Claymont Alumni Awards ceremony set for May 14
The Claymont Foundation will host its Alumni Awards ceremony on Saturday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. at the Claymont High School Auditeria.
In addition to the Alumni Award Winners and the Teacher of the Year, the Foundation will recognize the Classroom and Building Grant Award winners and the Scholarship recipients. Earlier in the school year, $38,870.45 was awarded for Classroom and Building Grants. Over $168,000 will be awarded in scholarships to current high school seniors, current collegiate students and Buckeye Career Center students.
Light refreshments will be served prior to the Awards Ceremony. No reservations are necessary for the awards presentation.
The Alumni Award winners and Teacher of the Year are:
Distinguished Alumnus Award
Lisa Brindley is a 1976 graduate of Claymont High School. She earned a Bachelor of Nursing degree in 1980 from Akron University and a master’s degree in Early Childhood Education in 1983 along with additional graduate work from Kent State University.
In high school, Brindley was a member of the first Claymont girls basketball and track teams and a member of the Claymont Marching Hundred. Early on, she worked at both Fab Ohio and Zifaro’s Pizza locally, then at numerous hospitals located in Ohio, Arkansas and Tennessee as a cardiac nurse and nursing educator. She also worked in the field of education at Head Start, Early Intervention and as an Early Childhood Education Faculty Member at Kent State Tuscarawas, from where she will retire in May.
Brindley is a member of Sacred Heart Catholic Church where she is both a lector and Eucharist minister with her husband Robert. She has co-chaired the Tuscarawas County Walk for Life for the past 10 years. She also coached the girls’ volleyball and basketball teams at St. Mary’s grade school.
She enjoys bass fishing, playing volleyball and tennis and walking with her husband and her dog Joe. She and Robert have been married for 42 years and have three children: Meghan, Kate, and Zane. Her parents are Robert and Ardeth Cerana.
Alumnus Achievement Award
Robert M. Archer is a 1953 graduate of Uhrichsville High School. He graduated form Case Institute of Technology in 1957 and received his Master’s in Business Administration from Kent State University in 1961.
Archer began working at the Hoover Company in North Canton, in 1957. He taught training courses for Hoover management employees and undergraduate evening classes at the Kent State Canton Campus from 1961-65. Archer worked in St. Louis, Missouri for Hoover, White Motors in Cleveland, Ohio and Brown Group in Ashland.
Archer and five partners purchased Kent Watersports from Brown Group in 1980. Kent has grown organically and via 35 acquisitions. Company Brands include O'Brien, Connelly, HO/HYPERLITE, Liquid Force, Absolute Outdoor, Onyx, Kidder, Full Throttle, Arbor Snowboards and Aqua Glide. Kent products are sold worldwide and Kent manufactures and sells more Life Jackets than anyone else in the world.
He serves on the Board of Trustees at Ashland University, the Canton-Akron Advisory Board of Huntington Bank, the Business College Advisory Board of Kent State University and is a lifetime member of the Ashland Family YMCA Board of Trustees.
Archer and his wife, Janet, have been married for 65 years and reside in Ashland. They have three children and seven grandchildren.
Citizen of the Year
Brenda Burdette is a 1977 graduate of Claymont High School. She has been employed at Claymont Health & Rehab for the past 19 years. She started as the Admissions and Marketing Director, and now works in Social Services. She is known for her dedication to the residents and was recently named “Department Head of the Month” for going above and beyond every day.
Since graduating from High School she has held many different positions in the healthcare field.
Burdette grew up in the Twin Cities and loves being as involved as she can. She devotes her spare time in the community to the Dennison Rotary, Clayland Lions Club and Union Hospital Auxiliary. In addition, she is a long time board member of the Twin City Chamber of Commerce where she currently serves as President. Burdette also volunteers for the Clay Museum and enjoyed organizing the Queen’s Tea. In 2020 she received the Twin City Award from the Twin City Chamber of Commerce.
She and her husband, Scott, reside in Dennison. Together they have three sons and seven grandchildren with whom they love spending time.
Alumnus of the Year
Bob Brick is a 1979 graduate of Claymont High School. He is a 1983 graduate of The University of Akron with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science and a 1986 graduate of Johns Hopkins University with a Master of Science in Software Engineering.
Brick’s employment history includes, Co-op Student Software Engineer at National Security Agency (NSA), Booz-Allen and Hamilton: Project Management and Software Development Consultant, Halliburton / Brown and Root: Software Engineering and Quality Assurance Program Development Manager, Rapid Systems Solutions: Regional Vice President (Southeast), Condor Technology Solutions: Vice President of Acquisitions, Market Development and Strategic Projects and Agile Networks: Co-Founder (with Claymont Graduate Kyle Quillen), CEO and Board Chair.
He is a Real Estate Investor, Angel Investor for the North Carolina High Country Impact Fund (HCIF), Blue Ridge Mountain Club Advisory Board Chair and Member Spanish Wells Golf Club, Hilton Head.
He enjoys golfing, traveling with family and Buckeye football.
Brick is the son of Carol (and the late John) Brick. He is married to Wendy Gram-Brick (C ’79) and they have one daughter, Kaitlin.
Teacher of the Year
Shawna Hupp has taught at Claymont High School since 2001. In her 21 years at the high school, she has taught Pre-Algebra, Algebra I, Geometry, Algebra II, College Algebra and ACT Prep.
She served as a junior high track coach for four years and has coordinated the high school’s annual field day, “The Clay’lympics” for the past five years. Additionally, she is a member of the “Leader in Me” Adult Lighthouse Team which helps oversee and coordinate the “Leader in Me” program designed to empower students with the leadership and life skills they need to thrive in the 21st century.
“I am so grateful to be selected as the Claymont Foundation Teacher of the Year for 2022. After a difficult few years, it has meant so much to be able to connect with my students more easily and in person this year. They are the reason I do what I do, and it has truly been a blessing to teach at Claymont for the past 21 years,” stated Hupp.
“I’ve wanted to be a teacher since I was a little girl — I felt called to do it. I used to prepare lessons for my younger sister and make her do them when we were kids, although she never seemed to mind. When I’m in the middle of a lesson in a room full of students, and they’re engaged and happy — those are the moments when I feel happiest and most like myself. Everything just seems to click. My favorite moments are when I finally get a reluctant learner to trust me. When they realize it’s safe to make a mistake in my class and that I truly am their ally, that’s when everything changes for them. Those are the best days,” concluded Hupp.
Hupp graduated from Claymont High School in 1997. She graduated from Ohio University with a Bachelor of Science in both Secondary Math and Health Education. She earned a Master of Science in Sport Science and Coaching from Akron University. She has also received training to provide instruction for gifted students.
She has been married to Ben Hupp for nearly 20 years. Together, they have two children: Brady and Alli. The family resides in Dover and enjoys traveling, hiking and going on adventures together.
The Claymont Foundation, Inc. is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization established to enhance the educational opportunities for the Claymont City Schools.
This article originally appeared on The Times-Reporter: Claymont Alumni Awards ceremony set for May 14
