LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

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Since 2004

Tag: loveland high school

  • Loveland Magazine TV: Mihaela Manova is Part of Loveland’s DNA!

    Loveland Magazine TV: Mihaela Manova is Part of Loveland’s DNA!

    Each citizen in Loveland makes up an important piece of the community, but in saying that it’s up to the citizen as to what they do with their role as an important piece of that community. This is what makes up a community’s “D.N.A.”

    Over the past two years, Loveland Magazine has been in search of community members that truly play an important role in Loveland’s D.N.A.

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – Many people from all over Ohio in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic have had to find “virtual” ways to communicate with their friends, families, and co-workers. The “Zoom” application (allows you to connect and hold meetings with anyone that also has the application virtually) has skyrocketed in popularity over the past couple of months as it has proven itself to be quite a useful tool for workplaces, schools, media outlets, and local governments to connect with one another.

    Due to the social distancing regulations and the Stay At Home Order, here at Loveland Magazine, we decided to try Zoom for ourselves and conduct our first virtual interview for our Loveland Magazine readers! Our segment, “What’s In Loveland’s DNA,” has featured several amazing Loveland community members over the past year and the feedback from the community about the segment itself has been overwhelmingly positive. Instead of our typical sit down one-on-one interview in our LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV studio we decided to conduct our latest DNA interview using Zoom!

    Mihaela Manova

    We would like to take this time to introduce our newly selected DNA candidate, Mihaela Manova. Mihaela is not only the 2nd youngest DNA candidate we have ever selected she is also the first to be interviewed using Zoom at Loveland Magazine! Mihaela is a big part of the Loveland High School culture and an even bigger part of the Loveland community. Mihaela recently joined the Loveland Magazine team as a staff writer, quickly gained her very own climate column, and was recently promoted as Editor of our Covering Climate Now series, a global journalism initiative committed to bringing more and better coverage to the defining story of our time. Mihaela is a native of Bulgaria and visits her homeland often, making her the ideal choice to cover international stories. She has already begun impacting her adopted small-town home of Loveland with her inspirational voice! Mihaela is a member of Loveland High School’s Class of 2020 and has chosen to study Journalism at Miami University-Oxford in the Fall.

    Mihaela recently did her own “What’s in Loveland’s DNA” segment on Madeline Killion which you can read HERE.

    Loveland Magazine Publisher David Miller had many great things to say about Mihaela!

    “Being from Bulgaria, Mihaela brings a unique perspective to our newspaper and has made an enormous impact on us,” Miller said, “Her youthful honesty, respect, and complete dedication to her craft are invaluable. It’s as if we have an international reporter on staff now. She has certainly altered Loveland’s and Loveland Magazine’s DNA.”

    So without further ado, LOVELAND MAGAZINE TV presents “What’s In Loveland’s DNA: Mihaela Manova!”

    Click below to see the exclusive Zoom interview with Miss Mihaela!

    Read more of our, What’s in Loveland’s DNA” stories…

  • LHS’s Head Football Coach Shares What his Athletes are Doing to Stay in Shape!

    LHS’s Head Football Coach Shares What his Athletes are Doing to Stay in Shape!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – Summer will be here before you know it, which means football season is right around the corner! Many LHS athletes have been working hard during the Stay At Home Order so that they are prepared when competition starts up again. Coach Andy Cruse and his football players are one of the Tiger teams that have made sure that they are staying in shape for the 2020 upcoming season!

    Coach Cruise told us that his players have not only been working hard but they have also been very creative with their workouts.

    “One of the things we have tried to do as a football program to make sure we continue to make progress in the off-season is using the Team Buildr App. This app is great for bodyweight workouts and it also includes videos that show the proper technique for each exercise,” Cruse explained, “The app also has both dumbbell workouts and home gym workouts. We also created a 3k push-up challenge for the month of April, in which each player completes 100 push-ups a day. Many of our players are doing it with family members and often record themselves doing it to have a little fun with it. They are doing this on top of their regular workouts,” Cruse said.
    Andy Cruse when he was introduced as the Tiger Head Coach in February of 2019  (File Photo)

    Coach Cruse said that twice a week he is holding Zoom meetings with his players in order to get to know them better and discuss football.

