Monday, March 19th, 2018
Students, staff grieve educator
By Sydney Albert
Photo by William Kincaid/The Daily Standard
Mercer County Educational Service Center Alternative School Director Aaron Rose talks to Celina Rotarians in this Nov. 22, 2016, file photo about the strides made in his program to serve students' unique learning needs.
CELINA - Grief counseling will be offered at Mercer County Alternative School after the death of the school's director, Aaron Rose.
Students and staff also will have the opportunity to attend Rose's viewing on Tuesday.
"Our efforts right now are focused on counseling services for students as they come to school today," Mercer County Educational Services Center Superintendent Shelly Vaughn said.
Rose was pronounced dead at the scene of a two-vehicle crash on Friday. Vaughn said officials from the county's school districts had offered resources for grief counseling, and students with whom Rose had worked could meet counselors from Celina City Schools and Foundations Behavioral Health.
Students and staff plan to go together to Rose's viewing on Tuesday, and Wednesday's classes have been canceled so staff could attend the funeral.
"Aaron was this program. He had only been director for under two years, but in that time he redefined what this program is. He searched for ways to meet all the needs of students," Vaughn said tearfully.
For Rose, it was about more than getting students a high school diploma, she said. He was invested in preparing them to face the world as good, productive citizens. Vaughn described him as a humble man who really cared about his students.
"I don't think he realized the impact he had on students and staff," she said.
Rose graduated from Marion Local High School in 1995. He was a former teacher at Fort Loramie. At the time of his death, he was an active officer of the Marion Local athletic boosters and eighth-grade girls basketball coach at that district. On top of serving as director of the alternative school, he was also a part-time grain farmer.
After his first year as alternative school director, Rose had told the newspaper he was thrilled to watch troubled students rise to the challenges he'd set. He had said he enjoyed the challenge of working with students who had fallen behind to show them they do indeed have a future - a good future if they can get their act together.
His obituary appears in today edition.
