April 25, 2001

At the regular meeting of the Shaker Heights Board of Education on April 24, 2001, the Superintendent reported the following:

* Nearly 200 members of the High School marching band participated in a performance trip to France over spring vacation. High points included performances at the Eiffel Tower, the palace of Versailles, The Peace Center, and the Normandy beaches that were sites of the Allied invasion in World War II. Performances were interspersed with visits to the Louvre and other cultural landmarks. The trip was organized by marching band director Tom Deep, with the assistance of staff and parent chaperones.

* In cooperation with the Shaker Heights Municipal Court and the Police Department, the Middle School will present a special program on prevention of bullying, harassment, and stalking on May 7. David Miller, a Case Western Reserve University faculty member who is a nationally known expert on bullying and harassment, will be among the presenters. Students from the High School theatre department will role-play scenarios and the audience will learn about helpful ways to respond to such situations. The District’s policy on harassment will also be highlighted during this assembly program.

* The Shaker Coalition to Prevent Youth Substance Abuse is sponsoring a community forum titled “Helping Teens Make Healthy Choices” from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 12, at the Shaker Community Building. Topics will include facts about substance abuse, effective community intervention strategies, teen stress and depression, and parenting techniques. The forum is co-sponsored by the School District, the City of Shaker Heights, the Shaker Heights Public Library, the Youth Center, several centers at Case Western Reserve University, Bellefaire JCB, and Hathaway Brown School. Students, parents, teachers and other interested community members are invited to the free forum. Reservations are requested through the Shaker Heights Health Department.

* Acclaimed children’s author Ann Cameron is in the District this week, presenting assemblies, working with small groups of students at each of the K-4 elementary schools. Among her best-known books are The Most Beautiful Place in the World and The Kidnapped Prince, an adaptation of the autobiography of an African prince enslaved in the United States. Ms. Cameron’s visit continues through Friday, when she will sign books at the Shaker Heights Public Library.

* Shaker Heights Middle School won the Sweepstakes Trophy, the top award of the day, at the regional Power of the Pen tournament on Saturday, March 17. This award reflects the combined efforts of the seventh- and eighth-grade teams. In addition, the Middle School’s eighth-grade team, consisting of Hilry Hazelwood, Danny Kanter, Clare Malone, Emily Rosenberg, Julia Sivertson and Tom Wilson, finished first in the region. The seventh-grade team finished fourth out of 37 participating schools. The members of the seventh-grade team are Emily Blanchard, Laura Habat, Sarah Ratner and Kayla Tayer. Individual and Best-of-Round awards were won by Layla Tayer, Sarah Ratner, Tom Wilson, Emily Rosenberg, and Emily Blanchard. Danny Kanter, Emily Rosenberg, Tom Wilson, Emily Blanchard, Sarah Ratner, and Kayla Tayer qualified for the state tournament at the College of Wooster in May. The team is coached by Middle School Latin teacher Jane Troha and Woodbury music teacher Kathy Brewster. Created in 1986, Power of the Pen is a non-profit educational writing program for seventh- and eighth-grade students in . At three levels of competition (District, Regional, and State), students participate in three rounds of impromptu writing and receive instant feedback from judges.

* Middle School Latin students excelled on the National Latin Exam this year, with 40 of the 55 Shaker students who took the test scoring at the Cum Laude level or higher. Gold medal winners (Summa Cum Laude) are: Danny Kanter*, Carolyn Troha*, Emma Lawrence, Rebecca Heide, Alex Wang, Emily Rosenberg, Mike Ciepluch, Tom Wilson, Sean Muron, Eric Kramer, Erin Freeborn, Lauren Kutik and David Anderson (asterisk denotes perfect score). Silver medal (Maxima Cum Laude) winners are: Ryan Schork, Matt Koletsky, Robert Cheren, Clare Malone, Ryan McDonough, Mark Schoonover, Adam Margolius, Julia Sivertson, Robby Woodcock, Alex Buchheim, Andreas Marcotty, Jonathan Strassfeld, Michael Kowan, Chris Nau and Danielle Jones. Magna Cum Laude winners are: Brian Gamm, Marthe Leach, Claudia Lerner, Brendan McDonald, Rachel Slosberg, Faith Gobidas, Julia Ferguson, Amanda Fulwood and Marta Lapczynski. Cum Laude winners are: Sarah Bell, Joan Hexter and Colin Murphy. The Middle School’s Latin teacher is Jane Troha.

