Friday May 27th 2022
Broadwalk
Issue #4
Youngsville Middle/High School
Class of 2022 It is that time of year, the time of year when seniors say goodbye to their beloved high school and move on to what is the next chapter of their lives. The Broadwalk staff wanted to focus this year’s final paper on the graduating class of 2022 so we asked every senior to share their future plans with us.
Remembering Mr. Clough By: Mrs. Beers, Mr. Victor, & Mr. VanOrd
Olivia Goss plans to join the Army and become a military working dog handler. She eventually hopes to become a K-9 Police Officer.
Max Atwood will be attending Slippery Rock University. He hopes to attain a bachelor's degree in political science and then attend law school.
Katie Sobkowski will be attending CalU where she plans to obtain a Masters in Social Work. She hopes to work in Pittsburgh and live there for a few years and eventually move further away and start a family.
Class of ’22 – pg. 2
Paul began his career with the WCSD as a wrestling coach at Youngsville Middle High School. As he spent more and more time with student-athletes in the school environment, he decided to make a career change to education. He increased his time in Youngsville by substitute teaching during the school day and working with athletes in the evenings. As the parent of Collin and Lilly (Collin is a freshman at Gannon/Lilly is a junior here at YMHS), Paul knew many of the teachers and students, so he acclimated to the life of a substitute easily due to his connections as a coach, parent, and school community member. After substituting long term in a position at YMHS, he decided to go back to school for his teaching degree. During that time, he taught high school math at both YMHS and WAHS short term and continued to be the head wrestling coach at Youngsville. He completed his student teaching at YMHS in middle level science last year and was hired for an itinerant yearlong teaching position in high school science, which was split between YMHS and EMHS. When Collin graduated, Paul resigned from his wrestling position as head coach, but was picked up at Sheffield as an assistant. Most recently, he signed back onto the Youngsville coaching staff as an Assistant Track coach, hired by head coach John Victor. John said “as a colleague of Paul, I have had many interactions in school, in athletics and as parent of one of his wrestlers. Paul and I shared a passion for the sport of wrestling. There were few conversations we had that did not involve some sort of conversation about wrestling. From little kids to college wrestling, we talked about it all. It was during these conversations we also spoke about other athletic activities in Youngsville. We spoke many times about getting more students involved in athletics. Though wrestling was his sport of choice his love for Youngsville High School and the community could not be measured. He will be greatly missed is an understatement." Spring Sports- pg. 3
Paul interacted with all students. He stood in hallways in between classes and expressed genuine care and concern for them. He was interested in his students and student athletes beyond high school and still had a network of student athletes in college, the military, and the workforce for which he kept tabs on and provided mentorship. Caring about students beyond the content and outside of the four walls of the classroom is a special quality. Paul wasn't afraid to tell students what they needed to hear at the moment, but he also continued to follow through with encouragement, his time, and his presence to let kids know that he genuinely cared. In the field of education there is a verbally indefinable character trait that some possess. It cannot be taught, but everyone you meet knows you have it. Paul possessed this quality. He could walk into a room full of students he had never met before and when he left, they would all have built a strong connection to him. Paul was incredibly devoted to and passionate about wrestling and the wrestling program, not only at YMHS, but across Warren County. However, as someone who taught with him daily, Mr. VanOrd said “Paul’s interests went far beyond wrestling. We talked about camping, spending time with our families, extreme sports, and numerous other topics. Paul would connect with the students about any topic that interested them and meet them with background knowledge and genuine interest. For this reason and many others, he will be greatly missed in my classroom and our school community. Mrs. Beers said “I think the YMHS school community will remember Paul as Collin and Lilly's dad first and foremost. After that, he was Paul Clough/coach and Mr. Clough/teacher. He was a mentor, advocate, educator, tutor, and friend. He was a fixture at school sporting events and provided encouragement to student athletes. He will be deeply missed.” Class of ’22- pg. 4-5