Saints in Science 2013

St. John Lutheran School hosted another wonderful Science Fair this year.  A new addition to this annual event was the participation of each elementary class with a special science project.  We congratulate all of the students on their hard work.  Congratulations and good luck to those who will be attending the regional science fair!

St. John Students Attending the Big Springs Regional Science and Engineering Fair

Case Erwin:  “A Comparison in Haemonchus contortus Fecal Egg Counts Between Three Different Organic Parasite Prevention Strategies in Genetically Selected Adult Boer Goats.”

Zachary Mayfield:  “Ocean Acidification: How Does it Affect Marine Life?”

Brittany Billmeier:  “Deterring Drosophila:  Can Caffeine be Used as a Pesticide and Reduce the Reproductive Success of Drosophila melanogaster Offspring?”

Piercen Mendola:  “Does Size Matter:  Does the Gauge of Wire Affect the Amount of Power That is Made by a Magnet-Coil Generator?

Gia Vitale:  “Sun vs. Wind Face Off:  Which is a Better Power Source for Ocala, FL?
 

Elementary:  Our Little Saint Scientists

K-5:  “Do Plants Breathe?”

Sam Morrison shows off the 5th grade science project

1^st Grade:  “Bubble Fun: What is the Best Solution for Long Lasting Bubbles?”

2^nd Grade:  “How Many Peanuts are in One Shell?”

3^rd Grade:  “How Does Acid Rain Affect Living Things?”

4^th Grade:  “Bread Molds”

5^th Grade:  “Antwiches:  Will Ants Eat Every Part of a Peanut Butter and Jelly Sandwich or Will They Only Eat Certain Parts?”

High School Projects

1st Place:

Case Erwin:  “A Comparison in Haemonchus contortus Fecal Egg Counts Between Three Different Organic Parasite Prevention Strategies in Genetically Selected Adult Boer Goats.”

Zachary Mayfield:  “Ocean Acidification: How Does it Affect Marine Life?”

Abbey Bryant:  “Which Will Sprout First?”

Jennifer Bollinger:  “Clutch”

Walker Wilhelm:  “You Say Potato, I Say Cannon”

2nd Place:

Joshua Howard:  “Strength vs. Science”

Heather Fisher:  “Left or Right Pawed”

Amelia Whinnen:  “Designed for Chaos”

Christopher Tessmann:  “Blowing in the Wind”

Marit Biemond:  “Do Energy Drinks Affect a Person’s Reaction Time?”

3rd Place:

Michael Colquitt:  “Factors Affecting Successful Shot Probability”

Cassidy Locay:  “Balance to the Beat”

Joseph Pacifici:  “Gel Electrophoresis: The Power of Separation”

Jordan Salamone:  “Biomechanics of Pitching”

Brittany Hytovick:  “Got Mold?”

Honorable Mention:

Josh Martin:  “Factors Affecting Shot Accuracy”

Gabriela Cruz-Pagan:  “How do Background Noises Affect Test Scores?”

Jon Caffin:  “Cleats vs. Grass”

Joe Villella:  “Lung Capacity: Athlete vs. Non-Athlete”

Donnie Strouse:  “Time vs. Memory”

Middle School Projects:

1^st Place:

Brittany Billmeier:  “Deterring Drosophila:  Can Caffeine be Used as a Pesticide and Reduce the Reproductive Success of Drosophila melanogaster Offspring?”

Piercen Mendola:  “Does Size Matter:  Does the Gauge of Wire Affect the Amount of Power That is Made by a Magnet-Coil Generator?

Gia Vitale:  “Sun vs. Wind Face Off:  Which is a Better Power Source for Ocala, FL?

Julia Rockey: Pain, Pain, Go Away, Come Again Another Day!

DJ Gunn: What Makes the Best Insulation?

Jennifer Tomich: Water Impurities and Electrical Conductance

Dillon Schulke: The Accuracy of Different BB’S

Adam Morrison: What’s the Dish with Sunlight?

Zoe Seraphim: Fast Food Fat vs. Stomach Acid

Heather Bookbinder: Mystery Behind M&M’s

2^nd Place:

Evan Williams: The Fastest Flowing Liquid

Hunter Booth: The Great Airplane Race

Margene Cutich: Worms, Worms, Where Will They Go?

Julia Porter: How Sensitive is your Sniffer?

Randa Lane: Eggs and Osmosis

Jim Shepard: Nail Magnet

Jane Todd: Tummy Troubles

Kade Hubner: Hover-riffic

Joe Callahan: Pain, Pain, Go Away

Josh Bates: Viddeo Game for the Visually Impaired

3^rd Place

Reagan Cutich: Cool, Cooler, Coolest
Carson Locker: Magnified Growth
Rhian Holliday: Fertilizer or No Fertilizer that is the Question
Savanna Sharp: Testing Tensile Strenght
Lyric Mattey: Stain Busters: Name Brand vs. Generic
Jordyn Pendarvis: Windex or Mr. Clean: Which One is Best?
Brittany Higgenbotham: This Project is Not Gluten Free!
Nathaniel Miller: The Magnificient Homemade Battery
Tori Nichols: Deep Fried Data
Charlie Humphrey:  Corrosion Prevention

Honorable Mention:

Marcus Medero: How Glow will it Go?

Matthew Di Lavore: Thirsty Plants

Avery Brown: Cricket Chirps

Kaileigh Skinner: Seed Meets Soil

Katie Rodriguez: Can You See It?

Emily Quinlan: Nailed It!

Rosalie Moreland: Will Vitamins Affect the Growth of a Plant?

Laine Grosvenor: Hot or Cold?

Christen Cooper: Which Soda is the Worst for your Teeth?

Morgan Vasquez: Hot Baked Cookies

To view more photos from the Science Fair, please click this link:  Science Fair 2013

Some Saints New Year's Resolutions

With the arrival of the new year, many people are eager to make positive changes in their lives. This can include both short term and long term goals. This year, we asked some of the St. John high school students and faculty what their resolutions are for 2013. Leave us some of your resolutions in the comments section.  Here's what some of our Saints had to say:

Mr. Heath: Eat Healthier






Jamie Daw: Finish the things I start






Ashley Gallinaro: try out for more plays





Mrs. Scherschel: spend more time with my family




       



Mr. Fisher: share my life with someone





             Ross Defino: Live life and don't hold anything back
             John Gilman: do better in school
            Anthony DiLavore: get all A's for the 2nd semester

 

Operation Christmas Child

By Rachel Bookbinder

Even though Christmas is few months away, it doesn't mean that giving has to begin there. Children in third world countries are not as fortunate as many of us in the United States. For many children, December 25th is just another day struggling to find food and clean water. They don't wake up on Christmas morning with the excitement to  to see gifts are under the Christmas tree. 

This year, our Anchor club sponsored and promoted Operation Christmas Child for our students and families. This organization asked people to donate shoeboxes filled with children's toys, necessary hygiene utensils, and a Bible to send to the children in different countries.  Participating in this service project helps to spread the Word of God to all the children who may not know about Jesus.

The Anchor Club advisor, Mrs. Fontaine, hoped the school would donate at least 100 hundred shoeboxes. Her expectations were greatly exceeded when she found out that the whole school donation totaled 349 boxes. The Anchor Club was thrilled to hear that the whole school was as excited as serving others as they were.  Thank you to those students and families who participated by sharing their Christmas.
 

Fall Fest was a Huge Success

 

  By: Madeline Seiberlich
This year the Fall Festival was awesome! I hope all of you were able to attend because it was definitely something worth talking about. The field was totally transformed into a huge fall celebration filled with tons of booths and lots of activities to participate in! There was a cupcake walk, a photo booth, bean bag toss, mask and face painting, and even a petting zoo!  I think one of everyone’s favorite things was the dunk tank. Especially since it gave the students the opportunity to dunk some of their favorite teachers and fellow classmates. The Fall Festival was also filled with prizes, including the chance to win a goldfish and earn tons of candy!  Overall, the Fall Festival was a huge success this year, and I think it was the perfect thing to get everyone in the fall mood. 

   

Homecoming Week is here!

 

Homecoming is just around the corner here at St. John, with several events leading up to the big weekend. The big football game and coronation of the Homecoming Queen and Court will take place on the night of Friday, November 9, at home.  Before the game, alumni will be gather at an informal tailgate party at Brick City starting at 6 pm.  Game kickoff is at 7:30 pm. 

The Winter Wonderland themed dance for the high school students will be held on Saturday, November 10, from 7:30pm-11:30pm, in the Grand Ballroom of the Ocala National Bank building. 

But, before all of that, a fun-filled spirit week has been planned for all grades to participate in: Monday will be pajama day, and Tuesday, students can dress up as their favorite character or super hero.

Tuesday is also the huge all school Pep Rally at 7 pm in the Saints Gym.   The cheerleaders will get everyone fired up for the week ahead, students will perform skits, sports teams in grades 5th-12th will be introduced, and then high school students will attend the annual bonfire!  

Wednesday is favorite sports team day, where students can wear jerseys or dress up as full on sports players. Thursday is called “Alpha and Omega Day,” where students are encouraged to dress as either old or young people. Finally, Friday will be SAINTS spirit day, and blue and gold will be worn by all. Remember to participate from November 5-9 to prepare for St. John’s exciting homecoming week!

Happy fall ya'll

By: Madeline Seiberlich

The weather is getting cooler, pumpkins are being sold, and leaves will hopefully start changing soon… This can only mean one thing; it’s time for the Fall Festival! On Thursday, October 18 from 4-7pm be sure to make your way to the back field to enjoy some fall time festivities! Whether you love playing games, getting candy, or doing arts and crafts the St. John Fall Fest will have it all! This is event is for everyone so be sure to invite your friends and family members! Hope to see you there! Happy fall ya’ll!

Forensics with Mrs. Fontaine

 

Have you ever wondered what it would be like to solve a crime scene? Well now you can right here at St. John! Mrs. Fontaine has started a new class on forensics this year for seniors in high school.
This class is all about solving crimes through the means of science.

Mrs. Fontaine wanted to start a very hands-on class that was available to non-science majors. She hopes it will peak student interest in science in college. The class is very hands-on and has many fun and educational labs to keep the students interested in the subject, while teaching them about the criminal justice system.

The course is fun, but it also requires a lot of work and thinking capacity. Mrs. Fontaine thinks the students will be most challenged by using their deductive reasoning skills to solve criminal cases.

The course will cover plenty of topics regarding forensic science. Mrs. Fontaine noted that a few topics covered in class will be trace evidence, criminal sketching, blood and bone analysis, and plenty more. Each chapter includes a hands-on lab that focuses on forensic investigation. For example, the class does do crime scene sketching, digital photography, and activities like that. In each chapter there is a criminal case that the class has to solve by using the forensic skills they learned so far in this course. This class also gives the students knowledge about the criminal justice system.

"Class has been very exciting so far! The students have been talking on Facebook and discussing results on the summer murder case that they tried to solve in class," said Mrs. Fontaine

Mrs. Fontaine seems very excited to teach forensics.  Eddie Cruz is a student in Mrs. Fontaine’s forensics class and he said, “I am looking forward to learning a lot more about criminology. I’m also interested what it’s like to investigate crime scenes. Class-wise,  I’m looking forward to labs and investigating crime scenes.”

High school students, be sure to check out forensics class when you’re a senior at St. John!