YOUNGSTOWN Teacher: Let's celebrate change

The proposal calls for three parades to converge downtown.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- The transformation from three public high schools to two should be celebrated joyfully and symbolically as a new beginning for a united community, said a social studies teacher at Woodrow Wilson High School.
The teacher, Rhonda Taylor, is calling for a community celebration with parades from Chaney and Wilson high schools and The Rayen School, including their school bands, converging downtown for a citywide celebration as the transition occurs.
"We're changing. Our system is changing, and the way we teach is changing, and we need to celebrate that," Taylor said. Those who are graduating could create parade floats as senior projects, she said.
What will happen
In 2005, Wilson and Rayen, both high schools with long traditions, are to become middle schools. In the fall of that year, construction of the new East High School is to be completed, together with an expansion and renovation of Chaney.
Wilson and Rayen students who haven't graduated by then will attend either East or Chaney.
"Have a celebration -- a celebration of new life," said Henry J. Brew, a teacher on special assignment as assistant principal at Wilson. "It's the center of town. It's the center of the community," he said of downtown.
"If we're going to do this, we could plan it for a year. The logistics would be difficult, but it can be done," Brew said. "By doing this, we get them used to working together before they're in the same building," Brew said of the students.
Panel meeting
Taylor discussed her idea Thursday afternoon in a meeting of Wilson's 10-member school and community partnership committee, which is working to help students ease the transition to the new high-school arrangement. "We're going to try to make it as painless as possible," she said.
Construction of the new high school and the expansion and renovation of Chaney are part of a six-year, $182.5 million districtwide schools construction and renovation project. Eighty percent of the funding comes from the state and 20 percent from a local tax issue.
The project includes six new buildings and renovations and additions to 10 others.
Using a $7.5 million grant from the KnowledgeWorks Foundation of Cincinnati, school administrators plan to create three smaller communities within East and Chaney as part of the high-school transformation project.
The committee's goal is to involve teachers, parents, students, clergy and the business community to ensure that students make a smooth transition to East and Chaney, Brew said.
Through internships, the business community can help students make the transition into the workplace as they complete their education, he added.