* High School students also excelled on the 2001 National Latin Examination, given at levels from Latin I to Latin V. Their teachers are Jane Ulrich and Robert White. The following students win gold medals for scoring at the Summa Cum Laude level: Eric Anderson (perfect score), Caitlin Bell, Eva Bock, Edward Cormany, Sarah Darge, Laura Falender, Gretchen Fuller, Anna Hutt, Matthew Immerman, Laura Kangas, Elliott Karr, Hyun Young Lee, Amina Massey, Noreen Malone, David Pretzer, Cody Rose, David Simmons-Duffin (perfect score), and Sarah Wang. Winning silver medals (Maxima Cum Laude) were René Chelune, Camilla Cullis, Mitch Frank, Samuel Freilich, Ally Gregg-Zellars, Ryan Hacala, Owen Hearey, Cassidy Heller, Nathan Hsu, Maggie Lassar, Zachary Lerner, Joe Lesnefsky, Ashali Singham, Jenny Stern, Emily Sy, Thaddeus Templeton, Amanda Webb, Anne Winkelman and Suzanne Youngner. The following students scored at the Magna Cum Laude level: Michael Bell, Edward Ceaser, Alex Campbell, Julia Cooperman, Jonathan Distad, Katie Dubyak, Elizabeth Habat, Lisa Hochman, Andrew Hopkins, Zachary Juresko, Audrey Klein, Elliott Klein, Michael Koler, Alex Madorsky, David Mayers, Catherine Nosse, Seth Rosenberg, Will Seitz, Andy Smith, Andrew Sords, Elizabeth Swary, Aaron Toppston, Gabriella Vari, Rachael Wasserman, Suphie Wesner and Kaitlin Wolfberg. The following students scored at the Cum Laude level: Dory Benford, Claire Dietrich, Ezekiel Hill, Timothy , Laura Mankowski, Jan Moseberg, David Powers, Kathryn Swary and Joseph Tartakoff.

In addition, eleven members of the High School Latin Club won individual honors while the team won five club awards and three spirit awards at the Ohio Junior Classical League Convention in Columbus in March. The 14 team members are seniors Eric Anderson and Chris Donat; juniors David Simmons- Duffin and Elliott Karr; sophomores Ed Cormany, Justine Konicki, Andrew Smith, and Thaddeus Templeton; and freshmen Laura Falender, Sam Freilich, Adam Gall, Andrew Hopkins, Ashali Singham and Elisa Super. The Club’s advisor is Jane Ulrich.

* Boulevard first grader Katie Harris was a winner of the National Chemistry Week Essay Contest sponsored by the Section of the American Chemical Society and the NASA . She is a student in Joyce Pope’s class.

* The Middle School’s eighth-grade class placed 7th in the nation in the third of four National Current Events League meets this year. More than 200 middle schools participated. The school’s cumulative standing after three meets is in the top 15 in the nation. Results from a fourth and final meet will be available in May. Eighth-grader R. J. Kaleal is in the top 15 individually. Social studies teacher and department chair David Lawrence coordinates the contest.

* Dozens of Middle School band members competed in the Ohio Music Education Association solo and ensemble contest in March. Solo performers who earned superior ratings are: Matthew Klodor, Aaron Dore, Grace Lynch, Sami Englander, Michael Kaufman, Will Feldman, Rebekah Benish, Katie McGill, Anne Morrison, Mike Ciepluch, Clare Malone, Eli Dibner-Dunlap, Ann Lesnefsky, Meagan Crowley, Kevin Tolbert, Christopher Inniss, Ziyu Zhang, Geoffrey Sanford, Heather Funk, Julia Shatten, Ashley Williams, Kristen Walling and Julia Sivertson. Solo performers who received excellent ratings are: Mike Abramczyk, Charles Inniss, Sara Smith, Julia Ferguson, Bishara Addison, C.J. Hearey, Jenny Van Lunteren and Celia Kaplan.

