The Lakewood Board of Education at its meet-ing tonight, Feb. 22, is set to name LakewoodAssistant Superintendent Jeffrey W. Patterson assuccessor to Superintendent P. Joseph Madak.

The exit of Madak, whose last day will be July31, 2011, and hiring of Patterson is part of anongoing succession plan that Madak and the Boardhave been collaborating on for some time.

“When we hired Joe, we knew that he was onlygoing to be here a few years,” said Board President

Matthew John Markling. “One of the charges hehad coming in as superintendent was to have asuccession plan in place.”

“We had always brought (Madak) here to get ajob done and he’s accomplished that,” Marklingcontinued.

Tops among those accomplishments was passinga 6.9 mill operating levy in May 2010 and oversee-ing more than $4 million in cuts that has played a

Lakewood City Schools continues todeepen its commitment to giving studentsthe technological tools and instruction tosucceed in an increasingly digitized world.

In January, 180 students at LakewoodHigh and about 120 at Harding MiddleSchool received mini-netbook computers.Eighty Ipod Touches were also bought forthe high school project and 60 Toucheswere purchased for Harding. All the equip-ment was bought with money from a feder-

al stimulus E-tech grant the two schoolsreceived to integrate real world digitaltools into classroom learning.

The high school laptops are part of the1:1 computing initiative at the high schoolthat is a component of a pilot project calledLHS 2.0 that is based on the idea of bring-ing digital teaching into the classroom.Students are in extended periods of thecore classes – Science, Math, Social

Lakewood City SchoolsREPORT CARD

A Lakewood community newsletter March 2011

District ready to handle whatever state budget fallout may be

INSIDE: Lakewood High artists comeout on top in regional awards

Page 2

Middle school creative writersstrut stuff at Power of Pen

Page 2

District’s Phase I buildingsearn energy-efficiency label

Page 3

Wheelchair Cavaliers makespirited appearance at LHS

Page 4

See SCHOLARS Page 4

Latest technology tools re-shaping classrooms

Patterson to lead district

See TECHNOLOGY Page 4LHS 2.0 students show off the new netbooks they received in late January.

Every school district in thestate has its eyes focused on July1. That’s the date by which thestate’s biennium budget must beapproved. What makes thisbudget cycle different for schooldistricts is the knowledge thatthe state’s $8 billion shortfallguarantees unprecedented cuts infunding to local school districts.

But no matter what comes downthe pike on July 1, LakewoodCity Schools is prepared to han-dle it.

“We have scenarios in placefor anywhere from 10% - 20%reductions in state funding,”Treasurer Rick Berdine said.

The district has kept a verywatchful eye on all expenses.

Although the district began theschool year with a $2 millionbudget gap, savings realizedfrom outsourcing copying andprinting services, reducing staffovertime and using federal fundsfor the extended-day kinder-garten program enabled the dis-trict to close that gap in the latefall.

Those moves, coupled with $8million in cuts made since the2009-2010 school year and thepassage of a 6.9 mill operatinglevy in May 2010, have allowedthe district some wiggle roomfor the 2011-2012 school year.The district’s forecast for 2011-2012 plans for 10% in state cuts.At that number, the district

would be operating with a $2.4million shortfall that would bemuch easier to absorb than themore drastic $4.4 million if thestate chops local funding by20%.

“If we remain at 10% in cuts,the plan we have in place willwork for next year without any

See BUDGET Page 3

LHS students make returntrip to the White HouseAsst. Supt. to succeed Madak beginning August 1

See D.C. Page 2

Senior artists awardedtop regional honors

Two Lakewood High art stu-dents have been selected to moveon to the national competition ofthe prestigious Scholastic Art &Writing Awards presented by theAlliance for Young Artists &Writers and their regional affili-ates.

Seniors Peter Barlow andDanielle Curran were chosen asGold Key winners in theCuyahoga County Art Region. AGold Key is the highest levelone can achieve in the regionalcompetition and works chosen asGold Key winners move on fornational review in New YorkCity in February. Barlow wonthe Gold Key for his film titled“Last Hope” and Curran won the

award for her painting titled“Purple Hart.” Curran’s paintingwas also recognized with the SueWall Award for best painting.

The more than 165,000 workssubmitted across the countrywere reviewed by professionalsin visual and literary arts andjudged on the following criteria:originality, technical skill andemergence of personal vision orvoice.

Barlow also was named aSilver Key winner for the regionfor his self portrait face in cutpaper and also won anHonorable Mention for anotherprint. Curran also received anHonorable Mention for anacrylic painting she created.

Press Assn. givesTimes Silver Medal

The Lakewood Times staff

earned “Silver Medalist” designa-tion in January from the presti-gious Columbia Scholastic PressAssociation. The Times enteredthe association’s annual MedalistsCritique competition to see how itstacked up against other studentpublications and to receive a pro-fessional critique of its work.

The Critique contains a writ-ten set of standards developed bythe Association to itemize thebest practices for student media.The adviser-judge reads the printor online publication and ana-lyzes its strengths and weaknessas described by the Critique. TheTimes missed “Gold Medalist”standing by only 60 points.

Ballash wins Freedomof Press award

Lakewood High journalismteacher Karen Ballash in the late

fall was awarded the 2010NCTE/SLATE Affiliate Intellect-ual Freedom Award by the OhioCouncil of Teachers of EnglishLanguage Arts, an affiliate of theNational Council of Teachers ofEnglish.

The NCTE/SLATE IntellectualFreedom Award honors individu-als, groups, or institutions thatmerit recognition for advancingthe cause of intellectual freedom.The NCTE awards one nationalaward and encourages its affili-ates to offer their own state orregional award.

Ballash, who is advisor to thestudent newsmagazine TheLakewood Times, calls herself a“First Amendment FreedomFighter” and said she spends agreat deal of time educatingher journalism students aboutAmericans’ rights under theamendment.

First Ranger ScholarAthletes honored

More than 200 fall season stu-dent athletes were recipients ofthe first Ranger Scholar AthleteAward. The award was institutedas part of a resolution passed bythe Board of Education this pastsummer on the ContinuingImprovement of LakewoodAthletic Department andRecreation Department Program.Part of the resolution includedenhancing efforts to promoteacademic achievement, which isthe goal of the new RangerScholar award.

Of the 313 fall athletes, 203qualified for the RangerScholar award, or 65% of allthose who played a fall sport.To student must receive a 3.0GPA or better to qualify as aScholar Athlete.

Lakewood City Schools

Awards & RecognitionsHHIIGGHH SSCCHHOOOOLL

The Harding 7th and 8th grade Power of the Pen teams show off their 2nd and 3rdplace team trophies from the district tournament held in February. The 7th gradersplaced 2nd and the 8th graders 3rd. Next up for the teams: regionals in April.

MMIIDDDDLLEE SSCCHHOOOOLLSSGarfield, Harding shinein Power of Pen

Harding and Garfield middleschool students showcased theircreative flair at the DistrictPower of the Pen WritingCompetition held on Feb. 5 atNorth Royalton Middle School.Of the 25 teams competing inthe two grade-level competi-tions, Harding’s 7th grade teamplaced second and Harding’s8th grade team took third place.

The contest is made up of threerounds where the writers aregiven prompts to jump-start astory. Some of this year’s promptswere “describe your worst fear,”“remember when you were tooyoung to …..” and “somewhereyou would rather be.” Besides thetop 15 individual places awarded,Best of Rounds are also awardedfor the top story in each round.Harding 7th grader Jimmy Tonerwas awarded a Best of Round forone of his stories and Harding8th grader Renee Klann wasgiven a Director’s Choice - Bestof Round.

Out of the 126 7th grade and

143 8th grade writers at the com-petition, the following writersearned medals by placing in thetop 15:

11th place: Erin Turner (8th,Harding); 12th place: JonathanPoilpre (8th, Garfield);13thplace: Sara Shyte (8th, Garfield);14th place: Kathryn Urban (8th,Harding); 15th place: SarahSmith (8th, Harding).

The next step for the statewidecompetition is the RegionalTournament on April 9.Lakewood’s teams qualified 75%of their writers includingHarding’s entire 7th grade team.

