Lake Shore Public Schools hosted a roundtable discussion with Governor Gretchen Whitmer at Rodgers Elementary. In perfect alignment with this week's P2 character focus strength of perspective, the governor actively listened to understand what is important to our schools with the end goal of providing the actionable support needed to ensure an exceptional education in a safe and nurturing environment for all 3,339 students enrolled at Lake Shore Public Schools and 1,300,144 students enrolled in a total of 2,959 schools in 539 school districts in Michigan.

"I'm grateful for Governor Whitmer for giving us the opportunity to speak directly to her," said Superintendent Dr. DiPonio. "Given the resources, I believe there isn't anything educators cannot accomplish. Her continued investment in education is an essential component of us being able to fulfill our mission."

Veteran elementary music teacher Kim Rueger-West made it clear that investment in the arts was important to her. She said, "Incorporated into the arts are all the 21st century skills students need to succeed such as teamwork, cooperation, collaboration, and self-regulation. We have to feed children's souls."

Another focus area was on district wellness initiatives and the discussion centered around its prioritization.

Thank you to the following parents, students, and staff, representatives of all buildings levels and positions, for participating in the roundtable discussion on behalf of Lake Shore Public Schools: Melissa Florek, Lauren Maciejewski, Deb Peacock, Kim Rueger-West, Rebecca Asni, Billie Wilson, John Daly, Jeff Lip, and Dave Warehall.

We would also like to thank Coach Taormina and her cheerleaders, Brad Arnold and his Band students, and Rodgers Elementary students for a warm greeting, Food Service Director Tina Morris for providing refreshments, the LSHS Video Productions team for coverage, and Art students Samantha Dietz, Jamie Owens, and Julian Smith for the whiteboard welcome.

While continually evolving and reviewed annually, in this document you will find a list of recent and current safety measures implemented by Lake Shore Public Schools to provide the safest environment for our students and staff. Below is a small sample of our efforts:

• FBI-led Run, Hide, Fight Active Assailant Training
• Sigma Threat Assessment Training
• Night Lock Door Barricades
• Replacement of Door Locks with rapid locking Thumbbolt Locks
• OK2Say
• District School Resource Officer

• School Security Officers at Each Building
• Enhanced Emergency Alert System

During our 2023 The High School Experience at Lake Shore High School, staff will be available on Thursday, April 27th at 6pm to share information and answer questions about the transition to high school.

In addition, our LSHS teaching staff have made a brief recording to introduce themselves and share their favorite part about Lake Shore Public Schools:

Lake Shore High School

https://flipgrid.com/6d0db95e

Visit Lake Shore Public Schools so you can meet our world-class staff, get a tour of our facilities, and most importantly, experience the Lake Shore difference. Enrollment is open, applications are available, and we are ready for you to become part of the Shorian Nation.

Save the Date: 2023 Kindergarten Roundup

Wednesday, April 19th, 2023 at 6pm

Lake Shore High School Performance Gym

Enrollment and Future Shorian Information

Take your first steps toward graduation with Lake Shore Public Schools during this fun and informative evening filled with all things Kindergarten!

Parents and future Class of 2036 students will meet our amazing teachers, principals, and superintendent, while learning how to prepare for this exciting first year of school.

LSPS offers students full-day comprehensive instruction in core academic areas of English Language Arts, reading, writing, mathematics, science and social studies. Students also receive instruction from specialized teachers from technology, art, music, and physical education.

Enrollment for the 2023-24 school year is open!

Lake Shore Public Schools provides an exceptional education for all 3,339 students in a safe and nurturing environment. Our students are empowered to excel in an evolving global society, supported by the collaborative effort of staff, families, and community.

From preschool through our graduating seniors, Lake Shore students are a part of a strong school system that works hard every day for the benefit of our students. Our guiding principles, Inspiration, Innovation, and Celebration, are woven into the fabric of everything we do.

Enroll as a new resident or schools of choice student for the 2023-24 school year by visiting http://lakeshoreschools.org/enrollment/enroll

Please email Enrollment@lsps.org with any questions.

We are more than a school district. We are a Lake Shore family: https://youtu.be/cnI0-L49tfc

The Lake Shore Public Schools' Board of Education approved a $66.7 million no tax-rate increase bond proposal for the May 3rd, 2022 ballot and it passed!

Lake Shore has a strong legacy of being excellent stewards of the community’s resources. We are committed to provide you with bond updates as we continue to prioritize our students' future.

• Bond Mailers (Coming Soon!)
• Bond Building-Specific Boards (3/2023)
• Bond Updates and Summer Break (2/2023)
• Bond Overview and Schedule
• Bond Updates
• Project List

To learn more about the bond proposal, please visit the Lake Shore Public Schools' website.

Under the guiding principles of our districtwide initiative, the Positivity Project, the #PositivityInAction mindset is our top priority. These past three weeks we focused on the character strengths of PERSPECTIVE and HUMOR.

People with the character strength of perspective appreciate that people see things in different ways. They have the ability to understand view.

Meet the Javenkoski Family.

Ray and Stacy Javenkoski are residents of Eastpointe. They made the decision to place their sons, Caleb and Preston, as Schools of Choice students at Lake Shore Public Schools for several reasons, but the one we will focus on today is family-orientated. Before we share how Violet Elementary has exceeded their expectations, we need to look a little deeper into the history of the Javenkoski’s.

December 14, 2015 was the day Preston, their youngest son, had open heart surgery at only 4 months old. Preston was diagnosed with an alpaca heart, a rare congenital heart defect in which the left coronary artery arises abnormally from the pulmonary artery. He spent 3 months in recovery at Children’s Hospital and forever put family values and a positive outlook on life first for the Javenkoski’s.

It is coming up on the 8 year anniversary of Preston’s surgery and this lively, talkative 2nd grader looks forward to school.

Stacy’s perspective is simple: Celebrate the small wins. It is a win that Mrs. DiCosmo and Mrs. Pav were selected as their 4th grade and 2nd grade teachers. It is a win Maranello, the family Jack Russell dog, is by their side as a source of support. It is a win that Violet participates in the Kids Heart Challenge every year. This year, the boys were ranked 5th and 6th overall raising $1,100 each! It is a win that this small school cares about academics, but also social aspects.

Mrs. Javenkoski wrote, "It is awesome that we get to be a part of all the things that make Violet great like the Mother-Son Night or the Mackinaw trip. Love how the kids' school continues to focus on families as well as academics!” Over the weekend, they attended Violet’s Spring Fair and enjoyed all of the festivities.

Mrs. Javenkoski went on to write, "Mrs. DiCosmo 4th grade teacher at Violet is [fantastic]. My son [Caleb] actually doesn’t want “snow days “ because he is enjoying this year so much and doesn’t want to miss a day of learning! He said Mrs. DiCosmo makes learning so fun and understandable, even math is cool."

The boys shared that their favorite locations in school, in addition to their classrooms, were the media center and playground. It was a tough choice!

People with the character strength of humor like to laugh and bring smiles to other people.

How do basketball players stay cool during a game? They stand near the fans.

Our loyal fans created posters, wore team colors, and shouted in support of their represented school during our March Madness Tournament on Wednesday, March 22nd. The facial expressions, silly, Globetrotter-like moves, and constant laughter made this event fitting for this P2 highlight.

Student-athletes played and coached, sang, danced, and cheered to entertain our guests. The Lake Shore Foundation raised a total of $1,900 and our Athletic Boosters pocketed $1,100 for concessions sold through this teacher and staff basketball competition for a total of $3,000. Lake Shore Foundation’s Chairman, Jack Dick, reminds everyone that this event was designed to bring the Lake Shore family together. The money, used helps students reach their goals of excellence by funding support for important educational activities not provided by the schools, is a bonus!