Middle School ensemble performers who earned superior ratings are: Casey Reese, Jon Gertman, Shavona Reeves, Julia Sivertson, Allison Hall, Michael Kowen, Tom Wilson, Tyler Coverdale, Lance Ballard, Drew Schultz, Jackson Richards, Katherine Sommers, Kristen Walling, Ashley Williams, Megan Sauerland, Mike Ciepluch, Sam Schiller, Alex Grodin, John Walker, Max Forstag, Nathan Evins, Avi Bakshani, DeSean Oden, Anne Morrison, Katie McGill, Clare Malone, Samantha Englander, Dante Zannoni, Chaz Benton, Sean Kelly, Rebekah Benish, Emily Rosenberg, Charles Inniss, David Blackwell, Braeden Kepner-Kraus, Miriam Moore, Geoff Sanford, Ann Lesnefsky, Makeda Farley, Celia Kaplan, JoAnna Rocco, Madeline Weinland, Alexandra Atkinson, Jessica Schiller, Halle Bauer, Tali Weinberg, Ashley Weatherford, Julia Ferguson, Heather Funk, Elizabeth Palda, Lauren Alexander, Lauren Kutik, Emily Bostwick and Sara Smith.

Middle School ensemble performers who earned excellent ratings are: Zachary Simon-Cury, Leah Hitchens, Julia Sivertson, Michael Kowen, Lauren Alexander, Alexandria Ingley, Celia Kaplan, JoAnna Rocco, Madeline Weinland, Alexandra Atkinson, Jessica Schiller, Tali Weinberg, Andrew Kulinsky, Julia Shatten, Aaron Dore, Emily George, Sarah Fuller, Alaina Sullivan, Mollie Silver, Emily Grannis, Chris Inniss, Ann Morrison, R.J. Kaleal, Chris Nau, David Blackwell, Braeden Kepner-Kraus, Elyse Krumholz, Michaela Rymond, Laura Bartholomae, Grace Lynch, Rebecca Heide, Mary Watts, Julia Galletta, Marie Hoffman, Nicole Feeling, Michael Greksa, Lauren Wargo, Scott Underwood, Andre Smith, C. J. Hearey, Naomi Sears, Sara Smith, Jasmine Shields, Ziyu Zhang, David Wish, Martin Sowell and Nayyir Qutubuddin. Jeff Pattie heads the Middle School band department.

* The following Middle School students received a First Place rating for string performance: Andrew Clair, violin solo and trio; J. C. Cunningham, violin quartet; Mandela Abdullah, violin quartet; Sean Gadson, viola quartet; Yanni Davros, cello quartet; Kevin Sutorius, bass quartet; Helen Morgenstern, bass solo and duet; Jordon Heeger, bass duet; Shan Tie, violin solo and quartet; Miriam Mack, violin quartet; Jenny Chen, cello quartet and piano solo; Lindsay Emery, harp quintet and solo; Corbin Sykes, viola trio; Justin Morrow, cello trio; Caroline Smith, violin solo; Eric Kramer, violin solo; Ryan McDonough, violin solo; Marguerite Moore, violin solo; Danielle Jones, piano solo. Their teacher is Barbara Hise.

* The following students were honored in the High School vocal solo and vocal ensemble categories: Receiving a I or Superior Rating were Addy Neilson, Kati Nosse, Sarah English, Austin Cameron, Rachel Kiwi, Isabelle Tuma, Katherine Moore, Kim Wagner, and The Chanticleers: Erica Davis, Lauren Gardner, Chloe Hill, Laura Jackson, Abby Landreth, Sarah Landreth, Kati Nosse, Ashley Simon, Isabelle Tuma, Kari Warchock, Todd Angney, Austin Cameron, Cam Cameron, Arlo Hill, Zeke Hill, Greg Hurst, Christian Johnson, Jamiyl Motaabbed, Brandon McCafferty, Daniel Stephenson and Jarryd Tribble. Receiving a II or Excellent Rating: Julia Hurst, Kelly Baker, Helen Lawson, Lauren Gardner, Brittany Eckstein, Cesar Buie and Jessamyn Davis. Receiving a III or Good Rating: Kristen Owen. Receiving a I or superior rating for piano: Gretchen Fuller. Robert Schneider is director of choirs at the High School.

