School Bulletin (

High School News
Mariemont High School Auditorium Grand Opening The Grand Opening of the renovated Mariemont High School auditorium is Sunday, November 15. Tea and tours will occur at 2 p.m. and a program featuring the Hanover College Concert Choir will begin at 3 p.m. "The program is our way to thank the community for all of their support," Fine Arts President Polly Duplace said. The efforts and commitment of the Mariemont School Foundation, the Mariemont Fine Arts Association and the Mariemont Board of Education are responsible for the renovation. When: 7:30 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20; 7:30 p.m., Saturday, Nov. 21 and 2 p.m., Sunday, Nov. 22. Cost: Tickets are $6 for adults and $4 for students, senior citizens and children. Call: Mariemont High School at 271-8310 to purchase tickets. AFS - Window to the World The American Field Service (AFS) offers high school students and recent graduates the opportunity to gain the knowledge and skills required for our increasingly global society. AFS students live and learn in one of 46 countries for a year, a semester, or a summer term. They participate in the life of the country - join a family, learn the language, study in school or community service projects, and enjoy friendships including those with AFS students from other countries. Through their experiences, they gain independence and self-confidence; they develop a greater understanding of other cultures, and of their own, that will change their view of the world forever. AFS is an international, nongovernmental, nonprofit organization which has enabled more than 18,000 students and host families to form a global, international community. AFS was recently recognized by the United Nations for its services to youth world wide. AFS has been a tradition at Mariemont High School since it hosted its first student in 1958. Students live in the district for a full year. MHS students have also participated in AFS. - Frances Stafford, member, AFS Commended Students Mariemont High School seniors Adam Schuster and Tyler Monzel have been named Commended Students in the 1999 National Merit Scholarship Program. Commended students placed among the top five percent of more than one million students who entered the 1999 Merit Program by taking the 1997 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. Students Recognized by Miami University Three Mariemont High School juniors have been selected to attend the Miami University Scholastic Writers Awards. Juniors Ted Borden, Lara Anthony and Jon Monger will attend the awards in December with English teacher Cheryl Toepfer. The students were selected by the high school English department. The students will have the opportunity to share their ideas and prose with other students. They will also have their writing evaluated by a Miami University professor and a high school English teacher other than their own.	Foundation Gala A Tremendous Success The Mariemont School Foundation raised over $30,000 at its October 18 gala. The Foundation auctioned an original John Ruthven painting and sold prints as well. The print was the first in a series of four Mr. Ruthven will paint for the Foundation. About 200 people were in attendance. The money raised will be go towards the renovated high school auditorium. MHS Presents "Up the Down Staircase" Don’t miss the first Mariemont High School performance in the renovated auditorium. This year’s fall play, "Up the Down Staircase," is a comedy with serious undertones. Teacher Carrie Dattilo is the play’s director. Friends from Turkey When Asli Sahin and Sezin Tumer met in New York this summer they had no idea they would be attending the same high school. Asli knew she would live in Mariemont; Sezin knew she would live in a place called Terrace Park. "We met at the airport," Asli said. "We didn’t know Mariemont and Terrace Park were so close," Sezin added. Asli and Sezin are the AFS exchange students at Mariemont High School this year. They have a lot in common: both are from Turkey, both are experiencing having younger siblings for the first time, both are bright, friendly and excited about a year in America. "I’m really happy to have Sezin here," Asli said. "At first, we needed to talk Turkish and laugh sincerely." Asli is spending her year with the Fryes in Mariemont and Sezin with the Olsons in Terrace Park. Both families have younger children, a change the girls say they enjoy since both have older siblings at home. Both have found differences between their old lives and new. Sezin finds transportation lacking and doesn’t like depending on other people to get around. Asli said she was surprised how far in advance social plans are made here. At her high school in Turkey, Sezin was required to wear a uniform and Asli said she had more breaks and longer lunches at her school. Why did the two teenagers chose to spend a year far away from home? "I thought it would be helpful for me before college to get to know myself and depend on myself," Sezin said. "I always wanted to be an AFS student," Asli said. "There were many examples around me - relatives and friends. I wanted to learn about a new culture." When asked what they want from their year at MHS both girls responded with big smiles, "to be happy!" MHS Leadership Council Recognized Mariemont High School is one of seven schools that was recognized at the Hamilton County Youth Conference in October. The MHS Leadership Council was honored for its outstanding project contributions to its schools and the Cincinnati community at large. The conference, held at the University of Cincinnati, is for students, grades 9-12, with leadership potential. Students from public, private and parochial schools attend. The event provides a forum in a collaborative environment in which students become part of the problem-solving process and the process provides opportunities for leadership development.

