AHS students preparing
for the next school year
Students at Aurora High School, except for seniors, are involved in the course selection/scheduling process for 2013-14 during February.
Guidance counselors have met with students, who can check out the AHS program of studies on the school web page at www.aurora-schools.org.
Students first participated in a group orientation session run by the guidance counselors, and will then meet with teachers. Individual conferences with students then will take placer to confirm the schedule.
Parent-teacher conferences are coming up Feb. 28 and March 5 from 7:30 to 8:30 p.m. Conferences can be scheduled through the AHS web page.
Many juniors traveled to New York City on Feb. 16-19. The first PTO fish fry will be Feb. 22 at the high school. Winter athletic events are winding down, and spring sports practices will begin soon.
WRA's Pollock is honored
for his art in competition
Mitch Pollock of Aurora, a Western Reserve Academy junior, is the recipient of several awards in the 90th annual Scholastic Art and Writing Competition.
He earned a regional Gold Key for his artwork "The Navigator," regional Silver Keys for "On Top of the Tooth," "What? I Have to Go Back," "Train" and "All In," and an honorable mention for "Lovers in a Hospital."
"The Navigator" will be judged at the national level, with national medalists being announced on March 15. Students who earn a national medal receive a certificate and medal, and their work is considered for national exhibition and publication through the Alliance for Young Artists & Writers.
In addition, the work will be included in the alliance's online gallery at www.artandwriting.org.
According to the organization's website, students' submissions are judged by lumninaries in the visual and literary arts who look for work that reflects the organization's core values of originality, technical skill and the emergence of the student's voice or vision.
The competition is open to students in grades 7 to 12 and offers 28 categories in writing and the arts.
Pigza claims top honors
Aurora High School student Robert Pigza recently won first place for his colored pencil drawing titled "Stress" at the 18th Juried High School Student Show.
Twenty-two area high schools participated in the show, each having four pieces of art in the exhibit. There were three winning entries and five honorable mentions selected by a panel of judges.
The Beachwood Arts Council's exhibit can be seen at the Beachwood Community Center through Feb. 24.
5 excel in Power of Pen
Harmon School's Power of the Pen team recently competed in another tournament, with the eighth-graders taking first and the seventh-graders claiming third places.
Quinlan Custodio and Kathryn Slates each won best of round. For the eighth-graders, Sarah Zhang took second, Lydia Holman fifth and Hannah Wilk 10th. For the seventh-graders, Custodio took sixth place.
These team members will compete at the regional competition Feb. 23 at Kent State University.
Seton seeking students
Seton Catholic School in Hudson is accepting admission applications and registration for kindergarten for 2013-14. Families interested in enrollment for grades kindergarten to eight can schedule a personal tour and contact Patricia Fritz at 330-342-4200 ext. 226 or fritzp@setoncatholicschoo.org.
Robotics team takes first
Harmon School robotics team TBD participated in a qualifying tournament recently in Pittsburgh and took first place. It now will go on to the state competition in March. Members are eighth-graders Ian Doemling, Jaret Skonieczny, Tyler Thieding and Jarred Ruehr and sixth-graders Ben Ruiz and Etienne Waroquet.
Three receive art awards
Aurora High School art students Erin Oulton, Kristen Hirter and Cydney Parr were gold portfolio winners in the recent Ohio Scholastic Art Competition. Oulton earned overall best of show.
Writing help is available
The Aurora Writing Center is now open at Aurora High School. Students can get help from Kent State University students on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays during fourth to sixth periods. Students should gets passes from their English teachers.
Preschool will be added
at Hattie Larlham facility
Hattie Larlham will open Hattie's Preschool, a public preschool that expands Hattie Larlham's child care services to include children without developmental disabilities.
The preschool serves children ages 3 to 5 and opens in April, but enrollment is taking place now. Located in Mantua, the preschool is close to Streetsboro, Aurora and Ravenna, with full- and part-time enrollment options available.
Preschoolers will have their own classrooms and access to technology such as iPads. They will have supervised access to other Hattie Larlham amenities, including an outdoor playground, indoor swimming pool and 7,000-square-foot play area.
The preschool will follow the HighScope preschool curriculum. To enroll, call Julie Lowe, program director of early intervention and recreation, at 330-274-2272 ext. 3112.
DI tourney is coming up
Several Destination ImagiNation teams from Aurora schools will compete in the Region 15 tournament March 9 at Aurora High School. Teams that qualify from the various religions will move on to the state tournament April 20 at Mount Vernon Nazarene University.
Hiram's enrollment drops 5 percent, statistics show
Enrollment at Hiram College dropped about 5 percent from fall 2011 to fall 2012. There are 1,293 students enrolled, according to fall 2012 figures, compared with 1,359 a year previously.
Thomas Ford, director of college relations at Hiram College, said the trend toward dropping enrollment is caused by many things. "More and more students are finding that they can't afford college at this point," he said.
Ford also attributed the decrease to the declining number of 18-year-olds nationwide. In 2010, 15- to 19-year-olds made up 7.1 percent of the population, while the percentage of children ages 10 to 14 was 6.7 percent.
Ford said Hiram College is attempting several ideas to recruit new students and is also implementing strategies to better serve the current students, including adding more online classes in fall 2013.
-- Rachel Hagenbaugh,
Record-Courier
After-prom money eyed
The Aurora High School after-prom committee is looking for donations for its 2013 event May 18. For details, visit the school district's website at www.aurora-schools.org and look under Aurora High School.
VCA fundraisers planned
The 11th annual Valley Christian Academy bowl-a-thon is March 2 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Roseland Lanes in Oakwood Village. Signups are due by today (Feb. 20). As of Feb. 14, 114 students had signed up to participate.
The school's biggest fundraiser of the year -- the Big Night Out silent auction -- will take place April 27. This year's theme is "Parisian Cafe." A Malley's Chocolates sale is planned in the spring.
Mid-term of the third grading period is Feb. 22. There will be no school March 15 because of the ACSI speech meet.
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