PREPARING FOR TOMORROW - Congratulations Class of 2022!
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Congratulations Class of 2022!
Now that commencement is over and summer is upon
us, it’s time to celebrate this incredible class and all you
have accomplished. As you take the next step in your
journey—whether that be college, post-secondary
training, the military, or a new career—know that you
are ready. You exemplify what a World Class School Dis-
trict is all about, and I am confident you are well pre-
pared for whatever adventure lies before you.
Before we say goodbye to the class of 2022, I want to
take a moment to thank a special group of
graduates who have served on our Superintendent
Student Advisory Board. These students have been
PREPARING FOR TOMORROW
an integral part of SSAB during some of the most The average age of our schools in the Troy physical spaces they need to maximize
challeng-ing years. They were freshmen and School District is 48 years old. That number is learning in the 21st century.
sophomores who worked tirelessly for two years to significantly higher than many surrounding dis-
help execute our city-wide MLK Day of Service, but tricts that have built new schools and substan- In November, the TSD will put a bond issue
once it was their turn to take charge, Covid hit and we tially remodeled others in the past 20 years. before voters to bring our facilities up to date,
were unable to host large events. Still, that did not The TSD has instead, opted to be fiscally con- protect the investment our community has
stop them. This group of stu-dents pitched in to help servative and invest in the learning that goes made in our schools, and significantly improve
families in need. They volun-teered at food
on inside the classroom. It has served us well. the learning environment for our students—
distributions and raised funds for those who could use
But that means that over time, our schools and today and into the future. More information,
a hand. And just as importantly, they offered their
insights and voices, advocating for their schools and classrooms have become crowded, outdated, including how this could impact your students,
fellow students as we all navigated complex issues. As and not conducive to the way students collab- is to come when we return in the fall!
always, they did it with positivity and an eye for orate and learn today.
solutions.
This past school year, a community-led facil-
SSAB grads, you made it your mission to leave the Troy ities review team studied a ll o f o ur buildings
School District a better place than you found it, and in great detail. When they finished, their mes-
I can safely you did all that say you did all that and sage was clear: the time has come to fix the
more. problems so that Troy students have the
• Sarayu Bethamcherla, Troy High School
• Jadelyn Bui, Athens High School
• Cole Compton, TCCHS
• Hannah DiGiovanni, Athens High School TCCHS AQUARIUM UNVEILED
• Jordan Doyle, Athens High School The saltwater aquarium have a calming effect for those
• Alex Duda, Troy High School at Troy College and who suffer from anxiety and de-
• Michael Dunayer, Athens High School Career High School's pression, “To have this in our
• Amita Gowda, Athens High School entrance is the cul- building now, symbolically rep-
• Jordan Jarbo, International Academy East mination of ideas, dreams, resents a different perspective
• Charlotte Ludorf, Troy High School effort and support for on the importance of Alternative
• Nya Mays, International Academy East the TCCHS Community, Education, and the ‘richness’ of
• Britta Pingree, Troy High School and the vision of Principal our culture and investment in
• Nawfal Raza, International Academy East
Bill Turner’s pride in his school and students. our students.”
• Sanjana Sharma, International Academy East
• Asma Syed, Troy High School
“For a long time, Alternative Education was The aquarium was funded by private
• Manaal Syed, International Academy East
stigmatized as something second class, and I donations and built by students, staff and
Congratulations graduates - the best is yet to come! wished to change that stigma as our stu- outside community members. “It is
dents and staff are absolutely first class,” he beautiful to look at," concluded Turner, "but
Dr. Richard Machesky said. Studies have found that the colors, also puts a stamp on our change to
Superintendent movement and even sounds in aquariums something much more deserving for our
Troy School District students.”
2 Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition www.troy.k12.mi.us
on in open-air venues to reduce the likelihood now have to contemplate ways to keep funding
that a new variant surge might prevent us from new interventions resulting from the pandemic
celebrating our seniors. after the Federal money is gone. Our students,
while demonstrating amazing resilience over-
And never mind Coronavirus. The people at all, also exhibited much higher rates of anxiety
every level of our organization from the Board and some rusty social skills. Consequently, our
of Education to the Administration to our counselors and other social-emotional support
teachers to our support staff to all of our op- professionals have been inundated. Like I said,
erations partners—have all had to deal with it’s been a very challenging year!
