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.”
Related stories:
Tappan receives national attention for healthy food choices
Interest grows for students, teachers, and community at Tappan Agrarian Garden
From AAPSNews Service
Chartwells, the district’s food service provider and The Agrarian Adventure, the nonprofit volunteer organization that operates the Tappan Agrarian Garden, partnered last week to serve homegrown items directly from the garden.
The small pilot project was a first in the Ann Arbor Public Schools: Produce that had been planted by students was harvested and enjoyed in middle school cafeterias.
Seventh graders studying an Edible Ecology unit in science harvested the crop earlier in the week, which included lettuce and radishes. Students were able to sample the fresh product on Thursday and Friday. About 150 pounds of lettuce and 50 bunches of radishes were cleaned and served.
Students were encouraged to sample the school-grown food and it was also used in preparing some of the school meals, said David Lahey, director of Chartwells Food Service for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
Lahey said Chartwells set guidelines in place under which it would use the homegrown food from Tappan and that they approached the project with great care and caution. The produce was harvested by Agrarian Adventure volunteers and students, and then was transported to Chartwells’ facility at Pioneer High School where it was cleaned and triple washed before being used in the school lunches.
Each student had a chance to try it, Lahey said. “We’re hoping to do it again in the fall.”
Radishes and lettuce were the crops picked, cleaned and served last week from the Tappan Garden.
“This is a huge deal at the national level,” said Elissa Trumbull founding board member of the Agrarian Adventure. She said it is unique that a “contracted, externally managed food service provider has served school-garden grown food in the school lunch program.”
A change in Chartwells corporate policy allowed the pilot project to take place.
“It was phenomenal,” she said of the tasting. “It’s a really good opportunity. I hope it inspires other school garden projects. It’s going to be good for the kids and good for the schools.
“We’re paving the way – that’s how I see it,” she said of the Ann Arbor effort.
Lahey said Chartwells set up policies for using produce from school gardens and Trumbull said that the same care and standards that are used in local farms are used at the Tappan garden.
Lahey said that there are school gardens throughout the Ann Arbor Public Schools and that Chartwells is looking into using produce from those gardens at those specific schools in the future. He said they would also be looking to work with the organizers of the Green Adventures Camp, run through AAPS Community Education and Recreation in the summer, to possibly use produce from that off-site garden.
The Tappan garden is run and kept going by AA volunteers, but many students and teachers participate in the venture throughout the school year. Students not only learn about gardening and healthy eating, but teachers also use the garden for a variety of lesson planning and inspiration for students.
Trumbull said she wants to recognize the support of the Agrarian Adventures partners: the Ann Arbor Womans’ Farm and Garden Association, MSU Student Organic Farm and the AAPS Farm-to-School Collaboration.
The Agrarian Adventure is seeking volunteer to water the hoop house and garden during the growing seasons on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays. Visit www.agrarianadventure.org for more information and to volunteer.
2011 Relay for Life Ann Arbor
What: An annual 24-hour relay to raise money for cancer research. The goal for this event is to raise $100,000 for the American Cancer Society.
Where: Community Park on the campus of Washtenaw Community College, 4800 E. Huron River Drive.
When: Saturday, June 25 starting at 10 a.m., running for 24 hours. Thirty nine teams with 485 participants will have members on the track for the full 24-hour period and are taking pledges. A survivor celebration lap takes place at 10:15 a.m. and, at dusk, a luminaria ceremony will be conducted at the site.
New: Sign up to be part of a Cancer Prevention Study, that will allow the ACS to draw a blood sample from healthy individuals and survey you over a 30-year period to determine cancer tendencies.
Details: Visit online for information.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
When Amy McConnell visited her doctor in 1994 and had a biopsy on her breast, she could hardly believe her diagnosis. At age 28, McConnell was told she had breast cancer and subsequent surgery showed that she had involvement in two lymph nodes.
Amy McConnell, a breast cancer survivor for 17 years, walks in a past Relay for Life. She will walk in the 2011 Relay for Life Ann Arbor on June 25 at Washtenaw Community College. The fundraiser benefits the American Cancer Society and cancer research.
Now 45, the Ann Arbor Preschool & Family Center secretary is celebrating her 17th “birthday” of being cancer-free. She will go to Washtenaw Community College on June 25-26 as part of a Balas Administration Building team walking in the 2011 Relay for Life Ann Arbor, a fundraiser that benefits the American Cancer Society.
The event begins at 10 a.m. June 25 on the college campus on Huron River Drive and runs for 24 hours, where 39 teams, including the Ann Arbor Public Schools team from Balas and two from Pioneer High School, will raise money for breast cancer research.
“When I was diagnosed, I never wanted to know this much about cancer,” she said. “Going through cancer brought a different life knowledge.” She recommends to others facing cancer to “try to have a good outlook – cancer’s not contagious. Truly learn how to laugh. It will help you heal and mend.”
The hardest part of her cancer diagnosis and journey was the loss of her hair as she began six months of chemotherapy.
