In the small school first-round game between Elba and Oakfield-Alabama in the Pete Arras Lions Tournament at Genesee Community College, Elba came out on top 50-46.
Colton Dillion scored 31 points to lead the Lancers to victory and Travis Wiedrich scored 16 for O-A.
Top photo: Colton Dillion.
Photos by Philip Casper.
Elba's Caleb Scouten on a drive to the basket against O-A's Spencer Murphy.
Elba's Collin O'Halloran
O-A's Travis Wiedrich
The Aggies won't get a chance to officially defend their 8-Man Football state championship because the other sections in the state dropped out of the competition, but with a convincing 60-34 win over Maple Grove in the Section V championship at St. John Fisher College, they left little doubt who is #1.
Ty Mott, who gained 202 yards, scored three touchdowns and intercepted two passes, was the game's most valuable player.
Colton Dillon was the offensive player of the game. He rushed for 296 yards, giving him 1,473 yards on the season. He scored four times.
The defensive player of the game was Dylan Rykert who had eight tackles giving him 81 on the season. He also had two sacks. CJ Gottler had three sacks. Dillion had nine tackles.
The Batavian's coverage is the only Section V Athletics-authorized local coverage of the 8-Man championship.
Photos below by Kristin Smith. For more photos, click here, here, and here.
The Oakfield-Alabama/Elba Aggies racked up 514 yards on their way to a 55-0 victory at Van Detta Stadium in the eight-man football Section V semifinal game against Frewsburg.
OA/Elba plays Mercy Grove at Van Detta at 1:30 p.m. next Saturday (Nov. 16) for the sectional championship.
QB Colton Dillon ran for 193 yards and scored three touchdowns. Ty Mott ran for 155 yards and scored two touchdowns and a two-point conversion.
Ty Kornow scored on a 59-yard run and Gaige Armbrewster scored on a 30-yard run. Nick Munger had a TD reception.
Peyton Yasses was involved in 18 tackles, Jayden Hughes and Dylan Rykert, 14 each, Alex Hoy, 13. Rykert had four sacks, CJ Gottler, three, and Yasses, Hughes, Dillon had one apiece. Joey Burdick had two interceptions.
The Batavian's sideline coverage is authorized by Section V Athletics.
Photos below by Kristin Smith. More photos available here and here.
Oakfield-Alabama's open house on Thursday night was capped off by the music department's annual cabaret show, which featured some of the students' favorite show tunes.
For Tim Adams, owner of Adams Welding and Manufacturing in Stafford, donating steel for a class project at Oakfield-Alabama High School is a chance to help students discover a possible career.
For the students, it's a chance to explore a trade and learn new skills.
For the Genesee County Fair, they'll receive new gate racks.
You might call it a win-win-win.
"Any chance kids have for an opportunity to learn a skill or an opportunity to if something is something they want to do in a future career, whether it be welding, electrical, plumbing, or carpentry, any kind of skilled trade, I don't see that as a bad thing," Adams said. "Perhaps they will fall in love with it and like it."
While not necessarily calling it a career just yet, Cierra Tiede said she went from being fearful of welding to really enjoying it.
"It was pretty cool," Tiede said. "I've done another welding projects before, but this was a bigger scale and it was cool to see it all come together in the end."
Instructor Todd Hofheins said it was a great project for the students to learn how to work together as a team, to divide up their labor, coordinate, and ensure all of the five racks are uniform in size and quality.
"The racks need to hold close to 2,000 pounds so they've got to be done properly," Hofheins said.
Without the donation of steel from Adams, the project wouldn't have been possible, Hofheins said.
The girl's basketball team at Oakfield-Alabama held a color run Saturday as a fundraiser for the program.
After falling behind in the first half, Oakfield-Alabama made a run of it in the third quarter against Maple Grove in the Class C Far West Regional Championship game at Buffalo State College and looked like they might pull it out but a six-point fourth quarter doomed the effort.
The Hornets lost 44-38.
Brianna Smith scored 14 points for O-A. Tori Mandel added nine and Kelsey Schlagenhauf and Danica Porter added five apiece.
Photos by Thomas Ognibene from Steve Ognibene Photography.
To view or purchase photos, click here.
The Oakfield-Alabama Hornets beat the Avon Braves at Genesee Community College Wednesday night 46-25 to advance to the Far West Regional championship in Class C.
The Hornets will play Maple Grove at 3 p.m., Saturday, at Buffalo State.
Deputy Howard Wilson started working as the school resource officer for Oakfield-Alabama Central School District at the end of January. The position was officially approved by the Genesee County County Legislature last week, and Friday we got a chance to talk with Wilson about his new job.
Here's a press release from the Sheriff's Office:
Genesee County Sheriff William A. Sheron Jr. is pleased to announce that as a result of the collaboration between the Genesee County Legislature, Oakfield-Alabama Central School Board and the Genesee County Sheriff’s Office, the assignment of a School Resource Officer has been approved.
Deputy Howard O. Wilson V has been selected by the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District as its School Resource Officer. Deputy Wilson is a five-year veteran of the Sheriff’s Office. He was hired as a Correction Officer in 2014 and then appointed to Deputy Sheriff in 2016. During his tenure, he has earned three Commendations.
"The Oakfield-Alabama School District and Board are proud to have Deputy Sheriff Howard Wilson serve as our School Resource Officer," said Superintendent John Fisgus. "We look forward in creating a positive working relationship with him as he will serve to help and assist our students and community in many different facets.
"Thank you to the Genesee County Sheriff's Office for this agreement.”
Sheriff Sheron indicated that his goal has always been to establish a School Resource Officer in all county schools to ensure the safety and protection of the students and faculty.
“With the assignment of Deputy Wilson in the Oakfield-Alabama Schools, we are that much closer to our goal," the sheriff said. "Although the cost associated with placing a School Resource Officer in the schools is significant, I believe the safety and security of our children should be of the utmost precedence.”
Superintendent John Fisgus, Undersheriff Brad Mazur, Sheriff William Sheron, Deputy Howard Wilson, and Legislator John Hilchey.
If a high school basketball team can play a perfect first half of a game, that's what the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets did Saturday morning on their way to an upset victory over #1 seed South Seneca in the Class C3 Section V championship match at Victor High School.
O-A won 43-39.
"Offensively, we were knocking some shots down," said Coach Jeff Schlagenhauf. "Defensively, I thought we were incredibly good. One of the big things that hurt us in the quarter-final and the semifinal was rebounding. We got outrebounded in both games so for the last two days in practice we said, 'look it, we've got to rebound the ball' and I thought we did a really good job."
In the second half, South Seneca started knocking down shots and shaved the O-A lead significantly but the Hornets didn't break. They maintained their mental toughness, countered with their own points and stuck to their defensive game plan.
"You're right, any time they made a run, we had a big play," Schlagenhauf said. "Sometimes it's those little things. There was a couple of deflections that ended up going out of bounds that we got our hands on that changed the possession. Kelsey had a great tie-up on a rebound that gave us a possession. Those are little things that sometimes go unnoticed, but that's how we got back in the game the other night against Keshequa."
For O-A, Tori Mandel scored 14 points and tournament MVP Danica Porter scored 11 points. She also had seven rebounds and Kelsey Schlagenhauf scored six points and had eight rebounds.
The leading scorer for the Hornets on the year, Brianna Smith, with a 15-points-per-game average and 364 points on the year, was held to six points. She also had seven rebounds.
Watch the video for more comments from Schlagenhauf, Mandel and Smith (with our apologies for not including Porter in the video but the cameraman messed up that interview).
Kris Kramer shared this picture from last night at Oakfield-Alabama High School of ice on the trees in the traffic circle after girls basketball last night.
Below, a picture from Chelsea DIbble of ice on a road sign in Indian Falls this morning.
The Elba Lancers stepped on the gas in the final two minutes of their championship game in the Lions Tournament, smaller schools' bracket, against Oakfield-Alabama for a 69-61 win.
The intense play of Colton Dillon (top photo), tournament MVP, and Jon Boyce overcame a 30-point performance by Joey Burdick for the Hornets.
Dillon scored 18 points and Boyce scored 17.
This was Dillon's third game back after missing the start of the season with an injury. He may have been the difference maker Friday night.
"He's such a dynamic athlete," Coach Ciaci Zambito said. "I mean the things that he can do you really can't coach. I'm super lucky to have a kid like that. The other thing is, he is one of the hardest working kids I've ever even been around or let alone coached. You've got to kick him out of the gym every day and on Sunday mornings. He will text me tomorrow morning asking to get in the gym. I can guarantee that."
Boyce, who has the big man on the court in Dillon's absence, said having Dillon back is one more piece of team chemistry that keeps the unit rolling.
"This is a team sport," Boyce said. "You can't do it by yourself. Every night, sharing the ball, taking care of each other you always. It's not just one person that can do it all. We're all fighting. We all know our role. Coach talked a lot about roles before the game. The whole season he's been preaching it. We all know our role."
Zambito gave O-A Coach Ryan Stehlar and the Hornets a lot of credit. He knew they would be a tough matchup and he had to have his guys ready.
"We really needed to match their intensity tonight," Zambito said. They play real hard and that's a testament to their coach. When we play Oakfield, we always know that we're going to get their best shot. He always has them ready to go.
"The second thing, as far as a scheme goes, we needed to get back in transition. They push the ball really well even after makes, which is rare for a high school team. They really get down the floor well. So we needed to come back and be ready to play defense."
Besides Burdick's big night (he hit five three-point shots), Travis Wiedrich scored 14 points for O-A.
Elba outscored the Hornets 22-13 in the final quarter.
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The Attica Blue Devils beat the Oakfield-Alabama Hornets in a game played at O-A on Monday night, 58-48.
Travis Wiedrich scored 17 points for the Hornets and Joey Bordick scored 13.
For Attica, Devon Henderson scored 18 points. Frankie Bisceglie scored 14.
CORRECTION: In our story on the upcoming Lions' Tournament, we incorrectly referred to Coach Ryan Stehlar as a first-year coach. He is in his sixth year coaching the Hornets. We apologize for the error.
To purchase prints, click here.
The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education (BOE), has selected John Fisgus as the district’s next superintendent.
"I am deeply honored and extremely excited to join the Oakfield-Alabama school community and family," Fisgus said. "I am eager to begin my work as your next superintendent and I am excited to work for such a great board and staff at Oakfield-Alabama. It is my mission to make O-A a 'District of Distinction' and through collaboration and teamwork, the place to be!"
Matt Lamb, president of the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education, said: "The Board of Education truly values the input we received from the various stakeholder groups who met with the candidates to help us make a final decision.
"We are confident that John Fisgus will lead our district through the issues we face in our region. With his leadership, we will work together to deliver the best education possible for our students.”
Fisgus is currently the principal of Royalton-Hartland Middle School, in the Royalton-Hartland Central School District (RHCSD), where he has served since 2008. His responsibilities as principal include supervising and hiring all instructional and support staff, developing and managing a building budget as well as assisting with the district budget development process.
Fisgus created honor courses in all four academic core subjects within the middle school and is the facilitator of the district’s Professional Learning Community Team. Prior to that, he served as the assistant principal at Lake Shore Middle School.
Fisgus began his career in education in 1998 as an eighth-grade math teacher at Depew Middle School in the Depew Union Free School District.
He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Secondary Mathematics Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Fisgus earned a Master of Science in School Administration from Canisius College and holds a New York State School Administrator/Supervisor and School Administrator Certificate.
The anticipated start date for the new superintendent is January.
Kevin MacDonald, district superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, acted as the search consultant and noted that the search process was a true collaboration between the Board of Education, district staff and community.
Article by Mike Cintorino, OAE head coach.
The Oakfield-Alabama/Elba Football Team completed a perfect season on Saturday, finishing 8-0 and defeating the Weedsport Warriors 48-6 in the first-ever New York Upstate Championship in Eight-man Football.
Once again it was the defense, as it has been the last three games for OAE, that truly set the tone for the day.
After an opening offensive drive stalled for OAE, the defense got the ball right back after a 3 and out.
Colton Dillon, Section V Offensive Player of the Year, scored the first three touchdowns for OAE. Dillon finished with 128 rushing yards on 13 carries with scores of 2, 6 and 61 yards.
Gage Dieterle (Section V Defensive Player of the Year) added to his resume, earning MVP honors for the game. Dieterle only carried the ball six times but ran for 119 yards and for two big scores with runs of 50 and 35.
Ty Mott continued his strong season with 21 carries for 158 yards and a 44-yard touchdown.
On the defensive side of the ball, Peyton Yasses led the team with 13 tackles while Dieterle had five tackles with two sacks, one forced fumble, and two fumble recoveries. Mott and Ty Kornow both came away with interceptions.
For the third-straight game, the OAE defense held the opposing offense out of the end zone. Weedsports lone score came on a 60-yard kickoff return by Hunter Morgan for a touchdown to open the second half. Jake Maloof led the Warriors with 87 yards on 13 carries.
This has been an unbelievably successful season for the OAE team. The team overcame adversity with the switch to eight-man, learning to apply everything they have done in 11-man and apply it to this new opportunity. The team is 8-0 on the season, League Champions, Section V Champions, and NY Upstate Champions.
Photos by Cindy Cassada .
Colton Dillion, #2
Gage Dieterle
Ty Mott
MVP Gage Dieterle
Press release:
The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education (BOE), has named three finalists in the search for the district’s next Superintendent.
