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.”

The Lima Symphony Orchestra recently completed a project almost two years in the making – Project Noteworthy. This educational project, which stemmed from a grant from the National Endowment for the Arts awarded to the orchestra in 2020, culminated in performances of original songs written and performed by Lima City School students and accompanied by the Lima Symphony Orchestra. The songs, written by the students themselves, were inspired by feelings of isolation and loneliness brought on by the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns and remote learning.

After months of planning, Project Noteworthy launched in early 2021. This unique project gave students in four elementary and middle school classes in the Lima City School district a creative outlet to process the anxiety and isolation they experienced amidst the upheaval caused by COVID-19. Participating classes include Ms. Rohrbaugh’s 4th grade class from Independence Elementary, Mrs. Miller’s 4th grade class from Heritage Elementary, Mrs. Place’s 4th grade class from Freedom Elementary, and Mr. MacBenn’s 5th grade class from North Middle School. Working with professional songwriter and children’s book author Mary Amato, students gave voice to both their fears and their resiliency, creating original songs. The songs were then arranged for orchestra by composer Jonathan Wey, and performed by Lima Symphony Orchestra musicians under the direction of Music Director Andrew Crust. Ultimately, close to 70 students participated in this amazing and inspirational project.

“I am so excited by the outcome this project,” commented Renee Keller, Marketing and Educational Coordinator with the Symphony. “Last year was really difficult for everybody, but especially for students. I can’t imagine what it must have been like for students to miss out on almost an entire year of in-person learning. With the funding we were awarded from the National Endowment for the Arts, the Symphony really wanted to find a way to help students use music as a way to heal from that experience. I think this project really shows how powerful a tool music can be in terms of bringing people together and helping them move forward.”

Funding from the National Endowment for the Arts was matched by a generous contingent of local sponsors, including: Dominion Energy, Lima Pathology, Rudolph Foods, AR-Hale Family Foundation, Range Kleen, Altria, Lima Pallet, Mid-American Cleaning Contractors, Sign Source USA, Inc., and Mercy Health/St. Rita’s.

A complete summary of the project and performances by the participating classes are available for viewing through the Lima Symphony Orchestra website (https://www.limasymphony.com/project-noteworthy) and YouTube page (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj7smZVocCn1D6qfHQqqvyQ), or by following the video links are listed below:

Project Noteworthy: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-WNdazlTDc

“Deep in My Emotions” – Crystal Miller’s 4th Grade Heritage Elementary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZU2BQIOrgA

“Everything is Right” – Nicole Rohrbaugh’s 4th Grade Independence Elementary:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BHILmpLVfjg

“Gray Day” – Joe MacBenn’s 5th Grade North Middle School: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xJ1FQ_0eQhs 

“Trying to Find the Light” – Kara Place’s 4th Grade Freedom Elementary: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GY7GOwgYYeE 

Participants:

Ms. Mary Amato – Songwriting Coach

Mrs. Renee Keller – Marketing and Education Coordinator, Lima Symphony Orchestra

Mrs. Kristin Lee – Director of Arts and Magnet Program, Lima City Schools

Mr. Jonathan Wey – Music Arranger

Modo Media, LLC

Chad Stearns

Jonathan Fissel

Cody Ridenour

Musicians:

Conductor: Andrew Crust

Violin 1: Michael Houff

Violin 2: Matthew Latawiec

Viola: Carmen Granger

Cello: Shelbi Wagner

Flute: Lindsay Baker

Oboe: Terri Rivetti

Clarinet: Hila Zamir

Trombone: Dale Laukhuf

Horn: Greg Hillis

Drums: Sarah Waters

Independence Elementary:

Ms. Nicole Rohrbaugh

Students:

Kimiah Alston

Zani Armstrong

Luke Goodin

Taiwan Griffin

Madison Hendricks

Kesan Johnson

Tevin Kelley

Avery Martin

Ja’Kyia McWay

Acie Myers

Traven Roeder

Daylen Rogers

Terry Simpson

Zai’Den White

Keagan Williams

Heritage Elementary:

Mrs. Crystal Miller – Music Teacher, Heritage Elementary School

Miss Katelyn Shepherd – Student Teacher, Ohio Northern University

Mrs. Samantha Tippie – 4th Grade Teacher, Heritage Elementary

Students:

JayQuan Ackles

Aleah Bass

Gaige Bellamy

Ayden Bevis

Courtney Coleman

Ay’den Deal

Derik Green

King Grisby

Raylen Hampton

Tylor Hodge

Jaeshadd Jones

Addisyn Lape

G’Naya Secession

Ta’Shaun Thomas

Laney Thomas-Eldridge

Paityn Tripp

Ni’Asia Walker

Bri’son Ward

North Middle School:

Mr. Joe MacBenn

Students:

Quin’Nasija Ackles

Caylee Coffman

Avy’Ahna Fields

Hailey Gillette

Angela Green

Andrew Green

Somalia Johnson

Saniyah Jones

Koralyn Kay

Kamiah Lee

Remi Ordoñez

Lakken Ousley

Tahleya Ricks

Aleesha Stewart

Tybalt Thirkill

Nicholas Thompson

Taylor White

Chae’la White

Zachariah Wicker

Marte’ja Nelson

Rylan Hammack

Demetruis Kelly

Y’aMari Martin

Zairea Young

Freedom Elementary School:

Mrs. Kara Place

Students:

Kyley Bridgewater

Ke’von Conner

Tori-Ajia Dew

Talyn Ford

E’Manie Fuller

Derrick McNeal

Victoria Pierce

Keyanna Robertson

Zy’shon Robinson

Amyla Sorrels

Te’Niya Whiteside-Jones

Sponsors:

National Endowment for the Arts

Dominion Energy

Lima Pathology

Rudolph Foods

AR-Hale Family Foundation

Range Kleen

Altria

Lima Pallet

Mid-American Cleaning Contractors

Sign Source USA, Inc.

Mercy Health/St. Rita’s

The Lima Symphony Orchestra is dedicated to preserving musical excellence as a living part of our community. Serving communities throughout West Central Ohio, the Lima Symphony annually presents five subscription concerts, a family concert, Mozart by Candlelight concerts and an annual New Year’s Eve Pops concert.

Every Day. On Time. School Today. Success Tomorrow.

This is the message the Lima City Schools will push out to students and parents throughout the school year in an effort to improve attendance and ultimately student success.

The “Every Day. On Time” mantra can be seen around the school district and community, with television commercials, billboards, banners and posters in schools and local businesses.

“We want our students and parents seeing and hearing this message everywhere they go,” Superintendent Jill Ackerman said. “This should be a community-wide push. School attendance impacts not just students and schools, but the entire community. A student with attendance issues now with likely carry them over to the workforce.”

Statistics show that students with chronic absentee issues are more likely to struggle in the classroom, including on reading skills, tests and ultimately graduation. Additional statistics on attendance can be found below.

The campaign is designed to promote good attendance as well as to get at the root cause of attendance issues and then help families navigate those issues. Parent workshops and other interventions are planned throughout the school year. Parents have also received materials with tips and ideas on how to improve their child’s attendance.

“We know there are lots of reasons why families might struggle with attendance, some that we may not even be aware of,” Ackerman said. “We need to dig deep and work with families to understand those issues and then together address them.”

An important piece of the campaign is incentives and rewarding both students and parents. It is important to reward small successes, Ackerman said, in order to begin to make real lasting changes and impact attendance beyond one month or one year.

A number of local businesses have stepped up to provide incentives for the program. Thanks to Westgate Entertainment, Lima YMCA, Open Doors Academy, Speedway, Charles River Laboratories, North Middle School staff, Championship Floors, Allen Oakwood Correctional Institution, Mercy Health, Cheap Sign Company, Sullivan Insurance, Teamsters Union, Lima Pallet, Keller Williams Realtors and Alexander Realtors.

Statistics on the impact of attendance

Missing two days of school a month, or 18 days a year, is 10 percent of the year and considered chronic absenteeism.

Absenteeism in the first month of school predicts poor attendance throughout the school year.

Poor attendance influences whether a child reads proficiently by the end of third grade or is held back a grade.

By sixth grade, chronic absenteeism is a leading indicator that a student will drop out of high school.

For every year of chronic absences the student starts the following year further behind.

Early absences correlate with reading difficulties and poor attendance in later years.

Chronically absent preschool students are five times more likely to be chronically absent in second grade.

Chronic absences in preschool correlate to weaker kindergarten readiness scores.

Students who are chronically absent each year between preschool and second grade have reading scores that indicate a need for intensive intervention.

A students is seven times more likely to drop out if they had one year of chronic absenteeism between 8^th and 12^th grade.

Chronic absences are associated with lower test scores.

Children who are chronically absent in early years of education fall behind peers in social-emotional development.

Students with chronic absences are less likely to go to college or get a job.

When students improve attendance, they improve academic prospects and chances for graduating.

Late arrivals disrupt other students/class time.

Students who are tardy perform lower on test scores, as do others in their class.

Students who arrive on time to school have time to get settled into class, get supplies/materials ready, focus.

Tardy students miss the start of lessons, important information, reminders about tests, due dates, etc.

Students who are perpetually late are more likely to fall behind academically.

Being on time develops pattern of being punctual that will carry over to college, jobs and other commitments.

Students who arrive to school on time every day feel better about themselves and have higher self esteem.

Chronic tardiness most often leads to chronic absenteeism.

How parents can help address attendance issues

Monitor child’s attendance.

Communicate with teacher and school.

Establish bedtime and morning routines.

Get clothes out and book bag ready night before.

Gt up a little earlier (set alarm clock 15 minute earlier).

Post school schedule on the refrigerator or other high-traffic place in home.

Have a back-up plan on how to get child to school.

Talk with your child about the importance of school and good attendance.

Avoid trips and non-urgent medical appointments during the school day.

Make sure child has required shots/immunizations before school year starts.

Identify issues (stress, academic struggles, bullying, etc.) that could be causing child to not want to go to school.