Daniel Varner, a State School Board member, shakes hands with a Slauson parent after discussing the achievement gap on National African American Parent Involvement Day Feb. 13.
By Tara Cavanaugh
Daniel Varner, a member of the State School Board and executive director of Excellent Schools Detroit, visited Slauson Middle School for National African American Parent Involvement Day Feb. 13.
A life-size blue whale at the Forsythe Science Fair was just one of many natural wonders to discover.
–By Tara Cavanaugh
Forsythe Middle School science teacher Dan Ezekiel isn’t sure if the school’s annual science fair really is the biggest one in the state, but he calls it that anyway: “No one’s corrected us yet!” With more than 400 student participants and 300 projects on display Feb. 11-12, there was opportunity for all students to explore science in their own way.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
The Spanish Language Internship Program at the University of Michigan provides student translators in many local organizations, such as health clinics, Head Start, and now the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
In a new partnership between AAPS Partners for Excellence and SLIP, U-M students provide in-class translation for some elementary and middle school students who are learning English.
Volunteer Kurt Krogsrud from Comerica plays a math strategizing game with two Abbot Elementary students Feb 2.
By Tara Cavanaugh
Sometimes, a little extra attention can go a long way.
In a 6-week pilot program, volunteers from Comerica Bank and Google have been playing math games with fourth and fifth grade students at Abbot Elementary for one hour every Thursday during lunch. The program, which was coordinated by AAPS Partners for Excellence, provides extra help for students who participate in Title 1 programming.
Pioneer Special Education students, joined by their general education peers, stretch after practicing for the Special Olympics. The students are competing in the snowshoe events at the Winter Games in Traverse City Feb. 7-10.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
Next week, nine Pioneer High School students are going on the trip of a lifetime: they’re competing in the Olympics.
The old eMac computers don't have the hardware to support the software updates for READ 180, a reading intervention program used in grades 3-12.
Editor’s Note: On May 8 voters in the Ann Arbor Public Schools will be asked to consider a bond issue to replace aging district technology and provide technology to support 21st century learning. The program addresses equipment and infrastructure components for the next 10 years by financing the equipment through three separate series of bonds.
Annette Ferguson, AAPS business partnerships coordinator, helps load more than 300 books from the Ann Arbor District Library to a loading dock at Balas Jan. 25. The extra AADL books are being distributed to AAPS teachers for their classroom libraries.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
A few times a year, libraries clean out their inventories and get rid of excess books. But those books aren’t just tossed into the trash. Instead, materials at the Ann Arbor District Library are finding a new home in the Ann Arbor Public Schools through a book sharing partnership.
Dancers Alandra Meade and Sofie Sylvester practice their duet. Dance Body students rehearsed at Forysthe Middle School auditorium this week in preparation for tonight's performance.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
Tonight’s Dance Body performance will feature pop music, smooth moves and the work ethic of a thriving dance company.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
More than 200 high school students sang at an “A Cappella-palooza,” held at Skyline High School on Tuesday, Jan. 17. The students were part of 14 a cappella groups from the three high schools.
Mrs. Sheryl Pokela's fifth grade class at Thurston Elementary donated 50 homemade pillowcases to the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital last month before the holiday break.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
Sometimes, making a difference is as easy as making a pillowcase.
That’s what Mrs. Sheryl Pokela’s class of fifth graders at Thurston Elementary learned last month. For a class project, the students sewed kid-friendly pillowcases that they donated to the C.S. Mott Children’s Hospital just before the start of the holiday break.
Pete Thomas before and after his weight loss. Thomas was a contestant on NBC's "The Biggest Loser" and he won a $100,000 prize for losing the most weight at home after being voted off the show.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
Pete Thomas knows a few things about losing weight.
Thomas won $100,000 after being a contestant in the 2005 season of NBC’s “The Biggest Loser,” a reality show dedicated to weight loss. He not only lost 185 pounds, but he has kept them off for seven years.
At a Jan. 12 Community Education and Recreation health fair at Forsythe Middle School, Thomas promoted his fitness classes and shared some of his tried-and-true tips for a healthy lifestyle.
Public Radio International co-host Celeste Headlee shares with Lawton Elementary students stories about her grandfather, William Grant Still on Jan. 13. Still was a famous African American composer. Photo courtesy of Christy Potter.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
Special guests at Lawton Elementary’s Martin Luther King, Jr. celebration brought history to life on Friday, Jan. 13.
