Felicia Webber

Oberlin Elementary School Principal

many other professions that get a chance to do that, but I know it’s something that makes teaching and being an administrator especially unique. There’s always something in every profession that everyone’s envious of, and I hope our envious piece is the relationships with kids and families.

Felicia Webber

Imas Production Manager

On April 11, Oberlin City School District announced Felicia Webber as the new Oberlin Elementary School principal. Webber, formerly the assistant principal of OES, will be replacing current principal Meisha Baker as Baker advances to the role of OCS curriculum director. Before she was assistant principal, Webber worked at OES in a variety of roles, including substitute teacher, third-grade teacher, and fourthgrade teacher. Webber spoke to the Review about how her history in the classroom, both professional and personal, informs her actions as an administrator.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Your fourth-grade class loved having you as their teacher. How did you undertake the decision to leave the classroom?

Once a student is my student, they’re always my student. One of the things I’ve really enjoyed here in Oberlin is seeing students in our building whose parents I once had as students. That’s just special. And what really warms your heart is when the people who are parents now ask you things like, “Do you remember when?” and they share things from your class years ago. I don’t know if there’s

I didn’t feel like moving out of the classroom was a tough decision or a hard decision. I knew there would be elements of teaching that I would miss, but I was so happy to be able to take the things that I loved about it and expand it to a wider population — being able to talk with more kids, inspire them to do more, having someone be a champion for them. What direction do you hope OES will move in under your leadership as principal?

A big piece is continuing implementation of the district strategic plan. We had three really big focus areas this year, the first of which was expanding our knowledge of cultural competency, humility and methods of inclusion. We worked closely with Dr. James Knight this year — he wrote a book called Heart: A Journey Toward Cultural Humility. This book is a component of the professional development training that we’ve done with our entire staff all year long. Another part of the strategic plan is working on Tier 1 instruction, which is providing staff with professional development resources that empower them to deliver strong instruction to all of our students. The third part is working on creating systems that help our families in the community and becoming collaborative with a more holistic approach to student needs and family needs beyond academics. What are their socialemotional needs? What are barriers they might be facing, and how can we assist as a school district to help them? And if we don’t have the right resource within our district, let’s see what we can do within the community to hook them up with someone who can.

Speaking of meeting students’ needs, how will OES continue to support students who struggled during the remote learning period and are currently working hard to rebound and meet standards for their grade level?

There’s not a one-size-fits-all strategy. It just takes consistent progress monitoring and saying, “This is the information we’ve gathered about this student, and what their needs are — how can we provide and meet those needs here within the building?” One thing in Oberlin that I’ve enjoyed is when we have family nights for math and literacy — seeing the investment families have in their kids. I’ve been a lifelong believer that all parents want their children to succeed, and it’s really the partnership between home and school that can make that relationship stronger. If they’re hearing it at home and they’re hearing it at school, then they’re like, “Okay, I can do this.”

What other programs and communitybuilding events are being hosted by Oberlin City Schools in the coming months? What resources should parents be aware of?

Right now, we’re participating in the Ecolympics, which has been a big deal — the kids are really, really enjoying it. We actually have members of Oberlin College coming to teach our students about composting in the cafeteria. I even had a student today say, ‘Mrs. Webber, do you know what? At home, I am making my family turn off the lights.’”

So it’s really cool to see the things that we’re doing here at school transfer over at home.

We also have some upcoming English language classes that the district has been offering to family members of students. Our district family support coordinator, Jay Nimene, is helping us with enrichment programming for students over the summer — families can access that information on our website. And, of course, we always like community events. Later in May, we’re gonna have our Family Math and Literacy Nights. We’ll have a night that focuses all on literacy, and it’s inviting families and students to take part in different types of literacy activities and games. Same thing with math, where they might come in and learn some techniques and play some games related to, for example, fact fluency. And then for both nights we provide the materials on the subjects for the families to take home, and do it with their kids.

You’ve spoken about the importance of forming relationships with students and their families as a classroom teacher. As principal, what steps will you continue to take to build meaningful connections with students?

I try to be purposeful in my interactions with the kids no matter what the circumstances are. To let them know I understand their situation, their perspective, their thoughts. And it’s not just when students come down to the office. I make a point to try to see them in the hallways, visit classrooms, and when I see them out someplace, say hello to them. So they’re not just seeing me as someone who’s in the office. They’re seeing me as a person in their school, congratulating them on accomplishments they’ve made.

My former principal — now my advisor, Dr. Paul Johnson — did something where he had Student of the Month. As a kid, you thought it was a huge deal. They would set up one cafeteria table away from everybody else, and they put down little paper placemats and a little carnation on the table, and you got to eat lunch with him. When I was a kid, I thought this was so wonderful, so this year I tried to do that with students, where a couple months out of the year we would have what we called “fancy lunch.”

That’s one of the other reasons that I’ve really liked the switching of roles. I had really fantastic administrators as a teacher, but also as a student myself, and the impact they had on me, helping me see all the things I can achieve — I wanted to do that for my kids.

Nord Center Representative Spoke to Students on Healing and Resources

Ava Miller Senior Staff Writer Cal Ransom News Editor

On Tuesday, the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion held a talk with a representative from the Nord Center. As a part of Consent Month, students were invited to learn about the process of healing from sexual harm or violence.

The Nord Center is a community mental health organization located in Lorain that offers a variety of psychiatric and trauma programs. It provides both mental and physical health services for victims of sexual assault that are available to Oberlin students at no cost. Forensic medical exams, which collect data that can be used to pursue legal processes and help determine treatment for injuries, are available at the center and can be administered during the first 96 hours after an assault. The exams are performed by trained Sexual Assault Nurse Examiners. In addition, advocates are available to provide support to victims throughout the medical examination process or the legal process of reporting the assault, if the victim chooses to do so.

A 24-hour hotline staffed by Nord Center advocates who have undergone 40 hours of training provides support specifically catered to sexual assault victims. Advocates can also advise College students involved in the Title IX reporting process.

Advocates are also able to provide psychoeducational support for individual students, offering a transitional service to victims before they go into therapy. It provides education around trauma, addressing what common responses are, what the student might be experiencing, and coping mechanisms.

Confidential Student Advocate Emily Seng is one provider of such support.

“It’s meant to be education about sexual harm … in printable, readable form,” Seng said when talking about the paper that is also provided to victims. “Usually I’ll talk with students, we’ll go through it, highlight, talk about what’s important to them in there. Are they relating to any of the stuff there? Depending on that, we can also do coping skills, making a self-care plan. Are they doing any types of self-care? I think a lot of times in college you realize, ‘Oh hey, I have to make all of these things, finding out also what works,’ because maybe what works in high school or earlier isn’t working anymore in this place. So we can do stuff like that, talking about triggers, panic attacks, flashbacks, and also talking about transitioning into therapeutic services if the reactions are intense — when they’re feeling like, ‘Hey, I could really use extra help.’”

Oberlin College is required to report felonies to the local police department. However, the Nord Center is not required to report felonies.

“If somebody really wants to make sure that nothing gets shared outside of who they’re wanting to share with at the moment, the Nord advocates are phenomenal options,” Director for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Title IX Coordinator Rebecca Mosely said. “Yes, they can truly keep it confidential, both from the Title IX office and from the police.”

Additionally, the College provides transportation to and from the Nord Center at no cost to students.

“If Oberlin students do need to go to the Nord Center, we’re able to get Ubers for any of our clients,” Nord Center Community Educator Kayla Gelb said. “And that’s the same for any of our services. So if students aren’t connected with us, and they need to come to the Nord Center for sexual assault services, they’re able to get Uber for general counseling and other support services.”

Gelb commented on the importance of using Nord’s hotline if in crisis.

“We have general mental health services and sexual assault services,” Gelb said. “Either way, both of those services can be accessed through our main hotline. So if you call our main hotline, they’re going to explain what’s going on, they’re really going to be able to help you figure out what resources would be beneficial to you in that moment and how to access them.”

The Title IX office can help students in formal and informal resolution processes and provide on-campus support with processes such as changing residences and communicating with professors. Mosely believes that having a variety of partnerships and resources available is important to providing full support for students.

“Anything that we can do as an office to continue to make sure that students know about the opportunities that are provided by the Nord Center, that is always our goal,” Mosely said. “They can provide things that we cannot, … and so it’s knowing that there are different places and spaces where our work can work well.”

Karthik Ranganadhan

Ceasefire in Sudan Breaks Down

Armed conflicts in Sudan continued a few hours after a ceasefire was supposed to begin on Tuesday. The internationally brokered truce between the armed forces led by General Abdel Fattah Burhan and the Rapid Support Forces, a paramilitary group led by General Mohammed Hamdan Dagalo, was supposed to come into effect at 6 p.m. local time. The two generals had jointly led a coup in 2021, but disagreements caused violence to break out between their respective factions last weekend. Another attempt at a ceasefire fell through on Wednesday. Residents in the capital of Khartoum faced power cuts and struggled with dwindling food supplies. According to Ahmed Al-Mandhari of the World Health Organization, 330 people have died and more than 3200 have been injured.

Former Member of Indian Parliament Shot Dead During Interview

Atiq Ahmed, a former member of the Indian Parliament, and his brother Ashraf were shot dead on live TV on Saturday. The brothers were facing charges that included kidnapping, murder, and extortion, and Ahmedʼs kidnapping conviction in March carried with it a life sentence. While Ahmed and his brother were handcuffed and talking to journalists before a visit to the hospital, three gunmen pretending to be journalists shot both of them. Amid criticism of increasing lawlessness, The government of Uttar Pradesh — the state in which the assassination took place — has ordered an investigation into the incident.

Fox News Reaches Settlement of $787.5 Million with Dominion Voting Systems Fox News settled a suit brought by Dominion Voting Systems in relation to the network’s airing of misinformation in the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. The $787.5 million settlement represents slightly less than half of the $1.6 billion that Dominion sued for. It is the largest disclosed settlement for a defamation case in American history. The lastminute deal was announced just after jury selection, minutes before opening arguments in front of the Delaware Supreme Court. Fox will now have to deal with another case from the voting technology company Smartmatic, which is suing for $2.7 billion from the network.

Chinese COVID-19 Protesters

Released after Four Months

Cao Zhixin, a 26-year-old book editor, and Zhai Dengrui, a 27-year-old teacher, were released on April 20 after four months. The two were charged with “picking quarrels and provoking trouble,” which can have a maximum sentence of five years. Many of the protestors in the “Blank Paper” protests who were detained were released after 24 hours or a few days.

Security Report

Thursday, April 13, 2023

A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the bike rack on the south side of Dascomb Hall.

Saturday, April 15, 2023

An Allen Memorial Art Museum security officer was notified of chalk graffiti on the sidewalk in front of the museum.

Sunday, April 16, 2023

Officers on routine patrol of Barrows Hall observed a damaged exit sign on the first floor.

A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the south side of Wilder Hall. The bicycle was not locked at the time of theft.

Monday, April 17, 2023

Staff reported that an unknown person tampered with equipment in the pool area at Philips gym.

An officer responded to a staff report of possible vandalism at the Geology Department in Carnegie Building.

A student reported that a suspicious person entered their room on April 15 in the early morning hours. The individual may have been intoxicated.

Officers responded to a report of suspicious activity in Price Hall on the first floor.

Dog Park Proposed at City Council Meeting, Residents Suggest Prospect Park

Cal Ransom News Editor

A group of Oberlin residents attended the City Council’s regular meeting on April 17 to discuss the possibility of allowing their dogs to roam freely in Prospect Park.

