Volume XXXI, Issue 4May 2011

May 10 ................................. 6th Grade Band Concert@ 7:00 pm*May 11 ............................ 7th/8th Grade Band Concert @ 7:00 pm*May 17 ............................................. HS Band Concert @ 7:00 pm*May 18 ...................................5th Grade Band Concert @ 7:00 pm*May 18 ................ Senior Honors Night – Invitation only – 7:00 pmMay 23 ............................................................. Last Day for SeniorsMay 24 ........................................................Baccalaureate 7:00 pm*May 25 ... MANDATORY GRADUATION PRACTICE 12:30 pmMay 26 ............................................................ Graduation 7:00 pm*May 30 .................................................. No School – Memorial DayJune 7 ............................................................... Last day for students* All band concerts will take place in the Jr/Sr High Cafeteria. Baccalaureate will take place in the Jr/Sr High Cafeteria. Weather permitting, graduation will take place at the Montabella Community Field, alternate location will be the Elementary Gymnasium.

IMPORTANT UPCOMING EVENTS

MODERN WOODMEN OF AMERICA SEMI-FINALISTS FifthandSixthgradeLanguageArtsstudentsrecentlygaveclassroomspeechespertainingtothisyear’s topic, “An American Invention.” Semi-finalists were selected to compete in the final round of the com-petitionlaterinMay. Fifth grade semi-finalists include: Jordan Bal-

horn (Super-Sonic Jets), Mor-gan Boyer (Lock Stitch Sewing Machine), Ariah Chaney (Glucose Meter), Carson Dal-rymple (Model T), Zoe Helmer (3-Way Traffic Light), Destiny Hoitinga (Kevlar), Lindsey Hoover (Bar Code & Bar Code Scanner), Autumn Kindred (3-Way Traffic Light), Cassie Miller (Airbag), Kenna Roman (Airbag), Nicholas Stallcup (Weather Satellite), and Brooke Wright (Airbag).

4th GRADE STUDENTS EXCEED READING GOAL Montabella Elementary’s 4th grade students have been embroiled inahotcompetitionandpursuitofanimpressive goal; to read 1,000 books per classroom! Did they achieve their goal? Was the friendly competition between the two classrooms enough to spurthestudentstoareadatvora-cious rate to not only meet, but beat

their goal? It was and well before the end of the year! At the beginning of the year, Mrs. Fenton and Mrs. Adgate implemented the 20-Book Challenge Reading program which was designed to inspire all students to read 20 books for the school year. Great emphasis was placed on providing the students with high-interest reading materials and getting to know each and every student as an individual and reader. The 4th graders read. And they read some more. By Christmas, when each classroom had read between 300 and 450 books new goals were formed. Could they read 500 books as a class? They did. And finally, could they reach the impres-siveandunprecedentedgoalofread-ing 1,000 books per classroom before theendoftheyear?Notonlydidtheyachieve their goal but each classroom reached and exceeded their goal by April 14, 2011 with Mrs. Fenton’s class reading 1,090 books and Mrs. Adgate’s class reading 1, 022 books for a combined total of 2,112 books! Both classes celebrated their success with a pizza, pop, ice cream, and movie party on Friday, April 15th. The next question is: How many books can they read before the end of the year? Most students have already achieved their 20 book goal while many other have read 40 or more books. Top readers in Mrs. Fenton’s class are Connor Riley with 84 books

and Gracie Powell with 77 books. Top readersinMrs.Adgate’sclassareEthan Crawford with 95 books and Elsie Hawkins with 61 books. Con-gratulations to the entire 4th grade forachievingsuchanimpressiveandtremendous accomplishment! Re-member…keep reading!

