This Week
In the Ann Arbor Public Schools
February 18, 2008

To: The Staff of the Ann Arbor Public Schools
From: Todd Roberts, Superintendent

This Week’s Good News!

• Thank you all for making our parents feel welcomed and valued on NAAPID. I heard many positive comments about the activities planned in oohonor of our special guests. Thanks to all those who organized and attended the wonderful program, “NAAPID at Night.” It was an uplifting event that showcased our talented young people very well.
• The 2008 NAAPID Poster Contest Winner - Early Elementary Division was Eberwhite third grade student, Gerald Ear-Davis. He is in Mrs. Caviani's class and won a $100 US Savings Bond and was presented with a certificate at the NAAPID at Night Program. The NAAPID Poster Contest was open to all K-12 students within Washtenaw County. This year's NAAPID Poster Contest drew 500 poster submissions including 54 from Eberwhite. Gerald's poster was selected for his visual display of positive encouragement that a father shows a son over his accomplishments in school.
  Gerald and his classmates prepared their posters in Ms. Grady's Thursday afternoon Art class. Here students learned the meaning of NAAPID (National African American Parent Involvement Day), what the poster contest was about and saw digital images from the 2007 NAAPID at Night Program and the winning student posters from previous years. In Art class there was talk and discussion about culture and diversity in Ann Arbor and at school and how students could visually display parents helping students at school within an African American Theme. Students also brainstormed ideas about the meaning of "Education is a Civil Right" by Bob Moses. All students did a wonderful job! Their posters are on display near Mrs. York's classroom and along the walls heading down the corridor towards Mrs. Caviani's room. Please stroll on by and enjoy our Eberwhite NAAPID Posters.
• Pattengill hosted Vincent York and his Jazzistry program as part of NAAPID. Jazzistry is a wonderful program that combines music and history.
• Vincent York of Jazzistry also did an Artist-in Residence for the third, fourth and fifth grade students at Lawton. The culminating activity was an all-school performance of Jazzistry in celebration of NAAPID. Mr. Marcus Belgrave was a guest performer with Jazzistry.
• Ann Arbor Open 6th grader Caleigh Noonan was recently awarded a $100 mini-grant from the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation Youth Council to support her work on behalf of homeless people in the Ann Arbor Area.  Caleigh is a student in Mike Derhammer's 5th and 6th grade class.
• The Junior Rotarians from Huron High were announced last week; Sarah Gadway, Emily Gause and Ahmad Soliman. Emily is headed for Howard University while Sarah and Ahman plan to attend the University of Michigan.
• Pioneer Band students received 116 first division and 40 second division ratings in SOLO competition, as well as 135 first division and 16 second division ratings in ENSEMBLE competition on January 9th at Livonia Franklin High School. Students throughout the state performed in this state qualifying event.       
  The following Pioneer High School Band students participated in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA)  District Solo and Ensemble Festival on February 9. Students prepared a solo and/or an ensemble and performed for an MSBOA Certified Adjudicator.  Their performance was evaluated and a rating between "I" (Excellent) and "V" was assigned. The symbol (2) after a students name indicates that they had two events receiving that rating in the same category.
  Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "I" (Excellent) rating for their performance of a SOLO were:  Emily Arsen, Anand Bahl, Sean Beck, Rachel Bielajew, Jonathan Bower, Stephen Brieloff, Amanda Burnside, Ben Campbell, Ella Campbell, James Campbell, Chris Culbertson, Sam Deschamps, Ilana Diamond, Martin Elliott, Elizabeth Etter, Jessica Field, Patrick Fleming, Corey Garff (2), Eleanor Giles, Alec Glanville, Adam Graves, Chris Haddlesey, Lindsay Hall, Saunders Hayes, Rebecca Holmes, Skye Hookham, Lauren Houser (2), Scott Hulbert (2), Max Hully, Lianna Iacob, Alex Jaeckel, Andy Johnson, Jeff Johnson, Hyungjae Jung, Nathan Karr, Chad Kelsey, Ryan King, Joe Klaver, Ian Krass, Gaurav Kulkarni, Tanay Kulkarni, Julien Lafortune, Amin Lanseur, Dylan Larkins, Leah Latterner (2), Tasha Le, Meekyoung Lee, YunJae Lee, Sam Lichtman-Mikol, Julia Markey, Haley Marlette, Lucy Martin, Aidan Mase-Kemnitz, Karen Matsuo, Megumi Matsushita, Hannah Maxbauer, Isabel McKay, Miriam Michaels, Cailey Miller, Mackenzie Miller, Zachary Miller, Alex Mitropoulos-Rundus, Susan Murphy, Kayla Oh, Neil Parikh, Will Penner-Hahn, Shelby Peterson, Samuel Rast, Linda Relson, Natalie Roll, Niko Rombes, Sarah Rontal, Daniel Saulles, Matt Schaeberle, David Shao, David Shapiro, Arthur Shih, Jeff Shipan, Scott Siler, Nate Slottow, Andrew Smith, Josh Stein, Leigh Sugar, Michael Sullivant, Jacob Swanson, Ed Szczygiel, Rachel Teeter, Natalie Ten Brink, Marshall Thomas, Victoria Tillman, Thea Torek, Tim VanRiper, Noah Wagner, Gretchen Wallner, Rachel Walsh, Alan Wang, Cindy Wang, Xiao Wang, Yishi Wang, Devin Webster, James White, Danica Whitfield, Jeremy Whiting, Dana Wilson, Hope Wilson, Matt Winick, Eric Yamakado, Jay Yamakado, Ryan Yunck, Anthony Zick, Eric Zimmer
  Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "II" (Good) rating for their performance of a SOLO were:  Leo Bayless-Hall, Caitlin Berrigan, Jeff Bertram, Joel Burgener (2), Margaret Burns, Katie Centurione, Andrew Copp, Katie Copp, Elizabeth Cvercko, Jesse Fernandez, Adam Fink, Charles Hatch, Leila Hofer, Hyungjae Jung, Caroline Laman (2), Seung Wun Lee, Rebecca Lemke, Matt Lerner, Veronica Long, David Michaels, Daniel Myers, Alyssa Novak, Veronika Olszewski, Julia Pakela, Stefan Petrmichl, Duncan Polot, Rahul Puttagunta, Zach Renner, Evan Reynolds, Vijay Sachdev, Dan Siler, Rachel Simon, Josh Stein, Kathryn Szczygiel, Emily Topham, Manisha Verma, Malaika Whitney, Jennifer Woolley
  Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "I" (Excellent) rating for their performance of an ENSEMBLE were:  Casey Ahlbrandt-Rains, Anand Bahl, Emily Barnes, Alex Baum, Jonathan Bower (2), Tony Bryk, Amanda Burnside, Elizabeth Bush, Ben Campbell (2), Ella Campbell, James Campbell, Caroline Chen, Chris Culbertson, Elizabeth Cvercko, Werner Dahm, Helen DeMarsh, Sam Deschamps, Meera Desai, Patton Doyle, Martin Elliott, Elaine Ezekiel, Jessica Field, Tory Fingerle, Adam Fink, Jim Fitzpatrick, Erin Fitzsimmons, Christopher Fleming, Ella Giles (2), Josh Goldman, Adam Graves, Christopher Haddlesey, Lindsay Hall (2), Andrew Hess, Nicholas Hilliard, Michael Ho, Leila Hofer, Rebecca Holmes, Skye Hookham (2), Andy Johnson (2), Jeff Johnson, Spencer Johnson, Nathan Karr, Chad Kelsey, Joe Klaver, Amin Lanseur (2), Dylan Larkins (2), Emily Larson, Leah Latterner, Anna Leavitt, Meekyoung Lee (2), David Liu, Emily Maier, Aidan Mase-Kemnitz, Karen Matsuo, Megumi Matsushita (2), Kyle Mattimore, Anna Mayne, Marina Mayne, Kate McKarns, David Michaels, Miriam Michaels, Mackenzie Miller, Sang Moon, Margaret Morgan (2), Jordan Morningstar, Warren Morningstar, Mackenzie Miller, Alyssa Natoci, Amanda Osinski, Hyun Soo (Sandra) Park, Ryan Pendleton, Shelby Peterson, Niya Phelan, Nate Polich, Duncan Polot (2), Samu Rast, Tim Rittinger, Cory Roberts, Kate Rogow, Daniel Saulles (2), David Shapiro, Arthur Shih, Scott Siler (2), Nate Slottow (2), Andrew Smith, Christina Smith, Danny Soto, Scott Sprau, Leigh Sugar, Jonathan Taylor (2), Rachel Teeter, Natalie Ten Brink, Michael Thompson, Emily Topham, Manisha Verma, Noah Wagner (2), Gretchen Wallner, Peter Wang, Devin Webster, Danica Whitfield, Dana Wilson (3), Hope Wilson (3), Jay Yamakado, Angela Yang, Ryan Yunck, Alan Wang (2),  Cindy Wang, Xiao Wang, Yishi Wang (2), Yiqing (Shirley) Xu, Eric Yamakado, Ryan Yunck
  Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "II" (Good) rating for their performance of an ENSEMBLE were:  Kate Centurione, Katie Copp, Jonathan Evans, Sachi Gianchandani, Christopher Hass, Caroline Laman, Emily Larson, Zach Marentay, Marina Mayne, Nate Medd, Cailey Miller, Jennifer Nao, Veronika Olszewski, Natalie Roll, Rachel Teeter, Peter Wang. David Leach and Nancy Waring are the Pioneer band teachers.
