This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

October 19, 2009

This Week’s Good News!

• Through the AAPS partnership with the University Musical Society (UMS), Kate Kuper, teaching artist with the Kennedy Center, presented the workshop "Dancetalk: Creative Movement and Language Development", Thursday, October 8th.  The entire Special Area team from Mitchell Elementary (Art, Media, PE, Vocal Music) attended the workshop along with three second grade teachers.  The next day, Friday, October 9th, Kate worked in each of those second grade classrooms at Mitchell, using movement and muscle memory to build language and literacy skills.  The students were thoroughly engaged and Kate left each of the second grade teachers a copy of her CD to use in their classes in the future.  This was made possible with the help of Omari Rush of UMS and Kathy Scarnecchia, principal at Mitchell.  A huge thank you to all involved for making this such a memorable occasion for students and staff.
• On Sunday Oct. 4, members of the Huron H.S. Marching Band Drumline volunteered their time and talent to add to the fun of the Big House Big Heart run.  The drumline played for about an hour at the halfway point of the 5k run and then relocated to play along the route of the 1 mile fun run.  They finished the day by playing through the tunnel and into the Big House.  We want to thank the Huron Drumline for volunteering their time and for making the event more enjoyable for the runners.
• The Ann Arbor Mosaic Foundation has generously donated funds to sponsor field trips for K-12 students to the Detroit Science Center.  Each field trip includes a tour of the Detroit Science Center and an IMAX movie. The IMAX movies support elementary science curriculum. The following Logan Elementary teachers will be participating in this wonderful educational opportunity with their students:  Hyeuo Park, Amy Naples-Webster, Michael McIntosh, Katy LaCroix, Dee Dee Combi, Dante Watson and Erica Hatt.
• Scarlett Language Arts teacher, Mr. Sal Barrientes, has been awarded national recognition from the National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) to receive the 2009 NCTE Affiliate Leadership Development Award supported by a partnership between NCTE and Pearson Education.  The award recognizes Mr. Barrientes as an early career teacher who has demonstrated a capacity for professional leadership as well as a willingness to join and participate in the NCTE affiliate during the 2009-2010 academic year.

Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent