(Posted March 29, 2023)
By Kristy Zurbrick, Madison Editor
A regular part of Madison-Plains school board meetings is recognition of staff and students. This month, the board shined the spotight on sixth-grade teacher Anna Ernst. Recognition also was given to several winter sports teams and athletes.
Staff recognition
At the March 21 school board meeting, Superintendent Chad Eisler read letters from Brad Miller and Deborah Adamczak, principal and assistant principal, respectively, at the K-6 building. The letters offered praise for Anna Ernst, a teacher in the district for eight years and an educator for a total of 23 years. Ernst currently serves as the district’s sixth-grade teacher leader.
“(Anna) is the type of person that loses sleep wondering if she’s doing enough and how she can reach all of her students, especially those most vulnerable,” wrote Miller, adding that Ernst’s hard work and dedication is noticed every day.
Adamczak stated that Ernst exemplifies an educator who goes above and beyond–leading by example, arriving early to work, and always smiling.
“Her lessons are engaging and relevant, and she strives in her efforts to ensure that her students are successful academically and socially,” Adamczak wrote.
Winter sports recognition
Athletic Director Zane Scheiderer provided a wrap-up for the district’s winter sports season outcomes and accomplishments.
• High school boys’ basketball–The team notched its first winning season in a long time, going 9-7 in the conference and 14-10 overall. In the post-season, the team won a tournament game to become sectional champs. Held at home, the game represented the first time in school history that Madison-Plains hosted a tournament game. The team went on to the district semi-finals where they fell short to Columbus Academy.
Senior Cameron Dennehy was named first-team all-Ohio Heritage Conference (OHC) and Central District honorable mention. He also was selected to play in the Miami Valley All-Star game on March 25. Senior Blayne Williams was named OHC honorable mention.
• Junior high boys’ basketball–The seventh-grade team entered post-season conference play seeded third and finished second. The eighth-grade team was seeded second and came out as OHC champions.
• High school girls’ basketball–The team went 2-14 in the conference and 5-18 overall. Freshman Claire Mason was named second-team all-OHC. Senior Chloe Kelly earned OHC honorable mention honors. Kelly and senior Molly Barber were selected to play in the District 10 All-Star game on March 22.
• Junior high girls’ basketball–The seventh- and eighth-grade teams were both seeded first going into post-season tournament play. Both finished as runners-up.
• High school indoor track– “This is the largest indoor track team we’ve had in quite some time,” Scheiderer reported.
At districts, the boys finished third as a team, and the girls finished ninth. Senior Seth Marchiando qualified for the indoor track state meet in the weight throw.
Several Madison-Plains indoor track records were broken this season:
– 800-meter run, 1,600-meter run, and 3,200-meter run–senior Amy Burchett;
– 4×200-meter relay–seniors J’on Jackson and Ben Stoughton, junior Peyton Smith, and sophomore Colby Stoughton;
– weight throw–Seth Marchiando;
– 60-meter hurdles–Peyton Smith;
– 60-meter and 200-meter dashes–Ben Stoughton; and
– long jump–Colby Stoughton.
• High school wrestling–The team placed seventh overall in the OHC. Sophomore Eric Roeder earned second-team all-OHC honors. Senior Taylor McCabe was named OHC honorable mention. Freshman Tre Smith, McCabe, sophomore Richie Roeder, and Eric Roeder qualified for districts. Freshman Tara Nagel and junior Payne Haverfield competed at regionals.
• College commitments–So far, four seniors have committed to playing sports at the college level: Amy Burchett, Baldwin Wallace University, cross country and track and field; Chloe Kelly, Ohio Wesleyan University, basketball; Evan Coil, Ashland University, football; and Olivia Finke, Otterbein University, track and field.
