Special Messenger Spinnati print editionavailable now at the high school

The special Diana Spinnati print edition of the New Richmond High School Messenger is now available for pickup at the high school office.

"We'll have about 475 of them at $5 each and any profits will go into Diana's scholarship fund," said Messenger adviser Sue Griffin. "If anyone would like one mailed, the cost will be $10--only because they are printed on heavy paper and will cost about $5 to mail."

The special edition of the Messenger features remembrances the former New Richmond High School principal who died Nov. 23 at the age of 58 from pancreatic cancer.

NRHS presents Ducks & Lovers Feb. 15

The New Richmond High School drama department will present Ducks and Lovers in 7 p.m. performances Feb. 15 at the high school theater. Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for students. The scheduled Saturday performance has been canceled due to scheduling conflicts.
 

The cast of New Richmond High School’s Ducks and Lovers (from left) Newton McCollum, Anne Marie Woods, Morgan Huddleston, Allie Shook, Olivia Latham, Abby Jewell, Charlie Spicker, Nick Gilman, Rachel Ploucha, Audrey Feiler, Tyler Davis and Chelsey Fawley rehearse for the Feb. 16 and 16 performances at the high school theater.

The wacky musical/comedy is directed by NRHS assistant drama director Errol Selsby and features Nick Gilman as Robert Latore, who has moved away from his gypsy heritage to a Phi Beta Kappa key in college and a high salaried job in advertising, who wants to make a complete break from gypsy life and a marriage to the boss’ daughter and a vice presidency in the firm.

But his gypsy family is reluctant to let him go, particularly his mother, Yana  (played by Olivia Latham), who believes that Robert’s late father has returned in the form of a duck.

Nor his would - be gypsy bride, Tonya (played by Audrey Feiler), who was promised to him when they were eleven, or Queen Mother Lenya (played by Luke Gilday), who announces on her deathbed that Robert is the new gypsy king.

Ducks and Lovers cast:
Nick Gilman as Robert Latore
Olivia Latham as Yana Latore
Craig Hoagland as Mr. Bennett
Luke Gilday as Lenya
Allie Shook as Auntie Cleo
Newton McCollum as Uncle Alphonse
Anne-Marie Woods at Auntie Carmon
Morgan Huddleston as Auntie Mana
Destiana Berling as Auntie Rosa
Audrey Feiler as Tonya
Tyler Davis at Mr. Hathaway
Rachel Ploucha as Mrs. Hathaway
Abby Jewell as Jane Hathaway
Charlie Spicker as Philip Hall
Chelsey Fawley as Mrs. Bennett
Charlie Chelsea as Prof. Weiner

2013 Hall of Fame Inductions

Click on the Play Button to watch the Video.

Eric Finan, Nate Kramer, David Duncan and Tom Behymer were inducted into the New Richmond Lions Hall of Fame Jan. 26, 2013.

Problems with automated calling service

Our automated phone calling service provider has acknowledged that they experienced numerous issues with calls not being delivered to parents, students and staff within the NREVSD last week.

The problems that have occurred are the result of a system error on their end. 

We will continue to communicate with them to ensure these issues are resolved as soon as possible. 

We apologize for any inconvenience this has caused.

Lion’s Den sign to be retired Feb. 8

The Lion’s Den sign at the New Richmond High School gymnasium, which has watched over the careers of Major League baseball star Todd Benzinger, NFL star Dwayne Woodruff and New Richmond basketball legends like Glenn Stiles, Doug Ast and Liz Mischeff for the past 58 years, will be retired during the Feb. 8 home basketball game against Western Brown.

“It’s an important part of New Richmond High School’s history but it has dry-rotted and deteriorated to the point it cannot be saved and it has become a safety issue,” said Supt. Adam Bird. “We have investigated the viability of renovating it but it is not feasible.”

