Show Your Bulldog Pride!



Whether it’s the Blood Battle, The Food Drive or grinding them into the turf on the field, put this in your window and get pumped...
Whether it’s the Blood Battle, The Food Drive or grinding them into the turf on the field, put this in your window and get pumped...
This Top 4 Finalist for the state of Ohio talks about her journey
By Lisa Reicosky,Veteran art teacher Kathy Pugh will be honored on Oct. 5 at the Northeast Region’s Fall Confer ence and 70th Anniversary cele bration. Pugh just started her 25th year of teaching and has served students at the STEAMM Academy at Hartford for 10 years.
Pugh earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts in Studio Art from Kent State University. After graduating, she worked at GMAC for 5 years and was also a fashion designer/ seamstress for 15. She earned her grades 1-8 teaching certification from Walsh University when she was 35 years old. She earned a master’s from Marygrove Uni versity, followed by a K-12 Visual
Art Certification from Akron University, and is a Master Teacher in Ohio. She is also a High Performing teacher in Ohio and has a middle school Career Tech Certification.
We asked Kathy some ques tions about her career and this honor:
Q: What was your reaction when you found out you were named a top 4 final ist for Ohio Teacher of the Year? I was literally shocked. When I first heard I was nom inated by email, I thought it was some kind of scam and
July, along with his ELA teacher, Dr. Lisa Hart, and his mom, Jennifer Ketchum.
an 8th grader, Alex and many of our 7th and
Bulldog News
Full House @ Schreiber 3 State of the Schools Presentation 3 Teachers Get Mic’d Up!
What is a Qualified Mental Health Specialist
Pre-Engineering Student Designs Prosthetic Leg Cover
Meet Taylor Bryan CCSD Rookie Of The Year
Full STEAMM Ahead at Open House 8 Lady Pups Are Champs!
Young Pups Take Field at Benson 10 Timken High School Alumni Assoc. Announces Distinguished Alumni 11 Family Fun Day Returns
Welcome Back To School!
McKinley Composer Wins Competition
School Beat
Only at the Shaw
McKinley Performing Arts Awarded Ohio Arts Council Grant
Teachers at Bulldog Virtual Academy Add Fun to Curriculum
Lisa
Principal’s Kindness Crew Off To a Good Start at AIM Academy 18 Local Universities and College Court ECHS@Lehman Students 19
Accommodating Students With Sensory Input Needs at Cedar 19 Performance Groups Ready to Roll at Arts Academy@Summit 20 Early College Middle School@Lehman 20 Clarendon’s Top Dogs Know How To Bark!
Random Acts of Kindness At Fairmount Learning Center 21 Working Together With Community Partners At Patrick 22 Morning Matters @ Gibbs 23 McGregor Kicks Off With Fantastic Start 24
It’s a Great Time to be a Bulldog@Harter 24 Committed to Safety and Smiles @Belle Stone 25
Here’s the Scoop On Worley 25 What’s New In Adult Education 26
“A” Club@Youtz
Partnerships Make Youtz Open House a Huge Success!
free of charge
of Communications and Media Relations
City Schools, 305 McKinley Ave. NW, Canton, Ohio 44702
and comments can be emailed to Reicosky_l@ccsdistrict.org.
by Bruce Leone, Ink Inc.
Law prohibits this paper from carrying ads containing offers of insurance policies, credit cards, and travel promotions. The Canton City Schools Board of Education reserves the right to re ject any press release or advertisement based on content.
The Canton City School District is an equal opportunity employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, religion, disability, or age with respect to employment or educational programs and opportunities for students.
Early Learning Center @ Schreiber has a creative approach for preparing students for elementary school and beyond
By Linnea Olbon, Director of Early EducationWhat a great start to the 2022-23 school year in preschool!
We started the year with all our classes full, which means that more children are building a strong foun dation in social, pre-academic, and general life skills. By giving a child a high quality preschool education, this will set them up for greater suc cess in every area of life. Research shows that children who graduate from preschool have improved ac ademic readiness, lower incarcera tion rates, and higher earnings.
We have 17 classrooms within a safe, caring and loving environment that houses over 275 preschool age children. For the first four weeks of school, our focus has been estab lishing routines and procedures, while teaching, modeling, and reteaching student expectations in every setting. This is done through our Positive Behavior Interventions and Supports (PBIS) framework.
In every setting (classroom, re stroom, cafeteria, etc.), expecta tions are taught so that students, who most likely have never been in a school setting before, can learn the expectations that will set them up for a successful school year. And guess what? They are demonstrat ing these expectations each and every day. We are so incredibly proud of them!
Part of the PBIS framework is acknowledging students for demonstrating the expecta tions. When a child is seen practicing these behaviors, they are rewarded with pom poms. The reward is individual, but the pom poms go into a classroom jar, and once the jar is filled, students vote on a classroom reward (pizza/pop corn/popsicle party, pajama day, hat day, bring a stuffed animal to school day, etc.).
Once that class room jar is full, we will dump it into the larger container in the school hallway, and once that is filled, we do a school wide reward!
When children feel good about their behavior, they are more likely to demon strate that be havior on a con sistent basis. We think these faces say it all!
New classroom amplification systems set to improve student performance district wide
Elementary classroom teachers in the Canton City School District re turned to their classrooms this year to find a new teaching tool in their classrooms. Lightspeed Amplifica tion systems were purchased for all core PK-6 classrooms. Each unit came equipped with a teacher microphone and amplification unit. PK-2 teachers also received an additional student microphone.
The benefits of classroom amplifi cation are many. Background noise and poor acoustics can often lead to students not hearing valuable in structions or directions. Classroom amplification provides all students, regardless of seat location, the ability to hear the teacher clearly.
Being able to hear the teacher clear ly has been shown to improve test performance for both students with some form of hearing loss, as well as students without any form of hearing loss. In addition, today’s classroom amplification systems deliver the teacher’s voice from multiple direc
tions increasing attentiveness and clar ity while also reducing vocal fatigue in teaching staff.
There is also the added benefit of the student microphone. The student mi crophone provides young students the opportunity to gain confidence and discover their own voices.
A message sponsored by Child and Adolescent Services
By Dan Mucci, Marketing CoordinatorDo you know what a Qualified Mental Health Specialist (QMHS) is and how that differs from a case manager or therapist?
Most people have some knowl edge regarding case management but are not as familiar with the term Qualified Mental Health Spe cialist. By definition, a case manag er helps their patients understand their options concerning the spe cific situation they are dealing with at the time.
A QMHS is a relatively newer term in the field of mental health.
Child and Adolescent Behavioral Health’s QMHS’s have at least 3 years of experience or a bachelor’s degree, and training in mental health competencies required by the state and C&A. QMHS work with our clients to:
• Resolve conflicts with others
• Manage emotions including anger, minor social or perfor mance anxiety, disappointment, frustration, occasional sadness
• Coping with change, uncertain ty, death, or loss
• Positive parenting strategies and support
• Linkage to mental health servic es and other indicated medical/ support services
• Linkage to natural and commu nity supports
• Reinforcement and rehearsal of skills taught in therapy
It is important to note, that a client seeing a QMHS does not have to be seeing a therapist. However, in some cases, a QMHS will work with a therapist and help the client to reinforce skills and strat egies learned in therapy sessions.
When the presentation of symptoms warrants a clini cal (medical) diagnosis and is leading to impairment of daily functioning, a ther apist is warranted. Some indicators may be:
• Significant anxiety
• Depression
• Trauma
• Suicidal ideation, selfharm behaviors, or harming others
• Substance abuse
QMHS are community-based services and will meet the needs of the client where they are. This means meeting the client in a school setting, in a park, at a restaurant, the library, or at the client’s home. QMHS providers are working with clients on tools and strategies to cope with their specific needs. An example of skills a QMHS may work on with a client include:
• If a child is struggling on the playground with a fellow stu dent who is bullying the child by taking the basketball from them, the QMHS will go to recess with the child and help them practice social skills, conflict res olution, and friendship skills and when and how to appropriately ask for help.
For more information on C&A’s Qualified Mental Health Specialist services, please call 330.433.6075.
This student’s interest in biomedical engineering solves a real-world problem close to home Reprinted courtesy of The Canton Repository. By Kelli Weir
The pre-engineering instructors at McKinley High School receive all sorts of requests for help.
The theater department needed a hand designing steps and a fold ing, movable stage for its produc tion. Guidance counselors wanted honors diploma posters printed on the large format plotter in the engi neering department.
Engineering teacher Chad Weav er lists each task on a classroom whiteboard until he can find a student with the time and skills to complete it.
This year’s list included an unusual ly titled project: “Tim’s leg.”
Tim is Tim Fischer, a student suc cess coach at McKinley. His leg is the prosthesis he’s been using for more than two decades after bat tling bone cancer as a teenager.
Fischer, a McKinley graduate who is in his first year working at McKinley, was walking by the career-technical classrooms in January when he saw the pre-engineering students were learning how to design and print 3D projects.
He asked Weaver whether a stu dent could help solve a problem with his prosthetic leg: He was tired of having his pant leg flap in the wind, making it obvious that he was wearing a prosthetic.
Fischer said no affordable over-thecounter solutions are available.
“Every time you do something like this, it’s custom,” he said. “Every leg is different. It’s not like you can go to Prosthetics ‘R’ Us.”
Weaver asked then-junior Kelsie Cunningham whether she could tackle the project.
“Her 3D modeling skills are very good and she really thinks through
the process. Also, I trust her to finish it,” Weaver said. “I knew that it would get com pleted and I wouldn’t have to sit there and hold her hand through the project to where I’m doing the work. I want her to learn about it.”
Searching for ‘cool prosthetic leg cover’
Cunningham imme diately said yes. She already was interested in biomedical engi neering. She also was looking for a project to help fulfill her obliga tions so she could start on her Gold Award for Girls Scouts.
Cunningham started the project in April, first by researching to see what types of sim ilar products already were out there.
She needed some thing that would wrap around the prosthetic leg, which measured only 1.5 inch es in diameter at the calf region, to make it appear as thick as the other leg. But the wrap-around couldn’t compromise the integrity of the prosthesis, which costs thousands of dollars.
Not knowing exactly what to call it, Cunningham searched “Cool pros thetic leg cover.””
She found a range of devices from those with Velcro fasteners to molded plastic.
Using the school’s 3D modeling software, Cunningham began to design a type of cuff with a hinge.
Her first try turned out to be more pretty than functional. Another ver sion was too tall and unnecessarily covered the top portion of the prosthetic that already measured the same circumference as Fis cher’s other leg.
Each prototype took seven hours to print on McKinley’s 3D printer. Each quality 3D print took 20 hours to complete.
After five iterations, Cunningham came up with the final design: A roughly 5.5-inch tall circular cuff with a hinge and holes dotting the sides.
She presented Fischer with a black version and a red version – McKin ley’s school colors – during the last week of school.
“I love it. It functions just the way it’s supposed to,” Fischer said. Cunningham said the project has strengthened her interest in be coming a biomedical engineer. She’s considering exploring a career where she could design prosthetics.
“One of my biggest things is that I like helping people and I think that it would make a lot of people hap py and it would help them a lot,” she said.
8th-grade students participated in a nationwide essay contest. Do the Write Thing is a unique na tional program designed to give middle-school students an outlet to communicate in classroom dis cussions, and then in writing, about how violence impacts their daily lives. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost sponsored Ohio’s contest. In addition to exposing the causes and effects of violence, students are asked to share their ideas on how to reduce violence in their community. The program asks stu dents to express in stories, poems, and songs, or any other written forms the violence they’ve faced, with an emphasis on exploring key questions:
How does violence affect your daily life?
What are some of the causes of youth violence in your community?
What can you as an individual do to reduce youth violence in your community?
The district had 18 finalists and Alex, along with Da’Mariyah Skill ern of Crenshaw (who did not at tend) were chosen as ambassadors.
Alex was in the capitol with 26 stu dents from across the country.
Alex said that the highlights of the visit were exploring a new city, meeting new people, and learning about how other writers, and people in general, see the world in a com pletely different way than he does.
He said he hopes middle schoolers will take on the challenge and com pete in the contest this year.
“Just try to be open about everything and let your creativity flow. Just make sure that you stay on the topic,” he advises. “Even if you don’t win your competition, just know that the important thing is that you know about youth vi olence. Also, if you do end up winning it is a great experience be cause of the time that you are given to explore at your own free will.”
His teacher, Lisa Hart, said it was an incredible experience to be treated to this trip.
“The organization paid to fly us from Ak ron-Canton Air port to Reagan International Airport and for four nights at the Yours Truly hotel near Du Pont Circle,” she said. “I am a fan of public transportation, so I enjoyed the conven ience of the Metro and peo ple-watching. The National Museum of Af rican American History and Culture was a definite highlight.”
Hart said that the writers from all over the country were such an inter esting group of 7th and 8th graders.
“I loved reading their essays and hearing about their experiences.
Many kids shared painful memories of violence and showed inspiring resilience. Their ideas for how
youth can help stop violence were thoughtful and original,” she said. She plans to advise students through the essay process again this school year.
“Sadly, every middle school stu dent has personal experiences related to violence because of what surrounds them in our culture. I will advise students to write honestly
and clearly. The local committee chose well-structured essays with strong voices.”
She added of the trip, “Alex and his mom are fun traveling companions!
I love teaching writing; this trip was an unexpected bonus. I was honored to get to accompany Alex and fortunate to have been his ELA teacher last year.”
You can find Taylor Bryan teaching Dance, Theatre, and Social Emo tional Learning at The Arts Acade my at Summit.
We asked her a little about herself:
Q: Why did you want to be a teacher?
I became a teacher because chil dren have an innate ability to bring joy to the world and a smile to my face. There is not a day that goes by that my students do not teach me something new and leave me a better person for knowing them.
Q: What do you love about your job?
Oh Gosh! There are so many aspects that I enjoy! But my favorite — my absolute favorite thing that wakes me up with a pep in my step each morning — is the relationships I foster and grow with my students.
Q: What is one of your hidden talents?
That I can become completely enchanted by a good book. So much so that I forget about eating or sleeping. There are few things more magical than a good book.
Q: What would the students be surprised to find out about you?
That I performed in the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland in an original play based off of Grimms’ Fairy Tales. Also, that this photo was taken the day I found out I would get to be their teacher! I call my job my “Unicorn Job” and I am truly humbled each day I get to spend doing what I love.
Q: How did you spend your summer?
I soaked up every moment of my summer with my husband, family, friends, and my sweet puppy Dublin.
“I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn how to do it.”
~ Pablo Picasso
emailed (Principal Dave) Thomp son to see if it was legit. When we were on the video call to learn the final four, I had already resigned myself to being happy just to make the top 10 so when they called my name, everything just kind of blurred together after that.
Q: What made you decide to become a teacher? I was offered a full ride to Malone for Art Ed ucation when I graduated from high school but turned it down as I didn’t want to teach. When my chil dren started elementary school, they did not have an art teacher and I found that completely unac ceptable. Because I was self em ployed, I could volunteer my time to teach art to their classes and it eventually turned into teaching the whole school. My daughter’s thirdgrade teacher convinced me to go back and get certified as an ele mentary general education teacher because she felt art was not valued or looked upon highly by other teachers or administration. I want ed to show that by teaching with and through art, students could be reached on a whole other level.
Q: Why did you choose to teach at the STEAMM Academy? Rod Meadows was my mentor in all things education and the Canton Art scene. He shared with me that Canton was creating a STEAM school where the Arts were to be placed in the same importance as the core subjects and I felt strongly about pursuing and advocating that concept.
Q: What would the students and colleagues be surprised to learn about you? How far I have come personally in the last nine years from where I was.
Q: Besides art, what do you like to do for fun and relaxation?
Art is my fun and relaxation. But I guess I could also answer that question by sharing about Creative Dreams, a business in downtown Canton that I opened with my part ner, Mikki Moore. We create and sell Art and Crafts as well as fea ture some other artists’ work. I also put quality student work in there to show and sell and the students get
that money. What I sell, helps to fund supplies and equipment for my classroom. I am also the chair person of the Juilliard Arts Center which is housed in the same space as Creative Dreams. I purchased the building in March 2022 and moved the store and the Juilliard Arts Center there after Rod Mead ows passed away unexpectedly.
Q: If money was no object, what would you have in your class room and why? My own Maker Space with a full set of tools and equipment, including a furnace to blow glass and a welding station. There is so much more I could teach the students and give them life skills to take out to use in oth er job areas. I would also have a storefront to teach the kids how to create and run their own business es and how the outside world is so different than the school world. What you do and say matters out there. It impacts your business.
Q: As District 8 Northeast Re gion Teacher of the Year, what opportunities will we see for your classroom? I have already re ceived perks for the students. We have Dunkin Donut gift cards for me to use and share with the kids.
I have the opportunity to be part of an action research project with Cleveland State and have money from the Jennings Foundation to fund the project. It allows me more opportunities to share the incred ible things the students do and how much we learn together.
Q: Anything you would like to add? I can’t stress enough the
importance of project-based learn ing. The actual application of what is taught in school is vital. State tests and memorizing then forget ting information for written assess ments are not true indicators of learning. If you can recite a formula or operation but not actually apply it, that knowledge is a moot point.
The McKinley High School Marching Band welcomed the middle school band members and dancers to the field at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Sta dium for the Sept. 9 Perry game. The 150 middle school students joined the high school band to play “The Hey Song” as well as spend the first half in the stands with them.
We look forward to this evening every year as it gives our young musicians a taste of what high school band is about.
“Anyone who stops learning is old, whether at twenty or eighty. Anyone who keeps learning stays young.”
~ Henry Ford
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about our growing Career and Technical Education opportunities at Crenshaw as we just opened our new addition to the building. You can read more about that, as well.
As you may have heard, I recently presented our Strategic Building Plan to the board. I am looking forward to scheduling community meetings where I will get the op portunity to share these plans in even greater detail and get your feedback. Please visit our website to learn more.
In the Canton City School District, we value excellence, leadership, and community. I invite you to visit our website, follow our social media, be a volunteer or a mentor, or even just a vocal fan. Your support is always appreciated and welcomed.
Have a great school year and as always … Go Bulldogs!
The Timken High School Alumni Association has selected Darrell Woods (’79), Dan Harold (’80), and Sherm Moreland (’82) as its 2022 Distinguished Alumni. They were honored at a dinner last month.
Nominees were evaluated in one or more of the following areas: Academia, the Arts, Athletics, Civic Service/Political Leadership, K-12 Education, Entrepreneurship/ Business Leadership, Professional Achievement, Vocational Pursuit, and Volunteerism/Philanthropy.
Darrell Woods is a 1979 graduate of Timken Senior High School. He earned his bachelor’s degree in 1983 from Walsh College and a master’s degree from the University of Akron in 1985. Woods was em ployed as a science/math teacher at St. Thomas Aquinas High School, Jackson High School, and North Canton Hoover High School. He retired after the 2017 school year but has remained “on call” to teach physics, as needed, at several Stark County high schools. Woods was
New location, same fun!
The Newly renovated Thurman Munson Memorial Stadium opened to the CCSD for Family Fun Day on Saturday, August 13, 2022. Everyone in attendance received a Cleveland Brown’s “Stay in the Game/Attend School” t-shirt and a “Bulldogs” drawstring backpack to help carry all the prizes and givea ways. The walkway behind the field was lined with informational booths representing each school in the dis trict along with community partners offering programs and services to families.
Special thanks to the Canton Fire Department for bringing a Virtual Fire where kids could extinguish the flames. Firefighters also gave tours of a full-service ladder truck and gave all kids a fire helmet.
A special thanks to Mid-Day Diva Nikolina from WDJQ-92.5 FM for deejaying, Aultcare for donating lunches, and to all our community partners and CCS staff for helping to make the day a huge success!
selected as a Walsh College Out standing Alumnus in 2008, was in ducted into the National Teachers Hall of Fame located in Emporia, Kansas in 2010, and was also select ed as the Stark County Teacher of the Year in 2017.
Dan Harold was a 1980 graduate of Timken Senior High School. He earned a bachelor’s degree in 1984 from Malone College and a mas ter’s degree from Ashland Univer sity in 2000. Harold was employed as a teacher and the head girls’ basketball coach at Central Catholic High School, an Assistant Principal at Louisville High School, the prin cipal at Mason Elementary in the Canton City Schools, and an As sociate Principal, Athletic Director, and now, Principal of the combined Lake Middle High School. Harold was named the Northeast Inland District Coach of the Year by the Associated Press in 1995, received the Sportsmanship, Ethics, and Integrity Award from the OHSAA in 2000, and was also named the
District 4 Coach of the Year by the OHSAA on four occasions.
Sherm Moreland is a 1982 gradu ate of Timken Senior High School. He received a Bachelor of Science degree in 1988 and a Bachelor of Architecture degree in 1989 from Kent State University and a Master of Architecture in Urban Design degree in 1991 from the University of Colorado. He served in various leadership positions in both archi tecture and planning before landing at DesignGroup in 1998 where he was employed as a Practice Leader through 2007. In 2008, Moreland was named CEO, the youngest CEO in DesignGroup’s 50-year history. He has published and presented na tionally on topics related to health care, lean planning, and organiza tional thinking. In 2018, Moreland received the Smart 50 Award that annually recognizes business lead ers who have demonstrated com mitment and passion for making a noticeable impact on the industries, organizations, and communities where they live and work.
sophomore Henry Tobias recently won 1st place in the high school cat egory of a national music technology competition! His very proud music teacher Brian Laakso said Henry will receive a gift card from Sweetwater Music, a huge online music retailer. The competition was sponsored by TI:ME, an organization of musicians and music teachers
provides online educa
development.
This is a saying we’ve de veloped here to represent all the positive additions to our building over the past couple of years that we feel make a unique educa tional experience for our students. From the phys ical structures that have been built to the expan sive list of class offerings for students, we feel that Crenshaw Middle School is the place to be.
The new building allows us to offer construction technologies as a career tech class. We also offer many more career tech classes: athletic training, computer coding, finance, law, health, and career connections.
We also offer a wide variety of visual and performing arts electives for students to pursue. Many of our students love to take art class, but art is not our only visual art program. Our students also have the opportunity to take broadcast media, which is an introduction to the video production industry, and photography/visual design, where our students are exposed to the fundamentals of photography and learn how to use visual design ele ments with photography.
If you have a student that is inter ested in the performing arts then Crenshaw is the place to be. Our band program offers students the ability to learn and perform band instruments. Our choir program gives them the opportunity to per form individually and as an ensem ble. Learning the foundations of dramatic performance (acting) and putting on a dramatic production are offered as part of our perform ing arts program, which is a Teach Arts Ohio Grant recipient this year.
One of the most popular classes with our students is our dance class. Students can take dance both years while here at Crenshaw. New this year is our digital music production class where students learn how to produce music using digital software. Along with this, we also have piano and guitar classes. Not only do we offer a great selec tion of elective offerings as listed above, but we also offer the op portunity for students to earn high
school credit while here. We have students in high school P.E., health, Spanish, and algebra.
We are purposefully and passion ately engaging our students by offering them many avenues to pursue based on their interests.
Our students have gotten off to an excellent start this past month proving that great things are hap pening “Only @ the ‘Shaw.”
The 2022-2023 grant provides students from Crenshaw and McKinley with a unique learning experience in the arts
Andrea Belser McCormick recent ly started her artist assessment work with students in the Cren shaw Middle School Performing Arts Program.
Through a generous Teach Arts Ohio Grant titled, “Middle School Musical — We’re in This Too,” An drea ( known to the students as “Mrs. A”) is in the classroom twice weekly with the 7th and 8th-grade students for the entire school year. While there, she works with the choir, dance, and theatre classes to teach, from a professional artist’s perspective, the disciplines that encompass musical theatre — act ing, dancing, and singing. Her work with the students will culminate in a year-end performance that will be entwined with the musical at McK inley Senior High School this year!
A Huge THANK YOU to the Ohio Arts Council for their support and for giving us the opportunity to enrich the lives of our students.Andrea Belser McCormick, OAC Teaching Artist
Activities include both virtual and in-person experiences to keep learning on the lighter side!
By Nicole Cebula, PrincipalIt has been the best start of the year for our virtual learners! We have been working hard! We value Excellence as bulldogs, and stu dents are digging into the curricu lum, and learning so much. I have enjoyed listening to our students read and converse. This year, teach ers have taken the virtual space to a whole new level, incorporating even more fun activities to comple ment their high expectations.
Bulldogs also value Leadership, and virtual Bulldogs are no differ ent. If you were to come into one of our virtual classrooms, you would see students stepping up to the plate and leading conversations and helping each other. It is a great thing to witness! Our students are learning all the curricular items, but also they are learning to take care of themselves and others.
They may be so great at that because as Bulldogs, we value Community!
One way that we do this is through our Wednes day groups, “Level Up,” which is a time we set aside for social clubs and groups for our students.
During this time, stu dents play games, attend high-interest activities, and get to know each other on a personal level.
Level up is both in-per son and virtual, and stu dents are given choice as to what they want to do.
Some favorite activities include Kahoots and Virtual Escape Rooms, Cooking, and Anime Drawing. Some in-person events have includ ed yoga, vibe room, and game day. But, one of our most popular activ ities is BINGO! In addition to these activities, teachers meet students on field trips, and al ready Mrs. Yutzy has taken her Level Up group to the Choc olate Factory! Kids later had an opportu nity to taste chocolate and read some choc olate books.
The middle school kids enjoyed a rivet ing cornhole tourna ment and are gearing up for an in-person
scavenger hunt at the McKinley Monument. Another favorite of our students is Crystal Club, which is a virtual meet where Mrs. Harland runs a virtual geological learning lab in the afternoons on the first, third, and fifth Wednesday of the month.
There is no doubt about it, Bulldog Virtual Academy is a great place to learn and grow! Our students are the best, and the internet is the lim it! Find us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter to see more great things happening!
“On a cloudy rainy day, Sunflowers turn towards each other to share their energy. Let’s become the sunflowers in each other’s lives.” ~Unknown
This month, AIM Academy celebrat ed our “Principal’s Kindness Crew.” The students were nominated by their teachers for showing character istics from our BARK expectations and their kindness in the classroom. They work hard and show respect throughout the building. The stu dents had a yummy lunch with Mrs. Rankin and Miss Wakefield, received a Kindness T-shirt and had a special treat for dessert.
The following students represented AIM Academy: Amelie Harris, Lil lian Mends, Adrin Mends, Camille Kaglic, Je’yah Turner, Lillian Wil liams, Bri’ceaun Woodland, Lon dynn Ducksworth, Azealah Hughes, Rosselyn Ramos, Avin Ramirez, Jimarionna Longshore, Arianna Williams, Adalyn Newport, and Da nasia Carmicle.
Our Kindness Crew bench is in memory of our former student, Ayanna “Yanni’’ Culler. Congratula tions to our first group of Principal’s Kindness Crew students. We are proud of you all!
Early College Seniors had three college visits that were designed specifically for them. The colleges helped by paying half the cost for the bus to deliver the students and paid for the student lunches after the tour. These schools had an op portunity to pitch their schools to our students. During the visits, we talked to some Early College alum ni who are currently attending the schools we visited and asked about their experiences and why they se lected that school.
The seniors visited:
• Aug. 18 - Malone University
• Aug. 24 - Mount Union University
• Sept. 09 - Ashland University
• Sept. 16 - Kent State University
• Sept. 30 - Aultman College
Cedar Elementary School adds a sensory room and raises the bar on understanding the challenges
By Melissa Leininger, Assistant PrincipalThis year, with the assistance of Oc cupational Therapist, Lauren Dun away, Cedar Elementary School created a sensory room to help ad dress some of our students’ needs.
A sensory room is a therapeutic space with a variety of equipment that provides students with person alized sensory input. The sensory input helps children calm and focus themselves so they can be better prepared for learning and interact ing with others.
Why do students need a sensory room?
We all have sensory systems and we use them to interpret and re spond to information from the world around us. Sensory input helps us to regulate our bodies and our emotions. Students with typical sensory processing are automat ically able to process, interpret, and respond to sensory input from their environment. They are able to then filter this information and provide the appropriate behavio ral response. For example, bright lights can be overwhelming when working on a difficult task, such as school work. Simply by turning down the lights, we can calm our sensory needs.
Students with sensory processing needs are unable to filter out un necessary information and may not be able to have an appropriate behavioral response. These stu dents require embedded support to increase or decrease the amount or type of sensory input they are receiving in their environment in or der to self-regulate and participate in school.
What are sensory seekers?
Some students may even be senso ry seekers. These students actively seek more sensory sensations to help them self-regulate as if it is almost a survival instinct. These students will try to fill this need in a variety of ways through tactile input such as touching objects, mouthing items, and they often have little reaction to pain. Some need ac tivities such as running, jumping, climbing, and chewing, and they may even appear clumsy. Whereas others need constant auditory in put such as humming, shrieking, or grinding of their teeth.
Sensory seekers are trying to fill a need and trained educational staff use “alerting” activities to help fill the need. Alerting activities are used with these students to increase their alertness in order to be able to partic ipate in classroom activities.
What are “Alerting Activities”?
For students seek ing increased input, or needing to “rev up their engine,” we may use the following to help fill that need:
• Go into a bright ly lit room
• Jump on a tram poline or crash into a crash pad
• Balance on Bosu ball
• Crawl through a tunnel
• Throw and catch a weighted ball
• Bounce on a therapy ball
• Fast movements such as spinning or rotating
• Fast-paced visuals
Over-Responders are students who are taking in too much sensory in formation from the school environ ment. These students may seem frustrated, mad, or out of control. Over-responders may avoid senso ry experiences such as loud noises, bright lights, or crowded rooms. To help these students in the class room we utilize calming strategies.
What are some calming activities?
Calming strategies help over-re sponders regain control over their
body & brain. This can be accom plished by:
• Going into a dimly lit room
• Playing white noise
• Present slow-moving visuals
• Rhythmic, linear rocking back and forth in a pea pod
• Using a weighted blanket across the lap or shoulders
• Using a body sock to provide pressure input on various parts of the body
• Quietly resting in a teepee, with no visual distractions
• Using kinetic sand or fidgets
From Kindergarten to Sixth grade, the Arts Academy@Summit opens a new world of creativity!
The General Music K-3 classes will provide students with a variety of musical experiences and develop an understanding of musical ele ments through age-appropriate activities. These may include sing ing, listening, reading and writing music, and playing musical games. The Third Graders are looking for ward to learning how to play the Ukulele this year!
The Arts Academy K-3 students are introduced to the beginning elements of music through singing. The K-1, 2nd, and 3rd-grade choirs perform a variety of songs using appropriate posture, head voice, accurate pitch, and rhythm specific to their developmental stage. The Candy Cane Concert is on De cember 15, 2022, and we celebrate “Music In Our Schools Week” with a concert on March 30, 2023.
Music 4-6 - The Arts Academy offers a variety of disciplines in the performance areas, and our stu dents have access to all of them. Our music programs for the upper grades are choir 4,5,6; band 5,6; orchestra 4-5-6; guitar 6; piano 4-5-6, and recorders 4. Our focus is to have all of the students have access to quality music instruc tion. Our performances are of high quality and we have a robust audience, showing support for all of our students. Our current 4,5,6 performance schedule includes the “SING WE NOW OF CHRISTMAS” Holiday program for 4, 5, and 6 choirs at McKinley High School, December 8, 2022, and “The MAY SHOW” program for 4, 5, 6 choirs at McKinley High School, May 17, 2023. Our band and orchestra programs are the “EVERYTHING INSTRUMENTAL” program at The Arts Academy, on April 20, 2023,
and the “ALL CITY INSTRUMEN TAL” program in March 2023.
Art K-6 - Students in the visual arts started the year with Prehis toric art. Students developed per sonal cave paintings using clay and underglazes. Classes are also being introduced to M.C. Esher’s tessel lations in collaboration with their core teachers. Younger grades have just finished up learning about people in motion, with lots of students cheering and playing on the playground! All the students are excited to show everyone what they can do. We at ARTS plan to have numerous events in place to bring the arts out into the commu nity and bring the community into the arts! Keep an eye out for what we have in store.
Theater 4-6 - Last year the Arts Academy at Summit performed Disney’s The Lion King as their spring musical. The students spent weeks practicing lines, learning lyrics and dance steps, and creat ing lifelong memories. This is such a unique and special experience for our students to take on a role,
Popularity amongst students and parents fueling rapid growth
We are off to a great start here at Early College Middle School. It was great to see so many of families in attendance at Open House and at Family Fun Day.
This year we have almost doubled in size as a school. This is a testament to the excellent Early College staff and the focus on preparing stu dents for Early College High School.
I am excited to see all of the growth that the students have been making so far this year. Stu dents have been hard at work
taking their beginning of the year benchmark assessments. These assessments will help us improve student achievement and push students farther than they thought they could go. I am also happy to announce that our after school pro gram will begin on October 17th and will run from 2:30pm-4:30pm here at Early College @ Lehman. Permission slips will be coming home soon for families. Parents please be on the lookout for my weekly update on ParentSquare.
bring their own unique flair, and master it in front of a crowd! We are so proud of all the hard work this select group puts in to make such spectacular shows! This year we plan on adding student workshops to help students grow in their the atrical careers. These will lead up to our auditions ensuring students get a well-rounded experience both onstage and backstage.
Dance K-6 - Dance at the Arts Academy is utilized as a form of expression. The students engage
in various forms of dance including ballet, jazz, hip hop, and tap. The students are also introduced to yoga and choreography and even dabble in directing. We spend a lot of time exploring emotions and how they affect the way we move throughout the world. The dance room is a safe space for all students to create and explore. Last year the entire school performed Mi chael Jackson’s “Thriller” as well as performed in their dance concert, “The Art of Belonging.”
Congratulations! Clarendon’s Top dogs of The Month of August are scholars that follow our B.A.R.K expectations daily. These scholars receive scholar of the month yard signs and other rewards through out the month. Scholars also receive a lunch donated by Chickfil-A, North Canton. Our certified and classified employees are nom inated by staff and chosen monthly for Top Dog of The Month.
Fairmount Learning Center Is leading by example
At Fairmount Learning Center we are off to a great start to the school year. All students at FLC are review ing and learning our PBIS rules and expectations and working on build ing relationships with our staff and students. In our K-6 classrooms, students have been learning about the Zones of Regulations and iden tifying strategies that help them manage their emotions. We have been practicing Acts of Kindness throughout the school.
Our 7th and 8th graders have been working on relationship and team building through different STEM activities in the classroom. Students are learning to work together and solve problems with their peers and staff members. These activities help students build a sense of trust and belonging with each other.
And you are never too old to be a Top Dog!Front row: Brooklynn Cox, Aleyah Mendiola Castro, Jazmine Gonzalez Ubeda, Zariah Miller, Penny Jett. Back row: School Counselor and Certified Top Dog Sandra Walker, Adison Anthony, Jenni Ajanel Hernandez, Nathan Robinson, Rosse Cooper, Chris Copley. Not pictured: Brookelynn Grahek and Makayla Tish. Classified Top Dog Mathew Ritschard, Evening custodian. Jennifer Robinson, Behavior Mgmt. Specialists and Te’Najsa Jefferson Kaydence Huddleston was Mrs. Davala’s Kindness Student of The Week!
“The strength of the team is each individual member. The strength of each member is the team.”
~ Phil Jackson
Our community partners showed up and showed out during open house! They brought books, games, candy, and fun including line dancing and face painting! We love our partners, and the contributions that they bring to our scholars and families!
Thank you to the following commu nity partners who participated in our 2022-2023 Open House: Stark Educa tion Partnership, Sisters of Soul Line Dancers, Stark Community Action Agency, Cleveland Clinic @ Mercy Medical, Urban League, NAACP, Christian Brown, Barbers: Rashad Norwood and Montez Davidson, Lighthouse Ministries, Stark County Health Department, Child Evange lism Fellowship, SPARK, Hair Stylists: Deja Bush & Chasity Johnson, and Sherrick Road Church of God.
Our community partners are everything to us!
We are working towards building a parent group with two parents for each grade level. We need our par ents’ input about the best way to meet our scholars’ needs!
Our fall Parent Teacher Conferences will be held on November 1st and November 7th from 4:15-7:30. Let’s have an amazing school year!
Patrick Elementary School’s open house was a success!
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” ~Margaret Mead
Teachers embrace the Gibbs Family environment every morning, every day, every student!
Gibbs Elementary students and staff start each morning by eating break fast together in our classrooms and spending time as a classroom family. Our student leaders practice with teachers as they prepare to lead our entire building. Our third-grade student leaders share essential infor mation with our school family such as what is being served for lunch, the weather, and any exciting events that need to be shared.
Our morning announcements time is a great way to kick off the day. We are all able to be in the same place at one time by using our smart televisions in the classrooms. Each homeroom classroom has a morning meeting every day right after morning announcements. On Friday our morning meetings are led by a member of our PBIS team where BARK rules are reviewed as a student body. Staff and student shout-outs are given to Gibbs fam ily members who are noticed for being kind, working hard, follow ing BARK expectations, and many more wonderful things.
Recently we brought back the fa mous ice cream sandwich award. Any staff member who sees a stu dent doing something extra kind, picking up trash, or reaching a goal immediately gives them a certifi cate to bring home and a pass to go to the office and get a treat. All students who receive this award have their names announced on Fridays. Ask your student what they can do to earn this coveted award!
At Gibbs Elementary we believe that starting our day off with a morning meeting is essential for a good start to the day. Our mission statement at Gibbs Elementary is that we all make students and staff feel safe and loved every day. One of the best ways to help everyone feel safe and loved is to create connections.
Morning meetings are a great way to build teacher and student connections. Each teacher has a unique way of conducting morning meetings. Some teachers have STEM bins that students can quiet
ly use while listening to announce ments. Other teachers have circles where students can share their favorite food, color, sports team, or pet. Students are engaged in the conversation and are eased into their day by a calm and slow start. Each classroom teacher is work ing through a morning curriculum where lessons are age appropriate and have topics such as self-con fidence, how to calm down when frustrated, and how to share your feelings when upset. Teachers are given time every morning to focus on essential skills that will help students be successful in their aca demics. Learning to share feelings in an appropriate way, teamwork, and conflict resolution will prepare students to be ready to learn and eliminate distractions.
Another large part of our meeting time is eating breakfast together. Our fabulous cafeteria staff led by Mrs. Hawkins greets each student every morning with a smile and a warm breakfast. Our Gibbs Family
is thankful for the hard work that our cafeteria does every morning so that our students have a nutri tious start to their day.
At McGregor Intermediate School, we have had a fantastic start to the 22-23 school year. We started with Open House, where we had a great turnout of our families. We had a baseball themed event, complete with wiffle ball on the playground and snowcones.
As the students have started the school year, we are focusing once again on our BARK expectations. Students earn bulldog bucks for demonstrating those expectations daily. Each grade level has an as signed shopping day in our school store, where students can spend those Bulldog Bucks.
The BARK expectations and school store are all a part of our PBIS im plementation at McGregor. Anoth er part of our school-wide PBIS sys tem is our weekly assembly where we award a few awards to class rooms. Each week one homeroom earns the Golden Trashcan award for the room that is the tidiest at the end of the day each day. The Golden Trashcan award is decided by our school custodians. We also
have a Golden Lunch Tray award that is awarded by the Cafeteria staff to the homeroom that does the best job at lunch and recess demonstrating BARK. And new this year, we have a Golden iPad Award
and a Kickboard Champion. The iPad Award is decided weekly by our Tech Resource Teacher Mr. Cra ddock and our Kickboard Cham pion is awarded to the class with the highest positivity percentage in
Kickboard. All of these awards are a big deal to the students and staff and we try to promote a teamwork environment so that classes of stu dents are working together.
Harter Elementary has kicked off the year with true BULLDOG SPIRIT. A staff of 50+ with over 400 years of teaching experience is working on our B.A.R.K. expec tations to grow our “BULLDOG PRIDE BUILDING-WIDE” while we inspire confident, creative, and open-minded learners!
With only a few weeks into the 2022-2023 school year, we are already learning new skills and making new friends. Students are learning names of their new classmates, teachers are teach ing B.A.R.K. expectations and Social-Emotional Skills through our PATHs program. Our Kinder garteners are getting some help from Dina the Dinosaur as we learn social skills as well. Smiles are everywhere as we build our family community with old friends while making new friends all focused on building a culture of learning.
Looking forward, we are excited about our field trips that are com ing up that help add to our book knowledge. Kindergarten will be going to the pumpkin patch, third grade will visit the McKinley Mu
seum, second grade has the Canton Ballet on their schedule, and first grade will see some live performances at the Player’s Guild. We are excited about heading out to see all the amazing things in our community.
The solid Early Literacy focus comes as we learn phonics, handwriting, com prehension and vocabulary skills. We’ve already had guest readers from the HBCU weekend, a grand open house, Boy Scout vis its and book donations from Macy’s, Kohl’s, and Cathy Cowgills. These book do nations will help stock our Book Vending Machine and our Birthday Book Cart!
Harter School, a small corner of BULLDOG COUNTRY, where we work to build the confidence to pursue our dreams using the knowledge and skills learned in the Canton City Schools
It is going to be a great year at Harter!
Every morning and afternoon, as the kids travel to and from school, there are two amazing people standing out in front Belle Stone School wearing yellow vests, Ms. Catherine Burt and Mr. Cory Porter.
Ms. Burt has been a crossing guard in a variety of locations for 12 years, with the last four here at Belle Stone with Mr. Porter. They help children and families cross in the crosswalk and keep traffic flowing in front of the school.
They often arrive at school before the sun is up and come back in the afternoon to make sure everyone gets home safely. Whether it’s raining, snowing, or blazing sun shine, they are here to keep our children safe.
Mr. Porter said that the most re warding part of the job is knowing that each day he can help children and families feel safe in our com munity. Ms. Burt says she loves the children and misses them dearly when school is not in session.
“Their smiles, dedication, and love are a gift to us all,” she said.
Ephraim Maury said he loves our crossing guards! Even though he is in the drop off line this year, he still makes a point to wave and say good
morning to two of his favorite people.
“I really like them!
Ms. Burt makes me laugh because she always says ‘Have a great day, baby!’”
Joee Hibbard says, “Our crossing guards are the best! They have impor tant jobs!”
When asked what those important jobs are, Joee replied, “Smiling, saying good morning, and keeping us safe.”
These two are a very valuable part of our school family and are well loved by the community they serve. We’ve changed our traffic flow a little this year trying to minimize the number of vehicles along Row land Avenue. As with any change, it takes some getting used to, but we are all working together for the safety and well-being of our
students. We appreciate Ms. Burt and Mr. Porter for bringing smiles and safety to our school! What a great way to start and end each school day!
As Worley Elementary School be gan its second year as a K-6 school building, it has continued to find sweet reasons to celebrate.
Our students and staff all enjoyed an old-fashioned ice cream social sponsored by the PBIS team to demonstrate how we spread kind ness to one another. Our students will have many more opportunities to make sweet memories this year as the team has planned an event each month.
Worley aims to provide our stu dents and staff with many happy memories to look back upon later as we emphasize our Canton City Schools’ Core Val ues of Excellence, Leadership, and Community. These pillars continue to be at the forefront of all that we do school-wide and in our classroom communities.
Our third graders in Mrs. Kochan and Mrs. Rundo’s classrooms wel comed parents for our very first ever “First Friday” event. Parents met with teachers and then joined the children for lunch in the cafete ria afterward. This was a wonderful opportunity for our students to demonstrate B.A.R.K. expectations when managing themselves in the cafeteria. With each passing month, 3rd-graders will get to wel come their parents and grow their leadership skills as they take the lead on the welcoming activities at each event.
The Canton City Schools Adult Community Education has a new home at the Timken Career Downtown Campus on the 3rd and 5th floors.
Our medical programs are located on the fifth floor (Medical Assistant, Practical Nurse Program, Medical Insurance Billing/Coding, and State Tested Nurse Assistant). Our Aspire (GED) Program is located on the third floor.
We also have our Welding Pro gram and Automotive Service Technician Program located in the Technology Building also on the Downtown Campus.
Enrollment is now open for all pro grams for the 2023-2024 Academic School Year. Apply at www.ccsdis trict.org/AdultEd.
We are excited that several of our staff members have earned addi
tional certifications in their field of in struction to better our programs and increase our student opportunities.
They are:
Cindy Leasure, Medical Insurance Billing and Coding Instructor:
Certified Professional Biller (Ameri can Academy of Professional Coders)
Certified Professional Biller-Instruc tor (American Academy of Profes sional Coders)
Michele Donahue, Medical Assis tant Instructor/Director:
Certified Medical Assistant (Amer ican Association of Medical Assis tants)
Marilyn Vanalmen, Director 330-438-2556
“The older you get, the better you get, unless you’re a banana.”
~Betty White
We are encouraging our students to be at school everyday and on time!
If they do, they will be a part of THE “A” CLUB for that month. To be a part of the club for the month, students need to be on time everyday and present 95% of the days for that month.
Students will earn time out of class to celebrate themselves. During this time, students will be given an interest sur vey to see which club they would like to be involved in. The topics of interest they can choose from are cooking, nature, weather, environment, govern ment/civics, sports, arts and music. Clubs will be put together based on the students’ interests.
We will be reaching out to community partners such as the Humane Society, the Akron Zoo, Stark Parks, and Mount Union University for them to bring their knowledge to our students. We want our students to use this time to dig deeper into their areas of interest and use a student-led approach to apply their knowledge to real life. If a student attends the club for six months, they will receive an “A” CLUB” t-shirt.
For the month of August we had 86% of our students make it! We are very excit ed about this club and want our schol ars to understand “When you Attend, you Achieve, and you WILL Aspire.”
I want to be a member of this so I can learn about sports and cooking be cause so you learn stuff about the world.
It is impor tant to be in The “A” Club because it’s important to be in school everyday so I can learn and have a good job.
I think it will be cool to be in a club at school to learn about nature. It’s important to be at school because it can help with your future.
Youtz students brought their families to meet their teachers and our staff. Heather Craig, a former Youtz student, brought her Save the Children’s Ministries Group which allowed our students to enjoy food, play games with the Canton City Fire Depart ment, get their faces painted and the treat of Kona Ice!
Nate Chester, former Youtz student, brought three barbers from his Chester’s Mop Shop and gave our students the opportunity to receive a free haircut. A big thank you to the kind people of Save the Children Ministries and Nate Chester of Chester’s Mopshop for helping to make this a very memorable Open House. We are looking forward to an awesome school year.