Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) students earned high rankings when they participated in a college-level entrepreneurship competition.
Students Excel at ideablitz! Competition
Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) students earned high rankings when they participated in a college-level entrepreneurship competition.
The students who participated are a part of the College Credit Plus Entrepreneurship class at CFHS. College Credit Plus (CPP) gives students the opportunity to take real college courses while still in high school. The credits they receive will become a part of their transfer credits when attending a college or university. The CFHS students in the course earn four college credits through Hiram College.
On Nov. 7, the CCP Entrepreneurship class went to ideablitz! 2018, which gives students the chance to develop and present innovative ideas. It was hosted by Hiram College Center for Integrated Entrepreneurship and was held in the Hiram College’s Kennedy Center.
Four groups from CFHS presented their ideas along with Hiram students. Cash awards were given for first, second and third place. Seniors Kat Lechman, Lisa Nazelli and Emma Vaccaro won second place for “Style Savvy.” This is a fashion clothing app that earned them a prize of $300.
Junior Winston Breeden and seniors Jonathan Edwards and Steve Kruszenski earned third place for their combination GPS tracking device and money clip called “Wal-Trak.” Their reward was a $200 prize.
Business teacher at CFHS, Nancy Vondrak said, “With only first, second and third place awards given, I think we can be so proud that our students took two out of three honors.”
“Ofrendas” Created for Día de los Muertos
Chagrin Falls Middle School students celebrated the Latin American tradition of Day of the Dead by creating offerings to honor the deceased.
The Day of the Dead or Día de los Muertos is a day for people of Latin America to pray for and remember friends and family members who have died. As a physical example of this day, Mexican schools often have their students compete to create the most beautiful and authentic “ofrenda” or “offering.” The teachers in the school vote and the class who wins receives money to go towards their graduation party.
Chagrin Falls Middle School wanted to emulate this celebration by creating their own ofrendas. The eighth-grade Spanish classes competed against each other to see who could create the best ofrenda inside of the Innovation Center.
The ofrenda needed three levels and to be authentic and neat in appearance. The top level had to have arches of flowers or papel picado, a photo of the deceased and flowers. The middle level had to be divided into four parts including salt, the favorite food of the deceased, drinks and favorite objects of the deceased. The bottom level had candles, papel picado and other favorite objects of the deceased.
Other popular elements were included, such as a skull or “calavera.” Skulls are used for offerings in the form of puppets, toys, candy or figurines acting out daily life. They are used to symbolize life’s brevity and inevitability of death. A Catrina is a female skeleton figurine with a wide-brimmed hat and dress, common for upper-class Mexican women in the late 1800s and early 1900s. It satirizes those who preferred European customs over Mexican ones. The final added element was a satirical poem about the deceased.
The winning class will get to plan an end-of-the-year party for their class period.
PAWS Group Rakes Leaves for Others
The Chagrin Falls Intermediate School (CFIF) People Always Willing to Serve (PAWS) group has jumped into the fall season with another service project. Their most recent act of kindness has been raking leaves for people in the Chagrin Falls community.
The PAWS group is an after-school service club open to all CFIS students. The goal of the group is to provide “services from the heart.” PAWS meets twice a month throughout the entire school year. Thus far, they have planted flowers around the Learning Village, decorated Christmas cookies with residents at area nursing homes, made decorations for Veterans Day celebrations and made toys for animals at Rescue Village. They have also made gifts for individuals who use the Meals on Wheels service, collected for individuals in need, honored police and fire departments and organized and led the school’s annual Leukemia and Lymphoma Society fundraiser.
The most recent project of raking leaves at Hamlet Village has proven to be a success for the residents as well as the members of PAWS. Students had the chance to meet the people they serve in person and see their smiles of gratitude. Many people sent thank you letters in the mail, which the students were very excited about. One resident told the group that her neighbor was 100 years old and could use some help with his yard. When the students heard this, they couldn’t wait to use their leaf-raking skills at his home as well.
Guidance counselor at CFIS and PAWS advisor, Karen Appell, said, “This particular service project has been one of our favorites. The students get the opportunity to see, first-hand, the impact that their hard work has on members of our community.”
Chagrin Valley Rotary Student of the Month
Chagrin Falls High School senior Seokjoon Han has been selected as the November Chagrin Valley Rotary Student of the Month. Han was chosen based on his leadership and service qualities he has displayed in his community.
Han has been the recipient of several awards during his high school career. These include High Honor Roll, Tiger of the Semester, The Korean American Association of Greater Cleveland Outstanding Scholastic Achievement and Community Service Award and QuestBridge National College Match finalist.
