Leadership Club – Fleece Blanket Project

For the third consecutive year Leadership Club will be making fleece blankets to donate to the Mott Children’s Hospital.  The hospital has told us the blankets are a gift well received every year, as they are a great comfort to the children during their stay.

We are looking for fleece donations prior to November 13th, 2009.  If you are able to donate, please send in two – 1 ½ yard pieces of fleece.  These blankets will be given to children, so any colors or patterns will work, however the blankets look best when a solid color is paired with a matching pattern. We will be taking the two pieces of fabric and tying them together to create a warm, comfortable blanket.

We have found fleece for reasonable prices at Wal-Mart and JoAnn Fabrics. In the Sunday newspaper, JoAnn Fabrics often has a 40% off coupon good for one cut of fabric.

Please bring the donated fleece pieces to Mrs. Mierkowicz’s room (room 314) at Heritage or Ms. Sickler’s room (room 311) at the Annex.

Please contact the Leadership Club advisors if you have any questions.

Thank you!
Ms. Sickler: sicklere@saline.k12.mi.us

Mrs. Mierkowicz:  mierkowj@saline.k12.mi.us

Technology integration at Heritage School is moving full steam ahead. This is the first year where technology is not offered as a stand alone course at Heritage School so we’ve had to come up with some new ways of looking at technology instruction and its place within the classroom and fully integrated in the math, science, social studies, and English language arts curriculum.

Heather Kellstrom and Troy Wissink make up our Instructional Technology department and they have been working tirelessly with our staff to support their efforts to integrate technology into the curriculum and promote student learning that excites and engages students. Heather and Troy provide hands-on training to staff before and after school, during professional development days, at staff meetings, during teacher planning times, really anytime teachers are available and want to learn more about technology use and technology integration.

The goals for Heritage School include:

• Web-sites for every classroom
• Expand our digital capabilities, including; using Moodle, ITunes U, Hornet Tube, Blogs, Twitter, etc.
• Every student will create, either individually or in teams, one large scale technology project using Imovie, podcasting, or enhanced PowerPoint
• Regular and frequent use computer labs to foster ongoing technology integration

What technology tools do we have for student and staff use:

• All classroom teachers are equiped with laptops and desktop computers, mounted projectors and voice/sound amplification systems
• 2 complete classroom labs with MAC desktop computers that teachers can sign up to use with their students
• 7 document cameras that allow teachers to show primary source materials to an entire class via the projector
• 6 digital cameras
• 8 laptop computers that may be checked out for student use in school
• 64 laptop computers for a 1:2 laptop program that will serve some 375 students this year

What is happening in our classrooms:

• 1:2 laptop program currently being utilized by Mrs. Robke/Mrs. Widman’s and Mrs. Bruckman/Mr. Walsh’s classes
• Collaborative projects utilizing Moodle and Google Docs extended student learning beyond the 4 walls of the classroom
• Technology mini-projects exposing students to Wordle, Comic Life, Google Docs and more…
• Teacher to Teacher learning about new ways to integrate technology in the classroom

The Heritage School staff and students would like to thank the following for their support of our technology integration project, without them none of this would be possible:

• The Foundation for Saline Area Schools for their support of our 1:2 laptop project
• Scot Graden and Steve Laatsch for having a vision for technology integration and starting it at Heritage School
• Heather Kellstrom and Troy Wissink for their hard work and support of all of our teachers while their stretch their learning

Finally, I would like to thank all of the Heritage staff for the dedication to being life-long learners, their willingness to step out of their comfort zone and try something new, you make a difference for students everyday.

County Commissioner Kristin Judge & Sheriff Jerry Clayton present Cyber Security Expert Dr. Peter Fonash.

Dr. Fonash will hold a free seminar for all Washtenaw County Residents from 6:30 p.m. until 8:30 p.m. on cyber safety for your home & family on Thursday, October 29, 2009 in the Saline High School Auditorium.

Seating is limited so you will need to RSVP to cyberevent@ewashtenaw.org or 734-222-6850.

The sixth, seventh and eighth grade students from Heritage School and Saline Middle School wowed the parents, dignitaries, visitors and the WalMart staff singing the Star Spangled Banner for the WalMart grand opening. Our students sang beautifully! Congratulations to Mr. Cindric and all of the students who participated.

Barkey the Math Dog

Thank you to Barkey and Mr. Bartow for visiting with the students in Mr. Foster & Mrs. Stevenson’s classes this morning. Barkey is a mathematical dog who can add, subtract, multiply, divide and do square roots!

Heritage Students Donate Non-Perishable Items for Saline Social Services

Thank you to all of the students and staff at Heritage School for their generous donation of non-pershiable items to Saline Social Services.  Students had a friendly competition between University of Michigan and Michigan State Univesity to “vote” for their favorite team with the upcoming inter-state game this Saturday. Michigan was the clear favorite, however the BIG winner was Saline Social Services with students donating over 2600 can goods and other non-pershiable items.

Heritage School Walk (Bike) To School Days
(Calendar of Events 2009-2010)

Attention Students and Parents!!!!

