School Bells: Endurance run on April 30 to benefit Huron High student

For more news and achievements in the district, see “This Week in the Ann Arbor Public Schools” from the superintendent.

The Eighth Annual Endurance 5K Run and Walk will take place at 9 a.m. Saturday, April 30, at Gallup Park, Fuller Road and Huron Parkway. Proceeds will benefit Aubrey Hiney, a student at Huron High School with spina bifida and to help pay for her medical needs.

Featured speaker at the run will be 2008 Olympic silver medalist Nick Willis.Registration will take place the day of the race from 8-8:45 a.m. or visit online at: www.huronhills.org/5Krun.

Countywide election May 3 asks for special education millage renewal

The next election is a county-wide Consolidated Election on Tuesday May 3.
 On the ballot will be a Special Education Millage Renewal proposal from the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.

To request an absentee ballot, contact your local clerk to request an application for an absentee ballot or visit your local clerk’s office, fill out an application, and wait while they process your ballot. An application may also be downloaded and FAQs viewed at www.ewashtenaw.org/government/clerk_register/elections/el_clkelefaqs.html#absen

Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on election day. A photo identification is required in the State of Michigan. Voters should bring a driver’s license, Michigan ID card or passport to the polls.

Anti-bullying conference April 29

‘Standing Strong Against Bullies: Keeping Our Children Safe on the Playground and in Cyberspace” will take place from 9 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday, April 29 at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District, 1819 South Wagner Road, Scio Township.

Presenting will be Glenn Stutzky, a professor of social work at Michigan State University and a nationally-recognized expert on bullying and school violence.
Cost for the program is $40 for pre-registration by April 25, or $50 at the door. Students pay $15 and groups of 5 or more: $35 each person.

Bullying, the act of willfully causing harm to others through verbal harassment (teasing and name-calling), physical assault (hitting, kicking, and biting), or social exclusion (intentionally rejecting a child from a group) has been happening for as long as children have gathered in groups. What used to be a relegated to school playgrounds is now also showing up in families’ living rooms in the insidious form of cyberbullying online.

Estimates by the National Youth Violence Prevention in 2006 say that 30 percent of students either are bullied on a regular basis or are bullies themselves. Research shows that almost one in four children between the ages of 11 and 19 have been the victim of cyberbullying. The same research shows that approximately 65 percent ofkids know of someone who has been cyberbullied.

In nationally representative surveys of 10-17 year-olds, twice as many children and youths indicated they had been victims and perpetrators of online harassment in 2005 than in1999-00.

The conference will examine what bullying is and isn’t, what cyberbullying is and how pervasive it has become, and how kids and communities are impacted by bullies. It will teach how to build a caring community by addressing our attitudes toward bullying behavior and discussing practical applications that work, as well as tips and resources that can be used in preventing damaging behavior that doesn’t need to be the norm of childhood.

For more information: contact Marcia Dykstra, program director or visit  www.washtenawchildren.org for informaton, an online brochure and registration.

Skyline DECA receives awards at conference

Ann Arbor Skyline High School DECA chapter attended the DECA State Career and Development Conference/Competition for the first time on March 18-20, 2011 in Grand Rapids. The eight students who attended won seven medals and six students qualified to move on to the International Career Development Conference/Competition held in Orlando, Fla. April 28 to May 3.

In addition to the competition, Madison Mayleben was elected as a Michigan State DECA Officer for the 2011-2012 school year.

DECA is a co-curricular program for high school marketing and business students. DECA activities are integrated into Skyline’s Business Magnet Program as well as the various business electives including Marketing and Business Fundamentals. The competitive events use interviews, tests, role-plays, case studies and written projects to evaluate marketing and management skills. The program adviser is Diane Fine.
Skyline received the following Chapter Awards:
Chapter Charter Award – given for meeting all of the requirements of becoming a new Michigan DECA chapter; Gimme 5 Award – given to chapters with outstanding recruitment activities.
Leadership Academy Qualifiers for International Conference in Orlando, FL: Ramya Chinta, Madison Mayleben and Tommy Vaughan.
Chapter Management Academy Qualifiers for International Conference in Orlando, FL: Blake Ebright and Dillon Stuart.
Test Medal – Top 5 highest test score in event: Dillon Stuart – Principles of Hospitality and Tourism.
Role Play Medal – 1st place finish for role-play event: Alex Tennant – Principles of Hospitality and Tourism.
State Finalists (Top 10 Overall in Event): Dillon Stuart – Principles of Hospitality and Tourism and Alex Tennant – Principles of Hospitality and Tourism. Team of Blake EBright, Maddie Mayleben, Celina Stead – Teamwork and Leadership Event.
State Champions (advance to DECA International Competition in Orlando, Fl): Team of Blake EBright, Maddie Mayleben, Celina Stead – Teamwork and Leadership Event.

2 seats open on WISD board of education

Nominating petitions for individuals interested in running for two, six-year terms on the Washtenaw Intermediate School District Board of Education are available at either the WISD offices, 1819 South Wagner Road, Scio Township, or at the Washtenaw County Clerk’s office.

Petitioners must file with the Washtenaw County Clerk by Monday, May 9, at which time candidates must also file an affidavit of identity. Nominations require the signatures of between 40-100 Washtenaw County registered voters or payment of a $100 non-refundable filing fee in lieu of signatures (per Public Act 157 of 2002).
The election is scheduled for June 6 at 7 p.m. Members elected to the WISD Board will begin their terms on July 1, 2011.

The WISD Board of Education is composed of five members who serve staggered, six-year terms. State law says that no more than two seated intermediate school district board members may live in the same local school district.

Terms expiring this year are that of Gregory Peoples and Dayle Wright. Peoples lives in the Lincoln Consolidated School District. Wright lives in the Chelsea School District. Both are planning to seek re-election.

The body electing intermediate school district board members is composed of one member of the board of education from each constituent district, designated by the local board of education.

For additional information, contact WISD Interim Superintendent Richard Leyshock, at 734-994-8100, ext. 1301.

Pittsfield Elementary Preps for Science Fair

Second graders work on a Volcano project for the Pittsfield Science Fair which will be on April 28.

Curious kids at Pittsfield Elementary are solving problems, assembling data and conducting experiments in preparation for the all-school Science Fair at 6 p.m., April 28.

Participation in this non-competitive event is always high and first grade teacher and Science Fair organizer Barb Killewald expects student displays to pack the multi-purpose again this year.

Students in grades kindergarten through fifth grade may work on individual projects or collaborate with friends.  Visitors can expect anything from fossils to friction, volcanoes to velocity, to be explored as Pittsfield’s Penguins celebrate the joy of scientific discovery. Pittsfield Elementary School is at 2543 Pittsfield, Ann Arbor.

Upcoming book events around the Ann Arbor community

Following is a list of book events of interest around the area, as provided by local independent bookseller and AAPSNews partner Nicola’s Books. Unless otherwise noted, events are at Nicola’s in the Westgate Shopping Center, Jackson Road at Maple.

Sunday May 1 at 1:30 pm at the Michigan Theater dowtown Ann Arbor- Stuart Little comes to the Michigan Theater as part of the Not Just for Kids series. Stuart goes on an adventure to find Margalo, the family bird, when Snowbell the cat frightens her away. Nicola’s Books will be on hand to sell a variety of Stuart Little titles.

Saturday May 7 at 11 am- Join us for a special story time with local children’s author Josepine Gambini here with her new book “Poetino Piccolino Saves the Day”. In this adventure book Poetino the mouse rescues his friends as they travel through Rome.

Friday May 6 at 6pm- Popular writer of novels for young adults, Neil Shusterman will be at Nicola’s for a reading and signing of his new book Everfound, the stunning conclusion to the Skinjacker Trilogy. In the limbo that is Everlost, Mary, Nick, Allie, and others face the decisions that will determine whether that place and the Earth itself will continue to exist, as well as where their own futures lie.

Tuesday May 10 at 7 pm- Meet author and teacher of creative writing at the University of Toledo, Jane Bradley, here with her new novel, “You Believers”. Part southern gothic, part crime, part haunting suspense story,You Believers takes the reader on an infinitely harrowing journey during which a mother uproots her life to search for her missing daughter.

Wednesday May 11 at 7 pm- Cynthia Gabriel, medical anthropologist, doula, and mother of three, will be at Nicola’s to discuss her book “Natural Hospital Birth: The Best of Both Worlds”. This guide is designed to demonstrate to future moms and medical professionals alike how the hospital is the best place for a peaceful, natural, and safe birth.

Thursday May 12 at 7 pm- First time novelist Amanda Hodgkinson will be here for a reading and signing of her searing debut novel, “22 Britannia Road”. Janusz and Silvana are a Polish couple torn apart by World War II trying to reform their family in England post-war along with their young son Aurek. Those of us at the store who have read this heart-wrenching story have simply fallen in love with it.

Saturday May 14- Curious George, everyone’s favorite monkey, will be here to meet all his little fans following our regular story time at 11 am.

Monday May 16 at 7:30 pm at the Michigan Theater downtown Ann Arbor- Charlaine Harris, author of the wildly popular Sookie Stackhouse novels, the basis for the “True Blood” television series, will be appearing at the Michigan Theater for a book discussion and signing event. Harris will be discussing her newest novel “Dead Reckoning” and meeting with fans following a live Q & A with the audience. Nicola’s Books will be on hand selling a variety the author’s books.

Tuesday May 17at 7 pm- Author Karl Marlantes, touring with the paperback release of his novel about the Vietnam War experience, “Matterhorn”, will here for a discussion and signing. Written over the course of 30 years by a highly decorated Vietnam veteran, “Matterhorn” is the timeless story of a young Marine lieutenant, Waino Mellas, and his comrades in Bravo Company, who are dropped into the mountain jungle of Vietnam as boys and forced to fight their way into manhood.

Thursday May 19 at 7 pm- Rachel DeWoskin, author of “Foreign Babes in Beijing”, will be at Nicola’s Books for a reading and signing of her new novel set in Ann Arbor, “Big Girl Small”, a scathingly funny and moving novel about a 16-year-old girl who becomes caught in a controversy that might bring down her whole school–a scandal that has something to do with the fact Judy is three feet nine inches tall.

For details of events, visit www.nicolasbooks.com

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