March 13, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 11

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

Oakwood home gets an award-winning kitchen

Jacks capture first District Championship in 31 years

20-win season also a first

By King Merritt

D-E-F-E-N-S-E!!! D-E-F-E-N-S-E!!! D-E-F-E-N-S-E!!! That is what it took in the second half for the Lumberjacks to overcome a 13 point deficit to move on to the Fairborn Regional tournament in a wild and exciting 34-31 comeback victory.

With a large crowd ready to see the rematch of Oakwood versus Middletown Bishop Fenwick again at UD Arena. The Falcons of Fenwick, with UD legend Don Donoher sitting on the bench for Fenwick, came out determined to avenge their loss to Oakwood in December. It seemed to be raining three pointers for the Falcons as Phil Trotta scored 13 points in the first half with three treys. Early foul trouble for Oakwood kept them on their heels defensively for the entire first half. Fenwick beat Oakwood in every category in the first half, Fenwick shot 47 percent to Oakwood’s 31 percent, Falcons three points shooting 56 percent to Jack’s 0 percent, Fenwick also out rebounded Oakwood and committed less turnovers. The only bright spot for Oakwood was Robby Sherk’s six points in the half.

During halftime it seemed the Lumberjack fans were in shock, down by 13 points with on 16 minutes of basketball left and no shot clock. When the Jacks came back on the court there were no smiles just a look of determination.

The third quarter started with Fenwick in a stall and Oakwood staying back on defense. Then with 3 and a half minutes gone in the third quarter a light went off and Oakwood starting playing the smothering defense that had gotten them to this game. Key steals by Robby Sherk and Scott Casebere started the momentum to turn to Oakwood’s favor. Scott Casebere hit a couple of three pointers and then the “game was on.” Oakwood went on a 11-1 run until the Falcon’s Kevin Donoher hit a trey at the buzzer. The score at the end of the quarter stood at 27-21 Fenwick.

The Jacks came out in the fourth quarter intent on not allowing the season to end. Continuing his excellent play on both side of the court Scott Casebere took the game on his back and his teammates followed. With two minutes and change the Lumberjacks took the lead. Jon Richardson made a key steal and with 32.5 seconds remaining made the front end of a one and one. The Jacks then played intelligent defensive basketball to end the game. Oakwood committed only one turnover the entire second half and outscored Fenwick 24-8. Excellent defensive play by Jake Mays, Chris Hardy & Will Merritt also highlighted the second half play of the Jacks. Coach Paul Stone did an excellent job not allowing the Jacks to get down on themselves and calling the defensive signals. This victory showed the true will and heart of the 2007 Lumberjack cagers!!

Leading the scoring for Oakwood was Scott Casebere with 15 points (all in the second half), Robby Sherk 8, Jon Richardson 7, and Chris Hardy 4.

The victory gives the Lumberjacks the first 20-win season, the first District Championship since 1971 and sends them to the Regional Semi-finals on Wednesday night at The Wright State Nutter Center at 8 p.m. The Jacks will be facing another Greater Catholic League foe in Purcell Marion, who has a 17-6 record in the very tough GCL. Please make the trip to Fairborn to support the Jacks and remember, wear your gold) and cheer on the Jacks!!

Photos by Leon Chuck

Chris Hardy goes for a lay-up.

Scott Casebere receives high-fives from the coaches.

Photos by Leon Chuck

Oakwood team bench begins to celebrate.

Oakwood couple picks way through foreign adoption maze

By Lance Winkler

Back in October, a small but very precious gift arrived in America in the care of new parents Dr. William Slattery and his wife Marie Gonzalez-Slattery. The couple had just returned from Guatemala with 10-month-old Jorge Alberto, their newly adopted son. The couple went through quite an arduous process to secure him that began in June 2005: FBI, Homeland Security and Health Department background checks, letters of reference, DNA tests, home study courses and a caseworker making an inspection of their Oakwood home, culminating in getting pre-approval by the U.S. Embassy to travel to Guatemala for the planned adoption.

“It’s quite an interrogation,” said Dr. Slattery, who with his wife, has patiently jumped through all the bureaucratic hoops both here, and abroad in Guatemala. “Guatemala has rigid safeguards in place,’ added Dr. Slattery. Which brings the couple to their next hurdle – obtaining custody of Jorge’s 4 1/2-year-old sister Maritza - still in Guatemala and living in an orphanage for the past five months. The couple plan to return to Guatemala at the end of this month - “We’ll be visiting on March 30 – Maritza’s birthday,” and attempting to complete the paperwork that will grant them permission to bring Maritza home with them to the U.S. as well.

Dr. William Slattery, Jorge Alberto and Marie Gonzalez-Slattery.

Their plight has garnered the attention of the CNN television network recently, who sent a news crew to their home last Friday for a question and answer interview and broadcast last night (Monday, March 12) on CNN.

