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Our Schools Connect with us 

Caps off to you, MPS 2017 Graduates! We wish you all the very best!

MPS Connect/www.midlandps.org 

MPS ROBOTICS TEAMS COMPETE WITH TEAMS FROM AROUND THE WORLD! The Dow High Robotics Team 2619, The Charge, and the Midland High Robotics Team 5509, Like A Boss, competed at the FIRST Robotics World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri April 26-29 with over 400 teams, including four other teams from the Great Lakes Bay Region. For the competition, the teams were divided into six Divisions with 68 teams in each Division. The winners of each Division then competed on the “Einstein” field for the overall Championship title. In addition to participating in their competition matches in St. Louis, team members also attended educational conferences, visited interactive sponsor and college displays, and interacted with robotics students and coaches from all over the world. Midland High’s robot & drive team performed well to finish the qualification matches in the top 40% of robots competing in the Daly Division. ‘Like a Boss’ wraps up the whole 2017 competition season in the top 8% of robots in the world. Dow High’s team had an outstanding competition - they finished qualification matches in the top 10% of robots competing in the Tesla Division. The Charge became captains of the 6th place Alliance for the Tesla Division playoffs along with teams from Minnesota, New Jersey and Indiana. Their Alliance defeated higher ranked teams to advance to the Tesla Finals before being eliminated in the playoffs. The Charge comes home with the Tesla Division Finalist trophy and they wrap up the whole 2017 competition season in the top 2% of robots in the world.

Congratulations to The Charge and Like a Boss for a great 2017 Season!

(989) 923-5001 

A quarterly newsletter produced by the Midland Public Schools’ Superintendent’s Office Spring 2017 Volume 4, Issue 4

midps.org/youtube 

@MidlandPS

BOND CONSTRUCTION UPDATES … CENTRAL PARK ELEMENTARY  Building construction is 90% complete with finishing work is currently underway.  Outdoor learning construction has started. Thank you to Midland Area Community Foundation and all of the donors that made these exciting STEM outdoor learning and playing areas possible!  Building is on target to welcome more than 700 K-5 learners Fall of 2017. CENTRAL AUDITORIUM  Work has been done on mechanical, electrical, masonry and more. Work is underway for entrances, painting, equipment, seating, lighting, acoustical upgrades, enhanced AV and much more.  Auditorium is on target to open and host events Fall of 2017.

PLYMOUTH & WOODCREST FULL RENOVATIONS  Secure entrances, addition of new gym & cafeteria, retrofit current media center to STEM maker space, retrofit current gym to media center, HVAC upgrades, building controls & management system, electrical, painting, flooring, asbestos abatement, technology, infrastructure, exterior. improvements including roofing, pavement, sidewalks & more! WOW! SECURE ENTRANCES—ADAMS, CHESTNUT HILL, SIEBERT, JEFFERSON, NORTHEAST, HH DOW HIGH, MIDLAND HIGH  The scope of the secure entry construction work to be done at each individual school will determine when the work will begin—early or late spring or summer. Secure entrances will be complete at all ten of our schools as we kick off the 2017-18 school year!

THANK YOU, MPS VOTERS and THANK YOU TO OUR SCHOOL NEIGHBORS FOR YOUR PATIENCE DURING CONSTRUCTION!

Schools of Choice openings for the 2017-18 school year still exist in some grades at several Midland Public Schools’ buildings including our new STEM elementary school—Central Park Elementary. If you have questions or would like information call Jana Kullick at 923-5021.

Looking ahead to the 2017-18 school year, we are excited to announce that our 2018 Midland Public Schools’ Graduation Ceremonies will be held at the beautiful Dow Diamond on Thursday, May 24, 2018. We are excited to partner with the Great Lakes Loons organization for this memorable event!

