Dearborn Schools Supt. Brian Whiston, who, among other things, needs to find a way to negotiate a new contract with Dearborn school teachers, took some time out to pen the column below and send it here to DeepsaidWhat.com

With the Dearborn teachers union already filing a complaint with the state, alleging the district is no longer trying to negotiate a new contract, the timing of his column is curious.

Whiston’s column begins below:

Supt. Brian Whiston

A big Detroit parade, a classic football game, and a traditional family dinner; these are just a few November events that I enjoy. However, events like these don’t just happen, they require planning! Even a big family meal must be planned in advance. Great events, big achievements, and sustained traditions don’t just occur they require a process to ensure they happen and keep getting better each year.

In Dearborn, we too have a process in place to make sure that the long tradition of excellence in the classroom continues. The School Improvement Plan is a year long course of action that all schools embark on in the fall and complete in the spring. Because one size doesn’t fit all, students learn differently, and for every student who needs extra help there is a student that needs to be challenged beyond the curriculum; a School Improvement Plan, that utilizes data and other indicators of student performance, is a proven method to describe how a school will address the different learning needs of each student.

The first part of the school improvement process is the evaluation of goals. School goals for the year are determined by a team consisting of the building principal, teachers, para-pros, and, in most cases, parents. Each school improvement team meets with the District school improvement team, which is a group of central office and building administrators, to present their plans and goals.

Mid-year the District school improvement team will visit each school to talk with staff and visit classrooms. They will look for evidence that the school is working toward the goals set in the fall. If needed, goals are adjusted to better meet the academic needs of the students.

Finally, in the spring, a celebration takes place as all school improvement teams gather at one location to showcase their accomplishments to the Board of Education and community. At the celebration, schools will share ideas and programs that helped them meet their goals. They will also discuss practices or challenges that kept them from meeting a goal either in part or in full.

After summer recess the process begins again in the fall. This continuous cycle of school improvement has been going on in the district for five years and has had positive results in the classroom.

Great success happens when there is great planning. In classrooms throughout our district students are making academic gains because a dedicated staff is actively involved in a system of planning. A system that keeps our schools improving and student achievement the focus of all staff members.

Twenty-one.

That’s the margin of victory for James Schoolmaster, who just barely defeated Roxanne McDonald for his third term on the Dearborn School Board.

With all of Dearborn reporting, Schoolmaster was ahead of Roxanne McDonald by just 137 votes. Schoolmaster finished with 8,838 votes to McDonald’s 8,701 in Dearborn.

In Dearborn Heights, Schoolmaster lost to McDonald, 759 to 643 votes. Had 22 more residents living around the River Oaks school in Dearborn Heights voted for McDonald, she would have won the election. A good example of why every vote does indeed count.

The final total vote tally was 9,481 for Schoolmaster, 9,460 for McDonald.

The question now is whether McDonald will seek a recount.

The Dearborn Education Foundation’s annual Pizza Day program is back.

For years this campaign has been successful in helping to raise awareness and dollars for the Foundation and local pizzerias. This summer the team of Foundation volunteers worked hard to bring Pizza Day back and make it even better.

This year the effort has been extended to each Wednesday throughout the month of November. This change adds value and efficiencies for the proprietor and the Foundation, said Eddie N. Fakhoury, executive director of the Foundation. A minimum donation was requested up front with many contributing more, and in return those who signed up will be promoted during the month of November throughout the entire school district.

“We understand that small business owners are hit most in these economic conditions and their time and resources should be respected. For that reason this year we made some changes that provides added value and benefits for everyone that participates,” Fakhoury said.

The Education Foundation is a licensed 501c3 non-profit organization that helps enhance the education that students receive from Dearborn Public Schools through grants to fund technology, equipment and innovative programs not funded by the school district’s budget. Since its inception the organization has funded more than $1,200,000 million in grants.

All funds raised by the Foundation go to fund teacher grants that are submitted throughout the year.

