FIRE DEPT. HISTORY B1
Forest Park officials and volunteers are using the fire department’s 50th anniversary to reflect on the city’s and department’s long history.
Volume 74 Number 17 © 2011 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Community garage sale in Springfield
Springfield Township will have a Community Garage Sale 9 a.m.-1 p.m. Saturday, June 4, at the Grove Banquet Hall and Picnic Grove, 9158 Winton Road, behind the administration building. The garage sale will have about 32 indoor booths and 36 outdoor booths during the day. Anything unsold will be donated to Goodwill. Finneytown High School will host a concession area inside the banquet hall. Coffee will be available in the morning, and lunch will include hamburgers, hot dogs, walking tacos and Graeter’s ice cream.
Hot dads contest
Do you know a dad who has what it takes to be entered in the Hot Dads Contest? Visit the Contests page on CincinnatiMomsLikeMe.com and submit a photo along with a description telling why he is great. Deadline to enter is June 10 at 9 a.m. Following the nomination period, the contest will be open for voting. The dad with the most votes will receive a $250 Visa money card.
Vote now
You can now vote for who you think is the Sportsman and Sportswoman of the Year, The award – whose winners are determined online by newspaper readers – recognizes studentathletes of the highest caliber who show excellence in the classroom, community and in their sports. Go online to cincinnati.com/ preps and look for the red and blue Sportsman icon on the right hand side of the page. You may need to scroll down. Once you click on the icon, you will see links for each newspaper’s ballot. The ballots will be available until midnight Monday, June 6. Top vote-getter wins. Check out the sports section to see who’s on your ballot.
Gifting season
For those who still have to get a gift for a graduate, there is a variety of things graduates want – and don’t want – as tokens of good wishes from friends and family. – SEE STORY, A3
Online community
Find your community’s Web site by visiting Cincinnati.com/ local and looking for your community’s name in the “Ohio communities” menu.
To place an ad, call 242-4000.
Your Community Press newspaper serving College Hill, Finneytown, Forest Park, Greenhills, Mount Airy, Mount Healthy, North College Hill, Seven Hills, Springfield Township Email: hilltoppress@communitypress.com Website: communitypress.com
We d n e s d a y, J u n e
1, 2011
B E C A U S E C O M M U N I T Y M AT T E R S
50¢
Advice, thanks from top grads
By Jennie Key
jkey@communitypress.com
The class of 2011 from Mount Healthy High School graduates June 1. Once valedictorian Briana Keith gives her farewell address to her classmates, she can finish packing to head to Emery University in Atlanta, Ga., to study biomedical engineering. The daughter of James and Linda Watkins, Keith says the most valuable lesson she learned during her years at Mount Healthy is to control your stress. “You can’t stress to the point where you can’t function,” she said. “I found having activities outside of school like dance helped.” Keith said the people who most inspired her during high school were teacher John Clark, for his encouragement that she give things her all, and her mom, for her courage, strength and willpower. She says the best advice she can give underclassmen seeking success in high school is to try new things and to choose wisely. “Make the most of the years you are here. It goes quickly.” She also said students need to keep in mind this is their opportunity to set the tone for their high school years. “Life is like a coin,” she said. “You can spend it any way you like, but you can only spend it once.” Mount Healthy has two salutatorians this year. Salutatorian Mosep Okonny, daughter of Priscilla and Emmanuel Okonny, will attend the University of Cincinnati to
Mount Healthy’s top three are, from left, valedictorian Briana Keith and salutatorians Mosep Okonny and Brooke Taylor. study biology in the fall. She says the people who most influenced her years at Mount Healthy High School were her father and teacher Walter Podmore. “My dad believes I can do anything,” she said. “He always says he is right there behind me, cheering me on.” She said Podmore was a calming influence. “I am prone to being stressed,” she said. “He knew how to make you feel better. He would say, ‘It’s high school. It isn’t the rest of your life.’ And that made me feel better.” Her advice to underclassmen is that it’s important to be involved
at school but you have to manage your time. “Be involved, but make time to study,” she said. Okonny said she learned that people can surprise you and you can be surprising to others. “It’s not always what you expect,” she said. Salutatorian Brooke Taylor is the daughter of Barbara and Jay Taylor. She plans to attend UC in the fall to study urban planning. Her advice to underclassmen is to take advantage of all of the Advance Placement and honors classes they can. “It really makes a difference,” she said.