According to Marie Gonzalez-Slattery, President Bush will be bringing up adoption protocols and policies with Guatemalan president Oscar Berger during his current visit to five South American countries. There is a problem in that Guatemala is not currently “Hague-compliant,” meaning it doesn’t follow the current protocols developed and adopted by the Hague world body in the Netherlands. There is a chance that adopting such policies could bring about a termination of all in-process adoptions currently underway, which means the Slatterys could lose Maritza forever. “We’re hoping the two presidents can come to an agreement,” Marie said.
“It’s a scary situation. These children are counting on us. We are requesting that all in-process adoptions be finalized,” said Marie. “To become an adoptive parent – it’s not for the faint of heart. We’re living day-to-day, minute-by-minute.”

Marie has written a sample letter on behalf of other adoptive parents for them to follow in appealing to President Bush regarding current adoption policies. The letter was posted on the website guatadopt.com. The couple also work with Kevin Kreutzer and Kelly Caldwell of Family Adoption Consultants based in Macedonia, Ohio.

The couple both hail from New York City. Marie was formerly employed at Wright State University as Supervisor of Student Teachers and Multicultural Education. Dr. Slattery attributes his current career to current school board member Dr. James Uphoff, who offered him the job of Science Educator at WSU, instructing teachers on the fine art of teaching Earth Science and Space.

For Dr. Slattery, his new-found fatherhood is a joy. “Fatherhood has its pleasures. That includes 2 a.m. bottle feedings and chasing after him,” he said. The couple are also hopeful for the day when Maritza is under the same roof with them as well.

“When Maritza comes home, Marie will speak Spanish and I will speak to her in English, which helps to preserve her native language and helps her learn English fast,” said Dr. Slattery.

Their March visit to Guatemala is fraught with uncertainty, but they are going to put every effort into bringing their son’s sister home with them. “We’re optimistic,” said Marie.

Curricular Showcase mixes comics, computers and fairy tales

By Dawn Beigel

Students at Harman Elementary School showed what happens when you mix comics with a fairy tale at last night’s Oakwood Board of Education meeting.

Teacher Tim Fleck discussed during the meeting’s Curricular Showcase a recent language arts project his class did using ordinary children’s fairy tales and ComicLife, a computer software package used for a variety of instructional purposes throughout the district. The program will be offered in a session at the district’s professional development day this Friday.

“The idea to do fairy tales kind of led to this,” said Fleck of the class project. He explained how the students selected the classic fairy tales they wanted to work with, rewrote the stories from the antagonist view and turned them into comic strips.

Students Samantha Dunham and Katja Molinaro teamed up to create L’il Pink Riding From Da Hood Starring Gizmo, and Rebecca Dietz and Olivia Ireland created The True Story of Cinderlivia. Fleck shared with board members copies of the final products as well as samples of the students’ group sheets, their stories and an outline of the project.

The teams reviewed their comics to the board, showed the in-the-making pictures they used for their comic strips and briefly demonstrated how they created the strips on computer. When asked, one of the students said their favorite part of the project was making the actual comic book.

“It’s a lot of fun to do,” said Fleck. “It kept their interest (because) it’s a different way to write. I thought it was well worth the time we spent on it.” School Superintendent Dr. Mary Jo Scalzo presented the students with Blue Ribbon and Shining Star pins, and Fleck with a Puzzle Piece pin “because of the hard work you do with our students,” she told him.

In legislation, the board:

•Accepted a $5,000 donation from Frederick M. Bayley for the 2007 American Dream Essay Contest; a $1,000 donation from the Leonardt Foundation for the Academic Decathlon; a $1,250 donation from
LaRosa’s Pizzeria for the high school Giving Program; and the donation of Monticello and Mount Vernon prints from Judy Stolle.

•Adopted high school astronomy print materials, and math content standards for next school year.

•Approved the 2007 summer school program.

•Accepted resignations/retirements of Smith Elementary School teacher Patricia Tule (after 30 years) and junior/senior high social studies teacher Janet Hess (after 22 years), both effective June 30.

The board also acknowledged, but took no action on, the resignation of Kathryn Carlisle with Montgomery County ESC, effective this June 30. Carlisle has been a speech and language pathologist assigned full time to Oakwood Schools for the last 12 years. “She’s done an outstanding job and will be missed,” said Dr. Scalzo.

In public commendations, the board recognized:

•Oakwood Junior High students Duncan Richards, Stephanie Telek, and Madeleine Gillingham for their winning as student delegates at the Ohio Model United Nations last month. Richards, the delegate from Botswana, won the Current Events Contest; Telek, delegate from Vietnam, won the Leadership Award; and Gillingham was runner-up in the Peace Essay Contest. The Vietnam delegation was the cultural presentation runner-up.

•A number of art students who were regional winners at the Ohio Governor’s Youth Art Competition this month. They included Jasmine Al-Masri, Leah Berger, Kris Blazer, Kevin Brennan, Chloe Cherubim, Anna Chital, Kelsey Crotchet, Kara Hamilton, Victoria Harlan, Michelle Lewis, Murphy McZee, Erin Miller, Catherine Rodman, Allison Shane and Georgia Stathopoulos.

•The high school’s Southwestern Buckeye League coaches from winter season, including Bryan Ammer, head coach, boys’/girls’ swimming; Aaron Oakes, head coach/SWBL Coach of the Year, girls’ basketball; and Paul Stone, head coach/SWBL Coach of the Year, boys’ basketball.

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