Meet our Mentors

Alex Alston has been a Gahanna resident for 25 years and has served his country as a member of the Air Force and Air National Guard for 33 years. Most recently he served as a Special Assistant to the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Legislative Affairs. Alex is married to Wynyki Alston and they share three children Tyler Collins (30), Alex IV (21), and Haile (20). 

Gary D. Lewis Jr. is the 10th Chief of Police for the City of Bexley, Ohio, serving since 2022. He previously served as Assistant Vice President and Chief of Police at the University of Louisville, overseeing police, dispatch, emergency management, fire marshal, parking, communications, and business services.

Lewis also served as Chief of Police at Cleveland State University and spent 22 years with the Ohio State Highway Patrol. He holds a Master’s degree in Criminal Justice from Michigan State University and is a graduate of the FBI National Academy.

Todd Keenan has been a resident of Gahanna since 2005. He and his wife of 23 years, Bridgett, have three children: Landon (22), Brooke (20), and Laura (10). Todd started his career in education in 2002 as a high school teacher and soccer coach at Gahanna-Lincoln High School. He has since held various administrative positions, including Dean of Students at New Albany High School in 2014 and Assistant Principal at Gahanna Middle School South from 2015 to 2018. In 2019, Todd joined the Worthington City Schools district, serving as Assistant Principal at Thomas Worthington High School. He has proudly served as the Principal of Worthingway Middle School since 2024.

Retired Lt. Colonel Peyton L. Watts has over 39 years of law enforcement experience, culminating as the second African-American Lieutenant Colonel in Ohio State Highway Patrol history. A 1978 graduate of the Patrol’s 101st class, he served in leadership roles including Academy Commandant, District Commander, and senior staff overseeing training, recruitment, and statewide operations.

Col. Watts developed Ohio’s first formal driver training program, restructured officer training, and led minority and female recruitment efforts recognized by the Ohio House of Representatives. He served on the Homeland Security Board, held Secret security clearance, and earned numerous awards for lifesaving efforts, physical fitness, and safe driving.

Since retiring in 2010, he has served as a Special Deputy with the Franklin County Sheriff’s Office, Safety and Compliance Director at ASA Logistics, and mentors youth through Franklin County Children Services. He resides in Powell, Ohio, with his wife Taza and their three children.

EllingtonMo has been a resident of Gahanna/Blacklick for 5 years. He has been working with the Gahanna Schools as a substitute teacher, High School Freshman Football Coach, and now as a the Gahanna High School Behavioral Health Specialist. Mo is married to Crystal Winfrey-Ellington and they have two children; Reygan(11) and Brendan(9). 

Don is a lifetime Gahanna resident and a graduate of Lincoln High School (Class of ’89), grateful to all who have invested in him and striving to give back in meaningful ways. His passion is strength training, expressed both physically through his garage gym and spiritually through the study of Scripture. He has over 20 years of experience teaching youth ministry, spent seven years supporting people with unique challenges as a sidewalker in equine therapy, and for the past eight years has hosted open gym sessions at “The Hurt Locker,” training participants of all ages and skill levels. He also teaches middle and high school students in Bible studies at Emmanuel United Ethiopian Church of Columbus.