Pepper Pike Civic Award 2013

Pepper Pike high school residents (or their parents): There are four (4) days left to check out and apply for the Civic Award 2013 - an opportunity for a $2000 scholarship toward college. Here's some information and the relevant links are here:

The Pepper Pike Civic League is offering a $2000 Civic Award to a high school senior who is a resident of Pepper Pike, attends a high school in the general vicinity of Pepper Pike and is planning to attend college in 2013. The Award’s purpose is to encourage students to become aware of, participate in, and support Pepper Pike and community governments, in general.

Applicants must currently be a senior high school student and a resident of Pepper Pike. The applicant must attend an accredited college in 2013 and furnish proof of enrollment in a college.

Applicants must submit a one (1) page essay describing what the student believes is the single most important issue currently facing Pepper Pike with recommendations about how that issue might be addressed.  Refer to the application for complete requirements.

The application form and instructions are available from the student’s guidance counselor as well as on this website below.  The completed application, along with the required essay, must be submitted by March 31 to: Pepper Pike Civic League , P.O. Box 24808, Pepper Pike, Ohio 44124. The Award will be presented to the winning applicant  at the Pepper Pike Civic League’s Town Hall meeting to be held in April, 2013.

The Town Hall meeting will be April 23 at 7pm at Brady Middle School. Thanks as always to the Civic League for offering this opportunity!

Babcock Property purchased by and gifted to City of Pepper Pike by family of Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan

Greetings (and Merry Christmas to all who are celebrating!).

I received the press release (published in its entirety) from the Mayor this evening with the news about the disposition of what has often been referred to as the Babcock Property located on the eastern side of Lander Circle between Chagrin and Pinetree.  Please read the release for the details which the Mayor has shared. I was so excited by the news, I knew that there would be residents who would be equally interested and excited. I have no doubt that plenty of information will be forthcoming after the holidays pass but I do want to express gratitude to the family of Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan for this incredible act.

Please have a safe and joyous holiday season.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:   December 24, 2012

CONTACT:  MAYOR RICHARD BAIN

CITY OF PEPPER PIKE

216 896-6126

Press Release:

The City of Pepper Pike is very happy to announce it is receiving a gift of land for use as a city park. The park has been purchased from Garfield Memorial Church and donated to the city in memory of their parents by the family of Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan.  Known by many in the community as the former Mary Babcock property, it is located adjacent to Lander Circle at the intersection of Chagrin Blvd, Pinetree Rd. and Lander Rd. It consists of approximately 1.6 acres, and includes a meandering creek, woodland trees, shed and a 2000 square foot house constructed in the early 1900s.   

Pepper Pike Mayor Richard Bain said, “This land sits at the southern gateway to Pepper Pike and is an important historic link to the past. This site was at the heart of the original Orange Township. The site has been in constant use since the early 19^th century and apparently functioned as part of a farm for which foundation stones still exist. In this immediate area stood the township’s first shops and church. The graves of its early settlers dating to the mid 19^th century still remain, and later the electric Interurban Railway ran through here. This very generous gift will allow us to preserve a green gateway to Pepper Pike and enhance the community. We have worked with the family and Garfield Memorial Church to assist in this transpiring and I sincerely thank them for their commitment to the city and salute the family for this wonderful tribute to their parents.”

A Morgan family spokesman stated, “This parcel of land is given to the city of Pepper Pike in memory of Stanley L. and Eloise M. Morgan by their family.  The land is to be used as a park for all residents to enjoy.  Mr. and Mrs. Morgan moved to Pepper Pike in 1957 and resided there until their deaths.  They watched Pepper Pike grow and develop, and would have been pleased that the last green space on Lander Circle will remain that way.”

