This Week
In the Ann Arbor Public Schools
April 27, 2009

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

This Week’s Good News

  • On Wednesday, April 22nd, 700 (world wide) Knowledge Masters Teams competed in the annual spring KMO competition for middle schools.  The KMO team from Slauson Middle School came in first place in Michigan followed by the Forsythe team in 2nd place.   The Tappan team finished in 9th place.  Congratulations to the following first place winners from Slauson: Patricia Nease, Emma Rubenstein, Florian Vankampen-Wright, Lee Allen, Alison Brooks-Conrad, Claire Higgins, Sarah Wang, Jason Miller, Cooper DePriest, Jack Hu, Katie Li, Anthony Fulton, Maddie Boisvert, Maddie Hiller, Rianna Johnson-Levy, Libby Davis-Craig, Rennie Cotner, Irene Wei, Tina Yu, Makarem Eljamal and   Coach Jan MacKenzie.
  • A team of 35 Forsythe 6th, 7th, and 8th graders finished second in Michigan, out of 17 teams, in the Knowledge Master Open (KMO) competition held on April 22, 2009.  The Forsythe KMO team finished 15th in the nation, out of 700 teams.  The KMO is an academic competition that tests teams' ability to answer questions quickly and accurately, in all the academic and elective subject areas.  KMO is a middle school club; Dan Ezekiel is the coach of Forsythe KMO.
    The Viking Auks scored 1612 out of a perfect 2000 points, one of the highest Forsythe scores, if not the highest, in over 20 years of competition.  Out of 200 questions, the team got 179 right on the first try and added 18 second-chance correct answers, leaving only 3 totally wrong.  The score of 1612 compares with the average national score of 1199 and the state average score of 1318.  To get a good score in the KMO, the team must communicate rapidly and accurately.  The fact that the Forsythe team consisted of 35 excited and nervous adolescents illustrates the amazing degree of self-control they were required to show, in a competition that lasted more than 2 fast-paced hours.
    At the end of the competition, Coach Ezekiel commended the team on the amazing job they had done and told them that if any team in Michigan scored higher than they did, that must be a very good team and they must have had a very good day.  That is exactly what happened, as Slauson's team came in 9 points higher to win the state title, with 1321, and 14th in the nation.  We congratulate Coach Jan MacKenzie and the Golden Bears on an incredible score and their first state championship.  A Tappan team placed ninth in Michigan, with a score of 1385, well above the state and national averages.
    This was the last KMO competition for this year; we will resume in the fall.  You can learn more about KMO at <greatauk.com>
    The members of the team were:  Sixth grade:  Andrew Ames, Veronika Bayer, Morgan Borjigin-Wang, Betty Hu, Lawrence Mullen, Stephen Nurushev, and Kavin Pawittranon.  Seventh grade:  Dylan Aikens, Noah Chen, Chris Chou, Sam Ellison, John Houghton, Julia Kerst, Mohan Kothari. Prashant Puttagunta. Lillie Schneyer. Michael Zhang. And Kevin Zhao.  Eighth grade:  Emma Borjigin-Wang, Rob Brice, Preetom Chakraborty, Tierney Isaac, Kecil John, Tegwyn John, Rachel Kerby, Eric Larson, Jon Lyu, Mari Pando-Girard, Henry Pakela, Kaavya Puttagunta, Brett Robin, Chris Shih, Patrick Walker, Max Xu, and Ruthann Zhang.
  • Tappan teacher Wendy Raymond received an announcement from the Michigan Bar Association essay contest judges that Tappan seventh grade students took the top three places in the 2009 Law Day Essay Contest.  The winners are:  First – Michael Shapiro, Second – Scott Lieberman, and Third – Michael Schickling.  In addition to the place winners a number of students received Honorable Mention:  Anna Rosenfeld, Noah Sadlier, Madeline Halpert, Laura Kanji, Hannah Blaauwl, and Ethan Chupp.
  • Rebecca Archer, 3rd Grade, and Debra Campbell, Art, would like to share that her third grade student, Katherine, K.T.,Meono's Farm Poster won 2nd place for all of Washtenaw County!!  K.T. completed the project for this year's Ag Week Poster Contest in Ms. Campbell's art class.  She was given an award and an invitation to the Washtenaw County Farm Bureau celebration.  This is a $30  ticket for her entire family.  The posters will be displayed at this event.