HUTSON TO PLAY FOOTBALL AT VALPARAISO Montabella High School senior Jake Hutson, has signed a letter of intent to play football at Valparaiso (Valpo) University in Indiana. Valpo plays in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivi-sion (formerly known as Division IAA) and competes in the Pioneer Football League. Hutson, a 5-6, 170-pound running back, considered many other Divi-sion II and III schools before deciding on Valpo. “This is an exciting step in a new direction for me,” Hutson said. “I know that this will be a challenging task, but I am eager to put in my hard work and I am glad that I have so much community support backing me up.” Hutson earned many awards and honors while prepping at Montabella, includ-ing all-league, all-area, and honorable mention all-state while playing for head coach David Clay. “Jake is hard working both in the classroom and on the field,” Clay said. “It has been a pleasure to be his high school football coach. I have no doubt Jake will be a positive addition to the Valpo football program.” Hutson, a three-year letterwin-ner,holdsnumerousschoolrecordsin-cluding both season and career records forrushingyardsandtouchdowns.Jake also excelled in the classroom as he is a member of the Top 10 and was a runner up for the MHSAA Scholar-Athlete award. Jake will study engi-neering while at Valpo. Jake also let-tered in basketball and is currently a member of the golf and baseball teams. Jake will be one of only a few athletes from Montabella to ever compete at the Division I level.

Sixth grade semi-finalists.

Fifth grade semi-finalists.

Jake Hutson and Montabella head football coach David Clay.

KINDERGARTEN/PRESCHOOL ROUND UPMontabella Elementary held the annual Kindergarten/Pre-school Round Up event for the 2011-2012 school year on March 31 and April 1. If you still need to register your kindergarten student, please call (989) 427-5414. Montabella Elementary will be open on Tuesdays during the summer months to register children for preschool and kindergarten classes.

A MESSAGE FROM YOUR SUPERINTENDENTMr. Ronald Farrell, Superintendent of Schools In formulating this communica-

tion to our Montabella Commu-nity, I regretfully but necessarily find myself continuing to address a theme that has been all too fre-quent and all too common. Such relates to the ongoing financial struggles which our district con-tinues to face and to which we must actively respond. It is with further regret that I must advise that our financial circumstances result from the financial crisis which describes our state and at whose mercy we unfortunately are. And although the financial shortfall we currently face is not new, I would be remiss were I not to advise that the situation

we face relative to the 2011-2012 budget is truly the most serious I have known. It is very easy to point fingers and assign blame for this situa-tion. That is done on a daily basis by many individuals and organiza-tions. In so doing, very little is accomplished relative to solution. This is not to say that I, not unlike you, maintain particular thoughts that I believe could and would alleviate our financial stress and without presenting a thesis or dissertation, please allow me to share some of my thoughts along with some pertinent information relative to those thoughts. Do know that I also communicate my thinking to local leg-islators on a regular basis and I encourage you to do so as well. The degree to which a school district’s budget is healthy is de-pendent not only upon revenues, but on the degree to which expendi-tures are managed, particularly as those may reasonably and respon-sibly reflect reduction or elimination. I believe as a district we have written the book on this matter. Because a school is a labor intensive organization, the majority of our costs are for employee compensa-tion. As such, I advise that our wages for support staff, faculty and administration rank very low in comparison to any school district in our area. Such are the result of not only the district’s effort to hold the line with wages and benefits, but also willingness on the part of our employees to appreciate the financial struggles our district has faced and to offer sacrifice on their behalf. Sacrifice, especially as comes with compensation, must be modeled from the top down and I proudly believe our administration has demonstrated this in meaningful and responsible fashion. Our district has been making reductions over the past decade. As this process has impacted the configuration of our district, every ef-fort has been made to protect learning and opportunities for learning in any way we have been able. Were I to list the various reductions that have been made, the roster would be lengthy. Many of you are already aware of much that has been done and thus I shall refrain from providing a very lengthy list. Should you wish more by way of detail, I invite you to contact me for the sharing of that conversation. My door is always open and I do take phone calls at home. My home phone number is 989-561-2244. As for such happenings as are rapidly and boldly taking place at the state level, please allow me to provide a framework of informa-tion that will, if enacted, have serious and severe impact on our Mon-tabella Community Schools.

As currently proposed, per pupil state aid will be reduced by 470 dollars per pupil next year and we are budgeting for a reduction of thirty-five students from our fall 2010 student count. Together, this will result in $636,290 fewer dollars.

