OASC Newsletter

The Ohio Association of Student Councils is an organization dedicated to the teaching of leadership skills, organizational skills, and people skills valuable to the members and officers of all student organizations!

OASC partners with the iBELIEVE Foundation to offer 6 different calendar weeks at multiple college campuses of summer workshop programming! Summer workshop is a 5 day, 4 night summer camp opportunity for student leaders in the middle level program (entering grades 7-9) and the senior high program (entering grades 10-12). These summer programs encourage the development of leadership skills, improves understanding of setting and achieving worthy goals, and inspires young leaders to accept challenges and responsibilities, so they may return to their communities with knowledge, convictions and understanding which will empower them to better all they encounter. Our summer programming also facilitates life long connections between student leaders from all over the state of Ohio, Pennsylvania, West Virginia and Kentucky.

We hope you will come to workshop with a desire and the spirit to learn, to try new things, and to share your talents, ideas, and feelings with others. If you do that, we promise you will leave with more information than you ever thought you could remember, with more new friends than you thought you could make, and with a feeling that you can make a positive difference in your school, community, and in the lives of the people you know!

The cost of workshop is $300/delegate. This includes the program materials in addition to room & board for the 5 days at workshop. While scholarships are available, we know this can be a large investment of money for many families - so we want you to start planning now so you can join us in the summer of 2019!

Most students describe their experience as unforgettable, life changing, inspiring, motivating and "one of the best weeks" of their lives. We hope to see you at one of TWELVE workshops being offered! Click here to register today!

Check out our 2018 summer video that our Director of Communications, Max Leu, created below!

Come join OASC at Fat Head's Brewery & Beer Hall for a spring benefit event! For $30 you will receive 1 ticket which benefits student leadership across Ohio! Your ticket includes: 1 Drink & appetizers. **Event is 21 and over only** High school students - please encourage your advisors & parents to attend!

We will also be sharing some information in three presentations. The presentations will begin at 6:30pm, 7:30pm, and 8:30pm.

If you have any questions please e-mail Anthony.paletta@oasc-oh.org

You can register for OASC's benefit event here!

If you cannot attend, please consider donating here to help us spread the OASC magic.

At our 66th Annual State Conference, OASC's membership UNANIMOUSLY approved a new name and brand for our organization!

The Ohio Association of Student Leaders

Serve. Connect. Inspire.

While this new name will OFFICIALLY go into effect on January 1, 2020, OASC will begin to make the transition over the next 8 months.

Check out the video below to learn more about the Ohio Association of Student Leaders!

The OASC general membership met for the 66th Annual State Conference on March 15-17th at Celina High School. A huge "Thank You!" goes out to the Celina Student Council members, Superintendent Dr. Ken Schmiesing, Principal Mr. Phil Metz and Student Council Advisor Mrs. Kristen Kerns. Thank you to all of the families and host homes that volunteered their time and their homes to make sure OASC students had an excellent place to stay throughout the conference!

Celina has hosted State Conference once before in 2010. Celina HS decided to once again step up to the plate last April 2018, and committed to taking on the task of hosting State Conference 2019 just 11 months later. The staff, students and families that have come through OASC programming in the past and present continue to reflect the excellent quality & character of this small town! Thank you, Celina, for your continued support of OASC!

Award-Winning Speaker and Inspirational Comedian Judson Laipply promises to do two things: make you laugh and make you think. And for the last seven years, his passion for both has entertained and educated audiences all over the world. Judson is an award-winning speaker and performer who utilizes a phenomenon labeled "Inspirational Comedy" to blend the realities of life with side-splitting humor.

After graduating from Bluffton University with a BA and from Bowling Green State University with a Master's degree, Judson Laipply burst onto the professional speaking scene and has quickly become a breath of fresh air in a sometimes suffocating world. His presentations are down to earth and highly motivational, creative and appealing, humorous and thought provoking, lively and enriching.

In March of 2001, Judson performed for the first time in public a finale that would one-day take the world by storm. After mixing together 12 popular dance songs from the last 50 years Judson debuted “The Evolution of Dance™” and it instantly became a crowd favorite. Five years and 18 songs later, Laipply placed a video of the 30 song six-minute “The Evolution of Dance” on little known site called YouTube. No one could have predicted what followed.