Adams Elementary

Carpenter Street School

(989) 923-6037 website: midps.org/ade Dr. Linda Lipsitt, Principal

(989) 923-6411 website: midps.org/cre Mr. Jeff Lauer, Principal

The SVSU STEM Mobile Lab visited Adams for two days in April that culminated in an Adams Family STEM Night. Both were wonderful events! The twoday lab program was all hands-on and truly kept the interest of the students. They were able to look at water insects live and under microscopes, tested their saliva for PH and measured the energy they produced by turning a handle hooked up to a circuit. This was related to renewable energy. The last thing they saw was a cool drone developed by SVSU seniors that enables them to get water samples from lakes with up to 3 inches of ice through the use of its drill. Adams’ fifth graders participated in the Michigan Children & Youth Institute, 4-H Children’s Art Exchange with the People’s Republic of China. During this event, picture parents from the Midland Center for the Arts, Sarah Brandt and Kathy Joffre, shared artwork from students in China. Each Chinese child's picture told a story from that child's point of view about life today in China. Pictures ranged from favorite animals to Chinese writing and the Chinese New Year celebration. Each fifth grader then had an opportunity to create their own pieces depicting their view of life today. These will be sent to the Michigan Children & Youth Institute for consideration to be shared at an exhibition in China. It was a wonderful experience for the students and a great example of how miles may separate us but perspectives can be quite similar in the eyes of children. Third grade students are busy exploring in Project Lead the Way. Their exploration began with building simple machines and then drawing sketches of them. They then worked cooperatively to combine some of their simple machines into a compound machine designed to solve a challenge: in this case, saving a tiger trapped in a moat!

Spring is always an exciting time. There are so many wonderful things for our students to experience. Our classes have been on field trips to the Butterfly House, the Midland Center for the Arts, the Bradley House and many more. Many of these trips are thanks to the generosity of the Carpenter Street School PTO!! These trips are excellent opportunities to engage students in their curriculum in a real-life way! It brings the material to life! It is also an exciting time in Science curriculum as our teachers begin to pilot the Project Lead the Way materials that will be integrated into our STEM program at Central Park Elementary next year. From building a home for the three little pigs to studying sound through cup phones, students learn a lot in a fun and engaging way!! It is also a time to measure how we are doing as a school. Our state testing began just after Spring Break with our 5th graders, and our 3rd & 4th graders a few weeks later! The Michigan Student Test of Educational Progress (MSTEP) is given annually starting in the third grade. Results from this test are used to gauge the progress of students in schools, districts and the State. This is also a time when the district does the final reading screening and district assessment in Math and Language Arts. At Carpenter, we also give the NorthWest Evaluation Association (NWEA) test which is a standardized test that not only shows current performance, but also allows us to study student progress toward a statically calculated expected growth measure. It is very informative for staff and students. At the beginning of the year, it sets a growth goal for students. The students challenge themselves to meet this goal. If a student is not on track to meet their goal, teachers can implement interventions, and when they meet and often exceed their goal, we celebrate! As we enter May, we prepare for the final celebration for Carpenter Street School as an elementary building. After 90 years of serving students, staff and students are preparing to move to the beautiful new STEM building, Central Park Elementary. However, before we do, there are a few things to which we are looking forward. There are time capsules to be uncovered and viewed for the first time in a long while. There is our final school carnival! We are also planning a reunion of students and staff that are part of the Carpenter family. If that is you, please mark your calendar and plan to join us on June 9th from 5 pm – 7 pm to mingle, celebrate and tour this incredible building that has been such an important part of so many lives!

Chestnut Hill Elementary (989) 923-6634 website: midps.org/che Ms. Tracy Renfro, Principal

enjoyed a water cycle/weather presentation by WNEM’s own Bryan Bachman. CHE students high five Kurt Faust, Sneakerpalooza representative, as they enter the gym for the Sock Drive Assembly. Students collected 671 pairs of socks to be given out at the Sneakerpalooza event in August. Students were treated to several stories on April 11 by Mrs. Cheryl Levy, Storyteller. Kids Taking Action was the theme of the stories. Mrs. Levy used puppets and readers theater pieces to engage the students. Students enjoyed participating and had a great time listening to an amazing storyteller.

designed, created and tested board games focusing on

conversational questions in Spanish Class.

