Turrill Elementary School students work together to raise funds for endangered animals

A group of Turrill Elementary School students held fund raisers recently and collected $300 for the American Association of Zoo Keepers for the preservation of endangered animals.

Students in Mrs. Cheryl Roy’s fifth grade class and Mrs. Phyllis Van Horn’s split fifth and sixth grade class held a two-day bake sale, a stuffed animal day and an East/West Day to raise the money.

“I’m proud of all the students for taking an active interest in such an important issue and raising money for it,” said Mrs. Roy.

According to AAZK’s website, the organization “supports the promotion and implementation of zookeeper education and strives to make the general public aware of our concern for all deserving conservation projects and the need for the preservation of our natural resources and the species that depend on those resources.”

Applications accepted for 5th Annual Lapeer Community Schools Distinguished Alumni Award

Do you know a Lapeer Community Schools high school alumnus worthy of induction in the Distinguished Alumni Hall of Honor?

Nominations for candidates for the fifth annual Lapeer Community Schools Distinguished Alumni Award program are still being accepted for the fall induction program.

The Distinguished Alumni Award program is sponsored by the District and the Lapeer High School Alumni Association.

To be eligible for the award, a person, living or dead, must have graduated from the Lapeer Community Schools at least ten years ago and be noted in his or her field of endeavor or recognized for expertise and good works.

The person must be considered a role model for youth and demonstrated positive leadership and outstanding achievement, service or contributions to society. Honorees will attend the Distinguished Alumni Induction Ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m. Sunday, November 7, 2010 in the Lapeer East High School Auditorium.

Four previous classes of Distinguished Alumni Award winners included pillars of the education community; a U.S. Navy Blue Angels pilot and other distinguished military men and women; local business owners and executives, a women’s basketball team head coach, a former high altitude balloon test pilot killed testing flight suit equipment for the new astronaut program in the 1960s and a police chief, among others.

Applications are available in District buildings or by calling Mary Linn Voss at (810) 538-1634.
Deadline for applications is Friday, May 7, 2010.

Lapeer High School Drama Club brings "Little Shop of Horrors" to East stage

A man-eating plant intent on ruling the world may sound like an old science fiction movie, but it’s actually the star of this Broadway musical, “Little Shop of Horrors.”

The Lapeer High School Drama Club will present “Little Shop of Horrors” at the Lapeer East Auditorium at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, May 7th and 8th and 2 p.m. on Sunday, May 9th. Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students, seniors, and children.

The Lapeer High School production is directed by Jennifer DeWitt and Bill Spruytte, who have co-directed for the past two years. Student assistant director is Kyle Schmude. “Little Shop of Horrors” features fantastic music by Howard Ashman and Alan Menken, the same duo that created “Beauty and the Beast” and “The Little Mermaid” for Disney.

However, make no mistake; “Little Shop of Horrors” is not exactly Disney. The Lapeer High School version of this production carries a PG-13 rating.

Timid, Seymour Krelbourn discovers an exotic plant with a strange appetite for blood and brings it to the florist shop where he works. As the plant begins to grow quickly, so does its hunger for human flesh and blood. Seymour, who is secretly in love with his co-worker Audrey, names the plant Audrey II and strikes up a deal to feed the plant (flesh and blood) in exchange for fame and fortune.

The Lapeer High School production features Matt Schneider as Seymour. Audrey is played by Wei Li Crawford. Audrey II is voiced by Kevin Roach. Orin, Audrey’s sadistic boyfriend, is played by Lucas Cosens. Dylan Dahring plays the role of Mushnik, Seymour’s boss. Audrey II’s backup singers are played by Monique Morris, Leyna Burel, and Liz Smith. Rounding out the cast are, Brandon Turcott, Paul Eastman, Victoria Mullins, and Miranda Sanborn as Skid Row residents.

Music Director for the show is Cheryl Burnside, Ben Motter is technical director, and Becky Prohaska is choreographer.

