This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

March 28, 2011

This Week’s Good News!

On Saturday, March 26th, Community High School's Mock Trial Team A won the Michigan High School Mock Trial Tournament state championship. The top 10 teams from throughout the state vied for the title at the Veterans' Memorial Courthouse in Lansing, Michigan. Originally, approximately 60 teams competed in eastern and western regional competitions. The CHS team defeated teams from Grand Rapids, Capac, Detroit and Kalamazoo to win the title. The team will now represent the state of Michigan at the National High School Mock Trial Tournament in Phoenix, Arizona from May 5-8.
Team members are: Shadi Ahmadmehrabi, Cooper DePriest, Michelle Grifka, Michael Savage, Tressa Stapleton, Eli Sugerman, Elise Wander and Garrett Wood.
Coaches are: Cheryl Grace, Billie Ochberg, Griffith Dick, Robert West and Dan Dormer
Skyline 10^th grade student Malaika Worsham was selected by GenerationOn as one of 10 Outstanding Youth for its first ever Inaugural National Youth Advisory Council. GenerationOn is a global service movement and a division of Points of Light Institute. As part of the Council, these young service leaders will help to develop and execute GenerationOn’s key initiatives, and serve as an ambassador for the power of all kids to make their mark on the world.
Following is an excerpt from the description of her time in Washington, D.C. written by her mother Sherri Smith:
She and I spent the last five days in Washington DC for leadership training, press training, team building and some service projects. She was able to spend time with Neil Bush, Chairman and CEO of Points of Light Institute, the CEO of the Hasbro company, and the President of the HUB network a Division of the Discovery Network. She also was interviewed by NBC for her outstanding service commitment and her role as an ambassador for GenerationON and finally she is part of a team creating a Documentary Service Project about Veterans.
We spent our last night attending a tribute to George H. W. Bush, for his commitment to service and creating the Points of Light Institute. It was a once in a lifetime experience for her and me, five Presidents were in attendance, George H. W. Bush, Jimmy Carter, George W Bush, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama on remote video, as well as star studded entertainment performances. The program will be aired on Monday, March 28 on NBC.
Malaika will hold this position for 18 months, in touch with Skyline administration in the very near future to discuss her role and how Skyline can participate in this new Youth Movement to encourage children to help their community, through service projects. I am a very proud parent.
We are all proud of you, Malaika.
Stuart Brabbs, a 7^th grade student at Clague, competed in the Michigan Japanese Quiz Bowl at UM - and won his division! Not only that - he was a team of 1! The final round was on the stage so everyone could watch - was very cool and people were rooting for him because he was up there by himself against Novi's team of 4 - and he finished 11-3!
On Saturday, March 26, the Skyline High School Quiz Bowl team competed in the annual March Madness tournament at Michigan State University. The team finished with a record of 5-5 and placed 10th out of 18 high schools. Top performers on the team included sophomore Sarah Wang, who ranked 7th individually out of 104 players, and junior Priya Menon who ranked 14th. Excellent job to all team members including junior Shruthi Narayanan, sophomores Emma Borjigin-Wang and Eric Larson, and freshman Noah Chen and Hai Sun. The Skyline Quiz Bowl Advisors are Aaron Lopez and Laurie Hochrein.
A team of 25 Forsythe 6th graders finished first in Michigan out of 13 teams in the Knowledge Master Open competition held Wednesday, March 23, 2011. The KMO is a team academic competition that tests teams' ability to answer questions quickly and accurately, in all the subject areas and at all levels of difficulty.
The Viking Auks scored 767 points out of a perfect score of 1,000. The average score for Michigan teams was 580. Second place in Michigan went to Kinawa Middle School, in Okemos, with 726. Tappan, which was the state champion in the January competition, finished 4th, with a fine score of 667. Forsythe finished 3rd in the January competition.
On the national level, Forsythe finished 5th out of 290 teams overall. First place went to Swanson MIddle School, in Virginia, with 818. Second place was the Long Island School for the Gifted, with 797.. The national average score was 581.
In December, the Forsythe team was also first in Michigan and fifth in the country, in a contest open to 6th, 7th, and 8th graders. That means Ann Arbor teams have been state champs in all three middle school level KMO's this school year. There will be one more contest on the 6-8 grade level, in April.
KMO is a Forsythe club coached by science teacher Dan Ezekiel. You can learn more about KMO at <greatauk.com>. We would like to thank all the parents who provided food and other support, especially Mr. Cohn, Mrs. Shetty, Mrs. Dean, and our 'team mom', Mrs. Arnett. The team members for the March competition were: Fumiya Abe-Nornes, Miles Aikens, Navya Arigapudi, Halley Banaszak-Holl, Oshadi Caldera, Samir Chethan, Tommy Cohn, Matt Cole, Noah Dean, Dawa Dorje, Nima Dorje, Ailita Eddy, Forrest Flesher, Alex Hull, Chase Hyatt, Sabir Islam, Shreeman Nimmagadda, Samiksha Prakash, Lizzie Schmidt, Jacob Schneyer, Max Segawa, Veer Shetty, Star Su, Kevin Xu and Allison Young.
The following Pioneer students won medals in their event last weekend at the DECA State Conference in Grand RapidS
State Champions
Darren Austin - Business Services Marketing
Taylor Jahnke - Business Law and Ethics
Benjamin Brenner - Business Law and Ethics
Kevin Grupe - Business Law and Ethics
Ryan Murphy - Principles of Hospitality and Tourism

