April 17, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 16

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

Historic Homes of Kettering-Moraine Museum

OHS Academic Decathlon team places 1st in state

The Oakwood High School Academic Decathlon team placed first in the small school division for the fourth straight year at the Academic Decathlon state competition for Ohio on March 10, 2007. Additionally, the team placed second overall in the state for both large and small schools with the team’s highest score to date.

The students diligently prepared for the competition at Hiram College through extensive study in ten different subject areas including mathematics, economics, art, music, climatology, language and literature, social science, speech, interview, and essay. This year’s focus of study in these areas was China. The team is uniquely composed of students from the “A”, “B”, and “C” GPA category levels.

At the awards banquet on March 11 at Kent State University, Michael McGovern and Jackie Malone, both seniors, delivered their memorized speeches in front of students, administrators, parents, and coaches from all participating schools as a result of placing first and third respectively in both divisions in the area of speech.
Also recognized at the banquet were Annie Wang and Kira Fenstermacher for earning the prestigious Golden Eagle award for the highest score in their individual categories. Wang, grade 12, achieved the highest score in the honors category and Fenstermacher, grade 11, achieved the highest score in the varsity category.

In addition to winning first in small schools, the following students received individual medals for high scores in select subject areas: Annie Wang (7 medals), Jackie Malone (7 medals), Erin Mooney (5 medals), Michael McGovern (6 medals), Brian Graeser (4 medals), Chris Mudry (4 medals), Patrick Murphy (6 medals), Kira Fenstermacher (6 medals), Colin Ward (5 medals), Hunter Wilson (7 medals), and David Holdren (1 medal).

The following students competed on the OHS nine person team this year: Annie Wang (12), Jackie Malone (12), Erin Mooney (11), Michael McGovern (12), Brian Graeser (12), Chris Mudry (10), Patrick Murphy (11), Kira Fenstermacher (11), and Colin Ward (9). Competing at-large were Hunter Wilson (11), David Holdren (9), Thomas Sherk (9), Hunter Benedict (9), and Lyndsay Seery (9).

Lori Kavanagh, an English teacher at Oakwood High School, coaches the team.

CSI course attracts 55 students

By Dawn Beigel

Crime scene investigation has become quite popular at Oakwood High School…in the way of study, that is.

Biology/forensic science teacher Melinda Wargacki showcased at last night’s Oakwood Board of Education meeting the new forensic science course she has been teaching with great success since last semester. The current 55 students have been studying a number of units that address different areas of science like trace evidence, serology, autopsy, toxicology and anthropology.

Wargacki said she’s basing a lot of the material on a class she took last summer at Virginia Commonwealth College.

“One thing I’ve found students really like are all the labs,” she said. A surprising thing they’ve discovered, she said, is the black powder used for dusting prints is actually a lot messier than what’s seen on TV shows.

The big unit for the students is doing a mock crime scene for which they are divided into groups and assigned different roles with different job responsibilities. Wargacki announced her class will be processing mock crime scenes on May 9, 10 and 11 at noon in the school auditorium. The public is invited to attend.

Student Evan Murphy, who took the course last semester, gave a step-by-step demonstration of what a forensic scientist does at a crime scene (see page 22 for a photo). The demonstration was completed with materials funded in part by grants from the PTO and Oakwood Schools Education Foundation.

School Superintendent Dr. Mary Jo Scalzo presented Murphy with a pin for “an outstanding presentation” and Wargacki with an “Essential Piece” pin for her efforts in teaching the course.

The course is new this year and open to juniors and seniors. Wargacki said she could easily convert it into a year-long course given the amount of material to cover.
In legislation, the board approved the following:

*Creating the Oakwood Outdoor Adventure Club and the student activity fund for it.

*Creating the Oakwood Athletic Hall of Fame to recognize those who have made significant athletic contributions to the high school.

*Creating the high school distinguished alumni award.

*Modifying the 2007-08 school calendar in order to reschedule the district professional development day from March 14, 2008 to March 7, 2008.

Schallers run Boston Marathon

Walter Schaller and daughter Heidi Schaller stood on the finish line of the one hundred and eleventh running of the Boston Marathon – and phoned the ‘Oakwood Register’ to report… “We finished …our time was 4:10 hours…” We were e-mailed this data to the Oakwood Register: “11:37 a.m. Walter Schaller at 10K…pace: 9:11 mph.” Then at 12:39 p.m. Heidi Schaller at the Half. Pace 9:08 mph’ Again at ‘1:32 p.m. Walter Schaller at 30K. Pace 9:14 mph.’ Projected Finish: 4:01:43 (net). And the final update – from Walter himself: “Twenty six and a half miles in four hours and ten minutes!” “The Greeks had a word for it”, as the saying goes. It’s heart, stamina, and dedication.