Week In Review: Police Commendations, New Fire Equipment, New Principals

although all the administrators come from within the district.

• Ledyard Middle School Principal Joe Chella moved to a different district and Ledyard Center School principal Greg Keith will take over as middle school principal.
• Dr. Susan Nash-Ditzel, who was the assistant principal of the Juliet Long School, is now the principal of the Center School.
• Robin Lipman, a school psychologist, is filling the Assistant Principal position at the Juliet W. Long School for the year.
• Amanda Fagan is the new principal of the high school, she was hired after Louis Gabordi announced his retirement.
• Dr. Pamela Austen is the principal of Gallup Hill School. She replaced departing principal Dr. Jennifer Byars.
• Principal Ann Hogsten remains the principal at Juliet W. Long School and is the only principal returning to the same school this year.

The Town of Ledyard awarded four letters of commendation to the .

Ledyard Resident State Trooper Sgt. James Gilman, police officer Alan Muench, Sgt. Scott Peterson and State Trooper First Class Gary Butters, who was off-duty at the time but lives in the area, were first on the scene at the mid-morning crash in March.

was driving east on Long Cove Road. She went around a bend in the road and swerved to avoid another car, she said. She then lost control of the vehicle, which crashed through a stone wall and rolled over a couple times.

Taylor was partially ejected from the vehicle and she was found at the scene stuck under the Ford Explorer she was driving. The officers lifted up the car and pulled Taylor to safety

"I was pretty happy and kept thanking them for saving me," she said in an interview after the accident.

The (and Ledyard residents) was the lucky recipient of a brand new thermal camera, said Fire Chief John Doucette in an announcement Thursday.

The thermal camera is a big improvement from the one the department already has, which was issued in 2001. Doucette said the older model is much larger and the technology has improved greatly since the first generation of thermal cameras. 

Doucette said the cameras can see through smoke and detect things that are generating heat. Moreover, the cameras can also differentiate the different degrees of heat generated by say a person, an animal or the heart of the fire.

. The Town of Ledyard was given $40,000 to put toward a new van for senior citizens and the Town Council just voted to accept the money Wednesday. The Town has to kick in $12,000 toward the purchase of the van, and Lauren Rapp, the director of the senior center is aiming for a top of the line 2013 model with the latest technology. She said the new van, which will be purchased within a year, will provide a smoother ride and require less lifting and reduce strain on the driver.