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About Our District

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Dr. John Stoddard
Superintendent

February 2024

Dear Berkshire Local Schools Community,

The seasonal weather and lack of snow provides a hopeful glimpse that spring could be around the corner. Until that happens, please do the best you can to keep your children warm and protected with hats, gloves, jackets and the necessary articles of clothing while winter 2024 winds down. Congratulations to our winter sports athletes and coaches who will soon be entering the post-season and wish them well in their performance in the OHSAA playoffs. Please be reminded to check the website to see times and locations of co-curricular events, performances, and other activities as well.

Please keep in mind that we will all be away from school on Monday, February 19th in honor of President’s Day.

The Berkshire Local Schools will launch a strategic planning initiative to thoughtfully plan for the future over the next several months. Those individuals who demonstrated interest based on last month’s email have been notified, and we will begin later in February with our kickoff session. Our intention with this effort is to re-calibrate our core values, mission, vision, and goals for the future. The last effort, known as the P.R.I.M.E. Initiative, resulted in tremendous community support for our learning facility today. With that vision realized, the time has come to follow a new north star. We will keep you posted in the near future of updates as we conduct this process.

Our students and staff continue to participate in creative learning adventures, through our dedication to Project Based Learning, and identifying hands-on, problem-solving-oriented educational opportunities, and those that benefit the community, in all of our grades. See more below.

Students Reproduce Concrete in World Studies and The Makerspace

As part of their study of the achievements of the Roman Empire, the seventh graders in Mrs. Bartosic’s World Studies class participated in a Maker Space project with Mr. Kostiha focused on the question of whether Roman concrete or modern-day concrete is stronger.

First, the students learned about Roman concrete and made predictions about which concrete would be stronger. In the Maker Space area, student teams mixed the proper ingredients and made Roman or modern-day concrete bricks. The bricks were left to be cured while school was closed due to snow and ice days. About a week later, the students tested the strength of their concrete by placing an increasing amount of weight on their bricks. The students had fun watching each team place more weight on their bricks and anticipating when the bricks would break and collapse. Congrats to the Little Caesars team, which had the strongest Roman concrete at 4,000 grams of pressure, and to the Gladiators team, whose modern concrete did not break until it was under a whopping 7,000 grams!

Although the modern-day concrete turned out to be stronger, we agreed that there were certain factors that might have affected concrete strength. After the testing was done, the students analyzed the results and presented their conclusions to the class. The project was worth the valuable education learned.

East Geauga Kiwanis Organization Continues Partnership with Berkshire Schools with Recent Recognitions

For years, the East Geauga Kiwanis Club, a long-standing community partner with the Berkshire Local Schools, has worked to promote our students, provide outside learning opportunities for them, and recognize them when they grow. Such was the case recently, when 3rd grade students from Berkshire Elementary School were rewarded with a gesture of goodwill for their academic achievement as second graders last year.  Courtesy of Mr. Zurbuch, who routinely remains in touch with our Badger Family, the East Geauga Kiwanis shared a personalized certificate and literature books. In the nearby picture, you will see Berkshire students with Erynn Koerlin, Sadie Neely, Lyndon Davis, Kade Horn, and Gunner Quinn. Thank you, East Geauga Kiwanis, for your continued support of our schools.

Thank you for your continued support of the Berkshire Local Schools. Go Badgers!

GO BADGERS!

Dr. John Stoddard
Superintendent 
Berkshire Local Schools