Alumni Newsletter
July 27, 2021
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Please plan to join with other COHS graduates at the annual All-Year Reunion at Cardinal O'Hara High School on Friday, July 30. The event is from 7:00 to 10:00 pm. There will be food and beverages for the cost of admission! ($25)
Dear Alumni,

Greetings!

As of the date of this publication, Mike Ginestre, Class of 1990, is "between" jobs. But that won't last for long, as he will start his new job as Superintendent of Schools of the Sweet Home Central school District on August 2.

Mike did not always aspire to lead a school district. In fact, in his first career, he worked in public relations and marketing in Boston, Massachusetts and Rochester. But one day, he realized he had missed his true calling.

All the twists and turns of Mike's career journey are revealed in this week's HawkTalk! He talks about his days at COHS and shares his experiences leading a school district and dealing with COVID in his former job as a School Superintendent in the Sherman Central School District.

Happy reading!

Go Hawks!

Dave Lovering ‘74                                        
DAVE: Mike, thanks so much for taking the time to chat with me today. I understand this is your last day on the job as Superintendent of the Sherman Central School District.

MIKE: It is my last day. In fact, I’m sitting in someone else’s office using someone else’s computer for this chat. (Laughs)
Growin' Up

DAVE: The first question is an easy one. Where did you grow up?
 
MIKE: I grew up in North Tonawanda. In fact, my parents, Vincent and Joanne, still live there. My dad has been involved with the O’Hara Boosters for a long time. He’s still part of the Boosters today.
 
I have two siblings, both of whom graduated from Cardinal O’Hara. My brother, Chis, graduated from O’Hara in 1991 and my sister, Anne, graduated in 1994.
 
I went to grammar school at OLC-Ascension in North Tonawanda. OLC-Ascension was made up of what had been two schools – OLC and Ascension. The schools merged and became one school housed in two different buildings. I went to OLC through fourth grade and to Ascension for grades five through eight.
DAVE: it looks like your parents valued a Catholic education for their children. Do you remember having discussions about where you were going to go to high school?
 
MIKE: No, not really. (Laughs)
 
Our parents had set out a path for us and it turned out to be a great decision. I have absolutely no regrets about attending Cardinal O’Hara. Our parents valued education and wanted to give us opportunities to succeed.
 
They thought a smaller environment would be better for us. I think that proved to be true.
 
DAVE: Did you have any difficulty adjusting to high school?

MIKE: Not at all. O’Hara was very welcoming.
 
Probably the biggest adjustment I had to make was wearing a tie at O’Hara. (Laughs) At OLC-Ascension we wore polo shirts, so wearing a tie was something that took some getting used to. (Laughs)
 
Not too many of my friends from OLC-Ascension went to O’Hara. But once there, I made friends fairly easily, so much so, in fact, that my transition to high school was a very smooth one.
 
The teachers were awesome. There was never a moment when I wished that I had gone somewhere else.
 
Probably the biggest adjustment actually came in my senior year. The Franciscan Friars were at O’Hara my first three years of high school. But after my junior year, they left.
 
To me, Cardinal O’Hara was a very good experience. I remember it fondly.
A Memorable Teacher
 
DAVE: Did you have a favorite teacher?
 
MIKE: I thought Mr. Gross was a great teacher with a larger-than-life personality.
 
Mr. Gross was a social studies teacher, and I really liked Social Studies. English was also a favorite subject of mine.
 
Mr. Gross was the kind of teacher where you couldn’t wait to get to his class. He was like a mentor but he was tough when he needed to be. He taught us what it meant to work hard and to do things the right way.
 
When I began my high school teaching career, I was a social studies teacher and I kind of modeled myself after Mr. Gross.

There were many fine teachers at O’Hara. I was very fortunate to have so many really good teachers while I was there.
Clubs/Activities/Athletics
 
DAVE: Were you involved in any extracurricular activities at O’Hara?
 
MIKE: Let’s see … I was in student government, and I played baseball for one year, but my main activity was football. Sports was my big thing in high school.
 
