SPECIAL RECOGNITION — In observance of Black History Month, Steubenville High School students and staff took time to recognize three alumni who have gone on to serve their communities in their own ways. Presented the school’s Pathfinder Award were, from left, C.J. Mitchell, Felicia West Jones and Manard Reed. The presentation was part of an assembly that included music and dance reflecting Black American culture. -- Warren Scott

STEUBENVILLE — Students and staff at Steubenville High School Friday recognized three alumni for their community service and other accomplishments in an assembly that mixed music and dance reflecting Black American culture.

It was the 34th year for the school’s Pathfinders Awards Assembly, and this year’s honorees were C.J. Mitchell, Felicia Jones and Manard Reed.

A multi-sport athlete at Steubenville High School, Reed was a member of a state championship winning track team, serving as the lead leg in the winning 4×400 relay team while setting an unbroken school record for the 4×800 relay.

He also was a wide receiver and defensive back for the Big Red football team.

Following school, he entered the boxing ring, winning two professional titles as a super lightweight and compiling a record of 27 wins, 4 losses and one draw.

But Reed also has put in many years as a coach for the Steubenville Striders track club and Steubenville Tigers youth football league.

He told the many students attending the assembly he had come from Atlanta when he enrolled at Steubenville High School, so it took some time for him to acclimate to the new setting.

But he recalled being inspired by a display of photos of past Big Red athletes who went on to win state titles and other athletic accomplishments.

Reed told the youths, “No one else decides your limit. Not your background, your environment or others’ opinions.”

He noted when he decided to become a boxer, some told him he was too small, but he went on, as “Lighting” Reed, to win the Pennsylvania Golden Gloves at age 27.

Reed said as a young man, he routinely jogged from the Steubenville hill where he lived to Toronto and back to get into shape.

He encouraged the students to pursue sports and academics with determination.

“Always be number 1,” said Reed.

While at Steubenville High School, Jones was active in the marching band and the girls track team, earning state titles in the 400-meter dash and on the 4×800 and 4×400 relay teams.

Such athletic achievements netted her a full scholarship at Ohio State University, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in communications.

Jones is employed as a business analyst at Park National Bank, where she developed and maintains its online banking platforms, and is proud of the bank’s support of Habitat for Humanity and the local United Way.

It was noted that though she now resides in New Albany with her husband and daughter, she frequently attends Big Red sports events while visiting her hometown and regularly cheers on the school’s track team at state track meets.

“It’s not always the big things that make you a good person,” Jones told the students.

She said from standing up for others who are bullied to donating hats and gloves to a local charity, putting out birdseed during a harsh winter to supporting a friend with cancer, “Everything counts.”

“Everything you do in life counts, and you never know who’s watching,” said Jones.

Mitchell followed studies at Kent State University with a career in telecommunications and finance. Following stints with AT&T and Huntington Bank, he joined Clearview Federal Credit Union, where he has served as branch manager and presently, regional manager.

Mitchell also has served as first vice president of the Steubenville Branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, co-chair of Steubenville’s African American Heritage Festival and a coach for the Steubenville Broncos youth football team.

In 2024, he co-founded the Legacy Lounge Media Group, through which he hosts podcasts highlighting local events and talents with his longtime friend and business partner, Blake Thompson.

Mitchell told the students, “Don’t follow the crowd. Let the crowd follow you.”

He encouraged them to take pride in their backgrounds and to appreciate the sacrifices that others have made for them, noting his mother did so for him and his sibings.

Sacrifice was the theme for an essay contest held in observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day and involving students throughout the school district.

They were to write on the following statement by King: “True character is revealed not in comfort, but in challenge. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Announced during the assembly, the contest’s winners are: Mi’Chell Marnett, East Garfield Elementary; Rory Dawson, Pugliese West Elementary; Eisley Brown, Wells Academy; Quinn Stubbs, McKinley STEM Academy; Thomas Smith and Evan Dong, both of Harding Middle School; and Alexis Featherman, Steubenville High School.

Featherman read her essay, in which she reflected a time in which her family was faced with financial constraints and her sister was having difficulty in school.

She said she helped to ease tension in the home by helping her sister with her school work, even though it meant less personal time for her.

“Doing the right thing often means sacrifice,” wrote Featherman.

Presentations to the honorees were interspersed by performances by students drawn from Black American culture.

They included a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn adopted by the NAACP in 1919 to rally support for civil rights, by Laila Reed, Matt Miller and Caleigha Birden; a dance routine set to Sam Cooke’s “A Change is Gonna Come” by Za’Harryah Herring, Kaycee King, Sydney Reid, Dejah Achammer and Allison Lewis; and an appearance by Elisha “Platinum” Fletcher, a Steubenville High School alumni and recording artist who performed “In My Bag,” a song of encouragement, and “Fall in Love Again.”

Aaron Newman, the school’s principal, told the students they are fortunate to live in a community in which Black history is remembered.

He also announced a tour of historic Black colleges and universities for local students is being organized by the NAACP and LaBelle Neighbors Who Care.