Eagle eNews for May 2019
Board to Hold Work Session to Discuss Next Steps
With the failure of our bond issue on May 7, the Milford Board of Education will be discussing what happens next to address our pressing facility needs.  The Board is holding a work session on Thursday, May 23, prior to the regularly scheduled Board meeting at 6 p.m. at the Milford Administrative Office Conference Room, 1099 State Route 131.

The purpose of the work session is to:
  • Review the next steps for a Bond Issue
  • Plan the Veterans Wall Dedication

The work session is open to the public and will be followed by the Board's regular meeting at 7 p.m.
Top Seniors Recognized
Milford High School held its Senior Academic Convocation Program on April 23. A total of 88 seniors were honored who have earned the highest academic honors and the status of Summa Cum Laude, a 4.25 and higher weighted grade point average. This group alone was offered nearly $11,000,000 in college scholarships!

Click on the following link to see our Class of 2019 Summa Cum Laude honorees and their choice of colleges: http://bit.ly/MilfordSumma.
Graduation Live Streamed
The Milford High School Class of 2019 will graduate on Saturday, May 25, at 6 p.m. at the Cintas Center.

For parents and family members unable to make the ceremony, it will be LIVE STREAMED at http://www.cintascenter.com/livestream.php 
Mulberry Tops in Summer Reading
For the second year in a row, Mulberry Elementary was the BEST IN STATE for the 2018 Scholastic Summer Reading Challenge. Mulberry students logged the most number of reading minutes last summer!

A representative from Scholastic and the character "Dog Man" visited Mulberry on May 20 to recognize their best in state distinction and kick off the 2019 Summer Reading Challenge.
District Administrative Changes for Upcoming School Year
Milford School District will see some changes in its building and district administrative team for the 2019-2020 school year.

Don Baker, Coordinator of Special Education, and Missy Borger, Pattison Elementary Principal, are retiring from the district at the end of this school year. 

Tiffany Selm will replace Missy Borger as Principal of Pattison Elementary. Mrs. Selm, a Milford resident, is currently the Assistant Principal at Sherwood Elementary in the Forest Hills School District. 

Taryn Barker will replace Don Baker as the Coordinator of Special Education. Mrs. Barker is currently an Intervention Specialist and Special Education Department Chair at Milford High School.

Stacy Smith will be leaving her position as Director of Technology and Innovation to take on a building leadership role as the Associate Principal of the Ninth Grade Community. Current NGC Principal Adam Reed is leaving to become Wyoming High School Principal.

Rob Dunn will leave the junior high school to become our new Director of Technology and Innovation and connect with learners from preschool all the way through high school. Dr. Dunn has been an educator in Milford Schools for 21 years and served in leadership roles at both the elementary and junior high buildings.

Misty Goetz, currently Assistant Principal at the high school, will become the new Milford Junior High School Principal. Mrs. Goetz is a Milford graduate and has been an assistant principal at Milford High School for the past four years. We will be working on hiring an assistant principal for the high school in the upcoming month.
Milford Staff Honored at Annual Dinner of Excellence
Each Spring, the Milford Miami Township Chamber of Commerce presents its annual Dinner of Excellence. The Chamber celebrated our educator and classified staff members of the year as well as retirees and outstanding business partners. Several Milford High School seniors were also presented with college scholarships.

BOYD E. SMITH ELEMENTARY
  • Jane Wolf — Educator of the Year
  • Jennifer Miller — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Petermann — Organization Partner of the Year

CHARLES L. SEIPELT ELEMENTARY
  • Stephanie Vezina — Educator of the Year
  • Daryl Couch — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Clermont County Soil & Water Conservation District — Organization Partner of the Year

McCORMICK ELEMENTARY
  • Mary “Suzy” Kolady — Educator of the Year
  • Cindy Katsetos — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Biggby Coffee — Organization Partner of the Year

MEADOWVIEW ELEMENTARY
  • Brooke Cox — Educator of the Year
  • Kara Hutchinson — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Clermont County Soil & Water Conservation District — Organization Partner of the Year

MULBERRY ELEMENTARY
  • Elizabeth Wanamaker — Educator of the Year
  • Marsha Belk — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Cincinnati Nature Center — Organization Partner of the Year

PATTISON ELEMENTARY
  • Amy Ossola — Educator of the Year
  • Dennis Meek — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Clermont County Soil & Water Conservation District — Organization Partner of the Year

MILFORD JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOL
  • Jennifer Ferrell — Educator of the Year

MILFORD HIGH SCHOOL
  • Melody Moorehead — Educator of the Year
  • Matt Williams — Classified Staff of the Year
  • Feed Our Flock — Organization Partner of the Year

MJHS Students Pay it Forward
Milford Junior High School students participated in their annual Pay it Forward Day. All 7th graders participated and did everything from volunteering at our elementary schools to delivering notes and goodie bags to our public servants. They also mulched a path from McCormick Elementary to the Magnolia Springs senior living community. Now, it will be easier for McCormick students to “Pay It Forward” to the residents at Magnolia Springs!
District Fine Arts Show Highlights
Thanks to our art teachers, students and staff who put on another successful fine arts show on May 3-4. We loved watching our junior high students perform Aladdin, the sweet sounds of our choirs, our amazing bands, and taking in all the awesome artwork created by our staff and students!

We appreciate everyone who came out to support our wonderful fine arts program.
Elementary Artists Recognized
At the April Board of Education meeting, the following student artists from Mulberry Elementary were recognized. Art teacher Jane Spooner selected outstanding artwork from her students who each received a certificate of recognition. The best part is sharing this beautiful artwork at the district's administrative offices for the next month!
Anna Riddle – grade 1 
Ayaat Ghareeb – grade 2 
Parker Distler – grade 3 
Charlotte Braun – grade 4 
Austin Rich – grade 5
Milford Soars at Local, State and National Contests
Our junior high and high school musical and choral groups have a long list of accomplishments this past month...

