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Lake Orion Community Schools Inspired by the artist Chuck Close, 8th grader, Fee C. created her own patterned grid design. November/December 2011 Bi-Monthly Publication Featuring art work by the students of Mrs. Kropog at Waldon Middle School

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Lake Orion Community Schools Dragon News Nov/Dec 2011

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Page 1: Dragon News

LakeOrionCom

munitySchools

Inspired by the artist Chuck Close, 8th grader, Fee C. created her own patterned grid design.

November/December 2011

Bi-Monthly Publication

Featuring art work by the students of

Mrs. Kropog at Waldon Middle School

Page 2: Dragon News

Message from our Superintendent

Dear Parents and Community,

I am very pleased to present the first edition of Lake Orion Community Schools Dragon News! Our schools have so many wonderful events and accomplishments that we decided to compile them into one publication for the community. Although you will still receive building/department newsletters, in the Dragon News you will see art work, pictures and accomplishments of all the wonderful students throughout the district. I hope you enjoy the Dragon News!

Marion Ginopolis Superintendent

Board of Educa on Updates District Strategic Plan

At the November 14 Workshop, Board members reviewed the current District Strategic Plan. Because some of the previously identified initiatives have been completed, the Board is updating and making revisions and additions to the future direction of the district. The vision and mission statement have been clarified as follows:

Lake Orion Community Schools Vision Educating our students for the challenges of tomorrow

Lake Orion Community Schools Mission Statement Providing exemplary education for all learners

Strategic areas and Goals have been revised and the Board will continue to review and finalize these. Once the Board approves the Goals, specific objectives and action plans will be developed to chart the course of the District. The areas identified by the Board are indicated below:

Strategic Area: Student Achievement Goal: Foster academic excellence through a 21st Century learning environment that challenges and inspires all students

Strategic Area: Finance Goal: Ensure financial resources are adequate to accomplish our Vision and Mission

Strategic Area: Operations Goal: Create and maintain physical learning environments to meet curriculum and demographic needs

Strategic Area: Human Resources Goal: Implement a system to ensure high quality staff and continuous development of staff capacity

Strategic Area: Communications Goal: Foster two-way, mutually beneficial communication with District's stakeholders

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Most recent bullying statistics reveal that bullying is a crime that is not going away anytime soon. There are about 160,000 children that miss school everyday out of fear of being bullied. One in seven students in grades kindergarten through 12th grade is either a bully or has been a victim of bullying. Sometimes a teen or child who has been bullied eventually becomes the bully as a way to retaliate. In fact, revenge for bullying is one of the strongest motivations for

OLWEUS BULLYING

PREVENTION PROGRAM

GOING DISTRICT‐WIDE

school shootings, according to recent bullying statistics. A reported 61 percent of students said they believe students shoot others at school because they have been victims of physical violence at home or at school. This is a true indicator that bullying can occur in all forms by other students, children, teens as well as adults. We as a school district and community have the responsibility of keeping our children and young adults safe. Lake Orion Community Schools is committed to implementing the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program district wide. Currently, Oakview Middle School, Lake Orion High School, and Pine Tree Elementary have or are in the process of implementing the program. In the next two years, we hope to have all buildings using the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program.

The Olweus program goals are to reduce and prevent bullying problems among school children and to improve peer relations at school. It is important to note that it is not a program aimed at the bullies in the school or even just at the bullies and victims. It is a school wide program that is implemented at the school level, the classroom level, through individual students, and in the community.

The program has been found to reduce bullying among children, improve the social climate of classrooms, and reduce related antisocial behaviors, such as vandalism and truancy.

For further information go to http://www.clemson.edu/olweus

Lake Orion Community Schools has partnered with the Lake Orion Education Foundation (LOEF) to fund this program.

The main cost of the program involves having 3—5 certified trainers ($4,200 per trainer) instructional materials (approximately $1,000 per building), and an annual student survey ($1 per student). If you would like to commit to this cause by volunteering and/or making a monetary donation please contact Heidi Kast, Assistant Superintendent of Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment at: [email protected] or by calling her at 248-693-5400.

