Write Place Interns
By CFHS junior Courtney Den Braber
Every day at Chagrin Falls High School, The Write Place opens during periods four through six. Dr. Shannon Beach and Ms. Bobbie Serensky advise the 27 upperclassmen who run the Write Place. The interns help students create ideas, fix grammatical errors and advise their writing through face-to-face contact or through the Online Writing Lab (OWL) and more.
Students can access the OWL by visiting the school website. After completing this step, the interns begin to look over the student’s paper. The interns provide recommendations through the “comment” feature on Google Documents; they do not edit any of the original work.
The Write Place has helped individuals succeed not only in English, but also with their writing overall, while additionally increasing their confidence as a writer. The Write Place welcomes all students with various subjects to work on. The interns assist in strengthening papers in language, electives, history, science as well as English.
Since the beginning of the 2015-16 school year, the writing interns have helped 1,241 individuals in person and 787 through the Online Writing Lab.
After Prom Community Walk Through
The Chagrin Falls High School After Prom Parent Committee invites all members of the community to walk through the Chagrin Falls Middle School gym on May 14 from 10 11 p.m. to see its transformation to this year’s After Prom theme, “Toy Story.” Residents can enter at the middle school gym entrance.
The After Prom, a 30-year Chagrin Falls tradition, is a free, fun, safe and sober event for all Chagrin Falls High School upperclassmen following the school sponsored prom from 124 a.m.
Students Win Women & I.T. Award
Chagrin Falls High School students Danielle Curry, Grace Hass-Hill, Emily Mason and Hollis Roush are winners of the National Center for Women & Information Technology Award for Aspirations in Computing from the Ohio Affiliate. They were recognized in Columbus during the weekend of April 23.
Danielle Curry is a junior taking AP Computer Science. She took programming as a sophomore, which sparked her passion for the subject. Danielle plans to continue her studies in Honors Advanced Data Structures next year. She participates in robotics and is the founder and president of the high school’s Science Olympiad team. In 2014, she participated in an anatomy class at the University of Michigan, and this summer she spent four weeks at the University of Pennsylvania learning the basics of medicine. She plans to double major in biology and computer science in college and then attend medical school.
Grace Hass-Hill is a junior and a member of Science Olympiad, Key Club, marching band and the cheerleading squad. Her interest in computer science began when she took intro to computer programming as a sophomore. She is currently enrolled in AP Computer Science and plans to take Honors Advanced Data Structures next year. Additionally, she participated in the robotics enrichment program at her school programming Lego robots. Grace also was the co-founder of a coding club that allows high school computer science students to collaborate with third-graders and teach them how to code Sphero robots. In the future, Grace plans to attend a four-year college to study either computer science, mathematics or aerospace engineering.
Emily Mason is currently a junior, is enrolled in five AP classes and is an active member of three sports teams, marching band and Key Club. Following computer programming her sophomore year, Emily decided to continue the path of coding and enroll in AP Computer Science this year. Computer science, Emily believes, is the most interesting, exciting and frustrating class. One experiences everything from the aggravating misspelling of “picture” that ruins the whole program to the supreme sense of empowerment one enjoys from the words “press complete.” Emily plans on attending a four-year college program after her high school career. She aspires to study engineering throughout college, leaning toward computer science or bio medical, following in her brother and father’s footsteps. After college, Emily hopes to be making the world a better place and encouraging girls, like herself, to try programming and computer science.
Hollis Roush enjoys problem solving with sudoku and puzzles, which makes her intrigued to decipher code and so on. Also active in school clubs, the marching band and year-round sports, Hollis also works to stay involved. She is currently most proud of being inducted into the Cum Laude Society for her academic intelligence as the top ten percent of her class. In the future, Hollis plans to attend the United States Coast Guard Academy for operations research and computer analysis. In the military, Hollis wishes to use her skills in order to build up our country’s military defenses in a fourth frontier of cyber warfare.
NCWIT Aspirations in Computing provides a long-term community for female technologists, from K-12 through higher education and beyond, encouraging persistence in computing through continuous engagement and ongoing encouragement at each pivotal stage of their educational and professional development. The National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT) is a non-profit change leader network of more than 650 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations nationwide working to increase women’s meaningful participation in computing. NCWIT equips change leaders with resources and platforms for taking action in recruiting, retaining, and advancing women from K12 and higher education through industry and entrepreneurial careers.
First-Grade Lettuce Garden
First-grade students in Mrs. Julie Albrecht’s class have been putting their green thumbs to the test in their aeroponic Garden Tower. The students grew a variety of lettuces such as bibb, romaine, swiss chard, spring mix and basil. Over a period of five weeks, students kept a digital journal on their own plant’s growth and changes. Right before spring break, students harvested their produce and had a “tasting party,” which included Mrs. Laura Vilt from the Gurney cafeteria creating green healthy smoothies for them.
“The overall goal is for students to learn about the plant life cycle, thinking like a scientist and improve healthy eating habits,” said Albrecht. “Research shows that when children grow their own vegetables and fruit they are more likely to eat it and improve eating habits.”
Super News Available Online
The April issue of the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village Schools’ online monthly magazine, Super News, is available to read at bit.ly/SuperNews_April2016.
The publication features a message from the superintendent, updates on the April Board of Education meetings, “Super Spotlights” of students and staff, as well as many stories and photos of happenings in the school buildings.