Patterson's Perspective

In Lakewood City Schools, we take great pride in the development of the whole student. Spring marks the time of year for new beginnings, new life and looking to the future. As such, I wanted to take some time this spring to share information on some of our recent graduates and successes they have achieved in a variety of fields, partially as a result of our comprehensive educational programs. We have hopes for this year's graduates to scale similar heights.

In 2014, four of our top ten graduates received full academic scholarships to Harvard, the University of Cincinnati, John Carroll University, and the University of Michigan. It was especially gratifying to see one of our students admitted to Harvard, as the entrance criteria is particularly stringent with only 5% of applicants gaining admission. Although only one student decided to attend there, we had additional students admitted to Ivy League/highly selective universities, but factors such as tuition, distance or personal preference caused them to choose another school. This year’s graduating class also has several Ivy acceptances. 

In 2014, we also had three students accept athletic scholarships from Rutgers University (Division I) for rowing, Huntington University (NAIA) for baseball, and Tiffin University (Division I I) for soccer.

Some recent graduates of the last decade who are great success stories to share include: 

  • Nicole Parke, an economics major at The Ohio State University, is being inducted into SPHINX, the oldest and most prestigious senior honorary organization.
  • Max Mueller composes music with film score composer David Newman in Los Angeles.
  • Alex Krueger is an award-winning middle school teacher in an innovative Chicago charter school.
  • Mitchell Iacullo is an aerospace engineer for the military.
  • Lucia Stavros is a harp player and vocalist in New York City and a Fulbright Scholar. 

This is just a small sampling of recent graduates’ accomplishments that I wanted to share for our readers to take note that our alumni are soaring to new heights! I am continually amazed by the rich and proud tradition of our graduates from Lakewood City Schools. But, I also realize that without such a supportive community, none of this would be possible. Over the past five years, the Lakewood Rangers Education Foundation, College Now, and major local scholarships have been able to help our students with $394,000 in scholarship assistance. Combine this support with the excellence of our school system, and the sky is the limit for a Lakewood City School graduate.

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Volume 11, Issue 10, Posted 4:47 PM, 05.12.2015