Superintendent’s Weekly Communiqué

Michael E. Sharrow, Superintendent (989) 923-5026 sharrowme@midlandps.org

March 7, 2016 Volume 3, Issue 28

Charger Spirit was alive and well on March 4, at a very early 5:00 am to welcome Marc Jacobson to show off Dow High as part of ABC12’s School Spirit Competition. The competition is between schools all over Mid-Michigan to see which school has the most spirit, but more importantly, the greatest amount of generosity as non-perishable goods are collected and donated to the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. DHS delivered on both!

Gerstacker Teacher

Proficiency Awards

NOMINATION WINDOW

ENDS THIS FRIDAY!

For nomination information please go to our

website—www.midlandps.org.

Don’t miss your chance. Nominate a great MPS teacher TODAY!

This year’s Gerstacker Ceremony will take place May 12 at 4:10 pm at Northwood University and will celebrate 61 years of teaching excellence.

These awards are made possible through the generous support of the Carl and Esther Gerstacker Donor-Advised Fund at the Midland Area Community Foundation.

This year’s Booster Bash is Friday, March 18, at Dow Diamond beginning at 6:30.

Go to www.mpssportsboosters.com for tickets and information.

Have questions or comments? Click on the MPS Connect! icon on our website or call our office at 923-5026. Let’s Connect!

MPS Shining Star Nominations are now being accepted for MPS staff members who you feel make MPS a better place for students.

http://midps.org/shiningstarform

This Week at Midland Public Schools!

Parent-Teacher Conferences

Tuesday (3/8) Elementary schools

Wednesday (3/9) High schools

Thursday (3/10) Middle

schools

School is in session full days Tuesday-Thursday. All Conferences are in the evenings only from 5-8 pm.

Friday, March 11, is a half day for students. AM — Students in class PM — Teachers in meetings

Call your child’s school if you

have questions.

As we all know, MARCH IS READING MONTH! Our elementary schools celebrate March with many fun, memorable events that

celebrate reading. One such great event took place last Thursday at Eastlawn when Ryan Hipp, author/illustrator of Little Steps, shared his love of reading and books with Eastlawn Eagles.

Second Page Headlines March 7, 2016 Page 2 of 3

MPS was well represented at the 2016 Michigan Science Teachers Association Conference, March 4-5 in Lansing. As you can see in the below session descriptions, five MPS teachers presented at the conference. Northeast teachers Robin Allen and Barb McIntyre co-presented with two members of the Michigan Tech Mi-STAR team sharing their experience piloting one of the middle school units. Mi-STAR is funded through a Herbert H. and Grace A. Dow Foundation grant. Christie Gayheart presented the project she developed through the Dow Corning Foundation Fellows program. She was one of five MPS teachers selected as a Dow Corning Foundation Fellow. Jennifer Lehman joined her in the MSTA presentation as they both implemented the 3-D Printing Bottle Rocket project to provide a consistent high quality experience for all JMS 8th graders. Mary Jo Griffin shared her experiences with the Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers. With the adoption of new Michigan Science Standards, the conference was a great learning opportunity for all who attended.

Stability and Change in Michigan Ecosystems: An Example Mi-STAR Unit Robin Allen & Barbara McIntyre, Northeast Middle School, Midland Public Schools Mi-STAR is developing an integrated science curriculum for Michigan that aligns with NGSS. Participate in hands-on activities from a classroom-tested unit on health and disturbance of Michigan ecosystems. Handouts provided.

Science in the Making: 3-D Printing Christie Gayheart & Jennifer Lehman, Jefferson Middle School, Midland Public Schools Real-world engineering design and modeling. The fun begins by building 2-liter bottle rockets, and ends with a challenge between classes of redesigned bottle rockets with 3-D printed fins.

Super Science from the Smithsonian Laura Trombley, Shields Elementary School Mary Jo Griffin, Adams Elementary School Looking for new ways to strengthen the science curriculum in your classroom? Why not look to the most notable science institution in the world? Join members from the 2014 and 2015 Smithsonian Science Education Academies for Teachers (SSEATS) as they share many of the amazing activities and FREE resources offered by the Smithsonian.

Kudos to these five dedicated MPS teachers for sharing their love of science

with their peer educators from across the State of Michigan and representing MPS so admirably!

Dow High Robotics Team 2619 ‘The Charge’ won the Team Spirit Award sponsored by Chrysler at the FIRST Robotics Competition held last weekend at Standish-Sterling High School. This award celebrates the team that demonstrates extraordinary enthusiasm and spirit through exceptional partnership and teamwork furthering the objectives of FIRST. The Dow High team finished the competition qualification matches in 15th place (out of 40

teams), was selected for the playoffs, and missed advancing to the semifinals by less than 5 points in the last quarterfinal match.

