According to the Valley Free Press, “While it’s a little more common in a small town, cooperation brings people together in unique ways. Mike Savage, owner of the newly-opened Pizza Shack, offers a good example.”

“With a longtime desire to own a pizza restaurant, Savage said he found the location at 1 W. Main St. and things started falling into place. While remodeling, he thought he would like to have historic pictures of the community to decorate the walls. ‘I just decided to call the school to see if anyone could help me out. I was put in touch with (art teacher) Mr. (Bill) Blidy, he showed up and the rest is history,’ Savage said.

‘I jumped at the opportunity for my students to have their artwork displayed in his restaurant,’ Blidy said. ‘Newark High School has a great history of incorporating service learning projects into the curriculum.’

‘Mike wanted historical paintings so students researched images of Newark’s past, chose images that they were interested in, then painted the different canvases in their own style,’ Blidy said.

“A teacher at Newark for “10 great years,” Blidy recruited five students, seniors Molly McCoy, Ashley Harris, Amelia Martin, Mike Selkow and sophomore Garret Hipsman. Each created one painting for the restaurant.”