Superintendent Quincey Gray (far left) delivers her report to the Greenfield school board. Also pictured are (l-r) Eric Wise, Rachel Fraley, Eric Zint, Sandy Free, and Marilyn Mitchell.
Angela Shepherd | Contributing columnist
At this week’s Greenfield Exempted Village School District Board of Education meeting held on Aug. 14, a preview of fall sports was provided by District Athletic Director Tim Bolender.
The first football game of the school year is this coming Friday, Aug. 18, when the McClain Tigers will host Adena. Bolender said there are about 47 students this year making up the roster and a lot of work has gone into readying the team for the upcoming season.
The boy’s and girl’s cross-country training has begun under new coaches Sam Mincey and Payton Smith. Bolender also said there are around 24 students involved and the season officially begins Aug. 26 at the McClain Opener Invitational.
He also said volleyball this year will include varsity, JV and freshman teams. He then said there are about 24 students involved and some will split time between teams, with the season officially opening on Aug. 19 at the annual Spike & Dig Tournament.
Scrimmages are also underway for both boy’s and girl’s soccer. While boy’s soccer has already competed in one game so far, the Friday Night Futbol event last week at St. Joseph in Ironton, the season begins later this month on Aug. 26. There are about 25 boys and 22 girls participating this year and the girls’ team is under new head coach Blain Bergstrom.
Boy’s and girl’s golf is already underway with the boys having competed in two events already and the girl’s team in one, taking second place in the Adam Sharp Invitational on Aug. 3. Boy’s golf is under new coach Kyle Beachey. There are a half dozen boys this year, while there are 15 girls participating.
Bolender capped off his preview by talking about ticket prices that will increase this year. He said it was a decision of the Frontier Athletic Conference, which consists of principals from all league schools, to raise ticket prices across the league this year from $5 per ticket to $7 per ticket. Middle school events will be $5 per ticket.
However, Bolender said there are season passes available that are good for all home events, with the exception of tournament games, throughout the school year.
Bolender also noted progress at the practice field, which includes the new basketball courts. Those will be available for use in the coming weeks.
In other business, four students were recognized for achieving perfect scores on state tests. The recognition came with a plaque for each student from the school board. A fifth student was unable to attend and will be recognized at a future school board meeting. The four students recognized Monday were Laura Barber for the high school geometry test, Lucas Banks for sixth-grade math, Addison Allen for fourth-grade math and Porter Roe for both the third-grade math and English Language Arts (ELA) tests.
In her report, Superintendent Quincey Gray said that the new school year officially kicked off with the annual gathering of staff and faculty on Aug. 14. There, new staff members were recognized and milestones of others were also recognized. Gray noted a couple of those milestones – two employees who have worked in the district for 40 years and another who has worked in the district for 45 years.
Following the annual gathering, staff and faculty went about readying for the arrival of students in first through 12th grade on Thursday, Aug. 17.
Items on the consent agenda that were approved by the board included an agreement allowing temporary access of the parking lot off Lafayette Street to the Greenfield Historical Society for events it will host at its Shiloh Baptist Church location on Lafayette Street.
Other consent agenda items included the resignations of special programs secretary Mandy Wareikis, aide Renae Harris, and aide Jama McCune.
Employment recommendations for supplemental positions approved by the school board were: Mark Bihl, weight room supervisor; Drew Hamilton, live streaming and girl’s track head coach; Steve Roble, boy’s track head coach; Molly Stegbauer, softball head coach; Shane Fligor, honor guard; and Kenny Branscrom, baseball head coach.
Recommendations for classified substitutes approved by the board were: Vanessa Baker – cafeteria, custodian, secretary; Martha Baldridge – aide, cafeteria, secretary; Dawn Barnhart – custodian; Lori Brooks – aide; Danielle Buhrman – aide; John Caskey – bus driver; Wendy Coonrod – aide; Brittany Crippen – aide, cafeteria, secretary; Lauren Dowden – aide; Penny Everhart – secretary; Elizabeth Fryman – aide; Carollyn Fent – aide; Chris Goddard – bus driver; Jon Goddard – van driver; Lacey Hawkins – aide and secretary; Kimberly Hazlett – aide and secretary; Brittany Massie – aide; Cherish McCarty – aide, cafeteria, secretary; Roxann Mick – aide and secretary; Delbert Mitchell – transportation; Dyana Mt. Castle – aide; Chad Newkirk – custodian; Travis Rayburn – bus driver; Cheryl Roberts – bus driver; Racheal Sowers – aide and secretary; Emma Stegbauer – aide; Mike Sykes – transportation; Coy Tite – aide; Robert Warden – aide; Leanna Warren – aide, cafeteria, secretary; Michael Weaver – bus driver; Carol Wend – cafeteria and secretary; Melissa West – aide, cafeteria, secretary; Carlee Williams – aide; Linda Zirkles – aide; April Breakfield – aide; Casey Fraley – aide; Cheryl Harris – cafeteria and secretary; Karen Jennings – aide; Ann Marrow – secretary; Shylah Mustard – aide; Mishea Seldon – aide; Connor Snavely – custodian, maintenance, secretary; Courtney Speakman – aide; Whitney Walker – aide, cafeteria, secretary; Stephanie Whaley; and Vicki Smith – aide.
Certified substitute recommendations approved by the board were: Suanne Edwards, Tammy Elliott, Jean Goddard, Sarah Gruber, Kaitlin Kellis, Eliza Pearce-Dietrich, Katie Penwell-Purdin, Joellen Wagner, Amanda Adams, Cynthis Allen, Andrea Anderson, Shannon Barton, Deborah Betts, Shanon Bruner, Abigail Burgess, Tim Campbell, Josh Carroll, Michelle Cunningham, Regina Detwiler, Aaron Dhume, Michael Durham, Anna Ehlers, Mindy Fisher, Aimee Gaines, Lindsey Hall, Adam Hester, Sam Hudnell, Jana Huff-Daye, Angela Holley, Mike Kinnamon, Tracy Kipker, Jackie Knisley, Yanira Knueven, James Larkins, Jill Lee, Lorie May, Caleb Mootispaw, Ashley Oglesby, Mark Peters, Emily Pohlman, Cathy Rivas, Kara Roberts, Glenna Rowe, Wendy Royse, Angie Shepherd, Lee Snyder, Evelyn Stapleton, Deborah Vesey, Carlee Williams, William Wright, and Camden Yates.
The Greenfield Exempted School District Board of Education will meet again in a regular session on Sept. 18, 2023, at 7 p.m. in the Greenfield Elementary cafetorium. For information and updates, go to the district website at greenfield.k12.oh.us or go to the district’s social media pages. The individual buildings also have Facebook pages. The district’s central office may be reached by calling 937-981-2152.
