School News

Troy City Schools Director of Communications David Fong won 10 awards at the Ohio School Public Relations Association’s annual awards banquet.

“My job is to communicate this district’s story to our families and stakeholders, and I can’t possibly imagine any place with more stories, or better stories, than this district,” Fong said. “I am honored by these awards, but know deep down they truly belong to the students and staff who are a part of the greatest school district in the galaxy. They make my job easy and a true joy every day. I can’t imagine there’s another job out there better than this one.”

Fong won both two writing awards, one award for the district’s Facebook page and seven for photography. His writing awards were for a story he wrote about Troy High School senior Tatyana Green and a pair of Troy High School students who have Feb. 29 birthdays. His photography awards were for pictures of the 2024 spelling bee winner celebrating his victory, two pictures from Troy High School’s graduation, Military Appreciation Night at a Troy football game, 101 Dalmatians Day at Heywood Elementary School, field day at the Van Cleve Sixth Grade Building and one for the Veterans Day ceremony at Concord Elementary School.

“You’d be hard-pressed to find someone who is more passionate about the Troy City Schools than David,” Troy City Schools Superintendent Chris Piper said. “That passion and his love for his job and this district shows through in his work. Communication with our students, their families and our community is very important to us, and we are very fortunate to have someone who loves doing what he does as much as David.”

From state champions to kids who rarely got off the bench, Dave Palmer has spent four decades working with thousands of student-athletes. 

For the last 40 years, Palmer has been either an athletic director or athletic trainer. That meant plenty of late nights and weekends making sure athletic events went off without a hitch and injured student-athletes received the care they needed. 

And now, as he prepares to retire as the Troy High School athletic director at the end of the school year, a position he’s held since 2013, Palmer is looking to spend a lot more time with the ones he loves most. That means seeing more of his wife, Carol, children Jon, Austin, Sarah and their spouses, and of course his grandchildren, Abigail, Carter, Cooper, Annalise, Audrey, Owen, Caroline, Charlotte, Jaxon

“Spend more time with family,” Palmer said when asked what he was going to do with all the free time that is about to fall into his lap now that he’ll no longer be working 60-70 hours per week during the school year. “That’s No. 1. This job is very demanding; you spend a lot of time taking care of other people’s kids. And in the process of what you do, you neglect a lot of things within your own family. I think for me, I have a great spouse and I have great kids who understood what my role was and have supported me in all of those things. But I think even though they understood what my job demanded, I owe it to them to be a little more present. I just want to take it easy and spend more time with them.” 

Of course, while he’ll have more time to spend with his family at home, he will miss spending time with his school family. Palmer said working at Troy the past dozen years has allowed him to grow close to student-athletes, coaches, parents, boosters and staff members. In particular, Palmer thanked Barb Roberts, the longtime athletic director at Troy Junior High School. 

“It wasn’t an easy decision,” Palmer said. “I love doing what I do. I love our athletes and working with our coaches, and running events and everything that’s involved with what I have to do for the job as athletic director. So it’s a little bittersweet. I think 20 years, 40 years total, is a good, round number.”

Palmer said he will take a treasure trove of memories and experiences into retirement with him, most of which revolve around the student-athletes and coaches he had an opportunity to work alongside. 

“I’m proud of the work of my coaches as well as the successes of all of the student athletes who have donned the Trojan Star,” he said. “I have had so many exciting moments while at Troy, these moments are memories that I will remember forever and will always cherish.”

One of the biggest projects that Palmer took on during his time as athletic director at Troy was the installation of turf fields at Troy Memorial Stadium and Ferguson Field, giving the district separate facilities for football and soccer.

“Some of the upgrades that we’ve been able to do, especially the last few years, putting turf into Memorial Stadium obviously is a big thing,” he said. “I think our players and coaches that play here and coach here deserve that. I think our community really wanted that. So I’m pretty proud about finally being able to make that happen. There’s not that many schools that, in addition to a turf football stadium, have a dedicated turf soccer stadium. Those are pretty few and far between with schools in our part of Ohio.”

