As we approach our 50th reunion from Perrysburg High School, a few of us were inspired to honor some of the special people who made a difference in our lives during the years at PHS as well as impact the students of today and tomorrow so a committee was formed of Paul Pappas, Peter Stone, Jim Damschoder and Pat Dowling.
We thought of the wonderful Mrs. Joan Roe, our librarian. In the dark ages before the Internet and Google, Joan was truly there for each of us. In addition to being the mother of our classmate Mayo E. Roe, she was also the mother of three other Perrysburg graduates. She was always the most upbeat, kind and helpful person when we used the library.
Elizabeth and George Munger were others that came to mind quickly. The Mungers dedicated their lives to teaching their great love of English to many generations of Perrysburg students. Their kindness, patience and dedication to teaching was unparalleled.
After speaking with the folks at the Perrysburg Schools Foundation about this idea, we discovered that there is an outstanding opportunity to fund a new groundbreaking program in the Senior English classes at Perrysburg. Instead of reading a book assigned by the teacher, each student selects the titles they choose to read and then the students teach those books to their fellow students. In this manner a wider selection of books is offered and the students also have the freedom to select books that are more meaningful to them. In addition they get the leadership experience of teaching their books to their fellow students.
This pilot program under Ms. Deb Drew has been so successful that PHS is extending the program so that it can be offered to additional sections, reaching more students. With our contributions, PHS can fully fund the shelving and the 500 books required to expand the program. Our donation will be recognized with a permanent plaque noting our class gift in the names of Joan Roe and Elizabeth and George Munger. Hopefully this plaque will serve to encourage other classes to make additional gifts to the Perrysburg Schools upon the celebrations of their reunions. Here is a video of Deb Drew explaining how she has seen a difference in her students.