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GU I D E to Y E L L OW S P R I NG S | 2O22 – 2O23 29 10 times is as much work as numbering 1 to 100, and it’s harder to keep your place. No matter the activity, get - ting to 100 of anything takes time and effort, the children learned. But with such a milestone comes pride and a sense of accomplishment. Those emotions ring true for the Antioch School com - munity as well, as the school looks back on the 100 years since its founding in the fall of 1921 and looks to the future in a world where its supporters believe the school’s version of child-centered education is needed more than ever. “It’s pretty incredible,” School Manager Nathan Sum- mers said of the anniversary in a recent phone interview. He added, though, that reaching such a moment amid a once- every-100-years pandemic wasn’t the kind of milestone marker they wanted. In fact, the COVID-19 pan - demic caused the postpone- ment of some of the festivities that were supposed to begin last summer. “We were planning to have a big celebration last summer and try to draw some alumni back into the school,” he said. The alumni count is, of course, in the hundreds, and includes such well-known names as actor John Lithgow. The general lockdown in March 2020 also occurred just days before that year’s annual fundraising auction and gala, which, like everything else at the time, was canceled. The pandemic led to the cancellation of the event in 2021 as well, but it came back in 2022 with a May 6 date at the Foundry Theater on the Antioch College campus. Sum - mers said he was “very happy” that the school was able to begin bringing back more of its regular activities. Weathering the pandemic has been hard, he said. “It’s been the most chal - lenging thing I’ve experienced in my working career,” he said. While he believes that the school’s small size, tight-knit community and integration of outdoor learning experiences made it well-positioned to meet the pandemic’s challenges, it still exacted a heavy toll. The biggest effect was on the community’s sense of connection, he said. Without the traditional activities and events — class performances, soup dinners, work bees — drawing them together, families became more sepa- rate from each other and the school. A pandemic protocol requiring students to enter the building through their classrooms’ outside door relieved a bottleneck of stu - dents and their grownups at the front of the building each day, but also eliminated an important time for the adults to mingle and catch up with one another. “We are very, very eager to get all of those things back again,” Summers said. “We are eager to rebuild those relationships.” Love for the school runs deep among its families. Moriel Rothman-Zecher, 32, attended the school as a child, as did his father, Jay Rothman, 63. Now Rothman- Zecher’s daughter, Nahar, is a student in the Nursery class. The young father has said that he and his partner, Kayla, moved back to Yellow Springs after living abroad in large part because they wanted Nahar to have the growing up experiences — specifically an Antioch School education — that had been so important to his own development. “The Antioch School cher - ishes freedom, and that is no small thing in this world of ours,” he recently wrote. He noted that his father, who holds a Ph.D. in inter - national relations and has published five books, wasn’t able to read until he reached a fifth-grade level. “Instead of being shamed for learning differences, Jay was www.VeterinaryAssociatesHospital.com We are a mixed animal practice bringing veterinary virtuosity to a diverse population of people and their animals. Acupuncture and chiropractic is available by Dr. Brett Ellis. Chiropractic and sports medicine/surgical rehabilitation therapy is available by Dr. Deanna Clark. Sheep, rabbits, goats and chickens are seen by Dr. Jodi Moorman. Monday & Wednesday, 8 a.m.– 7 p.m. Tuesday& Thursday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m. Friday 8 a.m.–6 p.m. Saturday 8 a.m.–2 p.m., Sunday Closed Veterinary Associates Animal Hospital Please call for appointments 937-372-9978 1920 US 68 N., Xenia, at the junction of US 68 N. and SR 235 Jon H. Ellis, DVM • Brett F. Ellis, DVM, VSMT, CVA Deanna Clark, DVM, VSMT, CCRT Jodi Moorman, DVM • Becky Warden, DVM