Senior of the month
March’s senior of the month is Sam Johnson. Sam is the son of Mat and Malinda Johnson. He has been involved in FFA where he serves as the chapter’s Student Advisor and National Honor Society where he helped plan food drives benefiting local food pantries. He is a member of the track team and the newly formed clay target team at Fairbanks. He is a 10-year member of the Darby Clovers 4-H Club and has served as an officer for several years. He has represented Union County Shooting Sports at the Ohio State Fair multiple times and has been awarded “Outstanding of the Day” in Pistol and Shotgun three times. He enjoys being a junior leader and helping the younger members learn about the shooting sports.
He is employed at Yutzy’s Farm Market and attends St. Paul’s Lutheran Church. He is active with the Union County Pheasants Forever Chapter where he helps set up and tear down for the annual fundraising banquet and especially enjoys the youth hunt with his dog, Rocky. After graduation he plans to attend Ohio Northern University to study Engineering. When asked what advice he has for the underclassmen, he replied, “Always work hard for what you want and be kind to others. Nothing in life is easy and when you want to achieve something you need to work harder than the other person.” (Photo submitted)
National FFA Week celebrated
By Aubrey Burns
The Fairbanks FFA completed a successful National FFA Week with many exciting activities and they still have much more in store for the rest of the year. They held their annual pancake breakfast on Friday, March 17th with a strong turnout that raised over $700 for Children’s Hospital. On Tuesday, the chapter kicked off the day with their teacher appreciation breakfast and prepared for their Public Speaking event that was held on Wednesday. Thursday was celebrated with Ag Olympics with many different competitions between the officers and the members, however, officers did not win against the members. Finally on Friday, they held their annual tractor day (Case vs. John Deere). It was easy to see that John Deere won. A total of eleven tractors and one semi were driven to school. Members who drove their farm equipment to school were Evan Blumenschein (President), Drew Rausch (Secretary), Christian Miller (Sentinel), Aubrey Burns (Reporter), Anna Lynch (Chaplin), Kara Boerger (Assistant Reporter), Madeline Headings, Cohen Burns, Andy Anger, Eli Boerger, Jack Nicol, and Gatlin Conley. Three dedicated members bundled up and had a cold ride with their open cabs. All the members had fun and hopefully will spread the word to join the FFA next year.
The chapter has been on a successful winning streak in the past four judging contests. At the ATI judging contest in Wooster, the General Livestock team placed 13th and the Dairy team placed 7th out of 18 teams. At Mount Gilead, the equine team placed 11th out of 27 teams with Emma Greve placing 10th. The General Livestock team came in at 13th out of 53 teams with the top judger being Anna Lynch. The Dairy team placed first at the Aggies Wilmington contest and the top dairy judger was Elaina Lahmers coming in at 3rd. The General Livestock team came in at 6th with Hannah Sullivan placing 14th. The equine team placed 13th with Emma Greve placing 31st. Lastly, the chapter participated in the Marysville Invitational. The dairy team placed 4th with Elaina Lahmers placing 1st as the top judge. The General Livestock team placed 6th with Sam Johnson placing 13th, and the equine team placed 36th with Emma Greve placing 7th overall. The FFA is very proud of their members who have participated in the various contests and hope to place in the top 10 in state competition.
The last big news to share is the FFA has five members in the junior class who have been approved for State Degrees: Aubrey Burns, Kara Boerger, Anna Lynch, Julie Headings, and Hailey Dee. Additionally they have four graduated members who have been approved for American Degrees: Montana Burns, Shelby Burns, Brice Phelps and Cade Ziegler. And finally, congratulations to the chapter President, Evan Blumenschein, who achieved top four in the state for Beef Production. The FFA is very proud of their members and cannot wait to see how the end of year banquet on May 10th is going to turn out.
New Athletic Director joins district
By Grace Keiderling
At the beginning of this school year, Fairbanks had the distinguished pleasure of welcoming Mr. Logan Dunn as the new athletic director. Mr. Dunn previously served as the athletic director of Triad High School as well as teaching elementary school for a number of years. After being approached by Larry Morris, Fairbanks’ athletic director at that time, he saw what a good opportunity this position had to offer. Transitioning to our district, Mr. Dunn expected to face certain challenges, one in particular being the limited space available for athletic teams to function. Although a solution to that problem is still in the works, visually Mr. Dunn has made his mark on our athletic facilities. New paint, signage and school logos truly capture the panther pride!
In his first year at Fairbanks, Mr. Dunn has enjoyed the students, the positive athletic culture and successful titles earned by a number of the athletic teams. The typical day of this Fairbanks athletic director includes greeting students as they arrive for the day, finalizing events, planning ahead for future sports schedules and updating the athletic website and social media. Outside of this demanding job, an avid Browns fan, Mr. Dunn enjoys golfing, working out, going out to eat and especially spending time with his wife and baby son, Lennex. His vision for the future of Fairbanks athletics portrays a place where each and every team has space to practice and play on campus. When asked if he had any meaningful words for the students or staff, Mr. Dunn stated, “In all the years that I have been an educator or athletic director, Fairbanks has been the best place I’ve worked because of its unique culture. People that have worked here for a long time sometimes take for granted what a great school it is but as a new member of the staff, I am able to see how truly special it is. I look forward to seeing it continue to grow and being able to be a part of it.”
Winter sports conclude for ’22-’23 season
By Riley Jones
The high school winter sports season at Fairbanks has come to an end. Teammates gather as seniors play their hardest for the last time and the underclassmen are already preparing for the 2023-2024 school year. Winter sports for Fairbanks include basketball cheer, girls and boys basketball, girls and boys wrestling and girls and boys bowling. The cheer program is split into two squads and is coached by FES teacher, Mollie Auchmuty. The cheer program offers many opportunities for the young athletes and gets everybody excited for the games. Kadence Kise, a sophomore said, “The season was overall crazy as usual, but very fun! I’m already looking forward to next season.” The boys basketball program consists of three teams. The varsity team is coached by Zach Brown. When asked how the season went he said, “I think the season went very, very well. We earned a title that hasn’t been earned in 15 years! Some challenges we had to overcome were injuries and working together as a team again. Regardless, I’m excited for what next season brings.” Girls basketball is also split into three teams, and had an excellent season. The varsity team was coached by Landon Fraker, Junior varsity was coached by Kerri Ohler and the freshmen were coached by Lyndsey Mangen. Grace Keiderling, a freshman said, “The season went really well for all teams. We had to overcome losing coach Lydy, who was a big part of our basketball family, but we persevered to play in his honor. I look forward to continuing to play basketball and can’t wait to see what next season has in store for us.” The boys and girls wrestling team was coached by Theo Cranford. Hannah Niehaus, freshman said, “I think the season went well for the boys and the girls. We had a good team and lots of team camaraderie, and lots of team improvement. I am looking forward to improving my wrestling and building as a team.” Lastly, the boys and girls bowling teams had a very successful season. Senior, Drew LaFon said, “I feel that the season went really well with an overall upward trend. As a team the best moment we shared was witnessing each other’s growth throughout the year. There’s nothing more fulfilling than observing someone new get their first strike. This year was one of my favorites, and I wish the team luck for next year.” Bowling freshman Amelia Nicol said, “I think the season went well, we almost made it to state. At the beginning of the season I wasn’t too sure what I was doing, but at the end of the season I looked back and saw the improvement I made. I’m looking forward to next year, and can’t wait to see what next year brings!” Although the winter sport season has come to an end, and the seniors played for the last time, memories and friendships were made, and athletes continue to grow. The athletes at Fairbanks continue to strive daily to become better for the upcoming seasons.
FHS starts clay target team
Initial plans stalled by pandemic
By Sam Johnson
Fairbanks High School recently started a clay target team.
The idea came up a few years ago but with the pandemic the plans to start the team were put on hold.
Now that things are returning to normal, Fairbanks has started a clay target team.
This spring a team of fifteen students coached by Mat Johnson will be competing in trap shooting at the Madison County Fish and Game Club.
Once a week the team will shoot two scored rounds of trap and will submit the score to compete against the other schools in Ohio participating in the league.
Interact Club supports variety of student organizations
By Callie Kitchen
Interact Club is a student organization focused on aiding other organizations that benefit the school, community, and other groups. Interact Club has been at Fairbanks High School for over a decade. Some of the projects this club has completed are making blankets for children and adults in need, sponsoring families in need by hosting competitive games, participating in suicide prevention walks, and many more. Next month the club hopes to support the National Honor Society’s project to collect supplies for the Union County Humane Society.
The members and officers meet monthly in the mornings and plan more meetings if needed. The officer positions include: President, Vice President, Secretary, Reporter, and Treasurer. Each position has different requirements but all work together in the end to achieve monthly goals. There is no limit to the number of members and there is no participation fee. Before this school year ends, Interact Club hopes to finish all projects and create enough funds for future events and aid.