Ann Arbor Open’s annual Multicultural Fair is an international delight
The seventh and eighth grade classes teamed up to fill the auditorium with sounds, sights and facts about all 54 countries in Africa. The drum circle was led by one seventh grade student, who taught his classmates African drumming in the weeks before the Multicultural Fair.
By Tara Cavanaugh, AAPS News Service
A family of four clutches their passports, fresh from India. Pairs of students consider Italy before deciding on Greece. Another traveler gets lost in the bustling crowd, trying to choose between Fiji or Hawaii.
Although this sounds like a major international airport, it was the scene at Ann Arbor Open’s multicultural fair on Dec. 21, the annual fundraiser that raises money for the school’s library.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
A wall of color adorns the front hall at Allen Elementary School thanks to the artistic endeavors of every child in the school.
Fourth- and fifth-graders with Allen Elementary art teacher Debra Campbell, who helped students create the artwork that was made into tiles and used in a mural in the front hallway.
Flowers, fish, snails, trees and other gifts of nature are depicted in the all-school project, which has 396 tiles in all and was unveiled during the last week of school.
The tile mural was the idea of parents Amy and Brodie Burris and Lanette and Keoki Williams, who worked with art teacher Debra Campbell to plan and create the masterpiece. The work will be tied into the school’s 50th anniversary celebration in the fall as a special project, said Principal Joan Fitzgibbon.
“It was a huge undertaking,” Fitzgibbon said. “The important thing is showcasing the student talent and the fact that every kid is represented up there.”
Students created artwork in Campbell’s class on 8” x 8” squares. The drawings were then sent to Square 1 Art, an art fundraising company that creates the tiles and also can put student artwork on mugs, T-shirts and other items that are sold to parents, with a portion of proceeds coming back to the school.
The Allen Parent Council paid for every child’s artwork to be made into a tile and the additional fundraising sales helped to defray the cost of the tile mural, which cost about $3,800 total.
A contractor was hired to put up a board and frame and the four parents laid out the tiles, installed them and grouted them to a beautiful finish; they also painted the background wall red to make the tile mural pop, Fitzgibbon said. Having the tile on the board will allow the artwork to be moved should there ever be renovation in that portion of the school, she added.
Williams, who has children in the fifth and third grades at Allen, said it has been fun to see the students stop at the wall and find their own tiles. “The thing I’m most proud of is every child is represented,” she said. “That was the reason we funded it.”
Kindergarteners did sunflowers, first graders fish or snails, second graders butterflies, third graders flowers, fourth graders winter trees and fifth-graders branching patterns. “We just drew inspiration from different things,” Campbell said. “Kids naturally enjoy nature so that’s a hook.”
Allen student Eric said he enjoyed the trees-in-the-winter theme. “I enjoyed doing mine,” he said. Classmate Cloe, said she gained inspiration from looking at photo. “I like how everyone’s turned out really different,” she said.
Kiele, another young artist, said she “liked the idea of the branching pattern and the different ideas you could do off of it.” And student Cam said his favorite part of the project, was the ability to use bright colors individually to create the large, finished project.
Included in the Allen display are tiles in memory of Fitzgibbon’s father and also of Robert Kooistra, the grandfather of an Allen student, who had volunteered numerous hours at the school as an unofficial gardener, beautifying the school grounds. He passed away in January.
From AAPSNews Service
Kristin Kelley Howard, a Huron High School graduate, manages the AAPS Educational Foundation's alumni website.
Are you an Ann Arbor Public Schools grad? Employee? Friend? All are welcome to visit and register at the new Ann Arbor alumni website, which has started to take off since its soft launch last fall.
Organizers at the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation, which makes the site possible, say although the site is still developing, they’re putting the word out so that anyone with an interest in district can find it, sign up and begin networking and finding their long-lost friends.
The site is managed through the AAPSEF and is coordinated by Kristin Kelley Howard, a 2001 Community High School graduate and the daughter of Jerry and Diana Kelley, Jerry a retired AAPS principal and teacher and Diana who still works for the district in the Physical Properties and Operations Department.
Howard likens it to some of the larger websites that allow people to find former classmates, but “it’s only for the Ann Arbor schools, so it’s personalized and it’s free,” she said.
“I think a lot of it is for the events, the reunions, as well as what’s going on at the schools. All kinds of news,” said Howard, a freelance web designer.
Only members at AnnArborAlumni.org have access to information about other members and posted information can also be limited by preferences when you sign up. Members can also use photo avatars, if they so choose. Home addresses are taken, but not published on the site. Registration asks for a visitor’s name, year of graduation, school and an optional paragraph about yourself.
Wendy Correll, executive director of the AAPS Educational Foundation, said the site is a welcome addition to offer information to the Ann Arbor Public Schools educational community.
“We wanted to sponsor this site as a way to bring people interested in the schools together at one, online location,” Correll said. “We wanted to have a simple place for those interested in our schools to connect. We hope to see it grow as friends, graduates and staff and retirees discover it.”
“We were fortunate to have had the Ann Arbor Convention and Visitors Bureau sponsor the site during its early stages. ”
In recent months, Howard has added a variety of feeds including ongoing news posts from local news outlets, the AAPSNews and also added a Facebook group page to encourage activity. There are links to school pages and ways for members to contact each other and search for people with whom they’ve lost touch. The site has a message board for members where they can post class notes, ask questions and suggest jobs for other alumni.
*“I’ve been adding and updating the site on a daily basis or whenever things come up,” she said.
She hopes visitors will send their feedback. “If people would send us suggestions of what they would like to see on the site we can consider adding it,” Howard added. She noted that she would also welcome any alumni who would like to help build the site and offer suggestions in that vein.
One of Howard’s newer projects is looking for scanned versions of Ann Arbor high school yearbooks, which she has started posting on the site. Eventually, she will have software installed where site members can upload their own photos and yearbook pages for others to view. For now, she has collected a 1937 yearbook from Ann Arbor High School and a number of Community High School yearbooks from the 1980s and 1990s.
There is a calendar link on the front page of the site listing all of the different events in date order. “This way, people can see all of the events in one place without needing to scroll through several different months to see what is coming up,” Howard said.
Those who are organizing and promoting Ann Arbor high school reunions can send an e-mail to Howard and she will post both information about reunions and Web links if groups have separate event websites.
Organizers are also considering using sponsorships on the site that would be related items including class reunion ads, local business sponsors and other selected groups. There are currently more than 140 members signed up for the site, but Howard is hoping that number will grow as alumni and other friends find out about it.
Howard is also seeking suggestions for alumni who could be featured on the site on a regular basis in short profiles. Eventually, the plan is to allow members to sign up for a regular newsletter.
One interesting piece that anyone visiting AnnArborAlumni.org can view is a Google map that pinpoints where current members are located (no addresses are listed.) Visitors will see that members live around the world.
Details: visit AnnArborAlumni.org. A link to Howard’s e-mail can be found toward the bottom of the page where she is listed as the site manager. She welcomes suggestions and information to be posted. “I hope visitors will share it with their friends and social media networks too,” she added.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
Ask Debra Destefani what high school program has worked for her. This 17-year-old Pittsfield Township resident has a ready answer.
WAY Washtenaw Team Leader Jennifer Hart and Ann Arbor student Debra Destefani at the lab at Stone High School.
She is enrolled in the WAY Washtenaw program, a 365-day, online countywide high school program that uses team leaders, mentors, subject experts and regular labs to teach students.
Previously a Community High School student, Destefani said this alternative approach is better suited to her needs, allowing her to do her project-based school work, studying in ways that work for her while she holds down a part-time job.
“I’m self-motivated,” she said. “I think maybe it’s all about mindset and attitude. I guess I can be myself – it allows me to focus on what I like and at the same time get credit for it. I felt like I would get swept away in a crowd (at a traditional school.)”
Widening Advancements for Youth Washtenaw is run through the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, with individual districts participating by purchasing seat time in the program. In its pilot year in 2010-11, the program had 240 students from 10 Washtenaw districts enrolled; in the coming year, it will expand to a full program and add more students, bringing the total served to as many as 420.
Students work in the WAY Washtenaw lab at Stone School.
There will be only one base lab for the program at Willow Run in the coming year due to budget cutbacks, but labs will also be scheduled regularly at public library sites around the county, including Mallets Creek and downtown Ann Arbor branches to accommodate students here.
The program must follow the same guidelines as traditional high schools in meeting the requirements of the Michigan Merit Curriculum. Team Leader Jennifer Hart – in a role that she said would be comparable to a principal in a traditional high school – said the alternative WAY is challenging.
“Projects are not easy – we want there to be rigor and relevance,” said Hart, a former English teacher and literary coach who oversees Destefani and many of the other Ann Arbor students in the program. “In order to receive a diploma, they have to prove they are proficient in all of the areas to pass.”
