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Local mother of five dies

By Lindsey Hilty | Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 10:25 AM

The Wyandot Early Childhood School leaders are asking the Lakota community to help a local family by contributing to a 5/3 account, Friends of Jennifer Carter Memorial Fund. The 34-year-old mother of five and wife to Michael Carter, died after a long 2.5-year battle with breast cancer. The Wyandot Parent Teacher Organization in conjunction with Wyandot Early Childhood School. For questions call Keri Myers at 755-1213 kerimyers@msn.com or Jenny Clute at 759-4741 jennydee@fuse.net.

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Back to school numbers

By Lindsey Hilty | Tuesday, August 19, 2008, 08:14 AM

Did you know…

$7.5 billion was the amount spent at family clothing stores in August last year? Only in November and December — the holiday shopping season — were sales significantly higher. Similarly, sales at bookstores in August 2007 totaled $2.3 billion, an amount approached in 2007 only by sales in January and December. Source: Monthly Retail Trade and Food Services http://www.census.gov/mrts/www/mrts.html

For more interesting numbers jump to the next page.

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Are your kids sleeping enough?

By Lindsey Hilty | Monday, August 18, 2008, 10:23 AM

According to Yahoo’s Back to School 2008, during sleep our brains release growth hormones essential to growth, development and alertness. We should aim for an optimum of between 8.2 and 8.5 hours of sleep each night according to Charles Czeisler, Professor of Sleep Medicine at Harvard Medical School. (Some children benefit from 9-10).

Getting a full night’s sleep will enhance your cognitive performance. But even quick power naps can help you with tasks that require sustained attention and concentration. Did you know that Leonardo Da Vinci, Albert Einstein, and Buckminster Fuller were all avid nappers?

Read more about this and other ways to stimulate the brain at http://events.yahoo.com/backtoschool08/

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Principal’s Office

By Lindsey Hilty | Saturday, August 16, 2008, 12:53 PM

Occassionally I glimpse headlines from the television across the office, and I just saw a promo for a television show, “The Principal’s Office.”

I watched a clip and have several issues with this new “reality show.” I am curious to get your reactions. First, as an education reporter, I am quite familiar with student privacy laws. Student discipline is not a public matter unless there is court action.

In this clip, it shows students mouthing off to a principal, and he “disciplining” them for their behavior issues. It screams of fakeness, but I can’t quite figure out where they are going with this show. After watching four takes of the volunteer march for “Extreme Makeover Home Edition,” I realized reality television is much more staged than reality. So, what message are these kids getting? If you misbehave in a crazy enough manner, you get to act it out on camera in front of a television audience in order to get a few laughs.

This kind of thing makes me want to flip the television off and hope the show bombs. Here’s a link. What do you think? http://www.tv.com/video/14710/series-premiere?o=tv

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Dating violence — do you know the signs?

By Lindsey Hilty | Friday, August 15, 2008, 04:26 PM

I just interviewed a presenter for Healthy Visions — an organization that teaches healthy relationship decisions in classrooms in the area. They had been presenting this three-day sex education program, when students started asking questions about dating relationships via Facebook and Myspace. David Ashley told me one girl thought it was normal for her boyfriend to text her 30 times a day. She thought he loved her more because he was checking on every move she made, what she wore, who she talked to, etc.

Teens and parents need to be aware of the mental and physical abuse that seems to be statistically quite prevalent in relationships. Here are a few Web sites with information as well as some stats I pulled off one site.

Dating Violence: http://www.opdv.state.ny.us/publicawareness/teendat_viol/index.html

http://www.acadv.org/dating.html

http://www.ucalgary.ca/resolve/violenceprevention/English/reviewprog/youthdintro.htm

• In a survey of more than 4,000 ninth- through 12th-graders, approximately one in five females reported physical and/or sexual abuse by a dating partner.

• 36.4% of teenage girls and 37.1% of boys reported receiving some form of physical aggression from dating partners at least once. Girls reported that their boyfriends initiated the violence 70% of the time while boys only reported that their girlfriends were the initiators 27% of the time.(2)

Approximately 43% of teen dating violence victims reported that the dating abuse they experienced occurred in a school building or on school grounds.

40% of teenage girls know of someone who has been beaten by a boyfriend.

30% of all murdered teenage girls are killed by a current or former boyfriend.

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East kickoff

By Lindsey Hilty | Friday, August 15, 2008, 12:47 PM

LAKOTA EAST HOSTS T-HAWK KICKOFF

Lakota Local School District, August 15, 2008. Lakota East High School will be hosting the first annual T-Hawk Kickoff to celebrate the start of the school year and the fall athletic season on Thursday, August 21 from 2:00 - 4:00 pm in the Lakota East Main Campus parking lot.

Activities will include performances by the Lakota East Marching Band and Cheerleaders, class competition coney eating contest sponsored by Skyline Chili, class competition Tug-O-War, face painting, cornhole and a variety of other tailgating activities. The event is free and open to all Lakota East High School students in grades 9-12.

At the conclusion of the T-Hawk Kickoff students can load Spirit Buses to travel to the first high school football game to be played in the State of Ohio for the 2008 season pitting the Lakota East Fighting Thunderhawks v. the Centerville Elks at Welcome Stadium as part of the Eleventh Annual Skyline Chili Crosstown Showdown. Game tickets can be purchased Monday - Friday from 7:30 am to 3:00 pm at the Lakota East Main Campus Athletic Office or at the T-Hawk Kickoff for $10. Tickets at the gate are $12.

All students riding the Spirit Buses are required to have a completed Emergency Medical Form signed by a parent. Please join us for this inaugural event bringing together the students of the Lakota East Main Campus and the brand new Freshman Campus for the first time as the Thunderhawk Family.

Questions regarding the T-Hawk Kickoff should be directed to Lakota East High School Associate Principal: Freshman Campus, Suzanna Davis at 588-7700.

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Lakota Back to School

By Lindsey Hilty | Thursday, August 14, 2008, 04:27 PM

Check out our Back To School tab in your paper today. The front photo is of Superintendent Mike Taylor, and Monroe Superintendent Elizabeth Lolli. It talks about growth in Lakota and Monroe.

Lakota is expected to grow by another 400 students this year. Last year, the district reported 18,261 students compared to 17,782 the prior year. Such growth is astounding, and I have to wonder if and when it will slow. District officials said there isn’t an end in sight, but you never know.

Monroe is in the same boat as Lakota was several years ago. It needs to build to accommodate all its students. Unfortunately, the funding is not there. Watch these two districts closely as they manage this growth. I think you will see some interesting things happening. 1. I think other districts are and will continue to model themselves after Lakota as far as efficiency. There are many programs Lakota does well. For instance, technology is something the district has remained on the leading edge. 2. While these bordering districts have had very little contact in the past, I think more of a partnership will develop. For instance, Lakota and Monroe educators are working together to tutor English as a Second Language students in a mobile home park that borders both districts.

Do you have any thoughts on the topic? What do you think these two districts will look like 10 years from now? Will Lakota have three high schools? Will Monroe have several elementary and junior schools, similar to Lakota?

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