Onaga USD 322 - Onaga | Havensville | Wheaton

On Friday, Onaga High School senior Eva Krohn will be running the annual blood drive at the school. The dates for this semester's drive (December 16th) and next semester's (April 26th) are set, and you can sign up for a time to donate at either event today. The one taking place on Friday will run from 11:00am to 5:00pm in the commons area and both students and those in the community are invited to participate. Those under the age of 16 that wish to donate will need a parent's signature to do so. To help Eva reach her goal and to donate to an always-needed cause, please follow the link below and schedule your donation time today! https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=OnagaHS

With the final week of the first semester upon us, USD 322 will be having some holiday fun! Get your Christmas gear out for "Holiday Spirit Week!"

The high school wrestling team kicked off their season this morning and they got to do so at the friendly confines of Onaga High School, with the Onaga Winter Classic wrestling tournament. Wrestling got underway at 9:45 this morning and the Buffalo grapplers are doing well so far. On the JV side of the tournament, sophomore Wyatt Boggs pinned a Horton wrestler, then pinned one from Royal Valley, and is getting ready for a semifinal match against a wrestler from Rock Creek. Meanwhile, freshman Brayden Poell pinned a Jeff West wrestler and is also in the semifinals against an opponent from Nemaha Central. On the varsity side, junior Landon Koelling, Kansas's 4th ranked wrestler in 3-2-1A, received a first round bye as the top seed, then made quick work of his next two opponents with pins against a Nemaha Central wrestler, then another in the semifinals against an opponent from Manhattan High School. He will wrestler for the championship this afternoon against a Herington opponent. Senior Wyatt Pennington lost his first match and is wrestling on the consolation side of the 138 pound bracket. Senior Nick Thompson, like Landon, received a first round bye as the top seed, then pinned a Nemaha Central opponent to earn a spot in the championship match at 190 pounds. Junior Tatum Lara is wrestling 285 this year and is off to a 2-0 start to his season, winning a 7-6 match against a Nemaha Central wrestler in the opening round, then pinning an opponent from Manhattan High. He is getting set for his semifinal match against a Rock Creek wrestler to earn a spot in the championship round. It's been a great start to the day for Onaga, come out and cheer on the boys as they make their final push to the end! Keep up the hard work boys! GO BUFFALOES!!!

Mr. Kufahl's "History of Onaga & Pottawatomie County" class spent this morning at the museum in Onaga working on a project. The class is doing research on the four original towns that made up what we consider to be the Onaga "area" before the railroads were built and our town was established; Duluth, Neuchatel, Vienna, and Pleasant Valley. Located five miles south of Onaga, Vienna was the major town in our area prior to the railroads and was actually the second largest town in Pottawatomie County in the early years of the county's existence. Several of the people that founded Onaga had actually lived in Vienna prior to the railroad. Neuchatel was where many of the French and Swiss settlers made their home and is where names like Bonjour, Junod, Labbe, Jeanneret, and many others got their start here. Duluth was the German settlement of the area and its founders included names like Kolterman, Brunkow, Kufahl, Wegner, Knipp, and Harwich. Pleasant Valley is the lesser known of the four towns, but it's boundaries would have been right on the outskirts of Onaga. Henry Hoover was one of the founders of the community and the house he built when he first settled here was where school was taught by his wife during the town's first year of existence. It still stands today and is the current home of Shari Marten. The students in the class learned the basic history of each town in class and are now doing research to extend their knowledge and understanding of them and their impact on the creation of Onaga. They chose which town each of them would like to focus on, and are exploring the museum for more information to add to their projects. Today was the first of three days they'll spend at the museum collecting information. A special thanks to Debbie Berges and the rest of the Historical Society for all of their assistance in helping our kids learn more about their history!

The junior high basketball teams are back on the road for the second time this week as they head to Doniphan West for a matchup with the Mustangs. Action begins at 4:00pm with the B-Team girls, and will be followed by the B-Team boys, A-Team girls, then the A-Team boys. All games will be played in Highland at the school, an address for which can be found on the "Athletic Schedules" page of the district website. The games will be livestreamed on the NFHS Network, a link for which can also be found on the district website on the homepage. Good luck to both teams tonight, GO BUFFALOES!!! Athletics Schedules https://www.usd322.org/athletics?filter_ids=37089 NFHS Network https://www.nfhsnetwork.com/schools/onaga-high-school-onaga-ks

This week’s StuCo Staff Spotlight is on Mr. Tim Kite. Mr. Kite is our high school’s English teacher. He has been working in Onaga for 42 years. Thank you, Mr. Kite, for all you do for us!!! Favorite color: Blue Favorite flower: orchid Favorite sweet snack: Snickers Favorite salty snack: Chips and Salsa Favorite Place to Shop: any place that sells knives or vinyl records Favorite Classroom Supplies: dry-erase markers Favorite Movie: The Two Towers (#2 in the Lord of the Rings trilogy) Favorite book: The Way of Kings (#1 in The Stormlight Archives series by Brandon Sanderson Favorite team: KC Chiefs Favorite fast-food restaurant: Hardees Favorite sit-down restaurant: Longhorns Favorite animal: Dog Favorite quote: “The best way out is always through.” (Robert Frost) Favorite Hobby: traveling/planning for traveling How do you wind down at the end of the day: I goon out looking at cars for sale on the internet. Anything else you’d like us to know about you: I collect knives and vinyl records.

