Indian Hill High School
Indian Hill High School Students Organize Fundraiser
This post was written by my intern, Andrea Francisco, a senior at Indian Hill High School in Cincinnati
Becca Daun was inspired by her brother, Michael, to raise money for cognitive research benefiting those with Down syndrome
On Friday, October 24th, come to Indian Hill High School for Touchdown for Downs, a fundraiser that will help fund important cognition research benefiting those who have Down syndrome. A few years ago, an Indian Hill High School student, Becca Daun was inspired by her brother to help fund its research. She created “Touchdown for Downs”, a truly awesome fundraiser that is held during one of Indian Hill’s home football games.
While interviewing my fellow classmate Carissa Contra, a volunteer for Touchdown for Downs, I asked her to tell me what this annual fundraiser is all about. She told me it benefits the Lumind Foundation and The Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati. “We are so excited to spread awareness and raise money for a great cause! From raffles to food and drinks, this event is all about having fun and raising money as a community,” she said
After asking her why this cause is important to her and how she got involved, Carissa responded, “Rebecca Daun and I started it to support her brother, Michael, who has Down syndrome, and just raise awareness around the community.”
If you’re wondering, the Lumind Foundation is a foundation that was established in 2004 to fund cognition research relating to Down syndrome. In essence, their mission is to “accelerate the development of treatments to significantly improve cognition, including memory, learning and speech, so they can participate more successfully in school, lead more active and independent lives, and avoid the early onset of Alzheimer’s disease.” Their vision is “not a cure, but treatments to improve memory, learning, speech, and ultimately independence.”
Similarly, the Down Syndrome Association of Greater Cincinnati is another organization that supports people who are impacted by Down syndrome through support programs, community groups, and advocacy work. The organization’s mission is to “empower individuals, educate families, enhance communities and together, celebrate the extraordinary lives of people with Down syndrome.”
Last year’s Touchdown for Downs was a great success: they raised more than $4,000! This year, they hope to have even more people come. This is an event that is sure to stay and create a lasting tradition at Indian Hill. Touchdown for Downs will be held at Indian Hill High School on 6865 Drake Road on Friday, October 24th at 5:30 P.M., where there will be food and drinks under the pavilion. Also, there will be raffles, T-shirt sales, and bake sales. At 7 P.M., Indian Hill will play its game against Wyoming and at halftime there will be a show including the participation of special-needs students. Please come out and support research benefiting people who have Down syndrome while having a fun time at Touchdown for Downs!
Andrea Francisco: Experiencing Taiwan Part Three
Andrea Francisco lives in Cincinnati and is a soon-to-be-senior at Indian Hill High School. She will also be interning with me this fall to share her thoughts through my blog. I will have more information about her later, but for now she is sharing her wonderful experience as an exchange student this summer traveling to Taiwan. This is the last in her three-part series about her trip.
Please click here to read part one.
Please click here to read part two.
by Andrea Francisco
As I look back on the past two weeks, I can’t help but laugh and smile, because of all the wonderful memories that were made. Everything about this trip somehow made me feel closer to the world, and for that I can’t thank my host family and all the people I met in Taiwan enough. Also, I feel more mature and like a global citizen who is ready to live the life ahead of me to the very fullest.
Because of this amazing exchange program organized by New Taipei City, I can say that I am much more cultured and have a more positive perspective of the world. I made so many new friends from Cincinnati here in Taiwan that I probably never would have even met back home had I not joined this program. Overall, I believe the most impressive things we did together in Taiwan include going to a huge night market, lighting giant lanterns into the sky, and learning how to spin Chinese Yo-Yos from elementary school kids. In addition, we witnessed countless performances from kids our age and younger, including a dragon show and glee club dance. These kids are breathtaking in their performance and enthusiasm onstage; you just have to go to Taiwan to understand! All in all, I have not only learned a great deal about the Taiwanese culture, but also about myself as a person. This experience is truly unforgettable and definitely the biggest highlight of my summer. I sincerely recommend this program to anyone who is looking for adventure and fun packed into an enlightening experience.
Andrea Francisco: Experiencing Taiwan – Part Two
Andrea Francisco lives in Cincinnati and is a soon-to-be-senior at Indian Hill High School. She will also be interning with me this fall to share her thoughts through my blog. I will have more information about her later, but for now she is sharing her wonderful experience as an exchange student this summer traveling to Taiwan.
This is the second of a three-part series. Please click here to read her part one.
By Andrea Francisco
I have to admit, before heading with Carly to the MRT train station that would take me to her boarding school, I was a little nervous. Her high school, named Shuang-Xi, was to host me along with Claire, another American girl from our exchange group, for three consecutive days. Temporarily, Claire and I would have no contact with other Americans, and it would be as if we were Taiwanese ourselves living our daily lives. Actually, Claire is ethnically Taiwanese as her parents are both from Taiwan, but culturally she is just like any other American teenager. Throughout the three days, Claire and I greatly bonded as the only fully-speaking English people and became good friends. We also made friends with countless Taiwanese students, who were always excited to see us and ask us how American life is. One of my favorite things we did together was at our farewell barbeque, where we slow-roasted everything from chicken to tofu in barbeque sauce. Overall, it was truly amazing to see how beautifully our cultures could mesh, and I am excited to find out more ways to exchange our cultures.
