FLC offers Tutoring Made Easy

Is homework a nightly battle at your house?
Do you and your child end up yelling at each other while nothing gets done?
What happens if you say you are taking away a treasured electronic toy?
Does being grounded change behavior?

If any of these sounds like a regular occurrence in your home you need the relief that only "Tutoring Made Easy" can provide! Find out what you can do to end this struggle between you and your child! Enroll in Family Literacy Center's FREE workshop for parents and caregivers!


Tuesday, December 7, 2010
9:30 am-3:30 pm
Marquerite deAngeli Library
921 W. Nepessing Street
Lapeer, 48446

Lunch and all materials are provided. Registration is required. Adults only, please. No childcare is provided. To register, contact Family Literacy Center at 810-664-2737 or simply reply to this email at ican@readlapeer.org. Give your name and phone number along with the date of the workshop you wish to register for.

Visit Family Literacy Center on the web at www.readlapeer.org. Family Literacy Center and the Lapeer District Library are Partners for Literacy in Lapeer County.

Lapeer East students win drawing contest

Four Lapeer East art students recently won awards in the “Halloween Horse” drawing contest sponsored by Coventry Realty in Metamora.


Courtney Lang, a senior at Lapeer East, won first prize for her hand-drawn poster and received a gift basket containing art supplies, gift cards, movies and popcorn.
Other winners were senior Victoria Mullins, 2nd place, junior Erica Soroka, 3rd place, and senior Amelia Meerschaert, honorable mention. They also received art supplies from Coventry Realty.

Lapeer East art teacher Debbie Helbig, submitted artwork by 14 high school students in late October for the second annual drawing contest.

The art was on display at Coventry Realty on Halloween night during its annual Spooktacular Open House event. A total of 70 guests voted for their favorite poster to decide the winners.


The theme of the drawing contest this year was “Halloween Horse,” for which the students had to draw horses in Halloween costumes or with autumn themes. The horse-themed contest was designed to promote both the Village of Metamora, the heart of Hunt in Michigan’s Horse Country, and gave local art students an opportunity to exhibit their work with community recognition.

Photo captions:
Top photo:
Courtney Lang, a Lapeer East senior, won a gift basket for taking first place in the “Halloween Horse” drawing contest.

Bottom photo:
The 14 students who submitted artwork for Coventry Realty’s Spooktacular open house pose with (far right) Karen Lemieux, marketing administrator, Carole Porretta, broker owner, and Debbie Helbig, Lapeer East art teacher. The students all received sketch pads for entering the contest.

Photos courtesy of the LA View

West and East students perform A Christmas Carol

Drama students from both Lapeer West and Lapeer East High Schools will perform Peter DeLaurier’s adaptation of A Christmas Carol November 19-21 at the Lapeer East High School Auditorium.


Doors will open at 6 pm on Friday and Saturday and 1 pm on Sunday for a special event: Cast members will be singing carols, and snacks will be available for a small donation.

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and senior citizens. Curtain time is 7 pm Friday and Saturday evening and 2 pm on Sunday afternoon.


Faithful to Dickens' beautiful language, this flexible adaptation of the beloved Christmas classic tells the heartwarming story of miserly Ebeneezer Scrooge. Mr. Scrooge is always cold-hearted, and Christmas is no exception -- that is, until the ghost of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley, comes to warn him about the consequences of living a life of greed and materialism. Over the next three nights, Scrooge is visited by three other spirits who try to convince him that his selfishness will be his downfall. Is this enough to make the selfish old miser change his ways?

The play is produced by special arrangement with Playscripts Inc.

Suspicious incident

Attached is a letter regarding a suspicious incident that took place in Lapeer Township on November 12. This letter is going home with elementary and middle school students today. The information is read to the high school students.


Dear Parents,
We were made aware late yesterday of a suspicious incident in Lapeer Township that has been reported to the Lapeer County Sheriff’s Department.

A female student was walking in the area of Hunters Creek and Clark roads at about 4:15 p.m. on Friday, November 12, and was approached by a man in a
4-door silver Toyota who asked her if she needed a ride. The girl declined the ride, and the man left.