    “The Zoom meetings have been very positive. I think the players are really enjoying having interaction with their teammates and coaches during this time,” Cruse said, “We have encouraged our players to do position-specific drills as well. As a program, we are retweeting our players working out and spreading positivity as much as possible during this time,” Cruse added.
    Due to all of the gyms being closed and of course, LHS athletes are not able to use any of the LHS facilities, Tiger athletes have been forced to get creative with how they are staying in shape. A few Tiger football players shared with us what they have been doing at home during the COVID-19 pandemic.
    Gabe Ogdan was a Captain of the 2019 team. (File Photo)

    Gabe Ogdan said, “I’m lucky enough to have my own home gym, but still have had to get creative for certain things! It’s been interesting but with not as much school I’ve been able to devote more time to speed and agility training as well as weight lifting and bulking.”

    Max Huddleston said, “My home gym is minimal, and for some exercises, I may not have the right equipment. For example for pull-ups,  since I don’t have a pull-up bar, I’ll do them on a steel beam in my basement.”
    Mason Moore said, “I don’t have a home gym and the heaviest dumbbells I have are eight pounds, so I have to do my best to get my workouts in with what I can make do. I use paper plates as ab sliders, I do pull-ups on a metal beam on my ceiling, and I do lots of cardio along with the bodyweight workouts our coaches have us do.”
    My dad is a landscaper so he had some stuff I could get creative with. I used bricks and stones to do various things and made a bench out of stones and a board and used a tube and metal bars to make a bar. – Weston Manske
    Zach DeWitt said, “I am thankful to have many opportunities to maintain and build upon what we have been building this offseason. The absence of a field, however, has made me turn the front yard and driveway into everything I need for speed and agility training.”
    Luca Aquilino said, “Since I only have a couple of things of workout equipment I’ve been sticking to lots of bodyweight workouts from our TeamBuildr app.  I’ve had to use wooden shelving in my garage to do pull-ups and I have had to put bands around trees and around my basketball hoop to add a little bit of weight to workouts.”
    Weston Manske said, “My dad got a bench this past weekend so now I can use that but before I had to get creative. My dad is a landscaper so he had some stuff I could get creative with. I used bricks and stones to do various things and made a bench out of stones and a board and used a tube and metal bars to make a bar. At my mom’s, I have resistance bands and then I found cinderblocks in my shed I use. I’ve also found basketball hoops are good for pull-ups.”
    Be sure to tune in to Loveland Sports 411 With Cassie Mattia for Loveland’s latest sports news and updates!

  • LHS’s Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Tells us What his Athletes are Doing to Stay in Shape!

    LHS’s Head Women’s Volleyball Coach Tells us What his Athletes are Doing to Stay in Shape!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – With May arriving in just a few days, many LHS students are still trying to process that they will not be stepping foot back into their schools for the remainder of the academic year. LHS student-athletes also received some devastating news last week confirming that they would not be competing in their designated Spring sport for the remainder of the school year. With all of the unfortunate news, LHS coaches have been trying to place a positive spin on everything by providing their athletes with workouts that they can do at home as well as a variety of other motivational tools!

    LHS’s Head Women’s Volleyball Coach, Brian Baugh, is one of the LHS Coaches that has really been dedicating a lot of his time during the Stay At Home Order to his team in order to keep them both motivated and dedicated to their craft.

    “For Women’s volleyball, the Spring and Summer are extremely important for getting the girls ready for the season. Typically we would hold open gyms and lift throughout the week,” Baugh said, “Many of the girls would be participating in club season as well, but like every team, we have had to adapt. We are fortunate that at Loveland we have Strength and Conditioning Coach, Derek Berry, on staff. He puts together workouts that are pushed out to our players through the Team Buildr app. It’s a great way for the athletes to work out at home and for me to track their workouts.”
    Coach Baugh told us that many of his players have gotten very creative with their volleyball training, creating things around the house to help them work on their skills. Many of the team’s siblings and parents are helping them at home with their skill sets as well!
    LHS’s Head Women’s Volleyball Coach, Brian Baugh
    “To me, the most important thing is to come together as a team, so that whenever we get back on that court, we are building each other up and have each other’s backs when things get tough,” Baugh explained, “We are fortunate that our future seniors are really leading the charge. We have great leaders in Maya Jepson, Diana Clark, Abbie Miller, Alex Miller, Faith Meece, and Ellie Egan. They are high character girls. They have created different competitions for the team to complete during the quarantine. For example, they did a baking competition where they baked and decorated cakes and then put them on Twitter to have fans vote for the best. They also created a virtual pepper video that they put on Twitter. We have been sharing baby pictures of each player and are having fans guess which player or coach is featured in the picture. We also have been holding Google Meets weekly to check-in on one another.”
    Coach Baugh says he has been challenging his players weekly. One of the ways Coach Baugh has been challenging his team during the isolation period is by asking them once a week how they have improved as a player and a person. After the player comes up with their answer Coach Baugh has them share their response with the team.
    “It has certainly been a challenge not being on the court, but I am so impressed with how the players have responded during this time off,” Coach Baugh said with pride, “I cannot wait to see how they go for that fourth straight ECC title this coming season!”

