People Watch
School Administrator, June 2018


Robert M. Avossa
After 25 years in public education, Robert Avossa is now senior vice president and publisher of education products for LRP Publications in Palm Beach Gardens, Fla. Most recently, Avossa worked as superintendent in Palm Beach County, Fla., after serving in the same role in Fulton County, Ga. He also served in the Charlotte-Mecklenburg, N.C., district as chief strategy and accountability officer, area superintendent and chief of staff. He began as a teacher in Tampa, Fla. Avossa, an AASA member since 2010, earned his Ed.D. from Wingate University in Wingate, N.C.
 

 

Crystal M. Edwards
After 12 years in the 4,000-student Lawrence Township, N.J., Public School District — five years as assistant superintendent and seven as superintendent — Crystal Edwards has assumed the superintendency of the Lynchburg, Va., City Schools. Edwards previously acted as director of math and science for two districts in New Jersey after beginning her career as a science teacher in East Orange, N.J. Edwards joined AASA in 2006 after earning her Ed.D. in educational leadership, management and policy from Seton Hall University in South Orange, N.J.




Heidi Ondek
Heidi Ondek has been named the ninth superintendent and executive director of the Western Pennsylvania School for Blind Children in Pittsburgh, Pa. She most recently served as superintendent of Quaker Valley School District in Leetsdale, Pa. Ondek began her career as a special education teacher in El Paso, Texas, and worked in districts in the Pittsburgh area as gifted coordinator, director of pupil services, and assistant superintendent. Ondek earned her Ed.D. in administration and policy studies from the University of Pittsburgh. She joined AASA in 2006.

 


Lisa M. Parker
The new superintendent of the Streator, Ill., Elementary School District is Lisa Parker, who had spent most of her career with the 4,400-student Dunlap Community Unit School District in Peoria, Ill., including two years as superintendent. Other roles in Dunlap included assistant superintendencies overseeing school operations and curriculum and instruction, high school principal and guidance counselor. Parker holds a doctoral degree in educational administration from Western Illinois University in Macomb, Ill. She has been a member of AASA since 2016.
 

 

SIDELIGHT
When the Pottstown school board needed a volunteer to start riding a bicycle around the southeastern Pennsylvania town to promote healthy lifestyles to the school district’s 3,200 students, Stephen Rodriguez, the superintendent, didn’t hesitate to hop in the saddle. “I felt if it was important to the board and the community, I wanted to be the one to get behind it,” says Rodriguez, an AASA member since 2017. Almost two years later, the superintendent still can be seen pedaling around town to visit schools, attend meetings or pick up lunch, all while waving to students. At first, those students didn’t know what to make of Rodriguez’s ever-present pedaling, but now, he says, he only has to look as far as the district’s parking situation to see his personal example has had the intended effect. “There used to be plenty of room to put my bike in one of our many bike racks but not anymore!”







APPOINTMENTS
Michael Cary, from director of curriculum and instruction, Duluth, Minn., to superintendent, Cloquet, Minn.
Robert Dufour, from superintendent, Eldred, N.Y., to superintendent, Sullivan County BOCES, Liberty, N.Y.
David Erwin, from superintendent, Berlin, Conn., to superintendent, Sprague Public Schools, Baltic, Conn.
Robert Gadomski, from superintendent, SAU 44, Northwood, N.H., to superintendent, SAU 56, Somersworth, N.H.
Karen Geelan, from superintendent, Allegany-Limestone Central Schools, Allegany, N.Y., to superintendent, Valhalla, N.Y.
Randall Gilson, from superintendent, South Central Unified School District 5, Fairfield, Neb., to superintendent, Blair, Neb.
Keith Hilts Jr., from superintendent, Ashland, Wis., to superintendent, Wausau, Wis.
Jen Lamia, from assistant superintendent for human resources to superintendent, Byram Hills Central Schools, Armonk, N.Y.
Leonard Skuggevik, from superintendent, Shelter Island, N.Y., to superintendent, Tuckahoe Common School District, Southampton, N.Y.
Doug Van Zyl, from superintendent, Fort Dodge, Iowa, to superintendent, St. Joseph, Mo.
Jeffrey S. Wihbey, from interim to superintendent, Connecticut Technical Education and Career System, Hartford, Conn.
 
 
RETIREMENTS
Stuart Blount, superintendent, Clinton, N.C.
Jim Finley, superintendent, Blue Springs, Mo.
Brenda Myers, superintendent, Valhalla, N.Y.
Ken Scarbrough, superintendent, Cloquet, Minn.
Tammy Whitfield, superintendent, Blairsville-Saltsburg School District, Blairsville, Pa.


DEATHS
Robert J. Foster, 79, retired superintendent, Rice Lake, Wis., Jan. 7
William B. Hosmer, 80, retired superintendent, Hopkinton, Mass., Jan. 2
Anna Marie Laing, 76, retired superintendent, Racine, Wis., Jan. 16
Allene H. Magill, 74, retired superintendent, Dallas, Ga., Jan. 27
Claire E. McCarthy, retired superintendent, Stoughton, Mass., Feb. 2
Robert D. Stuart, 78, retired superintendent, Edwardsville, Ill., Jan. 17


 
News about AASA members’ promotions, retirements, honors and deaths should be addressed to: Editor, School Administrator, 1615 Duke St., Alexandria, VA 22314. Fax: 703-841-1543. E-mail: magazine@aasa.org