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a century ago bexley's story was just
beginning the communities of bullet Park
and Pleasant Ridge had just combined our
now beloved neighborhoods were being
platted and bexley's first High School
class had just graduated a century ago
bexley's Foundation was being laid today
we are caretakers of a legacy preserving
the things about this community that
make Bexley so much more than just a
place on a map while embracing the
opportunity to shape our next 100 years
the legacy of the Bexley Community is
really being a community of purpose a
community that was put together with a
very unique history between a place of
learning with the Capitol University the
Lutheran Village around it and then of
course entrepreneurs and industrialists
from Columbus's Past coming together to
create this very special place ju Bexley
is critical to Our Success one Bexley
fits exactly who we are as a community
we want to make sure that everybody in
Bexley whether you live in Bexley or
you're visiting Bexley that you feel a
sense of belonging and that you feel
welcomed and one Bexley provides that
opportunity for us to work as City the
libraries and the schools to continue
that Foundation of growth for our
community and I'm really thankful for
our partners one thing I appreciate so
much about Bexley is they value
education they value learning and
there's a lot of curiosity we are all
working for the same purpose which is to
make Bexley better to empower the
citizens of Bexley to have the best life
they can have so working together allows
us to be more strategic we've laid the
groundwork to build on these
relationships to further all of our
missions to have the best of the best
for the community I absolutely love the
people my family was new four years ago
and from day one we've been loved we've
been shown compassion and understanding
I always call the Bexley Community the
trifecta of success we have students
that come to us like sponges eager and
ready to learn we have amazing staff the
best in the business that provide a
rigorous loving caring supportive
environment and then we've got that
third factor which is really important
our families and our community and the
support that they continue to show us
makes this a really unique place to
maintain the strong Legacy it doesn't
happen overnight and I'm really proud of
the foundation that was set before us we
stand on the shoulders of those that
came before us and that tradition of
Excellence has to continue we do that
through a really robust community-driven
strategic planning process our mission
statement is to learn with curiosity
demonstrate kindness and embrace equity
and that is the DNA and everything that
we do we model that and it allows us to
make sure that that Excellence
continues while we're preserving our
Legacy we're constantly updating and in
motion we're reimagining spaces and the
ways that we interact with our
environment I think it's vital to have a
consensus built plan to shape the future
of our community we have such limited
resources in terms of our land our space
that it's so important for us to be
really precise about what we intend to
do Landing strategy sets a stage it
provides a consensus from the community
to move forward in development and
knowing that you have the support of the
residents and elected officials and
having a common shared Vision that's a
powerful thing personally I love a good
checklist so it it creates for me a
template for what do I need to be
working on over the coming years and how
can we help to build consensus around
some of these really bold energizing
ideas my dream is that Main Street
continues to be a master class in urban
planning we are being really purposeful
about the improvements we're making and
we have this very long-term lens as we
start to shape the community even more
in the image of I think what residents
want to see it be we've partnered with
our neighbors Tor EMT and the city to
redo the front of the library and put in
an outdoor reading room that will
provide space for outside Story Time
performances poetry Jazz we're going to
have books that you can check out
outside Cafe tables and chairs so that
you can go to one of the many delicious
shops here on Main Street and have lunch
and that we can just be a welcoming
space from the sidewalk I think any good
Library should be reflective and
responsive to the community so anyone
that comes through the door should be
able to see thems in the library and
find the tools that they need because
we're responding to their requests and
needs and so our goal is to try to
figure out what is it that they need
that they don't know they need yet and
try to be ahead of the curve so we're
looking at things that will benefit
their life make their life a little
easier that they never think that's at
the public library and so they'll come
in and use these services that we're
working on and thinking about whether
it's book vending machines or lockers
that you can pick up your holds up in
the north part of Bexley or the South
part of Bexley whether it's a mobile van
that can be at all our different events
and a host of other services that we're
taking a look at that would be arriving
when people need it in Bexley facilities
is a critical conversation for us on
average our buildings are 84 years of
age some of them over a 100 years and
our buildings have served this community
really well but with every passing day
the Gap widens in terms of what those
buildings were designed for and what our
students need today and into the future
so it's really important that we
continue to have engagement with our
community to design what it is that we
want for our students future and we're
really proud of the community engagement
that we've had so far I think it's a
transformational opportunity for our
students today and into the next 100
years we will Design this as a community
and I'm excited for what's possible into
the future where we are today is
hopefully only just scratching the
surface of where we're going to be
tomorrow because we're setting the stage
not just for the next 100 Years of
Bexley but for the hundreds of years to
follow after
that it's sometimes hard to imagine what
the next 100 years will bring but to
shape our future in a way that we can
all be proud of our community needs
bright and inspiring young leaders
curious lifelong Learners and
compassionate and engaged local and
Global Citizens bexley's past has shaped
a legacy that's worth preserving but our
future that's up to all of us
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