Senior of the Month
Rachel Wargo
Rachel Wargo is the daughter of Jeff and Lisa Wargo of Marysville and Kim and Kevin Craig of Dublin.
Throughout high school, she has been involved in international club, volleyball and science club, and is currently the secretary for FCCLA and a thrower on the track and field team. She is an active member in Fairbanks Young Life and is a manager at McDonald’s.
“Remember, high school goes fast so do the things you want while you have the chance,” she said as advice to underclassmen. “If there is a sport you have been dying to try, or be in a musical, or join a club, go for it. Don’t let other people tell you (that) you can’t or you shouldn’t.”
Wargo said she encourages students to “find your passion and go for it.” She said to “believe in it and your abilities,” as “nothing can hold you back.”
After high school, she plans to attend Bowling Green State University to major in pre-professional occupational therapy.
Swimmers honored for achievements
By Livvy Bellas
This year, Fairbanks High School (FHS) restarted its swimming club program with freshmen Janie Clayton and Matt Kehlbeck.
The season, which began in December, ended last month. Kehlbeck and Clayton practiced after school alongside Marysville High School´s swimmers at the local Union County YMCA.
The YMCA reserved a section of its pool for the teams, allowing swimmers to get in shape for their meets. Meets were varied in size, with some competitions having more than seven different schools, while others only had three or four. They had seven meets total, most of which were local.
Clayton competed in the 50 free, 100 free and 100 breaststroke, while Kehlbeck swam the 50 free and the 100 free.
Although the swim club is new to Fairbanks, Janie and Matt have been swimming for most of their lives. They have both been in club swim teams for more than eight years, competing well after the high school season ends.
They begin training in September every year and compete in four to six meets in total for their club teams.
During the school swimming season, both students beat their personal records, with faster times than ever. In the 50 free, she got her time down to 26.24 seconds and he broke 24 seconds.
They both qualified for the OHSAA district meet, she in both of her individual events and he in the 100 free.
Overall, they said they were happy to be able to swim on behalf of Fairbanks and represent their school. They said they greatly enjoyed this swimming season and are looking forward to growing the team next year.
Students learn of job options
By Lexi Murray
Mechanical agriculture, natural resources and animal and plant science students at Fairbanks High School learned more about their future job opportunities recently.
Students from those classes attended an educational field trip to the John Deere Training Center in Dublin on Feb. 26. This was the first time the training center has offered the trip to the high school.
Teacher Rob Riddle took students for the purpose of showing them what new job opportunities are available to them with modern technology.
The students were shown how to fix and use John Deere equipment, such as lawn and garden machines, vehicles, choppers and etc.
Riddle said he believes the trip was an educational experience where his students learned a lot.
FFA judges livestock competitions, participates in other events
By Ayden Adams
The Fairbanks High School (FHS) FFA is participating in general livestock and dairy judging.
The first judging competition the FFA attended was the Marysville invitational, where the high school placed 12th out of 122 teams. Autumn Scheiderer was the top judge for the team.
The dairy judging team placed 31st out of 45 teams, and Cade Ziegler was the top judge for Fairbanks.
The next contest was held at Wilmington College, where FHS placed 14th out of 93 teams and Linsey Eddy was the top judge for the high school. The FHS dairy judging team took 29th out of 41 teams with Emma Agner as the top judge.
The Fairbanks FFA held its annual pancake breakfast March 7 in the high school cafeteria. This event raised more than $500 that is being donated to Children’s Hospital. A special thanks was extended to the following people: Savannah Walls, Linsey Eddy, Tyler Beem, Ayden Adams, Austin Becker, Emma Agner, Bayleigh Miller and Montana Burns.
Seven state and American degrees were accepted on behalf of the high school’s FFA. The way to receive a degree is by participating in SAEs and CDEs throughout one’s time in the FFA. Recipients also have to record their time of work on AET.com. The state degree recipients are juniors Autumn Scheiderer, Abby Underhill and Keagan Nicol. This year’s American degree recipients are Audrey Scheiderer, Breanna Dawson, Lindsay Sheppard and Cassidy Sheppard.
Every year, the FFA freshman take a state greenhand test. The purpose of the test is to educate new members on the history of FFA and agriculture-related experiences. The team placed 8th out of 144 teams.
Montana Burns was the top scorer for the FFA team, placing 28th out of 2,213 participants. The team includes Montana Burns, Brynne Stanley, Anna Higbee, Cade Ziegler, Garrett Dellinger, Brice Phelps, Jacob Stewart, Ronald Hollingshead, Dylan Tennant and Janie Clayton.
Fifth graders learn science
By Gracie Tomblin
Fairbanks High School’s (FHS) science club students put their recently acquired training to good use.
FHS science club members attended a class to learn how to train younger students about energy and science Feb. 5 and used that knowledge to teach fifth graders more about science and energy in the Fairbanks Middle School gym.
