Thegatewaynews.com - Johnson recently named Streetsboro AD

Bruce Johnson

by Frank Aceto

Associate Sports Editor

"I want to work with the community and the school to get our outside facilities up to where they need to be," said Bruce Johnson, who takes over as the Streetsboro City Schools athletic director Aug. 1.

Johnson, 52, was named the AD last month. The School Board unanimously chose him for the job out of 33 applicants.

"I'm excited about it," Johnson said. "What [Streetsboro] needs to do is right up my alley."

Johnson received a 228-day contract and will make $79,500 when he becomes the AD Aug. 1. He currently has a consulting contract and is in the school district, according to Streetsboro Superintendent Linda T. Keller.

"We are very excited to have him on board," she said. "He will work with our athletic programs across the school district -- K [kindergarten] through 12. We are absolutely tickled to have someone as experienced as Bruce."

Johnson recently retired as Warren Howland High School's activities director -- a position he held for the last eight years.

He also has been a basketball and baseball coach for 22 years.

Johnson coached both sports at Chagrin Falls High School and was named the Associated Press boys basketball coach of the year in 1990.

He guided a Chagrin Falls' team that had a 41-game losing streak to a district championship game during his tenure.

At Chagrin, Johnson, who taught AP History, helped launch "Project Tiger Pride," which raised more than $3 million.

He also played a major role in organizing the All-American Conference.

Prior to his work at Chagrin, Johnson coached both the basketball and baseball programs and was named coach of the year eight times.

One of his baseball teams finished 25-1 and reached the regional competition. During his first year, he guided Matthews' basketball team that had not won a tournament game in 12 years to a district final contest.

Johnson has coached on the collegiate level, too.

He has been an assistant coach with the Grove City (Pa.) College baseball team since 2006.

Grove City was the first Presidents Athletic Conference team to reach the NCAA Regionals during his first year with the program.

In 2008, Johnson received the Gold Coin for integrity in service.

He plans to continue working with the Grove City baseball team on a limited basis.

Johnson, an administrative pastor at Calvary Bible Church in Cortland, replaces interim AD Dave Hostetler, who accepted the position after longtime AD Gary Huber retired in 2008.

"Dave has been a huge help," Johnson said. "He did a tremendous job and I am really impressed with him."

Hostetler will continue to work as a photographer at the high school.

"What Dave did for the school district was tremendous, especially since he took the job at the last minute," Keller said.

Johnson has high hopes at Streetsboro.

"They've got a great tradition here," he said. "Our goal is to create a capital fund-raising project to improve our outside facilities."

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