Scholar-Athletes honored at high school

by Kathy Duff
Grand Island Dispatch, December 16, 2005

Monday’s Board of Education meeting in the large cafeteria at Grand Island High School began with what Superintendent Dr. Thomas Ramming enthusiastically called “really good news.” He called Athletic Director Jon Roth to the podium to announce the 2005 fall Scholar-Athlete Teams as recognized by the New York State Public High School Athletic Association. The students were also honored earlier in the evening with an ice cream social in the Senior Cafeteria and received a special pen and T-shirt from the Athletic Association.

Roth said that it is “extraordinary” that seven of 10 Grand Island teams qualified, with a 90 percent or better grade-point-average for the team. He also remarked that the varsity teams who did not qualify were “right up there,” too, with their grades with GPAs in the high 80s. Boy’s Soccer Team Coach Peter Kuehne later added that students “have to be very structured to do well in a sport and score well academically.”

The 2005 Scholar Athletes are as follows:

Girls Tennis: Courtney Catalano, Monique Dhand, Courtney Donner, Shannon Howley, Ashley Koerntgen, Sara Kurpiewski, Ashley Marien, Lauren McGowan, Brittany Papaj, Vida Rostami, Brandi Skill and Brittany Stallard.

Golf: Anthony Daubney, Darren DelSignore, Larry Loveless, Justin McInerney, Chris Rajczak and Robbie Utz.

Girls’ Cross Country: Traci Aladeen, Karen Bellanca, Allison Boron, Caroline Boron, Bre DeMarco, Caitlyn Driscoll, Bridget George, Emily Kahn, Nicole Komin and Emily Thompson.

Boys’ Cross Country: David Benko, Wesley Burkman, Tim Fargino, Brett Fielder, Jordan Gibson, Ryan Hagen, Joe Mash, Joe Orsolits, Jeff Rogan, and Dave Sipos.

Football: Joshua Anderson, Brandon Antonelli, Ryan Breier, Kong Chen, Mike Davis, Mike DelZoppo, Ryan Harvey, Matt Klock, Matt McKenna, Derek Moody, Christian Nestark, Pat O’Donnell, Kyle Oursler, James Rayhill, Dave Rosati, Erich Skelly, Zach Tondera, Alex Webb, and Philip Wendt.

Boys’ Soccer: Ben Angelo, Mike Asbach, Erik Billica, Tim Blonski, Ben Certo, J.R. Certo, Kiel Clarke, Josh Doermer, Steve Doermer, Alex Grande, Joel Hasselbeck, Sam Kilb, Alex Missert, Connor Neff, Ryan Samland, Nick Shemik and Josh Snyder.

Girls’ Swimming: Erin Bonaquist, Megan Boss, Juliana Burkhardt, Lauren Culp, Julie Drozdowski, Emily Eisenberger, Kelsey Fortman, Mallory Fulle, Mallory Griffiths, Rachael Kaplan, Catie Lewis, Allison Makowski, Andrea Monaco, Nicole Morgan, Kristin Millar, Alicia Neutz, Kristin Toellner, and Marcia Wilbert.

In other news, Huth Road Elementary Principal Mary Haggerty introduced newly appointed Teaching Assistant Antoinette DeBologna. Carol Jones, director of Pupil Personnel Services, introduced Mary Krippen as the new teacher for the Resource Room at Connor Middle School

As a follow-up to discussion at previous BOE meetings George Casey, Myrna Blair and CPA Kevin Gallagher will sit on the state-mandated Audit Committee for the district.

Roundtable discussion consisted of high praise for students in Roberta Frisoni’s high school marketing classes who had presented their “I Love Grand Island” projects Monday morning to a group that included school officials, board members, the press, parents and the public. Board trustee Richard Little said the presentations were “beyond what (he thought) most high school students could even think of.”

The next Board of Education meeting is a workshop meeting and will be held Monday, Jan. 9 at the Huth Road Elementary School cafeteria.