The Whetstone Weekly

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Upcoming Dates

• Picture Day* - Tuesday, 9/16
• PTA meeting* - Wednesday, 9/17, 6:30-7:30, WHS Library
• Homecoming Game - Friday, 9/26, 7:00
• Homecoming Dance* - Saturday, 9/27, 7-10, WHS Cafeteria
• Parent-Teacher Conferences* - Thursday, 10/9, from 3pm-6:30pm
• PTA Academic Committee meeting - Wednesday, 10/1, 6:30pm - 7:30pm

*See below for more info

Whetstone PTA Calendar

https://www.whetstonepta.org/home/calendar

CCS District Calendars

https://www.ccsoh.us/calendars.aspx

Stay engaged in your child's education! The Parent Portal (through Infinite Campus) is your link to real-time information on your Columbus City Schools student(s), including class schedules, assignments, grades, attendance, and more.

To access the Parent Portal, visit: https://columbusoh.infinitecampus.org/campus/portal/columbusCity.jsp

For information on how to access and use the Parent Portal, visit: https://www.ccsoh.us/parentportal.aspx

Parent Portal App info is available at: https://secure.smore.com/3jk0e

The Pathway Express program is back for another year with three unique destinations for students and families to explore!

Pathway Express demonstrates how learning extends beyond the classroom walls. These transformative experiences shape and empower our students for success, as they align with our goals of increasing math and reading proficiency and help close opportunity gaps. Create lasting memories with engaging hands-on learning experiences at each of our Pathway Express stops!

The next Pathway Express is at the Lincoln Theatre in December followed by Indian Village Outdoor Education Center in April. These learning opportunities will lead us through the 2025-2026 school year, right up to our 2026 Summer Experience. See event details below.

December 13

• Saturday, December 13, 2025

• Location: Lincoln Theatre (769 E. Long St.)

• Time: 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

April 25

• Saturday, April 25, 2026

• Location: Indian Village Outdoor Education Center (3232 Indian Village Road)

• Time: 10:00 a.m.-1:00 p.m.

To learn more visit the Pathway Express page at https://www.ccsoh.us/pathwayexpress

As fall sports season begins, please be aware of the security measures that are in place at ALL CCS middle and High School sporting and special events. These measures have proven to enhance the safety and security of all attendees. At most locations, Safety and Security Specialists will process all spectators and visitors through a single entry point via the EVOLV High-Speed Weapons Detection Systems.

• Students must provide their school ID.
• A parent or adult guardian must accompany middle school students.
• Restrictions on bag size: no larger than 5x8 as in the past.
• Strollers are not permitted.
• Admission or ticket purchases will be prohibited after the end of the third quarter. Spectators are also prohibited from re-entering after leaving the facility.

As always, the CCS staff and security teams appreciate your support and hope you have an enjoyable experience attending CCS events. Your role in adhering to these measures is crucial, and a valued contribution to safety. Please remember that good security is never convenient but always necessary.

Hi Team!

We have had a great fall season up to this point and still so much to look forward to. Congratulations to the football team for their big win over Beechcroft on Friday, 28-25. This is the first time Whetstone has beat Beechcroft in Varsity Football in many, many years. (I am being told 1985 was the last time this was done). The weekend prior, Boys and Girls Cross Country ran at Watkins Memorial where the whole team ran personal bests! Senior Miriam Rule broke her own school record (18:45) with a time of 18:42! Boys soccer defeated West, 2-1, last week in a rematch of last years City Championship match. They continue to compete for a spot in the City Championship, similar to the girls soccer and girls volleyball teams.

The 2nd annual Joe Monda XC Classic is this Wednesday at Whetstone. The boys will run at 5pm with the girls to follow at 5:30pm. Stop by and show support!

Strength and Conditioning is taking place after school every day at 3:15pm. If you are not on a sports team, it does not matter! You are invited to attend! If you are on a sport team, check in with your coach on your assigned dates. You are also welcome to attend any day that works for you. If you are currently in a fall sport, you are not expected, nor encouraged, to be attending winter sport lifting sessions.

