Coleman Jr/Sr High School

Hey everyone! Coleman was recognized as number 3 in the state of Michigan for the biggest increases in FAFSA completion over the past 2 week! Shout-out to our seniors and their parents for getting these important applications complete, and also to our College Advisor, Ms. Jacobs, and our Counselor, Ms. Willoughby for sharing out information and helping out everywhere they can to help set up our seniors for success! You rock, Comets!

Self Love Beauty is hosting the 2023 Teen Conference! It is for 6th-9th grade girls that want to learn some self-confidence and self-love skills! Check out the flier for more information.

The Midland Area Community Foundation volunteered at the Culinary building on Monday to do some deep-cleaning for us! Thanks so much for donating your time, and for everything else you do to support us, we appreciate it!

Mrs. Lagalo recommends this FREE wellness course for teenagers, hosted by Yale! Check out this link if you're interested: https://www.coursera.org/learn/the-science-of-well-being-for-teens?utm_source=YALE&utm_medium=institutions&utm_campaign=202301-SWB-Coursera-Blast-SWBT

Busses are running about 15 minutes behind due to getting a late start at the high school. They are all en route. Thank you!

Today is Technology/ Communications Recognition Day! We have some great people with strong skills in this area. They keep us in the latest technology to benefit students and staff, seem to love a new challenge and bring us fresh ideas. They advertise information daily that is sent to them by staff about what we do with students and get the word out to the community. They keep us organized and updated on what events are coming next and have a creative side. Thank you to Jim Burkhart, Brian Cone and Shane Gross. Thank you to our Student Technology Staff- Zach MacPhee, Gabrielle Crowl for all you do in the Technology realm. Thank you to Laurie Bell and Natalie Rogers for taking care of most of our online presence through the website and social media as well as ensuring the community can use our electronic signage to learn about events. If you have a few minutes today, stop some of these people and say thank you, give them a small token of appreciation or just a pat on the back.  And no, we did not make them post their own recognition message- that's why it's not nearly as eye-catching as most ;o)

A big shout-out to some amazing collaboration happening with the Drama Club and the Spring Play! We have 37 kids participating this year in Drama Club and the Spring Play. The STEAM class is building our set and have done a fabulous job so far! They have already built a wonderful balcony platform (pictured), and are building 2 fruit carts for the market scene and backdrop pieces. Another organization that wishes to remain anonymous has generously loaned us some set pieces. We have some Junior Athletes who were willing to be part of the play in a minor yet important role -- pulling the carriage across the stage! Thank you, Comets, for being willing to jump in and help! We were able to rent an actual Cinderella carriage with delivery and set up for only $150. Locally, M & M Feed is letting us borrow their wagon again this year for the market scene. Watch this spring for your chance to get your tickets to the Spring Play. These amazing collaborations are building hands-on, real-world skills for our students and your families will be able to experience the result. Thank you everyone for contributing!

Just a quick reminder that Wed., Dec. 21st, is our last day before the winter break. Jr./Sr. High will release at 1:50 p.m. and Elementary at 2 p.m. School will resume on Tuesday, January 3rd, and we look forward to seeing you then. Enjoy your winter break and holidays and we hope you have a relaxing and fun time with family and friends! See you on the 3rd!

Tonight during halftime of the girl's Varsity basketball game, we will be recognizing Isaiah Biers's big win of the MHSAA D4 Pole Vault Championship last year! We're so proud of our Comet for reaching his lofty goals! Stop by tonight if you'd like to see some basketball and to congratulate Isaiah!

Mrs. Peckham's American Sign Language class had a visitor last Friday! Mr. Trent Wade, the director of the ASL program at Delta College and a close personal friend of Mrs. Peckham's, took the time to share his experiences of being born deaf, his challenges learning sign language at age 13, his determination to overcome obstacles to graduate with a MA in education and how he navigates the daily struggles with his deafness while Mrs. Peckham translated. The class enjoyed this opportunity to learn more about deaf culture from someone who experiences it first-hand. To teach her classes, Mrs. Peckham brings in lessons from the Delta ASL classes that she's involved with, but at a slower pace with added information to enhance their learning. Additionally, a new Deaf community member visits her class every month to share about their life and struggles in a hearing world. Thank you, Mrs. Peckham, for sharing this great information about your class, we're so glad to have you with us!

