The courtyard at Arborwood South Elementary School has in the middle a pond with fish, several trees and shrubs and a mallard box in one of the corners and even a 12-foot by 6-foot wooden stage, and during the school year, it has all kinds of “Eagles” in and out of it.  But it now has a special Eagle.  As in Eagle Scout, that is.

          Fifteen-year-old Monroe High School sophomore Jarrod Kimble, who was an Arborwood Eagle when he was in elementary school, is responsible for building the stage and working long hours with family and friends to weed and mulch several nature areas inside the lush courtyard.  At 2:30 p.m. on Sunday, September 6, he will receive his Eagle Scout rank in Eagle Court of Honor ceremonies at St. Mary’s Church Parish Life Center.’

          Jarrod said that much of the work on the stage and on the weeding and mulching was done last year.

          “My grandfather is a certified professional engineer and he helped me to design the stage so it was nice and sturdy.  We also decided to clean up the area around the pond in the center of the courtyard.  We were surprised that we found fish in there,” Jarrod said.  To help the fish in the pond, he saw to it that a new pump and piping were installed.  Two of the areas that he cleaned up were so overgrown by underbrush that it was spreading and killing the grass.

          “We even built a Mallard house for ducks who are migrating, too” Jarrod said.  “It might not look like much but the Mallards seem to like it,” he said.

          Jarrod wanted to do something for his Eagle project that would have a positive impact for the youth in the area.  Because he had attended Arborwood as a child, he felt especially connected to the project.

          The whole project which has led to Jarrod’s Eagle Scout recognition cost about $1,300, all of which he raised.

          “We hope this project has made a positive impact for the students and staff at the school and that the stage will be used for years to come,” said Jeff Kimble, Jarrod’s dad.  “We really appreciate the support Jarrod got from the school administration who really helped our son to succeed and the help he received during the work.”

The entire stage is painted white with about 30 green fleur-de-lis, the symbol of Boy Scouts, adorning it.

          During the school year, it did get used a number of times.

          “My mom (Arborwood South Teacher Dawn Kimble) has brought her class out and the students have used the stage to act out some of the scenes in the books they have read.  You also can sit on it and read to your students sitting in the grass,” Jarrod said. 

          Jarrod is a member of Boy Scout Troop 519 sponsored by St. Mary’s Church and plans to mentor younger Scouts.  He also is active at Monroe High School on the wrestling team and as an active member of choir and drama.

          He is the second MHS student in less than six months to earn the Eagle Scout rank.  The other was Grant Prater whose Eagle Scout project was a clothes closet that benefited Monroe Middle School.

     For those of you who enjoy Monroe High School choral music AND plan ahead, have we got good news for you.

     Monroe High School Choir director Cate Windelborn has released a list of the award-winning choirs’ performance dates.  The list is so large, there are times she must feel almost like a travel agent as well as the choir director. 

Not only will the choir perform in such places as the University of Michigan and in New York City, but the schedule includes stops at Greenfield Village and Grand Rapids, Howell and Holt, too, and many other places in between.

     However, if you want to catch the Monroe High School vocal groups locally, there are five chances to do that, too, this school year and four of them are free.

     Here is the schedule of local performance dates:

Oct. 15 – Fall Vocal Concert, 7 p.m., MHS Auditorium.

Dec. 11-12 – Madrigal Dinners, 6:30 p.m., St. Paul’s Church (paid ticket required)

Dec. 20 – Holiday Concert, 3 p.m., MHS Auditorium.

March 10 – Pre-Festival Concert, 7 p.m., MHS Auditorium

May 24 – Spring Vocal Concert, 7 p.m., MHS Auditorium

You can hear all Monroe High School football games – home and away -- live this season on NashIcon radio 98.3 FM.  The radio station’s first broadcast is this Friday night from Bunkelman Field.  The pregame show starts at 6:30 p.m. with the kickoff at 7 p.m. 

With technology the way it is today, NashIcon also will live stream games during the season.  For the first game of the year, the Monroe High game will be broadcast and streamed live at the same time.  For the rest of the games in the season, Monroe High’s games will be broadcast live every Friday night.  At the same time, NashIcon will be live streaming the SMCC football games.  Now, after the live on-air broadcast, the MHS games will go onto the NashIcon website to be replayed via streaming and the replay at the SMCC game will be done over the air. 

That means that every Friday night, NashIcon will have two high school football games available over the air and on the internet.

The arrangement is similar -- with some technological advances made in the last 30 years -- to the football double headers that used to be broadcast on WVMO radio which at 98.3 FM occupied the same frequency that NashIcon is on. 

Meghan Gibson, who is entering her 12th year with Monroe Public Schools, has been named principal of Waterloo Elementary School.  Her appointment was approved Tuesday night (August 25) by the Monroe Public Schools Board of Education. 

