The Oakwood Times September Monthly
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
Semptember 29, 2017<br />
Volume # 29 issue #1<br />
THe <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Volume: 26 Issue: 1 … August 11, 2011<br />
WHAT’S INSIDE<br />
Homecoming<br />
wraps up at<br />
OHS<br />
Comets pushing through<br />
the competition<br />
Blackford<br />
chosen as<br />
Comet of the<br />
Month<br />
Volleyball<br />
undefeated in<br />
conference,<br />
seeking title<br />
Stay up to date with<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
at<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong>Daily<strong>Times</strong>.<br />
com<br />
Sophomore Colby Smiley runs the ball with help from his teammates clearing<br />
the way against Pawnee. (Photo by Kelsey Blackford)
2<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
No one does Homecoming like the <strong>Oakwood</strong> Comets<br />
By Lane Warren<br />
One of the most anticipated events hosted by the <strong>Oakwood</strong> High School students is Homecoming.<br />
This week consists of many competitions putting classes head to head, dress-up days, float building, a<br />
dance, and don't forget about, the football game.<br />
This year’s theme was “<strong>The</strong>re’s No Place Like Homecoming” (<strong>The</strong> Wizard Of Oz). This was the first<br />
year that all events of Homecoming were centered around the same theme including the floats, the<br />
Kickoff Extravaganza, the dress up day themes, Cometfest, and the dance.<br />
<strong>The</strong> senior class swept the competition in all activities. First by winning the Kickoff Extravaganza,<br />
then dominating Cometfest, having the highest percentage of students participate in dress up days,<br />
destroying the competition during the pep assembly, and finally winning the float building competition.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Kickoff Extravaganza started the week of fun with classes going head to head in a series of<br />
games. Although participation at the kickoff is usually low, the seniors were still able to secure a win.<br />
“I feel that Kickoff went pretty well, we had a better turnout this year than in years past, but if more<br />
students would come out it would improve the the experience and make the games more competitive.”<br />
said senior Olivia Turner.<br />
Saturday also kicks off float building for the week. This year each class based their float off of a location<br />
from the movie <strong>The</strong> Wizard of Oz. Freshman decided on the witch’s castle, sophomores based their<br />
float around the Emerald City, juniors chose Kansas, and seniors took Munchkin land. This year was also<br />
the first year that the school offered an online voting option for the community to have a say in which<br />
the community could voice their opinion on who they thought had the best float. Although the freshman<br />
class won the people’s choice award with the most votes, the seniors took the overall win with a<br />
spinning tornado, rumbling house, exceptional neatness, and bright colors.<br />
Students competed with their classes and showed their school spirit all week long by dressing up for<br />
Wizard of Oz themed dress up days. <strong>The</strong> competition continued into Cometfest as the students competed<br />
in four court volleyball, balloon stomp, and a lip sync battle.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> lip sync battle is always a blast,” said Turner.<br />
Friday brought the events that everyone had been waiting for, the pep assembly and football game.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> pep assembly shows which class is willing to put aside any differences they have and come together<br />
to achieve a common goal.” said senior Jazmine Rodriguez.<br />
Students brought their school spirit to the assembly as they chanted and used props to compete<br />
head to head to determine which class had the most school pride.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> High School Football team fell to Bismarck-Henning/Rossville-Alvin 46-26 during the<br />
homecoming game. However, the excitement and fun of homecoming week wasn't over for OHS students<br />
just yet. <strong>The</strong> week concluded with the Homecoming dance on Saturday evening.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> Homecoming dance was a blast,” said Senior Kelsey Blackford<br />
Homecoming week was a success for <strong>Oakwood</strong> High School students from<br />
showing their pride all week long to dancing the night away on Saturday.<br />
“I’m glad everyone had a great time during homecoming week and at the dance. Student council<br />
put in a lot of hard work behind the scenes to make this week successful,” saidJunior Katelyn Blankenship.<br />
1) Seniors celebrate their victory<br />
at the friday pep assembly.<br />
2) <strong>The</strong> senior float won the<br />
overall competition. 3) <strong>The</strong><br />
cheerleaders showed off their<br />
moves with the senior football<br />
players during the pep assembly.<br />
4) <strong>The</strong> band prepares for<br />
the big football game in class.<br />
5) Freshmen Breanna Hendrickson<br />
and Gage Reed dance<br />
