Eastland-Fairfield Career & Technical Schools will open the 2021-22 school year with a new position to serve its students at the district level and multiple new hires in leadership positions. Derek Roeth, current Fairfield Career Center director, will serve as Eastland-Fairfield’s first Career Readiness Coordinator. Matthew McGregor has been selected to become Fairfield Career Center’s new director, and Holly Griffin has been hired as Eastland Career Center’s second assistant director.
Matt McGregor
With current FCC director Derek Roeth’s move into a new position with the District Office, a thorough search for a replacement led to the selection of current Gahanna Lincoln High School assistant principal and US Army veteran Matt McGregor as Fairfield Career Center’s new director. McGregor began his career in the classroom in 2007 as an English teacher in the Gahanna-Jefferson school district. After teaching for 10 years, he moved into the assistant principal role and has recently completed his fourth year in that position. McGregor proudly served in the Ohio Army National Guard for 21 years, spending much of that time flying Blackhawk helicopters and serving in multiple tours of duty overseas. He retired from service in 2019 with the rank of Chief Warrant Officer 3.
McGregor is a 2001 graduate of The Ohio State University with his Bachelor of Arts in English. He earned his Master of Education in Educational Leadership from Ohio Dominican University in 2013.
Derek Roeth
Derek Roeth, who recently completed his third year as Fairfield Career Center Director and sixth overall at FCC, will transition into a new role that has been created to serve students at all levels of the district. Beginning August 1, Roeth will begin as the district’s first Career Readiness Coordinator which is aimed at linking students with work-based learning and employment opportunities to ensure students are ready to embark upon their post-graduation pathway.
Prior to holding the FCC Director role, Roeth served as the assistant director from 2015-2018. He joined Eastland-Fairfield prior to the 2007 school year as the programming and software development instructor before moving into the assistant director position.
Holly Griffin
Eastland-Fairfield has also chosen Holly Griffin to assume the recently opened Eastland Career Center assistant director role. Griffin joins EFCTS from the Liberty Union-Thurston Local school district after serving as its middle and high school assistant principal for four years and spending the 2020-21 academic year successfully guiding the high school through the COVID-19 pandemic as its interim principal.
Prior to her time at Liberty Union, Griffin spent seven years (2009-16) teaching at Canal Winchester High School, primarily in the areas of English and literature. A Texas native, Griffin began her teaching career in 2000 where she spent eight years educating students at Vidor High School (Vidor, Texas) and Robert E. Lee High School (Tyler, Texas) before moving to Ohio. Griffin holds her Bachelor of Arts in English from Lamar University (Beaumont, Texas) and her Master of Education from Ashland University.
Griffin will fill the vacancy created by Dwight Carter’s acceptance of the district level position of Director of Student Support Systems.
“We are thrilled to have Matt [McGregor] and Holly [Griffin] join our team, and for Derek [Roeth] to support all Eastland-Fairfield students in his new role,” said EFCTS Superintendent and CEO, Dr. Kimberly Pietsch Miller. “I believe Mr. Roeth will excel dedicating himself to preparing our students for their futures, and that Mr. McGregor and Ms. Griffin bring diverse experiences, which will strengthen both career centers and our leadership team moving forward.”
Mr. McGregor, Mr. Roeth and Ms. Griffin will begin their new positions on August 1, 2021.