Orange Community Education and Recreation -

Happy National Volunteer Week April 19-25! Thank you so much for volunteering with us this year. Without your help, we would not be able to achieve our mission of delivering excellent learning, discovery, and active recreational experiences for all. Whether you are coaching a sports team, assisting our teachers in the classroom, or hopping on a bus to Ski Club, thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to volunteer with us and in programs that benefit the whole community. You are among the 200+ miracle workers that make participants feel welcome, safe, and excited to engage in our classes and events. We are all so appreciative of your support!

Happy Earth Day! It's such a nice day outside today, so our preschoolers are taking advantage of the beautiful weather and celebrating Earth Day by picking up some trash to help keep our earth clean!

Check out The SCOOP May-June for all the latest news about the Orange Senior Center

We are looking for some Safety Town volunteers! Come be a part of a very important week for our youngest campers, ages 4-6. You'll teach them about the safety of traffic, pedestrian, bus, pool, and fire. Volunteers must be at least 15 years old.
Volunteers needed June 29-July 2 from 9am-1pm. There is also a training day June 26 from 11am-12pm

Brighten up your home this spring with colorful hanging baskets from Urban Growers! Order online by Sunday, April 26. Pick up your order on Friday, May 8 in the Pepper Pike Learning Center parking lot.

We have some very "egg-citing" news! Our school has a few new temporary residents…eggs in an incubator. Over the next 21 days, your child won’t just be waiting for chicks to hatch. They will be stepping into the role of a “junior scientist”. This unit is specifically designed to meet our early childhood science standards in big ways! We are asking "Why?" and "What if?" or reasoning about cause and effect. The scientists will understand that the chicks grow because the incubator stays warm and they hatch because they developed a special egg tooth.

You can support this learning by asking your scientist these questions:

“What did you notice about the chicken eggs today? Did they sound or look different?”
"What do you think the chicks are doing inside those shells right now?" “What will hatch from the eggs?”
“Why do you think the incubator has to stay plugged in all night?" "Why does the incubator turn the eggs?"
We can't wait to share the news when our first fuzzy friend arrives!

It's back!!!!!

Join us at the Orange Art Center for a free, family-friendly celebration of creativity, community, and culture! Enjoy a vibrant day filled with live art-making, local art vendors, entertainment, delicious local food, & the opening exhibition of our current Emerging Artist in Residence, Liam Mealey!

Come be inspired, create, and celebrate with us on August 15!

Our preschool prom on March 13 was a huge hit for our littlest dancers! We love the positive impact this event has on our preschool, bringing our community closer together in an evening of celebration, fun, and camaraderie!

Congratulations to our Orange Girls Rec 3-4th grade girls basketball team who were runners up in the rec league this year! The team was led by Amanda Karp, who coached with passion, excitement, and fun. Go Lions!
Thanks to Jen for the pictures and info!

Joseph Guth, a resident of Pepper Pike, won the Paris Foil Marathon on February 1, 2026. He participated in the cadet category, which is for competitors 17-years-old and younger. Paris Marathon Fleuret is the largest international youth competition in the world for foil, which takes place in Paris over 2 days. There were about 170 Cadets from 18 countries there. Joseph has been training at Cleveland Fencing Academy since its inception in August 2020. Joseph's weekly routine consists of lessons with his Belarusian, Romanian or Kuwaiti coaches, strength and conditioning training, and bouting practice. He is living the Jedi dream! Joseph is actually the first kid from Ohio ever to win this tournament and among the handful of the US fencers who ever won it.

Cleveland Fencing Academy, known in fencing circles as CFA, is the largest facility of its kind between New York and Los Angeles. OCER is proud to partner with CFA and offer you the best fencing training in the area! Check out their classes in our Spring/Summer guide on pg. 9. Visit their website at https://clevelandfencingacademy.com/

Thanks to Coach Eric for the info!

Before our camps begin on June 8, there are a lot of other important dates to remember leading up to the fun part:

- Register before February 27 and save $25 on most camps
- Pay $100 towards any camp to hold a spot and pay the full balance in full by March 20
- The first installment for payment plans is due February 27. The second payment plan date is March 20
- If your schedule changes and your child will not be attending camp, the last day to request a refund for all OCER camps is April 30
- A $50 processing fee will be charged to each individual registration requested to be refunded from March 21 - April 30. Starting May 1, there will be no refunds

We went snowshoeing and had a great time! Thank you to Cleveland Metroparks, specifically Megan and her team!

Check out The SCOOP January-February for all the latest news about the Orange Senior Center

A little touch of summer won't hurt anyone these days! Our adults enjoyed a relaxing sea glass tree project, where they used pieces of sea glass and fairy lights to build a unique, layered tree. Just looking at these light-up trees makes us feel a little brighter inside

Looking for something to do on a Saturday night? Come to our Snowflake Dance on February 28! Families can enjoy dancing, karaoke, crafts, dinner, and games from 5-6:30pm at the Pepper Pike Learning Center.


Register to reserve your spot: https://orangerec.arux.app/course/7965/winter-2026/snowflake-dance%E2%80%942

Thanks to Orange Lions Basketball for having our boys and girls teams for youth night on February 4! The evening started out with the boys basketball players visiting the Varsity boys locker room before to game to hear a pre-game speech, and then joined families to watch the game. For the girls, they were invited to stand with the team for the National Anthem before the game, and then watched the action with the rest of the crowd. And of course, our youth cheerleaders performed at halftime of BOTH games. Lots of fun for both groups!

Our Spring/Summer 2026 Recreation Guide Is Out! Get a sneak peek here before it arrives in the mail. Registration for Spring/Summer begins March 2 for district residents and March 5 for nonresidents. If you have any questions or need assistance, please call us Monday - Friday, 8:30 am - 5 pm, at (216) 831-8601. We look forward to seeing you soon!

Our preschoolers had a very special lesson on February 10 with Mr. Robinson, one of the Orange Schools band teachers! We learned about music, specifically percussion and percussion instruments.

After talking about the parts of a drum and what they're called, the kids actually got to play them! Using the book "Chicka Chicka Boom Boom," we had our very own percussion ensemble, playing the hand drums every time Mr. Robinson read the words "BOOM BOOM," mimicking the sound a drum makes.

Needless to say, we had a very fun morning!

Our podiatrist at the Orange Senior Center, Dr. Kelly Whaley, is doing great work beyond Orange! Dr. Whaley went to India for a Medical Yatra, medical and humanitarian work. She worked with an incredible team of US doctors and India Doctors. The main purpose was to screen for HPV and treat/prevent women's cancer. She provided much needed foot care and diabetes education. They visited 3 villages and worked 7 days total. Dr. Whaley has been our podiatrist for 25 years! If you would like to meet with her, you must have an appointment by calling the Senior Center at (216) 831-8600 ext: 5700.

Congratulations are in order for our travel basketball teams! 🏀

First up, our 6th grade boys travel team completed an undefeated season (12-0) with a win in the championship game. What an amazing season for this group!

Next, our 3rd grade boys travel team went on a great run to end the season but came up short losing by just one point in the championship game. An incredible accomplishment for their first season in the league!