I played football all four years at O’Hara. I was the center, that was my position and I was fortunate to be named First-Team All Catholic my junior and senior years.

(Photo: Mike is on the far left. One of three tri-captains.)

We didn’t win any championships, although we did play in one championship game against Turner-Carroll. Unfortunately, we lost that game.
 
I wanted to play football in college and my experience at O’Hara certainly help me do that. I played football for four years in college.

Honors
 
DAVE: Did you receive any recognitions while you were a student at O’Hara?
 
MIKE: I was a good student - not great - but good. (Laughs) I think I was on the honor roll all semesters I was at O’Hara.
 
In my senior year I was recognized by the Quality Students of the Tonawandas organization. I think there were five of us from O’Hara that were chosen. There were also students from other schools. Our pictures were in the Tonawanda News along with a brief “write up.” They had a nice dinner for us as well.
Busted!
 
DAVE: Mike, I am always on the “lookout” for scandals so I must ask if you ever got in trouble at O’Hara.
 
MIKE: (Laughs) Yes! Once! I remember it as if it happened yesterday. (Laughs)
 
I was late for lunch one day and I got detention. (Laughs) I’m not kidding! I was with a group of friends and we were probably goofing around in the hall which caused us to be late for lunch. I can still remember Sister Aileen Marie standing at the cafeteria doors as we approached.
 
I was devastated. I had never gotten in trouble before. All I could think of was my parents telling me before I started high school that I better never get a detention. (Laughs) So one of the first things I thought was, “How am I going to tell my parents this?” (Laughs) Since I can’t remember what their reaction was – it couldn’t have been too bad! (Laughs)
O’Hara’s Impact
 
DAVE: In looking back, what impact did O’Hara have on you?
 
MIKE: For one thing, I still stay in touch with some of my O’Hara friends.
 
What impacted me the most was learning lessons that had nothing to do with something you’d learn from a book. Rather, I learned some very valuable “life lessons.”
 
One lesson in particular that I learned as a student at O’Hara is that you can overcome anything – that no matter what challenges lie ahead of you – you can succeed and that there are good people out there to help you along the way. 
 
I’ll never forget those “life lessons” from O’Hara. They have helped me so much along the way.
Off to College
 
DAVE: You chose to go to Saint John Fisher College in Rochester following high school graduation.
 
MIKE: I did. I love sports and I wanted to be involved in the sports world. I envisioned a career in broadcast journalism. However, early on, at Fischer, I did an internship in broadcast journalism and I found that it wasn’t for me.
 
So then, I decided to enroll in their program for public relations and marketing.
 
I graduated from Saint John Fisher in 1994 and for nine years I had a career in that field - public relations and marketing.  "                                                                 
A Life Changing Moment
 
In August 2003, while I was still working in public relations and marketing, I got a call from one of my former professors at Fisher, just before the start of the fall semester. He told me they were looking for someone to teach one class of “Introduction to Advertising.”
 
I never had any training or experience in teaching but I was intrigued by the thought of teaching this class. I told him I would do it. On the first day of class, standing in front of those students, I realized that I had discovered what I wanted to do for the rest of my life – teach.
 
I continued working in PR and marketing while teaching at Fisher but I was formulating a plan
where I would follow a career path where I would to teach social studies and coach in a high school - somewhere! All I lacked was a degree and certification. (Laughs)

I enrolled at Niagara University and received a Masters’ degree in Secondary Education in 2004.
 
I continued teaching at Fisher while at the same time pursuing a Masters in Educational Leadership at Fisher. I received my Educational Leadership Masters in 2006.
 
Now that I had the proper credentials, I told the folks at Saint John Fisher that I really wanted to pursue a teaching career in high school. I blanketed New York State public schools with my résumé. (Laughs)
Mike Ginestre - Educator
 
I was fortunate to be hired as a social studies teacher by the Falconer Central School District and I began a high school teaching career in September 2007.
 
I was at Falconer for five years. Besides teaching social studies, I coached varsity football and varsity girls’ basketball at Falconer while I was there.
 
