Regional Awards

Regional Awards

• The Martha Holden Jennings Foundation recognized these APS teachers as 2008-09 Jennings Lecture Series Scholars: Irene Adler, Sharon Brooks, Rachel Chaplin, Gayle Davis, Steve Deitrick, Ruth Hotchkiss, Norma James, Sara Leffler, Debbie Lower, Nancy Plavan, Curtis Smith, Constance Smith-Clemens, Janet Whitney and Diana Williams.
• Martin Drexler, Buchtel math teacher, recently published a collection of jokes titled "Almost Joke Book." It was the subject of a July 31 article in the Canton Repository.
• Firestone's career education pre-engineering program won the following awards: second place – engineering logs, Northeast Ohio Robotics competition; and fourth place overall – Summit County Bridgebuilding competition.
• Garfield IT students Jeremy Armocida and Brandon Billings placed second in computer animation in a Business Professionals of America competition.
• These career education students qualified for University of Akron pre-engineering internships: Alex Darkow, Anna Dorfi, Katie Graham, Shammas Malik, Parker Miller, Angel Pay, Bruce Perry and Zachary Schroeder.
• Project GRAD Akron’s Jacqueline Silas-Butler was chosen for one of only two Athena Awards presented in Northeast Ohio. The award honors individuals who achieve professional excellence, give back to their communities and create leadership opportunities for women, sponsored by Inside Business.
• Special education psychologist and Pyramid coach Aimee Kirsch was recognized as the regional School Psychologist of the Year by the Kent Akron Association of School Psychologists. She was nominated by fellow psychologists Stacey Ambrose and Robert Kubick. Aimee served as the area's nominee to the Ohio School Psychologist Association annual conference.
• The following Seniors to Sophomores students made The University of Akron Dean's List for the first semester: Ellet – Danelle Fink, Julianna Hamad and Brian Williams; Firestone – Elise Burnett, Matthew Davis, Hanne-Lore Fisher, Mirko Mandic, Connor Mathis and Trista White; and Kenmore – Katie Lamson. These high school seniors attend college full-time and received a 3.5 over-all GPA from UA.
• The following Miller South students competed at the Power of the Pen tournament: seventh grade – Caroline Chelovitz, Melanie Darrah, Hallie Heffernan, Benjamin Hook, Dana Mietus (alternate), Tess Powers and Erin Siegferth; and eighth grade – Joshua Bellis, Jennifer Cook, Reilly Dougherty, Elizabeth Gross, Gavin Markowitz and Morgan Matthews. The seventh-grade team earned first place. Individually, Powers won fourth place and a Best of Round; Siegferth won ninth place for the seventh grade; and Cook won eighth place for the eighth grade. Their teacher is Bonnie Wachter.
• Garfield's NJROTC drill team placed second out of eight teams in the James Ford Rhodes High School drill meet. Their commander is Frank Zink.
• At the regional Business Professionals of America awards banquet, the following Ellet students earned first-place awards and qualified for state competition: Adam Braham (financial math and analysis); Evan Faidley and Alissa Miller (team economic research project); Mikayla Goode, Christina Green, Joshua Phillips and Amanda Rowe (small business management presentation); Rachael Kovalchin (economic research project); and Caitlin Sutherland (administrative support research project). Jocelyn Petron earned a second place in legal office procedures and will also compete at the state level. Their adviser is Tracy Ebner.
• Lynda Farkas, gifted and talented teacher at Glover CLC and King, was honored as a new member in the Golden Key International Honour Society at Kent State University.
• At this year's Business Professionals of America Region 10 competition, the following students earned the right to progress to state competition: Ellet (teachers Tracy Ebner and Tari Nockengost) – Evan Faidley/Alissa Miller (economic research project team); Mikayla Goode/Christina Green/Joshua Phillips/Amanda Rowe (small business management team); Rachael Kovalchin (economic research project individual); Jocelyn Petron (legal office procedures); and Caitlin Sutherland (administrative support research project); and Firestone (teachers Christopher Pashke and Rose VanValien) – Christopher Knepper (Web design); Joshua Miller (fundamental accounting); and Destiny Threatt (advanced accounting). Students from Summit, Medina and Portage counties competed.
• The following Ellet early childhood education students earned honors in the FCCLA Northeast Region 3 skill events: seniors – Catherine Blakney (gold in early childhood star event); Blakney/Katrina McCormick/Chad Putnam/Ashley Thomas (gold in team event); McCormick (state qualifier in teacher resource kit); Putnam (state qualifier in job interviewing); and Cassandra Tolbert (silver in focus on the children); and juniors – Melissa Black/Lexie Chandler/Brice Henry/Stormi Poling (gold in ECE team teaching event); Black (gold in early childhood star event and state qualifier); Chandler (silver in concept curriculum); Poling (silver in job interview); Lauren Rasnick (silver in language and literacy); and Brittney Sullivan (bronze in teacher resource kit). Linda Dillon is the ECE instructor.
• The Garfield NJROTC drill team placed second out of six schools at the Penn Hills drill meet. Individual awards included: first place – Donell Auston (armed exhibition), Bobbi Brown (advanced color guard) and Joey Chounramany (armed platoon drill); second place – Natikka Lewis-Williams (unarmed squad drill) and Tyreese Mitchell (first year color guard); and third place – Cadet Simmons (platoon drill). Their instructors are Joseph Grieco and Frank Zink.
• Litchfield eighth-graders Hannah Earlenbaugh, Anastasia Otto and Christopher Sickels earned a silver medal and an 87% in a service manual contest and will compete at the state-level FCCLA conference. Their project involved collecting uniforms for Project RISE homeless students.
• Glover CLC fourth-grade student Loi Ha will be featured in the May edition of Akron Life and Leisure Magazine as an exceptional student. His teacher is Julie Paulus.
• At the regional HVAC competition, North students Sean Barber and Cherelle Weaver earned honorable mentions. Jacob Miller won first place in the brazing portion of the contest, competing against 39 other students. Their teacher is Kevin Cook.
• Five APS physical education teachers were selected to present at the Canton City Schools'-sponsored workshop titled "Games That Work": Dale Landenberger, Barber CLC; Sandra Wells, Case; Claudia Grimes, King; Debra Biagetti, Leggett; and Kathleen Saxon, Resnik CLC. The selection was based on submitting activity lesson plans, and the plans were chosen from approximately 70 submissions.
• At the Northeast Ohio science fair, two STEM School students qualified for state competition. Fifth-grader Kyle Fertig and sixth-grader Conner Seitzinger received superior ratings. Kyle's project is titled "Addition and Cancellation of Sound Waves," which involves testing sound waves. Conner's project is "Fact or Friction," which measures the effects of lubrication on the ease of hammering nails. Judging was based on a 40-point scale involving four categories: scientific method, presentation style, scientific knowledge gained and whether inquiry-based learning was present. Their coach is Christine Justiss-Simon.
• The following students competed in the Regional SkillsUSA contests: Buchtel – Leann Osinski; East – Felicia Bagley, Katie Chandler, Margaret Denholm, Jasmine Good, Paige Headley, Cory Mitan, Deshanetia Payne, George Smith, James Smith and Brandon Soohey; Ellet – Clayton Crowe and Stephan Finnicum; Firestone – Anthony Craiu, Angel Pay and Louis Ray; Garfield – James Bieri, Jasmine Brown, Mon Chan, Brieonna Gaiter, Andrew Gray, Frances Hernandez, Sha'quanna Hooks, Joseph Kleinwechter, Anthony Maull, Christina May, Cameron McNair, Estachia Rodgers, Sealonda Smith, Sarah Suleiman, Christopher Tracy, Lucia Vargas and Bobbi Jo Vaughan; and Kenmore – Tyler Blackert, Kenneth Christner and DeJhon Solomon. Students who earned medals and advanced to state competition were: gold – Bagley, Denholm and Mitan (East); and McNair (Garfield); silver – Osinski (Buchtel); and Craiu (Firestone); and bronze – Ray (Firestone); Rodgers (Garfield); and Solomon (Kenmore).
• Congratulations to Sheena Smith and Lynn Stovall, competitors at the Northeast Region B Bus ROAD-E-O. Stovall won first place and will compete at the state bus rodeo. Smith won rookie of the year.
• Two APS employees were scheduled presenters at The University of Akron's "Families and Community: Issues in the Current Economy" program, featuring keynote speaker Ohio First Lady Frances Strickland. Student services and security director Karen Ellerson talked about juvenile issues. Project RISE program manager Debra Manteghi discussed the effects of foreclosures and housing issues.
• Congratulations to Firestone student George Turner (teacher Christine Milcetich) for being named an Honor Junior for the Cleveland Technical Societies Council. Turner will be eligible for a council scholarship next year.