Excerpted from OCDA Vice-President, Brandon Moss's presentation speech at the 2022 OCDA Summer Conference

Kent has had a distinguished career as a choir director at Archbold and Perrysburg High Schools, has served as OCDA’s Treasurer for over 15 years, and has volunteered extensively for OMEA, serving as a district President, an adjudicator, as a previous All-State Choir chair, and now as the All-State Ensemble Coordinator, among other roles. According to his nominator, Dr. Hilary Apfelstadt: “When I served on the OCDA Board…I was struck by [Kent’s] level of detail, his meticulous documenting of our finances, and the reasoned approach he brought to the job. Then I spent a year in the national office of ACDA as Interim Executive Director where I saw how all the states operate financially, and realized that Kent is a true standout. OCDA is exceedingly fortunate to have him in this role as Treasurer. ACDA has many dedicated and competent volunteers, but Kent is in a league by himself. OCDA's solid financial footing is, in part, due to the steady and skilled leadership Kent provides and the collaborative way in which he works with the Executive Committee and the Board. The role of Treasurer is very time-consuming and completely volunteer, with no financial compensation. It is also highly specialized. I highly recommend Kent Vandock for the Distinguished Service [Award] as someone who is not only a fine musician and teacher, but a servant-leader who brings honesty and integrity to two professional organizations.”

I will add to Hilary’s comments to say that I have served with Kent on the board for over a decade, and in that time, I have never stopped being amazed at Kent’s work on behalf of our organization. Not only is he, as Hilary said, a treasurer and volunteer in a league by himself, he knows more about how this organization is run than anyone else, in fact, than most of us combined. He is our unofficial resident parliamentarian, he is our institutional memory, he has opinions and he brings them to the table when warranted, but he understands and executes the most fair and impartial balance between his role as Treasurer and his role as a member of the organization. He is not a miserly treasurer, he encourages us to use our funds for the advancement of our profession in Ohio, and he cares deeply about the many things OCDA has to offer. On top of all this, he is a steady, even-keeled professional who manages to juggle an insane amount of responsibilities with ease and still play what I know to be his favorite role—a loving husband and father. It is my most sincere pleasure to present the 2022 OCDA Distinguished Service Award to Kent Vandock.