All children up to age 18 – including all Monroe Public Schools students – will be able to enjoy a free lunch every week day this summer thanks to a program administered locally by the Speckled Frog Early Learning Center. Seven sites throughout the Monroe Public Schools district are hosting the open free lunches, including Monroe High School where the Summer Learning Academy is being held.
“We are glad to make our sites available this summer for this nutritious lunch program. With seven places offering public lunches, there is a pretty good chance no one will have to go far for lunch,” said Julie Everly, assistant superintendent, Monroe Public Schools. “It is a real benefit for our Summer Learning Academy students to be able to have lunch as part of the school day. Siblings are invited to lunch, too, as long as they meet the age requirement.”
No registration is necessary and anyone 18 and younger is welcome to come and have lunch. Any child five or younger will have to be accompanied by an adult.
Here are the participating locations open for the public and their hours of operation. Note that lunches are served Monday through Friday, with one exception.
- Monroe High School, 11:45 a.m. through 12:45 p.m., through July 30. Lunches served Monday through Thursday.
- Monroe Family YMCA, 11:30 a.m. through 12:30 p.m., through August 28.
- Oaks of Righteousness Church, 11 a.m. to 1 p.m., through August 28.
- Speckled Frog Learning Center, noon to 12:30 p.m., through August 28.
- Village Pines, noon to 1 p.m., through August 28.
- Waterloo Elementary School, 11:45 a.m. to 12:45 p.m., July 13 through August 14.
- Willow Green Mobile Home Park, noon to 1 p.m., through August 28th.
Free lunches also are provided at the Riverside Early Learning Center for pre-school only who are registered in those classes.
The program is provided at no charge as part of the USDA Summer Foods program.
The Monroe High School Class of 1985 will hold its 30-year class reunion at 6 p.m., Saturday, August 8, at the Toledo Beach Marina, Tickets are only $15 per person and the reunion planning committee would like to hear from you so they can start to get a head count. Contact classmate Kris Rossi at rossik23@sbcglobal.net if you are interested in attending. Make sure, too, that you check out the group’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/pages/Monroe-High-School-Class-of-1985/1545665345678567?fref=ts for information. Feel free to distribute this information to other Class of 1985 members who may not be internet or Facebook users.
The Monroe Public Schools Board of Education will meet tonight on the fourth Tuesday of the month, as regularly scheduled. But there will be some changes in times. The board workshop will begin at 5:30 p.m. A hearing on the proposed 2015-2016 budget is set for 7 p.m. and the board meeting begins at 7:15 p.m..
The Monroe Public Schools Board of Education will meet tonight on the fourth Tuesday of the month, as regularly scheduled. But there will be some changes in times. The board workshop will begin at 5:30 p.m. A hearing on the proposed 2015-2016 budget is set for 7 p.m. and the board meeting begins at 7:15 p.m..
Forty-five Monroe High School students met their goals in the third trimester of the school year and received checks for $200 each as part of Monroe High School’s Allies in Monroe (AIM) program.
“These kids are all great examples of what AIM stands for,” said Monroe High School Principal Valerie Orr. “These students know someone believes in them; they have shown tremendous persistence and have learned through AIM that hard work does pay off.”
AIM is an academic incentive and mentoring program for all MHS students. The program is designed to enhance student achievement, increase the number of students furthering their education after high school, and improve student-staff-community relationships. It also aims to enhance the overall Monroe High School college-going culture. MHS is the only local school to offer a program like this for students.
The program started when school began last September. It had 58 students to begin with, 29 of which made their goals which was to improve the grade-point-averages by at least 15 percent. By the third trimester, the number of students in the program had grown to 131 and 45 of them achieved their goals. Now that school is out, more than 100 students made their goals at least one time during the school year.
“There would have been even more but three kids missed by .oo1 percent each,” said Mrs. Orr, who also thanked the “allies” or the mentors who worked with the students, supporting them and encouraging them.
Four students made their goals all three trimesters. They are Jaleene Frayer, Nathaniel Gaw, Joseph Mininni, and Joseph Sivils. At the banquet, two local groups were cited by AIM for their strong financial support of the program and were designated as “AIM Angels.” They are the Monroe High School Alumni Association and GROW Monroe. Monroe Bank & Trust was cited, too, for its continued support of the group.
Students recognized for achieving their goals were: Shane Adrian, Meshawn Aldridge, Madisen Boylan, Chelsea Brooks, Cynthia Caincross, Luke Carroll, Aaron Carter, Kyle Cassidy, Jeffrey Copi, Courtney Cowan, Precious Dafney-Burciaga, Tywan Davis, Jaleene Frayer, Nathaniel Gaw, Alayna Hensley, Gabriel Howell, Zach Jenkins, Nicholas Kessler, Hunter Kinsey, Jacob Labeau, Cheyenne Lizyness, Beau Massingill, Bre’Ann McAtee, Johnathan McNamee, Joseph Mininni, Tevin Nickols, Joshua Parson, Harlan Pfefferle, Jayla Phillips, Darian Reed, Arthur Rone, Jared Salliotte, Heaven Scaggs, Alexandria Short, Trent Shotwell, Joe Sivils, Nathaniel Stevens, Daniel Sulfaro, Zoey Turner, Trevor Walls, Kaylee Watters, Jalen Wilkerson, Mariah Wilkes, and Reggena Wortinger, Lindsey Zawacki.