You can show your support for our schools and our community pizzerias starting on Wednesday, Nov. 3 by placing your order at one of these outstanding participating businesses:

Antonio’s, 26356 Ford Rd,  278-6000

Dearborn Italian Bakery, 24545 Ford Rd,   274-2350

DeMarco’s Pizza, 24943 Ford Rd,  562-6770

Dino’s Pizza, 2801 Monroe,  274-1750

Jet’s Pizza, 3945 S. Telegraph,  359-5387

Jet’s Pizza, 23541 Ford Rd,  274-2600

Joe & Renos, 2311 Monroe,  274-9810

Little Ceasar’s, 18500 Outer Dr.,  565-3505

Paisano’s, 5511 Schaefer, 581-4000

Pizza Papalis, 22022 Michigan Ave.,  724-7722

Pizza Hut, 2941 S. Telegraph,  562-0549

Pizza Kitchen, Michigan Ave.,  582-8500

Roman Village, 9924 Dix,  842-2100

Sarieni’s Pizza, 3313 Greenfield, 441-1500

Two of Dearborn’s high school teams are in the running for the WDIV Ch. 4 Football Frenzy Game of the Week.

Dearborn High will host Fordson in the opening round of high school football playoff action. If WDIV selects this matchup as the game of the week, both of these fine schools have a chance to be highlighted.

So this is where all of us come into play. Whether a resident, Dearborn High, Fordson High School parent, student, alumni or a fan, you need to vote early and vote often to help land this game on local TV.

Just follow the link HERE and vote!

Dearborn voters on Tuesday, Oct. 5 will have a chance to meet with candidates vying to fill a seat on the Dearborn School Board.

The forum will take place from 7 p.m. to 7:45 p.m. in the Board Room of the Ten Eyke Administration Building, 18700 Audette, in Dearborn. Dearborn community access television will rebroadcast the forum after the event.

The Dearborn Council of the Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA) and the League of Women Voters Dearborn/Dearborn Heights are teaming up to host the candidate forum in anticipation of this November’s election for Dearborn School Board. Thomas Trimble will moderate and candidates will answer questions submitted by the public.

Dearborn voters are being asked to choose between two familiar faces for the one open school board seat.

Roxanne McDonald, who ran unsuccessfully in 2009, is the only challenger to file against Dearborn school board incumbent James Schoolmaster.

McDonald is the mother of three sons, two still in Dearborn Public Schools and one serving in the military. She is a former vice president of PTSA and served four years on Nowlin PTA’ s executive board. A longtime Dearborn resident, she is a Dearborn High School graduate and earned two associate’s degrees from Henry Ford Community College.

Incumbent Schoolmaster is seeking his fourth term on the board. A practicing attorney, Schoolmaster chairs the school board’s finance committee. He has two children who are graduates of Dearborn High School and his wife, Darlene, was a long-time teacher in the district.

The Dearborn High School Marching Band and Orchestra has been invited to march in the 2011 Dublin St. Patrick’s Day Parade but they need our help to try and get there.

To do that the band will be hosting a golf outing Sept. 12 at the Dearborn Hills Golf Course. Registration is at 10 a.m. and the four man scramble begins at 11 a.m., complete with golf cart. There will be plenty of food, beginning with coffee and sweet rolls in the morning, hot dog lunch and a nice steak dinner to cap the day’s eating.

There also is a 50/50 raffle and a silent auction.

The golf package is $90 per person or $350 for a foursome.

If you’d rather not golf but want to support the band, consider signing up for the dinner and silent auction, which is just $40 per person and includes two hours of “beverage service.”

Not just any high school band gets invited to perform in Dublin. You have to be good. And under the supervision of Dearborn High’s Music Director Jeff Oshnock, the Pioneers are outstanding. One proud parent tells us that Dearborn High School’s musicians score top rankings at solo/ensemble competitions and band reviews.

In 2008, the Dearborn High School Marching Band participated in the Memorial Day Parade in Washington, DC. It was that performance that helped the band secure a position to perform in the 2011 St. Patrick’s Day Parade in Dublin.

There are some 119 people that will travel to Ireland, 18 of which are chaperons.

You can register and find more information http://dhs.dearbornschools.org/Music/Golf_Outing on the Band Aid Boosters link. So please consider sharing this story with your friends to help one of Dearborn’s great high school marching bands travel to Ireland.

Henry Ford Community College and Lake Superior State University will formally announce at a noon press conference today a new partnership that would allow community college students to complete their bachelors degree in Dearborn.

Lake Superior State University (LSSU) will establish a regional site in Dearborn, partnering with Henry Ford Community College at the Dearborn University Consortium Center (DUCC) located on the campus of the Advanced Technology Academy (ATA). The university will offer degree completion options in Business and Criminal Justice beginning in the fall of 2010. Future degree completion offerings include Applied Geographic Information Systems, Computer Networking and Web Development in 2011.

