By Tara Cavanaugh
After three months of writing letters back and forth, Pittsfield fifth graders finally got a chance to meet their pen pals on the University of Michigan women’s rowing team this week. Continue reading
The Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop is located at 2280 S. Industrial Highway. The shop sells furniture, clothing, books, home goods, electronics, craft supplies and more.
By Tara Cavanaugh
The Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop’s mission is to support the schools. And three times each year, its support comes in the form of a small but valuable slip of paper: a check.
On Jan. 29 the shop distributed $50,020 total between all 33 of the Ann Arbor Public Schools (see comprehensive list below). The money supports enrichment opportunities for students in the form of field trips, sports clubs, academic supplies, camps and plenty more.
“It’s exciting to celebrate a great year in 2012 and immediately start another with this kind of vigorous funding,” said Ann Farnham, the shop’s executive director. ”What a couple of high notes for our shop and for our AAPS community.” Continue reading
Megan Franzen’s kindergarten class at Bach Elementary.
Will you have a kindergartener in the Ann Arbor Public Schools in the 2013-2014 school year? Then make sure to get to the information sessions, called Kindergarten Round-Ups, that start in just a few weeks. The sessions are listed alphabetically below by school. All kindergarten classes are full-day.
If you have questions about which school your child should attend, please call 994-2200 or go to the district’s web site and click on the “Especially for Parents” link to log in your street name to find out your child’s elementary school.
Some schools have planned activities for students and/or optional child care for Kindergarten Round-Ups. Please contact the individual schools for more details. Continue reading
Basketball camp photo supplied by Rec&Ed.
By Tara Cavanaugh
Ann Arbor Public Schools’ Community Education and Recreation Department is the grateful recipient of a $100,000 grant from the Michigan Department of Community Health.
The grant is awarded as part of MCDH’s Physical Activity and Healthy Eating Before and After School and Summer Pilot Program. Continue reading
Omari Rush interviews a student during Portfolio Day at Scarlett Middle School May 15, 2012.
The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation (AAPSEF) is proud to announce that Omari Rush has been appointed Chair of the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation for a two-year term as of July 1. Continue reading
By Tara Cavanaugh
It’s smack in the middle of summer, in the middle of July, and our schools are still under a scalding sun. Playgrounds stand empty. Buildings are dormant. The bells haven’t rung for weeks.
But if you stop to really listen, you’ll hear gardens at the Ann Arbor Public Schools buzzing with life. Continue reading
Volunteers organize and pack school supplies Friday morning.
By Tara Cavanaugh
Back in March, Logan Elementary school was commended by Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje for donating more than 5,000 books to the Philippines as part of its March Reading Month activities.
The First Presbyterian Church has gathered those books and are preparing them for shipping –– along with thousands of leftover school supplies from the Ann Arbor Public Schools. Continue reading
The Board of Education voted to open 170 seats for Schools of Choice at its March 7 meeting. This means that more students have the option to request to attend a new district school. In the previous two years of Schools of Choice, the district opened up 150 seats. Continue reading
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.
This year’s kindergarten round-ups are more kid-centered, teaching parents and future students about the kindergarten experience.
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.
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.
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?”
Lakewood Elementary School hosts its largest fundraiser on Friday, March 18 from 6-11 p.m. at Weber’s Inn Grand Ballroom, 3050 Jackson Ave., Ann Arbor.
A social hour with cocktails and hors d’oeuvres and preview of the auction items will take place from 6-7 p.m. with bidding starting at 7 p.m.
The event features more than 70 bidding lots with items including everything from soccer camps and yoga classes to a Detroit Tigers VIP package, Disney Park Hopper tickets and dinner at the Chop House. Click here for a full list of available bid items and list of sponsors.
“This is our largest fundraiser of the year and all of the proceeds go towards funding all of the field trips for all of our students throughout the entire school year,” said Principal Michael Johnson.
