Schools

Lakewood High School's rock orchestra, The Lakewood Project, will join with the E5C4P3 - Escape - The Journey Tribute band for its Friday, January 24th concert. The concert will kick off at 7:30 pm in the Lakewood Civic Auditorium. The Lakewood Project and E5C4P3 will each do a set then join for a combined set as well. Tickets are $8 for adults and $3 for students, in advance, and $10 and $5 at the door. Tickets can be purchased at the LHS Bookroom or by calling 216-529-4047.

1. What is on the March 17, 2020 ballot for Lakewood City Schools? 

Lakewood City Schools' Board of Education voted unanimously to place a 3.9 mill levy and 1.0 mill permanent improvement (PI) levy on the March 2020 ballot. The funds from this levy would help keep Lakewood City Schools strong and would go toward:

• Adding STEM offerings to prepare students for their futures;

• Expanding career and technical educational opportunities for middle and high school students; 

• Keeping educational technology and other learning materials up-to-date; 

• Retaining and recruiting high-quality teachers by paying them competitive salaries; 

• Providing mental health services for elementary students;  

• Expanding early childhood programs for our community’s youngest learners; and

• Protecting our community’s investment by keeping all of our buildings, athletic fields, vehicles, and other assets in good condition.

2. How much will this levy cost a Lakewood taxpayer?

The levy would cost a Lakewood taxpayer less than $2 per month more than they currently pay, based on a property valuation of $100,000. 

The next Listen & Learn session with Dr. Barnes will happen on Wednesday, January 22, 2020 at 6 pm in the back room of Taco Tonto's (13321 Madison Ave.). Listen & Learn sessions are informal, one-hour chats with Dr. Barnes. The sessions are a great way to have any of your questions regarding the March levy answered. Dr. Barnes has added an additional session in February. Also to note, there has been a date change to the March session, which was originally publicized as occuring March 18. The new dates are:

• February 4, 2020, 6 pm at the Main Library Auditorium

• March 11, 2020, 6 pm at the Taft Center for Innovation, 13701 Lake Ave.

Congratulations to students from Lakewood High School and the West Shore Career-Tech Media Art & Design who won highest honors among the 41 awards earned in the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards regional competition held in December. LHS and West Shore students won seven Gold Keys, the highest honor given, including two each by senior Natalie Costello and junior Nola Williams-Riseng.

Lakewood students were also well represented at the Silver Key and Honorable Mention levels. Nine students won 12 Silver Keys, including three by senior Jane Kalinowski, two by juniors Timothy Frolo and Cameron Krizman. Eighteen students earned Honorable Mention designations for their art.

Additional Gold Key winners are: Lakewood High art senior Patrick McCallum and Media Art & Design students senior Darnasia Shields and junior Willow Rosser. Gold Key winners move on to be judged at the national level of the 95-year-old competition. Nola Williams-Riseng photograph “Erimari” was also nominated for a special American Visions Award.

The Cleveland Institute of Art hosts the regional competition that recognizes creative achievement in 7-12 grade students in Northeast Ohio. The young artists compete for cash prizes, medals, and scholarship awards. A panel of local professional artists, art educators, writers, and writing educators jury the exhibit and select the awarded pieces from nearly 3,000 entries.

This year’s regional winners will be honored at an awards ceremony on January 18, 2020 at the Cleveland Institute of Art and their work will be on display in the CIA’s art gallery through February 1. Congratulations to all the winners and their teachers Dayna Hansen, Anne McQuay, Arline Olear, Autumn Sabin and Amy Sedlak.

The week before winter break, students from Hayes Elementary School finished up their 11th annual Holiday Craft Week. More than 300 students handmade five unique crafts. This year’s gifts included: Seasoning Salt, a Hat Ornament, Room Spray, a Necklace and a Photo Holder. 

Each student also wrote a holiday greeting card which will be sent to recovering troops at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Virginia and veterans at the Louis Stokes VA hospital in Cleveland.

Hayes Elementary and the Craft Week Team would like to thank all of the parent and grandparent volunteers who provided donations and their time to make this week a success. And a special thank you to Meghann McKay for her leadership for the past 5 years. Consider yourself fortunate if you received one of these handmade treasures this holiday season!

Susan Jarecke is a Lakewood implant, mother of four and a busy volunteer.

Save the Eastern Massasauga Snake!

Mrs. Gerg's class

Third Grade

Did you know that Eastern Massasauga snake is a threatened reptilein Ohio?

They need our help!

Massasauga rattlesnake are important in Ohio!

The number of the eastern Massasauga has been going down for 30 years and is due to wetland habitat loss.

Biologists say that less than half of the eastern massasauga’s populations still exist. 

If we continue to lose eastern Massasauga populations, the species will be extinct in the future.

Today, scientists believe 90 percent of the population will go down over the next 50 years. 

Eastern Massasaugas have been found in a different wetland habitats, including bogs, swamps, wet meadows, marshes, wet grasslands, wet prairies and forests. 

The Eastern Massauga snake will shift the habitats they use, depending on the season. Mostly, they use wetlands in the spring, fall, and winter. 

In summer, snakes migrate to drier, upland sites, ranging from forest openings to old fields, agricultural lands and prairies.

Massasaugas usually hibernate in wetlands in crayfish or small mammal burrows. 

Hibernation places are located below the snow line, close to the groundwater level. They need  water that does not freeze in winter. This is critical for their hibernation.

Massasaugas feed mostly on small mammals such as voles, moles, jumping mice, and shrews. 

Dante Warren

Lakewood City Schools is responding to the community’s desire for more STEM instruction in our District by boosting the opportunities for students in this area across all grade levels. Through community listening sessions and surveys conducted last year, this was one of our stakeholders’ top curriculum priorities.

While the successful Ranger Hub makerspace and Project Lead the Way engineering program of West Shore Career-Tech were serving our high school students, it was evident that more needed to be done at the elementary and middle school levels. In response, the District has developed a comprehensive STEM curriculum continuum for all grade levels that ranges from discover, to immersion, application and finally career and entrepreneurship.

This school year, our middle schoolers have already seen increased STEM instruction as students are required to take a STEM class one quarter each year. The District also re-aligned staff assignments to strengthen the STEM instruction and have increased funding to provide for new technology.

The District has also provided funding to each of our elementary schools to develop their own makerspaces – a place where students can make, learn, explore and share creative ideas using high tech tools or simple craft supplies. Makerspaces help build many of the competencies of our Vision of a Lakewood Graduate from critical and creative thinking to collaboration, communication and growth mindset.

When Lakewood High junior Olivia Patterson was asked by one of her teachers to apply for a new City of Lakewood task force that would be in charge of developing the city’s first Youth Council, Olivia jumped at the opportunity. “I really wanted to make a difference and youth don’t usually get the chance to make a change in the city,” Olivia said.

The new Lakewood Youth Council will officially launch in January but the hard work behind the creation of this exciting new advisory group for our city has been going on since April thanks to the dedication of Lakewood High students such as Olivia, who is the task force's chair, and senior Tully Worron, vice chair. Olivia, Tully and seven other current or recently graduated Lakewood High students worked with city officials to develop the framework of the new council including its guiding by-laws. The by-laws and council’s mission statement were approved by the city in July and City Council then appointed those students on the task force that were not graduating to become members of the Youth Council going forward.

Like Olivia, Tully knew right away she wanted to be involved from the ground up with the task force. “Growing up in Lakewood, the youth of the community never really had a voice, except to tandem off of our parents’ views and involvement. I am passionate in politics and have always been involved in local government through my parents, but I wanted to join the Youth Council so I could really have my own stake in the community.”

The task force members are now in the process of interviewing applicants for the remaining openings on the council to boost the group to 15 members. Members must be residents of Lakewood and can be in eighth grade through freshmen in college. Current members from the task force besides Olivia and Tully are Yusra Abdi, Siwita Ali Shah, Collin Hunt, and Tristan Rumsey. Class of 2019 members of the task force were Elizabeth Halko, Jack Hueter, and McKenzie Lane.

