CH-UH Announces 2024 Staff Award Winners
May 28, 2024 -- The CH-UH City School District has named its Teacher of the Year, Helping Hand of the Year, Rookie of the Year, and Administrator of the Year for 2023-2024. We are proud to announce the following winners:
Teacher of the Year
Lia Radke - AVID Teacher, Roxboro Middle School
Helping Hand of the Year
Ricky Newman - District Lead Tradesperson
Rookie of the Year
LaTonya Turner - Administrative Assistant, Fairfax Elementary School
Administrator of the Year
Robert Swaggard, Director of College and Career Readiness
These four winners each received a Dell Chromebook courtesy of Bluum and registration for a professional development conference in the U.S. within a one-year timeframe.
All ceremony photos Selection processThe
building winners were chosen by their school colleagues earlier this spring. The
finalists for Teacher of the Year, Helping Hand of the Year, and Rookie of the Year were then selected through district-wide voting, and the Administrator of the Year finalists were selected by the Superintendent's Cabinet. The Teacher, Helping Hand, and Rookie of the Year overall winners were selected following panel interviews. The Administrator of the Year winner was selected by the Superintendent's Cabinet and EAPSC members.
Staff Awards Ceremony
At the ceremony on May 24, the District also recognized several other groups of dedicated employees, including this year’s 31 retirees:
- Marc Baker, Ceramic Art Teacher at Heights High School (31 years)
- Ann Bradley, School Counselor at Roxboro Middle School (33 years)
- Caroline Brooks, Kindergarten Teacher at Noble Elementary School (23 years)
- Joyce Bukovac, District Instructional Specialist (33 years)
- Grace Chen, Chinese Teacher at Roxboro Middle School (15 years)
- Leatrice Clark, Honors Biology Teacher at Heights High School (33 years)
- Angela Coleman-Kirkland, Grade 6 ELA Teacher at Monticello Middle School (26 years)
- Kathryn Craig, ELA/Math Support at Fairfax Elementary School (14 years)
- Carolyn Edwards, Paraprofessional at Gearity Preschool (31 years)
- Olivia Fatica, Spanish Teacher at Heights High School (43 years)
- Jeanne Gassman, Information Technology Support Specialist (13 years)
- Robin Grant, Elementary Vocal Music Teacher at Gearity Elementary School & Preschool (34 years)
- Paul Gustafson, Teacher at Tiger Virtual Academy (13 years)
- Laura Hardiman-Moss, Intervention Specialist at Roxboro Middle School (30 years)
- Linda Honey-Dixon, 7th Grade Social Studies Teacher at Roxboro Middle School (30 years)
- Laverne Jones, Administrative Assistant at Fairfax Elementary School (34 years)
- Michael Lauer, Assistant Custodian at Gearity Elementary School (14 years)
- Kathy Lawrence, Librarian at Heights High School (28 years)
- Shelley London, Special Education Paraprofessional at Roxboro Middle School (21 years)
- Sally Mascia, Math Teacher at Monticello Middle School (17 years)
- Vincent Nemeth, Physical Education Teacher at Monticello Middle School (24 years)
- George Petkac, Director of Business Services and Operations (24 years)
- Donna Pollard, Cosmetology Teacher at Heights High School (31 years)
- Anthony Provenzale, Gifted Intervention Specialist at Boulevard Elementary & Monticello Middle School (21 years)
- Betsy Race, School Counselor at Boulevard Elementary School (41 years)
- Michael Rich, District Bus Mechanic (17 years)
- Valerie Sanders, Administrative Assistant at the Delisle Options Center (27 years)
- Timothy Scasny, Journalism & Opportunity Lab Teacher at Heights High School (39 years)
- Janeatha Smith, Kindergarten Paraprofessional at Roxboro Elementary School (5 years)
- Christina Sweeney, Fourth Grade Teacher at Noble Elementary School (20 years)
- Gary Wroblewski, Sports Management, First Aid, Health, & Physical Education Teacher at Heights High School (25 years)
The District recognized the 8 teachers who earned tenure, or Continuing Contract status, during the 2023-2024 school year:
- Julie Dempsey, Intervention Specialist at Heights High School
- Rachel Elliott, Physical Education and Health Teacher at Heights High School
- Kelly Hoffman, Science Teacher at Heights High School
- Dr. Shu Hui Lin, Chinese and EL Teacher at Heights High School
- Caroline Lorimer, Art Teacher at Heights High School
- Natalie Mortimer, Second Grade Teacher at Fairfax Elementary School
- Deborah Rowinski, Media Specialist at Roxboro Middle School
- Quinci Teer, Science Teacher at Roxboro Middle School
Tiger Nation Awards were given to those who presented at a state or national conference or who were published in a national journal during the 2023-2024 school year:
- Joyce Bukovac, Instructional Specialist, co-presented “Multiply Your Impact: Amplifying Active Participation with Dynamic Mathematics Protocols” at the OCTM Annual Conference in October.
