Signs like this help remind motorists to watch for increased bicycle traffic
ROCKY RIVER, Ohio - Ignore those chilly temperatures and the threat of snow flurries. It's time to think spring as the Rocky River Bike to School Challenge returns to Rocky River Middle School and Kensington Intermediate School for the eighth year.
The challenge kicks off with a Rocky River Bicycle Fair 6-7:30 p.m. on April 26 at Rocky River Middle School, 1631 Lakeview Ave. The community is invited to bring bicycles in for a free safety check, learn more about the Rocky River Bike to School Challenge and to obtain information from program sponsors.
At the bike fair, 10-15 bike helmets will be given to the first in line. Rocky River police officers will be writing bike licenses for students and a bike blender station will allow students to make smoothies while riding a bike. Also, June, a therapy dog, will be on hand to greet guests.
The Bike to School Challenge runs from April 30 through May 18 at Rocky River Middle School. At Kensington Intermediate School, the Bike to School Challenge runs May 14-18.
This year's sponsors are Century Cycles, Giant Bicycles, Subway, Honey Hut Ice Cream, Starbucks, Whole Foods, Rocky River PTA and Rocky River City Schools.
There will be designated prize days for participants, including April 30 -- Subway BOGO Day; May 3 -- Bike to School Challenge T-shirt Day; May 4 -- Starbucks Day; May 7 -- Subway BOGO Day; May 9 -- Century Cycles Water Bottle Day and National Bike to School Day; May 10 -- Whole Foods Day; May 14 -- Subway BOGO Day; May 15 -- Honey Hut Ice Cream Day and May 19 -- Final Assembly Day and Wear Your BTS T-shirt Day.
Event organizers said the more students ride their bikes to school, the more prizes they can earn. For example, biking for four days earns them a Bike to School T-shirt designed by Rocky River Middle School seventh-grader Siena Roselli. Riding all 15 days earns a chance in a drawing for an all-day bike ride on the Towpath Trail in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park led by Mark Harris, Rocky River health/fitness education teacher and a Winking Lizard pizza party on June 1.
Additional prizes include two new bikes from Century Cycles, Fitbits, gift cards from local retailers, athletic socks, bike locks, bike lights and bike helmets. Prizes and incentive items are partially funded by the Ohio Safe Routes to School grant program, as well as sponsor donations.
Similar events will take place in Bay Village and Medina. More than 5,000 students at 13 local schools will take the challenge this year.
Human trafficking: The Westshore Campus of Cuyahoga Community College will examine human trafficking in Northeast Ohio at 6 p.m. April 25, as part of its Learning for Life lecture series.
The free program will identify the myths, realities and "red flags" of human trafficking and highlight efforts to combat the criminal industry often linked to the sex trade. Ohio reported a surge in human trafficking investigations last year.
There will be a panel discussion featuring Karen Walsh of the Cleveland-based Collaborative to End Human Trafficking; Teresa Stafford of the Cleveland Rape Crisis Center; and Detective John Morgan of the Cuyahoga County Sheriff's Department. A question and answer session will follow with additional local leaders who are involved in the fight against human trafficking, including Kathy Hackett, a sexual assault nurse examiner with University Hospitals Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital; Cathy Knorzer, chief nursing officer at Westlake's St. John Medical Center; Westlake Police Capt. Jerry Vogel and Fairview Park schools Superintendent Bill Wagner.
The program will be h in room 112 of Westshore Campus, 31001 Clemens Road, Westlake.
Registration is requested but not required. Contact Kara Copeland at kara.copeland@tri-c.edu or 216-987-5968.
Visit tri-c.edu/LearningForLife for more information.
Meet the superintendent: A community reception is planned for 3:30-6 p.m. April 23 at Bay Middle School, 27725 Wolf Road, Bay Village, so the community can meet Jodie Hausmann, the incoming superintendent of Bay Village City Schools. Light refreshments will be provided.
Bay Village residents can meet Jodie Hausmann, the new superintendent of schools, on April 23. Photo provided by Bay Village schools.
Hausmann was selected by the school board in February to replace retiring Superintendent Clint Keener. She is superintendent of Perkins Local School District and will become superintendent in Bay on Aug. 1.
The district also posted a video interview with Hausmann and Keener featuring questions from teachers and students at bayvillageschools.online/HausmannInterview.
Making a mark: In its inaugural competition, Rocky River High School's First Robotics Club earned a plaque and a trophy in the Buckeye Regional FIRST Robotics Competition during spring break at Cleveland State University.
Team members earned the Highest Rookie Seed Award. The RRHS team was the only rookie team to qualify as a backup playoff tea, garnering 25th place out of 55 teams.
Team members who competed were seniors Austin Wilson, William Thesken, Grayson Newton, Jillian Erml and Megan Fox; juniors Austin Schweikert and Annie O'Toole; sophomores Eric Peters, Mohammad Abubakr, Seth Cochran and Josehua O'Halla; and freshmen Kylie Fiala and Hudson Konopka.
More than 1,500 students from Ohio, New York, Pennsylvania and West Virginia competed in the contest. Students designed, built and programmed robots.
The RRHS club began in the fall. Math teacher Nathan Woos is the club adviser. The club is a member of First Robotics, an international program.
Members of Rocky River High School's First Robotics Club are senior Austin Wilson, from left; junior Austin Schweikert; freshman Kylie Fiala; senior William Thesken; sophomore Eric Peters; and senior Grayson Newton. Photo provided by Rocky River schools.
A buzz in Westlake: Members of the Westlake High School Beekeeping Club are planning to install a second honeybee hive later this week - weather permitting -- in greenspace on WHS campus as part of a Beekeeping Club project. About 10,000 worker bees and a queen will be in the hive.
They will install the queen first, and then shake the rest of the bees into the hive. For the first few days, the queen will stay in a special "queen cage" that is protected by a mini marshmallow. By the time the worker bees chew through the marshmallow, the queen will have released enough pheromones to be recognized by the colony. She should begin laying eggs soon and the colony should grow to about 40,000 bees.
WHS juniors and Beekeeping Club co-presidents Claire Brewer and Henyah Dardir will do the installation. WHS science teacher and club adviser Melissa Barth will oversee the process. The bees and equipment were paid for by the Dardir family to support the Beekeeping Club.
The hives are located in green space on the WHS campus. They can be viewed from inside a classroom.
Reminder: Don't forget to register for Lisa Damour's program at 7 p.m. April 23 at the Westlake High School Performing Arts Center. Doors will open at 6:30. Pre-registration is required and can be completed at dr-damour-april-23-2018-70813.cheddarup.com. The program is hosted by Westlake Council of PTAs.
Damour is a psychologist, author, teacher, speaker and consultant who directs Laurel School's Center for Research on Girls, writes the monthly Adolescence column for the Well Family section of the New York Times, is a regular contributor at CBS News, and serves as a senior advisor to the Schubert Center for Child Studies at Case Western Reserve University. She also is the author of the best-selling book, "Untangled: Guiding
For more information, send an email message to Dawn Evans at devansbk@gmail.com.
Information, please: Readers are invited to share information about themselves, their families and friends, organizations, church events, etc. from Bay Village, Rocky River and Westlake for the West Shore Chatter column, which I write on a freelance basis. Awards, honors, milestone birthdays or anniversaries and other items are welcome. Submit information at least 10 days before the requested publication date to carolkovach@hotmail.com.