SCHOOLS
JANUARY 21, 2015 • HILLTOP PRESS • A3
HILLTOP Editor: Richard Maloney, rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134
PRESS
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ACHIEVEMENTS | NEWS | ACTIVITIES | HONORS
SCHOOLS NOEBOOK Winton Woods Schools » Wright Gwyn, environmental awareness program manager for the City of Forest Park and a long-time supporter of Winton Woods City Schools, was honored at the December board of education meeting with the district’s Community Spirit Award. Gwyn, along with the Forest Park Wal-Mart, was the driving force behind the creation of the land lab at Winton Woods Elementary School. This area has a rain garden, planting beds and composting bins and was described by Gwyn as “a hands-on discovery facility.” For many years Gwyn also partnered with Winton Woods Intermediate School to sponsor the Environmental High IQ Bowl for fifth- and sixth-graders. This activity tested students’ knowledge of environmental issues in a competition that was aired on Waycross Media. The competition was replaced in 2012 by the Eco-Warriors Club at the intermediate school. Each monthly club meeting highlights lessons on ecosystems, biology, the rain forest and animal adaptations. Gwyn has also been able to bring the Cincinnati Zoo Animal Ambassadors program to the school a number of times. According to the Community Spirit award’s criteria, the recipient is a community member who demonstrates an exemplary spirit of dedication and service to the students and families of Winton Woods City Schools. The recipient leads by example, has made significant contributions to the district over a period of years and strengthens the Winton Woods community by: appreciating and celebrating student achievement and successes; serving others by giving of their own time and talents; working with a positive attitude and energy; creating and/or enhancing a sense of community for students and families; being accessible, approachable and engaging with the community. » Winton Woods High School inducted new members into National Honor Society, the nation's premier organization recoutstanding high ognizing school students who demonstrate excellence in the areas of scholarship, leadership, service and character. » After a second-place finish at last year’s spelling bee at Winton Woods Intermediate School, Nathan Washam was looking forward to this year’s competition at the middle school. His hard work and preparation for that spelldown paid off with a first place finish for the seventh grader as he correctly spelled the word “full-fledged.” “Our spelling bee was small this year with only three contestants – Nathan, Ronald Simmons and Hayley Hobbs—but I’m proud of the students who studied their words to be a part of this year’s practice sessions leading into the spelling bee,” said Stephanie Romer, science lab teacher and spelling bee coordinator. The bee didn’t last long enough for Washam – who has severe autism and a motor tic disorder – to demonstrate that he had learned all 450 of this year’s spelling words. Spelling bee judges this year were teachers Stephanie Romer, Matt Alander, and Lisa Giblin. Gary Giblin served as pronouncer, and Lauren Kempton assisted during the bee.
McAuley High School » Getting in the Christmas spirit, the 21 seniors in McAuley‘s child development class
THANKS TO TERESA CLEARY
Wright Gwyn with Winton Woods Board President Kim Burns.
THANKS TO TERESA CLEARY
Some of the newest National Honor Society members at Winton Woods High School are, from left: front, Hayley Perkins, Sarai Dean, Irene Onianwa, Nadia Goforth, Chantelle Thompson and Kendra Jackson; middle, Aunay Miller, Superintendent Anthony G. Smith, Board President Kim Burns, Poonam Ghimire, Neeta Bhandari, Parker Sarra, Eden Daniel, Jade Hudson, Meklit Zenabu, Amariah Yisrael, Cindy Vivar-Perez, Alex Kuhn and Matthew Smith; back, Jordan Randolph, Board Vice President Tim Cleary, Joshua Kerobo, Board Member John Pennycuff, Principal Eric Martin, Simon Asem, Board Member Viola Johnson, Jared Beiersdorfer, Board Member Jessica Miranda and Assistant Principal Kevin Jones. Not pictured, Hannah Van Dyke.
THANKS TO TERESA CLEARY
Nathan Washam is this year's winner of Winton Woods Middle School's spelling bee.
THANKS TO KATHY DIETRICH
McAuley High School seniors with toys they made, from left: front, Jessica Ventura, Sarah Campbell, Angie Kerth, Sophie Meyer, Haillie Erhardt, Fallon Degutis, Krista Reiff, Sharon Witzgall, Kate Calder, Dakota Dixon and McKenna Bailey; back, Julia Langenderfer, Allie Schindler, Mary Patricia Orth, Erika Ventura, Gabby Brown, Rachel Rothan, Malina Creighton, Jody Duccilli, Abbey Benintendi and Emma Bedan.
PROVIDED
A group of students in the bathroom, experiencing just a taste of what Immaculee Ilibagiza went through in her ordeal. Clockwise from lower right: Emily Mormile, Olivia Louder, Zandrea Simpson, Samantha Baxter, Taylor Greene and Gabrielle Draginoff.
THANKS TO KATHY DIETRICH
Santa visits with McAuley High School students and friends. PROVIDED
A bowl of kachumbari, the Rwandan vegetable dish made by McAuley creative cooking students
concluded their semester by making toys, like Santa’s elves. The seniors planned and directed 12 preschool classes with area children over the course of the semester. They were responsible for an 80-minute class with the 2- to 5-year olds, including a theme of the day, a story, a song or finger play, games, crafts and snacks. The session concluded with a visit from Santa on the last class. As a culminating project, the seniors learned to sew homemade toys for children. Half of the young women sewed stuffed lady bugs, with buttons for eyes and spots, and half of them crafted stuffed bocks from colorful fabric scraps. » Over this past summer, students and adults at both McAuley and Mother of Mercy High Schools read the same book, “Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust,” by Immaculee Ilibagiza. Ilibagiza was a survivor of
the bloody genocide in 1994 that ravaged her native country of Rwanda. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently in a small, cramped bathroom inside the home of a local pastor, while hundreds of killers searched for them and murdered her entire family, except for one brother who was out of the country. Her story is one of the power of prayer, which she discovered while in that bathroom for three months, and of forgiveness. Throughout the fall, the McAuley community has participated in discussions, writing activities, artistic expressions and other endeavors in response to this amazing and inspiring story. A sample of activities by subject area follows. Technical theatre and art – Students built a full-scale replica of the bathroom, complete with wall tiles and toilet. The bathroom is on wheels so it can be moved from place to place, finding an eventual home in McAuley’s library, where students can enter it to really feel how small it was and to imagine the horror of the 91 days.
Biology – Students inferred information about Immaculee’s life to try to determine the ecological footprint she leaves behind, and compared that to the ecological footprint of McAuley students. Health – Students studied issues of malnutrition, as the seven women were severely malnourished while hiding in the bathroom. Child development – Students researched and played Rwandan games. Science and art – Teachers are working collaboratively to bring a version of “The Million Bones” project to McAuley High School. Student representatives from each family homeroom are being trained in the construction of a ceramic bone and they will lead bone construction in their families. Every student will make a bone in remembrance of the victims of the holocaust. Students from Human Biology and Anatomy & Physiology classes will be going to the art room to construct some of the more difficult and complicated bones. Upon completion of the bones, students
will place them on the front lawn in remembrance of the victims of genocide. Creative cooking – Students researched Rwandan foods and made kachumbari, a traditional vegetable dish from Rwanda. Creative writing – Students created a graffiti wall on the outside of the bathroom replica. Music – sang “We Are Marching” in Swahili at the annual Mercy Day Mass in September. Computer literacy – Students made PowerPoint presentations about Left to Tell. Social studies – Students explored international law and the history of Rwanda. They learned about political challenges and PTSD in Rwanda. Government classes held Socratic Seminars on the role of government. One student from each class took the lead in guiding the discussion. World languages – Students are working on translations of Kinyarwanda, the language of Rwanda. They’ve taken Biblical verses relating to the Seven Sorrows of Mary and will translate them from Kinyarwanda to Spanish, French and Latin.