June 23 2011
Superintendent confirms resignation School board’s next step is to develop a plan to hire Mantia’s successor By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspaper Karen Mantia confirmed June 16 — a day after reports surfaced — that she will leave her job as superintendent of the Pickerington Local School District Aug. 1 to become superintendent of Lakota Local Schools near Cincinnati. The next step will be for the board to formally accept her resignation and to develop a plan to hire a replacement.
She has been superintendent in Pickerington since March 2007. PLSD officials announced June 16 that the Lakota Board of Education had approved hiring Mantia. Mantia’s office also issued a press release stating she would resign from her current post, effective Aug. 1. “This was a tough decision,” Mantia said in a press statement. “I absolutely love the people I work with and the relationships that are here. Throughout
my career, my primary focus has been on meeting the needs of the students and staff that I serve. Today, I must put my family first. “There is so much Karen Mantia talent in Pickerington Local Schools that I know I am leaving the district in good hands. Despite the current economic climate, the students
and staff of Pickerington are poised to enter the next phase of their achievement.” Mantia’s official resignation came two days after a draft of a release announcing her impending departure was leaked to the media. The draft email, which was sent to PLSD Board of Education members, cited personal reasons for her decision to leave Pickerington to lead Lakota, a school in Liberty Township near Cincinnati. “This places me closer to my family,”
Mantia said in last Thursday’s press statement. Lee Cole, PLSD director of communications, said on June 16 Mantia is from the Cincinnati area and has family there. “That’s where all of her family is, including her mom,” Cole said. “She wasn’t looking for a job. It’s my understanding she was recruited and she didn’t apply for the position.” See MANTIA, page A8
City and RELAY FOR LIFE township gearing up for Violet Festival By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers The countdown is on, and entertainment and activities are set for the 14th annual Violet Festival, the largest event of the year for Pickerington and Violet Township. The festival is scheduled for July 27-30 at Victory Park in Pickerington. With the event nearly a month away, volunteer organizers are hurrying to put the finishing touches on the 2011 installment. According to Jim Hern, Violet Festival entertainment director, this year’s festival will remain largely the same as recent years, with some tweaks designed to improve concert-viewing and shopping on the grounds. But the focus of the event — to promote Pickerington and Violet Township’s people and businesses — remains unchanged. “We’re hoping to see 40,000 people coming to the festival this year,” Hern said. “When that happens, there’s a lot of foot and vehicle traffic. “That is our time to say, ‘Look at who we are.’ It’s an opportunity to showcase our businesses and it’s a time when we as individuals can show who we are.” For the second consecutive year, a $2 admission fee will be charged for people age 13 and older. Hern said the entry fee is designed solely to offset costs for the festival, which is organized by a nonprofit group of volunteers. See VIOLET FESTIVAL, page A6
Photos by Tim Revell/ThisWeek
(Above) Helen Mayle hugs her son, Mike (right), and her husband, David, in an emotional moment after Mike finished his survivor lap during the Pickerington-Reynoldsburg Relay For Life on June 18 and 19 at Pickerington High School North. (Left) Cancer survivor Tristan Tolloty, 4, races down the track. Tristan was accompanied by his parents, Brian and Jessica. (Below) Cancer survivors make their way around the PHS North track June 18. To view a slideshow for images of the Relay For Life event, visit www.ThisWeekNews.com.
Sheraw named PLSD ‘Teacher of the Year’ By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers A longtime Pickerington teacher who found her niche helping struggling students was recently named the district’s “Teacher of the Year.” Janie Sheraw has been named for the honor for the second time in her 35-year teaching career. The award comes as Sheraw, a coordinator for the Pickerington High School Central’s Success Academy and Career Based Intervention programs, officially retired at the end of this past school year. It’s also 10 See TEACHER OF THE YEAR, page A2
Brubaker named July 4 parade grand marshal By NATE ELLIS ThisWeek Community Newspapers U.S. Army veteran and former Pickerington mayor and city councilman Tom Brubaker has been selected to serve as the grand marshal of the annual July 4 parade. On Monday, July 4, Pickerington and Violet Township will kick off their annual Independence Day celebration in Victory Park at 4 p.m.
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The event will feature rides, concessions and live entertainment in the park until 11 p.m. It will be capped off with a fireworks display at approximately 10 p.m. Like last year, the city and township are sharing the costs of the $11,900 display, as well as the total cost of the day’s events, which are estimated at $21,900. At 6 p.m., another annual tradition will take place when the parade steps off from Pickerington High School
Central, 300 Opportunity Way. This year, Brubaker, who will turn 83 on July 18, will lead the parade as its grand marshal. “I’m rather pleased and surprised,” he said. “It’s quite an honor.” Brubaker has lived in Pickerington since he was 4 years old, long before it became an official city and before development and population growth changed its landscape. Over the years, he’s been an active
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civil servant to both the city and his country. He served in the U.S. Army from 1951 through 1953, and he was an emergency medical technician and firefighter for the Violet Township Fire Department for 34 years before he retired in 1987. When Pickerington was still a village in the early 1960s, Brubaker was See GRAND MARSHAL, page A5
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