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Cheek-Sloan selects new principal at JFK
The Cheektowaga-Sloan Board of Education selected a man with a great deal of experience and who will emphasize student development as the next principal at John F. Kennedy High School.
The board announced at its Tuesday meeting that 45-year-old Lawrence Ljungberg has been chosen to take over the principal's duties. Technology Integrator Bobbi Meyer served as interim principal after Steven Bovino resigned from the position in May.
Ljungberg (pronounced Youngberg) has 10 years of experience as an administrator, most recently as the principal and chief executive officer at the Global Concepts Charter School in Lackawanna, where he worked for six years. Other previous jobs include teaching Advanced Placement science at Pioneer High School and serving as assistant principal at Niagara-Wheatfield High School.
The Elma native also worked for one and one-half years with Bovino at the Principal Leadership School. He listed student development as his forte, adding that he plans to help take JFK's academic programs "to the next level."
"I'm excited to get back in the traditional public
school system," said Ljungberg, who noted that expanding mastery learning and
A.P. courses at JFK are some of his immediate goals. "(Bovino) really worked
hard at setting a strong academic environment, and I see myself having the same
kind of attitude."
Superintendent of Schools James P. Mazgajewski said Ljungberg has a strong
instructional background.
"He's really interested in working with young people and wishes to be a high
school principal," Mazgajewski told the Times. "It's my thinking that he'll be
here for quite a few years and he'll be successful."
Interim Principal Meyer was also tapped on Tuesday to take over the JFK
athletics director position after the recent resignation of Casey Snyder, who
had served in the position from 2005-2007. A proponent of physical fitness,
Meyer said she thinks her new position will serve her just fine, given her
myriad of job titles in the district in the past.
"I've been involved in athletics for quite some time here," said Meyer,
adding that she has an administrative degree. "We'll work a lot at promoting
health and physical fitness in the district."
In other action Tuesday, JFK physical education and health teachers Andrea
Deuser and P.J. Odrobina described to the board their Fit For Life program,
which entails physical fitness at JFK.
Deuser and Odrobina said the idea for the program was driven after they
attended a conference in May at the Titusville School District with Pembroke
Fitness Life Coordinator Tim McCord. Deuser described Fit For Life as a
nonprofit organization that emphasizes quality, daily physical education in
schools.
"Physical fitness is something you need for a lifetime," Deuser said. "You
want to push an active lifestyle, to take it outside the regular 30-minute
classroom and implement it during study halls, after school, things like
that...We're in the right direction and we're optimistic."
Odrobina added that they hoped to start the program at JFK within a couple of
years after obtaining a grant to fund a health and wellness room and middle
school fitness center.
Other program criteria include: using heart rate monitors and Palm Pilots to
assess student performance based on effort, not skill; individualizing lessons
to specific needs of students; improving academic test scores, educating
students on obesity and preventative methods and encouraging a physically active
lifestyle.
Deuser and Odrobina have been instrumental in starting a Health and Wellness
committee at JFK Middle School, as well as arranging several new activities,
such as canoeing, rock climbing, snowshoeing, skiing, ice skating and snow
tubing.
The pair aim to build a community-based physical education team in addition
to the Health and Wellness committee, as well as an advocacy strategy to outline
facts about fitness programs. They also want to hire a grant writer and seek
donations to help fund the new items, including what they hope to be a separate
2,400 square-foot fitness center for the high school and middle school. Polar
Heart Rate Monitors, interactive gaming and outdoor education equipment were
other needed items, Deuser and Odrobina noted.
The board also:
Approved change orders in the amount of $294,330 in its capital improvement
project with Turner Construction Company.
Declared 51 Jamestown Heritage books, 35 records and one SONY stereo system
from the Woodrow Wilson Elementary School music room to be obsolete due to age.
Approved the JFK Middle School Student Council sponsoring homecoming
activities on September 27 (kareoke and sign-painting night) and September 29
(dance) in the middle school gymnasium.
Accepted a letter of resignation from Timothy Barrett, who is a teacher at
Theodore Roosevelt Elementary School.
Appointed Nicole Piatkowski (4/5 mathematics) and Vicky Sambito (full-time
social studies) as teachers at JFK High School for the 2007-08 academic
year.
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