Author: shankv

Dante Capers, Associate Superintendent of Student Services, Student Wellness, and Success, and Christine Brugler, Trauma Informed Care Specialist, made their rounds to each Warren City Schools building in December to meet with parents and discuss how families can work with the schools to enhance their children’s educational experiences.

Mr. Capers and Mrs. Brugler shared information with the attendees about the high levels of post-pandemic stress students are experiencing nationally, and how the school and families can collaboratively work to support student wellness and success.

The Coffee Klatch sessions focused on data and intervention strategies regarding child and teen stress and mental health, while spotlighting some of the supports available within the school community.

Mrs. Brugler shared information on trauma informed schooling, and shared strategies for parents to use at home.

“These gatherings are part of the district’s ongoing efforts to work with families to facilitate and enhance student wellness and success,” Capers said. “A key part of this collaboration is communication and keeping those communication lines open between the schools and our families.”

School principals, community liaisons and other staff members also attended the meetings and discussed various services and resources available to students and their families through the schools.

The Warren G. Harding Madrigal Singers are making their rounds, helping to ring in the holiday season with their festive sounds.

Under the musical direction of Keith Rising, the Madrigal Singers are a diverse group of juniors and seniors who have won high honors in solo and ensemble competitions, and perform many concerts during the holiday season. 

Here is a sampling of the holiday sounds of the Madrigal Singers:

The Madrigal Singers Perform “Joy to the World”

Several Warren G. Harding High School students were among those recognized Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2022, as 2022 Twenty Under Award recipients.

The program, sponsored by the Tribune Chronicle, Akron Children’s Hospital, Mahoning Valley, and Kent State University at Trumbull, recognizes leadership, volunteerism and academic achievement.

Six Warren G. Harding High School students were among this year’s Top 20.

WARREN – The Warren City School District is excited to announce that Warren G. Harding High School has been included as part of a select group of schools across the nation chosen to pilot an Advanced Placement African American Studies Course.

This fall, the administration at Warren G. Harding High School submitted interest to the College Board regarding the AP African American Studies pilot course. Principal Sandra Williams was notified Nov. 29 that Harding has been chosen to participate.

“We at Warren G. Harding High School are excited about expanding opportunities for our students and pleased to be selected to pilot the course. We believe this provides another pathway for the students to delve deeper into cultural knowledge and awareness,” Williams said.   

The course is designed to offer high school students an evidence-based introduction to African American studies. The course reaches into a variety of fields including literature, the arts and humanities, political science, geography and science to explore the vital contributions and experiences of African Americans.

Harding will offer this pilot AP course during the 2023-2024 school year. This, along with the addition of the AP Computer Science Principles course, expands the repertoire of AP courses offered at Harding which is leading the region in providing advanced placement opportunities for students.

Elias Carter, 10, a 4th grader at Jefferson PK-8 School claimed the top spot in the Geography Bee, Grades 3-5.

Landon Tibbs, 10, also in 4th grade, came in second. The two students competed in seven rounds before participating in a tiebreaking match between them.

Leaders from seven area KFCs recently delivered dozens of chicken dinners, complete with all the fixings, to Warren’s Jefferson PK-8 School.

The meals were distributed at the end of the school day for students to take home and enjoy.

The leadership represented KFCs in the Youngstown-Warren Market. Those from KFC who helped deliver and package the meals for students to take home were: 

• Monique McCree, Belmont Avenue, Liberty manager.

• Kyle Gilmore, Elm Road, Warren, manager

• Sue Redington, Boardman manager

• Sharon Green, Cornersburg manager, with Ken Roberts, shift supervisor

• Paula Jones, West Market Street, Warren, manager

• Louisa Fife, Austintown, manager

• Tori Pendley, Hermitage, Pa., assistant manager

• Mir Kahn, Niles, manager

• Robin Warrick, Market 2 area coach, Youngstown-Warren Market. 

Students in Ashley Gammon’s biology class at Warren G. Harding High School recently recreated the TV series Survivor as part of their studies about biomes.

Like Survivor, which places participants an isolated location where they must provide food, fire and shelter for themselves, our Harding students were randomly assigned to one of 84 locations, and now, theoretically, have to “survive” in that biome for three months. They must figure out the biome they are in, consider the plants and animals they can use, and make plans for surviving within their biomes for three months. 

“They were really engaged and having a ton of fun with it,” Gammon said.  

A biome is a large area characterized by its vegetation, soil, climate, and wildlife.

There are five major types of biomes: aquatic, grassland, forest, desert, and tundra, though some of these biomes can be further divided into more specific categories.

Thanks to the generosity of the Nick Frankos Memorial Scholarship Fund, Warren City Schools is once again able to provide turkeys to families of students at each of the district’s five schools.

Several years ago, Mr. Frankos contacted the principals at Lincoln PK-8 School to see if they would be able to distribute 40 turkeys to families of students there. Mr. Frankos delivered the turkeys himself and got to see some of the students whose families were to be recipients. One of the students came up to him privately and thanked him for the donation, telling him that if it weren’t for his kindness, his family wouldn’t be able to have turkey for Thanksgiving.   

That memory has stuck with Mr. Frankos through the years, and he has progressively grown his donation to include other buildings beyond Lincoln.  This year, through the extreme generosity of Mr. Frankos and the Memorial Fund, the district was able to coordinate efforts at all five WCS buildings.

Students and their families lined up Thursday, Nov. 3, 2022, to help Warren City Schools staff cut the ribbon at the new preschool playground at Warren G. Harding High School.

The new playground is part of the district’s ongoing mission to provide equity and access to all students from preschool through 12th grade.

“The district saw the need for the preschool at Harding to have a playground to meet the needs of the whole child,” said Kelly Hutchison, the district’s preschool coordinator. “We are happy to see the joy that the playground provides while tending to the health and wellness of our early learners.”

The district’s 5-Star, state-rated preschool program serves over 300 students at five sites, including two classrooms at Harding.

The school district began looking at construction proposals in the spring of 2022. The materials were delivered to the district on Wednesday, Oct. 26, and the project was completed by Saturday, Oct. 29, 2022.

Dozens of parents and guardians, and other family members, gathered at each of Warren’s five school buildings in October 2022 for family meetings hosted by district staff.

Discussions focused on social and emotional learning, and meeting the needs of the whole child; programs and services that have been incorporated to serve students and their families; and academics, with a closer look at the results recent state report card; among other areas.