MIdweek UPdate
October 23, 2023
Dear WLPS Families,
I’ve been sharing things we do to make our schools safer and to improve academic achievement with you the past few updates. Today, I’d like to highlight programming, one program in particular which is linked closely to academics, and exists at every level of K-12 instruction - Robotics.
Robotics in Whitmore Lake
One of our fastest growing programs at WLPS is Robotics. The program has grown steadily from a few WLHS students in 2011, who worked out of a closet, to its present day group of teams: five K-3 teams, three upper elementary teams, two middle school teams (Titanium Trojans), and one very successful high school team, the TroBots.
This month’s BOE meeting started with a special presentation by our robotics teams. 4th grade robotics code writing superstar, Verity Muller, shared some of her team’s work. As did the middle school team. The big show came from the TroBots, though. This year’s team showed off some of their robots and some new features. Driver Kaleb Goodrich moved last year’s award winning robot around with ease. Then showed off the upgrades they’ve made to this year’s robot so far to make it faster and more agile. It was very cool! Kaleb was joined by WLHS teammates and coaches.
Their presentation was very impressive. You can check it out HERE. Coming off a big win at Belleville last year, the TroBots were motivated to do well throughout the season, which they did. They secured a 2nd place finish at the state finals! They were invited to the national competition where they finished in the middle of a pack of some great teams from across the country. Needless to say, the future of the program looks bright.
WLPS is proud to provide the teams with space and staff support. But, this programming doesn’t work without parents and community members rolling up their sleeves and dedicating time and effort to it. On behalf of the BOE, thank you to the volunteers/coaches who assist in providing this type of special programming at our schools. Good luck this year to all our teams. You can learn more about the Whitmore Lake Robotics program at http://www.wlrobotics.org/. Also connect with them on Facebook for updates throughout the season.
Cinda Atkins' Retirement
When I think back on my own educational experience, teachers usually come to my mind first. When I reflect a little longer, I can recall other adults who helped a great deal with small details, like keeping desks clean, to really big stuff, like managing playground shenanigans. Every school has those support staffers who make the lives of children better and keep the chaos at bay. At WLES, for years, that person was Cinda Atkins. Cinda retired recently. She will be greatly missed by our school community…and me.
Cinda was one of my favorite employees because she was honest, caring, hard working, intelligent, and fast (she was always moving). She was the high-bar setter for paraprofessionals. I was impressed by how positive she was. For Cinda, seemingly, every day was a good day to be at work. Even though I knew how challenging her job was, she never complained to me. I never heard her say a negative word. In fact, whenever I was feeling a little down, I’d head over to WLES and just say hi to her. She didn’t know she was making my day with her positive approach to the work she did.
Cinda loves WLPS. Her own children graduated from WLHS. She knows the community and dedicated her time to making sure our elementary students were well taken care of and prepared for the next part of their journey through school and life. I hope the next part of Cinda’s journey is special. She deserves it. She made every day a great day to be a Trojan.
#TrojanPride
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