SCHOOLS
JUNE 27, 2013 • FLORENCE-UNION RECORDER • A7
COMMUNITY
RECORDER
Editor: Nancy Daly, ndaly@nky.com, 578-1059
ACHIEVEMENTS | NEWS | ACTIVITIES | HONORS
AJC presents Lazarus Awards Community Recorder
Local students were among those honored recently at the American Jewish Committee’s 48th annual Simon Lazarus Jr. Human Relations Awards at Rockdale Temple. They campaign for good causes and organize their classmates in compassionate service. In total, AJC honored 53 juniors and seniors. Todd Schild, chair of AJC’s Lazarus Awards committee and an attorney at Thompson Hine, said, “For 48 years, AJC Cincinnati has honored remarkable student volunteers from public, private, and parochial schools, who organize their classmates to selflessly serve others, feed the hungry, help the homeless, and brighten the days of those in need. Lazarus nominees are committed to doing deeds of loving-kindness, sharing a high value of the Jewish tradition. They are shining examples of the best of our region.” Among the senior finalists were Michael Best of St. Henry District High School, and Alexandra Hicks-Chambers of Simon Kenton High School. Best, a Florence resident, addressed problems of poverty and lack of education through his service trips to Africa and Costa
Rica. He has recruited volunteer support for his projects at five different schools, finding funds for building classrooms and feeding students, and starting sustainability efforts to improve the lives of people in the villages he has visited. His nominator praised him as a “compassionate” leader who inspires others. Hicks-Chambers, a Morning View resident, works to develop leadership in younger students. She creates skits to build awareness about drugs and alcohol and raises funds in creative ways for causes such as autism, UNICEF, the Haitian hurricane, and more. She has also tutored athletes and middle school students. Her nominator noted her “profound positive contribution to humanitarian efforts.” Five community leaders served as judges to select and introduce ten Simon Lazarus, Jr. Awards finalists and winners and present them with award books and cash prizes: » former NFL player Dhani Jones » Hamilton County Commissioner Todd Portune » Hamilton County Coroner Dr. Lakshmi Sammarco » Red Cross CEO Patricia Mann Smitson » WDBZ talk show host Lincoln Ware
Michael Best of St. Henry District High School, with former Bengal Dhani Jones at the American Jewish Committee’s 48th annual Simon Lazarus Jr. Human Relations Awards. THANKS TO NAOMI RUBEN
CommunityPress.com
Teen tuba player makes family proud By Melissa Stewart mstewart@nky.com
WALTON — Parents believe their child will grow to be anything that he or she dreams of being. What if, however, that child has autism? Your faith in that child’s dream becomes even stronger, according to Kaye Fish of Walton. “I know that Emmi can go and do and become anything she wants,” Kaye said. Her daughter Emmiline Fish,13, has autism and she has dreams of being successful in music. Whether it’s composing music for video games – another passion of the Gray Middle School student – or getting a scholarship for college, she’s well on her way. Emmiline recently won first chair tuba honors at the 78th Stephen Collins Foster Middle School Band Camp at Eastern Kentucky University. This year’s competition represented the largest camp ever and she was competing against ninth-grade students and students from the School of Creative and Performing Arts, Kaye explained. Emmiline has played tuba for only two years. She takes private lessons. “Not very many people play the tuba,” Emmiline said. “I like being different, so why not play what most people don’t? It’s a lot of fun to play. (The tuba) is esthetically impressive.” This year Emmiline also won third chair at the Northern Kentucky Select Band and received a distinguished rating at Northern Kentucky Solo and Ensemble Contest. “It’s good,” said Emmiline of the recognition. “Really, I don’t do this just for attention. I don’t mind the attention as long as they’re not ripping up my music sheets for souvenirs or trying to steal my tuba.” She plays because she likes it. “I feel that generally it’s a lot of fun,” she said. “Music has been a large influence in my life. There’s music wherever you go. In the car you’ve got the radio. You hear it while you’re out and about. Even on video games there’s a soundtrack.” For Emmiline’s parents her talent for playing the tuba is a