  • Five sixth grade students from Scarlett, under the direction of Joan Grissing,  received a letter of recognition from the Library of Michigan for a letter to an author who changed their lives.  Alex Clark, Ma'Lik Butler, Victoria Butler, Andidiong Archibong and Fiona Chen distinguished themselves along with 150 other Michigan students out of 54,000 national entries.
  • Clague student Mingquan Ma placed 8th in the National French Contest and Sagar Anupindi placed 10th.
  • Ann Arbor student builders took second place (silver medal) for the TeamWorks competition in the USA Skills compeition.  Students: Pablo Salazar (Foreman and Mason) senior HHS; Zach Mitchell, (Carpenter) senior PHS; Hernan Recendiz (Plumber) junior HHS; and Mark Hugan (Electrician) junior PHS; practiced long hours and performed tremendously in both the construction and presentation formats.
    In  the State Carpentry competition, PHS Seniors Jason Watson and Michael Taphouse tied for high score in the written and construction math test. In the overall competition, Jason took the gold medal finishing first as the State champion and will move on to National Competition the week of June 22nd in Kansas City Missouri.
    Homebuilding teacher John Birko writes that,  “he is so very proud of the way our students conducted themselves both in competition and with the 2,000 plus student competitors from all over the state. They are a credit to our program their school, the district and their families.  Thank you for all your support.”
  • Pioneer teacher Marilyn Suter reports that the following students were medal winners in the FCCLA State Competition.  GOLD MEDAL  in CULINARY ARTS:  Miles Lentz, Dan Kimble, Demia Brown, John Merigas, John Morrison, and Noah Linsk.  SILVER MEDAL in PARTY PLANNING:  Justin Woodruff.  BRONZE MEDAL in RECYCLE & REDESIGN:  Will Anderson.  POWER of ONE  - certificates of achievement:  Will Anderson and AJ Sanchez.
  • Lawton Elementary students raised $2223.65 for Pennies for Peace, a program of the Central Asia Institute founded by Greg Mortenson - author of Three Cups of Tea.  The program provides community-based education and literacy programs in remote mountain regions of Afghanistan and Pakistan.  The students raised the money by participating in a read-a-thon as part of March is Reading Month. The read-a-thon was organized by Tahani Othman, Media Specialist.
  • Two Ann Arbor Community High School Juniors have recieved the Harold Eastman Outstanding Youth Achievement Award from the Breakfast Optimist Club of Ann Arbor.  Honorees are Sarah Juster and Jon Michael Darga.
    Sarah Juster previously attended Emerson School in Ann Arbor.  At Community, Sarah carries a grade point average of 4.0.  She belongs to the Community High School Jazz Band, and plays the saxophone.  She is President of STAND, a Student Anti-Genocide Coalition in Ann Arbor. She is also the National High School New Chapter Coordinator for STAND.  Sarah is very interested in genocide and has taken some classes at the University of Michigan on activism and genocide.  She has also been leading a Darfur Awareness group for two years,, which    has raised Six Thousand Dollars to date.  She recently wrote a research paper on Genocide in In international law for the Davidson Institute Scholarship.  Sarah serves on the Neutral Zone Board of Directors and is a member of Temple Beth Emeth Synagogue.  She is also a participant in Youth Leadership in Ann Arbor and a part-time volunteer at the Food Gatherers Community Kitchen.   After graduation, Sarah plans to attend college and study international relations.  In the future she aspires to practice International Criminal Law through the International Criminal Court another international legal body.
    Jon Michael Darga previously attended Angell Elementary School in Ann Arbor and Tappan Middle School. At Community, Jon carries a grade point average of 3.98.  He belongs to the National Honor Society, the International Thespian Society, and the Community Ensemble Theatre.  Jon works as a camp counselor for the Summer Kampers.  His main interests in high school are English literature and writing classes and theatre. During his leisure time, Jon enjoys reading, writing, “cooling” and exercising.  After graduation Jon plans to attend college and aspires to a career in psychology, writing, or acting.
    On Friday, Skyline's choirs attended the MSVMA State Choral Festival where they performed six pieces of music for a panel of esteemed judges.  Cantare and Cantando combined earned an "Excellent" rating with a score of 35 and Cantando Women's Chorus earned an "Excellent" rating with a score of 29. It was a very successful day and the students of these choirs certainly exceeded expectations. In addition, earlier this month, Cantare Men's Chorus earned a "Division I" rating at MSVMA State Solo and Ensemble Festival.
  • Skyline High School had several students participate in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) State Solo & Ensemble Festival held at Chelsea High School Saturday March 28, 2009. Students are adjudicated on a scale from 1 to 5 with a 1 being superior, 2 being excellent, 3 being good, 4 being fair, and 5 being poor.  Out of 8 events that qualified for state solo and ensemble festival three individuals participated.  All orchestra events received a 1 rating.  The following orchestra students received a 1 rating on their solo.  Priya Menon on her piano solo, Emily Espinosa on her violin solo, and Shruthi Narayanan on her violin solo.
  • 171 members of the Pioneer Choirs sang at the Michigan School Vocal Music Association State Choir Festival at Holt High School Thursday and Friday March 23 and 24.
    The A Cappella Choir received a superior rating at the advanced level for its performance of Mo Li Hua arranged by Chen Li, New York Girls by Kirke Mechem and The Eyes of All by Jean Berger.
    The Bel Canto Choir received an excellent rating at the intermediate level for its performance of Let the Song Be Begun from the Piae Cantiones (1582), Ji Shi Kai Yo Wei arranged by Chen Li,  and Great Gettin' Up Mornin' arranged by Mary Goetze.
    The Cantare Choir received an excellent rating at the primary level for its performance of The Battle Above the Clouds by Vicki Tucker Courtney, Time by Donna Gartman Schultz and Viva Tutti circa 1750.
    The Cantando Choir received an excellent rating at the primary level for its performance of The Ash Grove arranged by Earlene Rentz, Spring by Mozart and Joyfully Sing by Gluck.
    An impressive aspect of their performances included improvement in performance scores over their district festival work for each choir; 26 to 20 for A Cappella, 32 to 27 for Bel Canto, 40 to 31 for Cantare and 36 to 34 for Cantando.
    The members of Pioneer's A Cappella Choir are Marissa Alaniz, Michael Barbour, Olivia Bassett-Kennedy, Anna Benson, Stephanie Bielek, Mary Carolyn Buckingham, Gabriel Casher, Darren Chiang, Evan Clark, Nishita Conjeevaram, Clare Eisentrout, Robert Eisentrout, Michael Ferrara, Spencer Finegold, Rebecca Fisher, Stephanie Garris, Claire Gaynor, Elizabeth Goldstein, Nicolas Gonzalez, Charlotte Grenier, Alyson Halpert, Jenny Herzog, Lydia Hiller, Alex Kulick, Chewon Lee, Jea Hyung Lee, JinYoung Lee, Kiel Lerch, Vicki Li, Elizabeth Lloyd, Rachel Mann, Alex Massingill, Emilio Mateo, Melissa McClure, Ryan McCoy, Daniel Merritt, Stephen Merritt, Michael Metcalfe, Jessa Miller, Morgan Minger-Szyniszewski, Daniel Mozurkewich, Hannah Nathans, Andrew Neevel, Cara Pardon, Ashley Park, Lydia Pavach, Hannah Pearlman, Max Rasmussen, Paul Reece, Alexander Rigney, Schuyler Robinson, Rory Scott, Olivia Songer, Cassie Stanzler, Emily Stearns, Cristina Tamer, Timothy VanRiper, Wen-Ching Wei, Andrew White, Kyler Wilkins, and Emma Zinn.
    The members of Pioneer's Bel Canto Choir are Mara Abramson, Emma Bedard, Elizabeth Bush, Alina Charniauskaya, DArcy Cook, Julia DeVarti, Libing Dong, Sarah Gallagher, Genevieve Goldberg, April Hadwick, Emma Hamstra, Chelsea Hanson, Morgan Hertz, Miriam Holzman, Katherine Keller, Allison Kennedy, Emily Kloska, Rebekah Lauer, Christine Lim, Suh Eun Lim, Haley McNabb, Iliana Mendoza-Nava, Vaishnavi Premkumar, Liane Racelis, Marielle Saunders, Stephanie See, Mara Sevig, Shira Steiner, Emily Steward, Taryn Thomas, Karen Toomasian, Sherry Wan, Sara Yi, Zijun Zhao.