Another unusual year ends for the Troy School
continued, unprecedented challenges all year:
District, with widespread celebrations across
staffing shortages in every area of the district; With that said, here’s what struck me the most
all of our buildings. For the past nine months,
a lack of companies available to bid on district as I watched our organization in action through
we have been tracking weekly community
construction and improvement projects; new this chaos: the ability of our people at every
COVID-19 rates and planning accordingly. By
equipment delayed in the malfunctioning inter- level of the district to engage positively with
late fall, we thought the worst was over, only
national supply chain; high inflation; fleet fuel our students and show them how to creatively
to see the Omicron variant surge and threaten
costs that have doubled in four months; and navigate through this crazy environment with
to shut us down in January. In March, declin-
even intermittent food shortages that required love, grace, laughter, and respect for one an-
ing numbers finally allowed Oakland County to
our food service staff to assemble some “inter- other. On behalf of the Board of Education and
allow optional masking in our buildings. For the
esting” lunch combinations that, while unusual, the entire Troy community, thank you for that.
first time in two years, I was able to visit class-
still met Federal balanced diet guidelines. While It was, undoubtedly, the most important thing
rooms in person for March is Reading Month.
temporary Federal COVID relief funds have you taught our children over the past school
Our commencement ceremonies, though very
been essential to our recent operations, we year.
“normal” in appearance, were booked early
2022 TROYBERY WINNERS ANNOUNCED
Christina Chatel. This year, Troybery was both in- dle schoolers voted on their favorites, the winners
seat and virtual—via a special app, students could were: 3rd Runner-up American as Paneer Pie by
access e-book and audiobook copies of Troybery Supriya Kelkar; 2nd Runner-up 96 Miles by J.L.
nominees, along with checking out print versions Esplin; 1st Runner-up Glitch by Laura Martin; and
of the books in their school’s media centers. the overall winner is Fighting Words by Kimberly
Brubaker Bradley. To see the exciting reveal, visit
This year featured new “Troybery Author Blitz” this private YouTube link: https://youtu.be/aPcn-
book talks via Zoom all day with eight different DMiObs
Troy’s authors: Anne Blankman (Blackbird Girls), Supri-
version of the ya Kelkar (American as Paneer Pie), J.L. Esplin (96 “This year, we really saw the impact of author vis-
Newbery Reading Award Program Miles), Rena Barron (Maya and the Rising Dark), its,” said Mrs. Chatel. “After students visited with
(the Troybery) encourages Troy middle schoolers Laura Martin (Glitch), Lorien Lawrence (The Stitch- Troybery authors via Zoom during our Troybery
to read the best middle school-grade books pub- ers), Sarah Allen (What Stars Are Made of) and Dan Author Blitz, they rushed to check out those au-
lished in a specific year and then vote on their fa- Poblicki (Ghost Hunters Daughter). thors’ books. It’s no coincidence that three out of
vorites. The contest usually begins in the fall, with our four top books are ones from authors that we
students reading nominated books and then voting Troybery is modeled after the Newbery Award hosted in March.”
for them in a March Madness-style tournament. given each year by the American Library Associa-
tion to the best children’s books. Mrs. Chatel and For more information about the Troybery Program,
“Our ultimate goal is to get kids excited about Ms. Loch challenged students to read a list of 32 visit http://troymiddleschoolmediacenter.weebly.
and interested in reading,” said Media Specialist titles from a wide variety of genres. After the mid- com/troybery.html.
TROY UNITED GIRLS HIGH SCHOOL HOCKEY PLAYERS
WIN ALL-STATE AWARDS
Megan Moceri and Heidi Blackwell won all- fense. This
state accolades at the conclusion of the girls’ is Megan’s
high school hockey season. The Michigan Girls second All-
High School Hockey League coaches vote at State Award
the conclusion of each season for first team, for she also
second team, and honorable mention awards earned hon-
from all players in the league. Senior and Assis- orable men-
tant Captain Heidi Blackwell was presented the tion as a
Honorable Mention Award for her steady play freshman.
throughout the season both at forward and
defense. Junior and Assistant Captain Megan
Moceri was voted Second Team All-State for de-
www.troy.k12.mi.us Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition 3
TROY AGAIN NAMED BEST COMMUNITY
FOR MUSIC EDUCATION
Troy has been named a 2022 Best Community for
Music Education by the National Association of Music
Merchants (NAMM) and the Music Research Institute
at the University of Kansas. The award recognizes
the outstanding efforts of teachers, administrators,
parents, students, and community leaders who have
made exemplary music education part of the curric-
ulum.
This is the 15th consecutive year Troy has received this
elite designation, and TSD Assistant Superintendent
of Secondary Education Christine DiPilato shares the
pride administration feels for this achievement: “This
designation highlights our community’s commitment
to music education. We know that music enriches our
students’ lives, provides a balance to other academic
endeavors, and serves as inspiration and a creative
outlet. We are a more complete learning community
because of our incredible performing arts programs.
