Meet Our Newest Trustees
Reaching Heights is delighted to benefit from the wisdom of our four newest Board of Trustees members, whose three-year terms began in January:

• Eric Clark is a scientist at the NASA Glenn Research Center, working on advanced space power technology. He's been involved in the CH-UH schools as a parent, volunteer and tutor. Eric community service has included working with the Cleveland Museum of Art, the American Lung Association, and the Diversity Center of Northern Ohio.
• Eric Coble, an award-winning playwright who has overseen productions in Cleveland, Off- Broadway, and in 35 states, was elected to the Cleveland Heights-University Heights Board of Education in 2007. Eric has volunteered in the CH-UH schools for eight years and has worked with students throughout Northeast Ohio.
• Sheldon Glave is a real estate investor with the Glave Group in Warrensville Heights. He has three daughters at Oxford Elementary School and has been an active member and executive of Oxford's PTA. A two-time participant in the Reaching Heights Spelling Bee, Sheldon has been a counselor with the Fatherhood Initiative and a community educator with the America Indian Education Center.
• Reid Vail is a system engineer with Sophos Inc., a world leader in enterprise IT security and control. Reid grew up in Cleveland Heights, graduating from Heights High in 1973. Eric has been an active supporter of the Heights Schools over the years through his work on numerous levy campaigns. His daughter will start elementary school later this year.

Two Students Honored for Leadership Skills
Two Monticello Middle School students are among a select group recognized by the Congressional Youth Leadership Council to honor and inspire the most exceptional middle school students in Ohio and across nation, distinguished by their academic excellence, leadership potential, and maturity.

Sixth grade student Brandon Brown attended the Junior National Young Leaders Conference in Washington, DC, earlier this month. Teacher Marian Kopp recommended Brandon for this honor. Eighth grade student Lauren Thompson joined a select group of distinguished Ohio middle school students at the end of March for the National Young Leaders State Conference in Columbus. Lauren was nominated by teacher Diana Goroncy-Sheppard.

Spring Break Travel and Learning
Several Heights High student groups left town during or near spring break to learn, perform, and visit college campuses. Student groups that ventured outside the area include:

Gospel Choir - Nashville
Band and Orchestra - Pittsburgh
Girls Lacrosse - Palo Alto, California
Boys Lacrosse - Chicago
Singers and A Cappella Choir - New Orleans
French Club - France

Travel Snapshot
Forty Gospel Choir members and five chaperones traveled to Nashville, Tennessee, for five days. They performed at two churches, two universities and a high school, saw performances by other choirs, a jazz band, a dance troupe, and a play about Billie Holiday at a third university.

They toured the campuses of Fisk, Vanderbilt, and the University of Tennessee, and learned more about Fisk alumnus W.E.B. DuBois. Guidance Counselor and chaperone Michael Dixon said one of the highlights came at the end of the trip during "skit night," when students reflected on what the Gospel Choir has added to their life. Many students said the group has been a second family to them. They also talked about how powerful it is to perform for adults and hear how the performance helped change their perceptions about young people.

Eastside Kickers/Heights United Soccer Club Spring Fundraiser
A fun family-oriented soccer event will take place the Cleveland Heights Community Center Saturday, April 26 at 6:30 pm. The event will feature raffles, games and fun, and a chance to find out about soccer in the Heights! More information is available at http://eastsidekickers.org/files/2008Fundraiser.pdf

Coventry Study Committee Invites Public Comment On May 13 at 6:30 pm, the Coventry Study Committee will meet at the former Coventry school building. The public is invited to share comments and questions at this meeting.

The committee was formed by the Cleveland Heights- University Heights Board of Education to research, study, and analyze program and building usage options that support and align with the school district's priorities and resources; review information from market study and appraisal; consider options in terms of various factors (i.e. zoning, projected costs, impact on five-year forecast, ramifications on other programs, benefits to District and/or community); determine advantages and challenges of potential options; and reach consensus on option(s) for further consideration by the Board of Education.

Black-White Gap Widens Faster for High Achievers
A recent story in Education Week looked at new research into what is commonly called the black-white "achievement gap" that suggests the students who lose the most ground academically in U.S. public schools may be the brightest African-American children. As black students move through elementary and middle school, these studies show, the test-score gaps that separate them from their better-performing white counterparts grow fastest among the most able students and the most slowly for those who start out with below-average academic skills.

"We care about achievement gaps because of their implications for labor-market and socioeconomic- status issues down the line," said Lindsay C. Page, a Harvard University researcher, commenting on the studies. "It's disconcerting if the gap is growing particularly high among high-achieving black and white students."