NRMS Science team going back to state

The New Richmond Middle School Science Olympiad team will be making its third straight trip to the state finals on April 27 at The Ohio State University.

The NRMS 8^th/9^th grade Science Olympiad team placed 2^nd in the Cincinnati Regional Science Olympiad tournament held at UC Blue Ash College on March 2 to qualify for the state finals 40 middle school and 40 senior high school teams will compete.  The winner in each division will compete in the National Science Olympiad Tournament which will be held at Wright State University near Dayton, Ohio on May 17-18, 2013.

NRMS 8^th/9^th grade Science Olympiad team members are (front row from left) Joey Hammill, Carter Light, Tim Hammer, Anna Heiden, Kelsey Nichols, Katie Schlaak, Kaeley Fagan, Shelbi Simpson; (back row from left) Coach Doug Smiddy, Rachel Coons, Travis Justice, Alex Gardner, Stile Sweet, Teddy Mansfield, Daniel Weiskittel, Luke Smiddy, Coach Tina Grippa, Coach Josh Grischow, Coach Pam Hughes,

“I was really proud of our team this year because we battled a lot of adversity and managed to overcome it,” said New Richmond coach Josh Grischow. “For instance, we really got clobbered at the Wright State Invitational in February, but the students knew they needed to step it up and did.  We had a lot of roster fluctuations and changes in who was doing which event, but we were able to prepare adequately enough.”

The team of 15 students included Carter Light, Kelsey Nichols, Stile Sweet, Tim Hammer, Daniel Weiskittel, Anna Heiden, Travis Justice, Teddy Mansfield, Joey Hammill, Kaeley Fagan, Luke Smiddy, Shelbi Simpson, Alex Gardner, Katie Schlaak and Rachel Coons and was coached by Grischow and NRMS science teachers Tina Grippa, Pam Hughes, and Doug Smiddy.

In order to win, the team competed individually or in groups in a series of 23 events which tested their knowledge of science skills, processes, and applications in a wide range of science disciplines including biology, chemistry, physics, technology, earth science, and mathematics.

“We actually did better than we did last year when we won the Regional Tournament, but Wyoming just had an amazing day,” said Grischow. “We are now focusing on the State Tournament.  We are working hard to improve upon our State finish from last year and hopefully reach our goal of finishing in the top 20 at State this year.”

Regional highlights included:

•           NRMS 8th and 9th graders finished with 90 points (lower is better), a school record.

•           NRMS 8th and 9th graders shattered our regional-winning score last year (101).

•           NRMS 8th and 9th graders' score of 90 would have won regionals at least three times...in 2012, 2005, and 2004.

•           NRMS 8th and 9th graders earned medals in 19 events, a school record.

•           NRMS 8th and 9th graders did not place in the double digits in any event for the first time ever.

•           NRMS 7th graders lowered their score from last year's 7th graders by 23 points.

•           NRMS 7th graders medaled in 11 events, two more than last year.

Medal winners included:

First place in Crime Busters were Katie Schlaak and Rachel Coons

First place in Disease Detectives were Anna Heiden and Kelsey Nichols

First Place in Mission Possible were Carter Light, Stile Sweet and Travis Justice

First Place in Reach for the Stars were Joey Hammill and Teddy Mansfield

First Place in Sounds of Music were Katie Schlaak and Rachel Coons

First Place in Write It-Do It were Kaeley Fagan and Luke Smiddy

Second Place Dynamic Planet were Daniel Weiskittel and Joey Hammill

Second Place in Road Scholar were Kaeley Fagan and Kelsey Nichols

Second Place in Water Quality were Kaleigh Pratt and Zach Wuest

Third Place in Food Science were Carter Light and Tim Hammer

Third Place in Shock Value were Joshua Biren and Michael Nichols

Third Place in Water Quality were Alex Gardner and Teddy Mansfield

Fourth Place in Anatomy were Daniel Weiskittel and Joey Hammill

Fourth Place in Dynamic Planet were Katie Huss and Nick Swisher

Fourth Place in Experimental Design were Jazmyn Hinkston, Jordyn Torrens and Natalie Holdsworth

