Rolland-Warner students check their hives

Rolland-Warner students got a chance May 20 to check on the status of their bee hives, situated behind the school.

Students donned beekeeping suits and headed out to the hives for an up-close look at the progress of the two hives.

Only one of the hives has been populated with bees, which appear to be thriving. The hive will have produced some honey for harvest later this summer.

The project began after a chance discovery during a walk in the woods last fall when Mike Wiltse’s special education class came across a bee hive in a large fallen down oak tree.

Lori Bireta's outdoor education class, along with Wiltse’s students, adopted the project to try to keep the bees alive through the winter.

For a look at more photos from the beekeeping lesson, please visit the LCS Picasa albums at:
https://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/RollandWarnerStudentsCheckTheirHives#

Tree planting honors Ronald Warner

The Nipissing Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution has planted a tree and presented a plaque at Rolland-Warner Middle School to honor longtime Lapeer Schools educator Ronald Warner.

On Friday April 29th family, friends, members of Mark and Henry Schell C.A.R. Society and Nipissing Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution gathered at the Rolland-Warner Middle School for a tree planting to honor the late Ronald Warner, former teacher, principal and administrator of Lapeer Schools. The middle school is named in honor of Warner and former teacher and administrator Doris Rolland.

Nipissing Chapter chose April 29th, Arbor Day, as a fitting day for the dedication and planting of the Crimson King Maple tree in Mr. Warner’s name. Mrs. Ronald (Abi) Warner, a member of the chapter, received the gift and plaque and presented it to Tony Strump, Principal of Rolland-Warner Middle School.

Speakers included Lapeer teacher Fred Olive, State Rep. Kevin Daley and Nipissing Chapter Regent Marsha Jewett.

New YA Café at Rolland-Warner Middle School

A sizable group of students showed up for class early April 15 for the first-ever YA Café at Rolland-Warner Middle School.

The YA Café is designed as a way to promote literacy for all. The morning began at 8 a.m. as 59 students, 5 parent volunteers, and about 10 staff members showed up in the Rolland-Warner Media Center. 7th grade Social Studies teacher, Mr. Sweeney talked about the book “Red Scarf Girl” as students ate donuts and drank hot cocoa. One lucky winner, 6th grader Courtnee Miller, won a copy of the book.

Students were able to check out copies of the book donated by the Rolland-Warner PTC immediately after the book talk. Rolland-Warner is using the YA Café concept as an initiative to promote literacy for all. The program kicks off next week at Zemmer Middle School.

The next Rolland-Warner YA Café is planned for Friday, May 13th, at 8:00 a.m. in the media center. The featured title will be “The Graveyard Book” by Neil Gaiman. The Rolland-Warner PTC sponsored this YA Café and has agreed to donate the books and refreshments for the events in May and next September.

For a look at more photos from the YA Café at Rolland-Warner, please go to: https://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/RWYaCafe#

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"

LCS students perform in honors band concert

More than two dozen high school and middle school music students from Lapeer West, Lapeer East, Zemmer and Rolland-Warner performed in the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association District III Honors Band Festival on Saturday, January 29, at Brandon High School.


Lapeer West High School students participating in the District III MSBOA High School Honors Band Festival included Kayla Haneline, Stephanie Wilcox, Taylor Harvey, Ashley Nugent, Tim Waelde, Deanna Childress, Aidan Smith. Lapeer East High School students included Dakota Hart, Sarah Powers, Whitney Harvey, Hannah Hastings, Keefer Maresh, Alison Gonda, Lillian Miller, Mason Sorenson, Alex Frederick.

Rolland-Warner Middle School students who participated included Sara Burns, Vanessa Sparks, Mark Lutz, Desmond Doneen and Emily Gillis. Zemmer Middle School participants inlcluded Morgan Combs, Shawn Deverell, Blake Clements, Serra Seib, Emily Dice, Meredith Henderson, Mark Lutz.

The Middle School Honors Band was conducted by Roger Weyersberg, director of the Lions of Michigan All-State Band, Low Brass Instructor at Saginaw Valley State University and the retired director of Music in the Ovid-Elsie area schools.

