Zemmer holds first honor society induction

Zemmer Middle School held its first National Junior Honor Society induction ceremony for grades 6-8 on Tuesday, March 22. It was an honor for the 71 students who were recognized before their friends, parents, school staff and administration.

The presentation was conducted in the school’s cafetorium, followed by cake and refreshments for the students and guests.

“We are proud to announce the founding of the Deborah L. Thompson Chapter of the National Junior Honor Society at Zemmer Middle School. The NJHS has a proud tradition behind it, and we are pleased to be able to offer a chapter at our school. Being a member of the NJHS is a privilege for all students that meet the criteria for membership,” said Laurie Solack, a sixth grade science teacher and chapter adviser of the Zemmer NJHS.

The local chapter at Zemmer was named in honor of Lapeer Community Schools Superintendent Debbie Thompson, who is retiring at the conclusion of this school year. Present at the ceremony, Thompson addressed the students.

“These are the kind of honors that are fun to attend,” said Thompson. “This is a great day for all the students and their families. It’s an honor to be here and to have the chapter named after me.”

Membership in the chapter is an honor bestowed upon deserving students by the faculty, and is based on the criteria of scholarship, service, leadership, citizenship, and character.

To be considered for the Zemmer NJHS, students need to have a cumulative grade point average of 3.5 or higher out of 4.0. All seventh and eighth grade students and second trimester sixth grade students are eligible.

Scholastic achievement alone does not automatically guarantee acceptance as a member.
“We are very excited and honored to be able to offer this opportunity to our students. We look forward to all the continued service and leadership that NJHS students will bring to both Zemmer Middle School and the community of Lapeer,” said Solack.

NJHS officers for 2011 at Zemmer are: Scott Hilgendorf, president; Victoria Roush, vice president; Randy Frack, treasurer; Shawn Deverell, secretary; and Whitney Roemer, historian.

The 2011 Zemmer Middle School inductees included:
Sixth Grade: Lauren Barber, Bradley Birkle, Levi Bleau, Megan Bopra, Derek Buike, Victoria Carbone, Olivia Card, Brendan Dunavant, Carson Ellis, James Felton, Allyssa Fenslau, Matthew Garcia, Paul Gregor, Abigail Horning, Ariana Iloncai, Kaytlin Kabelman, Kimberly Kuligowski, Alyssa Laidler, Emily Lewis, Anna Lowe, Shelby Metzger, Logan Morys, Kendra Newman, Caitlin Nykamp, Hope O’Neill, Gregory Orth, Ryan Rogers, Steven Romolino, Drew Rubick, Greggory Schabel, Joseph Schunk, Destyni Stone, Baylee Thompson, Isabella Tindall, Victoria Tripp, Alicia Wagner and Brooklyn Withey.
Seventh Grade: Hannah Anderson, Noah Bindschatel, Alicia Birkenhauer, Mallory Brooks, Trevor Bruce, Allison Ciak, Megan Clemens, Mickey Coulter, Ginger Eastman, Scott Hilgendorf, Allison Johnson, Sydnie Jostock, Kayla Koryciak, Faith Kruger, Emily Lass, Rylei McAllister, Manon McCullough, Victoria Roush, Matthew Schneider, Hannah Sornig.
Eighth Grade: Amie Barker, Julia Borowicz, Hunter Conzelmann, Shawn Deverell, Randy Frack, Alexa Hill, Alycia Kigar, Garrett Knowlton, Leah Komisak, Sydney Maggs, MacKenzie Putnam, Meriah Putnam, Whitney Roemer and Shelby Smith.

Photo by Jeff Hogan
Photo caption:
Superintendent Debbie Thompson, for whom the Zemmer Middle School’s new National Junior Honor Society chapter is named, addressed the 2010-2011 inductees at a ceremony Tuesday evening.

R-W Fine Arts Night March 29

On Tuesday, March 29th, Rolland-Warner Middle School will be holding its annual Fine Arts Night.

From 5:00 – 7:30 p.m. students will offer a night of band performances, theater performances, art displays and working artists.