Kindergarten registration will take place at the Lakewood Board of Education’s new home at the Taft Center for Innovation, 15701 Lake Ave., by appointment only, starting on Thursday, January 16, 2020. Students must be 5 years old on or before September 30, 2020 in order to be age eligible to enter kindergarten. Registration materials can be found on this website under Student Registration. Registration is by appointment only.

After collecting all required documents and completing all pre-registration forms online, you will be prompted to schedule an appointment to register your child. If you have any questions, please contact the registration secretary by phone at 216-529-4279 or by email at priscilla.cruz@lakewoodcityschools.org.

On Monday evening, the Lakewood City Schools Board of Education had the first reading of a resolution to proceed with the consideration of placing a 3.9 mill levy and 1 mill permanent improvement (PI) levy on the March 17, 2020 ballot. Due to responsible refinancing, sound financial practices, and property value growth, some of the District’s current debt service millage will be reduced, which allows the District to pursue this much-needed levy that will keep our funding stable.

Did you know there are many endangered species in  Ohio? 

Can you name them? 

I know that the Indiana bat is one.

I am the voice of this special Ohio mammal.

Indiana bats have been endangered since 1967. They have been rapidly dying for many reasons.

All should be stopped!

The scientific name of the Indiana bat is Myotis sodalis. Myotis means “mouse ear.” The Indiana bat has small, mouse-like ears.

Human disturbance of caves that bats use for winter hibernating is the first reason they have been dying.

During hibernation, they cluster in groups of up to 500 per square foot.

In some of the largest hibernation caves, 20,000 - 50,000 bats gather. 

If even one episode of human disturbance happens, many bats will die.

The District will be hosting a free holiday breakfast for Lakewood's senior citizens on Wednesday, December 11, 2019 at 8:45 am at Garfield Middle School. Join Superintendent Michael Barnes and members of the Board of Education for a festive, morning! Hear from some of our talented music groups, enjoy great food, and listen to Superintendent Barnes give an update on the District. RSVPs are required by Dec. 3. Please call 216-529-4074, or email christine.gordillo@lakewoodcityschools.org.

Congratulations to Lakewood High School student athletes who have been recognized by the Southwestern Conference for their outstanding efforts during the fall 2019 season, including senior runner Cormac Peppard-Kramer, who was named Conference MVP, and seven All Conference 1st Team members!

The Northern Long Eared Bat

CHRISTINE FOOTE

Teaching & Learning Coordinator Christine Foote has spent her career in education laser-focused on one mission: improving student literacy.

“My passion is to improve life through literacy outcomes,” Foote says. By improving literacy, she says, more opportunities open up in life. The passion was stoked in Foote's college years when as a student she volunteered in an inner-city program and saw how literacy challenges held students back.

Foote, who joined the District in 2005 as an instructional coach, carries out her mission by assisting our secondary-level teachers in developing curriculum and instructional strategies and facilitating professional development opportunities. Her collaborative spirit and deep knowledge gained from years spent as a teacher from elementary to college level are invaluable assets as she helps faculty write courses of study, select textbooks and develop assessments for their students.

Over her nearly 15 years with Lakewood Schools, Foote has been able to develop relationships and gain trust with teachers and administrators across all grade levels which makes the collaborative process of developing curriculum easier.

Foote says she is grateful to be able work alongside passionate educators who all have the same goal in mind of helping students succeed. “The collective energy here is amazing,” she says. “People here make the magic happen.”

Highlights Super Postseason For Rangers

The postseason has been full of highlights for the Lakewood High boys' cross country team, led by a top 50 finish by senior Cormac Peppard-Kramer in the Division 1 Cross Country State Tournament in Columbus on November 2. Peppard-Kramer finished 49th out of 186 runners in a time of 16:14.9. The State Tournament was the culmination of a season where Peppard-Kramer earned the Southwest Conference individual title and conference MVP, a 2nd place finish at Districts and a 11th place finish at Regionals.

Peppard-Kramer led a strong varsity team that was runner-up at the Southwest Conference Championship Meet and a 4th place team finish at the District meet. The 4th place finished gave the Rangers an automatic team qualification Regionals.

Senior co-captain Patrick McCallum was among the leaders as well, finishing third at the conference meet and 13th at Districts. Junior Aidyn Zingale also cracked the top 20 at Districts, placing 17th. Rounding out the varsity team are Joe Kelly, James O'Donnell, Sean O'Donnell, and James Toole. The team is coached by Stephanie Toole. 

After considerable deliberation, the Lakewood Teachers Association (LTA) is proud to announce its endorsement of Mrs. Linda Beebe, Mr. Tom Einhouse, and Ms. Emma Petrie-Barcelona for the three open seats on the Board of Education for the Lakewood City Schools. The LTA reached this decision only after carefully considering the significant enthusiasm and strengths brought by each of the 5 candidates in the field, which also includes Mr. Michael Callahan and Mr. Andrew Meyer.

A group of 11 Lakewood High students spent hundreds of hours this past summer and the first months of the school year devoting their time to a project that has become near and dear to their hearts. They are working together to create the Home Alone Youth Leadership Program for Help To Others (H2O). Their work on the program, which aims to educate 9-12-year-olds about how to safely be home alone or with younger siblings, has given them leadership skills that will serve them well, long after their time with Home Alone.

Northwestern University’s Midwest Academic Talent Search is known for recognizing high achieving students. However, their mission also incorporates parents and teachers in a quest to support gifted students. In fact, elementary and middle school students who are recognized based on their exceptional PSAT™8/9, SAT®, or ACT® scores can in turn nominate their teacher.

The Lakewood Board of Education is seeking applicants to fill a position on its Financial Advisory Committee (FAC), which is dedicated to the District’s finances. Applicants must be Lakewood residents. Duties of the committee include reviewing the annual state audit, conducting pre- and post-audit meetings, sharing business and financial “best practices” information, and reviewing the treasurer’s five-year forecast. The committee meets on a quarterly or as needed basis. 

The Grant Elementary PTA invites you to the third annual Craft and Mingle maker fair. The event will be on Saturday, October 26th from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. at Grant Elementary School. The vendor lineup is awesome this year. You’ll find something for everyone on your holiday shopping list and more! We’ll have clothing and accessories for American Girl dolls, Cleveland sports team books and gifts, handmade jewelry, homegrown decor, handmade prints and greeting cards, clever monogrammed gifts, empowering tees, all natural skin care products and perfumes, handmade snacks and other food items. Another exciting feature is that five of the thirty five vendors are mini makers this year. Young entrepreneurs from Grant, Hayes and Lincoln will be showing off their talents at their booths. Bring your kids with you, because there will be lots of fun activities for them. We’ll have face painting, a scavenger hunt and the Dave and Busters Street Team. Everyone will enjoy the concession stand and raffle as well. We hope you join us!

On Tuesday, October 8 from 6-8 p.m., Lakewood High School will host its second annual LHS Showcase Night. The event is designed to share with the community all the opportunities available to an LHS student, from the abundance of extracurricular activities, to the wide range of curricular options such as Advanced Placement, College Credit Plus, and career-tech classes. The evening will also include a Q-and-A session for parents of students not currently in the District interested in LHS. Visit the District website at www.lakewoodcityschools.org for more details.

Recess is not always fun and games for everyone. Some students struggle with the overstimulation and free-for-all that recess can be. This is particularly true for students with disabilities. District Speech Pathologist VernaAnn Kotansky saw this happening with the CHAMPS unit students at Horace Mann Elementary School. She noticed that the students have difficulty expressing themselves on the playground resulting in frustration and sometimes negative behaviors. So she decided to do something about it.
 
Kotansky had read about other districts using a sign with visual cues to help increase the students' success and communication. Kotansky used SymbolStix software, which generates visual support images to help facilitate faster understanding, more complete cognition, and decoding of text for individuals with disablities, to create the sign and had Lakewood's Erie Design print it with proper weather-resistant materials. The sign has been in use since the first day of school and students are using it to communicate with their teachers about how they are feeling - hot, tired, happy - and what they wish to play with - slide, ball, etc. - making recess a more enjoyable time for all.

My name is Linda Beebe, and I am asking to be re-elected to Lakewood Board of Education for another four years. I have served on Lakewood BOE for 36 years; I want to be re-elected because I believe public education is vital to the health of my community. I am committed to making Lakewood Schools the best choice for all our children, no matter what their background, abilities, or economic status.  Good schools mean more young families, a better informed citizenry and greater stability. 

