BPS has amazing students! Take a look at a few of the amazing things our students are doing and achieving:
Gold Medal win and Disney Dreamer
John Garrett, a junior at Groves High School, is one of 10 metro Detroit students to earn a gold medal in the NAACP Afro Academic, Cultural, Technological, Scientific Olympics competition. John competed in the Entrepreneurship category. He and the other students will advance to Nationals in San Antonio this July.
John was also selected as an official winner of the 2018 Disney Dreamers Academy Essay Contest. He was one of only 100 chosen to attend the Disney Dreamers Academy with Steve Harvey and Essence magazine. The Academy was held at hte Walt Disney World's Epcot Center in March. The academy is designed to teach students how to dream big and discover possibilities. The weekend included educational sessions, guest speakers and hands-on learning opportunities throughout the living classroom of the Walt Disney World Resort. Congratulations on all your accomplishments, John!
Seaholm Girls Tennis win
Congratulations to the Seaholm Girls Tennis team! Seaholm won five flights, including all four doubles teams along the no. 4 singles player. The Seaholm team is led by head coach Casey Cullen. Coach Cullen is a 2007 Seaholm graduate and the only Maple to win a #1 singles State title himself! Read more: http://www.mlive.com/sports/detroit/2018/06/birmingham_seaholm_tops_neighb.html
Writing Competition winner
Congratulations to Wylie E Groves sophomore, Ella Appleyard! Ella earned first place in the 2018 Kappy Family Anne Frank & Writing Competition, poetry division, for "Where there's hope, there's life. It fills us with fresh courage and makes us strong again." Ella was invited to read her poem at the ceremony. In addition, her teacher Amy Voigt, and Groves will receive a generous monetary gift, which Ella and Media Specialist Sharla Lawshea will spend on library materials. Congratulations, Ella!
Eagle Scout
Chance Stephenson, a senior at Groves, earned his Eagle Scout rank this spring. Chance began as a Cub Scout with Pack 1099 and continued on as a Boy Scout with Troop 1029. He completed a 12 day adventure hike at Philmont in 2016 and orchestrated and coordinated a talent show at BCS for his Eagle project. The talent show created a fun evening and lasting memories for all. Congratulations, Chance!
Groves Varsity Softball
The Groves Varsity Softball team currently sits in first place in their division with a perfect 12-0 league record and a 22-8 overall record! Not only are the girls excelling on the field, they are also shining in the classroom. The Varsity Softball players have been recognized in the state as having the highest cumulative grade point average (3.83) out of ALL Division 1 softball programs. Congratulations!
Seaholm League of Legends
Congratulations to the Seaholm Maples ESports team on their second place win at the 2018 ESports Michigan state competition. The weekend League of Legends competition win earned the students a plaque and $56,000 in scholarships over four years at Lawrence Technological School for each of the five players. Congratulations to:
Sophomore Chaz Strecker, Captain
Senior Carlo Faletti
Senior Michael McKay
Senior Justin White
Senior Jack Voigt
Special recognition to Senior Derek Johnson for helping the team reach the state competition!
Gymnastics Champion
Congratulations to Jocelyn Warnica, a sophomore at Groves. She recently competed at the Level 9 Eastern Nationals Gymnastics Championships in Rochester, NY. While competing for the Michigan Region, she won the Senior 7 age group All-Around Championship. The competition included all states east of Mississippi, against roughly 30 top gymnasts from her region and the other four regions involved. Congratulations, Jocelyn!
Eagle Scouts in BPS
Peter Helmetag, a senior at Seaholm High School, earned the rank of Eagle Scout this pring after completing a project that included the planning and construction of a cabinet to store time capsules for the FLEX program. Peter has been acitive in scouting for 12 years, beginning as a Cub Scout with Pack 1034 at Harlan Elementary School. He has continued his path to Eagle every year at Boy Scout Troop 1034 (Great Lakes Council) and Troop 162 (Transatlantic Council). Congratulations, Peter!
Carson Sowle, senior at Groves High School, earned his Eagle Scout rank this April! Carson’s Eagle project included clearing and leveling acres of land to make it usable as an activity field for the congregation at the local Northbrook Presbyterian church. Carson has been active in scouting for 12 years, beginning as a Cub Scout with Pack 1009 at Greenfield Elementary and as a Boy Scout through Troop 1029. Congratulations, Carson!!
Dustin Dimitry, a senior at Groves High School and member of Troop 1699, constructed a brick paver border for around the outside perimeter of the Berkshire Middle School Community Garden. The project helped earn him Eagle Scout rank this spring. The border will help lower the maintenance of the Berkshire Community Garden this summer. Congratulations and thank you, Dustin!
Other Eagle Scouts from Troop 1699 include:
Aldo Buttazzoni (Groves)
Daniel Llope (Groves)
Giovanni Romano (Groves)
Marshall Harvill (Groves)
Nathaniel Abbott (Groves)
Ryan Herster (Seaholm)
William Mulligan (Groves)
William Nichols (Seaholm)
Fifth grade students at Beverly Elementary School earned the Best in Show award through the Michigan Student Film Festival! The students collaborated on an animated film with the help of their art teacher, Tony Fink, and presented it at the DIA's Detroit Film Theatre on Saturday, April 28. View their movie: Animals Being Bros
Congratulations to the Purple Panthers, Pierce Elementary School's First LEGO League, Jr. team. The team had a strong showing at the Global Competition in April, earning the distinguished Building and Discovery Award. Thank you to Pierce Reading Specialist Jason Tar, team organizer!
