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Feature

Book Club sets up Skype with author

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One annual tradition that takes place at the high school every year is the author meet up that the book club holds.

They either skype or bring in a guest author to speak with them for the book they are currently reading.

The book they have been reading is “AntiGoddess” by Kendare Blake. Blake is from South Korea and was adopted at the age of seven months.  She grew up in the small town of Cambridge, Minnesota.

She has a Bachelor’s degree in Business from Ithaca College and a Master’s degree in Writing from Middlesex University in London.

Her debut book was “Sleepless Society,” which is about post 9/11 teenagers coming of age. Her next two books were “Anna Dressed in Blood” and “Girl of Nightmares,” which are horror novels following the strange life of the main character, Cassio Lowood, a teenage ghost hunter. Her most recent greek-mythology focused series called “Goddess War” started with “Antigoddess,” which is the novel the book club read. Following Antigoddess is Mortal Gods and she plans to conclude the series with Ungodly, which will debut this year.

She currently lives on the West Coast, which is where she will be skyping from.

The main people in charge of this event were Kelly Lanci and Christina Getrost. Christina Getrost is the teen librarian at the Stow Public Library.

Getrost started by selecting a book that they were reading around spring time because she likes to do the Skype visit around the new year. She decided to go with the book “AntiGoddess” because they had planned to read it this spring.

Getrost got a hold of Blake and was able to set up the Skype visit for the exact day they had planned.

“One thing I also asked her was how to pronounce her name, and she gave me this cute reply. ‘So it’s three syllables. Ken, like the doll. Dahr, like Darth Vader, and a little uh on the end, like uh, what the [heck] are you doing with that Ken doll, Darth Vader? Ken-Dahr-uh.’ I thought that was hilarious,” said Getrost.

Blakes’ Skype visits usually do cost a fee to take place and this is common amongst many authors. Blake said that she would waive the fee if they purchased copies of her book. The public library had already purchased 50 copies, so they did not have to pay a fee for this Skype visit.

The book club members are very excited for this event to take place and have been preparing questions they are very eager to ask. Do not forget to tune into Stohion.com on March 19 for a live recap of the Skype visit.

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World Headlines

Lebanese civil war causes turmoil

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When one hears the term “civil war,” they think of that situation as a time of the past. For those in the Middle East this term is all too real.

The media in Lebanon have been using this term to describe a five-day conflict that took place in the first week of August. During this week, more than 20 Lebanese and Internal Security Forces were abducted from Arsal, Syria.

As time went on, the crisis seemed to be worsening. A video popped up throughout social media of two Lebanese soldiers being beheaded by the Islamic state.

Shocking the nation, families began to demand that the government do something to save their loved ones who had been captured by the ISF.

Many were worried that this security problem could potentially lead to more division of the state. They feared that the army could no longer protect their lives there. As the beheadings started to gain more popularity, protests began to break out in many cities in the Middle East.

According to the fairobserver.com, the Arsal crisis started on August 2. The Lebanese soldiers arrested Ahmed Jumaa, a commander of the Syrian rebel group. Many militants from ISF started to attack the town of Arsal.

Many Syrian civilians were harmed and killed with Arsal being a home to thousands of Syrian refugees.

This is the time that the two sides decided on a ceasefire but suddenly took a turn for the worse. Now is the time when militants decided to capture the 20 Lebanese soldiers and keep them captive.

They decided to release five of the abducted people but refused to let anyone else free until their members who were held captive would be set free as well.

Feeling as if they were under attack, the Lebanese people decided to fight back. They attacked Syrian refugees by burning down tent camps. The tensions between the two groups began to grow significantly.

The most recent headline involving the Abduction of Lebanese and ISF was the death of Kayla Muller. She was captured by ISIS and told everyone she would fight for as long as she can.

According to the claims of the IS, Mueller had been killed by a Jordanian air strike. She has just lived to the young age of 26.

As this crisis takes shocking turns, America watches in disbelief, not sure what to expect next.

Sports

Coaches send bowling team to victory

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One sports team having a strong season this year at the high school is bowling. Both boys and girls have great players on the teams, showing their best bowling abilities this season.

“The bowling is scored in a very distinct way. Five [players] out of eight bowl a regular game in the first round. The second round the same five [players] can bowl or be replaced by the other three. After ten games of regular bowling, three baker games are bowled. Five [players] bowl one game, the first [player] who bowls the 1st and 6th frame, second [player] bowls second and seventh frame and so on. The anchor bowls the fifth and tenth frames. Total scratch score determines the win after all 13 games are bowled,” Coach Paula Duncan said.

Duncan has been coaching for 14 years now. She works at Echo Hills in the multiple Handicap classroom with Kindergarten and first graders.

She also bowls in her free time on a Casino League at Sto-Kent Family Entertainment.

Duncan loves being a coach and the many great things it brings to her life.

“[The most enjoyable part of coaching is] the friendships that are formed by the teams, with each other, coaches and parents,” Paula Duncan said.

Looking back on their past season, they won the NOC conference. Now they are currently 5-5 this season.

The team captains this year are seniors Natalie Menke and Rachel Huber.

Out of the many talented bowlers, they have a few special players who help bring a special spark to the team. Sophomore Meghan Ritzinger has the highest average of all the girl bowlers.

Sarahmay (Katie) Schlea is the teams only left handed bowler. Being with the bowling team her whole high school career is senior Alyssa Bedilion.

The biggest rival for the girls is Mentor. Last year, they had to beat them to win the NOC conference, holding tension between the two school teams. They will also be the biggest competition for this year, seeing as their average is 200 pins higher than Stows.

The girls plan on going to states, if they pull it together at the sectionals. If they aren’t able to go as a team any of the girls would be capable of bowling a high series at districts.

The boys bowling coach, Glenn Duncan, has been coaching bowling for the past 14 years. He has worked full time at Land O Lakes in production for 23 years.

He has been in leagues for the past 40 years with his wife Paula.

Just like his wife, he gets to watch many great things as a coach for the boys bowling team.

“[The most enjoyable part of coaching is] watching the kids improve. Beating their previous high scores and series,” Glenn Duncan said.

The boys struggled slightly early on in the season but have been picking themselves up with better scores lately.

They recently finished second in the G Man Tournament behind last years runner state runner up, Struthers High School.

The team captains for the boys bowling team are seniors Tommy Gallagher and Nick Powell.

They are led by their starting five: senior Tommy Gallagher, senior Nick Powell, junior Chris Ferguson, junior Sam Croy and junior Kevin Kunz.

Their six man is sophomore Scott Hopkins. They also bring up a few.

JV boys on occasion have some extra help, which includes sophomore Christian Studt and freshman Alex Snowberger.

Throughout the past, Cuyahoga Falls has always been their fiercest competition. This year they will also have Brunswick, Brush and Mentor as rivals.

The boys bowling team believes they will have a chance for states if they continue to improve as they have been lately.

Both Paula and Glenn Duncan hope for a great ending to the season and look forward to coaching the new team next year.

Front/Home, News

District mourns the loss of bus driver Amy Smith

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The Stow and Munroe Falls communities mourn over the loss of beloved bus driver, Amy Smith. On Jan. 27, Smith passed unexpectedly in her home.
She was a devoted bus driver and was with the school system for 15 years. She drove both high school and elementary routes.
She will be missed dearly by her friends in the school system.
“She was a very caring woman and always came to work with a smile on her face,” fellow bus driver Shani Jamieson said.
She is survived by her husband of nearly 27 years, Douglas Smith and her two daughters who attend Kent City Schools.
Family and friends gathered Jan. 31st at the First Christian Church in Kent.
Memorial contributions may be made to Rose’s Rescue, P.O. Box 33, Rootstown, 44272 or The Coleman Foundation, 5982 Rhodes Rd, Kent 44240.