  • Milford High School Chamber Singers earned a Superior rating (1) in the OMEA State Competition.
  • MJHS Select Choir earned a Superior rating (1) and best overall junior high choir at Kings Island Music in the Parks.
  • Drum Line placed 6th in the Scholastic A Class at the WGI World Championships.
  • Winter Guard (pictured) placed 10th in the Scholastic Open Class at the WGI World Championships.
Milford's Special Olympians
Our Milford athletes did such a fantastic job at the Special Olympics track and field meets held this Spring. All of our schools sent athletes to these meets. The area meet held at Lakota East High School on May 4 included athletes from Clermont County, Butler County, and Warren County. It is a qualifying meet for the athletes to participate in Special Olympics State Games, which takes place at The Ohio State University in Jesse Owens Stadium. We look forward to cheering on our athletes at State!

Spring Signing Ceremony
Ten more members of the Class of 2019 will continue their athletic careers at the collegiate level.

They are: Kobey Bronaugh (Wrestling-Midway College), Harrison Eckels (Soccer-Otterbein University), Chase Fisher (Swimming-Denison University), Nate Flannery (Football-Muskingum University), Ali Kirk (Soccer-Eastern Kentucky University), Sam Leatherwood (Swimming-University of Evansville), David Niehaus (Swimming-Denison University), Casey Roeder (Lacrosse-Marietta College), Dylan Vearil (Swimming-University of Indianapolis), and Adam Yoh (Baseball-Bluffton University).

These 10 commitments bring the total to 23 members of the MHS Class of 2019 to announce college commitments for next year.
Eagles Soar at District Championships!
This past weekend, Andrea Armstrong finished as the District Champion in the 400-meter dash with a time of 57.78. The senior qualified for regionals in all three of her individual events, including the 200-meter dash (4th, 25.31) and long jump (4th, 16-03).

Freshman Emmy Sager set a new school record for the second consecutive week in the 3200-meter run. She finished 4th with a time of 11:08.44 and surpassed her previous PR of 11:13.95 set at last week’s ECC Championships.

Both Andrea and Emmy qualified for the OHSAA Division I regional meet to be held this week in Huber Heights.
Pattison Goes Green
The April curriculum video shown at the Board of Education meeting featured Pattison Elementary’s green initiative. This effort was led by Pattison 4th grade teacher DeAnn O'Toole who applied for a district Eagle Innovation grant to purchase a sorting table for their cafeteria. When students finish their lunches, they divide their waste and choose whether it will be composted, recycled, or sent to a landfill. So far, the sorting table has helped cut down the number of trash bags that go to the landfill from 60 per week to 15!
Last week, Pattison was featured on Newsdepth, a student news channel through Ideastream where they received an A+ honor for their work with the environment!
Mental Health Awareness Highlighted During Hope Week
Milford High School's Hope Squad held its first-ever Hope Week in April. The purpose of Hope Week was to promote mental health awareness and suicide prevention and reduce the stigma surrounding mental illness while building a school culture of acceptance and support.

Hope Squad members started each day in a positive way welcoming students who entered the building and sharing positive messages during lunch. They wore yellow one day to promote suicide prevention and mental health awareness. Students also handed out bracelets that promote the MHS Hope Squad.

Hope Squad is a national school-based peer-to-peer suicide prevention program. The program is designed to empower students to be the eyes and ears of a school as they watch out for students in distress. Hope Squad members are students nominated by their peers who are then trained to identify at-risk students, provide friendship, and seek help from an adult when needed.
Seniors Raise Money for Cancer Research
Milford High School's senior class was inspired to host a fundraiser in honor of their class counselor and several teachers who are battling cancer. The seniors held a color run on May 11 that raised more than $1,500 to be donated to the Cancer Research Institute!
Milford Students Excel at Chinese Contest
Several Milford students excelled in the Ohio Chinese Writing Contest hosted by Confucius Institute at Cleveland State University, the University of Akron, and the Ohio Association of Teachers of Chinese. It was open to all public and private schools.

Milford Junior High School students Payton Hughes earned second place and Byron Seto third place in the beginning level. (pictured below)

Milford High School students earned the following honors: Ellen Victory (advanced level, third place); Adia Cook (intermediate level, third place); Emily Abas (intermediate level, first place); Sarah Hudson (advanced level, third place); Lauren Dunevant (advanced level, second place); Nathan Chin (advanced level, third place), and Mrs. Cheng (the best advising teacher). Not pictured: Jennifer Kelly who received 3rd place (beginning level).

Mrs. Yu-ming Cheng teaches Mandarin Chinese I at the junior high and Mandarin Chinese I, II, III, IV and Advanced Placement Chinese at the high school. 
6th Grade Band Registration
Registration is now open for the 6 th grade band for the 2019-2020 school year for all Milford students in each of our elementary schools.


Questions? Email Andrew Desmond, Assistant Director of Bands, at desmond_a@milfordschools.org.
Community Swim Hours for May
The Milford High School pool is open for school district residents to swim for free during community swim sessions. A waiver of liability must be signed by all swimmers prior to swimming and by a parent or legal guardian for participants under the age of 18. Any participant under the age of 16 must have a parent or legal guardian present to swim. If school is closed due to inclement weather, community swim will not be held.

*NOTE: If you are attending an open swim session, you must bring a driver's license for entry through the high school security system. Contact Lois Leavens if you have any questions (513) 576-2208 or email her  leavens_l@milfordschools.org .

There are summer camps offered in the district and in the community from teen high adventure to STEM to sports and drama. Click on the link below to learn more!
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