SHS Weekly Update

This weekend a group of seniors along with a few teacher chaperones and I are embarking on a trip to Washington DC. We offered this trip to our seniors due to missing out as 8th graders due to the pandemic. Two of our students, Megan Collins and Bilal Awadallah will be presenting the wreath Sunday morning at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Students who choose to attend this trip will get to see real life history in our nation's capital.

This Thursday will be SAT day for our students. All juniors will take the SAT and will need to be in their testing rooms at 7:20am. This includes students who normally have late arrival. The busses will run as normal in the morning and afternoon. Students are allowed to leave after testing but if they can't get a ride or walk they will need to stay in the cafe until the busses arrive at 2:25. Polaris juniors will take the SAT that day. Polaris seniors will attend that day and bussing will run like it normally does.

The rest of the building will have an asynchronous day meaning they will not come to the school and will have to log onto their google classrooms to see what they need to do for coursework.

Friday is a teacher inservice day so there will be no school on Friday March 14.

• Congratulations to the Mustang gymnastic team. Last Saturday the team finished 3rd at the OHSAA state championships down in Columbus. On Sunday Shayler Smith, Gianna Upchurch, Abby Burik and Lauren Pozsonyi competed in the individual competition. Congratulations on an amazing season.

  
  

Congratulations to the Strongsville High School String Orchestra, Chamber Strings, and Symphony Orchestra who all earned a Superior (I) rating (the highest rating) at the Ohio Music Education Associations Northeast Region State Orchestra Contest at Strongsville Middle School on Friday, Feb. 28.

This is the time of the year that the different religions have parallel celebrations occuring. Last week I talked about Ramadan and this past Wednesday was Ash Wednesday which marks the beginning of the Lenten season.

Ash Wednesday, in Christianity, marks the first day of Lent, occurring six and a half weeks before Easter (between February 4 and March 11, depending on the date of Easter).

Ash Wednesday is a solemn reminder of human mortality and the need for reconciliation with God and marks the beginning of the penitential Lenten season.

Lent is a 40 day season of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving that begins on Ash Wednesday and ends at sundown on Holy Thursday. Christians who celebrate Lent typically give up something important as a sacrifice.

Congratulations to Stella Januszewski for qualifying for the upcoming state wrestling championships in Columbus. Stella made history as the first female wrestler to qualify for the state championships in Strongsville history.

Stella wrestled this weekend and is the first Strongsville female wrestler to make the podium with an 8th place finish at the state meet.

This Thursday evening Polaris is having a 9th grade event. Parents and students can get an inside look at the programming while earning a few points towards the rubric for admission. This past year several programs have waiting lists so getting those points towards admission could be the difference to get into the program you want.

Strongsville High School did an amazing job at the National History Day Competition on Saturday.

15 students [grades 9-12] have spent the last 6 months researching and creating projects to present to historic experts at the Cleveland History Center. They picked a topic, researched, created thesis arguments, and finally fine tuned their presentations [either museum exhibits, websites, or documentaries] showcasing how their topic connected to the early theme.

Our students had outstanding projects and 3 of the 7 projects will be representing Strongsville at the states in Columbus April 26th. We are one of the only schools that does this program voluntarily instead of through an honors or AP class which shows their outstanding dedication. They are all Mustang Strong!

1st Place- Will Jevec (10th Grade, Exhibit)

Honorable Mention- Angelina Zheng & Annabelle Greenway (9th Grade, Exhibit)

Honorable Mention- Om Patel, Chaatwik Nettem, Hari Kumar (10th Grade, Documentary)

All 6 students will be going to states.

Senior Fees/Fines must be paid in full by March 23 by 2:55 to qualify for Final Exam exemption and Prom attendance.

The Digital Electronics class had a great visit to the CSU College of Engineering last week. Mr. Stellar and the class toured the engineering facilities & campus, and were treated to a great lunch in the student union. Students represented STRONGsville very well as they were respectful and engaging with their CSU ambassadors.

Attention SHS students and parents,

Our district will have another round of drug test screening this Tuesday, 3/11/25 in the afternoon beginning 7th period. Tested at this time will be students that participate in a Spring sport or music group. Students who were tested previously during the draw the line group testing session in Dec/Jan/Feb (ex. winter sports / clubs / parking) will NOT need to be tested again during this round. This program is designed to support the health and well-being of all our students. Student groups will be called down over the PA to the athletic area for this screening.

Strongsville City Schools encourages students, teachers, staff, parents, and other members of our community to report any instances of potential violence, bullying, self-harm or any other issue where students may be at risk. Click HERE for additional Stay Safe. Speak Up! Information on the District’s website. Reporting incidents can be made anonymously online or through a toll free number (​1-866-listen2me / 1-866-547-8362).

Please support SIMB by taking a look and purchasing something for their spring fundraiser. The proceeds go to summer camps and external composers.

The link below will take you to the online link to shop.

We're looking for nominations for Strongsville Athletic Hall Of Fame candidates! Nominate someone by scanning the QR code or at the link below.

https://docs.google.com/.../1FAIpQLSeCtgi7Lc.../viewform...

Order awesome Mustangs Gear from ‘The Derby’ at Strongsville High School! ‘The Derby’ is a student operated spirit shop located in the SHS cafeteria, providing job training opportunities for students to develop skills necessary for future success - including independence, workplace readiness, job training, communication, problem solving, and leadership!

Check out ‘The Derby’ for items to add to your Strongsville wardrobe - made by SHS students. Items can be personalized and orders can be placed if the item is not available. Items can also be delivered to individual schools or picked up at the high school. SHS students can shop and order at ‘The Derby’ during lunch periods (10:00am - 1:30pm). All proceeds are given back to the Life Skills Employment Readiness Program for continued vocational training. Online orders can be placed using the QR code below or by clicking HERE. Contact thederbyshop@scsmustangs.org with any questions on custom apparel.