    For more LHS sports updates stay tuned to the Loveland Sports 411 With Cassie Mattia!

  • OHSAA Confirms Cancellation of Spring Sports

    OHSAA Confirms Cancellation of Spring Sports

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – The Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) informed member schools, including the Loveland City School District Monday, April 20th, that Spring sports would officially be canceled. This decision was made after Ohio Governor Mike DeWine announced earlier the same day that school facilities would remain closed for the rest of the academic year due to the coronavirus COVID-19.

    OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass sent out a memo confirming to school administrators following Governor DeWine’s press conference about the Spring sports cancellation. For weeks, the OHSAA communicated that if schools remained closed for the year Spring sports would be canceled as well. Of course, there were several reasons that went into the final decision of Spring sports being canceled, one of the main reasons being that it would be nearly impossible to ensure the health and safety of all individuals and support personnel involved in practices and contests at all member schools.

    OHSAA Executive Director Jerry Snodgrass

    “As we have stated in our previous communications, today’s announcement by Governor DeWine to close schools for the remainder of the 2019-20 school year also will now result in the cancellation of OHSAA-sponsored spring sports seasons including tournaments,” Snodgrass wrote Monday.

    The OHSAA’s mandatory no-contact period for all interscholastic sports will remain in effect until at least May 3, and could in fact be extended until a later date. Coaches and school administrators have been encouraged to have non-mandatory electronic and online communications with their student-athletes during the no-contact period. The closure of school facilities includes all athletic facilities for any interscholastic training, practice, or competition.

    In an interview Monday afternoon, Snodgrass reflected on the unprecedented times that the pandemic has brought to the nation and the impact it has had on schools and interscholastic athletics.

    “I’ve heard from so many people who have said ‘You really need to understand what this means to our kids,’” Snodgrass said during the interview. “I’m a parent. I was a coach. I grew up every day as a player and a coach wanting to play high school sports and get to the state tournament. So I do think I understand that. I also have to go with the fact that my number one concern that I have, over everything, is the health and safety of everyone involved. It’s not just our student-athletes. It’s the parents, coaches, umpires, officials, the scorekeepers. All those things enter into this. It’s a tough decision and it’s one that I and all the other Executive Directors of the other states never thought we would have to do. Never did I think this would be the case, but I’ve tried to be as prepared as I could every step of the way.”

    Snodgrass also addressed the Summer and the start of Fall sports in the interview

    “July is a very physical month for our student-athletes entering fall sports, so we have already started looking at, if this continues through the summer, we’ll have the potential of having a lot of kids who haven’t had the physical activity that they would normally have going into a fall season. So for the health and safety of everyone, we have to look at the acclimation periods going into the fall, if that happens. We have to be prepared for that. We’re also talking about that if this does go through the summer, what is the likelihood that a student can get in to get a physical (annual medical exam). We have a sports medicine advisory group that is looking at that. They are looking at all aspects such as whether artificial surfaces need to be treated. We are relying on the advice of experts in our decision making.”

    The OHSAA said that they will continue to communicate throughout the Spring and during the Summer regarding any adjustments to OHSAA’s off-season regulations, academic eligibility standards, sports medicine updates, and more. STAY TUNED!

    Want a yummy way to Help OHSAA out of their scholarship shortfall?

    Raising Cane’s Partners with the OHSAA to Support Programs for Student-Athletes!

  • Raising Cane’s Partners with the OHSAA to Support Programs for Student-Athletes!

    Raising Cane’s Partners with the OHSAA to Support Programs for Student-Athletes!

    WHAT   Raising Cane’s Ohio and the OHSAA partnership to provide funding for student-athletes.