Students in the program are referred to as “researchers” and, in addition to team leaders and mentors, there are experts available in key subject areas and technicians who can help with the technical issues learning in an online, computer-based program. Before being accepted into the program, families must apply and home visits are conducted. The program carried a waiting list of students this year.
Hart said Destefani is a great success story of the program. She came into WAY Washtenaw having only earned four credits over two years, which is well below what is needed to graduate over four years. Destefani said she just didn’t go to class and fell behind. WAY Washtenaw has changed her approach and her attitude. She has already finished 6.5 credits since the fall – about one per month – and is moving along in the program so quickly, she will be on target to graduate in December 2012 – the year she would have graduated with her classmates at Community.
Hart said team leaders play many roles: principal, counselor and truant officer, among others. They are responsible for tracking students online and, if they have not logged in and worked in any given day, they are called and, sometimes, get unannounced home visits. Another team leader, Sean Fountain, said he is always on call and more often communicates with his students via cell calls or text messages.
At a recent information session for WAY Washtenaw, parents and students were eager for more information on this alternative program that targets students who either have already dropped out of high school, are at risk of doing so or are attending school but not on track to graduate with their class.
The program generally serves students who are 15 or older, and they must finish the program by Aug. 31 after they turn 20. Students who complete the WAY Washtenaw program receive a diploma from their home districts; this spring, three earned diplomas thanks to this program.
Monique Uzelac, director of instructional technology for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, has been one of the key persons setting up the program at the WISD and was involved with interviewing and hiring staff and interacting with families as they were interviewed to be part of the inaugural program.
She said the program is off to a strong start and gives students a solid approach for achieving the credits they need to graduate. Depending on the topic, in one collaborative project, students can earn credits toward English, social studies and science, for example.
“In Washtenaw County, almost 650 students drop out each year,” Uzelac said. “This program has been successful at pulling students up who are falling behind and becoming discouraged and also at returning students to the classroom who have given up hope.”
And what is Destefani’s future? She loves to write essays and plans to attend college, hoping to follow in her father’s footsteps as a writer and editor.
From 826michigan staff
High school history classes often study the nations and civilizations of our past. Over the last year, students at Ann Arbor’s Roberto Clemente Development Center have been taking a good look at their own futures.
Roberto Clemente teacher Terry Carpenter with his students last fall as they began work on their alternative history book.
The students’ written predictions and reflections have been collected in the book “2020: Visions of the (Near) Future.” The professionally-bound volume published by 826michigan and printed at Dexter’s Thomson-Shore, is the result of a year-long residency with the local writing, publishing and tutoring nonprofit’s staff and volunteers.
The project began in September 2010 as an alternative history “textbook” in which students would describe imagined departures from the historical record. Read about the project here: (826michigan picks Ann Arbor as centerpiece project for 2nd year.)
Clemente teacher Terry Carpenter invited 826michigan staff and volunteers into his classroom to help encourage his students to express themselves creatively and engage with history.
“I told the students ‘if you know and understand the past, you will have more power to determine your future ,” said Carpenter. Rather than purely examining the past, the Clemente students wrote narratives and scenes from their own future as well.
826michigan Americorps Member Katie Jones explains: “students who struggled to speculate on alternative histories had little trouble creating futures for themselves. A course like Terry’s is designed to equip students with an understanding of how the present day came to be and how to channel that understanding into changing the world.”
To celebrate the release, 826michigan distributed free copies of the book to its authors and threw a party in their honor. Copies of the hardcover book were handed out during the special book release party. Students read excerpts from their favorite pieces and reflected on the transformational process. “They made me feel a lot better about my writing. I’m not scared to write anymore,” said one.
Clemente Principal Ben Edmondson congratulated the students on their recent accomplishment and the progress they have made this year. “If you believe in yourself you can create something like this. It’s been a tremendous year, I couldn’t be more proud and I’m excited to read these stories,” he added.
“2020: Visions of the (Near) Future” is available for sale at Liberty Street Robot Supply and Repair on 115 East Liberty St. in downtown Ann Arbor. Proceeds support free student programming, including in-school writing residencies, at 826michigan. Details: (734) 761-3463 or visit www.826michigan.org.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
Students at Carpenter Elementary School will receive a special memento of their school year this week, as each get a copy of a new, student-produced yearbook.
Carpenter fifth-graders work on the school's first yearbook, editing individual class pages and photos. Each student received a copy of the book this week.
