As part of Mrs. Katherine Owen’s sixth-grade advanced language arts classes at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School...
Play Selected for CVLT 10-10 Festival: Kids Edition
As part of Mrs. Katherine Owen’s sixth-grade advanced language arts classes at Chagrin Falls Intermediate School, students wrote 10-minute plays and were encouraged to submit them to the Chagrin Valley Little Theater for consideration in their 10-10 Festival: Kids Edition.
For the contest, The Chagrin Valley Little Theater judging committee selected 10, ten-minute plays for its summer play series. Approximately 95 plays were submitted for consideration, with some of the playwrights hailing from as far away as California and Utah.
Sixth-grade student Tom Brennan was thrilled to learn that his play was selected and said, “I really couldn’t believe it. I am going to enjoy watching other kids perform my play and all of the other plays selected.”
The “10-10 New Plays Festival” will be performed on the CVLT’s Playhouse Stage on Friday and Saturday nights, and Sunday afternoons, from Aug. 3-19. Tickets may be purchased through the CVLT website at cvlt.org.
Biology Students Plant with South Franklin Circle Residents
Students in Brittany Anderson’s biology class at Chagrin Falls High School participated in an annual planting project with the residents of South Franklin Circle. Students are paired with residents as a part of the horticulture therapy program. Students assisted with planting flowers in pots, weeding, planting vegetables and spreading wildflower seeds.
Member of the horticulture therapy program Carole Usaj said, “What a great crew and we accomplished so much. Thanks again to all.”
AP Science Students Visit Holden Arboretum
A group of students in the AP Environmental Science, AP Chemistry, and AP Biology classes at Chagrin Falls High School visited the Holden Arboretum for a hike in Stebbins Gulch. The Arboretum is a 3,500-acre outdoor living museum that promotes the importance of trees and woody plants. Stebbins Gulch is a deep ravine environment with its own microclimate and forest zones. It has one of the most complete sequences of exposed rocks in Northeast Ohio spanning 30 million years of marine sedimentation and five named geological units.
Brittany Anderson and Christine Deighan, teachers at Chagrin Falls High School, took students to the Gulch to learn about plants and animals that are native to Ohio as well as the geology of Ohio following the last glacial period, for a culminating unit following their AP exams. The Gulch is a protected area that can only be accessed with guided hikes once a month.
Poetry Pen Pals
(By CFIS sixth-grader Libby Cain)
During the months of March and April, Mrs. Katherine Owen’s sixth-grade advanced language arts classes participated in a project from PenPal Schools called “A World of Poetry.” Each child received four pen pals of their own with whom they could communicate online. The students read poems from different parts of the world online, and then either wrote poems inspired by the poems they read or found similar poems. After they posted their poems, the students and their pen pals could write messages to each other online and discuss the poems and the different meanings of them.
“Some people might see one poem in only one certain way, so it’s good to see the different ways other people can interpret a poem,” said Elena Goodwin, a student in Mrs. Owen’s class.
Many people agree with Elena, and liked being able to share their poems with others.
“Poetry Pen Pals was a great way to express your feelings through poetry,” said Samantha Holtz, another student in Mrs. Owen’s class.
At the end of Poetry Pen Pals, the students were able to share one poem that they either wrote or found with the rest of class. Poetry Pen Pals was enjoyed by the students not just because they could let out their creativity, but also because they could share their work with others.
