School notebook

Contributed
Published: June 19, 2008

Head Start
June 19 - Orange County Health Fair, 3-7 p.m., Taylor Education Administrative Complex (TEAC) - Free health screenings for all ages, food, moon bounce and door prizes.
June 23 - Early Head Start Play Group, 10 a.m. to 12 noon, TEAC.

Orange County High School
On Friday, May 23, the OCHS Academic team landed in Chicago, Illinois, to compete in the 2008 National Quiz Bowl Tournament. The team spent the day touring Chicago and the main attraction was viewing the city from atop the Sears Tower. After registering for the tournament and getting their directions for the next day, the team spent several hours scrimmaging with teams from around the country. There were 176 teams (a total of 961 competitors) from 35 states and three countries.
On Saturday, the competition began in earnest. Teams were given a card with a number and a schedule for the first round. Each card had a daily schedule of what team and what room the round would be held in. The winner of the round took the card with the lower number and there were 14 rounds. Each team had 4 byes and 10 rounds of competition. There was an hour lunch break and the teams who ended the day with a record of 6 wins and 4 losses or better advanced to the playoffs on Sunday. Each round consisted of 9-minute halves with the readers trying to fit as many questions as possible into the half. Each tossup was worth 10 points unless you answered before a certain point in the question and then you got 5 power points. For each tossup answered correctly, the team received a bonus question worth up to 30 points. Team members could confer on the bonus but not on the tossups. High score at the end of the second half was the winner of the round.
Sunday, the team again played in scrimmage games against other teams and it was a time to meet new people and relax a bit. In the afternoon, Mrs. Reith, Ms. Walters and the team enjoyed a trip to the Navy Pier, where the first Ferris wheel made its debut. After a busy weekend of strenuous brain workout, the team arrived back in Orange on Monday afternoon.
The Hornets won 4 of their 10 games and although they did not make it to the finals, they thoroughly enjoyed the day’s competition. Teams were ranked and Orange placed 138 out of 176 teams. Individual participants were ranked and the OCHS team members finished in the following positions (remember there were 961 competitors): Logan Hanley, 280; Matt Dermody, 317; Reeves Garnett, 340; Jeremy Brown, 800.
Orange was among the few public schools that competed and Orange County should be very proud of the way the team conducted itself. They represented our county and our state with four good wins and excellent behavior. Congratulations, Orange County High School Academic Team!

Gordon-Barbour Elementary School
After reading “Make Way for Ducklings” by Robert McCloskey, Gifted and Talented Resource teacher, Mrs. Sullivan, took her first grade reading group on a walking field trip to her house to see her ducklings.
Congratulations to Ms. Zahn’s fourth grade class! They collected 481 box tops during the fourth nine weeks.

All
Beginning June 16 through August 1, all schools and the central office will be closed on Fridays. The hours of operation will be from 7:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday.