EDITOR’S NOTE: This is one of a series of Saturday profiles of area residents and their stories. To suggest a profile, contact features editor Burton Cole at bcole@trib today.com.

CANFIELD — Phil Bova was born to teach. If ever there was a person who inhabited the role like a soul inhabits the body, it was him.

Now 78, Bova began his teaching career in 1964 after graduating from Youngstown State University. While studying pre-med as a lab assistant, he also became a teaching assistant. That’s what rang his bell. He switched from pre-med to teaching and upon graduation took his first position at Woodrow Wilson High School.

“That’s when Youngstown was the finest school system in three counties,” he said. “It’s still an excellent school system, believe it or not.”

While teaching chemistry and physical sciences at Woodrow Wilson for eight years, he chose Canfield as his permanent home.

“We decided to build a home in Canfield in 1969 so my children could go to school here.”

Three years later, he accepted a position with Canfield High School as a chemistry teacher and head basketball coach.

Now retired for the third time, Bova has left a legacy in Youngstown-area educational circles. Teacher, administrator, special services director, coach, assistant principal, supervisor of student teachers at Kent State, school board member — he has done it all.

Looking back on his career, Bova said, “I believe in making a difference in the world. When I first applied to Youngstown City Schools, you had to write an essay why you wanted to be a teacher. The same things I wrote back then are still true today. I wanted to be part of the process where young people developed into productive citizens.

“I’ve told many people, you walk down the beach of life and if you don’t leave deep footprints, your life is not as meaningful as it should be.”

Bova is a product of the North Side and Liberty Township, where he attended Ursuline High School. He earned his undergraduate degree at Youngstown State University and his master’s at Kent State University.

He said that over his 50 years in Canfield, he’s seen many changes in the educational system and in its philosophy. Surprisingly — given pervasive perceptions to the contrary among his generation — he is optimistic about today’s young students.

“You’re not going to believe this,” he said, “but students learn far more today than they ever did before. They are better students today than they ever were before. Teachers graduating from teachers’ schools are far better than I was to go out and teach. We have learned so much about learning itself and how students learn, which makes it easier to teach.”

Bova retired the first time after 32 years. He decided to come back to Canfield High School for three more years. After his second retirement, he was a supervisor at Kent State University and eventually ran for the Canfield Board of Education, a post he held for eight years before retiring again at the beginning of this year.

Bova said that in 2012, he’d become frustrated with what he saw as a “mess” in the Canfield school system. Three levies had failed to pass, busing was limited, there had been cutbacks in the curriculum and employees were being laid off.

When the superintendent’s office became vacant, he joined in the search for a replacement.

“We set down certain goals. We wanted somebody with a little bit of experience but not a lot of experience. We wanted somebody with a lot of energy, a lot of ideas, and who was a good communicator. We found Alex Geordan, and he fit all those qualifications. He was head and shoulders above all the other candidates.”

Bova remains optimistic and supportive of the fundamental learning process that he helped to create. He stressed the importance of parental involvement in their children’s education.

“Here in Canfield, the parents demand that you educate their students. They support you and they value a good education. When you have kids who want to learn, you have parents who want them to learn, and you have teachers who want to teach. You have a good school system.”

His advice to would-be teachers is simple. “It’s a great profession. But I will tell you this: Teachers are not made; they are born.”

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