On Sunday, October 27, the clear blue waters of the Lakewood High School pool become the coolest pumpkin patch in Lakewood. Children of all ages are invited to splash their way around the pool to find their pumpkin floating in the water.  

Summer may be over for our students, but at least three of West Shore Career-Tech/Lakewood High students are still aglow from one particular summer educational experience. These three Project Lead the Way students, seniors Miabella Doerr, Nicole Hudak, and junior Alex Schraibmen, attended ASM Materials Camp, sponsored by ASM International at their world headquarters in Aurora and now at least two of the three have found their major of choice thanks to an exceptional experience at the camp.

These Class of 2020 Health Careers Students earned the industry credential "STNA" through their West Shore Career Tech program in April. Now in their senior year, they are ready to begin their clinical care experience in our partner facilities, O'Neill Healthcare Lakewood and Cleveland Clinic Fairview Hospital. Students have also planned community health education service projects for the upcoming school year, including Blood Pressure Screening and a Hand Washing Campaign for flu season.

Lakewood City Schools' Superintendent Mike Barnes this school year will be repeating his series of "Listen & Learn" sessions he introduced last year to listen to what the Lakewood community has to say about our schools. The one-hour sessions will be informal conversations and people are welcome to drop in any time. The first one will be held on Wednesday, September 25 from 6-7 pm at the Ranger Cafe at Lakewood High School. Come and share with Dr. Barnes your thoughts, ideas and concerns for the District.

The pageantry, precision and rousing music that goes along with high school marching bands will be on display at the 33rd annual Lakewood High School Ranger Marching Band Festival set for Saturday, September 21 at First Federal Lakewood Stadium.

Back to School means back to the books and performing arts for Lakewood School students. 

The Lakewood High School Alumni Ranger Marching Band is proud to announce the 40th Anniversary Celebration of the Trip to England. All alumni marching band and auxiliary members are welcome to attend or peform with the band at halftime for the Rangers' Homecoming game against North Olmsted on Friday, September 27, 2019 at 7 p.m. James Warrick, former band director, will be attending the event and also will be at a reunion brunch scheduled for 10 am - noon on SUnday, September 28  at Deagan’s in Lakewood. “Like” @LHS Alumni Ranger Marching Band on Facebook for updates and to register via the Lakewood High School Bands Alumni page. It's free to join. Contact Mirian Roman at lhsarmb@yahoo.com or Sean DeRenzo, Alumni Marching Band president, at 216-570-3019 with any questions you may have. 

Harding Middle School English Learner (EL) teacher Pam Thompson is on of 10 educators from across Northeast Ohio chosen to be Cleveland Museum of Art Teaching Innovation Fellows for the 2019-2020 school year. She follows in the footsteps of previous Lakewood Schools CMA Fellows Sean McGuan and Autumn Sabin.

Thompson kicked off her fellowship this summer with a Summer Teacher Institute in July. During the summer session, the Fellows explored a variety of object-based learning methodologies and objects in the CMA collection. As the year progresses, Fellows will hone in on a research question impacting their own teaching and look for answers as to how can art be used as a learning tool across grade levels and disciplines. Fellows will reflect on experiences and will develop an object-based experience, which they will complete before the end of the school year. Fellows will meet 3-4 times to prototype ideas with each other, provide feedback, and report on the progress of their individual action-based research question/project.

Thompson's project will involve incorporating culture and promoting language development with her EL students using art from their native countries. "Many ELs from war-torn areas have few cultural icons left. The Cleveland Art Museum is a terrific resource for students to make that personal connection with the artifacts in its collection," Thompson said.

Herb Guild Garden Club 2019 Scholarship Winners    

The Lakewood City School District has partnered with the Positive Coaching Alliance. PCA will work alongside District coaches, parents, and athletes to help create a positive sports culture within the Ranger program, allowing for athletes to not only get the best experience, but excel on and off the sports arena. 

Sarah Sacha and Tyler Williams of Lakewood have been selected for  Cuyahoga Community College (Tri-C®) Honors Program Fellowships, which offer high-achieving students scholarships to cover tuition, fees and books as they work toward an associate degree.

The Lakewood Board of Education, at its August 5 meeting, adopted Vision of a Lakewood Graduate as the District’s strategic vision moving forward. 

Join the Lakewood Ranger Marching Band as it showcases our students' musical talents in the band's annual preseason Festival Preview on Thursday, August 14 from 6-9 pm at Lakewood Park.

The annual school supply drive, Supplies 4 Success (S4S), has kicked off! Many of Lakewood City Schools students find it difficult to buy the supplies necessary to compete academically throughout the school year and Supplies 4 Success helps relieve students and their families of this burden. Over the past seven years, the summer supply drive - organized by a committee of the Lakewood Area Collaborative in conjunction with the Lakewood Foundation - has been able to support over 500 students each year with the supplies needed. Generous cash donations over the years have allowed the organizers to open a calculator library for students who need pricier calculators for advanced high school math classes.

In April 2016, Lakewood City Schools partnered with the City of Lakewood to expand the city’s Gift-a-Tree Fund to the school district. Three years into the program, donations have been made that will benefit Lakewood students and the community for generations to come.

Since the program started, donations have made it possible to plant 11 trees at school buildings across the District. The trees planted have been different varieties including Patriot and American Elms, Sawtooth Oak and Red Maple. Depending on the species, the trees range from $250-300.

The recently formed LkwdGreenTeam has endorsed the program as one of the steps our community can take to help the District become more eco-friendly. The team hopes to also improve conservation efforts by installing rain barrels at buildings such as the one at the new pollinator garden created at Lakewood High School this summer.

A number of studies have shown that shade trees provide cooling benefits to people, but also reduce cooling costs of buildings and extend pavement life. Trees also have been found to reduce noise pollution, and storm-water runoff. They also generate oxygen and remove air pollution.

Money donated to the fund goes toward the purchasing and planting of trees on school grounds as well as for the care of trees after planting in order to give them the best chance to grow and reach maturity.

To donate to the Give-a-Tree Fund, go to the District website at www.lakewoodcityschools.org and click on the Give-a-Tree link under Quick Links on the homepage.

The Lakewood Board of Education has approved Brent Kallay as the District’s Associate Director of Information Technology. Kallay, currently an integration technician with Mayfield City Schools, will replace Technology & Communications Coordinator Paul Hieronymus, who is leaving the District.

Kallay brings extensive experience in both classroom instruction and technology integration. He started his educational career at Painesville City Schools, where he served as an elementary teacher and then moved on to teaching middle school. When he joined Mayfield City Schools in 2014, his focus turned to technology.

At Mayfield, Kallay led professional development of staff members throughout the school district in the areas of Infinite Campus, a student record management system, Google Apps for Education, and teacher websites. He also assisted with installation of wireless access points, printers, computers and monitors, yearly updates of desktop computers and laptops as well as installation of state testing software.

“I am excited for the opportunity and look forward to being part of the Lakewood Schools,” Kallay said at the July 1 Board meeting. Kallay begins his new position on August 1, 2019.

The future of Lakewood City Schools is deeply important to Andrew A. Meyer.

As a candidate for Lakewood Board of Education, Meyer’s priorities are high standards, independence and responsiveness—qualities demonstrated in work on the city’s charter review commission and as an attorney.

As a new parent, Meyer says that applying this experience as a school board member includes a personal commitment to public education in Lakewood. “My wife and I both really look forward to being able to contribute to the education of our daughter Ellie Sue.”

Providing high quality schools for the next generation and beyond will be an ongoing challenge, says Meyer. “Maintaining services while being a good steward of tax dollars is and will remain the number one challenge,” he says.

Lakewood High School is excited to introduce a new Fresh Start orientation for the 2019-2020 school year! The first day of school on Tuesday, August 20, 2019 will be dedicated to freshmen and other new students to Lakewood High. Sophomores, juniors, and seniors will report for their first day on Wednesday, August 21, 2019.

