July 17, 2011
State report cards
J-M, Northridge expect ‘excellent’ marks By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
The Johnstown area’s school districts received good news from the state Department of Education last week, with both districts tentatively ranked as “excellent” on the state report card. Johnstown Monroe met 26 of 26 district indicators, while Northridge met 25 of 26.
“Every year the test changes, along with the students who do take the test, and that’s what’s important, is to focus on the current students,” said Northridge Superintendent John Shepard. “It’s not so much the rating but how the students are performing at grade level.” Fifth-grade math has been the sticking point at Northridge. “(It’s) one of the areas we did not pass last year and we did not pass this year,”
Shepard said. “We have been working all summer on that. We do a vertical and a horizontal analysis to try to make changes. Vertical is from one grade level to the next, while horizontal is how it crosses the curriculum (within a grade level).” Laura Lawrence, Johnstown Monroe’s director of curriculum, said science was the holdup last year at J-M. “Science has been difficult for us,”
Lawrence said. “Last year, we did not pass fifth-grade or eighth-grade science and eighth-grade math. This is the first year we have met eighth-grade math.” “This is the first year we have met all 26 out of 26 indicators,” Lawrence said. “We feel really great about that. Our teachers and students have worked really hard.”
JOHN SHEPARD
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— Northridge superintendent
See J-M, NORTHRIDGE, page A2
Council: TURN LANE AHEAD Follow yard sale rules
Monroe Twp.
Peers vote Panza as ‘firefighter of the year’
By JENNA GANT ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Johnstown residents who want to get rid of their old clothes and antiques must follow proper procedures to avoid being penalized during the yard sale season. Village council member Joyce Evans said those rules include filing for a $5 permit from the village for each sale and knowing where the placement of yard sale signs is permitted. Evans asked the planning and zoning committee during a combined council and committee meeting July 11 what could be done with the recent influx of signs all around town. “The yard sale (sign) is supposed to be in the yard that the sale is occurring in,” Evans said, “or their next-door neighbor’s yard with permission from the next-door neighbor. You just can’t stick them up anywhere and everywhere.” Evans said she’s seen several signs on utility poles, in Bigelow Park, at intersections and along the public roads. “Over the last two weeks, I’ve picked up about 25 signs,” Evans said. “They’re just everywhere. “I’m kind of proud of this village and I think these signs up everywhere are kind of tacky,” she said. “The biggest problem with the signs is they are still out days after the sale is over, blowing in the wind or saturated with rain and found lying on the ground or in the street,” added Jim Lenner, village manager. Council member Sean Staneart
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When I was in school, you got it or you didn’t. Today we can’t do that. You have to reach all students.
By MICHAEL J. MAURER ThisWeek Community Newspapers
Johnstown resident and Monroe Township volunteer firefighter Sean Panza was honored by his peers as firefighter of the year during last weekend’s annual Firemans Festival. “It’s an annual award given jointly by the Monroe Township Fire Department and the Johnstown Volunteer Fire Department Association,” said Chief Dudley Wright. “We feel it is prestigious because the recipient is chosen by the members of the fire department. It’s a peer-selected award. I feel that gives it credibility. It’s true honor for effort.” Panza, who is a staff sergeant in the Ohio National Guard, serving at the Newark Combined Support and Maintenance facility, has served the fire department for 10 years. “My wife hates it,” Panza said with a laugh. “There are many times I’ve left her because there is nobody to go on a run. You leave at dinner time, you leave family to go up on car wrecks or fires. It’s waking up in the middle of the night. It’s just like being a full-timer, except I sleep at home.” Panza said that he was not aware he had been selected until the award was announced. In past years, when he has voted to recognize other firefighters, he said he focused on firefighters who are able to participate in all aspects of the job. “It’s few and far between that you’re running See PEERS VOTE, page A2
Thirty-One Gifts growth noted at conference By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Construction has begun on the new turn lane at the intersection of U.S. Route 62 and state Route 37 in Johnstown. Work is playing havoc with through traffic, but locals are finding alternate routes, city officials say.
See YARD SALE, page A2
Shepard on list for Licking Heights job
Big Red football camp
By Lorrie Cecil/ThisWeek
Denison University quarterback coach Austin Holter goes over some fundamentals of passing the football during the Big Red football camp July 14 at Denison. This is the first year for the camp, which is run by the university’s football coaching staff with help from some of the players. The two-day camp was open to children in grades 4-8. Holter is a 2006 graduate of Johnstown-Monroe High School.
John Shepard, superintendent of Northridge Local Schools, is among 26 applicants for the superintendent’s position in the Licking Heights school district. The vacancy was created this spring when Thomas Tucker accepted the superintendency of Worthington City Schools. Matt Satterwhite, president of the Licking Heights Board of Education, said the board hopes to fill the position in time for the opening of school on Aug. 15, but will not rush a decision to meet that goal. Shepard was out of town Friday afternoon and could not be reached for comment.
By JENNA GANT ThisWeek Community Newspapers Johnstown-based company Thirty-One Gifts made a big impact in central Ohio during its eighth annual national conference. Thirty-One sells purses, totes and accessories, many of which can be personalized, through its 40,000 independent consultants nationwide. More than 7,600 of those consultants attended the three-day conference at Nationwide Arena, the Columbus Convention Center and the Hyatt Regency on July 13-16, compared to 1,500 who attended the same event in 2010. Thirty-one founder and CEO Cindy Monroe said she never imaged her business would grow to be the company it is today. “We started Thirty-One to provide an opportunity for women to find financial freedom through owning their own business,” Monroe said in an email to ThisWeek. “I am so thankful I get to witness so many women realizing their potential and bringing their dreams to life. “Every personal story drives me — and our entire Thirty-One team — to move forward and dream bigger,” she said. Monroe started her business in 2003 in the basement of her Tennessee home. She moved the its headquarters to Johnstown in July 2009, where there are currently 680 Thirty-One employees. See THIRTY-ONE, page A2