Story and photos by Crystal Hayduk
Five new teachers who were hired over the last few months were introduced to members of the Chelsea Board of Education at their meeting on Aug. 25.
High school principal Mike Kapolka presented Ellen Kent as the new school psychologist following the resignation of Cindy Rhodes. Kent has filled the interim position for the last two years.
Principal Nick Angel of Beach Middle School introduced three new staff members. Joshua Tropea will be a teacher consultant and the new varsity basketball coach. He formerly coached Milan to a state championship.
Angela Boyer will teach Spanish at the middle school, as well as serve the ESL (English as a second language) program at all four schools.
Kelsey Miller has the certification to teach both global studies and math, which makes her a good fit for the seventh grade Blue Team.
Stacie Battaglia, principal at South Meadows, introduced Daniel Rhodes, who will be teaching at both South and Beach. Rhodes is a 2007 Chelsea High School graduate who was highly recommended by all who knew him. At Hillsdale College, he studied both physical education and math; he has coached football and baseball in the Homer School District since 2012.
To help round out the 2014-15 staff, the board approved the hiring of Emily Verbeke as the school psychologist at South and Beach, following the resignation of Marcie Samuele this summer.
Superintendent Andy Ingall said that Verbeke was chosen from a pool of 18 “extremely high quality” applicants. She has worked as a school psychologist for the Plymouth-Canton district since 2010.
According to Assistant Superintendent Julie Deppner’s written recommendation, “Her calm nature, dedication to children, and knowledge make her an asset to our district.”
With 155 incoming kindergarten students, the district needed to hire one additional teacher. The board approved the hiring of Kelly Ryan, who rose to the top of “194 deep and well-qualified applications received in a five day period” through four rounds of interviews, according to Ingall. Ryan has the district’s coveted early childhood endorsement, and has been teaching since 2007.
The board approved two donations to the district – $2,000 from the Chelsea Kiwanis Club and $1,600 from Cathy Payne to provide scholarships for the community education preschool program for families who have financial need but do not qualify for the Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP).
The district will be purchasing furniture for the high school and the central office through a cooperative purchasing network, TCPN, which allows public agencies to obtain pre-negotiated pricing. The total cost, paid for from 2012 bond funds, will be $25,982.
Building open houses take place this week: Beach Middle School – Aug. 27 from 4:30-6:30 p.m.; Chelsea High School – Aug. 27 from 6:30-8:30 p.m.; North Creek – Aug. 28 from 4-6 p.m.; South Meadows – Aug. 28 from 5-7 p.m.
The first day of school for students is Tuesday, Sept.2.
The next school board meeting will be Sept.8 at 6:30 p.m. in the board room at the Washington Street Education Center.