All in all, Shuang-Xi high school has taught me so much about the lives of teens just like me who happen to live halfway around the world. I am very impressed with how kind and friendly everybody is there. As one of the four students lucky enough to go to boarding school with their host buddy, I was unsure of how the next three days would look like. However, after spending only a few days at this school, I had made many new friends that touched me and made me think differently about the world. Furthermore, there are many differences between my high school in America and my host school in Taiwan. For example, at Shuang-Xi students stay in the same room with the same group of kids all day, while different teachers rotate to teach classes in their room. This highly contrasts with my school in America, because we are always in a frenzy to scramble to our next class in only five minutes, which we have to repeat for seven bells. In addition, I want to let my host buddies and host school know that I am so grateful for their friendliness and enthusiasm towards me. Hopefully in the future you all can come to my school and I will show you what life in an American school is like.
Indian Hill High School Student Journeys To Taiwan
Andrea Francisco lives in Cincinnati and is a soon-to-be-senior at Indian Hill High School. She will also be interning with me this fall to share her thoughts through my blog. I will have more information about her later, but wanted to share this letter she had written about a journey she is taking this summer. What a fabulous, life changing event for her!
Hello,
My name is Andrea Francisco, and I am a soon-to-be senior at Indian Hill High School who is about to go on an exchange trip to Taiwan. I’m very excited to explore the world outside my small suburban bubble and see what the lives of people halfway around the world are like. In just a few days, thirty students from schools around Cincinnati and I will embark on a journey to the island of Taiwan, which is just off the coast of China. More specifically, we will be going to New Taipei City, Taiwan, which is a part of the Cincinnati USA Sister City Association. A few other Sister Cities to Cincinnati include Nancy in France and Kharkiv in Ukraine.
Over the course of two weeks, we hope to make lasting friendships and memories with the people of Taiwan and especially our host families. All thirty-one of us are assigned our own host family, who will show us around Taiwan and bring us to their local school for a few days, as the Taiwanese students are still in school. Also, we will have opportunities to visit a few of the many interesting things to see in Taiwan, including the TAChou Yacht Company, Everlight Electronics, Pingxi Old Street, Fort Zeelandia, Eternal Golden Castle, Chikan Towers, Taichung Fengjia Night Market, and many more, which are also hard to pronounce. Although I have taken Mandarin Chinese, the official language of Taiwan, for three consecutive years at school, I still struggle to read and speak this rich language correctly. Thankfully, the Taiwanese family I am staying with can speak and write much more English than I am able to with Chinese, so we will be able to communicate. Despite the language barrier, I hope to enjoy this trip wholeheartedly and embrace the many cultural differences that I may come across.
After months of preparation, all that separates our group of thirty-one students and twelve chaperones from New Taipei City are a pair of three hour-long flights and a lengthy thirteen hour-long flight to Taiwan. We will be going over the Pacific Ocean, which may be scary for the majority of the students going on the trip, as less than five of us have flown internationally and nearly ten of us have never flown west of the Mississippi. Overall, I am very excited to see New Taipei City and create lasting memories with my host family and the students going on this trip!
Andrea
Students Donated Nearly $50,000 Through Magnified Giving
Last fall it was so wonderful to have been given the opportunity to learn about one of our region’s truly great philanthropists – Roger Grein when I helped raise awareness of his contributions. Roger has given to local nonprofits with his resources and his heart. However, his greatest legacy is in the hearts of thousands of young people in whom he and his Magnified Giving team of staff and volunteers have instilled long lasting generosity.
Magnified Giving is a nonprofit organization whose mission it is to educate, inspire, and engage students in philanthropy. Its vision of Magnified Giving is for every high school student in America, starting with the Greater 
Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky area, to someday have the opportunity to learn first-hand how to be generous and wise philanthropists.
Each year, participating school groups are challenged to determine how they want to invest up to $2000 in a nonprofit. They research, evaluate nonprofit grant applications, fundraise to earn matching dollars – gaining leadership, communication, and teamwork skills as part of the process. This spring in a packed auditorium of over 600 students, teachers, nonprofits, donors, parents, and community leaders, nearly $50,000 was presented to causes doing great work.
“The most rewarding aspect of Magnified Giving is when what we do in the classroom reaches beyond the walls of the school in a tangible way. I see students ‘get it’ when they come back from a site visit,” said Julie Vehorn, director of curriculum and instruction at Roger Bacon High School overseeing her school’s Magnified Giving program.
Participating Schools
Aiken College & Career
Arlington Heights
Bethel-Tate
Bishop Brossart
Chaminade Julienne
Cincinnati Country Day
Cincinnati Hills Christian Academy
Covington Catholic
Dater
Elder
Holmes
Indian Hill
Kings
Loveland
McAuley
McNicholas
Miami Valley Christian Academy
Mother of Mercy
Mt. Notre Dame
Notre Dame Academy
Perry High School
Reading
Roger Bacon
St. Henry
St. Xavier
School for the Creative and Performing Arts
Seton
Shroder
Starfire University
Summit Country Day
Taylor
Ursuline Academy
Wyoming
Pilot Programs
Madeira Middle School
Northern KY Youth Advisory Board
