Wednesday October 5th our college counselor, Mr. Ayhan, held our annual FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) Night. Filing a FAFSA is the most important thing you can do to get money for college. It's the gateway to more than $150 billion in college grants, work-study funds, and federal student loans, as well as certain state-based aid. Mr. Ayhan, Mr,. Simmons, and Ms. Strohsack assisted 85% of families of HSA Seniors with completing their FAFSA. FAFSA is important for all families of senior students to complete early because whether a student goes to trade school, a two-year school, or four-year school, the FAFSA process is the best way to gain grants, loans, and work-study. Without FAFSA completion, students miss out on those opportunities. Our annual FAFSA Night is just one more way we help prepare our students for success after graduation.

On October 4th our Cyclone Volleyball team took on Horizon Cleveland Dragons for our Senior Night match. The match was a competitive one, and ended in a win for the Cyclones. Our two seniors on the team, Alexandra Zepeda & Maria Ramirez, were honored at the game. Our High School Cyclones ended their season with a win and a 6-4 record.

Horizon wrapped up Hispanic Heritage Month with our annual Hispanic Heritage dinner, sponsored by our Foreign Language Department teachers Mr. Otero & Mrs. Shively. We had over 200 guests who came to watch our students perform various cultural dances, sing cultural songs, and even read cultural poems.

The event began with our special guest speaker, Hector Garcia III (USMC) Veteran . BSW, Career Development Specialist, LCCC; who spoke about the importance of education, especially in the Hispanic community, opening as many doors as possible to success, and the future after high school. Also a special thank you to our student performers, Alondra Torres Quinones who performed a contemporary dance alongside Kerilee Cartagena Navarro; Mileena Rivera who sang 'El Amor', 'Mexican Cumbia: No Me Queda Mas' and Mexican Cumbia: Como Te Quiero Yo a Ti; Lisa Ortiz who performed two version of La Bomba; Alexis Plaza who read the poem 'We Live in America'; and Anna Maria Martin who danced The Salsa with Eddie Grant.

After all of the wonderful performances, dinner was served. Some students from our CYSP group volunteered for the evening to help decorate the tables and serve our community dinner. A few Hispanic dishes were served, catered by Lorain's own Hispanic restaurant, Mi Casa. Our families enjoyed a delicious Tres Leches cake for dessert, prepared by one of our wonderful Spanish teachers, Mrs. Shively.

Hispanic Heritage month is important to our school and community because it celebrates the rich culture many of our students and families bring to our community. The diversity in our school population is celebrated year round, and this is one example of how all of the Horizon Science Academy community can come together and share and celebrate in our differences.

Ms. Cyran's class began celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by reading "Off & Running" by Gary Soto. "The biggest race of the school year is on! Fifth-grader Miata Ramirez is running for class president. Her best friend, Ana, is her running mate. The girls are stunned when they learn they are running against class clown Rudy Herrera and his friend Alex. At first Miata is certain she will win the election. She has big plans to make the school a better place. She'll clean up the graffiti, plant flowers and trees, and get computers. Rudy's confident he'll get votes by promising longer recess periods and selling the students ice cream every day. Miata is serious and means business. But the boys are funnier and louder. The girls think if they quickly change their image, they'll get those extra votes. But the election is just a few days away."

After reading this novel together the students in Ms. Cyran's 5th grade classes teamed up into President and Vice President teams. They made campaign posters, and delivered campaign speeches they created with persuasive writing lessons. Afterwards, Ms. Cyran created a ballot box where student's cast their votes.

The winners of the mock elections were Kayson Croskey & Arely Rivera from 5B and Elliott Rivera & London Penman from 5C. Fifth grade really enjoyed this interactive lesson.

On October 21st Lorain graduate, author, & illustrator, Nomar Perez, visited the Elementary students here at Horizon Science Academy of Lorain. He read his newest book to our students, 'Coqui in the City'. He also took time to autograph books for our students and even gave them an art lesson. They all learned how to draw their own coquis! Thank you, Nomar, for brining your joy of art and literature to share with our students.

Lorain High School does a teacher appreciation, jersey exchange. Coach Creel at Lorain High explains that 'I started the Jersey Exchange a while back letting teachers know that you all truly are making a difference in our young people's lives. Students rarely get to honor the ones that pour so much into them, that is how the program started."

Our own Senior, Richard Davila chose to bestow this honor on Horizon Science Academy of Lorain High School Teacher, Mr. Simmons. Mr. Simmons was very honored to wear this jersey throughout the school day.

This year's Trunk-or-Treat event was moved indoors due to the weather, but that didn't stop us from having a great time! Over 400 people turned out for a not-so-spooky time at the school. Many staff members and families had Halloween displays for our families to walk through. Some great displays included Pac-Man, complete with a game station, Stranger Things, with real waffles, & Dia Los Muertos, just to name a few.

The community was here to support and join in the fun as well. Mayor Jack Bradley's office donated candy and came with a black cat table. Achieve Credit Union donated candy & showed up with a real life Chewbacca! Officers Layfield & Ferenzi from the City of Lorain Police Department handed out candy and police badge stickers to our students. Blades of Grass Landscaping donated candy and had a nice fall themed table. Subway on Oberlin Ave. donated free 6 inch sub coupons to our students. Papa Johns of Amherst showed up with hot and ready pepperoni and cheese pizzas for our families to enjoy after the event.

There were several interactive games, face painting, coloring pages, apple cider & popcorn. There was truly something for everyone to enjoy!!