Jul 17, 2018 2 min read

FREDERICKTOWN – Applying a fresh, bright coat of new paint to Bethlehem-Center High School gymnasium’s ugly brown walls was just the beginning of the goals that have been set to boost morale in the district by its new superintendent.

Chris Sefcheck, who was hired in April to lead the district, also has begun to evaluate the costs of making a string of repairs to Beth-Center’s campus, which includes three school buildings.

“The planetarium hasn’t been used in 13 or 14 years,” Sefcheck said. “We want to bring the greenhouse back to life.”

Sefcheck has come home to Beth-Center, where he performed field research in the early 1990s while attending California University of Pennsylvania.

“They were doing things then that they weren’t doing anywhere else,” he said, pointing to experiences at a pond near the middle school and working in a planetarium.

“This is the type of place that I relate to,” Sefcheck said.

He last worked as principal at Thomas Jefferson High School in West Jefferson Hills School District in Allegheny County. He served in the U.S. Air Force and a did a stint in the Pennsylvania National Guard.

Sefcheck, 49, said he taught a number of subjects, including biology, for 14 years in Las Vegas, having been named educator of the year many times by different organizations in Nevada.

“I want to accomplish so many things here,” he said.

“Beth-Center is my last stop,” said Sefcheck, who is eligible to retire in five years because of his military service.

Beth-Center participated in a recent retreat with Intermediate Unit 1 where attendees identified the district’s strengths, weaknesses and goals. It was the first of 25 area school districts to go through the process.

The effort identified improved communications as a main goal. Improving morale and the facilities also rose to the top of the list.

Among the challenges in this poor district is finding the money to repair roofs, heating and air conditioning units and the indoor swimming pool.

The district’s foundation did contribute to Sefcheck’s request for $3,000 to purchase a virtual reality headset for students to use in breakout sessions.

“You can go into a welding shop. You can go into a space station. You can watch open heart surgery,” Sefcheck said of the various scenarios students can view. “This will blow you away.”