Mike Gallina - 2005
MHS 1978 Graduate
Michael R. Gallina, Class of 1978, was nominated to the Minerva High School Alumni Hall of Fame by his father, Robert Gallina. While in high school, Gallina received many athletic honors as well as being an excellent student. He was valedictorian, senior class president, captain of his football, basketball and baseball teams, and was honored as an All-League player in football and baseball and All Northeastern Ohio Honorable Mention in football.
After graduating from Minerva High School, he attended Mount Union College where he received a Bachelor of Arts degree in elementary education in 1982. While at Mount, he was a four-year baseball letterman and captain of the team his senior year. He earned the Ethel Mellenger Award as the outstanding senior in elementary education. Again he was an outstanding student academically. Gallina obtained his Master's degree in 1988 from Ashland University with a 4.00 GPA where he also was granted his Elementary Principal's Certificate, his Assistant Superintendent's Certificate, and in 1994 his Superintendent's Certificate. He is a member of the Ohio School Leadership Institute for Superintendents.
Professionally, Gallina has served as teacher, coach and administrator. He taught the learning disabled at Stanton Middle School in Alliance where he also coached ninth grade basketball. In Minerva from 1983 to 1988, he taught grade five and was an assistant coach in both football and basketball. From August 1988 until November 1993, he was the principal at West Elementary where he was honored with an Effective Schools Grant. He left West Elementary in November 1988 to become the Superintendent of Minerva Local Schools. While Gallina was superintendent, the Minerva Local School District went from a 1.6 million dollar debt to being debt free in eleven years, and he left the district with a great strategic plan in place for our future schools.
Although the people in the Minerva Local School District were sad at losing him, they wished Gallina well as he became the Superintendent of North Canton City Schools in 2004. At age 33, Gallina was the youngest person to become a school superintendent in the state of Ohio.
Even with his busy life, Gallina finds time for community service. He formerly was a member and past president of the Minerva Chamber of Commerce, member of the Minerva Area YMCA Board of Directors, the Minerva HOPE Foundation for Economic Development, and the St. Gabriel Catholic Church Parish Council. He currently serves on the Family First Foundation Board of Directors in Canton, the Buckeye Association of School Administrators, the North Canton YMCA Board of Directors, the Walsh University Advisory Board, the Lincoln Way SERRC Board, and the North Canton T.A.P. group for economic development.
Among Gallina's awards and honors are his nomination as a Jennings Foundation Superintendent of the Year by the Minerva Board of Education; Man of the Year for the community of Minerva in 2000; chosen as the graduation speaker by the graduating Minerva High School classes for the past fourteen years; chosen to present to the Ohio Conference on Teaching and Learning, and has been a guest lecturer at Ashland University, Mount Union College, Walsh University, Youngstown State, Kent State and Stark State College of Technology.
Gallina and his wife, the former Lynnette Walter, are the parents of a son Kiel who is a Minerva High School Alumnus and a student at Youngstown State University.