(989) 923-7112 website: midps.org/ele Ms. Shannon Blasy, Princi-

Students from Ms. Coon’s and Mrs. Westervelt’s class visited the Midland Center for the Arts. They used their knowledge of weight and balance to create moving art like Alexander Calder.

Second grade students

Fifth grade students

Eastlawn Elementary

Ms. Birge’s 4th graders dissected owl pellets and sorted the bones to make a skeleton. This project was part of the Surviving Plants and Animal Kits and part of the Sharing the Planet PYP Unit. Consumer Energy volunteers visited our 4th grade classrooms to teach the students how to conserve energy. The students in the pictures are making a circuit and acting out different energies.

Eastlawn’s impressive Jump Rope Team performs for their classmates. March was Reading Month! Students enjoyed many fun reading activities. Ms. Birge’s class brought favorite blankets and pillows to get comfy and READ! Eastlawn students set a goal to raise $500 for the Leukemia Research Foundation through the Pennies for Pasta Fundraiser. Students raised over $1600. The classroom who raised the most received a lunch from Olive Garden. Great job, Eagles!

H. H. Dow High has earned a silver medal for the fourth year in a row for Best High School in Michigan from U. S. News & World Report. Schools are ranked based on their performance on state-required tests and how well they prepare students for college. Congratulations, Charger staff and students!

Congratulations to this year’s Dow High National Merit Award winners Commended Students Michael J. Moore, John H. Morgan, Apoorva Ojha, Benjamin Price, Sean Pumford, Savanah J. Speaker, Christopher R. Szabo, Emily M. Wall, Madison G. Werries, Wade P. Winton Finalists Sara J. Kollig, Jenna R. Livingston, Aaron C. Reardon, Varun Shanker, Caroline J. Szabo, Richard E. Wall Detroit News Outstanding Graduate: Caroline Szabo has been chosen as the Detroit News Outstanding Graduate in the category of Athletics. Partnering with CATCH — Sparky Anderson’s Charity for Children — The Detroit News' Outstanding Graduates program recognizes some of Michigan's most remarkable young people. Students were selected on the basis of grades, test scores, honors, community involvement and a demonstrated ability in one of the academic areas.

H. H. Dow High School

Dow High wins A. H. Nickless Innovation Competition

(989) 923-5382 website: midps.org/dhs Dr. Steve Poole, Principal

2017 International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidates Senior International Baccalaureate Diploma Candidates will graduate on Thursday, May 25 at Northwood University’s Griswold Center. The 18 member class completed their Creativity, Activity and Service exit interviews on Friday, April 28th and began the IB examination season May 1. Graduating seniors include: Carter Musselman, Apoorva Ojha, Anna Sebaly, Anna Mylvaganam, Emma Eisenman, Nikhil Melgiri, Sean Clark, Molly LaHaie, Hannah Martin, Emily Wall, Maia Donahue, Carolina Donoso, Danny Kim, Bo Brueck, Nicolas Pereira, Maggie Schaller, Victoria Anaele (not pictured: Jack Mo) Dow High DECA recently returned from the International Conference in California and achieved outstanding results. The team of Adi Middha, Lauren Woods and Andrea Paternina were 1st place in the World for their Leadership and Teamwork event; Varun Shanker, Caroline Szabo and Sophi Pennex were in the top 10 in the World for the School-Based Enterprise competition; Sean Pumford was in the top 10 in the world for his occupational test and top 20 in the world for his case study. The Dow High DECA team ran a MDA 5K and received the Most Spirited Award. Congratulations to all DHS DECA members that attended! Midland Kiwanis Club: On May 1st, Midland Kiwanis Club held their 60th Scholarship Honors Banquet honoring the top 10% of the 2017 graduating class. Guest speaker for the evening was Mallery Thurlow, a graduate of Dow High (2005), who has founded and led the operations of The Haiti Foundation Against Poverty, working to alleviate the many problems experienced by those living in Haiti.

For the fourth year in a row H. H. Dow High won the A. H. Nickless Innovation Award. This prestigious award brings $20,000 to Dow High for STEM and offers $5,000 to each member of the team. There were 19 schools from the Great Lakes Area in the event. Winning H. H. Dow team members were: Aditya Middha, Brandon Zhu, Mitchell Hayes, Derek Yan and Megan Heydrick. Congratulations to Sarah Hechlik, this year’s H. H. Dow High Saginaw Valley Teacher of the Year Award recipient!

Journalism: Columbia Scholastic Press Association awarded the Update a Silver Crown for their outstanding work as a hybrid newspaper in March. H. H. Dow High was only one of three schools in Michigan to earn this award. The staff was also recognized with a Certificate of Merit in Headline Writing for News Publications, and senior Emily Collick was awarded a Certificate of Merit in Photography Portfolio for News Publications. Michigan Interscholastic Press Association recognized both the Update and the Charger yearbook staff for their work at the annual Spring Conference in April. The Update’s print edition took home its 22nd Spartan Award, the Charger yearbook earned a Gold Medal for the 2016 edition, and the Update Online received a Bronze Medal. Additionally, students were recognized for their individual work in the publications. A total of 84 awards were handed out between the staffs: 15 First Place, 9 Second Place, 16 Third Place, and 44 Honorable Mentions. The Michigan Interscholastic Press Association honored 15 outstanding high school seniors as members of its 2017 Student Journalist Staff, which included Dow High senior Maggie Schaller. The students represent the state’s top journalists among scholastic media outlets. Graduating seniors chosen for the Student Journalist Staff submit a portfolio of their work that is judged by a committee of student media advisers. MIPA also recognized six members of the Student Journalist Staff as All-MIPA Award recipients, the organization’s highest honor for student journalists. Senior Maggie Schaller represented the top students in their field for News Writing & Reporting. Senior Maggie Schaller was also a runner-up for the Detroit News CATCH Outstanding High School Graduate in the category of journalism. Group Photo: Back Row: Hailey Laplow, Olivia Drlik, Emily Collick, Kaley Niederstadt, Maggie Duly, Justin Sanderson, Baily Syring, Ben Zeitler, Lucas Shelton, Bo Brueck. Middle Row: Reece Leydorf, Regan O’Brien, Allie Bourelle, Sophie Baus, Kaitlyn Franks, Nicole Andriot, Anikka Thorson. Front Row: Kinsey Davis, Lydia Hershauer, Maddie Futter, Maggie Schaller, Kaylee Wasco, Christine Labby.

IB art show held at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio

Midland High School

On April 20, the IB Art programs from both high schools hosted a combined art show at the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio. These students completed all of the work for IB Visual Art testing. The exhibition was about a theme they picked and their personal connection to it. This show was the culmination of their art career as an MPS student. In total, 13 students exhibited their work. The capstone show is the exhibition portion of IB testing. Two-year students (HL) submit 8-11 pieces of work and one-year students (SL) submit 4-7 pieces. Students also complete a Process Portfolio that summarizes their sketchbook and a Comparative Study that compares 3 pieces of artwork from at least 2 different artists as the other portions of testing.

(989) 923-5181 website: midps.org/mhs Mr. Jeff Jaster, Principal

Chemics help feed Midland residents Midland High School was a food distribution site for the Food Bank of Eastern Michigan. Organized by members of Filling Midland’s Cup, part of the Emergency Food Pantry Network, and the MHS Leadership class, the event provided food to 286 families, totaling 848 people. Prior to the food distribution, Chemics collected close to 2,500 cans of tuna which was part of the 19,868 pounds total of food given out on April 22. Over the two-days of set-up and distribution, there were 155 volunteers, 93 of whom were MHS students and 21 were DHS students.

BPA heads to national competition After qualifying at the State Leadership Conference, 26 MHS students will be representing the State of Michigan in May at the National Business Professionals of America Leadership Conference in Orlando, Florida. Business Professionals of America is a dynamic youth organization which provides leadership and business opportunities for high school students and helps prepare them as they make decisions on their future careers. Students learn these skills by participating in a variety of business experiences which are designed to prepare them for a career in the workforce.

Over 1,000 eggs hidden at annual hunt The Chemic Easter Egg hunt has been held for the past nine years. Mrs. Jenifer Sisco started the event at her home, and as the participation grew, she moved it to Midland High. Over the years, there have been as many as 25 little Chemics that participate in finding over 1,000 candy-filled eggs each year. After the hunt, staff members have social time while their kids are given the opportunity to open their eggs, have a snack, and participate in a craft.

Drama department presents spring musical Shrek The Drama Department presented their spring musical Shrek on April 20th-22nd at Bullock Creek Auditorium. Director Megan Applegate, Music Director Daniel Farison, and Pit Director Anna Mamassian worked with over 100 students including cast, crew, and pit orchestra throughout a threemonth rehearsal schedule to put the production together. The show also highlighted the work of numerous parent and alumni volunteers who worked on the choreography, set, costumes and make-up. Cast members also visited four elementary schools (Woodcrest, Chestnut Hill, Adams, and Carpenter) to present parts of the show and illustrate arts opportunities in high school. As our final production at Bullock Creek, MHS Drama would like to thank Mr. Jason Tisdale and MPS administration for all of their efforts to help our program continue to thrive throughout the renovations at Central Auditorium.

SVL scholar athletes, teacher of the year recognized Ella Colbert has a 4.37 GPA while participating in four years of varsity cross country and track; serving as captain of both teams during her senior year. She is a three-time SVL All-Academic Award recipient. Greg Landis has a 4.43 GPA while participating in four years of football and baseball and three years of hockey. He has served as a captain for all three teams during his senior year. He is a member of the National Honor Society and has been named Academic All-State for football, hockey, and baseball. Both students are members of the National Honor Society and are involved in many other activities where they have received numerous honors. Ella will be attending the University of California at Berkley, and Greg will be attending Michigan State University. Ms. Melissa Toner graduated from Saginaw Valley State University earning a Bachelor’s degree in Business Administration and later from Grand Canyon University earning a Master’s Degree in Secondary Teaching. She has taught in the social studies department at MHS for the past 12 years. Ms. Toner has also served as the MHS Building Technology Instructional Leader (BTIL), class sponsor, representative for the District’s Teacher Communication Committee, MHS Beautification Committee member, and she has been a co-advisor for Psychology Club. Ms. Toner is an exceptional teacher who maintains high expectations for all of her students. She employs sound instructional strategies and is encouraging and engaging.

MHS by the Numbers 85 84 102 339

800

68

National Honor Society spring inductees Students registered to take IB exams in 9 subject areas Students registered to take AP exams in 19 subject areas Spring athletes, including 7 team managers Students on the honor roll with a 3.0 or better unweighted GPA for one or two semesters Students on the honor roll who earned all A’s for one or two semesters

Jefferson Middle School

Northeast Middle School

(989) 923-5873 website: midps.org/jms Mr. Ted Davis, Princi-

(989) 923-5772 website: midps.org/nms Mr. Dirk DeBoer, Principal

Larry Jacobs was Selected as the Detroit Pistons Game Changer of the year! He receives $10,000 to donate to the school of his choice. Tyler Hubbard recently held his CO2 car races. This is part of the World of Tech Unit he does with his classes. After reading the book, All Rise for the Honorable Perry T. Cook, the JMS 6th graders in Mrs. Swanson’s class wanted to know more. They immediately visited award-winning author Leslie Connor’s website and found they could write to her. Using their best cursive writing, they sent her their questions. Much to their surprise, “Miss Leslie,” as she asked them to call her, wrote back to each one of them. As a gift, she invited them to “chat” with her via Skype on February 15. The Jefferson Husky science olympiad team competed at Delta College recently. The team placed 3rd in the region. All members earned medals in various events.

Northeast Writer’s Club. Once a month these Northeast students go to the Alden B. Dow Home and Studio to draw inspiration for their writing and then share with their Northeast and Jefferson peers. Northeast students spent the year raising salmon from eggs and then released them into the river to increase the salmon population.

