State Awards

State Awards

• Firestone Business Professionals of America students earned state and national Torch Awards. In administrative office technology (adviser Heather Curry), the 2010-11 winners were Corbin Bates, Larry Boyer, Roscoe Gaines, Chantel Howard, Terrence Payne, Keyschell Walker and Stefan Willis; two-time national-level Ambassador winners (2009-10 and 2010-11) were William Jones, Jessica Lee, Dre'Tuan Parker and Calvin Toney-Cox; state-level Statesman Award winners were Demetrius Gardner, Qristopher Kennedy*, Marquice Kincaid, Larri Lee*, Christian Stevens, Raymond Strickland and Ishmael Wahid (*=Ambassador/National 2009-10 winner); William Jones was the second-place national winner in virtual media and production; and Jessica Lee earned top 5 national ranking in entrepreneurship exploration (other students earning recognition in this category were Jones, Kincaid, Larri Lee, Strickland and Toney-Cox). In business finance (adviser Rose VanValien), the 2010-11 winners were Cristian Alexander, Jasmine Hunt, Janay Neal and Deveney Watson; Statesman award winners were Aris Nelson, Timothy Prince andBianca Rhoads; and students earning national recognition in entrepreneurship exploration were Alexander, Jamee Fisher, Raphaella' Howell, Celina Milhoan and Watson. The programs earned the following national-level awards: National Chapter of Excellence, Quality Chapter Distinction, Community Relief (Top 5 for both), Environmental Action, Marketing and Public Relations, Safety Awareness (Top 5 for business finance program) and Special Olympics.
• OMNOVA Solutions sent Forest Hill CLC first-grade teacher Marianne Pramuko to the Teachers, Industry and Environmental Conference. She participated in a hands-on program focused on creative approaches to teaching principles of physics, chemistry and life sciences to students.
• Roswell Kent librarian Rose Farnsworth is one of three Ohio school librarians to receive a $5,000 Laura Bush Foundation for America's Libraries grant. The grant will purchase nonfiction books for project-based learning, especially in science and social studies, as well as new popular-fiction books and novels to promote reading.
• Akron Early College High School was recently named a "School of Promise" by the Ohio Department of Education for its work to close achievement gaps for low-income and minority students. The Ohio Department of Education named 122 "Schools of Promise" on Monday. These schools outperformed others statewide when comparing the number of indicators met on the state's annual report cards, which were released in August. The "Schools of Promise" demonstrated high achievement in reading and mathematics for all groups of students, despite 40 percent or more of their students coming from low-income families. Students in "Schools of Promise" also met or exceeded the state standard of 75 percent passage in reading and mathematics for the 2010-11 school year, and all student groups met yearly progress standards.
• Litchfield intervention specialist Saundra Kolar was selected to be a presenter at the annual Ohio Council of Teachers of English Language Arts spring conference. The conference theme was "The Future is Now!" Saundra's session was titled "Are They Buying What You're Selling?" and explored the importance of educator "buy-in" in the use of literacy intervention.
• Sixteen North DECA students competed at the state level with the following results: fourth place – Travis Long (business services); and top ten state finalists – Damian Grant (quick serve restaurant management), Luis Mendez (retail merchandising) and Jalen Murry (accounting applications). Long will attend the International Career Development Conference in Salt Lake City. Eric Mathews is the DECA adviser.
• Akron Opportunity Center sixth-graders Khareem Cunningham, Lance Glover, Nickolas Kirk and John'Te Warren placed first in Ohio in the eCybermission Challenge. The challenge is a Web-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics competition for students in grades 6-9 in which teams can compete for state, regional and national awards while working to solve community problems. The mission for these students was to find alternative energy sources to help Akron residents save on their electric bills. Each student earned a $500 cash award. Their teacher is Mary Carter-Berry.