Heights Welcomes New Orchestra Director

Daniel Heim, 36, takes the baton this school year as the new instrumental music teacher and orchestra director at Cleveland Heights High School. A violist since the age of 8, Heim also plays other stringed instruments, including cello and bass.

He comes to the Cleveland Heights-University Heights schools from Miller South School for the Visual & Performing Arts in Akron. He was also a Teaching Assistant at Case Western Reserve Universiety and an intern at Beachwood High School.

He played with the Lubeck, Germany Philharmonic Orchestra (where he also helped prepare gifted high school students for college auditions) and with the Blossom Festival Orchestra and the Cleveland Pops Orchestra.

Heim holds a master’s degree and licensure in music education from Case and a  bachelor’s degree in viola performance from the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y. He has done post-graduate study at the University of Michigan.

Heim will work with Brett Baker, Heights High’s other instrumental music teacher, who leads the Symphonic Winds, Symphonic Band, Jazz Ensemble and marching band.

Ohio Has Room for Improvement in Child Well Being

Ohio falls in the middle of the pack (ranked 28th among the states) in the 20th annual Kids Count ranking of ten indicators of child well being just released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation.

The foundation called for improvements to the nation’s ability to design and evaluate programs aimed at the needs of children and families living in poverty. Casey, in releasing its 20th annual Kids Count Data Book, makes it clear that the basis for improving the outcomes of this country’s most disadvantaged children and families lies in identifying where they are, the conditions that they live in, and the effectiveness of current programs to improve outcomes.

The report measures percentage of low birth-weight babies; infant mortality rate; child death rate; rate of teen deaths by accident, homicide, and suicide; teen birth rate; percent of children living with parents who do not have full-time, year-round employment; percent of teens who are high school dropouts; percent of teens not attending school and not working; percent of children in poverty; and percent of families with children headed by a single-parent.

Here’s an excerpt from the report’s summary:

The data  present a rich but complex picture of American children. Some dimensions of well-being improved, some worsened, and some showed little change. However, the overriding picture that these 10 indicators present is one of little change since 2000.  At the national level, 6 of the 10 indicators of child well-being showed that conditions improved since 2000, while child well-being worsened on 4 indicators.

The portrait of child wellbeing varies among states, and state-level measures often mask important differences within a state. Additional information on child well-being for cities, counties, school districts, and other levels of geography can be found at the Kids Count Data Center. The portrait of change in child well-being since 2000 stands in stark contrast to the period just prior to 2000. Between 1996 and 2000, 8 of the 10 key indicators used in KIDS COUNT improved, and several improved dramatically. The improvement was experienced by every major racial group and in nearly all of the states.
Pre- and post-2000 trends are clearly illustrated by changes in the rate of child poverty since the mid-1990s. Between 1994 and 2000, the child poverty rate fell by 30 percent. This was the largest decrease in child poverty since the 1960s. Since 2000, however, improvements have stalled. In fact, the child poverty rate has increased by 6 percent, meaning that nearly 900,000 more children lived in poverty in 2007 than in 2000.
It is important to note that the data in this year’s KIDS COUNT Data Book do not reflect the current period of economic recession at the national level. The economic indicators included in the Data Book come from the 2007 American Community Survey, which reflects information for the 12 months prior to the survey date. The effects of the economic downturn were not felt by most U.S. families until well into 2008 and 2009.

The Data Book also provides background information for each state, including demographic and family income data. Full national results are available here; for Ohio, here, and for Cuyahoga County, here.