VIKINGS LAUNCH 6^TH ANNUAL UNITY IN COMMUNITY CAMPAIGN

MIAMISBURG, Ohio – The tradition of rivals Miamisburg and West Carrollton High Schools working together to help others during the season of giving is growing stronger. The sixth annual “Unity in the Community” campaign got underway Nov. 15 with the Miamisburg High Unity Blood Drive. Pictured at right CBC's Donna Teuscher presented the Red Cord Honor School award to Miamisburg Student Government advisor Jenny Brockert & Student Government blood drive volunteers.

“Unity in the Community” is a partnership between Miamisburg and West Carrollton High Schools, Community Blood Center, and Universal 1 Credit Union.  The schools host fall blood drives and jointly present a $1,000 award sponsored by Universal 1 to a charity chosen by the students.

“Unity in Community” originated with Miamisburg and West Carrollton in 2014 and has grown to include eight rival schools.  The 2019-2020 campaign got off to a strong start Friday with the Miamisburg Unity Blood Drive totaling 136 donors, including 82 first-time donors and 103 donations.

“It’s now a tradition,” said Miamisburg Student Government advisor and blood drive coordinator Jenny Brockert. “The older kids talk about it and pass it down to the next group.”

The schools alternate designating the charity to receive the Unity Award.  Last year West Carrollton chose Target Dayton Ministries and representatives from both schools presented the check at halftime of the Miamisburg-West Carrollton basketball game.

This year MHS chooses the Unity Award recipient, and the Vikings’ favored charity has become part of the Unity tradition. The Miamisburg Student Government voted to again give the Unity award to Care House of Dayton, a community advocacy center for victims of abuse and neglect.

“We do a trip to Care House every other year, so by the time they have visited, seen it, and learned about it,” said Jenny. “It’s become our mission to bring awareness to child abuse. It’s a tradition and they pass it down.”

“I think it’s a good idea,” said freshman Student Government senator and blood drive volunteer Amir Hamed. “It’s about showing the younger generation how to help people in need. It’s kind of a win-win because we’re doing the blood drive and the charity. It’s like we’re helping double the people.”

Sophomore Sierra Weeks is happy to support the Unity Campaign because she understood the value of traditions.  Now that she is 16 and eligible to be a blood donor, she was eager to make her first lifetime donation at the Unity blood drive.

“My sister did it and she encouraged me to do it,” said Sierra. “I thought, I want to do it.”

Blood donation requirements:  Donors are required to provide a photo ID that includes their full name.  Past CBC donors are also asked to bring their CBC donor ID card.  Donors must be at least 17 years of age (16 years old with parental consent: form available at www.givingblood.org or at CBC branch & blood drive locations), weigh a minimum of 110 pounds (you may have to weigh more, depending on your height), and be in good physical health.  The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) changes blood donor eligibility guidelines periodically.  Individuals with eligibility questions are invited to email canidonate@cbccts.org or call 1(800)388-GIVE. Make an appointment at www.DonorTime.com.

Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services® is an independent, not-for-profit organization.  Community Blood Center provides blood products to 23 hospitals and health centers within a 15-county service area in the Miami (Ohio) and Whitewater (Indiana) Valleys.  For more information about Community Blood Center/Community Tissue Services®, visit www.givingblood.org.

Miamisburg Middle School teacher, Brandi Henry, submitted some of her students' personal narrative essays in the Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Writing Contest. This contest is held every year, and it honors the life of Dottie Yeck, "a champion of children", who believed that you can create positive in this world at any age. The competition is sponsored by the Washington/Centerville Public Library. The writing topic this year was: Develop a plan for living a good life. Contestants were asked to use personal experiences as examples, give the reader advice on how to build self-confidence while exploring how school and others can affect that self- confidence. They were also asked how do you block negative impacts while building up the positive? They were told that their plan must reflect Dottie Yeck’s belief that being good and doing good will result in having fun and being happy.

