photo credit: Taylor Guzek
Nothing lasts forever; eventually the present slips into the past and winds up as a resident in the halls of history. This is especially true of leadership, as the high school is currently learning.
Entering the new school year, Former Assistant Principal Ellie Ellis took the role of past Principal Monica Asher, and former French Teacher Larissa Sauder filled Ellis’ vacated assistant principal position.
“I hope we just keep everything the same as it was last year because last year was pretty good,” Junior Fehintoluwa Elujoba said.
But the student body has some specific requests for the new administration as well.
“I would like to see slightly less strictness on the hallway policy because a lot of the time you’ll get in trouble just for walking the hallways, even if you’re doing something for a class,” Junior Nathan Hariths said.
But the administration emphasized their prioritization of student safety, maintaining that passes would be universally required to leave class, and roaming would be completely prohibited. However, there were some special cases for instruction purposes.
“If a teacher deems that students being in the hallway is going to [positively] impact their engagement, we always leave room for that,” Ellis said. “That does tend to happen when students are working in groups, but the teacher still must have the ability to supervise these students. So they can’t go to other spaces in the school.”
Graduation cords were another ask from students.
“At the end of your high school career, [cords at graduation are] a very cool marker of all your accomplishments,” Hariths said, “and it’s honestly a real bummer to see that disappear halfway through high school.”
Yet, the restoration of cords for clubs is seeming unprobable.
“We cannot make that decision as a building; it would have to be a district level decision,” Ellis said. “We have over 100 clubs here, and the central office says that if we give a cord to one club, we have to offer one to all clubs, and then it would probably get out of hand.”
Overall, it seems many policies will remain the same.
“We’re not necessarily adding anything new because we’re starting to get to the point where we have some basic policies in place, and we stick to them,” Ellis said.
Instead, the new administrators are focused on cultivating the school culture.
“I’m hoping to help create a family based culture here, supporting each other in everything we do, whether it’s marching band, a theater performance, a football game or a volleyball game,” Sauder said. “And again, that pride piece is really important, being proud to be a Pioneer.”
And Sauder certainly understands what it means to take pride in being a Pioneer. She helped open the school in 2008 as its sole French teacher and has been passionate about making the school the best it can be while preserving its tradition ever since.
“I love this place. I’ve been here forever,” Sauder said. “I love my kids, and I love the people I work with.”
Prior to opening the school, Sauder received a bachelor’s in French Education at Bowling Green, a master’s in administration and a principal’s license from Ashland University and a master’s in education from Western Governors University.
“I’m married [also]. My husband, Ted Sauder, is a math teacher at Berlin High School. And then I have two boys: one is a seventh grader at Berkshire, and the other is a fourth grader at Johnny Cake,” Sauder said. “And we are very much a sports family.”
Principal Ellis, on the other hand, received her full education, including an undergrad, master’s degree, and Principal license, from the University of Dayton.
When not at the school, the new principal enjoys spending time with her family.
“I am married and I have a 5 year old son, and they really like coming to events,” Ellis said. “We do a lot of going on bike rides, camping, hiking and just trying to be outside.”
And while the roles may be new, the faces are familiar to students; many speak highly of both Ellis and Sauder from past experiences.
Sauder was much beloved as a French teacher. “She was a really great teacher. She was always very understanding and would help out wherever needed,” Elujoba said.
Ellis is equally respected amongst students. Many described as always being helpful in her assistant principal role.
“Mrs. Ellis is helping me with a couple things of creating a club. She’s very open to new ideas,” Senior Briana Martinez said.
And so far, students seem to approve of the new administrators’ updated roles.
“We got lucky with the group of administrators we have right now. Sometimes students’ voices can get lost in administrative work because we are students at the end of the day,” Martinez said. “But [the way the new administrators] just see and look out for us is great.”
