Chagrin Falls High School

June 8, 2017 by Staff Report

Chagrin Falls Schools Recognizes Two Organizations for Business/School Partnerships

At the Chagrin Falls Board of Education meeting on June 5, two organizations were recognized with the Ohio School Boards Association (OSBA) “Business Honor Roll” award for their partnership with the Chagrin Falls Schools. These two organizations were The Gertsburg Law Firm Co., LPA and the Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum.

Attorney Alex Gertsburg believes the skill of writing a concise argument, supported with evidence and reason, can be the difference in the outcome of a court case in his profession. Two years ago, he wanted high school students to have the opportunity to draft solutions to a problem in a succinct exposition, which drove his desire to start an essay contest.

Gertsburg didn’t just develop an essay contest, pass out flyers and award a winner like many organizations do regularly. Instead, he engaged two high school communities in a project to develop a writing experience that would be meaningful to students and that could actually offer solutions to issues facing students and their schools. Over the course of several months he met with educators from Kenston High School and Chagrin Falls High School to identify a problem students were facing, collaborate on how to introduce the contest, develop a system for collecting essays, and determine ways to recognize winners. He then engaged businesses, attorneys, and organizations in Northeast Ohio to sponsor prizes and score essays. What resulted was a well-run essay contest for two high schools that recognized 16 students along with money donated to each school to implement the proposed solutions of the winning students. For many this would be a success, something that could be replicated the following year and continue to be a success for years to come, but Alex saw this as something that other schools and students could benefit from.

In the 2016-17 school year, he added additional high schools, reached out to more sponsors and increased the prize pool all while continuing his collaboration with schools to identify a new problem for teens to address with their essays.

“Alex Gertsburg and his firm have done an exceptional job of engaging the school communities surrounding their business and adding a meaningful learning experience to students,” said Superintendent Robert Hunt, Chagrin Falls Schools. “It is for these reasons that the Gertsburg Law Firm deserves recognition through the OSBA Honor Roll.”

The Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum provided a $10,000 grant to Chagrin Falls High School for all students to develop an entrepreneurial mindset through participation in amazing experiences. Provided through a collaborative network of educators and business leaders, the Forum champions exceptional education and real-world experiences in entrepreneurship.

The school competition at Chagrin Falls High School, supported by the Forum, was held in December 2016. Fifteen ideas were presented with one student, Alex Amata, having the opportunity to compete at Case Western Reserve University in April at the Veale Venture Challenge. Students also attended Thinkfest at John Carroll University and the Veale Pitchfest at Baldwin Wallace University.

“The Veale Youth Entrepreneurship Forum at Case Western Reserve University was another first-rate competition that helped me refine my presentation skills and develop a greater understanding of the many opportunities in the business world,” said Amata. “The Veale Foundation and the Chagrin Falls High School business program does a great job providing a platform for students to express and explore new entrepreneurial ventures and I am honored to have had this experience.”

Eighth Graders Visit Washington, D.C.

Chagrin Falls Middle School eighth-grade students experienced higher-level learning before, during and after their visit to Washington, D.C. Prior to the trip, students examined the definition of “values” and how they are reflected in United States’ monuments. They enjoyed talking with Vietnam veterans from the group Rolling Thunder to make personal connections to the meaning behind monuments. In social studies, students researched a monument that they would visit while in Washington, D.C., demonstrating how values are reflected in it. After researching the symbols, meaning, history and materials used for an existing monument in D.C., the students were asked to work with their D.C. roommates to create a monument that should be built. The students wrote a persuasive business letter, created a slide presentation, who / what was being honored and materials used to build the monument to pitch to adult judges. They then were given some materials to build a 3-D model to show during their presentation.

The students incorporated this lesson in many subject areas. In English language arts, students read a narrative of a girl from Vietnam and wrote a persuasive business letter to convince adult judges that the monument they have designed should be built in our nation’s capitol. They also created blueprints in math class and chose a material to build the proposed monument based on erosion studies in science. In world language, students produced brochures on their monument in the target language. As a motivator to produce top quality work, the highest scoring group from each room became the “DC V.I.P.S.” These V.I.P.s received passes entitling them to first choice of seats on the bus, choice of movie, first dismissal at buffets and a pizza delivered to their hotel room.

While in Washington, May 31 to June 2, all students took part in an interactive scavenger hunt and selfie adventure to document their time and experiences. When the students returned to school after their trip, they created slides to share with the entire eighth grade of their six super selfies and experiences.

CFHS Students Participate in AP Research Class

Chagrin Falls High School offered the new CollegeBoard AP Research class for the first time this year. According to CollegeBoard, approximately 6,200 students enrolled in the research class worldwide and eight of those students were from Chagrin Falls.

“Since it is a relatively new CollegeBoard course, it’s still rare to be able to take and complete the course,” said Jean Kanzinger, English and communication teacher at Chagrin Falls High School. Kanzinger taught the AP Research class, the second in the AP Capstone sequence. The first class in the sequence is an AP Seminar, which all eight of the students took last year. The full year involves a research project where students look for gaps in current research to formulate their own research question to explore. Students then conduct primary research to answer their questions. The end product is a 20-25 page research paper and an oral presentation and defense of their project.

While expert advisers were there to aid the students, they could not give feedback specific to a student’s project, making the final paper a result of the student’s independent decisions. After collecting and analyzing data, the students reviewed each other’s papers and presented their work. Each student presented to three panelists, made up of teachers from Chagrin Falls High School. The students were given a bank of questions that the panelists could ask, but were only asked three to four during the presentation.

Benjamin R. Cervelloni analyzed “How First-Pitch Outcome Affects Winning Percentage in Major League Baseball.” Madeline E. Ferguson looked at the “Pester Power Success of First Grade Boys and Girls.” Mikala C. Izzo researched “Newspaper Subjectivity and Election Proximity.” Emily J. Mattson performed a correlation study to see the attempted popularity and perceived trust of middle school cliques. Melissa K. McDonnell examined “Episodic Memory Priming Relationship to Semantic Memory in Dementia.” Lucy Ranieri researched the impact of visual arts on middle school student attitudes. Margaret E. Sobota looked at the correlation between living in a single-mother household and heterosocial competence. Marley L. Vidmar did a quantitative analysis on dance as a sport.

Seven of the eight students attended the May 15 Chagrin Board of Education meeting with Kanzinger to present their work.