CANFIELD Colleagues to honor retiring educator

Patricia Hura has worked in Valley schools since 1967.
By NANCY TULLIS
VINDICATOR SALEM BUREAU
CANFIELD -- Educators from all over the Mahoning Valley are gathering today at the Maronite Center in Youngstown to honor Patricia Hura.
Hura, who has been Columbiana schools superintendent since January 2002, has been undergoing treatment for cancer. The Columbiana Board of Education accepted Hura's retirement resignation Wednesday.
Canfield schools Superintendent Dante Zambrini said Canfield school officials planned the event.
Hura lives in Canfield with her husband, Richard, a principal in the Newton Falls Schools. The couple have two grown children; both are teachers.
She served three terms on the Canfield Board of Education -- including as vice president and president of the board -- and has been active in PTO and many other Canfield community organizations.
"We're calling this 'A Banquet of Gratitude as Patty Retires,'" Zambrini said. "Patty is an esteemed educator who is very dedicated to her craft and very active in the community. She has made a big impact. That Patty is gravely ill is grievous hard for all of us."
Zambrini said some of Hura's friends, and current and former coworkers are expected to speak. Canfield schools will donate books in Hura's honor to the libraries in all the districts she has worked.
Columbiana accomplishments
Hura took the Columbiana post after serving as the Trumbull Career and Technical Center's principal-director since 1999.
During her tenure as Columbiana superintendent, the district's pupils earned an excellent rating on the Ohio Department of Education's school district report card. Pupils met 21 of 22 standards required by the state.
The district report cards are based on proficiency tests taken by fourth-, sixth-, ninth- and 10th-grade pupils in citizenship, math, reading, writing and science. Districts are also evaluated on attendance and graduation rates.
Hura, a graduate of McDonald High School, has been a principal and teacher in the Mahoning Valley since 1967.
"Austintown, Warren Harding, Champion are other districts where Patty has made a difference as an administrator and in the classroom," Zambrini said. "She has touched us all. We are going to make this a very upbeat afternoon. I'm sure there will be some great stories."