December 23, 2010
NCR to continue expansion at FCV By CHRIS BOURNEA ThisWeek Community Newspapers
NCR has acted as FCV’s managing agent since June 2009. In spring 2010, FCV filed for bankruptcy, a process that NCR has acted as FCV’s managing involved negotiating $90-million in seagent since June 2009. In spring cured debt, primarily with four banks, 2010, FCV filed for bankruptcy, a and a construction loan of approximateprocess that involved negotiating $90- ly $58-million. million in secured debt, primarily with Jim Balthaser, chairman of the FCV four banks, and a construction loan board of directors, attributed the bankof approximately $58-million. ruptcy filing to delays in completion of the construction project and costs incurred units for assisted living and Alzheimer’s due to the delays, as well as lower occupancy rates because of the national ecocare.
A closer look
National Church Residences has announced that it has become the financial sponsor of First Community Village (FCV), a 30-acre retirement community located at 1800 Riverside Drive and a longtime pillar of the community. FCV was established in 1963 by First Community Church. In 2004, FCV began construction on a new, 86-unit independent living facility, The Chelsea, and other
nomic downturn. In the past several months, FCV has restructured its debt under more favorable terms, thereby restoring its overall financial health, Balthaser said. “With NCR as the new sponsor organization, our plan is to begin phase two of the campus improvements, which began in 2004, to include the construction of additional manor homes, as well as upgrades to the Healthcare Center and the garden apartments,” Balthaser said in a news release. “In addition, our affiliation
with NCR enables us to provide an even larger array of services to central Ohio seniors.” One of those services will be home health care provided by InCare, an NCR affiliate company that provides pain and medication management, tube feeding and catheter care, wound care and sterile dressing changes and other services. “It allows seniors to age in place and keep them in their homes for as long as See EXPANSION, page A2
Capstone ‘increases rigor’ for UAHS seniors
MAKING A LEAP
By KATE HETRICK
area that they are pursuing,” she
ThisWeek Community Newspapers said. The school keeps track of
By Tim Norman/ThisWeek
Upper Arlington’s Emily Burt performs a vault Saturday, Dec. 18, at the Hilliard Invitational as teammates Lucy Caborn (left), Blaine Furey and Makenna Bertino watch. The Golden Bears finished ninth of 17 teams as DeSales won the title.
Upper Arlington crews handle winter’s first snowfall easily By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers Plowing the streets of Upper Arlington after the first major snowfall on Dec. 12 “went real well,” according to public service manager Buddy Caplinger. “We started Sunday around 9:30 a.m., and then ran until 5:30 p.m. and then we let those guys go for the day,” Caplinger said. They finished around 3:30 p.m. the next day, clearing all the streets after they were covered again overnight. “We’re from 7 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. every day, that’s regular,” Caplinger said. “But with snow, we go into shifts and rotate the guys as we go in and out as we go, depending on the length of the storm.”
Caplinger said just 7 of the city’s 17 plows were used because the storm wasn’t severe. “We try to be fiscally as fit as we can with the use of equipment and men that we get out there per storm,” Caplinger said. Overtime is paid as necessary. The first snow struck just after the public services department had completed leaf collection for the season. The city’s policy says plowing begins after 3 inches of snowfall. About 200 tons of salt were used, which Caplinger said is average for that type of storm. Prior to the storm, the salt barn was completely full with 1,700 tons of salt. Caplinger said the city usually goes through 3,000 tons in a year. Last winter saw “an exorbitant amount of snow,” Caplinger said. “We’ll have to make adjustments if we have that type of winter
again. Hopefully we won’t have to use that much salt, and we do pre-treat our roads with brine to help with not using as much salt.” During last February’s record snowfall, 85 percent of respondents to an online survey said local road crews did “an exceptional job” of snow removal. “Our policy is once the snow event starts, depending on the type of snow, to get the roads cleared within eight hours,” Caplinger said. All of the city’s 205 lane miles get cleared, with the main (arterial) streets (such as Arlington Avenue and Zollinger Road), getting the top priority. Next are the secondary (collector) streets (such as Andover Road and Windham Road). Lastly, residential streets are See SNOWFALL, page A3