“That was probably the most traumatic,” she said. Once she realized her 3- and 5-year-old daughters were looking to her reaction to her health, she picked herself up and moved ahead. “Every day, I had to decide it was going to be a good day and I wouldn’t cry in front of my girls,” she said. “
Laughter and support of friends and family got her through, she said. “Seventeen years ago, a lot of people didn’t even want to use the word ‘cancer’, she said. “It was a secret. The only way I could deal with it was to make light of it. It helped as I went along. I had to minimize it – it probably helped me to deal with it and heal faster.”
McConnell has two daughters from her first marriage and another daughter with her husband, Phil McConnell, who is retired from the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Amy McConnell said she did genetic testing before having her third child to determine whether she carried a gene predisposing her to breast cancer. She does not have the gene, so said she still does not know why her cancer developed.
That is part of the reason she walks in the Relay for Life each year: to raise money for cancer research. This is her first year walking in Ann Arbor; in previous years, the Whitmore Lake resident has participated in Brighton’s Relay for Life in Livingston County.
Her older daughters are now 20 and 22. “They do the Relays with me – they’re my biggest fans,” said McConnell, who is a Huron High School graduate. And her younger daughter, who is 9, started coming to Relays with mom when she was a newborn. “She grew up knowing mommy was sick at one point and is better now,” she said. “We brought her up knowing what was going on.”
The 2011 Relay for Life Ann Arbor has already raised about $63,000 toward its $100,000 goal and that number is updated real time on the ACS website. “We’re very much on target to meet or surpass our goal in Ann Arbor this year,” said Alex Garnepudi, an American Cancer Society staff partner for the Ann Arbor event and also an Ann Arbor resident and University of Michigan graduate.
The Relay for Life Ann Arbor has taken place since 2005, after a larger Washtenaw County Relay was split into smaller community events. Garnepudi said the local approach is important. “What’s really special is that Relay comes to each community,” he said. “We want each of these communities to be able to fight back (against cancer) while keeping their local feel.”
Ann Arbor’s is one of 5,166 Relays held around the world in what has become the American Cancer Society’s signature event. It was started in 1985 by Dr. Gordon Klatt, who took pledges and walked a track in Tacoma, Washington to raise money for cancer research.
McConnell said the Relay gives the community a way to give pause and reflect. “It’s setting aside the time to say, yes I’m good, I’ve moved on. But it deserves its due. It’s a time to gather together and honor those who we have lost or those who have survived.”
On a related note, two transportation staff members from the Washtenaw Intermediate School District are working on two quilts that are being raffled by McConnell to raise additional money that will be donated to the Balas Relay team. Contact her at the preschool at mcconnea@aaps.k12.mi.us for ticket information.
Amy McConnelll is walking with a team from the Ann Arbor Public Schools Balas Administration Building. The team’s fundraising site is here. McConnell’s personal page can be found here.
This the the second year the Balas team has participated in the Relay for Life. They have 19 people signed up but are still looking for others to join the team, especially for people to walk in the early morning hours between 1-5 a.m., said Thelma Monroe, coordinator of the Balas team. Contact her via e-mail.
Fifth-graders iat Abbot Elementary School dissect deer plucks under the direction of Dr. Manek Sood, a cardiothoracic surgeon with the St. Joseph Mercy Health System. The training supplements the students’ study of the human circulatory and respiratory systems.
From Abbot Elementary School
Fifth-graders in Tracy Barrett’s and Rebecca Waits’ classrooms at Abbot Elementary School learned from a pro on May 17, dissecting deer plucks under the direction of Dr. Manek Sood, a cardiothoracic surgeon with the Saint Joseph Mercy Health System.
Barrett coordinated the deer heart and lungs dissection to supplement the students’ study of the human circulatory and respiratory systems. This is the second year that she has overseen this project.
To participate, students signed a ‘Lab Rules’ sheet that outlined proper lab dress code and protocols. Groups of three to four students were paired with a parent volunteer who wielded the scalpel for the dissection incisions.
Throughout the year, Environmental Education teacher Dave Szczygiel harvests the deer hearts and immediately freezes them to prepare for this project. Abbot is the only AAPS elementary school that performs deer heart dissections.
The hearts were about the size of a large coffee mug, making it easy for students to see and touch all of the key parts of the heart. Dr. Sood performed the dissection while he projected it on the screen using the classroom digital document camera so everyone could easily see everything he was doing.
The goal of the dissection was for the students to learn the basic parts of the heart and the path the blood takes through the heart and lungs. Each was encouraged to touch and probe the heart and lungs as soon as incisions were made and they were given the all-clear sign.
“It was amazing to see that the left side of the heart was thicker than the right side,” said fifth-grader Megan. Classmate Ben added, “The lung was so squishy and bloody. The valves in the heart were so small and thin. I’m surprised that they last that long.”
Duncan noted: “The esophagus had ridges of cartilage. It felt all scaly.” Student Kory concluded by saying, “It was an amazing experience to really know what is inside of me. It was totally gross, yet totally cool.”
When the dissections were complete, Szczygiel recycled the dissected plucks at the Green Adventure’s Camp farm. A heat-and-motion sensitive camera was able to monitor the pile of plucks, as they became part of the woodland’s food chain.
The school offered special thanks to Barrett for coordinating this effort, to Szczygiel for harvesting the deer hearts and to parent Alicia Nalepa for coordinating the time and talents of Dr. Sook. Scalpels for the dissection were purchased through an Abbot PTO grant this spring. Every classroom at Abbot has a digital document camera purchased by the Abbot PTO and Barrett used hers to project the dissection.
From AAPSNews Service
Students got the "red carpet treatment" before entering the room to receive awards and thank each other for teamwork throughout the year.
Logan Elementary School teacher Emily Fairless took her third-graders on a special end-of-year trip – down the red carpet and into a special evening of Oscar awards during a recent assembly with students and families.
Oscar Night took place on June 1, an activity that Fairless created to celebrate all of her students’ successes. Students and their families were invited to select a pair of colorful sunglasses, which they could wear while coming down a red carpet, flanked by stars with student hand prints to each side.
Families enjoyed dinner and the awards ceremony, for which students voted on each others Oscar awards, giving multiple awards in five categories: Helping Hands, Best Listener, Most Improved, Above & Beyond, and Team Player.
Third-grader Ananya told the group that the awards were “a way of appreciating each other. A lot of times, we don’t notice the little things people do that I think are pretty big.”
Fairless told the parents that her students had a great year and this was a way for them to honor each other. “It was creating that intensive motivation for these students,” she said. “All of these things were accomplished and more.”
Students voted for which classmates should get awards in five different categories.
Fairless did an Oscar Night last year when she worked as a long-term sub in a fifth-grade at Logan. She said she decided to do it again with her own third-graders this year.
“The purpose was to totally create a team,” she said. “I really wanted these kids to feel like celebrities.”
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
Scarlett Middle School eighth-graders got a taste of multiple career choices during the school’s annual Portfolio Day this month, which teams students with local professionals who share their expertise about the working world.
Students meet with business professionals during Scarlett Portfolio Day. They participated in 10- to 12-minute interviews, designed to help them with poise and confidence.
To prepare for the day, students prepared personal portfolios so they could experience the 10- to 12-minute interviews with the visiting professionals, who offered their own experiences plus feedback to the students.
Whitney Tarver is an administrative intern with the University of Michigan Athletic Department and was one of the professional interviewers. She spoke with five students and said, “it’s just exciting to talk to them and hear them talk about their future.”
Devon Adjei of the African Studies Center at the University of Michigan meets with a Scarlett student during Portfolio Day.
Tarver said she was surprised to see how things have changed since she was in school. “I learned that the curriculum has changed a lot,” she said. “They’re really helping students apply what they’re learning to what they want to do in the future.”
She also gave her students some advice: “To stay in school and get good grades. The other thing I told them was to be open to change – and always willing to be open to new things,” she said.
A total of 76 Ann Arbor area professionals took part in this year’s Scarlett Portfolio Day. New this year was a student-business mixer at the conclusion of the interview sessions.
Scarlett lead Language Arts teacher Ellen Daniel works with students to build their portfolios and confidence leading up to the day. Students create cover letters, resumes and portfolios of their accomplishments, research areas of interest in careers, rehearse interview questions and learn interview skills including business dress, posture, making eye contact and developing a firm, confident handshake.
The day “makes a clear connection between what they do in real life and how school relates to that,” Daniel said. “It exposes students to all kinds of possibilities of what they can do and gives them exposure to other careers they might not even consider.”
Daniel told the visiting professionals that this is the first time most students would be doing a cold interview and meeting with a professional. “I’m trying to prepare them for a future none of us can see,” she told the group. “Jobs that didn’t exist five years ago are hot now.”
Derrick Padgett of the Ann Arbor Public Schools, meets with students for one-on-one interviews.
Annette Ferguson, the district’s business partnerships coordinator, who worked with Daniel to coordinate business participation in the day, said it can be a turning point for students. “These students are moving into high school next year and Portfolio Day encourages them to think about their careers, academic choices and connections to the community,” she said. “This event is not designed to make students know what they want to be, but to help them think about what they can be.”
Ferguson said participating businesses this year include scientists, entrepreneurs, engineers, medical professionals and law enforcement representatives, among others. Organizers looked not only for interesting and challenging professions, but also for those who use new and advancing technologies.
Tiffany Lin works with Google as an account manager. She said she looked forward to meeting with students. “It’s definitely important to learn new skills early on,” she said.
Certified athletic trainer Melissa Pohorence works at U-M. She said Portfolio Day gives students confidence in themselves. “They can learn how to conduct themselves in a setting like this,” she said. “They’re getting a great start.”
Elizabeth LaPorte directs communication and education outreach to schools for the Michigan Sea Grant through U-M. This was her first time at Portfolio Day, and said she was pleased to share her career calling with students.
“This will be exciting for me too,” she said before the interviews began. “I’m expecting to get energized from the students. Even if they may not choose science as a primary career, there are a lot of related things they can do. There’s so much variety in almost every area.”
