Happy Thanksgiving!

HPS team,

As we enter the Thanksgiving break, please pause and be mindful of the amazing team we have here in Howell. A team that always puts our kids and families first! On this note, I wanted shared a few updates about various members of the Highlander team as well as district happenings.

Support and Service Persons of the Year - we had the pleasure of recognizing and honoring Martha Mendoza and Karen Socia today as the Service and Support Persons of the Year.

Mrs. Mendoza and Mrs. Socia were selected for this honor by a committee of district stakeholders who recognized their dedication and commitment to our students, families, and staff.

Mrs. Mendoza goes above and beyond to ensure that each student achieves success. In addition to supporting our HHS students who are English language learners, Mrs. Mendoza often takes the time to assist the families of her students. She has been known to take her own time to help interpret and translate documents for students parents and families. These are just some of the examples of why Mrs. Mendoza was selected for this honor.

Mrs. Socia is one of the first people visitors to Southeast meet and she ensures that each visitor is welcomed with a friendly smile. Each day, Mrs. Socia juggles phone calls, students and staff who need assistance and whatever else comes her way, all while remaining calm and positive. Mrs. Socia handles any situation that comes her way with a cool head and with the best interest of students and school in mind. She ensures that the needs of all of the students at Southeast are met. During the holidays, Mrs. Socia acts as a liaison between the school and community agencies to ensure that students and their families have a memorable holiday. I think this quote from one of her nomination letters sums it up best “Karen Socia is one of Howell Schools’ friendliest and hardest working employees."

On behalf of the Board of Education and the entire Howell Public Schools team, congratulations Martha and Karen. We are honored to work with you!

HHS Performing Arts Puts on High School Musical - under the leadership of our amazing staff, our students continue to shine in their productions. High School Musical continued this tradition. On Friday evening, the cast and crew were thrown a curveball when we lost power. The amazing thing is that they just kept performing, giving true meaning to the expression, the show must go on.

First Robotics - during my visit to Southeast last week, I visited with some of the Southeast robotics team, the Mustache Monsters, who were preparing for the First Robotics competition. Along with the Mustache Monsters, the Brick Bosses, and Team Kaos from HPS qualified for the state competition. Thanks to the support of our staff and strong partnerships with the community we continue to expand our robotics opportunities across the district. 


I also visited Ms. Cain's new lab and observed her introducing the Launch Cycle with the students in a station structure that empowered the students to engage in various activities, challenge one another to generate ideas, and create. 





ELL at Southwest - at Southwest, I enjoyed visiting our ELL program. I am especially impressed with the inclusive model that SW has developed; a model that is grounded in a philosophy that we all grow from learning experiences that consistently include multiple perspectives, backgrounds, etc.

I also had the pleasure of eating lunch with some SW students. They certainly are not afraid to challenge my thinking when they discuss their ideas on how to help improve the district. 

We the People Hearings - last Friday, under the leadership of Kristine Shantry, our HHS We the People team held their District Hearings. The students prepared arguments on a particular issue, presented them, and were then asked questions by our guest judges, Prosecutor Vailliencourt and Congressman Mike Bishop to name a few. 

  

Unified Sports at Parker MS - the Unified Sports Club at Parker met for the first time. Unified Sports is a affiliate of the Special Olympics and provides opportunities for students of all abilities to be leaders in their schools by promoting equality and acceptance. 

These leadership activities help students with and without intellectual disabilities find their voices by teaching them to become change agents striving for respect and inclusion.  

-Special Olympics Unified Strategy for Schools and Youth

We are able to offer this opportunity to our students through a grant secured by our amazing staff.

As you know, last weekend many in the area lost power; the high school campus did as well. On the eve of us hosting an MHSAA state football semi-final football game and the third night of the play, this caused some stress on our system. In short, we moved the game to Parker and welcomed about 8000 people from out of town to the community. We received a number of very kind remarks about their experience at the game. All of this was due to the amazing HPS team. I wanted to specifically recognize John Young, Chris Eaton, Tom Gould, Amy Pashak, Tom Aldapa, Aaron Metz, Bruce Grotenhuis, Stephanie Heslip, and the HHS GCA crew for their tremendous support to make sure everything went smoothly.

Please take the time this weekend to take care of yourself, enjoy time with family and friends, and rest. Amy and I are looking forward to a weekend of good food, relaxing, the Fantasy of Lights Parade, and not running our kids to various activities. Happy Thanksgiving!