In this edition, I want to recognize the outstanding efforts made by the Parma Council of PTAs on behalf of our high school students.

This year, the Council is awarding scholarships totaling over $130,000 to deserving high school seniors.  These include several memorial scholarships, many sponsored by local civic groups like the Rotary Club and the Chamber of Commerce, a Community Scholarship and the well-known Geranium Scholarships which are funded through direct sales to our parents, staff and community members.

Students are notified of their scholarship awards during one of my favorite school year activities, the Winner's Circle presentations.  Seniors are summoned from their regular classes to a room filled with PTA members, teachers, administrators and community members anxiously awaiting the opportunity to see the look on the students' faces as they are informed of their awards.  Having been to many of these presentations, I can tell you it is a most rewarding and fulfilling experience which captures the essence of the job we do each day.

Congratulations to the Parma Council of PTAs for again helping many of our students continue their educational career and build their futures.  It is through the hard work of all PTA members that Parma boasts one of the largest PTA Scholarship Programs in the State of Ohio and I am proud to be affiliated with such a fine group.

Knowledge Master Open

Congratulations to The Sixth Grade Wednesday ALP Team who placed fourth in the state at the Knowledge Master Open Contest and to the Greenbriar Middle School ALP Team who placed fourth in the state at the Knowledge Master Open Contest.

According to the Knowledge Master Open website, the program is a computer-based semi-annual worldwide academic competition in which teams of students from many schools earn points by answering multiple-choice questions quickly and accurately.

The questions includes subject areas such as: American history, biology, current events, economics, English, fine arts, geography, government, health, law, literature, math, psychology, science, trivia and world history..

The Knowledge Master Open began in 1983 with 74 schools; it now annually attracts up to 4,000 schools and 60,000 participants from the U.S. and several foreign lands.

5th and 6th grade contests are held in January and March and consist of one hundred questions. Middle school and high school contests are held in December and April and consist of two hundred questions.

Greenbriar Team Members

Abigail Collins, Jackie Deming, Stephanie Dotson, Summer Fitch, Cynthia Hastings, Jeffrey Hlutke, Zachary Hunter, Robert Hurley, Katlyn Ingalls, Stephen Peterson, Emily Smith, Rebecka Weber and Oliver Whitmore.

Sixth Grade Team Members

Alexander Addison, Tegan Baker, Tsvetelina Baryakova, John Besozzi, Nikola Blagojevic, James Buk, Anthony Chmura, Aaron Cockerham, Richard Colon, Bethany Cook, Amanda Coyle, Teresa DePace, Michael Diederich, Samuel Doerle, Brittany Ehlert, Daniel Fleming, Gavin Funk, Zachary Garrett, Nadia Grynykha, Nathan Henley, Omar Idris, Benjamin Kaminski, Emily Keller, Courtney Kissel, Arlene Kostyack, Deanna Krokos, Stephen Lewis, Rebecca Love, Samantha Marflack, Alexis Mroczka, Tyler O'Barsky, Timothy Ochatiouk, Rebecca Pasela, Joshua Penko, Thomas Potoma, Tyler Pritchard, Anthony Raimondo, Matthew Rhyand, Thomas Rigby, Michelle Rock, Cassidy Rodano, Christine Santabarbara, Evelynn Sokolowski, Logan Stacho, Madison Stacho, Oliver Stefanek, Aaron Thayer, Leslie Torres, Peter Toth, Dominic Trozzi, Meghan Tubbesing, Richard Wagner, Jacob Wingert and Aaron Wolff.

Everyday Math

The Parma City School District currently uses the Everyday Mathematics curriculum in grades Kindergarten through 4th grade. The program offers numerous exposures to topics over an extended time period to ensure solid comprehension of mathematical concepts. Children become flexible thinkers because they are often encouraged to solve problems in multiple ways. One example of how Everyday Mathematics develops flexible thinking is by incorporating many different kinds of routines into lessons. Routines are familiar, predictable activities that provide on-going practice in a skill or content area.

Children use name collection boxes to develop the idea that there are many equivalent names for one number. The idea is to fill the box with different names for the number on the label. Numbers can be named using one or more operations, words in any language, tally marks, arrays, Roman numerals, etc.

In addition to the games and short exercises children experience in class, they also use Fact Triangles to practice and master basic number facts. Fact Triangles are the Everyday Mathematics version of flash cards. Children memorize facts more quickly because the cards are based on fact families. The fact families are sets of related facts that link either addition and subtraction or multiplication and division.

Thank you

We would like to thank our students and staff for their patience with the variety of weather and maintenance related issues which have occurred over the past few months.  Your patience and cooperation is vital to helping us complete the task of preparing the buildings and grounds for our 21 schools, 13,000 students and 1700 staff members.

Best wishes for a beautiful spring! 

Congratulations

At the April 7 Board of Education meeting, Automotive Service Technology students Alexksandr Taranovich and John C. Kashien, accompanied by their instructor Gary Mitchhart, were recognized for their second place finish at the Greater Cleveland Automotive Technology Competiton.  The competition involved the students’ technical, mechanical, electrical and diagnostic abilities working on a 2008 Pontiac G-6.

Best wishes to Alexksandr and John as they plan to continue their education at Tri-C as part of the Auto Mechanics program.

Marzano Night

Below are pictures from a Marzano Night held at Greenbriar Middle School on April 3 for Valley Forge Cluster students. 

Table participants provided great activities to reinforce learning strategies for students. The theme "Wrapping Our Arms Around Learning" was a big hit! Bright colored balloons and decorations to celebrate learning were everywhere. There was a "gift" activity to guide the students to all the tables. Administration from various departments were in attendance as well as community partners. Of course the Greenbriar administration and staff were a wonderful help and support! Community partners were impressed with our district's outreach to families. Thank you to all who attended and participated in providing such wonderful activities and prizes!

Upcoming dates include April 16th at Hillside Middle School for the Normandy Cluster and April 23rd at Shiloh for the Parma Cluster.  The fun starts at 5:00 and continues until 7 p.m. Please make plans to join us!

Community Business Schools Partnership

A reminder that the next C/B/S meeting will be held on Friday, April 18, 2008. Refreshments and networking will begin at 7:30 a.m. and the meeting will be from 8:00-9:00 a.m.

PLEASE NOTE THE LOCATION HAS BEEN CHANGED to the American Legion Post 572 Joseph J. Jacubic, 6483 State Road in Parma.  If you have not already done so, please RSVP to Linda at 440-885-8306 or via e-mail at petittol@parmacityschools.org.  We look forward to seeing you.

Miss Parma Pageant

Planning is underway for the 36th annual Junior Miss and Miss Parma pageants. The show will take place on Saturday, June 28 at 1PM at the Parma Senior Center. For more information, please call 885-8143.  Please show your support for the lovely young ladies of Parma! 

Safety Fair

Please make plans to bring your children and grandchildren to the City of Parma's Seventh Annual Safety Fair on Saturday, April 19, 2008 from 11 am until 2 pm.

Held at the Parma Justice Center located at 5555 Regency Drive, the fair will feature the Parma Police and Fire Department's Bomb Unit, the SWAT van, Motorcycle Patrols, Fingerprinting and ID Kits, a tour of the Police building, the Metro LifeFlight Helicopter, stickers for children, novelty items, games,snacks, beverages, informational flyers and more. 

For more information, please contact Parma Ward One Councilwoman Mary Galinas at 885-8091.

SAT Prep Class

Date: Saturday, April 19th from 9:00 AM to 12 noon

Location: Normandy, Parma Senior High and Valley Forge High Schools

Fee: $50.00, which includes take-home materials

To Register: Call the College Review at 216-831-2557

Thank you for Wearing Red!

February 1, 2008 marked the fifth annual National Wear Red Day. This is the day to put on red and show your support for increasing the awareness of heart disease among women. Though many other diseases get more publicity, Heart Disease is the number one killer of women. National Wear Red Day reminds us to learn about our risk of developing heart disease and the things we can do and changes we can make to help lower those risks.

Please enjoy the pictures below and more throughout this edition of Images Online.

Earn Wellness Points!

Be sure to check the Wellness Committee website for more details:

http://www.parmacityschools.org/wellness/index.cfm

Here's to YOUR Health from Kristin Cushing, Wellness Facilitator

Board of Education Member Earns Two State Honors

Rosemary Gulick, current vice-president of the Parma Board of Education, will receive two awards at the upcoming Ohio School Board Association Regional Conference in Ravenna on March 19.

Gulick will first be presented with the OSBA Award of Achievement in recognition of her commitment to training and leadership activities as a board member and also to regional and statewide OSBA activities.

For her dedication to improving her boardmanship skills and knowledge, Gulick also earned the prestigious Master Board Member Award.

Before being considered for the honor, Gulick completed numerous professional development workshops, exhibited leadership on her local board of education and was actively involved in several statewide OSBA activities.

The Master Board Member honor is only given once to an individual and is recognized for life.

Best of the Best

The Parma City School District and PACT Producer Dan Rajkovich will be receiving a "Best of the Best" award from the Ohio chapter of the National School Public Relations Association.  PACT Episode 39: "Red, White, Blue and Green" was a winner in this year's Electronic Media Contest. To receive this award, a panel of judges gave the episode a perfect score of 100. The complete episode will be shown at this year's Ohio School Boards Association Conference in Columbus.

The PACT is on the Web!

You can now find the PACT Network on the internet!  Please go to: http://parmacityschools.org/pact/index.cfm to find complete information about the PACT including current and archived issues of “This Week on the PACT.”

The PACT Network: Bringing your community closer to you!

Salloum Honored by City of Parma

On Monday, April 7, 2008 Dan Salloum, Foreman of the Production Printing Program, was honored at the City of Parma Council Meeting.  Dan received three separate awards. One of the awards was from the Parma Police Department for assisting them in setting up their identification badge equipment, and training their personnel on how the equipment operates.  The Council and Mayor honored Dan for his assistance to the Police Department, and for providing the city with emergency printing items.  This occurred even though the City of Parma is aware that the Production Printing Program is no longer able to provide them with printing due to the volume of materials requested by the district, they still felt it important to honor Danny’s past help.  Please congratulate him when you see him.

PCPTA holds 56th annual "Geraniums for Scholarships" Sale!

Order and payment deadline: Friday, April 25th.

If you are calling your order in to the Geranium Hotline at 440-829-5221, please indicate your building of choice for pick-up.

Order forms and envelopes are available at all 21 schools.

Delivery will occur during the second week of May.

All profits go to scholarship funds and donations are welcome.

Hanging Baskets: $16.00

Geraniums (8 plants, choice of one color: red, white, salmon, bright pink, baby pink)

Begonias: $11.00 (flat of 36 plants, choice of one color: red, white, pink)

Impatiens: $ 11.00 (flat of 36 plants, choice of one color: red, white, salmon, violet, assorted)

Marigolds: $11.00 (flat of 36 plants, choice of one color: yellow, orange, flame (red & yellow mix)

Petunias: $11.00 (flat of 36 plants assorted)

Coleus: $11.00 (flat of 36 plants, mixed)

Assorted Flowering & New Guinea Patio Pots: 12" for $20.00 or 14" for $25.00.

COMING UP:

April 18-20th Ohio PTA Convention at Sawmill Creek in Huron, Ohio

Wednesday, April 23rd Scholarship recipients announced

Wednesday, May 7th 9:30 a.m. Council Regular Meeting at the Health Education Center

Tuesday, May 27th Scholarship Dinner, Strongsville Holiday Inn

Wednesday, June 4th 9:30 a.m. Council Regular Meeting

Purchase Orders

The last day to enter Purchase Orders this school year will be Friday, June13, 2008 WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

All PO's for grants must be input by April 30th, 2008 WITHOUT EXCEPTION.

