ALSOINSIDE

Local educatorswin awardsTwo local teachers werehonored

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North Star celebratesOpening of new building

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Phelps movecompleteStudents adjusting well tonew surroundings

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Powell Township Nutrition program off to agood start

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CUBSMission moving forward

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Bothwell Middle SchoolFifth grade settling in

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CLIFFS grantsGiven to NICE school

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New programAlternative programmoves to Graveraet

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2011PUBLIC EDUCATION — SECTION I

MONDAY, MARCH 28

PROGRESSA SPECIAL SECTION OF THE MINING JOURNAL

By JOURNAL STAFFMARQUETTE—After three years of plan-

ning, fundraising and construction, thecourtyard restoration project at Marquette’sGraveraet School is nearly complete.

Sara Cambensy, director of the KaufmanAuditorium, said she is still surprised some-times.

“Honestly, some days I look out my officewindow at the courtyard and it’s hard to be-lieve it’s at this point,” she said. “It seemslike just yesterday we started talking aboutit.”

The Graveraet courtyard was first con-structed in 1927 and the fountain was put inplace in 1980. A few years ago, a group of

concerned citizens began looking intorestoring the historic area.

In August, the Marquette Area PublicSchools board backed the project by ap-proving funding to make up the differencebetween total cost and money raised. Cam-bensy said the fundraising for the $146,650project has gone so well that the board maynot need to worry, though. There are twopossible pledges—totaling $40,000—pend-ing and if they come through, the moneyraised will be just $3,500 short of the re-quired amount, she said.

Cambensy said that in addition to manygenerous donors, the L.G. Kaufman Foun-dation, which offered a 2-1 match for any

donation beyond the $75,000 mark, de-serves thanks.

“Not only has it motivated other donors,but it’s great to have a foundation step outin the community like that. Without themthis wouldn’t have happened.”

The project is currently about 60 percentcomplete and most of the project is on holduntil the weather warms just a bit.

According to Cambensy, the only majorwork remaining is some poured concreteand the installation of a sprinkler system, aswell as sodding and planting. The goal is forwork to begin in mid-April and a tentativeribbon-cutting ceremony is slated for May25.

Graveraet SchoolCourtyard restoration project nearly complete

Work has began on the Graveraet Courtyard restora-tion project. The project, totaling $146,650, was paidfor by a combination of community donations and dis-trict funding. (Journal file photo)

North Star celebratesgrand opening of elementary building

By CLAIRE ABENTJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE —Sept. 2 marked a dayyears in the makingfor North Star Acade-my.

What began as adiscussion amongboard members morethan two years agoand grew into a full-fledged elementaryschool, culminated ina brand new buildingfor the charterschool.

“It feels fabulous,”said North StarBoard of DirectorsPresident JackieGonda. “This was along time coming.We all wanted this tocome to fruition forso long.”

During the ceremo-ny, the crowd heardfrom Superintendentand CEO Karen An-derson, Gonda andcommunity membersinvolved with the pro-ject, and viewed a

musical presentationfrom staff. After theceremony, there wasan open house.

Cutting the ribbonfor the new schoolwere 1998 North Stargraduate MelissaDwight and her sonTyree Dwight, a cur-rent student andmember of the NorthStar class of 2022.Tim Glover, from theMarquette Rotary,dedicated the newmedia center to thelate HowardSchweppe, a Rotarymember and long-time North Star sup-porter.

“I knew Howardpersonally, so themedia center is agreat tribute to him.And it was somethingthat was lacking, thatwe didn’t have,” Gon-da said. “The class-rooms are beautiful,the gym is beautiful,but the media cen-ter—ultimately, that’s

a great thing.”She gave credit to

Anderson for herhard work and unwa-vering support of the$2.7 million project.

“I think Karen de-serves an awful lotof credit. She is thepowerhouse behindthis school. There isa lot of staff behindher, but she is a keyplayer,” she said.

Anderson said theprocess was longand occasionally dif-ficult, but said theproject was a suc-cess. Still, the focusremains on the stu-dents, Andersonsaid.

“The idea is tomaintain that enthu-siasm with the stu-dents, the familiesand the staff. It’s cer-tainly not only aboutthe facility,” shesaid.