Eight new teachers were hired by the Monroe Public Schools Board of Education Tuesday night. June 9, to succeed instructors who had retired or resigned.
“We are very pleased with the backgrounds and qualifications of the people we have hired to start in the fall,” said Dr. Barry Martin, superintendent, Monroe Public Schools.
Dr. Martin said that typically teachers would be hired later in the summer. However, knowing the number of openings there would be on staff, this year Monroe Public Schools was very aggressive in teacher recruitment and began interviews before the school year concluded.
The newly hired teachers, their assignments, and their college qualifications are:
Kaitlyn Arnholt, math teacher at Monroe High School; bachelor degree, College of Wooster; master degree, University of Michigan; completing second master degree, University of Michigan, in August.
Rachel Dyer, math teacher at Monroe High School; bachelor degree, University of Michigan.
Keith Hanlon, teacher at Waterloo Elementary School; bachelor degree, Western Michigan University; and master degree, DePaul University.
Emily Kressbach, speech and language pathologist; bachelor degree, University of Toledo; master degree, Bowling Green State University.
Carolyn Kruger, elementary music teacher; bachelor degree, Adrian College. A graduate of Monroe High School.
Alleena Meeks, special education teacher; bachelor degree, Eastern Michigan University.
Travis Trombley, English teacher at Monroe High School; bachelor degree from Albion College.
Frances Valdez, elementary music teacher; bachelor degree, Eastern Michigan University.
Several students from Raisinville Elementary School have taken their lunch hours over the last five months as part of the Fifth Grade Cat Club to crochet blankets for cats and kittens in the Monroe County Humane Society shelter on N. Telegraph Rd. “The kids wanted to provide a more comfortable environment for the animals as they patiently wait to be adopted,” said Harvey (Chip) Jackson, Positive School Climate Liaison at Raisinville Elementary. Shown here with some of the blankets they crocheted are (left to right) Justin Gromlich, Ethan Binns and Alek Homan. Mrs. Deanna Homan, a dedicated and very involved parent at Raisinville, guided and mentored the children involved in the five months the Cat Club operated during school. “We truly value the parent involvement in the special projects we have here at Raisinville,” Mr. Jackson said.
The Monroe High School Construction Technology Program under the guidance of Mr. Nate Nestor had an important hand in the transformation of Dena’s Restaurant on S. Dixie Hwy. which was captured on video for the “American Diner Revival” show starring Ty Pennington and Chef Amanda Freitag. The show was taped over a week in May as the work was being done but under somewhat of a cloak of secrecy because it was a network TV show. That cloak will be lifted at 10:30 p.m., this Friday night (June 12) when the show “Family Style Revival” airs at 10:30 p.m. on the Food Network. Make sure you watch – you just might see some of our construction students from Monroe High School. If you want to watch the premiere with friends, the Monroe Knights of Columbus are hosting a viewing party free and open to the public. Doors open at 6 p.m. and any proceeds from the party will benefit Paula’s House. Dena is a strong supporter of Monroe Public Schools and has family attending Manor Elementary School.
Congratulations to recent MHS graduate Kyla Smith who has been chosen to receive the $500 Robert Worden Scholarship awarded annually to a student who attended Raisinville Elementary School. At Monroe High School, Kyla was student council president, a former MEA Academic All-Star and a member of the National Honor Society. She graduated summa cum laude, was a senior scholar and played varsity softball. Last summer she had an internship which involved the United Nations. She plans to enter Eckerd College to study international relations and global affairs.
The popular Girl Power Camp returns this summer but in a new location – Monroe High School. Girl Power Camp, which had been held at Arborwood Elementary School, runs Monday, June 29 through Friday, July 24, from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. daily.
“Having the camp at Monroe High School gives our girls so many advantages,” said Mrs. Sue Sacks who has operated the program for all of the nearly 20 years it has been in existence. “Monroe High has a pool, a stage, a lot of space for our class, it is air-conditioned, and our campers will receive free lunches each day.”
The camp staff includes peer educators, a school social worker, a theater arts specialist and Mrs. Sacks as director.
The camp provides a snack and lunches daily, field trips every Friday and fun while students learn about themselves and others. Among the scheduled activities are swimming, games, arts and crafts, life skills, cooking, theater/plays, a talent show, field trips and more.
The camp is open to all girls going into fifth through the seventh grades. To register or for more information, call 734-265-3538. An entry form must be filled out. They are available at Monroe High School, 901 Herr Rd., and the Monroe Public Schools Administration Building, 1275 N. Macomb St.