The Flagship Awards are part of Port Clinton City School District’s recognition program to honor parents, community members, staff and students that help the district fulfill its motto of “Proudly Charting a Course for Success.”

The Port Clinton Board of Education recognized the following individuals with Flagship Awards:

Mary Maine, Portage Resale Center, Crew Award:  For the last several years, the Port Clinton High School B.E.A.C.O.N. Program has been working with Mary Maine and Portage Resale Center. B.E.A.C.O.N. stands for “Bridging Educational Achievement and Career Oriented Needs,” and meets The Three E’s by engaging students in work-related opportunities through educational exploration, and volunteer experiences.

Maine and the staff at Portage Resale welcome the students to the workshop, not just as student workers, but valued employees. Students help with cleaning and pricing of items then stocking the shelves of the store.  While it is important that Maine and her staff have taught the students work skills, they go beyond that to make our students feel special.

The BEACON staff can see the improved self-worth of each student that works at Portage Resale Center. Maine and her staff are a bright spot in our community that has improved the self-esteem, confidence, and make students that work there feel special and needed.

In addition to volunteering, Mary invites the students to attend the “Giving Tuesday” celebration each year when Portage Resale distributes funds to community organizations.  Students can see the result of their work and that they have an impact on the community in which they live.

The BEACON Program would not be as successful if it weren’t for a work site like Portage Resale. For her compassion, commitment to learning, and support of Port Clinton students, Maine and the Portage Resale Center were presented with a Flagship Crew award.

Eric Zgodzinski, First Mate: Zgodzinski has been a wonderful advisor and consultant serving on the Return to School safety committee.  His expertise and guidance were instrumental in creating the restart plan for 2020-21 school year. Zgodzinski’s knowledge through his professional role as Lucas County Health Commissioner, along with his insight as a parent, have been invaluable during this unprecedented time. He has offered wisdom and insight while being selfless in sharing his personal time with the Port Clinton School District Administrative team.

Prior to his partnership in this pandemic, Zgodzinski has been a dedicated volunteer for the music program. Working on the sidelines of halftime shows, chaperoning and assisting with countless other events for students.nThe entire school community is fortunate to have Zgodzinski as an active member.

The school district sincerely appreciates the time and expertise of Eric, a committed parent volunteer who is impacting the school district and students.  For his dedication, guidance, and involvement, Eric Zgodzinski was presented with a Flagship First Mate Award.

Rick Dominick, Captain Award: These past few months have been a whirlwind of activity involving changes in the academic programming at PCHS as well as the athletic program. Dominick has been one person at the heart of both of those programs, and he has done an absolutely incredible job of working for the staff, students, and athletes of Port Clinton High School.

In the athletic world, Dominick had to handle numerous changes and protocols that seemed to change at a moment’s notice – talk about Adjust and Adapt! Dominick did a wonderful job communicating to his athletic staff about safety protocols, schedule changes, and any other relevant information.  He also worked to keep the parents of student athletes informed about new attendance policies and how to watch student athletic competitions online.

As a guidance counselor, Dominick played a critical role in creating Port Clinton High School’s master schedule. Under the Restart Plan, PCHS switched from a 9-period day with classes lasting 45 minutes to a 4 block schedule with classes lasting 90 minutes. Additionally, PCHS had to create class cohorts to limit exposure between students. On the surface level, this may not sound like a big endeavor, however it takes a great deal of time, energy, and mental effort to recreate a high school master schedule. Rick came in on his days off to help create a new master schedule and ensure students at PCHS stayed safe upon return.

Because of his dedication to PCHS student academic and athletic success, Rick Dominick received the Flagship Captain Award.

Greg Peiffer, WPCR, Crew Award: It all began by live streaming the PCHS Sousa Concert in May 2019. Peiffer is always more than willing to assist our school district and was successful in helping us reach out during the past several months.

Thanks to Peiffer and his team, Port Clinton School District grandparents, family members, and friends were still able to watch the PCHS Class of 2020 receive their diplomas.  WPCR also agreed to livestream PC Football games this season.  Since tickets were limited to 2 -4 tickets per player, faithful fans could still watch the Redskins play.

The PCHS band was also shown live on the broadcast which is appreciated by band parents and families.  The broadcasts created a sense of community support unlike anything we have seen before with an average of over 3,000 viewers per game. The broadcasts were shown at Meals on Madison and Twin Oast so that Port Clinton fans were still able to come together, at a safe distance, on a Friday night.

Port Clinton City Schools are so appreciative to all their supportive business partners, and are extremely grateful to Peiffer for providing these opportunities for school district families, community and alumni.  To show their appreciation to Peiffer and WPCR, the Port Clinton Board of Education presented him with a Flagship Crew Award.

Learn more about Port Clinton School District Flagship awards at www.pccsd.net.