Life briefs: Honors for local scholars and Mansfield sailor, Galion coloring book and more

Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center, Ohio ESC Association recognize top scholars

MANSFIELD − The Ohio Educational Service Center Association (OESCA) recognized Ohio’s top students during the 34th annual Franklin B. Walter All-Scholastic Awards Program.

The winner for Richland County is Bree Fellows from Plymouth-Shiloh Local Schools. The winner for Crawford County is Kaya Capretta from Galion City Schools. The winner for Morrow County Kylee Bilancini from Northmor Local Schools.

The awards program, named in honor of Ohio’s 31st state superintendent of public instruction, Franklin B. Walter, was established in 1989 by OESCA to promote and recognize outstanding student leaders for their academic achievement and service to their schools and communities. One senior from each county in Ohio was eligible to receive this annual honor.

Applicants must be a high school senior enrolled in a public school within an ESC’s service region and are required to demonstrate outstanding academic achievement and community service as indicated by high school grades, test scores, school and community activities, and awards.

Mansfield native named Naval Base San Diego SAPR Admin Unit Victim Advocate of the Year

MILLINGTON, TENN. — Chief Petty Officer Maya Francis, a native of Mansfield, was named Naval Base San Diego Sexual Assault Prevention and Response (SAPR) Admin Unit Victim Advocate of the Year serving aboard USS Makin Island.

SAPR services works to prevent and eliminate sexual violence and promote healing and empowerment for people of all genders and ages who are affected by rape, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, sexual exploitation, stalking and sexual harassment.

Francis, a 2008 graduate of Mansfield Senior HIgh School, joined the Navy 11 years ago. She says skills and values required to succeed in the military are similar to those found in Mansfield.

"As a child, I often followed alongside my mother to various work functions, meetings and community service events," Francis said. "I believe that this influenced my work ethic and passion for service, which has contributed tremendously to success in my naval career."

Francis serves as a hospital corpsman responsible for providing outpatient medical care to active duty military personnel, military retirees and their family members.

According to Navy officials, USS Makin Island is the eighth and final wasp-class amphibious assault ship and the second ship in the Navy to be named for Makin Island, target of the Marine Raiders' Makin Island raid early on in the United States' involvement in World War II. Operating out of San Diego, California, Makin is crewed by more than 1,000 sailors and can embark more than 1,600 Marines.

ROAR Art Clubs unite to bring creative joy to Galion Primary School students

GALION − The High School and Middle School ROAR art clubs have come together to create a unique and colorful 10-page coloring book that will be used in the Primary School ROAR Program. The book is centered around a positive school experience, helping young students to explore their creativity while discovering the many positive aspects of the educational journey.

The Galion City Schools Resources, Opportunities, Achievement & Readiness (ROAR) Program is a before and after-school program designed to provide students with opportunities for fun and engaging hands-on learning. Aside from academic tutoring and homework assistance, ROAR offers youth enrichment activities in areas of leadership and personal growth, community connections via service-based learning, social-emotional learning, random acts of kindness and more.

The ROAR program is devoted to inspiring positive qualities by motivating students to collaborate for the greater good, as well as donating their time and efforts towards district programs such as Service Learning.

Some of the students involved in the project delivered copies to Primary School Tigers during their before and after-school ROAR sessions prior to spring break.

Student art exhibition at Richland Academy

Richland Academy of the Arts is presenting its 2023 Spring High School Student Exhibition featuring works by local high school students through May 6 in the Snyder Art Gallery.

The art on display features an assortment of mediums, including painting with coffee, mask making and jewelry techniques such as metalsmithing. The subject matter of the exhibit ranges from abstracted recognizable forms to the completely abstracted forms of neurographic art. Each piece demonstrates the student's creativity and skillful knowledge of their medium.

Richland Academy is located at the corner of Fourth and Walnut streets in downtown Mansfield.

Mid-Ohio Mentoring holding raffle

Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring is sponsoring a raffle with the chance to win two Tickets to Paradise.

The grand prize is a $1,500 Caribbean cruise on the Carnival Cruise Line and $500 toward airline tickets to the port of call. Two additional winners will be chosen and will receive either an overnight stay at the Carlisle Inn in Sugarcreek, dinner at Dutch Valley Restaurant and two tickets to the Ohio Star Theatre or an overnight stay at Landoll's Castle, including a dinner for two at the Copper Mug and a wine basket from Hudson & Essex.

Raffle tickets are $20 each. Proceeds go to the youth of Mid-Ohio Youth Mentoring. The drawing will be April 29 live on Facebook. Ticket-buyers do not have to be present to win.

For more information and tickets, call 419-525-4618, visiting midohioyouthmentoring.com or Facebook.

AU selects Dan Fox as dean of College of Business and Economics

ASHLAND — Ashland University iannounces following a national search Daniel Fox has been appointed as the new dean of the Dauch College of Business and Economics (COBE), effectively immediately.

As interim dean since May 2022, Fox created an environment for operational excellence and developed a visual representation of how faculty, staff and students will be successful in COBE. He finalized 13 MBA certifications, successfully moved industrial and systems engineering degree through the accreditation process and diligently worked to enhance faculty presence and engagement in area high schools. He was also instrumental in maintaining the college’s ACBSP accreditation and continuing the work toward Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business accreditation.

Fox joined AU in 2004 and has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in management, entrepreneurship, finance, business law and accounting as a tenured associate professor. In addition to teaching, Fox has been published in many prestigious journals and has presented at more than 50 professional conferences. He is both a licensed Ohio attorney and a certified public accountant.

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Franklin B. Walter scholars, Navy honor, Galion ROAR, Richland Academy