The Dottie Yeck Good Life Award Writing Contest had 1,107 essays submitted from 26 different schools – a record year for this contest. The essays were scored twice, the top 200 moved on to the semi-final round where they were again scored twice. The top 25 were moved to the final round where they were scored three more times. There were four winners and 21 Honorable Mentions. This is the first year the honorable mentions were awarded a cash price of $25 and are being recognized at the Good Life Award Celebration Evening this Thursday.

Three of Mrs. Henry's students from MMS Team 7 placed in the top 25. Pictured left to right are Ella Buzek, Braeden Fullam and Audrey Asbury. Congratulations to them for a job well done!

Submitted by: Elijah Walters, MVCTC FCCLA President 2019-2020
On November 4, 2019, the Miami Valley Career Technology Center (MVCTC) Family Career and Community Leaders of America (FCCLA) Chapter held their November meeting learning about Honor flight for Veteran’s Day.

The meeting started with officers sharing an update from the ‘No One Fights Alone Walk’ that was in September. Next, a video was displayed about Veterans to show our appreciation for our armed forces and to educate our members about Veterans Day. Finally, we had an amazing guest speaker from Honor Flight, Al Bailey. Mr. Bailey spoke about how Honor Flight flies veterans to Washington D.C. where they can spend the all-day visiting war memorials and exploring the nation's capitol. In addition, he shared that the veterans enjoy being greeted at airports by people with signs and letters thanking them for their service. To close the meeting, we spoke to our members about the FFA Auction scheduled for December 13, and how they can participate. All proceeds from the auction will go towards the Ronald McDonald House, which is a great organization that changes many lives every day.

FCCLA offers members the opportunity to expand their leadership potential and develop skills for life—planning, goal setting, problem-solving, decision making, and interpersonal communication—necessary in the home and workplace. Dedicated to providing premier educational choices and advanced employment preparation for youth, adults, and organizations, MVCTC has proudly served the Miami Valley since 1971.
For more information about MVCTC, please visit www.mvctc.com.

Photo Left to Right: Parker Lenski (Culinary Arts/Miamisburg), Elijah Walters (Culinary Arts/Vandalia-Butler), Mr. Al Baily (Honor Flight), and Samantha Hartzell (Early Childhood Education/Arcanum-Butler)

The Miamisburg City School District October Student of the Month is Jane Chance Elementary School fifth grade student Jordan Arp. She was nominated by her fifth grade teachers. They said "It is our honor to nominate Jordan Arp for Jane Chance Elementary's Student of the Month for October. Jordan comes to school each day with a smile on her face, ready to learn. She consistently follows the BARK Chart. She often volunteers to clean up her area and the classroom without being asked. She also helps out by running errands for teachers and returning the class books to the library each week. She demonstrates her responsibility by doing her best in all of her classes. She completed her optional math project for extra credit this quarter with very high quality work.  Due to this extra effort, she has an A+ in math this first quarter. She received a 100% (the only student in fifth grade to get a 100%) on her last math unit test.  She is always attentive, on task, giving her best effort, and striving to learn in math class.  She participates every day and often will lead the class in explaining a math problem or sharing her work.  She is ALWAYS kind, helpful, polite, and a role model for good Bulldog behavior. She has read several additional books for ELA  and has attended Book Club during her lunch time. She has had all of her Weekly Reading Passages turned in early for pre checks in ELA during the first quarter. She goes above and beyond what is expected and has done the most Bonus/Extra Credit in the 5th grade in ELA, Science, and Social Studies. She helps Mrs. Finney every Friday with the Blessings in a Bag distribution.  In addition to all of the things mentioned above, Jordan is an incredible artist. She likes to draw, color, and paint. She was voted to be one of Mrs. Gormley's class Student Council Representatives. She participates in Girls on the Run twice a week. She is an active participant in student groups run by Mrs. Hall and Mrs. Sharts. Outside of school, she enjoys playing with friends, drawing, reading, and watching YouTube videos. She would like to be a baker when she grows up. The 5th grade teachers are extremely proud of Jordan and all of her accomplishments."

Congratulations to Jordan Arp and all the building Student of the Month representatives, which can be viewed at right!