Springfield Schools News and Issues

Springfield building principal assignments unclear

By Megan Gildow | Friday, June 12, 2009, 05:01 PM

Four new principals were hired by the Springfield school board Thursday night, but those administrators were not assigned to any particular building.

The district has as many building principals as it does buildings at this point, but few of those have officials been assigned. There may be some movements to match skills to building needs, Interim Superintendent Don Thompson said.

Christopher Shaffer was hired to be campus director for the high school, so he will be at Springfield High but at this point other assignments are still being hammered out, according to officials.

As soon as those assignments have been decided, I will write about who is going to what school.

Permalink | Comments (3) | Post your comment More: Springfield City Schools

District selects new superintendent

By Megan Gildow | Thursday, June 11, 2009, 11:44 AM

Southeastern Local Schools has selected David M. Shea as its next superintendent, Treasurer Brad McKee said Thursday, June 11.

Shea, 39, is currently principal of Southeastern Middle School in Ross County near Chillicothe. The board will vote to hire him at a board meeting Thursday, June 16.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Southeastern Local Schools

Top students recognize valued teachers

By Megan Gildow | Monday, June 8, 2009, 08:26 PM

Top students from around the county recognized teachers who had made an impact on their lives at the Larry K. Zerkle Excellence in Education Awards Monday, June 8.

Look for the full list in School Notes in this Sunday’s News-Sun.

Students and the teachers they recognized are:

Springfield Clark Career Tech Center: Kayla Gilstrap (Michelle Carn); April Weldinger (Sandy Wilkinson).

Springfield High School: Caroline Oldstone-Moore (Teresa Dillon); Mashal Akhter (Beth Oelker); Abdul Wasey (Linda Bodey).

Tecumseh High School: Brooke Hayden (Mary Steele); Ryan Hoke (Michelle Poston); Corin McFadden (Aaron Stratton); Shaylah Mutschler (Leslie Budding); Jeremy Nickell (Sam Lloyd); Alison Steinbrunner (Dan Vaughan).

Greenon High School: Adam Walker (Don Dunstan); Phillip Wenzell (Tonda North).

Kenton Ridge High School: James Readler (Elizabeth Hypes); Christopher Reed (Jamie Boyes); Amaal Salhieh (Michael Sherrock); Kaitlyn Stevens (Carl Ahm); Kristen Sheerer (Leslie Niggemeyer); Kevin To (Brian Masser).

Northeastern High School: Sage Boggs (Jane Warren); Holli Burns (Jennifer Cassidy); Kayla Gruber (Dayna Ranard); Daniel Mollett (Barbara Lamont).

Northwestern High School: Jennifer West (David Emrick).

Shawnee High School: Claire Dixon (Rosina Matthies); Gabe Valley (Elizabeth Nelson).

Southeastern High School: Jacqueline Severt (Kathy Mercer); Elias Pavlatos (Visha Ritter).

Permalink | Comments (7) | Post your comment

Three vie for Southeastern superintendent post

By Megan Gildow | Friday, May 29, 2009, 12:52 PM

SOUTH CHARLESTON - Three educators will be interviewed in the coming weeks by Southeastern staff and school board members to be the district’s next superintendent.

Greenon Assistant Superintendent Tammy Carnahan, Holgate Local Schools principal Bruce Kidder and middle school principal David Shea, of Southeastern schools in Chillicothe, are the three finalists for the position, according to Treasurer Brad McKee. The three finalists were selected from a pool of 19 candidates.

The district’s former superintendent, John Abdella, retired in December and the position has since been filled by interim superintendents, currently Brian O’Mara.

The three finalists will met with staff members June 1 for the first part of the final stage of interviews, said McKee.

“Everyone’s going to be represented,” he said of that staff interviews.

Then they will meet with the board for the final interviews June 8.

“Hopefully, we’re going to hire a new superintendent at the June (16) board meeting,” he said.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Southeastern Local Schools

Schools and the swine flu

By Megan Gildow | Sunday, May 24, 2009, 03:05 PM

Clark County has its first confirmed case of swine flu in a 15-year-old student at Northridge Middle School.

Northeastern school officials are working with the Clark County Combined Health District and have decided not to close school when students return from the long weekend Tuesday, said Superintendent Rick Broderick.

