AAPS celebrates Bike to School Day

Posted on May 11, 2012 by AAPS News Editor

By Tara Cavanaugh

A parade of bike riders rolled in to Wines Elementary Wednesday morning. Tikes on tiny bikes with training wheels. Kids in bike buggies, enjoying the ride. Tandem bikes. Junior-sized mountain bikes. Grown-up sized bikes ridden by moms and dads.

The unusually high bike traffic was due to Bike to School Day, celebrated nationally for the first time this year on May 9. The event is sponsored by the National Center for Safe Routes to School, which also organizes Walk to School Day in October. Continue reading →

It’s springtime in the Tappan Garden

Posted on April 24, 2012 by AAPS News Editor

By Tara Cavanaugh

You can learn a lot by playing in the dirt.

You can learn about starting seeds, pulling weeds, the life cycle and the compost pile. Now that spring is in full swing, Tappan Middle School students are learning all that and more at the Tappan Garden. Continue reading →

Photos: AAPS celebrates March Reading Month

Posted on March 30, 2012 by AAPS News Editor

Children's author and illustrator Patricia Polacco shared the stories behind her books at Burns Park Elementary March 28.

Swinging hula dancers, a reading dog, and live storytelling from world-famous authors: our schools sure know how to make March Reading Month interesting.

But even though the month was filled with fun activities, there was plenty of good old-fashioned reading time too.

The AAPS News captured just a sliver of all the great Reading Month events. Check out the slideshow below to view the visits from author/illustrator Patricia Polacco, Colby the reading service dog, a 5,300 book donation to an orphanage across the globe, and a luau that happened the same day as the tornado. Continue reading →

Sparking the love of language

Posted on March 7, 2012 by AAPS News Editor

Each lesson, the U-M student teacher selects elementary students to lead the class in song. These four third-graders led the class in singing the Spanish alphabet on Tuesday, March 6 at Bryant Park.

By Tara Cavanaugh

Twice a week, third and fourth grade classrooms at AAPS elementary schools make a transformation that changes everything: no English is allowed. Only Spanish.

The transformation is part of an educational partnership between AAPS and the University of Michigan. U-M students step into AAPS classrooms and give a 30 minute, Spanish-only lesson. The goal of the immersion lesson, called the Ann Arbor Language Partnership (or A2LP for short), is to give students a foundation for learning language skills.

Continue reading →

Elementary classroom initiatives teach students to honor the Earth

Posted on May 16, 2011 by Casey Hans

District focuses on sustainability

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

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.”

Teacher’s passion for sustainability transfers to students

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.”

Market Day: Burns Park 5th-graders learn about life as entrepreneurs

Posted on April 18, 2011 by Casey Hans

By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

A recession, you say? You’d never know the country has been in an economic slump by visiting Market Day at Ann Arbor’s Burns Park Elementary School.

It looks more like a stock market trading floor, as fifth graders market and peddle their handmade wares to staff, parents and other students who get to do some shopping with Burns Park dollars.

Fifth-graders make smoothies as their product to sell during Market Day at Burns Park Elementary.

Fifth-graders learned all the ins-and-outs of business during an economics unit taught by Sharon Pryce.

“There’s a lot of buzz going on,” said parent Doug Forman, whose daughter was working in a booth selling hand-made robots. “They get a sense of what it takes to plan and run a store. It’s pretty neat.”

The optional Market Day has been going on at Burns Park for more than 10 years, and it is wildly popular, Pryce said. Some 58 of her 72 students took on the project, which teaches them soup-to-nuts skills of developing an entrepreneurial spirit and learning about the economy, the stock market and basic money management.

Students do all of their research and work on their products at home, on personal time.

“It’s a big thing here,” said Pryce, who was serving as banker, handing out between $10 and $20 of Burns Park dollars to each student to keep the economy moving. “I don’t push it a lot – it sells itself.”

Students shop for a deal during the annual Market Day event. Products for the day are designed and created by fifth-graders, who learn about the economy and how to market their wares.

She said because many of the Burns Park parents are already entrepreneurs, it’s a natural for many students to pick up the concept of running a business.

Face painting was one of the many businesses run by Burns Park fifth-graders.

This year’s Market Day had dozens of booths including bottle cap magnets (students went to Red Hawk, which donated the caps), fruit smoothies, colorful tennis shoes decorated with duct tape, a Harry Potter shop selling wands and spell books and even young artists doing face painting. Pryce said some students do raffles and others tried silent auctions this year to boost sales. One group of entrepreneurs recorded and sold their own CD.

“We didn’t think we’d sell this many,” said fifth-grader Grace, who was in business with classmate Bess selling the bottle cap magnets. Their trade secret: Grace explained that they put decorative materials and then filled them in with Modge Podge.

Students must tally their sales numbers and teams with the best sales earn a prize, Pryce said. “They develop business plans, so I know what they’re doing, and we encourage them to be great recyclers and reuse materials,” Pryce said. Students worked individually or in groups of up to three.

One team made and sold robots.

Pryce said the day is a spin-off of a yearlong mini-society program that was whittled down years ago due to increases in mandatory grade level content expectations from the state.

Casey Hans writes and edits this newsletter for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
E-mail her or call 734-994-2090.

Carpenter Elementary blends writing and science in school club

Posted on March 28, 2011 by Casey Hans

Leslie Science and Nature Center is sponsor, partner

Related story below: Wolf Family Foundation and the LSNC teams with 3 Ann Arbor schools each year on student-driven projects

By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

Take one measure of science and mix well with writing. Add a hands-on activity and you have a class full of after-school fun.

