October Senior of the Month named
October’s senior of the month is Abby Underhill. Abby is the daughter of Timothy and Angela Underhill of Plain City. During high school she has been involved in various clubs including FFA, FCCLA, Science Club, National Honor Society, and Mock Trial. Within FFA, she serves as the vice president and has competed in job interview, advanced parliamentary procedure, and general livestock judging. She also serves as the vice president for FCCLA. She is involved in Darby Clovers 4-H club where she raises and shows dairy feeders, goats, chickens, and turkeys. Through 4-H and showing animals, she has received many showmanship awards including the Overall Showman of Showmen in 2018. She is a 4-H camp counselor, and the president of the Jr. Fair Board. She is employed at Yutzy’s Farm Market year around and at Ward’s Whitetail Farm in the summer. After graduation she plans to attend either the University of Findlay or The Ohio State University to major in biology and be on the pre-veterinary track. When asked what advice she has for the underclassmen she replied, “Find a balance between school and other activities in life so that you can be successful in classes but also have fun in high school.”
Alumni celebrate 500 games
By Gage Garlinghouse
On Friday, Oct. 11, 2019 the Fairbanks Local School District celebrated the 50th anniversary of Fairbanks Football and its 500th game. This marked a momentous occasion for the school as the event was used as a time to remember the past and all those who have helped build the program to where it is now. With this in mind an Alumni night was hosted by the team, inviting all past players to return to the school. Mr. Rebmann and his technology students gave the Alumni the chance to put their stories on record by having them recorded and saved by the school forever. This will be published in a blog in the near future.
At the beginning of the game a memorial was read about Coach Frank Spurlock, a former teacher and the first coach of the football team. Following this, facts on the history and statistics of the team were read throughout the game to further the historic celebration.
Despite all of the grand events nothing truly special for the current football team was done, but there was a very good reason for this. Despite having brought in the 287th win in school history during the game, head coach Patrick Cotter says that this night was for the Alumni, being that it was a celebration of history. “They will have their time to be Alumni,” Cotter said about the current players. He continued with “They should focus on the game, the Alumni should celebrate and remember.” Through all of this he also asks that people remember that the program “cares about the Alumni and we want to create something they can be proud of.”
Class researches with OSU prof.
By Madeline Conroy
This year, Mr. Finney’s Sociology classes will be working with Dr. Brittany Shoots-Reinhard. She is a 2004 FHS graduate and a Senior Research Associate with the Department of Psychology at The Ohio State University. Dr. Shoots-Reinhard approached Mr. Finney to have his two sociology classes work on a student-led research project to examine and make recommendations regarding the social problems of distracted driving. Their focus for the project will be to organize and perform a year-long study. The students will be specifically focused on issues relating to teen drivers in rural areas.
These Fairbank students are brainstorming ideas from their personal experiences as student drivers in rural areas where they live. The students are also hoping to bring a driving simulator to Fairbanks so that students can be thrown into simulated distractions to see what causes the driver to be distracted, and what happens to them afterwards. To date, the sociology students have been doing research and collecting photos. The students are to report all of their ideas and research that they have collected so far to Dr. Shoots-Reinhard.
On October 21st, approximately 25 students from Mr. Finney’s sociology classes will have the opportunity to present their research plans at the Risk Institute Conference being held at The Ohio State University. Although they will be presenting their ideas on how to spread awareness, how to talk about distracted driving, and how to stop it next week; they will continue to research more about this topic the remainder of the year.
Fairbanks hosts exchange student
By Livvy Bellas
High School Sophomore Mathilde Schmidt is incredibly familiar with the American way of life. Originally from Copenhagen, Denmark, Mathilde and her family travel often, visiting Florida every year she can remember.
Because of her experience in the United States, Schmidt wanted to see what it was like to live in America full time as an exchange student. She followed in her mother’s footsteps and enrolled in the exchange program.
Schmidt says that the biggest difference between America and Denmark is the food. While in Denmark her family would cook at home for almost every meal, but here it is much more common for her and her host family to get takeout for dinner.
She also notes the difference in transportation here in rural Milford Center compared to the bustling city of Copenhagen. At home she was accustomed to walking or taking a bus to get places, while now she spends much more time in a car.
She says that she appreciates the small town life here, where it is very peaceful. She enjoys her classes at Fairbanks, claiming that the environment of the school is much more relaxed and welcoming than at her old school.
Hosted by Jennifer and Michael Vack, Schmidt says that she is loving life in America, appreciating the different ways of life here compared to her hometown.
Despite growing up in a large city, her school in Denmark was very small, with less than 50 kids per grade level. Although initially intimidated by the size of Fairbanks, Schmidt feels like she is fitting in and has enjoyed making friends at Fairbanks.
She has met people through FCCLA, and is thinking about helping the crew for this year’s Drama Club musical. She looks forward to celebrating the holidays with her host family, especially Halloween, which they don’t celebrate in Denmark.
Although only being in America for a few months, Schmidt says that she feels as though she has gotten a lot out of the exchange program, getting to meet new people and make new memories in America.
NHS members work at maze
By Megan Stallings
This month, National Honor Society is volunteering at The Maize at Little Darby Creek. On Thursday Oct. 17, members participated in the haunted maze. Students excitedly signed up for different stations such as the clown bus, the autopsy and the scarecrow during this month’s meeting. Other students were stationed throughout the maize to startle those who passed by.
In the halls, members enthusiastically passed the news around the school and created interest among peers. This is a fun way for Fairbanks students to get involved in their community and is looked forward to each year.
Club volunteers with local organizations
By Alexis Murray
Interact Club at Fairbanks High School aims to help those in need and improve the environment one step at a time. The club participates in highway cleanups, monthly fundraisers for important causes, and monthly volunteering at the Hope Center in Marysville. Interact works through President, Sarah Belmonte, and the local rotary which oversees all projects. Last month, Interact did a week long bake sale run by the members for an organization attempting to make a difference in students’ lives. The bake sale generated $186 for teenage suicide prevention.
This month, Interact Club wanted to spice things up and created a competition. Each first period class competed to see who could generate the most canned goods to be donated to the Plain City Food Pantry. The Plain City Food Pantry had been falling short of donated goods and were desperate for donations. To generate incentive for students to bring in cans, the rotary agreed to purchase donuts for the winning class.
In first place was Crystal Tebbe’s class with an average of 11 cans per student, second place was Keenan Chapman’s class with 5.5 cans per student, and third place was Johnnie Holbrook’s class with 5.2 cans per student. Fairbanks classes was able to generate a grand total of 642 cans for the Plain City Food Pantry.
FFA holds fundraisers, events
By Linsey Eddy
The school year is in full-swing and the FFA is too. The community pancake breakfast, held at the end of September, raised over $800 in donations to benefit Children’s Hospital. The annual petting zoo was also a huge success, as elementary classes were able to learn about and handle farm animals.
This month, the chapter is looking forward to several exciting events. On Oct. 19, members had the opportunity to get involved by haunting the MAiZE at Little Darby Creek. On Oct. 23, chapter members will hold their monthly meeting, which will be followed by a Halloween party and pumpkin carving. Featured at the meeting will be superintendent, Mr. Schirg, and members are eager to show our school leaders what the FFA is all about.
At the end of the month, some members will be attending the FFA National Convention in Indianapolis, where they will have the chance to meet with FFA members from across the country, as well as attend sessions led by national officers and various guest speakers.
October is an important month for fundraising for Career Development Events, and yearly awards banquet. Members will be selling FFA fruit, barbeque sauce and apple cider Oct. 10 through Nov. 4. Deliveries of fresh produce will be made on Dec. 9. Find a Fairbanks FFA member and get your order in.