Volume 133, Issue #04 Thursday, January 26, 2017
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FROM HAITI TO CLINTON “WE DON’T HAVE HOBBIES. WE DON’T HAVE A BOWLING LEAGUE. WE HAVE A FAMILY.”
Schaffner Family Photo From left to right: Ella, Michelle, Kaiti, Samson, Abi, Jimmy, Luke, Robenson, Joshua, Ricardo, Anna, Ron, Allyson. The photo taken of the entire Schaffner family upon arrival at Detroit Metro Airport on December 19, 2017. The event marked the culmination of a three year adoption process. Photo submitted by Schaffner family.
“People think we’re crazy, but you reach a point where it’s very doable,” said Clinton High School math, physics, and chemistry teacher Ronald Schaffner. “It’s what you do.” If people think Schaffner is crazy, it may be because he and his wife, Michelle, have just increased the size of their already large family from seven to eleven by adopting four boys from Port-au-Prince, Haiti. The boys, siblings, arrived on December 19, 2016 after a three year process. “We had actually started the adoption process with the anticipation of adopting a little baby from Ethiopia,” Schaffner said, citing the short wait
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BIG TIME WIN!
Congratulations to Austin Popp for earning his 100th career win against Adrian Madison with a 1st period pin. Austin competes in the 215 pound weight class and is a returning All State Wrestler after placing 5th place at 215 in the MHSAA State Championships at the Palace of Auburn Hills last season. Photo and caption by Casey Randolph.
CES 5TH GRADERS ENHANCE S.T.E.M. SKILLS AND BUILD LEADERSHIP SKILLS AT YMCA CAMP STORER
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Obit: Lori Janet Pike
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Community Calendar
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Dr. Roach & Nate Adams
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Sue Salcau & Joe Roth
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Clinton Sports
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Insight with Lauren Meyers
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A & E with Joyce Lancaster
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Classifieds and Puzzles
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Charlie Steffens and Andy Piatt of Clinton are in Haiti doing missionary work as this paper is being published. The two are working on behalf of the One Mosaic Church of Adrian, and are accompanied by many other volunteers, according to Steffens. Charlie This is the fifth mission trip Charlie Steffens has done. He went to Russia twice, Belize, and Israel. Steffens cited two things that motivated him to go on a mission trip to Haiti. “I followed Mitch Albom out of Detroit when he’d go down there. When this came along, I thought I might like to do it, too,” Charlie explained as one reason. “I always wanted to go to Haiti because they’ve always been crapped on,” said Steffens, enumerating the series of unfortunate weather and other events that have kept the country among the poorest in the world, according to 2016 International Monetary Fund statistics. “Our primary work is painting building in a place that educates and feeds 9,000 students a day,” said Steffens. Their work location is about 40
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Local and Community News
Manchester Minute
times and the relative ease of adopting an infant over an older child. “Ethiopia at that time didn’t have too long of a wait, and we qualified to adopt a baby. So we thought we’d bring over a young one, raise them, Americanize them, the whole deal. Then Ethiopia experienced great slow downs with the process of adoption,” Schaffner said. The Schaffners were working through America World Adoption, a christian organization that helps american families adopt children from 13 different foreign countries, according to the company’s website. One of the case workers in the Haiti program contacted the Schaffners. They had a set of four boys, and the Haitian authorities did not want to split them up. “The problem is they don’t want to give a sibling set of four to people who have never had children before, but that’s the most common rea-
FROM CLINTON TO HAITI
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Artist of the Week
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Jerry’s Market insert in all local copies! Schmidt & Sons, too!
Monday, January 23, 2017: Clinton Elementary students began a three day camp experience at the YMCA Camp Storer facility near Napoleon, MI. Activities focus on S.T.E.M (Science, Technology, Engineering, Math) skills and Michigan culture and history. Above left, students enjoy a game involving trust and non-verbal communication. At right, trip coordinator, CES teacher Jill Nicholson, poses with Camp Program Director Spencer Dees.