The 60-page book features individual class pages and special photo spreads of events either taken by the fifth-graders who produced it, their advisers or from photos submitted by staff, students and families. They even left room for students to have their friends sign the books.
The project was coordinated by fifth-grade teacher Natasha York and art teacher Meredith Giltner and parent Pam Powell who worked as the yearbook adviser for the school’s first Yearbook Club.
“They’re learning desktop publishing. They’re learning photography. It’s a great teamwork thing,” said Powell.
A Carpenter student prepares to print a proof as the club is in final production for their yearbook.
She said the project also taught fifth-graders how to deal with teachers by making appointments and interacting with them on the project as they planned the book. It also connected the older students with younger students at Carpenter as they took photos.
“This was our big adventure this year,” said York, who leaves Carpenter at the end of this school year to become the new principal at Thurston Elementary School in the fall. “My big thing was for them to connect with other kids in the building. They have to get to know all the kids for this project.”
“Miss York had the idea – we really wanted a yearbook,” explained Emily. Added Maryam: “We got to put it together ourselves – it’s really fun.” Kaleb said his favorite part of the project was running around the school, taking candid photos of fellow students.
Student worked in teams and were each assigned a classroom, where they visited, coordinated with individual teachers and took headshots of each student. They then laid them out and had the teachers proof the pages to ensure that they had put the correct names with the photos.
Students worked in teams to collect photos and information for the book.
Events such as the school’s spring Field Day, class trips and all major school events are part of the book. “We wanted it to be representative of the entire school,” Powell added.
Students wrote and obtained a grant from the Ann Arbor Youth Council, an award from the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop and an ad from the shop, which helped to increase the budget. Malloy, an Ann Arbor printer, offered to print and bind the books for $2.19 each, which fell within the project’s budget. Powell said there is even a bit of seed money for others to take the project over next year.
“It gives them a nice focus and the teamwork is important,” added Powell. “They’re really working together.”
By Emily Hsiao
AAPSNews Service
When Huron High School freshman Andy Hsiao heard about the Japan earthquake and tsunami two months ago, he had a different reaction from many people. Instead of fear and desperation for the people of Japan, he had ideas about how he could help.
Huron High School students wearing the T-shirts of hope: Katie Yeatts, Mariam Souweidane, Jack Petersen, Tanner Ward, Gary Huang, Alex Weigel, Kevin Mei, Owen Veeser and Andy Hsiao. (Courtesy, Kevin Masini)
Hsiao, who has friends and family in Tokyo, immediately turned to them for advice: “What do you need? What do the people in Sendai need?” His sister emailed Rotary clubs in both Tokyo and Sendai, an area devastated by the tsunami, asking them what foreigners specifically could do to help.
Pioneer's student council holding up their message of hope "Go Japan!" to the victims of Sendai and other afflicted areas. (Courtesy, Pioneer High School Student Council)
Tokyo replied with a project sending messages of hope over Twitter to victims and Sendai – just a month ago – confirmed that what they need is not blankets, first-aid kits, or food, but funding.
His T-shirts are in Japanese. They read, “Ganbare, Nihon!” which roughly translates into “Fight on, Japan!” Ascott Printing in Ann Arbor printed the shirts locally at a discount. The goal of the T-shirts, according to Hsiao, was to not only benefit Japan through funding, but also show the Japanese how much people here in the United States are supporting them.
The shirts were marketed through social media outlets such as Facebook and Twitter and caught the attention of students at Huron, Pioneer, Community and Skyline high schools and alumni. He even got a few orders from Arizona, Tokyo, Florida and Okemos.
Soon, the T-shirts became a community effort throughout Ann Arbor. Daniel Huang, Aaron Brodkey, Emily Gucwa, Danny Langa, Stephanie Liu, Hoai An Pham, Ben Walsh, Gary Huang and Davis West were among the first who volunteered to pitch in. Each of them, in turn, recruited more students to help. In the next two months, the Pioneer Student Council and students from Huron, Skyline, and Community sold T-shirts at each of their respective schools.
The navy-colored T-shirts were spotted frequently around town. Students immediately wore them to school, encouraged friends to buy them, and even bought extras for siblings and friends. Those who did not want a T-shirt donated their money towards the cause.
“It’s great to see how much people care about the Japan and the citizens of Japan,” says Hsiao. “It’s especially great that the entire community volunteered to not only buy, but help sell and spread the word. Even when the economy is down, people are still willing to help those in need.”