In the next few months the video became a viral sensation and was passed from e-mail to e-mail, posted in countless blogs, discussed on endless talk shows and podcasts, and the entire world watched as the video amassed over 70 millions views in under 8 months and helped propel YouTube to the status it has today. To date it has been viewed over 150 million times and is the third most popular video of all time on YouTube.

The popularity of the video has lead to appearances on the Today Show, Ellen, Inside Edition, E!, Oprah, and hundreds of other media outlets around the world. He has also been in two music videos - one for Bare Naked Ladies and one for Weezer, performed at halftime of the NBA finals, and continues to bring laughter into the lives of all those who watch it.

OASC would like to offer a special "thank you" to Judson for speaking at our State Conference! Judson served as OASC's State Board President in 1993-1994. We love the opportunity to welcome Judson back home! Thank you for making us proud, Judson!

Website: http://www.judsonlaipply.com/
Twitter: @JudsonLaipply

Thank you to our 24 students who served as small group workshop leaders at State Conference. Each presenting team submitted their own unique presentation, activities and handouts! They presented two or three times throughout the weekend. Thank you for giving your time and talents to help our student leaders walk away with new skills and ideas to take home to their schools and communities!

Thank you to our volunteer adult staff for taking time off of work to join us this weekend and help in a variety of ways behind the scenes, but also to evaluate our small group workshop presenters. Niro Wimalasena and Zack Stamper provided immediate feedback to help facilitators continue to improve their fantastic small group workshops!

The Dale Hawley Leadership Award is given annually to students who have generously and consistently shared their time and talents as staff members for OASC and who have demonstrated a high level of competence in this important role.

The 2018 Dale Hawley Award Winners are (right to left):

Alaina Murphy, Grove City High School

Aidan Massie, Jackson High School

Jayna Dayal, Olentangy Liberty High School

Payton Cassel, Medina High School

Thank you for your dedication to OASC and the development of all student leaders!

The OASC Award of Merit is the highest honor given by the organization. It is awarded to an individual for distinguished service, rendered voluntarily, on behalf of the organization. It recognizes extraordinary commitment and dedication that is demonstrated over a sustained period of time.

Niro graduated from William Mason High School in 2008. During his time at Mason, Niro was an active member of Student Government and a member of the men’s soccer team. He then went on to play soccer at Case-Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio and pursued a degree in Chemical Engineering. Niro returned to Mason, Ohio after college to work for his current employer, Proctor & Gamble as a member of the Research & Development team.

Throughout his high school years, Niro was an active member of OASC, and went on to staff our organization’s programming throughout his high school and college years. While taking a brief break his senior year of college, Niro immediately jumped back in to a volunteer role in 2012 as a director and adult staff member.

Niro has volunteered at countless events and trainings for our organization over the past 7 years. No matter the size of the event, the number of staff available, the number of students attending, or the distance from Mason, Ohio, there is no event or task too big or small for Niro. He is willing to wear any hat we ask, whether that is the role of facilitator, observer, evaluator, food delivery service or janitor.

As a full time employee outside of the education world & in order to volunteer at summer workshop, Niro has to take personal time off of work to make the trip and spend the week at our events. During summer workshop in particular, his role with our third year delegates has been especially impactful.

In addition to serving as a mentor for our young people, Niro has also served as an assistant soccer coach for William Mason High School for the last 7 years. During his tenure, his team won a Division I State Championship title in 2013, and 5 district championships from 2012-2016. Beyond winning games on the field, Niro finds it equally important to serve as a strong role model and mentor for his players and exemplify what it means to play the game with honor and pride. Niro was hired during this past off season to serve as the upcoming 2019 Technical Director of the Archbishop Moeller High School Men’s Soccer team.

NIro has a tremendous passion for giving back to programs that have given him so much. His favorite parts of volunteering with our organization is seeing the impact of our programming on students and observing the continual growth, whether that growth is within a weekend retreat, or within a week of workshop.

Niro, this Meritorious Service Award is long overdue for the time and dedication you have given to our organization. Your professionalism, dependability, awareness, kindness, and passion for our program is valued beyond these words. You are the gift to our organization that keeps on giving back. We are proud and lucky to claim you as one of ours!

