May 2007 - Special Senior Issue

2 The Oakwood Times May 18, 2007
2
Purple and White Awards 2007
For eight years, The Oakwood Times has honored those groups who have represented OHS well in our community. As in the past, the selection of these groups was not easy. There
is always an abundance of candidates, but we feel that these groups have demonstrated exceptional spirit and dedication and deserve recognition for their work.
Outstanding Team -- This team has put forth the best image of OHS on the athletic field, in the classroom, and in the community.
Outstanding Organization -- This group has done the most to put forth a good image of OHS, made a positive contribution to the community or school, or brought the best publicity
to the school.
Outstanding Community Group--- This outside group has done exceptional work for OHS, the district, or has made a positive contribution to the community.
Outstanding Team
Girls Basketball
By Carly Wilson
The winner of the 2007 Purple and White Award for the
Outstanding Athletic Team is the OHS Girls Basketball Team.
The team advanced to the finals of the Vermilion County
Tournament for the first time in 15 years and ended up bringing
home the second place trophy.
They also finished second place in the Comet Classic,
which is hosted at OHS every year. The team lost in overtime
during the championship game to the Westville Tigers.
The team finished with a total of 20 wins, which was a
goal of head coach Rick Bough from the beginning of the
season. This was the first time the team has been able to
achieve this goal in over a decade.
All season long, the team was looked upon as a legitimate
threat to win the big games and compete for titles.
“The team played with a lot of spirit, brought a big
crowd to the games, and played with the intensity that we
would like to see out of all of our teams,” said Athletic Director
Tim Lee.
The team was awarded an IHSA Team Academic
Achievement Award for having a combined GPA of over 3.0
during the season.
Junior guard Stephanie Denius was named to the All-
Area team by The News-Gazette, and All-State Honorable
Mention by the Associated Press, The News-Gazette, and
the Illinois Basketball Coaches Association.
Denius and freshman Amy Martin were also named to
the all tournament team during the County tournament.
The team is very deserving of this award because of
their success, spirit, and excitement they brought to the basketball
court.
Close Calls: Soccer, Comettes, Baseball
Outstanding Club
WYSE
By Jenna Hazelbaker
The Oakwood Times has chosen World Wide Youth
in Science and Engineering team, commonly known as
WYSE, to receive the Purple and White Award for outstanding
organization for 2006-2007.
The first outstanding accomplishment for the team
began at their first competition, which was Regionals.
The team placed first in division 300 out of six
other schools. The team did so well that the students
accumulated 43% of the awards given at the competition.
Six out of the 13 members of the team placed at the
Regional.
The WYSE team then advanced to Sectionals,
where the team received third place, only missing second
place by nine points.
The team’s third place finish was good enough to
qualify the team for the State competition.
Although the team did not place at State, two students
did do well. Travis Davis got sixth in math and
Erin Pouilliard received sixth in English and sixth in biology.
Team members include sophomore Stanley Zitello;
juniors Kyle Carnahan, Justin Jones, Joe Lewis, Aaron
O’Neill, Scott Randle, Rosa Shoemaker, and Carly Wilson;
seniors Davis, Tucker Knight, Pouilliard, Logan
Wilder, and fill-in Megan Knoblauch. The WYSE team’s
advisor was Norma Anderson.
“The WYSE team has proven to be representing
this school very well and I am very proud of them all,”
said Anderson.
Close Calls: Student Council, Drama Club,
Sophomore class
Outstanding Comm. Group
Booster Club
By Kimber Hawkins
The Oakwood Times presents the Purple and White
Award outstanding community group to the OHS Booster
Club.
Each year, the Booster Club supports all of OHS’ athletic
groups. They supply pop for the sports banquets and
offer financial aid when teams ask of it. This year, the club
offered a charter bus to a football game at Knoxville for both
fans and the cheerleaders.
The Booster Club offers a scholarship each year to a
graduating senior. They are also in charge of both the fall and
winter programs. This year, the club remodeled the boys and
girls basketball locker room.
“I like the dry erase board best because it is bigger and
I don’t have to erase every other word I put on the board,”
said boy’s basketball coach Jesse Johnson.
The Booster Club has bought benches for the soccer
team, track T-shirts, wind tarps for the softball team, a weighted
bat and backstop signs for the baseball team and miscellaneous
items for other various teams. They also bought shirts
for the coaches.
The Booster Club also bought dog tags to recognize
the seniors who were members of sports teams.
The Booster Clubs largest fundraiser is the 50/50 raffles.
Other fundraisers they have done this year include seat cushion
sales, men’s nostalgia basketball tournament, and a golf
outing.
On June 23, the Booster Club will hold their second
annual golf outing. Anyone interested in playing needs to
contact the Booster Club.
Close Calls: Post Prom parents, Appalachia Service
Project