Volume 28 — No. 9 Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

JAY NEWS

SHEPHERD PUBLIC SCHOOLS

Shepherd High School

The Shepherd High School German Exchange Program is teaming up with Youth in Govern-ment to offer beautiful fresh douglas fir wreaths for the holiday season. These 22-24” door sized wreaths are decorated with cones, red holly berries and a velvet ribbon in your choice of red or burgundy. Wreaths sell for $18 each, with proceeds helping to fund a trip to Germany and a Youth in Government conference in the spring. Wreaths can be picked up from SHS on Thursday, December 2 or Friday, December 3. Contact Julie Wright at 828-6605 or Doug Bush at 828-6601 for ordering information.

Valuable Information for High School

Students and Parents

The Michigan College Access Portal,

“https://michigancap.org/” is now available for all Michigan residents. MichiganCAP is a statewide initiative which provides free support for all students and families in Michigan to simplify the process of transi-tioning from high school to college and career. Individual registration is free and sets up a unique user profile to most effec-tively use the portal and its resources. In addition MeL (Michigan Electronic Li-brary) resources are included in Michigan-CAP's "Resources" section.

Superintendent's

Corner . . .

Terry Baker

Page 2 Superintendent’s Corner Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

In November of 2007, our community passed a bond proposal to improve our educational fa-cilities. We are now nearing the end of the construction project. The new auditorium will open around the first of December, along with the elementary classrooms that are part of the remodeled “1929 Section”. The new elementary media center should be ready for use after

we return from the Holiday Break.

Once again the enrollment for Shepherd Public Schools has increased. Last year we gained 86 new students, and this year our K-12 enrollment increased by another 83. Enroll-

ment is now up over 1800 for the first time in a number of years at Shepherd Public Schools.

Congratulations to coaches Rick Cahoon and Carey Hammel and all of the athletes in

our Cross Country program on their fine season.

Our Fine Arts programs will be performing throughout this Holiday Season. Please try

to attend some of these programs and enjoy the talent of our young performers.

Have a safe and wonderful Thanksgiving everyone!

Page 3 Main Elementary Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

Motor Moms and Dads

Children in the Developmental Kindergarten pro-gram at Shepherd Elementary benefit from motor practice using the “Motor Moms and Dads” pro-gram. The program was created to help young chil-dren develop the motor skills necessary for academic success.

The skills are practiced weekly under the direction of trained volunteer parents. Some of the skills tar-geted are: balance, bilateral motor, visual motor, lat-erality, directionality, depth perception, body aware-ness/control, crossing the midline of the body and basic coordination. These skills are all crucial to early brain development and when combined with language and behavior skills, lay the foundation for early school success. Thank you to parent volun-teers, Shannon DeLeon, Samantha Blankenshain and the Galans for making this program possible.

The “Motor Moms and Dads” benefits almost forty stu-dents in the building’s two developmental kindergarten classes. (above)

Shepherd Elementary Parents, Heidi and Joe Galan moni-tor students from Mrs. Bennett’s Developmental Kinder-garten students as they practice their motor skills.

Page 4 Middle School Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

The Shepherd Middle School Fine Arts Depart-ment pulled off a spectacu-lar performance of this year’s musical: Nonsense in the North Woods. In this humorous account of a search for Bigfoot at the Lost Loon Lodge, our SMS actors and vocalists showcased their incredible talents for two public per-formances. Congratula-tions to all of the students who were involved in the cast, the chorus, the set design and construction, and the lighting and sound. Congratulations to Mrs. McCarthy and Mrs. Peasely, our tireless and talented Musical Directors and Choreographers who made the show a success. Thank you for working so hard to bring us such great

entertainment!

Nonsense in the woods cast. (above) Nonsense in the woods chorus (below)

Shepherd Middle School Canned Food Drive

Introducing the 2nd annual Shepherd Middle School Canned Food Drive! This event is organ-ized by the SMS student council. Students were asked to bring non-perishable canned goods in to their Advisory classes until November 19. These items will be donated to the local food pantry and distributed to families who may need some extra help this time of year. The stu-dent council has set a goal this year of collecting 3,000 items! Students were eligible to re-ceive individual prizes for donating goods. Prizes included a personalized football jersey from the Jay’s Nest school store, lunch with the principal, free entry into the November 19 dance, and much more! Best of all, the Advisory who collects the most canned goods will earn an ice cream breakfast. Yum! The student council will end the canned food drive with a dance in the middle school gym from 6-8 p.m. on November 19. Tickets were $3 in advance or $5 at the door. Thank you for your help in supporting our local food pantry!

Page 5 Middle School Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

Congratulations to the following students for earning recognition as Shepherd Middle School Citi-zens of the Month. Students are nominated by their teachers based on the following criteria:

Good attendance for the year and no tardies for the month

No RTC visits for the month

Cooperative with teachers, staff and classmates

Pleasant, friendly, and good conduct during all school activities

Sets an excellent example for other students to follow

Congratulations to these exemplary SMS Citizens!

6th Grade 7th Grade 8th Grade

Annika Bendele Ali Artecki Jacob Darnell

Bobby Clark Brenan Curtiss Austin Fenby

Hannah Cluley Katie Hartupee Malett Brooke Malley

Cole Fitzpatrick Alivia Overmyer Chad Sponseller

Kyle Galgoci Colten Shimmell

Kylie Hutchinson Mitch Weiss

Jacob Nugent

Samantha Travis

Shepherd Middle School Presents Rachel’s Challenge

Shepherd Middle School students will have the opportunity to participate in a day filled with inspiration, courage and hope when Rachel’s Challenge visits on December 9, 2010. Rachel Scott was the first person killed in the Columbine High School tragedy on April 20, 1999. She left behind an amazing legacy and a simple challenge to anyone who will accept it – treat others with kindness and compassion and you just may change the world you live in. This message will be presented to students throughout the day in various ways – from a keynote speaker, to rotating sessions of team-building activities, to an inspirational Rachel’s Challenge Assembly, to the actual opportunity for our students to pledge to accept Rachel’s Challenge. All students in grades 6-8 will receive a Rachel’s Challenge t-shirt to help remind us of the importance of treating others with kindness and compassion. Those who choose to accept Rachel’s Challenge will also receive a locker magnet depicting Ra-chel’s Challenge to serve as a daily reminder that we each have it within us to make choices

that just may change the world we live in.

As a special addition to December 9, 2010, the Rachel’s Challenge staff will be presenting a community event at 7 p.m. in the middle school gymnasium for students, parents, commu-nity members and business owners. All are welcome and encouraged to attend and become

a partner in this life-changing event!

Page 6 High School Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

Writing for fun?

Yes! Each fall, Shepherd High School students form a Language Arts Team and gather to study various forms of writing. They then participate in competitions at the Gratiot Isabella RESD in Ithaca. Six teams from the Tri-Valley Conference participated in this fall’s competitions, which included editorials, character sketches and poems. Shepherd students who participated included Amanda Schlorff, Amy Henderson, Marc Hickey, Taylor Braman, Nichole Cuthbertson, Angelica Baker, Jenna Moeggenborg, Kayla Winnie, Sarah Deaton, Melissa Jorgensen, Veronica Carey, Holly Rohrer, Jake Davis, Janae Beltinck, and Kasey Hungerford. The students did a great job of working together as a team and representing Shepherd High School.

(from left): Kayla Winnie, Jake Davis, Marc Hickey, Taylor Braman, Amy Henderson, Janae Beltinck, and Nicole Cuthbertson.

Page 7 Winn Elementary Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

A special thank you to Mrs. Klopcic for

making this a great learning experience.

THINK FIRST FOR KIDS

Winn third graders received a free bicy-cle helmet during the “Think First Pro-gram”. It is part of a safety program to

prevent spinal cord injuries.

Winn Elementary Fall Festival

Huge Success!!!!!

On behalf of the Winn Fall Festival Committee, and the staff and families of Winn Elementary, we would like to extend our sincerest gratitude for the continued sup-port. Without the help of our numerous volunteers and supporters, this event would not have been such a success. A special thank you goes to the Morey Foundation for making an additional donation. All money raised will be used throughout this and upcoming years to support improvements in technology, field trips, assemblies,

visiting authors, classroom activities, etc.

