Todd earns award as top county student

Sandra Freeman, coordinator of gifted services at the Western Buckeye Educational Service Center, announces Ryan M. Todd, a senior at Van Wert High School, has been selected as the 2011 Van Wert County recipient of the Franklin B. Walter All-Scholastic Award.

The award was created to recognize and promote student achievement and academic accomplishment. Only established in 1989 by Ohio’s county superintendents, one senior from each county within the state receives this annual honor.

Todd is the son of Michael and Lorali Todd of Van Wert. Currently serving as the student body president at VWHS, he has received numerous honors in school and in the community. He plans to attend Eastern Michigan University with a major in aviation flight technology. Todd and his parents will be honored during a luncheon at the Ohio Educational Service Center Association’s Conference in the Lewis Center in Columbus on April 13. He will also receive a book scholarship from the Western Buckeye ESC.

The award bears the name of Dr. Franklin B. Walter, who served as state superintendent from 1977-1991. During his tenure, Dr. Walter worked with three governors, significantly improved public education in the state, and brought Ohio’s schools to the forefront of the nation’s attention.