Mayor Bain further remarked, “We will also be using the park for educational purposes, and working with Chagrin River Watershed Partners to restore the creek and enhance the site. I would like to see in addition, that the park becomes an historic reminder of how the community originated. We will be investigating how best to utilize the park for that purpose. Any residents who have historic knowledge of the site, including records and photographs of the area, or wish to contribute ideas are invited to be in contact with me. A rejuvenated Pepper Pike Historic Society will be established to help with this project. ”

For additional information regarding this Press Release, please contact

Mayor Richard Bain at 216 896-6126

UPCOMING! Health Fair in the Park, Community Meeting about New Library, Candidates & Issues Night

1. From the City's website:

You're Invited to the CITY OF PEPPER PIKE'S HEALTH AND WELLNESS FAIR - SATURDAY, JULY 21 - 9 AM - 1 PM

WHERE: Pepper Pike Park

WHAT: Join University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center for a fun day of activities to help the City of Pepper Pike become "the healthiest place to live". Featuring the official kick-off of Mayor Richard Bain's "Biggest Winner" health challenge, we'll celebrate a new era of health and wellness through out our community. Click "more..." to view the University Hospitals Ahuja Medical Center and the City of Pepper Pike Health Fair flyer for more information!

You can find the flyer on this page of the City website.

2. From the Cuyahoga County Public Library (see full flyer here):

WHAT: Community Meeting
WHEN: Thursday, July 26, 2012, 6:00PM
WHERE: Pepper Pike Learning Center, 32000 Chagrin Boulevard, Pepper Pike 44124

We Want to Hear from You!   The public is invited to attend a community meeting regarding the new Orange Branch of Cuyahoga County Public Library.  Library representatives will give a brief presentation,  followed by a Q&A.
EVENT HELD at ORANGE CITY SCHOOLS

3. From the Pepper Pike Civic League:

WHAT: Candidates & Issues Night

WHEN: Thursday, September 20, 2012, 7:00-9:00PM
WHERE: Brady Middle School, 32000 Chagrin Boulevard, Pepper Pike 44124

Congratulations to Jennifer Cohen, new Orange School Board member

From the Orange Schools website:

The Orange City School District Board of Education announced today that it has selected Ms. Jennifer Cohen to serve the remainder of the term vacated by Mr. Stanley Morganstern. That term expires December 31, 2013. She will be sworn in at the Board meeting on February 13, 2012.

Cohen is a 13 year resident of Orange Village where she and her husband reside with their three children, who attend Orange Schools. She has served on the board of the Orange Schools Foundation for five years, including the last three years as Co-President and grant committee chair. She is currently on Orange High School’s After-Prom committee and is a hospitality co-chair. Cohen is a volunteer with the OHS swim team and with Stagecrafters theater group through Orange Community Education and Recreation.

She has worked for 25 years in Human Resources Management and currently is the Professional Personnel Director for The Jewish Federation of Cleveland. She has a Bachelors of Science degree from The Ohio State University. She is involved in numerous community organizations.
“Jennifer is an excellent addition to the Orange Board of Education,” said Mr. Sam Steinhouse, Orange Board of Education President. “Her personal and professional experience will definitely be an asset to our schools.”

Cohen was one of 16 residents who applied for the open seat. Morganstern stepped down from the school board effective January 16, 2012. He cited the winding down of his Ohio based law practice and his plans to spend most of his time in Arizona as the reason for his resignation. 

I served with Jennifer on the Orange Schools Foundation and am sure she will do a great job.  Good luck to her and the board as they proceed.

Brady Principal email re: 7th graders working TODAY w/police, K-9s - NO FREAKING OUT :)

Just received in my inbox:

Dear Orange Schools families and staff,

On Thursday, January 19th, students in Mrs. McGeown's  7th grade enrichment science class will be participating in an all day field experience on the Orange Schools Campus.  This experience has been planned since last May and relates to the topic of forensic science.   Please be assured that if you see students, police, K-9 search and rescue teams in the woods, or on the school campus this Thursday it is part of a simulation and not an actual emergency.

Thank you for supporting the Orange Schools!

