February 17, 2010

Dear Parent/Guardian:

I would like to express my gratitude to the following students who participated in the Yellow Ribbon Suicide Prevention presentation by portraying the scenarios of different students’ lives: Kachine Bean, Travis Blake, Tom Creg, Raymond Gant, Michelle Smithey and Rebekah Wissink.  The presentation was a complete success.  Students were extremely attentive and willing to become gatekeepers (a person that you can talk to about suicide and problems students might have).

Each year our Middle School and High School Band performs for the District Competition.  This year the High School Band will perform on Tuesday, March 2 at 12:45 p.m. at Cadillac High School.  Students will return to CCA in plenty of time to attend the JV & V Boys’ Basketball game scheduled for 7:30 p.m.  The Middle School Band will perform on Friday, March 5 at

1:00 p.m.  I am sure that both groups will represent CCA very well.  This is a wonderful opportunity for our Band students to compete with other schools in the area.

Due to the snow day that we had on Wednesday, February 10, we will reschedule the NHS Red Cross Blood Drive for Monday, March 29 from 10:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.  This date does not conflict with any other events.  This Blood Drive will be our third and final for the year and our last chance at receiving a $1000 scholarship.  If you are available, please help us acquire the needed pints of blood to enable us to receive the scholarship.

This year Project Outreach, a leadership conference for students and administrators, will be held at the MOISD on Wednesday, February 17.  Thirty students and Mr. Gerould, Mr. Sabo, Mr. Saporito and Mr. Eads will represent CCA.  The keynote speaker will be Jeremy Mishler of Ferris State University.  The students will have time to speak to the administrators and teachers about issues concerning CCA.  This is an opportunity to plan for the upcoming school year.

Snowcoming Spirit Week is the week of February 16-20.  The halls will be decorated with different themes and each day the students have chosen something different to take place.  A Pep Assembly with our Band will take place on Friday, February 19 at 11:00 a.m. and the culminating

activity will be the Snowcoming Dance on Saturday, February 20 from 7:00-11:00 p.m., which will be held in the cafeteria at CCA.  One activity that is different this year is that we are holding dance classes prior to the Snowcoming Dance.  I was quite delighted that the dance classes have not caused consternation with the student body.

Last month forty-eight CCA science students enjoyed a field trip to the Detroit Science Center.  Students visited the all-new touring exhibition of The Accidental Mummies of Guanajuato in the United States for the first time.  The exhibit featured 36 mummies, adults as well as children, on loan from the Museo de las Momias de Guanajuato in Mexico.  This amazing exhibit combined science, history and cultural anthropology.  Students were immersed in the world of a Mexican city over 100 years ago where deceased residents naturally mummified in their crypts.

Only 1 in 100 bodies buried in Guanajuato experiences this rare and mysterious process of natural mummification.  Unlike bodies that were “artificially” mummified through an embalming and wrapping process, accidental mummies form only in certain climates and conditions.

Paired with the mummy exhibit was an IMAX film, Mummies: Secrets of the Pharaohs.  Students were introduced to the mummification process of Egyptian mummies and its role in ancient society along with efforts by modern scientists to tap valuable information from these uniquely preserved ancient remains.

The science field trip was highly educational, meeting multiple objectives found in the National Science Education Standards.  A truly once-in-a-lifetime trip!

The Middle School teachers are planning the spring field trip for 7^th and 8^th grade students.  They will be going to Avalanche Bay indoor water park on Friday, May 14^th.  The estimated departure time is 7:00 a.m. and returning back to the school by 6:00 p.m.

The 2^nd trimester exams will take place on March 3-5.

The middle school exams will take place as follows:

Wednesday, March 3:    1^st hour students will take their 3^rd hour exam

Thursday, March 4:       2^nd hour students will take their 2^nd hour exam

Friday, March 5:            Students will take their 1^st hour exam at the regular class time and then continue to their regularly scheduled classes. 

High School exams will take place as follows:

Wednesday, March 3:    3^rd hour exam

Thursday, March 4:       4^th & 5^th hour exams

Friday, March 5:            1^st & 2^nd hour exams

The following week after exams will be an extremely important week for our juniors, the ACT/MME testing will be given.  Many colleges base their admissions and scholarship dollars on grades and the students’ ACT score.  Desks will be set up in the gymnasium for juniors to take this important test.  If you have questions concerning this test, please contact Mr. Gerould.  Also this week the sophomore students will be taking the PLAN test, which is a test that indicates how well they will do on the ACT test.

Your High School student will soon be receiving next year’s Course Selection Sheets and the Middle School students will be receiving the Enrichment Selection Forms, along with a Curriculum Guide.  Please read this information and return the completed forms to the Guidance office as soon as possible.

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Ms. Diekema’s Leadership class is very busy.  They are volunteering and assisting with the senior citizens at Altercare.   They are also organizing a food drive for Project Starburst.  If you have any non-perishable items that you wish to contribute to the needy, please drop them off in the middle school/high school office.

Each month two students are selected from Mrs. Rehkopf’s special education caseload.  The students are voted for based on exemplary behavior and academic progress and effort.  Mr. Gerould and Mrs. Rehkopf treat the students to lunch at The Rock Café located at Ferris State University.  This is an effort to continue encouraging students to put forth their best both academically and socially.  The following students won for the month of January:  Chris Kundered and Sara Weller. 

On February 5 and 7, CCA middle school students participated in a Math Count competition at FSU.  Our students won three trophies for this event and we are extremely proud of them.  The trophies won are: 1^st place Small School Division, 3^rd place Overall Team, and Most Improved Team.  The moderator for Math Count is Ms. Heilman and I would like to thank her for all her hard work and for encouraging students that Math does count.

Please review the enclosed high school Student Guide for Education Development Planning.  It is extremely important that we realize that the curriculum at CCA is rigorous, coherent, authentic, and engaging.

Middle School and High School athletics are going very well.  We have had few students who have not met the eligibility requirements.  Our Varsity Boys’ Basketball team is in third place in the West Michigan D League.  Our Varsity Girls’ Basketball team is in first place in the West Michigan D League.  CCA has strong Middle School Girls’ Basketball and Boys’ Basketball teams.  The Boys’ Basketball team for 8^th grade was undefeated this year.  The 7th grade team is 2 and 6 and the 8^th grade team is 7 and 2.  We are the only school in the West Michigan D League that enables both our 7^th and 8^th grade students to participate in basketball.

Congratulations to Ben Hankes on the Boys’ Varsity Bowling team for earning a 2^nd place overall standing at the Conference Singles. 

Best Regards,

Tom Saporito