The LHS team is looking forward to introducing this new format of Fresh Start by dedicating an entire school day for our freshman and new students to begin their LHS experience. The day will start with check-in promptly at 7:45 a.m.  Students will enter through Door 32, which is located next to the Ranger Shop off Franklin Boulevard. Check-in will conclude by 8:15 a.m. at which time the students will move to the Civic Auditorium to begin our day’s activities.

Over the course of Fresh Start, students will be introduced to topics such as student code of conduct, dress code, student expectations, safety, and extracurricular activities. Additionally, students will be given the opportunity to walk through their individual schedule in order to meet LHS teachers and be prepared for the first day of school with all students. Time will also be allotted for students to access their lockers and practice their locker combinations.

The Community Recreation and Education Department has employment opportunities for the Event Staff position. Event Staff are the direct representative of the Lakewood Board of Education and the Lakewood City Schools Community Recreation & Education Department during non-school hours. The primary duties and responsibilities are, but not limited to, the monitoring and managing of all facility events, ensuring the safety and well-being of all participants.

After months of gathering input from all stakeholders, including student and parent input, the District has landed on a name for its alternative learning school. The program that currently operates as part of Lakewood City Academy and is housed at the former Franklin Elementary Building will be called the Franklin School of Opportunity beginning July 1.

Over 3,000 students in grades 6-12 from across the world met at the final level of National History Day June 9th-13th.  After winning local and regional levels the top two entries in each category were invited to the University of Maryland, College Park, to compete on the national stage, where local students earned well-deserved recognition. Birchwood sent ten students to the competition and four of them placed in the top three of their category.

Tyra Aaron

Congratulations to Garfield Middle School 8th grader Layla Black, who placed 8th in the State Tournament of the Power of the Pen creative writing competition! Layla was one of 750 contestants that advanced to the competition held at the College of Wooster My 23-24. In the competition, writers are given prompts to jump-start a story. The writers have 40 minutes to finish their essay or short story. Power of the Pen advisers Maggie Bacher (at right) and Leslie Eiben said they couldn't be more proud!

Earlier this month, a team of five Lakewood High School juniors and their mentors, teachers Aimee Guzowski and Gray Cooper, participated in the yearlong First Ring Student Leadership Institute. The institute is part of the First Ring Schools Collaborative, which brings together the school districts contingent to Cleveland in order to work together to solve issues that are common to all first ring districts and promote public school education.

After months of gathering input from all stakeholders, including student and parent input, the District has landed on a name for its alternative learning school. The program that currently operates as part of Lakewood City Academy and is housed at the former Franklin Elementary Building will be called the Franklin School of Opportunity beginning with the 2019-2020 school year.

Lakewood High’s Tyler Hannah continues to bolster his case as one of the best track and field athletes in the school’s history as the senior added three conference titles and two District titles to his growing accomplishments. Hannah won the 110 and 300 meter hurdles at the Southwest Conference Championships, where he was defending champ for both, and gave a repeat performance at Districts the following weekend.

Tyler was also the anchor on the 4x400 relay of himself, Devon Brown, Jack Hueter and Cormac Peppard-Kramer that came from behind to clinch the fourth and final qualifying spot for Regionals, which will be held May 22 and 24 in Youngstown. Junior Peppard-Kramer also advanced in the 800 meters with a third-place finish.

On the girls’ side for Districts, junior Christina Auck set a school record on her way to finishing 5th in the shot put. Freshman Teeghan McGann placed 5th in the 800 meters, completing against a field consisting entirely of seniors.

Garfield Middle School teacher Tricia Duhr and Lakewood High paraprofessional Karen Holton are the Lakewood City Schools' May Staff Spotlight honorees! Read more about each of these dedicated professionals below.

TRICIA DUHR

Tricia Duhr has spent her career helping people be successful in life. Before becoming an Intervention Specialist for the BRIDGES program at Garfield Middle School six years ago, she worked in the mental health field as a counselor. She made the jump to special needs education because she felt called to work with children to help them develop social and life skills needed to live a fulfilled life. And for six years, she’s been doing just that.

“Simply walk in her classroom and you will observe kids not only learning but also having fun and gaining independence,” says Tricia’s nominator, BRIDGES teacher Amber Rykaceski.

