Tag Archives: Tappan Middle School

NAMM Foundation names AAPS one of ‘Best Communities for Music Education’

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Huron High School alum, and U.S. Marine Band clarinetist Jonathon Troy returned to the district for a Picnic Pop performance May 20, 2012. Troy also gave workshops with students at the high school.

Huron High School alum and U.S. Marine Band clarinetist Jonathon Troy returned to the district for a Picnic Pop performance May 20, 2012. “I just wanted to let you know that the music programs in the Ann Arbor Public Schools are extraordinary,” he said to the audience.

 

The NAMM Foundation has named the Ann Arbor Public Schools one of its “Best Communities for Music Education” this year, and it’s just one of three communities from Michigan to get the honor.

NAMM, which stands for the National Association of Music Merchants, named 307 districts across the country on the list this year. According to NAMM, the “designation recognizes collaborative, from-the-ground-up efforts of teachers, administrators, students and parents who continually work to keep comprehensive music education as an integral part of the core curriculum.”

It is no surprise that the Ann Arbor Public Schools is being honored by NAMM, because it continues to show tremendous success in and dedication to music education throughout the district. Pioneer High School’s music department has received seven GRAMMY® awards, including the unprecedented honor of honor of being selected twice as a National GRAMMY® Signature School. Continue reading →

Mayor John Hieftje encourages Tappan students to conserve water, shares National Mayor’s Challenge for Water Conservation

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Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, Huron River Watershed Director Elizabeth Riggs, Assistant Manager of External Affairs at Toyota's Planning Center Cindy Mahalak, and AAPS Superintendent Dr. Patricia Green.

Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, Huron River Watershed Director Elizabeth Riggs, Assistant Manager of External Affairs at Toyota’s Planning Center Cindy Mahalak, and AAPS Superintendent Dr. Patricia Green.

By Tara Cavanaugh

You may have noticed a big addition to the Tappan Middle School parking lot this week.

It was a double-wide trailer, emblazoned with blue waves, visible to drivers on East Stadium Boulevard. It was stationed there Monday night, and by Wednesday morning it was gone.

Despite its short stay, that trailer is sure to have a lasting impact: it was the Wyland Foundation’s Clean Water Mobile Learning Experience (MLE) and it provided Tappan sixth graders interactive lessons about water conservation. Continue reading →

Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop donates over $50K to PTOs, clubs, field trips and more

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PTO Thrift shopper

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 →

Tappan band, choir and orchestra to perform at Lincoln Memorial for 50th anniversary celebration of ‘I Have a Dream’ speech

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Lincoln Memorial

By Tara Cavanaugh 

Every year, Tappan Middle School eighth graders take a trip to Washington, D.C. to learn about the nation’s history. But this upcoming trip will be particularly special: the band, choir and orchestra students will perform on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial to commemorate the 50th anniversary of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech. Continue reading →

AAPSEF, PTO Thrift Shop collaborate on late middle school busing

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Thanks to funding from the Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation and the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, middle schoolers will be offered later busing home from after-school activities. Continue reading →

Blooming AAPS gardens buzz with life

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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 →

AAPS celebrates Bike to School Day

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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 →

Spanish students use web, tech resources to work on speaking skills

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By Tara Cavanaugh

In an eighth grade Spanish class at Tappan Middle School earlier this month, Jennifer Shaw’s students learned how to become weather forecasters.

Well, that’s what sounded like. Using the website ed.voicethread.com, Shaw’s students practiced their Spanish speaking skills while using a slew of technology resources. Continue reading →

It’s springtime in the Tappan Garden

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Susan Baker's life science class works in the garden April 20.

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 →

Orchestra Night showcases district talent Feb. 16

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Photo by Lon Horwedel for annarbor.com via flickr.

It’s that time of the year again: time for Orchestra Night, which showcases the talent of more than 800 students in the middle school and high school orchestras at the University of Michigan Hill Auditorium.

Continue reading →

Agrarian Adventure, Chartwells, bring garden produce to cafeterias

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Related stories:
Tappan receives national attention for healthy food choices
Interest grows for students, teachers, and community at Tappan Agrarian Garden

From AAPSNews Service

Chartwells, the district’s food service provider and The Agrarian Adventure, the nonprofit volunteer organization that operates the Tappan Agrarian Garden, partnered last week to serve homegrown items directly from the garden.