* In addition, a group of Middle School vocal music students attended the OMEA District 7 Honors Choir Festival in which they worked with a guest conductor for a day and performed for other school groups from throughout the region. Participating were Hannah Corrigan, Anna Sebok, Emily Seger, Monique Starks, Christyna Rogers, Andrea Martin, Danielle Saks, Amy Silver, David Ludgin, Alex Buchheim, Ridley Watts, Michael Ward, Ben Zimmer and Ray Haney. Their teacher is Elizabeth Blakeslee-Vokes.

* Senior Amy Lazarus has won a $1,000 Principal’s Leadership Award scholarship from the National Association of Secondary School Principals. Amy was one of 150 winners chosen from a pool of 7,500 students nominated by principals from across the country. The award honors academic performance as well as leadership in co-curricular activities. An honors student all four years at Shaker, Amy has been active in Student Council and is currently president. She has also participated in the Student Group on Race Relations, Youth Leadership Shaker, the A Cappella Choir, tennis team and the Spanish Honor Society. A National Merit Commended Scholar and recipient of the Wellesley College Book Award, Amy plans to attend Duke University in the fall.

* Fourteen High School students were honored in the Ohio District 3 History Day competition recently. David Simmons-Duffin won first place in the Historical Papers category. His teacher is Tim Mitchell. In the Group Exhibits category, Tina Jackson and Liz Campbell won first place and Armine Thompson and Audrey Klein placed second. Dann Parker teaches all four students. In the Group Performances category, William Benish, Amy Broadbent, Carlos Piepenburg, Joseph Tartakoff and Amy Wadsworth won first place. Dann Parker is their teacher. In the Group Documentaries category, Jason Fisher, David Margolius, Matt Ratner and J. R. Siegel placed second. Their teachers are Terry Pollack and Rhona Pessel.

* A chess team from Boulevard Elementary School in Shaker Heights won first place in the K-3 division of the Northeast Ohio K-8 Chess Invitational Tournament on March 18. Charles Modlin, a physician at the and father of one of the students, volunteered to sponsor the team. Team members were second graders Trey Modlin and Michael Wagner and third graders Anthony Wang and Sam Zivot. Also competing for Boulevard were fourth grader Tejas Nandurkar, third grader Carl Bowers, and kindergartner Veronica Bowers. Eighteen teams of four players each participated.

* PTO Today Magazine named the Boulevard School PTO as the Midwest region’s Parent Group of the Year. The award recognizes the contributions the group has made to its school and the children of the community. The Boulevard School PTO will be featured in the May issue of PTO Today Magazine and will receive a $250 prize in recognition of its accomplishments. Co-Presidents for the 2000-2001 school year were Joan Phelan and Jennifer Gramlich.

* Lomond students participating in a math-a-thon raised $5,249 for St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital in Memphis. One hundred four students gathered sponsors to underwrite their completion of math workbooks supplied by the hospital. Fourth-grader Lindsay McCord was the top earner, raising more than $250. Fourth-grade teachers Michell (Marous) Rucinski, ’77, and Patsy Bannon organized this Student Council event.

* Woodbury’s Science Olympiad team placed third at the Northeast Ohio Elementary Science Olympiad competition in early March. The team of 34 fifth and sixth graders competed in 24 events against teams from 24 other elementary schools. Fifth-grade participants were: Lisa Buffo, Teddy Cahill, Celina Hall, Tim Johnstone, John Lewandowski, Susanna Pretzer, Anastassia Radeva, Natalie Schelling, Daniel Strassfeld, Jared Beachy, Meredith Boyd, Hartley Brody, Heather Dabney, Amanda Goldman, Gabe Jackson, Nathan Langhinrichs, Donny Petarra, Marc Townsend and Sam Weis. Sixth-grade team participants were: Aaron Fallon, Stephanie Goldfarb, Michael Karim, Anthony Lanese, Hyun-Ho Lee, Christin Martahus, Halle Minshall, Sarah Sy, Meghan Thompson, Sydney Cook, David Coscarelli, Kelly Eisele, Niranjan Kumar, Rebecca Wadsworth and Cyril Wesner.

