Holiday Shopping Soiree
The Chagrin Falls High School After Prom Parent Committee will host a ladies night out holiday shopping soiree. The event will be hosted by the Chagrin Falls Historical Society, 87 East Washington St. in Chagrin Falls, on Nov. 12 from 5:30-9 p.m.
Entrance is $20. There will be a silent auction and door prizes, as well as complimentary hors d’oeuvres and wine. Bring your girlfriends for some early holiday shopping featuring many unique artisans and vendors, and come see the new historical society.
In addition to the entrance fee, a percentage of the proceeds of all sales from the evening will be donated to After Prom. After Prom is a 30-plus year Chagrin Falls tradition, providing the high school students with a free, safe, sober and memorable night for the nearly 350 junior and senior class students and their dates.
Mouse Trap Race Cars
Throughout the first week of October, the physical science classes have been hard at work learning about motion, while having the hands-on experience of building their own mouse trap race cars. The students were given the task of constructing a race car from scratch that would be able to travel a distance of three meters using only a mouse trap for power.
The students were given a week to build and test their cars before taking them to the gym where each car would race for speed, accuracy and distance, with bonus points being awarded for the top three in each race.
“The students have a lot of fun with this project and it is a great hands-on way learning experience to teach them about motion and forces,” said Chagrin Falls High School science teacher Victor Puskas.
7th-Graders Learn About Water Cycles
Chagrin Falls Middle School seventh graders are learning about the water cycle this month in a creative way. Teacher Alison Hinesman turned each student into his/her own water molecule.
“We set up nine stations for different stages of the water cycle where water can be found, such as glaciers, rivers, plants, animals, soil and clouds,” said Hinesman. “Each station had a die with possible places the water molecule could travel next. They would roll the die and follow directions to stay at that station, or move on to the next.”
Students collected a bead at each station to track where they had been. At the end, the class compared journeys and discussed the different paths, where molecules spend the most time, which stations had the longest lines. Students discovered that the ocean line was the longest, symbolizing that most water is in the ocean.
Students then took a “selfie” of themselves and their water cycle journey stick and wrote a reflection of the activity. Now students will use the activity to create mini books with the story of the life of a water molecule.
OSMA Conference
By junior Dylana Felton
On Oct. 6, a few of Chagrin Falls High School (CFHS) journalism students traveled to Kent State University for the Ohio Scholastic Media Association (OSMA) Conference, a workshop designated for young journalists to learn more about the field and to gain valuable skills to aid in creating a professional publication.
The Ohio Scholastic Media Association was founded more than 60 years ago, existing to represent journalism students and give them a voice. Over the years, OSMA has provided groups of journalism teachers and students funding and key legislation to aid in validating students’ publications.
Along with 200 other students from 16 schools in Northeastern Ohio, the group, accompanied by journalism and language arts teacher Angie Jameson, moved through various sessions regarding topics such as prior review, article ideas and smartphone apps for photography.
“It’s a great opportunity for journalism students at all levels to interact and learn with journalism students and educators across Northeast Ohio,” said Jameson. “Students have the opportunity to select sessions that best fit their needs for an individualized learning experience.”
Popular sessions included “Grammar Slammer,” “Making All The Pieces Fit” and “Principle Matters.” The first session focused on improving students’ grammar and writing style, while “Making All The Pieces Fit” discussed the key aspects of any article and how to create a complete publication. Finally, “Principle Matters” helped students to understand their rights as young journalists in a school setting.
Sophomore Curler Competes in Canada
Annie McClurg, CFHS student reporter
A sophomore from Chagrin Falls High School, Allison Howell, went to Toronto, Canada, for a curling tournament Sept. 18-20. Howell’s team was selected as the only team in the United States to play in this event against a bunch of junior curling teams in Ontario, Canada.
In curling, there is a team of four players who rotate around both sweeping and throwing the rocks. Each team plays against another curling team, and whoever has the best amount of points at the end of the game wins.
“I played well along with my teammates; it was a group effort,” said Howell.
However, her team lost in the fourth event finals.
“It wasn’t the best we have ever played but for our first time since we have been off the ice for the summer, it was overall acceptable,” said Allison.
She has been playing since she was 3 years old and started competitive curling when she was 10. She grew up curling because her parents curled before she was born. Now, she and her brother are competitive curlers.
Howell added, “The best part about it, is getting to travel to different places.”
Howell plans to try out for the 2016 Youth Olympics this winter in order to compete in the Youth Olympics Games in Lillehammer, Norway.