School Pointes
Dec. 2, 2022
Third graders look to Richard's past
Richard third graders, from left, Holden Puma, Alexis Vanderpool, Gwen Surma, Ruby Watkins, Anastasia Paolucci and Emmett Legault pore over primary sources as part of their history unit.
Bringing history to life
To kick off their social studies unit on history, third graders in Paige Davey’s class at Richard Elementary gained a greater understanding of what it means to be an historian by learning the difference between primary and secondary sources.
“Since Richard has so much history, I pulled the school files from 1930 to 1959 and had the students look through the newspaper articles, pictures, and writing samples,” Paige explained. “We discussed what we could infer about school from then and noted similarities and differences between school then and school now.”
Paige added that they were fortunate their building engineer, George Flora, found old student belongings behind a locker and added them to a display case on the first floor. To wrap up the activity, the young historians looked at what a student would bring to school years ago.
“The kids loved looking at old photos and trying to figure out which room was which,” said Paige, who credits the idea to Ean Williams, who did a similar project last year with his third and fourth grade magnet students.
The students responded to the primary source activity with written reflections.
Students reflected on the activity later in the week, responding to the prompts: What is one thing you learned during our Richard primary source investigation? and What was your favorite thing about the Richard primary source investigation?
“I learned that all they had for a playground was a swing set,” wrote Alexis Vanderpool. “My favorite primary source was that you got to see what Richard was like a long time ago.”
“I learned how history isn’t that they just make stuff again it’s that they save it,” wrote Antonella Long. “My favorite thing about the Richard primary source is learning new things.”
“I learned how different things can be over time,” wrote Annie McKenzie. “My favorite part about the Richard primary investigation was to see all those amazing things they used to bring to school.”
Rainier Goddard was particularly impressed “that all the stuff was way more different and it all looked cool.”
Defer robotics team heads to state championship!
Taking home first place for their innovation project are Magma Lynx team members, from left, Cormac Nordstrom, George Keelean and Leo Keagle.
Defer’s robotics team had an opportunity to demonstrate what they learned about hydroelectric power at the FIRST LEGO League Upper Elementary qualifying event at the Michigan Science Center on Nov. 19.
Magma Lynx, a rookie team made up of fourth graders Leo Keagle, George Keelean and Cormac Nordstrom, was one of six teams (out of 20) to move on to the state championships at Troy Athens High School on Sunday, Dec. 18. The team also received first place for the Innovation Project Award, in which they worked collaboratively to answer the question: What is the future of hydroelectric power?
The team qualified for states based on their overall score, which included core values, the robot game, in which each team is challenged to solve missions by coding a spike prime hub and building a robot out of LEGOs, and an innovation project.
At the qualifying event, the team members presented their solution to judges and fielded questions about their research.
For their innovation project, Leo, George and Cormac researched and came up with solutions to some of the most common problems, created prototypes, and talked to experts in the field to modify their prototypes based on the experts’ suggestions.
They began by looking at “some of the big problems in the world,” according to their project summary. Through their research, they discovered a problem with hydroelectric dams holding all the water back, causing the water level to rise and habitat around the river to be destroyed as a result.
This, in turn, “causes the animals that live in that habitat to die because they have no home,” they wrote. “The other problem is that because all the water is held back, there is no flow so algae can form which causes fish to get sick so they cannot give birth, which causes a decrease in population.”
Their innovative idea was to eliminate dams and replace them with funnels. According to the project summary, “The funnel is better because it still speeds up the water like the dam, but doesn’t cause water to rise as much.”
They determined that dams block the flow of the river, while water flows freely in a funnel. They also hypothesized that a funnel results in less rise of the water level than a dam.
Experts with whom they consulted included a naval architect and renewable energy specialist, and an urban planner and environmental policy specialist.
The former provided the feedback that the highspeed water shouldn’t exit too fast. Their improvement to their project was to add a bell mouth to the end of the funnel to merge the flow better.
The latter expert recommended that the edge of the funnel not be too close to the shoreline. The young engineers moved the edge of the funnel 30 feet from the shoreline.
The team, coached by parents Melissa and Adam Keagle, with third grade teacher Lindsay Dorosz and parent Charlie Nordstrom serving as mentors, started meeting once a week after school in early October.
As a coach, Melissa Keagle particularly enjoys the fact that the students learn that "doing something 'wrong' isn't failure. Trying a plan is just the first step in the process. You try, make corrections, and try again. Sometimes things go right for a long time then some small variable changes (friction of the wheels on the mat or something else simple) and it isn't failure; it is a chance to problem solve and make a new plan."
GPFPE grant brings the magic of hope
Anthony Grupido performs a magic trick on stage at Pierce Middle School with the help of sixth grader Julia Ward. Inset photo below: Teachers Rebecca Churray and Jason Senska were selected by students to assist Grupido on stage. Photos courtesy of Cherished Candids by Erin
GPPSS middle school students across the district were the beneficiaries of a special SEED grant from the Grosse Pointe Foundation for Public Education (GPFPE).
SEED stands for social emotional encouragement and development, and teachers can apply for these special grants at any time. Brownell Principal Rodger Hunwick, Parcells Principal Ken Milch and Pierce Principal Sara Dirkse jointly submitted a grant proposal for an assembly at each middle school tied to advisory themes chosen by staff and students and presented by Anthony Grupido, who uses magic to engage students and share his message about his personal struggles with mental health during his teenage years.
Grupido, who has performed magic and comedy all over the world at corporate events, festivals, conferences, trade shows and schools, entertained students during assemblies at Brownell, Parcells and, most recently, Pierce. The purpose of his Magic of Hope assembly is to empower young people and give them tools for good emotional and mental health.
GPFPE board member Elizabeth Connors was in the audience during Pierce's assembly on Nov. 9. One of the many ways Grupido tied magic into his message, she said, was when he enlisted help on stage from teachers -- selected by students in the audience -- to wrap him in a straitjacket and chains.
"He went on to explain that this is how he felt in high school -- powerless and stuck," Elizabeth explained. "He then goes on to talk about how asking for help at school, he was able to learn to use the tools available to him."
How he used these tools to free himself after the teachers wrapped him so tightly is something you will need to ask a GPPSS middle schooler, she jokes.
Beyond the tricks and magic, however, what Elizabeth found most impressive -- and which affirmed the importance of funding the grant -- was the way Grupido modified his language depending on whether he was speaking to a group of fifth and sixth graders or seventh and eighth graders.
"I thought that the kids really connected with his message because he wasn't just throwing a lot of statistics at them," she added. "He made it fun and kept them engaged. Any time you can mask education in fun and kids don't know they're learning, it's a win."
Pierce Principal Sara Dirkse shared some of the students' takeaways from the presentation -- that it is normal to feel both positive and negative emotions; that Pierce provides tools to support students in learning and accessing positive coping skills; and that it is important to set boundaries on social media by controlling who can connect with you.
A final point shared was: "Words matter, be kind not only to others but yourself also."
"Students enjoyed the positive and fun atmosphere of the Magic of Hope presentation," Sara said. "The magic tricks performed engaged students and had them laughing, oohing and ahhing throughout. The messages shared in between the magic were things that students could relate to, and because the students were comfortable and engaged in the presentation, these messages were heard and well received."
"We are very thankful to the GPFPE for helping bring this opportunity to our students," she added.
The Board of Education gratefully accepted a total of $172,761 in grants awarded by the GPFPE to the Grosse Pointe Public School System during its 2022 Fall Cycle.
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