Construction Flies Ahead

Blessings in a Backpack Ferndale received an incredible donation this past week from Amy Wilds, owner of Wildly Fit. The Fitness Coaching company hosts a 5K fundraiser each year to support Blessings in a Backpack across several districts. This year, she has donated Blessings in a Backpack Ferndale with $10,000 following the Huffin' for the Stuffin' 5K event! Thank you so much to Amy and her family for this incredible donation and her support over the past few years!

The first meeting of the Crochet and Knitting Club at Ferndale High School took place this week. Students of all skill levels came together to explore fiber arts. The club is open to all students and has the goal of eventually creating pieces to be donated to charity organizations in our community.

Ferndale musicians have received significant recognition lately for their exceptional talents and dedication to craft.

Two students were selected for the Oakland University Honors Bands, which took place November 4-5 at Oakland University. They were:

• Lucy Davisson, flute, 9th grade
• Mary Kacir, percussion, 9th grade

Seven FHS band students were selected for the MSBOA District 4 Honors Bands. District 4 encompasses the vast majority of the high schools in Oakland County, as well as a few in Livingston County. This event takes place January 12-13 at Clarkston HS. Those students are:

• Ruth Brisson, oboe, 11th grade
• Meera Venugopal, clarinet, 9th grade
• Bryanna Brown, bass clarinet, 12th grade
• Corrina Kimball, trumpet, 9th grade
• Leo Curran, French horn, 11th grade
• Logan Stoll, euphonium, 12th grade
• Mary Kacir, percussion, 9th grade

Two FMS students were selected for the Michigan Middle School All-State Band. This event takes place January 25-27 in Grand Rapids at the Amway Grand and DeVos Place in conjunction with the Michigan Music Conference (the major PD event for music teachers in Michigan). Roughly 2800 students auditioned for spots in the 5 All-State groups from around Michigan. The two that made it are the first FMS band students to ever make All-State (we've had a couple of orchestra kids make it, but never band). They are:

• Kieran Jamison, oboe, 7th grade
• Andrew Meyersieck, trumpet, 7th grade

All of these opportunities invite student musicians to meet other musicians and conductors in order to practice and perform together in front of new audiences. We are so proud of our Eagles and thankful for the continued leadership of our Music Department.

This week in Room 10, the Little Eagles have been reading the fairy tale "The Three Little Pigs." Storytime is accompanied by activities to build listening and comprehension skills. The preschoolers built their own straw, stick, or brick house and pretended to be the Big Bad Wolf to see if they could blow their house down. Students also used straws to "huff and puff" the paint (blowing through a straw) to move their paint around on the paper. Listening to and comprehending spoken and written words are essential aspects of learning, and students demonstrated their ability to pick up individual story elements, such as a character and interactions among characters as well as the sequence between events.

Today, we celebrated Classgiving—an annual tradition that allows Adult Transition students to contribute something extra to their school family. With some support from Adult Transitions Teacher Danny Collins and Joe Altizer, the students shop for all of the ingredients, cook the food for the feast, and serve it to friends and classmates. This tradition is over 10 years old, and we are so proud of our Self Contained students for putting this event on every year.