The High School Honors Band was conducted by Scott Boerma, associate director of bands, director of the University of Michigan Marching Band and professor of Conducting at he University of Michigan. He is also an avid composer. The band performed Glimpses, one of his original compositions, at the performance.

The students were nominated by their director and chosen from hundreds of entries around the Thumb, based on outstanding musicianship and participation in solo & ensemble.

Rolland-Warner Band Director Heather Hundt noted, “Their participation is an honor, and they did a wonderful job representing our school and our district and gave an awesome performance Saturday night.”

To view photos from the concert, please visit the Lapeer Community Schools Picasa photo albums at: https://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/MSBOABandFestival#

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#

Rolland-Warner Student Council volunteers at Soup Kitchen

About 30 members of the Rolland-Warner Student Council are volunteering at the Soup Kitchen at St. Paul Lutheran Church in Lapeer.

The crew is working December 10 and 17th and again on January 7th to help out with the meal that's served to needy and homeless people in the Lapeer area.


The students also got to use their sorting skills to help organize canned goods, and when the meal was over, they washed the dishes.

The Soup Kitchen rotates each weekday between five local churches. The other Lapeer churches include First Presbyterian, Grace Episcopal, Trinity United Methodist and Church of Christ.

Photo captions:
Top photo:
Students Katie Barker, Skyler Humphreys and Kaila Sutton get instructions from Soup Kitchen volunteer Ann Pfeifle.
Bottom photo:
Helping to sort canned goods for Holiday food baskets are Sara Burns, Bethany Berlinger and Nikolaus Bristol.

For additional photos, please go to:
http://picasaweb.google.com/LapeerCS/RollandWarnerStudentCouncilVolunteersAtSoupKitchen#

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#

Final week to order R-W Wolves spirit gear

This is the final week to place orders for Rolland-Warner Wolves hats, shirts, scarves and sweatpants.

The durable school spirit garb comes in a variety of sizes for both students and adults.

The Rolland-Warner PTC is taking orders through Wednesday, November 17.

An order form is attached below. If you click on the order form it will open in a new window, and you can print it out.

Please make checks payable to the Rolland-Warner PTC.

Middle School PTCs meet November 11

The Middle School PTCs for both Rolland-Warner and Zemmer Middle Schools have scheduled evening meetings on Thursday, November 11th..

The Zemmer Middle School PTC will meet in the Zemmer Media Center at 6:00 pm. The Zemmer PTC executive board will meet at 5:30pm.

The Rolland-Warner Middle School PTC will meet in the Rolland-Warner Media Center at 6:30 pm. The Rolland-Warner PTC executive board will meet prior to the general meeting.

The PTCs at both schools encourage any interested parents to please consider coming to see what the PTC is all about. This is a great way to stay involved and be a part of your child’s school.

At the conclusion of the Zemmer PTC meeting a Parent Advisory Council meeting also will be held in the Zemmer Media Center at 7:00pm. The purpose of the PAC is to both educate parents on topics that are important to them as well as provide a forum for our parents to talk directly with school administration regarding current issues.

The PTC welcomes any interested parents wishing to attend to join them.

Rolland-Warner CC course gets groomed

This parent smoothes out the ruts at Rolland-Warner

A few twisted ankles on the new Rolland-Warner Cross Country Course prompted Mike McClellan to take action.



He brought his Bobcat skidsteer to school Oct. 11 and spent the day working over the Cross Country course with a Harley power rake to get rid of all of the bumps and gullies along the 2-mile course that winds through the woods behind the school. He also sewed a little grass seed to prevent erosion and to help keep the course in shape in the future.

Math teacher Wyatt Stevens and science teacher Anne Prill coach the all-new cross country team. They explain that the power rake chewed up the top couple of inches to remove the ruts and bumps so that students weren't twisting their ankles any more. “We had multiple students down with injuries earlier in the season,” said Stevens.

“We really appreciate Mr. McClellan’s help. It’s made a huge difference in the course,” said Prill.

McClellan’s daughter Meghan is an 8th grader and a member of the R-W Cross Country team. Mike McClellan, the owner of M&M Construction in Attica, said he was happy to put in the volunteer effort to make things better for the 33-member team.


This is the first-ever season for Cross Country at the middle school, so many team members are setting new course records in almost every home meet. So far this year, the girls team has compiled an impressive 4-1 record. The boys stand at 1-4.

