Schools

As any parent can tell you, each child is unique. Different gifts, and different weaknesses, seem inherent in our children even from birth. It is up to adults to teach our youngsters how to make the most of their strengths, but to also recognize and adapt for characteristics that might stand in the way of their success.

At Bay Middle School, Principal Sean McAndrews believes middle schools have a rare opportunity to help students recognize their own tendencies that could get in the way of leading successful lives. He has implemented Preventure, a program that surveys students and identifies particular personality traits that psychologists say make us more susceptible to harmful decisions in key, emotional moments.

The Bay Village Board of Education, at its organizational meeting on Jan. 7, elected new officers for 2019: Beth Lally will be president and Lisa Priemer will serve as vice-president. In addition, after months of considering a change to its committee structure, the board is now designating one of its two monthly meetings as a work session. The work session remains a regular, open meeting.

The first regular meeting of the month, generally held the second Monday, will be designated as a work session. Administrators will be scheduled to present updates on various topics like curriculum, facilities, finance and school building programs. It is expected that no board action will be taken at these work sessions unless unavoidable.

The second regular meeting of each month, generally scheduled for the fourth Monday, will have board members consider and vote on the usual business of approving contracts, policies, etc.

Bay Village parents and guardians of children who will be 5 years of age on or before Aug. 1, 2019, are invited to attend a Kindergarten Information Meeting on Thursday, Jan. 31, 7 p.m., at Normandy Elementary School, 26920 Normandy Road. The meeting is for adults only due to limited space.

Packets of forms and information required for kindergarten registration, which takes place Feb. 5, 6 and 7, will be distributed. In addition, an overview of Normandy's kindergarten program and kindergarten readiness in general will be presented. Information tables for those with questions regarding daycare, speech therapy, early entrance, transportation and volunteer opportunities will also be available.

More information about Normandy Elementary's kindergarten program is available on the district's website at bayvillageschools.com.

Students at St. Paul Westlake School will celebrate National Lutheran Schools Week Jan. 27-Feb. 2 with a different daily theme and activity.

The students are also collecting donations to cover the cost of a field trip for an orphanage in Haiti as a service project.

“National Lutheran Schools Week allows us to celebrate the excellence in Christian education that Lutheran schools provide our families. Here at St. Paul Westlake we go all out for this celebration with daily themes, guest speakers, devotions, activities, and community builders that enhance the already exemplary education students receive on a daily basis. It is truly a week of celebration,” said St. Paul Westlake Principal Jeremy Louden.

Here is a rundown of activities:

Sunday, Jan. 27

Students will sing “Who You Say I Am,” at both 8:30 a.m. and 11 a.m. traditional and contemporary church services at St. Paul Westlake Church, 27993 Detroit Road.

An All-School Open House will be held from 1-3 p.m. This event is open to the community. Tours of the school will be given and St. Paul staff and teachers will be on hand to answer questions.

Westlake High School 1992 graduate Megan Ferry Moutoux will assume the newly created role of Alumni Coordinator for the Westlake City School District. Superintendent Dr. Scott Goggin said it’s a goal of the school district to strengthen its bond with alumni.

“Strengthening this bond starts when our students are in our schools,” Dr. Goggin said. “Megan will work to engage our future alumni with our current alumni by acting as a liaison between the Westlake Schools and alumni.”

Moutoux will serve as a liaison between alumni and the Westlake City Schools, be a resource for reunions and alumni events, organize fundraisers to support alumni scholarships, and maintain a database of alumni.

Reflecting upon the things one is thankful for is said to increase optimism, joy and happiness.

Staff and students in the Bay Village Schools are finding that gratitude also goes further than benefiting oneself. Gratitude includes expressing appreciation to others, as well as “paying it forward” to spread the kindness around.

Nikki Spriggs, the treasurer at Bay Village Schools, incorporated an Attitude of Gratitude month during November for school staff through the district’s Wellness Committee.