She later reported the incident to the Sheriff’s Department.

She described the driver as a younger Hispanic man with dark complexion. He was heavy-set and had very short black hair. She also gave the deputy a partial license plate number.

We are committed to protecting our students and know that you, as parents, will continue to teach your children how to best protect themselves and seek assistance if necessary. Please reinforce with your children the lessons about interacting with strangers and, of course, immediately notify the police or sheriff’s deputies if you see or hear anything out of the ordinary.

Sincerely,

Debbie Thompson
Superintendent

Longtime residents provide oral history at Rolland-Warner

A class of about two dozen Rolland-Warner students got an up close and personal look at Lapeer County history last week as they hosted nine long-time area residents for some coffee and donuts and good conversation about the way things were when their special guests were in school.

Your Town is an oral history project that is part of a new elective history class at Rolland-Warner. It gives students a chance to take a more personal look at history and their community, said teacher Chris Hinkley.


The 25 students talked with long-time Lapeer area residents Jim Davis, Al Hart, Ed Oyster, Ardith Rowley, Ila Burris, Art Baldwin, Della Hammond, Doris Rolland and Abi Warner. The school is named after Doris Rolland, the former principal of Woodside School, which is now the site of Rolland-Warner, and Ronald Warner, a former teacher and administrator in the Lapeer Community Schools and the husband of lesson guest Abi Warner.

Students queried theirs guests on a number of topics, including the differences between their childhood and the lives of children today. They also compared recreation, transportation, a typical day, stores and shops, types of jobs, the economy and what school was like a half century ago.

Students also asked about the common activities and sports played by children then, what chores were typical for children and memorable events from their childhood. Students will turn their research into a report on the history of the Lapeer area.

In a note to Hinkley following the history lesson, Abi Warner complimented the students on their preparedness, how informed they were and their politeness. She added: “Your class was conducted in the tradition that would make Ronald Warner proud.”

The group of area residents was invited through the help of Lapeer County Historical Society President Bill Rykhus. Donuts were donated by Tim Horton’s though the efforts of parent and Tim Horton’s employee Pamela Cahilellis and coffee was provided by the Rolland-Warner food service staff.

For a look at photos from the oral history lesson, please visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/YourTownOralHistoryAtRollandWarner#

East Boys Tennis Team Earns State All-Academic Honors

The Michigan High School Tennis Coaches Association has honored the 2010 Lapeer East Boys Tennis Team with the 2010 All Academic Tennis Team Award.


The award honors student athletes for their many hours of work and dedication in maintaining high academic achievement, as well as recognizing their athletic talents and competitive spirit.

With this accomplishment, they have brought honor to themselves, their school and our community.

Please congratulate East Boys Tennis Coach Oscar Rodriguez and the following athletes:

Henry Peabody
Matt Wagner
Aaron Marietta
Drake Lamphere
Ryan Herderich
Justin Townsend
Tyler McCleery
Brad McCully
Brad Bessette
Alex Apfel
James Apfel
Brandon Kelts

Middle schools treated to Milk Rocks concerts

The gyms at Rolland-Warner and Zemmer middle schools rocked last week as students were treated to concerts by national recording artist Britney Christian.


The November 9 concerts were part of the “Milk Rocks” tour that visited Michigan last week to promote the benefits of milk as a healthy alternative to less-nutritious beverages. The singer and her band set up for a morning concert at Zemmer, followed by an early afternoon concert at Rolland-Warner.

The concert was presented by Prairie Farms Dairy, Chartwells School Dining Services, which serves breakfast and lunch to students in the Lapeer Community Schools, and Evergreen Packaging, the nation’s largest producer of school milk cartons.

Christian is the official spokesperson for “Milk Rocks,” which stresses the benefits of a healthy, active lifestyle and promotes milk.

Christian says she is very pleased to represent a product and a cause she believes in. “I’m really excited to be able to promote my music in a healthy way, and set a good example for others,” she says.

Premier banjo and guitar manufacturer Epiphone is a sponsorship partner in the campaign. The company presented custom Milk Rocks guitars to the music programs at both Zemmer and Rolland-Warner. Ten selected students also got a chance to get an inside peek at the Gibson tour bus that is used for the Milk Rocks concert tours.