Sincerely,

Brian Frank
Principal
Brady Middle School

Opening on Orange Board of Education-Applications Being Taken thru 1/25/12 at 12noon

The announcement is here on the Orange Schools' website. In pertinent part:

The Orange School City District announced today that Stanley Morganstern has resigned from the Orange Schools Board of Education effective January 16, 2012. Morganstern cited the winding down of his Ohio based law practice and plans to spend most of his time in Arizona as the reason for his resignation.

The Board of Education will begin interviewing candidates to serve out the rest of Morganstern’s second term, which is up at the end of the year 2013. By law, the open seat must be filled by the February 13, 2012 Board meeting. Applications for district residents interested in applying are available at the Board of Education office or by e-mailing Orange Schools Treasurer Greg Slemons at gslemons@orangecsd.org. The deadline for turning in completed applications is Wednesday, January 25, 2010 at 12 p.m.

Update: This article offers a bit more information for those interested.

Updatex2: And this article has a bit more.

View detailed property tax information

Today (Sunday, 1/8/12), the Plain Dealer published online an excellent tool for helping see - precisely and precise - property tax information. You can view just your total tax bill only, or you can have the result include summaries for schools, cities, parks, etc., or you can get results that show the full details of each levy (year after year, then with a subtotal of the levy category with a final total of all the levies at the end).

I selected that last option but here's what it looks like when you select Pepper Pike (Orange Schools) (click on the chart to enlarge it or see it in a separate tab/screen):

If you want to see each of the levies that make up the subtotals, you can search on the last option offered in the search tool.

You can see I've left a comment at the post asking if the per $100,000 of home value is assessed value or market value. I'm pretty sure it's assessed but still think it should be clarified for folks who go right to the chart and have not read the accompanying articles.

TODAY: Community Forum on the high school & recent threat; other reminders

Just sent out this email.

Good afternoon,

My apologies for sending you email on a Sunday afternoon, but I wanted to pass on this information and a few other reminders:

1. The Orange Schools administration is hosting a community forum to provide updated information on the high school and the recent threat today, Sunday, November 13th from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Pepper Pike Learning Center (PPLC).  You will have the opportunity to hear information and share questions.  I will be there and hope as many village and city officials as possible, from all the school district communities, will be present as well.  The PPLC is located off of Chagrin Boulevard, on Gail Allison drive, across the street from the main schools administration building. It is opposite the high school football field. You can see a map here but be sure to "zoom in" on it if you are hoping to see its details.

2. Huge congratulations to all those who voted this past Tuesday.  The unofficial voter turnout appears to be around 58% which is fantastic for an off-year election.  You can read more about the results here. I've already sent my personal congratulations to the winners and I also personally thank everyone who ran.  Many of you who have been reading what I've been writing know that one of my mantras is, "Don't get mad, get elected."  It's enormously gratifying to see residents dig in and put themselves out there for us to have choices.

3. This week there are two meetings:

TUESDAY EVENING, 11/15/11, 7:00pm: Finance Oversight Subcommittee meeting, public, open, council chambers. The agenda is here.  There has been some debate as to what the scope of this committee should be so if you are interested in that, I would strongly recommend attending. Last year, the committee stuck to reviewing month to month and year over year revenues and expenditures with discussion of red flags and other items. This year, this is discussion about the committee more broadly discussing cost-cutting and revenue raising needs as well as possibly being or converting to an audit committee.

WEDNESDAY EVENING, 11/16/11, 8:00pm: City Council Meeting, public, open, Council chambers. The agenda is here and also attached to this email.

4. PLEASE NOTE TRASH COLLECTION DATES on the City website's calendar (see here) for Thanksgiving week.  Call (216-896-6149) the Service Department if you have any questions.

5. Finally, for those who have any interest in the DC event at which I spoke last week and received an Innovator Award for political leadership in the digital age, here's a photo and article about it.  There's more of both lurking out there in the interwebz but I'm notoriously unphotogenic so you'll have to use "teh Google" as we say and find them yourselves if you so desire!

