MPSConnect is a convenient communications tool for you to connect with me. Every message comes to my desktop. Either I or another MPS staff members will do all we can to reply to your message within the next work day.
Michael E. Sharrow, Superintendent
MPSConnect Link: https://www.midlandps.org/content2/706
December 20, 2021 Volume 9 - Edition 21
Superintendent Communiqué
Midland PS District Vision Statement
Lead with respect, trust and courage.
Ensure an equitable, collaborative and inclusive culture.
Enable all to achieve success.
From Midland Public Schools Students and Staff ...
We wish you many smiles and great memories this holiday season and
a 2022 filled with health, happiness and peace.
Hope smiles from the threshold of the year to come,
Whispering "it will be happier." Alfred Lord Tennyson
MPS DECEMBER DATES:
Wednesday, December 22 -- HALF DAY FOR STUDENTS
December 23-31 -- NO SCHOOL--HOLIDAY BREAK
December 24, 27, 30 & 31 -- MPS ADMINISTRATION CENTER CLOSED
Monday, January 3 -- CLASSES RESUME
DECEMBER SHINING STARS
Congratulations to these two Midland Public Schools staff members for being named December Shining Stars.
Melissa Ahearn, Adams & Siebert International Baccalaureate Primary Years Programme Coordinator
Mary Hamilton, Chestnut Hill Elementary Paraprofessional
Ms. Ahearn & Ms. Hamilton will receive their Shining Stars at tonight's Board of Education Meeting.
Thank you to both of these very deserving Shining Stars for making MPS a better place for students!
Melissa Ahearn
Mary Hamilton
Chemics Reach Out -- OXFORD STRONG
Last week, the Midland High School student body sponsored an OxfordStrong day to show support for the Wildcats of Oxford High School as they continue to heal from the tragic events of November 30. The Chemic student body & staff gathered after school on December 15 to take a photo to share on social media. Under the guidance of MHS Band Director, Eric Attard, the Chemics also played, sang, and recorded the Oxford High School fight song to share with the Oxford Community. Over 80 schools from across the United States have shared their student musicians performing the fight song after Oxford High School Band Director Jim Gibbons and Oxford Middle School Band Director Brad Schmaltz shared the sheet music for the fight song on social media after being contacted by a band director wanting to express love and support but didn’t know how to do so. This was a tangible way to show the community that schools across the nation are standing with Oxford High. A quote from MHS Principal Schurman, Just another fabulous representation of Chemic Pride--taking care of and sending love out.
Twitter link: https://twitter.com/ChemicsLead/status/1472924138570498058
Woodcrest Wolverines & Chopsticks
Last week, students in Mr. Rajewski and Mrs. Verdusco's kindergarten classes learned how to use chopsticks from their Mandarin Chinese Teacher Jingcheng Wang.
The students enjoyed getting the feel for holding chopsticks and practiced using them to pick up marshmallows. The students had fun experiencing Chinese culture.
Siebert Elementary Spreads Holiday Cheer in the Community
Ms. Morden's 5th grade class at Siebert Elementary made and sent Christmas cards to residents in a local nursing home.
In the words of Principal Schroll,
Just another example of why it is a great day to be a Bulldog!
Woodcrest Students Assemble 102 Birthday Kits
The Woodcrest kindergarten classes held their annual, “Grinch Day” and took action to give back to our local community during their PYP unit with the central idea: People buy and trade for things they need and want. The kindergarten classes were able to collaborate by gathering donations and working to assemble 102 birthday kits to give to local outreach organizations like Shelterhouse and Emergency Food Networks of Midland County. The students' hearts grew three times larger on Grinch Day by helping make a difference in our community and providing birthday kits for all children regardless of circumstances.
The first graders at Woodcrest connected their PYP Unit, Celebrations and traditions connect people, to the kindergarten action. The first-grade students helped create birthday cards for the Grinch Day birthday bags. They used their knowledge of symbols to decorate the birthday cards.
