Sandycreek Elementary School principal Tom Holoman was named acting superintendent of the Franklin Area School District, replacing Pat Gavin, who had been acting in the position since February.

The FASD board unanimously accepted Gavin's resignation, which was submitted Friday for personal reasons. Then immediately voted, again unanimously, to name Holoman to the position.

"Tom is a proven leader," said school board vice-president Andy Boland after Monday evening's work session. School board president Sabrina Backer had to leave the meeting early. Boland said Holoman has put several initiatives in place and has accomplished everything he set out to do. "He has earned the trust of the board," he said.

Franklin has been without a permanent superintendent since Mark Loucks abruptly left the position earlier this year. Holoman was approved to serve in the acting spot for up to a year or until a permanent candidate is appointed. 

Holoman, who also applied for the full-time superintendent position, said  "I will help the district in any way I can until a superintendent is hired. Franklin is a great community and I am honored to serve." He was unsure how his job as principal will be handled during this time as acting superintendent.

​One of the first actions he will have to address is what to do about the vacant music department position at  Victory Elementary. The possible elimination of the position caused a bit of a community uproar last week. Holoman said he supports the music program and will look into whether the job should be reposted or not.

Music was a major topic at Monday's meeting. The jazz band played prior to the meeting to warm-up and then by request when the board went into executive session. They then played a few songs during the meeting. Band director Steve Johnston showcased songs from the upcoming Jazz band performance scheduled for Wednesday. He also spoke about the diverse talents of the music program before pulling out Gracia Riddle from behind her saxophone to sing "Respect", made popular by Aretha Franklin. Johnston said he didn't realize how well Riddle sang until he heard her perform the song earlier this spring the the school's "Broadcast" show.

Then several parents got up to speak about the music program, urging the board and administration to look into keeping the part-time music position instead of dividing up the teachers' time between multiple schools.

"When you cut schedules bit by bit, you are wearing away the foundation of the program," said Brenda May to the board. "Franklin is unique. They stand out. Continue to stand out." She was among several parents who spoke in favor of the music program and keeping the position.

Boland reiterated after the meeting the decision is not for the board to make, but agreed the music program at Franklin is special. "They are the best band in the whole state, At football games the other schools give them (marching band) standing ovations," he said. 

​Though he hasn't really started his duties of acting superintendent, Holoman, who formerly served as principal at Victory Elementary School, said he appreciated everyone coming out to the meeting and will look into the options. "I value our music programs."

Other highlights from the meeting were Anna Emrick's eighth-grade English class presenting on their virtual tour of author Ernest Hemmingway's house and thanking the board for the opportunity. The student's expressed how it helped them better understand Hemmingway's classic "Old Man and the Sea."

A vote was taken to moving forward with $206,972 in roof repairs to Sandycreek Elementary School. Work will be done by Strongland Roofing Systems and the vote gets the project underway sooner than previously expected.

Other items discussed were

• The final general fund budget with anticipated revenues of $37,819,921, expenditures of $39,035,587, and a $1,215,666 fund balance drawdown with no tax increase;
  
• A recommendation to approve Metz Culinary Inc. to remain as the food service provider;
  
• The presentation of the graduating class list of 146 students; and
  
• A list of supplemental contracts for coaches, clubs and other positions for the 2022-23 school year.

The formal school board business meeting will be at 7 p.m. May 23 in the high school library.

Gus and Clem, members of the Nature of Things' gang, managed to get a hold of the same stick. Photo by Anna Applegate.

Check out Anna Applegate's column The Nature of Things for more.

Earlier this week Eight & 322 reported on a music teacher position in the Franklin Area School district that was not going to be filled in the 2022-2023 school year. As with many things shared via the World Wide Web, speculation and conjecture ran amuck.

According to one school board member, the situation is more about lack of applicants and trying to save the music program at Victory Elementary School. 

Franklin school board vice-president Andy Boland reached out to clarify a few things after reading and hearing comments that misrepresented how the decision was made by the administration - and some that implied that the administration was trying to cut the program all together.

It is not.

Boland indicated that the brouhaha over the social media posts last week was a source of frustration. "It was based on a lot of misinformation," he said adding that the efforts made to move staff to cover Victory was an effort to save the program at the school, not cut it.

​In February, Victory Elementary School music teacher Robyn Lohr passed away after a battle with cancer. The school board soon after posted the part-time job internally as well as externally, looking for a replacement.

​Meanwhile, the district teachers and administrators worked together to figure out schedules to cover Victory's music needs while they waited for the position to be filled.

"We posted the position, but no one applied," said Boland. He said the school board supports the music department, citing many of the board members having children who have benefitted from the strong program.

Franklin High School choir teacher Sarah Gilbert said she knows of some candidates who were interested in the position, but they weren't able to start in the spring - but are now. She and music teacher Steve Johnston indicated graduating music majors are potentially ready to enter teaching after completing their schooling/certification this month, but were not ready or certified when the job was posted in late winter/early spring. They believe now is the time for the job to be posted.

Boland said that if there are candidates interested they should contact the school and indicated it is an administrative matter to fill the position.

Board president Sabrina Backer said other than the superintendent, the board members are not involved in the hiring process until the final stage of accepting the position. Hiring is an administration issue.
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​Boland also said parents with questions, concerns or ideas need to call the district office or a school board member, emphasizing that decisions are not determined on social media.

​"My email address is listed, Just ask and I'll get you an answer," Boland said.
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Boland mentioned the lack of applicants for teaching positions is a growing problem across the board. In years past they would have many to choose from, but increasingly fewer and fewer are applying each year.

With the acting superintendent position resignation Friday and the new acting super expected to be named on Monday at the school board meeting, Eight & 322 has not been able to get confirmation whether or not the decision is final or if the administration will consider opening the position up for bid again now that college graduation is completed for many students.

To read the earlier story you can follow this link:
​http://8and322.weebly.com/eight--322/franklin-considers-not-filling-vacant-elementary-music-spot

Franklin Area School District acting superintendent Pat Gavin submitted his letter of resignation Friday. Accepting it, effective May 13, is listed as an "action item" on the agenda for Monday's school board meeting.

Franklin School board president Sabrina Backer would not give a reason why Gavin resigned, but confirmed the resignation. No additional details were made public, though there was no indication that it was anything other than Gavin's personal choice. 

​"I cannot thank Pat enough for all that he has done for Franklin Area School District,"  Backer said Saturday. "He has stepped in twice in the last few years to help us when we most needed it. Pat’s dedication to public education and all those involved in it has been evident since the moment he first walked through our doors."

Gavin, who had retired from his superintendent job in Oil City in 2018, first stepped up to help after the resignation of Pamela Dye in January 2020. He was acting superintendent until the hiring of Mark Loucks in April 2020.

When Loucks left abruptly in February of this year, Gavin stepped in again.

"He was a savior for us," said board vice-president Andy Boland. "Pat Gavin showed us what a superintendent can be."

The second action item on agenda will be voting on Gavin's replacement, but neither Backer nor Boland would say who that will be at this time. These items will be voted upon after an executive session during Monday's meeting.

The board meets at 7 p.m Monday in the Franklin High School library. ​

The weather forecasters for Saturday tried to kick the organizers' of the first FAM JAM in the backside, but Mother Nature was on their side.

Standing for Food, Art and Music, the FAM JAM was an early season festival to really kickoff the downtown activity for the season.

Art work was created on the spot by several area artists and crafters. People came and went all afternoon during the 2 to 8 p.m. festival. According to on of the organizers and "connected" helpers, it was a good turnout though she admitted no attendance records were broken.

The event got off to a rough start when they showed up to find the electric was not turned on and Woods scrambled to find someone to remedy the situation in Justus Park. Also one of the event organizers was stranded by a cancelled flight in Florida.

But the perseverance of good food vendors and eager artists made it all work.

The event was sponsored by the Oil City Arts Council.

“FAM Jam is a great opportunity to bring the community and the arts together,” stated Christine Manning, Vice President of the Oil City Arts Council and one of the event organizers in a pre-event press release.
To learn more about the arts council visit them on Facebook at www.oilcityartscouncil.org, or call (814) 678-3017.

