Summer break is a plus for students' bodies but a minus for their minds, according to research from Johns Hopkins University. Enter Donna Lasinski, an Ann Arbor entrepreneur and the brains behind ThinkStretch, a summer learning program for public and private elementary school students.
Chelsea's Robotics team is going places and is coming back from one big competition, too. Excerpt:The Chelsea High School Robotics team recently traveled to the FIRST National Robotics Championship in Atlanta. After a day of practice and two days of competing, they finished with a 5-2 record and placed 17th out of 87 teams in their division and were the 10th best team from Michigan.While in Atlanta, they were also able to tour the Coca-Cola Museum and the Georgia Aquarium.After their return from the championship, the team held a banquet thanking all the donors and mentors who supported them throughout the 2008-2009 season.Outgoing seniors Cody Robbins, Jake Kitchens and Nick Worthington were given special recognition for their years of service and contributions to the team. The banquet was held at the Chelsea Proving Grounds and graciously hosted by the Chrysler Corp.Read the rest of the story here.
It appears that Allen Creek Preschool is growing almost as fast as the youngsters it watches over.The Ann Arbor-based school is in the midst of a two-phase expansion. The school bought an adjacent property that allowed it to double its acreage, bring another building into its fold, and provide ample space to add onto its first building."It will allow us to offer more programs to a wider variety of families," says Kerry Kelly Novick, co-founder and teacher of Allen Creek Preschool.The school opened in 1994 and built its current 3,000-square-foot home in 1996. Its three classrooms, office space and great hall handle 40-50 kids daily. It sits on about an acre of land at 2350 Miller Ave. "And of course we have outgrown that," Novick says.The first phase of the expansion included buying another acre of adjacent land and the small house that sits on it. The $300,000 project is turning the small house into space for its 0-3 age group and community outreach. Work is expected to wrap it up in January. The second phase, expected to begin next year or in 2011, will add another 2,000 square feet to the school's original building.Source: Kerry Kelly Novick, co-founder and teacher of Allen Creek PreschoolWriter: Jon Zemke
Eastern Michigan University is buying the old Fletcher Elementary School and plans to turn it into the university's new home for the Autism Collaborative Center and Children’s Institute.EMU is purchasing the circa-1963 building for $2.2 million. The Autism Center and Children's Institute are expected to move into the 40,000-square-foot building this fall. The Autism Center provides services for 40 families in the Bright Horizons building located at St. Joseph Mercy Hospital in Ann Arbor. This new space will allow the center to reach 2,000 people within the first couple years. The building will be used for research, interventions and community outreach. Services will be provided on a sliding scale.EMU's Children’s Institute provides early childhood education for the children of university students, faculty, staff and surrounding communities. It serves 150 children ages six and below at the Rackham Building on EMU's main campus Source: Eastern Michigan UniversityWriter: Jon Zemke
Ann Arbor Public Schools is remaking the city's oldest high school this summer. Pioneer High School is in the midst of a $12.5 million renovation that promises to remake the school district's biggest high school.Among the work that is being done is the turning the East Wing of the school into the Recreation and Education space. Gone will be eight portable classrooms on the Seventh Street side of the school and what was one the old East Wing classrooms.The school district is also expanding the cafeteria, decentralizing administration and department offices and renovating or building new Math Department office, ceramic room, pool, banquent home and choir room Ann Arbor Pioneer opened in the early 1950s on a huge parcel of land bordered by Seventh Street, Stadium Boulevard, Main Street and Scio Church Street. It has been renovated and added on a number of times since then. It has been 20 years since the last major renovation. The opening of Skyline High School allowed the school district to redevelop Pioneer High School.Source: Liz Margolis, director of communications for Ann Arbor Public SchoolsWriter: Jon Zemke
Work on turning Luna Lake into an eco asset didn't end last fall. That was just the beginning of transforming the small pond area in Ypsilanti's Prospect Park.Luna Lake is the local name for a watered down bog in the middle of the park, on the corner of Grove and Prospect streets. The pond and water fountain in the middle of it has been around for decades near Adams Elementary School, steadily falling further into disrepair, creating a stagnant swamp.A local group of volunteers began dredging out that bog last fall, creating a rain garden. This spring they plan to replant some River Birch trees and other plants in it. They will also be mulching the area so it friendlier to users of the park and for local students to study."It will be a visually attractive garden and ecological asset," says Rachel Blistein, Ypsilanti resident and organizer of the Luna Lake project.A rain garden uses plants such as perennials, shrubs and trees to soak up the rainwater that pools there. It also filters that water and helps reduce storm-water runoff problems.The volunteers are planning to have a couple of work days this summer, including during Ypsi Pride Day this Saturday and another on June 13. The group of volunteers are also working to raise money for the work."Even a $10 donation will add up quickly," Blistein says.For information on the project, contact Blistein at rachel@veris-design.com or (734) 485-3990.