For all his efforts during his career in high school athletics, the Southwest District Athletic Board recently gave palmer the SWDAB Distinguished Service Award, which is “presented to an association member each year in recognition of their length of service, special accomplishments and contributions to athletic administration at the loca, state and national levels.”

Palmer previously won the Southwest District’s Meritorious Service Award in 2023 and was named the 2018 OIAAA Athletic Director of the Year by the Ohio Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association.

“It’s nice to be recognized for all the hard work that you put in in your career, and it’s special because it’s voted on by your peers in the Southwest District,” Palmer said. “It feels good that other people from the entire district recognize that you’ve done a nice job.”

Palmer will be replaced by Brandon Wright, who is currently the athletic director at Circleville High School. When asked if he had any words of advice for his successor, Palmer had two things to say.

“I would say the first thing is always do what’s best for kids,” Palmer said. “For me, I treated my athletes as if they were my own kids. And when you make decisions, you have to make decisions on what is best for your student athletes. I think that’s No. 1. If you are student centered and student focused, then I think you are going to go a long way.

“Second, I think for a district our size, we host a lot of stuff here. I think you’ve got to treat your staff the right way, and make sure you’re not going to ask your staff, whether that’s somebody working a gate, or somebody working in the press box or a custodian to do something that you’re not willing to do yourself. If you treat them the right way, they’re going to be good to you.”

For as long as he can remember, Brandon Wright has been passionate about sports. 

It’s a passion plans to bring to Troy High School as the district’s new athletic director beginning with the 2025-26 school year. 

“I absolutely love sports. I live, breathe and die sports,” said Wright, who was officially approved by the Troy Board of Education at Monday's regular monthly meeting. “Being able to see it grow from behind the scenes that people don’t see, and then on Friday nights, or whenever the event is, just come to fruition is extremely cool to see.” 

Wright will replace Dave Palmer, who will retire at the end of this school year. Palmer has been Troy’s athletic director since 2013. It is a fitting transition, as Palmer’s previous position as the  athletic director at another Miami County School district approximately 8 miles north of Troy inspired Wright, who graduated from that same high school in 2012.

“When I decided to shift into the goal of becoming an athletic director in college, Mr. Palmer was actually one of the main reasons I made that decision," Wright said. "I got to see him work when I was in school, and it really drove me to want to do this job.”

Following high school, Wright earned his undergraduate degree in business and sports management from Ohio Christian University in 2014 and his masters of business administration from Ohio Christian in 2016. He’s been the Circleville High School and Circleville Middle School athletic director since 2021. Prior to that, he was the athletic director at Madison-Plains High School and middle school. 

He said he’s excited about the opportunity to work in Troy and hopes to carry on its rich athletic tradition, while also adding his own spin on things.

“I’m super excited,” Wright said. “The foundation that has been laid here at Troy can only grow. I think we’re in a good spot facility-wise, athlete-wise, coaching-wise. It seems like Troy is ready to take that next step. I am excited to work here and with the people here at Troy.”

Wright said two of his main goals will be improving upon the game-day experience at athletic events, and getting the community more involved in Trojan athletics.

“I would say I’m very technologically savvy,” Wright said. “I like to do some of those techie things. The social media stuff is big. With the game events, I don’t know how everything is run here at Troy, but when you come to a game at my current district, it’s a form of entertainment. We flash the lights, we’re playing music and letting kids dance during timeouts. Just the game environment becomes more of a family event, rather than just kids playing the sport and doing their best to win the game. It kind of creates a little bit of buzz for the crowd and makes people enjoy coming to the event.

“Community engagement is important to me. We love to get the community involved in anything we do. My student athletic leadership team just put on an Easter egg hunt on Sunday. We had about 600 kids come out. The community came out in droves and it was a fun event.”

Wright, his wife Courtney and their two children, Sadie (age 7) and Maggie (age 4), will reside in Troy, where their children will attend the Troy City Schools. 

The next two months are going to be big ones for members of the Troy High School Class of 2025. 

