• No School - Spring Break - Mar.14 - Mar.18
  • No School - Spring Vacation Day - April 15
  • HS Theatre Spring Show - April 8-9
  • End of 3rd Quarter - Mar. 31
  • HS One Act Plays- April 13 at 7pm
  • No School - Prof. Development Day - April 25
The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

The student voice of Sycamore High School in Cincinnati, Ohio

The Leaf

Lauren Kurtzer

Lauren Kurtzer , Creative Projects Director

Hi! My name is Lauren Kurtzer and I am a senior here at SHS; thus making it my fourth year in convergence journalism. Looking back on everything I learned and done in room 115, I can not believe it went by that quickly. Being on the staff of The Leaf I have picked up many skills on writing, design, and leadership that I can take to the future. I learned many of those skills through leadership positions of feature chief sophomore year; associate editor junior year, where I made sure articles are up to AP Style; creative projects director this year, I am part of a team that works on the major cover stories like the crazy election. I have written and designed for all four of our platforms. For the past three years, I have also written a sports column on every issue; I cover the morale issues of the NFL and my teams the Reds, Bengals and Buckeyes. Outside of room 115, I am the co-captain of the dance team I have been on for four years, the Flyerettes. I am also heavily involved in the Jewish community. I am the Programming Vice President for my temple’s youth group, which is a part of NFTY Ohio Valley, and the Social Action Programmer for Young Judaea Midwest youth movement. On Sundays, I am a madricha or assistant teacher at my Religious School.

All content by Lauren Kurtzer
Cincinnati Reds’ stadium, Great American Ballpark or GABP, is looked over during Opening Day on Monday April 3. It is located in downtown Cincinnati right on the Ohio River, dividing the states of Kentucky and Ohio. Every offseason the organization works to improve and upgrade the stadium experience for fans. They always add seats to increase the number of fans with this year holding 43,804 seats.

Reds rock Opening Day

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
April 6, 2017
TOO MUCH. LaVar Ball is yelling on the sidelines of a high school basketball games for his sons. He recently gave himself attention by making outlandish comments about himself and his sons. Ball has captivated the sports world, and most of it has been negative attention.

One balls too hard

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
April 3, 2017
United States Senator from MA is speaking during the Democratic National Convention. She is one of the strong Democratic voices in the Senate. Warren was a professor for about 30 years focusing on consumer law and bankruptcy.

Elizabeth Warren

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
March 28, 2017
FRUSTRATION. Being an athlete is hard enough with all the dedication SHS students put towards their beloved sports. Being a student along with athletics is a lot to juggle, and our school should make it easier for those who work hard. Taking away the required gym credits for student-athletes is a big trend now in the Cincinnati area and beyond and would greatly help students here.

Sports cancel gym class

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
March 7, 2017
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady is hoisting his fifth Lombardi trophy of his career on Sun., Feb. 5. He led the Patriots into an incredible second half comeback after being down 3-28 and winning 34-28 in overtime. The Patriots’ victory will go down in history but also ended the rocky NFL season on high note.

Why Super Bowl LI might have saved NFL season

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
February 17, 2017
Lady Gaga performs at half time of Super Bowl LI at the NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas. She spoke about promoting unity in such a divided country. Her political statement was an example of the politically charged atmosphere of the Super Bowl.

Super Bowl ad(d)s to political arena

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
February 6, 2017
New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady speaks to the media during Super Bowl LI Media Night. While he is in the spotlight for this seventh Super Bowl appearance and the Deflategate drama, he should also be supporting his friend and now president Donald Trump. This does not just go for the star player but should be for all NFL players since they have the platform of millions.

Tackling political issues in NFL

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
February 3, 2017
The Aves Dance Team pose with their newly earned trophy on Sat., Jan. 6 at Seton High School. They competed in the small Varsity Hip-Hop Division. Kings and Archbishop McNicholas High School placed above them, while Campbell County High School placed below; it was a tight division where the only difference between first and fourth place was eight points.

Aves Dance Team

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Project Director
January 11, 2017
HITTING IT. The Flyerettes are performing their routine. For the team, the pep rally symbolizes the beginning of their performance season; while they are aiming for more fall events to dance at, this is normally their first big performance. For the two four year seniors, it was an emotional time that marks the beginning of the end to their high school dance career. “The Homecoming pep rally was really exciting because it was our chance to show the school what we are made of. I loved performing that dance and it made my last pep rally something to remember,” said Hannah Young, 12 and co-captain.

Flyerettes appear in pep rally

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
December 20, 2016
The Ohio State University football coach Urban Meyer and former running back Ezekiel Elliott are celebrating their eighth national championship. They won the first title in the new playoff system for college football. While the new system has had remarkable success, the way conferences chose the champions has been a highlighted flaw.

College conference conundrum strikes

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Project Director
December 19, 2016

SHS, National Sports

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
December 13, 2016
Seattle Seahawks defensive end Cliff Avril tackles Buffalo Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor during the Monday night Football primetime games on November 7. There has been a hysteria going around the league about the ratings, especially during the lack of compelling primetime games. The drop in ratings come from factors in and out of the league.

