Duncan Honor, Hakola Resignation, Off-campus Learning Are Topics for Les Cheneaux Board
By Amy Polk

Cedarville girls varsity basketball coach Sonja Paquin Duncan will be inducted into the Upper Peninsula Sports Hall of Fame in Escanaba next year. She was nominated for basketball and track achievements while a student at Cedarville High School, and college achievements like earning an All-America Basketball honorable mention while at Saginaw Valley State University in 1986. She earned several other athletic distinctions while at Saginaw, and went on to coach girls basketball at Rudyard and Pickford before coming to Cedarville last year. She joins Pickford baseball coach Dan Rambo of Sault Ste. Marie, and Newberry football player Clifford "Red" Erickson on the list of 2008 inductees.

Cedarville High School Principal Randy Schaedig announced the pending induction and congratulated Mrs. Duncan Monday, September 17, during a scheduled meeting of the Les Cheneaux Community Schools Board of Education, which did not have a quorum. The board lacked a quorum with the absence of three trustees and the resignation of another, Tony Hakola. Without a quorum, trustees could not take any action, but they reviewed several information items, including Mr. Hakola's resignation letter.

In his letter, Mr. Hakola said a busy schedule that now includes coaching girls junior varsity basketball is compromising his ability to serve on the board. His four-year term was to end in the spring, Superintendent Rod Goehmann said.

"I'll be looking forward to teaching the game I love the most," Mr. Hakola wrote in his letter about coaching basketball.

Applicants for the board seat must turn in a written letter of interest to the superintendent's office, with a short biographical sketch and reason for wanting to serve on the board.

Les Cheneaux Enrollment

May Dip Again With early estimates at 330 students, the district may have even fewer students than expected, said Mr. Goehmann. A decline in enrollment means the district will get less state aid, and it further compounds the district's budget problems.

"We were hoping for 348 this year," Mr. Goehmann said. "That's what we budgeted for."

The official student count will be taken Wednesday, September 26.

Parents Compliment

Sonja Duncan

Trustees read a letter from Val and Cory Masuga, who supported and endorsed Sonja Duncan and her coaching method. The letter was sent in response to letters the board received last month that criticized her coaching. The Masugas wrote that their son learned a lot from Mrs. Duncan, and they believe he has done a great job as a player on the team she coached.

"Not every student gets an A, and not every player gets to play," they noted.

Standardized Test

Preparation, Results

Mr. Schaedig reported that the high school is scheduling test supervisors for the second Michigan Merit Exam administered by the district, since Michigan abandoned the high school Michigan Education Assessment Program (MEAP) test in favor of the Merit Exam. Sections of the exam will be given to seniors in the fall, and juniors will be tested on the entire exam in March.

The Merit Exam has three parts, including an American College Test (ACT) exam, the WorkKeys job skills assessment, and Michigan assessments in mathematics, science, social studies, and writing. The sections are measured against both Michigan education standards and the federal standards for Adequate Yearly Progress.

"Students who didn't pass all sections last year have already received their voucher to take another free shot at it," Mr. Schaedig said.

Juniors who take the Merit Exam must pass all academic testing sections by earning a I or II score on the sections. Students who earn a III or IV on any section of the test must take the entire test over again. Fortunately, Mr. Schaedig said, Michigan allows students to retake the test free of charge. Michigan's Merit Exam program now covers the cost of taking an ACT, which previously cost students more than $40, Cedarville Counselor Pat Feldhake said.

The results of the first Merit Exam were reported in August, and compared to other districts in the state, "Cedarville scored very well," Mr. Schaedig said. Cedarville's Class of 2008 scored above the state average in all of the academic testing categories.

"In looking at six other districts in the E.U.P., we scored higher than every other district in every category except one, and we scored at least seven percent higher than the state average in every category, as well," he said.

Cedarville High School and Mackinac Island were the only schools in the Eastern Upper Peninsula to meet federal Adequete Yearly Progress standards in mathematics and English/language arts.

Performance on the Merit Exam qualified 12 Cedarville High students for a $4,000 Michigan Promise Grant that can be applied to post-secondary education costs.

Student Use of Off-campus

Learning Opportunities

Increases

Several high school students are taking advantage of off-campus academic and work experience opportunities available to them, Mr. Schaedig said. Twelve are taking welding, automotive repair, health care, marketing, cosmetology, and construction courses at the Sault Ste. Marie Career Center. Twenty-three students are taking calculus, French, and Spanish classes through interactive television courses, and 25 students are taking courses through Michigan Virtual University. The number of language class students has increased owing to the retirement of Elizabeth Vaessen, who taught Spanish at the school. The district opted not to replace her to save money. One benefit of students taking Spanish through Virtual University is that they will receive a free MP3 audio player to download some of their lessons. Students who successfully complete the course will be able to keep the players. Nine students will be mentors to younger children, he added.

Student Aides Must

Tie Work to Education

Mr. Schaedig and Elementary Principal Eric Cardwell discussed Michigan's new student aide requirements, and how service as an aide must now be of some measurable academic merit. Les Cheneaux Community Schools had about 60 student aides last year.

"The state has really tightened up on the requirements for aides, and we now need to have a curriculum for an aide, with tests and evaluation," Mr. Cardwell said, explaining the cadet teaching program he designed for this year's elementary classroom aides. "It has to be something they can learn something from."

The cadet teaching program's mission is to "provide high school students with classroom and field experiences that will enable them to make informed decisions regarding careers in education." The program has objectives, a scoring system to rate aides' performance, and will result in a grade at the end of service.

Mr. Schaedig added that schools can no longer have office aides unless the work serves some academic or experiential role, he said, so students can no longer simply make copies or staple things. Aides will get academic credit for their work.

Elementary School Updates;

No Chicago Trip This Year

Responding to questions he has heard over the past two weeks, Mr. Cardwell said he is thoroughly enjoying his return to the classroom as a sixth grade teacher this year.

"It just keeps that fire alive," he said of his dual role of teacher and principal. Mr. Cardwell formerly taught fifth grade before he was hired as the elementary principal.

He and teachers Kathy Tassier, Carrie Carr, Cristi Smith, and Ryan Wilson will use the First 10 Days of School program for the first time this year. It will prepare students for standardized testing to help relieve test anxiety through practice, he said. The program was developed by Oakland Schools, and introduced to the area by the Intermediate School District.

"Preliminary data indicate that schools that use the program witness an increase in overall MEAP achievement," he said.

In other news, the fifth grade will not travel to Chicago this year, as it "has simply become too expensive," Mr. Cardwell said, costing between $9,000 and $13,000 each year. Fundraising has become burdensome, he said, and "in light of all the other worthy fundraising activities within our community, we feel that it is time for a change."

The school will now organize a trip every other year to the Detroit area and Cedar Point amusement park in Sandusky, Ohio. The twoday trip will tentatively include visits to the Detroit Zoo, Greenfield Village, or Ford Field football stadium, and details still need to be worked out, he said. He estimated the trip will cost around $6,800.