Scarlett Middle School Portfolio Day received an Exemplary Educational Endeavors Award this month from the Ann Arbor/Ypsilanti Regional Chamber of Commerce for its Portfolio Day project. Scarlett language arts teacher Ellen Daniel and retired counselor Nancy Schleicher, who founded the program, were both nominated an honored.
Called the E3 award, it was presented at the A2Y Early Edition breakfast on May 18, the same day that Portfolio Day took place in the afternoon.
Scarlett received a trophy and a $200 award for the program that has touched more than 3,000 eighth-graders over 17 years. Programs in Ypsilanti, Lincoln Consolidated and Willow Run school districts were also honored by the chamber.
Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation Executive Director Wendy Correll nominated the Portfolio Day project for the award.
“For most students, this will be their only opportunity for a ‘mock’ interview before they truly are interviewing for jobs and applying to college,” said Correll, who also serves as a Portfolio Day interviewer. “The program that Mrs. Schleicher designed has exceeded expectations and lives on today, nearly two decades after its inception.”
Mary Moffett, community relations director for The Neutral Zone, has been involved with Portfolio Day since its start. “Even after all of these years, I continue to be impressed by the students I interview and how they present themselves,” she said in her letter supporting the nomination. “The Portfolio Day program at Scarlett is the perfect example of a partnership between schools and business and of business professionals supporting youth in the development of real-world, life skills.”
Click here to see a list of Ann Arbor area professionals who participated in 2011 Scarlett Portfolio Day.
The best of K-12 student art from last year’s show – with video
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
Huron High School senior Nick Freese was eager to participate in this year’s Ann Arbor Public Schools K-12 Art Exhibition with a self-portrait that reflects his love of nature and has a bit of whimsy.
Nick Freese and his self-portrait on display at the K-12 Art Exhibition.
In the portrait, he is upside down and becoming part of a tree – roots and all. Freese’s work is among dozens of student works that continue on display through this week at the University of Michigan Slusser Gallery on North Campus.
Freese’s 3-by-4 foot artwork uses acrylics, plus spray paint and markers to achieve the final result. He said the portrait was based on a class project that “was supposed to be reflective.” He based his work on a photo taken by a friend, and let it develop from there.
“”My belief that everything is one in nature and everything is constantly moving,” he said, describing how he approached his art. Freese said he hopes to someday be an art teacher.
“My mom’s an artist – it skipped a generation,” explained Nick’s mom, Beth Freese, who attended an opening reception with her son. “He thinks everything through and then acts. He’s always had a plan.”
Pottery, paintings, jewelry and mixed media are all represented in the district’s largest student art show of the year that through this weekend. Exhibit hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays and noon to 7 p.m. Saturdays. The Slusser Gallery is in the U-M School of Art & Design Building, 2000 Bonisteel Blvd., just off of Fuller.
Visitors to the Slusser Gallery view artwork done by Ann Arbor Public Schools students.
Works from AAPS students in all grades are represented in the show and, for the first time, all elementary schools have a presence, said director of this year show, Chris Cerniglia, an art teacher at Scarlett Middle School.
Organizers had to balance the amount of art by school to find space for the extra 18 schools. “This year, we were happy to include every elementary school,” said Cerniglia, who coordinated the hanging of the show. “I think that’s what so powerful here: It’s a full district show. Rebuilding that feel is kind of neat. (Students) were all excited about trying to get into it. It just exposes them to more and more.”
Cerniglia said the show is also continuing to build a relationship with the university, which has graciously allowed the district in the Slusser Gallery for the second year.
Huron High School graphic design teacher Jason Treece had his students design art show posters for a third year. They promote the event, but are also on display as artwork at the show.
Families visiting the Slusser Gallery view works of art from Ann Arbor Public Schools students.
He said students judged each other’s work and came up with four solid designs; all are on display.
“I only chose what the students liked,” he said. “This was their thing. I was really tickled. Each year it gets a little bit better.”
In addition to the student show, the Ann Arbor Art Teachers Spring 2011 exhibition runs through June 10 at the Work Gallery, 306 S. State St.
A short video of the Abbot Elementary School assembly, celebrating the School Habitat designation from the National Wildlife Federation.
From AAPSNews Service
Take a stroll through the Abbot Elementary School courtyard and you are transported into a world of nature.
Students parade through their Abbot Schoolyard Habitat, recently certified by the National Wildlife Federation.
Once an overgrown space, it has been transformed into an area of beauty that attracts birds, wildlife and has native plants and flowers.
The Abbot community’s work on the space was so effective, the National Wildlife Federation recently certified the courtyard as a Schoolyard Habitat. Abbot will be included in the NWF National Registry of Certified Habitats, which recognizes sites that protect and nurture wildlife.
“One year ago, that space was overgrown trees and weeds and garbage and cracked asphalt. It was a mess,” said Angie Ceely, fourth-grade parent who co-chaired the habitat effort with fellow parent Tamara Schirmer. “We had all of the students and all the parents and all the teachers work together to change all of that to make something really special.
