Scott Sterk, right, is the new Akron Elementary School principal following the Tippecanoe Valley School Board’s unanimous approval vote at its meeting on Monday, June 21, at Mentone Elementary School. The board also approved making Precious Francis, left, Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. digital integration specialist/virtual academy teacher and Amelia Serafino, center, Mentone physical education teacher. InkFreeNews photo by Leah Sander.

By Leah Sander
InkFreeNews

MENTONE — Akron Elementary School has a new principal.

At its regular meeting on Monday, June 21, at Mentone Elementary School, the Tippecanoe Valley School Board unanimously approved Scott Sterk as Akron principal.

He replaces Chrissy Mills, who left at the end of the 2020-21 school year after nine years as principal due to a move to Georgia.

“I’m very excited, very humbled and just ready to get started and get to know the kids and the staff,” Sterk told InkFreeNews after the meeting. “I’m from the community and just love the Akron community and the Tippecanoe Valley community and I’m excited to be part of it.”

This will be his first time serving as principal. Sterk previously worked as a teacher at Lincoln Elementary School in Warsaw for 17 years.

He had been approved at May’s TVSC Board meeting as a Tippecanoe Valley Middle School sixth grade science teacher. The board also accepted his resignation for that position on Monday.

Sterk resides between Silver Lake and Akron. He and his wife, Stephanie, have five children.

“As a parent this coming year, I’ll have a child at every level in Tippecanoe Valley Schools and just seeing the amazing things that are going on, wanted to be part of it,” he said during the meeting. “I acknowledge that it’s a great opportunity and a lot of responsibility and just promise to use what God gave me to be a good steward.”

According to a press release from TVSC, Sterk’s official start date is July 1.

Reopening Plan

The board also learned from TVSC Superintendent Blaine Conley that the corporation’s reopening plan related to COVID-19 for the 2021-22 school year will go up on the corporation’s website.

It may be seen by clicking here. Under the plan, masks are optional.

Conley noted that changes could be made to the plan depending on new rules from health and government leaders.

In other business, the board:

• Approved the hiring of Mentone physical education teacher Amelia Serafino and instructional assistant Sharie Davis and TVSC summer tech interns Shane Wood, Landon Grossman, Hunter Prater and Alex Hernandez.
• Approved Precious Francis as TVSC digital integration specialist/virtual academy teacher. She previously was a TVMS seventh grade teacher.
• Accepted the resignations of Tippecanoe Valley High School science teacher Lacey Buck, strength and conditioning teacher Aaron Letinski, Future Educator Club sponsor Shelly Engle, assistant football and basketball coach Brandon Webster and Unified track coach Jon Ekhoff; TVMS instructional assistant and cheer coach Cassandra Wagoner and student council advisor Lynette Shoemaker; Mentone speech language pathologist Brooke Kresca and instructional assistant Karen Alspaugh; and Akron third grade teacher Ashley Hohman.
• Reappointed Emily Schouten to the Fulton County Public Library Board.
• Accepted a donation of $250 for Akron Elementary students from the estate of William E. Smith.

An Air Force veteran, Smith passed away in Colorado Springs, Colo., in December 2020, at age 84. He grew up near the Akron school and graduated from Akron High School in 1954.

The board’s next regular meeting is 6 p.m. Monday, July 19, at Mentone.