Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

Seven local districts get low grades from state in social studies

By Janie Southard
Seven of the nine local school districts struggled with the social studies achievement tests last school year as did the rest of the state, according to the 2008-09 school year report cards released Tuesday by the Ohio Department of Education.
The state requires as least 75 percent of students pass the social studies test in fifth and eighth grades. Only 51.9 percent of Ohio's eighth-graders passed the test and only 61.6 percent of the state's fifth-graders passed.
In the Celina school district, the entire fifth grade struggled in all achievement areas (reading, math, science and social studies). The school did not meet the 75 percent passage rate in a single area.
All districts received preliminary report card data a few months ago, which enabled Celina Superintendent Matt Miller and the board of education to make adjustments for the current school year.
"I know our teachers work really hard in matching instruction to the state standards. But sometimes what you're hired in to teach is perhaps not the best for you," Miller said Tuesday afternoon. "We have made adjustments in staffing to match teacher strength to students needs."
As to the social studies failure rate statewide, the Ohio Department of Education has suspended social studies achievement tests for the next two years. As well, ODE has eliminated fourth and seventh grades writing tests.
Three of the nine districts met all 30 of the state's indicators - Coldwater, Marion Local and Minster - and received the designation excellent with distinction.
The 30 indicators are based on: student passage rates for achievement test in grades 3-8; the number of students passing the Ohio Graduation Test; meeting or exceeding the 90 percent requirement of students graduating; and meeting or exceeding the 93 percent attendance rate requirement.
Celina City Schools and Parkway Local School both met 24 of 30 indicators, earning them effective designations. St. Marys met 28 of the 30 and got an excellent designation. New Bremen with 29 indicators also received an excellent.
Receiving designations excellent with distinction with 29 indicators were Fort Recovery and St. Henry.
Along with the 30 indicators, the report cards include a Performance Index, which is based on how well each individual student does on all tested subjects in grades 3-8 and the 10th-grade Ohio Graduation Test. Students can receive any of five performance levels: advanced, accelerated, proficient, basic and limited.
Value Added Measure is the new kid on the report card, added in 2003. It's a knowledge-gained factor. Even if a student did not pass the test, it measures whether he or she has improved since the last opportunity to take the test. It's calculated for grades 4-8 in reading and mathematics. Results for the district are listed as above expected growth, met expected growth and did not meet one year of expected growth.
Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) is a federally required measure. Districts must meet reading and math proficiency and participation goals as well as test participation, attendance rate and graduation rate. Goals are established for all students as well as several minority groups such as black, economically disadvantaged, students with disabilities, limited English, etc.
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NEW BREMEN - Things were smoking in this Auglaize County village in an effort to locate sources of clear water infiltration into the sanitary sewer system. [More]
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The long-awaited Marion Township sewer project got the boost it needed this week with a $600,000 stimulus fund award.
The local community is one of
Total collections for Celina's nine tax increment financing (TIF) districts for 2008 were $31,730 below initial projections, Celina Safety Service Director Rick Bachelor reports.
A Celina city initiative to pursue a pilot study for removing algae from Grand Lake was stalled again this week because of one city council member's objections.
MINSTER - The Minster Historical Society will serve as a collective grand marshal for the 2009 Minster Oktoberfest Parade. Ric Hausfeld, parade chairman, made the announcement Tuesday night.
Officials for the village of St. Henry are seeking Ohio Public Works Commission funds for a street paving project in 2010.
Village Administrator Do
Coldwater Area Chamber of Commerce plans event for public
COLDWATER - The public is invited to learn about Coldwater area businesses and industries, get free gifts and grab for some cash.
The Coldwater Area Chamber of Commerce is sponsoring a Business Expo on Sept. 20 at Coldwater High School auditeria from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. with free admission.
Trained ballerina will instruct in downtown Celina
A dance instructor with 23 years experience is opening a studio in downtown Celina.
Yvette Fuelling is both owner and instructor at En Pointe Dance Studio, 1121/2 N. Main St., above CALL Ministries. En pointe is a term for dancing on the toes.