The thin plywood-over-wood frame sign was painted by New Richmond resident Reed Ulrey, whose son Bill Ulrey attended New Richmond High School, and went up in the old Market Street Fieldhouse during the 1954-55 basketball season, Bill Ulrey's sophomore year. Both Mr. Ulrey and his son Bill are deceased.

To former superintendent Brooks A. Parsons, the Lion’s Den sign means more than just a symbol of New Richmond athletics. It represents the fighting spirit that led to the creation of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District that involved President Dwight D. Eisenhower and Judge John W. Hausermann, the gold king of the Philippines.

“It went up during a time when we were fighting to preserve our school district,” said Parsons, who was New Richmond’s superintendent from 1953 to 1962.

Parsons and the school board got word that the other school districts in the county had met twice to form a county wide school district and get the tax revenue from the Beckjord Power Plant from New Richmond.

“We learned they had scheduled a third meeting to vote on county consolidation so I chartered a plane to fly to Columbus and submit our application to become an exempted village school district,” recalled Parsons, 90, who lives in the Kenwood area.

 “The state questioned if we were large enough to get exempted village status and we couldn’t get the Census Bureau to do a special census so we had Judge Hausermann contact President Eisenhower who ordered a special census for us.”

Hausermann, a Spanish American War veteran who remained in the Philippines after the war and controlled the largest gold mine in the islands, met Eisenhower when the former general and president served in the Philippines under Gen. Douglas McArthur. Hausermann returned to New Richmond in the 1930s.

“We got our special census but in the end it did not matter as Pierce Township, and later Monroe Township, consolidated with New Richmond and our size was no longer an issue,” noted Parsons, who won two county championships as New Richmond’s basketball coach in 1950-51 and 1951-52.

Robert Tucker followed Parsons as both basketball coach and school superintendent and realized the importance of preserving the Lion’s Den sign.

The sign remained at the Market Street fieldhouse after the new high school opened  in 1965 and the Market Street School became the district’s middle school.

“After we built the new middle school in 1972 we moved the Lion’s Den sign back to the high school gym where we felt it belong,” said Tucker, who was superintendent from 1962 to 1977.

The district maintenance staff has added additional screws to hold the sign up until the end of the season.

“I have asked athletic director Doug Foote to put together a small ceremony for the last home game Feb. 8 during which it will be up,” said Supt. Bird. “We may have some community members interested in coming to the game for that reason or to take pictures of the sign. I wish we could save it but we cannot take a chance of it falling.”

Monroe changes drop-off/pick-up rules

New drop-off/pick-up procedures will go into effect at New Richmond’s Monroe Elementary on Monday, Jan. 28.

“Our school is implementing changes to our drop-off & pick-up procedures in an effort to increase the level of safety and security of all our students, staff, and parents,” said Monroe principal Joe Roach. “Along with providing excellent academic instruction, the safety of our students at Monroe must be our top priority.”

New dropoff/pick-up procedures go into effect Jan. 28 at Monroe Elementary.

Morning Car Rider Drop-Off

The Drop-Off location is being moved to the opposite side of the building in the South Lot (off Laurel-Lindale). There will be a drop-off lane established with cones. The earliest students can be dropped off is 8:35 AM.

“With the increased number of students now attending Monroe through Open Enrollment, we have more families driving their students to our school than ever before.” Said Roach. “These new procedures will go a long way in alleviating traffic and safety concerns.”

Car Rider Pick-Up

Parents should park their car in the South Lot (off Laurel-Lindale). Parents must walk into the building to sign out their child in person (as has always been the practice).

The new pick-up entrance will be through the Outside Cafeteria Entrance…not the Main (Buzzer) Entrance. The Outside Cafeteria Entrance will be open from 3:15 PM-3:30 PM. Parents wishing to pick-up their child early from school or having other school business will need to be buzzed into the school through the Main South Entrance (off Laurel-Lindale).

Bus (Drop-Off & Pick-Up)

Buses will now be dropping-off and picking-up in the driveway on the North Side of the building (off Franklin-Laurel). There will be no parking during school hours in this small lot (next to the building).

