MANSFIELD – Mansfield Senior High School graduating seniors can apply for the Doug Castle Legacy Fund Scholarship.
Due to a successful fundraiser, the scholarship will be increased to $2,500 this year. It will be awarded annually at the discretion of the Doug Castle Legacy Project Advisory Committee. The scholarship acknowledges and celebrates a student who has demonstrated leadership and commitment to community involvement with a sense of fairness and concern for others.
Priority may be given to a student interested in pursuing a degree and career in K-12 education.
Applications are due by April 15 and are available in the Mansfield Senior High School Guidance Counselor Office.
Doug Castle was a local educator whose 50-year career spanned all aspects of education and athletics in Richland County. He had a special place in his heart for the underdog because as a poor Appalachian kid from Little Kentucky, he was not considered ‘college material’ until a caring teacher and coach encouraged him to try and it changed his life trajectory.
When he died of brain cancer in 2018, his family established the Doug Castle Legacy Fund at the Richland County Foundation to carry on his work and support a scholarship opportunity for a hard-working student who wants to make a difference in the community and college could be that path forward.
“My dad used to talk about how it made all the difference to have a ‘Russell Patterson’ to believe in him, mentor him, tell him that he was ‘college material’ and he became that guy who spent his entire life paying it forward,” said Dr. Beth Castle, his daughter. “Doug was a class leader, an athlete, and got good grades but as a self-described poor hillbilly kid, there was no one telling him he could do more.
“So, when he became principal of Simpson (former middle school) he led with a philosophy that every student mattered, he knew their names on the first day of school and treated everyone with fairness, if he had to punish, it was the behavior and not the student.
“College helped him understand more about the unequal systems which helped him relate to his students with this radical fairness and equality. Maybe not always, but that’s certainly what I learned from him, and we want to play some small part in helping another Mansfield student get to college.”
Doug began his teaching career in 1965 at John Simpson Junior High School and took an active role in coaching football, basketball, and track. Castle retired from Mansfield City Schools in 2000 after years of leadership including as principal of Simpson, and then worked as the Galion Middle School principal for the next five years.
For many years he was also the director of the Mansfield Mehock Relays and then the Gorman Wrestling Tournament. Ohio State University Football Coach Jim Tressel hired Castle to work as an Academic Encourager for the young men on the football team.
Castle developed an administrative philosophy based on being fair and keeping a sense of humor. He was a staunch believer in disciplining children in a way that would not destroy their dignity or self-respect. He valued every student.
Anyone can donate to the Doug Castle Legacy Fund online at richlandcountyfoundation.org, click the donate button and select the Doug Castle Fund. Or you can write a check to the Richland County Foundation and note the fund on the memo line.
About the Richland County Foundation
The Richland County Foundation, a not-for-profit 501c3, was established in 1945 as a way for individuals to pool and invest their gifts for the long-term good of Richland County and its residents.
The Foundation helps people in Richland County give back to their community by investing their gifts for charity wisely so that grants can be made to improve the quality of life for all the county’s citizens. Working together with donors, the Foundation meets important needs today and plans for a strong future.
