Lakeland Continues to Give to Others

In the spirit of the Holiday season, we would like to highlight our counseling department and counselor Lynne Burton who spearheaded our annual Family Assistance Program. This program assisted 35 students and their families so that they would have Christmas presents which include clothing, toys, books and other essential items . The Lakeland staff , Lakeland families and our greater community donated all of the finances as well as gifts for these families.

Watching our staff lounge turn into Santa's workshop and our Student Service staff as the elves was inspirational. These people stood for hours as they wrapped each and every present to be placed under these families Christmas trees.

This program is part of a year long effort to help any Lakeland family who is need knowing that the holiday season is the busiest time. This program is just another example of how the Lakeland High School community takes care of each other.

We, Mr. Kay and Ms. Mosher, hope that you will follow the lead of this program and remember to help others during this holiday season and all year long. On behalf the entire Lakeland administration we hope you have a restful break and a Happy New Year. We will see all of our students back on January 3.

Lipdub Shows LHS Spirit!!

On wednesday during the seminar period, Lakeland High School participated in their first ever lipdub. If you are not sure what a lipdub is, here is a youtube example courtesy of our neighbors at Milford High School: www.youtube.com/watch?v=C8p_RiLIuaA .While the LHS final product is not available fo viewing quite yet, I wanted to take a chance to thank the leadership students for taking on this project. It was really great to see such a wide variety of student groups come together to show school pride. Athletic teams, bands, student groups, classrooms and even office staff all made an appearance during the video. The lipdub is just another example of the great things our students can do when they work together for a common purpose. GO EAGLES!!

-M. Fray

The Holidays Are Coming

There is so much holiday spirit going on at Lakeland High School right now. First, the successful Toys for Tots last week began our holiday feelings. Wednesday, we have our annual Holiday choir concert which people should come out an see. Ms. Wrobel has done an excellent job of getting more students involved in choir and has prepared these young men and women for an excellent concert. If you walk the halls you will see posters for all holidays so that our diverse population can all appreciate whichever holiday they choose to celebrate. On Wednesday, we the school will participate in our first lipdub which will showcase all that we are at Lakeland High School.

During this time of year, we look at each other with appreciation and wonder as the spirit moves each and everyone of us.

Have a great holiday season.

Your Student's Teachers

While your student was able to leave at 11:19 for an early release day, their teachers spend the afternoon discussing ways to increase student achievement and how to make Lakeland High School and even better place for them to be on a daily basis. Teachers conducted discussions on what it means to be instructional leaders and creating quality instruction across our building. Furthermore, teachers looked at the building Professional Learning Communities. These PLC's are created to make sure that students are learning at the highest level and that the building is a place of spirit and high morale. Remember that the Lakeland High School teachers are constantly working to improve their teaching strategies to engage your student and make curriculum relevent to the world.

Remember, as we get closer to the holiday season, to send your student's teachers thanking them for all they do on a daily basis.

LHS Students Give Back

Every year I look forward to today's Toys-for-Tots party because it is a reminder of the truly great people that LHS students are. Throughout the day, our students spent time interacting with young guests whom have special needs. The genuine excitement of our guests and our students was on display during games, art projects, movies, music, dancing, lunch and a visit from Santa! This event continues to be an amazing representation of what a group of students can do when united around a single purpose. This year's party was made possible in part by a student body at LHS that raised in excess of $10,000 worth of donations and pledges. A special thank you must be extended to Scott Rolando and his leadership students for taking the lead on this special event.

Winter Athletics and LHS

Winter Sports – What a Winter Sports Wonderland it is -

13 varsity and 7 sub-varsity teams are in the early stages of their sports seasons. Approximately 400 athletes, 340 athletic contests, 10,000 spectators, 1900 practices, 337 officials, 34 bus trips, 27 coaches and 3 academic grade checks encompass a busy season of high school athletics. The demographics listed above only scratch the surface in a winter sports wonderland.