State Champion Alternates
Jason Matney - Accounting Applications
Sam Beck - Accounting Applications
Amanda Scull - Business Services Marketing
Joaquin de la Cerda Harlow - Restaurant and Food Service Management
Jeno Draganescu - Retail Merchandising
Sabina Aghasibayli - Leadership and Teamwork
Casey Warner - Leadership and Teamwork
Kristy Aidoo - Leadership and Teamwork
Deirdre Clein - Business Law and Ethics
Justice Kwak - Business Law and Ethics
Zubin Chandra - Financial Services
Grant Chen - Financial Services

Occupational Exam Winners
Isaac Ahuvia - Principles of Business Management
Ryan Murphy - Principles of Hospitality and Tourism
Taylor Jahnke - Business Law and Ethics

Case Problem Role Play Winners (FIRST PLACE IN EVENT)
Sam Beck - Accounting Applications
Amanda Scull - Business Services Marketing
Casey Binder - Business Services Marketing
Darren Austin - Business Services Marketing
Matt Paquin - Restaurant and Food Service Management
Sabina Aghasibayli - Leadership and Teamwork
Casey Warner - Leadership and Teamwork
Kristy Aidoo - Leadership and Teamwork
Sarah Keisling - Business Law and Ethics
Megan Fearday - Business Law and Ethics
Kevin Grupe - Business Law and Ethics
Deirdre Clein - Business Law and Ethics
Justice Kwak - Business Law and Ethics
Taylor Jahnke - Business Law and Ethics
Benjamin Brenner - Business Law and Ethics
Megan Roberts - Marketing Communication
Grace Anderson - Marketing Communication
Ana Vereen - Travel and Tourism
Chloe Corley - Travel and Tourism

