Brooke school board recognizes top students

By WARREN SCOTT, Staff writer
FOLLANSBEE — The Brooke County Board of Education recognized winners and leading competitors in statewide competitions testing students’ knowledge of math and West Virginia history and three winning athletic teams at Monday’s regular meeting.

The board honored members of the Follansbee Middle School MATHCOUNTS A Team, which placed third among 14 teams at the West Virginia MATHCOUNTS competition. In the competition seventh- and eighth-graders’ ability to solve math problems quickly as teams and individuals is tested.

The team, which is comprised of Vinny Pizzuti, Kevin Rowland and Franko Lewis and coached by Erin Ankrum, had advanced to the state level after placing first in a regional competition held in February at Belmont Technical College.

Their classmate, Brian Gialluco, placed 13th among 80 individual competitors in the state competition, which was held in March in Braxton County.

Only the top four individual competitors go on to compete in the national MATHCOUNTS competition sponsored by Lockheed Martin.

More than a dozen Brooke County students also received recognition for their performance in the West Virginia Math Field Day competition. Hundreds of students, in grades fourth through 12th, competed in the event held April 24 at Shepherd University.

They included fourth-grader Drew Garrett of Colliers Primary School, who placed fourth in his age division; Reagan McClain of Wellsburg Middle School, who placed sixth among fifth-graders; and Shelby Richards and Sierra Bone, both of Follansbee Middle School, who placed third and eighth, respectively, among sixth-graders.

Also honored were Follansbee Middle School seventh-graders Matthias Naill and Brice Hickey, who placed first and fifth, respectively, and their classmate Matt Beaman, who finished in the top 10. Brian Gialluco and Vinny Pizzuti, both of Follansbee Middle, placed sixth and eighth in the eighth-grade division.

The school board also recognized eighth-graders Jacob Heilman and Alec Salakovich of Follansbee Middle and Brooke High School students Derek Wayne, Evan Ford, Jacob Robey and Corwin Russell, who participated in the state competition after advancing from the regional level.

The students’ coaches were Karen Zumpetta, Erin Ankrum, June Music, Dana Durbin, Michelle Meca, Toni Taylor, Linda Burch and Tim Turner.

Applause also went to eighth-graders Kevin G. Rowland, Wesley Eaton and Jake Riccelli, all of Follansbee Middle, who were named winners of the West Virginia Golden Horseshoe competition.

The three were among 218 West Virginia students who scored highest on an online examination testing their knowledge of the state’s geography, culture, history and current events. The test was administered to thousands of eighth-graders in the state.

Also recognized were the Follansbee Middle School seventh-grade girls and boys basketball teams for emerging champions of the Buckeye-Mountaineer Athletic Conference.

Coached by James Cicchirillo, the girls team is comprised of Winter Vincent, Ashley Brown, Marena Cline, Samantha Mazzone, Miranda Salkovick, Janna Bright, Jessica Cox, Alysia Paesano, Ashley Latimer, Danielle Moran, Amber Govey, Juliet Casinelli, Kirsten Minger and Tessa Henderson.

The boys team, which is coached by Russell “Rusty” Schwertfeger, is comprised of Ryan Heaton, Raleigh Mason, Nathan Dawson, Frank Colalella, Alec Buchmelter, Trent Radcliffe, Austin Shambaugh, Josh Francis, Jackson Carey, Jessie Gambellin and Nick Eltringham. Brice Hickey serves as its scorekeeper.

In other business, the board:

¯ Authorized an early dismissal for all students on June 6, the last day of school. Superintendent Mary K. Hervey DeGarmo said students will be served lunch before being dismissed between 11 a.m. and 1:30 p.m.

¯ Accepted a bid of $10,000 from the Gil Thermes Fence Co. of Wintersville for the replacement of fences at Follansbee Middle School and Colliers Primary School.

Marty Bartz, the school district’s facilities supervisor, said the Follansbee Middle project also will involve establishing a new handicap-accessible entrance up to the school’s fieldhouse, where a corridor leads to the school building.

¯ Authorized Ron Ujcich, transportation director, to purchase three new school buses and seek bids for two used vehicles, a car for the high school’s driver education program and a truck for the school district’s maintenance department.

DeGarmo said the school board provides about $34,000 for each bus, with the remainder funded by the state.

¯ Authorized the Brooke High School Football Boosters to raise parking fees from $2 to $3. The group cited the rising costs of meals and other assistance provided to the team.

¯ Heard of efforts by the school improvement councils of Brooke High and Wellsburg and Follansbee middle schools to improve test scores and overall student performance and increase parent and community involvement.



(Scott can be contacted at wscott@heraldstaronline.com'>wscott@heraldstaronline.com)