Time and date: 7 p.m., Tuesday, June 7

Place: MHS Auditorium

Speakers: Dr. Barry Martin, superintendent, Monroe Public Schools; Ryan Walentowski, principal, OCHS; Nikyia Bell, OCHS student

Top two students:  Nikyia Bell and Lonnie Dailey

Number of Graduates: 37 (27 OCHS, 10 Monroe Virtual High School)

Passing out Diplomas: Ryan Walentowski, principal

Music: Will all be played digitally, no students or staff actually singing or playing music

Miscellaneous Information: Senior Video will be played.  For the first time, MPACT will record the ceremonies for playback at a later time. After the ceremonies appear on MPACT, they also will be posted to YouTube.

-The time and date of the ceremony – 6 p.m., Thursday, June 9.

-The place – Monroe County Community College Administration Building

-The names of any speakers  -- Dr. Kojo Quartey, president, Monroe County Community College; Dr. Barry Martin, superintendent, Monroe Public Schools; Jennifer Tucker, Monroe Bank & Trust; Floreine Mentel; and Patricia Kane.  The student speaker is Debbie Haines.

-Who is passing out diplomas -- Julie Montri will present candidates. Dr. Martin will give the certificates to students and Dr. Quartey shakes their hand as they leave the stage.   Vuncia Council, Learning Bank administrator, will moderate and Cherie Reed and Mrs. Council will provide closing remarks

-Any miscellaneous information about special guests, performances, etc.  For the first time ever, this ceremony will be recorded by MPACT for playback on the local cable channel.  It also will be available on YouTube after its initial showing on MPACT.

Monroe Public Schools has a new program where high school students entering grades 9 through 12 can complete their physical education credits for graduation during the summer, and not have to take physical education classes during the regular school year. 

     “This satisfies the physical education credit needed to graduate from Monroe High School,” said Julie Everly, deputy superintendent, Monroe Public Schools.  “By taking phys ed in the summer, students can make room in their class schedules throughout the regular school year for other classes.

     “Many of our students are interested in additional schedule space for advanced placement, direct college and dual enrollment classes,” Mrs. Everly added.  “This also increases the time available for students to take more advanced MHS electives, apprenticeships and certification programs.”

     With more than 140 teacher-taught electives and more than 100 more on-line elective courses available during the class day, Monroe High School has a larger selection of electives than all other regional high schools.

     The summer learning opportunity will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays from June 27 through August 4 at Monroe High School.  The class will focus on lifetime wellness and recreation.  In-district transportation will be available and breakfast and lunch will be provided.  Cost of the class is $180 per student.  In-district scholarships also are available by calling 265-3100.

     While open primarily to Monroe High School students, the class also will be available to students from other districts, space permitting. 

     Because space is limited, early enrollment is suggested. 

Two students who attended the former Lincoln Elementary School have been named recipients of the annual Lincoln School Scholarship for graduating Monroe High School seniors.

     This year’s recipients are Anna Dazarow and Dedra Brown, both of whom plan to attend college to study psychology and social work.

     Anna is graduating with a 3.69 GPA and plans to attend Wayne State University.  She credits her former teachers, especially Mrs. Julie Lassey, Mr. Ronnie Riggs, Mrs. Renee Bergman, Mrs. Kirstie Mullins, Mrs. Krystal Clawson and Mrs. Stephanie Taylor for “showing me you can love what you do and for showing me that I can do whatever I want as long as I push myself to do it.”

     Dedra is graduating with a 3.68 GPA and plans to attend Adrian College.  She was a member of her graduating class’ Top 100 and a member of the National Honor Society.  She was described as a “student with an infectious personality, intellect and communications skills who cares for the well-being of her fellow human beings.”

     Although Lincoln School has been closed since 2009, before it did, the staff set aside enough money in the school’s scholarship fund so that at least two former Lincoln students annually would qualify for scholarships for as long as there are students in the Monroe Public Schools system who attended Lincoln.

Monroe Public Schools has a new summer program where high school students can complete their physical education credits for graduation, and not have to take a physical education class during the regular school year.  The summer learning opportunity will be offered on Tuesdays and Thursday from June 27 through August 4 at Monroe High School.  Transportation will be available and breakfast and lunch will be provided. Cost of the class is $180 per student.  Scholarships also are available by calling 265-3100.  To read more, please check out the attached flyer. 

The Monroe High School Soroptomist Club and Monroe High School senior Madyson Farris were honored with Michigan Week Awards in ceremonies Tuesday (May 24) sponsored by the Local Michigan Week Committee. 

The S-Club is an MHS club dedicated to helping women and children.  The MHS girls and their advisor, Allison Kwasniak, are active all school year long.  During this school year alone they have worked with Paula’s House and Hope’s Closet as well adopting four families at Christmas and sponsoring their annual purse drive for less fortunate women. 

Madyson, who also is president of her senior class, was honored for her many volunteer hours she puts in every year at various activities. 

