Lake Shore Public Schools is joining 537 local and 56 intermediate school districts across Michigan to celebrate January as School Board Recognition Month. Serving as a link between the community and classroom, school board members are elected to establish the policies that provide the framework for public schools, making prudent decisions on behalf of our stakeholders.

“Celebrating School Board Recognition Month is one of the very small ways to express appreciation for all they do,” said Superintendent Dr. DiPonio.

The Board includes President Kurt Ziegler, Vice President Susan DeLong, Secretary Elizabeth Munger, Treasurer Amy Thomas-August, and Trustees Sharon Bartl, Wendy Tobias, and Amber Hildebrand.

Join us to celebrate these extraordinary leaders who work tirelessly for kids at our next board meeting scheduled on Monday, January 23rd at 7:30pm. To learn more about our Board of Education, visit http://lakeshoreschools.org/our_district/board_of_education.

No matter what challenges lie ahead for our district in 2023, our school board members will continue to govern to improve student achievement and provide exceptional education for all our community’s children.

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 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 OPTIMISM, PRUDENCE, and PERSEVERENCE.

People with the character strength of optimism expect the best from the future and work to achieve it.

Seven-year-old Michael Allen exhibits optimism in Mrs. Gaigalas' MoCI class at Rodgers Elementary while having the most common chromosomal condition diagnosed in the United States: Down syndrome.

Down syndrome is a genetic disorder caused by the presence of all or part of a third copy of chromosome 21. It is usually associated with physical growth delays, mild to moderate intellectual disability, and characteristic facial features.

Everyone knows Michael and what he is known by is his smile, his sense of humor, and his good nature. He is loved by all, but perhaps the most from his twin sisters Mackenzie and Madison.

The excitement in their faces as they greet Michael is everything. They go outside together for a moment of play and inside to proudly show photos of him as a baby, walking for the first time at age 2. "There's really nothing Michael cannot do," they chime.

His veteran teacher, Mrs. Gaigalas described him as a "ray of sunshine." She continued, "He enjoys role play, cleaning, coloring, eating, and sports. He has so many strengths, but one that stands out is being a good friend."

When Mackenzie and Madison move on to Kennedy Middle School next year, Michael will not be alone. Because of his high-fives and handshakes, he will continue to be surrounded by people who care about him.

People with the character strength of perseverance complete what they start despite obstacles. They never give up.

In Mrs. Tharme's Advanced Placement Literature class, students read Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, both written by Khaled Hosseini. Perseverance may have been one of the strongest themes in both of these books.

On a weekly basis, students indulge in literature circles in small groups. Junior Charles Roberts explained that the purpose is to discuss these books in depth, arranged in roles such as Historian, Philosopher, Connection Maker, and Psychologist.

Junior Macie Palacios was the Connection Maker this week. She enjoyed researching text-to-the-world connections such as the topic of arranged marriages.

To continue experiencing Afghan culture, students experienced food dishes such as chicken ghallaba, falafel, and grape leaves from La Mia of Clinton Township.

Food fueled them for the summative assignment of writing a Literary Criticism essay. They began by basing their criticism on their favorite role and developing a thesis. Using evidence from the book, they organized and analyzed their thoughts.

Senior Rebekah Reed has enjoyed her assigned novel. She shared, "A Thousand Spendid Suns was interesting, war-ridden, and heartbreakingly emotional. It really gave me perspective of Afghan women and their remarkable resilience.

They never gave up hope.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”

Strong reading skills are a critical component of future success. Our district strives to assist all students with their development of essential reading skills through a process that builds independent readers and effective communicators.

Bonus: The Lake Shore Foundation approved a grant request for books for all 3 elementary libraries!

Looking forward, our upcoming character strengths are Social Intelligence (1/23-1/27) and Forgiveness (1/30-2/3).

We asked our staff to share a wellness wish for the new year: https://tinyurl.com/LSWellnessWishes

Shorians decided to ring in the New Year with the vibes you get from setting and then achieving a lofty goal!