“It is such a positive activity, and I knew our staff members would welcome it,” she said. Employees tracked 30 gratitude acts on a calendar. The acts ranged from thanking a colleague to taking back someone’s shopping cart – many days to contemplate reasons for gratitude, and many days to “pay it forward.”

Christmas at the Tree Farm                         
Thunk! That’s the sound of a falling Christmas tree. Every year we go to a tree farm and cut down a Christmas tree. We have gone to a couple of tree farms in Medina and Wellington. We cut down our Christmas tree with a saw. This year we got a white pine. There is a tractor that tows a wagon where people sit. Behind the wagon where the people sit is another wagon that carries the Christmas trees that the people cut down. There is a little shop where you can buy antique Christmas things and snacks. This year when we cut down our Christmas tree, it was 65 degrees outside. You also get free hot chocolate! Doesn't that sound like fun? Riding in a wagon, getting free hot chocolate, and cutting down a Christmas tree! Best Christmas fun ever!
– Caden P.

Our Elves
It’s past Thanksgiving and Christmas is coming. That means ELVES! I think our elves are pretty fun and crazy. Last year we had two elves. One had a white outfit and the other had a red outfit. Last year the red one’s first hiding spot was on the railing in the foyer by the stairs. He also hid where we keep all our special family stuff. Our white elf’s spot was in the music room. One day the white elf hid on the spot no one could get too. He did not come down. He is still there today. This year our two elves are red. The first place one of our elves hid was the box thing that held pencils, pens, markers, and crayons in the kitchen. Then the elf hid in the dining room near the fruit. The other elf hid in the lamp in the living room. The other red elf hid in the tree. It was in the foyer. Then he hid on the chandelier in the foyer. Our Christmas tree fell down. I think it was the elf on the chandelier who caused the tree catastrophe. My elves can be crazy!!
– Thomas H.

Snow is Falling On the Best Family!
Jingle bells, Jingle bells, Jingle all the way! Every year my dad reads the Night before Christmas to my family. Then we watch a movie. It's usually Rudolf the Rednosed Reindeer but sometimes we will watch Elf, Frosty the Snowman and more and, of course, we eat popcorn. Then put out 3 cookies for Santa and 8 carrots for the reindeer. We take turns putting out the cookies and the carrots, youngest to oldest – Corinne, me, Isabel, then Jimmy. By now it's pretty late but then we decorate the rest of the tree. On Thanksgiving we decorate with just our red ornaments. We wait until closer to Christmas to finish putting up the decorations. While decorating we listen to Christmas music. My dad is always so bossy about where to put the ornaments, same as my sister Isabel. Then we finally go to sleep except for my sister Corinne and I. She talks to me all night so I have to play a Christmas Story on our iPod and finally she falls asleep. Freedom! That’s my Christmas Eve!
– Emma B.

The Christmas Express
Choo! Choo! Every year my family sets up a Christmas train. We have three trains that we set up by our Christmas tree. Two of them are from the 1940’s and were passed onto my dad from his grandfather. They still work even though they are old! The third train is almost new because we got it two years ago. In the month of December, my dad and I go up to the attic and find the trains. Then, we carry them down the stairs and unpack the boxes. Next, my family sets up the tracks and train cars next to the Christmas tree. Once the tracks are put together, we set the throttle to 100%. We watch the three trains run through the Christmas village. The village lights up and the people move and sing songs for hours! After Christmas we have to pack everything back up. I really enjoy building the train tracks and watching them run!
– Peyton W.

Visiting Family
I always visit my family on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day in December. On Christmas Eve I visit my mom’s side of the family in Cleveland. We enjoy eating dinner together. Everyone brings a dessert for our dessert table. My mom usually brings brownies every time we go because her brownies are really delicious. After dinner, my brother and I go to my aunt’s room to open gifts. On Christmas Day, my family and I go to my grandmother’s house in Westlake. First, we eat dinner. For dessert, we have chocolate and oranges. They make a good mix! Next, we open our gifts in the living room of our grandma’s house. After opening presents, we play a game where someone tapes a picture of a food on someone’s back. That person has to ask questions to the other people until they figure out what food is taped to their back. It is a really fun game to play. Most of all, I enjoy my family traditions because I get to see my relatives.
– Abigale M.

Baking Christmas Cookies
Every Christmas, my family and I bake delicious sugar cookies. We begin by mixing butter, milk, flour, sugar and eggs in a large mixing bowl. This makes the yummy sugar batter! Next, we roll out the dough with a rolling pin and a little flour. We use cute gingerbread and ornament cookie cutters to make the cookie shapes. Next, we put them on a cookie sheet and bake them in the oven. I can smell the delicious sugar cookies throughout the house while they are baking in the oven! When they are finished cooking, we put them on a cooling rack. While they are cooling we make warm hot cocoa with peppermint crumbled on top. Then we enjoy the cookies and hot cocoa around the fireplace. I really enjoy making cookies every year!
– Emily H.

Dover Intermediate School sixth-grader Luke Melikian typed his 50,000th word in class as part of a novel writing unit in his sixth-grade language arts class.

As part of National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) in November, Jessica Ranallo’s students were working on their own novels. Luke typed his 50,000th word in front of the class. NaNoWriMo, part of the young Writers Program, encourages K-12 students to write a novel in 30 days. Last year more than 100,000 students and educators from over 9,000 classrooms around the world participated.

This year’s theme was “A Shot of Caffeine for my Creative Life.” Luke's story, "Mr. Allan," is about a man named Allan, a newly discovered reincarnation of Mr. Arnaldus de Villa Nova, and his ongoing pursuit to finally destroy his antagonist, McDonald, who has an incredible headache.

Robotics, the technology of designing, constructing and programming robots to do automated tasks, is a growing field. The Bay High School Robotics Club, in its second year, is also growing and aiming to compete with some of the top high school robotics clubs in the area.

“Building robots to solve the challenge of a rigorous competition is just the best learning experience on so many levels,” said Michael Clifford, Bay High science teacher and the club’s advisor. “It is a goal of the school to prepare students for a world of technology, and the FIRST Robotics Competition is as technical as it gets for high school students. Last year was our rookie experience with FIRST Robotics, and we made some mistakes. But we learned a lot that will help us this time around.”

The competition project is to build a robot that will compete in a very complex game. Each year, the game and its objectives are announced during the kick-off in January, at which time every team in the country begins building their robots.

It is not often that school districts can get teachers, custodians, administrators, bus drivers, board members, cafeteria workers, tutors, maintenance workers, psychologists and secretaries to meet in one room so that they can all better understand the goals and obstacles faced each day by colleagues in different jobs.

“On a ship, you get the best view of where you’re going, and what’s coming at you, from the ship's bridge," said Steve Farnsworth of the Buckeye Association of School Administrators. "That is why this program is called A View from the Bridge. We want to get everyone up there so we can all see the same long view as we plot our course forward.”

The program is a collaboration of state-level school board, administrators and union leaders; it is facilitated by the Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service (FMCS). Still in its pilot stage, it is designed to help school districts smooth the way toward future contract negotiations by highlighting the unique challenges of the different employee roles, as well as by demonstrating the common beliefs of people who have dedicated their careers to public education.

Bay High senior Dennis Risch has been named a 2019 National Merit Commended Student.

Risch scored within the top 4 percent of test takers on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, taken in his junior year. The achievement earns a Letter of Commendation in the National Merit Scholarship Program in recognition of his outstanding academic promise.

The Bay Village Education Foundation has awarded $10,826 in nine classroom grants to enrich educational experiences for Bay Village Schools students.

Anne Ashley, Bay High social studies instructor, will use $1,570 to send two students to the National Leadership Conference held at Camp Miniwanca in Shelby, Michigan, through the American Youth Federation.

Bay High English teacher Bea Bishop, principal Jason Martin and library media specialist Melissa Wolf teamed up to win $1,596 for four televisions with Chromecast technology to mount on the school's library walls for student collaborative project work.

Bay High science teacher Michael Clifford will use $1,500 to enter a student team into the Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

The Bay Village City School District will host a Community Meeting on School Safety on Thursday, Oct. 18, from 7-9 p.m. in the Bay High School auditorium.

