Emily Donawa tapped as Hiland athletic director, board approval pending

East Holmes Local Schools chose Emily Donawa as the next athletic director at Hiland, a move that keeps the job in familiar hands as the district heads toward another school year. Donawa, who joined East Holmes in August 2025, now teaches at Walnut Creek Elementary and Winesburg Elementary and also coaches junior high girls basketball at Hiland.

The district said Donawa graduated from Mount Vernon Nazarene University and will become the sixth athletic director in Hiland history once the East Holmes Local School District Board of Education gives its approval. She will work alongside current athletic director Seger Bonifant during the transition, a sign that Hiland is aiming for continuity rather than a reset.

That matters in a program as tightly woven into daily life as Hiland athletics. The athletic director oversees more than game dates and bus times. The role affects scheduling, coaching support, eligibility communication, facility use and the tone that shapes sports across multiple grade levels. Donawa’s experience in the classroom and on the junior high basketball bench gives her a direct view of the students and families who move through those systems every day.

Her selection also fits a familiar East Holmes pattern of elevating people who already know the district’s culture. For Hiland families, that can mean fewer growing pains when spring sports, fall scheduling and end-of-year planning collide. Donawa already knows the hallways, the staff expectations and the pace of a school year that often asks one person to balance academics, athletics and student development.

Bonifant’s own path helps explain why the district has leaned on Hiland-connected leadership before. He was hired as athletic director in May 2021 after Art Yoder stepped down at the end of that school year. A 2012 Hiland graduate, Bonifant also made his mark as a player when his buzzer-beating shot sent Hiland past Richmond Heights in the regional championship game.

The athletic department’s reach has also expanded beyond the scoreboard. Hiland Athletics recently announced four new pickleball courts at Hiland High School for community and public use, another reminder that the AD job now touches facilities and public-facing decisions as much as team operations. Hiland High and Middle School sits at 4400 SR 39 in Millersburg, with a mailing address in Berlin, and the latest leadership change keeps that local identity at the center of the district’s next chapter.