The high school basketball teams are back in action tonight and are on the road for the first time. The teams will head to Oskaloosa this afternoon for non-league games against the Bears. Action gets underway at 4:30pm, a change from the time on the school calendar with the addition of a c-team boys game. Here is the schedule for the night: Main Gym - JV Girls - Varsity Girls - Varsity Boys Secondary Gym - JV Boys - C-Team Boys (2 quarters) Good luck to all of our student-athletes today, GO BUFFALOES!!!

The junior high basketball teams are back on the road tonight as they head to Blue Valley for a non-league tilt with the Rams. It seems that sickness has hit Blue Valley especially hard, so there has been some changes to tonight's schedule. The c-team boys game has been cancelled, and the b-team girls will only play two quarters instead of the originally planned full game. That means the schedule for tonight's games are as follows: 5:45pm - A-team girls (new gym) - B-team boys (old gym) Immediately following conclusion of those games - A-team boys (new gym) - B-team girls (two quarters in old gym) Good luck to both teams tonight, GO BUFFALOES!!!

In two weeks, Onaga High School senior Eva Krohn will be organizing the annual blood drive at the school. The dates for this month's drive and next semester's have been set for December 16th and April 26th, respectively, and you can sign up for a time to donate at either event today. The one taking place in two weeks will run from 11:00am to 5:00pm in the commons area and both students and those in the community are invited to participate. Those under the age of 16 that wish to donate will need a parent's signature to do so. To help Eva reach her goal and to donate to an always-needed cause, please follow the link below and schedule your donation time today! https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=OnagaHS

This week’s StuCo Staff Spotlight is on Mrs. Juley Kolterman. Mrs. Kolterman is our school’s K-12 Student Success Liaison. She has been working in Onaga for 7 years. Thank you, Juley, for all you do for us!!! Favorite color: Blue Favorite flower: Purple Stock (it smells so good) Favorite sweet snack: Reeces Peanut Butter Cups Favorite salty snack: Popcorn Favorite Place to Shop: Amazon Favorite Classroom Supplies: Fancy pens or pencils Favorite Movie: I have two…Titanic and Shutter Island Favorite book: Anything by Colleen Hoover Favorite team: Onaga Buffaloes! Favorite fast-food restaurant: Ugh, Freddy’s Frozen Custard Favorite sit-down restaurant: Texas Roadhouse Favorite animal: My Cat, Cocoa Favorite quote: “And you will seek me and find me, when you search with all your heart” - Jeremiah 29:13 Favorite Hobby: Anything with my family. Reading is a close second. How do you wind down at the end of the day: Reading Anything else you’d like us to know about you: If you know me at all, you know the joy that helping others brings to my heart. This is my secret - “If you help someone else get to the top of a mountain, you will find yourself there too!”

The junior high wrestling season came to a close on Saturday when the team went to Rossville for the final tournament of the season. The junior Buffalo grapplers capped off an already successful season with another great performance, winning 80% of their matches on the day, the highest win percentage of any school in the 15-team field. Jesse Miller and Monty Meyerkorth each went undefeated on the day, taking home 1st place. Xavier Berges, Rhistyn Jackson, and Cody Pennington all lost one match a piece to take home 2nd place in the event. It was a season full of wins for the junior high team will multiple top finishes in tournaments, and a combined record for the wrestlers of 70 wins and 27 losses, a win percentage of over 72%. To check out how each individual wrestler did this season, follow the link below to the team's page on the school website. Congratulations to the entire team on a great season, GO BUFFALOES!!! https://www.usd322.org/page/jhwrestling

Thanksgiving break officially begins at 3:30pm this afternoon, but before they can start thinking about turkey, the junior high basketball teams have one final game before their break. Tonight the teams play host to Axtell in their second games of the season. While it does say on the school calendar that the game is in Axtell, this mistake was realized and it was announced early in the school year that this game is in fact in Onaga, and the second game between the two teams on December 1st will take place in Axtell. Tipoff tonight is set for 6:00pm with the A-team girls in the north gym and B-team boys in the south gym. Immediately following those games, the A-team boys will play in the north gym and the B-team girls will play in the south. Finally, capping the night off will be two quarters of C-team boys in the north gym. Good luck to all of our student-athletes tonight, GO BUFFALOES!!!