Gray Middle School student Emmiline Fish of Walton won first chair tuba honors at the 78th Stephen Collins Foster Middle School Band Camp at Eastern Kentucky University. MELISSA STEWART/THE COMMUNITY RECORDER
TUBA TALENT Emmaline Fish discusses getting recognition for her tuba playing. See our video at http://bit.ly/teentuba
source of joy. “Emmi struggles in so many ways due to her autism and it’s such a joy to see her succeed,” Kaye said. Emmiline was diagnosed with Asperger’s Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder, one of a distinct group of complex neurodevelopment disorders characterized by social impairment, communication difficulties, and restrictive, repetitive and stereotyped patterns of behavior shortly after she started kindergarten at New Haven Elementary. In fourth grade, however,
2013 BOONE COUNTY HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATES The following students are members of the Boone County High School graduating class of 2013: Jenna Abbott, Zita Ackah, Rian Ait Salih, Brooke Alexander, Valeria Aliendres, Bennett Allen, Emily Almazan, Makalah Amos, Erin Anderson, Mariam Ba, Colin Baker, Ian Baker, Kirsten Baker, Jared Bales, Adrian Banks, Greggory Barry, Jampier Bartolo, Kenneth Bauer, Brittany Beasley, James Beckett, Ian Bell, Sarah Blaker, Weston Blystone, Madison Borders, Asia Borja, Daniel Breadon, Cameron Breckel, Kayla Brewer, Logan Briedis, Blake Brock, Dakkota Brock, Ryan Brown, Evan Browne, Jordan Browne, Philip Brubaker, Haley Bruck, Cody Burgard, Diamanda Bustillo, Tessa Byrum, Tonya Cain, Joseph Caldwell, Ayla Carroll, Carly Chalfant, Haley Chaney, Lauren Chesser, Dong Ling Chi, Zachary Clark, Benjamin Combs, Tiffany Combs, Lauren Conway, Collin Coomer, Anamarie Coors, Hannah Cormican, Michael Cotton, Candace Cox, Christian Cox, Zadah Coy, Autumn Craddock, Paige Crank, William Crank, Mauricio Cruz, Tymira Cunningham, Jordan Dahms, Jamie Dean, Christopher Deters, Khadija Dhudhi, Daniel Doremus, Elliot Dowdell, Steven Dugan, Carrene Dugger, Jessica Duran, Breanna Dye, Meaghann Dynes, Rose Elmore, Danielle Elmore, Frank Espinoza, Wesley Estep,
Samantha Farrell, India Feder, Dakotah Ferguson, Mackenzie Ferguson, Stefhannie Field, Kirsten Finn, Joshua Fledderjohn, Jose Flores Beltran, Zachary Foltz, Allysa Ford, Madeline Fountain, Tyler Frakes, Ryan Frey, Joel Fritz, Molly Gabzdyl, Thomas Gallagher, Genesis Garcia Gonzalez, Griffin Gardner, Akhil Ghanta, Madison Gilleo, Jared Gilliam, Alexander Girdler, Emily Goshorn, John Gowen, Gregory Grant, Michelle Grdina, Delanea Griffith, Ian Grimes, Jacob Gross, Christopher Guallpa, Erica Guenther, Stefan Gundlach, Rikki Gurren, Marissa Hamelin, Alexis Hammond, Emily Hardy, Jared Harris, Kayla Harrison, Jacob Hays, Erika Helton, Lindsay Henges, Adam Hinkel, Kenneth Holland, Leann Holsclaw, Kristen Honkomp, Vanessa Hopper, Ciarra Horne, Andrew Hornsby, Clare Hotard, Alyssa Howard, Clayton Huddleston, Blake Hughes, Destiny Hurst, Jeremiah Ihli, Blake Ingolia, Nicholas Ingram, Cynthia Jackson, Katelyn Jackson, Kevin Janson, Pablo Jara-Sciaraffia, Katherine Jett, Zachary Johnson, Bethany Jones, Jessica Jones, TyJuan Jones, Tarah Jordan, Samantha Judie, Ashley Jutzi, Nicholas Kaiser, Samantha Kalany, Christopher Kasee, Joseph Kerns, Steven Kinser, Nolan Klein, Lindsay Knox, Annie Koenig, Alicia Kordish, Brooke Koury, Chance Kramer, Charlie Kroger, Sarah Krummen,
