SCHOOLS
JANUARY 6, 2016 • HILLTOP PRESS • 3A
HILLTOP Editor: Richard Maloney, rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134
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SCHOOLS NOTEBOOK Finneytown High School » Finneytown Secondary School recently learned that 11 students were chosen for the Ohio Music Educators Association District 14 Honor Band. High school students chosen were Katharine Germann, Sarah Germann, Max Giffin, Xander Hatton, Ian Sloan, Allie Towner and Alissa Wuorinen. Middle school students chosen were Jillian Becksfort, Loyd Briski, Kelsey Kershner and Maria Seith. The students have been invited to take part in the OMEA District 14 Honor Band Festival Jan. 8-10 at Princeton High School. OMEA District 14 includes school districts in Hamilton and Clermont counties.
Whitaker Elementary
This spring Whitaker Elementary fourth-graders will study the geology and ecosystems of their local community with help from a Target grant. The grant will provide a field trip to Caldwell Nature Center that will include investigating the rock formations, soil types and weather forces that shaped Greater Cincinnati along with a creek hike to find Cincinnati’s famous cache of fossils. Whitaker teachers will use the field trip to help students explore interconnections within natural systems, which a focus of the Ohio fourth-grade science standards.
THANKS TO KRISTA RAMSEY
Finneytown High School music students Alissa Wuorinen, Xander Hatton, Max Giffin, Allie Towner, Katharine Germann, Sarah Germann and Ian Sloan were selected for the Ohio Music Educators Association District 14 Honor Band. More than 375 Hamilton and Clermonty county students competed for the honor.
THANKS TO KRISTA RAMSEY
Named to the OMEA District 14 Honor Band were Finneytown Middle School musicians Loyd Briski, Kelsey Kershner, Jillian Becksfort and Maria Seith.
Finneytown Middle School
» After weeks studying U.S. history, the American system of government came alive for Finneytown Middle School eighth graders as they toured Washington D.C. and Gettysburg. The class trip took them to the Library of Congress, the U.S. Capitol, the Viet Nam and Korean War Museums, the White House and Embassy Row. Four students helped with a wreath-laying ceremony at Arlington National Cemetery. In front of the White House, they saw a peaceful protest taking place. “We were walking around and talking about government, and there in front of the White House were groups protesting,” said Finneytown Secondary School assistant principal Lana Gerber. “We told the students, ‘That’s why we’re a great country –because people can disagree and not be in conflict.” Eight months of planning went into the trip, which is a rite-of-passage tradition for Finneytown eighth graders.
McAuley High School
» McAuley invites grade school students to audition for irs spring production of “Mary Poppins.” Students in the sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grades are invited to audition and will be considered for roles in the chorus. Auditions will be 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 12, and Wednesday, Jan. 13. All students interested in auditioning should sign up for one fiveminute time slot on one of these audition days by emailing Katie Geckle at gecklek@live.mcauleyhs.net. Students should also complete the audition information form, which is available at www.mcauleyhs.net under the Student Life/Arts tab, and bring it with them to auditions. Grade school students should prepare one of the selected songs from “Mary Poppins” for their auditions, also under the Student Life/Arts tab. Dance auditions will be 3:15
THANKS TO TERESA CLEARY
Winton Woods High School students work together to make sandwiches for Haven House in Hamilton.
THANKS TO TERESA CLEARY
THANKS TO TERESA CLEARY
Winton Woods Intermediate School fifth-grader Nadia Griffith with Board President Jessica Miranda.
Winton Woods High School senior Makala Pitts with Board President Jessica Miranda.
p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 14. All students who audition for the show must also attend dance auditions, and they must be present for the entire time. Rehearsals begin Jan. 19 and will take place on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 3:15 p.m. to 6 p.m. More rehearsals will happen when the performance dates get closer. Not all cast members will need to attend all rehearsals, depending on roles and scenes in which they have been cast. The performance dates are Friday, March 18, and Saturday, March 19, at 7:30 p.m., and Sunday, March 20, at 2 p.m. » McAuley will present its winter theater production of Joseph Kesselring’s classic comedy, “Arsenic and Old Lace,” Jan. 8 and 9 at 7:30 p.m. and Jan. 10 at 2 p.m. Tickets, which are $8 for students and seniors, and $10 for adults, can be bought online at show-
tix4u.com or at the door the weekend of the show. For more information, contact Katie Geckle and gecklek@live.mcauleyhs.net.
Winton Woods High School
» A service project created by Winton Woods High School intervention specialist Nicole Hansman helped feed the homeless and allowed her special education students to give back to the community. Hansman’s class spent an afternoon making peanut butter and jelly sandwiches for Haven House in Hamilton. They were joined by students in the multiple disabilities classrooms, who participated as part of their vocational training. “Ms. Hansman had her class create commercials to draw in volunteers to help make the bagged lunches,” Winton Woods High School counselor Brad Tash said. “About 40 students donated an hour of their
time by staying after school to make sandwiches and put together lunches.” Hansman organized donations of bread, peanut butter, jelly, fruit, and lunch bags and then opened the service project to the general high school population. “We had volunteers from all grade levels and from both Academy of Global Studies and New Tech Academy,” Hansman said. “Every group of Winton Woods High School had multiple members present for the volunteer hour.” In addition to Hansman’s students, the classrooms of Intervention Specialists Jim Bissell, Lisa Dye and Lisa Kunze made 97 of the sandwiches. The entire volunteer group made about 250 sandwiches, which were delivered to Haven House. » Winton Woods High School senior Makala Pitts hopes to combine her love for mathematics and her love for children into a career in education one day. “To reach her goals, Makala has been successful in her academics at Winton Woods High school, which has led her to be able to work on college credits during her senior year,” counselor Christina Jeranek said. “She is determined and strong minded in her area of focus.” Pitts was honored at the district’s December board of education meeting with the Kiwanis Gold Star Student of the Month award. “Makala is a very caring, genuine person who would be willing to do anything and everything for anyone,” Jeranek said. “She takes time each night to work with her siblings and make sure that they have a clear understanding of their assignments and the work provided to them from their teachers.” In addition to her strong academics, Pitts has volun-
teered with Matthew 25: Ministries for a few years. She also enjoys playing softball and basketball with the Winton Woods High School teams. “Makala is truly an honorable young lady who sets her mind to reach her goals,” said Jeranek. “She is dedicated to her education, as well as helping others improve themselves.”
Winton Woods Intermediate School
» Winton Woods Intermediate School fifth -grader Nadia Griffith truly cares about her school and its teachers. So much so in fact, that after the school’s first Student Council meeting, she went home to write what her teachers called a list of “suggestions to make our school better.” Griffith was the district’s Kiwanis Character is Key Award winner for caring and was honored at the December board of education meeting. “Nadia is a vocal leader in our school choir and a teacher helper in the classroom,” Superintendent Anthony G. Smith read from a recommendation co-written by her teachers. “Nadia is a caring soul through and through. She cares for her fellow classmates by sharing her smile and kindness with those who are not necessarily accepted by others. When Nadia is finished with her work she volunteers to lend a hand to her classmates. If this does not work, Nadia informs the teacher that the student needs ‘special attention.’ Nadia always walks into the classroom every day with a smile on her fact and greets the teachers, asking how they are doing.” After Griffith gave a speech thanking everyone for her award, Smith gave the fifthgrader a standing ovation and asked her to stop by his office sometime to ask how he was doing too.