NRE is no Grinch when it comes to food drive

New Richmond Elementary ended its 2014 food drive with an assembly featuring Principal Terry Miller reading Letters to Santa written by NRE students as part of the Make A Wish Foundation and an performance by counselor, Angela Gray, who promised the students that if they donated 1,000 cans to the canned food drive she would dress up like the Grinch. The students donated 1559 cans at the time of the assembly and went over the 1600 mark by the end of the school day. The canned food drive benefits New Richmond’s Food Pantry.

Click on the Play button below to watch a video of the NRE program.

Joe Golfman makes 27th visit as Santa

It wouldn’t be the Christmas season at New Richmond’s Monroe Elementary without a visit by Joe Golfman as Santa to Barb Holman’s kindergarten class. Mr. Golfman, 95, a decorated veteran of World War II, has been visiting Mrs. Holman’s Class for the past 27 years as Santa and is a long-time volunteer at the school.

Click on the Play button below to watch Santa's visit.>br />

Retiring LCE secretary gets flash mobbed

New Richmond's Locust Corner Elementary School secretary Debbie Wessel got a surprise retirement sendoff Dec. 12 when teachers and students performed a flash mob performance in her honor during the school's Christmas program to cap its annual canned food drive program.

Click on the Play Button below to watch Mrs. Wessel being honored.

Locust Corner continues its giving tradition

New Richmond's Locust Corner Elementary continued its tradition of performing "Children Go Where I Send Thee' while volunteers from the New Richmond Food Pantry pickup up more than 2500 canned food items and $195 in donations from the students.

Click on the Play button below to watch the performance by Locust Corner's staff and students

The Fortieth Annual NRHS “Christmas Festival of Music”

New Richmond High School Presents
The Fortieth Annual “Christmas Festival of Music”
December 15, 2014 NRHS Gymnasium 7:00 P.M
Click on the Play button below to watch the concert


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Concert Band 
Christmas Bells Medley *** arr. Lloyd Conley 
Kris Kringle Jingle *** Jerry Williams 
Silent Night *** arr. Sean O’Loughlin 
Themes from The Nutcracker Suite *** Tschaikowsky arr. C Johnson 

Mixed Chorus 
The Little Drummer Boy/Peace on Earth *** Simeone/Onorati/Davis 
Put a Little Love In Your Heart *** Holiday/Myers/De Shannon 
Mary Sat A-Rockin ’ *** Sall Albrecht \_ 
Sleigh Bells *** arr. Earlene Rentz 

A Men’s Chorus 
Santa Claus Is Coming To Town  *** Althouse 
Frozen Heart * * * Anderson—Lopez / Lopez 

Special
 Heat Miser/Snow Miser *** Jules Bass & Maury Laws
Analiese Rohdes & Jenny Roberts
Winter Days *** Cole Thompson 

Women’s Chorus 
Christmas in About Three Minutes *** arr. Weston 
O Holy Night *** Adolphe Adams 

Troubadours 
From the Still of Night / Tear Drops / Star Beams 
From the Cantata “A Journey to Bethlehem” *** Pontius/Heflin 
Let It Go *** Anderson-Lopez / Lopez 
Ding a Ding a Ding *** Greg Gilpin

Troubadours and Guests 
Hallelujah Chorus (from the Messiah) *** G.F. Handel

Lions Hall of Fame accepting nominations

The New Richmond Lions Sports Hall of Fame is accepting nominations for induction into the 2015 Hall of Fame Class. Nominations must be received by the New Richmond High School Athletic Department by December 8, 2014 to be considered for the 2015 Hall of Fame inductions to be held at 6 p.m. January 31, 2015.

Print out this post which contains the nomination form or download the form at http://www.nrschools.org/Downloads/nr-hall-nomination.pdf

New Richmond Lions Sports Hall of Fame

NOMINATIONS AND ELIGIBILITY

FORWARD:        The performances of the past serve as an inspiration for present and future activities. Yet, unless the achievements are recorded, they tend to become hazy memories. It is for this reason that we set forth the following purpose for the Lions Sports Hall of Fame.

PURPOSE:           To recognize outstanding contributions to the athletic program at New Richmond High School by athletes, coaches, athletic directors and administrators and therefore offer incentive to future participants in this program.

A.    Anyone wishing to make one or several nominations may obtain nomination forms in the Athletic Director’s Office.

1.     Nominators must sign nomination forms or they will be invalid.

2.     Nominations must be submitted by December 8th. The committee will meet in December to select inductees.

3.     The induction ceremony will take place during the basketball season on January 31^st at 6:00.

B.    Any past athlete, coach, athletic director, or administrator is eligible for induction into the Lions Sports Hall of Fame with these exceptions:

1.     An athlete must have earned a Varsity letter while attending New Richmond. Athletes cannot be considered within the first five years after his/her graduation date.

2.     A coach, athletic director, or administrator is eligible immediately after retiring or upon leaving the district.

3.     A present coach, athletic director, or administrator is eligible for his/her performance as an athlete at New Richmond.

4.     Outstanding athletic achievement and contribution to athletics is the primary requirement for nomination.

C.    Number of Inductees – There will be at least one, but not more than 4 inductees in a given year.

D.    Nominations will be kept in consideration for 3 years.

NEW RICHMOND EXEMPTED VILLAGE SCHOOL DISTRICT

LIONS SPORTS HALL OF FAME

NOMINATION FORM

NOTE: BEFORE COMPLETING THIS NOMINATION  PLEASE REFER TO THE NOMINATION AND ELIGIBILITY RULES LISTED ON THE REVERSE SIDE OF THIS SHEET.

NOMINEE: _____________________________________________________________

CURRENT ADDRESS: ___________________________________________________

TELEPHONE NUMBER: _____________________ YEAR GRADUATED: _________

E-MAIL __________________________________

SPORTS PLAYED OR COACHED: _________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

OUTSTANDING ACCOMPLISHMENTS:____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

WHY DO YOU FEEL THIS PERSON SHOULD BE INDUCTED?

_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

NOMINATOR’S NAME (PRINT)____________________________________________

NOMINATOR’S  E-MAIL: ________________________________________________

TELEPHONE NUMBER: _____________________ DATE SUBMITTED: _________

NREVSD honors our Veterans

Locust Corner Elementary kicked off the New Richmond Exempted Village School District's Veterans Day program with its Veterans Breakfast Friday, Nov. 7.

Ralph Sherpherd introduces Veterans attending Locust Corner Elementary's
Veterans Breakfast Friday, Nov. 7.

The district's Veterans Day program continues at 9 a.m. Monday, Nov. 10 with the dedication of the Veterans Museum on the second floor of the Market Street School; New Richmond Elementary's Veterans Breakfast at 8 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 11; New Richmond Middle School's Veterans Assembly at 9 a.m. Nov. 11; New Richmond High School's Veterans Assembly at 1:30 p.m. Nov. 11; and Monroe Elementary's Veterans Breakfast at 7:45 a.m. Nov. 12.

In addition, the New Richmond High School band will be among the six Clermont County high school bands marching in the Clermont County Veterans Day Parade at 7 p.m. Nov. 11. The parade will start at Light Street and proceed up Front Street past the band stand.

Scenes from Locust Corner's Veterans Breakfast:

Student arrested after Yik Yak threat

A New Richmond High School student was arrested and suspended from school Wednesday afternoon following a threat posted the night before on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak. The student was not identified.

The threat resulted in a search by New Richmond police, school administrators and high school staff of all of all students entering the high school Wednesday.

“The student was arrested by the New Richmond Police Department and removed from the building ,” said Supt. Adam Bird. “It’s an example of great cooperation between our police and high school staff.”

New Richmond police officer Les Smith performs a bag search of a late arriving New Richmond High School student after a threat was posted on the anonymous social media app Yik Yak Tuesday night leading to a search of all students arriving at New Richmond High School Wednesday.

“Last night a community member brought to my attention something that was on the app Yik Yak that said ‘Watch out New Richmond I am about shoot up the school 2morro’ and we immediately contacted police,” said New Richmond High School principal Mark Bailey.

Bailey, assistant principal Phil Heflin, district Supt. Adam Bird and teachers Jim Robinson and Sue Griffin assisted New Richmond police in the search of approximately 700 students. Clermont County Sheriff deputies also assisted before being called away for an emergency.

“It took less than 45 minutes to perform the search and all classes started on time,” said Bird. “The students were calm and cooperative and everything went smoothly.”

New Richmond police remained on the scene and performed bag searches for students arriving late due to junior and senior options and post-secondary college classes.

“We realize that parents’ No. 1 priority is their child’s safety and that has to come before learning,” said Bailey. “Students have to feel safe and have to know that we take all threats seriously.”

Bailey banned cell phone use in the high school last week after vulgar and mean Yik Yak posts by students. The App is banned throughout the district via its WiFi network and Yik Yak has put up a block on cell towers within 1.5 miles of the high school. The threat has been turned over to New Richmond police for investigation.

NREVSD bans Yik Yak gossip app

The New Richmond Exempted Village School District is closely monitoring the anonymous social media app Yik Yak and is banning it from use in the district.

Yik Yak is available for iOS and Android smart phones and allows users to anonymously create and view posts in a virtual message board within a 1.5 mile radius depending on how many other users are nearby.

An example of a Yik Yak
Post by students this week.

YikYak has come under fire nationally as the new home of cyberbullying and incidents of cyberbullying have been detected by New Richmond administrators.

"Cyberbullying has already occurred,” said New Richmond Supt. Adam Bird. “Many disparaging, ugly, vulgar comments are being made about students and staff using Yik Yak."

Technically, the Yik Yak app is limited to people 17 years and older, but it’s still popular with younger high school students.

New Richmond relaxed its policy on use of cell phones in schools four years ago and may have to reconsider that move because of the Yik Yak app according to New Richmond High School principal Mark Bailey.

“They are allowed to use cell phones at lunch time and in the classroom for academic purposes and apparently that is not happening,” said Bailey. “We now have more than enough iPads and Chromebooks therefore the use of cell phones is no longer needed for research.”

Yik Yak has become a major problem with schools nationwide.

New York Magazine recently highlighted the chaos caused at Staples High School in Westport, Connecticut. The magazine article pointed out that one student wrote, “How long do we think before A. B. kills herself?”  A high school in San Clemente, California was shut down this year after an anonymous bomb threat was posted on Yik Yak.

“I have several issues with Yik Yak,” said Bailey. “No. 1, we have students saying mean, hurting things to each other and about staff members. In my mind it is a form of cyber bullying.

“My second concern is that students seem to be on Yik Yak when they should be attending to instruction and learning. I would rather be working with staff and students to improve academics rather than focusing on issues like this.”

Supt. Bird noted that parents must get involved to stop cyberbullying.

“The use of Yik Yak is now being monitored by New Richmond schools and students should know that nothing on the Internet is completely anonymous,” said Bird. “But we only can control what goes on in our buildings, we need parents to help monitor their students use of Yik Yak.”

Cameras monitor NREVSD school buses

There is no “He said, she said” anymore when it comes to investigating school bus behavior incidents in the New Richmond Exempted Village School District.

“Last year, we heard from parents regarding their concern about bus bullying,” said New Richmond Supt. Adam Bird. “In response, cameras have been installed on every bus so that student behavior can be better monitored."

New Richmond schools chief mechanic Chuck Vogel aligns cameras that have been installed on all NREVSD school buses to monitor student behavior and other safety issues.

Every New Richmond school bus has a minimum of two cameras recording video and audio. One is installed above the driver’s seat window and focus on the driver and the bus door. A second camera is above the windshield and focused down the aisle.

“We have installed a third camera on selected bus serving routes where there have been issues,” added Bird.

Video and audio is stored on a SD card which can be reviewed on a computer and burned onto a DVD for use in disciplinary hearings by district administrators. The pair of bus cameras cost $1000 and were installed by district mechanics.

New Richmond schools chief mechanic Chuck Vogel reviews video from a pair of cameras installed on all New Richmond school buses to monitor student behavior and other safety issues. 

Students have taken notice of the cameras and adjusted their behavior accordingly.

“I have noticed a decrease in the number of bus referrals compared to the past few years,” said NREVSD transportation director Wayne Prescott.

Some bus drivers had privacy concerns at first since they would be on camera (which operate anytime the bus engine is running) even when they weren’t on the road. The tradeoff of having an extra set of eyes on their students quickly overcame any privacy concerns.

“I have spoken with several drivers regarding the new cameras, and have had positive feedback,” said Prescott. “Drivers like having an extra set of eyes on their students and they like being able to have the video checked when students tell them that something happen on the bus that they didn’t see or hear."