The Fayette Local Board of Education convened in a special executive session on the evening of June 11 for the purpose of selecting a new Principal to replace the recently retired Dan Feasel.
The Board remained in executive session from 6:00 until 7:14, when they returned to regular session to formally cast their vote. The Board agreed without dissent to hire Mr. Jon K. Molter as Principal, offering a three-year contract at $77,000 per year. Mr. Molter officially takes the reins on August 1.
Born and raised in Toledo, Ohio, the 47-year old Jon Molter is a dynamo of positive energy. He is a graduate of Toledo Whitmer High School, the University of Toledo and the University of Findlay, and has two daughters, Stacia and Katelyn, both of whom are nurses. Stacia is married to former Edgerton sprinter Corey Congleton, and has provided Jon with two grandchildren…Vera and Cohen.
How did his journey lead him to Fayette? A great question, seeing as though he graduated from the University of Toledo with a Baccalaureate in Sociology. The road to Eagle Country began when, after graduation, he was recruited into the education field. “I was recruited into the education field for a job, so I received my Masters of Education, with an alternative certification in grades one through eight. Most recently, I got my Principalship and my Superintendent’s (certification and foundation) through the University of Findlay.”
With so many options open to him, why did Jon choose to come to Fayette? It is not like he was unfamiliar with the Village. He became familiar with Fayette through his time as a coach at Swanton. The annual game between the Lady Eagles and the Lady Bulldogs takes place on the day when the college football national championship game is played, and Jon attended the game regularly. In the process, he began to become familiar with Fayette, and the support that the community had for their kids. The community support helped set Fayette apart; it bears a strong resemblance to the North Toledo community in which he grew up. “It was self-contained,” he said. “We had a fruit market. We had our grocery store. We had a gas station. Everywhere you went, everybody knew each other. We had a factory. The Mayor (of Toledo) lived in our township; we had the president of AMC-Jeep. It was a town atmosphere. You couldn’t go anywhere without knowing somebody, or somebody knowing you.”
His commitment to community is not limited to words only. Jon Molter will not be a long-distance commuting Principal at Fayette. He is now renting in town, but is also house hunting within the Village of Fayette. Sometime soon, somewhere in the Village, somebody is going to be calling the Jon Molter family ‘neighbors’.
He has not even had the chance to move into his office yet, but the big number one on his agenda is simple, “…meet the people where these people are, and support them.” “It’s only my second day here in Fayette,” he said, “…but the most important thing that I need to do is establish a rapport with the children, the students of Fayette, and the community. I want to build relationships. People need to get to know me, and I need to get to know them. I think that when you do that, you’ll be successful. You already have a successful school…a school of excellence. You have excellent teachers; we’re bringing in some new teachers because of moves.” Jon explains that it all comes down to building bridges of trust, and after working in the Toledo Public School system, he has that bridge building down to an art.
He comes to Fayette after proven success in building relationships of trust that span racial, cultural, ethnic and religious divides, turning his diverse community into a close-knit community. It takes a lot of energy to do that, but Jon Molter not only has that energy, he is chomping at the bit to turn it loose in the Fayette School District. “Me being who I am;” he said, “…that’s what I have to have people see. For that to happen, I can’t be in these walls. I can’t be stuck in this little corner here; I need to be out where the community is. I need to be out where the students are.”
From the technological aspects on down through the teaching staff, to the students, Jon sees the Fayette School as the center of the community, and something in which the community can take great pride. He wants to, “…take what we’ve done academically, and keep raising the bar,” but he also wants to try to use the school as a gathering place for community special events and programs. For a school district whose big dreams become things like the Fayette Virtual Academy, the leadership, enthusiasm and pure energy of a Jon K. Molter will not just keep Fayette on the cutting edge, it may well redefine the meaning of the term.
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First!!!!!