December 11, 2007 - Volume 16, No. 50

a Winkler Company publication

Also featuring photos from our monthly supplement...

The Painted Lady of St. Anne's Hill

Holiday of Lights at the OCC

Photos by Leon Chuck www.PressboxPhoto.com

Sundays inclement weather didn’t dampen the community spirit of Oakwood as Mayor Judy Cook emceed the Holiday of Lights at the Oakwood Community Center.

The crowd was entertained by Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer, Frosty the Snowman, and Oakwood’s Children’s Choir. The choir sang lots of Christmas music, such as Jingle Bells.

Santa Claus later arrived on a fire truck, where children, young and old, sat on his lap to make their wishes known.

Dr. James Uphoff honored for 20 years service

By Dawn Beigel

The Oakwood Board of Education specially honored its own Dr. Jim Uphoff last night for his 20 years of leadership in the school district.

Uphoff’s service as an elected board member dates back to 1989. Prior to that, he served on the district’s business advisory committee.

“(He) has made an indelible imprint on the Oakwood community. We have been VERY well served by his commitment to and his vision for Oakwood Schools,” stated the board as a group.

Uphoff was presented a number of “essential puzzle piece” pins by his colleagues at the meeting. His wife, Harriett, was present.

“Your commitment to our (students) is legendary…we are truly blessed to have you,” said Superintendent Dr. Mary Jo Scalzo.

Uphoff responded, “When you’ve been around the profession that long, you pick up a lot, you learn a lot. It has truly been a learning experience and I’ve enjoyed it.”

Also in commendations, the board recognized John C. Gray who made arrangements with the Ohio State University marching band for 115 Oakwood band students and their parents to attend the university’s marching band pre-game rehearsal, the Skull Session and a tour of the band room last month. Gray also made a generous donation to the Frederick R. Walker Band Foundation, which underwrote the cost of charter bus transportation and lunch for all.

In its curricular showcase at the meeting, the board viewed results from the recent Dayton Area Drug Survey (DADS), given to students in grades 7-12, that provides estimates of teen drug use throughout the Miami Valley. It is part of the executive summary information from the South Suburban Teen Alcohol & Other Drug Prevention Task Force. Oakwood High School prevention/intervention counselor Peggy Holton presented the information. Among highlights from the results of Oakwood students:

*51 percent of seniors reported having ever smoked a cigarette.

*18 percent of juniors reported having smoked at least one cigarette a day in the past month.

*66 percent of seniors and 50 percent of juniors reported having been drunk at least once in their lifetime.

*45 percent of seniors and 40 percent of juniors reported having used marijuana in their lifetime.

Among all Miami Valley students surveyed, they appear to see tobacco use as more harmful than that of alcohol use.

Another highlight in the survey is that students overall are using alcohol mostly at parties, on weekends, and are obtaining it mostly at stores and at parties without parental supervision.

The survey also highlights the use of alcohol, cigarettes, diet pills and inhalants (non-NO2) are more common among all students compared to using other forms of substance abuse.

“I worry about inhalants…they’re cheap and easy to access,” said Holton.
“And students do use them. I tell parents to lock their medicine cabinets (especially when it comes to non-prescription Ritalin users.”

Among observations the task force has made is that students are getting mixed messages about drug/alcohol use, due in part to today’s society and advertising.
“(This) is not a school issue, it’s a community issue, something we need to take care of as a community,” said Holton. She reviewed some recommendations by the task force to address the issue:

*Enforce consequences of behavior and communicate a no-use message.
*Parent education.
*Enhance the education on alcohol, tobacco and other drugs, and continue it throughout high school. The education must also be evidence based.
*Adopt a resolution supporting the report/findings and recommendations of the task force.
The school board did adopt such a resolution at last night’s meeting.
Among other legislation, the board:
*Accepted the donation of $160 from Cincinnati Bell Telephone; a Pentax camera and accessories from Joseph Boyle to the high school yearbook; and a Canon digital camera and accessories by Susan Kettering to the high school newspaper.
*Named its current BOE president as chairperson pro-tem for the January 2008 organizational meeting until a new board president is elected.
*Approved the dual-enrollment course proposal for global politics for next school year.
*Adopted a policy on bullying and other forms of aggressive behavior, with a noted amendment.
*Accepted grants from the Oakwood Schools Education Foundation.

The Oakwood School Board will hold its next meeting on Jan. 14, 2008, 7:30 p.m. at the central office.

Sugar Camp candidate for $150,000 ED/GE grant

The Montgomery County, Ohio Economic Development/Government Equity (ED/GE) Advisory Committee recommended the Sugar Camp development in Oakwood for $150,000 in funding among five other projects in the Miami Valley. The committee put forward the recommendation after a presentation was given to the group by Oakwood Deputy City Manager Jay Weiskircher demonstrating such a need.

Sugar Camp is the only remaining large developable parcel in Oakwood. Although the site is already served by utilities and infrastructure, some changes are necessary in order to better accommodate potential users.

The ED/GE grant, combined with public monies being contributed by the city of Oakwood, will be used to reconfigure the existing access road, relocate some existing infrastructure and construct additional infrastructure necessary to serve the Sugar Camp site. These improvements are needed to accommodate new parking lots on the site and to make the site more economically viable.

The funding recommendations will be considered by the Board of County Commissioners at its Dec. 18 meeting.

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