Liberty teacher to serve as YSU trustee

By Harold Gwin

The appointee is a longtime member of the Mahoning County MRDD board.

YOUNGSTOWN — Gov. Ted Strickland has picked a Liberty High School teacher and active community volunteer to serve on the board of trustees at Youngstown State University.

Carole S. Weimer, of Fifth Avenue, has been named to a nine-year term, succeeding Donald Cagigas who left the board June 30.

Weimer has 40 years of experience in the field of education and has been employed as a special-education teacher at Liberty High School since 1988. She previously taught at several other private and public schools, including Akiva Academy and the Jewish Community Center.

She has a direct link to YSU, having earned a master’s degree in education there in 1989. Her 1968 undergraduate degree in education is from Ohio State University.

Weimer has an extensive record of community service, having served on the Mahoning County Board of Mental Retardation & Developmental Disabilities for more than 20 years, holding the offices of secretary and president for many of those years.

She has also been active in the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life, having served as co-chair of the Liberty Relay for Life from 2002 through 2007 and on that group’s board of directors since 2002.

She also serves on the State Advisory Team, the National Advisory Team and the National Leadership Training Team for Relay for Life.

Weimer has served on the boards of Ballet Western Reserve, the Jewish Community Center, Leadership Mahoning Valley, Mahoning County Children’s Trust Fund, Mahoning Valley Camp Fire Council and Northeast Ohio Adoption Services. She has also been active with the Mahoning County Council for Retarded Citizens.

She is a lifelong resident of the community and her interests lie in volunteer service, reading, knitting, gardening and computing. She is a member of the Liberty Association of School Employees, Ohio Education Association and National Education Association. “I think I bring some strong leadership skills [to the YSU board],” she said Friday.

It was a post she applied for, she said, adding that she comes aboard with no particular issues or agenda other than to keep Youngstown State University at the forefront of the community.

“It’s a pleasure to welcome her to the board, and we look forward to working closely with her as we deal with the challenges facing the university in the years ahead,” said Scott Schulick, board president.

Weimer is married to Atty. William A. Weimer, vice president and general counsel for the B.J. Alan Co. The couple have two daughters, Meredith Weimer Bender of Minneapolis and Hayley S. Weimer of Washington, D.C.

gwin@vindy.com