Six Mentor High School graduates were inducted into the Mentor High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame on April 22. The purpose of the hall of fame is to recognize Mentor graduates who have distinguished themselves in their chosen fields and are recognized as positive contributors to society.

 

The hall of fame serves as a permanent testimony that the Mentor High School experience prepares graduates to face life's challenges, to solve problems and to make decisions that will positively influence and/or contribute to the well-being of our society.

 

Inductees for 2010 are:

 

Carolyn Virginia (Lay) Anderson, class of 1950
Carolyn Anderson is self-employed in the insurance industry. She is serving as a board member with The Salvation Army and New Directions for Living.  With the "Army" she is on the Executive Committee, Development Committee, Emergency Disaster Committee and the Program Committee.  She also serves as the secretary for the Advisory Committee.  Carolyn is a founding board member of the New Directions for Living association which began in 1985.  She currently serves as Board President.  A new residential home was recently opened and is called "Carolyn's Home" in her honor.  She was recently appointed Interim Chair of the Heritage Society.  She serves as a Precinct Committeeman and is a member of the Mentor Woman's Club.  She is also a member of the Scottish Heritage Association of Northeast Ohio.  Carolyn Anderson's years of dedication to Mentor and Lake County civic and charitable organizations make her uniquely qualified for inclusion in the Mentor High School Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame.

 

Sherry B. Bent, class of 1967
Sherry Bent graduated from Lakeland Community College in 1976 with an associate degree in Liberal Arts/Early Childhood.  She received her BA Degree in Education from Lake Erie College in 1978 and her MA Degree with Honors from Lake Erie College in 1986.  She served as Head Teacher and administrator for the Lake/Geauga Headstart  Program.  She was a teacher of math and the gifted earlier in her career. She was Teacher of the Year in Painesville Twp. Local Schools in 1986 as well as Outstanding Teacher of Economics in 1982.  She received the Woman of Achievement Award in 1994.  She went to England on a Fulbright Scholarship in 1991. In 2004 she developed and initiated a robotics program for gifted and talented students at Queen's Park Community School in England.  She started a tutoring business in London tutoring math and English to children ages 6-13.  Additionally, she is a literacy consultant for ARK Academies and has developed curriculum models for English, reading, and literacy in ten schools, ages pre-school to 16.  Sherry co-authored literacy strategies for teaching English in India.  She has also taught in India and South Africa.  While in the U.S. she served on the Lake County Welfare Advisory Board; Executive Board of Business & Science Education; Executive Board for Child Development and was President of the American Association of University Women. She was a member of the Western Reserve Junior Service League; Western Reserve Historical Society; Delta Kappa Gamma; Advisory Board of the Lake County Welfare Department; International Reading Association; and other educational support associations.  In England she has served the Reading Reform Organization; UK Librarian's Association; Ovarian Cancer Research Charity; and several other civic organizations.  Sherry was married in 1993 and has settled in London, England.

 

Dr. Linda R. Gooding, class of 1963
Dr. Gooding was valedictorian of the MHS class of 1963.  She graduated summa cum laude with a BS Degree in chemistry in 1967 from Bowling Green State University.  She accepted a full scholarship to Cornell University where she completed her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1972.  She continued her post doctorate studies at John Hopkins University.  Dr. Gooding began her professional life as a professor and research scientist at Duke University.  She is currently professor of Microbiology and Immunology in the College of Medicine at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia.  She is an author and lecturer.  In addition to her work with human viruses, she is considered a world expert in holistic and alternative medicine.  She is one of only handful of researchers to have received a grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the effects of alternative medicine.

 

Dr. Eugene Novotney, class of 1978
Dr. Novotney received his Bachelor of Music Degree from the University of Cincinnati: College-Conservatory of Music in 1982.  He received his MM Degree from the University of Illinois in 1984 and his D.M.A. from the University of Illinois in 1998. He is currently Professor of Music: Director of Percussion Studies at California State University-Humboldt.  He was awarded the Wang Family Excellence Award by the California State University Board of Trustees in 2006.  The award recognizes and celebrates faculty who, through extraordinary commitment and dedication, have distinguished themselves by exemplary contributions and achievements in their academic disciplines.  As a percussionist and composer, Dr. Novotney has performed and presented lectures and master classes in North America, South America, the Caribbean, Europe, Asia, and Africa.  He is recognized internationally as a composer of contemporary percussion music, and his compositions are widely performed as standards of the literature.  His snare drum composition, A Minute of News, has been used as the test piece for snare drum competitions all over the world!  He serves as Chairman of the New Music Research Committee; member of the College Music Society; Alpha Lambda Delta National Honor Fraternity; and lifetime member of Honor Society of Phi Kappa Phi.

 

Edward Pauline, class of 1998
Mr. Pauline received double bachelor degrees (BS & BA) from The Ohio State University in 2003.  He received his Master of Business Administration-Finance Degree from Franklin University in 2009.  He was twice elected president of the student body at Ohio State, the largest in the U.S.  Upon graduation from college he created a new student organization called Community Roots which encouraged more students to commit to community service and influence University policy.  After graduation he worked for Bernie & Brian Kosar creating a start-up sports company called Scout.com.  The company was eventually purchased by Fox Sports Interactive.  He was a member of the United Nations Association of the United States of America, Columbus Chapter and became one of the youngest presidents in that organization’s history.  He is responsible for revitalizing the organization, which hosts Columbus's annual international festival.  They received an award from their national organization for the largest increase in membership.  Mr. Pauline was an active member of the Columbus Metropolitan Club and the Columbus International Visitors council.  He was a candidate for Columbus City Council in 2005.  His recent start-up sports company, Fantasy Sports Ventures, is currently the fifth largest online sports property in the U.S.  His service continues as he is vice president of the Ohio State University Undergraduate Student Government Alumni Society.  He is active in service activities in New York City where he now resides.  While still at Mentor High School, Eddie Pauline designed the logo, which is still in use, for the Alumni & Friends of Mentor High School.

 

Joyce Markell Schutz, class of 1950
At MHS, Mrs. Schutz served as class secretary her senior year and vice-president as a junior.  She was a member of the National Honor Society and was elected mayor of City at Buckeye Girls State.  She was recognized as one of the five outstanding seniors in the class of 1950.  She attended Kent State University after graduation from Mentor High School.  She was a long-time employee of the Mentor Schools as building secretary at Garfield Elementary and served as secretary to the principal at Memorial Junior High School from 1965 to 1985.  She served as president of the Ohio Association of Public School Employees and was the first person every selected for the Memorial Junior High School "Wall of Fame," for distinguished service to the school.  She was a recipient of the Mentor Schools Outstanding Service Award.  She was a founding member of the Alumni & Friends of Mentor High School and has served as membership chair and trustee since the inception of the organization.  She served the Fine Arts Theatre Series for 14 years as well as an usher for her church.  She has served on the reunion committee, class of 1950 for all 12 of their reunions.  She was Top 25 vice president of the parent group and a member of PTA for several decades.  She volunteered her time for Cardinal Mothers and has been a strong supporter for all MHS sports teams.  Her husband John, her father Louis Markell, and sons Dave, Don, and Doug were all proud graduates of Mentor High School.