The Write Side

Senior Olivia Holsinger is a 4 year member of Portsmouth West Key Club. Each year Olivia has fundraised for the Autism Project of Southern Ohio. However, due to COVID, the group was unable to fundraise and were in need of more financial assistance this year. Olivia took it upon herself to make this year's fundraising project at Portsmouth West High School an even bigger success.

She decided to have competition between grade levels to encourage students to purchase puzzle pieces. She stepped out of her comfort zone to make announcements at the high school throughout the month of April to spur on the competition and keep students and staff updated. She even contacted the administration at the other two buildings to organize hat days.

An anonymous donor offered to match the donation up to $500 so Olivia broadened her fundraiser to try and reach this goal. Eric Nichols, the Special Education Director at Portsmouth West, heard of Olivia's project and made a district wide announcement to enlist the support of more groups. The high school choir under the direction of Linda Tieman raised $200 at their Musical Showcase, Portsmouth West elementary and middle school collected close to $500 and Olivia was able to go above and beyond her goal by raising $1752 at last count.

The Autism Group of Southern Ohio hopes to raise $6000. Anyone interested in contributing to this cause can find them on Facebook. Portsmouth West High School could not be any more proud of our Olivia Holsinger!

contributed by Leah Blevins

Portsmouth West High School's last blood drive of the year is May 11 in the high school gym.

COVID-19 antibody testing will be completed on all blood donations for the COVID-19 antibodies. These results may provide valuable insights into the donor's potential past exposure to this coronavirus or an antibody response developed after receiving a COVID-19 vaccine. Donors should know the name of the manufacturer of their vaccine.

Donors may schedule a time slot on the Red Cross site (use zip code 45663), and, to make their donations a smoother process, complete the Rapid Pass information and bring their Rapid Pass with them.

On May 21st, the Portsmouth West High School choir will be performing Les Miserables, marking their first official performance since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic. The production will be hosted outside on a custom-built stage, and will feature an in-concert performance of the classic musical.

Just a couple of weeks later, the choir will be hosting their spring concert using the same outdoor setup. The performance will include songs by the Singing Men of West as well as the Advanced Choir. The members of the choir are very excited to be putting on this performance after such a long hiatus, and hope to see you there!

Contributed by senior Evan Green

Congratulations to our BETA Club on their AMAZING performance at the 2021 Ohio Beta Convention, and good luck to them as they compete at the national convention. PWHS BETA Club members recently received the results of the state level convention in which many students competed. Results can be found in the pdf document and this Vimeo video.

Anatomy/Physiology classes (pictured above), under Mrs. Bazler’s instruction, visited SSU Biological unit Friday, April 30. They explored cadaver lab and the Medical Lab Technology to get a hands on look at the classes and environment students will experience if they major in a Health Sciences field at Shawnee State University.

Dr. Harvey's Biology classes (pictured below) dissected and observed earthworms for labs last week. Thanks to Dr. Harvey's inventive approaches to instruction, students have had many opportunities this year for hands-on science experiences.

Emily Scaff, sophomore at Portsmouth West High School, placed seventh in the Ohio FFA Organization State Public Speaking Career Development Event (CDE) representing the Portsmouth West-Scioto County Career Technical Center (SCCTC) FFA. She competed in the Beginning Prepared Speaking portion of the contest on Saturday, March 6, 2021.She previously had to win the Ohio FFA organization District 10 competition to even attend the state competition. She placed first in the District 10 Competition in early February.

This is not her first time to compete in this competition. Last year, she ranked in the top 5 of the Creed Speaking section of the Public Speaking CDE. There are four separate competitions included in this CDE including Creed Speaking, Beginning Prepared, Advanced Prepared, and Extemporaneous. Emily plans to compete in all four of these sections by the end of her Senior year.

Contributed by Cecilia Sherman

• Do you have photos of you and your classmates you would like to share for the 2021 PWHS Yearbook? Now you can do that from your cell phone, desktop, tablet, and camera! Just click the link below to access the eshare app and start uploading today! You can upload both candid photos and Senior Portraits.
• eshare photo share app - https://www.hjeshare.com/eShare/index.html ENTER CODE: Hj17721 (be sure the H is a cap) Choose Portsmouth West High Add a few details about the photo (who, activity, etc).
• You also have the option to order your 2021 yearbook after uploading your photos. The 2021 yearbook cost is $60 and orders will only be taken via the online app.
• To order the 2021 yearbook only, click the link below: ORDER YOUR 2021 PWHS YEARBOOK HERE - https://www.yearbookordercenter.com/ ENTER CODE: 17721
• PHOTOS WILL BE ACCEPTED THROUGH JUNE 30TH. ORDERS ACCEPTED THROUGH JULY 31ST. Thank you! Have a great weekend! Ms. Colley PWHS Yearbook

The FREE Sports Physical timeline is May 1st – May 31st. By placing the Free Sports Physicals while school is still in session will help for communication to the athletes and parents as well as the return of the form by the athlete to the school. Please reach out to your athletic trainer if you have any questions.

Note: Student athlete must have OHSAA/KHSAA Form filled out when they arrive.

Baseball and softball pictures courtesy of Kevin Hoops, Impressive Studios

Hunter Brown 12

Gerald Estep 12

Andrew Jones 12

Austin Throckmorton 12

Gabriel Myers 11

Brandon Anderson 10

Alexander Blevins 10

Carson Horner 10

Brandon Potter 10

Ryan Sissel 10

Wyatt Weghorst 10

Jeffery Bishop 9

Dalton Hedrick 9

Hunter Terry 9

Noah Williams 9

Kacy Book 11

Preslee Jenkins 11

Alexa Leist 11

Zoe Lesit 11

Sharon Macias 11

Emma Nelson 11

Alathea Wolfe 11

Tabitha Johnson 10

Kara Carter 9

Emmaly Damron 9

Kylee Pollitt 9

Deaglan Wolfe 9

Eli Adkins 12

Dylan Essman 12

Brandon Koch 12

Lucas Tackett 12

Elijah Tilley 12

Bailee Wireman 12

Luke Wroten 12

David Flannery 11

John Jones 11

Gaberial Kouns 11

Natalie Mershon 11

Auston Tilley 11

Haley Coleman 10

Ethan Hazelbaker 10

Isaac Horner 10

Aiden Robinson 10

Abby Taylor 10

If you'd like any information added to the next newsletter, please contact Kristie Copley, PWHS Librarian at kristie.copley@westsenators.org.

Email: kristie.copley@westsenators.org
Website: https://www.westsenators.org/o/portsmouth-west-high-school
Location: 15332 U.S. 52, West Portsmouth, OH, USA
Phone: 740-858-1103
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ThePWHS