Superintendent Jodie Hausmann will moderate and present a lineup of speakers on various topics about how the district is addressing school safety. Bay Village Mayor Paul Koomar and police Chief Mark Spaetzel will speak about school/city safety collaborations.

Bay Village police detective Kevin Krolkoski will review how police train in the schools with school staff for violent intruder situations.

Bay Middle School principal Sean McAndrews, Bay High principal Jason Martin and Bay High assistant principal Aaron Ereditario will address how safety threats and concerns are handled at the adolescent level.

Amelie, 17, was born and raised in Berlin, Germany. She moved to Westlake last year because of her father’s work. A fearless traveler, she was excited to leave Germany and eager to start a new life at Westlake High School.

On Amelie’s first day of high school, she was surprised by American patriotism. Unaware that American students must pledge their devotion to the flag every day, she didn’t stand up for the Pledge of Allegiance.

The second surprise was American kindness. At the beginning of each class, Amelie’s teachers announced she was a new student from Germany. Classmates inundated her with questions about her life in Germany. “Why would other kids be so interested in my life?” Amelie wondered. But her new peers seemed genuinely curious about her world.

Westlake High School senior Brian Knott was named a National Merit Commended scholar in the 2019 National Merit Scholarship Program.

Brian is among the 34,000 high scorers on the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT) to be recognized for their outstanding academic promise. These students can become candidates for special scholarships provided by corporate and business sponsors.

He joins our nine previously named National Merit Semifinalists:Claire Brewer, Isabella DiGiulio, Ella Gray, Nate Gray, Hyun Park, Akhilesh Reddy, Mihir Shetty, Meghana Tandon and Talia Zheng.

For the third year, Bay High students took a school tradition long linked to homecoming and football, their Thursday night bonfire, and turned it into an event that brings the Bay Village community together to support cancer patients.

The students raised about $7,500 for the The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society on Thursday, Sept. 20, bringing their three-year total to more than $25,000 raised for the cause.

A number of Bay Village Schools students have been diagnosed with the blood cancers Hodgkin's Lymphoma or leukemia, and students at Bay High have used the bonfire to hold their own Light the Night event in support of The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS) and its funding of research to find blood cancer cures. It is a time to support their fellow students and let them know they mean their event's slogan, "No One Fights Alone."

Bay High senior Amelia Johnson has been named a National Merit Semi-Finalist, placing her among the top one percent of students from 22,000 high schools across the country who took the PSAT in their junior year and earned scores high enough to qualify continuing on to the Finalist competition.

Amelia plans to major in music education and the oboe. She participates in the Bay High Band, the Cleveland Orchestra Youth Orchestra, the Cleveland Contemporary Youth Orchestra and the Cleveland Youth Wind Symphony.

"This is a great accomplishment," said Bay High principal Jason Martin. "This level of recognition is a testament to Amelia's hard work and dedication to her studies. We are all proud of her."

Students of the Bay Village City School District are meeting and exceeding state academic standards, earning their district an overall grade of A on the Ohio Report Card, released Sept. 13.

A comparison of the Performance Index, which factors in every test taken by every student, shows Bay Village ranking 6th of 31 districts in Cuyahoga County, and 16th of 608 districts in the State of Ohio. The district’s Performance Index was 106.4.

“These report card results reflect the hard work that takes place every day in our schools,” said Superintendent Jodie Hausmann. “Our students, teachers and administrators should be extremely proud of this significant achievement. In addition, our parents, support staff, board members and community members should celebrate the important roles they play in helping us reach this level of success.”

The Westlake City School District is starting the 2018-2019 school year with two new School Resource Officers through the Westlake Police Department.

Officer Pat Foye and Officer Ted Morley are the new School Resource Officers/Drug Abuse Prevention Officers at Lee Burneson Middle School and Dover Intermediate School, respectively. Foye and Morley, who both previously served with the Lakewood Police Department, join Officer Scott Fortkamp, who has been the SRO at Westlake High School for 18 years.