Thanks, Mr. Klopf, for sharing these fun photos from your class!

Patriot’s Pen Essay Contest Winners Announced! In October, 7th grade students wrote essays as part of an essay contest sponsored by the VFW. The topic was “My Pledge to Our Veterans.” The winners from the Coleman Post #1071 were announced. Winning first place was Emmi Carr, and second place was awarded to Raegen McCoy. Charlee Rhode earned third place. Each winner was awarded a cash prize, courtesy of VFW Post #1071. Congratulations to our essay winners, and a special thank you to VFW Post #1071 for their generous prize donations! (left to right) Charlee Rhode, Reagan McCoy, Emmi Carr

10th grade seminar students are volunteering at the Coleman Senior Activity Center! On Wednesday, 7 students went and served the Christmas luncheon. In addition to spending time with the seniors at the activity center, Mrs. Torreano and Mrs. Shumaker's seminar students have been making Christmas ornaments that will be distributed to all seniors that receive Meals on Wheels. This is part of the Leader in Me program. The 8th habit is to contribute to the community.

Meet our set-building crew for Drama Club's upcoming Spring musical, Cinderella! From left to right: Ty Murray, Cole Aultman, Ethan Houghton, Hunter Harsh, Mr. Brown. They built the platform for the Prince's castle wall. They have a few more projects to finish the set, but so far they have done an excellent job! Other groups of students in the STEAM class will be painting scenes on the platform, backdrops, and pillars. Thanks for helping support Drama Club, Comets!

Emma won 1st place in the VFW Voices of Democracy contest when she wrote an essay in English entitled, "Why is the Veteran Important." She had to record herself reading the essay and won 1st prize in her grade level. She earned a certificate for being "An Outstanding Spokesperson for Freedom," as well as a cash prize. Congrats, Emma! Great job!

Recently, Mr. McCormack's Biology class completed a cell lab comparing plant to animal cells using 15 top-of-the-line microscopes. The students' objective was to use their own cheek cells to compare with common onion cells. Coleman puts a strong focus on securing funds in Science to provide students resources that will best guide their learning at a high level. Zoology courses are also funded for dissections at a level to rival many Division 1 colleges for the same course. Thank you to our anonymous donors for providing the funding for these microscopes. You are appreciated!

Christmas Spirit Week is starting up on Thursday next week for the Jr/Sr High! Join in on the festive fun before we leave for winter break!

Congrats to our Comet Ty Murray for earning the prestigious DAR Good Citizens Award! Ty was chosen by our teachers to represent Coleman in the DAR Good Citizens Award contest. He was chosen for his character, leadership qualities, and involvement in school activities. Pictured is Ty, his dad, and Mrs. Shumaker, along with the other area recipients of the award. We are so proud of your hard work and commitment, Ty! You can watch the entire awards ceremony on YouTube here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MQ5Ge4XIYzw You can also read the Midland Daily News article here: https://www.ourmidland.com/news/article/DAR-honors-high-school-Good-Citizens-17601125.php

Attention Senior Parents: Cap & gown and graduation orders were taken at CHS last week. If you or your senior did not turn in an order, please place your senior’s order before December 10. The Herff Jones Company is our official provider. Orders can be placed on their website, www.miherffjones.com. If you have any questions concerning your order please call their office at (989) 773-1337 or email them at info@miherffjones.com. Do not contact the high school office. Thank you!

Miss J's Spanish classes just finished reading the novel El Capibara con Botas before Thanksgiving. Since the novel is about animals that live in the Amazon Rainforest and Galapagos Islands, students decided to raise money to adopt animals from Ecuador! 3rd hour adopted a blue-footed booby, and 6th hour chose a jaguar. Students raised $120 during the unit in order to symbolically adopt these animals through the World Wildlife Fund!