    WHERE   All Raising Cane’s locations in Ohio, a full list of Ohio Raising Cane’s locations can be found here.

    WHEN  Thursday, April 30, 2020.

    The nearest location is at 3901 Montgomery Road in Deerfield Township near Menards

    by Cassie Mattia

    Deerfield Township, Ohio – Restaurant chain Raising Cane’s Ohio is raising money for scholarships! The popular chicken establishment recently entered into a partnership with the Ohio High School Athletic Association (OHSAA) in order to provide funding for student-athlete scholarship programs and postseason tournaments.

    The three-year partnership will kick off Thursday, April 30th, in which all Raising Cane’s restaurants across Ohio will donate 15 percent of their sales from 4 PM to close to the OHSAA scholarship project. Due to the current coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic that earlier this month canceled all of the OHSAA’s Winter State Tournaments as well as all Spring sports competitions, guests will have the ability to place their orders at the drive-thru.

    The annual OHSAA Scholar-Athlete Scholarship Program, which provides more than $175,000 to college-bound seniors including many Loveland High School Tigers, was canceled this Spring partly due to the OHSAA’s lack of revenue from the tournaments.

    Jerry Snodgrass, executive director of the OHSAA

    “We cannot begin to thank Raising Cane’s enough for stepping up during these unprecedented times to help give back to the student-athletes across Ohio,” said Jerry Snodgrass, Executive Director of the OHSAA. “Our mission at the OHSAA begins with ‘to serve’ and we will be able to continue to do just that with partners like Raising Cane’s, who are committed to both education and active lifestyles. We get to see firsthand how those two directly impact communities, schools, and students across Ohio. We’re really excited to kick off this three-year partnership and forge what will be a special effort to positively impact students statewide.”

    “Active lifestyle and education are two of our pillars of community involvement, when we found out various programming and scholarships could be lessened or taken away due to cancellations of championships from the COVID-19 pandemic, we immediately reached out to the OHSAA to see how we could help,” said Matt Salts, Director of Marketing at Raising Cane’s Ohio. “We’re committed to team up with the OHSAA to help provide support for the next three years to help keep these key programs available to athletes across the state of Ohio.”

    For the latest updates on Ohio’s sports world stay tuned to Loveland Sports 411 With Cassie Mattia!

  • Former LHS standout Giovanni Ricci joins Panthers as Undrafted Free Agent

    Former LHS standout Giovanni Ricci joins Panthers as Undrafted Free Agent

    From wmubroncos.com/news

    Photo from Western Michigan Broncos

    KALAMAZOO, Mich. – A native of Loveland, Ohio, Giovanni Ricci was a four-time Academic All-MAC selection at Western Michigan who was a third-team all-league selection in 2018 before bumping up to the first team in 2019. He finished with 21 games with two or more receptions and 22 contests with 20 or more receiving yards. Ricci received the Iron Bronco Award in 2019 for having played the most snaps during the regular season and represented WMU at the East-West Shrine Bowl in St. Petersburg, Fla., on January 18, 2020. Ricci was a standout player for Loveland High School Tigers. Ricci was on the Loveland High Schoo’s 2013 Ohio State Championship team.

    In 2013 Gio Ricci catches a pass for a touchdown late in the 4th quarter against the Zanesville Blue Devils. The Tiger win sent them to the State Championship. (Loveland Magazine File Photo by David Burig)

    Ricci has agreed to terms with the Carolina Panthers to join the NFL organization as an undrafted free agent.

    A two-time All-Mid-American Conference selection and one of eight semifinalists for the John Mackey Award in 2019, Ricci was a four-year letterwinner for the Broncos. In 45 career games with 21 starts, Ricci tallied 98 receptions for 1,114 yards (11.37) and 11 touchdowns.

    During his 2019 senior season, Ricci started all 13 games, catching 51 passes for 642 yards (12.59) and eight touchdowns. He tied for the team lead in receptions and finished second on the squad in receiving yards. Ricci also tied for the lead in the MAC, and for 40th nationally, in receiving touchdowns. Among tight ends nationally, he tied for third in receiving TDs. Ricci caught two TD passes versus Monmouth and Ohio and had one score against Michigan State, Syracuse, Central Michigan and Toledo.

