Hats Off to HOPE Academies – Black History Month Roundup

Black History Month is an important time to reflect and learn from past events ranging from slavery and the abolition movement to the civil rights effort to the election of the nation’s first biracial president. The HOPE Academies took some time this past month to explore and celebrate African American heritage with some educational events and activities:

HOPE Academy Canton

In addition to having Black History Month trivia contests throughout the month of February, HOPE Academy Canton celebrated with a bulletin board contest focused on African American heritage. Entries were judged on creativity, relevancy to Black History Month and visual appeal.

The school also held a special Black History Month program on Feb. 25, attracting more than 100 parents. Students in each grade level gave presentations relating to Black History Month.

HOPE Academy Chapelside

In conjunction with Black History Month, HOPE Academy Chapelside in Cleveland held its “Man of Chapelside” event, which encourages young male students to adapt to their environment, be goal-oriented and appear polished and poised. On Feb. 3, the school hosted Gary Norton, mayor of East Cleveland, and Roger Chanoine, former NFL player, as speakers.

Additionally, on Feb. 27, the school hosted a Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) Workshop to prepare students and their parents for exploring this unique set of post-secondary educational programs. Attracting more than 200 people, this free event was organized by assistant administrator Anthony Brown, one of the school’s five staff members who attended an HBCU.

HOPE Academy Northcoast

A poster created by HOPE Academy Northcoast’s Meranda Sajn, an eighth grader. Sajn’s poster depicting famous African American author Alice Walker took top honors in the school’s contest.

On March 5, HOPE Academy Northcoast held a special Black History Program for its students including skits, poetry readings, choir performances and a poster contest.

Approximately 25 students chose to act out a skit, read poetry or perform with the choir – all of which were completely voluntary. The “Who am I?” skits, which were brief portrayals of famous African American figures, encouraged audience members to guess their identities. Among the songs performed by the choir was “Oh! Oscar Micheaux,” in honor of America’s first black filmmaker.

All of the school’s students in grades three to eight were required to create a poster in honor of Black History Month. Each poster was on display for the entire school to see, and the top three creations in each grade – as judged by the Black History Committee – were recognized. Eighth grader Meranda Sajn was chosen the overall winner for her poster depicting Pulitzer-Prize-winning author, Alice Walker.

Hats Off to the HOPE Academy Broadway Be a CHAMP Program

HOPE Academy Broadway recently launched a school-wide behavioral expectation program during mid-January that allows students to learn personal responsibility while receiving positive reinforcement from teachers and staff. Be a CHAMP…Bulldogs ROCK, an acronym for Respect, Observe safety, Conflict resolution, and Know your responsibilities, will encourage students to treat each other and themselves with respect while receiving positive reinforcement from the teachers and staff.

This program incorporates and reinforces the C.H.A.M.P.s program, Character Development Program, and the Progressive Discipline Procedures which are currently in place at all HOPE Academies.

“This program is not only a plan for teaching students how to act in the classroom; it also educates them on how to act outside the classroom setting such as in the lunchroom, or on the school bus,” said Elizabeth Hibbs, Testing and Data coordinator at HOPE Academy Broadway. “More often than not, people tend to focus on the negative; the Be a CHAMP program allows us to focus on the good things, too,” she added.

Here is how the program works: when a student demonstrates one of the four characteristics, he/she receives a ticket. Once the school collects 100 tickets, they receive a homework pass and it is announced over the intercom system.  Their goal is to earn 1,000 tickets by the end of the year. If the students meet this goal, they can vote on their reward: ice cream party, pizza party, school dance, etc.

In addition to awarding the entire school, Broadway will also award individual prizes every week and month with the help of the community. Outback Steakhouse has generously donated 600 meal vouchers as rewards for students which include a meal, drink and dessert. In addition to Outback’s contributions, there are several local restaurants that have also chipped in toward this great cause.

“By positively aligning our choices and expectations, students should see improvements in daily school tasks and state testing as well,” said Hibbs.

Hats Off to Anthony Brown

As a graduate of The Great Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, FL, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), Anthony Brown developed a passion for helping students see the benefit of attending these unique types of universities. HBCU’s have significantly increased the percentage of African Americans who are able to attend college as well as create numerous leadership opportunities. With that, Brown has stepped into the field of education to help students find their passion and increase their knowledge of the many opportunities they have in front of them.

For twelve years, Brown was a high school teacher during which he played an active role in the district’s United Negro College Fund (UNCF) fundraising committee as well as forming his own consulting firm, A. B.etter Way Productions. During that time, he helped raise awareness of the funds available to students from the UNCF as well as helped educate students and their parents about HBCUs.

“I found that many students were not aware of the benefits of HBCUs or college in general,” said Brown. “I was able to take my experience and give them a glimpse of what they can accomplish.”

Brown has continued to develop his consulting endeavors while becoming fully entrenched with his responsibilities as the Assistant Principal at HOPE Academy Chapelside Campus. In his spare time, he continues to help students see how pursuing a higher education can take you places. This past January, he worked with students and their parents from Chapelside and surrounding schools to coordinate a trip to the Presidential Inauguration.

“It was a great experience for the kids,” said Brown.

Brown is truly passionate for helping kids succeed and has continued to work with students to educate them about all of their options through mentoring, advising and consulting about life preparation, college options and career choices. In addition to his efforts as Assistant Principal and a higher education consultant, Brown is also a co-host of Another Look Cable Television Show (Time Warner Cable-NEON).

Hats Off to HOPE Academy Canton Campus

Throughout the past several weeks, the staff at HOPE Academy Canton Campus have been working hard to make this holiday season a little brighter for students and their families. The school has collaborated with a local church, St. Michael’s, to collect baskets of food for both Thanksgiving and Christmas for families in need. So far, more than 20 families have been served. Additionally, as part of the local Community Christmas initiative, the school’s family advocates have been collecting toys, clothes and other gifts that will impact approximately 30 children at HOPE Academy Canton Campus. The items will be distributed to families soon.

One other unique program HOPE Academy Canton Campus has organized is free haircuts for its students. The school engaged local barbers who agreed to donate their time around the holidays to cut the hair of students who might not be able to afford it otherwise. So far, approximately 30 students have received haircuts. Read more about this creative initiative in last week’s Canton Repository.

photo credit: kelseywhytock

Hats Off to HOPE Academy Northcoast Campus

On December 10, 2009, the students and staff at HOPE Academy Northcoast Campus officially kicked off the holiday season with their annual winter concert. Students in kindergarten through fourth grade participated in the event, with each class singing its own winter-themed song in addition to an all-class performance to close the show. Student artwork was also on display for parents to enjoy at one of two times – a 2 p.m. afternoon show and a 6:30 p.m. evening show.

“I have a committee of staff members who help me with every last detail. It takes a lot of organization and planning, but it is always a success because the committee works so well together,” said Anna Deitsch, music teacher at HOPE Academy Northcoast Campus, and one of the primary organizers of the winter concert. “I may be the person standing up front, but it’s the committee of staff members that make it go off without a hitch.”

Deitsch and the winter concert committee started preparing the students for the event about a month in advance, teaching them the words and notes to each song and ensuring they were confident enough to perform on stage.

This year, the school decided to try something new by raffling off holiday gift baskets from Harry and David at the evening concert, and also offering refreshments. Each of the six baskets had a special theme, such as a pizza party basket and a breakfast basket. All of the families in attendance received one raffle ticket for free at the event.

Deitsch said, “We do all this in hopes of increasing our parent involvement and getting our families more involved in their children’s activities.”

Hats Off to HOPE Academy Chapelside Campus

On October 22, 2009, HOPE Academy Chapelside Campus had a High School Fair in their gymnasium. The schools that participated included Cleveland Lutheran High School, Benedictine High School, Cleveland Central Catholic, St. Martin DePorres and local Blue Ribbon Schools. The goal of the High School Fair was for the students and parents to meet school representatives to determine what school would meet the students’ needs academically and socially. The parents and students were informed of open house and testing dates, along with tuition assistance information. The High School Fair was open to parents and students in grades 6-8.

Over 100 students and parents were in attendance for this event. The Council For Economic Opportunities In Greater Cleveland was also present to provide the families with Head Start information and Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) applications were available. The Scholastic Enrichment and Service Learning and Leadership students generously donated their time by making posters after school and encouraging students to participate in this event. The participants and guests had light refreshments, and thank you gifts for the school representatives were donated by Ms. Kristina Warstler and Mrs. Heather Sedlak, the coordinators of the Scholastic Enrichment and Service Learning Leadership students.

photo credit: Dean Terry

Hats Off to HOPE Academy Broadway Campus

With the school year in full swing, HOPE Academy Broadway Campus has developed a program that will encourage students to stay on top of their reading. ‘Give Me 5’ is a program that was created by Mrs. Cummings, the Parent/Teacher Organization’s Liaison, Principal Harold S. Booker and his staff to help students improve their reading skills. Whether it is reading five chapters, reading for five minutes or memorizing five vocabulary words, this 5-week program will allow students to make reading a habit and improve upon their skills.

Starting November 9, students and teachers will work together and keep track of their accomplishments. Students are also encouraged to work with their parents to achieve their goals.

“We want students to give us five of anything,” said Harold S. Booker, Principal of HOPE Academy Broadway Campus. “The goal of this program is to teach kids that reading can be fun; with only a few minutes every day, their reading skills will improve.”

HOPE Academy Broadway Campus will be reaching out to the community with the hope of receiving awards to give students for achieving their goals. There will be a celebration at the end of the program to honor the students who have taken it upon themselves to improve their reading skills.

photo credit: Old Show Woman

Hats Off to Allison Underation

HOPE Academy Brown Street Campus

HOPE Academy Brown Street Campus Teacher, Allison Underation, is a recent recipient of the “A Day Made Better” award present by OfficeMax. Thousands of educators were nominated from across the country, but only 1,000 schools where chosen. On Tuesday, October 6, 2009, Underation was presented with $1,000 worth of classroom supplies including a new printer and digital camera. Read more.