East China School District News
Every Child, Every Day!
Week of November 18, 2019
- Nov 25-26 Elementary Parent Teacher Conferences
- Nov 25 Board of Education meeting 6 p.m.
- Nov 27-29 Thanksgiving Break
- Dec 6-7 Mariner Drama presents The Three Musketeers 7 p.m.
- Dec 11 Early Release (2 hours)
- Dec 16 Board of Education meeting 6 p.m.
- Dec 23 - Jan 3 Christmas Recess
Pine River Elementary News
Cub Scouts Donate Gaga Ball Pit
Cub Scout Pack #261 organized and helped with the construction of a gaga ball pit at Pine River! Gaga ball is a lot like dodgeball, except that the ball stays below the knee level. We are all very grateful for the sponsors who supported this project including Mr. Dick Eifert who built the walls, the Eifert family who donated lumber, Timbers Tree Service, Inc. who donated the wood chips, Andy's Lawn & Landscape, LLC who donated the sand, LumberJack Building Centers who donated wood, and Preferred Construction who donated wood. Thank you also to Mrs. Natalie Eifert who spearheaded the project and Mr. Mike Oberski who taught all of the Pioneers the rules of gaga ball. We are enjoying this new addition to our playground!
Pine River Holiday Food Drive
The second grade is hosting Pine River's annual Holiday Food Drive. This year, they will be collecting food in November instead of December to help stock our local food pantries in time for Thanksgiving. Food collection boxes can be found outside of each classroom through November 22nd. All of the food collected will be divided between the St. Clair Ecumenical Food Pantry and Helping Hands in Marine City.
LINKS
Pine River Elementary is excited to continue “The LINK Program” this school year. The LINK Program is a peer to peer support program that pairs general education students with students with special needs throughout their school day. Peer to peer support is the number one research based intervention in working with students with special needs to support social/ emotional and academic growth. Overall, this program supports ALL students during their school day. We currently have over 70 second and third grade volunteers. Second grade students eat lunch and recess with Mrs. LaParl’s class while third grade students come into Mrs. LaParl’s classroom during morning calendar and ELA centers. Mrs. LaParl’s class also has three very dependable fourth grade safeties who come to school early every morning and help set the room up, escort students off the bus and to the room, and help out at the end of the day during dismissal.
Mrs. VanderMeulen’s class and over thirty 4th grade students also benefit from their involvement with the LINK Program. Fourth grade students are paired in a variety of ways with students in Mrs. VanderMeulen’s classroom from the very beginning of the day at LatchKey to the very end of the day when assigned Safety Patrols walk with students out to the bus, and other opportunities throughout the day. Fourth graders have successfully teamed up with Mrs. VanderMeulen’s class to promote a school-wide Hat Day Fundraiser and deliver over $350 to the DJ at the RoofSit for the St. Clair County Child Abuse and Neglect Council. They have teamed up to improve reading fluency and sight word recognition and to practice social skills and communication skills during a morning literacy time. They have also joined up during lunch and recess times. They have enjoyed some mad games of Gaga ball together.
This program was such a huge success last year. We are all looking forward to a wonderful year of friendships built on experiences from working and interacting together. The LINKS Program is not a BIG thing- it’s a million little things.
Gratitude Tree
Pine River implemented the Positivity Project this year. Each week, there are daily lessons on one of 24 character strengths. The character strength focus for the end of November is gratitude, so Pine River students and staff are making a school gratitude tree. Written on each leaf is a person, place, or thing for which the individual is thankful. Each day the tree becomes fuller with leaves, as do our hearts with gratitude!
Pine River Staff Spotlight
Mike Oberski, P.E. Teacher at Pine River Elementary and St. Clair Middle School
For 34 years, Mike Oberski has shared his knowledge, skills, and love for fitness with his students.
He began his career after graduating from Eastern Michigan University with a degree in Physical Education. Upon graduation, Mike subbed in different public and Catholic schools in the thumb area and worked on the family dairy farm. Then, he married his wife, Judy, and they moved to St. Clair County where Mike took a job at St. Mary’s Catholic School in St. Clair. There, he taught English to middle school students and later taught computers and physical education.
Mike was finally hired by the East China School District and has since taught at all of its elementary schools, as well as Holy Cross and St. Mary's as a shared teacher. He also served as a coach for 40 years in the areas of track, basketball, baseball, soccer, and football. His best accomplishment was coaching a soccer team from Port Huron and attending a National Tournament that was held at West Point, New York. This year is Mike's first year at St. Clair Middle School where he teachers P.E. to all of the fifth graders. He spends the rest of his time teaching P.E. to K-4 students at his "home" of Pine River.
Mike feels that his favorite part of his job is seeing students smile as they walk into school and into his classroom. He also likes to see students’ faces light up when for the first time they accomplish a physical feat that they thought they could never do. He enjoys raising money for the American Heart Association by having an annual Kids Heart Challenge fundraiser at Pine River. Last year, the students raised over $4,000.00 for the organization.
About 20 years ago, Mike was one of the first district employees to begin a recycling program. He started taking paper to the recycling center, sometimes loading his truck full of paper and boxes that were busting out of the seams. He now enjoys seeing those recycle bins sitting at all ECSD schools, which involves a lot less work!
Mike loves the outdoors. He grows a huge garden, does a lot of canning, and makes different types of things like sauerkraut and horseradish. He also enjoys hunting when he has the time. In addition, Mike enjoys fixing anything that is broken or needs to be repaired. "Thank you to Google!" he says.
Mike and his wife Judy have three wonderful children: Kim, Nick, and Katrina. They are all married and have successful jobs. They have also given Mike and his wife 4 grandchildren, with number 5 on the way in April. Mike is especially proud that all of his children were valedictorians at Port Huron High School and have doctorate and masters degrees.
Looking forward to the future, Mike is especially excited to spend time with his grand children!
Belle River 5th Grade Students Enjoy Field Trip
Congratulations TEC Officers!
Mariner Drama Presents...
Blue Water College Access Network
Please mark your calendars!
All proceeds go to support our teachers with their classroom needs. To sign up please visit https://runsignup.com/Race/MI/SaintClair/Chiliheart5K
Contact Information
Email: info@ecsd.us
Website: www.ecsd.us
Location: 1585 Meisner Road, East China, MI, USA
Phone: 810-676-1000
Facebook: facebook.com/EastChinaSchools