Chagrin Falls School News
June 8, 2020 by Staff Report

On May 16, Chagrin Falls Middle School students participated in the Power of the Pen virtual online tournament along with hundreds of other eager writers from around the state thanks to Kent State University...

The Pen is Mightier than the Pandemic

On May 16, Chagrin Falls Middle School students participated in the Power of the Pen virtual online tournament along with hundreds of other eager writers from around the state thanks to Kent State University. Using virtual classrooms, student writers were able to continue to hone their writing skills and have a sense of creative comradery during scheduled Google Hangouts. The writers included James Wilkinson, Sophia Clark, Lilla Orien, Gracie Ryan, Fraya Brattebo and Nathan Nguyen.

“I was so excited that Power of the Pen and Kent State were able to put this on-line tournament together for the writers,” said coach Larry Richmond. “Each has been working so hard since October. For a school with such a small student population to have this many writers advance to this regional tournament is cause for celebration. It is unfortunate that a state tournament will not be held. Our very own ninth-grader, Marie Kanzinger, would have been honored for her outstanding performance last year. I am proud of all of the writers’ efforts.”

This year Chagrin Falls had a strong showing. The seventh-grade team came in second place and a trophy will be delivered to the school at a later date. Seventh-grader Fraya Brattebo had a combined score that landed her a sixth place finish out of all of the seventh-graders who competed. Eighth-grader James Wilkinson was awarded a “Best-of-Round” award for his piece entitled, “ Whistling.” That piece was then given an advanced accolade by being named, “Best of the Best.” That distinction allows James’ writing to be printed in the annual “Book of Winners.” The scores for the hundreds of entries were tabulated and shared with the teams through an online awards ceremony later broadcast on May 28.

“All of these young authors are to be congratulated for their efforts during this unusual writing season,” said Richmond.

Nominate Teacher and Staff Employee of the Year

Annually, the Chagrin Falls PTO and Booster Club sponsor the district’s Teacher and Staff Employee of the Year Award. Nominations for the award can be made by any student, parent, staff or community member. Please take a moment to nominate a teacher and staff member that goes above and beyond for our school district and community. Award winners are recognized at the opening of the 2020-21 school year.

The nomination process is very easy and takes only a few minutes. Click on bit.ly/CFEVSNomination20 to nominate; comments will be shared with the award winners. Also on this link, one will be able to review prior winners as the district encourages nominations for those that have not received the award in the past.

 Tigers of the Semester

Chagrin Falls High School salutes its “Tigers of the Semester” for the second semester of the 2019-20 school year.

They include: Ally Wrench, Brendan Meister, Julia DiFranco, Alex Azzolina, Delainey Wyville, Genna Armstrong, Avery Shinkawa, Henry Gleeson, Adam Gralnick, Gillian Geber, Jack Gips, Liam Oettinger, Eric Morrison, Tristan Hilmersen, Matthew Leibold, Lily O’Korn-Hughes, Jacob Maher, Maeve Brennan, Molly Lowe, Emma Livingston, Abigail Laws, Grace  McGillicuddy, Donny Hardy, Faith Pfaff, Lily Winans, Harper Corto, Emma Jones, Susannah Rutkowski, Elana McGinnis, Robert Schron, Jase Roman, Sage Fossaceca, Owen Gasser and Julius Lelonis.

The Tigers of the Semester Award is presented to students who exemplify a positive attitude, work ethic, achievement in the classroom and service to fellow students and teachers at Chagrin Falls High School. Teachers nominate one student from their classes that impressed them with their achievement, attitude, hard work, willingness to help others and growth during the school year.

Superintendent Receives Prestigious Award

Dr. Robert Hunt, superintendent of Chagrin Falls Schools, is the recipient of the 2020 Martha Holden Jennings Foundation Ohio Superintendent Outstanding Performance Award. It is one of the highest awards the foundation bestows on an educator. Dr. Hunt was nominated by president Phil Rankin and members of the Chagrin Falls Board of Education.

Chagrin Falls Schools will receive $10,000 in Dr. Hunt’s honor, made payable to the school district. He will be recognized at the annual Jenning’s Educator Retreat in July.

Dr. Hunt has worked with the Chagrin Falls’ Board of Education, administration, teachers, students and community to build a support network that not only consistently secures operating budget funding but also gained the support of voters to invest $32 million to complete a renovation to Chagrin Falls Intermediate School. He used this project as an opportunity to increase the community’s use of the facility through both public and private events. Most notably, Dr. Hunt helped to design the school to facilitate a grade house structure that encourages several classes across a grade to utilize not only their classroom space but also the common area and special classrooms such as a Collaboration Area/Maker Space.

Dr. Hunt is responsive in his support of excellent teaching to meet the changing needs of Chagrin Falls’ students – including the offering of new secondary level courses designed to provide targeted and extended intervention to students in math and English language arts and the support of District participation in the ODE’s Mathematics Modeling and Reasoning Pilot to assist in developing a new and highly relevant math course designed for high school seniors across the state.

Dr. Hunt’s ability to harness the strengths of teachers and students and maximize them to create and implement action plans during the COVID-19 pandemic has made the district a leader in the state. His willingness to share with colleagues across the state to assist them in providing high quality teaching and learning exemplifies his commitment to education.