Schools

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.

Lakewood City Schools has earned its third straight Best Communities for Music Education designation from The NAMM Foundation for its outstanding commitment to music education. Lakewood is one of only 38 districts in Ohio that earned the designation.

The Lakewood Council of PTAs Reflection Committee recently announced that four of its submissions for judging at the state level earned recognition for further artistic merit. In the high school visual arts category, senior Riley Geyer won first place, which qualifies her piece to move on to national judging. Garfield Middle School student Nora Germaine earned a second place in the state in the middle school visual arts category.

Lakewood High students were top award-winners in the 74th annual Rotary Club of Lakewood & Rocky River Speech, Music, and Visual Arts Contests sponsored by the Beck Center for the Arts. Lakewood students swept the speech category and took the top spot in the music category as well.

Grab your bathing suits, towels, baskets and goggles for Lakewood Recreation’s annual Underwater Egg Hunt. This year’s event will be held Saturday, April 20, 2019 at the Lakewood High School Pool beginning at 10:00am. 

Each month the Lakewood City Schools honors two employees who are nominated by their peers as part of the District's Staff Spotlight program. This month's honorees are Doug Bunsey and Pam Sheils.

West Shore Career-Technical District Outstanding Student Award recipients were honored by the Rotary Club of Lakewood and Rocky River at its noon luncheon on March 4 at the Don Umerley Civic Center.

What better job for the summer than at a swimming pool, ball field, or summer camp? Take the opportunity to work outside, with kids, making a difference. Lakewood Rec is now hiring to fill many open positions for learn-to-swim instructors, lifeguards, pool attendants, baseball scorekeepers, summer camp counselors and more. 

The Lakewood High Academic Challenge Team continues its legacy of excellence as the varsity squad wrapped up its regular season Southwest Conference play undefeated at 9-0 and then proceeded to also win the conference tournament the weekend after wrapping up its regular season play. The team earlier this year had earned invitations to the Regional Ohio Academic Challenge Tournament and also to the National Academic Quiz Tournament to be held in Atlanta in May. The HSNCT is NAQT’s premier high school event. The tournament is held at the end of each school year and features the top quiz bowl teams from across the United States and from other countries. Over 350 schools will be attending the event.

Congratulations to Lakewood High School senior Lillian Horschke and freshman Inga Wilhelmy, who have earned national Silver Medals in the prestigious Scholastic Art & Writing Awards presented by the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers. This competition is the nation's longest-running and most prestigious recognition program for creative teens in grades 7–12. More than 340,000 pieces of art were submitted for the contest and earning a national award puts Lillian and Inga in the top 1% of participants.

Each month the Lakewood City School District selects two staff members to be honored for outstanding service to the District. This month, the spotlight turns to Lakewood High secretary Deb Groh and Grant Elementary School preschool teacher Cheryl Smolen.

DEB GROH

Every day Lakewood High Main Office secretary and recordkeeper Deb Groh goes above and beyond to ensure that all staff and students have what they need to be successful. Deb is always the first one in the office and although her starting time is 7 am, you will often find her there even earlier, making sure that substitutes are secured for all absent staff. Ten teachers out for professional development? No problem. A last-minute emergency call off by a staff member? No problem. No matter what is thrown at her, Deb’s response is always the same, "I'll figure it out, might take some juggling, but I'll figure it out."

Deb, who joined the District in 2001 and LHS in 2008, always goes the extra mile to make sure alumni calling for transcripts needed for a job or college application receive what they need as soon as possible. These are often frantic requests due to looming deadlines and Deb receives more than 25 of these a week! A graduate may call from over 50 years ago to request an obscure student record and Deb digs like an archaeologist to find the treasured item. 

Besides her records duties, Deb also manages the mammoth LHS payroll, purchase orders, and myriad staff and administrator requests without complaint. It seems that Deb is always there for whomever may need her.

Horizon Education Centers is a leader in quality early care and education, preparing children and families for life for 40 years.  Horizon is a mission-driven nonprofit making sure all families have access to high quality programs regardless of income or where they live. Our newest facility, Horizon Education Centers Triskett Station, currently under construction, is set to open April 2019 and is conveniently located at 13700 Triskett Road at the Triskett Rapid Station.

We are proud to be one of Cleveland’s top-rated programs. All nine of Horizon Education Centers are rated high quality under Ohio’s Step Up To Quality Rating System. This rating ensures that your child will experience: qualified teachers, proven curriculum, family engagement, developmental screenings and electronic access to your child’s individual learning. 

Horizon offers programming for children 18 months to 12 years of age. The Triskett Station Center will offer scholarship programs for free high-quality full day preschool for families that qualify. Along with preschool, Horizon offers high quality Kindergarten Readiness curriculum and instruction and the best early care and afterschool educational programs offered in Cleveland. 

The Herb Guild Scholarship Information

The Herb Guild Garden Club is offering a one-time scholarship available to graduating high school seniors as well as Lorain County Community College and Cuyahoga Community College current freshmen or sophomore students. Applicants must be residents of the state of Ohio and a U.S. citizen. (International or foreign exchange students are not eligible). Only students with a proposed academic study in Forestry, Botany, Horticulture, Environmental Science, Agriculture, Landscaping, or Culinary Arts are eligible for this scholarship. For further information contact Mary Kay Filipiak at 440-926-2469.

Picking up from where we left off in my first column, I wanted to share a recent session in our Journey of Discovery that involved the entire staff of Lakewood City Schools during our Professional Development Day in mid-February. It was powerful to have nearly 800 people talking together, all focused on determining the collective vision of what our students need from us in order to enjoy productive, fulfilling, and healthy lives.

We thought about how technology has impacted our students in ways we never predicted – both positively and negatively. This led us to talk about how we must prepare our students through nurturing flexibility, adaptability, curiosity, critical thinking, etc., to be ready for technologies that have yet to be created.

As part of the discussion, I asked our staff members to share what skills, abilities and habits of mind they thought our students needed to possess to succeed in the world that awaits them upon graduation. What was so wonderful to discover was that the qualities that our staff mentioned were the same ones that have been shared with us during our many conversations with community members at our Listen & Learn sessions and other encounters since the start of the school year. Some of the top qualities mentioned were collaboration, creativity, empathy, resilience, and flexibility, among others.

Looking for summer employment where you will be outside?

The Lakewood/Rocky River Rotary Foundation is offering grants for study in any accredited post-high school educational institution. Four grants of $3,000 will be awarded toward the cost of one year’s tuition.

The Kiwanis Club of Lakewood is proud to be offering its 2019 scholarship program to graduating high school seniors. The club’s foundation will award eight $10,000 scholarships, $2500 per year for 4 years each. Edward Hadaway, Kiwanis scholarship committee chairman said “ eligible applicants can be students at any high school, but must be a resident of Lakewood. They must demonstrate academic success in high school and must have applied to one or more specific college or university. Winners will be chosen based on need for financial assistance; community involvement and service; the qualities of leadership, honesty, loyalty,diligence and participation in extracurricular activities.” Applications and contact information is online at Lakewood Kiwanis. Please submit by April 1, 2019. Kiwanis serving Lakewood youth. 

The Lakewood City Schools Open Enrollment period for the 2019-2020 school year will begin on March 1, 2019 and continue until March 31, 2019. An online form will be available on this District website (www.lakewoodcityschools.org) beginning the morning of March 1, 2019. Notification of Open Enrollment status will be as follows: The first round of decisions will occur in June. Second-round decisions will occur in August. Kindergarten decisions will not be made until August. If you have any questions regarding Open Enrollment, please call 216-529-4203.

Michael Jackson, Barack Obama, Josephine Baker, Garret Morgan – these are just some of the names honored as part of Harrison Elementary School’s Black History Museum, created to celebrate Black History Month. Harrison staff members were looking to do something extra special this year for the month of February and came up with the idea of transforming the entire school into a museum.

Congratulations to the Lakewood High swimming and diving team for a successful Southwest Conference Championship Meet that included sophomore Sistina Simcox winning a conference title. Many other Ranger swimmers and divers placed in the top 12 to earn points for their team as well.

Sistina led the way for the Rangers with her championship swim of 56.80 seconds in the 100-yard freestyle. She was also runner-up in the 200-yard freestyle and was a member of two relay teams that finished in 5th and 7th place. Also making it on to the awards podium were senior diver Joe Toole (4th), sophomore Ethel Woodford (5th in 200-yard IM) and the boys’ 200-yard freestyle relay (6th) of senior Wilson Reynolds, juniors Parker Polen, Connor Peppard-Kramer, and sophomore Mateo Bussert. The girls’ 200-yard freestyle relay finished 5th and included Sistina Simcox, Sophia Miranda, Ethel Woodford, and junior Alissa Leon.

Other individual point earners included senior divers Justin Crislip (8th), Sophie Sanders (12th), and junior diver Tru Smith (9th), freshman Sarah Donaldson (9th in 100-yard breaststroke), seniors Nina Zanghi (10th in 100-yard backstroke), Marisa Campbell (11th in 200-yard IM & 12th in 100-yard butterfly), Sophie Sanders (12th), juniors Parker Polen (11th in 50-yard freestyle), Sophia Miranda (11th in 100-yard freestyle & 12th in 50-yard freestyle), and sophomore diver Acacia Uechi (10th), and Sam Saracina (12th in 500-yard freestyle).

For the first time ever, Lakewood High School participated in the annual Ohio Mock Trial competition, sponsored by the Ohio Center for Law Related Education. Mock Trial is a program where students are given a case folder with facts and legal cases, and then present a trial. The participants act as lawyers and witnesses. 

The students who participated in the January 18 competition were Lily Bacon, Laura Shields, Jason Melnick, and Cameron Levis as attorneys, and Hudson Fordu, Ivy Rook, Emma Pagsuyoin, and Jakob Hamilton as witnesses. Izzy Fallon served as the timekeeper, Max Gilliland served as the bailiff, and Emily McIntire served as the alternate lawyer/witness. Teacher Ron Lewis was the faculty advisor, while Lakewood attorney Dan Shields helped the team as legal advisor. 

The trial was the State of Buckeye vs. Quinn Woolf. The main issue involved was the application of the Fourth Amendment to the search of Quinn’s residence. Here, the question presented was whether the state could use evidence gathered by a drone flying over Quinn’s house. It was a very detailed case, and the students worked for three months to prepare their case. 

Over the past couple months, the Lakewood High School Academic Challenge Team has competed successfully in two major tournaments. At the Solon Tournament in November, Lakewood finished fifth of 32 schools. At the Olmsted Falls Tournament four weeks ago, the team finished second of 38 schools. Because of that success, the team has qualified for the Regional Ohio Academic Challenge Tournament (OAC) in late April and the National Academic Quiz Tournament (HSNAQT) in Atlanta, Georgia.

The HSNCT is NAQT’s premier high school event. The tournament is held at the end of each school year and features the top quiz bowl teams from across the United States and, increasingly, is now attracting teams from other countries. Over 350 schools will be attending the event in May.

Starting in February, the team will be competing weekly in our 10-team Southwest Conference matches and will also be attending several more Saturday tournaments, in preparation for the major end-of year competitions.

The team will not be competing in the Channel 5 Academic Challenge program this year because it won the 78-school competition in the spring of 2017, so the team is excluded from the competition for two years per the rules of the show. The team will return to the program next fall.

The creativity and imagination of the Lakewood City Schools' students were celebrated at the annual Lakewood PTA Council Reflections Ceremony, held January 29 at Garfield Middle School. Seventy-three artworks from preschool through high school were honored. Of those 73 pieces of art, 28 were chosen to move on to the state PTA judging, with winners to be announced in late spring. Overall, 150 students across the eight PTA schools entered the contest.

The ceremony offered the young artists a chance to be recognized and congratulated by Superintendent Barmes, Board of Education members and other city leaders. Guest speaker was Lakewood High School graduate and Cleveland Print Room Executive Director Shari Wilkins.

The Reflections program offers students from schools with active PTAs the opportunity to create works of art for fun and recognition. Students in preschool through grade 12 are encouraged to submit works in seven arts areas: literature, dance choreography, film/video production, musical composition, photography, visual arts and special artist. All entries must follow a chosen theme, which this year was “Heroes Around Me.”

The Lakewood Board of Education has approved a plan for the District to move into a new era of alternative education programming that entails closing the existing Lakewood City Academy community charter school and opening its own program in the former Franklin Elementary School building.

Thank you for joining me here at the Lakewood Observer! It’s been five months since I began my position as the Superintendent of Lakewood City Schools, enough time for me to reflect on my transition into the Lakewood City Schools and the Lakewood community.

When I first started as your Superintendent, I was touched by the very warm welcome offered to not only me, but my wife and daughters as well. It has been a great pleasure to meet civic and community leaders. My engagement with those who have come to my Listen & Learn sessions had me walking away impressed with the community’s commitment to our children.

Besides the authentic community engagement I have discovered, I also have been taken by just how talented our teaching staff is. I’ve observed it many times since my arrival in August. I’ve seen the rich learning experiences they have created for our students. The challenge of the classroom teacher in Lakewood is tough, considering the diverse needs of our students. How well our students are prepared for success is a testament to those teachers.

The Lakewood Athletic Boosters are holding their 15th annual Night at the Races fundraiser on Saturday March 2, 2018. This entertaining event raises funds to support middle and high school student-athletes in the Lakewood City Schools district. Night at the Races is for adults age 21 and older. Doors open at 6 p.m. and races start at 7:30. 

Each month the Lakewood City Schools chooses two employees to be honored as exemplary staff members. These staff members are nominated by their colleagues and honored at the first Board meeting of the month. January's honorees are speech language pathologist Beth Byrne and cleaner Erik Francis.

Students from Lakewood High School and the West Shore Career-Tech Media Art & Design earned a high number of awards in the annual Scholastic Art & Writing Awards regional competition held in December, including eight Gold Keys, the highest honor given, and 44 total pieces honored overall.

For the second year in a row, Roosevelt Elementary has earned the designation as a High Progress School of Honor by the Ohio Department of Education. The honor recognizes the school for its gains in reading and math proficiency among all students during the 2017-2018 school year. Roosevelt is the only school in Cuyahoga County to have earned this significant award.