Assembly held to honor River View’s Rinkes

River View High School Principal Charles (Chuck) Rinkes was named the 2018 OASSA Principal of the Year and his secretary Angie Speicher was named the OASSA Secretary of the Year. Josie Sellers | Beacon

COSHOCTON – When Dalton Summers found out that River View High School’s principal had won a major award from the Ohio Association of Secondary School Administrators he knew the district had to recognize him in some way and others quickly jumped onboard.

“It was like in three minutes everything was done,” said Summers, the superintendent of River View Local School District. “Students and staff stepped up and I even had principals and superintendents from other buildings and schools wanting to show up. That just goes to show what kind of person we have here. It takes an unbelievably special person to do what Mr. (Charles) Rinkes does every day.”

A special ceremony honoring Rinkes for being named the 2018 OASSA Principal of the Year was held April 13 at RVHS in the auditorium. One student who took an active role in planning that was senior Sawyer Neal who said Rinkes has helped teach him about leadership, responsibility, hard work and dedication.

“I hope I can be as good of a leader someday as Mr. Rinkes is to this high school,” Neal said. “He’s guided me through my success and when I failed been there to tell me to get some grit. He doesn’t just talk about leadership though. He shows you what the quality looks like and that being a Black Bear means serving others and doing something bigger than yourself.”

Morgan Landis, a 2009 graduate of River View High School, shared how lessons learned from Rinkes impacted his life after graduation.

“He drove me to push myself and I learned from him that we all have the ability to do what we want,” Landis said.

Rinkes hopes that the students at RVHS realize what a special place their school is.

“It may be five or 10 years down the road after you leave here, but I hope you all realize that what you were involved with here was pretty special and that you were able to grow as a person,” Rinkes said. “I hope I made all of you feel like you belonged too.”

He also thanked his wife and son for being understanding when he is not home in the evening because he’s off supporting students at their events and thanked his staff for the tremendous job they do every day.

“You don’t get awards like this by yourself,” Rinkes said.

That led him to invite Angie Speicher up on stage to speak. Speicher is Rinkes’ secretary and was named the OASSA Secretary of the Year.

“I couldn’t do what I do without all the support from each of you,” she said. “We do an amazing job in this building every day.”

This is the first time two people in the same district have been honored by the OASSA.

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