Jaylen T. ‐ 7th Grade Mackenzie O. ‐ 8th Grade

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From the Office of Business and Finance

The district's Business, Food Service, Facilities & Operations, and Transportation Departments continue their transitions. The cost sharing agreements with Clarkston Community Schools for the Director of Operations and Food Service Director positions are fully implemented and functioning as expected. After being vacant for a period of time, the Manager of Facilities & Energy position is now in the process of being filled. The Transportation department leadership and operational review has been underway for several weeks now with an expecta-tion of completion soon.

The Central Administration building now has complete wireless access and has recently been recognized as an "Energy Star" compliant facility.

The district has achieved compliance with the State of Michigan "Best Practices" legislation thereby earning the $100 per pupil one-time funding that is available. Discussion of the criteria for use of these funds has included projects that address operational efficiency, revenue enhancement, and health & safety issues.

The district has issued a Request For Proposal (RFP) for the identification, selection and implementation process of a new finance, payroll, and human resources enterprise wide system. Vendor bid opportunities were opened in late October. Vendor interviews and site visits have been scheduled. Project completion is planned for January 2013.

John Fitzgerald Assistant Superintendent of Business & Finance

From the Office of Human Resources

The Human Resources Offices looks forward with great enthusiasm to continuing the growth and enhancement of our service role within Lake Orion Community Schools. Our current involvements and top priorities for the next year are:

*Working collaboratively with employee groups on the fair resolution of all labor agreements during these fiscally challenging times.

*Implementing and educating staff on a myriad of changes in the school legal environment which will alter the manner in which employees are evaluated, the delivery of health insurance benefits, tenure law and the collective bargaining process itself;

*Working closely with the business office in re-examining the HR and Payroll work flow system with the goal of greater efficiency and effectiveness of both divisions;

*Re-examination of HR Office systems in the area of applicant tracking and hiring and the development of a first class recruitment program that ensures the continued success of Lake Orion Community Schools' students in the years ahead.

*Considering other technology enhances that could improve the efficiency and effectiveness of our service to all clients while conserving district resources.

There is much to do but I find myself fortunate in the opportunity to help lead a talented and enthusiastic HR staff that is highly motivated to move the Human Resources office toward best practice. It will be an exciting year and I am pleased to be a part of that process.

Larry Lobert Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources

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Congratula ons Jon Gray

Each year, The Michigan Alliance for Environmental & Outdoor Education (MAEOE) takes the time to acknowledge and celebrate individuals

who have made outstanding achievements in environmental or outdoor education within Michigan. This year, Jon Gray, Waldon 8th grade science teacher, received the Julian Smith, MAEOE Teacher of the Year Award. Congratulations, Mr. Gray!!

World’s Largest Swimming Lesson

The Lake Orion Natatorium participated on June 10, 2011 with the World’s Largest swimming Lesson. 57 kids from the Lake Orion community and the high school physical educa-tion classes were part of a group of 500 facilities around the world who made an attempt at breaking the Guinness World Record for the largest swimming lesson. The number of participants were well over 4,000.

Don’t forget Friday Night Family Splash Bash!

The 2nd Friday of every month

You can pay cash at the door $3.00 children (12 & under) $4.00 for adults.

Splash Bash Dates:12/16/11, 1/13/12, 2/10/12

The hours are 5:30 pm – 8:30 pm

Opera on School Bell The Assistance League of Southeastern Michigan invited Lake Orion students to participate in Operation School Bell. This organization runs a resale shop all year and uses the money raised to purchase items for students in need. The items in-clude new clothes, winter coats, socks, underclothing, hygiene items, books and a gift card for a pair of shoes. The organiza-tion is run by volunteers who were able to service 100 Lake Orion students this year. For many families who have been hit by the rough economy, this is a way to give them a nice start to the school year.

Carpenter’s On the Border Pancake Breakfast

Carpenter’s pancake breakfast and silent auction was a huge success. Over $3,000.00 was raised and will be used for tech-nology in the classrooms. Auctioned items included: Movie Night Basket, MSU Basket, U of M Basket, Ice Cream Basket, Chocolate Lover Basket, Game Night Basket and more.

Aaron B. ‐ 7th Grade

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Annual Food Drives

Schools throughout the district have been busy collecting food in boxes or cans for their annual food drive. The donation of non-perishable food will be given to Orion/Oxford FISH for distribution.

Think Link

Think Link is a partnership developed in 2006 between Lake Orion Schools and the Orion Township Public Library. While more information is available at http://orion.lib.mi.us/orionthinklink, Think Link provides teachers, media specialists, and students with library materials and databases in a proactive way. From live homework help, Encyclopedia Mythica, to edu-cational enrichment theme kits, Think Link is an amazingly comprehensive resource for all LOCS students, families, and teachers. Lori Fox is our new Think Link liaison providing the physical link to get the tangible materials the library offers into the hands of our educators.

PowerPath—Opening the Door to Success!

This year the adult education program is incorporating PowerPath interven-tion process to help students accom-modate learning differences and create SMARTER plans. Many students have had problems in school previously but didn’t know what to do to become

successful learners, so they dropped out. PowerPath is a tool to screen for visual stress syndrome, attention challenges, and vision and hearing functions. Students also learn how the brain functions. From the screening process the student gets a per-sonalized individual report that gives them an analysis of the screening results and recommended adaptations and strategies. Students are empowered to create their own learning plan and set goals for themselves. Selected adaptations and strategies will make learning and work easier and more efficient so that they will become a successful learner and worker. Claire W. ‐ 6th Grade

Anthony O. ‐ 6th Grade

Darian C. ‐ 7th Grade

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Tumblebooks

Students in kindergarten and first grade have been introduced to TumbleBooks while visiting the school Media Center. TumbleBooks is an online library of automated talking picture books. Included are games and puzzles that the children love. There is also a Read-Along section which features sentence highlighting as the story is being narrated. The oral interpreta-tions of the books allow students to hear good readers with expression. This is indeed a kid friendly site and one that they can easily navigate independently. This program offers much, much more. Take a few minutes to check it out! http://www.tumblebooks.com/library/asp/home_tumblebooks.asp

Na onal Merit Scholarship Semi‐Finalists

The National Merit® Scholarship Program is an academic competition for recognition and scholarships that began in 1955. High school students enter the National Merit Program

by taking the Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test (PSAT/NMSQT®)–a test which serves as

an initial screen of more than 1.5 million entrants each year– and by meeting published program entry/participation require-ments.

Congratulations to the following students who qualified as a Semi-Finalist in the 2012 National Merit Scholarship Program:

Joshua Ahlborn

Zachary Davis

Kaitlin Kogut

Adrian Lupusoru

There are approximately 16,000 high school seniors who

have qualified as Semi-Finalists. They will have an opportunity to continue in the competition for some 8,400 National Merit Scholarships to be offered next spring.

Commended Students in the

2012 Na onal Merit Scholarship Program

About 34,000 Commended Students throughout the nation are being recognized for their exceptional academic promise.

Although they will not continue in the 2012 competition for National Merit Scholarships, commended students placed

among the top 5% of more than 1.5 million students who entered the 2012 competition by taking the 2010 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test.

The following students will receive a Letter of Commendation with a congratulatory message presented by the Principal, Ms. Sophia Lafayette.

Danielle Fraga

Chelsea Steinfeldt

Jeremy M. ‐ 6th

Patrio sm

Scripps Middle School principal, Mr. Haas declared November 11th Red, White and Blue day to Honor our Veterans.

Connor went one step further and created his own T-Shirt with the help from a friend. He even changed the frames of his glasses for the event.

Market Day Pie Ba le

Orion Oaks’ PTO challenged Stadium Drive’s PTA to a Market Day Pie Battle. Stadium Drive never turns down a friendly competition, so they accepted the challenge to see which school could sell the most pies through Market Day sales for the month of November. Stadium Drive sold 116 pies with Orion Oaks selling 180. Congratulations to both schools for a successful pie drive.

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Red Ribbon Week is the nation’s oldest and largest drug prevention program in the nation. Some of our buildings participated by wearing red ribbons and participating in anti-drug activities.

HelicopteratStadiumDrive?

