OTSEGO LOCAL SCHOOLS
Superintendent's Weekly Update - November 30, 2018
Thank you for your patience today. The fog didn't want to make up its mind today. It settled in thicker the later we got into the morning. It was just not safe to be on the roads for our buses or HS students driving in. This marks our 3rd calamity day. Blizzard bags are looking more and more possible this year. Please look for those on days 6 through 8 if we need them. We will post links online and/or send materials home with students if it comes to that. Will keep everyone posted, but wanted to let you know where we stand as of today.
I would like to thank the Washington Township Fire Department and Downey PHC for their efforts this morning. We had an electrical issue in the elementary that caused our fire alarms to go off. They were quick to react and made sure our buildings were safe. There was NO fire or damage to the building. This is why I had to call elementary parents to inform them that OES Extended Care was to in the HS Commons. It was a hectic morning, but everything was taken care of and the problem was quickly identified. If the fog had lifted, we would have been able to have school on campus. Thank you, Washington Twp FD and Downey PHC!
Portrait of a Graduate- We are actively engaging the community in developing a Portrait of a Graduate, a collective vision that articulates our community’s aspirations for all of our students.
As school leaders, we must ask:
· What are the hopes, aspirations, and dreams that our community has for our young people?
· What are the skills and habits of mind that our children need for success in this rapidly changing and complex world?
· What are the implications for the design of the learning experiences—and equitable access to those experiences—we provide in our school systems?
We want our Portrait of a Graduate to be locally developed, but globally positioned, and we are welcoming many voices and eliciting ongoing input from stakeholders inside our school system and within our community. The Portrait Design Team, a group of 57 people, will meet four times to co-design our Portrait. Our shared aspiration is that all students have an educational experience that prepares them to be lifelong learners and contributors today and tomorrow.
Now more than ever, our learning experiences must continue to not only provide for the acquisition of rigorous academic content, but must also be intentional about fostering critical thinking, communication, collaboration, creativity, and other 21st century skills our students need to thrive.
The Portrait of a Graduate is the first step in framing a new vision for our school system. And, once we create our Portrait, the exciting work of implementing this new vision begins.
From our kindergarteners to our seniors—this work has an enduring impact. Each of us will play an important role in making the Portrait of a Graduate a reality for every student as we continue to create meaningful learning experiences every day.
If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to reach out!
Our first session was held this past week. We will be complete by March 1st. We will continue to update the community throughout this process.
Bus Safety - I attended a meeting before the break with other area schools and Senator Randy Gardner regarding bus safety. It was pretty clear that our local drivers continue to disobey school bus laws. This has to stop! If our school buses or any school bus is stopped and has its red lights on you have to stop. This means our students are either entering or exiting the bus. Locally in Wood County, there have over 100 incidents where cars have passed school buses with their red lights engaged and the stop sign out. This is a huge safety issue. There have been several accidents relating to this issue nationally in recent months. Be patient and please obey the law! We are advocating for stricter penalties for drivers who disobey the law. Our children are more important than you getting to where you are going on time and always remember to NOT text and drive. We recently purchased additional lights for our buses. These lights will light up the ground in the front, rear, and side of the bus when we are picking up students in the morning. I hope to have these lights installed before we come back from the break in January.
GO KNIGHTS!
Adam Koch
Penta Career Center Career Night
Students interested in applying for admission to Penta and who would like an overview of career-technical education, are encouraged to bring their parents to an informational presentation in the Susor auditorium at 6:30 p.m. During Career Night, students and parents will be able to speak with Penta instructors and students, meet Penta alumni, and discuss career opportunities with representatives from business and industry. In addition, during Career Night, potential students who are currently freshmen, sophomores or juniors can register to win gift cards to the Penta Bookstore. Students who apply for admission to Penta by January 7, 2019 are eligible to win a $100 gift card to Amazon.com.
Penta offers 27 career-technical training programs for high school students during their junior and senior years of high school at the school’s main campus. In addition, Penta offers a year-long Sophomore Exploratory program for students who are interested in exploring career-technical fields during 10th grade. Penta also provides one-year and two-year program options at satellite locations for area students. These programs include Marketing Education and Teaching Professions which are available to students within some of Penta’s member school districts.
Penta Career Center serves students in the following 16 school districts: Anthony Wayne, Benton-Carroll-Salem, Bowling Green, Eastwood, Elmwood, Genoa, Lake, Maumee, North Baltimore, Northwood, Otsego, Perrysburg, Rossford, Springfield, Swanton, and Woodmore.
For more information about Career Night, contact the Student Services and Admissions Office at 419-661-6498 or visit www.pentacareercenter.org.
Pay It Forward Lunch Campaign Continues
The Pay It Forward Lunch Campaign is ongoing. If you are interested in helping our students out, you can send money to the Central Office, marked School Lunch Pay It Forward.
We were approached by the D.P. Dough Restaurant to help with our Campaign! The restaurant is owned by a 2005 Graduate, Will Pierce. Please take a look at the fliers below and help support a local entrepreneur and our students! Check them out at DPDough.com
Edward C. Byers Jr. Awards for Exceptionalism and Heroism
Master Chief Edward C. Byers Jr. is starting two awards for our students in Grades 6th through 12th. Please take a look at the attached video and letter from Master Chief Byers. Please use the nomination form in the letter to nominate our students. You may turn in nomination forms to the Central Office any time before April 1st. We will mail them to Master Chief Byers. The awards night is May 9th and Master Chief Byers will be in attendance to hand out the awards.
Message from Master Chief Byers
Career Discussion Opportunity
Otsego Community -
We are excited to offer new and innovative experiences for our junior high and high school students. We are inviting professionals such as yourself to come interact with our students as an opportunity to engage them in real-world work experiences through the eyes of an expert. This will be a forty minute experience for our students in which you can present information that would be beneficial as they begin to explore their careeroptions. Things to consider during the presentation would be educational requirements, expectations as they enter the workforce, experiences they can anticipate in your career field. What we are aiming for are real conversations between working adults and our students. We are so excited to share our students with you so that you might be able to inspire a few and not only educate students about their career interests but to also maybe inspire them to follow your career path! We want to give our students an idea of what your job entails, but also to tell them how you got to where you are. What the future job market looks like? What certifications and credentials are needed? I have included below a list of suggested essential questions that can be used to guide your discussions but please do not think that you are limited to these. The groups will be smaller in size. Sample questions that may be asked by students: Describe your typical workday and workweek. Is it 40 hours? More? What skills are most important to you in your work? What interests did you have which led you to this field of work? What education, training, certification, licensure, advanced degrees or credentials do you need to do your work? What employment path did you take that led you to where you are now? What is the employment outlook for your line of work? What challenges do you face in your work? We have put a calendar together for you to choose a date that works best for you. You may choose to talk to Junior High Students (grades 6-8) or High School Students (grades 9-12). Simply click on the building below that you would like to share your experiences with and select a date that fits in your schedule. You will enter in the front of the High School and someone from the office will walk you down to the room. Junior High Success Period Presenter Sign Up Link
HASKINS YOUTH SPORTS ORGANIZATION
The time has come for the Haskins Parents Association board members to resign and move on from their volunteer positions. We have been volunteering our time for many years and it’s now your turn.
The program is starting fresh in 2019 with a new name and new faces. The new name will be Haskins Youth Sports Organization and this new group needs you.
The season starts in the spring, however, there is work to be done in the offseason as well. We will hold a meeting on Sunday, December 2 at 6:30 pm at The Haskins Village Town Hall. Everyone is welcome and encouraged to attend. This organization would not exist if it was not for past leadership and for new leadership, with new leadership we encourage you to grow and expand this program to include other areas of interest besides softball and baseball.
This organization runs on volunteers to provide a summer and fall ball season for our town youth. Without new leadership, this organization cannot continue.
We have all positions open and are happy to mentor you along the way :
*President
*Vice President
*Treasurer/ Secretary
*Field /game /umpire/concessions scheduler
*Concession supplier and maintenance
Any questions can be directed to any current board member :
Georgie Berry
Matt Studer
Doug Hartman
Or Georgiann Smith Berry on Facebook messenger
We are excited to see you at our meeting on Sunday December 2 at 6:30pm at Haskins Village Town Hall
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Otsego PTO Breakfast with Santa - December 8th
Weston Library Events
ATHLETICS
Meet the Team Night is December 15th at Halftime of the Boys Game.
Junior High and High School Sporting Events
Friday, November 30th
4pm - V WR @ Jim Derr Inv. (Northwood)
6pm - JV/V GBB @ Lake
Saturday, December 1
9:00 - V WR @ Jim Derr Inv. (Northwood)
9:00 - 7th/8th WR @ Titsworth Inv. (Fremont)
4:45 - 9th/JV/V BBK (H) Maumee
COMMUNITY EVENTS SECTION
Questions, Concerns, Comments, or Rumors
Sponsors
Otsego Board of Education
President: Elizabeth Gorski jegorski@frontier.com
Vice President: Judy Snyder jasnyder715@gmail.com
Board Member: James Harter jameslharter@gmail.com
Board Member: Mark Tolles mdt814@cs.com
Board Member: Brad Anderson banderson.otsego@gmail.com
Adam Koch, Superintendent
Email: akoch@otsegoknights.org
Website: www.otsegoknights.org
Location: 18505 Tontogany Creek Road, Bowling Green, OH, United States
Phone: 419-823-4381
Twitter: @AdamKoch_Otsego
Lisa Austin, Administrative Assistant to the Superintendent/EMIS Coordinator
Email: laustin@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Lauri Dunham, Special Education Director
Email: ldunham@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Stephen Bihary, School Psychologist
Email: sbihary@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Luke Swartz, Technology Director
Email: lswartz@otsegoknights.org
Website: www.otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Katrina Baughman, Elementary Principal
Email: kbaughman@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Twitter: @KBaughman723
Mike Wiley, Assistant Elementary Principal
Email: mwiley@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Twitter: @PrincpalWiley
Kevin O'Shea, High School Principal
Email: koshea@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Twitter: @KosheaOHS
Jon Rife, Junior High Principal
Email: jrife@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Twitter: @OJHS_Principal
Tom Ferdig, High School Athletic Director and Assistant Principal Grades 6-12
Email: tferdig@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Eva Vasher, Director of Transportation and Custodial
Email: evasher@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Jeanne Jeffers, Director of Food Service
Email: jjeffers@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381
Twitter: @Otsego_Cafe
Rick Haskins, Director of Maintenance
Email: rhaskins@otsegoknights.org
Phone: 419-823-4381