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Tyler Sell Qualifies for National Rowing Competition On May 22, senior Tyler Sell qualified to compete at the USRowing Youth National Championships. Sell placed second in the men’s varsity single event at Northwest Junior Regional Championships with a time of 7:56.06 for a 2000m course. Sell, who competed at the National Championships last year, will fly to Oak Ridge, Tennessee, on June 8, accompanied by his parents, Judy Blickenstaf and Mark Sell, and his coach, Corinne Lombardi. He will compete from June 10-12, at Melton Hill Lake.
Noah Yaconelli Wins Mr. Grizz
Steffi Garrard: AHS Grad on Broadway
Steffanie Garrard was a household name at Ashland High School by the time she graduated in 2005. “Steffi”, as she is called, performed in 12 plays with the AHS Theatre Department before she moved on to bigger and better things. Over the course of her four years at AHS, Garrad played Marian in “The Music Man,” Elsa in “The Sound of Music,” Abigail in “The Crucible,” Hope Harcourt in “Anything Goes” and Mame in “Mame.” Now, at age 23, Garrard is starring as Mary Poppins in the Broadway production of “Mary Poppins.” The show will begin performances in New York City in October 2011.
June 3 2011
Debate Members Head To Nationals by Michaela Anderson The debate team at Ashland High School has always been renowned for its standard of excellence. Each year, it hardly seems as though the current team could live up to the preceding year, but somehow they pull it off. This year is no exception. From June 12-20, five members will Nathan Ostovar (jr.) Tenaya Kenner (jr.) travel to compete against thousands of other high school debaters at Nationals. This year, the national competition will take place in Dallas, Texas. Senior Dante Toppo, juniors Tenaya Kenner, Maureen Page, Nathan Ostovar and sophomore Alexander Barnes are the five Ashland team members who qualified to compete at this level. These students will represent AHS in four different events: Humorous Interpretation, Lincoln-Douglas Debate, Extemporaneous Alexander Barnes (soph.) Speaking and Original Oratory. “We’ve put in a lot of work this year and we are all excited,” junior Nathan Ostovar commented about the trip. “We conquered the competition at State and we are going to do the same at Nationals.” The team will be fundraising extensively until they leave, because they need to fund for the trip themselves. Each student needs to pay a few hundred dollars to cover Maureen Page (jr.) tournament fees, lodging, food, airfare and other miscel- Dante Toppo (sr.) laneous expenses. Be sure to wish the debaters good luck When: June 13-18 Photos by Anja Hariss and before they leave!
Where: Dallas, Texas
Photo by Anja Hariss
On May 20, eight Ashland High School boys competed in the Mr. Grizz Pageant to raise money for the Children’s Miracle Network. Nate Carver and Noah Yaconelli (freshmen), Braedon Bell and Michael Skidmore (sophomores), Ian Smeenk and Julian Jones (juniors) and Talen Heater and Dante Toppo (seniors) competed for the title. To start the night, the boys performed a dance choreographed by Yeruti Estigarribia and Hanna Winters. Audience members then met the candidates through videos, talents and demonstrations of the careers they dreamed of as kids. Contestants also selected an inspirational person to bring on stage. Each canidate had two impromptu questions to answer and also had to respond to “What is the greatest threat to society today? To conclude the night, Yaconelli was crowned Mr. Grizz and Toppo stole the title of having raised the most money at $900. In total, the event raised approximately $7,000. You can check out Noah’s winning video at theroguenews.com
Rogue News
Laurel Sager
Dana Rensi Awarded Fulbright Scholarship by Olivia Fidler
Recently, Spanish teacher Dana Rensi accepted a Fulbright Award in Teaching. The Fulbright Award in Teaching is an honor that recognizes accomplished primary and secondary teachers. It gives them the opportunity to study abroad for six months at a research center or university. This coming fall, Rensi will travel to Guanajuato, Mexico, for the first semester of the school year to study at the University of Guanajuato and teach technology to teachers in the city. Rensi plans to study the methodology of teaching the English language and how to set up a self-access learning center at AHS. “I want to prepare myself with better skills to come back and help with the future of educations at Ashland High School,” Rensi said. This center, once established, would be a place for
students to come and receive support in their self-directed learning battles. Rensi has already worked in a center at the University of Guanajuato, supporting students who are in online classes, working on large projects and are having a hard time finding ideas for such projects. “These learning centers are very important because they are the future of libraries. It is important to learn how to set them up and how to support students in self-directed learning,” Rensi explained. “I am hopeful that the center will be community based with open hours allowing for integration of AHS students and the community.” Throughout her exchange, Rensi hopes to “bring Ashland to the world and the world to Ashland by expanding the horizons of our virtual exchange program for students and teachers here at the high school.”