Midland Public Schools May 2022

Midland PS District Vision Statement: Lead with respect, trust and courage.

Ensure an equitable, collaborative and inclusive culture.

Enable all to achieve success.

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MPS Connections: podcasts@midlandps.org MPSConnect: MPS Connect Website: www.midlandps.org May 2022 Phone: (989) 923-5001 Volume 9, Issue 4 Twitter: @MidlandPS A quarterly newsletter produced by the Midland PS Superintendent’s Office

Caps off to you, 2022 MPS Grads!

In the words of William Shakespeare …

It is not in the stars to hold our destiny but in ourselves!

Midland Public Schools send our very best wishes with you as you make your destiny come true!

WAY TO GO, 2022 MPS GRADUATES! Please allow us to Toot our Own Horn!!    

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Midland PS has been named a 2022 Best Community for Music Education Midland PS has six 2022 National Merit Scholarship Finalists Three Midland High Seniors took first place in the recent A. H. Nickless Innovation Awards (4th year in a row for MHS) The National Center for Women in Information Technology (NCWIT) has announced that Midland PS has 8 Winners, 6 Rising Stars and 4 Honorable Mentions for their annual Aspirations in Computing Award The 2022 Dow High Hockey Team brought home the State Championship for the first time in DHS history MHS Girls’ Basketball team has the top team GPA in the State of Michigan for Division 1 schools In the Delta College Student Technical Solutions Competition, MPS students took home 1st & 2nd place in the Welding Competition and 1st & 2nd in the Automotive MLR Competition The DHS DECA team brought home 63 medals from the State DECA Competition The MHS BPA team placed in 19 events at the State Leadership Conference

Please join MPS in sending our sincerest kudos and best wishes to these MPS team members who have or will retire during 2021-22!

               These hard  working staff  members  have  dedicated a   combined     years of  service to  Midland PS   students, staff, families   and  community.  

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Retirement Congrats!

Robin Bott, NMS Teacher Doug Bradford, DHS School Counselor Brian Brown, NMS Teacher Tammy Brown, NMS Admin. Asst.

Johnny Chatman, MHS Teacher Jennifer Coppens, DHS Asst. Principal Jeff Deitrick, Social Worker Tammy Dobschensky, WCE Admin. Asst.

Vicki Finney, Transportation Manager Cheryl Gardner, MHS Registrar Lisa Hohman, WCE Teacher Martha Huber, CHE Paraprofessional Mark Juengel, JMS Teacher Sandra Justus, NMS Teacher Eric Krause, MHS Teacher Georgina Leach, MHS Teacher Lori Lee, JMS Teacher Jim Metiva, JMS Teacher Joel Mikusko, MHS Teacher Lori Monville, NMS Paraprofessional Kim Noey, PME Teacher Kayla Pockrandt, JMS Office Professional Lori Pritchard, JCC Supervisor Educ. Prog.

Denise Richard, Bus Driver Jim Rupert, Facilities Manager Barb St. Louis, JMS Teacher Jeanine Steinbrunner, ADE Paraprofessional Nancy Stieve, Post-Sec. Paraprofessional Barbara Stephenson, CHE Teacher Christine Swan, JMS Teacher Paul Tolly, IT Lead Support Specialist Lynn Verdusco, WCE Teacher Tammy Williams, Bus Driver Cindy Young, Communications Manager

Adams Elementary

Central Park Elementary

(989) 923-6037 <> website: ade.midlandps.org Principal: Mr. J. Scott Cochran

(989) 923-6836 <> website: cpe.midlandps.org Principal: Ms. Kara Stark

Protecting Our Eggs! 4th grade students at Adams wrapped up their Project Lead the Way (PLTW) STEM Collisions module this week. After learning all about collisions, their final project was to design a vehicle restraint system to protect a vehicle passenger— an egg! Using the engineering design process, students created vehicles that absorbed energy during a collision. To be successful, students were to drive their vehicles, with their egg passenger, down a ramp and crash into a wall without breaking the egg. For an extra challenge, 4th graders in Mrs. Washabaugh's class had a chance to use even bigger ramps.

