LEXINGTON — When Cheryl Longnecker logged on to a Zoom conference call Tuesday morning, she thought she was in for a staff meeting.
What she didn’t know is that her current and previous coworkers were gathered onscreen to watch her receive an award from the Ohio Department of Education.
“I feel very blessed and very grateful and surprised and appreciative,” said Longnecker, who received the Northeast Ohio TORCH Honor.
TORCH stands for “Teachers of Ohio Representing Character and Heart.” Five teachers around Ohio receive the honor each year.
The award was presented by Mona Al-Hayani, a history teacher in Toledo Public Schools and the 2019 Ohio Teacher of the Year award winner.
“I felt such joy and inspiration honoring Cheryl this morning, especially because of the COVID crisis and the challenges teachers and students are facing right now,” Al-Hayani said. “Honoring Cheryl was a bright and hopeful moment during this time. She is truly deserving.”
Longnecker, a Shelby graduate, has been a special education teacher with Lexington Local Schools for three decades. Her title has changed over the years, but she’s currently employed as a sixth grade intervention specialist and the head of Eastern’s special education department.
“Cheryl is the heart of Eastern, for sure,” said Stacy Davis, one the teachers who nominated Longnecker for the award. “She is the first one there and the last one to leave. The love that she has for the students is the same she has for the staff there. When you’re a new staff member, she’s one of the first ones to greet you.”
In her nomination, Davis and other staff members pointed out the ways that Longnecker has gone above and beyond in her role as a special educator. From decorating and cleaning the staff lounge each weekend to helping the custodial staff with weeding and planting, Longnecker does extra things to help create an uplifting environment for her co-workers. She is always willing to help any teacher who has a question and is always “on call” for her students.
“She has accompanied families to Nationwide Children’s Hospital for diagnostic testing. She has taken children shopping because they were unable to afford clothing and school supplies. All parents are able to contact her with questions and concerns because they all have her personal contact information,” Davis wrote in Longnecker’s TORCH nomination.
District superintendent Mike Ziegelhofer described Longnecker as a “rock star” who was willing to do anything to help her students and their families.
Yet her knack for special education almost went undiscovered.
When Longnecker’s career in education began 30 years ago, her goal was to become a physical education teacher and coach. She originally applied to be the physical education teacher and high school girl’s basketball coach at Lexington High School.
After being told she was a close second for the position, Longnecker felt disheartened. She’d been so sure it was the right fit for her that she hadn’t applied anywhere else.
Fortunately, Ziegelhofer, then the assistant superintendent, called her the next day with a different offer — a special education tutoring position and junior varsity girl’s basketball coach.
Now she thanks him for not hiring her the first time.
“Every once and awhile, somebody turns your corner. Your road’s going one way and you think that’s the way you’re going, but God turns it somewhere else,” she said. “When I left that day, I was defeated. And the next day I took a job that shaped who I was and hopefully shaped the lives of the students that I was blessed to teach.”
Two years after she was hired, a permanent position opened up at Eastern Elementary. She’s been there ever since.
“I think that I have been successful because I never stopped at Plan ‘A.’ If ‘A’ didn’t work, then you did ‘B’ all the way to ‘Z,’” she said. “They’re just kids that learn a little different and if you are willing to find out what the niche is, give the time, dive in and make a relationship … they’ve got to know you and you’ve got to know them.”
After wrapping up this school year, Longnecker will begin a new phase in her career as the physical education teacher at Central Elementary.
“I have had a fabulous, meaningful career in special education. But the doors only open every once and awhile,” she said. “I’m a twelve hour a day employee and a weekend employee as well because the paperwork is extensive. The life of a special educator is difficult because the needs are extensive.
“I’m not taking the easy way, but I’m making a good change, I think, for my health.”
While her role at Lexington Schools may change, her dedication to students won’t.
“She’s all in for the kids,” said Ziegelhoffer, the district’s outgoing superintendent. “She’s a rock star.”
