photo by: Niamh Coomey

Jermaine Lucious, left, Caroline Dillon, center, and Jessica Broski-Birch are the 2025 "Champion of Children" recipients for their ongoing work with Ohio County youth.

WHEELING — Three people who work to improve the lives of Ohio County children were named “Champions of Children” on Friday afternoon.

Youth Services System Counselor Jermaine Lucious, Wheeling Park High School teacher Caroline Dillon and Wheeling Country Day School Head of School Jessica Broski Birch were the three individuals honored with the 2025 Deborah Doleski Allen awards.

The awards are given annually by the Ohio County Partners in Prevention as a part of national Child Abuse Prevention month.

The first recipient at Friday’s ceremony was Broski Birch, who has been in education for 18 years. Birch worked as principal at both Bridge Street Middle School and now Wheeling Country Day School to develop a compassionate and inclusive environment for students.

According to her nominator Shawna Safreed, Birch implemented programs aimed at boosting students’ social and emotional health, advocated for students’ needs and always provided a listening ear.

“Jessica’s impact on students was profound. She created a school culture where every child felt valued, supported and encouraged to reach their full potential,” Safreed said. “Her leadership extended beyond the classroom.”

Birch expressed gratitude for the children and countless other educational and support that inspire her work everyday.

“It’s overwhelming to be considered as part of a group that makes a difference and pours everything they have into waking up each day, going into the school, stepping foot on campus and doing the best that they can for children,” Birch said.

The next to be honored was Dillon, who oversees Wheeling Park High School’s broadcast technology program. A former student and a current student of Dillon’s program read her two nomination letters, which emphasized Dillon’s patient and supportive nature and her fierce advocacy for students of all abilities.

“She is not just a teacher, she is a relentless advocate for inclusion, opportunity and growth,” said Dillon’s nomination letter from Dionne Cox read out loud by recent graduate Hudson Davis. “She doesn’t just see students with special needs, she sees students with potential.”

Dillon said she grew up helping her mother volunteer at the Special Olympics and watched as her father started a program recognizing special needs students in Ohio County Schools, instilling the need to help others in her and her brother from a young age.

“When I began my career in Ohio County Schools, it seemed only natural that I work willingly with all students, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses,” Dillon said. “Teaching students to work and learn together, to be kind to each other and help each other is a highlight every day.”

Finally, Ron Scott, Jr. nominated Lucious, who has been helping children and families through his work as a youth counselor with YSS for almost 20 years.

Scott said Lucious has always gone out of his way to make everyone feel special, like at YSS’ “Celebrate Youth” Festival at which he made every family feel welcomed and excited to be there. The annual event at Wheeling Park has family-friendly activities while providing information and resources like back-to-school supplies for families who need them.

“He realized that there are people in that line that that is their event for the summer. That’s their Kennywood, that’s their Myrtle Beach. This is everything that they’ve worked for all summer to show their family and their children that they can have a good time,” Scott said.

Lucious emphasized seeing the positive in bad situations and said that empathy, tolerance, compassion and acceptance are words that must not ever “fall out of style.”

“I’ve seen some terrible, terrible things over the years but I’ve seen much much more good things from people over the last 20 years,” Lucious said.

Ohio County Family Resource Network Director Claudia Raymer said the awards are a way to recognize hard work that can often go unseen.

“Child abuse prevention is about strong familes, we want to focus on the positives and what more positive way to commemorate Child Abuse Prevention Month than shouting out these three individuals who work so hard very day to make sure children are safe happy and nurtured,” Raymer said.

The City of Wheeling also recently issued a proclamation officially recognizing April as Child Abuse Prevention Month. Mayor Denny Magruder was present at Friday’s ceremony to read the proclamation, which makes clear the importance of supporting local organizations and leaders who work to prevent child abuse.

*Disclosure: the Family Resource Network has partnered with The Intelligencer and Wheeling News-Register for Child Abuse Prevention Month.