  The following students participated in the District 12 Instrumental Solo and Ensemble Festival at Livonia Franklin High School on Saturday, February 2nd. Each student independently prepared and performed a solo for a judge who is an expert on their musical instrument. Congratulations to these students for their outstanding performances: Division 2 Excellent ratings were received by Mark Adams, trumpet solo, 7th grade and Reid Arozarena, trombone solo 7th grade.  Division 1 Superior ratings were received by Erica Hotchkiss, flute solo, 7th grade; Sana Isaac, alto saxophone solo, 8th grade; Hayden Kass piano solo and clarinet solo, 7th grade; Robin Peshick, piano solo, 7th grade; Kate Sears, clarinet solo, 8th grade and Andrew Tam, violin solo, 8th grade. Deborah Scott Katz, Instrumental Music Teacher.
• For eight weeks, Thurston 5th graders will be participating in a pilot program one day a week during gym.  It is the Active Living & Life Skills Project established to supplement efforts to improve the quality of life wellness programs for children.  During their Wednesday gym class, they are learning Ballroom Hustle Dances.  The instructors are Calvin Siebert, whose professional name is “Mr. Smooth”, and his wife, Jackie Siebert.  The program will culminate with a program banquet where the students will perform and showcase their newly acquired dance skills to parents and others.
• Dr. Sherry Murphy, Thurston 5th Grade Teacher, has been awarded a $10,000 Grant for the Dzanc Writer in Residency Program for the 2008-09 school year.  This program will run  for a full year with an author/teacher working with her class once a week.
• Pioneer Men's Track and Field Head Coach Don Sleeman recently completed his term as President of the Michigan Interscholastic Track Coaches Association (MITCA) at this month's annual track and field clinic, of which he was coordinator.  Don, who is also a MITCA Hall of Fame member as a result of receiving the association's prestigious Kermit Ambrose Award in 1994 was also selected as the 2007 Division 1 Men's Track Coach of the Year.  Additionally, Pioneer Women's Track Head Coach and MITCA Hall of Famer Bryan Westfield also received the Division 1 Women's Track Coach of the Year completing a Pioneer sweep of the top coaches awards.
• Steve Rodriguez, women's and men's golf coach is a finalist for the 2008 National High School Athletic Coaches Association Golf Coach of the Year.  He is one of six in the country.  Coaches are selected based on coaching longevity, win-loss record, championship years, awards received and services to the coaching profession.  What a fantastic honor.
• Huron Principal Dr. Arthur Williams, was selected to serve a four-year term of office as the College Board’s Midwestern Representative to the Board of Trustees, on the Midwestern Regional Council.
• I hope you all had a chance to catch the segment on Community High on “All things considered", by NPR reporter Larry Abramson on February 14.  You can listen to the report on NPR's web site at http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19046423
• Mitchell parent Amy McDonald sends a thank you to the Mitchell staff for her experience at NAAPID. “I just wanted to THANK YOU for the wonderful day that I was able to share and enjoy with each of my children.  Lunch was wonderful and watching the 3rd graders Freedom Train was an excellent bonus for me.  I enjoyed all the wonderful activities in each of the classrooms I visited today.  I even was able to enjoy a Chinese New Year celebration with Ka'saada and her class.  I was able to learn alot of different things today from all the children and staff at Mitchell and I just wanted to say, Thank You for the open arms I received from everyone today. Mitchell truly is the coolest school on Earth!”
• Thurston teacher Janice Alvarado Stewart sends a thank you to her colleagues, “I would like to thank Kathy Houser and Michelle Hart for such expedient, professional and knowledgeable assistance regarding the preschool's phone situation. Thank you to Deb Reilly for entering the ticket. The education organization being a structural, human resources, symbolic and usually political frame can many times bog down the process of getting things done, in a timely manner with all the permission and paperwork lined up correctly.  We are fortunate to have such  knowledgeable and dedicated IT staff in our Ann Arbor Public school system. Once the ticket was entered, it was about 36 hours of time and the problem was figured out and resolved.  We now have a phone for our parents to leave messages and teachers can actually retrieve messages.  Thank you very much.”
• The Forsythe Science Fair was held last Saturday and had 368 projects from approximately 425 students (of a little more than 600 students at Forsythe).  This was a 25% increase in the number of projects from last year.  There were 56 judges, mostly NOT affiliated with Forsythe in any way.  About half are graduate students from the University of Michigan, several are U-M professors, and the others are from a variety of organizations in the area.  This year, they even had one professor from China (a visiting professor at U-M).  There were about 70 parent volunteers doing various tasks, and strong support from the Forsythe administrative staff.  In addition, several area businesses supported the Science Fair through in-kind donations, including Seva Restaurant which provided lunch for all of the judges. Click here to view a list of the students, their place and project title.

Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent