'Did You Know?' January Update for Hartland Consolidated Schools

By Hartland Consolidated Schools

Hartland High School

Hartland High School teachers are involved in an imbedded professional development opportunity known as “instructional rounds." Teachers go in and observe each other teaching a lesson and then spend time reflecting on that lesson. This allows staff to learn from the outstanding teachers we have in the building while also providing our teachers insights from the feedback given by their peers.

The HHS DECA program just set a new record with 112 medals at the district competition. Many of our students will now compete at the state-level competition in Grand Rapids.  If you were to take all of the medals earned from the schools competing at the district competition, they would not equal the 112 medals that the HHS team earned. Congratulations to our DECA program for continued excellence. 

LEGACY

Legacy Alternative High School expects to have more than 50 students graduating this spring – the largest graduating class in the program’s 30-year history.  Students from 12 other school districts in addition to Hartland make up the graduating class. 

Hartland Middle School

Thirty-five Hartland Middle School students qualified for the HMS National Geographic Geography Bee before our holiday break.  Congratulations to Maison DesChamps who took third place and Andrew Parks who came in second.  Special congratulations to Dani Toth who placed first and will go on to take the State of Michigan write-in test.  If she finishes in the top 100 students, Dani will be invited to participate in the State of Michigan National Geographic Geography Bee.  Thank you to HMS teacher Gerald Bliznik who organizes this competition every year.

Farms Intermediate School

Janet Chodos, 6 grade science and language arts teacher, volunteers her time to organize and monitor the Farms Green Team.  This group of students promotes school-wide recycling.  Twice a month, classrooms collect paper and plastic bottles for recycling. Also, on a regular basis, batteries, cell phones, and print cartridges are collected and taken for recycling.  In April, Farms celebrates Earth Day by promoting “waste-free lunches." Thanks to Mrs. Chodos and her Green Team for all that you do for Farms.

Creekside Elementary School

Creekside students are participating in a school-wide contest to select six official student editors for author Kristy Short’s new children’s book, “Zanda’s House of Garbage”.  Students will be selected after submitting an essay on why they want to be an editor.  After selection, they will work directly with Mrs. Short editing her book chapter by chapter.  Their contributing effort will be recognized in the acknowledgment page of the book.  Creekside students are excited to be part of this authentic learning experience. 

Lakes Elementary School

For two years in a row, Lakes Elementary has earned the highest Evergreen Status as a Michigan Green School with over 20 points accumulated for participating in a variety of “green” activities.  We have a staff committee as well as a “Student Green Club” that plan and facilitate many of these projects including:  adoption of endangered animals, recycling and reusing a variety of materials, sharing “green tips” with parents, performing energy audits at home, and watching a live feed on the computer of Eagles in their natural habitat as they hatch eggs and the baby eaglets emerge and grow… to list just a few.  Our recycled bottle cap “Lakes Kids Care” mural was recently hung in our school hallway.  We are very proud of our students and staff for their commitment to being GREEN! 

Round Elementary School

Round Elementary School participates in a lot of charity work and fundraising each school year.  This year our students have played a big role in exhibiting the importance of giving.  Round raised over $500 for the Red Cross to help families in need due to Super-Storm Sandy. The idea to do this came from students and became a school-wide function. Over the holidays the Round School family collected 1000 pounds of food and items for Gleaners to help those less fortunate.  For a small school this was a great accomplishment.  In the fall, students raised over $13,000 for the PTO during the Fall Fun Run. Also the Round School staff adopted three families over the holidays to give them a great holiday experience.  In the past Round has created care packages for our troops overseas and raised money for the American Heart Association.

Village Elementary School

Over the holidays – Thanksgiving and Christmas – the families at Village Elementary School provided more than a dozen families with food and gifts.  This is a tradition that began eleven years ago in the spirit of giving and caring for others.  Since that time, we have expanded and now support these families, LACASA, The Connection, Hartland Optimists Club, and the Humane Society.  The generosity and genuine concern for others is truly remarkable and illustrates the family values associated with our school and community.