Aug 9, 2002 By Jenny Susa 4 min read

The Intermediate Unit 1 board of directors met with rather heavy hearts Thursday night, as they said farewell to their current executive director Samuel Craighead, who is retiring from his position. “All the years I’ve spent with Sam have been happy ones,” said board member Anthony Marra. “I wish many more happy and healthy years for him in the future.

“My only regret is that I have only been on the board for a short time and I didn’t have more time to spend with Sam,” said board member Francine Pavone.

As Craighead gave his final comments, he conveyed the fulfillment and pride that he has experienced from being a part of IU1.

“I have a 2-year-old grandson who gets up every morning and says, ‘it’s a really nice day.’ That is the feeling that I have had every day working with IU1,” said Craighead. “I retire with great admiration for IU1 and its people, and with a profound respect for the people of Greene, Fayette, and Washington counties. I thank the board of directors, past and present, for the opportunity to lead this organization. When I leave to begin a new stage in my life, I will always be a IU1 supporter.”

Craighead’s successor will be Dr. Lawrence O’Shea. Craighead said O’Shea is a “fine educator” and he is glad that he is taking over his position.

“You and any other member of the board of directors will have my support any time it is needed,” Craighead told O’Shea.

When Craighead reached the end of his speech, he received a standing ovation from the board of directors, and chairman George Billetz presented him with a commemorative gift.

In an effort to keep expanding the educational system in the future, O’Shea presented the board of directors with plans that he believed would help do so during the 2002-2003 school year.

The presentation titled “Thinking Globally: Acting Locally,” was an outline of a piece of legislation, and ways to incorporate it into education and meet its standards. It was PL107-110, the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001.

O’Shea also referred to President Bush’s Commission on Excellence in Special Education report, “A New Era: Revitalizing Special Education for Children and Their Families.”

“This is a significant piece of legislation because it reinforces Bush’s standards for education throughout the country,” said O’Shea. “It is a matter of extending programs to meet the needs of children through this legislation.”

O’Shea listed the major themes of the NCLB and New Era report as accountability, scientifically based programs and teaching methods, programming for disadvantaged youth, and highly qualified and trained staff.

He said the programming for disadvantaged students impacted the IU very much because the area has a lot of students who are dealing with adversities such as poverty.

“This impacts many of our schools and we are a primary resource for dealing with disadvantaged students,” said O’Shea.

As far as scientifically based programs, O’Shea said he believes that standard is of great importance.

“There are a lot of shysters out there who are trying to push programs with no scientific basis, and we want to prevent that,” he said.

He went on to say that that IU1 shows accountability by having PSSA and PASA assessments, curriculum alignment, which aligns curriculum with standards to ensure that those standards are being met, participation with PennData, which shows the number of students with disabilities being served, and InfoHandler, which helps with paper work for disadvantaged students.

He explained some of the scientifically based programs their schools are using to help students, such as the Non-Violent Crisis Intervention, which “helps teachers working with students with emotional needs as well as students who need extra learning support but do not exhibit disruptive behavior.”

“These are the initiatives that will be driving what we do here for some time to come,” said O’Shea. “We’re going to continue to move ahead with everything that is going on at IU1 to improve education and help children and their families. We are poised to meet the global needs of our school districts.”