Board Members

President: Mark Gilbert
Email: [email protected]
Mark was elected to the Board of Education in November 2017. Mark is a lifelong Colerain Township community member. Mark has been employed in the medical field for 30 years where he now works as the Regional Manager for Steele Valley Radiology. He is a graduate of Mt. Healthy High School and earned his Radiology degree at the University of Cincinnati.

Mark has been married to his wife Tia for 28 years and they have two children. Tia is employed at The Christ Hospital as an RN in the surgical services department. Their son Brandon, 22, and a Colerain Class of 2015. Brandon earned his Master Degree in 2019 and is now enrolled in Seminary School at West Seminary in Portland Oregon. Hannah, 14, currently attends Colerain High School as a Sophomore. She participates on the Varsity Golf team and is active in the Student Senate and Honor Society. Mark is most proud of their community engagement and mission work they participate in around the world.

The Gilberts attend White Oak Christian Church where they participate in many functions within the church as well as participate in Missions around the world.

Mark's is proud of the impact Northwest Local School District has had, and is having on his children. He firmly believes it takes a village to provide the most for our children. It is his desire to repay that impact in his role as a board member. His desire is to improve community awareness of the inner workings of the district. Mark is also passionate about connecting the district to the supporting townships to strengthen the community as a whole.

Vice President: Jim Detzel
Email: [email protected]

Mr. Jim Detzel was re-elected in November 2019 for his 4th term on the school board. He continues to serve as the Butler Tech Board representative from the Northwest Local School District. He serves on the Board Development/Effectiveness committee at Butler Tech,and the legislative committee also. He thoroughly enjoys his work on both boards and one of his goals is to increase the number of students from our district to enroll in the Butler Tech programs. “With the opening of the new Bio-Science Building, the opportunities for our students are endless.” “We have so many partnerships including West Chester Hospital, the students can get a jump start on their careers while they are still in high school!" Jim continues his work for the Community Partners For Education as the Treasurer, and is ecstatic over the passage of the levy in November! “It is now time to move forward and get these new schools built for the students of our district.” He continues to serve on additional district committees including the building committee.

Mr. Jim Detzel has been the Owner of Detzel Insurance Agency since 1979. Jim is married to his wife Pam and they have three daughters - Ashley, Brittany and Lyndsay. He also has two grandsons Gavin and Cooper that lives in the Northwest District. Jim is a graduate of Northwest High School,class of 1978. Mr. Detzel is a volunteer coach at Colerain High School, coaching track and cross country. He enjoys the time he spends getting to know all of the district kids. Jim enjoys watching all sports. He is also a huge Florida Gator fan!

Member Pam Detzel

Email: [email protected]

Mrs. Pam Detzel has been a member of the Northwest Local School Board since 1998. Mrs. Detzel has been married to her husband Jim Detzel for 37 years and are both Graduates of Northwest High School. They have three grown daughters - Ashley, Brittany and Lyndsay. The 3 girls are all Colerain High School Grads. They also have 3 Grandsons. Jakob, Gavin and Coop. Gavin and Cooper are future Monfort Heights Musketeers! They are also very excited to welcome a Granddaughter in May! Pam is co-owner of the Detzel Insurance Agency. She enjoys spending time with her family, the theater, music, traveling, fantasy football and being actively involved in the Northwest Local School District!

With great determination and a lot of hard work, we successfully passed our Operating Levy this past November. I currently serve on the Districts Health Insurance Committee, Finance Committee and I am looking forward to becoming the Student Liaison once again. Our students deserve the very best! State of the art buildings was only the beginning! My wish remains the same….. I wish all of our community members would take the time to visit one of our schools in the Northwest Local School District to see first-hand the many challenges and success stories that we face on a daily basis. Better yet, VOLUNTEER! Our dedicated staff work hard each and every day to provide a quality education for ALL STUDENTS! We have students that excel both in and out of the classroom. Many of our graduates join the armed services, attend a 2 or 4 year university and/or move directly into the workforce. Our students have the opportunity to learn specific skills by attending Butler Tech Programs. We have numerous award winning fine arts programs as well as athletic teams. Each year our Seniors earn millions of dollars in scholarship money to further their education. Our students learn at a very early age the importance of volunteering. I am very proud of our students and staff.

Member: Joe Yoshimura
Email: [email protected]

It is a pleasure working on the Northwest School Board of Education.

Joe is originally from Chicago, Illinois. After graduating from St. Ignatius College Prep High School, he attended Xavier University where he received his B.A. in Political Science and his M.A. in History. (Joe completed his research in graduate school while living on a Native American reservation in Montana.) Joe is married to Martha, his "sounding board." He has three wonderful children: 1) Eric (B.S. in Biology, University of Cincinnati) 2) Amy (B.A. in Business, Ohio State University), and 3) Sarah (B.S. in Biology, University of Dayton and an M.S. John Carroll University). Joe has seven grandchildren, and he strongly believes in instilling the importance of education to his children.

Joe taught in the Cincinnati Public School District for 35+years, and he also taught at Walnut Hills High School for the last 27 years. In 1998, Joe was given the coveted Golden Apple award for excellence in teaching. In 2009, he was awarded the most prestigious: The University of Cincinnati-USA Educator of the Year.

Joe was a member of the Cincinnati Federation of Teachers and served on the union executive council. He served on the Diversity Council for OHSAA in Columbus, Ohio. He also umpired men's softball and was an official for varsity basketball for 27 years becoming the first Asian to officiate a state final in the state of Ohio.

On March 23, 2019, Joe was awarded the OHSBCA HALL OF HONOR AWARD. This award is given to individuals who have provided exemplary service to Ohio High School Basketball. He was voted in by the high school basketball coaches of District 16.

Member: Matt Tietsort
Email: [email protected]

Matt Tietsort is a lifelong resident of Colerain Township and attended Northwest Schools. Mr. Tietsort has been married to his wife Angie for 25 years. They have four sons together, Alex (Colerain c/o 2012), Noah (Colerain c/o 2015), Sam (Colerain c/o 2018), and Daniel (Colerain c/o 2023). Matt has been a Boy Scout leader for 19 years and most recently was Scoutmaster of Troop 828. Matt is also a Trustee of The Coleraine Historical Society. Matt enjoys Colerain Cardinals Football, Reds baseball, traveling with his family, attending musical concerts, and Monster Trucks with his sons.