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What’s the formula for Grade A schools?
The district sees a day when students will carry laptops, not books.
COLUMBIANA — The educators in the Columbiana school district have received more awards of excellence for its programs.
The district’s high school recently received a Blue Ribbon Award from the U.S. Department of Education, the district’s first.
The district also has six awards for excellence from the Ohio Board of Education for Schools of Distinction.
The first was for the 2001-02 school year. The rest are for the school years of 2003-04 through 2008-09.
So what’s the formula for success?
David Cappuzzello, the high school principal, said, “It starts with the family base. Education is a priority in their home and life.”
Other parts of the formula are educators willing to work with students before and after school and a good administration.
“That combination is definitely a recipe for success,” he added.
The early school years provide an educational foundation, the middle school years are aimed at a transition to high school, and the high school years are used for the transition to college and the years beyond.
Students can also get college credit while in high school through Youngstown State and Kent State universities.
The cable franchise in Columbiana provides Channel 13 that has the minutes of the board of education and other school information.
The school had a dodge ball tournament, televised on the channel, that was a success, Cappuzzello said.
The district is trying to get the Historical Society of Columbiana and Fairfield Township to get involved with the channel.
The district has an “iPod Initiative” in which students use the devices to access the Internet to learn.
Superintendent Don Mook whipped out his Apple device and said the students were essentially using the same thing.
Cappuzzello said the vision is that eventually the high school classes would not use books, and students would carry laptops from class to class.
Cappuzzello added, “We’re not on the cutting edge by any means.”
But the students are given the opportunity to seek what they want to do.
“There’s a lot of freedom,” the principal said.
Remember when sitting up straight in rows of seats was mandatory?
“We don’t even sit in rows any more. It’s very much a far cry from the way it used to be,” Cappuzzello said.
The new methods of teaching seem to be working. Of the 29 girls on the volleyball team, 17 have a 4.0 grade-point average. The average for the entire team is 3.76.
The educators said that there aren’t many cliques in the district, and there’s an attitude of accepting people for who they are.
wilkinson@vindy.com