FR board hires superintendent

FORT RECOVERY — Justin Firks spent the spring of 2000 as a volunteer coach for the Fort Recovery High School baseball team. Fifteen years later, he’s been chosen to lead the entire school system.
Fort Recovery School Board at a special meeting Monday approved hiring Firks as its next superintendent.
“Fort Recovery, the community and the school system, they’re built on a commitment to excellence,” said Firks, who is currently the principal at Fort Loramie Junior/Senior High School. “There’s tremendous community support.
“You have outstanding teachers. You have great students here. And for a first-time superintendent, it’s a dream come true.”
He will take over for Shelly Vaughn, who has served as Fort Recovery’s superintendent since 2012. She was hired in March as superintendent of Mercer County Educational Service Center.
Firks, who got unanimous approval from school board members Jose Faller, Ginny Fortkamp, Dave Hull, Amy Bihn and Aaron Guggenbiller, will officially start as superintendent on July 13. He plans to spend several weeks prior to that learning under Vaughn, and said he hopes to draw on the experience of both Vaughn and former superintendent Pat Niekamp.
“He brought a lot of enthusiasm,” said Faller. “He has a program that he came in and presented to us that we were all pretty excited about … We felt really good about, and excited about, somebody bringing those things to our district.
“We have, we feel like, a strong school … (and we want him) to be able to bring in maybe a few new ideas to maybe take us to the next level.”
Firks said he believes in encouraging students to be involved in athletics, arts or other school activities in addition to excelling academically.
That focus on developing well-rounded students was one of the attributes that led to the hiring decision, said Faller.
He added that stressing strong values was also a key factor.
Among his goals as a new superintendent, Firks listed providing students with support and resources and being fiscally responsible to taxpayers. He noted that he looks forward to building relationships with staff, parents, students and the community.
“My philosophy is every student every day, no matter what,” Firks said. “That’s our greatest resource is our students. As superintendent, I not only have to support initiatives that promote student success, but also provide the necessary resources so that our students can achieve and maximize their potential as learners.”
Firks is a 1997 Coldwater High School graduate who went on to earn a bachelor’s degree from Wright State University, master’s degrees from Nova Southeastern University in Florida and Wright State, an administrative license from Bowling Green State University and a superintendent’s license from the University of Dayton.
His first teaching job was as a high school social studies teacher from 2004 through 2007 at New Bremen, where he also served as baseball coach. He went on to teaching jobs at Jackson Center, Parkway and Napoleon before becoming principal at Fort Loramie in 2012.
When he was in the dugout for the Indians 15 years ago, Firks didn’t see school administration in his future. He had planned for a long career as a teacher and coach.
But he’s now thrilled to be back with the opportunity to lead the Fort Recovery Schools.
“I’m just excited to be here. My family is extremely excited,” said Firks, who currently lives in Fort Loramie but plans to move to Fort Recovery with his wife Kimberly and daughters Kendall, 8, Michaela, 6, and Alyvia, 2. The couple is expecting its fourth child in October. “We look forward to the transition. We want to make Fort Recovery our home for a long, long time.”