All MPS students in grades Y5-12 may apply to participate in the Summer Learning Academy!!! Just like an athlete needs to exercise regularly to stay at the top of his game, so do students! During summer months students need to continue to exercise their brains, to keep the new connections made during the school year. The MPS Summer Learning Academy is designed around your child’s interests and academic needs; stretching every child’s reading, writing and math levels. It will be an opportunity for students to spend extended time in literacy or math to get a jump start for the upcoming school year.

Y5-8th grade Students in Summer Learning Academy will:
 Choose 3 interest camps that they will participate during a portion of the day
 Be part of a book club and write your own book
 Solve fun and challenging problems with friends
 Engage in DreamBox and math games
 Receive small group and individualized instruction

High School students:

 Have an opportunity to recover up to 1.5 credit hours
 Receive small group and individualized instruction
 Participate in a research project of their choice

Fill out the attached application or click here to apply!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfEsnEsrs7rBzC3RHDx8IC09qu9qS6S0Fbod01wZnD3tsSr6w/viewform?usp=sf_link

Two Trojans place in state-wide MEWDC Welding Contest

Monroe High School seniors Tyler Lemerande and Jacob Smith were named winners of the 2017-18 Michigan Energy Workforce Development Consortium Career in Energy Week High School CTE Welding Contest. Lemerande took second place and Smith took a share of fourth place in a competition that saw 55 entries from over 100 applicants from across the state.

“We are so incredibly proud of Tyler and Jacob,” Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Julie Everly said. “Their accomplishments are yet another example of the excellent Career and Technical Education programs and teachers we have at Monroe Public Schools. Glenn Zorn is a great example of educators in the CTE program who go above and beyond to help prepare students for careers and opportunities after graduation. It really goes to show the great deal of dedication our faculty has to our students and the future of this community.”

Zorn is the welding instructor at Monroe High School. He was instrumental in orchestrating the students’ submissions, taking time after school to help guide Lemerande and Smith with their projects.

“I am just so appreciate of all of the work that Glenn put in to prepare these two for this competition,” Monroe Public Schools CTE Director Bill Ferrara said. “He, like so many other teachers, put in so many extra hours supporting these students. This is a great honor for these students and for Glenn.”

Lemerande, who submitted an ornate windmill piece, won a Maxstart stick package welding unit, a bag of welding equipment and accessories, $250 in cash, and $750 for the Monroe High School welding program. Smith’s submission of a landscape with added circuitry earned him a Miller Thunderbolt stick welding unit. The two seniors have been invited to the March 20 meeting of the MEWDC at Jackson College to receive their awards.

The MEWDC Welding Competition was hosted by DTE Energy, Consumers Energy, and the Lansing Board of Water and Light during the fourth annual Careers and Energy Week in October 2017. High school welding students were asked to submitted metal creations centered around a theme of Michigan and energy. The entries were judged by professional welders.

Monroe High School HOSA students excel at Regional Conference

Students from Monroe High School’s Health Occupation Students of America (HOSA) group competed in the HOSA Region 3 Leadership Conference Saturday in Adrian with great results, including one first place, one second place, and two top-ten finishes. Over 600 students from schools throughout Monroe, Lenawee, Washtenaw, and Wayne Counties attended the conference.

“I am so proud of this group,” HOSA Advisor and Monroe High School teacher Leah Morelli said. “They are extremely committed. None of the prep work is done during class time; they prepared for this and practiced after school and it absolutely shows.”

Juniors DeSean Rouser, Noah Boudrie, and Stephanie Britton took first place in the Creative Problem Solving competition, in which the students had to carefully orchestrate a presentation with a solution to a unique medical or health issue. Junior Madison Winkelman took second place in Sports Science.

The team of juniors Jordan Younglove and Montana Smith landed in the Top 10 in Forensic Medicine, while Julia DePealsmaker and Breanna Norum, also juniors, finished in the Top 10 in Health Career Displays.

With their great showing, each of these students qualified to compete at the HOSA State Leadership Conference in March.

“This is amazing!” Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Julie Everly said. “I am so proud that we have these important opportunities for our students within MPS. The advisors and our CTE Team are an essential part of the success of the HOSA students. Congratulations to all of them!”