The elementaryschool is currentlyenrolled to capacity.

Local educatorswin awards

By CLAIRE ABENTJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE — InJanuary, two localteachers were honoredby the MIchigan Al-liance for Environmentaland Outdoor Educationfor their work with chil-dren in those areas.

Chuck Delpier, anearth science teacher atNegaunee MiddleSchool, received the Ju-lian Smith Award, thehighest honor given bythe organization eachyear.

Delpier, who has beenteaching for 28 years,began his semester-long Environmental Ad-ventures class in 1995.He teaches the classtwice a year and some-times twice a semester.

“I feel honored. I feellike I’m standing on theshoulders of giants,”Delpier said. “I’m justreally honored to bepart of this organization.Although it is small innumber, it is big in im-pact on kids, familiesand the environment it-self,” he said.

One of the thingsDelpier does with hisstudents is take themon a 24-hour overnighttrip to Hogback Moun-tain. The students cookoutside, sleep outside,make a fire and hike upto the top of the moun-tain. They also learnvaluable lessons aboutkeeping warm and safeoutdoors.

He notes that not ev-ery child has a lot of ex-posure to the environ-ment and this type oftrip introduces them tonature, whether theyenjoy it or not.

Karen Bacula, a biolo-gy, anatomy and envi-ronmental scienceteacher at MarquetteSenior High School wasone of two teachers inthe state to receive aMAEOE RecognitionAward, which recog-nizes significant contri-butions to the fields ofenvironmental and out-door education in a spe-cialized area. She hasbeen teaching for morethan 15 years.

“I’m humbled,” shesaid. “I’m honored andthrilled by the recogni-tion. It was a wonderfulthing to have because itinvolves peoplethroughout the state.”

She teaches environ-mental biology and ad-vises the environmentalclub at MSHS. She co-directed a seventhgrade outdoor sciencecamp at Bothwell Mid-dle School and alsoworked on program-ming and camps atMoosewood NatureCenter.

Four other teachersand two organizations inthe U.P. also receivedrecognition from theMAEOE. Mike Benda,assistant principal, sci-ence teacher and teamleader for Jeffers HighSchool’s outdoor andenvironmental educationproject at Lake Perraultand the Brown Nature

Sanctuary; Janet Lar-son, fourth grade teach-er with Stanton Town-ship Public Schools foractive outdoor educa-tion; Melissa Schneider-han, fifth grade teacherand team leader for CLKElementary School’sgarden learning experi-ence; and Helen Sten-vig, fifth grade teacher atC.J. Sullivan ElementarySchool in L’Anse andteam leader for a K-5School Forest Projectthere.

Members of the North Star board of directors and superintendent and CEO KarenAnderson stand around the star detail in the floor of the new elementary buildingduring a sneak peek tour of the facility. (Journal photo by Claire Abent)

Top from left, Rachel Ring, Kaylee O’Connor and Noel Grant talk with teacherChuck Delpier while they wait for their food to cook. The students were practicingfor an upcoming overnight trip to Hogback Mountain. Marquette Area PublicSchools co-teacher of the year Karen Bacula, left, works with her science students,from left, Lauren Petroff, Danielle Lancour and Taylor Anderson. (Journal photoby Andy Nelson-Zaleski)

2I -— The Mining Journal Monday, March 28 PROGRESS2011

I feel honored. Ifeel like I’mstanding on theshoulders of gi-ants. I’m just real-ly honored to bepart of this orga-nization. Al-though it is smallin number, it isbig in impact onkids, families andthe environment.

“

- CHUCK DELPIERNegaunee earth science teacher

”

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

ISHPEMING — After abig shift to open 2011,the students at Ishpem-ing’s Central School havesettled into their new rou-tines.

The contents of theC.L. Phelps MiddleSchool were all shuffledinto Central School dur-ing the winter break andon Jan. 3, teachers andstudents followed.

S u p e r i n t e n d e n tStephen Piereson saidthe move was a big deal,but that it went smoothly,thanks to the hard workof everyone involved.

He said although therewas a learning curve forthe newly arrived stu-dents, they have hit theground running.

“I believe the studentshave adjusted remark-ably well and they’vegone about their busi-ness,” he said.

