And reaching a milestone of 50 hours of stream monitoring is considered a rare distinction. But Calvin Green Jr. of Sharonville and Nancy Windes of Wyoming have done just that. The two stream monitors were recently recognized by the Hamilton Count Park District.

"It can get tedious, but I was familiar with it because I did it while studying for a master's degree at North Carolina State,'' Green said.

Bret Henninger, an environmental technician with the district, said it takes a little determination to reach that milestone because stream assessment only takes about two hours, and a monitor usually does just seven assessments a year, if weather permits.

"These two persistent and dedicated individuals contribute to the overall environmental health of Hamilton County through their efforts,'' said Henninger.

Green has been the monitor at the Locust Dell Creek at Winton Woods since 2001. Windes has monitored Blue Rock Creek at Newberry Wildlife Sanctuary since 1997. She has also done a study of plankton in Winton Lake.

Henninger said stream monitors collect and identify animal life, such as tadpoles. They and other amphibians are used to classify a stream's health. If a stream is healthy, it will have a variety of amphibians.

Teen meeting

Shawn Kerley believes in trying to change the world, simply by working with one teenager at a time.

He is using that premise as the theme of the 2004 Midwest Teen Summit at the Hyatt Regency, downtown, Friday-Sunday.

Kerley is senior program director at the Melrose YMCA branch in Walnut Hills. He also serves as director of the YMCA's Black Achievers' Program.

"We will have 250 students, ninth- through twelfth-graders from Chicago, Milwaukee, Detroit, Omaha, Sandusky and Lexington,'' Kerley said. "It will be a weekend of workshops, fellowship, gym and social activities.''

Kerley said a highlight will be a session, titled "Throw You Hood Up,'' which gives students from different cities 10 to 12 minutes to talk about issues in their cities.

Workshops will include such topics as It's Yo' Thang: Economic Empowerment and Entrepreneurship; Climbing the Ladder to Success in a Multicultural Business World; the World According to Youth: Pop Culture and Teens; The Cost of Getting Paid; Steppin' Up: Blacks and Our Place in Society; and Why They Sweatin' Me?: Dealing With Stress and Depression.

Information: 961-3958

Library book sale

Friends of the Library of Milford/Miami Township will hold a book sale at the library from 1-5:30 p.m. Friday and from 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Saturday.

Positively Kids: New Eagle Scout

David Monroe, of Troop 940 sponsored by St. John Church in West Chester Township, has earned the Eagle Scout award, the highest rank of the Boy Scouts of America. For his community service project, he and his crew built a labyrinth for meditation and prayer at St. John.

The Lakota West High School senior is the son of Mary Ann and John Monroe of West Chester Township.

Nursing scholarship

Tiffani Gendrew of Norwood is the first recipient of a four-year nursing school scholarship from University Hospital. The award includes tuition, books and fees, up to $10,000 a year, toward the University of Cincinnati College of Nursing.

Recipients must be of African-American or Hispanic descent, maintain a 3.0 grade-point average and meet other requirements. Upon graduation, scholarship winners must agree to work at University Hospital for 18 months.

Sycamore orchestra honors

Ten Sycamore High School orchestra members were selected for the 2003 Southwest Region Orchestra, and five earned a place in the All-State Orchestra - the highest number in a single year in Sycamore history.

Selected to the All-State Orchestra were Lois Kwa, Anna Kwa, Andrea Lee, Nicole Smile and Gerald Torres.

Those five and these others were named to the Region Orchestra: Marisol Cerda, Kavita Josh, Tasha Hissett, Andrea Nadel and Stacy Cheng. Lee and Torres received first-chair honors.

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