Along with Morelli, Kari Arnold and Alka Pandya advise HOSA students at Monroe High School.

The HOSA students’ success is another example of Monroe Public Schools’ commitment to Career and Technical Education for its students. Health and medical education is one of a long list of career pathways that students can follow to prepare for post-secondary education or career readiness.

Congratulations to the 2017 MHS Trojan softball team for a remarkable season! A 29-9 season was capped off by a stellar performance in capturing a Regional Championship, on top of being named an MHSSCA Academic All-Star Team with a team grade-point average of 3.91! Congratulations girls!

Monroe High School Senior Thomas takes second nationally in GIS story map competition

Monroe High School senior Zachery Thomas has certainly mapped out a course for his future. The Class of 2017 graduate took second place in the nation in the ArcGIS Online U.S. School Competition after he won the ESRI ArcGIS 2017 Map Michigan Competition. Thomas submitted the story-map project he completed while working on an internship with the Monroe County Planning Department through the GRACE (Geographic Information System Resources and Applications for Career Education) Project in conjunctions with Monroe Public Schools.

“Mr. (Russell) Columbus (Thomas’ teacher at Monroe High School) walked up behind me and put his phone in my face and it said, ‘Zach Thomas is the Michigan winner,” Thomas said. “It was pretty exciting.”

Thomas was first introduced to the world of mapping when Columbus held an informational meeting about a possible internship with County Planning. Columbus, who has been working towards building a partnership with ESRI, an international mapping technology company that is responsible for much of the Global Information System (GIS) technology used today, was excited at the prospect of getting this software in students’ hands.

“I had been building this partnership for years and years,” Columbus said. “These kids are given free access to the same professional training that pros are paying for. Our kids are getting it for free.”

The GRACE Project, sponsored by the National Science foundation, was developed by Eastern Michigan University and its partners as a strategy for expanding and disseminating technology-based education for STEM careers in K-12, and in the workplace by aligning the resources from multiple educational and community organizations.

After finishing the training, Thomas, along with sophomore Donoavan Vitale, as well as a few Middle College students, interviewed for two positions in the County Planning Department before the summer of 2016. The interview panel was so impressed by the students that all who interviewed were selected for internships. Two were selected to work with the River Raisin National Battlefield Park and Vitale and Thomas worked with the County Planning Department.

“Monroe Public Schools is so proud of Zach and Donovan and the other students,” Superintendent Julie Everly said. “These students took the initiative to invest their own time into this project and they ran with it and made the most of it. We are thankful for the partnerships with the County and for all of the work Russel Columbus put into this opportunity for our students.”

“They’ve been great,” said Jeff Boudrie,GIS Specialist for the County Planning Department. “They are two really good students. They have a good work ethic and positive can do attitude towards everything they do”

County Board Chairman J. Henry Lievens said, “This is a great partnership between our education systems at the high school and college level and the County. We are appreciative of the efforts these talented students have provided to the County and our friends at the National Battlefield Park. It is through collaborative efforts like these that we see the good things possible that enhance our community. We proudly support all of our student’s educational achievements.”

The students working with the County Planning Department focused their attention on geographic GIS parcel mapping in Exeter, London, and Ash Townships. Over the summer they were able to complete over 18 square miles of property mapping for the County. They learned about the Public Land Survey System and how to read and draw property descriptions using the property assessment records managed by the local assessors.

The students used a variety of technologies that included global positioning system (GPS) collection, web mapping and advanced desktop mapping software. To qualify and be eligible for the internship they had to complete and pass eight online classes and have strong math and computer skills.

After the students’ summer internships were up, the County Planning Department continued Thomas and Vitale’s internships due to the extraordinary work they completed.

“The County is pleased to provide a structured and beneficial work experience for these exemplary students. We, as a community organization are beneficiaries of the work Zach and Donovan have provided in building lasting contributions to our GIS mapping resources. We look forward to the continued partnerships for our local high school students to pursue STEM careers and in doing so, helping build advanced technology for County services,” said County Administrator Michael Bosanac.

Vitale and Thomas then submitted entries to the Map Michigan Contest. Vitale submitted some of his work plotting property mapping for Ash, Exeter, and London Townships, which outlines some of the problem-solving skills he learned as well as his advanced math skills. Vitale’s fourth-place finish won him $100.

Thomas’ entry focused on some of his work with the River Raisin Battlefield, taking users on an interactive tour of the park. After going into the field and collecting data, Thomas layered multiple maps to give users an easy-to-use experience of exploring the grounds. His entry was one place away from being recognized at a national convention in San Diego in July.

Before this internship, Thomas was unaware of this field. Now, the Monroe High School Top 100 Scholar plans to use the Emerald Scholarship he received to Eastern Michigan University to study mapping.

For Zach's story-map submission: http://arcg.is/2oXeDZT

For Donovan's story map submission: https://mhs-cad.maps.arcgis.com/apps/MapSeries/index.html?appid=38727cd8fc9b43908f3b38288e056c28

Nominate Monroe Public Schools in Monroe News’ Best of the Best Readers’ Choice Awards as the Best Public School in Monroe!

Click this link to vote!

Once you’ve clicked the link, simply log in and type MONROE PUBLIC SCHOOLS into the entry for Best Public School! You can nominate MPS once a day every day until June 26. Also, make sure that you nominate MONROE PUBLIC SCHOOLS KIDS CLUB for Best Day Care and RIVERSIDE EARLY LEARNING CENTER for Best Preschool! (To the right is a cheat sheet! Use it to vote by clicking the link above!) There is also a chance for you to enter to win a $100 gift card!

The top five nominees will then be voted upon in July.

If you are on Facebook, share our Best of the Best post! Share! Share! Share!

Remember, nominate Monroe Public Schools EVERY DAY! Thank you for helping us show that MPS is the Best of the Best!

Monroe High School's Class of 2017 graduated on the backdrop of a beautiful Friday evening. A packed house at Bunkelman Field watched as 352 seniors walked across the stage to recieve their diplomas and begin a new chapter in their promising careers! Below find Monroe High School principal Sandra Kreps' commencement address to the Class of 2017.

      It has been a pleasure being your principal and seeing you succeed academically and socially. You have proven intelligence is so much more than books. During your school years, you have demonstrated your ability to work in groups, build relationships with people different than you, empathize and support those less fortunate.

     On Career and College Decision Day, our foreign exchange students shared stories of gratitude and appreciation for their MHS classmates for making them feel welcome and at home. In fact, two mentioned they wanted to stay in the United States! You helped them feel accepted, celebrated, and comfortable in a culture new to them. Your acceptance, support and encouragement embodies all of our MHS Guiding Forces. Just your cheers on that day for them were incredibly supportive and spoke of your big hearts. Parents and Grandparents, you can be proud. These are your children.

     We are fortunate to live out the real world every day at MHS. Our size, diversity and Monroe community all add a richness to our school and afford us opportunities that many schools cannot offer to their students.

     One thing I have learned about your class is your love and appreciation for music. To help you prepare for the next chapters in your life, I have short play list for you. Although you may forget my words today, hopefully you will not forget the songs. I also put this play list, with a few additions, in each one of your graduation packets that you will pick up after commencement. Since music is a universal language, I am sure your parents, grandparents, and friends can all relate to the messages of these songs and will help remind you of their significance in the days ahead.

     Let’s start with your class song Lean on Me. When your class voted for this song, you showed your incredible maturity and desire to help others.

     Bill Withers’ lyrics prove this point:

     Sometime in our lives we all have pain; we all have sorrow. But if we are wise, we know that there is always tomorrow. Please swallow your pride if I have faith you need to borrow, lean on me when you are not strong and I’ll be your friend, I’ll help you carry on. You just call on me brother, when you need a hand, we all need somebody to lean on. Parents and grandparents: Of all the songs your children could have chosen, this was it. These are young adults who know how to help others. You can be proud.

     Seniors: There will be days ahead when you think life is pretty lame and you will ask yourself, “Is this all there is?” This is when it is time to reflect on all the good in the world and realize how much there is to be thankful for. Louis Armstrong in “It’s a Wonderful World” reminds us to look at the sky of blue, and clouds of white, the bright blessed day and the dark sacred night and think to yourself, what a wonderful world. Seniors: Happiness and contentment are found in the simple things.

