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Mason senior Chantal Woodson was presented with UC’s Cincinnatus Presidential scholarship award at a ceremony held May 23, 2013. From left, Mason Principal Mindy McCarty-Stewart, school guidance counselor Seth Johnston, Woodson and UC’s Erica Henry. Provided

Mason High School senior Chantal Woodson has earned the University of Cincinnati’s highest scholarship award — a four-year, &88,000 Cincinnatus Presidential scholarship.

The prestigious scholarship competition selects students on the basic of academic achievement, leadership and commitment to community service. Each awarded scholar must perform 30 hours of community service each year.

Woodson received the award at a ceremony held May 23 at the university.

At Mason, the German National Honor Society member was involved with Senior Sibs, the varsity dance team and Comets in Action, a mentorship program for students with special needs.

Woodson plans to major in biology and minor in German and Spanish this fall. She’s also been accepted into UC’s Connections program, which grants her early admission to the university’s medical school.

Woodson will perform with the UC Dhadal International Dance team and hopes to study abroad.

“I am so excited about the opportunities this scholarship opens up for me. I plan to participate in UC’s study abroad program, and take advantage of all that UC has to offer,” she said.

She is the daughter of Anthony and Ursula Woodson of Mason.

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Mason Intermediate state fire poster contest winners Luna Brenner and Gracie Bagadiong are presented with their awards from State Fire Marshall Fire Safety educator, Jennifer Snyder. Provided photo

Sue Kiesewetter reports:

Those heading to this year’s Ohio State Fair will see the artwork of two Mason fourth graders’ on display.

The blown up posters of Luna Brenner and Gracie Bagadiong will be on display in the Ohio Department of Commerce area in the merchant building on the Columbus fairgrounds.

They are among a dozen posters that were selected as winners in this year’s Ohio fire marshal’s poster contest.

The posters were submitted by the Mason Department from among 800 entries it received last fall in the annual competition, said Joe Hoying, Mason’s deputy fire chief.

A committee picks up to 15 posters each year that are then voted on by firefighters.

“This year it was very, very difficult to choose just one overall winner,” Hoying said. “Both posters kept getting an equal number of votes so we decided to send both to the state.”

The two posters were among the 500-plus the state fire marshal’s office received, said Rich Palmer, assistant chief, in the fire prevention bureau at the Ohio fire marshal’s office.

“These are judged by safety educators. They are chosen based on quality of work and the message,’’ Palmer said.

(more…)

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: columbus, fire poster, grace bagadiong, gracie bagadiong, luna brenner, mason intermediate, ohio department of commerce, ohio fire marshal

A Mason High School freshman placed third at the Ohio State Science Day competition in Columbus.

Neil Giridharan’s project, Using User-generated Entropy to Generate Truly Random Numbers, earned him honors in the Yost Engineering Award for Originality in Computer Engineering and Science category at last Saturday’s competition.

Giridharan will receive a $100 award for his project. More than 1,000 students in grades 5-12 participated in the science day.

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Tags: Tags: mason high school, Neil Giridharan, Ohio State Science Day competition, Ohio State Science Day competition Columbus

Kings High School student athletes signed letters of intent to play college level sports. Seated, from left, are: Kayla Smith, Lauren McLennan, Haley Delaney, Natalie Weinrich, Kacy Dunn, Brady Vanover; standing: Paul Koerbel, Joe Shumar, David Hare, Nick Wolf, Jacob Himes, Kennedy Cook, Autin Copeland, Landon Kirby, and Matt Schlehr. Provided photo.

During a signing ceremony Thursday, 15 Kings High School students made their official commitments to colleges and universities to play a specific sport.