Harding cleans up inClassroom of Champs

A team of Harding eighthgraders put on an impressive dis-play of knowledge as the teamcaptured first place at the region-al Classroom of Champions aca-demic team competition held atSt. Edward High School on Jan.12. The team, comprised of NateBonacuse, Jacob Corder andLaert Fejzullari, topped theircompetitors, St. Christopher andSt. Bernadette, with 375 points.

The contest is based on theAcademic Challenge formatwhere teams answer questions inthree different rounds on topicssuch as geography, history, litera-ture, pop culture, science and reli-gion.

The team, which also includesalternates Jacob Calfee, ConnorCimino and Jon Solymous and isled by advisers Mary Kay Ryanand Nell Franks, must be amongthe top 3 highest scoring teamsto advance to the Finals in April.More than 20 teams are vyingfor a spot in the Finals.

Harding 8th graderwins regional art honor

Harding 8th grader JacobCorder was awarded the GoldKey Award and also a regionalaward in the Scholastic Art &Writing Awards competition. Hismixed media felted jewelry piecewill now move on to the nationalcompetition in New York. Theregional award he received was"The Matthew Hollern andPamela Argentieri Award forJewelry Design” chosen by jew-elry design experts.

D.C.continued from page 1

Studies and English – and teach-ers collaborate with blendingcontent matter across the sub-jects.

“The goal of our work is toprepare our students for theworld that surrounds them … bymore closely matching the skillsneeded in the real world with theskills that we teach in the class-room,” said English teacher SeanWheeler, a member of the 2.0teaching team.

The laptops and Ipods are theportals for teachers to help stu-dents learn about using digitalresources. They are teachingthem how to responsibly createand share information for thebenefit of themselves and othersvia such vehicles as blogs, wikis,Google Docs, etc., and how tomine the Internet for relevantresearch and applications that

extend their learning beyond theclassroom walls.

And collaboration is key. Inone class, students may be creat-ing a multimedia presentation ona science principle and thenblogging about that experiencein English class. Students cancomment on each others blogsand keep the dialogue going,often sharing more informationor suggestions with their fellowstudents.

“We’re creating an incredibleatmosphere of collaborationbetween students and teachersand students and students,” saidLHS technology instructionalcoach Karen Wheeler.

The netbooks have alreadysignificantly changed the class-room dynamics. No longer areteachers standing in front of theclassroom lecturing while stu-dents dutifully taks notes withpaper and pen. This new para-digm has students listening to

podcasts of lectures or videotutorials at home on their net-books and then coming into classthe next day prepared to discusswhat they learned the eveningbefore or ready to jump rightinto the activities that willdemonstrate their knowledge ofthe subject.

“We’re putting the level ofengagement and level of respon-sibility back on students,” said2.0 Biology teacher Kozar. “Theyare taking ownership of their ownlearning.”

Said Harding E-tech instruc-tional coach Amy Miller: “We’recreating a community of learn-ers. It’s now reciprocal.”

With everyone wired in aclassroom now, the teachers alsofind themselves working muchmore efficiently. Because stu-dents can access the lesson infor-mation online at home, theteachers are free to give moreindividualized attention during

class time as the students delveinto the activity – doing mathproblems, writing a blog entry,or creating a biology multimediapresentation.

“I’m doing a lot more one-on-one teaching,” said 2.0 Mathteacher Andre Bruwer.

The teachers are not the onlyones feeling more efficient andeffective with the netbooks inclass. Besides feeling moreengaged about learning (“It’snot boring anymore” onestudent said.) the students willtell you that the netbooks makea big difference in their effortto be more organized. Studentsuse the software applicationSticky Notes to keep trackof assignments by puttingvirtual Post-it Notes on theirdesktop screen so they seetheir assignments any time theylog on.

“I never have any homeworkassignments missing anymore”

because I can see it easily andquickly online what I need to do,said one student in Ken Kozar’sBiology class.

The netbooks also are turningout to be time savers for the stu-dents. One student mentionedhow he doesn’t have to go to thecomputer lab anymore to type upnotes or do homework onlinebecause he can just pull out hisnetbook and get it done morequickly.

And while these middle andhigh schoolers are already wellversed in these technologydevices, they are being taughthow to use the tools appropriate-ly and responsibly.

“We want to help them thinkabout what they put out there(on the Internet) and what theywrite about … to get themthinking about the perceptionthey are putting out there,”LHS E-tech instructional coachKaren Wheeler said.

Lakewood City Schools

Phase I bldgs. earn federalenergy efficiency designation

Jumping for heart health

Cleveland Indians mascot Slider was on hand to cheer onabout 100 4th and 5th graders at the annual Jump Rope forHeart event on Jan. 19 to benefit the American HeartAssociation. Lakewood elementary schools have donated near-ly $100,000 for the cause in the past 10 years. Congratulationsto all the kids who showed what it means to be active build ahealth heart!

continued from page 1Technology

Making a Difference

When the school district cameto When the school district cameto the citizens of Lakewood in2004 asking them to pass a bondissue for the first phase of itsschool construction program, thedistrict promised that the newbuildings would be on the cut-ting-edge of efficiency and real-ize millions in operating savings.The district made good on itspromise and recently earned thecoveted Energy Star designationfor the high operating efficiencyof each of its buildings construct-ed during Phase I: Harrison andHayes elementaries and Garfieldand Harding middle schools.

At its January 18 meeting, theBoard of Education was present-ed with the Energy Star 2010plaques by Corey Kiewatt, K-12account manager at GardinerTrane, which ran the energy auditand submitted the data to theEnvironmental ProtectionAgency’s Energy Star program onbehalf of the district. Gardiner

Trane is contracted by the districtto oversee the HVAC systems inall the school buildings.

The buildings are evaluated ontheir total energy output and thenfactored with how many peopleuse the buildings, how manyhours of day the building is inuse, how many personal comput-ers are on site, and whether ornot there is food service on site.The buildings are than rated ona scale of 1-100 for energy effi-ciency. To earn the Energy Starlabel, a building must score atleast 75. Lakewood’s buildingsranged from 76-86 on the scale.

Kiewatt of Gardiner Tranesaid that the district did it rightwhen selecting the infrastructureequipment for the new buildings.“The architects chose the rightbuilding materials from the roofto the windows to keep thebuildings efficient,” he said.Kiewatt singled out the heatingsystem in the schools thatemploy “heat recovery wheels”

that recycle some of the alreadyheated air rather than blowing inall new hot air all day long.

Another huge impact has beenthe district’s initiative to synch itspermit-scheduling software withGardiner Trane’s automated heat-ing and cooling systems so thatwhen a school space is approvedfor use after school hours, the sys-tem automatically turns the heat-ing and cooling system on and offaccording to the room needs.

Although energy efficiencywas a main goal when construct-ing the new buildings, it is stillnice affirmation to have themofficially dubbed so.

“We are pleased that the build-ings are operating just as wehad planned regarding energyefficiency and are glad that wehave been able to keep ourpromise to taxpayers to run amore efficient school district,”said Treasurer Rick Berdine,who oversees constructionprojects for the district.

crucial part in the administra-tion’s efforts to keep the districton stable financial ground in theface of an economic recessionand a state budget crisis.

While Madak has beenfocused on district finances,Patterson, who has been with theLakewood City Schools in anassistant superintendent rolesince August 2006, has beendeeply involved in the academicside of the administration.

Patterson is co-facilitator ofthe district’s Ohio SchoolImprovement Process, which isthe district’s long-range plan forimproving student achievement.As assistant superintendent,Patterson is deeply involved incourse development, curriculumand professional development.

“For the past five years I havehad the opportunity to workwith administrators, teachersand classified (support) staff.Together, we have made signifi-cant strides in improving teachingand learning as well as integratingtechnology into the classroom,”Patterson said.

Patterson will be workingeven more closely with Madakfrom now through July to ensurea seamless transition.

“Dr. Madak has done an excel-lent job of leading our schooldistrict and I look forward toworking closely with him toprovide a smooth transition,”Patterson said. “I am honored toserve the students of this district-

programming cuts,” Berdinesaid. “However if we go higherthan that we will have to look atfurther reductions that will affectprograms and personnel,” he said.

District officials are alsomindful that nearly $1 million infederal stimulus money receivedin 2010 to re-hire laid off teach-ers will disappear after the 2011-2012 school year.

“That’s money that has to bemade up somewhere if we wantto keep those teachers,” saidBerdine.

Superintendent P. JosephMadak, who has been through anumber of financial crises before

in his career, is confidentLakewood Schools will pullthrough this rough patch in goodshape thanks to proactive fiscalmanagement and the solid sup-port of the community behind it.

“Lakewood faced a seriesof levy failures in the 1990s,it went through economicrecessions in the ‘70s and againin the ‘80s,” Madak said. “Theconstant with these has beenthat the district and the commu-nity worked together, madesome sacrifices and were stillable to support our students.This time around, because of thetalent in our schools and ourcommunity, we will pull throughagain and come out stronger inthe end.”

Postal Customer

Non-ProfitOrganizationU.S. Postage

PAIDCleveland, OH 44107

Permit No. 2512

Board of Education1470 Warren RoadLakewood, OH 44107

The Lakewood Board of EducationMatthew John Markling, President

John Kamkutis, Vice PresidentLinda Beebe

Edward FavreBetsy Bergen Shaughnessy

AdministrationDr. P. Joseph Madak, SuperintendentRichard Berdine, Treasurer

All courses and programs offered by the Lakewood City School District and the West ShoreCareer Technical District are without regard to race, color, religion, national origin, creed, gen-der, marital status, disability, or age in its educational programs, activities, employment poli-cies or admission policies and practices as required Title IX of the Education Amendments of1972 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973. Dr. Debra Cahoon serves as Title IXcoordinator and Dr. Kate Foley as 504 Coordinator.

Printed by Vedda & Sons Printing, Lakewood OhioOwned by a Lakewood High School Alumnus, Class of ‘51

Lakewood City Schools

AdministrationDr. P. Joseph Madak, Superintendent

Richard Berdine, Treasurer

EditorChristine Gordillo

216-529-4074

The Wheelchair Cavaliers came to LHS in January as part of a school spir-it rally. The Wheelchair Cavs took on members of the boys and girls varsityteams as the wheelchair pros showed the entire school that nothing youcan’t overcome.

continued from page 1Budget

WWHHEEEELLIINN’’ AALLOONNGGSuperintendentcontinued from page 1

by working with our Board ofEducation, our staff, parents andcommunity members. Togetherwe can continue to improveupon the rich tradition of theLakewood City School District.”

Added Madak: “He (Patterson)will be intimately involved withpreparing the plan that willhave the greatest possibility ofenabling the Lakewood CitySchools to succeed academicallyand financially in the next fewyears regardless of what thefuture may bring.”

Patterson’s more than 35 yearsin education has him well-pre-pared to tackle the challengesof Lakewood’s district of 5,600students. Before coming toLakewood, he served as superin-tendent for six years in theOrrville City School District. Hehas taught social studies at themiddle school and high schoollevels, spent four years as a princi-pal at Ashland (Ohio) MiddleSchool and held assistant superin-tendent positions with the Ashlandand Orrville school districts.

The man Patterson will replacewill be leaving Lakewood for thesecond time. Madak, who washired in August 2009, previouslyserved as the leader of the districtfrom 1995 – 2004, during which

time he earned Superintendentof the Year honors.

The 67-year-old Madak,whose three-year contract allowshim the option to forgo his thirdyear, said his leaving reflectedhis desire to spend more timewith his wife and family, wholive in California.

Board President Marklingpraised Madak for what he hasaccomplished in his time inLakewood: “He came in and putus on the path to secure financialfooting without significantly sac-rificing the academic quality andbreadth of programming expectedin this district. The Board is grate-ful for his service to Lakewoodand Lakewood’s children.”

Madak’s departure will end hismore than four decades in publiceducation, most of it serving thechildren of Ohio and more than adecade of that time as the headof the Lakewood City Schools.

“We have had the good fortuneof having an educator the statureof Dr. Madak as superintendent.... As he concludes his time withus, we can confidently sayLakewood is clearly better forhis having been here," said BoardMember Edward Favre, who wasBoard President when Madakwas hired.

Added Markling: “We areeager to move our district for-ward under the leadership of JeffPatterson in whom the Board isconfident can help guide usthrough the many challengesahead and maintain the excellentstanding this district has had inthis community for generations.”

Madak Patterson