This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

April 26, 2010

This Week’s Good News!

• Huron students had six perfect ACT scores as reported on April 02, 2010.  This is an extraordinary number of students in one class.  The students are:  Barron Pelham, Hwang Heemyung. Jong Hwan Koo, JooYoung Moon, Sussy Pan and Derek Wu.
• Pioneer High School senior Jessica Obidike has been selected as a "Gates Millennium Scholar" and awarded a full academic scholarship that will cover her undergraduate and graduate tuition at the university of her choice.  Jessica is an outstanding student and leader within Pioneer High School and she will represent the Ann Arbor District well as she embarks on the next phase of her academic career as a "Gates Millennium Scholar".
• The Rising Scholars Program, a partnership between the Ann Arbor Public Schools and the University of Michigan Center for Educational Outreach (UM CEO), is pleased to announce that two students, Dominique Hardy (Skyline) and Gabriel Recendiz (Huron) were awarded scholarships in the sum of $1,000 from UM CEO to attend the Michigan Math and Science Scholars (MMSS) Program this summer.  These students will spend a week on the UM campus learning current developments and research in the sciences. Dominique and Gabriel were selected based on a written essay discussing how they will use the knowledge gained from this summer program in their future areas of study.
• Community High senior Allison Ferguson has won "Best in Show" at the Ann Arbor Art Center’s Potential Show.
• The Huron Symphony Orchestra was selected as the Finalist Orchestra this past Saturday at the Music Masters Festival in Chicago's historic Orchestra Hall.  That meant that we were selected to perform our program again for all of the other groups in a benefit concert.  The Finalist Band was the Tarpon Springs Wind Ensemble, which is a high school Conservatory for the Arts from Florida.  This was the inaugural year for the event. Our students carried themselves with class and impressed all of the folks we came in contact with-clinicians, festival promoters, ushers, CSO musicians and the other group directors and performers.  I can't tell you how many were in disbelief that we were formed in a public school music program solely based on proximity to the building.
• Bach Students Raise $1,637.75 for Heifer International.  "Read to Feed...Children Changing the World"  was the 2010 theme for March is Reading Month at Bach. During ILT students learned about children and their countries where lives have been changed by the Heifer program.  At the  Closing Assembly  on Monday April 19,  Bach students were excited to learn that they had read 464,385 minutes! (last year’s total was 394,568) Since the students surpassed the challenge of reading more minutes than last year,  Mrs. Bruder kissed a baby goat and Mrs Trudell kissed a baby pig.   Students  raised $1,173.11 in the weekend "Read to Feed" Read-a-thon.  Bach PTO had also pledged to match every 100 minutes read with $00.10 so Bach students earned a grand total of $1,637.75 for Heifer International.  Students are voting on which animals to purchase.
