Judy Szewczak was a devoted teacher, intellectual thinker, activist, lifelong learner, pet lover and advocate. 

 

Judy was a graduate of Bowsher High School. She received her Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the University of Toledo. Judy taught for 29 years and most of her Toledo Public School System teaching career was at Bowsher where she was the Social Studies Department Chair for a number of years. She also taught at Scott and Macomber-Whitney early in her career.

 

Judy was the consummate teacher, always advocating for her students, engaging them in history through first-hand accounts from veterans who lived through World War II and Vietnam. To spark her students’ interest in government, she invited candidates and elected officials to her classes, hoping to ignite their volunteerism for political campaigns. She hosted student visits to the Toledo Art Museum and Fort Meigs along with other field trips each year. She was also involved in Quiz Bowl Exhibition Match and Social Studies Activity Day, both of which raised money donated to charity. Teaching, expecting excellence and inspiring young people was Judy’s gift evidenced by the countless interactions with her students.

 

Judy’s second passion was her lifelong commitment to fostering animals through Planned Pethood and her support of Humane Ohio. Her caring and compassion was well evidenced through her fostering of hundreds of cats and dogs along with her own collection of well-loved pets.

 

Our family was inspired by Judy’s passion for teaching to create a scholarship to help a deserving student along their journey to achieve their academic goals.