Oakland Press celebrates top students, programs for 22nd year

In an article written by Diana Dillaber Murray, the Oakland Press celebrated with students in the county for academic excellence. Berkley School District Senior Jacob Behrmann, Berkley High School; Makaya Morgan, Novi High School; and Coryssa West, Waterford Mott High School took home the prizes. The article and photo story celebrate the Excellence in Education (EIE) awards. 

The photo gallery link is in a separate post and the Oakland Press put out an insert on Sunday, April 27th.  

http://www.theoaklandpress.com/general-news/20140425/oakland-press-celebrates-top-students-programs-for-22nd-year

Oakland Press celebrates top students, programs for 22nd year

By Diana Dillaber Murray, The Oakland Press

Posted: 04/25/14, 6:43 AM EDT | Updated: 2 days ago

A Berkley High School student was named top Oakland County senior and a Lake Orion school district’s kindergarten intervention strategy was selected as most outstanding classroom program at the Excellence in Education Recognitions ceremony that was kicked off by The Oakland Press 22 years ago.
The Press started Excellence in Education (EIE) to highlight high school seniors from public, private and parochial schools, who have achieved academically with a 3.0 GPA or above and contributed to their school and community, while at the same time overcoming obstacles that could be daunting for most people.
At the same time, the Press wanted to honor teachers and principals who have created or customized outstanding educational programs who have made a positive difference in children’s academic achievement or their school’s environment.
Six years ago Oakland Schools intermediate district, which provides services to all 28 of the county’s school districts, joined in partnership with the Press to carry on the goals of the EIE.
Overall, more than 1,200 students and creators of 400 classroom programs have been celebrated at the annual EIE recognition nights.
Many of the students selected have continued bravely through their school years on while dealing with such things as death of their parents, divorce, and/or life threatening or physically or emotionally limiting illnesses.
Honored as the top students for the 2014 Excellence in Education Recognition program Thursday at the awards event at Oakland Schools building in Waterford Township, were Jacob Behrmann, Berkley High School; Makaya Morgan, Novi High School; and Coryssa West, Waterford Mott High School.
The top three programs honored were Lake Orion Early Intervention Reading Initiative; South Lyon Dolsen Elementary Taking Care of Others Initiative, and Lake Orion Blanche Sims Kick Off Kindergarten.

Lego KidFest combines traditional Lego Building with Mindstorm and girls products

One thing is clear. Lego will not be ignored. They have far from rested on their laurels. Coming off of a popular movie aptly named "The Lego Movie," the company has launched several Lego KidFest expos across North America and I have covered roughly a dozen expos this year at the Novi Expo Center and Lego's KidFest has been the most popular.
With the Mindstorms Lego line for STEM programs, advanced playsets and the Friends line for girls, they are not just a play toy for boys anymore. The sold out sessions created parking sprawl all over the parking lot with nary a place to park your car. The photo album and Oakland Press video story are below.


https://vimeo.com/93058920

http://media.theoaklandpress.com/

The Oakland Press Excellence In Education Awards

Posted Apr 25, 2014

The Oakland Press Excellence In Education Awards dinner was held Thursday, April 24, at the Oakland Schools building in Waterford Township. Tim Thompson-The Oakland Press.

http://media.theoaklandpress.com/2014/04/25/the-oakland-press-excellence-in-education-awards/#9

Teacher's tirade caught on camera

     Cell phones have a lot of negative consequences in the classroom. They also have a lot of positive uses as well as some teachers have students download apps to calculate formulas and make flash cards. For an educator at the Sarasota Military Academy, his bully tactics wishing an unruly student to die cost him his job and was caught on tape. Jeffrey Daughery is a military veteran that has a reputation for losing his cool and his administrations investigation found that he has lost it more than once. The video and print story is below.

ABC7 Extra: Teacher's tirade caught on camera

Posted: Apr 17, 2014 11:15 PM EDT Updated: Apr 17, 2014 11:51 PM EDT

 http://www.abc-7.com/story/25279774/abc7-extra-teachers-tirade-caught-on-camera

He pushed a students, yelled and told him, 'Open your mouth again and you will die.' Captain Jeffrey Daughtry's rant on one of his students at Sarasota Military Academy cost him his job.
On March 31st, Daughtry says the student was being rude and disruptive. He unleashed a verbal tirade. Another student in the clasroom recorded it and posted it.
When administrators at Sarasota Military Academy learned about the video they confronted him.
The 15-year veteran math teacher claims he doesn't remember being so abusive. He also blamed PTSD he says he suffers from prior military service.
The school investigated and students told administrators this wasn't the first time Daughtry lost his temper. He once threw a student into a wall. The school fired him.
Daughtry wants his job back and says he loves the school and the students. He says firing a disabled military veteran is despicable.
Administrators say he can appeal to try and get his job. He has yet to do that, but is threatening legal action.

