This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

December 5, 2011

The results of the Ann Arbor Public Schools participation in the 2011 United Way Campaign are in and I am happy to report that we collected $35,000 in donations for the Washtenaw United Way. Thank you to everyone who made a donation. Your contribution will help those in our community who need our support. I also want to thank all of the building representatives for their efforts in helping to collect and report the donations. Your help was invaluable and very much appreciated.
Tappan sixth grade students won the annual Veterans of Foreign Wars Patriot's Pen Essay Contest. This year's theme was "Are You Proud of Your Country?" Student winners are: 1st Place ($250.00) Hasan Saeed; 2nd Place ($150.00) Kern Chepeha; and 3rd Place ($100.00) Ashley Zugay.
Auditions were held recently for the All State Band and Orchestra Ensembles to perform at the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association’s (MSBOA) Michigan Music Conference which will be held in Grand Rapids in January. Congratulations to our music staff and students for the incredible representation of our district in the State ensembles.

All State High School Orchestra
Sagar Anupindi, oboe, Skyline
Daniel Fendrick, bassoon, Skyline
Michaela Clague, horn, Skyline
Noah Aaron, cello, Huron

All State High School Band
Edith Zhang, flute, Skyline
Theresa Zick, clarinet, Skyline
Jiaao Hou, clarinet, Huron
Samuel Keller, clarinet, Skyline
Lindsay Schoppmann, clarinet, Skyline
Haoyang Tang, clarinet, Huron
Jordan Steiff, clarinet, Huron
Kieran Williams, trumpet, Huron
Chris Bacon, trumpet, Skyline
Daniel Skib, horn, Skyline
Brandon Cutler, trombone, Huron

All State High School Jazz Band
Henry Pakela, trombone, Pioneer

All State Middle School String Orchestra
Kallan Roan, violin, Clague
Arthur Yang, violin, Clague
Leah Borquez, violin, Clague
Lena Hathaway, violin, Slauson
Jaime Murrell, violin, Forsythe
Nesreen Mattar, violin, Slauson
Georgia Christodoulou, violin, Forsythe
Miri Kim, violin, Slauson
Matthew Zhou, violin, Forsythe
Susanne Sheng, violin, Clague
Sofie Aaron, violin, Tappan
Nina Serr, violin, Slauson
Chris Young, viola, Forsythe
Zoe Espinoza, viola, AA Open
Yatesha Welch, viola, Clague
JiHo Hyun, cello, Clague
Stuart Brabbs, cello, Clague
Siyu Yang, cello, Clague
Alice Deng, cello, Clague
Mark Meza, string bass, Slauson

All State Middle School Band
Jasmine Zhang, flute, Clague
Jinyoung Kim, clarinet, Slauson
Anurima Kumar, clarinet, Slauson
Ryan Yang, clarinet, Clague
Miriam Hamermesh, clarinet, Tappan
Michaela Keller, clarinet, Forsythe
Matthew Shen, clarinet, Clague
Kalana Athukorala, bass clarinet, Forsythe
David Yoon, oboe, Clague
Anuraag Bharadwaj, bassoon, Tappan
Aidan Wada-Dawson, alto sax, Clague
Margo Killey, trumpet, Clague
Forrest Flesher, trumpet, Forsythe
Celia Arsen, horn, Forsythe
Hannah Bartoshesky, horn, Clague
Alan Stahl, trombone, Scarlett
Eric Shen, trombone, Slauson
Aubrey Wright, tuba, Slauson

High School Honorable Mentions
Doan Ichikawa, clarinet, Skyline
Kevin Jiang, clarinet, Pioneer
Takeo Cauley, baritone sax, Pioneer
Mark Boyer, horn, Huron
Kevin Flannagan, horn, Huron

Middle School Honorable Mentions
Justin Shim, violin, Clague
Seve Williams, string bass, Clague
Alison Choi, flute, Forsythe
Megan Jung, flute, Tappan
Ihna Yoo, flute, Slauson
Sandy Schwartz, bassoon, Forsythe
Janine Chouinard, clarinet, Forsythe
Daniel Geng, clarinet, Clague
Karen Ji, clarinet, Clague
Tierman Siawecki, tenor sax, Slauson
Saidah Rahman, horn, Forsythe
Each third grade student at Logan Elementary School recently received “A Student's Dictionary” from the Kiwanis Club of Ann Arbor Foundation. The gifts were presented by Lieutenant Colonel (retired) Russell Kenneth Woinowski who took the time to "walk" the students through the extensive sections of this excellent gazetteer. In addition to word definitions, students were very excited to discover facts about the planets, biographies of the U.S. Presidents, facts about continents, as well as the longest word in the English language! It's heartwarming to see how much our students cherish these books. We want to thank the Kiwanis for their effort, caring, and generosity.
The NED Show comes to Northside! The NED Show program promotes positive attitudes and good behavior. It teaches about never giving up, encouraging others and doing your best, which ties in perfectly with Northside PRIDE and PBIS. NED reinforced the core values Northside teaches everyday with humor, and entertaining yoyo visuals!
Huron students who are taking German language classes gathered with their teacher, Andrew Smith, recently to help decorate the Kempf House Museum. Smith has been bringing his German class students to the museum for the past 12 years, to help decorate for the holidays, making it a tradition. Students, along with Smith and directors of the Kempf House Museum, decorated German cookies, made German Christmas stars and dressed a Christmas tree.
Teaching Tolerance is a project of the Southern Poverty Law Center which bestows its Culturally Responsive Teaching Award to educators who exemplify Teaching Tolerance. The award was designed to recognize educators who have demonstrated excellence in teaching students from diverse racial, ethnic, and cultural backgrounds.
This year, there were five winners selected through a rigorous application and review process and one of the five is Logan's 4^th/5^th grade teacher Katy LaCroix. Each teacher will receive $1,000 and will be honored at a special gathering on culturally responsive pedagogy in Washington, D.C. on Dec. 9, 2011. Education Week-Teacher, which is helping to organize the awards event, joins Teaching Tolerance in congratulating the winners. You may access the SPLC website and view video clips of all the winning teachers at:
http://www.edweek.org/tm/events/teaching-tolerance/resources.html

Patricia P. Green, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools