Grc

Julian Castillo of John James Painting of Winchester scraped old paint from a handrail at George Rogers Clark High School this week, preparing it for a fresh coat of red paint. The company is painting around the exterior and interior of the school in preparation for the first day of school Aug. 11. James Mann/jmann@winchestersun.com

With funding for transportation and lunch provided a School-To-Careers mini-grant from Community Education, 21 students from Rebecca Ison's chemistry and AP chemistry classes visited OSRAM Sylvania in Versailles on May 20. The plant makes glass tubing for fluorescent light bulbs.  Students toured the plant and learned the chemistry of making glass and were able to see the process. Employees Carolyn Carrus, Dave Burge, Cindy Sandefer, Tom Hoffman, John Cory, and Bobby Thomas provided information on their various areas of expertise.

Jacob Moody, left, and Ryan Terry performed a number in the George Rogers Clark High School production of “Once Upon A Mattress” during a recent practice. The musical, directed by choral director Greg Bruce, student director Avicia Rodgers and assistant director Kelly Estes, will be presented at 7 p.m. April 14-16 at GRC. Tickets can be ordered by calling the school at 744-6111 and asking for Greg Bruce.

The George Rogers Clark High School TOMS Shoe Club, headed by senior Ragan Clark, and the St. Agatha Student Council, hosted a Valentine's Sock Hop at St. Agatha Academy Feb. 17. The Heart for the Homeless dance collected donations and money to support the Clark County Homeless Coalition. As admission to the dance, students were asked to donate pairs of socks. Concessions were also sold with proceeds going toward the purchase of TOMS shoes for people who come to the shelter. The dancers collected 213 pairs of socks and raised $125 to go toward purchasing TOMS shoes.

George Rogers Clark High School senior Mykal Barnes passed away late this morning, slightly more than a week after he crashed his car on Mount Sterling Road. Barnes, 17, was pronounced dead at 11:25 a.m. Monday in the university of Kentucky Medical Center, according to the Fayette County Coroner's Office. The cause of death was listed as a closed head injury from the accident. Barnes was critically injured on Aug. 15 when his car slammed sideways into a stone wall. Clark County Sheriff Berl Perdue Jr. said Barnes was not wearing a seat belt when the crash occurred.

The George Rogers Clark cross country team finished first in the conference meet at Wolfe County earlier this week. The boys team placed first with a score of 24, followed by Powell County (49), Wolfe County (74) and Lee County with a 93. Alex White placed first and was named conference runner of the year. White, along with teammates Grayson Brookshire, Brandon Bailey, Cody Cox and James Banks, were named to the all-conference team. John Hinely was named freshman runner of the year, James Banks was named conference rookie of the year and Clay Dixon was presented with the conference leadership award.

Last month the Clark County Board of Education hired Codell Construction to provide resident observer services for its new high school construction project. Herman Schack, who was introduced to the board at its special called meeting Tuesday, has experience both as a school board member for five years at Pendleton County, and as an owner’s representative on two school construction projects for the Pendleton County School District Schack told board members that he was hired by Codell, but his main interest was what was best for the school district.

George Rogers Clark High School band director Chris Yoo is having an outstanding year — and he has the award to prove it. When Yoo attended the Kentucky Music Educators Association’s all-state band concert, he didn’t even know he was being considered for an award. However, when it came time to announce the Phi Beta Mu honor fraternity’s selection for Outstanding Band Director of Year, Yoo’s name was the one called. “I was really surprised,” Yoo said.

Even the most seasoned actors can find Shakespeare a little daunting, so music and drama teacher Greg Bruce wasn’t sure how his students would respond to “A Midsummer Night’s Dream.” After almost four months of rehearsal, the George Rogers Clark High School production is coming along just fine. “I didn’t think I’d get that many kids to try out because of the aura of Shakespeare, but we had almost 70 try out. The kids have really taken it and made it their own,” Bruce said during a recent rehearsal.

The George Rogers Clark softball team posted a 3-0 shutout over East Jessamine Monday afternoon at Cardinal Heights. The Lady Cardinals (15-3) scored one run each in the second, third and fourth innings, while pitcher Amy Haggard tossed a one-hitter. Haggard collected 10 strikeouts and walked three batters. Kelsey May laced a double, while Caitlin Collins and Kolbi Mitchell each had a single for Clark. Clark has won seven of its last eight games on the season. East Jessamine fell to 9-5 on the season.

The commencement ceremony for George Rogers Clark High School students will begin at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The ceremony, which is the final scheduled graduation for high school students at the current building, will take place at Cardinal Stadium. There is a small chance of rain for Tuesday, according to the site, wunderground.com. Should weather be a problem, graduation will be held a day later. Thursday and Friday will also serve as potential backup days in case inclement weather continues through the week.

