Latest news with #SeanO'Donnell
Leader Live
13-06-2025
- General
- Leader Live
Flintshire mould issues almost double due to housing improvement works
A report to the authority's Community and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee this week revealed that in 2022 the council received 450 complaints relating to mould and condensation in tenants' homes. Last year the number was over 850. According to Flintshire County Council's Housing Services Manager Sean O'Donnell, the problem of mould and condensation is being made worse by upgrades to the energy efficiency of social housing under the Welsh Housing Quality Standard (WHQS). By ensuring older homes retain more heat, by default they also retain more moisture making ventilation vital to preventing mould issues. "Mould and condensation continues to be a serious concern for us as a landlord,"said Mr O'Donnell. "We're doing more and more to our tenants homes to make them more thermally efficient in terms of heat retention and that's where ventilation and heating is critical. "The housing stock we have in Flintshire - and across Wales - is the oldest in the UK. In this authority we have 7,400 houses that all have unique characteristics that we need to overcome. "We go above WHQS where we can afford to but the more we undertake improvement works - and this is a concern we've raised with Welsh Government - they're going to create other problems for us. "We understand why we need to get these properties up to an A rating, but we're going to be talking about mould and condensation more and more." Flintshire has allocated a budget of £500,000 to survey, clean and make minor minor repairs linked to mould and condensation issues. "That cost is probably only going to go up," said Mr O'Donnell. "Tenants can help, by keeping an eye out for leaks, drying clothes in ventilated areas, using extraction fans where they are installed. "They can also air the properties regularly, even when cold, to get that dry air in and by keeping on top of cleaning." "We want to work with our tenants, so we would urge them all if they see an issue in their home, report it to us and we can action it."
Yahoo
08-03-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Flathead High School speech coach wins Assistant Coach of the Year
Mar. 7—Flathead High School's Scott O'Donnell was selected as Assistant Coach of the Year for the Montana West District of the National Speech and Debate Association. He will be up for the National Assistant Coach of the Year, which will be awarded during the national speech and debate tournament in June. Scott O'Donnell said the award means a lot and is validation that the work he's doing is making an impact. "It's one of those of those things as a teacher you don't always know if you're doing good for kids. As a coach, it's proof I did something for a community I care about. It's really an honor. There are so many coaches out there who deserve it and put in so much time and effort," he said. Nominated by fellow Flathead speech and debate coach, teaching colleague and father, Sean O'Donnell described him as an enthusiastic coach. "Like many coaches, Scott brings enthusiasm to every practice and tournament and deeply believes in speech and debate. However, his greatest strength is his recognition that we do speech and debate not for trophies, but for the way it changes lives every single day," Sean O'Donnell stated in the nomination letter. A 2020 Flathead graduate, Scott O'Donnell coaches the same short prep events he competed in as a student — extemporaneous speaking and impromptu speaking — for the junior varsity squad. It is his first year coaching at Flathead and he previously coached the Hellgate High School team for three years while attending college. "These are the events I have the most experience in and I want to pass on that knowledge to the next generation of competitors," he said. Sean O'Donnell noted his special skillset in drawing out the talent of "highly independent" albeit "rascally boys." "Beyond competitive success, one of Scott's cornerstone beliefs is that speech and debate will help competitors become better people," Sean O'Donnell said. "Scott's special talent is that he is able to corral these students to be within the guideposts of good behavior, while still allowing them the independence to find joy in the activity. Both at Flathead and at Hellgate, he has developed the relationships to help those students grow and mature, a gift that will help them for years to come," he noted. Scott was also described as an innovator who thinks outside the box when helping individual students find success. "There is no question that Scott O'Donnell's students have had a tremendous amount of success. In his first three years at Hellgate High School, he took a nearly non-existent short prep squad and made it one of the more competitive squads in the state. For the past two years, Maxime Diaz has consistently been a finalist in extemporaneous speaking and was a 2024 NSDA (National Speech and Debate Association) qualifier in extemporaneous speaking. This year, the two students from Flathead that Scott worked with the most extensively were respectively the highest-placing finalists in extemporaneous and impromptu speaking at state. "Although a young coach, he is already making his mark on the competitive success of his squads," Sean O'Donnell said. Reporter Hilary Matheson may be reached at 758-4431 or hmatheson@