It’s been a couple of years since Upper Arlington High School added a senior capstone project as a graduation requirement, replacing the school’s longstanding senior thesis, and it seems to be achieving its goals. The capstone provided a way to “increase some of the rigor in what the students were doing,” said Cathy Johnson, a social studies teacher who coordinates the capstone program with language arts teacher Julie Otten. Students are evaluated on a rubric that emphasizes 21st century skills, better preparing them for the workforce, Johnson said. “All of the students have to first identify an essential question that guides their research and the entire project for the year,” she said. Students are encouraged to seek out projects involving subjects “that they haven’t studied in school or that they really love.” The essential question is one of tenets of the capstone project. Projects must also benefit the larger community; include both experiential and text-based research; incorporate collaboration; and demonstrate a multi-faceted approach and significant academic rigor. Students work with mentors throughout the year, many of whom are from the Upper Arlington community, Johnson said. “We encourage them to find a mentor that has expertise in the
mentors to foster future partnerships. This year, the Ohio Nurses Association contacted the school, hoping to work with capstone students to establish a public relations campaign. Students complete the project in their 12th grade language arts and government classes, and are given release time depending on their individual schedules. They may apply for grants through the school if their project requires funding, Johnson said. “The greatest thing for me to see is the growth from the beginning of the year to the end,” she said. “To be able to see them plan and implement a yearlong project . . . there is so much growth in the twists and turns that happen along the way.” Current projects include a student who is examining education reform and will attend an e-tech conference in the spring, and another who is pursuing patenting an invention. Johnson said she even had a student apologize for being a few minutes late to class, after having used release time to watch eye surgery. “It runs the gamut from real science type kids to anything and everything the students want to pursue,” Johnson said. “Some are more service oriented.” All capstone students will give a presentation on their projects, See CAPSTONE, page A2
20 Chinese students will Christmas Eve kick off their New Year in UA Churches offer varied By ANDREW MILLER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
When Chinese New Year rolls around, Upper Arlington residents will have the opportunity to celebrate with 20 visitors from Beijing. Twenty Chinese high school students are taking part in a Winter Camp program through the Beijing New Bridge (BNB) Foreign Language School. Between Jan. 27 and Feb. 5, Upper Arlington High School and the Upper Arlington Public Library, along with Ohio State University and Metro Early College High School, will host cultural exchange events with the Chinese
students. The visiting students will be introduced to the science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) programming at Metro High School and college level science classes at OSU. In addition, there will be to field trips to several area museums and cultural sites around central Ohio. The events are meant to provide the Chinese students with an immersion in American culture and to allow them to share Chinese culture with local residents, said Ruth McNeil, the library’s community affairs manager. McNeil said she was contacted by BNB coordinators Professor Lei Bao and Upper Arlington
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resident Jerry Weekly about the opportunity to work with the students. “After hearing about the opportunity, I absolutely said yes!” she said. “We (UAPL) felt the timing of this was perfect to share in the students’celebration of the Chinese New Year and open that up to the community. It connects the library’s commitment to providing opportunities for cultural awareness and educational enrichment.” On Feb. 2, staff at the main library, 2800 Tremont Road, will introduce the students to the public library system, giving them a
service styles, hours By GARY BUDZAK ThisWeek Community Newspapers If your church’s Christmas Eve services don’t fit into your family’s holiday schedule, it might provide a good opportunity to attend services at another church in the Hilliard or Upper Arlington area. “We have people who come to our 11 p.m. late service because that’s part of their family tradition, but their church’s service is at 7,” said Hilliard United Methodist Church Pastor David Ziegel. Located between the Sanctuary Building and Warehouse 839, Ziegel said that his church offers seven Christmas Eve services, from 11 a.m.
to 11 p.m. Like many churches, HUMC has three types of services: family-oriented (the kids can come and the service may last only 45 minutes), contemporary (which may include a Christian rock praise band), and traditional (with candlelight and/or communion). Here are what some other randomly chosen churches in Hilliard and Upper Arlington have planned for Christmas Eve and the rest of the weekend: • Upper Arlington Lutheran Church has a total of 10 services among its three campuses, said spokeswoman Barb Wills. In addition, it will hold See CHURCHES, page A3
See CHINESE, page A6
Sally, left, is one of the homeless pets still waiting to be adopted from the Second Chance Humane Society. Her shelter mate, Daisy, was featured in the October video at www.ThisWeekNews.com and is also waiting to be adopted. For more information on adopting one of the dogs, visit www.secondchancehs.com or call (740) 967-3700.