LOVELAND MAGAZINE

News and Events from the Loveland, Ohio Area

Without fear or favor
Since 2004

Tag: Grant Us Hope

  • Cassie Mattia selected Young Professional of the Year

    Cassie Mattia selected Young Professional of the Year

    “I promise to all those surrounding me including all of you in Loveland I will continue to make this community the absolute best place to live and visit.”
    Cassie Mattia

    Listen as Cassie Accepts her Award.

    ______________________________________________

    by David Miller

    Cassie’s friend Jennifer D’Alberto Kavensky had pre-recorded a video introduction of her that was projected onto a big screen.

    Loveland, Ohio – “Words cannot describe how unbelievable the 2021 Little Miami River Chamber Alliance Awards were on Wednesday,” said Loveland Magazine Co-Owner Cassie Mattia. “The atmosphere, the music, the people, the decor, the food, and of course the awards ceremony was the icing on the cake for one of the best years of my life.”

    The occasion was the 2021 Annual Awards Dinner, a gala put on by the Little Miami River Chamber Alliance. It is an evening for area businesses to come together and celebrate their successes and community contributions. The celebration was at the Oasis Conference Center.

    Cassie was selected as the 2021 Young Professional of the Year.

    AND ALL THE WINNERS ARE

    Photo by Loveland Lifestyle Magazine/Courtney Kraemer

    Business of the Year – Premier Tumbling and Dance

    Emerging Business of the Year – Monarch Financial Advisors

    Beautification Award – Mile 42 Coffee and Eads Fence Company

    Community Involvement Award – Jason Pinson

    Business Community Advocate Award – Brittney Frietch Team, Re/Max Preferred Group

    Non-Profit of the Year – The Care Center

    Woman Owned Business of the Year – Loveland Lifestyle

    Young Professional of the Year – Cassie Mattia

    Randy K. Stanifer Health, Wellness & Fitness Business of the Year – Loveland Massage Center

    Recreation Business of the Year – Grand Sands Volleyball

    Community Responder Award – Miami Township Fire/EMS

    Chamber Choice Award – Tano Bistro – Loveland

    Co-Owners of Loveland Magazine David Miller and Cassie as they enter the Oasis Conference Center.

    Proceeds from a silent auction benefited Grant Us Hope, an organization dedicated to youth suicide prevention, and a Chamber Scholarship fund. Emily Barlow with Loveland Lifestyle Magazine was the Emcee.

    I could not be more proud to call Cassie my business partner. I’m so very happy that she was recognized for her achievements and as a community leader. She is the Co-owner, Associate Editor, and Director of Marketing for Loveland Magazine.

    Cassie said the next day, “Thank you to all those that spent time out of their day to send in nominations and testimonials on my behalf for this award, you have no idea how much it means to me and how eternally grateful I am. I am so excited to see where this unbelievable path takes me and I promise to all those surrounding me including all of you in Loveland I will continue to make this community the absolute best place to live and visit.”

    Cassie walked into my life 3-1/2 years ago by knocking on the door and announcing she wanted to write for Loveland Magazine. It was unbelievable fun Wednesday night celebrating with her.

    There is more to the story. What she brought with her in that oversized purse she carries was dedication, hard work, kindness that I see every single day, and a devotion to her family and to her boyfriend Adam. She’s the big sister that everyone should have.

    Cassie and her boyfriend Adam Ploof

    In that bag is forgiveness, is a photographic memory, what just must be an off-the-scale high IQ, writing skills, and her journalism background with degrees she worked so hard to achieve. However, her bag is always 90% packed with positivity, sometimes to overflow.

    She recently joked that I was so old that when I ran road races they were on dirt roads. Well… Cassie is so young-of-heart, that she runs each day on sunshine younger than today’s sunrise. A rare personality that anyone older than today, and most people her age, should be so lucky to have.

    Thank you so much Cassie for agreeing to be a co-owner of Loveland Magazine. It was such a fun, fun night celebrating with you and Adam.

    When we walked under the Oasis portico, before we went in – I pointed in both directions with a sweeping motion and joked “Look Cassie… they reserved this whole country club just for you tonight! Hmm, where’s the red carpet I ordered?”

    Adam parked the car and caught up with us and, well, I just went in pretending the three of us were walking on the red carpet and I saw the evening transform into the “Gala” it was billed to be.

    And, no one could’ve wiped off the grin I carried the rest of the evening being with my friend and partner, the Loveland Area’s “Young Professional of the Year”.

  • Loveland Schools celebrate the launch of Hope Squad

    Loveland Schools celebrate the launch of Hope Squad

    Students at Loveland High School signed post-it notes of hope at the official launch of Hope Squad on Monday, February 4.

    Hope Squad members greeted their peers with life saver candies as they arrived at Loveland Middle School on Monday morning.

    Loveland, Ohio – Monday, February 4, was a day of celebrating the official launch of Hope Squad at Loveland High School (LHS), Loveland Middle School (LMS), and Loveland Intermediate School (LIS). Over the past several months, approximately 140 students, staff members and external experts have worked to prepare for the implementation of the program, which is a model using faculty advisors and trusted peers to identify students at risk for suicidal ideation and behavior, and ultimately, to save lives.

    “We are very excited that our partnership with Grant Us Hope has led to this new initiative of student CARE at Loveland,” said Eric Dool, Loveland City School District director of student services. “Our Hope Squad student representatives were all nominated by their peers. They have been training and learning about Hope Squad and how to connect fellow students at risk with the critical resources they need.”

    Students at Loveland Intermediate School signed banners of hope during Hope Squad activities at lunch.

    Hope Squad members greeted other students with life saver candy, wallet resource cards and words of inspiration as they arrived to school on Monday morning. At both LIS and LHS, videos made by Hope Squad members were shown during Tiger Time and news announcements. At LIS, students worked on “compliment” activity sheets, passing them out to each other. At lunch, they played their Hope Squad theme song and shared messages of hope on banners.

    “It is a wonderful experience to work with these students – they are an amazing group of kids,” said LHS Counselor Jamie Gordon. “We will continue to train and work through the Hope Squad curriculum over the course of the year. This launch event was an opportunity to create awareness about the program throughout our schools and underscore that we are here to support one another.”

    About Grant Us Hope

    Grant Us Hope is a Cincinnati nonprofit focused on creating communities of leadership and advocacy that enhance mental wellness, safety and prevention in schools. The organization has developed a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program for students with a three-year curriculum that emphasizes suicide prevention fundamentals, self-care and anti-bullying. During the 2018-19 school year, Grant Us Hope has assisted more than 25 schools in Cincinnati and Columbus with the implementation of Hope Squad. Loveland Intermediate School is the first school in Ohio to put in place a “Jr.” Hope Squad program for fifth and sixth graders.

  • Dr. Crouse on safety updates by Loveland City School District

    Dr. Crouse on safety updates by Loveland City School District

    by Dr. Amy Crouse,

    Part of being ready for school means making sure buildings and staff are prepared for what the new year holds. Over the summer, the Loveland City School District, like many other districts in our area, took several measures to improve safety and security for students and staff.

    In Loveland, these safety updates include improved rapid room number identification on all exterior windows to assist first responders. We have also equipped all classrooms with an additional locking device. We have implemented the Raptor visitor management system, an on-the-spot legal identification sign-in software for all visitors – including parents – to our buildings. Using a legal form of identification, the Raptor system checks the visitor’s name and date of birth against a national database of registered sex offenders, and ensures that such individuals do not enter the school campuses without our knowledge.

    A well-informed staff and student body is our first step toward the goal of a safe and secure campus. As part of our safety education, the district implements a schedule for practice of the ALICE model (Alert, Lockdown, Inform, Counter, Evacuate) for active shooter civilian response. The students at Loveland High School (LHS) have already attended an ALICE safety presentation this school year, focusing on the response in the event of a crisis situation. Several opportunities for follow-up presentations and training are scheduled for this year and will be accompanied by class discussions.

    We have implemented the Raptor visitor management system, an on-the-spot legal identification sign-in software for all visitors – including parents – to our buildings. Using a legal form of identification, the Raptor system checks the visitor’s name and date of birth against a national database of registered sex offenders, and ensures that such individuals do not enter the school campuses without our knowledge.

    Officer Jesse Moore is now a full-time, on-site school resource officer (SRO) at Loveland High School.

