By Denise Smith Amos
The Cincinnati Enquirer

HYDE PARK - Among those who gawked at the damage at the Summit Country Day School Monday was baseball Hall of Famer Johnny Bench and his 14-year-old son, Bobby, who attends eighth grade there.

PHOTO GALLERY

The elder Bench said that parents are concerned about the safety of the rest of the Upper School building. He said he's seen the aftermath of earthquakes in California in 1971 and 1989, but "this is just devastating."

Bobby Bench said he has classes in a room that shares a wall with the damaged rooms. He said of the damage: "It's incredible."

Johnny Bench said he is not likely to pull Bobby out of the school, because its scholastics are so strong and "99 percent" of its students get accepted into the college of their choice.

"You pay a nice fee for him to attend, but the quality of education he gets overrides everything," Johnny Bench said. "They've made a good man out of my son."

Bench said he has donated items to the school for an upcoming auction, a major fund-raiser in March. Sharon Williams Frisbie, one of the co-chairs of the fund-raising campaign, said many of the auction items were kept on the fourth floor, possibly in or near the area that was damaged.

Bench said he plans to donate more and to become more active. He said other parents will pull together to help the school.

"There's a lesson here for the kids, for all of us, tomorrow," he said.

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E-mail damos@enquirer.com