Spanish teacher, Cristina Meldrum, posted: "My goal is to get the girls and I to take Niko for walks again. We used to go all the time but have not gone since it has gotten cold. Walking is very therapeutic to me, and fun for the girls as well."

Mrs. Meldrum has been teaching at Lake Shore High School for 9 years. She is dedicated to her craft and enjoys the routine. This is one of the reasons why developing a walking routine was important to her. But it started off as a goal for her dog Niko first.

She shared this beginning to her story:

"Three days after Christmas in 2020, my Labrador Retriever Cash passed away. That left my other dog Niko, a Siberian Husky, without his pal. I could sense Niko was grieving and that's when I had the idea to walk at least 20 minutes a day."

Two years later, Mrs. Meldrum and her two daughters, Amaryllis and Addaline, who are now 6 and 3 take Niko for walks around their block regularly. They enjoy family time which has led to wonderful conversations and the joy anyone would receive from watching their dog play in the snow.

"Exercise makes you feel good," she shared. And that powerful statement is true for her collegue, too!

Mathematics teacher, Dayle Warren, posted: "In 2023 I would like to get back into racing."

Dayle has always been a runner. She started Cross Country and Track as a Senior in high school, graduated in 2011, and continued this passion at the collegiate level. At Grand Valley State University, she participated in a Triathlon Club and fell in love.

Whether it is road or bike races, Dayle enjoys exercise. Her two proudest accomplishments are completing a marathon in 2016 and running while pregnant with another inside a stroller. Her oldest Adam (2.75) and MiKayla (9 months) enjoy the rides!

We asked Mrs. Warren to share some advice about starting this sport. She said, "Find a good support system with a bunch of people who are encouragers. Keep telling yourself you are doing to do it." Her team of encouragers includes her sister Christina Micale and co-worker Jackie Phillips.

We are excited to continue to follow our favorite staff members to see their progress and cheer for their successes!

Bonus: Is it a wish or a dream? It is reality! The Varsity Cheer team took first place this past weekend at the Roseville Panther Invite and were also the highest scoring team of the day with a 752.02. This score has moved them up the rankings in the state—where they are currently now ranked third in division two!

Our Shorians may not have actual superpowers you're familiar with like flight, telepathy, or time travel. But, they do have the ability to create instant smiles, formed by a simple act of kindness.

National Honor Society students continue to serve as all members were deployed the elementary classrooms of LSPS to serve as mentors, leaders, role models and friends for our youngest learners.

The reciprocal relationship between older students and younger students is remarkable to watch. Thank you to the Lake Shore staff members that make this special project happen!

Bonus: These selfless souls, along with their NJHS friends, made special home deliveries to our School Board members!

Double Bonus: Register for CARE's Parenting Conference on March 4, 2023 to learn from keynote speaker Rosalind Wiseman as she helps parents navigate the social dynamics our children face: https://www.careofsem.com/parenting.../parent-conference/. We love that she's a helper, too!

Science is a way of thinking much more than it is a body of knowledge.

High Touch High Tech delivers quality STEM activities for kids. Their educational and enriching programs for all students at Violet Elementary ignite a child's natural curiosity about science, and help to build problem-solving skills, self-esteem and the confidence to try something new.

High Touch High Tech scientist Rocket Ryan converted Mrs. DiCosmo's classroom into a Living Laboratory, fostering a lifelong love of science with a kinetic and heat energy transformation.

In Mr. Lount's Intro to Physics classroom at Lake Shore High School students built a rollercoaster with marbles using foam pipe insulation and other materials to investigate how much of the gravitational potential energy of a marble at the starting point is converted to the kinetic energy of the marble at various points along the track.

Senior Korie Lewis made a prediction about how the shape of the track affected the marbles ending velocity. She hypothesized, "I think it's going to be fast because of the built up momentum from the corkscrews and spirals."

