WEST CHESTER TOWNSHIP — When classes resume next month in the Lakota Schools, Shawnee Principal Cecilia Schmidt won't be in her usual spot welcoming children back after summer break.

        This year, Mrs. Schmidt will be spending most of her time making sure the district's teachers have opportunities to hone their skills.

        On Monday, Mrs. Schmidt was named the district's director of professional development, one of five administrative changes approved by the Lakota Board of Education.

        In her new role, Mrs. Schmidt will design programs for recruiting teachers, ensure teachers complete requirements for their certificates or licenses, and train substitute teachers. She will earn $82,483.

        “This is an all-encompassing position ... to help us find the best of the best,” Superintendent Kathleen Klink said.

        Mrs. Schmidt has been a Lakota administrator for 15 years, hired first as principal at Adena Elementary, and moving to Shawnee in 1990.

        Four assistant principals also were selected from a pool of 85 applicants. Each received a two-year contract, and will earn about $57,600 a year:

        • Jennifer Foren, a sixth-grade teacher at Cherokee Elementary since 1997, will remain at Cherokee.

        • Shirley Curtis, a math/reading specialist at Freedom Elementary since 1993, was promoted at Freedom. She also has served on special assignment for two years, assisting the principal. Mrs. Curtis is an adjunct professor at UC.

        Mrs. Curtis has received several awards, including the Ohio Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics Teaching, and the Milken Family Foundation National Educators Award.

        • Carrie Corder, a special-education teacher at Adena Elementary since 1997, was named assistant principal at Heritage Elementary.

        • Timothy Weber will return to Lakota after a five-year absence as assistant principal at Woodland Elementary School.

        He began teaching at Cherokee Elementary School in 1994 but has spent the past five years as a teacher in the Sycamore Community Schools and a Forest Hills Schools' assistant principal.

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