The girl's basketball team at Oakfield-Alabama held a color run Saturday as a fundraiser for the program.
After falling behind in the first half, Oakfield-Alabama made a run of it in the third quarter against Maple Grove in the Class C Far West Regional Championship game at Buffalo State College and looked like they might pull it out but a six-point fourth quarter doomed the effort.
The Hornets lost 44-38.
Brianna Smith scored 14 points for O-A. Tori Mandel added nine and Kelsey Schlagenhauf and Danica Porter added five apiece.
Photos by Thomas Ognibene from Steve Ognibene Photography.
To view or purchase photos, click here.
The Oakfield-Alabama Hornets beat the Avon Braves at Genesee Community College Wednesday night 46-25 to advance to the Far West Regional championship in Class C.
The Hornets will play Maple Grove at 3 p.m., Saturday, at Buffalo State.
Deputy Howard Wilson started working as the school resource officer for Oakfield-Alabama Central School District at the end of January. The position was officially approved by the Genesee County County Legislature last week, and Friday we got a chance to talk with Wilson about his new job.
Here's a press release from the Sheriff's Office:
Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr. is pleased to announce that as a result of the collaboration between the Genesee County Legislature, Oakfield-Alabama Central School Board and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, the assignment of a School Resource Officer has been approved.
Deputy Howard O. Wilson V has been selected by the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District as its School Resource Officer. Deputy Wilson is a five-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. He was hired as a Correction Officer in 2014 and then appointed to Deputy Sheriff in 2016. During his tenure, he has earned three Commendations.
"The Oakfield-Alabama School District and Board are proud to have Deputy Sheriff Howard Wilson serve as our School Resource Officer," said Superintendent John Fisgus. "We look forward in creating a positive working relationship with him as he will serve to help and assist our students and community in many different facets.
"Thank you to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office for this agreement.”
Sheriff Sheron indicated that his goal has always been to establish a School Resource Officer in all county schools to ensure the safety and protection of the students and faculty.
“With the assignment of Deputy Wilson in the Oakfield-Alabama Schools, we are that much closer to our goal," the sheriff said. "Although the cost associated with placing a School Resource Officer in the schools is significant, I believe the safety and security of our children should be of the utmost precedence.”
Superintendent John Fisgus, Undersheriff Brad Mazur, Sheriff William Sheron, Deputy Howard Wilson, and Legislator John Hilchey.
If a high school basketball team can play a perfect first half of a game, that's what the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets did Saturday morning on their way to an upset victory over #1 seed South Seneca in the Class C3 Section V championship match at Victor High School.
O-A won 43-39.
"Offensively, we were knocking some shots down," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "Defensively, I thought we were incredibly good. One of the big things that hurt us in the quarter-final and the semifinal was rebounding. We got outrebounded in both games so for the last two days in practice we said, 'look it, we've got to rebound the ball' and I thought we did a really good job."
In the second half, South Seneca started knocking down shots and shaved the O-A lead significantly but the Hornets didn't break. They maintained their mental toughness, countered with their own points and stuck to their defensive game plan.
"You're right, any time they made a run, we had a big play," Schlagenhauf said. "Sometimes it's those little things. There was a couple of deflections that ended up going out of bounds that we got our hands on that changed the possession. Kelsey had a great tie-up on a rebound that gave us a possession. Those are little things that sometimes go unnoticed, but that's how we got back in the game the other night against Keshequa."
For O-A, Tori Mandel scored 14 points and tournament MVP Danica Porter scored 11 points. She also had seven rebounds and Kelsey Schlagenhauf scored six points and had eight rebounds.
The leading scorer for the Hornets on the year, Brianna Smith, with a 15-points-per-game average and 364 points on the year, was held to six points. She also had seven rebounds.
Watch the video for more comments from Schlagenhauf, Mandel and Smith (with our apologies for not including Porter in the video but the cameraman messed up that interview).
Kris Kramer shared this picture from last night at Oakfield-Alabama High School of ice on the trees in the traffic circle after girls basketball last night.
Below, a picture from Chelsea DIbble of ice on a road sign in Indian Falls this morning.
The Elba Lancers stepped on the gas in the final two minutes of their championship game in the Lions Tournament, smaller schools' bracket, against Oakfield-Alabama for a 69-61 win.
The intense play of Colton Dillon (top photo), tournament MVP, and Jon Boyce overcame a 30-point performance by Joey Burdick for the Hornets.
Dillon scored 18 points and Boyce scored 17.
This was Dillon's third game back after missing the start of the season with an injury. He may have been the difference maker Friday night.
"He's such a dynamic athlete," Coach Ciaci Zambito said. "I mean the things that he can do you really can't coach. I'm super lucky to have a kid like that. The other thing is, he is one of the hardest working kids I've ever even been around or let alone coached. You've got to kick him out of the gym every day and on Sunday mornings. He will text me tomorrow morning asking to get in the gym. I can guarantee that."
Boyce, who has the big man on the court in Dillon's absence, said having Dillon back is one more piece of team chemistry that keeps the unit rolling.
"This is a team sport," Boyce said. "You can't do it by yourself. Every night, sharing the ball, taking care of each other you always. It's not just one person that can do it all. We're all fighting. We all know our role. Coach talked a lot about roles before the game. The whole season he's been preaching it. We all know our role."
Zambito gave O-A Coach Ryan Stehlar and the Hornets a lot of credit. He knew they would be a tough matchup and he had to have his guys ready.
"We really needed to match their intensity tonight," Zambito said. They play real hard and that's a testament to their coach. When we play Oakfield, we always know that we're going to get their best shot. He always has them ready to go.
"The second thing, as far as a scheme goes, we needed to get back in transition. They push the ball really well even after makes, which is rare for a high school team. They really get down the floor well. So we needed to come back and be ready to play defense."
Besides Burdick's big night (he hit five three-point shots), Travis Wiedrich scored 14 points for O-A.
Elba outscored the Hornets 22-13 in the final quarter.
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The Attica Blue Devils beat the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets in a game played at O-A on Monday night, 58-48.
Travis Wiedrich scored 17 points for the Hornets and Joey Bordick scored 13.
For Attica, Devon Henderson scored 18 points. Frankie Bisceglie scored 14.
CORRECTION: In our story on the upcoming Lions' Tournament, we incorrectly referred to Coach Ryan Stehlar as a first-year coach. He is in his sixth year coaching the Hornets. We apologize for the error.
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The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education (BOE), has selected John Fisgus as the district’s next superintendent.
"I am deeply honored and extremely excited to join the Oakfield-Alabama school community and family," Fisgus said. "I am eager to begin my work as your next superintendent and I am excited to work for such a great board and staff at Oakfield-Alabama. It is my mission to make O-A a 'District of Distinction' and through collaboration and teamwork, the place to be!"
Matt Lamb, president of the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education, said: "The Board of Education truly values the input we received from the various stakeholder groups who met with the candidates to help us make a final decision.
"We are confident that John Fisgus will lead our district through the issues we face in our region. With his leadership, we will work together to deliver the best education possible for our students.”
Fisgus is currently the principal of Royalton-Hartland Middle School, in the Royalton-Hartland Central School District (RHCSD), where he has served since 2008. His responsibilities as principal include supervising and hiring all instructional and support staff, developing and managing a building budget as well as assisting with the district budget development process.
Fisgus created honor courses in all four academic core subjects within the middle school and is the facilitator of the district’s Professional Learning Community Team. Prior to that, he served as the assistant principal at Lake Shore Middle School.
Fisgus began his career in education in 1998 as an eighth-grade math teacher at Depew Middle School in the Depew Union Free School District.
He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Secondary Mathematics Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Fisgus earned a Master of Science in School Administration from Canisius College and holds a New York State School Administrator/Supervisor and School Administrator Certificate.
The anticipated start date for the new superintendent is January.
Kevin MacDonald, district superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, acted as the search consultant and noted that the search process was a true collaboration between the Board of Education, district staff and community.
Article by Mike Cintorino, OAE head coach.
The Oakfield-Alabama/Elba Football Team completed a perfect season on Saturday, finishing 8-0 and defeating the Weedsport Warriors 48-6 in the first-ever New York Upstate Championship in Eight-man Football.