Mrs. Szymanski's Life Science classes at Kennedy Middle School are dissecting owl pellets. They learned about the human digestive system and are seeing how an owl digests its food and coughs up the remaining fur and bones.

These experiences, facilitated by internal and external experts at all levels, are meaningful and memorable for our students.

The 5th grade classes at Violet Elementary accepted a Cardboard Challenge, graded on the engineering design process and a FlipGrid presentation. They used the engineering design process to plan, create, and test their arcade game.

Charlie Brown-obsessed Amelia Eden created a game called Snoopy's Doghouse. She explained, "Squirrels are invading the doghouse. The goal is to use balls to knock the squirrels down." We will not confirm or deny if any squirrels were injured in this process.

Kellan Wiloch made a traditional Skeeball game because his mom, Sarah, loves to play. Isn't he so thoughtful?

At Lake Shore High School, 75 elementary students visited the following science stations to participate in engaging activities: Instant Flowers, Rollercoaster, Fingerprints, Motion Detector, Physical vs. Chemical Change, Paper Clip Floats, Marker Chromatography, Bubble Cell Membrane Demo, Puzzling Paper and Hilarious Hair, Oobleck Demo, Drops of Water on a Penny, and The Weight of Air.

Principal Mr. Barranca tweeted, "Our 4th graders loved getting to see all of the science demonstrations. What a fun, exciting, and engaging way for the 40 high school students to show off their science prowess!"

Good teams become great ones when the members trust each other enough to support Superintendent Dr. DiPonio as he entertains Mrs. Colling's Kindergarten students at Violet Elementary with his uke.

The ukulele is a member of the fun-and-friendly family of instruments of Portuguese origin and popularized in Hawaii. It is the ultimate travel instrument, anyone can play, and makes a joyful tone.

Music Teacher Kim Rueger-West and her co-worker Bernadette Wischmeyer recently received a grant from the Lake Shore Foundation to secure ukuleles, provided by Ardis Music, for all three elementary buildings and benefit over 500 students.

We appreciate Dr. DiPonio's willingness to share his uke with our elementary friends and recognize his courage to lead as acting Elementary Principal for the day. Overseeing the learning environments, facilitating opportunities to connect with students, participating in meetings, and enforcing disciplinary policies is a short list of tasks performed last week, but we believe one of his favorites was this ukulele lesson, fitting for mastery of benchmarks such as "singing and playing expressively utilizing a broader continuum of dynamics and interpretation."

Bonus: Do you love Art? Music? Writing? Performing? Would you like the opportunity to be inspired by some of the best? The Emily Tims Committee is pleased to offer a scholarship for a trip to the Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp to one of our Shorians.

Their mission to inspire young artists to achieve their potential has not wavered since their first day of camp in 1966. We are pleased to continue that tradition in 2023 and look forward sending one Shorian to camp this summer.

We are applauding Courtney Dmochowski for taking on the role of District K-12 Art Show Coordinator.

In addition, Mrs. Dmochowski currently teaches Art classes at Kennedy Middle School.

We are excited to announce that, after several years of being virtual, the Art Show will return to an in-person format in 2023. Even more thrilling is Business Owner of EOS Cafe and Coffee House's Tony Zarife has graciously offered to host our art during the month of March. We recently met with Manager Hillary Knapp to begin planning this immersive art experience!

Approximately 20 pieces, 100 in total, will be displayed from each building, hand-selected based on exemplary skills, creativity, and innovative ideas including Scholastic award winners!

That's right. Our Lake Shore student artists will be featured inside a popular brick-and-mortar business for an entire month! Founded in 2016, the 30625 Jefferson Ave location prides themselves on high-quality ingredients and customer service. But we think the best part is their community love and humanitarian efforts.

Save the date of March 2023 and come celebrate our student artists at EOS whenever it is convenient for you and your family. Please share your photos using #LSArtAttack and #myLSPS.

We are appreciative of Lake Shore's Macomb Mathematics Science Technology Center connection.

