WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Bengals help Lakota school with aging playground - Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Domata Peko, along with six of his teammates, visited Woodland Elementary in Liberty Township last Tuesday to promote being active and good health, as well as to present a check for $10,000 to go towards the school’s mission to build a new playground.

Butler County Sports Hall of Fame announces its 2012 class - A former Lakota West wrestler and the Firebirds’ current volleyball coach are among the 11-person induction class for the Butler County Sports Hall of Fame. Matthew McIntire, who graduated Lakota West in 2002, won two state wrestling championships. Meanwhile, Lakota West head volleyball coach Tracey Kornau has coached the Firebirds since the district split into two high schools.

Jag’s named a top restaurant in Cincinnati by Zagat - Zagat launched its 2013 America’s Top Restaurants guide last Wednesday, which included a top ten list for the Greater Cincinnati area. Locally, West Chester’s Jag’s Steak & Seafood, 5980 West Chester Road, was one of only two Cincinnati restaurants to make the list despite not being located downtown.

Millikin Road in Liberty Township is now open - The Butler County Engineer’s Office reports that Millikin Road in Liberty Township is now open, after being closed between Liberty-Fairfield Road and Ohio 747 since Oct. 1 for a widening project.

Lakota East senior Ashley Evans signs with Purdue - Lakota East senior Ashley Evans signed a National Letter of Intent to play volleyball at Purdue last Wednesday. Evans’ high school coach Casie Garland called her “one of the best players in the nation.”

Marion’s Piazza opens just beyond West Chester border – Marion’s Pizza, a Dayton-based pizzeria, opened in Mason at the corner of Tylersville and Snider roads last Tuesday. The restaurant, which is near Voice of America Park, was busy right away.

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Andrew Whitworth, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Butler County Sports Hall of Fame, Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals give back, Domata Peko, Jag's, Jag's Steak & Seafood, Jag's Steak & Seafood West Chester, Jag's West Chester, Lakota elementary cuts, Leon Hall, marion's piazza, Matt McIntire, Matthew McIntire, Michael Johnson, Millikin Road, Nate Clements, playground, Terrence Newman, Tracey Kornau, Tracey Kornau Lakota West, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary playground, Woodland Elementary School, Woodland playground

Cincinnati Bengals defensive lineman Domata Peko, along with six of his teammates, visited Woodland Elementary in Liberty Township Tuesday to promote being active and good health, as well as to present a check for $10,000 to go towards the school’s mission to build a new playground.

The donation comes way of a grant from the NFL’s Play 60 Super School contest.

“Kids love to get something new. A new playground for a school, that is amazing,” Peko said. “I am just happy to be a part of it. The kids are just so happy. That is what makes me wake up and get up here on my day off. It is for the kids and as long as they are happy, I am happy.”

Raising money for the playground has been a passionate mission for Woodland’s second-year principal Valerie Montgomery.

“We just want this so badly for our students and they want it too,” Montgomery said. “They really deserve it, especially since our students have lost a lot of their special time due to the budget cuts. Right now, they only have gym class 12 times a year.”

After voters have rejected three tax hikes in two years, the Lakota school district was forced to make additional budget reductions last spring. Those reductions included cutbacks to the delivery of art, music and physical education at the elementary level.

According to the district, the budget reduction was projected to save the district $1.5 million. At the same time, it also limited the total time a elementary student has gym this school year to 9.5 hours.

In comparison, elementary students rotated having their special subjects last year and had gym class once every week. This school year, students only have physical education once a week for two six-week periods.

“So we went from having all three once a week to having only one of them and each subject only 12 times a year. It is a huge cut,” Montgomery said. “It is really hard to fathom, but it was what had to happen.

“So, with that, their physical activity that they are having now is happening at recess.”

That lack of physical activity enhances the school’s need to replace its 23-year-old playground. Furthermore, it is also leaves it up to the students to be active when they are out of school.

“Anytime you get to go out as an NFL athlete to help encourage kids to be active and keeping their bodies healthy is important,” Bengals offensive lineman Andrew Whitworth said. “I think it is a great opportunity for us to come out and be a voice.”

Whitworth, along with Peko, Nate Clements, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Leon Hall, Michael Johnson and Terrence Newman were cheered on by the student body at Woodland, as the NFL players answered questions and led them in a series of fitness activities.

The group also signed a number of items at the school, which the school hopes to use to raise more funds for their playground project.

For phase one, the school needs to raise a total of $35,000 in order to break ground sometime this summer. With the $10,000 grant from the NFL, Woodland is still $11,894.11 shy of having enough to pay for the first phase, which includes some equipment and the playground surface.

The second phase, which includes swings and a climber, will nearly cost an additional $24,000.

“We have lots of ideas and are hopeful that we might be able to raise the money,” Montgomery said. “We are also always looking for community partnerships. We just keep hoping that some company or some person would come out of the woodwork like the Bengals did and provide a donation that could put us over the top.”

Posted in: Board of Education, Levy news, News, Schools, Sports |

Tags: Tags: Andrew Whitworth, BenJarvus Green-Ellis, Cincinnati Bengals, Cincinnati Bengals give back, Domata Peko, Lakota elementary cuts, Leon Hall, Michael Johnson, Nate Clements, playground, Terrence Newman, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary playground, Woodland Elementary School, Woodland playground

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Photos: Woodland Elementary student surprised with bike- A Woodland Elementary School third grader was surprised when he was awarded a new bike last Wednesday morning after winning a poster contest promoting safety near schools. Woodland’s Blake Scherer was the only student from Southwest Ohio to win a bike in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe” school safety contest.

