Devil Doings October 2023 Newsletter

Campus of Wickliffe Ribbon Cutting

On August 26th, the Campus of Wickliffe hosted an official ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the grand opening of the preschool through 12th grade campus and the start of the 2023/2024 school year. Click HERE to watch the ribbon cutting ceremony.

2023 Donors

Gold Donor

Matt Zelina '87

Blue Donor

Paul Zimmerman '72 - in honor of

long-time French teacher, Mrs. Jennie Russell 

Memorabilia Donations

Ruth Ann Leinweber Blank '87

Terri Kissig Eubanks '76

Levels of Giving

Gold Donor - $500 and above

Blue Donor - $100 - $499

Valued Donor - $1-$99

Click HERE to donate today.

You can even give a gift in honor or memory of a favorite teacher or classmate.

Want to donate the old fashioned way? Just send a check to:

WSAA

P.O. Box 195

Wickliffe OH 44092

Where Are They Now: Dennis Kondrich

by Scott Tennant '88

If not for Dennis Kondrich’s significant haematophobia, Wickliffe High School may have turned out to be a very different place, both academically and athletically.

It was Kondrich’s fear of blood that led him to abandon a planned career in medicine and eventually end up as a science teacher and coach. The result was a storied 40-year career at Wickliffe during which he unlocked the mysteries of chemistry and physics for decades’ worth of students while also serving as a football, wrestling, track and cross country coach.

Kondrich was a self-described “nerd” from Lakewood High School when he showed up on the campus of The Ohio State University in the fall of 1970. He had done so well academically at Lakewood – finishing in the top 25 of a class of about 890 students – and had tested so well on the OSU entrance exams that he started college with enough credits to be classified officially as a junior.

Given his academic proficiency and love of science, along with a brother who was a veterinarian, a career in medicine only seemed natural.

“I had my own dissecting kit growing up and did erector sets, Lincoln Logs, and detailed models,” Kondrich says. “I was really into that kind of stuff, so it seemed like [medicine] would fall right in place.”

What’s more, Ohio State had a program in which students could, in just three years, earn their undergraduate degree, take their Medical College Admission Test (MCAT) and enter medical school a year earlier than normal.

During his days at OSU, Dennis Kondrich was the man inside the Brutus Buckeye costume in 1970 and 1971 (a time when, he says, it “wasn’t as glamorous as it is today.”)

Kondrich’s planned majors were microbiology and chemistry. His subsequent course work was eclectic and included such classes as immunology and circulation technology.

It was only once he got well into the pre-med curriculum and took a turn helping in his brother’s vet clinic that he came to recognize his strong aversion to blood.

“It was something I never knew about myself,” he says. “People told me I would get over it, but I simply didn’t.”

On top of that, Kondrich characterizes his first year at Ohio State as “academically unproductive” thanks in large part to living in the residency halls known officially as “The Towers” and unofficially as “Sodom and Gomorrah.” It took time, he admits, for him to learn how to handle the sudden freedom and temptations that confront newly arrived college students.

Kondrich eventually discovered another OSU program in which students could earn teaching certificates with just eight weeks of class time and four days of student teaching. He had so many science credits by that point he thought teaching science might be a viable career option.

Near the end of 1974 he got his first teaching job at Jonathan Alder High School in Plain City, Ohio, not far from Columbus. He taught biology and anatomy physiology while also serving as an assistant football coach (having played defensive back during his Lakewood days).

Unexpectedly, Kondrich also became the school’s assistant wrestling coach despite having no experience with the sport. The head wrestling coach at Alder taught him everything he needed to know, not only about the sport, but also about dealing with youth athletes.

In 1978, a family illness prompted Kondrich and his wife Betty – whom he had married in 1975 – to move from Plain City up to northeast Ohio. Kondrich found a job at Wickliffe High School, which had been looking for a head wrestling coach and a chemistry teacher. Having spent the summer when he earned his teaching certificate rewriting college chemistry labs for high school, he figured it would be a natural fit.

