Senior of the Month
March’s senior of the month is Lily Scheiderer, daughter of Todd and Kim Scheiderer of Marysville. She has been a varsity cheerleader for four years, as well as a member of art club and FCCLA, where she is currently president. In addition, she is the vice president of the National Honor Society. Lily was very proud to be honored as the winter homecoming queen this year. She is a 10-year member of the Darby Clovers 4H club and has served as their president for the past two years. Through 4H, she has enjoyed being a camp counselor for four years. She is a member of the Hickory Grove United Baptist Church. She is employed at Dave’s Pharmacy and works seasonally for Scheiderer Farms and Jumbo Iced Tea. Lily plans to attend the University of Toledo in the fall. Lily’s advice to underclassmen is, “have courage and be kind.”
FHS Music Department
By Lydia Carter
The Fairbanks Music Department has been very active over the past few months. The basketball pep band has played at many home basketball games throughout the winter, ending with senior night on Feb. 21. More than 50 students from seventh to 12th grade participated in the band, providing entertainment between games, at halftime, and during time-outs. The pep band also travelled to Nationwide Arena on Feb. 19 to perform at a Columbus Blue Jackets hockey game. Members enjoyed the opportunity to perform for a new audience and watch a fun game of hockey.
The Fairbanks concert bands and choirs also performed recently. The Mid Year Concert was held on March 6. The youth choir, sixth grade band, junior high concert band, high school concert choir, and high school concert band all performed. Highlights included a tango played by the junior high students, a hymn sung a cappella by the girls in the high school choir, and a suite played by the high school band that details one man’s crazed hallucinations. The High School Concert Band also participated in an OMEA contest on March 3. The band performed its concert program for a panel of three judges at Thomas Worthington High School and then sight-read a new piece of music for another judge. The band received an overall 3 ranking at the contest.
The bands and choirs will perform next at the spring concert at the high school on May 9, and the High School Concert Band will perform a retrospective concert at Veterans Auditorium in Marysville on May 19.
Special Olympics Basketball Game
By Erin Ward
On Feb. 25, a basketball game was held at Fairbanks Middle School for Special Olympics athletes. There was a JV game at 4:30 p.m. and a varsity game followed at 5:30 p.m. These games were sponsored by the Fairbanks National Junior Honor Society and they were able to recruit many high school students to participate, both basketball and non-basketball players. Fairbanks’ own Grayson Green was able to play, scoring several points, including a couple of three-pointers. Many who attended the game reported it was very fun to watch and they enjoyed being able to see players who were not normally able to play. The Fairbanks cheer squad cheered on the teams as they battled. Eventually, the Special Olympics team prevailed. Some of the other attendees reported they were glad both sides in both games were able to be good sports and were supportive, no matter who won and who lost. This game is an example of how young people are able to work together and make an impact on the diverse world around them.
Junior ACT Testing
By Koryn Bosworth
Beginning with this year’s class of 2018, the State of Ohio requires all juniors to take either the ACT or SAT as one of the pathways to graduation. Each school district can choose either test to administer. Fairbanks chose the ACT since that is the test most students are familiar with and use for college entrance purposes. This administration will be given at FHS on Tuesday, March 21.
The State of Ohio and ACT gave two dates from which to choose, with the other date in April during AIR testing, which is why FHS chose the March date. Testing will begin at the beginning of the day and students will be done around noon, just as they would during a Saturday administration of the ACT. All 96 juniors, whether they attend FHS or Tolles, will be tested.
Special preparations have been taking place to prepare for the test. Tables and chairs will be set up in the middle school gymnasium to create a testing environment. FHS elected to do the paper version of the ACT as opposed to the online version. Two classrooms and an office space in that same hallway will be used for small group testing for students with 504 or IEP accommodations. Some classes are being relocated to provide a quiet environment for the juniors to test in that morning. Seven Fairbanks staff members went through training and will be assisting with the testing either as a test administrator or a proctor. To limit distractions, the bells will be turned off and no announcements will be made during testing. Both the MS and HS will be working together.
Results will be returned to students in three to eight weeks. Student may use the following scores on the sub-tests of the ACT as a pathway for graduation: English, 18; Math, 22; and Reading, 22. They would need all three of those sub-test scores to use this pathway.