As part of their Red Ribbon Week celebration Air Interdiction Agent, Mr. Hugh Stroube of Homeland Security Customs & Border Protection (and Stadium Drive Elementary parent), landed a helicopter on the Scripps football field next to Stadium Drive Elementary.

Along with having an opportunity to view the helicopter up close (while it was on the ground) students also heard about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, tobacco, the importance of school, and careers that involve protecting others.

Learning the English Language and American Culture and Tradi ons

The Adult ESL class learns American culture along with the English language. This year they learned about Halloween traditions and dressed up either in their own country traditional dress or some fun costumes. This fall we had a student who just got married. Students celebrate special occasions together like weddings and new babies. They learn about how we celebrate by giving wedding and baby showers. In turn the class learns about how these special events are celebrated in other countries.

Students practice speaking English by acting out plays. They did another activity to practice speaking by bringing in 5 items from home that represent them. They then present the items and tell about them and why they chose each item. The students have fun and learn English and American cultures too. They also learn about other countries when students describe what their country is like and what their culture or traditions are. Many countries are represented and many different languages are spoken by our students.

H.O.P. Program at Paint Creek

Paint Creek Elementary begins the third year of the H.O.P. Program. The program, Helping Our Peers, is a peer tutoring program for select K-5 students. Students involved in the H.O.P. program meet in the morning in each grade level activity area. The program success is attributed to the many parent volunteers that help with organization and management. This is a great opportunity for family members to become involved in the school to see firsthand how students work together across grade levels!

Fun Run FUNDS….

Thank you to all who participated in the many Fun Run events throughout the district. These events were successful because of the wonderful volunteers who donated their time to organiz-ing and setting up the events. The money raised during the Fun Runs will benefit all students by providing classroom field trips, teacher projects, school assemblies, family fun nights, and visit-ing authors and artists.

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Donna Smith re res

November 3, 2011 was Donna’s last day as a teacher in the Lake Orion Adult Educa-tion program. Donna worked in Lake Orion for over 16 years in adult education. She taught GED preparation and High School completion classes. She created the “Can Do” scholarship for our graduating students. She would collect the pop bottles, wash them out and take them back to the store for deposits, just so our students could get a scholarship to help them further their education. The recipient of the scholarship was chosen by their “Can Do” attitude and perseverance in earning their diploma. Donna cared about her students and wanted to see them succeed. She will be missed by both students and staff.

The Greatest Show on Earth

Carpenter’s Intersession students studied “The Greatest Show on Earth” during their Fall Interses-sion, October 31 – November 4.

Since circuses originally traveled from town to town in the form of a parade, the children were taken to The Parade Company and were able to see colorful recreations of traveling circus cages as well as numerous beautiful floats that will be used

in Detroit’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

During the week while at school, the Intersession students studied the history of Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey as well as Cirque Du Soleil. They also learned about various famous performers and circus acts, not to mention the care and training of circus animals.

On Thursday the children were treated to a hands-on full day circus courtesy of Cirque Amongus. They were able to roll up their sleeves and learn genuine circus acts such as acrobatics, manipulative juggling, stilt walking and trapeze work just to name a few! After a much needed break, children were then able to practice their favorite act, get put into full costume and perform their very own “Carpenter Big Top Circus” for their families and teachers!

By Friday afternoon the main hallway at Carpenter Elementary was transformed into a dazzling array of one of a kind circus artwork including life sized trapeze artists swinging in the air and being shot out of a cannon! Who knew clowning around could be this much fun?!

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Awards for the Dragon Marching Band

The Dragon Marching Band completed another very successful season this past weekend with an outstanding performance at the Bands of America Grand Nationals at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. This performance followed on the heels of the Dragon's 6th-straight top-5 finish at the Michigan Competing Bands Association's State Finals the previous Saturday at Ford Field in Detroit. Other highlights of the season included a 6th place finish at the Bands of America Akron Regional in early October, along with two second place and one first place finish at competitions in the state of Michigan.

