Born in Key West Florida, Patricia began her 29-year career here when she came to Sheffield/Sheffield Lake Schools in 1974 as teacher aide at Knollwood Elementary.  After three years she left to have children, but then returned in 1985 to the same position at Knollwood.  She soon left there to go to the same position at Sheffield Middle School where she worked for 13 years.  In 1995 Patricia went to the Board Office as district registrar where she remained until 1997.  That year her registrar’s office was moved to Brookside where she has worked since.  Patricia says, “I love all our students and 99.9 percent of our staff.  As registrar, I have been the first person to represent our school district, so I have my ‘Wal-Mart Greeter’s Vest’ on all the time.  I have been married for 46 years, and have 4 children and 8 grandchildren.”

Cheryl Strichek hails from Youngstown originally.  She was first employed in the school district in 1989 as a cafeteria server at Forestlawn Elementary.  She later went to the middle school in 1998 as secretary and server.  Then in 1999 she moved to the high school into her current position in the attendance office.  Cheryl says, “Students this age are exciting.”  She loves to spend time with her family, especially with her twin, 3-year-old grandchildren. Cheryl collects pottery from Salmon Falls.  She and husband Greg have been married for 38 years and have 3 children.

Born in Cleveland, Pat Blaseg and husband Dave moved to Sheffield Lake in 1991.  In that year she was employed as noon aide and crossing guard at Forestlawn.  She later became a multiple handicapped class aide at Brookside, as well as a bus driver, for 6 years.  She finally became secretary in the guidance office in 2004.  Both her children are Brookside graduates. Pat “loves the Sheffield/Sheffield Lake Schools.”  She says, “Not only have I met lifelong friends working in this district, I also get to work with many of them daily!  Brookside High School is the best place to work because we truly have the best staff here.”

“These three ladies form the nucleus of a solid office operation here at Brookside.  Because of their overall competence and personal skill level, everyday life here is awfully smooth and very enjoyable,” according to Bob Shaffer, assistant principal.  “Services for the students get done well thanks to them,” he said.
 

Brenda has been the building secretary at Barr Elementary for the past seven years. Prior to working at Barr, she has held several other positions in the district including BHS building secretary,  Tennyson special education aide and Tennyson noon aide for a total of  21 years of service to this district. Brenda received her secretarial training at LCCC. Prior to working as a secretary, she worked at Lorain County Organized Labor Management.

Brenda has been married to her husband, Chuck for 40 years. She has three grown children (Chuck, Joe and Cindy) all of who went through the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City School District. Joe works as an electrical engineer at Ford, Chuck is a computer programmer at Hyland Software and Cindy works at Ruby Tuesdays in Sheffield. Brenda also boasts of seven grandchildren. Brenda’s favorite pastimes include spending time with her family, riding horses, walking her dogs and riding a motorcycle with her husband.

 Brenda is a valued member of the Barr staff. It is a pleasure to shine the spotlight on her this week!
 

Ms. Hutter has been with Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City Schools since 1996. She is a graduate of Kent State University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Education and Special Education. After graduation, Ms. Hutter spent time living in Florida and working in sales. With teaching positions hard to come by in Florida, Ms. Hutter moved back to Ohio in 1995. She was first hired to the district as a special education teacher. After holding that position for 5 years, she moved into a 5^th grade regular education position which she still holds today.  Ms Hutter has two family members also connected to the district: Mrs. Keiser from Tennyson is her sister, and her brother Mr. Muzik, was a former principal at Forestlawn.

People who know Ms. Hutter would say one thing about her: She LOVES science. She not only loves to teach it, but she involves herself with science outside of the classroom in several ways. She takes strong positions on environmental issues such as recycling.  Ms. Hutter is an avid birder and at times, brings her exotic birds to school for a visit with her students. Her house is normally filled with the chattering, sometimes screaming of her six pet birds, two of which are macaws. Her cat, “Coco Chanel” must share the home, being outnumbered by the birds 6:1.  Ms. Hutter is also the organizer of our semi-annual Forestlawn “pet show” in the spring.

Ms. Hutter’s other interest include bicycling, kayaking, hiking, reading and singing in the church choir. She holds a position of an officer on the board of her cycling group. Ms. Hutter truly loves the classroom and strives to instill a love of science and reading in all of her students.

Who has outlasted 9 principals and is still the stabilizing factor at Tennyson Elementary? If you guessed Judi Dietz, you are right! Judi started out with Sheffield/Sheffield Lake Schools as a PTO mom first as the secretary and then vice president. (As Judi says back when dinosaurs were still alive, typewriters were the only way to type up PTO minutes, and we were still the Tennyson Tigers.) She went on to be the Tennyson volunteer librarian for seven years from 1981-87. We hear Mrs. Dietz’s library was quite the place to be with a zoo theme (with live animals!) and “lions and tigers and bears…oh my!” 1987 found Mrs. Dietz going from a volunteer to an employee as a noon aide, crossing guard, and special education aide. Later in the early 90’s Judi Dietz landed one of the best jobs in the district- Tennyson Elementary secretary, where she has been helping students, teachers, and principals for the last 20ish years.