Have a good rest of your weekend and again, thank you for being great constituents. Please let me know if you have any questions, comments or concerns.

Best,
Jill

TONIGHT (10/26): Composting Seminar at City Hall

On City Council, I've seen how recycling efforts how keep our land fill dumping costs down.  So, when I read, several weeks ago, that Lakewood had hosted the Cuyahoga County Solid Waste District's free seminar on composting, I thought we should bring it to Pepper Pike.

As you may already know from a recent mayor's letter and the City website's calendar, this seminar, which emphasizes the importance of rear-yard composting, and how easy it is to do so, will be given this evening (Wednesday, October 26) in the Council Chambers from 6:30-7:30pm. At this gathering, the Solid Waste District officials will provide helpful how-to-compost instructions and other information on rear-yard composting. They will also provide for sale two types of affordable composting bins as well as a kitchen collection container.

Why is this important?

The more residents we have composting, the more it helps lower the City’s land fill dumping costs, as well as help the environment. The seminar will last only one hour, during which you may also ask any questions you have on composting.

I will be there and I hope you will join me.

BONUS: Please - don't forget to vote. Election day is less than two weeks away. You can still request and vote by absentee ballot by going here, and of course you can vote on election day at your polling place in Pepper Pike (learn more here). In addition to voting on Pepper Pike Mayor, Pepper Pike Council (3 seats) and the Orange Schools levy, there are three statewide ballot issues on which you need to vote:

• State Issue 1 - Judicial Retirement Age Constitutional Amendment
• State Issue 2 - Referendum on Senate Bill 5
• State Issue 3 - Health Care Freedom Amendment

The 2011 State Issues Report includes the official ballot language, explanations, arguments for and against and the full text of the proposed constitutional amendments and referendum. You can read it at the Secretary of State's website, www.OhioSecretaryofState.gov when you click on the "Statewide Issues Information" button.

BONUS #2: Pepper Pike resident, Dr. Roxanne Sukol, wrote this wonderful item about composting and wanted to share it with other residents interested in doing the same.

TONIGHT! FORUM ON SCHOOLS OPERATING LEVY, and other City Updates

From an email I sent out this afternoon:

Good afternoon! Right to them:

1. TONIGHT - Residents are invited to attend a Community Forum at 7 p.m. at the Pepper Pike Learning Center on the upcoming Operating Levy that will be on the November 8th ballot to support the Orange City Schools District. Orange Schools administrators and Orange Schools Levy 2011 Committee Co-Chairs will be on hand to share information and answer questions.

2. October Meetings:

Planning & Zoning, Monday, October 3, 7:30pm

Road & Safety, Wednesday, October 12, 7:30pm

City Council, Wednesday, October 19, 7:30pm

3. On the City website now: another Dispatch report commissioned by Mayor Akers.  Click here to read.

4. Attached for your reference is a mailing dated 9/23/11 which was from the Mayor and is an update to residents regarding the Finance Review Committee Report recommendations.  Please contact City Hall (831-8500) if you have any trouble viewing it and have not already received it in either electronic or hard copy format.

5. The draft 2012 budget and draft five year forecasts were distributed at the Finance Oversight Comm. meeting where they began to review the documents and agreed that Council should receive them as soon as possible (I made a particular plea to be sure that Council gets them ASAP). If you are interested in this process, I would suggest you plan on attending the October meetings when Council is expected to start reviewing these documents and numbers. I will be requesting that these documents be placed online as soon as Council begins public deliberations.  Until that time, you should feel free to call the finance director to view the documents.

6. Absentee ballot applications can be requested here.  The "opening date" for voting by absentee (mail-in) ballot appears to still be October 4, 2011, according to the 9/13/11 document on the county BOE's website. I make no promises though - there seems to still be confusion over this until after September 30.  Regardless, if you want a mail-in ballot, it would not hurt to just send in your application.

As always, if you have any comments, questions or concerns, please contact me at your convenience.