HH Dow High DECA
On December 16, 119 members of Dow High DECA competed at the District Competition held at SVSU. Students competed in the areas of Finance, Hospitality and Management. Students took a comprehensive test in their subject area and presented a role-play to the judge. 49 students received a test medal, 78 students received a role play medal and 96 are moving on to the State Competition to be held in March.
Here is a link to the entire article that includes the students' names: https://www.midlandps.org/docs/district/depts/10/Documents/DECA_Results_Districts21.pdf
Congratulations to all of the Charger DECA members who participated in the District Competition and best wishes to the 96 Chargers who qualified to move on to the State Competition.
DECA is an international student organization that promotes the development of business and leadership abilities among its members via academic conferences and competitions. Its goal is to educate and train rising leaders and entrepreneurs in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management disciplines.
MHS continues to seek ways to be inclusive and recognize that diversity truly is a strength
A committee of the Midland High Student Council is dedicated to recognizing holidays and events of cultural importance for members of our community.
Their efforts began with social media posts and announcements about the difference between cultural appreciation and cultural appropriation. Some of their messages and posts are below:
Learning to understand a culture that is different from your own is so important in becoming a global citizen and leader. An example of cultural appropriation would be purchasing a piece of jewelry or clothing that may have important cultural significance to a certain culture, but simply using it as a fashion statement. An example of cultural appreciation would be purchasing a piece of jewelry or clothing directly from creators and then taking the time to learn the significance behind the item and how it should or shouldn't be used.
Hanukkah, which means dedication, is the eight-day Jewish celebration. It is also often called the Festival of Lights. This holiday commemorates the triumph of a band of rebel Jews who reclaimed their temple from the Greek-Syrians. Hanukkah is often celebrated with the lighting of the menorah, traditional foods, games and gifts. Jews typically recite blessings during the lighting of the menorah and display it prominently in a window as a reminder to others of the miracle that inspired this holiday. Traditional Hanukkah foods are fried in oil like the potato pancakes and jam-filled donuts they enjoy. Other Hanukkah customs include playing with four-sided spinning tops called dreidels and exchanging gifts.
The committee has also educated the Chemic student body about the festival Diwali, one of the major religious festivals in Hinduism, Jainism, and Sikhism, most often celebrated in India.
This past week the student body learned about Kwanzaa, an African American and pan-African (relating to all people of African birth or descent) holiday, which celebrates family, community and culture. It was created in 1966 by Dr. Maulana Karenga, a professor of Africana Studies. Kwanzaa is a seven-day cultural festival, which begins Dec. 26 and ends Jan. 1. It joins communitarian values and practices of Continental African and African-American Culture. As part of this holiday, students and staff were invited to participate in a Kwanzaa tradition. The tradition is to state what they feel keeps their community at peace and then Kwanzaa participants light a candle. Students were invited to decorate a paper bag stating what they believe keeps our school at peace. The bags were displayed in the main hallway on Thursday morning with an electric candle inside the bag.
The MHS Student Council sponsored a Mobile Food Pantry at Midland High School in November in collaboration with the Midland County Emergency Food Pantry Network.
The students raised the $1,200 that was necessary to purchase the goods by collecting donations from the community at MHS football games.
Through the generous support of the community, MHS was able to serve 132 families, representing 280 individuals. Sixty volunteers (almost all Chemic students) served 15,313 pounds of food purchased from the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. The free distribution included eggs, milk, juice, frozen meat, fresh fruits and veges.
Thank you to all who donated to this event that helped to serve those in need in our community.
Chemics Helping Chemics
The Midland High student body collected donations of money and gifts to provide Christmas gifts and necessities to Chemic families that needed a helping hand this holiday season. Because of the generosity of the Chemic family (including students, staff, and community members), gifts and essentials (including groceries and gas) were collected for eight families totaling 38 people.