Along with that, for the past six years at Zemmer Junior High and now at Rolland-Warner Middle School, students will once again be hosting a community service event called Empty Bowls. The premise of this project is simple. Art students have been busy making ceramic bowls in class. These bowls will be used on March 29th to serve a meal of soup and bread to anyone who attends. Everyone who comes will be asked to make a donation of at least $5 per person in exchange for the meal and a bowl created by one of our students.

All money collected this year will be given to the soup kitchen at the First Presbyterian Church in Lapeer.

The Fine Arts Department hopes that everyone can attend this evening of events in support of our students and our community.

Schedule of events:
5:00 – 7:30 Art walk including art displays and demonstrating artists (in the hallways)
5:00 – 7:00 Empty Bowls (in the cafetorium)
5:30 – 6:30 Band solo and ensembles (in the band room)
7:00-7:30 Drama club performs (in the cafetorium)

Three Governor’s Exhibit artists featured at reception

The Governor's Art Show reception has been rescheduled for Friday night, March 25, from 6:30 to 7:30 in the Lapeer West Library.

The show honors students from both East and West High schools. In addition to featuring work by 2010 Governor’s Exhibit artists, including Hillary Davlin of Lapeer East and Cheryse Burns and Rachel Gillotte of Lapeer West, the works of about 30 students from both West and East will be on display.

The display will exhibit several works which have been or will be in other art competitions this year.

West art teacher Nancy Barry notes: "Come and see this wonderful work. You will see why our art program is so well respected."

Mrs. Barry and East art teacher Deb Helbig are co-hosting the reception.

Also on display will be the works of five artists – Adrianna Allen, Karley Bauroth, Catherine Wonders and Rebecca Korleski of West and Adam Porter of East -– who are among the top 100 student artists in the state for this year who will display their works at the Michigan Youth Arts Festival in May at WMU.

Work by Adrianna Allen also has been selected to be part of the 2011-12 Governor's Traveling Exhibit.

Photos of art work include that of Hillary Davlin (top) of Lapeer East and Cheryse Burns (middle) and Rachel Gillotte (bottom) of Lapeer West.

Schwan's Fundraiser at Rolland-Warner

The Schwan's Fundraiser at Rolland-Warner Middle School wraps up Monday, March 28.

Orders can be turned in at the R-W school office between now and Monday. The Schwan's Truck will be at the school for order pick-up on Friday, April 1st.

This is a great opportunity to support the school while enjoying the well-known quality of Schwan's.

Nominees sought for Alumni Hall of Honor

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 sixth annual Lapeer Community Schools Distinguished Alumni Award program are being accepted for the fall induction program.

The Distinguished Alumni Award program is a coordinated effort 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 10 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 this fall.

Applications are available in District buildings or by calling Mary Linn Voss at (810) 538-1634. Deadline for applications is Friday, April 29.

West, Rolland-Warner choirs are 'excellent'

On Wednesday, March 9th, the choirs at Lapeer West High School and Rolland-Warner Middle School attended the annual district choir festival.

Lapeer West took two choirs, Treble Chorus and Mixed Chorus. Both choirs from West scored "excellent" ratings allowing them to compete in the State Choir Festival on May 3-4th. This is the third straight year that Mr. Thomas Kaiser's choirs earned this honor.

Both choirs are extremely excited to be nominated and to compete in May. Last year, Lapeer West took two choirs to state festival, with one earning an excellent rating. "This year we will try and match last year's results and earn ourselves another plaque to add to the choir room wall." said Kaiser.

The Rolland-Warner choirs also attended the event and earned "excellent" ratings as well. This was the first year that the school has attended.

The choir, made up of 55 seventh and eighth graders, are headed to state festival. This year's Junior High festival will be held May 19th at Central Michigan University.

"I am happy that my choirs did so well yet again. They worked hard to earn excellent ratings, and it is just another achievement for all of my kids"

Parent volunteers needed

Rolland-Warner Middle School is looking for parent volunteers to help out with serving hot cocoa and donuts on Friday, April 15th, from 7:45-9:00 am.

The school will host its first YA Café (Young Adult Literature booktalk) with guest book-talker Mr. Sweeney, who will be talking about the book “Red Scarf Girl. “

Any parent interested in helping out with this event is asked to please contact Mrs. Taylor jtaylor@lapeerschools.org.

All middle school students are welcome to attend. Tickets will be available April 11th -14th free of charge to any interested students.