By Joyell Nevins

Staff Writer

Brad Greek

School: Tecumseh Middle

Years in education: 30

 Before that: He worked in a big tire factory and a newspaper. Grew up in: Bryan, Ohio

Now lives in: Quincy in Logan County

Family: Wife of 13 years, Nancy; sons Ben, who lives in the Graham district with his wife and three children; Nick, a theatre buff who is married and lives in D.C.; and Ted, an I.T. specialist who practically lives at the Mad River canoe livery.

Used to be a: Indian Lake Laker.  “[Tecumseh] used to beat us in football, but we got them back in volleyball. . . now I can’t wait to show up in my Arrow shirt!”  When his former boss heard about Greek’s new position, he called to offer congratulations and jokingly noted “too bad we’re enemies now.”  

In his office: Hangs a vintage print of a Leonard Cohen concert poster, art rendering of the Beatles, and drawing of Ollie Cline, given to him by Cline’s son with whom he worked at Indian Lake.

Previous positions: Eighth grade teacher, high school media specialist, assistant principal, and Bradford junior high/high school principal

Making the jump to administration: As a media specialist, I worked with the whole district doing tasks such as developing a technology plan and campaigning for levies.  I found I really liked working with the community and developing partnerships.  To work collaboratively with all those groups I found satisfying. 

One of the most important elements: Hiring, training, and maintaining good staff.  I just know if you’re not getting the right person in, you’re not going to change them.

The people at Tecumseh:  There are great people here.  The staff really cares about children.

Why he’s glad to be back at middle school: I started with middle school, was gone for 20 years, and now I’m coming back.  These [6-8^th grade] are the critical years.

Motto for kids: I’m not working for you to get through this year; I want you to be successful when you’re 22. 

Motto for parents: It’s a partnership, and I hope we can build that.  If a parent has a question or concern, I want to hear about it.  I don’t want to let anything fester.

 Brian Dixon

School: New Carlisle Elementary

Family: Wife Meagan of five years; children three-year-old Brycen and six-month-old Brenden

Alum of: Donnelsville Elementary, Tecumseh High (class of 1996), University of Cincinnati, Wright State University and University of Dayton

Started career at: Olive Branch Middle

Subjects: Taught sixth grade math and language arts

Tecumseh area connections: Both he and his wife are Tecumseh alumni and both have family in the area.  They are also building a house in the district and Dixon refers to his children as “future Tecumseh alumni.”

Stepped up to administration because: I could have more of an impact on students.  In a classroom, you’re working with 30 students at a time.  In administration, you have the opportunity to work with a much larger number of students.

On moving from middle to elementary students: With my oldest boy being three, I’m very familiar with the younger set.  It is different, though – the first day our biggest issue here was we had a cat in the building [versus the occasional fight at the middle school].  I’ve already received more hugs this week than a whole year teaching before.

How he feels about Tecumseh: This district is home to me.  The community is amazing – there’s hard times, but people gather around each other and help each other out.  They have a lot of pride for our schools and extracurricular activities.

What makes these students special: The kids really do believe in themselves, and that makes a difference.

Goal for this year: To move from effective to excellent on the Ohio Report Card.

When not at school: He and his wife both volunteer with 4-H.  Dixon’s grandma was an advisor for 50 years, and Dixon himself has been going to the events at the fair since he was 2.  And he notes about his children, “those young boys rule our world.”