Foye, who spent 25 years in Lakewood, is a U.S. Army Reserves veteran with multiple deployments and served on WEB SWAT, as a WEB negotiator and a narcotics detective.

Morley, a U.S. Marine Corps veteran, served 30 years in Lakewood. He was a member of Westshore Enforcement Bureau (WEB) SWAT and the U.S. Marshals Service Task Force. He also served as a community officer, and a firearms and tactics trainer.

Westlake High School senior Matt Eppele was selected for the second time as a member of the All-State Orchestra. Last year he participated in the All-State Band.

Several WHS musicians were selected as alternates for the All-State groups, including Jessica Barrick, Nathan Hsaio and Juyoung Lee. All-State groups are selected from auditions throughout the state and perform at the Ohio Music Education Association Conference, which will be held at the Cleveland Convention Center Jan. 31-Feb. 2.

The convention will provide a platform for several performances by Westlake students. Jazz I will perform Feb. 1 at 9:30 a.m. and then serve as the clinic group for University of Louisville Jazz professor Jerry Tolson. The Chamber Orchestra will perform Feb. 2 at 9:30 a.m.

Nine Westlake High School seniors were named 2018 National Merit Semifinalists.

Seniors Claire Brewer, Isabella DiGiulio, Ella Gray, Nate Gray, Hyun Park, Akhilesh Reddy, Mihir Shetty, Meghana Tandon and Talia Zheng are among the 16,000 students across the country who took the PSAT in their junior year and earned scores high enough to qualify as Semifinalists. These students will move on to compete for approximately 7,500 National Merit Scholarships worth more than $34 million.

Westlake High School was named a 2017-2018 Cleveland Clinic Banner School. The award recognizes the school’s noteworthy success in leveraging community resources to advance student learning.

Fewer than 30 percent of the 179 schools in four states that participate in the Cleveland Clinic Civic Education Department’s programming received this recognition.

The efforts of WHS art teachers Kelly Atkinson and William Wilson, and language arts teacher Julie Davidson, were recognized for implementing the eXpressions program, demonstration an “exceptional commitment to student enrichment.”

Three Westlake High School teachers spent part of their summer participating in field seminars as 2018 Fund for Teachers Fellows.

Science teacher Melissa Barth, and language arts teachers Julie Davidson and Ann Hasenorhl, were selected by Fund for Teachers and the Martha Holden Jennings Foundation to participate in professional development opportunities.

Hasenorhl and Davidson received $3,860 each to participate in a theater and performance program based in Edinburgh, Scotland. The program focused on the study of British playwrights and how the themes of six plays deal with global issues. They participated in lectures and workshops, including acting, translating plays and performance studies. They also attended a variety of performances and participated in historical tours of Edinburgh that included the settings for Shakespeare’s “Macbeth”; Alnwick Castle in Northumberland, UK, which doubles as Hogwarts Castle in two “Harry Potter” movies; and Rosslyn Chapel in Scotland, where “The Da Vinci Code” ends.

Westlake High School’s Technology & Engineering Department launched a new drone technology class this fall to provide students instruction on flying unmanned aircraft systems (UAS).

“Unmanned Aircraft Systems – Drone Technology” is taught by Pilot in Command (PIC) Scott Kutz, who earned his Remote Pilot (Part 107) license over the summer. Kutz also has a Private Pilot Ground School certificate. Earning a basic drone pilot certificate requires 50 hours of training.

Fifteen WHS students are enrolled in the first 18-week class, which is formatted to mirror the professional manned aircraft training. Students are engaged in “ground school” activities for the first three days of the week, then participate in “flight school” operations for the remainder of the week.

Admittedly, Jeremy Louden has a big job in front of him. He likens it to working on a jigsaw puzzle. Running Westlake’s oldest independent preparatory school for students in grades Pre-K through 8 is no easy task. But the West Park native is up to the challenge.

“I want this to be a thriving community where we focus on spirituality, academics, leadership and innovation,” he said. Louden officially began his duties as St. Paul's principal on July 2. “Right now, I’m learning the bits and pieces and how everything fits together.”