It’s all part of the Leslie Science and Nature Center After-School Writing Club at Carpenter Elementary School, where students are excited about learning, thanks to a partnership with the center. Up to 20 students participate in the club, which brings students in grades three to five together once each week.

Students write about their science experience in the Carpenter After-School Writing Club, sponsored by the Leslie Science and Nature Center.

“I enjoy this so much – I just love my kids,” said Lauren LaRocca who coordinates the club with Jessie Maxwell. Both are program coordinators for the Leslie Center.

Maxwell said the program has been well received. “It increases their aptitude for science, which is one of their long-term goals,” she said.

This is the club’s fourth year at Carpenter and Principal Ron Collins said students are invited to participate in the fall through recommendations from teachers who think students will benefit from the writing exercises and science units. Many of the projects blend with the school’s curriculum units.

“This enables us to attack science and writing at the same time,” Collins said. “It gives them an area of interest that they want to write about. A lot of it carries on afterward.”

Collins said his school first got involved with the Leslie Science and Nature Center after experiencing programs at the school funded through the Wolf Family Foundation. These included planting a wildflower garden in front of the building and doing water sampling.

At one recent after-school club session, students were pretending to be human versions of water droplets as they moved from one form of water to another through stations set up in the classroom: rain, clouds, river, glaciers, oceans or lakes, soil, groundwater and plants. Students then had an assignment to write about their experience and shared their findings with classmates.

Part of the lesson included water evaporating into the clouds and how it comes back to Earth. “ … And then the clouds picked me up again and I went into the ocean,” explained one student in his narrative.

Other Ann Arbor schools also partner with the LSNC in a variety of ways. At Northside Elementary, the center helps with a weekly writing program and there is a weekly science program at Pittsfield Elementary. At Wines Elementary, there is an after-school geo-caching club and Burns Park Elementary partners with the center for a Discover Nature Night each April, where students enjoy hands-on activities and live animal presentations.

Family foundation and LSNC teams with 3 elementaries on student-driven projects

Carpenter Elementary is one of three schools in the district that is touched each year by the Wolf Family Foundation through the Leslie Science and Nature Center’s in-school program for students in grades 3-5. Northside and King also benefit from the program thanks to a substantial grant that the family funds each year.

Ann Arbor students conduct river sampling as part of the Wolf Family Foundation-funded projects in 2008 through a partnership with the Leslie Science and Nature Center.

The foundation is based in Ohio, but family members are encouraged to do community service wherever they live – and grants are awarded based on that service. They fund projects all over the world.

In Ann Arbor, parent and retired physical education teacher Jody Linn first became involved with the Leslie Center as a liaison for the Ann Arbor Public Schools Community Education and Recreation Department. Her interest carried over to service on the Leslie Center board, where she subsequently saw the benefit of having the center partner with the school district.

“I thought about my passion – and that’s kids,” said Linn, about why she got involved and proposed the programs for the Leslie Center. “I wanted to find a way to create an ‘aha’ moment. I like the Leslie Science and Nature Center because it’s a hands-on learning experience. You involve the teachers, build it into the curriculum and make it interdisciplinary.”

Linn said she is pleased to see the center creating a bond with students and teachers and believes the program has raised environmental awareness and built an interest in science.

The programs started with a $5,000 grant, which has expanded to about $10,000 each year. Money is funneled through the Leslie Center and benefits Ann Arbor students directly.

Each year, participating students do a culminating activity that they design as part of the Wolf Family Foundation-funded program. The program has funded such activities as river testing, analyzing the health of rivers and creating rain gardens, among others.

Carpenter Elementary School students work on a native plant garden as part of the Wolf Family Foundation-funded 2009 projects through a partnership with the Leslie Science and Nature Center. (Photos courtesy, The Leslie Science and Nature Center)

Some of the most recent projects include: designing reusable water bottles and pins to promote water conservation at Carpenter, an annual Earth Day celebration at King Elementary and a river cleanup day at Northside Elementary. In previous years, Northside made videos for the Millers Creek Film Festival and created books for their reading buddies and Carpenter created “Save our River” T-shirts and planted a native plant garden outside of the school.

“Students get the interactive experience for three years in a row,” said Amanda Lodge, education director for the Leslie center who coordinates the programs with Linn. “It builds these connections with their schools.”

The program currently touches 40 classrooms and between 500-600 students each year, and most of those students are involved with the program over multiple years.

Linn said she is happy to continue recommending the program each year, and is always looking for ways to work with the LSNC staff to make them better. “We’re reviewing the program. How do we pay it forward?” she said. “How do we reach out beyond where we are now?”

Ann Arbor physician pleased to see ‘favorite teacher’ get top post

Posted on March 14, 2011 by Casey Hans

From AAPSNews Service

Dr. Eric Straka – Pleased to see his former teacher come to Ann Arbor.

Dr. Patricia Green – New superintendent recalls her former student and his fine work.

It is a small world, indeed, for Ann Arbor physician Dr. Eric Straka.

Straka was pleased to hear the news about Dr. Patricia Green, the newly selected superintendent for the Ann Arbor Public Schools, as he was a sixth-grade student of Green’s in Maryland – and she was his favorite teacher.

“She was the best teacher I ever had,” said Straka, an internal medicine physician who practices in Washtenaw and western Wayne counties. “She was really serious about teaching and really cared about the students’ learning. I still have vivid memories of her class.”

