This Week
In the Ann Arbor Public Schools
June 9, 2008

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

This Week’s Good News!

• A very special thank you to all who organized the commencement ceremonies for the graduating seniors of Community, Huron, and Pioneer.  Stone High School will hold its commencement ceremony on June 16.
• Mrs. Hendrick's third grade art classes at Wines Elementary School entered an international contest sponsored by River of Words, a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting environmental concerns. We are proud to announce that Nima Dorje was one of 9 grand prize winners, and was flown to Washington, D.C., where he and others were honored at an Awards Ceremony, luncheon and public reading at the Library of Congress on May 12th, 2008, emceed by River of Works co-founder, former US Poet Laureate, Robert Hass, recent winner of the 2007 National Book Award in Poetry. Two of Mrs. Hendrick’s other students, Doreen Pang and Sam Lippert, were two of over 100 finalists and will receive a prize.
• The 5th and 6th graders of Leslie Lawther's class at Ann Arbor Open held a poetry reading to celebrate the publication of their anthology, The Star to Finish the Sky, on Wednesday June 4 at Shaman Drum Bookshop. The book represents a year of work with writer-in-residence Scott Beal through the Dzanc Books Writers in Residence program. Here's the first poem in the book, by Marley Beaver, just to give you a taste:
  Haikus are awesome
  But sometimes they don't make sense
  Planetarium
• The Black Administrators Association of Ann Arbor Public Schools recently presented its first annual scholarship award.  The award was given to the African American senior female and male with the highest grade point average in this district.  The winners this year are both from Pioneer High School.  They are Dorothy Yarrington with a 3.978 and Marshall Thomas with a 3.917.
• The Ann Arbor Transportation Authority (AATA) recently escorted its environmental steward essay contest winner, Jalil Boston, his parents, teacher and classmates on a trip to the Michigan State Capitol in Lansing. Jalil, son of Mr. and Mrs. Heath Boston of Ann Arbor, won the trip for his class by entering the winning essay in a contest held in conjunction with the introduction of its first 15 hybrid electric buses into fixed-route transit service. The group toured the Capitol, visiting the Senate chambers, where the group was introduced, and a session of the Committee on the Great Lakes and the Environment, where Committee Chair Rebekah Warren presented Jalil with a framed State Seal signed by the Senators and Representatives from his local districts and Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm. The students, all 7th graders in teacher Teresa Schneider’s class at Slauson Middle School, rode to the Capitol in AATA’s first hybrid electric bus, decorated with an environmental design including an illustration of AATA’s environmental mascot, Scooter.
• The Forum of Steve Coron at Community High School has been working on a mural, with 5th graders from Angell, and are attaching it to the fence on the back lawn. The mural was funded by an Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation grant, and is a visual representation of our community.  It was a great experience for the forum, and especially the 5th graders who all want to attend Community for high school.  It was installing on June 3, with a "dedication" ceremony with the 5th graders on June
• Pioneer’s Crew Team had a good showing in the Canadian Secondary Schools Championship Regatta Royal Canadian Henley Course, 2000 meters in St. Catharine’s, Ontario. This is the Premier Canadian scholastic regatta, featuring top ranking crews from across Canada and the U.S. There were 128 schools and 2658 athletes who participated.
  Pioneer had their strongest performance to date at this annual regatta winning four medals and placing 8th in overall team points, the highest ranking American team attending.
  Pioneer High School Results:
  Heats - Friday, May 30; 10 of 11 boats advance to semis
  Semis - Saturday, May 31; 6 of 10 advance to finals
  Finals - Sunday, June 1
  Medal winning boats:
  Junior Men's 8, 2nd Place, SILVER MEDAL, time 6:44.91: Chris Darnton, Drew McMillan, Darren Chiang, Scott Burdick, Jae Jung, David Chapman, Saunders Hayes, Tanner DePriest, Mckenzie Gardulescu.
  Junior Women's 8, 2nd Place, SILVER MEDAL, time 7:37.67: Anna DeBoer, Annika Gage, Rachel Bielajew, Claire Barrett, Zoe Psarouthakis, Jane McDonnell, Nora Pierson, Kendall Phillips, Sarah Foster.
  Senior Women's 63kg 8, 2nd Place, SILVER MEDAL, time: 7:55.44: Julia Darnton, Jessica Rampton, Esther Barrett, Inge Zwaanenburg, Colleen Macke.
  Senior Women's 8, 3rd Place, BRONZE MEDAL, time: 7:13.87: Julia Darnton, Jessica Rampton, Angela Frakes, Elizabeth Elner, Kristen Hagemeister, Riley Linebaugh, Emily Smalligan, Inge Zwaanenburg, Colleen Macke.
  Other boats in Finals:
  Senior Men's 4, 5th Place: Ian Gardiner, Colin Shields, Jacob Merrell, Karl DeBoer, and Elizabeth Kurcz.
  Junior Men's 4, 5th Place: Darren Chiang, Scott Burdick, Tanner DePriest, Drew McMillan, and Meaghan Kennedy.
• Pioneer chemistry teacher Karen Fox received the Huron Valley Local Section of the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) annual High School Chemistry Teacher Award.  She received a plaque and a $500 cash award.  The ACS is paying her expenses to attend the Central Regional meeting of the American Chemical Society in Columbus, Ohio, June 10- 14.  All local section teacher award winners are honored at this meeting, part of which will focus on chemical education and high school chemistry teaching.  A banquet will be held in honor of high school chemistry teachers and one teacher will be selected to win the ACS Divison of Chemical Education’s Central Region Award for Excellence in High School Teaching 2008.
• Thurston Media Specialist, Terry Madden, has been selected to participate in a Library of Congress workshop (over 4 days this summer) at the Wayne RESA to develop lessons for teachers to use by incorporating Library of Congress “Primary Sources” resource materials into the curriculum.
• Bach School was recently awarded a Green School designation from the state of Michigan and last week, teacher Mrs. Martina Ezekiel was interviewed by David Fair of WEMU as part of his morning show on Issues of the Environment. The interview can be downloaded from “wemu.org”.
• Stone High School received a $3,000 grant from Lowe’s for a landscaping project to improve the curb appeal of its entrance and yard. Thanks to all the students and staff who have been working hard planting flowers and making the grounds look so nice.
• Thanks to Kay Wade for inviting me to her African American Humanities class to hear the student presentations. As usual, her students gave interesting, polished and professional demonstrations of their mastery of the subject.
• Thanks also to Jan Smith and the Northside staff for the opportunity to attend their Full Day Kindergarten promotion ceremony. It was a really special event for the little ones and their parents.
• It’s hard to believe that this is the last week of the 2007/2008 school year and therefore, the last edition of “This Week” for this school year.  We all have worked hard together and can take pride in completing another successful year. This has been a wonderful second year for me and it has been my pleasure to get to know many more of you and to be a part of such a dedicated and professional team. I want to thank each of you for your service to our students, their families and our community. It is through your efforts that Ann Arbor is recognized as one of the best communities for a Pre-K through grade 12 education. I hope you all have some time to rest and rejuvenate during the summer break and I look forward to seeing you “next year.”  Best wishes for a happy summer vacation.

Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent