District NewsBrought to you by: Adam Carr and Sierra Fent

THE

Black & Gold Unfold

Vol. 6 No. 5 Official Newsletter of Parkway Local Schools January 2014

-Home of the Panthers-

ParkwayLocalSchools

Upcoming Events

1/31/14- Homecoming Basketball Game2/7/14- 3rd Quarter Interim Reports Sent Home2/8/14- Athletic Hall of Fame Inductions at the Basketball game 2/17/14- Make-up day for students

Calamity Make-Up Days As of January 22, eight days have been missed due to inclement weather and that puts us three days over the allotted calamity days. The following dates will be used as make-up days: February 17, April 17, and April 21. If additional make-up days are needed the following dates will be used: May 23, 27, 28, 29, 30, June 2 and 3.

During the week of January 13 - 17, Parkway High School students brought in General Mills box tops to support a fundraiser sponsored by the National Honor Society. The first period class which brought in the most box tops throughout the week received donuts, coffee, and milk. The National Honor Society decided to collect box tops because they wanted to reach out to the younger students in our school district. In December, the National Honor Society went to a nursing home and visited the residents, and then decided to collect box tops as their next proj-ect to support our elementary students. Members of the National Honor Society presented all of the box tops to Parkway Elementary to support their ongoing Box Tops for Education drive. Parkway Elementary then uses the money from the box tops to help make purchases for the school. Some of the recent things they have used the pro-ceeds for include buying a new handicap swing for the playground and helping pay for COSI on Wheels. Each box top collected is worth 10 cents. If community members would like to support Parkway Elemen-tary School but don’t know how, donating Box Tops for Education is a great way. Box tops can be found on many General Mills products including cereals, soups, boxed foods, and even many school supplies. During the week, the National Honor Society collected and donated 3,745 box tops to Parkway Elementary School. The National Honor Society would like to thank everyone who participated in this project.

National Honor Society members presenting the box tops to Elementary Principal Mark Essel-

stein and elementary students.

Supporting Parkway Elementary with Box Tops for Education

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High School NewsBrought to you by: Tanner Bates and Tim LaVergne

Since November 26, 2013 Parkway High School Se-niors Cami Hellwarth and Raegen Bransteter as well as Junior Ashley Baughman have been meeting every Tuesday with about twenty Parkway 8th grade girls. The sessions consist of the high school mentors and middle school girls discussing some important social issues in today’s world. “Our main goal is to help girls understand today’s social issues, improve their confidence, and to have positive reactions to those social issues” said Senior mentor Raegen Bransteter. The mentor program has been very well received by the 8th grade girls. They appreciate getting to inter-act with older students on such a personal level.

As graduation approaches, seniors from Parkway as well as surrounding schools receive awards, scholar-ships, and recognition for their accomplishments. We would like to congratulate our Parkway seniors on the awards they have received so far this year. Cheyenne Stant has been selected to represent Parkway at the annual Peony Pageant, which will take place on April 4. Cheyenne will be competing for up to $1,200 in scholarship money. Judging will be based on talent, general appearance, personality, poise, an essay, and a personal interview. Another senior from Parkway High School receiving an award is Raegen Bransteter who was chosen as a “Daughters of the American Revolution Good Citizen” candidate. Students are selected for this award based on the qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism. Raegen submitted an essay on “Our American Heritage and Our Responsibility to Preserve It.” She will be competing against 7 students from the surrounding schools. The winner will receive $50 and their application is sent on to the District level to compete for scholarship money. Senior Emilie Baker has also received recognition for her academic performance. She was honored as an OSU-Math Medal Recipient based on her distinction as the top math student at Parkway High School. Emilie received a $100 gift card and a scholarship opportunity at a recognition breakfast and ceremony in

Marysville, Ohio on November 7. She will also be honored at the Mercer County Elks Lodge in February as the “Student of the Month.” One student is selected to represent each school in Mercer County. The students are chosen based on class rank, school activities, community activities, and honors received throughout high school years. The academic awards season is just getting underway and Parkway High School se-niors have already received some very impressive awards. We are looking forward to learning the honors that these students as well as the rest of the class of 2014 receive in the coming months.

Parkway High School Students Volunteer as Mentors to Middle School Girls

Parkway Seniors Receive Awards and Recognition

Middle School NewsBrought to you by Luke Cron and Jacob Stein

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Parkway Middle School Students Learn about Energy ConservationMr. Peel, Mrs. Muhlenkamp, and four students including Sydney Crouch, Paige Cron, Claire Armstrong, and Laura Barrett had the opportunity to attend the AEGIS workshop through DP&L in Day-ton. The program was designed for female middle school students to learn more about careers associated with math and science. While at the workshop the girls constructed their very own "Energy Bike." This involved following an extensive wiring dia-gram, measuring wire, stripping electrical wire, and crimping electrical

connectors to assemble a circuit board (see photo on the right). The circuit board featured a series of incandescent, compact fluorescent, and LED light bulbs to compare lighting and ener-gy consumption differences. There were also accessories such as a portable fan, heated mug, radio, and travel size hair dryer that plugged into the board to focus on the energy consumption

of items that re-quire heating up. The board was powered by a generator hooked up to a regu-lar 21-speed bicycle. All of the items were donated by vari-ous sponsors who partnered with DP&L and the Ohio Energy Project. The bike can be used for various demonstrations to help students learn about energy, electricity, and work/power. The students are planning on working with Parkway elemen-tary teachers to share some of the activities they learned at the workshop with elementary students. The students really enjoyed the workshop and being able to "dig in" with their hands on the energy bike. They enjoyed learning about the basics of wiring and following a schematic

diagram while also troubleshooting along the way. When finished with assembly at the workshop, their board was the only one out of four schools that was functioning improperly. After countless attempts to re-wire switches, clean connectors, and replace various components, they figured out a faulty switch needed replaced. It was an overall great experience and Mr. Peel as well as Mrs. Muhlenkamp feel the young ladies were able to experience a once in a lifetime opportunity working with other young students. During some down time, the girls were able to visit with females with specialized science degrees who work at DP&L.

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Elementary UnleashedBrought to you by:

Ryan On and Cody Carmean

As highlighted on the front page of the No-vember issue of the Black and Gold Unfold, Parkway Elementary School has recently been recognized by the Ohio Department of Edu-cation. Based on the Local Report Card from the 2012-2013 school year, the Department of Education has named Parkway Elementary a High-Performing School of Honor. The High Performing Schools of Honor program recog-nizes Ohio schools that have sustained or in-creased student achievement over time in read-ing, math, and graduation rates, while serving many disadvantaged students. Parkway Ele-mentary School was also named a 2013 School of Promise. The Ohio Department of Education recognizes the success in closing the math or reading achievement gaps for the students within the school. Just before Christmas break, Parkway Elementary School received a large banner from the Ohio Department of Education in recognition of their awards. The elementary staff and students celebrated their successes with a movie and ice cream. The “School of Honor” banner will be proudly displayed in the hallway at Parkway Elementary School for students, staff, parents, community members, and guests to see every day.

Just before the holidays, Parkway’s third grade classes learned about the importance of giving with the first annual third grade canned food drive. The students collected around 200 canned foods to donate. The children got to deliver the food to the Salvation Army, where it was put to good use leading into the holiday season. Many of the students com-

mented that they enjoyed collecting food and helping out. Not only did the students practice being good citizens, but they also used the food to study multiplication and division. Students were rewarded with prizes each day they brought in food. The third grade teachers look forward to many great years of canned food drives to come and would like to thank the families and students who participated.

Parkway Elementary Receives School of Honor Banner

Parkway Third Grade Students Learn About Giving with a Food Drive