GREEN: To help counter the winter blues, the Green Schools Foundation is staging its 15th annual dinner, raffle and auction Feb. 23 to raise scholarship funds for Green High School graduates.
The group also will honor three outstanding citizens for 2013. They are:
Greenwood Early Learning Center teacher Ryan Flinn as Outstanding Educator.
Cynthia Slabaugh as Outstanding Community Member.
Tara Falcone Pizer as 2013 Outstanding Alumnus.
Festivities will begin at 6:30 p.m. at Raintree Country Club on Mayfair Road, with social hour, featuring wine tasting and an open bar until a buffet dinner begins at 7:30 p.m. There also will be a silent auction and jewelry raffle as well as a chance to win the $2,000 grand prize.
For more information or to RSVP to the event by Feb. 16, visit the foundation website at www.greenschoolsfoundation.comor call event co-chairs Abby Kuwatch at 330-608-9759 or Nina Biscan at 330-896-0689. A wide range of ticket prices are listed on the website.
Foundation President Nancy Pruneski said area residents selected the three honorees from among nominations. A foundation committee then chose the winners.
Flinn has been a Green Schools kindergarten teacher for eight years with University of Akron degrees in early childhood education and a master’s degree in instructional technology.
The honoree is married to Green third-grade teacher, Vanessa. They have a 3-year-old named Clayton.
Slabaugh has been a real estate agent for 25 years, former president of the Akron Area Board of Realtors and the group’s Realtor of the Year in 2010. She also has been a member of the Green Kiwanis for more than 20 years, serving twice as local president and two consecutive years as lieutenant governor.
Married for 35 years to her high school sweetheart, Chuck, the couple has two children -- both Green High graduates -- and three grandchildren.
Falcone Pizer is a 2005 Green High School graduate, was in the top 10 percent of her class and was a member of National Honor Society. She graduated magna cum laude in 2008 from the University of Akron with a Bachelor of Arts degree.
Married for three years to Codi Pizer, the honoree is a former teacher at both North Canton Hoover and Coventry high schools and is owner and director of 8 Count Dance. She opened the studio in 2007 and now has classes from children age 2 to adults and a competition company of over 50 dancers.
For the last two years, 8 Count Dance has worked with the Green Parks and Recreation Division to sponsor community summer dance camps.
