This annual celebration at the Lower School will begin at 11:30 a.m. on February 12. Students will enjoy lunch with their grandparents or special friends under the banyan trees, followed by musical performances. The day will conclude with an international exhibition presented by each grade under the banyans. For more information, click on the above link.

During the summer of 2009, Lower School teachers Cheryl Lenz and Renee Pitts attended The Ron Clark Academy Conference in Atlanta, Georgia, and garnered the “winning ticket” which will bring Mr. Ron Clark to The Out-of-Door Academy on Tuesday, March 2. This special presentation on “Raising Test Scores & Student Achievement” begins at 7:00 p.m. in the Petrik Thunderdome and will conclude with a reception and book signing from 8:00-8:30 p.m.

You are cordially invited to Opening Day at the new Out-of-Door Baseball Field at 3:45 p.m. on Friday, February 26. Former trustee Kathie Hayes and her son Chris ’06 will throw out the first pitch for the 2010 Varsity Baseball season. Following the ceremony, cheer on the Thunder as they take on Bayshore High School at 4:00 p.m.

On Wednesday, February 10, The American Place Theatre’s Literature to Life program is giving a one-person presentation of the book Three Cups of Tea at the Upper School assembly. Three Cups of Tea’s tagline summarizes the book’s focus: “One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace… One School at a Time.” Greg Mortenson, author of this #1 New York Times bestseller, is the co-founder of nonprofit Central Asia Institute and founder of Pennies for Peace.

The first Junior College Counseling Seminar will take place on Wednesday, February 10 at 6:00 p.m. in the Petrik Commons on the Uihlein Campus. This seminar is the first of four scheduled for the spring semester and is mandatory for all students. Dinner will be served and the seminar will end between 7:15 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Freeman.

Congratulations to Brittany Wenger '13 on winning the Sarasota Regional Science, Engineering and Technology Fair and thereby becoming one of two area finalists in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. Her computer science category entry is titled "Does Practice Make Perfect? The Role of Training Neural Networks" and seeks to identify the optimal way to train neurons for real-life neural networks.