Day of the Dead Bread

Here is a picture of Scripps Middle School 7th graders holding the Day of the Dead bread that they sampled from Panaderia la Gloria in Mexican town. Students participated in hands-on learning about the practices and products of Mexican Culture and building a connection to the Spanish speaking community in Southwest Detroit. One student ( Erin H.) even volunteered to order the bread and initiated a conversation with the bakery in Spanish.

The bread-it was delicioso!

Book Fair News

Many Lake Orion schools held Scholastic Book Fairs this fall. The Book Fair provides the opportunity to purchase many great books, for children and adults, at discounted prices. With the increased focus on reading this year, teachers need help building individual classroom libraries. All profits go to the purchase of new materials for classrooms and media centers!

Scien fic Inquiry—Eyes in the Sky Program

Josie Paxton (’13), Karen Graves (’11), and Alex Verros (’11) demonstrated their scientific inquiry skills with a winning project in an online research showcase and competition sponsored by NASA and TERC, an organization promoting science and math learning. Josie, Karen, and Alex won first place in the “Best Incorpora- tion of Eyes in the Sky Perspective” category by using Google Earth and remotely sensed images to ask an environmental question, collect evidence, and explain their findings. Their virtual poster showcased their research project “January vs July NO2 Concentrations in Cincinnati, Ohio For the Years 2008-2010 and Possible Reasons for NO2 Concentration Variation.” NO2 is one component of smog, which can be a health issue to humans; the students were able to use data sensed by a satellite to help address the concern.

Aaron B. ‐ 7th Grade

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Spartan Award

The 2011 Yearbook staff, last year’s staff, has won a Spartan! This is the highest award in the state of Michigan. They received an “Excellent” score in every category - concept, coverage, writing, design, graphics, photography, and reader services.

Watch the High School’s Newscast Online!

LO-AM is Lake Orion High School’s student-produced daily live newscast, and you can watch it online each day! This is the 21st year for the show, and last year LO-AM was named the best high school newscast in Michigan. Our Television Production Workshop students take their job seriously, and we aim to produce the best work for our Lake Orion audience. Shows are available online most days after 3pm. You can view them by clicking on the link from the High School’s homepage, or by visiting www.dragonbroadcasting.org.

Sarah A.—7th Grade

2011 Service Learning Leadership Workshop

The 16th Annual Service Learning Leadership Workshop took place in June. Under the direction of Andrew Towlerton and Laurie Trafton, twenty-five high school students took part in the 4-day-long program during which they worked on a variety of service projects in the community. Service projects included: making blankets for Project Linus, various projects around the CERC building, assisting the custodial staff at Lake Orion High School prep areas for summer cleaning, prepare meals and organize

food pantries at Grace Centers of Hope in Pontiac, assemble “weekender bags” for students at Gleaners Food Bank in Detroit, and gardening activities at both the Kensington Church Community Garden and Lake Orion Township Public Library.

In other news, Lake Orion is going to have two students on the Service Learning Youth Council this year. The Service-Learning Youth Council (SLYC) is the Michigan Community Service Commission's youth advisory group. SLYC (pronounced "slick") members work with the Learn and Serve team at the MCSC to further public support for service-learning in schools and communities across Michigan. Membership on the Council allows students to be part of a growing group of youth service leaders. Lake Orion High School students Olivia Spolyar and Ashley Stone will represent Lake Orion Schools on this year’s Council.

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Ba le of the Books

The Battle of the Books is an exciting program to encourage reading. Teams of 5th graders read the books chosen by the Children’s Librarian in preparation for the quiz show format of the competition. The focus of the questions is to demon-strate that the readers know the plot, recognize the characters, and have thoroughly read the books. The Battle will take place in March along with the awards ceremony.

Lake Orion Educa on Founda on

The Lake Orion Education Foundation (LOEF) held their 6th annual Evening for Education event on Saturday, November 12. The event was held at Canterbury Village and included a silent auction, dinner, dancing and casino games. Waldon Middle School 8th grade students created three paintings which were in the auction. The highlight of the night was the presentation of the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program. The Lake Orion Education Foundation sponsors Lake Orion Community Schools, the Olweus Bullying Prevention Program and provides grants to teachers for innovative programs. For further information about the LOEF and future events, visit www.lakeorioneducationfoundation.org

Lake Orion Student Receives

Scholar‐Athlete Award

USA Swimming, the National Governing Body for the sport of swimming in the United States, recently awarded a LOHS student the honor of inclusion on the 2011 USA Swimming Scholastic All-America Team. Hannah Mattar (12) was

among an elite number of high school students in the United States selected for this honor. The award is based upon both athletic and scholastic success. The Scholastic All-America Team is comprised of high school student-athletes, who have a grade point average of 3.5 or higher, and who have achieved the required time standard in a single event. Hannah was one of only 19 girls in the state of Michigan who qualified for this honor.

