Beeghly College of Education honors alumni

Youngstown State University’s Beeghly College of Education honors six alumni at the annual Alumni Awards Dinner 6:30 p.m. Thursday, May 11, in McKay Auditorium, Beeghly Hall, on the YSU campus.

Award recipients are:

Administrator
After beginning her career in East Palestine, Alexandra Nannicola was appointed principal of Central Elementary School in Champion in 2012. She has promoted expansion of technology by providing I-Pads for students, encouraging teachers’ use of Google Suite and creating a school Facebook page to showcase student work, share information about upcoming events and link parents to educational resources. To strengthen community connections, Nannicola hosts coffee groups in parents’ homes to discuss school issues on a more personal level. She currently serves as a member of YSU’s Aspiring Leaders Advisory Council, which provides input from the field for administrative licensure programs. In 2016, she was named Ohio’s National Distinguished Elementary Principal by the Ohio Association of Elementary School Principals. Nannicola earned a bachelor’s in Elementary Education and a master’s in Educational Administration at YSU.

Counselor
As director of the Honors College, Amy Cossentino manages all honors programming and provides academic, personal and career coaching to all of the honors students. Cossentino has worked to develop an Honors College Student Retreat; develop and expand the Penguin Pen Pal Program, linking YSU honors students with children in the Youngstown area; and supervise counseling students who serve as interns in the Honors College. Cossentino earned undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Elementary Education from Slippery Rock University and an MSEd in Counseling at YSU. She did her doctoral work at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, completing a PhD in Educational Studies with a specialization in Educational Leadership and Higher Education.

Educator
In his 45-year career as an educator, Larry Crawford has served in a wide array of schools: Warren G. Harding High School, Maplewood High School, Farmington High School, Lordstown High School and Trumbull Career & Technical Center (TCTC). He has held the positions of teacher, coach, assistant principal, principal and academic supervisor. Since 2002 he has served as Academic Supervisor at TCTC. While at TCTC, following his mission to raise the academic profile and to promote the value of career/technical education Crawford has increased enrollment from 800 to nearly 1,100 students. Crawford was named Administrator of the Year (2010) in the Special Needs Division by the High Schools That Work Organization. Crawford earned a BSEd from Bowling Green State University and a master’s in Educational Administration from YSU.

Lifetime Educational Service
John Tullio has focused his 45-year career in education on providing instructional and leadership excellence in the Youngstown City Schools and Canfield Local Schools. One of Tullio’s most outstanding contributions was his service as leading grant writer and project manager for the Youngstown City Schools Early College (YEC) and Small Schools initiative. YEC opened on the YSU campus in 2004, providing dual-credit opportunities to first-generation college students and has flourished over the past thirteen years; of the 50 students in the most recent graduating class, 60% earned YSU associate degrees by the time they graduated from high school. Currently, Tullio is the Director of Curriculum and Instruction at Canfield High School, where he has helped plan an Early College program for this suburban student population. He received his BSEd and MSEd in Educational Administration from YSU.

Dean’s Appreciation Award
Vincent Colaluca, superintendent of Austintown Local Schools, has compiled a long record of leadership, service to communities in Eastern Ohio and advocacy for children. Colaluca has held teaching positions in Youngstown and Brookfield and leadership positions in Struthers and at the Mahoning County Educational Service Center. He is active in professional service, sitting on the boards of a number of statewide and regional organizations, and serving as Board President for ACCESS Information Technology Center and the Mahoning Valley STEM & ME2 School. He was recently named Outstanding Superintendent in Northeast Ohio through the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. Colaluca attended YSU on an athletic scholarship, earning a BA in Sports Management and a BSEd in Physical Education. He earned principal certification through Ashland University.

Diversity Award
Monica Jones serves as principal and dean of the Youngstown Early College (YEC), a partnership of the Youngstown city schools and YSU. Under Jones’ leadership YEC has a 100 percent four-year graduation rate which ranks it ahead of all urban high schools in the state of Ohio. Jones’ leadership style is a mixture of determination, charisma and love. “You can do it,” is her consistent message to every Youngstown city student who enters YEC, and her daily message, “I won’t accept anything less than your best effort,” buoys and encourages her students on every step of their journey to the goal of a college degree. Jones earned her bachelor’s from Ohio University and her MSEd and principal license from YSU.