Green was hired by the district on Saturday, March 5, following finalist interviews by the Ann Arbor Board of Education. The community was also able to hear the incoming superintendent and another finalist candidate at a Friday night forum the evening before the decision.

After Green’s appointment was announced and reported upon through local media, Straka posted in a thread after an AnnArbor.com story, sending along a brief note of welcome, and noting the teacher-student connection: “… I think the board made a GREAT decision to hire you and I hope you enjoy living here. I look forward to seeing you around town,” he said in part of his post.

Straka was in Green’s class at Buckingham Elementary School in Bowie, Maryland during the 1977-78 school year, where he recalls astronomy and space as a big focus of her science teaching. He recalls “a lot of reading, book reports and quite a bit of artwork. She was such an energetic teacher.”

Straka is with the primary care physicians practice, Partners in Internal Medicine. He has been practicing medicine since 1996 and is a clinical instructor at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital and an adjunct clinical associate at the University of Michigan.

Green said she remembers Straka well and did not realize that he had landed in Ann Arbor and was practicing medicine here.

“Eric was such a terrific student who always wanted to do his best … I knew he had a tremendous future ahead of him,” Green said. She recalled the sixth-grade space science projects the year when Straka and his classmates incorporated research, scientific theories and artistic expression.

“Eric’s work stood out and was so excellent that I asked him if I could keep some of it as a ‘sample’ to share with future 6th grade classes and with other teachers during professional development days,” she said.

Fifteen years after having Green as a teacher, Straka was doing his residency at the University of California, San Francisco when his mother saw an item in The Washington Post about one of Green’s career promotions and sent it to her son. He sent Green a note of congratulations and within two weeks “I got this huge package in the mail with all of my old artwork in it – and it was in pristine condition.”

Green recalled the time equally well.

“Eric sent me an announcement that he had graduated medical school and told me that his love of science went all the way back to our sixth-grade class,” Green said. “For a teacher, there is nothing better than that kind of compliment. I was so excited, I packed up all the projects he had made and shipped them off to him as I felt it was time they were reunited with their creator.

“Little did I know our paths would cross again someday here in Ann Arbor. I am thrilled,” she added.

Straka said this special teacher touched his life. “She made me a better student,” he recalled. “She was challenging and tough, but she really cared about the kids. I think Ann Arbor is lucky to have her.”

Straka is married to Gianna Lete and they have three children in the Ann Arbor Public Schools: one attends Tappan Middle School and two got to Burns Park Elementary School.

Burns Park Players presents ‘How to Succeed in Business …’

Posted on January 17, 2011 by Casey Hans

February performances to benefit Ann Arbor Public Schools students

From the Burns Park Players

The Burns Park Players gets ahead again this season with Frank Loesser, Jack Weinstock, Willie Gilbert, and Abe Burrows’s classic musical “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying.”

The Burns Park Players presents "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying." (Photo courtesy, Myra Klarman and the Burns Park Players)

With a cast and crew of 170, the annual Burns Park Players production raises money for the Ann Arbor Public Schools and involves dozens of residents from around Burns Park Elementary School.

Performances will be at 7:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 4; Saturday, Feb. 5; Thursday, Feb. 10; and Friday, Feb. 11. and at 4 p.m. on Saturday, Feb 12. All shows are at the Tappan Middle School Auditorium, 2251 E. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor. The final dress rehearsal is also open to the public on Thursday, Feb. 3; rehearsal performance begins at 7:30.

Ticket sales begin at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Jan.19. Reserved seating tickets are available for $15 at Morgan and York Market, 1928 Packard, Ann Arbor, or at the door one hour before the show. Premium seating tickets (which include reserved parking) are available for $30. For information on purchasing premium tickets, call Ken Kollman at 734-478-0449.

Tickets for the dress rehearsal are $5 and available at the door only, beginning at 7 p.m.

Originally produced on Broadway in 1961, “How to Succeed …” ran for 1,417 performances and won seven Tony Awards. In 1995 a revival starring Matthew Broderick and Megan Mullally ran for 548 performances, and a new revival is slated to open in March, 2011, starring Daniel Radcliffe. Its songs, with music and lyrics written by Frank Loesser, include such hits as “I Believe in You” and “Brotherhood of Man.”

As the show opens in its New York setting, window washer J. Pierpont Finch happens upon the book “How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying” and, following its instructions, lands a job in the mailroom and begins to work his way up the corporate ladder of WWWC. Thanks to the book, Finch is rapidly promoted, outsmarts Bud Frump, and even secures secretary Rosemary Pilkington’s love. But when his major advertising campaign goes awry, not even his trusty book can save him.

Community members from the Burns Park area are involved with the production ranging in age from 6 to 91. Featured performers include Caroline Huntoon, Jeffrey Post, Ben Cohen, Lisa Harris, Fred Hall, Aviva Simonte, Talia Glass and Joel Swanson.

Longtime Detroit-area air personality Dick Purtan will make a special voice appearance. And, in keeping with Burns Park Players tradition, more than 100 students from Burns Park Elementary School also are featured in the cast.

As in years past, proceeds from this show will benefit performing arts in the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Since its inception, the Burns Park Players has contributed more than $245,000 to the district and its students. Past contributions have included:

Ann Arbor Rec & Ed scholarship support for performing arts and camps,
Financial support for Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation Teacher Grants fund and
$5,000 per year to support private instrumental music lessons provided by Ann Arbor School for the Performing Arts for talented middle school students who could not otherwise afford them.