Although Judi is recognizing grandchildren of students who were in her library back in the 80’s, her technology skills are 21st century. Judi can figure out how to fix smartboards, computers, projectors, and printers with the best that are out there. And we didn’t even mention copiers, faxes and laminating machines! We truly don’t know what we would do without Judi’s help in fixing all our electronic devices.

As much as Judi loves Tennyson and the many people who have touched her life there, the true love of her life is her family- husband Paul, daughter Libby (who teaches first grade in Brunswick), son-in-law Charlie Jackson (an Ohio State trooper), and her son, PJ (who does IT and programming for the American Reading Company in Pennsylvania). That being said, the true, true love of her life is her grandson, Miles, who is already an exceptional two year old! Just ask to see the pictures and videos!

We can’t thank Judi enough for all the years she has dedicated to Tennyson Elementary and the Sheffield/Sheffield Lake School District, but we’ll try with this short spotlight article. Thank you, Judi. You are a gem, a cornerstone of our school district, and the reason why Tennyson has always been a special place. Thank you.

The Sheffield/Sheffield Lake CSD is proud to spotlight Tom Ternes this week. Tom has worked for the District 30 years. He worked as a custodian at the high school for 17 years before becoming the head custodian and then maintenance. His experience and work ethic has made Tom very valuable to the District. He is loved by all ‘especially the ladies’ and will truly be missed.

It is also easy to see that Tom is in excellent physical shape which hopefully will do him well for years to come. This is the result of hard work, from farming to work and sports. Tom wrestled in high school qualifying for the state tournament his senior year. He continued to wrestle and has many victories in open AAU tournaments. Tom also competed nationally, winning the YMCA Free Style and Greco-Roman Tournament, and wrestled in the AAU Nationals, but unfortunately due to injury, fell just short of qualifying for the US Olympic trials.

Because of his love of sports and kids, Tom also made it a lifelong career to coach. He started coaching Hot Stove softball in Lagrange for 12 years, and had won several state titles. He also began coaching wrestling at Elyria High School in 1966 and then moved on to coaching at Southview High School with his brother Dan in 1971. After more than 40 years of coaching, to Tom’s credit, he never had a losing season.

Tom’s other interest has been horses. He calls it a hobby but it seems much more than that. Tom has achieved many awards and titles racing and training horses. He has been barrel racing and pole bending since he was 8 years of age, and still today competes and wins at the senior level and open divisions. Over his lifetime Tom has also trained a mare that placed 2^ndin the world.

Tom will probably never slow down. He is a competitor that hates to lose. He is presently training a 10 year old girl to barrel race with his goal to get her ranked nationally. After retirement, Tom and his wife Jerri also hope to do a lot of traveling.

When asked what he liked about working for the District, Tom replied “I have always liked working here and have enjoyed the people that I have been fortunate enough to work with. Laughter is my main thing”!

Tom will officially retire on 1/3/2011 but his last day at work will be 12/6/2010 so please congratulate Tom when you see him next as we wish Tom and his family the very best.

Mr. Jeff Keith
Sheffield Middle School

    Sheffield Middle School is proud to shine the staff spotlight on Mr. Jeff Keith.  Mr. Keith is an awesome teacher who currently teaches technology to students in grades 6-8.  Mr. Keith is a graduate of nearby Vermillion High School ( class of ’94 ) where he not only played sports but he so helped as a trainer on the sports teams.  Mr. Keith then went on to attend Kent State University where he majored in Education and graduated in 1998.  Mr. Keith has since earned his degree in Educational Administration. 

     Mr. Keith does many fun units for students as they learn about technology in his classroom.  One of the units he enjoys the most is the unit which students use flip camera’s to record information and then use technology to edit the recordings.  He prides himself on being a great teacher and making the classroom a fun and enjoyable place for students to learn.  Mr. Keith is also the 8^thgrade middle school football coach. He and the students had a very successful season this year.

     Mr. Keith is passionate about helping the middle school community of SMS be the best possible place it can be.  He has recently taken on a leadership role with MMGW which is a program that SMS is using to help the school continue to grow in a positive direction.  In the past, Mr. Keith has coached middle school track and middle school boys and girls basketball.  He has also been the head high school track coach and the head high school girls basketball coach.

     Mr. Keith is a huge Pittsburgh Steelers and a Notre Dame fan.  He enjoys golfing, lifting weights, and fishing. Jeff has visited 15 of the Caribbean Islands and loves to travel.  He has a “Boating Pilot’s license” and is very well schooled on navigation without radar on Lake Erie.  Jeff is married to Sena Keith and has two sons named Jerin and Tyler as well as two fox terriers named Zeus and Payton Manning.

Members of the “kitchen crew” are, front row (left to right), Kathy Thomason, Denise Lococo, Ellen Sheets, and Donna Martin.  Pictured in the second row are (left to right) Regina Honse, Kathy Householder, Debbie Reising, Vicky Ray, and Amy Bishop. 

The Brookside Kitchen Crew

And a great crew they are!  These ladies who work hard every day to provide the students and staff of the Sheffield/Sheffield Lake School District with their lunch deserve a big pat on the back for their efforts. 

It’s hard enough at home to put food on the table that everyone in the family likes all the time.  Can you imagine, then, how tough it can be to provide a meal every day for over 2,000 people and please everyone?  Now that’s quite an assignment to say the least. But, Head Cook Vicky Ray and her staff give it their best shot every day and do a great job on the process.

Vicky and her staff represent 121 total years of work to the district in food service.  Vicky says she is very proud of all her workers and the efforts they put in day in and day out.  She thanks them for “hanging in there” especially when it gets so hot in the kitchen on warm, humid says.

Vicky has 25 years of service herself for the district, and as head cook works all the duties at one time or another.  She also makes the duty assignments for the other seven ladies.

In terms of years of service Kathy Thomason and Debbie Reising are next with 24 years each.  Kathy fills in for Vicky as head cook when Vicky is absent.  She also bakes, serves food, washes pans, runs the dishwasher, runs the register, and helps with payroll.  Debbie makes salads, washes dishes, cooks, runs the register, helps others and “smiles” she reports.

Ellen Sheets has 14 years of service for the kitchen.  She helps prepare the food for all the schools in the district, serves the food, and runs the register.  

Working in the kitchen for 13 years has been Denise Lococo.  Denise prepares the vegetables and makes soup each day, runs the register, and cleans up.

Kathy Householder sports 12 years of service in the kitchen.  She delivers the food to all the buildings, stocks the food, and cleans and maintains the kitchen area.

Regina “Steeler” Honse has been with the kitchen for 7 years.  She says that she does what Vicky wants her to do, and helps with whatever needs done.

For the last two years Amy Bishop has been part of the kitchen “crew.”  She says she does whatever Vicky asks her to do.

Next time you see one of the “kitchen crew” give them an “atta boy” for a job well done.

Mrs. Pazder is highly respected in the district for being on the cutting edge of best teaching practices for implementing a co-teaching classroom model.   Mrs. Pazder co-teaches with Mr. Kinser. Their classroom is a true co-teaching model. Both teachers actively plan and teach as a team all day. In addition to the innovative co-teaching model, Mrs. Pazder has also helped to secure netbook computers for each student in the class. The computers are utilized for a variety of educational enhancements to their curriculum and classroom instruction.  In addition to the netbooks, Mrs. Pazder and Mr. Kinser each have a district-issued iPad which they have used in their classroom most recently as a tool for practice with multiplication facts, sight words, and reading fluency. 

Mrs. Pazder demonstrates her highly skilled and professional manner of servicing her students on a daily basis. Her main motivation is what the students’ need to succeed, regardless of what it requires of her, to assure that the goals of her students are met.

Mrs. Pazder graduated from Vermilion High School in 1999, and completed a Bachelor of Arts degree in 2003 from Heidelberg University.  She is licensed as a mild to moderate intervention specialist as well as in early childhood education (PreK-3).  After marrying her high school sweetheart, Bryan, they moved back to Vermilion to start a family.  Mrs. Pazder has most recently completed a Master of Science degree in Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment from Walden University. 

Mrs. Pazder spends most of her free time caring for and enjoying her 3 year old, Lauryn, and is actively involved in the Praise Team at Grace United Methodist Church in Vermilion.
 

Sheffield Middle School proudly presents Anne Rosso as our next staff member for the “staff spotlight”. 

Mrs. Rosso teaches 6^thgrade language arts and social studies here at SMS.  She has been a teacher here for 7 years.  Anne is always greeting people with a smile and is a very child centered teacher who does a great job incorporating state standards into her lessons.

Anne is a 1996 graduate of Brookside High School.  She received her Bachelors degree from Ashland University in the area of Elementary Education.  She has also earned her Masters degree in Education.  Mrs. Rosso is married to her high school sweetheart Beau Rosso who also attended Brookside High School.  They have two daughters.  Avery is 6 ½ years old and Addison who is 2 ½ years old.  When asked how she felt about teaching in the school she attended, Mrs. Rosso stated: “Teaching in the school district which I attended is a great opportunity.  I try to inspire my students.  I understand where my students are coming from since I grew up here.  I just want to make a positive impact on their learning.” 

Mrs. Rosso was a foreign exchange student at Brookside and was one of the first students to participate in the foreign exchange program with Sheffield, England as part of the “hands across the ocean” program.  Mrs. Rosso really likes to incorporate technology into her classroom. She has been known to have her class “Skype” with soldiers in Kuwait and with people that she has ties with that live in foreign countries.  Mrs. Rosso is currently piloting a program with her students which incorporates the new Apple Ipad.

