This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

June 17, 2011

This Week’s Good News!

• It is hard to believe that this is the last day of the 2010/2011 school year and the last edition of “This Week in the Ann Arbor Public Schools” for this school year as well as my last issue as Interim Superintendent.  It has been an extraordinary year for me and I am grateful for all of the encouragement and support that I have received from the staff, parents and community members during my time as Interim Superintendent.  It was good for me to have a different perspective and I have gained a renewed appreciation for the jobs that you all do, every day, and I want to thank you for your hard work and dedicated service to our students, their families and our community.  This has been another successful school year.  Great job everyone!
• I begin with some bittersweet news.  As many of you have heard, Lee Ann Dickinson-Kelley is retiring from the Ann Arbor Public Schools after 38 years of dedicated service.  Although she wanted to just slip away without any fanfare, it would not be right to let her go without recognizing at least some her accomplishments that have benefited our district and thanking her for the excellent leadership and service she has provided throughout her years with us.
  Lee Ann began her career with the Ann Arbor Public Schools as a teacher consultant at Northside Elementary School.  Her next assignment was teaching Language Arts/World Cultures at Forsythe Middle School where she stayed for 12 years before moving into administration.  She served as Principal of Pittsfield and then Angell Elementary schools then advanced into central administration as Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Education.  During this past school year, she has served as the Deputy Superintendent for Instructional Services. I am especially grateful for the time, energy and thoughtful counsel she has demonstrated in the Deputy position.  Her presence has made my job as Interim Superintendent much more manageable and I will be forever grateful for her assistance.
  Whatever Lee Ann takes on, she gives it her all and always keeps a strong focus on what is best for students.  She was instrumental in implementing the Balanced Literacy program for the primary grades many years ago and has overseen its expansion into the higher grades along with other reading intervention strategies.  She chaired a committee that developed a food allergy handbook that has received national recognition and accolades.  She has always recognized the importance of early childhood development programs and was instrumental in getting the Preschool and Family Center built, which opened in 2006.  Two years ago, she brought Spanish language instruction, beginning in grade three, to all elementary students.  In addition, she developed a humanities strand as part of the elementary program and brought in enrichment coordinators for each elementary cluster.  She also was responsible for administering and reporting of state and federal grants as well as coordinating, designing and reporting on School Improvement Plans.  She did all this in addition to her day-to-day duties as an administrator and manager.  She is an extraordinary educator, visionary and leader.  We will need about three people to replace her.
  Lee Ann is about to become the grandmother of twins and is looking forward to spending more time with her family.  On behalf of the Ann Arbor Public Schools I want to thank her for all that she has given to our district for the past 38 years.  She has been a pleasure to work with and her efforts have been tremendous and their effect immeasurable and far-reaching.  I don’t know if we can ever thank her enough.  Lee Ann, we will miss you and send you our best wishes for peace and happiness in this next chapter of your life.
• I would also like to thank the members of the Cabinet for their support and guidance during the past year.  We are fortunate in this district to have such good, competent, thoughtful and caring people working for us.  They all were a tremendous help and I appreciate all they do in service to our district.  My appreciation goes to:
  Sara Aeschbach, Director Rec & Ed
  Elaine Brown, Assistant Superintendent for SISS
  David Comsa, Assistant Superintendent for HR & Legal Services
  Joyce Hunter, Assistant Superintendent for Secondary Ed/CTE
  Jane Landefeld, Director Student Accounting & Research
  Liz Margolis, Director of Communications
  Randy Trent, Director of Physical Properties
  Ruth Williams, Interim Assistant Superintendent for Elementary Ed.
  I also want to recognize and thank Ruth for coming out of retirement to help us through the past year.  She did an excellent job and her service is very much appreciated.  I also wish her all the best as she returns to retired life.
  I also want to recognize and thank Nancy Hoover, Director of Finance, who took on some of my responsibilities as Chief Financial Officer and did as great job as well.
  Behind every successful administrator, is an even better assistant/support person.  I want to recognize and thank JoAnn Emmendorfer, Executive Assistant to the Superintendent, and Amy Osinski, Executive Assistant to the Board of Education, for the outstanding support they have provided to me as Interim Superintendent.
  And… There are still great things happening in our schools.
• The Detroit Tigers would like to congratulate Jack Scheel (Pioneer High School baseball player) on his invitation to this year’s High School All-Star Game at Comerica Park. It is truly a great honor to be a part of this event.  The game will be played June 21 at 7:00 p.m.
• In its fourth year, Tappan's Enough! Club has worked to raise awareness and money for a local, a national, and an international organization.  They raised $2000 for Alpha House (a local organization serving the homeless population of Washtenaw County), over $600 for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, and $5000 to build a clean water system in Kenya in the same location as the school they raised money to build last year.
  Free the Children, the largest organization of children helping children in the world, has noted the Enough! Cub's achievements and honored them with the Big Dreamers Award.  This award is given to groups which are "committed, creative, and determined to change the world."  It comes with $5000 which the Enough! Club will use to continue to support the same community in Kenya.  This time the money will be spent on health care needs.
  The Enough! Club and the Tappan community understand the value of and joy in working to make a more equitable and fair world in which all children are given the resources they need to flourish.
• Home Building teacher John Birko sent the following reminder: “Our AA Student Building Industries Program (Home Building) Open House is Sunday June 19, from 1 till 5 PM at 2370 Earl Shaffer Court.  The house looks great and we have had great senior help returning for three weeks to help complete all the details.  I hope you can stop by to see your students’ finished product.   It truly has been a great year and I am so very proud of our young people and all they have accomplished.“
• Kelsey Boes, a 2010 Huron graduate, will have a crossword puzzle published in the New York Times next Tuesday (June 21, 2011).  Kelsey and Huron math teacher Pete Collins, worked on it for over a year.  Congratulations to yet another River Rat made good!
• At Clague Middle School our motto is “to live in service to the community”. The 8th grade orchestra put this into action this last weekend with seven different service projects. Students worked hard to organize themselves around a common definition of “community”, and took charge contacting various organizations and venues to perform, as well as preparing 30 minutes of music for performance. The students brought their love of music to the Ann Arbor Community, touching many through their music, and also raising close to $800 toward a variety of service organizations. A hearty congratulations goes to these students for their efforts and for sharing their gifts with the world:
  June 10, 2011: Lane Lesko, Joel Christman, Trevon Henderson, Srikar Chiravuri, & Evan Sanfield performed at a patio party at the Ann Arbor City Club and raised $500 toward the Ann Arbor Autism Foundation.
  June 8, 2011: Alissa Ardnt, Christina Daniels, Maria Bonvicini, Danielle Mitroi, Allen Chang, Andrew Hiyama, Thisara Wijesundera, & Alex Teixeira performed at Glacier Hills Retirement Home, for the Memory Care Unit. This group brought joy and beauty into the lives of the residents, and left with many heartfelt thank-you’s from the residents and their caretakers.
  June 12, 2011: Evan Beaudry, Luke Misek, Artem Saakov, Luke Thompson, Colin Sabor, Thai-Binh Nguyen, David Cui, & Kevin Etchill also played at a retirement home at St. Josephs Hospital called Huron Woods. The students did a great service to the residents living there, and received many compliments on their playing.
  June 11, 2011: Chihiro Kakishima, Joie Li, Emily Johnson, Robert Taylor, Natalie Potter, Thisara Wiejesundera, Christina Daniels, and Alissa Ardnt played at Kerrytown and “busked” for donations to a relief organization working with the victims of the Tsunami and Nuclear Disaaster in Japan. They raised $100 toward this organization, while playing for a very appreciative audience of Farmer’s Market patrons.
  June 10, 2011: Karl Cai, Benjamin Chiang, Luke Cheng, Dallan Roan, Jeremiah Joslin, and Conrad Pan played at the Ice Cream Social at King Elementary School. After trying unsuccessfully for weeks to find a time to play at Ann Arbor Hospice, they decided that playing at the ice cream social would be a good “plan B”. The King community loved having the students play, and it was great fun for everyone.
  June 12, 2011: Claire Fishman, Kimya Kamouneh, Arkadia Pereklita, Nick Radant, Shwetha Rajaram, Stephen Philippou, Madeline Whitehorn, Alyssa Dansel, Malini Dasgupta, Lucy Jiang, and Shivani Joshi played at the Artisan’s Market (where the Ann Arbor Farmer’s market is on Saturdays). The students played in chilly, windy weather, and managed a good crowd. This group raised $161 for a school in Meru, Kenya that is beginning a string instrument program. The school is made up primarily of students who are orphans and live in poverty.
  June 12, 2011: Torianna Johnson, Sarah Dixon, Brianna Eccleston, Mia Morris, & Kaitlin Sheets played a wonderful concert for a small early dinner crowd at Silvio’s pizzeria, on North University. Although it was a very small crowd, the students did raise $10 to go toward the Susan B. Komen breast cancer awareness foundation.
• Pittsfield fifth grade teacher Jenny Barcelata was recognized by her colleagues and Ann Arbor.com for her perseverance and dedication in encouraging and assisting her students to each publish a book this year.  The students were typically daunted by the enormity of the project but with the encouragement of their teacher and family, all were able to complete and publish a story.  They, and their teacher, are all proud of their accomplishment.
• The highly acclaimed local "jam band" the MadPodz played a benefit concert at Ann Arbor Open on May 4th.  They played an appealing mix of R&B, soul, rock, and hard jazz to a full house in the school auditorium. $1,300 in proceeds went to the Vocal and Instrumental Music programs at Ann Arbor Open.
• Thanks again to everyone for all of your hard work this school year.   Best wishes to all for a happy and restful summer vacation.