This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

November 28, 2011

  • I hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday filled with good times with family and friends as well as time to rest and relax.
  • On Saturday, October 22, singers from Clague, Tappan, Scarlett, Slauson, and Pioneer, attended the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Regional Honors Choir at Monroe Middle School.  These singers were selected by their choir teachers to not only participate in the Regional Honors Choir, but also to audition that same day to become members of the MSVMA State Honors Choir.   There are three Junior High State Honors Choirs which are comprised of students from across the entire state of Michigan.  All of our Ann Arbor singers did a wonderful job that day both in their Regional choir and in their auditions.  For the audition for the State Honors Choir, singers had to prepare two pieces of music, one memorized and one other, to perform before a judge.  The judges then compare all of the scores of auditionees from across the state and from those results the SA, SSA, and SATB State Honors Choirs are formed.  The State Honors Choirs will perform at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids, Michigan on Saturday, January 21, in the beautiful DeVos Hall. Congratulations to the following singers:
    Singers with * by their names were those selected for the State Honors Choirs.
    Clague: Valierie Kyaykin, Eloise Bordeau, Matthew Barrett-Huff*, Emily Fishman*, Sara Mattson, Daisy Morey, Hannah Schweitzer, Rashmi Pandian, Steven Turner, Skylan Jones.
    Slauson: Emily Gunderson*, Melanie Townsend*, Julia Hale*, Britta Carlson*, Samantha Restorick*, Cayley Hopkins*, Devon Ferrari*, Brian Guo*, Paul Cook*, Samantha Torres*, Sarah Michelson*, Sam Groh*, Will Yuhas*.
    Tappan:  Sierra Cornell*, Alexa Zielinski*, Sophie Aaron*, Melissa Palfey*, Jenny Kwon*.
    Scarlett:  Ekko Corland, Luisa Esquivel, Kylie Gerovac, Natae Laurant*, Taye Robin-Thomas*, Annabelle St. Pierre, Cheyanne Walkins, Jade Wright.
    Pioneer:  Joshua Forrest*, Luke Lee*, Abigail Schmid*, Emily Uhlmann*.
  • Forsythe is proud to have a large contingent of winners performing in the All-State Band and Orchestra.  The Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association selects students each year from thousands of applicants across Michigan to form a middle school string orchestra and band.  These groups will perform in January at the Michigan Music Conference in Grand Rapids.  Forsythe will be represented by:
    Jaime Murrel, violin; Georgia Christodoulou, violin; Matthew Zhou, violin; Chris Young, viola; Michaela Keller, clarinet; Kalana Athukorala, bass clarinet; Forrest Flesher, trumpet; and Celia Arsen, horn.
    Honorable Mention (alternates): Alison Choi, flute; Sandy Schwartz, bassoon; Janine Chouinard, clarinet; and Saidah Rahman, horn.
  • The Bach School Service Squad, under the leadership of 4th grade teacher Robin Frisch-Gleason, coordinated the annual Bach School UNICEF drive. Their total UNICEF donation for this year is $2,065.87. They are grateful to the families and community members who contributed so generously to this effort.
  • Clague Choir Teacher Dianna Hochella also assists in directing the Children's Choir of the Detroit Opera Theatre and she and her students were featured on Channel 2 Fox News last night.  The Choir is holding a fundraiser tonight and Dianna and her choir were interviewed for the news program.  Following is the link to the news video:
    http://www.myfoxdetroit.com/dpp/news/local/concert-to-raise-money-for-the-mot-children-chorus-20111123-ms    .
  • John Boshoven, Community High School Counselor, has received recognition for his "outstanding contributions to" the University of Michigan Counselor Advisory Board. His three-year appointment concluded on November 18th. John's magazine contributions have continued with the Newsweek 11/28/2011 article on the 'Great College Essay Panic." Earlier, Time magazine quoted him in their article about student debt and US News and World Report included his comments in their annual news magazine on "Best Colleges."

Patricia P. Green, Ph.D.
Superintendent of Schools
Ann Arbor Public Schools