Merrick new CCHS principal;
Evanko is assistant at school
Just one week before classes return to session in Crittenden County, the high school finally has its new leadership in place.
Todd Merrick has been named Karen Nasseri's successor as principal at the school, almost two months after Nasseri took a position as director of special education for the district. Merrick has 21 years in education, first arriving in Crittenden County in 1990 as a high school English instructor. He has also served the district as consultant for the state board of education and assistant principal at the elementary school for two years.
Last year, Merrick left the district to serve as principal of the elementary school in his native Caldwell County. After only one year in Princeton, he’s happy to be working at home again.
“I'm glad to have the opportunity to come back to the district,” Merrick said Monday.
Though Merrick has less than a week remaining before 400-plus teenagers begin making their way to home rooms, he’s undaunted by the short preparation time.
“There’s never enough time,” he joked. “It’s going to take a few days anyway.”
Merrick will have some help in the person of Kathy Evanko, whom he chose as his assistant principal.
Evanko, of Paducah, replaces Steve Head, who resigned his post at the end of the school year to relocate to Georgia.
Merrick, in fact, knows Evanko well. While he was working for the Kentucky Department of Education as a consultant for two years before becoming an assistant principal at CCES, the two had adjoining offices.
“I know her well and know her qualifications,” Merrick said of his deputy.
Evanko is also familiar to the district, in particular the middle school. In 2006, she was hired to assist the school with its Commonwealth Accountability Testing System through the state’s Highly Skilled Educator (HSE) Program. While at CCMS, she served as a resource for in-house consultation, giving advice to teachers and students.
As principal, Merrick wants to ensure his students – whether they attend college or join the workforce after graduation – are ready for real-world experiences.
“I want to empower our staff to provide the kind of education for students to prepare for higher education or careers,” he said. “They need to be ready for some kind of training beyond high school.”
Compared to just 18 years ago when he arrived in Crittenden County as a language arts instructor, Merrick said the challenges facing high schoolers and their teachers are much greater now.
“They have so many more interests,” he said. “Everything has changed so much.”
Some social changes, too, are hurdles more prevalent than when he was in school as a teenager in Graves County.
“More kids don’t have the stability (at home) we grew up with,” he said. “And so many want to know why they are told to do something.”
Merrick lives in Marion with his wife Regina, who is director of Crittenden County Public Library. She is also a former teacher. The couple has two daughters; Emily, who is a second-year college student; and Ellen, an eighth-grader at the middle school.
Evanko is one of 42 certified highly-skilled educators in Kentucky, and also has 21 years in education, primarily as a science teacher.
Judge moves Damron trial to Webster
Circuit Judge Rene Williams has ordered the Ronnie Damron burglary and sodomy trial moved to Webster County next month due to publicity generated through articles in The Crittenden Press.
Damron's case is set for a third trial on Aug. 28-29 in Dixon.
He has twice been tried for the Oct. 30, 2002, burglary and sexual assault of an elderly woman in the Deer Creek community. The first trial in 2006 ended in a mistrial because the jury failed to render a verdict. Damron was convicted in the second trial in 2007 and sentenced to 70 years in prison. However, that jury's decision was overturned due to a technicality in the jury selection process.
The victim, who was 64 at the time of the incident, has twice testified in court that she knew Damron and that he was the man who shined a flashlight in her face, robbed and assaulted her on her own bed.
Damron has been the Kentucky State Police's only suspect throughout the investigation. He claims that he was in another county at the time.
Damron's public defender, Brad Shuffett, had requested a change of venue, but said that his client did not want the case moved to Webster County because that is where the judge lives. Williams found that argument unwarranted, maintaining in her recent ruling that Webster County meets the requirements set forth by Kentucky law when such cases are moved out their normal jurisdiction.
"In light of the fact that this case has previously been tried twice in Crittenden County and detailed accounts have appeared in the local newspaper and that both the alleged victim and the defendant are from Crittenden County, the Court finds that a change of venue is warranted in order for all parties to receive a fair trial," Judge Williams wrote in her order to move the matter to a neighboring county.
Williams presides over circuit court in Crittenden, Webster and Union counties. All pre-trail hearings in the case will be held in Crittenden County.
Chocolate sensations help fund documentary
The nearing culmination of almost two years of filming and interviews will be sweet reward for those backing filmmaker Sam Koltinsky’s chronicle of Crittenden County. But for Percy Cook, the first fund-raising event to support the documentary-making may have been even sweeter.
Cook admittedly foundered himself on chocolate and coffee last Thursday evening, sampling everything from smothered peanuts to German chocolate cake while strolling through Chocolate Heaven. Billing itself as dessert nirvana, the chocolate buffet last week at the Marion Woman’s Club did more than satisfy the sweet tooth of Cook and a few dozen others; it also raised a considerable amount of money toward the $50,000 needed to fund Koltinsky’s filming.
“It was a successful undertaking,” said Judy Winn, a member of the 88-year-old social club and Fohs Hall Documentary Committee, two of the sponsors of Chocolate Heaven.
Cook, a member of the Crittenden County Historical Society, the third-sponsoring party for the dessert buffet, was also satisfied with the event, though his mind seemed to be on a different page than Winn’s.
“All of it was so good,” he said as he patted his belly.
The money raised will go toward the documentary film, which is currently in production and will be part of a series called “My Kentucky Home.” Crittenden County is the ninth subject of Koltinsky’s films in the series, joining those on other rural counties, including the videographer’s native Caldwell County. He said KET may begin airing the series as early as the spring of 2009.
Many of the interviews conducted for the film over the last few months have been with senior residents of the county, a few approaching or having passed 90. Winn believes the documentary will be a great way to preserve a piece of Crittenden County history through their stories that may otherwise be lost. And a plethora of footage of the county’s natural beauty plus those interviews will ensure the best-possible end product.
“I’m glad it’s not my choice to decide what’s in there,” Winn said.
“Crittenden County has such a diverse history,” Koltinsky added, citing agriculture, the Amish community, Ohio River lore, the fluorspar industry, and unique arts and crafts shops around Marion.
Though filming and fund-raising efforts are still incomplete for the video, delivery of the hour-long movie by the end of the year is the target by both Koltinsky and local underwriters.
“We would like to get it done this fall so we can have it available for Christmas gifts,” said Winn, one of the individuals who got the project started two years ago under the coordinating agency of Fohs Hall, Inc.
Koltinsky, in town for the fund-raising event, said last week he still has interviews and footage to shoot before wrapping up the film and making a final edit. The Princeton videographer is looking to highlight the county’s beauty through its fall colors and varied terrain.
“This year, the colors of the landscape have been so much more beautiful,” he said, anticipating a more vibrant autumn after last year’s drought-plagued season.
At this point, almost two-thirds of the goal to fund the film has been raised through private donations. The dessert buffet take will be added to the $32,000 already collected, but Winn and others touting the documentary will continue to look for private donations.
“This was really the only fund-raiser we have had,” she said of Chocolate Heaven. “We’ve been going to individuals and raising money that way.”
Winn said no other fund-raisers are planned at this point, but she expects more to come. Meantime, Koltinsky was impressed with the latest effort.
“This is a unique, great way to raise money for the film,” he said.
Donations to the film project can be sent to: Fohs Hall Documentary, P.O. Box 1, Marion, KY 42064.