Abigail Larison, Renee Lawson, Austin Lay, Jordan Laymon, Amy Layton, Teresa Lazzari, Jonathan Leicht, Christina Leite, Devin Lilly, Melissa Lilly, Anthony Loechel, Eric Lucas, Tyler Mabe, Daniel Martin, Austin May, Michaelina Mazur, Alexander McGarr, Olivia McMillan, Lauren McQueary, Matthew Melzer, Stephany Mendia, Philip Mensah, Crystal Middleton, Zachary Mimms, Thomas Mitchell, Christopher Mokas, Cassandra Molina, Tyler Morgan, Kaleena Mroczek, Brook Mullins, Aaron Mullins, Sylvia Mullins, Lecara Neal, Shelby Nemec, Alantis Newcomb, Jacob Newman, Phuong-Thao Nguyen, Sampson Nguyen, Alexus Nicholas, Darien Nolan, Paige Noll, Austyn Noonan, Brianna Northcutt, Tyler Orling, Caleb Orndorff, Canaan Orndorff, Brittany Oswald, Kevin Otero, Benedicta Owusu, Ashley Ozepy, Jacob Pace, Foster Parnell, Joseph Pate, Kishan Patel, Trev Patton, Julian Perez, Reynieri Perez, Jade Pierson, Joshua Pitts, Brooke Podgorski, Brianne Popp, Cassidy Prather, Sydney Preisler, Phillip Prickett, Tyler Rains, Shannon Ramey, Luis Recinos Anell, Mark Rehkamp, David Renaker, Franklin Reyes Franco, Valerie Rice, Justin Rider, Alyssa Riebe, Jillian Riehemann, D. Allen Robbins, Kayla Roberts, Tanner Robinson, Katherine Rodgers, Christian Rodriguez, Takia
Rodriguez, Claude Rogers III, Stephanie Romero, Khaleel Rountree, Jacob Ruefer, Kyle Ryan, Chelsie Sasher, Anna Schild, Alexis Schneider, Joshua Scholer, Benjamin Schultz, Jesse Schulze, Jordon Scothorn, Tyler Sebree, Ian Sellers, Zachary Setters, Matthew Severin, Sukayna Shalash, Cassandra Sharp, Austin Shields, Gabrielle Siekman, Avery Simpson, Matthew Sims, Haris Skiljo, John Sleigh, Daniel Sluder, Brandon Smith, Cassie Speagle, Christian Spicer, Margaret Spiece, Bradley Steele, Samuel Steele, Amber Steffen, Erika Stein, Karie Stein, Ryan Stoller, Jenna Stone, Seth Stone, Ryan Stuart, Leah Sutton, Joseph Swalin, Madison Swinford, Erin Taylor, Victoria Thiery, Lauren Thompson, Tanner Thompson, Tyler Threlkeld, Tiffany Thurlkill, Shelby Tinker, Jose Tlahuel, Jason Toll, Diem Tran, Michael Treadway, Benjamin Turner, Jenna Turner, Evan Valentine, Derrick Vallandingham, Samantha Van Luit, Michael Vargas, Andrea Vickers, Kennedy Viger, Yazmin Villanueva, Paige Volpenhein, Elizabeth Walden, Allyson Walsh, Michael Warning, Hannah Webb, Jordan Wert, Nicole Wheeler, Emma White, Tyler Wichus, Emily Williams, Jeremiah Williams, Jerald Wilmes, Tanner Wolff, Madilyn Woods, Matthew Woods, Claire Wyatt and Kori Yelton.
Emmiline started having trouble falling asleep, a symptom of high functioning autism. “She’d come to me repeatedly, all night, crying, it was so sad,” Kaye explained. “So, in fourth grade we went through a yearlong process at Cincinnati Children’s with interviews, tests, etc. Finally she was diagnosed with high functioning autism, which is slightly more severe than Asperger’s.” With support of family and friends Emmiline is doing just fine and she’s succeeding, getting closer to making her dreams come true everyday. “She is so happy with every bit of praise, as am I. She just glows for days,” Kaye said. Want to continue the conversation? Tweet @MStewartReports
COLLEGE CORNER St. Hilaire makes dean’s list
Carrie St. Hilaire, of Union, made the dean’s list for the spring semester at Sacred Heart University in Fairfield, Conn. To receive this honor, a student must achieve a 3.6 gradepoint average based on a 4.0 scale.
Locals make WKU dean’s list
Several local students were named to the Western Kentucky University dean’s list for the spring semester. Florence: Rachel Tankersley, Jacob Booher, Emily Kemp, Alisha Hughes, Rachel Jones and Abigail Kohake Union: John Ferguson, Margaret Clark, Nicole Stambaugh, Megan Shefchik, Lauren Nolan and Justin Nolan Students making the dean’s list have a grade-point average of 3.4 to 3.79 on a 4.0 scale.