We are grateful for our community’s continued sup-
port and investment in our music programs and look
forward to celebrating with you.”
ATHENS STUDENT FILM AWARDS PROJECT SEARCH
INTERN ACHIEVEMENTS
Congrats to Athens seniors Gillian Ciak, Anna Congratulations to our TSD Project SEARCH
DiBella, Garrett Merbach, and Erik Schmidt on students Phil Chu, David Coleman and Sami
winning the Kimberly Anne Gillary Foundation’s Faiz. Project SEARCH is a one year school-to-work
MI HEARTSafe School Video Contest! The four program that provides employment and education
students are members of Athens TV and Athens opportunities to individuals with disabilities,
Soccer, and created a video about the team’s preparing them for the workforce by learning
Heart Night game on May 10th. valuable skills in areas like food service, stocking,
supply chain/retail and physical therapy. In the
Kimberly was an Athens student who tragical- state of Michigan, there are 19 program partners,
ly passed away due to a cardiac arrest suffered including Troy Beaumont Hospital, where 94
during a water polo game in 2000. The students students have participated over the past 9 years,
were inspired by her story and are hoping their resulting in 39 interns hired!
peers understand the importance of being heart
safe. Athens will receive a $5000 donation from
the foundation, and the students hope it will be
used to further heart safe awareness.
PTO SCHOLARSHIP WINNER
Troy School District’s Alex’s Saints Foun-
Parent Teacher Or- dation. She was
ganization (PTO) is a member of the
pleased to award the Student Superin-
first-ever PTO Lead- tendent Advisory
ership Scholarship to Board. Hannah
Athens senior Han- volunteers at her
nah DiGiovanni. church and in her
Hannah exemplified community and
volunteering and service at Athens and was a will be attending U of M in the Fall. This schol-
leader for Charity Week StuGo as Second Vice arship is funded by PTOs across the district,
President, helping to raise $117,706.46 for and is hoped to be repeated next year.
4 Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition www.troy.k12.mi.us
COMING THIS FALL:
NEW & IMPROVED SWEEPS NSPRA
SENIOR GOLD CARD
We are excited to welcome our
AWARDS
seniors to TSD student concerts and The TSD Communications team once again won big in the National School Public Relations Annual Awards
contest. This year, the TSD won 8 Publications and Digital Media Excellence Awards, which recognize out-
performances at no cost through our standing education publications, e-newsletters, digital media programs, marketing materials, videos, social
“Gold Card” program. Seniors will also media, websites, and more. With almost 14,000 school districts across the country, to be singled out for so
have the opportunity to volunteer in our many individual awards is quite an honor.
schools through the Troy Foundation for
Educational Excellence. Stay tuned for ONETroy Creative was recognized for excellence across the
nation in these areas:
more information about these
- Website (TSD Press Room)
special programs, which will kick off - Podcasts (3 different TSD podcasts were singled out)
in Fall of 2022. - Print newspaper/newsletter (Troy Times supplement)
- Video (Leading with Literacy in the TSD)
The team also won two merit awards for additional videos focused
on TSD Preschool and our original “Refresh” music video to kick off the
year.
"We are very proud of the efforts of our communicators and are
thrilled to be recognized both online and at the annual NSPRA
Conference," said TSD Director of Communications & Strategic
Initiatives Kerry Birmingam. "We have worked hard to find unique and creative ways to tell the stories
of the TSD and give our community an inside look at the amazing work going on inside our classrooms
all year long." As always, if you know about an interesting story we should tell, reach out to
onetroycreative@troy.k12.mi.us or click on the “Got News?” icon on the TSD website.
TROY HIGH STUDENT SHOOTS FOR THE STARS, WINS NASA CONTEST
Troy High Sophomore Fiona Samson is headed to NASA’s GeneLab for properly prepared for this opportunity by
a high school summer internship program this summer, a four-week in- her teachers and classes at Troy High, es-
tensive training program in Silicon Valley, CA. Students will train in NASA pecially the laboratory research activities
space biology research and computational biology methods and tech- inTHS’ Genetics, Biotechnology, Bacteriol-
niques in order to analyze omics data, apply the bioinformatics anal- ogy and Embryology class
yses to NASA Space Biology science, and develop a competitive team
experimental proposal based on analysis of data from the GeneLab Data Only 15 high school
Repository. students are selected
nationwide for this
Samson is looking forward to being a part of this program: “I am excit- program every year
ed about the new learning opportunities, and can’t wait to work with out of thousands of
the mentors, NASA scientists and fellow interns.” She feels she was applicants.