together at Homecoming. 6)<br />
Homecoming King Lane Warren<br />
and Homecoming Queen Kelsey<br />
Blackford were announced at<br />
the pep assembly on Friday.<br />
(Photos 2 and 6 courtesy of<br />
Tim Lee. All other photos by<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Staff)<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017<br />
News
News<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> Comet alums make the community proud<br />
Foster chosen as America’s favorite in Miss America Pageant<br />
By Katelyn Blankenship<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> Alumni, Abby Foster, competed for the title<br />
of Miss America in Atlantic City, New Jersey on the evening<br />
of <strong>September</strong> 07, 2017. She placed in the top 15 out of 51<br />
contestants.<br />
She earned the honorary title of “America’s Choice.” This<br />
category was won by the people of America voting online<br />
for their favorite contestant. <strong>The</strong> contestant with the most<br />
votes automatically made it to the top 15. This is the first<br />
year that the Miss America Organization offered this as factor<br />
of the competition. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> community was quick<br />
to rally behind Foster. Many people were committed to voting<br />
every day up until the pageant aired.<br />
It was very clear to see that Foster was one of the most<br />
well supported candidates. She had around 85 people travel<br />
from Illinois to watch her compete, as well as large groups<br />
of people hosting viewing parties at their homes.<br />
Not only did Foster compete in the virtual world and on<br />
stage that night, she also spent 16 rigorous days in Atlantic<br />
City competing before the competition aired live for<br />
America. <strong>The</strong>se days were full of plenty of rehearsals, four<br />
of which were dedicated to on stage competition. This was<br />
no easy task, as the program consists of five categories:<br />
interview, talent, on stage question, evening wear, as well<br />
as lifestyle and fitness. During one of Foster’s performances<br />
she recited a jazz dance performance to a medley from the<br />
musical Grease.<br />
Another part of this experience was dedicated to making<br />
public appearances. Among these was a parade named the<br />
“Show Us Your Shoes Parade” which was dedicated to the<br />
queens coming from all across America.<br />
Foster was dedicated to readying herself for the exhausting<br />
nature of this elite competition. Foster followed a<br />
very strict diet, despite the occasional large single serving<br />
Domino’s pizza.<br />
Participating in Miss America was a rewarding experience<br />
in more ways than one. Foster was rewarded a scholarship<br />
of $14,500 for her time spent in the Miss America<br />
Pageant System. She will use this money to pay off her<br />
college education at Ball State University at which she is an<br />
upcoming junior. Although Foster has taken time off from<br />
her studies to focus on Miss America, she will return to<br />
Ball State next semester to continue studying elementary<br />
education.<br />
Although Foster is taking a semester off from school, her<br />
busy schedule is not over. She will return to making appearances<br />
as Miss Illinois in October. Foster will also continue to<br />
cheer for the Indianapolis Colts NFL team. Although Foster<br />
has big dreams, she still has her heart rooted here in Central<br />
Illinois.<br />
“<strong>Oakwood</strong> and Vermilion County were behind me 110%.<br />
It just proved no matter where someone comes from, small<br />
Lee joins NFL Chicago Bears practice team for 2017-18 season<br />
By Shaelyn Turner<br />
Comet alumni Cameron Lee joined the<br />
Chicago Bears practice squad after moving<br />
from the New Orleans Saints, to the Cincinnati<br />
Bengals. Lee has had an outstanding<br />
football career so far at the young age of<br />
23. Lee didn’t start playing football until his<br />
freshman year of high school due to the<br />
weight limits in the youth football league.<br />
“I was always too heavy to play youth<br />
league,” said Lee. “I was never really all that<br />
interested in football until my last year or<br />
two of high school.”<br />
Lee didn’t know if he was going to be<br />
drafted to begin with, but thought he had<br />
done his best to give himself a chance to<br />
play in the NFL. Lee always believed that if<br />
he put in the work and did the right things,<br />
he could get to this point in his career.<br />
“Getting here has been just like every<br />
other part of my career and life,” Lee said.<br />
“Obviously I would like to be on the active<br />
roster but, just like redshirting in college or<br />
playing JV in high school, it’s all just part of<br />
the process.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> town of <strong>Oakwood</strong> is not a big one,<br />
but they will always come together has a<br />
whole to support “the O.”<br />
“<strong>The</strong> people from my community are a<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> alumna, Abby Foster, is the current reigning Miss<br />
Illinois in the Miss America Organization. Foster placed in<br />