In 2012, the position of K-12 Principal in the Sherman Central School District became available. My principal at Falconer encouraged me to apply for the position. He had kind of taken me “under his wing” and provided me opportunities to work with him a little bit in school administration.
 
So, I applied for the principalship at Sherman and was hired.
 
I was the K-12 Principal at Sherman Central for four years. When the superintendent at Sherman decided to move to another district in 2016, I was hired to replace him.
 
After five years as Superintendent at Sherman, I recently applied for the Superintendent vacancy in the Sweet Home Central School District.

This June, I was appointed as Sweet Home’s new Superintendent.
A Few Questions!
 
DAVE: Congratulations! That is terrific! I have a few million questions!
 
You said you aspired to coach athletics in high school. You coached two teams at Falconer. Have you missed coaching since you became an administrator?
 
MIKE: I really miss coaching. Those years coaching really helped me later on in my administrative role. You learn to deal with the highs and lows as a coach. Coaching also gave me experience in dealing with the public, the community and alumni. I believe every experience can teach you something, so all these things were good experiences for me.
 
DAVE: When you were the K -12 Principal at Sherman Central you were “exposed” to dealing with elementary aged students for the first time.
 
MIKE: I was - and I loved it. Those kindergarten and first graders were so eager to learn. I made it a point to greet students as they arrived to school. Seeing the younger students walking into school was always a highlight. You could see the excitement in their eyes.
 
Also, with the younger kids you are reminded just how important education is. I would think about what an awesome responsibility we had as educators. Many of those kindergarteners would be in that school for the next 12 years. That always served as a reminder of the impact we could have on our students’ lives.
 
My years as principal were especially formative. In a smaller district like Sherman Central, we didn’t have a lot of administrators. Our administrative team was small. I really had to learn everything – from “soup to nuts.” 
 
At Sherman, there was no one else to pass tasks on to. We had a small administrative team so you had to do many things yourself. Luckily wwe had a great team and we worked very well together.
 
That was very beneficial to me. It helped prepare me to become superintendent one day if I were fortunate enough to get the opportunity.
 
DAVE: How big of a jump was it for you to go from principal to superintendent?
 
MIKE: I was very prepared for the move. I worked very closely with the former superintendent at Sherman so I was familiar with all the routines and protocols and expectations.
 
Perhaps the biggest adjustment was working directly with the Board of Education. I learned that it’s not until you’re actually in the position of superintendent that you really understand the relationship between the Board of Education and the Superintendent. But I learned and became a better administrator because of it.
 
There are certainly different pressures when you become a superintendent. The most obvious one course is that the “buck stops” with you. When it’s decision time – all eyes are on you. That just comes with the territory.
 
I love being a superintendent. It’s a great job. One of the most rewarding aspects of the job is building a team and working with that team so that it works together and clicks on all cylinders.
Reinventing School

DAVE: As Superintendent, what was it like to deal with COVID? 
 
MIKE: We had to re-invent just about everything we did. Our goal was to get as many kids into school as we could. We still had to go to a hybrid model to do that.
 
It was very difficult at the beginning of the pandemic, in March 2020, because there was so much that was unknown. Here we are a year and a half later - and there is still much that is unknown.
 
There weren’t a lot of COVID cases in Sherman but we believe the measures we took helped keep the number of cases down. Our number one priority was keeping everyone safe. Our second priority was to get as many kids in our school as we could.
 
DAVE: What’s one thing you are proud of in your tenure at Sherman?
 
MIKE: Sherman Central is a high poverty school district and yet, at the same time, a high achieving district. That’s pretty rare. The district has been recognized by Buffalo Business First newspaper as the most “over achieving school district” when you look at student results on state assessments and our poverty rate. That’s been quite an honor for us.
On to Sweet Home Central
 
DAVE: So, you’re headed back to Western New York. What’s it feel like to be coming back home?
 
MIKE: It’s fantastic! I’m quite familiar with the Sweet Home Central District, it’s a great district and I’m proud to be part of it. And obviously I’m thrilled to be closer to my family. With COVID, I haven’t been able to be with my family in 14 months. Being so close now is terrific. My wife will also be closer to her home as well. She is from Angola.

