Service recognized by Brooke board
RECOGNIZED — `John Bober IV, a senior at Brooke High School, was recognized Dec. 9 by Sean Blumette, the school’s athletic director, and the Brooke County Board of Education. -- Contributed
HONORED — Brooke High School senior Jason Polgar presented two iPads to help students autism develop communication skills. Working with members of the Christian Assembly of Follansbee and others, Polgar has raised funds for 34 iPads for youth with autism in the last seven years. On hand were, from left, Shirley Cuomo, representing the Christian Assembly of Follansbee; Roberta Alvarez, special education teacher at Brooke High School; Polgar’s brother, Ryan, who inspired the effort; Polgar; and Tara Ferguson, a speech therapist at Brooke Middle School. -- Contributed
RECOGNIZED — `John Bober IV, a senior at Brooke High School, was recognized Dec. 9 by Sean Blumette, the school’s athletic director, and the Brooke County Board of Education. -- Contributed
HONORED — Brooke High School senior Jason Polgar presented two iPads to help students autism develop communication skills. Working with members of the Christian Assembly of Follansbee and others, Polgar has raised funds for 34 iPads for youth with autism in the last seven years. On hand were, from left, Shirley Cuomo, representing the Christian Assembly of Follansbee; Roberta Alvarez, special education teacher at Brooke High School; Polgar’s brother, Ryan, who inspired the effort; Polgar; and Tara Ferguson, a speech therapist at Brooke Middle School. -- Contributed
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WELLSBURG -- From making free books available to everyone to raising funds for iPads for youth with autism, the community service and other achievements of Brooke County students were recognized by the county's school board at its Dec. 9 meeting.
On Dec. 9 the board recognized John Bober IV, a senior at Brooke High School, for receiving the West Virginia Secondary Schools Activities Commission-Farmers and Mechanics Insurance's Male Community Service Award for Class AAA schools.
The WVSSAC selects a male and a female athlete from throughout the state for distinguished community service projects.
The son of John Bober IV and Jennifer Bober of Wellsburg, Bober competed in cross country his first three years of high school and is in his second year on the school's tennis team.
Bober said while considering a community service project required of all students in the school's honors program, he was inspired by his sister.
Noting she is an excellent reader, he theorized it was due to her being exposed to books at an early age. Aware that even some adults struggle with literacy, he thought making books more readily available could help many people develop better reading skills.
Taking a cue from the Brooke County Public Library, which has established a free lending library outside Spectrum Family Massage on Hooverson Heights, he established boxes at Wellsburg's Central and 1st and 4th ward parks where people could drop off books.
After inviting everyone to take a book and leave another in its place, Bober said he's been quite pleased to find the boxes continually refilled with new additions. He added some people also have been placing canned goods in the boxes to help anyone who is hungry, which is fine with him.
In addition to the library, he thanked the owners of the two Mark's Carryout locations for donating the boxes and being the initial collection points.
Bober also is a member of the school's Leo Club and a monthly lector at St. Anthony Catholic Church in Follansbee.
The board also acknowledged the high school's girls track team for being recognized by the WVSSAC for having the highest overall grade-point average and attendance among sports teams in the state whose members' performance is scored individually.
Such sports also include swimming and wrestling, among others.
Paul Julio, the team's coach, said the team's overall GPA was 4.0 and each member had perfect attendance for the 2018-19 school year.
He said he's quite proud of the team, which included Emily Donley, a senior now attending West Virginia University; juniors Hailee Vizyak and Abigail Horvath and freshmen Melyn Bachinski, Alexis Cipoletti and Estella Lahita.
Members of the team and Bober were honored at a breakfast held before the Super 6 football tournament in Wheeling and on the field prior to the event.
The school board also recognized the Brooke Middle School seventh- and eighth-grade football teams for undefeated seasons that culminated in their winning the championships for their grades.
Led by coaches C.J. Besece, Mike Findling and Doug Sizemore, the teams include: Anthony Bachinski, Colin Hutchison, Bryce Bateman, Calin Heaton, Casey Doty, Tim Collins, Owen Haught, Orrin Newton, Tyler Wise, Bryson Hawkins, Joey Clem, Joe Hoggard, Isaak Thompson, Henry Anderson, Caleb Billick, Chance Brozstek, Jacek Handley, Kennedy Jordan, Antonio Mazza, Noah McMahon, Brayden McFarland, Garrett Moore, Logan Morton, Marcus Reed, Slater Schroeder, Ty Sperringer, Triston Stevens, Dante Tulenko, John Baricska, Jace Campinelli, Blake Cole, Isaiah Dean, Chase Felouzis, Gus Gilbert, Garrett Hornick, Gavin Moore, Harley Morris, Austin Morton, Hunter Mozingo, Andrew Otte-Stromeyer, Mason Rees, Braelyn Sperringer and Blake Turner.
Also during the meeting, Brooke High School senior Jason Polgar presented two iPads to help students with autism to develop their communication skills.
One was presented to Roberta Alvarez, special education teacher, for high school and pre-school students with autism; and to Tara Ferguson, speech therapist at Brooke Middle School, for Stefania Veltri, a pupil at the school.
That brought the total of iPads donated by Polgar since 2013 to 34.
At age 11 he established Ryan's Prayer of Hope and Healing for Autism, a nonprofit organization that raises funds for the e-devices, after noticing his brother Ryan's ability to verbalize was improved after using a communications app on an iPad.
Polgar's efforts have been supported by fellow members of the Christian Assembly of Follansbee, who have made beaded bracelets and supported other fundraisers and an annual walk at the former Follansbee Middle School.
Polgar said this year's event was a great success thanks to donations from several groups and many student volunteers who assisted.
Among those attending the walk was Superintendent Jeffrey Crook, who presented resolutions recognizing Polgar from Gov. Jim Justice and Randall Reid-Smith, state commissioner of arts, culture and history.