    In partnership with the Loveland Police, we are also very excited to have been afforded the opportunity to add Officer Jesse Moore as an on-site, full-time school resource officer (SRO) at LHS. In addition to being available for the overall safety for students, staff and visitors on the LHS campus, Officer Moore will provide educational programs for students in areas such as social media awareness, Fourth Amendment rights, and general laws and driving regulations. With a unique ability to build positive relationships, he will also play an important role as a mentor for our high school students. Mr.Barnes, a retired policer officer, will continue to serve Loveland Middle School and Loveland Intermediate School as SRO. Mr. Almond also returns to support the safety of students at LHS. We are grateful to have the support of the Loveland Police and know this positively impacts the experience our students have in our schools and community.


    Mental health and safety are also high priorities at Loveland. The district has entered a partnership with the Cincinnati nonprofit Grant Us Hope to implement Hope Squad, a school-based, peer-to-peer suicide prevention program empowering students and staff with knowledge to identify at-risk behaviors for suicide, as well as encouraging peers to seek help from a trusted adult. Advisor training, general staff training and student ambassador identification/training in Loveland will be completed this fall, with an anticipated launch of Hope Squad in January of 2019.

    I am immensely grateful for the implementation of these safety measures and for the ongoing assessments and long-term planning by the Loveland District Safety Committee. Our work is continuous to ensure that we always strive for the most trusted and integrated school safety technologies to keep our Tigers safe. Comprehensive facility upgrades will be needed before we can approach some aspects of safety and security in our buildings, and they will be addressed in the Loveland City School District facilities master planning process as it unfolds over the coming months. As always, my number one priority as superintendent of Loveland City Schools is to provide a safe and nurturing environment to prepare each student for tomorrow, today.

    In Service to Our Tigers.

    Dr. Amy Crouse is Loveland City School District Superintendent

      Loveland chiropractor Douglas Portmann, DC at Wards Corner Chiropractic & Sports Rehab is one of the best chiropractors in the Loveland area,

  • #TigerCare: Hope Squad comes to Loveland Schools

    #TigerCare: Hope Squad comes to Loveland Schools

    By Eric Dool, Loveland Director of Student Services

    It is built into our district goals: Tiger Care. When considering all that Care could embody for our students, resilience – the capacity to recover quickly from difficulties; toughness, and self-efficacy – one’s belief in one’s ability to succeed in specific situations or accomplish a task, stand out as being of paramount importance in preparing our children for life’s challenges. Unfortunately, for some students, a lack of resilience and self-efficacy, combined with episodic and/or long-term mental-health needs, results in suicidal ideation. The reality is frightening, and has touched every single school throughout the nation. However, we are not without hope.

    Loveland is truly blessed with a wealth of caring staff and mental-health supports to meet the ongoing needs of our students. Yet, when considering the danger posed by suicidal thought, even those supports do not feel like enough.

    Loveland is truly blessed with a wealth of caring staff and mental-health supports to meet the ongoing needs of our students. Yet, when considering the danger posed by suicidal thought, even those supports do not feel like enough. We must do more. We will do more. To that end, over the next several months, Loveland will be embarking upon a partnership with Grant Us Hope (https://www.grantushope.org/) and Hope Squad (https://hopesquad.com/) to provide our students with the tools needed to join us on the front line in doing all that we can to identify and intervene with suicidal thought and behavior.

    Hope Squads – are trained to identify suicide warning signs in their peers, and to alert adults to those signs.

    Grant Us Hope, the official Hope Squad Founding Agency of Ohio, has partnered with Hope Squad’s founder, Dr. Greg Hudnall, to bring the model to the Greater Cincinnati region, and eventually the entire state. Building upon a researched-based model, student groups – or Hope Squads – are trained to identify suicide warning signs in their peers, and to alert adults to those signs. District staff are also trained in the model, and serve in the capacity of organizing and guiding as advisors. To be clear, Hope Squad members are empowered to seek help and save a life; Hope Squad members are not taught to act as counselors. This group of students will be educated on how to recognize signs of suicide contemplation, and how to properly and respectfully report this to an adult.

    This group of students will be educated on how to recognize signs of suicide contemplation, and how to properly and respectfully report this to an adult.

    In May, school counselors from Loveland Intermediate School, Loveland Middle School, and Loveland High School will receive training to equip them with the skills to serve as advisors. Staff training, parent meetings, and student selection and training will follow in the late fall of 2018. Hope Squad will then launch as an official Tiger Care program in January 2019.

    If you have any questions about Loveland’s participation in this program, I invite you to contact me directly.

    Eric Dool dooler@lovelandschools.org

    Director of Student Services
    Loveland City School District

    Wildflower House — where women & girls bloom!