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“It was the greatest professional experience of my career.”
That’s how Josh MacMillan, a Hubbard art teacher with 23 years of experience, described his visit this summer to the Ron Clark Academy in Atlanta.
Take that in for a moment -- after more than two decades in the classroom, an educator came away from a training program calling it the greatest professional experience of his career.
MacMillan, who also created the Mahoning Valley Educator of the Year Honors Dinner, returned home with new ideas for his classroom and plans to put them into practice.
Huntington Bank helped make that experience possible.
Through its Ignite the Classroom initiative, Huntington provides educators with opportunities to learn from the academy, a nationally recognized nonprofit middle school that also serves as a professional development center. Teachers observe classroom practices, participate in workshops and learn approaches they can take back to their own schools.
The program includes an immersive three-day professional development experience at the academy, followed by a yearlong cohort offering additional training, video content and other resources to help educators put practical strategies to work in their classrooms.
The Mahoning Valley became part of Huntington’s Ignite the Classroom initiative in 2026, with Youngstown City School District and Valley Christian Schools selected to participate. A combined 81 teachers and administrators from the two school systems attended three days of training at the academy.
At the Regional Chamber, our work centers on making the Valley a place where businesses want to invest and grow. That includes strengthening our workforce, growing our population, attracting and retaining talent and improving the communities where people live and work.
We can’t accomplish those goals without great teachers and strong schools.
The students sitting in classrooms today will become tomorrow’s employees, entrepreneurs and community leaders. A region’s ability to attract and retain businesses depends in part on having people prepared to fill the jobs those businesses create. That preparation begins in our schools.
That’s one reason the Regional Chamber partnered with MacMillan on the Mahoning Valley Educator of the Year Honors Dinner.
Over its first two years, the event has recognized approximately 75 educators from Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties, with hundreds gathering each year to celebrate their contributions.
At the 2026 dinner, the five teachers who received special distinction awards also had the opportunity, through Huntington, to visit the academy and participate in its professional development program.
Teachers spend their careers helping students succeed, often without receiving the public acknowledgment their work deserves. That’s why events like the Mahoning Valley Educator of the Year Honors Dinner matter.
But giving teachers the chance to learn something new and bring it back to their students takes that recognition a step further.
Huntington plans to work with two other Valley school districts in 2027, one in Mahoning County and one in Trumbull County. As Sam Huston, Huntington’s Mahoning Valley market president, puts it, community partners help make Ignite the Classroom possible.
We’re now preparing for the third annual Mahoning Valley Educator of the Year Honors Dinner, scheduled for March 2 at Waypoint 4180 in Canfield. Nominations will open Nov. 30. Huntington also plans to continue its support for the event.
MacMillan described his visit to the academy as the greatest professional experience of his career. Imagine what opportunities like that could mean for other teachers across the Valley -- and for their students.
About the Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber
The Youngstown/Warren Regional Chamber is the Valley's leading business advocacy organization, providing services and programs to promote the growth of its nearly 3,000 members and their 150,000 employees across the region. Through a robust public policy program and the management of transformational economic development-focused initiatives, the Regional Chamber is working to create a landscape that is favorable for our continued, future and sustained economic growth. For more information, visit regionalchamber.com.