When then-Superintendent of Schools Ed Lakey hired Paul Cynkar 25 years ago, he asked the young educator why he would leave a secure job in another district to accept a one-year contract in Worthington.

 

"You're going to like what I do so much, you're going to beg me to stay," Cynkar recalls telling Lakey.

Though it didn't happen quite that way, Cynkar did stay.

For the past 25 years, he has served the district as an administrator. His first year, he was principal at Perry Middle School. For 14 years, he was principal at Worthingway Middle School. And for the last ten, he was assistant superintendent of schools.

On Monday, dozens of the people he has worked with lined up at a reception to say good-bye and to wish him well as he leaves to take a position with Battelle For Kids.

They didn't beg him to stay, but they did use plenty of superlatives in describing a man who has led the district through many challenging situations.

From creating scenarios for dealing with declining enrollment, to building winning alternative programs, to bringing people together to solve the long-standing calendar issues, Cynkar has been the "go-to guy" for several superintendents.

Superintendent of Schools Melissa Conrath said Cynkar is the best problem solver she has ever worked with.

"In my 33 years of public education, I've never worked with someone with the skills Paul has," she said.

He can look at a problem with creativity, get people behind a solution by including them in the process, and then turn an idea into a plan, she said.

"He forces you to think in different ways," she said. "He has stretched my mind in ways it has not been stretched before."

Leatha Flynn worked at Worthingway when Cynkar was principal.

"Your 14 years of leadership are still echoing there today," she told him on Monday.

Former school board member Bob Horton recalled how Cynkar led the district through the "agonizing" downsizing decisions that had to be made, and how the administrator was never afraid to correct the board when necessary. With his institutional memory, Cynkar could put issues into their proper perspective.

"What a tremendous asset to the community," Horton said.

Community member Martin Jenkins said he was impressed with the way Cynkar served as spokesperson for the district in many difficult situations.

He also made sure that community members had an opportunity to be heard by the board.

District facilities director Tim Gehring said that Cynkar will be widely missed.

"He's one of the few people who understand the business side and the educational side," Gehring said. "He made those work together."

cbrooks@thisweeknews.com