The Ultimate Egg Challenge used longer ramps and ended with a ladder and an eight-foot ramp. Three of six teams survived!

One student commented, "The egg challenge was exhilarating and exciting at the same time. It taught me that it's important to have a safety restraint of some sort or to wear a helmet when you are in a vehicle. We need to protect our brains, especially during a collision!"

Adams Culture Club Explores Colombia! Led by Mrs. McMahan, the Culture Club of Adams had a great time exploring Colombia recently.

Thank you to Carlos Escobar and Silvia MeijaGonzalez, who came in and shared about life in Colombia—including food, art, and culture.

Of course, the movie Encanto came up, and students learned what in the movie is specifically drawn from Colombian culture, and where artistic license came in to play. It was a rich discussion, full of discovery, sharing, and laughter. Way to go, Culture Club!

5th Grade Exhibition Central Park Elementary’s 5th Grade students presented their IB Primary Years Programme (PYP) Exhibition projects to the Midland Community on Thursday, April 21. Students engaged in a collaborative, transdisciplinary inquiry process that involved identifying, investigating and offering solutions to real-life problems in our world. Exhibition is a celebration of the students' PYP experience as they prepare to transition from elementary to middle school.

We know we have future world changers at Central Park Elementary, and we are so proud of the entire fifth grade team!

Congratulations to our Central Park Robotics teams who recently participated in the Great Lakes Bay FIRST Lego League (FLL) Expo!

Kudos to these CPE teams who participated and received awards:  Programming Explorers -- Challenge Solution Award  Lego Builder -- Challenge Solution Award  Lego Lightning -- Team Model Award  Lego Learners -- Team Poster Award Happy Birthday to Nellie who turned one year old recently.

Nellie is a fun, furry therapy dog and friend to Central Park Explorers!

Chestnut Hill Elementary

Plymouth Elementary

(989) 923-6634 <> website: che.midlandps.org Principal: Ms. Tracy Renfro

(989) 923-7616 <> website: pme.midlandps.org Principal: Ms. Margaret Doan

Chip, Chip, Hooray for the Chestnut Hill Elementary Battle of the Books Teams!

Chestnut Hill Elementary had an amazing turnout this year for the Battle of the Books competition with 11 teams participating. A total of 59 fourth and fifth grade students read several books and met weekly with parent volunteers to study the books for the battles. The competition makes it fun, but the important thing is that the students were reading and had a great time doing it!

Thank you to all of the parent volunteers who met weekly with teams to help them prepare for the battles: Nikki Benzing, Evan Bergman, Jennifer Clerc, Carrie Fox, Jane Lewis, Katie Morey, Roger Pancost, Erin Peck, Tonia Schukofski, Maggie Veit, Susie Yoder

Animal Book Police

Flying Speedy Readers

Berry Cool Pandas

Raven Claws

Bookie Worm Queens

Rad Readers

Book Raiders

Tigers

Big Brain Books

Book Warriors

Reading Ravens A special thank you to the Chestnut Hill Elementary Media Paraprofessional, Kim Nylund, for organizing this year’s Battle of the Books!

Plymouth Fifth Graders had the opportunity to hear from Midland High Spanish Exchange student, Sofia GuitartSanchez, during their Spanish class. Sofia helped students practice asking and answering questions and also shared what it is like to be an exchange student in the United States.

Fifth Graders are getting ready for their upcoming Primary Years Programme Exhibition Night. Students have been working with community mentors in small groups to learn about their passions and how to be involved community members. Some of the biggest challenges that students report are working in groups and also focusing their inquiry to make it manageable. This year's Exhibition will be at Plymouth Elem. on May 24 from 5-6 pm.

Please join us!

Second Graders have been learning about the past. To help students understand how People, ideas and discoveries may change a community over time, they were asked to bring in an artifact from the past.

Students were able to walk around and see artifacts and discuss how things have changed!

First Graders did a scavenger hunt and picked up trash on the playground and in the Plymouth woods to celebrate Earth Day on April 22.