In order for Lakeland student-athletes to enjoy their athletic experience it takes a group of individuals that I consider to be unsung heroes. Between, Thanksgiving recess, winter break, PLAN / MME testing, early release days, and final exams, somehow, Lakeland coaches and athletes manage to get through a constant flow of calendar transitions. With that said, it clearly takes more than just coaches and athletes to trek through a busy sports season.

Not intentially, yet, often overlooked, the unsung heroes of an athletic season are overshadowed by highlights of a successful sports season. Attempting to calculate data regarding the questions below challenges even the best mathematician. With the utmost respect for our unsung heroes, I ask you to consider these questions…

How many times do parents unconditionally transport or provide gas money for their kids during the winter sports season?
How many Booster volunteers do we have working our concession stand in order to provide food and beverages to our spectators during the winter sports season?
How many volunteer team managers, scorekeepers, and statisticians do we have participating on teams to assist coaches during the winter sports season?
How many times and how many custodians do we have participating in the clean-up of locker rooms, athletic facilities, and commons areas to make it a safe and enjoyable environment for our athletes during the winter sports season?
How many ticket takers, announcers, security personnel, and bus drivers do we need during a winter sports season to keep athletics running efficiently?
How many times will our athletic trainer assist an athlete with an injury or assist in the education of injury prevention during this winter sports season?

The message is simple, the enormity of a winter sports season is often overlooked, especially the people behind the scenes who are an integral part of an athlete’s athletic experience. In the spirit of the holiday season, I am thankful and appreciative of all those connected to our athletic programs. Let’s make it a wonderful winter season. Go Eagles!

Greg Michaels, Lakeland Athletic Director

Testing

Each year our students take a variety of standardized tests. In October it was the MEAP for the 9th graders, today it was PLAN for 10th grade and in March it will be the ACT/MME for the 11th graders. The piece that always hits me is that we put around 350 students in the Fieldhouse for this test and everything goes smoothly. This is a grand testement to how great the students of Lakeland High School tend to be. I have friends in other districts who say that their students are unruly and disrespectful during testing. Not here at Lakeland!! Our students cooperate both during the test and after when they have to take down all the tables and chairs and get them ready to be picked up.

Why are the students so cooperative you may ask? The answer is first they are good kids and second because we have a staff that shows our students respect and dignity in all situations. When these tests days come, it gives me time to pause and appreciate, again, the student body and faculty of Lakeland High School.

Let's Get It Started!!

Hello All!

Well it is that time of year again. The time of the year when the students hit the hardwood, the ice, the pool, the cheer mats, the wrestling mats, the slopes, and the half pipe. Yes the big start of the winter sports season is upon us here at Lakeland High School! I know that many students are looking forward to participating in winter sports and that many students are even more excited about going out to cheer on their friends and classmates playing those sports. Even the staff is excited for the start of winter sports as I am starting to see the basketball gear, hockey gear, and other Lakeland winter sports gear starting to get worn again. In recent years we have had some great success here at Lakeland including winning the North Division title in girls cheerleading last year, and some great success in boys swim and dive and boardercross. We have our first three home basketball games this week, as our boys team opens up the season here at Lakeland on Tuesday, Dec 6th, taking on Wayne Memorial. Our girls are home this Friday also taking on Wayne Memorial. Our boys are home again this Thursday when they take on the Pirates of Pinckney in a renewal of an old KVC battle that goes way back and a new KLAA battle. Our hockey team is also off to a good start winning some games on a recent trip to the Soo on their annual U.P. road trip. Cheerleading is home starting next week and wrestling to follow soon. Take a look at www.lakelandhs.com and click on the link for sports schedules to see when you can follow your favorite Lakeland team this winter sports season!

I would also like to send a big shout out to the Lakeland students and the community the over 1,000 pieces of food donated to Lakeland for the annual Holiday Food Drive. Your help goes a long, long way to feed the hungry in our White Lake community. Well on top of that we have our annual Toys for Tots party for Handicapped Children this Thursday Dec 8th. We are looking forward to a great time at this event and an even better time helping those in need this holiday season. Well as you can see we have a ton of great things happening here at Lakeland and I hope to see you at a Lakeland event sometime in the near future!! GO EAGLES!!

Helping Us Help Others

Since 2007, I have been taking our students to work with Habitat for Humanity down in Florida. Our students have had the opportunity to work in both the East and Central Pasco Habitat and the Leesburg Habitat. The are both located north of Orlando. We have been fortunate enough to frame homes, side homes, build fences, sod, paint, clean up a home that is now a refurbished Habitat home and work at the Habitat Thrift Store to insure that these agencies would have enough money to build homes for those who are living in sub standardized housing. Here are a few things that you should know about Habitat home owners:

1. They are not homeless.
2. They must have a job and be able to pay their interest free monthly mortgage.
3. They must put in or find family to put in 500 sweat equity hours into their home or to help another Habitat recipient with their home.

Habitat for Humanity was not started by Jimmy Carter but he helped to make it a well known organization with affiliates in all 50 states and worldwide.

I have been volunteering for them since 1998 and cannot tell you the joy it brings me when I take students and they see, first hand, what poverty can truly look like. Last year, I took 15 students in February and another 12 in April. Some say why do you go all the way to Florida when we have poverty in our own backyard and that is a valid question. I have found, over the years, that students need to be spurred on in some manner. By going to Florida, they initially think warm vacation. By time we are done, they are thinking how can I bring this sense of community service by to my own community. This may not happen right away but it will happen over time.

How can you help Lakeland High School continue to help others in this manner:

1. Have your junior or senior sign up for this experience which is being offered both in February and over spring break in April. Information is in the associate principal's office but spaces are filling fast. In order for students to join they must have a positive discipline record as well as good attendance as the February trip results in 4 missed school days and the April trip in 2 missed school days.
2. Make a donation to help keep our costs down. The cost of the trip seems high but it also includes having to pay for the staffing as well. If people help by making personal monetary donations we can keep the staff costs away from our participants thus allowing us to make a larget monetary donation to the Habitat affiliate. A letter will be sent to you for tax purposes and checks can be made to LHS with Habitat Experience in the memo line.
3. Have your company become a sponsor of our trip. Any company who makes a donation of $500 or more will be included in all mailings, listserves, blogs and newspaper articles. This is a great way to get some PR for your company by helping us teach the next generation about charity both at home and away.

Time for a Fresh Start!!

With all of the craziness that accompanies this time of year, one exciting opportunity is often missed. On Monday, December 12th, students will all be given the opportunity to have a fresh start in their classes. While it seems hard to believe, LHS students have already completed two marking periods. This is a great chance for struggling students to start over or for well-performing students to focus in on a final push to midterm exams. Remember, only the semester grade will find its way onto the students' transcript. This semester grade is an average of each of the three marking periods and the midterm exam. So... take advantage of this great opportunity to have a fresh start and make it count!!

by Mike Fray

Teaching at it's Best

Over the past month I have been sitting inside classrooms witnessing exceptional instruction. Teachers are conscientious of the hour they spend with students often breaking the lesson up into 3 different activities to keep students engaged. I have seen innovative teaching strategies to help reinforce concepts, relationship building with students setting forth the desire to learn and questioning techniques that have students think. When I observed Ms. Piagentini’s class students participated in a circle discussion. Students were facilitating a dialogue of their reading with only minimal guidance from the teacher. I have seen teachers building relationships with students and empowering them to help their peers in learning concepts, as witnessed in Ms. Gilbert’s class. Teachers are having students “think.” Instead of students being exposed to “sit and get,” teachers are asking students why and how they concluded an answer or concept. In Ms. Agne’s class, students who gave an answer were then asked why, requiring them to add support to the answers