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Judges' Public Outreach and Education

Judge John P. Gustafson:

  • continues to serve on the board of the NACTT Academy for Consumer Bankruptcy Education, a non-profit educational organization that creates and distributes resources to assist all participants in the consumer bankruptcy process. Currently, the Academy is filming informational video modules for chapter 13 debtors that can be played in connection with the first meeting of creditors.
  • presided over a Naturalization Ceremony for new United States citizens on April 8, 2015 at the University of Findlay.
  • helped coach the University of Toledo moot court team.

Judge Arthur I. Harris:

  • and his law clerks again participated in the Cleveland Metropolitan Bar Association's Three Rs program, teaching tenth graders assigned to the Health Careers Center and the Law and Municipal Careers Academy, both located at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Campus of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District. The Three Rs is an awardwinning program in which teams of judges, attorneys, and law students visit a tenth grade social studies class throughout the school year using a real-world curriculum focused on the U.S. Constitution and career counseling. Judge Harris has participated in the Three Rs since 2006.
  • will preside over Naturalization Ceremonies for new United States citizens on June 19, 2015 and September 17, 2015. The first ceremony will be held in the Howard M. Metzenbaum U.S. Courthouse and the second will take place at the Garfield National Historic Park in Mentor. The public is welcome to attend all such ceremonies.

Judge Jessica E. Price Smith:

  • presided over a Naturalization Ceremony on April 3, 2015 at the Stokes United States Courthouse. She hosted eight of the "Bachelor Boys" of Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. at the ceremony, followed by a tour of the courthouse and a meeting with Chief District Judge Solomon Oliver. The boys were ages 9-13.
  • chaired a May 2, 2015 community service project for the Cleveland Chapter of Jack and Jill of America in collaboration with Case Western Reserve University. The program, titled "Academic Success: Cradle to College," was an interactive event for parents and community members that provided information on common core standards and issues related to the enactment of those standards; facilitated a discussion of the current state of education with the superintendents of the Cleveland Heights-University Heights and the Shaker Heights school districts and the Chief Academic Officer of the Cleveland Metropolitan School District; and presented workshops on early childhood education and preparing high school students for success in the college application process.
  • will participate on June 21, 2015 in the Alpha Omega Chapter of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. "Longest Day" project to bring awareness to Alzheimer’s disease.

Judge Mary Ann Whipple:

  • continued her work coaching the University of Toledo moot court team.
  • just finished another semester teaching bankruptcy law at the University of Toledo.

Judge Kay Woods:

  • presided on April 17, 2015 over a Naturalization Ceremony in her courtroom in the Nathaniel R. Jones Federal Building ' U.S. Courthouse, where she welcomed eight new citizens.