This is my kids school. It is also where I am on the School Board. Tremendous financial decision for EVERY school are having to be made. Michigan economy sucks, the Governor Great "GREEN" Jennifer is cutting the dollars each school will get per pupil, and its tough. Trying to make a budget work in a Charter school, which is FREE Public school, is more challenging because we can't "raise" money through tax bonds etc.
Our school has been a GREAT transition for our kids, coming from Homeschooling for 4 years. This is our last year there. Morey is unusual in that it has a High School. Many Charter schools do not. I hope we can KEEP the high school, as financially High Schools COST money.
This was on the FRONT page of our local morning rag, "The Morning Scum" as we locals call it:
The Morning Sun (themorningsun.com), Serving Northern Michigan
News
Getting their hands dirty: Morey students learn about Earth Day
Thursday, April 23, 2009
By PATRICIA ECKER
Sun Staff Writer
Heidi Fletcher of Morey Public School didn’t mind getting down on her knees to dig into the cold, moist soil work with three kindergartners by her side while working towards “beautifying their school.”
Fletcher, 17, and her fellow classmates were paired with members of the kindergarten class who wore winter coats, hats and gloves on the rather cold spring morning.
Two groups of students, 11 in the 11th grade and 15 kindergartners, collaborated on the Earth Day project to plant perennial and annual plants in front of their school.
“(Our economics class) wanted to do (their project) on Earth Day,” Fletcher said. “It’s cold out here today, but the (kindergartners) are great to work with.
“They listen.”
Fletcher said that she picked her helpers because they stood listening with “their hands behind their backs”, and she felt they would work best with her.
The class project was a learning process, and she said that it was difficult coming up with fundraising ideas, and then the taking steps to implement their strategy for the project in hopes of raising funds.
“You have to sacrifice your time,” Fletcher said. “We had a bake sale (last week).
“We had to learn the best prices. When we started, we thought we would make about $50, but we made over $200.”
Students made the baked goods, and sold their products in the school where they were mindful to make the items affordable for their peers, Kevin Fletcher, student teacher and organizer of the “public good” project, said.
“The students chose Earth Day, and they did the planning for the bake sale,” Kevin Fletcher said. “Their science teacher (Joe Trommeter) tested the soil and worked the soil with a roto tiller.”
Tammy Morrison, kindergarten teacher, said that this gave her class an opportunity to learn about Earth Day.
“We started an experiment on how plants grow, and what they need to grow,” Morrison said. “We used the scientific method in relationship to plants.
“That they need sunlight, water, air, and space to grow. We also talked about dirty water and clean water,” Morrison said.
Jennifer Traynor, paraprofessional, said that the kindergartners “brains are like sponges. They just soak everything right up.”
Marilee Kujat, social studies department head and acting assistant principal, said smiling that she thought the event was “organized chaos.”
“I am really proud of them,” Kujat said. “Most of the kindergartners will be able to watch the stuff grow.
“They will be able to tell others that they helped, and that gives them a sense of community. This is an area that we hope to make into a little park,” she said.
URL: http://www.themorningsun.com/articles/2009/04/23/news/doc49ef7370bc64f186498344.prt
© 2009 themorningsun.com, a Journal Register Property