“You all should be so proud of all of the projects that you do to make it a special place that we all can enjoy,” she told students during a celebratory assembly.
The Abbot Schoolyard Habitat is a place that is welcoming to wildlife, sustainable, low maintenance and useful to the entire Abbot community. It features a sound system to bring bird sounds into the school; a bird feeding system including a fresh fruit feeder, two suet feeders, a thistle feeder and three squirrel corn cob bungee cords; 650 native Michigan plants; a water pond; and two rain gardens.
Students can expect to see birds, squirrels, chipmunks, and even owls and butterflies in the habitat.
As a Schoolyard Habitat project, classrooms decorated 12 hand-made cedar birdhouses depicting various places in Ann Arbor and specially made to attract chickadees, wrens and Prothonotary warblers. At the assembly, the birdhouses were unveiled by representatives of the businesses and organizations depicted. Teachers, their class birdhouse themes and special guests included:
Amelia Barrons (multi-age class), Police Department theme. Special Guest: Officer John Elkins, Ann Arbor Police Department.
Sarah Bradley (morning Young Fives), Gingerbread House theme.
Alison Corey (afternoon Young Fives) Dairy Queen theme.
Carol DeKeyzer (morning and afternoon Kindergarten) Humane Society & Doggy Hotel themes. Special Guest: Deb Kern, Humane Society of Huron Valley.
Cynthia Heusel (fourth-grade) Blimpy Burger theme. Special Guest: Rich and Christine Magner, Owners of Blimpy Burger.
Andy Meyer (first-grade), Night Sky and Neighborhood House themes. Special Guest: Ann Neuenschwander, Director of Development for the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.
Christine North (third-grade), Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum theme. Special Guest: Mel Drumm, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Hands-On Museum.
Laura Publiski (third-grade) M-Den theme. Special Guest: Daniel Tyrell, M Den.
Dawn Snow (multi-age class), Abbot Elementary School theme. Special Guest: Morgan Solomon, head custodian at Abbot Elementary.
Annette Stojcevich (fourth-grade), Plum Market theme. Special Guest: Jennifer Bolanos, Store Assistant Team Leader of Plum Market.
Following the assembly, students, staff, parents and guests paraded through the habitat with guests visiting individual classrooms. Students then received a special packet of seeds to take home and plant to create their own outdoor habitat.
Abbot parent Tamara Schirmer gives out a bird house prize during a celebratory assembly for the school's Schoolyard Habitat certification by the National Wildlife Federation.
The Schoolyard Habitat Steeting Committee began working on the project about two years ago. Adding natural features, the school aimed for things that would encourage wildlife, including: water, food, shelter and places to raise their young – the four things needed to be certified as a National Wildlife Federation, according to John Stahly, a local naturalist and habitat consultant for the project.
Students have learned a lot about their habitat, including growing native Michigan plants from seed and transplanting them to the habitat, placing colored yarn in the habitat for birds to use in their nests and creating wildlife identification books based on sighting logs. Many other classroom projects were done relating to the habitat theme.
In addition to committee co-chairs Schirmer and Ceely, other members of the steering committee included first-grade teacher Andy Meyer, fifth-grade teacher Becky Waits, Principal Pam Sica; AAPS Environmental Education Specialist Dave Szczygiel; and consultant and naturalist John Stahly.
The school sends out special thanks to Pictures Plus, owned by the Godwins, an Abbot family, for donating the framing for the School Habitat certificate. Also thanked was Abbot parent Rob Norris and his family who built all of the birdhouses that students decorated.
For more information about the National Wildlife Federation Schoolyard Habitat program, visit www.nwf.org.
Watch a video of Pittsfield Elementary School third-graders visiting the Spring Valley Trout Farm, just west of Dexter.
From AAPSNews Service
Say hello to Walter, if you can find him.
Families and students who visit Spring Valley Trout Farm look forward to spotting the behemoth 14-pound catfish that has become a legend at the family owned farm west of Dexter.
A third-grader from Pittsfield Elementary takes her turn touching a fish as part of the grade's field trip to Spring Valley Trout Farm west of Dexter.
Third-graders in Melissa Jaeger’s and Kara Armstrong’s classes from Pittsfield Elementary School recently got the chance to search for Walter, as well as enjoying a day of fishing, learning about fish and the business of aquaculture while visiting the farm on a field trip.
Jaeger’s maternal grandparents (and parents to Haisley Elementary Principal Mary Anne Jaeger) bought the property and started the 20-acre farm when they discovered there was a natural spring on the property.
“My grandparents bought this property and found out they were on an aquifer. He learned as he went,” said Jaeger of her grandfather’s farming. She grew up coming to the farm and said she thought her students would also enjoy a day there.
It is still family owned and operated, with Jim Kaercher at the helm. Another AAPS connection: he is Mary Anne Jaeger’s brother and the husband of Pioneer High School math teacher Jeannie Kaercher.
“I was 10 when we opened,” he explained. “Everything here we brought in and created.”
A Pittfield Elementary student tries his luck fishing for trout.