    As a senior, Ricci caught two or more passes in 11 games and made four or more receptions in eight contests. He finished with a personal-best eight grabs at Syracuse and added a career-high 105 receiving yards versus the Orange. In his two games against Power 5 opponents (Michigan State & Syracuse) during the season, Ricci finished with 14 receptions for 158 yards and two TDs.

    During his junior campaign in 2018, Ricci caught 35 passes for 392 yards (11.20) and three touchdowns to finish third on the team in receptions and receiving yards. He registered two touchdown catches against Delaware State and one against Ball State, hauling in a nine-yard pass from Kaleb Eleby with 1:48 left in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 35-35. Earlier in the final quarter against the Cardinals, Ricci caught a two-point conversion pass from Eleby to knot the contest at 28-28.

    A member of one of the best Western Michigan teams in program history, Ricci primarily played on special teams in 2016 as the Broncos captured the MAC West Division title and Marathon MAC Championship Game crown and made an appearance in the Goodyear Cotton Bowl Classic. Ricci recovered a fumble against Ohio in the Marathon MAC Championship Game, setting up WMU at the Bobcat 17-yard line and leading to a Bronco field goal and a 6-0 lead.

    Ricci graduated from Western Michigan in April, 2019, with a degree in finance.

  • LHS Honors the top Winter Sport Student-Athletes!

    LHS Honors the top Winter Sport Student-Athletes!

    by Cassie Mattia

    Loveland, Ohio – Over the past couple of months many Loveland High School student-athletes have been patiently waiting for an answer as to if and when school and sports would start back up. Unfortunately, it was announced last week by Governor Dewine that Ohio students would not be attending school for the remainder of the school year meaning there would be no continuation of sports for the time being as well.

    Due to the Stay At Home Order stipulations LHS wasn’t able to host their annual Winter Athletics Awards Ceremony, where the top student-athletes are honored for their Winter sports achievements. Here at Loveland Magazine, we couldn’t bear the thought of LHS student-athletes not being honored and recognized by the Loveland community for their fantastic sports seasons so we reached out to LHS’s Athletic Director, Brian Conatser to get a list of all the LHS Winter Sport Athletes that were recognized for their outstanding achievements.

    Without much further ado here are your 2019-2020 LHS Winter Athletics award winners! Please don’t hesitate to give these student-athletes a virtual pat on the back or congratulations for amazing achievements!

    Eastern Cincinnati All-Conference Awards

    Honorable Mention

    – Men’s Basketball – Collin Hedgepeth

    – Women’s Basketball – Sophia Raby

    – Wrestling – Jarod Mendoza

    – Men’s Swim 100 Yard Butterfly – Evan Lucas

    – Women’s Swim 100 Yard Breaststroke – Sarah Lolli

    – Men’s Bowling – Ben Westley

    – Women’s Bowling – Annelise Dartnall

    – Academic Team – Clare Daumeyer

    Second Team

    – Men’s Swim 200 Yard Medley Relay – Brandon Day, Colin Blackburn, Evan Lucas, and Cade Jenkins

    – Men’s Swim 500 Yard Freestyle – Brandon Day

    – Men’s Swim 100 Yard Breaststroke – Colin Blackburn

    – Men’s Basketball – Brenton Foust

    – Academic Team – Ben Rupe

    – Women’s Basketball – Tess Broermann and Kate Garry

    – Wrestling – Michael Soupene, Kobi-D Milam, Jonah Rubio, and Semi Ozarslan

    – Men’s Bowling – Alton French

    – Women’s Bowling – Ashley George

    – Dive – Riley Bullock

    First Team

    – Men’s Swim 200 Yard Freestyle – Brandon Day

    – Men’s Basketball – Ian Cox

    – Academic Team – Simon Grome and Alex Laman

    – Women’s Basketball – Jenna Batsch and Jillian Hayes

    – Wrestling – Brett Hogan and Jake Cotsonas

    – Men’s Bowling – Matthew Rychlik and Jeffrey Scott

    – Women’s Bowling – Ashley Gilker, Yanni Kahrs and Grady Pettit

     

    4 YEAR VARSITY-WINTER SEASON 2019-2020

    Men’s Basketball – Collin Hedgepeth and Alec Soth

    Swim – Brandon Day, Nami Cannon, Audrey Lund, and Amy Deem

    Women’s Basketball – Kate Garry and Jillian Hayes

    Wrestling – Jacob Cotsonas and Kobi-D Milam

    Dive – Riley Bullock

     

    SPORTSPERSON OF THE SEASON-WINTER 2019-2020

    “Every year one Varsity Student-Athlete from each Winter program is chosen as the Sportsperson of the Season by their Coach. This award goes to athletes who demonstrate respect and responsibility for their community, school, team, and above all their character.” 

