FUELing Connection with UHS Student Mentors
Every other Friday since mid-November, UHS students have been visiting Ferndale Upper Elementary to talk and engage with 5th grade girls, supporting their questions and problem-solving with them. The mentoring group was started by Ms. Gena Clay–Restorative Practices Coordinator at UHS–and is called "Tea Time with Clay."
In December, the older students brought snacks and books for the 5th graders to read over the holiday. The group plays games inside and on the playground. FUEL students were excited to share their classrooms, garden spaces, and media center. The mentoring group meets for 60 minutes. "It gives [the kids] enough time to talk to us about something they need help with and to connect," said Ms. Clay.
#mentoring #FerndaleFamily
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The FUEL Girls On The Run Club completed a 5K this weekend. The coaches wrote a heartfelt congratulations:
To our awesome girls on the run: Fantastic job this weekend! We are so, so proud of you for training so hard all season and going all out for our 5k. Even as the temperature rose and the breeze stopped, the girls kept pushing through and finished strong. They went 3.1 miles! It has been such a pleasure coaching for you amazing girls this season. Congrats on completing your first 5k, and we hope to see you run many more. Great work on an awesome season: Alma, Chloe, Phoebe, Frankie, London, Kyra, Alona, Charlotte, Chelsea, Miriam, Violet, Margot, Apple, Izabella, Brooklyn, Tyler, and Sophia!
With love, your coaches: Coach Sophie, Coach Kyla, Coach Danielle, and Coach Adam
Superintendent Goodrum, her cabinet, and several members of the Board of Education surprised select teachers and support staff with gifts this week as part of a Teacher and Support Staff of the Year award presentation. You can view photos of the honorees below. We are so proud of these outstanding educators and team members who make student growth so spectacular at Ferndale Schools.
FECC Teacher of the Year: Shelby Martin
FECC Support Staff of the Year: Jennifer Krycian
Ferndale Lower Elementary Teacher of the Year: Glynis Tyler
Ferndale Lower Elementary Support Staff of the Year: Megan Meloche
Ferndale Upper Elementary Teacher of the Year: Anton Gjonaj
Ferndale Upper Elementary Support Staff of the Year: Raequan Allen
Ferndale Middle School Teacher of the Year: Bridget Guerra
Ferndale Middle School Special Education Teacher of the Year: Brad Tanguay
Ferndale Middle Support Staff of the Year: Geraldine Perry and Katelyn O'Bear
Ferndale High School Teacher of the Year: Michael Hand
Ferndale High School Teacher of the Year: Kandis Pagonas 
Ferndale High School Support Staff of the Year: Sharon Stone
University High School Teacher of the Year: Lauren Thomas
UHS Support Staff of the Year: Flaudia Quaker (unpictured)
TCEC Teacher of the Year: Ellie Kotulis
TCEC Support Staff of the Year: Roger Hunt (unpictured)
Central Office Support Staff of the Year: Tammy Foster
Bus Driver of the Year: Wendy Gambill
Bus Driver of the Year: Erricka Thomas
Bus Driver of the Year: Nikki Anderson
Students in Mrs. Nagaj's class is so excited to be learning with new Smart Robots and coding Micro:bits! At a recent Computer Science and Robotics bootcamp, 3rd Grade Teacher Shannon Nagaj learned about Michigan's K-12 Computer Science curriculum. As additional encouragement for teachers to bring this into their classrooms and equitable share these learning opportunities, Oakland Schools partners with MiStem Network and Square One Education to offer classroom grants. Mrs. Nagaj wrote a grant and was one of five teachers selected to receive a classroom kit (15) of tiny cars and Micro:bits. Her students have unplugged & plugged coding lessons weekly and are looking forward to building and programming their Tiny:bit Smart Robots and Micro:bits. We can't wait to see these tools in action!
Ferndale Area District Library staff were on hand last week to host 2023's 5th grade Battle of the Books competition! The 3 Musketeers (Everett MacAuley, Madeline Weakley, & Helen Zamborsky) came out on top in a very competitive trivia-style competition where nearly THIRTY teams competed! We also want to give a shout out to the team voted "Best Name" by our Ferndale Librarians - congrats to The Perfect Loaves (Jasmine & Jocelyn Gooden-Bulger, Leonard Graves & Morgan Karnick).
Each year, FUEL 5th graders are challenged to read and study 5-6 novels and become "Battle Book Experts!" This year's selections included a diverse cast of characters, cultures, and formats, including The Cardboard Kingdom by Chad Sell, Sea Sirens by Amy Chu & Janet Lee, Once Upon an Eid by S.K. Ali & Aisha Saeed, The Wild Robot by Peter Brown, Rick by Alex Gino, and Rez Dogs by Joseph Bruchac.
Participants were able to keep their copies of the books at the end of Battle. Many thanks to our Ferndale librarians for their incredible creativity in putting this together this year, as well as to our 5th grade students and teachers for all of their reading and hard work leading up to the Battle! Shout out also to our family volunteers for helping put on the event!
The first week of April FUEL hosted the Disability Acceptance workshop with parent, Ferndale staff and University High School volunteers. 4th and 5th graders visited 10 stations that simulated the experience of many disabilities and the challenges that some face. Students also learned to use various tools and supports. These experiences included the use of braille, assistive technology, wheel chairs, crutches, sensory materials like fidgets and so much more.
During the week of April 10th Elementary students wore spirit wear to celebrate differences, uniqueness and inclusion. Themes included wearing red for neurological differences and wearing your "passion" to celebrate that we all have high interest areas that we love to talk about!
Teachers supported inclusive themes by reading books from our Disability Acceptance library, showed videos and facilitated conversations during morning meeting.
Buddy classes at FUEL are decorating Autism infinity symbols with multi-color tissue paper that they will display. These visuals and the experiences learned in April will serve as reminders that diversity is beautiful and that it's important to include everyone!