Congratulations to our undefeated, three-peat Lake Shore High School!

Game 1: Elementary versus KMS/North Lake: KMS/North Lake won with a final score of 26-20.

Game 2: LSHS staff versus LSHS students: LSHS staff won with a final score of 40-36.

Game 3: LSHS staff versus Everyone: LSHS won!

Bonus: Our elementary students recognize that there's a lot of great humor (and information) found at our Book Fairs!

Looking forward, our upcoming character strengths are Fairness (4/10-4/14) and Appreciation of Beauty and Excellence (4/17-4/21).

Our Lake Shore High School students visited American House, formally known as Lakeshore Senior Living, to ask senior citizens for life advice and interview about their adolescence. We’re a fan of this partnership!

Rachel Smith, Life Enrichment Coordinator, collaborated Mrs. Welsh's AP Psychology class to create an intergenerational activity that would benefit everyone. Rachel explained, "These conversations are the best thing for our Seniors. I always enjoy watching them bridge the gap, imparting wisdom from both old and new."

Lake Shore Senior Isabella Philippo was paired with 80-year-old Amy, one of the youngest residents at American House as she proudly reported. Amy's life advice to Isabella was to "do what you love and you can change the world." Isabella understands the importance of finding a passion as she enjoys botany and will be pursing plant science as a postsecondary goal. She explained, "I enjoy taking care of people and plants. Being a positive person has helped me to notice when others are upset and uplift them."

Enjoy these insights from the elderly on the key ingredients for a good life, and get inspired by these interviews.

Bonus: For Valentine’s Day, Mrs. Stuckey's 9th grade students at Lake Shore High School practiced making rhetorical choices for a specific audience by creating cards for these same Seniors from American House. Students rose to the occasion when given an authentic audience, and they loved spreading joy!

Motivational and guest speakers in schools expose students to real world experiences from people who are in unique career fields or life circumstances, and are the link students make between what they learn in the textbook and information shared from an expert.

Mr. Daly organizes a diverse array of guest speakers for his Principles of Leadership class.

Graduates Corbin Alvae, Joseph Ferguson, and Jermaine Chapman have been former guests who shared important messages about the fear of failure, self improvement, and overcoming obstacles, all universal topics.

In the past, the class had the privilege of hearing from Superintendent Dr. DiPonio and County Executive Mark Hackel also share many powerful life lessons. For example, Dr. DiPonio mentioned in 2019 that Mr. Popson, his science teacher and Athletic Director, was a mentor that pushed him to become an educator. Dr. DiPonio has been moved by the idea that life is about the wealth you can bring to others and not the wealth you obtain in your lifetime.

This year, Mr. Popp, former LSHS Dean of Students and Football Coach, spoke about the importance of service to others.

Senior Sofia Nadberezhniy reflected, "I have always been into self care. If it makes you feel good, keep doing it. I enjoyed listening to Mr. Popp and his advice on how to stand up for yourself more, build a better relationship with yourself." In fact, Sofia would like to become an Esthetician.

He narrated the challenges he faced in his personal life and that his purpose is to meet people and help them move forward. He also shared this invaluable nugget about noise.

Bonus: STEAM teacher Jeff West shared his STEAM day he implemented in his building last year at the annual Michigan Association for Computer Users in Learning conference. We are so fortunate to be connected with many great educators who share with others.

We appreciate Violet Elementary's Speciais teachers which include Mrs. Pecararo, Mrs. Rueger-West, and Mrs. Rhadigan and their students for their participation in a creativity challenge called Court of Creativity Contest presented by Jersey's Mike's.

Violet All-Stars are excited to show the Harlem Globetrotters their enthusiasm for basketball with their creative basketball art based on famous artists, their dribbling and trick-shot skills, and a song: https://youtu.be/UX7WEYpbQkY

All students in the school decorated their very own basketball based on the art of a famous artist - ANY artist of their choosing!

Here is what some of the children said about their basketball art inspired by famous artists:

Piper (1st Grade) chose Romero Britto because, “I liked all of the colors that he uses.”

Alexander (5th Grade) also chose Romero Britto, because “it is cool and I like it.”

Caledon (2nd Grade) chose Basquiat because, “I like the style”.

Serenity (Kindergarten) said this about her Yayoi Kusama inspired art: “It is rainbow dotted just like my coat!”

Gianni (3rd Grade) chose Van Gogh because, “I thought his self-portrait looked kinda like the Mona Lisa.”

Serenity (3rd Grade) said this about her Keith Haring inspired art: “I got inspired by the people, so I made some doing movements like jumping and waving.”

Henli (4th Grade) chose a mix of Keith Haring, Basquiat, Van Gogh, Jim Dine, Andy Warhol, Banksy, Robin Mead, and Hokusai. She said, “I chose these artists because we learned about them in art and their art looked unique and interesting. Also, some of the artists have amazing back stories. I also think the artists that I chose are extremely talented and creative with their art.”

Violet Elementary students also sang a song written for the Globetrotters and showed off their dribbling and trick-shot skills. Both of which can be seen in our YouTube video that we made for the occasion.

Violet Elementary students are all so very excited for this opportunity to meet the Globetrotters and would be overjoyed if their dream was to come true!

Kennedy (Kindergarten) wants the Harlem Globetrotters to visit Violet because, “they are fun to watch. Our school would love to see them do cool tricks. We would be so happy if they came to Violet!”

Kamryn (4th Grade) wants the Harlem Globetrotters to visit Violet because, “Violet is such a kind school. We are safe, trustworthy, and responsible, we have fun assemblies, and kids here love and play basketball all the time at recess!”

Violet hopes to see you soon, Globetrotters!

We continue to admire how helpful these 5th graders are to their Kindergarten friends at Masonic Heights Elementary.

We watch Mr. Osterland lead by example and 5th graders from Mrs. Crippen's class assist with putting on skates, knee pads, and helmets.

It was controlled chaos as every 6-year-old needed help at the same time. We also watched Blake Burton race over to one friend to help buckle a helmet while Grace Miller encouraged another who seemed a bit timid.

Grace loves helping. She said, "This is so fun! I help my little brother, who is in preschool, get his backpack and lunch ready in the morning. I remember this age. No one has balance and everyone wants to be cool. It takes time to learn how-to skate." She was surprised that it took 40 minutes to get everyone ready during the first few attempts, but it has improved.

Once equipped, helpers weren't finished. They were busy teaching their friends how-to skate, building confidence, and ensuring safety measures were followed.

Thank you, Shorians, for demonstrating your care for others.

As Johnathan Rand, aka Christopher Knight (both pseudonyms of Christopher Tod Wright) walked the halls of Violet Elementary, many students recognized him immediately because of his funky sunglasses.

The author spoke to an assembly at the school for about an hour and entertained students about the importance of reading. Known for the “American Chillers” and “Michigan Chillers” series with titles like “Mayhem on Mackinac Island” and “Terror Strikes Traverse City,” along with other children’s books and adult novels, Wright told the students that reading can lead them on so many adventures.

The assembly was part of Reading Month celebrations that included guest readers and teacher swaps for read-alouds. The credit goes to Mrs. Fowler for visiting Johnathan Rand at a Meet and Greet earlier in the year and placing a very lucky piece of paper into a drawing to win this free assembly for her school!

Wright/Knight/Rand lives in northern lower Michigan and remains ‘hands-on’ at Chillermania with the assistance of his wife (Mrs. Chillers), a staff of shipping/warehouse dwarves, elves, and two adopted shelter dogs: Brutus and Brody.

Johnathan Rand will be at the MISD on April 28-30 for Author Quest Writing Camps and seats are going fast! Sign up today using this link.

Bonus: Did you know our preschool and elementary students will be rewarded with USPBL tickets and bookmarks from Bubba's 33 for reading? Now that's a homerun!