Fourth Place in Food Science were Elise Bezold and Kiae Marshall

Fourth Place in Heredity were Carter Light and Tim Hammer

Fourth Place in Meteorology were Daniel Weiskittel and Travis Justice

Fourth Place in Metric Mastery were Luke Smiddy and Stile Sweet

Fifth Place in Experimental Design were Luke Smiddy, Stile Sweet and Travis Justice

Fifth Place in Forestry were Anna Heiden and Shelbi Simpson

Fifth Place in Keep the Heat were Luke Smiddy and Stile Sweet

Fifth Place in Mission Possible were Joshua Biren, Kelly Schmidt and Nick Swisher

Fifth Place in Rocks and Minerals were Jordyn Torrens and Natalie Holdsworth

Fifth Place in Rotor Egg Drop were Kaleigh Pratt and Kiae Marshall

Fifth Place in Sounds of Music were Elise Bezold and Katie Huss

Sixth Place in Helicopters were Jordyn Torrens and Liz Shinkle

Sixth Place in Road Scholar were Joshua Biren and Nick Swisher

Sixth Place in Rocks in Minerals were Shelbi Simpson and Kelsey Nichols

Sixth Place in Shock Value were Katie Schlaak and Rachel Coons

“Seventh  grade MVP, Joshua Biren, had the lowest average score amongst 7th graders and spent by far the most time on all his events of all our members,” said Grischow. “Our 8th grade co-MVPs, Katie Schlaak and Rachel Coons, worked together on all three of their events and were our only competitors to earn two First Place medals.

"Our 9th grade MVP, Carter Light, did an amazing job on Mission Possible.  All the tournament workers seemed be in awe of his device."

The Ohio Science Olympiad is an academic, interscholastic competition designed to increase student interest in science and to improve the quality of science education.  It has grown from just 23 teams competing in state competition in 1985 to 271 teams competing in seven regional tournaments in 2012.  In Ohio, the program is sponsored by The Ohio State University, the Ohio Department of Education, and the Science Education Council of Ohio.

Lion's Den painting comes down

The Lion's Den painting at the New Richmond (Ohio) High School gymnasium was removed on March 26, 2013 by the district maintenance staff. The original Lion's Den (painted by Reed Ulrey in 1955) was retired due to deterioration and is being replaced by a new painting of a leaping Lion by former New Richmond resident Brad Litz, an artist now living in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Sealed bids will be taken by the New Richmond Exempted Village School District treasurer until noon on April 5 for the historic Lion's Den painting at the New Richmond High School gymnasium.

2013 Fine Arts Hall of Fame speeches

Valerie (Naegel) Beckett (Class of 1982) and Clark Wheeler (Class of 2004), who set the bar high for future New Richmond High School music students, and the cast of the 1997 musical production ‘The Dream Master’ were inducted into the New Richmond High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame on March 19, 2013.

Click on the Play button below to watch the Fine Arts Hall of Fame speeches.

Philip Crowe rewards the NRMS crowd

It was designed to be a reward for team manager Philip Crowe when New Richmond Middle School wrestling coach David Smiddy set up an exhibition wrestling match for Philip against NRMS wrestler Lane Dees.

It ended up being a bigger reward for coach Smiddy, his team and the NRMS crowd that watched Philip, a multiple disabilities student at NRMS who has down syndrome, get his chance to wrestle.

"In all of my years of coaching -- about 25 years total -- I have never experienced anything close to that," said Smiddy. "There was so much emotion and positive energy in that gymnasium that night. The gym was electric,"


Click on the Play button below to watch the video by Bev Lawwill:



Smiddy has Philip in science class and and invited him to join the wrestling team as a manager.

"He came to practices on Mondays and Thursdays and after a few practices he started to join in on some of our daily drills," said Smiddy.  "The boys on the team encouraged him and gave Philip positive praise."

Smiddy came up with the idea of rewarding Philip with an exhibition match during an I.E.P meeting with his parents, Richard and Annette Crowe.

"Why not have Philip wrestle an exhibition match at our last home dual?," Smiddy asked Philip's parents. "They were very, very excited about this."

Smiddy had Philip wrestle Dees at practice first and then spread the news to his classes about Philip getting a chance to wrestle at and invited them to attend.