    Jeffrey Scott (M Bowl)

    Riley Bullock (Dive)

    Kayla Adkins (Cheer)

    Ashley Gilker (W Bowl)

    Jacob Cotsonas (Wrestling)

    Kate Garry (W Basketball)

    Joey Jeffcott (Academic Team)

    Collin Hedgepeth (M Basketball)

    Cade Jenkins (Swim)

     

    EDWARD JONES – COMMUNITY STUDENT-ATHLETE AWARD

    “We have a business in our community who has partnered with LHS to honor not just the outstanding athletic contributions but also good character and leadership within their sports team and school. Edward Jones, located in the business district of Old Loveland and owner Jeff Atkinson is honoring student-athletes for the fall, winter, and spring seasons. The LHS Athletic Department submits accomplishments for many of LHS’s student-athletes based on the criteria of LHS’s 4 CORE VALUES. Those 4 CORE VALUES are Respect, Responsibility, Integrity, and PRIDE. 1 female and 1 male athlete are chosen to represent Loveland High School Athletics as the Outstanding Student-Athlete for the 2019-2020 Winter Season.”

    Jaden Walton (Swim Team) and Emma Christian (W Basketball / Athletic Photography)

    STUDENT-ATHLETES and Teams who were ECC Champs and STATE QUALIFIERS FOR THE 2019-2020 WINTER SEASON 

    Dive State Placers:

    Riley Bullock – 5th place

    Swim State Placers:

    Brandon Day – 2nd in the 200 Freestyle and the 6th 100 Backstroke

    Wrestling State Qualifier:

    Liam Hamill 

    ECC 2019-2020 CHAMPIONS

    Women’s Bowling Team

    Women’s Basketball Team (OHSAA SECTIONAL CHAMPS)

    2019-2020 ECC Women’s Basketball Athlete of the Year

    Jillian Hayes

    2019-2020 ECC Women’s Varsity Basketball Coach of the Year

    Darnell Parker

    Stay tuned for your latest Loveland Sports news with me, Cassie Mattia!

  • Laurie Stroup Smith “Happy Release Day!” for Pockets of Promise

    Laurie Stroup Smith “Happy Release Day!” for Pockets of Promise

    If you’re on Facebook, you can celebrate the release of Pockets of Promise by popping over to https://www.facebook.com/lauriestroupsmith from 8 to 9 PM on Thursday, April 30th.

     

    Laurie Stroup Smith grew up in Loveland and graduated from Loveland High School (https://lauriestroupsmith.com)

    by Laurie Stroup Smith 

    Dear Friends,

    I hope you received the postcard I sent through snail mail, inviting you to join us at the Book Launch Party for Pockets of Promise I had planned to host on May 2nd. Even if the libraries are open on that Saturday, gatherings of more than 10 people are discouraged. As a result, the May 2nd party will be rescheduled. Eventually.

    If you’re on Facebook, you can celebrate the release of Pockets of Promise by popping over to https://www.facebook.com/lauriestroupsmith from 8 to 9 PM on Thursday, April 30th.

    I’ll post questions every 15 minutes or so, and you can leave comments if desired. There will be giveaways, and I’ll draw a winner for each question. Feel free to jump on to say hello, answer one question, or stay through the entire event. In any case, remember to refresh your screen every few minutes so you can see more posts from the party.

    I’ve been asked how people can help promote this book, so I thought I’d share various ways for those who might be interested. If you’re on Goodreads, you could mark Pockets of Promise as “Want to Read.” If you do read the book, you could post a review on sites such as Goodreads and Amazon to help other readers discover the title. I’ve seen Pockets of Promise in paperback on Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Walmart (online), and in ebook on Smashwords, Kobo, B&N. Coming soon to Amazon. I have copies as well. Posting the book cover on social media on April 30th with “Happy Release Day!” would also help spread the word.

    Thank you for your continued support. Hope to see you on the 30th!

