Volume 5 Issue 3 Janurary 2017

M.O.R.E is happening at Oyler (Men Organized Respectful Educated)By Keith FlowerThe M.O.R.E program has come to Oyler. Led by Social worker Tony Gargano, M.O.R.E’s goal for Oyler and the community is to help young boys, who could be slipping through the cracks and going down a bad path, to learn leadership skills, a good mindset and in the end, hopefully, Mr. Tony says, “the skills needed to become a man.” M.O.R.E is targeting more towards junior high, freshmen, and sophomores.M.O.R.E is going to accomplish their goals by having meetings with guest speakers,usually successful men that represent a good male role model, who will come in and try to connect with the boys and teach them the value of skills in business management, how to save and how to spend money. Mr. Tony has also said that M.O.R.E is hoping to have its own class soon. Any young men interested in being a part of M.O.R.E. should see Mr. Tony. Young men already signed into the program include James Bauer, Antonio Bromfield, Gadarius Williams Rodrick Adams, Calvin Duskin, Austin Fahey, Dewonte Williams, Daniel Jones, Romale Lewis, Ricky Thomas, Kyle Penaloza, Chris Lewis, Reggie Brown, Trevon Webb, Shakobe Walker, Arthur Phelps, Greg Henson, and Niarh Williams.

Global WarmingBy Madison Arrowood, Brandy Harbin, Rodni Covington, and Rose Murphy

Global warming is a major event that’s happening in today's world, and it affects us here in Lower Price Hill. Have you noticed that this winter there has been only one snowfall and many warm days? This condi-tion is due to climate change. Climate change is the change of temperature that is caused from pollution in the atmosphere from burning fossil fuels.While some, including President Donald Trump, believes global warming is a hoax, there’s scientific evidence that shows that it is real. Over the past one hundred years, climate scientists believe Earth’s cli-mate has risen at least 32.07°F.

The primary source of global warming is believed to be pollution, high volumes of carbon dioxide, and other greenhouse gasses that get released by burning fossil fuels, removing trees and other wild plant life from woods and forests, and large scale agriculture. Scientists have predicted that temperatures could in-crease by 34.52°F by 2100. Global warming is becoming a top threat to polar bears and other endangered species as well. U.S. wildlife authorities released a statement on Monday that says they are going to try to save the Arctic polar bears from going extinct. As global warming gets worse, the bears icy habitat disappears at an increas-ingly troubling pace. With only 22,000 to 31,000 polar bears estimated to be left in the world, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Ser-vice’s Polar Bear Conservation Management Plan calls for a series of actions. The pollution that causes global warming is also caus-ing some other alarming problems. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administra-tion (NOAA) has confirmed that 1.4 billion pounds of trash get dumped into the ocean every year. (continued on page six)

Ricky Thomas, son of security guard Ricky Thomas, is a charter member of the M.O.R.E program. photo by Joe Saylor

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The Oyler Griffin is an open forum for student expression and

the discussion of issues of concern to its audience. It welcomes letters to the editor, guest columns, and

news releases from the faculty, ad- ministrators, community residents,

and non-staff students.

OylerGriffinStaff EditorinChief:Kayla Elliott ManagingEditor:Alexis Gibson MetroEditor:Tracey Gary DeputyMetroEditor:Gabrielle Duncan SportsEditor:James Bauer DeputySportsEditor:Scott Ingle DirectorofPhotography:Elizabeth Fahey DirectorofLayout:Scott Ingle DeputyDirectorofLayout:Paige Spaulding Reporters:Katie Mason,Rodni Covington, Shakobe Walker,Toby Crawford,Rose Murphy, Brandi Harbin,Madison Arrowood,Keith Flower, Cierra Perry, and Katelyn Valentour DistributionManagers: Brandi Harbin, Madison Arrowood Advisors:Joe Saylor & Sandra Smythe

Senior Acceptance are Ariving By: Kayla Elliott

Graduation is only four months away. Seniors are working swiftly to apply to all of their colleges and post-secondary choices. College Access Advisor Dr. Michelle Watts and Guidance Counselor Marsha Wheeler have announced that several more college acceptance letters have been received since last month.

Cincinnati State has accepted Reginald Brown, Alex Burnett, Tracey Gary, Alexis Gibson, Daniel Jones, Christopher Lewis, Arthur Phelps, Brianna Turner, Hannah Pelcher and Kyle Penaloza.

