Former BOE member Enoch Sergent remembered for his dedication

Former New Richmond Exempted Village School District Board of Education member Enoch A. Sergent died Sept. 24 at the age of 92.

Enoch A. Sergent

Sergent, who served of the Board of Education from 1958 to 1970, was involved in the opening of New Richmond Elementary in 1958 and the construction of New Richmond High School in 1964-65 and the old Pierce Elementary School in 1963.

"Enoch was a very dedicate man to whatever he was involved with," said former BOE member Ralph Shepherd, who lived down the street from Sergent and spent 20 years on the school board after Sergent's terms. "He was very dedicated to the board and would walk around schools every day. He was just as dedicated to the Boy Scouts and the New Richmond Food Pantry."

Sergent, who was preceded in death by his wife Nina M. Sergent, was a Lieutenant in the U.S. Army during World War II and served in Italy.

"I was extremely proud when he showed up for our 4th of July parade in 2012 when we honored World War II veterans," noted Shepherd.

He was the father of Stephen Sergent (Michelle), the late Nina S. Sergent and Nancy Eling (Jeff); the grandfather of Andrew Sergent (Amanda), Bridget Sergent, Nick Eling (Caity) and Nina Eling and the great grandfather of Xaiver McDonald, Aiden Sergent, Zara McDonald and Emma-Elizabeth Sergent.

Visitation will be from 9 a.m. until time of  service at 11 a.m. at E.C. Nurre Funeral Home 200 Western Ave. in New Richmond on Saturday Sept. 28. Burial will be in Greenmound Cemetery. The family requests memorials be made to the New Richmond Food Pantry.

State honors for Monroe's Adrian Hawk

The Ohio Art Education Association has reached the same conclusion that the New Richmond Exempted School District has known for years: Monroe Elementary visual arts teacher Adrian Hawk is outstanding in her field.

Hawk has been named the recipient of the OAEA South West Region's "Outstanding Art Teacher" award for 2013. She will receive the award at the OAEA's annual professional development conference in Toledo in November.

Adrian Vance Hawk, pictured in her "Creative Sanctuary" at New Richmond's Monroe Elementary, has been named the Ohio Art Education Association's South West Region's "Outstanding Art Teacher" award recipient for 2013.

"It comes as no surprise to me that Mrs. Hawk has received such a high honor at the state level," said Monroe principal Joe Roach.  "She is a true treasure to our school and our community. Mrs. Hawk refers to her Art Room as the "Creative Sanctuary" and her passion for teaching art is obvious to anyone that steps into our school."

Mrs. Hawk's specialty is creating art from nature and one of her many community projects has been leading a cleanup of the New Richmond riverbank and turning the debris collected into art.

"Adrian teaches the Monroe students that just about anything can be reused and created into art," said Roach.

Mrs. Hawk also oversees Monroe's Student Council, its Art & Earth Club, the school's Character-Building Program, the "Green Team" Recycling Initiative and the district's Creative Family Art Night.

"I'm truly honored to receive the Southwest Outstanding Art Teacher award from the Ohio Art Education Association," said Hawk. "This experience inspires me to continue to do whatever it takes to make art an important and meaningful part of the educational process for the young artists I teach.  Each day I realize the power that I have as an educator.”

The OAEA award cites Mrs. Hawk's professionalism, dedication, commitment to students and creativity.

"Adrian Vance Hawk continually meets the needs and interests of students, bringing about learning, growth, and development in all areas," the OAEA said in a letter to NREVSD Supt. Adam Bird. "She regularly creates innovative and developmentally appropriate activities to stretch the imagination of students and further develop their visual skills."

"I am just thrilled that I have the opportunity to teach the wonderful kids at Monroe Elementary and to work with such a supportive staff of teachers, aides and administrators," said Mrs. Hawk.

Troubadours featured at Patriot's Day

The New Richmond High School Troubadours are featured in the village's 2013 Patriot Day ceremonies Sept. 11. Click on the Play Button below to watch New Richmond's Patriot's Day ceremony.

Open enrollment continues to climb

The New Richmond Exempted School District continues to be one of Ohio’s most popular in attracting open enrollment students from other districts.

“This is our 12^th year of open enrollment and it’s grown every year,” noted NREVSD Supt. Adam bird. “Two years ago it was 160, last year it was 260 and this year we’re in the 300s and it continues to grow.”

A total of 330 students were approved for open enrollment in New Richmond’s five buildings and 307 enrolled and are attending classes.

In Ohio, state aide amounting to $5700 follows a student to the district they attend meaning New Richmond will gain  $1,749,900 in money from the state this school year from open enrollment.

New Richmond won’t know until the first week of October how many of its students have open enrolled in other districts which has been an average of 30 in past years. A loss of 30 students would mean a loss of approximately $171,000 which will result in a net gain of about $1.6 million/ That would almost offsets the expected loss of $2 million per year when Duke Energy closes the Beckjord generating station in 2015.

“I think  it’s a compliment to our district,” said Bird. “I think it says that we have a good reputation educating students, that we have good programs and that we have a good staff and people want to send their children here.”

The financially troubled West Clermont District will lose $1,134,300 to New Richmond with 199 of its students deciding to attend New Richmond schools. Open enrollment students from other districts include 43 from Felicity, 31 from Bethel, 13 from Batavia, 10 from Western Brown, four from Milford, three from Cincinnati Public, two from Forest Hills, 1 from Hillsboro and 1 from Williamsburg.

By building, Locust Corner Elementary attracted 128 open enrollment students, Monroe Elementary 53, New Richmond Elementary 26, New Richmond Middle School 28 and New Richmond High School 82.

New Richmond enrollment numbers by building:

Locust Corner Elementary                      466

Monroe Elementary                                428

New Richmond Elementary                     433

 New Richmond Middle School              356

New Richmond High School                   655

Total New Richmond enrollment           2338

Property buy part of long term planning

The recent purchase by the New Richmond Exempted Village School District of the property at the corner of Bethel-New Richmond Road and Watkins Hill Road is a continuance of a school board practice dating back to 2004 to purchase property adjacent to New Richmond High School as it becomes available.

The recently purchased property at the corner of Watkins Hill Road and Bethel-New Richmond Road is part of a School Board  practice dating back to 2004 to buy adjacent property as it becomes available.

In the spring of 2004, the Board of Education conducted a series of community meetings led by then Supt. Charles Moore to discuss the possible construction of a new high school.  That led to the decision to renovate NRHS in its current location as opposed to building a new facility in a new location.

As a result of that decision, NREVSD purchased the Wolf property in front of the high school in July of 2005 and the Ginn property on Watkins Hill Road in 2007. Structures on those properties were removed.  In addition, the school district has invested $5.2 million on projects at NRHS such as asbestos removal, outside masonry replacement, HVAC replacement, and the baseball/softball athletic complex.

“The present location of New Richmond High School likely will be the location of our high school for the next 50 years,” noted NREVSD Supt. Adam Bird. “The close proximity of property along Watkins Hill Road to the high school leaves the District with no room for future expansion.”

Acquiring the 5 properties on the west side of NRHS would increase the border line from 12 feet away to approximately 150 feet and would leave the district with future flexibility and space on the west side of campus.

“Adding this additional property to what the district has already purchased is a decision the administration and School Board felt was in the best interest of the school district,” said Bird.

The Board was able to purchase this property for less than its appraised value and is currently seeking a tenant to rent.

NRHS baseball staff offers BPSundays for 7th-8th graders

New Richmond High School Baseball is excited to offer an opportunity to 7`<sup>h</sup> and 8`^h grade baseball players in the New Richmond School District. "BP" is short for batting practice, and the New Richmond Coaching Staff is inviting any interested player to attend.

Players will:

·         Hit batting practice thrown by the NRHS high school coaches for 6 weeks

·         Learn how the New Richmond High School Baseball Lions conduct their BP sessions

·         Be on the Lions home field, one of the very nicest in the Cincinnati area

·         Have the opportunity to meet and work with the NRHS coaching staff

·         Be given both live pitches and soft-toss in front of the NRHS coaches

·         Get a chance to show off and sharpen their defensive skills each week while others are hitting

·         Be a part of some "BP" games that the Lions use each year

·         Have the opportunity to receive coaching from the high school staff to improve their skills

·         Get outdoor swings and reps in before the weather turns

In order to make this productive for all, the minimum number of participants will be 15 and the maximum number of participants will be 25. Registrations will be taken on a first come, first serve basis. The dates and times of BP Sundays are below. In order to register, please contact Brian Benzinger at the e-mail below to secure your spot. The cost is $30 per participant.

Sunday 9/8 12-2 pm
Sunday 9/15 5-7 pm
Sunday 9/22 5-7 pm
Sunday 9/29 5-7 pm
Sunday 10/6 4-6 pm
Sunday10/13 4-6 pm

Brian Benzinger
Head Baseball Coach
New Richmond High School
Benzinger_b@nrschools.org
553-3191 (ext. 10302)