Once again it was the defense, as it has been the last three games for OAE, that truly set the tone for the day.
After an opening offensive drive stalled for OAE, the defense got the ball right back after a 3 and out.
Colton Dillon, Section V Offensive Player of the Year, scored the first three touchdowns for OAE. Dillon finished with 128 rushing yards on 13 carries with scores of 2, 6 and 61 yards.
Gage Dieterle (Section V Defensive Player of the Year) added to his resume, earning MVP honors for the game. Dieterle only carried the ball six times but ran for 119 yards and for two big scores with runs of 50 and 35.
Ty Mott continued his strong season with 21 carries for 158 yards and a 44-yard touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Peyton Yasses led the team with 13 tackles while Dieterle had five tackles with two sacks, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. Mott and Ty Kornow both came away with interceptions.
For the third-straight game, the OAE defense held the opposing offense out of the end zone. Weedsports lone score came on a 60-yard kickoff return by Hunter Morgan for a touchdown to open the second half. Jake Maloof led the Warriors with 87 yards on 13 carries.
This has been an unbelievably successful season for the OAE team. The team overcame adversity with the switch to eight-man, learning to apply everything they have done in 11-man and apply it to this new opportunity. The team is 8-0 on the season, League Champions, Section V Champions, and NY Upstate Champions.
Photos by Cindy Cassada .
Colton Dillion, #2
Gage Dieterle
Ty Mott
MVP Gage Dieterle
Press release:
The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education (BOE), has named three finalists in the search for the district’s next Superintendent.
Matt Lamb, president of the Oakfield- Alabama Central School District’s BOE, said he is pleased with the high-quality candidate pool and is enthused about the potential the three finalists have to offer.
“Choosing the best superintendent for our district is the board’s main priority,” Lamb said. “The field of candidates was diverse, which made narrowing the field very difficult. We are confident that one of these individuals will be the best candidate for our school district and community.”
The three finalists are John C. Fisgus, Frank Bai-Rossi and Kathleen E. Affigne, Ph.D.
Fisgus is currently the principal of Royalton-Hartland Middle School, in the Royalton-Hartland Central School District (RHCSD), where he has served since 2008. His responsibilities as principal include supervising and hiring all instructional and support staff, developing and managing a building budget as well as assisting with the district budget development process. Fisgus created honor courses in all four academic core subjects within the middle school and is the facilitator of the district’s Professional Learning Community Team. Prior to that, he served as the assistant principal at Lake Shore Middle School. Fisgus began his career in education in 1998 as an eighth-grade math teacher at Depew Middle School in the Depew Union Free School District. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Secondary Mathematics Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Fisgus earned a Master of Science in School Administration from Canisius College and holds a New York State School Administrator/Supervisor and School Administrator Certificate.
Bai-Rossi is the principal of the Phelps-Clifton Springs Middle/High School, where he has served as principal since 2014. As principal, Bai-Rossi supervises and evaluates a staff of 100. During his tenure as principal, graduation rates have increased to more than 90 percent, and a number of AP and accelerated classes were added at the high school and middle school. In the summer of 2015, Bai-Rossi also managed a large construction project at the high school. From 2007 until 2014, he was the assistant principal at Penfield High School. Bai-Rossi began his career in education in 1995 at Hillside Children’s Center as a special education teacher. He continued his career as special education teacher at Greece Central Schools and also served as a special education building leader. Bai-Rossi earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Alfred University, a Master of Science in Elementary and Special Education from Nazareth College and a Master of Science in School Administration from Canisius College. He is certified as a New York State School District Administrator/Supervisor and School Administrator.
Kathleen Affigne, Ph.D., is the interim principal for Fort Montgomery Elementary School in Highland Falls. She is responsible for all aspects of prekindergarten through second grade instruction, budgeting, professional development, evaluation and implementation of New York state mandates and budgeting. From 2014 until 2018, Affigne served as the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and pupil personnel services for the Millbrook Central School District. During her tenure as assistant superintendent, Affigne implemented district and building level data teams to analyze data sets to inform curriculum and instruction decision-making. Previously, she was the director of instructional services for the Warwick Valley Central School District in Warwick. Affigne began her career in 1984 as an instrumental music teacher for grades 4-8 in the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Bridgeport, a Master of Science in Music Education from Central Connecticut State University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. She earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from SUNY New Paltz.
Final rounds of interviews with the three candidates are set for Nov. 14, 15 and 16 at the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District. Candidate meet and greet forums will be held from 4-4:30 p.m. in the Oakfield-Alabama High School Auditorium on the following dates:
- Kathleen Affigne, Nov. 14
- John C. Fisgus, Nov. 15
- Frank Bai-Rossi, Nov. 16
The anticipated start date for the new superintendent is January.
Kevin MacDonald, District Superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, who is acting as search consultant, said the Board has developed and implemented a process that will help determine the best candidate.
“This is a rigorous search process,” MacDonald said. “The finalists will visit the district to tour and meet with staff and community members. The process concludes with the Board meeting to make a final decision.”
Jenny Staebell had her first child when she was 19, and put herself through college, earning a master’s degree and becoming a teacher.
Staebell is now the director and community health educator for Project Stork Inc., a nonprofit organization she started, providing services for Genesee and Orleans counties. She is a certified NYS Health Educator for prekindergarten through grade 12.
The program empowers young people to make healthy decisions about education, relationships, sex, parenting and their lives. In addition to helping teen parents, the program has services and workshops for younger children, starting in kindergarten, and parents of teens.
“I decided one day I wanted to do something greater than what I was doing,” Staebell said. “I wanted to impact lives. I took some time off, and Project Stork evolved to what it is today.”
According to the Family and Youth Services Bureau, there are approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies and 400,000 teen births in the United States every year. According to Staebell, in Genesee County, there is a rate of 15.1 teen pregnancies, ages 15 to 19 per 1,000 females. In 2015, there were 28 pregnancies, of which 20 live births occurred and 8 induced abortions.
Staebell started taking participants for the programs, and has nine moms in the programs, between the ages of 16 and 20. Some are pregnant, some are parenting and first-time moms.
“I meet with them once a month, but every day I am in contact with them through texting, or I check on them through Facebook to see if they need anything,” Staebell said. “I go out and drop off a bunch of stuff to get them ready and prepared. I keep in close contact to make sure everything is OK and that they know they have the support also.”
There are multiple programs throughout Project Stork that offer many goals, whether it be finishing high school or finding a career in the work field. Project Stork helps put the parent in contact with resources throughout the county to complete those goals.
There is also positive parenting workshop for young moms or dads. They use a program called “Nurturing Parents,” which is an evidence-based program developed specifically for teen parents.
Through each program, if the participants meet the goals, at the end of the month, Project Stork purchases something the parent may need.
“We’ve purchased crib, car seat, stroller, other baby gear items, or items for their household,” Staebell said. “Also, a microwave, interview clothes, and things of that nature.”
Teens enrolled in the programs also receive a monthly supply of diapers and wipes.
Project Stork offers resources, such as healthy workshops, which have been offered in schools throughout the area for all different age groups. Staebell is hoping the programs will be offered county-wide in the future.
All programs and services are free.
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade learn can about nutrition, growth, mental health, being a good friend, or being in dangerous situations.
Middle school students learn about nutrition and lessons that fit the health curriculum. High school students have lessons that fit the health class curriculum, as well as dating violence, contraception, and various topics in sexual health.
These programs started being offered in Oakfield-Alabama and Le Roy during the end of last year.
Sara Horgan, a teacher in Le Roy, said Staebell is a great resource for her in the classroom, as well as the community.
“I definitely have not taken full advantage of all Project Stork has to offer yet,” Horgan said.
Horgan was looking for updated research-based curriculum to use in her classroom, and Project Stork has been a valuable resource for her.
“I have also referred students and their families to the Project Stork community-based resources,” Horgan said. “In conjunction with our school social worker, we are also currently piloting a girls' wellness group with Project Stork. [It is] very much in the beginning stages, but we are hopeful that group can grow and help more girls make healthy decisions now and in the future.”
Staebell said they are currently looking to get a location in Genesee County for a Project Stork office.
“We want a place to have some office hours for young parents to come in, enroll in classes and get supplies,” Staebell said.
Project Stork is made possible through donations, sponsors, and fundraisers, but Staebell is hoping to eventually get grants to run more programs.
“We’re hoping each month to do a bigger event and a bigger fundraiser,” Staebell said.
Donations can also be made to Project Stork directly through their website, located here.
The organization's email address is: projectstorkinc@gmail.com
Press release:
The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education held a special board meeting on Friday, July 13 to appoint Michael Crumb as the Interim Superintendent effective July 30 until Jan. 4, 2019. Crumb replaces Mark Alexander who recently announced his resignation to accept a position as Director of Transportation for Akron Central Schools.
Matt Lamb, Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board president, said, “The Board is duly impressed with Michael Crumb’s background and experience. We are confident that Michael will guide our District through these next five months as we begin our formal search process for a Superintendent of Schools.”
Crumb retired in 2017 after serving the Spencerport Central School District for 19 years where he worked as an assistant principal, assistant and deputy superintendent, and superintendent.
“I am extremely honored to have been asked by the Oakfield-Alabama Board of Education to provide leadership and support during the upcoming transition,” Crumb said. “Further, I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the staff, parents and school community on the education provided to each of the District’s students.”
Kevin MacDonald, District superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, assisted with the interim search and will also act as the final search consultant. He noted that the Board will develop and implement a rigorous process that will help determine the best candidate.
Kayla Harding, with teacher Lorna Klotzbach, was named the seventh grade Citizen of the Year at Oakfield-Alabama Middle School during an awards ceremony in the auditorium yesterday.
Below, Jessica Brown, seventh-grade winner of the Citizen of the Year Award in 2017 with best friend with Victoria Kruppenbacher, the 2018 eighth-grade winner and Jonathan Boje, Social Studies teacher.
The high school held its awards ceremony earlier in the morning and named Justina Pruski valedictorian and Lauren Reding salutatorian.
The high school Citizens of the Year were:
The Batavian emailed candidate questions to all 17 candidates in Genesee County's eight school districts that are holding elections on Tuesday. Only four returned completed questionnaires.
This is the response from Tim Edgerton, a candidate for the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District board. There are two other candidates in the race: Lorna Klotzbach, who also answered our questions, and Douglas Esten, who did not.
1. What is your position on your school district’s proposed budget for 2018-19? What parts do you support? What parts would you change if you could?
Upon my review of the Oakfield-Alabama 2018-19 proposed budget I believe that it represents a collaborative effort by school officials to present a fiscally responsible budget to the community. The budget allows the district to maintain academic programming as well as continue to offer a variety of extracurricular activities to engage our students. Resources appear to have been appropriately allocated where the needs of the district are indicated. As costs continue to rise, the district must adjust resources to cover operating costs. Preparing and enacting a budget is a constant juggling act that requires oversight by school officials and community members. From last year’s budget to this year’s budget there has only been a slight increase in overall spending and the tax levy. I concur with the budget that is proposed, and at this time I would not make any changes to it.
2. Are teachers in your district compensated adequately?
This is a complicated issue because it involves a budget process and reliance in large part on the school aid that we receive from Albany. It is without hesitation that I agree that entry-level salaries for teachers could be improved upon, (as well as pay increments throughout their tenure), not only here at OA but across the nation. Unfortunately, the demands of a responsible school budget along with a decreasing tax base hinders administrators and school boards and diminishes the flexibility in this area.
3. Parents are more nervous than ever about school safety. Is your district’s communication to parents about school safety policies and procedures adequate? Should parents and the community be informed when a student makes a threat of violence against the school?
Overall the school district does a good job keeping the community/parents informed about situations involving student safety. Practice drills involving school lockdown are conducted throughout the school year. Security enhancements continue to be implemented/upgraded accordingly; parents are notified and brought into the loop regarding student safety issues promptly and as necessary. As is always the case, there is always room to enhance current procedures and communication. This is an area that requires school officials and Board of Education members to be extremely proactive. They must continue to seek out best practices across the world, and where possible, implement them accordingly.
4. Are you satisfied that your district responds to parents’ complaints and concerns in a way that ensures the parents know they have been heard?
