Dear Parents,
Last Thursday I had the great pleasure of honoring Mark Leahy as this year’s Howell Public Schools Teacher of the Year. Mr. Leahy is our high school construction trades instructor. Each year, his students build a house from the ground up. Mr. Leahy teaches his students how to hang drywall, paint, lay tile and run electrical wiring among many other things. But what really makes Mr. Leahy stand out is his dedication to his students. He connects with each student on a person level, taking an interest in their lives, ensuring that they succeed in his class and their other classes, and helping them plan for life after Howell High School. He is a mentor and counselor to his students. We are lucky to have a teacher like Mr. Leahy working with our students every day. You can read more about Mr. Leahy at https://goo.gl/DTzhiF.
We are now accepting nominations for our 2016-2017 Support and Service Person of the Year. We have several employee groups who support our schools and students, so we divided the groups into two categories. Support Person of the Year honors our office personnel, computer technicians and non-union support, and Service Person of the Year honors our paraprofessionals, general education aides, hall monitors, food service employees, and maintenance workers. The deadline to submit nominations is Friday, November 11 at 4 p.m. You can submit nominations at https://goo.gl/HGKP1q.
The district’s Facilities Utilization continues to review and analyze various options to better utilize our district’s facilities. While the committee is still working on a recommendation that will be presented to the Board of Education, I expect this work to be done in the coming weeks. As such, I have scheduled a community forum on Monday, November 14 at 5 p.m. in the Parker Middle School commons. During this forum, I will share the details of the recommendation that will be made to the Board of Education on Monday, November 28.
I am always amazed by the generosity and caring nature of our students at all levels. During the month of October, two Challenger Elementary students took the initiative to bring a sock drive to their school to help provide new, warm socks to those in need this winter. On Friday, November 11, the high school leadership class will hold its annual Veterans Day Program, and on November 8, District residents will be asked to vote for four positions on the Board of Education. I have shared more about each of these stories below.
Socktober Comes to Challenger Elementary
Myla Limbers and Isabella Felix, two fifth grade students at Challenger Elementary took the initiative to bring a national movement called Socktober to their school. The goal of Socktober is to collect two million pairs of new socks for those in need during October. The students presented their idea to bring the program to Challenger to their principal, and with his approval set out to promote the sock drive to their peers. To learn more about their efforts, please visit https://goo.gl/SDB5gj.
Howell High School Plans Annual Veterans Day Program
Each year the Howell High School Leadership Class plans a special Veterans Day program to honor those who have served our country. This year’s program will be held on Friday, November 11 in the Rod Bushey Performing Arts Center. The program is open to all community members and will begin at 9:30 a.m. Veterans and their families are invited to attend a light breakfast which will begin at 8:30 a.m. in the lobby of the performing arts center. For more information about this program, please visit https://goo.gl/ukZBYN.
Board of Education Election
Serving on a Board of Education is a time consuming and often thankless job. Each day, I am thankful for those who take the time to serve our community in this role. On November 8, residents of Howell Public Schools will select four individuals to serve on our board. To help you make an informed decision, I am sharing a link to candidate profiles compiled by the Livingston Daily Press & Argus. You can find the profiles at https://goo.gl/T0JWTa.