PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – Orange High School senior Austin Thomas was recently named the Kiwanis Club of Lander Circle Senior of the Month for November.
Austin, who has attended the Orange Schools since preschool, says he loves this extended community and giving back to it any time he can, according to a news release from the district.
The varsity football team captain and two-way starter is also a member of the lacrosse team and has served as a two-year captain of the wrestling team, for which he received MVP honors.
But Austin’s active involvement is not limited to OHS sports. He is a four-year member of the OHS Marching Lion Band, for which he is the lead sousaphone player and has dotted the “i” in “Script Lions” for two years.
He is also the first-chair tuba player in the concert band.
A National Honor Society inductee who has taken nine Advanced Placement classes, Austin is a member of the school’s Environmental Club.
He also manages to find time to work with middle school students in the Book Buddies program and has reached the rank of Eagle Scout.
Austin is part of the Order of the Arrow, Scouting’s national camping honor society.
He also has worked as a baby-sitter and has donated a great deal of time to Kiwanis Club endeavors.
Every school year, the Kiwanis Club of Lander Circle recognizes six seniors for their leadership, integrity and academic achievements.
Christine Maglionico, far left, an Orange Schools PTA parent, collects and counts coins with other PTA parents and second- graders from Moreland Hills Elementary School as part of the school’s Coins for Courage drive. From left, the students are Ethan Plow, Genevieve Maglionico, Dillon Kiss, Patrick Vanantwerp, Hannah Vallabhaneni, Aden Merriweather and Nathan Benn.(Photo Courtesy of Orange City Schools)
Coins for Courage
Moreland Hills Elementary School students are once again making change to make a difference.
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade and their families collected more than $1,000 in loose change to donate to Honor Flight Cleveland as part of the Coins for Courage drive, according to a news release from the Orange City School District.
Honor Flight pays tribute to U.S. veterans by providing them a safe and memorable all-expenses-paid trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the memorials honoring their service and experience the camaraderie of those who served with them.
The cost for one veteran to participate is $250. The Moreland Hills School drive will allow at least four veterans to participate this year.
More than $11,000 in change has been donated by Moreland Hills School students in the past nine years to support this program guided by Stacy Lauro, the school’s assistant principal.
Students in Jaclyn Kamalsky’s second-grade class at Moreland Hills Elementary School salute military veteran Greg Gustafan, back, center, holding his daughter, Audrey, in honor of Veterans Day. Kamalsky is in the back at left. Moreland Hills Elementary School Assistant Principal Stacy Lauro, back, right, also joined in saluting the veterans.(Photo Courtesy of Orange City Schools)
Veterans Day recognition
The Orange City School District proudly salutes all of the men and women who have served our country both domestically and abroad this month in honor of Veterans Day.
Orange High School students created cards to send to U.S. military veterans.
Brady Middle School students and staff are donating and collecting candy that will be boxed and delivered to veterans later this month.
In addition to collecting change to make a difference as part of the Coins for Courage drive for Honor Flight Cleveland, Moreland Hills Elementary School students dressed in red, white and blue; made cards that will be donated to VA hospitals; and filled out “My Military Hero” pages and created artwork saluting veterans that was on display throughout the building.
The K-5 students also celebrated veterans by beginning the day with a collective Pledge of Allegiance throughout the hallways.
Veterans including Angie Pope, Larry Adelman, Bruce Stege, Greg Gustafan, Mike Walden, Lonie Adams, Daniel Schneider, William McCartney, Demarcus “Marcus” Dues, Chris Newsome and Neil Ahlstrom read to and shared stories with the students.
Dues is a 1999 graduate of Orange High School.