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LAKEWOOD CITY
SCHOOLS
Keith Ahearn, Principal Harding Middle School March 2011
Harding
Herald
Principal’s Message This month is crucial in our students’ preparations for the upcoming Ohio Achievement Assessment.
March is used to reinforce important topics and to review skills that will allow all students to succeed on the
tests in April. We are very proud of the school’s past success on the Ohio Achievement test and are looking
forward to performing even better on this year’s exam. However, we all know that having a well-rounded edu-
cation includes much more than performing well on high stakes tests. Well-rounded students engage in activi-
ties that develop 21st Century skills in order to create new ideas, they work well on teams, explore topics in-
depth, and apply their knowledge to the world around them. This is why I am so proud of Harding students and
teachers who are constantly engaged in activities that lead to the development of demonstrated leadership skills,
the creation of new information, the appreciation of art and culture, and team building. For example:
Our winter sports teams did extremely well this season, all of our basketball teams played hard in the
Northeastern Ohio Conference League tournament. The Harding 8th grade girl’s team came away with a League
Championship trophy in their tournament at Garfield Middle School.
Ms. Pesta’s classes participated in a Science Fair project where students produced several great presen-
tations and the winners will be entered into the Northeast Ohio Science and Engineering competition at Cleve-
land State University. Don’t forget, that April 7th from 6-8 pm Mrs. Pesta’s students will be hosting the second
annual Science Circus. The will be more details to follow.
On March 4th, Dr. LaOrden’s Spanish classes will be hosting a cultural celebration of singing and danc-
ing to show their parents their appreciation for the culture and art of Spain in addition to their acquisition of an-
other language. On March 10th, the Harding Jazz band will be performing at the Civic auditorium along with the
high school at 7:30pm.
Finally, several talented students will be part of the Harding Middle School Play. An evening perform-
ance will be in the Cafetorium on March 11th at 7pm.
I congratulate all of the parents, students and teachers here at Harding who work hard to create well-
rounded students.
Keith Ahearn, Principal
SCHOOLS VULNERABLE TO BED BUGS AS WELL While news reports have focused on bed bug infestations appearing in people's homes, apartment buildings and
hotels and motels, the reality is that bed bugs can take root in any location that brings lots of people to-
gether. With thousands of children and employees converging on our school buildings each day, the potential
for bringing bed bugs or eggs into the school is a real possibility and as such, the district wants to be sure par-
ents and staff have access to the information that will help educate them about bed bugs and help them be partners in pre-
venting the spread of bed bugs. A good site to visit is the Cuyahoga County Board of Health at www.ccbh.net and click on
Bed Bugs under Hot Zone topics. Also included in this newsletter, is a Cuyahoga County Board of Health publication.
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Harding Herald
MESSAGE FROM THE DISTRICT:
As most of you are aware, the State of Ohio reduced the number of calamity or snow days from five
to three beginning with this school year. The district has already used its three allotted days for this
year. If it is necessary to close the school buildings for any other days, those days will be made up
at the end of the school year in June.
Recently, Gov. Kasich indicated he would like to bring the number of calamity days back to five
and a bill has been introduced in the Ohio Senate to do just that. However, we do not know when or
if that bill is expected to become law.
In the meantime, please be reassured that any decision to close our schools in the future will be
made with our students’ safety in mind and not how many calamity days the district has used. If
during bad weather days school is in session and a parent believes it necessary to keep their child
home, they may do so. The parent would need to notify the child’s school to notify them of this de-
cision and the absence will be excused.
Finally, please continue to keep your sidewalks clear of snow and ice as best you can and pitch in
with neighbors who may not be able to so that our children may walk to school safely.
Dr. P. Joseph Madak
Superintendent
Board of Education
Matthew John Markling, President
John Kamkutis, Vice President
Linda Beebe
Edward Favre
Betsy Shaughnessy
April
2011
1 2
3 4
School
Resumes
5 6 7
Science
Circus
8 9
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Harding Herald
Sixth Grade News
Author Awareness During the first quarter of school, Mrs. Hauer’s
Language Arts class had the opportunity to write to
an author of their choice. Tamara Saad wrote to
Caldecott Medal winning artist and author Brian
Selznick. He responded to her letter by sending
Tamara a hand-written note on his engraved sta-
tionery. Mr. Selznick has also been corresponding
with the class via email. He recently sent them sev-
eral emails explaining his hectic work schedule.
Currently he is finishing his second novel called
Wonderstruck, which is scheduled to be released in
September. He is also working on the movie based
on his first novel, The Invention of Hugo
Cabret, which will star Jude Law under
the direction of Martin Scorsese. It has
been an exciting and enter- t a i n i n g
experience to hear from Mr. Selznick
in Room 104.
Hall Sprinting… It is definitely NOT permitted. Please remind your
middle-schooler to walk politely and quietly
in the hallways. This will help keep Harding
a safe, happy place to be!
It’s Almost Time! Yes, it is nearing test-taking
time again. Teachers and
students have been working hard to prepare for the
OAA tests coming in April. You can help your
son/daughter review by asking what he/she learned
in class that day by asking these questions: What
“I Can” statement was covered? Why was that im-
portant to learn? How can you remember the con-
cept?
Supplies Still Needed It’s that time of year when all pencils, pens, and
paper seem to be lost, borrowed, or just plain gone.
Would you ask your child if they need their sup-
plies replenished to get through the next 4 months?
Thanks for the Fun! We would like to thank our PTSA who sponsored a
drawing to brighten up our President’s Day weekend.
Mr. Budic won a gift card to Longhorn Steak House,
and Mrs. Hauer won a basket of books. There were
many more prizes awarded. Thanks to our wonderful
PTSA!
