We hope you'll review this week's District Update filled with news and notes from across the Walled Lake Consolidated School District. Stay up to date with the district by visiting www.wlcsd.org and connecting with the district on social media - Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube | LinkedIn

• Nov. 16-19: WL Western presents: "The Wizard of Oz" - Tickets available at www.wlcstickets.com
  
• Nov. 23-24: Thanksgiving Break - No School for Students or Staff

• Nov. 27: PTSA Council meeting, Wixom Elementary, 7 p.m.
• Nov. 29: Board of Education special meeting, 6:30 p.m.

Visit www.wlcsd.org/calendar for a complete list of events with details.

Walled Lake Western junior Narjis Al Salami took over our Instagram story on Saturday to give us a behind the scenes look at the preparations for the Warrior's musical, 'The Wizard of Oz'.

You can view her takeover on our Instagram page by clicking on the 'Wizard of Oz' Highlight.

The Walled Lake Competitive Marching Band shined on the country’s biggest stage at the 2023 Bands of America Grand National Championships in Indianapolis.

The combined marching band from Walled Lake Central and Walled Lake Western kicked off the showcase at Lucas Oil Stadium with a bang. Its performance of ‘Wonder’ left the judges in awe in the preliminary round on Thursday earning the marching band a spot in Saturday’s semifinals.

The Walled Lake Competitive Marching Band once again hit all the high notes on Saturday placing 3rd in the nation in Class AAA, which is its highest finish in program history. They earned 21st overall among the entire field of 92 bands across all classifications, as well as finished as the top band from the state of Michigan. The Walled Lake Competitive Marching is also just the third band from Michigan to medal in its class since 2005. The other two bands to medal during that span were Reeths-Puffer High School and Jenison High School.

“To say we are proud of our kids and teaching staff would be an understatement,” said co-director David Rogers. “They never stopped striving for improvement for our entire four month long season, they kept working their hearts out, and it definitely paid off.”

“We are both so proud and thankful for the collective effort of all the students, parents, and instructional staff,” said co-director Patrick Dudzinski. “Our achievements with the Walled Lake Marching Band are not possible without our outstanding middle school teachers."

“We are grateful to so many people who show us such tremendous support beginning with the band parents and including the custodial and grounds team, the secretaries, the counselors, the admin, our teaching colleagues and the many businesses and individuals who support us,” added Rogers. “We also share this success with the outstanding middle school band teachers who set students up for success at the high school level. They are a vital part of the process.”

Ten student-athletes will represent Walled Lake Consolidated Schools this weekend at the MHSAA Swimming and Diving State Championships.

The combined team of Walled Lake Central and Walled Lake Western are sending five swimmers and divers to the Division 1 State Meet at Jones Pool on the campus of Eastern Michigan University. Vikings’ senior Leila Allen is the only Central swimmer that qualified. She’ll compete in the 100 yard butterfly, 200 yard medley relay and 400 yard freestyle relay. The Warriors’ seniors Brinley Evink (100 yard backstroke), Emmy O’Connor (1M diving), Aly Paolicchi (50 freestyle and 100 freestyle), and Sofia Polo (100 yard breaststroke) also qualified in individual events. Evink, Paolicchi and Polo will team up with Allen in the 200 yard medley relay and 400 yard freestyle relay as well.

Walled Lake Northern will send five swimmers and divers to the Division 2 State Meet at the Holland Aquatic Center. This is the first time since 2019 that a Knights’ relay team qualified for the state finals. This year, the team made up of Josie Behnke, Hannah Hulliberger, Brooke Marriott and Molly Zuska will swim both the 200 yard medley relay and 400 yard freestyle relay. Freshmen Behnke (100 yard fly and 500 yard freestyle), Marriott (500 yard freestyle), and Zuska (200 yard freestyle and 500 yard freestyle) also qualified for individual events. Hulliberger qualified in three individual events, but will only swim in the 200 yard IM and 100 yard breaststroke due to MHSAA rules only allowing swimmers to compete in four total events. The senior captain also qualified 100 yard fly. Fellow senior captain Kate Carter will compete in the 1M dive as well.