- Grace Chen, Chinese Teacher at Roxboro Middle School, presented “Chinese Teachers’ Professional Growth and Empowerment” at the National Taiwan Normal University BEST Program in February.
- Dani Copeland, Eighth Grade ELA Teacher at Roxboro Middle School, co-presented “Rox Mid Rocks AVID Schoolwide! You Can Too!” at the AVID National Conference in November.
- Juana Cuervo, Spanish Teacher at Gearity Elementary & Preschool, helped lead the rewrite of the Ohio Early Learning and Development Standards, in both English & Spanish, this year.
- Melissa Garcar, IB Instructional Specialist, co-presented “Rox Mid Rocks AVID Schoolwide! You Can Too!” at the AVID National Conference in November.
- Dr. Felisha Gould, Assistant Superintendent of Educational Services, co-presented “Equity Beyond Black & White” at the BASA Women’s Leadership Conference in March and at the OSBA Conference in November. She also co-presented “Problem Solving 101: A Root Cause Analysis” at the OAASFEP Conference in March.
- Karen Liddell-Anderson, Director of Student Services, co-presented “Equity Beyond Black & White” at the BASA Women’s Leadership Conference in March and at the OSBA Conference in November. She also co-presented “Problem Solving 101: A Root Cause Analysis” at the OAASFEP Conference in March.
- Rebecca McDonald, Instructional Specialist, co-presented “Multiply Your Impact: Amplifying Active Participation with Dynamic Mathematics Protocols” at the OCTM Annual Conference in October.
- Brian Morrison, English Teacher at Heights High School, presented “AVID Elective Level 2: Tutorials and Refining Implementation” and “AVID Elective Level 3: Advancing Agency for Teachers and Students” at the AVID Summer Institutes in Orlando and San Antonio.
- Nancy Peppler, Supervisor of Community and School Partnerships, presented “Investing in Tomorrow: A Panel Discussion on the Impact of School-Based Health Care” at the Ohio Children’s Legislative Caucus in February.
- Lia Radke, AVID Teacher at Roxboro Middle School, co-presented “Rox Mid Rocks AVID Schoolwide! You Can Too!” at the AVID National Conference in November. She also presented “Transforming Literacy Through Content Area Reading 6-12” at the AVID National Summer Institute in August.
- Eric Soltis, Assistant Treasurer, presented “School District Management - Relationship with the Board of Education and Superintendent” at the OASBO Essentials of Leadership seminar in August. He also presented “Financial Management Best Practices” at the OASBO Mentoring Lunch & Learn Series in February and “It’s Time to Excel!” at the OASBO annual conference in April.
- Robert Swaggard, Director of College and Career Readiness, co-presented “Rox Mid Rocks AVID Schoolwide! You Can Too!” at the AVID National Conference in November.
- Quinci Teer, Eighth Grade Science Teacher at Roxboro Middle School, presented “Imperialism and Colonialism”at the Critical Race Studies in Education Association Conference in October.
- Dr. Brandon Towns, Administrative Principal at Heights High School, presented “Putting the Doctorate to Work: Dismantling Racial Injustice and Constructing Educational Possibilities” at the American Educational Research Association Annual Meeting in April.
- Shawn Washington, AVID and History Teacher at Heights High School, will present “Academic Language and Literacy: Asset-Based Instruction for All Classrooms” next month at the AVID National Summer Institute.