Put-in-Bay School News May 2019
School News By Steve Poe, Superintendent Congratulations to the graduates of 2019. This year’s graduation ceremony was held at the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial on Friday, May 24. Addressing this year’s graduating class was Mr. Dan Kowalski. Dan gave a speech about being an islander. Dan was a 1980 graduate of Put-in-Bay School. He attended Bowling Green State University, and in 1984, Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in physics.
He then followed with a Master’s in physics from Kent State University. Mr. Kowalski started teaching math at Put-in-Bay School in 1987 and had just finished his thirty-second year. Affectionately known as “Mr. K” by his students, he has become an icon of Put-in-Bay School. He and his wife, Valerie, have four children and own a successful lawn care business on the island. The eighth-grade class consists of Macy Ladd, McKenna Stacy, Doug Steidl, Alec Sharp, Cole Porche, Alice Lentz, Melody Many, and Lilian Frederick. This class is the largest class in the school, and most kids are involved in sports.
Students in the Class of 2019 have ambitious plans after graduation: Jack Booker will attend Bowling Green State University in the fall. He plans to major in business and sales. He hopes to one day work as a pharmaceutical salesman and return home to work for the family business. He plans to travel the world and give back to his island community.
Lauren Peter will be pursuing her education at Lourdes University, majoring in nursing. She will also be continuing her basketball career, where she earned a scholarship to play for Lourdes. Lauren will pursue her BSN and hopes to become a nurse anesthetist. She is excited to be a part of a field that helps save the lives of people. Max Schneider will attend Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for a degree in Computer Science. He looks forward to his new adventures as he works to become a programmer after college.
Matthew Stacy will be joining the workforce, training to become a manager in the family business, Erie Petroleum. He will take online business classes to further his education and also plans to attend Emergency Medical Training (EMT) classes on the island as you may have read in the School News April 2019
Graduation last month was a memorable one. We want to thank the Perry Victory and International Peace Memorial staff for providing a beautiful venue for this event. We would also like to thank our scholarship donors for delivering over $31,000 in local scholarships for our graduates. The following is a list of fellowships each of our graduates received:
Jack Booker – Ricky Dysert Memorial Scholarship, Genoa Bank Scholarship, John W. Blatt Scholarship, Fitzgerald Family Scholarship, Kurt Rohrbacher Memorial Scholarship, the Heineman Memorial Scholarship, Lauren Peter – Magruder Hospital Scholarship, Cameo Pizza Scholarship, Browns Backers Scholarship, Jeremy Harlan, “Jer Bear” Memorial Scholarship Max Schneider – Acorn Sportsman Club Scholarship, Mayor’s Scholarship, Earl Johnson Scholarship. Browns Backers Scholarship. Jack Matia Scholarship, Jeffery Verhoff Memorial Scholarship, The Perry Group Scholarship, Lee Miller Scholarship. Lonz Foundation Scholarship
On April 17th, senior Max Schneider was recognized for his academic achievements at the Ottawa County Top Ten Banquet. Max is this year’s Valedictorian and recipient of the Earl Johnson Scholarship. He is the son of John and Katie Schneider, long-time residents on Middle Bass Island. Congratulations Max!
Junior Morgan Stacy was presented with the Ottawa County “Nine-to-Five” award on May 3rd at Mon Ami restaurant. She was among the students from the six other schools demonstrating exceptional improvement from last September, the ninth month, to May, the fifth month; hence “nine-to-five.” In addition, Morgan was recognized as a “Star Student” at Vanguard for her dedication, passion, hard work, and exemplary attitude.
Most recently, she earned “Student of the Fourth Quarter,” too. Way to go, Morgan! Max Schneider, junior Alexandra Knauer, and sophomore Elena Schroeder traveled to OSU on May 11th to participate in the State Science Fair. Each of them began their journey by competing in our local science fair held at in February, where they received overall superior ratings.
They then competed at the District Science Fair, held at the University of Toledo in March, where they again earned superior ratings to qualify for State. Max and Alexandra earned superior ratings at the State competition, and Elena received an excellent rating. This is an extremely impressive accomplishment! Congratulations, Max, Alexandra, and Elena!
The Put-in-Bay High School Sailing Club had a great spring season. A new club for the school last year, we have competed in three seasons now. High school sailing is both a fall and spring sport, and the Midwest Conference allows 7th and 8th graders to compete in some events alongside the 9th-12th graders.
This year, we had seven kids on our team: Alex Knauer, Nora Ladd, Talii Steidl, Kate Byrnes, Macy Ladd, Hope Cooks, and Emil Michael. We had fantastic weather for practices this spring season and traveled to three regattas, one in Cleveland and two in Columbus. Competing against teams from all over Ohio, Michigan, and sometimes New York, our team had some great finishes and continued to improve.
Our final regatta, the Westerville Classic at Hoover Sailing Club, brought us wind and challenging conditions, but our team sailed their best event yet and finished 9th out of 17. We even were highlighted in a clip about island living produced by Detroit PBS/Great Lakes Now! You can watch the video on YouTube at https:// youtube/I53txjTr8Nw. The team is looking forward to their summer sailing to help prepare for the fall season! That’s in for School News May 2019
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