This Week in the Ann Arbor Public Schools
June 10, 2013
This Week’s Good News!
• It is hard to believe that we have come to the end of another school year. This is the last full week of school for the 2012/2013 school year and the last edition of “This Week in the Ann Arbor Public Schools” for this school year and my last edition as your Superintendent.
Ann Arbor is a wonderful community and I have enjoyed living and working here very much. I am grateful for all of the encouragement and support that I have received from the staff, students, parents and community members during my time with you.
As we all try to wrap up the loose ends of another school year while looking forward to some much needed rest and relaxation, I wanted to take a moment to thank all of our staff members for your hard work and dedicated service to our students, their families and our community this past year. I hope you find time this summer to rest, rejuvenate and have fun with family and friends.
• Skyline student, Sanna Fraleigh, who is in the Health & Medicine Magnet, received the David F. Mastie Biomedical Sciences Award. This award is given by the biomedical sciences advisory committee to the student in the Health & Medicine magnet that has shown superior academic excellence for over three years in the program. With her strong health care professionalism and STEM research practices, Sanna Fraleigh has exhibited the five pillars of the health care field in her work and has taken on a role as a researcher at Aastrom Pharmaceutical Company working on a clinical trial. Sanna has taken the Skyline Health & Medicine Magnet biomedical sciences pathway courses and excelled in; Principles of Biomedical Science, Human Body Systems, Medical Interventions and Biomedical Innovations. She has also earned 12 college credits for her work.
• Scarlett 7th grade students have published a book, ”All I Could Do Was Look Up: Anatomy of a Middle School,” in cooperation with 826michigan, a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting students in developing their writing skills and to helping teachers inspire their students to write. 826michigan staff and volunteers worked with students in Language Arts teachers Sal Barrientes’ and Ellen Daniel’s classes to produce poems, essays, memoirs and fables. At the book launch on June 3rd, students read excerpts of their writing aloud and signed each other’s books. 826michigan provided each student with a copy of the 130-page book that was carefully edited and designed by 826michigan volunteers. Congratulations to our 7th grade authors.
• The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor (KCAA) recently presented a $1,000 college scholarship to 30 Ann Arbor Public Schools graduating seniors.
The Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor was chartered in 1921 and traditionally places an emphasis on supporting child and youth programs. Shortly after its founding, the club co-sponsored the establishment of the Child Life Department in the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital which allows children to remain in school during their hospitalization. It is now a statewide project of the Kiwanis of Michigan Foundation.
The 2013 recipients of a $1,000 scholarship, by school are:
Community: Dennis Carter, Amelia Diehl, Mishka Repaska, Katherine Summers and Gabrielle Vuylsteke.
Huron: David Gissiner, NaNa Gwa, NyiNyi Gwa, Malik Hall, Xavier McClair, Debbie Mgunda, Ju Ju Miao and Ifoma Odem.
Pioneer: Tre' Brown, Sarah Court, Cameron Evans, Katherine Hook, Jacqueleane Jones-Washington, Ryan Kielczewski, Ashley McCurdy, D'Ante Olive, Gabriella Sanford and Enze Xing.
Roberto Clemente: Tevin Cole and Nichole Rocha.
Skyline: Sharath Anand, John Clark, Mario Merola, Ashomathi Mollin and James Wilks.
• Congratulations to David Leach, Pioneer Band Director and Music Department Chair, who was appointed to the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association’s (MSBOA) State Executive Board. Mr. Leach also serves as the President of MSBOA District 12.
• I want to thank Logan Principal, Ms. Terra Webster, for inviting me to be a guest reader at Logan’s annual International Heritage Night. It was a joyous evening celebrating many different cultures and the building was packed with students and their families. I read the book “One Grain of Rice,” a mathematical folktale and had a lovely time at the school.
• A big thank you to the PTO Thrift Shop for its continued financial support of our schools. On May 30, the shop distributed $60,820 to individual school PTOs and programs, which is one of the largest amounts paid out yet. Three times per year, the PTO Thrift Shop distributes funds that go directly to individual PTOs or AAPS programs. School PTOs earn money from the Thrift Shop through promotional advertising, i.e., printing the shop’s logo in a school newsletter as well as by participating in weekly “Show Your Support” competitions, in which three or four groups compete for shop patrons’ votes. The shop had a very successful Memorial Day sale and was able to pass along the profits to our schools. In addition to the three annual payouts to individual school PTOs, this school year, the shop distributed $78,000 to the AAPS Transportation Fund to help with busing for field trips and enrichment activities. We are grateful to Director Ann Farnum and the PTO Thrift Shop for their continued support of the Ann Arbor Public Schools.
The following program and schools received the amount listed below:
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• Congratulations to the Class of 2013.
• Congratulations to all of our staff members for all you do to help our students achieve a high school diploma! Thank you for all you do, every day, for the Ann Arbor Public Schools community. Best wishes for a happy and peaceful summer vacation.