Martha Heise's HOLeY Jeans performed last week at the Fox Street Church of God. "If it was rainy we'd have twice as many singers" she told the small crowd. She said that all the rescheduling of sports and other outdoor activities meant that many in her choir were busy elsewhere. But the long-time professional that she is, she still cobbled together a performance worthy group. She said the performance was for a mother-daughter banquet at the church that she hasn't been able to do since 2019

"It was nice to be back," she said.

​She takes this group into many venues to give the gift of song. It is a community treasure really, and something not every community is blessed with.

Below are some more photos from their recent performance.

It was appropriate to have the politicians on hand for the announcement, according to commissioner Sam Breene. “If you are going to run for state office, you (apparently) have to go to the Main Street Market and kiss the ring of Jimmy Miller,” he joked.

The Millers’ daughters, Amy Servin and Sally Miller, were on hand for the announcement. “Both of these girls worked in the store from the time they could work,” Jimmy Miller noted proudly as they all came together for a picture.
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“We’ve done well. We’ve been blessed with a great staff. We have great people,” he said.

(Editor's Note: Eight & 322 has a partnership with the Franklin Chamber of Commerce to assist with communications, including the newsletter and photos for social media.)

Franklin Area High School presented their spring band concert titled "Masterworks" on Tuesday night featuring several complex orchestral pieces including a somber tribute to Ukraine with the playing of "The Great Gate of Kiev" by Russian composer Modest Mussorgsky. ​

Band director Steve Johnston recognized th hard work and dedication of hi seniors and those who made a difference all year for the program - including the parents.

And the students recognized him for his dedication to music and the students.

Johnston has two more big shows featuring the elementary and junior high band on may 17 and the high school jazz band on the 18th. both performance are at 7 p.m..

Tuesday evening Franklin Area High School was filled with the sounds of the spring band concert.

A flyer was posted at the school, photographed and posted to Facebook.

With a tool kit, a few syringes, tubing and a bunch of small pieces of wood, 12 teams of seventh- and eighth-graders in STEM (Science, Technology Engineering and Math) programs from eight schools made pneumatic contraptions capable of  moving an object from one point to another. In only a few hours in the morning, they had to make this device ready to perform by 1 p.m. This was the annual (without a pandemic) Komatsu Fluid Power Challenge at the Rocky Grove fire hall on Tuesday.

The STEM based contest is just as its name implies - a challenge.

Each team worked together to design a hydraulic device from scratch, document their work, discuss their work in an interview, demonstrate teamwork, and finally build and prove their machine could do the job.

The winning school had to show excellence in all those steps along the way.

The participants started thinking about the challenge a few weeks ago when they received an introduction to the program, the materials to make a prototype and the challenge guidelines. At their schools, the students and teachers figured out how to turn a box full of stuff that could be used for countless other purposes into a robotic device run solely on the manipulation of water pressure to create useful movements.

The object was to pick up a stubby little dowel that was about a foot away. The machine had to carry or swing the 2-inch dowel to the right to place on a three-tiered platform with each section earning points. They moved as many dowels as possible in just a couple minutes.

It was as easy as that... not.

Despite the team's work ahead of time and preparedness, they still had to build their design from scratch with the possibility of things going wrong at anytime. But that is part of the lesson said Hailee Amos, a mechanical engineer for Komatsu. "That’s what engineers do; they think on the fly," she said. 

​"Their portfolio wowed us," Amos said.

Winning the competition was fun for the Wilmington Middle School team, who called themselves the Greyhounds.

But Roy Schmoultz, one of the challenge organizers and Amos agree the entire reason for this competition is to teach teamwork, problem solving and engineering skills. Winning the competition and trophy for their school is just a bonus.

​ "It went really well," said Amos. "All you saw was smiles on their faces."

A little brain freeze is ok, especially after you have taken the Pennsylvania System of Standardized Assessment tests.  

