Category: News

Alumni Spotlight – Kellan Grainger

Kellan Grainger is a 2018 graduate of Hilliard Bradley High School where he took full advantage of the district’s engineering pathway. This provided him with a head start on college and his future career goals. 

He went on to attend the University of Cincinnati and graduated in 2023 with a degree in aerospace engineering. He participated in several co-ops throughout college, including working for Maverick Molding, which manufactures high-performance polymers and composites for jet engines, as an engineer with Rhinestahl Customer Tooling Solutions, a global leader in aircraft engine tooling, and as an engineer at Honda R&D where he worked in development. Each experience further solidified his love for engineering, and aeronautics specifically. 

Today, he is a staff engineer in Flight Simulator Engineering for United Airlines in Colorado. The facility at which he works houses 63 full-motion, full-cockpit flight simulators. His role involves maintaining seven of these simulators and six flight training devices on which pilots train to fly the 737 MAX. 

The simulators are used up to 20 hours per day with pilots training in four-hour segments. Grainger said they are similar to a videogame, which needs constant updates, but the technology evolves at a much higher level. 

Hilliard presented him with the opportunity to learn coding starting in middle school, which directly impacts his career today. He said his engineering teachers throughout high school, particularly Mr. Armelie, also encouraged his interest in the field. In fact, they inspired him to one day want to teach engineering classes.

Hack-a-thon hosted in partnership with Ohio State University at The Hub 11/18/23 – Sign-up for Free Today

High School:I/O is a one-day hackathon for high schoolers hosted by OHI/O, Ohio State University’s hackathon program. We aim to provide high school students with an opportunity to learn about computer science in a fun, engaging, and inclusive environment. It is a wonderful resume builder. No programming or coding experience is required but could be beneficial. All high school students are welcome to participate.

Meet and work with other passionate, fun and creative students to build real technology projects. There will also be the opportunity to develop new friendships, build connections with professional mentors, and learn soft skills for success in the real world. Students will be able to earn prizes for their solutions. Lunch and dinner are provided. The event is free of cost for participants! Register Today!

Mrs. Smith’s Forensic Science class at Davidson High School took part in a unique lesson where students created a storyline regarding the reason for arson in a structure. Once they created their storyline, students had to build a two-story structure (composed of popsicle sticks and wood glue) that contained at least three windows, a door, and a roof. Norwich Township Fire Department then came in to discuss the dangers of arson and accidental fires with the class. Fire Investigator Darryl Miller ignited the structures the students built based on each group’s storyline. The next period after the burn, students used our knowledge of arson vocabulary and burn patterns to analyze and discern where the fires started in each structure.

Bradley Teacher, Coach, Trades Textbooks for Triathlon

Some teachers like to take it easy during their breaks. Others, like Kyle Heinlen, a math teacher and cross country and track coach at Bradley High School, take advantage of the extra time to pursue their interests, like training for and participating in a triathlon.

This was his second year participating in the Ironman 70.3, which took place in Sandusky, Ohio, and involved a 1.2-mile swim, 56-mile bike ride, and 13.1-mile run. His training regimen began in months before the race and sandwiched both ends of his day teaching and coaching, usually beginning at 4:30 a.m. On Mondays, he focused on swimming and weight lifting; Tuesdays on biking; Wednesdays and Thursdays on running and leg strengthening; Fridays on biking; and on the weekends, longer biking and running combination routines.

He said he learned a lot about his nutrition intake the first time around and it paid off this year. He cut 25 minutes off his previous race time, earning him a personal record. He’s thankful to be able to share and apply the lessons he’s learned through his extracurricular endeavors with his students.

“I try to teach them to persevere when it’s hard. You will come to a point in the race, whether a literal race or in your academics or life in general, where you will hit a wall,” he said. “My goal is to give them the training they need to get to the finish line. Learning to love the process is important too, so I try to get my students to fall in love with the process.”

What’s next on the docket for Mr. Heinlen? He just ran in the Columbus Marathon and he has his sights set on a full Ironman, which is double a triathlon. Your Hilliard community will be behind you all the way!

Congratulations to these Embrace, Empower & Inspire Award winners, Betsy Long (Elementary Teacher Leader), Jackie Noland (Elementary Teacher Leader), Nikole Abate (Secondary Teacher Leader), and Linda Sowers (Bus Driver).

“Betsy deserves this award for many reasons. Betsy is an administrator who truly leads by example. She makes all teachers feel valuable when having important math discussions. Betsy also helps teachers troubleshoot when things do not seem to be working out in the classroom. She stretches our thinking during professional development. Betsy has also led lessons in the classroom to help us with our math instruction. I truly feel she empowers teachers to deliver math instruction that is of high quality. I love that she always says teaches with integrity. Betsy has created a safe environment for teachers to share their celebrations, as well as voice their concerns.”

“Jackie Noland is everything an embrace, empower, inspire award nominee should be. She embraces teachers, working with them in the productive struggle where they are in their professional development, in the implementation of a new curriculum, and in understanding the science of reading. Jackie empowers others with her practical guidance and modeling on how to support students through instruction. She inspires others around her with her knowledge, help, patience, and responsiveness. Thank you Jackie for your tireless efforts to support every teacher and student without exception!”

“The students and staff of this district are so fortunate to have Nikole as a teacher leader who supports teachers in their instruction of English Language Arts. Nikole was instrumental in leading the ELA Course of Study Revision and selection of a new ELA 6-12 curriculum resource. Her facilitation of that process as well as the design of support she provides teachers has ensured a smooth implementation. Nikole’s commitment to district priorities that maximize student achievement while being that support for teachers and providing personalization and professional learning based on their individual needs is commendable. In addition, she has been instrumental in the district’s MTSS process and launching reading support teachers at the secondary level to meet the needs of our most vulnerable learners. Nikole is committed to being a true expert in reading instruction while also modeling what it means to be a life long learner. She is currently working on her Orton Gillingham practicum.”

“Linda was in Groveport picking up Briar Patch yesterday, a lady in a white Cadillac had a medical emergency and almost hit her head-on. She did hit the box truck behind the bus and 2 other cars in the intersection just behind where the bus is stopped. This is the prime example of what defensive driving looks like and how our drivers are trained to react. She calmed her student down and got him out of pure panic. This is the perfect example of why we do what we do!”

These staff members go above and beyond the expectations of the Hilliard Way and truly make a difference in our district. If you know a staff member that goes above and beyond their way to make a difference, you can nominate them for next month’s award by clicking HERE!

Hilliard Davidson High School will host its Military Information Fair on Thursday, November 9, 2023, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. Bradley and Darby High Schools will also have students from their buildings in attendance.

The purpose of this fair is to have our students gain a better understanding of the military and the educational benefits of what each branch offers.

We will be busing students from Bradley and Darby and parents will also be invited.

Please RSVP by Monday, October 30, 2023, to Lori_Mongolier@hboe.org or at 614-921-7220 with your name, branch, amount of tables you will need, and how many will be in attendance. We will be meeting in the gym. Please plan to be set up by 9:00 a.m. and check in at the main office upon arrival.

If you have any questions, please contact Lori Mongolier or Tom Woodford at Tom_Woodford@hboe.org

We look forward to seeing you!