Put-in-Bay School Closes Academic Year on High Notes

Put-in-Bay School News – by Steve Poe, Superintendent

Congratulations to the graduates of 2019. This year’s graduation ceremony was held at the Perry’s Victory and International Peace Memorial on Friday, May 24. Addressing this year’s graduating class was Mr. Dan Kowalski. Dan is a 1980 graduate of Put-in-Bay School. He attended Bowling Green /State University, and in 1984 Dan earned a Bachelor of Science in physics. He followed with a Master’s in physics from Kent State University. Mr. Kowalski started teaching math at Put-in-Bay School in 1987 and just finished his thirty-second year. Affectionately known as “Mr. K” by his students, he has become an icon of Put-in-Bay School. He and his wife Valerie have four children and own a successful lawn care business on the island.

Students in the Class of 2019 have ambitious plans after graduation:

Put in Bay High School Graduation — Max Schneider, Matthew Stacy, Lauren Peter, Jack Booker

Jack Booker will attend Bowling Green State University in the fall. He plans to major in business and sales. He hopes to one day work as a pharmaceutical salesman and/or venture back home to work for the family business. He plans to travel the world and also give back to his island community.

Lauren Peter will continue her education at Lourdes University, majoring in nursing. She will also continue her basketball career; she earned a scholarship to play for Lourdes. Lauren strives for a BSN and hopes to become a nurse anesthetist. She is excited to be a part of a field that helps save peoples’ lives.

Max Schneider heads to Miami University in Oxford, Ohio, for a degree in Computer Science. He looks forward to his new adventures as he works to become a programmer after college.

Matthew Stacy will join the workforce, training to become a manager in the family business–Erie Petroleum. He will take online business classes to further his education and plans to attend Emergency Medical Training classes on the island.

Graduation last month was a memorable one. We would like to thank the staff at the Perry Victory and International Peace Memorial for providing the beautiful venue for this event. We would also like to thank our scholarship donors for providing over $31,000 in local scholarships for our graduates. The following is a list of scholarships our graduates received:

Jack Booker Ricky Dysert Memorial Scholarship

Genoa Bank Scholarship

John W. Blatt Scholarship

Fitzgerald Family Scholarship

Kurt Rohrbacher Memorial Scholarship

Heineman Memorial Scholarship

Lauren Peter Magruder Hospital Scholarship

Cameo Pizza Scholarship

Browns Backers Scholarship

Jeremy Harlan, “Jer Bear” Memorial Scholarship

Max Schneider Acorn Sportsman Club Scholarship

Mayor’s Scholarship

Earl Johnson Scholarship

Browns Backers Scholarship

Jack Matia Scholarship

Jeffery Verhoff Memorial Scholarship

The Perry Group Scholarship

Lee Miller Scholarship

Lonz Foundation Scholarship

Major Milestones

On April 17 senior, Max Schneider was recognized for his academic achievements at the Ottawa County Top Ten Banquet. Max is this year’s Valedictorian and recipient of the Earl Johnson Scholarship. He is the son of John and Katie Schneider, long-time residents on Middle Bass Island. Congratulations Max!

Junior, Morgan Stacy was presented with the Ottawa County “Nine-to-Five” award on May 3 at Mon Ami restaurant. She was among the students from the six other schools demonstrating exceptional improvement from last September, the ninth month, to May, the fifth month; hence “nine-to-five.” In addition, Morgan was recognized as a “Star Student” at Vanguard for her dedication, passion, hard work, and exemplary attitude. Most recently, she earned “Student of the Fourth Quarter,” too. Way to go, Morgan!

Max Schneider, along with junior Alexandra Knauer and sophomore Elena Schroeder traveled to The Ohio State University on May 11 to participate in the State Science Fair. Each of them began their journey by competing in our local science fair held at in February where they received overall superior ratings. They then moved on to compete at the District Science Fair, held at the University of Toledo in March, where they again earned superior ratings to qualify for State. At the State competition Max and Alexandra earned superior ratings and Elena received an excellent rating. This is an extremely impressive accomplishment! Congratulations Max, Alexandra, and Elena!

The Put-in-Bay High School Sailing Club had a great spring season. A new club for the school last year, we have competed in three seasons now. High school sailing is both a fall and spring sport, and the Midwest Conference allows 7th and 8th graders to compete in some events alongside the 9th-12th graders. We had seven students on our team this year: Alex Knauer, Nora Ladd, Talii Steidl, Kate Byrnes, Macy Ladd, Hope Cooks and Emil Michael. This spring season we had fantastic weather for practices and traveled to three regattas, one in Cleveland and two in Columbus. Competing against teams from all over Ohio, Michigan and sometimes New York, our team had some great finishes and continued to improve. Our final regatta, the Westerville Classic, held at Hoover Sailing Club, brought us wind and challenging conditions, but our team sailed their best event yet and finished 9th out of 17. We even were highlighted in a clip about island living produced by Detroit PBS/Great Lakes Now! You can watch the video on YouTube at https://youtu.be/I53txjTr8Nw. The team is looking forward to their summer sailing to help prepare for the fall season!