    The members of Pioneer's Cantare Choir are Kenneth Augustine, Nicholas Bertoia, Eric Bissett, Jedediah Davis, Langston Davis, Joseph Flanagan, Gabriel Isa, Julian Jocque, Matthew Jong, Yongmin Jung, Jai Yeong Koh, Michael Kundrat, Jong Min Lee, O’Dell Marshall, Andrew Matte, William Matte, Jackson Pilutti, Aaron Rosano, Michael Shack, John Spalding, Clark Stearns, Dylan Swanson, Joshua Weiland, Joseph Weindorf, Timothy Williams, and Callaghan Wise.
    The members of Pioneer's Cantando Choir are Kristy Abraham, Elena Arnett, Judith Aselmeyer, Emily Ause, Lindsey Averill, Justine Bartlett, Maya Bassett-Kennedy, Jade Bishop, Ramshah Bukhari, Laura Chodoroff, DeLaynna Corley, Ramya Dronamraju, Sinclaire Fonville, Emily Gach, Sophia Garris, Tian Hai, Sha’Rae Hendricks, Allison Hettmer, Katherine Hoevet, Jera Hogan, Meghan Jarrett, Elise Jayakar, Bethany Johnson, Bailey Jones, Brittany Kaplan, Kelsey King, Jordan Koenig, Maria Kromis, Clare Lauer, Yang Li, Morgan Lucot, Sonya Major, Julia Massey, Swita Metiranan, Elizabeth Morgan, Cimone Neal, Greta Niethammer, Deborah Park, Tori Parks, Abigail Paternoster, Carlina Paull-Baird, Julia Rampton, Victoria Reackhof, Katie Smith, Asia Vanhorn-Lee, Ayona Vanhorn-Lee, Elizabeth Walker, Chaeli Wantuck, Allison Wier, and Amanda Wylie.
    The four choirs and eight affiliated extra curricular ensembles will present their last concert of the year Thursday, April 30th, at 7:30 PM in Pioneer's Schreiber Auditorium.  The concert is free and open to the public.
  • The library media department for AAPS was included in 4,000 libraries across the country selected to receive a We the People Bookshelf grant, which provided free hardcover editions of 17 classic books on the theme of “Picturing America,” Spanish translations of three of the titles and two bonus titles to participating libraries. The grant was awarded by the National Endowment for the Humanities in cooperation with the American Library Association.
    The We the People Bookshelf on “Picturing America” contains the following books:
    Kindergarten to Grade 3: “Walt Whitman: Words for America” by Barbara Kerley; “Harvesting Hope: The Story of Cesar Chavez” by Kathleen Krull; “Cosechando esperenza: La historia de César Chávaz” by Kathleen Krull (translated by Alma Flor Ada and F. Isabel Campoy);”The Midnight Ride of Paul Revere” by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow; “Sweet Music in Harlem” by Debbie Taylor.
    Grades 4 to 6: “The Birchbark House” by Louise Erdrich; “American Tall Tales” by Mary Pope Osborne; “On the Wings of Heroes” by Richard Peck; “Forty Acres and Maybe a Mule” by Harriette Gillem Robinet; “The Captain’s Dog: My Journey with the Lewis and Clark Tribe” by Roland Smith.
    Grades 7 to 8: “The Life and Death of Crazy Horse” by Russell Freedman; “The Legend of Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving; “La leyanda de Sleepy Hollow” by Washington Irving (translated by Manual Broncano); “Across America on an Emigrant Train” by Jim Murphy; “The Adventures of Tom Sawyer” by Mark Twain.
    Grades 9 to 12: “Founding Brothers: The Revolutionary Generation” by Joseph J. Ellis; “Restless Spirit: The Life and Work of Dorothea Lange” by Elizabeth Partridge; “Travels with Charley in Search of America” by John Steinbeck; “Viajes Con Charley – En Busca de América” by John Steinbeck (translated by José Manuel Alvarez Flórez); “Democracy in America” by Alexis de Tocqueville.
    Bonus: “Our White House: Looking In, Looking Out” by The National Children’s Book and Literary Alliance; “1776: The Illustrated Edition” by David McCullough.
    For more information, contact your media specialist!
  • The art department at Community High will be presenting the work of Community Artists this Thursday at Arts, Science and Letters Night. The event showcases the work by visual and performing artists, science students, and Free Verse writers.  The doors open at 7 pm, this Thursday, April 30th at Community High.