"Several students made "Go Philip" signs," said Smiddy. "There was an unbelievable amount of support by our student body, Philip's teachers, and the wrestling team."

Philip won his first match with a pin as the students led the crowd in chants of "Philip, Philip."

"I saw Philip's father tearing up and I had goose bumps all over my arms," said Smiddy. "The gym was electric and Lane Dees was outstanding during the match. Philip is truly a remarkable young man -- we just let everyone else know it!"

Bidding opens for Lion's Den painting

Sealed bids will be taken by the New Richmond Exempted Village School District treasurer until noon on April 5 for the historic Lion’s Den painting at the New Richmond High School gymnasium.

The 10-foot by 20-foot thin plywood-over-wood frame painting of a leaping lion will be taken down by the district maintenance staff Monday, March 25 and stored. Bids should be delivered or mailed to the NREVSD Treasurer, 212 Market Street, New Richmond, Ohio 45157.

The Lion’s Den was painted by New Richmond resident Reed Ulrey, whose son Bill Ulrey attended New Richmond High School, and went up in the old Market Street Fieldhouse during the 1954-55 basketball season, Bill Ulrey's sophomore year. Both Mr. Ulrey and his son Bill are deceased. It was moved to the current high school in 1973.

The painting deteriorated and dry-rotted to the point and was deemed not to be feasible to renovate.

Artist Brad Litz

However, the image that Mr. Ulrey created to symbolize the fighting spirit of New Richmond High School will live on in a new painting by Brad Litz, a former New Richmond resident who lives in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.

Mr. Litz, son of former New Richmond resident Donna Prebble Litz and nephew of former New Richmond Sports Foundation president Lana Prebble Silcott, was commissioned by the Board of Education at its March 18 meeting to re-create the Lion’s Den painting at no cost to the district. Mr. Litz is giving the NREVSD common-law copyright to this work, including all reproduction rights and the right to claim statutory copyright.

“I am honored to do this on behalf of so many family members and friends that have called New Richmond home,” said Litz, whose art portfolio can been viewed at http://fineartamerica.com/profiles/bradley-litz.html. Mr. Litz was a boyhood friend of current Board of Education president Kevin Walriven and former Board president David Painter.

One of Mr. Litz's paintings.

The dimensions of the new painting will be 16’  X 8’ on hardboard Masonite using Acrylic paint which Litz believes will provide long life in a gymnasium setting. The only cost to the district will be for shipping and hanging. Supt. Adam Bird said Litz was under no deadline to complete the painting but hopes to have it ready by the start of the 2013 volleyball season.

The current Lion’s Den painting also will live on in digital format. Mike White, a 1982 New Richmond High School graduate and local graphic artist, is digitally restoring the painting for historic archiving or use as a banner image.

Village to provide armed officer for schools

New Richmond Village police officer Brandon Bock went on duty at New Richmond schools Tuesday, March 19 after the New Richmond Board of Education approved a contract with the village at its March 18 meeting.

"Student safety is very important to NREVSD and the BOE's action to hire an off-duty police officer is an important step," said Supt. Adam Bird. "He (Bock) will be in every building every week, and he will be ready to respond to any building during an emergency."

Bock is a 2003 graduate of New Richmond High School. The contract with the village is for the rest of this school year only at an hourly rate of $22.85.

"He will be in a different building every day on a schedule unknown to the public," Bird told the school board. "My hope and prayer is that just knowing that a we have a police officer somewhere in the district will cause somebody who is looking for a soft target to choose somewhere else."

School board president Kevin Walriven noted that concern over response times in case of an emergency led to the decision to contract for an armed officer.

"I could not be assured that a police officer could respond within 5 minutes and anything above that would be unacceptable," Bird told board members. "If there is an active shooter incident and our building goes into a lockdown, teachers and students are completely dependent on the calvary arriving in time. This gives us the opportunity to have a police officer who can respond in a timely manner."

The village will provide Bock with a village police cruiser. Bock will be allowed to leave his school duty location if there is an emergency in the village. The village will not bill the district for Bock's time if he has to leave to respond to an emergency.

Bird said the district will reappraise the situation at the end of the school year and decide on moving forward with additional protection for next school year.

"We want to provide our students with the safest situation possible," said Bird.

Pi'd on National Pi Day

Thursday, March 14 was Happy pi (3.14) Day and Jill Blauwkamp's 4th grade class had more fun throwing pie at their teacher than eating the circular dessert which the federal new healthy food choice requirements prohibit from being served in our school's cafeteria.



Pi is a mathematical constant that is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. It is an irrational number and its decimal representation never ends or settles into a permanent repeating pattern. The current record for the decimal expansion of pi, if verified, stands at 5 trillion digits.

Blauwkamp challenged her students to calculate pi by measuring the circumference and diameter of circular objects in the classroom with the winning team getting to pie the teacher with a whipped cream pie.

The team of Alyssa Weitzel and Charisma McDonald calculated pi exactly from their circle and "pi'd" their teacher to the cheers from classmates.

Lions meet their new coach

New Lions head football coach Josh Stratton talks to his team about the importance of character is this video filmed March 12. Statton comes to New Richmond from Lloyd High School in Erlanger, Kentucky, where he was twice named district coach of the year.

Click on the play button to watch the video:

Breakfast with Easter Bunny is March 16

The New Richmond After Prom Committee is sponsoring the annual Breakfast with the Easter Bunny from 9-11 a.m. Saturday, March 16 at the New Richmond High School cafeteria.

Waffles, Bacon, Milk, Coffee & Juice $4 for kids (11 & under), $5 for adults
New Richmond High School Cafeteria
Face Painting! Pictures with the Easter Bunny! Crafts! Candy filled eggs for sale!
NEW this year - Omelettes for $7 and vendors selling Easter items.

Questions call 553-2289

Preschool screening dates are May 21-23

New Richmond Exempted Village School District Preschool Screening for the 2013-2014 School Year What is screening? Screening is a developmental assessment process conducted by preschool teachers and support staff to identify 3 and 4 year old children in the New Richmond School District, who may be eligible to attend our preschool program. Who is eligible? Our program is strictly for NREVSD residents only. Our program is designed for 3 and 4 year old children.  Any child attending screening must be at 3 years of age on or before  June 1, 2013.  Where do I go? All screening will be conducted at New Richmond Elementary.  Families should enter in the main doors (under the awning) by the office and follow the arrows to classroom #205 for registration.
When? Children from the New Richmond area: Children from the Monroe area: Children from the Locust Corner area:	Date	Time
	May 21	9 am - 3 pm
	May 22	9 am - 3 pm
	May 23	9 am - 3 pm
What to bring? In addition to your child, you will need to bring the following paperwork: * Child’s original birth certificate * Child’s social security card * Immunization record * Custody papers (if applicable) * A copy of one of the following for income verification:    1. W-2    2. Income tax return    3. Food stamp case number or AFDC case number * A copy of one of the following for address verification:    1. Current driver’s license    2. State ID    3. Utility bill Questions? Call: Erika Hauke 553-3181 x 15206 E-mail: hauke_e@nrschools.org Screening Helpful Hints Do bring all the required paperwork.  If you do not have your child’s Birth Certificate and Social Security Card, order them now.  You must present a Birth Certificate and Social Security card at the time of screening.  No child will be admitted into the program without a Birth  Certificate and Social Security Card. Do consider the time of day you attend screening.  If your child is a morning person, attend in the morning. If your child is happier  in the afternoon, attend after lunch. The time of day you attend our screening, has no bearing on enrollment consideration. Do bring your child well fed and well rested, the wait can be long.  Consider bringing a snack for your child while you wait. Do dress your child in play clothes with gym shoes…no flip flops please! Do have only one adult attend the screening with your child.  This adult may be a parent or grandparent, however, we ask that you carefully consider how well your child will separate from and cooperate with the adult who brings them to screening.  If your child will not separate from the adult, we will not be able  to conduct the screening. Do leave siblings at home.  We have limited space in the screening area and the elementary students are still in session.  We need to be quiet and respectful of the learning that is taking place in the building. Do prepare your child. Talk to your child many times about what will happen on screening day.  If a child knows what to expect, they tend to be less fearful and more willing to cooperate.  Explain to your child what a “big” boy/girl they have become and how fun going to school will be. Explain on screening day how they will meet new teachers and how excited we are to meet and play games with them.