“My favorite part was teaching the kids at my station about circuits and the difference between insulators and conductors with small batteries and LED lights,” Junior Owen Herbst said.
Herbst explained how they made the stations more fun and interesting to get the attention of the fifth graders. At certain stations they would play “chance” and other games to keep them intrigued.
Some of those who attended reported the fifth graders looked like they were really interested in all of the stations and the science knowledge made them feel like “big kids.”
Spring musical set for this year
By Grace Koenig
This year, Fairbanks High School (FHS) will perform that play “The Sound of Music” for its spring musical.
This family-friendly musical was selected by taking into consideration the amount of on-stage participants required, as well as the amount of female and male roles needed. The play now has 40 students on cast, nine students on crew and four students in the orchestra.
Choosing the musical and assembling a cast is only the beginning. A lot of time and effort are put into this production and each play. Rehearsals are organized by first learning vocals and choreography, and learning the movements of each scene, which is constantly being improved as the show comes together.
That is only on stage. Behind the scenes, the crew is painting props, building sets and gathering and making costumes.
Performances will be held at 7 p.m. April 12 and 13, and at 2 p.m. April 14. The play will be held at Veterans Auditorium in Marysville. Tickets are $10 for adults and $7 for students.
Mock trial team reaches quarterfinals at state competition
By Kate White
Fairbanks High School’s (FHS) mock trial teams participated in the Ohio Center of Law Related Education (OCLRE) competition this year.
OCLRE holds a mock trial competition every year, and more 300 teams from around Ohio are involved with the competition. A mock trial team consists of five to 11 students, making up both sides of the trial, one defense and one plaintiff. Both sides consist of two attorneys and two witness, as well as a timekeeper and bailiff.
Students start preparing opening and closing statements and direct cross examinations as early as September until the first competition in January.
The OCLRE 2019 Mock Trial case this year was the State of Buckeye v. Quinn Woolf. This case challenges students to consider an individual’s right to privacy in an increasingly technological world. In September 2018, Quinn Woolf was arrested on charges of aggravated assault and telecommunications fraud based on drone footage captured 400 feet in the air. The defense moved to exclude the drone footage, claiming the police violated Quinn’s Fourth amendment protection against unlawful searches and seizures.
Fairbanks had three teams participate this year, JAM (TCK), the Law Ladies and the Companions. JAM (TCK) included Adeline Fitzwater, Theo Bookwalter, Cayla Talbott, Megan Stallings, Meghan Moran, Kai Van Dyke, Jacob Scott and Alyssa Nisly. The Law Ladies included Savannah Walls, Livvy Bellas, Nora Scheiderer, Linsey Eddy, Abby Underhill, Chloe Stage, Sarah Belmonte and Sarah LaPointe. The Companions included Leanne Rhoades, Rachel Scott, Claire Ruff, William Findley, Mitch Krouse, Kate White, Katelyn Harris, and Aubrey Tillman.
The district competition was held Jan. 18. The Companions competed in Union County and the Law Ladies and JAM (TCK) competed in Marion County. The Companions won all awards and placed first in Union County. White received two “Best Attorney” awards, and Findley and Harris received “Best Witness Awards.” The team qualified for the regional competition.
In Marion County, the Law Ladies and JAM (TCK) received every award available. Belmonte, Bellas and Fitzwater received “Best Attorney” awards, and Fitzwater also received two. Talbott, LaPointe, Bookwalter and Scheiderer received Best Witness awards. The Law Ladies also qualified for the regional competition.
The regional competition was held Feb. 15. The Companions and the Law Ladies both competed in Union County. Walls received the “Best Attorney” award, and Harris and Nora Scheiderer received “Best Witness” awards.
In order to advance to the next round, one team must win both trials, otherwise the victory goes to the team with the most points. Since each team at the regional competition won and lost a trial, the judges had to turn to overall points.
All teams present were within nine points of each other, but the Fairbanks Companions came out on top. They qualified for the state competition.
The state competition was held from March 7 to 9. There were 29 teams from around Ohio that competed at both the Franklin County Municipal Court and Franklin County Common Pleas Court.
On the first day of competition, both sides of the team competed. Teams that win both trials move on to Friday’s competition. The Companions were one of seven teams that won both trials.
White won “Best Attorney” and Harris won “Best Witness.” The eighth team to compete on Friday was randomly drawn from a hat.
On Friday, the competition became single elimination. The sides that played first were announced right before the start of the trial.
In the first trial, White won “Best Attorney’ and Ruff won “Best Witness.” Despite receiving both awards, the Companions lost the trial overall and were unable to move onto the final four.
While it was unfortunate to lose in the elite eight, the Companions and their legal advisors and teachers reported they were glad for the experience and hope the Fairbanks teams in the following years are just as and more successful as this one.