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.

Seaton Elementary remains open for 2011-12

The Lapeer Community Schools Board of Education has decided to continue to operate Seaton Elementary School for the 2011-12 school year.

The Board voted Thursday evening to keep the school open during the next school year, 2011-12.

In its resolution, the board stated the building will close at the end of the 2011-12 school year unless the enrollment at Seaton is at least 300 students as of February 2012, or the district-wide K-5 enrollment on February 1, 2012 is at least 2,400, or a revised facility master plan is developed for the District.

The school, located on Coldwater Road in Oregon Township, has a current enrollment of 288 students in grades Early 5 through 5th grade.

Wandrie is finalist for Superintendent

The Lapeer Community Schools Board of Education on Thursday evening voted unanimously to advance Matthew Wandrie as a candidate for superintendent.

The board will schedule a visit to his home district, the Dearborn Public Schools, and has authorized the Personnel Committee to pursue a contract with him.

Wandrie was among more than 40 applicants for the superintendent position. He lives in the Oxford area and is currently the director of human resources at Dearborn Public Schools.

Superintendent Debbie Thompson will be retiring at the end of the current school year in June, after serving as LCS Superintendent for the last six years.

Second graders help save endangered rhinos

From the County Press
Nancy Lamphere’s second grade class at Mayfield Elementary School presented $175 to Ruth Ann Prey, a retired school teacher, Monday morning (March 14). The money, raised entirely by the students, will be sent to an animal sanctuary in Africa that helps rescue endangered black rhinoceroses.

Prey gave a guest lecture to the second grade class in late February about the black rhinoceros, whose population has decreased dramatically in the past few decades. While tens of thousands of black rhinos thrived as recently as 1970, recent research suggests that as few as approximately 4,000 lack rhinos are alive today.

The rapid decline in population is mostly due to poachers who hunt the rhinos for their horns, which are then sold as trophies or ground into a powder used in pseudo-medical practices as a cure-all. Black rhinos are currently classified as “critically endangered” by the IUCN.

After the presentation, the second grade students decided they wanted to do something to help. In particular, second grader Ella Coulter took the cause to heart. Her parents said she spent an entire snow day making posters, writing a letter to other students and their parents and making a collection jar for spare change. “She did it all herself,” said her parents.

Thanks to Ella and the rest of the students at Mayfield Elementary, a total of $175 was raised. Prey returned to the school Monday to accept the money and thank the students for their efforts. “I think it’s really important.... I love animals,” said Ella.

Photos by JACOB HUNSANGER
Photo captions:
Above, Ruth Ann Prey, a retired Lapeer teacher, talks to the second grade class at Mayfield Elementary School and applauds them for their hard work raising money. To the left, student Ella Coulter shows off the collection jar she made. The students used the jar to collect spare change from parents and students in other classrooms. On the right is the letter Ella wrote to help with the fundraising efforts.

East's Burke signs to play at Concordia

From the County Press
A Lapeer East Eagle will become a Cardinal in the fall as senior Jacob Burke signed his national letter of intent to play football at Concordia University.

Burke will play wide receiver at the next level in the Pistol Spread Option offense, which has four wide receivers on the field at all times. Though the offense is relatively new, the coaching staff at Concordia believes they can put Burke in position to make plays with the ball in his hands and believes he is a perfect fit for a student-athlete at Concordia.

The senior also played in the defensive backfield for the Eagles on defense and was a part of the basketball team. Burke chose Concordia over other schools that included Albion College, Adrian College and Siena Heights University.

He selected Concordia over the other schools because he liked the campus. He believes his biggest challenge as he moves on to college athletics will be preparing for the better competition he will face and how much time football will consume in college.

The intended communications major is excited about meeting his new teammates and facing new competition at his position in a bid for playing time.

Lapeer East coach Jake Weingartz said he believes Burke will have no problems translating his game to the collegiate level. “Jake has great athleticism and he is an overall playmaker on the field. He made a lot of plays for us this season. He was a big reason we were as successful as we were this season,” Weingartz said.

“He will be a very productive wide receiver in college,” Weingartz added. “He will have to get in the weight room and continue to get bigger, faster and stronger, but there is no reason he won’t have a successful four years.”

Photo by Eric Hohenthaner

Photo Caption:
Lapeer East senior Jacob Burke signs his letter of intent with Concordia University as he is surrounded by his parents and Concordia coaches.

Mayfield 2nd graders perform "Ugly Duckling"

Mrs. Lamphere’s 2nd grade class at Mayfield Elementary will perform "Ugly Duckling" (a mini musical) for students March 16th at 2:00 p.m. and for the public March 17th at 6:00 p.m. at Mayfield Elementary located at 302 Plum Creek Road, Lapeer.

Mrs. Lamphere’s annual play is always a treat for the students and their audience. Come enjoy a delightful cast of singing second graders.

Superintendent finalists selected

The Lapeer Community Schools Board of Education has selected two finalists in its selection process to name a new superintendent for the District.

