Kay Massman Helman has always viewed children as precious gifts. She has dedicated her professional career and personal life to meeting the needs of children, those whom she has taught, worked with and advocated for, and those she has raised, Bexley High School graduates, Scott Helman, ‘93 and Lindsay Helman Hodge, ‘97.
A graduate of Upper Arlington High School and The Ohio State University, where she received her BS in Social Work and Masters Degree in Family and Child Development, Kay began her career teaching children with special needs. Her passion for the importance of children developing positive self-esteem early in life began while serving on the Board of Directors for the Columbus Children’s Hospital Mental Health Center in 1983 and continued through her work as Assistant Director of the Children’s Hospital Foundation.
Now retired, Kay, with the support of her husband Larry, whom she has been married to for 50 years, has turned her focus to the mental health needs of children in the Bexley Schools. The same schools that three of their five grandchildren attend.
The recently established Kay Massman Helman Endowment Fund for Mental Health and Wellness at the Bexley Education Foundation recognizes the vital role that schools play in the healthy development of children. The fund will provide annual support for mental health education and prevention programming as well as screening, assessments and interventions for Bexley students in grades K-8.
In establishing the fund, Kay is hopeful that it will convey a message of “deep love and respect for the potential of all children.”