the top 15 contestants at the Miss America Pageant in <strong>September</strong>.<br />
(Photo courtesy of Abby Foster)<br />
huge part of why I do what I do,” Lee said.<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> supports each other like no<br />
other community does because we are FTO<br />
(from the O). <strong>The</strong> support from the community<br />
has not gone unnoticed by Lee.<br />
“It’s rare to see community members<br />
support one another like <strong>Oakwood</strong> does,<br />
and that is something I would never take<br />
for granted,” said Lee. “<strong>The</strong> way people<br />
have rallied behind me and had my back is<br />
something I’ll never forget, it gives me that<br />
fire I need to continue to push myself. I’m<br />
just trying to make my people proud.”<br />
Parents always want to push you to be<br />
as successful as you can possibly be, and<br />
Lee cannot thank his parents enough for<br />
the enormous role that they’ve played in his<br />
success thus far.<br />
“<strong>The</strong>y helped to shape me into the man<br />
that I am,” said Lee. “<strong>The</strong>y gave me tools to<br />
deal with adversity and an ability to communicate<br />
and express myself, which allowed<br />
me to pursue things like football, where I<br />
have found success. I owe a lot to them in<br />
that regard.”<br />
To all the high school students hoping<br />
to at some point play a sport professionally,<br />
Lee issued some words of encouragement.<br />
“Stick to the plan. <strong>The</strong>re are going to be<br />
times when you question what you’re doing,<br />
and if all of the hard work you’re doing<br />
is worth it, stick to the plan and everything<br />
will work out in the end.”<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> Comet graduate of 2012, Cameron Lee practices with the Chicago Bears team.<br />
Lee moved from the New Orleans Saints to the Cincinnati Bengals before finaling joining the<br />
Chicago Bears. (Photo courtesy of Cameron Lee)<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017<br />
3
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> SPORts<br />
Comet Football starts season off strong, 4-1<br />
By Brenna Durst<br />
Halfway through the season, the Comets give fans hope at another year’s postseason,<br />
approaching Week 6 with a record of 4-1. Surpassing all opponents except for the Blue<br />
Devils in Week 5, the boys have shown improvement with each week both offensively and<br />
defensively.<br />
“We have a lot of talent,” said junior Nick Grubb, “we could be a very dangerous team if<br />
we stay healthy and do the little things correctly.”<br />
During the Blue Devils game Week 4, the Comets suffered an early game injury that<br />
severely affected their running game. Additional injuries further impacted the outcome,<br />
leaving numerous <strong>Oakwood</strong> starters sidelined.<br />
“As long as we stay healthy,” said Grubb, “we have the potential to do a lot of damage on<br />
the field.”<br />
Luckily, the injuries sustained weren’t too detrimental, allowing the majority of the starters<br />
to return for the game against against the Milford Bearcats in Week 5.<br />
“We’re lucky it wasn’t anything too serious,” said kicker Ren Dazey, “players like Bolton<br />
are the types of players you need out there each week.”<br />
Starting the season off right, the boys landed a Week 1 away victory against Iroquois<br />
West, 47-6. <strong>The</strong> following week, the Varsity team faced Pawnee High School on a Saturday,<br />
beating them 55-6. <strong>The</strong> Comets enjoyed another win against Hoopeston in Week 3, 60-20.<br />
“We started the season off strong,” said Bolton, “we make the most out of each practice<br />
because we know our potential.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> first loss of the season came during homecoming week, against BHRA. A tough<br />
battle resulted in a loss for the Comets, 46-26. Determined to come back strong, they recovered<br />
from Week 4 injuries, able to defeat the Milford Bearcats, 48-14 in Week 5.<br />
“We bounced back from the loss against Bismarck,” said Dazey, “it was a tough loss but<br />
we knew we had to focus on the future games.”<br />
While the Comets have a winning record, the team knows that there is always room for<br />
improvement.<br />
“We have the ability for another postseason run,” said Grubb, “but there are little things<br />
such as forcing more turnovers defensively and getting secondary blocks that we need to<br />
improve upon as a team. It’s the small details that will make us better.”<br />
Colbey Smiley runs the ball against Pawnee High School. (Photo by Kelsey Blackford)<br />
Volleyball seeks future championships<br />
By Ashley Webb<br />
Volleyball has had an outstanding<br />
season so far. <strong>The</strong>y have had 12 wins and<br />
only 3 losses this season. <strong>The</strong> losses were<br />
at the Mahomet-Tournament against<br />
larger schools.<br />
“This tournament gives us great experience<br />
and lets us know where we stand<br />
at this time of the season,” said volleyball<br />
coach Lynn “Juice” Anderson.<br />
<strong>The</strong>y recently beat St. Joseph High<br />
School earlier this month. SJO is the only<br />
