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Kettering’s Art on theCommons announced

See page 2

Art

The City of Ketteringheld its annual event

See page 3

Block Party

Thursday, June 7, 2012Volume 31, Issue 27

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Times photos by Bill Duffield and Ken Jarosik

Oakwood,Fairmont

holdgraduations

Oakwood and Fairmont high schools held their graduation ceremonies this past week. At top left, an Oakwood student departs the stageat the Dayton Convention Center after receiving her diploma. At top right, a Fairmont student celebrates by raising a ‘passport’ overhead.At bottom right, the family of Fairmont grad Kaela McDaniel showed their pride on their chests. More photos on pages 11 & 12.

By BILL DUFFIELDTimes editor

bduffield@tcnewsnet.comKETTERING —

The State Senate andHouse of Representa-tives will soon be com-ing together with theeducation of Ohio’syouth at stake.Senate Bill 316 has

been passed by theSenate and is nowawaiting what changeswill be coming in theHouse. But how closeare those two govern-mental bodies fromagreeing?The bill, which went

to the House last weekand was being dis-cussed in what Rep.Jim Butler (R-Oak-wood) described as an“informal committee,”would include chang-ing the grading systemfor the state’s schoolreport cards and alsocalls for a “third gradereading guarantee” thatwould hold studentsback if the studentcould not read at gradelevel. The studentwould also receive re-medial instructions.“The Senate set the

point of retention,”State Senator PeggyLehner (R-Kettering)said. “The House does-n’t agree with that.”Lehner continued

that the standards stu-dents and schools willbe held to is changing.“By 2014, the com-

mon core standard willhave to meet the na-tional standard,” shesaid. “We put into code(the numbers) neededto be proficient with-out saying that thatwill change. That’s not

good. That could meana large number of re-tentions – 65 percent.“In two years, profi-

ciency will be limited.We felt it is imperativeto make the changesbefore handing out thepunishment. The goalis to get them ready –not to retain students.”She added that part

of this change definite-ly involves the teach-ers.“Teachers, in gener-

al, are not trained toteach reading,” Lehnersaid. “We have to haveteachers get the train-ing and have a profi-ciency rating in teach-ing reading. That willnot happen overnight.But we want to givestudents and schoolsthe opportunity to suc-ceed.”Lehner said the Sen-

ate plan would call for90 minutes a day setaside for reading in the

See BILL, page 2

Education billdraws responsesfrom legislators

Sen. Peggy Lehner

Rep. Jim Butler

Back fromState

Alter and Fairmont werewere well represented at theOHSAA State Track andField Meet. At top, Alter’s4x400 girls’ relay team ofErika Rogers, Austin Borton,Caitlin Mershad and OliviaAlbers finished third in thestate. Borton and Albersalso teamed with KylyBorton and Alex Groene totake second in the 4x800relay. Albers also took sec-ond in the 1,600-meter run.Fairmont junior Natalie Uy(right) finished 7th in theDivision I long jump with abest effort of 17-feet, 2-inch-es.Look for more on page 7

Photos by Shawn Bauman

OAKWOOD — OakwoodSafety Department crews wereon hand to fight a kitchen firein the 2800 block of ShaforBlvd. at approximately 10:15a.m. Thursday, May 31.As of 11 a.m., crews were in

the process of clearing thescene. Shafor Blvd. wasblocked between Brydon Rd.and East Dr.

Fire damagesapartments

OAKWOOD — Wright Memorial PublicLibrary is planning a “Food for Fines” cam-paign beginning Friday, June 1 through Fri-day, June 15. Up to $5 in fines will bewaived for every 1 non-perishable food itemdonated.

All food items collected will be donated toThe Foodbank, serving Montgomery, Greeneand Preble counties.

“This is an opportunity for patrons to wipetheir overdue fines clean and do somethinghelpful for their community,” said Ann Snive-ly, Director.

All non-perishable foods will be accepted.The Foodbank is most in need of heartysoups, peanut butter and jelly, macaroni andcheese, canned meats, rice and beans, evap-orated and powdered milk, puddings andcustards, canned fruits, vegetables and juices,pastas and sauces, hot and cold cereals, andbaking mixes.

Please no glass containers, unlabeled, per-ishable, or expired/damaged items. There isno limit on the number or amount of fines thatmay be cleared. Fees for lost or damageditems are not eligible.

The “Food for Fines” campaign is beingheld as a way to encourage patrons to returnoverdue items and clear their accounts in ad-vance of the library beginning to use a collec-tion agency specializing in recovering unre-turned library materials. Additional details re-garding this new program are available atthe library.

Wright Library is located at 1776 Far HillsAvenue. The Library’s hours of operation are10 a.m.-8 p.m. Monday-Thursday, 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Friday, and 1-5 p.m. Saturday andSunday.

Wright Libraryholding ‘Foodfor Fines’

Baseball Wrap... pg. 7