Acting as a springboard into March. author and illustrator Ruth McNally Barshaw visited to share her passion for sketching and journaling.

In addition to her step-by-step drawing tutorials, she was able to spread her positive wisdom. She said, "Brains are super elastic. You can decide what you're good at." She went on, "Kids have genius ideas that should be written down and then acted upon."

She also shared strategies for spelling such as drawing into letters can assist with spelling.

School Librarian Mrs. Kraus met Ruth at a conference and knew she would be a fantastic guest for our students.

Mrs. Kraus also scheduled local author Kelly DiPucchio to visit K-2nd grade. She complimented, "She was absolutely amazing and had a great presentation on writing and how to keep at it, accept rejection and keep trying! She read us her book "Gaston" and it was such a cute book about dogs, friendship, and accepting ourselves and celebrating who we are."

We are appreciative of everyone who designed the programming and flawlessly executed it during March is Reading Month which included Mrs. Gough and Mrs. Bailey who took some of their 7th graders to each of the elementary schools to read to K-3rd grade classes.

Congratulations to our March Smoothie Surprise Positivity Project Honorees:

Lake Shore Early Childhood Center

1. Cora Cartio - Friendship

Masonic Heights Elementary

1. Paige Davis - Integrity

2. Adrien Holmes - Leadership

3. Josephina Babecki - Optimism

Rodgers Elementary

1. Deb Wilson - Bravery

2. Maci Clark - Gratitude

3. Eli Urbas - Kindness

Violet Elementary

1. Calvin Dickens - Open Mindedness

2. Carson Glappa - Cooperation

3. Camden Harrell - Love

Kennedy Middle School

1. Shannon Morrell - Bravery

2. Bobby Milstead - Kindness

3. Danny Wildermuth - Courage

4. Maya Chapman - Love

Lake Shore High School

1. DeAngela Barks - Kindness
2. Adysen Fluary - Positivity
3. Ben Lamb - Kindness
4. Troy Lorenger - Leadership
5. Ally Mathews - Kindness
6. Chris Lambert - Helpful

North Lake High School

1. Riley Dadswell - Perseverance

Thank you, building principals, for your sweet deliveries! Because of Store Owner Tony Zarife's generosity from EOS Cafe and Coffee House, these are FREE smoothies!

We have built a new online home for our athletic department. Our goal is to bring our athletic programs to life by sharing schedules, scores, and social media while ensuring our athletes get the promotion they deserve. Visit the Shorian Sports website for 24/7/365 access to the information you have always wanted and follow along with our sports action.

Spring sports rosters and schedules are being added and updated to our website. Headshots will be taken after Spring Break. Spring Athletes of the Week are also being celebrated after Spring Break. Please keep checking back as we are constantly adding new information to the website.

We have partnered with Kroger to help fund our athletics. Please read this letter from our Athletic Coordinator Rich Bowers.

Discover Field Hockey is a fun 90-minute introductory experience for boys and girls who are new to the sport. Join us on Saturday, April 22nd from 2-3:30pm at Lake Shore High School to learn from trained coaches!

First grader Layla Foster at Rodgers Elementary competed at the MYWAY State Wrestling Tournament in Kalamazoo and secured an outstanding 3rd place finish!

Thank you to everyone who attended our Shorian Taste Fest, a fundraiser for our Lake Shore Football team! Read about its success in this post written by Stacie Keenan.

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Lake Shore Public Schools will provide an exceptional education for all 3,339 students in a safe and nurturing environment.

Our guiding principles, Inspiration, Innovation, Celebration, are woven into the fabric of everything we do and will be the focus of every update. Expect an eNews email biweekly update as a reliable way to communicate with our stakeholders.

Email: social@lsps.org
Website: http://lakeshoreschools.org
Location: 28850 Harper Avenue, St. Clair Shores, MI 48081
Phone: (586) 285-8481
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Twitter: @myLSPS