Mrs. Bonnie Jones  
Knollwood Elementary School

It is with great pleasure that we spotlight Mrs. Bonnie Jones on behalf of the Knollwood Staff.  We would like to congratulate Bonnie on her retirement from the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake School District.  Bonnie has been educating students for 30 years and she will be greatly missed by staff, students and parents.  We want to wish her well on her new endeavors as she turns her attention to her family instead of her students come the fall.  We hope to see her face around Knollwood in the future as a substitute within the district.

Bonnie, thank you for making a difference in each and every life you’ve touched! 
 

The staff at Brookside find Charlie to be very personable and easy to work with.  The administrators he works with find him to be an excellent communicator, and very insightful when it comes to solving mechanical problems both in the short and long run.

Charlie was born in Lorain, and was graduated from Lorain High School in 1973. After graduation he worked at American Ship Building until it closed in 1983. He worked his way over to the Sheffield/Sheffield Lake School District in 1987 when he became a night cleaner at Brookside.  He held that position until 1989 when he starting driving the food truck for the district. Charlie drove the truck until 1999 when he became a special assignment custodian and grounds keeper for the district.  Finally in 2004 he was moved into the head custodian’s position at Brookside, and has been there since that time.

Charlie and his wife, Tracy, reside in Vermilion.  They have six children, three boys and three girls.  Their youngest child, Joshua, is a sophomore at Vermilion High School.  Charlie indicates he is an avid sports fan, with his favorite teams being the Browns, Cavs, Indians, Buckeyes, and Brookside.  His hobbies include riding and working on motorcycles, and playing pool in a league and in various tournaments. However, he emphasizes that he most enjoys spending as much time as possible relaxing and enjoying life with his wife, children, and grand children.

During her career thus far, Mrs. Berner has been the recipient of several awards. She was named a Martha Holden Jennings Scholar in 2002-2003. Also in 2003 she won the Lorain County Golden Apple Award for Innovation in Education. Mrs. Berner also earned “Teacher of the Year” awards by the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake PTO for the 2002-2003 and 2003-2004 school years. Mrs. Berner is very active in committee work for the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City Schools. She has participated in the Center for Leadership “Leadership Academy” between 2001 and 2003. She was a science associate for the PROM/SE Smart Consortium for four years. Mrs. Berner also has served on district committees including the language arts committee, literacy committee, professional development committee and as a curriculum leader.

In 2005, Mrs. Berner married her husband, Rob Berner. During her free time she enjoys reading, spending summers at the lake in Marblehead, and spending time with her family and friends.

Mrs. Tammy Carver
Knollwood Elementary

It is with great pleasure to Staff Spotlight, Mrs. Tammy Carver.  Tammy is the Knollwood Elementary Secretary.  She has been with the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake District for 21 years.  She became involved in the district as a volunteer for 2 years at Forestlawn.  Soon after that, she was hired to work in the district.  She has been a noon-paraprofessional, a librarian, and a special education paraprofessional.   

Tammy has been secretary at Knollwood for 14 years.  She isDYNAMIC!  TammyALWAYSgoes above and beyond what her day entails.  She is hard-working, dependable, flexible, helpful, patient, kind, caring, positive, and is able to juggle a variety of tasks at the same time. She communicates well with district staff, Knollwood students and especially our parents. 

Her hobbies consist of collecting Austrian Crystal, working out at World Gym and spending time with her family and grandchildren!  We are honored to have Tammy as a team/staff member at Knollwood.  Thank you for all you have done for the district, Tammy! You truly are “the heart of Knollwood!” 

 Mrs. Jami Marquez    
 This week’s spotlight is on Jami Marquez.  The Tennyson School community sees Jami every morning and afternoon as she safely transports the students back and forth between home and school, on bus 23.  Jami returns to Tennyson at lunchtime where she takes on the job of kitchen server and provides students buying lunch, not only food, but greets them with a bright smile and a helping hand.

 Jami began her career in the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City School District in the spring of 2002 where she worked as a substitute aide.  Jami earned her CDL license during the summer of that year and began driving her bus route with the start of the new school year in August.  During 2007-2008 she added lunch server at Tennyson to her resume.  Transporting and feeding students on a daily basis gives Jami the perfect opportunity for Jami and the students to get to know each other. 

 Jami resides in Lorain with her husband Willie.  Jamie and Willie have been married for 18 years and have raised two daughters, Kristina and Monica.  Monica is currently a junior at Brookside High School. In her spare time, Jami enjoys scrapbooking, riding her bike, walking and simply spending time with family and friends.  In the summer, there’s a good chance you’ll see Jami on one of the local softball fields, coaching her daughter’s team.

 When asked if she had any words of advice for new bus drivers she replied, “Patience is a virtue and always be ready for a stopped train!”  She also added that she had “an awesome bus route with an awesome bunch of kids.”  Thank you Jami for all that you do for Sheffield/Sheffield Lake Schools!!
 

