In selected classes at Massillon’s Gorrell Elementary School, art projects, theater projects and dance classes supplement language and mathematics lessons. More than supplementing the academics, the arts are integrated into the academic classes so that there is always an academic purpose behind the arts activity. Among the group of students who worked regularly with artists in residence, standardized test scores rose dramatically.

A new local initiative, Building Stark By Degrees, encourages young people and their parents to make plans for a college education. Building Stark By Degrees celebrates the success stories of educational achievement in Stark County.

Ward J. “Jack” Timken is a leader of the business and philanthropic community who helped to establish the Stark Education Partnership and who has nurtured the organization over the last 20 years. He is quick to point out that neither he, nor his brother, Ambassador W.R. Timken Jr., the former chairman of the Timken Co., worked alone. A coalition of charitable foundations — Timken, Deuble, Hoover and Stark Community — provided the initial $3 million investment in 1989 to form what was first known as The Education Enhancement Partnership.

The College Board, a national organization dedicated to helping young people advance to a college education, has recognized the Stark Education Partnership as one of three outstanding college success initiatives in the Midwest.