• The Forsythe KMO Club competed in the Knowledge Master Open on Wed., April 21, 2010.  Out of 649 teams in the country, the Viking Auks finished #11.  That is within the top 2% of all teams in the competition.  Knowledge Master Open is a national academic contest that challenges teams of students to answer questions accurately and rapidly, in all the subject areas and at all levels of difficulty.  Mr. Ezekiel is the coach.  You can learn more about the KMO at <greatauk.com>.  The Viking Auks were 2nd in Michigan, out of 13 teams.  Boulan Park Middle School, in Troy, was first in Michigan and second in the nation.  A team from Tappan was 3rd in Michigan and 40th in the country.  Forsythe’s score of 1605 points was far above the national average score of 1187 points and the Michigan average score of 1347.
  The members of the team were::
  6th graders:  Elaine Chamberlain, Tara Dorje, Kotone Tsuji, Josh DeGraff, Joshua Nacht and Charlie Wertenberger.
  7th Graders:  Andrew Ames, Quinton Crosbyk , Stephen Nurushev, Veronika Bayer, Jason Deank, Sorbie Richner, Angelina Bielby, Matthew Epperson, Sehej Sawhney, Morgan Borjigin-Wangk, Josh Goodmank, Ivan Soucy, Sophia Campk, Betty Huk, Daniel Tarasev, Nathan Ceelyk, David Morrowk, Noah Thornton, Marianne Cowherdk, Lawrence Mullenk, Kevin Zhang and Kavin Pawittranonk.
  8th Graders:  Dylan Aikens, Julia Kerst, Noah Chen, Mohan Kothari, Chris Chou, Prashant Puttagunta, Sam Ellison, Lillie Schneyer, John Houghton and Michael Zhang.
  We want to give a shout out to our 'team mom', Mrs. Maureen Isaac (who is also the swim coach at Skyline).  KMO club is done for this year, but will start again next school year at the beginning of the second quarter.  See you there!
• Congratulations to Jack Liu in Gayle Richardson's 5th grade at Lawton Elementary School. He was selected as one of the ten winners of Scholastic Book Clubs "Past, Present and Future" Letter Writing Contest.  This was a class assignment requiring students too identify a current world problem and identify a person in history who might have some insight on how the problem might be solved. Jack and his family took the initiative to enter his writing in the contest.
• At the recent annual SkillsUSA State Championship, Ann Arbor Student Home Building Industries Program student Chris Ziemba, a senior from Huron High, won the Silver medal for second place in the Carpentry competition.  AAPS Teamworks group finished in fifth place.   They are: seniors Mark Hugan, PHS electrician and Hernan Recendiz, HHS plumber, as well as juniors from HHS, Brian Ziemba, carpenter and Aaron Wyse, mason. John R. Birko is the Instructor and Joel Davenport is the Paraeducator.
• Teri Fraley's fourth grade class at Lawton extended the science unit, Nature's Recyclers, to create a program for recycling more at Lawton.  They joined with Terracycle, MRF, Recycle Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Schools Food Program to make this work. The students completed research, wrote dialogue and constructed posters about a particular topic of interest to present in the school assembly.  There is so much trash that can be recycled, so her class wanted to inform students and teachers about the items they put into the trash everyday that end up in landfills.  The students created a list of some products collected through Terracycle that students can bring from home to earn money for the school.  Lawton has already earned Emerald status and would like to earn the status of Evergreen School by doing more recycling and upcycling.
• The following Slauson 8th grade French students ranked in the Michigan chapter and in the National Chapter for their scores on the National French Exam (le Grand Concours). They are:
  

  Level	MI chapter rank	Name	National rank
  01A	3	Brinda Yarlagadda	9
  01A	6	Farah Selman	12
  01A	7	Sofia Squatriti	13
  01A	8	Maksymilian Muno	14
  01A	8	Hazel O'Neil	14
  01A	9	Timothy Dickey	15
  01A	10	Jason Zhao	16
  01C	1	Adriana Ellis	6

• Congratulations to Huron High School Senior Callie Svaan (Alto Saxophone) who auditioned into the semi-finals of the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Associations Youth Arts Festival Soloist Competition last Friday, April 16.  Callie was one of the final ten students from across the state who auditioned for the final four spots awarded.  There were 189 students nominated at the state solo/ensemble festival to audition for this event.
• Congratulations to the Huron High School Jazz Band who earned three division one ratings at the State Jazz Festival hosted by Jackson High School on April 14th.  Each adjudicator gave this band glowing praise in their comments.
• All four Pioneer chorus classes sang at the Michigan School Vocal Music Association State Choir Festival at Holt High School Thursday or Friday, April 22 or 23.  Note worthy is the 50% improvement in Cantando's scores from District to State festival, a remarkable achievement in just over one month.
  A Cappella received an excellent rating at the advanced level for their performance of All Breathing Life by Bach, Under the Willow Tree by Barber and Alleluia by Thompson.  The members of Pioneer's A Cappella Select Mixed Chorus are Marissa Alaniz, Olivia Bassett-Kennedy, Anna Benson, Stephanie Bielek, Mary Carolyn Buckingham, Darren Chiang, Nishita Conjeevaram, Julia DeVarti, Libing Dong, Robert Eisentrout, Michael Ferrara, Rebecca Fisher, Elizabeth Goldstein, Nicolas Gonzalez, Lydia Hiller, Gabriel Isa, Emily Kloska, Jai Yeong Koh, Chewon Lee, JinYoung Lee, Kiel Lerch, Vicki Li, Elizabeth Lloyd, Daniel Luan, Rachel Mann, Alex Massingill, Emilio Mateo, Stephen Merritt, Jessa Miller, Daniel Mozurkewich, Hannah Nathans, Andrew Neevel, Cara Pardon, Lydia Pavach, Hannah Pearlman, Paul Reece, Schuyler Robinson, Michael Shack, John Spalding, Emily Stearns, Shira Steiner, Cristina Tamer, Taryn Thomas, Karen Toomasian, Timothy VanRiper and Sherry Wan.
  Bel Canto received an excellent rating at the advanced level for their performance of Come In by Thompson, As Torrents in Summer by Elgar and Fall, Leaves, Fall by Bright. The members of Pioneer's Bel Canto Select Women's Chorus are Mara Abramson, Emily Ause, Elizabeth Bush, Laura Chodoroff, DeLaynna Corley, Kelsey Detering, Ramya Dronamraju, Sophia Garris, Maia Gleason, April Hadwick, Katherine Hoevet, Katherine Keller, Allison Kennedy, Kelsey King, Rebekah Lauer, Christine Lim, Suh Eun Lim, Elizabeth Morgan, Jenny Nathans, Greta Niethammer, Carlina Paull-Baird, Madeleine Polovick, Liane Racelis, Victoria Reackhof, Marielle Saunders, Stephanie See, Rebecca Shipan, Danielle Stevens, Emily Steward, Karina Stribley, Katherine Szocik, Cristina Tamer, Wen-Ching Wei, Allison Wier, Lucy Yao and Sara Yi.
  Cantando received an excellent rating at the primary level for their performance of Abendlied by Mendelssohn, Ave Maria by Mozart and Bushes and Briars by Vaughan Williams. The members of Pioneer's Cantando Women's Chorus are Miriam Alexander, Malak Baker, Jade Bishop, Whitley  Booterbaugh, Emily Briggs, Alexandria Cadavieco, Molly Cocco, Grace Crowe, Nicole Derderian, Clare Higgins, Elise Jayakar, Athena Chang Jiang, Margaret Jones, Jordan Koenig, Clare Lauer, Alexis Losacco, Tamar Lubman, Clare McFadden, Zoe Melcher, Emily Miller-Madaj, Cimone Neal, Kyeongeun Park, Tori Parks, Abigail Paternoster, Jacqueline Portu, Lilly Scheerer, Hannah Soderborg, Chelsea Stauffer, Katherine Summers, Ruby Summers, Natalie White, Zijun Zhao, Anastasia Zolova and Lauren Zyber.
  Cantare received an excellent rating at the primary level for their performance of Eileen Aroon arranged by Jeffers, Stopping By Woods on a Snowy Evening by Thompson and Drill Ye Tarriers Drill arranged by Crocker.
  The members of Pioneer's Cantare Men's Chorus are Iman Aslani, Kenneth Augustine, Nicholas Bertoia, Tre Brown, Jedediah Davis, Michael Grobosky, Jacob Jedele, Julian Jocque, William Kryska III, Michael Kundrat, Jordie Liao, Jordan McKay, Spencer Miller, Gabriel Novak, Jackson Pilutti, Elijah Rhodenhiser, Stacy Richmond, Josh Shubin, Clark Stearns, Mark Strader, Dylan Swanson, Lukas Trierweiler, Timothy Williams, Caleb Wilson and Callaghan Wise.