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By state law, districts are required to fund the Michigan Public School Employee Retirement Fund. Our costs to do so in the com-ing year will increase by approximately 230 dollars per pupil. This will result in $136,722 fewer dollars. Last year, to avoid financial crisis in our nation’s schools, alloca-tions were received through the American Reinvestment and Re-covery Act and EduJobs. These were one time handouts and those will not be received another time. Such bought districts time, but unfortunately, not solid or sustaining solutions.Within the past decade, our district has made employee reductions at all levels. Certainly fewer students do to a degree justify doing so. However, the ever increasing number of courses required for graduation and the constraints imposed in assigning only teach-ers meeting the mandatory requirements of High Qualification as outlined in No Child Left Behind legislation make additional reduction of faculty very difficult at the secondary level. And to maintain reasonable pupil-teacher ratios at the elementary level, further reduction is becoming increasingly difficult, as well as ed-ucationally disastrous.Several of our costs for next year are currently unknown, but be-cause we are required to have a balanced budget by July 1, we necessarily estimate as closely as we can. Need I explain to you that some of our more significant costs such as transportation, fuel, insurances, utilities and instructional and operational sup-plies will be estimated by way of increase.

It is the responsibility of our legislature to pass a state budget for general fund operations and for the operation of public schools. Theirs is no easy job and I believe once again we need to inform them of our concerns. I likewise believe that rather than to constantly rant and rave (they soon turn a deaf ear) or to rally in the streets, it makes more sense to clearly outline our concerns, be they by way of com-plaint or suggestion, and present them in few, frank, factual and civil fashion. I am trying to do this and thus I share with you such con-cerns as I have relative to school funding.

Last year 196 million dollars were borrowed from the School Aid Fund to provide for community colleges. The money has never been paid back. It should be.For the coming year, removing nearly 900 million dollars from the state aid fund to provide for community college and public universities is proposed. This will brutally devastate the dollars needed to educate our PreK-12 students. I am not opposed to ei-ther community colleges or universities. We have two fine com-munity colleges within our area. We likewise have two universi-ties within our counties of location. We are very fortunate for their presence and for the many ways they enhance quality of life. But they have sources of funding which we do not. Universities have tuition; community colleges have millage and tuition. We need to maintain PreK-12 funding to be just that – funding to serve the students from Pre-school through and including grade twelve. In fact, as the school aid fund now stands, an additional 260 dol-lars per student could be provided for the coming school year were monies not taken away from that fund.

Again, I have resorted to an all too frequent theme, that be-ing monetary shortfall and the negative impact and hurtful implica-tions it will likely have. Allow me to address another theme I have often mentioned and in which I truly believe: that is in our obtaining, maintaining and sustaining hope as a Montabella Community. We have not been immune from challenges and difficult situations. We have faced difficulties in the past and we have survived. And while we must be serious about what we face, we must never quit believing in our district or in our Montabella Community which I have seen strengthen over many years and through many challenges. We are a strong people and we have proven that. In remembering that, let us never give up and never give in. There is reason that we call ourselves Mighty Mighty Mustangs. May we never abandon or abolish that no-tion.

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Montabella High SchoolValedictorian: Nolan (Eddy) Campbell

Nolan (Eddy) Campbell is the son of Nolan and Peggy Campbell. He resides in Edmore and is graduating 1st in his class. Eddy has participated in Base-ball and has been a member of Charac-ter Counts throughout his high school career. He works part-time and has vol-unteered at the Riverdale Food Pantry. Eddy plans to attend Ferris State Uni-versity in the fall to pursue a career in Pharmacy.

Salutatorian: Sarah Fredricks Sarah Fredricks is the daughter of Jeff and Jacki Fredricks. She currently re-sides in Remus and is graduating 2nd in her class. She is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Ad-visory Council, Student Council Vice President, and a Student Representa-tive on the Montabella School Board of Education. Sarah has participated in Basketball, Volleyball, Softball, Quiz Bowl, Book Club, Band, Honors Band, Yearbook, Photography, and SuperFan Society. She attended the Hugh O’Brien Youth Leadership Seminar and received

the Danforth Leadership Award. Sarah plans to attend Ferris State University in the fall to pursue a career in Pharmacy.3rd: Jacob (Jake) Hutson

Jacob (Jake) Hutson is the son of Rod and Mary Hutson. He currently resides in Blanchard and is graduating 3rd in his class. He is a member of the Na-tional Honor Society, Student Advisory Council, Student Council Representa-tive, and a Student Representative on the Montabella School Board of Educa-tion. Jake has participated in Football (Team Captain, 3-time MSAC 1st Team All Conference, 2-time Morning Sun-Mt. Pleasant All-Area Dream Team, 2-time Daily News/Greenville All Area Team), Basketball (Team Captain, Honor-able Mention All Conference), Baseball

(2nd Team All Conference), Golf, Language Arts Team, and Model UN. He was a recipient of the DAR Award, a finalist for the 2011 MHSAA Scholar Athlete Award, and the 2010/2011 Montabella Homecoming King. Jake is a member of New Beginnings Church, a member of Endeavour Youth Group, and a Student Representative for “Parents for a Better Schools Committee”. Jake plans to attend Valparaiso University in the fall to play football for the Valpo Cru-saders and pursue a career in Engineering.