With the course improvements, the coaches say R-W hopes to be able to host invitational meets in the future, bringing in competitors from all over the Metro League.

Cutlines:
Mike McClellan (the guy near the left with the hat) gets a thumbs up for his efforts from the Rolland-Warner Cross Country team.
The all-new Cross Country team at Rolland Warner Middle School includes 33 runners in 7th and 8th grade.

Rolland-Warner students plant pinwheels for peace

Students at Rolland-Warner Middle School were part of a worldwide celebration of the International Day of Peace on Sept. 21.

Students lined the walkway near the entrance of the school with hundreds of pinwheels to mark the event.

Pinwheels for Peace is an art installation project started in 2005 by two Art teachers, Ann Ayers and Ellen McMillan, who teach at Monarch High School in Coconut Creek, Florida, as a way for their students to express their feelings about what’s going on in the world and in their lives.


The project was quickly embraced by their students and the entire school community and by millions of art teachers, teachers, parents, children and adults who desire peace in our world.

The first Pinwheels for Peace were installed on Sept. 21, 2005. Since then, it has grown from 500,000 pinwheels planted the first year, to three million pinwheels in 2009!

Car Wash for middle schoolers

Rolland-Warner/Zemmer Middle School PTC group will be hosting a car wash fundraiser on Friday, August 27, 2010 from 11:00 am-3:00 pm at The Farmhouse Restaurant on M-24 in Lapeer. In addition to the car wash, The Farmhouse will be donating a portion of their proceeds inside the restaurant during those hours back to the middle school PTC group. Car washes are by donation.

Discounts for athletic tickets

Students and parents can cheer their favorite teams to victory and save money as well by purchasing a Lapeer Community Schools athletic Punch Card.

The cards are priced at $25 and can be used to purchase $50 worth of admission to school sporting events. That’s a 50% discount.

Each card provides 50 punches, worth $1 each, when paying for admission at the gate. The punch cards can be used on any school sporting event within the Lapeer Community Schools, including all high school and middle school athletic contests.

Cards are available for purchase at the school offices at Lapeer East High School, Lapeer West High School, Rolland-Warner Middle School, Zemmer Middle School and in the Operations Dept. at the Lapeer Schools Administration and Services Center.

Science Alive brings critters to visit at Murphy Elementary at Rolland-Warner

The always popular Science Alive made a visit to the Murphy Elementary School students attending classes at Rolland-Warner Middle School on Wednesday, February 24.

Mr. Bill Neill introduced the students to the world of exotic and endangered animals and even let those who wanted get a "hug" from a very large python.

Photos were taken in Mrs. Darlene Gannon's class.

Snow day make-up for Middle School orientation is Monday at Rolland-Warner

The snow day make-up for the Middle School Orientation Program for parents of fifth graders going into sixth grade next fall is now Monday, March 1, 2010 at Rolland-Warner Middle School.

The 5 p.m. session is for parents of students at Maple Grove, Murphy and Mayfield Elementary Schools. The 6:30 p.m. session is for parents of students at Schickler, Seaton, Turrill and Lynch Elementary Schools.

'World class' program coming to Lapeer middle schools

“The Forgotten Middle” will be transformed into a solid bridge to the future in the Lapeer Community Schools.

Timed to launch with the start of the Fall 2010 semester at Rolland-Warner and Zemmer middle schools, the district will debut a new curriculum designed to better integrate grades six through eight into students’ academic and social preparation for graduation and college. The curriculum is designed to be a better bridge between state requirements for curriculum at the elementary and high school levels.

Lapeer Community Schools Superintendent Debbie Thompson called the initiative a “world class” addition to the district’s instructional program.

Members of a district-wide committee helping to shape the curriculum presented highlights of it to the Board of Education and public during a meeting at Schickler Elementary School on Thursday.

The plan focuses on a flexible core block of classes with a team approach. Teachers will share teams of 120-130 students and will work together to develop class schedules and address needs of their students.

The I-Connect component will allow time for students to talk to each other and a trusted adult about issues they might be facing outside of the classroom. It is designed to improve communication between students, teachers and parents.

