing her to attend a Colorado workshop with ceramic sculptor Arthur Gonzalez. Ms. Towne says that she was inspired both personally and professionally by the experience. As a result, she has introduced two new projects to her ceramics classes this year. She is also proud to announce that two of the sculptures created by her students have been recognized in the 2012 Scholastic Art Awards.
For the Open Book project, students created a book that included sculptural or relief elements. According to Ms. Towne, some students drew their inspiration from a literary source while others used personal symbols in their work.
The second project was a figurative head sculpture. Students prepared by exploring different sculpting techniques and studying facial structure and anatomy. Once again, students used the outline of the project to create a very diverse set of pieces.
Senior Colson Steier has spent a lot of time in the studio working on his pieces. Colson says that he has learned to respond when his work goes in an unexpected direction. “Sometimes you see something that makes your ideas evolve, and you change direction,” he explains. Senior Kelli Huneke has created two head sculptures so far and has enjoyed the challenge of capturing the human face in clay. “Art is an outlet for me,” she says. “It lets me relax and be calm when I’m stressed out.”
Ms. Towne submitted a number of her students’ pieces to the Scholastic Art competition. Colson Steier’s book sculpture “Walrus Canoe” was recognized with a Silver Key Award, and Brooke Huneke’s head sculpture “A Man’s Values” earned an Honorable Mention. Both pieces will be exhibited at Gheens Academy from February 7 to March 1.
*Fortnight grants are made possible by an anonymous donor. These grants cover program fees and travel expenses for teachers seeking professional development experiences in the US or abroad.
Upper school Governor’s Cup team competes in district tournament
This past week, the Governor's Cup Team took on Eastern, Ballard, and CAL at the district tournament. Most observers figured this was a building year for the Bearcats, but KCD proved to be equal to the competition in one of the most competitive districts in the state.
The team received a great honor at the tournament: the other district teams voted unanimously to award the Hume Sportsmanship Trophy to KCD. In addition, several individuals received awards in their respective events. These students will move on to Regionals at Sacred Heart Academy on February 14 and 18:
- Future Problem Solving team (Julia Bache, Luke Brownlow, Cristen Flewellen, Adrian Turcu): 2nd place
- Simon Jiang: 1st in mathematics written assessment
- Iris Zheng: 4th in mathematics written assessment
- Michael Worthington: 1st in science written assessment
- Jonathan Taylor: 3rd in science written assessment
- Sarah Wagner: 1st in composition
- Taylor Jordan Brantley: 3rd in composition
- Shruti Shakar Ram: 4th in composition
- Sarah Gupta: 3rd in language arts written assessment
- Cali Klink: tie for 3rd in arts & humanities written assessment
- Julie Bache: tie for 3rd in arts & humanities written assessment
Tutoring and test prep presentation
If you weren’t able to attend the last meeting of the Parent Resource Group on Learning Differences, Dr. Weigel’s presentation is attached below. The presentation covers tutoring and test preparation strategies.
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Records fall in fall sports season
During the fall 2011 athletic season, Bearcat teams, players, and coaches continued to set new records for the Bearcat record books. On the varsity level, there were 11 team, 24 player, and 6 coaching records that were tied, broken, or established this past fall.
A detailed list of new school records is attached below. Congratulations to all the teams and participants who have contributed to KCD's impressive athletic legacy!
For those of you who are interested in Bearcat athletic history, The Bearcat Shield provides a comprehensive overview. You can visit via the preceding link or access the page under the Athletics header on our website.
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KCD curriculum aims to boost financial literacy
Last fall, Education Secretary Arne Duncan urged schools to integrate financial literacy education and training programs into their curriculum. Citing the recent mortgage crisis, low savings rates, and lack of investment in markets and startups, Mr. Duncan stated that “To continue to have a population that is relatively illiterate in these matters . . . has real negative consequences to our democracy.”
KCD has already taken several key steps toward integrating financial literacy into our upper school curriculum. The Introduction to Finance and Investing elective has been offered in the Upper School for several years. This year, thanks to an endowment established by an anonymous donor, KCD is offering a new elective course providing an introduction to economics. Both classes are taught by math teacher Bill Crawford, who has a degree in economics and extensive experience working as an independent trader.
Introduction to Economics is an introduction to markets and microeconomics. According to Mr. Crawford, the class prepares students to think objectively about our economy, government policies, and individual businesses.
Introduction to Finance and Investing focuses on the debt and equity markets while exploring short, intermediate, and long-term investment strategies. Mr. Crawford states that “the goal of this class is for students to acquire the framework needed to build savings that will leave them financially secure as they grow older.”
