120817

It’s great to be young and a Comet!
Oakwood High School December 8, 2017
Comet Courier
Volume V, Issue 10
Comet
Calendar
December 12
College Express
Exams
December 13
Late Start
December 13
School Board
December 15
Holiday Concert
December 18
Semester Exam
7th Hour
December 19
Semester Exams
1st, 3rd, 5th Hours
December 20
Semester Exams
2nd, 4th, 6th Hours
January 3
School Resumes
In the back row, from left, Head Coach Jeff Ford, Aaliyah Denius, Brenna Durst,
Katelyn Young, Paiton Frerichs, Rylee Dowers, Assistant Coach Stephanie Marsh,
and Assistant Coach John Odle. Front row, Kelsey Blackford, Carmen Ramos,
Shaelyn Turner, and Kylie Neuman.
Girls take Comet Classic!
The OHS girls basketball
team hosted and won
the Comet Classic over
Thanksgiving week.
The win was the fourth
all-time for the Comets
in the 31-year old tournament,
but it is the first
since 1999.
The Comets defeated
the Westville Tigers in the
championship game, 54-
38, moving their season
record to 7-0 at the time.
The Comets had to
overcome numerous injuries
and ailments to claim
the title. During the Tri-
County game, the Comets
were down to their final
five players, but were able
to pull off the victory.
The team started off
the week by defeating
Hoopeston Area, then
Blue Ridge, and Uni High,
before taking the tough
matchup with Tri-County.
After going 4-0 in pool
play, they were matched
up against Westville in the
championship game.
Two Comets were
named to the All-Tournament
team, Brenna Durst
and Katelyn Young.
The girls will play in
the ALAH Holiday Tournament
starting on December
21.

2 Comet Courier 12-08-17
Petticrew named Comet of Month
Richards honored for responsibility; Wise is top athlete
The OHS Student Recognition
Committee has
chosen Kiara Petticrew to
be the December Student
of the Month.
Petticrew, a senior, is
an Honor Roll student
who is active in Student
Council and the Pit Crew.
Her senior project for the
Student Council was the
Senior Citizen dinner.
Senior Hannah Richards
is the winner of the
Character Trait Award.
This month’s award was
for Responsibility.
Richards has a responsibility
that most students
don’t, while continuing
Kiara
Petticrew
to have excellent grades
and attendance. She also
works at Culvers and will
graduate at semester.
Hannah
Richards
Senior Cameron Wise
was named the Athlete of
the Month for his contributions
to the basketball
Cameron
Wise
team. He is a two-year
starter of the team and is
also a letter winner in golf.
Odle earns December staff member of month
Mr. John Odle was chosen as
the Staff Member of the Month
for December.
Odle teaches Keyboarding,
Information Processing, and Senior
Social Studies at OHS along
with being an assistant coach for
the girls basketball team.
This is the second year at OHS
for Odle. Previously he taught at
Carlinville, Morrisonville, and
Hillsboro. Before becoming a
teacher, he spent 20 years in the
U.S. Air Force.
“We were very fortunate to
add Mr. Odle to our staff,” said
Principal Tim Lee.
Odle has been very active in
his two years at OHS, helping
coach multiple sports and always
being willing to help out in many
other capacities.
“He’s a positive influence on
students,” said Mr. Lyle Hicks.
“He goes above and beyond to
help fellow teachers.”
Mr. Odle poses with the honorary
‘O’ after being named December
Staff Member of the Month.
Engage Educate Empower

3
Comet Courier 12-08-17
FCA offering Coaches Night Out on Dec. 16
Oakwood Fellowship of Christian Athletes
(FCA) is meeting on Thursday mornings from 8:10-
8:35 and has grown in numbers to over 30 students.
The students have a service project coming up to
provide childcare to coaches and their spouses, so
they can have a night to themselves.
The FCA Coaches Night Out is from 4 to 8 p.m.
on Sat., Dec. 16 and is sponsored by the Vermilion
Valley FCA. We will be utilizing Connexion
Church in Danville for our childcare facility.
If you have any questions, would like to volunteer
or are a coach that would like to use the childcare
contact Mr. Odle or Garrett Lashuay.
Graduation set for May 20
The OHS administration has
set the graduation date for the
class of 2018 on Sunday, May 20.
The graduation will begin at 1
p.m. at Oakwood Grade School.
The OJHS graduation will follow
at 3:30 p.m.
The final day of school for the
students has not been officially
determined yet. Honors Night
will be May 8.
If seniors or parents have
questions about caps and gowns
or anything else related to graduation,
they are free to call the
OHS office.
Art dept. receives grant from
Retired Teachers Association
The OHS Art Department and Art teacher Ms.
Amanda Nichols recently received a check from the
Vermilion County Retired Teachers Association that
will be used to purchase equipment used to make
stained glass.
Nichols applied for the grant earlier this year and
was thrilled to learn the grant was accepted. The Art
Club will be making/sending them a thank you card.
No School
December 21 through January 2
Counseling
calendar
December 11 - PSAT scores will
be released to juniors. If an email
address was submitted, students
will receive a message with instructions
to access their scores. If not,
students can create a free account
on www.collegeboard.org and then
go to the score reporting portal to
see their scores.
December 15 -- A link to the
2018 OHS Scholarship List will be
sent to seniors and their contacts.
January 5 – Tracy Wahlfeldt
will meet with seniors to explain the
new DACC scholarship application
process.
January 9 - Mrs. Lee will meet
with English III classes to go over
PSAT scores and set up with Khan
Academy accounts to preparate for
the SAT.

4 Comet Courier 12-08-17
Music dept. invites all to holiday concert
Come celebrate the holiday
season with the Oakwood
Music Department
bands and choirs as we perform
our holiday concerts.
Each of the ensembles
will perform a variety of
tunes from classic carol arrangements
to songs from
some of our favorite holiday
movies.
The OGS Bands will start
Holiday hoop scheds
for the basketball fan
The boys will play in the SJO Leader Classic. This
will be an 6-team tournament on Dec. 14 to 20. They
will also play in the Monticello Holiday Hoopla basketball
tournament after Christmas on Dec. 28, 29, and 30.
Those game times are:
Dec. 13 5:00 vs. Cissna Park
Dec. 15 8:00 vs. Westville
Dec. 16 1:00 vs. SJO
Dec. 16 5:30 vs. AP
Dec. 20 6:30 vs. Chicago-Longwood
Dec. 28 2:00 vs. GCMS
Dec. 29 10:00 vs. PBL
Dec. 29 6:00 vs. Neoga
Dec. 30 TBD
The girls will be playing in the ALAH Knights Classic
Holiday Tournament. This will be an 8-team tournament
on Dec. 21, 22, and 23.
Those game times are:
Dec. 21 6:00 vs. ALAH (JV)
Dec. 22 2:30 vs. Shelbyville
Dec. 22 5:30 vs. St. Teresa
Dec. 23 TBD
Upcoming Athletic Events
Dec. 8 BBB Chrisman (A) 6 pm
Dec. 9 WR Vandalia (A) 9 am
Dec. 9 CH Peoria Inv. (A) TBD
Dec. 9-13 FSBB Schlarman Tour.
Dec. 11 GBB BHRA (H) 6 pm
Dec. 12 WR Fisher (A) 5:30 pm
Dec. 12 BBB Westville (H) 6 pm
Dec. 13-20 BBB Leader Classic (A)
Dec. 14 GBB Salt Fork (H) 6 pm
Dec. 16 WR Skull & Crossbones (A) 9 am
Dec. 18 GBB AP (A) 6 pm
Dec. 19 WR Rantoul (H) 6 pm
Dec. 21-23 GBB Knights Classic (A)
Dec. 28-30 BBB Monticello Tour. (A)
Dec. 29-30 WR STM Tour. (A)
Jan. 2 BBB GRF (A) 6 pm
Jan. 4 GBB Milford (H) 6 pm
Jan. 4 WR Danville (A) 6 pm
Jan. 5 BBB BHRA (H) 6 pm
Jan. 6 CH ICCA State (A) 9 am
Jan. 8 GBB Hoopeston Area (A) 6 pm
Jan. 8 FSBB SJO (H) 6 pm
Jan. 9 BBB Salt Fork (H) 6 pm
Jan. 11 GBB Salt Fork (A) 6 pm
Check out the OHS Facebook page at
Oakwood High School Comets
off the first celebration at
OGS for the 3 p.m. Christmas
program on Sunday.
On Fri., Dec. 15 at 7 p.m.
the OJHS band and choir,
and the OHS band and
choir will perform there selections
of “It’s the Holiday
Season,” “The Nutcracker
Suite,” “Joy to the World’”
and other holiday favorites.