Tricia feeds off her students’ growth and is always looking for ways for them to gain new skills and build self confidence. This year though, she also wanted to find a way to better integrate her students with the rest of the school. So, she and Amber came up with the idea of BRIDGES Café, where each Friday the students run a coffee shop – serving the drinks, operating the cash register, even creating the advertising.

The Lakewood Board of Education at its meeting on April 15 approved Allison Aber as the next principal of Roosevelt Elementary School, replacing Eileen Griffiths, who is retiring. Aber, who is currently principal at Longfellow Elementary School of Willoughby-Eastlake City Schools, begins her position on August 1, 2019.

In her role at Longfellow, Aber provided robust professional development for her staff, implemented a new schedule with collaborative intervention and enrichment at each grade level, created a learning lab makerspace, and was successfully awarded over $20,000 in grant money from the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation. During her time at Longfellow, AIR testing scores improved nearly 10%.

Before her role as principal, Aber served as assistant principal at Madison Local Schools’ middle school for four years. Prior to joining the administrative ranks, Aber was a math and language arts teacher working with students in both grades 5 and 6 in the Madison Local and Highland Local school districts.

Beginning with the 2020-2021 school year, the Lakewood City Schools athletic teams will move from the Southwest Conference, where the District has been a member since 2015, to compete in the Great Lakes Conference. The move will provide more balanced competition for Lakewood teams and allow them to better develop and in some cases rekindle rivalries with schools that are in closer proximity to our District.

Lakewood High seniors celebrated their prom on April 27 at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History. Afterward, more than 300 students enjoyed food, fun, games and music into the wee hours of the morning at After Prom at Lakewood High. A dedicated committee of parent volunteers organized After Prom, which had the theme of Night At The Museum, based on the popular movies set in museums where the exhibits come alive when the sun sets.
 
The parent volunteers transformed Lakewood High into a museum complete with 10-foot dinosaur, life-size Easter Island monolith, Egyptian tomb and more. Parents dressed as historic figures including Teddy Roosevelt, Sacagawea, Amelia Earhart and Egyptians, and pulled off the theme to perfection. Over 200 prizes were given out and students could "shop" in the museum gift shop that included a candy bar and photo booth. Students stayed busy until 2:30 am in bounce houses, singing in the karaoke room, playing laser tag or relaxing in the lounge after having their caricature drawn or getting a temporary tattoo. 
 
The committee began planning the event in December and could not have done it without family and community support.  Countless parents donated money, time and gifts. Know that your donation was appreciated. We also would like to thank the many local businesses and organizations that generously donated food, prizes, and supplies. We are fortunate to live in such a great community that supports its youth!
 

The students in the B.R.I.D.G.E.S. (Beginning to Realize Individual Development and Growth for Educational Success) self-contained special education classrooms at Garfield Middle School were given the opportunity to do something truly exceptional. Miss Kate from the Lakewood Public Library has brought her passion and love for quilting into our classrooms. Each student was able to let their individuality shine through as they created their very own blocks. They chose their favorite fabrics, they created their own pattern and they even helped pin them together.

During the next couple of visits Miss Kate brought her sewing machine into our classroom and gave every student the chance to sew their customized block and sashing with hand-over-hand assistance. The students enjoyed pushing down the peddle and holding their creations steadily as they operated the sewing machine. For most students, this was the very first time they had ever seen a sewing machine, not to mention operate one!  They were able to be involved throughout the quilting process and they could see all the hard work and effort that goes into each step. 

Harding Middle School STEM teacher Laura Baillett has been chosen to be a 2019 Fund for Teaching-Jennings Foundation Teaching Fellow. This award will allow Baillett to observe three environmental education programs this summer in Bali, Indonesia and Borneo, Malaysia: the Green School, the Indo Ocean Project, and the Rainforest Discovery Center.

Lakewood High students took home the top two spots in the Hiram College Emerging Writers Nonfiction Contest and had several other finalists, including an honorable mention award. Earning first place was junior Halina Dreger and runner-up was junior Tyler Biddulph.

The Lakewood City School District has been awarded the Auditor of the State Award for excellence in financial reporting for the fiscal year 2018 as determined by the office of Auditor Keith Faber.