Compiled by Gary R. Rasberry
Celina picked up its first girls golf dual match win of the year, beating Minster, 193-207, at The Fox's Den on Tuesday afternoon.
The Celina cross country rosters will be filled with some inexperience this season as head coach Dan Otten looks to continue to build upon the strong tradition of Bulldog harriers.
Coldwater coach Dan Pohlman has high hopes for his Cavalier cross country teams this season as both groups bring back experienced runners from a pair of third-place showings at the Midwest Athletic Conference meet last season.
Several years after seeing numbers dwindle, the Fort Recovery cross country program is growing again.
Coach Michelle Stammen has 16 girls and nine boys to work with this season. So many girls have come out that older uniforms were needed to dress the entire team.
The Marion Local cross country teams are both loaded with upperclassmen, but a lack of quality depth will likely prevent either squad from making major waves this season.
A season ago, Larry Topp's Minster Wildcats finished second in the Midwest Athletic Conference, falling behind the New Bremen Cardinals by one point.
Last year was a banner season for the New Bremen boys cross country team as they not only won their first Midwest Athletic Conference title and their first district title in school history, they also qualified for the state meet, finishing 10th.
If nothing else, head coach Ann Vian will have a fun group of Parkway cross country runners to deal with this fall sports season.
"They're a lot o
For the past two seasons, the St. Henry Redskins have enjoyed a couple of their finest years in the history of the boys cross country program.
Advancing to the state tournament in 2007 and again in 2008, has this year's edition and coach Mike Eyink, eager for the fall season to get underway.
It will be a couple of fairly young teams this year for St. Marys cross country head coach Rob Cisco.
Cisco, in his second year as the head coach of the Roughriders, knows his team will be young, but is excited to be able to work with this group.
Improvement each and every day is the phrase that both Celina golf coaches are preaching this season.
Both Keith VanDeventer, the Celina boys golf
Both the Coldwater boys and girls golf programs will look to rebound after a rough season in 2008. The boys were 2-7 in dual matches and eighth in the Midwest Athletic Conference tournament last fall while the girls finished 2-5 in the league and eighth in the league tournament a year ago.
Coach Brad Evers' Fort Recovery boys golf team will look to younger players to fill spots after going 3-6 and finishing ninth in the Midwest Athletic Conference tournament, an improvement over the previous season.
Both golf teams at Marion Local have good numbers to work with, and with some key contributors from last year returning, both teams are looking to be competitive this season.
A season after winning their fourth straight Midwest Athletic Conference title in boys golf, Minster head coach Mike Griner is once again expecting a successful year from his Wildcats, who return many faces from a year ago.
The best way to describe the 2009 New Bremen girls golf team is to say that they lack depth and one only needs to look at the roster to see that this is true.
The Parkway golf program will look to improve this season after middle-of-the-pack finishes in the Midwest Athletic Conference last season.
Coach Mike Schumm's boys squad lost several players to graduation, but will rely on upperclassmen leadership to try and improve on a 5-4 MAC record.
Born just four years ago, the St. Henry girls' golf team hit full maturity last season when they captured their first Midwest Athletic Conference title in school history.
Denny Vogel brought the St. Marys boys golf program to respectability and Kurt Kuffner continued to have the Roughriders playing at a strong level and now it is Dominick Guarnieri's turn to continue that upward trend.
Both Celina soccer teams were contenders in the Western Buckeye League last season, but after a pair of second-place finishes, the Bulldogs are in a transition year as the boys and girls teams were hit hard by graduation.
The era of Coldwater girls soccer begins this season as the team will play primarily a junior varsity schedule - with the lone exception being Van Wert's club program - out of its 16 games this season.
It should be an interesting year for the St. Marys soccer programs as each team is expecting to challenge to be one of the top teams in the Western Buckeye League.
Jan Morrison has built the Celina girls tennis program to be a consistent contender in the Western Buckeye League and the veteran coach expects the Bulldogs to once again be near the top of the league standings this year.
The St. Marys girls tennis team has been a consistent contender in the Western Buckeye League in recent years and this year should be no different according to head coach Brice Brenneman.