It was. Kondrich flourished at Wickliffe and would remain there in various capacities all the way until his retirement in 2018. He earned several local and state awards in chemistry and physics instruction, thanks largely to his own natural curiosity. He spent several summers taking advanced professional development courses funded by the National Science Foundation, including nuclear chemistry at Penn State University, AP Chemistry at Hope College, chemical instrumentation at the University of Arizona, and physics at the prestigious Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“I had a lot of freedom and a lot of fun as a teacher at Wickliffe,” he says. “The extra classes I took allowed me to work with chemicals and materials no one else would touch because I knew how to deal with them. I had the background.”

Kondrich worked to instill an appreciation of science, especially in students for whom it didn’t come naturally.

“I never made fun of them because many could do things I never could, like music,” he laughs. “I can give you the formulas for resonance and harmony, but putting it all together artistically is remarkable to me. I’m so left-brained that I’m in awe of anyone who can do that.”

On the coaching side, Kondrich would eventually take over the cross country team and serve as the head coach for track and field. Just as important was his stint as the Wickliffe High School athletic director in the years leading up to his retirement.

In 2011, Dennis Kondrich (left) took his Wickliffe girls cross country team to Florida to compete in the Walt Disney World Cross Country Classic.

Kondrich made his mark as AD on both the school itself and on the Chagrin Valley Conference.

As Wickliffe’s enrollment shrunk, Blue Devil athletic teams still found themselves competing against much larger schools in several sports. The situation came to a head in 2012, when Kenston High School brought its 98-member football team to Wickliffe to take on a Devils squad that had perhaps 30 players. Four Wickliffe athletes suffered concussions in the game.

During the next meeting of CVC athletic directors, Kondrich announced he would no longer allow Wickliffe to play Kenston in football. If it came to it, he was willing to have his football team play an entirely independent schedule.

“I took a lot of heat in the room for saying that, but the next week I got calls from four different CVC schools saying they were willing to join me in creating a new league that separated larger schools from smaller ones,” he recalls.

The result was a revamping of the conference into its present form, which includes separate divisions in many sports that account for enrollment disparities. Without Kondrich’s principled stand, the transformation may never have happened.

Kondrich retired from teaching in 2015, then stepped away from athletics in 2018. These days he and Betty spend as much time as they can with their three children (Valerie, Rebecca and Jonathan) and their grandchildren. Kondrich also continues to be a thrill-seeker, taking frequent trips to Cedar Point and riding the largest roller coasters year after year. He also keeps his hand in track and field by serving as a track official.

In addition, he spends time fixing up the house on Buena Vista Drive in Wickliffe where he and Betty have lived for 38 years, and from which he walked to work thousands of times.

“A lot of things with the house were put off over the years, so I spend a fair amount of time redoing them!” he laughs. 

Whatever the sport, Coach Kondrich (second from left) says he always enjoyed working with young athletes.

Hall of Fame Celebration

by Teri DiMattia Shine '72

Seventy-two people were in attendance for the 9^th annual WSAA Achievement HOF Induction. The Achievement HOF was introduced in 2006 to recognize Wickliffe graduates who have achieved outstanding accomplishments in his or her chosen field or profession or has made extraordinary contributions to the community. This event is held every other year, alternating with the Athletic Hall of Fame.

Once again, the inductees shared stories of growing up in Wickliffe and their wonderful experiences in the Wickliffe City School system. Accomplishments abound and every year the talent of our alumni is overwhelming. Couldn't attend? Click HERE to view the ceremony. 

The 10^th annual Athletic Hall of Fame will be in 2024. Applications are being accepted at the website, www.wickliffealumni.org. Criteria include that the nominee has graduated at least 10 years ago and achieved outstanding accomplishments in his or her chosen athletic field and has made extraordinary contributions to the community. There are three categories for the nominees: Athlete, Coach/Athletic Administrator, and Honorary.

