Superintendent’s Corner by Dr. Joe Clark

Happy Holidays! I have a lot of good news this month.

The following Nordonia High School students with a GPA of at least 3.7 were inducted into the National Honor Society on Dec. 1. New members were selected based on outstanding scholarship, service, character and leadership qualities.

Senior inductees are: Katherine Bell, Gracie Byers, Alexandria Cerny, Benjamin Chester, Gabryelle Curcic, Wesley Donnelly, Ella Garcia, Vivienne González, Austin Kocab, Jacob Kopczyk, Leah Lammers, Jie Li, Joseph Palinkas, Meg Picoult, Natalie Porozynski, Isabella Schuster, Alyssa Smigel, Grace York and John Zuchinski.

Junior inductees include: Eloisa Adams, James Alexander, Brooke Barnes, Morgan Blazek, Gavin Bozan, Grace Bugarcic, Matthew Cluse, Abbey Colbert, Brigid Czuba, Michael Ebert, Tyler Filips, Sophia Fiorucci, Eden Fitzpatrick, Kyan Freyhauf, Jessica Garvas, Kyla Geiger, Vincent Hack, Taylor Hawkins, Brooklyn Johnson, Cailin Joyce, Sally Kress, Salvatore LaGuardia, Rachel Lahrmer, Kaylee Mercer, Layla Musarra, Aubrey Pastor, Rudra Patel, Ash Penrod, Natalie Putz, Mallory Ralls, Gabrielle Simpson, Elysabeth Tench, Lauren Torain, Abigael Toronski, Keirstin Trehan, Reanna Turk, Jocelyn Whitaker, Delaney Will, Kayla Wonsick and Jillian Yakovic.

Math teacher honored

Nordonia High School mathematics teacher, Samantha Fales, received The Buck Martin Award for Exemplary Mathematics Teaching. This award is given to three secondary teachers in the state of Ohio each year. Samantha was honored at the 72nd annual conference in Sharonville, Ohio, on Oct. 27. The award is named after Ralph “Buck” Martin who was an active leader in the mathematics community. Buck enjoyed working with students and was committed to their success. He was teaching mathematics education at Bowling Green State University and serving as president elect of the Ohio Council of Teachers of Mathematics at the time of his death.

Rotary Club donation

The district is thankful for the Rotary Club of Nordonia Hills, which donated dictionaries to all third-graders last month. The students love seeing all the dictionary has to offer beyond word definitions and were shocked that the longest word in the English language has more than 1,000 letters! This donation is an annual activity that the Rotary Club performs as part of its mission to serve the community. 

Athletes succeed in classroom

Athletic Director Rob Eckenrode is proud to report that in his 17 years at Nordonia High School, the student-athletes have never achieved this highly in the classroom. Our 327 high school student-athletes averaged a 3.851 GPA this fall. This truly shows that our athletic program is teaching students to be successful both inside and outside of the classroom.

Boys cross country had 26 participants and an average 4.201 GPA. Cheerleading had 29 participants and a 4.112 GPA. Girls tennis had 16 participants and a 4.109 GPA. Girls soccer had 33 participants and a 4.039 GPA. Volleyball had 34 participants and a 3.907 GPA. Girls golf had 21 participants and a 3.854 GPA. Boys soccer had 27 participants and a 3.852 GPA. Boys golf had 16 participants and a 3.837 GPA. Football had 100 participants and a 3.520 GPA.

As always, thanks for supporting the Nordonia Schools, have a great month and remember to follow me on Twitter @JoeSuperintend1. ∞