Change in the Main Entrance

Parents and visitors will enter the building through the Main South Entrance ONLY (off Laurel-Lindale). As in the past, press the buzzer and state your business before entering. Parents and Visitors will no longer have access to enter the building from the Main North Entrance (off Franklin-Laurel).

“Most importantly, these changes will help us be even more confident that our school is completely secure and that we know who is in the building at all times,” said Roach.

Walriven, Hawkins to head school board

Kevin Walriven was re-elected president of the Board of Education of the New Richmond Exempted Village School District for 2013 at the board’s Jan. 9 re-organizational meeting.

David Hawkins will again serve as vice-president for the 2013 school year.


Kevin Walriven (right) was re-elected BOE president at the board's
2013 re-organization meeting. David Hawkins (left) was
re-elected vice-president for 2013.

 

The Board established meeting dates for 2013 which will be held on the third Monday of each month with the exception of February when the meeting will be held on Tuesday, Feb. 19 due to the Presidents Day holiday, June when the meeting will be held on Thursday, June 27 to close out the books for the fiscal year.

Committee appointments for 2012 will be David Hawkins and Kim Hayden on the Finance and Audit Committee; Fred Heflin and Kevin Walriven on the Facilities Committee; Kevin Walriven and David Hawkins on the Policy Committee; Kim Hayden and Ben Bird on the Curriculum Committee; and Ben Bird and Fred Heflin on the Personnel Committee.

David Hawkins will serve as the Legislative Liaison Board member with Kevin Walriven as the alternate; Kim Hayden will be the Student Achievement Liaison; and Fred Heflin will serve as the Grant Career Center board member.

Diana Spinnati special Messenger available

The New Richmond High School newspaper The Messenger special December edition in honor of former principal Diana Spinnati is now available online and in print. The special edition features photos and testimonials about Ms. Spinnati who died Nov. 23 from pancreatic cancer.

"Students and staff members contributed along with graduates, friends, and others who knew Ms. Spinnati," said Messenger adviser Sue Griffin.

The special edition is available to read online at http://www.nrschools.org/Downloads/REvised_Dianaonline.pdf.
Printed copies are available for $5. Click here for the order form.

2013 Hall of Fame inductees

Four athletes who went on to play Division I sports in college and set standards for future New Richmond High School athletes will be honored Jan. 26 as the 2013 Class of the New Richmond Lions Sports Hall of Fame.

Tom Behymer (1956), David Duncan (2005), Nate Kramer (2007) and Eric Finan (2007) will be inducted at the annual Hall of Fame banquet Jan. 26 following the 4 p.m. boys’ varsity basketball game against Bethel. Tickets for the banquet are $15 and available at the high school office.

Tom Behymer

Tom Behymer was the quarterback on New Richmond’s first football team in 1955 and ran the school’s first offensive play, scored its first touchdown and threw the first touchdown pass in leading the team to a 4-3-1 record. He played three years of baseball at New Richmond and compiled a career average of over .400. He also lettered in basketball and track in high school.

New Richmond was an independent during his high school career so all-league honors were not available for New Richmond athletes.

Behymer went on to play college baseball at Morehead State where he compiled a career batting average over .325.  He became a starter at third base in baseball as a freshman after he had 7 straight pinch hits and kept that position throughout his college career.


Behymer, along with fellow Lions Hall of Famer Joe Hawkins, helped start the youth football program at Pierce Elementary (now Locust Corner Elementary) which provides a feeder program for our high school and middle school programs.

David Duncan

David Duncan, who pitched the Lions to three straight Division II district titles in 2003, 2004 and 2005, played three years at Georgia Tech and played three years with the Houston Astros organization before a career-ending shoulder injury in 2012.

Duncan, who is New Richmond’s career leader in wins (40), shutouts (14), strikeouts (413) and strikeouts per 7 innings (10.9), pitched three no-hitters and one perfect game for the Lions.