Heritage School and Woodland Meadows schools have teamed up with Safe Routes 2 School, a national organization aimed at getting more kids walking/riding to school and promoting more physical fitness among our youth.  We will have several Walk/Bike to School Days during the course of the 2009-2010 school year.

Please mark your calendars for the following Walk (Bike) To School Days: October 2, November 6, April 30, and May 28

We have been working hard to provide ways for ALL students to participate in this event regardless of whether they normally take the bus or get a car ride to school.  We are stationing parent volunteers at designated spots around the community to provide direction and safety for our kids.

Adult supervision will be stationed at the following locations

*The corner of Woodland Drive and Maple Road.
*In multiple locations on Woodland Dr.
*The corner of Ann Arbor-Saline Rd and Woodland Dr.
*In the Liberty (the Old Middle School) parking lot.
*At the corner of Bennett St. and Ann Arbor-Saline Rd.

Here are some convenient options for getting your child to school

Option 1: Allow your child to walk or bike from your house to school.
Option 2: Bring your child to Liberty School (the Old Middle School) and drop him/her off in the front parking loop.
Option 3: Have your child take the school bus.  The buses will drop off in the back parking lot of Liberty School (the Old Middle School) and students will walk the rest of the way to school.

Important Notes
*Walk (Bike): To School Days are only supervised in the morning.

Please let your child know what procedure you would like him/her to follow for afternoon dismissal.  Buses will come to the Heritage-Woodland Meadows parking lot for afternoon pick up.

*These Walk (Bike) To School Days will generally take place rain or shine.  However, please use your judgment if you would like your child to participate in case of inclement weather.

We are always looking for parents to help monitor our students walk and bike to school. Please contact Betty Rosen-Leacher for the Heritage walk and Wanda Killips for the Woodland Meadows walk.

Thank you all for your support!

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact Mrs. Rosen-Leacher at 944-8972, leacherb@saline.k12.mi.us or Mrs. Killips at 944-8986, killipsw@saline.k12.mi.us.

Betty Rosen-Leacher, Principal, Heritage School & Wanda Killips, Principal, Woodland Meadows

Another Option for Walk/Bike to School Day

BIKE TO SCHOOL DAY

October 2, 2009

Meet at City Hall on N. Harris at 7AM and Bike to School with your classmates & local cycling instructors!

Don’t forget your helmet for safety!!!
(Helmets available upon request)
Parents are encouraged to ride with their child.
Tandems will be available upon request for students and parents who want double the fun!
(Email lauren@bikeprogram.org or call 734-674-6725)

Heritage
6th Annual University of Michigan/Michigan State University
Food Drive for Saline Social Services

TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2009

Heritage School in conjunction with Saline Social Services, will be hosting our 6th annual food drive for charity. This is a collection of canned goods, paper products, and toiletry items to help families in need around the Saline area.

The food drive is taking place on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 between the hours of 9 AM – 12:00 PM.  Students in grades 5-6 are encouraged to bring in an item or two to donate to a great cause.  Each year, the food drive is centered on the Michigan – Michigan State football game. We create a friendly competition where food bins are decorated with Michigan and Michigan State logos.  Then, students wear the colors of their favorite college sports team on the day of the event and put their canned goods in their favorite team’s bin. We keep score and will announce the winner at the end of the day.

Generally, Michigan wins in a landslide, but the Michigan State hopeful keep putting forth a great effort.  Then, when the event is over, the food/paper goods are loaded into the University of Michigan Frisbie United Van Lines moving truck, which is the official moving truck of the U of M football team, and delivered directly to the Saline Social Services.  We look forward to a great event!!!!

HIGH NEED ITEMS FOR THIS YEAR INCLUDE:
SOUP, TOILET PAPER, MAC N CHEESE, PAPER TOWELS

If you can volunteer a few hours of your time to help collect & count our student donations please contact Laurie Dawson at lauriedawson@comcast.net

Just a few reminders for all of our families:

• Picture day is this Friday, September 25, 2009

• The Heritage magazine sale ends, Monday, September 28, 2009

• The U of M/MSU canned food drive is Tuesday, September 29, 2009

• Our first Walk to School Day will be held, Friday, October 2, 2009

Dear Heritage School Families,

I want to thank you all for your cooperation while dropping off and picking up your children at Heritage School. We have seen a marked improvement in both drop-offs and pick-ups but we still have some room to improve.

We continue to have a back-up of cars dropping students off in the morning at the Heritage Annex. I encourage parents to use the full sidewalk between Heritage and the Annex to drop your children off. Plus, they get a little exercise too!

At the end of our day you will have noticed that we have the lanes closest to the Heritage entrance coned off for the safety of our students. If you need to pull into the parking lot you must use the first two drives or follow the driveway around and enter the parking area from the Woodland/Annex side of the lot.

Finally, please refrain from using your cell phone while dropping off and picking up your child. The safety of our children is our first priority and cell phones can be a distraction in the parking lot.

Thank you for your continued cooperation.

Sincerely,

Betty Rosen-Leacher, Principal