Winter Sports:

• Winter Sport All-Athlete & Parent meeting is 10/27 at 6:30pm in the gymnasium.
• Quarter 1 grades will determine eligibility until quarter two ends in January, and then quarter 2 will determine winter sports eligibility. Be sure you are passing 5 credits and have a gpa of 2.0+. You will be ineligible if you do not meet those requirements.
• Make sure your sports physical and final forms are up to date and completed.
• The boys and girls swim and dive team will be having an informational meeting this Thursday at 6pm in the cafeteria.
• NEW! In addition to Cheer tryouts, we will be hosting Dance tryouts. This means that come next fall (tryouts in the spring), we will be launching a Dance/Drill team. Please see the attachment for more information.

Help turn popcorn and Gatorade into uniforms and equipment for Braves Athletics!

Whetstone Boosters are looking for awesome people to staff the Stadium Snack Shack for the rest of our fall season. Plenty of slots still open. Proceeds are used to support ALL WHS sports, athletes and seasons.

For more info and to sign up, visit: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/805044AAFA62EA20-58000089-20252026

See past and upcoming matches for all WHS sports at WHS Athletic Schedule and buy your tickets at WHS Athletic Tickets.

If you didn't see it here, you can probably find it in the Weekly Whetstone Athletics Roundup. Visit https://rebrand.ly/WhetstoneWeeklyRoundup for more WHS athletics info!

The WHS Athletic Boosters provide team support - paying for various expenses that coaches and teams need to be successful during a season and annual monetary awards for graduating student athletes that have demonstrated excellence in academics. Visit whetstoneathleticboosters.com for more info.

Show your Whetstone pride and support your Whetstone athlete with Spirit Wear! The Booster store has options to support WHS Sports, Band, and Cheer. There are Parent/Family, Alumni, and Teacher/Staff logos, too. And most importantly, all proceeds benefit our kids! Visit the Athletic Booster Spirit Wear store to browse and buy hoodies, t-shirts, hats, blankets, drinkware, and more. Personalization is available on select items. There is something for everyone!

The orders are in! And now we're Calling All Helpers – Sign Up Below!

We have a big day coming up on the 20th, and we’ll need plenty of helping hands for the WAPA Mum Sale Pickup! Volunteers are needed to assist with unloading deliveries of flowers, organizing orders, and loading them into cars for pickup. Every extra set of hands helps things run smoothly, and we’d love to have as many people as possible involved. Please see the sign-up link below to choose a time slot—your support makes a huge difference!

https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60B0E49ADAA22A13-58400511-wapa

She Kills Monsters tells the story of high schooler Agnes Evans as she deals with the death of her younger sister, Tilly.

Friday & Saturday, November 7 & 8, 2025

7:00 PM & 9:00 PM

WAPA Performing Arts Center

Get more info and tickets at https://www.wapa.net/performances-gashZ/kt9ogqm254gg128klfaf2lrjbc5fu8

WAPA IS...A place to experience inspiring music and theater. A place for students to grow. A place for instructors to shine. A place for our community to come together. WAPA is here to inspire.

WHETSTONE. ACADEMY. of PERFORMING. ARTS.

For more info, visit wapa.net.

Homecoming weekend is September 26-27 this year, and PTA is already hard at work planning the parade, festival, silent auction (Sept. 26) and student dance (Sept. 27). If you have some time and energy, consider how you can help below.

The Silent Auction is LIVE online! There are gift cards, items, and experiences for everyone. Check out our items here and make your bids!

It’s not too late to donate additional items! Fill out this form if you have an item to contribute. Thank you!

Homecoming Sponsorship & Silent Auction Donations

Volunteer at the Festival or Dance (9/26 and 9/27)

Donate to the Bake Sale (9/26)

Do you have a convertible or a Jeep with a removable top? Do you love the fun and excitement of a parade? We would LOVE to have you drive in the Whetstone High School homecoming parade! You would be driving Homecoming Royalty, Teacher of the Year, or Volunteers of the Year. Please message Tasha Weaver at nweave33@gmail.com if you want to be a part of this amazing annual event!

Our PTA holds open meetings on the third Wednesday of each month at 6:30 pm in the school library. Join us to hear what’s going, get updates from Principal Rodriguez and learn how you can contribute to our wonderful school community.

All are welcome but in order to be a voting member, you need to pay $10 for a membership. Click here for membership options.

If you're not already participating, take three minutes and enroll your Kroger Plus card with their Community Rewards program to benefit Whetstone PTA. Visit whetstonepta.org/home/kroger-community-rewards-for-whs-pta for more info.