team the the Comets have gone 3 games<br />
with, holding every other team to 2.<br />
<strong>The</strong> girls remained positive and kept<br />
their energy levels high to keep St. Joe<br />
on their toes. It was a major goal for the<br />
team to beat St. Joseph this season.<br />
“It was a huge accomplishment for us<br />
to beat a team like SJO,” says senior setter<br />
Kelsey Blackford, “it showed us that<br />
we are capable of doing great things.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> win has since strengthened their<br />
Senior Brenna Durst celebrates with teammate Paiton Frerichs during their victory over<br />
Bicmarck- Henning/Rossville- Alvin. (Photo courtesy of <strong>The</strong> News Gazette)<br />
motivation during their practices, leaving<br />
the team with only high spirits for the<br />
rest of the season.<br />
“While it was a huge win for us,” says<br />
Brenna Durst, “we can’t be satisfied.<br />
We’re going to continue to get better as<br />
a team.”<br />
Coach Anderson believes that the girls<br />
have great chemistry and hopes for it to<br />
continue.<br />
This year, the team is led by seniors<br />
Kelsey Blackford and Brenna Durst. <strong>The</strong><br />
team’s goals for this year’s season are to<br />
win the County and Conference championship<br />
and make it to Sectionals.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> girls have the trust, talent and<br />
desire. <strong>The</strong>y just need to keep on believing!”<br />
says Coach Anderson.<br />
With spirits and motivation high, the<br />
girls have made it clear they they are<br />
striving for a successfuol rest of the season,<br />
and an even better postseason.<br />
4<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017
Sports <strong>Oakwood</strong> TImes<br />
Golf looks to<br />
improve<br />
By Kiara Petticrew<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> Comets golf team places 9th out of 14<br />
teams at the Paris Invite Sept. 16, 2017. Senior Cameron<br />
Wise led the team. Wise feels uncertain moving forward<br />
this season but still looks forward positively.<br />
“Well losing four seniors, I thought it would be difficult.<br />
But this year is basically just getting the younger ones ready<br />
for the future,” said Wise.<br />
Mr. Hicks also took initiative and had the team go out<br />
and play every Monday over the summer to prepare for the<br />
season. Senior Kamden Howard believes this was beneficial<br />
for the growth of the team.<br />
“I feel pretty good, the team is definitely improving from<br />
the beginning of the season and we still have a long way to<br />
go,” said Howard.<br />
He says the course was difficult and the team was a little<br />
nervous, however the team is improving and are happy<br />
with the way things are going.<br />
<strong>The</strong> improvement has given Howard more motivation<br />
and a new personal goal for this season. Howard would like<br />
to go sub 42, which means he wants to shoot under 42 as<br />
his personal score.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team hopes to improve their record and do exceptionally<br />
well on the upcoming IHSA regional at Urbana<br />
Country Club on October 3rd.<br />
Howard and Wise are looking forward to the meet and<br />
have a team goal in mind.<br />
“We want to qualify for sectionals,” says Wise. “We’ve<br />
been focusing a lot on putting and chipping.”<br />
Kamden has also been working hard at practices.<br />
“We have been practicing a lot harder than usual to prepare<br />
for regionals. We really want to do well,” Howard says.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team remains focused and feels positive about the<br />
upcoming events.<br />
Undefeated in the conference<br />
By Kelsey Blackford<br />
Although the <strong>Oakwood</strong> Salt Fork soccer team had a rough start to the season with an eight loss streak, they<br />
reached a turning point in the season that led to their undefeated record in the Vermilion Valley Conference.<br />
A small change in the lineup has had a lasting impact on OSF’s 5-0 VVC record.<br />
“As soon as we switched our formation back for the game against Judah Christian, it was almost like we turned<br />
into a completely different team,” explained Senior Josh Coburn.<br />
OSF managed to score five goals against Judah Christian. Before this game, they had only scored one goal collectively.<br />
Senior Jaydon Rose had a very similar view on how the team got moving in the right direction.<br />
“I feel like the formation change really helped to turn things around,” said Rose.<br />
Although the start of the season didn’t look promising, OSF has stuck together as a team to improve as they move<br />
forward.<br />
“We had a pretty rough start and started off slow,” contributed Salt Fork Junior Dawson Rogers, “Towards the<br />
middle of the season coach changed up the lineup, and we started to play much better and started to work well<br />
together.”<br />
Moving forward, OSF is excited for the rest of the season and hopes to continue the VVC winning streak.<br />
“We don’t have a very good overall record (6-11) but we are undefeated in the conference,” said Rogers, “I’m very<br />
