By Torie Scott
Parent teacher conferences, also known as PTCs, are a great way for parents to connect with their children's educators. It also gives parents the opportunity to learn more about their offspring's education and how to better assist them in their education journey. But it wasn't just a night about talking with the teachers. Oak Hill Schools also put on a book fair that had a range of books for kids of all ages. From Hunger Games books for the older kids to the Battle Cats graphic novels and Marvel comics for the little ones.. Book fairs are an amazing way to foster kids' passions for reading and learning. The Oak Hill High School also had an art show featuring clay sculptures and drawings, even painted ceiling tiles. We were all very impressed with all the work the students put into their art creations and can't wait to see what they make next. In conclusion, Oak Hill School's parent teacher conferences are an important and fun event for the whole family and you would do well to make plans for you and your family to join us at the next one.
By Blaise Barger
The “Super Mario” franchise is one of the most popular franchises to ever exist. However, while the franchise as a whole is popular, there are some games that slip under the crack and become lost in time. An example of this is “Mario Super Sluggers.” This is one of the very few Mario baseball games and was released all the way back on the Wii. It has now been around 17 years since the game was released in North America. The game was known for having a huge roster of characters. It ranged from main characters like Mario to characters like baby DK who had never been a playable character before or after the game’s release. Furthermore, it stood out because of its fun twist on baseball by implementing powerups and giving the players unique stats and personalities. One example of this unique personality is Petey Piranha who decides to use his hand (which is a leaf) as his bat. In all, “Mario Super Sluggers” is one of the few Mario baseball games that needs a sequel because of its fun spin on an already classic sport. Picture Source:
In just a few days, the world of Pokémon has been hit with an information overload. Just a few days ago, the company suddenly announced that there would be a new trailer showcasing the upcoming dlc for the game that is coming out in December. However, what was showcased could not have been predicted. First, they revealed two new mega evolutions for Chimecho and Baxcalibur. Then, an unbelievable sight occurred just seconds after. The wild pokémon were over level 100! Since gen one, the max level a pokémon could go over was level 100 and ever since it has not been tampered with, but that has suddenly changed. In the trailer, it showcased pokémon going up to level 150, and one can only imagine that the limit will rise even higher than that. Now, even though this might not sound like a big change to most people, it is a humongous change for Pokémon fans because of the sudden shift in a core mechanic that hasn’t been messed with since the establishment of Pokémon itself all the way back in 1996. Picture source 1: Picture source 2:
By Jasmine Dunaway
The Cross River gorilla (Gorilla gorilla diehli) is a critically endangered subspecies of the western gorilla (Gorilla gorilla). It was named a new species in 1904 by Paul Matschie, a mammalian taxonomist working at the Humboldt University Zoological Museum in Berlin, but its populations were not systematically surveyed until 1987. Scientists have been unable to thoroughly study the distribution and abundance of the Cross River gorilla until the last decade or so. Because the gorillas are wary of humans and inhabit rugged territory, scientists have been unable to count many of these gorillas directly. Instead, researchers have used indirect signs, such as nest counts, and estimated range sizes to determine that there are only about 200 to 300 of these gorillas left in the wild. Cross River gorillas are scattered in at least 11 groups across the lowland montane forests and rainforests of Cameroon and Nigeria, an area of 3,000 square miles, or about twice the size of Rhode Island. According to Sarmiento and Oate's study published by the American Museum of Natural History, the Cross River gorilla has been described as having smaller dentitions, smaller palates, smaller cranial vaults, and shorter skulls than western lowland gorillas. Cross River Gorilla | World Wildlife Fund
The chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes), also known simply as the chimp, is a species of great ape native to the forests and savannahs of tropical Africa. It has four confirmed subspecies and a fifth proposed one. When its close relative, the bonobo, was more commonly known as the pygmy chimpanzee, this species was often called the common chimpanzee or the robust chimpanzee. The chimpanzee and the bonobo are the only species in the genus Pan, Evidence from fossils and DNA sequencing shows that Pan is a sister taxon to the human lineage and is thus humans’ closest living relative. Chimps are covered in coarse black hair has a bare face, fingers, toes palms of the hands, and soles of the feet. It is larger and more robust than the bonobo, weighing 40-70 kg (88-154 lb) for males and 27-50 kg (60-110 lb) for females and standing 150 cm (4 ft 11 in). They live in groups of up to 15 to 150 members, although individuals travel and forage in much smaller groups during the day. Chimps are highly sociable animals, care for their offspring for years and can live up to be over 50. In fact, chimpanzees are our closest cousins; we share about 98% of our genes. Chimpanzee | World Wildlife Fund
By Johnathon Schonter
(Click on the picture and the article will drop down)
To plant a tree, first you need to know what kind of tree you want to plant. You could plant a White Oak, Dark Oak, Sugar Maple, and so many more. Once you know what kind of tree you want to plant, find a nice spot to plant it. Make sure it gets plenty of sunlight, but not too much. Same goes for rain; you don’t want too much rain, but you also don’t want too little. After you find a nice spot, get a nice-sized shovel, and dig a 6 or 7 inch deep hole into the ground if you have a small plant, or a few feet for a larger tree sapling. If you have a plant seed, just make a small hole with your finger, place the seed into it, and cover it. Make sure to put water on top of it, but not too much. It can take either a few weeks, or a few months for the seed to sprout, or the tree plant to grow. It will take 40+ years for the tree to grow full sized. Picture source:
To build a market stand, first you need to get some wood. Either buy it straight from a wood processing plant, or from your local Lowes or Calihans Hardware, Do it Best. Then, buy some screws, and if you don’t have one, a drill. Get some sandpaper, too. When you get all of that, you can start building. First, build the frame. Put one board facing up and down, then screw another board either to the top or bottom of the first board. Make sure the boards aren’t too long. Then, repeat that, and soon, you have a frame. If you want, you can cover each side. But if not, just get a table cloth, and use a staple gun to staple it to the wooden frame. If you have wood left, make some baskets. To make baskets, it’s like the stand’s frame, but just on a smaller scale. Once you get that, make you a sign. Any kind could work, but the best one would be, “Fresh Vegetables" or “Local Produce.” When you get that done, use some boards on both sides of the stand, and screw the sign to the front of them. Now you got a stand. Now put either food or products in the baskets, and you are good to go.
By Aidan Isabelle
(Ohio State Record Walleye of Lake Erie, 33 inches 16.19 pounds).
The Walleye may be known as the tastiest fish of the United States, and its industry in the Great Lakes is good evidence to say that our taste buds aren’t subjective. When the name Walleye comes to mind, cold weather, ice fishing, and frustration are all thoughts that come to the surface. Its reputation for dodging angler’s hooks, and dodging the dinner table, is part of what makes it such a recognizable sport fish; unlike the Largemouth Bass or the Channel Catfish, the Walleye is an extremely difficult fish to trick into biting. The primary reason all boils down to their biology and behavior, as biologically they share the same lateral line as many predator fish, such as the Northern Pike and Muskie– but the Walleye really has the eye of the beholder. Its name “Glass Eye” is very literal, as the Walleye primarily only hunts in low-light conditions, or moonlit darkness. Compared to other coldwater fish, the Walleye is the night stalker, and it beats nearly all species at this niche. Its conical teeth allow it to grab anything that it sees, and it won’t escape– its teeth aren’t meant for slicing, but gouging. Although the Walleye is not typically thought of as a predator fish because of its relatively small size throughout its life, anything that it can eat is unlikely to escape in the cover of darkness. The Ohio state record stands at 16.19 pounds and 33 inches, so comparable to the larger Muskellunge of the lakes, it still isn’t the top predator. There’s a great combination of factors as to why they’re so difficult to catch, and Walleye fishing as a whole is way too deep of a subject to cover quickly. In Lake Erie alone, it is known as the Walleye capital of the world, and has 700 plus charter boats on the lake daily. So when the weather is cold, dark and miserable, that’s the perfect time to go Walleye fishing– just use anything that glows.
The “Predator Carp” of Eastern Europe,-- and perhaps one of the most sought after game fish on the planet– the Asp is one of the most interesting fish of the planet, as it is truly not much different than many other members of the carp and minnow family, except for the fact that it has a taste for fishy scales. The Asp is not present in America and likely would out-compete a lot of other native fish species if it was, although the European Asp could best be compared to the American Wiper. While the Wiper is purely in the bass family, the Asp is a true Eurasian Dace, as its scientific name Leuciscus aspius implies.When Americans think of dace or other species of the minnow family, they commonly would think of a fish like the Bluntnose Minnow or Western Blacknose Dace, and in a way they are related to the Asp, but are entirely different. While American species of minnows are usually related into the microfishing category, (other than Pikeminnow), the Asp is a true sportfish that would make bass fisherman fly to the shelves to try and find the right gear to catch this predator carp. They are one of the few species of Carp that not only eat fish, but actually prey on them. You’ll find them eating insects off the surface of the water all the time, which is why the primary method of Asp fishing (and arguably the most fun) is using topwater. If you tried to explain the idea of fishing for carp with topwater walkers in the United States, anyone would look at you like you’re insane– but these fish are aggressive, and brutally fast. When they’re not eating whole dragonflies off the surface of the water, they’re devouring other minnows and shiners while they school down a river. Whenever they aren’t feeding veraciously, they spend most of their time in fast currents of rivers, where they will gladly eat anything that gets drifted past them. Their behavior doesn’t change much, whether summer or winter, and their spawning season is mysterious. Not much is known about their parental lives, except for the fact that the majority of Asp spawn at night to avoid the predation of their eggs from other minnows and dace. It is said around the world that you will only find trout in beautiful places, but anglers never applied that logic to the Asp– their range extends from as far west from the lochs of Belgium and The Netherlands, all the way to the freezing cold rivulets of Siberia and vast running rivers as far south as Iran. It’s no wonder why the Asp is one of Europe and Asia’s most popular aerobatic sportfish!
By Jasmine Dunaway
Juneteenth (short for “June Nineteenth”) marks the day when federal troops arrived in Galveston, Texas in 1865 to take control of the state and ensure that all enslaved people be freed. The troops’ arrival came a full two and a half years after the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation. Juneteenth honors the end to slavery in the United States and is considered the longest-running African American holiday. On June 17, 2021, it officially became a federal holiday. Early Juneteenth celebrations date back to 1866, at first involving church-centered community gatherings in Texas. They spread across the South among newly freed African-Americans and their descendants and became more commercialized in the 1920s and 1930s, often centering on a food festival. Participants in the Great Migration brought these celebrations to the rest of the country. Early celebrations consisted of baseball, fishing, and rodeos. African Americans were often prohibited from using public facilities for their celebrations, so instead they were typically held at churches or outdoors near bodies of water. Celebrations were characterized by elaborate large meals and people wearing their best clothing. Juneteenth - Wikipedia
The Historical Legacy of Juneteenth | National Museum of African American History and Culture
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929- April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assasination in 1968. He advanced civil rights for people of color in the United States through the use of nonviolent resistance and civil disobedience against Jim Crow laws and other forms of discrimination. His grandfather began the family’s long tenure as pastors of the Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, serving from 1914 to 1931; his father has served from then until the present, and from 1960 until his death Martin Luther acted as co-pastor. Martin Luther attended a public segregated school in Georgia, graduating from high school at the age of 15; he received the B.A. degree in 1948 from Morehouse College, a distinguished Negro institution of Atlanta from which both his father and grandfather have graduated. Martin Luther King Jr. – Biography - NobelPrize.org
Martin Luther King Jr. - Wikipedia
Martin Luther King, Jr. | Biography, Speeches, Facts, & Assassination | Britannica
Martin Luther King, Jr.—facts and information | National Geographic