During the pandemic, a group of residents living near Prospect Park created a group that brought their dogs to the green space located behind Prospect Elementary School from 4:30–5:30 p.m. However, it is illegal to have a dog off-leash in Oberlin.

During the April 3 City Council regular meeting, City Council members discussed how to deal with dogs being off-leash at Prospect Park. One factor brought up was that Oberlin hosts summer camps at the Oberlin Activities and Enrichment Center —- formerly known as Prospect Elementary— and council members expressed concern in prioritizing children’s safety when the dogs were let off leash in the same area.

Ian Yarber, recreation director, shared with the council that he had spoken with some, but not all of the individuals who let their dogs off-leash during summer camp hours.

“When we had summer camp, we [had] 85 kids out on the playground,” Yarber said. “People would come and just let their dogs loose and run. And I would say, ‘Look, you see we have all these kids, can you come back after 3 p.m.?’ Because these kids don’t know your dog.”

Residents who bring their dogs to the park had requested the recreation commission to create a time frame making it legal to let dogs off-leash in the park.

Chair of the Recreation Commission Kevin Miller shared with the Council that this request was denied by the Recreation Commission.

“What it comes down to is that it’s just not possible to facilitate what’s being asked of the dog park creation,” Miller said. “They aren’t asking for a formal dog park to be created, but they want certain hours to be designated as dog park hours and with just how little space there is there, and with the summer program coming up there quickly you have to prioritize the kids who are using the space for what it’s there for so we decided, the commission, to not to move forward with it.”

The Council decided to move forward with clear signage and enforcing the law as stated.

“I believe that it’s best to begin with education, clear signage, I dont have the ordinance in front of me whether it’s a misdemeanor, court appearance, any of that,” City Manager Rob Hillard said. “I think we educate, inform, be clear and enforce because that’s the law unless council changes the law.”

Any animal found on park property off-leash may be impounded according to ordinance 927.03.

On April 17, a group of residents who congregate at the park urged the council to allow dogs offleash at Prospect. Members of the group expressed that their informal gatherings, dubbed the ‘dog party,’ created a sense of community, stewardship, and neighborliness.

“I am struck by the irony that the inaugural act for this community and enrichment center is to eliminate the most vibrant community currently using it,” said Will Kunert, hospice chaplain at the Cleveland Clinic.

Rebecca Cross, OC ’84, asked the council to consider setting aside part of the park as an official fenced-in dog park.

“Let’s make part of this big green space an official dog park,” Cross said. “We have been invited as community members to weigh in on the use of this space. I’d like to see my tax dollars spent on building a fence across the lawn area, establishing the western half of the field for a dog park.”

Sixteen members of the group signed a letter that was sent to Council. In the letter, the group expressed that Splash Zone, a legal dog park available to them, was too small for their group and required that they drive, increasing their carbon footprint.

The Council advised that the group should bring their request for a dog park to the Recreation Commission. For the time being, Splash Zone is the only legal dog park in Oberlin.

“My only regret … is [that] the dog park there operates in conjunction with the operating hours at Splash Zone,” City Council President Brian Burgess said. “So when Splash Zone closes at, I want to say 8 p.m. on weekdays, the dog park closes. And people were bringing up that there’s a cost associated with it. It is nominal and really the point of the cost is to partially offset the cost of operating the dog park.” Burgess expressed that changes would not be likely because the City has to account for the potential harm from others outside the group expressing their concerns.

“The woman at the podium made a good point that the dog owners that were in attendance tonight, they’re responsible,” said Burgess. “They’re the ones that really care. It’s not the ‘dog party,’ it’s not them. You also heard her say that when she shows up, she finds fresh piles of dog poop on the ground and she’s cleaning up after other people because most people who are going over there are not as responsible as the people tonight. We can’t just put out an exception — what, have an ordinance that says only responsible people can have their dogs off-leash — it’s just not feasible.”