The finalists are Bethany Rayl, currently acting superintendent and assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Clio Area Schools, and Matthew Wandrie, currently director of human resources at Dearborn Public Schools.

The board narrowed the field of candidates from more than 40 applicants to six for the first round of interviews and completed the second round of interviews with three candidates on Thursday, March 10.

It is anticipated that the new superintendent will begin working for the District on July 1, replacing current Superintendent Debbie Thompson who is retiring after serving the district for the last six years as its superintendent.

Bands capture honors at Festival

On February 25, 26 and March 4th , bands from Rolland-Warner, Zemmer, Lapeer East and Lapeer West participated in MSBOA District Band Festival.

More than 350 band students participated, and each band came home with recognition for outstanding performance and musicianship.

Five bands also qualified for State Band Festival by receiving an overall rating of a 1, which is the highest rating a band can receive at this event.

The Lapeer Community Schools bands all had a tremendous showing of parents at each of the performances to show support for students. The band students represented the District at the highest level and should be commended for their outstanding achievement.

Book drive aids FLC

Donations of new or gently used books will be collected at Murphy Elementary School between March 14th and March 18th as a school project to help the Family Literacy Center.

Books collected during the drive will be donated to FLC. The Family Literacy Center is a local non-profit organization that helps adults learn or improve their reading and assists school-age children and their parents to improve reading and literacy.

“The books can be for children or adults, fiction or non-fiction, but should be in good condition. We are especially looking for children’s chapter books,” said Lisa Schultz, a parent volunteer who is coordinating the drive. “We invite the community to support this worthy cause and drop your spare books off at the Murphy Elementary school office during the week of March 14th to March 18th,” Schultz said.

For further information on the Family Literacy Center go to www.readlapeer.org. For additional information on the book drive call Schultz at 810-797-5537.

Student art on display

Gallery 194 is hosting an art show featuring student art from students at Lapeer middle schools and high schools.

Stop by the gallery to see how talented these young students are at creating both 2- and 3-dimensional pieces.

The show is now open and will run until Saturday, March 19. A special student artist reception will take place from noon until 2:00 p.m. on Saturday, March 12.

Everyone is invited to meet the artists and to see their work, or to just stop by the gallery any time during normal business hours. Art from many other districts also will be on display at this special show (grades K-8).

Students of teachers Deb Helbig (East) and Jeff Bolzman and Nancy Barry (West) have work in the show which will go on to state competition this weekend.

The middle school artist are students of art teachers Marty Norton at Zemmer Middle School and Lisa Reinertat Rolland-Warner Middle School.

Many thanks to the folks at Gallery 194 for their continued support to the arts in Lapeer.

Zumba Fundraiser for Project Graduation

Lapeer East Project Graduation will host a Zumba Fundraiser on Friday, March 18th, beginning at 7 p.m. at Maple Grove Elementary School.

Pre tickets are available. Call Lisa at 810-627-9426 or email lmar925@charter.net

Cost is $6 per ticket in advance. $8 at the door.

TurrillMom 2 Mom Sale March 12

The Turrill Elementary PTC will host a Mom 2 Mom Sale on Saturday, March 12, from 8:30 am – 1:00 pm.

If you are interested in renting a table, please contact: Nichole Hayden nhayden@lapeerschools.org or (810)614-9438.

Table rental costs are $20.00 for an 8’ table, $10.00 for 1 additional 8’ table, $25.00 for a cafeteria table, $5.00 for rack space and $1.00 for large items.

The PTC is also accepting donations of toys and clothes. All proceeds from donated items will go to Turrill Elementary!

Donations can be dropped off to Nichole Hayden at Turrill Elementary before March 4.

March is Reading Month

Students all across the Lapeer Community Schools are putting an added focus on books this month to celebrate Reading Month.

Each school is charting its own course with a theme for this month’s extra focus on reading, from the wonderful tales of Dr. Seuss at Schickler to the eyes to the skies and the wonders of outer space at Mayfield.

At Lynch the theme is Reading Builds Character, and at Seaton the students have a decidedly automotive focus as they “track” their selections as they race into reading.


Many activities are underway across the District to help focus students and families on the importance of READING.

There is ample research that tells us over and over again that the best way to improve a child's ability to read is to read and be read to. Parents are being asked to help keep track of the minutes their children are reading, to help them participate in the events. Every child will be a winner.


Photo captions:Mayfield teachers garbed as white-suited astronauts offered the challenge to their students for their out-of-this-world focus on reading.

Schickler students were in for a wonderful treat at lunch on Wednesday, March 2, as they celebrated the birthday of Dr. Seuss with some personalized cake created by Jill McLaughlin from the food service department.

Seaton 2nd grader collecting school supplies for Haiti

When he learned his mom and dad would be going to Haiti in April to help out in the town of Desalines, he wanted to do his part, so Seaton 2nd grader Judson Page decided to collect school supplies to send along to school kids in the hurricane-ravaged country.

