Happy Friday, Team WB!

We hope you'll review this week's Weekly Update filled with news and notes from across the West Bloomfield School District.

Have a wonderful weekend!

Join us for a reimagined middle school and high school summer learning opportunities! Students will be taught by certified teachers with WBSD curriculum resources with special education and ESL support will be available.

Visit www.wbsd.org/summerlearning for more information and apply before the end of the day TODAY (May 21)!

In order to help celebrate the Class of 2021 at West Bloomfield High School and Oakland Early College, the district is bringing back our Senior Spotlights on social media with the help of our friends from the West Bloomfield Educational Foundation (WBEF).

Nominate a Class of 2021 graduate at either school using the nomination forms below and make a donation to the WBEF to celebrate and commemorate your senior TODAY!

• WBSD Class of 2021 Senior Spotlight Nominations and Donations

Jason Grose, advanced CAD4 student at WBHS, was recently recognized by the American Society of Body Engineers (ASBE) for a design he created for a side mirror on a full size vehicle. The finished in 5th place overall!

Congrats Jason!

For Oakland Youth Action Day this week, WBMS students planted a tree to represent their commitment to anti-racism. After reading the book STAMPED by Jason Reynolds and Ibram Kendi, the students were struck by the final metaphor in the book: that racism is a tree. One volunteer from each class drew the tree of racism, and kids who wanted to signed little paper axes to put next to the tree representing that they were cutting it down.

To take this one step further, the teacher and the group of students decided to plant a new tree, a tree that will grow just as large and be just as strong, but represent something that the students and the WB community believe is more powerful: anti-racism. There will be a bucket of river rocks next to the potted tree for people to sign or write quotes or messages on that will be placed at the base of the tree.

The tree will be planted in the grounds of the new West Bloomfield Middle School in 2022.

During the May 17 Board of Education meeting, the Board awarded two Star Certificates:

• Shahenda Vannostrand, Sheiko Elementary - Awarded in celebration of her tremendous work within the district and for the two major Michigan Education Association awards she has recently received. In April, Ms. Vannostrand was named the MEA Region 7 Teacher of the Year and she also received the Paul Blewett Friend of Education Award from the MEA as well.
• Carol Finkelstein, BOE Trustee - Awarded in recognition of her Master Diamond Award from the Michigan Association of School Boards. Ms. Finkelstein earned this distinction for her Advocacy Skills Specialty and Data Specialty.

The West Bloomfield High School HOSA team had 10 state finalists at the State Leadership conference for HOSA. The following students are the HOSA State finalists:

• Jada Lee-Cultural Diversities & Disparities in Healthcare
• Yael Mizrahi-3rd Place for Human Growth & Development
• Lin Rayes-2nd Place for Medical Math
• Adi Mizrahi-Epidemiology
• Saniyah Syed and Natalie Selektor- 1st Place for Health Career Display
• Jhanelly Garcia and Angelica Habib- Health Career Display
• Kate Horvath and Nicole Albani-Medical Innovation

Congratulations WB HOSA we are so proud of you! Good luck at the International Leadership Conference!

Last Saturday, 17 elementary students (In-Person & Lakers Online) participated in a third consecutive weekend of Math Pentathlon events. We are proud of everyone for their hard work and success.

Rene Kubiak, parent coach, said, "There were so many examples of good sportsmanship! Normally, this tournament is in-person, but this was the 1st ever virtual tournament. We're so proud of these students for all of their hard work during the season and for learning these games via Zoom since the beginning of November!

Congratulations to the following students:

Alora Bills - Kindergarten

Asher Bills - Kindergarten

Nora Marcus - Kindergarten

Ethan Munson - Kindergarten

Neil Ramesh - Kindergarten

Akhil Vennelakanti - Kindergarten

Zoe Adnson - 1st Grade

Abigail Myers - 1st Grade

Pahal Sarada - 1st Grade

Elijah Swainson - 1st Grade

Peter Trinh - 1st Grade

Benjamin Voorhees - 1st Grade

Anthem Bills - 2nd Grade

Mason Philleo - 2nd Grade

Alek Prifti - 2nd Grade

Adalyn Calvin - 3rd Grade

Bennett Nisula - 3rd Grade

May is National Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month and Jewish American Heritage Month

Here are some resources to honor and celebrate Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage and Jewish American Heritage.

• AAPI Resources
• JAHM Resources

As you may already know, our district utilizes the SchoolMessenger system to deliver text messages, straight to your mobile phone with important information about events, school closings, safety alerts and more. This resource is on top of the emails and phone messages you already receive from SchoolMessenger.

You can participate in this service just by sending a text message of “Y” or “Yes” to our district’s short code number, 67587.

You can also opt-out of these messages at any time by simply replying to one of our

messages with “Stop”.

SchoolMessenger is compliant with the Student Privacy PledgeTM, so you can rest assured that your information is safe and will never be given or sold to anyone.

Reading Lists for Youth

• Seek and Find! (Kids)

• Just Right Families (Kids)

• Great Reads in YA Fiction by African American Authors (Teen)

Virtual Dinosaur Storytime (birth-5 years)

Wednesday, May 26, 10:30 AM on Zoom

Roar! Stomp your feet and show your claws, it’s dinosaur storytime! This interactive storytime will have your child moving and grooving while learning about dinosaurs. Register to receive connection details.

Virtual Preschool Show ‘N Tell (ages 3-5 years)

Tuesdays, June 1 and 8, 10:30 AM on Zoom

Get ready to share! Show ‘N Tell is a great opportunity for your young child to build language skills and increase their confidence! Each child will be given time to share their item of the day and respond to questions from both the teacher and some of the other students. Register to receive connection details.

eResource: Opposing Viewpoints

Today's complex social issues are presented in a pro-and-con format for student researchers in this library-funded database. Click here to browse library databases.

The Library will be closed from Saturday, May 29 through Monday, May 31 for Memorial Weekend. It will reopen on Tuesday, June 1 at 10 AM.

The West Bloomfield Township Main Library and Westacres Branch are open for Phase 3 services.

In Phase 3, our priorities continue to be the health and safety of staff, users and the community at large and providing convenient access to collections of materials in all formats. An additional goal of Phase 3 is providing access to the Library’s public computers, scanners and printers, equipment that we recognize not everyone in our community may have at home. Please see the Library’s website for the latest updates and temporary hours.

Renew or request a library card

Ask at the Main Library Reception desk or the Westacres Branch Circulation desk. You can also continue to renew or request a library card on the Library’s website.

• Employment Opportunities

• New Middle School Updates

• GWB Historical Society Events

• WB Township Library News and Events

Preparing our students to be their best IN and FOR the world!

Email: daniel.durkin@wbsd.org
Website: www.wbsd.org
Location: 5810 Commerce Road, West Bloomfield Township, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 865-6420
Facebook: facebook.com/WestBloomfieldSchools/
Twitter: @wbloomfieldschl