The Rev. Dr. David Buegler has been part of St. Paul Lutheran Church and School for 30 years. Buegler, 72, had served as the interim principal of Westlake’s oldest independent preparatory school since January, following the resignation of former Principal Dale Lehrke.

He also served the St. Paul flock as associate pastor for more than 20 years. For many there, he is St. Paul.

Buegler stepped down as the school’s interim principal on July 2 with the arrival of new administrator Jeremy Louden from Houston, Texas. For the fourth time, he’s giving retirement a try.

Westlake Council of PTAs and its member PTA units are proud to announce 22 recent Westlake High School graduates as recipients of the 2018 PTA scholarships.   

Since 1968, Westlake Council and its member PTAs have continued the proud tradition of awarding scholarships to deserving Westlake High School seniors who plan to pursue higher education at a college, university or technical school. The Westlake Council and its member PTAs raise funds for these scholarships in many ways, including the annual Dollars for Scholars basketball game event, membership drives and programming.

The 11th annual Bike to School Challenge in Bay Village was an enormous success. On average, 447 students and staff rode their bikes to school every day – that’s 57 percent of the school enrollment! The  “high ride day” saw 68 percent of the school riding their bikes.

Total miles biked were 18,604 or the equivalent of riding across Ohio 85 times. The students and staff saved 16,575 pounds of carbon dioxide emissions and saved $2,369 of gas money. Bay Middle School has one of the highest participation rates in the country!

More than 200 Bay Middle School students spent some of their free time this spring creating posters with compelling graphics and messages meant to dissuade others from abusing drugs, alcohol or tobacco. Twenty-three of the poster entries won Malley's gift certificates provided by Bay Village Kiwanis, with five top winners named.

The first-place prize went to Elizabeth Carney for her "Don't let smoking BURN you ..." poster. Second place went to Sara Keh for "Why Fall In the First Place?" Mia Gulley won third place for "Fly Away from Temptation." Ava Galinas and Avery Tenerowicz shared the fourth-place spot, each with her own version of "Be Smart, Don't Start." Eighteen other students received a Judges Choice award.

Nothing says spring like a colorful pot of flowers barely starting to bud. Fifth-graders at Bay Middle School presented Knickerbocker Apartment residents with just such a gift on Friday.

"They are beautiful," said Jane Naughton as she looked over the 180 uniquely-painted flower pots filled with impatiens. "The children were so excited when they came and delivered them!"

St. Paul Lutheran School will graduate 20 eighth-graders in commencement ceremonies at 7 p.m. Wednesday, June 6.

Members of the graduating class of 2018 are: Evelyn Marie Albers, Kyle Joseph Beets, Elizabeth Maria Bell, Emma Nichole Collins, Elijah Mark Duran, Jonah Ellis Evans, William Emil Fankhauser, Emma Rose Harvest, Philip Michael Jagusch, Timothy Russell Kashubeck, Stephanie Elizabeth Koglman, Jack David LaPointe, Oliver George Lowe, Penelope Victoria Meredyk, Isabella Audria Laurie, Joshua Brian Putka, Ashton Ryan Sopko, Makayla Helene Spelich, Laurel Marie Willard and Isabella Leigh Zannoni.

The 912 Project Westlake hosted a Children's Safety in Schools speakers' forum on Saturday, May 5, as part of their objective to inform citizens about issues of community concern. Allen Porter, Westlake resident and member of the 912 Project moderated the forum that included: Bob Scott, Avon Lake superintendent; Scott Goggin, Westlake superintendent; Dr. Kathleen Kern, executive director of the Lorain County Board of Mental Health; Capt. Duane Streator, Avon Lake Police chief; Capt. Kevin Bielozer, Westlake Police chief; Kendra Yurgionas, Westlake Police patrolman; and Avon Lake Mayor Greg Zilka.

