Induction Class of 2016

Class of 2006

Callen was an exceptional athlete in track & field while at Finneytown, setting numerous school records in the 100m, 200m, and long jump.

After Finneytown, Callen went on to make significant contributions to the Wilmington College track & field team. Her achievments are numerous including being named a 7-time All-American, earning several championships in the Ohio Athletic Conference, was twice named as a Great Lakes Regional Athlete, and was the National Champion in the 2009-2010 Division-3 55-meter dash. Callen holds several Wilmington College records include the 55-meter dash (6.98s, which is the 3rd fastest 55-meter time in Division 3 college history), the 60-meter dash, the 100-meter dash, the 200-meter, and the long jump.

Since then, Callen has continued to give back to her community through volunteerism and developing the next generation of active, healthy youngsters. She served as the middle school track and field coach at Finneytown for 4 years and, as of 2022, teaches K-6 Physical Education just down the road at Amity Elementary at fellow CHL school district Deer Park, where she has also served as the Deer Park High School and Junior High track and field coach. On Friday evenings, she volunteers at City Gospel Mission serving meals at the men's shelter.

We are proud to count Callen as one of our own.

Class of 1998

Mike began his animation career very early. While in second grade at Cottenwood Elementary, Mike would draw pictures of cats and dogs fighting. In a 2009 interview with the Cincinnati Enquirer's John Kiesewetter, Mike said that "Animations were always the thing I loved. I kept coming back to cartoons and comedy."

After graduating from Finneytown, Mike graduated from the University of Cincinnati in 2000 with a degree in Fine Arts and went on to the University of the Arts in Philadelphia, PA, where he received hs BFA in Animation in 2003. During his time at school in Philadelphia, he received the prestigous Barbara Blondeau Memorial Grant and produced his thesis film, "The Rooster Project", which is described as "A tragic romantic comedy horror cartoon epic in a 12-piece bucket value meal."

Mike has many, many credits to his name including directing 3 episodes of the FOX sitcom "The Cleveland Show", directing and supervising the entire first season of Brad Neely's "China, IL" on Adult Swim, was an assistant director on "American Dad!" including the emmy nominated episode "1600 Candles", and contributed to the production of long-running sitcom "King of the Hill". Mike has also directed a music video for R&B band "Earth, Wind, and Fire". Mike's credits would be incomplete without mentioning the commercials he directed for the Ohio Lottery and Honda, or the animations he provided for commercials for Guinness, Snickers, and Betty Crocker. All told, he has worked as a Creative Consultant, Animator, Animation Director, Writer, Performer, Producer, Executive Producer, Assistant Director, Director, and Supervising Director, not to mention being the long-time Czar of Propoganda for the Citizens Against Safety Goggles.

Class of 2004

In Memoriam. Mark holds the all-time career points record in basketball. Mark grew up in Finneytown, attended Cottonwood Elementary, and graduated from Finneytown High School in 2004. He played as a freshman on the varsity basketball team. Mark was extremely talented. He was unselfish and dedicated to the Finneytown School and Community. Mark was recruited by many high schools to play basketball and he and his family chose to stay dedicated to Finneytown. Mark continued to assist with coaching Finneytown basketball as well as AAU and other organizations after graduating while he was attending Northern Kentucky University.

Nancy Rouse stated in her nomination of Mark for the Hall of Fame; “It was a tragic loss, he was popular not only from his basketball talent but because of his endearing and kind personality. He had a bright smile and big heart.”

An annual alumni basketball game was established in Mark’s name in November, 2015. The proceeds from the game go to the Mark Hawkins Scholarship fund which is given to a Finneytown Senior each year.

Class of 1963

Charlene was inducted into the Finneytown Hall of Fame as a result of her long service as an administrative assistant for the US Department of State. As a Senior Secretary in the Office of International Communications Policy, she worked in a variety of domestic and international locations including Washington DC, Munich and Bonn, Germany, and Antwerp, Belgium. Charlene's good-humored approach to her job and her ability to keep morale high under pressure, coupled with her many contributions that advanced the international economic interests of the US telecommunication sector earned her a Meritorious Honor Award from the State Department in June of 1996.

Closer to home, Charlene and her husband Cliff have remained close to Finneytown. They attended Northminster Presbyterian Church where Charlene was active in the Garden Club. Charlene also helped establish a Finneytown Vietnam memorial, organize several class reunions, and helping to establish the FHS Founder's Scholarship. Charlene passed away on June 14, 2021. She will be greatly missed by her family and the Finneytown community.

We are proud to celebrate Charlene's contributions in service to Finneytown, but also to the United States as a whole.

All-Star Educator

All-Star Educator

After growing up in West Virginia, Rose attended Miami University and received her Bachelors of Education in 1977 and her Masters in 1981. For her student teaching assignment, she was assigned to Finneytown where she helped Burt McCollum with the production of Story Theatre. Her initial experience with the theatre department lead Rose to spend most of her next 30 years at Finneytown.

During her prolific career at Finneytown, Rose wore many hats including English teacher, cheer leading sponsor, publishing the school newsletter, leading the Finneytown Education Association, coaching the academic quiz team, traveling with students to Canada and Europe, and bringing the libraries into the 21st century as Media Specialist. In this final role, Rose really put her mark on Finneytown as she embraced the technological revolution. She worked with students to embrace the importance of television and the Internet as sources of information and introduced hundreds of kids to the wonders of the books, periodicals, audio files, and computers.

Rose wrote “You can move the teacher out of Finneytown, but after 29+years, it is impossible to move Finneytown out of the teacher – especially this one.”