“This is an extremely efficient and cost effective path for students to complete their education right here in the Dearborn community,” said Dr. Gale Mee, HFCC president.

The LSSU Board of Trustees approved the agreement to establish the Dearborn site.

“We’ve spent a lot of time on this agreement and in establishing this site, which will be very favorable for Lake Superior State,” said Board President, W.W. “Frenchie” LaJoie.

Added LSSU President, Dr. Tony McLain: “The establishment of the DUCC gives us a presence in Metro Detroit. It also allows us to bring our high value educational programs to students who never before had access to LSSU.”

Dearborn Mayor, John B. O’Reilly Jr., praised the partnership and said it will broaden options for students.

“Dearborn has always been a strong supporter of higher education and with the combination of the University of Michigan Dearborn campus and Henry Ford Community College we have over 27,000 students enrolled,” O’Reilly said. “This certainly qualifies us as a college town, but more importantly, demonstrates a commitment to meeting a significant demand for preparing professional and leaders for the Metropolitan Detroit area.

“This Next Generation Learning Center will mobilize educators, employers and community leaders to act on new ways to ensure education and training that will match the demanding requirements of 21st Century workforce.”

The Center is enrolling students for fall 2010 classes. Contact Eric Dubitsky, Regional Site Director, at 313-625-4712 or edubitsky@atafordpas.org to learn more about the Dearborn University Consortium Center.

We’re not horror movie fans but for those who are into the Scream movie series you might recognize one Dearborn school when Scream 4 opens next year.

Woodworth Middle School

While most of the film is being shot in Ann Arbor, Woodworth Middle School, 4951 Ternes St., will star in a “flashback” scene in the film.

In the coming weeks, movie production crews will be constructing a new “face” of the school at the entrance of Woodworth. So if you spot some construction taking place at the school now that it is closed, it is all for the school’s movie cameo.

Apparently, the school was chosen because the design and brickwork closely matches a building that was featured in an earlier Scream film.

According to Hollywood gossip publications, Gilmore Girls star Lauren Graham is very close to joining the cast working on the Scream 4 saga. If she joins, she would join a number of other high-profile names in this slasher series. For those who follow these types of films, the series’ original writer and director, Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven, are leading the efforts behind the new movie, as are the original trilogy’s stars Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox, and David Arquette.

The film will start shooting in Ann Arbor at month’s end and is scheduled to hit theaters on April 15, 2011.

From a field of more than 400 nominations, three Dearborn teachers on Wednesday were presented with the 2009-10 Alberta Muirhead Teacher of the Year Award and a $1,000 cash prize for their dedication and passion for teaching.

The awards are sponsored by Alberta Muirhead and coordinated by the Dearborn Chamber of Commerce.

The winning teachers for 2010 are:

Ms. Jilrae Greco, Haigh Elementary School

Ms. Diane Solomon, Bryant Middle School

Ms. Jennifer Gorsline, Dearborn Center for Math, Science & Technology (DCMST)

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How will your child’s school look 20 years, 10 years, or even five years from now? What knowledge will every child need as they move from kindergarten to graduation? How will instruction be delivered?

These questions just begin to lay the groundwork for an in-depth discussion that will take place on March 29, 2010 during the 21st Century Schools meeting at 6:30 p.m. in the Board Room of the Dearborn School’s Administration Building, 18700 Audette.

The Dearborn Public Schools, in conjunction with the Dearborn Parent Teacher Student Association (PTSA), the Dearborn Federation of Teachers, and the Dearborn Federation of School Employees, are inviting members of the community to take part in the first of many discussions that will explore how 21st century learning must look, operate, and educate.

The meeting will cover an array of topics, including what will students need to know in order to be successful graduates and how will schools utilize the tools at their disposal to properly deliver a 21st century curriculum. Changes that are driven by the educational needs of students will take the cooperation and input from all stakeholders in the community.

Registration will begin at 6:00 p.m. and the meeting will start promptly at 6:30 p.m. There will be two follow-up meetings in April and May. Those interested may contact the Dearborn School’s Communication Office at 827-3006.

“If you ever wanted to be part of redesigning education, concerned about state and federal requirements having too much control over local school districts, or have ideas about how to make schools better, then you will want to take part in the 21st century school discussion,” said Brian Whiston, Dearborn schools superintendent.