School board recognizes Oakview as regional champs
Apr. 30—ASHLAND — Team members of Oakview Elementary School were recognized during an Ashland Independent School Board meeting on Tuesday evening after an impressive showcase during a regional competition.
The Oakview Comets currently sit at the top after snagging first place at the Governor's Cup regional showdown.
The competition was comprised of students from Poage, Louisa East, Ponderosa, Hager, Summit, Charles-Russell, Cannonsburg, Crabbe, Fairview, Blaine, Catlettsburg and Fallsburg Elementary.
Oakview stacked the odds in its favor after beating Poage Elementary in the final quick recall contest, and added cushion toward victory through individual assessment results in mathematics, social studies, arts and humanities, composition and language arts.
In individual subject matter, Oakview's Desmond Kazee, Josie Roberts and Isabella Revely each earned a first-place finish in their respective categories in science, arts and humanities, composition and mathematics.
Kazee collected not only first place in science but also went home with second in mathematics.
Revely, too, finished at the top of two different assessments by collecting first place in both arts and humanities and language arts.
Students John Fox McCloud, Eli Brobbey, Logan Felty, Kaylee Robertson, Kenley Miller and Sophia Strathman also collected hardware in the competition by finishing within the top five of their respective subjects.
With quick recall and multiple assessment scores in their favor, Oakview finished with 46 total points, beating Poage Elementary School's second-place result by 20.5 points.
On Tuesday before the board, the Comets' head coach, Braun Ream, accompanied a portion of his hard-working students who, under his guidance, are now back-to-back regional champions after securing the same victory last year.
But Ream wouldn't take all the credit for the student's successes as he told the board and Superintendent Dr. Sean Howard, their support and resources made all the difference.
With a "Tomcat League" in place, Ream said his young students are able to "hit the ground running" at the beginning of each school year on familiarizing themselves with assessment testing.
This extra preparation, according to Reams, allows his students to become "acclimated" with what academic tests are and gives them the opportunity to start earlier than competitors within the district.
The back-to-back champions aren't letting up, said Reams, as he had the students in attendance raise their hands if they were in fifth grade, adding each of those team members were already practicing for the next level.
"We have a very bright future," Reams said.
With Ashland Middle School and Ashland Blazer High School's academic teams finishing at the top in this years's regional, district and state competitions, the Oakview Comets seem prepared to fill the big shoes ahead of them.
