School Pointes

Pictured during a special visit are, from left, Superintendent Jon Dean, Board of Education Treasurer Sean Cotton, North Principal Kate Murray, Nancy Cotton, artist Shaina McCoy, South Principal Moussa Hamka, and Director of Secondary Instruction Dan Hartley.

Students from Grosse Pointe North and Grosse Pointe South High Schools enjoyed a visit on Thursday morning from special guest Shaina McCoy, a Minneapolis-based painter known for her richly textured oil paintings featuring playful, joyous everyday moments in family life.

The morning began with a presentation in North’s media center attended by both North and South students. Later, during a tour of South’s art facilities and informal meetings with students in photography, ceramics and art and design classes, Ms. McCoy revealed that the talk was her first public speaking engagement.

Ms. McCoy’s career is currently on the rise, as she has had solo exhibitions in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Brussels, Portugal and, most recently, New York City. Her show, The Gaze, opened on May 4 at A Hug from the Art World, where it will be on exhibit through June 10.

North Principal Kate Murray told the students during her introduction to the presentation, “You are at this pivotal moment in her career when this shooting star is standing here in front of you.”

Murray also thanked Sean and Nancy Cotton for bringing the artist to Grosse Pointe and introducing her artwork to students and staff. Ms. McCoy’s painting, “Girls 2019,” was on display at South during Black History Month from the Cottons' private collection, and was front and center during Ms. McCoy’s presentation.

“This is all possible because of Mr. and Mrs. Cotton,” Dr. Murray said. “They have been watching figurative artists for about five years and saw her work about two years ago. It’s because of their generosity that this painting is here today and she is here today.”

Ms. McCoy shared with the students a journey that began when she was a child. By high school, she found her pathway in the art world.

She credits her family for believing in her "big dreams."

“My family always saw me and supported me as an artistic child who was always crafting or drawing,” she recalled. “They knew that made me the happiest. I was given countless art kits that allowed me to explore over the years – pastels, markers, pencils.”

An aunt, a Harvard Law School graduate, also set her up for success, encouraging her to apply to the Perpich Center for Arts Education, a tuition-free, public residential high school for students in 11th and 12th grades.

As part of the application process, Shaina created her first painting.

“It was a big moment for me,” she said. “I didn’t know how to paint, but I knew how to draw.”

She stayed up all night painting a black and white butterfly flying over tiger lilies. Her diligence paid off and she was accepted.

“I really don’t know what life path I would have taken if I had not been to that school and received encouragement and praise from my studio art teachers,” she said.

She is also grateful for the support of her father, who took her to Michael’s to buy her first paint brushes, some of which remain in her brush collection today.

“He let me know that I could have anything in this world as long as I worked for it,” she said.

However, she shared there was a time she resented her father for only providing her with low quality paint brushes and acrylic paints; she realized her lack of access to expensive brushes, paper and oil paints had put her at a disadvantage. She said she now realizes and appreciates he gave her what he could and exactly what she needed.

It was a guest studio art teacher, Megan Rye, who, during Shaina’s senior year, gave her access to oil paint -- the medium she uses to this day.

“This woman changed my life,” Shaina said.

Megan Rye presented the class with a challenge – to paint 30 5” x 6” paintings in three weeks for an annual benefit she and her mother, Karen Rye, co-founded called Art 4 Shelter.

For her subjects, Shaina chose family photographs her grandfather had taken, turning generations of photos into an artistic collaboration she has continued to this day.

Each week, the students taped 10 of their miniature paintings to the wall for a class critique.

“This was a heart and mind opening experience,” Shaina recalled. “We all gave each other kind words; we never tore each other apart for our creations.”

When her teacher began Shaina’s critique, she said her “heart was beating so fast. I spoke about my art that had only eyes and nothing else. I attempted to paint features; I tried and I tried and I couldn’t do it.”

Megan Rye let her know that she didn’t have to paint facial features for it to be artwork.

“She told me it was beautiful and nothing she had ever seen before.”

While at the time Shaina said she didn’t believe her and cried, her mentor had given her the words she needed at that moment to carry on.

“Someone I looked up to was giving me confidence in something I thought was faulty and imperfect,” she said.

Later, during the Art 4 Shelter event, Megan Rye surprised Shaina with the news that all of her pieces had sold, each tiny painting giving one houseless guest one night of shelter, food and necessities.

“I was really shocked,” Shaina admitted. “All of these tiny pieces of artwork sold? I didn’t think it was art at all. Again, I cried, but tears of happiness this time, because it meant that I was doing something right.”

Up until that moment, Shaina had denied herself the title of an artist.

Ms. McCoy left the students with one final piece of encouragement: “Everything you need is already inside you.”

Pictured are Director of Instructional Design and Technology Chris Stanley and instructional coaches, from left, Emily Rennpage, Julie Bourke, Jenna Roebuck, Lauren Nixon, Shelley Garland, Theresa Comilla and Angela Whateley.

The district’s instructional coaches created a mission statement last summer to lay the groundwork for what lay ahead: The mission of instructional coaches is to partner in confidence with teachers to analyze current reality, set goals and provide non-evaluative support for teachers to promote student success.

Last week, they conducted a two-day intensive coaching lab to further carry this mission into practice, this time partnering in confidence with each other. After working with over 100 teachers throughout the district during this first year, the coaches took two days out of their coaching schedule to focus on working together to hone their craft.

Taking what they have learned over the course of the year, the coaches are applying these practices with one another using the same structure they would do when leading a teacher through the process. And they did this in classrooms at Ferry Elementary to make the experience as authentic as possible.

“We are coupling that with some learning around math essentials and then thinking, as a team, about how we can support teachers across the district while also strengthening our own coaching practices,” explained Julie Bourke, who in addition to serving as an instructional coach, leads the K-4 literacy coaching program as a coach on special assignment.

Key to the process was having direct access to students, so the group is grateful to the teachers at Ferry for opening up their classroom doors to them.

“This process has given us an opportunity to fine tune our coaching skills so that we can best support teachers through what they see as things that they’d like to include or change within their own classrooms,” Emily Rennpage said.

For Jenna Roebuck, the experience allows them to “deepen our learning and fine-tune our coaching skills live in action with each other. This is a great two days to get constructive feedback.”

“An added benefit is this is bringing a little transparency to what coaching looks like for teachers,” said Angela Whateley. “The incredible teachers that have offered their kids up to us have been really vulnerable in letting us borrow their kids, letting us borrow their classrooms, and then they get to see what coaching would look like, which they might not necessarily have the opportunity to do, in a low-stakes situation.”

Part of that vulnerability carried over into the coaches partnering together in a session, recording each other, and then going over the video to provide feedback.

“One thing we’re aware of is how uncomfortable it feels to watch yourself on camera,” said Chris Stanley, Director of Instructional Design and Technology. “Vulnerability has been a really big moment here. We always want to encourage teachers to film themselves too because that is one of the best ways to collect data on identifying what practice or strategy you’d like to focus on in the future. For our coaches to be able to feel what that is like and to be open to receiving feedback – we know that is a key component to coaching so they can be empathetic when talking to a teacher.”

After observing the lab in action, Chris spoke to the importance of the work that was happening in front of him.

“They are working with teachers to identify a student-focused goal, they hone in on a specific strategy, and then they work to improve that goal, all with the idea of improving student outcomes,” he said. “It’s an amazing thing to have a coach come in and partner with teachers to be able to improve on the craft.”

This opportunity to bring the coaches together for this learning lab would not have been possible without the “amazing staff” at Ferry and Principal Jodie Randazzo’s support, Chris added.

"Jodie Randazzo has always been a big proponent of instructional coaching," he said.

Grosse Pointe Public School System music teacher and band director Tom Torrento was selected as a quarterfinalist for the 2024 Music Educator Award presented by the Recording Academy and GRAMMY Museum. The recipient, finalists and semi-finalists will receive cash honorariums, with generous support and resources provided by Ford Motor Company Fund. Tom has been with the district for five years and teaches band at North High School, Parcells Middle School and Brownell Middle School. He also directs the north-end marching, jazz and pep bands.

