6A • COMMUNITY PRESS/EAST • JULY 12, 2017
SCHOOLS
COMMUNITY Editor: Richard Maloney, rmaloney@communitypress.com, 248-7134
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SCHOOLS NOTEBOOK
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Batavia High School Presidential Volunteer Service Medal winners, from left: Collin Sammons, Jake Kovacs, Dylan Young and Zach Newcomb (seniors). PROVIDED
Group photo left to right: Kylie Jimenez Woods, Brett Moles, Tanner Mays, Darby Crooks, Mitch Davis, Batavia High School students who attended the National Leadership Conference and Competition in Orlando, Florida, from left: Natasha Camacho, Garrett Kraus, Erin Mackey, Ashley Mathews, Manhattan Miller, Jake Kovacs, Will Scheffter, Nicholas DeFrank and Jacob Daulton.
Batavia High School » Five members of the Batavia High School chapter of Business Professionals of America have received the U.S. Presidential Volunteer Service Medal. Seniors Jake Kovacs, Collin Sammons, Zach Newcomb and Dylan Young displayed their medals and stoles during their graduation ceremony. Junior Brett Moles will have to wait a year. Actually, Moles is hoping to earn another next year. The President’s Volunteer Service Award is a national award from the White House. The President’s Council on Service and Civic Participation was established in 2003 to recognize the valuable contributions volunteers are making in our communities and encourage more people to serve. The Council created the President’s Volunteer Service Award program as a way to thank and honor Americans who, by their demonstrated commitment and example, inspire others to engage in vol-
unteer service. The President’s Volunteer Service Award recognizes individuals, families, and groups that have achieved a certain standard and measured by the number of hours of service over a 12-month period or cumulative hours earned over the course of a lifetime. Each of the students receiving the award completed more than 100 hours of service between March 2016 and February 2017. Batavia Local Schools Board of Education President Michael Enriquez presented the award to the students. He said, “These young men documented over 100 hours of community service during their senior year. This accomplishment sets them apart from their peers and we hope their example encourages others to take action.” Nationally, only 31 BPA students earned the award; and in Ohio only nine were recognized. Chapter advisor Angie Kovacs said, “This is an exceptional group of young men. To vol-
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Garrett Kraus accepts Batavia’s Chapter of Excellence Award.
unteer more than 100 hours while going to school, playing sports and working is amazing. I do not say this lightly; it has been a privilege to have each of them in my class.” The students are enrolled in the Legal Management program at Batavia High School, a satellite program offered through the Great Oaks Institute of Technology and Career Development. » Fourteen members of the Batavia High School Chapter of Business Professionals of America attended the National Leadership Conference and Competition in Orlando, Florida, May 9-14. Four students qualified for national competition; including Kylie Jimenez-Woods and Tanner Mays – legal procedures, Jake Kovacs – business law and ethics, and Ashley Mathews economic research individual. Brett Moles and Jake Kovacs were awarded the U.S. Presidential Service Medal. In addition, 13 earned the Ambassador Torch Award for their commitment to school and community service. Ambassador recipients include Natasha Camacho, Darby Crooks, Jacob Daulton, Mitch Davis, Nicholas DeFrank, Jake Kovacs, Garrett Kraus, Erin Mackey, Tanner Mays, Manhattan Miller, Brett Moles, Will Scheffter and Kylie Jimenez-Woods. Shelby Britton, Jake Knechlty, Zach Newcomb, Sahil Patel, Collin Sammons and Dylan Young also received the Ambassador Award, but were unable to attend the conference. The Batavia chapter earned six national awards. They received the Community Service
Award for being actively involved in school and community betterment and being engaged citizens. The Special Olympics Award was received for raising more than $11,000 for the Special Olympics Organization. The chapter was also recognized for their development and participating in safe driving initiatives with the Safety Awareness Award. The Marketing and Public Relations Award was awarded for upholding the image of Business Professionals of America and its members. Finally, in addition to receiving the Quality Chapter designation, they received the Chapter of Award of Excellence for their outstanding activities and program. During the week the students participated in general sessions and professional development activities. They also had a chance to visit the Disneyworld parks. Chapter president Dylan Young said, “We really need to thank the Batavia Rotary Club, Batavia Heights Christian Child Care, Park National Bank, Spindles Plus, the Cincinnati Reds, and the ChemMed Corp. Our former superintendent Barb Bradley also helped us out. It would not have been possible for us to participate in the national conference without the support we received from them.” Chapter treasurer Sahil Patel agrees. “Each year we need about $18,000 to cover the costs of regional, state and national competition. We try to fundraise, but so is everyone else in the school. We are very fortunate to have businesses willing to help us out.” Angie Kovacs is the business program instructor and the advisor for the Batavia BPA chapter. She said, “I cannot begin to
explain how grateful I am that the community supports the students’ efforts and recognizes their success. I know that when these students become business leaders they will do the same.” The students are enrolled in the Legal Management program at Batavia High School, a satellite program offered through the Great Oaks Career Campuses. The mission of Business Professionals of America is to contribute to the preparation of a world-class workforce through the advancement of leadership, citizenship, academic and technological skills. BPA is for students pursuing careers in business management, administration, information technology and other related career fields. BPA has 45,000 members and 2,500 chapter in the United States and Puerto Rico.
Goshen Middle School » Goshen Middle School received the National Forum to Accelerate Middle Grades Reform “Schools to Watch Award” in Washington, D.C. on June 23 for being a high performing middle school. Goshen Middle School earned this distinction by being academically excellent, developmentally responsive, and socially equitable. They were the only new Ohio middle school named to the list. Sharing first-hand knowledge of how to create and sustain a successful middle school, staff from Goshen Middle School in Goshen joined educators from 465 middle schools across the country that have been nationally recognized as Schools to Watch through the National Forum to Accelerate MiddleSee SCHOOLS, Page 7A