The Chardon Local School District’s Board of Education held its annual organizational meeting on Jan. 13, wherein Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge David M. Ondrey presided as incumbents Karen Blankenship and Guy Wilson and new member Keith Brewster, who was elected in November, took their oaths of office for their four-year terms.
BOE Organizational Meeting
The Chardon Local School District’s Board of Education held its annual organizational meeting on Jan. 13, wherein Geauga County Court of Common Pleas Judge David M. Ondrey presided as incumbents Karen Blankenship and Guy Wilson and new member Keith Brewster, who was elected in November, took their oaths of office for their four-year terms.
The board members re-elected Madelon Horvath, who is currently serving the third year of her second term, as president and Blankenship as vice president, each of whom was sworn into their respective offices by Chardon Schools Treasurer/CFO Deb Armbruster at the meeting.
Appointments confirmed at the meeting for 2020 were as follows: Blankenship as the Chardon Schools Foundation liaison and tax incentive review council representative, Brewster as legislative liaison, Stefanko as the Auburn Career Center representative, and Wilson as the student and staff liaison.
The board’s next regularly scheduled meeting is set for Feb. 18 at 6:30 p.m. For a full listing of this year’s meetings, visit BoardDocs via the Board of Education page at chardonschools.org.
School Board Recognition Month
Chardon Schools joins more than 700 school districts throughout Ohio in celebrating January as School Board Recognition Month.
For all their dedication, Chardon Schools is taking this opportunity to express gratitude to its five board members: Madelon Horvath, Karen Blankenship, Keith Brewster, Paul Stefanko and Guy Wilson.
The elected school board members exemplify local citizen control and decision-making in education. They volunteer hundreds of hours and an immeasurable amount of energy to ensure that Chardon schools are providing the best education possible for the community’s children.
In honor of School Board Recognition Month, Chardon Schools students created gifts and cards in line with the Ohio School Boards Association’s selected theme for 2020, “Planting the Seeds of Success.” Chardon Schools board members expressed deep appreciation for the thoughtfulness and time spent on these keepsakes.
Among the gifts were red-framed canvases featuring painted trees adorned with Tiny Toppers Preschool students’ painted fingerprints to represent the trees’ leaves.
During the Jan.13 regular board meeting, Blankenship read aloud several of the greeting cards she received, including one from a Chardon Middle School student who wrote the following Robert Louis Stevenson quote: “Don’t judge each day by the harvest you reap but by the seeds that you plant.”
Chardon High School seniors Kaylie Malloy and Cayleigh Dawson, who serve as student liaisons to the board, dedicated a portion of their January presentation to heartfelt expressions of gratitude for the board members’ commitment to the district.
“There is something really special about Chardon,” said Malloy to the five board members during her presentation. “It’s obvious how much you care about our students. You help build this school community and support it.”
Firem Retires from BOE
In December, Sheldon Firem completed the final year of his four-year term with the Chardon Schools Board of Education. The district is deeply grateful for his dedicated service and wishes him the very best in his retirement.
“Sheldon has been a wonderful member of the BOE,” said board president Madelon Horvath. “He took on the job of legislative liaison which is not easy but is crucial for our understanding of the larger issues in the State. Sheldon approached the job with a calm, thoughtful demeanor and absolute integrity. I will remember his warm smile as he arrived at meetings, coffee in hand. We wish him all the best, and we will miss him.”
