March is music in our schools Month, and our students are poised for another successful high schoolmusical, The Sound of Music, in our beautiful new performing arts center. Opening night will be Friday,March 1, at 7:30 p.m. Encore performances will be held Saturday March 2, and Sunday March 3, at 2:00p.m.We will again be showcasing the talent of our middle and high school vocal music programs at the Musicin Our Schools (MIOSM) concert on Tuesday, March 12 at 7:30 p.m. and our high school band will beperforming on Thursday March 14 at 7:30 p.m. in the performing arts center. Our second graders willalso be performing on Tuesday, March 19 at 7:00 p.m.March is also the month for high school basketball tournaments, and the beginning of our track,baseball, and softball seasons. Good luck to all of our athletes!The demolition of our old prek-8 building is well under way and we would like anyone who would like akeepsake from our beloved old building to have one. Bricks from the original 1921 building can now beobtained in the front parking lot of the original elementary school. There will be plenty of bricks, andour demolition company will continue to make bricks available to our pubic as long as there is a demandfor them so please feel free to preserve a piece of our district’s heritage and “pick a brick”.Friendly reminder we will be off for Spring Break Friday March 29-Monday April 1.Bruce A. OtleySuperintendentLiberty-Benton Local Schools
Posted Friday, March 1, 2024
When it is February in Ohio, it can seem like winter will never end. Fortunately for us, for the first time in two years, Punxsutawney Phil didn’t see his shadow so hopefully we will have an early spring. In the meantime, there’s been lots of exciting things happening at school. For example:The demolition process of our old prek-8 building has begun. All of the portable classrooms have been removed. A portion of the far west side of the 1959 has also been partially removed. As we say goodbye to our old building, we have thoughtfully preserved our proud heritage in a number of ways.A portion of the 1959 gymnasium floor has been preserved and proudly displayed in our high school gymnasium.The original dedication plaque to the 1921 and 1976 buildings have been preserved. The 1921 plaque is mounted next to the new prek-8 dedication plaque. The program for the new building dedication that contained a comprehensive summary of our district has been preserved in the new time capsule located behind the prek-8 dedication plaque.The original badging “Liberty TWP Centralized School 1921" has been carefully removed to be incorporated somewhere into our new campus.Bricks from our beloved old school will be available for Liberty-Benton families after February 12, 2024. The bricks will be located in the front parking lot of the 1921 building on Route 12. February 5-9, is Counselor Appreciation week. We are thankful for the care and support our team of counselors provides to our students and staff. Thank you, Mrs. Gazette, Mrs. Pickett, Mrs. Herr, and Mrs. Rath, for all you do for our students, parents, and teaching staff.February 15th is also Student Resource Officer Appreciation Day. Deputy Brandon Kendrick has served as our SRO since the 20-21 school year. Thank you Deputy Kendrick for your service to the district.Keep your eyes peeled for the 2022-2023 Liberty-Benton Quality Profile. The Quality Profile captures the achievements and highlights from the previous school year. These should hit mailboxes later on this month. The winter newsletter should reach mailboxes in early March.Friendly reminder that we have used four of our five calamity days for the school year. After our fifth calamity day, we will switch to remote learning.Fly Higher! Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Monday, February 5, 2024
The new year is a time for reflecting on the accomplishments of 2023, and is also a time of great excitement for what 2024 will bring. The 2023-2024 school year has certainly been special. As a community we celebrated the opening of our new prek-8, and we will soon be saying goodbye to our old facilities on State Route 12. To preserve the heritage of our old campus for future generations of eagles, several measures have been taken. The letters from the old gymnasium floor spelling out Liberty-Benton have been framed and will be displayed in the high school gymThe original bronze commemoration plaque from the 1921 building will be mounted on the wall next to the commemoration plaque on the auditorium all for the new prek-8The stone badging on top of the 1921 building “1921 Liberty TWP Centralized School” will be preserved and incorporated somewhere on our new campusBricks from the old 1921 building will be preserved and made available to our publicI am proud of the accomplishments of our students, staff, performing arts programs, and athletic teams and can’t wait to see what future accomplishments we will achieve together in 2024! Happy New Year! Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Tuesday, January 2, 2024
The Christmas season is one of my favorite times of the year. It is a time for family and friends to gather together, to slow down, and to enjoy each other’s company. For me, it brings back childhood memories of sipping hot chocolate, indulging in fresh baked homemade cookies, decorating the tree, and the excitement and anticipation of opening gifts with family and loved ones.During this holiday season, our students have gotten into the giving spirit though hosting a canned food drive and a Coats for Christmas drive to provide food and warm winter coats, hats, and gloves to the needy in our local community.We are blessed to host our first holiday concerts in our new auditorium, and to be enjoying the benefits of new and updated facilities. Our wrestling team has moved into their new facility located in our field house, and we are off to another exciting basketball, wrestling, and bowling season.As we approach Christmas break, I’d like to encourage everyone to slow down, spend quality time with loved ones, bake (and eat—you can work them off after the new year begins) the cookies, make the memories, and count your blessings.I’d like to wish all of you a wonderful, restful Christmas break! Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Monday, December 11, 2023
Fall is my favorite season and Thanksgiving is one of my favorite holidays. It is a time to pause and reflect with gratitude on the many things we should be thankful for. I am personally thankful for our caring and supportive teachers, students, parents, and community. It has been said that happiness is achieved, when you focus on wanting the things you have, not the things you want. As a community, we have so much to be thankful for. Here are just a few examples:Between November 1-3, LB teachers hosted 952 parent teacher conferences k-12November 6, the high school inducted 74 new National Honor Society members and the middle school inducted 51 new members to the National Junio Honor SocietyOur fall sports teams collected six conference championships, with our boys cross-country team qualifying and placing 15th at stateNovember is also a time to express gratitude in remembering and honoring our veterans of the armed forces. There are approximately 23.6 million veterans in the United States with 1.8 million being women. About 1.1 million veterans have died in battle since the beginning of our country, and remind us that precious freedom is not free. At Liberty-Benton we honored are local veterans with a Veteran’s Day breakfast and assembly on November 10, 2023 and with our patriotic Field of Flags display along State Route 12. With thanks, Bruce Otley Superintendent
Posted Thursday, November 9, 2023
I would like to thank our teachers, students, and parents for an excellent start to the 2023-2024 school year! The days are growing shorter, the evenings are cooler, the leaves are changing and it is beginning to feel like fall. As I've made my rounds through the district, I've been inspired by the great things going in classrooms, on the playground, and in the hallways--and have had fun jumping right in there with some of our students and teachers singing, laughing, and learning! On October 9, Liberty-Benton hosted a county wide professional development day for the Hancock County schools. About 600 educators from Hancock County selected from 31 different presentations that took place in our prek-8 and high school. A wide range of research based best practices and hot topics were offered including social and emotional learning, brain based learning strategies, dealing with challenging student behaviors, artificial intelligence, autism supports, community and mental health resources, and job readiness and employability skills. Our teachers will be putting into practice the skills acquired with our students. As we approach the end of the first grading period, I can enthusiastically say that we have much to be proud of! As partners in education, I encourage parents to schedule for parent/teacher conferences November 1-2, from 5-8 p.m. and November 3, from 8:00 a.m.- 3:30 p.m. Fly Higher! Bruce OtleySuperintendent
Posted Tuesday, October 10, 2023