Marissa Valentine
The Warrensville Heights Tiger Tects made history on May 12 at the ACE Mentor Program Championship. In the ACE Mentorship Program’s 33-year history, no school had won the championship two years in a row.
Founded in 1994, the ACE Mentor Program of America, through its award-winning afterschool program, introduces students to science, technology, engineering, and math learning initiatives, with a specific focus on architecture, construction, and engineering.
Through hands-on instruction and mentorship from industry professionals, students in ACE are introduced to career opportunities via project-based learning.
The Tiger Tects’ award-winning project focuses on the revitalization of E.F. Boyd & Son Funeral Home, one of the oldest Black-owned funeral homes in Cleveland and the United States.
The students’ design honors the institution’s history while creating spaces intended to offer comfort, dignity, and peace to families navigating loss. Their model expanded and modernized office spaces while introducing new gathering areas where families could come together, reflect, and support one another through life’s most difficult moments.
“As a district, we maintain our ethos, which is to elevate, innovate, and inspire our scholars to the point where excellence is more than an expectation; it is the norm,” said Aaron
Eatman, Warrensville Heights High School ACE student adviser. Eatman led the team with Audrey Davis of the AKA Team and student adviser Victoria Irving.
Mentors from Robert P. Madison International, Whiting-Turner, Warrensville Heights Community & Economic Development, and other organizations challenged students to review structural constraints and reimagine how a community business could thrive with support.
Marissa Valentine is a Navy veteran and journalist with 14 years of experience. She has a bachelor’s degree in communications.
