The Mansfield Board of Education and community members of Mansfield’s school district said farewell on Tuesday evening as a long time board member’s career came to a close.
At age 75, Lowell Smith is ready to say goodbye to Mansfield City School District to focus more on his family. His career in education housed him and his wife in Richland County for 35 years.
When he started in Mansfield, he taught social studies, coached track and field, and assisted in coaching football. Mansfield was his nineteenth interview of the summer right after graduating from Wilmington University in 1959.
Smith has been an integral part of developing programs in and around the Mansfield area and Ohio since his hire in the district.
According to Smith, in 1968, Mansfield’s school district had about 12,285 students enrolled. That number has dramatically decreased since then, but not Smith’s morale. His passion has been helping students achieve academically.
He also had a career with Ashland University. There, he helped develop the Grow Your Own program that educated students on how they could become teachers in the area by connecting them to other colleges like Mount Vernon Nazarene University, The Ohio State University, and North Central State College.
When he retired from Ashland in 2006, he joined the Community Coalition, where he served for almost four years. The group was formed to aid Mansfield’s school district. In November of 2009, he was elected onto Mansfield’s Board of Education with Dina Davis and Chris Elswick.
During his term, he helped advocate and support five significant programs that are helping students become proficient and excellent in literacy, STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) fields, and Spanish. The Literacy Collaborative; Algebra Project; Learning Center at Springmill; Spanish Immersion; Engineering Program have all resulted from his work.
At Smith’s final board meeting, he received thanks and recognition from every board member as well as many teachers and community members. Some teachers remembered him from their first interview.
Teacher Mary Jo Lux said, “You took a chance in hiring me back in 1981 and I have been here for 33 years now. Thank you.”
Dina Davis, another board member had this to say to Smith: “I remember feeling timid about running to be on the board. You asked me, ‘Why are you running?’ and I said it’s for the kids. Then you told me ‘as long as you let the kids be the first priority, you will be okay.’”
Monica Hubbard will be Smith’s successor. She said, “Someone told me that I have big shoes to fill, but I would have to disagree with them. No one in the world could do that.”
Smith was honored with a plaque, plated with gold and his name engraved. He was also given a special ticket that would grant him free access to every sports game for the rest of his life. President Chris Elswick presented the plaque to him and said, “You are the man I want to be when I grow up. And I don’t say those words lightly.”
As a final salute, the Mansfield Sr. High School choir also sang to him. Smith smiled and took it all in. When they finished, he simply said, “Thank you.”
While the evening was primarily a farewell to a man that an Ashland University described as a “dear friend, colleague and mentor,” it was also a board meeting. In the Superintendent’s report, Brian Garverick recommended to approve the retirements of two individuals: Gunther Stahlke and David Sharrock.
Garverick and Smith took time to recognize the retirees. Gaverick said, “Gunther is a stellar employee and David is very dependable. They are two honorable men. I wish them well.”
Smith said, “Gunther came from Brazil looking for opportunity. I asked him if he knew any other languages, and he said ‘I know four.’ When I asked him why he chose to be a custodian when he knew so many languages, he said, ‘I need a job, so this is just to get my foot in the door. I would like to be a teacher someday.’ He ended up going through the Grow Your Own program through Ashland and I was his advisor. Of seven, he was one that stepped forward to go through the program. He will be missed.”
The board approved of some financial gifts from the district and then motioned to enter into executive session. The board did not vote on anything after the session. During the session, however, cake and refreshments were served in honor of Lowell Smith’s career.
“I remember feeling timid about running to be on the board. You asked me, ‘Why are you running?’ and I said it’s for the kids. Then you told me ‘as long as you let the kids be the first priority, you will be okay.’”