Directing this year’s production is Mike Mosallam, the music director is Eric Lofstrom and choreographers are Mike Mosallam and Christie Schauder. The musical is produced by Debi Haller, Kathy Koehler and Sara Meingast.

The Burns Park Players was formed in 1984 by a small group of parents looking for a way to raise money to send their Burns Park Elementary School children to camp. Since that time, the group has grown into an active and unique community theater company that has maintained it original commitment to family-oriented musical productions.

To find out more about the group, visit www.burnsparkplayers.org.

Eat this up: School gardens featured as learning tool

Posted on June 20, 2010 by Casey Hans

Learn more about how Ann Arbor youngsters spend outdoor time learning in school gardens.

Student-made garden markers for the Burns Park School Garden.

Marianne Rzepka’s June 20 “Seeds & Stems” column in The Ann Arbor Chronicle takes readers to three Ann Arbor Public Schools school gardens: Ann Arbor Open @ Mack, Burns Park and Bryant elementary schools. “There’s a lot to learn from growing a garden, and a lot of Ann Arbor’s schools are finding that out,” her column begins. Click here to visit the site and read the full story.

Rzepka, a former reporter for The Ann Arbor News and Detroit Free Press, writes her gardening column regularly for The Chronicle. She lives in Ann Arbor.

The AAPSNews also featured Burns Park and Northside elementary gardens in an article. Click here for that story.

Gardens are outdoor classrooms, a chance to learn about nutrition

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Casey Hans

By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

Tucked behind Burns Park Elementary School is a sunny spot that was a paved playground, but now is filled with activity of a different sort as students, parents and teachers dig in to create the school’s first garden project.

Take a peek around the corner.

Burns Park student teacher Lauren Yoder shows a student how to measure the soil temperature as part of a lesson in the school's new garden. A grant from the AAPS Educatiional Foundation is helping to purchase compost and fencing materials for the plot.

Instead of jumping rope and playing catch, students are working, playing and learning in piles of compost. They are planting seeds, mulching paths and learning about weather and gardening.

Instructing in the Burns Park School Garden on a sunny spring afternoon are parents Lynda Norton and Emily Hastie as well as Burns Park student teacher Lauren Yoder. The trio has set up learning stations, with students rotating between digging trenches and moving mulch and compost, planting pea plants and seeds and either journaling or painting hand-made signs for garden crops.

The garden plot is a huge 50 feet by 100 feet and was created when the school underwent renovations and a building addition on the south side as part of the district’s voter-approved Bond and Sinking Fund, leaving a beautiful, flat area with southern exposure.

The Burns Park community got to work last fall. “There were a few people interested in (creating) a garden,” said Norton, who co-chairs the garden effort with Hastie. “It was perfect timing, a perfect location.”

“I would love to see every school have a garden,” Hastie added.

Some 30 people participated in the planning process; about a dozen have been actively involved starting the garden this year. Students planted strawberries and herbs last fall and are working in the garden this spring planting peas, salad greens and vegetables and learning about weather patterns and healthy eating.

Norton said Burns Park parents have been generous with donations of money, plants, mulch, trailers and their time to help the project. Ann Arbor’s Downtown Home and Garden store donated many tools, a wheelbarrow and other needed items for students need to get to work.

“This dark soil here is excellent compost … it has great food in it for the plants,” Hastie told a group of second-graders who were getting ready to move buckets loaded with compost to prepare a planting bed.

Burns Park students move mulch to prepare beds for planting salad vegetables.

Hastie and Norton, PTO president and master gardener, are devoting their time to teaching students the basics of gardening as part of the all-school project. With much input from parents and teachers, Norton has developed a plan for the garden, which includes sections for each grade where students can plant, harvest and learn.

The project has received grant funding from the PTO Golden Apple as well as a recent award from the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation, which has allowed them to order several truckloads of compost, some mulch and install a fence around the garden’s perimeter.

Hastie said teaching about good food and healthy eating is a goal of the garden and she shared the Burns Park School Garden project mission: “The BP school garden will be an outdoor classroom that teaches students about the source of food, promotes good nutritional food choices, fosters a love of nature and creates rich educational experiences for years to come.”

Burns Park teacher Faith Chen recently brought her second graders to the garden on a beautiful spring day, where they planted both pea seedlings that were started in the classroom as well as pea seeds; they will compare the growth patterns of the two plants as the season progresses. Chen said her students are learning about life cycles and have learned about trees and plants and are starting a unit on butterflies – which all ties in neatly to the school garden.

Kindergarteners will plan a sunflower “house” in one corner of the garden and first-graders have created bean tepees. Older students are planting corn, lettuce, kohlrabi, broccoli, and carrots. “We’ll be able to harvest them in June and make a big salad before you head off to middle school,” Hastie told fifth-graders who were planting lettuce seeds.

An overall centerpiece to the garden will be a pergola on which perennial grape vines will be trained, Norton said.

Students are invited out twice a week to work in the garden and organizers said students can volunteer time on Thursdays during lunch hour to help keep the garden shipshape.

Not only are students learning, but adults are, as well. Although she is a master gardener, Norton said “I’ve never done much vegetable gardening, so I’m learning.” And Hastie has “always wanted to garden, so this is great for me.”

Parent and Burns Park PTO President Lynda Norton helps students plant some lettuce seeds in the school's new garden.

Another Ann Arbor school garden project at Northside Elementary School also was funded this spring through AAPSEF grant. Kindergarten teachers Winnie Chang and Jan Smith said work is just getting under way on the garden to get compost delivered and start work so that planting can begin the first week of May.

The 20- by 23-foot garden is being organized by an interested group of Northside parents.

They plan to start involving younger students, eventually including the entire school once they get going. The Educational Foundation grant will be used for plants, compost, seeds, trowels and “everything we would need to do this garden,” Chang said.

“We’re also doing some extra planting too, so we can sell some things and help the garden sustain itself,” Smith said, with perhaps herbs and annuals.

Chang said a Northside parent is setting up a blog Web page where photos and discussion about the garden can occur. Also special at Northside site is a greenhouse that has been on site for many years, allowing organizers to store plants before they go in the ground.

Casey Hans edits this newsletter for The Ann Arbor Public Schools. E-mail her or call her at 734-994-2090 (internal ext. 51228.)

School Bells: Slauson students sew ‘Little Dresses’ for a cause

Posted on April 26, 2010 by Casey Hans

Slauson Middle School students have been sewing after school during the third quarter. Teacher Carol Mohrlock and paraprofessional Lisa Field, along with volunteer and retired Ann Arbor teacher Suette King, have offered an after-school club called “Little Dresses for Africa.”

Each Thursday, for one hour after school, students met to learn how to sew dresses and discuss social and economic issues of the world’s least developed nations. The club is called "Little Dresses for Africa."

Each Thursday, for one hour after school, students met to learn how to sew dresses and discuss social and economic issues of the world’s least developed nations.

“The students were energetic and eager to learn,” said Mohrlock. “They have shared how good it feels to help others while learning a new skill.”

Several club members have offered to “run the club” during the next school year and have been talking with their friends about joining this club.

“Little Dresses for Africa” is a nonprofit organization created to help send relief to the children of Central Africa. Simple dresses are made from pillowcases and distributed through orphanages, churches and kids camps throughout Africa.
One of the goals is to plant in the hearts of little girls that they are worthy.

To date, “The Little Dresses for Africa project has received 40,000 dresses including donations from 49 states and three foreign countries.

Slauson Middle School has contributed to the cause while teaching many students how to sew.

– Information for this story was submitted by Carol Mohrlock, a geography teacher at Slauson Middle School.

2 teachers receive Celebration of Excellence awards

Two Ann Arbor Public Schools employees have received Celebration of Excellence Awards from the Ann Arbor Board of Education and the PTO Council. They were recognized on April 14. Burns Park Elementary third-grade teacher Molly Crankshaw and Huron High School teacher Robert Kokoszka earned awards.

Crankshaw was nominated for Outstanding Customer Service by Elizabeth DeRose: “I have had the pleasure of having two children go through her class; my daughter is now in fifth-grade, and my son is currently in her class. Both children have shown tremendous growth, both academically and emotionally, and just really blossomed as individuals under her guidance. She exemplifies excellent customer service by continually exceeding expectations, and her passion and dedication shine through in all that she does.”

Her classroom is a “structured, yet still fun, environment,” DeRose said in her nomination. “I volunteer frequently in her classroom, and am always pleasantly surprised to find the students working or listening respectfully.”

She identifies individual needs of each student and strives to make the students’ experiences at school positive, all with a sense of humor and caring.

Kokoszka, a teacher consultant at Huron for 29 years and chairman of the special education department since 1990. was nominated for Outstanding Customer Service by colleagues Linda Jeffries and Diane Rosenblum.

“He is an outstanding educator and a remarkable man, a teacher whose students come back to see him year after year, long after they have graduated,” they said in their nomination. “Bob is the person his colleagues seek out when they need a wise perspective, professional advice, compassion and support. He is always ready to listen, no matter what he is doing. He is a mentor to teachers, administrators, counselors, secretaries, and assistants.”

He serves as mentor, teacher, confidant and friend and is warm and compassionate, they said.

Volunteers in the schools appreciated

April is the month that volunteers throughout the United States are appreciated. This year, April 18-24 was designated as National Volunteer Appreciation Week. That includes the many Ann Arbor community members who volunteer in The Ann Arbor Public Schools.

The district has more than 100 community volunteers and 250 business and organizational partners through the Partners for Excellence Program as well as many more parents who spend time each day helping students and teachers in the classroom, according to Norma McCuiston, coordinator for Community Partnerships and Projects for the district.

She encourages members of the community to thank the volunteers for their many hours of service. “Please take a moment during the remainder of this month to show how much their time and talent are appreciated,” she said.

School officials to discuss achievement gap on Thursday

A national shift on “college and career ready” focus has Ann Arbor Public Schools officials looking at ways to refine pathways to educational excellence for all students.

Members of the community, school board members, the superintendent and district staff will meet this week to review and interpret the latest standardized test scores. Discussed will the the achievement gap that exists among diverse student population, the need for regular review and ideas around immediate and long-term solutions.

A meeting is scheduled for Thursday, April 29 from 7-9 p.m. at Peace Neighborhood Center, 1111 N. Maple Road, Ann Arbor. Refreshments will be served at 7 p.m., with the program starting at 7:10 p.m. and running to 8 p.m. A question-and-answer session will be conducted from 8-9 p.m. Details: 734-994-2200.

Click here for more student and staff achievements in Superintendent Todd Roberts’ “This Week in the Ann Arbor Public Schools.”