NEARLY $75,000 IN SUPPORT TO TSD TEACHERS FROM THE TFEE THIS YEAR!
Since 1987, the Troy Founda- grants, which funded a variety of teacher-driven enrichment oppor-
tion for Educational Excellence tunities ranging from a student-created Greek mythology-themed ar-
has proudly supported the Troy cade to passion projects for high school students. These grants ex-
School District. This year, the panded opportunities for all Troy students!
TFEE continued this tradition
with a $40,000 grant support- In addition to support for TSD teachers, the TFEE is proud to award
ing elementary literacy. These the Sharon Alexander Scholarship, which remembers long-time TSD
funds were used to purchase teacher Sharon Alexander. It is awarded to TSD seniors involved in the
thousands of books for the fine arts who will continue this involvement in college. This year’s re-
elementary literacy libraries, cipients are Athens Senior Ashley Van Kampen and Troy Seniors Britta
which are used by all the TSD Pingree, Caroline Samuelsen, and Thejas Mirle.
elementary teachers.
The TFEE also awarded more To learn more about the TFEE please visit their website: https://www.
than $34,000 in multi-teacher troyfoundation.org/.
www.troy.k12.mi.us Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition 5
TSD STUDENT WINS AMAZON BOULAN PARK ROBOTICS TEAMS COMPETE
SCHOLARSHIP AT WORLD CHAMPIONSHIPS
Troy High School senior Hyun Kim has been At Boulan Park Middle School, robotics is
awarded an Amazon Future Engineer Schol- serious business. BPMS sent an all-girls
team to the First Tech Challenge (FTC) Ro-
botics World competition in Houston, TX in
April. Team #16607, known as “Midnight
Creators,” advanced to Worlds after having
achieved an impressive 2nd place Inspire
Award and 1st Place Motivate Award at the
Michigan State Championship.
In VEXIQ, team #48084R (“RogueBots”)
swept the three highest award categories
at States to advance to the World Champi-
onships in Dallas. The RogueBots brought
arship, including $40,000 to study computer home the Build Award from Worlds and
science at a university of her choosing. Hyun were ranked 1st in Michigan and 57th of
is only one of three students from Michigan, 3,186 teams in the world for skills! Proud of
and one out of 250 students nationally to re- our Broncos!
ceive this scholarship out of thousands of ap-
plicants.
All Scholarship Recipients were chosen based
on a variety of criteria, including their aca-
demic achievement, demonstrated leader-
ship, participation in school and community
IAE CELEBRATES
activities, work experience, future goals, and
financial need. Hyun, who is president of Troy WITH CONVENTION
High’s Physics Club, aspires to become a role
model for women in STEM with her anticipat-
ed degree in Computer Science and Engineer- IAE’s Environmental Club held an schools to become more sustain-
Earth Day Convention on a Saturday in May. able, bonds and their environmental plans,
ing at MIT. “As a Girls Who Code alumni and a
There were different booths with passionate and how the TSD supports student initiatives.
female engineer, I will help close the gender environmentalists, keynote speakers, sustain-
gap by actively inspiring young girls to pursue able businesses, and other activities. Speak- Michigan House Representative and keynote
computer science.” ers included Vallen Krikor speaker Padma Kuppa spoke about her journey
and Portia Channa of as an environmentalist and engineer, how she
Amazon Future Engineer, Amazon’s global the Sunrise Movement uses legislation to work on environmental
philanthropic computer science education at Michigan State policies, the importance of educating our-
program, aims to bridge the divide between University, House selves politically, and how she has impacted
interested students and computer sci- Representative Pad- the community. The Sunrise Move-
ence courses and opportunities. The child- ma Kuppa, and our ment’s Vallen Krikor and Por-
hood-to-career education program helps chief guest Dr. Rich tia Channa also attended
students explore computer science through Machesky. as keynote speakers and
school curriculum and project-based learn- spoke about the Sunrise
ing, using code to make music, program ro- According to event orga- Movement’s key values
nizer and Environmental and what the movement
bots, solve problems, and offers teachers pro-
Club founder Akshitha has done in the past to
fessional development opportunities.
Sahu “This year’s con- promote environmental ad-
vention was an im- vocacy.
