2008 Hall of Fame

Our fourth class of Hall of Fame inductees consists of an exceptional former student and an outstanding community business partner.  Paul Shepard, a former Law Enforcement (now Criminal Justice) student, leveraged his Polaris career-technical experience to pursue a distinguished professional career in law enforcement.  George Cooper, R.N., is being inducted as an outstanding community business partner, recognized for his on-going commitment to the Polaris Medical Assisting program.
 
We are proud of our Hall of Fame inductees’ accomplishments and appreciate the role they serve as Polaris supporters and ambassadors.  They were officially inducted into the Polaris Hall of Fame during a ceremony on April 30, 2008.
 
Paul Shepard
 
Polaris Program:  Law Enforcement
1988 Graduate, Olmsted Falls High School
Current Employment:
Police Officer
City of Fairview Park

A 1988 graduate of the Polaris Law Enforcement (now Criminal Justice) program, Paul Shepard always had an interest in the criminal justice field.  When he visited Polaris as a sophomore he was sold on both the facility and the instructor.  After graduating from high school, Shepard spent three years as a security officer for TD Security, the company he was placed in as a Polaris senior.  He worked the next four years as a corrections officer for the City of North Royalton while working part-time security for Westgate Mall.  After graduating from the Ohio State Highway Patrol Academy in 1996, he joined the City of Fairview Park Police Department, where he has worked the last 12 years as a police officer.  He teaches part-time for the Lorain County Community College Police Academy and is also a hostage negotiator, evidence technician and field training officer.
 
Shepard has volunteered over 1,400 hours of his personal time to assist Polaris High School Criminal Justice and Adult Ranger Academy students.  He is a member of the Polaris Criminal Justice Business Advisory Council and serves as a professional role model for our students.  Officer Shepard developed and coordinated a Fairview Park police ride-a-long program where junior Criminal Justice students accompany him on patrols.  He also participated in the SkillsUSA regional competition as a coordinator and local event judge.  In 2006, Shepard enlisted the support of police officers from other local communities so that students could perform their skills and be evaluated.  Additionally, he has facilitated the use of Fairview Park Police Department equipment (cruisers) to be used as training and competition resources for Polaris students.
 
Officer Shepard is also involved with the Westshore Critical Incident Response Service, a peer support group for law enforcement professionals, and was recently honored as the Police Officer of the Week by WTAM.  Paul and his wife Kelly are the proud parents of daughters Kendall, Madison and Mallory.

George K. R. Cooper, R.N.
 
Patient Safety Officer
Emergency Management Coordinator
Fairview Hospital
 
George Cooper was first introduced to Polaris by his son, Aaron, who was a 1995 graduate of the Auto Service Technology program.  Mr. Cooper was so impressed with Polaris that he decided to lend his expertise to the Medical Assisting program.  He has served on the Polaris Medical Assisting Business Advisory Council for the past 13 years, providing input on curriculum, equipment and other important aspects of the program.  George has served on various classroom panel discussions, including a presentation highlighting professional behavior and appearance in the medical field.  He also put together a team of nurses that provided authentic assessments of clinical skills for our students in our lab.  He was instrumental in helping Polaris expand shadowing opportunities at Fairview Hospital.  This past spring George served as the coordinator and emcee of the Health Knowledge Bowl Competition for the North Central Region of SkillsUSA.
 
Mr. Cooper has an impressive background in the healthcare field and has given his talents to take the Polaris Medical Assisting program to new heights.  He began his career as a medic in the United States Navy.  He entered the nursing field in 1973, serving as a staff nurse at St. Vincent Medical Center and University Hospital in Jacksonville, Florida.  In 1974, he joined the Cleveland Clinic Coronary Care Unit where he spent the next 12 years.  He became a head nurse at Parma Community General Hospital in 1986 and later joined Xomed, Inc. as a sales representative.  From 1988 to 1990, he managed the Renal Unit at MetroHealth Medical Center.  In 1990, he began working at Fairview Hospital as a Dialysis Coordinator and worked his way up the ranks to Patient Safety Officer and Emergency Management Coordinator, positions he still holds today.  Mr. Cooper has an Associate in Science in Technical Nursing from Florida Junior College, a Bachelor of Science in Nursing from The University of Akron and a Masters in Business Administration from California Coast University.
 
George is a member of the Lutheran Home Board of Directors in Westlake.  He and his wife Mary Beth, who is also a nurse and big supporter of Polaris, live in Avon.  They have two children, Aaron and Holly.