In all Ann Arbor high schools, 443 shirts have been sold so far, raising $2,436.50. One hundred percent of the profits from Hsiao’s T-shirts will go to the Rotary Japan Disaster Recovery Fund, which will then be allocated to Rotary clubs in afflicted areas. Each individual community will use the money as they see fit to rebuild their lives.
Pioneer and Huron students also sent in photos of themselves with their “messages of hope” to Japan via Tokyo’s Twitter project.
Hsiao’s T-shirt fundraiser was one of the many community efforts Ann Arbor college and high school students put together for victims of the Japan disaster. Huron High School student Kaily Daida encouraged students to buy and fold thousands of paper cranes, Eastern Michigan University students Christine Gallarin and Joanna Rew designed their own T-shirts of hope, and University of Michigan students put together fundraiser after fundraiser to gather as much funding as possible. The profits from their efforts went to the Japanese Red Cross.
Anyone interested in purchasing a T-shirt can contact Andy Hsiao via e-mail at andyh1996@gmail.com. He is doing a third and final order of the shirts.
Emily Hsiao is a 2009 graduate of Huron High School and attends the University of Pennsylvania where she is studying in the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the Wharton School. Hsiao was active in the Rotary Interact Club at Huron and has continued her relationship with Rotary both here and abroad, which is how the family connected with the Rotary Fund for Japan. Andy Hsiao is her brother.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
Teacher David Coupland offered his ninth-grade biology students at Skyline High School a unique opportunity this spring involving a topic much on the minds of area residents: The apparent prevalence of coyotes in populated areas such as Ann Arbor.
Two teams took the challenge: Michael Rochell, Joel Frison, Shannon Cowley and Zena Shunnar did a web-based survey of the community about coyote sightings and analyzed the data and Alexandra Lund, Danielle Sarns and Jeremy Glick studied the evolution of the coyote.
Ninth-graders at Skyline High School do a presentation about results of a survey on coyote sightings to parents on June 9.
All presented their findings at Skyline’s first Conference on Evolution of Michigan Wildlife as part of the ninth-grade ACIS I Biology classes. Their findings can also be found online at the Google Site page: https://sites.google.com/site/washtenawcoyote/home and include their survey analysis and a Google Earth map plotting the sightings.
Of the more than 200 residents responding to the survey, most said they had seen no direct effects from coyotes, though many said they wouldn’t let their children walk their dogs or let their cats out to roam at night. “They’ve been able to coexist well with humans,” noted Rochell, who plotted the coyote sightings on the Google Earth map. “A lot of people said they’re alright (with the coyotes) as long as they’re not hurting me,” added Shunnar. A total of 14 of those responding said they had lost a pet to a coyote.
The evolution project is a joint effort between Skyline and the University of Michigan Exhibit Museum of Natural History and is led by Skyline teacher Johnna Coleman with support from Kira Berman, education director at the U-M Exhibit Museum. Groups of three to four students chose an animal to research and produced an online interactive poster called a “glog” (www.glogster.com), presenting their projects to a group of parent judges on June 9.
Students share their findings about Michigan wildlife with visiting parents during the school's first Conference on Evolution of Michigan Wildlife.
The glogs selected to be among the best will be linked to the Exhibit Museum website.
Coleman said the project was designed to make learning more authentic for students, especially involving the collaboration with U-M. “We’re trying to get them to be more analytical,” she added.
A total of 425 ninth-graders took part, studying a variety of species including the least weasel.
Jonathan Shiplett, Hannah Gauss and Savannah Middleton were on a least weasel study team. Their study history of the species covered four continents and a timeline over 7 million years. “Due to forests disappearing, it reduced in size … to allow it to get into the holes of rodents,” Shiplett explained. He said he was most impressed with the least weasel being able to take down much larger animals five to 10 times its size.
Parent Kathy Shay served as one of the 50 judges for the June 9 Conference on Evolution of Michigan Wildlife at Skyline. She said she was impressed with the students’ work, but noted that some were better prepared than others; some communicated well, shook hands and introduced themselves, she said.
“I think it’s really positive,” she said. “It’s an opportunity to learn to communicate about what they’re learning. I think it’s a great idea and I really like being invited.”
Coupland said he was impressed with all of the student work, but that the coyote project broke some scientific ground. “As far as know, this data’s never been collected,” he said. “They did some science that’s not been done before.”
Freshman Joel Frison said the group stepped up for the coyote project because they thought it would be fun to work together. “It’s a big topic and a lot of people have been talking about it lately,” he said. “It was a lot of hard work, but it was definitely worth it.”