Dear Parents,

Thanksgiving is a time of year for reflection on why we are grateful and thankful. As the leader of Howell Public Schools, I am thankful for many things this year. First, I am thankful for your trust and confidence as you allow us the privilege to educate and work with your children each day. I am incredibly thankful for our outstanding teachers, support staff, and administrators who work tirelessly to create a safe, challenging, and fun learning environment where all students feel welcome and can find success. Last, but certainly not least, I am thankful for our Board of Education who is dedicated to helping shape the future of Howell Public Schools and ensuring that our district is the best that it can be.

Yesterday, I had the honor and privilege to recognize two of our employees. Martha Mendoza, an English language learner tutor at Howell High School, was named the 2016-2017 Howell Public Schools Service Person of the Year and Karen Socia, the Southeast Elementary office clerk, was named the 2016-2017 Support Person of the Year. Each day Mrs. Mendoza and Mrs. Socia go above and beyond the call of duty to support our students and families. Their dedication shows through in all that they do. You can read more about Mrs. Mendoza at https://goo.gl/ez4Y4R and more about Mrs. Socia at https://goo.gl/IiVLu3.

The elementary school and middle school FIRST Robotics seasons are off to a great start for our teams. Recently, Hutchings Elementary third grade students celebrated their heritage with a Diversity Feast. The Howell High School Leadership Classes are launching a new effort to support those in need. I have shared more on each of these below.

I hope that each of you has an enjoyable and relaxing Thanksgiving filled with family and friends.

Robotics Teams Qualify for State Finals

This past weekend, two of our elementary FIRST Lego League teams and one of our middle school FIRST Tech Challenge teams qualified for their state finals. The Southeast Elementary Mustache Monsters and the Highlander Robotics Brick Bosses both will compete at the First Lego League finals next month. The Highlander Robotics Team KAOS will compete in the FIRST Tech Challenge finals next month. To read more about our robotics teams, please visit https://goo.gl/vuSP5E.

Hutchings Elementary Fourth Grade Celebrate Their Heritage

Recently, the Hutchings Elementary fourth grade classes celebrated the diverse heritage of their classmates during the grade level’s annual Diversity Feast. The feast is the culminating activity of a research project during which each student researches their heritage. For the feast, each student prepared a dish that represented their heritage to share with their classmates. To learn more about this project, please visit https://goo.gl/87JOiz.

Howell High School Leadership Classes Launch New Effort to Help Those in Need

Howell High School has a long tradition of giving back to the community. This year, the school’s Leadership classes have launched a new effort to help those in need. The students will hold a “Stuff a Bus” canned food drive during the Fantasy of Lights Festivities in Downtown Howell this Friday. The students will be on “Christmas Alley” collecting donations of canned goods to support Gleaners Food Bank. To learn how you can help, please visit https://goo.gl/IkohV2.