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| Mar. 2, 2010 |
News from Reaching Heights
Sharing our Passion for Excellent Public Education |
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Greetings!
I hope Friday's snow day gave you a chance to rest up for the many events listed below that are filling up the calendar for the balance of the school year. If you've been thinking about joining us next Monday for Hot Jazz on a Cold Night (and I think it's a fairly safe weather forecast), let me know soon, as less than a handful of seats remain unspoken for.
We've yet to run into a seating shortage at our annual community Spelling Bee, given the capacity of the Heights High auditorium, so mark April 21 on your calendars and join us for an evening of fun competition that raises money for grants to teachers. Since the Bee began 19 years ago, the event has raised more than a quarter million dollars to support innovation and collaboration in our schools. Thanks to all who make it possible. Plus, three skilled spellers get their team's name engraved on The Coveted Plastic Bee Trophy, a high honor indeed.
Stop by reachingheights.org to find out more about what we're up to, and how you can support excellent public education in the Heights. Every donation you make hastens the arrival of spring!
Patrick Mullen
Executive Director
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Upcoming Reaching Heights Events |
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Reaching Heights Night at Clyde's
Monday, March 8, 5:30 p.m., Clyde's Bistro & Barroom, 1975 Lee Rd.
 Tickets are going fast for Hot Jazz on a Cold Night, next Monday, March 8, 5:30 p.m., a benefit to support Reaching Heights, showcase Heights High Jazz musicians and give you a chance to enjoy an excellent meal at Cleveland Heights's newest dining hotspot.
Tickets are $50, or two for $90. Dinner includes: appetizers, wine, non-alcoholic beverages, choice of four entrees, two side dishes, dessert, gratuity and valet parking. Drinks and appetizers will be served starting at 5:30, with dinner served at 6:30. Proceeds will help us continue and expand our programs. Each ticket purchased make it possible for us to offer more private music lesson scholarships and Heights Summer Music Camp scholarships, thus expanding the musical horizons of more students. Your participation also helps support our Many Villages academic tutoring program, through which more than 200 hours of tutoring help is being provided every week in our schools.
If you're interested or would like to learn more, contact Patrick Mullen at patrick@reachingheights.org or by calling 216.932.5110.
- 8th Annual Middle School Honor Band and Orchestra Concert
Monday, March 22, 7 p.m., Wiley Middle School
The pride of our district's middle school music program will perform at the 8th Annual Middle School Honors Band and Orchestra Festival, Monday, March 22 at 7 p.m. at Wiley Middle School. Performing will be 78 students who were selected for this group, representing Monticello, Roxboro and Wiley middle schools. Come hear them perform and demonstrate musical excellence as they prepare to enter the Heights High music program. Tickets are $3. Seniors and students get in free.
- 19th Annual Reaching Heights Spelling Bee
Wednesday, April 21, 7p.m., Heights High Auditorium
The 19th Annual Reaching Heights Adult Community Spelling Bee takes the stage at the Heights High auditorium on Wednesday, April 21, at 7 p.m. More than two dozen teams each raise at least $500 to support Reaching Heights grants to CH-UH teachers. 2009 Reaching Heights Spelling Bee champions The Know Knothings, Anne Kugler, Fran Lissemore, and Jim Wright will defend their title. 2009 Fundraising Champions were the Language Lovers at $3,676 and CWRU's Upper Case team at $1,275. Judges for this year's competition are Cleveland Heights Municipal Judge A. Deane Buchanan, CH-UH Superintendent Doug Heuer, Rev. John Lentz, pastor of Forest Hill Presbyterian Church, and Heights Library Director Nancy Levin. For more information, contact Reaching Heights at (216) 932-5110, or visit www.reachingheights.org to see video from last year's Bee.
- 6th Annual Heights Summer Music Camp
Wiley Middle School, June 21-26
Space for this intense and extremely fun one-week camp is limited to 85  students in grades 5-8. Summer is a perfect time for busy students to focus on their interests. If your 5th-8th grader's interest is music, now's the time to sigh up for the 2010 Heights Summer Music Camp. It gives students in the CH-UH school district's instrumental music program a chance to explore music in an intensive yet leisurely environment. The camp helps students perfect skills and deepen their commitment to music, both of which help build on our district's great musical tradition.
The Cleveland Heights-University Heights School District provides a home for the camp. Reaching Heights sponsors and organizes the camp: recruits and enrolls campers; recruits and manages the staff; solicits scholarship donations and awards camper scholarships; manages auditions and daily camp operations. Families provide camper fees, encouragement, commitment to music education, and their eager campers. To apply online, click here. |
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Upcoming School and Community Events |
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- C'est La Vie: Good Food, Good Friends, Good Times
RoxArts Dinner and Auction Benefit
Friday, March 5, 7 p.m., Heights Rockefeller Building, corner of Mayfield and Lee Roads in Cleveland Heights.
This benefit will help support arts projects for students in Roxboro Elementary and Middle Schools. The event includes French food and ambiance, buffet dinner, drinks, live music and silent and live auctions. Auction items include fine art by local artists vacation getaways, gift baskets, tickets to museums and sporting events, DVDs and other popular offerings in all price ranges.
Formerly known as REAP (Roxboro Enrichment Arts Program), RoxArts is a grassroots organization of parents and community members who want to expose children to a range of artistic possibilities. Each school receives about $8,000 a year from RoxArts for artist residencies, school performances and capital projects such as murals, theater lighting and a kiln.
Tickets for the benefit are $25/person in advance; $30/person at the door. To reserve a spot, call Susan Ford at 216-932-2223. For general questions or to donate an item, call Chesca Hadden at 216-932-7169.
- Kindergarten Information Night
Thursday, March 11, Boulevard Elementary School (1749 Lee Road) from 7 to 8:30 p.m.
 Parents of pre-school children can meet CH-UH kindergarten teachers and find out about the kindergarten program and the school district. Topics to be discussed include kindergarten readiness, kindergarten curriculum and related services. Parents will learn more about the before and after school programs, student services, food service, transportation and more. Due to the format and time of this meeting, attendance is for adults only. Registration will not occur at this event, but parents will have the opportunity to make a registration appointment. Parking can be accessed from both the Lee Road and Euclid Heights Boulevard entrances. The main building entrance is handicap accessible. For more information, please contact the Early Childhood Center at 216-371-7356.
- AFS International Dinner and World's Fair
Saturday, March 13, 6-9 p.m., Church of the Good Shepherd, 23599 Cedar Road, Lyndhurst 44124.
Sixteen International high school exchange students will share foods and  displays from their countries in this informal presentation. Three special AFS adult guests from Mozambique, South Africa and Egypt will also attend. Learn about becoming an AFS exchange student, hosting a student, or volunteering with AFS Cleveland-East. Tickets are $15 each, $40 maximum per family. For tickets and more information, contact Carla Bailey at seabail@aol.com, or call 216-397-7384.
AFS is looking for families to host high school students for next school year.
Students arrive in mid-August and live with a family for the school year. The family provides housing and food and helps the student learn about our culture and values. Most host families are pleasantly surprised by what they get in return. "We learned so much about our student's culture," said one host. "It was great to learn as a family." Another parent noted, "My son was always the little brother. With our exchange students, he learned to take on a leadership role," while a third said, "After our student left, we maintained a lasting and deepening relationship with both our student and his family."
By making your family bigger, you can make the world a little smaller. For more information, contact Krista Hawthorne, klas1985@roadrunner.com or 216-554-0520.
- MARCH MADNESS!
Saturday, March 13, 6 to 8pm, Cleveland Heights Community Center, South Rink, One Monticello Boulevard, at Mayfield Road
Is this long, cold winter making you mad?!? Then get out of the house, and join March Madness for Kids, an evening of rip-roaring games, amazing entertainment, finger-lickin' food and mind-blowing madness! Games include Cornhole, Horseshoes, Ring Toss, Basketball, Volleyball, Ping-Pong, Crawl Tunnels, Scooters, Plus Inflatable Bounce House, Raffle, Balloons, Food Concessions, Bake Sale, Face Painting, Music. All event proceeds benefit the renovation of the Noble Elementary School Playground. Admission is $5 for children, free for adults. Children must be accompanied by an adult.
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Congratulations, Heights Scholars and Athletes! |
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- Monticello Girls Basketball Team is League Champion!