"Coach" Bill McPhie

SMS teacher spotlight is proud to shine a light on Bill McPhie.  Bill is commonly known as “Father Flannigan” because he often provides advice to other staff members when they ask for it.  Bill is 57 years young and works great with young people.  Bill graduated from Lorain Catholic in 1970 where he had good grades and was also a honorable mention “All – State” offensive lineman in football.  He then attended Defiance College where he was a varsity letter winner in football and lacrosse.  Bill earned his B.A. from Defiance in 1975 to teach P.E. He later earned his Master of Science Degree in Curriculum and Instruction.  Bill has been a teacher for 35 years and all 35 have been here in Sheffield.  He spent 13 years in the elementary schools here and 22 years here at Sheffield Middle School. 

Bill is married to his wife Barb for 33 years.  They have 3 beautiful daughters which are all college graduates.  Bill’s favorite color is medium blue.  Bill’s favorite food is chili with lots of crackers. Bill lifts weights at least 3 times per week.  “He is really good at playing really bad golf”, and he loves to watch and coach sports.  Bill’s favorite places to visit are Gettysburg and Washington D.C.   

We are proud to have Bill as a team member here at SMS.  He is great teacher, he has a great sense of humor, and he helps instill pride in our students.

Mrs. Beth Scherry
 

     For the last 14 years Beth Scherry has been a teacher extraordinaire at Brookside who has been most instrumental in her school attaining the state rating of “excellent.”  We are most proud of her work.

     When Brookside launched its improvement program, High Schools That Work (HSTW), back in 1998 Beth immediately jumped in with both feet to help.  She became an active member of the core team which has planned and implemented the successful activities which have contributed primarily to the high rating.

     Probably the main activity which has helped has been Beth’s coordination of the staff administration and study of Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) results.  Further, utilizing these study results, she has coordinated the development of teacher intervention and preparation procedures that have helped students gradually raise Brookside’s OGT test scores.  Thus, our state ratings have improved to “excellent” due mainly to these better test results.

     To assist students with not only improving test results, but also with doing an overall better job in the classroom, Beth has been the lead teacher in the creation and growth of our academic “coaching” room.  Meeting certain criteria, students are assigned to Beth and other teachers in Room 209 for assistance throughout the school day.  Beth and her fellow teachers have saved many students from failure over the past several years.  Assignment to this room, coupled with the intervention work of teachers in the four core area classrooms, have together really helped Brookside become “excellent.”

     Beth was the driving force in the development of Brookside’s summer bridge program.  Working with the valuable assistance from the middle school staff, Beth initially coordinated the selection of those 8^thgraders in greatest need of the type of assistance they needed to immediately succeed in high school classes.  She has continued to help with program intervention and instruction. Data show that the great majority of the students who participated in the program have improved their academic performance over their 8^thgrade year.

     Beth has been a lead teacher with the district’s professional development committee, and the building’s arena scheduling committee.  The former effort has resulted in advanced, up-to-date training for teachers, while the latter has been of great help in assigning more accurate, relevant schedules for our students.

     Accurate alignment of Brookside’s curriculum with Ohio state standards has been an ongoing challenge for the staff.  Thanks to in large part to Beth’s insight and guidance via in-service planning and intense small group work, we can say that the curriculum here is relevant and poised to continue to provide our students with the instruction they need to be successful in testing and career preparation.

     Beth has also found time in her demanding schedule to be a mentor for new teachers entering Brookside for the first time, and advise the very active student council which sponsors such activities for the school as homecoming, blood drives, and dances.  She has also assisted with freshmen orientation, and was the Model United Nations advisor for several years.  Moreover, Beth has worked with the Travel Exchange Club, coached volleyball, and been a Peer Leaders Advisor.

     Prior to coming to Brookside, Beth worked in the family business in Columbus while substitute teaching and serving as an educational tour guide at the statehouse.  She also worked as an elementary teacher, advisor, and coach at an elementary school in Sandusky.

     She was awarded Teacher of The Year in 2002 by the Sheffield Lake community.  Having obtained administrative licensure from Bowling Green University in 2008, Beth has indicated that her employment objective is, “…to obtain a leadership position within a school system that will allow me to utilize my leadership skills and experiences in contributing to the district’s growth and success.” 

Mrs. Andrea Stell

Knollwood, Tennyson and William Barr Elementary Schools are pleased to recognize Mrs. Andrea Stell, elementary music teacher. Mrs. Stell provides students kindergarten through fourth grade with musical experiences that give many students the opportunity to perform in public. The musical selections she uses give a wide variety of singing, playing instruments and acting for children.  Stell holds programs at Christmas, Thanksgiving and springtime which are well performed, well attended and a favorite in the community.

Mrs. Stell also is the director of the Forestlawn 5^thgrade Hummingbirds. The Hummingbirds is a vocal group that meets regularly after school. The Hummingbirds perform in a variety of setting throughout the school year including board meetings, assemblies for other buildings, nursing homes and area businesses. They are “on tour” frequently during the year.

Mrs. Stell graduated from John Marshall High School in Cleveland. After graduation, she attended Ohio University and then transferred to Bluffton College, graduating with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music Education. Mrs. Stell furthered her education by attending Marygrove College where she earned her Master’s Degree in Music Education.