All the best and thank you for letting me serve,

Jill

Orange City Schools Excellent With Distinction for 2011 Report Card

Way to go!  Go here and put in "Orange" and select "Cuyahoga" for the County.  Below is a screenshot of the overall information. When you go to the search tool and get the result, you will be able to see grade by grade information and more.

Here's Orange District Data from the same search results:

Thank you to our teachers, administrators, students, parents - community. Please - as the levy vote approaches, consider all that is done with our schools in these very challenging times. I support the school levy and feel free to ask me more about that if you want to know why.

Saturday, July 23: Special School Board Meeting For Discussion of Budget Cuts, Tax Levy Millage

The Chagrin Solon Sun ran two lengthy articles yesterday about how the approved Ohio state budget will affect the communities in our area.  One article deals with the municipalities (you can read that one here) and the other, which you can read here, discussed input from school districts.

Regarding the Orange schools:

The Orange School District has not discussed its final budget cuts publicly yet, but has scheduled a special Board of Education meeting at 8 a.m. July 23 to discuss them in advance of its regular meeting July 25.

...


Voters last approved a new levy in 2004, when the board promised to come back to them at four-year intervals only. The district stretched that three more years with budget-cutting and the use of some cash reserves, Slemons said.

He had said he expects the size of the new levy to be 5 or 6 mills, but that statement was prior to passage of the final state budget.

I plan on attending.

Social Media Used by Orange High School to Combat Bullying

And well done!  From WKYC:

Bullying is a major issue for schools and Orange High School is using the "flash mob" trend to try to stop bullies.

A senior history and democracy class used the "Facing History and Ourselves" curriculum to teach kids how important it is to stand up against hate and intolerance in all of its forms.

"We mapped out the school and had kids tell us where they have witnessed bullying, and now we are boosting the awareness," says teacher Gail Price.

You can see photos from the event here.

If you're not familiar with flash mobs, you can learn more here.

Orange Schools 2010 Report Card: Excellent With Distinction

The Plain Dealer has extensive coverage today on the Ohio Department of Education's report cards for our region's schools.  You can find information on any school or district by visiting the DOE's site here or the PD's tools here.  This page offers a nice array of information specific to the Orange Schools.  You can read their news item about the report card results here.  (Pepper Pike is in the Orange Schools public school district.)

I wrote a series of three articles about testing in Ohio for Cleveland Family magazine a few years ago.  You can read them here:

Testing...one, two, three

The Testing Grounds

Attitude Helps Parents Reduce Testing Anxiety

Yo - School's Started - Don't Honk At The Buses

I'm digressing from political chatter in this post in order to provide a friendly reminder to everyone who traverses through our community on school days: don't honk at the buses while they're picking up kids. Don't drive past the bus on the opposite side while kids are loading. Don't pass the bus while it's stopped.

Check out this rules of the road for encountering school buses quiz. How many questions could you answer?

Here are the two main Ohio laws that govern exactly what a school bus driver must do when picking up children and what you as a driver encountering a school bus must do to for stopped school buses.

A lot of school buses go through Pepper Pike on nearly all if not all our streets, including the main ones of Lander, South Woodland, Shaker, SOM and Fairmount. They are unavoidable if you're out on the roads between 6:30am and as late as 4:30pm.  I know how frustrating it can be when the drivers and the kids and the parents appear to you, as a driver in a stopped car, to be taking "too long." But you have got to trust that there is a reason and that it is almost certainly a reason related to safety - yours and theirs.

This post was triggered by the following incident: This morning, my children's first full day in the Orange schools, much to my enormous disappointment, and in 12 years of having my kids ride the school bus and picked up on South Woodland, for the first time ever, a car leaned on its horn and did not stop until my child's school bus began to pull away from the driveway edge.  It was probably a good 15 seconds of that honk, maybe more.  That is absolutely uncalled for and obviously did not work (if you're honking for more than 5 seconds and the bus isn't moving, do you really think another 10 seconds is going to make a difference?).