In the first few days after the first cases of swine flu started popping up in the U.S., the U.S. Department of Education recommended closing schools with confirmed cases.

As we learned more, the USDE backed off that recommendation and said that schools that had closed could re-open. It is recommended that any students or school staff who have flu-like symptoms stay home for at least seven days, even if they start to feel better.

Scientists believe swine flu is spread person-to-person so some common sense tips will help prevent you or your child from getting ill, according to the CDC. The CDC recommends washing hands often, using a tissue when coughing and sneezing and staying home if you feel ill.

The CDC recommends:

• Parents monitor school age children closely for any flu-like symptoms. Keep your child home and see a doctor if they do develop symptoms like a sore throat or a fever with a cough.

• If your child’s school allows it, send a small bottle of hand sanitizer and a travel pack of tissues to school with your student.

-Exercising regularly, eating a balanced diet and drinking fluids can improve your immunity to swine flu.

Visit the CDC for more information for families and individuals, home care or to check out recommendations for schools.

Permalink | Comments (1) | Post your comment More: Northeastern Local Schools

Geocaching workshop for teachers offered by Avatec

By Megan Gildow | Thursday, May 21, 2009, 12:16 PM

Avatec will offer a workshop for teachers next month about geocaching, the popular game that combines technology and the outdoors.

Geocachers use clues and GPS coordinates to locate hidden treasurers in parks, cities and other areas. Here’s a story I did on geocaching in January. Two Springfield teachers, Dave and Bill Zeller, who are avid ‘cachers, are featured in it.

SPRINGFIELD, OHIO (May 19, 2009) - On June 6, 2009, Avetec will host its first Geocaching in the Classroom teacher workshop. Geocaching is an outdoor treasure-hunting sport in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers anywhere in the world. “During the workshop, teachers will learn to use GPS technology to engage their students while networking with other teachers in the area,” says Judy Steritz, Avetec’s Education Coordinator. “The instruction aligns with state standards and benchmarks so it will fit seamlessly into classroom curriculum.” The workshop fee of $150 includes a GPS unit to keep, GPS caches, a geocaching manual, an introduction to the sport, time to develop lesson plans and generate ideas for the classroom, and lunch. The workshop will take place in Avetec’s new facility in the Nextedge Applied Research and Technology Park on Route 40 in Springfield, Ohio. Avetec’s new 37,000 square-foot facility houses state-of-the-art research capabilities, educational classrooms and office space that aids its mission to accelerate applied scientific and work to build the next generation workforce.

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment

Who wants to be Southeastern’s next superintendent?

By Megan Gildow | Wednesday, May 20, 2009, 03:53 PM

Nineteen educators have applied to be Southeastern Local Schools’ next superintendent.

In the next couple days, the district will select a few candidates from the list to proceed to interviews with the board, scheduled for special meetings Tuesday, May 26, and Thursday, May 28, according to a meeting notice from the district.

The board will meet in closed session, as allowed under Ohio law for personnel matters.

I have the list of the nineteen candidates’ names, but I don’t have all of their current jobs confirmed, so some of them are just names. I’ll have the full details in Friday’s News-Sun and will update the blog as I get them.

The applicants are: Diane Blose-Ivory (Butler County Educational Services Center, Special Projects Coordinator); Fred Boring (Bellefontaine High School Principal); James Brady, Clinton-Massie Local Educational Services Director); Tammy Carnahan (Greenon Assistant Superintendent); Thomas Dimit (Educational Consultant, self-employed); Michael Eaglowski (Mad River Local Schools Superintendent); Jarome Farley (Madison Local Schools Gifted Coordinator and Teacher); Rick Glenn (unknown); Norm Glissman (Yellow Springs Superintendent);Stacey Griffin-Cooper (unknown); Kathy Henzie-Harper (unknown); Bruce Kidder (Holgate High School Superintendent); Dean Lynch (East Clinton High School Principal); Timm Mackley (Ohio Department of Education Consultant); Tony Meinerding (Holgate Local Superintendent); Guy Parmigan (unknown); Kenneth Schmeising (unknown); David Shea (Southeastern Middle School Principal in the Ross County Southeastern Local School District); Mike Yonnotti (Hamilton Local Schools Director of Transportation and Maintenance).

Permalink | Comments (0) | Post your comment More: Southeastern Local Schools