There are a number of activities planned between now and graduation day, as well as a number of tasks our seniors need to make sure they get taken care of before then. 

Here is your complete guide 2025 Graduation Guide. We encourage all of our seniors and their families to read this document carefully! 

Click HERE for the guide. 

In a photo-finish race that involved nearly a half-dozen students at the top of the Troy High School Class of 2025, THS senior Jeffrey Smith came from behind with a strong kick in the first semester of the school year to earn valedictorian honors. 

Smith, who was fourth in the class rankings to start the 2024-25 school year, had a fantastic first semester of his senior year to finish with a 4.723 grade point average. Deanna Rohlfs, who finished with a 4.717 grade point average to earn salutatorian honors. Smith earned valedictorian honors by six one-thousandths of a point, one of the narrowest margins in school history. 

“It’s kind of an interesting way that I found out,” Smith said. “I was fourth going into the year, and calculus and my English class were testing me this year, so I was fighting for those As. But I got a 5.0 this semester, so there was a thought in the back of my mind that maybe I could jump a spot, maybe I could jump two. So I emailed my counselor and I was like, ‘I’m going to be applying for scholarships, has my position in the class changed?’ He just typed five words, ‘You are now number one.’ It was crazy. It was just a wild ride this semester.”

The class rankings for seniors are determined by the entirety of their freshmen, sophomore and junior years, as well as the first semester of their senior year.

For Rohlfs, being named salutatorian is a tremendous honor, and she feels gratified knowing her hard work paid off. 

“It felt good, because this is something I worked hard for,” she said. “It’s nice, not even to be recognized, but just knowing within myself that I gave everything I had, and I tried my best. I’m very proud. I know it was bouncing around a little bit, but I knew nothing was set in stone. It’s nice now to have some certainty with where things are standing.”

Both Smith and Rohlfs were quick to credit Troy High School and its teachers for their academic success. 

“There’s no place better than Troy,” Smith said. “The teachers all bring something unique to the table, whether it’s what they are teaching or how they are teaching it. I feel like I am getting a very well-rounded education, and it’s just great to learn here at Troy.”

Rohlfs agreed.

“I’m really grateful that I’ve gone to high school at Troy,” she said. “I could have gone to high school at a bunch of different places, but I’m glad I stayed here, because the teachers are just different here. They really care about their students and they’re invested in their education and their development as people as well as students. I know that the teachers that I had helped me become the student that I am today.”

In addition to excelling in the classroom, both Smith and Rohlfs are heavily involved in a wide variety of activities outside of school, as well. 

Smith is a National Merit Commended Scholar and a three-year member of the National Honor Society. He won the Rensselaer Medal, given yearly to Troy High School’s top junior in math/science classes. He was on the Troy High School golf team for four years and the basketball team for one year. He’s a member of Key Club. He also helped at the Kids Summer Art Camp each summer at the Troy-Hayner Cultural Center.

Rohlfs has been involved in student government all four years of high school. She also has been a member of the Troy High School track and field team for four years. She also is a member of the Troy Tones acapella singing group. She has taken dance classes since a very young age, and has continued to be heavily involved in dance through high school. Rohlfs has been a CCD religion teacher, a middle school youth minister, a summer camp missionary and has been a member of the Youth Leadership Institute, which is focused on youth ministry.

Both have bright futures ahead of them, and they plan on taking very different paths once they graduate Troy High School this spring.

“I am going to The Ohio State University,” said Smith, who plans on going to law school once he earns his undergraduate degree. “Obviously it’s in Ohio, and it’s a little bit cheaper to stay in-state. But also my aunt went there for medical school and she loved it; everything I’ve heard about it has been positive. It was the first choice, and I’m glad to be going there, too.”

Rohlfs knows exactly what she wants to do when she graduates, even if she isn’t certain how she’s going to go about doing that just yet.

“I know I want to be a missionary for the rest of my life,” she said. “I’m still trying to figure out what that will look like in this next phase, but I want to let the world know how good Jesus is and how much love He has for them. I want my life to be a living witness of His love.”