Ohio Northern University student Megan Bensi, a fifth-year pharmacy major from Kirtland, garnered third place in a student poster presentation at the Drug Information Association (DIA) 2012 Annual Meeting in Philadelphia on June 24-28.

At the convention, Bensi competed against 20 graduate-level students. Her poster, titled “Evaluating Consumer Understanding of Prescription Label Information: An Assessment of USP 2011 Recommendations,” was chosen from a pool of more than 100 students in multiple disciplines from around the world.

Working with Donald Sullivan, professor of pharmacy practice at ONU, Bensi aimed to provide empirical data to assess the recommendations from a U.S. Pharmacopeial Convention (USP) published report and introduce a prescription label emphasizing essential information in a patient-centered format. In 2011, the USP published a report promoting the implementation of universal standards for prescription medication labels in an effort to enhance patient understanding of label content and to significantly reduce adverse drug events due to medication misuse and label misinterpretation.

“It was an awesome experience just to be able to participate, and coming out with an award and getting to meet the DIA president exceeded my expectations,” Bensi said. “Getting to know students and health professionals from so many different countries was a great opportunity to network and expand my Ohio roots.” 

DIA is a neutral, global, nonprofit association that provides knowledge resources across the full spectrum of medical product development. DIA provides professionals at all levels and across all disciplines access to timely and authoritative information to advance careers, skills, and innovation in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, medical device and related fields.

Check out the video below, featuring staff members from Mentor's Ridge Middle School, singing and dancing to welcome students:



Hat tip to Mike Waterhouse for sharing this. Check out his story on WEWS-TV 5's website for more information.

 -- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

There’s no reason back-to-school time can’t be fun. We want you to share your photos from the first day of school.

We want them whether its your child’s first day of kindergarten or your first day of college.

Whether they reveal perms or plaid.

And whether they’re from 2012 or 1981.

You can share your photos in several ways:

-- Upload directly to our first day of school photo album at bit.ly/firstdaypics.

-- Email photos to yourpics@news-herald.com. Please send each photo individually and type your caption in the subject line.

-- Post your photo on Twitter, tweeting @newsheraldinoh and using the hashtag #firstday.

Remember to tell us who is in the photo and what year it was taken.

We’ll take submissions through Sept. 8, and select photos will appear in the Community section of our Sept. 23 edition.

-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I want to extend a big THANK YOU to the panelists who took part in our homeschool discussion last night and everyone who attended. We had a great conversation and provided some good information for parents who are considering the option of homeschooling.

For those who couldn't make it (or missed some of the handouts that were available), check out the links and documents below. I've assembled the leftover handouts into packets, so please email me if you would like to stop in to pick up one.

Home Education Notification Form

Academic Assessment Report: Option 1 — Achievement Testing

Academic Assessment Report: Option 2 — Written Narrative

Homeschool class offerings

Books for parents considering homeschooling

Homeschool online discussion groups

Information on Newspapers in Education

Newspapers in Education application

We had some handouts from Christian Home Educators of Ohio, including the form below, which you can use to purchase tickets for homeschool night with the Lake County Captains:
Lake County Captains Home School Night

You can also get information and tickets for homeschool night at the Lake County Captains online.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

I'm excited to announce our homeschooling panel discussion, planned for 7 p.m. Monday at The News-Herald (7085 Mentor Ave., Willoughby). We have a great slate of panelists who will be able to talk about how they made the decision to homeschool, resources you can use when homeschooling, what the state of Ohio requires and more.

Two of our panelists are members of our Community Media Lab: Shelley Polewchak (Twinado Warning) and Amber Chapman (Family Matters With Amber). Shelley is currently homeschooling her twin 5-year-olds, while Amber is a former homeschooler and firm believer that learning doesn't stop at the end of the school day (or end of the school year). Other panelists include homeschool parents Tracy Finch, Josie Triton, Lori Kirkpatrick and Sara Matteo. Amber's daughter Taylor also will be there to speak about her experience as a homeschool student and her transition to traditional school.

We're going to have a great discussion, and I hope you'll be able to join us. You can RSVP by calling 440-497-0580 or checking out our Facebook event.


-- Cheryl Sadler | CSadler@News-Herald.com | @nhcheryl

We're helping Leadership Lake County's Youth Division collect school supplies for needy area youngsters who are heading back to class in a few weeks. 

 

You can drop them off at our office, 7085 Mentor Ave., Willoughby, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Or call Donna Bullis at Salvation Army at 440-354-3774 to arrange a dropoff at the Painesville headquarters. 

 

We'll also be collecting supplies during the Lake County Fair parade on Aug. 14. When you see our van approaching (pictured at right), just hand over the supplies and we'll load them up for transport.

Leadership Lake County — in partnership with the Salvation Army, Asa Cox Homes and WELW — is conducting a "Stuff the Bus" event from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Aug. 7 at Atlas Cinemas Great Lakes Mall.

Read more on Leadership Lake County Youth's blog post, "Stuff the Bus" school supplies event.