University of Cincinnati - Blu Ash has accepted Kaitlyn Roach, Kayla Elliott, Tracey Gary, Deaysha Finley, Brianna Turner, Braden Turner, Daniel Jones, Timothy Profitt and Alexis Gibson.

University of Cincinnati - Main Campus has accepted Tracey Gary, Deajah Baskin and Daishia Runyon.

Wright State has accepted Kayla Elliott.

Miami Middletown has accepted Gadarius Williams and Shakobe Walker.

Senior Braden Turner with his acceptance letter to Miami University. photo courtesy of Marsha Wheeler

17 weeks until Graduation!

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How To Spot Fake NewsBy Katelyn Valentour Fake news websites tend to mislead, rather than in-form, readers for financial or other gains. Fake news articles usually use some off-the-wall, crazy, head-lines.Recently, with the increase of use in the internet and social media, fake news stories and entire fake news sites have increased.Certain sources are known to be unreliable, but others can cause confusion be-cause they look legitimate.Fake news articles mostly appear on the internet.They also have many photos, and often a long catchy headline.If you want to ac-tually find out if a website is reliable, scan through some of the other stories and headlines that have been posted on that site. Also, read through the first few paragraphs of the other stories on the topic and get a feel for what is being said. Facebook is another source where users need to check deeper into the news stories that are posted. People post and share fake news on this website often. If you are worried that you may be reading something un-true, you should research it and see what other web-sites have written about the same topic. In this gener-ation, many headers rely for their news on Facebook and other social media sites.In our generation, Facebook is a big part of our lives.Many people be-lieve anything they see on Facebook, no matter how off-the-wall ridiculous and unbelievable it may seem.

Many news stories will state some true facts to make you believe the entire story is true but they will add in some fake news that is not true at all. You may need to look closer at the story. Don’t just scan through. You are not going to be able to figure out the truth about the information if you are just scanning through. It’s easy to be fooled by the text. Be suspicious.

Animal Adoption is a Serious MatterBy Rose Murphy

Have you ever been to a pet store? Looked around at all the animals and just wanted to take them all home forever? Adopting an animal doesn’t seem as though it’s that hard. You just pay and sign a few papers, right? Wrong. There are different adoption fees at each agency or shelter, and in some places, if the animal needs shots still, you have to put up money for the animal to get those shots before it can leave with you.

There are a few other things you have to pay for in addition to the adoption costs. Grooming costs, obedi-ence training, food, pet supplies, licensing to have the pet, and even veterinary care that you will have to get before you can take the animal home.

And before you even think about any of that, you have to consider if you have the time to care for an animal. Buying a dog and adopting a dog are two totally dif-ferent things. Pets take up a large amount of your time and love. In some cases, even when an animal does get adopted, it doesn’t always mean that the animal is safe. There are many cases where an animal will be adopted for the wrong reasons--dog fighting, puppy mills, or ani-mal experiments. In 2007, The Humane Society of the United States estimated that 250,000 dogs were placed in fighting pits nationwide. The sport of dog fighting puts two dogs in a room together, and players bet money on who is going to kill whom first. It’s a horri-ble thing that no one should have to see or go through. In 2007, 40,000 people were involved in organized dog fighting. Sometimes dog fighting isn’t the only case in which animals are abused. There are people who will buy a dog and put that dog in a puppy mill and breed it until it either gets too sick to breed or dies. There are an estimated 10,000 puppy mills in the United States. In a puppy mill, they don’t care too much about feeding the animals, and they often starve and sit in a cold cage until they’re almost skin and bones and then may be abandoned.No animal deserves to spend most of its life in a cage, knowing nothing of kindness or being wanted. Adopt-ing an animal is a great responsibility, but it can be a great opportunity to have--and be--a faithful friend.

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Oyler SportsLady Madhatters Hope to Finish StrongBy James Bauer

Half way through the season, the girls are holding their own with a 2-2 conference record and a 2-3 overall. The Girls’ Varsity had a good first home win against Cincinnati College Prep Academy 42-25. The leading scorer was Khaleeah Bennett, who scored 15 points. Their second win was against School for Creative and Performing Art. The score was 38-9, and the leading scorer was Tyla Iacobocci, with 13 points. I spoke with Deaysha Finley. She said, “I feel our basketball team is more like a family because we help people with our problems.”

How do you feel you guys play together? Finely an-swered “I feel like we play very well together.” What is your goal this year as a basketball player? “My goal as a basketball player is to get better as I play and to help my teammates get better by helping them out.”

The Girls are in third place behind Miami Valley Christian and the first place Gamble Gators. Good luck to the Lady Madhatters the rest of the season.

Junior High Basketball Is Playoff BoundBy Shakobe Walker

Junior High Basketball is heating up. Junior High Boys and Girls are on their way to the playoffs. Both teams have winning records. The Young Madhatters are looking great as they enter the second half of the season.

The first-year coach for the Lady Madhatters English teacher Ray Nephew, is doing really great. Their cur-rent record is 9-1. “Those girls are really something special,” he said. Coach Nephew also told the Griffin he’s really enjoying coaching the girls this year.The Junior High Boys are also doing well with a record of 7-3. Starting forward Tony Robbins had this to say to the Griffin.“We are starting to do better as a team, and it’s starting to show on the floor.”

Varsity Boys Take Conference by StormBy James Bauer

The Griffin’s sports desk interviewed Charles Lew-is, a senior on the Varsity Boys Basketball Team, he was asked “how do you feel the team did the last two games? “The first game we didn't play as a team. The second game we played as a team with ambtion.”how do you feel about the team this year?“I feel confident I know we can win a banner.” We have a good chance to hang a conference banner up.The Oyler Madhatters had a good season last year with a 13-5 and 10-4 in our conference.Oyler played their first game on the second of December losing to Cincinnati Christian Hill Academy 78-30.We played Hillcrest Detention Center on the sixth and won 58-55. Our first home game was on the 9th of December against CCPA we won 60-57 and we are in first place with a 5-0 record in conference, and 5-3 overall record. The boys had a double overtime win 63-59 on the 9th to Dayton Jefferson. The leading scorer was Charles Lewis with a 24 points and 9 rebounds. The boys beat Gamble by 10, 61-51 to go 7-0 in conference for the first half of the season.

Boys’ Varsity Basketball team gathers together for a picture on Senior Night. Photo courtesy of Dave Scholl

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Oyler’s Fifth Graders Visit Green ArcesBy Katie Mason

Oyler and Green Acres Foundation have shared a partnership for many years.The Griffin recently sent me to report on the fifth grade’s trip. Before leaving for Green Acres, I talked to some of the fifth graders. I asked them if they were looking forward to going? What kinds of things do you do there? And what was your favorite memory? “Kali Kendrick said she was looking forward to going because they always do activities there. She likes it when they make stuff, and her favorite memory is when they had a treasure hunt. ‘They had to look for frogs and bugs,”she said. Madi-son Swift said she is looking forward to going because it’s always fun, and she likes the experiments they do. She likes it when they do activities. Her favorite mem-ory is the time when they were going to the pond and she saw frogs. She thought they were cute.

Greenacres instructor Michael England taught the kids that fractions are used in everyday lives. For instance when there's a sale for half of on clothes, or when you order a pizza and you want half one topping and half of another, you are using fractions. He also did an activity to show how fractions can be used in pixel art. He gave the kids a grid with 100 squares and told them to make something. Oyler student Carlissa Dennis made a burger, Sam Houston made a rainbow, and Cole Meyer made a PacMan. He then told them to count up each color they had used and put it over 100. For example, if you used 20 red squares, in fraction form, it would be 20 over 100.

According to Greenacres, their mission is “to preserve . . .Greenacres in its current state of woodland and farmland; to encourage conservation and appreciation of nature by providing the public, particularly chil-dren, opportunities to study plant and animal life in their natural settings; and, to encourage appreciation of music and culture by providing facilities and an atmosphere that will encourage artists and educators to display their talents for all age groups.” Jackie Quat, Greenacres’ Director of Art Education, says that they carry out their mission “by providing learning opportunities for children that integrate the arts with environmental education and other core content areas in collaboration with classroom teachers. Oyler and

Greenacres have been working together for seven years. with the belief that the arts education program could help expand the horizons of Oyler students.Quay says that her favorite thing about their program is meeting the children who attend Oyler and the teachers who teach them. She said “They are very creative and are able to demonstrate they learned something of value in unique ways. And the total commitment of the teachers to help children learn is amazing. Our whole team absolutely loves having the relationship we have with Oyler and hope it continues for a long time to come.”

Hollywood Star Carrie Fisher Passes Away.By Elizabeth Fahey

Carrie Fisher was born into fame, the daughter of Hol-lywood royalty Debbie Reynolds and Eddie Fisher. Carrie Fisher was not only an author, actor, and in-spiration, but she was also a major pop icon. Fisher started off in the film Shampoo.

The start came when she got the part of Princess Leia in the original Star Wars trilogy. The fictional charac-ter Princess Leia proved to be a powerful role model for women in the late 1970s and beyond. But Fisher’s appeal was not limited to fans of Star Wars. She was an influential voice for mental health advocacy, deal-ing with bipolar disorder and drug abuse herself.

Many people tweeted after Carrie Fisher’s death about how inspiring she had been to them personally. In order to pay tribute to her advocacy, fans had started opening up about their own mental health issues in a hashtag “In Honor Of Carrie.” This began when Ana Marie Cox and Julie Dicaro tweeted out their mental health struggles as well, and Julie created the hashtag. Halsey, a famous singer-songwriter, tweeted out on December 27, 2016, “Carrie Fisher dedicated her platform to mental health awareness and female empowerment. She is a reason, plus a reminder, to keep up your fight. “Carrie Fisher did not only im-pact those she worked with and those who watched her films, but she also impacted everyone around the world, especially those who dealt with mental illness-es themselves. She inspired many people to speak up about their illness and seek help.

Page 6 Oyler Griffin January 2017 Global Warming(Continued from page one)Three hundred thousand dolphins die every year due to ingesting plastic and other harmful things thrown into the ocean. A little known fact is that plastic does not break down and is seen as food by aquatic animals. Even if you dump something into the ocean miles away from shore, it will still end up washing up on the sand. What would you do if you saw a child with a plastic ring around her neck? That’s the same way we should feel about our ocean friends. Also, the chemicals found in some of the things that get thrown into the water can prevent reproduction. This is a problem that could cause a certain species to become extinct. But pollution doesn’t stop at just oceans. Hundreds of spe-cies are becoming extinct because of our negligence. We all need to take a look around and realize that we are ruining our earth and all the animals in it. Without animals or wild plant life and forests, there would be no us. Recycle as much as you can, and use renewable resources as much as possible.

Oyler Makes New Year's ResolutionsBy Katie Mason

January 1st brought us a new year, and many people around the world make New Year’s resolutions, things they would like to do differently in 2017.

The Griffin recently asked people around Oyler about 2017 resolutions.

Ninth grader Rodni Covington’s New Year resolution is “to get her first job or make it to America’s Got Talent.”Ninth grader Janeila Butts’ New Year's resolution is to stay off of Facebook.History teacher Michael Sage’s News Year’s resolu-tion is to be as good a parent as possible.Twelfth grader Shakobe Walker’s New Year's resolu-tion is “to make a statement, make this year the best year ever. Become famous.”School social worker Tony Gargano’s New Year’s res-olution is to read twelve books, get some music into commercials, attend more concerts, learn the Nash-ville number system, get to his weight BMI of 175, and be a good father.School nurse Marlene Waggal’s New Year's resolution is to start walking more this year.Nurse Julie Kersting’s New Year’s resolution is to exercise three times a week.Tiffaney Hamm, who works in the dental clinic, has resolved to read more.Ninth grader Bryanna Britten’s New Year’s resolution is “to get a job, get better grades, and to exercise.” Oyler School Secretary Kathy Brown’s New Year’s resolution is “to get more fruits and vegetables.”Coach and Security Guard Steve Stanley’s New Year’s resolution is “to save money.”School Resource Officer Jason DePaoli’s New Year’s resolution is “to get in better shape to hit better in softball.”Security guard Charles Duke’s New Year’s resolution is” to come to work and go home safe.”Gym teacher Isiah Dozier’s New Year’s resolution is” to get ten thousand steps in everyday.”Social worker Joy Kain’s New Year’s resolution is” to get more fruits and vegetables.”School Lunch Lady Patty Bellamo’s New Year’s reso-lution is “to be a better person.”

The junior high Lady Madhatters celebrate courtside as they beat Hughes 17-16 on january 31st to continue on their playoff run.On Thursday, February 2, they played Shroder in the final four. Photo by Joe Saylor