Interim Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) CEO Peter Raskind, who is being replaced by Chief Academic Officer Eric Gordon, offered some parting thoughts on improving urban education at a forum last week on underperforming schools.

Introducing himself as "the lamest of lame ducks," Raskind told the audience at Cleveland State University's Levin College of Urban Affairs that quality urban schools are critical to reducing inequality. Then he evaluated two concepts that are often mentioned by the left and right as single solutions to the woes of public education: more money and more competition.

"Will more money help? No, not alone," he asserted. While the Cleveland Municipal School District (CMSD) laid off hundreds of teachers and staff this year, Raskind does not believe more resources alone would improve performance.

On the subject of fostering competition, he stated that "some competition is helpful, and charter schools and other competitors have induced what I like to call a 'positive discomfort' among schools. At the end of the day, we do have to compete -- yet alone, competition won't solve our problems."

The answer, Raskind said, is effective leadership. He cited Apple and General Motors as examples of two large companies that came back from the brink of destruction to flourish after being led by strong leaders.

Yet urban schools face a critical challenge in attracting good leaders because "leaders are drawn to environments where they can apply their talents to full effect, and repulsed by environments where they feel they'll be stymied," he said.

"How can we attract the best principals to our schools, when they don't have control of who they'll be able to hire?" Raskind asked the audience.

Raskind closed by drawing a comparison between urban schools and another industry that's been in the news a lot lately. "Like the auto industry, urban schools are also in a long slow decline," he said. "And labor and management are locked into complex, rigid agreements that don't function well in today's world."

"Our customers are defecting to more nimble and attractive competitors, particularly charter schools," he continued. "And like the auto industry, labor and management will go down together unless changes are made."


Source: Peter Raskind
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The PNC SmartHome is complete at the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and open to visitors who want to learn how to make environmentally-friendly improvements to their own properties. The 2,500-square-foot three-bedroom house uses 90 percent less energy than a traditional home, and it uses no furnace for heating and cooling. The walls are a foot thick and packed with insulation, while the windows are triple-pane glass -- both of which reduce heat loss. The home is heated and cooled with small heat pumps.

"The museum wanted to help people understand how they can dramatically reduce energy consumption," says David Beach, director of the GreenCityBlueLake Institute at CMNH. "We think the SmartHome will be the first home to receive passive home certification in Northeast Ohio."

Other features include hardwood floors made from 100-year-old reclaimed wood and artwork with environmental themes created by local artists. The landscaping features storm water management techniques to keep rain water on-site instead of in storm sewers.

So far, the home has been well-received. "People walk in it and go, 'wow,'" says Beach. "What they are reacting to immediately is what a beautiful home it is. Then they see they can learn things [to do] for their own homes."

The house will be moved to an empty lot on Wade Park Boulevard this fall and will go on the market soon. Beach says they've already received inquiries about purchasing the house.

Tours run Monday through Saturday 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., Wednesdays from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. and Sundays 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m. Tickets are $5 with museum admission, $3 for those who can't go upstairs. Children 2 and under are free.

Source: David Beach
Writer: Karin Connelly

Ramen noodles may have been the late-night snack that powered you through finals in college, but they've come a long way since you left the dorms.

From Portland to New York's East Village, contemporary noodle houses have been springing up with abandon in recent years, offering tasty, affordable dishes that fuse Japanese and American ingredients.

Now award-winning chef Jonathon Sawyer, owner of Greenhouse Tavern, is opening Noodlecat, a modern noodle house in downtown Cleveland. The 83-seat restaurant, located around the corner from East Fourth Street on Euclid, will offer traditional and modern Japanese noodle dishes from $10 to $14.

Much like the Greenhouse Tavern, Sawyer plans to use locally sourced ingredients whenever possible, with the vegetarian-based noodles made by Cleveland-based Ohio City Pasta. Sawyer is also angling for Noodlecat to become the second certified green restaurant in Ohio (the first being Greenhouse). The Green Restaurant Association certifies establishments 'green' based on such criteria as water efficiency, waste reduction, energy use and sustainable food offerings.

Inspired by the creativity of other noodle houses, Sawyer even sent staffers to train at New York's famed Momofuku Noodle Bar in the East Village.

Diners can grab a sneak peek of Noodlecat during the Brick & Mortar restaurant pop-ups taking place June 21 through 24. Chef Chris Hodgson of the popular food truck Dim and Den Sum, and national food celebrity Lee Anne Wong will be the featured chefs. The restaurant pop-up concept has gained popularity recently as an affordable way for chefs to test new concepts.

Noodlecat, which is located at 240 Euclid Avenue, will hold its grand opening party on July 11th.


Source: Noodlecat
Writer: Lee Chilcote

With the goal of creating a 20-megawatt wind energy pilot project seven miles offshore from downtown Cleveland, LEEDCo is well on its way to unveiling the first freshwater wind farm in North America. If all goes as planned, this project will lead to additional turbines generating 1,000 MWs of wind energy by 2020. Writer Patrick Mahoney had an opportunity to "shoot the breeze" with LEEDCo president Dr. Lorry Wagner, the driving force behind the project.

Since Veronica Walton created an urban farm on Ansel Road several years ago, she's been asked countless times about her lush, bountiful plots: "I'm looking for a job," some would say. "Can I work here?"

When asked such questions, Walton, who is the Director of the nonprofit NEO Restoration Alliance, would extol the virtues of urban farming. She explained the difference between community gardens and urban farmers, who sell their crops to customers via local farmers markets. Yet until recently, she's been unable to point to a truly local example where small-scale farmers could sell their harvest.

That's about to change. This summer, Gateway105 Farmers Market will launch at the intersection of East 105th and Ashbury streets. The market will provide the Glenville, Hough and University Circle neighborhoods with fresh, locally grown food. It will also feature work by local artists, complementary family activities, musical performances and free health screenings from local institutions.

Organizers of the market, which kicks off on Friday, July 1st and runs every Friday through October, hope to reach local residents and University Circle employees who shop for groceries before heading home from work.

The farmers market was organized by NEO Restoration Alliance and the Famicos Foundation, a nonprofit community development organization that serves the Glenville and Hough neighborhoods and develops affordable and market-rate housing.

"This is about building a community of individuals that learn to develop entrepreneurial skills, while providing a service to the community at the same time," says Walton.


Source: Veronica Walton
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Salty Not Sweet, an independent boutique and letterpress studio, opened this month in a storefront on West 25th Street in Ohio City. It is one of several new businesses that have opened this year in the Market District, adding to a redevelopment trend in the area.

The store, which first opened a year ago in the Waterloo Arts District, features unique wares that are carefully sourced by co-owner Candra Squire, including merchandise from Megan Lee Designs (a screen-printed clothing line from Chicago) and Helen Pe (a Brooklyn artist who makes tiny original drawings in ring settings).

The new Salty Not Sweet also features vintage goods. In fact, most of the shop displays are made from vintage materials, including old soda crates, refinished furniture and tea cups that are all for sale.

The new location is primed to become a local crafters' paradise. Co-owner Melissa Major makes soap, candles and original lines of handmade home and body goods in a studio in the back of the store. Customers can watch Major work while they browse the store's offerings. The "Salty girls" promise to add public workshops that will be taught by area artists and crafters in the coming months.

Co-owner Candra Squire came up with the name "Salty Not Sweet" when a friend asked her to describe her work a few years ago, and it stuck. In addition to representing out-of-state artists, the shop offers Squire's original, tongue-in-cheek greeting cards (which are plenty salty, and not at all sweet).

Salty Not Sweet is located at 2074 West 25th Street.


Source: Salty Not Sweet
Writer: Lee Chilcote

A recent study by the Community Partnership for Arts and Culture (CPAC) examines where artists are living in Northeast Ohio. Perhaps it's no surprise that artists tend to populate urban neighborhoods where they can find spacious, affordable housing (including space for studios), walkable streets, diversity and public spaces that foster social interaction.

The report shows that Cleveland Heights is Northeast Ohio's top community for artists -- collectively, the Cedar-Fairmount, Coventry, Severance, Forest Hills, Cedar-Lee and Shaker Square neighborhoods contain 19.4 percent of the region's artists. Other artist-rich neighborhoods include Little Italy/University Circle, Lakewood and Detroit Shoreway.

Yet CPAC's report, entitled "Putting Artists on the Map," also suggests that successful artist-based community development is about more than just counting galleries or lofts where artists congregate. Artist-based development builds relationships between artists and community members, fostering lasting ties that fuel the artist's creativity while aiding the neighborhood's redevelopment.

"Artist-based community development is more than opening an art gallery or having an artist move into a neighborhood," CPAC's report states. "This type of development involves the creation of a more organic relationship between artists and their neighbors."

"This can mean a neighborhood takes steps to identify its hidden arts and culture assets by finding its gathering places and influential figures. Artists can be engaged by making beautiful and interesting public spaces and help unite residents in the process."

The report suggests that neighborhoods like Cleveland Heights, University Circle and Detroit Shoreway should gear their community development programs and policies towards promoting artist-based community development. This spring, CPAC launched its own Artist Community Development Initiative.

To complete the analysis, CPAC mined the databases of large arts organizations such as the Ohio Arts Council to determine where artists live.


Source: CPAC
Writer: Lee Chilcote

It's a well known fact that institutions such as the Cleveland Clinic, Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals are growth engines in Cleveland's economy these days. A lesser-known fact is that these institutions and others have emerged as leaders in greening Northeast Ohio's economy.

In recent months, Case, University Hospitals, Cleveland Clinic, Tri-C, Kent State, Oberlin College, Cleveland State University and the Fowler Center for Sustainable Value at Case's Weatherhead School of Management have all hired Sustainability Managers.

It's a sign that sustainability efforts -- once the domain of graduate students, volunteer committees or a staff person whose responsibilities were already stretched -- have infiltrated the culture of these organizations. These full-time staffers are responsible for implementing sustainable business practices.

Take University Hospitals (UH) as one example. Aparna Bole, a staff doctor, recently replaced an all- volunteer team that has led efforts for several years. She is now working to develop a sustainability plan, add two additional full-time staff people, and ensure that all new UH buildings meet EnergyStar standards (a 15-percent energy use reduction when compared to typical construction).

Cleveland State University (CSU) has also ramped up its sustainability efforts. Recently, CSU President Ronald Berkman signed the American College and University Presidents' Climate Commitment, requiring that CSU develop a carbon reduction goal and track carbon emissions from buildings. Nathan Engstrom, CSU's Campus Sustainability Coordinator, is responsible for leading these efforts.

The new hires indicate that Sustainable Cleveland 2019, an effort launched by the city of Cleveland and environmental groups to make Cleveland a model of sustainability, is taking root in some pretty big places.


Source: Green City Blue Lake
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Cleveland rowers know the Cuyahoga River offers one of the most interesting and challenging race courses anywhere. Beneath the backdrop of the Terminal Tower, gritty piles of gravel, and lift bridges stained with a patina of rust, rowers navigate five major twists and turns, including an S-shaped curve, before reaching the finish line.

Soon, a national rowing audience will be exposed to these challenges too. At last week's ribbon-cutting ceremony for the $3 million Rivergate Park on the Columbus Road peninsula in the Flats, the Greater Cleveland Sports Commission and Cleveland Rowing Foundation announced that they have partnered with USRowing to create a national championship rowing competition.

The first USRowing Masters Head Race National Championship is set for September 16th, 2012 on the Cuyahoga River. Rowers will race in 5,000-meter sweep (one-oar) and sculling (two-oar) competitions.

In a press release, USRowing stated that Cleveland was a natural choice for the inaugural event due to its central location, challenging course and the community's history of support of amateur and national sporting events.

At the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Greater Cleveland Sports Commission CEO David Gilbert touted the economic impact that the rowing event would bring to the community. The sports commission has said that it has brought $300 million in economic activity to Northeast Ohio since it was created.


Source: Greater Cleveland Sports Commission, Cleveland Rowing Foundation, USRowing
Writer: Lee Chilcote

Old Brooklyn has long been considered a hidden gem by its residents. Minutes from downtown and within walking distance of the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo, the neighborhood boasts quiet, tree-lined streets and a bevy of independent shops and friendly taverns.

Yet neighborhood advocates are hoping it won't be a well-kept secret much longer. That's why they've organized Pop Up Pearl, a one day block party that will fill the empty storefronts on Pearl Avenue with shops, entertainment and food vendors, and invited their neighbors to join in the festivities.

The event, which is modeled after the Better Block project in Dallas, Texas, is intended to act as a living charrette that allows visitors, residents and property owners to imagine a more vibrant future for Old Brooklyn's downtown. They're also hoping to attract investment after the party is over.

Pop Up Pearl, which was spearheaded by the Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation (OBCDC), takes place on Pearl Road between Wildlife Way and State Road this Saturday, May 21st from noon until dusk. It will include a "complete streets" demonstration, adding temporary bike lanes along Pearl Road. Entertainment from Progressive Arts Alliance and other groups also is planned.

Pop Up Pearl will also feature a youth arts studio with zoo-themed artwork from local nonprofit ArtHouse, artwork fashioned from recycled materials from Nicole McGee of Plenty Underfoot, and a shop filled with 100 percent locally made goods from Crafty Goodness in Lakewood.

The Better Block project began when a grassroots group transformed a city street in Oak Cliff, Texas into an inclusive, pedestrian- and bike-friendly street. Better Blocks projects "increase the perception of safety in an area, stimulate economic activity in vacant or blighted corridors and help to implement 'Complete Streets' projects," according to the group's website.


Source: Old Brooklyn Community Development Corporation
Writer: Lee Chilcote

The John Carroll University Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team recently won the SIFE regional competition for community outreach projects. They then traveled to the national contest in Minneapolis, where the team competed with 100 other teams from around the country.

SIFE is a global, non-profit organization that brings together a diverse network of university students, academic professionals and industry leaders around the shared mission of creating a better, more sustainable world through the positive power of business.

The JCU students, under the leadership of Scott Allen, assistant professor of management in the Boler School of Business, were charged with developing sustainable business plans for organizations helping the needy. "SIFE pairs undergraduate students with business leaders in the community," explains Allen. More than 48,000 students on 1,500 university campuses in 39 countries participate in SIFE.

Working with locals businesses such as PNC Bank, Chase Bank, and Nordstrom, the JCU students developed community outreach projects. "The goal is to use the classroom to create real projects that have a real impact on the world," says Allen. "It was fun to see what the students came up with."

Four projects brought the JCU students to regionals this year. They included African Children Ministries, a skill building and fundraising program that raised $7,000 and helped purchase a truck for an orphanage in Zaire; Hope for Honduran Children Foundation, a partnership that created a micro-enterprise to establish sustainable revenue for the children; Elevate Your Future, an opportunity for students to learn about, practice and refine their interviewing skills through interaction with executives, including members of the John Carroll University Entrepreneurs Association; and Sam's Club Environmental Sustainability Challenge, in a partnership with Geraci's Italian Restaurant and a grant from Sam's Club, the students developed methods to make the local eatery more environmentally sustainable.

While the team did not place in the top 16, Allen says he is "very proud of them."



Source: Scott Allen
Writer: Karin Connelly

Sharie Renee finds the beauty in what most people would deem garbage. As founder and CEO of Cosmic Bobbins in the St. Clair-Superior District, she takes old paper materials -- such as magazines or brochures -- and transforms them into fashionable accessories.

Cosmic Bobbins puts an emphasis on social awareness. As the granddaughter and great-granddaughter of funeral directors, Renee would contemplate on the meaning of life and the importance of giving back.

"When you're always watching the end of life, you think about what it's all about," she says. "We're all here for a period of time and what comes is an ideology on what business is all about and the social good of making the world a better place."

That ideology is the focus of Cosmic Bobbins. The company revolves around recycling -- or upcycling -- while also supporting and employing charitable organizations both locally and internationally.

Renee works with United Cerebral Palsy in Cleveland, employing up to 38 people in a sheltered work environment, and works with Youth Opportunities Unlimited, teaching sewing skills. Internationally, Renee works with a village outside of Mexico City, employing residents for her weaving and folding needs. "We're giving back to the world one magazine at a time," says Renee.

Most of her clients are businesses that also look out for the environment. She has created pencil holders from old annual reports for University Circle Inc., handbags out of old newsletters for the Cleveland Botanical Garden, and scissors cases for Paul Mitchell from old brochures.


Source: Sharie Renee
Writer: Karin Connelly

Clevelanders are having a love affair with locally grown, seasonal food -- and that romance is playing out at numerous farmers markets around town. These days, it's possible to shop at a different neighborhood farmers market practically every day of the week, a far cry from when just a handful existed. What's more: Cleveland-area farmers markets will reap approximately $2.5 million this year, great news for small entrepreneurs and the local economy.