The district is excited to cheer on Tyler Austin, Groves sophomore, as he competes in the Indianapolis World Para Swimming World Series meet. May you achieve your goal to qualify for the U.S. National Team!
BPS teams head to DI Global Finals!
This year BPS is proud to celebrate five teams headed to the Destination ImagiNation Global Finals! This 21st Century, cooperative learning opportunity offers students deeper learning in the area of STEM and STEAM. This event is considered one of the world’s largest celebrations of creativity, with more than 17,000 students attending from 19 countries at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville, TN in May. This year, BPS congratulations the following teams and wishes them luck as they head into the Global Finals:
BCS Middle School Engineering, 2nd in the state
Team members: Grace Adams-Boone, Nate Bacheller, Graham Bowyer, Ty Kennedy and Kennedy Schindler.
Team manager: Brenna Adams
BCS Team GoFundMe: Gofundme.com/help-our-kids-get-to-global-finals
BCS Elementary Improv, 3rd in the state
Team members: Batul Vohra, Eva Hightower, Sophie Seel, Lillie Seel and Maria McBride.
Team manager: Alifya Vohra
BCS Team GoFundMe: Gofundme.com/help-our-kids-get-to-global-finals
BCS Elementary Scientific, 3rd in state
Team members: Henry MacWilliams, Gabe MacWilliams, Vidushani Hettiarachchi, Addyson Kitzman, Dylan Layer, Sophie Schmier and Bemjamin Torrey.
Team manager: Sara and Kris MacWilliams
BCS Team GoFundMe: Gofundme.com/help-our-kids-get-to-global-finals
Berkshire 7th Grade, 2nd in state/1st place Instant challenge winner
Team members: DJ Anchak, Maya Rudds, Jack Szuma, Chris Baynes, Roman Salvati and McKenna Smith.
Team manager: Tom Ferries
Berkshire Team GoFundMe: Gofundme.com/berkshire-ms-di-global-fund
Bingham Farms Elementary, 2nd in state
Team members: Rolan Sundberg, Ben Handzel, Elise Everett, Miller Mann, Cameron Marshall and Ethan Rass.
Team manager: Teresa Sundberg
Bingham Farms Team GoFundMe: Gofundme.com/bingham-farms-students-headed-to-di
Congratulations to Seaholm sophomore Emilia Mushkat, who has been selected for the six-week China Summer Immersion program this June from the prestigious National Security Language Initiative for Youth (NSLI-Y). NSLI-Y is part of a U.S. government initiative that prepares American high school students to be leaders in a global world. This full merit scholarship study abroad opportunity offers Emilia the opportunity to ultimately gain the necessary linguistic skills and cultural knowledge to promote international dialogue and support American engagement abroad. For more information about the NSLI-Y program, visit http://www.nsliforyouth.org/
Seaholm Swimmer Heads into State Tournament. Read more at: https://www.hometownlife.com/story/sports/2018/02/28/arpasi-adds-winning-tradition-seaholms-boys-swim-program/379635002/
Congratulations to Griffin Kozlow, Cameron Tait, Jeremey Bakken and Tatum Kreindler on their perfect ACT scores!
On average, only around one-tenth of 1 percent of students who take the ACT earn a top score. In the U.S. high school graduating class of 2017, only 2,760 out of more than 2 million graduates who took the ACT earned a composite score of 36.
Eight-year-old Brennan Skrzyniarz, a student at Harlan Elementary in Bloomfield Hills, was selected to play on the U.S. All Star Team at the FCB Escola International Tournament in Barcelona. Read more at: http://www.theoaklandpress.com/lifestyle/20180320/bloomfield-hills-8-year-old-selected-for-us-all-star-team
Danielle Lutz is a junior at Groves that started her own nonprofit, reWEARable. Her first dressing event took place in March. Learn more about Lutz and her work at http://www.rewearable.net/
Berkshire eighth grade students Abbie Caza, Riley Sauter and Ella Plumstead are working to make a difference in the community by organizing activities and raising funds to support the building of Gigi’s Playhouse, a Down Syndrome Achievement Center. Additionally, Berkshire students in Mrs. Battle and Mrs. Hardeman's C3 classes helped raise over $600 for Officer Doss's family in March.
Katie Levine, a junior at Seaholm High School, has melded her love of baking and desire to make a difference in the world into an opportunity to help those in need. All the profits from her cupcake business Fed by Love helps feed children and adults across America through No Kid Hungry. Learn more about Levine’s mission and business at www.fedbylove.com.
Know about a great BPS kid? Let us know by emailing acron@birmingham.k12.mi.us
Do you have a question, compliment, concern or suggestion for us? Contact us through Let’s Talk, where users can remain anonymous or provide contact information to receive responses from administrators at the district or school level. http://tinyurl.com/LetsTalkBPS
