Megan Champagne

Megan Champagne, named Lorain County JVS’s principal in late 2025, has been gathering relevant experience for this demanding role much of her life. Champagne grew up in Columbia Station where her grandfather was a teacher and her father a school board member. She also has been a school board member and knows Lorain County well. Being an educator, she says, was more or less in her DNA.

Champagne joined Lorain County JVS in 2011 as an English teacher and in 2018 moved into several administrative positions. Her responsibilities have included student discipline, managing student services and keeping curriculum current.

The school, located in Oberlin, has an enrollment of more than 1,400 high school students and 500 adult learners from 13 associate school districts. Champagne says the school’s biggest mission is “to help every single student find success in their career.” And that is a gift to the families of Lorain County. 

 

What’s the most challenging part of your job right now?

 

“There are a lot of moving parts that I must transition between during the course of the day. You go from dealing with details to strategic planning. We are also in a climate where we don’t necessarily know what funding will look like. But I am a really detail-oriented person.And much of what we do is problem solving, so that can be challenging.”

 

What do you see as your main focus as a leader?

 

“I look at servant leadership in the sense that we are all here to serve the families of Lorain County. My job is to recognize that everyone in our building is working very hard to that end. How can I support those people? And I want parents and our associate schools to know that we love what we do, that we are invested in the care of their children.”

 

How did your childhood influence you?

 

“My family rarely said no if I wanted to try anything. That support early on has translated to what I can do. Now I live next to my sister and my parents and they still play a big role in my life.”   

 

Latest personal challenge?

 

“I have three kids, two son and a daughter. They all ski so they are teaching me.”

 

FAVORITES

Book: The Lion Women of Tehran by Marjan Kamali

Article of clothing: “Sweaters. I think it is a teacher thing.”

Sports: “I am a Guards fan. And my daughter plays basketball so of course we watch a lot of those games.”

Stress reliever: “I like spending time outside. I have a vegetable garden (cherry tomatoes!) and I also like houseplants.”