Young Scientists Put Everyday Problems To The Test At St. Joe’s
Ever wonder which tennis ball bounces the highest or which brand of orange juice has the most vitamin C?
Eighth-grade students at St. Joseph Catholic School wondered that along with much more in this year’s school science fair.
“The kids have done a good job of going through the scientific method to reach their conclusions,” science teacher Don Kline said.
The 32 students in the class began research for their projects in November.
On January 17, they presented them to their fellow classmates, teachers and judges.
“My family was going to buy windows, so I just decided to do this,” explained Samuel Johnson, who tested windows to see which kind allowed the most heat to escape.
After testing four types, he found that a special double-pane glass proved most efficient in keeping heat from escaping.
Fire retardants sparked Gwen Brassel’s interest.
“I was always interested in fire and fire retardants, and with the wild fires out west, I decided to learn which would be best to inhibit fire,” she said.
Assistance from a local fire department in Perrysburg helped her conduct her test.
“I tested the products in the parking lot of the fire station,” she said.
Tyler Scarborough received guidance from his grandfather’s cleaning business for his project, which tested the removal of red wine stains.
Using an “ultrasonic” method, which mixes sound with water, he tested the method on red wine stains on a variety of fabrics.
“It didn’t work on the cotton or silk, but it did work on the nylon, fleece and sheer,” he said.
Additionally, Shannen Wesley determined that the Wilson Regular Duty tennis ball bounced the highest, and Missa Suder figured out that Meijer brand orange juice contains more vitamin C than Minute Maid, Tropicana or Simply Orange.
After 30 Years, Dan Rochte Hangs Up His Bag
After 30 years as a postal carrier in Waterville, Dan Rochte has walked 75,000 miles, driven 50,000 miles, delivered 1.5 million pieces of mail and reported to 35 bosses.
On February 1, Rochte will hang up his mailbag and head south for a few months. He deserves it. After all, he’s endured his share of goose egg mornings and below-zero wind chills.
The coldest day, he recalls, was December 24, 1983. Temperatures hovered at minus 14 degrees and the wind chill registered around 40 below.
“We kept covered up with scarves,” he recalled. “Because it was Christmas Eve, we were motivated to keep going.”
Cold can be battled with bundling up and moving quickly, he said, but bone-chilling, soaking rains are worse. Even while wearing a cape, a pith helmet and carrying a bag with a cover, it’s nearly impossible to keep the mail, or the body, dry.
When Rochte was in the Air Force in 1973, he dreamed of a job where he could be outside, get some exercise and avoid that cooped-up feeling many office workers have.
The Waterville native applied for spots in Maumee, Toledo and Waterville. He was offered a position in Maumee, but the lure of home was too strong to resist.
“This is my hometown,” he said. “How could I say no?”
Focusing mostly on the older, downtown area, Rochte does what he calls a “park and loop,” where he delivers a few blocks, then moves his truck to another location.
“It’s all an efficient line of travel,” he said.
However, he still ends up walking 10 miles a day. He also has a driving route. Waterville, he said, has expanded from two and a half routes in the village to four city and two full rural routes.
The biggest change has been the increase in ”bulk business mail” – don’t call it junk mail, he said.
While he’s enjoyed the on-the-job exercise, he said he’ll be glad to go for shorter walks without a heavy satchel. He also won’t miss some of the dangers – such as dogs and their land mines.
He’s had 10 dog bites, including four by “dogs that don’t bite,” according to their owners.
“One woman said, ‘Don’t worry, my dog won’t bite,’ while he’s got his teeth on my leg,” Rochte said. “I’m an intruder in their space every day, so of course they’re going to try to protect it. You can’t change the behavior, even if you take them to a doggy psychiatrist!”
Rochte laughs that the job has been exciting every day and yet mind-numbingly boring – especially considering he delivers a 12- to 15-foot-high stack of mail every day. However, he wouldn’t trade the friendships he’s made.
“They’ve been the best part of this job,” he said. “Customers have made me cookies and candies and fudge and all sorts of homemade treats, given me gloves and socks and ornaments and offered water and pop and other liquid refreshments. I will truly miss them.”
In his spare time, Rochte has restored a ’57 Chevy and customized a ’95 Chevy pickup and a ’85 Chevy pickup. In his retirement, Rochte plans to continue his part-time hobby of restoring classic cars through his cousin Chris Rochte’s New Directions Auto Works in Toledo.
After Rochte and his wife Debbie return from Florida, they’ll have a larger farewell party, said postmaster Pam Maluso. But she encourages Rochte’s customers to stop in and say goodbye on his last day.
SHS Graduate Lt. Corey Steiner Thanks Students For Support
He may be on military leave, but Lt. Corey Steiner wasn’t resting this week. Instead, he was visiting Springfield schools and St. Joan of Arc to thank students for their abundant letters and packages while he was in Iraq for 15 months – and to answer their questions.
“I loved getting the letters and boxes. They’re fantastic young Americans,” Corey said.
“Some of the questions are hilarious,” his wife Lena added.
At St. Joan of Arc, youth wanted to know if he wore Army pajamas, if he walked around naked when it was hot, and if he took a boat back from Iraq, Lena said.
At Holloway Elementary on Tuesday, second-, third- and fourth-graders saw Corey’s nine-pound helmet with night-vision goggles, a bulletproof vest and backpack, after asking the 25-year-old Springfield High School graduate rapid-fire questions.
Just for the record, he has played Xbox 360 and Game Boy, but not a Wii. He likes golf, baseball and softball, but he’s not good at basketball, despite his height. He and Lena don’t have children, but they have a chocolate lab named Roxie and a red nose pit bull named Sandy.
And yes, he’s shot his gun; he’s even blown up a house, but other than twisting his ankle in a hole, he hasn’t sustained any injuries.
During the summer, temperatures topped out at 120 degrees and dropped to 90 at night, but he still had to wear a uniform. Winter days were a pleasant 60 degrees and dipped to 30 at night.
Corey is a first lieutenant in the Army, an infantry platoon leader for 30 men, stationed near Baghdad.
“We worked hard with local leaders to help solve problems,” Corey said, such as lack of supplies or need for security.
What he didn’t mention until prodded was that he received a Bronze Star in December, after his commander wrote a glowing letter about Corey going above and beyond the call of duty and showing tremendous leadership skills. He should achieve the rank of captain this summer.
For the teachers who have known Corey and his family, that’s no surprise. He graduated in the top 10 percent of his class and was involved in the JROTC program at Springfield High School.
With a full ROTC scholarship, he attended The Ohio State University, majoring in business with a focus on logistics and marketing. His Army commitment includes four years of active duty and four years in the active reserves.
After graduating and getting married in June 2005, he did his officer’s training in Fort Knox and ranger training at Fort Carson. Corey was deployed to Iraq in October 2006 and, except for a two-week leave in June 2007, he was in Iraq until stepping off the plane in Colorado on December 31.
“He looked thin,” his mom Ann said. “And extremely muscular.”
After a big steak dinner and time with family and friends, Corey and Lena left for Belize for a much-needed vacation. Lena, a graduate of Maumee Valley Country Day School, is earning her master’s degree in secondary education at the University of Colorado and plans to teach English as a second language. The couple met when she was 13 and he was 15 at Church of the Cross United Methodist Church.
It’s faith that has sustained Corey’s parents during his 15-month absence.
“Every morning and night we pray to place him in God’s hands,” Ann said.
Corey’s younger brother Kyle plans to follow in his footsteps. The 2006 SHS graduate attends OSU on an ROTC scholarship, majoring in business with a focus on logistics and marketing.
His sister Rebecca, a 1999 SHS graduate, is currently studying anesthesiology at the University of Michigan. And Laura, a 2003 SHS graduate, teaches sixth grade in Colorado. Her class has also inundated Corey with packages and letters.
“Some of the guys in his unit thought he was some type of movie star,” his mom laughed. Once, Corey received so many packages in one day that he opened them up, set them outside his door, and told his men to take whatever they wanted.
Family, friends and complete strangers send letters, candy, toiletry items and snack foods. While out on five- to seven-day missions, a can of tuna or a protein bar would boost Steiner’s energy level.
Infantry service is a far cry from working behind a desk – which is precisely why Corey signed up with the Army.
He’ll remain stationed at Fort Carson, Colo., for a while, but he expects to be deployed to Iraq again. And if he is, he knows he can count on plenty of packages from Ohio and Colorado.