Committee member and Zemmer at Rolland-Warner Acting Assistant Principal Merideth Collins said for many years middle school has “simply been tagged on” to the elementary and high school programs.

“While students have been taken care of on either side of the middle … we need to focus on what we will do for those kids while they are there in order to bridge that gap between early education and high school reform,” Collins said.

Collins said research has shown that building sustainable relationships with students in the middle school grades makes a significant contribution to their academic and social success.

“It gives them the skills and tools necessary to be successful during their high school years,”she said.

Committee member and Zemmer at Rolland-Warner Assistant Principal Joe Shoopman said it is important to develop strong relationships with students early to help them graduate and be successful in college.

“The path to graduation does not start in high school, it begins in kindergarten,” he said. “Current research suggests that when there are not behavior issues, when students are attending at 95 percent, that their chance of graduating at the end of 12th grade is tremendously improved.”

Geo thermal heating and cooling saves money at new buildings at LCS

Green technology has reduced energy costs at one LCS building by an estimated 62 percent and combined future energy savings at two new middle schools are expected to save the equivalent of a teacher’s salary each year.

Geo thermal technology was installed into the Administration & Services Center when it was remodeled from an elementary school into the administration office in 2007.

A 12-month study showed that the cost of heating the new building was $16,000 or $0.62 per square foot. When it was an elementary school the annual cost was $41,800 or $1.61 per square foot.

The cost savings are more remarkable when you consider that the elementary school did not have air conditioning as the remodeled building has.

“We are projecting that the District will save approximately $40,000 each at Rolland-Warner and Zemmer Middle Schools each year compared to a conventional heating and cooling system,” said Dan Jerome, senior associate at French Associates, Inc., the District’s architect.

The system works by circulating a mixture of water and environmentally safe anti-freeze through pipes buried underground near each of the buildings. With a constant below ground temperature of 51 degrees the pipes and liquid serve as an effective climate exchanger for the buildings.

Maintenance is also simpler with no combustion flames, boilers or outdoor fans or compressors.

“In these tough economic times, it is critical that we save every dollar we can from areas that don’t directly impact on student education,” said Superintendent Debbie Thompson. “We continue to seek ways to trim our budget without affecting the classroom.”

Murphy Elementary participates in "Coats for Kids"

An effort to collect new, or ‘gently’ used, winter coats, snow pants, hats, gloves, mittens and boots will be held at Murphy Elementary School, 1100 Pratt Road and at Rolland-Warner Middle School, 333 DeMille Boulevard, where fifth and sixth grade Murphy students are attending this year.

The collection, part of the “Coats for Kids” program will begin on Monday, November 9th and end Friday, November 13th. All sizes of clothing are needed.

A collection box will be located near the offices at Murphy Elementary School or Rolland-Warner Middle School.

The winter clothing will be redistributed through the Coat-Give-A-Way program at St. Paul Lutheran Church, 90 Millville Road in Lapeer. Clothing will be given out on Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon, now through December 19th, except for Saturday, November 28th. Appointments to receive clothing are also available by calling the church at (810) 664-6653.

Anyone with questions about the program can contact Lisa Schultz at (810) 797-5537.

Students, parents sought for after-school tutoring progam at Lapeer East High School

Students struggling with courses and parent volunteers are needed to participate in after school peer tutoring programs at Lapeer East High School and Zemmer Junior High School at Rolland-Warner Middle School.

The Lapeer East program – “Your Time” – matches students needing help with particular courses with National Honor Society and National Junior Honor Society students on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 2:15 p.m. to 3:15 p.m. for one-on-one tutoring.

It is also a time for help with completing homework.

The Zemmer program at Rolland-Warner is available to all 7th grade students on Thursdays from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. National Honor Society students are looking for more students to stop in for help with homework or studies, said parent William Gavette, the coordinator of both programs.

Parents are needed to supervise the programs. All tutoring is done by the honor society students. Parent volunteers will need to fill out a volunteer form, which takes about a month for a routine check to be completed.

“These are great programs and I encourage students needing help with their courses to stop in and take part in the tutoring,” said East principal Kelly Paige.

To volunteer or receive more information on either program contact Mr. Gavette at (810) 417-1559 or by e-mail at: wmgavette@gmail.com.