4th: Caleb Garner Caleb Garner is the son of David and Joannie Garner. He currently resides in Blanchard and is graduating 4th in his class. He is a member of the National Honor Society and is the Student Coun-cil Secretary. Caleb has participated in Track, Cross Country (Team Captain), Basketball, and Technology Competi-tion. He has been a volunteer for Spe-cial Olympics and works for Wheatland Township Hall in the summer. He en-joys playing guitar and hunting white-tail in Iowa with family and friends. Caleb plans to attend Ferris State Uni-versity in the fall to pursue a career in Mechanical Engineering.

4th: Dirk OkkemaDirk Okkema is the son of Tjerk and Ra-mona Okkema. He currently resides in Blanchard and is graduating 4th in his class. He is a member of the National Honor Society and Student Advisory Council. Dirk has participated in Foot-ball, Track (1st team All-Conference for Discus), Basketball, Band, Honors Band, Pep Band, and Character Counts. He is the on the Student Advisory Coun-cil at MACC, Vice-President of FFA at MACC, and has earned the National I Dare You Award. Dirk is a member of the Mecosta County 4-H Club, East County Line 4-H Club, Paws & Claws 4-H Club, President for the Mecosta

County Jr. Livestock Committee, Youth Ambassador/Member of Mecosta County 4-H Youth Council, member of Edmore Endeavor Youth Group, and also volunteers for many other groups and orga-nizations. Dirk plans to attend Dordt College in the fall to pursue a career in Agricultural Education.

Important Dates

Senior Honors Night (Invitation Only): May 18, 2011, 7:00 p.m.

Last Day for Seniors: Monday, May 23, 2011Baccalaureate: May 24, 2011, 7:00 p.m.

Mandatory Graduation Practice: Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 12:30 p.m.

Graduation: Thursday, May 26, 2011, 7:00 p.m.

Baccalaureate will take place in the Jr/Sr High Cafeteria. Weath-er permitting, graduation will take place at the Montabella Com-

munity Field (alternate location: Elementary Gymnasium.)

2011 Top Ten6th: Kendra Pierce

Kendra Pierce is the daughter of Noland and Tammy Pierce. She currently resides in Blanchard and is graduating 6th in her class. Kendra is a member of the National Honor Society. She has participated in Volleyball, Basketball (Team Captain, 1st Team All Conference, 2nd Team All Conference, Daily News Player of the Year, Morning Sun Athlete of the Week), Band, and Forensics Competition. Kendra has played AAU Basketball for the Central Basketball Club, has been involved with 4-H, currently vol-

unteers with the Forgotten Eagles Veterans Organization, and is employed at Fazolis. Kendra plans to attend Mid-Michigan Com-munity College in the fall to pursue a career in Criminal Justice.

8th: Brandon CrawfordBrandon Crawford is the son of Kar-la Crawford-Rasmussen & Richard Rasmussen, and the late Dan Craw-ford. He currently resides in Edmore and is graduating 8th in his class. Brandon is a member of the National Honor Society, on the Student Coun-cil, and is Senior Class Representa-tive. He has participated in Basket-ball (Honorable Mention All-State, Academic All-State), Baseball, Cross Country, Football, Band, Language Arts Team, and Model UN. Brandon has also received the MSAC Academ-ic All-League award and has volun-teered his time at numerous youth

basketball and football camps. Brandon plans to attend Montcalm Community College in the fall to pursue a career in Criminal Jus-tice.

7th: Emily QuallsEmily Qualls is the daughter of Charles and Karen Qualls. She cur-rently resides in Weidman and is graduating 7th in her class. Emily is the National Honor Society Treasur-er, Student Council President, and Captain of the Color Guard. She has participated in Softball, Marching Band, Honors Band, Pep Band and Concert Band. Emily plans to attend Montcalm Community College for her first two years to obtain credits towards her future career.