Talent Show still looking for acts

We all know that New Richmond's Got Talent and here's a great way to show it off. The annual New Richmond High School Talent Show is set for April 5 at the high school theater and still needs a few acts for a talent rich show.

If you know anyone who would like to be in the show or have any questions about the show, please contact Sue Griffin at the high school (griffin_s@nrschools.org or 553-3191 ext 10204) by March 11. Auditions are scheduled for the weeks of March 11 and March 18 with rehearsal times scheduled in the theater the week of April 1. 

The evening show April 5 is open to any  student, parent, family member or NEW RICHMOND ALUMNI. This year's show will benefit the high school's After Prom program which helps keep our kids safe following the annual prom.

 

Stratton named new Lions football coach

Joshua Stratton, a Columbus, Ohio native who has spent the last two years as the head football coach at Lloyd High School in Erlanger, Kentucky, has been selected as the new head coach of the New Richmond Lions pending school board approval.

Joshua Stratton

“Coach Stratton stood out to us among a deep pool of candidates,” said Supt. Adam Bird in announcing the hire on Thursday.  “He will continue the NR tradition of excellent leadership from the football coach. “I believe that he will have an outstanding impact on the lives of our football players and on the students he has in class.”

A graduate of Morehead State, Stratton replaces Scott Herman who coached the Lions for the 2012 season before deciding to return to Montgomery, Texas where he had coached for six years.

“I feel completely blessed with this opportunity,” said Stratton. “I’ve had my eye on New Richmond and when this job came up again, there was no way that I wasn’t going to pursue it. It’s not just football, it’s academics, commitment and everything that makes New Richmond a great place to coach and teach.”

Stratton was named the 2012 Owen Hauck Award recipient given by the Northern Kentucky Football Coaches Association given for turning around a struggling program after coaching Lloyd to an 8-4 record and a district runner-up finish. He was the Kentucky 2A District 6 coach of the year in 2011 and 2012.

“Josh will immerse himself into the community and the school and will be very supportive of all the programs at the High School,” said New Richmond athletic director Doug Foote, who led the coaching search which received more than 70 applicants. “I’m very excited to get to work with Josh as a teacher and a coach. Josh will bring great excitement and passion to the program and will continue the great tradition of winning football at New Richmond High School.”

“His enthusiasm for the classroom as well as the game of football will be extremely contagious with our students!” predicted New Richmond High School principal Mark Bailey. “Results of his work in the classroom show that he is a very knowledgeable and inspiring teacher.  Mr. Stratton's experience as a head football coach brings a wisdom and knowledge of the game that only comes from experience within that position.”

Stratton’s coaching experience also includes two years at Covington Holmes, where he coached running backs in 2009 and quarterbacks in 2010; two years at Herculaneum High School in Missouri where he was the offensive coordinator as well as the school’s varsity basketball coach in 2007 and 2008; three years at Grant County High School where he was quarterback coach and head freshman football coach as well as the freshman basketball coach. He was also freshman boys basketball coach at Gahanna Lincoln High School in Columbus from 2000-2002.

Lion football fans may see a few more passing plays next season, but Stratton doesn’t plan to do a major overhaul on offense.

 “I want to build on their prior success, but you can’t be one dimensional anymore in football,” said Stratton, who teaches social studies. “We will be very balanced and there may be games where we will pass more and other games where we will run the ball exclusively.”

Stratton’s defensive philosophy is to “cause destruction” which resulted in his Lloyd defense recording 19 interceptions last season.

“My philosophy is to get as much speed on the field as possible and get 11 hats on the ball,” said Stratton. “We will be aggressive and cause destruction. On each and every snap the goal of the defense will be to take the ball away from the offense.”

Beckett, Wheeler selected for Arts Hall

 Valerie (Naegel) Beckett (Class of 1982) and Clark Wheeler (Class of 2004), who set the bar high for future New Richmond High School music  students, and the cast of the 1997 musical production ‘The Dream Master’ will be inducted into the New Richmond High School Fine Arts Hall of Fame on March 19.

They will be honored at a reception at 5:30 p.m. on March 19 followed by the annual Hall of Fame concert and inductions at 7 p.m. in the high school theater.

