Listed below are some highlights of my activity over the past few of weeks. The events are not listed in a sequential order.
1. On April 28, I attended the Images and Perceptions Diversity Conference at Byblos with Trustee McDonald, President Jensen, the Mayor, many administrators and teachers from Dearborn and several high school students which include some of the students from the Student Advisory Council to the Superintendent. It was a great event and I was asked to say a few words to address attendees. Siham Jaafar and Hassane Jaafar did an outstanding job with the coordination of this event.
2.On Saturday April 23 my wife and I attended the ACCESS annual Dinner at the Renaissance Center with Trustee Bazzi, Trustee McDonald, Trustee Hammoud, Dr. Jensen and several dignitaries. I was able to dialogue with legislators including US Senator Debbie Stabenow. Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha was one of the recognized recipients as she was the individual that forced the government address the Flint Water Crisis.
3. My school visits Continue and I am now at over 280 school visits for the year. In addition, we held our first unannounced School Improvement Plan Visit to McDonald Elementary on April 18. It was an excellent visit. We plan to field test the unannounced visit at one more school in May. Next year we plan to have one announced visit and one unannounced visit to all schools. More information on this new model will be forthcoming.
4. The Student Advisory Committee to the Superintendent Met with the Mayor at Dearborn High on April 20. It was a great meeting with the Mayor. Following the meeting, the students were special guests on the Superintendent Talk Show – Happenings in Dearborn Public Schools.
5. On April 26 I was the Main Speaker at the Dearborn Kiwanis Club meeting.
6. On April 19 the Dearborn Rotary Club held their Scholarship Dinner and Awarded almost $50,000 to students in Scholarships. I serve as a Dearborn Rotary Board Member. Trustee McDonald and several teachers and administrators also attended this event.
7. There are so many parent programs that have been initiated throughout the district. Here are pictures from a few that I attended.
Maples Family Literacy Night
Henry Ford Social Studies night.
Miller Engineering Night.
Edsel Ford Yemeni Cultural Day
8. The Strategic Plan is moving forward with the initiation of a great process. We held four separate meetings on April 5, 7, ,12 and 14 from 6pm-9pm with over 60 members of the school community. Committees are currently working on action plans in preparation for our next meeting on May 10. We will have a new vision, mission, revised core values, and action items for the next three years. Trustee Petlichkoff and Trustee Dr. Meade are the Board representatives on the committee.
9. There was an outstanding event that was held at the Performing Arts Center on April 20 where students were able to display their artistic talents. The Mayor and I were honorary co-chairs at the 7pm Performance.
10. Here is another display of the Talent by our Students. The Hair Spray Production at Stout. Trustee McDonald, Trustee Bazzi and PTA Council President Haidar were also present when I attended.
11. Dearborn Teachers Eman Ali, Linda Lazar, Iman Ismail, and Nagwa Ali did an outstanding job at the Galileo Teacher Leadership Fair. Shannon Peterson and Sean Fisher attended the event as well.
12. Dearborn, Fordson, and Edsel Ford students were honored at the Dearborn Optimist Club with scholarships for their Art portraits. I was inducted as a Dearborn Optimist Club Member at the same meeting.
13. On April 25 I visited 6 schools(Dearborn High, Bryant, Haigh, Lindbergh, Howe/Montessori, and River Oaks) during their faculty meetings to provide visibility, encouragement, and an appreciation of the hard work by our faculty. I also observed Haigh’s dismissal on this beautiful day.
14. A Walkthrough Visit to McCollough-Unis where I observed project based learning in a 5th grade classroom.
15. Woodworth Junior Honors Night.
