Joco Today

West Girls' Cross-Country Team Qualifies for Nationals

Nike Cross Nationals is the national cross-country meet held in Portland, Oregon. There are eight regional qualifying meets, with the top two teams in each region going to nationals. Kansas is a part of the Heartland Regional where the Olathe West High School Owls placed second to earn their trip to Portland.

To qualify, teams must be among the top two in the region or receive a bid. There will be 22 teams and 45 individuals running at nationals. 

“It is very exciting to be representing Kansas girls’ cross-country at the national meet,” Olathe West coach Kelsey Carbajo said. “This has been a goal of theirs since last year, and they raced incredibly hard to make it happen. They went into the race as an underdog to qualify, but they believed in themselves and believed in each other. Their toughness and love for one another is second to none! It’s hard not to root for this group of girls! They will represent Kansas well.”

Fall Math Wings Winners Named

The 2022 Olathe elementary and middle school Math Wings and Math Counts competition took place this fall. Winners were awarded in five divisions – fourth grade, fifth grade, sixth grade, seventh grade, and eighth grade.

The fourth grade and fifth grade Math Wings winners were both from Regency Place Elementary School. Fourth graders Vihaan Sripathi, Kailea Mack and Oliver Bennett and fifth graders Jonathan Gampher, Sofia Virgilio, and Ze-Ian Sea placed first.

At the middle school level, Frontier Trail Middle School sixth grade team members Ian Clarke, Caleb See, Nathan Zhang and Tristan Erb took first. Chisholm Trail Middle School placed first with a team of students Connor McRostie, Will Brotherson, Declan Hodge and Eric Lin.  Finally, two teams tied in the eighth-grade division. California Trail Middle School students Mahi Kohli, Anay Chatterjee, Manu Sripathi and Sanjay Kailad tied for first with Prairie Trail Middle School students Aiden Olsen, Keaden Yim, Mehardeep Signh and Santosh Subramanian.

Olathe Math Wings and Math Counts is an after-school math club that provides an additional learning opportunity for students and is open to all students in middle school.

Educators Honored by East Central Kansas Music Educators Association

Three Olathe music educators have been nominated and selected by their peers to win awards for the East Central Kansas Music Educators Association (ECKMEA).

KMEA has selected two Olathe teachers as Outstanding Young Music Teachers of the Year. Olathe East High School orchestra music teacher Danny Lytle and Forest View Elementary School music teacher Megan Bricks received this award. They were honored at the Dec. 3 concerts at the music educators’ convention. In order to be nominated, educators must have completed at least two years of teaching, but no more than nine years. Honorees have commitment, dedication, enthusiasm, motivation, and have met the needs and interests of students, having brought about positive results in learning.

Michele Bullins was named the 2022-2023 ECKMEA Elementary Music Educator. Bullins works as the band teacher at Manchester Park Elementary. She will be considered for the state award, which is awarded by KMEA leadership at the Annual In-Service Workshop each February. The state honoree is featured in the Kansas Music Review and their biography is placed on the KMEA state website.

“I seriously have the best job in the world, and I am incredibly blessed to get to work with and learn from all of our music educators,” Bullins said.

District Activities Director Honored with Distinction

Matt Johnson, Olathe Public Schools district activities director, received the 2022 National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association Bruce D. Whitehead Distinguished Service Award. Johnson is the eighth winner from the state of Kansas in the history of the organization.

The award is presented annually to NIAAA members in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to interscholastic athletics at the local, state and national levels. Nominations are submitted by state athletic directors' associations, screened by the Awards Committee, and selected by the Board of Directors.

Original source can be found here.