The Coshocton County Beacon June 3, 2020 | Page 15

June 3, 2020 The Beacon • 15 Gibson would recommend Leadership Coshocton County Sherri Gibson is a native of Coshocton County, having grown up in several places in Roscoe. Her fondest memories are of homes on Hill Street and School Street. She attended Keene Elementary, Three Rivers Junior High School and River View High School. As a female athlete in the early years of Title IX, Gibson started playing on boys teams, but as girls teams became a reality, she had the opportunity to play on River View’s first softball team. She also was a member of the winning Class AA Girls’ Basketball State Championship, which Gibson described as a fun highlight with her best friends. Following high school, Gibson continued her education and love of sports at Muskingum College (now University). While at Muskingum, she earned a Bachelor of Science in computer science and German, played volleyball and indoor and outdoor track, and met the love of her life, Mark. Gibson began her career as a software engineer for Lexis-Nexis in Dayton. While there, she earned her master’s in engineering management. After 10 years on campus, Mark and Sherri Gibson decided to return to Warsaw to raise their daughters, Taylor and Jessie, and to be closer to their families. Gibson continued to telecommute for Lexis and write software from home for another eight years. Other work opportunities included serving as a youth director with her husband at Roscoe United Methodist for 11 years, substitute teaching, Family Literacy, English for Speakers of Other Languages, GED instructor and Central Ohio Technical College transitions instructor. Today Gibson serves as the business liaison for Ohio Means Jobs at Coshocton County Department of Job and Family Services. Her responsibilities include helping local employers Sherri Gibson Submitted through the entire workforce life cycle. Typical days are filled with promoting local job opportunities, employee recruitment, screening, selection, training, promotion and unfortunately also layoffs and closures. In addition to working closely with local businesses/employers, she also works with the Coshocton Chamber of Commerce, Port Authority and COTC. Gibson enjoys being involved in the community with clubs such as Coshocton Canal Quilters and Stamping/Card-Making Club and sharing her dry wit. She said she is a newly minted member of the Coshocton Herb Society. Gibson also has served as a member of the board of directors for the Montessori Preschool and as a United Way agency representative and currently serves on the COTC Coshocton campus advisory board. Gibson decided to participate in Leadership Coshocton to have a better point of reference when promoting jobs in the community. She also said there were lots of contacts, companies and talented people she hadn’t met yet. Gibson also hopes to “gain a clearer vision of available opportunities so she can connect what she’s learned developing the local workforce and experienced from previous career adventures.” Get the word out with The Beacon Bulletin Board! email your news to [email protected] Gibson believes in this community and chose to move back here to work and raise her family. She said, “Some of the most creative, hard-working, talented folks I know call Coshocton home. I think being positive and patient is going to be critical going forward.” To make Coshocton County stronger, Gibson said, “We need to tell our story, and we need to believe it ourselves. We have so much history, strong communities, talent and support for each other here. The beauty of our county speaks for itself.” Gibson would recommend Leadership Coshocton for others. “The best part of LCC has been the new friendships and relationships built during our program year. I will remember and call upon these new friends for years to come,” she said. Concerning her athletics, Gibson said, “I’m in my high school and college athletics halls of fame for two different sports.” - WEEKLY CROSSWORD - ANSWERS