Meet Zachary Miley, The Student Wellness Coordinator at Nordonia High School, and a member of the Support Services Department that includes Guidance Counselors, School Psychologists, Career Specialist, and Family Support specialists. NHS counselors are as follows: Ms. Laura Zinke- 9th grade, Mrs. Staci Ross-11th grade, and Ms. Courtney Wenzel-12th grade. Deb Monaco, is the career specialist at NHS. Mr. Miley addressed 9th graders, new students, and their parents at orientation on Tuesday, August 23 in the auditorium about the hazards of vaping. He is also working on a special building project known as Safe Decisions Week (Sept.12-16).
This will be the fifth annual partnership with State Farm agent Jill Gaba, and Ohio Sports Chiropractic and Rehab, to present several activities throughout the school day, related to students making safe decisions. This week long event will take place in all of the schools from elementary to high school, during Homecoming week. The week will focus on safety and health education, and will include hands-on learning to help high school drivers make safe driving decisions.
Safe Decision Week Events: (information provided by Nordonia School District).
Monday 9/12: All high school students will attend ThinkFast, an interactive game show style assembly that teaches students about the dangers of distracted driving. All buildings in the district will participate in Mindfulness/Mental Health Monday focusing on mindfulness and safety.
Tuesday 9/13: All schools will focus on Safety Tuesday. This includes being a safe passenger, bike safety, fire safety, cyber safety, and driver safety.
Wednesday 9/14: All schools will focus on decisions that promote wellness for Physical Wellnes. On Tuesday and Wednesday, High school students can participate in several interactive driver safety exercises during lunch. Students will have the opportunity to try Drive Team’s Skid Cart Simulator, sit in a semi-truck to experience Drive Team’s Semi-Truck Blind Spot Awareness, and drive Akron Children’s Hospital Distracted Driving Simulator. The Summit County Sheriff’s office will also be in attendance to talk to students about driver safety. Students may have the opportunity to win a giveaway for participating in these activities.
Thursday 9/15: All schools will focus on Get Connected. This day promotes the importance of social connections and positive relationships. At the High School, the Summit County Sheriff’s Office will be on hand to do Seat Belt and Texting Checks during dismissal times to educate student drivers about the importance of these safety measures.
Friday 9/16: 5:00 p.m. – Free Pregame Nordonia Community Resource Fair Free and open to the community! Hot dogs, chips, bottled water, and resource tables offering information on safety and wellness and other resources available in our community. 7:00 p.m. – Wear Safe Decisions Week black-out gear to the homecoming football game as the Knights host Twinsburg.
Jill Gaba, local State Farm Insurance Agent has been a flagship sponsor of the event since its inception, “I am so excited to be sponsoring the 5th annual Safe Decisions Week! When Ohio Sports Chiropractic and I proposed this idea to Nordonia High School, we did not anticipate how much it would grow. Over the past 5 years, we have not only organized teen driving safety activities at the high school, but we have expanded this week to include interactive assemblies, daily safety themes for the district, safety pledge banners for each school, t-shirts and commemorative jerseys for the football team. It’s truly amazing for the Safe Decisions Committee and I to consider how many students we’ve been able to encourage to make safe and positive decisions. The students and staff have shared that they look forward to this week each year because there are so many fun ways to get involved in learning about making safe decisions!” “Safe Decisions Week has become a great Nordonia tradition of bringing the community together to focus on keeping our kids safe,” said Zach Miley, Student Wellness Coordinator at Nordonia, “the activities are really interactive so it’s a great way for them to learn about making safe decisions.
Media Contacts: Zach Miley, Student Wellness Coordinator, Nordonia Hills City School District, zachary.miley@nordoniaschools.org, 330-908-6171 Rob Eckenrode, Athletic Director, Nordonia Hills City Schools District, rob.eckenrode@nordoniaschools.org, 330-908-6001 Jill Gaba, State Farm Agent, jill@gabaagency.com, 330-468-3779
| PLEASE NOTE: Counselors do not maintain 24-hour access to e-mail accounts | ||
| In the event of a counseling emergency: | ||
| Call | Summit County Support Hotline/Suicide Hotline: 330-434-9144 | |
| National Suicide & Crisis Lifeline: 988 | ||
| Text | Suicide & Crisis Text Line: Text 988 | |
| Tweet | The Lifeline: Twitter – @988Lifeline | |
| To anonymously report a threat to student safety to the Nordonia Hills School District’s SAFE Schools Tipline | ||
| Call | 1-844-SaferOH or 1-844-723-3764 | |
| To report a non-emergency counseling concern: | ||
| Call | Your child’s school counselor during business hours | |
NHS supportive services, and staff contact information can also be found at: https://www.nordoniaschools.org/Guidance.aspx