Before coming to Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City Schools, Mrs. Stell taught for seven years in Lima Ohio. In 1992, she was hired into the Sheffield –Sheffield Lake City School District to teach middle and high school choir and general music. While holding that position, Mrs. Stell met and married Mr. Stell, chemistry and physics teachers at BHS. In 1998, Mrs. Stell transferred to the elementary vocal music position and has held this position ever since.

Mrs. Stell states that she loves her job as well as the wonderful faculty and staff that she works with. Her positive disposition is noticed by all as is her smile that brightens up any room she enters.

Janet Porcher

Mrs. Janet Porcher came to Tennyson Elementary in 1972 as a graduate from Ashland College in Ohio with a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education.  She has spent her teaching career at Tennyson.  She taught 5th grade for 15 years, and then switched to 3rd grade. She has taught 3rd grade for 23 years. She also did Reading Recovery for 1st grade students for 6 years.  

            Mrs. Porcher lives in Sheffield Township with her husband Robert and their collie dog, Gizmo.  Gizmo has a history of coming to school on Fridays to visit with the students in the afternoon. 

            She comes from a family of teachers. Two of her family also taught in the Sheffield-Sheffield Lake City Schools.  Her mother, Mrs. Myrta Puca, taught for many years at Knollwood teaching 4th grade.  Her aunt, Mrs. Neva Komives, taught second grade at our elementary schools before switching to special education at Barr Elementary and then Sheffield Middle School.

     Mrs. Porcher's classroom is child centered.  Each student is encouraged to figure out how they learn best and to use that knowledge to learn and grow.  Mrs. Porcher fosters responsibility and independence of thought.  Even though Mrs. Porcher has been teaching for 38 years, she is always searching for innovative ways to present the curriculum so that all students can learn.

            Mrs. Porcher was at Tennyson when the very first Apple IIe computer was given to each teacher in the elementary schools in 1984.  This started her life-long fascination with technology.  She'd spend hours learning all the different programs for students.  She quickly saw how the computer could enhance her daily lessons.

            She started a "Computer Club" with the students at Tennyson which met after school for an hour.  Mrs. Jacqueline Dembek also assisted in the Computer Club.  One class each week would be invited to attend the "Computer Club".   Every student at Tennyson had the opportunity to go the "Computer Club" two to three times a year.  Mrs. Porcher also gave in-service training to parents that wanted to come into the classrooms to work with students on the computer. She was also a resource to the other teachers at Tennyson with their computers.

            Mrs. Porcher began to attend technology conferences and take courses on using technology in the classroom.  During this time she began her Masters in Technology in the Classroom.  She donated software programs for use in her classroom and in the Computer Club.  She also made a database of all Tennyson's software so that other schools in the district could borrow them. 

            Then in 1994, Mr. Ron Lindsey, the assistant superintendent, put a Gateway computer into the library.  Mr. Lindsey asked Mrs. Porcher to develop training sessions for the teachers on the new Gateway computers.  She still gives training sessions to this day.  

            Shortly after, every elementary classroom had at least one Gateway computer in each classroom. Mrs. Porcher received cast off computers from the Social Security Administration, the Ford Motor Company and one of her student's parents.  This enabled her to have half her students work with her while the other half of the students would be working on computers.   

     Five years ago, Tennyson got its first interactive Smartboard.  Mrs. Porcher was quick to see how this could benefit all students, especially students who learn in different ways.  All Mrs. Porcher's lessons include use of the Smartboard.  Some of the lessons are for the whole class, some are for small groups and some are for use by pairs of students.  All lessons require interaction and analysis from the students.

     This year, Mrs. Porcher was asked if she would agree to pilot a program that gave each student a laptop at their desk.  This is to see how having a computer at their desk can enhance their learning.  Needless to say, Mrs. Porcher, was excited to have such an opportunity.  The class still uses their textbooks, but they also enhance their lessons by finding more information to supplement their textbook. They also do one "research" topic a week.  Math work still has to be done with pencil and paper as does learning and practicing cursive writing.  Most of their other assignments are typed into Microsoft Word.   Mrs. Porcher's students get the benefit of doing Study Island, an internet study program for the Ohio Achievement Assessment every day in Math and Reading.  They also have access to do Accelerated Reader every day.  Every day is a new and exciting learning opportunity for Mrs. Porcher and her students.
 

