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Them Bones, an award-winning Blues band, will perform a free concert Sunday at Landen Deerfield Park. File photo

From the Beach Boys’ 50th Anniversary Tour to Goettafest and the Juneteenth Festival, there’s lots going on in Greater Cincinnati this week.  Here’s a look at fun and free events going on this weekend closer to home in the Mason area.

June 15: Cincinnati Pops Community Concert
6:30 p.m., Otterbein Senior Lifestyle Choices, 585 North S.R. 741, Lebanon.
Sponsored by the Mason-Deerfield Arts Alliance, the concert features the Northern Cininnati Youth Orchestra and the Cincinnati Pops performing popular favorites.
Free.  513-309-8585 | More information

June 15: Bob Crawford
7 p.m., Kings Island Golf Center, 6042 Fairway Drive, Mason
Solo acoustic covers of popular rock music from the 60′s to the present.
Free.  513-573-3321

June 15-16: Bare photography exhibit
10 a.m. – 6 p.m. Friday; 11 a.m. -3 p.m. Saturday
Pop Revolution Gallery, 105 East Main Street, Mason
Philippe Jardin, Mason photographer and South African native, showcases sampling of his fine art, which highlights what he says are his two great passions: people and photography.
Free. 513-492-7474 | More information

A young student runs his finger along the mosaic as he head down the hall way at the Mason Heights Elementary that will close this summer. The famed, homemade and colorful mosaics created by students starting in 2005 adorn the outside and inside of the 45-year-old school are the concern of many during this historic consolidation of schools. The Enquirer/ Tony Jones

June 16: Men’s Wellness Day
9 a.m. to noon, Mason Community Center, 6050 Mason-Montgomery Road, Mason.
Sports nutrition and nutritional supplements advice, nerve and muscle assessments, spinal posture analysis, product samples and fitness advice.
Free. 513-229-8555 | More information

June 16: Mason Heights Community Celebration
2-4 p.m., 200 Northcrest Drive, Mason.
Celebrate the school’s 45 year history with special historical displays.
Free.  513-398-0474, option 7.

June 17: Landen Deerfield Park Concert Series
6-8 p.m., Landen Deerfield Park, 2258 US 22/Ohio 3, Maineville.
Them Bones, an award-winning Blues band will perform.
Free. 513-339-1390.

Posted in: Community, Events, Health & Fitness, Recreational events |

Tags: Tags: art, bare, bob crawford, cincinnati pops community concert, community celebration, concert, concert seires, exhibit, free, kings island golf center, landen-deerfield park, lebanon, mason, mason community center, mason heights, mason-deerfield arts alliance, men's wellness day, mosaics, northern cincinnati youth orchestra, otterbein senior lifestyle choices, philippe jardin, photography, pop revolution gallery, them bones

Eric Messer served as principal of Western Row Elementary and Mason Heights Elementary this past school year. It marked the first time in Mason Schools' history a single principal has been in charge of two school buildings. The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

Paul McKibben reports:

This school year, Eric Messer served as principal of two elementary schools in the Mason City School District.

Messer led Mason Heights and Western Row elementaries. Before this school year, he was principal at Mason Heights. Next year, he’ll be the principal at Western Row as the district is closing Mason Heights. This school year, Mason Heights and Western Row had the entire district’s second and third grades. He maintains offices at both schools.

The father of three children grew up in the Columbus suburb of Reynoldsburg. His bachelor’s degree is from Miami University and he earned a master’s degree from the University of Cincinnati. He’s been with the Mason district for 15 years. He previously taught fifth grade and served as an assistant principal at Mason Intermediate School.

Messer, 38, answered Five Questions about the past school year and how he’s managed to juggle both jobs.

What’s the past school year been like as you’ve been managing both schools?

It’s been busy. You are in and out of a lot of meetings. You have a lot more responsibilities. It’s just been trying to manage time that has been the most difficult thing. I like to be with kids and be around the kids and you just got to make time to make sure you can still do those things. I can sit in meetings all day long but that’s not me.

What’s been the most hectic day for you this past school year?

There was one day I think I traveled back and forth three or four times. It might have been KISS (Kids Invite Someone Special) Day and what happened was KISS Day for Western Row and KISS Day at Mason Heights were on the same day. So I was going back and forth trying to make sure I was visible in both buildings. And also my two sons go (to Mason Heights) so I wanted to make sure they had their person here. Their grandma was coming in. Of course the opening day was hectic because you wanted to be in both buildings and make sure you’re visible and go over rules with kids.

Have the two schools worked together at all this past school year?

The schools are very similar. The (parent teacher organizations) have met and done some things together and have been doing some planning together. Our curriculum coordinators have met with both. I’ll meet with my reading teachers (at Mason Heights) and I’ll meet with the reading teachers at Western Row and we’ll kind of talk about ‘Hey this is what they talked about doing. What do you like? Do you like those ideas? And you know what, let’s take the good and bad from both and kind of combine them.” I have probably facilitated more of that. But there’s been more communication because I have both.

Is there anything that parents should be doing academically with their elementary-aged children during summer break?

Read. Read, read, read. Parents will say “My kid’s reading a lot.” Are they reading to you? Are they reading out loud? I have three kids and they could sit and read a page and they could skip words and they keep going. They read out loud though, you’re catching all those things and you’re hearing those things. Also, if they’re reading out loud you can ask them questions. They can read a whole page and you say “OK, what happened on that page? What happened to that character?” And you can get some dialogue with them and ask them questions. They do partner reading where you read a page and they read a page because at that point you’re modeling for them. You’re showing them what a good reader does with the influx of your voice and different things where you pause and don’t pause. For me with math, it’s practicing those addition and subtraction facts. It’s practicing multiplication facts and just continue to work on problem solving.

What was your favorite subject in school and why?

My favorite subject in school was math. I always loved numbers. I loved solving problems. I loved calculating problems. I always liked to do it in different ways. I actually went to college originally to be a high school math teacher. And then I was taking math 421, 441 and calculus 3 and I was like “OK, not.” At Miami, even if you were a high school major, you still had to do experiences in all the grade levels. And my adviser said, “You know I watched you with those elementary kids. You should think about that. You loved it.” I thought you know what, he’s right. You know I love the elementary kids and they’re so much fun. So I switched over to elementary education and now I’m here.

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: eric messer, mason city school district, mason heights, mason schools, principal, school, western row

Olivia Wise a 3rd grader help to create this mosaic last year, it on the wall by the school library at the Mason Heights Elementary that will close this summer. Photo taken by Tony Jones Feb. 22, 2012.

Michael D. Clark reports:

One of Mason’s oldest schools will close next school year, but hand-made pieces of art created over the years by thousands of its young students may live on.

Since 2005 large and colorful mosaics have adorned both the interior and exterior of Mason Heights Elementary. Created by second- and third-graders – under the guidance of a local artist – the tile and glass mosaics have become an iconic part of the 800-student school.

In a cost-saving move earlier this month, Mason’s school board voted to merge 45-year-old Mason Heights Elementary with Western Row Elementary and consolidate their students at Western Row and Mason Early Childhood Center. The merger will impact more than 1,600 students and their families in the Warren County school system.

Mason Heights now houses grades 2 and 3.

The more than a dozen intricate art works range from the gigantic – 20 by 8 feet – to poster-sized ones in the school’s lobby, halls and outside walls. Each has a theme, such as biology, diversity, internationalism, science, reading. Many include tiny self-portraits of former grade-school students who precisely used colored tile and glass pieces to create unique works of art.

“When I talk to people and former students, the first thing they ask now is what is going to happen to the mosaics,” says veteran art teacher Kerry Kronenberger, who has coordinated the school’s annual mosaic program since 2005.

“All our students have participated in the past seven years, and it’s meaningful to the public, too,” Kronenberger says. “It’s the students’ legacy here.”

Eric Messer, principal of Mason Heights, echoed the importance of the mosaics. Standing in the school lobby next to the second largest art work, which depicts children saying hello in 22 languages, Messer says “they are neat, and they are different.

“There has been a lot of hard work, pride and dedication put into these over the years. It helps the kids to feel like it’s their school, and it’s a connection for them. They come in with their parents and point to that and say ‘I did that,’ ” he said.

Tracey Carson, spokeswoman for the schools, says district officials understand the emotional and historical importance of the mosaics.

“Right now, we are talking with a contractor, as well as the original artist, to explore the process for preserving and moving the murals,” says Carson.

“Our hope would be that some of the murals could be moved to Western Row, some to the Mason Early Childhood Center and a few could even end up at the district’s Central Office,” she says.

Posted in: Board of Education, News, Schools |

Tags: Tags: eric messer, Kerry Kronenberger, mason early childhood center, mason heights, mason heights elementary, Mason Heights mosaics, mason heights school, western row elementary

Eric Messer, principal of Western Row Elementary looks at the finger of Kaya Stewart. Messer also served as Mason Heights Elementary’s principal. / The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

Michael D. Clark reports:

More than 1,600 students here will be part of a historic change in August after Mason school officials decided Tuesday evening to merge two schools.

The Mason school board voted unanimously to shut down Mason Heights Elementary for next school year, merging its 800 students into Western Row Elementary and the Mason Early Childhood Center.

It’s the first merger of Mason schools since the mid-20th century.

While public input was voluminous in recent weeks – more than 1,400 comments via an online survey – the major change to the Warren County district was largely decided without public contention to the idea.

Both the 45-year-old Mason Heights building and the 52-year-old Western Row school, which currently house the 11,000-student district’s second and third grades, were originally considered for closing when officials first publicly raised the possibility last month.

But Western Row’s more central location within the 25-square-mile district, combined with a slightly larger campus, easier cafeteria and playground access and a safer traffic and parking flow configuration were among the favorable factors, said Mason Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline.

Enrollment in Mason has leveled off in recent years.

“This matches our enrollment to our building capacity. And allows us to channel our resources to our students and not to another building,” said Kist-Kline. “And it does not change class size at all.”

Board member Marianne Culbertson said “we feel the decision is best for kids.”

About 490 Mason Heights second-graders will move to Mason Early Childhood Center, which opened in 2006 and now holds pre-kindergarten, kindergarten and first grade. Those grades will remain there.

Mason Heights, which is located at 200 Northcrest Drive in the northern part of the district, earned a state ranking of “Excellent” – the second highest rating – for the 2010-11 school year, as did Western Row – at 755 Western Row Road in the eastern section of the school system. The Mason Early Childhood Center earned the state’s top rating of “Excellent With Distinction” as did the entire district that year.

Both schools currently enroll about 800 students and both are below capacity.

While Mason Heights also has an annex building on its campus, it is separated by a parking lot access road, which officials saw as a possible hazard for student pedestrians.

Starting with this school year, the two schools began sharing a single principal, also a first in Mason school history.

The board took no action on staffing changes for next school year due to the merger, but is likely to consider those in March or April.

Mason Heights may be sold, officials said.

Mason, like other some other suburban districts, has cut millions of dollars from its budget in recent years, including dozens of teachers as part of last year’s personnel reductions.

Officials anticipate the merger will save about $1 million annually in operating and facility costs beginning next school year.

Mason’s yearly operating budget is $100 million.

Western Row needs about $1.4 million in restoration and renovations, said officials, but that work will be done during a five-year period.

“This decision has been data driven to maximize student learning,” said Kist-Kline.

Posted in: Board of Education, Schools |

Tags: Tags: board of education, closing, consolidate, eric messer, mason heights, mason school board, mason schools, principal, spending, students, taxes, western row

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Michael D. Clark reports:

School officials here met late into the evening Monday discussing and debating details on a merger of two schools.

The Mason Board of Education went into executive session for more than three hours as the board considered layoffs from combining Western Row and Mason Heights elementaries next school year. The board took no action but announced late Monday it will vote on the proposed merger at its regular public meeting on Feb. 14.

“The plan has shifted and changed a bit,” said Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline, who presented the idea to the board last month. “There is an educational impact here, a community impact and a financial impact. This is an important decision, and we want to thoughtfully weigh it.”

About 1,600 students and their families at the two schools could be impacted by the proposed merger, which would leave one of the schools closed and could move one or more elementary grades to the Mason Early Childhood Center.

