HILLTOP PRESS
Your Community Press newspaper serving College Hill, Finneytown, Forest Park, Greenhills, Mount Airy, Mount Healthy, North College Hill, Seven Hills, Springfield Township
WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 19, 2015
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Winton Woods brings technology to classroom Kelly McBride kmcbride@communitypress.com
Winton Woods High School will introduce computers to the curriculum this year. Most will take the computers home at night and some will use them only in the classrooms, but the introduction of the 1-1 technology is changing the way students learn. The district’s Academy of Global Studies has used computers for the past four years. “We could really see the impact of having the world at the palm of kids’ hands as opposed to traditional learning,” Winton Woods High School Principal Eric Martin said of the first AGS graduating class. Winton Woods had been accumulating the technology through the AGS program’s grant funding, and had purchased computers to prepare
students for state testing. Additional computers were purchased for the 1-1 technology program. Though district officials did not provide information about the cost of the technology, Martin said priorities were set and tough decisions were made on how to spend district funds, making the computers affordable for the school of about 1,000 students. The learning environment will incorporate the interactive technology through computer programs that include students and teachers, as well as e-textbooks. The change in the learning culture will help prepare students for life after high school, Martin said. “What’s important is to move our kids to the next level,” he said. See WINTON, Page 2A
FILE PHOTO.
Trish Brooks, then Forest Park fire chief with assistant fire chief, Alfie Jones. Jones became chief in 2011, when Brooks retired.
Former Forest Park fire chief Trish Brooks dies at 72 Retired firefighter loses cancer battle Jennie Key jkey@communitypress.com
THANKS TO CORINA DENNY
Justin Kerobo, a 2015 graduate and member of the summer technology support staff, helps prepare computers for Winton Woods High School students.
Trish Brooks said a Martin Luther quote in a sermon she heard years ago impacted her personal life forever: “Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree.” The retired Forest Park fire chief lost a two-year battle with cancer and died Aug. 13, less than a week after her 72nd birthday. Friends and colleagues say the tree she planted throughout her life will bear fruit for generations, in her family and in the fire service she loved.
When Trish Brooks was a child, she wanted to be a firefighter. There weren’t many women in turnout gear in the 1950s, so she opted for a more traditional role: she married, had five children and raised her family. “Every time we heard sirens go off, (the kids) knew to get their coats on and get in the car.” she told an Enquirer reporter in 2002. “I was an ambulance chaser.” In 1982, she said her husband, Chuck, encouraged her to fan that dream into flame. She became a volunteer firefighter for Forest Park and continued her career in Montgomery and Sycamore Township. In 1997, she became Forest Park’s deputy chief and in 2000, when Chief Robert Stegeman retired, she
applied for his job and got it. At that time, she was the only female fire chief in Ohio among cities with populations over 20,000. In 2000, there were only 14 female chiefs in the United States. She served Forest Park until her retirement in 2011. Forest Park Fire Chief Alfie Jones was a teenager when he met Brooks through his involvement as a fire cadet and Explorer Scout with Forest Park. He served as her assistant chief and followed her into leadership of the department, taking over from her when Brooks retired in 2011. He says Brooks was an innovator who allowed her staff to try new ideas. She had no problem bringing the discipline See BROOKS, Page 2A
Take five with Mount Healthy’s new superintendent Jennie Key jkey@communitypress.com
Reva Cosby had two months in the chair as the new superintendent of Mount Healthy City Schools, and she is ready to make her mark on the community’s schools and students. “Our schools need to be safe places for our students and we need to help them learn to set and achieve goals. That should be the norm for our students,” she said. “We sometimes don’t realize the effect we are having or the difference we are making as educators.” The Mount Healthy Board of Education picked the former Huber Heights Wayne principal from a field of more than 30 candidates. The suburban school district has an enroll-
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Cosby
ment of 3,409 students. There are two elementary schools, which opened in the fall of 2010, and a junior/senior high school, which opened in the winter of
2011. Cosby was given a threeyear contract that pays her $125,000 annually. She follows Lori Handler, who retired after 38 years with the district. Cosby received her doctorate in education leadership from the University of Dayton, her master’s degree in education administration from Wright State University and her bachelor’s degree in education from the University of Virginia.
Cosby has been a teacher and school administrator in Virginia, Georgia and Ohio, and has worked in education for more than 25 years. She was in her eighth year as principal at Wayne High School. She has worked in Dayton Public Schools, at Trotwood High School and also taught at Wilmington College. Q: What prompted you to apply for the top job at Mount Healthy and what do you think you can bring to the district? A: A friend saw the posting and recommended I apply. In Huber Heights, we had heard of the Mount Healthy district because of sports, but I really didn’t know anything about the community. When we visited here during the interviews,
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Mount Healthy reminded me of my hometown of Lynchburg, Virginia. I saw the churches on every corner, the barbershops and I thought ‘I know this town, it’s the same kind of place.’ I have traveled a lot and I have have working in all kinds of districts: urban, suburban, some union, some not. I worked at Wilmington College. So I have worked with different populations, diverse populations, and I take pride in my ability to communicate with people. Q: How would you describe your educational and leadership philosophy? A: I believe all students can be successful. I grew up fairly poor, but my parents raised five children, and four of us graduated from the University of Virginia and three went on to get
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their law degrees. One went into the military. And we weren’t anomalies. Our neighbor became an astronaut. I think it’s important to build bridges into the community. I have met with the city manager and the police chief and I am connecting with the community’s churches so we can get our positive messages about the good things going on in the district out there. Q: What challenges are you facing this year? A: Well, it’s a challenge, but also an opportunity, that we have had such a large staff turnover this year. I think almost a third of our teaching staff are new teachers. We are going to enjoy the enthusiasm See COSBY, Page 2A Vol. 78 No. 27 © 2015 The Community Press ALL RIGHTS RESERVED