    One of the most important things you can do in life is to build great relationships with your family and friends. The words of Tim McGraw's Humble and Kind inspire us to do this: He sings:

    Visit grandpa every chance that we can, hold the door, say please thank you, don’t steal, don’t cheat and don’t lie. We have mountains to climb but always stay humble and kind. Don’t hold a grudge or a chip and here’s why, bitterness keeps you from flying. When you get where you are going, don’t forget to turn back around and help the next one in line. Always stay humble and kind.

     Seniors: To know there are others you can lean on in this wonderful world while staying humble and kind, will bring you happiness and purpose. There are few things in life that will surpass the importance of Friendship, Respect, Appreciation, Kindness and Humility. Let these define you.

     Please know that you always have a home here. We are and always will be Monroe!......Class of 2017…. you are ready to graduate. You will be missed.

Monroe High School senior Christian Guy received the opportunity of a lifetime for a choral student in the state of Michigan. He was named a Michigan Youth Arts Distinguished Scholar and attended the Michigan Youth Arts Conference in Kalamazoo May 18-20, where he was among the best youth instrumentalists and singers in the state.

“This is a huge event that goes on, taking students from the best choirs at a regional level, then from a state level, to get to the all-state level,” he said. “This is their life. It’s so refreshing to have that same level of commitment. This was the first experience that I have had working at this level. It was spectacular.”

In its 55th year, he Michigan Youth Arts Conference, held on the campus of Western Michigan University, brings together students from all over the state to celebrate excellence in not only choir and band, but in many other performing arts, including dance, television production, visual arts, and musical theatre.

“We are so proud of Christian and everything he and all of our choir students have achieved,” Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Julie Everly said. “The students have shown such passion for signing and the staff, especially Cate Windleborn (Monroe High School Choir Director), are so dedicated to fostering that passion.”

The Michigan School Vocal Music Association’s (MSVMA) All-State Honors Choir is the third stage in a very competitive field of the best singers in the state. Students first begin by auditioning for Regional Honors Choir in October, then State Honors Choir in December. If a student is able to climb those ranks, he or she has an opportunity to try out for All-State, which takes normally a little over 100 students state-wide.

“I’m in my 21st year of teaching and I’ve had two make it that far,” said Windleborn. “It’s a huge deal. If you take all four sections separately, that means that Christian is one of the best 25 basses in the entire state. I’m so proud of him and the experience was able to have.”

Even though Guy had made it to what Windleborn, who accompanied him on this trip, describes as “the pinnacle group,” his work was far from done.

“Once you get there, the choir is given a little time to find their sound and then they give you four random parts that you need to have memorized,” Guy said. “You could go home. It’s high stakes. You need to know your music right there.”

Making it past the initial testing phase, the choir then practices eight hours a day on seven pieces. Each section practices separately initially, but when the choir comes together for the first time, the results, Guy says, are, “like a revelation.”

“You never expect it to sound so beautiful.”

The final night finds the choir performing in front of the entire conference of artists and musicians. Being able to watch the best of the best performing their honed crafts is an experience itself, but being able to be a part of it according to Guy was another thing altogether.

“That night was ridiculous,” he said. “You’re not even thinking. You’re just experiencing something taking over your soul. Just being able to perform there is an honor. You all start singing and everyone in the crowd is just giving a blank stare as they are enraptured.”

The experience of the conference is one that Windleborn says Guy deserved whole-heartedly.

“He’s a great kid,” she said. “We are going to miss him; he’s my big bass. I love that he is an independent learner. I don’t have to feed him his parts. He can just look at them and figure it out, or if not, he’ll sit down at the piano and do it. He practices on his own. Christian rocks!”

Guy’s accolade is just another in a long line of successes that the Monroe High School choirs have achieved this year, including straight ones at Festival this year and two students taking time to form and lead their own ensembles. Windleborn says she has a lot to be proud of in what could be considered a landmark year for the choir.

"We've been growing and growing at the high school,” she said. “We’ve had larger numbers than I have seen in seven years. Thanks to Elise Dinwoody, the middle school program has gotten stronger and stronger. We have students like Christian who take initiative, like Zachary Everly and Tristan Daniels who are leading practices for their own choirs. I just can’t say enough about this group. They are great.”

Monroe High School senior Corey Knabusch was awarded the Grand Award for Wrought Metal at the 2017 Michigan Industrial and Technical Education Society (MITES) Student Project Competition. Knabusch is the first Trojan to ever receive the honor, which is given to the top project in the competition that brings CTE students from all across the state.

“It was really humbling,” Knabusch said. “It was a really cool event. There were so many great projects, even outside of my division. I was actually surprised that my project did that well. It was really cool.”

Knabusch’s project, which was the first he had ever entered into MITES competition, depicts two pheasants taking flight from the foreground of four stalks of corn, adorned with an intricate spider web and a butterfly. He began working on it before the start of the third trimester and spent time outside of school working on it as well with Glenn Zorn, his welding teacher.

“Mr. Zorn and I sat down one day and we were just trying to figure out what to do,” Knabusch said. “I’m into hunting and he came up with the idea of the pheasants and I live on a farm so I added the corn stalks and we went from there.”

After having started the project, Knabusch broke his leg in a dirt bike accident and had to take time off of working, but was still able to produce a top-tier submission in the Large Sculptures/Models over 30” division, which would eventually win the top prize for the Wrought Medal category.

“He had to take six weeks off of working,” Zorn said. “He worked really hard on it, though. It was a really cool project.”

Zorn has a lot to be proud of with his students this year. Several other Trojans performed extraordinarily in the Wrought Metal category of the 2017 MITES competition. Senior Dalton Benner took first in Outdoor/Sporting Goods Project division and senior Trevor Duvall took first place in Small Sculptures/Models under 30”.

2017 Michigan Breaking Traditions Merit Award recipient Starlyn Higgins, also a senior, took second in Small Sculptures and Outdoor/Sporting Goods. Senior Jeff Salliotte was awarded second place in the CNC Cutting Process division. Lucas Michelin, also a twelfth grader, took second in Small Fixture/Furniture and sophomore Andrew Young took second in Large Sculpture.

Monroe High School also took 11 more Top 10 finishes in the competition in a total field of over 5000 entries.

The strong showing by Trojans in the MITES competition is a reflection of the growth of Monroe High School’s CTE programs, instructions, and offerings.

“Seeing the impressive work by our students and the accolades that they have received for their work really shows the commitment the district and our teachers have to Career and Technical Education,” Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Julie Everly said. “We are so proud of Corey and all of our CTE students.”

Knabusch, a summa cum laude graduate was named to Monroe High School’s Top 100 Scholars of the Class of 2017. Even though he plans to study agricultural sciences at Monroe County Community College instead of welding, Knabusch still learned valuable lessons from his experiences in the MITES competition and the Career and Technical Education courses at Monroe High School.

“It was really hard, with all the intricate parts,” he said. “It was really challenging and thought-provoking. The project just taught me that if you really think of something and want to do something, you just have to try it.”

The Monroe Public Schools Board of Education honored the academic careers of 25 seniors Tuesday evening, welcoming their families in as the students were awarded a range of scholarships, totaling over $30,000 for the group.

The evening began with opening remarks from Monroe Public Schools Superintendent Julie Everly, who after welcoming the seniors and their families, praised them for their dedication to their academics as well as their dedication to volunteering and service in the community.

“The scholarships that are awarded tonight are all deserving honors recognizing both your scholastic achievements and your community service,” she said. “We are all very proud.”

Each student in attendance was asked to stand and tell the board their plans for future education, who joined them for the celebration, and which elementary school they attended.

Six very special scholarships were awarded in addition to the traditional endowments. The Sean Brady Memorial Scholarship is given in the memory of the Monroe High School alum who tragically lost his life in a vehicle accident in 2015. Brady’s parents, Richard and Ann Brady, were in attendance to celebrate with those whom the family had awarded the scholarship. Richard Carter and Grant Prater were present to receive the special honor with the family.

“This evening is so special because students and the Board members are able to come together and celebrate all of the amazing achievements of these fine students,” Everly said. “It is an honor to be able to congratulating their accomplishments together with their families and the members of the Board. It truly shows the value of the education our students receive here in Monroe Public Schools.”