The Whetstone PTA is a community of parent volunteers, working to provide scholarships for students, grants for teachers, connect school leadership with parents, and enrich the high school experience for ALL the students at Whetstone High School. See below for selected PTA-related information, and visit whetstonepta.org to join and get even more!

New this year: We’ve started a group on the Band app to better facilitate communication. Join us here!

Greetings Whetstone family!

We are a month away from Homecoming! It is hard to believe. The Senior Cabinet and advisors are working hard to ensure that this is a GREAT time for students.

Many questions have come up about the dance and bringing in non-Whetstone guests. Due to the number of students enrolled at Whetstone and the limited number of tickets that we have for sale, we will have to limit our ticket sales to Whetstone students and to athletes who participate with Whetstone athletics. We will have student ID numbers for those athletes and will ensure that they are able to purchase a ticket. We will work with our Athletic Director to obtain student athlete information.

There is criteria for eligibility to purchase a ticket for the Homecoming dance:

• Students may not have any OSS (out of school suspensions) and must have the below number of Internship Hours to purchase a ticket and to attend.
• Each cohort has an Internship hour requirement which is listed below. See Mr. Eagle for assistance with entering Internship hours.
• Internship hours must be in SchoolLinks by September 12, 2025 go live before 2:30pm. Ticket sales will open on September 17, 2025 at 4pm.

Internship hour requirements:

• Freshman - 0 hours
• Sophomores - 30 hours
• Juniors - 60 Hours
• Seniors - 90 Hours

Finally, the daily spirit day themes are as follows:

• Monday 9/22
• Culture Day - Come to school dressed to represent your culture/country!
• Tuesday 9/23
• Twin Day - Dress alike
• Wednesday 9/24
• Western Day - Wear your favorite boots! (no hats and no short shorts)
• Thursday 9/25
• Anything but a backpack
• Friday 9/26
• Color Day
• Freshman - Black
• Sophomore - Green
• Junior - Red
• Senior - Blue

Please see Ms. Ottey (tottey@columbus.k12.oh.us) if you have any questions.

Ohio Farm Bureau is offering three single-day, free Fall camp experiences designed for high school students to learn about careers in agriculture, food, and STEM-related areas! The upcoming camps include:

• Eastern Ohio Experience, Oct. 17
• COLT Lineman Training Camp, Oct. 24
• Meat Processing Experience, Oct. 28

For more information, visit https://ofbf.org/community/youth-in-agriculture/exploreag/

"No cell bell to bell"

Per the new Ohio Cell Phone Law, CCS is a No Phone Zone District.

To keep students focused and engaged, cell phones, earbuds, and smartwatches are now restricted during the school day in all Ohio public schools. No cell phone use during the school day. Devices must be on silent mode or vibrate mode at all times during the instructional day.

Thanks for helping us create a distraction-free learning environment!

For more info, see: https://www.facebook.com/share/v/17TKJneqZv/

Parent-Teacher Conferences are coming soon! These conferences are a great way to meet one-on-one with your student's teacher(s) and discuss their individual progress.

Upcoming Parent Teacher CONFERENCES will be:

• Thursday, 10/9, from 3pm-6:30pm
• Thursday, 11/13, from 3:30pm-7pm
• Thursday, 1/29 from 3pm-6:30pm
• Tuesday, 2/3 from 3:30pm-7pm.

WHS 2025-26 Picture Day is Tuesday, 9/16.

Shop for and order photos from LifeTouch online at https://my.lifetouch.com/mylifetouch/#/pictureDayId/EVTV3TVZP

The Columbus Metropolitan Library's Local History and Genealogy division, based at the Main library downtown, is actively seeking yearbooks for their collection. Specifically, they are looking for area schools currently underrepresented in their collection. Today, they only have (8) yearbooks from Whetstone, for the years 1962-63, 1965, 1967, 1971, 1977-79. If you have any other yearbooks from Whetstone, please consider donating or loaning the yearbook to the library. Donations will be digitized and added to the shelves downtown, and loaned yearbooks will be digitized and returned to lender (no damage to materials in digitization process). Have a yearbook from another area school? They are interested in those as well! Check out the library's digitized yearbook collection and see if you might be able to fill a gap in their holdings! https://digital-collections.columbuslibrary.org/digital/collection/yearbook

The library is also interested in any other material related to area schools, neighborhoods, people, or communities! Consider the library for your photos and documents that relate to Ohio or Columbus history. See examples and browse by neighborhood, decade, or topic at columbuslibrary.org/myhistory.