As we reported previously, the Upper School has also established a partnership with Junior Achievement. In this program, financial leaders from the community have held a series of financial literacy workshops with upper school students throughout the fall and winter. Today’s session, for example, covered identity theft and credit reports.
Pat Grismer, Chief Planning and Control Officer for YUM! Brands as well as a KCD parent and JA session leader, believes that these classes are more important than ever given the turbulent state of the world economy. “There’s never been a more important time for students to learn fiscal responsibility,” he said. “I’ve appreciated the opportunity to share practical knowledge with KCD students to broaden their awareness of financial concepts and help them make wise financial decisions in the years ahead.”
Senior Andrea Wambaugh said that she has appreciated learning more about personal finance. “I think it’s really important,” she said, “especially for the seniors, to learn a little about managing money before we go off to college.” According to junior Brock Burton, “These classes . . . have really put into perspective how important it is to have good money management skills as well as well-rounded knowledge about finance. I think I can speak for the entire high school when I say that these classes were valuable and their lessons will definitely help guide our financial decisions later in life.”
US speech team finishes third at Assumption Invitational
The upper school speech team had another successful day at the Assumption Rocket Invitational Speech Tournament on January 21. The team finished third overall out of 25 schools. Individual awards were as follows:
- Cat Gallagher: 6th in poetry
- Frank James: 1st in prose
- Emaan Mahmood: 4th in broadcasting
- Nicole Nemec: 5th in extemporaneous speaking
- Ayesha Singh: 1st in broadcasting, 4th in declamation, and 6th in extemporaneous speaking
Members of the speech team will be attending the prestigious Barkley Forum at Emory January 27‒29, and the full team will compete in the Louisville Regional speech tournament on February 11.
Girls capture All A Tournament title!
Congratulations to the girl’s varsity basketball team, who beat Collegiate 44-40 on Saturday night to win the All A Classic Seventh Region Tournament. Senior Shelbi Hendricks led the team with 24 points and 20 rebounds. Junior Olivia Alford also had a great game, finishing with 11 points and 10 rebounds. The Bearcats dominated the final quarter of the game, outscoring the Amazons 23-8. Shelbi Hendricks, Olivia Alford, and Kennedi Hayes were named to the All Tournament Team.
The boys’ team advanced to the finals of the tournament but lost 51-48 to the Titans in a hard-fought game. Blake Scinta and Robert Scholtz were named to the All Tournament Team.
Both Coach Young and Coach Booker expressed their appreciation for the crowd support and school spirit that was on display during the tournament games. “You were the loudest, most energetic, and organized crowd that I have seen in my decade of coaching at KCD,” Coach Young told Bearcat fans. “Your support made a real difference in the outcome of the game!” Coach Booker told fans that “The spirit, cheers, and noise was a great advantage for us and made it extremely tough on our opponents. You truly inspired our athletes as they competed their hearts out.”
The tournament also marked the debut of the new Bearcat scorers table, which was donated by the families of senior boys' basketball players. Thanks to these families for their their generosity!
KCD parent Carla Klink has been shooting pictures of the girls’ games all season and got great pictures of both teams during the tournament. Thanks to Carla for sharing her pictures with Bearcat Basketball fans!
Juniors hold reunion breakfast for middle school teachers
Last week, junior class officers held a pancake breakfast reunion for juniors and their middle school teachers. The event was a big success and was a great chance for students and their former teachers to catch up. Thanks to class officers Brian Lewis, Parker Head, Emily Scinta, Cat Gallagher, and Sara Muhammad for organizing this event.
Winter Dance benefits Home of the Innocents
Last weekend, the Upper School Student Council invited Walden and St. Francis students to a Winter Dance at KCD. The Student Council wanted to use profits from the dance to benefit a local charity, and KCD contributed nearly $370 to the Home of the Innocents.
The theme of the dance, “Night in the Bluegrass” celebrated our home state. In addition to lots of cowboy boots and UK/UofL jerseys, President Lincoln was also sighted at the dance.
KCD’s student council would like to thank everyone who attended as well as the student governments from those respective schools.
Puzzle project provides challenging fun for trig students
Students in Amy Charasika’s Essentials of Precalculus class are currently studying the unit circle and learning the value of special angles. In addition to regular worksheet assignments, Ms. Charasika recently presented students with a trigonometry puzzle as a fun way to get students to put what they’ve been learning into practice.
To complete the puzzle, students worked together to assemble sixteen puzzle pieces into a square that matches trigonometric angles to their corresponding value. According to Ms. Charasika, the project was a fun and challenging way to engage the students.
