Hearts For Our HeroesChagrin Falls Middle School students have joined…

February 14, 2013

Hearts For Our Heroes
Chagrin Falls Middle School students have joined with school employee Julie O’Neill to send holiday cards to U.S. soldiers deployed in Afghanistan. Ms. O’Neill got the idea from an organization called Savannah’s Soldiers, which was started by 11-year-old Savannah Ogden of Weston, Fla., to help cheer up a classmate whose father had been deployed to Afghanistan. Her letter writing campaign resulted in children sending an estimated 30,000 letters to soldiers now serving in Afghanistan during the holiday season.
Chagrin Falls students helped contribute to those numbers. Ms. O’Neil received a call from Savannah and her mother thanking the Chagrin Falls students for their support. Some of the letters and pictures sent by Chagrin students are posted on Savannah’s Facebook page.
Chagrin students are writing and drawing again to help with Savannah’s next project called “Hearts for Our Heroes” and have already completed more than 400 letters, cards and pictures. Parents have gotten involved donating supplies needed by students to complete their projects.
Lunch Entree Challenge
With new federal guidelines restricting what can be served for lunch at schools across the country, Chagrin Falls High School students in Mrs. Paula McVey’s basic cooking class were challenged to make a new food item that could be served in the school’s cafeteria. Teams of students chose what lunchtime entree they would like to make. The entree could be either hot or cold, but it must be composed of acceptable guideline foods.
The students researched ideas and recipes for the food they wanted to prepare and then determined if it met the requirements set forth by the government. The meals prepared included a chicken stir-fry with fresh vegetables, turkey burgers with avocado, Southwestern chicken salad, chicken parma and chicken margherita.
The winning team included Ashlyn Flaherty, Morgan Klindera, Jacob Zobrist and Haylee O’Hearn for their turkey burger sandwich. Their recipe will be given to the school’s cafeteria for possible use as a future menu item.
Honors Band Selections
Congratulations to the following students who have been selected for the District VII Middle School Honors Band: eighth-graders Madigan Copley, Rem Weber, Ariella Khan, Daniel Reardon, Dustin Kushious and seventh-grader Nick DeVito.
They will be performing on Feb. 22 at Mentor High School. Dr. Laura Joss from Baldwin Wallace University will serve as the guest conductor for the ensemble this year.