It has been our hope that by developing an exceptional one-day fundraising event, families are not frequently asked to solicit money through multiple efforts. The Winn Fall Festival has become an outstanding fun-filled day for kids and adults

alike that bring families and community together to celebrate our children.

Thank you again for your continued generosity,

The Winn Fall Festival Committee & Winn Elementary Staff

Page 8 Art Club Dec. 2010/Jan. 2011

The Art Students have been doing great things. Mrs. Bleeker’s first hour class went to third grade classrooms and showed the children classic book illustrations. The third graders were excited about guessing which sto-ries the art class illustrated. The artists had to illustrate works from stories and tried to put their twist on the characters. The students have been discussing what careers are out there for artists. The art club members also assisted elementary students, grades 2 through 5 in a craft workshop. Several students have donated paintings with water themes to a benefit for drilling water well in Africa. A sixth grader, Abigail Schlorlff, has her art-work in the 2011 Art Reach Calendar.

Below you will see pictures of art club activities

Page 9 Odyssey MS/HS Dec. 2010/ Jan. 2011

News from the Woods...

Odyssey Athletics

Odyssey’s athletic program is off to its best start ever. The school has been involved in the Michigan Alternative Ath-letic Association since 2001. In the years since, never has participation been so high, and never have all of our teams been as successful as they have been so far this year. We started off the year with flag football. The team was led by QB Aaron Simon, WR William Sazima and DE Dale Sun-derman. This year’s team went 2-1 in the state tournament, defeating Alma 33-0 (Sazima had 80yds receiving & 3 TDs), losing to eventual state champs Romulus 44-6, and then fin-ishing up defeating Fremont 20-13 (Simon threw for 235yds & 3TDs). This was the best the Trailblazers had ever done in the tournament. Next, the Blazers took 2nd Place in the state disc golf championship. This is the first time Odyssey has placed so high in disc golf (see related article). Our volley-ball team is off and running with the largest number of play-ers ever to join the team. Coach Amy Green has been work-ing hard with the bunch, but the crew is very self-motivated – often running drills on their own during lunch breaks. The team already has matched the school’s previous high for wins, with much more to play in the season. Odyssey also brought home a first place trophy for soccer for the first time. The M.A.A.A. does not hold a formal state tournament for soccer, but a number of schools do carry a soccer team and hold individual tournaments. Odyssey played in Grand Rap-ids this past week, defeating Crossroads (Kentwood, MI) and Discovery (Wyoming, MI) to take 1st place. Not only have Odyssey’s teams performed well on the field of play, but they have continued our school’s tradition of sportsmanship & teamwork – something we have built and maintained a reputation for over the years.

We look forward to more of the same out of our athletes. The state tournament for volleyball will be held next month. The soccer team will be traveling to Grand Rapids again in the Spring for another go. The basketball season will start after Winter Break, and softball after Spring Break. Basketball and softball have been Odyssey’s strongest sport programs over the last few years. We look forward to these teams con-tinuing the hard work and accomplishments we have seen so far this year. GO TRAILBLAZERS!

Brian DuFort

Odyssey Disc Golf Team takes Second The MAAA 2010 state disc golf tournament was held at CMU's disc golf course on October 29th. It was a cold and breezy morning with frost still on the grass. The team arrived and did some warm ups, joking around to keep in good spirits. Odyssey's team consisted of Aaron Simon, Charlysue Nichols, Nate Dennis-ton, Kalan Hubbard and Scott Erickson. After 18 holes of highly competi-tive play the Odyssey Trailblazers couldn't seem to keep their discs out of the water. Team Discovery (Grand Rapids) won the tournament and the state title, defeating Odyssey by 8 strokes. After the tournament the team went to the newly installed Deerfield Park disc golf course and played another 9 holes. The team looks forward to the spring thaw when we will be heading down to Grand Rapids and challenging Team Discovery to a rematch. -- Jon Andrews