Staff photo / J.T. Whitehouse Akron Children’s Hospital facilities staff members Kevin Gallagher, left, and Gene Eliser install a large sign on the front lawn of Boardman Park to bring the message of the 1,200 pinwheels representing adults who advocated for abused and neglected children last year. National Child Abuse Prevention Month begins today.

BOARDMAN — Cadets from the East High School Junior ROTC and students from the Boardman High School Emerging Leaders Club met Monday afternoon at Boardman Park to plant 1,200 pinwheels on the park’s front lawn.

The colorful, spinning garden is meant to bring awareness of the adult voices and advocacy for children who are abused or neglected across the nation.

“Each pinwheel represents a person who spoke on behalf of a child,” said Akron Children’s Hospital Child Advocacy Center coordinator Andrea Mistovich.

Those pinwheels made for a sea of moving color at the park, which was one of thousands of sites across the nation that hosted a pinwheel planting to mark National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which begins today. The CAC and Mahoning County Children Services will host their annual kickoff breakfast at 9 a.m. April 11 at the Holiday Inn in Boardman.

To place such a large number of pinwheels took an army, and that is who showed up. Student members of the East High School ROTC, under the direction of Lt. Col. Joe Alessi, arrived at the park in mid-morning and in a short time turned the green grass in front of St. James Church into row after row of colorful pinwheels.

“We have 102 kids in the program,” Alessi said. “That is close to 18% of school participation.”

He said the ROTC students are required to do community service. They take part in the non-violence parades, complete neighborhood cleanups, help place the pinwheels, and will be traveling to Warren in the near future to assist in putting up The Wall That Heals, a traveling Vietnam memorial wall exhibit.

“We have to do a certain amount of community service and we have already far exceeded it,” Alessi said.

He also mentioned that some of the teens in the East High Junior ROTC have experienced child abuse or neglect firsthand. Those students and their friends have a reason to help bring awareness.

The Boardman High School Emerging Leaders Club also has a connection to the pinwheel program.

“Every year, our group buys Christmas presents for children in foster care,” said club adviser Dana Safarek. “We were invited to take part in the pinwheels and the students were excited to do so.”

Both high schools jumped on the bandwagon to help Mahoning County Children Services and the Child Advocacy Center at Akron Children’s to help bring the issue to the forefront during National Child Abuse Prevention Month, which begins today.

The Child Advocacy Center provides exams and forensic interviews to children who have alleged physical abuse, sexual abuse or neglect, or youth who have been involved in human trafficking. Since January of 2000, the Center has served more than 10,000 children

Mahoning County Children Services is the public agency responsible for investigating reports of child abuse and neglect.

Richard Tvaroch, executive director of Mahoning County Children Services, said last year there were approximately 4,500 reports of abuse and neglect in the county. There are 203 children now in foster care and out of abusive situations because someone spoke up, he said.

“The pinwheel event is an opportunity to confirm our commitment to preventing child abuse,” Tvaroch said.

The pinwheels at Boardman Park will remain in place during the month of April. The Pinwheel is a national symbol for child abuse prevention and each one represents individuals who provided a voice and advocated on behalf of an abused or neglected child.

To report child abuse, Ohioans can report via the Ohio Child Abuse Report Hotline: 855-O-H-CHILD (855-642-4453). The Ohio Department of Job and Family Services launched this automated telephone directory that links callers directly to an Ohio Children Services agency or law enforcement office in their county.

In Mahoning County, the 24/7 report line is 330-941-8888.

On Saturday, the Touch of Class 4-H Club planted 1,302 pinwheels on the lawn in front of Warren G. Harding High School. Each one of those pinwheels represents a victim of child abuse or neglect in Trumbull County last year. That is 300 less than the number of cases reported in 2023, according to organizers.