Mark Tromba ’85, Theresa DiMattia Shine ’72, Tara Murphy Seibel ’91, James Zizelman ’78, John Vourlis ’80. Absent Dale Lefferts ‘69

Friends of Eric Lefferts, inductee Dale

Lefferts’ son. 

Teri Shine and family

Mark Tromba and family

James Zizelman and family

The festivities continued the next day at pregame of the WHS football game.

Raffle Time

by Susan Skufca Bell '82

As we approach the season of giving, the Wickliffe Schools Alumni Association is asking for your help as we plan our annual basket raffle for February 2024.  Thanks to so many of you, last year’s online basket raffle and 50/50 drawing were a huge success. 

Previously, many of you have donated items to create baskets. Again this year, the graduating classes of the 1980s will be collecting gift cards to create gift card baskets. If you graduated in the 80s, please consider donating a gift card - any new gift card, any amount would be greatly appreciated. We are also looking for other graduating classes (that 70s Reunion? 1960s? How about getting the 1990s on board?) to help donate to this event. Some other fun ideas would be to collect items for a lottery basket, wine/beer/spirit basket, date night themed basket, sports basket, etc.    

Don’t feel like shopping? Cash donations can also be made and we’ll create a basket for you; simply donate by check or online. We hope in this season of giving back, you will be able to contribute to this fundraiser. Proceeds are used to fund our annual scholarship awards to deserving Wickliffe students.

Contact information is as follows:

Susan Skufca Bell - for drop off pick-up information or questions

Skufca82@gmail.com

Donations by check:

WSAA - Basket Raffle

c/o Susan Bell

8330 Sheltered Cove

Mentor OH 44060

Donations online:

www.WickliffeAlumni.org

(be sure to put Basket Raffle in the comment section)

Items can also be dropped off at:

Wickliffe Family Resource Center (entrance in the rear of the new campus)

2255 Rockefeller Rd.

Their hours are 8:00 am - 4:30 pm Monday-Friday

(be sure to put donations in an envelope marked "WSAA Basket Raffl

All donations needed by January 20th, 2024.

PLEASE SHARE WITH ALL YOUR CLASSMATES.

Thank you for your continued support!

Wickliffe: A Spirited Community

by Donna Palsa Mikulandra '82

Life tends to bring us full circle and my husband and I, both 1982 graduates of WHS, have recently moved back to Wickliffe.

Although many aspects of life in our small town have definitely changed, the heart and soul of Wickliffe has remained intact.

There seems to be a revival of sorts happening here – a desire to feel community. I walk my dogs throughout the city, and I am impressed by how homeowners continue to keep their properties in shape and continue to show enthusiasm for holidays and support students by displaying decorations and banners.

These walks through our neighborhoods and parks spark memories for me. I grew up on East 290^th. south of Ridge Road, just over the fence from Coulby Park. What a wonderful childhood!

My brothers, sisters and friends and I would cross the street and the field that separated the neighborhood from Coulby Park and climb the fence nearly every day in the summer. We swam in the pool, fished in the pond, played baseball, Frisbee, basketball, tennis and tag. We played on the swings, slides, teeter totters and infamous merry-go-round. We arrived early and stayed until the street lights came on – our signal to head home for the night.

In the winter, we ice skated behind the old fire station, made snow forts and had snowball fights.

Some of my fondest memories are of the Fourth of July.  In my humble opinion, our neighborhood was THE place to be in Wickliffe on the 4^th of July. The celebration began early in the morning as our street and the connecting streets, Larchmont, Stanford and Sherbrook Drives would quickly fill with cars loaded with friends, families and picnickers hoping to get as close to the park as possible.

My longest and dearest friends, Sheri Lutes Smith (82), MaryAnn Kelly Yanesh (82) and Bernadette Nicoletti Martens (83), shared in these magical memories. By midday we would hop that fence and enter a sea of picnickers. Coulby Park hosted concessions, games, and skydivers! The center of the park was laid out and painted in a huge numbered grid – a target for the skydivers to aim for and land in. People bought tickets, hoping to win a prize by guessing which square the skydiver with the colorful smoke, billowing from the back of their shoes, would land in. Later, as the park grounds continued to fill with people, blankets and folding chairs, my friends and I would head back home. Occasionally taking that little path up through the forbidden wood and field!