Christian is a 20-year-old singer/songwriter from Southern California. She has more than 92,000 fans on MySpace and a tour schedule that takes her across the country as the spokesperson for the national "Milk Rocks" campaign. She is the winner of the Next American Star and her songs have been featured on MTV, Laguna Beach, Ghost Whisper, The Biggest Loser, Guiding Light and Radio Disney. She was seen on Disney's High School Musical: Get in the Picture and the Dreamworks/Nickelodeon film Hotel For Dogs.

For a look at photos from the concert, please visit: http://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/MilkRocksAtMiddleSchools#

Gymnast from Lapeer East will attend Northern Illinois

Lapeer East Senior Amanda Stepp has signed a letter of intent to attend Northern Illinois University, where she has received a full-ride scholarship for gymnastics.


Amanda has been involved with gymnastics for the last 12 years and for the last five years has worked out with coaches at All American Flames Gymnastix in Port Huron.

“Northern Illinois is going to get a very good athlete” said Joe Scheible, one of her coaches at the Port Huron training facility. “Her determination in and out of the gym has been a trademark of her successful career, and we know it will serve her well deep into her bright future,” Scheible added.

Amanda says she’s pleased to be able to continue with gymnastics at the college level, noting that her favorite exercise is the vault. She plans to study nursing at Northern Illinois.

On Monday, Amanda joined with her parents and coaches for a signing ceremony in the Lapeer East High School Media Center.

Photo cutline:
Amanda Stepp (seated) signed her national letter of intent to attend Northern Illinois University Monday surrounded by (from left) her father, Mike Stepp, coaches Sarah Morgan, Joe and Melinda Scheible and mother Robin Stepp.

Schickler teacher has A Day Made Better

Classroom is presented with $1,000 in supplies

Schickler Elementary teacher Nancy Abeare got a very pleasant surprise when she showed up for class on Oct. 5.

Waiting for her was a crew from Office Max in Rochester Hills, who brought with them $1,000 in school supplies for her classroom. The award was given to her as part of the company’s A Day Made Better event. “The award is given out to teachers because Office Max knows how important teachers are and what they do to support students,” said an Office Max spokesman.

“What a surprise! I felt honored and embarrassed to be singled out from the Schickler teaching staff. Many teachers spend extra hours and dollars to assist their students. We all want our students to reach goals and feel successful in school. It is so wonderful that Office Max is recognizing the teaching profession!”

The gifts included pencils, paper, staplers, tape, highlighters, dry erase markers, storage boxes, planners, pens, pencil sharpener, a digital camera and a whole raft of supplies to keep the classroom humming.


Office Max began the A Day Made Better program in October 2007, and since that time each year has surprised 1,000 teachers at 1,000 schools around the nation by donating approximately $1,000 worth of supplies to each of their classrooms. “We did this because it is estimated that teachers, together, spend about $4 billion of their own money to make sure their students have the supplies they need to learn. OfficeMax feels this is a problem that we can help solve,” said an Office Max spokesman.

This year about 30,000 OfficeMax associates surprised and honored more than 1,000 teachers at Title 1 schools across the nation with $1 million worth of classroom supplies. Nominated by their principals, teachers receive this honor for their exceptional contributions as an educator, demonstrating passion, innovation and dedication in the classroom.
Photo captions:
Top photo: Teacher Nancy Abeare.
Lower photo:
Schickler Elementary teacher Nancy Abeare (center) is joined by Principal Ken Janczarek (left) and is flanked by the Office Max team from Rochester Hills.
###

Mayfield honors Veterans

Students at Mayfield Elementary School hosted their annual Veterans Day observance on November 11 with members of the American Legion Post 16 in Lapeer.

Legion members and students took part in the morning flag-raising ceremony and sang patriotic songs.

Special guest State Rep. Kevin Daley offered his thoughts on the meaning of Veterans Day.

Additional photos from the special observance are available online in the Lapeer Community Schools photo album at http://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/VeteransDayAtMayfieldElementary#