Celebrating our Teachers
This week has been dubbed National Teacher Appreciation Week. On behalf of the WLPS Board of Education, I want to extend my sincere appreciation to our teaching staff for their efforts in developing the young minds of our community’s young people. It is a privilege to work with the teachers in this district.
Here is a short list of the cool stuff teachers do that I had the opportunity to experience from last week to the end of this one:
- Ms. Jakrzewski helped her colleagues and students put together a really cool playground music video, even producing a track for it. (I even got a part.)
- Ms. Taylor’s Sports Management class and Mr. O’Connell’s middle school math class coordinated a “field day” complete with cross-curricular fun. That’s right – math and fun together.
- Ms. Lemons introduced her chemistry students to household chemicals by using her laboratory and connecting real-life applications with science concepts.
- Ms. Otterman, Mr. Withers, Ms. Lyons, and Ms. MacDonald planned the first-ever trip to Mackinaw Island for the 3rd and 4th grade.
- Ms. Morton wrote and received a WLFEE grant so our ECC staff could take our preschool students to the Cranbrook Science Museum for two days this week.
- Ms. Conzelman coordinated a trip to the University of Michigan for her CBI students to participate in a Fun Run.
- Ms. Huddleston crafted a lesson in her AP Lit class using Speed Dating as a tool to thoroughly engage our high school students in literary characters.
This is truly just a snapshot of a few days in our school year. However, it is so indicative of the work going on in Whitmore Lake classrooms. I love it. It makes me proud, so I want to tell as many people as I can that every day is a great day to be a Trojan! If you feel the same, share with your neighbors who might not know what our incredible teachers do for the children of Whitmore Lake. Sharing their talents is the best way to show your appreciation.
New Chicks on the Block
We had a few new additions to the Trojan family this week at WLES. Ms. Sloan and her second-grade class successfully hatched 10 chicks after patiently waiting 21 days after the eggs were placed in the incubators.
Students began by discussing what they knew about chicks and what they were wondering about posting their thoughts on the walls in the classroom as well as coming up with possible names. Then the class did an “egg lab” where students cracked an egg to explore what was inside. They found out that beyond the shell there is a membrane to help keep germs from getting to the growing chick. They found the air pocket and learned that the yolk and egg white help give the chick the nutrition it needs to grow.
“Students gained so much knowledge about eggs and chickens, which for some had only been scrambled eggs and grilled or crispy nuggets!” Ms. Sloan shared. “I think it’s great that they know where some of their food comes from, have learned so much new vocabulary, and have a different understanding of life cycles. They really grasp this knowledge from experiencing it first-hand,” she added.
All the equipment and material for this project-based learning opportunity was funded by a Whitmore Lake Foundation for Educational Excellence (WLFEE) grant and the eggs were donated by a local small homestead farm.
Ms. Sloan plans on doing this project every year with a grand-plan of having a student-run chicken farm at the school where all profits of selling the eggs would be donated back to WLFEE to fund additional projects at the school. “Coop, farm market, the whole shebang,” she said. For now, the chicks born this year will be sold to a local farm and their profits will be donated to Project Playground: $50k for Play.
Join us in welcoming Pip, Tulip, Freckles and the rest of the chicks to the Trojan family.
Project Playground Update
Thanks to another successful matching Monday lead by our WLPS Staff, a Lowe’s Toolbox for Education grant for $5,000 (thanks to Heidi Roy-Borland for submitting the successful application), and a Hungry Howies fundraiser underway, we are at a total of $32,384 raised for our new playground! We will be installing the playground this summer, so stay tuned for details on that, as it will be a community build.
Meanwhile, we have a large fundraiser event for Project Playground coming up tomorrow evening at Whitmore Lake Elementary School called the WLFEE Zumbathon and Silent Auction. From 6:30 p.m.-8:30 p.m. a Live DJ and 15 Zumba instructors from around the state are volunteering their time to provide a 2 hour fitness party. Our students at WLHS got a taste of what the event will be like yesterday. You can check out some video footage of their Zumba class on our Facebook page HERE.
If Zumba isn’t your thing, I still highly encourage you to come check out the silent auction and prizes. Over $3,500 items are up for grabs, including four Disney Hopper passes with a starting bid of $175. The auction and raffles will close at 8 p.m.
You can buy your tickets for the Zumbathon HERE. Advanced tickets are $10 for students, $15 for everyone else and then $20 for everyone at the door.
We look forward to putting another large dent in Project Playground: $50k for Play.