Wednesday, April 7, 2021 • Vol. 14 No. 23 • FREE
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Middlef ield Huskies Open New Track, Honor Fisher By Mason Cole sports@geaugamapleleaf.com The Cardinal Huskies track and field team competed in a home meet against the Grand Valley Mustangs on March 31. It was a momentous occasion. For the first time, the Huskies were able to run on their new track. The old cinder track, which had been a staple for Cardinal athletics had been in place since 1960. But after decades of running through the wet and sloppy terrain, the Huskies were thrilled to be competing on an eight-lane, all-weather track. One person who was especially excited to see the opening of the new track was Bill Fisher, who coached the Huskies track program for 35 years. “All of my kids ran track here,” Fisher said. “We’ve been talking about all the memories of the raindot days and slopping in the mud … We’ve been working on this all-weather track for a long time, so it all works out great.” Now, Fisher found himself as the starter for the meet. And just a few days later, at the Huskies’ first home invitational in a long time,
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Bill Fisher, left, has dedicated his life to Cardinal athletics. During an April 3 track invitational, Fisher, who was the starter for the event, was surprised by family members to learn it would be named the 1st annual William Fisher Invitational. Cardinal is running its first season on a new eight-lane all-weather track that has benefitted the entire community.
the event was named the 1st annual William E. Fisher in front of his family. Fisher was also excited about the impact that the new track will have on the community. “We were so excited about the
community putting their support behind us,” Fisher said. “We’ve got people walking on here in the evening and exercising and we’ve got elderly people out here during the day. We’re already seeing more youth involved, so it’s starting to
do what we hoped it would accomplish.” Another member of Cardinal who was thrilled to see the meet take place was current track and field head coach Greg Cicero, who See Track • Page 5
Homework Shifts to Bus-Work for Cardinal Students
By Ann Wishart ann@geaugamapleleaf.com
Long rides on the school bus have meant lost hours every week for some Cardinal Schools students. In a district that covers 79 square miles in and around Middlefield Village, many of the 675 students who climb on the bus in the mornings and off in the afternoons can spend as much as an hour watching the scenery roll by every day. They and the rest of the student population of about 900 carry laptop computers, many of which were issued by the school, in their backpacks — technology that helped them continue their education during the COVID-19 lockdown until they resumed classroom learning. But bus time and computer time will soon merge so students are able to get their school work done by getting online during travel time. Thanks to a broadband connec-
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Cardinal Schools students are busy on their laptop computers getting school work done thanks to a broadband connectivity grant that allowed the district to install Wi-Fi on its buses.
tivity grant of $42,000, all 18 of Cardinal’s buses have been equipped with Wi-Fi, said Cardinal Schools Superintendent Bill Kermavner. Ideally, students will get on the bus after school and at least get started on their homework by the
time they are dropped off at home, he said. “This should keep them engaged and able to do some work on the bus. It turns into bus-work instead of homework,” he said in a phone interview. The bus Wi-Fi systems are set up so kids can’t log onto random websites in the back of the bus. “We have child-safe internet. Students have to follow all school policies,” Kermavner said. Teams of athletes being bused to games will have the opportunity to keep up with their work, as well, he said, adding the vans used to transport smaller groups have not been modified for Wi-Fi. The idea was broached by the high school principal, who was concerned students going to Auburn Career Center were losing half an hour a day while in transport and some needed an online English class, he said.
Staff investigated the Broadband-Ohio Connectivity Grant linked to a $15 million suite of remote education supports for schools, as described by the Ohio Department of Education. That program is funded through the ODE CARES Act state activity funds, according to the ODE website. Everyone with a cellphone knows there are a number of areas around the county that are not well connected. The funding also covered the cost of upgraded antennas and their installation for the buses so those irksome disconnects should be minimized, Kermavner said. An added advantage is a camera installed on the bus to send images to the district’s computers. “We can see, in real time, what’s going on in each bus. It’s a security benefit,” he said. Most of the systems have been installed and testing is ongoing, he said.
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