Education Briefs

La Grange Elementary principal selected as outstanding graduate

La Grange Elementary Principal John Finch has been selected as the 2008 Outstanding Graduate for the College of Education and Human Development at the University of Louisville. He will carry the CEHD banner at U of L’s commencement ceremony Saturday and he will make remarks at the CEHD unit convocation. Finch will receive his doctoral degree in curriculum and instruction.“It’s been six years of hard work,” Finch said on writing his dissertation. “It was grueling at times but I thoroughly enjoyed doing the research and writing. It allowed me to see student work from a different perspective.”Finch’s dissertation focused on a course he has taught at the University of Louisville since 2005, Developing Cross-Cultural Competency. His dissertation was a case study of the class, looking at the perceptions of incoming teachers on multicultural education and how that perception changed through their participation in the class.“The best piece of the research involved the qualitative data that I was able to gather. To see what the candidates were saying about their struggles and realizations, and putting that information together in a puzzle that made sense,” said Finch.In his role as principal of one of CEHD’s professional development schools, Finch and his staff train pre-service teachers. As a part-time instructor, Finch teaches courses for teacher education students.Local students win at SkillsUSA conference

A team of students from the Oldham County Career and Technical Center competed in several events at the SkillsUSA Kentucky Leadership and Skills Conference sponsored by the Office of Career and Technical Education and SkillsUSA Kentucky. The team was accompanied by their SkillsUSA advisor, Doug Riggs.More than 1,000 students competed in 87 occupational and leadership skill areas. Winners from OCCTC are as follows: Amanda Mengedoht, first place commercial baking; Brandon Lyon, second place culinary arts. Other OCTC students qualified at the regional level to compete in the state competition. Those students were: Eric Eklund, carpentry; Jacob Deutsch, computer maintenance; Steven Mazar, job skill demonstration; Brandon Shoopman, job interview; and Lauren Wells, extemporaneous speaking. Mengedoht’s first-place medal qualifies her for the SkillsUSA National Skills Championship, which will be held in Kansas City June 23-27.SkillsUSA Kentucky is a chapter of the national organization, SkillsUSA that serves trade, industrial, and technical students in area technology centers, public high schools, career and technical centers, and community and technical colleges state wide. SkillsUSA Kentucky has more than 5,600 student members annually across all counties in the Commonwealth, organized into more than 125 sections.- Rebecca DeSensi,Oldham County Schools’communications specialistHigh school journalists earn Mark of Excellence awards

More than 100 high school journalists were recipients of annual Mark of Excellence awards March 28 at Western Kentucky University.The competition, sponsored by the WKU School of Journalism & Broadcasting and the WKU chapter of the Society of Professional Journalists, attracted newspaper and broadcast entries from more than 25 high schools throughout Kentucky.Students from two high schools in Oldham County earned awards at the competition.Best High School Broadcast: Claire Greenlee, Matt Moore and Chris Downey, Oldham County High School, first place; Dragon news staff, South Oldham High, second place.Best Newscast: Claire Greenlee and Chris Downey, Oldham County High School, first place; Dragon news staff, South Oldham High, third place.Best Sports Story: Nicole Allgood, Eli Miser and Erin Kramer, South Oldham High, second place.Best Music Video: Leslie Wishneuski and Chris Downey, Oldham County High School, first place; Lauren Jones, Lauren Scanlon, Nicole Allgood and Eli Miser, South Oldham High, second place.Best News Story: Erin Stolworthy and Michelle Stolworthy, Oldham County High School, first place; Ian Bailie, Lauren Scanlon and Megg Ward, South Oldham High, third place.Best Feature Story: Chris Downey and Jared Wilson, Oldham County High School, second place.

National FFA scholarships awarded

Thirty Kentucky FFA members have received more than $39,000 in scholarships from the National FFA Organization. Patricia Smith, a member of the Oldham County FFA, earned a $1,000 scholarship from General Motors Acceptance corporation.Each year, FFA awards about $2 million in scholarships nationwide, and those are sponsored by a variety of businesses. The scholarships may be used for colleges, universities and postsecondary agricultural programs.FFA, formerly known as the Future Farmers of America, was founded in 1928 and has more than 500,000 members nationwide. FFA is dedicated to making a positive difference in the lives of students by developing their potential for premier leadership, personal growth and career success through agricultural education.

OCMS students compete in Regional Science OlympiadTwo teams of students from Oldham County Middle School competed in the Regional Science Olympiad March 22 at Ballard High School. Both finished high enough to qualify for the state competition April 26 at Western Kentucky University.Those who medaled at regional include Cory Smith and Wesley Johnson, third place, anatomy; Austin Smith, second place, balloon-launched glider; Cassie Axtell and Hayden Clore, third place, bio-process lab; Jordan Brown and Sean Hatfield, third place, Crave the Wave; Sam Dinga and Wesley Johnson, third place, Disease Detective; Elias Ells and Lance Vialapondo, second place, ecology; Haydon Clore and Chandler Santos, third place, meteorology; Cory Smith and Grant Forbes, first place, metric mastery; Karina Richardson and Rachel Gray, third place, oceanography; Elias Ells and Lance Vialapondo, third place, road scholar; Emily Huber and Jordan Brown, second place, rocks and minerals; Emily Huber and Chandler Santos, third place, Science Crimebusters; Wesley Johnson and Karina Richardson, third place, Scrambler; and Brenneman Clore and Grant Forbes, third place, trajectory. Other local competitors include Noah Kammer, Trevor Horn, Kade Phillips, Alex Meyers, Michael Holdway and Summer Wheeler.

Crestwood Lipscomb student participates in mission workCrestwood resident Kyle Kraemer is one of 325 Lipscomb University students who completed mission work during spring break.More than 40 mission trips to international and U.S. locations are launched each year at Lipscomb. The trips are largely coordinated and carried out by students, some of whom spend up to a year in advance working on logistics.Kraemer, a family and consumer sciences major and South Oldham High School graduate, traveled to Ensenada, Mexico, March 15-22, to serve the community through tutoring elementary school children in the public schools.

Arvin graduates from UKCheri Arvin, a 2005 graduate of South Oldham High School, graduated summa cum laude May 4 from the University of Kentucky with a bachelor of science degree.She has accepted an internship with Oldham County Extension Office for the summer after which she will return to the university pursuing her graduate degree.