We would arrive home to find our front lawns filled with blankets, lawn chairs, neighbors, friends, and family enjoying sparklers, bottle rockets and firecrackers. Not long after dusk we would begin to hear and feel the M-100 blast, letting everyone know the fireworks were about to begin. Wickliffe’s display was quite spectacular from the ground display to the grand finale.

With the smoke and sulfur still lingering in the air, there was still fun to be had. Now it was time to light the grill, put the hot dogs on and watch as the hundreds of cars filled with empty coolers and sunburned kids, tried to exit onto Route 84. We would sit and watch for, many times, over an hour, as cars eeked, inch by inch towards home.

Although Wickliffe no longer hosts its own fireworks on the 4^th of July, it is comforting to see neighbors still enjoying our city’s amenities.

With the rise and start of the school year in Wickliffe’s new campus, I only hope the students enrolled there will create wonderful memories, with lifelong friends, forged in neighborhoods filled with the spirit of community.

Three Elementary Schools into One: Looking back to the 1980s Wickliffe School District Consolation

by Scott Tennant 88

Dominic Mongiardo sits behind his principal’s desk at the newly christened Wickliffe Elementary School in September 1982.

Tell a current Wickliffe student there used to be three elementary schools in the city and you’re likely to get one of two reactions:

(a)  Disbelief

(b)  A blank stare followed by the simple question, “Why?”

Two generations have come and gone since the momentous 1982-83 school year when Wickliffe went from three elementary schools to one, from a junior high to a middle school, and from a three-year to a four-year high school.

As to why it all happened, it was simply a numbers game. After Wickliffe’s largest-ever graduating class – the 400-plus students from the Class of 1975 – bade farewell to the district, enrollment dropped precipitously. By the early 80s, class sizes were almost half what they had been just a decade earlier.

It was clear something had to be done, particularly when it came to the three elementary schools: Lincoln, Mapledale and Worden. There weren’t enough children in the district then, or for the foreseeable future, to support three separate elementary facilities.

The questions that had to be addressed were numerous:

• Which schools would close and which would stay open?
• How many grades would be included in an integrated elementary school?
• Which teachers would be assigned where?
• What would happen with the schools’ respective PTA groups?

One of the men charged with working through these issues was Lincoln Elementary – later Wickliffe Elementary – Principal Dominic Mongiardo.

“The decision to close Mapledale and Worden and bring all of the students to Lincoln was made in 1981,” recalls Mongiardo, now 90 years old and living in Chesterland. “Naturally it upset a lot of people because they didn’t want to leave their schools or their teachers, so we knew we had some work to do.”

The new Wickliffe Elementary would house grades K through 4, while next door Wickliffe Junior High would become Wickliffe Middle School for those in grades 5 through 8. Wickliffe High School, meanwhile, would go from a 10-12 institution to 9-12.

While Mapledale and Worden had certain infrastructure advantages – Worden, for example, was the only one of the three to have a stage – the school board’s decision to move elementary students to the former Lincoln was based largely on that building’s size and overall sturdiness. It was the oldest of the three facilities by a wide margin, but it made the most sense financially and logistically.

“It was the talk of the town,” says Judy Martinson, a former Lincoln PTA president and member of a committee formed to make recommendations to the school board on the best way to structure the district in the face of declining enrollment. “Everybody had an opinion.”

In the interest of collaboration, the three elementary PTAs came together and officer positions were evenly divided among representatives of the schools. The PTA presidency, for example, went to a Mapledale parent – a nod to the fact that Lincoln parents and students at least got to keep their school building while others would be losing theirs.

