Life briefs: Doug Theaker honored, school board designation, museum speaker series

USA TODAY NETWORK
·3 min read
  • Oops!
    Something went wrong.
    Please try again later.

Doug Theaker recognized for 50 years of school board service

Doug Theaker, president of both the boards of Pioneer Career & Technology Center and the Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center, was recognized Nov. 12 by the Ohio School Boards Association at its annual Capital Conference for his 50 years of board service at Pioneer Career & Technology Center, Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center, and the Ontario Local Schools Board of Education.

Of more than 3,400 board members in Ohio, only three received this honor in 2023.

“I am most appreciative for this honor and being recognized for 50 years of service as a board member in public education,” said Theaker. “My education started in first grade in a one-room school in rural Madison Township. After two college degrees and 50 years of service, I’m proud to say I am still serving young people and hopefully bettering their education.”

Doug Theaker and his wife Mary Jean, also a long-time school board member, following the award presentation at the OSBA Capital Conference.
Doug Theaker and his wife Mary Jean, also a long-time school board member, following the award presentation at the OSBA Capital Conference.

Theaker is also the board president of the Richland County Veteran Service Commission and has served on that board since 1983. A U.S. Navy veteran from the Korean War, he was elected into the Ohio Department of Veterans Services Hall of Fame in 2018.

During the annual Veterans Day assembly for students and staff at Pioneer on Nov. 10, Theaker served as the keynote speaker and was also presented with a plaque recognizing his service in the military, as well as his 50 years of board service.

Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center gets high marks from Ohio Department of Education

Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center applied for and has received the High Performing ESC designation from the Ohio Department of Education. A High Performing Educational Service Center (ESC) has generated total cost savings of at least 5% for its client school districts for primary services secured from the ESC instead of another source. Mid-Ohio ESC far exceeded this 5% benchmark, with a total savings of 30.42% in 2023.

The Ohio Department of Education evaluated each application based on the total percentage of cost savings the ESC generated for its client districts calculated based on the price charged to the client by the ESC for a primary service.

Mid-Ohio Educational Service Center provides specialized academic and support services to 13 school districts and over 20,000 students in Crawford, Morrow and Richland Counties.

Cleveland's unsolved serial killer topic of next museum event

LOUDONVILLE — The Cleo Redd Fisher Museum’s Speaker Series continues this month with a look into Cleveland’s greatest murder mystery and its connection to America’s most famous lawman, with “Eliot Ness and the Torso Murders.”

Eliot Ness was best known as the American Prohibition agent who organized and led a crack team of incorruptible agents known as The Untouchables to take down Al Capone and other major criminals. Following the end of Prohibition, he was hired as the public safety director for Cleveland, a role overseeing both the city police and fire departments.

Ness' time in Cleveland coincided with a gruesome string of unsolved murders by a serial killer known both as the Torso Murderer and as the Mad Butcher of Kingsbury Run. The killings were characterized by the dismemberment of 13 known victims, though some suspect upwards of 20 victims, and the disposal of their remains primarily in the impoverished neighborhood of Kingsbury Run — though two bodies of their victims were placed within view of Ness' office window, taunting him to solve the case. The Torso Murders became the biggest police investigation in Cleveland history, resulting in 9,100 investigations and over 1,000 other crimes solved yet the identity of the killer was never confirmed.

Mary Manning, the education coordinator for the Western Reserve Historical Society, will present a program at the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum on Loudonville on the unsolved Cleveland serial killer known as the Torso Murderer.
Mary Manning, the education coordinator for the Western Reserve Historical Society, will present a program at the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum on Loudonville on the unsolved Cleveland serial killer known as the Torso Murderer.

This discussion will be led by Mary Manning, the education coordinator for the Western Reserve Historical Society. This program is slated for 7 p.m. Monday in the lecture hall of the Cleo Redd Fisher Museum at 203 E. Main St. in Loudonville. Doors open at 6:30 p.m. The event is free and open to the public.

For more information, call 419-994-4050 or visit crfmuseum.com.

Mansfield News Journal

This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Doug Theaker OSBA honor, Mid-Ohio ESC designation, museum speaker