WEST SIDE BATTLE
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Your Community Press newspaper Serving Price Hill and Covedale Seton and Mercy high schools basketball teams battled on the court last week.
Volume 84 Number 6 © 2011 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
E-mail: pricehillpress@communitypress.com We d n e s d a y, F e b r u a r y
2, 2011
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Web site: communitypress.com
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Students engineer robot By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
Hey kids! Become a Press carrier and earn your own spending money and still have time for other fun activities since delivery is just once a week on Wednesday. It’s your own business where your neighbors rely on you to deliver information about their community. You’ll learn valuable business skills and gain experience in customer service and money management. You’ll also be able to earn bonuses. Call 853-6277.
Determined bowler
Elder High School senior Michael Luken learned that he had diabetes. Now he is bowling, determined to work through his disease. – FULL STORY, A5
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The five months of dedication and hard work were worth it for a group of students at St. William School. Ten sixth- and seventh-graders at the Price Hill grade school saw their efforts come to fruition Saturday, Jan. 15, at the 14th annual First LEGO League competition at Scarlet Oaks in Sharonville. Dubbed the Silver Dragons, St. William’s LEGO team finished fifth out of 20 teams from around the region. It was the first time the school ever fielded a team and participated in the competition. “We did really well for a first-year team,” said sixth-grader Nick Helmers-Wegman. Fellow sixth-grader Liam Conway echoed those sentiments. “I thought for our first year, fifth place was amazing.” Coached by St. William science teacher Kelly Wenzel, her engineer husband, Rick, and Don Strunk, an engineer who is married to St. William’s librarian, the students built a working robot out of LEGO pieces and programmed it to perform a series of tasks related to medicine. Conway said the theme of this year’s competition was “Body Forward,” and the team also had to conduct research on a medical problem, find a solution to the problem and make a presentation about it to a panel of judges. Conway said he and his teammates chose to research blood diseases. In addition to looking into ways to treat blood problems, the Silver Dragons also organized a raffle and an out-ofuniform day at their school to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society and an area 10-month-old girl who has Leukemia. The team also designed a website and provided information on how to donate blood to Hoxworth Blood Center. The students received the first place trophy for “Best Research” and were also awarded pins for “Gracious Professionalism.” Sixth-grader Ethan Winkler said they met every Friday afternoon and Saturday morning for five months to prepare for the competition. They even took a field trip to Ethicon EndoSurgery to see real medical robots at work, he said.
KURT BACKSCHEIDER/STAFF
St. William School sixth-graders, left to right, Alex Witte, Liam Conway and Ethan Winkler get their LEGO robot ready to complete a task. The students are members of the school’s LEGO team, which recently participated in its first ever competition and won fifth place out of 20 teams. Winkler said although each student had a specific duty, they all came together as one. Students assumed the roles of robot programmers, website designers, graphic artists, internet research specialists, public relations specialists and robot technicians. “I really enjoyed creating the website and doing the presentation for the judges,” said sixth-grader Tasha Truitt, the only girl member of the team. Sixth-grader Alex Witte said he had a lot of fun building the robot, even giving up his lunch bell and recess for two straight weeks to
program and perfect it with teammates Jonathon Abe and Brennan Hirth. “One-third of the competition points are based on how well your robot works. The other two-thirds of the points are based on your presentation and team spirit,” Witte said. “One of the announcers really liked the amount of spirit we showed, and she volunteered to be our mentor for next year.” The students said they are already starting to meet to discuss next year’s competition. “It was so much fun,” Conway said. “We’re definitely going to do it again next year.”
Bright ideas worth $40K in Price Hill By Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com
Soleful project
Students at St. Aloysius on the Ohio are collecting shoes to aid those in need. Student council launched Soles for Souls last month. – FULL STORY, A3
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The deadline for submitting a proposal and being considered for a chance to win $40,000 is quickly approaching. Price Hill Will is accepting applications for The $40K Challenge: Funding Bright Ideas of Price Hill Neighbors. The application deadline is Tuesday, Feb. 15. Ken Smith, executive director of Price Hill Will, said the funding initiative is going well. “There are several groups putting applications together,” he said. The challenge is an innovative process in which $40,000 will be invested in East and West Price Hill, Smith said. The goal of the program is to engage and empower residents to create worthwhile community projects. “It’s a neat little program,” he said. The idea to offer the challenge $21.00
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is based on some work that was done in Chicago, where residents were invited to participate in a citizen-directed funding initiative, he said. “We had Smith some funds we’ve used for neighborhood improvement projects, and we thought it would be an interesting neighborhood engagement project,” he said. Last fall a committee of stewards representing various groups in the neighborhood met to plan the initiative and ensure the $40K Challenge resonates with residents, reaches a wide range of people and makes the greatest possible impact. Smith said the stewards reached out to the community to encourage a wide range of residents – especially those who have not been previously active in the $20.25
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“We had some funds we’ve used for neighborhood improvement projects, and we thought it would be an interesting neighborhood engagement project.”
Ken Smith Executive director of Price Hill Will
neighborhood or larger community-building efforts – to participate in the challenge. Price Hill Will launched the $40K Challenge in December at a kick-off event in which residents came together to refine the themes created by the stewards, add to them and make funding proposals that will be voted on by the entire community. Smith said a follow up meeting took place Jan. 19, giving community members who are developing proposals a chance to work together once again, discuss their
project proposals and learn more about the application process. “There are several ideas we can move forward and see which one gets funded,” he said. “Once we have all the applications we’ll post them online in various locations as a next step.” He a large community meeting will be scheduled for sometime in March, at which time residents will present their proposals and the community will vote on which ones to implement. Smith said the challenge is a great opportunity for people to get involved and do something positive for the neighborhood. Price Hill Will did not place many restrictions on the proposals, but he said the projects should have a broad and sustainable long-term impact, empower citizens from the entire community and build on the assets of Price Hill. For more information about the challenge, visit www.pricehillwill.org.
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