Walled Lake Western got the Regional Finals rematch it was hoping for with a chance to avenge its lone loss of the season against Mason. The Warriors and Bulldogs went punch for punch all night in a physical game. With just over two minutes to play, Western’s Max Kirk tied the game with a 42-yard field goal to force overtime, but Mason would prevail with a walk-off touchdown, 44-41.

The Warriors finished their season 10-2 overall and won their first district title since 2019. Western also rewrote its program record book setting new marks in total points in a season (558), points in a game (70), points per game average (46.5), rushing yards in a season (3,893), first downs in a season (206), rushing touchdowns in a season (59), interceptions in a game (5), and defensive points scored (30).

Seven Walled Lake Northern performing arts students shined as they hit the stage at Lake Orion High School on Saturday at the Michigan School Vocal Music Association Musical Theatre Festival.

Students performed songs from Broadways hits, such as Thoroughly Modern Millie, Jekyll and Hyde, Dear Evan Hansen, Carousel, and The Hunchback of Notre Dame. They were then scored up to 30 points based on six categories: tone, pitch, rhythm, diction, interpretation and presentation.

Emily Arabo, Truman Columbus, Hannah Strobel, and a duet performance by Alessandra Plowman and Luke Parliament each earned perfect scores. Plowman and Parliament also received Division 1 ratings for their solo performances. Annika Gaber received a Division 1 rating and Izzie Harris earned a Division 2 rating as well.

"I am exceptionally proud of the students who participated in this festival," said Walled Lake Northern choir teacher Ashley Ward. "They worked very hard with their voice coaches to prepare their performances, and they represented Walled Lake very well. Thank you to their parents, voice coaches, and accompanists for their support and helping in their success."

The Cougars are all smiles when they arrive at the gym physical education class ready to put their skills to the test with their new Lu Playground.

The Lu is an interactive projector that transforms the gym into active an immersive space for students. It engages them physically and intellectually will different types of educational games.

Thank you to the Commerce Elementary PTA for providing this incredible education tool for the Cougars.

The entire Walled Lake Consolidated Schools community is invited to attend the District's 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on Monday, January 15, 2024. This year's celebration will at Walled Lake Northern High School with a tour of student exhibits starting at 5 p.m. and a formal program starting at 6:15 p.m.

This year’s theme is “You Belong” with the focus on inclusivity. Our keynote speaker is Kevin Szawala, aka “Mr. Peace”. Kevin is a National Youth Speaker and Michigan native who travels the county speaking to students and schools on the topics of bullying prevention, diversity and inclusion, teen mental health, and suicide awareness.

Students of WLCSD are welcomed to submit an Express Yourself project. The theme for this year’s project is “You Belong”. Students should create a project that expresses what this theme means to them. Projects can be a speech, an essay, a picture, a poem, a drawing, a video, a musical piece or any other format to express “You Belong".

The winner(s) of this contest will share their projects, on stage, at the 25th annual WLCSD MLK Day Celebration. This is a great opportunity to recognize students and their creativity. It is by far the crowd’s favorite part of the MLK Celebration. Check out the project details and entry form.

All entries must be submitted to a school office by Wednesday, December 13.

Walled Lake Consolidated Schools is seeking nominations for the 2024 Alec Bender Friend of Diversity Award. This award honors individuals who are true friends of multicultural diversity in our school district and community. This honor will be bestowed on the recipient(s) WLCSD 25th Annual Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day Celebration on January 15, 2024.

Any student, staff, community member, local business, or local organization is eligible to be nominated. Any member of the Walled Lake Schools community may submit a nomination.

Nominations must be submitted through the nomination form by Friday, December 8.

In an effort to celebrate our staff, the WLCSD Community Relations department requests that families fill out the form below to nominate staff who are rock stars in their classrooms and school communities.

A sample of what these shout outs will look like on social media and in our district newsletters is on the right.

Our mission, in partnership with parents and the community, is to become the best educational system in America so all students demonstrate they are caring, responsible, and knowledgeable citizens.

Email: danieldurkin@wlcsd.org
Website: www.wlcsd.org
Location: 850 Ladd Road, Walled Lake, MI, USA
Phone: (248) 956-2000
Facebook: www.facebook.com/wlcsd/
Twitter: @WalledLkSchools