District News
New Teacher at Terrace Park Terrace Park Elementary welcomes Rachel Clark to its staff. Mrs. Clark will teach fifth and sixth grade. She is a graduate of Oberlin College and previously taught for Loveland Schools. Welcome! Mariemont Junior High Teacher Selected for Who’s Who Mariemont Junior High School teacher and coach Jerry Summerville will be included in the fifth edition of Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers, 1998. Coach Summerville was nominated by a former student. 130,000 teachers were selected for the fifth edition. Junior High Teacher Shares Knowledge Mariemont Junior High School teacher Larry Goetz taught two classes for the Greater Cincinnati Center for Economics Education of the University of Cincinnati in October. Mr. Goetz taught the classes Wandering the Web and the Ohio Proficiency Test and the Internet. The Interview Process Eighth graders in Individual Career Planning experienced the interview process in class. Each student was interviewed for a fictitious summer job and videotaped so they could study and improve their own interviews. Though they knew the interviews weren’t "real" some of the eighth graders found them nerve-wracking. "I was nervous like it was a real interview," Candace Novak said. "You knew it wasn’t real but you were nervous anyway." "It made you think," Kathy Conrad said. "It kept you on your toes. You had to keep your mind acute." Both girls said they think the experience will help them in a potential interview situation. Eighth graders Isaac Lilijequist and Danny Maggard said they have both experienced interviews before. While Isaac said he was still nervous, Danny said it was easier than the real thing. All of the students interviewed agreed that seeing themselves on tape was "strange." Betty Banfield is the junior high school career teacher.	Visitor Shares Wonder of String Instruments At the age of four Daryl Silberman attended her first symphony and was hooked on the violin. Today the strings clinician and teacher travels around the country sharing her love of music with school children. Ms. Silberman delighted and entertained the students of Mariemont Junior High School and Fairfax Elementary, many of whom are string players themselves. Combining her love of music and her teaching and acting talents, Ms. Silberman had the children laughing, listening and bopping to her music. She played classical music for them on her violin, "Stanley" and electric music on her violin, "Walter." She told the students that strings are found in all types of music - rock, jazz, disco, blues, in movies, cartoons and television shows. "They see that I play both classical and rock and enjoy both," she said. "Music is so important. It works with both right and left-brained children. You’re reach so many different children and their different abilities with music." Ms. Silberman brought two priceless instruments from the Baroque Violin Shop in Finneytown - the 400-year-old amati and the 300-year-old stradivarius. She also stressed the importance of the "p’’ word - practice. She said as a student she almost let things such as the phone, TV, friends, homework and boys distract her from practicing. "You don’t get better magically," she said. "You know sometimes I’ve wanted to quit but one of the good things is that I stuck with it. It’s like I speak two languages - English and music." She advised that string students practice 20-30 minutes a day. "It’s a bummer but it’s a lot more important than watching TV," she said. Ms. Silberman is a clinician for Knilling String Instruments. Her visit to Mariemont Schools was sponsored by the Baroque Violin Shop. Ms. Silberman, a resident of Los Angeles, received her bachelor’s degree in music from the University of Colorado. She also studied at the San Franciso Conservatory and the University of Southern California. She has been teaching clinics for 3 1/2 years and has visited about 30 states.

