Life briefs: OSBA awards, educational honors, Ohio Bird Sanctuary, AU speakers
Galion teacher, community member recognized by Ohio School Boards Association
GALION — The Galion City Schools Board of Education nominated Instrumental Music Teacher Luke Warkall and community member and school volunteer Brian Treisch for awards at the Ohio School Board Association Central Region Fall Conference held Sept. 21.
Warkfall was nominated for the Exemplary School Employee Award for his work as the instrumental music instructor. Hired as band director in 2020, he was instrumental in expanding the instrumental music program from less than 60 students across grades 5-12 in fall 2021 to over 170 students today. Students have come to know Warkfall as an unconventional and uniquely encouraging instructor, after he enthusiastically recruited students to join the band during lunch every day for the first month of school.
The Board also recommended Brian Treisch for the Friend of Public Education award, recognizing his long history of working to support the students of the community and the district. For the past 40 years, Treisch has shared his love of music and worked to make a difference with the students of Galion through his position as assistant director for marching band, jazz band, GHS musicals, and the community swing band. He currently serves as the director of the Connections Committee, working to recognize individuals who have made a difference in the Galion community and raising funds to one day erect a performing arts center for the vocal and instrumental programs.
Pioneer Students of the Month recognized by board
SHELBY — The Pioneer Career and Technology Center Board recently recognized Harley Thomas and Zach Berry as PCTC'S Students of the Month for September. Thomas, a senior from Colonel Crawford High School, is enrolled in the media communications program and is the daughter of Shawn (Melissa)Thomas and Christina Thomas. In the future, she plans to attend college to become a preschool teacher or a neonatal nurse so she can work with babies in the NICU.
Berry is enrolled in the collision repair program at Pioneer. The junior from Ontario High School is the son of Kevin and Julie Berry. In the future he plans to work in a collision repair shop as a painter.
Local college students earn scholarships at Baldwin Wallace University
BEREA — Students from this area were among over 700 students who earned scholarships at Baldwin Wallace University this fall. They are: Haylee Baker of Shelby, majoring in finance, earned the Richard & Glenna Eldredge Scholarship; Jensen Kurtzman of Shelby, majoring in pre-athletic training, earned the Jochum-Moll Scholarship and the Judge Harvey C. Wilcox Scholarship; and Kate Wildenthaler of Galion, majoring in public relations, earned the George & Fran Boyer Scholarship.
BW offers a wide range of financial support to its students — more than $52 million for the 2022-2023 academic year.
Johnny Cash tribute coming to the Renaissance Theatre
The Renaissance Theatre welcomes Terry Lee Goffee’s “The World’s Premier Johnny Cash Tribute” on Friday.
Among the 34 songs included in the tribute are such Cash classics as: “A Boy Named Sue”, “Sunday Morning Coming Down”, “I Walk The Line”, “Ring Of Fire”, “Folsom Prison Blues” and “Hurt”.
Tickets for The World’s Premier Johnny Cash Tribute are on sale now beginning at $15 and are available online at rentickets.org/event/the-worlds-premier-johnny-cash-tribute-terry-lee-goffee or at the Box Office noon to 5 p.m. Tuesday-Friday.
Ohio Bird Sanctuary host Easels with Elliott
If you like wine and painting nights, Easels with Elliott is the perfect event for you from 5-6:30 p.m. on Nov. 4 and 5 at the Ohio Bird Sanctuary. Each guest will enjoy wine and get to paint their canvas, then Elliott — the sanctuary's resident Black Vulture ambassador — has been trained to leave painted tracks on top.
The cost is $60 for admission with wine and $50 without wine. The price includes a one-of-a-kind canvas you take home. A portion of the proceeds will be donated to the Black Vulture cause.
Register online through the website event calendar.
AU to host two speakers
Bo Wang, cofounder and CEO of ZeoVation, Inc., will be the speaker for Ashland University’s sixth annual “Lab to Marketplace” seminar at 7:30 p.m. Thursday. This year’s event returns to Ronk Lecture Hall in the Dwight Schar College of Education after recently being virtual-only (there will not be an online option this year). The event is free and open to the public.
Wang’s presentation, “Building Scarcity Value Across Fields: Zeolite Technology Development + Commercialization,” will focus on innovative zeolite materials in the applications of antimicrobial, anti-odor and batteries. For more information, contact Paul Hyman at phyman@ashland.edu or 419-207-6309.
Richard Veres, the founder of Highland Consulting Associates, Inc., will return to Ashland University to be the featured speaker of the Gordon E. Heffern Lecture on Christian Ethics in Business on Nov. 1, at the John C. Myers Convocation Center (638 Jefferson St.). Doors open at 11:30 a.m. for the event, with lunch served at 11:45. It is open to the public, but those interested in attending should RSVP by Oct. 24 to au-cobe@ashland.edu.
Veres, a member of the Ashland men’s basketball team that played in the 1977 NCAA Tournament, launched Highland from scratch along with co-founders Marc Williams and Bill Kinde. They saw a gap in the investment advisory marketplace for many organizations and proposed to close that gap by serving clients as fiduciary and investor advocates. Under Veres’ leadership, Highland has experienced remarkable success since 1993, having built a client base that holds assets totaling $18 billion today and an annual client retention rate of nearly 99%.
This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Educational honors and recognitions for several area residents
