Overman selected to lead FRHS

FORT RECOVERY — First a Cardinal and most recently a Flyer, Marcus Overman will soon be leading the Indians.
Fort Recovery School Board voted this morning to hire Overman, a New Bremen High School graduate and Marion Local sixth grade teacher, to be its new high school principal.
The board also approved new bid specifications for its elementary/middle school parking lot expansion.
Overman, a 2009 University of Dayton graduate, signed a two-year contract to become Fort Recovery High School’s principal effective Aug. 1. The board also agreed to a personal service contract at a rate of $275 per day, not to exceed 10 days from June 27 through July 31, to allow him time to get acclimated to the job before his contract begins.
“It’s a great school district,” said Overman. “I think (superintendent Justin Firks) will be a great person to work with in making the district even better than it already is. I know it’s a tight-knit community who cares a lot about education and I hope that I can just step in and I can take the school district to the next level.”
Overman will take over for Jeff Hobbs, who announced in April that he would be leaving the position to become superintendent at Fairlawn. His last day on the job will be June 22.
For the last two years, Overman has served as a sixth grade teacher at Marion Local. He previously worked in middle school classrooms at New Knoxville, Northmont (Clayton, Ohio) and Spinning Hills (Dayton, Ohio). He has also been an assistant high school football and track coach and a middle school basketball coach.
Firks, who was an assistant football coach during Overman’s senior season at New Bremen, emphasized the new principal’s outlook and leadership skills as keys to his selection.
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“He stood out right from the get-go as far as his energy, the way he communicated with our interview committee, the way he talked about being the instructional leader and how as the high school principal you’re the face of the high school building and you need to be a role model for adults and for kids,” he said. “We’re really excited to have him here. I truly believe he’s a young up-and-comer as an administrator.”
After earning his bachelor’s degree from UD, Overman went on to study educational leadership at Wright State University. He earned his principal licensure there in December 2014.
In looking ahead to his new job, Overman emphasized the need for hard work, studying data and research and keeping up with the latest trends and best practices for the classroom. But he noted that his first step is to learn about Fort Recovery.
“I think I need to come in and I need to build a relationship with all the staff and the students and the community members,” said the father of two, whose wife Julie teaches Spanish at Marion Local. “I just really need to get to know everybody and go from there.”
The first round of interviews for the other open administrative position — middle school principal — is scheduled for Tuesday and Wednesday. Five candidates made the initial cut, and Firks said he hopes to call back finalists for a second round of interviews the following week. Current middle school principal Matt Triplett announced last month that he would be leaving the position to become athletics director at Parkway.
Board member Mitch Ervin also suggested that the board host an event to allow the community to meet its administrators given that the school district will have two new principals for 2016-17 and Firks has just completed his first year. Board members and Firks agreed such an event would be a good idea and said they will make plans once a middle school principal has been hired.
The board — Jose Faller, Ginny Fortkamp, Aaron Guggenbiller, Mike Grube and Ervin — authorized re-bidding for the elementary/middle school parking lot addition after it received no bids in the first round. Local contractors had expressed concern about the original specifications, asking for more detail.
Choice One Engineering updated the specifications, which included adding a project completion date of Oct. 21.
“There obviously will be a little bit of a hiccup with the start of school, but I think people will be willing to be patient and appreciate the project when it’s completed,” said Firks.
Plans call for the addition of 55 parking spaces to the west of the current parking lot on the south side of the school. Bidding will be open until July 18, with the board hoping to award the project at its July 19 meeting.