Lapeer East's Payton McCallum recognized by Kiwanis Club as a stand-out student-athlete

Payton McCallum, a stand-out student athlete at Lapeer East High School, was named “Donald B. Sark Student-Athlete of the Month” for April by the Kiwanis Club of Flint.

Photo caption (left to right) East varsity head coach Jake Weingartz, Payton McCallum, Joe Hensel, varsity football assistant defensive coordinator coach.

Payton will be honored at a Kiwanis Club meeting later this month.

In his senior year, Payton was captain of both his varsity football and basketball teams and achieved a number of Flint Metro League honors, including First Team All-League and scholar athlete in both sports. He was also named to the “Lapeer County Dream Team” in both sports.

He was honored as Team co-Most Valuable Player in football and Most Valuable Player in basketball in 2009-2010.

In basketball this year he led his team in scoring, rebounding, free throws attempted and made.

Payton carries a 3.3 grade point average and has been a member of the National Honor Society since his junior year. Payton also volunteers with the Lapeer County Historical Society, assists with Sunday School at his church and is a volunteer coach for an elementary school flag football team.

Payton signed a National Letter of Intent to play football at Grand Valley State University as a scholarship athlete and is planning on majoring in engineering or pharmacy.

“Payton is the epitome of a student-athlete,” said Ms. Sharon Miller, East’s athletic director. “He excels both on the field, court and in the classroom. We are proud to have Payton represent Lapeer East.”

Robotics teams at Lapeer West, Lapeer East wrap up successful seasons

The robotics teams at Lapeer West and Lapeer East high schools are looking to the future after lessons learned during productive seasons and competitions this year.

East Robotics had a positive season and put together powerful sponsorship support with CCS Robotics, Cypress Securities and PNC Bank (formally National City Bank). Many other community businesses also provided financial support to the team through this season.

The team competed at Kettering University and while it did not finish high enough to qualify for the State Championship this year, the team is pleased with its progress and looks forward to the State Championship next year, said Lapeer East teacher and Robotics Team Mentor George Mavis. Student involvement has grown and student interest in the team is rising.

The team also has developed alliances with other robotics teams across the state, which is helping to advance East’s program and to achieve its goals for student learning in the First Robotics Competitions and Programs.

The team, which makes presentations about its robot to community groups throughout the year, finished 109th of all the teams in Michigan.

The Lapeer West Chrome Panthers Robotics team finished 91st of the 136 teams in Michigan despite several obstacles this season, said Cory Gutenschwager, Instructor of Industrial Technology & Head Robotics Mentor at Lapeer West.

This year’s team was comprised of Gutenschwager and 18 West students. The team completed its build without any help from outside mentors or parents. The team also experienced a huge material delay for three of the six-week build period, when it tried to order the Mecanum wheels – which move in any direction -- on which its design was based. The students were adamant they would wait for them to become available.

The first competition in week one offered a lot of observation of other teams’ machines, prompting West to realize it needed to adapt its machine and strategy to be competitive at its next competition at Troy Athens High School.

During that competition, the team was chosen during alliance selection to play in the final rounds for the first time and proved it was a versatile asset to any alliance -- a team of three robots -- whether it needed a good defender or a machine to complete a goal.

One of West’s toughest challenges was to program a 15-second autonomous mode to stop an opponent, who turned out to be the event winner, in match 80. Although West didn’t win that match, the team achieved its goal and ruined its opponent’s strategy with the help of an alliance partner. During the selection process, West was asked to join the Troy Athens Hammerheads and The Mech Warriors from Brother Rice. With that alliance, West passed through the quarter finals into the semi finals before suffering a 10-7 loss against another.

The Troy event has some of the toughest competition possible when it comes to robotics – one of them will be the national winner after the Atlanta, GA event.

To view all the State of Michigan team ranks:

http://www.firstinmichigan.org/staticpages/index.php?page=2010_Results_Overall

To learn more about the West Chrome Panthers Team or to watch one of its matches go to:

www.chromepanthers.com