From Columbine, Colorado, to Parkland, Florida, we have experienced frightening scenes of school shootings for the last decade. What are the educators, safety officers, and mental health experts in our communities of Avon Lake and Westlake doing to protect our children from a school intruder’s harm?

Bay Village community members, along with staff and students of the Bay Village Schools, are invited to attend a community reception honoring retiring Superintendent Clint Keener on Thursday, May 17, 3:30-6:30 p.m. at Bay Lodge, 492 Bradley Road. Keener retires from 14 years of service to the Bay Village City School District and from 41 years of service to public education.

A lineup of notable Bay Village school and community leaders are scheduled to make brief remarks periodically throughout the reception, including school board members, school staff representatives, Bay Village Mayor Paul Koomar and others who have worked closely with Keener.

Westlake High School senior Kyle Yu earned the 2018 Varsity National Champion title at the United States Geography Olympiad (USGO) in Arlington, Virginia. It was Kyle’s third time at the USGO.

Kyle previously earned a perfect score on a written qualifying exam to participate in the USGO. That score also earned him a spot in the International Geography Bee World Championships in Berlin this July.

Bay Middle School’s seventh-grade Continental Math League (CML) team ranked first out of 92 schools from across the nation. The team scored a cumulative 180/180.

In addition, seventh-graders Frank Bird, Andy Mold and Jackson Schelzig were recognized as individual national leaders, each scoring a cumulative 36/36, in the CML program.

Participating students meet five times during the school year to individually tackle problem-solving and math challenges. Bay Middle School competed in the more difficult Pythagorean Division, reflecting above-average reading comprehension and analytical reasoning, as well as computational skills appropriate to the grade level.

Over 600 people recently attended Westlake Council of PTAs annual Dollar$ for Scholars event at Westlake High School to raise money for scholarships for graduating Westlake High School seniors.

Since 1968, Westlake Council has continued the proud tradition of awarding scholarships to deserving Westlake High School seniors who plan to pursue higher education at a college, university or technical school. Scholarships are awarded for traditional academic pursuits, as well as for the arts, STEM/technology, vocational (health/medical services, automotive, construction, culinary arts, etc.) and a life challenge.

The Westlake Council and its eight member PTAs raise funds for these scholarships in many ways, including programming, membership drives and the annual Dollar$ for Scholars event. Thanks to overwhelming support for Council and its member PTAs' fundraising efforts, Westlake Council of PTAs and its member PTA units awarded a total of $24,000 in scholarships to graduating Westlake High School seniors last May.

Standards for inclusion on the prestigious Best Communities for Music Education list have increased consistently over the last 16 years, but the Bay Village City School District is once again so honored for its exemplary music program. First recognized with the designation in 2003, and each year since, Bay Village is among just 583 districts nationwide identified for the honor by the NAMM Foundation this year.

The designation takes on added significance as research into music education continues to demonstrate educational/cognitive and social skill benefits for children who make music. In a series of landmark studies by scientists and researchers at Northwestern University, a link was found between students in community music programs and life-long academic success, including higher high school graduation rates and college attendance. In another study from the University, it was discovered that the benefits of early exposure to music education improves how the brain processes and assimilates sounds, a trait that lasts well into adulthood.

Westlake High School senior Patrick Lee was named a U.S. Presidential Scholars semifinalist.

Patrick is among 630 students in the nation and 20 from Ohio to advance to the final round for this prestigious award.

From nearly 3.5 million graduating high school seniors, more than 5,300 students were identified as candidates in the program, and 630 named semifinalists. Each year, up to 161 students nationwide are named Presidential Scholars, one of the nation’s highest honors for high school students.

Two Bay High students were recognized with 2018 National Scholastic Art & Writing Awards silver medals. One silver medal in writing went to senior Emma Legeay for her poem, "Mrs. Plath"; and one silver medal in art went to senior Maria DiLallo for her painting, "Family Is Not Always Blood." Judging for the competition took place in New York City.

The awards followed a strong showing for Bay High School at the Cuyahoga County Regional Scholastic Arts Competition, with students winning 12 Gold Key, 15 Silver Key, and 23 honorable mention awards.