     “Our district’s promise is to ‘help your child succeed’ and Meghan’s career with Monroe Public Schools is one that has many examples of her going the extra measure to help children learn and succeed,” said Mrs. Julie Everly, deputy superintendent, Monroe Public Schools.  “In fact, even in the summer, she was part of the Arborwood team that came in on their summer off-time and worked with children to ensure that their reading skills did not diminish over the summer.  She has worked on district projects over a number of summers.”

     From February 2014 to June 2014, she was an interim assistant principal at Arborwood.  Since 2008, she has been an elementary math coach, a math consultant and a School Improvement Coach, headquartered at Arborwood Elementary Campus for the last several years.  During that time, she was one of the leaders in implementing the DreamBox Learning math program now so popular with students and parents.  She has been a member of the District Elementary Math and Social Studies Committees. 

     Mrs. Gibson helped in the planning and implementation of Professional Learning Committees and School Improvement Program efforts at Manor, Waterloo and Arborwood elementaries and Monroe Middle School.  She also was a member of the teacher-led team which designed and implemented the MPS’ on-line Student Progress Monitoring Tool.  In addition, she helped prepare Manor Elementary School for its move into Title I status several years ago.

     For her first four years with Monroe Public Schools, Mrs. Gibson was a classroom teacher at the former South Monroe Townsite Elementary School.  She holds a Bachelors degree in education from Eastern Michigan University and a Master of Science in Educational Leadership Degree from Walden University.

A pilot program being offered to incoming freshmen at Monroe High School this fall will allow those students to explore health sciences while still having a comprehensive high school experience.

     Called the Health Science Pilot, the program is being offered to 110 students who – while eighth graders last year – demonstrated an interest in studying health sciences when they attended Monroe High School.  Those interests were determined through the students’ Career Cruising activities and conversations they had with their teachers. 

     “We have a core team of teachers – DJ Freese, Jenna Glab, Barbara Lafayette, Leah Morelli and Alka Pandya – who have been very passionate about developing this pilot and providing an educational experience which is not available anywhere else in Monroe County,” said Monroe High School Principal Sandra Kreps. 

     “A major advantage to this program is it allows these students to study in an area in which they have significant interest yet still enjoy the advantages of the rich campus life we have at Monroe High School,” Mrs. Kreps said.  

     Students entering the program make a two-year commitment to stay with it, with the option to leave after one year, and each will receive his or her own Chromebook to use during the school day.  Being part of the MHS Health  Science Team provides students with opportunities to learn from guest lecturers, take field trips to area medical facilities, be mentored by persons already working in the field and explore careers in health care and the medical field.

     Even if a student is not sure about the Health Sciences, they will be able to integrate their learning into their everyday lives now and in the future.  They also will be able to stay on track to be prepared for the rigorous testing schedule from the Michigan Department of Education which now includes the SAT.

     “National studies show that seven of the top 10 careers are in health science and with this pilot, we will be helping these students to succeed in their preparation for those careers,” Mrs. Kreps said.

     The daily schedule for the students will include subjects like English, Math, Biology and Trojan Family Time. The school day will include two classroom hours for “off-team” classes such as band or choir, a foreign language or other elective.  The afternoon has an hour set aside for project-based learning and a health-occupation elective through the MHS Career and Technical Education program. 

     “Health science is a broad field encompassing many different medical and health care disciplines, including biochemistry, biomedical engineering, pharmacology, physiology, radiological sciences, and many more,” said DJ Freese, one of pilot’s teachers.  “The opportunities vary so greatly that it doesn’t matter what your personality type is or what your interests are, there likely is a biomedical science career for you.”

     Students participating in the Health Science Pilot also will be able to participate in the Health Occupations Students of America (HOSA) student organization, which in Monroe County is only available at Monroe High School.  Over the years, Monroe High students have performed extremely well in state and national HOSA competitions with their peers from around Michigan and the USA.

     This is not the first health-science related program offered by Monroe High School that is unique to Monroe County educational institutions.  For the last three years, MHS also has offered a Certified Nurse Assistant (CAN) program where students work toward earning their state CNA certification. 

The make-up day for Monroe High School registration for students is set for Tuesday (August 25.)  Please come to MHS between 8 a.m. and noon on Tuesday if you were unable to register last week.  It is important to be registered before school starts since a number of time-consuming activities are taken care of to eliminate as many in-school interruptions as possible.  At the makeup registration, these materials will be collected before students will receive their schedules.
• Updated student registration form
• Free and reduced lunch applications
• Outstanding books, materials and fines (students may not get schedules if they still have outstanding books)
• Physical forms for athletics (if applicable)
• Student insurance information
• Dress code/hall sweep pass letter signed by parent.
After handing in these materials, students will be able to pick up their schedules, have their pictures taken and receive their MHS photo ID cards, receive their handbooks and locker assignments and buy their parking permits (for juniors and seniors only.)MHS

Certified nurse assistant (CNA) classes will be offered to seniors from Monroe County high schools starting this fall at Monroe High School, in a program administered by MHS. 