* The Middle School’s Science Olympiad team qualified to compete at the state level in late April after highly successful showings in regional competitions. At the Solon Invitational, Lauren Slive and Rebekah Benish placed fourth for mystery architecture category; Reid Albano and Allison Vitkus placed fifth for “For the Birds,” David Frisof, Lauren Kutik and Lee Reis placed sixth for experimental design; Yue Gao and Kevin Margolius placed sixth for metric mastery. At the regional tournament at Case Western Reserve University, Lauren Kutik, David Frisof and Lee Reis won first place for experimental design; Yue Gao and Ryan McDonough won first place for metric estimation; Chris Nau and Flint Whistler placed second for “Get Your Bearing”; Emily Rosenberg and Sara Smith placed second for “Can’t Judge a Powder”; David Morrical and Ryan McDonough placed second for science in fitness; Sami Englander and Lauren Kutik placed second for using the web; and Chris Nau and David Frisof placed third for “Road Scholar.”

* Ten Middle School students won awards in the Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering fair at John Carroll University this spring. They are: Kate LeSueur, second place, behavioral science; Tali Weinberg, second place, environmental science; Jasmine Adams, third place and Trustee Award, chemistry; Lindsay Emery, third place, environmental science; Andy Harding, third place, biology; Ziyu Zhang, third place, biology; Charles Inniss, two third-place prizes for two separate physics projects; Marie Hoffman, honorable mention, outstanding project, Trustee Award, physics/math; Scott Underwood, honorable mention, environmental science.

* High School ninth grader David Pretzer won first place in engineering at the Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering Fair and again at the Western Reserve District 5 Regional Science Fair at the University of Akron. At John Carroll, his entry also won the Naval Science Award, granted by the Office of Naval Research of the U.S. Navy and Marine Corps; an award from the Cleveland Chapter of the American Statistical Association; and an award from Cleveland State University’s Fenn College of Engineering. His prize-winning invention digitally measures wind chill. David was to compete in the State Science Day at Ohio Wesleyan University in late April.

* The Middle School won the Outstanding School Award at the Western Reserve District 5 Science Day at University of Akron this spring. Eighth-grader Ziyu Zhang won first place individually in microbiology. He will compete in the State Science Day along with Charles Inniss, who won a superior rating for one project and an excellent rating for a second, and Tali Weinberg, who won a superior rating and a B-Wiser Institute Award for one project. Marie Hoffman and Lindsey Emery won excellent ratings and B-Wiser awards. Andrew Harding won an excellent rating. Their faculty sponsors are David Strauch and Robert Haas.

* The High School’s Junior Engineering and Technical Society team came in first in its division of the 2001 Tests of Engineering Aptitude, Mathematics, and Science (TEAMS) regional competition and second place in the state competition. The students that participated this year were: Chris Hemmelgarn, Chloe Hill, David Simmons-Duffin, Matt Smith, Jennifer Wang, Meghan Whitehouse, Yue Yuan and Yue Yang. The faculty advisor for JETS is Joe Marencik. Further information about JETS is available on the organization’s web page at www.jets.org.

* The High School Mathematics Team placed first among 249 Ohio high schools at the American Mathematics Competition this spring. Team members were David Simmons Duffin, who ranked fourth in the state; Claire Dietrich, sixth; and Eric Anderson, 28th. All three were among 38 Ohio students named to the National Honor Roll for scoring in the top one percent nationwide. They joined 12 other Shaker students in earning the Ohio Certificate of Superior Achievement by ranking in the top 240 of the 10,311 students who participated. They are: Jennifer Wang, Seth Rosenberg, Matthew Smith, Yue Yang, Johanna Craig, Yue Tuan, Thaddeus Templeton, Philip Wallach, Elisabeth Maguda, James Wrenn, Jennifer Broadbent and Luke Rinderknecht. Three Shaker tenth graders are listed on the Ohio Merit Roll for scoring exceptionally well for their age. They are Thaddeus Templeton, Jennifer Broadbent and Gretchen Fuller. Math teacher Ray Skitzki is their coach.

* The High School’s Academic Decathlon team placed fourth in the Ohio Academic Decathlon competition in March. Andrea Kutik won a silver medal in the essay category; Elisabeth Maguda won gold in music, bronze in literature and language, bronze in math, and silver in essay; Allison Nau won gold in speech and silver in math; Amy Schiller won bronze in essay; Allison Waithe won bronze in math, silver in essay, and gold in interview. Other team members are: Caleb Boise, Amanda Duca, Zachary Lerner, and honorary member David Simmons-Duffin. The Decathlon Team’s head coach is Jose Perez, and its assistant coach is Carol Fox.

