A brief look back at an eventful school year.
by oliviamiltner, ‘13 and mattiestevens, ‘13
Upper Arlington graduate Abby Johnston won a silver medal on Jul. 29
, 2012 for the women’s 3-meter springboard synchronized diving competition in the London 2012 Summer Olympics.
Photo courtesy of Mike Manser
Jocelyn Smallwood, a 2008 graduate of UAHS, became the first African American woman to dot the ‘i’ at an OSU football game and the first woman to dot the ‘i’ at a Michigan game on Nov. 24, 2012. The 2012 season for the Buckeyes was full of other firsts, too, most notably the addition of Urban Meyer as head coach.
Nov. 6, 2012 brought about another presidential election, with incumbent Barack Obama pitted against Mitt Romney, former governor of Massachusetts. But other issues and races also hit home for many UA residents, as former UA teacher Maureen Reedy ran for the Ohio House of Representatives, and the UA school district had a levy on the ballot. As result came in, Obama defeated Romney, Stephanie Kunze defeated Reedy and the UASD levy failed.
On November 29, Barrington Elementary School teacher Megan Fedorko suddenly passed away at her home. She was a third grade teacher who was loved and will be missed by many. She was married and had a daughter and a son. The cause of her death is unknown.
Tragedy brought the nation together in 2012 as two of the U.S.’ worst incidents of gun violence tore through the hearts of Americans. The first, a mass shooting at a movie theatre in Aurora, Colorado, killed 12 people on July, 20. The second resulted in the deaths of 27 students and educators at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut on Dec. 14.
After the movie 2012 came out, the public had been concerned about the world ending on Dec. 21, 2012, as predicted by the Mayan calendar finishing. While there was gloomy weather, there was no zombie apocalypse and the population survived. The world goes on.
Upper Arlington High School’s music department debuted its 10th anniversary production of Les Miserables on Feb. 21.
Photo courtesy of Matt Stephan
Throughout the year, seniors Kevin King, Liam Kirkpatrick, Kevin Murray, and Matt Stephan form the band Midnight Coast, have been writing music, recording their songs to produce a CD, and playing at small gigs. As a result they were able to record and produce their own CD, which can be found on iTunes. In March, they got the opportunity to play at Newport Music Hall, and had a large turnout, selling more than 100 tickets.
Photo courtesy of Patrick Whittemore/Boston Herald/MCT
In the wake of a failed and now recovering economy, budgets are tight on everyone and UA schools saw those effects this past election. When the levy failed, the district had to cut over 20 teachers and the school will be on a strict budget for the next few years, hoping that the next levy passes.
At 2:50 in the afternoon on April 15, the annual Boston Marathon was brought to an abrupt halt when two bombs went off at the finish line, killing three and injuring over 200 people. After thorough investigation, they tracked down Tamerlan and Dzhokhar Tsarnaev, and after gunfire and manhunts, Tamerlan was pronounced dead while Dzhokhar was found bleeding and in critical condition in a boat in a stranger’s backyard.