    Laurie

    [Video Interview] Former Loveland grad shares her journey from athletic trainer to signing…

  • Sabrina Newstead took a chance and came home to Loveland: Such great news for us all

    Sabrina Newstead took a chance and came home to Loveland: Such great news for us all

    After a totally unprecedented plan of action to safeguard the senior students, Newstead had just 3 days to cram in as much knowledge as she could, to try and pass her long case exam.

    Paul and Sarina Newstead

    by Paul Newstead

    My wife Sarina told me about Loveland Magazine and I thought that this story about our daughter could be a little piece of happiness during these stressful times.

    Our daughter Sabrina Newstead attended the Loveland school system from the time we moved to Loveland from England back in 1999. After graduating LHS in 2012, she attended Ohio Northern University and graduated with a Bachelor of Science (Biology Pre-Med) degree. She was then accepted into the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI) for her Medical Degree program.

    In the middle of March this year, the COVID-19 virus took hold in Ireland. RCSI thought that all graduation exams were going to have to be canceled since they were all due to be held this April. After a number of serious talks within RCSI, they decided upon a totally unprecedented plan of action to safeguard the senior students. In fact, they decided to bring forward all of their end of year medical school exams by 7 weeks! This had never happened before.

    Sabrina Newstead attended the Loveland school system from the time we moved to Loveland from England back in 1999. She graduated from Loveland High School in 2012.

    All the students were told about this. They had not even finished their classes and of course, had not even begun to revise for their end of year exams. Emotions were at fever pitch. To make matters worse, due to scheduling of the incredibly difficult “Long-Case” practical exams, Sabrina was told that her exams would start in just 3 days’ time on a Sunday.

    She had just 3 days to cram in as much knowledge as she could, to try and pass her long case exam. All doctors, professors, and examiners were amazed. This news even hit the press in Ireland (Read the story in The Irish Times). Other colleges were laughing at RCSI thinking that they were overreacting. However, RCSI had the last laugh as the Irish government began to close schools and colleges.

    Sabrina took her long case exam and was then told to pack up and leave Ireland as soon as possible because President Trump had declared that he was going to close international borders. She had less than 48 hours to pack up her 4-year apartment and leave the country.

    ‘Match Day’ (a day in which final year medical students find out if they have matched to a residency program in the states) was the day she was leaving Ireland, and if she did not match back to residency, she had to turn around and go back to Ireland to begin her intern year there. So she took a chance and came home.

    She grabbed as much as she could and packed 3 suitcases.

    She grabbed as much as she could and packed 3 suitcases. She managed to get the last flight out of Ireland bound for Boston and then Cincinnati. Her flight was delayed by 4 hours due to the new medical tests that were being performed in Boston. However, the flight eventually took off, and during the flight home, over the Atlantic, she received an email congratulating her for matching to the United States for her 3-year residency program.

    Sabrina made it home and 4 days later.

    Sabrina made it home and 4 days later found out that her new hospital for residency was The Christ Hospital in Cincinnati. Such great news for us all.

    Once home, she spent the next 2 weeks studying 14 hours a day, in self-quarantine, in her bedroom. RCSI had two more final exams for her to take before she could graduate. She took these two exams and then finally clicked “End Exam” to finish the last exams of her medical school journey.

    Students then wait anxiously for “Reading of results day” which was today, April 22nd. On this day, all graduating students in RCSI discover their results by reading student numbers based on their grades and degree awarded.

    Sabrina was awarded a First Class Honors Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine, Bachelor’s Degree in Surgery, and Bachelor’s Degree in Obstetrics.

    The celebration at home for Sabrina Newstead

    It was incredible. RCSI did a live stream from their offices in Dublin, Ireland. Each of the professors spoke of their absolute admiration for the class of 2020. Never before has a graduating year taken their final medical exams with no prior time for studying.

    She was awarded a First Class Honors Bachelor’s Degree in Medicine, Bachelor’s Degree in Surgery, and Bachelor’s Degree in Obstetrics.

    Congratulations to all the new doctors graduating this year, during the middle of a pandemic. We all support you.

  • Maria Bashardoust: “Here’s to my high school years with my best friends??so bittersweet”

    Maria Bashardoust: “Here’s to my high school years with my best friends??so bittersweet”

    Maria Bashardoust is a Senior at Loveland High School and in the Fall will continue her studies and soccer career at Cleveland State. Maria made this video Monday evening after hearing that the end to her senior year was made official.