COLUMBUS — Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine kicked off the Ohio School Safety Summit on Monday, calling on attendees to ensure the student voice is heard regarding on both emotional and physical aspects of school safety.

“We are proud to be making progress in Ohio on school safety, in large part due to the involvement of students,” DeWine said. “Who knows more about school culture in the hallways of our schools than the students themselves?  We need the voices of students and the perspectives they bring to help keep our schools safe.”

After addressing the more than 1,300 attendees at the two-day Ohio School Safety Summit at the Columbus Convention Center, DeWine met with members of the 2022-2023 Student Safety Advisory Council prior to them presenting to Summit attendees about their efforts.

“This year’s students worked hard to get their peers and administrators involved in safety initiatives throughout the year and each took on separate capstone projects,” Ohio School Safety Center executive director Emily Torok said, “it is truly inspiring to hear them talk about their vision and see them actively making a difference in the lives of their peers and so many more students across the state.”

The student capstone projects are conducting a roundtable at the Summit to answer pressing questions about safety and will be presenting their capstone projects at exhibit tables. Some of their projects included self-defense trainings, inclusive school safety planning, district-wide safety committee creation, student safety podcast, first aid seminars, safety days, safety based professional development courses, school safety art contest, developing contact lists for students with mental health supports and services, kindness campaigns, and so much more.

DeWine created the inaugural council last year. The group of select high school students worked with OSSC leadership to identify school safety concerns and develop innovative solutions to address them.

Also at the School Safety Summit, three Ohio students and two staff were recognized as the first recipients of the School Safety Stand Out Awards.

Stand Out 

Student Awards

Ohio School Safety Center Stand Out Student Awards were selected by the Ohio Student Safety Advisory Council due to both the proactive and reactive measures that these courageous students took in order to keep their school and fellow classmates safe.

Jaileyana Fraley and Lagena Johnson – Woodward High School (Hamilton County)

Fraley and Johnson were the two students that quickly came to the rescue of a fellow student that was shot in the abdomen just off of the school’s campus. As a team, they applied pressure to stop the bleeding until the Life Squad arrived. This helped to save this student’s life. Both students showed their compassion for fellow students and those around by taking care of the situation at hand and they were instrumental in saving the life of the student.

 Casey Orloski – West Geauga High School (Geauga County)

Casey Orloski located a round of ammunition in the bathroom at West Geauga High School. Casey immediately informed the School Resource Officer and school administrators who subsequently analyzed video surveillance footage of students entering and exiting the bathroom. Subsequent interviews identified a student with a firearm and three fully loaded magazines of ammunition. An interview with the suspect confirmed that he intended to use the firearm to shoot students inside of the school. Orloski’s quick actions and attention to detail prevented harm to his fellow students and he should be commended for his actions.

Stand Out 

Staff Awards

Ohio School Safety Center Stand Out Staff Awards were selected by members of the Ohio Governor’s School Safety Working Group due to their passion and drive they exhibit to keep their schools and students safe –physically, emotionally, and educationally.

Deputy Jodi Kauffman – Triway Local Schools (Wayne County)

As a School Resource Officer at Triway Local Schools, Wayne County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Jodi Kauffman has been serving in this position since 2018 and is responsible for ensuring the safety and security of the students, faculty, and staff in the school district. In addition to providing a visible law enforcement presence on campus, Kauffman also works to build positive relationships with students through numerous educational programs and community outreach efforts. These include a mock crash and jury trial on distracted driving; a student safety day, shop with a hero, a vape buyback program, and high school kickball tournaments to promote kicking the habit of vapes and drugs.

Randall Krichbaum – South Central High School (Huron County)

Randall Krichbaum has taught Art Education at South Central High School since 2009. Around 2013, Krichbaum began taking courses in law enforcement and once through the police academy, he began to work as a summer law enforcement officer. Krichbaum brought his new-found knowledge and passion to his teaching career. He noticed that he could be a positive asset for change and development to the South-Central School District through updating the School District’s Safety Plan and educating those in the district to follow the plan and the best practices to keep the students and teachers safe. He is the co-chair of his district’s safety team, has created age appropriate safety videos for students to reinforce concepts, developed creative safety solutions for classrooms outside of work, and fostered a close relationship between the school and local law enforcement.