Thank you to the Student Leadership classes that served as elves by helping to organize and wrap the many gifts!
Congratulations to these hard-working educators who, while teaching full-time at Midland PS, earned their Master's Degrees from Central Michigan University this past Saturday (12/18).
Congratulations to ... (left-to-right)
Ashley Kling, Chestnut Hill Elementary Teacher
Jessica Renfro, Plymouth Elementary Teacher
Jessica Kustra, Spanish Teacher
Allison Klykken, Art Teacher
Kali Lavalla, Plymouth Elementary Teacher
Midland PS 2nd Semester Schools of Choice
The 2nd Semester Schools of Choice Application Window is open now until the end of the day on December 22.
Applications can be found here https://www.midlandps.org/content/guide-to-enrollment
Applicants will be notified regarding the status of their application via email no later than December 30.
Contact Becci with Schools of Choice questions: longstrethra@midlandps.org
We name MPS Shining Stars every month during the school year. If you know of an MPS team member who goes above and beyond to make MPS a better place for students, please consider nominating them for a Shining Star. Here is the link to the nomination form:
https://www.midlandps.org/Content2/shining-star-nomination-form
Clean Energy Incentive Payment
As we reported in last week's Communique, when we asked the Midland PS taxpayers to approve the 2.95 mills bond in November of 2015, one of the major goals was to improve energy efficiency District-wide. This past week, Consumers Energy presented to MPS Associate Superintendent Brian Brutyn a check for $306,219 from their Clean Energy Programs. This rebate was only possible because of the facility upgrades to MPS buildings since 2015 using bond funds. Thank you MPS taxpayers for making this energy-saving district-wide possible!
Thank you to Tractor Supply Company in Midland for donating various welding materials to the Midland Public Schools' welding program recently. These materials will be used as the students in this hands-on MPS CTE program learn and fine-tune their welding skills. For many students through the years, this MPS training has given them the foundation to turn their skill and passion into a successful career involving the welding trade.
The MPS Welding program teachers are TJ Carey and Chris Wall.
The Great Lakes Bay Regional Alliance has announced the launch of the next-generation STEM Passport in the form of a digital app. The app is a great resource for parents, teachers and caregivers to access information about current STEM-based activities and events in the region!
The Great Lakes Bay Region STEM Passport is a learning resource for 19 different hands-on, dynamic STEM activities in the community. To date, the STEM Passport has reached over 77,000 students, fueling the next generation’s curiosity and involvement in STEM activities. For more information, here is the link:
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We hope you've had an opportunity to check out our MPS Student & Community Flyer Boards recently. New fun opportunities for students are coming in all the time. Currently, you will find info regarding the DHS Orange & Grapefruit Fruit Sale (orders accepted through 1/14/22), Chippewa Nature Center opportunities and lots, lots, lots more! Here are the MPS Flyer Board links:
Student Flyers:
https://sites.google.com/midlandps.org/studentflyers/
Community Flyers:
In this space each week, we include fun events and happenings around the District that MPS families and community members may like to attend. If you have any questions about these events, please call the school office. Phone numbers for all of the school offices are located on the District Details page of this Communique.
Here are some upcoming events in the District:
December 20: Northeast 6th Grade, Chestnut Hill, Plymouth and Central Park Choir Concert
December 20-22: High School Exams
December 22: 1/2 day of school
December 22: End of Marking Period 2 & End of 1st Semester
December 23-31: No School -- Holiday Break
December 24, 27, 30 & 31 -- MPS Administration Center Closed
Looking Ahead:
February 1: 2022-23 Kindergarten Round-Up at All MPS Elementary Schools
March: Dow High Drama is presenting The Sound of Music as their spring musical
May 25: High School Graduation at Dow Diamond (DHS @ 4:00; MHS at 7:00)
May 26: Rain Date for High School Graduation
From Goran Persson ...
"Let our New Year's resolution be this: We will be there for one another as fellow members of humanity, in the finest sense of the word."