Mathews dentist Dr. C. Ben Lennon, a longtime supporter of Mathews High School athletics, was recognized as the Mathews County School Board’s May meeting for his many philanthropic endeavors.

At the start of the May 18 meeting, assistant athletic director Al DeWitt presented Lennon with the 2020-2021 Virginia High School League Regional Award of Merit.

A member of DeWitt’s first football team in 1979, Lennon became active in supporting MHS athletics in 2004 when DeWitt asked for his help after his Blue Devils won the state baseball championship.

Since that time, Lennon has been an active and generous MHS booster, hosting banquets and giving out championship rings whenever Mathews teams captured the state title, as well as other support.

“The community’s been good to me,” Lennon said, and said this is his way of paying it back.

Also during the May 18 meeting, school board chairman John Priest presented Jackson Putt with a certificate of thanks for serving this past year as the student representative to the school board. Putt will graduate with his fellow MHS seniors on Saturday, June 5.

Later in the meeting, the school board approved a resolution recognizing Nancy Welch and the other 132 Virginia Public School Division Superintendents as the 2020-2021 Superintendents of the Year.

The Virginia Association of School Superintendents suspended the traditional selection process determining a single superintendent of the year and opted instead to honor them all during this unprecedented, challenging year.

“My hat’s off to you,” vice chairman Jeanice Sadler told Welch after voting to approve the resolution. “I’m appreciative of all the time, effort and heart you put into it.”

Welch said that the resolution should include the names of all school employees, “an entire community coming together.”