The Ohio Department of Aging, the Ohio Association of Area Agencies on Aging and members of the Ohio General Assembly will induct Dr. Ardath A. Franck of Akron this month into the Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame during a special ceremony at the Statehouse Atrium in Columbus. Throughout her 71-year career as a speech therapist, she was one of the first to use unconventional approaches to help students find success in reading. Today, she contributes to her community as a business owner and serves as a role model for all ages as she remains physically active and vital. The Ohio Senior Citizens Hall of Fame honors Ohioans for outstanding contributions to their professions, their vocations or their communities after age 60. This year’s inductees range in age from 64 to 100.
The College of Wooster this year has four recipients of the prestigious Fulbright Scholar award: Kirstin Holm, Brenda Khor, Angelo Melari and Adrienne Reding. Sponsored by the U.S. Government, the program was established in 1946 in an effort to increase mutual understanding between the people of the United States and citizens of other countries. Holm, a chemistry major from Stow, will be utilizing her Fulbright to do environmental chemistry research in Norway at the University of Oslo. Khor, who was born in Canada to Cambodian immigrants, grew up in Atlanta, and majored in communication studies at Wooster, will continue her unique path to Galicia, Spain, where she’ll be an English teaching assistant. Melari, a native of Sagamore Hills, and chemistry major, is headed to Styria, Austria, located southeast of Vienna, after earning an English teaching assistantship. Reding, who came to Wooster from St. Louis and was a double major in biochemistry and molecular biology and German studies, will also be an English teaching assistant, with her Fulbright taking her to North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany.
Senior nursing students from Kent State University College of Nursing recently presented a health and wellness fair for Alliance Middle School students. The adolescents rotated through four exhibits which focused on positive self-talk, mindfulness and stress management, the importance of sleep, and anti-bullying and building healthy relationships.
Logan Amore, a student at Immaculate Heart of Mary, took first place in the recent St. Ignatius High School Catapult “shark tank” competition for middle schoolers. Logan won $1,000 for his business plan – Amore Hockey Supply, an inexpensive and collapsible hockey training aid.
Nearly 60 students and chaperones from Revere Middle School’s Rachel’s Challenge group surprised people throughout Montrose and Fairlawn on a Saturday last month by offering to pay for groceries and meals and handing out stuffed animals and bouquets of flowers at 16 retailers. The only thing the middle schoolers asked their surprised recipients was to consider starting a chain reaction of kindness or Paying it Forward with another Random Act of Kindness. In its seventh year at Revere Middle School, Rachel’s Challenge is inspired by Rachel Scott, the first victim in the Columbine school shooting in 1999. Her acts of kindness and compassion, coupled with the contents of her six diaries have become the foundation for a national group.
Tuesday Musical has been invited to join one of three Ohio teams in the national Partners in Education program of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C. The program has about 100 partnership teams in nearly 40 states and the District of Columbia. Tuesday Musical has joined an existing Partnership Team in Ohio comprised of the Tri-County Educational Service Center, Wayne Center for the Arts and the College of Wooster. Together, the team members will provide professional arts learning opportunities for teachers throughout northeast Ohio as a way to increase the artistic literacy of young people. Plans for the coming year include visits to high schools in Wooster and Ashland by the Escher String Quartet, Tuesday Musical’s quartet in residence, plus arts integration workshops for classroom teachers.
Summit County Children Services recently recognized several area foster parents for their commitment and service. Retiring foster parents: Kenzie and Deloise Jenkins, Jr., Barbara Carey, and Jeffery and Sharon Fuelling. Thirty years of service: Gladys Johnson and Rose Mary Tucker. Twenty years of service: Carl and Malinda Williams. Fifteen years of service: Betty Abrams. Ten years of service: Sandra and Kelli Buckner, Douglas and Carol Hausknecht, Doris Higgins, Nancy Martin and Walter Harold, Brian and Jane Pearson, Virgil and Kimberly Simmons and Illinois and Susan Wilson, III. Five years of service: Christopher and Anamarie Bolyard, Elizabeth Booth, Michael and Ashley Ekis, Ribu and Arwen John, Timothy and Jennifer Sullivan, Jr. and Christopher and Kelly Tieland. Foster Care Month slogan contest winners: Anthony and Jacqueline Supple, whose slogan, “Families Fix the Inside” was used to celebrate local Foster Care Month activities. To learn more about becoming a foster parent or adoptive parent, call Summit County Children Services at 330-379-1990 or visit www.summitkids.org.
The weekly Good News column features awards and recognitions, military and scholastic achievements, civic accomplishments and other good works. Please fax information to 330-996-3033, email it to goodnews@thebeaconjournal.com or send it to Good News, Akron Beacon Journal, 44 E. Exchange St., Akron, OH 44309. Include a photograph if one is available.