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Bringing in the best
YOUNGSTOWN
Three candidates discussed their best assets Tuesday afternoon for East and Chaney high schools’ principal positions.
In March, CEO Krish Mohip announced the district, with the help of Atlantic Research Partners of Chicago, started a nationwide search for two high-school principals.
Part of that search involved input from parents, students, teachers and community members via an online survey about the qualities and characteristics they want to see in the principals.
Three candidates spoke at a meet-and-greet at East High.
Candidate Rick Gurski, Euclid High School assistant principal, discussed his dedication to create a freshman academy of excellence – something he has experience with in his current school and something Mohip hopes to create, found in his strategic plan.
“Over the past five years I have been developing the program to work on making ninth grade a place where our young people are successful and ensuring each ninth-grader makes it to 10th,” Gurski said.
The result from his work was a success – each student made it into their second year of high school.
Milton Folson, Mount Healthy City Schools of Indianapolis principal and fellow candidate, also shared a focus Mohip included in his strategic plan: accountability.
“As a district we want to make sure all stakeholders are on line with expectations of how students are going to behave,” Folson said when asked about how he best handles safety practices. “Sometimes there is a misalignment with how students act outside the building and inside the building and it is best to create a system of understanding through communication and enforcement and – ultimately – accountability for everyone.”
Folson also wants to use his background as a high-school graduate, a college student, a college dropout and ultimately a doctorate degree earner to show students how experience prepared him for all walks of life.
“Students should have understanding they can overcome anything they come across,” he said. “I want to focus on alternative pathways to help students reach their goals.”
Candidate Sonya Gordon, Cuyahoga County Educational Service Center curriculum consultant, said she feels she has the skills and the background necessary to bring East High out of academic distress.
During her career, Gordon, a 1991 East High graduate, taught in Akron Schools for 11 years and served five years as assistant principal.
“During those five years we were in the lowest [performing] 5 percent of schools,” she said.
“There was lots of transformation that needed to take place to get us out of the priority school umbrella. During my time there, we became no longer a priority school.”
Gordon said as an advocate of individual student improvement, she is compelled to be a part of the changes in Youngstown schools.
“East can return to be one of the great schools Ohio has to offer,” she said.