As part of the scholarship, Hyun will also re- mense success, and
ceive a paid internship at Amazon after her after transitioning from The event concluded with a vote of thanks
freshman year of college to gain hands-on, a virtual event last year by each of the board members, who remarked
practical work experience with mentorship to an in-person event this with certainty that the Club has many more
from Amazon leaders. year, we’ve grown a lot.” There plans for the future, including an EcoBricks
were environmental booths that were run by project where we turn plastics into bricks (cur-
passionate environmentalists and businesses, rently in the works), a sustainable garden that
and the chief guest was TSD Superintendent donates food to families with food insecurity,
Dr. Rich Machesky, who spoke about the Troy and a composting program at IA East.
School District’s efforts with rebuilding our
6 Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition www.troy.k12.mi.us
The Troy School District conferred more than
1000+ degrees to the Class of 2022. It’s been an
phenomenal conclusion to a stellar year!
www.troy.k12.mi.us Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition 7
Congratulations to the
2022 TSD Graduates!!
8 Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition www.troy.k12.mi.us
TCCHS SENIORS ARE LARSON INNOVATORS
“WOMEN OF TOMORROW” PITCH TO “SHARKS”
Three TCCHS seniors were celebrated at a very special event put on Larson Innovation Incubator students competed in
by the Women of Tomorrow. Hailey Swanek, Hannah Petty, and the Larson Shark Tank finals. They presented the
Alyssa Mclarty were acknowledged by TSD School Board Trustee pitches for
Nancy Philippart, TSD Assistant Superintendent Christine DiPilato, their inven-
and others as Mentees of the Year. Since 2004, The Women of To- tions to a pan-
el of “sharks”
morrow Mentor & Scholarship Program empowers young women
to try to earn investments. The
to live up to their full potential through unique mentoring pro-
pitches that earned the most in-
grams and scholarship opportunities. TCCHS students have been vestments in this semester’s com-
involved in this program since 2012. petition were the ML Concrete
portable concrete mixer by An-
Additional Congratula- drew Cermak and Tyler Cook, and
tions go to Dr. Philippart the Spinny Cubes fidget pencil grip
on receiving the Wom- by Raiqa Haq, Avanthika Hemakumar, and Emma Spahic. The “sharks”
en of Tomorrow Mentor included Karl Schmidt (Owner of Emicity market research and president
of the Year Award. For of the TSD school board), Vinod Undemane (Senior IT Manager- GM),
more information visit Kevin Rose (retired engineer), and Anik Undemane (entrepreneurship
https://womenoftomor- student in U of M’s Ross Business School and former Larson Shark Tank
row.org/about/ contestant). Each contestant also received $10 Amazon gift cards from
the PTO.
TROY SCHOOL DISTRICT CELEBRATES RETIREES
The Troy School District congratulates the following staff members Joyce Brasington Principal Wattles Elementary
on their retirements, who together represent over 400 years of Cheryl Buxton Teacher Hamilton Elementary
combined experience in the TSD: John Fedyk Workforce Staff Troy Career Center
Tatiana Godlewski Teacher Athens
Dawn Hayes Teacher Athens
Kathy Hoppe Secretary Troy Learning Center
Lois Hurdle Secretary Services Building
Lynda Keough Workforce Staff Troy Career Center
Jackie Kochanski Para-Professional TSD Preschool
Laura Laga Secretary Services
Jeff McCoy Teacher Martell/Morse
Jane McKenney Teacher Baker Middle School
John Morrison Teacher Troy High
Brad Morton Teacher Athens
Jane Moss Teacher Athens
Tammy Polena Teacher Schroeder
Rick Rinnan Counselor Athens
Cheryl Schubeck Workforce Staff Troy Career Center
Thank you & Congratulations Rosanne Thomas Teacher Barnard/Wattles Elem
Rita Ward Teacher Morse Elementary
Smith Brings Back Festival of Cultures Troy Sends Record Number to MSBOA
Smith Middle School brought back their Festival of Cultures this Spring. After last year’s conference was sicians in Michigan. TSD’s strong
Hundreds of students, families, and community members shared an cancelled due to COVID, a re- music program sent 35 musi-
evening learning about different countries, cultures, and religions from cord number of middle and high cians--more students than any
around the world. 55 different student groups created tables repre- school students were selected district in the state.
senting people from around the world where they for the Michigan State Band and
shared cultural items, foods, Orchestra Association (MSBOA)
dress, and much more for All-State bands and orchestra en-
our guests. There were even sembles. These students traveled
live dance and vocal perfor- to Grand Rapids this past spring
mances throughout the eve- to rehearse and perform with
ning. This year, the Festival of other students from around
Cultures fundraised over $1400 the state, having been named
dollars for Ukraine charities. among the best student mu-
www.troy.k12.mi.us Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition 9
TSD SCHOOL BOARD TRUSTEE HILL HUSKIES Experience
ELECTED TO OAKLAND COUNTY Hands-on Space Exploration
BOARD OF EDUCATION
Students at Hill Elementary took a 45-minute journey
TSD School Board Trustee Steve through the universe from the comfort of their gymna-
Gottlieb has been elected to the sium, with an assembly from Mobile Ed productions.
