Dear Parents,

On Tuesday morning, we surprised Mrs. Jennifer Hibbard with the 2017-2018 Howell Public Schools Teacher of the Year award. Mrs. Hibbard is a fifth-grade teacher at Voyager Elementary. With over 20 years teaching experience, she has never stopped learning and is always looking for innovative ways to help students reach their full potential. You can watch a short video of the surprise at https://goo.gl/NsDi4e. Please join me in congratulating Mrs. Hibbard on this great honor.

Each year we honor a Support Person of the Year and a Service Person of the Year. These individuals are the backbone of our district. We are now accepting nominations for both of these awards. You can submit your nomination online at https://goo.gl/MVNNte. Paper copies of the nomination form are available in the main office of each of our schools. The nomination deadline is Friday, November 10 at 4 p.m.

A few weeks ago, I shared that the Highlander Way Middle School student body was planning a 5K run/walk to raise money to support the American Red Cross’ hurricane relief efforts. Through all of their hard work, the students raised an amazing $5,400, which was presented to the Red Cross before the start of the 5K. This was a great example of our students taking initiative and working together for the common good.

On Wednesday, Challenger Elementary celebrated its new student-run credit union branch. This week the high school held its College Application Week. Tomorrow, ten Parker Middle School choir students will represent their school at the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Regional Honors Choir in South Lyon. I have shared more on each of these below.

Challenger Student-Run Credit Union Opens

This week, Challenger Elementary held the grand opening of its new LOC Federal Credit Union student-run branch. The school’s fifth-grade students will work with a representative from LOC each week to accept deposits, open new accounts, and process withdrawals for students and staff of the school. With the grand opening of the Challenger student-run credit union, each of our elementary schools now has a student-run bank or credit union. To read more about this, please visit https://goo.gl/XQMQgZ.

Howell High School College Application Week

This week at the high school all seniors had the opportunity to submit at least one college application. All week, staff and volunteers were on hand to help students with the application process. College Application Week is part of the larger Michigan College Month initiative that the high school is participating in this month. The school also held a FAFSA help night to help parents and students submit their financial aid applications. The week ended with a district-wide College Spirit Day where students and staff were invited to wear a shirt showcasing their favorite college.

Parker Choir Students Heading to Regional Honors Choir

Tomorrow, ten Parker Middle School students will travel to South Lyon to represent their school at the Michigan School Vocal Music Association (MSVMA) Regional Honors Choir. The students were selected for this honor following an audition at their school. The students selected for the honors choir are Aubrey Nemeth, Kendall DeRocher, Lily Sidorski, Lauren Soderman, Kirsten Patterson, Audrey Davey, Lola Dombrowski, Noah Walters, Ally Johnson, and Hailey Douglas. While at the Regional Honors Choir the students will participate in a clinic and audition for the MSVMA State Honors Choir.