This Week In the Ann Arbor Public Schools

November 23, 2009

This Week’s Good News!

• The National Scholastic Press Association announced the winners in the 2009 Newspaper Pacemaker and Broadcast Pacemaker contests on November 14.  Community High School’s “The Communicator” was one of three high school in the country to win the Pacemaker award, considered the Pulitzer Prize in student journalism.
  
  The Newspaper Pacemaker contest is co-sponsored by the Newspaper Association of America Foundation and this year’s contest was judged by a group of Seattle area professional journalists. The contest yielded a total of 339 entries and categories included: Newspapers 1-16 pages, Newspapers 17 or more pages, Newsmagazines and Jr. High/Middle School Newspapers.
  
  Entries were judged based on the following criteria:
  Coverage and content:  Were all aspects of student life covered (academics/sports/clubs/local news, etc.)? Was the use of wire/syndicated copy limit (especially on pg. 1)? Was there evidence of sound news judgment?
  Quality of writing and reporting:  Was the writing concise and the reporting thorough? Was writing free of opinion (with the exception of editorials or columns)?  Was the copy edited for consistent style?
  Leadership on the opinion page:  Did staff editorials, cartoons and letters supplement personal columns? Did the staff demonstrate sensitivity to controversial topics?  Was the content of the editorial page consequential?
  Evidence of in-depth reporting:  Did major stories show evidence of multiple sources?  Are series or depth pieces prominent in entered issues?
  Layout and design:  Was the look of the paper clean and contemporary? Was a consistent modular page makeup used throughout the publication? Did designers establish a clear visual hierarchy for readers?
  Photography, art and graphics:  Did visuals enhance the verbal content and draw the reader in?  Did visuals improve the reader’s understanding of the accompanying story? Were photos properly credited? Was the quality of photos and art technically excellent?
  
  The following students received individual awards:  Kyle Aaronson for Sports Writing, Kayla Stoler for Newsmagazine Design and Oriol Burgos-Tsoffar received an Honorable Mention for Advertising.  Tracy Rosewarne is the faculty advisor of “The Communicator.”
• The Skyline Girls Swimming team earned a 3rd place finish at the MHSAA Division 3 State Championships over the weekend.  Sophomore Lexie Beemer became Skyline's first State Champion in any sport as she won the 100 yard breaststroke.
  All State performances were turned in by Beemer (2), Ashleigh Shanley (2), Stassia McGlothlin, Rebecca Dickey, and Kim Graziano.  Each of Skyline's three relay teams also earned All-State honors.
• Daniel Kriz, Class of 2009, received a perfect 2400 - 800 Critical Reading, 800 Math, 800 Writing on the October 2009 SAT Test.
• Congratulations to all Roberto Clemente students for meeting their goals.  Students achieved a cumulative school 2.5 or better GPA for the first trimester.  83.7 % of the students passed all their classes and 58.7% of the students had a GPA of 2.5 or higher.  21% of the students are on the honor roll.  Also, the students at Clemente have broken the barrier in attendance records by having less than 600 absences for the trimester.  Many students have achieved and excelled beyond their own beliefs.  They have met academic and attendance goals set for the trimester.  Congratulations to all Roberto Clemente students and staff.  Keep up the good work!  For their accomplishments the students have earned an out of appropriate dress attire for the new trimester and a staff student basketball game on Tuesday, November 24.
• Skyline's Nationally Board Certified Counselor, Krista McKinney-King will be honored at the Michigan Department of Education's Educator Recognition Reception and Banquet on Tuesday, December 1, 2009.  The banquet is hosted by Mike Flanagan, State Superintendent and Kathleen Straus, President of the State Board of Education.  Skyline staff members are extremely proud of Mrs. McKinney-King's accomplishments.

Todd Roberts, Ed.D.
Superintendent