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photos by lauren heaton YSHS students Dylan Amlin, Birch Robinson-Hubbuch, and Alexis Onfroy-Curley were semi-finalists in this fall’s National Achievement and National Merit Scholarship programs.

YSHS names three merit scholars

By Lauren Heaton

Yellow Springs High School can boast of three students who were named semifinalists in this fall’s National Achievement and National Merit Scholarship programs. Based on their 2008 preliminary SAT scores, seniors Birch Robinson-Hubbuch and Alexis Onfroy-Curley earned the achievement award, and senior Dylan Amlin earned the merit award. All three will be eligible to compete for scholarship awards to be announced in the spring of 2010.

Achievement program participants Robinson-Hubbuch and Onfroy-Curley were two of the 1,600 highest scoring black American high school students on the pre-SAT. According to the nomination notices, they can become finalists based on their grades, recommendations and an essay, which could qualify them to compete for one of 700 National Achievement Scholarships for $2,500 awarded in the U.S. next spring. They could also be eligible for corporate-sponsored awards, some of which are renewable for four years of undergraduate study.

Merit program participant Amlin was one of the 16,000 highest scoring scholars on the pre-SAT. According to his nomination notice, Amlin can also become a finalist in the merit category by submitting grades, recommendations and an essay, and can compete for one of approximately 8,200 National Merit Scholarships to be awarded in the spring. The size of the awards vary from $2,500 to unspecified amounts underwritten by sponsoring businesses and academic institutions.

Robinson-Hubbuch attended Yellow Springs schools K–12, and developed an early interest in writing. He participated in Power of the Pen at McKinney Middle School and continued throughout high school to write and draw for himself, mostly sketches of the “big gnarly monsters” he envisions in his science fiction short stories, he said in an interview on Monday. His stories are inspired by his favorite writer, Stephen King, and the post-colonialist texts course he takes at Wright State University. He hopes to take local resident Jimmy Chesire’s short story writing class there in the spring as his first official launch into the serious world of fiction.

In addition to letters, Robinson-Hubbuch is a member of the high school cross country and track teams, and also plays the guitar. He is the son of Jocelyn Robinson and Seth Gordon and Behrle and Jeannette Hubbuch.

Onfroy-Curley came to Yellow Springs from Paris when he was 3 years old and has attended the local public schools since kindergarten. Though he hasn’t worked as hard as he should, he said on Tuesday, he has been lucky to have gotten a good education in the village. He has played soccer all of his life, most of that under the tutelage of current YSHS varsity soccer coach Jim Hardman.

His roots in France, where he has returned often with his parents Violette-Anne Onfroy-Curley and Bob Curley, have led him toward the pursuit of a career in which he can use his bilingual skills, possibly in foreign relations. After taking advantage of a brief YSHS exchange program to French-speaking Rwanda this past summer, Onfroy-Curley plans to graduate in December and spend time in Marseilles. He hopes to return to attend the University of Chicago.

What Dylan Amlin has liked most about his years in Yellow Springs schools are the people here, whom he finds to be genuine and socially aware, he said this week. He feels comfortable expressing himself here, in ways he wouldn’t elsewhere, which is why when he felt last year that he might be finished with school, he chose to return for his senior year. He enjoyed Scooby Doo and Monster costume days and has gotten a lot of his own reading done this year on Eastern philosophy and the ancient Cynics, which prompted his recommendation that the high school create a bigger variety of interesting electives that students can take.

Amlin plans to travel to Patagonia for a community-building project with Outward Bound in December and then plans to spend a month in Sri Lanka in the spring with a monk who has come to the Yellow Springs Dharma Center. His parents are Jeff Amlin and Joyce Thornton.

Contact: lheaton@ysnews.com

Bulldog sports round-up

Miller runs at regionals
Ninth-grader Lois Miller was the lone runner from Yellow Springs to compete in the Div. regional cross-country meet in Troy on Saturday, Oct. 31. In a field of 126 high school girls, Miller finished 56th in 21:46.67, with an average of 7:00.6 per mile.

Boys soccer falls at districts
The Yellow Springs High School boys soccer team had hoped to get a shot at the Division III district title, but the team first had to make it past the number one seed from the Cincinnati sectional. Yellow Springs, seeded third in the Dayton section, faced off against Cincinnati Seven Hills on Saturday, Oct. 31, in the district semifinals at Winton Woods. The Bulldogs went under 3–1. Seven Hills plays Summit Country Day this week, with the winner to advance to the district finals on Saturday, Nov. 7.

Basketball class for kids starts

The Crickets basketball program for girls and boys in first to third grades starts Friday, Nov. 6. Six Friday sessions will be held at 6–7 p.m. in the Bryan Center gym, ending Dec. 18. The sessions focus on fundamentals and consist of mostly drills with some informal scrimmage games. Interested players can register at the beginning of the first session they attend. Players are encouraged to attend as many sessions as possible. Registration is free but donations are accepted. T-shirts will be available for purchase. Contact Rich Miller at richmiller1@gmail.com or 767-2049 with any questions.