The Washington County Career Center high school hired three new instructors for the 2011-12 school year. Beginning this fall, Bill Cieslewski, special education; Lauren Copen, sports medicine and exercise science; and Jeff Ritzman, social studies; will be teaching at the Career Center facility on state Route 676.
Cieslewski has been a special education teacher at Belpre High School for the past eight years, and he taught at Marietta Middle School for five years. In addition, he has coached football locally for several years. A graduate of West Liberty State College with a B.A. degree in special education and physical education, Cieslewski also earned his master's degree in special education from West Virginia University. Cieslewski resides in Williamstown with his wife, Eileen, and has three daughters, Shannon, Brooke and Melissa.
With the launching of the Career Center High School Sports Medicine and Exercise Science Program, the necessity of a new teaching position was created. Filling that void was Lauren Copen, who graduated from Boston University in 1998 with a degree in athletic training. In addition, she earned her master's degree from Ohio University in science and physical education. For the past seven years, Copen has worked at Belpre High School as a certified athletic trainer and certified strength and conditioning specialist. Copen resides in Belpre with her husband, Curt, and sons Patrick, Christopher and A.J.
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Cieslewski
Ritzman comes to the Career Center with 24 years of experience. He has been a social studies teacher at Marietta High School for the past 11 years and previously taught at Shenandoah High School and in the State of New York school system. Ritzman earned both a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in high school social studies from the State University of New York. Ritzman resides in Marietta with his wife, Susan, and sons, Adam and Nathan.
