Need Money?!?

If college is on your horizon or you’re a parent thinking about sending your child off to college, you’re probably already considering the cost and how exactly you’re going to pay for it. The rising cost of a college education is a serious concern for parents and students alike.

According to the National Center for Education Statistics, the tuition cost of a four-year public institution is increasing an average of 2.8% each year, and that doesn’t take into account the increasing costs of room and board.

To help address those concerns, the VHS CounselingDepartment is offering a free informational program on the Financial Aid process as part of their Parent University Series. This program is completely free and open to high school students, parents, and community members.

Cathy Belfiore, Assistant Director of Financial Aid at Oberlin College, will be presenting the information and answering questions. The program is scheduled for Wednesday, January 13^th. It will start at 6:30 pm and is being held in the VHS auditorium.

This program will provide valuable information for seniors as well as younger students planning to attend college when the time comes. There are changes in the financial aid deadlines coming that will impact students starting with the graduating class of 2017. Those changes will be introduced, and their impact will be explained.

It will also be beneficial to community members who may be considering starting or returning to college. For more information about this event, please contact Erin Smith in the VHS Counseling Department. 

Like the Vermilion Local Schools Facebook page for up-to-date information and annoucenments. 

Have YOU Met the SRO? (Do You Know What the SRO Is?)

The Student Resource Officer or SRO plays a vital role within our district, but based on questions I've heard from parents, I would like to provide a better understanding of what the SRO does and who our current SRO is. 

Many believe the SRO is there to provide a visual police presence to hopefully deter criminal activity. While that is one of the roles the SRO takes on, it certainly isn’t the only role or even the most important role. When choosing an SRO for Vermilion, it was important for us to select an officer that could easily connect with the students.

We want the SRO to be able to build positive relationships with the students, so the students know the SRO is a trusted adult they can depend on when they need help. We want to promote the positive image of police officers as a resource and protector in times of crisis.

The SRO is a unique position because he is not a district employee. The SRO is an employee of the Vermilion Police Department that has been assigned to the position. When a new SRO is being assigned, officers interested in the position can apply and be considered.

The following are the official job duties/responsibilities of an SRO:

•    Receive mandatory approval of the VLSD Crisis Response Plan through the Department of Homeland Security (Completed December 5^th, 2015).
•  Plan, revise, implement, and communicate any and all changes to the VLSD Crisis Response Plan
• Walk through each of the school buildings on a daily basis. Stop in classrooms, greet students, and be a positive presence during walkthroughs.
• Be present at main entry points when students are arriving in the mornings.
•  Greet students and build positive relationships with the students in each building.
•  Provide Alice Training Resources for the staff and students
• Coordinate all emergency communication in the event of a school crisis
•  Coordinate and assist in the Canine School wide drug searches.
• Work in conjunction with Vermilion Police Department, Vermilion Fire Department, Lorain County SWAT team, Red Cross, and the Lorain County Emergency Management team in the event of a district crisis.
•  Meet with myself and the Assistant Superintendent on a biweekly basis to discuss identified potential student list that need extra mental health assistance
• Work closely with the counseling team on identified students
• Monitor building security systems and report issues to superintendent immediately.                                                                                                                                                                   

Our SRO is Ptl. Brian Beckwith. This is his first school year in the position of SRO, and the experience so far has been nothing but positive. He graduated from Vermilion High School in 2005. Among other things, he was an Eagle Scout, a member of student council, played football, baseball, tennis, and was in the marching band, jazz band, and show choir. He was very active while a student at Vermilion.

After graduated from Vermilion, he went on to college and graduated from Ashland University with a Bachelor’s degree in Criminal Justice. I asked Officer Beckwith to provide me with a bio…a bit of background information on his schooling and work history so that you can know more about him and his qualifications for this position.

     After graduating college, I worked at Erie County Sheriff’s Office as a Corrections Officer for one year. I then went to the Sandusky Career Center to obtain my police academy certificate. I worked on third shift with the Cedar Point Police Department for a season before getting hired in with the Vermilion Police Department. I was a part-time patrolman with the City of Vermilion until May 2015 when I was sworn in as a full-time officer.

     While attending Ashland University, I was an Intervention Specialist major with plans of becoming a special education teacher. After student teaching, I discovered that special education was not for me, so I switched my major to Criminal Justice. When I was informed of the School Resource Officer position being open, I felt that it would be a good fit for me, given my background in teaching and Criminal Justice.

     I am very glad I chose this position as it gives me an avenue to reach students on a more personal level and to reach out to students that may need help. I have found that being able to be proactive in addressing the issues kids are facing before they become a criminal problem is something I take great pride in performing, and it brings me a great deal of satisfaction. This position enables me to create positive encounters with the students in terms of law enforcement.

      My goal is to make students feel more comfortable in approaching an officer about any problem, help students to discover the best person they can make themselves become, and most importantly to make the learning environment for the students a safe and secure one. If you have any comments, suggestions or concerns, please feel free to contact me at SRO@vermilionpolice.com or call either the schools or our non-emergency police line at (440)967-6116. Thanks for reading!

Like the Vermilion Local Schools Facebook page for up-to-date information and annoucenments. 

Election…Interviews…Appointments... What is Going on with our School Board?

The Vermilion School Board has certainly had an exciting couple months. I wanted to take a minute to tell you about the new school board and to explain what has been going on. First, we had the election on November 3^rd. As I’m sure you all know, we had five candidates running; Shelly Innes, David Rice, Michael Stark, Nancy Oates, and Melanie Williamson.

Shelly Innes won her seat back in the election. Michael Stark and Nancy Oates also won open seats so they will be part of our new school board. They will be sworn in before the January meeting, and their term officially starts in January. They will each serve a four-year term.

We have school board elections every two years, so at this election three of the five board seats were available. At the next election, in two years, the other two seats will be up for election. Doing elections this way provides some consistency, opposed to having all five positions available every four years.

This year was somewhat different because we had a board member resign during the November meeting. As I’m sure you all saw in the Photojournal, Grant Harding stepped down from his position as a board member. When there is a resignation, the seat has to be filled by appointment. There are both school board policies and state codes that have to be followed in this situation.

The position was opened to the public. Any adult in the school district had the option of submitting a letter of interest. Everyone who filed a letter of interest has to be interviewed by the current board. In our case, there were ten people interviewed.

According to state code, the interviews and the decision all had to be conducted within the same meeting. The board had to make an appointment before their next meeting, but it also had to be between 10 and 30 days following the resignation. As you can imagine, this put a serious sense of urgency on the matter, and the current board members had to make this appointment a top priority.

Shelly Innes, David Rice, Dale Dawson, and Chris Habermehl interviewed all the candidates and voted on the one they wanted to appoint. Although the exact reasons behind their decision can’t be discussed, Shelly Innes did explain that they were focused on finding someone that believed in the shared vision of the district, someone that was committed to improving the district, and someone that could be part of communicating openly with the public.

All the candidates were very qualified and dedicated, which made their decision a difficult one. However, after the interviews were over and they had a chance to discuss their options, they voted to appoint Sara Stepp to the open board seat. Sara and her husband, Rudy, own a business in Vermilion. They also have two children in the district.

Sara was sworn in at the December regular board meeting, which was December 8th. She started immediately because she was filling an open seat. So, starting in January, our new Vermilion School Board will be Shelly Innes, Chris Habermehl, Michael Stark, Nancy Oates, and Sara Stepp.

 In January, the school board webpage will be updated with pictures, profiles of each candidate, and contact information. When that is complete, we’ll post an announcement on the district Facebook page. I encourage everyone to take a minute and read the profiles. Feel free to contact board members with any questions, and as always, don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions. 

SCHOOL ZONE 12-3-15

CLASSROOM VIDEOS

Technology Coach Jennifer Bengele created some wonderful videos highlighting some of the innovative education going on in our classrooms.  Links to the videos can be found on our Facebook page or Twitter feed.  The latest video can be viewed at https://youtu.be/GSlFuqv-bxQ

BOARD MEMBER VACANCY

We have received letters of interest from 11 residents who are interested in filling the board member seat recently vacated by Grant Harding.  The remaining Board members will interview the candidates this week and hope to make a decision by December 8, in accordance with Ohio Revised Code and Board policy.

NATIONAL HONOR SOCIETY

Congratulations to the new members of the National Honor Society who were inducted into the Society on November 23.  New Senior members are:  Brooke Dickey, Ashley Hofstetter, Chad Morrison and Andrew Volzer.  New members from the Junior class are:  Theresa Albrethsen, Christopher Canter, Mikayla Hall, Abbigale Hampton, Kellie Innes, Alexis Koeth, Alexander Lutz, Sierra Lyons, Isabelle McCale, Macie McDaniel, Rebecca Oates, Tara Pena, Samantha Peters, Violet Piskur, Lindsey Schaffer, Nicole Schmauch, Caitlyn Schnur, Kennedy Shreve, Kathryn Stumpp, Robin Terschak, Madison Urig, Jakob Warren, and Sierra Whitman.

EMERGING TRENDS

One of the most well-known and influential educational leaders is William Daggeth.  Recently our administrative team was invited by North Point Educational Service Center to be part of a consortium of schools that will study and participate in high quality professional development that is focused on the emerging trends in education.  Our team has made a commitment to partner with 14 Erie County schools in writing a grant that will result in a five-year study and enable our district to receive in-depth information on Career-Readiness of our students.  Our team chose this topic from a list of five trends that were identified by Mr. Daggeth after he and his team from the International Center of Leadership in Education visited schools across the nation.  Below is a brief summary of the topics that were identified. 

1.     Digital Leadership and Learning – Embracing digital technology in schools isn’t just about buying devices or using flashy tools.  It’s about knowing how to leverage technology to effectively support student learning for real-world readiness.  Real world ready schools are those that focus on learning in a digital age to prepare students for the world of today and of the future.  The culture of these real-world ready schools is based on building a leadership team, establishing a coherent vision for change, developing a systematic action plan, modeling for leaders effective and efficient ways to leverage digital tools to increase effectiveness, and modeling for teachers how to harness tools to support student learning.

2.     Career Ready – The challenge we are faced with today is ensuring that the factors that make students successful in college and careers are the same:  the ability to learn and apply new information, problem solve, communicate and collaborate with peers, and contribute to the greater good of society.  If we can focus on teaching and then measure these more broadly defined characteristics it will be a better indicator of whether a graduate is truly prepared for a successful life after high school.  The focus of K-12 and higher education needs to make a dramatic shift from what classes students have completed to what students are able to do.  College and post-secondary education needs to be seen as a means to the end, not just the end of a student’s learning cycle.

3.     Application-Based Learning – Application based learning allows students the learning experiences in a much more “real world” context.  Allowing students to draw on their own problem-solving, creativity/innovation, and critical-thinking skills will providea much more rich and valuable learning opportunity.  The Rigor/Relevance Framework is a tool all teachers can use to create application-based learning opportunities for students to think and work.  Knowing how to move a typical Quadrant A task toward Quadrant D by using research-based strategies that increase rigor and relevance is the key ingredient for application-based learning.

4.     Rigor – Achieving rigorous learning for all students requires instructing each student in a way that is relevant to him or her.  Pinpointing exactly what rigorous learning is and what it looks like in the classroom can be a challenging process.  It includes nurturing, caring relationships with ALL students and teaching interpersonal skills.  It includes instilling in ALL students the skills they will need for the careers that will allow self-sufficiency as adults.

5.     Data Analytics to Implement Growth Mindsets – As we develop more sophisticated assessments and use technology in more robust ways, we will see an explosion in the use of data for both formative and summative purposes.  More sophisticated use of data will enable us to accelerate the movement toward implementing growth and continuous improvement models.  With an increasing amount of data on individual students, we will find our one-size-fits-all instructional delivery system ineffective.  The need to individualize the organization and delivery of instruction will require focused and sustained professional development.

Our team chose Career Readiness because we believe that it is the most inclusive of all the trends. Our talented and passionate teaching and counseling team is working diligently to help our students discover the passion that will ultimately turn into a career and vocation for each of our students.

SCHOOL ZONE 11-19-2015

VETERAN’S DAY CELEBRATION

I would like to thank everyone who participated in the events last week for Vermilion veterans.  Teacher Kristy Edmison did an outstanding job planning the luncheon with her students.  This annual event is always well attended, but this year was the largest yet.  Kristy expressed that this is a favorite activity for her.  Many of the luncheon participants also came to the dedication of the field house.  The facility is dedicated to active service members and veterans who have served and continue to be involved in the security of our nation and community.  

BULLYING PREVENTION

This week our district focused on the prevention of bullying and cyber-bullying through various educational programs.  On Tuesday all students in grade 8 through 12.  The discussion for grades 8 and 9 focused on the causes and consequences of bullying, what to do if they witness bullying, the lasting impact of bullying/cyber-bullying, and sharing personal stories.  Students in grade 11 and 12 discussed bullying, cyber-bullying, civil rights issues, resources for bullying on college campuses, and were also able to share stories.  In the evening, parents were invited to hear a presentation by Dr. Lisa Kovach, an Associate Professor at the University of Toledo on Internet Safety and Cyber-bullying. Dr. Kovach is Executive Director of Ohio Bully Police and is a trainer for the United States Department of Justice.  This is an important issue and one that our district continues to make a priority as we educate students about use of technology. 

 

SECOND GRADERS TRAVEL TO COLUMBUS

Last week second grade teacher Lisa Murray and her class were invited to attend the Ohio School Board Association’s Capital Conference in Columbus to demonstrate a very exciting classroom project they are working on this year.  The conference is attended by education leaders from all across Ohio, as well as legislators and representatives from the Ohio Department of Education.  The VES students are using Skype to play an online game called “Mystery Skype” in which students connect with other educational institutions around the world and ask a variety of questions to determine where the school is located.  This innovative geography lesson is an example of instructional methods that our teachers use as they strive to engage a new generation of learners.   

SAILOR NEWS NATION

Students in the broadcast journalism program at Vermilion High School have been producing news reports and videos of school events that are available for public viewing.  The videos can be seen at a variety of online locations.  The news show, titled “Sailor News Nation” can be seen on Live stream at https://livestream.com/SNNvhs.  New programs are linked on the school district Facebook page.  I encourage you to visit these sites frequently to see the many exciting things our students are learning and doing with this new technology.

SAILOR MARCHING BAND DOCUMENTARY

Another excellent video produced by VHS students is the 2015 Sailor Marching Band documentary created by students Aaron Smith and Andrew Volzer.  The link to the video on YouTube is https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGlbJ6ncBoM&feature=share,