Matt Lamb, president of the Oakfield- Alabama Central School District’s BOE, said he is pleased with the high-quality candidate pool and is enthused about the potential the three finalists have to offer.
“Choosing the best superintendent for our district is the board’s main priority,” Lamb said. “The field of candidates was diverse, which made narrowing the field very difficult. We are confident that one of these individuals will be the best candidate for our school district and community.”
The three finalists are John C. Fisgus, Frank Bai-Rossi and Kathleen E. Affigne, Ph.D.
Fisgus is currently the principal of Royalton-Hartland Middle School, in the Royalton-Hartland Central School District (RHCSD), where he has served since 2008. His responsibilities as principal include supervising and hiring all instructional and support staff, developing and managing a building budget as well as assisting with the district budget development process. Fisgus created honor courses in all four academic core subjects within the middle school and is the facilitator of the district’s Professional Learning Community Team. Prior to that, he served as the assistant principal at Lake Shore Middle School. Fisgus began his career in education in 1998 as an eighth-grade math teacher at Depew Middle School in the Depew Union Free School District. He holds a Bachelor of Science and a Master of Science in Secondary Mathematics Education from the State University of New York at Buffalo. Fisgus earned a Master of Science in School Administration from Canisius College and holds a New York State School Administrator/Supervisor and School Administrator Certificate.
Bai-Rossi is the principal of the Phelps-Clifton Springs Middle/High School, where he has served as principal since 2014. As principal, Bai-Rossi supervises and evaluates a staff of 100. During his tenure as principal, graduation rates have increased to more than 90 percent, and a number of AP and accelerated classes were added at the high school and middle school. In the summer of 2015, Bai-Rossi also managed a large construction project at the high school. From 2007 until 2014, he was the assistant principal at Penfield High School. Bai-Rossi began his career in education in 1995 at Hillside Children’s Center as a special education teacher. He continued his career as special education teacher at Greece Central Schools and also served as a special education building leader. Bai-Rossi earned a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Alfred University, a Master of Science in Elementary and Special Education from Nazareth College and a Master of Science in School Administration from Canisius College. He is certified as a New York State School District Administrator/Supervisor and School Administrator.
Kathleen Affigne, Ph.D., is the interim principal for Fort Montgomery Elementary School in Highland Falls. She is responsible for all aspects of prekindergarten through second grade instruction, budgeting, professional development, evaluation and implementation of New York state mandates and budgeting. From 2014 until 2018, Affigne served as the assistant superintendent for curriculum, instruction and pupil personnel services for the Millbrook Central School District. During her tenure as assistant superintendent, Affigne implemented district and building level data teams to analyze data sets to inform curriculum and instruction decision-making. Previously, she was the director of instructional services for the Warwick Valley Central School District in Warwick. Affigne began her career in 1984 as an instrumental music teacher for grades 4-8 in the Monroe-Woodbury Central School District. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Music Education from the University of Bridgeport, a Master of Science in Music Education from Central Connecticut State University, and a doctorate in Educational Administration and Policy Studies from the State University of New York (SUNY) at Albany. She earned a Certificate of Advanced Study in Educational Administration from SUNY New Paltz.
Final rounds of interviews with the three candidates are set for Nov. 14, 15 and 16 at the Oakfield-Alabama Central School District. Candidate meet and greet forums will be held from 4-4:30 p.m. in the Oakfield-Alabama High School Auditorium on the following dates:
- Kathleen Affigne, Nov. 14
- John C. Fisgus, Nov. 15
- Frank Bai-Rossi, Nov. 16
The anticipated start date for the new superintendent is January.
Kevin MacDonald, District Superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, who is acting as search consultant, said the Board has developed and implemented a process that will help determine the best candidate.
“This is a rigorous search process,” MacDonald said. “The finalists will visit the district to tour and meet with staff and community members. The process concludes with the Board meeting to make a final decision.”
Jenny Staebell had her first child when she was 19, and put herself through college, earning a master’s degree and becoming a teacher.
Staebell is now the director and community health educator for Project Stork Inc., a nonprofit organization she started, providing services for Genesee and Orleans counties. She is a certified NYS Health Educator for prekindergarten through grade 12.
The program empowers young people to make healthy decisions about education, relationships, sex, parenting and their lives. In addition to helping teen parents, the program has services and workshops for younger children, starting in kindergarten, and parents of teens.
“I decided one day I wanted to do something greater than what I was doing,” Staebell said. “I wanted to impact lives. I took some time off, and Project Stork evolved to what it is today.”
