It's Not Too Late to Begin at Ginn!

"It takes courage to be different; to be a Ginn man." 

Theodore Ginn, Sr.

The Ginn Academy is looking for a few good men -- well, actually 100 good men! If you are a young man currently in the eighth grade, looking for a unique high school experience that is guided by scholarship, leadership, and service, you should consider becoming a Ginn man. 

It's never too late to begin at Ginn. To help you learn a bit more, we talked to one student from each of our grades, 9-12, about their reasons for enrolling at GA. You'll notice that each student has a different tie. As each new year begins, our young men transition to the next grade's tie as a rite of passage. Freshmen wear solid black, sophomores have solid red, juniors' ties are striped, and finally, in their senior year, the boys earn the privilege of wearing a custom-made tie bearing the Ginn Academy crest.

Shawndel (above), a freshman, attended Maple Heights schools until this year. For his high school years, his father looked at a private school that his cousin attends, but ultimately decided to send Shawndel to Ginn. "He actually went to this school when it was Margaret Spellacy Jr. High, so when he looked into Ginn Academy, he thought it would be a good school for me. He wants me to grow and to be a young man."

Though he's had to make all new friends and he gets up early to take two RTA buses to get here, Shawndel has no regrets about moving to his new school. He recently even recruited a classmate, Donald (above left), from Maple Heights to join him. One of his favorite aspects of our school is the youth support staff. "They actually know what we're going through, so there's a lot that they can help us out with," he says.

Our sophomore, Will (below), comes from a parochial school background and came to Ginn for the athletic and the academic opportunities. "I knew there would be fewer distractions being in an all-male school," he explains. "And the academics are more challenging. I like the youth support here. They stay on top of our needs in the classroom." Will started at GA feeling familiar with his new school because he already knew a lot of our students from football.

Moving on to eleventh grade, meet Ralpheal (above), who came to Ginn in his sophomore year seeking a more successful path for himself. "Originally I went to John Hay and I made a couple of not so good decisions, so they removed me from there," he explains. "I met Coach Ginn over the summer and he said that he knew my grandmother and told me that he thought Ginn Academy would be a good place for me to learn to make better choices and teach me to be a better man. Ever since then I've been making good choices, staying out of trouble. I'm happy that I chose to come here."

Ralpheal considered Ginn Academy before he enrolled at John Hay, and figures that if he'd come here intitially, he would not have gone down the path that he did. "I had this idea that Ginn Academy was for bad kids, though," he recalls. "I was surprised when I came here that the students really behave well, do their work. It's kind of cool. And it's working out for me."

Raijon (above), a senior in his first year with us, originally made the decision to transfer to Ginn because of some changes at home and also football. Shortly after starting, though, he realized that he should've been here all along. "It would've helped me be better than I am today. I was a little skeptical at first, but once I figured out what everything was about and got to know all the kids, it wasn't like an all-boys school, but more like my brothers. We have a lot of fun," he explains. He's found it much easier to focus on what's important with far fewer distractions in his life.

While academics are important in every school, Raijon sees a fine distinction between GA and his previous high school. "The craziest thing is that at Cleveland Heights, it was all about school and grades. When I came here, it was more about me being a man. We do our schoolwork here not just for good grades, but because we should; because we know it's part of becoming better in this world."

As you can see from these four students' stories, it's not too late to begin at Ginn!

Thank you for your interest!

Kindest regards from everyone at The Ginn Academy...

                  _______________________________________________________

For more information on enrollment:

The Ginn Academy holds an annual open house where families and potential students have an opportunity to meet and greet current Ginn men, faculty, and staff.  An informational session is provided by Theodore Ginn, Sr. and Principal Petty, along with a guided tour.

The recruitment process consists of the submission of an application, current transcripts, two (2) letters of recommendation, and a student essay. Interested students may obtain an application by calling The Ginn Academy at 216-531-GINN (4466).

Holiday Memories, Honor Roll, and Great Attendance at The Ginn Academy

Happy holidays from all of us at The Ginn Academy. We are all gearing up for a few weeks of rest and recharging, time with family and friends, good food and gifts. In our ongoing efforts to open our (virtual) doors and bring you inside our school, we'd like to share a few Christmas memories, wishes, and holiday favorites.

Rashee, a freshman, opens presents with his family and then goes out for breakfast at IHOP. His favorite holiday song is Santa Claus is Coming to Town.

Jameel hopes for a car and remembers his PS3 as his favorite gift ever.

Darrien enjoys decorating the Christmas tree with his family and says that his favorite ornament is a pine cone decorated with green and white glitter that he made years ago. He celebrates with his mom and 2 brothers and 3 sisters. His Christmas wish is to have his father home from prison.

Ms. Smith, one of our English teachers, has many family traditions this time of year. "We always put the tree up after Thanksgiving, always make prime rib for Christmas, and we do our family gift exchange on Christmas Eve," she says. Her favorite gift came from her mother, the necklace that she is wearing in this photo.

Rob J, one of our youth support staff members, has some favorite Christmas foods -- eggnog and cookies. And in the middle of the night on Christmas Eve, he wakes everyone up to give them each one gift.

Craig, one of our seniors, has a nice breakfast and opens gifts with the younger kids. His favorite Christmas song is Let it Snow.

Brothers, Jimond and Terrell, are ready for a couple of weeks of rest and fun. Jimond (left) wants a state championship title for the Glenville basketball team. Terrell remembers his favorite gift ever as a bike with a big wheel in the front like a motorcycle.

JaBrae, a junior, likes the toy store scene in Home Alone 2.

Donquez's family opens one gift on Christmas Eve and his favorite food this time of year is his Auntie LaShear's macaroni salad.

Our principal, Mr. Petty, remembers his first bike as his best ever Christmas gift. His favorite holiday movie is The Preacher's Wife.

Before we close out the blog for this year, we'd like to also share a few photos from our recent awards ceremony honoring our honor roll students and those with perfect attendance. 

Our average attendance rate at Ginn Academy is 93%. Truly excellent. Fifty-five of our young men were recognized for perfect attendance. In addition, we honored three students for the High Honor Roll, ten on the Honor Roll, and 26 on the Merit Roll. We are so, so very proud of every single one of these boys!! And it was wonderful to see so many family members there to cheer them on!

In this photo, Benji, the mother of one of our seniors, Banji, walks up to accept his award as he couldn't attend the ceremony that day.

Wishing all of you joy and kindness in your lives. Thank you for caring about our school. 

Sending love from everyone at The Ginn Academy

 

Getting Our Hands Dirty at The Ginn Academy

Judy Rickel, Ginn Academy's art teacher, is on a mission. This tiny fireball of a woman has seen what a small amount of makeshift supplies can do and will not stop until she has a fully-outfitted art room and ceramics studio for her students."They need this and they are thriving. I'm amazed at what they already do with what we have here," she says.

We do not have many electives, so art is a treat for most of the boys. It was added in 2009 when we moved to our current location and had more space. Our students are starting to speak the language as they settle in to this new place outside of their comfort zone. "This is what we are doing in other areas of the curriculum: hands-on, small group collaboration, sharing ideas, movement. Boys need movement!" says Mrs. Hazel Parker, GA's Assistant to the Executive Director. "The art classes have been an opportunity for the boys who didn't know they had creative talent," she explains. "Some have even decided to pursue graphic design in college. This catapults them to levels they didn't know existed for them."

At the beginning of her fourth year at the Academy, Mrs. Rickel, whose father grew up in Glenville, where many of our students live, has begun a feverish push to gather the supplies that she needs for the GA students to really get their hands dirty. With a degree in ceramics, her current passion is pottery, specifically Native American pottery. She has the boys making olla pots (water vessels), seed pots, and story pots. They learn the history behind the objects and hope to eventually be equipped to sell their work. "We can have all sorts of experiences with the business aspect of this: making pots, selling them. How should we market and who is our customer?" explains Mrs. Rickel. "I also have a dream where each student makes a full place setting and then we all sit down to share a meal together. It would be very spiritual."

To get the program rolling, Mrs. Rickel hopes to be able to purchase ten new wheels, a ton of clay (as in 2,000 pounds of clay!), sturdy stainless steel tables, tools (currently brought in from Mrs. Rickel's own supply), secure drying cabinets and shelves for storage. Another kiln is also needed in addition to the one that was kindly provided by the Jewish Federation last year. To accommodate the kilns, some electrical updates are needed. "I'm not going to let it stop us. We make do with what we've got right now," she says.

As for now, our students are benefiting in so many ways from Mrs. Rickel's classes. Some come in early, before school, to work and open studio is each day at lunch time. "It's calming, therapeutic for them," Mrs. Rickel says. "I was looking for something new for these boys and I found something ancient."

Kind regards from all of us and thank you for your interest in our school.