9th: Kylee ButlerKylee Butler is the daughter of Dave and Mary Ellen Butler. She currently resides in Blanchard and is graduat-ing 9th in her class. Kylee is a member of the National Honor Society, Student Council, and Senior Class Treasurer. She has participated in Volleyball, Softball, Basketball, Concert Band, Marching Band, Honors Band, Year-book, and Photography. She is also a member of Christian Endeavor. Kylee plans to attend Mid-Michigan Com-munity College in the fall to pursue a career in Radiography.

10th: Alex AllenAlex Allen is the son of Dale and Kelli Al-len. He currently resides in Blanchard and is graduating 10th in his class. Alex has been on the Student Council for 3 years. He has participated in Bas-ketball (All Conference Honorable Men-tion), Baseball (All Conference Honor-able Mention), Drama, Language Arts Team, Forensics, and Quiz Bowl. Alex currently works at Burger King and vol-unteers at various youth basketball clin-ics and baseball clinics. Alex plans to attend Michigan State University in the fall.

Class Motto: “There are no short cuts to any place worth going.”

~ Beverly Sills

Class Flower: White LilyClass Colors: Navy Blue and White

Class Song: “Young Forever” by Jay-Z

Congrats class of ‘11

Athletic Schedules are subject to change, es-pecially in spring due to the weather. Please check the website (www.montabella.com) for

updated schedules.SUMMER HOURS

The Elementary and Jr/Sr High offices will be open from 8:00-3:00 through June 21. Summer hours will then take effect the following week. Summer hours are Tuesdays from 8:00 am to 3:00 pm throughout the summer. Please call 989-427-5149 and follow the prompts to speak with the appropriate office to enroll new students. Central

Office will be open from 8:00 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. every day during the summer. Watch our webpage and/or Facebooks posts for back-to-school hours.

Mustangs!

2010-2011 SPRING SPORTS SCHEDULEMontabella MustangsHIGH SCHOOL TRACK

Fri. 05/06 Lakeview A 3:30Wed. 05/11 League@SacredHeart 4:00Wed. 05/25 League@Vestaburg 4:00

MIDDLE SCHOOL TRACK

Tues. 05/03 League@SacredHeart 4:00Tues. 05/17 League@SacredHeart 4:00

BOYS GOLF

Thur. 05/05 Tri@SacredHeart A 4:00Mon. 05/09 Quad H 4:00Fri. 05/13 IthacaInvite A 1:00Mon. 05/23 Ithaca H 4:00

VARSITY SOFTBALL/BASEBALL

Mon. 05/02 Ashley H 4:00Thur. 05/05 Vestaburg A 4:00Sat. 05/07 TriCounty(BB) A 9:30amTues. 05/10 Saranac H 4:00Thur. 05/12 Coleman A 4:00Mon. 05/16 CentralMontcalm A 4:00Thur. 05/19 SacredHeart H 4:00Wed. 05/25 Evart H 4:00

Go5th GRADE STUDENTS WRITE ABOUT COLONIAL LIFE5th grade social studies students were asked to write a paragraph about life in the colonies. They were to tell about the school, food, etc. Here are three of the outstanding paragraphs written. (Please note, they have been re-typed exactly as they were written, including any spelling errors.)

Life in colonial times was different than our time like, they had one room school houses, and you had to bring in firewood to school. In co-lonial life people in school had to bring firewood with then to lunch to be close to the stove, if they didn’t they had to be farthest away from the stove. If did something bad you were given a punishement. The towns were self sufficient. Towns had a town common in the middle of each town. Kids stood up while they ate in their house. The kids had chores like bringing in the fire-wood. Peoples religion in colonial life was going to church to believe in God. People in Colonial life cooked stews in large iron pots. One of the deserts was apple pie, with all of the apple mashed into it. Kids played tag for fun with each other. They also played hide and seek for fun. Colonial life was different then our life like they hade one room school houses, and in towns they had a town common in the middle of the towns. ~Nick Stallcup