I feel that the school administration and teaching staff do a sufficient job in addressing parents concerns regarding their children and situations that develop within the school. However, there are always opportunities to improve the methods and processes that are utilized. School officials should be encouraged to continuously seek out best practices that are utilized by other school districts throughout the nation and explore implementing them.
5. What two books published since The Enlightenment have influenced you the most?
The two books that have influenced me the most are The Carrot Principle by Adrian Robert Gostick, and Chester Elton, and Pyramid for Success by John Wooden. From The Carrot Principle, I absorbed the importance of positive reinforcement and recognition. Everyone, be they teachers or students, need and should be given recognition for achievements and going above and beyond the call of duty. Pyramid of Success I believe is an excellent guide through, and preparation for life. It emphasizes the importance of an individual’s character, which I believe is all-important, especially an individual’s character when no one is looking. If the principles in this book were appropriately applied in a school setting, I believe that administration, faculty, and students, could all achieve maximum potential.
The Batavian emailed candidate questions to all 17 candidates in Genesee County's eight school districts that are holding elections on Tuesday. Only four returned completed questionnaires.
This is the response from Lorna Klotzbach, a candidate for the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District Board. There are two other candidates in the race: Tim Edgerton, who also answered our questions, and Douglas Esten, who did not.
1. What is your position on your school district’s proposed budget for 2018-19? What parts do you support? What parts would you change if you could?
I will vote “yes” on the budget for 2018-2019. There are allocations of funds in it that I would change. I would reduce administrative and other costs in favor of maintaining good academic programs that are now in place, but which are being cut in the new budget. I would change the way our computer technology monies are being spent because I have not seen benefits from several of the BOE’s 2017-2018 technology spending decisions, and doubt the wisdom of some of their new budget decisions as well.
2. Are teachers in your district compensated adequately?
Teachers at OACS are compensated adequately for most things that we do. Of course, we all tend to want more than we have! We have difficulty finding competent substitute teachers so when we do find competent ones, those individuals should be paid more for their competence. My major disagreement with OA teacher compensation is that some non-athletic extra-curricular positions are not compensated at a rate equal to the athletic coaches. Many of these positions require as much time, creativity and student-teacher interaction as the athletic coaching positions do. Since many of these positions are, perhaps, more likely to prepare students for future successes in college, career, and character, they deserve as much compensation as the athletic positions.
3. Parents are more nervous than ever about school safety. Is your district’s communication to parents about school safety policies and procedures adequate? Should parents and the community be informed when a student makes a threat of violence against the school?
OACS administration keeps their public informed of threats to student safety. OA administration makes use of the “robo-calling” system and letters/emails to inform parents of problems as they become aware of such problems. If upon investigation, threats made by students seem to be credible, then the public should be informed. In our small community, many people are interested in, and affected by, the school’s schedule so our district’s notification system would be more effective if it was extended to residents who are not also parents or teachers.
4. Are you satisfied that your district responds to parents’ complaints and concerns in a way that ensures the parents know they have been heard?
There are many stakeholders in our district, including parents. There are also teachers and students who are most affected by BOE and administrators’ policy and daily decisions. Our district could improve its response to all stakeholders’ complaints, compliments, and concerns.
5. What two books published since The Enlightenment have influenced you the most?
The two books published since the Enlightenment that have influenced me the most have been modern translations of the Bible, and “Hawaii,” by James Michener. I followed my siblings’ example and read that big novel while still very young. It taught me to read more than just the dialogue pages. It opened up to me the influences of history, geography, cultural norms, and politics on regular people’s daily lives. I read books much differently after I grappled with all of the novel’s “other pages” of description and discovered the wealth they could deliver. The modern translations of the Bible challenged and deepened my Christian faith beyond a childlike conformity to my family’s norms. The modern language Bible showed me a living God.
When John Igoe Jr. needed a project for his Eagle Scout Badge, he knew exactly what he wanted to do.
John Jr. had struggled in the classroom during his early years, his mom Debbie Igoe said. And he wanted to do something for his school.
John Jr. and his family had visited relatives in Poughkeepsie, where they saw an outdoor classroom. John Jr. thought it would be great to build one at Oakfield-Alabama Central School, which might benefit other kids who had trouble focusing in a regular classroom environment.