A search for Kentucky All-Stars To the Editor, In the words of the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., “I have a dream.” However, I need your help. I would love to get together for a group picture as many former Clark County basketball players as possible who played on the Kentucky High School All-Star team against the Indiana All-Stars. The photo would include, at a minimum, the following players: 1952 - Linville Puckett; 1958 - Paul Smith; 1960 - Tommy Harper; 1969 - Larry Gay; 1970 - Bobby Newell; 1981 - Cindi Clay; 1981 - Velma Jordan; 1984 - Keith Jordan; 1988 - Jennifer Berryman; 1990 - Dante Gay; 1990 - Lea Robinson; 1991 - Maisha Thomas; 1992 - Stephany Davis; 1998 - Wes Burtner; 2003 - Andrew Preston; 2004 - Bo Harris; 2007 - Preston Knowles; 2011 - Corey Rogers; 2011 - Preshia Rogers and 2012 - Bopper Stenzel.

Two potential agenda items to discuss the renovation of George Rogers Clark High School and Clark County Middle School were tabled by a 3-2 vote by the Clark County Board of Education Tuesday night. The items, which would have set the renovation amounts for turning GRC into a middle school and Clark Middle into an elementary school, were removed from the agenda for discussion early in the meeting. Judy Hicks moved to accept the agenda with the two items. Beth Griffith supplied a second to the motion, but Michael Kuduk, Michael McGowan and Ashley Ritchie voted against the measure.

For George Rogers Clark High School choir teacher Kasey Standridge, her first year of teaching hit a bump in the road when she had to switch musicals after beginning teaching the original selection. Standridge first began conducting “Legally Blonde,” a musical based on the movie and Broadway show of the same name. The further she got into teaching the piece to the drama students, she realized that there were some moral issues with some scenes. Standridge then switched to “The Pirates of Penzance,” a 19th century light opera.

The Lady Colts' erroneous ways from last season have carried over to 2013, showing through in West's opening loss to Garrard County, then again Friday at home in game one of their season kick off tournament against George Rogers Clark. "I think we are still trying to get things under control. Everyone is a bit tense, and for some reason we can't relax", said West head coach¿Michelle Baker, who added her team has "got some butterflies. " West's 7-2 loss to the Lady Cardinals didn't come entirely to the credit of their mistakes, though.

Clarification In the Feb. 28 story “County officials want to boost staff pay,” Clark County Attorney Brian Thomas was quoted as saying the costs to put drug court participants in jail is $11,000, but only $6,000 to put them through drug court. The drug court is funded by a grant, not by the county. The court approved Thomas' proposal to create a program to help drug court participants with their rehabilitation process, which would be partially funded by Thomas' office. The county attorney's office will pay $250 to $300 a person in this program.

The George Rogers Clark High School varsity Winter Guard unit returned from Tennessee last weekend with a top award in hand. The varsity guard traveled to Nashville Feb. 16 to compete in the Winter Guard International (WGI) competition. The competition included schools from nine different states. There were 26 guards competing in specific classes that were then divided into three groups in the preliminary round. GRC was awarded first place in its round after their preliminary performance, which allowed the team to compete in the finals later that evening.

George Rogers Clark High School's 10th grade ACT PLAN test scores are the highest in school history for 2012-13, and Principal David Bolen said it's proof the school is “going in the right direction.” According to scores released by the state, GRC's composite score of 17.5 is above both the state and national averages. In individual categories, sophomores scored higher than the state and national average in English, reading and science. The 2012 results continue a steady rise in proficiency since the PLAN was first administered in 2006 (see graph on A3)

Don and Ruthann Sharrock don't have much free time in their social lives. As parents of three sons, two of which who have played prep and collegiate sports, and another who is a sophomore at George Rogers Clark High School, the parents have had little time to devote to family and leisure events during the past two decades. “Free time is non-existent in a multiple-kid sports family,” Ruthann said. “That includes vacations, traveling to see family for holidays and special occasions.

The George Rogers Clark boys basketball team entered the Christmas break on a high note following a 59-52 triumph over Frankfort in the Woodford County Invitational Saturday. The Cardinals, who lost the first two games of the tournament, snapped a two-game losing streak and improved to 3-8 on the season. Clark will take a couple of days off before starting play in the Republic Bank Holiday Classic at Lexington¿Catholic Thursday. “In the consolation brackets of these tournaments, you're looking to improve with your team, and it's always nice when you can end it with a win,” Clark coach Scott Humphrey said.