As we all dealt with the ever changing world of Covid in 2020, we saw the best (and sadly, sometimes worst) of people. Some just dealt with things, moved on and waited to see what was coming next, while others refused to just sit back and wait.
Our community has some amazing people who set their minds to thinking outside of the box, adjusting and figuring out how to they could make a difference for others during the shut-downs and the unknown times we faced.
In this edition we will showcase the extraordinary people in our community who made a difference and were nominated by their peers to be “The Villager of The Year”.
Please take some time to read their stories, then visit our Google Form to cast your vote.
The James A Garfield Custodians
Custodians Judi Gyulai, Brenda Benich, Mallory Owens, Laura Borsi, Brian Hites, Joyce Palya, Andy Berecek, Tom Hrdy, Chris Hausch, Ray Kralik, Aida Baker, Debbie Holbrook, Betsy Sago and Kyle Hughes
Clean, disinfect, fill, replace, spray, wipe and repeat. This is a day in the life of our custodial team. For years they have been the people in the background taking great pride in how our buildings looked while getting little recognition because much of their work takes place after hours or behind the scenes. The pandemic thrust them into the most important role in the schools. COVID is not grown in a school building, it is brought in from the outside. Our custodians became our first line of defense against COVID. Their work forever changed on March 13 when the Governor shut schools down and since then they have adjusted to make sure our buildings are safe and clean so kids could return. From backstage to centerstage the JAG custodians are shining brighter than their newly waxed floors!
Dee Synnestvedt
I would like to nominate Dee Synnestvedt for Villager of the Year for 2020. Dee Synnestvedt has been actively involved with the Garrettsville community for over 10 years, but she went above and beyond during this challenging year. Dee is the Director of the Garrettsville Nelson People Tree, the head of purchasing for the Garrettsville Nelson Community Cupboard, and the proud mother of three James A. Garfield alumni. 2020 was a tumultuous year, but Dee faced every challenge head-on to ensure that her family and her community were safe, healthy, and fed.
When the students of James A. Garfield local schools were forced online due to the pandemic, that meant that a lot of kids in our community were losing access to one of their only reliable sources of a hot meal. This was not something that Dee and other community leaders were comfortable with. Working with the school during the transition, Dee ensured that food items were ordered, delivered to the school, bagged, and made readily available for pickup or delivery for any student that signed up. Not only did she make some of those deliveries herself, but she also assisted in packing over 100 bags a week. She ensured that students and their families were fed through the online school year and the summer.
Once the kids were back in school, the support did not end there. She continued her tireless work through the community cupboard, which serves 60 to 90 local families per month. This responsibility requires hours of finding the best deals at the Akron Food Bank and working with 1 or 2 other volunteers at the YMCA on Park Ave to pack bags. Dee put 100’s of miles on her Ford Excursion (read: street-legal tank) to pick up 2000+lbs of food from Akron every week when the National Guard was unable to deliver her orders. In pre-COVID times, the cupboard had several volunteers that would come in weekly to help with the giveaways and packing the bags as people came to pick out what they wanted that week. Dee, and the other volunteers who were able to remain throughout the pandemic, were forced to adapt. This meant that bags were to be filled before people came so they could be just loaded into cars at the curb, thus limiting contact and potential for exposure. These bags were filled to the brim with necessary food and toiletries that are both purchased and donated to the cupboard. This process could require up to 10 hours a week, which resulted in her always surpassing her step goal for the day.
She also worked on fundraising for the People Tree, which she knew would likely be taking on more families than ever before due to the difficult times. Despite not being able to have the live bell ringers around town, she still managed to raise money and bring smiles to people with life-sized cardboard cutouts of celebrities and a COVID Christmas poem.
When Christmas rolled around, Dee coordinated the People Tree’s annual Adopt-a-Child program. By Christmas Day, she ensured a very Merry Christmas for 130 families, which included 224 children. All the families were served food and the 224 children received toys and clothes from community members who were able to donate.
In summary, Dee Synnestvedt is the most deserving person to be recognized as Villager of the Year for 2020. She has always been an active member of the community but this year she stepped up in a big way. She dedicated her pandemic shutdown to ensure that others had one less worry by guaranteeing food in the uncertainty of 2020.
Chris Schaefer
Chris is a parent and a school secretary at the middle school. Last spring during the pandemic her heart broke to see all the seniors were missing out on. She used Facebook and her many connections to create an “Adopt a JAG Senior” program. She made sure that EVERY JAG graduating in 2020 received a care package to let them know they had not been forgotten even though so much was different. Acts of kindness and compassion like what Chris Schaefer demonstrated are the beacons of hope that never allowed this community to get down during a very dark time. Her love for kids and for this community are the fabric of what makes this community so special.
JAG Teachers
JAG teachers have always gone above what is expected of them, but since the pandemic began in March they have risen to even higher levels. They were trained to teach in a brick and mortar classroom, but in short order have learned to become master online teachers. They have visited homes, delivered packets, built online classrooms, organized drive-by parades for kids and digitized their entire class. While much has changed, one thing has remained constant. Nothing will stop a JAG teacher from making sure their students get the very best!
Liz Meeker
Liz lives for the opportunity to give and share with others in need, especially children. She makes her own dreams come true and she provides others, like me, the privilege of being apart of her dream team.
About five or six years ago, Liz Meeker dreamed of eliminating the hunger that many children experience on the weekends, when school meals are not available. She named her plan, KWM, Kids Weekend Meals. She devised a plan to identify these children with the help of school administrators. She hoped to fill a bag with weekend meals that families could pick up after school on Friday. She began securing funds and donations of food. The program was up and running shortly after Liz got to work. She carefully recruited volunteers to pack these bags and even deliver these bags when families couldn’t pick them up
When the pandemic tried to stop everything and everyone, Liz made sure these children would still have weekend meals. Liz had to quickly recruit more volunteer food delivery people. In March 2020, she implemented 100% delivery of KWM to their homes. Also, typical fundraising events were cancelled (Cupcakes/cookie sales during the Potato Festival, spaghetti dinners, etc.). Liz creatively implemented other fundraising opportunities (Adopt a family for a month/ or year by donating money and the Kids Weekend Meals Thanksgiving Plunge).
Although the number of children served varies regularly, approximately 125 children receive meals every weekend, year round. Most children are from the Crestwood School district, but Liz has a tough time turning away any child in need that comes to her attention.
The program has been in place for at least four years, financially supported by a wonderful variety of organizations and individuals. Akron Food Bank provides some of the food. Many organizations have held food drives and fund raisers for KWM.
Liz doesn’t seek recognition. In fact, she points to all the helpers that make this meal program work. Liz Meeker’s daily actions, role modeling leadership qualities, creative financial initiatives, robust recruitment of volunteers, etc. truly exemplify why she is qualified to be The Villager of The Year!
Ben Coll
Between March and September there was not much that occurred that did not have Ben Coll’s fingerprints on it. He gathered pictures to create senior banners to display for every one of our kids. He coordinated a special virtual graduation ceremony. He recorded and edited nearly 120 students graduating over the course of 3 days while simultaneously recording the Village of Garrettsville’s Memorial Day live stream. When limitations on crowds shocked the families of our athletes this past fall Ben was the one who brought JAG sporting events into the homes of so many who would have never experienced them by creating one of the best live-streams in the State of Ohio! If this pandemic has proven one thing, it is that there is not another person who bleeds black and gold more than Mr. Ben Coll!
JAG Cafeteria Staff
Betsy Cihan, Jessica Edwards, Tracie Fynes, Melanie Kleinhen, Karen Miller, Kellie Norris, Karen Perusek, Amy Phelps Lois Schaffer, and Tracy Knauer
Since the start of this pandemic our cafeteria staff members have ordered, prepared and organized food pickups for our families. In a time when they were needed most, they came through for our families to make sure everyone who needed food received it. These pickups have been taking place EVERY Monday since March 16th! This fantastic group of people demonstrated creativity and compassion by going above and beyond to support those in need.
Kim Curry
When the pandemic forced businesses to shut down leaving many essential workers without childcare options, Kim Curry worked tirelessly to ensure that the Garrettsville Family YMCA’s pandemic day care stayed open. With the supervision of highly trained professional staff, children had the opportunity to participate in a variety of activities, including arts, crafts, games and sports. Classwork was also done to keep up with the homeschooling that continued for the remaining school year. Kim’s commitment to the our area families helped to make a stressful situation a little easier for us.
JAG Bus Drivers
Dreama Adkins, Tammy Britton, Helene Christopher, Danny Deakins, Vic Fackler, Pat Hindman, Holly Hites, Steph Kristoff, Shelly Pemberton, Michelle Wilfong, Betty Hoffstetter, and Debbie Berecek
With no kids to transport the JAG bus drivers could not stand on the sidelines during this pandemic. They recognized that their kids missed them and that they themselves missed their students. In the spring they organized a “Bus Rodeo” that drove throughout the district, stopping at homes and giving a ‘honk of support’ from their big yellow buses. As school started they stepped up to be the first ones to help with screenings by taking temperatures of children on the bus, just to help get our kids back in school, and when we moved to online learning for a short time they drove and delivered packets throughout the district. The only thing bigger than a school bus in this community is the heart of a bus driver!
JAG Administrators
Tracy Knauer, Jim Pfleger, Kathleen Kisabeth, Derek Hatcher, Melinda Ensinger, Sue Boyle, Kim Davis, Roger Fisher Rachelle Craine, Keri Leindecker)
When school let out for summer there were so many in the schools who had a chance to hit pause for a time and get away from how the pandemic was impacting our lives. The administrators at JAG took this time to pull together their most creative and caring ideas. Their task…plan for the unknown. Each of these people usually gets time away in the summer to reset and recharge, but this summer they gave of their time to make sure JAG had a safe environment for students to return in the fall. Our administrators each helped hand out and deliver meals every Monday from March through the end of summer, often spending 10-12 hours each Monday making sure everyone who wanted a meal received one. These people put their own lives on hold to make the lives of those around them brighter during the pandemic.
Michelle Zivoder
“Thinking outside the box” is just one of the many talents Michelle Zivoder has. When local businesses were forced to shut down last spring Michelle put together a campaign where gift certificates could be purchased through the chamber website for the area businesses. Over $3,000 worth of gift certificates were purchased with all proceeds going back to the businesses. In December, after talking with PTO President Sara Hill, she learned that they would not be able to hold the annual Santa Shop at school. Hill and Zivoder put their heads together and a portion of the Villager Emporium was set up for kids to shop for their families while 10% of the store sales were donated back to the JA Garfield PTO. In addition, Michelle has helped throughout the pandemic serving the clients of the Nelson Garrettsville Community Cupboard.
Jennifer Bujak-Hirsch
We have some amazing people in our community but I cannot think of another person that is more deserving than Jennifer Bujak-Hirsch to be nominated & awarded the title “Villager of the Year”! Jennifer is the Director of Nutrition Services for Crestwood School District. When we entered the pandemic in March 2020, school districts began to shutter their doors due to the ongoing spread of the virus. Jennifer saw the continued need in the community to provide meals for our school children. Some school districts in the area waited to see what was coming next for school nutrition, however, Jennifer refused to sit back and wait, because the needs of the children were too great.
Based on the school nutrition waivers instituted by the Department of Agriculture, Jennifer started to think outside of the box, on how she could use those waivers to continue feeding our children during these unknown & unprecedented times. In conjunction with her dedicated food service team they developed a meal distribution ‘game plan’ to feed all these children because at the end of the day “It’s all about the kids!” She implemented the plan and shortly thereafter began distributing weekly groceries to every child who attended Crestwood. Every Monday, Jennifer and her food service team would put together bags of groceries and prepare for the drive-thru meal distribution that took place every Tuesday. Originally, the plan was going to be implemented on a short-term basis, however, COVID had other plans and the schools continued to be shuttered until fall of 2020. But this small ‘hiccup’ did not discourage Jen and her team. They continued providing a weekly meal distribution to children and families until the middle of June! At this point, over 100,000 meals had been distributed within the district. A remarkable accomplishment to say the least!
But, the need did not end there. Due to the ongoing pandemic, the district was once again shuttered in December. Jennifer and her team once again sprang into action! She coordinated with vendors and suppliers to ensure the district had an adequate supply of food to, once again, distribute meals to our children & their families.
A week before the final meal distribution, prior to Christmas, Jennifer had an idea. She thought, after a year like 2020, the children and families of Crestwood could use a little extra cheer. So she wanted to make 2020’s final food distribution a bit more special for the 700 families who took advantage of Crestwood’s free food distribution program. Her idea was, “Maybe we can get a Santa” quickly ballooned into Santa Claus, a few elves, the Grinch, Cindy Lou Who and heck, why not invite the Mantua-Shalersville Fire Department and the Mantua Police Department? Jennifer was thrilled to learn, after a few quick emails and phone calls that everyone she approached wanted to join in to help make the final food distribution of 2020 a very festive event indeed. Restoration 44 even donated coffee for all the volunteers! On a side note, due to Jennifer’s impeccable leadership, drive and tenacity, the Crestwood Local School District has provided over 300,000 meals since the pandemic began in March. These meals included both breakfast and lunch. A great accomplishment to say the least!
Jennifer is not only is an amazing person and leader within the community, but she also represents the State of Ohio on the national level. Jennifer is the President of the Ohio School Nutrition Association (SNA) and has met with our elected representatives on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. to discuss school nutrition and how it affects all Ohioans. She is truly making a difference on all levels!
If Jennifer did not act on her strong convictions and have the support of her superintendent, food service team & community, quite possibly, many children and their families would have gone hungry this past year. If you talk to Jennifer you would realize that she is a very modest person. She often states, she loves the children & community and is just doing the job she was hired to do. Many believe her achievements go above and beyond the simple statement of ‘just doing her job’. Throughout the pandemic, we have the seen best and (and sadly, sometimes the worst) of people. But Jennifer has found a way to be a shining light through the darkness and to make things just a little bit better and brighter for others.
Ted Lysiak
The past year has shown just how fortunate our community is to have a leader like JAG Superintendent Ted Lysiak. Juggling the ever-changing COVID-19 restrictions handed down from the state and local levels, Ted has worked diligently with all members of the Garfield School district to develop learning options for our students to provide a learning environment. He also found time to assist with the production of the 2020 virtual graduation ceremony and volunteers his time at the NGCC where he assists in packing food, delivering bags of groceries, and even smoking chickens for holiday meals provided to their clients. On Mondays you will find Ted riding shotgun with Roger delivering school food bags to the families unable to pick up meals at the school ensuring that no child in the district goes without a meal.
