BIG BAY DE NOC

SCHOOL NEWSLETTER OUR FUTURE BEGINS NOW

MARK YOUR CALENDAR

Mar 14 School Board Meeting 6:30

Mar 22 Engineering Olympics begins

Mar 23 Library Family Fun Night 6-7:00

Mar 25– Apr 1 Spring Break - No School

Mar 31 Robotics Competition begins

Apr 11 School Board Meeting 6:30

Apr 11 Student M-Step Testing begins

Apr 27 Library Family Fun Night 6-7:00

May 9 School Board Meeting 6:30

May 18 Honors’ Night 6:00 pm

May 20 Seniors Last Day

May 25 Library Family Fun Night 6-7:00

May 30 Memorial Day - No School

June 3 Kindergarten Graduation 9:00 am

June 5 High School Graduation 7:00 pm

March 2016

SCHOOL WEBSITE is

www.bigbayschool.com * Annual school calendar

* Breakfast/lunch menu

* Announcements

* Athletic Schedules

* PowerSchool Access

* And lots more !

Parents, contact the school

office for a login for your

children’s accounts 644-2773

Family Fun Night …

is held in the Library monthly on

the fourth Wednesday of the

month until May 25, 2016.

Come read, do crafts and have a

BACK PACK PROGRAM— Feeding Hungry Kids

Many children who are eligible to receive free or reduced price school meals may be

left without an adequate supply of nutritious food on the weekends or when school is

not in session. The Big Bay de Noc School District has partnered with the Delta

County Community Foundation to introduce the Backpack Program in an attempt to

fill this gap and reduce child hunger. When the Backpack Program is implemented,

students who have been pre-selected based on their risk of hunger outside of school

will be supplied with meal kits/meal breaks every Friday throughout the school year.

The individually packaged meal kits are kid-

friendly and shelf stable. Students can easily

prepare the meals with minimal use of a stove,

microwave, and, in some cases, a can opener.

Every bag contains food for a balanced meal.

If you would like to help by donating food to the

program here are some suggestions... individual

size containers of: apple sauce, vegetables, Beef-

a-Roni, cereal bowls, cereal bars, fruit cups, fruit

snacks, chili, jerky, Easy Mac, oatmeal, pudding,

Jell-O, Ramen, soup, tuna meals, snack crackers,

ravioli, raisins, granola bars, Pop-tarts, shelf-

stable milk, and juice boxes. Please call Mrs.

2016 HOMECOMING Shades of class colors, movie

characters and more sets of

twins than usual roamed the

halls during Big Bay de Noc’s

Homecoming Week. The week

concluded with a Black Bear

Spirit Day covering our school

in black and white. Students in

grades 6-12 participated in

games & activities such as

“messy twister” and “balloon

stomp” during the pep assembly.

The senior class won the spirit

competition by ½ a point over

the juniors! This energy carried

over to the crowd cheering on

the Varsity Girls as they faced

the Stephenson Eagles.

Homecoming Queen Ilana

Cooper and King Matt

Ranguette (pictured right) were

crowned at the start of the game.

SPRING BREAK

MARCH 25 - APRIL 1

NO SCHOOL

REGIONAL SPELLING BEE WINNERS!

Our Regional Spelling Bee was held on February 18 at

St. Francis de Sales School. Participants were students of

Emerald Elementary, Manistique Middle School, and Big Bay

De Noc School. Congratulations to the following Big Bay

students who placed:

5TH GRADE: 2nd place - Caleb Jasmin 3rd place - Ian

Sundling

6TH GRADE : 2nd place - Angus McPhee 4th place -

Aidan Sitkoski

7TH GRADE: 3rd place - Nisa Hernandez

Those students taking 1st or 2nd place in grades 5, 6,7, and 8

advanced to the U.P. Finals. The finals were held on

MARK YOUR CALENDARS FOR THE

To be held in the school library March 14-18.

March 16 at 2:15 p.m. is “Grandparents Day,” a

time that grandparents are welcome to come and

read and have a snack with their grandchild then

THANK YOU SO MUCH !!

The staff and students at Big Bay de Noc send a big “shout out”

to our community for the great support we received for our

Christmas Giving Tree. The Giving Tree Project ran from

November 13th-December 16th. Due to the generous members

of our community, we were able to provide Christmas to forty

children in our school. Gifts were wrapped and distributed by

staff just before our holiday break, and the receiving families

were beyond grateful. It is because of our wonderful

community members that our students were able to have a

Christmas to

enjoy and

remember. We

also thank staff

members

Samantha Kuehl

and Laura

Jackson for all

their extra hours

of work

organizing and

Sophomore Madison

McPhee ...

was selected for the Individual

Sportsmanship Award for the

2015-16 Skyline Central

Conference Basketball Season!

Maddie you make us proud and

show the best of what it is to be a

Black Bear !

News from the Computer Lab Science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) activities

are preparing today’s students for a future in which the job they

chose may not even exist today. The 4th and 5th graders

cooperated in teams to build an aluminum foil boat designed to

hold as many pennies as

possible and still float.

Students tested their

models and created a

graph in Excel to depict

all students’ results. The

winning boat was created

by Bryan Price and

Braedon Thill. The Excel

graph you see was created

THE KINDERGARDEN IGLOO is getting larger everyday in

hopes of a penguin visit soon. If you have milk jugs you'd like

to donate, please drop them off at school soon.

From Supt. Brayak’s Desk Dear Big Bay de Noc Community Members,

It is difficult to believe that it is March and we are just a few

weeks away from Spring Break! Winter is a very long haul for

those of us who live and work in the Upper Peninsula and I am

sure that many of us will welcome Spring Break later this

month.

Our students have now passed the 100 days of school mark and

have now entered into March Reading Month. Please be sure to

watch for any special notices that may come home and please

remember to encourage you students to read as often as

possible.

March 1 began our kick-off for Reading month. We had our

special Kick-Off Breakfast for our students and their families

on Tuesday, March 1. It is always a fun and exciting morning

to share the start of the day and Reading Month with our

families. All of the excited chatter, smiles, and everyone

sharing breakfast was a great way to start the day and the

month. I would like give a special Thank You to all of our

teachers and support staff that made the morning possible. I

know that it is an event we all look forward to each year. We

know that when March arrives we are on the backside of the

winter months. Please continue to support your students in

their reading endeavors as we progress through reading month.

As we begin the last quarter of the school year, many spring

activities will begin to conclude the school year. Spring sports,

outdoor activities, end-of-year activities, exams, senior

programs, and graduation. Please remember to check with your

students for any end of year activities that must be completed.

It can be a very hectic time of year with many deadlines to

meet. In advance, thank you for supporting your students.

As the weather begins to change and the days become longer

and warmer, I hope everyone has the time and opportunity to

enjoy the outdoors and the very welcome spring weather.

Seasonal changes are one of the very special privileges of living

SCHOOL BOARD APPRECIATION MONTH

January was School Board Member Appreciation Month and at

our January Board meeting our school board members were

recognized for the time and hard work they put into their

position. Pictured from left to right are: Jon Haindl, John

Denholm, Adam Gembel, Heather Pederson, Irma Hider, and

Mary Gollakner. Craig Knudson is not pictured.

PLAYGROUND COMMITTEE NEWS

We would like to extend a thank you to you and organizations

for donating to the Big Bay de Noc School Playground

Project. Your support ensures that our students have a fun, safe

playground for years to come. We have a couple playground

additions coming this spring which we are very excited about.

We will also have a sign to name the playground. Thank you

for making this possible. A special thank you goes out to the

Edward J. Sackerson Charitable Foundation for giving us a

$1000 donation!

We are currently selling our

"Paws to Play" T-shirts again.

Available in short sleeve in

youth and adult sizes $10.

Colors include for youth and

adult royal blue, red, green,

and white. Long sleeve adult

we have grey, black $12. If

interested send money in an

envelope with your child

marked Paws to Play or you

Homecoming

Week

Twin

PLAYGROUND MEMORIAL DONATIONS

In memory of CAROL DESJARDEN:

Bryan Landis & Sherry Boudreau

In memory of DAVID PETERSON:

Bryan Landis & Sherry Boudreau

In memory of JEAN SWAYER:

Bryan Landis & Sherry Boudreau

LIBRARY MEMORIAL DONATION

In memory of EILEEN RITTER: Herb & Donna Pomeroy

In memory of ROBERT JOHNSON: Herb & Donna Pomeroy

In memory of MYRNA SONSALLA: Herb & Donna

Pomeroy

In memory of ARLENE SMITH: Herb & Donna Pomeroy

In memory of SONJA GOUIN: Herb & Donna Pomeroy

In memory of VIOLET SERGEANT: Herb & Donna Pomeroy

In memory of ANITA LAMBERG: Herb & Donna Pomeroy

SCHOLARSHIP FUND MEMORIAL DONATIONS

In memory of JOE HARDY: Jim & Carol Dalgord

BOARD MEETING SUMMARY

The Board of Education at its February 8 regular meeting:

* entered closed session to discuss the Superintendent’s

evaluation.

* opened the regular session of the school board meeting for

February 9, 2016 at 6:30 p.m.

* approved the revised agenda and the minutes of the January

11, 2016 regular meeting as presented.

* Board heard comments from the public.

* accepted the monthly expenditures for January, 2016 in the

amount of $144,805.40, which includes General Fund

accounts payable in the amount of $41,590.25.

* Supt. Mary Brayak reported on VOIP (voice over internet

protocol) System.

* Principal DeeDee Thill reported on: State Report Card,

Student Reward System, Homecoming Update, District

Spelling Bee, GSRP Update, Proficiency Targets.

* Conference Committee Report was given.

* School Improvement Report was given.

* approved to remove Donna Winkel from all bank accounts

and add Beau Miller.

* approved board committee meeting schedule with proposed

changes.

* designated the Superintendent with an “Effective” rating for

her evaluation.

* discussed: Shared Superintendent Meeting/Review, Michigan

State Police Surveillance Accessibility, and School

Fundraiser List.

PARENTS OF JUNIORS...

In preparation for the (MME) Michigan Merit Exam, which

will begin statewide the week of April 11, we will be practicing

with students by completing two full length SAT tests. This

will take place March 9

and March 23. Teachers

are completing daily

classroom activities with

all 11th grade students in

preparation for this very

important test.

You can learn more about the SAT and find extra practice and

support documents and tests online at:

https://collegereadiness.collegeboard.org/sat/practice and

https://www.khanacademy.org/sat.

EXTRA STUDENT ASSISTANCE AVAILABLE

Through a collaborative effort between the Title V11

Coordinator, community member volunteers, teachers and

support staff we have been able to continue our after-school

tutoring program for elementary students. We are also adding

an after school Homework Lab for grades 7-12. Elementary

tutoring is held on Tuesdays and High School Lab is held on

Thursdays. Tutoring is open to all students.

We would like to thank our community member volunteers for

their dedication to the program. We would not be able to offer

this extended tutoring without their support. Thank you to:

Ruth Craig, Dottie Sundling, Elgie & Dick Siebert, Katie &

Gary Sporer, Irma Gonzalez-

Hider, Mrs. Weinert- Title

V11 Coordinator, and Mrs.

Kuehl- Title V11 Parent

Committee Teacher Rep.

If you have any questions

about the Tutoring Program,

contact Mrs. Weinert

THANK YOU DON AND MARTE

The Board of Education, staff and students

wish to express a sincere thank you to Don

and Marte Grothe of Fayette. These long-

time supporters of our community and

school recently made a very generous

donation of $3200 to the school for the

purchase of four microscopes for our

science lab. Equipment like this would not

be possible without the help of people like