Valerie Beckett

“These are wonderful selections for me because I had a personal relationship with these people,” noted New Richmond music director Doug Heflin.  “Valerie was the first freshman ever to earn a choral music letter at New Richmond. And Clark Wheeler’s high school music ability was off the scale.”

Beckett, who is now an instructional aide at New Richmond Elementary, made her mark on the piano which she played in the orchestra for New Richmond’s productions of South Pacific, Oklahoma and West Side Story.

“The list of people she has accompanied is enormous,” said Heflin. “Everything from playing the piano in a high school musical to taking kids to the college audition, Valerie has been an amazing musician.”

“I was a stay-at-home mom for 22 years (sons Nick and Blake Beckett followed her footsteps as members of the school’s Troubadours group) and during those years I gave piano lessons,” said Beckett. “At one point I had 30 students. The piano takes me to a place I enjoy. I can sit at the piano and play and forget any problems. When my new piano was delivered, I played until my arms hurt.”

2004 New Richmond High School graduate Clark Wheeler spent 16 months in the  Kalahari Desert on three trips to  Southern  Africa studying and recording music of the Bushmen of the Kalahari for his albums When We Were Free: Bushman Music of Botswana and Revolutions of Spirit: Bushman Dance.

“Clark Wheeler took Advanced Music Theory at the College Conservatory of Music as a high school sophomore and had a perfect score on the AP Music Theory test,” said Heflin. “Any time he comes back to school and shares his musical talents with us is a great joy.”

As a junior, Wheeler’s composition, ‘Harpstrings’ was performed by the Troubadours.

“That was a special experience and I am very grateful to Mr. Heflin for having an openness and enthusiasm towards such unique things in his music programs,” said Wheeler.

 Wheeler’s life since high school would make a good feature for the National Geographic. He has spent 16 months alone in the Kalahari Desert in southern Africa studying and recording the complex traditional music of the Bushmen (San) people and has published two albums from his recordings: When We Were Free: Bushman Music of Botswana and Revolutions of Spirit: Bushman Dance. All proceeds go to the Bushman musicians. The albums are available at www.bushmanmusic.org.

“Beyond this, I have continued to expand and hone my musical capacities and have performed in various types of bands and as a solo guitarist/singer,” said Wheeler, who will spend a year in China teaching English at a Chinese school.

The Dream Master was a 1997 production that went from idea to live performance in 10 days.

“Due to a personnel change at our high school we got to the point where there wasn’t going to be a musical production that school year,” said Heflin. “My college roommate (Mark Britt) and I had worked on a musical called ‘The Dream Master’ in college and between us we came up with the final libretto and the music and passed it out on a Monday and on the 10^th day we performed it in front of an audience.”

Flying Pig raffle to help NRHS band

The New Richmond High School band has been selected as one of the charities to benefit from the Flying Pig Marathon's Piggest Raffle Ever.

The NRHS band is approaching 100 members and is raising money to replace 30-year-old uniforms.

"Tickets to Adopt a Pig are $5, and when the New Richmond High School Band is selected as the charity, 100% of the proceeds go to the band," said Band director Michael McKinley. "If you are interested, all of the information can be found at the following link: http://www.piggestraffle.com/"

On Saturday (May 4) of Flying Pig Marathon Weekend at approximately 7 p.m. Art's Rental Lift will drop all of the numbered PIGS onto a target in Downtown Cincinnati with the owner of the winning pig receiving a 2-year lease on a 2013 Toyota Prius.

The NRHS band also is the beneficiary of a Cincinnati Reds ticket promotion for the April 3 game against the Los Angeles Dodgers which will be followed by a concert by the Rusty Griswolds.

Go to this link http://cincinnati.reds.mlb.com/cin/ticketing/group_theme_dates.jsp?loc=rustyreds&partnerId=11901-TBZ1 for a special discount on game tickets and select the New Richmond High School Marching Band as your charity and the Reds will donate $5 for each ticket sold to the band's uniform fund. Please be sure to select New Richmond's band from the drop down list on the order page. If you have any questions about this event, please contact Shannon Senger with the Reds at (513) 765-7105.