Congratulations to this year's Advisor of the Year Award, Kristen Kearns, from Celina High School! When describing Kristen's passion for student leadership, one student said,

"Kristen is always positive and looking forward to our next event. She’s more than eager to put in the time for ordering decorations or taking on new projects. Even one idea, like a dance marathon to raise money forbid the Ronald McDonald House, she takes on and makes it real. We are currently planning the marathon right now! She doesn’t act like she is above us in any way, she always expresses that she’s the one who is learning leadership from us, not the other way around. She’s works hard to make sure that everyone in the council feels accepted and isn’t having a good time. She’s actively involved and I relieve she is the main reason we have a strong and dedicated council this year. Recently for a lock in she created an amazing race for us to do, which included running around the school to find codes to open a locker, finding random boxes, and completing tasks all as a team to really show us how valuable leadership and the ability to work with others is. Kristen is so busy as our school secretary, but yet she stepped up to become our advisor when no one else was willing. She’s forever changed our council!"

Thank you, Kristen, for all you do!

Congratulations to the members this year’s All-Ohio Student Council! Your selection for this award recognizes your outstanding service and leadership in your school and community.

Sydney Adams, Northwest High School

Mia Boni, Northwest High School

Karsyn Brumett, Antwerp High School

Alan Byers, Coventry High School

Tu Cao, Northwest High School

Payton Cassel, Medina High School

Sydney Cassel, Medina High School

Paul Ceccoli, Claggett Middle School

Gigi Cox, Medina High School

Jaclyn Dacey, Claggett Middle School

Nicole Deschene, Grove City High School

Cassidy Edwards, Medina High School

Jared Ellis, Grove City High School

Hailey Grant, Antwerp High School

Steven Hankins, Coventry High School

Mattison Koskela, Port Clinton High School

Claire Leupp, Medina High School

Gabby Mahar, Northwest High School

Tani Madichetti, OASC

Mia Marsala, Claggett Middle School

Audrey McGraw, Claggett Middle School

Carrie McKay, Grove City High School

Hannah Moore, Port Clinton High School

Alaina Murphy, Grove City High School

Jack Obermeyer, Northwest High School

Robert Olszewski, Medina High School

Makenna Smith, Antwerp Middle School

Aeriel Snyder, Antwerp Middle School

Giselle Todd, Claggett Middle School

Kennedy Yowell, Grove City High School

Rafee Zafar, OASC

OASC has created a new award to recognize students who go above & beyond in displaying leadership skills & promoting OASC!

Payton has been involved with OASC since the 2013 State Conference. She loved it so much that she's attended nearly every event since. She learned so many leadership skills and pushed herself to become more outgoing. As a Staff, and previous Board Representative, Payton was able to get more involved in the programs and connected with students; she helped them become more confident and realize their full potential in their school or community. She found it was truly amazing to see how much someone can grow in only a few days. Even though this is Payton's last year attending OASC events, she will still grow as a leader through staffing. Payton will always be thankful for OASC and will continue to be involved as much as she can to help give back to the organization.

Payton serves as the OASC chairperson at Medina High School. She relays any information about OASC and the upcoming events. She reach out to students, who would be a good fit for the program, to try and get as many students involved as she can. Last year Payton talked to every leadership club within my school, Key Club, Girls Leadership Club, National Honor Society, etc, and gave them information on OASC. Medina had 3 new non-student council members attend Summer Workshop last year and they plan on attending again this year. Payton also reached out, through email, to the student leaders in each club and sport to see if they were interested in attending an OASC event.

Thank you, Payton, and our other applicants for being strong supporters, and ambassadors for OASC! We are stronger because of you!

OASC is excited to announce the site of our 67th Annual State Conference in 2020! Port Clinton High School will be hosting from March 12-14, 2020! Thank you to Port Clinton advisors, Scott Cross and Nichole Wiechman, Principal Gary Steyer, and Superintendent Patrick D. Adkins for their support of Ohio's student leaders! We look forward to State Conference 2020 being "out of this world!"

Cassidy Bowersock, State Board President, Celina High School

Grant Harris, Senior High State Board Representative, Olentangy Orange High School

Tanvi Sumit, Senior High State Board Representative. William Mason High School

Tequella Ramirez, Senior High State Board Representative, Mansfield Senior High School

Lillian Alphin, Middle Level State Board Representative, Olentangy Orange Middle School

Madison Wiechman, Middle Level State Board Representative, Port Clinton Middle School

Teri Shoemaker, State Board President, Olentangy High School

Heather Baker, Middle Level Adult State Board Representative, Eastern Heights Middle School

Thank you for your service, 2018-2019 Board Members! We appreciate YOU!

Melanie Bowman-Williams, Middle Level Adult Representative, Olentangy Orange MS

Mia Marsala, Middle Level State Representative, Claggett Middle School

Sydney Cassel, Senior High Representative, Medina HS

Tani Madichetti, Senior High State Representative, William Mason HS

Joshua Layne, Middle Level State Representative, Olentangy Orange MS

Rafee Zafar, State Board President, Olentangy Orange HS

Alaina Murphy, Senior High State Representative, Grove City HS

Ryan Hess, Middle Level Representative, Olentangy Orange MS

Robbie McCarty, Senior High Adult Representative, Wellington HS

Angie Marsala, Middle Level Adult Representative, Claggett MS

Lisa Bateson, Senior High Adult Representative, Black River HS

State Farm® is OASC's newest partner! They have quickly engaged many agents across Ohio to get involved with their local communities and schools. Over the school year, State Farm has totaled over $10,500 to OASC in grant funds to further the mission of OASC.

Most recently, State Farm® awarded a $2,000 Strategic Grant to OASC to promote Summer Workshop opportunities to the students of Mansfield Public Schools!

Westerville State Farm® Agent April Schaad donated $3,500 to the Ohio Association of Student Councils (OASC). Because of this gift, the OASC and Westerville City Schools have formed a new partnership to provide leadership training throughout the year at no cost to schools, students or families. Pupils from all across Ohio participate in OASC programming and now Westerville students will get the same chance to network and help make their schools and communities even stronger.

State Farm® also awarded OASC with their Good Neighbor Grant of $5,000 which helped bring the cost of OASC Summer Workshops costs down to $300 this year to all students across Ohio.

Local State Farm® Agent Jeremy Hinton and graduate of Celina High School also visited our annual State Conference at Celina High School. Thank you for attending!

We also would like to thank, Ben Justice in Public Affairs of State Farm® for his continuous support, dedication and drive to help students across the State of Ohio. We thank you for your partnership!

Please reach out to your local State Farm® agent and mention this partnership to get them involved with your school and community!

Here is a picture of April Schaad with Anthony Paletta donating to OASC for the Westerville Schools Partnership!

Have you ever wanted to help your community with a problem but didn’t know where to start? Maybe it’s a run-down park or to help the impoverished in your community. Now, YOU have the power to fix it.

State Farm Neighborhood Assist, a crowd-sourced philanthropic initiative, lets communities determine where grant funding is awarded. Anyone 18 years of age and older in the U.S. can participate.

The application is short and simple, and you can learn more by visiting www.neighborhoodassist.com. The program officially launches on June 5. You, or someone you know, could be the catalyst for positive change to your community cause!

Your application will be judged based on your answers to the following three questions:

• How much does the Cause focus on an unmet need in this community?
• Why do you feel the $25,000 would address the unmet need?
• How much of a lasting impact on this community would the grant have?

The submission phase starts June 5 and ends when 2,000 submissions are reached. (Last year we had 2,000 submissions in under 24 hours) You can prepare now by going to the website and downloading the submission guide. You can submit one cause in one of the three categories of safety, community development or education. All you have to do is submit the cause; you don’t have to “run the program.”

After the 2,000 submissions are reached, the State Farm Review Committee will score all the submissions to identify the top 200 finalists.

Meet the 2018 Winning Causes

The top 200 finalists will then be uploaded to www.neighborhoodassist.com where you can vote for 10 days - from August 14-August 23. Each person gets up to 10 votes per day, every day.

The top 40 causes with the most votes will each win a $25,000 grant from State Farm!

Winners will be announced on September 25.

**If you would like feedback on your application, Anthony Paletta and members of the OASC Executive Board are happy to review your application before officially submitting to State Farm!**

Email: benjamin.justice.tyo2@statefarm.com
Website: www.neighborhoodassist.com
Phone: 2077126369
Twitter: @SF_BenJustice

Looking for a great project? Want to showcase your school and community? We are currently accepting Host School bids for the 2021 OASC State Conference. Interested? Click here to access the information packet. If you have questions, please contact Connie Miley, OASC Executive Director at (937) 751-8530.

Email: connie.miley@oasc-oh.org
Website: www.oasc-oh.org
Location: 124 Queens Crossing, Dayton, OH, USA
Phone: 937-751-8530
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/TheOASC/
Twitter: @oasc