Blackbird’s Eye and Talon are Dedicated and Youngclaus Winners are Announced

On Wednesday, May 22nd, O’Neal held its Blackbird’s Eye and Yearbook Dedication ceremonies as well as announced Bill Youngclaus Award Winners.
 
The Blackbird’s Eye is O’Neal’s annual literary magazine where writing and art submittals from all grades are selected by its editorial staff. This year’s Blackbird’s Eye was dedicated to Upper School French Teacher Dr. Vicky Grimm. The dedication written by editorial staff member Lily Gutschmit, reads as follows:
 
“This year’s Blackbird’s Eye is dedicated to a teacher who has enriched not only her students, but also the entire O’Neal community. She received her M.A. at Troy State University, her M.S. at Framingham University, and her D.B.A. and Ed.D. at American Meridian University. She has lived in five different countries, traveled extensively, worked in the Honduran Embassy, and is fluent in French, Spanish, and English. Since coming to O’Neal in 2012, she has brought wonderful energy to every class she has taught in every division, often sharing memories of her travels and experiences with her students. She has a true connection to everyone she meets. She has been teaching for more than ten years and is the embodiment of what every teacher strives to be. Today we honor her work by dedicating this year’s Blackbird’s Eye to Dr. Vicky Grimm."
 
Published in the Blackbird’s Eye are writing projects of the winners of the Bill Youngclaus Literary Award, presented each year to a student in the Lower, Middle and Upper School. The award was founded to honor Mr. Youngclaus, who was an avid writer himself. For Lower School, the award recipient was fourth grade student Olivia Andres for her short story “Mannequin”. In the Middle School, eighth grade student Max Epstein is the winner with his short story “Through the Window.” In the Upper School, eleventh grade student Trygve O’Grady won with his poem “I am from…”
 
O’Neal’s yearbook, The Talon, was dedicated to Upper School Biology Teacher Cindi Carr. Ms. Carr retires this year after 35 years of teaching at O’Neal. On the dedication page of the yearbook, Head of School John Elmore states, “For more than three decades, Cindi Carr has built a legacy at The O’Neal School by positively influencing the lives of her students. Ms. Carr taught science, but the lessons learned from her example are equally important. She taught us all about dedication, excellence, service and kindness and Ms. Carr will always be an important part of the O’Neal community.”

The celebration ended with the announcement of the year-long, school-wide Red Team /Blue Team points challenge with the Blue Team as the winner.


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