Fall Visits to the Pumpkin Patch!

Lake Orion Early Childhood students took a field trip to Millers Big Red this fall. Children, parents and teachers enjoyed a hayride, corn husk maze, donuts and sipping apple cider. As if that was not enough, each child was able to pick out their own perfect pumpkin!

Julie G. ‐ 6th Grade

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Student Learn Fire Safety

Students at Blanche Sims Elementary were recently visited by the O.C.C. Fire Cadets, Mr. VanHeck, and Mr. Hegerberg. Stu-dents learned about fire safety and were able to speak with the cadets during lunch and recess.

Scripps Middle School Na onal Junior Honor Society

Scripps Middle School NJHS students have been hard at work helping out in our community. Their first project was the Personal Needs Drive for Oxford/Orion FISH. Their second project had NJHS members raising money for the AngelFISH Holiday Gift Program. They “adopted” three children in need. They purchased items in order to provide for them a much brighter holiday!

Calabria K. ‐ 7th Grade

Cereal Box Book Reports

What if you could invent a cereal based on a book you have read? What would you call it and what would it taste like? Fifth graders at Carpenter Elementary created cereal boxes based on their favorite books.

Invite Your Parent to Lunch Day

Oakview and Waldon Middle Schools recently had parents join their students for lunch. The event allows the students to enjoy lunch in the cafeteria with members of their family. In addition, parents get a small glimpse of what their child’s day looks like at lunch time. Additional lunch events are planned at both buildings.

High School Fall Produc on

Thespians, once again, put on a fabulous show! The fall pro-duction, "Almost, Maine", was presented November 17-19 in the Lake Orion High School Auditorium. "Almost, Maine" is a very contemporary look at love in a small town in the middle of Maine on a snowy night in January. The audience was treated to new love, lost love, hopeful love, and tired love - relationships. Work has already begun on the next production scheduled for later in this school year.

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Athle c Accomplishments:

LOHS

Football: Co-Champs of OAA Division

Girls Swim: 8 records broken; 2 held since 2000; 12th place finish in State Finals, the best ever for LOHS girls team; several individual and team accomplishments at State Finals; Annie Jongekrijg was State Champion in the 100 yard freestyle setting a New Division 1 State Record and 2nd place in the 50 yard freestyle

Girls Golf: 1 individual state qualifier

Boys Cross-Country: OAA Red Divisional Champs; team qualified for state meet; 2 all-state runners

Girls Cross-Country: 1 individual state qualifier

Volleyball: District Champions; 1st Regional win since 1988; beat Clarkston in State Semi-Finals; run-ners up in State Finals

Oakview Middle School

Cross-Country: County Champs for boys team

Scripps Middle School

Girls 7th Grade Basketball: City Champs; 1st undefeated 7th grade girls basketball team in school history

8th Grade Football: City Champs; 1st undefeated 8th grade football team in school history

Waldon Middle School

Girls 8th Grade Basketball: City Champs

7th Grade Football: City Champs

Cross-Country: Oakland County XC Champ, Matthew A.; broke school record 3 times this season

Rosemary D. ‐ 8th Grade

Tommy S. ‐ 7th Grade

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Waldon Middle School 8th Grade Students Create Art for LOEF Auc on

Mackenzie C., Matthew A., Thomas N., Kevin C., Elyse J., Hannah M., Sierra G., Drew H., Maximo J., Garrett K., Manitou M., Cameron M., Brenton N., Brenton T., and Jacob V., all volunteered their time to create these paintings for auction at the LOEF Evening for Education.

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Brenton T.—8th Grade