Educational Foundation Launches One Million Reasons Campaign 2011

For a second year, we’re taking a bold stand, working to raise $1 million to help fund programs in the Ann Arbor Public Schools that could be reduced or cut because of anticipated state budget losses.  You’ll soon see our lawn signs in your neighborhood and receive our campaign materials in your mailbox.  Thanks to your generous help last year, we’re confident we can meet our goal of raising one million dollars to support our local schools.

“The inaugural 2010 campaign was a success, with several hundred supporters donating $335,000, according to AAPSEF Executive Director Wendy Correll.  “This represents more than the Educational Foundation has ever raised in any annual period.” Details of programs funded through contributions to the 2010 campaign can be found on the Educational Foundation's website here.

“The prospect of a $15 million budget reduction for the next academic year – and limited options for improving revenues – will have significant impact on programs for students in our schools,” Correll said. The board of AAPSEF anticipates conducting this campaign annually until support for innovative programs in our public schools meets the needs of all of our students.

The launch of this year’s fundraising campaign took place on March 8th at the Ann Arbor PTO Thrift Shop, where Janet Fritsch, President of the Thrift Shop Board of Directors, made the first 2011 campaign gift of $10,000.  $3,000 was pledged by the Ann Arbor Dykema law practice, and individual donors at the kick-off event pledged $8,000.

All proceeds from the 2011 campaign will be directed to the Ann Arbor Public School’s 2011-2012 academic year. Donate online by visiting the Educational Foundation website, or by sending a check payable to AAPSEF at 2555 S. State Street, Ann Arbor, MI, 48104.  We can use your help, too; see the “Volunteers Needed” article below!

Volunteers Needed - Training March 22!

Do you have a good connection with your child’s school?  We’re looking for specific help with our One Million Reasons to Support Ann Arbor Public Schools campaign.  Our goal is to have one Educational Foundation volunteer be our liason for each school. This person (could be you!) would coordinate tasks like pick-up/drop off of yard signs and poster placement, and would help staff our presence at school events such as spring musical performances, ice-cream socials and 5th grade ceremonies.  In addition to school liaisons, the Educational Foundation is seeking volunteers in the areas of writing, graphic design and program coordinators.

Volunteer training will be held March 22 from 9:30 to 10:30 AM at Dykema, 4th floor, 2723 S. State St. at Oakbrook Drive.  Please come!  To rsvp, email board member Christy Perros, cperros@comcast.net.

Great Ideas!  Grants Awarded

AAPSEF announces the results of its spring Great Idea Grants award cycle, with seven projects being awarded a total of $4,548. The grants funded will impact more than 3,000 students at seven Ann Arbor Public Schools. AAPSEF Great Idea Grant awards are competitive and the maximum amount of funding given per project is $1,000. Staff submit their grant proposals which are then reviewed by a 9-member volunteer team, including members of AAPSEF’s board, community members and retired AAPS staff.
Grants were awarded from kindergarten through high school levels. Projects funded include a forensics study at Skyline High School; a reading initiative for teens at Community High School; additions to the book collection for K-5th grades at Eberwhite Elementary School’s library; a band tour for Tappan Middle School students; Scarlett transition boot camp; and support of a summer learning program at Pattengill Elementary School.

Pictured: 5th graders at Carpenter Elementary will make the transition to middle school at Scarlett next year.  Scarlett teacher Deb Katz wrote a renewal application for support of the Scarlett Transition Boot Camp, which funds the purchase of planners for 6th graders and the collaborative efforts of specials teachers during the first two weeks of school to work on planner skills with new middle school students.

EXPLORE/PLAN Tests: A Counselor’s View
 

The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation funds the EXPLORE and PLAN tests that are given to all of our 8th and 10th grade students.  Results inform students, parents and counselors who collectively and collaboratively work towards short and long-term goal setting for the student.  A short-term goal might be course selection; long-term is preparation for life after high school, be it in a traditional 4-year or other program.
 