Your input is needed: PUBLIC COMMENT PERIOD CLOSES JUNE 15 regarding Orange Library plans

The Cuyahoga County Public Library system has decided to not expand the Orange Library, after previously indicating that it would be expanded. This Chagrin Valley Times piece is also helpful background as to the disappointment about the elimination of plans for the Orange branch. The Friends of the Orange Branch Library position is stated below these directions/request for action and a response from the CCPL's Executive Director is below that.

The Orange library is the center of so much activity and in economic hard times, is more vital than ever, even in an area blessed with the resources we have, compared to those in some other communities.  As you'll read below, our branch is in need, and that includes being in need of us to support it.  Please consider taking action.

1. Public comments about the County's downgrading of plans for the Orange branch and overall plans will be accept through June 15, 2010.
Go to the Cuyahoga County Public Library Site www.cuyahogalibrary.org
Select "About Us" on the menu
On the pulldown select "Facilities Master Plan"
On the "Facilities Master Plan Page" click on "Public Comment"
Fill out the Public Comment form and send

2. By e-mail contact Sari Feldman, Executive Director CCPL, and please request that she transmit your correspondence to the County Library Board.

Creativity Among Us: More on Pepper Pike Resident Bryan Pflaum & His Work

After reading about the award Pepper Pike resident Bryan Pflaum received for his very unique work in education at the Cleveland Clinic, I wrote him a congratulations email and asked a couple of questions.  With his permission, I'm publishing his description of the work he does that is having a direct effect on Orange School district kids and students around the region. 

Thank you so much for the thoughtful email – and for the nice article on your web site! Your interest in the work we’re doing in the Clinic’s Office of Civic Education Initiatives is greatly appreciated.

I am still the artistic director of the Cleveland Clinic Theatre Company, and we are still in operation, although on a limited, project-by-project basis. Our latest initiative was adapting an original Cleveland Clinic Theatre Company children’s play into an animated video for healthCARE™ (Cultivating Acceptance and Respect through Education). This is an educational program that provides free online resources designed to promote inclusion and self-esteem among children ages 5 through 10. The video, The Story of Mr. Oak and Miss Reed, can be viewed here: www.clevelandclinic.org/healthCARE.

As a resident of Pepper Pike – and as a father of three children in the district – I’m happy to report that Orange High School has participated in our eXpressions™ line of programs. Launched in 2005, eXpressions™ is an interdisciplinary initiative that utilizes creative expression to engage high school students in the world of scientific research. Through project-based, peer-to-peer learning, students produce interpretations of research studies conducted by Cleveland Clinic science interns. Award-winning projects from the eXpressions™ Art and Language programs (several from Orange High School students) are currently on exhibition at the Great Lakes Science Center (GLSC). The exhibit at GLSC comes down on March 15; at that time, though, we’ll launch the 2010 virtual eXpressions™ eXhibition on our web site. You can view last year’s award-winning projects (including several from OHS students) by clicking here: http://www.clevelandclinic.org/civiceducation/eXpressionsGallery/eXpressionsGallery09/.

WVIZ: Pepper Pike Resident's Charter School Success

I had nothing to do with it, but I do feel good being able to say that I know of John Zitzner in part because he lives in the Landerwood neighborhood, where I also live.  However, I feel even better about John's presence in our region because of the amazing contributions he has made to showing people what successful, non-profit charter schools look like and how they - and their students - function and succeed.

Through Facebook, I learned that PBS/WVIZ Ideastream will be broadcasting a program tomorrow on John's venture, Zealous Schools, tomorrow at 3pm. You can hear more about Zealous Schools on this WCPN Sound of Ideas program from a couple of weeks ago and you can read more about E-Prep here and Village Prep (the two current Zealous Schools programs in Cleveland) here.

If the program becomes available to watch on the Internet, I will post a link to it. You can follow Zealous Schools on Twitter (@zealous_schools) and Facebook.

Update: Here's a recent I-Open interview with John.