ORRVILLE DISTRICT — Mother Nature seemed to celebrate as much as Orrville High School’s 125 graduates Sunday, throwing sunshine and breezes down upon the red and white bedecked gathering at Rider Stadium. The graduates, in alternating red and white gowns, paraded around the football field and in front of the packed grandstand before settling into chairs for the slightly more than hour-long commencement ceremony. Recounting an anecdote about famed painter Leonardo da Vinci and one of his works where an admirer thought his focus was in the wrong place, Ritchie told the graduating class, “All of us are artists. Wilson told the graduates that while in school they “were taught a lesson, then given a test, but in life you will be given a test and taught a lesson. In the varying opportunities one gets to define his or her life, Beck said, they should select those that represent “not just an opportunity to make a living, but to make a life. One of the class valedictorians, Jamie Carpenter, told her classmates they would be the last class to remember Oak, North and Maple Elementary schools, which have been razed or are on track toward demolition. read more
We also know that the center of gravity of the upright-seated body is located outside the body â” about one inch in front of the navel. We also design chairs that make you sit back or sit upright, depending on where you want the center of gravity to be located. For lounging, you will want the gravity to pull you back, so the seat is slightly inclined in that direction, and for dining or working at your desk you will want gravity to work with you in a slightly forward motion. The Naples Daily News asked readers to help us build an interactive map of Mother’s Day greetings from around Southwest Florida and you responded! The majority of our responses were from Collier County, but we received Mother’s Day messages from all over the United States, including Louisiana, Arizona, Tennessee, Ohio, New Jersey, Georgia and Missouri, as well as locations on Florida’s East Coast. Get live traffic updates from the Collier County Sheriff’s Office and local traffic Web sites. read more
TOKYO - A Japanese man who developed the world’s smallest helicopter will take flight in the birthplace of Leonardo da Vinci in tribute to the Renaissance genius’ original idea. Gennai Yanagisawa, 75, said Thursday that a demonstration flight of his one-man helicopter is planned in the city of Vinci, near Florence, Italy, on May 25. Yanagisawa developed the GEN H-4 helicopter — with rotors, a chair, footrest and handle bar — in the late 1990s. Renaissance-era visionary da Vinci designed an “aerial screw” in the 1480s — believed to be the first portrayal of a vertical-flight machine, according to Italy’s National Museum of Science and Technology. Yanagisawa said Vinci Mayor Dario Parrini offered him an opportunity to fly his helicopter when the two met in the Italian city in February. A Guinness World Records spokeswoman confirmed the recognition of Yanagisawa’s helicopter as the world’s smallest model in terms of weight and rotor length of 13 feet . read more
The school will consist of grades 1 through 3, with the goal of preparing students for regular instruction at their school of choice after finishing a two-year program at the 3-D School. Holifield and her colleague, Trudy Abel, who will also work at the school coordinating the evaluation center, presented the idea to Petal Superintendent James Hutto to get his feedback on the need of a dyslexia school. Shirley Duckworth, principal at Petal Elementary School, said the school offers special instruction, but the 3-D School would offer much more. The Petal Board of Aldermen voted to renovate two buildings on South George in April, and the 3-D School will occupy the top floor of one of the buildings. read more
