Mentor Schools BOE Recognizes Award Winners for Excellence in Teaching, Outstanding Service

The Board of Education recognized some of the district's best teachers, support staff and students during its meeting Tuesday night.

The district administrators gave away 10 awards to school employees — four to support staff for outstanding service, six to educators for excellence in teaching.

The outstanding-service award winners were:

• Laurie Deitmen, a classroom assistant at
• Beverly Frischkorn, the switchboard operator and receptionist at the district's
• Tracy Gibson, a food server at
• Judith Ivancic, a classroom assistant at

This year's excellence-in-teaching winners were:

• Jill Kilpeck, a fourth-grade teacher at
• Kerri Klein, a reading teacher at
• Alice Marthe, a reading teacher at Lake
• Mariana Barisic, an intervention specialist at
• Judy Fritinger, an English teacher at
• Renee Nasca, a guidance counselor at

Three Mentor students were also recognized for receiving college scholarships from the Board. They were:

• Monika Martic, who will study computer science at Mount Union
• , who will major in physical therapy and sports rehabilitation at Duquesne University
• Carli Dugan, who will also study physical therapy at Baldwin Wallace.

Finally, the Board swore in as its newest member.

Sparacia replaced , who resigned from the board on Aug. 1.

Sparacia has served on the School Board before. He was appointed to a vacated seat in 2004 during a fiscal emergency. He was then elected in 2005 to finish serving that unexpired term through Dec. 31, 2007.

"I think we're going to have some big challenges ahead and I look forward to helping," he said during the meeting.