Updates from Mr. Dettwiller

We are trying to get back in the swing of things, but mother nature has not cooperated with us lately. Our students and staff are still getting after it and working to continuously improve. One area of focus our team has identified is student resiliency, toughness, and simply the belief of our students that they can accomplish whatever their goals are with hard work. There are so many opportunities for students to engage and get involved to help them develop that sense of being able to accomplish whatever they put their mind to. A big part of that is the relationships they build with those that believe in them. If family and community members can help our students understand they are capable of so much and that the biggest skill they need is hard work, we cannot only improve our school culture, but our communities culture for years to come.

Thank you for supporting our students and making sure they know this community as a whole supports them and wants great things for them.

"A great society is one where the oldest members plant trees whose shade they shall never sit."

- Greek Proverb

Nick Dettwiller

Superintendent

Eastern Local School District

740-667-6079

ndettwiller@easternlocal.net

Stronger Together

Our new website is up and running. Please check back frequently for news articles and updates.

https://www.easternlocal.com/

I never dreamed that my first month as a superintendent would result in this many snow days, but as I frequently say "if you want to hear God laugh, just let him know your plans". I can tell you sleep has been hard to come by for me as this weather has gone through. I worry constantly about calling school off early and we don't get anything weather wise or vise versus. It has been difficult to try and gauge, but our transportation director Mr. Collins, and the other county superintendents, Mr. Deem, and Mr. Gheen, as well as Sheriff Wood, and myself all try and stay in close contact and update each other on what is going on. We really appreciate their help. Everyone wants kids at school, but as safely as we can. Making those choices is a tough and a lot of factors come into play.

I can also tell you we hate to do plan B bus routes, but we feel like having as many kids at school as possible is better then closing. For a large portion of our kids coming to school and being around trusted adults, who give them love and attention, and getting two meals is a very big deal, and we take that into consideration.

As far as make up days, we currently have 4 days that we need to make up. We will make them up starting with Presidents day on February 21st, and then we will start making days up on what would have been spring break. We currently will have school on March 23rd, 24th, and 25th. If we miss more school due to weather this could possibly change.

I have also been asked about blizzard bags or online work. We feel like our best mode of educating kids and having the greatest impact on their learning and overall well being is to have them in our building with a normal day of school with our excellent teachers and staff. Our Calendar Committee for next year is meeting and planning as we speak. If you have any input or ideas for next year please reach out to me.

Link to the 21/22 School Calendar

https://5il.co/112yw

Eastern High School’s Model United Nations team recently participated in the 2021-22 state-wide Ohio Leadership Conference in Columbus. The Eastern team, representing South Africa, presented their resolution to solve the problem of police brutality in South Africa according to the procedures of the United Nations, with over 100 teams present from across the state. The Model UN program is entirely student-led and allows each team to take on the roles of delegates and officers. The students research an actual problem in their chosen country then prepare a speech and a written resolution that could solve it. The students debate the merits of their resolution and defend their work in committee meetings and general assembly. Participating students were Tanner Calhoun, Koen Sellers, Seth Collins, Grant Martin, Kyra Zuspan, Cami Jones, and Rylee Barrett

Mrs. Bradford's 3rd grade science classes conducted some experiments in class. One of those was "How a mealworm responds to changes in its environment".

The kids were extremely engaged, and excited. They were using all of the strategies they learn in class to apply it to their experiment. Big shout out to Mrs. Bradford and her classes for doing such great work, getting out of their comfort zone and getting after it.

As our Hopewell dental clinic on campus nears completion their team worked with our students on proper dental care.

Eastern Students were lucky enough to meet and hear a presentation from Lieutenant Colonel Jonathan Bissell

Mr. Bissell is a US Army Foreign Area Officer currently assigned to the National Capital Region. He joined the US Army in 1990 and has many years of leadership experience in the United States Army and the Department of Defense (DoD). He currently serves as a Branch Chief for the DoD’s Defense Threat Reduction Agency where he leads a team tasked with eliminating, securing, detecting and interdicting weapons of mass destruction organized along the key fields of Chemical, Biological, Radiological, and Nuclear and aligned to global geographical regions. In his spare time, JB volunteers as a mentor for the United States Senate Youth Program (USSYP) and a mentor for the Hugh O’Brian Youth Leadership Program (HOBY). He has a Master of International Policy and Practice (MIPP) degree from the Elliott School (2015), and a Master of Science in International Relations from Troy University (2014). He is a member of the Phi Kappa Phi National Honor Society. We appreciate him coming in and helping to make a difference in our students lives.

Great opportunity for anyone interested in this in demand field. Reach out for more information from Buckeye Hills about scheduling and financial assistance.

This year our Eastern Band Director Mr. Thacker got a once in a lifetime opportunity to march and play in the Rose Parade. We are so proud of him and the work he has done with our kids. Here is a description of the event from Mr. Thacker.

This was a band comprised of almost 300 band directors from every state in the country and Mexico. There were teachers with 1 year experience all the way to retired teachers with over 35 years worth of teaching experience. The band was created in memory of a well known and respected band director from Pickerington Ohio - Mr. Michael Sewell. In many cases, anyone who is involved in music has been affected by the art in some way - whether it be finding a lifelong career path or a hobby that sticks with you forever, music is a large part of many peoples lives. Band directors spend several years with the same group of students teaching music, teaching discipline and teaching life. This parade was the heart and soul of what music does for many people. Bringing band directors together to celebrate the impact that fellow band directors have on the youth of America.

I am fortunate to have marched in the McDonalds Thanksgiving Parade in Chicago, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York and now the Rose Parade in Pasadena. Without a doubt, the Rose Bowl Parade was my favorite. The purpose behind the band, the beautiful state of California, the amount of dedication shown by the band directors to be the best they can be made this the most memorable and exciting experience I've had so far.

I marched this parade with my mom - who is also a band director in Steubenville, Ohio. We were two of 23 people who also marched with a family member that are band directors.

It was such an amazing experience. We were riding the bus, and my mom looked over at me and said “if you think about it, every person on this bus is a band director - pretty crazy, huh?” And that really sparked the excitement for me. Usually I’m only around this many musical professionals at professional development conferences and they’re only from Ohio. But then I was being exposed to teachers from different states, musical backgrounds and cultures, who were all there to show their expertise and passion for the arts. Networking was very important to me as I probably wouldn’t be around teachers in this capacity ever again - which made the phrase “once in a lifetime opportunity” even more important in how I executed my marching, playing and community outreach.

The most enjoyable part of this experience was marching down Colorado street and stepping out of the block to give high fives to the future leaders of our country. The reoccurring theme from our director, John Waters, was “you WILL change at least one young persons life today - whether you put a smile on their face, or inspire them to learn an instrument.” This was very inspiring to me in how I interacted with the community along the route. I was inspired by an entire family of musicians and the exposure to live music and amazingly talented musicians from and early age. My hope is that one of those children decide to pick up and instrument because in my opinion, it is one of the most important things we can do for Americas youth - introduce them to the arts.

Please be aware a few minor changes were made to the Inclement Weather Plan B Bus Routes. You may access these in the Documents/Quick Links section on the website. They are also located in the Departments Section under Transportation.

Click the link below to see the new COVID 19 guidelines that the Ohio Department of Health recently issued. The biggest change is that students who are a direct contact with a positive person may continue attending school with a mask as long as they have no symptoms.

New COVID guidelines

We are excited to have our fitness center open to the public again before and after school. It is a great facility and resource for our students and community. As we open it back up for the new year we will have a small twenty dollar charge for the cost of key cards and to help us maintain the facility. If you are interested in a key card please contact the High School office for details.

What an amazing turnout and atmosphere for our wrestling team and our seniors. Great performance by the kids and engagement by the fans.

On March 5th Bitanga’s Martial Arts Center will be hosting a free heart screening clinic for individuals between the ages of 10-25.

All participants must be pre registered before March 5th. We are allowing our members to pre-register before the registration link is made available to the open public. This will give you the first pick from the available time slots.

To complete the simple registration form please click the provided link. If you do not have a child who can benefit from this free service please forward this link privately to someone who can. Thank you!

Who We Play For

WHO DEY!

Let’s show Joe, and his Mom, our support this Friday for Joe Burrow Day! 🏈🏈🏈

February 10- Family Valentine’s Dance 5:30-7 canceled!

February 11- JOE BURROW DAY

February 14- 100th Day of School!

February 21- MAKE UP Snow Day!

February 24- Paint night with Michele Musser

Once again this year our K-4 students will be participating in the American Heart Association’s Kids Heart Challenge. Here is the information on how to log onto our schools direct link or download the Kids Heart Challenge App. Our goal is to raise $2,000.00 for the American Heart Association!!!

Important Dates to Remember:

Feb. 7 – Kids Heart Challenge begins

Feb. 18 – All donations are due

Feb. 24 – KHC event held in the Elem. Gym during PE classes

Big thank you to Home National Bank for sponsoring tonight’s game with Waterford. The half court shots, crawl for cash, and free pizza were a lot of fun and the place was packed as they paid everyone’s admission to watch a hard fought game. Awesome night thanks to a great community partner.

The Eastern Boys took down Southern in front of a packed house, and with one special team member back in the fold. With an awesome parade and some recognition we were incredibly happy to have an eagle back in the nest. Braylyn Johnson completed his Chemo treatments and was honored prior to the game by both teams and fans.

During the 2021-2022 school year, school administrators and the Eastern Athletic Department started an Eastern Athletic Hall of Fame. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor Eastern coaches, athletes, or contributors to athletic programming. The Hall of Fame Committee and Eastern High School is honored to announce the first inductee into the Hall of Fame: Coach Pam Douthitt. Honored along with Pam were members of her 2001 state qualifying softball team. Members of this team have gone on to make major contributions to this community and many others both on the court and off. Players from that outstanding team include: Amanda Reed, Tammy Bissell Baum, Nikki Jacob, Kass Lodwick, Janet Werry, June Ridenour, Tiffany Butcher, Janet Calaway, Sandy Powell, Kristen Dettwiller, Sara Mansfield, Ashley Fitch, Tiffany Gilmore, Krista White Jeffers, Megan Sheppard, Carrie Wiggins, Juli Simpson, and Kayla Valencia. Assistant Coaches: Lester Stewart and Craig Venoy.

Pam Douthitt worked at Eastern Local School District for 38 years from 1975 until 2013. In that time, she coached volleyball for eight years, basketball for three years, and softball for 32 years. She served as the Athletic Director for 22 years. During her time as a softball coach, Pam and her teams advanced to numerous championships. They included 11 League Championships, 17 Sectional Championships, six District Championships, two Regional Championships, and two State Finals. Pam also received the League Coach of the Year nine times and District Coach of the Year six times. In 2001, the Ohio High School Fastpitch Softball Coaches Association awarded Pam the Coaches Award for Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity. She also received the award for attaining 400 career wins. Altogether, Pam left Eastern with the impressive record in softball of 428 wins and 212 losses. In 2007, Pam was inducted into the Rio Grande Athletic Hall of Fame for her basketball and softball accomplishments. Since her retirement in 2013, Pam continues to serve the Eastern Local School District in a substitute teaching capacity and a facilitator of athletic events.

A continuation of the first annual Eastern Athletic Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony. During the 2021-2022 School Year, school administrators and the Eastern Athletic Department started an Eastern Athletic Hall of Fame. The purpose of the Hall of Fame is to honor Eastern coaches, athletes, or contributors to athletic programming. The Hall of Fame Committee and Eastern High School is honored to announce the second and final 2022 inductee into the Hall of Fame: Coach Howie Caldwell

Along with Coach Caldwell the Athletic Department honored our 2001 State Qualifying Men's Basketball Team. Members of this team have gone on to make major contributions to this community and many others both on the court and off. We were proud to honor and show our appreciation for the members of this outstanding team, who gave us so many great memories.

Players and coaches from this great team include:

Players: Joe Brown, Josh Kehl, Chad Nelson, Matt Simpson, Brad Brannon, Garrett Karr, Alex Simpson, Chris Lyons, Brent Buckley, Jason Kimes, Jeremy Shanks, Brandon Werry, Nathan Grubb, Alex Simpson, Derek Baum, and Robbie Cross

Assistant Coaches: Billy Sheppard and Tim Simpson

Head Coach, Howie Caldwell.

Howie Caldwell was an employee of Eastern Local School District from 2000 to 2012. In that time, he taught high school English and coached volleyball and boys basketball.

During his time as Volleyball Coach from 2002 until 2012, Howie was Tri-Valley Coach of the Year for eight years. In those 11 seasons, he led his team to nine TVC Championships, 11 Sectional Championships, eight District Championships, one Regional Championship, and one appearance in the State Final Four. Howie was the Boys Basketball Head Coach for 12 seasons from 2000 to 2011. In that time, he was five time TVC Coach of the Year and secured five TVC Championships, 10 Sectional Championships, four District Championships, one Regional Championship, and one appearance in the State Final Four. In addition to the team accolades, Howie was Division 4 Coach of the Year for basketball in 2004 and 2010.

Congratulations to retired Coach Brian Bowen, who was voted into the Southeast District Baseball Coaches Hall of Fame. He led Eastern Baseball for 20 years and achieved many impressive accolades.

• 8 Sectional Championships

• 7 District Championships

• 298 Total wins

• 5 time District Coach of the Year