Message From The Superintendent - September 2023

Greetings! 

We hope everyone is doing well! Here are the updates.  

We wanted to welcome two new SSAs to the Portage DD family. We are sad to say goodbye to Lori Johnson, an SSA for 13 years at Portage DD. She is off to another destination, and we wish her well. Lauren Johnson, SSA, started on August 14th, and Jenna Dom, SSA, began on August 28th. Lauren has a Bachelor of Science Education from Kent State University. Lauren has a wealth of experience. She worked at Hattie Larlham as a substitute teacher for the Trumbull County Board of DD. She was an SSA for the Columbiana County Board of DD for over nine years, and since 2022, she has been an SSA in Mahoning County. Jenna also has a wealth of experience. Jenna has her Bachelor of Arts in Sociology/Anthropology, with a minor in Psychology from Hiram College. She has worked for the last 22 years at Portage County Jobs and Family Services. Welcome, Lauren and Jenna!    

We discovered that the Portage DD Levy number will be issue #29. Portage DD has a renewal levy on the ballot in November 2023. We will combine a 2.0 mil (5-year term) and a 0.9 mil levy (10-year term). If the renewal passes, it will be for ten years. There will be no new taxes from this levy. This levy will allow us to continue doing great things for individuals, families, school districts, and the Portage County community.  

We had an excellent turnout of kids at the Portage County Back to School Health and Welfare Fair on August 3rd. Thank you to Michelle Dolensky and Juanita Greenwood for assisting that night.

We thank everyone who assisted with the 1st DSPU Unsung Heroes appreciation event on September 16th. We hope to grow each year. Kudos to the DSP recognition committee members Deb Gordon, Sarah Dye, George Winsen, Barb Cooper, Michelle Dolensky, Katrina Kohout, and Tim Torch! Very well organized! It was tremendous! Great job! 

Thank you also to the numerous staff and children of the Portage DD staff who assisted in making this a great event! We appreciate it all!  

We had our annual appreciation luncheon on August 24th. We have amazing people here at Portage DD, and we appreciate them greatly.

We thank everyone who attended the 2nd annual Ability Walk and Roll. Thank you to Tim Torch, Deb Gordon, Kim Vechiarelli, and Joanna Salvatori for attending the event. We are hoping for a bigger turnout next year.  

The school year has kicked off, so we have things ready to invite the school districts into our building to utilize the life skills area, pool, sensory room, and gym. 

We are in the process of expanding the sensory room. We have started CPI training for the districts, and we will soon be doing transition explorers and social-emotional classes for the districts. 

Several schools have already signed up to start utilizing the pool. When we don’t have kids using the building, we will open it up to some adults to use the facility.  

Lastly, we wanted to shout out the Special Olympic athletes and coaches. Thanks also to Colleen Brown and Eric Larsen, our Portage DD staff. Portage Thunder Team and Skills athletes competed in the Northeast Regional Tournament on Saturday, 8/26, at Willig Softball Complex in Canton, OH.  

The Skill athletes competed in throwing, fielding, hitting, and base running events. Portage DD athletes came away with 5- Gold 3-Silver 1-Bronze Medals. 

Andrea Jefferys – Silver
Carla Hamrick – Gold
Jarrod Gautner – Gold
Jon Floyd – Gold
Kip Hastings - Gold
Mark McClenden – Silver
Mike Mohan – Gold
Shawn Heffernan – Bronze
Coach: Lauren Edsall

The Portage Thunder team started the tournament with hot bats against Ashtabula County and took the first game with a 20-1 win. The next game was against Medina County, where Portage Thunder came from a 9-run deficit to win 12-11. In the Championship Game, Portage’s offense continued to finish the tournament with a win 11-0.  

Congratulations to the Portage Thunder athletes and coaches!   

Adam Gilmer
Brandon Boyett
Chris Dejanovitz
David Wilson
Emily Knisley
Mason Lease
Mike Havel
Jackie Menge
Johnny Birch
Richard Sparks
Coaches: Ron Boyett and Chuck Menge

The team and six skilled athletes will attend the Special Olympics Fall State Tournament on September 16th in Oregon, OH.  

Believe in People! 

WE ARE HERE FOR YOU.

Sincerely,

John Vennetti