Wickliffe Schools lauded for tenacity

A lot has been written and said about the importance of perseverance.

But if you want to see that principle illustrated, look no further than one particular initiative recently undertaken by the Wickliffe School District.

Wickliffe Schools Superintendent Joseph Spiccia received the green light from the School Board to move forward with establishing the new family resource center.

Plans call for renovating the former metal shop in the high school. That space, which is about 6,000 square feet, will be used for the center. Some of the programs offered may include workforce and economic development; educational resources; and medical and social services.

While district officials look ahead to a bright future for the center, it’s also important to note the effort it took to transform this idea into reality.

And that’s where good, oldfashioned persistence came in handy.

For four years, Spiccia and Director of Strategic Innovation Julie Ramos have been trying to establish a family resource center to meet the needs of the community.

“We thought the concept and idea was something everyone could get behind,” Spiccia said.

Garnering financial support, however, turned out to be easier said than done.

“As we applied for grants and opportunities for funding, we kept getting turned down because we didn’t have data that supported the value of such a center,” Ramos said.

If there was a game-changing moment in the quest for a family resource center, perhaps it occurred when Ramos applied for a grant from the Local Government Innovation Fund administered by the Ohio Local Government Innovation Council. The district received a $35,000 grant to conduct a feasibility study.

The study was conducted by the strategic planning organization called Long and Short of It and the economics department at Kent State University, he said.

The study revealed that every year about 1,500 residents would benefit from such a facility and it would have a positive economic impact on the community by creating jobs.

Following the feasibility study, Wickliffe Schools began seeking funding from the Ohio capital budget. Wisely, district officials reached out to someone with expertise in securing state funds: state Sen. Kenny Yuko, D-Richmond Heights, and his office.

As a result, the district was awarded a $250,000 grant for the family resource project.

In seeking a location for the family resource center, Spiccia said the district inquired about several properties in the city, but those facilities did not meet its needs. Instead, the district looked inward and decided to base the family center in a metal shop that was not being used.

The News-Herald believes that the Wickliffe Schools family resource center has the potential to become a valuable asset in the district in helping families and children in need.

So at this time, we’d like to commend the district officials who refused to give up after their initial efforts to secure grants and other funding for the center were denied. They showed how perseverance can play a big part in helping dreams come true.