I hope this email finds you well and that you had a safe and relaxing spring break. Attached is the checklist for the week 4 checklist. We will continue to do independent exercises from home, document and send them back as we did in the weeks leading up to spring break.
As a reminder: download the checklist that will be sent each Monday (click “enable editing” in yellow near the top so you can save the document and add your information), complete at least 3 of the 5 given exercises, document that the exercises have been completed, answer the follow up questions and email the checklist back to me by way of your school email account. If you do not have MS Excel and/or cannot download the document, please make your own version of the checklist and email that instead.
As always, please email me or send a message on my blog (which will be updated daily) if you have any questions or need help. Stay healthy!
April 6th through April 10th is spring break for the Dearborn Public Schools. During this week students will not need to complete any on-line assignments and teachers will not be available. Students and teachers are on break starting Monday April 6th and continuing through Friday April 10.
This is only for the week of April 6th through the 10th. Students will continue their distance learning on Monday, April 13, and teachers will once again be available to deliver on-line and distance learning. Once again, all on-line and distance learning will resume on April 13 and continue until the end of the school year. Please remember that we must all do our part to stop the spread of the COVID 19 virus. Please stay home, stay safe
Are you are looking for something new for a workout? Take a look at these two workouts.
Below is a link with information about two free at home programs, and how to join using our Athlete Health First app. We have already created a group for Dearborn HS with these two workouts in them, so the link will take any participants to our page to sign up and they will automatically be put in that group.
Today, Governor Whitmer announced that schools in Michigan will be closed for the reminder of the 2019-20 school year. We applaud the decision by the Governor to ensure the safety of all Michigan students as we continue to work toward slowing the spread of the COVID-19 virus. On behalf of the Board of Education and our entire staff, I want to take a moment to thank and express our appreciation to all of the health care professionals and first responders who have been working on the front lines to treat those affected by this virus.
To summarize the Governor’s official, seventeen page order, here are a few key points:
All public school buildings will be closed for the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year.
All school districts must develop a plan for continued on-line/distance learning.
Seniors will be allowed to graduate and students will move to the next grade assuming they are on track to graduate, have met standards, and/or will show they have met standards over the next several weeks via online learning or other methods.
Assessments are waived (SAT, PSAT, M-Step). Students who were scheduled to take the SAT this spring will have an opportunity to take the SAT which may occur in the fall.
Food distribution programs will continue.
The state will continue to provide school aid payments allowing districts to pay staff regular wages/salary and benefits for the remainder of the school year.
We are still reviewing all of the details in the Governor’s order and awaiting further direction from the Michigan Department of Education. However, our administrative team has already started developing a distance learning plan that will be submitted to our local Intermediate School District (ISD) as required by the Governor’s order. Approval by the ISD will ensure the remainder of the school year will count for the District and that we will continue to receive our school aid budgetary payments. A key component in the Governor’s order is that students need to participate in distance learning or other forms of continued learning that is provided by the district. Items related to specific students or a specific grade level will be addressed at the school level in coordination with the direction taken by central office leadership. Principals and teachers will provide that information as it becomes available.
We understand that this order has created many more questions, especially for our seniors. We will continue to have discussions with regard to how we will honor our graduation class of 2020. I have a meeting scheduled with the Superintendent’s Student Advisory Council on Friday and this will be part of the discussion. In addition, the Board of Education will provide direction and will appoint a committee to acquire student, parent, and community input.
We were hopeful that students would be able to return to the classroom, at least for a short time, to bring closure to the school year. Unfortunately, the number of COVID-19 cases is predicted to increase over the next few weeks which has eliminated that option in accordance with the Governor’s order. We will continue to be optimistic for the future while we make plans that address the realistic conditions we are currently facing.
Our state is still under a mandatory Shelter in Place order by the Governor. This means that in order to slow the spread of the COVID-19 virus, and support the efforts of those who are on the front lines dealing with this serious situation, we must all do our part and remain in our homes. Our short-term sacrifices now will help to prevent an even longer shut down later; “Stay Home Stay Safe”.
I have witnessed the great work by our staff, parents, students, and community members as we deal with the COVID-19 crisis. I want to especially thank our outstanding Teachers and Administrators for the great work they are doing to support our students. In addition, I want to recognize the heroic effort of our Food Service staff, the PTA volunteers, and Operations staff for the distribution of thousands of meals over the past several weeks. We are a strong and resourceful community and I am so very proud to see how we have come together to support each other through this very difficult time. I want to close by saying that we all need to remain hopeful and know that we will get through this. Take care of your family and take care of yourself.
Spring break is April 4th to April 12th. I know Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed Executive Order 2020-35 earlier today, which orders all K-12 school buildings to close for the remainder of the school year. The Governor still expects schools to continue remote learning from the safety of their homes.
We will continue with activities starting on April 13. I do hope you continue to stay active and fit. Please continue to keep being safe and healthy. I know you have heard it a million times already but keep washing your hands, practice social distancing, staying at least 6 feet from other people and stay home.
I have received many excellent fitness charts so far. Students are demonstrating that they are doing a great job of staying fit. My biggest concern is when students state that they played a sport that would involve a group of people. We all must be practicing social distancing all of the time. Going for a walk or run by yourself and staying at least 6 feet from other people would be a good cardio workout.
The week 3 fitness chart was sent out Sunday night. Please continue to keep track of your fitness activities. On Friday send in your completed fitness chart.
If you want to challenge yourself today, try this workout. You do not need a track just a place that you can run a distance between 50 and a 100 meters.
Here are the details of the workout:
Dynamic warm ups.
Circuit consists of nine stations. 20 seconds or 20 reps of each exercise.
Windmills (Make sure your upper body is coming up in between touching each foot)
Leg Kicks (Hard to explain but
think about kicking your leg in the air and clapping your hands underneath that
leg when it is parallel to the ground. hop as you switch legs)
50 – 100 meters
Shaq Attacks (Quick jumps in the
air as if you are going up and down for a rebound. Do not settle between jumps but go right
back up in the air as quickly as possible.)
50 – 100 meters
90 second
rest
Jumping Jacks
50 – 100 meters
Butt Kicks (In place running,
heel to butt as quick as you can)
50 – 100 meters
Quick Steps (10m moving feet as
quickly as possible, like the speed ladder.
50 – 100 meters
90 second
rest
High Knees (In place, but keep your back straight)
50 – 100 meters
Do the Twist (I compare this to skiing moguls. Start standing erect with your feet pointing to the right and your shoulders, arms, and hands to the left. Quickly switch directions back and forth.
