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Boardman officials highlight township, school and park happenings to local business leaders
BOARDMAN
“Leadership is the action that you take to serve others for the greater good.”
That was the message that Youngstown State University President Jim Tressel shared during his keynote speech at Good Morning Boardman, an event hosted Friday by First National Bank, MS Consultants and the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber.
Township, school and park officials provided an update to members of the local business community on some of their acts of leadership this year.
Tim Saxton, director of operations for the school district, went beyond an update and asked businesses to get involved in Boardman’s future.
“We need the help of businesses, and we especially need the help of Boardman businesses,” Saxton said of the effort to build a new sports stadium on the high school’s campus.
Saxton said that artificial turf is now complete, and the next phase will be to construct new bleachers.
Saxton also highlighted the academic success of the school district, such as the recently released state report card showing Boardman had the highest percentage of students who got a passing score on Advanced Placement exams out of all public-school districts in the Mahoning Valley last year.
More important than athletics or academics, Saxton said, is the district’s role in building people.
Saxton said the drug-related death of a Boardman graduate last year was a wake-up call for school officials, who decided that instead of focusing on telling students to say no to drugs, they would give students opportunities to say yes to positive things, such as getting involved in the community.
Yes Fest, an event at which students can sign up for volunteer opportunities with more than 40 local organizations that come to the event, took place for the second time this year.
Township Trustee Tom Costello gave updates on township events, including: demolishing vacant homes in an effort to stabilize neighborhoods; a landlord-registration program that holds landlords accountable; a joint paving program with Austintown and Canfield; a leaf-pickup program that the township has continued after losing county funds; the promotion of Mark Pitzer to fire chief; a new dispatch radio system; a Boardman police officer taking over as security supervisor for the school district; a 24-hour prescription drop-off site at the police department; a new website; and new “Welcome to Boardman” signs.
Dan Slagle, Boardman Park executive director, told the audience some of the features the park has to offer, saying that it had a more than 12 percent increase in visitors from 2012 to 2013.
Tressel wrapped up the event by emphasizing how Boardman, YSU and all the other communities in the area are connected in success and in failure.
“If we want to thrive as a region, we’ve got to be thinking about what we can do so that everyone rises,” he said.