Orange High School robotics team repeats as state champion
PEPPER PIKE, Ohio – The Orange High School Robotics Team 1787, The Flying Circuits, captured the 2024 state championship Saturday (May 11) in Columbus.
The team completed an undefeated 5-0 run in the playoffs to secure the state championship banner for the second consecutive year.
The Flying Circuits had earned the No. 1 seed through the qualifying rounds with a 5-0 record.
As the alliance captain, the team selected three other teams to form its playoff alliance: 4028 The Beak Squad of Cincinnati, 8145 Tech Warriors of Cleveland and 8243 AstroCircuits of Cleveland.
The entire team worked tirelessly throughout the event to ensure the robot was well maintained, according to a news release from the Orange City School District.
In addition, the scouting team collected and analyzed data to ensure the strongest possible alliance was chosen for the playoffs.
This championship caps one of the most successful seasons in team history, the news release stated.
Over the course of the competition season, the team achieved the Spirit Award (Pittsburgh Regional), the Creativity Award (Cleveland Regional) and the Excellence in Engineering Award (World Championship).
It was also Buckeye Regional champion and World Championship finalist (Johnson Division).
Tune In choir entertains seniors
Under the direction of music teachers Kayla Hoye and Matthew Parrotta, Moreland Hills Elementary School fifth-grade students in the Tune In choir shared their music and joy with members of the Orange Senior Center recently.
The senior citizens enjoyed selections from the students’ performances throughout the year, including “You Can’t Stop the Beat” and “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious.” They also enjoyed spending a few minutes together to celebrate the spring.
The school’s fifth-grade band and orchestra will have their first opportunity to perform collectively for an audience at 7 p.m. Wednesday (May 22) in the Orange High School auditorium. The band is under the direction of Brandon DuVall and Jake Robinson, and the orchestra is directed by Rebecca Ellsworth.
Great Lakes Theater program
Brady Middle School sixth-graders found out the meaning behind Shakespeare’s quote, “The play’s the thing,” when they got to perform earlier in May with actors from the Great Lakes Theater’s in-school residency program.
Students spent a week with the actors engaging in various activities while examining the relevance of classic literature in today’s society.
The students explored issues of prejudice and bias in various plays, including “The Diary of Anne Frank,” “The Crucible” and “Romeo and Juliet,” while participating in hands-on, interactive lesson plans that included acting, discussion and theater exercises.
The sixth-graders had the opportunity to act out various scenes from the plays in front of their peers after getting instruction from the teaching actors, including Orange High School alumnus and professional actor Isaiah Betts (Class of 2018).
The annual program is coordinated by teacher Jeff Kapostasy.
Kids Heart Challenge a success
Moreland Hills Elementary School was named Rookie of the Year for Northeast Ohio and raised $2,985 this year for the Kids Heart Challenge.
Organized by the American Heart Association, the Kids Heart Challenge is a fundraising, service-learning program that provides lessons, tools and activities to support both mental and physical well-being for students, families and staff.
