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Power of the Pen
April 05, 2012
Power of the Pen is an interscholastic creative writing program for students in grades seven and eight in the state of Ohio. Over eighty school districts compete, each starting with teams of twelve students, six from each grade. Students who want to join the Power of the Pen team participate in one or more tryout sessions, in which they are given a prompt that they must use as a base for an essay or short story within 40 minutes. After the allotted time, each story or essay is given to the coaches, who evaluate the writings and choose the students who they think are best for the team based on their writing skills. The teams compete in three different tournaments: a District, Regional, and State Tournament. On January 14, the District Tournament was held at Ottawa Hills High School. Representing St. Joseph School were the following team members: Grade Eight – Ellen Buerk, Eileen DiPofi, Emma Mallory, Matthew Nolan, Andrew Peatee, and Claire Weber; Grade Seven – Grace Buerk, Grace Fawcett, Maggie Finn, Evelyn Hamady, Nicholas Lehmkuhl, and Darby Szmania. Alternates were Emily Pawlecki and Sam Pfeiffer. The following students in the eighth grade participated in the regional tournament at Lourdes University: Ellen Buerk, Eileen DiPofi, Emma Mallory, and Andrew Peatee. All members of the seventh grade team moved on to write at this regional competition. Congratulations to all of these students for their dedication and achievement. In particular, congratulations to Ellen Buerk, who took a Best of Round at Districts, and Eileen Dipofi and Grace Buerk for taking Best of Rounds at Regionals. In addition, the seventh grade team took 
second place at Regionals. As a result of the regional competition, the following students have qualified to write at the state competition at Wooster College on May 24 – 25:
Eighth graders – Ellen Buerk, Eileen DiPofi, and Emma Mallory; Seventh Graders - Grace Buerk, Grace Fawcett, Maggie Finn, Evelyn Hamady, and Darby Szmania.
Thank you to our own Power of the Pen moderators, Mrs. Anna-Marie Adamson, Mrs. Jessica Jones, and Mrs. Penny Riccio.
Former St. Joseph Student to Present Science Research Project
March 01, 2012
It’s that time of year again! The time that either brings groans or cheers, depending on your love of science. Have you guessed that Science Fair time is upon us?
Students in junior high have been hypothesizing, testing, recording, and writing up results, not to mention creating the traditional tri-fold display board. All in the hopes of garnering a superior grade on their science project.
Most students go on to high school and their junior high science fair becomes a distant memory. Not so, for Frank Szmania, a former St. Joseph School student, who is now a freshman at St. Francis de Sales High School. Frank has been asked, and has accepted, an offer to present his research results from last year’s science project at The Ohio Academy of Science’s Annual Meeting on April 14, 2012, at Ashland University, Ashland, Ohio.
The Academy’s Annual Meeting is for academic, governmental, and industry scientists and engineers, university and pre-college educators, and pre-college, undergraduate, and graduate students, and interested lay citizens in the Ohioregion. This opportunity to present research results may accelerate the student into the world of professional scientists. It has the potential to open research and educational career opportunities not only from those who attend the meeting, but also from around the world when the research is published in the April issue of The Ohio Journal of Science that goes worldwide.
You might be curious about Frank’s research topic…it was something he has been passionate about for many years…GUPPIES! His research was entitled: The Effects of Testosteroneon Female Guppies. It involved adding testosterone to the water of female guppies, in order to see if it would enhance the colors in their tails. As is true with other animals, the female’s colors are naturally muted, and breeders might be interested in more colorful fish.
You see, when you love what you’re studying, then a science research project, or anything else, can be enjoyable! Good luck to you, Frank.
Ohio State Representative Barbara Sears Visits St. Joseph School
January 12, 2012
Ohio State Rep. Barbara Sears recently visited Sylvania St. Joseph School to meet with 
school administration and discuss House Bill 136. See attached link below to the Catholic Chronicle and news story by Christine Holliday.
http://www.catholicchronicle.org/index.php/Schools/state-representative-visits-st-joseph-school.html
Blue Pumpkin Campaign Fund Raiser
October 12, 2011
ST. JOSEPH SYLVANIA MAKES A DIFFERENCE
Waiting tables can be profitable…at least, Ms. Ani Geha, St. Joseph art teacher, found this to be true. She was one of the guest waiters on Tuesday evening, September 27 at the Carranor & Hunt Polo Club, with profits going to the Family & Child Abuse Prevention Center. This annual event has taken on a decidedly “St. Joseph flavor” the last several years. Not only was Ani Geha a guest waiter, but two former PTO Presidents were as well…Mrs. Patricia Bullard and Mrs. Kathleen Zacharias. But the real impetus came from a 10 year old girl.
St. Joseph School became involved several years ago when Abbey Pawlak, a student at the time, felt called to “take up this cause”. That first year, a local farmer donated 20 pumpkins to her vision. She painted them blue, to represent the bruises of child abuse,tied ribbons on them and tagged each one with her slogan... "Children Deserve To Be Safe". She set out in her wagon and sold to neighbors, family and friends raising $565…thus was born the Blue Pumpkin Campaign.
The next year, at Abbey’s request, Ani Geha, St. Joseph art teacher, got into the act. Ani had been creating wonderful student art objects for the last couple years, which had been in high demand at the school’s annual Benefit Dinner and Auction held each January. So an alliance was formed and students in grades 1-5 were enlisted to use their art abilities to raise money for other kids.
Five beautiful art pieces from St. Joseph (items “made from the hands of children to protect and heal children”) comprised the entire auction portion of the evening. Each one was auctioned for hundreds of dollars. In addition, St. Joseph School was 
well represented at the dinner, with 20 people counting on Ani to “wait” on them. The 20 included six staff, parents and students who “tipped” Ani for her service, with money going to the Family & Child Abuse Prevention Center…all the while, hoping to make a difference in the life of a child.