The West Geauga Academic Decathlon team attended the state competition and won high honors.
Decathlon Team Wins High Honors
The West Geauga Academic Decathlon team attended the state competition and won high honors.
Team advisor Ben Speros said, “Unlike Regionals, this time we were directly up against the second-best in the nation team Oakwood. We still took 19 medals (in 67 possible areas), and finished second in our division, and third in the state overall, behind Oakwood and Willoughby South.”
Notably, senior Mariana Valdez-Punales had the highest scoring speech in the state, earning a 955 out of a perfect 1000, and delivered her speech at the prestigious speech showcase portion of the awards ceremony. Junior Hannah Barker had the highest overall score for the team.
Stehura Named Athletic Director
Ben Stehura has been approved by the West Geauga Board of Education as the new athletic director for the West Geauga Local School District.
Stehura was the head coach for varsity wrestling during the past year and has a wealth of experience in athletics and athletic administration at the college and high school level.
Superintendent Richard Markwardt said, “We are excited to have Ben as our new AD. He has an incredibly strong and successful background in athletics that includes administrative expertise, program building, fundraising and community engagement.”
Administrative Changes at West G
Exciting changes have been made to the West Geauga School District staff for the upcoming school year.
Jim Kish has joined the central office staff as the director of public relations and development. He will assist Dr. Markwardt with special projects and spearhead public relations.
Ron Dahlhofer is the new middle school principal. Mr. Dahlhofer previously served the district as a middle school math teacher, principal of LIndsey Elementary School and assistant principal at the high school.
Meagan Bellan is the new principal of Lindsey Elementary School. Previously a school psychologist at West Geauga, Ms. Bellan has extensive curricular and supervisory experience in Solon City Schools and PEP.
Shawn Krippel is now the assistant principal at West Geauga High School. Mr. Krippel served the district formerly as a math teacher at the high school and then as the assistant principal at the middle school.