We asked our District Guidance and Counseling chairperson, Claudia Siewert, for her take on the importance of the EXPLORE and PLAN tests:
 
“The results give students, educators, and parents; student achievement information over time, help shape individual career aspirations for ALL students, and identify students who would benefit from additional support with certain subject areas or academic skills. As a school counselor I believe that the EXPLORE and PLAN tests are excellent “test preparations” for the MME/ACT tests given in the 11th grade.   I also believe that the tests create a “personal learning plan” for ALL students in the Ann Arbor Public School system.”

Students appreciate receiving their test results and their own test booklets so that they can go back and review how they answered each and every question, whether right or wrong, and learn from the results.  Counselors assist students in reviewing their answers, so that they are aware of how they answered questions, whether they are just making careless mistakes (going too fast, miscalculations, or realized that they used the wrong formula afterwards) or just do not have the knowledge.  Content teachers will meet and work with students to review specific information that students need support in for improvement.  This is a great critical thinking/analysis experience for students as they continue to improve and enrich their skills in school and in life.”
 
Counselors can utilize this information in advising students academically in a variety of ways from improving academic skills everyday in class, to course selection and educational planning after high school graduation.  The information can also be used for career planning for the same reasons with course selection and post-secondary planning.  Another use of the information for counselors is to provide support services such as weekly meetings with students for skill building sessions such study skills or test taking skills.
 
What better preparation can we give each and every student in the Ann Arbor Public Schools than these tools in the 8th grade and in the 10th grade than the EXPLORE and PLAN tests? As a result ALL students will have knowledge of their academic abilities (results that measures what students can do with what they know) and knowledge about their career aspirations that is actively preparing them for life after high school.
 
 
Most districts will offer the tests to students for a small fee as test prep for the ACT.   As you may know, the AAPS is offering the EXPLORE/PLAN at no cost to ALL students thanks to a generous grant from the Educational Foundation.   Counselors and administrators will often review test item analysis data with teaching staff at the building level, so that the content teachers know how to improve their teaching in the classrooms.  This helps ALL our students boost their achievement.
 
Claudia Siewert
School Counselor, M.A., L.P.C.
District Guidance and Counseling Department Chair

Photo of Huron High School student by Myra Klarman.

AAPSEF Funds Healthy Schools Prop Kits and Tech Tools

The Ann Arbor Public Schools Educational Foundation has approved two grant requests from the school district for a total of $17,490 in support.  The Educational Foundation will fund $8,400 to purchase 12 educational prop kits for Project Healthy Schools, and $9,090 to purchase document cameras for middle and high school math and science classes.

Project Healthy Schools began as a collaboration between the University of Michigan and the Ann Arbor Public Schools.  Currently, the program in AAPS involves a series of ten lessons delivered during the 6th grade advisory period.  Wellness Ambassadors from UM’s School of Public Health, nursing, undergrad programs and medical school are dispatched to the middle schools to work directly with students.  The educational prop kits they use contain hands-on material to deliver the lessons.  All organized in a rolling suitcase, each kit contains five pound models of fat and muscle, a simulated clogged artery model, fat tubes containing the amount of fat in frequently consumed fast food, sugar displays with the quantity of sugar in soda pop and other sweet beverages, and other engaging and interactive items.

Sara Aeschbach, Director of Community Education and Recreation, requested support to purchase the prop kits.  “This grant allocation really makes it feasible for us to continue this important program,” she said.  “It impacts all of our middle school students, and it’s really getting results.  Our kids are in fact getting healthier because of it.”  Aeschbach says that according to the reports UM produces as part of their ongoing evaluation, childhood obesity in our middle school population is declining, and healthy behaviors (such as eating less fast food and moving more) are on the rise.

Monique Uzelac, Director of Instructional Technology for the district, is thrilled to receive funding for “an exceptionally flexible tool” to support science and mathematics instruction our middle and high schools.  Document cameras are easy-to-use devices that can now work in conjunction with a projector, monitor or other screen to display documents and 3-D objects.  They are capable of capturing images and video to upload to a computer for use in multimedia projects and web pages.  Students of all ages can use document cameras to display their work.  AAPSEF funds provided will purchase 11 cameras for the middle schools, and 13 for the high schools.

Spring To-Do: Check out Scholarship Opportunities

Daffodils and deadlines are coming up.  Do you have a high school student in your life?  Juniors, seniors and their families should investigate scholarship opportunities through the AAPSEF website here.