happy with how the team is playing as of now.”<br />
An <strong>Oakwood</strong> High senior, Garrett Lashuay, is also pleased and excited to see what OSF will be able to accomplish<br />
as the season draws closer and closer to the end.<br />
“I know we can win conference if we beat Bismarck and Hoopeston again,” concluded Lashuay.<br />
OHS is joined by SFS this season<br />
Autumn Laski and Andy Hohn pictured midrace. (Photos taken by Katelyn Blankenship)<br />
Joie Sollers takes a stroke at golf invitational. (Photo taken<br />
by Haley Ward)<br />
By Emily Simonich<br />
For the 2017 season, the cross country team is trying<br />
out something new - both Salt Fork and <strong>Oakwood</strong> runners<br />
will be combined to form one team. <strong>Oakwood</strong> and Salt Fork<br />
have consolidated in other sports in the past for soccer, but<br />
this is a first for cross country.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team got a head start this summer to prepare for<br />
the season.<br />
Practices were held on Tuesdays and Thursdays in July<br />
to help get the team ready. <strong>The</strong> runners had a short break<br />
at the start of August that lasted until school resumed.<br />
Currently, the team is running six days a week in addition to<br />
their meets and practices.<br />
<strong>The</strong> team has competed in several races this year, and<br />
have more planned in the future. Both the girls’ and boys’<br />
cross country teams are looking to improve their performance<br />
from last year, trying to decrease each runner’s individual<br />
time for every meet they have. <strong>The</strong> team is hoping to<br />
qualify for sectionals.<br />
Although it is still early in the season, the team has made<br />
many improvements and some runners have even set new<br />
personal records. Junior Cameron Helka led the team at the<br />
North Vermillion Invite ending in 3rd place.<br />
Another junior, Bryce Jones, is also optimistic about an<br />
upcoming race for the Spartan Classic on <strong>September</strong> 23rd.<br />
“Everyone is working hard and times are dropping” says<br />
Jones. “I’m expecting to see a lot of season PR’s, it’s a fast<br />
course. I think we will do fairly well.”<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017<br />
5
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
People<br />
Bolton awarded Athlete of the Month by McDonald’s<br />
Skylar Bolton talks with last years team during game<br />
against Hoopeston Area. (photo by Brenna Durst)<br />
By Ren Dazey<br />
Every month the local McDonald’s awards an exceptional<br />
senior athlete within <strong>Oakwood</strong> High School. <strong>The</strong> first<br />
to be awarded this year is, Skylar Bolton. Bolton is involved<br />
in three sports, competing in football for his fall sport. He<br />
has been involved with all three sports since he stepped<br />
in the building. Those sports are football, basketball, and<br />
baseball.<br />
“He’s been a competitor since I can remember,” said<br />
senior Gavin Jarling, “He’s very dedicated in every sport that<br />
he participates in.”<br />
While football is not Bolton’s favoritesport that he plays,<br />
he’s had great successon the field. Bolton contributes to the<br />
Comets’ lineup as their starting running back.<br />
“I dedicate my time to the sports I play,” said Bolton. “I’m<br />
always working to better my game during practices and in<br />
my alone time.”<br />
Skylar is most passionate about baseball, giving most of<br />
his time to this sport.<br />
“I love all of the sports that I play,” said Bolton, “but<br />
baseball is by far my favorite. I grew up playing baseball.<br />
I played on travel teams in my early years, surrounded by<br />
talented players, and it made me strive to be better.”<br />
<strong>The</strong> Comets baseball team has had a lot of success in<br />
the past few years, winning two out of the three regional<br />
championships.<br />
“Skylar is a very respected catcher in the area,” said<br />
teammate Jarling, “he’s been a huge contributor to our past<br />
success.”<br />
Bolton loves sports more than anything, and hopes to<br />
continue his baseball career in to the next level after graduation.<br />
Skylar Bolton runs the ball at home vervus Pawnee High.<br />
(photo by Kelsey Blackford)<br />
Blackford named Comet of<br />
the Month<br />
By Bailey Wilt<br />
For the month of <strong>September</strong>, Kelsey Blackford was chosen as the comet of the<br />
month. She was nominated by Mr. Lee for possessing many admirable qualities. Kelsey<br />
is an outstanding student with her attitude, good grades, and participation in different<br />
sports and activities. One of the activities Kelsey is involved in is student council. Being<br />
involved in this club requires a lot of dedication and effort. She is also on the volleyball<br />
team which takes a lot of time and hard work, especially with the team being as successful<br />
as it has been. Kelsey has also obtained many leadership roles being the President<br />
of the senior class as well as being one of only two seniors on the volleyball team.<br />
Being elected President of the senior class is a big commitment that Kelsey handles<br />