Colonial life is diffent then life today. If you go to school today you will see many teachers and rooms but, in colonial times theres a one room, one teacher school house. Their school is a small wooden cabin with wooden chairs and tables, and if you brought wood for the fire you got to sit closer to it. The town has a town common were cattle and sheep could graze. The meeting house was the most important house, were church, and town meetings were held. The houses are small and wooden with not much inside. There dull colars and they made house decorations such as curtains. Most colonial life were self-sufficent as a religion which means relied on themselves. Colo-nial people grew crops such as fruits, and vegetables. They also grew cattle, sheep, and animals. The colonial kids only had only little time for fun the danced and played sports. They played hide and seek and played tag. That’s Colonial life in the old days. ~Ariah Chaney

Colonial life was a hard time. During school you had to bring firewood or you had to sit in the back of the room. If you disobeyed your teacher you would get hit by a ruler. Most towns ran self-sufficantly. The meeting house was the most important building in town. The houses were very small and were made of wood. They mainly had one room. You also had to do your duty (potty) outside. In church you were not allowed to talk, or smile, an dyou had to go 3 to 4 hours. They ate veg. fish stew. The men had to go out and hunt or fish for their meat. For fun the kids played tag. The older boys and girls played baseball. That is how they went to school, lived in towns, lived in houses, went to church, and had fun. ~Cody Christensen

ALL-CONFERENCESeveral Montabella athletes were recently honored for their exceptional league play during the winter season. An athlete is selected to the all-confer-ence team by getting voted on by the league varsity coaches of that particular sport. These athletes not only stood out to their own coaches but made an impression on the other coaches throughout the league who wanted to reward their efforts. Congratulations to all the honorees!

302 West Main Street | Edmore, MI 48829 | 989-427-5148 (p) | 989-427-3828 (f)

Non-Profit Org.U.S. Postage PAIDEdmore, MI 48829

PERMIT No. 1

Bryan Smith, TreasurerChris Rasmussen, Trustee

Ivan Renne, TrusteeDennis Stratton, Trustee

www.montabella.com

BOARD OF EDUCATION

(From Left to Right)First Team: Jeremy Quezada Second Team: Jonny Durham, Dan DavidsonHonorable Mention: Logan Burns

Boys Basketball

Girls Basketball

(From Left-Right)1st Team: Brandon Crawford, Charley Helmer2nd Team: Jemikal PapendickHonorable Mention: Jake Hutson, Alex Allen

(From Left-Right)1st Team: Kendra Pierce, Ashlee Foster2nd Team: Sarah MillerHonorable Mention: Brittney Braman

Congratulations to Cody Alvarado

and Jeremy Quezada for ad-vancing to the

State Wrestling Tournament!

Name: Nichole Myers Grade: 11Sport: Pom Pon

“Nichole has been an amazing addition to the Pom Pon Squad. She always gives 100% at practices, and has made tremendous improvements in her pom skills. She is a hard worker and al-ways has a positive attitude. She is a great role model for current and future pom members.” ~Coach Burggren

Name: Taylor SmithGrade: 9Sport: Girls Basketball

“Taylor’s love of the game is evident in how she practices and plays. She works hard everyday and was rewarded for her work ethic and playing ability by being moved up to Varsity to finish the year.” ~Coach Larsen

MUSTANG OF THE MONTHMARCH MARCH

IN THIS ISSUEModern Woodmen Oration Contest .............................. 1Fourth Graders Exceed Reading Goal .......................... 1Music Department News ............................................... 12011 Top Ten ..................................................................2Message from the Superintendent ................................ 3Spring Sports Schedule ................................................. 6Fifth Graders Learn about Colonial Life ...................... 62011 Top Ten, cont. ........................................................7Sports News ....................................................................8

Jann LaPointe, PresidentTim Eldred , Vice-PresidentEmily Longnecker, Secretary

Wrestling (Mid-State League)

POSTAL CUSTOMER

Thank you to Sons of the American Legion in Blanchard for donating the flags that fly at our buildings. They have been buying our flags for about 5 years now and continue to honor our nation by making sure we have flags to fly.

BAND NEWSCongratulations to Parker Eldred, Derrick Moore, Nichole Myers, and Cora Okkema who participated in the District 7 High School Solo and Ensemble festival on January 29. All represented Montabella well with Derrick earning a I and a chance to perform at State Solo and Ensemble Festival at CMU on March 26 where he earned a II.