August 2018 Newsletter: High School Summer Academy

For six weeks during summer break, a group of rising freshmen and sophomores participated in the seventh annual Summer Academy program at Shaker Heights High School. The program was started by a gift from the Classes of 1950 and 1951 and is offered to rising minority ninth and tenth graders with a GPA of 2.5 or below. The program runs from 9 a.m.-1:30 p.m. and splits the days: mornings for academics and afternoons for personal enrichment. 

High School Assistant Principal George Clark and Woodbury teachers and Shaker graduates Lloyd and Lyndon Brooks oversee the program. In the mornings, students worked on personal projects and engaged in lively discussions over the books All American Boys by Brendan Kiely and Jason Reynolds, and Bronx Masquerade by Nikki Grimes. In the afternoons, they participated in social activities to foster their development as students and individuals. Working as a small group, these students volunteered at ICanBike, a program dedicated to teaching children with disabilities how to ride a bicycle and filled boxes of food for needy families at the Cleveland Food Bank. The rising sophomores also visited Kent State University to speak with current university professors, students, and to become familiar with campus life. The students also created a music video with the help of Class of 1999 graduate Darius Peterson.

“This program helped me grow over the past two years,” said rising Sophomore Zakir Waggoner. “I’ve learned more about values and good life lessons and we talk about what we can do to benefit and improve our lives.”