According to the Family and Youth Services Bureau, there are approximately 750,000 teen pregnancies and 400,000 teen births in the United States every year. According to Staebell, in Genesee County, there is a rate of 15.1 teen pregnancies, ages 15 to 19 per 1,000 females. In 2015, there were 28 pregnancies, of which 20 live births occurred and 8 induced abortions.
Staebell started taking participants for the programs, and has nine moms in the programs, between the ages of 16 and 20. Some are pregnant, some are parenting and first-time moms.
“I meet with them once a month, but every day I am in contact with them through texting, or I check on them through Facebook to see if they need anything,” Staebell said. “I go out and drop off a bunch of stuff to get them ready and prepared. I keep in close contact to make sure everything is OK and that they know they have the support also.”
There are multiple programs throughout Project Stork that offer many goals, whether it be finishing high school or finding a career in the work field. Project Stork helps put the parent in contact with resources throughout the county to complete those goals.
There is also positive parenting workshop for young moms or dads. They use a program called “Nurturing Parents,” which is an evidence-based program developed specifically for teen parents.
Through each program, if the participants meet the goals, at the end of the month, Project Stork purchases something the parent may need.
“We’ve purchased crib, car seat, stroller, other baby gear items, or items for their household,” Staebell said. “Also, a microwave, interview clothes, and things of that nature.”
Teens enrolled in the programs also receive a monthly supply of diapers and wipes.
Project Stork offers resources, such as healthy workshops, which have been offered in schools throughout the area for all different age groups. Staebell is hoping the programs will be offered county-wide in the future.
All programs and services are free.
Students in kindergarten through fifth grade learn can about nutrition, growth, mental health, being a good friend, or being in dangerous situations.
Middle school students learn about nutrition and lessons that fit the health curriculum. High school students have lessons that fit the health class curriculum, as well as dating violence, contraception, and various topics in sexual health.
These programs started being offered in Oakfield-Alabama and Le Roy during the end of last year.
Sara Horgan, a teacher in Le Roy, said Staebell is a great resource for her in the classroom, as well as the community.
“I definitely have not taken full advantage of all Project Stork has to offer yet,” Horgan said.
Horgan was looking for updated research-based curriculum to use in her classroom, and Project Stork has been a valuable resource for her.
“I have also referred students and their families to the Project Stork community-based resources,” Horgan said. “In conjunction with our school social worker, we are also currently piloting a girls' wellness group with Project Stork. [It is] very much in the beginning stages, but we are hopeful that group can grow and help more girls make healthy decisions now and in the future.”
Staebell said they are currently looking to get a location in Genesee County for a Project Stork office.
“We want a place to have some office hours for young parents to come in, enroll in classes and get supplies,” Staebell said.
Project Stork is made possible through donations, sponsors, and fundraisers, but Staebell is hoping to eventually get grants to run more programs.
“We’re hoping each month to do a bigger event and a bigger fundraiser,” Staebell said.
Donations can also be made to Project Stork directly through their website, located here.
The organization's email address is: projectstorkinc@gmail.com
Press release:
The Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board of Education held a special board meeting on Friday, July 13 to appoint Michael Crumb as the Interim Superintendent effective July 30 until Jan. 4, 2019. Crumb replaces Mark Alexander who recently announced his resignation to accept a position as Director of Transportation for Akron Central Schools.
Matt Lamb, Oakfield-Alabama Central School District’s Board president, said, “The Board is duly impressed with Michael Crumb’s background and experience. We are confident that Michael will guide our District through these next five months as we begin our formal search process for a Superintendent of Schools.”
Crumb retired in 2017 after serving the Spencerport Central School District for 19 years where he worked as an assistant principal, assistant and deputy superintendent, and superintendent.
“I am extremely honored to have been asked by the Oakfield-Alabama Board of Education to provide leadership and support during the upcoming transition,” Crumb said. “Further, I am excited about the opportunity to collaborate with the staff, parents and school community on the education provided to each of the District’s students.”
Kevin MacDonald, District superintendent of the Genesee Valley Educational Partnership, assisted with the interim search and will also act as the final search consultant. He noted that the Board will develop and implement a rigorous process that will help determine the best candidate.
Kayla Harding, with teacher Lorna Klotzbach, was named the seventh grade Citizen of the Year at Oakfield-Alabama Middle School during an awards ceremony in the auditorium yesterday.
Below, Jessica Brown, seventh-grade winner of the Citizen of the Year Award in 2017 with best friend with Victoria Kruppenbacher, the 2018 eighth-grade winner and Jonathan Boje, Social Studies teacher.
The high school held its awards ceremony earlier in the morning and named Justina Pruski valedictorian and Lauren Reding salutatorian.
The high school Citizens of the Year were:
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