Chagrin Falls High School senior Cameron Owen is fundraising in hopes of raising money for patients and families who are affected by blood cancers.
Senior Fundraises for LLS
Chagrin Falls High School senior Cameron Owen is fundraising in hopes of raising money for patients and families who are affected by blood cancers.
This fundraising effort is called the “Student of the Year” campaign and was created by the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). The program is a seven-week philanthropic program in which students from local high schools foster professional skills such as entrepreneurship, project management and marketing to raise funds for the LLS.
The LLS organization is the world’s largest nonprofit fighting blood cancer. They have developed advanced cancer therapies that can now treat people with rare autoimmune diseases as well as other types of cancer.
The title of “Student of the Year” is awarded to the participant in each community who raises the most money during the length of the fundraising campaign. The fundraising efforts are done in honor of a young, local blood cancer patient. Owen’s honorable patient is CFHS junior Julius Lelonis.
Julius was diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) during his freshman year at CFHS. Cameron has known Julius since they were in grade school and said that when he found out about Julius’ condition, “I was very eager to help in any and every way that I could. This is why I am very grateful for the opportunity to make a difference by fundraising in order to help kids like Julius who are diagnosed with cancer at a very young age,” said Owen.
The “Student of the Year” competition is already underway and will continue until March 13. Owen’s team of fundraisers called “Cam’s Crew” has a fundraising goal of $50,000 by the end of the program. The benefits of participating are not only the ability for students to improve their professional skills and create awareness about cancer research funding, but to have an impact on the fight against cancer. To donate to Owen’s campaign, visithttps://events.lls.org/noh/nohSOY20/cowen2.
Rotary Student of the Month
Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) senior John Campbell has been selected as the February Chagrin Valley Rotary Student of the Month. Campbell was chosen based on his leadership and service qualities he has displayed in the community.
Campbell has been the recipient of several awards during his high school career. These include Eagle Scout Award, AP Scholar with Distinction, The Rensselaer Medal, Chagrin Falls Schools Make a Difference Award, Tiger of the Semester, Ad Altare Dei Award, Centro MundoLengua Academic Certificate and has received high honor roll since freshman year.
In his time at CFHS, Campbell has been a member of the cross country team, Interact Club, Principal’s Advisory Council and Science Olympiad from freshman to senior year. Also, he has served as student body secretary and tutor of middle school Spanish students during Tiger Time throughout his senior year. Further, he was a member of the track team, Superintendent’s Advisory Committee, and served as the class secretary from freshman to junior year.
Outside of school, Campbell participates with the Boy Scouts and the Look Up to Cleveland Leadership Program. He also attended the Centro MundoLengua program in Seville, Spain, and is a campaign team member for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. Additionally, Campbell volunteers at the Chagrin Falls Historical Society and for various events at the Church of the Holy Angels.
His accelerated classes include AP World History, AP United States History, AP Government, AP Psychology, AP Biology, AP Environmental Science, AP English Language, AP English Literature, AP Statistics, AP Spanish Language, and AP Spanish Literature.
After high school, Campbell plans to attend the University of Notre Dame, where he will major in pre-med and minor in Spanish.
CFIS Students Become Energy Explorers
On Feb. 6, students at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School learned about energy during a presentation and hands-on activities presented by COSI Center of Science and Industry of Columbus, Ohio.
The Energy! curriculum investigates the various forces and energies that are acting around individuals at all times. Students learned about potential and kinetic energy, contact and non-contact force, circuits and magnets and became honorary ”COSI Energy Explorers,” all while fixing the Super Awesome Machine (S.A.M.).
There were numerous hands-on activity stations. Students observed and experienced energy transfer, conservation of energy, and momentum through an interactive u-shaped ramp. They explored potential and kinetic energy as well as contact force by making massive domino chains and knocking them down. Students also explored how moving magnets can create electricity and discussed real-world applications for generators. Properties of light, friction, electrical currents, conductors and insulators were all examined through fun, interactive displays.
“Thank you to our amazing PTO for sponsoring this annual event,” said Principal Sarah Read. “We are so grateful for their support and for the many parent volunteers who made this special day possible. COSI Day is one of many where we are reminded how fortunate we are to have such supportive and engaged families.”
Student Eric Nemunaitis said, “It was fun to do all the activities about energy.”
Student Dylan Seese said, “I liked the Rube Goldberg machines. It was fun experimenting with different pieces to see if it would work.”
CFMS Holds Spelling Bee Finals
The spelling bee finalists from the seventh- and eighth-grade classes at Chagrin Falls Middle School competed against each other at the spelling bee finals on Feb. 3.
A group of 20 students made it to the finals. The seventh-grade finalists were Lily Adelman, Anna Baker, Shlok Bhattacharya, Lyla Breeden, Liam Butler, Bella Call, Jason Cheng, Zoe Jones, Alexandra Scharpf, Lindsay Schumacher and James Wilkinson. The eighth-grade finalists were Fraya Brattebo, Violet Cavanagh, Jake Evans, Molly Johnson, Addi Martin, Cam Mateyo, Grace Mossad, Johannes Rohr and Abraham Thurman.
The spelling bee was held in the Performing Arts Center at 7:50 a.m. All CFMS students were in attendance and any others were welcome to come after signing in at the middle school. The event lasted almost an hour when Jason Cheng won it for the second year in a row with the word, “fodder.” Anna Baker and Lindsay Schumacher tied for second place. The competition ended early so Jason, along with other students, took on the teachers in a teacher versus student bonus round.
Before the last few rounds, students were competing with words from their study lists, which included words such as jodhpurs, dropsonde, and diaphoresis. Jason’s word was not on this list and he will be advancing to regionals again as an eighth-grader. He also completed in the Scripps National Spelling Bee last May.
Regionals take place on March 7 where Jason will compete against other spelling bee winners from schools in Cuyahoga County.
Speech and Debate Team Advances
Select students from the Chagrin Falls Middle School Speech and Debate Team were invited to compete in the Ohio Speech and Debate Association (OSDA) Middle School and Novice State Finals.
The OSDA is a non-profit organization of high schools in Ohio that offer a competitive forensic program. Some of the organization’s goals are to provide effective speech training for high school students, encourage statewide practice tournaments and help students to develop educationally, civically, socially and ethically.
Out of the nine types of speech events, CFMS students will be competing in the following:
Declamation: Matthew King and James Wilkinson. Dramatic Interpretation: Kate Quinn. Original Oratory: Fraya Brattebo, Sofia Clark. Big Question: Alexandra Scharpf, Evelyn Cravens, and Libby Cain. Public Forum: Thomas Brennan and Nick Rhode, Will Asplin and Luke Mitchell, and Fraya Brattebo with Eire Ratcliffe.
The students qualified to compete in any other speech or debate categories are Anna Baker, Thomas Brennan, Jason Cheng, Samantha Holtz and James Rose. The tournament takes place at Hathaway Brown on March 14.