Piereson said a handful

of minor constructionprojects that make theschool better equipped tohandle the new studentshave been completed,but said most of the workwas done by the timeclasses resumed in earlyJanuary.

The projects includedthe installation of 412new lockers, an improve-ment of some restrooms,the outfitting of a newband room and the cre-ation of a new computerlab.

Though things havegone smoothly, Pieresonsaid the administrationwill be looking to improveon a couple of points—mainly scheduling—fornext year. He hopes totweak the scheduling abit to create a better flowof students throughoutthe day and is consider-ing adding a third lunchperiod.

Piereson said the dis-trict has plans to sell the

now-empty PhelpsSchool.

“We are in the processof getting prepared tostart soliciting bids for thesale of that building,”said Piereson, whoadded that the districthas surveyed the proper-ty and has the clear titlein hand.

The building still hasvalue, though, as it hous-es the district’s only full-service kitchen. Fromthere, meals are satellit-ed out to the other districtschools. Piereson saidthe school would be will-ing to let go of the schoolprior to summer, if an ar-rangement to retain tem-porary control of thekitchen can be workedout.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. His e-mailaddress iskwhitney@miningjour-nal.net.

Students adjusting well to new surroundings

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 3IPROGRESS2011

Phelps move

Above, Charleen Willey works with fifth-grade students recently. The students were finishing up their first week of classes in the Central School after having moved fromC.L. Phelps Middle School. (Journal photo by Claire Abent)

4I — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 PROGRESS2011

By CLAIRE ABENTJournal Staff Writer

BIG BAY — For manypeople, the thought ofschool lunch brings backmemories of mysterymeat, but at the close-knit Powell TownshipSchool, the staff is tak-ing a new approach toschool nutrition.

A few years ago, thePowell Township Schoolboard decided to makebreakfast available to allstudents. Since then, theschool has been self-funding a breakfast pro-gram, SuperintendentSam Oslund said.

Then about two yearsago, a conscious choicewas made to steer thelunch program in ahealthier direction.

The program hasmade the switch towhole grains across theboard, including bread,pasta and pizza crust.Daily, students are of-fered a choice of fourfruits—one of which isfresh—and have accessto a salad bar stockedwith fresh produce andlow-fat dressings.

What students aren’teating in the lunchroom,though, is white breadand pasta, fried foods orsugar-laden desserts.Slowly, sugary cerealsare being dropped fromthe breakfast programand chocolate milk hasbeen completely re-moved as a breakfastoption. Processed foodsare kept to a minimum.

All food at the school ismade by Shelly Beaudryin a single kitchen. Ev-ery day, the food iscooked fresh on-site.Most students eat aschool lunch every dayand students wantingseconds are instructedto go to the salad barfirst.

“I feel good about thefact that we’re offeringhealthy choices here,”Oslund said.

Oslund said that hav-ing just 53 students,from pre-kindergarten toeighth grade, all in onebuilding helps to makethe programs doable.

In addition to thehealthy meals, studentsexercise each morning,rain or shine. In the pro-gram, which has been inplace for a few years,students in first throughfourth grade walk a halfmile and the older stu-dents walk a full mile.Only extremely low tem-peratures keep the stu-dents inside.

While it may be hard tomeasure with any cer-tainty the affect thesehealthier choices haveon students, Oslund be-lieves in the programs.He points out young chil-dren who already makegood food choices.

“We’ve got 4- and 5-year-olds going to thesalad bar and gettingtheir own things,” hesaid. “So I truly do be-lieve that has an impacton them.”

Powell TownshipSchool nutrition program off to a good start

Above left, Powell Township Schools Superintendent Sam Oslund sits down to talk with kindergarteners, from left, Kyler Young, Nicholas Rader and Quincy Scheidtwhile they enjoy breakfast before the start of the school day. Above right, students enjoy a number of options during breakfast at Powell Township School before headingout for their morning walk. (Journal photo by Claire Abent)

The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 5IPROGRESS2011

Fifth grader Clare Belkowski finishes up a painting during her art class at Both-well. Art is one of the specials offered to the fifth graders at Bothwell this year. (Jour-nal file photo)

By JOURNAL STAFFMARQUETTE — After

a few months of adapta-tion, the new fifth-gradeclass at Bothwell MiddleSchool has gotten usedto new surroundings.

