Month: October 2022

Staff Member Shares Passion for Green Initiatives With Students

As a kid, Chuck D’Andrea remembers Keep Akron Beautiful visiting his school and making a cleanup of the school property fun. So when he got the chance to serve on the board for Keep Hilliard Beautiful last year, it was a no-brainer. 

 

As an Innovation & Discovery Specialist at Brown Elementary, he’s not required to teach a set curriculum. This allows him to share his passion for the Earth and renewable resources with his students in a broader way. He’s no stranger to getting students and the district involved in green initiatives. When he worked at Crossing Elementary and advised the Student Council, he led tree-planting projects and began recycling paper before it was a district-wide initiative.

 

“I enjoy bridging the gap between the schools and Keep Hilliard Beautiful,” he said. 

 

One example of this is a project he’s currently working on alongside Coca-Cola, the Franklin Soil and Water Conservation District and Hilliard City Schools. Coca-Cola is providing old syrup barrels to Amanda Schaeffer, an art & ecology teacher at Hilliard’s Innovation Campus. Her students are painting the barrels which will then be shared with the community at an Earth Day event. The goal is to educate residents on the benefits of rain barrels. The fact that they can be an art piece for your home is a bonus! 

 

Keep Hilliard Beautiful is responsible for monthly cleanups and beautification projects within the boundaries of Hilliard City Schools. They recently added a garden filled with plants native to Ohio at Historical Village. D’Andrea will soon begin working with students on ecobricks, which are old bottles filled with plastic that cannot be recycled. The bricks will be used to build the base of a birdbath. 

 

“I love this organization because it’s one of the few volunteer opportunities that are available to all ages, and as a teacher and parent, I love providing kids with ways to think outside themselves and to help their community,” he said. 

Learn more here.

Hilliard Schools is proud of the excellence demonstrated by our alumni.  We want to share their stories and are creating a new Alumni Spotlight to highlight and recognize alumni achievements, along with the impacts they are making in their fields and communities.  These stories will be shared as a means to inspire our current students to pursue their dreams, connect alumni back to our community and serve as a point of district wide and community celebration.

If you want to be considered for an alumni spotlight, or want to recommend someone else, please email us with more details and don’t forget to attach a picture of yourself.

You may be aware of work being done to create a Master Facilities Plan (MFP) for our district.   The MFP will be the product of a data-driven process that guides capital planning decisions over the next 5-10 years.  An essential part of this process is community and stakeholder feedback.

We want to ask our parents, staff, and community members to take a few minutes to give us their input by taking a short survey.  Then, you can watch a video or read the presentation through the links below.  The survey link is also below.

Thank you ahead of time for taking part in this crucial step.

 

Click here for the video presentation.

Master Facilities Plan Survey Presentation

Click here to take the survey.

In early October, 300 7th graders had an opportunity to spend a morning or afternoon at Latham Park. These students from Memorial (Oct. 4), Heritage (Oct. 5), and Weaver (Oct. 6) Middle Schools rotated through three stations during the time that they were at the park. The first station was led by their science teachers; using chemical test strips, students tested phosphate and nitrate levels, as well as pH. Their results showed that the water quality of the pond was very good.

The second station was led by representatives from Franklin County Soil and Water Conservation District; here students engaged with a Project Wet activity. Using objects such as rubber bands and beads to represent macro-invertebrates, students learned that you can tell a great deal about the quality of a body of water by looking at the organisms that live in it.

The third station was led by employees of the Department of Natural Resources and other teacher volunteers. This station provided time for the students to fish – many of whom had not fished before. Several students learned to bait their own hooks and release a fish once it was caught; nearly all students were able to catch a fish! For most students, this was the highlight of their day. Special thanks needs to be given to DNR who provided their expertise as well as the bait used over these 3 days. Additionally, the fishing poles were purchased with money from a Step-Outside grant awarded to Hilliard City Schools from DNR.

Early Intervention Specialist’s Work Carries Into Volunteerism With Special Olympics

Andrea Fogt’s passion for children is evident. Not only is she an early intervention specialist with Hilliard City Schools, but she also serves as the local coordinator of the Hilliard Special Olympics Bobcats for Ohio’s South Central Region. 

 

Through her role, she is responsible for the organization’s year-round programming. This includes coordinating and scheduling practices and games for their 12 sports and over 150 athletes ranging in age from 8-61, fundraising, and planning special events like trips to Cedar Point, dances, the annual softball game vs. the Hilliard Division of Police and Norwich Township Fire Department, and Bobcat Boogie 5K slated for Nov. 6 at Hilliard Municipal Park. 

 

She was first introduced to the Special Olympics in college when she was invited to help out at a basketball practice. She was hooked from the second she met the athletes. That was nearly 30 years ago, and she’s still going strong. 

 

“The athletes give us way more than we give them. They have a way of lighting up your whole day,” she said. 

 

Fogt is grateful that she’s part of an organization that gives those with intellectual disabilities opportunities to compete in sports, gain life skills that help them live independently, gain employment, and become functioning members of society. 

 

The lessons she learns from the athletes positively impact her work with Hilliard Schools as well. 

 

She said, “Seeing our adult athletes helps me know where my students need to be by the time they graduate. Similarly, my work with Hilliard Schools helps me make connections with potential athletes.”

They are always looking for volunteers and participants. To learn more, contact Fogt at hilliardspecialolympics@gmail.com.