Westlake High School senior will be college commencement speaker: West Shore Morning Links

Aswin Bikkani

A Westlake High School senior will be a college commencement speaker. That's some of what's happening in the West Shore communities of Bay Village, Rocky River and Westlake.

Commencement: Aswin Bikkani won't graduate from Westlake High School for another six months, but on Dec. 17 he'll be the commencement speaker at Cuyahoga Community College. Aswin, 17, is graduating from Tri-C with two associate degrees, and was chosen by the college's Joint Student Council as the commencement speaker. He posted a 4.0 GPA while earning associate of arts and associate of applied science degrees. As he continues his college studies, Aswin plans to major in biology and become a physician. He is one of Westlake High School's National Merit semifinalists, an Eagle Scout, won the 2014 Coca-Cola Leaders of Promise Scholarship through Phi Theta Kappa and was chosen as a Simons Fellow for 2014 summer research at Stony Brook University. He also is president of Phi Theta Kappa, an academic honor society recognizing students at two-year colleges, at Tri-C's Westshore Campus. (Westlake schools)

Spelling: Students at Rocky River Middle School showed off their spelling skills this week during the third annual spelling bee.  Before the bee, students were given spelling tests in their classes and then a semifinal, oral spelling test at each grade level. Finalists competed in the building-wide spelling bee. The sixth grade winner was Leanne Wattar. Hallie Speer was the runner-up. Seventh- and eighth-graders vied to become the district's representative in the Northeast Ohio Media Group Cuyahoga County Scripps Spelling Bee on March 7 at Cuyahoga Community College's Metropolitan Campus. The district winner was eighth-grader Valentin Neculaescu, followed by runner-up Antoniu Ilias, also an eighth-grader. The seventh grade winner was Amelia Milner. Kaitlyn Nock was the runner-up. (Rocky River schools)

Santa Shop: The Bay Village Early Childhood PTA will hold its annual Santa Shop on Saturday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. at Bay United Methodist Church, 29931 Lake Road. Santa's "elves" will help children find gifts for family members, teachers and pets. All items are priced under $5 and will be gift-wrapped and tagged. While children are shopping, parents can kick back with coffee and treats from Santa's Sweet Shop. Bay Village Early Childhood PTA is for parents of children up to age 6, and offers activities, special events, playgroups and community service projects. (Bay Village Early Childhood PTA)

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