School notes

Want to see your student or teacher featured on the Schools page? Email news and photos to reporter Jolena Gioiello at jgioiello@tandemnetwork.com. FUTURE INNOVATORS • Three local robotics teams will compete today and tomorrow in Dayton. The Coding Pirates, The Quackers and The Dominating Emperors will compete at a competition on March 2-3 in Dayton. The teams are supported by Future Innovators, a Norwalk nonprofit encouraging kids to learn STEM and build skills to become leaders and innovators. SANDUSKY • Sandusky High School's United Black Students hosted its annual Black History Expo. PORT CLINTON • Port Clinton High School recognized Caden Hanson and Austin Leis as Port Clinton Elk's outstanding seniors. Hanson's activities and achievements: four-year varsity letter winner for boys soccer and two-year letter winner for varsity track, 2025 team captain for soccer, second-team All-SBC, honorable mention North Central District, 2025 Varsity Golden Glove award, SBC All-Academic for four years and the U.S. Soccer Coaches Team Academic Award, member of National Honor Society and Port Clinton Leadership club, and he helps at school events as a ticket taker and concession stand worker. Outside of school, he works at Gideon Owen Wine Co. on Catawba Island. He plans to continue his education and major in environmental science and continue his athletics by playing soccer at the collegiate level. Leis's activities and achievements: Robotics and STEM programs, licensed remote pilot, part of the first-ever drone cargo delivery flight from the Erie-Ottawa International Airport to Put-in-Bay in September 2024, member of National Honor Society, Ski Club, International Club, the golf team, bowling team, tennis team, receiver of seven letters, named to the SBC All-Academic Teams, student ambassador to the Port Clinton Board of Education and he can be seen at Port Clinton HighSchool football games capturing drone footage. He plans to continue his education and drone flying experience by majoring in computer science and unmanned aircraft systems. The Port Clinton Elks sponsors the Senior of the Month program. At the end of the school year, the club will award three scholarships to seniors. FREMONT • Jaycob Eisenhauer and Jase Missler from Atkinson Elementary School's Men with Manners club led Fremont Schools' board of education in the Pledge of Allegiance at a recent meeting. SANDUSKY CENTRAL CATHOLIC SCHOOL • Sandusky Central Catholic School hosted a STEM night for its second through fifth-grade students. NORWALK CATHOLIC SCHOOL • Third-grade students at Norwalk Catholic School participated in the ReadBowl challenge. ReadBowl is a worldwide challenge asking students to read 100,000 minutes. For every minute read, a community member would give a penny, which they then donated to CLI for an accessibility project at Kenilee Lanes. DANBURY • Danbury Schools' board of education recognized SBC Champions and OMEA High School Solo & Ensemble Award Recipients. The Middle School Boys Cross Country team earned the SBC Champion title and select students from the high school's music program received honors from OMEA. BERLIN HEIGHTS KIWANIS In late February, the Edison High School Speech and Debate team competed with 26 other North Coast District National Speech and Debate Association schools at the two-day National and State Qualifying tournament at St. Ignatius High School. Edison qualified two students to compete at the national tournament to be held in Richmond, Virginia, from June 16-19 as well as qualifying nine students to the Ohio Speech and Debate State Tournament to be held in Canfield, Ohio on March 6-7. Qualifying to the national tournament: • Senior Jaylah Weaver in the big questions debate • Senior Ilah Reynolds in world school debate. Each will compete against entries from 16 nations. Competing in the state finals later this month will be: • Natalie Schock and Avery Thurston, both freshmen, in duo interpretation with a cutting from "The Barking Mouse" • Harper Salmons and Austin Warren, both freshmen, in duo interpretation with a cutting from the play "Wedding Duet" • Two students qualified in the category of program of oral interpretation: senior Navea Yamanouchi and junior Ellie Butler. • Reynolds has already qualified in humorous interpretation • Weaver has already qualified in congressional debate • Junior Kordell Arwood-Wills has also newly qualified in Congressional debate. The team is coached by Mike Amstutz and Max Kaufman