DAVE: Have you gotten to meet many teachers and staff members at Sweet Home?
 
MIKE: I’ve gotten to meet a ton of people. They are very hard workers and they’ve been really “down to earth” folks. The first time I walked through the doors to be interviewed for the position, it felt like a “fit”. It feels like I’m home again.
 
DAVE: Obviously, the school year will start with COVID likely still dominating the headlines.
 
MIKE: Parents have had to put up with a lot over the last year and a half. I plan to talk to people in the community and get feedback. I’d like to learn what they’ve gone through and what they are willing to go through again. What is their tolerance level?
 
We don’t know yet what restrictions, if any, New York State will impose on schools. Will mask-wearing and social-distancing be part of those restrictions? It all depends on what New York State puts in place.
 
DAVE: In your opinion, what is another area that schools will need to grapple with?
 
MIKE: One thing that we have learned during the pandemic is that technology is a resource that we are trying to understand how it can be best used in schools. We have to find a balance with technology and in-person instruction. There is a lot more to learn of course. But that is an area that I believe will receive a lot of attention.
 
DAVE: Are you ready for what's coming?

MIKE: I can’t wait to start at Sweet Home. Everyone’s been so welcoming – not only to me but my family as well. There will be challenges, of course, but I’m very excited to be part of the Sweet Home community.
Empire State Ride
 
DAVE: So, your first day at Sweet Home is August 2. Your last day at Sherman is today, July, 23. What do you have going on for the next 10 days?
 
MIKE: I cycle a lot. A buddy of mine and I are flying to Manhattan to participate in the Empire State Ride. We’ll start in Staten Island and ride to Niagara Falls to raise money for Roswell Park.
 
DAVE: Good for you! As a self-professed “sports nut” do you play on any teams?
 
MIKE: I’m actually in the process of tracking down some O’Hara friends so that I can get into a men’s hockey league this winter.
The Ginestres
 
DAVE: Mike, you’ve mentioned your wife and your two boys a few times during our chat. Would you tell us a little bit about them?
 
MIKE: Sure. My wife, Melissa, and I have two kids. Vincent is 10 and Bryce 7. They couldn’t be more different. (Laughs) Vincent is really into sports, mainly hockey. Bryce is a great learner and will read any book that you throw his way. He’s as smart as a whip. I’m a very proud dad.
 
Melissa is a mental health counselor and has worked as a counselor down here. She’s provided free therapy for me on many occasions. (Laughs) I’m really proud of all the work she has done. She has helped so many people and I know she will be missed in this community.
 
We’re all going to miss Chautauqua County very much. We were there for 14 years and we grew to love it. Winters can be tough but we had the lake! We’ll miss our frequent visits to Bemus Point. We’ll miss our friends too – but we are also so excited about coming to Western New York!
A Modest Proposal
 
DAVE: Thank you so much Mike for meeting with me today. Before I let you go, I have one more question. At the risk of sounding self-serving, do you think it’s time that the Sweet Home Central School District starts naming elementary buildings after former principals?
 
MIKE: (Hearty Laughter) Weren’t you the former principal at Willow Ridge in Sweet Home?
 
DAVE: I can see you’re not quite ready to answer that question.
 
MIKE: (Laughs) Let me give it some thought, Dave, and I’ll get back to you.
 
DAVE: Great, because I have a suggestion!
Last Word

Welcome back to Western New York, Mike, and, welcome to Melissa, Vincent and Bryce as well.
 
On behalf of all Cardinal O’Hara alumni, congratulations on your appointment as Superintendent of Schools of the Sweet Home Central School District. 
 
We wish you nothing but success! 
 
Good luck, Mike!

by Dave Lovering '74
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ADVANCEMENT DEPARTMENT:
Reneé Orr, Director of Advancement
Dave Lovering '74, Alumni Relations Coordinator
Barbara Tucker, Public Relations Coordinator