The small pilot project was a first in the Ann Arbor Public Schools: Produce that had been planted by students was harvested and enjoyed in middle school cafeterias.

Seventh graders studying an Edible Ecology unit in science harvested the crop earlier in the week, which included lettuce and radishes. Students were able to sample the fresh product on Thursday and Friday. About 150 pounds of lettuce and 50 bunches of radishes were cleaned and served.

Students were encouraged to sample the school-grown food and it was also used in preparing some of the school meals, said David Lahey, director of Chartwells Food Service for the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

Lahey said Chartwells set guidelines in place under which it would use the homegrown food from Tappan and that they approached the project with great care and caution. The produce was harvested by Agrarian Adventure volunteers and students, and then was transported to Chartwells’ facility at Pioneer High School where it was cleaned and triple washed before being used in the school lunches.

Each student had a chance to try it, Lahey said. “We’re hoping to do it again in the fall.”

Tappan garden radishes

Radishes and lettuce were the crops picked, cleaned and served last week from the Tappan Garden.

“This is a huge deal at the national level,” said Elissa Trumbull founding board member of the Agrarian Adventure. She said it is unique that a “contracted, externally managed food service provider has served school-garden grown food in the school lunch program.”

A change in Chartwells corporate policy allowed the pilot project to take place.

“It was phenomenal,” she said of the tasting. “It’s a really good opportunity. I hope it inspires other school garden projects. It’s going to be good for the kids and good for the schools.

“We’re paving the way – that’s how I see it,” she said of the Ann Arbor effort.

Lahey said Chartwells set up policies for using produce from school gardens and Trumbull said that the same care and standards that are used in local farms are used at the Tappan garden.

Lahey said that there are school gardens throughout the Ann Arbor Public Schools and that Chartwells is looking into using produce from those gardens at those specific schools in the future. He said they would also be looking to work with the organizers of the Green Adventures Camp, run through AAPS Community Education and Recreation in the summer, to possibly use produce from that off-site garden.

The Tappan garden is run and kept going by AA volunteers, but many students and teachers participate in the venture throughout the school year. Students not only learn about gardening and healthy eating, but teachers also use the garden for a variety of lesson planning and inspiration for students.

Trumbull said she wants to recognize the support of the Agrarian Adventures partners: the Ann Arbor Womans’ Farm and Garden Association, MSU Student Organic Farm and the AAPS Farm-to-School Collaboration.

The Agrarian Adventure is seeking volunteer to water the hoop house and garden during the growing seasons on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, and Saturdays. Visit   www.agrarianadventure.org for more information and to volunteer.

School Bells: Pioneer hosts the WESO Wizards June 11

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A series of briefs from around the Ann Arbor Public Schools.

The Washtenaw Elementary Science Olympiad – also known as the WESO Wizards – will be  at Pioneer High School this year on Saturday, June 11. Doors open at 8 a.m. with second- and third-graders participating in the morning and fourth- and fifth-graders in the afternoon.

WESO wizardsThroughout the day, there will be open events in the cafeteria annex with hands-on activities and Leslie Science and Nature Center raptors for participants, spectators and family members. Other events will take place in the small gym and the soccer field; food and beverages will be on sale in the cafeteria.

Students prepare and train for this day throughout the school year. Events have been designed to recognize the wide variety of student skills. While some events require knowledge of scientific facts and concepts, others rely on scientific processes, skills, or applications. This ensures that everyone can participate.

For an article about the WESO program, visit here. Details on the Web: http://www.aaps.k12.mi.us/wesowizards.home/home.

Variety show at Tappan will feature exchange students

An end-of-year variety show featuring high school exchange students from the Ann Arbor area is planned for Friday evening. This Youth for Understanding Showcase will take place from 7:30-9:30 p.m. June 10 at the Tappan Middle School auditorium. Tappan is at 2251 E. Stadium Blvd., Ann Arbor.

Youth for Understanding

A Youth for Understanding Showcase is featured Friday night at Tappan Middle School.

The show will include singing, dance, music, skits, a fashion show and other acts – put on by YFU exchange students, their host families and friends. The event is free (donations will be accepted to the YFU program) and the public is welcome. A reception will follow in the cafeteria.  Awards and door prizes will be given as part of the event.