  • The Ann Arbor Art Teachers and  Alumni Association will be exhibiting their work at the Riverside Art Gallery, this Saturday, May 2nd from 7 -9 pm.  Come see the work by our talented Art Educators!  The Riverside Art Center is on 76 N. Huron St. Ypsilanti.
  • Dicken Principal Michael Madison shares the following in celebration of Earth Day, “I thought we should recognize both Ms. Theresa Erickson, Art teacher at Dicken Elementary, and Mrs. Carol Web, district Technology Specialist.  Carol saved over 100 used and very old computer "mice," and asked Ms. Erickson if she might have a re-use for them in her  Art classes. Always ready to try something new, she accepted the donation. Just recently, every second and fourth grade student at Dicken completed a paper mache' sculpture, with the "mouse" as the infrastructure.  The results were amazing! We were able to see everything from several mice, to bears, frogs, dinosaurs, cats and other creatures.  What an exciting and creative project-very "green" and fun for all of the students. A great celebration of the collaborative recycling efforts that are happening at Dicken!
  • Preschool Assistant Principal, Michele Pogliano, sent notice of training that Preschool staff completed,  “Two teams from the Preschool participated in and completed the Early Intervention S.T.A.R.T. Training.  This is the Statewide Autism Resources and Training program out of Grand Valley State University.  The training took place over the course of this school year and was completed last Friday.  The teams consisted of Early Intervention staff; Maureen Zelle, Mary Jo Mosley, Stephanie Eichhorn, Julia Williams, Cathy Schuh, and Evelyn Tingle.  ECSE classroom staff and Assessment Teammembers; Kelly Canfield, Brenda Gray, Sue Westbrooks, Tammie Delles, Leigh Miller, Nelda Murphy, along with WISD TC Jacqui Colucci.
  • Congratulations to Mr. Julius and Mr. Vogel, Huron Latin teachers, and to this year's recipients of awards in the 2009 National Latin Exam.  A total of 34 awards were received, as follows: Summa Cum Laude (gold medal): Lena Ji, John Gracely (Latin I), Christina Na (Latin II); Maxima Cum Laude (silver medal): Michael Everett (Latin I), Anna Yu, Noah Collins, Ian Blaauw, Hyun-do Kim (Latin II); Magna Cum Laude: Nanaki Atal, Piero Postigo, Rick Pflasterer, Jing Chair (Latin I), Jon Heiselman, Simon Margolis (Latin II), Patrick Walsh, Benjamin Thomson, Claire Potter (Latin III), Paul Heiselman (Latin IV), Steven Slack, Michael Toner (Latin V-AP); Cum Laude: Rita Zhao, Timothy Dalman, Amelia Devries, Kristian Shin, Laura Radwan, Alyssa Proehl (Latin I), Stephanie Liu, Rosemary Matossian (LatinII), Albert Guo, Samuel Nam, Aleksandra Czubko, Sarah Heineken (Latin III), and Alexandra Grahwohl (Latin V-AP).  This year's National Latin Exam was administered to over 138,000 students nation-wide and in 11 foreign countries.
  • Over the spring break, John Boshoven presented seminars on college counseling to principals and counselors at the St. Clair County (Port Huron area) RESA, and presented an evening program to area students and parents. Tonight (4/21), he continues his series, Finding and paying for the College that Fits, with a financial aid presentation at CHS sponsored by Ann Arbor Rec. & Ed. He will be a featured speaker 4/24-25 at the Rocky Mountain Association for College Admission Counseling in Colorado Springs, CO, and 4/26-7 at the Potomic and Chesapeake Association for College Admission Counseling in Portsmouth, Virginia. He will also be featured at the Past Presidents Reception for the Michigan ACAC on 4/29 in Grand Rapids.
  • U.S. Men's National Under-18 Team won the Gold Medal with a 5-0 victory over Russia at 2009 IIHF World Under-18 Championship in Fargo, ND.  It was the  first Gold Medal on home soil since the 1980 Olympic winter games
  • On Friday, April 24, 2009, the U.S. National Under-17 Team beat Mahoning Valley, 3-1, to Force Game 5 in the Robertson Cup Playoffs Second-Round Series in Youngstown, Ohio.
Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent