It s great to be young and a Comet! Oakwood High School September 1, 2017 Comet Courier Volume V, Issue 3 Comet Calendar September 4 Labor Day No School September 6 Late Start September 6 Booster Club Meeting September 9 Homecoming Kickoff September 10-15 Homecoming Week September 15 1:40 Dismissal 3:30 Parade OHS welcomes Mira, Austrian exchange student OHS is excited to add a new student this year... Mira Müller, an exchange student from Austria. Müller is a junior who will be here for the entire school year. Müller is staying with her host family, the McCalls, this year. During the opening assembly on the first day of school, her classmates gave her a It s Great To Be Young And A Comet T-shirt. All of the students are excited having an exchange student at OHS and we are hoping to learn a lot from her. She is adjusting quickly to be an American high school student -- the classes, the lunches, the immersion in a different culture. Everything is different, said Müller. I wasn t quite prepared for that. This is the first exchange student that OHS has hosted since 2001. September 20 SWAP Day 11:30 Dismissal September 20 School Board Mtg.
2 Comet Courier 09-01-17 Blackford named Comet of the Month Lashuay honored for respect; Bolton is top athlete The OHS Student Recognition Committee has chosen Kelsey Blackford to be the September Student of the Month. Blackford is a senior High Honor Roll student. She is the president of National Honor Society and is active in Student Council. Blackford is also a three-sport letterwinner, in volleyball, basketball, and softball. Sophomore Caleb Lashuay is the winner of the Character Trait Award for Respect. Lashuay is on the High Ms. Christine Pomatto was chosen as the Staff Member of the Month for September. Pomatto is in her second year teaching Special Education at OHS. She is also the yearbook advisor for this year. Pomatto is known as a teacher who is always professional and willing to help out her students. She also has excellent design skills which she has put to use around the building. She made all of the signs for Kelsey Blackford Honor Roll and competes in three sports -- soccer, wrestling, and baseball. He is also a member of Fellowship of Christian Caleb Lashuay Athletes. Senior Skylar Bolton was named the September Athlete of the Month. Bolton is a three-sport Skylar Bolton Pomatto earns September staff member of the month Check out the OHS Facebook page at Oakwood High School Comets letter winner in football, basketball, and baseball. Last Friday, he rushed for over 200 yards in the win over Iroquois West. our doors as well as the design on the staff shirts and she is not even on the Social Committee, said Ms. Head. She is always willing to help staff and students and has a great positive attitude. She s super resourceful and talented. said Ms. Lee. She s awesome! Ms. Pomatto poses with the honorary O after being named September Staff Member of the Month.
3 The OHS Student Council has made the plans for Homecoming 2017. The following comes from them. Homecoming Week begins on Sat., Sept. 9 with the Homecoming Extravaganza from 1 to 3 p.m. and the official commencement of class float building at 6 p.m. The days of the week dress-up days are as follows: Monday: Make Yourself At Home Day Tuesday: Twister Tuesday Wednesday: Lions, Tigers, Bears, Oh, My Thursday: Class Color Day *(Fr.=Green; So.=Orange; Jr.=Blue; Sr.=Red) Friday: Purple Spirit Day Friday s pep assembly is in the gym. We will announce the King and Queen, and there will be no 6th hour class! Parade The theme this year is The Wizard of Oz. Entry forms for the parade should be in to Ms. Cooper by Mon., Sept. 11. The parade begins at 3:30 p.m.; participants should be lined up no later than Comet Courier 09-01-17 Student Council plans Homecoming 17 Homecoming court! The members of the 2017 Homecoming court are, from left, junior attendants Bryce Jones and Sam Wiese; sophomore attendants, Caide Borden and Aubrey Wells; king and queen candidates Chase Vinson, Maggie Freeman, Skylar Bolton, Olivia Turner, Jaydon Rose, Emily Simonich, Josh Coburn, Jazmine Rodriguez, Lane Warren, Kelsey Blackford; freshman attendants Cayden Wells and Nicole Key. 3:15 p.m. No vehicle other than entered parade vehicles will be allowed to turn east on Collett street. The parade will end at OGS east parking lot. Football Game Oakwood Comets vs. Bismarck-Henning Blue Devils begins at 7 p.m. on Fri., Sept. 15. At halftime, there will be a mini-parade of the floats and the court. The float winners will also be announced at this