The Westerville City School District (WCSD) Board of Education took action during its regular meeting on May 19 to employ several individuals who will fill existing leadership vacancies at the school level.
Rebecca Yanni
Walnut Springs Middle School Assistant Principal Rebecca Yanni will become the school’s Principal. Yanni will fill the vacancy left by the departure of Leslie Kelly, who is taking an employment opportunity with Columbus City Schools. Yanni has been with WCSD since 1999. She started her career with the district as a science teacher at Walnut Springs and later taught math at the school. She also served as the school’s athletic director from 2004-2007 before becoming principal at Wilder Elementary. Yanni served in that capacity until 2011, when she returned to Walnut Springs to become the school’s assistant principal.
Ernest Clinkscale
Ernest Clinkscale joins WCSD as assistant principal of Walnut Springs Middle. Clinkscale comes to the district from Columbus City Schools, where over the past five years he has served as a middle school teacher, math intervention curriculum specialist, and most recently vice principal at Monroe Middle School/Champion Middle School. His leadership experience also includes serving two year as vice principal of Samuel Kennedy Elementary School in Elk Grove Unified School District (California) and completing a Leadership Internship program with Columbus City Schools in 2006-07. Clinkscale holds a Bachelor of Science in Elementary Education from Ohio University, a Master of Arts in Curriculum and Instruction from Ashland University, and Educational Administration Licensure from Sacramento State University.
Sherry Birchem
Another familiar name joins the district’s Leadership Team as Sherry Birchem returns to Westerville City Schools to become principal of Pointview Elementary. Birchem served during the current school year as a middle school principal and interim intermediate principal in Northridge Local Schools. She worked for WCSD during the prior six school years as the curriculum instructor for science and English language arts, and also as a science teacher at Walnut Springs Middle. Birchem holds a Bachelor of Arts in Interpersonal Communication from The Ohio State University; a Masters of Arts in Teaching, Middle Childhood, Language Arts and Science from Otterbein College; and Educational Leadership Licensure from the University of Dayton.
Joseph Uher
Joseph Uher joins WCSD as Principal of Alcott Elementary. Uher comes to the district from Delaware City Schools, where for the past year he has served as principal of Robert F. Schultz Elementary School. He also served two years as assistant principal and athletic director for Dempsey Middle School in that district. Prior to joining Delaware City Schools, Uher worked seven years for Pickerington Local Schools as a special education instructor at Ridgeview Junior High. He also served as a special education instructor during the 2006-07 school year at Hamilton Township High School in the Hamilton Local School District. Uher holds a Bachelor of Science in Education from The Ohio State University, a Masters of Education with a concentration in Special Education from Cleveland State University, and Principal Licensure from the University of Dayton.
“We still have other administrative positions left to fill and will be addressing those openings over the coming weeks,” explained Superintendent John R. Kellogg, Ed.D. “I’d like to take a moment to thank Sam Dorff, who has served as our Interim Principal of Alcott Elementary. We truly appreciate his help and willingness to lend his expertise to our leadership team as we worked to fill these vacancies.”