Students finished the hunt feeling proud and eager to share what good work they had done!

Fourth graders have been working hard to create cars without an assembly line! Learning how Technology advances have an impact on society and the environment is a central idea for How the World Works.

Students were able to compare the production process and analyze the time it takes to build cars.

CONGRATULATIONS & BEST WISHES HH DOW GRADUATING CLASS OF 2022!

H. H. Dow High School (989) 923-5382 <> website: dhs.midlandps.org Principal: Mr. Ted Davis

For the first time in Dow High hockey history, the 2022 DHS Charger hockey team brought home the State Championship!

Billy VanSumeren was named the 2022 recipient of the Mr. Hockey Award by the Michigan High School Hockey Coaches Association.

In March, Student Leadership 2 organized a safe driving event to promote awareness for distracted driving. This event was funded by a grant from the Strive 4 a Safer Drive organization which was created by Ford Driving Skills for Life and the Michigan Office of Highway Safety Planning. After completing the campaign, an overview of events was submitted to compete with schools throughout the state.

In April, 14 Chargers travelled to Detroit for art and culture. After logging in five hours of service credit, National Art Honor Society members were invited to this year’s spring trip at the Eastern Market and Detroit Institute of Arts.

IB Students Prepare Environment Units in Spanish For an environment, sustainability and equity unit in IB Spanish B at DHS, in small groups, students chose a subtopic related to the environment, for example: plastic in the ocean, renewable energy or deforestation, and then explored their chosen topic in Spanish. Each group prepared a lesson (in Spanish) to share with the other small groups in their class. The students themselves prepared each part of these lessons for their peers.

MPS Automotive students competed in the Delta College Student Technical Solutions Competition in March The MPS team competed in the Automotive MLR (Maintenance and Light Repair) Competition and took both first and second place. Kudos to Dominick Dickinson & Dawson Haller, who placed First; and Madison Allen & Logan Mann who placed Second!

Lance Ransom is the MPS Auto Tech teacher at DHS.

GO GREEN is truly honored and grateful to have been selected as the recipient of the NSDAR Conservation Award!

This award is a tribute to the dedication and passion of all our members, past and present! A huge thank you to the DAR of Michigan, as well as the staff and students at Dow High, who have joined us in our efforts to make the world a greener place!

Kody Lucke, a student in Mr. Meitler's woodshop class, created this State of Michigan wooden piece of art using recycled wood—mostly recycled wood from pallets and old fencing—to frame the piece. Kody spent approximately two weeks completing this beautiful project.

Great job, Kody!

Annual Earth Action Expo held at Dow High School on April 24 Families enjoyed examining insects, building model wind turbines, learning about native plants, doing hands-on activities & science experiments, checking out electric cars, and so much more with over 50 exhibitors taking part!

The event was free to the public and was sponsored by Midland Section of the American Chemical Society, Midland Center For the Arts, The Dow High GO GREEN Club, Michigan State University St. Andrews, and Midland Recyclers.

CONGRATULATIONS & BEST WISHES MIDLAND HIGH GRADUATING CLASS OF 2022!

Midland High School (989) 923-5181 <> website: mhs.midlandps.org Principal: Ms. Tiela Schurman

A Chemic Legacy!

1872-2022

HONORARY DIPLOMA GRANTED

Midland High Earns 1st Place in Prestigious Award!

On February 4, Charley Florey II was named a member of the 2022 Midland High senior graduating class and received his honorary diploma from Midland High School. Charley attended MHS from 1961 to 1963, when he was deployed to Vietnam. Upon his return home, he earned his GED. MHS administration and student leadership were honored to celebrate Mr. Florey!

On April 23, the 8th annual A. H. Nickless Innovation Awards were held at SVSU. For the 4th year in a row, Midland High School took first place!

Charley Florey II will forever be a part of the Chemic Legacy. Once a Chemic, always a Chemic!