time. Homecoming Dance The dance is on Sat., Sept. 16, from 8-11 p.m. Coronation is at 9:30 p.m. Parents will be admitted to the gym beginning at 9:15 p.m. Dance tickets will be sold during lunch hours beginning Mon., Sept. 11 and continue through Thu., Sept. 14. All tickets must be purchased in advance. Ticket prices are $15 for a couple and $8 for a single. Only OHS students and their dates are permitted to attend the dance. Any students with any financial obligations to classes or organizations will not be allowed to purchase tickets until those obligations have been cleared. Students will be admitted at 7:30 p.m. for pictures. All students must stay in the building during the dance. If a student leaves the building, he or she will not be allowed to re-enter. Students must be off the school property promptly at 11 p.m. Pictures will be taken by Simply People Pics this year. A price list will be made available in the office prior to the dance. Homecoming Parade -- Sept. 15, 3:30 p.m. in Oakwood
4 Class ring orders The freshmen will be able to order their Jostens class rings in September. There will be a meeting during Homeroom on September 25 for the freshmen. Orders will be taken from 3 to 5:30 p.m. on Sept. 28, in the East Lobby. Parents are welcome at that time to see samples and ask questions of the Jostens representatives. Upcoming Athletic Events Sep. 1 G Viking Invite (A) 1 pm Sep. 2 XC Cowchip Classic (A) 9 am Sep. 2 SOC Judah Christian (A) 10 am Sep. 2 FB Pawnee (H) 2 pm Sep. 4 JVFB Salt Fork (H) 6 pm Sept. 5 G Salt Fork (A) 4 pm Sept. 5 XC SJO (H) 4:30 pm Sept. 5 SOC Schlarman (A) 4:30 pm Sept. 6 G Westville (H) 4 pm Sept. 6 VB SJO (A) 6 pm Sept. 7 G Judah Chr. (H) 4 pm Sept. 7 SOC Hoop. Area (H) 4:30 pm Sept. 7 VB Chrisman (A) 6 pm Sept. 7 FrFB Westville (H) 6 pm Sept. 8 SOC Hoop. Area Tour. (A) 4 pm Sept. 8 FB Hoop. Area (H) 7 pm Sept. 9 VB Bulldog Inv. (A) 8:30 am Sept. 9 SOC Hoop. Area Tour. (A) 8 am Sept. 9 XC PBL Inv. (A) 9 am Sept. 11 SOC ALAH (A) 4:30 pm Sept. 11 JVFB Hoop. Area (A) 6 pm Sept. 12 G Schlarman (A) 4 pm Sept. 12 SOC BHRA (H) 4:30 pm Sept. 12 VB Westville (H) 6 pm Sept. 14 G Danville (A) 4 pm Sept. 14 XC BHRA Inv. (A) 4:15 pm Sept. 14 SOC GRF (A) 4:30 pm Sept. 14 VB GRF (A) 6 pm Sept. 15 FB BHRA (H) 7 pm Sept. 16 G Paris Inv. (A) 8:30 am Comet Courier 09-01-17 Social media sites provide information If you like to keep up on events and activities at Oakwood High School, there are more options now. OHS has their own Twitter page that you can follow at @OakHS76 for updates. Please follow to help us get information to you as quickly as possible. OHS also has its own Facebook page. The district also has its own Facebook (www. facebook.com/oakwoodschooldistrict) and Twitter feed (@OakwoodCUSD76). Other Twitter feeds that will provide valuable information about the high school are: High School @OakHS76 District @OakwoodCUSD76 School Counselor @OakHSCounselor Soccer @OSFSoccer Football @OakwoodCometsFB Baseball @OakwoodCometsBB Cheerleading @O_C_Cheer Boys Basketball @CoachBlackOHS Counseling Corner Upcoming Events: September 7 An EIU admissions rep will be in the building. Juniors and Seniors interested in learning about Eastern Illinois University should pick up a pass from Mrs. Lee. September 7 An Army Recruiter will be in the lunchroom to speak with students. September 21 College Day at DACC. Seniors and Juniors can sign up to attend a college fair at Danville Area Community College. September 28 Indiana State University will send an Admissions Rep to meet with Seniors or Juniors that want to hear more about ISU. Sign up in the Counseling Office. Engage Educate Empower
5 Comet Courier 09-01-17 Foster named Miss Illinois!!!! Abby Foster, Comet alum from the Class of 2015, earned the title of Miss Illinois this summer and will compete in the Miss America pageant on September 10. You can watch the pageant and root for Abby on ABC. You can vote for Abby by going to MissAmerica.org/vote. The details are below. Voting continues until Sept. 5. For fans of Abby, you can follow her on these social media sites: Facebook FB/MissAmericaIL Twitter MissAmericaIL Snapchat MissAmericaIL Instagram @MissAmericaIL Tumblr MissAmericaIL. tumblr.com Booster Club could use your help The OHS Booster Club is ready to begin another year supporting the athletic teams and they could use your support. The group meets just once a month, at 7 p.m. on the FIRST Wednesday of the month in the high school library. The next meeting is September 6. You can also help by purchasing a business sign at football games. For more information, contact a Booster Club member. In the past few years they have provided assistance to each of the school s athletic programs. They have bought golf bags, re-surfaced the soccer field, helped purchase the gym scoreboards, purchased training equipment for football, and uniforms for softball, patches for championships, pins for letterwinners, among many other things. This is a worthwhile group that could use your help. No School on Monday, Sept. 4 -- Labor Day
6 Comet Courier 09-01-17 Homecoming float info Th following are the float sites for your student's class, their advisors, and who you should contact for meals if you would like to help. -- The freshman class advisor is Amie Baumeister. The float will be built at Koby Fletcher s and you may contact Amanda Sperry or Shelia Fletcher for meals. -- The sophomore class advisor is Michael Carey. The float will be built at Zane LaBonte s and the parents may do a group chat for meals. -- The junior class advisor is Lynn Juice Anderson. The float will be built in the OHS bus garage and you may contact Michele Wiese for meals. -- The senior class advisor is Amy Esteves. The float will be at the Davis' (Maggie Freeman s grandparents) and you may contact SynDee Lane for meals -- sjlane@illinois.edu. SWAP Day is set for September 20 This will be the 40th annual SWAP day at OHS. Parents will get the chance to attend school for their students on September 20, an 11:30 dismissal day. This day provides parents the opportunity to see exactly what their students do during a normal day of school. Only one parent is needed to attend, even for multiple children. They are encouraged to attend for the entire morning but must attend at least four class hours. If a parent attends, then the student is excused from attending on that day. If a parent can not come, the ONLY acceptable substitutes are a grandparent or a sibling who graduated before 2013. Parents are responsible for any homework due and taking any assignments to be done by students for the following day. SWAP Day forms are attached at the end of this newsletter. Follow us on Twitter at @OakHS76 School lunch accounts Lunches may be purchased by completing a payment through TeacherEase or sending money with your child to the school. If you are sending a check, please put the child s name on the memo line of the check. Checks should be made payable to Oakwood High School. We encourage payment by check when sending money to the school because it serves as a dated record of payment. If you must send cash, please enclose it in an envelope with the student s first and last name on the envelope. Free and reduced lunch applications will be available at registration and in the school office throughout the school year. FOOD SERVICE CHARGES Daily $ 2.65 Weekly $13.25 Extra Milk $ 0.30 Any extra food will be sold to students in the second lunch if they have money available in their account. Sunday papers needed The art teacher, Ms. Nichols requesting Sunday Papers for the Art Room. In the coming months she would like to begin Paper Mache Projects and they needplenty of papers.
OHS HOMECOMING PARADE FRIDAY, September 15, 2017 3:30 P.M. We ask that you follow these guidelines for participating in the OHS Homecoming parade. Individuals or groups wishing to walk or ride in this parade must submit a registration form (below) to Teresa Cooper at Oakwood High School no later than Monday, September 11. You may either mail or fax this form to us. Upon receipt of your registration, you will be contacted with the location where you are to congregate prior to the parade. All participants should plan to arrive by 2:45 p.m. and be ready to go by 3:00 p.m. Participants should be dropped off on Oakwood Street and then walk to their assigned spot. Please cooperate in this. It becomes congested quickly with parents trying to drive their children to their parade vehicles. If you register a group or organization, make sure your participants are informed of this guideline. The float theme this year is No Place Like Homecoming (Wizard of Oz). Due to safety issues, we ask that you DO NOT throw candy in the parade. If you would like to distribute candy please designate walkers to walk alongside the vehicle and hand candy to children. Name of group or organization Type and number of vehicles Approximate number of riders or walkers Name and phone of contact person Please return to: Teresa Cooper OHS Student Council Oakwood High School 5870 US Route 150 Fithian, IL 61844 Email: coopert@oakwood76.org Phone: 217.354.2358 Fax: 217.354.2603