The Student of the Month award at Chagrin Falls Middle School acknowledges students for their outstanding performance and rewards them for their efforts.
CFMS Students of the Month
The Student of the Month award at Chagrin Falls Middle School acknowledges students for their outstanding performance and rewards them for their efforts. The students were chosen by seventh and eighth-grade teams to be a “Tiger of the Month.” These students exemplify the Tiger Techniques of: Think, Integrity, Grit, Effort and Responsibility.
November’s Tigers of the Month were: Caroline Reeder, Jonathan Whitmer, Mary Ann Hoelzel and Rory Brosnan.
Seventh-grader Caroline Reeder is a fine example of kindness and acceptance. She works well in groups of any classmates, making her a team player. When material is difficult, she advocates well for herself and never gives up. She helps to spread school spirit with her enthusiastic cheerleading and always has a smile on her face. She is prepared for class and is a great asset to any classroom.
Jonathan Whitmer is a seventh-grader who always adds value to his French class. He has a strong intellectual curiosity and is helpful to other students. His competitive spirit comes out in positive ways when the class plays games to master the subject matter at hand. Teachers are impressed by his willingness to ask questions when he doesn’t understand an assignment. He always shows respect to his teachers and peers and is a great student role model. He is a positive influence during the cross-country season and gives his all at every practice. Jonathon routinely goes above and beyond what is expected of him.
Eighth-grader Mary Ann Hoelzel is an accomplished violinist and is a member of the eighth-grade orchestra. She is a violin section leader and is prepared for rehearsal every day. She excels in her Spanish class, with astute accuracy for the language. In class, she is organized, engaged in the material and interested in extra projects. Her excitement to learn is contagious in the classroom setting. She shares creative stories and creative thinking which makes the classes interesting and fun.
Rory Brosnan is an eighth-grader whose ability shines in his language arts class. He uses his critical thinking skills when reading text in class and goes above and beyond with his thoughtful explanations of what he read. He is always well prepared for Chinese class and is willing to participate when many others do not. The insights and ideas Rory shares are clever and helpful.
Enchanted Scholastic Book Fair
Gurney Elementary School students could hardly wait for the book fair to begin this past November. Mary Jo Czerr, Gurney’s librarian, went over and beyond in decorating the hallway leading into the media center as well as the room itself. Students entered the fair through a tree with a magical door, climbed some stairs and slid into a magical forest filled with trees, fairies, unicorns and tons of books. Some students dressed up as beautiful butterflies, dragons, gnomes and owls. They made their best guess at how many pieces of unicorn food were in a jar. They took a chance on the sucker pull for a free book or prize. They left with bags of books and smiles out the secret passage door.
Reading with Monsters
Kindergarten students at Gurney Elementary have created a monster on their Chromebook and are now taking their monster on a reading adventure. “Teach your Monster to Read” is a free reading program funded by The Usborne Foundation. Lessons include letter recognition, blending and segmenting and sentence reading.
“This program is highly motivating and developmentally-appropriate for kindergarten students,” said teacher Nicole Nanchoff. “Our class loves teaching their monster to read during our morning skills practice time called Tiger Time. This is just another exciting way to teach our youngest learners beginning reading skills.”
Chagrin Falls Board of Education Hires Interim Treasurer
The Chagrin Falls Board of Education approved the hiring of Candi R. Lukat as the district’s interim treasurer at the board meeting on Dec. 12. Her start date was Dec. 13. Also returning to the finance department is Barb Petrus, who also will work for the district through the hiring of a permanent treasurer.
Lukat, a resident of Chagrin Falls, has most recently served as controller of the San Diego Unified School District. She directed, coordinated and supervised the daily operations of the accounts payable, financial accounting, fiscal control and material control departments for this school district with an average daily attendance of 123,000 students in 235 instructional facilities, 49 sponsored charter schools and combined general fund restricted and unrestricted revenues of $1.3 billion. Prior to that, she was the treasurer of Kenston Local School District from 2013-16. From 1999-2013, Lukat was the director of grants/funded programs for Cleveland Metropolitan School District. She managed a diverse professional finance staff of 12 who supported 50,000 students in 111 schools with more than 6,000 employees.
Lukat received her Master of Public Administration and Bachelor of Arts degrees from The Ohio State University. She holds a five-year school treasurer license.
“As this was a top priority for the Board of Education, the district is fortunate to have found a candidate in a short amount of time with as much experience and talent as Ms. Lukat,” said Sharon Broz, Chagrin Falls Board of Education president. “We appreciate her willingness to work with our district to ensure the day-to-day operations and oversight of our finances.”
The Board of Education will now work collaboratively to determine the process and timeline for the selection of the District’s new treasurer.
“We will continue to keep our staff and community updated on our progress,” said Broz.