5 Comet Courier 12-08-17
StuCo doing good things!
The Comet Student Council has been busy in December. On the left, for his senior project, Lane Warren
(second from right), and Kelsey Blackford, Bailey Wilt, Olivia Turner, and Katelyn Blankenship painted
positive sayings on the bathroom walls. At right, Kiara Petticrew serves coffee at the annual Senior Citizen
dinner. The dinner was Petticrew’s senior project.
Girls basketball game times subject to change
Due to many teams in the area
having low numbers this year, varsity
game times may be affected.
Some teams in the area have decided
not to play JV at all this year
which means varsity games would
start at 6 p.m.
Other teams have decided to
play shorter quarters, so the varsity
Students to have exams on Dec. 18, 19, 20
Tue., Dec. 19
HR 8:05-8:50
1st Hr. 8:55-10:15
3rd Hr. 10:20-11:40
Lunch 11:45-12:15
5th Hr. 12:20-1:40
Mon., Dec. 18
7th Hr. 1:34-2:54
games could start a little earlier.
Here is the remaining list of
games that there will be NO JV
game and varsity is scheduled to
start at 6 p.m.:
12/11 vs. BHRA (NO JV)
1/22 vs. Chrisman (NO JV)
These are subject to change as
Wed., Dec. 20
HR 8:05-8:50
2nd Hr. 8:55-10:15
4th Hr. 10:20-11:40
Lunch 11:45-12:15
6th Hr. 12:20-1:40
injuries or illnesses sometimes happen.
We try our best to post on our
Facebook page and Twitter account
if there are any last minute changes.
Please feel free to call OHS (217-
354-2358) and check on game times
if you have questions. We apologize
for the inconvenience.
OHS will give final exams to the students on December
18, 19, and 20.
On December 18, students will take the 7th hour
exam. Before the exam on that day, we will run a modified
1:40 schedule.
On Tuesday, they will take the odd number exams.
On Wednesday, they will take the even number exams.
There will NOT be exemptions from any exams.
Read The Oakwood Times, at OakwoodDailyTimes.com

6 Comet Courier 12-08-17
Soaring Comets!
Four seniors named
Illinois State Scholars
Garrett Lashuay, Kendra Pundt, Emily Simonich,
and Brenna Durst, were recently
named as Illinois State Scholars. The Illinois
State Scholar program is awarded to high
school seniors based on ACT or SAT test scores
and the sixth semester class rank, class size and
unweighted Grade Point Average (GPA).
DARE Role Models
Bailey Wilt, Emily Simonich, Evan Young,
and Garrett Lashuay were chosen as the Class
of ‘18’s DARE Role Models.
Preparing for winter
cancellations
Sometime over the next couple of months, we are
sure to get severe winter weather that threatens to cancel
school. You are encouraged to tune in to local radio
and TV newscasts for
updates.
If school is cancelled,
the district
office will send out
phone and email messages
over the School
Messenger system.
We will be using
the numbers and email addresses that you gave us at
registration. If one of those has changed, you will need
to contact OHS, 354-2358, and correct it.
5Essentials Survey
now available
A student survey will be administered at your child’s
school called the Illinois 5Essentials Survey. Students
in grade 6 through 12 will participate in the survey.
This is the sixth year the Illinois State Board of Education
will implement this survey across the state.
This survey is based on 20 years of research at the
University of Chicago. It asks students about their experiences
in school, giving school leaders critical student
input to help develop school improvement plans.
Illinois parents will have an opportunity to participate
in the 6th annual statewide Illinois 5Essentials
Survey. This survey is designed to generate a detailed
picture of the inner workings of your child’s school.
As a parent, this opportunity will allow you to share
your thoughts on the important elements of school effectiveness
in a survey about your child’s school.
Please visit https://survey.5-essentials.org/illinois/
and select the appropriate survey to begin. Parent surveys
need to be completed by January 16, 2018.
1:40 Dismissals on December 19 and 20