               Some $21,000 in scholarships were awarded Tuesday night (May 24) at the Monroe Public Schools Board of Education meeting.  The annual event is a time when Monroe Public Schools awards scholarships to its top students in what is believed to be the only program of its kind in a public school in Monroe County.  Besides the MPS scholarships, two other types of scholarships were awarded Tuesday night.  Three students each were awarded $1,000 Chris Butler scholarships to honor the former MPS administrator who died earlier this year.  In addition, seven students received $1,000 Sean Brady Memorial Scholarships, named after the MHS grad who was killed in a vehicle accident last year while he was working a summer internship.  

               The students who received the various scholarships and the schools they plan to attend are:  Alyssa Bukovitz, Michigan State University; Cassie Complo, Grand Valley State University; Noah Dawn, Oakland University; Cameron Delben, Bowling Green State University; Madyson Farris, Bowling Green State University; Sloane Lynch, University of Michigan; Natalie Maas, University of Michigan; Eryka Pancone, University of Kentucky; Nick Schmidt, University of Michigan; Anna Tartarian, Siena Heights University; Taylor Thompson, Central Michigan University; Sidney Towalski, University of Findlay; Connor Tullis, University of Michigan; Travis Turner, University of Toledo; and, Anthony Wohfiel, University of Michigan.

The Monroe Public Schools Board of Education Tuesday night (May 24) voted to demolish the former South Monroe Townsite Elementary School by approving a bid of $111,000 by D&R Demolition of Archbold, Ohio.

The vote was 5-1 in favor of demolition with board member Larry VanWasshenova voting no.  Trustee Ryan Philbeck was excused.

Demolition is set to begin in mid-June and be completed in August.

          The successful bid was one of six received for the project.  Although Monroe Public Schools has not worked with the company before, D&R Demolition does have experience in demolishing former schools. 

          The building has not been used as an elementary school since it was closed in the spring of 2009.  In recent years it has been used for the Monroe County Head Start program which over the summer will move into Arborwood North Elementary.  The building also has housed Monroe Virtual High School which over the summer will move to the Riverside Early Learning Center.

          No decision has been made yet on what to do with the property once the building is down, the debris is removed and the site restoration is complete.Townsite school

Parents – do you know what kind of cyber safety risks there are for your children with their cell phones, iPads, computerized games and other types of “electronic toys?”  Those risks to safety might not be apparent but they are real.  Fortunately, knowing about them is the first step towards ensuring they do not happen to your child or to you.

          Monroe Middle School at 503 Washington St. will host a one-hour informational meeting at 6 p.m., Wednesday, June 1, where Michigan State Police Trooper Tressa Duffin from the Monroe post will explain what kinds of safety risks there are in various types of electronic devices, how parents can spot them and how they can help to avoid them. 

          “Trooper Duffin will help parents to understand how they best can protect their children from cyber-threats.  Since practically every child has access to and plays or works with electronic devices this is really a must-see event for all parents,” said Monroe Middle Schools’ Parent Liaison Renae Hoskins. 

          She added that the timing for the presentation is good, too, coming just before the end of the school year because children likely will spend more time on computers and other electronic devices during the summer when school is out.

          The presentation is free and open to the public, regardless of where you children attend school.

     And the People’s Choice Award goes to….

     Of the 58 projects that were presented by students ranging from fifth grade to college at the recent 2016 OhioView Satellites Geospatial Technologies Conference in Perrysburg, Ohio, whoever could have imagined that it would be presenters from a combination Young 5s-kindergarten class from Waterloo Elementary who would be chosen by their peers for the People’s Choice Award.

     The award is given to the presenter(s) who the participants at the conference enjoyed most.  The conference was hosted by the University of Toledo.

     All year long, the Young 5s-kindergarten classes of Mrs. Ellen Perkins and Mrs. Natalie LaBeau has been collecting data on ground surface temperature and the number of worms found. 

     At the conference—kindergarten students Coryssa McCray and Lily Waltbillig presented their findings in “Where Did the Worms Go?”  Their presentation demonstrated how surface temperature does affect the number of worms that were found.  The younger students were aided in their research by fourth graders Viktoria Bloniarz and Mallory Standifer who have – during their lunch times – recorded the data and logged it into the GLOBE data base. 

     The project and presenters were judged on their knowledge of the topic, use of scientific method, clarity and expression during the presentation.

     “Our entire school is very proud of these young scientists.  Mrs. Perkins and Mrs. LaBeau have worked hard to create authentic research experiences in alignment with Waterloo’s STEAM curriculum,” said Waterloo Principal Mrs. Meghan Gibson.  “Coryssa and Lily each did a fantastic job in representing the amazing learning that is happening at Waterloo.”

     So what is next for this young scientific team? Next year, Mrs. Perkins said, when Viktoria and Mallory are in the fifth grade, they plan to further this initial study by comparing surface temperatures in Poland where some of Vickoria’s family lives.