JB Kinser

Barr Elementary School proudly recognizes Mr. J.B. Kinser.  For the past 11 years. Mr. Kinser has served as a fourth grade teacher at Barr. He has taught all subjects, but is personally partial to math and science. This year Mr. Kinser is participating in one of the district’s few true inclusion classrooms by team teaching with Mrs. Pazder. This model has reaped benefits for both special education students as well as regular education students. A side effect of this unlikely pair is the impact that both teachers have had on each other. They have grown in their own ways through sharing ideas, strategies and skills to enhance the overall learning environment.
Mr. Kinser is a leader in respect to classroom technology. He is always one of the first to try new technological tools and resources. He seeks out helpful links for students and parents and has those readily available on his webpage which is always updated. Classroom photographs, videos, and a plethora of useful information can be found when visiting his webpage.
Mr. Kinser graduated from the University of Toledo in 1997 with his Bachelor’s Degree in Education after beginning his college experience at Lorain County Community College in 1993. He completed his Master’s Degree in Curriculum and Instruction from Cleveland State University in 2002. He was hired to teach at Barr Elementary School in 1998.
Mr. Kinser has been married for 10 years to his wife, Erin who is also a teacher. He comes from a family of teachers that include his mother, brother, uncle, father-in-law, and mother-in-law. His favorite activities include reading, golf and basketball. During his planning time you can frequently see Mr. Kinser visiting the connect classes, participating if possible.

Emily Carl

Sheffield Middle School is extremely proud of our Multiple Handicapped teacher Mrs. Emily Carl.   Mrs. Carl is organized, creative, assertive, flexible, cooperative, and persistent.  Emily has a wonderful rapport with people of all ages, especially children. Her ability to connect with her students and her talent at teaching simple concepts, as well as more advanced topics, are both truly superior.

Mrs. Carl grew up in North Olmsted and graduated from North Olmstead High School in 1995.  Emily comes from a family of athletes, She had a sister that played volleyball at Purdue University and a brother that played volleyball at Bowling Green State University.  Mrs. Carl attended Cleveland State University and was an asset to their volleyball team.  Emily played all positions and was on the team for 4 years.

After college, Emily began working at Sheffield Middle School and we have been fortunate to have her here for the past 10 years.  Emily is the Alternate Assessment trainer for the district and is in charge of all alternate assessment testing.

Emily has been married to her loving husband Andy for 7 years, and they have a 2 year old son, Jack. Her family enjoys hiking and outdoor sports together.  Emily takes pleasure in reading science fiction and cooking, especially lasagna, which is her best dish.

Mrs. Carl’s hobbies include running ½ marathons. Last year she ran the Cleveland marathon and plans to again this year.  She trains up to 12 miles per day.  She started running marathons because “ I never was a runner but I wanted to prove to myself that I could do it ( run a ½ marathon )”.  She also runs 5 mile races.  Recently she finished 3rd in her age group and 4^thoverall in a5 mile race benefiting Tuberous Sclerosis Complex, which  is a genetic disorder that causes tumors to form in many different organs, primarily in the brain, eyes, heart, kidney, skin and lungs.

Mrs. Carl motivates her students in a fair, positive, and consistent manner.  Her patience and dedication toward them makes for a positive classroom climate.  Emily has developed a caring and sensitive relationship with her students, and in return, they respect and care for her immensely. "In my classroom I teach functional, vocational, communication and living skills that help the students become as independent as possible.  Tasks are modified but still challenging for each individual student.  I, along with my educational assistants, Mrs. Yatson and Mrs. Holland, the students therapists, Mrs. Nock, Mrs. Martin, and Mrs. Azok work hard to meet each child's individual needs.  The ultimate goal being, each child reaching their full potential."

    Mrs. Carl is also a valuable part of our staff.  She is open to new ideas and is willing to lend a helping hand.  Emily works along side her coworkers to find new ways to assist our students and enhance their learning.  She has established positive relationships with her coworkers and works extremely well with her team members and the special education department. 

DONNA RINI

It is with great pleasure that we review Donna Rini’s accomplishments and achievements as a science classroom teacher here at Brookside High School since  her arrival seven years ago.  Her work has figured most significantly into us receiving an  “excellent” rating from the State of Ohio the last several years.

Donna arrives early, works late, rarely misses work, and never says “no.”     Donna takes the time at the beginning of each class to discuss the “whys” of the day’s lesson, and how the study of it will benefit students.  She uses checks for understanding regularly to ask students about their feelings and reactions to what they are doing, and what they feel they have learned at the end.  She constantly interacts with her students in a “discovery” fashion, and does very little lecturing and explaining.  She asks students lots of questions, and constantly has them sharing with the rest of the class what they’re doing and what they feel they’ve learned. Donna practices intervention with her students, pausing as she tours the room while they’re working to offer assistance.  When she discovers a concern that the rest of the class also needs to be aware of, she says, “All right…eyes on me please.”  She then proceeds to outline the concern and its possible solution along with help from the student originally having the problem.  For those students having deeper problems understanding concepts, she meets privately with them and refers them to her after-school bonus period for detailed help. Donna’s personality allows her to instill an enjoyment for learning in her students.Her Smile is very warming and never goes away.  She exhibits great enthusiasm in her tone of voice.  When she asks students for a response to some inquiry or an opinion on some project work, her facial expression and interaction with them places value on what students say and they sense this.  Each of her students is made to feel via her compliments and personal mannerisms that they have made some significant contribution to the overall progress of the class.  Donna is a most proficient teacher, especially in terms of the programs she is asked to prepare and teach.  She is currently teaching biology, forensic science, and anatomy and physiology—three different preparations.  She has written, and led the development of, the supporting curricula, syllabi, and course descriptions for these and other science programs such as general science, chemistry, and botany at all grade levels in our school. Donna also expects her students to reach the highest level of  proficient understanding of the basic principles underlying her class.  For example, she has the students dissecting specimens and doing other hands-on-work during the first day of class!  She pushes her students to become enthusiastically involved right off the bat to begin their drive toward proficiency. From the outset when Donna joined us she has striven to do whatever she can to help us with our school improvement  efforts.  She instantly became a member of our building core team that coordinates our participation in the High Schools That Work (HSTW) program, which is a branch of the  Southern Regional Education Board (SREB). She has chaired focus groups in our building which have developed , and continue to expand, professional activities related to making 8^th—9^thgrade transition, and 12^thgrade—college transition, smoother for our students.  Donna has spent many hours helping to coordinate our Ohio Graduation Test (OGT) student preparation efforts in science.  Prior to her efforts we did not regularly meet the state minimum standard on our science tests.  Now we do with room to spare.  Most recently Donna has worked with another teacher to put in place an after-school “bonus” period for student who need help in their science class work.  It is in its second year and several students show up each night for assistance.  Further, Donna has been the unofficial leader in the re-writing of our science curriculum to bring it into alignment more so with state standards. She has developed lesson plans and testing materials in this regard which she shares with the rest of the science staff. Donna regularly attends professional conferences and updates throughout the school year, especially those dealing with HSTW, to keep herself well prepared for improving her classroom delivery, and for leading other staff members to do the same. Donna has been a “go-to” person who when it comes to a teacher who can be counted upon to both jump-start professional projects, and to keep them going through persistence.  In her capacity now as the HSTW building coordinator, which she assumed last year, she calls regular meetings of the building core improvement team, chairs the meetings, and renders written and verbal reports of those proposed activities discussed for the rest of the staff.  She receives input on in-service needs from the core team as well as the central office, and coordinates the making of the necessary arrangements for activities designed to meet those needs.  Recently, for example, she guided the school’s participation in the annual SREB conference in Atlanta, GA., arranged for a forthcoming local presentation of an assistance program called The Power of I, and is helping to put together a program for our entire teaching staff at the local community college on classroom delivery strategy during an extended period.  Donna does much work behind the scenes arranging for staff members to attend various in-service conferences throughout the school year, as well as administering the grant funs that flow to us due to our participation in HSTW.  She is in the beginning phases of again setting up our required Nation Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) testing of seniors as part of the HSTW program.  She is meeting with seniors, staff members, and community college staff to plan for the tests in February.  The drive and enthusiasm she brings to her work each day are responsible for her desire to do everything right for her students.  Her constant smile, her pleasant, but commanding, voice, her constant positive attitude about being available for any request for assistance, and the practice that she never tells a student they are totally wrong are manifestations of her enthusiasm for teaching.  This is a snapshot of Donna Rini at Brookside.  Donna’s excellent work and attitude are infectious to the rest of the staff.   Our school has gained new luster by her work.

"MISS DEBBIE"

Elementary guidance counselor Debbie Raesler AKA “Miss Debbie” is a friendly familiar face to students and staff in the four Sheffield –Sheffield Lake elementary schools. Miss Debbie is currently serving her sixth year in the district. Miss Debbie is licensed both as a school counselor as well as a community agency counselor. She has worked as a social worker for many mental health agencies within Cuyahoga and Lorain Counties. She completed her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Mount Union College and her master’s degree in education from Cleveland State University.
Miss Debbie’s role as elementary guidance counselor include assisting students with academic, emotional and behavioral concerns, making observations to help in the identification process of special needs students and maintaining communication between teachers and parents of students from pre-kindergarten through fifth grade. She also provides counseling for individuals as well as small groups. Miss Debbie has even been known to do home visits with students and families to help them work through difficult situations.

Miss Debbie teaches guidance lesson for all kindergarten and first grade students. She also teaches a guidance class for 5^thgrade students who are not enrolled in band. Classroom lessons include topics such as conflict, bullying, decision making, problem solving and time management.

Miss Debbie has created one program for students entering 2^ndgrade in known as “The Lunch Bunch”. She meets with all 2^ndgrade students at least once during the year to get to know them. From 3^rdthrough 5^thgrade, Miss Debbie meets with lunch bunch students to help with social skills and communication skills.

Miss Debbie is a self proclaimed “health nut”. Ask any of her lunch bunch students and they will tell you that she always brings enough fruits and vegetables to share. She’s always looking for that “teachable moment” and sneaks in proper nutrition and staying active in through her sharing of fruits and vegetables during lunch bunch.

Not only does Miss Debbie meet with students, she is also available to teachers and other school staff for consultation on how to handle situations. She is also available to parents and is in regular contact with parents through email, phone calls, and conferences.

Miss Debbie is one person who holds many students together from kindergarten through fifth grade. She is a positive force in the lives of many of our students and a valuable asset to our district.