ThisWeek Community Newspapers Reynoldsburg
Page A2
August 4, 2011
Licking County voters
Conservation district levy to appear on Nov. 8 ballot Licking County voters in November will decide on a 0.1-mill operating levy request by the Licking County Soil and Water Conservation District. County commissioners passed a resolution July 28 to place the five-year levy on the Nov. 8 ballot. Conservation district officials anticipate the levy would generate about $370,000 per year. It would cost property owners $3.06 per year for every $100,000 of assessed valuation, according to the county auditor’s office. Officials say the levy is necessary to support the conservation district’s programs and services, which have been reduced because of decreases in state and county funding. Additional reductions in funding are expected as a result of cuts in the state’s Local Government Fund over the next two years.
Jim Kiracofe, program administrator for the conservation district, said the county cannot adequately fund all its discretionary agencies unless additional sources of revenue are utilized. “It doesn’t look good for us long-term unless we can find other sources of revenue,” Kiracofe said. He said the conservation district also would search for grants to fund programs. The conservation district “is really about making sure soil and water resources remain sustainable for future generations,” Kiracofe said. “Without a local presence of well-trained people, it would be very easy to slip backward.” The mission of the conservation district is “to promote conservation of natural resources through local leadership, education and technical assistance,” according to its website. — Neil Thompson
ACADEMY LEADERS Continued from page A1 years before moving home to Zanesville to teach at Zanesville High School. Raymond then moved to Reynoldsburg in 1990 with her husband, Chad, where she was a substitute science teacher at Reynoldsburg High School before becoming a full-time chemistry teacher the following year. In 1998, Raymond was named assistant principal at RHS under then-principal Steve Dackin. In 2000, she became gifted-education coordinator for the district. In 2001, Raymond left the district to become program director for the Center for Essential School Reform in Columbus before being hired in 2003 by the Knowledgworks Foundation as its senior program officer to assist in the Ohio High School Transformation Initiative. In 2005, Raymond was on the planning team, along with Dan Hoffman, Battelle Institute and Ohio State, that started the STEMbased Metro High School. She became its first principal. She continued as principal at Metro before accepting the position as leader of the eSTEM academy at Reynoldsburg’s new Summit Road high school campus. Raymond said her mother, Vicky French, inspired her to make a career in education. French recently retired after 48 years with Zanesville schools. “I want to be like her,” Raymond said. “She’s a tireless worker and she believes that every kid deserves a chance.”
As the new leader of the eSTEM academy, she said, she wants to build on what has been established under Kelly’s watch this past year, then amplify and accelerate the program into the future. “Having had the experience in starting a STEM school and running a STEM school for the past five years, I understand what the opportunities are and I think I can help amplify the opportunity for kids,” Raymond said. “I know how to do some of the things that will take it to the next level, because it’s got a great foundation. The teachers are awesome. They’ve worked very hard.” Dodson, 35, a native of Dublin, Ohio, received a bachelor of arts degree in education from Ohio Dominican University in 1999 and a master’s degree in teaching and learning from Nova Southeastern University in Florida in 2003. In 2006, she attended Ohio State, receiving her administrator’s certificate in educational policy and leadership in pursuit of her doctorate, yet to be declared. Beginning in 1999, Dodson worked eight years at Westerville’s Genoa Middle School, teaching history the first four years and English the last four years. She came to Reynoldsburg next, teaching from 2007-09 before becoming assistant principal at Dublin Scioto for the past two years. She said she has always wanted to be a teacher and could not imagine doing anything else. As leader of the BELL academy at the Reynoldsburg Livingston Avenue campus, Dodson
said coming back to Reynoldsburg schools is something she looks forward to. “I look forward to working with some of the teachers I got to know while I taught here, and also building on what the district has started with its academies,” Dodson said. “When I was at Dublin we had the Dublin Teachers Academy our juniors and seniors participated in, and I would like to establish one of those in Reynoldsburg.” Dodson said having a Reynoldsburg teachers academy will give upperclassmen the opportunity to visit classrooms, providing them with early exposure to teaching and the profession. It’s something she said will help them as they move into college. She said she loved being at Dublin schools but looks forward to the opportunity presented to her at Reynoldsburg. “The BELL academy will need to develop some partnerships with different businesses and law firms, leadership programs, and we’re currently defining those categories,” Dodson said. Reynoldsburg assistant superintendent Dan Hoffman said the district is very pleased to have both Dodson and Raymond come back to Reynoldsburg schools to take on their new positions. “I’m really excited about what we’ve been able to plan,” Hoffman said. “There’s something special going on in Reynoldsburg when they’re coming back from places like Dublin and Metro, so we’re tickled to have this kind of talent.”
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FARMERS MARKET Continued from page A1 sylvania; it’s 3 o’clock in the morning, and we’re in a 1950 Ford, which at the time had 300,000 miles on it, and it was my job to play with the radio,” Chaiffetz said. “I discovered the station, WWVA, and then discovered Flatt and Scruggs (a popular bluegrass group) and decided I was going to learn how to do that because it was, like, too cool.” As he heard more banjo music at local folk festivals through the years, Chaiffetz said, he became increasingly convinced that the banjo was the instrument for him.
Chaiffetz said he owns a collection of different types of banjos but primarily plays the fivestring. “The fifth string kind of like occupies a musical (baseline), like drones and bagpipes, but I guess you could say it provides you with your own rhythm section while you’re playing something,” Chaiffetz said. Chaiffetz plays popular songs like “The World Is Waiting for the Sunrise,” “Lady of Spain” and “I’m Going to Sit Right Down and Write Myself a Letter.” Chaiffetz said he plays unplugged most of the time, always avoiding an amplifier unless he
must use one. “I travel light,” he said. “I show up with the banjo with the associated things: the banjo case and the finger picks, which stay in the pocket of my shirt because they get crushed anywhere else.” The annual farmers market is in its fourth year and features fresh produce, honey, baked goods, meats and other goods from local farmers. The market also provides shaded areas with plenty of free parking. For more information about the market, call (614) 322-6832 or email nmorse@ci.reynoldsburg.oh.us.
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