• On Thursday, April 22 and Friday, April 23, the Skyline Choirs participated in the MSVMA State Choral Festival in Holt, MI. Cantando Women's Chorus, directed by Lindsay CieChanski and accompanied by Adrienne Clark and Andre Dowell, earned an Excellent Rating. Skyline Combined Chorus, which was comprised of the members of A Cappella Choir, Bel Canto, and Cantare, also earned an Excellent Rating. Combined chorus was also directed by Lindsay CieChanski and was accompanied by Ben Kaldjian, A Cappella Choir member, on guitar.
• Thurston has planned some very special Earth Day activities that will run from Thursday, April 22 through Arbor Day on Friday, April 30.
  Thursday, April 22:
  Students gather at the flagpole for the raising of our Green Schools Flag.  This program will include songs from our 5th Grade Choir and a brief summary of what it means to be a Green School.  Safety Patrol students will raise the flag.
  Student Council representatives, assisted by PTO members, will plant a tree near the 2/3 playground behind the Patton bench.
  Thursday, April 22 – Friday, April 30:  Cleaning of the playground by grade levels.
  Tuesday, April 22:
  Leslie Science and Nature Center will come with the Peregrine Falcon to present our certificate of adoption and give a short presentation on the falcon.
  Wednesday, April 28 – Friday April 30 – Coordinated by Margaret Goodly
  April 28 – PreK,1 & 2 students bring in toys to exchange
  April 29 – Parents assist in organizing the toys
  April 30 – PreK,1 & 2 students exchange toys and 5th graders assist
  Special Thanks to:  John Macorkindale, Margaret Goodly, Katrina Brehob, Erin Coomer, Yael Rothfeld, Katie Richter, Deb Morton, John Leidy and everyone else who volunteered time to create these plans.
• The USA Hockey Men's National Under-18 Team captured its second consecutive gold medal at the 2010 International Ice Hockey Federation World Men's Under-18 Championship after downing Sweden, 3-1, April 23, at Minsk Arena.
• Burns Park Media Specialist, Rachel Erdstein, has become a contributor to AnnArbor.com. Her first column appeared this week in celebration of Earth Day.  Here is the link: http://www.annarbor.com/entertainment/books/reading-for-our-planet/#
• John Boshoven is a keynote speaker for the Michigan Association for College Admission Counseling State Conference April 21-23 in Rochester, Michigan. He will report national activities to the general session and moderate a panel featuring Huron Counselor Robin Watson and Pioneer Counselor Kimberly Pennington. As a state past-President, Boshoven will also be honored at a reception. Two CHS Seniors, Logan Duddy and Donald Strite, will participate in a panel presentation moderated by Albion's College Admission Representative Michelle Coscia on "student perspectives in college admissions."
• Deborah Kay, Occupational Therapist, received the "Promoting Occupation-Based Practice Award" on Friday, April 16th, from Eastern Michigan University. She was nominated by her current fieldwork student from EMU, Katie Garvy, who writes:

  I would like to nominate Deborah Kay, AAPS Occupational Therapist, to receive the occupational based practice award. Deborah is very diligent in finding meaningful, engaging occupations to help her clients be “the best learners they can be”. She is very considerate and attentive to each student’s needs. Many of her clients have multiple functional issues and she is astute in prioritizing which issues should be addressed first. She finds creative, fun activities ,which work on the academic skills the children need to strengthen to increase their function in the classroom. The interventions used work on multiple skills simultaneously and have a play component, which is lacking in most students’ lives these days. She proactively works with classroom teachers to promote increased participation for all by setting up classroom wide interventions, like a fine motor skills kit full of fun activities for kindergarteners or a gross motor, bilateral game (Ball a Vis X) to help a first grade classroom which is heavily impacted. She is a wonderful advocate for the struggling learner and looks for ways to help each one feel successful and empowered. In spite of many institutional barriers and restrictions, Deborah has really made a difference in many student’s lives and is a great credit to our field.”  All the Occupational Therapist are proud to say, "She is one of us!"

Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent