Senior of the Month
March’s senior of the month is Wyatt Griffey. Wyatt is the son of Shane and Susan Griffey of Marysville. He has been involved in Marching Band, Pep Band, Concert Band, and National Honor Society. He is a member of 4-H and is an Eagle Scout in Troop 355. He is employed at Blackwing Shooting Center. After graduation he plans to attend a four year university and major in mechanical engineering. When asked what advice he has for the underclassmen, he replied, “Find what you love and do everything thing you can to further it. The classes you take, clubs you’re involved in and activities you pursue outside of school will provide the foundation for the rest of your life.”
Sophomore competes at Arnold
By: Lexi Murray
On March 7th, Fairbanks had one of their own students participate in the 2020 Arnold Classic. Caymus Hall is a sophomore at Fairbanks High School and has been practicing Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for 10 months. He got involved in the sport because he has been in martial arts in the past and wanted to challenge himself. In these short ten months, he has acquired the second of six highest belts (yellow) while training at the Ronin Training Center in Columbus two times a day Tuesday through Thursday. In order to get the sixth highest belt (black) he would have to commit to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu for up to 10-12 years. Caymus has his sights set on achieving this difficult and rewarding belt. Along with two other boys from his class, Caymus was asked and accepted a position to compete in the Arnold Classic where he would compete against opponents whose ages ranged anywhere from 16-30 years old. While the event was not open to the public due to health concerns, Caymus was able to have his first competition on a large scale and is grateful for the experience for making him a better fighter.
Parents support student mental health
By: Madeline Conroy
A new parent group has formed in the Fairbanks community called U-nite. It first got started in October of 2019. A group of parents from Fairbanks decided they wanted to be more active in supporting students and the day to day challenges they were facing. They believe this can be accomplished by educating themselves so they can better advocate for their children and other children’s mental health and safety. So far the team is made up of 6 individuals. They meet monthly to connect and review community needs. Currently, they have parents from Fairbanks and Marysville and they hope as they grow that they have opportunities for additional Union County parents from other schools to become more involved.
So far the group has formally made their presence known to the community at, Isaac’s Story: A Story of Love and Loss, on November 6, 2019. U-nite supported the sharing of Isaac’s story to help raise mental health awareness for our community. On February 12, 2020, U-nite also partnered with He Who Laughs, and they placed “notes of encouragement” on the lockers of middle school and high school students. This event was organized out of wanting to show the youth that even in times of struggle, our community believes in them. Additionally on February 24, 2020, the group handed out donuts to students as a random act of kindness. The youth especially appreciated this since the intention behind the donuts was to show that they are cared about “just because”.
The group has other events planned for the future including hosting a Youth Mental Health First Aid event in April. Also in the month of April the group will be gathering at a public location in the community to write notes of encouragement for the Fairbanks graduating class of 2020. The best way to stay updated with their events is by following them on Facebook or visiting, www.u-nite.org, and signing up for their newsletter. All of their events are free and open to anyone to attend.
The mission for U-nite is: “To empower parents to create community and connections to benefit our children’s mental wellness.” Their plan for doing this is by fostering community connection, while helping parents better advocate for their child’s mental health and safety. They are always looking for community members since this movement requires everybody to be involved. They also would like any business, hosts for events, or public speakers that would like to partner with them to reach out. Since, they would love to work with them and spread more awareness about mental illness. They are welcome to email the group at infor@u-nite.org. They are still planning different activities for Summer of 2020 so reach out and make sure to stay updated on upcoming events!
FFA shares updates
By: Linsey Eddy
Fairbanks FFA members are finishing the year strong with participation in spring livestock judging Career Development Events (CDE’s) and preparing for additional end-of-year activities. The dairy, equine, and general livestock judging teams have been successful at various contests over the last several weeks. Abby Underhill placed 3rd overall as an individual for general livestock at the Wilmington Aggies competition, where Emma Greve also placed 1st in equine judging and Elaina Lahmers placed 4th in dairy judging. Good luck to those teams at their remaining invitationals and the state contest.
