SHELBY — Five Shelby Middle School students strongly represented their district at both state and national level FCCLA programs.
Shelby Middle School Principal Andrew McFarland highlighted the efforts of Hayden Davidson, Tatum Dewald, Karlie Bowman, Paysen Sensmeier and Sydney Gunder during Monday’s Board of Education meeting. Gwen Schwemley is the advisor of the group.
The five students competed at both the state and national competitions this past spring.
McFarland said Davidson and Dewald organized several activities throughout the school year to promote seatbelt safety.
Bowman and Sensmeier focused their project on children, the principal said. Both spent time in district kindergarten classrooms teaching younger students about the importance of following directions.
Gunder, who was unable to attend Monday’s meeting, placed sixth in the nation with her sports nutrition project. McFarland said Gunder developed a food and nutrition plan to improve her performance in soccer.
To make it to the national FCCLA competition in Orlando, competitors had to score in the top two in the state.
“The FCCLA accomplishments are great, but they’re just amazing students and leaders in our building,” McFarland said.
Scott Rose, president of the Shelby Board of Education, commended Schwemley for leading the group.
“One of the best things about being a board member is sitting up here every month and seeing our kids shine and seeing them excel,” Rose said.
Middle school staffers thanked for their efforts
McFarland also had the opportunity to highlight the efforts of middle school teacher Jackie Fike, who plans to retire this spring.
Fike has served the district for the past 31 years, he said.
“She is very passionate about her health curriculum,” McFarland said. “She talks about it a lot and she takes pride in sharing some difficult topics so that students can have safe and healthy relationships.”
Also a member of her school building’s leadership team, Fike loves people, the principal said.
“We’re going to greatly miss her and I just didn’t want to miss the opportunity to give her some public recognition for everything that she’s done for us before she leaves here,” he said.
Kim Nadolsky, vice president of the board, told Fike she’s an asset.
“For the students and for the staff, too. Your positivity is contagious,” Nadolsky said.
Kelly Stanford, the district’s director of food service and transportation director, spoke next to highlight a standout staff member of his own.
Stanford said it was difficult to chose a staff member to spotlight because he’s proud of his entire group. As a group, his staff voted to highlight Amy Levings, who works in food service.
Levings has been with the district since 2021. Stanford described her as a “godsend.”
“During COVID we had a lot of turnover. A lot,” he said. “She came in and added stability to a tough time.”
Stanford commended Levings’ work ethic and ability to roll with the punches. He said the thing that impresses him most about Levings is her ability to remember the name of every student who comes through her lunch line.
“It makes them (students) feel better, too,” Stanford said. “I’ve said for a long time that you can teach people job skills, but you can’t teach them personality. You can’t teach them compassion for kids.”
“And I love them all,” Levings responded.
Rose thanked both staff members for helping make a difference in students’ lives.
Shelby Superintendent Michael Browning also highlighted the district’s recent performance on the Ohio School Report Card. See below for more information.
