May 15, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 20

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

Colonial Revival on Oakwood Avenue

Dani Reese to run with ASU track team

By Lance Winkler

With parents Greg and Katie looking on, senior Dani Reese signs on for four years at Appalachian State University.

Oakwood High School senior Dani Reese signed a Letter of Intent on Friday to attend Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina on a full scholarship. She will be joining the cross country and track team there and running competitively with the Appalachian Mountaineers, one of the top-ranked track and cross country teams in the nation. She visited there recently and was touched by “the great sense of camaraderie” she felt when she went on a practice run with the team. She also mentioned that the team runs challenging courses at the many state and nation
al parks in the area. “That’s about all you can ask for,” she said.

Reese has been burning up both cinders and landscape around Oakwood since seventh grade. A school record holder in both the 800m with a time of 2:17 and the mile with a time of 5:19, Reese just broke the Southwestern Buckeye League 800m record this past weekend with a time of 2:15.52 and the 1600m record of 5:18.86 set in 1981 by another OHS athlete.

Reese plans to major in nutrition and become a professional nutritionist for a career, teaching proper eating habits. She attributes her diet as contributing to much her success in both track and field.

She works as a lifeguard at the Kettering Tennis Center pool and for conditioning goes on ten mile runs. She has never run a 26.2 marathon as yet, but plans to try when she reaches adulthood.

She has a brother, William, who is a freshman at OHS and a younger sister, Molly, who is in the seventh grade and is already involved in soccer and track. She is the daughter of Greg and Katie Reese and last but not least, has a pet English Bulldog named Kitty and a 7-toed kitty named Mittens.

Academic Decathlon team takes 3rd place

With their highest score to date, the Oakwood High School Academic Decathlon team placed third in the nation in the United States Academic Decathlon Virtual National Competition. Receiving medals were Annie Wang (12), Jackie Malone (12), Kira Fenstermacher (11), and Chris Mudry (10). Team members competing were Annie Wang (12), Jackie Malone (12), Erin Mooney (11), Brian Graeser (12), Michael McGovern (12), Chris Mudry (10), Kira Fenstermacher (11), Patrick Murphy (11), and Colin Ward (9). The team is coached by Lori Kavanagh.

Speech and Debate trio showcase talents at board meeting

By Dawn Beigel

Three of Oakwood High School’s finest speech and debate students showed at last night’s board of education meeting what it takes to make it to the nationals.

Team advisor Brianna Doyal introduced the trio—Michael McGovern, Valerie Reaper and Tyler Rife—who each presented a portion of their impressive speeches from the recent state level.

McGovern performed his international extemporaneous speaking in which he discusses international politics without knowing the topic in advance. Reaper performed a dramatic interpretation about her older dying brother, ending her speech with the phrase “…and I wonder why does it feel so empty.” Rife showed a lighter side with his humorous story and impersonation of a three-year-old boy at a concert.
“They’re three of our very talented debaters…you can see why I’m so proud of them,” said Doyal. They will showcase their talents May 21 in the high school gym during second period, she added.

The students were among 19 who qualified at the state competition, and are from a total of 50 speech and debate class students at the school this year.

The national tournament will be held in mid-June in Wichita, Kan. The board accepted at last night’s meeting a $1,000 donation from the Charles R. Neihaus Fund for the John Martin Fund to send the students to the nationals.

School Superintendent Dr. Mary Jo Scalzo presented the three students with “Shining Star” pins and Doyal with an “Essential Piece” token.

In legislation, the school board:

*Approved the hire contract for Daniel K. Weckstein as junior high principal, effective this July 1. “I’m very excited to become a part of Oakwood…I can’t wait to begin on July 1,” he said.

*Approved the hire contract for Kimberly Munn as speech and language pathologist for the 2007-08 school year. “Everyone’s been so kind and helpful,” said Munn. “I’m excited to get started.”

*Accepted resignations from business advisory council member Craig White, and from attendance secretary Sharon L. Vipperman (for retirement purposes) after 26 years.

*Appointed Alan Halpern to the Wright Memorial Public Library Board of Trustees. He replaces Judith Thompson who resigned.

Oakwood Schools thank community for support

Dear Oakwood Residents,

On behalf of the Oakwood Board of Education and the students, faculty, staff, and administration of the Oakwood Schools, we thank Oakwood residents for your overwhelming support of the District’s Permanent Improvement Replacement Levy last Tuesday. 80 percent of voters approved the levy and it passed in every precinct. We deeply appreciate the community’s support of our schools!

This replacement levy will not be an additional cost to taxpayers because we were able to refinance the bonds sold after the 2002 levy at a lower interest rate. This offsets the millage increase of the Replacement Levy resulting in a zero increase in taxes.

With Tuesday’s voter approval, the district will receive additional funds for five years to be used for building repairs, equipment, furnishings and other items that have
a useful life of at least five years. Permanent improvement funds cannot be used for salaries and other operating expenses.

The Board of Education has prioritized building maintenance, technology, and upgrades in security at each school. Examples of these uses are roof repairs, plumbing and electrical work, sidewalk and parking lot repairs, replacement of older computers, and installation of video surveillance systems in all buildings.

We are grateful to the Oakwood community for the resources you have provided. We promise to continue working with our Business Advisory and Facilities Committees in keeping you informed about how these dollars are expended.

Sincerely,

Mr. Kevin Philo, Treasurer
Dr. Mary Jo Scalzo, Superintendent

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