Thursday, December 17, 2015
By AMANDA TONOLI
NORTH LIMA
A South Range senior student dedicated his service project to raise money for his former Boardman “family.”
Preston Stitt put together a fundraiser through T-shirt and raffle-ticket sales to be donated to the family of his former coach and teacher.
Basketball Coach Ron Moschella had Stitt as a member of his team while they both were in Boardman schools. Stitt now goes to South Range, and Moschella recently retired as Columbiana’s boys basketball coach.
Stitt also had close ties to Brian Terlesky, a social-studies teacher, also in Boardman.
When former Boardman teacher Christine Terlesky, Brian’s wife, was diagnosed in 2013 with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, a progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord, she had to stop teaching because of the aggressive disease.
Stitt said it was an easy decision to dedicate his project to helping the Terlesky family in their time of need.
Because of his close relationship with Brian Terlesky and Moschella, Stitt said it means a lot to him to be able to help.
“This is really personal to me because I know the family, and they have done so much for me,” Stitt said.
Stitt used his senior Raider status to pull strings and dedicate Tuesday’s basketball game to the Terleskys.
South Range, Columbiana and Boardman high schools sold district color-specific T-shirts and raffle tickets to raise money. Those who bought shirts were asked to wear them to the basketball game.
All the proceeds were donated to the Terlesky family, as well as part of the ticket sales from the game.