1. Congratulations to our Students. We held the Henry Ford Early College Graduation on May 11 and the first Collegiate Academy Graduation on May 17. Students participated in a 5 year college/high school program in which they received an Associate Degree paid for by the School District in cooperation with Henry Ford College. In addition, a special guest speaker at the Collegiate Academy Graduation was our State Superintendent Mr. Whiston. I am very proud of our students and wish them all the best with their future endeavors and aspirations. I have known some of the students going back to their early elementary years at Salina Elementary School. It is a great time of year with all of the positive ceremonies that recognize our students.
2. My School Visits have continued into the final two months of the year. I have now completed over 300 visits to schools during the 15-16 school year. I believe that going to the buildings and providing support to teachers, administrators and parents in order to support a high quality of student learning is my top priority as Superintendent. On May 20 I went to Edsel Ford to participate in the student Mock Interviews to prepare them for college and beyond. I also attended the Long Elementary Recycling Fair.
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3. On May 16 we had our second pilot unannounced School Improvement Plan (SIP) visit. This time we went to Edsel Ford High School. It was an excellent visit as most of the data collected matched what we saw a month prior during our announced SIP visit. All Assistant Principals in the school district participated in this SIP visit as part of the leadership development program that is being led by Ms. Alie-Bazzi. Pictures below are from the Salina SIP visit earlier in the month. It was a great visit as well.
4. We held our last of 5 strategic plan meetings on May 10. We now have a draft mission, vision, revised core values and 6 separate draft action items. The strategic plan core planning team is now working with Dr. Wilmot to finalize the draft. We plan to send the final draft to the oversight committee in the near future. The process has been going very well with over 70 people involved including students.
5. On May 20 I attended the 25 plus Club Dinner with President Lane and Trustee McDonald. I addressed the group with a few brief words. The dinner pays tribute to our employees that have worked in the district for 25 or more years both current employees and retirees. It was a great event where we were able to honor our dedicated employees. I ran into many friends going back a number of years including Marlene Lewis who was on the committee that hired me as an Assistant Principal & Principal at Salina, Herm Boatin, Jim McConnell (who I have not seen in 18 years, we were on the social studies committee together as teachers), and Barb Cataldo among many others (I ran into Barb and Tom Cataldo in Sedona Arizona and the South Rim of the Grand Canyon earlier this year. Tom, provided me with a letter of recommendation when I was seeking a teaching position in 1996. A picture is included below).
6. Construction will occur at ASC this year so staff walked the streets to let our neighbors know. I was assigned to Dallas street. No one was around so I thought that I might as well take a selfie. Next time I think I need a selfie stick. Lol.
7. On May 19 I attended the Hubbard Ballroom Grand Opening with Congresswoman Dingell, Trustee McDonald, and Trustee Petlichkoff.
8. On May 19 I swore in the new PTA Council Board. Thank you to the Council and all PTA volunteers throughout the school district for their support of student learning.
9. Staff and Students participated in the Adray Golf Fundraiser that provides financial support for the Henry Ford College Education Foundation. Our team won the men’s scramble event(Jeff Burek, Tom Wall, Phil and I)by shooting a 57 ( or -15) under par. Trustee Guido’s team won the mixed division. The students from Edsel Ford and Dearborn High also did very well. Trustee McDonald attended the dinner event along with Rep. Darany. Principal Baughman was trying to get me in a picture wearing a Dearborn High Shirt while hugging Principal Casebolt at Edsel. Principal Casebolt did not fall for it though as he covered the emblem. The reason for that is Principal Baughman took a picture with me wearing an Edsel Shirt back in August of 2015 at the Tiger Game. The picture from August is below. Lol. My position is we are one district and all high school and DPS athletic wear is a good thing to showcase.
(August 2015 picture above with State Sup Whiston and Principal Baughman of Dearborn High.)
10. A picture below from the LAHC and Salina Elementary Health Fair.
11. Congratulations to all of the nominees and the winners from the Chamber of Commerce Teacher of the Year Award. The winning teachers for 2016 are May Mokdad-Cristarella of Lowrey Elementary School (pre-K through second grades), Mary Puente of Oakman Elementary School (third through fifth grades), April Kincaid of Unis Middle School, and Margarita Chavez-Franco of Edsel Ford High School.
Here is a link to a story in the Press and Guide. https://www.pressandguide.com/articles/2016/05/18/news/doc5739c8d0cdbf7551005231.txt
12. On May 12 I attended the Metro Bureau Annual Dinner with my wife, Trustee McDonald, Director Seeterlin and Executive Director Maysam Alie-Bazzi. The Metro Bureau provides administrators with outstanding support in the form of networking and seminars. I was named to the Superintendent Executive Board and Director Seeterlin serves on the Council of Chief Negotiators.
13. On May 12 during the day, I attended the Whitehouse Regional Meeting on New Americans. The Mayor, Board President Lane, Ms. Lila Amen, and many other leaders were present. It was a good meeting with a focus on supporting new immigrants and language acquisition. In addition, we discussed the Seal of Biliteracy that is offered to students in Dearborn.
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14. On May 12 several students and administrators joined the Chief of Police in front of the police department to promote traffic safety in Dearborn. I addressed the group along with Dearborn Students.
15. On May 10 we had the last of our Continuous Process Improvement Presentations. We created 8 teams overall and they all did a fantastic job. Cabinet and central administration will be reviewing all team recommendations during the month of June and possibly into July. The CPI process will be part of our Strategic Plan Moving forward. Congratulations and thank you to all of the teams that worked extremely hard to develop an effective CPI report.
16. Attendance at the Health Dearborn Coalition Meeting with Trustee Petlichkoff, David Mustonen, Lila Amen, Danene Charles and others. I addressed the group regarding the commitment that the school district is making to support their efforts.
17. The Mayor, Trustee McDonald, and I attended the Recycling Kickoff event at Bryant Middle School. Bryant and Long are piloting the model this year and we plan to expand throughout the district in the next year.
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18. My two Children and I attended the showing of the DuVall animation film from Ms. Doman and her Art class. We ran into the Mayor at the Event. When I was the principal at DuVall I used to take lots of photos with my children and loved attending this event among many other DuVall events.
19. We honored students and teachers with Vice-President Bazzi, Trustee Petlichkoff(Treasurer), and Trustee McDonald at the Superintendent Honors Night. I am the first sitting superintendent that was a recipient of the Superintendent honors night award going back to 2007 which is a result of my teaching years at Salina in 3rd grade and 5th grade from 1997-2002.
20. I attended the LAHC Scholarship banquet with Vice-President Bazzi, Trustee Hammoud, State Rep. Darany, State Superintendent Whiston, State Senator Knezek and many other dignitaries. LAHC awarded over $100,000 in scholarships to graduating students.
21. I attended the interfaith prayer celebration and said at prayer before the group at City Hall on National Prayer Day.
22. I golfed in the Dearborn High Booster Club Fundraising Event at Dearborn Hills on May 1. I happened to win the longest marsh mellow driving competition.
23. The middle and elementary school honors choir students are a very talented group of students and teachers. I attended the event at Stout to say a few words before the performance. I was unable to stay for the whole performance because I had to get back to ASC for our last Strategic Plan meeting with the oversight committee.
