Scot Graden's Blog

Here is the new “Go Hornets” logo that has been painted around the stadium.

I never want to buy textbooks again!  Since we just purchased several new versions, mostly at the secondary level, at a cost of over $400,000 – the time might be right.  Unlike the past, we have other options – software, PDFs, video files, consumable workbooks, podcasts, and online tutorials are just a few.

Many textbook companies see this coming – they are adapting their “intellectual property” to allow educators to choose the format for receiving the content.  iTunes University is being piloted here in Michigan as a way teachers can provide lectures and other materials to their students.  The list of innovations goes on….  maybe textbooks will go the way of slate boards and the ditto machine?

Your comments?

Over the weekend Domas Siaudvytis (green shirt) and his friends landscaped around the high school sign as part of his Eagle Scout project. Nice work Domas!

The Friends of Henne Field will be hosting “Henne Field Day” this Sunday, September 21st from 2:00pm to 6:00pm at Henne Field.  I’ve attached a poster with more information – including the part about free ice cream!

Henne Field Day

Trying to keep up on what is happening (or about to happen) in a district of about 5,500 students is not an easy task.  One of the ways we are trying to keep interested families and community members up to date is by sending our “informational” emails.

Click here to get a list of the of the “mailing lists” that you want to be included on – then follow the directions to get signed up.  There is also a simple process to get unsubscribed if you don’t want to remain on the list.

I encourage you to sign up for the “District Information” list, as that is the one I typcially send out.

The King Pancake Tour is underway….  They will be at Woodland Meadows this Wednesday, September 17th. Students get all you can eat pancakes, sausage and tater-tots (hashbrowns).  Judging from what I observed at Harvest last week – the kids love it!

Tonight was the first home football game of the year.  The Hornets played well and earned a big 34-14 win over the 2-0 Chelsea Bulldogs.  The game was part of the Great American Rivalry Series.  Next Friday the Hornets head to Dexter for a 7pm kickoff against the Dreadnaughts.

Tonight’s meeting began with a presentation from the Link Crew staff at the High School.  Mr.  Diroff, Ms. Chapman and Mr. Bush shared the philosophy behind the Link Crew program, along with some of the benefits to our students.  This year marked the 5th year of the program in Saline, which has involved over 3,000 students as Link Crew leaders and participants.

Next, we heard from Mr. Jerry Brand, Mr. Bill Spargur and Mr. Ben Schneider from the Granger Construction Company.  They spoke about a staff & student survey they conducted in the fall, 2007 regarding the high school facility.  The  “most liked” areas included the performing arts center, the commons, and the pool.  The concerns included the lack of color and narrow stairwells.

Several business items regarding school operation then followed on the agenda.  The board approved a new district-wide copier lease that will save us $35,000 a year over 4 years.  Two bills related to the Pleasant Ridge project including the playground equipment were approved.  This approval provides for the delivery by the end of this week and installation of he playground equipment beginning on September 18th.

On an exciting note for our students and staff, the board approved a 4 year lease of new computer hardware from Apple.  In total, the lease will include 300 iMacs and MacBooks that will be used throughout the district.  We have also used this lease to leverage Apple to provide us with technical and instructional personnel to support our staff.  This means they will help us set the equipment up and work with staff to ensure we maximize the use to benefit our students at no additional cost.

The board then discussed the evaluation tool that will be used to evaluate my performance.  The draft version that was discussed is modeled after one that was presented at recent the Michigan Association of School Boards conference.

Lastly, we worked on the district goals for the 2008-2009 school year and are set to adopt them at the September 23rd meeting.

The meeting on the 23rd will be a joint meeting between the Saline City Council and the Saline School Board.  This is the first joint meeting between the boards in at least the last 12 years.  It will be a great time for us to discuss shared issues and options for collaboration in the future.

Today was a busy day as we worked to get students into schools, their classrooms, fed and returned to their homes.

My day started at Pleasant Ridge.  Our entire community is mourning the loss of Luke Brenner and his passing has been felt especially hard at Pleasant Ridge.  The day began as we worked with families and bus drivers to learn the new traffic patterns.  During the summer, the parking lot was completely renovated and reconfigured. It was a learning experience for all!

At the Alternative High School, Dr. Enright spoke to 48 students attending the opening day orientation.

I stopped by Houghton School to watch our Kindergarten and Young 5 families arrive for orientation.  As always, Principal Stevenson greeted students and parents with a warm smile.

I checked on Heritage and Woodland Meadows – Prinicpal Laatsch was keeping at eye on the cafeteria and making sure the 5th graders were enjoying their new experience.  At Woodland Meadows, Ms. Pederson’s music class was learning how to listen and follow directions.

At the Middle School, Officer Ringe enjoyed lunch with the students and Principal Raft thanked him for his visit.

The new lunch format (accommodating 1800 students in 3 lunch periods) at the high school was crowded but functioning well.  We added the “10th Street Cafe” run by Ms. Greko, and today she had help from our Technology Specialist Mr. Grossman.

I stopped by Harvest toward the end of the day and caught Principal Sharon getting green jello, with what appeared to be a worm in it from Theodore Nowicki who was celebrating his 10th birthday.

All in the all day went well – it is wonderful to have the students and staff back – it’s going to be a great year!

When you are at the fair this week, be sure to stop by and see us at the Saline Area Schools booth in the Merchant Building.  The Saline Community Fair runs through this September 6th.