ACE Mentoring Program Offers Pathway for Ready Students

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Special to the Real Deal
Celebrating ACE Mentor Program of Cleveland’s 10^th Anniversary 

Building Future Leaders in Architecture, Construction and Engineering

“Tonight is a celebration of the people who have found a way to support CMSD student scholars.” - Cleveland Metropolitan School District CEO and ACE Mentor Cleveland board member Eric Gordon

By Kim St. John-Stevenson

Local architects, builders, construction leaders and engineers – and more importantly students – recently gathered at two events designed to celebrate 10 years of academic achievement, mentoring and scholarships for Cleveland area youth, youth who will contribute to our region’s development.

The celebrations – ACE Mentor Cleveland’s 10^th Anniversary Gala and the organization’s annual Presentation and Scholarship Night – honored youth, mentors and industry leaders. The stars of both events were students, past and present. 

Warrensville HS students
presenting at ACE Anniversary Gala

Showcasing what they learned, students from Warrensville High School and the John Hay School of Architecture and Design shared presentations that were the culmination of a year’s worth of work with ACE mentors and volunteers. The Warrensville team focused their presentation on the revitalization of Warrensville Heights, while the John Hay team – which took their project national when they competed against teams from 35 other affiliates – focused their efforts of development of a modular smart house that could revolutionize home construction costs.

Following the presentations, Emeritus ACE board member Thomas Laird of Gilbane Building Company thanked the students for their energy and enthusiasm, noting that “every year, the bar gets raised just a little higher.” 

Javon Miller, Kent State

Celebrating the anniversary and reaching back were recurring themes throughout the evening.  Javon Miller, an ACE alum from the Warrensville team and current ACE Cleveland scholar at Kent State University, took to the stage to say thank you and to encourage the young people to keep moving forward.  Javon first thanked the many men and women who commit their time and their organization’s resources to the after-school meetings, field trips, mentoring and internships that ACE students experience.  He then added some advice for students: “Remember to have maturity, character and drive. Make effective relationships.”

“This program is so valuable to your collegiate and career future. So keep cultivating your character, building your drive and establishing good relationships with your mentors. Those attributes will carry you far in life.” – Javon Miller, former Warrensville Heights ACE participant and scholarship recipient

Fred Geis and Brandon Moore
of Geis Companies

Fred Geis of Geis Companies took the stage with Brandon Moore, a former ACE scholar who now works for Geis, to highlight the importance of sponsor involvement in ACE work. “As industry leaders, we can’t expect the Cleveland Metropolitan School District to take all of the responsibility for [students] getting into our field. We need to expose them.” Students like Brandon, who, Geis added, “got excited about what he could learn about construction.”

2018 ACE Mentor Program Winning Team from Warrensville Heights HS

How It All Began

It was a little over ten years ago that Laird, new to the Cleveland area by way of Washington D.C., began discussions about bringing the ACE Mentor Program to Cleveland. “From the very first meeting, I knew we had to do ACE here,” he noted. Since then, the organization has grown from one to eleven programs that engage nearly 200 students. In honor of his contributions, this year the organization launched the inaugural Thomas Laird Scholarship, a $5,000 scholarship awarded this year to Mohammed Khaled, a John Hay graduate, who will be attending Cleveland State University as an engineering student in the fall.

Maureen Westropp of Panzica Construction
 and Tim Lavelle of Gorman-Lavelle

In 10 years, ACE Mentor Program Cleveland has awarded more than $700,000 to students studying in architecture, construction management and engineering (or related fields) and engaged hundreds of industry professionals, representing over 60 companies in the work of shaping future leaders.

In September 2017, ACE reported that 78% of the ACE recipients from 2016/2017 and prior are either enrolled in college or graduated. For comparison purposes, college graduation rate among U.S. students who attended high poverty high schools is 18 percent per the National Student Clearinghouse (2016). With the addition of the 2017/2018 freshmen, ACE has funded a total of 111 students since 2010. Of those 111, 38% have majored in Engineering, Architecture, Construction or Computer Science, with another 5% majoring in Business, Accounting or Finance.

“Students, there is no straight line to your career pathway. There are many paths to get to the many opportunities that exist. I thank you for your commitment and encourage you to continue to grow, continue to find ways to continue the good work. Seek that magic – it is well worth the effort.” – Richard Mayer, Senior Director –Construction Services for Sodexo USA/University Hospitals, ACE Mentor Program sponsor

Congratulations 2018 Scholars!

ACE Mentor Program Cleveland 2018 Scholarship Recipients

“I can’t put into words what ACE did for me in my two years of participation. I was able to learn and excel - with the help of all of my mentors. ACE helped a lot with my choice to study architecture at Kent State University.” - Isidro Villa 

Katie Chevalier Bawarski, ACE Director
 of Regional Programs, with Cleveland
ACE Executive Director Glen Shumate 

The 2017-2018 academic year has come to a close, and ACE Mentor Program Cleveland ended the year with a big bang as it awarded 30 scholarships totaling $125,000 to graduating seniors from across Northeast Ohio at its annual Presentation Night and Scholarship Dinner. Additionally, the organization gave out the Tom Laird and Kendall King awards and recognized the many scholarship sponsors and partners over the organization’s 10-year history.

Kim St. John-Stevenson is principal of Ink+ LLC, a strategic communications firm.

2018 ACE Mentor Program Scholarship Recipients

Name	High School	City of Residence
Chardajah Martin	Collinwood	Cleveland
Taylor Benford	High Tech Academy	Cleveland
Georgia Toomer	High Tech Academy	Cleveland
Jack Ovalles	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
Nicole Thornton	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
Maysaa Zaghari	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
Jesse Knight	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
Lucero Sandate	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
JuTayjua Hines	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
Steven Loomis	James Ford Rhodes	Cleveland
Bakari Ballard	John Hay - Local	Maple Heights
Justise Porter	John Hay - Local	Warrensville Heights
Tyrese Benson	John Hay - Local	Maple Heights
Courteney Martin	John Hay - Local	Cleveland
Mohammed Khaled	John Hay - National	Cleveland
Courtney Alexander	John Hay - National	Cleveland Heights
Jasmine Feller	John Hay - National	Garfield Heights
Jyae McWilson	John Hay - National	Cleveland
Juan Mojica (Lopez)	John Hay - National	University Heights
Crystal Webb	John Hay - National	Cleveland
Ke'Shone Williams	Max Hayes	Cleveland
Nylah Brown	Max Hayes	Cleveland
Shamar Hawkins	Max Hayes	Cleveland
Tynazia Powell	Max Hayes	Cleveland
Shaqwon Badley	Max Hayes	Cleveland
Nealvon Ezell	Max Hayes	Cleveland
Logan Conner	New Tech West at Max Hayes	Lakewood
Oscar Malave	New Tech West at Max Hayes	Lakewood
William Bailey	Warrensville Heights	Warrensville Heights
Ti'Naja Peters	Warrensville Heights	Warrensville Heights

To learn more about ACE Mentor Program Cleveland, contact Glen Shumate, Executive Director, at gshumate@ceacisp.org .

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 [A1]Link to online copy of the Presentation Night and Scholarship Dinner booklet

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