Talking Taylor Schools

Saturday, November 12, 2016

TRUMAN BAND, KENNEDY FLOAT AND DECA featured in 2016 Taylor Winter Festival November 26

The Truman High School Band, a float from Kennedy High School and DECA will be three of the featured entries in the 2016 Taylor Winter Festival Parade, which will start at City Hall at 4 p.m. Saturday, November 26. The winterfest starts the holiday season in the City of Taylor.

The band will be joined by other entries from the Fire Department, Petting Farm, Farmer's Market, churches, Wayne County Community College District, cheerleaders, Rotary Club, Garden Club, Taylor Dance, political leaders, Special Olympics, Zumba, clowns and businesses throughout the community.

The Taylor Ford Parade begins at City Hall and kicks off at 4 p.m. It will march down Goddard to Pardee and on to Heritage Park. The Masco Winterfest Activities will take place in the Sheridan Center Open Air Pavilion and include Disney characters, special photos, a "Fill the F-350 Toy Drive," carolers, bands and live music, ice carving, raffles and much more. WNIC 100.3 will be on site with host Chris Edwards.

The welcoming of Santa Claus and the official lighting of the Realty Transitions Christmas Tree will take place at approximately 6:15 inside the pavilion, followed by the Taylor Chevrolet Fireworks display -- which is an all-new feature to the event.

The Taylor Winterfest kicks off not only the holiday season, but Santa's Magic Forest, which opens that day in the Heritage Park Activities Building next door to the Sheridan Center.

Santa's Magic Forest is the biggest fundraiser for the Downriver Fish & Loaves Food Pantry, which supplies food for the needy in Taylor and many surrounding communities.

TAYLOR PARKS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL welcomes Fur Angels

Taylor Parks Elementary School welcomes the Fur Angels into their reading groups each year.

This is “Beau” with owner Cindy Leskun, and “Odie” with his owner Diane Schuler. They are part of a non-profit organization solely comprised of volunteers offering compassion and unconditional love through pet therapy.

The program is a motivator to encourage better reading skills and self-confidence in children. Here students meet with the dogs and the owners in the library to read them a book of their choosing.

As one Taylor Parks student remarked, "The dogs don't care is you have a hard time reading, they love you anyway."

BLAIR MOODY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL celebrates veterans

Blair Moody Elementary School has joined with U.S. Rep. Debbie Dingell to honor military veterans through her “Smiles for A Vet Program.” Ms. Hughes, Mrs. Johnson, Mrs. Michaelis and Mrs. Troy’s classes participated in creating cards, posters and artwork for distribution to various Veterans’ facilities.

After Dingell’s “Valentines for Veterans” project received such an overwhelming response from schools and local veterans, she announced she will work with the Ann Arbor VA Hospital, the John D. Dingell VA Hospital and other veteran organizations to start a year-round program that encourages students to create artwork for veterans.

“The response to ‘Valentines for Veterans’ was touching, with thousands of students and residents coming together to show our veterans how much they are loved,” said Dingell. “Responding to the success of the project and the smiles it brought to veterans’ faces, we are working with the community to extend the project year-round.

“The ‘Sending Smiles to Vets’ program will engage grade school children on an ongoing basis to bring cheer to hospital rooms and community gathering places and reach even more veterans.”

In a bipartisan manner, Dingell invites other members and elected officials at all levels to join her to deliver the artwork to VA hospitals and veteran service organizations.