Kist-Kline told the board that an online survey of parents at the school was initiated last month when the merger idea was unveiled. So far it has garnered more than 1,400 responses to the open-ended questions soliciting opinions about a merger.

Both schools have excess capacity. Combining them would save the Warren County district an estimated $600,000 annually from its $100 million operating budget.

Both buildings also are in need of repairs. The older Western Row needs an estimated $2.5 million work, and Mason Heights needs about $1.4 million.

The two schools, which house the district’s second and third grades, already share a single principal.

Among the factors the board is pondering are whether there would be advantages to keeping Western Row open because it is more centrally located in the 25-square-mile district and whether a road separating the annex building on Mason Heights’ campus would allow for safe student pedestrian traffic.

Western Row, built in 1962, is slightly older. Mason Heights opened in 1967. Both have had additional wings added in the subsequent decades.

School board President Kevin Wise said “there are a lot of variables.”

Posted in: Board of Education, Schools |

Tags: Tags: board of education, consolidate, eric messer, mason heights, mason school board, mason schools, principal, spending, students, taxes, western row

Eric Messer, principal of Western Row Elementary looks at the finger of Kaya Stewart. Messer is also Mason Heights Elementary’s principal. / The Enquirer/Cara Owsley

Michael Clark reports:

For the first time since the mid-20th century, a Mason school may be consolidated into another.

Mason Schools officials unveiled a plan during Tuesday evening’s school board meeting that could close either Mason Heights or Western Row Elementary at the end of this school year to combine it into one school building.

If the school board votes next month to approve it, the cost-savings plan would impact more than 1,600 students and their families, said school officials.

“This would consolidate our schools from six to five. We do have the space available and it would keep us from investing in older buildings,” Mason Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline told the board.

“This is a big decision and there are challenges that go with that – and certainly disruptions for families. We need to consider the community impact,” said Kist-Kline.

Both schools have excess capacity to accommodate additional students from the consolidation, she said.

Combining the two schools would save Mason Schools an estimated $600,000 annually from its $100 million operating budget.

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Both buildings, however, are in need of repairs with the older Western Row school needing an estimated $2.5 million and Mason Heights about $1.4 million.

The two schools – which house the district’s second and third grades – already share a single principal, which was a first in Mason’s long history. At the start of this school year, former Mason Heights Principal Eric Messer also took over supervision of Western Row.

Part of the proposal also includes moving one of the two grades to the newer and larger Mason Early Childhood Center at 4631 Hickory Woods Drive in the northwestern portion of the district.

District officials also announced that beginning today, they are asking school families and residents to register their reactions to the idea at the Mason Schools’ website at www.masonohioschools.com.

The board took no action but may vote on the plan at its next meeting on Feb. 14.

Mason Board of Education President Kevin Wise said “one thing that is critical is the importance of maintaining flexibility with our buildings.”

“Everything is on the table, (but) we also want to hear from our public,” said Wise.

Officials in the affluent Warren County school system had predicted years ago that its once rapid enrollment bursts of the last decade would peak at about 12,000 by now, but the nation’s economic recession and lagging housing market has lowered that estimate by about 1,000 students.

At times from 2000 to 2009, Mason had annual enrollment increases in excess of 600 new students.

In the past decade, Mason Schools have consistently been among the top 10 academic performers among Ohio’s 613 public school systems.

Mason Heights, which is located at 200 Northcrest Drive in the northern part of the district, earned a state ranking of “Excellent” – the second highest rating – for the 2010-11 school year, as did Western Row – at 755 Western Row Road in the eastern section of the school system. The Mason Early Childhood Center earned the state’s top rating of “Excellent With Distinction” as did the entire district that year.

The projected $600,000 in savings through consolidation is among the reasons Mason officials have said they will not ask residents for a new operating levy until 2013.

In recent years, the district has cut millions of dollars in personnel and programs in an effort to delay its returning to the ballot with a new tax hike. Voters in 2010 rejected a new operating levy, which was the first such ballot defeat for Mason Schools since 1970.

Posted in: Board of Education, Schools, Uncategorized |

Tags: Tags: board of education, consolidate, eric messer, mason heights, mason school board, mason schools, principal, spending, students, taxes, western row

Mason Heights technology teacher Melanie Jordan reads the letter that Ritwik Jaipuriar (left), Aaron Nichols (right) and Quinn Nichols (not pictured) wrote to her about why they appreciate her and what they could do to help as part of a Holiday Helpers initiative. Provided photo

Watch out, Santa’s elves.  Students at Mason Heights are in training to become holiday helpers.

When students in Corri Doenecke and Whitney Young’s third grade classes were asked to finish the phrase, “Tis the season to…,” most of them said, “get presents.” The two teachers wanted to change their perspective by encouraging them to help others and give back to the school, said Doenecke.

“A group of students were paired with teachers, janitors, secretaries, etc… to help the staff with whatever needs done right before break,” she explained.  “We talk about a way to help others without giving presents, but giving of ourselves.”

Student Ritwik Jaipuriar helped technology teacher Melanie Jordan as part of the initiative.

“She is kind, respectful and helpful and that’s why we wanted to help her,” he said.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: aaron nichols, christmas, corri doenecke, giving, holiday helpers, holidays, mason heights, mason heights elementary, melanie jordan, ritwik jaipuriar, whitney young

The Enquirer’s Michael D. Clark reports:

If Mason school Principal Eric Messer started seeing double, people could understand.

As the first principal in Mason Schools’ history to be in charge of two schools – Western Row and Mason Heights elementaries – Messer has doubled his work load and often now finds he has two of many things.

He splits his hectic schedule between two offices, with two desks, two computers, two school staffs and juggles two separate school calendars, and so on.

“And I have twins,” he says with a chuckle. “So I do see double some times.”

The 37-year-old father of three had run Mason Heights for years but recent cost-cutting included a proposal for this school year to have Messer handle both academically top-rated schools, which each house grades two and three.

Only a handful of districts in the region besides Mason have a single principal managing two schools.

Armed with an ever-present iPad, Blackberry and Nextel two-way walkie talkie, Messer is wired for action, if not occasional distraction.

“Last Thursday I had 11 meetings between the two schools. I like to be highly involved but with two schools I’m having to learn work through what I can and can’t do. I’m not sure how anyone could do this without technology,” he says.

Talent and energy help too, says Mason Schools Superintendent Gail Kist-Kline.

(more…)

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: academics, elementary schools, eric messer, gail kist-kline, mason, mason city schools, mason heights, mason schools, principal, schools, students, superintendent, western row

Mason City Schools has announced its start times for the 2011-12 school year.  The first day of school is Aug. 22.

• Mason High School: 7:15 a.m.
• Mason Middle School: 7:15 a.m.
• Mason Intermediate School: 8:15 a.m.
• Western Row Elementary: 9:10 a.m.
• Mason Heights Elementary: 9:10 a.m.
• Mason Early Childhood Center: 9:10 am, first grade, AM kindergarten and AM preschool
• Mason Early Childhood Center:12:55 pm, PM kindergarten and PM preschool

Posted in: Schools |

Tags: Tags: mason city schools, mason early childhood center, mason heights, mason high school, mason intermediate, mason middle school, start times, western row

The Kiwanis Club of Mason recently presented its Student of the Year award to seven students in area schools.

The students of the year are:

• Mason Early Childhood first-grader Caroline Bishop, who was nominated by her teacher, Julie Lewis;
• Mason Heights third-grader Emma Bishop, who was nominated by her teacher, Shanna Lutton;
• Western Row third-grader Andrea Hefferan, who was nominated by her teacher, Michelle Gallite;
• Mason Intermediate sixth-grader Jack Davidson, who was nominated by his teacher, Susan Grable;
• Mason Middle School eighth-grader Kyler Wilson, who was nominated by his teacher, Jay Reutter;
• St. Susanna eighth-grader Anna Hecht, who was nominated by her teacher, Julie Heyob;
• Mason High School senior Mauricio Trujillo, who was nominated by his teacher, Carol Lehman.

Posted in: Schools, Student achievements |

Tags: Tags: academic achievement, kiwanis club of mason, mason, mason early childhood center, mason heights, mason high school, mason middle school, st. susannah, student of the year, western row