Mahogany’s troubles no secret – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jane Prendergast took a deeper look last week on the controversial deal to give and loan nearly $1 million in city money to Mahogany’s owner Liz Rogers of Liberty Township, to open her restaurant at The Banks in Downtown Cincinnati.

Lakota students make video for Ohio Children’s Trust Fund – LakotaTV, a student-led television network, is looking to receive votes for its video produced for the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund 2012 video contest. As part of the contest, the OCTF will award $5,000 to four schools. According to Lakota East junior Matthew King, who is involved with LakotaTV, the winners will be scored in six categories. One category is public votes.

Lakota to have highest fees in region next school year – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Michael D. Clark shared the concerns of Lakota student athletes with the pay-to-play athletic fee. Next school year, Lakota’s $550 per sport fee will be the most expensive rate in Greater Cincinnati.

West Chester concert series – The 2012 Fifth Third West Chester summer concert series at Keehner Park is now underway way after Saturday night’s performance from BlueStone Ivory. The free Saturday concerts will take place at the Keehner Park amphitheatre from 7 to 9 p.m. The series ends Sept. 3 with a performance by the West Chester Symphony. The last concert will be the only one in the series to be performed on a Monday.

Lakota East student doesn’t give up on way to graduation – Unable to speak and forced to use a wheelchair, cerebral palsy has made Gregory Nelson’s life difficult, but it hasn’t damaged his personality and it didn’t prevent him from graduating with the rest of the Lakota East senior class on Sunday.

School’s out for summer – Lakota students wrapped up the 2011-2012 academic school year when they were released Thursday on early dismissal. Some students will be attending summer school, which takes place in two sessions from June 11-28 and from July 2-20. Morning classes will take place from 7 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., while afternoon classes will take place from noon until 4:20 p.m.

Military enlistees to graduate from Lakota West Sunday – A total of 23 military enlistees will graduate from Lakota West during commencement at Miami University’s Millett Hall at 1 p.m. Sunday. According to Lakota West principal Richard Hamilton, the high school typically has around 8-to-10 graduates enter the military every year.

Posted in: Board of Education, Business, Events, Levy news, News, Recreational events, Schools, Sports, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Blake Scherer, Gregory Nelson, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota East graduation, Lakota East Gregory Nelson, Lakota East Sports, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, LakotaTV, Liberty Township business news, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, Matthew King, Ohio Children's Trust Fund, Ohio Children's Trust Fund 2012 video contest, Ohio Department of Transportation, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, Valerie Montgomery, West Chester Concert Series, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary School

A Woodland Elementary School third grader was surprised when he was awarded a new bike Wednesday morning after winning a poster contest promoting safety near schools.

Woodland’s Blake Scherer was the only student from Southwest Ohio to win a bike in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe” school safety contest. Overall, ODOT selected 36 winners – teachers, students and schools – from all over Ohio.

Scherer’s winning entry demonstrated safe student crossing of streets near schools by using marked crosswalks and remaining alert and attentive while walking to school.

According to ODOT, There were 11,734 bicycle and pedestrian‐related crashes that occurred near Ohio K‐8 schools resulting in 244 fatalities and 7,350 injuries between 2008 and 2010.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Blake Scherer, Ohio Department of Transportation, Valerie Montgomery, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary School

The Community Foundation of West Chester/Liberty recently honored two educators awarding each of them its Lakota Educator of Excellence Award.

Jenny Haynes, a second grade teacher at Woodland Elementary, and Tim Shaffer, assistant principal at Lakota West High School, received the awards and were selected from nominations received from peers, parents and students in the community.

To help share each educator’s story, the Community Foundation produced videos that included interviews from parents and fellow Lakota staff members.

Posted in: Events, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Community Foundation WCL, Community Foundation West Chester/Liberty, Jenny Haynes, Jenny Haynes Woodland Elementary, Lakota Educator of Excellence Award, Lakota Local Schools, WCL Community Foundation, Woodland Elementary

For the 10th consecutive year, the Lakota school district will receive a rating of Excellent or better from the state. According to a release from the school district, Lakota students met 26 out of the 26 indicators for testing as well as improved its performance index from last year’s 104.2 to 105.9.

“This is no small achievement. I understand and recognize what this means in our team’s daily work and what these results mean for advancing student learning,” Lakota Superintendent Karen Mantia said in a release.

“Our team recognizes that continuing excellence means that we are always improving and always working to bring our students the best teaching to help them succeed in their world.”

According to Cincinnati.com, Lakota is the seventh largest district in Ohio and the biggest in the state to earn the top academic ranking (Excellent with Distinction).

Individually, every school within the district received a rating of Excellent or better.

Schools receiving the Excellent with Distinction rating include Adena Elementary, Freedom Elementary, Heritage Elementary, Hopewell Elementary, Independence Elementary, Lakota Plains Junior, Lakota Ridge Junior, Liberty Junior, Union Elementary and VanGorden Elementary.

Meanwhile, both high schools (Lakota East and Lakota West) and two elementary schools (Cherokee and Woodland) received Excellent ratings.

Overall, the district showed improvement. Seven of the 10 Lakota schools, which received the Excellent with Distinction rating in 2011, had an Excellent rating in 2010. None of the schools in the district fell in rating.

Posted in: Board of Education, News, Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Adena Elementary, Cherokee Elementary, Excellent, Excellent with Distinction, Freedom Elementary, Heritage Elementary, Hopewell Elementary, Independence Elementary, Lakota, Lakota East, Lakota Plains Junior, Lakota Ridge Junior, Lakota schools, Lakota West, Liberty Junior, school rating, Union Elementary, VanGorden Elemenatry School, Woodland Elementary