Adaptive reuse can go a lot of different ways, turning things like old factories into office space and churches into lofts. But transforming an old church into a school?That's what's happening on the southwest side of Ypsilanti, where Midwest Creative Investments (MCI) is turning Transfiguration Catholic Church into the new home of Victory Academy. The funny thing is the adaptive reuse of the building promises to be easier than it sounds."I think when they built it, they meant it to be a school," says Mohamad Issa, co-owner of Midwest Creative Investments and director of Global Education Excellence, which manages charter schools.Victory Academy is a charter school that was founded in 2006 with about 100 students. Today it teaches about 125 students between Kindergarten and 5th Grade. It counts kids who are bilingual in languages like Arabic and Spanish as part of its student body.MCI sees the old church, which it paid $1.2 million for, as a way to accommodate its long-term growth needs of educating up to 250 students. The church is about 25,000 square feet on 10 acres on East Forest next to Willow Run High School. The building has eight classroom and a cafeteria, among other amenities. "It's a lot of green land," Issa says. "It's a beautiful facility."Source: Mohamad Issa, co-owner of Midwest Creative Investments and director of Global Education ExcellenceWriter: Jon Zemke
It's all Chinese to few Ann Arbor students, and that's the point.Excerpt:Ann Arbor businessman Chris Lin did his best to pump up his audience of elementary school students one recent afternoon."Who likes ice cream?" he asked. About 30 children clamored for attention as he pronounced the word. "Bing ji ling," they repeated back.The appearance at Ann Arbor's Angell Elementary School was just one of many Lin been making in the Detroit metro area as he works to build momentum for his business, Mandy and Pandy LLC, based on books he's written to help teach children Chinese.Earlier this month, Mandy and Pandy LLC earned a deal with a Chinese TV network to produce an animated show based on the books that teach English to Chinese children. The show could start teaching simple English words to Chinese children as early as fall 2010, Lin said.Read the rest of the story here.
An Ann Arbor institution is reaching beyond Michigan's borders to bring some of the best and brightest minds to the southeast corner of the state.Saint Joseph Mercy Health System is setting up a residency program with the University of Toledo's College of Medicine. Those 150 residents (doctors in training) will be based mostly out of 10 programs in the health system's St. Mary Mercy Hospital in Livonia. This rounds out the available hospitals Saint Joseph Mercy has for residency programs. It already has programs set up with the University of Michigan, Michigan State University and Wayne State University at its other hospitals, including its main Ann Arbor campus."We already have residency programs at St. Joe's in Livingston, Ann Arbor and Oakland," says Lauren Stokes, spokeswoman for Saint Joseph Mercy Health System. "Residents have the opportunity to rotate throughout the Health System."Which could mean more of the best and brightest young minds working, playing and living in the Ann Arbor area. These residents could be in areas such as obstetrics and gynecology, psychiatry, general surgery, emergency medicine, otolaryngology, ophthalmology, podiatry and dermatology. The residency program is expected to be in place by 2010.Source: Lauren Stokes, spokeswoman for Saint Joseph Mercy Health SystemWriter: Jon Zemke
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