Orioles In-The-Know Superintendent Dr. Scott Wyndham

Welcome to the final episode of season 4. Fittingly, Dr. Wyndham wraps up the season by celebrating the class of '24. Join this conversation with Dr. Wyndham and Avon High School seniors Aubrey Starr, Nate Dixon, and AJ Vaddi. They talk about how their experiences at AHS have prepared them for the future, their fondest memories, how we could improve, their plans for life after graduation, and much more. It is exciting to hear from these students, to see how prepared they are for their futures, and to celebrate with them as they prepare to cross the stage at commencement on May 24. To Aubrey, Nate, AJ, and the rest of the class of '24, we are proud of you. Go Orioles!

This is Teacher Appreciation Week, a week our nation designates to celebrate the hundreds of thousands of people across our nation who have dedicated themselves to this noble profession. Here in Avon, we shine a spotlight not only on our incredible educators – and we have so many wonderful teachers in Avon – but also on our support staff. We have approximately 1,600 employees here in Avon Schools and each one invests in the success of our students.

This week, we conducted short interviews with teachers and administrators across the district. We thought it would be inspiring and appropriate to hear from them during Teacher Appreciation Week. Our question was simple: Who was your favorite teacher? It was fun to see their faces light up as they thought back to their most impactful teachers and classroom experiences. A lot of them had a difficult time choosing just one teacher. Most of them highlighted the educators who played the biggest role in them choosing a career in education. Several pointed out teachers who – through force of relationship – simply never gave up on them. Some mentioned teachers who inspired a love of a particular subject, teachers who saw potential in them that they didn’t know they possessed, and teachers whose methods they have adopted in their own classrooms. Let’s hear from our educators and administrators.

To all our educators and support staff, thank you!

In light of Avon Community School Corporation's sustained success in performing arts — which most recently includes another World Championship for Avon World Guard, a clean sweep of winter band competitions, and a ninth Best Communities for Music Education award in the last decade — we thought it would be intriguing to take a deeper dive into the past and present of the Avon Band. Recently, Dr. Wyndham had a conversation with two clarinetists from the AHS Band. Betty Barding was a member of the first Avon Band and graduated in 1954. Abbi Churchill plays clarinet in the Marching Black and Gold and Indoor Winds and will graduate this May. Both have unique perspectives into the humble beginnings and golden present of the band program. Stick around to learn highlights from the history of Avon Schools and the Town of Avon and to find out where you could get the best sloppy joe in Indy ... in 1954.

In time for the 2025-26 school year — just over a year from now — Avon Schools will open our third middle school, Avon Middle School West. With that information in mind, Corporation Athletic Director (AD) Jason Young, AMS North AD Ed Faughnan, and AMS South AD Will Mahan have been working for months to assemble and propose a plan that will maximize the potential of our middle school athletic programs for all student-athletes.

Join Dr. Wyndham as he discusses the details of the proposal Jason, Ed, and Will have been working on. Find out what their ideas are for existing programs like football, basketball, cross country, track, volleyball, and more, how they're slow-rolling the growth of new programs like baseball and softball, and what their plans are for adding new sports that will give even more students the chance to compete. Stick around to hear more about the vital partnership between Avon's middle school and high school athletics programs and Avon Youth Sports (formerly AJAA).

If you are a student-athlete who will be in middle school during the 2025-26 school year and beyond or if you're the parent of a student-athlete, listen in to learn more. Your feedback is vital, so don't hesitate to reach out to the athletics team. Contact information is provided in the show notes.

When parents and grandparents model reading habits — especially when they read with their children — they can help students become lifelong readers and learners.

Avon Intermediate School East Teacher Sarah O'Brien has long been interested in how efforts to increase family literacy can impact on a school and a community. She led successful book clubs at the elementary level, but she knew it would be more challenging in an intermediate setting because students and their families tend to be so busy with a wide variety of extra-curricular activities. Nevertheless, she launched the AIS East Family Book Club a few years ago and it has been a great success, drawing hundreds of students and their families who are now enjoying the benefits of all that extra extra time together, absorbed in their books.

Dr. Wyndham and Ms. O'Brien are joined by students Cab and Harry and their mom, Hickory Elementary Teacher Kristle Chalos, for a conversation about AIS East's Family Book Club. The guests explain how Family Book Club works, they review what they're currently reading, and they talk about the celebration that will take place at the end of this book cycle. Stick around for Harry's suggestions about school lunch and to hear the boys' future plans.

Avon Schools is full of well-rounded students who are accumulating incredible achievements not only in our classrooms and through participation in school-sponsored extra-curricular activities, but in all walks of life. Meet the student who earned the title of Avon's Distinguished Young Woman (DYW) this fall and placed in the top 10 in this year's state competition and the woman who has been the primary steward of the DYW program in Avon since the '90s in this special episode of Orioles In-The-Know. Dr. Wyndham has a wide-ranging discussion with AHS senior Kelsey Babinec and long-time Avon resident Connie Leak during which Kelsey and Connie not only talk about this year's competition but also provide a detailed glimpse into the background of the program and even the history of Avon High School and the Town of Avon. Stick around to find out how current sophomores and juniors can participate in the next season of DYW.