               After completing the after-school class, students will be prepared to take their state-written CNA examinations which can lead to being a state-licensed CNA.

               Monroe High School has been the only school in Monroe County to offer CNA classes during the school day and has done it for the last three years.  However, the new class to be offered over the length of the coming school year will be open to students from other districts, too.  Classes will meet one night a week from 6 p.m. to 10 p.m.

               The program will be explained in a one-hour parent information and orientation session which is scheduled for 5 p.m., Tuesday night (August 25) at Monroe High School.  Although this is a tuition-based program, the tuition is paid for by the student’s home district at no cost to the student, for non-Monroe Public Schools students.

               William Ferrara, director of Career and Technical Education (CTE) for Monroe Public Schools, said the class is nearly full but he encouraged parents of interested students to come out and learn about in case there are future opening.  Persons needing more information can call the CTE office at 734-265-3450.

Waterloo Elementary School, the only school in Monroe County offering a STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Math) curriculum for students, is one of only 10 finalists nationwide being considered to win a 3D printer and supplies.

          Waterloo, the only school in Michigan in the top 10, will know soon if it is one of five schools across the country to win one of the new 3D printers. 

          The description of the Waterloo program on the Thingiversity STEAM challenge website says:  “A new STEAM-based elementary school with a budding robotics program in Monroe, Michigan, is looking to inspire a new generation of young engineers and designers to restore innovation and investment in their small town.“

          “We are very excited to be chosen as one of only 10 schools to be considered, especially since we are relatively new to STEAM, having offered it only one year now,” said Waterloo teacher and robotics advisor Kyle Reed who had submitted the application to be considered.  “We have a 50-50- chance to win this $2,800 3D printer, which is really great in itself, but to be one of only a handful of schools to be considered nationally is quite an honor.”

          “Our goal is to help all of our students to succeed and winning this printer would give us another tool to help make that happen,” Mr. Reed said.

When the Trojans play football on Friday, September 18, it will be Military Tribute Night at Bunkelman Field and the Monroe Football Mother's Club has some great spirit wear available for those heading to the game that night.  The "moms" are selling black tee shirts with "Monroe Football" in camouflage lettering on the front and an American flag on the sleeve.  These spirit tee shirts will coordinate with the varsity football jerseys that will be worn for the special game.

The tee shirts are $10 or $15, depending on size.  They are available in mens and youth sizes and women's cut.  Deadline to place your order and submit your payment for it is this Monday, August 24, so do not delay. 

An order form is attached to this posting.

         In an editorial entitled “It’s nice Coach Rossi can enjoy Rossi Field,” the Monroe News praised the Monroe Public Schools’ Board of Education for renaming the Monroe High School softball field while Vince Rossi is alive to enjoy the accolade.  Here is the text of the editorial:

         Legendary Coach Vince Rossi can sit in the stadium seats at the softball field he helped develop and know that it was named in his honor.

         That doesn’t happen often.

         Traditionally, organizations such as schools and incorporated communities like to honor people who have made significant contributions, but it’s often after they are gone.  Perhaps it always seems as if it is done that way, but it’s refreshing for boards or councils to act quickly enough when the recipient is still around to appreciate it.

         Monroe Township Supervisor Alan Barron and former Miss America Kaye Lani Wilson both have streets named in their honor.  And in late 2003, the Monroe City Council named Capucilli Park on E. Elm Ave. after the city’s longtime mayor, C.D. (Al) Capucilli.  All were able to appreciate the gesture.

         Honoring extraordinary residents when they’re gone certainly is appropriate.  But being able to do so when they’re still with us is even better.  And Mr. Rossi certainly deserves having the field named after him.  During 32 seasons as the varsity coach at Monroe High School, he compiled an impressive record of 807-246-3 with 22 league championships.  He also led his teams to three appearances in the state Final Four before retiring in 2012.

         During that time, Mr. Rossi was instrumental in creating a new stadium. A goal he believed was important because student athletes deserved a quality field.  He insisted that the stadium seats be installed instead of benches because he wanted it to be a premiere, first-class facility.  So he led a group of parents, who sought donations. In 2000, the first game was played at the field of dreams.

         It would be nice if others followed the example of the Monroe Board of Education,

         Naming a park or field after someone is special.  Naming it while they’re still around to appreciate it is even better.Editorial praises Rossi Field naming