By Mark North
With the holidays quickly approaching, I want to thank the Fairborn community for the warm welcome I have received. I have had the opportunity to meet many people and believe that this is a great community to work and raise a family. I am also thankful for the support of the community in passing the recent bond issue.
With passage, Fairborn City Schools has started the planning process to construct two new elementary schools. Fairborn Primary School will house students in PreK-second grade and Fairborn Intermediate School will house students in third-fifth grades. I am very excited to begin the process with the OFCC and will be sending regular updates as the process unfolds.
Thank you for the support to construct safe and healthy learning environments for our elementary students. Updates will be posted on the website, district newsletter and social media. As the district continues to move forward, we are working on a variety of initiatives to improve academic standards and are committed to putting children first.
The Fairborn board of education will be recognizing the “Staff/Student of the Quarter” 6:30 p.m. Monday, Dec. 19 in the Fairborn High School auditorium. This recognition reaches throughout the district and recognizes staff members. Each individual in the district makes a great contribution to the education of a child. Everyone has a very important role in the district — and most importantly in the education of a child. We are proud of the caring and hard-working students and staff in our district.
Fairborn High School: National Honor Society inducted 22 new members into the Bath Chapter Fairborn High School. Advisors Janice Wright and Kelly Gaudette helped students plan and execute the induction ceremony, which was followed by light refreshments in the media center.
New inductees invited a staff member to pin them with their membership pin, and each new member shared the reason why they selected that particular staff member for the pinning honor. The current continuing members include seniors Colin Beard, Chloe Becraft, Dakota Carson, Morgan Cleek, Regan Diehl, Danielle Dierker, Brandon Easterling, Bailey Fahl, Branden Lilley, Taylor Rice, Olivia Sirch, Elias Smith, Titus Smith, Taylor Soulati and Noelle Townsend. These students were inducted in the 2015-16 school year as juniors.
New members inducted this year including both juniors and seniors are Tyler Barker, Alyssa Bates, Brandon Becraft, Alexis Boogart, Kyla Brandenburg, Thaliyah Cools-Lartigue, Jacob Dorsey, Zoe Gausel, Jordan Greene, Harry Huynh, Zuza Livosky, Caleb Meredith, Alana Mullins, Gabrile Perez, Breanna Poorman, Malaya Rivers, Klyde Slonaker, Corlan Smith, Corynn Spahr, Lauren Thomas, Jordan Wallace, Wes Watts and Michael Wills.
NHS officers for the current year are President Colin Beard, Vice-president Taylor Soulati, Secretary Olivia Sirch and Treasurer Bailey Fahl. Membership for NHS is based on the student’s demonstrated qualities of leadership, service, citizenship and scholarship. A minimum GPA of 3.5 is required to apply for membership. I am very proud of these students for their commitment to academic excellence.
Baker Middle School: The faculty and staff of Baker Middle School donated $405 after holding a faculty and staff “Jeans for the Walk” week in mid-October as part of Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Jeans for the Walk began a few years ago in support of seventh grade math teacher Becky Stone and other BMS staff members who have battled the disease.
Since then, it has become an annual tradition that BMS staff members take an entire week to wear pink clothes, don pink ribbons and make donations to the American Cancer Society the week before the Making Strides Against Breast Cancer walk in Dayton. For Stone, it’s more than just a charitable event.
“I want to thank everyone for contributing to the Making Strides Against Breast week,” she said. “This is a difficult month for me because it brings back so many memories of where I have been, and where I may end up. Until you have walked this path, you will never understand the number of emotions that you go through as you see so many survivors gathered in one location [at the Making Strides walk]. Once again, you have brought me back to reality by reminding me how blessed I really am. For that I thank you.”
Joining Stone on the walk were several BMS staff members including Jackie Wilcox (secretary), Christina Wilcox (cafeteria) and Angelica Giotta (cafeteria). I am proud of the staff at BMS for their care and concern for staff members who have battled cancer.
Fairborn Intermediate School: Becky Fultz and Destiny Sullivan were both honored as one of the top 100 scores earned in completing their RESA (teachers’ four-year residency program toward licensure.) Their top 100 score is even more breathtaking because they are two of more than 19,000 entry-year teachers in a three year period who scored in the top 100. The Fairborn Board of Education honored both staff members at the December board meeting. I am proud of our staff members who are working hard to be the best teachers-which will impact students in the classroom.
Fairborn Primary School: There are many volunteers in the Fairborn community who help our schools and children. Thank you to First Presbyterian Church for funding the “Mad Caps” Puppet show for first grade students. Thank you to Anita Dunaway for helping with car drop off each morning and for volunteering in a teacher’s class. Thank you to St. Christopher’s Episcopal Church members for donating all the necessary items need for clothing changes in the event of accidents for FPS kindergarten students. Thank you to Natalie Cooper for volunteering in a class class and to the Arnold family who volunteer in a class. Thank you to the many community volunteers who support our students with the “extras” that help contribute to a positive learning environment.
FCS music programs: Our holiday programs are in full swing highlighting the talents of our students. Thank you to all the music program staff and students for their outstanding work. A congratulations to the FHS Marching Band and Color Guard for their participation in the “Bands of America Grand Nationals Competition” at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. Our band and musical programs continue to highlight our talented students and staff.