This is the first yearthe fifth-graders havebeen at Bothwell; theywere formerly housed atthe Graveraet School.The new arrangement isgoing well, according toprincipal Bill Saunders.

“It’s been a prettysmooth transition, actu-ally. We had about twoyears to plan for that,”he said.

This year, the school isset up so that all of thegrades use separatestairwells and differententrances in the morn-ing and after school.Fifth, sixth and seventhgrades all have theirown sections on thesecond floor, whileeighth grade is on thefirst floor.

The fifth-grade class-rooms are noticeablydifferent from others inthe school, as they areclearly meant for

younger students, withdifferent desks and dec-orations. The studentsall have space in theclassroom to store theirbooks and supplies, but

they do have lockers tostore their coats.

After some carefulplanning, the same typeof daily academicschedule used at Grav-

eraet last year wastransferred this year tothe fifth-grade classesat Bothwell.

“The same type of en-vironment has kind oftranslated over,” hesaid. “They are having alot of the same experi-ences that they are hav-ing last year.”

The teachers alsoseem to be adjustingwell to the new environ-ment.

“I think the kids feelcomfortable,” said fifth-grade teacher Pat Jerry.“I haven’t heard anycomplaints.”

The fifth-graders alsohave a recess period at1 p.m. and a new play-ground was just com-pleted last fall.

“It was a great addi-tion, not only for the fifthgrade but also for oursixth seventh and eighthgrade students,” Saun-ders said. “We reallyhave gotten the mostout of that playground.”

The school has a totalof 860 students and 198of them are fifth-graders.

By Journal StaffMARQUETTE — A

group of concerned citi-zens is moving forwardwith its mission of bettercommunication andtransparency betweenthe community and theMarquette Area PublicSchools.

Citizens United forBetter Schools wasformed in the spring of2010 in response to aperceived disconnectbetween the MarquetteArea Public Schools dis-trict and communitymembers.

“This has been a resultof various parents andcommunity memberstrying to work with theschool board and notfeeling like our voicesare being acknowledgedor heard,” CUBS co-chair Jake Guter said inSeptember.

At that time, Guter saidthe group was pushingto get two new boardmembers—Brian Cherryand Mike Kohler—elect-

ed. Both are now boardmembers.

Since the MAPS boardreorganized, CUBS hasworked to build bridgesbetween the communityand the board and ad-ministration, setting upinformal meetings withmembers from thosegroups.

Guter and fellow co-chair Jamie Randall saymost MAPS businesstakes place in smallcommittee meetings thatthe average citizen doesnot — or cannot — at-tend. The group has fo-cused on attending ev-ery meeting.

A non-profit organiza-tion, CUBS must fund it-self and has set a 2011fundraising goal of$8,000. The money willbe used to rent meetingspace and pay for ad-vertisement and will alsobe used to fund a Website.

A membership drive isplanned for April.

Meanwhile, the

group’s long term goalsremain the same. CUBShopes to support theschool board and gener-ate involvement be-tween the communityand the schools, Gutersaid.

For more informationabout CUBS, visitwww.cubsmqt.org.

CUBS

Citizens United for Better Schools

Fifth grade settling intoBothwell Middle School

Students enjoying new playgroundMarquette County School bus No. 98 sits in the bus yard by Marquette Senior HighSchool. (Journal file photo)

A workshop was held during a MAPS meeting where many parents, teachers andcommunity members were able to voice their concerns in a dialogue with boardmembers. (Journal photo by Claire Abent)

It was a greataddition, notonly for the fifthgrade but alsofor our sixth sev-enth and eighthgrade stu-dents.We reallyhave gotten themost out of thatplayground.

“

- BILL SAUNDERS

principal

”

6I — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 PROGRESS2011

By KYLE WHITNEYJournal Staff Writer

MARQUETTE—TheNICE school district ben-efitted from grants fromCliffs Natural Resources,which were handed outin November.

Cliffs gave the district$1,500 to enrich class-rooms, and the re-sources were handedout based on proposalswritten by area teachers.

Ryan Reichel, a physi-cal education instructorat Westwood HighSchool, now has a pro-jection screen and Nin-tendo Wii that he uses inclass.

