Conceived as a showcase of both student achievement and the then-new Brunswick Middle School, the Brunswick City Schools annual Excellence Showcase has continued to expand in size and scope.
Huntington Elementary fourth-graders Cassidy Ison, Camilla Unger, Lilah Mink, Savannah Sakie and Reina Benitez with their "Balloons Over Broadway" display, one of 60 featured in this year's Brunswick City School's Excellence Showcase at Brunswick Middle School Feb.
4.BRUNSWICK, Ohio —Conceived as a showcase of both student achievement and the then-new Brunswick Middle School building, the Brunswick City Schools Excellence Showcase has continued to expand in size and scope. “Every year we do it we get more staff who want to ,” said BCSD Communications Coordinator Dawn Allar, adding that this year’s fifth-annual event Feb.4 featured 60 exhibitors and gave the community a unique look at what is happening in classrooms across the district. With a mix of displays from academic and after-school clubs ranging from science and robotics to art, music and foreign-language projects, Allar said the showcase also provides an opportunity for elementary and middle school students to interact with high school students in a hands-on way. As an example, she pointed to the district’s K-6 Camp Invention students seeing projects created by Brunswick High School Physics students, and members of the new Kidder Elementary Sign Language Club working with students in the Brunswick High School American Sign Language class. Superintendent Jason Niedermeyer said the district is “really happy with the growth we’ve seen” in the showcase. “There has been more interest - I think we had 50 clubs sign up in the first 10 days,” he said. “It shows the variety of experiences kids get in the classroom, which is part of our ‘secret recipe’ for success; a rigorous curriculum, meaningful relationships and relatable experiences.” The fifth-annual Brunswick Schools' Excellence Showcase Feb. 4 featured 60 exhibits and performances from academic and after-school clubs throughout the district.Huntington Elementary fourth-grade students Cassidy Ison, Camilla Unger, Savannah Sakie, Reina Benitez and Lilah Mink illustrated this perfectly with their display “Balloons Over Broadway.” Under the guidance of fourth-grade language arts teacher Michelle Slosier, the project began as a study of the history of the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. “It started with puppets, then went to live animals and then they began designing balloons,” Ison said of the Macy’s Parade. Unger added one of the most interesting things the students learned was how the short-lived live-animal parade concept scared more children than it entertained, leading to the creation of the famous Macy’s Parade floats. Sakie said the Excellence Showcase project was open to all fourth grade students, and taught the students a lot about adaptability, using creativity and working together. Slosier said the project coincides with an annual Thanksgiving parade through the halls of Huntington, and gives the students a much more visceral view of history than they would get from a textbook alone. She also noted the origins of the parade - with Macy’s store management asking New York marionette-maker Tony Sarg to create a window display with his puppets depicting a parade, which led to the actual Macy’s Parade - also has a local connection. Slosier said the Goodyear Tire and Rubber Co. was the primary manufacturer of balloons in the parade through much of the second half of the 20th Century,Melanie Gabele and her son, Evan, said they were enjoying the variety of displays after showcasing Huntington fourth-grader Evan’s artwork at the showcase. “It’s really nice to see all of the different clubs at the different schools,” Melanie said, adding that their favorite display focused on animals and included the story of a cat that saved its family.Brian Lisik was on staff at Sun News for 12 years. From 2001-06, Lisik was a reporter at Sun's Medina office, he wrote for the Nordonia Hills Sun from 2006-2009, and covered city, crime and school news for the...
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