The students, the school they will attend and the sport they agreed to play are:

• Kennedy Cook, Wittenberg University, football
• Austin Copeland, Thomas More, football
• Haley Delaney, Waynesburg University, basketball
• Kacy Dunn, Cedarville University, cross country, track, and field
• David Hare, Baldwin Wallace University, baseball
• Jacob Himes, Manchester University, basketball
• Landon Kirby, Ohio Christian University, soccer
• Paul Koerbel, Wilmington College, lacrosse
• Lauren McLennan, Rose Hulman, swimming and cross country
• Matt Schlehr, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, swimming
• Joe Shumar, Muskingum University, baseball
• Kayla Smith, University of Northwestern Ohio, softball
• Brady Vanover, Wittenberg University, football
• Natalie Weinrich, University of Toledo, dance
• Nick Wolf, Carthage College, football

Posted in: Schools, Sports, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Autin Copeland, brady vanover, David Hare, Haley Delaney, jacob himes, Joe Shumar, Kacy Dunn, Kayla Smith, Kennedy Cook, Kings High School sports, Kings sports, Landon Kirby, Lauren McLennan, Matt Schlehr, Natalie Weinrich, Nick Wolf, Paul Koerbel

Sam Whipple and Andrew Zheng, from Mason High School; and Anosha Minai, who attends Ursuline Academy, were selected from among 15,000 finalists in this year’s National Merit Scholarship Program.

Whipple plans to go into politics; Zheng, chemical engineering; and Minai wants to be an entrepreneur.

A committee of college admissions officers and high school counselors selected the scholarship winners from among the National Merit finalists.

The committee used criteria that included academic record, difficulty level of subjects studied and grades earned, standardized test scores, school leadership, community activities, an essay, and recommendation by a school official.

Honorees were among 1.5 million who entered the 2013 competition by taking the 2011 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test as juniors.

This is the second of four releases of corporate, college and National Merit scholarships that will be awarded through July. The scholarships can be used at any regionally accredited United States college or university.

By the end of the competition about 8,000 scholarships, valued at more than $35 million, will have been awarded.

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Tags: Tags: andrew zheng, Anosha Minai, mason high school, national merit finalists, national merit scholarship program, sam whipple, ursuline academy

Keaton Reed of Mason was named a 2013 scholarship recipient by AK Steel.

The West Chester-based company awards annual scholarships of up to $20,000 each to children of employees based on academic achievement, leadership and community involvement.

Keaton, a senior at Mason High School, is an honors student and member of the National Honor Society.  He’s the recipient of several school academic achievement awards.

He’s active in cross country and track, basketball, youth baseball and the school’s SIBS program.  He also volunteers with Fleet Feet and his church.

Keaton is the son of Maurice “Mo” and Shelly Reed of Mason.  Mo Reed works in the engineering, raw materials and energy department at AK Steel corporate headquarters in West Chester.

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Tags: Tags: ak steel, keaton reed, mason high school, maurice reed, mo reed, scholarship

Michael D. Clark reports:

It’s really not debatable.

Even if it were, you wouldn’t want to argue with these teens.

What the Mason High School speech and debate team did this year – fielding a record 26 debate state qualifiers – and then qualifying a record-tying six for next month’s national competition is impressive.

What makes it more remarkable is the talkative teens did it without a coach.

The team’s previous instructor – a Mason teacher – moved on to another job before the start of the season. Left in a lurch, two Mason seniors on the 107-member team took to the leadership podium and guided their classmates to its most successful season in school history.

“It definitely was nerve-wracking for us,” said Mason High School senior Samuel Whipple, who along with classmate Sohum Talreja stepped up to lead.

“To be honest I assumed we would struggle. Without a coach you lose a lot of instruction and a lot of experience.”

“The biggest surprise,” Samuel said, “was how it all paid off in the end.”

That payoff could be even greater after Samuel and five teammates – senior Kathryn Albers, junior Mohamed Elzarka, junior Vineet Erasala, junior James Gao and junior Harsha Ramesh – compete against the nation’s top high school debate teams June 16-21 at the 2013 Lincoln Financial Group/National Forensic League National Speech and Debate Tournament in Birmingham, Ala. It’s the same number the school sent to the national tournament a year ago.