Duncan had a career record of 21 wins and 9 losses with 211 strikeouts at Georgia Tech and was named the team’s most valuable pitcher in 2007 and 2008. He earned a B.S. degree in business administration from Georgia Tech in 2011.

Duncan was a four-time Southern Buckeye Conference first-team all-star in baseball and a three-time SBAAC player of the year as well as a three-time Cincinnati Enquirer all-star and a two-time Enquirer Player of the Year selection.

Duncan also was a two-time SBAAC first-team all-star in basketball and was the team’s most valuable defensive player as a sophomore, top rebounder as a junior and senior and the most valuable player as a senior. He finished his high school career with 930 career points and 450 blocked shots. He was also named the school’s top golfer as a junior and senior.

Eric Finan

Eric Finan is New Richmond’s first All-American athlete with a list of athletic achievements matched only by his academic honors at both New Richmond High School and the University of Cincinnati.

The valedictorian of the 2007 Class of New Richmond High School, Finan achieved All-American status in both track and cross country in 2011 for the University of Cincinnati along with being named an academic All-American for both sports, named the 2011 Big East Conference Scholar Athlete of the Year and inducted into the UC Athletic Academic Hall of Fame.

Finan won four medals for New Richmond in the Ohio high school track and cross country championships including a 2nd place finish in the 3200 meter event in 2007. He holds New Richmond distance records in for 800 meters (1:58.6), 1600 meters (4:15.0), 3200 meters (9:15.6) and 5K in cross country (15:48). He holds UC’s records in the indoor 5K (14:17.07), outdoor 5K (13:44.91), outdoor 10K (29:37.29), indoor 3K (7:59.02) and was the 2011 Big East and NCAA Great Lakes regional champion in cross country and the Big East champion in the 5K.

Finan was the Cincinnati Enquirer’s runner of the year for both track and cross country in his junior and senior years at New Richmond and was a three-time SBAAC runner of the year in cross country and SBAAC track runner of the year in 2006 and 2007.

Finan, who earned a B.S. degree in mechanical engineering (finishing a 5-year program in four years) and a Masters in Business Administration with a 3.9 GPA at UC, missed the 2012 track season and Olympic trials due to injury. He is looking to run as a sponsored professional athletic with a goal of running in the 2016 and 2020 Olympics.

Nate Kramer

Nate Kramer was named most valuable swimmer for New Richmond High School as a freshman, sophomore, junior and senior and was the first male swimmer in school history to qualify for the OHSAA state swimming meet, qualifying in both the 200-yard freestyle and 500-yard freestyle events in his junior and senior seasons.

Kramer placed 8th in the 200 freestyle as a senior. He set school records in the 200 and 500 freestyles, the 100 backstroke and 200 individual medley events.

A 2007 graduate of New Richmond, Kramer was also recruited by the University of Cincinnati where he enjoyed an outstanding career including qualifying for the Big East Conference swimming championships all four years. Kramer also excelled in the classroom at UC where he maintained a 3.9 GPA.

“Nate had a work ethic that exceeded any high school athlete that I’ve ever seen or worked with,” said New Richmond swim coach Judy Middeler. “He wasn’t your natural born athlete, but he became an outstanding athlete because of his drive, his high standards, self-motivation, his guts . . . He was a role model as a freshman and pushed his teammates to be better swimmers and members of the school community.”

Police Chief to discuss school safety

Police chief to discuss school safety at Jan.9 School Board meeting New Richmond Chief of Police Randy Harvey will attend Wednesday's (Jan. 9) meeting of the New Richmond Board of Education for a public discussion about school safety issues.

"Chief Harvey should be speaking at approximately 7:30 p.m.," said Supt. Adam Bird.

The annual board re-organizational meeting starts at 6 p.m. with an executive session followed by the public session at 7 p.m. in the Board office on the third floor of the Market Street School Building. The Board will elect a president, vice-president and make committee appointments and establish regular meeting dates for 2013.