Author: shankv

On Saturday, January 29th, the Warren G. Harding H.S. Band had seven students perform at the Ohio Music Education Association’s District 5 Jazz Festival. 

The students were selected through a video audition process and then were placed in one of three county honors bands representing Trumbull, Mahoning and Ashtabula counties. 

All three bands had an evening rehearsal last week, a day of rehearsals this past Friday, and performed a concert Saturday at the DeYor Performing Arts Center.

WGH Raider Band members in the Trumbull County Honors Band were:
Ean Dodge, grade 12, alto saxophone; Alfonso Guzman, grade 12, baritone saxophone; Xander Blose, grade 12, Ryan Gump, grade 12, and Vidal Brown, grade 11, trumpets; Trenten Miranda, grade 12, and Ethan O’Malley, grade 11, trombones.

The Warren G. Harding boys bowling team returned champions on Sunday, Jan. 30, 2022, claiming the All-American Conference tournament.

Harding defeated Austintown Fitch at Amron Lanes.

The Raiders, coached by Tom Burd, defeated conference foes Austintown Fitch, Boardman, Canfield and Howland.

Members of the team shown in the above picture are, from left to right, Blaise Schuller, Justin Tucker, Nick Homa, Braylen Schuller and Micah Beall.

Congratulations to the WGH Harding boys bowling team for winning the All-American Conference bowling tournament on Sunday at Amron Lanes. The Raiders defeated conference foes Austintown Fitch, Boardman, Canfield and Howland. Members of the team (from left to right) are Blaise Schuller, Justin Tucker, Nick Homa, Braylen Schuller and Micah Beall. The Raiders are coached by Tom Burd.

The Ohio Department of Education has given final approval of Warren

City Schools’ American Rescue Plan ESSER Round 3 grant application, which includes a budget of $12.5 million for the new wellness center being planned at the high school campus. 

The funding approval was announced at the Tuesday, Jan. 25, Warren City Schools

Board of Education meeting.

The ARP ESSER grant provides $12.5 million of the estimated $15 million project.

Remaining project costs have already been put aside in capital improvements, and the project calls for no additional costs to taxpayers, for example, in the form of additional levies.

“We needed to be fiscally responsible and create a plan for using these grant funds that would be sustainable once the funding source was no longer available. I am thrilled that our plan has come to fruition and we will be providing equitable opportunities for our students,” commented Warren City Schools Treasurer Karen Sciortino.

“Built specifically for our students, and featuring student centered programming, the

Health and Wellness Center project will complete our campus vision and provide space and resources necessary to enhance the growth and development of our children. The addition of the ARP ESSER grant funding will play an important role as we move forward with our planning, construction and programming phases. It is certainly an exciting time for our Warren City Schools families as we begin to move forward with this project,” said School Board and Athletic Council Member Patti Limperos.

“This is a tremendous opportunity for the students and families in the Warren City School

District as the center will increase the district’s capacity to develop our students’ level of personal wellness and social emotional awareness as the needs of the whole child are advanced. Part of our vision for this project is to realize more equitable student academic and wellness outcomes by addressing barriers such as anxiety and other mental health concerns brought to light through the COVID 19 pandemic, said Dante Capers, Associate Superintendent of Student Services, Student Wellness & Success.

“The district is looking to break ground on the new facility later this spring or early summer with the project completion date set for August 2023 and will be utilized to address both academic, social emotional and physical needs of our students,” said Superintendent Steve Chiaro.

The Warren City School District, in partnership with Chik-fil-A, is recognizing 32 students across all five of our schools for their outstanding achievements and how they each have demonstrated the character traits outlined in the Warren Acronym:

• Work Ethic
• Accountability
• Responsibility
• Respect
• Effective Behavior
• No Excuses

Along with being highlighted in our bi-annual STUDENTS OF THE MONTH / OUTSTANDING STUDENTS publication, each outstanding student is presented with a certificate of achievement, and a yard sign is placed at the student’s residence.

Warren City School District is proud to present our Outstanding Students for Fall Semester 2021. To read about each of our Fall Semester 2021 Outstanding Students, click this link: WCSD Outstanding Students Fall 2021.

How can you design and build a structure that can withstand a natural disaster?

Students in Warren City Schools’ After-school STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math) explored various ideas and options during a recent activity.

It is among several challenges 5th- and 7th-grade students in the district’s four PK-8 Schools – Lincoln, McGuffey, Jefferson and Willard – have worked to resolve. WCS partnered with the National Inventors Hall of Fame to provide identified programming in the area of STEM.

The program provides opportunities for students to learn the business of innovation, from prototype to product launch; turn ideas into inventions; and discover how to bring those inventions to market, while honing key skills like collaboration, self-expression and entrepreneurship.

“They develop real-world skills while learning to work creatively and collaboratively,” explained Annamarie Buonavolonta, instructor. “Each challenge gets them thinking. They see the challenge or problem and then work together to solve it.”

