Ashlee Frankford was the recipient of the DAR Good Citizen Award from West Bloomfield High School.

The Piety Hill Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution, honored 16 local high school recipients of the Good Citizens Award and Scholarship Essay Contest on Jan. 9 at the Bloomfield Township Public Library.

 

The DAR Good Citizen Award recognizes and rewards individuals who possess good citizenship qualities of dependability, service, leadership, and patriotism in their homes, schools, and communities. The students are selected by their teachers and peers because they demonstrate these qualities to an outstanding degree.

There are 3,000 chapters of the DAR nationwide. It was founded in 1890 as a nonprofit, nonpolitical volunteer women’s service organization dedicated to promoting historic preservation, education, and patriotism.

Prospective educators can connect virtually with employers during job fairs scheduled for March

The Education Workforce Virtual Job Fairs will take place from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 12 and May 14.

The state has experienced a 71% increase in enrollment and completion of teacher preparation programs, from 9,512 students in 2016-17 to 16,260 students in 2022-23. The rise came after a large decrease from 23,203 in 2011-12 to 9,512 in 2016-17, a decline of 59%.

“Michigan has attracted national attention for its work in addressing the teacher shortage,” said State Superintendent Michael F. Rice. “Children have benefited from the efforts across the state in local and intermediate school districts. We continue to have a great deal of work to do, but much has been accomplished in the last few years in this critical area.”

For more information and to register for the job fair visit the Education Workforce Job Fairs webpage.

Anyone who wants information on how to become a certified educator in Michigan can visit the Office of Educator Excellence webpage.

West Bloomfield schools Information and Technology Specialist Colleen Mestdagh was honored by the Detroit Red Wings as one of 25 teachers from across the state to be deemed “Best in Class”.

She was treated to two tickets to a game, a pre-game meal, and Red Wings apparel, along with Meijer and Little Caesar’s gift cards.

Colleen was also congratulated by former Red Wing Justin Abdelkader and she took advantage of the opportunity to see if he wanted to come to Doherty Elementary to read his picture book to the students.

The “Best in Class” program honors 75 teachers throughout the state during three different award ceremonies.

The award recognizes teachers and educators who change the lives of children every day, inside and outside the classroom.

In April, one teacher will be selected as our Best in Class grand prize winner, receiving a $5,000 grant.

Nominations are open for the final 25 teachers to be honored in March. Michigan K-12 educators in all disciplines are eligible for nomination.

Go to https://www.nhl.com/redwings/community/best-in-class to learn more.

Patricia Karban was appointed the new principal at Dublin Elementary by the Walled Lake board of education during its Jan. 9 meeting. Her first day was Monday, Jan. 13.

“I am both joyful and honored to have the opportunity to lead Dublin Elementary School,” said Karban. “Together, we will build on the strong foundation that already exists, and I am confident that the remainder of the year will bring exciting opportunities for growth and achievement.”

Karban came to Walled Lake from South Bend Community Schools in Indiana, where she served as an elementary principal for the past ten and a half years. Karban has worked in education for nearly two decades starting her career as a middle school science teacher.

She graduated from Bethel University in Indiana with a Master of Education degree in 2013 and earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Elementary Education from University of Dayton in 1997.

“We are thrilled to welcome Mrs. Karban to the Walled Lake family as the new principal of Dublin Elementary School,” said Superintendent Michael Lonze. “Her passion for education, commitment to student success, and dedication to fostering a positive school community make her the perfect leader to inspire and guide the Dublin learning community.”

Oakland University will host their 33rd annual Keeper of the Dream Scholarship Awards celebration on Monday, Jan. 20 from 11:30 a.m. – 1:30 p.m. in the Oakland Center Founders Ballrooms.

The event will feature Tony Award-winning actress Anika Noni Rose as the keynote speaker.

The Keeper of the Dream Award was established in January 1993 to recognize Oakland University students who have contributed to interracial understanding and good will.

In the past three decades, more than 150 students from a wide variety of academic majors have been awarded Keeper of the Dream scholarships totaling more than $750,000.

The celebration honors the legacy of the late civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. and awards scholarships to students that best demonstrate exceptional leadership qualities through their involvement on campus and in the community by breaking down racial and cultural stereotypes and by promoting unity among all people to foster a campus environment rich in diversity and multiculturalism.

The event is free and open to the public.

For more information about the award requirements, please contact the Center for Multicultural Initiatives.

Four Farmington Public Schools teachers were surprised in their classrooms on Friday, Dec. 20,  by Superintendent Kelly Coffin to inform them they were named the district’s Teachers of the Year in their respective levels.

The 2024/25 FPS Teachers of the Year are Joseph Lazzarino of Farmington High School, Susan Kim of Power Middle School, Laura Orlowski of Beechview Elementary School and Lara Ligerakis at Farmington Early Childhood Center.

Lazzorino was nominated as High School Teacher of the Year for his calm demeanor, caring for his students, and having a genuine interest in helping his students succeed.

He is the auto technology teacher at the high school and began teaching at Harrison High School as the Vocational/Auto teacher in 2011. He moved to Farmington High School in 2020 where he currently teaches ninth through 12th grade.

Lazzorino graduated from Siena Heights University with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree, and a Masters of Arts in Education/Teacher Leadership from the University of Phoenix.

“He is not only a great teacher but a great person,” said student nominator Jason Kazensky. “It’s always easy to ask questions and you never have to feel worried about falling behind.”

Kim was nominated as Middle School Teacher of the Year for her kindness, respectfulness, welcoming demeanor and desire to help anyone in need.

“I would just like to add that Susan Kim truly is a pillar within Farmington Public Schools and deserves to be honored for her dedication and work done to help students succeed in mathematics and in life,” said nominator Alexandra Borseth.

Kim is an 8th grade math and algebra teacher at Power Middle School.

She started off her career in FPS in 2000 as a third grade teacher at Longacre Elementary and was there until 2009 and then headed to East Middle School as a math teacher. From there, she became a traveling teacher between Power Middle School, Warner Middle School, and Beechview Elementary School until 2018 when she landed solely at Power.

She graduated from the University of Michigan Ann Arbor with a Bachelor of Art degree. She earned her teaching certificate from Eastern Michigan University and continued on to get her Master of Arts in Teaching from Oakland University.

Orlowski was nominated for her enthusiasm while teaching and providing a warm and approachable environment for all of her students.

She teaches fourth grade at Beechview Elementary and has been there her entire teaching career. Laura began subbing with FPS in 1997, and became a full-time teacher at Beechview after earning her Bachelor of Arts from Wayne State University, obtaining her Teaching Certificate from Madonna University, and earning her Masters in the Art of Teaching from Marygrove College.

“Laura is truly a wonderful, caring, person deserving of this honor,” said nominator Allison Jesiel.

Ligerakis was nominated for her compassionate, engaging, and over the top dedication to her students.

She is a preschool special education teacher at Farmington Early Childhood Center.

Lara started with FPS in 1998 when she was hired as an SXI teacher at Cloverdale (now closed). She went back and forth as an SXI and SMI (both meaning Severely Mentally Impaired) teacher until 2009, and in 2010 she became an Early Childhood Special Education teacher at the Farmington Community School. She transferred to Alameda, which is now the Farmington Early Childhood Center, in 2016 where she has been ever since.

She graduated from Wayne State University with a Bachelor of Science in Education. She then graduated from Oakland University with a Master of Education in Early Childhood.

“Her dedication, patience, and unwavering commitment have touched the lives of students every day,” said nominator Eva McDermott. “She has gone above and beyond to make every child feel valued and showed kindness in every moment. Her impact is truly immeasurable.”

 

 

 

Successfully navigating a desire for altruism and maintaining a career is not an easy task, but Oakland University graduate Nicholas Kristock has been doing it for the last eight years.

Kristock is the founder of Fleece and Thank You, a non-profit organization created in 2015 and based in Farmington Hills. Their 6,000 square-foot facility is packed with brightly colored fleece patterns, which are packaged into blanket kits destined for children in hospitals throughout Michigan.

Friends, parents and even corporate groups tie the two-yard kits into fleece blankets and can create their video message for a patient, and ship the kits back to the nonprofit.

Workers then look over each blanket, washing and drying them to meet hospital standards, before sealing and shipping them to area hospitals. Patients receiving the blankets can then respond to the blanket-maker with a video of gratitude.

The organization has grown and adapted over the past eight years, services every children’s hospital in Michigan and employs three full-time staff, 10 part-time and hundreds of volunteers.

HOW IT STARTED

Kristock began volunteering while at OU after he and his soccer teammates started a non-profit to pay to transport young Mormons  for mission trips.

After graduating in 2014 with his master’s degree in Business Administration, Kristock traveled to Australia to continue his soccer career and began working with children’s charities and hospitals there, including the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“I used a ton of my free time to volunteer,” he said of his time in Australia. “How you spend your time is where your heart goes and I started volunteering regularly with kids in the hospitals and serving homeless people on the street.”

He returned to Michigan a year later with hopes of continuing his work with Make-A-Wish but no other plans. Then he talked to his sister, Tara Kristock, a pediatric oncology nurse at Mott Children’s Hospital in Ann Arbor.

“She asked me if I could make a blanket for one of her patients while I was trying to figure out what to do with my life,” said Kristock.