The YFU exchange program offers young people the opportunity to explore another country and culture, to master a new language, and to create lifelong friendships. YFU’s philosophy is to help young people acquire a passion for life-long learning and the skills and knowledge to thrive and contribute to cultural diversity.

As of this year, 250,000 students and their host families have benefited from YFU exchanges worldwide.

For more details about the YFU Showcase, going on an exchange to another country, or hosting an exchange student from Germany, Japan, Norway, China, Thailand, Liberia, Argentina or other country, contact Vickie Gaynor  via e-mail at vgaynor@yfu.org, call her at 734-929-5554. More details about YFU can be found on the Web.

Students sow seeds of good eating at Tappan garden spring planting

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By Casey Hans
AAPSNews Service

Getting outdoors was never better as it was last week at Tappan Middle School, when students got their hands dirty and played in the garden on one of the nicest days so far this spring.

Seed plantin at Tappan

Tappan students help to prepare beds at the Tappan Agrarian Garden for planting during the annual Seedling Planting Day, which kicks off the growing season.

The Tappan Agrarian Garden was the scene of the annual Spring Seedling Planting on April 13, when about a dozen community volunteers, including parents and several students from the University of Michigan, donated their time to work with students. The day is coordinated through the nonprofit, volunteer-run Agrarian Adventure, which works with teachers and students throughout the year and helps organize volunteers to maintain the garden.

More than 400 students helped to plant seeds, get the greenhouse ready for the season, move compost and prepare beds for planting and generally help to kick off the growing season in the garden.

Ethan Kolderman, a U-M pre-med junior, said he heard about the volunteer day through Circle K, an on-campus student group. “I signed up and I’ve been coming back ever since,” he said. “I’m into nutrition and healthy eating, so this has been a good thing.”

Kolderman and fellow U-M student Martha Johnson, a sophomore who was on site giving students direction, also volunteer with the Tappan Food and Garden Club, a popular after-school club that teaches students about gardening and good eating.

“I don’t know a lot about gardening, but I want to learn,” said Johnson, an economics and international studies major and a member of Circle K. “I’m just here today giving the students some guidance.”

An animated Scott Richardson was encouraging students in the greenhouse to dig deep for crab grass roots. He said he volunteers at the event every year.

Parent Lynda Norton who has a sixth-grader at Tappan, was handing out seeds for students to plant. “This is my first time out here,” said Norton, who is a master gardener herself and helped to get a new school-community garden started last year at Burns Park Elementary.

Planting at Tappan garden

Students prepare beds in the greenhouse at the Tappan Agrarian Garden.

Donations for this year’s day came from The Ecology Center, Slow Food Huron Valley and some seedlings from the student-run organic garden at Michigan State University.

The Tappan Agrarian Garden is used not only to grow fresh food, but to teach students about healthy eating and sustainable agriculture. Event organizer April Schmidt said the planting day is an annual rite of spring to launch the growing season.

New for this season, she said, is a program that will allow students to sow seeds for salad greens that will be served in the Tappan cafeteria after harvest.

The Agrarian Adventure is always looking for volunteers throughout the growing season to work in the garden. They have occasional weekend workdays and usually have one volunteer evening per week where help is needed to weed the beds and to keep them watered. Contact Schmidt for more information at  farmtoschool@agrarianadventure.org

School Bells: Ed Foundation hosts budget sessions April 15

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AAPS Educational Foundation logoAnn Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation is hosting a 2011-12 budget presentation by Interim Superintendent Robert Allen from 7:30-8:30 a.m. and again from noon to 1 p.m. on Friday, April 15.

Both sessions will be at the Ann Arbor Preschool & Family Center, 2775 Boardwalk, Ann Arbor, located north of Eisenhower. For more information or to RSVP call 734-994-1969 or e-mail:  bstoelt@aapsef.org.

Volunteers sought for April 13 seedling planting day at Tappan

Volunteers are sought to help make the annual Agrarian Adventure Seedling Planting Day a day to remember for students. This year’s event will be Wednesday, April 13 from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Tappan Garden, located behind Tappan Middle School, 2251 E. Stadium Blvd. (Rain date will be April 18.)

“We can accommodate most anybody,” said organizer April Schmidt, the Agrarian Adventure Farm-to-School coordinator. Volunteers do not have to have children attending Tappan to participate and no special gardening skills are needed.

Tappan teachers were invited to bring their students out for the day of planting, and about five teachers plan to participate. “The students will come out with their teachers and will do a variety of planting in the seed trays, spread compost and get the gardens ready for the season,” Schmidt explained.

Volunteers are needed for 1- to 2-hour slots (or longer) during the event, as well as before 8 a.m. to set up and after 3 p.m. to clean up, said Schmidt. Help is needed with everything from greeting and directing tasks, to helping students plant in the greenhouse and help to get outdoor beds ready for planting. For a full list of tasks and volunteers needed for the event, visit www.agrarianadventure.org.

Help is also needed before the April 13 event to fix the sides of raised bed in the greenhouse and to be part of the garden’s summer watering schedule starting in May.

E-mail Schmidt at farmtoschool@agrarianadventure.org to volunteer. A Volunteer Information Session is scheduled from 6-7 p.m. on Sunday, April 10 at the Tappan Garden, but Schmidt said volunteers may contact her until the day before the event.

Some of the seedlings from the event will be distributed to other Ann Arbor Public Schools that have school gardens. Anyone from AAPS schools wishing to share in the seedling distribution should e-mail Schmidt at farmtoschool@agrarianadventure.org. Most of the seedlings will be vegetables.

WISD board names superintendent finalists, schedules sessions

Two leaders of intermediate school districts are finalists for the superintendency at the Washtenaw Intermediate School District.

Thomas Goodney, deputy superintendent/chief of staff for the Educational Service Center of Central Ohio and Scott A. Menzel,  superintendent of the Livingston Educational Service Agency were selected as finalists from a field of six by the WISD Board of Education.

The new superintendent will succeed William C. Miller who retired in December.

Tom Goodney

WISD finalist Thomas Goodney

Scott Menzel

WISD finalist Scott Menzel

Both finalists have been invited back to the district for second interviews.  Goodney will be in the district on Wednesday, April 13 and Menzel on Thursday, April 14. Community forums will be conducted on both days from 4:15-5:15 p.m. and the WISD board will do final interviews from 6-7 p.m. All sessions are scheduced at the WISD Teaching and Learning Center, 1819 S. Wagner Road, Scio Township. A WISD team will visit the finalists’ school districts during the week of April 18.

Goodney is in his sixth year in his current post in Columbus, Ohio. He received his bachelor’s degree in mass communications at Northern Michigan University, his master’s degree in speech at Miami University in Oxford, Ohio and his doctorate in educational leadership, also at Miami University.

Menzel is in his fourth year as LESA superintendent in Howell.  He received his bachelor’s degree in religion from Vanguard University in Costa Mesa, Calif., his master’s degree in philosophy and social policy from The American University in Washington, D.C. and is completing work on his doctorate at Eastern Michigan University.

Early College Alliance co-hosts information night April 12

The Early College Alliance @ EMU and the Eastern Michigan University School of Engineering Technology host an information night from 6-7:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 12, in EMU’s Sill Hall, Room 002. (Click here for a PDF download of Sill Hall location on the main EMU campus.)

The ECA&EMU is a public, early/middle college program gives students an opportunity to earn college credits while still in high school and offers strong, academically focused students a chance to enroll in advanced, college-level coursework. Ann Arbor is a partner in the program, as are the districts of Chelsea, Lincoln, Milan, Whitmore Lake, Willow Run and Ypsilanti. The program is being coordinated through the Washtenaw Intermediate School District. Students attending the program receive their high school diplomas from their home school district.

Tuesday’s event will describe the many programs and opportunities the School of Engineering Technology offers. Faculty members will be available for questions and answers followed by a tour of the many laboratories. Light refreshments will be served. Details on Tuesday’s event: Philip Rufe, 734-487-2040 or e-mail to prufe@emich.edu.

Students who live in Washtenaw County or a county contiguous to Washtenaw County and are currently in the ninth or 10th grade in any public school district, charter, or home school, are eligible to enroll in ECA@EMU for the 2011-12 academic year.  Details: www.earlycollegealliance.org or call (734) 487-4290.