New Leadership Joins Ferndale Schools
We are pleased to present two distinguished new team members who are joining our district administration, as well as two familiar faces who are bringing their expertise to new positions. Please join me in welcoming them to the Ferndale Family!
From left to right: Terri Faison–Director of Human Resources, Robert Tolbert–Director of School Community Relations & Pupil Accounting, Dawn Huntley–Director of Finance, Jamie Stottlemyer–Assistant Superintendent of Operations.
Bios are linked below.
Director of Human Resources
Terri Faison
Terri is a collaborative and emotionally resilient leader with a keen interest in people development and team engagement. Terri previously worked with Ford Motor Company as a HR leader managing areas including, People Strategy, Negotiations Planning, Employee & Labor Relations, Training, etc. She holds an MBA in Marketing and Human Resources from Clark Atlanta University and a BBA in Personnel and Operations Management from Western Michigan University.
Terri enjoys traveling, dancing, and mentoring youth. She is also a volunteer with Food Rescue and Athletes for Charity. Terri is excited to join the Ferndale Schools family and looks forward to making positive contributions to the district.
Director of School Community Relations & Pupil Accounting
Robert Tolbert
Robert Tolbert, a native of Grand Rapids, MI joins the Ferndale Public Schools offering over 20-years of experience across the public and private sectors. Robert will be overseeing enrollment, pupil accounting, marketing, digital & print communications, and community relations matters. Robert most recently served as Community Relations and Systems Coordination leader for the Muskegon Public Schools. He also served as Middle School Interim Principal for Muskegon Public for 6-Months of the 2021-22 school year. Robert holds a BA in Political Economy from the James Madison College of Public Affairs and an MBA from the Broad College of Business, both at Michigan State University. After deciding to pursue a career in education administration, Robert earned his M.Ed. from Grand Valley State University, and is a Michigan Certified K-12 Administrator. He holds an Executive Certificate in Doing Business in Mexico and Latin America from the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey in Mexico, better known as “Monterrey Tech''.
Robert has worked as a strategic sourcing and procurement professional with global leaders in media and entertainment, including, The Walt Disney Company / ABC Television, and NBC Universal. Robert made a decision to change careers in 2012 after realizing that his talents were best used in service of the next generation. He felt the two-way feedback and feeling of value when his work centered around giving back to students. He realized he could leverage his expertise as a leader in public school administration.
Robert is a collaborative leader, engaging communicator, and lifelong learner. He can often be found looking for a good chess partner for a game of chess or practicing and playing the piano. Robert also enjoys speaking to students about college and career readiness and feels it is important to give back whenever he can. He enjoys listening to students and learning from their experiences. Robert is married, and he and his wife have two children.
Director of Finance
Dawn Huntley
Dawn graduated from Michigan State University with a BA in Accounting and received her MBA with a concentration in Finance from Wayne State University. She spent many years working in corporate accounting for an automotive supplier before coming to Ferndale Public Schools in 2014. Dawn started as the Grant Accountant, then in 2016 was promoted to Accountant.
Dawn is married and has two sons that graduated from Ferndale Public Schools. You may see Dawn around town walking her dog, Cedar.
Assistant Superintendent of Operations
Jamie Stottlemyer
Jamie has served as Director of Operations since 2016. With the creation of this new position, Jamie will continue to oversee his past departments with some additional duties. Assistant Superintendent Stottlemyer will have oversight of Food Service, Transportation, Maintenance, Custodial, Construction, & "basically everything non-academic."
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This week was “Parachute Week” at Ferndale Lower! Kindergarten through second grade Music and P.E. classes combined together to do cross-curricular and cross-grade level activities with the parachute. There was so much laughter, fun, and learning! There was folk dancing, popcorn balls, mountain climbing, tents and more that incorporated essential skills of working together. Music and gym classes promote social emotional learning in a natural and organic way. It was so much fun!
This past weekend, the Symphony Band played at MSBOA Band and Orchestra Festival and got straight 1 (superior) ratings from all 3 judges in performance, and a 2 (excellent) rating in sight-reading. That means a strong 1 rating overall.
Ferndale Director of Bands Elon Jamison reported, "The auditorium chairperson was blown away...Lots of directors have said things about the consequences of COVID about their performances today, but he said that it didn't sound like Covid had impacted us at all." Mr. Jamison praised the students for their hardwork since September that earned this high score. "I am SO proud of them. They've shown up every day and gotten better. I would say they've probably exhibited at least a year and a half of growth, in only 6+ months."
In addition, Wind Ensemble performed today (March 17th) at the Great Lakes Concert Band Festival at Easter Michigan University. This event is a non-rated, non-competitive festival affiliated with Bands of America, the national concert and marching band organization. It featured twelve high school bands from around the state (as far as as Manistee and Traverse City), as well as a performance by the EMU Wind Symphony.
Wind Ensemble performed a challenging 25-minute program, and did a phenomenal job. Performing groups were assigned a clinician after each performance, and Ferndale was fortunate to work with Dr. Stephen G. Peterson—recently retired Director of Bands at University of Illinois. While he gave them plenty to work on, he also had high praise for their musicianship and achievement. "When he was told that Ferndale HS has a student enrollment of less than 700, he was floored with what they played and how they played it! He assumed we were a large suburban school of 1500 students or more," Mr. Jamison said.
We are all so proud of our Golden Eagles and cannot wait to hear their beautiful sounds once again. The next performance of Symphony Band and Wind Ensemble will be on Wednesday, May 3, at 7:30 pm in the FHS Auditorium.
March is Reading Month, and we are bringing in friends and neighbors from all around town to show students their favorite books. Superintendent Goodrum stopped by Mrs. Lusk's 4th Grade classroom to read Magnolia Flowers by Zora Neal Hurston, adapted by Ibram X. Kendi, and illustrated by Loveis Wise.
Ferndale Early Childhood Center spent two days drumming away with Lori Fithian, creator of Drummunity. Ms. Lori brought in many tall hand drums and a diverse range of other percussion instruments for some high energy, interactive fun! Our littlest eagles loved to create beautiful music together: shaking to the beat, beating to the rhythm, and bringing out the sound in everyday instruments from muffin tins to salad bowls! More information about Lori and the traveling program can be found here: Drummunity.com
We are FUEL our bodies and brains with a new motor pathway, integrating puzzles and simple thinking exercises with whole body movement. Like Ms. Meloche reminds us, its important to practice these fun activities in whatever way is comfortable for YOUR body. Exercises that include crossing the midline are very important for learning reading and writing.
This Whole Child development exercise was created by our district-wide Occupational & Physical Therapy team: Megan Meloche, Jessica Guerra, and Torre Church. You can make your own Motor Pathway at home and share your pics and videos with us on the FUEL facebook page: Facebook.com/FUELschool or email them to contact@ferndaleschools.org.