Northeast Art Honors Students spent afterschool time exploring and honing their art skills. Science Electronic and Communications Club spent the afternoon demolishing, exploring electronics, and identifying components.

Ms Kustra’s sixth grade Spanish class visited Plymouth Elementary

JMS had a great showing at the recent MSBOA District 5 All-Star Orchestra Weekend. In addition to being the largest group of orchestra students from a single school, they won their auditions to be first chair in four out of five sections of the ensemble. They rehearsed from 8 to 5 on Saturday and had a concert on Sunday.

to share their books with their Pioneer friends.

HUSKIES LOVE MATH! 



Math Counts JMS team of four (Jashvi Desai, Caleb Qiu, Andrew Zhou, and Andrew Gilbert) took 1st place and qualified for the State Competition on March 11 in Warren. Individually, Caleb Qiu took 3rd place, Andrew Zhou took 2nd place, and Jashvi Desai took 1st place.

The Annual Delta College Math Competition was held on March 18. Congratulations to the Jefferson Husky 2017 winners!

Northeast Spring Sports: Boys’ and Girls’ Track and Girls’ Softball.

Northwood University’s Basketball Team visited with the Northeast Rock afterschool program.

Plymouth Elementary

Siebert Elementary

(989) 923-7616 website: midps.org/pme Ms. Margaret Doan, Principal

(989) 923-7835 website: midps.org/sbe Mr. Paul Schroll, Principal

On March 2, Plymouth Elementary held their first Primary Years Programme Exhibition as a celebration of the fifth grade students' journey through the PYP process. Students prepared for this event for six weeks by working in small groups to explore a world issue or passion. These exhibits show the extended, in-depth research that students have accomplished as one of the six trans-disciplinary units. The overarching theme for Plymouth's Exhibition was How We Express Ourselves. During this process students also had the opportunity to work with a community mentor. As students began to develop an idea of what their project would be, the fifth grade team, Melissa Ahearn, Whitney Jacobs, Mark Naffie, and Mandy Swenberg, began to recruit mentors that shared a similar passion. The PYP Exhibition is a celebration of the PYP journey that this year's fifth graders began as second graders. It’s a celebration of how their thinking has changed and how they have become empowered to make a difference in both the local and global community. PYP Exhibition is a true example of students collaborating, researching, taking action, and becoming enthusiastic about learning. Not only is Exhibition a celebration for the students, it is also a celebration for the staff and Plymouth community. When reflecting back to 2013-2014, when the PYP journey started, Ellen Flegenheimer-Riggle, Plymouth’s PYP coordinator, realized that she has never seen a staff pull together and support each other as much as when Plymouth had their PYP consultant visit, the IB authorization and the 5th grade Exhibition. Ms. F-R said, “What’s the common thread that has brought our staff together and built a sense of community at Plymouth? It’s PYP.” Thank you to everyone that helped make this night a success. A special thank you goes out to these mentors: Thomas Ahearn, Ellen F-R, Barb McIntyre, Geri Stajdl, Linda Berryman, Kara Gallier, Michael Murphy, Chris Waha, Altha Bitler, Mandie Gallier, Anna Mylvaganam, Jackie Warner, Annette Bontrager, Barbara Jacques, Nicolas Pereira, Tyler Welch, Dana Carley, Travis Jones, Kevin Rathbun, Wendy Winters, Maia Donahue, Cassie Lambka, Michelle Rivard, Emily Duso, Paul McDonald and Maggie Schaller.

The SVSU STEM Mobile Lab visited Siebert on April 24 and all 3rd graders became river biologists for the day. Students studied water quality and analyzed many of the life forms associated with a healthy river ecosystem. Thank you, Saginaw Valley State University, for bringing this opportunity to Siebert!

Siebert students took action and made a positive difference in our community, state and world by working as a team to raise money for the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society. Siebert Student Leadership coordinated this service project.

Siebert teachers and Junior Achievement partnered again this year and students in all grades were “empowered to own their economic success!”