Prom and Homecoming Closet Emma Buschlen, Josie Pardel, and Cole Carpenter are three IB Diploma candidates at MHS. Their CAS project, a requirement for the IB Diploma, is starting a Prom and Homecoming closet for students. The goal of this closet is to provide free dresses, suits, shoes, and accessories for students planning on attending Prom in the spring or Homecoming in the fall. The students have been collecting donations from current & former students, as well as other community members. The closet is genderless and anyone can take anything. It is only asked that only one dress/suit is taken at a time, and can be traded at a later date.

Seniors Lauren McGuirk, Allison Scheffer, and Eliana Rinn created a virtual reality app called Virtual Motion Therapy, which is designed to make physical therapy accessible, affordable, and fun for patients suffering from Parkinson's disease. In Phase 1 of the project, the team designed the project and submitted an abstract.

In Phase 2, they wrote a 30-page paper which included research, a prototype, business plan, next steps, and a visual representation of the product. In Phase 3, they presented to a panel of seven judges, along with the other finalists. They each won a $5000 scholarship and Midland High won a $20,000 STEM innovation grant. Faculty Advisor for this impressive team: Mr. Robert Fox.

Midland High Freshmen Visit Holocaust Center On Wednesday, March 9th, over 120 freshmen from Midland High School World History classes visited the Zekelman Holocaust Center in Farmington Hills, Michigan. Students enjoyed their own personal docents as they toured the museum in small groups. Students are learning about WWII and the Holocaust. The field trip really helped provide perspective and context for students to connect classroom curriculum with real-life artifacts and events of that time. Here are some comments by the Chemics who took the tour: “I learned the most about the history of Anti-Semitism.” “I learned that concentration camps were different than extermination camps.” “I enjoyed looking at all the artifacts, such as the uniforms and patches…you really get a good idea of what it looked like back then.” “I enjoyed the Hall of Righteous the most.” “I enjoyed seeing all the replicas as I have never seen that before..read about it but never saw it in person.” “I learned the most about the ghetto and how the Nazi’s built walls to keep the Jews in the ghetto.” Students had an opportunity to ask questions, read personal narratives, and make connections with what they’re learning in World History. The trip was made possible by a grant, provided by the Holocaust Museum, as Ms. Beson-Steger and Mr. Wontorcik attended a virtual session this past summer. Tremendous thanks to the MHS All-In Fund for helping subsidize the admission tickets!

Chemic Girls’ Basketball Player Sophianna Bressette was featured in a Midland Daily News article in January that shared how Sophianna was the heart of the MHS freshman girls’ basketball team and how her perseverance and determination helped to bring a powerful energy to her team. That story caught the eye of Dow-Dupont CEO Jim Fitterling, who decided to use Dow’s network of contacts to do something special for her. In February, Fitterling presented Sophianna with an autographed pair of NBA-star Steph Curry’s (one of Sophianna’s favorite players) shoes, a handwritten note, and a companion pair of shoes in her size.

A very special memory and treasured gift for Sophianna and her family!

Jefferson Middle School

Northeast Middle School

(989) 923-5873 <> website: jms.midlandps.org Principal: Ms. Shannon Blasy

(989) 923-5772 <> website: nms.midlandps.org Principal: Mr. Dirk DeBoer

Recently, 29 Jefferson Huskies participated in the American Math Competition, given nationally to 6th – 8th grade students.

Katie Cai, 6th grade, had the highest score in the school and ranked in the top 5% nationally. Tied for 2nd place in the school were 8th grader Kanushi Desai and 6thgrader Vettel Xu. Tied for 3rd place in the school were 8th graders Louis Huang and Matt Lee. Congratulations to these and all JMS student mathematicians who participated in this year’s AMC! JMS 6th graders in Mr. Sabourin’s class spent some time recently with Siebert 4th Graders in Mrs. Sabourin’s class working on their writing.

Art Honors is a club that allows students to create artistic work for the school, community, and themselves. Art Honors typically meets once a week during the school year and competes in the community “canstruction” project.

Broadway Club is sponsored

by Mrs. Brewer.

The students discuss, watch plays and musicals, and will put on a spring performance of “Once Upon a Time.”

The Northeast Yearbook Staff is managed by Ms. McPeak. They meet to take pictures and design the Northeast Yearbook.

Congratulations to ...

Mr. Graves & Ms. Lehman who have been selected to receive the American Chemical Society (ACS) Midland Section Award for Outstanding Achievement in Middle Level Science Teaching.

Saginaw Valley State University honored 20 public school teachers from across the Great Lakes Bay region at a dinner held in February.

Mrs. Christine Brillhart, JMS Science Teacher was among the teachers honored.

The “STEM Stars” were recognized for their hard work and contribution to science, technology, engineering and math education.

Congratulations to ...

Ms. Konkol Ms. McPeak Ms. Stinson who have been selected to receive the American Chemical Society (ACS) Midland Section Award for Outstanding Achievement in Middle Level Science Teaching.

2022 Northeast Winter Sports Kudos to all the student athletes who participated in winter sports: Cheer, Girls’ Basketball, Boys’ Basketball, Girls’ Swimming, Boys’ Swimming, Wrestling.

Siebert Elementary

Woodcrest Elementary

(989) 923-7835 <> website: sbe.midlandps.org Principal: Mr. Paul Schroll

(989) 923-7940 <> website: wce.midlandps.org Principal: Mr. Jeff Pennex

Leadership Empathy Achievement Diversity (LEAD) and 5th Grade Primary Years Programme Exhibition Projects Dow High freshman, Jessica Chai, is working in conjunction with Mr. Schroll, Siebert Principal, Mrs. Ecker, 5th grade teacher, and Mrs. Ahearn, PYP Coordinator, to develop a program called L.E.A.D to help support the 5th grade students as they work through the exhibition project process. The program so far has brought students from Dow High into Mrs. Ecker’s room to talk about struggles in their lives and healthy coping skills that have really helped them. They also talked about anxiety, feeling nervous and taking care of yourself. The 5th graders have responded well and are looking forward to the next visit where they will share good ways to take action in our community for their exhibition topic.

An important part of the PYP Exhibition is the process of students meeting with mentors.

These groups meet for about 30 minutes a week to refine student thinking and discuss the progress made from week to week.

Central Idea: We can inspire change by sharing our personal passions.

Topics: cyber bullying, animal endangerment, animal abuse, refugees and homelessness, air pollution, habitat loss, global warming, and plastic pollution in the ocean

Siebert Elementary will celebrate the 5th Grade IB PYP Exhibition projects on May 18.

Woodcrest had FIVE (5) FIRST Robotics FLL 2nd & 3rd Grade Teams take part in this year’s FLL Explore season. The teams who parti-pated in the recent FIRST Lego League Explore Expo included: Woodcrest Lego Legends, Woodcrest Thunder Hawks, Woodcrest Wired Wolverines, Woodcrest Cyclone Builders, Woodcrest Wolverine WarriorBots. A huge thank you goes to the WCE FLL team coaches!

Retired Educators Share their Love of Reading and Learning with Woodcrest Wolverines Thanks to the dedication of a collection of ten retired MPS teachers and administrators, Woodcrest students have had the opportunity to receive additional doses of reading interventions each week that were already being delivered by their classroom teachers. Woodcrest's Retirees' Intervention Program was developed in the fall with the intention of harnessing the experience, knowledge, and passion of retired educators as a means of providing students with additional doses of reading interventions on a weekly basis. While this program was designed to increase the volume of reading interventions students received on a weekly basis, it was also designed to increase the volume of time at-risk readers read material at their individual reading level each week.

Depending on the ability levels that are present within a classroom or grade level, retirees read with either individual students or small groups of students. The program has produced good results and has been well received by teachers and students.

Thank you to these retired educators for sharing their time and talents with our students: Lou Ann Bensinger Anne Gunsell Bridget Hockemeyer Larry Jacobs Jason Merry Tracy Merry JoAnn Pobocik Troy Staley Pete Welter Mary Wynne

Woodcrest Elementary is grateful for the time, effort, and dedication of the retirees who have been involved with this program.

Pre-Primary Center at Carpenter Street School

(989) 923-6411<> website: cpp.midlandps.org Director: Ms. Pam Sharrow

Greetings from the Midland PS Pre-Primary Center: As we all know and have experienced, the 2021-22 school year has had its twists and turns, but we have been able to keep children attending face-toface with minor interruption. We know children at four and five years old need to learn social emotional skills including self-regulation, cooperation, and self-help and to go through a school day following a schedule. Social emotional skills are the number one predictor to school success. We are thankful and pleased with our students efforts, achievements & success!

The Preschool & Developmental Kindergarten registration window is now open for 2022-23.

3-Year-Old Tuition Preschool

5-day weeks ☺ sensory, play-based curriculum Competitively priced tuition ☺ follows school year calendar Offered at Carpenter Pre-Primary Center 989-923-6411

4-Year-Old Tuition Preschool

5-day weeks ☺ research-based, child-focused curriculum Competitively priced tuition ☺ follows school year calendar Offered at Carpenter Pre-Primary Center 989-923-6411

4-Year-Old GSRP Preschool

4-day weeks ☺ Great Start Readiness Program (GSRP) Offered at Carpenter Pre-Primary Center 989-923-6411 Free for income-qualifying families 844-492-7707 ∙ 989-631-5892 www.MichiganPreschool.org

5-day weeks ☺ year one of 2-year Kindergarten program Developmental Register soon ☺ space is limited for this program Kindergarten Offered at Carpenter Pre-Primary Center 989-923-6411 (Previously referred to as Young 5’s Kindergarten)

Midland PS is our community’s proven, trusted school district.

Let MPS successfully launch your child’s K-12 journey!

Midland Public Schools 2021-22 Board of Education: Scott McFarland, President Phil Rausch, Vice President John Hatfield Secretary Jon Lauderbach, Treasurer Lynn Baker, Trustee Brad Blasy, Trustee Patrick Frazee, Trustee

Administration: Superintendent: Michael E. Sharrow Associate Superintendents: Brian Brutyn Jeff Jaster Penny Miller-Nelson

Register NOW for 2022-23 Kindergarten!

is for Kindergarten!

Wondering which Kindergarten program is right for your child for the 2022-23 school year?

Here is some information that may be of assistance.

Developmental Kindergarten

Traditional Kindergarten

 Perfect for children who may not  Inquiry-based, highly effective be quite ready for traditional kindergarten. DK is the first year of a 2-year Kindergarten Program  Program located at PrePrimary Center at Carpenter Street School (923-6411)

program designed to successfully launch your child’s K-12 educational journey

 Offered at all 6 elementary schools  Call your neighborhood elementary school if you have kindergarten questions.

For MPS Kindergarten Information go to

www.midlandps.org <> Parents <> Kindergarten PATHS Principal: Jeff Lauer (989) 923-5084 lauerjm@midlandps.org Over 13 years ago, Midland PS increased its commitment to meet the needs of students by offering online courses to help students recover lost credits through an online program. Students were scheduled into the eLearning Lab to take virtual courses primarily to recover credits they had lost in the traditional classroom. The program was very successful, assisting an average of 90% of students recover credits. From an initial 80 students the first year in the online programs at both high schools, we have grown to serve nearly 400 students each year in each of our building programs.

At the same time, MPS began offering our Summer Virtual Program for high school students. This online summer school has served approximately 60 high school students each summer in their quest for credit recovery.

Five years ago, MPS launched the PATHS program to meet the needs of students who were struggling in the traditional high school setting. Each PATHS student has an individualized plan that maps out a route to take them from where they are with credits to graduation. Each student’s plan uses a mix of online, traditional, and Career and Tech Ed courses. Each year the PATHS program averages an enrollment of 100 students. We are excited to share that the PATHS program has graduated over 100 students in the first four years of the program who may not have earned their diploma otherwise.

Midland PS knows that virtual learning is not for every student, but we also know that it is a viable option for some students for a variety of reasons.