Warren G. Harding students now have the opportunity to be CPR (Cardiopulmonary resuscitation ) certified through Warren City Schools Health Classes.

CPR training previously was part of the curriculum. However, this year two of the district’s PE/Health teachers have become certified trainers, making the way for students to become CPR certified after passing the certification test.

CPR certification is one more “real-world” learning opportunity provided to students by our WCS staff.

Three Harding seniors were recognized Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021, at the Tribune Chronicle’s Twenty Under 20 Awards Dinner.

Casey Owsley, Anthony Payiavlas and Camryn Stewart, all 17-years-old, each lit up the platform as they accepted their awards.

Guidance Counselor Sue Mizik says that Casey “understands the value of service to others and has maintained that outlook through great personal loss.” Her family has been hit hard by COVID-19, and experienced the loss of her grandmother and cousin due to the virus. Even so, Casey has maintained a 4.2 GPA, and continues to participate in the WGH marching band and symphonic bands and several extracurricular activities.

Anthony says he likes “helping out the less fortunate, giving them hope.” He likes “being there for someone,” and feels it’s his job to help. Anthony has been captain of the boys golf and tennis teams since 2019. He is active with the Greek Orthodox Youth Association and has been a member of the National Honor Society since 8th grade. He maintains a 4.1 GPA. Harding counselor Erin Kampf-Melillo says of Anthony that he “has engaged himself in our school environment in a way that makes a difference.”

Camryn says it’s her “passion to help others who need it.” She has maintained a 3.9 GPA while taking difficult advanced placement classes and college-credit plus courses. She is active on her school’s volleyball and softball teams, and serves as manager of the girls basketball team. She has added participating with National honor Society’s Big Brother/Big Sister mentor program to her long list of commitments. WGH Englisher teacher Melissa Rentz describes Camryn as someone who “wants to see her peers succeed by helping them with their skills.”

This is the second consecutive year Warren’s Jefferson PK-8 School served as the location of Berk Enterprises clothing distribution site.

Warren-based berk donated dozens of coats, socks and other clothing items to the community. The items were distributed to various organizations, including the Warren Family Mission, on Tuesday, Dec. 14, 2021.

The groups arrived at Jefferson where members of the school’s staff, including Campus Leader/Principal Carrie Boyer; Mesa Morlan, special education coordinator; Heidi Cope-Barker, school improvement supervisor; and Dante Campbell, community liaison at Jefferson.

Through the past several years the Warren City Schools has partnered with Any Given Child and the Kennedy Center to bring more arts experiences for students in Kindergarten through eighth grades.  This year through Any Given Child and working with the SMARTS organization (Students Motivated by the Arts) we will continue to provide these art opportunities throughout the district.

In four classrooms students experience Beats and Empowers programming.  This allows students with special needs the opportunity to build social-emotional and fine motor skills through the arts and to make core content learning tangible through a creative process in collaboration with the teachers.

We will pilot a program called Early SMARTS  in two classrooms in Warren City School’s early childhood programs to provide a Reggio Emilia approach to learning that engages students in open-ended creative play that is supported by research on brain development in children.

The goal of bringing artists from SMARTS in to work with the teachers in order to collaborate with Warren City School teachers to adapt lessons in the WCS curriculum from a traditional instructional approach to an arts integrated instructional approach. Two PK-8 buildings will receive a visual art teaching artist, one building will receive a theater teaching artist and one a music teaching artist. 

As a district we are also utilizing a percussion-based learning program for students with developmental and behavioral challenges. This program uses hand drums and other percussion instruments to engage students by promoting academic learning, increasing musical knowledge, fostering a sense of community, and developing pride, confidence and satisfaction. Originally developed as a pilot project in 2011, SMARTS Beats centers on four goals:                 

1. Promote academic learning through unconventional/alternative techniques.
2. Increase musical knowledge, understanding, and appreciation.
3. Foster a sense of teamwork and community.
4. Develop students’ sense of pride, confidence and satisfaction.    

Warren City Schools preschool teachers will work along side Early SMARTS teachers with lessons that will engage students in visual art, music, dance, or theater, depending on the teaching artist present at the Warren City School site for Arts Integration. This aligns with our current curriculum being used in each of our Warren City Schools preschool classrooms.

In addition to our traditional programs like Art, Cooking, Yoga and Fitness, the 21^st Century After Hours program has added a few STEM-based options for students. 

Stem is Us is a program that explores Science, Technology, Engineering and Math.  Dr. Sheri Cameron (formerly of Youngstown State University) uses engaging lessons to introduce students to the Scientific Method of completing tasks and solving problems. 

C.O.D.E. Warriors is a computer coding program too by computer engineer and district graduate Mr. Jeff Butts.  This program introduces students to the computer codes that enable cell phones, video games and many everyday electronic devices to operate successfully.   

Brite Energy Innovators is a company based in downtown Warren dedicated to finding safe, clean and effective ways to create and store energy.  They are teaching our students how to build batteries as well as simple machines (like mini robots) that are powered by alternative energy sources.