Appropriation and budget modifications

The last Board of Education meeting in May 2008 is Monday, May 19th, 2008. Therefore, any and all appropriation/budget modifications need to be in the treasurer's office by Tuesday, May 13th, 2008 WITHOUT EXCEPTION so they can be added to the Board of Education agenda before the Board of Education packets are mailed.

First Step Preschool serves children 3-5 years old with delays in the areas of Communication, Motor, Cognitive, Social and Emotional and Adaptive behaviors. We have 10 preschool classrooms (am/pm session) and each class can serve up to eight preschoolers with a Disability and four Peer Models. We currently have two Itinerant teachers who serve children in typical preschool classrooms and/or their home with the option to have them come to First Step for their therapies.

We work with outside agencies such as Help Me Grow, Options for Family and Youth, and United Cerebral Palsy so that children can be identified and services are provided by their 3rd birthday.

Please contact 440-885-8665 for more information

On February 29, Dag Hammarskjold culminated its Math Week with a "Leap Into Math" day. The entire afternoon was spent in hands-on math activities taught by all classroom teachers. Students in grades K-6 were paired with students from different grades and worked together for the afternoon in exciting math lessons. This math focus is a current goal of our school's continuous improvement.

On March 20, Dag Hammarskjold held its annual Fine Arts' Day for all students in grades K-6. Artists in the areas of visual art, dance, and music educated and entertained our students throughout the day. Mr. Jim Gill presented a workshop on "Imaginative Illustrations," Ms. Shenee King presented the "Roots of African Dance," and Mr. Gary Adams conducted a program on "Stretching a Tuba." All artists were representatives of the Young Audiences of Northeast Ohio, and this event was sponsored by the Dag Hammarskjold PTA. This activity is an ongoing goal relative to our school's continuous improvement plan.

International Fair – Dentzler School’s English Language Learners and Title I Programs held an International Fair on February 12^th.  Dentzler students’ cultural diversity was celebrated at this annual event.  Dentzler families and staff members shared delicious ethnic dishes of food.  Ethnic fashions were displayed and worn by some of our Dentzler students.  The children who attended the fair especially enjoyed doing an art activity with Wen Wen Lei, an exchange teacher from China, who is currently with our school district made possible by a district grant.  All of the students who attended this event received books to further encourage reading at home.

Mock City Council Meeting – To promote civic involvement Parma City Treasurer Anthony Zielinski, Parma Council Clerk Tom Mastroianni and State Representative Tim DeGeeter in conjunction with the Parma City School District developed the program “Leadership for Tomorrow.”  After much preparation for this event, Dentzler’s fifth grade class went to Parma City Hall to participate in their own mock city council debate as they role played members of council, the mayor and elected officials.  Following the debate the students had a guided tour of city hall and enjoyed a pizza lunch in the council chambers.  The students had a great time!

Science Fair – The fourth, fifth and sixth graders created outstanding science projects for Dentzler’s annual Science Fair which was held on March 18^th.  Normandy’s advanced science students judged these projects which were displayed at the fair. 

Congratulations to all of the Dentzler students who participated in the 2008 Science Fair and to the following students who received awards:

Best of Show: Angelo Somma and Vladan Zecevic - “A Sweet Solution”

Sixth Grade: First Place: Marta Kalinowski and Karli Reed - “Battery Basics”

                 Second Place: Tanner Lansky and Kevin Tekancic - “To Freeze or Not to Freeze”

                 Third Place: Irene Penkalsky and Elyse Petek - “The Magical Liquid”

Fifth Grade:  First Place: Kimberly Lessick and Carolyn Oriti - “Soda Statistics”

                  Second Place: Samantha Haymans - “Bones and Minerals”

                  Third Place: Jacob Cramer and Christopher Lugli-Sydlo - “Plant Growth”

Fourth Grade: First Place: Devin Cohara-Looby and Eric Piechowski - “The Glowing Light Bulb”

                   Second Place: Zachary Dotson and Andrew Spagnola - Air Battery”

                   Third Place: Jordan Kowalski - “How Does Density Affect the Buoyancy of Objects”

Honorable Mention:

Jaret Colovas and Zachary Tancak - “Jiminy Cricket!  How Hot Is It?”

Garey Fesz and Joey Kukral - “Does Homemade Ink Work as Well as Store Bought Ink?”

Gregory Lamb and Sean Mayer - “Gas Racers”

Alex Lozitsky and Brett Shamblin - “Rust Busters”

Kaitlin Salloum and Madison Weber - “Foamy”

Talent Abounds at Green Valley

What amazing talent can be found among the students at Green Valley. Forty-four acts filled the annual PTA Talent Show extravaganza with a variety of instrumentalists, vocalists, dancers, magician, and comedians to name a few! Not only did the students perform, but nineteen staff members performed an original interpretation of Bill Martin's book, Chicka, Chicka, Boom, Boom.

Mrs. Mussig, parent and talent show organizer and announcer, did an outstanding job preparing and facilitating the event. Many parents and teachers worked together to present this magnificent evening.

Awards Received Before the Talent Show

Several students and adults were honored by the Green Valley PTA, Mrs. Marie Laheta, President, prior to the talent show.

Congratulations to:

Student, Daniel Rush whose artwork is on display in the PTA Council Calendar.

Student, Lauren Mussig whose Cultural Arts Reflection project was sent on to the district.

Mr. Kevin Kelley and Mrs. Wendy Brooks-Mosko who each received the Life Achievement Award from Green Valley PTA.

Mrs. Annete Sever as Green Valley PTA's "Helping Hand" recipient

Mrs. Jan Olsen as Green Valley's Special Educator of the Year.

Mr. Alan Schliecker as Green Valley's Teacher of the Year. An added surprise was when PTA Council, President, Mrs. Cheryl Kienast, announced that Mr. Schliecker was the District Educator of the Year!

The Green Valley family had a wonderful evening celebrating successes and enjoying the talents of the community!

Faces of Freedom Project

In September 2007, the Brookpark-Berea Veterans of Foreign Wars donated $500 to the Faces of Freedom Project that Ms. Rossman and Ms. Kostal put together honoring the veterans on The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington D.C. The students from House Z attending the Washington D.C. trip this year on March 12, 13, and 14 placed a card with their veteran's picture on it at the base of the wall along with a short letter thanking that veteran for fighting to protect their freedom.

We have invited on Friday, April 11, 2008, from 1:00-2:00 P.M., a number of area V.F.W.'s to view our Faces of Freedom wall which is located in Greenbriar's lobby. The money donated by the Brookpark-Berea V.F.W. was used to improve our Faces of Freedom wall and it is quite impressive.

Thank you to everyone who helped with this project and congratulations to the students here at Greenbriar for getting involved.

Talent Show

The students of Hanna Elementary had an opportunity to show off their talent at our annual Talent Show held on February 21st. Special thanks to Mrs. Moore, Mrs. Jarochovic, Mrs. Suesse, Mrs. Villanueva & Ms. Danelishen for their help in organizing this fun-filled event!

100th Day of School!

First grade students celebrated the 100th day of school on Friday, Feb. 15th! They brought in collections of 100 items which were put on display in the primary hallway. The students took "The 100 Second Challenge", sung a 100th Day song, ate a 100th Day snack, worked on a 100 grid, took 100 steps, read 100th Day books, and posed for a photograph with their teachers who wore "My Students Are 100 Days Smarter" t-shirts. . . WOW!

The Kindergartners also celebrated the 100th day of school on Tuesday, February 19th. They strung 100 Froot Loops to make necklaces and shared their 100th day collections with their classmates.

Wearing Red to Raise Awareness

Pictured below are several of our staff members wearing red on February 1 to raise awareness of heart disease among women.  Thank you to everyone who participated.

