Bringing Sylvania Full Circle: Jodi Hess on Supporting Students, Teachers, and the Community

For Jodi Hess, Sylvania Schools has never simply been a place where she worked.

It is where she grew up, where she attended school, where she spent nearly 35 years as an educator and school counselor, and now where she has found an entirely new way to serve.

In this episode of Women in the Driver Seat, host Mary Helen Darah sits down with Jodi Hess, Director of the Sylvania Schools Foundation, to talk about her lifelong connection to the community and the unexpected path that brought her back to serving students and educators after retirement.

What began as a new chapter has quickly become another meaningful extension of a career devoted to Sylvania Schools.

Through scholarships, teacher grants, professional development, alumni engagement, and community support, Jodi and the Foundation are helping create opportunities that reach beyond what the school district can provide on its own.

For Jodi, the work brings everything together.

The past. The present. And the future.

A Lifelong Connection to Sylvania

Jodi has spent nearly her entire life connected to Sylvania.

She grew up in the community, attended Sylvania Schools, returned to work in the district, and ultimately built a career that lasted close to 35 years.

When Mary Helen asks what has kept her connected for so long, Jodi’s answer is simple.

The people.

She describes Sylvania as a community where people consistently support the schools, help strengthen programs, and remain involved in the lives of students.

It is also simply home.

“I feel at home here,” Jodi says.

That sense of belonging has followed her through every stage of her life and career.

Even after retiring from counseling in February 2022, Jodi discovered that stepping away from the school system did not necessarily mean stepping away from the community that had shaped so much of her life.

Instead, another opportunity was waiting.

An Unexpected Retirement Plan

Jodi was already serving on the Sylvania Schools Foundation board when leadership changes created questions about what would come next for the organization.

Her original idea was simple.

Keep things moving, maintain the Foundation’s major events, and give the organization time to determine its next direction.

Then came a suggestion she was not expecting.

Foundation leaders Dave Spice and Julie Hoffman told Jodi they believed they already knew who should take the job.

Her.

Jodi’s initial reaction was immediate.

She had just retired.

She also wondered whether her background as a school counselor had prepared her for the fundraising side of Foundation work.

But after going home and thinking about it, the idea began to feel right.

Jodi had always loved working with people. Even during her years as a counselor, she enjoyed running into students and families around town and having opportunities to reconnect.

The Foundation could allow her to stay involved with Sylvania Schools while serving in an entirely different way.

So she said yes.

And one of the biggest surprises came soon afterward.

Jodi expected fundraising to be one of the most difficult parts of the role. Instead, she discovered just how eager people were to support the schools that had been part of their own lives.

Alumni, in particular, wanted to give back.

Even more importantly, many of them wanted to stay connected.

Creating Opportunities Beyond the Classroom

At the heart of the Sylvania Schools Foundation is a mission to help provide opportunities that may not otherwise be possible through normal school funding.

That support takes several forms.

The Foundation provides scholarships for students, grants for teachers, professional development opportunities for educators, and other resources that can make a meaningful difference inside classrooms.

Jodi sees that impact from several perspectives.

As a former counselor, she remembers helping students search for scholarships and sharing the excitement when they earned one.

Today, she gets to experience the other side of that process by helping raise the funds that make those opportunities possible.

For some students, a scholarship can have a lasting impact on what comes next.

The Foundation also supports teachers, including educators who often spend their own money to create the kind of classrooms they want for their students.

Jodi recently saw that firsthand when the Foundation provided $100 certificates to a group of new teachers through a lottery to help them get started in their classrooms.

Her hope is that one day they can expand that support even further.

It is one example of how the Foundation can fill gaps and support both the people teaching in Sylvania Schools and the students sitting in their classrooms.

A Foundation Built on Giving Back

The spirit of giving that Jodi sees today has deep roots.

The Sylvania Schools Foundation was established in 1985 after a custodian wanted to create a fund to support the schools.

Not long afterward, a teacher who passed away left a significant contribution that still helps provide professional development funding for educators.

That history matters to Jodi because it shows how one person’s decision to give can continue creating opportunities long into the future.

It also reflects what she loves most about the Foundation.

People who were once part of Sylvania Schools continue making a difference years later.

Teachers help future teachers.

Alumni help current students.

Retirees stay connected to the district where they spent decades serving.

The impact does not have to end when someone graduates or retires.

Keeping Alumni and Retired Educators Connected

Jodi understands that connection personally because she is both a Sylvania Schools graduate and a retired educator.

She knows what it feels like to dedicate years to a school community and then suddenly move into a different stage of life.

For students, graduation can take them to college, a career, or another city.

For educators, retirement can close a chapter that may have lasted decades.

But Jodi believes the relationship does not have to stop there.

“The roots all come back to Sylvania,” she says.

The Foundation works to reconnect alumni, recognize graduates doing meaningful things in the world, and bring retired educators back into the community.

The district’s Athletic Hall of Fame and Distinguished Hall of Fame provide another reminder of those lasting connections.

Jodi says a common theme appears in acceptance speeches from honorees.

Their stories often come back to the people, experiences, and opportunities they had in Sylvania.

That is why she wants the Foundation to continue finding former students and educators and reminding them that they are still part of the Sylvania Schools story.

They invested their time, energy, and passion in the district.

Jodi does not want that contribution to be forgotten.

Connecting the Past, Present, and Future

When Mary Helen asks what makes Jodi most proud, her answer captures the larger purpose behind the Foundation.

It connects the past, present, and future.

The past includes the teachers, staff members, alumni, and community members who helped build Sylvania Schools into what it is today.

The present is represented by the students and educators who benefit from Foundation support right now.

And the future is every student who will carry those experiences forward.

For Jodi, that connection has made her latest role especially rewarding.

She loved teaching when she was a teacher. She loved counseling when she was a counselor. And now she loves leading the Foundation.

Each role belonged to a different season of her life, but all of them share the same foundation: helping people.

Her advice to students reflects that same grounded perspective.

“Make good decisions for today,” she says. “Don’t worry so much what’s going to happen tomorrow.”

Make one good decision today, then make another tomorrow.

It is a fitting philosophy for someone whose own path has unfolded one chapter at a time.

Retirement could have marked the end of Jodi Hess’s career with Sylvania Schools.

Instead, it opened the door to a new way of giving back to the community she has called home her entire life.

👉 Watch now to hear Jodi Hess share how the Sylvania Schools Foundation is supporting students and teachers while bringing alumni, educators, and generations of the Sylvania community back together.