Shaker
Schools
Students Wow Community with TEDxSHHS
International Baccalaureate Diploma Program students from the class of 2015 planned and hosted an independently organized
TEDx event at Shaker Heights High School in February. The sold-out program featured seven speakers, including Shaker grad Wesley
Lowery of the Washington Post (above) who tackled the theme of “Inspiring Curiosity,” and earned rave reviews from attendees.
TEDx is an offshoot of TED, a nonprofit organization devoted to spreading ideas, usually in the form of short, powerful talks no
longer than 18 minutes each. TED began in 1984 as a conference where Technology, Entertainment, and Design converged (hence its
name), and today covers topics that run the gamut from science to business to global issues. Independently run TEDx events help share
ideas in communities around the world.
Shaker students were inspired to create this event by TED talks they have experienced in many of their classes. Support was provided
by the Shaker Schools Foundation.
16 SHAKERONLINE.COM | SPRING 2015
Photo courtesy of Andrew Boyle.
In Brief….
Changes in Store at Middle School
The academic day at Shaker Heights Middle School will have a new look in 2015-16. Drawing on ideas submitted by parents and
teachers, as well as research on best practices, a broad-based planning committee developed a program “that preserves and improves
upon what was working well, and changes what wasn’t,” says Principal David Glasner.
Among the major changes:
• Longer class periods (from 39 minutes to 50) to allow time for mastery of content and more hands-on learning;
• More structured after-school programs for support and enrichment;
• A new, semester-long Design course that fosters creative problem-solving through computer programming (coding), robotics,
design-build-test projects, and other hands-on projects.
The Middle School will continue to offer a full range of courses in English, math, science, social studies, physical education, world
languages, and fine and performing arts, with advanced options in many subjects.