WARREN – The Board of Directors of the Warren City Schools’ Foundation and the Committee of The Warren High School’s Distinguished Alumni Hall of Fame will induct seven new members into the Class of 2023 during the 31st Annual Awards Dinner May 6, 2023.
The event will be held at Warren G. Harding High School, 860 Elm Road, Warren.
Tours of the high school and a social hour will begin at 5 p.m. Dinner, catered by Saratoga Restaurant & Catering, will begin at 6:30 p.m. Tickets are $30 per person and can be obtained by calling (330) 841-2321, Ext. 7136, or by downloading a WCS’ DHOF 2023 Reservation Form and turning it in by April 21.
The purpose of the award is to honor those individuals who, through their performance and achievements, reflect credit on the Warren High Schools (Warren High School, Warren G. Harding, and Warren Western Reserve), so that today’s students may find inspiration from the past and establish goals for the future.
The Alumni Hall of Fame’s Committee and the Warren City Schools’ Foundation Board of Directors will also honor a “Distinguished Faculty” member of the Warren City Schools. Each year, the Board of Directors requests that each inductee of the Hall of Fame name the educators who influenced and inspired their success.
The 2023 recipient of the “Distinguished Faculty Award” is Beverly A. Barile who worked for Warren City Schools for 16 years teaching English at West Junior High School, Warren G. Harding High School and Harry B. Turner Seventh Grade School.
This year’s Hall of Fame inductees are:
Shawn Cupples (WGH Class of 1983)
After graduating from Warren G. Harding in 1983, Shawn Cupples attended Thiel College where he was a four year letterman on the football team, member of the Delta Sigma Phi fraternity, and served in the United State Marine Corps reserve. After earning a degree in Accounting and Business Administration, he accepted a position at Deloitte Touche in the Audit and Assurance department working as a Certified Public Accountant. In 1994 he accepted a finance position with General Nutrition Corporation and was transferred to the United Kingdom. In 2001, he returned to the United States and worked with GNC in various roles including Vice President of Internal Audit and Vice President of International Business Development. He currently resides in Scottsdale Arizona and is the Financial Controller for Paddy O’ Furniture. He has been involved with several charitable and social justice organizations including the Pittsburgh Community Food Bank and the Keystone Progress Education Fund.
Kenneth Davis (WGH Class of 2004)
Kenneth Davis is father to Ethan (6) and Kennedy Davis (4) and husband to Brittney Davis. Kenneth is owner of Grow Pro Genetics LLC and Account Manager at Syngenta Seed, KWS Cereals USA and Bayer Crop Science. He graduated from The Ohio State University, Agribusiness and Applied Economics with a Bachelor’s degree and received his Master’s degree from Iowa State University, Seed Science and Technology. Ken is a YMCA Youth Sports Coach and Morning Star Baptist Church Men’s Ministry Leader during his free time. Kenneth is also a recipient of The Ohio State University CFAES Young Professional Award.
Attorney Stanley A. Elkins (WWR Class of 1977)
Attorney Stanley A. Elkins attended Defiance College and graduated with a degree in both Criminal Justice and Psychology. He obtained his Juris Doctorate from the University of Akron, School of Law in 1984. Mr. Elkins was admitted to practice law in Ohio in May of 1985. He has served as a prosecutor for both the City of Warren and Trumbull County. Attorney Elkins currently serves as Chief Prosecutor of the Juvenile Division of the Trumbull County Prosecutor’s Office. Stanley has been a member of Second Baptist Church for over fifty years, where he serves as an Usher and Trustee.
Joseph Kotwis (WGH Class of 1984)
Joe Kotwis attended Clemson University and graduated in 1988 with a Bachelors in Mechanical Engineering. After two years with International Paper in South Carolina, he enrolled at North Carolina State and earned a Masters in Management graduating in 1992, while designing part time in Research Triangle Park. Joe married and moved to Iowa in 1992 for a 31-year career with Dupont. He transferred to West Virginia 2000 and then to Ohio 2006. Joe consulted across most films and laminates businesses in Dupont as well as external cell phone and aerospace customers. He was promoted to Technology Fellow in 2018 and retired in 2023, to pursue a manufacturing engineering consulting business.
Wendy Marvin (WGH 1980)
Wendy Marvin was born in Kimbrough Army Hospital in Fort Meade, Maryland. She arrived in Warren, Ohio at the ripe old age of 3 days. Her mother always told her this was the beginning of her wanderlust. Attending Laird Avenue Elementary, East Junior High and Warren G. Harding High School, Wendy went on to attend Kent State University where she spent eight years dabbling in this and that. She eventually became a medical assistant and never spent a day working in the field because working at the Trumbull YMCA not-for-profit sector while going to school was a job she loved. Wendy spent 34 years there before deciding to leave and move abroad. She received a teaching certification from the University of Miami of Florida for Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL) and this was the start of her life abroad, first moving to Paris, France, followed by China, Bali and her current home, Warsaw, Poland. It has afforded her the opportunity to travel to 42 countries of the world and she has never looked back.
Jill Christein-Merolla (WGH Class of 1983)
Jill Christein-Merolla completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Education in 1987 and her Master’s Degree in Education Administration in 1992, both from Youngstown State University. In 1987, she joined the Warren City Schools as an elementary teacher at McKinley, Horace Mann, Roosevelt, and Dickey Avenue Schools. She was awarded the A+ Teacher Award by the Tribune Chronicle in 1992. In 1997, Jill advanced into administration as a middle school principal at Turner, and an elementary principal at Secrest, McGuffey K-4 and McGuffey K-2 at the Emerson Building. In 2010, Jill transitioned to central office leadership as Supervisor of Community Outreach and Grant Development where she led two major national initiatives in Warren with CASEL, Collaborative for Academic Social Emotional Learning with former U.S. Congressman Tim Ryan and worked collaboratively with SMARTS (Students Motivated by the Arts) to make Warren City Schools an Any Given Child school district, one of 25 with the John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center in Washington, D.C.
Kirk Stiffler, MD, MPH (WWR Class of 1988)
Kirk Stiffler enrolled in the combined BS/MD program at the Northeastern Ohio University College of Medicine, earning his Bachelor’s Degree at Kent State University and graduating NEOUCOM (now known as NEOMED) with his M.D. in 1994. The following three years were spent in the Emergency Medicine residency program at Summa Health System in Akron, Ohio. Afterwards, Kirk joined Summa Health System as an attending emergency medicine physician at the training program. He was awarded teacher of the year by the residents in 1999; soon began to perform clinical research; and eventually served as director of clinical research for emergency medicine. During much of that time, he also chaired the Institutional Review Board (IRB) ensuring patient safety for those participating in clinical research trials at the institution. During that time, he completed his Masters of Public Health at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, was promoted to Professor of Emergency Medicine at NEOMED, and has published multiple peer reviewed research papers. After nearly two decades at Summa Health System, Kirk accepted a new role as Director of Emergency Medicine at University Hospitals Ahuja Medical system in Beechwood, Ohio during the late summer of 2017. In 2020, Kirk was instrumental in helping Ahuja’s Emergency Department navigate the coronavirus pandemic. Kirk has served as the Chairman of Ahuja’s Department of Medicine, and is currently serving as the President of the Medical staff. Throughout his career, Kirk manages to support various philanthropic organizations and is a dedicated father, son, and husband.