Not failing league

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
November 14, 2016
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Andy Dalton is sacked by Dallas Cowboys defensive tackle Terrell McClain during a game in Dallas on Sun., Oct. 9 that resulted in a 28-14 Cowboys win. The Bengals played the Washington Redskins in London on Sun., Oct. 30, and the teams tied 27-27. The second week with a tie have brought up the conversation again of fixing the overtime rules.

Tying up tied games

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
November 3, 2016
Caption: Louisiana State University is doing something during a game on versus a team. Due to extreme weather conditions, they had to cancel a game versus Florida and had to reschedule for Noveber 19 and change the location from at Florida to at LSU. This controversy and decision was highly publicized since neither side could agree on a solution.

Louisiana losing league

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
November 1, 2016
Paying tribute to tragedy

Paying tribute to tragedy

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
October 18, 2016
Why athletes need to be involved in politics

Why athletes need to be involved in politics

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
October 10, 2016
oston Red Sox designated hitter David Ortiz hits one of his famous home runs during a game versus the Baltimore Orioles on Sep. 19, 2016. He announced his retirement after a 19 year career before the start of this season. The whole baseball world honored him in a historic career for designated hitters.

Big heart, big city, big time

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
October 7, 2016
Backup quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers Colin Kaepernick and teammate safety Eric Reid are kneeling during the national anthem on Mon., Sep. 12. This is Kaepernick’s third game of not standing during the anthem, the previous two being during the preseason. His actions has spread throughout the week, while other teams are standing united.

Standing for respect

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Project Director
September 20, 2016
The Sycamore Aves Dance Team prepares for their first performance at the football game on Fri., Aug. 26 at the University of Cincinnati’s Nippert Stadium. One of the team’s goals this season is to increase their appearances to spread the word about the team. By performing at the football game, attended by thousands was a fun and simple way to do it.

Stretching for successful season

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Project Director
September 14, 2016
The new Aves Dance team poses for a photo during its team meeting on Thurs. April 21. They met to discuss money, talk about the gist of the team and the calendar for the year. The next time the team will meet will be for summer conditioning  practice.

Large and still mighty

Lauren Kurtzer, Creative Projects Director
May 5, 2016
Denver Broncos starting quarterback Peyton Manning (18) throws against the Carolina Panthers during the second quarter of Super Bowl 50 at Levis Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif., on Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016. The Broncos won, 24-10. (Nhat V. Meyer/Bay Area News Group/TNS)

Athletes proving bad role models

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate Editor
March 3, 2016
The Flyerettes pose for a picture during the winter sports picture day on Thurs. Nov. 19. While the team is small, they have become an extremely close and tight-nit team.The small numbers also help them improve their technique and dances even more. With fewer people, mistakes are noticed more in practice to be perfected for performances. Photo credit: Coach Elise Williams

Flying for new face

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate Editor
December 17, 2015
Making meaning of PSAT/NMSQT

Making meaning of PSAT/NMSQT

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate Editor
December 17, 2015
Author Sonia Nazario gives a lecture  on her book and immigration on Tues. Nov. 3 at Mt. St. Joseph University. Freshmen at the university read the book in English, over the summer and they brought Nazario to their campus. Nazario’s book, “Enrique’s Journey,” won the most prestigious journalism award in the Pulitzer Prize. Photo credit: Ms. Meredith Blackmore.

Conquering ‘La Bestia’

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate Editor
November 14, 2015

Gallery: falling to state

Lauren Kurtzer, associate editor
October 26, 2015
The girls’ lacrosse team is doing a scrimmage last season. To prepare for this season they have had scrimmages. The returning state champions lost eight seniors but are ready to show they are still talented. Photo courtesy of McDaniel’s Photography.

Girls Lacrosse

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate editor
May 7, 2015
Dancing back in time

Dancing back in time

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate Editor
April 27, 2015
W.E.B. Du Bois

W.E.B. Du Bois

Lauren Kurtzer, Feature Chief
April 17, 2015
Senior Nick Gerlic is receiving the basketball during a game. Gerlic is one of four seniors graduating. The team is 4-18 with a playoff game this Friday. Photo courtesy of McDaniel’s Photography.

Not a slam dunk season

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate editor
March 4, 2015
The JV cheerleading squad is cheering during a JV home boys’ basketball game.  While the team did not do well with a losing season, the girls had a good time cheering. “I think the JV season went well as far as learning,” Bartlett said. Photo courtesy of McDaniel’s Photography.

Cheering as one

Lauren Kurtzer, Associate editor
February 7, 2015
The Flyerettes are finishing their hip-hop dance to the song ‘Push-it’ during halftime on Dec. 12 versus Fairfield. The team learned this dance at Universal Dance Association camp at Miami University.  Three of the teammates learned this dance there and they taught it to the rest of the team. Photo courtesy of McDaniel’s Photography

Flying into New Year

Lauren Kurtzer, Feature chief
January 7, 2015
Flyerettes coach Brittany Grecco is explaining a part of a dance to keep the team looking together. The team has their first game on Tues. Dec. 9 at 7:30 p.m. They have been learning three dances to perform at the next three games.  Photo courtesy of Lauren Kurtzer.

‘We exceeded our expectations’

Lauren Kurtzer, Feature chief
December 17, 2014
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