NEW PARIS — National Trail Local School District announced various student accomplishments with special recognition during a lengthy meeting held Dec. 6. in the high school cafeteria.

High School Principal Ed Eyler said the FFA national judging team won the state contest and went to nationals in Purdue and placed 16th in the country.

“These students are heading towards careers in food and drug administration and things like that,” Eyler said.

Morgan House received 5th in state preliminaries in job interviewing contest.

Eyler recognized the entire chapter in many different events. They had worked on the Storybook Trail at Preble County Historical Society, a program that teaches children about agricultural and different types of land.

Ohio’s Storybook Trails bring books to life for children and families. Storybook Trails are lined with pages from a children’s book to blend the fun of outdoor exploration with reading.

The Ohio Department of Natural Resources launched the Storybook Trail program in 2019 to promote the importance of literacy, a healthy lifestyle and connecting with nature, according to a previous Register-Herald story.

The school recognized students of the month for October and November at the elementary, middle, and high school levels and recognized team members of various sports.

State Champions in Esports were announced by Technology Director Brian Pool.

“There are about 3,000 students in the state of Ohio and about 260 schools. 35 students a season, and two seasons. There are different students each season, as some play traditional sports,” Pool noted.

In the second state championship this year, one student competed with a broken arm.

Esports started five years ago after a student did a research paper on the topic for English class. (From the web: Officially, “Esports” is short for electronic sports and refers to competitive video gaming with tournament and league structures just like traditional sports. In Esports, gamers square off either in teams (multiplayer) or individually.)

Pool also reported on cybersecurity at the school.

“There now are three servers from the military as backup, providing a whole year of backups for the CCTVs. Students’ laptops have been upgraded due to a change in state software,” he said.

“We are working on changing the parent pick-up and drop-off pattern to make it safer for the students,” said Superintendent Bob Fischer. He will be sending out information before Christmas break about an arrangement to start after Christmas.

He reminded parents that they should not drop off their students until 8:15 a.m. He would look into a latchkey program, but he said the school probably didn’t have the staff for it.

Board member Gary Moore asked, “Why are there so many drop-offs? Why don’t they ride the buses?”

Fischer replied that it’s for the convenience of the parents’ schedules, day care and long rides on the bus.

“The safety committee met with Sheriff Michael Simpson on Nov. 29,” Fischer said. Part of the staff training was learning to use features of the phone they weren’t aware of.

Sheriff Simpson told Fischer that National Trail is probably one of best in the county for safety.

The school board’s organizational meeting has been moved from Wednesday, Jan. 17, 2024, to Thursday, Jan. 11, at the National Trail K-12 facility at 6:30 p.m. The regular meeting will begin immediately following the organizational meeting.