June 2, 2011
District planning survey for parents By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers The New Albany-Plain Local School District is continuing to survey the community about its performance. “We’re trying to interview our stakeholder groups to identify if there is a linear track in terms of an end goal,” said Jeff Warner, the district’s communications director.
Superintendent April Domine said during the May 23 school board meeting that the district recently surveyed the 2011 senior class and surveys for parents are next. The student survey was developed by Domine as part of her doctorate work at Vanderbilt University. Warner said the survey for parents would be sent electronically to a random sampling of parents who have submit-
ted their email addresses to the district. The survey will be sent by Saperstein Associates, which conducted a random phone survey for the district in April. “We want input, perspective and opinion,” Warner said. “We’re interested in moving forward in our strategic plan and our benchmarking and we want to make sure we have community input, community opinions and opinions from the staff and students.”
The district paid Saperstein Associates $15,000 for the phone survey, which included pre-testing and survey development, conducting the survey, analyzing the data received and putting the data into a final report, according to the district. The district will pay the company $6,000 for the electronic survey. Once the electronic survey is complete, Warner said, the district will post the link on its website so other parents
City’s first MEMORIAL DAY CEREMONY police dog killed in accident By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers The New Albany Police Department is mourning its first canine officer, Bungee, who was killed in an accident May 25 after less than one year on the job. According to the department, the door on officer Joel Strahler’s car malfunctioned and Bungee leaped out of the car into the path of oncoming traffic on U.S. Route 62. “K-9 vehicles have automatic door openers installed so that doors can be opened remotely in case the dog needs to come to its handler’s aid,” said Sgt. Greg Jones. “Police dogs are trained to immediately leave the vehicle and get to work once the vehicle door opens. “Unfortunately, in this instance, we don’t know why the door opened but as soon as it opened, Bungee leapt into oncoming traffic and was killed. We’re investigating the incident to see if there was some malfunction with the vehicle door.” Bungee, a 3-year-old Belgian Malinois, arrived in New Albany Aug. 2, 2010, from Germany. He already was highly trained, logging 300 hours. He went through more than 500 hours of training after arriving in New Albany, which his handler, Strahler, also had to complete. The two hit the streets in late September. Bungee lived with Strahler and his family the entire time he worked in New Albany. Jones said Bungee was used as a patrol dog. He was trained to track suspects and find lost people, such as elderly residents with Alzheimer’s disease, who might wander from their residences. Bungee also could sniff out drugs in buildings. During his service, Bungee completed 57 searches and four drug sweeps of schools. He assisted neighboring police departments in four searches and was part of 23 cases where charges were filed.
can submit their opinions. The phone survey completed in April suggested that two out of three residents consider the district’s aspirations to become one of the nation’s top-performing districts to be important. But one out of two residents responded that it already was one of the top-performing districts in the nation. See SURVEY, page A2
35 vendors lined up for inaugural farmers market By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers
By Tim Norman/ThisWeek
People salute and hold their hands over their hearts for taps during the Memorial Day ceremony at Maplewood Cemetery in Plain Township on May 30. Members of the Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4719, American Legion Post 797 and the Knights of Columbus participated in the ceremony, which attracted about 50 residents. The New Albany High School band also played during the ceremony.
Organizers of the first New Albany farmers market have secured 35 vendors to provide locally grown and produced items. Kristina Jenny, one of the market organizers, said they sought vendors who are members of the Ohio Department of Agriculture’s “Ohio Proud” program, meaning 51 percent of their items or ingredients were produced in Ohio. That means a vendor selling produce at the New Albany farmers market will have dug the ground, sown the seed, weeded the land and harvested the produce, she said. “In July, you’re going to see a farmers market unlike any other in the whole Columbus market,” she said. The farmers market will be held from 4 to 7 p.m. every Thursday from July 7 to Sept. 8 in Market Square. The market will feature such wares as ingredients for meals, flowers to decorate the dinner table and favors for dinner guests to take home. Jenny said the market also is going to be more of a community event in its first year, with different events each week. During the first market July 7, attendees will be able to shred personal papers or receive free massages from Windsong, a local massage and therapies business. Subsequent market days will feature everything from classes for master gardeners and cooking demonstrations to live entertainment by such local groups as the New Albany Symphony Orchestra. Before the New Albany High School’s first home football game in August, the high school cheerleaders, marching band and Eagle mascot will be at the market, Jenny said.
See BUNGEE, page A3
See MARKET, page A3
NAWN is latest group to lend support to community garden By LORI WINCE ThisWeek Community Newspapers The New Albany community garden is receiving financial help from another local organization: the New Albany Women’s Network (NAWN). NAWN is donating $1,500 for a rain barrel, said garden organizer Suzanne Lucas.
Lucas called NAWN’s donation another way the community is supporting the project. “People believe in this project,” she said. The garden area already has been cleared and extra clay was removed. Kurt Szabo donated a sod cutter and removed the sod from the garden area located behind New Albany Village
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Hall in May, Lucas said. “It’s amazing that people are donating their time to the cause just to see it get done,” Lucas said. “They support it, whether or not they are going to be benefitting from it.” Lucas said not all of the people helping to establish the garden will be renting plots but they all share a passion for gardening and want to make the
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project a success. Organizers have determined this year’s planting should be what Lucas called a “test garden.” They’ve ordered inexpensive raised boxes in which to plant and Lucas is looking for some volunteers to rent 4-by-4-foot boxes. “This will be a test garden with 12 plots,” she said. “We had to determine the size and study the soil, format and
emorial Day was not conceived to be the kickoff to summer activities or as a reason to schedule a three-day weekend. It was established to recognize the nation’s military veterans who died while fighting for their country. In keeping with efforts to recognize and honor the sacrifices and service of military veterans, ThisWeek Community Media is launching Honoring Heroes, a continuing series through which we will share the stories and remembrances from and about local men and women who are either on active duty or retired from service. As part of covering their beats, our reporters often hear about and write about veterans leaving for overseas or com-
location, whether there’s not enough sun or too much sun.” The garden committee also has been working with New Albany High School senior Wyatt McMartin, who is building a compost system for the garden. He is expected to present a lesson on the basics of composting to the garden See GARDEN, page A2
ing home at the end of a tour of duty. We’ve covered funeral services of those who have sacrificed their lives. We’ve written about soldiers who arrive at their homes or their children’s schools to unexpectedly surprise their delighted families. We know many more stories are out there, waiting to be told. We want to tell them. And we need your help. If you have a story idea about a friend, family member or colleague, let us know by emailing editorial@thisweeknews.com, with the subject line, “Honoring Heroes.” Honoring Heroes isn’t just a ThisWeek Community Media project: It’s about sharing history.
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