Dear Families,

I hope this message finds you well during this busy time of the year.

In this edition of MacGregor's Message:

• Choirs selected to appear on holiday show
• Bond project planning is underway
• Third FIRST Tech Challenge Team advances to states
• Challenger students host Highlander Hownd Party
• Happy Holidays

The Hutchings Elementary Choir, The Voices of Voyager Choir, and the Parker Middle School Eighth Grade Choir have been selected to be featured on the WILX Channel 10 holiday show "A Mid-Michigan Christmas." The program will air multiple times on Christmas Day. WILX will also stream "A Mid-Michigan Christmas" on WILX.com, the News 10 streaming app, and the WILX YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/@wilxtv) so family members who don't live in the mid-Michigan area can see these fantastic performances. This is an incredible honor for our students, and I look forward to watching the show.

Last week, we launched the visioning process for the replacement Northwest and Southwest elementary schools. Over the next several weeks, teams of teachers, staff members, and parents from both schools will be meeting to discuss what they would like to see in the replacement buildings. While this work is just getting underway, please know there will be multiple opportunities to provide input and feedback to help guide this process. On Monday night, the Board of Education approved the Bond Authorization Resolution. Approving the resolution is the first step in issuing the first series of bonds. The Board also voted to approve the purchase of four new buses using bond funds. While the Board approved the purchase on Monday, we will take delivery of the buses next year. However, placing the order now will lock in a lower price.

Team KAOS, a FIRST Tech Challenge middle school robotics team, punched their ticket to the FIRST in Michigan State Championship at a recent qualifier event. The team advanced by being the second-place winner of the Inspire Award. KAOS will join teams KUDOS and KRASH in completing at the State Championship, which is being held at Parker Middle School this Saturday and Sunday. If you have never attended a robotics competition, please stop by. The atmosphere is fantastic, and it is incredible to see how each team designed their robot to match the competition. To read more about the teams and the state championship, please visit https://bit.ly/3TpdFTK.

This morning, students in the RISE program at Challenger Elementary hosted our Highlander Hownds and their handlers for a Highlander Hownd party. The students made homemade dog treats for each therapy dog, read to the dogs, and took photos to make buttons for each dog's school. The Highlander Hownd party also allowed our handlers from the different schools time to meet and share about how their therapy dog is supporting students.



Each year, selecting the artwork for our holiday card gets harder and harder. We received so many beautiful pieces of art from our elementary students, and the selection team had a hard time choosing. In the end, artwork by Viviana T., a second grader at Voyager, Avery L., a third grader at Three Fires, and Marlee D., a fourth grader at Three Fires, was selected to create a fun winter-themed holiday card. Thank you to all of the students who submitted their artwork, and congratulations to Viviana, Avery, and Marlee for having their artwork selected.

While we still have one more week of school before our holiday break, this is the last edition of MacGregor's Message before our break. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday season filled with joy and happiness.

Sincerely
Erin J. MacGregor, Ed.S.
Superintendent
Howell Public Schools