very well, even with her busy schedule.<br />
To be the comet of the month you must be in good standing with the school, have<br />
school spirit and have a good attitude. Kelsey shows many of these qualities and works<br />
hard at school. When Kelsey was asked what it meant to her to be the comet of the<br />
month she said, “It is an honor to be chosen to represent the school.” Many of the<br />
teachers agree that Kelsey is an excellent student and that she is a very good representative<br />
of the school.<br />
Comet of the Month. (photo by <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Staff)<br />
6<br />
Septmeber 29, 2017
People<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
<strong>September</strong> Staff Member of the Month given to Pomatto<br />
By Andrew Cook<br />
Mrs. Christine Pomatto was given a loud congratulations at the 2017-18 year’s first pep<br />
assembly for earning <strong>Oakwood</strong> High’s Staff Member of the Month this <strong>September</strong>. She was<br />
given the symbolic white ‘O’ on the gym floor, in front of all the entire school body.<br />
With her knack for arts and crafts, she designed the room identifiers for every classroom<br />
in the school, as well as the staff T-shirts for the past two years. Pomatto did this all without<br />
being on the Social Committee, who these tasks would normally go to. This kindness to the<br />
school earned her a nomination from math teacher Laura Head, and eventually she was<br />
voted Staff Member of the Month.<br />
Pomatto went to the University of Illinois for a bachelor’s degree in art and design, and<br />
afterwards worked as a special education teaching assistant. Following, she went to grad<br />
school - as of today, she has her master’s degree in special education, also from the University<br />
of Illinois. Pomatto has been a Special Education teacher at <strong>Oakwood</strong> High School.<br />
At age nine, Pomatto made a close friend who had a physical disability. This greatly influenced<br />
her career choice.<br />
“I kind of grew up seeing different ways that people could do things,” she said.<br />
This would lead her to begin volunteer work with special needs individuals while she<br />
was in high school, and eventually to her current career.<br />
Special education aside, Pomatto co-teaches general education courses such as English<br />
II, Biology and Health. In her spare time, she enjoys doing other creative crafts and playing<br />
with her two dogs.<br />
Pomatto was chosen as Staff Member of the Montyh. (photo by Haley Hendrickson)<br />
Lashuay chosen for Character Trait of the Month, Respect<br />
By Haley Hendrickson<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>September</strong> trait of the month was respect, and the<br />
recipient was sophomore Caleb Lashuay. Lashuay participates<br />
in soccer, wrestling and is academically inclined. He<br />
takes challenging classes meant for juniors. Caleb is very<br />
soft spoken and reserved, and he always speaks to others<br />
with respect. This is the very reason Mr. Lee and the Recognition<br />
Committee put Caleb up for nomination.<br />
Mr. Lee<br />
Character Trait of the Month. (photo by <strong>Oakwood</strong> TImes<br />
Staff)<br />
gave insight<br />
on his perception<br />
of respect<br />
by sharing,<br />
“When<br />
someone<br />
approaches<br />
situations<br />
and people<br />
with a good<br />
“When someone approaches<br />
situations and people with a<br />
good and/or proper attitude,<br />
and understands their place,<br />
that is respect.”<br />
and/or proper attitude, and understands their place, that is<br />
respect.”<br />
Lee then shared that respect is an absolute expectation<br />
for adults to receive from the student body. Knowing your<br />
place amongst others is a common key that people need to<br />
understand. Caleb shares all the qualities that Mr. Lee and<br />
the staff had in mind for the trait of respect. He is mindful,<br />
well-spoken, understands his place, polite, and so much<br />
more.<br />
In the eyes of the teachers and students he knows, Caleb<br />
is an all-around good and respectable person. He actually<br />
shared that he thought in order to be respectful and<br />
respected by others you need to listen to what your elders<br />
have to say to you and treat others how you wish to be<br />
treated. It appears Caleb has quite a bright future ahead of<br />
himself as he continues to set his own path and pace while<br />
remaining focused. A level-headed student like himself has<br />
the drive to take him far in life.<br />
Lashuay waiting for his wrestling match during the 2016-<br />
2017 season. (photo by <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> Staff)<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017<br />
7
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Buzz<br />
Comets volunteer to make homes warmer, safer and drier<br />
By Mason Ajster<br />
Every year the United Methodist Church takes a group of kids to different parts<br />
of Appalachia and help families in need by<br />
repairing houses. This volunteer service is<br />
called Appalachia Service Project or ASP.<br />
This year, 13 students from <strong>Oakwood</strong><br />