“I told him that one thing the patients loved when I worked on that unit was the fleece blankets,” said Tara. “Kids would have scheduled chemotherapy appointments and really look forward to being able to take a blanket and make their bed and brighten up their room.”

He made the blanket for her and realized the scope of how many children needed blankets in hospitals around the state and the seeds of Fleece and Thank You were planted.

“I became obsessed with the journey of how you build something from scratch,” he said.

He started in a 2,000 square-foot building in Novi donated by a landscape company and in 2016 signed his first lease for a bigger building, also in Novi.

The owner of that building saw how fast the non-profit was growing and offered Kristock a chance to double his space with a move to their current building in Farmington Hills.

“He was a one-man show at that point. He was running around doing everything on his own, driving all around the area and even storing them at my parents house,” said Tara, now a nurse practitioner working out of a private practice.

Not long after he started the 501(c)3 non-profit, Kristock got the call he had been waiting for since returning from Australia.

Make-A-Wish Michigan CEO Jennifer Connery offered him a position and Kristock was forced to decide between the non-profit he had just created or joining an established non-profit he wanted to work for.

“It was a fork in the road,” he said. “I took the weekend to think about it and called back on Monday and said I feel like I am building what I am supposed to build and turned them down.”

GAINING EXPOSURE

Their first big break in September 2019.

Kristock created a plan to set a world record for the most no-sew fleece blankets made at one event as part of their third annual “Make a Blanket Day.”

When he arrived at Stoney Creek High School in Rochester, he brought enough material for blankets to set the record, but was not sure how many people would participate.

“We anticipated maybe 500 people, but we had over 1,000 over the course of the day,” he said of the eight-hour event. “We had a storm come through that took out some tents, but the skies cleared and the sun came out and we did it.”

After seven hours, Guinness Book of World Records representative Brittany Dunn confirmed the total of 2,107 fleece blankets. All the blankets created that day were later donated to 21 southeast Michigan hospitals.

“Coming out of that, more people knew about us than ever before,” said Kristock. “It was national exposure.”

A CHANGE IN THE MODEL

A few months later, the COVID-19 pandemic altered the non-profit’s trajectory. It was outgrowing the in-person delivery system and had just started an e-commerce model and website when the pandemic hit.

“Every hospital said no more in-person, no more hand-made goods,” said Kristock. “Everyone looked at us and wondered how we were going to make it through at that point.”

They acquired a hospital-grade washer and dryer system, began shipping finished blankets to children in hospitals and holding virtual events.

“Like any good journey, sometimes the detours teach you the most,” Kristock wrote in the May 2020 organization newsletter. “Once things in person started to be shut down or canceled, we immediately switched our model to be able to accommodate remote events.”

BioGreen Michigan deep-cleaned the facility monthly and other safety measures were taken as the non-profit soldiered on.

“All other donations had been cut off (to hospitals),” he said. “We were the one thing that could get to kids that was colorful and safe.”

They emerged from the pandemic with a stronger system and shipped over 14,000 blankets in 2023.

BY THE NUMBERS

Blanket kits are available for a $30 donation on its website. The cost includes purchasing raw materials ($10.20), cutting the fabric to size ($4), plastic bags to package the materials ($0.06), storage ($1.96), labor ($5.79), washing and drying completed blankets ($0.90), a video message patch ($0.75), video message hosting ($0.40), and delivery ($5.94).

In addition to kit sales, the non-profit generates money from an e-commerce site selling its Grateful Human apparel, sponsors and several fundraisers throughout the year.

Requests for blanket kits spike throughout the year, especially around Christmas, during National Volunteer Month in April and Martin Luther King Jr. Day of Service in January.

“Every single place a kid can go and stay overnight, we are giving blankets to them across the state of Michigan,” said Kristock. “But we work year round and there is always something in the works.”

They also participate in a workforce development program for young adults and adults with various cognitive and physical impairments.

Since it began, Fleece and Thank You has delivered 120,000 blankets, raised over $6 million and held over 5,000 events since Kristock created his first blanket for his sister.

He remains focused on Michigan hospitals, where 80% of blankets made by volunteers are shipped. His goal is to ship 30,000 blankets annually for all pediatric beds in the state.

“I am having a blast. I am living my purpose. I am where I’m supposed to be,” said Kristock. “I have amazing people on my team and it is an honor to work with everyone who is a part of this.”

For more details visit fleeceandthankyou.org.

A collaboration between the Clarkston Garden Club and students at the Oakland Technical Center (OTC) has produced holiday decorations that can displayed for decades to come.

The 76-year-old club partnered with Instructor Charles Beyer and his students to create snowflakes for every planter in downtown Clarkston.

Club member Deanna Wilson had collaborated with OTC in the past and had ideas for new decorations for the 29 planters the club cares for.

Wilson and other club members went to the OTC Northwest campus in Clarkston and began brainstorming.

“When we were coming up with ideas, I was adamant that I wanted something that could be used for decades and look timeless and classic,” said Beyer. “This was not a welding exercise, it was more of a craft creation by the students.”

Beyer and former students had welded butterflies, a horseshoe wine rack and planters before and worked with the club on the idea for snowflakes made of steel rebar and nails.

Five students from Beyer’s Engineering, Robotics and Mechatronics class got to work in mid-October and completed 29 snowflakes for all the stone planters downtown in about a month.

“The enthusiasm of the entire OTC team has been amazing. From our first meeting until final installation downtown only took about six or seven weeks,” said Wilson.

Beyer purchased the materials for around $450 and was reimbursed by the club. Once they were completed, they were taken to Wilson’s house where she and other club members painted them and were installed downtown on Nov. 21.

“It was utterly remarkable how much OTC embraced this idea and their enthusiasm was off the charts,” said Wilson. “We came up with the idea and we were blown away by what they came up with.”

“The students like it because it allows them to create things freeform,” said Beyer. “It frees them up to do some really cool designs.”

Club communications person Joette Kunse appreciated the collaboration and what it means for the students.

“The partnership with the students is special because they too will get to see their work displayed downtown so it is very authentic work that they are doing,” said Kunse.

Beyer liked the real world experience of putting his students to the test of a deadline and creating their best work outside of the classroom.

“It was a challenging project just from a volume standpoint and a timing standpoint,” Beyer said. “From an educational perspective, it was a real life example of meeting a deadline. I like to challenge the kids and this one worked out.”

“He is trying to give them real world experiences in any way he can and this is a great way of doing it,” said Wilson.

The club has been taking care of the planters for over 40 years, with stone planters replacing barrels 25 years ago. The new holiday creations will be used for decades.

“We have had such enormous feedback from people about how beautiful they are and these are something that we can use for years to come,” said Wilson. “It has been a great partnership once again.”

Wilson and Beyer said they are already looking ahead to next spring and continuing their partnership.

“In my experience they (OTC) have always partnered with the community for an assortment of different things for many years and I love the idea that they view themselves as a resource to the community,” she said. “When they come out, they come out big and they do a great job with the students.”

Beyer likes the personal touch they add to the downtown experience.

“I like things that are hand-built and giving it to people because it just means so much more instead of buying something,” he said.

Lawrence Technological University has partnered with Springboard, an online learning company focused on high-growth technology careers, to offer three new bootcamps focusing on in-demand tech skills for students and professionals in the Detroit area.

Enrollment for the online program is now open, with the first courses set to begin Jan. 13, 2025.

Through the bootcamps, which are open to the public, students develop foundational skills in software engineering, data analytics or cybersecurity and gain real-world experience, while earning certification from LTU.

In addition to technical training, students receive one-on-one mentorship from industry professionals at Fortune 100 companies and emerging tech companies.

The self-paced bootcamps are structured to be completed in 6 to 9 months.

Bootcamps offered include:

● Software Engineering Bootcamp: Covering web development, from front-end and back-end programming to database management and algorithms. Students will build their own software projects and create a portfolio.

● Cybersecurity Bootcamp: Covering key areas such as network security, threat

detection, and vulnerability management. Students will complete hands-on projects and

develop skills to safeguard critical systems and data from cyberattacks.

● Data Analytics Bootcamp: Teaching students how to analyze, interpret, and visualize data using tools like SQL, Python, Excel, and Tableau.

Students can learn more and apply at careerbootcamps.ltu.edu.

Oakland University has hired Amy Thompson as executive vice president for academic affairs and provost.

Pending approval by OU’s trustees, she will begin her tenure effective May 19, 2025.

Thompson is currently provost and senior vice president of academic affairs at Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio. She was selected following a national search that included 116 candidates.

Thompson replaces  Kevin Corcoran, the interim vice president and provost.

“From student success and community engagement to diversity, equity and inclusion and from grant funding to program accreditation and assessment, the role of Provost is an incredibly demanding one,” said OU President Ora Hirsch Pescovitz. “Dr. Thompson has demonstrated that she can lead teams in a collaborative manner toward success in all of these areas, and we look forward to seeing the benefits that her motivational leadership will bring to Oakland University.”

She earned a Ph.D. in health education and a master of education in public health from the University of Toledo and a bachelor’s degree in community health and health promotion from Central Michigan University.

Thompson was appointed to her position at Wright State in June 2022.

“We are delighted to welcome Dr. Amy Thompson as Oakland University’s new provost, and we are confident in her ability to lead and inspire our academic community,” said Glenn McIntosh, senior vice president of Student Affairs and chief diversity officer.