Burns Park Elementary recognized as a hub for the arts

Posted on March 15, 2010 by Casey Hans

By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

The University Musical Society is singing the praises of Burns Park Elementary School, which was recently selected as the UMS School of the Year for its rich history in fine arts and music and its approach to incorporating them into its programs.

Burns Park Elementary was recently named the University Musical Society's School of the Year.

“Burns Park certainly demonstrates this commitment, through not only its participation in UMS programs but the entire school’s commitment to celebrating the arts and cultures of the world …” wrote Claire C. Rice, UMS interim director of education and audience development, in a recent letter to Principal Kathy Morhous.

The UMS also offered special thanks to Burns Park music teacher Cynthia Page Bogen for her long-standing participation and advocacy with UMS.

The announcement was made March 10 before the Ann Arbor Board of Education and will be celebrated at 5:30 p.m., Saturday, March 20 at the Ford Honors Program at U-M’s Michigan League, a major fund-raising event for the UMS. The DTE Energy Foundation sponsors this award through a two-year financial commitment to UMS’s Youth Education Programs.

“We’re proud to be part of the Burns Park community,” said Morhous. “We all value what the arts bring to life. It’s nice to know we’ve been recognized.”

Burns Park Elementary School music teacher Cynthia Page Bogen works with a group of fourth-graders, teaching them a new song in her music room.

Robin Bailey, fine arts coordinator for the district, said the Ann Arbor elementary has “gone above and beyond to try to make the arts special for kids.” She called the district’s partnership with UMS second to none. “They picked Burns Park because they’ve had a long-standing commitment to UMS and integrating the arts into the school,” Bailey said.

Ann Arbor Public Schools has “a constant commitment” to arts in the K-12 schools, she said. “This long-standing commitment of a district to the arts allows a school like Burns Park to get this award,” she added.

Page Bogen, lead teacher denoted on the UMS award, has led the school musically. “She is a music teacher that is incredible. The model she’s teaching for composition will be used around the district.” Bailey said. She will train other staff in this approach, which can include anything from composing rap songs and plays to writing songs.

“Composition can be taught in lots of different ways as long as they’re encouraged to be creative … and they working within the context of what they need to learn,” Bailey added.

Morhous said Page Bogen uses the UMS lineup each year, fitting programs into her classroom. “She just weaves it throughout her year,” Morhous said. “If UMS doesn’t have something (that fits with her theme at each grade level) she looks elsewhere.”

Page Bogen started with the district 17 years ago as a Spanish teacher but soon was able to move into music. She said there has been a “long tradition of the arts here” and that she loves collaborating with other teachers too. “Putting music in its context is so important and I like to do that,” she added.

Page Bogen accompanies a group of fourth-graders as she teaches them a song.

She said the approach has allowed her the freedom to expand her approach. “My teaching has opened up and is flourishing,” Page Bogen said. “It permits me to teach the way I want to teach. They’re (UMS) appreciating us when they’re the ones that should be appreciated.”

Morhous said the entire staff shares in the award. “The entire school embraces the approach,” she said. “The music teacher can’t do it without the support of the classroom teachers. It takes the whole school. It’s working around the schedules … to make sure they have this wonderful experience.”

Burns Park Elementary School is centrally located near the University of Michigan’s Central Campus, which allows many student field trips to U-M to be walking ones, Morhous said. It was built in 1921 on the west end of Burns Park, opening as Tappan Junior High School and then converted to an elementary school in 1951.

Morhous said the school’s location offers an opportunity. “I think what’s really unique to Burns Park is its close proximity to the University and how the families are connected. Our kids just get that wealth of experience and knowledge you wouldn’t get unless they were that close by.”

In addition to the UMS programs, Burns Park staff does outreach in other arts as well as multi-cultural programs, which was another aspect of the award.

Whether learning music or art, Burns Park students thrive in a culturally rich and diverse environment, says Principal Kathy Morhous.

Art teacher Kate Higgins does a lot of outreach in the community and the different cultures of the world, which has also helped to contribute to the UMS recognition, Morhous said. “Kate’s entire curriculum celebrates art from around the world. When the PTO heads up a multi-cultural celebration, Kate is right there weaving the art of that world culture into the classroom. Kate and Cynthia are the teachers that work with the PTO on these multi-cultural themes.”

Higgins is beginning her annual involvement with Festifools, Ann Arbor’s four-year-old annual street festival of huge puppets. Involved is parent Mark Tucker, who teaches art at U-M and heads up the Festifools event. He is helping Higgins and her students create papier-maché puppets that will be part of the Festifool display on April 11.

Morhous said that Higgins also is supportive of the school’s musicals and of UMS, often working with students to design T-shirts to wear while on stage or creating artwork that reflects the culture highlighted by the UMS concert.

The school’s PTO and parents also get involved, which Morhous says, helps keep the program solid. In recent years, for example, a group of dads came together to create a band to accompany students. And the PTO pays a stipend to a University of Michigan graduate student to help Page Bogen with her composition class.

The Burns Park Players, a community theater group, has its roots at the elementary school where it first began meeting as a fund-raising effort for the school’s arts programs. It has grown and the Players now rehearse and perform away from the school and involves many more people in the community, but Burns Park students remain involved, Morhous said.

Between 80-100 Burns Park students and their parents participate in The Burns Park Players production each year, which continues to raise money for arts programs throughout The Ann Arbor Public Schools.

For the last seven years, Morhous said, Burns Park has done “Community Circles” each Wednesday morning. Here, cross-grade groups of about 15 students meet to talk about acceptance life skills, making friends and other human attributes that help the school as a community.

“I really do think we work hard to make sure our children feel comfortable and at home,” Morhous added. “We work hard to help kids appreciate who they are.”

Casey Hans edits this newsletter for The Ann Arbor Public Schools. E-mail her or call 734-994-2090, ext. 51228.

From the UMS program:

SCHOOL OF THE YEAR
“Facing an audience of proud parents, flashing cameras, and critical peers, third-grade students at Burns Park Elementary recently performed the classic Arab world song Til’it ya Mahla Noorha from memory and … in Arabic! That inspiring performance typifies Burns Park’s commitment to culturally diverse participation and education. Through sustained engagement with UMS, the school’s community of learners regularly seeks out opportunities to explore and discover, whether it be the cultural treasures of Detroit’s Mexicantown, the movements of Montreal’s Rubberbandance Group, or the pedagogical techniques of using drama to teach tolerance. With this season’s School of the Year Award, we celebrate Burns Park – its students, teachers, administrators, and parents – and the wonderful work it does to engage students with arts and cultures of the world, inside and outside of the classroom.”
– The University Musical Society

Burns Park Elementary named UMS School of the Year

Posted on March 10, 2010 by Casey Hans

Editor’s note: A more detailed story about this award and Burns Park Elementary will be published in the Monday, March 15 edition.

The University Musical Society has honored Ann Arbor’s Burns Park Elementary School as its 2009-10 DTE Energy Foundation School of the Year. The award was to be announced to The Ann Arbor Public Schools Board of Education during its March 10 meeting and will be formally presented during the 15th Annual Ford Honors Program to benefit UMS education programs on March 20 in Ann Arbor.

Principal Kathy Morhous said the entire Burns Park school community is thrilled with the honor. “We’re proud to be part of the Burns Park community,” she said. “We all value what the arts bring to life. It’s nice to know we’ve been recognized.”

The DTE Energy Foundation sponsors this award through a two-year financial commitment to UMS’s Youth Education Programs. “UMS is delighted to honor Burns Park Elementary as a cherished partner in bringing arts education to youngsters in Ann Arbor,” said UMS President Ken Fischer.

Fred Shell, DTE Energy vice president of corporate and government affairs and president of the DTE Energy Foundation said the award can make a real difference. “Helping students develop an appreciation for the performing arts is something that can enrich their lives forever,” he said.  

The award honors Burns Park for its dedication and commitment to arts education and partnerships. Through myriad activities and relationships, including its partnership with the UMS K-12 Education Program, the school community consistently seeks out new opportunities to discover and explore arts and culture.

During the past year, the school participated in a UMS-sponsored cultural immersion of Detroit’s Mexicantown, a hip-hop performance by Montreal’s Rubberbandance Group, and in a workshop that demonstrated how theater and drama can be used as pedagogical tools to teach tolerance.

In addition to the Burns Park award, Washtenaw Intermediate School District administrator Deb Clancy will be honored as the 2009-10 DTE Energy Foundation Educator of the Year for her work as the WISD liaison to the UMS Youth Education Program.  

Now in its 131st season, UMS presents some 60-75 music, dance, and theater performances and more than 100 free educational and community activities each season. The UMS Education Program reaches up to 25,000 children and adults each year, giving many students their first opportunities to experience the live performing arts.

School Bells: Budget feedback report Feb. 17

Posted on February 15, 2010 by Casey Hans

The Ann Arbor Board of Education is scheduled to hear a report Wednesday, Feb. 17 from school administrators, wrapping up information gleaned from recent community budget meetings. The meetings, held in January around the district, were scheduled to gather suggestions from members of the public about ways to trim expenses or increase revenue in the district. An online survey also gathered feedback from the public.

The information is expected to be used as the school administration puts together a recommended budget for the district’s fiscal year starting July 1. A recommended budget will be brought to the board on March 24; it must adopt a formal budget in June.

Some of the areas suggested by school officials are negotiated staff wage reductions, privatizing custodial and transportation services, consolidating busing operations with other Washtenaw school districts, making changes with alternative high school programs at Stone School and Roberto Clemente Center and charging participation fees for athletics. Also considered are the elimination of teaching and administrative posts and looking at alternative approaches to things such as media center services, as the district works on a budget shortfall estimated at $21 million heading into the new fiscal year that begins July 1.

Healthy schools program hosts two open houses

The University of Michigan Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools is hosting two open houses at Ann Arbor schools that have in-school health clinics.

The open houses will be:
• Tuesday, Feb. 16 from 1-3 p.m. at Scarlett Middle School, 3300 Lorraine Street.
• Wednesday, Feb. 17 from 9 a.mm. to 2 p.m. at Stone High School, 2800 Stone School Road.

The open houses are to celebrate February as School Based Health Center Month. The Regional Alliance for Healthy Schools has school-based health centers providing services to six Ann Arbor Public Schools as well as buildings in the Ypsilanti and Willow Run districts. The Ann Arbor schools include Stone High School, Scarlett Middle School and Bryant, Carpenter, Mitchell and Pittsfield elementary schools.

Westfield-Sleeman Track and Lillie Gym Names OK’d

Longtime boys track coach Don Sleeman was honored this month by having his name added to the track at Pioneer High School track and the Tappan Middle School gymnasium was named after gym teacher Rob Lillie.

The track will now be dubbed Westfield-Sleeman Outdoor Track and the gymnasium Lillie Gym. The track is named both for Sleeman and longtime girls track coach Bryan Westfield. Westfield’s name was added to the track in June; the names of Sleeman and Lillie were added by the school board this month.

All three have served the district for more than 40 years.

The board accepts nominations to name facilities, or portions of facilities, after employees with extraordinary service.

Allen Elementary gets grant to create butterfly garden

The Allen Elementary School community plans to create a butterfly garden in its nature area, using funds from the grant it recently received from the Wildflower Association of Michigan and Hal and Jean Glassen Memorial Foundation. The expanded nature area will enable the Allen students to have a close-up opportunity to see butterflies, songbirds and other creatures that use the plants for food or shelter.

This spring, in addition to the school’s annual cleanup day, the Allen Parent Council will organize a planting day.

The council organizes twice-yearly cleanup days. At these events, volunteers including students, parents and staff maintain the existing nature area by removing invasive species, planting native plants and shrubs and spreading wood chips. The Ann Arbor Public Schools demonstrates its support by supplying wood chips and disposing of waste material after each work day.

Maintaining and enhancing the nature area helps Allen to remain certified as a Michigan Green School. In the past, Allen students, parents and teachers have helped plant seeds at the wet meadows in Buhr Park, which adjoins the Allen property. The school is also in close proximity to County Farm Park, operated by Washtenaw County. Together, these sites provide a diverse habitat and corridor for native plants and butterflies.

For more information, contact Joan Brush of the Allen PTO at 734-973-9161.

Donetta Brown honored for excellence

Huron High School office professional Donetta Brown received a Celebration of Excellence Award this month by the Ann Arbor Board of Education. She was nominated for Outstanding Customer Service by coworker Sharon Brown.

“Ms. Brown provided support to a peer who was suffering from a serious illness, treating her as if she were her own family,” the nomination read. “She has been a source of comfort and assistance that has gone above and beyond the “outstanding customer service” category. She has truly earned distinction as a loving hero.”

The awards are given throughout the school year and are sponsored by the Ann Arbor Board of Education and the Ann Arbor Public Schools PTO Council.

Skyline violinist to be featured at symphony

Skyline High School freshman Carmen Flesher will be the featured violin soloist with the Ypsilanti Symphony Orchestra on Sunday, Feb. 21 at 3:30 p.m. at Washtenaw Community College’s Towsley Auditorium. The 15-year-old musician will play Pablo de Sarasate’s “Carmen Fantasy.”

“I am totally thrilled and honored to perform with the orchestra. It’s a dream come true,” she said.

Flesher lives in Ann Arbor where she studies violin with Solomia Soroka. She started playing the violin at age 4 and over the last 10 years has played in several local ensembles and in symphony orchestras at Interlochen and Blue Lake – where she was one of the youngest members as well as a concert master of both. She plays regularly with a string quartet.

In addition to being a violinist, Flesher is a pianist and singer. A top academic student, she has received many honors including first place at both the Forsythe and Southeast Michigan Science Fairs last year. In 2008, she traveled to Japan as a student ambassador with the Hikone Exchange Program. She also plays soccer on the Michigan Jaguars premier team.

Tickets for the performance are available at the door or online. Cost: $10 for adults; $5 for seniors 65 and older; $25 for a familly of four or more. Details: 734-507-1451.

Schools raise money to help Haitians

A number of Ann Arbor schools have raised money for Haiti.

• The Forsythe Middle School community raised $2,440 and donated it to the Clinton Bush Haiti Fund.

• The Lawton Elementary School Service Squad collected $1101.50 through the “Every Cent Counts” fundraiser. Money will be donated to the American Red Cross.

• Greta Barfield’s CI students at Huron High School exhibited collected donations during lunch hours in the cafeteria bringing in $475.

• Burns Park Elementary School students in Jewel Charlise Walters class hosted a fundraiser of stickers, pencils, pens, books and small toys raising $2,182.29 for Haitian relief. They donated $1,396 to The Red Cross which was matched by TCF Bank. The remainder, $786.29, was donated to Doctor without Borders.

• Thurston Elementary School students raised $739.59. Money was raised through a bake sale in Julie Vanderhoff’s third grade class, special donations from Margaret Goodly’s and Sherry Powers-Murphy’s classrooms and a school-wide coin drive orchestrated by the Thurston Student Council.

For a listing of more school districts accomplishments and achievements, visit a2schools.org and click on “This Week In The Ann Arbor Public Schools” under the publications section. Or view these individual entries:
• Most current week
• Feb. 1, 2010

‘Guys and Dolls’ raises money for school arts programs

Posted on February 3, 2010 by Casey Hans

The Burns Park Players production of the Tony award-winning musical comedy “Guys and Dolls” opens this weekend. The community theater troupe raises money for arts programs in The Ann Arbor Public Schools.

Performances are scheduled for Feb. 5, 11 and 12 at 7:30 p.m. with matinee performances Feb. 6 and 13 at 4 p.m. All performances are in the Tappan Middle School Auditorium, 2251 E. Stadium Blvd. Tickets are $15; reserved seats are available at Morgan and York, 1928 Packard St.; tickets are also available at the door.

The Burns Park Players was formed in 1984 by a group of Burns Park Elementary School parents looking for a way to raise money to send students to camp. Since that time, it has grown into a community theater company that has supported arts-related activities through one major musical show each year. Since 1992, the Players has donated more than $230,000 to a variety of arts-related programs in the school district, according to information from the group’s Web site.

Details: www.burnsparkplayers.org