HOOVER MIDDLE SCHOOL schedules concert

Reminder: There is a band concert at Hoover Middle School on Thursday, May 11. It begins at 7 p.m. For more information, contact the school office.

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL contest continues

Parental reminder: The Randall Elementary School "Boxtops for Education Class Contest" continues this week. For more information, contact the school office.

TRUMAN HIGH SCHOOL DECA performs well at nationals

Truman High School DECA students achieve huge success and were amazing ambassadors for Truman HS and the state of Michigan while competing at Nationals in California.

Marketing teacher, Carly Lundgren said: "I am so proud to announce that Truman High School was successful at the 71st International Career Development Conference for DECA,” Marketing Teacher Carly Lundgren said. “Over 19,100 high school students attended this conference. We took four students: Amario Massey, Kirsten Collett, Junaid Syed, and Sara Sherazi. They represented our school proudly.”

Amario Massey competed in the Hotel and Lodging Management category and was awarded a medal for his role-play event. Amario was also awarded a $750 scholarship from the J. Williard and Alice S. Marriott Foundation.

He was chosen out of over 4,000 applicants for this scholarship. His hard work over the last three years paid off. His classwork, performance as a school store manager and DECA member helped earn him honors and made Lundgren proud. It is extremely hard to win at the international level and Michigan and Truman High School could not be more proud of Amario.

Kirsten, Junaid, and Sara attended an entrepreneurship academy for their work on our promotional campaign event and community service campaign event. They were awarded certificates for completing the academy and will be bringing all that they learned to the school and DECA chapter.

Lundgren couldn't be more proud of their hard work all year long and being selected from Truman for the Thrive Academy. They had to complete a series of numerous marketing tasks all year long to be able to apply for this academy and they found out at states that their application and projects were accepted!

While on this trip to Anaheim, the students also participated in a 5K for MDA, DECA Universal Studios event, Disneyland, California Adventures, and an LA tour. At these places, the students were exposed to various forms of business, marketing, hospitality, finance and entrepreneurship and had the chance to network with over 19,100 other high school students in other DECA clubs, from not just the USA but also other countries.

They also got to meet and discuss job opportunities and requirements with people and companies from the business and marketing industry.

Lunbdgren wants to thank everyone for everything they have done for the DECA club this year. It was our first year attending nationals and it was costly. The support with fundraisers and donations to help students reach their goals with district, state, and international levels was tremendous.

“I am proud to work with such great people who are always doing everything they can for our students success,” she said. “Thank you again!"

KINDERGARTEN ROUNDUPS continue throughout district

Kindergarten roundups continue throughout the Taylor School District. The system recently published a flyer on the subject:

KINYON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL visits fire department

Kinyon Elementary School kindergartners visited the Taylor Fire Station recently.

The firefighters showed what goes on there and students got to try on some gear and sit in one of their trucks. It was great!

They also said that if studnets go to Fire Station 1 with grown-ups that they will give us a free smoke detector just by showing a drivers' license.

They give them to residents of Taylor.

Thanks for helping to keep us safe.

MCDOWELL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL watching spring "spring to life"

Spring has sprung at McDowell Elementary School. Here's Mrs. Farago's second-grade class and some of their observations. 

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL celebrates PBIS

April 28 marked the Randall Elementary School PBIS incentive.

Classes came down to the multi purpose room during their scheduled time to play BINGO.

Students who did not receive a pink slip during the month of April were able to come have fun listening to Mrs. Patts call numbers and win prizes.

Everyone left the room with a prize.

Thank you to the PTA for sponsoring the bingo!

RANDALL ELEMENTARY SCHOOL sponsors special guest

Randall Elementary School's student council members sponsored a visit from a special guest on April 13th for our kindergarten students.

They collected donations of candy and organized a treat bag for each student. 

The students were so excited to meet our friend that some students gave him their drawings as a thank you.

HOLLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL gets into the beat

Holland Elementary School students enjoyed an international assembly recently with the One World Taiko drummers. 

The interactive show introduced students to traditional Japanese rhythms and movements.  Students were entertained by the drums and learned some Japanese words as well.  Domo Arigatu "thank you" drummers.

HOLLAND ELEMENTARY SCHOOL future engineers brave the weather

Frightening weather could not keep future engineers from an exciting Family Engineering Night at Holland Elementary School.

Many families braved the severe weather to participate in engineering challenges about teamwork, community, and safety.

Families attempted to create the perfect helmet for an egg, build the tallest tower despite many setbacks, and utilize an assembly line to enhance production, in addition to many engineering warm up activities.  

WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL Cardinal Singers perform at state festival

On April 26 West Middle School's Cardinal Singers, directed by David Martin, performed at Michigan School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA) state choral festival.  

They earned the right to perform at the festival by achieving an “Excellent” rating at the district festival in March.  

The students traveled to Michigan State University, where they had dinner among the university students at the Brody Center.  They then traveled to Holt High School, saw other top groups perform, and then sang for a panel of adjudicators.  

Their performance was given "Superior" and "Excellent" ratings, and they attended a clinic with a college professor who helped them explore different techniques in ensemble singing.  

The Cardinal Singers were honored to share their music, and they each represented West and Taylor with grace and class.

WEST MIDDLE SCHOOL student research effects of earthquakes

Shake, rattle and roll! These words can describe earthquake activity. West Middle School eighth-grade science students have been studying earthquake causes and effects.

Since earthquakes are often unpredictable, people must be vigilant to take safety measures before, during and after an earthquake. One important precaution that must be taken, especially living in the vicinity of the “Ring of Fire,” is to build structures that can withstand an earthquake episode.

Toward that end, the science students formed groups of four to build a structure that could withstand an earthquake. Each group was given 40 spice drops and 40 coffee stirs. The building requirement was that each structure must be two stories tall and use all 40 stirs. 

Many different structures were built. Each structure was then put on a special platform. The teacher moved the platform back and forth. How long it took the structure to fall over was recorded in seconds.

    

When analyzing the success of the structure the students came to many important conclusions. Some students said they would make the base of the structure wider. Others felt that doubling up on the stirs would improve the durability of the structure . A few students voiced the opinion that they would use a different material other than spice drops because they felt the spice drops did not strongly hold the joints in place.

In a few instances, students wished they had listened to other group members and used more triangular shapes rather than rectangles to form their structure.

      

This hands-on activity that extended the curriculum objectives was a wonderful learning experience. Students had to employ many aspects of the scientific method. They hypothesized best structure construction and then tested their hypothesis. 

After they analyzed the resulting structure and made adjustments, the second try at building a structure that would withstand seismic waves was more successful. This engaging activity showed students the importance of good building practices while having the experience of solving real-world problems.

Via Sara Bochenek