Kaercher grew up working around the family fish farm and eventually got his degree in business. He said the spring-fed nature of the ponds puts them at the proper temperature for keeping the trout healthy and happy.
“You have to be part biologist, part environmentalist part businessman to be able to do it,” he added.
Spring Valley Trout Farm sells fish mostly to individual anglers, but does make one exception to the rule: They sell trout to Haab’s Restaurant in Ypsilanti, he said.
The farm caters not only to school groups like the Pittsfield classes, but is used for corporate team-building meetings and draws other groups including churches. Individuals and families also come out to catch fresh trout and catfish during the season.
Kaercher said his favorite part of the job involves the many families that visit. “I love working with the kids,” he said. “I’ve had college kids working for me who have loved the kids so much, they’ve gone into teaching,” he added.
For more details about Spring Valley Trout Farm visit www.springvalleytroutfarm.com or call 734-426-4772. E-mail address is detrout@aol.com.
Kevin Turley shares fish facts with Pittsfield students who are visiting the Spring Valley Trout Farm.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
Walk it off. Run for fitness. Walk away the pounds. Get healthy. Have fun with family and friends.
Slauson Middle School Assistant Principal Douglas McIntyre, left, and Principal Chris Curtis dress up in chicken costumes, as promised, after classes participated in Chicken Fat activities as part of Project Healthy Schools. (photo courtesy, Project Healthy Schools)
All are messages Skyline High School Health and Medicine Magnet students are advocating as they aim to raise money for Project Healthy Schools, a University of Michigan Health System Cardiovascular Center initiative that targets sixth-graders in Ann Arbor and other districts with a healthy lifestyle message.
Skyline students will host a 5K/1M walk-run on May 21 starting at 9 a.m. at the high school, located off of North Maple Road just north of the M-14 interchange. Called “Ready, Set Fly,” a takeoff on the school’s nickname and mascot: The eagle.
“It can be a start to a better example and better living,” explained Kelsy Lee, a Skyline junior who is involved with organizing the walk-run.
“It’s a healthy hobby and a healthy lifestyle, added junior Madison Chadwick, another organizer. The walk-run is aiming to “fight the obesity epidemic. We’re looking at this as a project to aid with that. It’s about creating awareness,” she said.
Project Healthy Schools was launched at Clague Middle School in 2004 and has spread to 16 schools and more than 10,000 students in Ann Arbor, Ypsilanti, Detroit, and Shiawassee County. This year, more than 1,300 Ann Arbor sixth-graders are taking part in the program.
With the help of PHS wellness coordinators from U-M and U-M student health ambassadors, the program’s basic concepts through a program of 10 hands-on activities. The concepts include:
A group of Slauson Middle School sixth-graders jot down ideas during a Project Healthy Schools lesson.
Each school also has a Health Advisory Team that focuses on health throughout the building. PHS has a variety of structured programs and activities, works to promote wellness and good food choices and has a research component that has tracked some of the students and a variety of health risk markers including cholesterol, weight and glucose levels.
The program is the brainchild of Dr. Kim Eagle, director of the UMHS Cardiovascular Center. He is scheduled to present some of the program’s screening and research findings to the Ann Arbor Board of Education this spring.
Sara Aeschbach, director of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Community Education and Recreation Department, chairs the Wellness Policy Committee which oversees the district’s wellness initiatives. “This program has greatly enhanced the wellness efforts in our district,” she said. “It’s such a great program.”
She said this year, the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation bought PHS kits for each Ann Arbor middle school that help PHS staff and the health ambassadors teach classes. The AAPSEF donated $8,400 for the 12 kits needed to accomplish the program’s goals.
Aeschbach said PHS has led the district to get rid of candy and junk foods at lunch and eliminate sugared soda sales and has helped to increase the consumption of vegetables and fruits in the cafeteria settings.
She said as the district has become more comfortable with the PHS program and made it part of the day-to-day approach, she expects that individual schools will begin to take more ownership of it. Next year, seniors from the Skyline Health and Medicine Magnet program will begin volunteering as Health Ambassadors, similar to what is being done by U-M students this year. Jeff Bradley, lead teacher in the magnet, is looking forward to that, saying that the experience will add to students’ opportunities to learn and maybe new career paths for students.
At Slauson Middle School, teacher Lori McNutt is the school’s Wellness Champion and has been part of the school’s Health Advisory Team for the past four years. “I wanted to join, because it’s an interest of mine,” she said. “It’s a good example for others.”
Project Healthy Schools health ambassador Ashley Hill, a junior public policy major at U-M, stresses the five PHS goals through some hands-on activities at Slauson Middle School.
McNutt said her school has cut out bake sales as fundraisers and that PHS has had a huge impact on the general approach to food and nutrition with its healthy message throughout the school. “Kids are trying to make better choices in the lunchroom,” she added.
During a recent Project Healthy Schools class at Slauson, health ambassador Ashley Hill, a junior public policy major at U-M, was stressing the five PHS goals through some hands-on activities. She also encouraged students to get up and get moving.
“When you’re doing video games or watching TV, what are you missing out on?” she asked students. “You’re not really hanging out with other people. You don’t get that face-to-face talk time. Research shows that it makes you feel better if you’re talking to them in person.”
Cathy Fitzgerald is a registered dietitian and wellness coordinator at Slauson and Forsythe middle schools for Project Healthy Schools. She said that although the PHS goals are ones that most everyone can embrace, they target sixth-graders because it is a pivotal time for children in making healthy choices.
“We feel that habits they form now will stick with them through life,” she said. “This is a window of opportunity for us to teach them.”
For more about Project Healthy Schools, including tips on healthy eating, visit www.projecthealthyschools.org or call 734-975-3063.
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What: A 5K/1M walk-run to benefit Project Healthy Schools, sponsored by students in Skyline High School’s Health and Medicine Magnet program.
When: 9 a.m. Saturday, May 21 for the 5K event; 10:30 a.m. for the 1K portion.
Where: Skyline High School, 2552 N. Maple Road, just north of the M-14 interchange.
Registration: Run, walk, wheel or stroll at the event. Register online at www.readysetfly5K.com, or at the event. On-site registration begins at 7:30 a.m. All registrants will receive an event T-shirt and shoes will be awarded to overall winners in the male and female categories. Age group awards will also be given.
Details: call 734-213-1033 or e-mail eventsw@champsforcharity.com.
From AAPSNews Service
A proud Roberto Clemente community offered its first student drama performance this month with August Wilson’s award-winning play “Fences.” The new student group took to the stage on May 11-12, offering public performances of the acclaimed production.
Drama students from Roberto Clemente star in August Wilson's "Fences."
A number of Clemente students starred in the production, representing all attendance areas of the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Students also took part in set creation, production and lighting for the school’s inaugural production.
“This adaptation is a moving story and intensely performed by our students,” said Principal Ben Edmondson in a note about the performance sent to school staff. “We are particularly proud to bring this play to you, as it is a great demonstration of our understanding of what equity work looks like within our building.”
Wilson’s play is set in the 1950s, and chronicles one African-American family’s experiences living in the Hill District in the city of Pittsburgh, where playwright Wilson grew up. “Fences” is one of series of plays that he wrote chronicling the African-American experience in the 20th Century.
“I have learned more in this first year than I think I have in all my 11 years with the Ann Arbor Public Schools so far,” said teacher and play director Joey Parins, who came to Clemente last fall after teaching at Clague Middle School. “The students you are about to see have gone through a great transformation. Everybody – from our lights to our backstage to our set design.”
Parins, who began the drama program this year at Clemente, told the audience that she shared a special connection with playwright Wilson, spending time with him years ago when she worked at a restaurant named Esteban’s in St. Paul, Minnesota.
“He used to come in and he used to sit there at the bar every afternoon,” she said. “It was quiet and nobody was there and he would come in and write. And he’d have a cup of coffee and I would sit there and visit with August.”
Parins noted that the play “has been a natural fit for our students” and said she would love to do another of Wilson’s plays, “Joe Turner’s Come and Gone” or another of his through-the-decades plays next year.
Clemente student actors included: Marcus Buggs playing the lead role of Troy Maxson; David Wren as Corey; Courtney Tubbs and Serena Johnson as Rose Maxson; DaVonn Harding as Bono; James Kelly as Gabriel; Bria Galloway and Mica Sims as Raynell; and Arquise Patterson as Lyons.
On the crew were Tyler Sheldon and Anthony Hugan on lights and Chris Coghlan, YaJaira Marin, Dennejah Drumright and Raven Hinton in the technical area.
Technology teacher Mike Fransten and his students handled set design and English teacher Jonathan Royce wrote the grant for the production. It was funded with grant money from the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation and with proceeds and donations taken at the door. Lowes donated fencing for the set and Uncle Ed’s Oil Shoppe allowed the use of its jumpsuits for the play’s wardrobe.
A number of school staff saw a preliminary performance of Clemente’s “Fences” the previous week. Fine Arts Coordinator Robin Bailey said staff and students did “a marvelous job” on the production. Slauson Middle School Principal Chris Curtis was quoted as saying: “If I were to sum up my reaction in two words, they would be ‘spine tingling. It was awesome.” Assistant Superintendent Joyce Hunter said, “the students at Clemente should also receive a Tony Award.”
“Fences” won four Tony Awards including an award for best play and also won the Pulitzer Prize and several other prestigious awards. The original Broadway version starring James Earl Jones set a record for a nonmusical when it grossed $11 million in a single year and ran for 525 performances. August Wilson died in 2005 of liver cancer, according to published obituaries.
What: An Ann Arbor Public Schools program called EASE: Environmental Awareness and Sustainability Education began this school year. The four-year program is designed to audit energy use in all buildings and decrease district energy expenditures by $324,000 per year.
Details: The EASE website is: www.a2schools.org/ease. There is also a hot link to the site at the bottom of the district homepage www.a2schools.org. Visit to view information about each school, energy audits done last fall and ongoing information about sustainability efforts.
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From AAPSNews Service
Related story: Lawton Elementary cleans up, recycles their lunchroom
Tom Yaeger and members of the Angell Elementary School Ecology Club show their new compost bin on the school grounds.
Fifth-graders in Tom Yaeger’s Ecology Club at Angell Elementary are aiming to lessen their carbon footprint.
The 23 club members have the right idea: They’re finding ways to encourage sustainability, recycling and using fewer resources and spreading the word throughout their elementary school community.
It is one of many grass-roots sustainability programs going on in and around the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Although individual teachers create their own programs, they all tie nicely into a districtwide initiative: the EASE initiative – Environmental Awareness and Sustainability Education, which began this year.
EASE conducted audits of all buildings in the fall and offers ongoing information about sustainability efforts by individual school (www.a2schools.org/EASE.)
At Angell, the Ecology Club meets each Wednesday, members giving up their recess time to meet and about energy saving ideas, recycle used milk cartons from around the school and take cafeteria vegetable clippings out to a newly created compost pile.
“It starts training the whole school – It’s pretty cool,” said fifth-grade teacher Tom Yaeger, who has taught at Angell for 23 years and organized the club four years ago. About half of fifth-graders take part in the volunteer effort and Yaeger said most members come weekly. “A big part is empowering kids to know they can do something about it. That small steps do matter. It’s a powerful feeling they get.”
Students call it the “EcoClub” and this year, they have tackled three independent projects: Food improvement, energy and recycling/composting, which started this year. “They fill a 96-gallon (recycling) cart,” Yaeger said. “It fills up in four days, they do so much recycling.”
EcoClub member Tony explained about an energy contest held at the school this year. They made presentations to each classroom about energy consumption and where we get our energy. “We tried to teach the kids in the school to save energy,” he explained. After two weeks of the “Lights Out” campaign, the first-graders won. Winners got “reward bags:” recycled notebooks they made from reused paper and decorated covers in a padding press, and recycled pencils.
Addy is on the Food Improvement Committee. She explained that members did a silent survey in the cafeteria, seeing what types of foods students were selecting and what was thrown away. “Our goal is to have 50 percent of the kids make healthy choices,” she said.
Angell fifth-graders got involved with the club for a variety of reasons, from following the lead of friends and thinking it sounded like fun, to taking environmental issues seriously. “I’ve always been really interested in helping the environment,” Zoe said. “That’s why I joined the energy group.”
At Burns Park Elementary, fifth-grade science teacher Sandy Kreger is passionate about the environment – so much so that she spent two years putting a green addition on her home.
Fifth-graders at Burns Park Elementary in front of one of the boards holding their "green pledges" which were written as part of their sustainability unit created and taught by teacher Sandy Kreger.
She took a “green” high school unit she got at a workshop and modified it for her elementary students. The Burns Park fifth-graders learned where things are made, what is green and what they can do to be green. They took part in a life-size timeline of biodegradability of all types of items, learned about recycling and composting and did a poster project using old recycled sheets and natural materials – such as ketchup, mustard and berries – as paints.
They took green pledges as part of the process. “This year, I thought it would be really nice for them to take some responsibility,” Kreger said of the pledges. “This is a way they can make a difference.”
“It was wonderful – I could teach it all year,” she said of the unit, which enhanced the students’ regular, required lessons. “Students felt like they had a voice – like they could do something about it. I try to concentrate on things they can really help to change.”
Kreger uses the Be Green retail store for materials – and used many items from the store when she did her own home-improvement project. During her project, she considered what she could do to involve students. She had a green builder come into her classroom and, when her project was completed, she invited her students and their families to her home at Halloween to see the addition.
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how I still have things to learn,” she noted. “I’m still learning how to reuse people’s stuff.”
From AAPSNews Service
The annual Haisley Walkathon began with overcast skies, but the enthusiasm of students at the Ann Arbor elementary school brightened the day.
May 13 was the day for the annual event, which raises money for the school, gets students pumped up with pride and encourages healthy activity.
Haisley Elementary School students take part in Friday's annual walkathon, a fundraiser for the school.
“We’ve really gotten them to walk more,” said Nancy Ketola, a Haisley parent who has organized the annual event for the past five years. “It’s fitness, fundraising and it’s really a good community thing.”
Students get pledges for laps walked and the event is a major fundraiser for the school. “They get so excited,” she added.
Most students walk about one eighth of a mile – about 60 laps around the school’s outdoor track out back.
“Every kid gets a chance to walk and gets to wear a number,” Ketola said. Prizes for the day are donated by major sponsors which include Absopure, Lowes, and Meijer stores and Dairy Queen (every student gets an ice cream cone), among others. Parent volunteers counted laps and helped to keep the event on track.
The day included a DJ, kids’ activities, and is the favorite of the school year, said Principal Mary Anne Jaeger. “It is an amazing community builder.”
In earlier years, the all-school event was held on a Saturday, but having it on a weekday has helped to involve all students, organizers said. On hand last week were a number of special teams of walkers, including members of the University of Michigan Womens Swim team who walked with students.