CHARLESTON, W.Va. — The Kanawha County Board of Education took the first part of its Monday meeting to honor three important pieces to the county’s education system.
Tom Williams
Superintendent Tom Williams recognized the county’s teacher, principal, and service personnel of the year.
Meleah Fisher, the band director at Herbert Hoover High School was named this year’s teacher of the year. According to Williams, Fisher’s instilled a mentality to her students in the weeks after the devastating 2016 flood, saying, “You’re going to hold your head high. You’re not going to complain and be thankful for everything we have.”
“That set the tone for the community at Herbert Hoover and the community as a whole,” Williams said Monday.
Fisher says teaching is all about meeting others’ needs.
“I learned from some friends of mine, ‘A need seen is an assignment given.’ That’s what teaching is about,” Fisher said. “We see all the needs we have in our classroom. Every kid has a story. We have a story too and we try to meet each other’s needs.”
Pinch Elementary School Principal Karen Messinger was honored Monday the county’s principal of the year.
Williams said during the meeting that Messinger takes every opportunity to raise funds and provide incentives for her staff.
Messinger says her nearly 30-year career has been a dream.
“God and the board of education have allowed me to go to a ‘Pinch of heaven’ every single day. I’m just a member of an amazing family at Pinch,” Messinger said. ” We all work towards the same goals for our children. We keep our children safe first, and then we love our children and then we educate our children.”
Norman Dotson, of Richmond Elementary, took home the county’s service personnel of the year honors.
Williams said that Dotson would do anything and everything to help someone in need. According to Williams, Dotson was hugged by nearly every child in the school during an assembly last week where he was honored.
Dotson says he wants to make sure the students and teachers have a clean building each day.
“I’m all about the kids and taking care of the teachers and making sure the school is clean,” Dotson said. “I wouldn’t go to a dirty bathroom, so I like to make sure it’s clean. I’ve heard it a lot of times from parents about how clean the building is, so I know I’m doing a good job.”
Other business:
During Monday’s meeting, the BOE approved a pair of contracts for roof replacements. The first of those was a $994,260 contract with Tri-State Roofing & Sheet Metal Company for the partial replacement of the Elk Elementary Center roof, and the other was a $1,657,000 contract with Harris Brothers Roofing Company for the full replacement at Crede Operations Complex.
The board also approved a $148,396 contract with R. M. Huffman Company to replace the bleachers at Dupont Middle School, which will be absorbing students from East Bank Middle School next school year.
Williams says this is part of what is needed to successfully add more students at Dupont.
“We’re combining two schools here, and this is from the middle school wish list — some of the things they had asked for — and this was needed at Dupont,” Williams said.
After listening to a few citizens and company owners, the board voted to sell two sets of vacant property, one being the former JE Robins Elementary location and the other being a piece of property adjacent to Capital High School.