Paul Swaddling was a teacher for over 20 years in the Berea Schools of northeastern Ohio. His personal and professional life exemplified his commitment to his two great passions: education and peace.
The Paul Swaddling Award is presented to an individual OEA member for outstanding contributions to the promotion or execution of the cause of peace and international understanding.
Paul’s concrete sense of justice marked his work with young people, as did his ability to challenge those around him to make sense of their past and present in order to create a more peaceful future. Paul’s intensity, imagination, humor, creativity, and authenticity were evident in his work for OEA at the local, district, and statewide levels.
Those in his community also marveled at the perseverance he exhibited in his work with and for the poor and at his ability to persuade others to support the causes in which he believed. Paul’s search for peace, marked by an interest in peace-making literature and peace makers, ended with his sudden death in 1987.