The Lima City Schools will host a Holiday Family Learning Night for pre-kindergartners through fifth graders from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, Dec. 8, in the commons area at Lima Senior High School.

The holiday-themed event is designed to promote exploratory learning in a fun way. Students from all of the district’s buildings are invited. All students who attend will get a free book to take home.

There will be learning stations set up, including reading a story with Santa, making a holiday ornament, writing a letter to Santa, making letters in the ‘snow,” and much more.

Following the event will be a performance by the Liberty Arts Magnet’s Steel Drum Band at 6:30 p.m. in the commons area. Liberty’s fifth and sixth-grade holiday concert will begin at 7 p.m. in the auditorium.

Students in the Lima City Schools will be on our stages and out in the community performing throughout this holiday season beginning with our annual Holiday in Harmony concert Dec. 1 at Lima Senior High School.

All concerts will be live but also available to watch via livestream here. Each concert will be available for 24 hours following the concert. The livestream link is: https://limacityschools.square.site/

Below are the upcoming performances:

Dec. 1: Holiday in Harmony, 7 p.m. in the Lima Senior Auditorium. The concert, featuring all Lima Senior choir students and ensembles, will include holiday favorites, along with the traditional “Hallelujah Chorus” with choir alumni joining current choir students on stage.

Dec. 4: Lima Senior Carolers at the Downtown Lima Festival, 11 a.m. to noon

Dec. 6: North Middle School Concert, 7 p.m. in the Lima Senior Auditorium

Dec. 7: West Middle School Concert, 7 p.m. in the Lima Senior Auditorium

Dec. 8: Heritage Elementary School Second-Grade Musical, 5 p.m. at the school

Dec. 8: Liberty Arts Magnet School Fifth and Sixth-Grade Arts Showcase at Lima Senior. Art and Steel Drum at 6:30 p.m. Concert at 7 p.m.

Dec. 9: Liberty Arts Magnet School Seventh and Eighth-Grade Arts Showcase at Lima Senior. Art and Steel Drum at 6:30 p.m. Concert at 7 p.m.

Dec. 11: Lima Senior Scarlet and Gray and Spartanaires at the Lima Mall, 11 a.m.

Dec. 14: Freedom Elementary School Concert, 1:30 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. at the school.

Dec. 14: South Science and Technology Magnet School Concert, 7 p.m. in the South commons area

Dec 15: Heritage Elementary School Holiday Extravaganza featuring Fourth-Grade Recorders, Heritage Harmonics and Show Choir, 5 p.m.

Dec. 15: Lima Senior Band and Orchestra Concert, 7 p.m. in the Lima Senior Auditorium

Dec. 16: Independence Elementary School Concert, 9 a.m. and 5 p.m. at Independence

*In addition, artwork from elementary students in the Lima City Schools will be on display at the Christmas Tree Festival at the Allen County Museum. The festival begins Dec. 1 and runs through Dec. 5.

West Middle School will kick off a new community engagement program, PIECE (Parent Involvement Engagement Community Exchange) Night from 5 to 6 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 10, at Meat City, 801 E. Kibby St.

The goal of each monthly PIECE Night is to help establish effective communication to ensure both the school and community are responsive to student’s unique needs and overall development as a West Middle School Spartan.

PIECE Nights will allow West parents and other community members to interact with the school’s Resource Officer and Administration. It will also allow community members to receive information regarding West and allow time for personal interaction to help increase the overall communication between the school and families.

Below is the schedule for the year. Each will be from 5 to 6 p.m.

November 10: Meat City, 801 E. Kibby St.

December 1: Vibe Coffeehouse & Café, 311 E. Market St.

January 6: Black Lace Hair Salon, 768 N. Main St.

February 2: Lima Fire Station #3, 1199 N. West St.

March 9: To Be Determined

April 13: Heritage Elementary School, 816 College Ave.

May 4: Unity Elementary School, 925 E. Third St.

For questions or more information, contact West Principal TJ Winkler at 419-996-3152.

Students from across Ohio are being encouraged to share their experiences with violence and develop solutions to protect other kids in their communities as part of a collaboration with Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost and the Do the Write Thing program.

Yost is expanding the second year of the writing program beginning with middle-school students from the Lima City Schools in Allen County.

The Zanesville City Schools in Muskingum County has also signed on this year, with those two districts joining Clark County’s Springfield City School District, which last year became the first in Ohio to participate.

Students are being asked to write about the effects of violence, including bullying, on their lives.

“Providing children an outlet to discuss their fears and grief around these devastating incidents can provoke real change and better understanding,” Yost said. “I was blown away last year when I read stories of bravery and the ideas for change these students produced.”

A study released this year by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention showed that emergency room visits for attempted suicide increased 31% during the pandemic among children ages 12-17. Also, a U.S. Department of Justice study found that 60% of students had been directly or indirectly exposed to violence, exposures that caused long-term physical and mental harm and increased the likelihood that the students would continue the cycle of violence.

The Do the Write Thing program challenges students to express in story, poem, song or any other written form the violence they’ve faced, with an emphasis on exploring these key questions:

• How does violence affect your daily life?
• What are some of the causes of youth violence in your community?
• What can you as an individual do to reduce youth violence in your community?

Lima City Schools Superintendent Jill Ackerman said students need more opportunities like this to safely talk about violence and the effects it has had on them.

“The Lima City Schools is so thankful that the Attorney General’s Office offered us this wonderful opportunity to be part of the Do the Write Thing program,” she said. “I believe our students will grow and heal from this experience, and there will be much that we as adults can learn from their words.”

Do the Write Thing, organized by the National Campaign to Stop Violence, has been in existence for 26 years, with programs operating in 26 cities in 13 states. Since its inception, 2.5 million middle-school students have participated.

“We’ve all had to confront violence at some point in our lives, but what we don’t always do is talk about it,” Yost said. “This process will not only be cathartic but also help us all be better leaders.”