He began his project in early February and decided to collect pencils, pens, notebooks and rulers to send along to school children in Desalines. The collection also includes some other practical items such as jump ropes, barrettes, bouncy balls, jacks and small model cars.

His fellow students chipped in, and by the end of the month he had overflowed the box that sits in the Seaton Elementary office. He says he thinks his total so far tops 85 pounds.

Judson’s efforts will continue through Friday March 4, and he’s looking for as many school supplies and small toys that he can send along to students in Desalinesi.

To make a donation of any of the items, you can drop them off at Seaton Elementary or leave a message for Judson’s parents, Kelli and Gene Page, at the Lapeer Free Methodist Church at 810-664-3393.

To learn more about the Haiti mission trip, visit http://haititrip.weebly.com.

Student art work on display at Gallery 194

The artwork of 20 middle and high school students from Lapeer Community Schools are currently on display at Gallery 194 in downtown Lapeer as part of the annual Michigan Art Education Association exhibit that runs through March 5.

The work of the artists includes a variety of media, including dry-point etching, prismacolors, pencil, oils, acrylics, tempera, fabric and clay.

The exhibit includes art work from nearly 70 students in Lapeer and Genesee counties. Winners from this regional exhibit will advance to judging in Lansing for statewide recognition. Winning artwork at the state level is displayed at several venues and in state offices throughout the Lansing area.

LCS exhibiting student artists at Gallery 194 include:

Adrianna Allen, Lapeer West 10th grade, “My Escape” conte pencils.
Karley Bauroth, Lapeer West, 11th grade, “Bonita Alta,” clay.
Kaitlyn Becker, Lapeer West, 11th grade, “Calla Lilies,” clay.
Eric Birkle, Lapeer West 12th grade, “Olde Time Machine,” prismacolor pencils.
Cheryse Burns, Lapeer West, 12th grade, “Three Siblings,” prismacolors.
Angelique Clark, Lapeer West, 12th grade, “Rainbow Rich,” clay.
Courtney Gilbert, Lapeer West 12th grade, “I Ride, Therefore I Am,” pencil.
Courtney Lang, Lapeer East 12th grade, “Sacre-Coeur,” dry-point etching.
Zoe Lovelette, Zemmer 8th grade, “Intense Color,” markers.
Amelia Meerschart, Lapeer East 11th grade, “Junk Yard Trucks,” oil pastels.
Jessica Ogles, Lapeer East 11th grade, “Initially Print,” mixed media.
Adam Porter, Lapeer East 12th grade, “Toy Store,” colored pencil.
Miranda Sanborn, Lapeer East 12th grade, “”Self-Portrait,” pencil.
Samantha Schlaud, Zemmer 7th grade, “My Many Emotions,” watercolor print.
Connor Schulte, Rolland-Warner 8th grade, Untitled, acrylic paint.
Madison Skene, Rolland-Warner 6th grade, “Frogs in the Rainforest,” water color.
Brooke Soroka, Rolland-Warner 8th grade, Untitled, embossment.
Lexi Thomas, Rolland-Warner 8th grade, “Spring Fever,” tempera/fabric.
Paige Tigner, Lapeer West 11th grade, “Trapped,” nu pastels.
Catherine Wonders, Lapeer West 12th grade, “Mad Hattress,” clay.

Cramton Center serves as hostage training site

During a professional development day for staff in mid-January, the Cramton Campus on Lake Nepessing Road, home of Lapeer Community High School, was transformed into a situational training location that was designed to both challenge the preparedness of the building in the case of an emergency situation, as well as allowing for the Special Response Team (SRT) members from the Lapeer County Sheriff Department to conduct valuable situational training in a school setting.

This was the first training of its kind in Lapeer County and involved more than 20 members of local law enforcement. “The scenario was modeled after the recent hostage situation in a high school in Wisconsin,” explained LCHS Principal Kevin Walters. “It was modified to present an opportunity for multiple levels of training and involvement.”

Staff members from LCHS were active participants in the training sessions, which include active shooter, bomb and explosives, barricaded gunman, and hostage situations throughout the day. The day ended with a luncheon and an opportunity to debrief between school staff and law enforcement.

“We would like to acknowledge the outstanding collaboration between the building and the Lapeer County Sheriff Department,” said Walters. He praised the work of Sgt. Andy Engster and Sgt. Don Brady, who worked with Walters to develop the scenario for this training.

Sheriff Ron Kalanquin was present during the training as well. Deputy Dave Hill assisted and is assigned to LCHS by the Sheriff’s Department. Last school year, LCHS enlisted the assistance of the department in providing a critical review of the school’s emergency response and lock-down procedures. Lt. Jim McLain, Sgt. Engster, Sgt. Brady and Deputy Hill from the Sheriff Department assisted in that review as well.

“This is a great example of collaboration between the school and local agencies in the interest of school safety,” Walters noted.