Why Waterford Schools sports are not being televised and what you can do to change that

    

Why Waterford Schools sports are not being televised and what you can do to change that

    When I was the lead Play-by-Play man for Comcast Sports starting in 1986 going to 1997, we broadcast small college and high school sports weekly with multiple broadcasts. Many people will remember we did 1-2 football games weekly (between Waterford and Pontiac) with very high production values, roughly 15 basketball (both boys and girls) in the winter, (volleyball, wrestling and a full slate of spring sports weather permitting. Our goal is to cover high school sports in the capacity that we used to and even better with today’s technology.

Here are a few solutions as I see it.

1. Involve High School students-

High school students have the opportunity to expand their video production education by contacting our local Media Network station. (248-682-0401). Media Network has multiple resources from computer programs, Tricaster (multiple camera productions) and software programs that are in demand by employers in the broadcasting digital media arts industries. The local coordinator for Media Network Josh Bowren has over 30 years of experience including currently working at Channel 7. He is based out of the Covert Center across from Mott.  Students would be wise to learn from him, Denise, myself and a few others from all aspects of video production, commercials and PSA's and build their resume for college. Internships at Media Network with hands on experience with real learning brought back to the classroom.


2. Involve- The Community at Large 

If you have ever had the idea of starting a show for your civic organization or want to learn how to make PSA’s for the organization, we are glad to assist. The equipment is free to check out after training by Media Network personnel. The bottom line is are looking for more people to get involved in community & school productions including sports.  If you know an uncle or aunt, brother or sister that would love to learn and participate in Television Production, please send them our way.

 Training is available at Media Network on everything from camera work, green screen, video editing in multiple formats to Photoshop and Adobe After Effects. For an exact schedule of the workshops, call Media Network. As for the sports schedule (look below).

Call Media Network (Josh or Denise) 248-682-0401 or myself Roy Akers 248-238-4449. The schedule is below.


      Media Network with be broadcasting several events involving both OCC and Waterford Schools this spring. Tennis, softball, baseball, soccer and golf will be on tap. The highlight of the coverage will be Mott vs. Kettering softball (April 23rd) and the Oakland County Golf tournament from the 17th hole at Pontiac Country Club where coaches from teams will join me.

All games are aired in Waterford on TV-10 or ATT U-Verse on Channel 99 and go to the Waterford Channel next to the Waterford Schools news channel. 

Wed. April 23 Mott at Kettering High School Softball Crew call 4pm 

Sat. April 26 OCC Highland Lakes Softball Crew call

Tue.  May 6th Pierce Jr High School Tennis Courts Crew Tennis 4pm +

Wed. May 14 Kettering vs Mott Lacrosse

Editorial from the Freep- Why is Michigan so far behind other states in Education?

I know no one that says "we're number 47." If you are a teacher in Michigan you have to have a collective state ranking and Michigan trails all but South Dakota, Alaska and West Virginia.  How did this happen? When I was teaching in Florida and Georgia several years ago, these states were just coming off of being in the bottom ten states when it comes to educational achievement. During my time there, MAP testing, state standards and rigor were the rage and teacher evaluations were tied to the data. (Whether it was entirely fair is another matter) but my students were above the norm but in many classrooms around the state that is not the case. How did Michigan get there? Why is Michigan using the standards from other states including math? In Waterford for instance, some schools use Georgia standards in math. The Detroit Free Press takes a look at this dilemma facing our schools. The link to the Detroit Free Press editorial is below the graph.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2014304130042

Waterford Marshmallow Drop has hundreds of families and is great for school recruiting

     Community events with current and future students with their parents is a great way to watch the family unit play in the community. The Marshmallow Drop held at the Waterford Civic Center across from the Police Station combined a great marketing opportunity for school districts and charter schools/tutoring services to reach parents they would not have ordinarily seen. While the Easter Bunny, dancing, crafts at the library and more were on display, a great way to showcase school initiatives from recruiting to programs known. I did not see any but without a doubt, the Waterford Parks and Rec. needs and deserves the dough. Parents would also benefit from knowing about the various services out there. Beyond that, the event saw Waterford at its finest. The video with kid interviews and the drop is below. https://vimeo.com/91810529