The November issue of the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools' online monthly magazine, Super News, is available to read by logging on…
Super News Available Online
The November issue of the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools’ online monthly magazine, Super News, is available to read by logging on to http://bit.ly/SuperNews_Nov2014.
The publication features a message from the superintendent, updates on the November Board of Education meetings, finance and other department updates, “Super Spotlights” of students and staff, as well as many stories and photos of happenings in the school buildings.
International Collaboration Happenings
Chagrin Falls student Eliza Larkin and Luis, a student from Madrid, Spain, are friends. They both speak Spanish -Luis more fluently than Eliza – and English – Eliza more fluently than Luis -, but they are learning from each other. The Chagrin Falls High School students in Sra. Scotese and Sra. Aranavage’s Spanish classes are partnering with Liceo Villa Fontana school in Madrid to exchange emails and most recently, narrated Google presentations, to highlight daily life, interests and traditions in the United States and Spain.
Using the MoveNote app and their Chromebooks, students in both schools created video recordings in their native language, as well as their second language. Not only are the students able to practice their language fluency, they are also understanding the similarities and differences between their cultures and their peers.
“Even though they are separated by an ocean and thousands of miles, with the help of technology, they are creating a bond that narrows the cultural and geographical distance between them,” said Nancy Kevern, tech integration and instructional coach, Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools.
Record-Setting Food Collection
Chagrin Falls High School had a record-setting food collection for the Geauga County Food Bank this holiday season. The Key Club coordinates and sponsors the event, but it is a high school wide effort to collect, sort and store the food.
“The high school did a great job of collecting non-perishable food items. It was a community wide effort, and probably our largest collection in the four years that I have been a club advisor. We also donated a full Thanksgiving dinner to five area families in need and delivered those to their homes,” said advisor Karen Kropinak.
Items donated included pulled pork, macaroni and cheese, hamburgers, muffins and other snack items.
The district’s Food Service Department played a role in the success of the drive.
Mary Lee Halaburda, a cook at the high school, wanted to boost the district’s contributions to the homeless this year and used the high school freezers to store the frozen turkeys.
“It was so heartwarming to be a part of this and to watch the students and staff members combining their efforts for such a worthwhile endeavor,” said Halaburda.
International Children’s Games Bound
Like many people in the holiday season, Chagrin Falls High School sophomore Mackenzie Holtz is looking forward to a program of carol singing, but with a twist. The event she anticipates is part of the opening ceremony of the International Children’s Games in Australia, which will be preceded by a parade of international athletes and the lighting of a cauldron and followed by fireworks.
Mackenzie will travel to Lake Macquarie, Australia, about 80 miles from Sydney, where she will compete in gymnastics. She will be one of about 1,500 athletes ages 12-15 making it the largest multi-sport youth games in the world. The International Children’s Games is a recognized member of the International Olympic Committee.
“She is very excited to have this opportunity to compete internationally representing her city. She is in the throes of fine tuning her training, packing and making sure she is on top of all her school work to be able to be out of country for 10 days,” said Mackenzie’s mother, Kelly Holtz.
Mackenzie started gymnastics in second grade at Jump Start in Cleveland Heights. When her father Mike was transferred to Canada, she began training more seriously at Gym Magic in Burlington, Ontario. She was there for five years, and then joined Gym World in Brecksville when the family returned to Ohio.
She has thrived under the coaching there, her mother said. She trains 16 to 20 hours a week and is competing at level 9 this year. Gymnasts were selected for the games from across Cleveland for their age, level of skills, coach-ability and work ethic.
Mackenzie found out last spring that she made the team. Her father and coaches will accompany her to Lake Macquarie, while her mother, three siblings and classmates will keep up with the events online at icg-lakemacquarie2014.com.
“She has been super excited for this week to arrive,” said Kelly. “We can’t wait to hear how this adventure goes!”
Top Academic Ohio School
Chagrin Falls High School has been recognized in the Gerber Analytics’ Top Academic Ohio High Schools report for 2014. To be in the report, high schools need to have at least 90.5 percent of their students pass all five of the Ohio Graduation Test subject tests. There were 108 schools that accomplished this for the 2013-2014 school year. Chagrin Falls High School ranked number 14 in Ohio.
Chagrin Falls High School’s performance index scores for tenth graders in 2014 was the highest ever (113.6). Scores in all content area — mathematics, reading, science, social studies, and writing — were the highest scores ever. When compared to other schools in the Chagrin Valley Conference, Chagrin Falls Schools had the highest performance index score as well as the highest percentage of students who passed all five OGT tests.
Facilities Update Page Online
The community can stay updated on the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools’ facility planning process on the district website. The district encourages residents to become familiar with the page and visit it frequently for the most recent updates or if they cannot attend a meeting.
Website for updates on Chagrin Falls Schools Facility Planning Process is http://www.chagrinschools.org/FacilityMasterPlan.aspx.
Included on the page are reminders for upcoming meetings; frequently asked questions; video from Nov. 17 facilities meeting; school tour signup; PowerPoint presentations of community meetings; facility master plan process, overview and presentation; master plan; and community survey results.
Buddy Class Program
At the beginning of each year at Gurney Elementary, teachers are assigned a buddy class. Kindergarten is paired up with a second-grade class and first-grade is paired up with a third-grade class. The second-graders are encouraged to assume the leadership roles and are held responsible for showing their best Tiger Pride.
“My kindergartners really look up to their buddies as peer models,” said kindergarten teacher Nicole Nanchoff. “We plan monthly activities with our buddy class, along with participating in cooperative games with physical education teacher Mr. Cannon. We have shared morning meetings together, learned Kuk Sul Do, and worked together to create our Thanksgiving class book.”
When the buddies met before Thanksgiving break, the second-graders helped the kindergarten students write about what they were thankful for. They helped the kindergartners sound out and write the words.
“We loved reading our Thanksgiving book and learning about what the second-graders were thankful for, too. Having a buddy class is such a great way to connect with the older students in the school. We are definitely thankful for being able to share our time with our buddies,” said Nanchoff.
“We wanted to create opportunities at Gurney for students to be in leadership positions and give students a chance to connect in meaningful ways,” said Gurney Elementary Principal Rachel Jones. “Research supports this type of multi-age learning for both the older and younger students. When mixed age groups come together to work on a task, they all are engaged in practicing critical 21st century skills such as collaboration, critical thinking, problem-solving, flexibility and cooperation. Students engaged in multi-age learning activities demonstrate more generosity, cooperation, helpfulness and leadership skills than their peers who only participate in same-age learning activities.”
