Two WCS administrators are leaving the district

New staffers are coming in; current staffers are moving on.

While the personnel items facing the Wapakoneta Board of Education Tuesday were handled by title only from the meeting agenda, district Superintendent Aaron Rex did make note of two administrators who are leaving the district.

Will Snyder, principal at the middle school, is leaving for the Western Reserve School District in Huron County to serve as superintendent there. He was hired late in March for a three-year contract and will begin his new duties on Aug. 1.

High school assistant principal Doug Selvoy is also heading east, to work in the Willard School District, where he will serve as the high school principal.

Both resignations were accepted by the board. And while the interview process to fill those positions begins today, Rex wished the administrators luck in their new positions.

“We appreciate the time and energy you’ve given to the district,” Rex said, adding they won’t soon be forgotten.

Rex also took a minute to thank the 15 or 20 people who were involved with making the recent eighth-grade trip to Washington, D.C. a reality.

With students set to leave for the nation’s capitol on a Sunday, district officials got a call Friday afternoon saying the bus company couldn’t take the trip because they

had an insufficient number of drivers. Rex and his team, including Mike Watt, Dorinda Schmerge and district bus drivers, arranged to transport the students to eastern Ohio to be picked up by another professional bus company to take them the rest of the way to D.C.

“It was a big deal,” Rex said, calling it a “behind the scenes” situation that most people would never hear about. And the district’s Plan B wasn’t without its challenges, including a flat tire,

broken windshield and an impromptu trip to Pennsylvania to pick up kids traveling on a bus that broke down enroute to Ohio.

“These are the kinds of things people don’t see,” the superintendent said. “It made me proud of the district, and the people who work here.”

Plus, he said, it is sure to be a trip the students remember.

During the educational reports, board members learned Cridersville Elementary was awarded a grant from Activate Allen County, which principal Jason Woelke said will be used not only for more items students can use on the playground, but the storage buildings to keep those items safe and maintained.

It was reported both elementary and middle school students are engaged in state testing this week. Carrie Knoch, director of student

achievement, announced Wapakoneta won the WBL Varsity Scholastic Bowl title (see related story).

Financial matters were also approved, including the following donations:

* $200 to the WMS Art Club

* $200 to the Junior High Track team from their coaches

* $200 to the athletic department from the Frank Yost memorial

* $200 for the Junior High Track team from Jennifer and Cory Zwiebel

* $50 in memory of Nancy Hollenbacher from Marcia Davis

* $50 from Steinke Chiropractic for the Retro.

The board authorized the purchase of the final parcel of land on Wapakoneta-cridersville Road to fulfill the 60-acre purchase agreement. Parcl 8, 12. 123 acres, has a price tag of $11,995.

And, with a month to go in the current school year, board members handled a plethora of personnel matters, including the following for the remainder of this school year:

* Accepting the resignations of Sara Carty, Kristin Runser, Douglas Selves, William Snyder, Jade Hartman and Andrea Zickafoos-dammeyer; and the resignations of Patricia Severt and Kathleen Wachauf;

* Approving leave for employees Megan Buetner, Sara Haines, Carla Shappell, Chris Talowsky and Amanda Wehrman.

* Employment of substitute teachers, paraeducators, cafeteria workers, bus drivers and nurses;

* Employing new cafeteria workers Jennifer Saam, and Jacqueline Schneer, both at $12.68 per hour.

* Employing casual laborers, including Brietta Park, Molly Camp, Mike Kennedy, Braiden Lee, Anthony Lisi, Casey Minnig and Emily Vanhorn;

* Accepting the resignation of Nathan Koeller as the WHS robotics team assistant coach.

Looking ahead to next year, the board:

* Hired the following new teachers for the 2022-23 school year:

- Michelle Brinkley, WES preschool, $52,769; - Alexis Blum, WHS, Spanish teacher, $66,317;

- Colleen Gehret, WHS, English teacher, $41, 814;

- Samantha Koenig, CES, intervention specialist, $43,487;

- Susan Pallone — WHS ED intervention specialist, $67,241;

- Noah Rioch, CES, intervention specialist, $41,814;

- Karli Scherge, WES preschool, $49,173;

- Tyler Wolters, WMS, intervention specialist, $41,814

* Approved the following supplemental contracts for the 2022-23 school year:

- Matthew Rosebrock, head boys cross country, $,017.68

- John Jones, MS cross country, $2,843.35; - Sarah Gaukin, girls soccer assistant, $4,8992.24;

- Samantha Trimboli, girls soccer assistant, $4,892.24;

- Daniel Ketner, boys soccer assistant, $4,892.24 - Greg Lutheran, boys soccer assistant, $4,892.24;

- Sarah Swaney, cheer advisor, football, $1,839.82;

- Karen Hutt, cheer advisor, football, $1,839.82; - Lisa Jordan, cheer advisor, freshman football, $1,630.75;

- Susan Harrod, cheer advisor, MS football, $1,128.98

- Andrea Rosenbrock, volleyball assistant, $4,097.77

- Lindsay Zielonka, volleyball assistant, $4,474.10

- Diane Sammons, volleyball assistant, $4,892.24

- Makenzie Speakman, MS volleyball, $3,177.86; - Marcie Alberts, varsity girls basketball coach, $8.153.73 (see related story in the sports section) - Shelly Barrett, girls tennis volunteer

- Skylar Liming, girls soccer volunteer * Employed substitute bus drivers, cafeteria workers, paraeducators, secretaries, nurses and teachers for the 2022-23 school year.

The board met nine WMS students, honored by their teachers for excelling in the classroom. Please check Thursday’s paper to see that photo

and learn who was honored.