BUILDER'S CLUB

Hillside's Builder's Club is participating in the "Keep America Warm" project by working with a local volunteer from Pat Catan's to put quilts together for the homeless and less privileged children in our area. The goal is to stitch together 49 squares to complete one quilt. Builder's Club also held a mini workshop "Funds for Your Future" for Hillside students on ways middle school students can actually create funds for their own futures. Bob Gillingham, a local community member, led the workshop.

DOPE IS FOR DOPES

On February 7, 2008, SADD once again sponsored the program from the Grafton Correctional Facility entitled "Dope is for Dopes". "Dope is for Dopes" was presented to all Hillside eighth graders and it was a presentation by two inmates relating to our students their personal experiences that led to their poor life choices and incarceration. The objectives of this program include bolstering positive decision making by teens after listening to adults whose lives have been damaged by poor decisions and drug related offenses. SADD was proud to sponsor this program and students as well as adult feedback was extremely favorable.

MUSIC NEWS

The Hillside Jazz band performed at the Southwest Cleveland Middle School Jazz Festival on Monday, Feb. 25. The students gave a wonderful performance. 8th graders Cole Kaiser, Rudy Kuntz, and Sara Schaffer and 7th grader Regina Montonaro represented Hillside in the Select Honor Band made up of the best students from all the participating middle schools. That group performed with guest artist Tom Fries on drum set and put on a great show! Congratulations Tiger Jazz Band!

On Saturday, February 23, many of Hillside's talented band and orchestra students participated in the Greater Cleveland Solo & Ensemble contest at Lakewood Garfield Middle School. Students bringing home ratings of I (Superior), the highest possible rating, included Tessa Louche, Gabrielle Shipta, Madeline Leon, Sara Schaffer, Tori Meriwether, Laura Mellott, Christina Latsko, Olivia Clark, Regina Montonaro, Inna Vovk, Allison Thomas, Carly Hubler, Vungelia Glyptis, and Chelsea Deja. Great job, everyone!!

PTA

Hillside PTA total surprised Doris Maphis with a State Life Award. Everyone at Hillside can't help but note her kindness and caring ways with students. No matter how she may be feeling, she remains positive, smiling and patient with our students. No one takes better care of them than Doris. Doris received her PTA State Life Award at the PTA meeting held on March 18 in Hillside's Media Center.

SPRING PRESCHOOL COMMUNITY SERVICE PROJECT

Hillside's Life Skills students once again conducted their annual Spring Community Service Preschool Project. On March 14, 2008, approximately 40 preschoolers (ages 2 to 4) visited the Home of the Tigers and participated in free-play, crafts, parachute fun, lunch and an egg-hunt around our building led by none other than the Easter Bunny! Life Skills students plan, set-up, conduct activities and prepare snacks and treats for the preschoolers as well as the parents. Great fun was had by all and what a learning experience!

VOCATIONAL VISITATIONS

As part of the career exploration unit, Life Skills students had the opportunity to visit the vocational programs that are offered at Valley Forge and Normandy High School. Hillside students visited the Visual Communications, Cooperative Business and Marketing, Auto Service Technology and CISCO programs at Valley Forge High School. At Normandy High School students were served lunch at the Sword & Shield Restaurant, which is run by the Culinary Arts students and afterwards, the students took a tour of the kitchen/restaurant facilities. Also at Normandy, the students visited the Medical Professions program, Dental Assisting, Radio & TV and Cosmetology. Each program had students present information about their programs and many hands-on experiences are provided for our students. This field trip has proven to be very beneficial for the students as well as the vocational programs.

On Thursday, March 13, John Muir hosted its Second Annual Dinner Theater.  Prior to the show, John Muir Student Council helped serve dinner.  After dinner, guests had the great pleasure of seeing many John Muir thespians put on a play entitled Lions, Tigers, and Bears Oh My!   A wonderful time was had by all.

Have you heard the news?  John Muir is going green!  Many staff and student members purchased “Going Green”.  Money earned will go towards the renovation of the John Muir Outdoor Lab.  Thank yo