MARKET DAY
Market Day Pick-up
Tuesday, March 22
4:00 pm
Cafetorium
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Harding Herald
Eighth Grade News
Eighth grade science is working on a
unit about Plate Tectonics which is the move-
ment of Earth's plates and how they form
mountains and volcanoes, cause earth-
quakes, and create new land on the ocean
floor. We are also practicing for the
OAA exams by doing reading selections
during homebase that are science related.
A big event that is coming up is the Sci-
ence Circus which is on April 7th from 6pm-
8pm. The target audience for the cir-
cus is elementary school age chil-
dren. Mrs. Pesta's students will be
running game booths that they will be
designing and building. We will also have
popcorn, cotton candy, beverages and other
treats, a clown, science shows and a portable
planetarium. It should be a lot of fun!
Mr. Cammock's room is on a roll! Stu-
dents have been setup with Edmodo accounts
where they have been collaborating and creat-
ing via the internet
and Web 2.0 tools.
Students are using
glogster to identify a specific topic for the turn
of the 19th century. Mrs. Gerard is also imple-
menting online Edmodo with
her social studies, LAX, and sci-
ence classes. It is an educational social net-
working website for students. On the site, stu-
dents find their assignment for the day. If they
have questions, they can send a text to the
teacher or a classmate.
As part of the e-tech grant stu-
dents are also working with active ex-
pressions, 10 digital cameras, an ac-
tive slate, and 30 netbooks. Included
in the grant, the 8th grade floor has an ipod cart
with 30 ipods. We will be downloading educa-
tional applications on the ipods to use in our
classrooms. We are implementing web 2.0 tools
in our classroom so students will learn 21st cen-
tury technology skills that are imperative to their
learning. Be sure to ask your child about these
exciting new opportunities!
It is an exciting time in eighth grade
math! We are beginning our adventure into
slope, graphing and all things lin-
ear. The students will be conducting
experiments and investigating how
slope is related to a table, graph and
equation. In addition, the math classes will be
celebrating pi day, 3/14. We plan to use our un-
derstanding of math concepts to learn about
pi. We also just returned from the Lake Erie
Monsters education day field trip where we
learned about the math and science behind hockey
as well as some of the history of the game.
On Tuesday, March 8 students in
Madame Grinnell’s French classes are
celebrating Mardi Gras, New Orleans-
style! They will be learning about Mardi
Gras and its impact on the economy in New Or-
leans, but they will have plenty of fun, too—
watching Mardi Gras parades, dancing to some
New Orleans jazz, wearing masks and beads, eat-
ing traditional King Cake and crowning our own
Mardi Gras King or Queen. Happy Mardi Gras,
everyone!
In Spanish, students are recycling verbs
and vocabulary, creating new conversa-
tions. There are many projects on the horizon.
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Harding Herald
8th grade Social Studies -Pangrace
The 8th grade is gearing up for a wonderful
field trip to the House of Blues on March 23rd.
The program attendees will learn about Ameri-
can culture and history through an exploration
of blues music, blues-inspired music and re-
lated folk art.
Mrs. Pangrace's classes are immersed in a joint
social studies-language arts research project
that explores the theme "Triumph and Trag-
edy" during the 19th century. In addition to a
major research paper, the students have the op-
tion of creating an exhibit, documentary, web
page, or live performance that will share the
findings of their research. Special thanks to the
language arts teachers and Mr. Costello for im-
plementing and supporting the students' work.
POWER OF THE PEN
The 7th grade creative writing teams
competed in the Power of the Pen regional
competition in February. 25 schools partici-
pated. Harding's 7th grade won 2nd place, and
Harding's 8th grade won 3rd place.
Each team wrote three short stories
during three 45 minute rounds. Renee Klann
won a Director's Choice Best of Round, and
Jimmy Toner also won a Best of Round. Sarah
Smith, Kathryn Urban and Erin Turner also
won individual medals for all around perform-
ance.
All of the students will move on the
regional competition in April.
Has the weather of this winter been getting you down, with ice, snow, rain, then
more ice, followed by a foot of snow, and then some brief, but still annoying flooding?
Well, Harding Middle School Drama Club has just the relief Lakewood dwellers need. This
relief is a brief and economically pleasing vacation to the sunny and warm Mediterranean
waters of Ancient Greece.
On March 10th at 3pm and again on March 11th at 7pm the members of Harding Mid-
dle School Drama Club will take their audience members on an odyssey they will never
forget. The audience members will experience the incredible journey of the classic hero
Odysseus while watching the play The Idi-Odyssey by Burt Bumgarner. Tickets will be
sold the day of the show at the door. Student tickets are $1 and adult tickets are $3.
Don’t miss out on this great show full of beautiful goddesses, glorious heroes, tricky suit-
ors, mysterious monsters, and a collection of other humorous characters. Hope we see
you there!
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Lakewood City Schools
1470 Warren Road
Lakewood, OH 44107
NONPROFIT
US POSTAGE
PAID
CLEVELAND, OH
PERMIT NO. 2512
March
2011
1
2
3
4
Spanish Gala
@ 6:15 pm in Café
5
6
7
8
2:45 pm H2O
@ Gym
9 10
Idi-Odyssey
Play Performance @ Café 7:00 pm
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Idi-Odyssey
Play Performance @ Café 7:00 pm
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7:00 pm PTSA
@ LRC
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17 18
7:00-9:00 pm
PTSA Dance @ Gym
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22
2:45 pm H2O
@ Gym
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8th Gr. Field Trip
House of Blues
24 25 Quarter 3 Ends
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27 28 29 30 31 April 1 2
SPRING BREAK