The Weekly Update #4

This week we had some outstanding performances from a few of our programs.

On Friday our Mustang Express choir was invited down to Fox 8's studio and performed for the morning show. Director Vickie Eicher and the students did several numbers for the show. I've placed the link to the Fox 8 page for you to watch.

On Thursday our DECA team competed in their district competition. Jenna Naymik, DECA advisor, was there to support the team as 55 of our students qualified for the DECA state championships in Columbus in early March.

DECA promotes future business leaders and the state competition is very competitive.

From the DECA website: DECA prepares emerging leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality and management in high schools and colleges around the globe. The four components of the organization's Comprehensive Learning Program are that DECA integrates into classroom instruction, applies learning, connects to business, and promotes competition. DECA prepares the next generation to be academically prepared, community-oriented, professionally responsible, experienced leaders.

Strongsville High School programs continue to excel at every level. Our students and teachers prove their high level of dedication.

Bill Wingler

Principal:SHS
bwingler@scsmustangs.org

Students in Mrs. Heather Keirn’s Yearbook class have one main goal - produce a memorable edition of The Strohigan that details all of the highlights of a school year. The year-long class gives students the opportunity to learn and use the principles of journalism, as well as building interviewing, writing, photography, marketing, and graphic design skills, to help produce the annual yearbook. The students have also been recognized with National Awards for their work, placing Strongsville’s Strohigan in the top tier of yearbooks from across the United States. Click HERE to learn more about how these students are building an annual publication to capture lifetime memories.

Parking lot safety is a continual issue as our students continue to parking in areas they should not be. I made an announcement on Friday that we are going to be in the lots on Monday and random days moving forward. There will be a main focus on the front lot and visitor parking.

We WILL be towing cars, starting Monday, who are parked in the main lot, and the side lot by the auditorium. Students without passes, in those areas, will be towed as well. We have senior citizens and visitors who are unable to park due to students taking up all of the spots.

Students have been made aware that we will be towing cars on Monday.

Strongsville High School Alumni Wrestlers are invited to join us Saturday, February 8th @ 4pm for Alumni/Senior Night. We would love for you to come support our senior wrestlers and celebrate with our wrestling family. Thank you for your support through the years. We are excited to see everyone again.

‘Running with the Mustangs’ is a video series to celebrate the “heartbeat of Strongsville City Schools.” This new series highlights students, staff, and programs that make SCS a special and unique place. Click HERE for this week’s episode - which includes visits with members of our varsity girls basketball team and one of our elite wrestlers on the boys varsity wrestling team.

Name That Tune with Hopeful Horizons & Crumbl Cookies!

This week, the LLS team, Hopeful Horizons, was excited to take over as guest DJs for Name That Tune! But instead of the usual doughnuts, Mrs. Naumik's class the winners received a delicious Crumbl Cookie!

Why?

Because next week, February 3rd - 7th, during lunch periods, Hopeful Horizons will be selling Crumbl Cookie Grams, with all proceeds benefiting the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS).

Pick-Up Details:

February 14th

2:25-4:30

SHS Cafeteria

Treat your Valentine (or yourself!) to a sweet treat while supporting a great cause!

The Strongsville High School Dance Team competed this past weekend at the Dance State Championship! The competition was made up of the best teams from across Ohio. After 13 hours of intense competition, the team was not only named state second runner up (3rd) in both the jazz category and the lyrical category, but also placed 4th in the state for hip-hop and 6th state-wide for pom. The team was less than a point (0.6) away from the championship title for jazz. What a fantastic season of hard work, dedication, and teamwork! The team is under the direction of Coach Mackenzie Grimm and Captain Peyton Kaufhold. Huge congratulations to the SHS Dance team for this remarkable achievement: Bryar Amalong, Maria Anagnostou, Brinn Conlon, Eliza Gorman, Maddie Gorman, Kate Jurcich, Peyton Kaufhold, Julia Kelly, Liana Kravec, Nina Kravec, Anna Moravcik, Maddie Morris, Kylee Sanuk, Lizzie Stetter, Mackenzie Teague, and Zoey Tran

In honor of February's Black History Month, tribute portraits have been created by the SHS National Art Honor Society students. Each student chose their honored subject. The students' original artwork has been donated to be on display in the Black History Month student art exhibit at the Cuyahoga County Justice Center in Cleveland. Following the exhibition, the portraits will be distributed among the center's offices for permanent display. Click HERE to see the gallery of artwork from our very talented National Art Honor Society students.

Strongsville High School Cheer will be holding tryouts for the 2025-2026 football & basketball season with Clinics on March 17th-19th from 4-6pm at SHS. Tryouts will take place on Thursday, March 20th starting at 4pm. A mandatory participant/parent meeting will take place on Tuesday, February 25th at 6pm in the SHS auditorium. If you have any questions feel free to contact Coach Orlosky at jorlosky@scsmustangs.org.

Calling all Doughnut lovers! The SHS Theatre Department has launched a GroupRaise Krispy Kreme Digital Dozen fundraising campaign to support their upcoming spring musical, Back to the 80's. From now until March 9, 2025, 50% of orders will be donated back to our cause when you purchase your doughnuts using our fundraising sales page. $15.00 per dozen!! Click HERE for charitable (so guilt-free), fresh to order (and perfectly glazed), dozens!!

Orders MUST be made through the website below and are NOT LIMITED to the local Middleburg Heights location. So please inform family & friends in other cities and states.

***Also, you can order as many dozens as you wish and use them throughout the year. For example, you could order 5 dozen and use one per month without worry of expiration***

The SHS Theatre Department is collaborating with Playhouse Square to sell a block of tickets for the upcoming tour of & Juliet on Sunday March 9, 2025 at 6:30pm. The jukebox musical stars SHS alum, Corey Mach, as Shakespeare. This fundraiser will go toward some of the expenses for SHS's spring musical. Purchasing tickets for the show at Playhouse Square is currently live and will remain open until 3/1/25, while tickets are available. SHS FUNdraiser prices range from $32.50 - $107.50 and the SHS Theatre Department will receive $10 for every ticket sold. Please visit https://tickets.playhousesquare.org/g08 and follow the instructions on how to purchase tickets. You must enter the promo code SHSMUSICAL in the purple box on the top left. That will open up the ticket purchase below when the web page refreshes. Then, you may purchase any seat offered on the seating chart. Thank you for your support of the SHS Theatre Department!

The Strongsville High School PTA are selling Super Bowl squares as a fundraiser. There are 100 squares available ($10 per square) and no limit on how many an individual can purchase. Numbers will be assigned at random after the board is filled. Click HERE to purchase your Super Bowl squares.

Our District has expanded its partnership with Blocksi to include student content filtering and alerts. We no longer utilize SecURLy for these services.

Click HERE to view an informational flier about joining the Blocksi Parent Portal to gain insights on your student’s online behavior with their scsmustangs account, as well as set parental controls beyond the school. If you have any questions, contact Dave Binkley - Director of Instructional Technology - at dbinkley@scsmustangs.org.

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.

We will hold drug test screenings on Wednesday, 2/05/25. We will continue to test students that participate in a club/activity or hold a SHS parking permit. Students who were recently tested for winter athletics or participate in multiple clubs and were tested last week 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).