He said he was in-spired to ask for the Wiibecause it is a popularactivity in many families.He felt it would allow hisstudents virtual accessto many activities thatwould be financially outof the question in reality.

“I’m still trying to findthe perfect way to imple-ment it. I’m going to domy Wii bowling unitsoon,” he said.

Reichel said he has ahandful of games, in-cluding a dance game,and that the Wii gets thestudents active and in-volved with class.

“There were studentssweating that I’ve neverseen sweat before,” hesaid.

The grant money alsobought weather stationsfor the third-grade class-rooms in Aspen RidgeElementary School.

Jim Maki, the teacherwho penned the grantproposal, said theweather stations mea-sure all aspects of theweather, but that his kidsonly pay attention totemperature, wind chill,wind speed and baro-metric pressure.

“We have classroomjobs and one of the jobsis to record the weather.Daily we have one of thestudents come up andread the weather moni-tor,” he said.

The students are thenable to discuss weatherpatterns and the rolebarometric pressureplays in predicting theweather. At the end ofevery month, the classcharts the weather fromthe past month.

Maki said the weatherstations dovetail nicelywith the third-grade cur-riculum, which touchedon weather science andfocuses heavily on the

scientific method, includ-ing the recording andcharting of data.

Grant money was alsoawarded to a proposal toconstruct a zero-energygreenhouse and commu-nity garden at the AspenRidge School.

Kyle Whitney can bereached at 906-228-2500, ext. 250. His e-mail address is kwhit-ney@miningjournal.net.

NICE school district receivesgrants from CLIFFS

Westwood High School students, left, Erik Honkala (red shorts, grey cut off shirt), 18, and Matt Annala, 17, (white shirt, black shorts) play the school’s Wii system duringgym class. (Journal photos by Johanna Boyle)

PROGRESS2011 The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 7I

By JOURNAL STAFFMARQUETTE—This

past fall, the GraveraetSchool building becamethe home of a new alter-native middle schoolprogram, the EastsideAcademy. Open to stu-dents in grades sixthrough eight from anyschool district, the aimwas to create a smaller,non-traditional learning

atmosphere. According to Janet

Kuopus, the long-termsubstitute teacher atEastside, that has beenachieved.

“It’s a very relaxed at-mosphere,” she said.“The students do havedesks, but they’re typi-cally not sitting at themand they do lots of groupwork.”

Kuopus said the stu-dents have traveled toPeter White Public Li-brary on numerous occa-sions and, as the weath-er warms, more andmore community activitywill be integrated into theclass schedule. For in-stance, the group plans

to visit local establish-ments and meet thebusiness owners.

In addition, a handful ofcommunity members, in-cluding entrepreneursand seniors, have cometo Graveraet to speak tothe class.

The class tries to stickto a set schedule, Kuo-pus said, but there is al-so a lot of freedom.

“It varies day-to-day,”she said. “Since we arein one classroom all day,we have a lot of flexibili-ty with how much timewe can spend on onesubject.”

The initial projectionwas that about 15 stu-dents would enroll inEastside Academy. Tothis point, though, thereare only eight.

Bothwell principal BillSaunders oversees theprogram and said thedistrict simply didn’t re-ceive as many applica-tions as he initially ex-pected. This may be, inpart, because, the dis-trict’s top-notch middleschool program makesit unecessary for par-ents to enroll their chil-dren in an alternativeprogram, according toSaunders.

“For those students wehave, it has been verybeneficial,” he said.“The families have beenvery thankful of us hav-ing that program.”

The future of the pro-gram, Saunders said, isstill up in the air and a fi-nal decision will bemade by the board.

“As far as us evaluat-ing that program... thatwill be an ongoing pro-cess,” he said.

8I — The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 PROGRESS2011

New Graveraet alternativeprogram

Social studies teacher Andrew Crunkleton speaks in front of one of his classes atMarquette Alternative High School before the program was moved to the formerGravaraet Intermediate School. (Journal file photo)

It’s a very relaxedatmosphere. Thestudents do havedesks, but they’retypically not sittingat them and theydo lots of groupwork.

“

- JANET KUOPUS

Substitute teacher

”

PROGRESS2011 The Mining Journal, Monday, March 28 — 9I

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