Warren Consolidated's Super takes a voluntary paycut

Warren Consolidated Schools SuperintendentRobert Livernois knows that with a 4.8 million dollar deficit facing the district during the 2014-15 school year that there will have to be a lot of belt tightening. He started with tightening his own salary by 10%. He is reducing his salary by $18,000 for the upcoming school year. With the teachers union revisiting contract negotiations, they will have one less bullet to aim at the district at upcoming negotiations. Are any other administrators doing the same thing in Warren? Teachers have been doing a lot already with many teachers having reduced wages and benefits. Depending on your viewpoint, the downward spiral is having an effect on student achievement and teacher moral as a lack of money has taken its toll on the teaching profession.

Warren Consolidated superintendent takes voluntary pay cut

By Frank DeFrank, The Macomb Daily Posted: 06/06/14, 3:17 PM EDT |

Some might view it as a grandstand ploy that carries no real significance. Others see a small gesture of leadership.
But the bottom line is inarguable: Warren Consolidated Schools Superintendent Robert Livernois won’t earn as much money next year.

Robert Livernois

With his district facing a projected shortfall of $4.8 million this year and more than twice as much for 2014-2015, Livernois told the Board of Education this week he will take a voluntary 10 percent salary cut. The reduction will amount to about $18,000.
“It’s a great gesture of leading by example,” said Brian White, president of the Warren Consolidated Board of Education.
Or maybe Livernois intended to send a message?
Warren Consolidated Schools’ four employee unions, including the largest, the Warren Education Association, which represents the district’s teachers, are in the midst of discussing “wage re-openers,” the superintendent said. With the budget belt- tightening, those negotiations could be difficult.
“The goal is to get (the deficit) down,” Livernois said.
School board member Ben Lazarus, a frequent critic of the administration on matters of finance, said Livernois’ gesture is too late and too little.
To read the rest of the article, click the link below to the Macomb Daily (vvv)
http://www.macombdaily.com/social-affairs/20140606/warren-consolidated-superintendent-takes-voluntary-pay-cut

Concerts in the Park at Hess Hathaway draws families

The Concerts at the Park series sponsored by several sponsors and hosted by the Waterford Parks and Recreation and Waterford Chamber of Commerce. The picture album below shows some of the highlights of the show and continues Thursdays through June 26th.



http://media.theoaklandpress.com/2014/06/06/concerts-in-the-park-at-hess-hathaway-park-in-waterford/#1

Cranbrook Science visits Brandon Middle School

Cranbrook Science visits Brandon Middle School (Photo Gallery below)
http://media.theoaklandpress.com/2014/06/06/cranbrook-science-visits-brandon-middle-school/#1

Rochester High School Paparazzi and Photo story style pictures

Rochester High school held their senior graduation at the very packed Ultimate Soccer Arena in Pontiac. The students and faculty are featured in this photo gallery.
 Rochester High School Paparazzi and Photo story style pictureshttp://media.theoaklandpress.com/2014/06/04/photos-of-rochester-high-school-graduation/#1

Rochester High School Paparazzi and Photo story style pictures
http://media.theoaklandpress.com/2014/06/04/photos-of-rochester-high-school-graduation/#1

Clarkston Robotics makes a trip to the White House

     The other night while shooting photos of the Clarkston graduation, they had many points of pride from various speakers. One that stood out was their invite to the White House this past week.  Many  of the robotics programs in Oakland County are stellar and for Clarkston HS, a visit to the World Championships gave them an outstanding 8th place finish. While eighth place does not usually give you an audience with the President, they received a special award and this award gave them the trip to Washington D.C.. Matt Pasco was singled out by the President in particular according to Dr. Rod Rock, the Clarkston superintendent for the Wolves work at promoting STEM programs in particular. While it is a point of pride for Clarkston, it just goes to show Clarkston, Oakland Schools and Oakland County is moving in the right direction for our student engineering minds throughout the OC. Lara Mossa's story talks about their visit to the White House and the link to the paper follows the story.

Clarkston High School students meet President Obama

Two Clarkston High School students, Courtney Hughes, 16, and Matt Pasco, 17, met President Barack Obama. Photo from wh.gov

By Lara Mossa, The Oakland Press

Posted: 06/03/14, 1:46 PM EDT | Updated: 54 secs ago

Courtney Hughes and Matt Pasco, both Clarkston High School students, entering the gate into the White House. Submitted by Kyle Hughes.

CLARKSTON >> Two Clarkston High School students experienced a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity when they met and shook President Barack Obama’s hand at the White House..
Courtney Hughes, 16, a junior from Ortonville, and Matt Pasco, 17, a graduating senior from Clarkston, represented the school robotics squad, Team RUSH.
“The fact that the kids got to do that was amazing,” said Kyle Hughes, a math and technology teacher and Team RUSH coach. “Courtney was excited, because she got to pet the president’s dog.”
Courtney Hughes is Kyle Hughes daughter and one of the team captains; Pasco is the team’s lead programmer.
Team RUSH, which stands for Respect, Unity, Spirit and Heart, won 11 awards this year among five competitions in the Michigan FIRST robotics league including a win in the state championships in April. Through the national program FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), students design and develop remote-controlled robots that battle each other in an arena setting. The Clarkston team advanced to the World Championships in St. Louis, Mo., and finished in the top eight in the world in the district’s division, Hughes said.

To read the rest of the story, click the link below.
http://www.theoaklandpress.com/social-affairs/20140603/clarkston-high-school-students-meet-president-obama

Could a new Italian approach change the way American Schools do Pre-School? Highland Educators visit overseas

A story from the Spinal Column by Ali Armstrong summerizes an approach by Italian preschool educators who believe building connections with students by visiting how they think in their developing world is the key to building to building strong learners. Her story talks about how Building Blocks preschool is sending teachers to learn this Italian method at the school that started it all.

Highland Educators To Tour Italian Education Facilities Next Month

BY ALI ARMSTRONG-EDITOR

aliarmstrong@scnmail.com

Suzanne Gabli, owner and executive director of Building Blocks
Preschool in Highland, and Jennifer Young, a lead preschool teacher, are raising funds to participate in a July study tour of Reggio Emilia, Italy’s infant-toddler centers and preschools.
“Pinch us because that’s how we feel. It’s always been a dream,” Gabli said. “When the opportunity presented itself two years ago we were going ‘how are we going to afford to go?’ We’re making a plan. You just have to plan ahead and we’ll be able to make it happen.”

For the first time ever, Central Michigan University has opened its study tour to Reggio Emilia to the Educators of Michigan Inspirations Reggio Study group, of which Building Blocks Preschool has been one of the founding Steering Committee members since 2011.
The city of Reggio Emilia in Italy is recognized worldwide for its innovative approach to education. In this approach, there is a belief that children have rights and should be given opportunities to develop their potential.
The Reggio Emilia philosophy is based upon the following set of principals: children must have some control over the direction of their learning; children must be able to learn through experiences of touching, moving, listening, seeing and hearing; and children must have endless ways and opportunities to express themselves.
“A classroom example that comes to mind is when a little girl was painting a green snake on her paper … and she took the green paint and covered up her snake,” Young said. “She told me that she remembered that the snake liked to be in the grass, so she painted the grass. To so many parents it may seem like a green blob on a piece of paper, but when you take the time to ask them their story you make the connection.”
Building Blocks is one of 1,000 U.S. schools practicing the Reggio philosophy. It’s something teachers at the school have been studying for years.
Three years ago the school hosted a two-day workshop with Julianne Wurm, a U.S. teacher who worked as a translator in Reggio and author of “Working in the Reggio Way: A Beginner’s Guide for American Teachers.”

To read the rest of Ali's article, click below
http://www.spinalcolumnonline.com/node/9012

Brandon High School Graduation Photo Story

     Brandon High School held their 2014 graduation at Meadow Brook Theater and it was a classy affair with plenty of singing and the orchestra band including performances by the outgoing seniors. The complete graduation story photo album can be found at the links below.

Click Link for photo album  vvvvv

http://media.theoaklandpress.com/2014/06/01/brandon-high-school-graduation-at-meadow-brook-theatre-2/#!photo_num=1

 http://www.theoaklandpress.com/