'Oreos' serenade school board

YOUNGSTOWN — January is School Board Appreciation Month, and the Youngstown Board of Education got treated to a serenade, a cake and certificates recognizing their service during a brief ceremony.

“We wanted to take the time to say thank you,” said Dr. Wendy Webb, superintendent, as she addressed the board members Tuesday.

The music was performed by The Oreos, a name four members of the administrative team have given themselves. They’ve sung for the board before, taking their first step into the spotlight in September when they performed “We Want You Back!” sung to the Jackson Five tune “I Want You Back.”

The lyrics, penned by John Terry Allen, district ombudsman, focused on a school drive to get children who are leaving the city schools to attend charter and other school programs to come back to Youngstown.

Tuesday’s song, “We Are the Board,” was also written by Allen. It was sung to the popular multi-artist hit, “We Are the World,” and told of the board’s efforts to improve education in the city schools.

Joining Allen as members of The Oreos were M. Mike McNair, supervisor of community relations and public information; Joseph Meranto, principal of Choffin Career & Technical Center; and Linda Hooey, mentoring program coordinator.

The Rev. Michael Write was recently re-elected as president of the board. Jamael Tito Brown was elected vice president.