Diabetes fight kicks off

Life Skills Centers, Hope Academies and the Ohio Distance and Electronic Learning Academy are teaming up to help fight diabetes.

A kickoff event was held Aug. 8 in the third floor of the Main Place in Akron to launch a drive to raise funds for the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation.

Fruit smoothies and cookies were served and glucose screenings were offered.

Online bingo, raffles and a poker game are planned to raise funds for the walk, which will be held Sept. 8 at the Pro Football Hall of Fame and Museum in Canton.

Participants can register for the walk at www.jdrf.org.



White Hat Management Founder David Brennan spoke at the event about his struggle with diabetes.

You can see his speech here.

Looking to make a difference

Photo by CHRIS PUGH/White Hat PR Counsel

Hope Academy West teacher Sami Roman writes on the chalkboard during a class at the summer Esperanza program at Hope Academy Lincoln Park in Cleveland.

Teacher aims to lift students up

By GLENN WOJCIAK
White Hat Marketing/Publications

Teachers can lead the way to a brighter future.

That’s the belief of Sami Roman, a teacher at Hope Academy West in Cleveland.

Roman looks at the teaching profession from a unique perspective. He was a middle and high school teacher in his native Egypt for six years before immigrating to Cleveland 11 years ago.

His inspiration to become a teacher springs from his experience as a student of foreign cultures. Besides English, he speaks Arabic, Coptic, and a little French and Spanish.

He’s seen education lift people up.

“I believe teaching is one of the most important and critical jobs,” Roman said. “A teacher is a person who can help a nation to a brighter future.”

His observation is that many other countries are doing a better job of educating children than is done in the United States.

Roman believes a more rigorous curriculum in Egypt and other countries enables students there to learn more than their American counterparts, especially in social studies, math and science.

“What middle school students learn overseas is what is required from high school students in the USA. We must improve our curriculum to enable USA students more educated than others,” he said.

However, Roman enjoys teaching at Hope Academy West where he believes there is an effective plan to maintain discipline, security and teacher aides as well as the hardware and software needed to give students an effective learning experience.

School marks end of Esperanza program with celebration

Above, an Esperanza student celebrates winning the musical chair contest during the finale of the program held at Hope Academy Lincoln Park in Cleveland.

Program helps Spanish-speaking families

Hope Academy and Esperanza Inc. staffers marked the end of a five-week 2007 Prime Time for Reading Summer Camp and Hope Academy's H.E.L.P. program at Hope Academy Lincoln Park in Cleveland with a celebration.

The program reached out to about 25 students a day between kindergarten and seventh-grade.

The program was designed to give intensive summer training to children of Spanish-speaking families in Cleveland.

In addition, Spanish culture was taught during the program.

Xenaunjriyah Piskac, 7, of Cleveland, left, won a first-place HELP achievement award for best attendance and most improvement, while Elimar Velez, 6, of Cleveland, won second place.

Allan Velez, 9, of Cleveland, stands with Jazmin Ruiz, 9 of Cleveland. The two were honored at the Esperanza program held at Hope Academy Lincoln Park. Allan won for academic achievement and Jazmin won for best behavior.

Students laugh while playing "Hot Potato" during the program.

A teacher smiles while answering a student's question.

Hope Academy teacher Sami Roman makes a point during a class.

Hope Academy podcast is on iTunes

A new podcast has been created on iTunes called "Hope Academy."

The podcast will feature radio interviews and news about Hope Academies.

You can access the podcast two ways.

Link to iTunes podcast (iTunes must be installed on your computer)

Podcastpeople.com site

Fundraiser planned for family

A Massillon church will hold a fundraiser Sunday for the family of a Hope Academy of Canton student who died in a Canton house fire July 14.

Read story in The Independent

Vigil remembers Hope Academy student

Hope Academy in Canton held a vigil Friday night in memory of student Michael Crislip, 13, who died in a house fire on July 14.

Crislip just finished sixth grade at the school.

"This is not the last time we will do this," school principal Tony Townsend told a reporter. "He was a beautiful person. We love Mike. He was a wonderful kid. He will be truly missed."

The vigil was led by Chris Cicero, a seminarian at St. Michael's Catholic Church in Canton.

"I know I'm going to miss him terribly," said sixth-grade teacher Kelly Tucci.

"Mike was dedicated to his education," Townsend said. "It's unfortunate to lose a young life to such a tragic thing."

About 75 people attended the event.

Read story from The Repository

Here was coverage on Channel 3



Here was coverage on Channel 19

School to hold vigil for student killed in fire

WHAT: Hope Academy staff and students will hold a vigil in memory of Mke Crislip, 13, a student at the school who died July 14 in a Canton fire.

WHERE: Hope Academy, 1379 Garfield Ave S.W., Canton

WHEN: 5 p.m. Friday, July 20, 2007

Crislip just finished sixth grade at the school.

"We're a small school," Principal Tony Townsend said. "We're like a family over here."

Townsend said many students have signed an online remembrance book for Crislip.

"(Mike) was an ideal student," he said.