"I am honored to be selected amongst so many incredible music educators, and appreciate all the incredible teachers who I had the honor of learning from over the course of my musical career, as well as the ones I collaborate with every day,” Tom said of the recognition. “This honor is just as much theirs as it is mine.”

Tom has some impressive credentials outside of his teaching and directing. He is a member of the Michigan Department of Education Diversity and Equity in the Educator Workforce Advisory Group, a founding member and chairperson of the MSBOA - Task Force for Equity and Inclusion, member of Region 9 (Macomb, Oakland and Wayne Counties) of the MDE Michigan Teacher Leadership Advisory Council, and serves as Treasurer on the Executive Board of the MSBOA - District XVl.

A total of 212 music teachers from 197 cities have been selected as quarterfinalists. In total, over 2,000 initial nominations were submitted. In addition to the quarterfinalists, 123 legacy applicants from 2023 will also be eligible to win the award this year.

Congratulations to Noah Zogas, orchestra director at Grosse Pointe North High School, on being named Michigan School Band & Orchestra Association (MSBOA) District XVI Orchestra Director of the Year. Noah, who has been with the district for nine years, is the orchestra director for North High School and teaches strings at Parcells Middle School.

The announcement was made at the District XVI executive board spring meeting on May 8. Noah is now eligible for consideration for Band Director of the Year at the state level. Only three band and three orchestra directors are selected for this consideration among all 16 districts.

Noah will be recognized for this achievement at the MSBOA banquet later this month.

Defer first graders with their Pierce buddies, left to right, Elizabeth Brennan and Mary Banfield; James Ho and Andrew Holloway; siblings Journey and Justin Burrus; and Carli Barber and Charleigh Miller.

Seventh and eighth grade students in art class with Jane Plieth at Pierce Middle School – paired with a first grader from Defer Elementary – had a challenge: draw an animal helper to solve a first-grade problem. The older students created their illustrations in pen and ink and the first graders made their own version of the animal. The students met to share their stories and present the finished drawings.

Examples of problem-solving animals include a snake who scares away nightmares, a turtle who helps other turtles who are anxious about making friends, an octopus with enough arms to help children clean their rooms, a mouse that teaches children to tie their shoes with a better method than bunny ears, a cheetah that helps kids eat fewer Cheetos, a raccoon that’s a great organizer – and more!

Clockwise from upper left: Artwork by Charleigh Miller (shoe-tying mouse); Nefeli Dionysopoulos (raccoon organizer); Andrew Holloway (bee who is afraid of other bees until he sees himself in a mirror); Mary Banfield (sea turtle who learns how to make friends).

A photograph by Grosse Pointe North High School junior Ian Duvernay was chosen as the winner of the MI-13 Congressional Art Competition. Ian received a letter from the office of Congressman Shri Thanedar (MI-13) congratulating him for his passion and hard work.

The piece, titled "Self Control," will be displayed in the U.S. Capitol building, and Ian is invited to join a reception with the winners from the other Congressional Districts held in Washington, D.C. Ian will receive two round-trip tickets so he and a guest may attend the reception.

Ian created the winning photograph in Photography II class with Michael Lamb.

For more student work, visit the North Art Show. This year the North Spring Art Show will be formally open to the school and public on Thursday, May 18th and Friday, May 19th. The art show will take place in the Lobby of the Performing Arts Center at Grosse Pointe North. The art show will be open and accessible 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. on both days.

Grosse Pointe North's Peer to Peer students have been working in collaboration with The Family Center to organize a great suicide prevention and mental health fair and walk on Sunday, May 21 from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. This is a family friendly event with lawn games and activities for kids. Bring the family and come join us!

Check out this week's Transition Trender and read about on-the-job training for our students with special needs and how they work on independent living skills during community based instruction outings. This issue's Family Resources Spotlight focuses on summer community resources. Pictured here, the transition team worked with Morningside staff to beautify the planters outside the administration building on Thursday, adding perennials and mulch and then watering. On Tuesday, the team that works with our central office staff also addressed and stamped postcards to all new leases and closed sales within GPPSS. Click the link above to learn more about job sites and skill development.

Check out past issues on the district website. Story ideas and photos are welcome and encouraged. Email info@gpschools.org.