The Girls Basketball team at Monitcello Middle School are the 2010 Jr. LEL Girls Basketball Champions The 10-1 Lady Cardinals (13-1 overall) knocked off an undefeated Shaker Raider team to claim the title. The victory was sweet as Shaker was the defending Jr. LEL Champion. Coached by Mrs. Angela Kirkland and Mr. Jason Jeske, the Lady Cardinals were honored at a Heights High girls home game last month. The 2009-2010 girls basketball team members are: Mikah Aldrigde, Daesia Avery, Jamilah Avery, Emonye Barner, Kiera Bolden, Shavon Castro, Ebony Coffey, Jasmine Crosby, Dolisha Moton, Jordan Pickens, Teddy Traylor and Yanique Watson and Darnisha Williams.
- Model UN Club Does Outstanding Job!
Six freshmen on the Heights Model United Nations team received the Outstanding Resolution award for their resolution to improve refugee camps in Lebanon. Twenty-four students in the club attended the state-wide Model UN conference as delegates in Columbus on January 10-12. Heights students also represented Grenada, Slovenia, and Yemen. The students on the Lebanon team are: Kyle Finnegan, Thomas Frederick, Sarah Klein, Natasha Madorsky, Midori Marsh, and Abby Osgood.
Model UN teams from all over Ohio research the needs and resources of a specific country, use UN protocols to write a resolution, and present it at a state wide assembly of other Model UN high school students. The Lebanon team was mentored by club president and senior Alex Miller. Alex is also an Ohio Model UN officer and led council sessions at the Columbus conference. "Model UN has changed the way I see the world," Alex said. PRIDE World History teacher Brendan Kilbane is the advisor for the group.
- Stop the Hate Essay Winners
Tyler Gamble and Tiairra Varner, freshmen at the Mosaic Small School at Cleveland Heights High School, are finalists in The Maltz Museum of Jewish Heritage's Stop the Hate essay contest. Tyler and Tiairra are two of the three finalists in the freshman division. Over 1,800 students from 65 schools entered the competition. The students will attend a mid-March awards presentation where they will receive a cash prize. The finalists will attend the ceremony with their parents and English teacher, Dr. Donna Feldman. Students in the 11th and 12th grade division can win up to $25,000 in college scholarships.
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From Our Newletters: Future Poets Find and Project Their Voices |
Monticello sixth-grade teacher Anna
Gregory works with student Christine Dover on a writing assignment.
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By Florence D'Emilia
Anna Gregory's sixth grade English Language Arts students at Monticello Middle School are developing into poets, readers, writers and critical thinkers.
 The classroom reflects the richness of teaching and the learning. Posters feature the work of literary greats while others clearly and concisely train a student in stylistic techniques. Classical music plays softly during silent reading time.
Students bring a book from home or select one from display shelves with contemporary classics and novels beloved by previous generations. A Smart Board and laptops are used to support learning, engage students, and keep them on task.
During a recent fast-paced, 90-minute class, sixth graders read silently, wrote a 10-minute quick response to the reading, then read and discussed a poem about professional basketball player Allen Iverson. After being assigned a partner, students wrote a poem about the middle school bully character in the short story they read.
The class culminated with recitation. Students projected their voices and read with expression, but more impressively, their poems reflected a nuanced understanding of the character and the stylistic techniques discussed earlier.
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Where Are They Now? Q&A With a Recent Heights High Grad |
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With
Jordan Zirn,
CHHS '07 |
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Jordan attended Fairfax Elementary School, and is currently a junior at the University of Missouri in Columbia.
What's your major?
Journalism.
How about your dream job after graduation?
I'd love to write for a music publication. I'm especially interested in hip hop music and culture, and I'd like to review releases and write artist profiles. It'd be great to discover and introduce new music to a wide audience.
Do you have a favorite memory or two from Fairfax Elementary?
That seems like a long time ago! I remember in kindergarten or first grade, I got the lead in the class play "Cock-a-Doodle Dandy." I was the rooster who had to wake up the barnyard. And I loved that playground. At recess we had huge soccer and football games, with everyone running around.
What did you learn at Heights High that prepared you for college?
The city of Cleveland Heights is all about diversity, and the high school embodies that. Going to a college so far from home, I've met people from all over, with all kinds of backgrounds, and it's been easy for me to feel comfortable and make friends. Heights prepared me academically, too. I had lots of outstanding teachers, and the transition into college work was pretty smooth, no surprises.
What did you enjoy most at Heights?
My senior year I covered sports for The Black and Gold, and that gave me valuable experience for college journalism. I was in Singers for three years, and was president my senior year. Those were some good times, involving lots of great people.
What advice would you give current Heights High students?
Make sure you finish strong. Focus is really important in college-the work load requires it.
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