Longtime Boardman Local School administrator Terry L. Samuels, 76, was the honored recipient of one of two, Distinguished Alumni Awards that were handed out at the Boardman High School Senior Award Assembly held May 27 by the Boardman Alumni Association.
      Samuels, a 1957 graduate of Boardman High School, spent some 50 years in education, the majority with the Boardman Local School System where he served as principal at West Blvd. Elementary School and then at Center Middle School.
      Following his retirement as an administrator, he served as a Boardman school bus driver, while also serving as an academic advisor at Youngstown State University during a term that included the four national football championship teams coached by Jim Tressel.
      For some 15 years he would get up very early, drive his bus route, then go to YSU to work with student-athletes as an NCAA compliance officer, then return to Boardman to drive his bus route again.
      During his tenure leading Center Middle School, the school began to operate its own, closed-circuit television station.
      He also was a member and past president of the Boardman High School Band and Orchestra Parents, accompanying the marching band to parades in Philadelphia, New York City, Orlando, Fla. and Pasadena, Calif. He also served as chairperson of Boardman Band Night.
      Samuels is a two-time recipient of the Distinguished Service Award from the Ohio Association of Elementary School Principals and Administrators; and received the Outstanding Leadership Award in 1988 from the Mahoning County Association of Elementary School Administrators.
      He and his wife of 50 years, Marilyn, are the parents of two children, Mark and Lynn, both graduates of Boardman High School.
      “In my 35 years in education with the Boardman Local School System, I had the occasion to work with many fine people. To work with Terry Samuels was a privilege as I viewed him as more than an administrator. He was the ‘come up with an idea and we’ll run for it’ kind of man who would search the ends of the earth in order to help you be successful,” fellow educator Margaret Wellington said.
      Also recognized with a Distinguished Alumni Award was former teacher and Boardman High School graduate Jack Hay.
      Hay taught at Boardman High School from 1975-2010 and served as chairman of the English Department from 1998 until his retirement. He also served as Humanities Club advisor and Senior Class advisor, as well as an assistant football coach, baseball and softball coach.
      Hay is perhaps best-remembered for being named Head Football Coach at Boardman High School on Apr. 10,, 1997, and then resigning from the job before ever coaching a game, little more than six weeks after accepting the position.