Fort Frye BOE honors teachers, hears updates and talks shooting prevention
Stephanie Fobes, a kindergarten teacher from Salem-Liberty Elementary School, is acknowledged by Board President Johnna Zalmanek for her 30 years of service to Fort Frye Local School District. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)
Mark VonKennell, middle, retiring English Language Arts teacher after 43 years, talks to board members Kevin Worthington, left, and Lloyd Booth at Tuesday’s Fort Frye Local Schools Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)
Tenth grader Brody Garvin, middle, tells the Fort Frye Local Schools Board of Education about his trip to Washington, D.C., as a member for the youth advisory board for Students Against Violence Everywhere. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)
Stephanie Fobes, a kindergarten teacher from Salem-Liberty Elementary School, is acknowledged by Board President Johnna Zalmanek for her 30 years of service to Fort Frye Local School District. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)
Mark VonKennell, middle, retiring English Language Arts teacher after 43 years, talks to board members Kevin Worthington, left, and Lloyd Booth at Tuesday’s Fort Frye Local Schools Board of Education meeting. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)
Tenth grader Brody Garvin, middle, tells the Fort Frye Local Schools Board of Education about his trip to Washington, D.C., as a member for the youth advisory board for Students Against Violence Everywhere. (Photo by Kristen Hainkel)
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BEVERLY -- Fort Frye Board Of Education provided an update to ongoing construction, honored two longtime teachers and heard a student presentation about an anti-school shooting national conference he participated in at Tuesday's meeting.
Superintendent Stephanie Starcher said despite the construction at Beverly-Center Elementary School, the district planned to open Sept. 5.
"I get this question from the public, 'when is this construction going to be finished?'" she said. "(Beverly-Center) will be operable for school to start. The classrooms are actually carpeted, the walls are painted and furniture is pretty much in the classrooms."
The planned vestibules are in progress for Beverly-Center and Fort Frye Middle and High School, but officials are still waiting on supplies for completion. Once those are built, Salem-Liberty Elementary School and Lowell Elementary School will follow in the fall.
Board president Johnna Zalmanek asked if the later start date was temporary or permanent. She said she had seen questions about it on social media.
"I've not heard much comment about the late start," Starcher replied. "I figure I will. There's pros and cons to it. We're starting two weeks later than everybody else. It's only because of construction. Thank goodness we did that."
Starcher said the calendar for next year would be presented to the board in January.
The first retiring teacher recognized was Mark VonKennell, who taught English Language Arts for 43 years at the high school.
"He's been an outstanding teacher for us and is great with the kids. I want to congratulate him," Starcher said.
The second teacher was Stephanie Forbes, a kindergarten teacher at Salem-Liberty who worked 30 years for the district.
"If you hear her name, I've never heard an unkind word said about her," Starcher said.
Both teachers received a blanket in school colors of red, white and blue as a gift for their contributions to the district.
Tenth grader Brody Garvin told the board he traveled to Washington, D.C., in July as a member of Students Against Violence Everywhere (SAVE) National Youth Advisory Board. The program is a part of the Sandy Hook Promise project.
Garvin said he met with Ohio state officials and their staff members. He said received a personal email from Senator Sherrod Brown last week. His mother Valerie Urban read the email.
"Brennan said he had a good meeting with you last week. Thank you for speaking out about gun violence. Count me in. Sherrod Brown," Urban said.
"You've been to these conferences. As the board of education, do you think we're doing what we should be doing?" Zalmanek asked Garvin.
"I feel like with the vestibules you're putting in, that is making a whole lot of difference," Garvin replied. "In my personal opinion, the windows scare a lot of people. I've talked with some of my peers. It's the front wall of just windows that scare a lot of them. And I can't make promises that they'll ever be okay because of it."
Zalmanek said the board appreciated Garvin's presentation and wanted to continue the conversation about school shooting prevention.