WestChesterBuzz.com

To let West Chester and Liberty Township residents catch up with the news that they need to know, WestChesterBuzz.com will list and link to all of last week’s top local stories every Monday.

Photos: Woodland Elementary student surprised with bike- A Woodland Elementary School third grader was surprised when he was awarded a new bike last Wednesday morning after winning a poster contest promoting safety near schools. Woodland’s Blake Scherer was the only student from Southwest Ohio to win a bike in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe” school safety contest.

Mahogany’s troubles no secret – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Jane Prendergast took a deeper look last week on the controversial deal to give and loan nearly $1 million in city money to Mahogany’s owner Liz Rogers of Liberty Township, to open her restaurant at The Banks in Downtown Cincinnati.

Lakota students make video for Ohio Children’s Trust Fund – LakotaTV, a student-led television network, is looking to receive votes for its video produced for the Ohio Children’s Trust Fund 2012 video contest. As part of the contest, the OCTF will award $5,000 to four schools. According to Lakota East junior Matthew King, who is involved with LakotaTV, the winners will be scored in six categories. One category is public votes.

Lakota to have highest fees in region next school year – Cincinnati Enquirer’s Michael D. Clark shared the concerns of Lakota student athletes with the pay-to-play athletic fee. Next school year, Lakota’s $550 per sport fee will be the most expensive rate in Greater Cincinnati.

West Chester concert series – The 2012 Fifth Third West Chester summer concert series at Keehner Park is now underway way after Saturday night’s performance from BlueStone Ivory. The free Saturday concerts will take place at the Keehner Park amphitheatre from 7 to 9 p.m. The series ends Sept. 3 with a performance by the West Chester Symphony. The last concert will be the only one in the series to be performed on a Monday.

Lakota East student doesn’t give up on way to graduation – Unable to speak and forced to use a wheelchair, cerebral palsy has made Gregory Nelson’s life difficult, but it hasn’t damaged his personality and it didn’t prevent him from graduating with the rest of the Lakota East senior class on Sunday.

School’s out for summer – Lakota students wrapped up the 2011-2012 academic school year when they were released Thursday on early dismissal. Some students will be attending summer school, which takes place in two sessions from June 11-28 and from July 2-20. Morning classes will take place from 7 a.m. until 11:20 a.m., while afternoon classes will take place from noon until 4:20 p.m.

Military enlistees to graduate from Lakota West Sunday – A total of 23 military enlistees will graduate from Lakota West during commencement at Miami University’s Millett Hall at 1 p.m. Sunday. According to Lakota West principal Richard Hamilton, the high school typically has around 8-to-10 graduates enter the military every year.

Posted in: Board of Education, Business, Events, Levy news, News, Recreational events, Schools, Sports, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Blake Scherer, Gregory Nelson, Lakota, Lakota cuts, Lakota East, Lakota East graduation, Lakota East Gregory Nelson, Lakota East Sports, Lakota elementary cuts, Lakota high school cuts, Lakota junior high cuts, Lakota Local Schools, Lakota reductions, Lakota school levy, Lakota West, LakotaTV, Liberty Township business news, liz rogers, Liz Rogers Liberty Township, mahogany's bar and grill, mahogany's bar and grill banks, Matthew King, Ohio Children's Trust Fund, Ohio Children's Trust Fund 2012 video contest, Ohio Department of Transportation, the banks, the banks Cincinnati, Valerie Montgomery, West Chester Concert Series, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary School

A Woodland Elementary School third grader was surprised when he was awarded a new bike Wednesday morning after winning a poster contest promoting safety near schools.

Woodland’s Blake Scherer was the only student from Southwest Ohio to win a bike in the Ohio Department of Transportation’s “Every Move You Make, Keep It Safe” school safety contest. Overall, ODOT selected 36 winners – teachers, students and schools – from all over Ohio.

Scherer’s winning entry demonstrated safe student crossing of streets near schools by using marked crosswalks and remaining alert and attentive while walking to school.

According to ODOT, There were 11,734 bicycle and pedestrian‐related crashes that occurred near Ohio K‐8 schools resulting in 244 fatalities and 7,350 injuries between 2008 and 2010.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: Blake Scherer, Ohio Department of Transportation, Valerie Montgomery, Woodland Elementary, Woodland Elementary School

The Lakota Local School District recommended administrative appointments to the board of education at last night’s board meeting. Among the new appointments were Valerie Montgomery, Jeff Rouff, Kim Wade, Shelley Hildebrand and Gary Elgin Card.

Valerie Montomery was named the principal of Woodland Elementary, where she served as the assistant principal for the past year. She holds a bachelor of arts in elementary education from the University of Kentucky and a master of education from Marygrove College. Montgomery is a licensed elementary teacher and principal, and has taught at Adena Elementary as well as Cherokee Elementary. She was promoted to assistant principal at Cherokee, where she served until moving to Woodland. Montgomery’s salary will be $76,815.

Jeff Rouff was named the principal of Hopewell Jr. School, where he has served as the assistant principal for the past two years. Rouff holds a bachelor of science in secondary education from Wright State University, and a master’s of educational administration from the University of Cincinnati. Rouff is a licensed teacher and principal for grades 4-12 and began his teaching career at Hopewell Jr. School. He has also served as a baseball, football and basketball coach. Rouff’s salary will be $82,577.

Kim Wade was named the principal of Lakota Plains Jr. School, where she had served as assistant principal as well as an assistant principal at Lakota East High School. She has most recently acted as the enrollment services coordinator, establishing the enrollment center over the past year. Wade holds a bachelor’s of science in mathematics, and a master’s of science in teaching mathematics from Jackson State. She also holds a master’s in educational leadership from Eastern Michigan State University. Wade has taught mathematics in Mississippi and Michigan. She also served as an assistant principal in Michigan prior to coming to Lakota. Wade’s salary will be $85,302.

Shelley Hildebrand was named the director of assessment and data services, and will move to the central office to work with state mandated testing, data analysis of test scores and assessment scores as well as working to help the district meet requirements for the state report card. Hildebrand has a bachelor of science in mathematics and chemistry from Ball State University, and a master’s of educational Leadership from Xavier University. Prior to working with Lakota, Hildebrand worked as an assistant principal at West Clermont for four years and has been the associate principal at Lakota West Freshman School for three years. Hildebrand’s salary will be $81,969.

Gary Elgin Card was named the associate principal of Lakota West Freshman School. Card has most recently served as a grade level principal in the Princeton School District, and previous to that, was an assistant principal at Lakota West High School. Card holds a bachelor’s of elementary and secondary education from Urbana University and a master’s of administration from Xavier University. He is a licensed teacher for grades 1-8, and licensed to teach history grades 7-12. He holds a principal’s license for grades K – 12. Mr. Card’s salary will be $81,969.

(Information provided by the Lakota school district)

Posted in: Board of Education, Schools |

Tags: Tags: Gary Elgin Card, Jeff Rouff, Kim Wade, Lakota Board of Education, Lakota Local Schools, Shelley Hildebrand, Valerie Montgomery