When Perkins football players walk into the home locker room at FirelandsHealth Stadium, the name of one standout Pirate will remind them of adversity and what it means to overcome it.
The Perkins Local School District Board of Education on Wednesday, August 10, officially named the locker room after 2004 Perkins High School graduate Tyson Gentry, a standout football player who went on to play for Ohio State University.
Tyson suffered a tragic injury on the OSU practice field that left him paralyzed from the neck down and confined to a wheelchair.
During the Board of Education meeting, Vice President Ted Kastor said it is a rare honor for a Perkins Sc
hool facility to be named after an individual – think Scott Fry Lane and Stone Ambos Courts. There is no better person’s name than Tyson’s to put on the locker room door, Mr. Kastor said.
“He’s dedicated his life to helping people cope with injuries like his own,” Mr. Kastor said.
Since his injury, Tyson created the New Perspective Foundation that assists family and friends with travel and lodging expenses, so they can be near the hospitalized individual while in a time of need. Tyson and his family now live in Georgia, but remain an active part of the Perkins community.
In other action, the Board also approved increasing pay for substitute teachers to $110 per day from $90 a day for up to 25 consecutive days of service and to $135 for 26 or more days of consecutive service