Latest news with #SterlingHighSchool
Yahoo
5 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
3 Sterling High School students receive scholarship given in name of fallen firefighter
Jun. 5—STERLING — Three local high school students were named recipients of a scholarship honoring a Sterling firefighter who lost his life on the job almost four years ago. Sterling High School students Nico Battaglia, Brinley Francis and Esra Ramirez were named the recipients of the 2025 Garrett Ramos Scholarship during Monday's Sterling City Council meeting. Ramirez was not present for the meeting. Ramos, a SHS graduate, served for almost 10 years with the Sterling Fire Department and also served as the union president for Local 2301. Ramos died in the line of duty Dec. 4, 2021, after falling through the floor of a burning home in rural Rock Falls. Sterling Fire Lt. Vincent Morris and Ramos' wife, Brittney, presented Battaglia and Francis with a commemorative check for $1,000 each. Brittney said the scholarship, which typically opens in April, is available to SHS seniors with a GPA of 3.0 or higher. Preference is given to candidates considering a career in public service. "And then the two questions that we ask them are, 'How has a public servant affected your life in a positive manner?' and 'What do you currently do to improve your local community?'" Brittney said. Battaglia will attend Mount Mercy University in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where he plans to play basketball and study psychology. "I hope to be either a counselor or work in forensics and help people," Battaglia said. "I go to a psychologist, and she helps me out, so I know how that makes me feel. I think I can make other people feel the same way and help them." Francis will attend Dixon's Sauk Valley Community College, where she plans to study nursing. "I want to do something with babies, and be a NICU nurse or something," Francis said. "I did a lot of clinicals this year, so I got to work with a lot of people, and it was nice to be able to help people." The Associated Firefighters of Sterling Local 2301 will host the first Garrett Ramos Scramble golf outing Wednesday, Aug. 27, at the Deer Valley Golf Club, 3298 Hoover Road in Deer Grove. Registration opens at 9 a.m., followed by a shotgun start at 10 a.m. The cost of entry is $240 per four-person team and includes a golf cart and dinner. The event also will include a silent auction, raffles and prizes. Sponsor packages are available for companies and organizations that would like to sponsor a hole. All proceeds from the event will benefit the Garrett Ramos Scholarship program. For more information on the event, contact Local 2301 through its Facebook page.
Yahoo
04-05-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Eddinger is Sterling High School student of the month
May 3—STERLING — Natalie Eddinger, a senior, is a May student of the month at Sterling High School. She is the daughter of Shari and Mike Eddinger and has a brother, Nickolas. What class do you find really engaging and why?: My favorite class is anatomy, as it is helping me prepare for my future. Mrs. Schlemmer makes learning fun, establishes positive relationships with the students, and provides learning opportunities through field trips. What are your career and post-graduation plans? What school(s) or other instruction, travel or endeavors do you have planned?: I will be attending the University of Iowa, where I will major in microbiology on the pre-medical track and minor in Spanish. I will also be part of the women's rowing team. This summer I will continue working at Shepherd Premier as a CNA. I have been chosen as a CGH summer scholar and look forward to learning from the medical professionals I will be shadowing. What are your two favorite extracurricular, volunteer or community activities you participate in?: I enjoy volunteering at Special Olympic activities as well as helping out at the food bank packing boxes during the summer. Please share a moment, group event or activity at school that was meaningful or memorable.: Going to Chicago with the anatomy class to see the cadavers was exciting and gave me a glimpse of what I will see when I attend the University of Iowa. What is your hope for the future?: I want to become a pediatric cardiologist.
Yahoo
03-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Married fighter pilots with Sterling ties soar the skies side by side over Japan
May 3—STERLING — For Air Force Capts. Tanner "Brüt" Massey and Sydney "Menace" Shephard, the view from 30,000 feet is not only a mission — it's a shared way of life. The married fighter pilots, both currently stationed in northern Japan, fly F-16 training missions together, serving their country while navigating military life side by side in the air and at home. Massey, a 2015 Sterling High School graduate, and Shephard have been in the Air Force for about five years. They met as cadets in the Air Force ROTC program at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, where what started as a college friendship eventually turned into a lifelong partnership. "It definitely wasn't love at first sight — at least not for her," Massey recalled. "I had to work harder to get her attention than anything else I'd ever done." Shephard jokingly agrees, saying their relationship started when "a boy invited himself to a girl's family Christmas and then never left." The couple married in March 2020, just before Shephard's graduation and their move to their first duty station for pilot training. Despite the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, they launched into a demanding but rewarding military journey, one that has taken them across the globe — from training in the U.S. to deployments in South Korea and now Japan. Known as the "Mighty Viper," flying F-16s is a dream the two share. "It's a welcome challenge," Shephard said. "It's like flying down a backroad listening to 'Thunderstruck.'" Massey echoed her sentiment, calling the aircraft a "phenomenal" multirole fighter that remains one of the most lethal platforms despite being fourth generation. The pair flies missions in the same formation, something few military couples get to experience. "It's a cool and unique experience to get to fly alongside your spouse," Shephard said. "You get a front-row seat to their growth as a pilot, which is awesome, and you also get to see all of their funny little mistakes to tease them about later." Although they fly in separate jets, their bond translates into an intuitive partnership in the skies. "The real advantage with Sydney is more personal — it's the ability to read subtle cues, like a slight change in her tone over the radio," Massey said. "Usually, it's when I'm pushing her patience a little too far." However, both Shephard and Massey emphasized that all fighter pilots they serve with are highly trained and capable, and personal familiarity is only one part of a larger team effort. The couple has flown "too many training missions together to count," said Shephard, with Massey logging almost 470 flying hours to date. The pair has been stationed in Japan since late 2024 and is currently immersed in frequent flight training and preparing for pilot upgrades. Off duty, they have been settling into their home and enjoying winter sports and travel. "We're diving into the local culture," Massey said. Future travel plans include destinations such as Bali, Vietnam and New Zealand. Their future in the Air Force remains open-ended. Both have about six years left in their initial 10-year pilot commitments and are considering continuing active duty or transitioning to the Air National Guard. "We will stay in the military as long as it still fits our lifestyle and family goals," Shephard said. For now, the pair continues to dominate the skies together.
Yahoo
09-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Sterling High School scarf-knitting project benefits local elementary students
Mar. 8—STERLING — A group of Sterling High School students are learning a new skill as part of a service project that started more than 100 miles from Sterling. SHS English teacher Lauren Fritz said the Knitty Gritty Project teaches students how to knit scarves, which are then donated to local elementary schools. Fritz's students recently donated 105 scarves to Franklin Elementary School — enough for every first-grade student. Students begin knitting in late August and continue until winter break. However, Fritz said, the kids who stick with the project enjoy it so much that they often knit regularly in their free time. "I just teach them how to knit, but then they go home and teach themselves everything else," Fritz said. "I have one girl this year who knitted 30 scarves. The kids run with it, which is amazing. Then, I have kids that will knit things like that purse, which I did not teach them. They just figure it out." Fritz said the project was started in Solon, Iowa, by Andrea Velasquez and her seventh-grade students in 2003. "When 9/11 occurred, there was a woman that was a part of Flight 93," Fritz said. "Her name was Lauren Grancolas, and she was pregnant. She was in the middle of writing a book about teaching yourself a new skill. One of the things in her unfinished book was teaching yourself to knit. So, her husband sent the book to Andrea's class, and they started the project that way." Velasquez kept the project going, and when the tragic Sandy Hook School shooting occurred in December 2012, her students wanted to donate their scarves. However, Fritz said, this was at the point when the Sandy Hook community was no longer taking donations. So, the kids donated the scarves to local elementary school students of low socio-economic status. In 2020, Velasquez moved to Cedar Rapids, Iowa, where she continued the project with Fritz, who also was teaching in Cedar Rapids at the time. Fritz, a 2015 SHS graduate, moved back to teach at SHS in 2023 and brought the program with her. "I teach them either at their lunch, my prep or if they're finished early in class," Fritz said. "The teachers here have been amazing. Our kids can knit in class, but when they say, 'OK, materials away,' they put them away. We have no issues with that. So, you'll see kids walking around the school with knitting supplies." Since then, Fritz has expanded the project to include SHS's Life Skills students, fostering inclusion by integrating students with disabilities with their general education peers. "If I have a kid in Life Skills that messed up, I'll have one of my students help them fix it on the fly," Fritz said. "That's great because then they're engaging with each other, they're helping, and they're learning how to interact with a student that has a disability when they generally don't get that opportunity." Before her students begin knitting this year, Fritz is having them choose where the scarves will go by having them research which local schools are in need. Fritz said the project keeps stocked with knitting needles and supplies thanks to local donations and a yearly grant from the Sterling Schools Foundation. To make a donation, email Fritz at lfritz@
Yahoo
07-03-2025
- Science
- Yahoo
Sterling High School robotics team gearing up for Peoria competition
Mar. 7—STERLING — Sterling High School's robotics team is preparing for an engineering competition like no other. SHS math teacher Alexis Rivera is the robotics team's leading mentor. He said a robotics club began in 2016 and tries to create a space for students to develop their interest in technology and develop imagination and skills that are going to be used in their future by creating and building a robot that's going to compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition on March 19-22 in Peoria. The FRC is an annual global robotics competition in which teams of students, mentors and volunteers build robots to compete in a themed game. ExpandAutoplay Image 1 of 3 The Sterling High School robotics team works on the team's robot Wednesday, March 5, 2025. (Brandon Clark) Teams have six weeks to design, build and test a robot that can complete the competition goals, which are issued by FIRST in January. The robots must meet specific guidelines and perform various tasks during the competition, such as picking up and placing objects while navigating obstacles. This year's theme is "Reefscape." "This year, we need to manipulate a piece of pipe that is 4 inches in diameter and a foot long and put it on a peg on what we call the reef," Rivera said. "That is a structure in the center of the field. For every peg that you put on different heights, you get different points. We also need to manipulate a big ball and pick it up from the reef and put it in a hole in the wall." The competition consists of qualification matches, where robots compete in alliances with two other random teams. Teams try to score as many points as possible based on the game's rules, and the top-ranked teams move on to elimination rounds where new alliances are formed to battle for the championship. Teams also can participate in various regional, national and international events throughout the season. "The FRC has been around for 36 years, and they have around 8,000 to 10,000 teams around the world," Rivera said. "We compete in two different regional competitions to try to get to the World Championship in Houston. Our two competitions are going to be in a couple of weeks in Peoria and then two weeks later in Milwaukee." Students are welcome to join the club regardless of experience. Rivera said the club uses a "community learning system" to teach hands-on skills, such as using 3D printers and CNC machines, from Rivera, their peers and volunteer mentors. "A specific skill is taught by mentors, and after that second year, the person that received that skill teaches it to somebody else with the supervision of a mentor," Rivera said. "On the third year, the mentor is removed, and the two-year knowledgeable student becomes a mentor." Jeff Cutter is a union electrician who started volunteering as a mentor for the team after grandson Brevin Folsom asked him for help. "I got involved last year and became super invested," Cutter said. "It's been a blast helping the kids build these robots. Having been an electrician for 40 years, I sometimes skip steps in my head because I already know what to do and have to remember to go back and explain why I did something. It's amazing to see them design something they created from scratch." Mentors like Cutter help foster a sense of leadership and responsibility among the team. Ninth grade SHS student Loren Fox is in charge of the robot's swirl system. "The swirl system is the driving system of the robot," Fox said. "We have two motors for it called the Kraken and the Neo. The Kraken is for going back and forth, and the Neo changes the axis without it having to stop." Loren joined the robotics team two years ago after her older brother and SHS senior Austin Fox encouraged her to give it a try. Austin has been with the team for four years and is one of its leading mentors. "It can be hard and stressful work but I enjoy it," Austin said. "It's liberating knowing that I'm able to help the newer people and I enjoy teaching them all the intricate details of what we're supposed to do and what we've already done." Ninth grade student Gewelious Jenkins is one of the team's designers. He is currently working on a special bracket for the team's robot. "We're trying to design a bracket that can hold these two pieces together based on the bearings," Jenkins said. "As it holds the bearings together, we'll need to find the diameter, then we can find how long it has to be from the center. After we know those dimensions, we'll add it onto a bracket of our own and create a hole depending on how big it's supposed to be. Then, we will add everything through a CAD app and print it out at the CNC machine." Rivera said the robotics team would not be possible without fundraising efforts and donations from local businesses and the community, which are matched by the Sterling Schools Foundation. "They see what we are doing and they feel the growth of the team," Rivera said. "They understand that these kids are the future."
