By Jordan Studer
jstuder@wbcowqel.com
Thursday evening’s meeting for Bucyrus school board was one of importance for the district as members approved a new elementary school principal, Erica Dietzel.
Dietzel was selected from a pool of nearly 30 applicants.
According to a district press release, Dietzel has come back home to Ohio after serving 12 years in the 10th largest school district in the country, Orange County Public Schools in Florida, as a teacher and building administrator.
One factor that set her above the rest was her successful involvement as a building level administrator, curriculum coach and teacher.
Dietzel received her Bachelor of Arts in Early Childhood Education from Heidelberg College in 2003. She earned a Master of Science in Educational Leadership from Nova Southeastern University in 2009.
Superintendent Kevin Kimmel said, “Her approachability is top notch and her enthusiasm is off the charts, and we are very excited to have her in our district.”
Dietzel begins officially on Aug. 1 as the new principal for Bucyrus Elementary School. During the month of July she is going to be working so that she can guarantee a well-oiled transition for this school year.
The resignation of Nicole French, the choir director and vocal music teacher was also accepted Thursday evening.
Bucyrus Players also made an appearance at the meeting as member Sophie McAdams presented the award and honor the show choir received on their trip to New York City this past school year. McAdams read a letter that the group had written that expressed how grateful they were for the opportunity to go on the trip and for those who approved the trip and helped make it happen.
The letter also emphasized how much the students’ lives were changed by this trip and how much they learned and took away from it. The group was also very proud to share that they received second place at the Performing Arts Consultants Music Festivals, The Big Apple Classic, in New York City. They presented their trophy to Dr. Mark Burke and a picture of the group to Kimmel as an appreciation. Board members then expressed that the group made them all very proud.
Some other matters such as approving the “Leader in Me” program as well as upgrading the school website were discussed too. The “Leader in Me” program is something that the Bucyrus Elementary School teachers have taken on. They have read the book, “Leader in Me”, by Stephen Covey. Their biggest goal is to teach students leadership skills.
To do this, they want to get advanced training in The 7 Habits of Happy Kids, which are discussed in the book and include: Be Proactive, Begin with the End in Mind, Put First Things First, Think Win-Win, Seek First to Understand, Then to Be Understood, Synergize and Sharpen the Saw. The program is also said to help train the staff in the 7 Habits of Highly Effective People.
The staff expressed high hopes for the continuation and advancement of the program in the district.