JENNIE KEY/STAFF
The most valuable lesson she learned in her high school years was time management. “You cannot wait until the last minute to do things.” Taylor said the people who were most influential during her high school years were teacher Walter Podmore and her mom. “Mr. Podmore is so helpful, and he always found a way to get you through bad topics in physics,” she said. “He kept it interesting.” She says her mom is always looking out for Brooke’s best interests, “She always wants the best for me. She doesn’t want me to struggle.”
Winton Woods schools OK cuts
Teachers approve wage and STEP increase freeze
By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
Winton Woods City Schools Board of Education was forced to make deep budget cuts during last week’s meeting, but got an assist from teachers that could help the district’s budget. During the May 23 meeting, the board approved more than $2 million in cuts for the 2011-2012 school year that included eliminating the positions of 16 teachers, three administrators and 19 classified staff. However, the Winton Woods Teachers Association agreed to a salary and step increase freeze through July 2015. Winton Woods City Schools Board of Education President John Pennycuff called the freeze “a significant event,” as it will help the district adjust to less state funding for the next several years. “Any time that kind of sacrifice is offered up
… I think of it as heroic,” said board member Brandon Wiers. Superintendent Camille Nasbe also recommended the district’s administrative staff take a pay freeze, which was approved by the board. The total savings from cutting staff and salary freezes amounts to about $2.5 million in cuts for the 2011-2012 school year. Pennycuff said while it appears the worst is over, the state budget has not been approved. He said Winton Woods, like many other school districts throughout the state, is basing its budget cuts on Gov. John Kasich’s budget proposal. “All of this is based on the (budget) in its current form,” Pennycuff said. The state budget must be passed by the end of June.
The breakdown
Here’s a look at the teaching positions
“Any time that kind of sacrifice is offered up … I think of it as heroic.”
Brandon Wiers Winton Woods school board member
being cut in the Winton Woods City Schools district: Kindergarten through sixth grade: • One technology teacher, two science lab teachers, two reading and language arts teachers and one full-time and one part-time intervention specialist position. Grades seven and eight: • One reading and language arts teacher, one library media specialist, one physical education teacher, one full-time and one part-time intervention specialist position. Grades nine through 12: • One business/technology teacher, one credit recovery teacher, two intervention specialists, one Project Success position.
School lives up to food drive challenge By Rob Dowdy rdowdy@communitypress.com
Winton Woods Primary South recently completed a two-week canned food drive that collected 857 cans for Tri-County Soul Ministries food pantries in Forest Park, Springfield Township and Greenhills. Tri-County Soul Ministries participated in the Feinstein Challenge, a national campaign that matched money and donations a non-profit receives through March
and April. Winton Woods Primary South first grade teacher Linda Ball, who organized the donation drive, said the food drive was also a competition among the school’s classrooms. She said each day for two weeks, teachers graphed how many cans their classes brought in, and the winning class received a pizza party. “I was quite impressed with the number of cans we collected,” Ball said.
Teachers Debbie White, Cindy Boehm and Julianne MuellerSmith, who joined forces to form one class, won the pizza party, which was May 5. Their classes donated 247 cans. Principal Tonya Bray said with tough economic times still looming, she wasn’t expecting nearly as much participation, but was happy with the results. “I think this is the start of something we’ll do annually,” she said.
Ball said the school was aware of the Feinstein Challenge before the food drive, and took the challenge to donate as much as they could. She said while the students got competitive in hopes of winning the pizza party, the parents also helped in donating items for the charitable organization. To find your community, visit www.Cincinnati.com/local.