Students who
achieved perfect scores on state tests last spring were honored by the board of
education Tuesday evening. Hard work
leads to perfection, and perfection has its rewards. Nine Mansfield City
Schools students shared in those rewards Tuesday evening during the regular
monthly meeting of the Mansfield City Schools Board of Education.
The students – seven from Spanish Immersion and two from Malabar Intermediate – were honored for having perfect scores on the math portion of state tests last spring.
While their
families looked on, the nine were introduced individually as they received
Outstanding Tyger plaques, certifications of achievement, small gift cards and
a standing ovation from the board and Superintendent Stan Jefferson.
The honorees from Spanish Immersion and their grade last year include Abraham Evans, 3; Cy Henry, 3; Aiden Henry, 4; Aaliyah Skowronski, 4; Aryah Beauford, 5; Emma Kline, 6, and Anna Slade, 8. Malabar Intermediate’s perfect scores were earned by Quinn Hodapp, 5, and David Winans, 6. Ms. Slade could not be present.
Those test scores and a subsequent report about district gains on the state report card led board president Renda Cline to express her enthusiasm.
“I am so proud to be part of this team. It’s very exciting. Everybody is doing great work,” she said.
Stephen Rizzo, the district’s chief academic officer, reviewed the 2019 state report card, noting gains in student progress over the last year, closing the achievement gap and the graduation rate. He said 92.6 percent of third-graders met the Third Grade Reading Guarantee for promotion to fourth grade.
Rizzo acknowledged that more work needs to be done and said the focus will continue to be on the district’s three primary goals: academics, a conducive learning environment and family and community engagement.
Janet
Kassoff, senior manager of the Ohio State University-based Second and Seven
reading project, outlined the program, which Mansfield City Schools will
implement next month.
Former OSU football players Mike Vrabel, Luke Fickell and Ryan White began reading to second-graders in Columbus schools. That led to creation of a series of “Hog Mollies” books and the expansion of the Second and Seven program into more than 20 states.
Goals of the program are to “tackle illiteracy,” connect children with positive role models and stimulate their interest in reading.
Ms. Kassoff
said more than 400,000 free books have been distributed to second-graders
across the nation, 97,000 of them to 110 Second and Seven programs in Ohio.
“And 2,800 free books will be distributed to your second-graders here in Mansfield during this school year,” she said.
Superintendent
Jefferson said central office administrators and others will read to
second-graders in each school twice monthly and students will receive copies of
the books read.
“We will kick off our Second and Seven reading program on Oct. 1,” Jefferson said. “All of our books are here. We’re ready to go. We’re ready to tackle illiteracy.”
In other
action, Cheryl Ryan of the Ohio School Boards Association presented a plaque to
Ms. Cline in recognition of her
service as a member of the OSBA Board of Trustees
Ms. Ryan also noted Ms. Cline’s service on the OSBA Capital Conference Planning Task Force, Federal Relations Cabinet and OSBA’s Black Caucus. Ms. Cline is president-elect of OSBA’s Central Region.
Kelly Parker, a mathematics teacher at Mansfield Senior High, was recognized by Rizzo as the academic department’s Every Student, Every Day Champion for September.
Ms. Kelly, in turn, named five Senior High students who coached the middle school’s successful Flayway math team, as her Outstanding Tygers. They are senior Alisha Franklin and sophomores Zephaniah Jackson, Malachi Mays, Jarmel Shaw and Erin Vaughn.