“Honestly, a lot of people thought they would close Lincoln and keep Worden,” says Pam DePalma, who like Martinson had served as Lincoln PTA president and was on the district advisory committee. “When the school board voted to close Worden and keep Lincoln open, it was a shock to a lot of us.”

A common approach at the time was for elementary schools to include students through 5^th grade, while middle schools would be 6-8. There was no way to make that work, however, given that Lincoln would already be full with the district’s entire K-4 population.

“Lincoln by itself wasn’t big enough to handle K-5,” says Mongiardo. “But then if you closed Lincoln and distributed the students between Mapledale and Worden, you would still have two buildings to run, two principals and two staffs to pay, and two of everything else. It just didn’t make financial sense.”

Mongiardo points out that when he began his tenure as principal of Lincoln in 1966, the school had about as many students by itself (roughly 1,100) as the entire Wickliffe City School District has now, grades K through 12.

When Wickliffe Elementary opened in September 1982, Mongiardo and his team did everything they could to integrate the new student population smoothly. The previous spring, they invited children from Worden and Mapledale to attend Lincoln’s annual festival to get to know their new school. On the first day of school, they held an open house for both students and parents to get them acquainted with the facility and their new teachers.

“The staff, students and parents all had a smooth integration. We all felt there was a feeling of being a part of a new family,” Mongiardo says.

Those involved in the consolidation at the time tend to agree it worked out well for the district in the long run. As Martinson points out, moving 9^th-grade students to the high school was one of the best outcomes of the transformation.

“Kids that age are already thinking about college, which is just four years away for them,” she says. “They just fit better with older kids in a high school setting than they would with younger students in a middle school or even a junior high.”

Adds DePalma, “Once everyone’s tempers cooled down and they got over the fact that their schools weren’t going to stay open, it worked out fine. Everyone came together and made it work.”

With the opening of the Campus of Wickliffe earlier this year, Wickliffe schools once again find themselves operating under a new model. The new campus is divided into a “Lower School” (for Pre-K through 6^th grade) and an “Upper School” (for grades 7 through 12).

It’s an exciting new era for the community, and it has its roots in the Great Consolidation of 1982.

Class of 1983 Celebrates 40th

by Cheryl Lanza Tanski '83

On September 8th, the class of 1983 celebrated their 40th Class Reunion. Approximately 70 classmates met at Lino's to enjoy food, drinks, laughter and camaraderie. A great time was had by all reminiscing and catching up with everyone's lives. Thank you to Bernadette Niccoletti Martens and the reunion committee for planning this event. A special thanks goes out to Steve Vaccariello for creating a video that brought back so many fun memories and reminded us of how well we all got along. We missed those that could not attend, but I am hopeful we will see everyone again at our 45th!

50th Class Reunion

Save the Date

Friday, July 26, 2024

LaVera Party Center

Willoughby Hills

1974 Classmates can send their information

(address, phone and email) to: 

WickliffeClassof74@gmail.com

Reunion Central

Speaking of reunions, is your class starting to plan a reunion?

Did you know most graduating classes have a Facebook page?

Need more information about your graduating class?

Click HERE to visit our Class Representative Page

We are still looking for representatives for the Classes of

1961-62, 1964-65, 1967, 1976, 1979, 1981,

1990-1999, 2001-05, 2007, 2009-10, 2013-2022

If you would like to volunteer to be your class representative, please contact Susan Skufca Bell at skufca82@gmail.com

Memorabilia Donations?

Cleaning out the

basement or garage?

Do you have any

Wickliffe Schools' memorabilia?

The WSAA is accepting donations

for our memorabilia collection.



If you have items to donate,

please contact Teri Shine at tshine2141@aol.com

_{Newsletter Editors:}

Susan Skufca Bell '82

Nancy Krihwan Perlic '66

Ideas for future articles? Questions? Comments?

We would love to hear from you. Please email us at

wsaa.newsletter@gmail.com

WSAA

 P.O. Box 195

Wickliffe, Ohio 44092