John Jr. discussed it with school Superintendent Mark Alexander, who also thought it was a great idea, and then the Scout presented it to the school board, which gave its approval.
John Jr. comes from a long line of Scouts. His dad is an Eagle Scout, as are two of his uncles, Andrew Igoe, of Poughkeepsie and Matt Igoe, of Lake Katrine. His grandfather James Igoe Jr., of Poughkeepsie, was a Scoutmaster for 35 years.
John Jr. is a member of Troop 6066 at Indian Falls United Methodist Church. His Scoutmaster is Laverne Lamkin and Assistant Scoutmaster is Scott Allen. John Jr. started his Eagle Scout project almost two years ago. He got support from the entire community, as well as help from family and a lot of friends, he said.
Ray Smith, of Oakfield, provided equipment to clear land near the school’s nature trail; Aron Kehlenbeck, who owns a portable sawmill, sawed the trees; Seaman’s Hardware donated hardware; Shuknecht’s donated metal brackets, and posts were donated by Home Depot and Genesee Lumber.
John Jr. said he wanted to join Scouts because it was his family’s heritage, but he also wanted to do it for himself.
“A lot of people helped me and kept me in,” he said. “I was in a very active troop, which had an outing almost every month. They became like family to me.”
John Jr.’s mother presented her son’s Eagle Award, after which Andrew gave the Eagle Charge and Matt gave the Eagle Pledge.
The Scout then gave his parents a gift to honor them for helping him get where he is today. He also recognized Scott Allen for being his mentor.
Special speakers included Assemblyman Steve Hawley, John Hilchey and Jason Armbrewster.
John Jr. plans to attend New York's Clarkson University after graduation to study Mechanical Engineering.
Top photo: John Igoe Jr., of Oakfield, poses with his family prior to receiving his Eagle Scout Badge Saturday at Oakfield-Alabama Central School for constructing an outdoor classroom. From left are his uncle James Igoe, of Beacon, dad John Igoe, of Oakfield, John Jr., uncles Andrew Igoe, of Poughkeepsie, and Matt Igoe, of Lake Katrine, (both Eagle Scouts); and grandfather James Igoe Jr., of Poughkeepsie.
Above, John Igoe Jr., left, his father John Igoe, and Assistant Scoutmaster Scott Allen prepare for John Jr.’s Eagle Scout ceremony Saturday in the outdoor classroom he built on Oakfield-Alabama Central School’s nature trail.
Above,John Igoe Jr., center, poses with his parents John and Debbie Igoe, of Oakfield, prior to a ceremony Saturday in which he received his Eagle Scout Badge. John’s father and two uncles are also Eagle Scouts.
Madison LaGrou, Oakfield-Alabama Hornets, tossed a no-hitter yesterday in softball on her way to striking out her 400th hitter during her high school career.
The Hornets beat the Pembroke Dragons, 5-0.
Submitted photo.
Oakfield-Alabama's fine season, which included 19 wins, came to a disappointing end Wednesday night in the Class D1 Section V semifinal playoff game against South Seneca.
The #4 seeded South Seneca knocked off the #1 seeded Lady Hornets 68-44.
Brianna Smith scored 16 points for O-A and Kylie Schlagenhauf scored 15.
In the girls' Class C1 semifinal, also played Wednesday night, Notre Dame beat Red Creek 52-48.
Margaret Sutherland and Callie McCulley each scored 12 points, Natalie Thornton scored 11, Morgan Rhodes scored nine and Stevie Wilcox scored eight. Wilcox had 13 rebounds and Thornton had 10.
In girls' basketball tomorrow, Elba plays for the Class D2 championship in Gainsville against Andover at 6 p.m.
Pavilion plays Saturday against Wheatland-Chili for the Class D1 championship in Letchworth at 8 p.m.
Notre Dame vies for the Class C1 championship in Rush-Henrietta at 3 p.m., Saturday, against Letchworth.
In boys' basketball, the lone Genesee County team still in the hunt for a sectional championship is Pembroke, who take on Northstar Christian for the Class C1 championship at 5 p.m. tomorrow at Blue Cross Arena.
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