Throughout high school, Han has been involved with several clubs and sports. He serves as senior class president of Student Council and is a co-founder and president of Chess Club. Further, Han is on the CFHS junior varsity men’s soccer team, which he plays the position of forward. He also plays basketball, where he placed third place at the Korean Central Presbyterian Church Youth Tournament in 2017 and first place in 2018.
Outside of school, Han is heavily involved with serving the community. He has served with the Catholic Heart Work Camp and women’s home shelter ministry as well as volunteered with the Future Christian Leaders of America and Vacation Bible Study. He also went on the Nicaragua Mission Trip in 2017. Han participates with his church, the Korean Central Presbyterian Church, as a Youth Group Officer and Youth Group Praise Band Leader, in which he plays guitar and drums. He currently works at The Weils and previously worked at The Cleveland Pizza Company, Private Landscaping, and Pure Joy Oils. Further, Han has attended several camps over the years. At Koinonia Cornerstone, he did vocals for the 2017 Praise team and at Beaula Winter Retreat he was a bassist for the 2017 Praise team and plans to be the lead guitarist for the 2018 Praise Team.
In his free time, Han competes in chess tournaments, where he placed first place at the 2018 Chagrin Falls Chess tournament, fourth place in the 2017 Greater Cleveland Scholastic Chess League tournament, and 4th place in the 2017 Coffee House Scholastic tournament. He self-teaches himself how to play instruments, such as bass, piano, acoustic guitar, electric guitar and percussion. He also enjoys casual reading. Some of Han’s favorites are the “Acts” in the Bible, “Ready Player One” and “Calvin and Hobbes.”
His accelerated classes include AP Biology, AP Chinese Language and Culture, AP Calculus AB, AP Environmental Science, AP Statistics, Dual Enrollment College Composition I, Dual Enrollment Calculus, and Dual Enrollment The Cell and DNA.
After high school, Han plans to attend college where he will likely double major in political science and psychology, as he wants his future career revolved around helping the poor, fixing racial inequality and promoting mercy and justice.
Students Become “Soup-er Heroes” Through Annual Food Drive
By CFHS sophomore Ali Brown
During the week of Nov. 5, Chagrin Falls High School students were given the opportunity to give back through the annual food drive. The food drive is run by Interact Club, advised by Mrs. Karen Sindelar and Mrs. Janet Coriell.
“The Geauga County Food Bank sends a truck and they come and pick up all the food prior to Thanksgiving. Then, they sort it and get it ready for distributions to families,” said Sindelar. Many students donated and all the food is brought to the food bank for the last steps before being passed out.
Although a lot of the food is meant for Thanksgiving, the amount of food that is collected each year is enough to feed people during Christmas as well. In the past, the collected food fed around 1,600 individuals around the holiday season.
“I think just the number of people that we help is so amazing. I think sometimes when donating food you think you’re just giving cans for something, but these [cans] really make an impact,” said Sindelar. She stressed the fact that other than the ability to provide cans, the mindset of helping others is what it is really about. Sindelar has coordinated the food drive for seven years; however, the drive itself has been going on for more than 20 years. Students who participated were able to earn math credit.
“We also have opportunities if you can’t provide cans, you can help us sort food during your study hall, so that everybody can be involved, even if you don’t have the money to bring cans in yourself, you can still help and participate in the drive,” said Sindelar.
This way, all students will be able to participate in a way that can change someone’s life.
Sindelar and Coriell both worked behind the scenes of the drive and kept in contact with the food bank. Additionally, they both were in the upper library before and after school to collect food from students. “It’s the support of the community and the school that really is what drives this. We are only successful if people in the community help participate, and they’ve done such a wonderful job,” said Sindelar.
A number of items were needed to make this food drive successful. Foods such as peanut butter, pasta, canned soups, as well as things like meal kits, canned chicken, tuna and rice were of most need.
“We have a lot of coordination with Geauga County Food Bank, their director comes to speak to our Interact Club at our first meeting just to share with them some stories about families who have been impacted by the food drive, to kind of motivate them, to help spread the word around the school, that this going to be happening,” said Sindelar.
Interact Club member freshman Kayley Kruse really liked seeing her classmates involved.
“They are able to practice helping other first. Besides the opportunity to earn extra credit, being able to help families in need is a really good feeling,” said Kruse.
Kruse believes that just one small act can make such a big difference.
Current freshman Bobby Fischer is also a member of Interact Club and thinks that it’s important to educate people on how others are living.
“How easy it can be to make a difference in someone’s life is really overwhelming,” said Fischer.