Our four elementary IB PYP candidate schools—Adams, Chestnut Hill, Plymouth and Woodcrest—have been working hard to implement the PYP and prepare for their International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme Verification Visit. The purpose of the visit is to ensure that the schools understand the mission and philosophy of IB and are meeting the requirements of an IB PYP school. Following the visits, observations will be sent to the regional IB offices where they will be reviewed. Once reviewed, the final answer regarding authorization will come from the Director General for IB. The process takes between 90-120 days. The two-day visits for our four elementary schools will be in March or April. Here is one such example of the hard work that is being done in our elementary buildings as they prepare for their Verification Visit. This POI (Program of Inquiry) board has been developed by a Chestnut Hill staff member and is proudly on display as they await their visit. Next year Carpenter, Eastlawn and Siebert will have their IB PYP Verification Visit.

The Midland High Science Olympiad Team placed 3rd out of 14 teams at the regional competition at Delta College on February 27. All 15 members of the competitive team received at least one top 5 medal, with 11 members finishing with multiple medals and 1st or 2nd place finishes. All 22 members of the team represented Midland High very well. MHS finished in the top 2 in 12 out of 22 events. The team has earned a spot in the State competition taking place at Michigan State in April.

Midland Public Schools

600 East Carpenter

Midland, Michigan 48640

Back Page Headlines March 7, 2016 Page 3 of 3

Telephone: 989-923-5001 MPS Website: www.midlandps.org Twitter: @MichaelSharrow2 @MidlandPS

YouTube Channel: http://midps.org/youtube

Community Flyers: http://midps.org/cf

Adams Elementary 923-6037

Carpenter Street 923-6411

Chestnut Hill Elem. 923-6634

Eastlawn Elementary 923-7112

Plymouth Elem. 923-7616

Siebert Elementary 923-7835

Woodcrest Elem. 923-7940

Jefferson Middle 923-5873

Northeast Middle 923-5772

H. H. Dow High 923-5382

Midland High 923-5181

“pearls” of wisdom ...

“Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution.” —Unknown

“Excellence is the gradual result of always striving to do better.” — Pat Riley

“The only way to have a friend is to be one.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson

On February 18 the Midland High School Student Council and Student Leadership, in collaboration with the Shelterhouse of Midland, hosted a community dinner for the One Billion Rising movement. The purpose of the dinner was to create awareness about domestic abuse within our community and provide opportunities for community members to get involved and rise together for the cause. This is the second school year that these groups have worked with the Shelterhouse in support of this important cause. At the event there was a silent auction, guest speaker Judy McAtamney, an education program lead by Hannah McAtamney and Emily Wessel, and a spaghetti dinner. Between donations and the silent auction, MHS was able to raise over $1,000 for the Shelter-

house of Midland.

Mr. Andrew Scott and Mrs. Kim Formsma’s History Classes at Northeast Middle School incorporates current events into their 8th Grade history curriculum. One of the topics they have been following closely is the Flint Water Crisis. Their classes initiated a fundraising effort to buy fresh, clean drinking water for Flint citizens. In the past two weeks their classes raised $644 for the water drive. As a result of this drive they purchased 120 cases of bottled water totaling 4200 individual bottles of water. WOW!

The Dow High School Leadership Class and the Midland High School Student Leadership and Student Council collaborated to raise $705 for Kids Against

Hunger.

This collaboration occurred during the Varsity

boys’ basketball game at Midland High.

Thank you to all that contributed to this fundraising

effort.

DOW HIGH INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS CLUB/MODEL U.N. — The DHS Model United Nations Club ventured to Oakland University’s inaugural Model U.N. on February 26-27. From the opening session, Dow High members were active and engaged on multiple issues. The 19 member delegation participated in all facets of the event, and were awarded with the Third Best Delegation out of

all schools there.

Individual students were recognized with the following awards:

BEST PAPER: AnnMarie Moolenaar; Isabel Chaput; Charles Rinderle

SUPERIOR RATING: Kevin Kraef; Jonathan Altes; Will Adams

HONORABLE MENTION: Hannah Jackson; Charles Rinderle

GAVEL AWARD (Best Delegate): Will Adams The Dow High delegation represented France, Argentina, Ukraine, Jordan, and Indonesia at this event. Dow High International Affairs Club is back in action at the Michigan State University Model United Nations near the end of March.

Jefferson Middle School students competed against six schools at the Math Counts Saginaw Valley Chapter Level (total of 41 official competitors) on February 27 at SVSU. Out of the 8 JMS competitors, six made it to the top ten for the head-to-head countdown round. Final Results were: David Wang 1st; Anish Middha 2nd; Sasha Konovalenko 3rd; Irshad Husain 4th; Scott Gilbert 6th; Caleb Qui 10th. The State competition will be held at GVSU on Saturday, March 12. Jefferson’s team will represent

the Saginaw Valley Region.

On Saturday night before bed, be sure to set your clock one-hour ahead.