Thank YOU

Student-created Website: Here

Good Morning,

On October 7, City Council member Cheryl Wood visited our Ravenna Civics class to discuss her roles and responsibilities as a member of our city government. The discussion quickly evolved into a candid conversation of how our young people could invest in their community and help generate a new era of civic engagement and pride between the community and our schools. Before leaving, Cheryl challenged our students to be leaders in the community, and catalysts for the change they desire to see. Our incredible seniors took that to heart.

For the past 2.5 weeks our Honors Ravenna Civics students have been working on turning an idea into a reality. Their idea: Create an interactive, self-guided tour of historic buildings downtown to increase civic pride. At the top of this email I have attached the website that is the culmination of a semester of learning, and 2+ weeks of research and creating. On November 26, during our community's Midnight Madness event, our seniors' work of 10 historic buildings will be on full display.

In collaboration with Ryann Kuchenbecker, Director of the Ravenna Chamber of Commerce, we have been granted permission to label the ten buildings with QR codes that, when scanned with a smartphone, will take participants to a webpage dedicated to the building. On each page, a few students have created a historic overview of 10 of the most iconic buildings downtown. Even more exciting, Ryann has facilitated agreements with the buildings to leave up QR codes after the event so any person walking by a building in the near future can scan it and learn about its history.

Our kids have worked their tails off to accomplish this task, and they would not have been so successful in their endeavors were it not for our partnership with Kevin Gray, Vice President of the Portage County Historical Society. Kevin has been an invaluable resource to our kids, and has worked with multiple groups to provide resources and insight over the past few weeks. Kevin has also taken multiple days to teach our seniors about the history of our community. 

As we prepare to take part in Midnight Madness, please consider stopping up and taking part in the night's festivities, including our historic buildings tour. While our students are still refining the knowledge, skills, and persistence necessary to be the agents of change they seek in our community, they have certainly made me explode with pride and hope for the future of our beloved Ravenna. 

Most Sincerely, 

Rick Sullivan

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