BPS has amazing students and staff! Take a quick look at a few of the amazing things they are doing and achieving:

Groves Debate Results

Groves varsity and novice debaters had a successful weekend at Wayne State University's Ed Pappas Memorial Tournament, held Oct. 12-13, 2018. In the novice division, Groves took both first and second place, defeating Midland H.H. Dow High School in both semifinal debates. Representing Groves were Kevin Guich, Ryan Goodman, Amiri Walker, Ben Glick and Luke Lee. Ryan was 10th, Kevin 7th and Ben placed 4th in the individual speaker category. In the varsity division, the team of Lukis Bagdon and Sathvik Rajagopalan reached the semifinals before losing a close 2-1 decision to Midland H.H. Dow.

Successful Fun Run

Quarton Physical Education teacher, Kyle Cameron, was presented with an award from Jump Rope for Heart. Out of the 1,027 schools, Quarton Elementary was named the third highest fundraising school in the state, raising $31,109. Many thanks and congratulations to Mr. Cameron for his dedication and work with the students to keep them enthusiastic in their mission.

Birmingham Robotics Team

The Birmingham Robotics Team started the year off competing in the Oakland County Competitive Robotics League tournament #1 at Marion High School. With 20 teams competing in a round-robin format, the Birmingham United team (Automation Nation) won the third-place trophy, missing out on first place by one score. They were also awarded the Judge’s Award for “Design and Execution”. Automation Nation is led by teachers Bernie Simms and Patrick Hoover.

Thank you, volunteers!

Thank you to all the volunteers that joined Kids Against Hunger at Birmingham Covington Schools on Sept. 22 for Kids Feeding Kids. Over 22,800 meals were packed by 222 volunteers to feed children around the world!

All-American Swim

Tyler Austin, a junior at Groves High School, was named to the 2017-18 Scholastic All-American Swim Team. The team honors the top high school swimmers who focused and maintained excellence in the classroom as well as the pool. This year 1,619 high school swimmers earned the distinction in the nation. 

National Merit Scholarship

Officials of National Merit Scholarship Corporation announced the names of approximately 16,000 Semifinalist in the 64^th Annual National Merit Scholarship Program. We are happy to congratulate Seaholm’s National Merit Scholarship Semifinalists of 2019: Jeremy Bakken, Sydney Czako, Tatum Kreindler, Emma Morganroth and Owen Salciccioli!

Berkshire student recognized by Duke University Talen ID program

Lochlan Patterson, an eighth grade student at Berkshire Middle School has been honored by Duke University Talent Identification program for his exceptional scores on the SAT. The talent program recognizes students across the United States who’ve scored at or above the 95^th percentile on grade-level standardized test. Duke TIP then hosts an annual recognition ceremony to honor the remarkable ACT or SAT scores. Congratulation to Lochlan!

Racing for Kids recognizes Sovran 

Racing for Kids is a unique, national charity which supports children when they are most vulnerable – sick and hospitalized. Each year, Racing for Kids to the Hill, an annual RFK event, gives out a Courageous Kid Award to honor and celebrate children who have beat the odds and overcome their various health challenges. This year’s 2018 Courageous Kid Award was received by 14 year old, Kathleen Sovran of Southfield, Michigan and student at Groves High School. The Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation of whom nominated Kathleen, is also a partner organization to Racing for Kids and a proud beneficiary of this event.

Rutherford Spotlight 

Congratulations to our very own Mr. John Rutherford! He was featured by the Educational Theatre Association this month!

"We chose John based on the outstanding theatre advice he regularly contributes to our Theatre Education Community. The instruction John provides helps other theatre educators, students, and artists from all over the world."

Check out his spotlight from the Educational Theatre Association. 

Service over the summer 

Alex Pallone, a senior at Seaholm High School, spent the summer volunteering with the YMCA at Camp Nissokone. As a junior counselor, he trained and lead the camp activities with students ages 8-16 and lead a 52-mile canoe trip. Congratulations on earning 550 hours of community service hours, Alex! 

Jackson Bergstrom, a junior at Seaholm High School, was honored by Birmingham Youth Assistance and the Optimists Club earlier this year with the Youth in Service award and Jane Parker Ward award and scholarship. Additionally, Jackson received the President’s Lifetime Achievement Medal for Volunteerism and is a past recipient of the President’s Gold Medal for volunteerism. Jackson directs an organization he created called “Lambs of Love” which has funded 13 years of education for each of over 500 girls in West Africa. At Seaholm, Jackson established the Young American’s for Freedom, which hosted School Safety Student Roundtables Civil Discourse assemblies with a state representative, U.S. congressman and students to have an open dialogue around important issues. He spent time over the summer planning additional opportunities. Additionally, Jackson spent the summer serving as a law clerk for a local judge this summer and traveled to Greece, Gettysburg, Williamsburg and DC where he attended several political leadership meetings.  

Thanks to the Pierce Community Education Council and the teachers and students in 3rd grade ESL, Pierce has a new Free Little Library! Located on the playground, near the new Buddy Bench, the idea came from Mrs Papaghanian's 3rd grade ESL reading group. The group read a non-fiction piece about Free Little Library's around the world and how they are helping communities grow together and gain literacy skills. Mrs Papaghanian, Mrs Hilzinger and students created a plan to design and advertise this new resource for the Pierce community. Mrs Hilzinger's friend, Simona Lucutz, volunteered to help the kids organize their design ideas and paint the library. They chose to highlight diversity and community, two themes that Simona is famous for. Her art even won the Downtown Birmingham Art Contest! Congratulations to Simona, Pierce ESL and the entire Pierce learning community!

Know about a great BPS kid? Let us know by emailing acron@birmingham.k12.mi.us  

Why Choose BPS?

BPS was ranked No. 1 in Michigan by Niche.com and BPS teachers were named the No. 2 Best Teachers in Michigan! 

BPS is now a State and National District of Character! 
BPS is the first district in Michigan to be named a District of Character! 

For more information about the district, explore our website or visit the Prospective Families section of our website.