Crestview Elementary up for nat’l award

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent writer

CONVOY — Crestview Elementary School is in the running for the prestigious National Blue Ribbon award.

Principal Jessica Schuette shared details during Monday night’s Board of Education meeting.

“To be nominated for that award you have to have a high percentage of students who are economically disadvantaged and you also have to be within the top 15 percent of schools in the state,” Schuette explained. “Kathy (Mollenkopf) nominated us and a committee decided that we met those requirements and so I filled out a very lengthy application, but this is really a reflection of Kathy and her great leadership while she was the principal here and the hard work and dedication of our teaching staff.

Schuette added that she expects to learn in September if Crestview Elementary will be recognized. If so, school officials would go to Washington D.C. in November.

Schuette also told the board that 62 children have been registered for the next kindergarten class and she said she expects a few more to trickle in before the start of the next school year.

Middle School Principal Trent Kreischer and teachers Karen Germann, Matt Perkins and Amy Tomlinson gave a short presentation on the “We Is Greater Than Me” teaching concept used at the middle school level, and Crestview High School Principal Dave Bowen told the board that senior government students are currently enjoying a trip to Chicago.

“They’re doing a lot of different things and during the day they break into two groups and one group visits civil court and the other group visits the Natural History Museum,” Bowen noted.

Bowen also said the group is enjoying the various sites and will return tonight.

In other business, the board approved a motion to allow Superintendent Kathy Mollenkopf and Treasurer Ashley Whetsell to initiate the selection process for a design-build project of an Early Childhood Center and related improvements, and the board approved non-bargaining unit employee salary ranges for the next three school years.

Board members also approved calendars for the 2019-2020 and 2020-2021 school years. The first day of classes for the upcoming school year will be August 21, and the final day will be May 28, 2020, with graduation scheduled for two days later.

Board President John Auld started the meeting by congratulating the boys’ basketball team for winning the Division IV state championship and he thanked the squad for representing the community in fine fashion.

Later in the meeting, Kreischer shared his thoughts on the accomplishment.

“I just can’t say enough about publicly about our boys, our coaching staff and our community – it was kind of the buzz of Columbus,” Kreischer said. ‘There were a lot of people on social media talking about our community in a great way and that’s always awesome to hear.”

The board will honor the players and coaches during the next monthly meeting, which is scheduled for 6 p.m. Monday, April 22, in the district conference room.