Letters to the Editor
Transformative Investment
When I saw the final tally of the Berkshire Schools Bond Issue votes roll in Tuesday (May 8) night, I could not have been more proud of my neighbors.
The majority recognized the vital importance of investing in education, our children and our future. This investment will be transformative for our community.
I am grateful that our state representatives realized this need a few years ago and created an instrumental piece of legislation that will provide the additional funding necessary for this project.
As a business owner in Geauga County, education is a critical issue. We rely on a well-educated pool of candidates for the nearly 1,000 jobs at our Hiram facility. And, our employees are more likely to relocate and stay in the area if they know that the quality of education will support their children’s future.
Congratulations to the team that worked tirelessly to inform and encourage citizens to vote for the bond, and congratulations to all those who work and learn at Berkshire Schools.
John Epprecht
Great Lakes Cheese
Troy Township
Investment in Our Future
The Citizens for Chardon Schools committee would like to thank our campaign committee, community, parents, Chardon teachers and staff, and business leaders for their generous support of Issue 3.
During this process, you asked thoughtful questions, participated in the process and believed in our community enough that you were willing to invest your hard earned dollars towards our future.
We witnessed parents, educators and business leaders working together to show our community that Chardon kids matter.
We saw students and families learning about our election process by participating in our door-to-door campaign.
Thank you to every one of the 3,552 YES votes who showed up for the children of the Chardon Local School district! We appreciate your support!
Gabrielle Boose
Jodi Clute
Melanie Scanlon
Thank You, Berkshire Community
How is it possible to thank an entire community for supporting Berkshire Local Schools?
About six years ago, I was asked to attend a meeting at the Geauga County Educational Service Center. Matt Galemmo, who was at that time the superintendent, was discussing consolidation of schools in Geauga County. While I can say then that I thought each school was fine, why do we need to look at consolidation. As I researched information, I found all the districts in the county were losing students and finances were stretched in every school district.
Along the way there were many roadblocks and disappointments that we would face, but we never lost faith.
Fast forward a couple years and we successfully merged the Ledgemont school community into our district. There are so many fine people I have met and they are a warm and caring community, as is ours. It truly has been a great fit.
We had been working with Kent State already and the group of supporters continued to grow as did our monthly meetings. It seemed the more people that attended, the stronger the initiative became.
While it ended up we had to go it alone, Tracy Jemison and Beth McCaffrey continued to keep moving forward with information gathering and meeting on top of meeting to keep the project alive. Jarrod Tudor, then Dean of Kent State Geauga, brokered all the meetings and his passion for providing education was critical. John Patterson, our state representative, engaged with all branches of our state government and reached across the aisle to ensure we would receive the funding that we deserved.
Then along comes our new superintendent, John Stoddard. No one I have ever met in the education system is as passionate and hard working as John. Before he even officially took office, he had convinced Kent State Pres. Dr. Beverly Warren of the need to allow Berkshire to build a school on their campus. We are blessed to have John as the leader of our school.
Now we have partners such as Pat Preston and Margot Copeland, with Key Bank Foundation, that see the value in this project. So many others in the business community have supported us for a lifetime and are ready and eager to step up as well. One such family is the Epprecht family. How is it possible to thank John, Kurt and Heidi. They have shown to be caring and gracious family that we are proud to call graduates from our school.
During the campaign, I have to recognize the following for their tireless effort. Rich Frenchie, Jody Miller, Joel Hoar, Don Hornak, John Bonner, Lee Imhof, Mandy Randles and my fellow board member Bryan Wadsworth, who has been a great advocate for our students. Not only is he a great board member, he one of the best organizers of schedules.
There are countless others that contributed that are appreciated as well. Your efforts will and are always appreciated.
I also have to thank the spouses who have had to put up with the late nights and peaks and valleys they have had to endure with us. Debbie, Tom, Bonnie, Rena and Pam — we are lucky that you have always been there for us.
As for me, I have a person to thank because, as a young student, he would never let me settle nor would he accept that I could not work harder or be a better person. Cliff Radie taught and coached at Newbury and Ledgemont schools. He had seven state champions, countless state qualifiers, a state championship in 1986, Coach of the Year and recently Hall of Fame in the state of Ohio. With all the trophies and accolades, I would argue his greatest accomplishment was taking an average athlete who did not work as hard as he could and convinced him to never back down, back up or back away from a challenge.
Cliff Radie pushed me harder because he knew I had more to offer. It is because of him this school will be built. Isn’t it interesting a teacher had so much influence on a student, that it would drive him to never let a project die even with all people that tried to derail the building of this school.
When you have the chance, pick up the phone and thank that teacher or coach that made a difference in your life. This is why education is so important and can never be taken for granted. A voter told me he was voting “yes” because someone voted “yes” so he could get an education.
Thank you to all the Berkshire community for the support of our schools and we look forward to you all walking the hallways of the new school in the near future.
John Manfredi, Member
Berkshire Schools Board of Education
