ADRIAN — Several art students at Springbrook Middle School and Adrian High School were recognized for their successes during the Adrian Board of Education meeting April 11.
A total of 15 art students were lauded for their work by high school art teachers Annie Howard and Victoria Beagle. The board presented the students with certificates, and board President Beth Ferguson and Superintendent Nate Parker congratualted them.
Thirteen students combined from the middle and high school were selected by Howard and Beagle to compete in the Michigan Art Education Association K-12 regional art exhibition. Howard called this a privilege for the number of Adrian students being selected for the competition as art teachers are able to select five student pieces per grade grouping. Five of the 13 students were both regional winners at the competition and were named among the top 100 in the state.
“This type of an arts competition is like going to the state meet in sports,” Howard said during Monday’s recognition. “It’s a big deal for these students and for us teachers.”
The following students were recognized:
Madison Holey, regional winner, top 100 in the state.
Natalie Ost, two art pieces selected for submission, one regional winner and top 100 in the state; one regional submission.
Jaden Peterson, regional winner, top 100 in the state.
Nayeli Ramirez, regional winner, top 100 in the state.
Kyla Rodriguez, regional winner, top 100 in the state.
Caitlyn Tucker, two art pieces selected for submission, one regional winner.
Isabelle Rodriguez, regional winner.
Andrea Wong, regional winner.
Lily Meyers, regional submission.
Kaizar Johnson, regional submission.
Mariah Clark, regional submission.
Ryan Leutz, regional submission.
Landen Sharp, regional submission.
Two other high school art students, Gwendolyn Frolich and Aubryana Tripp, were recognized by the board and their teachers for being the two students from Adrian to participate in the Adrian Center for the Arts’ annual student-teacher learning exhibition “Side by Side.” The program pairs high school student-artists from across Lenawee County with resident artists at the ACA who work collectively over a span of several months designing and honing an art piece for exhibition and a public reception.
Lisa Neuman, the ACA’s executive director, was in attendance at the meeting and praised the art skills of Frolich and Tripp and thanked Adrian Public Schools for its involvement in the program. “Side by Side” marked its fourth annual event earlier this year.
Ferguson said Adrian focuses on three skillset areas for its students: arts, athletics and academics. The past two years, however, in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, have forced many of these skills to be drastically changed or in some cases canceled, she said.
“During the past two pandemic years, we’ve heard a lot about students missing out on sporting events and classroom time. We also have to remember, however, that our art students lost out on a significant outlet for their creativity,” she said. “It makes me proud when we can showcase our students’ art on the stage, in a gallery and during our board meetings. Showing it off in competitions is the best. Many of the students recognized made it to the equivalent of a state title game for their unique talents. We are lucky to have such talented art teachers and programming in all of our buildings.”
In other business
The Adrian Board of Education at its meeting also:
• Approved the resignation of Drager Head Start teacher Kathleen Hart, effective April 1.
• Approved two hires at Drager Head Start: Lukas Speller as a family advocate and Nicole Gestwite as a Head Start teacher, effective April 11. The board also approved the hire of Bradley Pieh as a full-time teacher at Alexander Elementary School, effective April 18.
• Approved 25 middle and high school head and assistant coaches for spring sports this year.
• Approved the recommendation of athletic director Chad O’Brien to add middle school softball, baseball and soccer as interscholastic sports at Springbrook. O’Brien, who addressed the board about the recommendation March 28, said an increasing number of middle school students in these sports is carrying over to the high school. By being recognized as interscholastic sports, these middle school sports will fall underneath the umbrella of the Michigan High School Athletic Association, will be fully funded by the district and will no longer be club sports status. Coaches will also receive increases in compensation.
• Approved the quote from Torrance Sound in the amount of $63,822.91 to upgrade the public address system and install additional PA speakers at Drager Head Start. The current system at Drager was installed in 2007 and it has exceeded its usable life, according to Kathy Westfall, chief financial officer and assistant superintendent. The project will be paid from the capital projects and technology fund.
• Accepted donations from Shannon Collins-Elliott, $211, and Denise Kaufman, $329, for the Alexander Boundless Playground project; from Kyle DeKeyser, $400, for Project Unify for the Arctic Splash; and from Love Family Dental, $250, for Spring Into Fitness.
• Heard an update from Derrick Richards, director of curriculum and instruction and state and federal programs, regarding Adrian’s Project Lead the Way (PLTW) partnership with the Lenawee Intermediate School District. Because of a shortage of staff members, PLTW courses were not offered this year at Adrian High School. The program, he said, will return to the high school for the 2022-23 school year. Engineering, design and development, and robotics courses will be offered. Because of the partnership with the LISD, Adrian is able to spend $6,000 annually in educator training and can purchase as much as $21,000 in materials for hands-on educational learning.
This article originally appeared on The Daily Telegram: Adrian School Board recognizes Springbrook, high school art students