Congratulations to Jeramia Dorsey, Rayce Fisher, Zac Fisher, Colby Fordham, and Landon Koelling! The Twin Valley League announced its selections for the All-League football teams this morning and these five Buffaloes were on them. Dorsey, Rayce, and Fordham were all named to the 1st Team. Fordham was named to the offense as an offensive lineman. The senior finished this year as a three-year starter on the the line for Onaga. Rayce and Dorsey were named to the defensive team as a defensive lineman and linebacker, respectively. Rayce was the team leader this season in sacks and tackles for loss, while Dorsey finished as the team's leading tackler. This was Dorsey and Fordham's first ever All-League designation of any kind, while Rayce was a 2nd Team All-League offensive lineman in 2021. Zac and Koelling were named to the league's 2nd Team. It is the first All-League designation for Koelling, a junior who finished as one of the top tacklers for the Buffaloes in 2022. Zac would have undoubtedly been a 1st team selection had he not been injured in the first quarter of Onaga's second game. The senior was named 2nd Team All-League in 2019 as a freshman, again in 2020 as a sophomore, and was 1st Team All-League as a junior in 2021. This season the quarterback set the school's single-game rushing record for a quarterback in his first ever 11-man game. The league's coaches obviously recognized Zac's abilities as they named him 2nd Team All-League this season, despite playing in less than five total quarters.

Junior high open gym begins tonight. The north gym will be open for all 6-8 graders from 5:30pm to 7:00pm. We hope to see you all there!

Here are this week's PE award winners! These students had an outstanding week showing good teamwork, sportsmanship, participation and hustle! Kindergarten-Kaiden Matson 1st grade-Zoey Starns 2nd grade-Brinley Bean 3rd grade-Khalli Barth 4th grade-Grayson Kaberline 5th grade-Tatum Utley 6th grade-Nevaeh Beatty

The junior high basketball seasons are set to kickoff as the Buffaloes hit the court tonight for the first time this season. Onaga will be hosting Sts. Peter & Paul in a league battle to open the year with games kicking off at 6:00pm. Starting the night will be the A-team girls in the north gym and the B-team boys in the south gym. The boys will only be playing two quarters tonight, which will immediately be followed by two quarters of C-team girls. After the first round of games is complete, the A-team boys will play in the north gym and the B-team girls will play in the south. If you aren't able to make it to the games, you can catch all of the A-team action on the NFHS Network, a link for which can be found at the top of the district website's homepage. To check out rosters, look at the schedules, or to keep up on results throughout the season, head over to each of the teams' pages on the district website, links for which can be found below. Good luck tonight to both junior high basketball teams, GO BUFFALOES!!! JH Boys Basketball https://www.usd322.org/page/boys-basketball-jr-high JH Girls Basketball https://www.usd322.org/page/girls-basketball-jr-high

This week’s StuCo Staff Spotlight is on Jeff Mapes. Jeff is our school’s Maintenance Supervisor. He has been working in Onaga for 5 years. Thank you, Jeff, for all you do for us!!! Favorite color: Pink Favorite flower: Rose Favorite sweet snack: Strawberry Ice Cream Favorite salty snack: Too Many Favorite Place to Shop: Any Place Reasonable Favorite Classroom Supplies: Favorite Movie: It’s a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World Favorite book: Dragon in the Gap Favorite movie: Favorite team: Birmingham Stallions Favorite fast-food restaurant: Any Favorite sit-down restaurant: Pizza Fiorney’s in Baumholder Germany Favorite animal: The One on the Muppets! Favorite quote: “We all have good and bad in our hearts. You choose which one you follow.” Nemesis Favorite Hobby: Woodworking How do you wind down at the end of the day: A deep breath and slowly let it out

Urgent: USD 322 is committed to improving the culture and climate of our schools, and supporting our students in every way possible. One way we are addressing this is by looking at student strengths, and areas of concern for social, emotional, and behavioral well-being. To do this, we need your child to participate in the universal screening SAEBRS survey to identify student needs, provide prevention and/or positive supports and intervention. The survey will be administered again this year in the Fall (November) and Spring (April) to help staff support our students. Students will only be able to participate in the survey, which is used to guide the beneficial school-based services for students, by a parent completing and returning an opt-in form. The deadline has been extended due to low Opt-In rate. An example of what type of questions are asked of students can be found below. Thank you for helping us help our students. Please email Juley Kolterman at koltermanju@usd322.org if you have any questions. Printable Version https://5il.co/1k9yi Online Version https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1P2YpEJnXKMHTd5FFVW8kjP32QVHrhfosSz8b_RL4U50/viewform?edit_requested=true Example Survey https://cdn5-ss5.sharpschool.com/UserFiles/Servers/Server_3042785/File/departments/administration/curriculum_instruction/SAEBRS_MySAEBRS_Screening_Tool.pdf

Here are this week's PE award winners! These students had an outstanding week showing good teamwork, sportsmanship, participation and hustle! Kindergarten - Bridgette van Goosewillegen 1st grade - Allie Kolterman 2nd grade - Colton Blaske 3rd grade - Aliya Simmons 4th grade - Cyrus Jones 5th grade - Justin Wrosch 6th grade - Zane Barnes

Next month, Onaga High School senior Eva Krohn will be organizing the annual blood drive at the school. The dates for this semester's drive and next semester's have been set for December 16th and April 26th, respectively. The one taking place next month will run from 11:00am to 5:00pm in the commons area and both students and those in the community are invited to participate. Those under the age of 16 that wish to donate will need a parent's signature to do so. To help Eva reach her goal and to donate to an always-needed cause, please follow the link below and schedule your donation time today! https://www.redcrossblood.org/give.html/drive-results?zipSponsor=OnagaHS