Have questions, or a yearbook to offer? Contact the Local History and Genealogy team at history@columbuslibrary.org, or call them at 614-645-2275. You are also welcome to drop off materials at any CML location, and staff will get them to the Local History and Genealogy team!

CCS Middle and High schools will participate in Start with Hello Week activities created to promote social inclusion September 15 -19. These important and informative weeks are aligned with State Health curriculum standards and provide students with important evidence - based practices and information.

Ohio Health Standards: In grades six through twelve: at least one hour or one standard class period per school year of evidence-based suicide awareness and prevention and at least one hour or one standard class period per school year of safety training and violence prevention.

The Panorama Survey, administered yearly since 2017-18, was developed by CCS in partnership with Panorama Education to measure progress toward that goal and gather feedback from our community. This year, we are excited about the new, shortened, more streamlined version that will allow us to take

action steps based on your feedback.

The survey is open September 29 - October 10, 2025. Watch this space for more info!

Halloween Haunt event is planned for October 18 at Columbus Public Health and will include activities for all ages, such as costume drive, crafts, a pumpkin patch, resource tables, and yard games. It is also a chance to connect the community with valuable safety resources in a fun, engaging way. See the flyer for more info.

Want even more WHS info? Visit these WHS-related groups and pages online.

• Whetstone HS (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstonehigh/
  
• Whetstone HS PTA (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstone_pta/
• Whetstone HS PTA (Facebook) - facebook.com/whetstonehighpta/
• Whetstone HS PTA Family Group (Facebook) - facebook.com/groups/472994289728615
• Whetstone HS Athletic Boosters (Facebook) - facebook.com/WHSAthleticBoosters
  
• Whetstone AD (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstone_athleticdirector/
• Whetstone Football Program (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstonehsfootball/
• Whetstone HS Cheer (Instagram) - instagram.com/whsbraves.cheer/
• WHS Baseball (Facebook) - facebook.com/Whetstone-Braves-Baseball-199500710084504
  
• WHS Baseball (Twitter) - twitter.com/WhetstoneBraves
• Whetstone HS boys soccer (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstoneboyssoccerofficial/
  
• Whetstone HS girls soccer (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstonegsoccer/
  
• Whetstone Baseball (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstonebaseball1
  
• WAPA (Instagram) - instagram.com/whetstoneapa/
• WAPA (Facebook) - facebook.com/WhetstoneAPA/
• WAPA Boosters (Facebook) - facebook.com/groups/127079587751458
• Columbus City Schools (website) - ccsoh.us/district
• Columbus City Schools (Facebook) - facebook.com/ColumbusCitySchools

Location: 4405 Scenic Dr, Columbus, OH 43214

Website: ccsoh.us/WhetstoneHS

Email: whetstonehs@columbus.k12.oh.us

Hours: 7:30AM - 2:30PM

Phone: (614) 365-6060

Principal, Kimberly Rodriguez: krodriguez@columbus.k12.oh.us

Assistant Administrator (11th & 12th), Tara Ottey: tottey@columbus.k12.oh.us

Assistant Administrator (10th), Daniel McElroy: dmcelroyjr4864@columbus.k12.oh.us

Assistant Administrator (9th), Sarah Jaffy: sjaffy6286@columbus.k12.oh.us

Leadership Intern, Sibyl Barber: sbarber@columbus.k12.oh.us

Administrative Secretary, Martina Jakob: ejakob@columbus.k12.oh.us

Records Secretary, Susan Jeffers: sjeffers@columbus.k12.oh.us

Attendance Secretary, Lisa Hord: lhord4655@columbus.k12.oh.us

Thanks for reading! The Whetstone Weekly Archive is coming soon.

For much more info, visit the WHS PTA - Family Ambassador Page. And, as always, if you have suggestions or content for inclusion - or any other questions, comments, or concerns - please feel free to contact me. I'm here to help!

Damian Synadinos

WHS Family Ambassador

dsynadinos@columbus.k12.oh.us