Wall of Recognition dedicated by foundation to contributors

Anthony J. Lariccia and Laddie Fedor are the foundation's first Hall of Famers.
By WILLIAM K. ALCORN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Struthers School Foundation for Educational Excellence dedicated its Wall of Recognition at Struthers High School on Tuesday.
The newly constructed 8-foot-by-12-foot wall in the school lobby displays plaques honoring the Foundation's founding donors as well as Anthony J. Lariccia and Laddie Fedor.
Lariccia and Fedor are graduates of Struthers High School and Youngstown State University and became the first recipients of the foundation's Hall-of-Fame Award in March.
Anthony Frattaroli, foundation president, said the wall honors individuals who have offered time and money to the foundation for the betterment of Struthers students. He said the foundation's board of trustees expects to add names to the Hall of Fame every two years.
He praised Lariccia and Fedor for "doing so much for Struthers Schools and the area."
Its purpose
The foundation's purpose is to raise enough money so the interest earned from the principal can be used to obtain things for the schools that can't be paid for by the regular budget, said Daniel Becker, who along with his wife, Margaret, donated the money to build the wall.
Becker announced that Mayor Daniel Mamula, a longtime Struthers teacher, and his wife, Lorain, had donated $1,000 to the foundation.
The first big project financed by the foundation is a mentorship program for high school students, said Schools Superintendent Sandra DiBacco, whose idea it was to establish the foundation.
Lariccia was recognized for matching dollar for dollar the money raised by the foundation during its initial fund-raising campaign.
Fedor was a Struthers teacher and building principal for many years and eventually became superintendent of schools. He said every alumni should be contributing to the foundation.
Becker was a member of the board of education from 1970 to 1982 and went through several superintendents.
"All the while we had the person we needed [Fedor] working in our system," Becker said.
Lariccia thanked the foundation for the honor, then turned cheerleader for Struthers schools.
He described the levy failure Nov. 8 as a "temporary, short-term setback that will be reversed. This is a Cadillac school district and we are Cadillac people," he said.
In addition to the names of the foundation's charter members, and its Hall of Fame members, the Wall of Recognition displays a picture of the Lariccia family and several historical plaques from the former high school.
They include the memorial for Struthers High graduates who died in World War II; the names of the school board members in 1921 to 1923; and a 1973 plaque that identified the former Struthers Science Wing.
alcorn@vindy.com