Meet Your Neighbor: Bill Young takes 88 Counties lesson on the road

GREEN SPRINGS - Bill Young, a longtime Clyde-Green Springs Schools educator, is taking the classroom on the road.

Young and his daughter, Darcy Young, both of Green Springs, are on a mission to visit all of Ohio’s 88 counties. At each stop, which begins with a visit to the county courthouse, Darcy videos Bill talking about the unique history and pop culture of the county — like the little-known fact that the Norovirus was named after Norwalk in Huron County.

The videos can be viewed on their YouTube channel, “Ohio’s 88 Counties.”

Former students won’t be surprised by Bill’s mission. Each year, his seventh-grade social studies students were required to memorize Ohio’s 88 counties and write a report on the county of their choice.

“I gave them a blank map of Ohio, and they had to fill in the 88 counties and the county seats. That’s a lot of studying for a seventh grader,” Bill said.

The lessons stuck with his students.

Bill Young's past students still recall his '88 Counties' lesson

“I see former students, and they tell me they still remember the 88 counties,” Bill said. “It’s always gratifying to me when I see the students and they have these great memories of the class.”

Young retired after 38 years of teaching social studies to grades 6 through 12, most of which was spent in the Clyde-Green Springs School District. Today, he substitutes in Clyde, Green Springs and Bellevue schools, where he’s known as “Mr. Y, the social studies guy.” In his free time, he travels with Darcy across the state.

“The part that’s interesting is, we don’t have a script and we don’t have notes,” Bill said. “I remember information from the reports my students did, and I do research. It’s been so interesting. We’ve learned a lot.”

When the Youngs visited Huron County, they discovered that the Norovirus was named after Norwalk when a group of schoolchildren became ill with the virus in 1968.

“I had no idea,” Darcy said. “We read about patient one and patient two from Norwalk.”

Daughter says her dad was an exceptional teacher

Darcy, who not only is Bill’s daughter but also was one of his social studies students, said her father is an exceptional educator who has an infectious passion for teaching that created a fun learning environment in the classroom. Now, Bill is recreating that upbeat atmosphere online.

“When I was growing up and we would go to Walmart or Kroger, we would always get stopped, and I’d always hear about the 88 counties. He’s a local celebrity,” Darcy said. “You can watch him talking on the videos, and you can tell he loves what he’s doing. I had him as a teacher, and it’s great seeing him in that habitat again.”

Because Bill is still hearing about the 88 counties from former students, Darcy suggested the video project.

“I told him we should make videos of all 88 counties,” she said. “I love traveling, and I love learning, and he’s a great educator who cared about his students. He had such a fun class. He made social studies interesting for the kids.”

So far, Bill and Darcy have created videos in Sandusky, Seneca and Huron Counties. They recently visited Ottawa County and plan to travel to Erie and Wyandot counties next. Then, it’s on to the rest of the state.

“We call it a legacy project. It’s going to take a while to visit 88 counties, but we’re off to a great start,” Bill said. “I’ve learned a lot, and we’re having fun. I’ve always thought that learning should be fun.”

“Ohio’s 88 Counties” can be viewed at tube.com/watch?v=VrXCeUviT5o.

Contact correspondent Sheri Trusty at  sheritrusty4@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on Fremont News-Messenger: Meet Your Neighbor: Bill Young takes 88 Counties lesson on the road