(more…)

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Tags: Tags: debate, debate team, debaters, harsha ramesh, james gao, kathryn albers, lorri allen, mason, mason board of education, mason high school, mindy mccarter-stewart, mohamed elzarka, national forensic league, rebecca bogard, samuel whipple, sohum talreja, vineet erasala

Divya Takkellapati / Provided photo

Thirteen Mason students earned honors at the National History Day in Ohio contest held Saturday at The Ohio State University.

The History Day competition challenges students to research historical topics related to an annual theme.  This year’s theme was “Turning Points in History.”

Twenty-nine Mason students were invited to submit projects at the state level.  Of those, two were named national finalists, two national alternates, three honorable mentions and two special awards.

Mason sophomore Divya Takkellapati was named a national finalist for her paper, “The Lady with the Lamp: The Start of a Revolution in Healthcare.”

Mason Middle School seventh-grader Ahalya Ramesh was named a national finalist in the junior individual exhibit category with her paper, “The Discovery of Insulin: A Second Chance for the sugar Sickness.”

Both girls will go on to compete against the top national students June 9-13 at the National History Day contest in College Park, Md.

Two students received special prizes:  Mohamed Elzarka, a Mason High School student, won the Ohio Academy of History award for his paper, “The Hijrah: The Impact of a Journey,” while Mason Middle School student Vineet Sai Prasad won the American Founding Award-Ashbrook Center for Public Affair award for his paper, “Declaration of Independence: A Document of our Past.”

Ahalya Ramesh / Provided photo

Mason Middle School students Chinmay Bakshi, Sritej Devineni and Vardhan Avasarala were named national alternates.  Chinmay’s paper addressed “The India and Pakistan Partition” while Sritjej and Vardhan collaborated on a website on the “Cuban Missile Crisis.”

Mason High School students Gokul Muruganantham, Sai Madichetty and Shreetej Reddy and Mason Middle School students Ranjani Ramasubramanian Atneya Nair and Tristan Groenewold received honorable mentions.

This year’s crop of students marks the school’s strongest showing in several years and is the third consecutive year a Mason student has advanced to the national contest, said team adviser Dan Langan.

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Tags: Tags: Ahalya Ramesh, contest, Divya Takkellapati, history day, mason high school, mason middle school, national history day in ohio

Claire Sadowski is the 2013 valedictorian at Kings High School, the district announced today.

Sadowski, an avid reader and hospital volunteer, is the daughter of Steve and Diana Sadowski.  She plans to study food science at Clemson University this fall.

Matthew Drew and Chris Koloseike were named co-salutatorians.

Drew, the son of Rogers and Rene Drew, will major in medicine this fall at Washington University in St. Louis.  He participated in cross country, track and field and theater while at Kings, in addition to being a hospital volunteer.

Koloseike, a member of the school’s swim team and symphonic and jazz bands, will study engineering this fall at The Ohio State University.  He’s the son of Matthew and Beth Koloseike.

Kings’ graduation is set for 1 p.m. Sunday, May 26 at the Cintas Center at Xavier University.

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Tags: Tags: chris koloseike, claire sadowski, class of 2013, kings high school, matthew drew, salutatorian, valedictorian

U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot with Mason Middle School eighth-grader Jarrett Wilson Photo provided

When Jarrett Wilson received a chance to earn extra credit by attending a town hall meeting held by U.S. Rep. Steve Chabot, he had a better idea.

The intrepid Mason Middle School eighth-grader approached the longtime legislator and invited him to speak at his school.

Chabot (R-Westwood) took Jarrett up on his offer when he spoke to about 200 students Monday on government and civics.

Students peppered Chabot with questions on hot-topic issues such as North Korea, gun control, same-sex marriage and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA), along with more general questions on how congress members work together.

One forward student asked Chabot if he’s ever considered running for president.  “Maybe someday, but no one has asked,” replied Chabot with a laugh.

“The student questions were excellent and Congressman Chabot was very candid in his answers,” said social studies teacher Renee Thole. “Jarrett earned his extra credit for sure.”

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Tags: Tags: congressman, extra credit, jarrett wilson, mason middle school, republican, steve chabot