For more information, contact Leslie Rybicki at leslie@rybicki.org or Sara Arsenault searsen@gmail.com with questions or contact Kelly Wang kwang500@hotmail.com to order tickets. Click here to download a PDF with a list of all auction items.
Two teams from Community High School participated in the Eastern Regional of the Michigan High School Mock Trial Tournament on Saturday, March 12.
Team A will advance to the state finals tournament in Lansing on March 26 and will defend their state championship title. Members include: Shadi Ahmadmehrabi, Cooper DePriest, Michelle Grifka, Max Lewis, Michael Savage, Tressa Stapleton, Eli Sugerman, Elise Wander and Garrett Wood.
Team B won an honorable mention award, finishing in the top 15 of 37 teams. Members included: Galen Burrell, Isaac Fink, Gabe Hillebrand, Rianna Johnson-Levy, Julia Karr, Leah Penner, Dan Roy, Jeremy Simon, Kelsey Teribery and Yasaf Warshai
Timers for Saturday’s event were Preston Horvath and Nate Porter. The teams are coached by teacher coach Cheryl Grace, drama coach Billie Ochberg and attorney coaches Griffith Dick and Robert West.
Pittsfield Elementary School kicks off March Is Reading Month with a visit from a special guest reader, State Rep. Jeff Irwin.
On March 4, Pittsfield Elementary School kicked off March Is Reading Month with a visit from a special guest reader, State Rep. Jeff Irwin. The whole school gathered in the multi-purpose room to hear him answer questions about his job in government and listen as he read “Wild About Books,” written by Judy Sierra and illustrated by Marc Brown.
Afterwards students relaxed on blankets, munched on popcorn and read their own books for an all-school read-in. The Pittsfield Penguins have an active student council with representatives from every grade, including kindergarten, so a visit from a state legislator was an especially meaningful way to reinforce the lessons of our system of elected government.
For the remainder of the month students will be reading to earn colorful stars which will decorate Pittsfield’s halls. To cap off a successful month in pursuit of literature, Ann Arbor storyteller Barbara Schutzgruber will bring words to life during a school-wide assembly program on March 30.
The First Robotics competition season is under way and Skyline High School will host a district event on March 25-26.
The goal of teams registered for the competition is to qualify for the Michigan State Championship April 7-9 at Eastern Michigan University’s Convocation in Ypsilanti. From there, 18 teams will be eligible to advance to the international First Championship in St. Louis, April 27-30.
The 2011 Ann Arbor FIRST Robotics District Competition (aka Logo Motion)
has 40 teams registered, including teams from all three comprehensive high schools in the Ann Arbor Public Schools:
• SRT & Ann Arbor Pioneer High School, Team No. 1076 (Pi Hi Samurai.)
• SRT / Barton Malow Company / Aastrom Biosciences / D. Loius Weir Law Firm & Skyline High School, Team No. 3322 (Eagle Imperium.)
• Washtenaw Community College/University of Michigan/Toyota Technical Center/BAE Systems & Ann Arbor Huron High School, Team No. 830 (Rat Pack)
All FIRST Robotics Competition regionals and tournaments are free and open to the public.
The Washtenaw Intermediate School District Parent Advisory Committee hosts its next meeting from 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 15, where Kelly Orginski of Michigan Alliance for Families will speak about “Developing the Present Level of Academic Achievement and Functional Performance (PLAAFP) Statement, and Developing Individual Education Program (IEP) Goals and Objectives.”
Parents of students receiving special education supports and services are especially encouraged to attend. The workshop is designed to help parents understand the importance of the PLAAFP statement and how it affects the writing of measurable IEP Goals and Objectives and how to help children get the services they need to be successful in school.
The meeting will be at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District Teaching and Learning Center, 1819 S. Wagner Road, between Liberty and Scio Church roads in Scio Township. To RSVP or for information contact Jeanne Brakhage at 734-994-8100, x1514 or jbrakhag@wash.k12.mi.us
Visit online for directions. Michigan Alliance for Families workshops are free and open to the public. MAF is funded by the Michigan Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Education, www.michiganallianceforfamilies.org
The Washtenaw Intermediate School District Board of Education has scheduled a special meeting at 530 p.m. Tuesday, March 15 to select superintendent candidates to be called for an interview. The public meeting will be in the Board Room of WISD’s Teaching and Learning Center, 1819 S. Wagner Road, Scio Township.
After all selected candidates have been contacted, the Board will set a public interview schedule.
A new superintendent will succeed Dr. William C. Miller who retired in December of 2010 after more than 22 years of service to the district, 12 of them as superintendent. Applications for the position closed on March 10 at noon.
Michael Emlaw, consultant for the Michigan Association of School Boards, is assisting the WISD Board with its search. He can be reached at 734-657.2425 or by e-mail at emlaw@comcast.net.
By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service
A four-year-old before-school enrichment program at has students designing, building, programming and using robots. The Pittsfield Elementary Robotics Club has become so popular, that half of the students in grades three through five wanted to participate last spring.
Students work in a past Pittsfield Elementary School before-school robotics club session. The school plans to continue the program this year. (Photos courtesy, Jim Carroll)
Students work in teams of four to participate in the 10- to 12-week program that takes place for 45-minutes one day each week before the start of school.
“That’s how engineers work together,” explained Charlotte Mayhew, who with her husband, Dirk, launched the program four years ago. “They are working for the goal. It is how most science careers work and that’s why we started with that model. We’re hoping for some of these kids to spark a lifelong interest in science.”
The club was a started by a small group of parents, including a lot of moms without science and engineering backgrounds, Mayhew said. She said the club has really taken off and given students a sense of confidence.
Students work in teams on their robotics projects at Pittsfield.
“We’ve seen any number of kids in the club who were interested in science but didn’t think they were good at it,” she said. “It’s really grown over the years.”
Using Lego Mindstorms, each group selects a mission, a moon and a name for their team robot. They must research how large the moon is, how far away it is and how they will get there by creating a mission plan and goal. They then explore their moon.
“They all handle it differently,” Mayhew said. “Some do phenomenally well, others have problems with the building or the programming. That’s why it’s good to have the teams.”
The Mayhews and parent Jim Carroll – who is also head of the Physics and Astronomy Department at Eastern Michigan University – have coordinated the club with the help of media specialist Joyce Followell who recently retired.
Principal Carol Shakarian said the program has been popular and draws large numbers of students . She hopes to see it continue.
“It’s extremely exciting and motivating for our students,” she said. “They’re brainstorming and problem solving and learning to work well together.”
The club started with 16 students and four robots, with teams of four each and has since expanded to 30 students thanks to the generosity of the Pittsfield PTO and an Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation grant. They charge $25 per student to handle robot parts and maintenance, but have waived the fee as needed.
Parent organizers have helped to design the lessons and have handled much of the behind-the-scenes work needed for the club to function. Club members have done demonstrations at the Pittsfield Math-Science Night, the Pittsfield Science Fair and at the school’s Ice Cream Social in the spring.
Shakarian said it is a great example of a school program that thrives with parent involvement. “It really connects with the school improvement framework,” she said. “It’s a nice marriage of parent involvement. Our own community offers some of our best resources.”
The club teaches more than science, technology and engineering. Teamwork is important, and Mayhew said that the club offers some quieter students a chance to shine and still others a different way to learn. “We try to give them a sense of flexibility – it’s supposed to be fun,” she added.
The Mayhews had a fifth-grader at Pittsfield last year who has moved to Scarlett Middle School this fall, but said they plan to continue working with the program that has become so important to students at the school.
Mayhew said that she would like to see the club expand, perhaps to include elementary schools in the district’s southeast quadrant as well as Scarlett. Many Pittsfield Elementary club members now go on to join teacher Gary Graff’s after-school Engineering Club at Scarlett and sign up for his classes where they can continue working with robots, she said.
For more about Lego Mindstorms, visit www.lego.com.