* Five Shaker Heights High School seniors won honors in the District 10 Spring Leadership Conference in the area of marketing. Tallen Shields received fifth place honors, Yasin Dejarnette and Paris Hite received fourth place honors, Curtis Cheney received third place honors, and first place honors went to Branden DeClouet. Both Brandon and Curtis have qualified to represent Shaker and District 10 at the state leadership conference in Columbus. The coordinator of Shaker Heights High School DECA is Mark Leimsieder.

* High School art students continued Shaker’s winning tradition dominating the 2001 Scholastic Art Competition. Five of the nine portfolios sent from Northeast Ohio to the finals in New York City were from Shaker. Award winners are: Natalie Shook, art portfolio award; gold key, painting; silver key, painting; honorable mention, painting; silver key, drawing; honorable mention, mixed media; Michael Morrical, art portfolio award; gold key, drawing; silver key, drawing; Scott Green, art portfolio award; Katherine Schaberg, art portfolio award; Colette Zilka, art portfolio award; Justine Watanabe, gold key, drawing; silver key, drawing; honorable mention, drawing; Emmett Goodman, gold key, drawing; Joseph Fungsang, silver key, drawing; Everard Scott, silver key, drawing; Josh Kirschenbaum, silver key, graphic design; Linsey Kruger, honorable mention, sculpture; Chenoa Shannon, honorable mention, graphic design. All are students of Dan Whitely and Susan Weiner. In addition, a painting by Scott Green placed in the top 25 in Ohio in the Governor’s Youth Art Exhibition and one drawing and one painting by Joseph Fungsang will be displayed in the State Office Building.

* The High School’s Science Olympiad Club came in second out of 17 teams at the regional Science Olympiad tournament at Case Western Reserve University in February and were to advance to the state tournament in Columbus in late April.

Team members are: Abigail Cahill, Ed Cormany, Laura Coscarelli, Nathan Emery, Jian Huang, Andrea Kutik, Zach Lerner, David Pretzer, Ben Saks, David Simmons-Duffin, Ashali Singham, Brian Sutorius, Thaddeus Templeton, Jeff Waldman, Melissa Walton, Amanda Webb, Will Wemer and Yue Yang. The club’s advisors are science teachers Linda Loeffler, Paul Repasy and David Klapholz.

The Board of Education heard the following:

* A welcome from Rosemary Weltman, principal of Woodbury Elementary School.

* A presentation on the forthcoming Shaker Fact Book by Dale Whittington, director of research and evaluation.

The Board of Education approved the following:

* Personnel items, including appointments, changes in assignments, substitutes, salary reclassifications, leaves of absence, and resignations. Included was the retirement of Patricia Baird (library media/Middle School, 31 years of service), effective at the end of this school year.

* Awards of tenure to the following faculty members: Kelly Anderson (science/Middle School), Elizabeth Blakeslee-Vokes (music/Middle School), James Carter (grade 5/Woodbury), Milagros Catalano (Spanish and French/Middle School), Tanudta Devine (grade 3/Lomond), Carola Drosdeck (grade 5/Woodbury), Marc Enie (physical education/Onaway/High School), Larraine Freeman (Spanish/High School), Michael Kabay (mathematics/High School), Adrian Lewis (grade 3/Fernway), Megan Loomis (developmentally handicapped/Onaway), Kathryn Manning (science/Middle School), Nathaniel Reese (grade 6/Woodbury), Linda Roth (social studies/Middle School), Bobby Starks (physical education/Middle School), Robin Sweigert (Spanish/Middle School), Addie Tobey (English/Middle School), Jane Troha (Latin/Middle School), Jody Trostler (art/High School),and Jennifer Vail (kindergarten/Fernway).

* The appointment of David Bergholz to the Board of Trustees of the Shaker Heights Public Library.

* Financial statements for March 2001 and interim investments.

* Supplemental appropriations to accommodate a grant from The George Gund Foundation and to support student activities.

The next regular meeting of the Board of Education will take place at 9 a.m. on Friday, May 11, 2001, at the Administration Building.