The musCLE house may not be a gym or cable-access bodybuilding show, but it does give Cleveland students the opportunity to flex their musical talents in exchange for a bit of their free time.

Students taking part in the program receive one hour of free music lessons in exchange for volunteering one hour toward philanthropic involvement or community service, says musCLE house co-founder Eric Kogelschatz.

The Detroit native created the program with his wife Hallie Bram Kogelschatz and Cleveland Institute of Music alums Ariel Clayton and Carlos Javier. The musCLE house works with students from Cleveland Municipal School District, although its co-founder would like to expand the program to other districts.

"Music is a basic building block of intelligence," Kogelschatz explains. Due to school districts cutting music programs, "not enough young people have exposure to it."

The musCLE house launched its fundraising campaign this week. Kogelschatz aims to raise $55,000 over the next two months to finance more than 600 hours of music lessons from paid instructors, along with the procurement of instruments, sheet music and more.

With its volunteerism aspect, the program has the tenet of community building at its core, says Kogelschatz. Adding music to the mix is a bonus for the Shaker Heights resident, who grew up playing the saxophone and clarinet.

"We're encouraging kids to get involved with their communities," he says. "Students get to see the change taking place around them, and they're getting a reward."

 
SOURCE: Eric Kogelschatz
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

"Reading is fundamental" is a message that's been transmitted to the nation's children for years. Research shows that's no empty slogan: Kids who are not reading proficiently by third grade are four times more likely to leave school without a diploma, says Robert Paponetti, executive director of the Literacy Cooperative of Greater Cleveland.

Enter the Literacy Cooperative's STEP (Supporting Tutors Engaging Pupils) program, an in-school tutoring program designed to help build reading and language skills in underperforming K-3 students. Young participants are taught in one-on-one, structured tutoring sessions that coordinate with classroom curriculum.

The students chosen for the program usually are close to their grade's reading level, says Paponetti. Lessons are delivered twice a week and are designed to develop fluency, vocabulary development, comprehension and word knowledge.

"Reading to a child is one thing," Paponetti says."We are working with the child."

STEP started as a pilot program for first-grade students at Marion-Sterling School in Cleveland during the 2010-2011 school year. Shoreview Elementary was added to the mix for 2012-2013.  There's also an after-school program taking place at Warrensville Heights Library this year.

The program, funded by Cleveland Foundation and several other groups, has resulted in positive gains for its young readers, notes Paponetti. Participating students at Marion-Sterling, for example, showed improvement in all measures of reading skills compared to non-tutored students.

Further success will see future expansion of the program. "There's a beautiful simplicity to structured tutoring intervention," says Paponetti. "It could be a real tool for helping children."

 
SOURCE: Robert Paponetti
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Seven is a lucky number for North Collinwood's burgeoning arts community, as a like-numbered group of the neighborhood's creative thinkers recently received grants from the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC).

The seven artists, most working out of North Collinwood's Waterloo Arts and Entertainment District as part of CPAC's "Artists in Residence" initiative, will get a total of $45,000 in funding for projects including a music education series for local children and an "intergenerational story circle" starring some of the community elderly residents, says CPAC strategic initiative director Seth Beattie.

The grants will address community priorities through arts activities between this month and the end of March. Overarching themes of the grant cycle are residents, community assets and youth involvement. CPAC is awarding the grants in conjunction with the nonprofit Northeast Shores Development Corporation.

"We had 30 proposals this time around," says Beattie of CPAC's second of three grant periods; the third round will come next spring. "These particular ones rose to the top."

The grants are a component of the Artists in Residence program, which is using the North Collinwood neighborhood as "a laboratory" for increasing artists’ engagement with the population, says CPAC president and CEO Tom Schorgl. Area painters, sculptors, videographers and musicians are given perks like affordable housing with the hope they will be a major participant in neighborhood revitalization.

"Artists want communities where they can live affordably with a great quality of life," says Beattie. "They can be a tremendous force in absorbing space in the neighborhood. Collinwood is poised to see a dramatic turnaround in the coming years."

The Waterloo Road arts district can be part of that transformation, with CPAC's latest granting round a good beginning on getting that done, believe the organization's leaders.

"We're marrying strengths here," Beattie says. "It's about money and developing a system of support that helps artists build up projects now and in the future."

 
SOURCE: Tom Schorgl, Seth Beattie
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

Cleveland native Marcellus Nealy was "window shopping" for a camera on the Internet when he came across information about Canon’s Project Imaginat10n contest. The contest involves director Ron Howard selecting 91 photos in 10 categories to be made into films by celebrity directors. Nealy decided to enter, and his photo “Sharing a Smoke” was named a winner in the “relationship” category.
 
"While I was window shopping I stumbled on a site that mentioned last year's contest,” recalls Nealy. “That site made me want to know more about this year's contest. I Googled it, saw that they were still taking submissions, and sent in some photos. I never actually expected to be a winner.”
 
Nealy grew up on Scoville Avenue and the Lee Harvard neighborhoods of Cleveland and attended John Carroll. He now spends most of his time in Tokyo, or with his sister in Willoughby Hills.
 
Nealy’s photo is one of the 91 that celebrity directors -- Eva Longoria, Jamie Foxx, designer and co-founder of Marchesa Georgina Chapman and James Murphy -- will pick from to use for their short films.
 
Nealy shot the photo while on a shoot for a Tokyo-based band. Two of the band members were sharing a cigarette when the inspiration hit Nealy. “Suddenly, I had a vision of them exchanging souls or some cosmic energy or the spirit of creativity or Anima, or whatever you want to call it,” he says. “I thought the smoke would be the best way to express this vision in a tangible way.”
 
The first five films are scheduled to go into production later this year and early 2013, with five more celebrity directors to be named at a later date.

 
Source: Marcellus Nealy
Writer: Karin Connelly

A school garden is a real, living world, a type of lab that offers teachers a way to embed creativity, collaboration and love for nature into their curriculum, believes Carlton Jackson, a farmer, self-described "food evangelist" and proprietor of Tunnel Vision Hoops, a provider of hoop houses that allow for year-round food production.
 
The Cleveland-based company is offering Cuyahoga County public school students grades K-8 a chance to win a hoop house for their school. The Gardens that Teach contest, which runs through February, asks students a series of questions about the preparation, construction and maintenance of a theoretical school garden. Answers will be reviewed by a panel of experts from the realms of food policy, botany and community gardening.
 
The winning school will receive the greenhouse-like hoop house, while the other participants will learn about the benefits of plants, year-round gardening and healthy eating, says Jackson. "We wanted kids to use their math skills," he adds. For example, "how many pounds of tomatoes can they get? What will the do with the food once it's grown?"
 
Hoop houses provide a high-temperature environment that protects crops from strong winds, cold and frost, allowing fruits and vegetables to grow during gardening's so-called "off-season," Jackson says.
 
The concept also is in line with the city's Sustainable Cleveland 2019 project, a movement that in part aims to increase the percentage of locally produced food. Mayor Frank Jackson also proclaimed October 24 to be Food Day, a national venture with the overriding objective of "eating real" and promoting healthy diets among the population.
 
The Gardens That Teach contest is certainly a nourishing exercise for Northeast Ohio's young students, says Jackson.
 
"There's a wonderment in watching something grow," he says. "If we can kids back to that, it would be a beautiful thing."
 

SOURCE: Carlton Jackson
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

It's no exaggeration to say that Cleveland wouldn't be half the city it was and is without the steady influx of foreign-born peoples. But nowhere, perhaps, is our city's melting-pot pedigree more evident than on the plates served at ethnic eateries throughout town. Every time we tuck into a delicious plate of ethnic food, we have these brave immigrants to thank for it.

Cleveland’s growing urban farming scene has gained national recognition as a creative response to the problems of foreclosure and vacancy. Now the challenge for these homegrown entrepreneurs is to develop business strategies that help turn their startups into year-round businesses.

The Cleveland-Cuyahoga County Port Authority is asking voters to vote "Yes" on Issue 108, a levy that would cost property owners roughly $20 a year per $100,000. Fresh Water discusses the importance of the levy and more with Port President and CEO William Friedman.

Munchit co-founders Tim Holmes and Jon Dinardo were living worlds apart -- Holmes in London and Dinardo in Los Angeles -- but they had one thing in common: the desire to find a better way to snack.
 
“I was based in London and lived inside the city and ended up eating a lot of junk,” says Holmes, a native Brit. Meanwhile, Dinardo was living a fast-paced lifestyle on the west coast. The two, along with Holmes’ wife (and Dinardo’s sister) Nicole, were craving something better.
 
So the three moved back to Dinardo's Ohio hometown to start Munchit, an all-natural snack company. Munchit sells snack boxes, either on a weekly or monthly subscription basis, in which the buyer chooses from 25 wholesome snacks. Snacks feature things like dark chocolate espresso beans, nuts, cranberries, rolled dates and seed mixes. Each box features four different snacks.
 
“You log in and go through all our snacks,” explains Dinardo. “If you love 18 out of the 25 items we mix it up each time.”
 
Holmes and Dinardo source their products from small, local companies as well as national family-owned suppliers. “All of our food is 100-percent natural, with no preservatives or artificial colors,” says Dinardo. “The snacks are portion sized and are 180 calories.” They focus on environmental issues, keeping packaging to a minimum.
 
They decided to start the company in Cleveland to not only be close to family, but also for economical reasons. “Cleveland is a good area logistically because it’s very close to the hub of business,” says Holmes. “The cost of suppliers is right.”
 
Munchit currently is trying to raise $50,000 by Oct. 25 on Kickstarter. “Our goal right now is to launch and stay afloat in the short term,” says Holmes. “We want to make it past the first year. After that, the opportunities in the market are open to us to grow and expand.”
 
While right now it is a family affair, Holmes and Dinardo predict they will hire people to help with packaging and fulfillment as they grow. Eventually they plan to hire people to help with finance and bookkeeping.

 
Source: Jon Dinardo and Tim Holmes
Writer: Karin Connelly

Peter Debelak was a frustrated lawyer with a passion for woodworking when he stumbled on a soon-to-be-available woodshop space in a former meat processing plant on Cleveland's near west side.

"There was a woodworker who had been in there for 30 years, and his space opened up," says Debelak, who fell in love with the medium of wood 12 years ago and has worked with it ever since. "The opportunity was hard to pass up."

Still, starting the woodshop was a leap of faith. "I realized it was now or never," he adds. "I could get into the inertia of my next job and it would stay an idea, or I could just do it."

This past July, Debelak opened Soulcraft Woodshop, an artistic space for his own furniture making and a hub for woodworking lessons and workshops. He partnered on the project with fellow woodworkers Jim Doyle and Jim McNaughton.

"There's definitely an existing and growing 'maker' movement among people in their 20s and 30s and retirees," says Debelak. "It's about going back and working with your hands, making your own things and having a connection to objects."

Unless you have a woodworking shop in your basement, there is a dearth of spaces to explore this field, he adds. "Shop class has been eliminated in just about every curriculum in public and private schools. There's a hole in terms of market need."

Soulcraft Woodshop currently offers classes on an ad hoc basis based on inquiries. However, the owners will soon roll out regular classes such as "Introduction to Furniture Making" or "How to Build an Adirondack Chair in a Weekend."

Budding woodworkers can also purchase a monthly membership pass for $120 or a pay-as-you-go pass to complete an individual project for as little as $50 to $80.

Soulcraft Woodshop is located in the Hildebrandt Building at 3610 Walton Avenue.


Source: Peter Debelak
Writer: Lee Chilcote

At the corner of E. 83rd and Carnegie Avenue, a dilapidated building has been transformed into a contemporary, glass-walled resource center. Inside these walls, youth will be mentored, adults will receive financial education and job skill assistance, and seniors will record their history within the community.

This is no ordinary redevelopment project. The PNC Fairfax Connection was designed with maximum community input to address the needs and aspirations of the Fairfax neighborhood, which lies just south of the Cleveland Clinic campus.

“We celebrate the opening of the PNC Fairfax Connection as a demonstration of what it truly means to work together to create a new relationship and a new bond between a bank and its community,” said Cleveland native James Rohr, Chairman and CEO of PNC Bank, in a press release. “PNC closely collaborated with the Fairfax community at every step to ensure the center's design and programs meet the interests and needs of this proud and historic community.”

The $5 million center, which was sustainably built and will likely receive LEED certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), is a 6,400-square-foot space that is flexibly designed to meet the needs of the community. Two full-time coordinators, Susan Blasko and Brandon Lipford, will staff it.

Upcoming programs include SPARK, a web-based literacy initiative provided in cooperation with the Boys and Girls Club of Greater Cleveland; Senior Compass programs that help seniors with help and wellness and technology skills; and Financial Connections, which are weekly financial wellness workshops.

The PNC Fairfax Connection is open daily from Tuesday through Saturday, and programs are offered in the day as well as the evening.


Source: PNC Bank
Writer: Lee Chilcote

A parent can cover their child's eyes when there is violence on television, but who will do that for a child when they're exposed to real-life trauma? That is the question United Way is answering with its 2-1-1 community access line, a 24-hour help number that's part of Cuyahoga County’s Defending Childhood initiative.

United States Attorney General Eric Holder and Cuyahoga County Executive Edward FitzGerald hosted a news conference September 28 at Martin Luther King Jr. High School to announce a $2 million Justice Department grant that will aid Defending Childhood programs including the community access line.

The phone line is manned by United Way staff members. These trained staffers determine if Defending Childhood services can help a child who has witnessed violence or experienced trauma. Diagnosing and treating children who have lived through violence can be a significant step in helping them avoid trouble later in life, says Stephen Wertheim, president/CEO of United Way.

 "The trauma a kid goes through can impact their function in society," Wertheim says. "We're trying to get to these problems at the root."

While at the high school event, Holder participated in a round-table discussion with students and teachers. He later met with a group of law enforcement officers and social workers that were also on hand.

The impact of violence on children has reached "national crisis" proportions, Holder told the audience during the Sept. 28 conference. Assessing and screening the young people victimized by violence must take precedence over merely prosecuting those perpetrating the trauma.

Studies have shown how post-traumatic stress can negatively effect children, says FitzGerald. 

"If a child witnesses horrific acts of violence, they're more likely to be involved in the justice system themselves," says the county executive. Through a preventative measure like the 2-1-1 help line, "the idea is to increase public safety rather than just incarcerating everyone."

 
SOURCE: Stephen Wertheim, Ed FitzGerald
WRITER: Douglas J. Guth

The Intergenerational School, a high-performing charter school that is part of the Breakthrough Schools network, recently signed on to become part of the redeveloped Saint Luke's Hospital campus at Shaker Boulevard and E. 116th Street.

The highly-rated school, which has operated out of the nearby Fairhill Center for the past decade, will have the opportunity to grow within the Buckeye-Shaker Square community, customize classroom space to meet their unique needs and engage the seniors living at Saint Luke's.

"It's a great school and this will be a catalytic project for the community," says Joel Ratner, President of Neighborhood Progress Incorporated (NPI), the nonprofit developer of the Saint Luke's project. "Their model is to create intergenerational learning opportunities for kids, and now they'll be able to physically do that."

TIS is part of Phase III of the Saint Luke's project, says Ratner. Phases I and II are low-income senior housing. This final phase will complete the redevelopment of the historic, red brick hospital, which has been badly vandalized since it closed over a decade ago. Ratner also expects the Boys and Girls Club to open a small space in the building, and NPI will move its office headquarters there, as well.

NPI is now in a frantic push to complete the project by July 1, 2013 so that TIS can move in before the start of the 2013-2014 school year. The organization must raise another $3 million by May of next year in order to make that happen.

So far, the Cleveland Foundation, Saint Luke's Foundation and several private individuals have contributed to the project, which will cost a total of $6 million.

"We've already ordered the windows," says Ratner. "That alone was half a million dollars, including installation, because there are literally hundreds of custom windows. We're doing this project because it's the right thing to do."

Ratner also hopes the presence of TIS will help improve Harvey Rice School, a newly built K-8 school that is not performing well. "We'd like to get mentors there like they have at TIS, and potentially do programming together," says Ratner. "The Cleveland schools say they're open to it. This will be a huge lift."


Source: Joel Ratner
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The way Beachland Ballroom owner Cindy Barber sees it, Cleveland's music glory days are far from over. Yet our music scene could use some better amplification. That's why Barber has created a new nonprofit, Cleveland Rocks: Past, Present and Future, to preserve the legacy of the city's rock-and-roll history while also promoting and shaping its future.

"The past is the legacy project of capturing Cleveland music history, the present is documenting what's happening now, and the future is figuring out what we need to do to grow it," says Barber. "There's already a huge amount of music business here. We need to take stock of what we have and what we're missing."

Barber cites music business startups like Gotta Groove Records, Fortune Drums, Audio Technica and Dr. Z Amplification as success stories. She also wants to highlight the local bands that are touring and getting signed nationally.

"The plan is to create a website to highlight the bands that are getting attention," she says. "If they're out touring the world, they can bring that energy back to share with other people in Cleveland and grow the music business here."

To kick off the project, Barber and others are organizing a series of live interviews with local legends that played a role in Cleveland music history. The first event is scheduled to place on Saturday, November 3rd at 1 p.m. at the Beachland Ballroom. Tickets cost $15 and include lunch and the opportunity to participate as Larry Bruner, former booking manager for the 1960s folk music venue La Cav, is interviewed by Steve Traina, DJ for the WCSB radio show "Steve's Folk."

Future plans include working with the Rock Hall to preserve oral histories and promote live music, helping musicians identify investment sources for growing their bands or recording albums, and marketing the music industry here.

"All the clubs that came together as part of the Cleveland Music Coalition [to challenge the city's admissions tax] are part of this," says Barber. "We want to use the nonprofit to support what they're doing to create live music in Cleveland."


Source: Cindy Barber
Writer: Lee Chilcote

For the next three months, artists from Sri Lanka, India, Armenia, Mexico and Chile will bring their talents, experiences and cultures to Cleveland through The Cleveland Foundation's international artist-in-residence program, Creative Fusion.

"The Cleveland Foundation does have a globalization agenda for Cleveland, and we think it's important for Clevelanders to see the city as a global, international city and that the rest of the world see us that way, too," says Kathleen Cerveny, Director of Institutional Learning and Arts Initiatives for the foundation. "The arts are a great tool to promote international understanding and exchange."

Creative Fusion brings in five international artists for a three-month stay in Cleveland. The program has been in the pilot phase for the last three years, and this year's roster of artists represents a complete relaunch for the initiative.

"Traditionally, arts organizations will bring in international artists, but there's very little lasting impact," says Cerveny. "We wanted to bring artists here for a longer period of time, especially cultures that are not represented in Cleveland."

While Creative Fusion artists are embedded within a cultural organization, they are required to complete community engagement activities and interact with the local artistic community. Cerveny says that the artists have gotten right to work.

"There's an Indian choreographer at the Rainey Institute who has been here a week and a day, and he's already taught two classes at Hathaway Brown and worked with inner-city kids at Rainey. This program has a significant impact."

Many of the artists consider Cleveland "a second home" after living here, she adds.

The artists are being hosted by Inlet Dance Theatre, Rainey Institute, Trinity Cathedral, Young Audiences and Zygote Press. More information about the Creative Fusion artists can be found on the Cleveland Foundation's website.


Source: Kathleen Cerveny
Writer: Lee Chilcote