High School volunteered on the trip, making<br />
this special to the school. <strong>The</strong>se students<br />
were seniors Kelsey Blackford, Jenna Ford,<br />
Maggie Freeman, Sloan Morton, Laney<br />
Turner and Lane Warren; junior Ben Sudlow;<br />
sophomore Grady Trees; and freshmen<br />
Titus Berner, Olivia McArty, Reed Sperry<br />
and Cayden Wells. <strong>The</strong> group was also<br />
joined by former <strong>Oakwood</strong> district students<br />
Bennett and Jameson Sprague who not attend<br />
Seeger High School in Indiana. <strong>The</strong>se<br />
students volunteer a week of their summer<br />
to work on houses to make them warmer,<br />
safer and drier. This service project began 48<br />
years ago when Reverend Glenn “Tex” Evans<br />
connected a group of youth with families in<br />
need in Kentucky.<br />
While on ASP students stay in a “center”<br />
such as a school or church. <strong>The</strong> students<br />
sleep, eat and play at this center in their afternoons and<br />
evenings. During the day, the teams are working on site<br />
in various areas of construction. Students also get to<br />
make new friends<br />
from around the<br />
country while at the<br />
center.<br />
“I still talk to<br />
some of the people I<br />
met during my summers<br />
with ASP,” said<br />
current OHS teacher<br />
and former ASP<br />
volunteer Ms. Amie<br />
Baumeister.<br />
Community<br />
member and former<br />
teacher Deb Clow<br />
has been taking OHS<br />
students on ASP for<br />
16 summers. Every<br />
year she plans the<br />
ASP trip for <strong>Oakwood</strong><br />
youth and<br />
organizes fundraisers<br />
to make the trip possible.<br />
Clow first took<br />
a group of students<br />
when the daughter<br />
of former pastor<br />
showed interest in<br />
getting a group together.<br />
13 OHS students travelled to Avery County, North Carolina<br />
to help make homes warmer, safer and drier. (Photos courtesy<br />
of Deb Clow)<br />
“Our pastor’s daughter had went with another church and she wanted our church<br />
to take a group on our own but she needed adult volunteers, I was not working a summer<br />
job so I volunteered to go even though I knew nothing about construction. My<br />
youngest son went with me and we both fell in love with ASP,” said Clow.<br />
A lot of new faces were introduced<br />
to the ASP trip this year. Seven of the 15<br />
volunteers were new to ASP<br />
“I had a good time. It was an eye<br />
opening opportunity that not everybody<br />
gets,” said freshman Landon Ajster.<br />
A lot of memories are made over the<br />
week on ASP, ranging from extravagant<br />
adventures to the simple day to day task<br />
you perform side by side with your work<br />
crew.<br />
“My favorite memory from this past<br />
summer was watching the local teenagers<br />
jumping off a waterfall,” said third<br />
year veteran Bennett Sprague.<br />
For some it is the little things that stick<br />
out the most when looking back at the<br />
week. For example, four year veteran,<br />
Lane Warren said his favorite memory<br />
was, “Rocking out in the van to and from<br />
the work site with my crew.”<br />
With traveling to different parts of the<br />
country comes different kinds of food.<br />
But when comes to feeding mass quantities and budget<br />
the quality of food may suffer. It is a yearly tradition for<br />
the groups to go out for ice cream after dinner.<br />
“My favorite<br />
food is the food I get<br />
whenever we get ice<br />
cream. <strong>The</strong> worst<br />
comes when the<br />
cooking staff decides<br />
to make it easy on<br />
themselves and<br />
cook some sort of<br />
pre-made stew that<br />
is never good,” said<br />
Sprague.<br />
<strong>The</strong>re is a driving<br />
force that keeps<br />
these youth and<br />
adults coming back<br />
to volunteer year<br />
after year.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> things that<br />
make me keep going<br />
back are watching<br />
the kids grow<br />
throughout the<br />
years as they are<br />
giving their time<br />
to help people less<br />
fortunate than us it<br />
makes you appreciate<br />
what you have in your life,” said Clow.<br />
If anyone is interested in next summer’s trip there will be a meeting October 15 at<br />
4:30 p.m. at the <strong>Oakwood</strong> Methodist Church.<br />
8<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017
Buzz<br />
Horoscopes by Haley Ward<br />
Virgo (Aug. 23-Sep.22)<br />
This month might<br />
start out slow, but you<br />
will have a big turning<br />
point. Which is not<br />
on Bronson, so slow<br />
down, folks.<br />
Libra (Sep. 23-Oct.22)<br />
Timing is everything.<br />
This month, you will<br />
be late to school more<br />
than 3 times and earn<br />
yourself a detention.<br />
Might as well go to<br />
McDonald’s on the<br />
way.<br />
Scorpio (Oct. 23- Nov.<br />
21)<br />
You are lacking fun this<br />
month. Go toilet paper<br />
your friend’s house,<br />
use Charmin Ultra<br />
Strong for the best<br />
experience<br />
Sagittarius (Nov. 22-<br />
Dec. 21)<br />
You are a very wise<br />
person, which will take<br />
you very far in life.<br />
However, to make this<br />
to happen make sure<br />
to buy 17 panda bears.<br />
