Dear parents,

Last week Howell High School held its annual Senior Survivor Fundraiser. I was amazed at the way this event brought our high school and community together to rally behind a great cause. The senior class set this year’s fundraising goal at $50,000 for Stiggy’s Dogs. Stiggy’s Dogs is a local nonprofit that trains service dogs for veterans. It was founded in honor of Howell High School alumnus Benjamin (Doc Stiggy) Castiglione, who gave his life while serving in the armed forces in Afghanistan. Stiggy’s Dogs was chosen as the beneficiary of this year’s Senior Survivor because 2016 would have marked Castiglione’s 10-year high school reunion. I am very proud to share that our students exceeded their goal and raised more than $56,000 to support Stiggy’s Dogs.

Today marks the end of Teacher Appreciation Week. I am so grateful for the outstanding team of educators that we have here in Howell. Each day our teachers go above and beyond to meet the needs of their students. They provide a caring environment and engage each student in learning that is both challenging and fun. They are what makes Howell Public Schools a great place to learn.

While the end of the school year may be approaching, our students and teachers are showing no signs of slowing down. Two of our high school manufacturing and engineering students recently advanced to a state level competition. On Wednesday, we held the annual Howell Public Schools Fifth Grade Spelling Bee and on Thursday some of our high school Link Crew members visited Parker Middle School to help introduce their eighth-grade students to the high school. You can learn more about each of these stories below.

Howell High School Students Advance to State Level Mites Competition
 Logan Huff and Austin Rhodes, students in Howell High School’s manufacturing and engineering program, have advanced to the 88th Annual Michigan Industrial and Technology Education Society (MITES) state student project competition. Both students earned first place prizes in their category at the MITES Region 8 student project competition, earning them a spot at the state competition. To learn more about their projects and the MITES competition, please visit http://goo.gl/tWHMIh.

Howell High School Link Crew Members Visit Parker Middle School
Recently, Parker Middle School eighth-grade students learned all about high school from members of the Howell High School Link Crew. Link Crew members visited Parker to share their experiences at Howell High School and answer questions that the eighth graders had about high school. The goal of this was to help ease any worries the eighth-grade students have as they prepare to transition to high school. To read more about this, please visit http://goo.gl/R79nI0.

Hutchings Elementary Student Wins Fifth Grade Spelling Bee

The annual Howell Public Schools Fifth Grade Spelling Bee was held on Wednesday, May 4. Each Howell elementary school sent the top three spellers from its school Fifth Grade Spelling Bee to the event. After more than 20 rounds, Haley Matta was named this year’s winner. To learn more about the Fifth Grade Spelling Bee, please visit http://goo.gl/sAuUOK.