At the MMSTC, Faith Lowry, Bradley Pairgin, Troy Lorenger, Lindsay Jacob, and Carlie Chamberlain, our 5 Lake Shore seniors, delivered a 15-20 minute scientific research presentation this week on a topic of interest from the biology, physics, or chemistry fields.

Carlie Chamberlain from Lake Shore High School and her partner Janellyn Woo from Sterling Heights High School researched The Effect of Heat Protectant Spray on the Yield Stress Before Elongation of Flat-Ironed Blonde and Dark Hair. As you can see in this video clip, Carlie explains their problem statement and hypothesis, important components of any scientific research.

Michelle Chamberlain, mother of Carlie, described her daughter as "an amazing kid." She said, "Carlie puts a lot of hours into her schoolwork while participating in Varsity sports and travel soccer." It is obvious from her work ethic that she is and will continue to be a star.

Because of the caliber of their research, several MMSTC students will present their findings to the community at the "People's Choice" Science Symposium on Tuesday, January 31st at 6pm at the Butcher Community Center.

Lake Shore currently has 21 MMSTC students spanning grades 9-12.

These MMSTC students visited Kennedy Middle School about a month ago to recruit new Butcher kids.

The MMSTC is an advanced science, mathematics and technology center that aims to present students with an accelerated curriculum that is both challenging and engaging.

To learn more, download the following Parent Information.

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.

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

Lake Shore wins first Macomb County boys bowling championship

Read these featured stories highlighting our Varsity Boys Basketball team here, Junior Varsity Girls Basketball team here, and Varsity Bowling team here.

There's still time to register for our Future Shorians Girls Basketball Clinic Series. The Future Shorians Girls Basketball Clinic Series will offer youth basketball skills training provided by the coaching staff of the Lake Shore Girls Varsity Basketball Program. Sessions will be designed to explore the offensive and defensive fundamentals of basketball and will be modified according to the abilities of the participants.

Lake Shore will be heading up a club to teach the competitive sport of an all girls field hockey league.

Congratulations to AOTW Alex Lorenger, member of 8th grade Basketball team at Kennedy Middle School. Coach Billie Wilson shared his contributions with us:

"Alex works on improving himself every practice and every game."

Congratulations to AOTW Adam Rach, member of the Varsity Basketball team at Lake Shore High School. Coach Mike Jackson shared his reason for his nomination with us:

"Adam has hit 7 3 pointers in our first 3 games!"

Congratulations to AOTW Richelle Gattinger, member of the Varsity Cheer team at Lake Shore High School. Coach Sherri Toarmina shared these standout-stats with us:

"Richelle is a strong senior base and tumbler in all three competitive rounds on the varsity cheer team. She is a reliable and versatile athlete and an extremely hard worker. She is dedicated to her sport, her academics as an ECM student and NHS member, and to her work at her part time job. She is incredibly talented in so many areas and we are lucky to have such a great role model in our program!"

Congratulations to AOTW Ryatt Radomski, member of Wrestling team at Lake Shore High School. Coach Hendershot shared his contributions with us:

"Ryatt took 1st at the Warren Lincoln Invite."

Congratulations to AOTW Emma Fries, member of the Varsity Basketball team at Lake Shore High School. Coach Chris Gwozdz shared his reason for her nomination with us:

"Emma's hard work, positive attitude, and team dedication has earned her a starting spot on the basketball team over the past three weeks. she has a unique set of skills that allow her to play both the guard and forward position in basketball. She has been a top 3 rebounder over the past 4 games."

Congratulations to AOTW Julianne Ahearn, member of the Cheer team at Kennedy Middle School. Coach Alyssa Belanger shared these standout-stats with us:

"This season Julianne has shown what it’s like to be able to adapt to new situations and challenges around her. When she first started with us she was a flyer now she is an amazing backspot, bouncing around and Doing whatever she needs to do to help her teammates! She is very genuine and kind to her peers!"

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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
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/myLSPS/
Twitter: @myLSPS