Rodyon Chlysta

Rodyon Chlysta was born in Ravenna on February 12, 1945. Rod attended Ravenna Township School through ninth grade and he graduated from the consolidated Ravenna High School in 1963. After high school, he attended Kent State University where he graduated in 1968 with a dual major of Geography and Conservation, and a minor in Geology. He also achieved a Masters Degree in Education from Kent State University in 1978. In the fall of 1968, Rod began his teaching career at Brown Junior High School where he remained until 2000 when he retired after 31 years of teaching. He taught both 7th and 8th grade Physical Science, Life Science, Geography and Earth Science. Rod has always believed learning outside the classroom impacts the students in a positive and profound way. He led students on numerous educational field trips around Ohio, throughout the USA, Canada and the Bahamas. From the beginning of his teaching career, Rod coached basketball and the school chess team, which he founded. He has continued to coach basketball after his retirement as a classroom teacher. In 2007, he started his 39th year of basketball coaching. In those years, his junior high boys’ teams have had over 120 victories, his middle school girls’ teams have had over 190 victories and his varsity girls’ teams have had over 100 victories for a total of over 400 coaching victories in his career. He was named Metro League high school Coach of the Year in 1989-1990 and his varsity girls’ teams won the league championship that same year. He also coached the chess team from 1968 to 2000. His chess teams competed in local and national tournaments. Under Rod’s advisorship, Ravenna’s Chess Teams placed 5th nationally in 1989, followed by another 5th place finish in 1991, and a 4th place finish in 1999.