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Monday, 13 May 2013 11:37 |
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The Sidney Education Association held their awards dinner last week at the Moose Lodge. The evening, filled with laughter and tears, celebrated various teachers for accomplishments and achievements throughout the year.
Members honored Kathy Keith, intervention specialist at Northwood Elementary, with Teacher of the Year. The nomination came from Northwood colleague, Teresa Cegledy.
“I have had the distinct pleasure of working collaboratively in an inclusion setting and as a team and building colleague of Kathy Keith,” expressed Cegledy. “Her tireless dedication to her students, their families and the staff can only be described as an inspiration to those around her. She is constantly researching new and varied ways to bring a quality education to any child that may cross her path.”
She continued, “Kathy is an invaluable wealth of knowledge for strategies, interventions, modifications and alternative ways to enhance lessons for learning for every child. Truly her greatest gift is to see the potential and best in every child no matter how challenging they may be when they are frustrated with learning.”
The group also recognized retiring teachers and presented them with a gift and certificate. Two retirees, Barb Kerr and Diane Dexter were presented with the Long-Term Dedication award for their excellence in teaching in Sidney City Schools. Many of the retirees expressed their appreciation for their colleagues and time spent within Sidney City Schools and shared inspiring words of encouragement for those teachers they leave behind!
Jennifer Billing-Martz and Angie Mentges received the Do-er’s Award for always going above and beyond in their day-to-day.
Members also recognized “Friends of Education.” These are people and businesses that support teachers and education within Sidney through their generosity. Receiving this award were Pastor John Geissler & Cindy Lambert of Agape Distribution and Mike Hoenie. |
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Friday, 10 May 2013 11:52 |
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For the average 3rd grade student, daily adversities include multiplication and division, the choice between eating school lunch and packing their own lunch, making it across the monkey bars or being picked last for kickball. Luke Bemus is not your average 3rd grader and what he faces each day is not your typical 3rd grade hardship. Luke was born with Cystic Fibrosis.
Cystic Fibrosis (CF) is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the U.S. and 70,000 worldwide. A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food. Cystic fibrosis is an inherited chronic disease that affects the lungs and digestive system of about 30,000 children and adults in the United States (70,000 worldwide). A defective gene and its protein product cause the body to produce unusually thick, sticky mucus that clogs the lungs and leads to life-threatening lung infections; and obstructs the pancreas and stops natural enzymes from helping the body break down and absorb food.
“It all started because I wasn’t feeling well,” explained Luke as he shared with his classmates just what it is like to be diagnosed with and live having CF.
Though Luke was born with CF, he wasn’t diagnosed until he was in 1st grade. Prior to diagnosis, doctors went back and forth treating Luke for allergies and asthma. Luke and his parents shared a photo of Luke before his diagnosis that showed him to be extremely small for his age, as CF not only creates the mucus, but it prevents nutrients from being absorbed. “Even after Luke was diagnosed with Cystic Fibrosis and was being treated, he still wasn’t gaining weight of growing quite like doctor’s thought he would,” said Luke’s mom Tammy Bemus. “They eventually diagnosed Luke with Celiac disease.”
Celiac disease is a digestive condition triggered by consumption of the protein gluten, which is primarily found in bread, pasta, cookies, pizza crust and many other foods containing wheat, barley or rye.
Within two years of being diagnosed with both, Luke gained 27 pounds and grew 12 inches.
Luke spoke to his classmates about his daily routine of 30 plus pills, “most of them the size of my thumb,” said Luke. He told them how it takes 30 minutes to eat breakfast alone because he takes so many pills during that time. Before heading off to school, Luke has to sit and do his treatment with a high frequency chest wall oscillation vest. As the name implies, the vest basically vibrates Luke and his chest to thin out the mucus and force it out of the chest. Luke does this at least twice a day. To add a bit of humor to this treatment, Luke has mastered a number of interesting noises and sounds as a result of the vibrations. A huge Star Wars fan, he demonstrated one of his favorite sounds, a light saber.
Every 6 to 8 months, Luke requires an extended two-week stay at Children’s Hospital in Dayton, or as they refer to the stay, a “tune up”.
Luke’s parents, David and Tammy, helped Luke talk about CF to his classmates. David read “Mallory’s 65 Roses” by Diane Shader to introduce the students to cystic fibrosis. "65 Roses" a phrase some children with CF call their disease because the words are much easier for them to pronounce.
When asked how he wants to be treated as a result of his CF, Luke said, “Because of things, I have an enlarged spleen, so I can’t really play contact sports and you have to be careful at recess and gym when we’re running. Otherwise, I just want to be treated like normal.”
“Luke is an amazing kid with great spirit,” said Whittier Principal Keith Helmlinger. “He really controls his disease and doesn’t let it stop or slow him down.” Whittier is supporting Luke by having a “Hats Off to Luke” to benefit the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. Students can wear hats to school on Friday by making a contribution of any amount.
The Bemus family invites anyone to participate in the GREAT STRIDES Walk for Cystic Fibrosis on Saturday, May 11th at Duke Park in Troy. Check in for the walk starts at 9:00AM, with the walk beginning at 10:00AM. Anyone interested in participating in or donation to the Great Strides Walk can search for Luke Bemus at www.cff.org/Great_Strides/ and register for Luke’s team (appropriately named “The Force”)! |
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Thursday, 02 May 2013 14:52 |
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Emerson Elementary is celebrating Right to Read week April 29th - May 3! "Reading is PAWS-itively awesome" is the theme for the week and there are dogs galore throughout the school--both on the walls and roaming the halls. Students have been treated to guests readers throughout the week and the school as a whole is trying to reach a reading goal of 12,000 minutes for the week. If the goal is reached, students will be treated to Mr. Epperly washing a dog; word on the street is, Mr. Epperly HATES giving dogs baths! More to come... |
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Tuesday, 23 April 2013 10:32 |
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Sidney's Academia team competed at OAC (Ohio Academic Competition) Regionals at Tippecanoe High School (West Central Regional) this past Saturday, which is one of six regional sites around the state. Each regional site had 16 teams, making the field for the state 96 teams. The team finished as runners-up behind Northmont, qualifying them for OAC State on May 4th where they will be one of 12 teams.
This is the first time in school history that Sidney has qualified for OAC State! The team consists of seniors Neal Dev, Frank EnYart, and Ardy Li, junior Tyler Schlagetter, sophomore Jack Martin, freshman Aaron Jensen, and eighth grader NourEddine Hijazi. The team advisor is Joe Czurypn. |
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