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Colleagues intend to stay involved in education

By Joyce Koballa 6 min read

PERRYOPOLIS – Next month, Barbara Mehalov’s 35-year tenure in education will end right where it began: with the Frazier School District. Her colleague Linda Nelson will also depart with the same years of service, while both have held the same positions throughout that time as head teacher and principal.

But, their retirement isn’t stopping both women from staying involved in education, Mehalov, by possibly teaching at a local university or even giving voice and piano lessons as she did in the past, and Nelson, as a distinguished educator selected by the state to work with struggling school districts that don’t meet adequate yearly progress.

Mehalov, the middle school principal, and Nelson, the supervisor of K-12 special education curriculum and instruction, announced their retirements in May, along with Dr. Frederick Smeigh, superintendent.

Mehalov said she is looking forward to spending more time with her family now and enjoying her life one day at a time.

But, Mehalov said she’ll also miss the extended family that she developed over the years at Frazier.

“It’s always been more like a family atmosphere here, and we planned our educational days like that, too,” said Mehalov.

A Smock native, Mehalov said it was actually a coincidence that she was hired in the school district of her choice after she and her husband initially discussed moving to Perryopolis, but then stayed in her hometown.

“It’s seven miles to work for me and seven miles for my husband, so we’re in a central location,” said Mehalov.

She started her career with Frazier in 1971 upon her graduation from West Virginia University as a third-grade teacher at the former Star Junction Elementary School.

From there, Mehalov went on to teach fifth grade at Perry Elementary before teaching third grade at Central Elementary for a year, serving as head teacher while at both schools.

Mehalov said it wasn’t long afterward that Smeigh came on board and provided his insight to help turn Frazier into the model school district it is today.

“He was able to take the district and turn it around, but it took 12 years to do it,” Mehalov said.

Mehalov has held the reins as middle school principal for the last six years, where she has continued to use data-driven skills that helped her land the position.

“I am virtually a person who really likes statistics and data analysis, and consequently that’s the idea behind administration,” she said.

When it comes to setting goals, Mehalov said she sets her sights on achieving the first one before moving on to the next, which worked to her advantage in bringing back information from various conferences and sharing it with faculty and staff.

“In the middle school, we’ve always emphasized a team effort to accomplish our goals, and that’s what has kept us afloat,” she said.

While Frazier has traveled a rocky road, Mehalov commended the staff, students and administration for adhering to the district’s strategic plan: “Many school districts write plans but never take them out of the drawers after they give them to the state…we referred to it and adhered to it.”

Despite such hardships, Mehalov said there’s never been a day she hasn’t enjoyed her time at Frazier.

“I think my entire 35 years are memorable,” she said.

For Nelson, taking over her mother’s third-grade class in 1976 after she retired from Central Elementary School was the highlight of her career.

“My mother inspired me to become a teacher,” said Nelson.

The Fayette City native graduated from Bellmar High School in 1964 and California State College in 1967 with a bachelor of science degree in elementary education before furthering her education in graduate school, receiving her permanent certification in 1969.

Nelson began her career with Frazier in 1967 as a first grade teacher, but was forced to resign three years later to take a maternity leave since none was offered then through the district.

From 1971 to 1973, Nelson served as a substitute teacher at Frazier and Belle Vernon Area school districts.

She was hired again at Frazier in 1973 and taught third grade at Brownfield Elementary School until 1976, when she requested a transfer to Central Elementary School, where she taught the next 16 years.

During that time, the school board hired her to serve as acting middle school principal while she also found time in the summer to complete her principal internship at Ringgold School District.

Nelson became the Frazier Middle School principal in 1992 and held the position until 1997 while also taking on a dual role as acting high school/middle school principal for four months in 1996-1997.

In 1988, Nelson went back to earn her master of education degree from California University of Pennsylvania, where she graduated in 1991 with an elementary principal certification, and again from 1995 to 1997 to earn her superintendent certification.

Nelson then returned to the elementary level until 2001 as principal of Central and Perry before taking on an even larger role as supervisor of K-12 special education, curriculum and instruction.

In August, Nelson will embark on a five-day training session to Susquehanna University with Smeigh, where they will join a team of distinguished educators selected by the state who will work with struggling school districts in the commonwealth to make sure they meet and continue to make average yearly progress.

Frazier achieved that goal last year just in time to provide Nelson with one of her fondest memories during her tenure.

“There’s so few schools that have done that, and we finally got there,” said Nelson.

The federal No Child Left Behind law requires schools that receive federal Title 1 money for poor and minority students to improve on state tests every year and keep attendance and graduation rates stable.

However, schools that fail to demonstrate that progress for two consecutive years are put on the list and receive penalties that range from being taken over by the state to allowing students to change schools. And, the longer the school stays on the list, the more severe the penalties.

In the time that Nelson has served as a teacher and administrator, she has watched Frazier undergo a number of transformations.

After traveling Routes 51 and 201 over that time, Nelson said it’s hard to believe that she will be headed in a different direction once students return to school this fall.

Aside from her new venture with the state, Nelson said she is looking forward to spending time with her husband at their home in Rostraver Township.

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