A group of colleagues at Vestal Middle School ran to the aid of eighth-grader Aidan Czebiniak in April. Aidan, whose parents gave the District permission to share his name, suffered a medical emergency while walking down the hall. Many staff members came to help immediately, but the ripple effects of this critical situation spread throughout the district.
Staff who helped support Aidan during this life-threatening incident have been recognized externally and internally. On Monday, June 13, Senator Fred Akshar and Broome County Legislator Kim Myers came to Vestal Middle School to recognize these staff members.
Most recently, a special recognition hosted by the Vestal Board of Education and attended by Aidan and his parents took place on June 21, 2022.
“Every year, our staff is subjected to training around safety and security within the District,” said Superintendent Jeffrey Ahearn at the start of this recognition. “We train with the hope that our training is never needed, but we train with the expectation that we will be called upon. Tonight, we gather to recognize some special staff members who were called upon and rose to the occasion.”
During resuscitation on that day, School Nurse Michelle Hroncich assisted by David Barr, Jeremy Daino, Patrick Gray, Darren Watson, Sarah Wiggins and Michelle Wolf performed CPR. The AED was deployed and 911 was called. Also coordinating support were SRO Chris Cardarelli, Amy Bennett, Chelsea Buszka, Lisa DeGroat, Tony DeRitis, Katy Jablonowski, Rob Malvasio, Colleen O’Brien, Georgia Pickens, Gerlinde Repinecz, Christi Smith, Lucinda Steele, Merryl Wallach, Alyssa Williams, Shelly Wowk, and SROs Conor Talbut and Michelle Tuetken.
“There are really no words to explain how we feel,” said Aidan’s mother, Carrie Czebiniak. “Thanks to you and your training, everything aligned on that day... We are so very grateful!”
We are all so very grateful to have Aidan back with us to finish out the school year, and to look forward to going to the high school next year.