Oakland County Board of Education
by the boards of Oakland County’s They were introduced to a “star filled” sky and were
28 school districts. Gottlieb will serve for As for his goals for working on the Oakland guided through the stars of the Northern Hemisphere
a six-year term beginning July 1, 2022. County School Board, he feels that Oakland exactly as they appeared on the day of the presentation
Schools can play a huge role in supporting stu-
A 47-year resident of Troy, Gottlieb taught in the dents through the four technical campuses and with the use of a digital planetarium projector and a
Troy School District for 41 years, has served for also through shared services, professional learn- laser pointer. Students also learned how to identify ev-
5 years on the Troy school board, and holds a ing, and networking. He is committed to work- ery planet in our solar system and were introduced to
Master’s degree in Education Leadership from ing with the rest of the board to ensure that we
Central Michigan University. advocate for ALL of our children and our teach- Greek mythological characters to see how these heroes
ers. “Our students come first, and in order to do of the past can be found in the stars. This experience
During his years teaching at Troy Athens High that our educational system needs to find ways (sponsored by Hill’s PTO) was truly “out of this world!”
School, Gottlieb taught vocational auto me- to show teachers the respect and professional-
chanics, video game design, computer networks ism they have earned.” He hopes to accomplish
and repair, photography, government, and eco- this through a collaborative, transparent culture
nomics. His goal for all of his students was to of excellence.
prepare them to thrive in the world by provid-
ing a classroom culture of excellence. “When This is Gottlieb’s sixth year on the Troy School
classroom instruction is filled with purpose Board. He owns a real estate business in Troy, is
and meaning, when student voice is prioritized, the Chairman of the Board of a credit union, and
when belonging is nurtured, when students are serves on the executive board of the Clawson
making a contribution to the world, students Chamber of Commerce. He lives in Troy with his
feel good about themselves and the person they wife, Jennifer.
are becoming,” said Gottlieb. “This is what all
students deserve.”
TFEE GOLF OUTING RETURNS
SEE MORE PHOTOS AT:
After several year’s kets. Just over $52,000 was raised, which
https://express.adobe.com/page/
absence due to will go back into our schools in the form
COVID, the 18th of grants that will touch every building in Usupg6xv1TnDK/
Annual Tony Spag- the district. For more information about
nola Memorial the TFEE, visit www.troyfoundation.org.
Classic returned to the links at Sanctuary
Lakes golf course for the Troy Foundation
for Educational Excellence’s biggest fund-
raiser of the year. On a beautiful summer
Friday, 115 golfers gathered to play, eat,
and bid for one of the 54 silent auction bas-
PROS & CONS OF SOCIAL MEDIA
By: Eden Kakos & Stella Lloyd, Smith Middle School
When our teacher first asked us to do
re-search on the Pros and Cons of Social Social media comes with many negatives as
me-dia, we thought we knew most of the well. It creates privacy issues because users
answers. For instance, one of the are vulnerable to identity theft and hacking.
positives is how fast information spreads. It’s addicting and damaging to the eyes and
People of all ages can easily be updated on brain. It enables the spread of false and un-
current events. It helps job recruiters find reliable information and creates friendship
employees and job seekers find jobs, as and relationship problems.
96% of job recruiters use social media in
the recruiting process. It allows people to It’s an easy way to cyberbully someone.
connect with each other more easily, helps Lastly, Students who are heavy social me-
with voter participation, and college dia users tend to have lower grades, spend
applications. It improves the economy by less time interacting face-to-face and cre-
creating new jobs, and spread-ing ates self-esteem issues. The next time your
awareness to small businesses. Lastly, it teachers asks you to do an assignment, be
reduces social stigmas by normalizing open to it, as you may learn more than you
things people are afraid to talk about. expected.
10 Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition www.troy.k12.mi.us
TCCHS - Lily McLaren did fundraising in
January selling hot cocoa and cookies. She
then sold popcorn and lem-
onade in April. She was
able to raise an out-
standing $300 for the
Happy Feet Dog Rescue
Mission of Flint.
HAMILTON - Hamilton Stu- ATHENS - AHS Track and Field
dent Council has been leading reading to Barnard Students.
many initiatives this year to give
back to the community through
a food drive, animal rescue
drive, and more! Their final
event of the school year is our
Penny Drive for Clean Water!
Students in all grades are com-
peting to earn the most points
in a penny drive competition!
Student Council representatives
worked hard to film a commer-
cial, create flyers, and build
awareness around the school
ATHENS - Athens Track and Field
about a very important cause: raised $125 for Troy People Con-
clean, safe drinking water. All cerned Food Pantry for the purchase
money collected will be donated of milk. ATHENS - AHS Project Lead
to Charity Water, which is an or- donated 330 items to benefit
ganization committed to solving Bottomless Toy Chest
the water crisis by providing
IAE - Fundraising events including a
clean, safe water to all. To keep SMITH - Smith Middle School
basketball tournament, restaurant nights
things interesting, the grade that brought back their Festival of
and spirit days
collects the most will get to dunk Cultures this Spring. Hundreds of
raised over $850
Dr. Recker in the dunk tank on students, families, and commu-
for much needed
field day! Students are excited to nity members shared an evening
medical supplies to
take their community initiatives learning about different coun-
those
global for this important cause. tries, cultures, and religions from
in Ukraine.
around the world. 55 different
student groups created tables rep-
LEONARD - Leonard Elementary resenting people from around the
won this spring’s “Step Up to the Plate” world where they shared cultural
contest put on by the Troy Cham- items, foods, dress, and much
ber of Commerce. Leopards visited more for our guests. There were
area restaurants even live dance and vocal perfor-
and collected mances throughout the evening.
their receipts This year, the Festival of Cultures
for a total of fundraised over $1400 dollars for
$769.79. Ukraine charities.www.troy.k12.mi.us Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition 11
Spring Sports are in full swing with great stories from Golf, Soccer, Baseball & Softball, Track, Tennis and more! Here are some highlights:
TROY HIGH Troy boys 4x200m Relay team ATHENS Girls Soccer were Back2Back Dis- TROY HIGH Troy boys JV Baseball finished
finished 8th clinching All-State honors by trict Champs and also made an appearance their season with a 16-1 win over Cran-
running the 2nd fastest time in school his- in their second straight Regional Finals! brook for a 13-13 final season!
tory, 1:29.83. Way to make your mark!
ATHENS Golfer Olivia Hamilla finished the TROY HIGH Girls Soccer had a strong ATHENS Men’s Varsity Golf finished the
season with a T-9 at the MHSAA Div. 1 State season, making it to District Semi-Finals season with a spectacular score of 305
Finals. Her scoring Average of 71.45 and and ending with a final record of 10-3-4! and as 1st Place MHSAA D1 Regional
her SIX WINS and two Runner-ups placed Champions!
her on the All-State Super Team!
SIGNING DAY
Brings Excitement for TSD Athletes One of the most
exciting days for high
Savanah Baranowski (THS) for Volleyball to Keiser College school senior athletes
Madison Caradang (AHS) for Cheer & Stunt to Alma College is Signing Day,
Alyssa Carnes (AHS) for Soccer to Northern Kentucky University when students
Maya Carter (THS) for Soccer to the University of Virginia commit to attend the
Jordan Doyle (AHS) for Lacrosse to Kalamazoo College college that affords
Ryan Gruca (AHS) for Soccer to Ohio Northern University them the best sports
Lance Hardwood (AHS) for Golf to Northwood University and academic
TROY HIGH Girls Tennis Team celebrated experience.
their best season since 2003 with a 12-1 Kara Hunes (AHS) for Cheer & Stunt, to Davenport University
record, Overall Record Regional Champions. Brendan Kassa (THS) for Bowling to Rochester University
3rd in the state! Shreya Kaylan (AHS) for Soccer & Track to Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Madison Kinsman (AHS) for Volleyball to Clarion College
Alyssa Matuza (THS) for Basketball to Saint Mary’s College in Notre Dame
Xavier Newell (THS) for Football to Johns Hopkins University
Olivia Rush (THS) for Soccer to University of Indiana
Charlotte Sobotka (THS) for Soccer to University of North Carolina at Greensboro
Trey Vincent (AHS) for Football to University of Findlay
Kendal Zeiter (THS) for Basketball & Volleyball to University of Wisconsin-Parkside
TROY UNITED Synchronized swim Kayla Ziemke (THS) for Softball to Saint Bonaventure
team are State Champions for 2022!12 Troy School District, Spring/Summer 2022 Edition www.troy.k12.mi.us
ATHENS BARNARD MORSE
12th grader Mandy Chu won 1st place in Oak- TFEE sponsored Summer Enrichment Packs for “Morse Summer Nights” are Wednesdays 6-7
land County Resources Commissioner’s “Pre- students including a new book and other materials pm including a free lending library and activi-
serve MI Waters” Manhole Cover art contest. for enrichment activities throughout the summer. ties! The Tina M. Houser “Bridge the Gap” food
She received a $1000 scholarship from Commis- Parents were also provided with a list of opportu- pantry will also be open including fresh fruits &
sioner Jim Nash, and her artwork titled “Mallard nities to encourage families to connect and stay vegetables at 475 Cherry street.
In Flight” will be displayed on manhole covers engaged in learning.
across Oakland County. SCHROEDER
Schroeder teachers showed their appreciation
IAE BEMIS for PTO members and headroom parents by
Thank you to all the families, students, and clubs 5th graders presented an American Revolution coordinating a PTO Appreciation Luncheon
that helped to raise over $850 help buy and play for our entire school and their parents. The where parents enjoyed lunch with their child’s
send much needed medical supplies to those in amount of preparation and work paid off as they classroom teacher.
Ukraine. shared their passion for American history and their
performance abilities. TROY UNION
TCCHS
Troy Union celebrated our students as Makers.
36 Dual Enrollment students including seniors,
underclassmen, and Intersect students were en-
COSTELLO Building wide all students spent the month
of May designing games in honor of Caine’s
rolled in 107 courses at Oakland, Macomb, and 2nd graders created a “Smoothie Cafe”--based on Arcade. On Friday, May 27th students built their
Washtenaw Community Colleges. The combined an idea they had when playing kitchen in the class- games to create our very own TU Arcade.
college grade point average for these students room. Healthy smoothies were for sale for $4, with
was just under 3.0. goodies and a painted rock table for purchase as WASS
well. Some students from Athens were on hand to
TROY HIGH help, and other classes came down to “shop” at the
Students truly gave their personal best for “Run-
ning with the Wolves, while raising over $31,000
Troy High students performed songs from the cafe, making sure everyone learned a little some-
for the Wass PTO during the annual Run.
hit musical Mamma Mia! at Mayor Baker’s State thing. (The smoothies were amazing, btw!)
of the City (Troy) presentation, wowing the
crowd of dignitaries with their talent. Seniors HAMILTON WATTLES
Alexis Gearty, Caroline Samuelsen, Mia Simone 21 students participated in Math Pentathlon
and Varun Ganapathy and Junior Kiara Gilmore Our community has enjoyed a return to many of tournaments playing math games to develop
were nothing short of incredible! our end-of-year traditions, ranging from The Ha- math skills each week, with their results recog-
milcott writing competition to the Hamilton Family nized at a special celebration on June 7.
BAKER Picnic. Our school also kicked off our four character
values of responsibility, resiliency, empathy, and
In an amazing display of learning, 7th grade
social studies students built arcade games
integrity with an interactive assembly led by Jim PRESCHOOL
“Basketball” Jones!
depicting mythology using Bloxel programming, TSD Preschool will be hosting a job fair on Wed.,
funded by the TFEE. July 20 9-11:30 am., hiring assistants, support
HILL staff, lunch & health care aids. Visit https://tsd-
BOULAN PARK Hill Huskies visited outer space by experiencing a preschool.troy.k12.mi.us/ for more info.
45 minute presentation from Mobile Ed produc-
8th graders attended Civil War Day at the Troy
tions allowing them to explore outer space from
Historical Museum, where they observed pre-
inside the special dome. The experience was out of
sentations by actors playing Abraham Lincoln
this world!
and Sojouner Truth and saw what historical
buildings looked like in the 1800s.
LEONARD
LARSON Leonard Leopards held their first CHARACTER DAY,
8th graders created websites with artifacts celebrating their CORE VALUES of respect, integrity,
of their authentic middle school learning for responsibility, perseverance, and kindness through
their Portfolio Interviews. They then practiced fun activities, reflections, and games all day long;
interview skills to participate in a mock inter- stressing the importance of being good people for
view with volunteer professionals in the Troy ourselves, our community, and our world.
community.
SMITH MARTELL
Smith Knights welcomed incoming 6th grade Martell’s first-ever Outdoor Spring Fling was the
students to visit. Our awesome Smith Connec- perfect way to celebrate reuniting our community
tors showed them around and answered ques- in person. Food trucks, outdoor games, pony rides
tions, making for a smooth transition in the fall. and bounce houses were a huge hit with everyone!You can also read
