On October 27, College Hill CPOP volunteers Dorothy Harris and Amos Robinson (pictured) were presented the 2005 Community Problem Oriented Policing (CPOP) Award for their outstanding contribution to community CPOP efforts. See details of their contributions here. The awards were given to CPOP Teams, individuals in the Teams, and Officers who have made outstanding contributions to their neighborhood CPOP Teams.

The Cintas Center at Xavier University was a grand setting for this banquet. Police Chief Streicher, Judge Susan Dlott, Independent Monitor Saul Green and a "sea of blue" made up of neighborhood officers from the entire city made this an exciting evening. Our own neighborhood officer Herb Noble, our former Sgt. (now Lt.) David Fink and District 5 Captain Tom Johns were in attendance. See Enquirer article here.

CPOP is a philosophy and methodology designed to identify and analyze community problems and to develop effective responses through partnerships between City employees and Cincinnati residents by utilizing the Scanning, Analysis, Response and Assessment (SARA) Problem Solving Method. Community engagement is the key to sustaining improvements and carrying out the CPOP philosophy.

You can join the College Hill CPOP Team every second and fourth Wednesday at 6:30 pm at the College Hill Recreation Center. Meetings are held to one hour and are facilitated by Dorothy Harris. Our Neighborhood Officer Herb Noble is always present. We are presently putting our team effort into using the SARA process to combat a rise in robberies in College Hill.

For questions about the College Hill CPOP Team, call 513-588-6465 or email phylmark@fuse.net.

“It is with great pride that I inform the residents of College Hill that we have been selected as a National Night Out 2005 All Star Award winner for our outstanding participation in the 22nd Annual National Night Out crime, drug and violence prevention program,” says Amy Finnegan, Coordinator of the 2005 College Hill National Night Out. These awards are presented annually by the National Association of Town Watch to honor individuals, organizations or programs.

Ms Finnegan went on, “I thank the following for their wonderful participation and support of the College Hill National Night Out: College Hill Presbyterian Church, Cincinnati Police Department, District 5 and all our neighborhood officers, College Hill Citizens on Patrol and College Hill Community Problem Oriented Policing, Cincinnati Fire Department Engine Compoany 51, Llanfair Retirement Community, College Hill Forum, College Hill Forum Events Team, Judy and Larry Moyer, Mike Cassity and Financial Interest Limited Partnership, Lord's Bounty, Charlie Winburn and The Encampment, Target Stores, Members of City Council including David Pepper, Alicia Reese and David Crowley who participated in our walk, Cincinnati Police Mounted Patrol, Mayor Charlie Luken, DARE, Senator Mark Mallory, LaRosa's Pizza Hill, all the businesses who participated by staying open late and passing out gifts to the walkers and all College Hill residents.

“I am so impressed and overjoyed with the caring, strength and sense of community that College Hill showed during National Night Out. This is only our second year participating in this event so this is a huge accomplishment. Last year, our first year, we were awarded the "Rookie of the Year" award. Congratulations to you all.”

The Cincinnati School Board has approved Aiken Public Service Learning High School’s request to change its name to Aiken College & Career High School. The formal change will likely occur at the end of the current school year.

Aiken PSLHS Principle Eric Thomas said, “Our new name provides clarity to our school's focus: preparing students for college and for careers. Our use of service learning as an instructional strategy will continue. In fact, we are working to expand this strategy. In the coming days, weeks and months we will be producing literature that details our school program. Without question, we are excited about this change and the clarity it provides.”

Here is a sampling of some of the items that will be in place before Christmas:

• A brand new College & Career Resource Center will open.
• A GE Scholars Program will provide a special student lounge for students who meet academic, attendance and behavioral expectations.
• The school is already providing at least one college trip per month. This will be expanded to include am extra "GE Scholars" trip per month.
• GE Scholars will also get various items (book bag, shirt, pencils, etc, branded with "GE SCHOLAR").

Says Mr. Thomas, "Our goal is enhance the program so much that ALL students will strive to become GE Scholars."

During a recent week, all the students who had passed all parts of the Ohio Graduation Tests spent each day visiting a different college. Students who still needed to pass the tests were provided specialized prep sessions each day in the areas that they needed to pass.

Mr. Thomas: “I am excited about where we are and where we are going. The first quarter has been challenging. Among other things, we implemented new student uniform policy. We have a long way to go but we are moving forward. If you hear of anything that can help us please do not hesitate to drop us a line. We need all the support we can get.” Contact Principal Eric Thomas at (513) 289-5012 (cell), (513) 363-6790 (school) or email Thomaer@cpsboe.k12.oh.us.

The lovely streets of College Hill will again be lined with luminaria on Saturday, December 17th at dusk (rain date is December 24th). Started in 2002, this popular event has already become a College Hill tradition.

You can help assure the success of this project by:

• Serving as a Street Captain. You'll distribute Luminaria order forms to your neighbors. Call Beth McLean at 681-1326 to sign up; pick up your forms from her home at 6035 Belmont Avenue on the table around the back of the house, and distribute them by November 15.
• Helping assemble kits. You'll count and package candles and bags in sets of 10. Meet at the Recreation Center on Belmont Avenue on Thursday, November 17 at 6:30 pm.
• Shoveling sand. Meet at Jack's Sand on Este Avenue on Friday, December 2nd with your shovel! Call Amy Finnegan at 513-977-3108 for the exact time on December 2nd.
• Bagging sand. Package 10 cups of sand to complete a kit on Saturday, December 3rd from 9-11, 11-1, or 1-3 at the College Hill Recreation Center.

The Luminary Project is sponsored by the Forum Events Team, with help from the College Hill Gardeners. Call Amy Finnegan at 513-977-3108 to sign up.

McAuley High School will hold its annual Open House on Sunday, November 20, 2005, from 1:00 to 4:00 p.m. All sixth, seventh and eighth grade girls and their parents are most cordially invited to attend. The faculty and administration will be available to answer any questions. Student ambassadors will give tours to families; self-guided tours will be offered as well.

For more information, please contact Kathy Dietrich at 681-1800 x 2272.

Christ’s Community in College Hill thanks and congratulates everyone who participated in “Make A Difference Day” by contributing to our Coat & Canned Food Drive. Thanks to your compassion and kindness we collected eight boxes of nonperishable and canned goods filled with approximately 350 food items. You contributed enough coats to fill three 55 gallon barrels with approximately 75 coats. We also received $150 in monetary contributions.

If you were not able to make your contribution and would like to still make a difference, you may drop off your financial donation, canned goods or coats at the office of Christ’s Community at 5819 Salvia Avenue on Monday through Thursday between 9:30 am and 3:00 pm.

Again, we say thank you for helping us help others.

The ARCH online calendar wants to list the dates of all upcoming College Hill- related events, whether they be arts events, College Hill community events or events in other places featuring College Hill residents and/or groups.

Gail Finke, ARCH Calendar Coordinator, says, “Don't be left out! Don't assume I know about your church/school/club schedule. Heck, I don't even know my church/school/club schedules! Don't worry about duplicating other posts, just send me what you know about upcoming events and I will do the rest. If you've never seen the ARCH calendar, check it out! As you'll see, there are lots of missing events. We're not ignoring them; we just don't know about them. Help us by telling us what you know.”

Tell ARCH about your organization’s event on the ARCH Calendar web site, or by emailing Gail Finke at gailscott@eos.net.

This past week, the Enquirer returned to College Hill to take the pulse of what the newspaper describes as “this traditional bellwether neighborhood” in the weeks before the election. The article includes interviews with several College Hill neighbors, two of whom are nicely pictured, as well as some good information about what’s happening in College Hill.

College Hill resident Tracy Wilson has been nominated for a Post-Corbett award for her 20 years of work with the Cincinnati Opera. The winners of these awards will be announced at the Awards Dinner on November 21.

Tracy has served as College Hill's "Connections Lady" when it comes to entertainment. She has chaired the entertainment for the Rhythm Race both years. She brought the Margaret Garner opera event to College Hill this year and lined up the entertainment for the Six Sundays at Six Acres series. Her group, the Firelytes Steel Drum Band, has performed at several community events and concerts.

Some folks have already expressed an interest in coming to the awards dinner to support Tracy. She says, “I’m flattered and overwhelmed” at this attention, but “if you are interested attending, tickets for the event are $15.00 and must be purchased in advance. Let me know if you would like to join in on one of the tables. Thanks for all of your love and support.”

Contact Tracy at (513) 768-5549 or TWilson@cincinnatiopera.org.

After taking an all-school trip to Loveland Castle, students at St. Clare School enjoyed hands-on activities to reinforce what they had learned about medieval times. While students in grades six through eight employed their scientific skills in building marshmallow catapults, fifth graders engaged in expository writing and artistic rendering. In grades one through four, students experienced a medieval feast, created a personal coat of arms, and made medieval costume pieces and crafts.

Showing off their medieval garb in the picture are St. Clare students Christofer Trentman, Darryl McWhorter, Olivia Roll, Elizabeth Schuster, Maria Hemmelgarn, Savannah Castellano and Naomi Byrd.

The McAuley Theater will be the site of the fall production of Our Town by Thornton Wilder. The performances are November 11 and 12 at 7:30 pm and November 13 at 2:00 pm. Tickets are $8 for adults and $6 for students and senior citizens and will be available at the door, or can be reserved by calling the ticket hotline: 681-1800 x 2276.

College Hill resident Dr. Pamela Menges, president and director of engineering of Aerospace Research Systems Inc. has been awarded a project by the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts. The project combines advances in materials engineering with artificial intelligence to produce micro-aerial vehicles. "These vehicles fly around in the Martian environment collecting information on such things as the Martian atmosphere and geological formations," said Dr. Menges.

Dr. Menges has been active in the College Hill community. Among other things, she put together the Forum and CHBA web sites.

For more about Dr. Menges' companies, click here and here and here. For her personal web site, click here.

College Hill’s Contemporary Dance Theater is pleased to announce the hiring of Lisa Buck as Assistant Director. Ms. Buck brings nearly 15 years of professional experience in the arts to the organization, having previously worked at the Laguna Art Museum and the Robert Gumbiner Foundation for the Arts, both in California, as well as the Contemporary Arts Center and, most recently, the Fairfield Community Arts Center.

While at the CAC, Ms. Buck served as Curator of Education, founding the heralded UnMuseum, a unique gallery of interactive works of art for children. In May of this year, she planned and directed the grand opening of the Fairfield Community Arts Center, where she supervised the artistic direction of the facility and cultivated positive public relations. As Assistant Director, Ms. Buck will work with the marketing and fundraising functions of Contemporary Dance Theater. She will also assist Artistic Director Jefferson James in coordinating programming and will accompany Ms. James to the National Performance Network conference in December.

The MUSE Cincinnati's Women's Choir, which has at least six members in it who live in College Hill, has an upcoming concert series with the women's writing group, Women Writing For a Change.

They will present ReSounding Voices of Feminism-- performances of words & music that celebrate the richness of women’s experiences in today’s world on Friday, November 4 at 8:00 pm, Saturday, November 5 at 8:00 pm and Sunday, November 6 at 3:00 pm at St. John’s Unitarian-Universalist Church in Clifton. Tickets are $8 to $25

Get more information at 513-221-1118 or email muse@musechoir. org.