DECA advisors are Kara Schulz and Craig Jobe.
Congratulations to eleventh grade Pioneer students Kevin Zhang and Aoxue (oh-SHAY) Tang for being chosen for the Ann Arbor Breakfast Club Outstanding Youth Award for 2011.
Allen Elementary students continue on their quest to reach their goal of 500,000 minutes read during March is Reading Month. The theme this year is "Read to Feed". All classes are on one of four teams the ducks, pigs, llamas or sheep. While each of these animals represent a children's literature series it also represents a type of animal that the winning team will purchase for Heifer International. Allen staff members are very proud that their students are "Reading to Feed" and giving back on a larger scale. A highlight of their March is Reading Month was a visit from local story teller Kathleen Wright. Kathleen is a teacher at Lakewood elementary and visited Allen school last week. She did an amazing job not only with her storytelling, but also with her focus on writing and personal narratives. AAPS has a great resource. Thanks Kathleen!
Last week, the Dicken Elementary Service Squad and Student Council joined together to collect donations to help the Red Cross recovery efforts in Japan. They sponsored a "Jammies for Japan" day, in which students and staff had the opportunity to donate $1 or more to the Red Cross, while participating in a pajama day in support of the cause. In one day, Dicken was able to collect $459 in donations! Special thanks go to Laura Carino, Dicken Service Squad advisor, as well as Jen Brogno and Cathy Cieglo, Dicken Student Council advisors, for coordinating this effort.
In just eight school days, the Abbot students raised $1884.01 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society! The students learned about the different programs their donations would support, and stepped up to help the cause! They stepped up in a huge way, and the Student Council was kept busy counting the totals. Students in Tracy Barrett's 5th grade class raised the most money. One very successful project was a lemonade stand on a cold Saturday in March! Mrs. Barrett's class will be the recipients of a pasta lunch donated by The Olive Garden. All students at Abbot are excited that their pennies will be used to help find a cure for this disease!
This year, the Slauson advisories competed and worked together to raise a school-record-breaking total of donations for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society during the annual Pasta for Pennies drive! The school total in donations was an incredible $3,531.14!!!! ELEVEN Advisories raised over $100, and 3 advisories (Kirsten Workman, Marilyn Turbin, and Gretchen Hahn) donated over $500, with the winning advisory raising a record $597.72. What an incredibly generous school community.
Congratulations to the Huron High School A Cappella and Bel Canto Choirs for their performance at the March 17 District Choral Festival. Both groups earned a Superior rating from the judges. In addition, A Cappella Choir received a rare perfect score from each of the judges.
Pioneer Band students received 55 first division and 10 second division ratings in SOLO performance, as well as 64 first division and 13 second division ratings in ENSEMBLE performance at the STATE Solo and Ensemble Festivals held on March 26.
The following Pioneer High School Band students participated in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association (MSBOA) STATE Solo and Ensemble Festival on March 26. Students prepared a solo and/or an ensemble and performed for an MSBOA Certified Adjudicator. Their performance was evaluated and a rating between "I" (Excellent) and "V" was assigned.
Sophomores through seniors who performed solos were also eligible to participate in Proficiency Examinations, requiring scales and sight-reading, as well as performance on their solo. The symbol (2) after a students name indicates that they had two events receiving that rating in the same category.
Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "I" (Excellent) rating for their performance of a SOLO were: Shreya Bahl, Halley Bass, Aaron Baum, Joella Bennett, James Boyd, James Campbell, Takeo Cauley, Katie Centurione, Iris Chen, Jae Hyun Choe, D’Arcy Cook, Katie Copp, Rennie Cotner, Jonathan Evans, John Fan, Kevin Flannagan, Charlie Geronimus, Celisa Gutierrez, Christopher Haddlesey, Christopher Hass (2), Andrew Hess, Leila Hofer, Skye Huerta, Aina Kelsaw-Fletcher, Anna Latterner, Olivia Lee, Siyan (Daniel) Li, Emily Liu, Wei Luo, Anna Mayne, Jack McKarns, Sowdeepya Nadimpalli, Daniel Olson, Henry Pakela, Julia Pakela, Elliot Polot, Norah Rast, Carly Renner, Michael Shapiro, Rebecca Shipan, Ken Simon (2), Antonia Smith, Jacob Swanson, Nick Terrell, Kevin Tian (2), Charles Wang, William Wang, Hope Wilson, Eric Yamakado, Tina Yu, Kevin Zhang, and Megan Zheng.
Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "II" (Good) rating for their performance of a SOLO were: Galen Burrell, Amelia Diehl, Peter Doyle, Nina Freter, Tyler Leach, Yuming Liu, Veronika Olszewski, David Shao, Austin Stout, and Thea Yagerlener.
Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "I" (Excellent) rating for their performance of an ENSEMBLE were: Halley Bass, Alex Baum, Riley Bean, Joella Bennett (2), Ben Bielajew, James Campbell (2), Katie Centurione, Katie Copp, Rennie Cotner, Alayna Coverly (2), Jonathan Evans (2), John Fan, Kevin Flannagan (2), Alex Ginsberg, Megan Glanville, Christopher Haddlesey, Christopher Hass, Andrew Hess, Leila Hofer, Conor Howe, Kevin Jiang, Konstantin Kecman, Simmon Kim, Christopher Landau, Anna Latterner, Harry Lee, Wei Luo, Hannah Lynn, Zach Marentay (2), Andrea Martin, Anna Mayne, Jordan McKay, Veronika Olszewski, Henry Pakela, Julia Pakela, Sara Park, Elliot Polot, Norah Rast, Linda Relson, Tim Rittinger, Natalie Roll, Michael Saunders, Kaylee Schonsheck, Michael Shapiro, Ken Simon, Gina Son, Mario Sulaksana, Jacob Swanson, Nick Terrell, William Wang, Hope Wilson (2), Ted Xiao, Eric Yamakado, Angela Yang, Tina Yu, Kevin Zhang, and Alan Zhou.
Pioneer High School Band students receiving a "II" (Good) rating for their performance of an ENSEMBLE were: Meera Desai, Jae Jung, Hyeyoung Kim, Yeonghyun Koh, Jesse Lemons, Anna Mayne, Manasseh McClair, Terralyn Parks, Josh Sherick, Dana Shin (2), Stephanie Terrell, and Maria Ten Brink.
On Saturday, March 19th, five-time Grammy winning electric bassist Victor Wooten came to Community High School to teach a master class. Over 140 studnets attended (primarily students from the co-host jazz bands of Community, Pioneer and Huron). Mr. Wooten surprised all by bringing along brothers and band members Joseph Wooten (pianist with the Steve Miller Band) and guitarist Regi Wooten. The Victor Wooten Band performed, invited some of our students to play with their band, and invited a few of our jazz combos to perform for them. The planned one hour class turned into a nearly three hour, life changing experience. Mr. Wooten is the bassist in Bela Fleck and the Flecktones, and has also recorded and /or performed with Bruce Hornsby, The Dave Matthews Band, Chick Corea, Branford Marsalis, Stanley Clarke, Marcus Miller, and Prince.
The Community High Jazz Combos also took top honors at the Western Michigan Jazz Invitational Saturday, March 12. Six combos participated, and all played beautifully. Five outstanding combos were selected as winners from the festival, including two of Community High's groups -- "BlueTruth" and "Maximum Will." "Maximum Will" was selected as the overall winner of the festival, and was honored to play in the big evening concert in front of a packed house. They brought the house down with fiery, heartfelt passion! ("Maximum Will" has had quite a run in the past few months. They were selected as the winner at the University of Michigan Jazz Festival last month, played the opening charity gala for the Detroit Auto Show in January, and performed at a party at William Clay Ford III's home.) Jack Wagner is the Community High Jazz Director. The following students were named as "Outstanding Performers" at Western for being standouts as soloists and group members:
From Maximum Will: Will Smith, Max Hully, Max Brown, Aidan Cafferty, Don Gozzard and Daniel Lee.
From BlueTruth: John Schneider, Jordan Vale, Ryan Shea, Paul Smith, Adam Olszewski and Erez Levin.
From Standard Deviation: Dakota Denison, Josh Fendrick, Jordan Siden, and Kyle Morrison.
From The Roaring Plenties: Kyle Morrison, Adlai Reinhart, and Adrian Koch.
From Fo Mo: Daniel Lee, Dan Sagher, Ryan Shea
From Altered Dominance: Dakota Denison.
Congratulations to all our music students who participated in Bands in Review this past weekend. The event was wonderful as usual. Thanks to all the staff members who worked very hard to make it a smooth and organized event. Great job everyone.
Kamilah Carter Pioneer HS senior earned first team All State Basketball for the State of Michigan girl hoops.
Many thanks to the Bryant staff who invited me to their volunteer recognition ceremony. It was a pleasure to be asked to participate and the staff did a great job of showing their excellent volunteers how much they are appreciated.

Robert Allen
Interim Superintendent