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Schools

Baughman Takes The Helm At Orenic School

Hofer principal named to fill the position vacated by Darrell Echols.

Troy Consolidated Community School District 30C Supt. Don White didn't have to look far to find a principal to fill the desk of departing W.B. Orenic Intermediate School principal Darrell Echols.

"The district already has a principal uniquely qualified to become a very successful principal of Orenic — so I appointed him," White said.

White is talking about former Troy Hofer Elementary School Principal Robert Baughman, this year the new principal at Orenic Intermediate School in Plainfield. Kristin Copes, former assistant principal at Hofer and Shorewood elementary schools, is the new principal at Hofer.

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In his two years at the helm of Hofer, Baughman opened a "state-of-the-art elementary school" that focused on student achievement results and used technology to help motivate students to learn, White said.

"Dream big" is the adage Baughman uses in the closing on his letterhead. He says he believes students can take ownership of their own education.

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"My approach is to listen to staff, students and parents to develop professional, productive relationships and to collaborate with everyone to make students learning the focus of our school," he said. "Students will understand that they are ultimately responsible for their learning."

Baughman, an educator for more than three decades, was named 2001 Illinois Administrator of the Year while elementary principal of Ridgeview Community Unit School District 19 in Colfax, Ill., where he worked for 23 years. A graduate of Western Illinois University, Baughman taught fourth grade for five years in Abingdon, Ill., and third grade for two years in Colfax.

Echols left Troy to become principal at Hills Middle School in Naperville.

Copes, of Coal City, taught first grade for 16 years before coming to Troy last year.

"She has proved that she is a very quick learner and reflective practitioner. She has shown that she is a person willing to take a leadership role by accepting new challenges," White said. "She has also established very positive relationships with students, families and employees at both schools she served during the 2009-10 school year."

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