East student attends governor’s State of the State

Lapeer East sophomore Ashley VanOoteghem was the guest of State Sen. Phil Pavlov as Gov. Rick Snyder delivered his first State of the State address Wednesday in Lansing.

Ashley accompanied the senator to the House of Representatives in Lansing to watch the address. Each elected official is allowed one guest to join them on the House floor.

Ashley’s essay was the winning entry in a contest hosted by Pavlov, R-St. Clair Township. He asked students to write a 250-500 word essay detailing their vision to reinvent Michigan.

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“I’m really grateful for this opportunity,” said VanOoteghem, daughter of Kim and Jim VanOoteghem. “Government is something I’m very passionate about and I think more people in my age group should be interested in it.”

“I’m excited about the proposals we heard tonight,” said Pavlov, chair of the Senate Education Committee. “It’s an exciting time in Michigan, and we must engage our young people to help make our great state even greater.

Earlier this month, Sen. Pavlov made a special visit to Lapeer East. During the January 7th visit, he met with high school Principal Scott Roper to discuss and seek input on important issues impacting education in our state.

The senator also toured the building and met with some of East’s students. Pavlov had many compliments for the staff and students at Lapeer East.

Photo captions:
Top photo -- Ahsley VanOoteghem talks with Sen. Phil Pavlov on the Senate floor in Lansing.
Middle -- Sen. Pavlov, East Student Council President Danielle Schultz and Principal Scott Roper in a Jan. 7 visit.
Bottom -- Sen. Pavlov. is interviewed by Lapeer East student Olivia Wallace during his visit to the school.

R-W students are learning about bees

They’re trying to keep the swarm warm

A chance discovery during a walk in the woods has turned into a biology project for students at Rolland-Warner Middle School.


Mike Wiltse’s special education class came across a bee hive in a large fallen down oak tree last fall on student walks “out back.”

Dave Peasley, the janitor at Rolland-Warner, is an amateur bee keeper in his spare time, and he helped the students identify the bees as honey bees. He told students he thinks it is a pretty large swarm.

“Dave has been instrumental in developing an interest in bee keeping with the class by bringing in raw honey, honeycomb and bee-keeping magazines,” Wiltse says. “With his knowledge we have been attempting to keep the bee hive free of predators such as mice, raccoons and skunks, during the winter.”



Students are feeding the bees supplemental food. Wiltse says a large bee hive survives by eating the honey stored in the hive throughout the winter, and without enough honey the bees will not last.

Lori Bireta and Wiltse team-teach in a class or two. Her outdoor education class, along with Wiltse’s students, have adopted the project of trying to keep the bees alive this winter.
“Our goal is to capture the queen when the bees swarm in the spring and have our own Rolland-Warner hives,” Wiltse says. “We plan on building some bee hives this winter and raise bees out back.”

“We don't claim to know too much about bees,” he says, so he will take some of his students to the Michigan Beekeepers Association Spring meeting at Michigan State University in March to learn more. He says several of the classes offered are for beginning beekeepers.


The project is teaching the children about symbiotic relationships, he notes. “The bees need our help to survive, and in return we help the planet with nature’s pollination. Bee enthusiasts say that one of every three bites of food a person takes is due to bee pollination. Getting some honey might also ‘bee’ motivation for the students,” Wiltse says.

“Either way, we have students who want to help build things rather than destroy.”
See additional photos at: http://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/RollandWarnerStudentsAreFeedingTheBees#