The chapter is planning to end the year with their annual FFA banquet on Saturday, April 18th, at Fairbanks High School. At this event, members will be recognized for a year’s worth of hard work and success in FFA activities, and the 2019-2020 officers will hand over their duties to the newly-elected 2020-2021 officers. Elections were held and placed the following members in office: president- Linsey Eddy, vice president- Cade Ziegler, secretary- Wyatt Rausch, treasurer- Bayleigh Miller, reporter- Montana Burns, student advisor- Brynne Stanley, sentinel- Carter Schultz.
District welcomes Navigator
By: Gage Garlinghouse
This past February, Fairbanks Local Schools welcomed a brand new addition to the district in the form of an all new district wide position. The position, while titled as the School Navigator, is a school social worker provided by Maryhaven in Marysville.
Mrs. Mackenzie Browning began on February 3, 2020 after being appointed as the Navigator by both the School Board and Maryhaven. Mrs. Browning graduated from Ohio University, where she obtained her bachelor’s degree in Science and Family Studies, as well as The Ohio State University where she got her masters in Social Work. She is also certified as a state and school social worker allowing her to serve in and out of the school.
Previously Mrs. Browning served at Maryhaven as a case specialist and prior to her assignment as Navigator at Fairbanks, as the Reynoldsburg Schools social worker. The title of Navigator has its roots in the fact that her mission (implemented by the School Board and Mr. Schirg) is to navigate students, faculty and community members through their hard times.
Mrs. Browning has enjoyed her beginning time at Fairbanks, calling it “welcoming and friendly,” and finding the members of the community to be overall “positive.” However, being new to the district, as well as in a brand new role does present some challenges. For one, the district is trying to figure out much of the protocol and how to properly utilize such a person, as well as what her day to day schedule will be. For the past few months she has been getting acclimated, getting her systems set up and speaking to students who have requested to see her. She welcomes anyone to have a meeting with her but she recommends that they speak to their specific school counselor first (as she serves all three buildings within the district) and then to have their parents fill out a form allowing her to work with the student. This would allow her to initiate SBIRT (Screen, Brief Intervention, Referral to Treatment) which is the usual protocol of Maryhaven.
While much is still unknown or not understood about her new role Mrs. Browning is excited for what the future may bring. She stated that with her new role she hopes to bring more awareness to mental health, as well as hoping to break the stigma that is attached to it. She hopes to be a positive support and wishes the best to all members of her new community.
By: Livvy Bellas
For the past four years, every Valentine’s Day Fairbanks students come to school in the morning to a little gift on their lockers: a single carnation.
Some people thought it was the teachers who did this, others suspected a club, or even a group of parents. However, all of these suspicions were wrong, it was actually just one student.
Her freshman year of high school, Samantha Adkins had the wonderful idea to surprise her fellow Fairbanks students with flowers on the morning of Valentine’s Day. Inspired by one of her best friends, who disliked the holiday because of its romantic sentiments, Samantha decided to spread some love and kindness, brightening everyone’s Valentine’s day.
In order to do this, Samantha would come in on the night of the 13th with close to 400 carnations for both students and teachers.
She talked to janitors beforehand and got approval from the administration, all of whom kept her project a secret. She did this anonymously every year, waiting until her senior year to reveal that it was her.
She used her own money to buy the flowers, and did it for no personal benefit, except to see the smiles on her classmates’ faces.
Samantha believes that on Valentine’s day everyone deserves flowers, to remind them that they are loved and appreciated.
By: Megan Stallings
NHS collected money for Pennies for Patients from March 2-13. To incentivize students, NHS fostered competition among the high school homeroom classes. NHS members counted the money daily to keep up the competitive spirit and class averages were put in the school’s announcements. Ultimately, Mr. Chapman’s class won with an average of $9.85 donated per student. Over $600 was collected for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society.