Siebert had six teams that participated in the 1st Written Battle of the Books Quest! While studying how humans have the ability to care for the world around them through our PYP unit, Sharing the Planet, Mrs. Lanphierd's 1st grade class brainstormed ways they could bring awareness to Earth Day and encourage others around them to keep the Earth clean and healthy. They came up with the idea of creating and hanging posters to encourage picking up after them-selves and others by throwing away litter and recycling paper and aluminum cans. The students got right to work writing down their messages and then went around the school hanging them near trash cans and recycling bins to bring awareness to keeping the school clean.

Woodcrest Elementary

Midland Public Schools

(989) 923-7940 website: midps.org/wce Mr. Jeff Pennex, Principal

600 E. Carpenter, Midland, MI 48640 www.midlandps.org (989) 923-5001

Dow’s Stem Ambassadors Help Fourth Graders Learn about Ultraviolet Light

STEM Ambassadors from Dow Chemical recently worked with fourth grade students at Woodcrest Elementary on the topic of ultraviolet radiation. The ambassadors piqued students’ curiosity by sharing their knowledge and also by helping students perform handson experiments. Thanks to the STEM Ambassadors’ efforts, students learned about how energy can be transferred by light, the dangers that ultraviolet radiation can present to humans, and ways for people to be safe in the sun. The hands-on experiences provided by the STEM Ambassadors helped students to make strong learning connections regarding the power of ultraviolet radiation and the importance of taking the appropriate precautions while having fun in the sun. First Grade Fire Safety First grade classes at Woodcrest enjoyed learning about fire safety from Firefighter Phil Hepworth, from the Midland Fire Department. Throughout this year, Firefighter Phil came to the first grade classrooms once a month, focusing on a different area of fire safety each time. Using a combination of the National Fire Protection Association’s Learn Not to Burn Program and Risk Watch, Firefighter Phil taught students important fire safety lessons. Students learned to: recognize firefighters as helpers, stay away from hot things that can hurt, “stop, drop and roll”, know the sound of your smoke detector, crawl below smoke, recognizing the dangers of medications and poisons found in homes, and how to report an emergency to 9 -1-1. Students were inquirers as they asked questions, made observations, and made connections to their own lives. On the final day with Firefighter Phil, students learned about the fire truck and its equipment and even took turns sitting behind the steering wheel. A big thank you goes out to our partners at the Midland Fire Department.

MIDLAND PUBLIC SCHOOLS’ STEM STRATEGIC PLAN and PROJECT LEAD THE WAY As you probably know, in late 2015 we launched the Midland Public Schools’ STEM Strategic Plan recognizing the need in our community, country and world for our students to have access to quality STEM learning opportunities throughout their K-12 learning experience. STEM education shapes the innovators, creators and designers of today and tomorrow. Here is the link to an overview of the MPS STEM Strategic Plan: https://new.midlandps.org/wp-content/uploads/ STEM-website-article.pdf A major component of the MPS STEM Strategic Plan is Project Lead the Way. PLTW empowers students to develop and apply in-demand, transportable skills by exploring real-world challenges. Through pathways in computer science, engineering and biomedical science, students not only learn technical skills, but also learn to solve problems, think critically and creatively, communicate and collaborate.

This past August, PLTW training began with 47 MPS staff members representing seven schools. Additional training opportunities have taken place for elementary staff members during the current school year through our partnership with the MSU Stem Center in Midland. Curriculum pilots are underway in several MPS elementary schools. Training for secondary teachers is scheduled to begin in the 2017-18 school year. We anticipate PLTW integration continuing in MPS schools during the 2017-18 school year with full integration complete during the 2018-19 school year. This truly is an exciting time for Midland Public Schools!

Midland Public Schools 2017 Board of Education: Angela Brandstadt, President Pam Singer, Vice President Scott McFarland, Secretary Patrick Frazee, Treasurer Lynn Baker, Trustee Brad Blasy, Trustee Mary Fredell, Trustee

Administration: Michael Sharrow, Superintendent Bob Cooper, Associate Superintendent Brian Brutyn, Associate Superintendent