

There is rarely a lack of youthful exuberance on OCU’s campus, especially once warmer temperatures arrive, but this spring the mood heightened even more as OCU hosted Battle Over Books for the first time in the event’s six-year history. Battle Over Books is a fierce, yet friendly, set of competitions among local middle and high school student teams: complete with buzzers and lighting rounds Nearly 60 high school students participated in the April 10th competition, representing Circleville, Logan, Logan Elm, Teays Valley and Westfall schools. The May 11th middle school rivalry involved more than 80 contestants from Canal Winchester, Everts, Groveport Madison, Hilliard Weaver, Logan-Hocking, New Lexington, and Westfall schools. Questions for the high school teams were drawn from 12 titles ranging from beloved classics such as The Hobbit, The Princess Bride, and Something Wicked This Way Comes, to Kristin Cashore’s debut fantasy Graceling, Alex Scarrow’s Time Riders science fiction series, and The Warren Commission Report: The Graphic Investigation into the Kennedy Assignation. A live-video conference with author Mindy McGinnis rounded out the day. She graciously spent more than an hour discussing her debut novel, Not a Drop to Drink, which was recently optioned for the big screen. Keenly attuned to her reading audience, McGinnis was hilariously offbeat and genuinely connected with the students. They held their own – gaining insightful and sophisticated queries about her characters, themes, and writing process. Slightly longer, but equally challenging, the middle school list of sixteen titles included The Family Romanov: Murder, Rebellion & the Fall of Imperial Russia by Candance Fleming, Prisoner B-3087 by Alex Gratz, and The War Brothers: The Graphic Novel by Sharon McKay and Daniel LaFrance. In an impromptu discussion at the end of the day, one student revealed how the graphic novel’s style influenced their own art-making. Others weighed-in on their reading and library habits, the surprise of loving books they had expected to hate, and the sense of team dedication that comes out of the competition. While the competition was indeed competitive - Circleville High School took the trophy for a second consecutive year, and Canal Winchester claimed the prize at the middle school level - the emphasis was on teamwork between students who simply love to read. Circleville teacher-librarian Trent Roberts put it well, “This is an awesome way to get kids reading and recognize them for their love of reading”. Kudos goes to Roberts and the other librarians, teachers, and volunteers whose own love of reading made the event possible. They included, Pickaway County Public Library Outreach Services/Public Relations Coordinator Michelle Callahan, Teays Valley H.S. teacher-librarian Lisa Campbell, Circleville High School Library Clerk Terri Carter, Logan Elm H. S. teacher-librarian Jarod Lloyd, Westfall Middle School librarian Cheryl Lorson, Logan-Hocking H.S. language arts teacher Ben Taulbee, and Friends of the Pickaway County District Public Library Sharyn Blecha, Carol Bowling, Elaine Cook, Sandy Edgar, Martha Erchenbrecher, Lynn Kraus, Jane Poulson, Paula Prindle and Gary Wasmer who served as scorekeepers, judges, and timers. It was a distinct pleasure to host Battle Over Books, and plans to host next year’s events are already in motion.
Archived Articles of Interest
Record Attendance at 10th Annual Festival of Carols
Published: December 3, 2015
More than 700 community members turned out for this year's Festival of
Carols, a new attendance record. Attendees also donated a record-breaking
amount of food to Pickaway County Emergency Clearinghouse, a local food
pantry — more than 1,000 pounds!
Thank you to all those who attended and participated. This event would not
be possible without your continued support.
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Original article:
Ohio Christian University will host its tenth annual Festival of Carols and
Messiah concert on December 5, 2015, in the beautifully decorated Maxwell
Center. Guests will be
More than 700 community members turned out for this year's Festival of
Carols, a new attendance record. Attendees also donated a record-breaking
amount of food to Pickaway County Emergency Clearinghouse, a local food
pantry — more than 1,000 pounds!
Thank you to all those who attended and participated. This event would not
be possible without your continued support.
---
More than 700 community members turned out for this year's Festival of
Carols, a new attendance record. Attendees also donated a record-breaking
amount of food to Pickaway County Emergency
More than 700 OCU Students Pay It Forward
Published: October 15, 2015
More than 700 Ohio Christian University students paid it forward by serving
the local church and community last week during OCU’s annual Church Service
Day. Student teams assisted with landscaping, painting, cleaning, organizing,
and general maintenance projects at 44 locations in Pickaway County and the
surrounding areas including the Ted Lewis Museum, the Pickaway County Welcome
Center, Crossroads Church, First Baptist Church, and Heritage Nazarene
Church.
At Ohio Christian University, we make paying it forward to the community a
priority. The local church and community has been
More than 700 Ohio Christian University students paid it forward by serving
the local church and community last week during OCU’s annual Church Service
Day. Student teams assisted with landscaping, painting, cleaning, organizing,
and general maintenance projects at 44 locations in Pickaway County and the
surrounding areas including the Ted Lewis Museum, the Pickaway County Welcome
Center,
More than 700 Ohio Christian University students paid it forward by serving
the local church and community last week during OCU’s annual Church Service
Day. Student teams assisted with landscaping
OCU Student Taking Action Against Trafficking
Published: September 2, 2015
Passion without action is useless, particularly when trying to fight back
locally against human trafficking in the sex trade.
That was the message Circleville native and recent Ohio Christian University
graduate Natasha Hudnell conveyed Tuesday to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman and a
roundtable of college leaders, area economic development officials and
representatives of local governments conducted by Portman on the OCU campus.
Hudnell, 22, working with the blessing of OCU President Mark Smith, has been
leading the charge to energize the student body to help put a stop to
trafficking in
Passion without action is useless, particularly when trying to fight back
locally against human trafficking in the sex trade.
That was the message Circleville native and recent Ohio Christian University
graduate Natasha Hudnell conveyed Tuesday to U.S. Sen. Rob Portman and a
roundtable of college leaders, area economic development officials and
representatives of local governments
Passion without action is useless, particularly when trying to fight back
locally against human trafficking in the sex trade.
That was the message Circleville native and recent Ohio Christian
Kids on Campus
Published: July 1, 2015
Ohio Christian University’s commitment to education isn’t exclusively
highereducation; this commitment includes every stage of a person’s
learning experience.That’s why OCU is a dedicated to “Kids on Campus”
– a summer enrichmentprogram for first through fourth graders that allows
them to experience academiclife on a college campus, while improving their
math, science, art, and technologyskills.The program is a partnership with
Pickaway HELPS (Higher Education for LearnersPartnership) and Ohio Christian
University with generous support from PPGindustries.Campus rarely lacks
youthful
Ohio Christian University’s commitment to education isn’t exclusively
highereducation; this commitment includes every stage of a person’s
learning experience.That’s why OCU is a dedicated to “Kids on Campus”
– a summer enrichmentprogram for first through fourth graders that allows
them to experience academiclife on a college campus, while improving their
math, science, art, and
Ohio Christian University’s commitment to education isn’t exclusively
highereducation; this commitment includes every stage of a person’s
learning experience.That’s why OCU is a dedicated to “Kids
Not Done Yet: Continuing the Lord’s work in Papua New Guinea
Published: June 29, 2015
A Google search of “Papua New Guinea” brings up countless images of
indigenous people in in traditional dress; articles about cannibalism,
sorcery, and sexism; and an undeniable sense of other, foreign, and
different. Mountainous, fertile, forested, landscapes dotted with villages
highlight how vastly different this island nation is from its more industrial
counterparts. According to Dr. David Lattimer, PNG is “the kind of place
that if you ever visit, you won’t ever forget.”It would be easy to
abandon such an isolated nation to its own devices, allow it to continue down
a path of
A Google search of “Papua New Guinea” brings up countless images of
indigenous people in in traditional dress; articles about cannibalism,
sorcery, and sexism; and an undeniable sense of other, foreign, and
different. Mountainous, fertile, forested, landscapes dotted with villages
highlight how vastly different this island nation is from its more industrial
counterparts. According to Dr.
A Google search of “Papua New Guinea” brings up countless images of
indigenous people in in traditional dress; articles about cannibalism,
sorcery, and sexism; and an undeniable sense of other,