Capricorn (Dec. 22-<br />
Jan. 19)<br />
You might learn how<br />
to stop clashing with<br />
your classmates. On<br />
second thought, you<br />
might be better off<br />
staying friends with<br />
your dogs.<br />
Aquarius (Jan. 20- Feb.<br />
18)<br />
Your creativity will<br />
lead you straight to<br />
the <strong>Oakwood</strong> Art<br />
Club, where all of your<br />
imaginations can be<br />
put on paper.<br />
Pisces (Feb. 19- Mar.<br />
20)<br />
“Fish are friends,<br />
not food!” Avoid any<br />
type of seafood this<br />
month, it will give you<br />
food poisoning. Also<br />
remember to eat your<br />
fruits and vegetables!<br />
Aries (Mar 21- Apr. 19)<br />
You seem to have a<br />
bright future ahead of<br />
you. Make sure to buy<br />
some nice sunglasses<br />
and a baseball hat.<br />
Taurus (Apr. 20- May<br />
20)<br />
Go out and buy a<br />
dog this month! <strong>The</strong>y<br />
might cause terror<br />
for the first couple of<br />
days, maybe even eat<br />
your homework. At<br />
least it is cute, right?<br />
Gemini (May<br />
21- June 20)<br />
Take your time and<br />
watch out for random<br />
rhino stampedes.<br />
Also avoid the zoo at<br />
all costs, all types of<br />
animals are out for you<br />
this month.<br />
Cancer (June 21- July<br />
22)<br />
This month, you will<br />
break out of your shell.<br />
Maybe try out a new<br />
sport or meet new<br />
friends at school.<br />
Leo (July 23- Aug. 22)<br />
You will never<br />
achieve anything if<br />
you do not get better<br />
grades. Eat grape<br />
jelly to improve<br />
studying abilities!<br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
Who is the best<br />
rapper of 2017?<br />
Kodak Black 14%<br />
Lil Uzi Vert 32%<br />
21 Savage 15%<br />
By Gavin Jarling<br />
Overheard<br />
Migos 39%<br />
“Why aren’t you guys<br />
friends anymore?” -Anon<br />
“Becasue she stole my dog”<br />
-Brenna Durst<br />
*after hours of dancing* “please... no”<br />
-Nick Grubb says as his date tries to dance<br />
with him<br />
“<strong>The</strong> only food she needs is<br />
Lord Jesus” -Gracie Machin<br />
5 in the hall<br />
What did you enjoy most about homecoming week?<br />
Freshman Sophomore Junior Senior Staff<br />
By Austin Urso<br />
“<strong>The</strong> pep<br />
assembly.”<br />
- Cayden Wells<br />
“Cometfest”<br />
- Jayden Arrowsmith<br />
“Dancing with lil<br />
Bolt.”<br />
- Kylie Neuman<br />
“Winning the pep<br />
assembly three<br />
years in a row.”<br />
- Savanna Barabas<br />
“ Taking judges around<br />
to the floats, they were<br />
very impressed with all<br />
the classes hard work.”<br />
- Miss.Cooper<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017<br />
9
Editorial<br />
Make the best out of your school year<br />
We, the staff of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong>, want to help make sure the students start their school year out strong. Keeping a good attitude with your<br />
school work and joining extra curricular activities will help you in the long run throughout the year. Turning your homework in on time and not<br />
waiting until homeroom the day of to finish your homework is important; don’t procrastinate. Getting involved in after school clubs and activities<br />
will you help put yourself out there and make new friends. Keep a good relationship with all of your teachers so you can go in to ask questions if<br />
you need help with the class. Although you may start to slack off as the year drags on always remember each and every grade will follow you and<br />
your GPA reflects your work ethic to many superiors in your near future. We, the staff of <strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong>, would like to wish all students a<br />
good school year!<br />
THe <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong><br />
<strong>Oakwood</strong> High School<br />
5870 U.S. Route 150<br />
Fithian, IL 61844<br />
Volume 29<br />
Issue 1<br />
<strong>September</strong> 29, 2017<br />
Members of the staff are enrolled in the Journalism class. <strong>The</strong> paper<br />
is published by <strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> staff and printed by Faulstich Printing.<br />
<strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> encourages signed letters, comments, art, or columns<br />
from its readers. <strong>The</strong> <strong>Oakwood</strong> <strong>Times</strong> reserves the rights to edit all<br />
submissions for length and clarity. No submissions will be printed that<br />
are considered libelous, in poor tase, or are intended solely as a personal<br />
attack.<br />
Opinions expressed by individual staff members do not necessarily<br />
reflect the opinions of the entire staff or the district employees.<br />
Editor-in-Chief: Kelsey Blackford<br />
Editor-in-Chief: Brenna Durst<br />
Web Editor:Kiara Petticrew<br />
Web Editor: Shaelyn Turner<br />
News Editor: Katelyn Blankenship<br />
Sports Editor: Ren Dazey<br />
Opinion Editor: Lane Warren<br />
Editorial Director: Emily Simonich<br />
Business Manager: Ashley Webb<br />
Photo Editor: Bailey Wilt<br />
Copy Editor: Andrew Cook<br />
Copy Editor: Haley Hendrickson<br />
Reporters: Mason Ajster, Gavin Jarling, Austin Urso, Haley Ward