Chagrin Falls High School baseball team is hosting the annual Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 7.
Breakfast with Santa
Chagrin Falls High School baseball team is hosting the annual Breakfast with Santa on Dec. 7. The sell-out event kicks off the holiday season with photos with Santa, crafts with baseball elves, silent auction and all-you-can-eat pancakes.
Register online at https://cfbaseballbws.ticketspice.com/2019bws.
Students Promote Use of Paper Straws
Five students at Gurney Elementary School were able to convince the school administrators that they should use paper straws to protect the environment. Students Arden Nelson, Cici LeBlanc, Piper Chess, Paige DeVan and Lucia Detweiler came to Gurney teacher Lisa Todaro with the idea of using paper straws over plastic ones.
Their goal was to get other students to commit to not using straws. They started their movement by giving a speech along with visual aids to Todaro’s class and had the class sign a petition promising not to use plastic straws.
The group of students then gave the same presentation to the second-grade class. Many of those students also signed the petition in solidarity. After their class presentations, they gave their signed petition to Principal Rachel Jones and asked if they could speak with her about their campaign.
Todaro worked with the group of girls during lunchtime and recess to create a slideshow that included facts about sea turtles and plastic straws. Sea creatures often mistake pieces of plastic for food, or in the turtle’s case, the straw may end up injuring them by jabbing them or becoming stuck in their nose.
The students gave their presentation on Oct. 17 in front of Jones and Food Service Supervisor Marti Jacobson. They discussed the advantages and disadvantages of using paper over plastic straws. From the discussion, they found that it was more expensive to use paper straws over plastic.
The group worked to find an environmentally friendly solution and agreed that kindergarten and first-graders would use paper straws while the second- and third-graders would have no straws.
“The girls were excited to help the sea turtles in this way,” said Todaro. “I was proud of their hard work.”
Seniors Serve the Community through Philanthropy Day
Contributing writer: junior Garrin Bunker
On Oct. 16, Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) senior class volunteered at different nearby organizations for the school’s annual Philanthropy Day. Service opportunities included helping garden at the Botanical Gardens’ Urban Farms, interacting with students at Gurney Elementary School and reading to children at the Cleveland Kids’ Book Bank. Other volunteer locations included Meals on Wheels, The Weils senior community, Chagrin Falls Historical Society, Chagrin Falls Park, Camp Ho Mita Kota and Chagrin Falls Intermediate School.
It feels good for me to help out in the community with my friends,” said Winston Breeden. “It was cool to go back 10 years later and catch up with my former teachers. I enjoyed teaching the students basic math and reading skills. My time with them taught me to have patience. I also gained infinitely more respect towards the staff of Gurney after seeing all their hard work they do on a daily basis to keep the school amazing.”
Rand Singer attended the trip to the Botanical Gardens’ Urban Farms where he served through gardening. “I learned how great of a program it is and how it makes healthy foods and spices while also helping underprivileged teens.”
The seniors received numerous compliments from the organizations where they volunteered. Ruth Zeager of the Chagrin Falls Historical Society said the students were fantastic. “They were incredibly helpful with moving and cleaning our basement and garage to help us with our collection and storage issues.”
Maggie Kwasny, of The Weils Assisted Living, also agreed that the students were so helpful. “It was so fun to come into work and see all the familiar faces. The residents love the ‘young blood’ and enjoyed playing games with them. I selfishly enjoyed having them help with a project before they left as it would have taken me hours to do it by myself!”
Philanthropy Day has been growing each year since 2014 when the seniors ventured out beyond Chagrin Falls to volunteer in Ohio City.
“When I became the assistant principal, I wanted to use this as an opportunity to engage students in meaningful community service and to build on the school’s relationships with community partners. We believe that service work is a social responsibility and that a single person performing an act of kindness does have the power to make a difference. Whether it’s playing board games with the residents at The Weils, packaging food at the Cleveland Food bank, or assisting in providing access to fresh produce through gardening at the Botanical Gardens Learning Farms, our students are making a difference,” said assistant Principal Amanda Rassi, who organizes the day each year.
Callisto String Quartet Visits CFHS
On Oct. 21, the Chagrin Falls High School Orchestra program hosted the world-renowned Callisto String Quartet featuring Paul Aguilar on violin, Rachel Stenzel on violin, Eva Kennedy on viola and Hannah Moses on cello. The quartet performed the music of Haydn, Beethoven and Mendelssohn for the middle school and high school orchestra students. Chagrin Arts and Chagrin Falls Music Lovers sponsored the event.
The Callisto String Quartet formed in 2016 at the Cleveland Institute of Music. Highlights of their achievements include recognition as top prizewinners at the 2019 Bordeaux International String Quartet Competition, the 2018 Melbourne International Chamber Music Competition and the 2018 Wigmore Hall International String Quartet Competition. They are also grand prizewinners of the 4th Manhattan International Music Competition Chamber Music Division, which featured the quartet in Carnegie’s Weill Recital Hall in July 2019. The quartet is currently serving as the Graduate String Quartet in Residence at the Shepherd School of Music at Rice University. More information can be found at https://www.callistoquartet.com.