Talent
Wanted: Local Talent Attention actors, dancers, singers, set designers, musicians and lovers of the stage: an open audition will be held 1-3 p.m., Saturday, November 14 in room C-20 at Mariemont High School. Students, parents, teachers, staff,district residents, Mariemont alums are being sought out to participate in the annual Mariemont Fine Arts Association show. Whether on the stage or behind the scenes, your talents will benefit the MHS Fine Arts programs. Come join the fun!

Parent Pride
HOPE AND PERSEVERANCE: THE SURVIVAL TEAM "Never despair, but if you do, WORK ON IN DESPAIR." (Edmund Burke) Everything seemed to be going just fine. You surprised yourself with the ease and pleasures of parenting. You watched as other parents, close friends and neighbors, struggled with the challenges of parenthood that were foreign to you. You were sought out for advice. You might have even caught yourself smugly believing you had a gift for raising the perfect child. Then it happened. Your 'award winning' child - once the compliant, thoughtful, never-needing-to-be-disciplined, loving bundle of parental pride - blindly, and with no forewarning, disappeared into his/her own mysterious Bermuda Triangle. Many parents have experienced a time when they were left helplessly behind, as one or more of their children entered a period in their lives when parental influences had little if any impact. For reasons that the parent was unable to grasp, the child was suddenly enveloped by a cloud of uncertainty, confusion, and maybe even rebellion. The parent did not simply feel frustrated. The parent felt betrayed. They were good parents, caring parents, attentive parents, loving parents. But it wasn't enough. In fact, the harder they tried the more difficult their child became. Sound familiar? This is more common than we might want to believe. There is a period for many children when they are seemingly lost within themselves. They appear to lack direction or purpose. They find themselves off course. They lack energy and motivation. They become mysteriously 'missing-in-action.' They limp along. Sometimes they stagger and fall. Their ears are deaf to any advice. Their hearts are resistant to any show of affection. These children often find it hard to maintain interest in those activities that once excited them. Frequently, they separate themselves from meaningful relationships. They become reclusive or select new and undesirable friendships. For some, this journey into the unknown lasts but weeks, maybe months. For others, it may last much longer. Not surprisingly, these same children really don't like the persons they have become. It's almost as if they are observing their own behavior, not being happy with it, yet unable to do anything about it. They see how helpless and agonizing this period is for their parents and other loved ones. They may want to be the person who was once the essence of virtue and limitless potential, during a time that seems so far away. These children are bewildered by their own feelings and behavior. Some parents simply refer to this time in their child's life as a stage. Someday they will refer to it as the stage. This euphemistic diagnosis allows for some sense of relief, almost self-indulgent humor. It also offers hope. Sometimes, all parents have left at their disposal is hope. The author Stephen King refers to hope as "a good thing, maybe the best thing, and no good thing ever dies." Hope gives you time. With hope there are all sorts of possibilities. There is optimism. Without hope you are at the mercy of despair. Hope is a "good thing," sometimes the only thing. When your child is lost, distant from those who truly care, hope is what gives you cause to hang on. Add perseverance to hope and you have the drive to carry on. Hope without perseverance can make for passive parenting. Perseverance without hope is like having motivation without a motive. Together, perseverance and hope can become the survival team for many parents. Children who find themselves in a rudderless existence need parents who are filled with hope and perseverance. They need parents whose will is strong enough to carry both of them.....for awhile. They need parents who see the lighthouse in the distance, who continue to remind them that they will find their way home again. These children need parents who will never give up on them, despite the many reasons why it would be easy to do so. Fortunately, most lost children do find their way home. Their parents' hope and perseverance gradually become their own. They begin to find meaning, purpose and direction again. In fact, unlike their parents, many children do not remember (Or do they choose to forget?) how troubling a time this was. Maybe, like hope, that's a good thing. For those parents presently struggling with a lost child, this hope-filled reflection by Richard Henry Horne is offered to reassure you: "Tis always morning somewhere in the world." And if you grow weary and run out of hope, "WORK ON IN DESPAIR." You are the lighthouse for your child. You are the beacon for hope and perseverance. ` Jerry Sasson is a Mariemont City School District administrator and a licensed psychologist.