Troy’s Overla hired as FRHS principal

FORT RECOVERY — A successor is in place to lead the Indians.

Fort Recovery School Board during a special meeting Monday hired Bill Overla as its new high school principal.

Overla comes to Fort Recovery after serving as a supervisor at Miami Valley Career Technology Center for the last two years. He spent the previous 11 as assistant principal and head principal at Troy High School.

He replaces Marcus Overman, who resigned in May after two years at FRHS to become principal for grades seven through 12 at New Bremen. Overla was chosen by a committee that included school administrators, teachers and other staff.

“First and foremost, it’s 10 years of administrative experience,” said superintendent Justin Firks. “He’s been in bigger districts … He’s been in smaller districts. He’s done the job. He’s done it very well.

“And he emphasized throughout the process the importance of getting to know the kids and the staff and the parents and making it a great school culture here at Fort Recovery …

“His big motto was it’s a very good school district but we want to take it to great.”

Overla explained to board members Jose Faller, Mike Grube, Greg LeFevre and Nick Wehrkamp, absent Mitch Ervin, that he left Troy High School for the career technology center in part because it made caring for his mother easier when she was having some health problems. However, he said he missed the atmosphere of his previous job.

“I absolutely loved the high school, and that is what I wanted to get back into,” said Overla. “So this opportunity for me is just tremendous.”

In looking at the Fort Recovery job specifically, he emphasized the strength of the community and all of the communities in Mercer County and the Midwest Athletic Conference.

After spending the bulk of his career in larger schools — Troy has about 1,500 students compared to Fort Recovery’s fewer than 300 — he said he’s excited to be part of a smaller community.

“I’ve been in big schools and there’s nothing wrong with big schools, but I guess I’ve always thought in the back of my mind, ‘Man, what would it be like if you could know every kid,’” said Overla. “I think that’s really important because I think having relationships with the students … in terms of being able to help them is very important.”

The 1987 graduate of Northmont High School on the northwest side of Dayton went on to Bowling Green State University, where he was a member of the football and track teams. He said he had no intention of being an educator — he had a list of family members involved in the profession — but decided to try it on advice from his father. So, he did a stint of student teacher.

“Loved it,” he said. “Never looked back.”

His first job after graduation from BGSU in 1992 was at Vandalia-Butler High School. He later became athletics director for Milton-Union Schools for three years. He earned his master’s degree from the University of Dayton before stepping into the assistant principal and then principal roles at Troy.

As he prepares to take over the leadership role at Fort Recovery, he said the most important part of his job is to prepare students for life after high school whether it be in college, technical education or the workforce. He added that he takes great joy and pride in watching students progress from entering high school as freshmen to walking out with a diploma on graduation day.

“Any principal’s job is to ensure the safety and well-being of the students as well as the educational environment. … Are we doing what we need to do to help them for the next steps of their lives?” he said. “My teachers teach. My job is to see that they have what they need to help the students.”

The board also approved a pair of field trips for FFA students and the high school volleyball team.