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WESTERN HILLS PRESS

Your Community Press newspaper serving Addyston, Bridgetown, Cheviot, Cleves, Covedale, Dent, Green Township, Mack, Miami Township, North Bend, Westwood

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 24, 2016

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BECAUSE COMMUNITY MATTERS

Oak Hills offering new program for before and after school Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com

Parents who have to drop their children off at school early in the morning, or pick them up late in the afternoon, may find a new resource the Oak Hills Local School District is using this school year helpful. The district has partnered with Right At School, an organization that provides education-focused before- and afterschool programs – right in the schools. Right At School will be offered at all five of Oak Hills’ elementary buildings. Based in Evanston, Illinois, the organization has programs in Illinois, Indiana, California, Texas, Oklahoma, Idaho and now Ohio. Christy Walker, an area manager for Right At School,

said Oak Hills is the first district in the state to offer the program. “We have received a great response from parents and teachers and staff in the Oak Hills school district,” she said. “We’re not your typical after-school program. It’s a very intentional program with a heavy enrichment focus.” She said students receive homework assistance, participate in physical fitness activities and learn through handson lessons customized by Right At School coordinators, all within the safety of their own school. She said the organization provides its own evidencebased curriculum and trained staff, and works with school leaders and school boards for permission to use space in district buildings. Springmyer Elementary School Principal Amy Brennan

PROVIDED

JR Alderman, left, senior curriculum writer for Right At School, has fun painting with a Chicago-area elementary school student during one of the organization’s after-school programs.

said they are excited to offer a quality before- and afterschool care option for families. “We are hopeful that this will be a valuable support to our busy families, while also providing a fun, enriching experience for our students,” she said. Delshire Elementary School Principal Mark Winters said the school’s goal, as well as the district’s goal, is to be a strong foundation of the community, and this program helps reach that goal. “Working with Right At School allows us to not only provide high-quality educational experiences, but also provide a support for working parents who need quality before- and after-school support,” he said. Walker said instructors try See PROGRAM, Page 2A

Green Twp. marks 40 years of paramedic service Kurt Backscheider kbackscheider@communitypress.com

GREEN TWP. – When the members of the Mack Volunteer Fire Department decided they needed to provide paramedic level emergency medical services to area residents, there were questions whether a volunteer department could handle the task. “As volunteers, it was a challenge,” said Bob Sweeney, a Green Township resident who served on the old volunteer fire squad. “We all had other jobs, but we knew a paramedic service was important.” This year marks the 40th anniversary of paramedic service in the township. The former Mack Volunteer Fire Department, the private organization that was contracted to provide firefighting and emergency medical services in the township, introduced its first group of paramedics in 1976. Mack Fire was one of the first four departments in Great-

THANKS TO GREEN TOWNSHIP FIRE & EMS

This photo from 1976 shows the Mack Volunteer Fire Department’s first class of paramedics and their paramedic instructors. Green Township is marking 40 years of providing paramedic service to residents.

er Cincinnati to implement an upgraded emergency medical service, and was the first allvolunteer department in southwest Ohio to provide paramedic service. The Mack Volunteer

Fire Department would later become an official branch of township government, known today as Green Township Fire & See SERVICE, Page 2A

KURT BACKSCHEIDER/THE COMMUNITY PRESS

Jim Rutenschroer, left, and Bob Sweeney, who both served with the Mack Volunteer Fire Department and are retired assistant chiefs, look at a photo of the department’s first group of paramedics.

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