A.C.T. Excavating Helps Sebring Seniors Leave Their Mark

SEBRING, Ohio – Sebring McKinley High School seniors have started a new class tradition, leaving their mark on the school’s newest landmark, a 7,000-pound boulder that displays their school spirit on the front lawn of the school. 

Bob Rinehart, a 1982 Sebring graduate and owner of A.C.T. Excavating, donated the boulder after receiving a phone call from Toni Viscounte, Sebring Local Schools superintendent.

“We saw this as an opportunity to support a local business and a Sebring graduate by purchasing a boulder from A.C.T. Excavating,” Viscounte said. “But Bob had another idea in mind by donating it. We’re very grateful for his generosity.”

Rinehart said it’s an honor to be able to support Sebring and the seniors’ artwork each year. 

“I am proud to see Sebring Local Schools surviving in a tough world of finances and cuts in federal and state budgeting for education,” Rinehart said. “My youngest son, Michael, is open-enrolled in Sebring McKinley Class of 2025 and is excelling in school. To all of the faculty and staff, thank you and keep up the great work with our kids.”

Class officers initially requested to bring back a former tradition of painting senior parking spaces. Instead, the rock was presented as an idea to stand as a more uniform collaboration, which can be seen more visibly from the street, and will continue to display the spirit of each senior class, with layers and layers of paint to come.

Senior class officer Blake Thomas represented the senior class by attending the official rock dedication ceremony at a board meeting earlier in the school year.

“We’re excited to be the first class kicking off this new tradition and leaving the very first mark on the rock,” Thomas said. 

The 2024 class covered the rock with their handprints, signatures and a special tribute to a classmate they continue to keep in their hearts. 

“In loving memory of Emily” is written across the top of the rock to honor a former class member and friend, Emily Waseman, who died from cancer in elementary school. 

“We wanted Emily to share in the tradition with us, so we made sure she left her mark, too,” Thomas said.

CREDIT: Sebring Local Schools.

Pictured at top: Sebring McKinley senior Blake Thomas, left, shakes hands with Bob Rinehart, a 1982 Sebring graduate and owner of A.C.T. Excavating, at a dedication ceremony for the donation of the school’s new boulder, which will display the spirit of each senior class.

Published by The Business Journal, Youngstown, Ohio.