OHC Arts Festival
By Kate White
One March 1, five Fairbanks High School students attended the Ohio Heritage Conference Arts Festival. This was a day-long arts festival that involved top band, choral music, and visual art students from each of the 10 schools in the athletic league. It was hosted by Cedarville University, near Springfield, Ohio.
Although the high school concert band and choir opted out of attending this year, there were a few students who attended for visual art. These included freshmen Samantha Adkins and Victoria Powell, sophomores Maddie Weisburn and Kendra Rothfuss, and junior Meghan McCaslin. Freshman Holly Hollingshead was an alternate. These students were supervised by Mrs. Mitzi Noland.
Prior to the festival, students were asked to draw an image of an animal in nature. Realism was the focus. Teachers were asked to provide many supplies for the day. Upon arrival all participating students were introduced to the college by an admissions counselor. From there, each group went to their designated areas to prepare works of art for the evening’s events.
The band and choir students in attendance met with Cedarville professors in large groups and sectional rehearsals throughout the day to work out any kinks in their musical pieces. The visual art students were led through a studio exercise where they created a 5×7 piece of artwork that closely reflected an animal. Layers of crayon wax were melted to attempt to create exact colour and texture for the image prepared. It took four to seven hours of work on each of the pieces. The students and teachers broke for lunch and dinner for an hour each. Before dinner, they set up their art exhibit.
Each of the five selected art students from all of 10 schools were asked to bring three to five works of art they had completed in school. All of the work was on display in an exhibit that was open for viewing prior to a one-hour concert presented by the band and choir.
Those who were interested in putting a lot of time and detail into one piece of work really seemed to have fun doing it. There was more down time than most of them would have liked. The visual arts presenter did a wonderful job, however, Mrs. Noland was a little disappointed that the visual arts students did not get the opportunity to work with one of the Cedarville professors, as was the case for the choir and band students.
Given the opportunity Mrs. Noland thinks they would like to be involved next year. All information about the event was provided Mrs. Mitzi Noland.
FFA Happenings
By Becca Scholl
This month, the FFA has started some Career Development Event (CDE) contests, such as livestock, horse, dairy, and wildlife judging. On Feb. 16, they held a new event, an FFA lock-in. The evening consisted of games, movies, food, some leadership activities, and a dodgeball tournament. The chapter also held a strawberry sale and added katydids to the sale! FFA Week was from Feb. 18 to 23. They spread a lot of FFA cheer and, on Friday, had games in all of the AG classes! On Feb. 28, finalists for the president campaign for the 2017-2018 school year were named. The candidates are Travis Dellinger, Audrey Schiederer, and Rebecca Scholl. Read next month’s article to see who won president and the other offices!
Spanish Department Plans Trip
By Shannon Conroy
The Spanish department will be going on a trip to Costa Rica during Spring Break of 2018. All students with at least two years of Spanish are eligible to attend. The group will be traveling through the Costa Rican rain forests and go white water rafting, kayaking, hiking to the volcanos, visiting several national parks, and many other adventures throughout the country. The trip will last eight days and seven nights, where students will have the opportunity to learn and experience a new culture. The group will have a bilingual tour guide and will be traveling via motor coach from San José, to Sarapiquí, to the Arenal Region, ending the trip in Guanacaste. It has been many years since the Spanish classes had the chance to travel abroad. This trip will be organized by both of the Spanish teachers, Katie Wilburn and Johnnie Holbrook.
NHS News
By Carlee Rowland
With the school year coming to a close, the NHS inducted new members at the 2017 Induction Ceremony on March 16. Current officers are getting the new officers ready to take over in the 2017-2018 school year. The newly elected officers are president Koryn Bosworth, vice president Jenay Kocsis, secretary Marisa Nicol, treasurer Evan Hamm, and reporter Shannon Conroy. On behalf of the current NHS chapter, the graduating officers would like to wish them luck in the coming school year. In other news, NHS is holding a second blood drive in April and is in the middle of finishing the Pennies for Patients competition. A winner has yet to be named, but the homeroom that comes in first place will receive ice cream sundaes as a reward. President Katie Pastirzyk says she would also like to wish new members and officers good luck next year.