The Valley Grove teachers union threw a bit of a snow cone party for all of its students in appreciation for all their hard work.
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The tests are administered each year to students in grades three to eight and grade 11. 
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The teachers wanted to give the whole school a treat because even those who were not taking the test were involved in motivating and supporting those who were.

The mobile Kona Shaved Ice truck parked for a couple hours at both the high school and elementary school. They doled out 763 shaved ice cups to students, teachers and staff.

The high school had first dibs in the morning and the elementary school kids closed out their day with the treats.

The elementary school teachers showed off their organization skills dividing the groups into lines by flavor so there wasn't chaos or a huge mess of syrups.

It was efficient and, by the looks on kid's faces, tasty.

Blue colored treats like blueberry and raspberry seemed to be the favored  choice of the little ones.

But if there was a winner for the most colorful tongues, Tiger's Blood was the hands-down champion. It is a blend of watermelon, strawberry and coconut.

There was also a variety of techniques for eating the cold cones. Some dug right in, going face first into the
 syrupy cups.

Others were a little more careful and methodically took small spoon bites. One little boy seemed to prefer sticking his finger in to swirl the ice around before scooping some out with his hands.

Others just used whatever means necessary to enjoy themselves.

​The teachers were glad to do this again after two years of not having an end of year celebration.

See more photos at: ​https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p489517637

See even more photos at: ​https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p574597065

Despite the prediction for a wet Saturday, the weather was in Franklin's corner as usual. According organizers the event crowds were good. Sunday's weather is predicted to be sunnier and warm and the vendors will all be back. The tents open for business at 11 a.m. and will remain open until 4 p.m.

It was the duty of each student to learn the material in advance so they could more easily play with dozens of other students from about 20 other schools.

Under the direction of two music educators, Dr. Jonathan Hemlick, of Slippery Rock University and Dr. Jason Worzbyt of Indiana University of Pennsylvania, the two bands worked with each director on three songs apiece.

In the evening the sixth and seventh graders played first. Then about 150 red-shirted musicians and instruments cleared the extended stage to make way for a nearly equal amount of similarly dressed eighth and ninth graders to perform their songs.

"What an honor and privilege it has been to host these wonderful young musicians," Chris Cohlhepp, Franklin High School principal, said in the concerts program. "Festivals such as this offer our students the opportunity to grow not only as musicians but as compassionate, caring, empathic human beings. They learn to come together in a collaborative effort to create with beautiful expression that which can only be communicated through music." 

Below are more photos from the performance Friday evening.
Even more photos can be viewed at https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p573571116.

Read more about the Saturday Farmer's curb markets here.

View more photos at: ​https://sayerrich.zenfolio.com/p686492644

Franklin opened its auditorium doors for a free night of song. The annual Spring Choir Concert returned with performances from the 7th grade choir, the 8th grade choir, the Madrigal singers, the show choir and the concert choir. The show was directed by Sarah Gilbert and they had a special guest accompanist in Zachary Covington.

OPINION: Feature picture of the day.

As I was walking to my car yesterday,  I got to thinking of a conversation I had just an hour earlier with two old friends from my Meadville Tribune days. They were in Franklin officiating a couple baseball games.
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I told one of them not to rush home after their games, but stay and have a nice meal in Franklin and enjoy the town.

I do this a lot with folks.

As I was walking by West Park, more commonly called Fountain Park, I was thinking of Ronnie Beith and all she has done over the years for this town. She is one of the reasons this town is what it is today and why I tell folks from all over that Franklin is a place to hang out, relax and enjoy what a small town can do for the soul.

​So I took these pictures just for her because I thought she is much like this flowering tree on the edge of the park. She shares her beauty without wanting to stand out, but, like the pink of this tree, she stands out anyway.  And like this tree - which is a small part of the park, when given the chance to be stopped and noted, is truly worth a moment of thanks. So thank you Ronnie. I know you're going to say it's not just you and you're, of course, right, but that is how great leaders lead.

Even this tree has many individual pink flowers that make up its beauty, but they are a part of the tree. You my friend are the tree.

​Franklin is, as its motto states, always eventful even when those eventful moments are just taking in the little bits of beauty each season brings.