Strongsville High Students Clean Up In Competitions In March

STRONGSVILLE, OH — Strongsville High students have enjoyed a trophy-filled March. Members of the student body have claimed prizes and awards in a variety of state and local competitions in recent weeks.

The school district compiled a list of recent award winners and released them on Tuesday. Here are Strongsville High's most recent accomplishments.

The Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics math contest recognized several Strongsville students. The Mustangs took first place at their regional site and 19th overall in the state. Strongsville had eight of the top nine individual scores — Sam Hepp, Jake Jeske, Miranda Lee, Charles Lin, Alex Sachelarie, Adam VandenPlas, Kevin Whitbred, and Alison Zhong. Kevin Whitbred and Alex Sachelarie, top scorers in this region, will represent Strongsville High in the next round of competition.

The Ohio Music Education Association (OMEA) large group contest gave Superior (I) ratings in Class AA to Strongsville's Cantorum, the select chamber choir. The high school's select female choir, Treble Choir, received a Superior (I) rating in Class A.

The awards qualify both choirs for the OMEA State competition on May 3 and May 4.

In a district music contest, Strongsville High's Wind Ensemble and Symphonic Band both received Superior (I) ratings and qualified for their own state contest in May. Wind Ensemble notched a perfect score, while Symphonic Band missed a perfect score by one point.

The Strongsville High School Symphony, Chamber Strings, and String Orchestra each earned Superior (I) ratings at the OMEA State Orchestra Contest, held at SHS in early March.

DECA, an organization for preparing emerging leaders and entrepreneurs, recently held its state competition. In the Buckeye State, nearly 2,300 students competed for a chance to go to Orlando, Florida for the International Career Development Contest. Here are the Strongsville students headed to the Sunshine State:

• Haley Dye & Vera Maglakelidze - 1st Place (Marketing Management)
• Anna Barrett - 1st Place (Automotive Series)
• Hannah Lipowski - 1st Place (Business Services)
• John Mott & Andrew Aske - 2nd Place (Entrepreneurship)
• Jamie Melland - 2nd Place (Restaurant/ Food)
• Eric Geiss & Gillian Williams - 3rd Place (Financial Services)
• Clare Abdallah - 3rd Place (Quick Serve)
• Cassidy Locigno - 4th Place (Food Marketing)

The annual Optimist Club Speech Contest was held last week, with four Strongsville High students — Dylan Hyun, Krish Sangvi, Marquis Globokar, and Katherine DiJulius — taking part. Hyun took first place in the competition and will represent Strongsville in the Optimist Zone competition on April 6.

The Polaris Career Center will again head to Washington, D.C. on May 7-10 in a culinary team competition. The team will present a three-course meal to a panel of certified chefs and demonstrate their skills in a variety of challenges.

This year's Polaris team includes: Jeffrey Paul, senior, Berea-Midpark High School, Jordan Visnaw, senior, Fairview High School, Sam Schreiner, senior, North Olmsted High School, Sonya Kovach, junior, Strongsville High School and Cory Conroy, junior, Berea-Midpark High School.

The Region 3 National History Day contest was recently held at Case Western Reserve University. More than 450 students across Northeast Ohio competed and this year's theme was "Triumph and Tragedy." Several Strongsville students will be moving on to state competition in April, including a full sweep of the paper category (Strongsville students took 1st, 2nd, and 3rd).

Here are the winners:

Paper Category Winners:

• 1st Place - Sophie Alonge;
• 2nd Place - Shubh Thakkar;
• 3rd Place - Katherine DiJulius

Museum Exhibit: Honorable Mentions - Jay Patel & Ryan Hamrick