DOWNTOWN AKRON — The University of Akron and The Laura and Alvin Siegal College of Judaic Studies, formerly the Cleveland College of Jewish Studies, have partnered to broaden opportunities and services to students and faculty at both institutions.

The two schools will offer students access to courses and degree programs from both institutions, regardless of where the students are enrolled.

This year, collaborative programming is being offered within UA’s College of Education and Honors College, according to Holly Harris Bane, UA’s associate vice president for strategic initiatives and engagement.

In plans still being discussed, UA would provide general education coursework for a Siegal College bachelor’s degree, and Siegal faculty members might serve as adjunct faculty at UA. Both institutions would cross-list course offerings.

Old Trail School ‘Lights the Night’ for LLS

BATH — Old Trail School will present “Light the Night” today, Oct. 9, at 6 p.m. in support of the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society (LLS). “Light the Night” is LLS’s annual evening fund-raising walk that celebrates and commemorates lives touched by cancer.

The school event will start with a 1.5-mile walk at Hale Farm and Village, 2686 Oak Hill Road, and return to the school, 2315 Ira Road, to observe the lighting decorations and for donut holes and cider.

Several items will be available for purchase in support of the event during the week, including “Light the Night” glow-in-the-dark T-shirts designed by an Old Trail School parent with help from students, and illuminated necklaces and bracelets.

The “Light the Night” event culminates a week of school-wide activities and class lessons focusing on the terms “light” and “night,” including primary school music classes learning the song “This Little Light of Mine”; science classes studying planets; classrooms and hallways being lit with paper lanterns created by students; hundreds of luminarias created by seventh-grade students; and more.

Old Trail School adopts a charitable cause as a year-long service learning project each year. For the past two years, the school has focused on breast cancer charities, including the “Pink Flamingo Project” in the fall of 2007.

This year, LLS was chosen in support of student Taylor Chlebina, a seventh-grader from Bath who is a leukemia survivor.

For more details, contact Old Trail School at (330) 666-1118.

Firestone High School revives alumni association

WEST AKRON — Firestone High School is calling on all alumni who have been a part of the school’s past to be an active part of its future, too. Graduates, students and their families are invited to attend a public meeting regarding the reformation of the Firestone High School Alumni Association Oct. 22 at 6 p.m. at the school, 333 Rampart Ave. Pizza and other refreshments will be served, followed by the first open meeting of the newly restored association.

Spearheaded by Linda Kersker, a member of Firestone’s first graduating class, the group’s mission is to promote continued academic excellence at the school as well as to create an active alumni association and information bank for reunions.

The purpose of the meeting is to unveil what alumni can expect from the association and to collect information from attendees about what their expectations, wants and needs are for the organization. Principal Larry Petry will be on hand to discuss the state of the school.

For more information about the association, to provide contact information for alumni or to reserve a spot for the meeting, e-mail friendsoffirestonehigh@gmail.com.

National Rubber Band Contest challenges inventors

DOWNTOWN AKRON — Middle-school students nationwide are challenged to stretch their imaginations to design and create an invention made with rubber bands for the first Rubber Band Contest for Young Inventors.

The national contest, open to students in grades five through eight, is hosted by the Rubber Division of the American Chemical Society (ACS), The University of Akron (UA) and its Akron Global Polymer Academy (AGPA), all based in Ohio.

Sponsored by Alliance Rubber Co., of Hot Springs, Ark., and administered by the National Museum of Education, the contest commemorates the 100th anniversary of the Rubber Division, ACS and the 100th anniversary of the world’s first rubber chemistry course, offered at Buchtel College (now UA).

A major component of entrants’ inventions must involve rubber bands. As a complement to the contest, AGPA is releasing educational resources and a suite of multimedia learning elements for teachers. Educators can access these resources at www.rubberbandcontest.org or at the AGPA’s P-16 Science Education Web site at www. agpa.uakron.edu/p16.

To enter the contest, students should submit a completed official entry form, a sketch of the invention and an essay of 1,000 words or less explaining the invention’s use, how it works, its need or benefit to society and how the idea for the invention was formed. The deadline is Nov. 14. Contest entry rules and details are available at www.rubberbandcontest.org.

Fifteen semifinalists will be chosen. From this group, three finalists will be honored at UA Feb. 14, when the top prize winner will be announced at a special ceremony. The grand-prize winner will receive a $10,000 savings bond, and the second- and third-place winners will receive $5,000 and $2,500 savings bonds, respectively. Each finalist’s teacher or mentor will receive a $500 gift card. The 12 remaining semifinalists each will receive a $50 gift card.